NBA Trade Rumors: Uncertainty looms over Kevin Love's future with the Cleveland Cavaliers

Kevin Love finds himself in a very tricky situation in the Cleveland Cavaliers. He is the only player remaining from the Cavs' previous 'Big Three' of LeBron James and Kyrie Irving, both of whom have long gone in different directions. Kevin Love had to compromise and reduce his impact on the floor to adjust with a LeBron James-led team. That did help win him and the Cavs win the title, but he is now stuck at a franchise with an uncertain future. Expectedly, NBA trade rumors have linked Kevin Love with a bevy of teams in the competition.

NBA Trade Rumors: Kevin Love is reportedly unhappy at the Cleveland Cavaliers

After realizing that not many teams were interested in his services, Kevin Love signed a $120 million contract extension with the Cleveland Cavaliers.

It's hard to turn down that kind of money when teams aren't exactly rushing to get a player, but that has left Kevin Love reportedly frustrated and unhappy at his current team.

Kevin Love appeared to be visibly frustrated with Collin Sexton. pic.twitter.com/NKA02hBOt4
— SportsCenter (@SportsCenter) January 5, 2020

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Following an in-game outburst that cost the big man a thousand dollars in team fines, Love reportedly had a spat with general manager Koby Altman, according to The Athletic’s Shams Charania and Joe Vardon.

Love's frustration continued in the Cleveland Cavaliers' game against the OKC Thunder as well. He was seen distraught and keeping his head down while sulking during most of the game.

While the Cavaliers head coach is doing a decent job of developing young talent at the franchise, that seems to have come at the cost of Kevin Love. The player has felt neglected at the franchise and has made it abundantly clear that he is fed up and wants to leave the Cleveland Cavaliers.

However, no team seems interested in his services. John Hollinger, a columnist with The Athletic, recently said in this regard:

"I don’t think there’s any market for him at all. I had people openly scoff at me last year when I was bringing up Kevin Love trades."

While Brian Windhorst, an NBA analyst for ESPN, added:

"I was talking to an executive the other day, just this week, and I said, Yeah, I heard that Kevin Love was back on the trade market. And he laughed, and he goes, “Please tell me when he was off the trade market."

NBA Trade Rumors: What do the Cleveland Cavaliers plan on doing with Kevin Love?

The Cleveland Cavaliers finished last season bottom of the Eastern Conference, garnering a poor record of 19-46.

Most analysts came to a conclusion that a team in such dire straits would dump their veterans and aim to start afresh.

Report: Cavs have put Kevin Love back on trade market https://t.co/ylXKZd96hh
— NBA Central (@TheNBACentral) November 6, 2020

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Although it seems like the most obvious thing to do, with an unhappy Kevin Love on a huge contract and free agent Tristan Thompson likely to leave, the Cavaliers appear to be going in a different direction, though.

According to Cleveland.com's Chris Fedor, the Cavaliers would like to keep Kevin Love in its roster and strive to be competitive in 2020-21. Fedor was also quick to mention the type of deal that the Cavaliers could look for if they decide a trade for Love:

"The Cavs will not do a salary dump for Love. They want some combination of draft picks and young, ascending players for Love. Now, in order to get that kind of haul, which many around the league continue to scoff at, the Cavs would likely need to take back a bloated salary. In that kind of package, the draft pick would be considered the Cavs' sweetener in exchange for the other team's bad, lengthier salary."

With no team reportedly interested in the services of Kevin Love, as per NBA trade rumors in this regard, it remains to be seen where the player could end up at this off-season.