The Portland Trail Blazers could be a sleeper target for Kevin Love as a free agent and this comes as the team might be preparing for the departures of LaMarcus Aldridge and Wesley Matthews in free agency, as Portland has traded Nicolas Batum to the Hornets for Noah Vonleh and Gerald Henderson and that could signal that the team is set to build around Damian Lillard, not Aldridge, for the future.
Earlier in the offseason Marc Stein reported that unnamed NBA executives said that Love and Aldridge are the two players most likely to change teams in free agency this summer. Aldridge and his future has been speculated about for multiple years and now it is possible that he could leave Portland. According to Stein, the Los Angeles Lakers and Dallas Mavericks are the most likely landing spots for Aldridge, while the Boston Celtics and Houston Rockets also could be in the mix. The San Antonio Spurs have been mentioned as a potential option, but only if Tim Duncan retires and that is not looking likely right now.
Marc Stein of ESPN writes that the Blazers are a "dark horse" in the Kevin Love chase, as the team may lose Aldridge in free agency and that would give the team space to sign Love. Stein writes that Love was a "former Oregon high school star" and now that he has opted out, there is a good chance that the team will go after him. Pro Basketball Talk writes that if the team goes after Love, they could try and bring back Matthews instead of Aldridge and that would be the core along with Damian Lillard.
Love could get on a winning team and be a number one option even with Lillard there, as he is a playmaker and is not considered a "selfish" point guard in the league at all. LeBron James is not planning to recruit Love and if he opts to leave, a team like the Blazers could be very appealing. Pro Basketball Talk reports that the Mavericks, Rockets and Lakers all are going after Aldridge this summer and that he could consider signing a max deal with one of those teams. The Blazers may not offer as much money, as they need to keep Lillard in the future.
The Blazers have started making moves this offseason and Adrian Wojnarowski reported the news on Wednesday that the team is trading Nicolas Batum to the Hornets. Wojnarowski reported that the trade has Gerald Henderson and Noah Vonleh in the deal and later on the Blazers announced the trade officially. Pro Basketball Talk writes that this could be a "signal" that Aldridge is going to leave Portland in free agency and also that it could set the stage for the team to chase Love.
Batum was set to make $12.2 million this season and he was in the final year of his deal. According to PBT, the team will now have over $3 million in saved cap space and that could help get free agents to come to Portland. Aldridge is still a main priority, but the moves could be writing on the wall that he is not going to return.
