NBA Free Agents Rumors: Los Angeles Lakers, Boston Celtics Eyeing Kevin Love as Cleveland Cavaliers Star Opts Out
The Los Angeles Lakers and the Boston Celtics are expected to make a strong push to acquire All-Star forward Kevin Love in the offseason as the two proud franchises continue their rebuilding, ESPN reported.
Love, who averaged 16.4 points on top of 9.7 rebounds and 2.2 assists last season with the Cleveland Cavaliers, opted out of the final year of his contract worth $16.7 million to become a free agent.
Love struggled to fit into the Cavaliers this season because of playing alongside ball-dominant superstars -- LeBron James and Kyrie Irving -- but the superstar forward said earlier this year that he intends to sign a new deal to stay in Cleveland for the next several seasons.
The Cavaliers, who played without Love for the majority of their campaign in the 2015 NBA Playoffs, also made it no secret that they will prioritize re-signing the 26-year-old forward this summer.
But while the Cavaliers and Love appear interested in signing a long-term deal, the Lakers and the Celtics will not be swayed as they are determined to convince the former UCLA standout to leave Cleveland.
The Lakers have long been linked to Love, but could be out of the race if they eventually pick a power forward or a center in the 2015 NBA Draft on Thursday.
The Celtics have also made it no secret that they are interested in Love. Boston tried to trade for Love last season before the Minnesota Timberwolves sent him to Cleveland.
According to Adrian Wojnarowski of Yahoo Sports, the Celtics are planning to convince Love by proposing a roster headlined by him, Robin Lopez and veteran Paul Pierce, who will reportedly consider returning to Boston if they successfully acquire Love this summer.
Aside from the Lakers and Celtics, the Portland Trail Blazers are also expected to join the race to sign Love if their own All-Star power forward LaMarcus Aldridge decides to move to another team this summer.
Aldridge, who averaged 23.4 points and 10.2 rebounds per game last season, will become a free agent next month. According to another ESPN report, there is a growing speculation that the 29-year-old will leave Portland with one source close to the situation saying that Aldridge has already decided to go into a different direction.
"He's gone," the source said, referring to Aldridge. "There's a 99.9 percent chance that he's out of Portland."
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