I think Kevin, his offensive skills got better than I think we estimated. The only thing that I still have a question mark about will be his health. I had that concern then, I still have that concern and I think Cleveland should have that concern, too," Taylor said. "If they sign him to a five-year contract like they're thinking about, I mean that's a big contract in a guy that's had sometimes where he's missed games."
"I question Kevin if this is going to be the best deal for him because I think he's going to be the third player on a team. I don't think he's going to get a lot of credit if they do really well. I think he'll get the blame if they don't do well. He's going to have to learn to handle that.
"I think he's around a couple guys who are awful good. Now I'm not saying that Kevin's not good, but I think where maybe he got away with some stuff, not playing defense on our team, I'm not sure how that's going to work in Cleveland. So I would guess they're going to ask him to play more defense. And he's foul-prone," Taylor said.
Love responds, in a fairly classy manner:
"I think emotions are definitely running high right now," Love told "Mike & Mike." "For Glen to say that, I just think that he should be focusing on the players that he just received. I mean, he has two of the No. 1 picks in the last two drafts: Andrew Wiggins and Anthony Bennett. He has another guy who can really play in Thaddeus Young.
"I think he got a lot for me. So I'd be focusing even more on that. More than anything, I'm just excited to start my time in Cleveland, get to work with my new teammates, and start with this new family here."
And just to make things interesting, tampering allegations:
"LeBron had signed to come back with the Cleveland Cavaliers, and just a few hours post he called me and I said, 'You know what? I'm in.' That had a lot to do with my decision. I knew they had a lot of young pieces in place, a lot of great talent that has accumulated here as well, and I knew the city relatively well, but that had a lot to do with it."
Considering the league just fined the Raptors $25,000 for "global brand ambassador" Drake instigating a "KD" chant in front of Kevin Durant at Toronto's OVO Fest, Love's statement seems significant. According to Larry Coon of NBA Salary Cap FAQ fame, the NBA's tampering rule is as follows.Tampering is when a player or team directly or indirectly entices, induces or persuades anybody (player, general manager, etc.) who is under contract with another team in order to negotiate for their services. The NBA may impose suspensions and/or fines up to $50,000 if tampering is discovered, however the league's practice has been to wait until a team lodges a complaint before investigating (but that's not to say they don't continue to monitor the league and won't take action independently if they discover that tampering has occurred).
Now, Love didn't get into too much that was said on that phone call, but the inference after a roundabout discussion of their relationship as USA Basketball teammates is that James wanted him in Cleveland. Of course, Timberwolves president Flip Saunders still had to trade Love, making it unlikely he'd file a complaint, so the question becomes whether Adam Silver's office deems this worth an investigation.
I doubt anything will come of it, though.
