Jazz’s bold Kevin Love strategy could explain the controversial move

The Kevin Love is on the road for the Utah Jazz… or is he? While it was surprising enough that the Jazz decided to keep Love, he was essentially a preseason body and didn’t look too bad. There has been legitimate speculation that the Jazz are showing Love in a potential trade, and that they might succeed in their hopes of bringing back KJ Martin.

NBA insider Jake Fischer After Love’s first preseason game, it was revealed that many believe Utah is trying to showcase him to anyone who wants some frontcourt depth.

If there’s any trade situation to watch in Utah right now, it’s the future of veteran forward Kevin Love. The Jazz awarded the 37-year-old a healthy 20 minutes of playing time in Wednesday’s exhibition loss to Houston. As with the Knicks starting Pacome Dadiet in their first exhibition game of the new season in Abu Dhabi, Love’s playing time brought several rivals leading teams to wonder if the Jazz were pitching him to prospects even before the regular season. begins,” Fischer wrote.

The Jazz don’t really need someone like Love on the team. Waiving him wouldn’t have cost that much dead money, but keeping him and parting with Martin, who was owed $8 million on a non-guaranteed contract, was a smarter move.

If Utah can increase Love’s value a bit, that could encourage a playoff contender to bite on a Love trade. If that happens, it could lead to Utah bringing back Martin. Martin is younger than Love, more athletic and honestly has more to give than Love can at this stage of his career.

It’s not like he outright dominated as a Jazzman, but he was good enough for Utah to keep him around for when they’re shorthanded. They may have renounced him anyway whether they had Love or not, but it was clear that their main priority was getting rid of Love before renouncing Martin. If they find someone for Love, don’t be surprised if Martin is back in Utah.

The telling detail that would imply the Jazz could bring Martin back

Martin isn’t a star, but what should pique curiosity is the fact that since the Jazz waived him, no one has picked him up. One theory that makes sense is that Utah let him know that the plan is to bring him back if and when they find someone who wants love.

For the record, this wouldn’t be a bad plan, as Love looked solid in the two preseason games he played. In just 36 combined minutes over two games, he scored 20 points, nine rebounds and two assists while shooting a perfect five-for-five from the field.

It’s possible that Love stays with the Jazz, but since this season will be more about the development of their young players, the only reason they would play Love as much as they did during the preseason is because that’s the only time they can play someone like him and not have to worry about stunting the growth of their young players.

It’s not that Love being in Utah is problematic at all, but it would make a lot of sense if he’s on another team soon enough and Martin is back on the Jazz roster as a result.