Opinion: Trading Kevin Love to Pelicans/Hawks Could Result in RJ Barrett

Kevin Love has been built to be the veteran leader and centerpiece of the Cavaliers following the exit of LeBron James.

Love, unfortunately, got hurt this past season and missed 60 games. The Cavs couldn’t do much and never really got going and faced the fact that rebuilding was definitely now the choice.

Love in 2018-19 only played in 22 games, averaged 17.0 PPG, 10.9 Rebounds, 2.2 assists.

In his career, Love averages 18.3 PPG, 11.3 rebounds, and 2.3 assists through 657 games.

Sam Amico wrote a piece stating that the Cavs aren’t pressing but are open to trading Love to the New Orleans Pelicans or Atlanta Hawks.

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I’d take the chance with trading Love to the Pelicans and hope you can their fourth pick in Thursday’s NBA draft. Darius Garland is projected to go fourth and Cody White fifth. The Cavs also have a pick at 26 which is expected to be Kevin Porter. (All projected picks are from NBAdraft.net in their mock draft)

If the Cavs maintain the fourth pick with a deal with the Pelicans, the Knicks could be interested in getting two picks in the top 10 especially now that they are long shots to gain Kyrie Irving & Kevin Durant. The Cavs can trade picks four and five for three which is where RJ Barrett is expected to be drafted. The upcoming draft has plenty of question marks and basketball fans should expect the unexpected because the draft positions aren’t set in stone and draft trades can always be a possibility.

The Cavs need to start building to the future due in large part to the fact the team has seven expiring contracts following the 2020 season (including JR). Matthew Dellavedova, Tristan Thompson, Jordan Clarkson are some of the names with expiring contracts following next season.

Without any of the seven players resigning, Cleveland would have around $81 million in cap space for the 2020-21 NBA season.

The Cavaliers also have 4 trade exceptions that they can use with Rodney Hood’s being a $3.4 million exception along with Sam Dekker’s $2.7 million exception.

Bottom line is that it’s once again that time to get ready for some rough basketball to watch and time to enjoy the Cavs draft picks.

The NBA Draft will take place at Barclays Center in Brooklyn, New York. ESPN and Yahoo Sports will televise the event live starting at 7pm.