NBA free agent rumor: Kevin Love to Boston a "real, legitimate possibility"

You know the drill by now so let's just jump to the chase. Kevin Love has the option to become a free agent, everyone assumes that he's going to take a long, hard look at leaving Cleveland, and the Celtics are obviously interested in him.  But is he interested in them?  The latest rumor from Woj indicates that he is at least thinking about it.

SH Blog: Kevin Love expected to "look around" this summer

"I think he’s going to look around," Wojnarowski said. "I think he’s going to look closely at Boston. I think he’ll look at LA. I’m sure the Texas teams are going to try and get involved. The Yahoo! insider referred to Boston in particular as a "real, legitimate possibility". "I think Boston would be interesting, because Stevens and Danny Ainge are a very interesting recruiting duo to sell him on how they’d use him there," he said.

So here's my two-cent interpretation of this latest rumor. Kevin Love's agent is in the business of getting him the best deal in the best situation for him.  He's getting a max deal wherever, so money isn't really an issue (though he could get an extra year by staying in Cleveland).

He's gotta look at all the situations and make sure that he can dictate his role and fit from now on.  If he stays with LeBron, he'll probably request a larger role in the offense.  If he goes to another team, he'll likely want to have some assurance of what the team's future plans are.

Ruling out Boston because of a Kelly Olynyk arm yank isn't in the best interests for Kevin over the long term.  Kevin might still have hard feelings over that incident, but his agent's job is to squash that and make it a non-issue (unless it serves his purpose).

The Celtics have the cap space, roster flexibility, and a creative coach in place to be a great fit for Kevin.  Also, if Love has his heart set on a place like the L.A. or somewhere in Texas, he can at least use the Celtics as leverage.

I picture Love's agent having a conversation similar to this: "Sure Mitch, we could sign with you, but are you going to force Kevin to stand in a corner and force feed Kobe shots?  Will we have to wait for these kids to develop or will you trade some of them to put a better team around me now?  Because I know Danny will do whatever to make that happen in Boston."

I also think Love will at least consider the option of taking fewer years in order to have a player option once the cap explodes with TV money.  So that extra year that the Cavs could offer wouldn't matter as much unless he's really worried about long term health.

So does any of this mean we can get our hopes up (or start getting worried, depending on your view of Love)?  I don't think so.  It is just another rumor in the rumor cycle.  But it is more food for thought.