NBA Trade Rumors: The New York Knicks are the best fit for Kevin Love
By Dan Knitzer
NBA Trade Rumors: A Kevin Love trade doesn’t make sense for most teams, but if there’s one perfect fit it’s the New York Knicks
Kevin Love isn’t the cleanest NBA fit, and his contract is awful. He can’t stay healthy and is a slow-footed defensive liability on any team. Only a truly pathetic team with few short or medium-term prospects should seek his four-year, $120 million contract.
That team is the New York Knicks.
He has been rumored in trade talks practically all of his Cleveland Cavaliers‘ tenure, and after his rumored outburst at GM Koby Altman in front of teammates, he is most definitely available, and for cheap.
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After tonight’s game, Love made a nice, safe Instagram post saying he loves his teammates, but they aren’t helping him, and he sure as hell isn’t helping them. He might help the right young team with emerging young studs – see the Suns and Nuggets – but he will be a huge liability and maybe unplayable by the end of the deal, so any teams with second or third-year players who will certainly warrant max contracts by then may be financially crippled in that situation.
Devin Booker and Nikola Jokic are already on max contracts, and Jamal Murray‘s begins next year. The Knicks make sense because their second and third-year players are Dennis Smith Jr., Kevin Knox, Frank Ntilikina and Mitchell Robinson.
The Knicks won’t be paying any “homegrown” star-players players any time soon, even if RJ Barrett pops. And if recent history is to be believed, they won’t be getting max-free agents any time soon.
Love would be a good fit next to either Mitchell Robinson or Julius Randle, whose lack of shooting hinders their playability (if the Knicks were playing to win, or at least win 30 games).
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Now, obviously, if they had to trade Barrett or even any of the second and third-year players above, the deal shouldn’t be considered. I’m just saying if they can get Love for, say Bobby Portis and either Taj Gibson or Wayne Ellington, it’s probably something to strongly consider. After all, paying those three guys a combined $32 million was clearly done with the intention of trading for someone on a longer deal.