F/C Kevin Love – Cleveland Cavaliers
As discussed before, the Dallas Mavericks need some frontcourt help and while Kevin Love has a much bigger price tag, he knows what it takes to win a championship and can easily be the third scoring option on this Dallas Mavericks team.
In order for the Mavericks to make this trade work, they would have to package some draft picks together with James Johnson and Maxi Kleber, which would be a great trade on the Mavericks’ end of things if they could get Cleveland to bite. The Cavaliers have not made their intentions clear on whether or not they want to keep Kevin Love, but if they are willing to move on, the Mavs need to step in and do everything they can to bring him to Dallas.
While he is not the double-double machine he once was early in his career with the Timberwolves, Kevin Love has consistently been one of the better scoring power-forwards in the league over the years and is a big time three-point threat. In 56 games last year with the Cavs, Kevin Love averaged 17.6 points, 9.8 rebounds and shot 45% from the floor, 37.4% from three-point range.
With Kristaps Porzingis’ ability to play the center position when healthy, the Mavericks could put out a lineup of Luka Doncic, Tim Hardaway Jr, Josh Richarson, Kevin Love and Kristaps Porzingis. That is a heavy offensive lineup and a very good three-point shooting lineup as all five players can knock down three-pointers in volume.
Dallas was one of the better rebounding teams in the league last year, ranking 4th overall with 46.9 rebounds per game, and were 10th in the league in three-point shooting. Kevin Love can help them in each of these two categories and also give them the third scoring option they so desperately need.
When Porzingis went down last year in the playoffs and Luka was banged up with a sprained ankle, the Mavericks did not have anybody who could really step up and take on some of the scoring load, putting all the weight to carry the team on Luka Doncic’s shoulders.
This season, the Mavericks cannot do this to Luka again because he is going to wind up getting hurt if he is constantly playing 40+ minutes a game and having to make a play every time down the court. Bringing in Kevin Love will take a lot of pressure off of the young, MVP caliber player and help the Mavericks as a whole become a legit championship contender
