NBA Trade Rumors: 10 Teams That Should Trade For Blake Griffin
2. Cleveland Cavaliers
The Cleveland Cavaliers sit atop the Eastern Conference standings at 33-12, they’ve got a top-five offense and more than likely, they’ll be representing the East in the 2016 NBA Finals. So why is general manager David Griffin even addressing the issue of Kevin Love trade rumors?
Well, because pretty much everyone and their mother has decided that Love has not been a great fit for the Cavs with Kyrie Irving healthy, which is particularly troubling when statistical supports that narrative:
Looked at plus-minus splits of the Cavs Big Three this season. pic.twitter.com/vum2IPbRI1
— Jacob L. Rosen (@JacobLRosen) January 28, 2016
Just two seasons removed from putting up a 26-12-4 stat line in Minnesota, Kevin Love wasn’t even voted to the 2016 All-Star Game thanks to his mediocre (for him) 16.0 points and 10.6 rebounds per game. Though he’s connecting on 36.8 percent of his three-point attempts, Love has been an awkward fit over the last two seasons, leading many to wonder when he’ll be available.
Hell, even the Cavaliers themselves thought Love had been traded when the team called a meeting to announce that head coach David Blatt had been fired.
How surprised were Cavs players today? When team meeting was called, some players speculated Kevin Love had been traded
— Brian Windhorst (@WindhorstESPN) January 22, 2016
Since then, dreaming up Kevin Love trade scenarios has been the standard. The Cavs don’t need Love to breeze through the East, but the two teams they’re likely to meet in the Finals — the Golden State Warriors or San Antonio Spurs — are both capable of rendering Love useless.
He just doesn’t score or rebound enough anymore to compensate for his poor — and sometimes soft — interior defense. The Warriors can small-ball Love to death and Gregg Popovich will run him through pick-and-roll sets until Tyronn Lue is forced to bench him. LeBron James is in it to win championships, not just make the Finals, and that’s where Love’s value falls short.
Bearing this in mind, if the Clippers make Blake Griffin available, David Griffin wouldn’t be doing his due diligence if he didn’t pick up the phone and try to sell Doc Rivers on a trade package centered around Kevin Love.
David Griffin wants the Cavs to be the Spurs. I get it. But you don't manipulate what San Antonio has, you just don't fake true camaraderie.
— Sekou Smith (@SekouSmithNBA) January 22, 2016
For the Clippers, an increase in responsibility without all of the pressure of playing beside LeBron would do wonders for Love, who might be a better fit in Los Angeles’ new spread offense as a more potent three-point weapon. Pick-and-pops between Chris Paul and Love would be unguardable and DeAndre Jordan would help make up for some of Love’s deficiencies on defense.
For the Cavaliers, they’d have an absolutely elite trio between Kyrie Irving, LeBron James and Blake Griffin. Griffin has given both the Warriors and Spurs problems in the playoffs in the past, and his passing would give Cleveland three excellent playmakers. Griffin doesn’t have three-point range, which would throw off the Cavs’ spacing, but there’s way too much talent here for that swap not to work out in Cleveland’s favor.
Unfortunately, at this point in time, there’s no indication that the Cavs or Clippers will budge on their off-limits stance for their star power forwards. Cleveland just re-signed Love to a five-year deal, and giving up on him this soon would add a “teammate killer” to the “coach killer” label that LeBron has already been branded with.
Next: No. 1