NBA Rumors: While Kevin Love has said nothing that would indicate he would leave the Cleveland Cavaliers, executives around the league believe it’s a real possibility
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Not much has gone right for the Cleveland Cavaliers this season. The same could be said for Kevin Love. Together, it’s been much worse.
So it’s only natural for the rumors to begin to trickle in with an opt-out clause in Love’s contract after this season. And while Love has said nothing that would indicate that he isn’t interested in re-signing with the Cavaliers, there’s growing belief that he may move on to greener pastures after the season is over.
According to Jason Lloyd of the Akron Beacon Journal, Love is expected to opt out of his current contract in order to sign a longer deal in Cleveland, probably a max deal. That was the original plan. However, that might be changing with every passing day.
"Love is unlikely to sign long term this summer because of the salary cap. He is expected to opt out of his current contract at the end of the season for cap purposes, but he might only sign a one-year deal to line up for what is expected to be a significant cap spike in the summer of 2016.Love has said all the right things about re-signing with the Cavs this summer and the Cavs continue to insist he’s here long term. Executives around the league, however, continue to believe Love could leave Cleveland at the end of the season. We’ll see. There is still a long way to go."
The Cavaliers — after last night’s embarrassing loss to the Sacramento Kings (no offense Kings fans) — are now at .500 (19-19) through 38 games this season. They also have a worse record than the Milwaukee Bucks, and are currently the No. 6 seed in the Eastern Conference playoff picture.
Raise your hand if you predicted this false of a start for the Cavaliers this season…
Put down your hands.
No one could’ve envisioned this when LeBron James wrote his homecoming letter in SI. However, that’s the reality that he — and Kevin Love — is now living.
Question is: Is Love really stuck in Cleveland like LeBron?
Realistically, there’s really no scenario in which LeBron skips out of town again, right? I mean, that would be cruel and unusual punishment for Cavs’ fans.
On the other hand, the opportunity will be there for Love, unlike for LeBron.
But will he take that option?
Love thought the transition would be easy; he waved Chris Bosh off when he said it wasn’t going to be. The door for Love’s exit will be open this summer. All he has to do is walk through it.
And I’m sure the Los Angeles Lakers — amongst a handful of other teams — will be waiting with open arms on the other end.
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