Kevin Love Drama: Warriors, Cavaliers, T-Wolves Trade Rumor

ESPN’s report regarding Kevin Love being “intrigued” by the idea of signing long term with the Cleveland Cavaliers has only intensified the mass hysteria surrounding the superstar power forward this offseason, and following the decision by LeBron James to return home, the most recent Love rumor — probably the craziest rumor to date — surfaced out of Cleveland last Saturday:

While this is coming from the perspective of Cleveland’s camp, the casual NBA fan understands there is no way the Golden State Warriors even consider making this deal. Love has been the one target in Golden State’s crosshairs, but it’s no secret the Warriors’ front office has remained split on trading away Klay Thompson for the Minnesota superstar. And prior to Cairns’ report, Tim Kawakami of San Jose Mercury News reported that the Warriors have no plans to trade Klay Thompson, even with the Cavs working aggressively to find a way to pair Love with their prodigal son.

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So considering all things aforementioned, why in the world would the Warriors give away Thompson and lose out on the chance of acquiring Love for a few future first round draft picks?  Fox Sports analyst Sam Amico has said that Minnesota’s stance on a possible Thompson-Love swap has remained the same: if the T-Wolves acquire Thompson in a trade, Love would be shipped to the Dubs rather than the Cavaliers. That report makes much more sense and appears to be much more fair. No way the Cavs get away with just trading away Tristan Thompson and a couple of future first rounders, especially considering those picks most likely won’t be in the lottery with LeBron back at the helm. The only attractive asset Cleveland has to offer is Andrew Wiggins, but a recent report from ESPN’s Brian Windhorst points to the Cavs not wanting to trade away their most recent first overall pick.

Cairns also added that this deal was drawn up before LeBron made his decision and was no where close to being done. He followed up his report Sunday afternoon, tweeting that the potential deal has remained “stagnant as swamp water.”

The fact that the Warriors have still not found a way to bring Love to the Bay by now points toward one logical assumption: the team consensus at this time is the current roster is capable of competing for a championship.

The prospect of Love bombing threes from behind the arc and possible pick-and-roll action between him and Stephen Curry is a dream worth striving for, but there is no doubting that the current roster is a postseason contender.

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Some may argue that they may be limited with the pieces they have now, but hopefully new coach Steve Kerr can bring something to the team and help push them up into the next tier. We have yet to see, but Kerr’s current job coaching the Warriors Summer League team has been rather successful so far.

The potential deal is still not reported to be dead, so there may yet be hope for the Warriors as they continue to revise the offer. Maybe they end up getting Love. Maybe they don’t. Or maybe they even get Wiggins. Three-team trades are a complexity within the NBA, consisting of several moving parts that may take time to sort out.

Be sure to check back in with us for any updates.