Spurs Rumors: San Antonio should not trade for Kevin Love

The latest Spurs rumors leading up to the trade deadline link San Antonio to Kevin Love. Here’s why the Spurs should steer clear of trading for the All-Star power forward.

Kevin Love’s name has come up in some Spurs rumors about a potential trade to add a third All-NBA performer to their roster as they gear up for the second half of the season.

Chris Fedor of Cleveland.com is reporting that the Cavaliers have received calls regarding the availability of their five-time All-Star before the February 7th trade deadline.

Dan Favale of Bleacher Report even constructed a potential Spurs deal for Love in a recent trade speculation article.

While the rumors of interest in Kevin Love may be real, I’ve narrowed it down to three main reasons why San Antonio should avoid getting involved in the Love sweepstakes despite their push for home court advantage in the postseason.

Next: What the Spurs would have to give up

What the Spurs would have to give up

In Dan Favale’s article on Bleacher Report, he theorized that the Spurs would send Davis Bertans or Marco Belinelli to Cleveland along with Pau Gasol and Toronto’s 2019 first round pick in exchange for Kevin Love.

I don’t think San Antonio would continue to talk with the Cavaliers’ front office for very long if that was their initial offer.

Bertans and Belinelli have been extremely hot of late, and each of them are essential to the Spurs’ second unit success.

It would be nice to get out from under Pau Gasol’s contract, but San Antonio could cut him this offseason with only $6.7 million in dead money and he could play an important role down the stretch now that he’s healthy.

Finally, I would not be willing to mortgage any of the Spurs’ future assets for a 30-year-old big man who doesn’t fit very well with San Antonio’s current roster and may not even be fully recovered from a foot injury until mid-February.

Next: Kevin Love's fit with the Spurs

Kevin Love’s fit with the Spurs

A frontcourt consisting of LaMarcus Aldridge and Kevin Love would contain a lot of star power, but I don’t think they would fit well together in this current iteration of the Spurs’ team.

While Love has become an excellent three-point shooter, Aldridge and him like to work in very similar areas of the floor on the offensive end.

The midrange could get awfully crowded with DeRozan, Aldridge, and Love all looking for shots in that area on each possession.

The Spurs normally don’t like making major in-season trades because it can disrupt team chemistry, and I don’t believe they’d like to throw a wrench into the groove they’ve been in as of late.

The addition of Love would also take away minutes from Davis Bertans and Jakob Poeltl, who are developing into very important pieces of San Antonio’s future. And acquiring Love wouldn’t help a Spurs squad that still needs to improve on the defensive end of the floor.

Next: Kevin Love's Contract

Kevin Love’s Contract

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Kevin Love’s contract is the straw that will eventually break the camel’s back in a potential trade with the Spurs.

Love signed a four-year, $120 million contract extension with Cleveland this summer that will make him incredibly difficult to trade.

Not many teams in the league are eager to pay a big man $30 million per year after the age of 30.

Especially a player like Love, who has been a liability on defense throughout his career.

And that contract could look really ugly paying Love $30 million in his age 34 season with his checkered injury histury.

San Antonio may be big-game hunting this offseason with rumors flying around about making a run for Kristaps Porzingis this summer, and acquiring Love would make that dream nearly impossible.

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In conclusion, a Kevin Love trade doesn’t make much sense for the Spurs right now, and it certainly doesn’t make sense for the future of this organization.