Kevin Love - Miami Ground Machine

[SVC]

That article is strange. Why would opt out and sign a 4-year deal elsewhere be his best choice? Even if he opts out and leaves, I imagine he signs a 1 year deal. He wants to be a free agent after next year whether he stays or leaves.

Don't really see any downside to playing another year and giving it a chance. More money in 2016 and probably a realistic 50% chance to get a ring and never have that talking point used against you again. Go from the great numbers guy who has never made the playoffs to a champion.

Plus, if you're unhappy next year and it seems it's never going to work out, we'll trade you to wherever you want to go. Only teams that know you'll resign would trade for him.

Hopefully all these reports are simply nonsense and he's committed to seeing it through.

 

[Jscc]

Love has so much more to offer than a lethal flick of the wrist, and his track record suggests he should be paid like a primary option. He shouldn't waste his prime years playing third fiddle to James and Irving, even if it means the Larry O'Brien Trophy won't annually be in his crosshairs.

So, after reading that entire article, i've come to one conclusion: Kevin Love is on the author's fantasy basketball team and the author plans to draft him again for the next two years.

 

[gourimoko]

I think people here aren't really willing to appreciate the very real risk that Kevin Love walks, either this offseason or next, simply due to not wanting to play such a diminished role on our team.

Again, being passed up for consideration as an All-Star has got to be of serious concern to a player his age.

 

[Jscc]

I think people here aren't really willing to appreciate the very real risk that Kevin Love walks, either this offseason or next, simply due to not wanting to play such a diminished role on our team.

Again, being passed up for consideration as an All-Star has got to be of serious concern to a player his age.

I appreciate it. I just appreciate Kevin's wanting to win more.

 

[Cayman13]

If Kevin leaves he likely never wins a championship. That's just how it is. There's only 30 teams and 1 team wins each year. Add that to the fact that there's no realistic option he could sign with in the offseason that's even close to contending - the Lakers? Ha!

So him leaving or staying will tell me a lot about his character and what he values. You want to leave so you can be "the man" on another team and put up 26/12 a game? Well keep in mind that the only legacy you'll leave is a guy who put up good numbers but was always a career loser. Decades after you'll retire, basketball fans will hardly remember you.

Or do you want to be on a team with a legitimate shot to win not only a title this year, but MULTIPLE titles over the next few years while learning from a player who could go down as the greatest basketball player ever? Hell! If you do so, and Lebron starts to age, YOU, Kevin, would be able to use that championship experience and along with Kyrie Irving try to continue to bring Cleveland titles. Whatever happens, Cleveland fans would love you forever and your name would go down in the history books!

So make your choice Kevin. But keep in mind what you're signing up for when you sign that next contract...

Great post. I am starting to get a little annoyed at this talk. No, we're not using him correctly right now. But can't/won't that get fixed eventually, by SOMEONE in the organization ? I know this is all hearsay right now, but if it's true and he walks - then he'll be a career loser. To me personally, he hasn't seemed like he's fit in all year, seems to be a strange dude. I am wondering how much of the "usage" issue is on him.

 

[gourimoko]

I appreciate it. I just appreciate Kevin's wanting to win more.

I get that too, I just don't think these two concepts are as opposed as some might want to believe.

For whatever reasons, people think that Kevin Love would only win if he's on the Cavaliers. And even if that were true, he may not think that's the case - I know I wouldn't think that if I were him.

I tell you honestly, and as a lifelong Cleveland fan, if I were put in a position to win, or to win slightly fewer games but build my own team and legacy, I really don't think I'd stay... just my honest opinion.

But hey, we'll see..

And to Cayman's point, you're absolute right, we should figure this out. We need to get this figured out as soon as possible. I think if he is still used like he is now in the playoffs, and we lose, that would not be a positive thing with respect to retaining him.

 

[Birdy89]

Plus, if you're unhappy next year and it seems it's never going to work out, we'll trade you to wherever you want to go.

Unless it is a mid-season trade you are referring to we can't trade Love via sign and trade to another team. We would have to do it the old fashion way of taking back equal money during the season.

 

[MirORich]

Unless it is a mid-season trade you are referring to we can't trade Love via sign and trade to another team. We would have to do it the old fashion way of taking back equal money during the season.

I'm not sure this is true.

Teams at or over the luxury tax apron can no be on the receiving end of a S&T, but we could S&T Love out(or TT/Iman for that matter) to a team for a player or combo of players under contract. We could also trade any of those guys in a S&T to a team who had room under the cap to just absorb the new contract and send us back picks.

As with any S&T, it would of course be predicated on the player(Love, TT, or Iman) wanting to go to the destination team. We can't just sign them and then turn around three days later and trade them to any day we choose.

Don't think that is the outcome with any three of those players though.

 

[Birdy89]

No, we're not using him correctly right now.

The team is winning though, so it is hard to argue really that they aren't using him correctly if the goal is for team success.

If you are looking at Love individually they aren't maximizing his skills, but you can argue that how he is being deployed now is best for the Cavs as evidence by our record since all the moves.

I saw it posted elsewhere, but the word that best described the situation is "overqualified".

He is overqualified for the role we need him to play. He's personally capable of more, but the team doesn't need "more". They need to keep going down the path that has been successful so far.

 

[Jack Brickman]

Kevin could arguably go to the Lakers and build a team around his talents. He's only 26 years old, and they have trade assets.

Didn't he just spend five years in Minnesota with a team built around him? I know that team made some mistakes, but the fact remains that a team with Kevin Love as the best player isn't going anywhere. A team with Kevin Love as the second or third best player, though...that has potential.

Unless we get eliminated in the first or second round, I just don't see him leaving. I think LeBron will put heavy pressure on him to stay, and I think he'll do it. He's said he wants to win, and his best chance to do it is on the team that's played like one of the best in the league for the past two months and will only get better with further continuity and, this summer, added depth.

Again, Love has said, numerous times, that all he wants is to win. What teams with cap space can he go to this summer that give him a better chance to win than here? Maybe he's lying and he doesn't really want to win, but he's going to earn a max contract here regardless, so it seems like he gets the best of both worlds.

Remember, Dwight left the Lakers because that team was going nowhere. This team has far more potential than they did with old man Kobe (who guys have always hated playing with, unlike LeBron) and a broken down Nash. Aside from that, Dwight was a guy who always seemed like he wanted to have fun more than he wanted to win.

 

[gourimoko]

I'm not sure this is true.

Teams at or over the luxury tax apron can no be on the receiving end of a S&T, but we could S&T Love out(or TT/Iman for that matter) to a team for a player or combo of players under contract. We could also trade any of those guys in a S&T to a team who had room under the cap to just absorb the new contract and send us back picks.

As with any S&T, it would of course be predicated on the player(Love, TT, or Iman) wanting to go to the destination team. We can't just sign them and then turn around three days later and trade them to any day we choose.

Don't think that is the outcome with any three of those players though.

Agreed... I went over the CBA briefly and if we're taking back less salary we can do the trade I think.

 

[Taiter]

He is overqualified for the role we need him to play. He's personally capable of more, but the team doesn't need "more". They need to keep going down the path that has been successful so far.

This team is good enough to out-talent many of the teams in the league. To win a title, this team has to get better ball movement. We saw that against the Spurs. Spurs were simply getting easier baskets than the Cavs but couldn't overcome an all-time great night by KI who made tough shot after tough shot. Love should be getting more shots in the post to vary the offense more. The ball needs to be in his hands more on possessions too. He is smart with the ball so work it to him. If he doesn't have a shot he'll move it around. They make it too hard on themselves to score sometimes.

 

[Birdy89]

Agreed... I went over the CBA briefly and if we're taking back less salary we can do the trade I think.

The difficulty would be that any team with cap space would sign him outright if that is where he really wanted to go, and with the restrictions about teams at or over the apron not being able to use that to bring him in it would really limit the field of realistic options.

It's a long ways down the road at this point though so not worth really worrying about yet.

 

[gourimoko]

Didn't he just spend five years in Minnesota with a team built around him? I know that team made some mistakes, but the fact remains that a team with Kevin Love as the best player isn't going anywhere. A team with Kevin Love as the second or third best player, though...that has potential.

And you think Kevin Love would agree with this? Lol..

And yes, Wolves made a lot of mistakes. A.. lot. I think that has a lot more to do with their failures than Kevin Love's supposed inability to be a first option.

Unless we get eliminated in the first or second round, I just don't see him leaving. I think LeBron will put heavy pressure on him to stay, and I think he'll do it.

I don't get the impression that Kevin Love is keen on doing solely what LeBron says. Seems like his own man to me.

He's said he wants to win, and his best chance to do it is on the team that's played like one of the best in the league for the past two months and will only get better with further continuity and, this summer, added depth.

I agree that's his best chance.. But that's not the only issue.

 

[Jack Brickman]

I don't get the impression that Kevin Love is keen on doing what LeBron says. Seems like his own man to me.

Well, Love wasn't interested in coming to Cleveland until LeBron called him. Then he was all in. I think LeBron has a lot of sway here.