Tag: Kevin Love

Five best players on buyout market Lakers should look at

Will the Lakers sign someone from the buyout market? If so, one of these five men could fit the bill.

The Los Angeles Lakers’ roster looks a lot better, or at least a lot more balanced and cohesive, after the three deals they made in the final hours before last Thursday’s NBA trade deadline.

At least on paper, they have more outside shooting, forward depth, a legitimate two-way center other than Anthony Davis and a point guard, D’Angelo Russell, who is a much better fit than Russell Westbrook.

But by no means do the Lakers have a complete roster.

They could use another legitimate 3-and-D wing, as well as one more center who can defend and rebound.

Now that the trade deadline is in the rearview mirror, teams are waiving players they deem superfluous, creating a buyout market that has some interesting bit players.

Los Angeles has one open roster spot available, and it could fill the spot with a player on the buyout market.

These five players could help the Lakers a little if they want to sign with the Purple and Gold.

2023 NBA buyout season: Who are the candidates?

The NBA trade deadline has passed and now we enter buyout season. Over the next few weeks, we will see several big-name players, usually on expiring contracts, potentially negotiate an early release. Once these players clear waivers, they will …

The NBA trade deadline has passed and now we enter buyout season. Over the next few weeks, we will see several big-name players, usually on expiring contracts, potentially negotiate an early release. Once these players clear waivers, they will likely be pursued by the best teams in the league in hopes of adding extra juice for a playoff run. The deadline for players to get waived and retain playoff eligibility is March 1.

Kevin Love had high-fives for his entire roster after his first dunk of the season, and the Cavs loved it

I literally counted twelve high-fives after the dunk.

The Cavaliers (6-1) are one of the hottest teams in the NBA to start the young season, and they look like legitimate contenders in the Eastern Conference.

Donovan Mitchell, who was traded to the Cavs during the offseason, is leading the squad with 31.1 points per game. But they’re getting help from everyone, including Cleveland veteran Kevin Love.

After finishing with the second-most votes for the NBA’s Sixth Man of the Year last season, Love is once again contributing well off the bench. The big man is shooting 41.5% on 3-pointers. As he is getting older, however, he has become less of a threat near the basket.

But for a moment during a victory against the Celtics on Wednesday, that didn’t matter. During the first quarter, Love cut to the basket and threw down a dunk.

It was the first dunk of the season for the 34-year-old NBA champion, and he was very excited about the unexpected display of athleticism.

Following the dime from Darius Garland, who had returned to the lineup after an eye injury, Love made sure to high-five every single player on the team.

Starting with a high-five for Robin Lopez immediately after the dunk, I literally counted a total of twelve individually delivered high-fives for the five-time All-Star.

Love, who recorded 39 dunks during his 2011-12 campaign, has recorded just 13 dunks since LeBron James left Cleveland in 2018.

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Projected starting lineup for Cavaliers with Donovan Mitchell makes them Eastern Conference favorites

This team is going to be a problem.

The Cleveland Cavaliers pulled off the biggest shocker of the offseason by trading for Utah Jazz guard Donovan Mitchell.

After exceeding expectations last season, the Cavs accelerated their rebuild with this trade. They have added three-time All-Star Mitchell to a core that already included two All-Stars in Darius Garland and Jarrett Allen — as well as Evan Mobley, who may be the most valuable player on the entire roster.

Cleveland made the play-in tournament last season, but they are heading into the upcoming campaign as a force to be reckoned with. In addition to the stellar defense in their frontcourt with Mobley and Allen, they now have one of the best backcourts in the league with Mitchell and Garland. All four are currently 25 years old or younger.

Here is their projected starting lineup now that they have made this trade:

LeBron James is working in the gym with a former Cavs teammate

LeBron James and Kevin Love were spotted doing shooting drills together in New York City.

Los Angeles Lakers superstar LeBron James has been accused by some of not caring about championships anymore. Such critics believe he joined the Lakers in 2018 only to further off-the-court interests such as appearing in movies.

But he has been seen putting in work well in advance of next season. The Lakers’ season was nothing short of a disaster. What was expected by many to be a run at an NBA championship turned into a campaign without even a play-in tournament appearance.

Recently, James was spotted on a New York City basketball court doing shooting drills with former Cleveland Cavaliers teammate Kevin Love.

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Like James, Love seems to be aging pretty gracefully. He had his best season in a while, averaging 13.6 points in 22.5 minutes a game while shooting 39.2% from 3-point range, his highest such mark since James’ last season in Cleveland.

Given James’ history of sparing no expense to keep his body right, it would not be surprising to see him have yet another elite season in 2023.

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Proposed B/R trade sends Gordon Hayward to Cavs, Kevin Love to Hornets

Flipping Hayward for Love would save the Hornets a lot of money next offseason.

It’s trade machine season as potential offseason moves are being discussed and proposed on the daily.

Bleacher Report’s Dan Favale came up with a proposed trade for every team not in the NBA Finals, and for the Charlotte Hornets, that meant swapping Gordon Hayward for another veteran forward.

Favale proposed that Charlotte send Gordon Hayward, Mason Plumlee, and Boston’s 2024 second-round pick to Cleveland for Kevin Love and Cedi Osman.

Favale writes:

“Granted, this is more about the dollars and cents for Charlotte. Love makes less than Gordon Hayward next season and comes off the books in the summer of 2023—a full year before Hayward. Getting out from under the latter’s 2023-24 salary means something to a franchise that will have Terry Rozier and, presumably, Miles Bridges (restricted) on mega-expensive contracts.”

Correct, this trade is all about shedding money faster for the Hornets, as Kevin Love has one year left on his deal compared to two years remaining on Hayward’s.

As for the fit, Love would offer a true veteran leader for Charlotte who could produce off the bench, whether that’s scoring or on the boards, as he did for Cleveland this past year. Cedi Osman adds a versatile wing off the bench who honestly adds a little bit of everything, similar to Cody Martin.

The Gordon Hayward experiment has been a disappointing one for Charlotte as he’s been incapable of staying healthy. Getting off his remaining $61 million would open up money for the Hornets going forward, as they’ll have to extend Miles Bridges this offseason and LaMelo Ball shortly after that.

Stay tuned to Lonzo Wire. Follow us on Facebook!

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Kevin Love: Evan Mobley should have won Rookie of the Year

Mobley turned in a tremendous season with the Cavaliers and Love thought he should have won Rookie of the Year.

Cleveland Cavaliers forward Evan Mobley turned in a tremendous rookie campaign this season, and came up just short of winning Rookie of the Year. In fact, the final tally went down as the closest race in history.

Cavaliers forward Kevin Love thought Mobley should have won.

Toronto Raptors forward Scottie Barnes was crowned the Rookie of the Year last month after receiving 48 of the 100 first-place votes from a global panel of sportswriters and broadcasters. He finished with 378 total points, topping the 363 points for Mobley.

It was the smallest margin in the balloting under the current voting format, which began in the 2002-03 season.

Certainly, the Rookie of the Year race proved to be rather difficult to predict with Mobley and Barnes battling back and forth throughout the year. Detroit Pistons guard and finalist Cade Cunningham also had a case to win, despite a slow start to the year.

Love, speaking with Taylor Rooks of Bleacher Report, was impressed by Mobley.

I think it’s going to be when it’s all said and done, you’re going to say, ‘Kevin Love took a backseat to Evan Mobley.’ I saw him and I’m like, ‘Oh, wow! I get it.’ I’m obviously biased but I thought he should have won Rookie of the Year. I know it was a very close battle. Scottie Barnes is a beast. Cade Cunningham: Awesome player. I love Evan’s makeup. I love his brain and how he lets everything come to him.

Love thoroughly loved what Mobley brought to the Cavaliers this season and often sung his praises all year long. He believes Mobley can become a perennial All-Defensive player and a consistent double-double threat each night.

Certainly, the tight finish this season in the Rookie of the Year voting further demonstrated how talented the class is. It could go down as one of the best ever with Mobley and Barnes leading the way, and several others right behind them.

This post originally appeared on Rookie Wire! Follow us on Facebook!

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Austin Reaves’ triple-double, Obi Toppin’s 42 and other wild lines from the NBA’s regular-season finale

Everyone decided to score 40 points on the final day of the NBA’s regular season.

The end of the NBA’s regular season is always a joy.

You get your share of teams playing with something on the line (especially with the recent introduction of the play-in tournament), teams who are resting stars ahead of the playoffs, and others who are shamelessly tanking for draft positioning.

The latter two are obviously the most fun because it leads to things like Andre Ingram being called up from the NBA G League in 2018, Grayson Allen scoring 40 points in the 2017 finale, or Kobe’s 60-point farewell.

Nevertheless, the season’s final day traditionally leaves us with plenty to talk about. This past Sunday was no different.

Here’s everything that took place:

James clava el balón por encima de Kevin Love y los dos se mandan los mejores tuits

Ay, LeBron James. ¿De verdad pensaste que tenías que hacerle eso a Kevin Love, tu amigo y antiguo compañero de equipo de los Cleveland Cavaliers? El lunes en la noche, Los Angeles Lakers estaban de camino a vencer al antiguo equipo de James, cuando …

Ay, LeBron James. ¿De verdad pensaste que tenías que hacerle eso a Kevin Love, tu amigo y antiguo compañero de equipo de los Cleveland Cavaliers?

El lunes en la noche, Los Angeles Lakers estaban de camino a vencer al antiguo equipo de James, cuando en el segundo cuarto, Austin Reaves se encontró a un James que iba corriendo hacia el aro. Love estaba parado solo… y James se le fue encima, le hizo un póster para saltar y clavar el balón por encima de su amigo, quien levantó los brazos como si lo hubieran noqueado.

La clavada por sí sola fue una ridiculez, pero lo que le siguió fue una muestra de respeto entre dos amigos… y unos tuits maravillosos. Les damos el paso a paso:

Así empezó:

Traducción: Como en los viejos tiempos.

 

Después fue la clavada:

Traducción: LEBRON LE APLICÓ A KEVIN UN PÓSTER.

 

¡Véanlo desde este ángulo!

Traducción 1: “¡LEBRON, MIRA HACIA ABAJO!”
Este ángulo del póster de LeBron a Kevin Love.
Traducción 2: LeBron dejó caer el martillo sobre su antiguo compañero de equipo Kevin Love.

 

Love tuvo la mejor reacción:

Traducción: Todo está bien entre @KingJames & @kevinlove

 

James se sintió mal.

Traducción: “Miren, cuando giré en esa esquina y miré hacia arriba estaba como ‘no, Kev, solo muévete…’  @KingJames con @RealAClifton sobre la clavada monstruosa sobre su buen amigo @kevinlove.

 

Traducción: “No fue mi intención. Kevin, cariño, te quiero… quisiera poder no haber anotado esos dos puntos”.
LeBron dice que su monstruosa clavada sobre Kevin Love se va a borrar de la película de los puntos importantes de su vida.

 

Love y James tuvieron la mejor conversación en Twitter:

Traducción: ¡¡¡No voy a ch***gar a mi amigo @Kevin James por al menos las próximas 48 horas!!!

 

Traducción: ¡Perdóname!

 

LOL. Buenísimo.

 

 

Artículo traducido por Ana Lucía Toledo

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Who are the top former UCLA players in NBA history?

The UCLA Bruins have won more NCAA Titles than any men’s program in history. Who are the top former UCLA players in the NBA?

Wondering which NCAA men’s basketball program has the most titles all time?

It’s not the tournament mainstay Kentucky Wildcats.

Likewise, it’s neither the UNC Tar Heels nor the Duke Blue Devils.

To find the school with the most titles in men’s collegiate basketball, you have to head to sunny Los Angeles.

The University of California, Los Angeles men’s team has won a record 11 NCAA titles. That’s as many as Duke and North Carolina combined. Between 1964 and 1975, UCLA won 10 NCAA men’s basketball championships. That level of dominance we may never see again. The Bruins are matched only by the University of Connecticut women’s team for the most success in college hoops.

Unsurprisingly, UCLA has had a number of former players go on to have immensely successful careers playing professional basketball. Let’s hop in and check out the top former UCLA players in NBA history.