Did the Cavaliers make a mistake letting Kevin Love go?

If you Love them set them free

At the time of his release, Koby Altman and the Cavs did not envision a way for Love to stay consistent in the rotation. Their logic was understandable, thinking Evan Mobley and Jarrett Allen would be capable of taking turns holding down the paint. In a world where Allen has a series reminiscent of his regular season performance, Love wouldn’t have a role getting minutes on this team because of his lack of defense. However, Allen was absolutely dominated inside anyway, and at least Love would’ve provided shooting and some more rebounding.

Erik Spoelstra and the Heat’s unusual consistent use of zone defense allows for Love to be hidden for longer durations on the defensive end. Along with that, nobody in the NBA Finals has shown the ability to slow Nikola Jokic down, making it less frustrating when Jokic gets a bucket on him.

All in all, the Cavs at their best did not have a consistent role for Kevin Love to get minutes. He would’ve only seen big minutes versus the Knicks once the series was swaying in the Knicks’ favor and we desperately tried to add shooting. I doubt Love was okay with being out of the rotation, and the organization and city owed it to him to let him go somewhere he can contribute. The decision ended up being a mistake, but only because Cleveland’s players did not perform nearly up to the level that they are capable of.