Kevin Love and the Cleveland Cavaliers have completed a contract buyout, sources told ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski on Saturday.
The Miami Heat are front-runners to sign Love, but the forward plans to talk to the Philadelphia 76ers before making a decision, sources said.
Love had requested a buyout earlier in the week after falling out of the Cavaliers’ rotation, sitting out their final 12 games before the All-Star break. The Cavaliers were 9-3 without Love in that stretch and entered the break in fourth place in the Eastern Conference.
The 34-year-old Love was in the final season of a four-year contract, with $8.5 million left on his deal at the time of the buyout, according to ESPN’s Bobby Marks. Love is averaging career lows in scoring (8.5 points per game) and rebounds (6.8 per game) this season.
He had been with Cleveland since 2014 and was the last remaining link to the 2016 team that won the NBA title and ended the city’s 52-year pro sports championship drought.
Over parts of 15 NBA seasons with Cleveland and Minnesota, Love has averaged 17.2 points and 10.5 rebounds per game. He is a 37.2% career shooter from 3-point range and helped USA Basketball win both Olympic and FIBA World Cup gold medals.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.