Kevin Love's epic journey with Jazz should keep him in Utah

Utah Jazz fans made it very clear how much they have loved the Kevin Love experience (no pun intended) from start to finish. It's amazing to think he was believed to be dead money once the Jazz acquired him, but with the offseason is about to start, keeping him seems like a priority.

Even crazier is that Love himself recently admitted that he didn't really see Utah being part of his future, but has since shifted that thinking, which led to him. He gave the full details on his personal Instagram after the season wrapped up.

Better yet, if you check the comments, it's littered with responses from notable personnel indicating that the love is very much mutual. This includes Will Hardy, Lauri Markkanen, Keyonte George, Ace Bailey, Jusuf Nurkic, and even the Jazz themselves. If that's not enough, even Walter Clayton Jr. voiced his support for Love in response to his IG post.

This is a big deal for more reasons than Love embracing life in the NBA with his prime well behind him. Technically, he was part of a rebuilding Cleveland Cavaliers team when LeBron skipped town back in 2018, but his time there didn't end well because he didn't want that role as a veteran mentor on a young team.

To see him have a different approach in a pretty much identical situation is actually pretty cool and indicative of the healthy culture the Jazz have built, despite losing as much as they have. Love could have made a big stink of wasting away on a team like Utah, but from the jump, he made it clear that he wanted to be part of the team, regardless of how little he played.

There's really no reason for this union to end this summer unless Utah doesn't want him, and judging by the strong support on Instagram from pretty much everyone, both sides want him back in a Jazz uniform.

Playoff contenders need players like Love in their locker room

Teams have had enough talent to contender for a title, but a lack of unity has been their undoing, blocking them from reaching their potential. This was Utah's problem for a time, as the teams featuring Donovan Mitchell and Rudy Gobert never quite reached that level despite how well put together those teams were.

There has been no indication that the current Jazz team will see that happen again, but what can stop history from repeating itself is having good veteran presences like Love on the team. That's part of why Joe Ingles was (and still is) beloved all-around in Utah.

Best of all, Love probably won't cost that much to keep. Even so, he could still be a major cog for the Jazz's immediate future, even if he may not see the court all that much. While it looks like Love re-signing in Utah is inevitable, the question will be who else is coming back?

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