Lebron James responds to Kevin Love trade rumors

The Cavaliers could make a move prior to the National Basketball Association trade deadline of 3 p.m. Thursday, but New York’s Carmelo Anthony won’t be coming to Cleveland.

Kevin LoveAs ESPN reports, the Boston Celtics continue to be the team that seems most interested in taking Kevin Love from the Cavs.

ESPN’s Marc Stein and Brian Windhorst are reporting that the Cavs have told interested teams that they want a star player in return as part of any potential deal involving Love.

Anthony, who would have to waive his no-trade clause for it to happen, has said he’s not going anywhere.

The Cavaliers made multiple trades in the weeks leading up to the deadline in 2015, acquiring J.R. Smith, Timofey Mozgov and others last January.

Melo himself has been magnificent this season when he’s played, arguably putting together his most complete season at 31 years old.

It seems like an eternity ago when Kevin Love was averaging close to 27 points and over 12 rebounds a game, but that was only in 2013-2014. If he were to be traded he would still be ending his Cleveland career on a good note. For the Knicks to do this trade they needs the Celtics 1st round pick from this year that is from the Brooklyn Nets, which would probably end up in the the top 5.

For the Celtics, this would obviously finally give them a star player they can legitimately build around.

According to Cleveland.com, the Cavaliers are reportedly one of several Eastern Conference teams that have expressed interest in trading for Sacramento Kings guard Ben McLemore.

Love has been a bit of a disappointment in Cleveland, despite the Cavs scoring 8.8 more points per 100 possessions with Love on the floor compared to when he’s off.

Isola’s report Friday night included minimal details about the actual trade, but suggested “very preliminary discussions” have been held to possibly expand the deal to three teams and send New York Knicks star Carmelo Anthony to Cleveland.

The Cavs have plenty to lose in a deal like this. Although it could be a questionable move to put Love on the trade market, the Cavaliers could have some method to their madness. Westbrook has one year left on his contract and has been the subject of possible trade talks in recent months with Kevin Durant a free agent and likely out the door after this season.