5 players the Cavaliers should target to replace Kevin Love

With Kevin Love out for a month and a half, who could the Cleveland Cavaliers target to replace him, either in free agency or via a trade?

The Cleveland Cavaliers are no strangers to dealing with injuries. Whether it was watching Kyrie Irving and Kevin Love go down to injury in the playoffs back in 2015 or having J.R. Smith go down this season and still be missing time as a result, this team has had to adapt due to key components getting hurt. Now they have to deal with that even further in the 2016-17 season as Love is hurt again.

After being sidelined with what was thought to be a minor knee ailment, Love got a second opinion and ultimately underwent surgery to remove loose tissue in his knee. Now the All-Star power forward is slated to miss six weeks. Meanwhile, the Cavaliers are still trying to right the ship and tighten their hold on the Eastern Conference down the stretch.

Love’s injury obviously means increased workloads for the likes of Tristan Thompson and Channing Frye, in addition to LeBron James shouldering a heavier load. While that may be the case, the Cavs could still be in the market for a proverbial “replacement” for Love with the power forward is on the shelf. Any high salary deal likely means sending out Iman Shumpert but it’s something that the Cavs at least have to consider, especially if they can get a replacement for Love and a low-cost facsimile of Shumpert.

Be it through free agency or trade, here are five targets that the Cavaliers should consider to replace their injured All-Star.

5. Derrick Williams

We’ll start off with the most obvious and easiest option that the Cavaliers have before them. Call it cheating because he’s currently on the roster, but Derrick Williams has to be considered an option when discussing replacements for Love. The former No. 2 overall pick was signed to a 10-day contract earlier in February. Following the injury to Love, the Cavs now have to give even more serious consideration to locking up the forward to a deal throughout the rest of the season.

While Williams doesn’t have the 3-point shooting prowess that Love brings to the table to stretch the floor, there is a definite reason why the Arizona product was taken at No. 2 back in 2011. He’s a good athlete that has the tools to contribute on both ends, including scoring in a variety of ways. Though he may not be netting triples in the way Love is able to, he can still provide necessary offense for the Cavs and has through three games on the team.

Obviously the Cavs could look to lock up Williams for the rest of the season and still add another forward while Love is out of commission. However, the trio of Frye, Thompson and Williams could be enough in a time-share at power forward for Cleveland to get by during the six weeks without Love on the floor. It might be playing with fire a bit considering Williams’ track record, but he’s been playing some of the best ball of his career through three games with this team. That should be enough for him to get consideration as the replacement for Love.