Cleveland Cavaliers Rumors | Hoops Rumors

NBA Trade Candidate Watch: Central Division

December 12th, 2019 at 4:01pm CST by Luke Adams

Over the course of the 2019/20 NBA season, up until February’s trade deadline, we’re keeping an eye on potential trade candidates from around the NBA, monitoring their value and exploring the likelihood that they’ll be moved. Each of these looks at possible trade candidates focuses on a specific division, as we zero in on three players from that division.

We’re just three days away from December 15, the date when more than 120 players who signed new contracts this past offseason will become trade-eligible. Generally, NBA teams don’t suddenly complete a flurry of trades when the calendar turns to December 15, but it at least provides some hope that one of the leagues’ longest ever trade droughts could come to an end soon.

After initially identifying three trade candidates from the Central last month, we’re circling back to the division today to examine three more. Let’s dive in…

Kevin Love, PF
Cleveland Cavaliers
$28.9MM cap hit; $91.5MM in additional guaranteed salaries through 2022/23

As Jason Lloyd of The Athletic wrote this morning, Love has been the subject of trade rumors for years, but it feels a little different this time.

It seems likely that Love is one of the players who hasn’t been particularly fond of John Beilein‘s coaching style. After all, it was just two months ago that the Cavaliers’ power forward was talking about how much he wanted to remain in Cleveland. With the Cavs off to a 5-19 start, the latest reports are suggesting that Love would rather be traded to a contender.

There will be plenty of roadblocks in the way of a potential deal. Matching Love’s cap hit of nearly $29MM will be a challenge for many teams. Even clubs that have the salaries necessary to acquire Love may not agree with the Cavs about his value — Lloyd suggested today that Cleveland wants a first-round pick in return, but that may only be realistic if the club is willing to take back some bad money.

Ersan Ilyasova, PF
Milwaukee Bucks
$7MM cap hit; $7MM non-guaranteed salary for 2020/21

The Bucks have opened the season by winning 22 of their first 25 games, including 16 in a row through Wednesday. If the team continues playing at this level, you could make a strong case that the best approach at the trade deadline would be standing pat.

If Milwaukee does look to upgrade its supporting cast though, Ilyasova looks like the most logical candidate to be moved in such a deal. His $7MM cap hit makes him a good salary-matching chip for mid-level contracts, and his non-guaranteed salary for next season would appeal to teams looking to create flexibility.

The 32-year-old also isn’t such a crucial piece of the rotation that the Bucks would balk at giving him up. He’s not a particularly strong defender or play-maker, so his value comes from his ability to stretch the floor, but he has only made 33.3% of his three-point attempts, his lowest mark since 2013/14, and his 16.3 minutes per game are the fewest he has averaged since 2006/07.

It’s hard to come up with an ideal trade scenario for the Bucks, so Ilyasova is probably more likely to stay put than to change teams within the next couple months. But it won’t be a surprise if he’s dangled in a few trade discussions before February 6.

Reggie Jackson, PG
Detroit Pistons
$18.1MM cap hit; UFA in 2020

If the Pistons fall out of playoff contention in the Eastern Conference, some bigger names could become trade candidates. In that scenario, potential deals involving Andre Drummond and Blake Griffin shouldn’t be entirely ruled out.

But considering the 11-13 Magic currently hold the No. 8 spot in the East, falling out of the playoff race is unlikely unless the Pistons totally bottom out. As such, Jackson is the more logical trade candidate than the team’s two stars, since his expiring $18MM+ salary could be used to build a package for another impact player.

Unfortunately, it doesn’t seem as if there will be many impact players available that will fit the Pistons’ roster. But exploring a trade for a player like D’Angelo Russell using Jackson’s contract as the primary salary-matching piece might make sense if Detroit – which has all its future first-round picks available – remains in win-now mode.

Revisit the rest of our 2019/20 Trade Candidate series right here.

Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images.

Cavs Rumors: Love, Trade Options, Porter

December 12th, 2019 at 9:51am CST by Luke Adams

The Cavaliers may have a difficult time trading Kevin Love this season for a couple reasons, as Jason Lloyd of The Athletic explains. For one, Love has a massive contract that will pay him more than $91MM over the next three seasons, not counting his $29MM cap hit for 2019/20.

Additionally, there may be a significant divide between what the Cavaliers want for Love vs. what other teams are willing to offer. A source with knowledge of the situation tells Lloyd that Cleveland is seeking a first-round pick. However, some potential trade partners want to acquire a first-rounder themselves for absorbing the final three-and-a-half years of Love’s contract.

One league executive believes the Cavs may eventually get the first-round pick they want in a Love trade, but it depends how much salary they’ll be willing to take back, Lloyd writes. It doesn’t help the Cavs’ case that there aren’t many truly toxic multiyear contracts left on teams’ books around the NBA that they could absorb.

Here’s more out of Cleveland:

Following up on Love, Lloyd acknowledges that the five-time All-Star has been the subject of trade rumors for years, but says this time feels “a little more real.”
Here’s how Love responded when asked by Lloyd if he re-upped with Cleveland because the team was willing to pay him more money than he could’ve received in free agency: “Maybe more years. And honestly it was like the last one I signed. I could’ve done a one-plus-one and waited, and got $40MM more. But I think I felt comfortable here, I didn’t know what the future was going to hold, but they believed in me after my first year after I got hurt and they believed in me then. And it’s really hard to say no when the money is right there. From a strictly financial standpoint, if it’s right there in front of you, you’re like, ‘S–t.'”
The Cavaliers had made it known that they’re ready to discuss trades, according to Lloyd, who hears from one source that the team has made “basically everyone but Darius [Garland]” available. The Cavs’ veterans on expiring contracts are the club’s most logical trade chips, but Lloyd is unconvinced that any of those players will be worth a first-round pick on the trade market.
According to Lloyd, the Cavs have been “quietly impressed” with what they’ve seen so far from No. 30 overall pick Kevin Porter Jr. Chris Fedor of Cleveland.com took a closer look at Porter after the rookie scored a career-high 24 points vs. Houston on Wednesday, writing that the 19-year-old has been the “brightest light in a gloomy season” for the franchise.

Kevin Love Reportedly Interested In Blazers

December 11th, 2019 at 6:24pm CST by Alex Kirschenbaum

Multiple sources have informed The Ringer’s Kevin O’Connor that pricey Cavaliers power forward Kevin Love would prefer to be traded to his hometown Trail Blazers. Love, a native of Lake Oswego, Oregon, is in the first year of a four-year, $120.1MM contract.

The big man, 31, missed 60 games last season with various maladies. Injuries also hindered his availability during the 2017/18 season. Love missed 23 games that year, his last All-Star season.

O’Connor opines that the expiring contracts of center Hassan Whiteside (who is earning $27.1MM) or wing Kent Bazemore ($19.3MM) could be used in a deal with Cleveland. Cavaliers center Tristan Thompson, currently earning $18.5MM in the final year of his deal, could also be a good fit in Portland, O’Connor notes. Injured center Jusuf Nurkic is expected to return to the floor for Portland well before the playoffs commence.

The 10-15 Blazers are seeded 11th in the competitive Western Conference at present, but they are just two games back of the 11-12 Suns, the current No. 8 seed in a crowded race for the bottom of the playoff bracket.

Even with the eighth seed in the Eastern Conference fairly open (the 11-12 Magic currently occupy that position), the 5-18 Cavaliers face an uphill battle to make the playoffs. Anonymous leaks suggest player dissatisfaction with new head coach John Beilein, and their young guards, Darius Garland and Collin Sexton, have both struggled to perform thus far this season. With Love apparently wanting out, too, the Cavs may be best served cutting their losses and stockpiling whatever assets they can extract from an interested trade partner.

O’Connor notes that the Suns and Nuggets may also be candidates for Love’s services ahead of the February 6th trade deadline.

Central Notes: Thompson, George, Pacers, Valentine

December 11th, 2019 at 1:01pm CST by Luke Adams

Cavaliers center Tristan Thompson wasn’t happy about the fact that a report surfaced last week anonymously quoting three of his teammates who were critical of John Beilein‘s head coaching style. Thompson came to Beilein’s defense over the weekend and fired back at the teammates quoted in that report, according to Chris Fedor of Cleveland.com.

“Y’all better find them names ’cause I’ll pull up on ’em right now,” Thompson said. “You can’t do that s–t. At the end of the day if you’re going to build a culture and a family, you can’t have that Chatty Patty s–t going on. That s–t is whack to me.

“Everyone’s got to look in the mirror, there’s only so much coach can do and there’s only so much we can do,” Thompson continued. “Do we have the best roster in the NBA? No. But we’re going to go out there and compete every night. Guys got to look in the mirror. So I hope whoever reported that was just bulls——g and blamed it on a player.”

Here’s more from around the Central:

After getting a rough reception from Pacers fans on Sunday, Paul George said he’s not the one those fans should be booing. What exactly did he mean? “The belief in Indiana is that he’s referring to Larry Bird,” ESPN’s Brian Windhorst said this week on an episode of The Jump (video link). Bird, now an advisor in Indiana, was formerly the team’s president of basketball operations and pushed George to move from small forward to power forward, something PG13 didn’t want to do, as Windhorst details.
Speaking of the Pacers, they look like they could become a legitimate threat in the Eastern Conference once they get Victor Oladipo back in their lineup, writes Jonathan Tjarks of The Ringer.
It has been up-and-down season so far for Denzel Valentine, who was out of the Bulls‘ rotation until late November. As Rob Schaefer of NBC Sports Chicago notes, Valentine has been playing his best ball of the year recently, making at least three 3-pointers and scoring in double-digits in each of his last three games. The 26-year-old shooting guard will be a restricted free agent at season’s end.

Celtics Aren't Candidate To Trade For Kevin Love

December 10th, 2019 at 12:00pm CST by Luke Adams

Steve Bulpett of The Boston Herald explains why the Celtics shouldn’t be viewed as a potential suitor for Cavaliers forward Kevin Love, who is reportedly on the trade block.

Wizards’, Cavs’ Trade Exceptions Expire

December 10th, 2019 at 11:03am CST by Luke Adams

A pair of traded player exceptions expired on Monday, as the Wizards and Cavaliers didn’t find a use for their TPEs. Washington’s exception was worth about $3.39MM, while Cleveland’s was worth $2.76MM.

Both trade exceptions were generated in last December’s three-team trade involving the Bucks, Cavaliers, and Wizards, which saw George Hill sent to Milwaukee and John Henson and Matthew Dellavedova land in Cleveland. The Cavs generated their exception as a result of sending Sam Dekker to the Wizards, but never ended up using that TPE.

The Wizards, meanwhile, created a $5.45MM trade exception in the deal by sending Jason Smith to Milwaukee. They did actually use a part of that exception this past summer, using it to absorb Moritz Wagner‘s $2.06MM in their deal with the Lakers. Washington didn’t use the rest of the TPE, however.

The Cavs still have three traded player exceptions available, though the most valuable one is worth just $1.54MM, so they’re unlikely to be used. The Wizards have more options — they have four TPEs left, including a $5MM exception that doesn’t expire until July 7, 2020.

For more information on traded player exceptions and how they work, be sure to check out our glossary entry on the subject and our full list of available TPEs.

Kevin Love Interested In Blazers

December 10th, 2019 at 8:23am CST by Luke Adams

Speaking of Gallinari, the Trail Blazers are expected to pursue the Thunder forward, league sources tell The Ringer. O’Connor also hears that Cavaliers power forward Kevin Love would like to play for his hometown team in Portland.

[SOURCE LINK]

Kevin Love Understands Trade Chatter

December 9th, 2019 at 6:34pm CST by Dana Gauruder

The Trail Blazers, Nuggets and Suns are some of the teams that might be interested in Cavaliers forward Kevin Love but his trade value has diminished due to his health and contract, Sean Deveney of Heavy.com writes. Love is in the first year of his $120MM extension and he’s experienced back issues after missing most of last season with a toe injury, Deveney notes. He also missed significant time the previous two seasons with hand and knee injuries. Cleveland’s haul for Love would likely involve a first-round pick, salary-cap relief, and perhaps an underachieving young player, Deveney adds.

Love isn’t sure if he’ll be dealt but he understands why there’s so much speculation regarding his status on the rebuilding Cavaliers, Tim Bontemps of ESPN relays. “I imagine, in a rebuild, it’s easy to look at it, especially when it’s down and out at this point, and say, ‘Hey, we want to completely reset the deck and go young,'” Love said. “I understand that. But despite that, whether it’s five months or five years, I’m always going to be able to come back to Cleveland no matter what, and I’ll always love the fans, and be part of this organization, one way or another.”

Kevin Love Reportedly Prefers Move To Contender

December 9th, 2019 at 11:09am CST by Luke Adams

Trade rumors continue to swirl around Cavaliers forward Kevin Love, with Shams Charania of The Athletic and ESPN’s Brian Windhorst becoming the latest to weigh in on Love’s situation.

According to Charania, league sources have said Love would prefer a move to a contending team. Charania also reiterated what ESPN reported on Friday, indicating that the Cavs have been open to engaging in discussions with teams about a potential trade involving Love.

Windhorst, meanwhile, stated on his podcast that he thinks Cleveland’s phone lines “were always open” on Love, adding that the five-time All-Star seems “clearly unhappy” with the Cavs (hat tip to RealGM). Love expressed frustration over the weekend with the team’s struggles, and Windhorst suggests that the big man’s relationship with first-year head coach John Beilein may have accelerated the Cavs’ timeline for a trade.

The Cavs got off to a solid start this season under Beilein, winning four of their first nine games. Since then, they’ve dropped 12 of 13, and many of those losses have been blowouts. The team was hammered by 47 points in Philadelphia on Saturday.

After recording 18.3 PPG and 13.4 RPG on 48.1% shooting in Cleveland’s first nine games, Love has averages of 13.9 PPG and 7.6 RPG on 39.6% since then, and has battled a back injury.

While Love still has star-level upside, potential trade partners will be wary of his recent injury history (he hasn’t played more than 60 games in a season since 2015/16) and of his contract, which still has three years and $91MM+ left on it after this season.

Cavaliers Notes: Love, Beilein, Altman

December 8th, 2019 at 11:41am CST by Arthur Hill

The frustrations in Cleveland are becoming too much for Kevin Love to hide, writes Chris Fedor of Cleveland.com. The Cavaliers lost by 47 points last night in Philadelphia, a day after a report that players are unhappy with first-year coach John Beilein. Fedor notes that at one point in the game Love wandered off by himself for a while during a timeout after rookie Darius Garland opted to shoot a fadeaway rather than pass the ball to him in the post.

“Just complete and utter frustration,” Love admitted after the game. “I think that’s natural. I really want to compete. I think most guys want to compete. Just really, really frustrated. I don’t know. Getting myself going is just … I don’t know what else I can do.”

Saturday marked the 12th loss in 13 games for the Cavs and the second straight in which a member of the organization commented on Love’s body language. He committed to the team last year by agreeing to a four-year extension after LeBron James left, but finds himself in an unfamiliar role as part of a rebuilding project after making four straight trips to the NBA Finals. A report surfaced Friday that Cleveland is ready to listen to trade offers involving Love.

“I’m really trying to be engaged,” he said. “I’m trying to be a good teammate. I don’t think any of these guys would say that I’m not a good teammate. It’s tough.”

There’s more Cavaliers news to pass along:

Beilein received some encouragement last night from Sixers coach Brett Brown, who understands rebuilding as well as anyone, Fedor adds. Overseeing “the Process,” Brown won a combined 47 games during his first three seasons in Philadelphia, but now has his team in title contention. He promised to text Beilein advice on how to handle the constant losing
The Cavaliers can make Beilein’s job a lot easier by getting rid of the veterans who refuse to give him a chance, contends Jason Lloyd of The Athletic. Beilein claims he has changed his college style to adapt to the NBA, but Lloyd notes that he’s really coaching two teams at once — a young core set for the future and seven veterans who are in the final year of their contracts. Lloyd believes general manager Koby Altman already knows which players need to be traded.
Frank Urbina of HoopsHype lists the Jazz, Nets, Suns and Celtics as four possible landing spots for Love.