Cleveland Cavaliers: Why They Should Trade For Kevin Love

The Cleveland Cavaliers are heading into an offseason full of possibilities, and one of those possibilities would be to acquire star power forward Kevin Love from the Minnesota Timberwolves. There have been some rumors linking the Cavaliers to Love, but nothing concrete has been reported yet. Why should the Cavaliers go all out to acquire Love?

First of all, there are plenty of reasons that any team should look to make a trade with Minnesota for Love. He brings so much to the court, and still has plenty of room to grow and improve his game. His scoring ability, rebounding, and even passing are above average for his position, and he possesses a strong leadership ability as well. So what does he do that fits the Cavaliers so well?

Primarily, the Cavaliers have been looking to acquire a second legitimate scorer to help take some of the pressure off of their star point guard Kyrie Irving. Love averaged 26.1 points per game with the Timberwolves last season, and showed the ability to score from anywhere on the court. His presence alone would help open up things for Irving, and would give the Cavaliers a legitimate post threat and another lights out 3-point shooter.

Rebounding wasn’t a struggle last season for the Cavaliers, as they averaged 44.1 per game, which was good enough for 11th in the NBA. That being said, a team can never have too much rebounding on the floor, and Love would add another big body who has an extremely high motor on the glass. He has been one of the NBA’s best rebounding power forwards throughout his career, and would add even more stability on the boards for Cleveland.

His passing has been one of the most underrated aspects of his game, and he would pair very nicely in the frontcourt with center Spencer Hawes, should the Cavs keep Hawes as a free agent. Love averaged 4.4 assists per game with Minnesota last year, and that is even with him being the No. 1 scoring option and being asked to shoot the ball at a high rate. The Cavaliers would love to put two passing big men on the floor with each other, and it would force defenses into bad match-ups.

Love’s defense certainly could use some work, but he did look a bit better this year than he has in the past. The Cavaliers don’t have the best defense in the NBA, and he’ll need to work hard on that aspect of his game this coming offseason. He has the potential to become a solid post defender, but he doesn’t have great athleticism or quickness, so he’ll need to work on using his basketball IQ more in his favor.

All that being said, the mot important aspect of acquiring Kevin Love in the long run could be to attract another star to join him in Cleveland. There have been many rumors circling around the NBA world that LeBron James would strongly consider joining forces with Kyrie Irving and Love if the Cavaliers could pull off a trade for him. How deadly would that big three be?

Overall, there are plenty of reasons that the Cavaliers should go out and find a way to pull off a trade for Love. He would add a ton to their lineup immediately, and could help them draw in other veterans who are ready to compete. Whether James would come back to Cleveland or not, the addition of Love would help the Cavaliers get back to postseason contention immediately.

Evan Massey is a Staff Writer for HoopsHabit.com. Follow Evan on Twitter at @Massey_Evan.