Cleveland Cavaliers: The Curious Case Of Kevin Love And Where He Can Be Traded

Jan 13, 2015; Phoenix, AZ, USA; Cleveland Cavaliers forward Kevin Love (0) and guard J.R. Smith (5) (left) watch from the bench during the fourth quarter against the Phoenix Suns at US Airways Center. Phoenix won 107-100. Mandatory Credit: Casey Sapio-USA TODAY Sports /

4 of 7

Love To The Rockets

The first team that immediately came to mind was the Houston Rockets. Mike D’Antoni’s offense has always been most effective when they can combine one elite facilitator with an elite post presence (think MVP-level Steve Nash and prime-Amare Stoudamire).

Obviously, James Harden fulfills half of that equation and given D’Antoni’s penchant for “first-one-to-110-points” style offenses, Love should slot in quite nicely for the Rockets.

I guess the biggest potential stumbling block is how to make the trade happen. The Rockets don’t have a lot of trade chips that can match Love’s hefty contract, short of Dwight Howard who seems all but guaranteed to opt out.

In theory, the Rockets might be able to persuade Dwight to sign back on in order to facilitate a sign and trade but it seems unlikely for Dwight to sacrifice his own flexibility in order to help out an ownership group he never seemed to really mesh with in the first place.

Cleveland would also likely demand perimeter assets in return and I’m not sure if Houston would truly be willing to part with K.J. McDaniels and/or Trevor Ariza.

But still…can you imagine D’Antoni’s offense in Phoenix except with Harden’s athleticism on the perimeter and Love kick-starting it with outlet passes? It’s definitely worth exploring.

(Note: a swap of Kevin Love for Trevor Ariza, Patrick Beverley, Montrezl Harrell, and Michael Beasley works out. Cavs get their Dellavadova replacement, perimeter help, and a young banger inside. Rockets get Love. I’m just saying…)

Next: Mavs?

Home/Cleveland Cavaliers