The Cleveland Cavaliers are looking like the best team in the east behind the Atlanta Hawks and with Kevin Love looking like he is fitting in with LeBron James and Kyrie Irving, the chances of him hitting free agency appears less and less likely, but there still is a possibility he hits the market and if that happens, the LA Lakers, KY Knicks and Boston Celtics could be his top targets.
The Cavaliers are the second overall seed in the east and they come in leading the central division after going on a torrid stretch in the second half. Love's struggles early on and at points later in the season have been well-documented, but he is starting to turn it around. According to Marc Stein at ESPN.com, Love has been getting more involved in the offense over the past six games and he has shown better defensive skills late in games.
Head coach David Blatt has sat Love in the fourth quarter for some games this season and he said that it was about defensive issues. The team added Timofey Mozgov earlier in the season to help that and it has helped quite a bit, as the team is now ranked 12th in points allowed per game after being near the bottom of the league a couple months ago. Love has an opt out clause in his contract and while he has told the media he is not planning to opt out, Pro Basketball Talk, ESPN and other outlets report that teams are preparing as if he will.
Even Love doesn't opt out, teams like the Lakers, Knicks and Celtics all want to be prepared if he does. According to Pro Basketball Talk, the Lakers and Knicks each are projected to have over $30 million in cap space this summer and they plan on chasing Love if he hits the market. The Celtics were also mentioned as a potential destination for Love, but they likely will not be the ones to sign him if he does leave Cleveland.
When Love was traded to Cleveland some reports had the team planning to sign him to a max deal when he opted out, but that is not allowed to be talked about by the two parties in the new CBA. Love may wait for the new NBA TV deal to kick in before signing another deal, but either way, he likely will be a max contract player once he hits the market. Blatt made some comments earlier in the season about Love not being a max player and that pushed the media to start speculating about his future again.
Love has said multiple times that he is not worrying about free agency and is focused on playing in the playoffs for the first time, but that hasn't stopped the media from speculating. The Cavs can offer the most money on a max contract, but the lure of Los Angeles or New York and being more of a primary player could be appealing. While Love has enjoyed the winning in Cleveland, playing with LeBron James is not always an easy transition for players. Love is averaging 16 points and 10 rebounds per game this season and while that is very solid, it is way down from where he was last season, which was at 26 points and 12 rebounds per game.