Now, it is clear that the Cleveland Cavaliers are not looking to deal away former All-Star forward Kevin Love who is on a decline this season, with the team also facing a number of struggles and issues.
In a report by ESPN, Cavaliers general manager David Griffin shut down reports and rumors regarding Love being traded.
"You'd have to go a long way to convince me that we're a better team winning in the Finals without a player like Kevin on our team," Griffin said in a radio interview.
"We've never once put together an offer involving Kevin, nor have we taken a call on an offer for Kevin," he added.
Love's performance this season is the reason why he is rumored to leave, specifically after Cleveland's tough defeat versus the defending champions Golden State Warriors on Jan. 18.
During the game versus Golden State, Love only scored three points and was given a hard time defensively by Warriors star forward Draymond Green.
This season, the 27-year-old forward is averaging 15.5 points, 10.7 rebounds, and 2.3 assists in 32.4 minutes of action per game.
Two games following the defeat versus the Warriors, Cleveland parted ways with former head coach David Blatt and replaced him with long time assistant Tyronn Lue.
This showed that the Cavs are willing to do everything to improve the team, and Griffin despite saying that they are not planning to trade Love, said no one is untouchable.
However he added, "You're either all the way in or all the way out in this process, and we believe our guys are all the way in. If it remains that way, then we are going to try and augment the group at the bottom and try to get some additional depth, and that's what we'll do."
There might be setbacks, but the Cavaliers are still the best team in the Eastern Conference with a 31–12 record.
