Never mind: Spurs trade Tiago Splitter to Atlanta Hawks (not the Cavs)
July 1, 2015Cavs reportedly nearing $80 million deal with Tristan Thompson
July 1, 2015Writing letters declaring your free agency intentions is the new black. Kevin Love has been on a GQ cover, so it’s only fitting that he said that he’s staying in Cleveland in the most fashionable way possible. Love penned a first person essay (albeit a brief one) for The Players Tribune entitled “Unfinished Business,” telling the world that he isn’t going anywhere.
Here it is in its entirety:
I’m going back to Cleveland.
After Game 1 of the NBA Finals, that’s when it really struck me. Sitting on the sidelines, I never wanted to play in a game more than that one. I had dreamed of playing in the NBA Finals and I just wanted to help my guys win. I couldn’t have been prouder of them as they poured their blood, sweat and tears onto the court.
Yeah, of course I’ve heard the free agency rumors. But at the end of the day, and after meeting with my teammates (it turns out pools are great meeting places) and with the front office, it was clear Cleveland was the place for me. We’re all on the same page and we’re all in. We have unfinished business and now it’s time to get back to work.
It’s not quite the opus that LeBron’s “I’m Coming Home” letter was, but it gets the point across. The reports of Love’s meeting with the Los Angeles Lakers turned out to be moot. He’s not going anywhere.
ESPN’s Brian Windhorst was hot on the heels of this news with the details: Love will sign a five-year maximum deal to stay with the Cavs.
Kevin Love will accept a five-year, $110 million contract extension with the Cavs according to sources
— Brian Windhorst (@WindhorstESPN) July 1, 2015
Love said that he met with the Cavs front office and with his teammates, and gave a cheeky nod to his poolside meeting with LeBron James — “it turns out pools are great meeting places.” So much for LeBron’s wait-and-see approach to free agency.
Love specifically pointed out the feeling of missing Game 1 of the NBA Finals, which echoed what he told ESPN’s Ramona Shelburne immediately after that game nearly a month ago:
“I’ve never wanted to be in a game more than that one,” said Love, who had never been on a playoff team in his six prior NBA seasons.
Asked specifically whether that meant he wanted to be back in Cleveland next season, Love said, “Yes. I want to win.”
Word is that the Cavs are also close to a deal with Tristan Thompson. With Love and Thompson taken care of (and Kyrie Irving already signed long-term), the Cavs could turn their attention to the summer’s more pressing matters, like figuring out what to do with Iman Shumpert and J.R. Smith, not to mention that LeBron guy.
Assuming all of these deals are finalized as planned, the Cavs have a heck of a core going forward:
Kyrie Irving, 23: Four years, with a player option
Tristan Thompson, 24: Five years
Kevin Love, 26: Five years
LeBron: Probably forever.
— David Zavac (@DavidZavac) July 1, 2015
73 Comments
With Love signing with the Cavs I feel much better about the Wiggins trade. If he had left for another team that would have been just another footnote in the “only in Cleveland” montage. Their salary cap is expected to be over 100 million with a 50 million luxury tax. Even with the cap going up a few million each year that repeated offender rule will be brutal to Gilbert and Co.
I’d like to get on the Griffin for Executive of the year bandwagon. This isn’t Wayne Embry running the team into the ground. Since midyear he’s made some good/great trades and the team (with a lot of help from LeBron of course) made its way to the Finals. I don’t think he gets enough credit.
That’s what I do I watch a ton of MLB Network and NBA Tv not so much NFL Network because I can watch Fox and CBS on Sundays
You heard that huh? He went over the line I’m surprised he got away with it.
How many games did Minnesota win last year? All I need to know about the rookie of the year. He’s not a transforming talent, period. He will get better. But I have not seen anything that has showed me he’s a perennial All-Star. Sorry.
NFL Red Zone is a gift from God.
LeBron (rookie per36) 41.7%FG,29%3pt,75.4%FT,5rb,5.4ast,1.5stl,0.7blk,19.1pts
Wiggins (rookie per36) 43.7%FG,31%3pt,76%FT,4.5rb,2.1ast,1.0stl,0.6blk,16.8pts
Now, LeBron was certainly better overall and his WS/48 reflects that pretty well (.078 to .034), but he also had a rough initial year transition but showed glimpses of being good. Hard to write off a guy after a year when he shows some good promise.
Hey Erroneous Speculation & Preposterous Nonsense network, it took Love a whole half-a-day to disprove your months of misanalysis, inside sources, and poo-flinging. But that’s okay, you’ve still got unsigned LeBron.
Can’t wait to watch PTI tonight to hear them declare that Love is definitely leaving after five years.
I so love that Gilbert is our owner. Ive said it before I see multiple rings in our future!!! Any chance Dan buys the Indians?
Breaking: Kevin Love to depart the Cavs as a Free Agent… 5 years from now when his contract comes up.
/HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA
“shows some good promise” after you compare him to LeBron ooooooooooooooooooooook! I’m not interested in this sports talk debate topic at all and you can throw out as many statistics as you want. I watched Minnesota and wasn’t impressed. Sure Wiggins will get better but he has a very long way to go especially when you mention LeBron as a comparison.
Makes sense I think the longer the deal the better it is for the team which is why I despite the tax long term some of the cost may be deflected. The contract that is/has been most costly was Varejao’s. When the Cavs signed him for four years at that cost when he hasn’t played a full season in years I was worried then of course he went down again. Don’t get me wrong I understand at the time why the Cavs did it but I thought they would have been better suited saving it towards TT potentially. In the end it doesn’t matter because Gilbert is putting his money where his mouth is and I don’t mind it for a minute.
https://pbs.twimg.com/media/CI24s89WgAA6c1G.jpg
As we have all pointed out, these pundits are NOT to be trusted. But… Sam Amico and Windy are both reporting that the Cavs and Raptors are talking trade. I hope they don’t end up with Derozen, because I would have a heart attack and never see what happens.
Here is a picture of how Love will look by then:
http://kmsp.images.worldnow.com/images/19984132_SA.jpg
It took Love almost an entire year to prove them wrong. It’ll take 5 years for him to prove that report wrong. They are improving #metrics
Is that Manziel in the background? I knew today was going too well.
I haven’t seen/read this and to say I’d be shocked a player the caliber of DeRozen would be traded by Toronto to Cleveland would be an understatement.
I stole your ESPN joke and used it. People approved. Well played, Mr. Cleaveland.
I dunno man. I think Wiggins looks like he’s pretty special. I mean, it’s likely he could be more Vince Carter than LeBron. But I wouldn’t bury the kid yet. That said, I still make the Kevin Love trade every day of the week.
I’m flattered, Ben. Thank you.
As for PTI, Kornheiser is still mystified that Love re-signed, seeing as how LeBron regularly “abuses” him. Oh well, at least they didn’t try to weasel out of their wrongness and say, “AS EXPECTED, Kevin Love re-signed . . .”
BTW, they led off their show with the Love story. The women’s World Cup win was about fourth on their docket.
The Golden State GM won Exec of the Year this past season for basically doing nothing but retaining his own players, right? Meanwhile, Griffin got virtually zero credit for the roster he assembled. Now, all Griffin is doing is…retaining his own players (plus maybe/hopefully deal Haywood for someone useful), but I’m sure that won’t be enough to get the recognition he deserves.
I didn’t bury Wiggins I buried the horrible storyline that if he had been with the Cavaliers he’d have done what he did his rookie year in Minnesota. That’s completely unknown and worse yet false in my opinion. The more likely scenario is he’d have gotten half the shots he did in Minnesota and he’d have completely deferred to LeBron being a rookie. A second point. Wiggins was supposed to be a defensive savant out of Kansas and I think had he remained with the Cavaliers that’s most likely the role he’d have played: defense first. However in Minnesota he barely played any defense despite the highlight clips you saw on Sportscenter. I watched him in the game against the Cavaliers at the Q where he went off offensively matching LBJ. Just one problem. He was abused on defense, he barely had any assists or rebounds but he sure took a lot of shots. Lastly, Minnesota won a whopping 16 games with the ROY. My point is the kid has a long way to go. Does he have talent? Absolutely. Can he get better? No doubt. Is he worthy of being mentioned alongside LeBron James? Hell no. That’s all I’m saying.
I saw it and Kornheiser predicted the Cavs would win the championship before the previous season even started. In fact he was a big Cavs supporter especially when Wilbon slurped his hometown Bulls. But after the Cavs lost to the Warriors something happened with Kornheiser and since he’s taken on a role much like many others on that network of trying to find holes with the Cavs no matter what.