The only real story line that has survived the end of the Celtics season (which, as an aside, feel like it was months ago right now) has been whether potential free agent Kevin Love was so pissed off by the season-ending shoulder injury at the hands of Kelly Olynyk, that he has crossed Boston off his short list of potential teams should he leave Cleveland.
According to David Aldridge… nah.
Love seemed to have finally found his equilibrium in Cleveland at the end of the season before suffering that separated shoulder — against the Celtics — in the first round. Yahoo! Sports reported last week that that injury at the hands of Kelly Olynyk may have cooled Love’s interest in playing for the Celtics next season. My experience has consistently been that anger subsides as dollars increase, and I’m told authoritatively that Love holds no long-lasting ill will toward either the Celtics or Olynyk. Boston can offer Love a max deal a second after midnight on July 1, an opportunity to again be the focal point of his team, lead an emerging surrounding cast and play for a terrific young coach.
The Celtics’ look could change dramatically between June 26 and July 2. In fact, it would be shocking if it didn’t.
I’ve never been one to think this would be any kind of deal-breaker. Like Aldridge says, money talks. And eventually Kelly Olynyk will be able to explain himself to Love.
Yeah, I know what some of you are saying… “screw Love” because of how he reacted. I don’t care about that. The fact is he’s a significant upgrade over every player we have. He instantly become the Celtics best player and he’s the right kind of big man for today’s NBA. The Celtics could establish him down low, he could get a bunch of rebounds, and he can step out from deep to space the floor. He’s a huge piece to a championship puzzle.
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