Speculations abound that the Cleveland Cavaliers are planning to sign-and-trade All-Star power forward Kevin Love when free agency period begins on July 1, as per Bleacher Report.

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There were rumors that since the 2011 NBA Most Improved Player was demonstrated non-contributory in the recent postseason run of the Cavs where they were defeated by the Golden State Warriors in the Finals, 2-4, team executives were intending to trade him for a player that would better complement the other two-thirds of their current Big Three in LeBron James and Kyrie Irving.

However, Cavs GM David Griffin was quick to douse the fire by saying that the team is persistent to retain Love and make him a part of next season's another run at the title.

A new one-year contract is perhaps the best deal for the 6-foot-10 stretch four at this time of his career as the 2016-2017 season promises to be more "player-friendly" in terms of salaries and compensations with the impending increase in salary cap.

However, Chris Fedor of the Northeast Ohio Media Group reported that there is still the possibility of a Love sign-and-trade as the team is in danger of splurging over $200 million in salaries next season, which would be the biggest ever in NBA history if it happens.

Another Cavs power forward, Tristan Thompson, is reportedly going to receive a max contract as well for next season. That would make James, Thompson, and Love eat up more or less $56 million of the team's cap, which is almost the entirety of their supposed-to-be payroll.

It can be a real dilemma for team owner Dan Gilbert to keep Love as Thompson had proven himself valuable to the team after his performance in the playoffs. And Thompson would now also require heavy minutes at the no. 4 spot to continue his emergence, which would be redundant if Love is around.

The Los Angeles Times' Matt Bresnahan said that after the DeMarcus Cousins potential deal went down, Love is now one of three free agent big men that the Los Angeles Lakers are targeting this summer. Aside from Portland's LaMarcus Aldridge and the Clipper's DeAndre Jordan, Love was said to be under the L.A. radar. 

TagsNBA 2015, NBA news, NBA News 2015, NBA rumors, NBA Rumors 2015, NBA Trade Rumors, NBA trade rumors 2015, cleveland cavaliers, Kevin Love