Power forward Kevin Love has reportedly agreed to a five-year deal worth $110 million to remain in Cleveland.

By Jason Lloyd/The Akron Beacon Journal (TNS)

The Cavaliers’ approach last summer when they were trying to recruit LeBron James was twofold: they wanted to play to the idea that this was his home and, perhaps more importantly, that owner Dan Gilbert would spend whatever it takes to deliver a winner.
Now 12 months later, Gilbert has delivered on that promise.
The Cavaliers were the biggest spenders on the first day of free agency Wednesday, agreeing to terms on contracts with Kevin Love, Tristan Thompson and Iman Shumpert that could total $240 million. Gilbert paid $375 million to buy the franchise 10 years ago.
Love announced his decision to return in an article on the Players Tribune and multiple outlets reported he will sign a max contract worth about $110 million over five years.
ESPN reported Thompson is nearing an agreement on a deal that will pay him more than $80 million over five years and Iman Shumpert agreed to terms on a contract that will pay him $40 million over four years.
Add it all up and Wednesday will easily go down as a landmark day in Cleveland sports history.
And the Cavs aren’t done yet.
The Cavs still have to sign James for roughly $22 million, they have two more free agents in J.R. Smith and Matthew Dellavedova and they have Brendan Haywood’s nonguaranteed contract worth $10.5 million. With every dollar spent, the Cavs are inching toward becoming the first team in NBA history to spend $200 million in payroll and luxury taxes.
Since it is a max deal, the exact value of Love’s contract won’t be known until the new salary-cap figures are released next week. By locking in long term now, Love will bypass the cap explosion next summer and take his guaranteed dollars now.
A photo snapped over the weekend of Love and James meeting at a Los Angeles hotel pool quickly went viral. For all the speculation over Love’s future, his new deal — just as Kyrie Irving’s last year — was completed on the first day of free agency.
“Of course I’ve heard the free agency rumors,” Love wrote in his brief essay. “But at the end of the day, and after meeting with my teammates [it turns out pools are great meeting places] and with the front office, it was clear Cleveland was the place for me. We’re all on the same page and we’re all in. We have unfinished business and now it’s time to get back to work.”
The deals for Love and Thompson, once completed, means the Cavaliers will be paying two power forwards nearly $40 million next season — or more than half of the projected salary cap for next year.
Shumpert’s extension was exactly what he was seeking. Part of the reason the New York Knicks dealt him in January, according to one league executive who researched Shumpert in recent years, was their unwillingness to pay him an annual salary of $10 million. The Cavs clearly thought otherwise.
“You don’t buy jewelry in this league, you earn it,” Shumpert wrote on his Instagram account Wednesday after the deal was reached. “Be back soon Cleveland.”
Love’s future was a point of debate throughout the season. League executives speculated for months he would take a free-agent meeting with the Los Angeles Lakers this summer and at least two national outlets reported Love indeed would meet with the Lakers this week.
The Cavs, however, never wavered in their belief Love was committed long term to the franchise. They were right.
Love averaged 16.4 points and 9.7 rebounds in his first season in Cleveland. He produced some of the lowest numbers of his career and didn’t always seem to fit with the system, but the length of this contract eases the burden off all parties and takes so much of the focus off Love.
His commitment also allows everyone to exhale after the Cavs surrendered top overall pick Andrew Wiggins to acquire him last summer. With Irving’s max contract beginning, along with James’ return, the Cavs could return a lineup that outscored opponents by more than 6 points per game last season — third best in the league.
None of the deals agreed to Wednesday can be signed until the league’s moratorium period ends next week.