Cavs clearly have their blueprint for Kevin Love after last season

Last season had to have been considered a success when it comes to the subject of Kevin Love, relating to the Cleveland Cavaliers.

This past offseason, it was a relative unknown as to what the Cavaliers would be getting out of him. It was rumored that he’d be moved to a bench role, and while in theory, that seemed wise, given his injury history, it was tough to know if he’d be able to be effective in a role change, and if he could establish a real rhythm.

Fortunately, the move was objectively a dynamite call, for the most part. It paid dividends for the team and Love himself.

He had 13.6 points, 7.2 rebounds and 2.2 assists per outing, which gave the team a lift, and was notable, with how he was playing only 22.5 minutes per game. The veteran stretch big connected on 39.2 percent of his three-point attempts, and despite the minutes trim, led the team in threes made with 187. That was the third-most in a single season in Cavaliers history, which was not too shabby.

Love eventually finished second in voting for the NBA’s Sixth Man of the Year award, and it was great to see him give the Cavaliers quite the lift off the bench. The buy-in was there, and it was just refreshing to see him be a difference-maker again for Cleveland, and for him to have been healthy.

The role shift had a significant effect in how that preserved him, and he was very efficient. When it comes to next season/maybe onward, a key takeaway from last season was that the Cavs have their blueprint with Love, too, which was something I definitely don’t discount.

After the 2021-22 campaign, the Cavs should have their Love blueprint.

We know that the injury concerns with Love have been there, and it was logical to have him in mostly a supersub-type role last season. That factored into him being available, and efficient in his minutes.

With Evan Mobley, Jarrett Allen and Lauri Markkanen being involved, this was a necessary move, too, as it seems both the Cavaliers/J.B. Bickerstaff and Love it appears acknowledged prior to last season. The move paid off for both sides as well, and next season, I do still believe we should see Love be an impactful piece again for Cleveland in his minutes, I’d assume most of which will come from him being a bench contributor.

Love is still obviously one of the NBA’s best shooting bigs, and last year, he led the Cavaliers in three-pointers made, and was third in team history for made deep balls in a single season, as we expressed. Next season, I’d imagine that his chemistry with Darius Garland should reach a new level in their time together, and with Mobley’s passing abilities, he and Love should play better off one another.

While the volume won’t be particularly notable, we could still see Love at times take advantage in the mid-post as well, and as he’s shown throughout his tenure with Cleveland, he still can be effective as a secondary playmaker. I’m not going to suggest Love’s going to be an offensive hub in this sense at this point in his career, but in some bench stretches, he could still provide a lift in that regard, here and there at least.

Also, though I’m not suggesting he’s going to be a key defender, given the limitations, with Mobley/Allen in with him some, and/or Isaac Okoro/Lamar Stevens, Love could help in the team sense defensively. He was far better with the role change last season there in stretches, and tied for the league lead in the regular season in charges drawn with 26 per NBA.com’s hustle data. But in some matchups, clearly, adjustments have to be made with his mobility concerns, of course.

Overall, however, based on how last season played out with him, it was meaningful for the Cavs to have their blueprint with Love for 2022-23, and despite him being potentially an expiring trade piece, with what he gave Cleveland last season, perhaps he could stick around longer. That’s via fairly team-friendly extension, in that sense.

Love will be in his age-34 season in the next one to come, which will be Year 15. But with the approach last year in mind, he could again be a crucial bench contributor, and help a still-young core hopefully continue to climb.