The Kevin Love trade rumors have started up again with the Cleveland Cavaliers, as the team is now willing to trade Andrew Wiggins to the Timberwolves after previously holding him out and this comes as LeBron James has expressed his interest in playing with Love and also as the Warriors are trying to deal, but they have so far been unwilling to trade Klay Thompson to Minnesota.
ESPN and other outlets are reporting that James has made it clear to Love that he would like to play with him and that comes after Love said he would be intrigued to play in Cleveland. According to ESPN.com, the team initially did not want to include Andrew Wiggins, instead offering a package with Dion Waiters, Anthony Bennett and a first round pick, but clearly James has some influence on the situation.
Wiggins is a great talent and a potential star, but James is in his prime and he wants to try to win now and making this love would easily put Cleveland in the drivers seat in the Eastern conference. The team is already better than any team James had while in Cleveland the first time, with names like Anderson Varejao and Tristan Thompson there along with newly signed Mike Miller and James Jones. The Cavaliers have agreed to a max contract extension with Kyrie Irving and a big three of James, Irving and Love would be a tough one to beat.
This move and what's going on with James makes a ton of sense when looking through the frame of his free agency and leaving Miami. Clearly James did not like how the finals turned out and he was hoping for some major moves with the Heat, but that was becoming impossible if the team wanted to keep the big 3 as well. On top of that, Chris Broussard writes that there was a power play of sorts in Miami with Pat Riley, as LeBron did not have a real say in moves and now perhaps he does on Cleveland.
It's likely that James said something like that to Dan Gilbert when they met in Miami, as he wanted to come home, but it was a calculated move to win his image back, gain immense power in the NBA and also to push the Cavaliers into making some moves. James is in the prime of his career and he finally is the highest paid player on his team for the first time and he deserves that and now he is hoping to bring a championship to Cleveland.
While James has not said anything disparaging about Wiggins, there was no mention of the rookies name in his letter returning home and while that is not a direct reason he could get traded, it surely didn't help. James and Love have played together already in the Olympics and world championships and Love has said that he is dying to get into the playoffs after six years of missing out in Minnesota. A team with James and Love surely would make the playoffs and they would be considered one of the best in the league and could win the east over teams like the Chicago Bulls, Indiana Pacers and Miami Heat
