Things haven’t gotten off to a great start for the Cleveland Cavaliers and big offseason acquisition Kevin Love. The team is currently 19-19 about halfway through the season and has lost eight of its past nine games.
Cavaliers head coach David Blatt even went as far to indicate that Love may not be worth a max contract at this stage in his career. In 37 games this season, Love is averaging a five-year low 17.9 points per game and is shooting just 44 percent from the field. Considering he’s seen as a liability on defense, these numbers just go to show us how much the All-Star has struggled meshing with his new team, LeBron James included.
Fortunately (or unfortunately) for Cleveland, Love is indicating that he’s not planning to opt out of his contract and become a free agent after this season (via Cleveland.com).
I think that we will figure it out here, so I don’t plan on opting out or any of that. I plan on being here. As far as leaving my options open, I mean sure, it’s always there. At the end of the day, it’s always good to have something but no, I plan on being here.
If Love doesn’t opt out of his deal, the power forward will earn $16.7 million in 2015-2016.
While some will say that this is Love’s attempt to show that he’s committed to the rebuilding process in Cleveland, it could be financially motivated. The NBA is set to see a dramatic increase in team salary caps prior to the start of the 2016-2017 season, at which point Love would be a free agent.
Now whether the Cavaliers would want to pay Love nearly $17 million next season is another story. He was benched for the entire fourth quarter in a game earlier this season, and has been taken out of the game when the team has needed a defensive stand late in games throughout the year. Regardless, Cleveland gave up way too much to simply turn the page on Love. And in reality, a half of season isn’t a large enough sample size for anyone to say it’s not going to work out for the new-look Cavaliers, Love included.
Photo: USA Today