Lakers: Could Los Angeles Be Eyeing Kevin Love as a Buyout Candidate?

Rumorville is loving the possibility of Love returning to LA after Cleveland's massive trade on Friday.

The Lakers are making headlines again, although they haven't actually done anything... yet. 

While teams have mostly finished working on their roster construction ahead of training camps, Friday morning kicked off with a massive three-team trade between Cleveland, Chicago, and Portland. 

ESPN Sources: Cleveland’s acquiring Chicago’s Lauri Markkanen in three-way sign and trade with Portland. Bulls get Derrick Jones Jr., POR’s lottery protected future 1st and Cavs’ future second-rounder. POR gets Larry Nance Jr. https://t.co/CgN3mhaLHY

— Adrian Wojnarowski (@wojespn) August 27, 2021

So how do the Lakers factor into this news? Well, if NBA Twitter is to be believed, this trade just about guarantees that Kevin Love will be the latest UCLA Bruin to return to Los Angeles. 

How Kevin Love walking into Lakers training camp pic.twitter.com/L4hklOiAa5

— Josiah Johnson (@KingJosiah54) August 27, 2021

When LeBron, AD, Russ and the rest of the hoops expendables see Kevin Love eventually get that buyout pic.twitter.com/rmHAUgI0wF

— Jabari Ali Davis (@JabariADavis) August 27, 2021

With Lauri Markkanen now on his way to Cleveland, the Cavs have found their next starting power forward. He isn't a star by any means (13.6 points in 29 minutes per game last season), but he will likely be given the opportunity to see what he can do with a bigger role with the Cavs. 

This brings us to Kevin Love. The 32-year-old veteran has now been with Cleveland for 7 seasons, and while his best days may be behind him, he is still a quality big man who can help the Lakers with his outside shooting. His numbers have dipped slightly, but Love still shot a respectable 36.5% from beyond the arc in 2021 on 6.2 attempts per game. 

The biggest hurdle to climb here would be reaching a buyout agreement between Love and the Cavaliers. After all, the aging star still has nearly $70 million and two years left on his current contract with Cleveland. A few years ago, it would be insane to even suggest this as a possibility, but times have changed. Take Blake Griffin last season as an example. The veteran big man had $75 million remaining on his contract with the Pistons but was able to agree on a buyout and join the Brooklyn Nets on a minimum deal. It wouldn't be surprising at all to see Kevin Love follow suit. 

Love has plenty of history with these Laker stars already. His UCLA run with Russell Westbrook was one of the most exciting college teams in history, and who can forget the string of Finals appearances with LeBron in Cleveland? While a lot would have to go right for Love to ever don a Lakers uniform, it's certainly an intriguing story to keep an eye on as we close in on a new NBA season. 

Up next: Jared Dudley Expected to Return to LA, here's why he didn't