Shams: Kevin Love Signing with Miami Heat

[Plutonashfan]

Interesting move, he's definitely a lot worse this year but still putting up 8/7 in just 20 minutes. The Heat is a good place for him. Can play with Bam or back him up

And Miami vs Cleveland is a very real 1st round possibility. It is insane that the Cavs allowed this to get to this point.

It truly is mind-blowing. On November 22nd he injured his thumb. He then sat out a game. The game after that he attempted to play and looked like ass, like D-League terrible. Instead of the during the obvious thing any other team would do and sit him the month to heal up they continue to trough him out and his play continues to get worst. During this time Kevin decided to change his shooting form and not use his thumb while shooting so it wouldn't hurt so bad while shooting. This backfired badly. He completely screwed up his shot and lost ALL his confidence (mental health issues?) It also didn't help that JBB put him in the the absolute worst bench lineups possible because Rubio wasn't back yet. Then he had "back spasms" sat a few game and was completely out of the rotation I'm still wonder why our medical staff just didn't shut him down when it was clear as day he couldn't shoot a basketball properly. Mind you before the injury he lead the entire league in plus/minus. All of this could have been easily avoid and it's a sad day here in Cleveland.

[robbie84]

He's totally going to my Bulls

The article says he's looking to join a contender.

[Case2012]

Would kill to see him come home to Portland. I’d start him over Nurkic if he could handle the minutes.

[TimeisIllmatic]

He's from LA, so either Lakers or Clips. LOL at going to a contender...

Born in LA but grew up in Oregon. He would be wasting his time going to the Lakers.

[NyKnicks1714]

If his goal is to win a ring, how is this not Phoenix? It doesn't matter if he's from California, this is maximum a 4-month stay. He can sign with a Cali team in the offseason.

[bullsaficianado]

If his goal is to win a ring, how is this not Phoenix? It doesn't matter if he's from California, this is maximum a 4-month stay. He can sign with a Cali team in the offseason.

The way he sets screens and likes to hang around the 3 point line I like him for Phoenix. Do they even want him though?

[SK21209]

Interesting move, he's definitely a lot worse this year but still putting up 8/7 in just 20 minutes. The Heat is a good place for him. Can play with Bam or back him up

And Miami vs Cleveland is a very real 1st round possibility. It is insane that the Cavs allowed this to get to this point.

It truly is mind-blowing. On November 22nd he injured his thumb. He then sat out a game. The game after that he attempted to play and looked like ass, like D-League terrible. Instead of the during the obvious thing any other team would do and sit him the month to heal up they continue to trough him out and his play continues to get worst. During this time Kevin decided to change his shooting form and not use his thumb while shooting so it wouldn't hurt so bad while shooting. This backfired badly. He completely screwed up his shot and lost ALL his confidence (mental health issues?) It also didn't help that JBB put him in the the absolute worst bench lineups possible because Rubio wasn't back yet. Then he had "back spasms" sat a few game and was completely out of the rotation I'm still wonder why our medical staff just didn't shut him down when it was clear as day he couldn't shoot a basketball properly. Mind you before the injury he lead the entire league in plus/minus. All of this could have been easily avoid and it's a sad day here in Cleveland.

I had no idea any of this had happened, that's super weird. That really is a shame.

[Pointgod]

Though Kevin Love was playing well for the Cavs? It’s weird that they just decided to take him out of the lineup and now working on a buy out. I agree not a great sign for whatever team he signs with.

[axeman23]

He's making 30 million, what were they going to swap that for? Hayward probably could have happened, but do you really want to pay him 30m next year? Nope.

The Cavs don't have many picks available for trade to make it worth while for a team like Detroit to send them Bojan. There just wasn't a great trade to be made that would make them serious contenders this year. 2024-2026 is their time to shine, this year is all about experience and growing together. Kevin Love wasn't a part of that plan, unless he comes back on a vet min deal next year. Let him be free to go wherever he wants, nothing wrong with that for a guy who stuck it out through the rebuild. He's more than earned it if that's what he wants.

The point is, the Cavs are over the cap, with or without him! So they may as well have resigned him for a lower ammount, rather than lose the salary slot completely! They won't get the same impact from an MLE/partial MLE guy...

Purely from an asset management PoV?
Yes.
But I would guess they quietly shopped him to contenders around the deadline and didn't find a deal they liked, and are giving him the chance to choose his next team rather than dump him to like the Magic for a 2nd rd pick or something.
People say loyalty is dead but teams do solids for players sometimes as a reward for sticking with the organization, as it should be.

The team already DID him a solid signing him to that contract after Lebron left, didn't they? I wasn't suggesting they dump him ANYWHERE, but rather could've signed him to a smaller deal more commensurate with his role and output. Thereby at least being able to trade him next year and get a player back above MLE level...

[Chuck Everett]

How about he just retire and spend time with his new wife and dog?

[cupcakesnake]

This is a bit disapointing.
Love has been through all the ups and downs with Cleveland. Now they're on the rise and already a fringe contender in their first year with this core. Love was going to be a part of that, until his thumb injury made him unable to shoot.

Why would another team want Love if Cleveland is basically announcing: he can't help with out playoff run this year? If Cleveland saw any chance for him to be a positive contributor, they'd keep him, rather than letting him bolster a potential playoff rival.

There are teams that need frontcourt depth. Miami and Phoenix standout. But is there any real chance that Love can provide value if he's struggling to catch and shoot?

I also want to add my puzzlement to the Lakers winning this poll. They're struggling as it is to make any ground against OKC for a play-in spot. They also have TONS of frontcourt players now with Rui, Mo Bamba and Vanderbilt joining AD and Gabriel. Lebron also plays the 4/5 whenever they want that look. I see no room for Love on this team, and no reason for him to leave a contending team to join the Lakers play-in push.

Mehh its alot different going from sage veteran playing 15min a night cheering on the starters to all of the sudden ur the grey haired towel boy racking up DNP's with noobs like Cedi Osman playing over you. Cant blame him at all , if u play sports u know it sapps ur morale if u never play . We are about ti go thru it now with Lonnie Walker squeezed out the rotation

He has a broken thumb on his shooting hand. He can't shoot or catch right now. He didn't get squeezed out of a rotation. He's injured enough that he can't contribute.

[yoyoboy]

Interesting move, he's definitely a lot worse this year but still putting up 8/7 in just 20 minutes. The Heat is a good place for him. Can play with Bam or back him up

And Miami vs Cleveland is a very real 1st round possibility. It is insane that the Cavs allowed this to get to this point.

It truly is mind-blowing. On November 22nd he injured his thumb. He then sat out a game. The game after that he attempted to play and looked like ass, like D-League terrible. Instead of the during the obvious thing any other team would do and sit him the month to heal up they continue to trough him out and his play continues to get worst. During this time Kevin decided to change his shooting form and not use his thumb while shooting so it wouldn't hurt so bad while shooting. This backfired badly. He completely screwed up his shot and lost ALL his confidence (mental health issues?) It also didn't help that JBB put him in the the absolute worst bench lineups possible because Rubio wasn't back yet. Then he had "back spasms" sat a few game and was completely out of the rotation I'm still wonder why our medical staff just didn't shut him down when it was clear as day he couldn't shoot a basketball properly. Mind you before the injury he lead the entire league in plus/minus. All of this could have been easily avoid and it's a sad day here in Cleveland.

And the excuse the organization used along with all of that is Love has been replaced in the rotation by Dean Wade…the guy that Coach JB doesn’t even play much these days for whatever reason. 11 minutes, 6 minutes, and 9 minutes the last three games. Osman or Wade will miss a couple shots and then get glued to the bench for a week. While LeVert and Okoro are allowed to miss as many shots as they like without having their minutes reduced.

What a disaster this all is. A healthy Love should be in this team’s rotation, and he’d be useful in the playoffs, especially when teams load up on Mitchell and Garland, and our other guys can’t shoot for sh- to make the defense pay. Kevin was playing awesome ball in his role to start the season and it looked like he would end up retiring here. Now he’s going to go to a contender and be a valuable piece for them, maybe even against us in the playoffs.

[DrCoach]

So why are Cavs buying him out again? Is there a Free Agent they want to sign?

Im confused

I think they're doing right by Kevin because he wants to play. He's completely out of the Cavs rotation and I think they're doing this to give him to opportunity to go somewhere else where he can play

ok, that makes sense. The joining contender thing threw me off

[ChuckChilly]

Should go to the Suns or the Heat.

[Plutonashfan]

And Miami vs Cleveland is a very real 1st round possibility. It is insane that the Cavs allowed this to get to this point.

It truly is mind-blowing. On November 22nd he injured his thumb. He then sat out a game. The game after that he attempted to play and looked like ass, like D-League terrible. Instead of the during the obvious thing any other team would do and sit him the month to heal up they continue to trough him out and his play continues to get worst. During this time Kevin decided to change his shooting form and not use his thumb while shooting so it wouldn't hurt so bad while shooting. This backfired badly. He completely screwed up his shot and lost ALL his confidence (mental health issues?) It also didn't help that JBB put him in the the absolute worst bench lineups possible because Rubio wasn't back yet. Then he had "back spasms" sat a few game and was completely out of the rotation I'm still wonder why our medical staff just didn't shut him down when it was clear as day he couldn't shoot a basketball properly. Mind you before the injury he lead the entire league in plus/minus. All of this could have been easily avoid and it's a sad day here in Cleveland.

And the excuse the organization used along with all of that is Love has been replaced in the rotation by Dean Wade…the guy that Coach JB doesn’t even play much these days for whatever reason. 11 minutes, 6 minutes, and 9 minutes the last three games. Osman or Wade will miss a couple shots and then get glued to the bench for a week. While LeVert and Okoro are allowed to miss as many shots as they like without having their minutes reduced.

What a disaster this all is. A healthy Love should be in this team’s rotation, and he’d be useful in the playoffs, especially when teams load up on Mitchell and Garland, and our other guys can’t shoot for sh- to make the defense pay. Kevin was playing awesome ball in his role to start the season and it looked like he would end up retiring here. Now he’s going to go to a contender and be a valuable piece for them, maybe even against us in the playoffs.

The Wade thing is equally as puzzling. Dude started early on in the season was very nice fit with the rest of the core. He got injured twice and barely plays now even though his a legit full spacer and good defender and has height, now that his fully healed. But JB loves him some Okoro. Dude probably gets off every time he clanks a three or when Caris turns the ball over or commits a four point foul. Between his odd rotations, playing favorites/throwing people in the doghouse *coughs*Cedi*coughs*, and the handling of all of all of this his quickly becoming disliked around here.

[HardenGoat]

I can see him helping a contender. Just rest him 6 more weeks and ease him back in. Fractures usually take a couple months, maybe longer for a hand situation. I would take him honestly.

[SerialChiller]

Miami makes a lot of sense. They aren't among the elite contenders this year. But they should be a tough out in the playoffs and need size, rebounding, and shooting. All things he can help with and get solid minutes in their rotation. He could even start there, the Heat are that hurting for a big.

[basketballRob]

He's pretty tight with LeBron.

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[xdrta+]

Miami makes a lot of sense. They aren't among the elite contenders this year. But they should be a tough out in the playoffs and need size, rebounding, and shooting. All things he can help with and get solid minutes in their rotation. He could even start there, the Heat are that hurting for a big.

Ira Winderman of The Sun-Sentinel agrees with you.

Among the reasons a shift to the Heat might prove tempting for the 15-year veteran would be the possibility of moving into the starting lineup, with the Heat having gone this season with undersized Caleb Martin at power forward.

[Tor_Raps]

really poor use of an expiring asset by the cavs.

They're historically bad for this, see JR Smith, Drummond, Thompson etc.

No kidding. The Lakers got 3 good rotational players for Westbrooks contract and a pick... Cavs could have gotten something good for sure.