Sources: Love, Cavs finalize buyout as veteran eyes Miami
Kevin Love was the last link to Cleveland’s memorable 2016 championship. He’ll chase another title elsewhere.
The five-time All-Star and the Cavs completed a buyout of his contract Saturday, freeing the forward to sign with another team. Love is strongly considering a move to the Miami Heat, two people with knowledge of the matter said.
The people spoke to The Associated Press on condition of anonymity because Love, who was with Cleveland since 2014, must still clear waivers before he can sign with a new team.
Love’s departure ends his tenure with the Cavs that came during the team’s most successful run.
“Kevin represented the organization and the city of Cleveland with the utmost charm and professionalism during his nine seasons in Northeast Ohio,” Cavs president of basketball of operations Koby Altman said. “He also embodied everything a franchise would want in a player, and the admiration and gratitude we have for him will ultimately land his jersey in the rafters of Rocket Mortgage FieldHouse.
“We thank Kevin for his impact and wish him nothing but the best, knowing that he has solidified his place in the hearts of Cavaliers fans and this organization forever.”
Other teams are expected to bid for Love, who is making $31.3 million this season, before he finalizes a decision, one of the people told the AP.
“Hopefully he decides to bring his shooting down to 305 so we can end the season on a very high note,” Heat guard Tyler Herro said, referencing the Miami area code.
Unhappy that he had been dropped from the Cavs’ rotation this season, the 34-year-old formally requested a buyout earlier this week. Love sat out Cleveland’s past 12 games before the All-Star break and there was little indication his playing time would increase anytime soon.
Love believes he can still play at a high level, and his postseason experience makes him attractive to any contenders.
“He knows how to win,” Miami center Bam Adebayo said. “He’s been in those battles.”
Love’s time Cavs had its ups and downs, but he’ll be remembered for his role in helping Cleveland overcome a 3-1 deficit to stun the Golden State Warriors in the Finals seven years ago to end the city’s 52-year title drought.
Love figured to have a prominent role this season for the Cavs, but he was slowed by a thumb injury that affected his shot. He’s averaging career-lows of 8.5 points, 6.8 rebounds and 20 minutes per game.
The Cavs’ recent acquisition of forward and sharpshooter Danny Green pushed Love even further down Cleveland’s bench.
But over parts of 15 NBA seasons with Cleveland and Minnesota, Love has averaged 17.2 points and 10.5 rebounds. He’s also a 37% career shooter from 3-point range, and helped USA Basketball win both Olympic and FIBA World Cup gold medals.
Cleveland, which entered the break fourth in the Eastern Conference at 38-23, may not want to see Love end up with the Heat, a potential playoff opponent. Miami is seventh in the East at 3227, a half-game behind No. 6 New York.
When it comes to facing some of the NBA’s biggest issues, commissioner Adam Silver seemed to be focusing only on the silver linings.
On the problem of superstar availability and the nebulous designation of “load management”?
“I don’t think the issue is quite what some suggest,” Silver said.
What about superstars requesting trades while under contract, like Kyrie Irving and Kevin Durant pushing their way out of Brooklyn? Silver parsed words, saying he was really only opposed to “public” demands for trades.
The regional sports networks that many believe are poised for bankruptcy? In the short term and long term, Silver said, “I’m not all that concerned.”
There was no big picture problem that couldn’t be side-stepped as Silver addressed the media ahead of All-Star Saturday night at Vivint Arena. Entering his 10th season as commissioner, Silver downplayed key issues facing the league, and even went back on some of his own stronger stances from the past.
Perhaps the most headline-grabbing issue of the past few weeks was the dissolution of the Brooklyn Nets, which saw Irving push for a trade after failing to come to terms on a contract extension (getting dealt to Dallas), then Durant maneuver his way to Phoenix behind the scenes after Irving left.
Silver has previously expressed disapproval of public trade demands by superstars under contract. But speaking with reporters on Saturday, Durant said he didn’t think those moves were bad for the league — the opposite, actually.
“It brings plenty more eyes to the league,” Durant said. “People are more excited. The tweets that we got, the news hits that we got from me being traded, Kyrie being traded — it just brings more attention to the league. And that’s really what makes you money is when you get more attention. So I think it’s great for the league, to be honest.”
While Silver acknowledged that public trade demands are “corrosive” and “certainly fans don’t like it,” he didn’t contradict Durant — and even seemed to be in some agreement with him.
“You want to find the right balance,” Silver said. “You want, obviously, players to honor their contracts, and at the same time a certain amount of player movement is good. So strongly against anything said publicly. I agree that a certain amount of player movement is good, but I think it has to be done in partnership and honoring those agreements that players and teams enter into.”
After four years and one playoff series win, Nets fans might feel slightly differently watching three stars — Durant, Irving and Harden — push their way out the door in a year’s time.
It wasn’t the only issue where Silver seemed to soften on stances that players might take issue with.
Amid discussion that endof-season honors might be tied to the number of games played, he also suggested load management — and stars missing regular-season games for rest — isn’t as big a problem as many believe. Noting that the NBA is on track to set ticket sales records and season ticket renewal records, Silver said fans might not view it as an existential problem.
Still, he seemed to hit a wall when breaking the problem down at a fan level: “I understand it from a fan standpoint that if you are particularly buying tickets to a particular game and that player isn’t playing. I don’t have a good answer for that other than this is a deep league with incredible competition.”
The issue where Silver showed the most urgency was the need for the league and the NBPA to come to terms on a new CBA. The players can opt out by March 31, a date both the league and players both agreed to push back from a previous Feb. 8 deadline. Said Silver: “it’s an absolute priority for us as well to get a deal done as soon as possible.
Silver was laissez faire with other regional league stories. In Boston’s handling of its investigation and subsequent suspension (and earlier this week, dismissal) of Ime Udoka, he said the Celtics handled it well. He said Madison Square Garden’s use of facial recognition software to exclude certain guests, which has come under significant fire and court action, was within bounds as long as “they comply with local law.”
After Utah Gov. Spencer Cox suggested that the NBA tolerated the state’s antitrans legislation because, “They’re trying to get a little bit more out of those culture wars,” Silver said of the NBA’s policy of looking at a state’s human rights issues: “I would just say we don’t have a general policy going into it.”
Perhaps the looming problem to most affect the NBA’s bottom line: Diamond Sports, which controls roughly half of the league’s regional sports distributors under the “Bally Sports” brand, missed a $140 million interest payment, signaling to many industry experts that they may declare bankruptcy. In that scenario, NBA teams would stop receiving revenue payments from Diamond Sports, and regionally televised games could go off air in many of the NBA’s markets — including Clippers games in Los Angeles.
Silver said short-term problems aren’t concerning, namely because there isn’t much regular season left, between 23-25 games for most teams.
“If they were to indeed, you know, file for bankruptcy, there won’t be that much of the regular season left,” he said. “For that period of time, we will have in place arrangements, if necessary, to continue to distribute those games to fans. So I think that’s what’s most important.”
In the long-term, the league is looking at more streaming options anyway, Silver said. As Diamond Sports restructures, the NBA continues conversations on how to keep its games on the air, Silver said.
“I’m fairly optimistic we’ll be able to work something out with them,” he added.