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Kevin Love ranked 31st-best player by Sports Illustrated

By Jackson Flickinger

CLEVELAND, OH - JUNE 8: Kevin Love #0 of the Cleveland Cavaliers looks on during the game against the Golden State Warriors during Game Four of the 2018 NBA Finals on June 8, 2018 at Quicken Loans Arena in Cleveland, Ohio. NOTE TO USER: User expressly acknowledges and agrees that, by downloading and or using this Photograph, user is consenting to the terms and conditions of the Getty Images License Agreement. Mandatory Copyright Notice: Copyright 2018 NBAE (Photo by Garrett Ellwood/NBAE via Getty Images)
CLEVELAND, OH - JUNE 8: Kevin Love #0 of the Cleveland Cavaliers looks on during the game against the Golden State Warriors during Game Four of the 2018 NBA Finals on June 8, 2018 at Quicken Loans Arena in Cleveland, Ohio. NOTE TO USER: User expressly acknowledges and agrees that, by downloading and or using this Photograph, user is consenting to the terms and conditions of the Getty Images License Agreement. Mandatory Copyright Notice: Copyright 2018 NBAE (Photo by Garrett Ellwood/NBAE via Getty Images) /
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Kevin Love is a star, but there are questions surrounding him being the Cleveland Cavaliers’ first scoring option.

We’ve reached the portion of the off-season where every media outlet ranks the top players in the NBA. These rankings are ultimately meaningless, but they do provide insight into how the league by in large views a certain player. Sports Illustrated recently released their ranking for the top 100 players in the league. Kevin Love was ranked as the 31st-best player and the fourth-best power forward in the league.

Love was ranked behind Anthony Davis, Draymond Green, and LaMarcus Aldridge. Love was also the only Cavalier to make the list.

To put this in perspective, NBA 2K19 rated Love as the 38th-best player and sixth-best power forward in the league.

Here is a portion of Rob Mahoney’s reasoning for ranking Love 31st.

"Love is not a primary scorer for a playoff-caliber team. The memory of Minnesota Love isn’t just five years old, but a relic of a different time altogether. Even if he could tap back into that version of himself, today’s defenses are better schooled in tracking Princeton-style movement and more aware of Love’s limitations. Love, though, is not just a role player. The cost of playing alongside LeBron James is the reduction of your game to its most basic elements. That got the Cavs to four straight Finals but reduced Love to a standstill shooter in the process."

Mahoney went on to acknowledge that Love can be a playmaker in the post for the Cavaliers, even though that isn’t what he has been asked to do in Cleveland. It’s unknown how the Cavs intend to use Love this season. Allowing him to play in the post without looking only to score may unlock facets of his game that hasn’t been seen since his days in Minnesota.

While ranking all 100 players in the league is often arbitrary, this ranking and analysis are spot on. Nobody knows how Love will adjust to being a primary scoring option in today’s NBA.

The league has changed drastically since 2013 and so has Love’s game for that matter. Expecting him to transform back to “Minnesota Kevin Love” where he averaged 26.1 points and 12.5 rebounds per game in 2013 is completely unrealistic.

What we do know is that Love is still a superb talent and an elite offensive weapon, especially as a catch and shoot three-point specialist. Allowing an offense to run through him, even if it isn’t the same way Minnesota ran its offense four plus years ago, could result in very good offensive numbers for Love.

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It’ll be interesting to see how and if the perception of Love around the league changes now that he will have an offense that is built around his skill set.