SH Blog: Longer All-Star break coming?

I moved to Ohio a few months ago, to a small town west of Toledo. It’s about equal distance from Detroit and Cleveland, so I wasn’t sure what the common basketball allegiance was. As I quickly found out, it was “I don’t really follow basketball.”

Then LeBron came back to Cleveland, and it was all anyone could talk about for a couple days. And this is the offseason. If he can make the Cavs contenders, it could be huge, not just for the Cavs, not just for Cleveland, but for basketball in general. Sports thrive on storylines, and you’re not going to find a better one than this. Imagine a Cavs-Heat playoff series. Imagine the number of casual and non-fans that would draw in. LeBron in Cleveland is great for LeBron, it’s great for Cleveland, and it’s great for the NBA.

Nothing will ever match the Buckeyes’ popularity in this town, but there could be a number of cars making the drive down the Ohio Turnpike to the Q this winter. I know mine will be one of them.

Now let’s get to the latest from around the NBA:

LATEST ON KEVIN LOVE

If you haven’t heard yet, Kevin Love wants to go to Cleveland. Six months ago, that sentence would have made no sense at all, but here we are.

Terry Pluto of the Cleveland Plain Dealer looks at the hows and whys of the potential deal:

The new labor agreement allows players to sign a five-year deal (once they are free agents) with their current teams. If they switch teams, the longest contract is four years. It’s why Carmelo Anthony ended up returning to New York. That’s where he could get the most cash — $25 million more than elsewhere.

If Love picks up his option for 2015-16 this summer, the most that a team can immediately add is a two-year extension. I know, this gets complicated. The point is there are a variety of reasons for Love to keep his current deal, and then hit the open market in 2015.

I’m hearing Love will not pick up his option — that he would prefer to go to the Cavs on his current deal, then presumably enjoy being successful playing with LeBron James. Remember, he also has done a commercial with Kyrie Irving. He sees marketing possibilities in Cleveland — along with a chance to win big.

I’m hearing the Cavs realize they may have to accept Love’s current deal and gamble on him enjoying playing in Cleveland and with James. Then they will try to sign him for a maximum deal in 2015. So don’t be shocked if a deal is made with his contract situation staying the same.

I’ve been told the team hasn’t had any real talks with Minnesota Love for at least a week. Minnesota certainly enjoys all the rumors. Team president/coach Flip Saunders knows he has to make the right deal. The former Cuyahoga Heights star is taking over a 40-42 team that wants the playoffs this season. That’s why the Wolves pursued a deal with Golden State starting with Klay Thompson and David Lee — two established scorers.

EXTENDED ALL-STAR BREAK COMING?

Ira Winderman of the South Florida Sun-Sentinel:

The NBA is poised to turn the All-Star break into All-Star week this coming season, the Sun Sentinel has learned, providing teams with a full week off at midseason.

The move, which would give players seven days off between games in mid-February, would result in an increase of one or two back-to-back sets per team for the coming season, a party familiar with the process said.

“That’s the model they’re using right now while they’re filling in the schedule,” an NBA source familiar with the process told the Sun Sentinel Friday. “Could they go back and use some of those dates if needed? That’s possible. But the week off looks like what’s going to happen.”

The release of the 2014-15 NBA schedule has been pushed back into August to allow the league’s television partners to adjust for the dramatic shakeup created by free agency, including the shift of LeBron James from the Miami Heat to Cleveland Cavaliers.

With the elongated All-Star break, the possibility of then starting the 2015-16 season a week earlier also has been deliberated recently, although that dynamic has yet to gain traction, according to an NBA source familiar with the situation, with such a move potentially requiring an adjustment in the collective-bargaining agreement.

BOOZER OFFICIALLY A LAKER

Mike Bresnahan of the L.A. Times:

The Lakers officially introduced Carlos Boozer by revealing they didn’t think they would get him in the first place.

They submitted a bid for $3.25 million after he was waived by Chicago via the amnesty provision last week.

“Fortunately for us and unexpectedly for us, our bid was the highest bid. Not for a second did we think that he’d be available to us,” Lakers General Manager Mitch Kupchak said Friday.

Boozer, 32, was working out when his agent, Rob Pelinka, called to say the Lakers had won his rights.

“I was ecstatic and I was jumping up and down,” Boozer said. “I went back out there and got two more hours in.”

He wasn’t so thrilled toward the end of last season with the Bulls when he was playing only the first and third quarters of games. He finished with averages of 13.7 points and 8.3 rebounds, his lowest since his rookie season with Cleveland in 2002-03.

“Not having a chance to help my team at the end of the game to win was tough. Not getting the opportunity was humbling,” he said. “I learned a lot from that process.”