Kevin Love Opts Out Of Heat Contract But Still Expected Back In Nba Free Agency

MIAMI – Kevin Love stepped away from the Miami Heat at Saturday’s NBA contract-option deadline, but the veteran center still is expected to return to the team for a third season. While Love opted to bypass the $4 million player option for 2024-25 on the contract signed last summer with the Heat, Saturday’s move keeps the door open for a reunion that could have Love on the Heat books for a lower salary-cap figure than had he opted into that $4 million. Saturday stood as the deadline for four players with Heat player options for next season: Love, Caleb Martin, Josh Richardson and Thomas Bryant. Richardson on Friday opted into his $3.1 million for next season, the second year of the contract he signed last summer to join the Heat in free agency. Bryant, who, like Richardson, also signed a two-year minimum-scale deal last summer in free agency, has a $2.8 million Heat player option. Martin has a $7.1 million option for next season that he is expected to bypass, likely to receive somewhere closer to double that figure from an outside suitor when NBA free agency opens at 6 p.m.