Kevin Love’s comments about maybe being with Cavs post-deadline aren’t shocking

Kevin Love has not requested a trade throughout this process, and though he reportedly prefers to be traded by the Cleveland Cavaliers, recent comments about him maybe being with the Cavs post-deadline aren’t shocking.

The Cleveland Cavaliers are probably years away from competing for an Eastern Conference postseason berth, and thus far are just 12-33 in the 2019-20 season.

The key priority for Cleveland this year has been getting pieces such as Collin Sexton, Darius Garland and Cedi Osman big minutes, and in a rebuilding scenario, that would seem to be a smart move.

Kevin Love, given that he’s shown his frustration on the floor/on the bench and in a reported shouting match with general manager Koby Altman, according to The Athletic‘s Joe Vardon and Shams Charania, also of Stadium (subscription required), seemingly has two feet out the door.

Though Love’s been a solid citizen in the last few weeks, and also apologized in media availability earlier this month for his lash-outs, Love saying he’d be “happy” with the Cavs when asked if he wasn’t dealt by the February 6 trade deadline doesn’t mean much to me. Here’s more on that from Love from postgame/media availability following Cleveland’s loss to the Washington Wizards on Thursday, as was transcribed by 92.3 The Fan’s James Rapien.

"“I’ll be happy if I’m still here,” Love said. “I fully plan on continuing to help these guys, continuing to help – Tristan (Thompson), myself, Larry (Nance Jr.) these guys, being a leader with all the veterans. And this place, Cleveland, the fans, they’ve been really, really good to me. So, yes.”"

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Love was put on the spot here, and while I believe the question was a fair one for Love from Rapien, the five-time All-Star throughout this whole process has not formally demanded a trade whereas Love prefers to be dealt, as Cleveland.com’s Chris Fedor pointed out.

Plus, in media availability earlier this month, Love hit on how he’ll try to give the Cleveland Cavaliers all he has, be a good teammate and do his part to help Cleveland’s young pieces grow, and be a good presence for the young players/the team in general, even if that is for “5 more months,” as Love touched on at the time.

The aforementioned Fedor and others, such as ESPN’s Brian Windhorst on his podcast, “The Hoop Collective,” and Sports Illustrated’s Sam Amico, have emphasized how moving Love by the deadline won’t be a simple task. Love’s injury history is well-documented, he is due to make $91.5 million and has three more years remaining on his contract following 2019-20, and obviously, the issues this season haven’t helped.

After all, Fedor mentioned how a Western Conference general manager “told The Athletic’s David Aldridge that he doesn’t think ‘Kevin has a lot of value.”‘

Anyhow, just as Fedor noted, Love should be easier to move following the season, with a weak 2020 free agent pool.

"“While the Cavs could still deal Love in the next few weeks, sources have maintained his value could be higher this off-season, especially with a dearth of impact free agents and teams looking to preemptively make moves for the 2020-21 season, recognizing they won’t be real players in 2021 free agency.”"

So, once again, Love saying that he’ll basically stick it out with the Cleveland Cavaliers and be “happy” to be here still after the deadline doesn’t mean much to me.

That’s even more so the case if his good buddy and fellow NBA champion Tristan Thompson, who is expiring, is traded near the deadline, which would seem to be a very good possibility at this point with Cleveland rebuilding and it not being a certainty that TT, who is having a career year and is turning 29 in March, would want to be with the Cavs long-term.

To me, you would think Love’s absolutely going to get moved by next season, anyway, so him not saying publicly that he’d hate being here post-deadline is not all that shocking.

For reference, Love is putting up 17.4 points, 10.0 rebounds and 2.9 assists per game this season, as shown by NBA.com, and can still be a really good contributor for other teams with his ability to get buckets in the low and mid post, secondary playmake and of course, space the floor with his deep range.

Maybe I’m wrong, but that’s just my take.