NBA trade rumors: 5 trade destinations for Kevin Love
By John Buhler
169. . West. Southwest. Houston Rockets. 3. player
With Dwight Howard almost certainly not coming back to the Houston Rockets with Mike D’Antoni now as the team’s new head coach, might D’Antoni want a big man that can thrive in his seven-seconds-or-less high-octane offense?
Love maybe a plodder at times going up and down the court, but nobody questions his shooting or rebounding ability from the stretch four. D’Antoni won’t get on Love about playing lackluster defense since D’Antoni doesn’t seem to care all that much about coaching on that end of the floor anyway.
Love could act as a better version of what Chandler Parsons was for the Rockets at forward in D’Antoni’s system. He’d be a great secondary scoring option for All-Star shooting guard James Harden in this up-tempo Rockets offense. Love would provide more offensive efficiency from the Rockets’ frontcourt that Howard simply could not offer with his still raw offensive game at age 30.
If the Cavaliers were to trade him to Houston, Love would help the Rockets do better than the No. 8 seed they attained in the 2016 Western Conference Playoffs. Since Houston doesn’t have any first round picks this NBA Draft, a deal for Love would have to include a future first-round pick and either a Trevor Ariza or Clint Capela type of player.
Cleveland could get more for Love than what Houston could offer, but the Rockets would be a great landing spot for Love should he land in the Space City.
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