Why Kevin Love Is the Most Misused Player in the NBA
If Kevin Love leaves the Cleveland Cavaliers in the offseason, his role on offense will likely be the reason for his departure.
The 6’10”, 243-pound power forward has struggled to consistently find his niche with the Cavs this season.
Though Love is posting gaudy numbers, scoring 17.1 points per game and grabbing 10.5 rebounds, his involvement in head coach David Blatt’s system is bewildering and infuriating at times.
LeBron James sent a cryptic tweet that some believed was aimed at Love:
James offered some clarification after Cleveland's game against the Los Angeles Lakers on Feb. 8, saying, "It was more about people in general. It was a general thought I had. Obviously, whatever thought I have people try to encrypt it and Da Vinci code it. People are always trying to fit out instead of fit in and be part of something special. That's what it's all about."
Throughout all of this, Love has remained politically correct, showing his allegiance to the Cavs when asked about possibly joining the Lakers in the offseason:
One has to wonder whether or not Love will remain democratic if his involvement on offense continues to fluctuate.
Relegated as a Jump-Shooter
Part of what makes Love an intriguing player is his ability to step out to the perimeter and stretch the floor for his teammates.
He possesses solid range for a big man, shooting 35.7 percent from the three-point line for his career, but limiting the forward to spot-up shooting and pick-and-pop duties is a gross negligence of his overall talent.
Love’s perimeter scoring is best utilized when mixed in with his ability to score on the block and high post.
Cleveland is asking Love to mimic Chris Bosh’s role with the James-led Miami Heat and Ryan Anderson’s role with the Dwight Howard-led Orlando Magic. Unfortunately, Love is capable of doing more for an offense than those two players, but his creativity and talent are stifled in the rigidness of Blatt’s offense.
Charles Barkley said the following about Love’s role with the Cavaliers, via Bob Finan of The News-Herald: “I don’t care how many 3s he hits to start the game. I don’t want him relying exclusively on the 3. And I think LeBron and Kyrie Irving got to do a better job of getting him involved in the halfcourt, and not just standing out there shooting 3s.”
On Feb. 5 against the Los Angeles Clippers, Love posted 24 points, nine boards and three assists. On Feb. 6, he put up five points, eight rebounds and two assists against the Indiana Pacers.
Love said the following after the Pacers game, via Chris Haynes of the Northeast Ohio Media Group: "I felt last game I got in the post and got myself going and got to the free-throw line. Tonight I was more of a spacer so I wasn't necessarily being asked to score the ball tonight, but I felt LeBron [James] and Kyrie [Irving] and Timo [Mozgov] and those guys did a great job."
In that Pacers game, Love shot the ball only eight times, while Kyrie Irving hoisted 26, LeBron took 21 and J.R. Smith chucked 14 shots—12 of which were from the three-point line.
The 61 shots between those three players to Love’s eight displays the problem centered on Love’s involvement in the offense. Using the forward as a decoy to space the floor is a waste of his potential.
What He’s Capable Of
Lost in the shuffle of Love’s misuse on offense is his talent as a passer.
Love is capable of having an offense run through him on the high and low post, finding the open man cutting to the basket or in high-low situations with James and Timofey Mozgov.
Irving isn’t a pure passer, and James can’t have the offense consistently running through him at this stage of his career, or else Cleveland runs the risk of burning the superstar out before the playoffs start.
Love’s talent as a distributor fills those voids and can create a fluid offense that runs as well as those of the San Antonio Spurs or Atlanta Hawks.
Last season for the Minnesota Timberwolves, via NBA.com, Love had 8.4 assist opportunities per game. This season in Cleveland, he only has 4.1 opportunities per game.
Love’s value over replacement player is down from 7.3 in 2013-14 to 1.6 in 2014-15, and his win shares have decreased from 14.3 to 5.9, per Basketball-Reference.com.
His scoring isn’t the only issue in his “lackluster” performance this season—it’s his overall use on offense.
For Love to not be utilized as a passer and thrust into better scoring opportunities, his talent is wasted and his unbelievable skill set withers away as the Cavaliers play just well enough to be a top-five team in the Eastern Conference.
Per SI.com, James said the following about Love: "I think for Kevin, I think his confidence maybe just shooting the ball is a little down. But for me as a player, I got him good looks.”
Confidence isn’t the issue for Love, it’s his lack of true involvement in the offense that has his attention wavering and his passion teetering between excitement and indifference.
Solution
Instead of camping out on the three-point line consistently, Love needs to be involved on the block and elbow, giving him a chance to find some rhythm playing inside-out early and getting to the free-throw line.
Love alluded to this, per Haynes: "Sometimes just to get an easy touch shot or get to the free-throw line is how I've played my entire life. But if a look is there from three, I'm going to shoot. It definitely does change the game when I start inside, yes."
Blatt has been rather ho-hum on Love's involvement on offense, though:
"You people like to talk about a lot of the things that are in my mind, less important. We win 12 games in a row and everybody is talking about Kev's five-point game. I mean really, who gives a damn? What's important is that the team is winning and Kevin knows that and that's what's important.
Kevin Love's a great basketball player. That's a big game. You know you don't see guys have games like that everyday. But if we won the other night, I wouldn't have been concerned about rather he had 32 or 5. That's not the most important thing. Kev knows that. That's what we got to focus on.
"
Though Cleveland has played winning basketball lately, the offense could be far more lethal if Love's abilities were maximized.
Using Love on the block to command a double-team opens the perimeter for Cleveland's shooters—getting Smith, Iman Shumpert, James Jones and Mike Miller easy looks without forcing James to create those chances for them.
James is an elite playmaker, but if someone else can open the offense and distribute the ball aside from him and Irving, the Cavs could become the offensive force many anticipated in the offseason.
Using Love as a passer in spurts adds another wrinkle to the Cavs offense and keeps defenses off balance, as opposed to some of the predictable plays they currently run.
Since Blatt apparently isn't too worried about Love's involvement, James took initiative to design some looks for the big man against the Lakers. "We wanted to keep going to him," he said. "I drew up a few sets for him in the timeout when he had the hot hand. I wanted to keep going to him."
One of those sets was a James and Mozgov pick-and-roll with Love on the wing that was lethal against L.A.
Getting Love open looks from the perimeter in instances such as that one—plus mixing in his ability to score on the block and find the open man when posting—will take Cleveland's offense into a new strata that can make its championship dreams more of a reality.
The Cavs need to realize that Love is effective as a passer, and utilizing him that way lessens the burden of LeBron doing everything on offense.
Love isn't just a big man with range, he also has playmaker potential within him.
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