Kevin Love unexpectedly extended his contract with the Cleveland Cavaliers. The Power Forward didn’t have an easy four years in Ohio, but now the Cavs are banking on Love as a franchise player after the departure of LeBron James. There will therefore be no rebuild.
It was a somewhat strange picture when Kevin Love signed his contract extension with the Cleveland Cavaliers. The forward was surprised by the team and invited to the Quicken Loans Arena, which is currently being rebuilt. Provisionally there was a small podium, in front of it numerous construction workers gathered with helmets and watched as he set his abbreviation.
Heard that right. Kevin Love is the Cavs’ new and undisputed franchise player, making the four-year extension clear for $120 million. From the Big Three around him, Kyrie Irving and LeBron James, Love is now the “last man standing”. Who would have thought this possible a few years ago? It’s remarkable that he survived four years in Ohio despite tons of trade rumors.
“I always wanted to be here,” Love explained after he signed it. “Of course, there were hard times with all those rumors that came up every few months. I hope, however, that this will now end. I am proud that I have now signed again and may continue to be a part of this franchise.”
Even before the 2016 Championship, the forward to the trade deadline was almost over, and last summer Love was basically gone before the trade with Paul George and Indiana burst at the last minute.
As if this hadn’t been enough, Love was always the perfect whipping boy – for the media, but also for the other players. There was the legendary Fit-In-Tweet from LeBron, which challenged Love again and again even in the quiet closet. Also the unspeakable saga with Isaiah Thomas, who counted Love in the cabin and partly also publicly, made Love the scapegoat.
Love stayed, took it upon himself, went public and talked about the immense pressure and panic attacks that the bone mill NBA caused in him. But there was one thing he didn’t do: run away. It would have been understandable if Love had demanded a trade last season, he did not. “The NBA is a fragile entity,” Love then explained to Jason Llyod (The Athletic). “I don’t know if I’m gonna get another chance to win.”
As is well known, this did not happen in summer, the Warriors were too strong. LeBron is gone, Kyrie since last summer and Thomas chased out of town for a deadline. Many speculated that Love’s fate in The Land would be strongly linked to James’ decision – a misbelief.
The Cavs quickly made it clear that they didn’t want to trade Love, a complete rebuild was off the table. “His loyalty has never been in question in the four years he’s here,” assured GM Koby Altman after the deal. “This is an important sign for me. He wants to be part of this franchise and a leader. I think he’s earned it.”
What has often been swept under the table in the past is that Love continues to be an All-Star with 17.6 points and 9.3 rebounds as a second option last season. 61.4 percent True Shooting at a usage rate of at least 25 percent was played by just three other players: LeBron, Kevin Durant and James Harden – a very nice company.
Instead, the public focus has been on what Love can’t do, and that’s obviously his defense, even if it doesn’t deny his will. After his trade from Minnesota, Love continued to develop offensively. The Big shifted his game increasingly outside and took almost six threesomes per game – and hit an awesome 41.5 percent.
Of course there was also a lot to do with LeBron, who generated plenty of open litters for him, so the question must also be asked whether Love can confirm this on his own. In Minnesota he put on 24 points and 13 rebounds per night, if he now brings this to Ohio, then this is a real plus in the short term.
Despite these figures, however, he never led the Wolves into the playoffs, although the team was never really good and Minnesota always seemed to be plagued by injury. Love was no exception. In three of his six years in the far north the Sunnyboy played 60 or less games, also the last two years in Cleveland were paved with small aches and especially some broken bones.
This is a risk the Cavs are now taking that should not be underestimated. Love turns 30 in September, his prime should slowly come to an end. At 34, he will collect over $33 million in his final year of contract. It is doubtful that Love will still be a double-double machine.
And yet people in Cleveland are happy to have made this deal. The rebuild does not take place, instead, like The Q, it is simply renovated and the strength is re-bundled. The memories of the terrible 2010/11 season are too fresh when LeBron left his home for the first time. The Cavs mutated into a laughing stock and lost 26 games in a row in the meantime.
Although the prize was three No.1 picks (Irving, Anthony Bennett, Andrew Wiggins), even until the lost son returned the Cavs were no more than a borderline playoff team at best. The management wanted to avoid such a constellation this time.
In Cleveland they are convinced that they can play for the playoffs with this squad, as Love once again emphasized. “It is no rebuild for me. We have players who have shown their quality in the finals and we have young people who are ready to learn and improve”. By this Love meant above all rookie playmakers Collin Sexton, Larry Nance or Cedi Osman, who will now stand for the new Cavs with Love.
On the other hand, Cleveland didn’t have much left either. Despite all the horn and mockery that poured over LeBron’s supporting cast in the playoffs, it has to be said that the Cavs have a lot of experienced players who were only overwhelmed on the biggest stage. Players like George Hill, J.R. Smith or Tristan Thompson are solid NBA players, but they are simply overpaid and (rightly) judged by them.
In the short term, the Cavs with the Love extension will install very little anyway. The Pick 2019 still belongs to the Hawks (Protection: 1-10) and the big contracts of Hill, Jordan Clarkson, Smith and Thompson will expire in 2020, only then would Love be quite alone. It is also possible that RFA Rodney Hood, Nance and Osman signed new contracts, but even then the Cavs should have around $70 million in cap space at their disposal.
But who knows: Maybe the Cavs Love actually traded until then. For six months the five-time all-star will have his peace, then Cleveland could ship him out again. The new contract has at least increased its trade value again. There was simply no market for a love with an expiring deal, but there were too many question marks around love (defense, age, injuries).
This is not to be excluded, but it seems that the Cavs have deliberately chosen Love as the new face of the franchise. As a small market team, you don’t want to refuel, instead you want to gather and stay relevant. Some things are new with the Cavs, but many things remain the same. As in The Q, only a few things are being fixed.