INDEPENDENCE, Ohio -- Kevin Love wanted to stay in Cleveland. The Cavs wanted him here.

But before any deal would be struck, Love wanted an answer from general manager Koby Altman and owner Dan Gilbert.

It wasn't about the length of a potential contract. Nor was it about money. It was a simple question: Which direction are the Cavs heading?

"The only thing I didn't want was I didn't want to be a team that was going to tank or be not competitive," Love said, recalling those conversations on Friday. "I've been a part of that for a couple of years (in Minnesota) and then we started to build something. I wanted this to be a building year and still be competitive. That was my only holdup about the whole thing. They had told me they didn't want to take a huge step back.

"I mean, obviously losing LeBron (James) you know what is going to happen with that, but I wanted to be part of something where we could continue to strive for all these banners up here and build something for the next several years."

The Cavs, better prepared for James' potential departure this time, studied around 10 other franchises that faced a similar crossroads and chose to compete for a playoff spot. They also looked at teams that opted for the darker path, throwing in the towel and playing the long game.

That's what the Cavs did in the 2010-11 season. It gave them a pretty good reference.

Back then, the Cavs had plenty of luck. They celebrated lottery wins like championships, winning three No. 1 picks. They had two others in the top 5. And yet, despite the ping-pong balls bouncing their way repeatedly and building around All-Star point guard Kyrie Irving, they couldn't climb out of the Eastern Conference basement.

Other tanking teams suffered the same fate. Some still haven't found the light.

After internal conversations, the Cavs decided quickly that they had no desire to tank. The roster wasn't nearly as hideous as the first time when James left, so it would've taken drastic moves to sink to the bottom. They wanted to capitalize on the already-established culture while also developing the young talent that will help the Cavs play a faster, movement-based style on offense.

Why move on from All-Star forward Love? Wouldn't the end goal be acquiring another star anyway?

The Cavs recognized they had that guy in the building already. And most importantly, he wanted to commit to the city, to the franchise. That was meaningful.

"It got done relatively fast," Love said of the negotiations. "I don't know the number of days, but between my agent, Koby and Dan and me just having constant conversations with my agent it didn't seem to be that long."

And just like that, Love signed on the dotted line, announced his four-year, $120 million contract extension and turned down a chance to be part of the star-studded free agent class in the summer of 2019. With that contract, he also turned down an opportunity to play for a team that's much closer to winning a title.

According to him, he didn't ask for more money. He didn't even alter the terms of the deal.

"They knew I wanted to be back and think they obviously wanted me back," Love said. "So I don't think it ever came to a point where I said, 'That's just not going to work.'"

It's been a few months since then and Love doesn't have any regrets. He seems more comfortable than ever. He believes in this team, has taken on more of a leadership role and is eager to help the Cavaliers do something that no team has done in the first year without LeBron: make the playoffs.

"I'm in my 11th year right now and I've seen most things, done most things so I feel like I can take that knowledge I have from playing in this league a long time and some of the veterans that we have that were so big in 2016 and take some of the young guys and bring them along," said Love, who stood in front of a gigantic locker that used to belong to James in the TD Garden following the preseason opener Tuesday. "It's a new chapter for us and a breath of fresh air. We're on the right track so far."