In this 2022-23 season ahead for the Cleveland Cavaliers, and moving forward, we knew who the key cogs are for the Wine and Gold. The updated four core guys looking onward are going to Darius Garland, Donovan Mitchell, Evan Mobley and Jarrett Allen.
Who knows? Perhaps this coming season, all four of them could end up being All-Stars, too. Allen ended up being named an All-Star as essentially an injury replacement, but his play was that of an All-Star player, regardless, and it was really cool to see and Garland both the then-hometown Cavaliers in the 2022 All-Star Game with Team LeBron.
As far as others, though, the Wine and Gold do need other guys to contribute in the year ahead, too, and players such as Caris LeVert, Isaac Okoro and Dean Wade come to mind as role players that will be called upon to help that core. When he’s back from injury recovery from an ACL tear, which could potentially be January, or maybe December, Ricky Rubio should again give the club a lift as well, I believe.
But one of the players that I’m really exciting to see play for the Cavaliers in this 2022-23 season ahead, also, is Kevin Love.
Love is a player that I’d expect to again be a crucial bench contributor for the Cavs, and last year, he excelled in a shift to a supersub-type role, which preserved him health-wise, and he was very efficient.
Love actually led the Cavaliers in three-pointers made with 187, had 13.6 points and 7.2 rebounds in only 22.5 minutes per game, and for his impact, finished second in voting for the NBA’s Sixth Man of the Year Award.
So with said, what are a few lineups we could see Love involved in this upcoming season, then?
With that in mind, we’ll examine three potential lineups with Love the Cavs could deploy this year.
Alrighty, let’s get into that then, folks.
Modified tall-ball: Darius Garland-Donovan Mitchell-Evan Mobley-Kevin Love-Jarrett Allen
The first lineup that seemed sensible to examine would be a five-man group of Darius Garland, Donovan Mitchell, Evan Mobley, Love and Jarrett Allen. It’d essentially be a “modified tall-ball lineup,” with the same premise applying here as last season when Cleveland was healthier, with Lauri Markkanen as a de facto 3, then with Mobley and Allen at the 4/5.
With Mobley’s athleticism, fluidity, defensive abilities, and passing feel, I could foresee him filling in some again at the 3 this season, as he did, to some degree at times, last season.
This is a lineup that it appears the Cavaliers could theoretically utilize for stretches this coming season, and it was suggested that Mobley could potentially fill in at the 3 in some lineups. And with Mobley and Love both being very effective passing bigs, this lineup could be one to deploy for stretches. Coupled with that, it’d be a lineup that’d bring that three-big look again for Cleveland, which did pay off for the Cavaliers last season, which we alluded to.
In this lineup, offensively, I’d look for Cleveland to be able to have some great pick-and-pop opportunities on the wing between Garland/Mitchell and Love, which could put a ton of pressure on opposing defenses, particularly with both of those guards being capable of throwing on-time hook passes to Love.
Those plays can get Love going himself with great catch-and-shoot looks, or lead to baseline drives in gaps, which could lead to pull-ups, or for Mitchell/Garland to hit Allen or Mobley on the weak side near the rim.
In other sequences, I’d imagine this season, we could see some dribble handoffs between Love and Mobley in this lineup, leading to Mobley initiating off of drives, conversely, and he could get to in-rhythm elbow looks. Or, as a counter to that, Mobley could look to make passes to the either wing for either Mitchell, Garland or to Love in the weak side corner.
As we touched on, before, though, with the vision and secondary playmaking abilities of Mobley and Love, at 6-foot-11 and 6-foot-8, respectively, this could be a lineup we see a decent amount in middle stretches this season.
The balanced group: Darius Garland-Caris LeVert-Dean Wade-Kevin Love-Jarrett Allen
For the second unit I’d be intrigued to see with Love involved, Darius Garland, Caris LeVert, Dean Wade and Jarrett Allen could be the group.
In this one, Garland would again often be at the controls, where his pick-and-roll play with Allen would continually put pressure on opposing defenses. We know what those two can do in tandem throughout games, for one.
Off that, though, Wade and Love could benefit as shooters from the threat of that duo, and with LeVert’s driving capabilities as perhaps the primary rim pressure presence on-ball here, Wade and Love could have knockdown catch-and-shoot looks from as well. Whether or not LeVert does end up starting for Cleveland at the 3, he should have much-improved chemistry with Love in the 2022-23 campaign, when both share the floor for stretches.
Now, on the defensive end of the floor, there are some concerns, but Allen and Wade can help here, and if the Cavaliers can have Garland and LeVert funneling ball handlers to help and Cleveland can force tougher twos, they could manage.
And on the other end of the floor, with man and ball movement being a priority for stretches with this group, they should be able to generate a number of quality looks from deep. With the defensive rebounding of Love and Allen, and to some degree, Wade, this potential five-man unit could be able to hit some touchdown feeds from time to time, or in secondary breaks, hit Love or Wade as trailers, also.
The Rubio Show: Ricky Rubio-Donovan Mitchell-Dean Wade-Kevin Love-Evan Mobley
For the third potential Cavs lineup involving Love I’d be particularly interested to see this season, I went with Ricky Rubio, Donovan Mitchell, Dean Wade and Evan Mobley in this group. This would figure to be a five-man unit we could see more so in the second half of the year, for context; I’m calling this one “The Rubio Show,” for now.
I’m not anticipating we’ll see Rubio be quite what he was as a scoring presence last season in his 34 appearances for Cleveland, in which he had 13.1 points per game as a supersub, in fairness. Despite that, in this sort of lineup, I do believe with how him and Mitchell played their share of minutes together with Utah, they could be an impressive backcourt pairing for stretches again in Cleveland when Rubio is back.
With the playmaking those two can provide, it could lead to a number of open looks for Love himself on catch-and-shoots, and Wade, off of that, could stand to benefit himself with the shooting threat both Mitchell and Love possess. Rest assured, Rubio would be able to throw dimes to Wade in those instances.
Or, alternatively, if Mitchell is attacking downhill from Rubio deliveries to start possessions off, he’d be able to hit looks on the inside himself, or Mitchell should be able to throw feeds to Love on the weak side if help is looking to take away dumpoffs to Mobley. Strong side dishes to Wade could be viable as well, in said sequences.
From there, in this lineup, perhaps we could see Cleveland look to have Mobley at times initiate more from the elbows, where he could look to shooters, or play two-man games with Rubio via handoffs, leading to either being able to have a two-way go or fake to the other off that. That could result in meaningful drives and/or interior attempts at the rim, or with the vision of both, the three other shooters on the perimeter could be open for catch-and-shoots.
Anyways, as it pertains to Love, he’s definitely a piece that I believe should be able to help a number of other Cavaliers players again this season, provided he’s mostly healthy. He missed the last three preseason games because of him banging his knee on another player in the first preseason game at the Philadelphia 76ers, but those absences were due to precaution. He is 34, so I understood the reasoning there.
In any case, that isn’t anything to really be concerned about, I believe, and generally, this coming season, we should see Love make a big difference in that bench role, just like in his resurgent 2021-22 campaign. With his shooting impact, I do believe we could see him in a number of different lineups throughout middle stretches of games, especially, and perhaps at times in closing units.