KEY POINTS
- The Cavaliers have no plans of buying out Kevin Love
- Love will likely be treated similar to the Andre Drummond trade
- The Cavs may get trade pitches for Love in the offseason
The rebuilding Cleveland Cavaliers are expected to make major manpower changes, and Kevin Love is not excluded.
Seeing how he has been acting as of late, it comes to no surprise that the former NBA champion is someone to watch out for in the offseason.
The easiest way out for Love is through a buyout, Chris Fedor of Cleveland.com reported.
He is owed $60.2 million over the next two seasons, but it appears Cleveland is not going to make it easy.
Rather than resort to that, the Cavs are likely to wait on offers to make sure they end up with something in return.
Hence, only an NBA trade could be the best way to pry the Oregon native out of Cleveland’s clutches.
Since the departure of Kyrie Irving and LeBron James, Love was seen as the new top dog for the Cavaliers.
However, the problem there is that the five-time All-Star has struggled to stay healthy. He has a long history of injuries, and such has hampered him from effectively producing his usual numbers.
In the last three seasons alone, Love has had his injury spells. This season, his numbers are way down, playing in only 22 games where he is averaging 11.3 points, 7.0 rebounds, and 2.5 assists.
These are far from his usual career averages of 18 markers, 11 boards, and 2.4 dimes, failing to justify his $120.4 million deal.
Love made headlines for all the wrong reasons, particularly that game against the Toronto Raptors.
It appears he just lost it as seen in this careless inbound pass, where he was unhappy with something.
Kevin Love of the Cleveland Cavaliers looks on during the game against the Minnesota Timberwolves at the Target Center in Minneapolis, Minnesota, Oct. 19, 2018. Photo: Hannah Foslien/Getty Images
Although he apologized for it, Love would once again spur some criticism when he did not make a single attempt in 22 minutes of action against the Washington Wizards.
This left Cavs coach J.B. Bickerstaff frustrated, explaining that the 6-foot-8 NBA player needs to hoist up some shots to help their offensive end.
There are signs that Love is unhappy, and most believe he is on the way out. The Portland Trail Blazers have been mentioned as one potential stop.
Besides the fact that Portland is his hometown, Love mentioned that it would be special to play alongside Damian Lillard.
If he does move to Portland from Cleveland, the Blazers could have their version of a "Big Three," with C.J. McCollum being the third guy.
