Ex-Cavs NBA Champ Would Be Wise Addition For Celtics

The Boston Celtics suddenly have the opportunity to acquire a player whom Brad Stevens has long admired.

With free agency officially underway, Boston’s greatest area of need is the center position. The Celtics have already lost Kristaps Porzingis (Atlanta Hawks) and Luke Kornet (San Antonio Spurs), and Al Horford is expected to sign with another team any day now.

Boston’s current depth at center features the newly acquired Luka Garza, Neemias Queta, Xavier Tillman, and 2025 second-round pick Amari Williams. With all due respect, that group would be one of the least-talented frontcourt rooms in the NBA. Even with the Celtics expected to treat 2025-26 like a “gap year” without Jayson Tatum, surely Stevens doesn’t think the center situation is competent enough as constructed.

In defense of Stevens, his main goal at present is to cut costs. The good news is, a low-cost, highly reliable option has just emerged on the free agent market in the form of five-time All-Star Kevin Love.

After ESPN’s Shams Charania reported on Monday that Love was traded from the Miami Heat to the Utah Jazz, Forbes’ Evan Sidery quickly followed Charania’s report with an update revealing that Love will be bought out by Utah.

“Kevin Love will soon be bought out by the Jazz after being traded from the Heat,” Sidery wrote.

“The soon-to-be 37 year old is approaching his final NBA contract, and he’s expected to prioritize joining a title contender.”

Are the Celtics a contender next season? No, but there’s no reason to believe they can’t be in 2026-27, and who says Love wouldn’t be interested in a team-friendly, two-year deal? Love will probably receive a handful of one-year deals from other clubs with more immediate chances of contending, making a potential two-year offer from Boston stand out.

Love could spend next season familiarizing himself with Joe Mazzulla’s system and inserting himself as a veteran presence in Boston’s locker room. Moreover, Love’s ability to stretch the floor as a power forward or center fits perfectly into Mazzulla’s and Stevens’ vision for a modern big man.

Stevens has always liked Love’s game. Way back in 2013, when Stevens was coaching the Celtics, he told then-Celtics big man Jared Sullinger to model his game after Love.

“I think (Love is) a really good guy for (Sullinger) to study,” Stevens said, per Telegram & Gazette’s Bill Doyle. “I think you talk about (a) guy who is an outstanding post scorer, his skill level has increased every year … has completely done a 180 (on) his body.”

More than a decade later, Love is still balling, and he’d fit like a glove on the Celtics.

Mazzulla and Stevens are already well-versed in handling the regular-season minutes of an aging center (Horford). As the Celtics move on from Big Al, Love would be the perfect veteran to pivot to amid a chaotic roster reshuffle.