Pointless Trade Idea

Clippers get Kevin Love ($21.5m next year); Heat get Blake Griffin ($20.1m next year); Cavs gets Chris Bosh ($23.7m next year)

Cavs have never seemed happy with Love and they've never really played him in his correct position, it just feels like this is not a perfect match. Bosh is Lebron's close friend and long time teammate, surely the Cavs could figure out how to play Bosh in a way that never matched Love's style. The Cavs would lose Love's rebounding but they'd gain Bosh's defense. Also, Bosh's long range shooting fits better with how Kyrie and Lebron play. Obviously the Cavs would need certain health assurances that Bosh is ready to go but if Lebron is satisfied, that should be good enough. (Yes, Bosh is older, not exactly a cornerstone of the post-Lebron years...but why would Lebron care about that?)

Clippers are at that point where they need to make changes for the sheer sake of making changes and Griffin's recent bad blood (and health concerns) make him more likely to be moved than Chris Paul or Deandre Jordan. Love would give the Clippers a formidable rebounding tandem with Jordan and his 3 point shooting could alleviate their long term inability to find a proper SF. I don't mean to say that Love is a better player but I think he'd fit just fine with the Clippers' needs on both ends of the court.

The Heat need to get younger and more athletic especially down low. Griffin's rebounding and D should fit with Whiteside (aka Deandre 2.0) just fine and his inside scoring would mesh well with Dragic and Wade. Also, he is the cornerstone of the future in a way that Bosh isn't. The only snag: Griffin has only 1 more year with a player option left on his deal, the Heat would want to re-sign him long term as soon as possible. This would give the Heat a long term core of Dragic, Richardson, Winslow, Griffin, Whiteside with room for DWade for as long as he feels like hanging around and an assortment of free agent veterans.

With the rising salary cap, this summer is like a refresh button for many teams in the league: everyone has more money to spend and the excess eliminates (I think) some of the restrictions that keep big deals from taking place. Some big names/contracts that I can see getting traded this summer: Griffin (Clippers), Love (Cavs), Serge Ibaka (Thunder), Jimmy Butler (Bulls), Zach Randolph (Grizzlies), Nerlens Noel (Sixers), Carmelo Anthony (Knicks), Demarcus Cousins (Kings), Eric Bledsoe (Suns), Greg Monroe (Bucks). There are also some player options that might not get exercised, too, just to add to the imminent player movement: Dwight Howard (Rockets), Deron Williams (Mavs), Demar Derozan (Raptors), Jeremy Lin (Hornets), Chandler Parsons (Mavs), Aron Afflalo (Knicks), Pau Gasol (Bulls), Seth Curry (Kings), Austin Rivers (Clippers). A lot of teams will look totally different by the start of next year's training camp.