NBA Exec: Kevin Love a Likely Target for a ‘Non-Destination Market’

Kevin Love just signed a massive four-year, $120.4 million extension with the Cleveland Cavaliers in July, but with the NBA Trade Deadline approaching, thoughts are already on what he could add to another team. Perhaps the Portland Trail Blazers? While not directly linked to Love, they fit some of the criteria that NBA executives believe of potential Love suitors, as reported by Bleacher Report’s Ken Berger:

“It’s going to have to be a playoff team in a non-destination market,” one of the execs said. “A team that has a couple of stars that isn’t going to get anybody in free agency because they don’t have the room or nobody’s going to go play there.”

Said another Western Conference exec: “It’s most definitely going to have to be a good team that feels they’re one player away. It’s not going to be a team like Atlanta or Phoenix.”

Given that criteria, Berger goes on to wonder about the Blazers as a potential destination:

The Blazers could use another three-point shooter to create more space for Damian Lillard to operate—and to help emerge from a pack of six teams within three games of each other in the loss column.

Love has been sidelined with a foot injury since October, with a timeline for return still unclear.

You can read more on Love’s potential trade situation from Berger here. The NBA Trade Deadline is Feb. 7.