Former LeBron James teammate, Kevin Love, who was recently traded to the Utah Jazz as part of a "math equation" only wants to play in a big market. According to Jake Fischer, he believes that those two options are New York and Los Angeles.
The New York Knicks and the Los Angeles Lakers are the two biggest markets in the NBA. However, the Knicks are looking to offer their final veteran minimum to either Landry Shamet or Ben Simmons, making it likely for Love to reunite with his former teammate with the Lakers.
Outside of James, the Lakers are still a young team that doesn't have the championship experience that some of the other Western Conference teams hold. Even though Love's play has been limited his last few seasons, his experience in handling championship expectations could go a long way with the Lakers.
What role could Kevin Love have with the Lakers?
Kevin Love career has been slowly dwindling since LeBron James left the Cavaliers in the 2018 offseason. Since then, Love has had one season playing at least 70 games in a full season, and last season he was not playing because he's not the same player anymore.
However, he still could bring value to a team like the Lakers. At this point in his career, he is a shooting specialist, who is a career 36.9 percent 3-point shooter. His best years shooting the 3 came in a system featuring James, and with the Lakers, there's also Luka Dončić and Austin Reaves who can make it easier for Love to get open looks. As well as his shooting, he's one of the best full court passers in the league and still a good rebounder when he plays.
Love's biggest value is experience. Playing next to James has never been easy and in the twilight of his career, where it's championship or bust, there's even more pressure. Love is no stranger to dealing with the pressure of having a championship or bust mentality. He's mentioned how the struggle of adapting to a LeBron-led team lead to "dark times."
There's a possibility there are players on the Lakers that are dealing with this right now or are nervous about going through it. The younger the player, the harder it is to deal with it. The best teacher for them is experience, but also having a mentor or veteran who has gone through it.