As it turns out, Kevin Love's new role on the Cavaliers bench this season has become a very important part of the team's tactical system. So far this season, the Cavaliers' 20-14 record has been able to rank 5th in the East, which is undoubtedly a huge improvement compared to only 22 wins and 50 losses in the entire season last season.
At least this season, the Cavaliers look like the team with playoff hopes, and surprisingly, Kevin Love, who has been rumored to be trading for the past few seasons, is still a very important part of the Cavaliers' rotation.
Two players in the Cavaliers may have a chance to break into the All-Star squad this season, bearing in mind that this is the first time since the 2017-18 season that the Cavaliers have at least two players in the lineup who are likely to break into the All-Star Lineup.
So far this season, Darius Garland and Jarrett Allen are players who can play all-Star level stats, and evan Mobley, the 2021 draft coach, has cashed in all the talents the Cavaliers want to see in his rookie season, and because of his outstanding performance in the rookie season, he may also become the top player on both ends of the Cavaliers' interior offensive and defensive ends in the next few years.
Statistically, Darius Garland averaged 19.5 points, 7.3 assists and 3 rebounds for the Cavaliers in 34.2 minutes per game, Jarrett Allen averaged 16.8 points, 10.8 rebounds and 2 assists in 32.6 minutes per game, and Detective Show Evan Möbley averaged 14.1 points, 8.3 rebounds, 2.4 assists and 1.8 blocks in 33.5 minutes per game.
Unfortunately, the Cavaliers will not have Colin Sexton present for the rest of the season, and it is still unknown whether he can stay in the team by signing a contract extension next offseason, but considering whether a backcourt player like Darius Garland can play well after Colin Sexton's absence, the Cavaliers estimate that they will need to evaluate the decision to keep Sexton through multiple dimensions in the offseason next year.
What's more, even in Colin Sexton's absence, the Cavaliers can get efficient organizational talent from veteran players such as Ricky Rubio and Kevin Love.
LeFou became an important puzzle piece for the bench
So far this season, Ricky Rubio and Kevin Love have even been on the bench, but they can still have a big enough positive impact on the Cavaliers' game when they are on the court. You know, Rubio and Love were good partners during their time with the Timberwolves, and in this Cavaliers team they became such a duo again.
Statistically, Ricky Rubio and Kevin Love both played 16.5 minutes at the same time, and the Cavaliers averaged 39 points, 17 rebounds and 9.7 assists per game, in addition to 44.1% shooting and 35.9% three-point shooting.
In the five-man lineup where Rubio and Love are on the floor at the same time and get the highest playing time, they can play 94.9 offensive efficiency and 81.5 defensive efficiency for the Cavaliers in 35 minutes of playing time, which is enough to prove the influence of Rubio and Lefour on both ends of the Cavaliers' offensive and defensive ends when they are on the floor.
The Cavaliers have reportedly been in internal discussions about the potential decision to give Ricky Rubio a contract extension, which is understandable given the efficient performances of Rubio and Lefu so far this season.
But apart from Ricky Rubio, what's even happier in this Cavaliers squad so far this season is to see Kevin Love re-emerge as a player who can play an influential performance. You know, in the 2020-21 season, Kevin Love played only 25 of the 72 games, and he averaged only a career-low 24.9 minutes per game in those games, while averaging 12.2 points per game was also Kevin Love's lowest points per game since his rookie season for the Timberwolves. So far this season, Kevin Luck, who has been on the bench, has been able to play an efficient performance again.
Of course, considering that Kevin Love signed a four-year, $120 million early renewal contract worth a total of $120 million in the 2018 offseason, and this contract will not expire until the 2023 offseason, Lefour who entered the bench will certainly not be able to honor this contract well, but as the player with the most stable performance in the bench, Kevin Love still has a very important significance for this season's Cavaliers.
So far this season, Kevin Love has averaged 13.2 points, 7.3 rebounds and 2 assists per game, in addition to averaging 42.6% of the three-point shooting rate in the case of 5.7 three-point shots per game, you know, lefour in the bench so far this season can only get 20.5 minutes per game, which is definitely a very efficient bench player data.
Kevin Love didn't feel good outside the three-point line at the beginning of the season, averaging just 20.8 percent of the three-point shooting percentage before the eight games that triggered health and safety agreements and were sidelined due to isolation.
But after his comeback, Love was able to shoot 45.5 percent from 45.5 percent three-point range in 18 games.
Not only is the performance outside the three-point line, even if Love can only be on the bench, he can also help the team in his role as a passer. Statistically, so far this season, Love has also been able to provide a lot of assists for young players such as Garland and Osman, especially Garland, who is the player in this Cavaliers team who can get the most three-point assists from Love:
Overall, Kevin Love, who is on the bench, can bring a steady boost to the Cavaliers both from the three-point line and as a passer.
LeFou is more versatile on the bench?
With him on the bench, Kevin Love's defensive flaws in the starting lineup can also be slightly masked. In terms of statistics, Kevin Love's defensive efficiency of the 101 so far this season is already the best performance of his career, and it should be known that Love has been at least 113 defensive efficiency in the past three seasons, of course, this is largely because the Cavaliers have towers such as Jarrett Allen and Evan Mobley on the inside, and Love, who is on the bench, can also avoid falling behind on the defensive end.
Not only that, but Love, who is on the bench, can also get some low-dislocation singles opportunities, and so far this season, Love has averaged 1.7 back-to-back singles per game, and can average 1.5 points for the Cavaliers with back-to-back singles, which is the third performance in the Cavaliers, behind Jarrett Allen and Evan Mobley. Compared with these two young players, it is indeed surprising that Luck can perform like this on the bench.
In bench time, Love also gets a lot of opportunities to stand on the free throw line, averaging 3.5 free throw opportunities in 21.1 minutes per game in the last 10 games and has a data performance of 91.4% free throw shooting. Keep in mind that this is already the 8th player in the league who has averaged at least 3 free throw opportunities per game in the last 10 games, and only Luck and Durant are big forwards among the top 8 players.
Overall, Kevin Love's coming to the bench is definitely a strategically important rotation for the Cavaliers. For example, in the Cavaliers' 45-point victory over the Raptors, Kevin Love was able to score a team-high 22 points in just 18 minutes, including an efficient performance of 9-of-6 from outside the three-point line.
In addition, in the past 10 games for the Cavaliers, Love has averaged 6.8 three-point shots and a high three-point shooting rate of 47.1%, and more importantly, Love has 6 three-point shots and 48.3% three-point shooting rate on the ball, in short, most of Love's three-point shots are in the case of receiving passes from teammates, and the threat he has when he receives the ball is also an important part of Love's bench on the Cavaliers bench.
So shooting on the outside, midcourt passing ability, the team's secondary organizers, and Love's instinct to run out of empty slots when teammates are caught in the bag are all crucial strengths for the Cavaliers' tactical system.
Write at the end
Then, after the Cavaliers have escaped the impact of the coronavirus pandemic and made a comeback with key players like Evan Mobley and Garrett Allen, Kevin Love will also be able to continue to serve as a key part of the team's bench, of course, this premise is that Love can stay healthy.
If Kevin Love can continue to play in this way, even if he is now a 33-year-old veteran, he can still be a noteworthy bench player for the rest of the season and even in the future season, whether in the Cavaliers or eventually joining other teams, Love will still be a valuable player.