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REPORT: Cleveland Cavaliers want Kevin Love to remain with team regardless of LeBron James' future

Reportedly, the Cleveland Cavaliers want power forward Kevin Love in the fold for the 2018-2019 season regardless of LeBron James' decision in free agency.

CLEVELAND -- The Cleveland Cavaliers are not actively attempting to trade power forward Kevin Love, and regardless of LeBron James’ impending decision in free agency, the organization wants the two-time Eastern Conference All-Star in the fold for the 2018-2019 season.

According to a report from Dave McMenamin, multiple sources told ESPN of the Cavaliers’ interest in keeping Love with the organization.

Love has two years remaining on the five-year, $113 million contract he signed with the Cavaliers in the summer of 2015. Love is due more than $24 million for the 2018-2019 season and more than $25.5 million in 2019-2020.

Not surprisingly, Love’s name has been mentioned as the most tradeable asset currently on the roster since before the end of the postseason, especially when paired with the No. 8 overall pick in the 2018 NBA Draft.

The 2018 NBA Draft will be conducted at the Barclays Center in Brooklyn tonight.

“Anything is possible,” Love said following the Cavaliers’ series-ending loss to the Golden State Warriors in Game 4 of the 2018 NBA Finals. “People have been saying that for the past four years. I knew that question would come, but I like to be here. I’ve always said that. Always wanted to win here.”

Credit: Carlos Osorio
Cleveland Cavaliers center Kevin Love shoots against the Golden State Warriors during Game 3 of the 2018 NBA Finals at Quicken Loans Arena in Cleveland, Ohio on June 6, 2018.

The Cavaliers have to make the No. 8 pick before being eligible to deal it away because they already traded their selection to the Los Angeles Lakers in early February, along with point guard Isaiah Thomas and forward Channing Frye, in exchange for guard Jordan Clarkson and power forward Larry Nance Jr.

Despite spending much of the second half of the regular season rehabbing a broken bone in his left (non-shooting) hand, Love finished 2017-2018 with his second-best stat line since joining the Cavaliers, as he averaged 17.6 points and 9.3 rebounds per game.

Additionally, Love had his best shooting season with the Cavaliers, knocking down 45.8 percent of his attempts from the field and 41.5 percent of his three-point tries.

Credit: Ken Blaze, USA Today Sports Images
Cleveland Cavalies power forward Kevin Love fights for a rebound against the Golden State Warriors in Game 3 of the 2018 NBA Finals at Quicken Loans Arena in Cleveland.

During his first four years with the Cavaliers, Love averaged 17.1 points, 10.0 rebounds, 2.1 assists, 0.8 steals and 0.5 blocks over 31.3 minutes per game. Love has played 271 regular-season games with the Cavaliers since being acquired in a trade from the Minnesota Timberwolves.

In 63 career playoff games with the Cavaliers, Love averaged 15.3 points, 9.7 rebounds and 1.8 assists while shooting 40.3 percent from the field and 40.4 percent from three-point range.

Credit: Kyle Terada, USA Today Sports Images
Cleveland Cavaliers power forward Kevin Love fires up a three-pointer against the Golden State Warriors in Game 3 of the 2018 NBA Finals at Quicken Loans Arena in Cleveland.

The future of the Cavaliers is very much up in the air after their series-ending 108-85 loss to the Warriors in Game 4 of the 2018 NBA Finals at Quicken Loans Arena on June 8.

With small forward LeBron James able to opt out of the final year of his contract and no hint of whether he may stay with his hometown team or again leave the Cavaliers to pursue NBA championships with another organization in better position to compete against the Warriors, there are plenty of questions to be answered in the coming weeks.

“It’s something where I’m sure he will spend time with his family and when that times comes to make a decision, he will be in a good frame of mind,” Love said. “Obviously, I’d love to play with LeBron the rest of my career, but that will be a choice that he makes.”

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