Cavs: Team should avoid trading Kevin Love unless they go full rebuild

Unless the Cavs are looking at trading Kevin Love to truly start a full rebuild of the team, there’s no reason to trade the All-Star power forward.

The rumor mill is spinning again for the Cavs. Will this be the year they finally trade Kevin Love? Some in the NBA media think that’s a very real possibility. ESPN’s Brian Windhorst was on the Wine and Gold Talk Podcast with Chris Fedor and Hayden Grove and revealed that he’s heard Love was back on the market.

"I was talking to an executive the other day, just this week, and I said, ‘Yeah, I heard that Kevin Love was back on the trade market."

If the Cavs are hoping to actually compete for a playoff spot, they’re going to need Love. His scoring is still really strong, and considering how few people on this roster can both score inside and outside like Love can, trading him seems shortsighted at best. He’s also still a high-level, near-elite level, rebounder. Sure, he’s not a great defender but who is in the NBA in 2020?

Love is under contract for the next three years, and considering he’s never been a highly athletic player, isn’t expected to have a production drop off. The only reason he would see his numbers dip is if he can’t stay healthy.

If the Cavs are going full taken mode and intend on trading away Love, Andre Drummond, and others, then the decision to trade Love makes sense. If that’s the case, Koby Altman should be fired immediately. Since he was hired, he’s made one bad decision after another, both in the draft, in coaching hires, and contracts given out.

It’s actually surprising that he hasn’t been fired yet, considering how inept the team has been with him leading the way. If Love is traded, and they don’t get a haul in return, Altman’s failures will be obvious.