Cavs’ Kevin Love and the San Antonio Spurs are a match made in heaven

The Cleveland Cavaliers are still determining whether or not they want to move Kevin Love, it seems. With Love’s injury setbacks and his unfaltering love for Cleveland, it’s appearing tough to find a market for him. But the organization needs to try and find a contender that could use Love.

That’s where the San Antonio Spurs come in to play.

A franchise that is known for doing the right thing and staying out of the headlines most of the time, the Spurs seem to be a perfect match for Love.

Love really exemplifies what the Spurs look for in a player they want on their roster. He’s never really been in the spotlight except for becoming the scapegoat for the Cavaliers’ Finals runs and winning the NBA Championship. He’s always saying the right thing and looking for ways to lift up his teammates. Off the floor, he’s the perfect role model and that’s the San Antonio way summed up.

Of course, when he’s on the floor, Love is a traditional power-forward that fits the San Antonio mold as well. He spends a lot of time spotting up from the elbow and backing down defenders before making them pay with his post moves. The All-Star also stretches the floor with a three-point shot that gives the opposition no choice but to respect it.

And right now, the Spurs are reportedly in the market of looking at stretch forwards. On Tuesday, a report came out that San Antonio was very interested with the idea of adding New York Knicks star Kristaps Porzingis via trade. Porzingis has yet to play for the Knicks this season after suffering a torn ACL last season, which could raise some concerns for teams looking to add him possibly. That is if the Knicks even think about moving him before the NBA Trade Deadline.

Yes, Love’s been out with a foot injury for the last two months. But he didn’t have a major surgery like Porzingis did and it seems like a return for him could be closer. If you couple that with the fact that it would cost less to acquire Love, the Spurs and other contenders should really be calling the Cavaliers.

More from Cavs Analysis

• The Cavaliers may have snagged a hidden gem in Craig Porter Jr.
• This stat is one to keep an eye on for Cavaliers’ Max Strus in years ahead
• Projecting how much Cavs’ 3 two-way signings might play this season
• 4 Cavaliers looking to make a name for themselves in training camp
• Mitchell’s numbers getting trimmed a bit wouldn’t be bad thing for Cavaliers

After an offseason that at first featured an unknown identity for San Antonio moving forward, they’ve positioned themselves to be a threat in the playoffs with a duo of DeMar DeRozan and LaMarcus Aldridge.

However, in today’s NBA you need more than just two stars and San Antonio should understand that more than most. They’ve met up with the Golden State Warriors quite a few times in the past and have been outmatched in star power.

Adding Love would add a wrinkle in the Warriors’ plans to three-peat.

Love has a history of meeting the Bay Area’s star-studded roster in the most important series that the NBA has to offer, that being the NBA Finals. His arrival in San Antonio would be an upgrade in the psychology department as well as the obvious talent improvement.

Could you imagine a frontcourt led by Aldridge and Love? The Spurs would create the model they were hoping to have in the form of Aldridge with Tim Duncan for at least a year or two, which would extend their championship window just a bit more. While Duncan’s decline was a lot quicker than anyone expected and that plan quickly evaporated, Love still has a lot of tread left on the tires.

So how would a potential trade for Love look like?

Well, for starters, it would obviously be Love being the main and possibly only exported asset from Cleveland’s end. The Cavaliers are going to be sellers at the trade deadline and it makes sense to maximize their return on every player they plan on moving. That’s why they should be more apt to move a second-round pick in a deal with the Spurs than a young player on their roster.

In return, the Spurs would hypothetically send Pau Gasol, Dante Cunningham, and their 2019 first-round pick to Cleveland in what is essentially a move to secure another selection in this upcoming June’s draft.

The Cavaliers would buy-out the contract of Gasol to give him the chance to sign with a contender. Gasol serves no purpose on a rebuilding team and it makes no sense at all to pay his base salary of $16 million (per Spotrac) over the next season-and-a-half. At 38 years old, Gasol is looking to compete for a title, not help young guys grow their games.

Cunningham’s value on the Cleveland Cavaliers roster would be minimal, as he’s an aging forward that would enter the fray at that position that already features Cedi Osman, David Nwaba, Jalen Jones, and Jaron Blossomgame.

The Wine and Gold more than likely wouldn’t give Cunningham minutes over the first three names of the bunch to begin with, making it hard for him to crack the lineup. But his expiring contract at the end of this season is something Cleveland should be intrigued by as they try to monitor their cap space.

The draft pick is the real reason this deal would be done. While it will be a higher selection due to the Spurs more than likely making the playoffs this season, two draft picks could be worth more this year than most other drafts.

And if Cleveland somehow fell out of the top three of the draft, they could package this pick along with other assets to try and finagle their way back in.

Ultimately, this trade would keep the Spurs’ title window open for the conclusion of Gregg Popovich‘s run as head coach while helping the Cavaliers continue their rebuild. It also helps Cleveland clear Love’s contract off the books before his new deal begins.

This would be a win-win for everyone involved, which is a rare situation in trades across any sport.