Cavs draft: How Kevin Love could help Obi Toppin if he’s CLE pick

Obi Toppin could provide plenty of pop for the Cleveland Cavaliers offense.

Obi Toppin is one of the most intriguing prospects in the 2020 NBA Draft class for many reasons. The 22-year-old won the Naismith award this past season for being the consensus best player in Division 1 Men’s Basketball. Toppin is listed at 6-foot-9 and 220 pounds, which is a relatively light, though.

Toppin averaged 20.0 points per game, shooting 63.3 percent from the field in 31 games this past season, to go along with 7.5 rebounds per game. He shot 39.0 percent from three-point range as well.

These were great numbers for a college player who led his team, Dayton, to matching their highest ranking in program history, of which was #3 overall.

One aspect of concern, in my opinion, is Toppin’s age, though. Toppin will be one of the oldest rookies in his class and is already older than Cleveland Cavaliers young perimeter players Collin Sexton, Darius Garland and Kevin Porter Jr.

The Cavaliers do have a player with similar circumstances in Dylan Windler, who will likely begin his career as a 24-year-old, albeit Windler was drafted 26th overall in 2019. Having said that, Obi Toppin is likely the most polished offensive player in this year’s draft.

An intriguing thing about Toppin is his versatility. He is predominantly a power forward, but in today’s NBA, he could likely spend some time as the 5. And that’d be particularly if Andre Drummond were to be moved near the 2021 trade deadline, which would seem realistic, should he opt into his $28.7 million player option for next season. But Obi could get some 5 minutes regardless.

Moreover, this is similar to the role that Kevin Love has had in Cleveland. There is a possibility that if he were drafted to the Cavaliers, Toppin could spend a large chunk of his minutes as the team’s center, although the overall inside-out game sense is where Love could aid Obi.

Love could help Toppin further develop his inside-out game/rebounding on the Cavs.

Like I previously mentioned, Love has played a role in Cleveland where he has spent time as the 4 and the 5. When building a team today, you want guys who can play multiple positions.

Even while Love is predominantly a 4, he still could help Toppin in development at the 4 and 5 spots, in an inside-out sense. He is a guy who can help Toppin further develop his jump shot as well as his post game and mainly rebounding.

Toppin will likely put on some weight when he gets to the league and this will make it easier to learn rebounding mechanics that Love would be able to teach, and Love’s career rebounding average of 11.1 per outing would hold weight. The same could go for Drummond of course, too, though.

Anyhow, Kevin Love could legitimately make Toppin a much better player and vice versa. If the two really collaborated, I believe they could each help each other improve their game, as Toppin is such an explosive player vertically, as KJG’s John Carter highlighted. And I feel like Love has been ready to be a true mentor to a young player and Toppin could be that guy.

The Cleveland Cavaliers will likely have Obi Toppin in mind when selecting in the 2020 NBA Draft on Wednesday. Granted, they should be wary of his age and the defensive concerns aren’t ideal, but they should also love the offensive polish he has already, of which Cleveland.com’s Chris Fedor (subscription required) hit on.

Albeit to drive it home further, having Love as a mentor could be invaluable for Toppin.