The Cleveland Cavaliers were reportedly making progress on buying out the contract of veteran big man Kevin Love.
The Cleveland Cavaliers were very active this offseason, highlighted by using their first-round draft pick on USC big man Evan Mobley. Additionally, they acquired Lauri Markkanen from the Chicago Bulls in a three-team trade also involving the Portland Trail Blazers.
As it turns out, the Cavaliers may not be done just yet.
According to Terry Pluto of The Plain Dealer, a league source told him that the Cavaliers were “making progress” on buying out veteran big man Kevin Love’s contract. However, Pluto later says that other league sources and the Cavaliers “strongly denied it.”
What about Love? An NBA source told me the Cavs were making progress toward a buyout for Love, who has two years and $60 million left on his contract. But the Cavs and other NBA sources have strongly denied it. This likely just another Kevin Love rumor, and there have been so many over the years. At some point, a buyout for Love make sense for both parties. No clue when that will happen.
Kevin Love has no desire to be bought out by Cavaliers, per his agent
On Saturday, shortly after this report dropped, Love’s agent Jeff Schwartz of Excel Sports told ESPN NBA insider Adrian Wojnarowski that the forward has no desire to be bought out by the Cavaliers.
“There have been no talks with Cleveland on a buyout, nor is there any interest from Kevin in doing a buyout,” Schwartz told Wojnarowski, via ESPN.com.
As Pluto mentions in his piece, Love still has two years remaining on his deal, where he is owed $60 million. Let’s not forget that the Cavs most recently bought out the contract of Andre Drummond this past season, where he went on to sign with the Los Angeles Lakers.
Love played in just 25 games this past season due to injury, where he averaged 12.2 points, 7.4 rebounds and 2.5 assists while shooting 40.9-percent from the field and 36.5-percent from the three-point line.
For those teams that were interested in potentially acquiring Love after a buyout from the Cavaliers just heard from his agent’s mouth, via Wojnarowski, that that will not be the case.