Miami Heat - Signed as a free agent in July 2023
- Birthdate: 09/07/1988
- Drafted (NBA): 5th pick, 2008
- Pre-draft team: UCLA
- Country: USA
- Hand: Right
- Agent: Jeff Schwartz (Excel Sports Management)
| Date | League | Transaction |
|---|---|---|
| 2008 NBA Draft | NBA | Drafted 5th overall by Memphis. |
| 2008 NBA Draft | NBA | Draft rights traded by Memphis, along with Jason Collins, Brian Cardinal and Mike Miller, to Minnesota in exchange for Marko Jaric, Antoine Walker, Greg Buckner and the draft rights to O.J. Mayo (#3). |
| 10th July, 2008 | NBA | Signed four year, $14,812,701 rookie scale contract with Minnesota. Included team options for 2010/11 and 2011/12. |
| 31st October, 2009 | NBA | Minnesota exercised 2010/11 team option. |
| 1st November, 2010 | NBA | Minnesota exercised 2011/12 team option. |
| 25th January, 2012 | NBA | Signed a four year maximum value contract extension ($60,825,938) with Minnesota. Included player option for 2015/16. |
| 23rd August, 2014 | NBA | As a part of a three team deal, traded by Minnesota to Cleveland, along with Luc Richard Mbah A Moute and Alexey Shved to Philadelphia, in exchange for Andrew Wiggins and Anthony Bennett from Cleveland and Thaddeus Young from Philadelphia. |
| 24th June, 2015 | NBA | Declined 2015/16 player option. |
| 9th July, 2015 | NBA | Re-signed by Cleveland to a five year, $113,211,750 contract. Included player option for 2019/20. |
| 24th July, 2018 | NBA | Signed a four year, $120,402,172 extension with Cleveland. |
| 2007 - 2008 | UCLA (NCAA) |
| June 2008 - August 2014 | Minnesota Timberwolves (NBA) |
| August 2014 - present | Cleveland Cavaliers (NBA) |
June 29, 2018
Kevin Love
PF/C - 6’10, 251lbs - 29 years old - 10 years of experience
Love played a lot more five spot this season, which worked to begin with. In theory, he is more likely to have success from the perimeter against fives, and if opponents switch, this leaves the ball-handler (usually LeBron) with only a centre on them, which is a mismatch. This worked early on, despite Love’s career-long reluctance to try it – with Tristan Thompson out, it kind of had to.
Being at the five spot, though, makes Love the main defensive option around the basket. This is very much not optimal, especially on this Cavaliers team that had LeBron or Jeff Green at power forward when he was there, neither of which will do it either. Having bigger defenders on him also limited Love’s effectiveness on post touches; he would still make the little left baseline Js, but the hook shot gets much harder there.
If the Cavaliers could acquire someone like Dewayne Dedmon at the five spot, that would be interesting. Dedmon could be the primary interior defender, and also stretch the floor when Love is posting up, so as to avoid clogging up the paint with two posts. Tristan Thompson is not this player, Larry Nance is not this player, and LeBron James is not this player. Failing that, a big upgrade like DeAndre Jordan would also work; the sort of five man that Cleveland needs in order to shore up the defensive interior while keeping open the playbook is hard to find. Love provides a lot to this team, but in being increasingly unathletic, he is hard to flank.
If LeBron should leave, though, so should Love. At that point, why keep him?
Player Plan: Two years and $49,714,725 remaining, the last year of which is a player option. The right thing to do with him and his contract is dependent entirely on what LeBron chooses to do. So for now, it’s limbo. If LeBron does stay, I would be wary of moving Love for an extra creator; that extra creator is needed to go with Love, not instead of him.
June 29, 2017
Kevin Love
PF/C, 6’10, 251lbs, 28 years old, 9 years of experience
Has found his spots as the third star, rebounded better than in any other year as a Cavalier, and has continued to improve his footwork defensively on the perimeter, doing a decent-enough job on screen action even in match-ups when he should be highly overmatched for speed (while sometimes still being thoroughly burned). Love has learned to adapt to his role here and enters his prime as a thoroughly good player. His body type may not be the prototype in the new fangled NBA, but his talent level asserts that that is not a problem. Conceivably, moving him could be part of the solution. But Love in general is not the problem.
Player Plan: Three years and circa. $72.35 million remaining, with a player option for 2019/20. It wasn’t his fault and he needn’t be moved, unless a better fit with great value is somehow available.