NBA Rumors: Kevin Love To Decline Player Option
In what is truly no surprise, Cleveland Cavaliers power forward Kevin Love will reportedly decline his player option and test the open market this offseason.
Adrian Wojnarowski of Yahoo Sports, in an appearance on The Jason McIntyre Show on Yahoo Sports Radio Sports Radio, stated that Love fully intends to explore his options on the open market this offseason.
“He’s got options. He could stay another year (by not opting out) and go into free agency next year. But he’s had injuries, and he might just want to sign a four-year deal somewhere else.”
The options that Love has include the Boston Celtics, Los Angeles Lakers and Houston Rockets as they have been the most talked about destinations since the rumor started that Love wanted out of Cleveland months ago.
The Celtics have been trying to get Love to come to Boston since he made it known that he wanted out of Minnesota. Boston has a lot of cap room, which is why Celtics’ insider A. Sherrod Blakely believes the Celtics have a legitimate shot at the 6-foot-10 power forward, and some young talent — such as Jared Sullinger, Kelly Olynyk, Marcus Smart and Isaiah Thomas. Boston also has a solid young coach in Brad Stevens and four draft selections, including two first rounders (No. 16 and No.28), in the upcoming draft.
“I think the Celtics will have a legitimate shot at landing him because they’re going to have a lot of money,” Blakely told Sports Net Central. “But I think this is ultimately one of those east coast-west coast battles between the Celtics and the Los Angeles Lakers.”
Speaking of the Lakers, the connection that they have to Love is that he is from Santa Monica and went to UCLA. The biggest question here is whether the Lakers will be able to contend in what is expected to be Kobe Bryant’s last year?
The Lakers are coming off one of their worst seasons in franchise history and Bryant’s skills are slowly diminishing. The Lakers do have the No. 2 pick in this year’s draft and Julius Randle is expected to fully recovered from his gruesome leg injury. And plus the Lakers have a bunch of cap space to lure any player or two they want.
The Rockets are the most interesting of the team of the teams that will likely pursue Love as they already have two superstars — James Harden and Dwight Howard — and their biggest weakness is defense, which Love will not help with that much. However, Wojnarowski stated that Love really liked Kevin McHale when both were in Minnesota. And the Rockets to do something at the power forward position before Terrence Jones and Donatius Motiejunas hit the open market. Plus, the Rockets went hard after Chris Bosh last offseason.
This will likely be a tough decision for Love, especially if the Cavs defeat Golden State for the NBA title. On one hand, Love has never really fit with the Cavaliers and LeBron James or coach Dave Blatt. But, on the other hand, his best option to win appears to be with Cleveland as it is for him to make the most money.
Love has until June 30 to decide whether to opt out or not.
(Photo by Jim Rogash/ Getty Images)
