This past season, Kevin Love was one of the best players for the Cleveland Cavaliers, posting a solid statline of 13.6 points, 7.2 rebounds, and 2.2 assists per night, being one of the best bench players in the league last season. He came in second place in the voting for the NBA’s Sixth Man of the Year, losing out to the Miami Heat’s Tyler Herro. What is more impressive, in my opinion, is how many games Love played this past season.
He played 74 regular season games in 2021-22, which was a big step from the year prior, only playing in 25 games. From the 2018-19 season to the 2020-21 season, Love played in 103 games total.
Regardless of COVID-19-impacted seasons recently, it’s been clear that Love had been very injury prone, so it was great to see him healthy last season in this bench role, aside from a COVID-19-related set of absences early on. Love also played the most games on the team in 2021-22. Evan Mobley played 69 games, which was second on the team.
I think Love will have another great season next year, and should be a solid contributor for the Cavaliers, barring anything major happening. Will he come off the bench still? If Evan Mobley or Jarrett Allen get hurt, I’d not be surprised to see him in the starting lineup occasionally. But, if neither of those players get injured, I’d think Love would be in the realm of sixth man, given how he was so impactful in a bench role last season.
So, in relation to next season, here, we’ll touch on two realistic expectations I have for Love next season with the Wine and Gold.