Cleveland Cavaliers

Cleveland Cavaliers power forward Kevin Love is a veteran star on a rebuilding team. That makes him a prime trade candidate this season, a possibility Love acknowledged during an interview with Arash Markazi of the Los Angeles Times:   

"I know there's talk about me possibly being the missing piece somewhere. There's been constant chatter since I signed that I could be traded. It's one of those things where I'm going to keep doing right by the team, by Cleveland and by the organization. If my number is called, so be it, but I'm going to stay true to my commitment and let the chips fall where they may."

Love, 31, is having a solid season for the Cavaliers, averaging 18.7 points, 12.6 rebounds and 3.2 assists while shooting 44.9 percent from the field and 34.3 percent from three. For contending teams seeking a solid rebounder and perimeter shooter, he is an appealing option.

Less appealing, however, is his cap hit over the next four years:

• 2019-20: $28.9 million
• 2020-21: $31.3 million
• 2021-22: $31.3 million
• 2022-23: $28.9 million

Those numbers aren't prohibitive, though they also aren't ideal for a player like Love who isn't a great defender and missed 20 or more games in three straight seasons coming into this campaign, including 60 last year with a toe injury. 

But Love also offers championship pedigree, having played in four NBA Finals with one title alongside LeBron James and Kyrie Irving. Those days in Cleveland feel long gone now, but Love is no stranger to the postseason spotlight, another appealing factor for any inquiring teams.

As for his old teammate, James, Love had nothing but praise for the Los Angeles Lakers superstar: 

"Any team with LeBron is going to be a fun team to watch, but he's leading them and he has been super efficient. There are nights where he's going to have 30, 15 and 15 and then there's nights where he's going to play at his own pace and not put up those numbers, but he's just so efficient. It doesn't look like he's lost a step as he gets older in this league. He continues to get smarter and find ways to make everything work."

He also had advice for Kyle Kuzma, who is the third fiddle in Los Angeles behind James and Anthony Davis. 

Love sacrificed his counting stats behind James and Irving. It's easy to forget that before he was traded to Cleveland, he averaged 26.1 points and 12.5 rebounds for the Minnesota Timberwolves during the 2013-14 season. Love was far more established than Kuzma and a three-time All-Star by that point, so his advice carries weight. 

And if Love finds himself dealt to a contender with other established stars in place, he'll also be prepared to reprise that old role.

NBA teams scouring the early-season trade market are reportedly more interested in Cleveland Cavaliers guard Brandon Knight than they are in the team's star power forward, Kevin Love, according to a report from Sean Deveney of Heavy.com. 

"If you can take the hit on his (salary) number and match it, you can get rid of a bad contract and get a guy who can still play," a league executive told Deveney. "He's got the most interest. He is 28 years old [Note: He's 27 until Dec. 2]. He's been through a lot obviously with the injuries, but he is a guy who can probably help you this year and maybe you keep him on a good value deal if he produces."

Despite those comments, it's hard to believe there's a vibrant market for Knight's services. For one, he's due to make $15.6 million this season, and Deveney noted that the Cavaliers would be willing to take on salary in exchange for his services only if a first-round pick was attached.

That's a pretty tough sell unless a team is getting off a very bad contract with multiple years remaining on it. Knight's greatest value is that his deal is an expiring one. 

On the court, Knight has steadily regressed since averaging 19.6 points and 5.1 assists with the Phoenix Suns in the 2015-16 season. He played a reserve role for the Suns the following year, missed the entire 2017-18 with a torn ACL, and in the past two seasons between the Cavaliers and Houston Rockets, he has earned just 26 starts.

In two games this year he's averaged five points and three assists per contest, shooting 27.3 percent from the field and 33.3 percent from three. It seems unlikely he has much of a future in Cleveland, with recent first-round picks Collin Sexton and Darius Garland the backcourt of the future and Jordan Clarkson and Matthew Dellavedova available off the bench.

Another issue for Knight is that he isn't a particularly good perimeter shooter. His best season in that regard came in the 2014-15 season with the Milwaukee Bucks, when he shot 40.9 from three. But for his career, he's a more pedestrian 35.4 percent from deep, and last year shot just 31.8 percent from beyond the arc. 

For teams looking to dump a bad contract and clear cap space for upcoming offseasons, Knight may be an attractive piece. It's harder to imagine a contending team seeking him out, at his contract number, when they likely could find a player with an equivalent or greater impact in a trade or on the buyout market. 

The Cavaliers will likely be fielding plenty of calls between now and February. Love (19.2 PPG, 15.3 RPG) remains a productive player whom contending teams lacking an inside-outside threat at the 4 may consider. 

The issue teams may have when it comes to giving up assets for Love is his contract. The 31-year-old is in the first year of a four-year, $120.4 million deal that will pay him $31.2 million next year, $31.2 million in the 2021-22 season and $28.9 million in 2022-23, when he'll be 34 years old. 

Oklahoma City's inability to offload Chris Paul and his enormous contract, that lasts until his age-36 season, is an indication that Cleveland may struggle to get strong value for Love. Granted, he's younger than Paul and his contract isn't nearly as prohibitive. On the other hand, there's an argument to be made that Paul is still the better player. 

So Love's trade value probably isn't sky high at the moment, even if he absolutely could help a contending team. But outside of a pure salary dump move, it's a little hard to believe that teams around the NBA aren't more interested in Love than they are in Knight.

The Cleveland Cavaliers will reportedly be without rookie swingman Kevin Porter Jr. for one game.

On Monday, Chris Haynes of Yahoo Sports reported Porter was suspended one game without pay because he "improperly" made contact with an official during Sunday's 131-111 loss to the Dallas Mavericks.

Sam Amico of SI.com noted Porter made contact when he was arguing a call near the end of the game.

The USC product played 20 minutes in the loss and finished with eight points, two assists and one rebound behind 3-of-8 shooting from the field. 

He is yet to finish with double-digit points in a game but figures to be an important part of the rebuilding team's future after it acquired his draft rights after the Milwaukee Bucks selected him with the No. 30 overall pick.

Porter provides the Cavaliers with length and athleticism on the wing at 6'4" and should improve his three-point shooting (25 percent) with more experience after connecting on 41.2 percent of his triples during his one season with the Trojans.

Cleveland's next game is Tuesday against the Boston Celtics.

General manager Koby Altman has agreed to a long-term extension with the Cleveland Cavaliers, the team announced on Friday. 

Adrian Wojnarowski of ESPN first reported the deal. Terms of the contract were not disclosed.

Altman was hired by Cleveland in July 2017 to replace David Griffin, who had helped the franchise win its first-ever championship in 2015-16. Immediately upon being hired, Altman had to deal with Kyrie Irving's trade demand.

Irving was ultimately traded to the Boston Celtics in August 2017 in exchange for guard Isaiah Thomas, forward Jae Crowder, center Ante Zizic and the Brooklyn Nets' 2018 first-round pick, which wound up becoming the eighth overall pick. The Cavs used that pick to select guard Collin Sexton.

That trade has earned the approval of owner Dan Gilbert, who told the Plain Dealer's Terry Pluto in May that "we killed it in that trade."

Cleveland made the NBA Finals in Altman's first year on the job thanks to four-time NBA MVP LeBron James. Since James left in free agency in the summer of 2018, though, Altman has been tasked with a rebuild.

Among his most notable moves of the rebuild, Altman has drafted both Sexton and guard Darius Garland (fifth overall in 2019). He has also hired head coach John Beilein, who had led the Michigan Wolverines to a pair of national championship game appearances (2013 and 2018) in the last seven years.

A necessary move in my opinion. The #Cavs are focused on building a winning culture in Cleveland. Keeping Altman and Beilein longterm makes sense, especially with the turnover the organization has had at those two positions in the past https://t.co/ewUGBePHXZ

— James Rapien (@JamesRapien) November 1, 2019

He also signed five-time All-Star Kevin Love to a four-year extension in July 2018.

The 37-year-old Altman was reportedly in the final year of his three-year deal. Per Wojnarowski, it marks the first time Gilbert—who bought the Cavs in 2005—has given a general manager an extension.

Cedi Osman has reportedly agreed to a four-year extension with the Cleveland Cavaliers worth $31 million, according to Marc Stein of the New York Times.    

ESPN's Bobby Marks reported the contract is frontloaded, starting at $8.6 million and decreasing each season. According to Brian Windhorst of ESPN, the final year is not guaranteed.

The 24-year-old is making $2.9 million this season and would have been a restricted free agent next summer if the two sides didn't agree to an extension.

A second-round pick in 2015, Osman joined the Cavaliers for the 2017-18 season but played a limited role on the team that reached the NBA Finals.

The forward got a chance to showcase his skill set last season, averaging 13.0 points, 4.7 rebounds and 2.6 assists in 76 appearances. He remains a key player at the beginning of the 2019-20 campaign, starting and playing 29 minutes in Wednesday's season opener against the Orlando Magic.

At plus-six, he was the only player on the Cavaliers with a positive plus-minus.

Osman has also displayed his talent on the international level, including this summer at the FIBA Basketball World Cup for Turkey:

.@CediOsman was only of only six players to average over 20ppg at the #FIBAWC, as he led @TBF 🇹🇷 with 20.4ppg, along with 3.2 rebounds, 2.6 assists and 1.4 steals. 👏#TurkiyeGotGame pic.twitter.com/YQ4lejnK3T

— FIBA Basketball World Cup 🏆 (@FIBAWC) October 23, 2019

The wing has plenty of upside thanks to his ball-handling ability and shooting for his size (6'8", 215 lbs), and it's clear the Cavaliers want him on the roster for the long term. He will try to build out the team's young core alongside Collin Sexton and Darius Garland. 

JR Smith has finally added his own caption to his meme-able moment from Game 1 of the 2018 NBA Finals. 

"We've all messed up," Smith said while on Showtime's All The Smoke with Matt Barnes and Stephen Jackson (h/t CBS Sports' Sam Quinn). 

To refresh your memory, this was Smith's infamous sequence that forced Game 1 between the Cleveland Cavaliers and Golden State Warriors to go to overtime, where Golden State won 124-114:

Smith's full comments on All The Smoke were as follows: 

"If it's my fault and you want to pin it on me, all right, cool. I hit [then-Cavaliers head coach Tyronn Lue] that night and I was like, 'Bro, I don't even know what to say.' He was like, 'Bro, what are you talking about? You made a basketball play and it didn't work out. It happens.'

[...]

"I laughed about that s--t that night. ... I'm not a person to hold onto s--t. I'm not going to hold onto no grudges. I'll never forget it, but players f--k up. It just so happened that mine was in the Finals. ... We've all messed up."

The Warriors capitalized on the mistake, going on to sweep the Cavs and win their second straight NBA title over Cleveland.

Smith's Cavaliers chapter officially ended when the team waived him in mid-July. Before that, the 34-year-old publicly requested a trade in Nov. 2018 and refused to accept a buyout. 

Smith explained his rationale for the latter to The Athletic's Jason Lloyd:

"I don't want my legacy to remembered like that in Cleveland. I don't think that's fair to the people I see every single day walking around the arena. I don’t think that’s fair to the trainers or equipment guys. ... I just look at it differently than being traded. I don’t like the statement of getting bought out."

Smith hasn't played since Nov. 19, 2018.

Barnes and Jackson separately discussed Smith's NBA future earlier this week. Jackson said Smith is being "blackballed" from the league like Carmelo Anthony. 

"It seems like they trying to do my boy JR Smith the same way. I hate to say that because he belongs in the league, too. JR got so much game left. To see him going through that just because he's not being who they want him to be. He's being himself. Yeah, we all make mistakes. ... But I love JR because he owns it."

If Smith never plays in the NBA again, he will at least go out a champion. He helped the Cavaliers win their first title in franchise history, beating the Warriors in seven games during the 2016 NBA Finals.

The Cleveland Cavaliers claimed Alfonzo McKinnie off waivers Monday, according to Shams Charania of The Athletic and Stadium.

The Golden State Warriors waived McKinnie on Saturday in order to free up the salary-cap space necessary to get Marquese Chriss on their active roster.

The waiving of Alfonzo McKinnie is an example of how tenuous an NBA career can be.
Seized an opportunity last year. Made 6 starts. Bought his mom a house.
Waived today because Warriors have needs elsewhere.
He's good enough for the league. Hope he finds a place.

— Monte Poole (@MontePooleNBCS) October 18, 2019

McKinnie was a regular member of the Warriors' rotation in 2018-19. He averaged 4.7 points and 3.4 rebounds per game while shooting 48.7 percent from the floor and 35.6 percent from three-point range.

Cleveland.com's Chris Fedor noted McKinnie is the 14th member of Cleveland's roster, bringing the team to the league's minimum requirement.

The Cavaliers project to be one of the NBA's worst teams. This season is about building for the future and determining the feasibility of the Darius Garland-Collin Sexton backcourt partnership.

At 27, McKinnie doesn't necessarily fit with the Cavs' general timeline. The team doesn't have a ton of depth on the wing, though, which should afford him more playing time than he would've received in Golden State. He'll likely open the season as the backup small forward behind Cedi Osman.

McKinnie will make a little more than $1.5 million this season and will become a restricted free agent if he doesn't sign a $2 million qualifying offer for 2020-21.

If McKinnie plays well, then the Cavs could flip him for future assets ahead of the Feb. 6 trade deadline, or he could parlay his success into a nice paycheck next summer.

Cleveland Cavaliers forward Kevin Love reiterated his desire to remain with the Cavs on Wednesday.

In an interview with Cleveland.com's Chris Fedor, Love insisted that he has no interest in getting traded:

"I do want to be here. I always have. I say that knowing it's the NBA and it's a business. I think especially after seeing last year, the summer leading up to last year and this summer, the changeover is like unprecedented so you don't know what is going to happen.

"If they decide to go completely young ... and that could be the case, but it's funny, my agent didn't call me one time this summer to say, 'Hey, you're getting traded, there's talks that this is happening.' Of course, somehow it's still out there and people are talking about, 'Oh, Kevin would be great here or great there.' I just keep it moving and try to do right by these guys because we have a good group."

The Cavaliers reached the NBA Finals in each of Love's first four seasons with the team, winning a championship in 2016, but after losing LeBron James to the Los Angeles Lakers in free agency last offseason, Cleveland went just 19-63 last season.

The 31-year-old Love signed a four-year, $120.4 million contract extension with the Cavs last year, but there have been constant trade rumors and speculation ever since Cleveland has opted to largely go young with its roster.

Aside from Love, the Cavaliers' key players are second-year guard Collin Sexton, rookie guard Darius Garland, 24-year-old wing Cedi Osman and 22-year-old center Ante Zizic.

While growing pains had plenty to do with the Cavs' struggles last season, the fact that Love missed 60 games with a foot injury played into it as well.

As usual, the 6'10" forward was productive when healthy, with averages of 17.0 points, 10.9 rebounds and 2.2 assists per game, although he did shoot a career-worst 38.5 percent from the field.

Love's numbers have dropped off since he was traded from the Minnesota Timberwolves to the Cavs in 2014. After twice averaging more than 26 points per game in a season and averaging more than 12 rebounds per game in a season four times with the T-Wolves, Love hasn't done better than 19 points or 11.1 rebounds per game in Cleveland.

Much of that had to do with James and Kyrie Irving being the go-to players for much of his tenure, and that may continue to be the case in 2019-20 and beyond if first-year Cavs head coach John Beilein opts to place the focus on his young backcourt of Sexton and Garland.

Love could be a great fit for a contending team since he is a skilled big who can step out and keep opposing defenders honest with his shooting ability. Given his impressive resume as a five-time All-Star and one-time NBA champion, he could be a huge asset in Cleveland as well in terms of helping develop the team's young stars.

CLEVELAND — Kevin Love's 6'10", 250-pound frame was no match for the Big Kahuna, a tenacious rapid on Wyoming's Snake River that can reach a Class 5 level.

The rapid is normally navigated by a raft full of passengers combining both experience and enough weight to stay grounded. But Love and girlfriend Kate Bock opted for a private tour, resulting in a rag doll-like thrashing with serious consequences. "It sent me like I was 90 pounds," he confessed.

After a trip to the ER that left Bock with staples in her head, Love shook off the accident, professing that the pair would eventually return.

Much like his rocky first five years with the Cleveland Cavaliers that have mixed joy with a great deal of pain, Love is coming back for more. Like on the raft, he's mostly alone.

He is the only All-Star on a Cavs roster that mustered just 19 wins a season ago, and he's one of only three players (Tristan Thompson, Matthew Dellavedova) remaining from the 2016 championship team. His best friend on the Cavaliers, Channing Frye, used to refer to this group as "the last of the Mohicans." Now even Frye is gone, sailing off into retirement last spring.

As has been the case with Love's career in Cleveland, the "T" word seems inevitable.

"There's always going to be that noise," Love said, looking visibly irritated whenever someone brought up his name and the word trade. "I think that's going to continue this year, next year. I have four years left on this deal. Because we do have a young team, we have a new coach, we have a number of new players.

"I think there's always going to be that idea to restart and go younger. Until that time comes, or if it ever comes, I'm just going to continue to be me and play great, stay healthy and try to get the best out of myself and the other players on this team."

Love's name has been thrown into trade rumors ever since his first season in Cleveland, when he failed to click immediately alongside LeBron James and Kyrie Irving as the team's third option. It only intensified as he struggled in Finals matchups against the smaller, faster Golden State Warriors.

The Cavs were close to trading Love to the Denver Nuggets in 2017 in a deal that would have brought in Paul George from the Indiana Pacers and sent Gary Harris and other pieces to the Pacers, per ESPN. Indiana eventually backed out.

After hearing of James' departure last summer, Love could have become a free agent himself in 2019, but instead, he agreed to a four-year, $120 million extension. In what began as a playoff-hopeful season, Love injured a toe in Cleveland's first preseason game and missed 60 games following surgery.

Following an offseason where they wound up with three rookies in the first round and made no significant free-agent signings, the Cavs are fully in rebuild mode.

So where does that leave the 31-year-old Love?

A trade would seemingly make sense for both sides. Love, who once grew tired of losing on a dreary Minnesota Timberwolves team, would fit well as a floor-stretching power forward in any contender's starting lineup.

The Cavs have a collection of young big men in Larry Nance Jr., Jarell Martin, Ante Zizic and Dean Wade, who all need minutes to grow. Trading Love would also bring some serious salary relief from the $120 million he'll collect over the next four years.

As many reasons as the Cavs have to finally move the five-time All-Star, their rebuild may actually depend on keeping him.

"Kevin's going to make everyone a better player," second-year guard Collin Sexton told Bleacher Report. "Teams are going to be scrambling on different rotations. You have to rotate to him. You have to play him honest. He's going to help get shots for everybody on the team—not just myself. I can't wait to have him back on the floor."

Sexton, the No. 8 pick of the 2018 draft, made noticeable improvements in the 22 games he played alongside Love last season. Having a veteran like Love to use as a go-to scorer meant far less pressure on Sexton, leading to better efficiency and overall numbers.

Sexton had a net rating of minus-12.5 without Love, averaging 25.4 points, 4.5 assists and 3.5 turnovers per 100 possessions while shooting just 42.6 percent from the field.

With Love, Sexton's net rating rose by 6.8 points while his per-100-possession stats increased to 26.2 points, 4.7 assists and a 45.1 percent shooting mark. His turnovers dropped to 3.1.

A healthy Love also means putting more guys in their natural positions.

Second-year pro Cedi Osman was forced to play 55 percent of his minutes at power forward, despite spending the majority of his rookie season at shooting guard and small forward. At 215 pounds, his body took a beating, as the Cavs featured no reliable backup 4 behind Love last season.

"When Kevin was hurt, we really had problems because I was playing at [power forward] 50, 53 games," Osman told B/R.

"After Kevin got back, I believe that everyone was happier. He's just another weapon offensively, an All-Star player. Having him on the team is great for us as young players; we just have a lot of things to learn from him. When he came back, we won a couple games, and we saw how important he was for us."

Cleveland was a respectable 7-9 when Love played at least 15 minutes after his return from toe surgery, a sign the Cavs' return to competitiveness may not be as far away as it's perceived to be.

New head coach John Beilein made two trips to New York City to visit Love at one of his residences this summer, wanting to connect with the player who gives the 66-year-old his best chance at early success.

His plan is to use Love at both power forward and center and continue to grow the 11-year veteran's game.

"With him probably the biggest thing is being able to play both positions well and be able to guard both positions well, because we are going to need him in both areas," Beilein told B/R. "He's a nightmare for another 5 to guard. At the same time, he's also got some ability where he can take advantage of some smaller 4s."

Given his injury history, Beilein admits there's "a very real possibility" the Cavs choose to rest Love occasionally throughout the regular season. As Beilein notes, "We have to do whatever we can to lengthen his career and lengthen his season."

To help with this, Cleveland hired Dr. Mark Kovacs as Senior Director of Sports Science and Health. A former professional tennis player, Kovacs previously served as the director of the Gatorade Sport Science Institute and was most recently CEO of Kovacs Institute. Beilein claims Love is "as healthy as he's ever been."

Everything the Cavaliers have done this offseason points to keeping Love both on the court and in Cleveland, no matter what contender comes calling.

There's also no guarantee a trade offer for Love would be that substantial, given his injury history and hefty figure remaining on his contract. Cleveland has no reason to want to simply salary-dump him, given the Cavs will open up nearly $67 million of cap space this summer with the expiring contracts of Thompson, Brandon Knight, Jordan Clarkson, Dellavedova and John Henson.

Young franchise pillars like Sexton have already proved to be more successful when sharing the court with Love, something we're likely to see again this season with rookies Darius Garland, Kevin Porter Jr. and Dylan Windler.

As long as Love is still happy in Cleveland, there should be little reason to move him. Unlike with the Big Kahuna, his journey down the Cuyahoga River could be far from over.

       

Greg Swartz covers the NBA for Bleacher Report. Follow him on Twitter.

The Cleveland Cavaliers are reportedly among the teams taking a long look at LaMelo Ball. 

Chris Fedor of Cleveland.com reported assistant general manager Mike Gansey went to Tasmania to scout Ball, RJ Hampton and Terry Armstrong, the three players who chose to forgo college basketball to play overseas in the National Basketball League.

Of course, sending a scout to watch those three players is not exactly a surprise. Every NBA team will be doing their due diligence during the NBL season. Jonathan Givony of ESPN reported 27 teams made the trip to Tasmania for the NBL Blitz, which saw Ball emerge as a star and threat for the No. 1 overall selection next June.

It's fair to expect the three teams that did not make the trip for the NBL Blitz to do so eventually.

The Cavs are notable because they are again expected to rank among the NBA's worst teams. Cleveland does owe its 2020 first-round pick to the New Orleans Pelicans if it falls outside the top 10, but that would require a major leap from the team's young core.

Ball and Hampton are two of the most intriguing players in a strong draft class next year. Givony currently has Ball going No. 3 overall and Hampton at No. 6. The projections currently have the Cavaliers nabbing center James Wiseman with the No. 1 overall pick. Emphasizing big men seems likely for a Cleveland team that's taken Collin Sexton and Darius Garland the last two drafts. 

Armstrong is more of a fringe draft prospect and is currently projected as the No. 48 overall pick.