Despite the Boston Celtics being named as a likely destination in free agency for Cleveland Cavaliers star Kevin Love, Celtics president Danny Ainge reportedly isn't as enamored with Love as he once was.
Reports pegged Boston as a strong contender for Love this summer, but according to Steve Bulpett of the Boston Herald, that's not the case. Although Bulpett didn't rule out the Celtics pursuing Love if he tested free agency, Bulpett indicated the team is no longer willing to go all-out to sign him in July.
"According to all sources, Danny Ainge still has affection for Love, but it's not nearly the borderline obsession that it was last summer," Bulpett wrote Monday.
Love's numbers dropped this season as Cleveland's No. 3 option, and his defensive deficiencies were exposed. Bulpett, though, gave a different reason for why the Celtics are no longer as high on Love as they were last summer.
"The major difference is that last year Ainge was doing everything he could to avoid the deeper rebuild that came when he didn't get Love and was fated to trade away Rajon Rondo and Jeff Green," Bulpett wrote. "... The idea last year was to try to pair Love with Rondo, giving the Celtics two All-Stars, a solid base around which to build, and presenting Rondo with a reason to stay when he reached free agency this summer. So, as we noted even before the Timberwolves got their deal, no Love meant no Rondo."
Reports last summer indicated Boston would undergo a rebuild if it couldn't acquire Love, and the team did just that when the power forward ended up being shipped to Cleveland in August. Love was the Celtic's big-name trade target last summer, but reports suggest Sacramento Kings star DeMarcus Cousins is now the team's big-name target.
As for Love, reports indicate he remains on the fence about whether to test free agency. If he were to explore the market, the top two contenders for him reportedly will be the Los Angeles Lakers and the New York Knicks.
