Report: What It Would Take For The Cavs To Trade Kevin Love

Kevin Love is the big question mark moving forward with the Cavs heading into the 2018-19 season. Will Cleveland hold onto the All-Star forward or ship him out for assets in this post-LeBron James era of Northeast Ohio basketball?

Reports earlier this year suggested that Cleveland would not be trading Love regardless of what happened with LeBron. New reports claim that the Cavs are indeed open to a trade involving their 29-year-old forward.

The Cavs' GM, Koby Altman, said at summer league in Las Vegas that he doesn't want the team to go "backwards."

"Kevin is an All-Star and you don't get better by moving Kevin," Altman said. "Kevin's been incredible for us for four years and he wants to be here, and to me that's a big part for guys that are here and the guys that we're gonna acquire, is that they want to be here and be a part of this new chapter and culture that we're creating."

Cleveland.com's Joe Pluto spoke to a well-known NBA executive about Love's potential future in Cleveland. The executive believes the Cavs would have to be "blown away" to trade him before the start of the 2018-19 season.

"Unless they get blown away by an offer, I think they'll open the season with Love," said the executive.

The Cavs will probably at best be fighting for the No. 8 seed in the Eastern Conference during the 2018-19 season. They'll most likely be one of the five or so worst teams in the entire league.

Holding onto Love to win a couple of more games seems kind of pointless, unless you truly believe the All-Star forward is committed to the franchise for several years.

Love, 29, can be a free agent next summer, and it would be surprising to many if he decided to re-sign in Cleveland without LeBron James there.

So, trading Love now for a young asset or two and some draft picks would probably be the smart move. We'll see if the Cavs decide to make it.