Star Kevin Love is reportedly returning to the Miami Heat on a two-year, $8 million contract according to Stadium and The Athletic's Shams Charania. The news is coming off the start of NBA free agency as 6:00 p.m. (EST) is when teams can start negotiating with free agents.
Love opted out of his $4 million player option Saturday morning which made him a free agent in the first place, but it was reported that both sides had a mutual interest to construct a new contract. The veteran has been crucial to Heat head coach Erik Spoelstra's rotation where he served mostly as the backup center to Bam Adebayo.
Another part of Love and the Heat's new contract is that it does not contain an option whether that be a team or player as his previous deal did according to Anthony Chiang of The Miami Herald. Last season, He averaged 8.8 points, 6.1 rebounds and 2.1 assists per game while shooting 34.4 percent on 4.4 three-point attempts per game.
The 36-year old is preparing for his 17th season in the NBA where he has achieved greatness like winning an NBA championship with the Cleveland Cavaliers in 2016 alongside LeBron James and Kyrie Irving. He would spend six more seasons with Cleveland where he was eventually bought out during the 2022-23 season by the Heat where he found an increased role with the team.
Love fills a special role with the Heat
His veteran leadership will be back with Miami which was endlessly praised by everybody in the organization from players to coaches, especially Spoelstra who credits Love for embracing and accepting “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 back in March. “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.”
He played in 55 games this past season where he missed significant amount of time with a right heel bruise, but still had a heavy impact in the outings he participated in. It remains to be seen how the Heat attack free agency since they have restrictions on them with their cap situation, but still look to improve after finishing at the eighth seed for the second straight season and being eliminated by the Boston Celtics in the first round of the NBA Playoffs.
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