Kevin Love ‘very, very happy’ to be back with Heat. Also, Heat waives Orlando Robinson
Kevin Love was technically an unrestricted free agent this summer. But he was always confident that he would end up returning to the Miami Heat.
“At the end of the day, it didn’t feel like there was any doubt,” Love said Sunday afternoon during a Zoom call with reporters.
After bypassing the $4 million player option in the final year of his previous contract with the Heat on June 29 to become an unrestricted free agent, Love quickly agreed to a new contract to return to the Heat the next day shortly after league-wide free agent negotiations were allowed to begin on June 30.
Love, who turns 36 on Sept. 7, signed a two-year contract worth $8 million to return to the Heat.
“In every free agency, there’s always a chance to look around the league and see opportunity,” Love continued. “But in my mind, in terms of how the team operates, who [Heat coach Erik Spoelstra] is, who [Heat president Pat Riley] is, who [Heat general manager Andy Elisburg] is, it really in the last year and a half has felt like home.
“It felt like we were always optimistic that we would be able to get this done, get an extra year and just be able to provide as much as I possibly can for the team. I’m very, very happy to be back.”
Love’s new deal is set to pay him about $3.85 million next season — about $150,000 less than the $4 million player option he declined, according to Spotrac.com. The Heat then added a second season to the contract that will pay Love about $4.15 million in 2025-26 when he’ll be 37 years old.
There is no player or team option in the deal, with Love confident that he can “100 percent, without a doubt” continue to serve as a quality rotation player through the end of his new deal despite being in the latter stages of his playing career.
Love, who is preparing for his 17th NBA season, established himself as a reliable and productive backup center for the Heat last regular season after making five NBA All-Star Game appearances earlier in his career.
Love averaged 8.8 points, 6.1 rebounds and 2.1 assists per game while shooting 34.4 percent on 4.4 three-point attempts per game in a bench role for the Heat last regular season.
Per 36 minutes last regular season, Love averaged 18.9 points, 13.2 rebounds and 4.5 assists. It’s the most points he has averaged per 36 minutes since the 2021-22 season, most rebounds he has averaged per 36 minutes since the 2018-19 season and most assists he has averaged per 36 minutes in his NBA career.
The Heat outscored opponents by 6.5 points per 100 possessions with Love on the court last regular season, with most of those minutes coming when starting center Bam Adebayo was on the bench. Because of Love’s success as Adebayo’s backup, the Heat went from being outscored by four points per 100 possessions in the non-Adebayo minutes during the 2022-23 regular season to winning those non-Adebayo minutes by 4.3 points per 100 possessions last regular season.
But Love was limited to just 32 total minutes during the Heat’s five-game first-round playoff series against the Boston Celtics last season because of matchup issues. With the Heat needing to turn to zone defense when Love entered the game during that series, the Celtics turned to their elite three-point shooting to force the Heat out of its zone and Love back to the bench.
The Celtics dominated the injury-depleted Heat by 51.6 points per 100 possessions with Love on the court during the best-of-7 series, which Boston won 4-1 on its way to eventually winning the NBA championship last season.
“They have set the standard in the NBA,” Love said of the Celtics. “They are that good. I think they are the proverbial North Star, if you will. In order to get better, we all need to get better. So I don’t know what that means from a decision-making standpoint in the front office, obviously. But I think health played a major component. We don’t like to make those excuses. I know Spo would not be happy with me even speaking about it. But I do think it is a part of it.”
Whether Love continues to play as the backup center this upcoming season remains to be seen, as the Heat used its first-round pick this year to draft Indiana 7-foot center Kel’el Ware. The Heat also re-signed veteran center Thomas Bryant to a one-year veteran minimum contract in free agency.
With league-wide free agent negotiations allowed to begin a week ago, the Heat currently has 13 players on guaranteed standard contracts for this upcoming season — almost at the NBA regular-season limit of 15 players on standard deals: Jimmy Butler, Adebayo, Tyler Herro, Terry Rozier, Duncan Robinson, Ware, Love, Jaime Jaquez Jr., Josh Richardson , Nikola Jovic, Bryant, Alec Burks, and Pelle Larsson.
When Love (6-8, 251) was asked Sunday whether he envisions himself playing more minutes as a power forward this season in double-big lineups, he didn’t dismiss the possibility.
“Being able to play high-low or being able to space the floor while a traditional five operates in the paint is something that I can add high value to,” Love said. “So I think it’s something that’s there. I’m sure it’s something that we’ll toy with and see in training camp. But I think it could be something that could happen this year.”
Love also said the Heat’s added frontcourt depth could lead to Adebayo (6-9, 255) taking on a slightly lighter workload next season.
“I think it’s going to allow for [Adebayo] to, I don’t want to speak out of turn, but log maybe a few less minutes or be able to get the best out of maybe 35 minutes instead of 40 or 41 or 42,” Love said. “So that when it comes playoff time and we need to be at our absolute best and fresh, he can play those heavy extended minutes and be Bam and have a career year like that.”
Whatever the on-court role evolves into during Love’s new two-year contract, he’ll continue to take on a leadership role as the oldest player currently on the Heat’s roster for next season. Adebayo carries the label of team captain, but Love serves as a connector and mentor in the Heat’s locker room as an accomplished veteran who wants to lead.
“I’m hoping that these two years provide a lot for me on the court in still being that contributor,” Love said. “But even throughout that time and maybe even after that, I would love to step into that role and assume that role that OG (Udonis Haslem) had. But certainly put my own spin on it and do it in a way that hopefully is just as productive and meaningful for the entirety of the team. So I want to be selfless and just pay it forward.”
HEAT WAIVES ORLANDO ROBINSON
The Heat announced Sunday that it waived center Orlando Robinson in advance of the July 15 deadline to guarantee his full $2.1 million salary for this upcoming season. Robinson now becomes an unrestricted free agent.
This move was expected after the Heat added Ware and re-signed Love and Bryant to bolster its frontcourt.
Robinson, who turns 24 on Wednesday, went undrafted out of Fresno State in 2022. He spent most of his first NBA season on a two-way deal with the Heat in 2022-23 prior to being promoted to a standard contract last offseason just days before impressing in summer league.
But Robinson couldn’t find a consistent role with the Heat this past season, playing in just 36 games. He averaged 2.8 points and 2.3 rebounds per game last season while also spending some time in the G League with the Heat’s developmental affiliate.
This story was originally published July 7, 2024 at 2:32 PM.
