Kevin Love Stats: From Cleveland to Miami, Impact and Analysis.
Love Thriving in Miami
From Cleveland to Miami
Kevin Love has had a whirlwind campaign that has seen him go from falling out of favor in Cleveland to earning a starting role in Miami’s deep playoff run. Let’s deep dive into some Kevin Love stats and see how the 2022/23 season has panned out for the 34-year-old veteran.
Love’s time in Cleveland came to a disappointing end as he completely fell out of JB Bickerstaff’s rotations before being granted a release to explore the buyout marketplace. The Miami Heat welcomed him with open arms and he’s since played himself into a starting role on the Eastern Conference Finalists.
Let’s take a look at how Love’s time in Miami compared to his minute in Cleveland from earlier in the season:
| Minutes: | 20.0 |
| Points: | 8.5 |
| Rebounds: | 6.8 |
| Assists: | 1.9 |
| Minutes: | 20.0 |
| Points: | 7.7 |
| Rebounds: | 4.9 |
| Assists: | 1.9 |
While his numbers and splits are largely similar there’s no denying that his impact on and off the court is far better felt in South Beach on a team riddled with castaway players fighting to show their worth.
Advanced Stats
Looking at Love’s advanced metrics we can begin to see just how much he is falling off from the reliable All-Star he was for large portions of his career.
The former UCLA man has posted career lows in a number of advanced stats, but the most alarming has been his low PER (Player Efficiency Rating). He posted a 13.1 PER which is well below the league average of 15.0 and comfortably below his career average of 20.9. In fact, this is the only time in his career where has ranked below league average in that category.
His 54.8% True Shooting average this season is also the second-worst of his career and the worst since the 2012/13 season when he was in Minnesota.
All of this also ties into his recording a career-worst Offensive Box Plus/Minus (OBPM) average of 0.2, which again is well below the 3.8 career average he’s recorded in the NBA.
In the early years of his career, he was always atop the NBA standings in Offensive Rebounding but that has dropped off in a large way over the years. He had a 15.1% Offensive Rebounding percentage in his rookie season in Minnesota but we’ve seen that drop all the way down to 4.6% during his tenure in Miami.
Where to Next?
Love looks settled and at home in South Beach and a return to Miami next season feels the most likely for the team and player at this point.
His short-term deal does expire after the season and he will enter Free Agency. Given he’ll only seek a veteran deal he will technically be eligible to join any team that is looking for experience to add to their roster, but of the contending teams that would be open to adding him to their roster, the Heat certainly stand out as the most likely destination.
Miami recorded their best NBA spreads record while Love was in uniform for them, including an impressive 11-3 ATS run to start the playoffs.
A move to Boston would likely be the only other viable option for a championship team looking to add frontcourt depth, but with Danilo Gallinari likely back for next season it makes that seem unrealistic.
The Kevin Love stats don’t quite stack up like they use to, but he has shown during these playoffs that he can still provide something to a locker room looking to add more depth and experience to their roster.
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