Kevin Love’s struggles with the Cleveland Cavaliers this season have been well documented and his numbers are on par with another former frustrating Cavalier; Antawn Jamison.
Ever since arriving in Cleveland, there have been more questions than answers concerning Love’s fit with the team. From not having enough post touches to his defensive shortcomings, Love has been a point of annoyance for the Cavs for the past two seasons.
Love’s current numbers are the lowest they have been since he was traded to the Cavaliers and they alarmingly similar to Jamison, as the Real Cavs Fans twitter page pointed out.
Catching up on my correspondence: "Kevin Love has turned into Antawn Jamison".
— realcavsfans.com (@realcavsfans) March 21, 2016
At first, this statement would be considered quite an idiotic one.
Love is entering the prime of his career. He is apart of the Cavs Big 3 and is on a $110 million dollar contract. He is a former All-Star and All-NBA Second Team member. His well-rounded offensive game makes him one of the leagues best offensive forwards and his rebounding is at an elite level.
Conversely, when Jamison was traded to Cleveland in February of 2010, he was 33 years old. Sure, he was averaging 20.5 points and 8.8 rebounds with the Washington Wizards but he was nowhere near Love’s level.
However, consider this opinion from Terry Pluto of The Plain Dealer back on the day Jamison was traded to the Cavaliers.
"What that bought the Cavs is a consistent 20-point scorer. Jamison is a 6-9 forward who can make the outside shot, run the pick-and-roll play with LeBron James. He also was averaging 8.8 rebounds for the Wizards."
Wait a minute. A power forward who can put up 20-points a night and be a stretch four? Someone who can team up with James and create a deadly pick and roll combination? An aggressive rebounder?
That job description sounds very similar to the one the Cavaliers currently have for Love. Stand around the perimeter to help create space and driving lanes for James and Kyrie Irving. Hit the open jumper you will get from the defense focusing on those two. Go to work in the post when given the chance and rebound the basketball at a high rate.
In what is a fact that some Cavalier supporters may not admit, Love is failing in his role the same way Jamison did. In fact, Jamison actually put up better stats in his time playing with James than Love has.
| Kevin Love 2015/16 | Antawn Jamison w/Cavs 2010 | |
| Points Per Game | 15.6 | 15.8 |
| Rebounds Per Game | 9.9 | 7.7 |
Not much of a discrepancy here, which is a concern.
As aforementioned, Jamison was brought into Cleveland late in his career, not in his prime. He wasn’t on a max contract. He is pegged to be a key role player in the Cavs title run, not one of the cornerstones.
Love is considered all of those things and more. His scoring and rebounding numbers are down from last season. Instead of his play mimicking his dominant performances with the Minnesota Timberwolves, he is regressing towards the level of play that Jamison displayed with the Cavs.
| Kevin Love 2015/16 | Antawn Jamison w/Cavs 2010 | |
| Field Goal % | 41.2% | 48.5% |
| 3P Field Goal % | 34.5% | 34.2% |
| True Shooting % | 54.3% | 53.0% |
| Effective Field Goal % | 48.7% | 52.5% |
This is where things get a tad more worrisome.
One of Jamison’s biggest problems when playing with James’ Cavs was his inability to drain the open jumpshot. He got the opportunities but simple failed to convert at a high rate.
Love is battling through the exact same issue. Stuck in what seems like a season long shooting slump, Love’s wide-open misses are getting amplified game by game. It is impossible to put a finger on why Love is missing so often. His shooting technique looks the same and there is no trend in his misses. Some are short and others are long. They go left and then they go right. Either way, Love’s shooting percentages are almost identical to Jamison’s and this is incredibly unsettling sign for the Cavaliers.
| Kevin Love 2015/16 | Antawn Jamison w/Cavs 2010 | |
| Usage % | 23.0% | 23.1% |
| % of shots that are three-point attempts | 43.4% | 23.5% |
| % of shots that are two-point attempts | 56.6% | 76.5% |
The way Cleveland has used Love has came under great scrutiny from all angles. Many believe the Cavs have turned one of the NBA’s most devastating post and elbow players into a glorified three-point shooter.
The stats back this ideology up. Almost half of Love’s shots are coming from beyond the arc, which is simply way too much. Someone with his unique skillset shouldn’t be demoted to just a long-distance shooter but it seems this has happened, apart from the occasionally post touch here and there.
Subsequently, Love’s usage rate has suffered because of this. There are times when the Cavaliers completely ignore Love on offense, especially in the fourth quarter. No matter how many times coach Tyronn Lue says he is planning to implement Love into the offense more often, no evidence exists of it.
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The fact that Love is shooting way more three’s than Jamison did, while connecting on an unnoticeable higher percentage (+0.3%) of them, is simply unacceptable. The same usage rates is also something that cannot be explained.
Cleveland is using one of their All-Stars (well, former All-Star) the same way they utilized a 33-year old role player. Love is playing at the same level as Jamison was when he played with a James-led Cavs team. This should be a disturbing fact for the Cavaliers and something they need, and Love needs, to clean up.
All stats courtesy of http://www.basketball-reference.com/