Report: Celtics mega-deal could involve Love, Melo

CSNNE

A SHERROD BLAKLEY

TORONTO – Danny Ainge is one to never give up on a player he covets.

And Kevin Love is just that player, which helps explain why the Celtics are reportedly involved in a potential multi-team trade that could eventually land them the All-Star power forward.

According to the New York Daily News, the Celtics and Cleveland Cavaliers “have discussed a blockbuster trade centered around Kevin Love.”

The Daily News story added that there were “preliminary discussions about expanding the deal to include the (New York) Knicks and (Carmelo) Anthony.”

Boston’s infatuation with the 6-foot-10 Love has been going on for years. It heated up a couple summers ago when Love had demanded a trade from the Minnesota Timberwolves and prior to signing with Cleveland, visited Boston.

During his visit, he went to a Boston Red Sox game and just so happened to run into then-Celtic Rajon Rondo which both players said afterwards was an incidental encounter.

It’s too soon to say what assets Danny Ainge and the Celtics will have to part with in order to acquire Love, but the Knicks or Cavaliers would likely want Boston’s unprotected pick from Brooklyn this year.

While Ainge has indicated he’s not inclined to move that pick, he would do so for the right, All-Star caliber, high-impact player.

And Love on many levels fits the bill.

Acquiring Love would also likely mean including at least one of their young big men in the deal, either Jared Sullinger or Kelly Olynyk who are in their fourth and third NBA seasons, respectively.

The addition of Love would give the Celtics a second All-Star to play along with Isaiah Thomas. In addition, he positions Boston to be one of the better teams in the Eastern Conference in both the short and long-term.

Love, 27, is in his eighth NBA season and second with Cleveland. He is averaging 15.7 points and 10.3 rebounds per game which is down from his career averages of 18.4 points and 11.7 rebounds.

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Carmelo Anthony on the move? Blockbuster deal between Knicks, Cavs and Celtics still a possibility

NEW YORK DAILY NEWS

Carmelo Anthony has dream of winning a championship but chance to play with LeBron James in Cleveland may not be enough for him to waive the no-trade clause in his contract.
Carmelo Anthony remains committed to the Knicks for now even if it means passing on the opportunity to join his longtime friend LeBron James in Cleveland.

The Daily News has learned that the Boston Celtics and Cleveland Cavaliers have discussed a blockbuster trade centered around Kevin Love. There were very preliminary discussions about expanding the deal to include the Knicks and Anthony, who would have to waive his no-trade clause in order to facilitate a deal to the Cavs.

The Knicks would receive draft picks and players in return. One of those players is believed to be Timofey Mozgov, who five years ago was traded by the Knicks to Denver in the Anthony deal.

Those talks have not progressed. Plus Anthony reiterated on Friday that he has no plans to seek a trade. However, when asked if he's thought about his future with a losing organization, Anthony gave a cryptic answer.

“Not yet. I'm pretty sure I'll have that conversation with myself and my family and my team,” he said. “But it's not a conversation for right now.”

The NBA trading deadline is Thursday and Knicks president Phil Jackson is exploring ways to upgrade the 23-32 Knicks and get them back in the playoff race. Trading Anthony would signal a complete rebuild centered around 20-year-old Kristaps Porzingis.

On Friday, Anthony bemoaned not having a proven star as a teammate and revealed that he's had talks with fellow All-Stars about joining forces.

“I think everybody kind of dreams and hopes that they can play with another great player, another star player. It's a star player's league,” Anthony said. “I think that's what we talk about when we all get together — 'I want to play with you, I want to play with you.' Even here different guys say, 'Come play with me, come play with me.' So that's always the mindset. Sometimes it happens, sometimes it don't. But I think everybody that's in my situation, that's in my position, they all want the load off especially the older they get. Because you realize you just can't do it all by yourself. Everybody knows that.”

The Cavaliers are in first place in the Eastern Conference and the odds-on favorites to return to the NBA Finals for a second straight year. The Cavs and LeBron, however, are not convinced they have enough to beat the top teams in the West, in particular Golden State and San Antonio.

The Cavs are 1-3 against those clubs with the one win coming against San Antonio one week after Tyronn Lue replaced David Blatt as coach.

Anthony would give Cleveland a proven scorer to join LeBron and Kyrie Irving.

Playing alongside his long-time friend LeBron obviously appeals to Anthony and would give him a chance at that elusive NBA title. But Anthony is committed to the Knicks and would prefer to keep his family in New York. During free agency two summers ago, Anthony said one reason for not signing elsewhere is that his son was comfortable living and going to school in New York.

Anthony has also developed a close relationship with Garden chairman James Dolan, who traded for him in 2011 and signed him to a record $125 million contract in 2014.

But the time may come when Anthony and Dolan will realize that a trade is in the best interests of both parties.

Cleveland makes the most sense because they are contending team and should be for as long as LeBron stays healthy.

Two other possibilities are the Clippers and Celtics. Anthony owns a home in Los Angles and is close friends with All Star point guard Chris Paul.

As for the Boston, the Knicks long time rivals have the assets that appeal to them. Celtics GM Danny Ainge has always been aggressive about adding a star and is intrigued by Anthony. For now, the Celtics are focused on Love, who signed an extension with the Cavs last summer.

Love took a tour of Boston a few weeks before being traded to the Cavs in 2014. The Celtics were considered the favorites to acquire Love until LeBron signed with Cleveland and pushed the club to trade top overall pick Andrew Wiggins to Minnesota for Love.

The Celtics own multiple first round picks, including the Brooklyn Nets pick this June. The Knicks traded their 2016 first round pick to Toronto in the Andrea Bargnani deal.

The Knicks will have enough salary cap space to sign a max player this summer. Kevin Durant is the No. 1 target but Durant could re-sign with Oklahoma City or join the Warriors.

112288

as much as I hate to think about it, this one seems to have legs.

I would hope that Danny doesn't give up the Nets 2016 pick, however I find it hard to see why the Knicks would let Anthony go for only players like Mozgov , David Lee and a couple of late first round picks.

so is Love worth the Nets Lottery pick becomes the question for me.

There is just something that I do not like about even further discussion about Kevin Love joining the Celtics for any price that would be above David Lee, one of our late first rounders and maybe a couple of second round picks. Perhaps throw James Young into the deal and remove a draft pick.

Just too much discussion about this guy for the last couple of years to the point that when watching him play on TV all I can see is him being a bust in Boston. Perhaps he needs to get back to being his team's "star" player like he was in Minnesota, but he just does not seem to show me much since being in a Cleveland uniform.

He does not rebound like he did in Minnesota, he does not shoot like he used to, he does not move like he used to, he does not pass like he used to, etc. He looks lost in the Cleveland offense and almost looks like he is feeling sorry for himself. About all he does at the same level now compared to when in Minnesota is play average to less than average defense.

http://www.nydailynews.com/sports/basketball/knicks/isola-melo-veto-deal-send-cavs-article-1.2530306

ESPN's trade machine says :
D. Lee to NY
C. Anthony to Clev
K. Love to Bos

trade works

of course draft picks would be required. I can see Cleveland seeing a Love for Anthony deal being good enough. But I still think the Knicks would want at least the Nets lottery pick this coming draft.

Mozgov makes no sense at NY since they have R. Lopez signed there now.


I would be happier if we could somehow get R. Lopez also, maybe something like:

we get Love and Lopez
Cavs' get Anthony and Sullinger ( you can include any of Sully, Zeller or Kelly here to make it work)
Knicks get Lee, Amir and Mozgov along with at least two first round picks.

that I might be able to swallow for the nets lottery pick.

kdp59 wrote:ESPN's trade machine says :
D. Lee to NY
C. Anthony to Clev
K. Love to Bos

trade works

of course draft picks would be required. I can see Cleveland seeing a Love for Anthony deal being good enough. But I still think the Knicks would want at least the Nets lottery pick this coming draft.

Mozgov makes no sense at NY since they have R. Lopez signed there now.

kdp,

Yeah, but who else do they have at that position? Seraphin? Mozgov's a brute.

5 more days. Other than the playoffs this is the most stressful time of the year for me.


bob


.

O'Quinn- Like Seraphin another brute type.

kdp59 wrote:O'Quinn- Like Seraphin another brute type.

kdp,

Good. Forgot about O'Quinn. Mozgov is a taller, but less mobile and versatile, O'Quinn.

Can you imagine if Danny got Love AND Mozgov?!

Ok. Settle down, Bob...


bob


.

Not only does this one have legs, it's legs are 3 deep nwith the Knicks revelation.

The reality at the moment is one that we all know about.  The Celtics acquired the $15 million dollar Lee contract as a major trade asset to help anchor a bigger deal.  The Celtics have too many draft picks to add to their roster so many of the draft picks also must be dealt away in this game of chance.

The Celtics have a ton of forwards but an upgrade at that position will be good for the team.

Every deal has pros and cons.

Love would be a great fit for the Celtics offense.  While his defense is not strong we would still have our three junk yard dogs!  Love can rebound at a rate comparable or better than any player on the team.  Love is still young and he may help attract a free agent signing over the summer.

Love is a horrible fit.  Players that cannot defend their position should not be paid like that.  The guy is freakin injury prone.  Everytime you look around he's hurt and can't play.  I do not see him as a big upgrade over Sully because he cannot play center.   Plus Sully is a real warrior around the glass and we would miss that toughness.  If you brought Love in it would srew up the chemisty that we have established.  Sorry I would never include any of the Net's picks for Love.  We need a more athletic PF that can run, block shots, board and score consistently.  If that was coming our way maybe one of the Net's picks would be worth it.  But not the one this year.  

The Celtics will have to move Sullinger or KO.  We like both of those players despite the warts.  But one has to go and Sully is the most likely candidate.  I think that if Boston was confident that Sully will be able to stay on top of his conditioning he may not be on the block.  He will be a free agent coming up so trading him now makes sense.  However adding love does not bring us into contention.  It would be an upgrade and that is it.

My final thought.  If Boston can get Love without giving up any of the Nets picks I would do the deal even if it includes Sullinger and Lee's contract.  

dboss

dboss wrote: However adding love does not bring us into contention.  It would be an upgrade and that is it.

dboss

^This. Love is a better player than Sully, and he's signed long term vs. Sully being a free agent. However, when Love was the man in Minny, they went nowhere. On an elite team in Cleveland, he has been marginalized. He doesn't get the Celtics to be a contender, and having him switch from CLE to BOS in that deal doesn't greatly increase our chances of beating them come playoff time. This team is so much fun to watch, that I'd rather see them left together than make a move that gets us to a loss in the conference finals without significantly upgrading for next year. If the move would give us a significant chance of making the finals, that's different.

-V

I am still against the Love addition, but if Lopez can be gotten for just another draft pick and Sullinger in addition to Love I would have to think hard about adding Love and Lopez for the group of Sullinger, Lee, Johnson and two first round picks as KDP mentioned.

Of course, neither Love nor Lopez are going to solve our issues/needs at the shooting wing position, but in tandem they clearly add to our front line.  Both are fairly expensive, but are signed already for a couple of years and both are fairly young.  Together they add much more offense and rebounding when compared to the combination of Sullinger, Lee and Johnson.  They probably come out about equal on the defensive end with Lopez perhaps as good as Johnson and Love about as good as Sullinger, but both guys have been much more consistent on offense.

Not sure that I would want to hand over the Nets first round pick in this deal, but some of the other first rounders and a batch of second round picks could be added.   I am thinking that both Love and Lopez will make many more contributions to the 2016-17 team than will any of the Cs current first round picks in June, and they may be enough to challenge Toronto and/or Cleveland this season as well.  If the Nets pick is not used in this trade it will still be available to use in a deal (now or in the summer) for a missing wing shooter or used to draft one of the three best draftees if the ping pong balls fall in our favor.

Another part of the problem will be if Anthony will accept being traded.,  I cannot imagine him turning down the opportunity to get a chance for a ring in Cleveland rather than sit in the bottom of the standings with the Knicks.