Cleveland Cavaliers

The Cleveland Cavaliers continue to explore trading Kevin Love but have reportedly found "very little market."

ESPN's Zach Lowe reported "nothing appears serious" in Love trade talks, though the Phoenix Suns have long been viewed as a "wild card" to swoop in and make a trade.

Love, 31, is averaging 17.4 points, 9.8 rebounds and 2.9 assists per game during what's been the most visibly frustrating season of his NBA career. He remains an effective floor spacer and heady passer who can play either big spot depending on the lineup but has a massive contract holding back any trade talks.

The Cavs owe Love $91.5 million over the next three seasons. While the four-year, $120 million deal he inked last summer seemed designed to make it easier for Cleveland to trade Love in the post-LeBron James era, it's instead become a major impediment.

Love has clearly reached a good-but-non-All-Star stage of his career, making him more befitting of a third-banana role rather than a guy teams want to pay near-max salary. The contract limits Love's suitor pools greatly, mostly to capped-out teams that do not think they can do any better in free agency the next couple of years.

The Suns are an interesting "wild card" because they don't fit that bill. Their cap sheet is relatively clean moving forward, and they have a roster filled with young, developing talent.

As Lowe notes, Phoenix's potential interest comes down to the patience (or lack thereof) of owner Robert Sarver. On paper, it doesn't make much sense for the Suns to add a 31-year-old non-superstar with a massive contract. They're not close to contention, and Love's age doesn't fit with anyone who is part of the team's long-term plans. 

On the other hand, the Suns are about to finish their 10th straight season out of the playoffs. Love is a big name with championship experience and can be the so-called adult in the room full of young players. He also has a relationship with Suns general manager James Jones dating back to their time in Cleveland as teammates. 

The Cleveland Cavaliers are expected to be sellers ahead of Thursday's trade deadline with the team once again well out of playoff contention.

According to Chris Haynes of Yahoo Sports, the team is in "asset accumulation mode," with center Tristan Thompson reportedly available for a trade.

Thompson is averaging 11.9 points, 10.4 rebounds and 2.1 assists per game, all of which would be career highs over a full season.

The 28-year-old has also expanded his offensive game with more jump shots, including the first three made three-pointers of his career.

This could make the pending free agent a lot of money in the offseason, but he's of little use to the Cavaliers as they sit 13-37 on the season, tied for the worst record in the Eastern Conference.

The organization has other players in the final year of their contract, including Brandon Knight, John Henson and Matthew Dellavedova, but Thompson would clearly bring back the best return. Any assets recovered could help the rebuild around young players like Collin Sexton and Darius Garland. 

This news should also excite contenders looking for frontcourt help.

Thompson is an elite rebounder on both ends but especially offensively, ranking second in the NBA with a 14.7 percent offensive rebounding rate. He should be able to immediately improve a team without requiring a high usage rate.

Adding in his playoff experience that includes an NBA title in 2016, the nine-year veteran could be a perfect late-season add to a number of squads.

The center market could be crowded, with ESPN's Adrian Wojnarowski reporting Clint Capela could be available, while Andre Drummond could also be on the move. Still, there will likely be a lot of interest in Thompson ahead of the deadline.

The Cleveland Cavaliers reportedly aren't going to trade Kevin Love prior to Thursday's deadline.

"Cleveland is resigned right now that there is no trade for them between now and Thursday. Unless something comes out of nowhere, essentially, they will be looking in the offseason," ESPN's Adrian Wojnarowski said on The Woj Pod.

Wojnarowski explained the team is not interested in simply giving the 31-year-old away and doesn't think there is enough value on the market to move him during the season.

There is no questioning Love's resume as a five-time All-Star and two-time All-NBA selection who helped the Cavaliers win the 2016 championship alongside LeBron James and Kyrie Irving. James and Irving are no longer on the team, and Cleveland is in rebuilding mode and likely not ready to contend again while Love is in his prime.

It would make sense from the Cavaliers' perspective to move him for young assets or draft picks, but they apparently do not like what is available heading into Thursday's deadline.

Love has still been solid this season and is averaging 17.4 points, 9.8 rebounds and 2.9 assists per game behind 45.2 percent shooting from the field and a 37.9 percent clip from three-point range.

There has been some drama with Love this season. Greg Swartz of Bleacher Report cited sources in January who said the veteran was frustrated with his role. He also visibly threw his arms up in apparent disgust at Collin Sexton during a loss to the Oklahoma City Thunder.

In January, Shams Charania and Joe Vardon of The Athletic also reported "Love had an emotional verbal outburst directed toward general manager Koby Altman."

Love ultimately apologized to the organization and his teammates for his actions, and it appears as if he will remain with the Cavaliers for at least the rest of the season.

The Cleveland Cavaliers have lost 10 of their last 11 outings, and an anonymous player was at a loss when asked to name the root of the team's problems following a 131-112 loss to the Golden State Warriors on Saturday.

"Wish I could tell you," he told Cleveland.com's Chris Fedor. "I definitely don't have an answer. This is the worst it's been by far."

The Cavs are tied with the Atlanta Hawks for the second-worst record in the NBA at 13-37. The 11-39 Warriors have the fewest wins in the league but still managed to top Cleveland by 19 points.

"I feel this hurts a little bit more because we have close to the same record and similar guys," Collin Sexton said after the loss to the Warriors, per The Athletic's Kelsey Russo. "Just hurt a little bit different. Plus, they blew us out. We have to take pride in that because it's a recurring thing. Tired of getting blown out."

"I've got to think about everything," first-year Cavs head coach John Beilein added. "I have to think about everything right now. Maybe even change the lineup, do different things at halftime. I'm going to consider everything. But I don't have an answer for you, but that's what I've got to do."

Cleveland hasn't won at home since defeating the Hawks 121-118 on Dec. 23. 

The Cavaliers are on the front end of a rebuild. With the Feb. 6 league trade deadline looming, "more than a few" anonymous Cavaliers said to Fedor that they "sense the organization wanting to make a big shake-up, that the front office is 'trying to trade Kevin [Love] and Tristan [Thompson].'"

Love and Thompson are the only Cavs remaining from the 2016 NBA championship squad headlined by LeBron James and Kyrie Irving. The James-led Cavaliers went on to lose back-to-back Finals appearances the next two seasons. Cleveland went 19-63 last season following James' departure to the Los Angeles Lakers.

While long-term fixes don't seem imminent, the Cavaliers' next chance to snap their three-game losing streak will be when the 14-36 New York Knicks visit on Monday night.

There is reportedly a belief within the Cleveland Cavaliers locker room that the front office is looking to trade veterans Kevin Love and Tristan Thompson.

According to Cleveland.com's Chris Fedor, "more than a few" Cavs players feel the organization wants to make a "big shakeup" in the form of trading two of their biggest names and longest-tenured stars before the Feb. 6 deadline this week.

Cleveland is tied with the Atlanta Hawks for the worst record in the Eastern Conference at 13-37, and it is in line to miss the playoffs for the second consecutive season after reaching the NBA Finals in the previous four campaigns.

If the Cavs do move on from Love and Thompson, it won't come as much of a surprise. Love has been a rumored trade candidate essentially from the moment he signed a four-year, $120.4 million extension in 2018.

Meanwhile, Thompson can become a free agent at the conclusion of the season, so it would make sense to trade him rather than potentially lose him for nothing during the offseason.

While Cleveland has struggled as a team this season, both Love and Thompson have been fairly productive individually.

The 31-year-old Love is averaging 17.4 points, 9.8 rebounds and 2.9 assists per game, while shooting 45.2 percent from the field and 37.9 percent from deep. Love's 2.6 three-pointers made per game are a career high as well, making him an ideal target for a team in search of a stretch four.

Love is a five-time All-Star, one-time NBA rebounding champ and one-time NBA champion, and while he is more of a complementary piece than a go-to guy at this juncture of his career, he could be a great fit on a contending team in need of some shooting and rebounding help.

Joe Vardon and Shams Charania of The Athletic reported in January that Love had an "emotional verbal outburst" toward general manager Koby Altman due to his "displeasure and disgust with the organization."

They noted that while Love has not publicly requested a trade, his preference is to get moved to a contending team.

The 28-year-old Thompson isn't quite as decorated as Love, but he is in the midst of the best statistical season of his career. His 11.9 points, 10.4 rebounds and 2.1 assists per game are all career highs, and he is on pace to average a double-double for the second consecutive season.

Thompson is more of a traditional big than Love due to his willingness and ability to do the dirty work in the paint at both ends of the floor. Any team looking to tighten up its interior defense will likely be in the market for Thompson.

Aside from guard Matthew Dellavedova, Love and Thompson are the last remnants from Cleveland's championship team. Trading them would signal the end of an era, but it is undoubtedly time to focus on rebuilding.

If the Cavs trade both Love and Thompson, it will allow head coach John Beilein to see what he has in some of his younger bigs.

Kevin Love is reportedly playing nice. 

The 31-year-old Cleveland Cavaliers forward "prefers to be traded—even though he hasn't made that demand" ahead of the Feb. 6 NBA trade deadline, according to Cleveland.com's Chris Fedor.

"I will be happy if I'm still here," Love told reporters following Thursday night's 124-112 loss to Washington, per Fedor. "I fully plan on continuing to help these guys, continuing to help—Tristan [Thompson], myself, Larry [Nance Jr.]—these guys, being a leader with all the veterans. And this place, Cleveland, the fans, they've been really, really good to me. So, yes."

However, Shams Charania and Joe Vardon of The Athletic reported on Jan. 4 of friction between Love and general manager Koby Altman—the same day Love was visibly frustrated during a game against Oklahoma City.

Love has been with the Cavs since 2014, winning the 2016 NBA Finals alongside since departed stars LeBron James and Kyrie Irving. The franchise has sharply declined since then and has one of the league's worst records at 12-33. 

The five-time All-Star might outright demand a trade, but whether he's actually moved might come down to factors out of his control. 

"I don't think Kevin has a lot of value," an anonymous Western Conference executive told The Athletic's David Aldridge last week. "The contract is obvious, but you know he is going to miss games with the toll on his body. ... I don't see teams taking Kevin on [without] at least taking back a first-round draft pick or multiple seconds."

The contract is apparently a real issue. Love is owed $28.9 million this season and approximately $91 million over the next three years, per Spotrac. "Teams have shown resistance to taking on Love's three years and over $90 million," The Athletic's Shams Charania relayed Jan. 3, "but the Cavaliers will continue working to find a suitable spot before the February deadline."

Love is averaging 17.3 points, 10.1 rebounds and 2.9 assists in 31.3 minutes across 37 games (all starts) this season. He is the oldest member on the rebuilding Cavs.

Cleveland Cavaliers center Tristan Thompson said he'll reach out to the National Basketball Players Association to appeal the technical foul he received for slapping Memphis Grizzlies forward Jae Crowder on the butt, which led to his ejection from Friday night's game.

"So, we have a history, and it was just a little competitive spirit. [The officials] might have taken it the wrong way because they may have forgotten we were teammates," Thompson told reporters before adding he's "definitely calling [the players' association] to appeal that."

Crowder reacted to the slap by turning and looking toward an official, which may have played a role in the Cavs star's second technical of the contest.

It marked Thompson's first two technical fouls of the 2019-20 NBA season and the first ejection of his nine-year pro career.

Crowder, who also received a tech during an earlier interaction with the Cavaliers post player, spent the first half of the 2017-18 campaign alongside Thompson in Cleveland.

"A lot of barking and no bite. We will leave it at that," Crowder said.

The Grizzlies scored a 113-109 victory.

Crowder recorded nine points and eight rebounds in 30 minutes, while Thompson tallied three points and eight boards in 25 minutes.

The Cleveland Cavaliers apparently aren't negotiating from a position of strength when it comes to a possible Kevin Love trade.

The Athletic's David Aldridge spoke to a Western Conference executive who said he "[didn't] think Kevin has a lot of value," citing Love's contract and general injury history. The executive speculated the Cavs might have to include a first-round pick or multiple seconds to get a deal done.

Love will make about $91.5 million over the next three years.

Offensively, the 31-year-old remains a positive on the floor. He's averaging 17.0 points, 10.4 rebounds and 2.9 assists while shooting 37.1 percent from beyond the arc.

Love's defense is another story, though, which is an obvious concern for teams with playoff aspirations. Opposing coaches would look to attack the 6'8" forward throughout a postseason series and have ample time to draw up a game plan that does exactly that.

Love has also missed 105 combined games over the past three seasons. The state of his back is such that he's guaranteed to take off a game or two here and there.

ESPN's Adrian Wojnarowski reported in December the Cavs were ready to engage in trade discussions surrounding their best player, and based how things have unfolded recently, Cleveland would probably have moved him by now.

The Athletic's Shams Charania and Joe Vardon reported Love "had an emotional verbal outburst directed toward general manager Koby Altman" after a team shootaround earlier this month and vented his general frustration with the state of the team.

Love then showed his visible displeasure with head coach John Beilein in the Cavs' 121-106 loss to the Oklahoma City Thunder on Jan. 4.

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Beilein took the blame for the incident, and the saga has largely died down. Still, the symbolism of the moment was impossible to ignore and may have eroded Cleveland's leverage further.

Having said that, Altman may not have to trade Love for pennies on the dollar if he's willing to hold firm on his demands. This year's free-agent class is pretty thin, especially since Brandon Ingram is a restricted free agent and Anthony Davis will likely return to the Los Angeles Lakers. 

For teams looking to strengthen their frontcourt, acquiring Love may be the best option on the table despite all of the aforementioned questions as to his value.

Sam Amick, Senior NBA writer for The Athletic, joins The Full 48 to discuss top team moves before the trade deadline, Teams in most need of deals, players that may move, and All Star Game ballot selections.

Los Angeles Clippers assistant and former Cleveland Cavaliers head coach Tyronn Lue discussed several subjects—including his departure from Cleveland, relationship with LeBron James and head coaching interview with the Los Angeles Lakers—during an interview with Joe Vardon of The Athletic on Tuesday.

Despite leading the Cavs to three straight NBA Finals and their first championship in franchise history in 2016, Lue was fired after an 0-6 start last season. When asked if he wishes he was still the Cavaliers' head coach, Lue responded:

"Yeah, I do. What I tried to build there, I think the culture I tried to set ... I thought we could do it together. Koby [Altman] being a young GM, me being a young coach, having young players. I won a championship there, so you have a chance and an opportunity to do something different, and you should have that leeway to be able to go through a couple challenging years. To win a championship and go to the Finals should buy you a little time, you would think."

Lue took over for the fired David Blatt during the 2015-16 season, and the change paid dividends for the Cavs, as they went on to beat the Golden State Warriors in the Finals after losing to them the previous year.

Cleveland fell to Golden State in each of the next two Finals, but with Lue's record of 128-83 and three NBA Finals appearances in three seasons, conventional wisdom suggested he would be given a chance to lead the Cavaliers' rebuild following LeBron's decision to sign with the Lakers.

LeBron's departure essentially spelled the end of the Cavs' time as championship contenders and led to Lue's firing, which he addressed with Vardon:

Lue had a chance to reunite with LeBron during the offseason, but the coach and the Lakers could not come to terms.

Lue told Vardon that he cut off negotiations because he didn't like the contract being offered nor the "demands" the front office was making. Lue declined to get into specifics, however.

With Lue out of the running, the Lakers hired Frank Vogel.

Lue and James made for a good combination in Cleveland, and Lue believes the fact that they were friends before working together played a role:

"Before coach and player, we had a friendship. I know how to talk to 'Bron, I know how to handle it when it comes to LeBron. He trusts me, he believes in me. You can kind of see that from my time in Cleveland. The first thing I had to do was sit down with him, one on one, talk about the things I wanted to do. My vision. What we needed to do to fix this team and get our spirits right. He said, 'Man, T. Lue, I'm on board. Whatever you need to do, whatever you need from me, you got it.'"

Lue and LeBron likely would have worked well together in L.A., but Lakers fans aren't complaining about the Vogel hire, as they own the Western Conference's best record at 33-7.

While Lue isn't a head coach, he is part of the coaching staff for a supremely talented Clippers team that is fifth in the West at 27-13.

The Clippers are better than their record indicates, but they are taking a cautious approach to the health of superstars Kawhi Leonard and Paul George. Because of that, they may accept a lower seed in the interest of being at full strength when the playoffs roll around.

It seems like a decent bet that the Lakers and Clippers will meet at some point on the road to the NBA Finals, and it may cause either LeBron or Lue to wonder what could have been, depending on who comes out on the losing side.     

The Cleveland Cavaliers reportedly plan to retain coach John Beilein after he issued an apology for calling players "thugs" during a Wednesday film session. 

ESPN's Adrian Wojnarowski reported Beilein met with the team to issue an "emotional" apology before shootaround for Thursday's game against the Detroit Pistons. 

Wojnarowski broke the story Wednesday night, reporting players were "initially stunned and were increasingly disturbed" when Beilein complimented them for no longer playing "like a bunch of thugs" during the film session. Beilein said he meant to use the word "slugs."

"I didn't realize that I had said the word 'thugs,' but my staff told me later I did and so I must have said it," Beilein told ESPN. "I meant to say slugs, as in slow-moving. We weren't playing hard before, and now we were playing harder. I meant it as a compliment. That's what I was trying to say. I've already talked to eight of my players tonight, and they are telling me that they understand."

General manager Koby Altman flew to Detroit to meet with Beilein and players to assess what happened during the film session. Forward Kevin Love told reporters earlier Thursday the team understood there was "no malice" behind Beilein's words.

"I don't think there was any malice or intent to upset us. ... At the end of the day as a person, he's a good man and he misspoke. He owned up to it, came in this morning to apologize and now we've moved on," Love told reporters Thursday.

It is important to note here that Love is white and may not speak for all of his teammates, as the word "thug" is typically considered offensive toward African Americans. No player other than Love has issued a public comment on the matter, but it's clear management was satisfied enough to not remove Beilein from his post.

Beilein, 66, signed a five-year contract with the Cavs in May after spending his entire coaching career in college basketball. He's struggled reaching the locker room for most of the season, and the Cavs sit 10-27 coming into Thursday night.