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NBA Trade Rumors: 5 Teams That Should Trade For Kevin Love

By Gerald Bourguet

Jan 15, 2016; Houston, TX, USA; Cleveland Cavaliers forward Kevin Love (0) during the game against the Houston Rockets at Toyota Center. Mandatory Credit: Troy Taormina-USA TODAY Sports
Jan 15, 2016; Houston, TX, USA; Cleveland Cavaliers forward Kevin Love (0) during the game against the Houston Rockets at Toyota Center. Mandatory Credit: Troy Taormina-USA TODAY Sports /
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Jan 15, 2016; Houston, TX, USA; Houston Rockets center Dwight Howard (12) and Cleveland Cavaliers forward Kevin Love (0) during the game at Toyota Center. Mandatory Credit: Troy Taormina-USA TODAY Sports /

5. Houston Rockets

The Houston Rockets haven’t lived up to their preseason billing as Western Conference dark horses, that’s for sure. Head coach Kevin McHale was fired 11 games into the season, the Ty Lawson trade has been an unmitigated disaster and at 22-22, it’s clear this team is no threat to the Warriors, Spurs, Oklahoma City Thunder or Los Angeles Clippers out West.

Dwight Howard is the only thing keeping Houston’s bottom-10 defense from being quite possibly the worst defensive unit in the NBA, so it seems ludicrous that the Rockets would even consider trading their defensive anchor. But with D-12 owning a $23.3 million player option this summer, general manager Daryl Morey may choose to do something drastic.

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    • Keep in mind, this is the GM that traded took a chance on a point guard with two DUIs over the last year and fired his head coach 11 games into the season. He’s not afraid to make ballsy moves if he’s convinced his team doesn’t have what it takes to win, and with Howard already hitting that dreaded 30-year-old threshold, perhaps he’ll move him while his value is still relatively high.

    Howard is averaging 14.4 points, 12.1 rebounds and 1.6 blocks per game on 61.2 percent shooting this season, and plenty of teams would enjoy having a rim protector of his caliber in the middle. Since the Cavs would need help in the middle in a championship series against Golden State or San Antonio, D-12 would be one potential solution.

    This trade does little to replace the floor spacing that Love provides, but Howard would make Cleveland’s defense elite, giving them a rim deterrent who would also be able to make Andrew Bogut or Tim Duncan/LaMarcus Aldridge work on the other end of the floor.

    The contracts match up well enough for a straight up swap, and if Howard proved to be a good fit on a bonafide championship contender with Irving and LeBron finding him for easy alley-oop dunks, his player option wouldn’t be an unbearable amount to pay — especially considering how far the Cavaliers are into the luxury tax already.

    However, there’s also the possibility Howard opts out and chooses to sign a long-term extension elsewhere, which would likely cost even more than that $23.3 million player option. The Rockets may prefer to keep their defensive stalwart until Clint Capela proves himself in the middle, and as we’ve already noted, there’s no guarantee the Cavaliers even want to trade Love anyway.

    Next: No. 4

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