Sending Kevin Love to a contender is the right thing to do for Cavs

The top of the 2019 NBA Draft order and the Cleveland Cavaliers are on a collision course, so it seems. At 8-30 on the campaign, the Cleveland is currently the worst team in the league record-wise. With a new cornerstone piece presumably coming in this summer, it’s only fair to say goodbye to a former star.

Kevin Love has literally been through it all during his tenure with the Cleveland Cavaliers. From being the scapegoat to winning an NBA championship, Love has seen the highest of highs and the lowest of lows. Unfortunately for the All-Star forward, he’s also seen his name on the injury report quite a number of times.

With all that being said, it’s time to move on from Love and send him to a contender once he’s healthy.

It’s not an easy call to make, obviously. Love has gone from the third-most important star on the Wine and Gold to being the last one remaining. He’s more than just a guy who throws on the Cleveland jersey for a game and then exits the building.

The love he’s developed for the city is heartwarming to see and shows how sports can impact lives off of the floor, especially with him taking the lead on putting an end to the negative stigma on mental health.

But the NBA is a business and with business comes tough decisions that need to be addressed.

Right now, the Cavaliers are a team that is at the lowest rung of the NBA’s hierarchy ladder. They are struggling to win games at a consistent rate and have no business trying to do so. There isn’t a one or two-year plan that will skyrocket Cleveland back to where they were among the elite of the Eastern Conference.

Instead, doing their due diligence in scouting, drafting and developing younger players is the key to returning to prominence.

Take emotions out of it and very quickly you’ll realize that Love doesn’t fit the script. Honestly, he never did.

The Cavaliers sold the idea of playoff contention to their veterans this offseason, mostly with Love. It’s a big part of the reason Love signed an extension with Cleveland and now nearly at the halfway point of the season, it’s become clear that the idea was never to win this year.

That’s a frustrating situation to handle in Love’s case, considering the fact that he could’ve walked after this season.

Love spoke with Yahoo! Sports’ Chris Mannix back in October and talked about his discussion with the Cavaliers regarding the future before he signed the contract extension. In the chat with Mannix, it was made known that Love had no plans of signing long-term with a rebuilding organization.

"“Anytime you lose the best player in the world, you take a step back. I didn’t want to be a part of something where we were tanking or we were going to be in the lottery every year.”"

It makes you wonder if Love had a misconstrued version of the truth given to him by the Cleveland front office. If so, it’s not a great look for the franchise.

Regardless of the morality issue this situation presents, Love still needs to be traded before the NBA Trade Deadline in February. At thirty years of age, it isn’t fair for the Cavaliers to hold onto a top-ten forward for the sake of selling tickets.

Love has one more stretch of three-to-five years in which he could be a second or third option on a contending team. I’d guess and say he’d prefer that over occupying the Eastern Conference’s basement for the next two or three seasons.

Where could Love end up if he were to become available?

According to the New York Times‘ Marc Stein (subscription required), the Cavaliers could receive a call from the Denver Nuggets.

The Nuggets currently hold the top spot in the Western Conference (per ESPN) with a 24-11 record and are hitting their stride. A great deal of their success comes from their young core of Nikola Jokic, Jamal Murray, and Gary Harris, who have all been exceptional with their play this season. Having Paul Millsap slotted at the four-spot every night surely helps as well.

Adding Love could be the difference-making acquisition the Nuggets need, however.

Cleveland would be wise to seek for a first-rounder or two, to begin discussions. It’s all about draft picks in these deals for the Cavaliers.

Landing a couple for their last All-Star on the roster seems like a good start in a potential Love deal.

Perhaps throwing in a big man like Trey Lyles or Mason Plumlee could intrigue Cleveland, with both players under the age of 30 until March of this year.

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Lyles won’t be 25 until November, which would make him the more sought-after player of the two names mentioned.

Honestly, the only way a Love-to-Denver deal should happen is if the Cavaliers receive Michael Porter Jr. in return.

Porter Jr. is in his rookie year fresh out of the University of Missouri, although his rookie eligibility may be pushed back until next season as he recovers from back surgery.

He only played three games in college last season due to the lingering back issues but provided flashes of how good he can be.

His average of 10.0 points and 6.7 rebounds in 17.7 minutes wasn’t magnificent but should be taken with a grain of salt given the sample size and the nature of college basketball.

It’s more about tendencies and skill levels that can translate to the NBA-level, not statistics.

Denver clearly has interest in what Porter Jr. can become. They took a gamble and made Porter Jr. the 14th overall pick in last June’s draft after many teams passed over him due to the injury concerns.

Yet to play a game this season and with no timetable set for a return, Porter Jr. holds an unknown value on that Nuggets roster. Is he fool’s gold or is he a gold mine the Cavaliers can capitalize on in a potential trade?

In my opinion, first-round picks and Porter Jr. are the top two assets that Cleveland should ask for in a possible deal with Denver.

When working in trade talks with any contender this season, the Cavaliers need to remember that they don’t need to deal Love this season.

If a team truly wants to add the All-Star, they’ll have to give up a desirable return and then some. Cleveland general manager Koby Altman made the mistake of settling on a trade for Kyrie Irving, and he can’t do the same with Love.