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Top 5 Free Agency Destinations For Kevin Love

By Gerald Bourguet

Feb 5, 2015; Cleveland, OH, USA; Cleveland Cavaliers forward Kevin Love (0) celebrates his three-point basket in the first quarter against the Los Angeles Clippers at Quicken Loans Arena. Mandatory Credit: David Richard-USA TODAY Sports
Feb 5, 2015; Cleveland, OH, USA; Cleveland Cavaliers forward Kevin Love (0) celebrates his three-point basket in the first quarter against the Los Angeles Clippers at Quicken Loans Arena. Mandatory Credit: David Richard-USA TODAY Sports /
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Jan 21, 2015; Cleveland, OH, USA; Cleveland Cavaliers guard Kyrie Irving (2) celebrates with forward Kevin Love (0) and forward LeBron James (23) in the third quarter against the Utah Jazz at Quicken Loans Arena. Mandatory Credit: David Richard-USA TODAY Sports /

1. Cleveland Cavaliers

Hypothesizing about the different destinations where Love could end up is infinitely more entertaining, but the truth is, Love would be making a major mistake to go anywhere else and it seems unlikely that he does. For financial reasons and for basketball reasons, there is no better team for him than the Cleveland Cavaliers.

The Suns might be a better fit from a roster perspective, but joining the Western Conference has nothing on staying in the East. Even with Love out after the first round and Kyrie Irving out for most of the postseason, the Cavs still came two wins short of a championship. You’ve got to think Love wonders what might have been had he stayed healthy.

Financially, Love can also make the most money by staying in Cleveland, since the Cavs can offer him an extra year on a potential max deal:

Even if Love and LeBron don’t get along, it’s hard to think their relationship is so miserable that Love would turn down an extra $18 million to go elsewhere. He’ll still be making about $20 million a year no matter where he ends up, but there’s also the team success factor.

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    • To this point in his career, Love hasn’t proven himself in this area. He never could lead the Timberwolves to the playoffs (though he never played with any quality teammates) and the Cavaliers’ run to the Finals had many questioning whether they even need Love at all.

    But no matter how close they came to shocking the world, the Cavaliers still failed. They still have zero NBA championships. To that end, one has to wonder what might have been with a healthy Love and Irving, especially since Cleveland’s offense died without Love’s floor spacing. To summarize: yes, the Cleveland Cavaliers need Kevin Love.

    If Love wants to be the face of a franchise and put up superstar numbers again, he might consider leaving this summer. But if he wants to win and get paid like a superstar player, he’ll stay in Cleveland, take on that tertiary role and become the next Chris Bosh: unfairly criticized for now, but universally praised for his individual sacrifice if the Cavaliers finally climb to the peak of the NBA summit.

    Next: LaMarcus Aldridge: Top 5 Free Agency Destinations

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