Heat frontrunners to sign Kevin Love on buyout market, but veteran will also talk to 76ers, per reports
The Miami Heat are viewed as the frontrunners to land Kevin Love on the buyout market, per The Athletic's Shams Charania. Love was bought out by the Cleveland Cavaliers on Saturday, and will also talk to the Philadelphia 76ers, per ESPN. Love, who was a member of the Cavaliers since 2014, was the last remaining player from Cleveland's 2016 championship season.
It was first reported on Wednesday that Love and the Cavaliers were working toward a buyout, with the Heat viewed as the early favorites to sign him. He's surely drawn interest from several playoff-contending teams, but The Athletic reports that Miami's pitch to the veteran forward, which involves a defined role on a squad primed to compete in the playoffs, could be the deciding factor in him signing there for the rest of the season.
Love's fit on the Heat makes a ton of sense, giving them a floor spacing forward who can still knock down 3s at a high clip. My CBS Sports colleague Brad Botkin alluded to such when breaking down the potential landing spots for Love:
"The Heat lost PJ Tucker at the four spot over the summer, and while Love obviously doesn't provide Tucker's defensive value, he represents a floor-spacing threat who can also make an impact as a connective passer in Miami's drive-and-kick system, as Tucker did.
The Heat love to launch 3s, but their 33.4-percent success rate so far this season is third worst in the league. Love addresses that, as he does for all these teams."
If Love does sign with the Heat, he certainly has the potential to make an impact off the bench for a Miami team that has struggled to find consistency this season. The Heat sit at the No. 7 spot in the East right now, which if the season ended today would mean they would be in the play-in round. They're only a half game back of the Knicks for the No. 6 spot, so there's still time to move up in the standings. Philadelphia, meanwhile, is sitting in third place in the East at the All-Star break.
While Love isn't going to provide a big enough boost to push them into the top 3 of the East, he still has enough in the tank to make a positive impact on this team.
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