Kevin Love‘s already strange career trajectory just keeps taking left turns into bizarro-land. Going into this season, Love was considered a consensus top 10 player around the league, and pairing him up with LeBron James in Cleveland transformed the Cavs into instant title contenders.
But he struggled to fit in Cleveland, and just when things were starting to click during his inaugural postseason appearance, he suffered a brutal shoulder dislocation that sidelined him for the remainder of the playoffs. Since then, he’s looked on solemnly as his team has barely missed a beat without him en route to the NBA Finals.
Love’s on-court issues in Cleveland have some now wondering aloud whether he has been overvalued. Zach Lowe over at Grantland today posited the once-unthinkable question as to whether a more dynamic two-way player like Draymond Green is a better fit and a better value on many NBA rosters, given the league’s pendulum swing toward floor spacing, defense, and position-less basketball.
It’s not such a crazy question anymore, and it’s a conundrum that at least partially has given pause to the Boston Celtics, who were once poised to make a run at Love in the coming offseason, but are progressively cooling on that idea. The Celtics have lingering questions about their roster, particularly the issue of not having a viable playmaker to pair with Love and the much larger, looming question as to whether Love is, in fact, capable of being a franchise cornerstone.
Via Steve Bulpett of the Boston Herald:
“And from all indications, Love is not seen as a foundational player upon whom to build. Further, sources say his knee issues are bound to have an impact on his basketball longevity and effectiveness.”
All of this could end up being a moot point given the fact that the Cavs’ front office has remained adamant that retaining Love is a top priority. Love himself has also indicated that he’d like to remain in Cleveland for the long term, but he also has a player option for next season that he can exercise, depending on whether he wants to sign a new (likely max) deal this offseason or wait until the TV money kicks in and the salary cap skyrockets next summer.
There was concern that when Love got injured a certain amount of residual resentment might keep him away from Boston, but he and Kelly Olynyk have apparently squashed that beef. Still, if Love is as committed to winning as he says he is, his best chance is in Cleveland with LeBron and company.
Yes, the Celtics made the playoffs this season, but that was an unhappy accident seeing as how the front office did their best to send the season into a nosedive at the trade deadline, and adding Love emphatically does not transform them into contenders for the Eastern Conference crown. Love’s best and most lucrative bet is to get healthy, sign on in Cleveland (even if it’s for the short term), demonstrate even the slightest amount of urgency on defense, and prove once again that he is one of the best players in the league and one-third of a bonafide Big 3 dynasty for the future.
[Via Grantland, via Boston Herald]
