Cavs: LeBron James leads the Cavaliers’ All-2010s Team

Cleveland Cavaliers All-2010s Team – F: Kevin Love

Kevin Love spent the first six seasons of his career, and the first half of the decade, putting up double-doubles for the Minnesota Timberwolves but never once making the postseason. That changed for him when the Cavs were made aware the LeBron James was coming home, and the Timberwolves sent him to Cleveland in exchange for the last two first overall picks.

Love became the “Chris Bosh” of the new dynamic threesome, lowering his usage to focus on being hyper-efficient. Love’s ability to stretch the court out to the 3-point line was crucial in unlocking lineups for Cleveland, and even playing alongside rebound-vacuums in Tristan Thompson and LeBron James he averaged double-digits rebounds.

Unfortunately for Love, injuries reared their heads at times, including a shoulder injury inflicted on him by Kelly Olynyk in his first career postseason, and a concussion in the 2016 NBA Finals. Even so, he was on the court in the pivotal Game 7, famously holding up on defense against unanimous MVP Stephen Curry in the closing seconds. Irving had “The Shot” and James had “The Block” while Love got “The Stop.”

Once Irving was traded Love continued as James’ co-star for the team’s last run to the Finals in 2017-18, earning his second consecutive All-Star nod with the Cavs. He would stay with the team even after the departure of James, leading the team in scoring in 2018-19 when he was on the court, which was not very often due to a variety of maladies. All told he compiled 31.3 win shares in five seasons, averaging 17.1 points and 10 rebounds as the third star of the Cavs’ talented and title-winning triumvirate.