Cavs seem to be in a win-win situation in regards to Kevin Love

This season was a successful one for the Cleveland Cavaliers, as the team turned a corner on a number of fronts, and doubled their win total from the previous season.

Darius Garland and Jarrett Allen made All-Star leaps, Evan Mobley just missed out on Rookie of the Year honors (and was robbed, I believe), and there were plenty of positives.

Undoubtedly, one of those other ones was Kevin Love. Coming into this now-past season, it was difficult to project what the Cavaliers might get from Love.

Love appeared in only 25 seasons the season prior, and when he was available, he wasn’t able to establish much of a rhythm. Plus, the season before that one, and also at times in 2020-21, there were visible moments of frustration from Love in games, and based on him being disgruntled at times in recent years prior to 2021-22, it was tough to know if Love would be truly bought-in.

That was even more so in relation to it seeming to be likely that Love would be shifted to a bench role heading into this last season. Love was reportedly bought into that, but one had to see that for some portion of time first, and it wasn’t simple to have an idea of if Love could be effective in a reduced minutes-share, either.

Fortunately, Love was outstanding in this shift to a bench role, and he often provided a notable lift for the Cavaliers off the bench. In just 22.5 minutes per contest, the veteran stretch big had 13.6 points and 7.2 rebounds per game and connected on 39.2 percent of his three-point attempts.

Love even finished second in Sixth Man of the Year voting this season, which was warranted, with how he was a player that immensely helped a predominantly young Cavs team nearly make the postseason.

With next season in mind, I still do believe Love could be an impactful player for Cleveland, based on what we saw in a reduced minutes-share for him in 2021-22. And if his minutes are managed in a similar manner, for the most part, next year, the team could preserve him health-wise, which could also help his efficiency.

That being said, Love will be on an expiring deal in 2022-23, and following next season, is currently set to be an unrestricted free agent. So, theoretically, he could be a potential trade asset, and is set to make $28.9 million, in that realm.

Either way, though, I personally think heading into next season, the Cavaliers are in a win-win scenario when it comes to Love.

The Cavs seem to be in a win-win situation in regards to Love.

As we’ve emphasized, Love being moved to a bench role worked very well, and he was a player entrenched in the Sixth Man of the Year conversation all season. If Cleveland can have him in a similar role next season, if he can stay healthy, as he did this season, aside from a COVID-19 health and safety protocols absence, there could be a similar result, I think.

I’m not saying that’s a guarantee, of course, as we’re well aware of Love’s injury history. He’s set to be in his age-34 season, also.

Even still, I’m confident the Cavaliers and Love can do their damndest to keep him available, for the most part.

Now, as far as the other side of the spectrum we touched on, the win-win situation with Love relates to him being a potential expiring trade piece. That’s if the team were able to land an impact wing as part of a possible package, perhaps with salary filler, one would assume in that sense if Love were involved.

The Cavaliers have been reportedly linked to guys such as Jerami Grant, Gordon Hayward, Harrison Barnes and Gary Trent Jr., among others, as potential trade targets. Chris Fedor of Cleveland.com expressed that in a report in a recent appearance with Michael Scotto of HoopsHype, in that realm, where Fedor touched on free agency, among other topics, too.

Anyway, generally, while I wouldn’t necessarily be opposed to a short-term extension at a fairly reasonable number, if possible, for Love, the Cavs are in a good start regarding his outlook.

Maybe they ride it out with him again this season, where maybe he is re-signed next offseason, or perhaps he’s moved as an expiring player at some point before or during this next season.

With him seemingly being in a great place with the team, either way, maybe he could return this next offseason, in theory. Regardless, the Cavaliers seem to be in a win-win scenario with Love, which was definitely not the case all that long ago.