Marcus Morris, Kevin Love

Cleveland Cavaliers forward Kevin Love (0)

(AP Photo/Carlos Osorio)

The great Jackie MacMullan believes the Boston Celtics plan to chase Kevin Love before Thursday afternoon's trade deadline.

During a Wednesday appearance on WEEI's Ordway, Merloni & Fauria show, MacMullan said she thinks the Celtics will try to acquire the Cleveland Cavaliers star before Thursday's 3 p.m. deadline arrives, but expressed little confidence the two teams can reach a deal.

"I do believe that Danny is going to make another run at Kevin Love because we know that he's coveted Love all along," MacMullan said. "The one thing that I think is interesting about Love, everybody is down on him -- well, he stretches the floor, which we know Brad Stevens likes, right? Well, he can't defend and I don't know how you guys feel about real plus/minus, I tend to be a fan and I am sure the Celtics have things that are much more sophisticated than what we use at ESPN for real plus/minus, but just for the heck of it, I looked it up this morning on Kevin Love. He's 12th overall in the league. That is pretty good.

"His defensive numbers right now -- his defensive plus/minus is better than his offensive plus/minus. I think Kevin Love gets a raw deal when it comes to the Cleveland Cavaliers and maybe why they aren't performing maybe as well as they should. In fact, we know Kyrie Irving is coming off some pretty severe injuries, look at his numbers, they are horrible. His defensive real plus/minus is minus 3.22. The only point guard who plays significantly in the league that is worse are guys like Brandon Knight and actually Derrick Rose. I think Kevin Love gets a raw deal.

"I would be thrilled if the Celtics could bring Kevin Love here, I just don't think it's going to happen. If I am Cleveland, I'm the best team in the East and we all know every team -- Golden State, San Antonio, they are one injury away from being vulnerable, I'm standing pat for the most part."

The Celtics have targeted Love since he still played for the Minnesota Timberwolves, and hoped to sign him as recently as last summer when he fit free agency but stayed with the Cavaliers. The big man's production has dipped since he joined LeBron James and Kyrie Irving, but, at age 27, Love is not even two years removed from a monster 26.1-point, 12.5-rebound per game season. Boston could think a bigger role, more opportunity, and a partnership with Brad Stevens would push Love closer to his old stardom.

After Love hurt his shoulder in the first round of last season's playoffs, the Cavaliers still advanced to the NBA Finals and even took a pair of games off the Golden State Warriors. They could have at least a little curiosity about what they could accomplish if they trade the power forward for a major haul. As things stand now, Cleveland is a big step behind Western Conference powers like the Warriors and San Antonio Spurs. It would be natural for the Cavaliers to consider change intriguing, if not necessary. Heck, they already fired a coach who guided his team within two wins of a championship last season.

But the Cavaliers look like the clear No. 1 in the Eastern Conference, and still haven't seen what their star trio can manage with a healthy postseason run. Love hasn't fit perfectly over one-and-a-half seasons, but the offensive potential with him, James and Irving is off the charts if they can ever figure things out. Maybe new head coach Ty Lue can coax a synergy out of that group that David Blatt never could. At the very least, it's probably wise to give him longer than a month to try.

Something else to consider: the Cavaliers must see the Celtics as one of the rising Eastern Conference contenders. Arming a looming rival with a star offensive talent would be a huge risk, even if Boston can put together an enticing package of young players and draft picks.