Jazz's latest move says the quiet part out loud about Kevin Love's future

From the moment the Utah Jazz traded for him back in July, it seemed like a foregone conclusion that Kevin Love would be bought out in no time. However, so much time has passed since then that perhaps it wasn't so foregone after all. The Jazz's latest move - waiving KJ Martin - signifies that for now, Love is sticking around.

The Jazz officially announced that they have waived Martin, who was a mid-season acquisition last season.

This actually isn't too much of a surprise, as Martin was on a non-guaranteed contract for $8 million, so contract situations like that stick out like a sore thumb when a team has 16 players on the roster. Something had to give, so the Jazz gave Martin the boot.

However, don't think this means Martin isn't a useful player. An athletic, high-energy rim-running big man who can finish lobs and block some shots has value in the modern NBA. However, the Jazz already had a pretty loaded frontcourt. Lauri Markkanen, Walker Kessler, Ace Bailey, Kyle Filipowski, Jusuf Nurkic (don't laugh), and the return of Taylor Hendricks made it seem like Martin would have been the odd man out anyway.

He's a better player than Love currently, but waiving his non-guaranteed contract saves the Jazz more money than waiving Love's guaranteed contract. The fact that they waited this long suggests that Utah attempted to offload Love's deal first but was unable to find any takers.

Anyway, this pretty much confirms that Love will be on the Jazz for the time being. It doesn't seem likely he'll be in their frontcourt rotation, but he will be with the team on opening night pending any surprises.

But for how long will Love be a Jazzman?

At first, it seemed pretty clear Love wouldn't spend a minute as a Jazzman, but now the script has been flipped. However, even if Love takes a roster spot, most, if not all, of his time on the team will likely be spent on the bench.

That will likely lead many to speculate that Love will be a midseason buyout candidate in February. The funny thing is, he seemed like a candidate for that back when Utah first traded for him, but because he apparently doesn't have any suitors currently, there's no telling if that will be the case five months from now.

The bottom line is that guys like Love, whose NBA career is on its last legs, don't give money back unless they know they will make it back. The Jazz probably wouldn't have minded waiving him, but Love understandably wants to make the most money possible.

Utah doesn't have much to loser by keeping Love for the time being, but many will wonder if he's sticking around past the buyout deadline.