NBA Rumors: Celtics ‘Closed The Gap’ On Lakers In Kevin Love Sweepstakes Before Injury
USA Today
Following a controversial shoulder dislocation against the Boston Celtics on Sunday, Kevin Love’s immediate future with the Cleveland Cavaliers has been put into serious doubt. Love will miss a minimum of two weeks as a result of the shoulder injury and that might mean he may have played his last game for Cleveland.
With Love potentially having played his last game for the Cavaliers, the star forward will be a hot commodity on the open market this summer. Love has to opt out of his deal with Cleveland this summer and if he does one team above all else will be anxiously awaiting his availability in NBA free agency.
Although all the talk of surrounding Love’s future has him linked with the Los Angeles Lakers, the Celtics had apparently made more of an impression than expected. Before Kelly Olynyk tangled arms with Love in Game 4, the star forward had apparently considered Boston as a potential landing spot in free agency.
According to Adrian Wojnarowski of Yahoo Sports, that stance may have changed:
For as much as Kevin Love has publicly resisted the discussion of free agency this season, it has been on his mind. He has never been completely comfortable in Cleveland, with his role, nor his connection to those around him. Throughout the year, league sources say, one destination grew in possibility as his exit strategy: The Boston Celtics.
Boston has been no sure thing to lure Love, but it had a better shot than most had believed. If Love left the Cavaliers, the Celtics had closed the gap on the Los Angeles Lakers, league sources told Yahoo Sports.
Throughout the entire season with the Cavaliers, Love has avoided discussion about his potential pending free agency this summer. Love was considered to be the perfect addition alongside LeBron James and Kyrie Irving in Cleveland, but the dynamic trio hasn’t meshed well with Love being the odd man out.
With Love not exactly fitting under head coach David Blatt, the UCLA product could chose to head elsewhere this summer. The star forward signing with the Lakers is a strong possibility if he intends to test free agency as the storied franchise is desperately seeking another max player to bring in to help guide the team into the post Kobe Bryant era.
