Now that Lebron James is off the Cleveland Cavaliers’ roster, the organization has turned to Kevin Love to lead the team moving forward. Love recently signed a four-year $120 million contract extension with the Cavs, as announced by the organization’s general manager, Koby Altman, ESPN reported.
Kevin Love opted out of pushing for his max contract. Altman, Love, and his agent, Jeff Schwartz, apparently worked out the agreed-upon contract in order to leave some cap space to bring in more talent to support the talented forward.
With the Cavs signing Kevin Love, the team is sending out a message that despite losing Lebron, they still want to enter the next playoffs and compete in the Eastern Conference. It’s no secret that cities have a lot of influence on whether or not an NBA star wants to commit to a team.
For instance, Los Angeles and New York are at a great advantage since these cities appeal to a lot of highly skilled players, whereas places like Cleveland and Oklahoma don’t. However, regardless of how beautiful a city looks, if a team has a valuable player like Kevin Love on their roster, then their chances of attracting other talented players increase.
The Cavs are rumored to have their eye on Klay Thompson and could potentially lure him to play for the team during the summer of 2019. Klay has been childhood friends with Kevin Love and the two playing together would create a lot of space on the floor, opening up the paint for their teammates.
And even if they don’t land Klay Thompson then there’s also Minnesota Timberwolves big man Karl-Anthony Towns and Houston Rockets center Clint Capela as alternative options. Kevin Love averaged 17.6 points, 9.3 rebounds, and 1.7 assists last season, with his field goal percentage at 45.8.
The Cavs can let go of JR Smith, Kyle Korver, George Hill, Tristan Thompson, and Jordan Clarkson and keep young players like Ante Zizic, Cedi Osman, and Collin Sexton. Kevin Love can then take the mantle as the leader and be the veteran that would bring all these guys together for a possible championship run.
