Keep him and play him
If they cannot trade him and they cannot agree to terms on a reasonable buyout agreement, then the Cavaliers may just be stuck having to keep Kevin Love and “play him.” The reason that is in quotes is because realistically, Kevin Love will likely not step foot on the court in a Cavaliers’ jersey next year.
They will make up some kind of “injury” for Love to sit out with that way he does not have to play, he can collect his money from his couch and the Cavaliers can give his minutes to somebody who can actually help the franchise moving forward.
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The only reason Kevin Love wants to remain in Cleveland is to collect his contract money in full and the Cavaliers want to move him because they do not want to pay him in full! This is going to be a stand-off heading into the offseason and whoever breaks first will wind up winning in the end.
If Love caves in first, then the Cavaliers will be able to buy him out at a “lower” price and not have to pay him his full $60.2M on his contract. If the Cavaliers cave first, they may just have to waive him, resulting in them having to not only pay him in full, but be tied down to dead cap space for years to come, depending on how they decide to pay Love.
Whether he stays or whether he goes, the Cavaliers are going to wind up getting hurt either way because of the fact that they made a mistake signing Love to this mega-contract in the first place.
