It has been an eventful last few days for veteran power forward Kevin Love of Santa Monica, California. On Saturday, the Cleveland Cavaliers bought out Love’s contract according to Rogers Sportsnet, and on Sunday, he came to terms with the Miami Heat for the rest of the 2022-23 National Basketball Association season.
Love is joining his third NBA franchise. He previously played with the Minnesota Timberwolves from 2008 to 2014, and the Cleveland Cavaliers from 2014 to 2023.
Love was the fifth overall pick by the Memphis Grizzlies in the 2008 NBA Draft. He did not play for the Grizzlies however, as he was immediately traded to the Timberwolves.
During his NBA career, Love is a five-time all-star. He was honoured while with the Timberwolves in 2011, 2012 and 2014, and the Cleveland Cavaliers in 2017 and 2018. While with the Timberwolves in 2010-11, Love led the NBA with 15.2 rebounds per game, 330 offensive rebounds, and 1112 rebounds.
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This season, Love averaged 8.5 points per game, 6.8 rebounds per game, and 1.9 assists per game. He has a field goal percentage of .389, three point percentage of .354 and a free throw percentage of .889.
In the last two seasons, we have seen a drop in playing time for Love while in Cleveland. He has only started only seven of 115 games, and only averaged 20 minutes per game, after averaging 30.4 minutes per game in his NBA career.
The fact that the Cavaliers bought out Love’s contract this season could still be a little bit surprising. Not because he was set to earn $31.3 million in 2022-23, but because the Cavaliers are fourth in the East, and have had a good season at 38 wins and 23 losses. Love was also recognized for his charitable endeavours. He won the 2020 Arthur Ashe Award for Courage at the ESPY Awards.
