The Miami Heat made their first offseason trade since 2021 earlier this week, acquiring Norman Powell away from the Los Angeles Clippers in a three-team, four-player swap. The move was unquestionably a win for the Miami Heat, who sacrificed two fringe rotation players for a near-All-Star.
However, one of those players consolidated, veteran forward Kevin Love, was a culture bearer in the Heat locker room, where he’s provided stability (and humor) since arriving in February of 2023. And his former teammate, 13-year NBA veteran Channing Frye, was not appreciative of how the Heat went about dealing the five-time All-Star.
“I will say this: my understanding was that [Kevin Love] was going to be that next guy for Miami, right?” Frye said recently on the Road Trippin’ podcast. “The next guy, the next [Udonis Haslem], the next guy that was keeping that locker room. To have a great locker room, your 15th guy, your number one guy, your coach, your GM, your owner need to be on the same page. They need to buy into what you’re selling. And Kevin was bought in a thousand percent in Miami.
“Now, do things happen? Yes. But I think when you’re telling somebody at that age, ‘Hey, we want you here, this and that,’ you’ve got to give them a call to explain like, ‘Hey, here’s why you’re going here. Here’s our thought process.’ Just that level of respect. It’s not like it would’ve changed anything, but the communication is what I didn’t appreciate necessarily from that thing.”
Frye won a championship with Love in 2016 with the Cleveland Cavaliers.
Perhaps Frye knows more behind the scenes on the communication — or lack thereof — between Love and the Heat. Maybe there’s something we (the public) don’t know about how that process matriculated behind the scenes.
Love will be entering his age-37 season and wasn’t available for most of last season due to personal reasons. He was one of the league’s most impactful big men in 2023-24, but his best days are behind him. Over his last two full seasons with the Heat, the 6-foot-9 forward averaged 7.8 points and 5.5 rebounds on 42.0 percent shooting and 34.7 percent from 3-point range (4.0 3PA).
One could assume that Love is bought out and will have the freedom to pick his next destination–for presumably the minimum. Frye mentioned that he wants to see his former teammate with the New York Knicks, Portland Trail Blazers or back with Cleveland, where he spent eight-and-a-half seasons.
Where do you want to see Love? Let us know in the comments!
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I hate all these former players, commentators, podcasters etc., who are all full of themselves and give their opinions like anybody really gives a damn what they think. Two of the biggest assholes of the bunch are Stephen A. Smith and Paul Pierce.
Love is a great person, was a great player, but he was fortunate the Heat picked him up off the end of the bench at Cleveland and gave him a real chance and allowed him to extend his career.
He was treated with great respect and compassion when he took extended periods off, so I don’t care much about what Frye has to say.
true.
On the flip note, perhaps, this maybe why this is the first successful high value Heat trade that occurred unheralded without the needless speculation on national tabloids and on the web.
That is until the Lakers trade Lebron lol