Will the Cavaliers Trade Kevin Love?

When word of such came out, Cavs general manager David Griffin immediately doused water on all trade rumors involving the All-Star forward.

Refuting any talks of being “untouchables” in their team, Griffin further said that they “have been very clear from the beginning that there’s no such thing as untouchables”.

Love is now averaging 15.6 points and shooting just 42 percent, satisfactory for any average player but definitely not for someone who is known to be among the best forwards in the National Basketball Association today.

It was after Blatt’s dismissal that Love trade talks cropped up, something that reportedly resulted from issues of co-existence between him and Kyrie Irving. In addition to his drop in production, it’s also timing: Love inked a five-year, $112 million deal last offseason and just become eligible to be traded last week.

With Tyronn Lue in place, many questioned whether Love would still fit the Cavs on the offensive end. “You’re either all the way in or all the way out in this process, and we believe our guys are all the way in”, Griffin continued. The Cavaliers reached the NBA Finals before falling to Golden State. Love’s slow feet on defense and Timofey Mozgov‘s struggles on both ends of the court has been a problem. Following up on this, the Miami Herald’s Ethan J. Skolnick appeared on the radio and said the Cavaliers “seriously weighed offers” for Love last season, a report that has been vehemently denied by Cleveland GM David Griffin.

Love is an important player to the Cavs – his rebounding, frontcourt scoring and ability to stretch the floor with 3-point range are valuable components to the team’s offense.

“The second unit will be able to play some of that elbow action, and I think that will evolve over time right now”.

The Cavs’ Big Three has a combined record of 46-8 (with all three stars in the lineup) since January 13, 2015.

If the Cavs are going to succeed with stars James, Irving and Love, then Irving and Love need to stop thinking about their respective brands so much, Lue said, meaning they need to sacrifice more to build a better team built around James.

With the recent coaching change, speculation about Love’s future in Cleveland has once again ramped up.

Irving told Vardon that he understands “the gist” of what Lue wants from him and Love, but doesn’t buy into the idea that they were only playing for personal gain.