LeBron James tells Kevin Love he wants to play with him

LeBron James returned home to Cleveland last week, and is now recruiting big-name talent to Ohio with him in the form of Kevin Love, according to Yahoo! Sports' Adrian Wojnarowski.

LeBron James has reached to tell Kevin Love of his desire for them to play together with the Cavaliers, front office sources tell Yahoo.

— Adrian Wojnarowski (@WojYahooNBA) July 17, 2014

Love, 25, was "intrigued" by the prospect of joining the Cavaliers last week according to ESPN. Now a potential contender in the East, Cleveland's core of Kyrie Irving, James and Andrew Wiggins would make for a cushy landing spot for the UCLA product.

Of course, that's not to say that either Irving or Wiggins couldn't be included in a trade. Last week, Wiggins was apparently off-limits to Minnesota, but a recent development has changed all that. Thursday morning, it was reported that the Cavaliers offered Wiggins as part of a swap for Love.

James reaching out to Love is yet another indicator that this deal is getting closer to becoming reality. As the best player in the league, James has the ability and right to ask GM David Griffin for basically anything he wants. Love, a guaranteed All-Star candidate every season, would make a formidable teammate and would relieve some offensive pressure from James.

While adding Love to the mix would be an offensive boost, he is a huge liability on defense, leading to a split of opinion on whether a trade for Wiggins would be a positive influence. Last season, Cleveland ranked 19th in defensive efficiency.