Cavs: Kevin Love’s off-ball presence will provide lift when he’s back

We haven’t seen Kevin Love in game action for the Cleveland Cavaliers since Dec. 27, as he’s been sidelined due to a high-grade right calf strain, of which was reaggravated in a game versus the Philadelphia 76ers.

Love has seemingly been coming along, though, and has reportedly participated in shooting workouts prior to recent games for the Wine and Gold pre-All-Star break. Albeit Love being back in Cleveland’s second half opener at the New Orleans Pelicans on Friday is probably wishful thinking, factoring in reports.

Larry Nance Jr., for what it’s worth, is expected to be back in that one; he’s been sidelined for a while because of a fractured fourth metacarpal on his left hand.

So with Love, we’ll have to see ultimately when he is back in game action for the Cavaliers. The added time for the All-Star break could’ve helped, on the plus side, and perhaps we’ll see Love, who does seem to be progressing, fairly soon.

Cleveland has missed his shooting, clearly, and realistically, the off-ball presence he has, in regards to settled offense, when he’s back, should make a difference.

Love’s off-ball presence will provide a lift for the Cavs when he’s back.

Granted, earlier on, injuries played into it, along with plenty of Andre Drummond-centric clunky offense, but all things considered, the Cavs have made the least amount of three-point attempts per game, and attempted the least.

The likes of Darius Garland and Collin Sexton have been getting more of those looks up in recent games, though.

And while he does need to improve on it looking onward, Isaac Okoro has shown less hesitation and hit a better 34.3 percent from there in his past 10 games. It’s been nice to see Dylan Windler seemingly have some momentum, as a cutter/somewhat as a shooter heading into the season’s second half, additionally.

Nonetheless, Love’s presence off the ball, from a spacing standpoint, should help open up driving lanes more for Garland and Sexton, to go with Okoro, I’d imagine. As games progress, that sort of thing should lead to more productive ball-swings, leading to wide-open looks from the perimeter for the young guards, Dylan Windler and/or Cedi Osman/Taurean Prince.

Osman and Prince have been rumored to be available via trade, though, as a side note, and Osman has trade interest from the Brooklyn Nets and LA Clippers, for what it’s worth, and the Golden State Warriors have interest, per a report from Sam Amico of Forty Eight Minutes and OutKick. Amico also reported how the Warriors could be willing to send one of their young players in a deal for Osman.

Love has been a player often mentioned in trade rumors himself, per Amico’s report, and the Dallas Mavericks and Sacramento Kings at least have “a passing interest” in Love, whereas the Portland Trail Blazers’, per Amico, “never really left.”

With Love, however, considering he’s 32, and with the injury history, and bloated contract, it still would seem far-fetched that during this season, he’ll actually be moved.

When is back from injury, anyhow, it’s apparent that Love could still really help the Cleveland Cavaliers in the second half of the season, and again, the off-ball presence he has comes to mind. The spacing element for driving threats, cutters and with better ball/man movement playing off that from Love being in there should pay dividends.

Love is not the low-post presence, at least in terms of volume, he once was, but he is still capable in the mid-post as a shooter/face-up guy, and he did hit 2.6 of a career-high 7.0 three-point attempts per game in 2019-20, a 37.4 percent clip. And we know he should definitely help Cleveland in regards to defensive rebounding, as he had 8.8 defensive rebounds per outing last season.

Plus, similarly to Nance, Love is a gifted passing big himself that had a solid 3.2 assists per game last season.

Moreover, while it’s not necessarily a news flash, it’s still clear that with his ability to shoot at a high level from the perimeter via spot-ups and off movement, and with him being a key player in off-ball screens, Love’s presence off-ball should provide a real lift for the Cavs when he’s back.

Hopefully that’s sooner rather than later. And from my perspective, a potential Love trade could seemingly be more likely in the offseason.