Cleveland Cavaliers power forward Kevin Love is one of the veteran players who could change teams in the 2022 NBA offseason. Love may have done a great job adjusting to the Cavaliers' rebuilding plans, but most people still see him as an odd fit on their roster.
Though he established an impressive performance as the team's sixth man in the 2021-22 NBA season, the presence of younger big men such as Evan Mobley, Lauri Markkanen, and Jarrett Allen makes Love expendable on the Cavaliers' roster.
The best-case scenario for Love this summer is to be traded to a team that could give him a realistic chance of competing for the NBA championship title next season. One of the ideal landing spots for Love is the Miami Heat.
In a recent article, James Piercey of NBA Analysis Network discussed a hypothetical three-team trade that would enable Love to join forces with Jimmy Butler and Bam Adebayo in South Beach.
In the proposed three-way deal, the Heat would get Love, the Cavaliers would receive Doug McDermott and Josh Richardson, and the San Antonio Spurs would land Caris LeVert and Duncan Robinson.
Love would be a great addition to the Heat. He may no longer be in his prime, but he remains a very reliable contributor on the offensive end of the floor. He would give the Heat another offensive weapon, a great rebounder, and a legitimate floor spacer.
This season, the 33-year-old power forward averaged 13.6 points, 7.2 rebounds, and 2.2 assists while shooting 43.0 percent from the field and 39.2 percent from beyond the arc.
Sharing the court with a floor-spacing big man like Love would benefit Butler as it would make it easier for him to penetrate the basket or kick the ball out when the opposing team's defense traps him.
Aside from adding a former All-Star with plenty of championship experience, the proposed three-team trade would also help the Heat create salary-cap space in the summer of 2023.
In the potential deal, the Heat would be unloading Robinson and the $74 million he's owed over the next four years in exchange for Love's expiring contract.
The Heat may not have shown that they want to get rid of Robinson, but with the way they are using him, he's clearly being overpaid for playing limited minutes in the playoffs.
The hypothetical three-way deal would make a lot of sense for the Cavaliers as it would allow them to address the logjam in their frontcourt and turn Love's expiring contract into two veterans who would boost their wing depth.
As Piercey noted, trading Love to acquire McDermott and Richardson would help the Cavaliers "turn a position of weakness into a position of strength."
The suggested trade would enable the Spurs to add two players with untapped potential. LeVert and Robinson could become Coach Gregg Popovich's final projects before ending his NBA career.
