Report: Blockbuster NBA Trade Being Discussed

The NBA trade deadline is rapidly approaching. Frank Isola from the New York Daily News is reporting that a blockbuster trade is being discussed that would end with the pairing of LeBron James and Carmelo Anthony on the Cleveland Cavaliers. Here’s what Isola had to say.

“The Daily News has learned that the Boston Celtics and Cleveland Cavaliers have discussed a blockbuster trade centered around Kevin Love. There were very preliminary discussions about expanding the deal to include the Knicks and Anthony, who would have to waive his no-trade clause in order to facilitate a deal to the Cavs. The Knicks would receive draft picks and players in return. One of those players is believed to be Timofey Mozgov, who five years ago was traded by the Knicks to Denver in the Anthony deal.”

I’m not going to lie, that would be a huge deal. However, I doubt that the pairing of Melo and James is what the Cavs need to get over the hump, especially when you take a look at what is potentially waiting for them in the NBA Finals with the Warriors or Spurs.

The Cavs are currently sitting atop the Eastern Conference with a 38-14 record. In the proposed deal the Cavs could lose potentially two big men in Love and Mozgov. I believe doing a deal like that would be the Cavs acknowledging that they’d have to play smaller against a team like the Warriors. However, how much better do they think that Anthony is than Love? After a year where Love struggled to find his rhythm in his first year in Cleveland, Love has quietly put together a very nice season.

Love is currently averaging 15.7 points and 10.3 rebounds per game for the season. Meanwhile, Anthony is averaging 21.4 points and 7.9 rebounds per game this year. Melo is always a threat to get buckets, but he’s also known for the many shots that he takes to get those points. Could LeBron and Carmelo co-exist on the court for the good of a NBA title? Sure. But, I think they’d have much more work to do if they seriously wanted to beat one of the aforementioned Western Conference teams.

Adam Himmelsbach, a Boston Globe reporter says that the Cavs have been shopping Love around, but that their asking price for him is very high.

Re: Kevin Love. League source says the Cavs have been shopping him around, but that the asking price is very high.

— Adam Himmelsbach (@AdamHimmelsbach) February 13, 2016

The trade deadline is this coming Thursday, the 18th. It’ll be very interesting to see what deals get done.