Kevin Love: 'A Lot Of Guys Need to look in the Mirror, Starting With Lebron'

[mikestar]

Bye Bye Love

[BudweiserCeltic]

Bye Bye Love

[KeepRondo]

LeBron's selfishness is a big problem on that Cavs team. He has to allow his star teammates (Kyrie, K-Love) the room and opportunities to express their own talents. LeBron has the Iverson-like quality where he doesn't work well with other stars. Everything has to be on his own terms. LeBron can't adapt his game to better fit alongside different players.

I don't think this is true at all. His game directly clashed with D-Wade's and they ended up being the foundation to one of the greatest teams of all time.

The solution to this really isn't all that difficult. Put Love in the high post and run the offense through him outward towards the wings, where on opposite sides, he can find either Kyrie or LeBron depending on who has the better matchup. Just sticking Love in the corner not only fails to utilize his post skills and passing ability, it makes him a less impactful rebounder (obviously).

[edit: Who, I should clarify. I don't blame either player -- seems Blatt is the problem here. But Blatt has proven himself in other ways. Maybe he'll figure it out.]

As for the OP, I don't think the comment means much, if anything at all.

That Miami team was one of the best defensive teams in a long time. They also were incredible out on the break. Lebron was younger and Wade is an all time great. Irving is just a current all star. He's not on Wade's level.

Wade and Lebron were just superior athletes to every player in the NBA at that time. Scoring on the break or stoping their break was tough. Just don't see the point in comparing these teams. Lebron is different now and he doesn't have Wade on this team.

[jpotter33]

I cannot wait until we trade for this guy and we can discuss for the next five years how awful/great the trade was, depending on how well Love played that particular night.

That being said, I truly cannot wait until we trade for this guy. He's being criminally misused in Cleveland, and he could definitely go a long ways to helping our rebounding and scoring issues. I'm not sure what people expected of him when he went to Cleveland playing behind two iso-heavy, ball-dominant offensive players in Lebron and Kyrie.

Come to Boston, Love. Stevens won't mismanage you and make you into solely a three point shooter/afterthought in the offense.

[Quetzalcoatl]

That's right, buddy!  Keep driving your value down.  It would be really helpful if you specifically say you will sit out if you are traded anywhere but Boston.  I want you here, but I don't want to really spend anything on it.

[Roy H.]

Wow, he really said that? Nice try, princess.
What a backstabbing, little female dog.

People really wanted that guy on the Celtics? smh

Why? Because he has the junk to call out the leader of the team. A team that should be dominating the East like GWS and the spurs are dominating the West. It does start at the top.

Kevin Love:

December: 12.7 points, 9.2 rebounds, 37.3% FG%, .474 TS%

January:  11.8 points, 10.8 rebounds, 34.7% FG%, .486 TS%

Lebron James:

December:  25.7 points, 7.2 rebounds, 5.2 assists, 47.4% FG%, .541 TS%

January:  24.1 points, 7.2 rebounds, 6.1 assists, 55.0% FG%, .635 TS%

Who is the one who should be looking in the mirror?

Love is basically giving LeBron the same scoring Bosh did, with a better 3 percentage and more rebounding.  He's the one who is being asked to sacrifice his stats and be the third wheel while LeBron and Kyrie essentially get whatever they want.

I can't blame Love for not being a beta-male who is just happy being LeBron's sidekick, but I can't spare him too much sympathy since he should have known that is the way it would be before he signed that big deal to stay in Cleveland.

Mike

I might buy into this more if Love was averaging more than 12 points on 35% shooting the past two months.  In Bosh's least productive year with Lebron he averaged 16.2 points on 51.6% shooting, with excellent pick-and-roll defense.

You're having trouble adapting?  Buck up, buttercup.  It's the NBA.  A random guy taken out of the D-League can probably having a better December / January than Love.  When you're performing like a scrub on both offense and defense, looking in the mirror has to start with you.

[Evantime34]

So I think the Cavs would never do a deal that makes them worse now, so it would need to be a 3 team deal. It makes a lot more sense for them to deal him in the offseason.

Here is a deal I think makes sense

To Cleveland: Gallinari, Avery Bradley, 2nd from Boston
To Denver: Jared Sullinger, David Lee, at least one first
to Boston: Kevin Love.

The Cavs would be replacing Love with a guy who could play Love's role in Cleveland's offense plus they would add a player who probably defends Steph Curry better than anyone in the league.

[Vermont Green]

So I think the Cavs would never do a deal that makes them worse now, so it would need to be a 3 team deal. It makes a lot more sense for them to deal him in the offseason.

Here is a deal I think makes sense

To Cleveland: Gallinari, Avery Bradley, 2nd from Boston
To Denver: Jared Sullinger, David Lee, at least one first
to Boston: Kevin Love.

The Cavs would be replacing Love with a guy who could play Love's role in Cleveland's offense plus they would add a player who probably defends Steph Curry better than anyone in the league.

Not sure it works but I would rather let Cle keep Love and then we get Gallinari and keep Bradley and the second round pick.

Does Sullinger+Lee+1st work for Gallinari either way?

[MBunge]

Wow, he really said that? Nice try, princess.
What a backstabbing, little female dog.

People really wanted that guy on the Celtics? smh

Why? Because he has the junk to call out the leader of the team. A team that should be dominating the East like GWS and the spurs are dominating the West. It does start at the top.

Kevin Love:

December: 12.7 points, 9.2 rebounds, 37.3% FG%, .474 TS%

January:  11.8 points, 10.8 rebounds, 34.7% FG%, .486 TS%

Lebron James:

December:  25.7 points, 7.2 rebounds, 5.2 assists, 47.4% FG%, .541 TS%

January:  24.1 points, 7.2 rebounds, 6.1 assists, 55.0% FG%, .635 TS%

Who is the one who should be looking in the mirror?

Love is basically giving LeBron the same scoring Bosh did, with a better 3 percentage and more rebounding.  He's the one who is being asked to sacrifice his stats and be the third wheel while LeBron and Kyrie essentially get whatever they want.

I can't blame Love for not being a beta-male who is just happy being LeBron's sidekick, but I can't spare him too much sympathy since he should have known that is the way it would be before he signed that big deal to stay in Cleveland.

Mike

I might buy into this more if Love was averaging more than 12 points on 35% shooting the past two months.  In Bosh's least productive year with Lebron he averaged 16.2 points on 51.6% shooting, with excellent pick-and-roll defense.

You're having trouble adapting?  Buck up, buttercup.  It's the NBA.  A random guy taken out of the D-League can probably having a better December / January than Love.  When you're performing like a scrub on both offense and defense, looking in the mirror has to start with you.

Being one of only 9 people in the league to average double figures in points and rebounds is a bit more than a scrub.  And do you want to lay any money down on Bosh having two months as bad or worse than Love when he was playing with LeBron?

Mike

[guava_wrench]

Love might want to make an effort to become a complete basketball player - i.e. learn to play defense - before he starts talking about leadership.

https://vine.co/v/iOLFbZHA60V

He's a net positive defender.
The Wolves and Cavs both post better defensive ratings with him on the floor- but their offensive ratings go way up

His DPRM is fine this year too.
Defensive issues are way overblown.

Kevin Love is an alpha scorer with a wing man mentality when playing with Lebron.
He's completely misused by the Cavs. I mean completely and utterly misused.


Let me ask people this.
If Kelly Olynyk can look good on the Celtics, what would Kevin Love look like shooting twice as many shots?'
His last 3 years in Minny he was averaging 18 shots a game and 8.2 free throw attempts per game. His numbers this year are 12.8 field goal attempts and 3.7 free throws per game.

Kevin Love's problem in Cleveland is that he doesn't get to play inside next to Mozgov and Lebron and thus doesn't take any free throws.
He's Lebron's towel boy shooting threes when Lebron bails on a drive to the basket.

If he simply took 17-19 shots a game (like he did in Minny), he'd be averaging something like:
25 points, 12 rebounds and we'd be praising him as the Celtic's next chosen one.

This quote I posted was more to create a bit of buzz and fun as we come up to trade season- it's the media blowing something up which was probably not intended to be a 'I hate Cleveland get me out of here' comment. More of a 'we need to man up, everyone, even the boss' kinda comment.
But for me, as a fan of Kevin Love, the thought of getting him at a buy low price when Lebron wants him gone is something to get excited about over the next 6 months.

Anyway, IMO Kevin Love would THRIVE under the Brad Stevens offense, and our defensive cohesion would help cover any of his minor issues on help. With Jae Crower, Smart, Amir and Avery Bradley out there with him we wouldn't be discussing his D.
-Although I will admit that to get any Love deal done, at least two of the above mentioned defensive pit bulls would have to go back to Cleveland in return.

A line up of:

IT
Smart
Crowder
Love
Amir

Brooklyn pick
Rozier
Mickey
Hunter

would be a great starting point for the next 5 years.
Kevin Love is 27 years old and only just turned 27.

If he becomes available, Danny Ainge will give up pretty much anything except that Brooklyn pick (unless it's not top 3 when the time comes).

Love is overpaid and overrated.

Being overpaid is what allows you to give up less draft picks when trading for the guy.

"Overrated" is one of the least insightful critiques one can make of a player.

[Evantime34]

So I think the Cavs would never do a deal that makes them worse now, so it would need to be a 3 team deal. It makes a lot more sense for them to deal him in the offseason.

Here is a deal I think makes sense

To Cleveland: Gallinari, Avery Bradley, 2nd from Boston
To Denver: Jared Sullinger, David Lee, at least one first
to Boston: Kevin Love.

The Cavs would be replacing Love with a guy who could play Love's role in Cleveland's offense plus they would add a player who probably defends Steph Curry better than anyone in the league.

Not sure it works but I would rather let Cle keep Love and then we get Gallinari and keep Bradley and the second round pick.

Does Sullinger+Lee+1st work for Gallinari either way?

I'd be willing to give up Bradley because Love would provide us with defensive rebounding we need, while Gallo does not.

Bradley would be tough to lose but if we strike out in the lottery we could get a player who would come close to replacing his production in Kris Dunn.

[Csfan1984]

LeBron had a bad game and was blasting the whole team. Love called him out on him needing to be the first guy accountable. It's the truth. If the main guy isn't accountable then few others will feel they are.

[ssspence]

So I think the Cavs would never do a deal that makes them worse now, so it would need to be a 3 team deal. It makes a lot more sense for them to deal him in the offseason.

Here is a deal I think makes sense

To Cleveland: Gallinari, Avery Bradley, 2nd from Boston
To Denver: Jared Sullinger, David Lee, at least one first
to Boston: Kevin Love.

The Cavs would be replacing Love with a guy who could play Love's role in Cleveland's offense plus they would add a player who probably defends Steph Curry better than anyone in the league.

Overpayment. Love is going to be very hard to move:

• He's been an average to poor offensive player this year
• He continues to be a marginal defender
• His health is an ongoing question -- bad knees may cause early decline
• He's locked in at $20-25MM per season until 2019-20, a year when he has a player option for Twenty Six Million Dollars. Ouch.

Now factor how many teams actually have a use for the guy.

• He needs to be prominently featured in an offense to be effective
• He needs to play on a team with very strong team defense
• What's more, he probably needs to play with a 4 or 5 who is an excellent weak side defender (who can make up for Love's horrible pick-n-roll D)
• He likely needs to go to a playoff team -- not many lottery teams want to sign up to be the 2010-13 TWolves, or worse.

So who would trade for him? And considering these factors, what GM would bid high, knowing the suitors will be a pretty lean bunch?

Sadly, I suspect Ainge would one who might take him, if he felt he was getting 'value', i.e. buying low. That said, I do doubt that Ainge would give up meaningful picks for Love.

Example: If they decide they need to move Love, and the Celtics offered them Sullinger, Johnson, and Turner for Love and Cunningham, I suspect the Cavs would not hang up nearly as fast as some may think. Both Sullinger and Johnson fit their system nicely, and are basically in the perfect contractual place respectively for the cap strapped Cavaliers.

[Evantime34]

So I think the Cavs would never do a deal that makes them worse now, so it would need to be a 3 team deal. It makes a lot more sense for them to deal him in the offseason.

Here is a deal I think makes sense

To Cleveland: Gallinari, Avery Bradley, 2nd from Boston
To Denver: Jared Sullinger, David Lee, at least one first
to Boston: Kevin Love.

The Cavs would be replacing Love with a guy who could play Love's role in Cleveland's offense plus they would add a player who probably defends Steph Curry better than anyone in the league.

Overpayment. Love is going to be very hard to move:

• He's been an average to poor offensive player this year
• He continues to be a marginal defender
• His health is an ongoing question -- bad knees may cause early decline
• He's locked in at $20-25MM per season until 2019-20, a year when he has a player option for Twenty Six Million Dollars. Ouch.

Now factor how many teams actually have a use for the guy.

• He needs to be prominently featured in an offense to be effective
• He needs to play on a team with very strong team defense
• What's more, he probably needs to play with a 4 or 5 who is an excellent weak side defender (who can make up for Love's horrible pick-n-roll D)
• He likely needs to go to a playoff team -- not many lottery teams want to sign up to be the 2010-13 TWolves, or worse.

So who would trade for him? And considering these factors, what GM would bid high, knowing the suitors will be a pretty lean bunch?

Sadly, I suspect Ainge would one who might take him, if he felt he was getting 'value', i.e. buying low. That said, I do doubt that Ainge would give up meaningful picks for Love.

Example: If they decide they need to move Love, and the Celtics offered them Sullinger, Johnson, and Turner for Love and Cunningham, I suspect the Cavs would not hang up nearly as fast as some may think. Both Sullinger and Johnson fit their system nicely, and are basically in the perfect contractual place respectively for the cap strapped Cavaliers.

I don't agree with the overpayment idea. I believe that his offense has taken a hit because the system and the talent around him dictates that he takes a back seat. Completely agree with the marginal defender comment.

Athleticism isn't a huge part of his game and he is in great shape so, although injuries are a concern I think it's worth the gamble, since he's clearly working to get in the shape that helps deter injuries.

As to his contract, if he hit the market this summer he would be making the same max money so I don't think his contract is an issue.

He is absolutely best when he is featured on offense, and that is exactly what the Celtics need so it would be a good fit. We already have that strong defense you mentioned he needed.

A good shot blocking 4 or 5 would be nice next to him and I think Amir is a good fit in that respect. That being said, I think you would see him playing a lot of 5 in some really fun small ball.

I don't think the Cavs need to deal him so I'm not sure we could leverage Sully, Johnson and Turner for him. I think they will take offers for him over the summer but if they don't get what they want they can just keep him.

[ssspence]

So I think the Cavs would never do a deal that makes them worse now, so it would need to be a 3 team deal. It makes a lot more sense for them to deal him in the offseason.

Here is a deal I think makes sense

To Cleveland: Gallinari, Avery Bradley, 2nd from Boston
To Denver: Jared Sullinger, David Lee, at least one first
to Boston: Kevin Love.

The Cavs would be replacing Love with a guy who could play Love's role in Cleveland's offense plus they would add a player who probably defends Steph Curry better than anyone in the league.

Overpayment. Love is going to be very hard to move:

• He's been an average to poor offensive player this year
• He continues to be a marginal defender
• His health is an ongoing question -- bad knees may cause early decline
• He's locked in at $20-25MM per season until 2019-20, a year when he has a player option for Twenty Six Million Dollars. Ouch.

Now factor how many teams actually have a use for the guy.

• He needs to be prominently featured in an offense to be effective
• He needs to play on a team with very strong team defense
• What's more, he probably needs to play with a 4 or 5 who is an excellent weak side defender (who can make up for Love's horrible pick-n-roll D)
• He likely needs to go to a playoff team -- not many lottery teams want to sign up to be the 2010-13 TWolves, or worse.

So who would trade for him? And considering these factors, what GM would bid high, knowing the suitors will be a pretty lean bunch?

Sadly, I suspect Ainge would one who might take him, if he felt he was getting 'value', i.e. buying low. That said, I do doubt that Ainge would give up meaningful picks for Love.

Example: If they decide they need to move Love, and the Celtics offered them Sullinger, Johnson, and Turner for Love and Cunningham, I suspect the Cavs would not hang up nearly as fast as some may think. Both Sullinger and Johnson fit their system nicely, and are basically in the perfect contractual place respectively for the cap strapped Cavaliers.

I don't agree with the overpayment idea. I believe that his offense has taken a hit because the system and the talent around him dictates that he takes a back seat. Completely agree with the marginal defender comment.

Athleticism isn't a huge part of his game and he is in great shape so, although injuries are a concern I think it's worth the gamble, since he's clearly working to get in the shape that helps deter injuries.

As to his contract, if he hit the market this summer he would be making the same max money so I don't think his contract is an issue.

He is absolutely best when he is featured on offense, and that is exactly what the Celtics need so it would be a good fit. We already have that strong defense you mentioned he needed.

A good shot blocking 4 or 5 would be nice next to him and I think Amir is a good fit in that respect. That being said, I think you would see him playing a lot of 5 in some really fun small ball.

I don't think the Cavs need to deal him so I'm not sure we could leverage Sully, Johnson and Turner for him. I think they will take offers for him over the summer but if they don't get what they want they can just keep him.

You're operating under the assumption that the Cavs are happy with him, that they're happy to keep him. That could certainly be true.

Personally, I doubt it. They paid him last summer to avoid losing him for nothing. His fit is questionable. He's questioning Lebron -- which may look like no big deal to us. But in the absurd world of Lebron's Cavs, where a complete egomaniac athlete is coddled and accommodated like a newborn king (no pun intended), it matters. And bottom line, his production (outside of defensive rebounding) has been pretty awful.

Frustration can get the better of anyone. And who can blame Love for letting a little jab out.... could there be any more annoying teammate off the court than Lebron James? How old would it get listing to those domineering press conferences about improvement... like a scolding teacher who is 'disappointed in you'? It would be hard not to crack.

But -- if Lebron feels that Love's production is poor, that they'll improve by subtracting Love, and then they lose connection in the locker room.... Love's gone.