Kevin Love’s career seemed close to the end last year with the Cleveland Cavaliers. However, Love enjoyed a little bit of a resurgence after joining the Miami Heat once the Cavs bought him out. The 34-year-old played well after signing with the Miami Heat and even started 14 of the team’s 18 postseason games. Love’s performance injected life back into his career. The timing couldn’t be more perfect as the veteran is set to become an unrestricted free agent when the market opens in early July.
Kevin Love Free Agent Profile
Background
The Memphis Grizzlies drafted Love with the fifth overall pick in the 2008 draft. After the draft, Memphis traded Love to the Minnesota Timberwolves. In six seasons in Minnesota, Love developed into a star. Three of his five career All-Star nods came with the Timberwolves. With Minnesota, Love averaged 19.2 points and 12.2 rebounds per game while shooting 36.2 percent from three. In 2009, Love finished sixth in the Rookie of the Year voting and made the NBA All-Rookie Second Team.
In August 2014, Minnesota traded love to the Cavs to form a big three with LeBron James and Kyrie Irving. The trio was a success, highlighted by winning the NBA Championship in the 2015-16 season. Love outlasted both of those stars and spent eight and a half years in Cleveland.
His tenure in Cleveland ended in February 2023 when the two sides agreed to a contract buyout. Last year, Love started just three of the 41 games he played in Cleveland and averaged 20 minutes a game. In Miami, he started 17 of 21 games and averaged, interestingly enough, 20 minutes per game.
Strengths
At 34, Love is no longer a difference maker, but he still provides value with his shooting. Love has averaged 44 percent (in the 86th percentile) on wide-open three-point attempts in the last three seasons and is a career 37 percent three-point shooter. His ability to effectively knock down open threes works great for a team that has a player skilled at getting in the paint, collapsing the defense, and send the ball to shooters on the perimeter.
Furthermore, Love still knows how to take advantage of his size and strength. Listed as 6’8”, 251 pounds, Love finished last year with a 18.9 percent rebound rate and in the 95th percentile in defensive rebounding for his position. Last year as a whole, Love averaged 8.2 points per game and 6.4 total rebounds, 5.5 of which came defensively. His rebounding pairs well with his great outlet passing.
Kevin Love was right on the money with the outlet pass 💰
📺 ABC pic.twitter.com/gwV0e6V7hM
— ESPN (@espn) May 6, 2023
Most teams would love to bring in Love’s leadership, experience, and winning pedigree. He can show young players on a rebuilding team what it takes to win in the NBA or be a calming, veteran voice guiding a contending team to the promise land.
Weaknesses
Throughout his 15-year career, Love has never been known for his defense. Love particularly struggles with a lack of speed, lateral quickness, and rim protection. His 109.8 defensive rating last year was slightly worse than his career mark of 107.
Love had a significant drop-off last year after finishing second in the Sixth Man of the Year voting the season prior. His struggles can partly be contributed to a decline in successful three-point shooting. Between his two teams, Love was successful from three at a 33.4 percent clip.
The year prior, Love was successful 39.2 percent of the time.
Teams must decide whether Love struggled because of age and natural decline or something else. Was he no longer a good fit in Cleveland? Is a change of scenery all he needed to get re-energized? Love looked done midway through last year but did a great job in Miami at showing there’s more in the tank. What will he be next year?
Potential Fits
Miami can retain Love as a non-Bird free agent or as the team’s taxpayer midlevel exception. These options correlate to a $3.7 million and $5 million salary, respectively. Love’s resurgence peaked on a national scale during the playoffs. He made threes at a 37.5 percent clip and averaged 5.6 rebounds per game.
Despite his scoring ability, Love’s poor defensive ability hurt Miami in the Finals and he often was on the bench at the conclusion of games. The final minutes of a game are typically the most important, high-leverage minutes in a game. It’s meaningful that Heat coach Erik Spoelstra sat Love when the game mattered the most.
The Golden State Warriors are still determined to win but don’t have much money to spend. Filling out the roster with cheap veteran depth looks like the plan this offseason. After already bringing in Chris Paul, Love would be another useful veteran option.
In a column for Bleacher Report, Greg Swartz mentioned Love as the type of player the Warriors will target.
“Golden State will need to search for additional help who will agree to play for the veteran’s minimum, selling players on the chance to win a championship instead of cashing in elsewhere,” Swartz wrote. “This means vets who are nearing the end of their careers but can still play postseason minutes when called upon.”
Another option could see Love sign with the Los Angeles Lakers. With the Lakers, Love would reunite with James and provide frontcourt depth. Love experienced great success playing with James in the past and could have a small, but important role off the bench. Love’s floor-spacing ability makes him a great option to pair with Anthony Davis, while he could also handle the five while Davis is not on the court.
