Veteran NBA player Kevin Love has declined his four million dollar player option from the Miami Heat according to Adrian Wojnarowski of ESPN, but fans of the franchise should not see that as a pure negative. Along with that report, both sides are apparently “enthusiastic” that a new deal between the two parties could be reached in free agency after playing his second season with the Heat.
“ESPN Sources: Miami Heat F/C Kevin Love is declining his $4M player option, but both sides are enthusiastic about negotiating a new deal in the opening days of free agency,” Wojnarowski wrote on his X (formerly known as Twitter) account. “The five-time All-Star has played the past two seasons with the Heat.”
This is a move that can potentially be beneficial to both sides, especially for the Heat as if they agreed to sign back Love to a minimum of $3.3 million, then the team would save around $700,000 to be used for other resources. That savings can also give the Heat some wiggle room as they do not want to be under the restrictions of the second apron which they are close to being under.
There is no doubt that it was expected for Love to be back with Miami for next season which is why people had the initial expectation that Love would opt in to his player option. However, the former Cleveland Cavaliers forward has always been a team-first player which means he will find a way to help out the team in any way he can, which he will be doing if the new deal shapes out as previously mentioned.
Love does not “want to retire,” wants to “keep playing” with the Heat
Love is in the twilight years of his career at 35-years old, but still was a crucial key to the Heat's rotation as he served as Bam Adebayo's primary back up option. Right before Miami lost in Game 5 to the Boston Celtics in the first round of the NBA Playoffs, he would flat out say he wants to “keep playing” and had a message to the team of how time is valuable.
“I don’t want to retire, I would like to keep playing,” Love said to the media as Miami was down 3-1 i the series to Boston.
“I think my message to the guys was like, ‘Take advantage of the time we have together,’” Love continued. “Even last year, too, I felt like we did that and that run is something that will stick out in my mind forever. I think it will for all Heat fans and players who were a part of it.”
Love has “embraced” role with Miami as a crucial part in rotation
Love also has the appreciation from his teammates around him and especially Heat head coach Erik Spoelstra who has explained on multiple occasions how integral he is to the team. He talked specifically how Love has “embraced and accepted a role coming off the bench.”
“With Kevin, it's kind of easy. It's not like rocket science, you're talking about a highly decorated, multi year all star who has embraced and accepted a role coming off the bench,” Spoelstra said. “If you could get players of his caliber to do that all the time in their mid 30s and bring that Veteran experience, but also the talent like on any given night, he can still be who he was in short bursts. If you can get guys to embrace that, there'd be a whole lot more guys like that that would have an impact around the league. He makes our best players better because of experience and spacing. As we know he's a fantastic rebounder, but that experience is something that has really helped our group. It'll be good to have him back.”
Love is a “connector” according to Spoelstra
Last season, Love averaged 8.8 points, 6.1 rebounds, and 2.1 assists per game while shooting 44 percent from the field as he played in 55 games where missed a chunk of time with a right heel bruise. Despite not getting huge starter minutes, he is important to the Heat's famous culture as Spoelstra said to ClutchPoints he is a “connector.”
“He is a connector. I think this also has been important for our team to develop other connectors and we'd like to say that we need leadership at all levels, and it may look different for other guys, there might be smaller pockets of opportunities to lead depending on who the player is, but everybody can be a leader in the locker room and quite frankly, we need it right now,” Spoelstra said. “While Kevin was out, Thomas [Bryant] really stepped up and provided really quality, winning minutes, and that's been really encouraging to see. Niko [Nikola Jovic] also has developed into more opportunities, not only starting in the front-court with Bam, but playing some of these games as our reserved five for pockets of the game and that's been good for us as well. But it'll be good to have Kevin available along with those guys.”
It remains to be seen what will happen with Love and the Heat, but the expectation is that the two will come to an agreement on another deal that will bring him back to the team. At any rate, Miami is aiming to improve after a 46-36 record which put them at the eighth seed for the second straight season.
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