Getty Kevin Love looks on during a bout between his Miami Heat and the Philadelphia 76ers.
As the Miami Heat prepare to square off against Trae Young and the Atlanta Hawks in Eastern Conference play-in action on Tuesday, Kevin Love finally looks to have rounded the turn in his effort to be a positive impact player for his new squad.
Over his final four appearances for Erik Spoelstra‘s club during the regular season, the five-time All-Star and 2016 NBA champion averaged 10.0 points and 5.0 rebounds per game. Meanwhile, he connected on a respectable 46.4% of his field-goal attempts and 36.8% of his three-point tries. More importantly, the Heat were plus-38 in his 65 minutes over that stretch.
Whether that’s the new normal for Love in Miami or the last gasp of a former star on his way out of the Association remains to be seen. For his part, though, Love has designs on remaining in the hardwood mix for what he hopes will be a Udonis Haslem-esque run.
“I don’t know if I’ll make it to 20 [years], but I’ve always had my eyes on that,” Love told Wes Goldberg, writing for The Ringer. “I’d like to play as long as the wheels aren’t falling off… My body feels really good right now.”
Heat’s Kevin Love Breaks Down His Post-Retirement Plans
After negotiating his buyout with the Cleveland Cavaliers, Love joined the South Beach crew on a rest-of-season deal with the hopes of playing a significant role during a deep playoff run. Whether the Heat are able to make that happen or not, though, the veteran understands that he may be looking for another gig this summer.
“I know it’s like a rental-type situation when you’re in a buyout, but I’ve really enjoyed my time here so far. So we’ll see,” Love said.
When he does finally decide to hang up the hi-tops — be it as a member of the Heat or some other NBA team — Love is well aware that identifying the place/job in which his next chapter will begin could be a difficult process.
“That’s… that’s a tough one,” he said when asked about his post-playing career plans.
Love can envision himself playing some kind of role in a team’s front office. It’s probably safe to assume he won’t be joining Spoelstra or any other coach on the sidelines, though.
“Building culture and putting a special group together to win is something that I’d love to do,” Love said. “I don’t think I’m made for coaching.”
Heat Given Middling Grade for Ho-Hum Regular Season
Bleacher Report’s Andy Bailey just dropped his final regular-season grades for each of the league’s 30 teams. And while he wrote favorably about the efforts of the team’s Jimmy Butler-Bam Adebayo-Tyler Herro core, the hoops scribe ultimately landed on a C-grade for the team’s effort as a whole.
Commented Bailey:
When those three were on the floor, Miami was plus-8.3 points per 100 possessions with a 94th percentile defense. Add Caleb Martin to the mix, and the net rating climbs to plus-10.6.
The Heat just couldn’t get quite enough shooting from the rest of the roster to supplement those starters.