A Whole Lotta Love
2018-07-24We love @KevinLove! pic.twitter.com/NbhhDM0BRS
— Cleveland Cavaliers (@cavs) July 24, 2018
Uncle Drew left the family. The King abdicated his throne. But, Love came to town and decided to stick around.
When the Cavs originally assembled their core big three stars back in the summer of 2014, Kevin Love was the outsider, the third wheel, the supplemental All-Star who would have to sublimate his game to “fit in” with the others to allow them to shine. From almost day one, his name was bandied about as the most likely of the three to get traded for additional help. Ironic then that today Love proved how lasting he could be by committing long term to Cleveland…
The Cavaliers signed the PF/C this morning to a four-year, $120 million contract extension, giving him an overall remaining deal at five years, $145 million.
According to league sources and ESPN, the five-time All-Star opted out of the 2019-20 season on his current five-year deal, and the new extension will kick in after he earns $24.1 million next season. He will get his max salary in 2019-20 ($28.9 million) and 2020-21 ($31.3 million), it will be flat for the 2021-22 season ($31.3 million) and then decreases in 2022-23 ($28.8 million). ESPN also reported that Love wound up taking $8 million less than his full max as general manager Koby Altman worked with Love and his agent to maintain salary cap flexibility for the Cavs on the back end of the deal.
“I’m just very excited and obviously humbled,” Love said during a signing ceremony at Quicken Loans Arena in Cleveland (pictured in the headline Tweet). “I’d like to thank the Cleveland Cavaliers organization, [owner] Dan Gilbert and Koby Altman for having their trust in me and believing in our future. When I got traded here a few years back, I was committed to being here long term and I was committed to our culture, excellence in playing the game of basketball. And I think who we have on our team and who we have moving forward really reflects that.”
Following the departure of LeBron James to the Lakers in free agency, Dan Gilbert, Koby Altman and the Cavs had said outwardly that they planned to try and keep the team competitive rather than tear it down to the studs. They reportedly were aggressive in their pursuit to secure Love for the long term and have the big man as the primary building block around which they can grow young talent such as Collin Sexton and Cedi Osman.
“We are very excited to announce Kevin’s long-term commitment to the Cavaliers and Cleveland,” Altman said in a statement. “This quickly became a partnership the second we began these discussions. Collaboration and winning matter greatly to Kevin and that was reflected in this extension. Kevin’s talent and character are both at a very high level and he has earned his role at the center of what we want to do moving forward.”
Despite the whole lotta bucks for Love, the Cavs should also still have an opportunity to add another star in the next two summers if they handle their other personnel and expiring deals well…
Even with the Kevin Love extension, Cleveland is still projecting to have close to $70M in cap space during the summer of 2020 to reshape the roster. Cap space for Cleveland next summer could be in the $25M range if George Hill, Kyle Korver and JR Smith… https://t.co/R1ZUdRwCtk
— Bobby Marks (@BobbyMarks42) July 24, 2018
Regardless of the perceived dollar value of the contract (there are already wildly conflicting views on whether or not this deal makes sense based on the difference of opinion between the Cavs rebuilding or retooling for the future)… two things are clear:
Cleveland valued Kevin Love… and Kevin Love valued Cleveland.
Thank you for believing in us!!!! https://t.co/e3NbIPaT2I
— Kevin Love (@kevinlove) July 24, 2018
Surprise surprise… Melo said he will not come off the bench. Mr. Team Player says he knows how to play the game of basketball.
His game has been outdated for 6 years.
His style of play no longer fits the NBA.
He knows how. He just does not do it.
The freaking Hawks waived him. After getting a first to take him from OKC.
Dear Melo: when your team has to attach 1st round picks to get someone to take you, and then you get waived, you are not starter quality.
5 thirty 8 has him as a replacement level player at this point.
actually the more I read / learn about leonard– he would fit right in with the other ‘misfits ” that they call themselves –“LAKERS ‘—-and I don’t think– ( aka; kyrie ) that leonard wants to share the spotlight / be the 2nd fiddle to LeBron –just my opinion
https://twitter.com/JeffDLowe/status/1022524988790857728?s=19
I hope Leonard stays in Toronto, so LeBron is left with that group of misfits.
Bron wants to pass Kareem on the scoring list.
No harm in that. LeBron’s legacy is already cemented – further accomplishments are icing on the cake.
TT is going to remind nomad of Elgin Baylor this season…/s
does that mean he can hit a 10 footer with consistency?
Appreciate the signing, esp after renewing a partial season plan (fully knowing LeBron exit fairly likely). Winning takes 3 superstars. Cleveland was fortunate that one of the greatest ever is from the area and liked/likes living there. The probability that Cleveland can simultaneously attract 2 or 3 superstar free agents is essentially zero. KLove now likes the place. That’s one. Can the Cavs actually draft another one, and then market themselves enough to attract a third? We shall see. Gilbert is appreciated for writing checks, but drafting and team/organization culture have had their challenges. Ready to celebrate Cedi and Sexton.
Right on.
Kevin Durant is the biggest putz in NBA history. https://ftw.usatoday.com/2018/07/warriors-kevin-durant-explain-lebron-james-join-lakers-perfect-move-loved
The competition is stiff indeed, but he may well be…
Yeah he sure is.
i believe that LBJ caused a lot of “shrinkage” in the locker room, and on the court.. time will tell if the boys can regain their former testosterone levels.. certainly there were times when hood and clarkson, and frankly, most of the others as well, appeared to be in need of a pair of depends when they were on the court.. talent without dedication and discipline usually disappoints..
Well they were probably in the pool.
no doubt..
As much as the fountains v drains thing is spot on, a team doesn’t need shrinkers either.
Guys who play well in meaningless games but choke under pressure. Now, we have some shrinkers on this team. Young guys get a pass, not the vets.
If you have enough depth where the shrinkers play a limited role, that is fine. But you cannot depebd on them.
1. Fountains not drains
2. No knuckleheads
3. Play hard
4. Play smart
5. Play together
6. Minimize shrinkers
personally, i prefer the term “shrinkage”.. if unfamiliar with the reference.. just look for references to the term with george costanza.. “shrinkage” is far more emasculating than “shrinking”.. and we have some major “shrinkage” issues on the team.. we will soon see if there is sufficient character to combat it
Haynes’ interview with Derozan was pretty in depth and interesting:
https://youtu.be/8mJ6NFJySOg
Public/society as a whole definitely has a double standard regarding players switching teams. When players leave, they’re labeled as ring chasing or disloyal but organizations often get little slack for trading away a player they made a commitment too. I think this narrative is starting to change and will be one of LeBron’s biggest impact on the NBA in regards to players writing their own destiny.
It makes sense to me. Most people cheer for teams not players. It’s natural to take the team’s point of view.
I get it. Either way they are still getting paid the same amount. Sucks they have to uproot themselves. However, if most players got their total choice of where they played all the time, I don’t think you could have a league with more than 5-6 teams with all star caliber players. Most of them would all probably choose the same places to play. Small market teams, especially in the Midwest likely couldn’t exist. Even with contracts, players still have leverage as we have seen with Leonard, PG, Kyrie, and all the other guys that have demanded trades. Of course… Read more »
Feel like the one and done contracts indicated that in hindsight. He could have kept doing that in LA and made more money year to year, but he wanted to be there long term no matter what. Money was probably part of it in Cleveland, but part of it was also probably an out for him if Gilbert pissed him off in any given year while he was here.
Great writing from ESPN. Flare not flair.
Yeesh. Do sportwriters graduate middle school?
Still think we could end up keeping the pick. Far less tankers this year.
I put us at 9th-11th in the East with an outside PO shot. We could also shed some vets (Korver, JR, Hill). But at least 8 above us.
Out west I see 10 teams better: GSW, Hou, OKC, Utah, Denver, SA, Lakers, Minny, Portland, NO. I see three in our neighborhood: Memphis, Clippers, Dallas. Two clearly worse: Suns, Kings.
By my reckoning:
18 teams above us.
6 clearly below (Phx, Sac, Atl, Orl, NY, Brk)
Our neighborhood = 5: Chi, Dal, Clips, Hornets, Memphis.
In the East, there will be a real fight for the 8th spot, barring major injuries. I see the Cavs, Hornets, Nets, and maybe the Heat fighting for that. Nets may be better than that, though…
Agree wholeheartedly with Bron as blessing & a curse. Though much more a blessing. Looking at the East: Top tier: Celtics, Raptors, 76ers Next: Pacers, Bucks ———– After that it gets iffy. The Wiz should be a solid 6th but any team with DH12 takes a hit. The Heat & Pistons would be my picks for 7th & 8th. Miami has been overachieving for a year and a half but plays hard, and Detroit was pretty good in limited games with Blake, Drummond, & Jackson —————– I would make the Hornets & Cavs the most likely to capitalize should anyone… Read more »
Im rooting for pacers, i think they have everything they need to take down celtics, raptors and 76ers
thinking Love (and other players / coaches )—are going to play “less fearful of making a mistake——being called out by LeBron “—–you CANNOT play afraid of making a mistake —-because if you play that way –you WILL make a mistake and also play less aggressively —as much as I like LeBron (and thankful we had him 4yrs/ got a championship )—-just think he CAST A HUGE SHADOW OVER THE ENTIRE ORGANIZATION ——AFFECTED ON HOW GUYS PLAYED / COACHES COACHED / G.M’S MADE DECISIONS —–EXCITED TO SEE THE NEW ERA GET STARTED ——–BUT ALSO WILL WELCOME BACK LEBRON IN 4YRS
Good observations.
I think it will be a big difference with some of those guys. Too much deference to Lebron a lot of time last year, and I get it, he’s your best option all the time, but I look forward to Cedi in let it fly mode more.
Sounds like the Cavs wanted a first for Korver/Bayless swap, which makes more sense now.
I am excited to see the team going forward and I am interested to see Lue coach a team without LeBron. Having LeBron is great but he is very, very limiting to a coach on what they can do. He is also limiting to players. Kevin Love type is player will always suffer playing along side someone like LeBron. LeBron is a gift and a curse. It was pretty frustrating at times watching the time play LeBron’s style of “one pass” offense. I am really glad that we have a player like Love on the time to carry the team… Read more »
I agree. Now we will see whether or not Lue can coach.
Love will also help Sexton & Clarkson a lot. He gives them someone to olay off & with rather than them having to feel they have to do it all every time down.
I don’t want Sexton to turn into AI (style wise).
Time to dust off my “LOVE 2:16” shirt.
I “LOVE ” IT ARCH
https://twitter.com/BenAxelrod/status/1022090312150409216
Lord, yes. Great call. Thinking about Frye. One thing about channing is he gives us some non-Love spacing from a big. Hence, all these pairings should work (at least offensively): Love/Nance, Love/TT, Love/Zizic, Love/Frye, Frye/Nance, Frye/TT, Frye/Zizic. And both Love & Frye can anchor 5 out lineups at C. Now defensively some of those lineups will struggle vs quickness or on the glass. Particularly Frye at the 5 lineups. But at least we have more options when Love sits. Perhaps Preston & Colson can turn into PF options who can stretch. White/Artis seem longer shots, though Okaro had a long… Read more »
JASON– YES — I THINK BONZIE COULD BE A PLEASANT SURPRISE FOR THE CAVS ( AND THE ENTIRE LEAGUE )
with the love signing —it does take some pressure off sexton to -HAVE TO- perform at a high level his rookie season —can sorta ease into his NBA career —LOVE / FRYE WILL BE GREAT MENTORS TO HAVE AROUND HIM —–also looking forward to see the COMBO OF NANCE / LOVE GROW TOGETHER BOTH ON AND OFF THE COURT —-THEY ARE BOTH TRUE PROFESSIONALS AND GREAT CHARACTER GUYS ——-PLAYERS WE HERE “IN THE LAND ” ENJOY EMBRACING !!
Well, Sexton, Cedi, Love, & Nance + 1 (Clarkson, Hill, Korver, JR, Hood) should work OK.
We need a conbo forward type badly, with Bron & Jeff gone. Cedi, Hood, Korver, & JR cannot handle most 4s at all.
Hope Colson gets a shot in camp.
Great discussion, guys. Thanks for reading this, EG. Hopefully have more time to get my thoughts up for Friday, but Cavs have some room to make some moves now that the team has a direction.
The Knicks currently have 16 players on their roster and their 2-ways filled. Would you take Trey Burke off their hands, using a trade exception? That would provide some PG depth. Or we could just go ALL IN on SCOOTCHIE!
Trey Burke is garbage. I’m pretty skeptical on scootchie. Just don’t see the athleticism or one om one scoring ability to play at the next level.
Agreed. Burke is a super hard no and Scootchie will have a nice career in the mid level Euroleague if he wants it.
Agree. I think Scoochie is one of those guys who will be sort of a fringe NBA guy at best, unless he suddenly becomes a 40% volume three guy or something. I have never liked Burke.
Jason Lloyd brought up a good point today. Dan Gilbert and the Cavs FO that was around in 2010 have PTSD from that 26 game losing streak, and losing 36 of 37 games. They don’t want to go down that path again.
Sexton is going to need good players like Kevin Love around him to be able to develop and keep from beingbeaten dowm.
So… is there a possibility of bringing Kyrie back to play with Love?
Wouldn’t that be something?
The mismatch between KI’s value at this point, and what he thinks it is, will make him trouble anywhere.
TO BE HONEST ( AM SURE TO TAKE SOME FLAK ON THIS )—I AM MORE EXCITED ABOUT THIS SEASON THAN I WAS LAST SEASON——JUST EAGER TO SEE THE YOUNG TALENT PLAY / GET BETTER–GROW TOGETHER / SEE LOVE UTILIZED THE RIGHT WAY / PLAY HARD BASKETBALL ALL SEASON—EVERY GAME —-WILL PROBABLY ENJOY NEXT SEASON MORE THAN LAST —–WHEN WE CUSSED / CURSED / AND GOT UPSET WITH EVERY CAVS LOSS ———–THINK KEVIN / TY / OTHER PLAYERS WILL ENJOY THIS SEASON ALOT MORE TOO
I agree actually.
Completely agree with you guys. Last two seasons were brutal. Still sucks that Lue is here but I’m happy to not have to worry about the LeBroness of it all, the Dubs and all the BS that surrounded the “Ring or Bust” mentality. I’m happy to see players that want to play.
Agree as well. The Lebron trade brought me back here. This season could suck really hard (think Kyrie pre-Lebron) but the conversations here were more interesting pre-2014. Next year and after they will have trade options and cap flexibility to make things interesting.
I am excited as well. Which of course, makes absolutely no sense given the big picture. It has caused me to really reflect on what makes me happy as a sports fan. I’m looking forward to watching Nance and Osman develop. I’m looking forward to hoping I’m wrong about Sexton. I’m as excited about the Browns as I’ve been in 20 years, yet I haven’t watched a single inning of the first place Indians all year. So it hit me- what gives me satisfaction over the course of any given season is seeing growth. Seeing improvement from the prior season.… Read more »
I agree to a certain extent – part of why the regular season sucked so much over the last 2 years was just the abject lack of effort for most of the regular season and Coach Lue’s failure to experiment with lineups or give young guys experience that would pay off in the playoffs. It seemed like the only goal was to get through the regular season healthy and watch LeBron’s brilliance carry the team on most nights. I will miss the deep playoff runs, mostly because LeBron could elevate his game to an unparalleled level better than anyone in… Read more »
Amen. Though I do wonder what happens if Hill hits the FT & we win game 1 & Bron does not hurt his hand.
I’ll be excited if Lue shows that he has a brain. It won’t take long to know. We need simply check how many minutes Cedi gets in the first week of the season.
It MIGHT be the case that Lue’s inaptness was due to being restricted by LeBron, and new Lue will become a competent coach. But I will be surprised.
Hopefully that explains his offense. Not sure that could ever explain some of his rotation choices or some of the defensive schemes.
It’s a little encouraging that they put Cedi on ice for the tail end of summer league. Presumably that means they were happy with what they saw and didn’t want to spoil regular season plans.
PREACH IT WEST COAST —PREACH IT —–RIGHT WITH YOU ON YOUR THINKING !!!
We’ve become an all or nothing culture, anything less than winning it all is an abject failure. We have lost sight of the attributes of playing “the right way”. Look at the number of people that point to LBJ’s 3-6 finals record as a terminal flaw where he can’t even be considered as one of the best ever. Ridiculous! Sportswriters and fans now refer to it as playoff limbo, if you can’t compete for the ring there’s no use in making the playoffs, you should just tank and collect draft picks. Rubbish! I’m absolutely thrilled with the Cavs and Kevin’s… Read more »
Agree, although I don’t necessarily think it’s the culture at large. I think it’s specific to basketball (as far as sports go). Football and baseball don’t seem to be regarded as zero sum games the way basketball is.
The Patriots are the perfect example of winning is everything, perennial cheaters.
Probably true, but you got to give them credit for coming up with clever ways to cheat.
Cap jump and the Durant signing is sort of to blame. There were super team eras before (60s and 80s) but the league was smaller back then and talent was more spread out. The 60s Celtics were still an anomaly in that they replaced superstar with superstar, but you still had those Philly/San Fran teams that were utterly stacked. The rest of the league still had a shot too because a bunch of other teams were stacked, just not as stacked as those Celtics. The Celtics still had to battle though for the most part. Same with much of the… Read more »
Totally agree. The active tanking is horrendous to watch with no guarantee the draft makes you any better than “playoff purgatory”, except you have to watch 3-5 years of atrocious minor league teams to get their . Might as well watch decent basketball with a recognizable name and a few playoff games.
I am ok with this I guess. I like the guy and Love has been the consummate professional since he has been here. While he may not be much of a vocal leader/heart of a locker room type star, he certainly won’t cause locker room issues. He is a good example of go to work and do your job type of star. It may hurt really bad in the short term though if the cavs lose their pick this year or next year. Also have to hope Lue shows himself to be capable of installing a more disciplined and less… Read more »
https://twitter.com/KenCarman/status/1021854854925484032
Good for Kevin. The contract does not bother me. His game will age pretty well. And the contract will not keep us from chasing FA’s the next two summers.
Only downside is a bottom 10 finish just got less likely. But we still have Ty as the coach, so there is hope.
Pleasantly surprised. I really did not expect the Kevin Love would want to stick around.
Me neither. I think given his anxiety issues, sticking here long-term with such a contract makes his personal life easier.
I also think he may want to get away from the “win it all” mindset for one or two seasons. I imagine that takes a toll also.
– missing “Although”
Loyalty to a small market from a player who was born on the west coast and went to school in LA is nice when winning isn’t necessarily on the horizon.
https://twitter.com/WayneEmbrysKids/status/1021846065484582912
Love above Nance. He was part of our championship team. Chones above Kemp, though Chones was a center no? Who knows what may have happened in ’76 if he hadn’t broken his foot?
Andy firmly in at no. 6. Or is he a center?
I agree. He must be considered a center in this scenario.
Very pleased with this news. KLove is a very skilled player who can do a lot of things well. He has played with a lot of effort, too, when called upon. He also gives us someone to be the face of the franchise.
If Gilbert is thinking of selling the team, then tanking probably isn’t a good idea to get a good valuation.
Did y’all all forget exactly how bad Kevin Love was in most of the playoffs and the Finals? He was absolutely garbage. The Cavs are almost certainly the only team in the league that would give him this kind of contract.
It’s Dan’s money to spend, so I guess it doesn’t matter. We know he will go over the tax to win. But Kevin Love is a joke. Hated watching him brick open shot after open shot when it was needed the most. He does not pass the eye test.
Love was pretty good in the playoffs. We aren’t making the finals anytime soon, so why should that matter?
He averaged 19/11 against the Dubs in the finals. That’s solid to me.
I guess I was looking over the past 4 years, but your point is valid.
In the Finals, he shot 26-64 from the field and 9-28 from 3. He was torture to watch.
In the ECF he didn’t play the last two games, both of which we won. In the games he did play, he show .375 from the field and .269 from 3.
That is not “pretty good in the playoffs” when the guy is supposed to be a star. If you weren’t screaming at your TV every time he threw up another brick, I’m not sure what you were watching.
I wasn’t talking about just the finals. I’m looking at the playoffs as a whole, over the past 4 years. If you’re so upset about this signing then just don’t watch at all.
I mean, I probably won’t get a chance to see much of the Cavs this year since I doubt they’ll be televised much out here, but this is a discussion about the Kevin Love signing and whether it’s a good thing or not. Why is the only acceptable reaction “this is great!”? If the Cavs announced that Ty Lue was getting a 4 year extension, are we supposed to be stoked about that too? It’s all part of a bigger question about what the team should be trying to do right now, I suppose. They will win more games this… Read more »
I don’t know that the consensus on the KLove signing was “this is great.” I personally like it, as it provides some veteran stability to a franchise that lost 26 games in a row in 2010. I get the urge to tank, and I’m not completely against that either. For every Philly, there’s a Magic and Kings team that’s stuck in perpetual purgatory.
After the Cavs lost 26 games in a row they got the #1 pick in the draft (I know it wasn’t technically “their” pick, but still). Then they got it twice more in the subsequent few years. They totally blew one of those, but just saying – that strategy basically worked.
He was pretty good against the Raps and the Warriors… not good against the Pacers and Celtics…
Not to mention that that was about the most chaotic playoff run in recent memory… Also, Love had been having an incredible regular season for most of it.
He had a serious thumb injury game 1 against Indy. He had a great regular season. It was obvious he was struggling gather the ball to shoot, rebound or pass. Class act, never complained or made excuses.
That thumb injury definitely affected him. It was surprising he played as well as he did, really. Got beat up against the Pacers, true, but he was probably 40%. (on the Steph Injury Scale)
“Steph scale”. HAHA. Love that
If you think Kevin Love is a joke, you have a limited understanding of the game of basketball and didn’t watch the Cavs at all. The guy was regularly misused over the past three seasons. He’s a stud. Is he a guy you win a championship with as your #1? Probably not. But to say he doesn’t pass the eye test is an embarrassing statement to make.
First off, thanks for saying that someone who disagrees with you has a limited understanding of the game of basketball and didn’t watch the Cavs at all. You are wrong. If you think Kevin Love is a stud, I have a bridge in Brooklyn to sell you. The guy is a Big Numbers on a Bad Team guy. He completely folded when the pressure was on and no Cavs fan should be embracing him as the future face of the franchise. No coach told him to miss open three after open three, get out muscled for rebounds, commit stupid fouls,… Read more »
Bad offense. They never utilized him properly. Not once. Ok if you have LBJ I guess….but even then the cavs never helped themselves on offense. So easy to prepare/defend ISO. It worked, but 2016 may have been easier if they actually had something to fall back on other than give LBJ/Kyrie the ball while four guys stand, watch, and wait.
love saying all the right things as to be ‘ebraced ‘ by the fans / this city –as he should be —he is one of us —NORTH COAST TUFF !!!!
https://twitter.com/KeithBritton86/status/1021836640912896000
https://twitter.com/KeithBritton86/status/1021836273080823808
https://twitter.com/KeithBritton86/status/1021835871925010435
https://twitter.com/BenAxelrod/status/1021835552277098496
https://twitter.com/BobbyMarks42/status/1021835018858061824
https://twitter.com/KeithBritton86/status/1021834620416020484
I wonder if Banana Republic will come out with a new ‘Construction Gear’ line?
https://twitter.com/KeithBritton86/status/1021834313162219520
https://twitter.com/KeithBritton86/status/1021834020143984640
https://twitter.com/KingJames/status/1021830049438134272
I really want to believe Wally’s is in reference to Wally Waffle.
Wally’s is a wine shop. LBJ likes his expensive vintages.
I think he means, “Wally Szerbiack’s place”
Wally Waffle YES!!! Just a (hungry) kid from Akron
Hmm. Would be cooler if he was like secure the money and glad you stayed in a place you liked.
another great thing about love’s signing is we get a column done by “THE EVIL ONE “—–great to have you writing again ——–think the bonding on the team will be better than ever——–I know I have been one of the loudest complainers about TY’S inept coaching ability —I am going to be open minded and se how he performs without the ” shadow of LeBron ” looming over him —maybe we will see the real ty coaching ability or maybe it is the– “3RD NEW BELGIUM HEMPEROR ” -influencing my thinking process —-‘ALL IN– THE LAND “
Thanks Nomad… I try to recharge in the summer lol…
Great deal for our team now and for years to come. This is big for building a winning culture here. I think this will go a long ways to show that the Cleveland Cavaliers are not just LeBron James. Let’s build something great starting with Kevin Love.
Nate Duncan, Cavs hater:
Well, he’s going to be in good company in calling this a bad contract. I think it’s probably a pretty bad contract, too, but I’m pretty much okay with it. Cavs aren’t going to be attracting high dollar free agents, and Love has a lot of fans in Cleveland.
I’ve heard mixed opinions about the contract. Nate Duncan makes a habit of trashing the Cavs.
The contract could be problematic, but as long as the cavs stay disciplined with their cap space (no long term/big time free agents save by some miracle a top 5 player, until you have two young budding stars/borderline stars) and draft really really well, it could be fine.
F him. Love is a perennial all star in his prime. Why would that be a bad contract?, especially for a team that isn’t a free agent destination. There’s no reason he doesn’t move towards his Minnesota numbers as option #1. A dependable 20 /10 might not be flashy, but its certainly a winning contribution, it’s no coincidence that LBJ wanted Love around.
Sit on it Nate!
I think there’s nothing wrong with paying Love those first couple of seasons, and if he remains a good shooter, those later years won’t look so horrible. I’m not cap expert but it looks like the max salary could be close to $40mil in 2022 (that year looks fake) so @$30 mil for a player who could be still averaging 18/10 on 40% 3 isn’t very bad at all.
Great points. Love’s game should age well. He uses his skills in the right ways to make things happen. He probably jumps as high now as he did when he was 20. As long as Cedi is starting at SF we are looking pretty good. Now to get rid of the Klutch boys.
https://twitter.com/andrewsharp/status/1021816327302987779
Guy on Reddit knew his stuff, apparently. Good for Kevin. I’m not saying it’s a good or bad deal, but glad he’s sticking around.
i can easily get behind high quality, mature players who enjoy being here, and who work everyday to improve.. is it the absolute best decision bball-wise.. who knows.. pampered immature children with beards with a huge sense of entitlement should be shown the door.. i will accept a 50% discount on talent, as long as they are driven and hungry to improve..
Kevin is only 29yo? For some reason I thought I’m he was 32-33yo.
At first I wasn’t too happy about the extension, but at 29/30yo, it’s not a bad signing at all.
Probably a young 29 also since he’s averaged 63 games a season during his 10 year career… of course, the reason why is his injury history, so that’s a bit of a downside… Still like the signing though, especially since skill ages better than athleticism, and Love’s game is predominantly based on skill…
Podcast to discuss? I’d love to hear everyone’s thoughts on this deal. I think it’s great. You can’t win every year and it’s just nice to have someone stick around.
Tougher to round folks up in the summer, but we’ll see what we can do…
What? You’re telling me that the crew isn’t sitting around their computers like the rest of us today and tonight? I’m available.