Kevin Love Rumors | Hoops Rumors

Heat Notes: Love, Herro, Butler, Adebayo

June 5th, 2023 at 8:00am CST by Arthur Hill

Erik Spoelstra made an important lineup change that helped the Heat draw even in the NBA Finals, writes Barry Jackson of The Miami Herald. Kevin Love, who sat out the last two games of the Eastern Conference Finals and the first game against the Nuggets, was back in the starting lineup Sunday to counteract Denver’s size advantage.

Love put up modest numbers with six points and 10 rebounds in 22 minutes, but the Heat outscored the Nuggets by 18 points while he was on the court. After the game, Spoelstra regretted that he didn’t try the veteran forward in the series opener.

“I didn’t have the foresight; that’s on me,” Spoelstra said. “We just went through what finished the previous series. Clearly we needed that size and physicality that Kevin brings.”

“That’s a great coaching adjustment, putting Kevin Love in the starting lineup,” Kyle Lowry added. “… Kevin is the ultimate pro. He changed our locker room with his energy and effort.”

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Tyler Herro still hasn’t received medical clearance, but there are reports that he might be ready when the series resumes Wednesday night in Miami, Jackson adds. Herro was able to practice with the team on Saturday. “We’re really encouraged by the progress,” Spoelstra said. “He started doing contact work as soon as we got to Denver. We have to maintain perspective. We want to be responsible about this. We’re all excited and encouraged by his progress, but we’ll get back to Miami. All we’re doing is sticking to the process, trying to stack positive days, also understanding this is not trying to return to a game in December. This is the Finals. So there is a little bit of context to this.”
Jimmy Butler spent Saturday night working on his shot with personal trainer Chris Brickley, according to Ramona Shelburne of ESPN. He concentrated on taking the ball inside in Game 2, Shelburne notes, with 14 of his 19 shots coming from within 18 feet of the basket. He also got to the line five times after not shooting any free throws in the opener. “He just likes figuring things out,” Brickley said. “When he’s making those short shots, everything is different. So we worked on it.”
Bam Adebayo has been Miami’s best player through the first two games of the series, states Joe Vardon of The Athletic. Adebayo delivered 21 points, nine rebounds, four assists and two blocks on Sunday after a 26-point performance in Game 1 while matching up with Nikola Jokic. “Bam, we just can’t say enough of how difficult his responsibilities are in this series,” Spoelstra said. “To take arguably the toughest cover in the league for all the myriad of reasons that I don’t need to get into, and then he has to shoulder a big offensive role for us as well.”

Heat Notes: Butler, Shooters, Riley, Love

June 4th, 2023 at 4:00pm CST by Alex Kirschenbaum

All-NBA forward Jimmy Butler had a fairly modest showing in the Heat‘s 103-94 Game 1 loss to the Nuggets, scoring 13 points on 6-of-14 shooting from the floor. He also chipped in seven rebounds, seven assists, a steal and a block in 38 minutes of action.

As William Guillory of The Athletic writes, the Heat need Butler to return to his “Playoff Jimmy” mode, the unstoppable force that propelled Miami to its second NBA Finals berth in his first four years with the team.

“I just think I’ve got to do a better job of getting the ball, demanding the ball, being more aggressive,” Butler reflected following a team practice Saturday. “Yes, they do have some really good defenders, but I have seen really good defenders before.”

Guillory notes that Butler averaged 29.9 PPG on 50.5% shooting from the floor, along with 5.6 APG, across his first 14 playoff games in this run. His shooting output has taken a significant dip across the most recent four contests. In those games, the 6’7″ wing has averaged 19.8 PPG on 38.4% shooting from the floor, plus 6.5 APG.

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A more assertive scoring night in Game 2 from Butler will unlock the team’s shooters following a lackluster Game 1 turn, opines Vincent Goodwill of Yahoo Sports. “They definitely follow suit whenever I’m aggressive on both sides of the ball,” Butler said. “So I have to be the one to come out and kick that off the right way, which I will, and we’ll see where we end up.” Miami swingmen Max Strus and Duncan Robinson shot 1-of-14 from the floor on Thursday.
Heat president Pat Riley remains hungry to win his 10th NBA title at age 78. He has won as a player, an assistant coach, a head coach and in his current role as front office leader. Several of Riley’s peers spoke to Josh Peter of USA Today about what drives the Hall of Famer. “You can see his fingerprints over all the stuff they’re doing down there,” Riley’s former Lakers teammate and colleague Jerry West told Peter. “I mean, they’re never going to quit and they’re never going to die.”
Heat power forward Kevin Love has had an up-and-down postseason run, shifting from a starting gig as recently as Game 5 of the Eastern Conference Finals to his third straight healthy scratch in Game 1 of the Finals. As Anthony Chiang of The Miami Herald writes, the 34-year-old is trying to remain prepared, whatever the role. “For me, what I’m doing is just staying ready,” Love said. “But certainly, the Nuggets are a very big team. You saw it in the first two rounds, how we matched up against both New York and Milwaukee. I think the luxury is I’ll be sitting there waiting. If my number is called, great. If not, I’m going to support these guys the best I can.” Love is appearing in his fifth NBA Finals, after starting in four straight for the Cavaliers from 2015-18.

Heat Notes: Highsmith, Herro, Injuries, Strus, Love

June 3rd, 2023 at 8:27pm CST by Arthur Hill

Haywood Highsmith may see consistent minutes throughout the NBA Finals after scoring 18 points in the series opener, writes Peter Baugh of The Athletic. Heat coach Erik Spoelstra played Highsmith more than 23 minutes off the bench in Game 1 and trusted him to share the responsibility of guarding Jamal Murray.

Earning playing time hasn’t been easy for the third-year swingman, who was barely used for most of the Eastern Conference Finals. He had a breakthrough performance when he scored 15 points in 36 minutes in Game 5 against Boston.

The 26-year-old has taken an unconventional road to the NBA Finals, playing at a Division II college and then being waived three times by the Sixers. Miami gave him an opportunity with a 10-day contract last season, and he earned two more before signing a three-year deal. He takes pride in being one of seven undrafted players on the team’s roster.

“(The Heat) see something in us that nobody else saw in us as undrafted guys, kind of like hidden gems,” Highsmith said. “They believe in us, and they do a great job with developing us and taking us up under their wing and just making us be the best players we can be.”

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Tyler Herro has been declared out for Game 2, but that doesn’t mean it’s certain that he won’t play, according to Barry Jackson of The Miami Herald. Jackson states that NBA rules allow teams to change the status of injured players, so Herro could be activated before Sunday night if he continues to make progress in his recovery from hand surgery. Jackson adds that Caleb Martin is listed as questionable with an illness that the team describes as a head issue, and Cody Zeller is questionable with a sprained right foot.
Jimmy Butler hasn’t lost faith in Martin and Max Strus, who combined to shoot 1-of-17 in Game 1, Jackson adds. Butler said he’ll still set them up for the same shots, and Strus remarked that he’s eager to put his scoreless night behind him. “You can’t dwell on it,” he said. “Luckily, it was only Game 1 so we got more to play. But I’m ready. I wanted to play right after the game was over.”
In an interview with Sam Amick of The Athletic, Kevin Love offers his perspective as a relative newcomer to Heat culture after signing with the team in February. “I think it’s definitely a level of focus and professionalism, attention to detail and winning at all costs, that is not always the case (with other teams),” Love said. “Or there’s moments throughout the season (where you have that focus with other teams), but this is all-in for all 82. And then after that, it’s taking it up even another notch. And I’ve felt that, and understood that, and I’ve only been here for three months.”

Heat Notes: Robinson, Vincent, Strus, Love, Haslem

June 3rd, 2023 at 10:26am CST by Luke Adams

The Heat‘s unexpectedly deep playoff run has improved the league-wide perception of several of the team’s key contributors, writes Barry Jackson of The Miami Herald.

According to a scout who spoke to Jackson, Duncan Robinson‘s contract – which has three years and $57MM left after this season – now looks more tradable as opposed to being a “complete albatross.” Meanwhile, players like Gabe Vincent and Max Strus, who are headed for unrestricted free agency, are poised to cash in nicely this summer.

“I’ve gone from thinking (Vincent) is a good $3MM backup to a $10MM, $11MM player; he’s worth that in today’s NBA,” the scout said. “The guy has produced when it counts, and that’s what teams are looking for. He has risen to the occasion. … He’s never afraid of the moment. You get high effort defensively. Decent play-maker, has toughness. To me, his value correlates a lot to his scoring, but he does do other things that teams value.”

Ira Winderman explores the same subject in a story for The Sun Sentinel, noting that ESPN’s Bobby Marks believes both Vincent and Strus could get starting salaries around the full mid-level exception ($12.2MM) when they hit the market in a few weeks.

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Five undrafted Heat players – Vincent, Strus, Robinson, Caleb Martin, and Haywood Highsmith – played at least 20 minutes in Game 1 of the NBA Finals. While those players appreciated Erik Spoelstra‘s recent assertion that the fixation on their undrafted status is “disrespectful,” they also don’t want to dismiss the obstacles they had to overcome to become rotation players on a Finals team, per Anthony Chiang of The Miami Herald. “You want to be labeled as an NBA player, but you don’t forget the road you took to get here, you don’t forget where you started and where you came from,” Martin said. “That’s what makes it also very special. I think that’s why our connection is so great, because near half our team went through the same stuff. I think the fact that’s the case has also helped us get to this point. So just as much as it can get old, it’s also very special.”
Kevin Love‘s numbers since he joined the Heat have been modest and his minutes have fluctuated, but teammate Duncan Robinson believes the veteran forward has been a difference-maker off the court for the club. “I think he totally changed the whole dynamic of our locker room,” Robinson said of Love on The Old Man and the Three podcast (hat tip to Jackson at The Miami Herald). “Just his character, his levity, what he brought in terms of just connecting people, having a sense of humor. When you have a guy who’s played in four NBA Finals, won a championship, gets pulled from a rotation in the middle of a series and his immediate reaction is uplifting the guy that’s replacing him — that alone sets the tone down the line for everybody else.”
While Udonis Haslem admits it would be an “amazing” ending to his own career if the Heat win a championship this spring before he retires, he said this week that he wants a title more for his teammates than for himself. “I want it for the guys that haven’t won any,” Haslem said, according to Chiang. “I want it for Jimmy Butler. I want it for those guys more so than anything.”

Heat Notes: Herro, Butler, Love, Vincent

May 31st, 2023 at 6:41pm CST by Arthur Hill

Heat guard Tyler Herro may return at some point during the NBA Finals, but he has been officially ruled out for Thursday’s Game 1, writes Barry Jackson of The Miami Herald. Herro has been sidelined since breaking two fingers in his right hand in Miami’s playoff opener on April 16. He underwent surgery five days later and has said that he’s targeting Game 3 next Wednesday as a possible return date.

Coach Erik Spoelstra explained that Herro still hasn’t participated in any contact drills, which are required before he can be cleared to return.

“He’s still just starting this process,” Spoelstra said. “We have a few days here to continue his work. I can’t make any proclamation until he makes these next important steps of contact and doing more on the court live. We’re all encouraged by his progress but still want to continue to be responsible and make the best decisions.”

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Jimmy Butler is very happy to be in Miami, calling his situation “a match made in heaven,” per Jackson. He credits Heat legend Dwyane Wade for encouraging him to join the franchise earlier in his career. “I’m not perfect, but I’m me,” Butler said. “My style of leadership works here. More than anything I have to give a shout out to D-Wade. He always told me this culture fits who I am and how I go about things. … I love it here and I hope to be here.”
Neither Kevin Love nor Cody Zeller played in Game 7 against Boston, but Spoelstra may need to use both big men while trying to match up with Denver’s Nikola Jokic, Jackson adds. Love said he didn’t object to Spoelstra’s decision to replace him in the starting lineup during the last two games of the Eastern Conference Finals. “It made perfect sense to me, honestly,” Love said. “I was eager and wanted to play and kept myself ready. But those matchups, how they took Robert Williams out of the starting lineup and decided to go small, that’s … how it works in the playoffs. I felt I made my impact in two games and maybe one quarter.”
Gabe Vincent talks to Sean Cunningham of KTXL about making his second trip to the NBA Finals and getting the opportunity to play this time (Twitter link).

Heat Notes: Butler, Adebayo, Backup Centers, Vincent

May 29th, 2023 at 9:02am CST by Arthur Hill

Jimmy Butler and Bam Adebayo understand that they need to play better for the Heat to win Monday night’s Game 7 in Boston, write Barry Jackson and Anthony Chiang of The Miami Herald. Miami’s heartbreaking loss on Saturday featured wildly inefficient performances from its two stars, who combined to shoot 24.3% from the field. Even though he came close to a triple-double, Butler made just 5-of-21 shots and he took responsibility for the one-point defeat.

“Like I told the guys on the bench, I told the guys in the locker room, that if I play better, we’re not even in this position, honestly speaking,” Butler said. “And I will be better. That’s what makes me smile, because those guys follow my lead. So when I’m playing better, I think we’re playing better as a whole.”

Both Butler and Adebayo, who was 4-for-16, dismissed the idea that injuries are catching up to them. Butler suffered a sprained right ankle in the opener of the Heat’s second-round series, and Adebayo has been dealing with shoulder and hamstring issues.

“I see no excuses for that,” Adebayo said. “You know, when you want something as special as a championship, I feel like every guy in our locker room would go through a brick wall to get that.”

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Cody Zeller saw all the backup center minutes on Saturday as Kevin Love remained on the bench, Jackson and Chiang add. Neither player has been effective in the series, with the Heat getting outscored by 20 points in Love’s 61 minutes and by 21 points in Zeller’s 56 minutes.
Miami will make history one way or the other tonight, either as the first play-in participant to reach the NBA Finals or the first team in league history to lose a series after taking a 3-0 lead. Heat players insist they won’t be intimidated by that potential infamy as they approach Game 7, per Ira Winderman of The Sun Sentinel. “You’re going to get the same test until you pass it, I swear,” Butler said, referring to last season’s Game 7 between the two teams. “We were in this same position last year. We can do it. I know that we will do it. … We have got to go on the road and do something special.”
Gabe Vincent is back on the Heat’s injury report, being listed as questionable for Game 7 with a sprained left ankle, Winderman tweets. Vincent was a game-time decision in Game 6, but he played 41 minutes and contributed 15 points and four rebounds.

Gabe Vincent To Play, Malcolm Brogdon Out For Game 6

May 27th, 2023 at 7:07pm CST by Arthur Hill

Heat guard Gabe Vincent, who missed Game 5 due to a sprained left ankle, has been cleared to play on Saturday, tweets Barry Jackson of The Miami Herald. Vincent will be back in the starting lineup, Jackson adds, and Miami has made another change, starting Caleb Martin in place of Kevin Love.

Vincent injured the ankle on an awkward landing after a jump shot late in Game 4. He sat out Thursday’s contest in Boston as the Celtics cruised to a 13-point win.

Vincent took over as the team’s starting point guard in February and has maintained that role throughout the playoffs. He has averaged 13.1 points and 4.1 assists in 15 postseason games while shooting 41.7% from the field and 37.5% from three-point range. He poured in a career-high 29 points in Miami’s Game 3 victory.

The Celtics will try to stay alive without guard Malcolm Brogdon, who suffered a right forearm strain in the second half Thursday, tweets Tim Bontemps of ESPN. Brogdon tried to go through his normal pre-game routine tonight, but Boston’s medical staff determined that he’s not able to play.

Brogdon, who also has a partially torn tendon in his right elbow, has come off the bench in every Celtics playoff game so far, averaging 12.6 points, 3.7 rebounds and 3.1 assists in 25.9 minutes per night.

Eastern Notes: Love, Hornets’ Workouts, Pistons

May 22nd, 2023 at 6:50pm CST by Dana Gauruder

Kevin Love departed Game 3 of the Eastern Conference Finals in the first half due to a strained lower left leg, but he’ll likely play in Game 4 on Tuesday, Ira Winderman of the South Florida Sun Sentinel reports. The Heat big man says he’ll be “ready to go” as Miami looks to close out the series.

“It just felt like, honestly, a muscle cramp and was kind of off and on,” said Love, who was acquired by the Heat via the buyout market. “So I just wanted to ask to come out, wanted to be smart about it, tell Coach (Erik Spoelstra) that I could go back in if needed. At halftime we’d had a conversation. We were up 15. I said I was available. But then the score just got upwards of 20, 30. And from that point on, I just figured I’d get my treatment, make sure I was all good.”

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The Hornets held a pre-draft workout for six prospects on Monday, the team tweets. Baylor’s Jalen Bridges, Akron’s Xavier Castaneda, Pittsburgh’s Nelly Cummings, Miami’s Jordan Miller, Appalachian State’s Tamell Pearson and Kansas State’s Nae’Qwan Tomlin were the visitors.
Pelicans assistant Jarron Collins, Bucks assistant Charles Lee and former Overtime Elite coach Kevin Ollie remain finalists for the Pistons’ head coaching job, James Edwards III of The Athletic tweets. The trio will meet with the team’s brass again this week, with Edwards adding that he wouldn’t be surprised if former Bucks coach Mike Budenholzer and former Suns coach Monty Williams take the year off.
Speaking of the Pistons, what are their lottery options now that they’ve dropped to No. 5 in the draft? Edwards explores that topic and lists a handful of prospects who could be available at that spot, including Alabama forward Brandon Miller if he slides down the draft board. If he doesn’t, Houston’s Jarace Walker or Villanova’s Cam Whitmore could be the pick.

Heat Notes: Vincent, Robinson, Love, Motivation, Herro

May 22nd, 2023 at 9:51am CST by Arthur Hill

The Heat were ready when the Celtics started throwing double teams at Jimmy Butler on Sunday night, writes Anthony Chiang of The Miami Herald. Although the strategy was effective in slowing down Butler, who was limited to 16 points after coming into the game averaging 31.1 PPG in the playoffs, it created open opportunities for his teammates.

Gabe Vincent scored a career-high 29 points while shooting 11-of-14 from the field and 6-of-9 from three-point range. Duncan Robinson hit 5-of-7 from beyond the arc and contributed 22 points off the bench as Miami connected at 54.3% on three-pointers during the game.

“We’ve been dealing with this for a little bit, not just in the postseason,” coach Erik Spoelstra said of the double teams on Butler. “There were a handful of key games going down the stretch where teams were committed to trying to take the ball out of his hands. So that gave us some things to work on during the regular season.”

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Kevin Love didn’t return to Sunday’s game after leaving midway through the first quarter with a left ankle injury, Chiang adds. He was back on the bench in uniform and warmed up for the second half, but Spoelstra decided not to risk putting him on the court with a commanding lead. “He says he’s fine,” Spoelstra told reporters after the game. “He was a little bit, like, scared about it. He said he probably could have gone in in the second half, but I just wanted to re-evaluate. We were up 15. I was like, all right, let’s make sure we know what’s going on.”
The Heat entered the series determined to get revenge on the Celtics for beating them in last year’s Eastern Conference Finals, according to Joe Vardon of The Athletic. Miami is motivated by the memory of its Game 7 loss when Butler’s late three-point attempt bounced off the rim. “I just think that we got the matchup we wanted,” Caleb Martin said. “We got to see the team who took us out last year. … We are playing like we have something to prove.”
Tyler Herro, who had surgery after breaking two fingers on his shooting hand in Miami’s playoff opener five weeks ago, had his brace removed, tweets Barry Jackson of The Miami Herald. Herro still hasn’t been medically cleared to resume shooting.

Heat Notes: Love, Lowry, Roster, Oladipo

May 2nd, 2023 at 1:59pm CST by Luke Adams

While Kevin Love admits that he thought he was a “collision course” with his old team in the second round of the playoffs, he didn’t derive any extra pleasure from seeing the Cavaliers sent home while his Heat advanced, writes Mike Vorkunov of The Athletic. As Love explains, he holds no ill will toward the Cavs — he sought a buyout simply because he wanted to have the sort of role that he no longer had in Cleveland.

“I think more than anything I just wanted to I want to be a part of it,” he said. “I wanted to be out there. I felt like I could be productive and help win more than just being a great vet and then helping those guys along. Because I still love those guys. I’m still on the group chat with them. But definitely know I have a lot more to give and just wanted to play.”

Love gave up a little money to secure his release from the fourth-seeded Cavs and confirms he considered joining the third-seeded Sixers before signing with the Heat, who ultimately claimed the No. 8 spot in the East. The move down the standings was somewhat unusual for a veteran on the buyout market, but Miami’s postseason success so far has vindicated Love’s decision.

“You always talk about culture, but until you get here, it’s pretty eye-opening that its level of professionalism is not really rivaled anywhere else,” Love said of the Heat. “It’s a beautiful thing.”

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Both Love (nine points, five rebounds, four assists) and veteran point guard Kyle Lowry (18 points, six assists, four blocks) turned back the clock with their performances in Miami’s Game 1 win over New York, writes Brian Lewis of The New York Post. Lowry’s two years in Miami have been up and down – he has missed significant time due to injuries and personal matters – but his teammates believe in his ability to come up big in the postseason. “(Lowry) is a winner. He’s our leader, whether he’s starting or coming off the bench,” Jimmy Butler said on Sunday. “He’s a champion, and he’s been doing a great job for us all year long and since he’s been here. He’s one of the engines that helps us go, and we’re going to ride that wave.”
As the Heat look to become the second ever No. 8 seed to make it to the conference finals, Anthony Chiang of The Miami Herald explores whether the team’s roster was built specifically for playoff success.
With Victor Oladipo‘s availability for next season up in the air as a result of his left knee injury, Barry Jackson of The Miami Herald wonders whether waiving and stretching Oladipo’s 2023/24 salary ($9.45MM, assuming he exercises his player option) will be something the Heat seriously consider this summer.