Cavs: Why Kevin Love will likely be traded in the offseason

The Cavs will be able to feature Love to help his trade value

Only five teams have a tougher remaining schedule than Cleveland (per Tankathon), while the Chicago Bulls have a much easier schedule, so the Cavs should finish with one of the three worst records.

That would give them as good of a shot at Duke phenom Zion Williamson as the bottom two NBA teams in the Phoenix Suns and New York Knicks.

Moreover, playing Love makes a ton of sense for a variety of reasons. Kevin Love signed a contract extension that kicks in at the start of next season.

As I said above with his injuries, trading him at the 2019 deadline was going to be difficult and if they did they wouldn’t maximize his trade value.

When Love saw his first real minutes before the All-Star break in a game against the Knicks he had 14 points and 9 rebounds in just under 16 minutes, according to NBA.com.

Last night against the Phoenix Suns, Love also produced in a big way, with 16 points on six-of-13 shooting, to go with 11 rebounds in 22 minutes, per ESPN.

His contract is a concern with his injury history, but he’s rebounded from injuries before, his game isn’t predicated on athleticism and his game should age well, especially with him hitting 36.9 percent of his three-point shots for his career, per Basketball Reference.

If Love can play the way he’s capable of production-wise for these last 23 games, I believe there will be some kind of market for him, and Cleveland could get some assets for him.  Plus, with the Cavs rebuilding they need those assets.

Seeing Kevin Love go would be tough to see, as he’s been a great Cavalier and he will be forever remembered for helping bring a championship to Northeast Ohio, but the team is going in a completely different direction and I think we’re probably headed for a Love trade in the offseason.