How good would we be with Kevin Love right now?

[chambers]

If we had succeeded in getting Kevin Love here last summer, how good would we be?
It would probably be Love replacing Sully in the starting line up.
Both excellent rebounders, mediocre/average defenders but Love's post game and 3 point range would be brutal if he were taking the same threes that Sully is taking.

I have to think we'd be the clear #2 team in the East with Love given how good our defense is.
It would be like having 20 point 10 rebound Kelly Olynyk every night.

I think we'd still be heavy underdogs to whoever comes out of the West if we were to make the finals (whilst also being underdogs to Cleveland in the ECF).

I wasn't overly disappointed when we didn't get Love, but he would be an excellent fit on our team simply replacing Sully in the starting line up and we'd be an even more awesome team.

So how good would we be right now if Kevin Love were a Celtic and what would our most likely ceiling be?

[pearljammer10]

I think we'd be a clear cut top four team in the East. Replace Love with Sully and our rebounding and defense stays the same but we get a legit 20 point scorer who can space the floor and whom we can give the ball to at the end of games.

We'd still need another piece but we would be a more legit threat having that go to scorer in the starting 5 for sure.

[jambr380]

I'd be pretty psyched - he is a more active / athletic, way better shooting version of Sully. Of course Smart would have to go in any deal for Love, but it might help better balance out our line-up.

[SHAQATTACK]

Don't know .....Love is a bit of a Diva and whiner .....hasn't helped he is now corrupted by the biggest Diva ever .

I might be inclined to,keep Sully at this point.

Before Kelly O .....massive beast he is ......BROKE KLOVE ........i like him a lot better.

he just looked better on a poor team like the T Wolves.

[mgent]

Much worse, our defense would SUCK.

[hwangjini_1]

Much worse, our defense would SUCK.

maybe. but CBS made olly into a credible defender. who knows what he might have done with love.

[Monkhouse]

Much worse, our defense would SUCK.

Debatable.

KO/Sully have become decent to above average defenders at least.

Love is a really good low post defender, just terrible at recovering, or helping on the weak side/pick and roll.

To the OP, I think our team would be a top 3 team.

We would definitely be a contender in my eyes. Our team is so good defensively, but we're just missing that go to scorer. Whether it be Kevin Love, DMC, or Melo, hopefully one of those players get put up on the trade block.

[LarBrd33]

He would fit here really well.

I can still see a scenario where he's traded.  They are paying Tristan a whole lot of money to be his backup... And we still haven't really seen him coexist all that well when kyrie is out there

[Denis998]

He would fit here really well.

I can still see a scenario where he's traded.  They are paying Tristan a whole lot of money to be his backup... And we still haven't really seen him coexist all that well when kyrie is out there

Its quite crazy how deep they are in with salaries. They need to trade someone away at least, be it one of their bigs, in order to resign Kyrie and have somewhat decent bench behind their starters. As of right now they have about 87 million on the books for next season without Kyrie or half their bench, thats all ready over the cap for next season.

[LarBrd33]

He would fit here really well.

I can still see a scenario where he's traded.  They are paying Tristan a whole lot of money to be his backup... And we still haven't really seen him coexist all that well when kyrie is out there

Its quite crazy how deep they are in with salaries. They need to trade someone away at least, be it one of their bigs, in order to resign Kyrie and have somewhat decent bench behind their starters. As of right now they have about 87 million on the books for next season without Kyrie or half their bench, thats all ready over the cap for next season.

Well it's a soft cap, so they can exceed it, but my question is more about how Love fits with that team... especially once Kyrie comes back and Love gets relegated back to spot-up shooting duty.  Over his past 5 games he's struggled... 10.8 points, 8.6 rebounds with 31%/0%/79% shooting.  He's a dynamic offensive player though and up until this month he's been fantastic.  He's still capable of being a go-to scorer.  You can still build an offense around him.   But when you have LeBron James and Kyrie Irving on your team, you don't really need a third guy to build an offense around.  You need top-tier defense from your bigs.    You know who fits well with those guys?  Tristan Thompson.   So I've believed all summer that Love just re-signed, because he had some handshake agreement with the Cavs when they traded Wiggins for him... he wouldn't leave them high and dry.  He re-upped, they retain some leverage, and maybe if they mutually decide it's a bad fit, they'll do right by Love and send him to a team that can use his skill set.   Boston can absolutely use his skill set.  We'd have to give up a decent package to get him, though.   Do you think from Cleveland's perspective, getting some serviceable role players and the Brooklyn pick semi makes up for giving up Wiggins? 

I honestly believe that LeBron and Love came to an agreement this Summer... "Look man, just re-up.  We will try to make it work.  We will make you a bigger part of the offense.  If you're not happy with your role mid season, we'll send you to a destination you want to play for"... Thanks to the Kyrie injury, Love has had a much bigger role in their offense... which is great for Cleveland, because it also works towards improving Love's trade value...   But as of tomorrow, Love can finally be traded.  And later this month, Kyrie is due back.    If it doesn't work out, and Boston offered a package built around David Lee's expiring contract (he can still contribute for the Cavs as 6th man behind Thompson), a young guy like James Young, the Brooklyn pick, probably some other 1sts... I wouldn't be stunned to see it go down. 

[Ogaju]

why are you guys trying to trade the Brooklyn pick? Very few current players are worth the Brooklyn pick.

AD

KAT

COUSINS

That is it !!!

[Celtics18]

I'm guessing we'd currently be somewhere between 13 and 11 and 15 and 9. 

[moiso]

We would be a very good team with Love.  He's a smart player who would fit in very well and he'd get more opportunity to make plays than he gets in Cleveland.  I still wish he had ended up in Boston.

[CelticSince83]

He would fit here really well.

I can still see a scenario where he's traded.  They are paying Tristan a whole lot of money to be his backup... And we still haven't really seen him coexist all that well when kyrie is out there

Its quite crazy how deep they are in with salaries. They need to trade someone away at least, be it one of their bigs, in order to resign Kyrie and have somewhat decent bench behind their starters. As of right now they have about 87 million on the books for next season without Kyrie or half their bench, thats all ready over the cap for next season.

Re-sign Kyrie?  In 2020?

[Denis998]

He would fit here really well.

I can still see a scenario where he's traded.  They are paying Tristan a whole lot of money to be his backup... And we still haven't really seen him coexist all that well when kyrie is out there

Its quite crazy how deep they are in with salaries. They need to trade someone away at least, be it one of their bigs, in order to resign Kyrie and have somewhat decent bench behind their starters. As of right now they have about 87 million on the books for next season without Kyrie or half their bench, thats all ready over the cap for next season.

Re-sign Kyrie?  In 2020?

by this info here, it seems like his contract is up this year, idk if he has an extension.
http://hoopshype.com/salaries/cleveland_cavaliers/
If kyrie does have an extension, Lebron will have to take his player option, rather than declining it and signing another 1 year deal for more money.