Cleveland Cavaliers: 5 bold predictions for 2017-18 NBA season
By Simon Smith
2. Kevin Love is traded
The Kevin Love trade discussion has become somewhat of annual event since Love arrived in 2014. Despite recording his best season in Cleveland, and in the process being named an All-Star, Love’s future is bound to remain uncertain.
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The primary cause of this conjecture has been his struggles in the last two NBA Finals against the Golden State Warriors. With the Warriors’ incredible ability to mix things up and play small-ball, this has often left Love wanting at the defensive end. Matched up against the likes of Draymond Green and Kevin Durant, Love’s lack of lateral quickness and versatility often leaves the Cavaliers struggling to withstand the Warriors juggernaut.
The addition of Jae Crowder will certainly help in this area, giving Cavaliers’ head coach Tyronn Lue the ability to present a number of different lineups depending on the circumstances.
But as currently constituted, the Cavaliers, and the entire league for that matter, are engineering their roster makeups in order to have the best shot of knocking off the Warriors.
Unfortunately for Love, that likely means he will be finding himself based in a different city at some stage this season.
With James’ future still up in the air, the Cavaliers’ front office is under no illusion that it is going to need to do everything possible in order to appease, and ultimately keep, James.
Therefore, a more versatile, athletic wing with the ability to play multiple positions would be the likely return the Cavaliers seek in exchange for Love. Considering his excellent long range shooting and ability on the boards, Love still holds a tremendous amount of currency for a number of teams.