The play of Kevin Love in this new bench role for him has proven to be a boost for the Cleveland Cavaliers, who have the look of a legitimate postseason team this season, and are fifth in the Eastern Conference at 20-13.
The Cavaliers may have two All-Stars this season for the first since 2017-18, with this go-round potentially having Darius Garland and Jarrett Allen representing the club. Evan Mobley has been everything the Cavs could have hoped for and more in his rookie season, too, and has the makings of a dynamite two-way contributor for years to come.
It’s still unfortunate that the Cavaliers will be without Collin Sexton for the rest of the season, and I do still hope that he’s a guy that sticks around via new deal next offseason; we’ll have to see.
Regardless of that for Sexton though, it has helped that Cleveland has gotten quality play out of veterans in Ricky Rubio and Kevin Love, too, with both seemingly having full-buy-in, even moving to bench roles this season. That duo has been huge for the Cavaliers in their minutes, and as a two-man pairing, their connection has often been right on-point, as it often was with the two as teammates in their first stint together with the Minnesota Timberwolves.
It’s understandable that the Cavs have reportedly had internal conversations about potentially extending the currently-expiring Rubio as well.
But circling back, it’s been great to see Love back as an impactful player, and one that’s seemingly healthy, for the most part, this season. After a forgettable 2020-21 campaign in which he was only active in 25 of a possible 72 games, had a career-low 24.9 minutes per game and had his lowest points per game average (12.2) since his rookie year with Minnesota, Love has been very effective in the shift to a bench role.
I know he’s not going to live up to his bloated compensation thanks to that contract extension he was signed to in the summer of 2018, and we know that. That said, this role change has paid dividends for him, has and will likely help preserve him, and the offensive juice he’s given the team, and Love being a stabilizer off the bench, has been big for this group.
On the year he’s had a solid 12.8 points per outing, and has hit 41.2 percent from three-point range on 5.4 attempts per game, and has tacked on 7.4 rebounds in averaging 20.0 minutes as a reserve.
He started the season slow from three, but has been lighting it up since an eight-game absence because of COVID-19 health and safety protocols, and he’s aided the team as a passer, too. Generally, Love has helped as a reserve steadying presence.
Love continues to be a stabilizing force for the Cavs, almost exclusively off the bench.
Love had been making a difference for Cleveland early on in the season before heading into COVID-19 protocols, even with him shooting sub-21 percent from three in his first eight games. The defensive effort, of all things, was there from him in reserve minutes, and Love had been doing nice work inside the arc as a low-post presence against mismatches, and had been good in the mid-post.
That has still occurred when the opportunities have been there for Love, and in his reserve minutes, Love has been able to get to the free throw line a fair amount, too. In Love’s last 10 outings, he’s been there 3.1 times per game in 19.8 minutes, and on the season, has been near-automatic, at 94.3 percent.
Overall, that play, combined with Love being red-hot from three, has been big for Cleveland off the bench, aside from his spot start against the heavily-depleted Toronto Raptors, which was a clobbering by the Cavs on Sunday by 45 points. In that one, Love tied for the team lead with Darius Garland with 22 points, and regardless of the circumstances, he kept up his shooting from three, and went 6-of-9 from there.
Furthermore, Love has connected on 47.1 percent from there in his last 10 games, and that spacing and catch-and-shoot play, combined with Love’s pump fakes, has led to him giving the Cavs juice in his time in since his return.
And the perimeter shooting, heady decision-making in the mid-post, also as a secondary playmaker, and Love’s sense of feeling out double teams and hitting open teammates, has been crucial for Cleveland.
Now, again, Love’s role has been reduced this season, but him placing in the 84th percentile in assist rate at 15.6 percent, per Cleaning The Glass, has shown he’s been providing a key impact off the bench. And that sort of thing helps out Garland and Rubio a bit, and Love has always hit cutters well, which we’ve seen more of in in the past few weeks.
Moreover, hopefully as the Cavs get some crucial guys back from COVID-19 health and safety protocols, such as Mobley and Allen, we continue to see Love as a bench stabilizer, provided he stays healthy.
If Love keeps playing this way, even with him 33, perhaps he can be a notable bench contributor for the remainder this season, maybe in a potential postseason run and next year. We’ll have to see regarding health and/or potential trades, though.