Cavs’ Kevin Love will get his, but he’ll help maximize others off bench, too

In the upcoming season for the Cleveland Cavaliers, and in this case, Kevin Love, I’d think that we should see him in thrive again.

Last season, Love was shifted to a key bench role for Cleveland, and the move probably worked out better than anybody could’ve anticipated. The move preserved Love’s health throughout the season, he was very efficient when he was out there, and he gave the club a notable boost on plenty of occasions.

After a season where he was only active in 25 games, and a season prior with ups and downs, and with visible moments of frustration in the two seasons prior, Love appeared to be in a good place, and it helped lead to a resurgent campaign. That aided the group as a whole, too, in what was quite a turnaround for the Cavaliers, as they nearly made the postseason.

As for Love himself, he had 13.6 points and 7.2 rebounds in 22.5 minutes per outing, and for his impact on the club, he actually placed second in the NBA in Sixth Man of the Year voting. His catch-and-shoot play, defensive rebounding and presence on the floor gave the Cavs a key lift for stretches.

I would imagine we’ll see get his share of looks this coming season as well, given how last season was so successful. Athough, paired with that, this next go-round, provided he stays healthy, he could aid in maximizing other guys, to a large degree, too.

Love will get his chances assuredly, but he’ll help maximize others in his minutes off the bench also.

We know what Love can provide as a knockdown shooter off the bench for the Wine and Gold. He’s second in team history in three-pointers made, and if he can stay mostly healthy this season, I could see him rising up the ranks in team history in regards to threes made off the bench.

If Collin Sexton is back, and with Ochai Agbaji seemingly in the fold for the bench, Love’s three-point volume could be reduced a bit, objectively. Even with that in mind, he should still have his share of opportunities; 6.4 deep attempts per contest in 2022-23 would seem to be a bit on the high end, in fairness.

What is again apparent to me, though, is even with him in a reduced role again, after last season, he’ll still aid the club in terms of maximizing other guys offensively around him.

As we’ve emphasized, even with Love not nearly what he once was, and with him set to be entering his age-34 season, he’s still one of the game’s best stretch bigs. Love connected on 39.2 percent of his three-point attempts last season, too.

Love’s shooting/spacing presence for stretches can help guys such as Darius Garland, LeVert, Sexton (if he’s back/potentially signed long-term), Evan Mobley and others. That element still, to some extent, might be a bit underrated as far as Love’s value for Cleveland, albeit in less minutes.

Either way, for the Cavaliers, I would expect him to again figure to be one of their best catch-and-shoot guys, along with Lauri Markkanen, for instance. Last season, he led the club in triples made, doing so off the bench, and I don’t discount his secondary playmaking/ball movement feel for stretches, coupled with that.

To that point, it was notable that in 2021-22, Love placed in the 82nd percentile in assist rate among bigs at 15.1 percent, per Cleaning The Glass. He’s long been a meaningful ball mover for the Cavs in that realm, and at times in games, I’d imagine we could see him again initiating things a bit out of the high and mid-post, where he often makes great decisions.

Plus, as we alluded to, Love is still a very effective defensive rebounder for Cleveland when he’s in there, and he can also help get other guys great looks after those plays with his touchdown passes on fastbreaks. Those can really get the team going and at times ignite runs, too.

So, in general, while he could potentially be an expiring trade piece for the Cavaliers, given that the club has found their imprint for Love after last year, I’d look for him to again be a crucial bench contributor, mentor and feasibly stick through the next deadline.

Perhaps next offseason, he and the Cavs might agree on a pretty reasonable deal to close out his career, based on his shooting abilities, if he can again be preserved this coming season health-wise and is impactful.