In an unexpected twist, Kevin Love and the Cleveland Cavaliers moved Tuesday to prolong their relationship, as the veteran forward signed a reported four-year, $120 million contract extension. Love, who turns 30 in September, committed to the Cavs through 2023. The team scheduled a ceremony at Quicken Loans Arena to allow employees and arena workers to be present as Love signed. While that decision made for a nice moment on social media, Cleveland’s choice to secure Love at a massive salary number deserves skepticism. Without a doubt, the Cavs face an unenviable organizational challenge in moving on from the second LeBron James era both internally, externally and on the floor. The primary thing they had going for them long-term, going into the off-season with an understanding that James could leave, was flexibility. None of the Cavs’ key players were under contract past 2019-20, offering a potentially clean slate with which to eventually rebuild after years of living in the luxury tax. Watch: Kevin Love Explains How He Learned LeBron James Was Leaving Cavaliers Cleveland chose Collin Sexton with the No. 8 selection in this year’s draft, putting a young, score-first ball-handler in place. Assigning a massive chunk of that future cap space to Love, who is nearly 10 years older, suggests both disinterest in a full teardown, but also a misunderstanding of situational factors that appear set to trap the Cavs in competitive limbo. Jason Miller/Getty Images From a pure basketball standpoint, you can understand why the team wanted to pay up. It’s difficult to convince top NBA talent to pack up and move to Cleveland, and even tougher without being able to sell free agents on playing alongside LeBron. Love is a consummate pro and likable face of the team who can help bridge the gap toward whatever it is that comes next. But while he’s been admirably consistent as a rebounder and three-point threat and worked himself into incredible shape in this stage of his career, he does little to protect the rim and remains a defensive vulnerability. Love also no longer has the advantage of playing alongside a generational scorer and playmaker in James. Though Love once averaged 26 and 13 as a solo act in Minnesota, expecting him to return to that level of production as he moves toward the back end of his prime is foolhardy. He has been unfairly scapegoated at times, but the Cavs will have to figure out how to ensure Love’s production contributes to winning games. The Eastern Conference is thin in the middle, and there’s room to return to the playoffs, but turning over the keys to a rookie point guard and asking more of George Hill, J.R. Smith and Tristan Thompson doesn’t inspire confidence. They’re reportedly interested in giving a new deal to Larry Nance, and Rodney Hood is still a restricted free agent. The Rockets' All-Out Pursuit of the Warriors Hits a Roadblock Considering all the factors, the Cavs are most likely bound for the middle of the pack, despite a clear incentive and opportunity to bottom out for a season or two. Unless their 2019 first-round draft pick falls in the Top 10, it will convey to the Hawks as part of a 2017 trade for Kyle Korver (and if the Cavs keep it, the Hawks will have another chance to get the pick in 2020). Sexton can score the ball but isn’t much of a playmaker, and will have growing pains over the next few seasons. Cedi Osman will finally get a chance to play this season, and they took a chance on Billy Preston with a two-way deal. Beyond that, Cleveland’s roster is barren of young talent. Going into this season, Love was also a trade chip that could have helped the Cavs net young talent or draft picks to help them reorient the team. It helps that he took less than the maximum, but the long-term money still shoots his trade value in the foot for the immediate future, with many teams preserving future cap room to bid on star players next summer. Stepping back, it’s hard to shake the feeling that paying big to keep Love was a Dan Gilbert-driven decision, as are many big things in Cleveland, focused more on keeping the team relevant amid a two-year arena renovation project than truly building with an eye toward contention down the road. Admittedly, it’s much easier to suggest a franchise tanks than to actually stomach it, but the roster as it stands is going nowhere fast and needs to be turned over. Signing Love may keep the Cavs afloat for now, but does little to accelerate that process. He certainly deserved to get paid, but Cleveland didn’t need to be the team footing the bill. Grade: C<doc-sep>The Cleveland Cavaliers may have lost LeBron James, but they have no intention of blowing things up just yet. The team announced it signed the All-Star forward to a contract extension on Tuesday. Per ESPN's Brian Windhorst and Adrian Wojnarowski, the extension is for four years and worth $120 million, which locks Love up for five years and putting the team on the hook for about $145 million total. Love won't be making the max in Cleveland, as Windhorst reports. He'll be about $8 million below that number. It's a front-loaded contract, with Love making the most in the 2019 and 2020 seasons. His salary reportedly decreases in 2022. Love's cap hit for next season will be about $24.12 million. The immediate question with this contract is whether the Cavs made the right decision in extending Love. In a way, yes they did. Their roster as it's currently set is filled up with too much cap space and veterans to cleanly blow everything up and start a rebuild. There is still talent on Cleveland's roster and maybe the Cavs can in the short term win some games. The key detail in Love's contract is that it's front loaded. If the Cavs' attempt to win flops, then at worst they'll just have to wait out the more expensive part of Love's deal and then he becomes a movable contract in the latter half. That's a smart move on Cleveland's part, because it creates later flexibility down the line. All that said, the Cavs front office might be looking at their roster a little too optimistically here. Love is going to be the No. 1 option in Cleveland. He's done that before in Minnesota, but is he individually good enough to bring them to the playoffs? Not with the talent currently around him. Love does seem optimistic though. Via NBA.com "When I first came to Cleveland, I came with a long-term mindset," said Love. "I came here to win. We developed a culture here that reflects that. I'm super excited and I couldn't be happier. It's a big commitment for me and it's a big commitment from the Cavaliers, so I want to thank Dan Gilbert, Koby Altman and the entire organization. I enjoy playing here, I'm excited about the team that we have and look forward to our future together. Cleveland fans have been special from day one and I'm also looking forward to continuing to be a part of this great community." Since joining the Cavaliers in 2014, Love has averaged a double-double at 17.1 points and 10 rebounds per game. With James now out of the picture in Cleveland, Love is clearly the biggest name left on the Cavaliers. It will be interesting to see where Cleveland goes from here.<doc-sep>Jason Miller/Getty Images CLEVELAND — The metaphors were apt. Surrounded by construction equipment and an army of individuals in fluorescent vests and hard hats, Kevin Love stood in front of a makeshift Cavaliers banner where he signed a four-year, $120 million contract that will keep him in Cleveland through the 2022-23 season. The move was surprising. A team in limbo still wrestling with the ramifications of years worth of decisions, locking up their biggest trade asset, shunning the possibility of a blow-it-all-up rebuild. "When I first came to Cleveland, I came with a long-term mindset," said Love in a press release. "I came here to win. We developed a culture here that reflects that. I'm super excited and I couldn't be happier. It's a big commitment for me and it's a big commitment from the Cavaliers. ... I enjoy playing here, I'm excited about the team that we have and look forward to our future together." Surrounded by the dust and rubble of an arena undergoing a transformation, Love stood in his freshly pressed suit, unaware of what he was getting himself into. The wine-colored seats—at least those still remaining—were covered by giant beige tarps. The destruction outside of the arena looks like the "after" image of a movie set fit for the Fast and Furious series. While not a total rebuild of Quicken Loans Arena, the team is using this summer to turn the venue from its former self into one more fit for the NBA in 2018 and beyond. In signing the 29-year-old Love to a multiyear deal, not only did it signal that the Cavs have their face of the franchise for the foreseeable future, but any stop along the way will not include an extended stay in the NBA Lottery as it did during the first time LeBron James left town. Video Play Button Videos you might like How Did They Get Here? When LeBron James' declaration to join the Los Angeles Lakers was made, the reactions ran rampant. With an idea that speculation could eventually become reality, the Cavaliers were prepared for the news that shook the rest of the NBA. In a highly detailed story from ESPN.com's Ramona Shelburne, Cavs general manager Koby Altman made a handful of phone calls to various members of his front office, coaching staff and team. One of the phone calls that was not mentioned, however, was the hour-long conversation he had with Love that Sunday afternoon, the product of a lengthy exit interview following a tumultuous 2017-18 season that saw things end with a four-game sweep at the hands of the Golden State Warriors. Love, this past season, was at the forefront of several issues. During a players-only, air-it-out meeting, it was Love, and his absence, who was the focal point of that moments' headwinds. Subsequent to the meeting, Love shared that he had dealt with anxiety-related issues that removed him from multiple instances during the regular season. When the season wrapped up, it was Love who was left to defend the entire season as a great unknown, saying he knew where he wanted to be, but what would happen was beyond his control. "When LeBron decided to leave, I called Kevin first," Altman said. "I said 'Kevin, I'm not trading you. I want you to be here and be a part of this thing.' And he was all in then, too. He's never wavered in his commitment. To me, that's really meaningful. He wants to be a leader and he's earned that. He's an elite player, an elite rebounder who can hit threes at a 40 percent clip. We can play through him through the post. We can play through him through the elbows. I don't know how you get better by moving that. When he was willing to commit to us, it was an easy decision to make." As Love recently took part in a shoot for Banana Republic, his phone was vibrating throughout with his agent in talks with the Cavaliers to make the power forward the face of the franchise. All of the Love trade talk was, in the end, nothing more than media driven as both parties wanted to move forward with added security and certainty surrounding the culture of the team. When Love arrived at Quicken Loans Arena on Tuesday morning, he assumed he would just be signing a contract in private and both parties would be on their way. What he arrived to was a host of construction workers turning his home arena into a state-of-the-art facility in which he will get to lead the team into the future. "Not only did we keep the contract quiet—I didn't know what I was walking into," said Love. "It was a full surprise. I thought I was going to meet with Koby in his office, sign the papers, take a photo and that was it. But this was really, really special." Rebuild or Reload? Carlos Osorio/Associated Press For as much of a known commodity as Kevin Love is—a sharpshooting stretch forward with elite rebounding skills and some of the best outlet passes viral highlights have ever seen—his role in Cleveland will be much different than when he was simply spacing the floor for James and Kyrie Irving. Over the past four seasons, Love averaged 17.1 points and 10.0 rebounds per game, a significant drop from his production while in Minnesota but production in line with a reduced level of usage (23.9 USG%). Compare this to Love's final year in Minnesota when he averaged 26.1 points and 12.5 rebounds, turning 28.8 percent usage into high-volume stat production. According to B/R's Tom Haberstroh, in 19 games without LeBron James, Love averaged 18.9 points and 11.0 rebounds per game but did so with a host of players meant to play alongside James. This season and beyond, Love will be the focal point of the team's offense, but as he told Bleacher Report, he also endeavors to be a medium for the coaching staff to reach his younger, lesser experienced teammates.<doc-sep>While Kevin Love just signed his 4-year, $120 million extension with the Cavaliers, Sean Deveney of Sporting News has reported that Portland called about the forward during the season: “...As Cleveland struggled with the veteran group it originally put together, teams would call the Cavs with one player especially targeted: All-Star forward Kevin Love. Each time, the inquiring team — among them, according to sources, were Miami, Charlotte and Portland — was given a polite, “No thanks.” Once LeBron James signed with the Lakers, all eyes went to Love as a potential trade target for the Trail Blazers. Deveney states that, “...the reality was that the Cavs were moving to secure him long-term.” Love is not the first big-name player Portland has reportedly targeted to improve the roster, as DeMarcus Cousins was a rumored sign-and-trade candidate earlier this month. Have we finally heard the last of the “Kevin Love to Portland” gossip?<doc-sep>
If Cleveland was the biggest loser of LeBron James’s free agency, then Kevin Love wasn’t far behind. Or so it seemed for the 29-year-old. The Cavaliers appeared headed for a rebuild after four straight NBA Finals appearances. So a new contract for Love, who had served as LeBron’s sidekick since leaving Minnesota, certainly wouldn’t be as fat as his career had once projected. But all that proved to be wrong Tuesday: Love signed a four-year, $120 million contract extension with the Cavs, the team announced. The deal is $8 million less than the maximum and will decrease in its final year, according to ESPN. Including the final year of his current contract, that’s five years and $145 million. A couple of thoughts come to mind when considering that Love will rake in $30 million annually. First, why? Owner Dan Gilbert and GM Koby Altman appear intent on keeping Cleveland in the playoffs in the wake of James’s departure. Locking down the franchise’s best remaining player will help those aspirations, sure, but the remaining roster is nowhere near capable of going deep in the playoffs, if they make it at all. Signing Love to maximize the current window parallels Houston’s decision earlier this month to keep Chris Paul. He inked a four-year, $160 million max contract with the Rockets to keep the core of their Western Conference finals roster intact, but it’s a long-term investment for what could lead to only short-term results: Houston will be paying a 36-year-old Paul $44 million in 2021-22. It’s GM Daryl Morey doubling down on “win now.” The Rockets were one CP3 injury away from having a real shot at the Warriors. Re-signing him will ensure Houston has another chance to knock them off. Without LeBron’s gravitational pull, Cleveland is not the free-agency destination that Houston is; the Cavs front office’s decision basically boils down to either keeping Love or building through the draft. But there’s also much less at stake. Even if the Cavs can salvage a playoff appearance, what would be the point? Rookie Collin Sexton is 19, and other young Cavs like restricted free agent Rodney Hood and Larry Nance Jr. have yet to make the jump. (Nance is reportedly next on the Cavs’ extension priority list.) There is a young core in place, but the rest of the roster is made up of leftover veterans from LeBron’s former “win-now” teams. Sixth man Kyle Korver is reportedly on the market, but J.R. Smith, Tristan Thompson, and George Hill are all under contract through the 2019-20 season. (Though Korver, Smith, and Hill carry guarantees of only $3.4 million, $3.9 million, and $1 million in their final year.) By re-signing Love, Cleveland is making the push with a team that couldn’t make do with LeBron. The return of Minnesota Kevin Love—the good-stats, bad-team guy—is almost inevitable. But Love returning to form won’t necessarily help Cleveland’s mission. Only stars with chameleon capabilities can thrive next to LeBron (Chris Bosh’s transformation to stretch 4 is perhaps the best example). Love sacrificed shots and dedicated a higher percentage of his shot attempts to 3s. His raw numbers may have dipped wearing wine and gold, but Love showed whenever it was asked of him that he maintained the ability to rebound, make it to the line, or post up. Becoming the no. 1 option again should lead to more of that. In 2013-14 with the Timberwolves, Love averaged 26.1 points, 12.5 rebounds, and 4.4 assists. Still, building a team around a player who has spent a large chunk of his prime in a reduced role makes its overall identity unclear. With the roster as is, an already terrible defense may be even worse when Love takes on a heavier load offensively. All that was true last season, including the Cavs’ success with Love at the 5, was based on playing around LeBron. The Love extension is the first big step in moving on from the LeBron era, but committing long-term to his former sidekick may make the process of reaching those heights again last even longer.