NBA Rumors: Kevin Love Planning Cavaliers Return


Earlier this week, Kevin Love opted out of his contract with the Cavaliers, but he intends to stay in Cleveland.

The Lakers, Rockets, and Celtics are among the teams interested in signing Love.

Although multiple teams are interested, “Love has indicated to [the] Cavs recently he plans to return,” according to Fox Sports’ Sam Amico. As Cleveland looks to open up salary cap space, “Cavs also hope to execute Brendan Haywood contract trade quickly after July 1,” Amico tweeted.

Love previously expressed his intentions for next season, according to ESPN.com’s Dave McMenamin on May 31.

Adrian Wojnarowski of Yahoo Sports noted on June 24 that while the Cavaliers remained in the lead to sign Kevin Love, “Cleveland remains the frontrunner to sign Love to a five-year, $100M-plus extension.”

Last season represented a difficult transition for Love as he went from “the man” in Minnesota to the third option behind Kyrie Irving and LeBron James in Cleveland.

As a result, Love’s production took a major hit, as he averaged 16.4 points and 9.7 rebounds per game after averaging upwards of 20 points and 12 rebounds in his tenure with the Timberwolves. For most of the season, it was apparent that Love had little chemistry with his teammates and did not always love being there.

A shoulder injury knocked Kevin Love out of the playoffs after the Cavaliers defeated the Celtics, and the recovery could take up to six months. Before this injury, Love was starting to pull it together and was showing shadows of his former self.

The Cavaliers have made Love a major priority (behind LeBron of course) and seem to be willing to pay him the maximum, although most are not convinced that the big man is worth that kind of money.

It would be a huge surprise for Love to walk away from such a great opportunity in Cleveland. This is a team that could easily be a dynasty in the next two to three years, so it would be foolish for him to leave.

The team’s other key free agents are Tristan Thompson, J.R. Smith, Iman Shumpert, and Matthew Dellavedova. The Cavaliers would like to re-sign each of those players, and expect to, as long as they do not expect more money than they deserve.

Unless anyone steps in and offers a better deal, you can expect to see Kevin Love in a Cavaliers jersey alongside LeBron James and Kyrie Irving in 2015.

[Photo by Maddie Meyer / Getty Images]

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