Suns Among Teams Showing Interest in Kevin Love

Multiple teams are expressing interest on veteran power forward Kevin Love, and you can count the Suns among them, per Brian Windhorst of ESPN.

Love is expected to soon complete a contract buyout with the Cavaliers, the team with which he spent the previous nine seasons and won a championship.

He has also been linked to the Heat, Warriors, Trail Blazers, Celtics and Lakers. Miami has an open roster spot and is in need of another big man and floor-spacer.

Meanwhile, the Suns just recently added star forward Kevin Durant in a trade with the Nets, along with former Nets wing T.J. Warren and ex-Magic guard/forward Terrence Ross. They are clearly all in on trying to win a title this season.

Love, 34, is averaging a career-low 8.5 points and career-low 6.8 rebounds in 41 games and has struggled with his shooting. He has dropped completely out of Cavs coach J.B. Bickerstaff’s rotation, not even receiving garbage-time minutes in recent weeks.

Love is a former teammate of Suns president of basketball operations James Jones, as Windhorst noted during his appearance on Pardon The Interruption.

The Suns also have an open roster spot and could afford to pay Love more than the veteran’s minimum.

“This is a complicated one,” Windhorst said. “Basically, the Cavs stopped playing Kevin Love 12 game ago. He just wasn’t hitting shots. … They took him out of the lineup and started playing great. They’re 9-3 in the last 12 games, they’re No. 1 in defense in that time, they’ve been the No. 5 offense. He’s a veteran, he’s played 15 years and played nine years in Cleveland.”

Love approached the team and asked for a buyout, Windhorst added.

“I don’t think they were thrilled to hear this, but I don’t think they intended to change what was working,” he said. “So now they gotta work this out. I do think there’s interest in him.”

Two or three teams called Windhorst once the news broke, seeking background information on Love.

He added that the Heat are “very interested,” but that given the Heat are a potential playoff opponent, the Cavs could possibly try to “negotiate some parameters” to make sure Love heads to the Western Conference.