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Kevin Love and the Cleveland Cavaliers are negotiating a buyout ahead of the March 1 deadline. Love has been with the Cavaliers since 2014 and was a core member of their championship team in 2016.
Shams Charania and Jason Lloyd of The Athletic first reported the news about Love and the Cavaliers finalizing a buyout. It was a surprising turn of events because the veteran was a strong Sixth Man of the Year candidate last season. The Miami Heat have emerged as a potential suitor for the five-time All-Star.
Love has been out of the Cavaliers' rotation since January 24. He has not been the same after suffering a thumb injury earlier in the season. Cleveland has won nine of its last 12 games since Love was benched.
Kevin Love missed a handful of games in November due to the thumb injury. He told Chris Fedor of Cleveland.com that he's still being bothered by it. Nevertheless, he still managed to play 41 games for the Cleveland Cavaliers this season.
The 34-year-old big man is averaging 8.5 points, 6.8 rebounds and 1.9 assists in just 20.0 minutes per game. The points, rebounds and minutes are career-lows for him. He's also shooting an abysmal 38.9% from the field.
Cavaliers fans showed their gratitude for Love upon learning that his time with the team is coming to an end.
Here are some of the best comments regarding Love's time in Cleveland:
"Team has always valued him. Crazy to see how much has changed in a month. #Cavs don’t win 2016 title without Love. One day his No. 0 will hang in the rafters."
"I'll always love him, pouting sessions aside."
"I'm not sure what all went on behind the scenes, but this is disappointing nonetheless."
"He's always been there"
"Kevin Love will always be a legend in Cleveland."
"Never forget the defense that Kevin Love played on Steph Curry in game 7 of the NBA Finals."
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Cavaliers head coach planning to re-integrate Kevin Love to rotation before buyout report
Before reports of a potential buyout surfaced on Wednesday, Cleveland Cavaliers coach J.B. Bickerstaff was planning to re-integrate Kevin Love into the rotation. Love lost minutes to Dean Wade, who was shooting much better than him.
Bickerstaff told reporters on Monday before their game against the San Antonio Spurs that Love remains an important part of the team. The Cavs coach clearly valued his championship experience heading into a potentially deep postseason run.
"We know at some point in time during the season, everybody is going to be an important piece of what we're doing," Bickerstaff said.
"I think we've seen that from the beginning of the season until now. We still believe that he is capable of helping us in big moments, because he has that experience and has been through those pressures."
