Getty P.J. Tucker of the Philadelphia 76ers
Five-time NBA All-Star Kevin Love has now hit the buyout market. With Love no longer playing for the Cleveland Cavaliers, multiple teams, including the Philadelphia 76ers, have interest in bringing him in. An Eastern Conference executive explained to Heavy Sports’ Sean Deveney why the Sixers want Love for the stretch run.
“They’re going to rest Joel (Embiid) and P.J. a lot down the stretch, they want them ready for the playoffs,” the exec told Deveney. “So they can tell Love, ‘Hey, come here and you will start some games, you will have a spot in the rotation, we need a stretch 4, a stretch 5, and we’re going to the NBA Finals. That’s an attractive offer. And they could tell him, ‘Hey, if it works out, we will have a lot to talk about in the summer.’ They’re definitely in the mix.”
If Love decided to join the Sixers, he would bring championship experience, having won the title with the Cavaliers in 2016 and having made two consecutive NBA Finals after that. After signing Dewayne Dedmon, the Sixers’ roster is at full capacity, meaning that if Love decided to join them, they would have to cut someone to make room for Love.
Love Plans to Talk to Sixers
ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski reported that, following Love’s buyout with the Cavaliers, the Miami Heat are the frontrunner to be his next team, but he plans to meet with the Sixers before choosing his next team.
“Kevin Love and the Cleveland Cavaliers have completed a contract buyout. The Miami Heat are a frontrunner to sign Love, but he plans to talk to the Philadelphia 76ers before making a decision,” Wojnarowski said.
ESPN Sources: Kevin Love and the Cleveland Cavaliers have completed a contract buyout. The Miami Heat are a frontrunner to sign Love, but he plans to talk to the Philadelphia 76ers before making a decision.
The Sixers are 38-19, good for the no. 3 seed in the Eastern Conference standings, while the Heat are 32-27, good for the no. 7 seed. With the better record, the Sixers could offer a better chance for Love to win another championship before his career is over, but the Heat could potentially offer a bigger role, which could pay massive dividends in Love’s next contract this coming offseason.
The Heat are also more desperate for floor spacing than the Sixers are. The Sixers are fourth in the league in overall three-point shooting percentage, shooting 38.4% from three, while the Heat are 28th, shooting 33.4%.
While Love is a career 37.2% shooter from three, his percentage this season has dipped, shooting 35.4% this season, the lowest he’s shot since the 2012-13 season.
Insiders Debate Sixers’ Need for Love
On a February 16 episode of “Clap Your Hands,” Eliot Shorr-Parks and Kyle Neubeck discussed whether the Sixers truly need Love.
Shorr-Parks was all for it, believing that, at the very least, Love was better than some of the players not currently featured in the Sixers’ rotation.
“I know they (play) different positions, but (Love) is better than (Furkan Korkmaz). In my opinion, he’s better than (Montrezl Harrell) when you look at what he can do on the offensive side. And who knows if Kevin Love would want to come here? I would think he would. It makes a ton of sense. They have a chance to win a title,” Shorr-Parks said.
Neubeck disagreed, believing that Georges Niang already fills the role that Love would play on the Sixers.
“If they didn’t have Georges Niang, I could see the argument for bringing in Love. You play him next to Joel and say, ‘Kevin, you just stand out there and bomb threes,’ but that’s Niang’s job. He fills that niche, so I don’t think Kevin Love makes a lot of sense on this team.”