NBA Rumors: Kevin Love's Relationship with Cavs 'Strained' After Contract Buyout

The Cleveland Cavaliers and veteran big man Kevin Love reportedly aren't in each other's good books following his contract buyout last week.

According to Cleveland.com's Chris Fedor, Love and the Cavs have a "strained" relationship due to the way things played out this season. Fedor noted that the Cavaliers had no intention of putting Love back in the rotation, so they agreed to buy him out, as they were concerned about his "unhappiness festering."

The Cavs and Love finalized the buyout Saturday, and it didn't take Love long to sign with an Eastern Conference rival in the Miami Heat.

Fedor noted that the Cavs were wary of "another infamous blowup," and they bought him out because of that, as well as due to their appreciation for his "unquantifiable impact" on the organization.

Three years ago, Joe Vardon and Shams Charania of The Athletic reported that Love had an "emotional verbal outburst" toward then-general manager Koby Altman. Love also showed frustration with then-Cavs guard Collin Sexton, which led to him apologizing publicly.

While there were some rocky moments during Love's Cavaliers tenure, he will also go down as one of the most significant figures in franchise history.

After the Cavaliers signed LeBron James in free agency in 2014, they acquired Love in a trade with the Minnesota Timberwolves, and he went on to spend the next nine seasons in Cleveland.

The Cavs reached the NBA Finals in each of his first four seasons, including winning the first and only championship in team history in 2016.

Even after Kyrie Irving was traded to the Boston Celtics in 2017 and James left for the Los Angeles Lakers in free agency in 2018, Love stuck around and helped mentor a young roster.

Thanks to the acquisition of All-Star guard Donovan Mitchell and the progression of Darius Garland, Evan Mobley and Jarrett Allen, the Cavs are once again threats in the Eastern Conference, as they are in fourth place with a 38-23 record.

Love simply didn't fit into the plans any longer, which was why he set career lows in minutes (20.0 per game), scoring (8.5 points per game) and rebounding (6.8 per game) this season.

More so than his small role this season, Love will be remembered in Cleveland for his four NBA Finals appearances, two All-Star nods, one championship and 489 regular-season games played.

Now, he has a chance to play significantly more in Miami as the Heat's only frontcourt player of consequence besides center Bam Adebayo.