Kevin Love has officially reached the point in his outstanding career where he is merely a throw-in as part of a trade, and the five-time All-Star is maintaining a good sense of humor about that.
The Miami Heat acquired Norman Powell from the Los Angeles Clippers on Monday in a trade that also involves the Utah Jazz, who are sending John Collins to L.A. The Jazz will receive Love, Kyle Anderson and a 2027 second-round draft pick.
Love knows that he was only included in the trade for salary matching purposes. The 36-year-old acknowledged that with a funny post on social media.
“Never thought I’d be a math problem. Welcome to the NBA,” Love wrote on X.
Never thought I’d be a math problem. Welcome to the NBA.
— Kevin Love (@kevinlove) July 7, 2025
Though he was once one of the best players in the NBA, Love is a fringe rotational player at this phase of his career. He played in just 23 games for the Heat last season and averaged 5.3 points and 4.1 rebounds while playing just 10.9 minutes per game.
In his prime, Love was an All-Star who could stretch the floor and create nightmares for defenses. He played at an elite level for the Minnesota Timberwolves and Cleveland Cavaliers and helped the latter win an NBA title in 2016.
One thing that Love has gotten very good at in recent years is entertaining people via social media, so his reaction to Monday’s trade was consistent with that.