Barring a miracle finish to the NBA Finals (Thursday or Sunday depending on what happens), the Kevin Love Era in Cleveland is winding down. There's widespread speculation, despite Cavs players' insistence that this is the "closest team" they've ever been on, that Love will be moved due to never quite fitting with LeBron James and Kyrie Irving, and because of his specific matchup liabilities vs. the Golden State Warriors.
On Thursday, Real GM reported that Celtics GM Danny Ainge spoke with Love's agent and "inquired" about a potential second round of talks to bring the former All-Star to Boston.
Danny Ainge attended a workout with Excel Sports Management clients in New York City recently and met with prominent agent Jeff Schwartz, a league source told RealGM's Andrew Perna.
Schwartz represents Love, as well as Harrison Barnes, who will be a restricted free agent this summer. Brandon Ingram, the presumed No. 2 pick in next week's draft is also a client of Excel, but Ainge is believed to have inquired with Schwartz about whether a trade for Love could be revisited.
Source: Danny Ainge Meets With Jeff Schwartz - RealGM Wiretap.
OK, on the one hand, a GM meeting with an agent means absolutely nothing. He could have been asking about Ingram's openness to Boston in case Ainge wanted to make an offer for the No. 2 pick. Or checking on Schwartz's family, or asking him if he'd seen Now You See Me 2. There's absolutely zero substantive reason to believe they were actually talking about a Love trade.
But these types of moves are well telegraphed. Everyone knew Love was going to Cleveland from Minnesota months in advance. Everyone knew Carmelo Anthony was going to New York. There's a lot of smoke around Love to Boston, which goes all the way back to 2014 before LeBron went to Cleveland when Love essentially took a tour of the city.
There are a lot of reasons to think that if you're placing odds on where Love will be in uniform next season, the favorite should be Boston's green.
