Should Kevin Love return to the Cleveland Cavaliers starting lineup?

The Cleveland Cavaliers should consider starting Kevin Love.

The Cleveland Cavaliers traded away two potential starters for one when the team traded for Donovan Mitchell. In getting the multi-time All-Star, the Cavs had to send back Collin Sexton and Lauri Markkanen. A trade that made sense but did come with some issues of its own. Firstly and most notably, a huge gaping hole now at the small forward position. Markkanen was an athletic, seven-footer, who could go side to side against most guys. That length made him uniquely adept at stopping guys on the perimeter.

Without him, the Cavs have an issue, as they are going to now have to find a new starter. Names like Caris LeVert and Isaac Okoro make sense, as does Cedi Osman. Yet, those are all two’s and three’s, Markkanen was a four playing a three . To which I mean he was a natural power forward playing small forward.

Why wouldn’t that same experiment work again, this time with Kevin Love? I know it may not make a lot of sense on the surface but let’s run through why it could work.

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Why starting Kevin Love makes the most sense for the Cleveland Cavaliers

Love is a natural power forward. Even in his prime, he wasn’t a great center or a very reliable small forward. So at first glance, it may not make sense to put Love in Markkanen’s old spot on the team. Except, it kind of does if you get creative with it.

With Love, putting him on the perimeter or in the mid-range is the best thing for him physically. He may want to go to the low post more often but it also leads to him getting hurt more often, so moving away from that is best. He’s probably the best pull-up shooter the team has, and him with Mitchell, Darius Garland, Evan Mobley, and Jarrett Allen really does give you a great offense.

So you play Love at the three on offense. Then when the team comes down on defense, you show the world just how good Mobley is on defense, and you have him play Markkanen’s spot. This has Allen down low patrolling the rim, and Love dropping down on whoever comes into the paint.

Love is still one of the team’s best rebounders and his effort and energy on defense were up last year. In certain situations, it would make sense to have Love and Mobley switch and give Love a less-than-optimal offensive player to cover on the perimeter.

You’d still want a 20-25 minute cap on Love’s minutes, so you’d still have plenty of opportunities to cycle in guys like LeVert or Osman or even Okoro to fill in Love during situational basketball, but starting and ending the game with Love in the starting lineup may be your best option offensively.