In case you haven't heard, the Cleveland Cavaliers re-signed free agent Kevin Love to a five-year maximum deal worth roughly $110 million yesterday. Some fans may not like this as the Cavs worked through the Eastern Conference without Love and were just two wins away from an NBA championship. Some fans may think it's a waste of money and that Love is overrated.
Those fans would be wrong.
Re-signing Love represents a huge win for Cleveland, both on and off the court.
"For all the speculation over Love's future during the 2014-15 season, as he struggled to figure out how he fit in a loaded Cavaliers roster, the consensus had developed recently within the league that Love - as he repeatedly said - wasn't going anywhere," ESPN NBA Insider Kevin Pelton wrote. "So the surprise here is less that Love re-signed and more the length of the deal, the maximum possible five years. The long-term security is useful for Love in case the back injury that limited him linger. Still, this looks like a win for Cleveland, which has Love locked in at a reasonable price as the cap escalates."
Cleveland also re-signed Iman Shumpert for four years at $40 million and reportedly offered Tristan Thompson a five-year contract worth north of $80 million. The Cavs appear determined to bring back the same team that almost shocked the Golden State Warriors in the NBA Finals. That means deals for guards J.R. Smith and Matthew Dellavedova are next on the docket.
After that, Cleveland could use the non-guaranteed contract of center Brendan Haywood as a trade chip. ESPN's Brian Windhorst tweeted Wednesday that Cleveland has "numerous options" for that deal.
Cavs have numerous options to move Brendan Haywood's $10.5M nonguaranteed contract now on the table, sources said. Dan Gilbert spending $
— Brian Windhorst (@WindhorstESPN) July 1, 2015
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