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Top 5 Free Agency Destinations For Kevin Love

By Gerald Bourguet

Feb 5, 2015; Cleveland, OH, USA; Cleveland Cavaliers forward Kevin Love (0) celebrates his three-point basket in the first quarter against the Los Angeles Clippers at Quicken Loans Arena. Mandatory Credit: David Richard-USA TODAY Sports
Feb 5, 2015; Cleveland, OH, USA; Cleveland Cavaliers forward Kevin Love (0) celebrates his three-point basket in the first quarter against the Los Angeles Clippers at Quicken Loans Arena. Mandatory Credit: David Richard-USA TODAY Sports /
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Nov 4, 2014; Portland, OR, USA; Cleveland Cavaliers forward Kevin Love (0) drives past Portland Trail Blazers forward LaMarcus Aldridge (12) during the third quarter at the Moda Center. Mandatory Credit: Craig Mitchelldyer-USA TODAY Sports /

2. Portland Trail Blazers

The Portland Trail Blazers are staring down the barrel of one of the biggest summers in franchise history. After trading Nicolas Batum to the Charlotte Hornets for Noah Vonleh and Gerald Henderson, the Blazers also traded Steve Blake and the No. 23 pick (Rondae Hollis-Jefferson) to the Brooklyn Nets for Mason Plumlee and the No. 41 pick (Pat Connaughton).

Why is this relevant? Well, with LaMarcus Aldridge, Wesley Matthews and Robin Lopez hitting free agency this summer, all signs are pointing to a complete roster deconstruction for Rip City.

For one thing, Aldridge will reportedly leave the Blazers for either the San Antonio Spurs or Los Angeles Lakers. For another, Matthews is coming off a scary Achilles injury, but is apparently looking for a deal in the $15 million per year range. Finally, the Batum trade and the Plumlee trade hint that this team’s roster will look radically different next year.

Bearing all that in mind, Love would really be joining a team that can only tout Damian Lillard in their free agency pitch. Stein reports that if Aldridge leaves (which it almost certainly looks like he’ll be doing this summer), the Blazers will turn to Oregon-native Kevin Love to replace that superstar void at the power forward position.

Pick-and-pop scenarios with Lillard and Love would be a frightening prospect for defenses to stop, especially since Love has a similar skill set to Aldridge. Love’s game is more three-point oriented than it is in the midrange like with Aldridge, so there’d definitely be some adjustments to be made.

But the Blazers will have cap space to work with this summer, and they’ve been more successful recently than the Suns, Celtics or Lakers. They also have a superstar to pair with Love right away, which is something Phoenix, Boston and Los Angeles can’t say. If Love wants to be the face of a franchise again, going closer to home isn’t a bad place to do it.

Next: No. 1