Cavs: Ranking the 5 best 3-point shooters on the roster

Cavs: Ranking the 5 best 3-point shooters on the roster – Kevin Love

There are a lot of things Kevin Love is not at this point in his career. He is not worth the $31.26 million he will make this season. He is not an All-Star big man. He is not a walking double-double. He is likely not a starter, and similarly he may not be healthy. He is not in his prime. If there is one thing he is, however, it’s a shooter.

As Kevin Love’s athleticism and health decline, he will be less able to impact the game as an inside force, as a rebounder or a go-to scorer. What will age well for him is his shooting ability, something he honed as the ultimate stretch-big playing off of LeBron James. He has taken at least 5.1 3-pointers per game since his fourth season in the league, 2011-12, and has taken as many as seven a game in 2019-20. His career 3-point percentage is 37 percent, just above league average overall but excellent for a stretch-big.

Love’s shooting is no fluke, either, as he hasn’t shot lower than 36 percent in any season in Cleveland, and his free-throw shooting is an excellent 84.7 percent. He has a pure stroke and can get it off quickly despite his height, making it very hard to block.

With Jarrett Allen and Evan Mobley entrenched as the bigs of the future, Love will have to find a way to contribute not as a star but as a role player. That niche is open to him if he can focus on being an elite shooter, and along with Lauri Markkanen would give the Cavs plenty of offensive versatility with their lineups. Play — read: shoot — well this season and he could hit the buyout market and earn a role on a contender.