Apr 15, 2015; Cleveland, OH, USA; Cleveland Cavaliers forward Kevin Love (0) shoots in the second quarter against the Washington Wizards at Quicken Loans Arena. Mandatory Credit: David Richard-USA TODAY Sports
1. Kevin Love – Cleveland Cavaliers
The top-impact player on this list is no surprise, as the second-best player in Timberwolves history is now part of a playoff team’s Big Three. And not just any playoff team — LeBron James‘ playoff team. Title contenders.
A 53-29 regular season is nothing to sneeze at and is actually quite good for a team that was pieced together on the fly after a 33-win campaign a year ago, not to mention the early season injuries and an embarrassingly thin bench.
But Kevin Love was never really used properly by rookie head coach David Blatt. He shot a higher rate of his field goal attempts from beyond the arc than ever before in his career — 41.2%. He also shot only 36.7% on those attempts, his worst mark since his sophomore season in the NBA save for his 18-game campaign in 2012-13.
Love was a glorified spot-up shooter too often and also saw his rebounding numbers drop significantly. He won’t magically be more involved in the offense in the playoffs, but pulling down rebounds like he did in Minnesota and knocking down his open shots will be huge and will open things up even more for James and Kyrie Irving.
The Cavs shouldn’t have much trouble with the upstart Boston Celtics in the first round, and it will be as much fun to see Kevin Love in a playoff atmosphere as any former Timberwolf.
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