http://www.cleveland.com/cavs/index.ssf/2015/01/cleveland_cavaliers_forward_ke_1.html Kevin Love says he doesn't plan to opt out of Cleveland Cavaliers contract at end of this season
For 2015-2016 he'll be paid more than he could have gotten on the open market. And then after 2016, the salary cap goes up!
Remember when he was getting all those stats in Timberland and everyone was talking about him being a top player?? Yeah I can't see it anymore...
The title is misleading, what he actually said is that he is not ruling out opting out: Whatever his "plan" is at this point is only tentative, and subject to change like all plans are.
Seems like the piece that doesn't fit right now. Love didn't play the last 5+ minutes. Something to continue to watch. If I'm Morey, I'd be talking up DMo's defense and broad offensive skills to Cavs management (ie LeBron).
Why is Love better than DMO? Love is being paid like a max player but he only plays 1 side of the ball. You cant have a defensive liability at the PF spot you would be destroyed by all the star PFs in the league.
Let's not get carried away. Love has had seasons where he averaged 26 ppg and 12+ rebounds per game. On excellent efficiency. He was also 12th in RAPM last year. He went on the LeBron diet and now sucks.
Yeah I love what Dmo has become and am extremely optimistic about his future but if we can land Love with Dmo, the NO pick and whatever cap filler, sign me up. Love Howard 4/5 combo, in our offense, is a match made in heaven.
If he does keep the option open of opting in for next year, I think that makes him much more tradeable and palatable to accept from a team looking to potentially deal for him. I've said it for the past couple weeks. The deal that actually makes the most sense is Love for Bosh. Its probably not going to happen, but the deal makes too much sense to not at least think about. Not sure if this years lackluster performance has reshaped the Rockets opinion of Love or not, but I doubt the Rockets really have the pieces the Cavs would want in a deal for him anyways IF they have given up hope on this failing union.
Not so sure about that. DMo would help them immensely on the defensive end, and wouldn't be a hindrance on offense. Also, it's not only about what the Cavs would want in return for Love, or even what the Rockets would directly trade to them. Love *could* be expiring this year, which means he has a say in where he goes, and it very likely would be a 3 team trade. Something like: CLE In: Bledsoe, TJones CLE Out: Love PHX In: DMo, NOP 1st, Papa, Terry PHX Out: Bledsoe HOU In: Love HOU Out: DMo, TJones, NOP 1st, Papa, Terry
Phoenix has been trying to trade for Kevin Love the past 2 years. If Cleveland wanted to trade Love, and they liked Bledsoe, they would probably just deal directly with them. Plus for Cleveland to save face, they are going to need to get a well established star back in return. I know it seems dumb, and it probably is if the trades make sense regardless, but GM's and especially owners in this situation pay a great deal of attention to this sort of thing..... reputation and media/public scrutiny. Pride and admitting you were wrong about a trade is a real thing that holds teams back from correcting mistakes (see how many years it took Cuban to admit his mistake in letting Chandler go). That's why trading with Houston probably wont get the job done. Maybe another 3 team trade that gets Cleveland an established star. Maybe a 3 team deal with Ibaka going to Cleveland or something like that. And that's ASSUMING Cleveland admits they were wrong about Love and decides to even think about trading him... which is highly unlikely.
Smart move... he's probably realizing that no team is going to give a stats only player who has no clue how to win games a max contract. Better to take what he can get for the time being. I'll pass on wanting to add him to the Rockets Roster. I live in Cleveland, and all they talk about here is his horrendous defense (about as much as how Rockets fans talked about Hardens Defense last year), and his lack of effort from time to time. In Hardens defense (no pun intended), he actually showed that he can win regardless of his lack of effort on the defensive end (except in the playoffs). Couple of quotes from "cavfanatics" http://www.cavfanatic.com/forums/cavsnbabasketball_team-talk_time-part-ways-kevin-love: - I for some reason do not feel comfortable with Love on the floor. I have seen enough. I believe a trade is necessary but many may think it is too ealy. - his defense is so horrendous,pathetic,horrible (what others words do you know for very very very bad lol) its painfull to see the team suffer because of him possession after possession after possession after possession, He makes me so mad, god dammit! I cant believe lebron and the coaching staff are letting him get away with it after 40 games already played this season SMH -It's time to bench him until he learns defense. - Morris dominated him against the Suns but this has been happening all year against sub par competition. I am tired of it. Coach Blatt don't even trust him to close out games. Time to cut ties.
