(SP) – The Cleveland Cavaliers are looking to meet Kyrie Irving’s demands for a trade, but will then look to deal forward Kevin Love in a trade to get their star point guard back.
“Obviously, we see Kyrie as the cornerstone of our franchise after LeBron,” said a Cavaliers front office source. “It will be difficult to lose a player like that. But luckily we have in Kevin Love a kind of player that can be valuable in a trade.”
The Cavaliers had shopped Love early this summer in deals for both Jimmy Butler and Paul George, but now the team sees him as their way to re-acquire Kyrie.
“Kevin has been a great player for us, but you’re always looking to upgrade your roster, especially after a season in which you fall short of a title,” said the source. “We think Kyrie Irving would be a great addition to this team and Kevin is our best asset to get that done.”
Adding Irving is also seen by the Cavaliers as possible insurance for next offseason if and when LeBron James signs elsewhere.
“Maybe we can trade Kyrie and a bunch of draft picks for LeBron,” said the team exec. “Then we’d have LeBron and pretty much no one else. It would be like before he went to Miami. Those were some pretty good days.”
