Not even playing alongside LeBron James safeguards Kevin Love against Lakers rumors.
The free-agent-to-be has been heavily linked to the Lakers since last season. He was born in Santa Monica (raised in Oregon), attended UCLA, unhappy in Minnesota and barreling towards the open market. It was only a matter of time before Love put on that storied Lakers purple and gold.
Then he was traded to the Cavaliers, a team primed for world domination with its collection of superstars. Playing beside James and Kyrie Irving killed the rumors. It made them irrelevant and pointless and, most importantly, nonexistent. For a little bit. Sam Smith of NBA.com brought them back when he suggested Love was still eyeing a union with Los Angeles—a suggestion that the power forward himself has since shot down.
From ESPN.com’s Dave McMenamin:
Kevin Love has started to settle into the Cleveland Cavaliers’ offense primarily as an outside shooter, but Friday he found himself shooting down rumors.
There were three things on the big man’s agenda that he sought to clear up: a media report that stated he plans to opt out of his contract this summer in order to join the Los Angeles Lakers, that much-talked about celebratory handshake he shared with Kyrie Irving after the Cavs’ win over the New Orleans Pelicans on Monday, and his visit to Boston over the summer and what it meant to his interest (or lack thereof) in joining the Celtics.
On the first two, Love went ahead and killed two birds with one stone.
“Whatever [people assumed] we were doing with our hands was about as true as me going to the Lakers,” Love said after shootaround in advance of the Cavaliers’ game against the Boston Celtics. “I mean, I don’t know why it was so hard for people to realize that we were actually curling our mustache. I guess because I had my fingers in the wrong place. Looking at the tape — film don’t lie — it looks like we are doing something bad, but that wasn’t the case.”
…
“Going to the Lakers, no, that’s not [true],” Love said. “I don’t know where somebody got that.”
Of course that’s not true. Even though the Cavaliers are off to a slow(ish) start, Love isn’t leaving. Not this summer. Worst-case scenario has him re-upping for one year on an option-overloaded deal that protects him against injury and regression only to enter free agency again in 2016, when the salary cap is expected to explode. If that’s the route he takes, he becomes a flight risk should the Cavaliers fail spectacularly in each of the next two seasons.
At that point, in 2016, the Lakers could become an option. Kobe Bryant’s contract will be coming off the books and they’ll be in place to add multiple in-prime superstars.
Is that a long shot? Absolutely. Longer than long. But, as of now, there’s no chance Love gives up on the Cavaliers—for a rebuilding squad like the Lakers no less—after just one season in Cleveland, no matter how bad it may get.
You may now go about the rest of your day accordingly.
Dan Favale is a firm believer in the three-pointer as well as the notion that defense doesn’t always win championships. His musings can be found at Bleacherreport.com in addition to TheHoopDoctors.com.
