Cleveland Cavaliers star Kevin Love's inaugural season with the team hasn't gone as planned and appears to be getting worse. In light of Love making the unusual decision to opt into his contract next season, is he giving the Cleveland experiment one more chance before deciding whether to move on?
Where there's losing, there's turmoil. The Cavaliers are underachieving and have lost nine of their last 10 games, including six straight. Naturally, there's little surprise regarding the reports coming out of Cleveland about a disconnect between first-year coach David Blatt and his players.
Blatt and Love especially seem to be on different pages. After awkwardly stating earlier in the week Love wasn't a max contract player yet, Blatt benched him in the fourth quarter of Tuesday's 107-100 loss at Phoenix. It was the second time Blatt benched Love in a fourth quarter because of the power forward's spotty defense, and ESPN's Brian Windhorst described a curious scene after the game between the player and the coach.
Per Windhorst:
"Still wearing part of his uniform after another loss, Kevin Love emerged from the visitors locker room Tuesday night and immediately buttonhooked into the adjacent practice gym at US Airways Center. Cleveland Cavaliers general manager David Griffin was on his heels."
Love's defense has always been the weakest part of his game. On Tuesday, his deficiencies on defense contributed to opposing power forward Markieff Morris scoring a career-high 35 points. On top of Love's defensive woes, he is the team's No. 3 scoring option, something he's never been before.
If Love is frustrated, he hasn't shown it. On the contrary: He's said all the right things about being a team player and doing whatever it takes to help his team win. In fact, he told Chris Haynes of Northeast Ohio Media Group he didn't plan to opt out of the final year of his contract after this season.
The decision not to opt out of his deal this summer is curious because players of his caliber rarely do that. In addition to losing out on a big payday by not opting out, Love risks getting injured before becoming an unrestricted free agent in 2016.
But, by taking the risk of not opting out after this season, Love does give himself options. First, he would essentially be giving Cleveland one more year to turn things around. If things are a disaster next season, or if he doesn't like his role on the team, Love can test free agency and move on. Second, the NBA TV deal is expected kick in and allow for bigger player contracts in 2016. By waiting to sign a long-term contract then - like teammate LeBron James seemingly set himself up to do when he signed a two-year deal with Cleveland in July - Love could be positioning himself for an even bigger payday.
