The Cavaliers are confident Kevin Love will be in Cleveland for the long run, but rival GMs aren’t so sure, writes Ken Berger of CBSSports.com. Berger notes that when the Heat formed their “Big Three” four years ago, LeBron James, Dwyane Wade and Chris Bosh all signed six-year deals that contained opt-outs after four. But under the new CBA, there’s a disincentive for a player to accept an extension before becoming an unrestricted free agent. Love has a $16.7MM player option for next season. There’s more on the Cavs amid the latest from the Eastern Conference:
- The Cavs are actively seeking immediate help in the frontcourt, tweets Sam Amico of Fox Sports Ohio. Cleveland would love to pry Timofey Mozgov from the Nuggets, but so far those efforts have been fruitless.
- Cleveland made a roster move Monday, recalling center Alex Kirk from the D-League’s Canton Charge, the Cavs announced. Kirk has played two games for the Cavaliers this season and three games for the Charge.
- The Pacers have begun to lose hope that Paul George‘s broken leg will heal in time for him to play this season, a source tells Marc J. Spears of Yahoo! Sports, who writes amid his weekly power rankings.
- A source suggested to Adam Zagoria of SNY.tv that the Sixers would probably trade one of their existing big men if they had a chance to draft top prospect Jahlil Okafor this summer. A “bidding war” for Joel Embiid and Nerlens Noel would ensue if the Sixers wind up with the No. 1 pick this year, writes Sam Smith of Bulls.com. Smith has nonetheless heard opposing GMs say they’re reluctant to trade for any Sixers because of the losing environment those players have been a part of.
Chuck Myron contributed to this post.