Kevin Love and Russell Westbrook in UCLA (2008) (Photo : Stephen Dunn / Getty Images Sport)
The Los Angeles Lakers is a team in disarray and even though they struck out on free agents the past couple of years, there are still some quarters that believe they have something up their sleeve.
A few months ago, ESPN's Brian Windhorst discussed a possibility on the Dan Patrick Show about the Lakers' alleged "long-term plan." It was transcribed in Factory of Sadness, a Cleveland sports blog.
"Love enjoys Westbrook. They have a relationship. There's a conspiracy theory that exists out there that Kevin Love will go to the Lakers this summer, or next summer, and then Westbrook will join him when he's a free agent, and they will reunite in LA, like they played for UCLA. The guy, the star player he has the best relationship in the league with is Westbrook."
Kevin Love has already signed a five-year contract with the Cleveland Cavaliers but despite his increased offensive role, fans in Cleveland are still not sold that he's the long term solution, as indicated in the Real GM forum from user 'KingKyrie1' when he said "Cleveland fan here, can't stand Kevin Love right now, he can't defend and honestly, I rather have LBJ at the 4 come playoff time."
He has a point, as the Cavs continued to roll in the Playoffs even without Love, and they were most efficient with LeBron James at power forward to keep up with small ball opponents-which multiplied when the Warriors won the championship.
Cavs have a solid power forward in waiting with Tristan Thompson, whom they paid top dollar for, so rumors of Kevin Love possibly being traded are not unfounded.
The Lakers would probably not hesitate to trade Julius Randle for him, and throw in Roy Hibbert's expiring contract. One should not forget that Hibbert has extensive playoff experience and the Cavs could use a guy like him on their bid for the championship if they tangle with a tall Western team.
For Westbrook, that could be another story. Some pundits believe that two legitimate MVP candidates at their prime is too much of a luxury and Westbrook is more suited to lead his own team. If they fail to make the Finals this year and the next even if Durant stays, Westbrook could be looking around-and why not look homeward?
These are still on the speculation stage and a lot has to happen for this to even be possible, but as the Fansided article said:
"Speculating that far in advance seems ridiculous, but James and Dwyane Wade showed that if friends want to play together, they will."
