Why This Trade Makes Sense For The Cleveland Cavaliers

It definitely makes more sense for the Cleveland Cavaliers to trade Kevin Love than it does to trade Collin Sexton, but the two first-round picks they would be getting in return could prove to be extremely beneficial to Cleveland. While they have gotten off to a fast start this season, the Cavaliers are not going to be a successful team at least for a few seasons as they continue to stockpile youthful talent and develop a young core. 

Collin Sexton has been vital to the Cavaliers and the main piece of their young core, which is why they would be hesitant to trade him in the first place. However, acquiring two valuable first-round assets gives the Cavs the option to then bring in a potential NBA All-Star player to pair with Conley and Drummond.

In doing so, the Cavaliers could hypothetically contend in the Eastern Conference, while still holding onto younger players to build a core for the future. Everything about this trade revolves around whether or not the Cavs are willing to trade away Collin Sexton, because they are definitely already thinking about trading Kevin Love. 

Kevin Love is now 32-years old and Cleveland is paying him over $30M a year to help them win 19 games. Maybe I am crazy but it makes zero sense for the Cavaliers to hold onto him and pay him this kind of money when they are in no position to win.

Trading away Kevin Love would escalate the Cavaliers rebuild and give them a chance to succeed sooner than later with a young core. Love was vital to Cleveland’s success over the years with LeBron James, which is why they gave him a max-contract to begin with, but at this point in his career and with the direction the Cavaliers as an organization are moving, it is best if they part ways with Kevin Love sooner than later. 

Mike Conley still has plenty of years left in the league and can be a great mentor for guys like Darius Garland and Damyeon Dotson on the Cavs. Not to mention, he could be a great fit next to Andre Drummond, and with these two as the two veteran leaders of the Cavaliers, they may be able to go out and land a third All-Star caliber player. 

This trade definitely gives the Cleveland Cavaliers plenty of options of how they want to move forward as an organization, the biggest question though is if they are content with where they are now. If they decided to trade Kevin Love, it likely would not happen until near the trade deadline, giving Cleveland plenty of time to think about and weigh all of their options on the trade market.