The Cleveland Cavaliers sent a message to Kevin Love on Tuesday when the All-Star big man signed a contract extension with the team. The franchise told Love that he’s the face of the organization in their current post-LeBron James world, and that if he’s able to play like the No. 1 option he was in Minnesota, then the Cavaliers’ future won’t be as dire as it was the last time James left.
But as it turns out, the Cavs basically sent this message to Love during the regular season. According to Sean Deveney of Sporting News, Cleveland got calls for Love throughout the season from teams interested in acquiring his services, but each time, opposing teams were turned away. This was because the team planned all along to come to terms on a new deal with Love, with the hopes that he could keep the team from bottoming out if their star player left for another franchise.
Throughout the season, especially as Cleveland struggled with the veteran group it originally put together, teams would call the Cavs with one player especially targeted: All-Star forward Kevin Love. Each time, the inquiring team — among them, according to sources, were Miami, Charlotte and Portland — was given a polite “No, thanks.”
Even as rumors persisted that the Cavaliers were shopping Love, the reality was that the Cavs were moving to secure him long term.
All year long, it was assumed that Cleveland holding on to Brooklyn’s unprotected first-round pick was its safeguard against James leaving for the Lakers or some other team. Instead, this would imply that the pick was part of a larger plan, one which had keeping Love around as the team’s primary option.
There’s always skepticism when a player signs a big money deal, especially when that player is someone like Love, who hasn’t been in a featured role in some time. But Cleveland obviously believes Love can be the man once more, much to the chagrin of the teams that wanted to acquire him throughout this past season.
(Via Sporting News)
