Going forward, Kevin Love’s low-post volume will likely decrease for the Cleveland Cavaliers, but that’s quite alright.
It’s evident at this stage of his career that Kevin Love is no longer Minnesota Timberwolves Kevin Love. Even so, he’s still a productive player for the Cleveland Cavaliers, that is fresh off having 17.6 points and 9.8 rebounds per game.
Is Love an All-Star still? That answer is no, but he’s still one of the best bigs in the NBA. In today’s league, with much of the emphasis being further and further from the rim to a large extent, Love’s shooting ability is all the more relevant.
In 2019-20, Love attempted a career-high 7.0 three-point shots per outing, and made a healthy 37.4 percent of those looks.
His presence as a shooter should only help open up more room on-ball for the likes of Collin Sexton, Kevin Porter Jr. and hopefully Darius Garland, if he can be more aggressive as a scorer next season.
While it’s not official at the moment, the same would hold true for Andre Drummond it appears, who reportedly fully intends to pick up his $28.8 million player option for next season.
While it’s anything but a certainty it would seem, Drummond and the Cavs have reportedly “shown interest” in a contract extension, but again it’s hard to see if that actually play out, given Drummond only playing eight games with Cleveland thus far. At least for 2020-21, though, Love’s shooting presence should help open up low-post/rolling space for Drummond.
At this point in his career, and with a history of back injuries and with him at times prone to miss time due to soreness there, I’d expect Love’s low-post volume to decrease going forward himself, however.
Albeit Love with seemingly a decrease in low-post volume is just fine with his shooting and playmaking ability.
Now I’d still expect Love to get low-post touches here and there still, but more so when cross-matched after effective off-ball movement in some instances on the floor with Larry Nance Jr. or perhaps Alfonzo McKinnie at the 4.
There, it’s understandable for Love to go to work. That said, I wouldn’t expect Love to have nearly 3.6 post-ups per game, as he had in 2019-20, per Synergy Sports, next season. I could very well see that trimming down to about 2.3 or so per outing, too.
Drummond and it would seem 2020 NBA Draft prospects in USC’s Onyeka Okongwu or Dayton’s Obi Toppin, both of whom Cleveland could target, could play into a low-post volume reduction for Love. The same goes a bit for Nance, who took strides with his low-post game this now-past season.
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Again, though, the key with Love is his floor spacing presence and how that helps generate more room for the Cavs’ key driving/on-ball threats.
I could see Love being a bit more of a roller next season, too, at least of the pick-and-pop variety operating with Garland or Porter, or potentially a bit with Dylan Windler.
Windler has not played in meaningful games for the Cavs to this point due to complications involving a stress reaction in his left leg, but is reportedly progressing well in his recovery. When he can get comfortable, I foresee him fitting in seamlessly.
Windler could be a knockdown shooter, but he can and Love could be a nice pick-and-roll duo, too, and he could feed Love via pick-and-pops in some instances.
Furthermore, in rolling situations in 2019-20, Love had an effective field goal shooting clip of 71.8 percent, per Synergy, and some rolling situations on the wing leading into the mid-range played into that.
Moreover, Cleveland Cavaliers fans know just how good of a shooter Love is. That includes him consistently knocking down face-up looks after subtle jabs a fair amount in the mid-post area. That sort of mid-post look is more so the kind of post work I’d expect to see more from Love going forward, also.
We know Love is a high quality passing big, too, though, and that should still be utilized when he’s on the floor at the elbows/on the perimeter.
Love had 3.2 assists per outing in 2019-20, and while I’d expect his playmaking workload to decrease a bit, he’ll always have an impact in that sort of way which helps other shooters and cutters, such as Nance and Cedi Osman. That’s not physically taxing for Love, either.
Anyhow, given Love’s prior injuries, especially in relation to his back, I’d expect his low-post volume to decrease from here on out. With his shooting ability/passing feel, though, that’s plenty alright for the Cavaliers, and he’ll still have a key impact for them.
Granted could we see Love eventually traded, more realistically before the 2021-22 season? Sure, but as long as he’s a Cav, he’ll still be a crucial floor spacing presence, passing big and still have elite defensive rebounding capability.
While I’d expect Love’s low-post workload to continually decrease going forward, he’ll again still have a notable impact in a myriad of ways, and even more so offensively from the perimeter in opening up room for others.
Lastly, away from basketball here a quick second, have an awesome 4th, Cavs fans, and stay safe! Thanks as always, readers!