Report: Pacers, Bulls Wanted Young Players, Assets More than Kevin Love

Terry Pluto’s Sunday morning scribbles revealed some interesting nuggets about trade conversations involving Kevin Love.

I’m told the Indiana Pacers don’t want Kevin Love, at least not right now. Their goal is young players and draft picks. They definitely want to trade Paul George. It would be a shock if they open the season with him on the roster. Indiana knows George will leave via free agency in the summer of 2018.

One NBA executive told me the problem is the Celtics also want George. He believes Boston could end up being the destination for George because the Celtics have the picks and some young players with appeal to Indiana.

Chicago wanted young players for Butler. That was the problem with a Cavs trade. They didn’t want Love.

-Terry Pluto, Cleveland.com

Clearly Cleveland does not have the kind of young, rebuild-worthy talent Chicago was looking for and if the Pacers are hoping to get young players and assets in return for Paul George, it doesn’t look good for the Cavs’ chances of acquiring him.

The longer this goes on, it’s becoming more apparent that a more realistic possibility for Cleveland to upgrade the roster would involve adding potential buyout candidates when they become free-agents, i.e., Carmelo Anthony and/or Dwyane Wade.

The Cavs are in dire straits from a cap room standpoint and left with unappealing trade options, even if they do have Love on the table.