Is Kevin Love the most loyal Cavalier?
Love’s third season was his best in a Cavalier uniform…yet there were still trade rumors
After all the dust settled on the trade rumors, Love was still apart of the Cavaliers as they began their title defense last October.
Through the first two months of the season, Love averaged 22.5 points per game on 46.4 percent shooting as well as 11.1 rebounds per game. It finally appeared as if Love was 100 percent content in the Cavaliers system. Love was even chosen to be in the All-star game, which would be his first appearance since joining the Cavaliers.
Nonetheless, trade rumors would pop up again. The main name in those rumors was once again Carmelo Anthony. Since LeBron has such a close friendship with Anthony, many thought it was inevitable they would wind up on the same team.
But to those who followed the Cavaliers closely, a Love for Carmelo swap did not make much sense. Anthony, while a very skilled player, has his flaws. He needs the ball in his hands and the offense tends to run through him.
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However, with Love, he can post up, spot up and run the pick and roll as well as the pick and pop. That alone made him a better fit on the Cavaliers.
Especially with Kyrie and LeBron, two ball dominant players, adding Melo just did not add up.
Despite that constant cloud over Love’s head he continued to play well up until mid-February when his all-star season was derailed. He suffered a knee injury and was sidelined for six weeks.
While Love was out and the Cavaliers struggled to find their way. His value was seen in these six weeks when the team missed his rebounding and versatility to score from anywhere on the floor.
At season’s end, Love was only one of 12 players to average double-digit points and rebounds. Pretty good for a team’s third option, right?
For a guy who has constantly been doubted and criticized for three years, you think that would take a toll on Love. Instead, the opposite happened, he got better and thrived with the Cavaliers.
It all came to a head in the Eastern Conference Finals when Love averaged 22.6 points and 12.4 rebounds while shooting 48.6 percent from the field and 53.5 percent from beyond the arc.
After the Cavaliers failed to repeat as NBA champions in 2017, questions arose again about the makeup of the team. Many wondered if Love would even be in a Cavaliers uniform the following season.