Mavs NBA Trade Target Kevin Love; An ‘Almost 3rd Star’?

The Mavs are sniffing around what seems like a possible Cleveland Cavaliers’ fire sale, with Kevin Love among the targeted names.

DALLAS - The Dallas Mavericks are in an NBA trade deadline search for help ... from supplementary guys to, maybe, a “third star.”

Kevin Love has some credentials in both categories.

Per Chris Fedor of Cleveland.com, the Mavs are sniffing around what seems like a possible Cleveland Cavaliers’ fire sale, with Love among the targeted names.

Among the attractions: Love, in theory, would team nicely with All-Star Luka Doncic, would fix some of the problems this year’s Mavs have had with three-point shooting, and would cure some rebounding woes as well.

Fedor writes:

"A source with knowledge of the Mavericks' thinking suggested Kevin Love as a much better fit [than Andre Drummond] given the team's 3-point woes and desire to surround MVP candidate Luka Doncic with shooters. Love would also help boost Dallas' problematic defensive rebounding metrics. Still, the Mavericks have two appealing expiring contracts—Tim Hardaway Jr. ($18 million) and James Johnson ($16 million)—that would help facilitate a deal."

We can suggest that Johnson plus Dwight Powell could be a trade match for his $31 million salary.

Sure why not https://t.co/pQ3L67EM7S pic.twitter.com/GC2S3n2qr5

— Dalton Trigg (@dalton_trigg) March 6, 2021

There are some issues with Love from a health perspective; he has only played in two games so far this season due to injury and hasn’t played since December 27.

But last season with the Cavaliers in 56 games, Love, 32, averaged 17.6 points per game with 9.8 rebounds and 3.2 assists. He shot 45 percent from the floor overall and made 37.4 percent from the three-point line.

On a given night, that’s a helper. On some nights, though Kevin Love isn’t what he once was, that’s even kind of a third star.