Kevin Love Admits He Didn’t See Utah Jazz Trade Coming

The Utah Jazz's experiment to bring in 18-year league veteran Kevin Love thus far into the 2025-26 campaign has been a pretty solid success in the first two-plus months of the season.

Love has been a positive voice in the locker room as the most tenured NBA veteran on the roster, he's been vocal about enjoying his time and role with the organization, and for his time on the floor throughout the first 30 or so games of the regular season, he's nestled into a consistent rotational player as the Jazz's backup center as Walker Kessler has been out with a shoulder injury.

But when he first arrived in Utah via a three-team trade from the Miami Heat, packed within the deal that sent John Collins to the LA Clippers, Love didn't quite know what to expect out of his experience; he didn't even anticipate being traded to the Jazz in the first place.

"I didn't know what to expect when I got here, but I've been very pleasantly surprised from everything, from ownership, and Ryan Smith to the front office to the coaching staff, players all the way through," Love said of the Jazz on The Old Man and the Three. "It's been a blessing in my 18th year to be a part of this team and some place, I mean, you never know where you're going to end up."

"I did not expect to be traded but as far as a landing spot goes and just saying, yeah, so many people are saying ‘Oh what if it doesn't work out? What if it doesn't work out?’ I'm like ‘What if it does?’, right?And I think just adding value whether I'm playing or not is something that's given me a lot of happiness and a lot of joy this late in my career. And I think that has allowed me to see a lot of the good and what this team has been able to bring and move forward."

Kevin Love Settling in Nicely With Utah Jazz

Love's value stretches both on and off the floor for the Jazz, which makes sense for why the veteran big man has been loving his time since being on the roster. The 2016 NBA champion was vocal before the season about his desire to be a value add for wherever that may be, including Utah, and he's been able to carve out just the right role for himself at this point in his career.

During his 20 games played for the Jazz this season, Love has averaged 7.2 points, 5.4 rebounds, and shooting 41.1% from the field in just over 17 minutes a night when he plays, and has proven he can still be a guy worthy of a few minutes down the rotation to fill out an NBA frontcourt, as he has for the year in Utah so far.

Dec 15, 2025; Salt Lake City, Utah, USA; Dallas Mavericks forward Caleb Martin (left) speaks with Utah Jazz forward Kevin Love (right) before the game at Delta Center. Mandatory Credit: Rob Gray-Imagn Images | Rob Gray-Imagn Images

It remains to be seen just how long Love's time in Utah will last. There's not even a guarantee that the 37-year-old will finish the regular season on the roster, depending on how the next few weeks transpire around the trade deadline and as the buyout market begins to gain some traction. But, for the time that he is in Salt Lake City, he's made it into a nice home for what's now the fourth roster he's been on through nearly two decades in the league.

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