Kevin Love opts out of contract, report says Phoenix Suns will be ‘aggressive’ in pursuit

Remember when the idea of the Phoenix Suns trading for Kevin Love had the Valley abuzz with excitement?

Well, now the team could still land the three-time NBA All-Star, only without having to surrender any assets to make it happen.

Love opted out of the final year of his contract with the Cleveland Cavaliers Wednesday, meaning the 26-year-old will be an unrestricted free agent this summer.

Many expect him to return to the Eastern Conference champions, continuing to play with LeBron James in hopes of winning an NBA title. But until he signs on the dotted line, the possibility will remain that he could find a new team.

So there’s this:

Opt-out sets up Love to sign extension w/ Cavs, but teams want crack at pitching him. Another suitor promising to be aggressive: Phoenix.

— Adrian Wojnarowski (@WojYahooNBA) June 24, 2015

That the Suns would have interest really comes as no surprise. Though he is coming off a down season in which he averaged just 16.4 points and 9.7 rebounds per game, it was just one season ago where he was scoring 26.1 points and pulling down 12.5 boards per night.

Some wonder if Love’s statistics were the product of being on a bad team more than his own skills, though a 6-foot-10, 260-pound forward with range out to the three-point line is someone who would seem to be a perfect fit for the Suns’ system.

But would Love, who played for the Minnesota Timberwolves before being traded to the Cavaliers last summer, be interested in the Suns?

We’ll find out soon enough, though Wojnarowski tweeted that if not the Cavs, the Lakers and Celtics are teams Love would be willing to hear out.