Kevin Love will sign with the Miami Heat after negotiating a buyout with the Cleveland Cavaliers on Sunday.
Love confirmed in a Twitter post that his plan is to sign with the Heat after clearing waivers, with the hope of earning minutes with another Eastern Conference contender.
The 34-year-old was in the midst of his ninth season as a member of the Cavaliers, and was the last remaining link to their one and only championship win in 2016.
After playing exclusively as a starter since the 2010-11 season, Love was moved into a reserve role this past campaign, making only seven starts from his past 115 regular season games.
He is averaging a career-low 8.5 points and 6.8 rebounds this season while shooting 38.9 per cent from the field, but remains a respectable three-point shooter at 35.4 per cent from deep.
Love's dip in form saw him removed from the Cavaliers' rotation altogether in the lead-up to All-Star weekend, ultimately signalling the end of his time in Cleveland.
Miami currently have eight players this season averaging at least 25 minutes per game – Jimmy Butler, Bam Adebayo, Tyler Herro, Kyle Lowry, Caleb Martin, Max Strus, Victor Oladipo and Gabe Vincent.
Of that group, Adebayo is the only true big-man, and while Butler plays above his size, Love provides a skill-set the Heat roster is lacking.
Always desperate to have at least three shooters on the floor at any time – which star duo Adebayo and Butler are not – Miami have been playing small lineups as they do not have a single player taller than six-foot-five who is also averaging at least one made three per game.
The six-foot-eight Love averages 1.7 made threes per game over the course of his whole career, and when extrapolated to starter's minutes this season, Love is averaging 3.0 makes on 8.6 attempts while grabbing 12.3 rebounds per 36 minutes.
He is also the NBA leader in defensive rebounding percentage among players averaging at least 20 minutes per game, snatching down 29.8 per cent of all opponent misses while he is on the floor.
Currently sitting seventh in the East with a record of 32-27, Miami will hope Love provides a spark down the stretch to keep their streak of three straight playoff appearances alive.
Cavaliers rule out Donovan Mitchell for Game 4
The Cleveland Cavaliers will be without star guard Donovan Mitchell for Game 4 of their second-round play-off series against the Boston Celtics on Monday.
The Cavs ruled Mitchell out about an hour before tip-off due to a left calf strain.
Cleveland also ruled out center Jarrett Allen, who will miss his seventh straight game with a rib injury.
The Cavaliers are facing a 2-1 series deficit to the NBA-best Celtics. In Cleveland’s Game 2 win, Mitchell contributed 29 points, seven rebounds and eight assists.
Mitchell, who sustained his calf injury late in Saturday’s Game 3 loss, is averaging 29.6 points this post-season, including a combined 89 points in Games 6 and 7 of the Cavs’ first-round series against the Orlando Magic.
Earlier in the day, backcourt mate Darius Garland told reporters that it would be important for others to attack if Mitchell were sidelined.
“Just be aggressive,” Garland said. “Play as a team, keep the ball moving and trust each other. We have a lot of guys that are super confident in themselves, so we'll need them to be super confident tonight and make the extra pass and play as a team and pull us together.”
Bronny James medically cleared to play in NBA
LeBron James may have moved one step closer to making his dream of playing with his son a reality Monday after Bronny James was cleared to play in the NBA.
According to reports, teams were notified by the league that Bronny was cleared by a fitness-to-play panel that consists of three doctors who review medical records.
The clearance comes nearly a year after Bronny suffered cardiac arrest in practice with USC last July and underwent a procedure to repair a congenital heart defect.
He missed USC’s first eight games of the season before making his collegiate debut on December 10. Bronny played in the Trojans’ final 25 contests (including six starts) and averaged 4.8 points, 2.8 rebounds and 2.1 assists in 19.2 minutes per game.
LeBron, who just completed his 21st season in the NBA and is the league’s all-time leading scorer with 40,474 points, has said many times that he would love to play on the same NBA team with Bronny.
He can opt out of his contract with the Los Angeles Lakers this summer, possibly setting him up to sign with whatever team drafts Bronny.
After the Lakers were eliminated in five games by the defending champion Denver Nuggets in the first round of the playoffs on April 29, LeBron discussed Bronny’s future.
“The kid has to do what he wants to do - and I don’t even want to say kid no more - the young man will decide what he wants to do and how he wants his career to go," LeBron said.
“I just think the fact that we’re even having the conversation is pretty cool in the sense of that. Obviously, we'll see what happens.”
Bronny is expected to take part in the NBA Draft combine this week in Chicago and undergo medical examinations.
Brunson: Injuries and fatigue 'no excuse' for Knicks' heavy Game 4 defeat
Jalen Brunson refused to make excuses for the New York Knicks after injuries and fatigue hampered them in their Game 4 defeat to the Indiana Pacers on Sunday.
The Pacers recorded a dominant 121-89 win at Gainbridge Fieldhouse to level the teams' Eastern Conference semifinal series at 2-2, with Tyrese Haliburton scoring a team-high 20 points.
Haliburton was one of six Indiana players in double figures but it was their defense that did the hard yards, limiting Brunson to just 18 points in support of Alec Burks, who had 20 points of his own.
Brunson entered the contest averaging a league-high 34.6 points this postseason, but he was 6-of-17 shooting and received little support from elsewhere as Josh Hart had two points in 24 minutes and Donte DiVincenzo tallied seven.
The Knicks were sluggish from the off as they played a second straight game without defensive stopper OG Anunoby, who sustained a hamstring injury in Game 2.
Brunson, however, was not about to excuse their poor performance.
"We can talk about fresher legs and you can give us all the pity that we want," he said. "Yeah, we're shorthanded, but that doesn't matter right now.
"We have what we have and we need to go forward with that. There is no excuse. There's no excuse whatsoever. If we lose, we lose. That's what that was."
The series will now head back to Madison Square Garden on Tuesday for Game 5, and Pacers coach Rick Carlisle expects a strong response from their opponents.
"New York is a team that has shown that it has an indomitable will to compete and rise above anything people say they can't do," Carlisle said.
"We've seen it throughout the season. We've seen it in this series. We're believers in that, and so we've got to focus on us.
"Everything is going to be a situation where you've got your hands completely full."
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