Kevin Love did a hell of a job recovering his reputation as a winning player this NBA season. After toiling away for three seasons in the early years of the Cleveland Cavaliers’ rebuild following LeBron James’s departure, he became the sage veteran that the young Cavs needed.
Love put together a decent run at the NBA’s Sixth Man of the Year award. Tyler Herro had the nod on lock this year, but in any other season, Love would have been a serious contender.
In 2021-22, he put up 13.6 points, 7.2 rebounds, and 2.2 assists while slashing 43/39/84 off of the bench. He also played uncharacteristically apt team defense and was a major part of Cleveland’s deadly big rotation and jumbo lineups.
Still, his contract makes him a negative asset, as he’s slated to make just under $29 million next year. That makes him a difficult trade target as most teams interested in adding his services wouldn’t want to give up that much salary in return.
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One team that both needs his talents and has the ability to match his cap figure is the Los Angeles Lakers. They have an equally bad contract in Russell Westbrook that they would like to shed and Kevin Love’s fit next to LeBron James and Anthony Davis should be a much more harmonious pairing than Westbrook’s.
Love already has experience playing with LeBron and wouldn’t have to adjust his role much from what he was doing with the Cavs. He’ll mostly be a spot-up shooter, who can also contribute defensively, on the boards, and with his patented outlet passes.
With Anthony Davis, Kevin Love would have the most defensively gifted frontcourt partner he’s had in his entire career. With Davis roaming the paint behind him, Love’s defensive deficiencies would be mostly neutralized. In return, Love’s outside shooting will open up the paint entirely for the Brow to go to work.
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On the Cavs’ side of things, Cleveland desperately needed another ballhandler and playmaker aside from Darius Garland. With Collin Sexton injured and Caris LeVert failing to find his niche in the Land, Russell Westbrook might be a great candidate to elevate the Cavs’ ceiling.
Russ has plenty of faults, but most of them would be negated with the Cavs. They have plenty of outside shooting to clear the paint for him. They have athletic bigs that can screen and roll hard to the rim for lobs and dump-offs from Westbrook going downhill. And most importantly, they have stout defenders all over the roster that can make up for his lapses in attention.
In return, Westbrook gives the Cleveland Cavaliers another offensive creator and someone who can put their head down and get to the rim at will. He’ll be an excellent mentor for Garland who would also allow the young guard to play off-ball and seek open triples.
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And even if Russell Westbrook isn’t a great fit in Cleveland, his exorbitant contract expires after next year and the Cavaliers should be able to grab a few other assets along with him in return for Love.
A sign-and-trade that sends Kevin Love and Collin Sexton to the Los Angeles Lakers in return for Russell Westbrook and a future unprotected first-round pick makes sense for both teams.
