The Cleveland Cavaliers already made one trade to bring in sharpshooting veteran Kyle Korver, but they might not be done dealing before the Feb. 23 NBA trade deadline.
Previous reports indicated the Cavaliers didn’t want to part with Kevin Love in any potential trade for New York Knicks superstar forward Carmelo Anthony.
That appears to still be the case, but LeBron James, the league’s best player and face of the Cavs franchise, apparently wouldn’t mind giving up his starting power forward to acquire his friend Melo.
“According to a league source, LeBron is the one pushing the Cleveland Cavaliers front office to acquire Carmelo even if it means trading Kevin Love, which is something Cavs management is opposed to doing,” Frank Isola of the New York Daily News wrote Monday.
“(Knicks president Phil) Jackson is hoping to move Anthony prior to the Feb. 23 trading deadline and one player the Knicks have targeted is Love, who had 23 points with 16 rebounds in Cleveland’s win over the Knicks last Saturday.”
Anthony would upgrade the Cavs offense and give them a scary three-pronged attack with James and Kyrie Irving that opposing defenses could have nightmares trying to defend. Giving up Love would weaken Cleveland’s rebounding and interior defense, though, and he doesn’t need the ball in his hands all the time to be effective.
Anthony also has a higher salary than Love, and the Cavaliers already are in the luxury tax with the league’s highest payroll.
Thumbnail photo via Ken Blaze/USA TODAY Sports Images
