It is now time for the Cleveland Cavaliers to trade Kevin Love and go all-in on a complete tear down in order to rebuild their roster.
The Cleveland Cavaliers knew they were taking a risk when they hired John Beilein as their head coach. That risk being the potential for alienating some of their veteran players. There was a report this past weekend that several veterans were unhappy with his style of coaching. It was assumed that Kevin Love was one of those veterans. (Love missing the game did not help matters in regards to the assumptions). Now that Kevin Love has requested a trade to a contender, it all but confirms the suspicions.
This is drastically different than the report from earlier this summer where Kevin Love stated he wanted to remain in Cleveland.
It’s hard to blame Kevin Love if this report is true. The Cavaliers are going nowhere fast and are one of the worst teams in basketball. The team routinely gets beat by margins usually only seen in NBA2K on rookie. For a veteran who has been to the top of the mountain, this is hard to deal with. Love wants to get back to being on a competitive team while he can still play at a relatively high level.
There should be multiple NBA teams interested in the services of Kevin Love. Cleveland should not be short of options when it comes to assessing potential trade packages. Although, an all out bidding war should not be the expectation. That being said, teams should be rather aggressive when it comes to pursuing a difference maker for their team.
What a trade of Kevin Love means for the Cavaliers is that it is time to tear it all down. Trade any and all veterans who could bring in something to build their roster for the future. Tristan Thompson, Jordan Clarkson, etc. The Cavaliers should begin shopping their veteran players sooner rather than later.
This is not about what the players have done for the franchise or whether they are fan favorites. This is strictly business. The reality is that the team will not be good for a long, long time. Keeping veterans for strictly the sake of keeping veterans is just bad business. Get younger players who are willing to buy into the system and culture that John Beilein is trying to establish in Cleveland. If not, more of the same unhappiness will continue to be present.
