Kevin Love is reportedly opting out of his contract with Cleveland, a move that is confusingly both expected and contradictory to what Love himself said recently about not opting out.
Financially, it makes sense; Love can make more money next year, even on a one-year deal, than he can if he would have played out the final year of his deal at $16.7 million.
And Cleveland could very well still re-sign him, either for just a year to make a short-term run at a title or for the long haul.
Dan Devine at Yahoo has a very nice breakdown of all the what-ifs and scenarios, while also nicely outlining that while the relationship between Love and LeBron was decidedly awkward at times last season, the Cavs did their best work when Love was healthy.
For Minnesota's purposes, just know this: Love opting out at least creates the possibility that he will leave Cleveland after just one less-than-ideal season, possibly for the Lakers (Love and Okafor would be a nice 1-2 punch, even if every game would be in the 120s for both teams), the Celtics or even Portland. Cleveland could pay him more money, but how much the Cavs (and de-facto GM LeBron James) want Love and vice-versa is certainly in question.
If he does leave Cleveland, and the Cavs get only one title-less season out of the trade that sent Andrew Wiggins to the Wolves, it will go from being a trade that already looked pretty good for Minnesota to being one that might end up on all of those "Top 10 Best/Worst Trades" features that pop up during slow times online and on ESPN.
Regardless, it will be another fun summer of Love, figuring where he fits in and where he fits out.
