Heading into the 2015 NBA Finals, one notable player who the Cleveland Cavaliers could surely use right now is Kevin Love.
To recall, Love was ruled out for the season after suffering a right shoulder injury in the first round when the Cavaliers faced the Boston Celtics. When he went down, he believed that Kelly Olynk intentionally wanted to put him out. Love eventually put it all in stride and moved on.
Love’s untimely injury left a big vacuum in the Cleveland roster but such has not been much of an issue, with Lebron James stepping up to the lead role.
The Cavs will face the rising Golden State Warriors this Thursday at the Oracle Arena in Oakland, California and Love is wishing he was healthy enough to contribute to the cause.
Outside of the upcoming NBA Finals, a question that is currently in the minds of hoop addicts is where Love will end up by next season.
Love can opt out his contract after this season and the rumor mill had been going wild lately that the all-star forward could be moving elsewhere. Multiple teams are interested in dangling Love a contract, the Los Angeles Lakers and the New York Knicks of which are at the top of the list.
Such came about after Love got a lot of criticism for failing to make an impact. Many felt that Love had a hard time adjusting and co-existing with James and Kyrie Irving.
Love has been used to being the go-to-guy in the past and until his transfer to the Cavs this offseason, Love found himself playing supporting role for majority of the current NBA season.
Despite the rumors and criticism however, it looks like Love plans to stay in Ohio at least until next year.
“I expect to be suiting up by Game 1 of next year,” he said in a report from the Associated Press.
Those words seem to douse all hopes of aspiring teams as far as signing Love up is concerned. With Love verbally confirming his return, does this mean that James will stay too?
Like Love, James can opt out as well next year. At this point however, there is no indication that Lebron plans to move out of Cleveland once more.
After given clearance to travel the team, Love is expected to be around when his team faces the Warriors. The odds could have dramatically tilted to the Cavs’ favor had they entered the 2015 NBA Finals with a complete and healthy lineup.
Aside from Love, Irving is dealing with injuries too, so it will be interesting to see if that handicap tilts the favor in the way of Stephen Curry and the Warriors.