5 unfortunately plausible Kristaps Porzingis trades that would destroy the Knicks
By Trey Daubert
The Cavaliers clearly want to rid themselves of Kevin Love in an effort to dethrone those pesky Warriors. While trade talks have been centered around trying to acquire either Paul George or Jimmy Butler, maybe the Cavs should think about going younger? Esteemed colleague Akash Anavarathan, mentioned in his recent column that the Cavs must be willing to combat their old and slow tendencies if they want to beat the Warriors.
The problem with the Cavs is they are already over the salary cap threshold. They would essentially have to give up Kevin Love’s large salary for Porzingis’ rookie scale deal. Trust me I tried to add J.R. Smith in the deal for laughs but the money doesn’t work unless that awful Joakim Noah deal goes to the Cavs in return. Maybe a three-team deal is possible shipping Love off to a third party. Cleveland would have the option of swapping out Courtney Lee for Iman Shumpert if they so choose.
The Cavs should seriously consider the prospects of adding Porzingis if they are fortunate enough to do so. If LeBron does theoretically bolt Cleveland, it would give them a young player to build around with multiple years of control. Porzingis’ size does create an interesting matchup with Kevin Durant in a potential fourth straight Finals rematch.
Kevin Love is arguably the better player right now and could potentially rebuild his trade value as the main option in New York. The Knicks can’t seriously consider this option but it’s safe to say no one understands Phil Jackson at this juncture. Then again, teams oddly enough seem to be willing to help the Cavs retool their roster. Flipping Love to another team and giving the Knicks draft picks could at least move the needle more favorably in the Knicks direction.