Not often taken into account by Love super-fans: the situation has changed since the trade was made.
The team has since acquired three players whose contributions would be considered invaluable to the Cavs winning a championship: Mozgov, Shumpert, and Smith.
The contribution two of the three bring to the table is DEFENSE, both perimeter and at the rim. And the other is a better percentage and higher impact three point shooter than Love (and not an bad defender himself). And guess what (repeat after me): DEFENSE WINS CHAMPIONSHIPS. This is the element that has our Cleveland Cavaliers on the brink of an NBA finals appearance.
This doesn't even count Tristan Thompson, who has proven to be a plus defender and elite offensive rebounder, and brings the extra possessions which are key to playoff victories. Maxing out Love while letting any of these other players go (with the POSSIBLE exception of Smith because of age) will simply not make salary cap sense, because SHUMPERT, MOZGOV and THOMPSON ARE ALL BIG DOLLAR MARKET COMMODITIES, and all will be due these dollars beginning in 2016-17.
All these players should be re-signed by Cleveland and THEY WILL NOT COME CHEAP. These are salary obligations that were not in play when the season started.
Some will have to come grips with the fact that a demand by Kevin Love for a long-term max contract this offseason may well facilitate his ticket out of town, especially if the Cavs prove they can win the championship without him. This is why the OPT-IN or ONE-YEAR extension is the best strategy for all concerned at this time.
If its me, I'm looking to trade to sign-and-trade Love this offseason for the Lakers #2 pick and filler, but that's irrelevant now. The key point is that if you are truly a Cavs fan, and not just a Love fan, IMO you should not be willy-nilly clamoring for a multi-year max for Kevin Love without looking at the other salary requirements the team has to consider along with the opportunity costs of adding a third max contract, ESPECIALLY if the team wins a championship without him.