Getty Cleveland Cavaliers forward Kevin Love has withdrawn from the 2021 Tokyo Olympics due to injury concerns.
Cleveland Cavaliers forward Kevin Love was the player who (maybe) took Duncan Robinson’s spot on Team USA. Now the 32-year-old NBA champion is bowing out of the delayed 2021 Tokyo Olympics due to injury concerns. He’s not in “peak performance” mode.
Love, who played in just 25 games in 2021, officially withdrew from the Olympics on Friday to use the rest of the summer for a “much-needed reboot.” His selection to the squad was greatly debated when it was first announced, but Team USA head coach Gregg Popovich defended it by saying his veteran leadership was invaluable. He was going to “demand a lot” out of Love, per ESPN.
“In a way, I understand [the criticism] because I came off a season where I didn’t play that many games and wasn’t at the top of my game,” Love told reporters. “For me to come here, I feel I have a lot to prove.”
Chris Fedor of Cleveland.com reported that Love is suffering from the lingering effects of a right calf strain. His NBA future remains very much in jeopardy:
According to a source, this is not a new injury. Love is still feeling the effects of a lingering right calf strain that limited him to just 25 games during the 2020-21 season, where he averaged 12.2 points per game, lowest since his rookie season, to go with 7.4 rebounds.
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Collin Sexton Package to Miami Included Love
Trade rumors were at an all-time high on June 30 when Adam Borai of Five Reasons Sports reported that the Miami Heat had explored trading for Collin Sexton both individually and as a part of a package with Love. The Cavaliers have “multiple future second-round picks that interest Miami,” per Borai. Love is a future Hall of Famer approaching the end of his run. He averaged 12.2 points, 7.4 rebounds, 2.5 assists in 24.9 minutes per game last season.
Meanwhile, Sexton continues to garner traction as a plug-and-play starter for the Heat. The 22-year-old combo guard is seeking a max contract extension — five years at $168 million — and Cleveland seems hesitant to pay him. The prospect of pairing Sexton up with Jimmy Butler in Miami has to be extremely attractive to Heat president Pat Riley. The Heat and New York Knicks remain “aggressive suitors” for his services.
I’m getting the impression that the Miami Heat, like the New York Knicks, have emerged as an aggressive suitor for Collin Sexton as well.
A lot of this will remain fluid as we get closer to the draft.
Damian Lillard Trade Reports False?
Everyone woke up on Friday morning to reports of Damian Lillard being ready to demand a trade out of Portland in the coming days. Not so fast. Those words never came out of Lillard’s mouth and the Trail Blazers star point guard isn’t on the verge of leaving town, per Chris Haynes of Yahoo! Sports.
Damian Lillard says he woke up to reports of him on the verge of requesting a trade “is not true.” And says secondly, “I haven’t made any firm decisions on what my future will be.”
Interesting. New Portland head coach Chauncey Billups and Trail Blazers general manager Neil Olshey are scheduled to meet with Lillard to sort everything out. There is also speculation that Olshey could be fired, per reports, amid ongoing speculation that Lillard wasn’t on board with the decision to hire Billups. It’s getting messy out in the Pacific Northwest. Stay tuned.