While the Cleveland Cavaliers wait for LeBron James’ decision on whether to remain a Cav for at least one more year or move on to another team, the team’s front office is busying itself exploring options to improve the roster, which, at the same time, could also help lure James back to The Land.
Among those moves Cleveland is considering is trading Kevin Love along with the Cavs’ no. 8 pick (from the Brooklyn Nets) this Thursday, per Adrian Wojnarowski of ESPN (h/t Sagar Trika of Blazer’s Edge).
Woj: Cleveland would love to package Kevin Love + #8 and get something on draft night, but that package likely won’t get them the star player they’re hoping for. Notes Kevin Love’s value is down and the Brooklyn first round pick is not as good as Cleveland had expected.
That’s a tasty package the Cavs have in mind, as it involves an All-Star asset which is controllable until 2020 and a top-10 pick in a talent-laden draft.
However, as pointed out by Wojnarowski, Love’s value has plummeted, thanks to an underwhelming postseason performance in which he averaged 17.6 points on 45.8 percent shooting from the field and 9.3 rebounds per game. Those are fine numbers, but teams may not be willing to pay Love’s remaining salary worth $49.6 million for that kind of production and for someone that’s going to be 30 by the time the next season rolls around. Perhaps Cleveland can sweeten the deal some more by adding another asset.