Kevin Love
Image credit: Rob Gray, Imagn Images
Utah Jazz player Kevin Love has admitted that it was “unexpected” when he was traded to the team from the Miami Heat earlier this year.
The five-time All-Star was involved in a three-team trade — also involving the Los Angeles Clippers — that sent him to Utah, with Norman Powell going to the Heat and John Collins going to the Clippers.
“My family and I laid roots in Miami,” Love told Esports Insider in an exclusive interview.
“It was definitely unexpected. I thought that I would end my career there. But again, it’s a business. These things happen, trades happen.”
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Love was acquired by Miami Heat midway through the 2022-23 season after spending a long and successful tenure with the Cleveland Cavaliers, where he helped lead the franchise to its first and only NBA title during the 2015-16 season.
He was acquired by the Heat with the expectation that he’d be the missing piece to help get the team over the hump and win a championship. During his first season in Miami, he played a key role in leading the eighth-seeded Heat to the 2023 NBA Finals. Love averaged 6.9 points and 5.6 rebounds per game as a member of the starting five during the Heat’s playoff run.
However, the Heat started moving in a different direction after trading Jimmy Butler midway through the 2024-25 season. While Miami isn’t in a complete rebuild mode, the team was certainly not the championship contender it was when it acquired Love midway through the 2022-23 season.
Love stated that he understands why Miami made the trade, saying the team got better as a result of the move. Miami Heat acquired Powell, who was coming off of a career year with the Clippers, averaging 21.8 points per game on 48.4% from the field and 41.8% from beyond the arc last season.
“They got better; they got Norman Powell,” said Love. “They got better. But yeah, it still stung in the few weeks after the facts.
“I’ve seen all this before. It doesn’t make it any easier. But at the same time, new opportunities, new spaces, new faces, new relationships that you make throughout the league. From Ryan Smith, our owner, all the way down, this has been a truly great experience being a part of the Jazz so far.”
Love Explains Why He Didn’t Pursue A Jazz Buyout
Love was expected to ask for a buyout upon the trade to Utah and latch onto an NBA contender with a chance at winning another championship. However, he has instead opted to stay with the Jazz, saying the organisation has been “amazing” to him and that he’s really enjoying his time in Utah.
It also doesn’t hurt that he has played a key role in the team’s young rotation as the veteran presence, averaging 13.5 minutes per game amid Walker Kessler’s season-ending injury due to a torn labrum.
“Walker Kessler going down has provided me more minutes, at least in the near future, in the last several games,” stated Love.
“But again, even if I’m not playing, I think my role — it’s great to have a role in my 18th season — is being able to be that veteran leader, a sound voice, somebody that preaches and acts on accountability and just continues to show what professionalism looks like every single day.”
Love details why being that “veteran voice” is extremely important for one of the youngest teams in the NBA. The Jazz are the ninth-youngest team in the league at an average age of 25.3 years old entering the season.
The team’s second-oldest player is Kyle Anderson at 32 years old, and Utah Jazz have just three players over the age of 30.
“I think that that is extremely important, especially with a young team,” said Love. “I think sometimes people can maybe overvalue a veteran in a locker room, but I do believe that the Jazz honour that, and they’re appreciative of it as well.
“It makes me want to lean in even more and be the vet that, honestly, I never had.”
Love Could See Himself Finishing With the Cavaliers
Love won’t say when he plans to end his career, calling it a “year-by-year” process. However, he said he would love to end his career in Cleveland with the Cavaliers.
“I don’t want to make any assumptions — they’ve been so good to me here already with Utah, and if this is it, then I’m very happy with that,” Love stated.
”Obviously, Cleveland is a near and dear place to me. But regardless if that happened or not, I’m always going to go back to Cleveland. They were so good to me for my eight-and-a-half seasons there, and continue to be.
“But how long I’ll play, I’m not exactly sure. I think I’m going to continue to love the game. The business side obviously can be up and down, or leave a bad taste in your mouth. But again, so long as I keep loving it and a team has a role for me and I can add value, I’ll be here.”