Kevin Love Rumors | Hoops Rumors

And-Ones: Love, Williams, Bass

April 26th, 2015 at 9:22pm CST by Will Joseph

While nothing will be official until the results of an MRI are expected to be announced Monday, the Cavaliers are expecting Kevin Love to miss at least two weeks, Brian Windhorst of ESPN.com tweets. Love suffered a dislocated left shoulder in Sunday’s game against Boston and will be evaluated further, the Cavaliers announced. The Cavs will open their semifinal series on either May 2nd or May 4th, depending on when the Bulls–Bucks series concludes.

Here’s more from around the league:

Nets coach Lionel Hollins told reporters, including Stefan Bondy of the New York Daily News, that Deron Williams, who was involved in trade rumors earlier this season, isn’t the same player he was four years ago when he was heralded by the team as the league’s best point guard and that’s OK. “That’s four years ago. We’re now. No player is the way he was four years ago. All I’m saying is now is that the guy is playing well,” Hollins said. “Somebody picks out that he has two points [in Game 2 against the Hawks]. So what? He played well. It’s not just about the scoring. If it was just about the scoring, there’s a lot of teams that would be better because they have guys who score a lot of points. But it’s about winning. It’s about doing the right things for the team. And I’ll defend Deron until the end on that and all my players to the end if you think that just because a guy makes a lot of money and is supposed on a level because everybody put him on that level — whether it be the organization, or whomever — it’s still where we are now. And we have to deal with now. And I support him 100%.”
Soon-to-be unrestricted free agent Brandon Bass hinted that he would like to return to the Celtics, but acknowledged that it’s not solely his call, Jessica Camerato of Basketball Insiders writes. “I don’t know what the future holds,” Bass said following the Celtics’ Game 4 elimination to the Cavaliers on Sunday. “That’s up to [President of Basketball Operations] Danny Ainge. But Boston’s been great to me over the last couple years, so it’ll be great for me to come back.”
Enes Kanter, Rajon Rondo and Kevin Garnett were listed by Moke Hamilton, Alex Kennedy and Jessica Camerato of Basketball Insiders as players who are poised to be overpaid as free agents. Hamilton argues that Kanter, a soon-to-be restricted free agent, will cash-in on a small, 26-game sample size. The Timberwolves hold Garnett in such high regard they will most likely offer him a larger contract than teams without previous ties would, Camerato writes.

Central Notes: Love, Butler, Pistons, Hill

April 26th, 2015 at 4:06pm CST by Arthur Hill

Kevin Love suffered a dislocated left shoulder in Sunday’s game against Boston and will be evaluated further, the Cavaliers announced. The incident happened in a first quarter skirmish between Love and the Celtics’ Kelly Olynyk. Love immediately headed for the locker room and did not return. The Cavaliers said Love will receive “examination, imaging and evaluation at Cleveland Clinic Sports Health over the next 24 hours.” His status for the rest of the playoffs will depend on the results of those tests. Love was wearing a sling after the game, but said his shoulder was feeling better and he hopes to be ready for Game 1 of the next series, tweets Chris Haynes of the Northeast Ohio Media Group. Love wasn’t forgiving toward Olynyk, tweets Dave McMenamin, saying, “I thought it was a bush-league play … I have no doubt in my mind that he did it on purpose.”

There’s more from the Central Division:

Jimmy Butler has emerged as the ideal complement to Derrick Rose in the Bulls‘ backcourt, according to Nick Friedell of ESPNChicago.com. Heading into free agency this summer, Butler has left behind his “role player” days and has become a full-fledged star, Friedell writes. “We have a very strong backcourt right now,” said center Joakim Noah. “Both him and Derrick, it’s very good. I’m very happy to have them as teammates.”
After upgrading at point guard with the trade for Reggie Jackson, the Pistons now face the challenge of improving at other positions, writes Keith Langlois of Pistons.com. He praised coach and president of basketball operations Stan Van Gundy for being willing to part with depth and three-point shooting to acquire Jackson, who is very much in the team’s future plans despite being a free agent this summer. He also noted that the Pistons seem likely to bring back Anthony Tolliver, who has a $3MM contract, with only $400K guaranteed.
The Pacers‘ Solomon Hill took advantage of the opportunity given to him when Paul George broke his leg, writes Andrew Perna of Real GM. The second-year player was given increased court time and responded by being the only Pacer to appear in all 82 games. He is under Indiana’s control through the 2017/18 season.

Cavs Notes: Love, James, Thompson

April 25th, 2015 at 3:45pm CST by Eddie Scarito

As painful as it was for the city of Cleveland, LeBron James‘ departure for Miami back in 2010 laid the groundwork for the Cavs’ title chances this season, Steve Bulpett of The Boston Herald writes. If James had remained, the franchise would not have been in the position to draft Kyrie Irving, nor have had the opportunity to select Andrew Wiggins, who was the centerpiece of the deal to acquire Kevin Love, Bulpett notes.

“Could he have won a championship if he stayed here? We’ll never know,” said former Cav Jim Chones, who is the team’s radio color commentator. “But we do know this, and this is a fact, that we’re better than we were the first time he was here. And we also have other opportunities down the road because of draft picks that we’ve stored up, so Cleveland is in a position where they’re going to be good for a while, not just a flash in the pan. Looking back to when LeBron left, philosophically speaking, it created an acute awareness within our organization that we had to be better at everything we did. Him leaving … we were so dependent on him, as most teams are with the super players, that it put us in a position that we weren’t prepared for.”

Here’s more news out of Cleveland:

Though their relationship hasn’t been perfect this season, James understands the difficulties that Love has had to deal with since coming to the Cavs, Sam Amico of FOX Sports Ohio relays. “He’s been highly criticized this year,” James said. “I know why. For a team that finally gets together, when you have a ‘Big Three,’ they’ve got to find someone. When I was in Miami, Chris Bosh was that guy at one point. I’ve seen it before. When you’ve been in position where you’ve had your own team and now you come and join forces, at one point in Miami we were 9-8. They started pointing fingers at anybody. They’ve got to find somebody.“
The Cavs’ role-players are proving this postseason that Cleveland is more than just the “big three,” Tom Withers of The Associated Press writes. Just as James, Irving and Love have had to make personal sacrifices, the Cavs’ second-stringers have forgone individual accolades for team success, Withers adds. “It’s like a company. You have your janitor, your CEO. You have your secretaries,” said Tristan Thompson, who knows that his job is to bring energy as a reserve. “I don’t mind being the cleanup guy, punching the clock. I’ll do all the little things.”

Atlantic Notes: Love, Knicks, Valanciunas

April 25th, 2015 at 11:36am CST by Eddie Scarito

Brad Stevens would be a great coaching fit for Kevin Love if the big man chose to opt out of his deal with the Cavs and sign with the Celtics this offseason, Tim Welsh of CSNNE.com opines. “He fits in as a guy that can score, an up-front scorer. They [the Celtics] don’t have that. They’re built on guys, a lot of wing players … they’ve got the two tough guards out front with Avery Bradley and Marcus Smart that can really defend,” Welsh said. “And I think the thing with Kevin Love, too — and other free agents will obviously look at — is what Brad Stevens has done. He’s kind of resurrected a lot of different guys here in a short period of time.” Welsh cited Evan Turner, Isaiah Thomas, Jae Crowder and Jonas Jerebko as examples of players whose games Stevens has elevated.

Here’s more out of the Atlantic Division:

The Raptors have a decision to make regarding Jonas Valanciunas, who is eligible to sign an extension this offseason, Eric Koreen of The National Post writes. The reference point for a new contract would be the four-year, $53MM extension that the Magic inked with Nikola Vucevic last offseason, Koreen notes. If the Raptors do indeed sign Valanciunas to a long-term deal, they have to commit to integrating him a bit more in the offense, because Valanciunas does not provide the defensive value that justifies a salary similar to Vucevic’s, Koreen concludes.
Celtics president of basketball operations Danny Ainge believes that Gigi Datome has a place in the NBA, though he isn’t sure if the team will have a roster spot for the Italian next season, Mark Murphy of The Boston Herald writes. “This is a really hard business,” Ainge said. “There’s 400 players in this league, and 60 more who get drafted each year. You’ve got a former NBA player of the week in Jordan Crawford who can’t get back in the league the next year. Now he’s leading [the Fort Wayne Mad Ants] to the D-League finals. So you don’t know. But in my eyes Gigi has proven that he’s an NBA player.” Datome can become a restricted free agent if Boston tenders him a qualifying offer this summer worth $2,187,500.
Since James Dolan purchased the Knicks the franchise has continually tried to sell its fanbase on the promise of the future, a trend that continues under team president Phil Jackson, Johnette Howard of ESPNNewYork.com writes.

Central Notes: Carter-Williams, Smith, Love

April 24th, 2015 at 6:00pm CST by Eddie Scarito

J.R. Smith has fit in much better with the Cavaliers than many predicted he would when the guard was acquired earlier this season from the Knicks, Dave McMenamin of ESPN.com writes. “For J.R., I think he’s been misunderstood,” LeBron James said. “He had a great column last week about the perception of him before he got here. I think you should read it, it’s pretty great. And he said at the end, it doesn’t matter if he’s playing in New York, or Cleveland or Denver or Timbuktu, all he cares about is winning. For a guy that’s been highly scrutinized throughout his career, saying he’s not a team guy and takes bad shots and he follows around everyone else, I think it’s unfair to him. He comes out every single day and works his tail off to try to get better, to help our team win. He defends at a high level and he’s a great teammate and he’s a great guy.” Smith has a player option worth $6,777,589 that he can opt out of this summer if he wishes to become an unrestricted free agent.

Here’s more from the Central Division:

Bucks coach Jason Kidd sees a lot of himself in Michael Carter-Williams, and he believes that the change of scenery from the losing culture the Sixers have cultivated will be good for the young guard, Ohm Youngmisuk of ESPN.com writes. Kidd also believes that having a healthy offseason can help Carter-Williams improve his outside shooting, which is a glaring weakness in the young point guard’s game, Youngmisuk adds.
Acquiring Carter-Williams also helped the Bucks‘ salary cap situation, Youngmisuk notes. By swapping Brandon Knight, who is set to become a restricted free agent this offseason, for Carter-Williams, who has two years remaining on his rookie contract, the team can now focus solely on re-signing Khris Middleton, who will also be a restricted free agent this summer, the ESPN scribe adds.
Kevin Love has seemingly found his niche with the Cavaliers now that the playoffs have begun, and the veteran forward appears to be more at peace with being in Cleveland, Jason Lloyd of The Akron Beacon Journal writes. “People have focused my whole career on what I couldn’t do rather than what I could do,” Love said. “I know my teammates and coaching staff has my back. I know the organization has my back. I’m sending the love right back to them.”

Eastern Notes: LeBron, Irving, Stevens, Shved

March 31st, 2015 at 10:58am CST by Chuck Myron

The relationship between LeBron James and Kyrie Irving was “rocky” at points earlier this season, Irving admits, but it’s grown into a bond that appears much stronger than the one between James and Kevin Love, as Joe Vardon of the Northeast Ohio Media Group details. Love and James say it doesn’t matter whether they become as tight as Irving and James are as long as they can develop a greater on-court connection, Vardon writes.

“People get so infatuated with the best of friends, things of that nature,” James said. “First of all, I’ve got three very good friends in this league, and that’s Carmelo [Anthony], and that’s C.P. [Chris Paul], and that’s [Dwyane Wade] Wade. And after that I have a bunch of teammates. I have guys I ride for every day. But Kyrie is a guy I understand how important he is to this team, how important he is. And the same with Kev as well.”

James and Love can opt out to hit free agency this summer, while Irving will enter year one of his five-year extension next season. Here’s more from the Eastern Conference:

Seth Davis of Sports Illustrated and CBS hears “some Brad Stevens chatter” in connection to the University of Texas coaching job (Twitter link). It’s unclear whether there’s interest on either side, though Texas athletics director Steve Patterson has spoken with NBA coaching agents of late, tweets Chris Mannix of SI.com. Davis identifies Avery Johnson as a possible sleeper for the job. Stevens is just finishing up the second season of a six-year, $22MM deal and there have been no indications that he wants to leave the Celtics. Further, the Celtics would probably deny him permission to go, as Ben Rohrbach of WEEI.com surmises (Twitter link).
Alexey Shved loves playing for coach Derek Fisher and is open to re-signing with New York after his contract expires this summer, sources tell Ian Begley of ESPNNewYork.com (Twitter link). The Knicks can make Shved a restricted free agent if they tender a qualifying offer of nearly $4.103MM.
The Cavs have assigned Joe Harris to the D-League, the team announced. It’s the eighth time Cleveland has sent last year’s 33rd overall pick to its affiliate, though none of the seven previous assignments have lasted as long as a week, as our leaguewide assignments/recalls log shows.

Pacific Notes: Love, Lakers, Sacre, Len

March 28th, 2015 at 6:54pm CST by ChrisCrouse

Kevin Love and Russell Westbrook teaming up and playing for the Lakers is a real possibility, opines Nick Dudukovich of Fansided.com. Brian Windhorst of ESPN.com discussed the rumors of Love leaving Cleveland either this season or next on his podcast, which airs on ESPN Cleveland. Windhorst notes that out of all the stars in the league, the player that Love has the best relationship with is Westbrook.

Here’s more from the Pacific Division:

Robert Sacre would like to play for Los Angeles next season, writes Mark Medina of the Los Angeles Daily News. “I would love to be back here. It would be fun,” said Sacre. “You’re a Laker. What else can you ask for? There’s no other franchise like it. It’s an honor to wear purple and gold.” Sacre has a non-guaranteed salary for the 2015/16 season, which is worth slightly more than $981K.
Paul Coro of The Arizona Republic believes that Alex Len is the center of the future for the Suns. Phoenix picked up Len’s rookie scale option before the season and the team is likely to make the same decision regarding Len’s 2016/17 option, although that is just my speculation.
Pablo S, Torre of ESPN The Magazine chronicles Jeremy Lin‘s time to date for the Lakers and his career up to this point. Lin is in the last season of a three-year deal worth slightly over $25MM that he originally signed with Houston. The point guard will become an unrestricted free agent at the end of the season.

Central Notes: Love, Jackson, Bucks, Mirotic

March 26th, 2015 at 9:50am CST by Chuck Myron

Several sources tell Frank Isola of the New York Daily News that LeBron James is frustrated with the failure of Kevin Love to mesh with the Cavs this season, but James isn’t upset that Love believes Russell Westbrook, and not James, has the edge for MVP, notes Dave McMenamin of ESPN.com. Love said Wednesday that he believed his comments, which he made on The Dan Patrick Show (video link), were widely taken out of context and that James “could very well be the MVP,” McMenamin adds. Many executives and players don’t think that Love can accept the limited role he’s played on this year’s Cavs team again, writes Michael Lee of The Washington Post, who nonetheless believes that it probably doesn’t matter much that James and Love aren’t the best of friends. As the Love story continues to take on a gossipy edge, here’s more from the Central Division:

The Pistons plan an all-out push to re-sign Reggie Jackson this summer, and Jackson is hinting that he’s already planning to return to Detroit with comments about playing alongside Andre Drummond and Kentavious Caldwell-Pope in the future, MLive’s Brendan Savage observes.
The Bucks could have signaled to other players that they would reward those who developed in their system if they’d hung on to soon-to-be restricted free agent Brandon Knight and re-signed him, but trading him set the franchise back, opines Steve Aschburner of NBA.com. Still, coach Jason Kidd told reporters that it’s all part of a plan for the long term. “It’s something much bigger than that that you guys are going to have to wait and write about,” he said. “We’re here to build something, not to do something in six months. There’s a bigger picture. We feel we have a core here that will be around for a long time and have success.”
Chicago made Nikola Mirotic this season’s highest-paid rookie with a three-year deal worth more than $16.631MM, similar to what the Rockets are reportedly prepared to offer draft-and-stash prospect Sergio Llull. The move is paying off for the Bulls, as Mirotic is making a late push for Rookie of the Year, as ESPN’s Michael Wilbon examines.

Central Notes: Love, Mozgov, Bulls, Bucks

March 24th, 2015 at 2:00pm CST by Chuck Myron

No one involved in the process believes Kevin Love will pick up his $16.744MM player option to remain with the Cavaliers as he’s said he plans to do, according to Steve Kyler of Basketball Insiders. Love nonetheless spoke of a strong camaraderie amongst the Cavs to Ananth Pandian of CBSSports.com, countering a narrative that he’s not getting along with his teammates, an idea that Love seemed to stoke when he said his relationship with LeBron James and other Cavs could be better. Rumors surrounding the No. 2 free agent on the Hoops Rumors Free Agent Power Rankings have intensified, and Michael Rand of the Star Tribune wonders if Cleveland, like Minnesota, will be in the power forward’s past soon. Here’s more from around the Central Division:

The Timofey Mozgov trade has worked out splendidly for Mozgov, whose offensive numbers are up, and for the Cavs, who’ve taken off since the deal, as Sam Amico of Fox Sports Ohio examines. Cleveland has a $4.95MM team option on Mozgov for next season. “When we made the trade, everything that he brought is what we needed and wanted,” James said. “He’s going to be huge for our team. Very, very skilled offensively and understands defensively. He’s just a smart basketball player and it’s great playing with him.“
Nikola Mirotic and Jimmy Butler, a pair of late-first-round picks from 2011, are playing key roles for the Bulls, and trading for the rights to Mirotic took particular effort, as K.C. Johnson of the Chicago Tribune details. “We were bidding against somebody,” Bulls GM Gar Forman said. “Significant money was being laid out. And that’s when [owner Jerry Reinsdorf] really stepped up and included a good chunk of money to make that happen.”
No team surged higher from last year’s ESPN Insider Front Office Rankings to this year’s than the Bucks, who jumped from 29th to 15th. Chad Ford of ESPN.com, in another Insider-only piece, credits the work of assistant GM David Morway, who joined the team in the summer of 2013, for having been instrumental in the rise.

Cavs Notes: Love, J.R. Smith, Kaun, Harris

March 23rd, 2015 at 2:34pm CST by Chuck Myron

Kevin Love reiterated his plan to remain with the Cavaliers in an appearance on The Dan Patrick Show today, as Joe Vardon of the Northeast Ohio Media Group relays. Rumors that Love will opt out and sign elsewhere this summer have dogged the power forward for months, even though he’s said he plans to opt in for next season and avoid free agency altogether this year. Still, Love stoked the flames in comments he made on Patrick’s show (video link) and on ESPN Radio’s Mike & Mike (audio link) in which he said he wouldn’t vote LeBron James for MVP and admitted his relationship with James could be better.

“You know, we’re not best friends, we’re not hanging out every day, but we see each other every day, whether we’re at the practice facility, whether we’re on the road or going to a game,” Love said on Mike & Mike. “I think our relationship is also evolving. I could say the same with each and every coach, coach [David] Blatt, and each and every player on the team. But, that’s part of the NBA.”

Most of the Hoops Rumors readers who voted in a recent poll believed Love will be playing for another team next season. Here’s more from around the big man’s current home:

J.R. Smith has embraced the role of catch-and-shoot three-point shooter that Dion Waiters was reluctant to fill, which is part of the reason the Cavs made the trade that shipped out Waiters and brought in Smith, writes Jason Lloyd of the Akron Beacon Journal. James was fully supportive of the acquisition of Smith and has been key in keeping the mercurial swingman focused, and Blatt is ecstatic with results, Lloyd notes. Smith has a nearly $6.4MM player option for next season.
Cavs draft-and-stash prospect Sasha Kaun expressed interest in playing in the NBA and having Cavs center and fellow Russian Timofey Mozgov as a teammate in an interview with Leo Savary of Championat (translation via Sportando’s Emiliano Carchia). Kaun wouldn’t confirm an earlier report that he’s already told his Russian team, CSKA Moscow, that he’s leaving.
Kaun and Mozgov are both centers, and the Cavs haven’t really discussed Kaun since they traded for Mozgov, according to Lloyd, who writes in the same piece, running counter to a report that the team is thinking of signing Kaun this summer. Some speculate that Kaun’s camp is planting the idea of interest from the Cavs to drive up his price for CSKA Moscow, Lloyd adds.
The Cavs have recalled Joe Harris from the D-League, the team announced. The rookie averaged 10.0 points in 29.0 minutes across two weekend games for the Canton Charge while on the D-League assignment, which began Friday.