Cavaliers have Kevin Love monster deal in place

By Jonathan Lehman


August 7, 2014 | 10:15am

Kevin Love (left) will join LeBron James in Cleveland in a deal that will send Andrew Wiggins (right) to the Timberwolves. Photo: Getty Images (3)





So LeBron James left the security of playing with a title-winning Big 3 in Miami for the challenge of returning home and … playing with a younger, possibly better Big 3 in Cleveland.
The seemingly inevitable trade sending All-Star forward Kevin Love to the revamped Cavaliers has agreed-upon terms, according to Yahoo! Sports.

The blockbuster deal, which rests upon handshakes and good faith until it can become official on Aug. 23, would send No. 1 pick Andrew Wiggins, last year’s No. 1 Anthony Bennett and a 2015 first-round pick (unlikely to be anywhere near No. 1) to the Minnesota Timberwolves for Love.
Yahoo! also reported the Cavs have assurances Love — who can become a free agent after this season and had made it clear he would not re-sign in Minnesota — will ink a five-year, $120 million-plus contract that begins in 2015.
The structure of the deal has been in place for weeks, according to the report, as the calendar winds down to Aug. 23, the first date Wiggins, the hyper-athletic shooting guard out of Kansas, can be moved.
The Warriors had been seen as the Cavaliers’ primary competition in the Love trade market, though Yahoo! reported Cleveland was motivated by a fear of Love — who averaged 26.1 points and 12.5 rebounds last season at age 25 — landing with the Eastern Conference rival Bulls.
Now Love is in line to join a star-studded lineup with James on the wing and ascendant 22-year-old Kyrie Irving at point guard.