Golden State Warriors chance of adding Kevin Love now at zero

The Golden State Warriors were thought of as a quintessential destination for Kevin Love if he was going to agree to a buyout with the Cleveland Cavaliers. Given his contract and lack of impact over the last few seasons, it’s unlikely any team actually trades for him.

The only way Love is going to get to a new roster, one in which he actually has a role in the future of, is via the buyout. Considering how much he’s owed, it’s clearly not in his plans to negotiate an amount to settle on.

With a trade increasingly unlikely, the Golden State Warriors’ chance at adding former All-Star power forward Kevin Love is now close to zero.

Love has two years left on his contract. The problem is that the value on those two years is $60 million. The 32-year-old did little to showcase that he’s worth near that much as he played just 25 games last season.

While once a superstar in Minnesota and then the third option on a star-studded Cavaliers roster, Love stayed in Cleveland despite Kyrie Irving leaving for Boston and LeBron James leaving for Los Angeles.

The 13-year veteran forward is not considering a buyout, his agent told ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski.

While that’s not a problem for Golden State, Love’s ability to stretch the floor with his shooting, allowing for more isolation for Curry, would be ideal. The Warriors did add a plethora of shooters to their roster.

Otto Porter Jr. and Nemanja Bjelica are both elite sharpshooters, but they don’t have the same ability to score as Love. However, with the chance that he’s on the market waning, the Warriors will have to look elsewhere when the buyout market starts to heat up.

Love initially agreed to a four-year, $120 million contract extension in 2018 which, even then, was recognized as quite a stretch of a contract. He’s played in 103 games over the course of the last three seasons.

Since Cleveland’s roster hasn’t rebuilt around him but has moved forward with adding top-tier talent in the draft, the clearly smarter way to get back to championship contention, Love’s role, and consequently his interest has declined.

While the Cavaliers are no longer a good fit, he’s not negotiating that contract to take significantly less just to go to the buyout market and sign for the veteran’s minimum or the MLE. It makes sense, but for almost every party outside of Love, it’s a tough pill to swallow.