Kevin Love says a Cavs reunion isn’t off the table

Kevin Love isn’t making any promises about how much longer he’ll keep playing. But he is leaving one door open, and that would be with the Cavaliers.

Love told D.J. Siddiqi of ESportsInsider.com that he’s taking things “year-by-year” at this stage of his career, and while he’s grateful for what he has in Utah, the idea of returning to Cleveland before he’s done isn’t something he’s ruling out.

“I don’t want to make any assumptions — they’ve been so good to me here already with Utah, and if this is it, then I’m very happy with that,” Love told Siddiqi. “Obviously, Cleveland is a near and dear place to me.

“But regardless if that happened or not, I’m always going to go back to Cleveland. They were so good to me for my eight-and-a-half seasons there, and continue to be.”

Love, now 37, didn’t expect to be anywhere but Miami after joining the Heat in 2022-23. His family settled there, he said, and the trade that sent him to Utah last summer caught him off guard.

“Miami got better; they got Norman Powell,” Love said. “But yeah, it still stung. I’ve seen all this before. It doesn’t make it any easier.”

Most around the league figured Love wouldn’t stick with the rebuilding Jazz for long. There was talk in early September that he’d be traded again or bought out before the season even started.

Instead, Love has found a comfort zone in Utah. He called the organization “amazing” and said the experience has been “truly great.”

He’s appeared in seven of the past eight games, averaging 14 minutes off the bench and serving as one of the few seasoned voices in a very young locker room.

Walker Kessler’s season-ending shoulder surgery has opened up a little more playing time, but Love said his real value runs deeper.

“Even if I’m not playing, my role — it’s great to have a role in my 18th season — is being that veteran leader, a sound voice, somebody that preaches and acts on accountability,” Love said. “I think sometimes people overvalue a veteran in a locker room, but the Jazz appreciate it.

“It makes me want to lean in even more and be the vet that, honestly, I never had.”

Love is in the final season of a contract that can’t be extended, meaning he’ll be an unrestricted free agent next summer unless Utah moves him before then.

And if the Cavs are on the table?

Love didn’t say yes. He didn’t say no. He left the door cracked — and in the NBA, that’s often all it takes to start a conversation.

RELATED | Kevin Love says he’d rep Cavs if Hall should call