The Oklahoma City Thunder are reportedly set to target Cleveland Cavaliers' Kevin Love and could offer Victor Oladipo, Ersan Ilyasova, and Anthony Morrow to the Cavs to acquire their All-Star power forward.
OKC will be heading into the new season without Kevin Durant for the first time in nine years as the team will now be solely led by point guard Russell Westbrook. The team is still projected as a playoff team, but with Westbrook as the only legitimate All-Star at this time, it seems like the Thunder will not go as deep in the postseason as it used to be.
Thus, rumors abound that the Thunder is currently looking for another superstar to pair with Westbrook and one speculation circling around the league today is the club's interest in three-time All-Star Kevin Love.
Love had been the subject of many trade rumors since last year when he failed to join the Cavaliers in the 2015 NBA Finals because of a shoulder injury suffered early in the playoffs. He did make it this year as Cleveland won its first-ever NBA title, but the former UCLA standout was not as much of a factor as he is perceived to be.
The Golden State Warriors led the series, 2-0, when Love was sidelined in Game 3 because of a concussion. Head coach Tyronn Lue replaced him with Richard Jefferson in the starting lineup and suddenly the tide went in favor of the Cavs as they eventually won it 4-3 after being down 3-1.
With that, it is not impossible that Cleveland could agree on trading Love for the right return.
Sportsrageous reported that OKC could offer Oladipo, Ilyasova, and Morrow to the Cavs for Love before February's trade deadline.
While such trade does not seem to make sense for Cleveland at this point, the club's standoff with JR Smith could be a crucial indication if the rumors will come to pass or not, according to Inquisitr.
If the Cavs fail to re-sign Smith, then they will have a huge hole in the shooting guard position which could be detrimental to their title-defense.
Oladipo will then become a tempting trade piece for LeBron James and company as they have proven that they can win even without Love in the lineup.
