NBA Rumors: Kevin Love Sets His Sights To Portland Trail Blazers

Will Kevin Love pull off a Paul George move?

Kevin Love’s trade talks are taking over the basketball world, given the talent and the experience that the UCLA product can bring to any team. While some teams that are looking to contend are now starting to ploy potential trades for Love, it appears that the 31-year old Love just wants to go home.

Reports from The Ringer said that the 6-foot-8 Love prefers to play in Portland. With all the injuries that crippled the Blazers, bringing the five-time NBA All-Star will be a big help to salvage their current season.

Born in Santa Monica, CA, Love was raised in Lake Oswego, OR where he played high school for Lake Oswego High School from 2003 to 2007. He averaged 20.3 points, 13.8 rebounds, and 3.8 blocks in his freshman season with the Lakers.

Per The Oregonian reports, he led the charge for his unranked team during his sophomore year and brought the team to the championship game in 2005. Played only 15 games due to an injury, he once had a 50-point 20-rebound game and carried playoff averages of 28.6 points and 17.8 rebounds per game but fell short on the championship game. He was able to give the title to the Lakers the following season against Kyle Singler and South Medford.

The injury bug kept biting on the Blazers and it caused the team to not have the best of all starts. Currently, Portland carries a 9-15 win-loss record – 14 losses away from equaling their total defeats last season where they ended up as Western Conference’s third seed against 53 victories.

Without Jusuf Nurkic, who is expected to return this season, Pau Gasol, and Zach Collins, Portland is heavily on Hassan Whiteside to man the middle but obviously needs more help. Skal Labissiere has been giving Whiteside reliever minutes but is still not enough to match the production left by Nurkic, Gasol and Collins.

Love is averaging a double-double for the 5-18 Cavaliers with 15.6 points and 10.5 points in 19 games for Cleveland, who admits accepting offers for the remaining remnant of the “Big Three” with LeBron James and Kyrie Irving. Playing for his hometown team could easily be an option (ask Paul George), but for Love, it could also mean going back to where his dominant self started and sometimes, that’s all players need to bring back their killer mentality on the court.