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Eric Gay/Associated Press

Cleveland Cavaliers Receive: Davis Bertans or Marco Belinelli, Pau Gasol, 2019 first-round pick (from Toronto, via San Antonio)

San Antonio Spurs Receive: Kevin Love

Kevin Love's trade value is complicated, in that he may not have any.

"It's a lot to ask someone to take on $144 million for a 30-year-old with an injury history," a league executive told Berger. "You're dealing with a very small, narrow marketplace for him."

It doesn't help that Love has appeared in just four games this season and is still recovering from toe surgery. Teams could get more on board with paying him through 2022-23—his $120.4 million extension kicks in next year—if they had a more immediate and robust sample size to work off.

But Love's injury, age and salary won't stop everyone from poking around when his trade restriction lifts on Jan. 23.

Certain "rival front offices" view Love "as a difference-maker who is available for the proverbial right price," according to the New York Times' Marc Stein. For their part, the Cavaliers aren't in any rush move him, per Cleveland.com's Chris Fedor.

In the face of lowball offers, they might prefer to try rebooting his value for next year. That isn't necessarily the wrong call. But the Cavs shouldn't scoff at monster cap relief moving forward.

Pau Gasol, a late-late first and Marco Belinelli isn't a sexy return. It's an opportunistic one. Ditching Love's 2019-20 salary for Gasol's partial guarantee ($6.7 million) and Belinelli or Bertans and whoever they draft saves the Cavs more than $13 million next year. Brokering a buyout with Gasol might bump up that number, or they can guarantee his money and attempt to use his expiring contract as part of a larger deal.

Factor in the final three years of Love's extension, and the Cavs are dumping more than $100 million in salary over the next four seasons. That's flexibility they can use to be aggressive in trades and, eventually, free agency.

San Antonio is assuming virtually all the risk. Partnering Love with LaMarcus Aldridge and DeMar DeRozan is a combustible gamble, particularly on defense. But this star trio should spell good times on offense.

Spurs coach-president Gregg Popovich never shies from dual-big lineups. Working through the logistics of an Aldridge-Love pairing is right up his alley. And San Antonio would still have Jakob Poeltl—and maybe Bertans—to mix and match with depending on defensive needs.

Money is the larger issue. Love's extension spans two years longer than the contracts for Aldridge and DeRozan. He removes the Spurs from the free-agency game for at least the next two summers. And, well, so what? They don't profile as big spenders during that time anyway.

Sources told The Ringer's Kevin O'Connor the Spurs have a soft spot for Kristaps Porzingis, a restricted free agent this summer, but landing him or another marquee name is a pipe dream's pipe dream. San Antonio has to shed three or all four of Belinelli, Bertans, Gasol and Patty Mills to be a max-contract peddler. Capitalizing on a stale Love market is easier and, if he stays healthy, a legitimate ceiling-raiser.