Cavs don’t see Love buyout on horizon after benching
As of late, Kevin Love has been seen only on the bench, in his warmups, cheering on the rest of the Cleveland Cavaliers and holding up three fingers whenever a 3-pointer is swished.
As a veteran, his presence is still being felt as the Cavs continue to make a push for one of the top seeds in the East.
But he has been absent from the floor, an instance of collateral damage while the Cavs have shuffled their rotation.
It was a difficult conversation for the Cavs to have with Love, the 34-year-old veteran and locker room leader, the 2016 championship team member, the guy who played through the Cavs' rebuilding years.
In 41 games this season, Love has averaged 8.5 points and 6.8 rebounds on 38.9% shooting from the floor in 20 minutes per game.
But he hasn't appeared in a game since Jan. 24. And while he's been active for the last nine games, he's hasn't checked in, either.
Cavs coach J.B. Bickerstaff noted earlier this season that as the Cavs had players return from injury and shuffled their rotation, it could lead to some frustration.
Bickerstaff didn't want a rotation of 11 or 12 guys all playing only a few minutes a game, as it's a bit more difficult to gel as a unit. Instead, Bickerstaff has wanted to stick to a nine-man rotation featuring guards Donovan Mitchell, Darius Garland, Ricky Rubio and Caris Levert, forwards Evan Mobley, Isaac Okoro, Cedi Osman and Dean Wade and center Jarrett Allen.
That left, most notably, Love as the odd man out.
Due to the depth Love brings, along with that experience, Cavs president of basketball operations Koby Altman said he doesn't anticipate a buyout of Love's contract.
"Not one time since I've been here have they approached me about that," Altman said. "I think we're asking Kevin to make another sacrifice this year to do what he's doing right now, which is be a great teammate, stay positive every day, stay ready and work on your body, work on your shot, work on everything to be ready for when that opportunity comes next."