What began as a brief trade stop transformed into a vital mentorship role, as the veteran champion traded buyout rumors for a lasting impact on Utah’s future.
Kevin Love was supposed to be one of the shortest-lived Utah Jazz acquisitions of last summer. He arrived in Salt Lake City with trade and buyout speculation already attached to his name, then spent the entire season there and became one of the veteran voices Utah’s young locker room leaned on.
A year later, the Jazz had at least some interest in bringing him back.
“I think there was some interest in him to go back there from the Jazz,” NBA insider Jake Fischer said during a Bleacher Report stream.
Fischer added that Love has a real desire to find a winning situation as he enters the final stretch of his career.
That makes plenty of sense.
Love appeared in 37 games for Utah last season, averaging 6.7 points, 5.8 rebounds and 1.8 assists across 16.6 minutes per game. The five-time All-Star had settled into a much smaller on-court role by that point … but his value in Utah went well beyond the box score.
Ace Bailey spoke during the season about going to Love for advice on life, while Lauri Markkanen made it clear he wanted the veteran back in Salt Lake City. Love went from a potential buyout candidate to a respected voice inside a locker room built around players considerably younger than him.
There is still an obvious difference between Utah valuing what Love brought and Love deciding how he wants to spend what could be his final NBA seasons.
The 2016 NBA champion is entering what would be Year 19. He already spent last season helping a rebuilding Jazz team, and winning appears to carry serious weight in whatever comes next.
Minnesota remains one possibility.
The Timberwolves have interest in a reunion with Love, while Love is open to returning to the franchise where he spent his first six NBA seasons, Jon Krawczynski recently reported.
That would bring Love’s career full circle while giving him the type of competitive situation he appears to be searching for.
Utah’s interest also changes the way Love’s season with the Jazz should be remembered. What looked destined to become a temporary stop turned into a full year, a meaningful locker-room role and enough mutual success for the possibility of another season to enter the conversation.
Love may still spend Year 19 somewhere else … but his Jazz tenure became far more substantial than anyone expected when he first arrived in Salt Lake City.
