Windhorst & Lowe on Kevin Love (Reportedly May Leave Cleveland)

[GetLucky]

Assuming Love opts out, does the Lakers' lottery luck help the Celtics? Presumably, they take Okafor/Towns, so they have two young bigs (their pick this year plus Randle) for the future. Would they want to spend max money on another big?

[GC003332]

There is sacrifice and then there is sacrifice, the guy is 26 years old and was reduced to a 3rd sometimes 4th wheel in their offence.Total waste of his talents as a basketball player,people go on about winning a ring like it is the be all and end all, maximise your own abilities first and foremost.
Go ring chasing the last few years of your career if need be.
People say the guy never won anything in his career before, the guy was part of a Wolves squad that almost posted a winning record in the almighty Western Conference, so he has been part of 'winning'.

 
SO basketball is no more about winning rings. Its all about maximizing your stats now huh?! Plus this is coming from a Cs fan huh?

More than half the teams in the league know when the season starts that they have little or no chance to win the title.So what are the players doing on those teams doing during the season?
Trying to get better contracts, that is what they are doing.
Most lottery picks don't even sniff the playoffs their first few seasons in the league, got to put those numbers up to get that first big deal.
It is not the players fault , it's the system.

[zubi.anaba]

There is sacrifice and then there is sacrifice, the guy is 26 years old and was reduced to a 3rd sometimes 4th wheel in their offence.Total waste of his talents as a basketball player,people go on about winning a ring like it is the be all and end all, maximise your own abilities first and foremost.
Go ring chasing the last few years of your career if need be.
People say the guy never won anything in his career before, the guy was part of a Wolves squad that almost posted a winning record in the almighty Western Conference, so he has been part of 'winning'.

 
SO basketball is no more about winning rings. Its all about maximizing your stats now huh?! Plus this is coming from a Cs fan huh?

To some players they want to have both. To maximize their talents while wining rings.

So what happens after you have maximised ur stats for the last 7 yrs without sniffing PO and then you luckily land a team with a legit chance of going to the next 4 NBA finals while being heavy favourites. DO you accept you role putting up almost 20 and 10 as a 3rd option while possibly becoming part of a historic team and winning multiples rings OR do you say, you know what "Even though I lucked into a once in a lifetime opportunity, screw it! I dont care about rings". Give me my Stats 

[zubi.anaba]

There is sacrifice and then there is sacrifice, the guy is 26 years old and was reduced to a 3rd sometimes 4th wheel in their offence.Total waste of his talents as a basketball player,people go on about winning a ring like it is the be all and end all, maximise your own abilities first and foremost.
Go ring chasing the last few years of your career if need be.
People say the guy never won anything in his career before, the guy was part of a Wolves squad that almost posted a winning record in the almighty Western Conference, so he has been part of 'winning'.

 
SO basketball is no more about winning rings. Its all about maximizing your stats now huh?! Plus this is coming from a Cs fan huh?

More than half the teams in the league know when the season starts that they have little or no chance to win the title.So what are the players doing on those teams doing during the season?
Trying to get better contracts, that is what they are doing.
Most lottery picks don't even sniff the playoffs their first few seasons in the league, got to put those numbers to get that first big deal.
It is not the players fault , it's the system.

Pretty sure Gilbert is a billionaire, doesnt care about the luxury. If I remember correctly, he was paying the luxury on the Shaq/Antawn Jamison Cavs!!He only cares about winning and will happily pay Love the max regardless. The max he can pay Love also happens to be much more than the max any other team can pay him. So yh contract money is NOT an issue for Love

[Ilikesports17]

There is sacrifice and then there is sacrifice, the guy is 26 years old and was reduced to a 3rd sometimes 4th wheel in their offence.Total waste of his talents as a basketball player,people go on about winning a ring like it is the be all and end all, maximise your own abilities first and foremost.
Go ring chasing the last few years of your career if need be.
People say the guy never won anything in his career before, the guy was part of a Wolves squad that almost posted a winning record in the almighty Western Conference, so he has been part of 'winning'.

 
SO basketball is no more about winning rings. Its all about maximizing your stats now huh?! Plus this is coming from a Cs fan huh?

More than half the teams in the league know when the season starts that they have little or no chance to win the title.So what are the players doing on those teams doing during the season?
Trying to get better contracts, that is what they are doing.
Most lottery picks don't even sniff the playoffs their first few seasons in the league, got to put those numbers to get that first big deal.
It is not the players fault , it's the system.

Pretty sure Gilbert is a billionaire, doesnt care about the luxury. If I remember correctly, he was paying the luxury on the Shaq/Antawn Jamison Cavs!!He only cares about winning and will happily pay Love the max regardless. The max he can pay Love also happens to be much more than the max any other team can pay him. So yh contract money is NOT an issue for Love

No but these are hyper-competitive guys. I think love believes he can be a top option on a contender, and he doesnt want to be reduced to some afterthought guy. Kevin Love may not want to be an afterthought.

Winning is important but winning means so much more when you are a top option on the team. Im sure we all know that from high school sports.

I assume most people here were at one point or another the go-to option on some sports teams and at some point they were roll players. I know that when I was the top option it felt a lot better to win games.

Kevin Love will not want to go back to a Minnesota situation where they do not have the firepower to make a dent in the playoffs. He wants to win, but he might want to do it on his own terms not Lebron's.

FWIW I expect him to stay put but i dont think its out of the question or even unlikely that he leaves Id say hes 60-40 he stays but I dont have any insider info.

Both options make a reasonable amount of sense.

[Endless Paradise]

I still don't buy it.

This. And if it happens, Love is a fool and I'll lose a ton of respect for him. The guy (justifiably) complained incessantly about simply "wanting to win" while he was in Minnesota; he's getting exactly that in Cleveland while playing alongside the best player in the world. You leave that because you're not happy about how you're winning? Have fun on mediocre teams, then.

[GC003332]

There is sacrifice and then there is sacrifice, the guy is 26 years old and was reduced to a 3rd sometimes 4th wheel in their offence.Total waste of his talents as a basketball player,people go on about winning a ring like it is the be all and end all, maximise your own abilities first and foremost.
Go ring chasing the last few years of your career if need be.
People say the guy never won anything in his career before, the guy was part of a Wolves squad that almost posted a winning record in the almighty Western Conference, so he has been part of 'winning'.

 
SO basketball is no more about winning rings. Its all about maximizing your stats now huh?! Plus this is coming from a Cs fan huh?

More than half the teams in the league know when the season starts that they have little or no chance to win the title.So what are the players doing on those teams doing during the season?
Trying to get better contracts, that is what they are doing.
Most lottery picks don't even sniff the playoffs their first few seasons in the league, got to put those numbers to get that first big deal.
It is not the players fault , it's the system.

Pretty sure Gilbert is a billionaire, doesnt care about the luxury. If I remember correctly, he was paying the luxury on the Shaq/Antawn Jamison Cavs!!He only cares about winning and will happily pay Love the max regardless. The max he can pay Love also happens to be much more than the max any other team can pay him. So yh contract money is NOT an issue for Love

The issue that would possibly drive Love out of Cleveland is his level of satisfaction over his role on the team not money, if he feels his abilities as a player as a guy in the prime of his career are being wasted then he may well decide to leave.

[Rondo9]

There is sacrifice and then there is sacrifice, the guy is 26 years old and was reduced to a 3rd sometimes 4th wheel in their offence.Total waste of his talents as a basketball player,people go on about winning a ring like it is the be all and end all, maximise your own abilities first and foremost.
Go ring chasing the last few years of your career if need be.
People say the guy never won anything in his career before, the guy was part of a Wolves squad that almost posted a winning record in the almighty Western Conference, so he has been part of 'winning'.

 
SO basketball is no more about winning rings. Its all about maximizing your stats now huh?! Plus this is coming from a Cs fan huh?

To some players they want to have both. To maximize their talents while wining rings.

So what happens after you have maximised ur stats for the last 7 yrs without sniffing PO and then you luckily land a team with a legit chance of going to the next 4 NBA finals while being heavy favourites. DO you accept you role putting up almost 20 and 10 as a 3rd option while possibly becoming part of a historic team and winning multiples rings OR do you say, you know what "Even though I lucked into a once in a lifetime opportunity, screw it! I dont care about rings". Give me my Stats 

Love wants to win, but I think he wants to go where he can win AND be the best (or second best) player on the team. He doesn't want to be in another Minny situation though.

[Rondo9]

I still don't buy it.

This. And if it happens, Love is a fool and I'll lose a ton of respect for him. The guy (justifiably) complained incessantly about simply "wanting to win" while he was in Minnesota; he's getting exactly that in Cleveland while playing alongside the best player in the world. You leave that because you're not happy about how you're winning? Have fun on mediocre teams, then.

If he went to the Lakers playing for an aging (and maybe retiring after next season) Kobe Bryant and a bunch of lottery players then I understand losing a lot of respect for him.

[zubi.anaba]

There is sacrifice and then there is sacrifice, the guy is 26 years old and was reduced to a 3rd sometimes 4th wheel in their offence.Total waste of his talents as a basketball player,people go on about winning a ring like it is the be all and end all, maximise your own abilities first and foremost.
Go ring chasing the last few years of your career if need be.
People say the guy never won anything in his career before, the guy was part of a Wolves squad that almost posted a winning record in the almighty Western Conference, so he has been part of 'winning'.

 
SO basketball is no more about winning rings. Its all about maximizing your stats now huh?! Plus this is coming from a Cs fan huh?

More than half the teams in the league know when the season starts that they have little or no chance to win the title.So what are the players doing on those teams doing during the season?
Trying to get better contracts, that is what they are doing.
Most lottery picks don't even sniff the playoffs their first few seasons in the league, got to put those numbers to get that first big deal.
It is not the players fault , it's the system.

Pretty sure Gilbert is a billionaire, doesnt care about the luxury. If I remember correctly, he was paying the luxury on the Shaq/Antawn Jamison Cavs!!He only cares about winning and will happily pay Love the max regardless. The max he can pay Love also happens to be much more than the max any other team can pay him. So yh contract money is NOT an issue for Love

No but these are hyper-competitive guys. I think love believes he can be a top option on a contender, and he doesnt want to be reduced to some afterthought guy. Kevin Love may not want to be an afterthought.

Winning is important but winning means so much more when you are a top option on the team. Im sure we all know that from high school sports.

I assume most people here were at one point or another the go-to option on some sports teams and at some point they were roll players. I know that when I was the top option it felt a lot better to win games.

Kevin Love will not want to go back to a Minnesota situation where they do not have the firepower to make a dent in the playoffs. He wants to win, but he might want to do it on his own terms not Lebron's.

FWIW I expect him to stay put but i dont think its out of the question or even unlikely that he leaves Id say hes 60-40 he stays but I dont have any insider info.

Both options make a reasonable amount of sense.

I have no dog in the fight so whatever he does is great. I keep commenting because some of the logic I am seeing ppl using as to why Klove should leave is just downright embarrassing to read! I mean one went on about how Cavs have treated Love awfully all season and go out their way to make him feel un-wanted. You would think that Love/Lebron have been having a Kobe/Dwight relationship the way his was typing

Then the recent ones I replied was talking about how maximizing stats is more important than rings! Can you believe that! A fan of the 17 title Cs franchise is talking about how putting up stats is better than competing for ring

At this point it think its just better for ppl to come out and say "I hate Lebron, I hate Cavs, If Love stays, they will own the NBA for the next couple yrs, No way I want Lebron cashing in on more rings and moving up the ATG ladder! Please Klove leave"!

I mean statements like that would be way more understandable and coherent than most of the so called 'logical' reasons ppl keep bringing up for Klove leaving

[Rondo9]

What are you talking about? People are just speculating that Love doesn't want to be treated as a spot shooter and wants to go to a place where he feels that he can be utilized more. It has nothing to do with hating Lebron or the Cavs.

[Endless Paradise]

I still don't buy it.

This. And if it happens, Love is a fool and I'll lose a ton of respect for him. The guy (justifiably) complained incessantly about simply "wanting to win" while he was in Minnesota; he's getting exactly that in Cleveland while playing alongside the best player in the world. You leave that because you're not happy about how you're winning? Have fun on mediocre teams, then.

If he went to the Lakers playing for an aging (and maybe retiring after next season) Kobe Bryant and a bunch of lottery players then I understand losing a lot of respect for him.

My point is that I don't see why he would risk betting on an unsure situation working out when there's proof positive in front of him that he can win in Cleveland. He's repeatedly claimed that winning is all that matters to him, right? Either be honest about your ego or suck it up.

I still think this is much ado about nothing, though.

[Kane3387]

I still don't buy it.

Me either. I'll believe it when I see it.

[Rondo9]

I still don't buy it.

Me either. I'll believe it when I see it.

I agree too, though more credible people are saying this.

[zubi.anaba]

What are you talking about? People are just speculating that Love doesn't want to be treated as a spot shooter and wants to go to a place where he feels that he can be utilized more. It has nothing to do with hating Lebron or the Cavs.

My post wasnt reffering to everybody hence why I said some ppl!! By the way in regards to Love being used strictly as a sharpshooter I bet you watched the Cs Cavs series right. Because games 1-3 KLove shoot more FTs than Kyrie and Lebron. Think about that! Klove shooting more FTs (19FTA) through 3 games than 2 of the best rim attackers in the League. I guess he must have kept getting fouled while camping out at the 3 point line