Cleveland Cavaliers: Kevin Love could mesh so well with Jarrett Allen

We haven’t seen Kevin Love in action for the Cleveland Cavaliers since Dec. 27, when he suffered a high grade right calf strain/one in which he reaggravated in a game versus the Philadelphia 76ers. Love’s played in just a game-plus for the Cavs this season to this point, in turn.

Fortunately, per Cavs head coach J.B. Bickerstaff and via Chris Manning of Fear The Sword, Love as of last week, has been “progressing” and been doing “light stuff” on the court as of then. And per a report from Chris Fedor of Cleveland.com, we should have a status update from the Cavaliers to come now-this week.

That’s positive news for the Cavs, clearly, as even though Love will likely have some rust a bit in his return, when that comes, relatively soon after, he should provide key spacing/shooting. Love hit 37.4 percent of a career-high 7.0 three-point attempts per game last season, and had a solid 17.6 points per contest.

Love should help in the secondary playmaking and defensive rebounding realm considerably, too.

What I’m looking forward to seeing, though, is Love feasibly for spurts and/or seemingly stretches alongside Jarrett Allen for the Cavs at the 4/5.

Love could mesh so well in spurts/stretches with Allen for the Cavs.

I’d more so expect Love in the early going when he’s back to be playing alongside Andre Drummond, of whom, even while, per rumors/reports, could seemingly be traded by the March 25 deadline, I’d think could stick around a good chunk to come.

The Cavs haven’t seen the two as a frontcourt pairing much, but in the case with Allen, who will almost certainly be locked up long-term this coming offseason, I’m really looking forward to seeing Love with him, I’d think for stretches.

Allen, who was terrific starting in place of Drummond (lower back soreness) in Cleveland’s win on Monday versus the Minnesota Timberwolves in the second leg of their home-and-home back-to-back, has fit in so well.

Since being acquired via trade from the Brooklyn Nets, primarily in a backup 5 role for Drummond, Allen’s had 13.4 points, 7.8 rebounds and a team-leading 2.0 blocks in 25.1 minutes per contest in his eight games with the Cavs thus far.

And his presence/willingness as a roller/screener in settled offense, and also with the ability to convert after going rim-to-rim in secondary transition, has paid dividends for players such as Darius Garland, Collin Sexton and Cedi Osman, among others.

That sort of thing I believe will enable Kevin Love to mesh so well in instances with him as a frontcourt partner, too. That’s especially with how Love is such a polished catch-and-shoot player/mid-post threat, and is a willing passer that should be able to hit some pocket passes/looks over-the-top to Allen, too.

Along with his rolling gravity, Allen could be a key off-ball screening presence for Love as well, which could be really tough for opposing bigs to handle. And that could lead to relatively easy deliveries from Garland/Sexton, Osman/Dylan Windler and/or Damyean Dotson, resulting in high quality looks for the Cavs, who, per Bickerstaff, will be looking to generate more three-point looks looking onward.

Now, to of course get it out there, Love himself is a player that’s been perpetually mentioned in trade rumors, and per a report from Jason Dumas of KRON 4 News last week, the Nets were said to have interest in Love. Those rumors didn’t seemingly gain much traction from there, though, albeit the thought of Love potentially being traded is again, nothing new.

Sam Amico of OutKick and Forty Eight Minutes also noted in a recent report that the Cavs, who are looking to deal Drummond, will look to do the same with Love when he is healthy. But given Love’s injury history and his contract, it’s hardly a walk in the park to actually move Love for Cleveland.

I could feasibly foresee it being more likely this offseason, when Love will have only two years left on his deal, albeit perhaps if Love seems fully bought-in, and looks to fit particularly well in stretches with Allen at the 5, maybe he’ll stick around longer.

We’ll have to see ultimately, but either way, I personally would expect Love, when he is back in the fold/more comfortable after a bit, to mesh so well with Allen when those stretches do come.

Perhaps we’ll see Larry Nance Jr., when he’s more so healthier/recovered regarding his current right wrist sprain, continue to do well in spurts/stretches with Allen like before when he was at times in the past few weeks, too.

And maybe in some spurts Nance at the 3 alongside Love-Allen could be a nice wrinkle for Cleveland at times even.