When the Cavaliers formed their Big 3, it was assumed that the trio of Kyrie Irving, LeBron James, and Kevin Love would bring multiple championships to Cleveland. The team locked up Irving for five years and James signed a two year deal with a player option for the second year. Kevin Love has a player option for the 2015-2016 season. To say that he has dealt with a little bit of drama this season may be an understatement.
I was driving back from lunch and ESPN Cleveland’s Tony Rizzo had reported that his sources when I first heard of the potential Love-Wiggins deal. To me, it made sense because James would be getting his Chris Bosh stretch 4 that can shoot the three-pointer. In a letter written in Derek Jeter’s Players’ Tribune, Love quoted saying, “My decision was about wanting to win…In order to get to that place, I knew I needed to move on.” Naturally, this ignited a fire inside all of Cleveland fans. The Cavaliers were back!
Then came the season. Kevin Love is averaging 16.6 points and 10 rebounds per game. I think any player would take those numbers any day of the week. We have all been spoiled with Love’s career year last season when he scored 26.1 points and 12.5 rebounds. On February 7th, the Cavaliers just had their 12 game win streak snapped by the Pacers and LeBron James had sent a tweet directed towards Kevin Love.
Stop trying to find a way to FIT-OUT and just FIT-IN. Be apart of something special! Just my thoughts
— LeBron James (@KingJames) February 8, 2015
The tweet referenced the plane ride to Brazil in the preseason and how Love was trying to fit in. It seems that when the Cavaliers play a big market team, the Lakers or Knicks, and Love doesn’t have gaudy numbers, numerous questions would flood in about whether he would test the open market. He was on the Mike & Mike radio show and admitted that LeBron James and him were not “best friends” and that he would pick Russell Westbrook for MVP over James. Love might just be a realist.
So the debate continues…will he return to the Cavaliers next season? There are a few options.
Opt-Out and Re-sign With the Cavaliers
Love has missed three games this season and has had multiple instances dealing with back spasms. If he were to want to take the guaranteed money, he could re-sign for the max deal which would be for around five years $120 million. The Cavaliers will have Brenden Haywood’s insane contract off the books, giving them plenty of money to re-sign Love.
Opt-In and Return to the Cavaliers
Love’s player option is worth $16.7 million. With this chunk of change, Love could bet on himself and play out the final year of his contract. The NBA is expected to agree to a new TV deal and the salary cap is expected to rise significantly. The Player’s Union and LeBron James’ ultimate goal is to not have any limit on the max salary. However, if there were to be a max salary, the numbers have been projected to be around $28 million to $38 million in the last year of the deal.
With either one of the decision’s, Love would return to a team that was assembled in a little over a month and a new coach that has compiled the second best record in the Eastern Conference. The team is has hit its stride as they have the best record in the league ever since James’ return from his injury.
Opt-Out and Sign With a Different Team
There would be no shortage of teams lining up for Kevin Love’s services. Many of the big market teams would be licking their chops at the chance to sign the power forward. The Knicks and Lakers would be the front runners. The Lakers have plenty of cap room and can sign multiple big time free agents. The Knicks have Phil Jackson, arguably one of the greatest basketball minds ever. The Lakers, however, have a promising young forward in Julius Randle and a hopeful top five pick in the NBA Draft. Both teams also have ball dominant players in Kobe Bryant and Carmelo Anthony. If Love is worried not seeing the ball with LeBron James, then good luck seeing it with these two. If Love were to sign with a different team, they would not be able to offer him a fifth year.
Kevin Love’s decision will be a much anticipated one this summer. My feeling on his decision has already been made. I’ll leave you with one last quote from his Player’s Tribune article:
“I’ve never played in a playoff game. I came to Cleveland because I want to win. I’ll grab a broom and sweep the floors if it gets me an NBA title.”