Kevin Love/ Houston (Photo : REUTERS)
The Los Angeles Lakers are among the three teams mentioned as potential free-agency destination in case power forward Kevin Love pursues the path of living the Cleveland Cavaliers after this season, Yahoo Sports writer Adrian Wojnarowski reported on Thursday.
Wojnarowski indicated that Love will test the free-agency waters this summer in hope of reclaiming a bigger role with another team after seeing his role diminish with the Cavs this season.
The Cavaliers punched their ticket to the NBA finals after an easy four-game sweep of Eastern Conference regular-season champ Atlanta Hawks. However, analysts are still expecting Love to look around, whether or not the Cavs win a championship.
"He's got options," Wojnarowski said on Yahoo Sports Radio via the Score. "He could stay another year (by not opting out) and go into free agency next year. But he's had injuries, and he might just want to sign a four-year deal somewhere else."
The Lakers have been linked all this time to Love largely because of his California origin, while the Boston Celtics aren't giving up on their dream of acquiring an All-Star caliber power forward to speed up their rebuilding effort.
Another team many insiders believe poised to make a series run at Love is the Houston Rockets, who are coming off a Western Conference finals stint. They think Love's close relationship with Kevin McHale could factor in when he makes a decision on which will be his next ballclub.
Wojnarowski stated that Love may explore opportunities with the Celtics, Los Angeles Lakers, and possibly the Houston Rockets, due to his close ties with former Timberwolves coach/GM Kevin McHale.
Love, who averaged 16.4 points and 9.7 rebounds per game during the regular-season per ESPN stats, made his first postseason appearance with the Cavs this year, but his playoff stint came to a crushing end after he suffered a shoulder injury in the series-clinching game against the Boston Celtics in the first round.
