2022 NBA Draft prospect Caleb Love could help Cavs’ shot creation
By Dan Gilinsky
How Love would be a bench upgrade that could provide youthful energy
To the last point, Brandon Goodwin has done a decent job as a two-way contributor this season, and while he currently won’t be eligible for the postseason, he has done a pretty nice job in his opportunities. I don’t foresee there being a high likelihood that Goodwin were to be back next season, however, and though he could be a viable veteran presence, Rajon Rondo is currently dealing with an ankle sprain, and has been dealing with injury on and off in his time with the Cavs this season. He’s 36, too.
That brings me to the aforementioned Love, who is a sophomore at UNC, and will turn 21 during what should be his rookie campaign. It’s not necessarily a certainty that Love gets drafted, but even with inconsistencies and off games at times, such as his five-point performance in UNC’s win over Baylor in the tourney, he has shown he can fill it up in ACC play and in plenty of other occasions.
Love, who has had 15.3 points and 3.7 assists per contest this season for the Tar Heels, again has had highs and lows this season. Even still, he has had 16.2 points per outing this year in ACC play, and on a volume of 6.7 three-point attempts per contest, he’s connected on 36.7 percent of his deep attempts in conference play. He also has hit 86.8 percent of his free throws in his sophomore campaign.
While he’s not a great finisher in the paint at this point, Love could end up being a valuable shot creator in coming years for Cleveland in bench units, given his propensity to get hot from deep, and he’s more than capable of knocking down shots off-the-bounce.
He could make a noticeable impact in lineups with Garland/Sexton or LeVert for Cleveland in coming years, and Love could be a knockdown shooter working some more off-ball with the Wine and Gold for stretches.
In addition, even with him being a shoot-first player, the 6-foot-4, 195-pound Love could be a meaningful pick-and-roll presence that can be a solid playmaker in those situations in non-Garland stretches, too. He had 11 games of at least five assists in regular season play for UNC this season.