Kevin Love pledged on Sunday to rejoin the Miami Heat in the first moments of free agency, as was to be expected. Just minutes after the league-wide free agent discussions were set to start on Sunday at 6 p.m., Love decided to stay with the Heat on a two-year contract worth $8 million.
A league source claims that neither a player nor a team option is included in the deal for the second season. VIEW UPCOMING MIAMI HEAT First Day Tracker for free agencies: Kevin Love remains with the Heat while their division foe gets stronger. 30 JUNE 2024, 5:06 PM Love made the decision on Saturday to forego the final year of his previous contract, which would have paid him $4 million in the upcoming season.
This opened up the possibility of signing a longer, slightly less expensive deal to rejoin the Heat, which would have freed up more space under the second team to aid Miami in re-signing some of its own free agents this summer. Rather, Love consented to a further year of guaranteed income under a contract that starts with a pay scale akin to the one he declined over the weekend. It turns out that the Heat won’t save much money on the salary cap as a result of Love’s new contract. Love is gearing up for his 17th NBA season; he turns 36 on September 7.
After making five appearances in NBA All-Star Games earlier in his career, he established himself as a dependable and effective backup center for the Heat during the previous regular season. In a bench role with the Heat during the previous regular season, Love averaged 8.8 points, 6.1 rebounds, and 2.1 assists per game while shooting 34.4 percent on 4.4 three-point tries a game. Love finished the regular season with an average of 18.9 points, 13.2 rebounds, and 4.5 assists per 36 minutes.
This is the highest points, assists, and rebounds he has averaged per 36 minutes in his NBA career—all of which date back to the 2021–22 season, the 2018–19 season, and before that. During the previous regular season, Love was on the court for the Heat, who outscored opponents by 6.5 points per 100 possessions. Love’s decision to return to Miami means that eight players from the Heat’s roster at the end of the season are still available as free agents: Thomas Bryant, Jamal Cain, Haywood Highsmith, Caleb Martin, Patty Mills, Cole Swider, Alondes Williams, Delon Wright, and Haywood Highsmith. After recent talks with the Heat, Martin is looking into other options. A few other teams are anticipated to show interest in re-signing Highsmith, so the Heat are still in the running. Jimmy Butler ($48.8 million), Bam Adebayo ($34.8 million), Tyler Herro ($29 million), Terry Rozier ($24.9 million), Duncan Robinson ($19.4 million), Kel’el Ware ($4.2 million, contract not signed), Love ($3.8 million), Jaime Jaquez Jr. ($3.7 million), Josh Richardson ($3.1 million), and Nikola Jovic ($2.5 million) are the Heat 10 players on standard contracts for the upcoming season as a result of Love’s return.
Orlando Robinson and Pelle Larsson are not on this list; if the team decides to do something with their contracts, their inclusion would put Heat 12 players on regular contracts for the upcoming season. To ensure Orlando Robinson receives his entire $2.1 million salary for the upcoming season, the Heat have until July 15th. Robinson will become an unrestricted free agent if the Heat decide not to guarantee his pay.
It is anticipated that Larsson, the Heat’s selection in the second round this year, will agree to a conventional contract. Larsson’s regular contract with the Heat is still out in the air, although it is expected that he will make between $1 million and $2 million in pay the next season. In addition, the Heat have the option to sign Larsson to a two-way contract, which is exempt from the salary cap and the 15-man minimum roster requirement.
The Heat’s ability to add outside free agents is restricted by the salary cap issue. The Heat only have the estimated $5.2 million taxpayer midlevel exception and minimum contracts to offer outside free players this offseason. The Heat are a team that is on its approach to surpassing the first apron but is predicted to stay below the second apron.