The NBA trade rumors are about to involve another team-one of the last one standing.
With another crushing loss to the Golden State Warriors, the Cleveland Cavaliers may need to face up to the reality that the team is just not good enough.
Last season, they faced the Warriors in the Finals without Kevin Love and Kyrie Irving (from Game 2 onwards). They got their chance for retribution courtesy of a weak Eastern Conference, but the results were similar, if not worse.
Since the last three Finals games from last year when the Cavs lost their 2-1 lead, they have lost seven straight games to Steph Curry and company, including both regular season matches, the second one a 34-point massacre.
The Warriors are not invincible; they were on the ropes against the Thunder. But the Cavs may not have the personnel to go that far.
Veteran sportswriter Sam Smith of Bulls.com believes that the Cavs, if they lose, will be very busy this offseason. He noted that LeBron James "doesn't finish with the explosiveness he used to" and it's no surprise since he is already turning 32 at year's end.
Smith notes that James had a "sense of urgency" and that he really wants to win a title, but even his top teammates, like Kyrie Irving or Kevin Love, seem content to be in the Finals considering they don't have any playoff experience prior to James' return.
The bottom line for Smith: "As good as Love and Irving are, they aren't good enough" and it leads to "intriguing questions and issues if the Cavs lose this series."
Kevin Love has been the trade rumor regular. When Coach David Blatt was fired, some Cavs players thought it was the announcement of Love getting traded. The coaching change is usually the stopgap solution before a major roster change and now that the Cavs have done it, they may need to take more drastic measures.
The Boston Celtics is one of Love's most ardent suitors. Love actually visited the city prior to his free agency but he did not think the team was strong enough to make the playoffs.
But the Celtics are now a playoff team with an All-Star guard and a brilliant, proven coach.
Mass Live hinted that Love is a defensive liability for the Cavs pointing out that the Cavs benched him in the 4th quarter in the last two games against the Raptors and Cleveland doesn't have the personnel to cover this liability.
Love is probably the one to go first (if there would be more than one trade done by the Cavs), and the question is who would the Celtics offer?
The Cavs are in win-now mode and but they could be interested in building through the draft. The no.3 pick could help bring another shooter, an upgrade from JR Smith in Buddy Hield or even Jamal Murray. Jae Crowder is most probably a target due to his defensive versatility. The Cavs have no use for Isaiah Thomas because of Irving, but Marcus Smart is an additional perimeter defender.
The no.3 pick, Jae Crowder and Marcus Smart could be what the Cavs would demand. The Celtics might argue that Love is no longer the double-double machine he once was, but the reality is that other teams like the Denver Nuggets could outbid them.
The trade package proposed here is purely speculative. The Cavs may ask for different players especially if they have other players to trade.