Kevin Love does not appear to be pleased in Cleveland these days. After the season began with Love saying he’d be happy to stick around and be the veteran leader for the young Cavs, the season started and remained on a bad keel. Cleveland began talking in earnest with other teams about potential Love trades last month amid reports that he wanted to head to a contender.
Love was said to be unhappy with the collegiate atmosphere under new coach John Beilein, who was brought in from Michigan this season. Tension built and, in the past week, Love began to show his annoyance with his team on the floor. That included a bench confrontation in Toronto and an on-floor show of frustration with point guard Collin Sexton against the Thunder.
In between, there was a report of a weekend screaming outburst by Love directed at general manager Koby Altman over a fine Love had been given from the Toronto game. Love said that was overblown by the media but still, the cumulative effect of the past week has registered around the league.
As one league executive noted, “If what Kevin wants is to be traded, this is the 100 percent wrong thing to do. If you’re in the front office and you want to trade for a player, especially one making his kind of money, this kind of bulls— makes it impossible to bring a deal to your owner that he is going to OK. How do you say, ‘We want to give up a draft pick so we can pay this guy $30 million every year’? You can’t do it.”
Kevin Love Doing Trade-Deadline Damage Control
Love is in the first year of a contract extension that will pay him $120 million over four years. At age 31, he’s averaging 16.4 points and 10.3 rebounds for the Cavs, who are 10-27 after falling to the Pistons on Tuesday. Love had 30 points and nine rebounds in that game.
Perhaps knowing that his anti-team stances potentially could undermine Cleveland’s ability to make a move, Love went in front of reporters on Tuesday and sought to wipe clean the damage he did to his reputation this week.
“I wasn’t acting like a 31-year-old,” Love told the gathered media. “I was acting like a 13-year-old. That was not me.”
He did say that he had no problem with Altman.
“I went in there and talked to Koby about it in conversation,” Love said. “I came to the arena, Koby and I were great, gave him a pound right when I came in. There was no altercation, there was no screaming match. You can ask him, that’s what it was.”
Cavs Having Trouble Finding a Taker for Kevin Love
All this feeds into the trouble the Cavs have had drumming up a suitable deal for Love. The more Love plays the part of the malcontent, the more likely other teams are to shy away from pulling the trigger on a trade—or the more they could lowball Cleveland, figuring it’s getting desperate to move Love along.
The size of his contract and his injury history have made getting fair value for Love difficult. Love has missed six games this season, including three with a back problem that has been persistent throughout his career.
Add poor behavior to that ledger and the likelihood he gets traded gets slimmer.
But both Love and the Cavs are attempting to walk back some of those concerns, to make both team and player seem less eager for a divorce. Beilein backed up Love, saying, “It’s a long season and you’re going to have those times where the frustrations come up really on both sides.”
Love suggested that maybe he didn’t really want out of Cleveland though he acknowledged the franchise’s obvious push to bring in fresh blood.
“I’ve always wanted to be here,” Love said. “I don’t know what the next few weeks are going to hold and this has been a frustrating situation, and I know this is a team that’s rebuilding and wants to go young. I’ve accepted that. Let the chips fall where they may.”
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NBA Trade Rumors: Tantrums Hurting Cavs’ Kevin Love Deals