It’s been nearly ten years since the Golden State Warriors flirted with trading for Kevin Love, stopping short of including Klay Thompson in a potential deal, leading to his move to Cleveland.
After eight and a half years in Cleveland, two All-Star berths, a championship that we try to forget, and a runner-up for the Sixth Man Award, it seems the two sides are finally headed for divorce. And a multitude of contenders should be hot on his market if he’s bought out of the last year of his 4-year/$120 million deal.
In the midst of a down year in his age-34 season, why should Golden State be interested considering the other popular options on the market?
A Major Glass-et
It’s no secret that Golden State has been killed on the defensive glass many times this season. The Warriors rank in the middle of the pack in terms of offensive rebounds conceded, but have experienced a 9.3% increase in the share of misses recovered by opponents compared to last year’s title team. That’s a problem that they seem unable to solve internally due to their lack of size on the bench.
Love, one of the more dominant rebounders of the 2000s, is still elite in terms of per-minute production. He sits in the 99th percentile of defensive rebound percentage among bigs according to Cleaning the Glass. That kind of glass-cleaning would go a long way toward shoring up some of Golden State’s defensive issues. He’s never been much of a defensive presence in terms of stopping play (opponent FG% of 48, 1.2 combined stock rate) but Golden State has their stoppers already in Donte DiVincenzo and Jonathan Kuminga on the bench. Rumors of a Matisse Thybulle acquisition would only further solidify that. If Love can be the one finishing off defensive plays, he can bring value on that end.
It also helps that Love is not a foul-happy defender (only 3% of his defensive possessions end in a foul), another issue that has plagued Golden State. This is certainly tied to his lack of true defensive game-changing plays, but he knows who he is and won’t make unnecessary mistakes.
Taking the Tough Shots
Among all bigs, Love is in his third straight year of an above-the-break three-point frequency at or above the 98th percentile. He’s made 37.9% of those looks over the past two seasons combined, a mark well above the league average. Taking those difficult, high-value shots with his 6’10” frame presents an interesting dimension to a bench lacking in spacing from the frontcourt. It’s hard to get better than a big taking 66% of his shots from deep for a floor spacer.
JaMychal Green, their current floor-spacing option from their frontcourt depth, takes 46% of his threes from the corner while Love takes only 18% of his threes from those spots. A spacing option that operates above the break takes away tags and digs from the corners, which would be a massive boon to Golden State’s driving threats off the bench like Jordan Poole and Jonathan Kuminga. Their inconsistencies in terms of handle could be alleviated with fewer help options for opposing defenses.
What helps even more relative to Green is Love’s ability to actually hit the shots. According to reports, JaMychal’s recurring elbow problems have limited his ability to make shots, something that may not return in the short or long term. He’s sitting at 32.8% from the corner and 28.3% above the break over the last two seasons, while Love sits at 39.3% and 37.9% respectively. That increase in shot-making potential, along with the alignment of his shots, will take a lot of pressure off their bench creators and add a legitimate kickout option. He still has the ability to get hot across multiple games and has performances that can swing a game in your favor.
There are drawbacks, to be certain. Love’s offensive positioning has led to a severe decline in his offensive rebounding rate (5.5%) and his attempts at the rim (14% of total shots, 1st percentile among bigs). Per Synergy Sports, Love generates only 2.8% of his shot attempts on cuts, another knock on his overall offensive utility. But you could argue that his role as an elite floor-spacing big will lead to more rim and cut attempts for the other bench players, and won’t hurt the Warriors’ rim frequency in the aggregate. It also helps that he has a high-end ability to find those rim runners and cutters.
Keeping the Ball Moving
Love’s passing chops are a twofold advantage for Golden State. This year’s team is middle of the pack in terms of transition frequency, and an elite outlet passer like Kevin would give a jumpstart to their transition game. Players like Draymond Green, Jonathan Kuminga, and Klay Thompson have been excellent at knowing when to leak out after shot contests. Love will find them and hit them with accurate passes in stride to create easy buckets against unsettled defenses.
The second major benefit comes in the halfcourt. Over the last four seasons, Love has ranked 79th percentile or higher in assist percentage amongst bigs, and 65th percentile or higher in terms of assist-to-usage ratio. Translation: he is a very, very good playmaking big, especially relative to how little he needs to command the ball. Just look at his 10-assist performance against Detroit early in the season, and you can picture his utility in a motion offense where post-up passing and connective perimeter passing are of paramount importance.
Dropping another player with a high feel on the offensive side of the ball into a unit starved for advanced reads would improve their offense in a major way. Part of the logic of bringing Kevon Looney off the bench recently has been to give the bench an equal DHO threat to the starters, and Love would shore up that issue, allowing Loon to permanently move back to the starting lineup. Raising the floor of the bench would allow the starting unit to return to its dominant ways.
Fits Locker Room Needs
As I mentioned before, Love’s veteran presence and advanced knowledge of the game will lead to tangible benefits on the court. Off the floor, his positive presence and leadership could go a long way.
Love is an honest man to the core. He has been lauded in recent years for his openness about his mental health struggles, and was lauded by the NBA for working to destigmatize anxiety and depression in society. The Kevin Love Fund (which I encourage you to go donate to) has been working to help young people get proper diagnoses and treatment in order to address the 11-year (!!!) gap between recognition of symptoms and treatment. Adding a #goodguy to the locker room is always a good thing, especially if it boots the #badguy off the roster. You know who I speak of.
Besides the basketball smarts and life smarts, Love was once a childhood friend of Klay Thompson. The two played Little League baseball against one another in Lake Oswego, Oregon. Thompson fondly recalled the memory of beaning Love in the back, allegedly setting him on the path to becoming a Cavalier:
The two were once nearly traded for one another in 2014, but have remained friends since childhood. Adding another buddy-buddy guy to this locker room would improve the overall vibes, which have been on shaky ground at times.
If Cleveland chooses to set Love free, Bob Myers needs to make a call to Jeff Schwartz, who represents Love in addition to James Wiseman, DeMarcus Cousins, and the retired-turned-front-office-man Shaun Livingston, so there must be a rapport there. As the team is headed for a relatively quiet trade deadline, looking to “improve the margin for error”, K-Love makes sense as a floor-raising depth piece who could crack a playoff rotation if all goes to plan.
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