The Phoenix Suns may be looking to make a trade to help solidify their playoffs hopes, however, unless they can get him for cheap, they may want to pass on Kevin Love.
When Adrian Wojnarowski reported the Cleveland Cavaliers are open to trade offers for Kevin Love, it was only natural to explore the possibility of what the Phoenix Suns could offer them to acquire the 5-time All Star.
When coming up with possible trades, the core component in each of them was Tyler Johnson. The reason: the Suns need to get rid of his rotten contract.
Tyler Johnson will make over $19 million dollars this season, and the lefty with questionable facial hair is, statistically, having the worst season of his professional career outside of his rookie year, and has found himself out of Monty Williams‘ rotation.
Any team, whether that be the Cleveland Cavaliers or another potential Phoenix Suns trade partner, is only going to accept a trade involving Tyler Johnson to make the salaries work out.
They might look at trying to keep him on the cheap next season when he becomes a free agent, but in reality, no one is trading for Johnson because they think he is worth his price.
The reason this is important is because it explains my mindset when developing those trade offers. Essentially, if the Suns can get Kevin Love on the cheap while also ditching a putrid contract then go for it. Else, let someone else give up something super valuable for him.
Don’t get me wrong, he’s a great player and has had a tremendous career and most certainly has some gas left in the tank. However he is not worth giving up a player like Kelly Oubre Jr. who is the life blood of this Phoenix Suns team’s resurgence.
This isn’t the Kevin Love lottery that was the Cavaliers won in 2014, when they signed the then superstar. This is a much different Kevin Love.
So here are four reasons why, unless the Suns can get him at a bargain, they should not pursue Kevin Love.
He’s old
Kevin Love turned 31 in September, and while that does not exactly earn him senior citizen status, even by NBA standards, it does put him squarely on the back-end of his career.
And he is only getting older. Unfortunately, that’s the way time works.
It won’t be long before he starts looking like Uncle Drew’s ole pal, Wes, except not as talented, and unable to jump as high.
Before you rightfully call out the fact that Aron Baynes is 33 years old and playing the best basketball of his career, appreciate the fact Baynes had no where to go but up, averaging around five points per game throughout his career before his uncanny 14.7 points per game thus far this year.
While it is certainly possible the Phoenix Suns could breathe new life into Kevin Love’s career, the more likely scenario is that he maintains his current trajectory, which (naturally considering the aging process) is downward.
And to pay an aging player the salary he is due might not make the most sense for the Suns.
He’s injury-prone
On top of age weighing him down, Kevin Love is injury-prone.
Kevin Love only played in 22 games last year due to a lingering toe injury that seemingly would never heal. The two years before that, he only suited up for 59 games and 60 games, albeit, he was named an All Star in both of those seasons.
This season, he has been battling a back injury, which has kept him out of multiple games.
Before the start of last season, the folks over at King James Gospel counted a total of two surgeries and 22 different injuries over his then 10-year career.
Since then, that list is only growing.
It would be a worst-case scenario for the Phoenix Suns if they were to give up a luxury package of youth and draft picks only to obtain a player who is only able to play part-time due to one ailment after another.
Love is a great player, but he can’t contribute if he’s on the bench in street clothes.
On top of physical injuries, Kevin Love has been very open about his battle mental health. Love has suffered from depression and anxiety, and to his tremendous credit, he has been outspoken about it and helped reduce the stigma of such issues.
Having said that, if the Suns view a history of bone fractures, back pains, and sprained ankles as potential risk factors, they would be remiss not to take his mental health history into consideration as well, regardless of how nobel he has handled it.
He’s expensive
In the summer of 2018, the Cleveland Cavaliers signed Kevin Love to a four-year $120 million extension. For those who are numerically challenged, that comes out to $30 million per year.
To over-simplify things, $30 million is a lot to pay for 16 points and 10 rebounds per game, which is what he is averaging this year, and that presumes those statistics is static. However, while his rebounds have hovered right around 10 per game for several years, his point production has trended in the wrong direction.
Since the 2016-2017 season, Love has seen his point average decrease every season.
It was reasonable his scoring would take a hit when he joined forces with LeBron James back in 2014. He dropped from over 26 points per game to 16 points per game during his first season with the Cavs.
But when LeBron peaced-out to LA last year, Love got paid like he was going to be the player he was for the Minnesota Timberwolves: super-productive and the best player on a team that, understandably, would not win a lot of games.
Instead, his scoring dipped a bit, and it is clear the Cavs’ gamble that he would return to his former glory days without LeBron hogging all the stats didn’t pan out.
While the Phoenix Suns wouldn’t need him to post the same numbers he did as a star for the Timerwolves, if he contributes his status quo of 16 points and 10 rebounds, it isn’t worth forking up max-salary money and be committed to that for three more years.
He’s been there, done that
Far be it from me to question a man’s desire, but one can’t help but wonder how much fire he has left in him.
Kevin Love has accomplished more than most people could dream in his illustrious career. He is a 5-time All Star, won an NBA Championship, and has grossed close to $250 million in contracts.
What else does an aging, injury-prone, star-turned-role-player have to fight for?
The Phoenix Suns are now the Valley Boyz, and everything that comes along with that culture. They are energetic, fierce, and bring a type of certain type of swagger unmatched by most other teams.
To shamelessly quote Hamilton, they are young, scrappy and hungry and they are not throwing away their shot.
They also look good doing it, and…actually that might be where Love would fit in, considering he has his own fashion line and has been featured at New York fashion week.
But assuming James Jones isn’t taking clothing style into consideration when making franchise-defining trades, you have to look at the other Valley Boyz culture traits.
If I were in Kevin Love’s position, I would not have a lot of passion to co-lead a young team laced with emerging talent to a place I’ve already been.
Maybe Kevin has more love for the game than I’m giving him credit for, but at the price of $30 million and a combination of young players and draft picks, it is not worth it.
The bottom line is that Kevin Love would be a great exchange for the Phoenix Suns to unload Tyler Johnson’s contract, but the James Jones should think long and hard before unloading too many prized assets.