No one wants to be stuck in any situation. You always want an out whether it is a blind date, a bad work party or even a job, everyone always wants an exit strategy.
Professional sports organization are no different when they look at their teams. They always are straying to see how they can get out of a bad contract or how they can improve a team. We have learned there are no untradeable contracts in the NBA over the years. Al Horford just got traded for Kemba Walker in a trade of two albatross contracts. Same can be said with the Russell Westbrook for John Wall trade, as the Wizards had to attach a first round pick to Wall in the move with the Rockets because Wall’s contract was so bad. Usually there is an exit strategy for every move in the NBA if you look hard enough. Well, except for one:
The Cavs may be stuck with Kevin Love.
Love is 32 years old, has not played more than 60 games in a season since 2016 and is owed $60.2 million over the next two years. When he is on the floor, he makes your team better with his ability to stretch the floor and make the right pass with the ball in his hands. Love is probably a center in the modern NBA and could be effective with a rim protecting forward who can make up for his inability to defend the rim. He is a career 37 percent shooter from three and excels on threes from the top of the key and the corner. He is a great pick and roll/pick and pop partner for a point guard. While you wish he was better on defense, he can still be a productive player in this league, when he is healthy.
The problem is Love is never healthy, as he once again proved this week when he withdrew from the Olympic team due to a lingering calf injury. Add that he is owed $60 million over the next two years on a contract that seems to get worse by the hour, and you have the definition of an untradeable contract.
So what options do the Cavs honestly have with Love?
Buy him out
The Cavs could hand Kevin Love a check for $60.2 million and tell him to go find another home. The issue with handing him said check is the two seasons of $29.9 and $30.3 million still sit on the Cavs cap. So the Cavs can not just make his money disappear off the cap sheet by handing him a check and telling him to “Go Away.” By buying him out, you would be paying him to play for someone else. While I am tired of watching Love sit on the Cavs bench in non-basketball clothes, having him be a cheerleader on someone else’s bench on the Cavs dime is not the answer.
Stretch him
The NBA has a rule called “The Stretch Provision,” where a team is allowed to buy out a player and take the remaining amount of his salary and stretch it over the next few years to lower the impact on the cap. So in the case of Love, the Cavs could stretch his remaining two years of $60.2 million into five years of $12.4 million per year. I am a firm no on this one, because if the goal of this team is to make the playoffs in the years ahead, that $12.4 million would look really good as a piece of a Darius Garland extension or as a mid tier veteran free agent who can get this team over the hump. Stretching Love is a hard no for me.
Trade Him
The ESPN Trade Machine is a fantastic way to spend an afternoon avoiding work. The problem with the trade machine is it does not take into account the intentions of both teams. It just looks at the numbers of the contracts compared to the cap and the amount of roster spaces available. So while yes, the trade machine will allow me to trade Kevin Love for Devin Booker and Javon Carter, we all know the Phoenix Suns would have to be on peyote to say yes to this trade. So let’s make some logical Kevin Love trade proposals.
Now the rule I am using is if the trade feels fair, it probably isn’t. If both sides think they are giving up too much, then it is a fair trade.
Sam Amico tossed out this out in a Kevin Love piece on Hoopswire.com, “Per sources, potential Love suitors include the Pelicans, 76ers, Heat, Clippers and Trail Blazers.”
The Pelicans are interesting, so let’s start there.
Pelicans get: Love, Collin Sexton and Taurean Prince
Cavs get: Stephen Adams, Eric Bledsoe and Nickeil Alexander-Walker
What you are essentially doing with this trade is trading two years of Love for one year of Adams. Bledsoe is a good regular season point guard and a tough defender. You may be able to play Bledsoe and Garland together because of Bledsoe’s defense. Alexander-Walker is a lotto ticket, who I have always liked and I think needs a change of scenery.
Who Says No: I think the Cavs say no, because they think they can do better than Bledsoe and Alexander-Walker in a Sexton trade. It is really easy to pair Sexton with Love because Sexton’s value may be able to handle Love’s crappy contract. Prince can play decent defense and shoots well on open corner 3s, so he has value beyond his expiring contract.
Let’s try the 76ers
76ers get: Love, Sexton, 2022 unprotected first
Cavs get: Ben Simmons
Full disclosure: I am a seventh grade basketball coach, so I believe you can always fix shot mechanics and build confidence in a shot when it starts to drop. I do not believe Simmons is a lost cause when it comes to making enough jump shots that you have to guard him. Hell, there are very smart people who believe Simmons shoots with the wrong hand. I am not saying he can be a great shooter, I am saying he can be good enough that you are not playing five on four on offense. Even without the jumper, Simmons is an All-NBA player and two time member of the NBA All Defense Team. He is a phenomenal passer and a monster in transition.
Who Says No: The Sixers. If you could guarantee the Sixers that Love would play 65-70 games of 17 points and 8 rebounds while shooting 35-40 percent from 3, I think they would do it. Problem is I feel more confident in promising you an Oasis reunion tour than I would promising that Love will play 65-70 games next season. Hence Daryl Morey probably asking for more than a 2022 unprotected first and Koby Altman smashing the phone on the receiver hard enough to make his secretary think he killed a spider with it.
The Heat can not make the money work without a third team and I don’t have that kind of energy. Plus this column is long enough without that mess added to it.
WAIT, IS THAT STEVE BALLMER’S MUSIC?!?!?!?!
There is almost a $500 billion of net worth flailing wildly on that stage and not one of them has rhythm or moves. I may be poor, but at least I have rhythm!
Here is the Clippers best deal,
Clippers get: Kevin Love, Lottery protected 2022 first
Cavs get: Marcus Morris, Patrick Beverley and Luke Kenard
The Cavs get toughness in this deal…who the hell am I kidding. I can’t sell this crap. This deal bites for both sides. The only man who could sell this deal is Gil Gunderson.
Ol' Gil's gotta make the trade!
Who says no: The Cavs and the Clippers, at the same time. Jinx is then yelled and silence is heard on the phone until a third teams gets involved to say one of their names.
The only way this deal gets done is if El Jefe gets excited about it.
That man is worth $82.5 billion according to Forbes. When you are worth that much money, there is no reason to sweat through a dress shirt.
Nothing is “sweat through a dress shirt”exciting.
Last One, The Portland Trail Blazers
Trail Blazers get: Love, Sexton, and a top 10 protected 2022 first
Cavs Get: CJ McCollum and Anfernee Simons
If the Blazers decide to move on from Lillard (or Lillard demands a trade), this trade makes sense. The Blazers get two assets who they believe can help them win in the long term with Sexton and the first round pick. Love is essentially the tax for this trade. If the Blazers are going to tear it down, two years of Love’s contract will not scare them away. McCollum comes in and becomes the primary scorer on a team missing someone who can find their own shot with two minutes left in the forth quarter.
Who Says No: The Blazers, unless they are hitting the eject button, then I think both teams say yes. The reason being the Cavs get what Sexton hopes to be in McCollum and the Blazers have a young asset they can extend, Love can sell some tickets and the first round pick helps speed up the rebuild.
I hate to say it, but unless you have a better trade proposal (you can send them to me on twitter @thesportsfeller), I think the Cavs are looking at another season of Kevin Love, with the hope that he can get healthy and show he can still contribute on a playoff team.
Three Quick Thoughts
1. I think the Indians should trade Bryan Shaw, Eddie Rosario and Cesar Hernandez at the deadline and then play the kids. They need to figure out the Zimmer/Johnson/Mercado log jam before the end of the season, so why not now? I would also listen on Plesac in case a team is desperate.
2. It’s funny how we went from “Will the Bucks get swept?” to “Bucks in 6!” in a week.
I think this series goes seven and I will take the Bucks.
3. Everyone is going to watch the swimming, women’s gymnastics and track and field in the coming weeks, and those are excellent. But take it from an Olympics junkie, make sure you see the Canoe Slalom, Table Tennis, Team Handball and Fencing. The Olympics are the best and it will be weird without fans, but it is still great to watch.