Cleveland Cavaliers: Five best starters of the 2010s
#3 – Kevin Love
As soon as James announced his return to Cleveland, rumors started swirling that the Cavaliers’ front office would be using the trade chip that was Andrew Wiggins to acquire a third All-Star to pair with he and Irving.
The Cavaliers did just that when they sent Wiggins to Minnesota in exchange for Kevin Love, who was ready for a change of scenery.
The NBA world was a buzz when the trade became finalized. The Cavaliers were immediately vaulted to the top of the NBA totem pole heading into the 2014-15 season.
Related Story. Adding a first-round pick in any potential Love deal should be a non-starter for the Cavaliers. light
Not only was Kyrie Irving coming off of 20.8 points, 6.1 assists per game season per Basketball-Reference on a Cavaliers team that seemed to be making major strides, but James was coming back, and Love was bringing his 26.1 points and 12.5 rebounds per game average from Minnesota to Cleveland.
While Love was never able to understandably duplicate those kinds of numbers, he was instrumental to the Cavaliers’ success.
During the Cavaliers’ successful run, Love was able to provide some serious floor spacing and he gobbled up rebounds at a high clip despite sharing the floor with James, and Thompson, two noted solid rebounders.
Over the course of his 314 game career in Cleveland, per Basketball-Reference, Love has averaged 17.1 points and 10.1 rebounds per game.
There is a high likelihood, that despite what happens with Love and the Cavaliers moving forward, he will have his jersey raised in Rocket Mortgage FieldHouse one day.