Kevin Love has shifted to a bench role this season for the Cleveland Cavaliers, which was reportedly likely to occur, heading into the year. That was the right move by Cleveland, and while he hasn’t lived up to his contract in recent seasons, largely because of injuries, and there’s been visible frustration in-game in other instances, Love has seemed to be fully bought-in this year.
I give him his credit for that, and though an extended absence for him because of COVID-19 health and safety protocols was a blow, and the threes haven’t been consistent, Love in general has aided the Cavs when he’s been in.
He missed nearly three weeks due to COVID-19 protocols, and did reportedly have a tough bout with the virus, to reiterate; on the plus side, he’s seemingly back now, and has been involved in the last five games.
On the year, and even in the games the Cavaliers were banged up and missing some key guys, which played into them having lost five straight games prior to Saturday’s win over the Orlando Magic, Love has still typically provided a lift. He hasn’t blown any doors off with 10.3 points per outing, but in 20.5 minutes on average this season, that’s been alright and his spacing element makes a difference.
He’s shot only 27.8 percent from three-point range on the season so far, which hasn’t been stellar, however, his finishing and post-ups/mid-post work at times have aided Cleveland. And in two areas, outside of the scoring sense, I believe he’s helped the squad out.
We’ll take a closer look at those two areas that Love has aided the Cavs, in particular, here.
The first has been his passing presence in rotational minutes.
#1: Love’s passing has helped the Cavs in bench stretches
I get that Love is not going to be a primary playmaking presence, such as Darius Garland or Ricky Rubio, in his minutes. One understands that.
In his bench minutes though, whether he’s playing with Evan Mobley (who returned versus Orlando from being sidelined due to a right elbow sprain) or not, who is a heck of a passing big too, Love’s continually provided a secondary playmaking presence.
He’s always been a gifted passing big, as we’ve seen over the course of his tenure with the Cavaliers, and even with his role being reduced this season, he’s helped out in that way again. Love’s not going to have the most guady playmaking splits as mostly a backup 4 at this point, no; he’s had 3.2 assists per-36 minutes so far this year, in which he’s made 12 appearances.
That said, he’s consistently made good decisions when logical playmaking chances have come for him, and has done a nice job in quickly initiating ball-swings when that’s been feasible. Whether he’s done so in anticipation of double teams, hitting precise outlet passes after defensive rebounds, at times out of the high-post, his great passing feel and timing has made a difference in his minutes for the Cavs.
Thus far this season, I know the sample size has been only 12 games; regardless, Love has placed in the 81st percentile in assist rate amongst bigs at 14.6 percent, per Cleaning The Glass. He’s also not turned it over too often, as he’s placed in the 86th percentile in turnover rate amongst bigs at 8.5 percent, also according to Cleaning The Glass.
Even amid the catch-and-shoot inconsistencies early on this season for Love, who is a far, far better shooter than his three-point hit rate in these games this year to this point have shown, his secondary playmaking has helped cutters and other shooters out.
In bench stretches, I don’t discount that for him, and it can aid the likes of Rubio and, to some degree, Garland, too.
From there, Love’s defensive glass work and actually effort on the defensive end, particularly as a rotator, has aided the Cavs.
#2: Love’s defensive rebounding and effort on that end for the Cavs have helped as well
Secondly, Love’s defensive rebounding and effort, particularly as a rotator, have helped the Wine and Gold in his stretches out there.
Love’s had 7.8 rebounds in those aforementioned 20.5 minutes per game, with 6.6 of those being on the defensive glass.
When healthy, Love has always been especially active on the defensive glass in helping close out possessions, and while Cleveland as a team does still need to clean up their defensive rebounding game-to-game, Love has helped do so when he’s on the floor. This season has been no exception in that realm.
Among NBA players that have appeared in at least 10 games and have averaged at least 10 minutes per appearance this season, Love ranks fifth in defensive rebounding percentage at 30.2 percent, per NBA.com. That glass cleaning from the veteran big when he’s been in there for the Cavaliers has been no small thing, and hopefully, provided he can remain healthy, that continues.
Along with the rebounding on the defensive end, it’s been nice to see give great effort, particularly as a rotator to shooters and aid the team as a strong side helper when needed.
I acknowledge it’s still very early on in the season, and it’s been 12 games. Still, as compared to other points when his effort has seemingly been inconsistent as a rotator in recent seasons when he has been available, Love’s closeouts have been better and it’s had a positive impact.
Love has closed out under control when needed off-ball, and thanks largely to his timing and attention to detail, he’s placed in the 70th percentile in primary defense against spot-up threats, per Synergy Sports. That’s an encouraging sign from the 33-year-old, and it’s been on a 38.0 percent frequency, per Synergy.
Anyway, as we stated, Love hasn’t been able to consistently knock down catch-and-shoot and/or pick-and-pop looks yet from three.
But he has helped out in other ways in rotational minutes, and I do believe if he stays regularly involved, he can get going again in those bench stretches as a catch-and-shoot guy. The shooting capabilities from him will always be there, and either way, his shooting reputation aids the team in his minutes still.