For several years now, it has been a thought from this direction that Kevin Love and the Miami Heat would be a good fit for each other. And after just a few years of imagining such an occurrence, Love and Miami have finally found each other.
And to get right to it, Love definitely fills some needs that Miami has been looking for this season. For one, Love fills a need at the four position with real size at the spot.
Caleb Martin has done a nice job starting at the four spot, however, he is undersized at the position and is more of a wing guy than anything. More size at the position is what Miami needed.
Love has also been a career 37 percent three-point shooter, while this season, he resides at 35 percent from range. Let’s hope he gets a bit hotter from three upon his arrival in South Florida though as Miami has been awful shooting the ball from the outside this year.
That also speaks to how he will help Miami’s offense as a floor spacer.
The Miami Heat needed to add offense, shooting, ‘big man stuff’, and specifically if it could all come in a four-man. They got exactly that in Kevin Love.
And among all of that, the thing to watch out for most with Love in Miami’s offense is his ability to pass.
He is a very good passer and is also a very smart player. Miami Heat head coach, Erik Spoelstra, should look to use Love’s passing ability in Miami’s offense immediately.
Basically, he’s a high-IQ player who should, not only, fit right into Miami’s system but instantly enhance it. Take his ability to throw long outlet passes, something the Miami Heat have leaned into recently anyway with their pitch aheads to create transition looks.
Defensively, Love has never been “good”, singularly, but has been a really decent positional defender. And though he may not be quite the rebounder he used to be earlier in his career, he is still solid enough there as well.
He adds some needed size, easy offense, and shooting—especially in a position of need and overall, should be a really good addition as they head into the final stretch of the season. Whether Love starts or not, he helps them out in a ton of ways.
They needed an offensive spark in the worst way. And if Love can hit enough shots for them as they move through the remainder of the regular season and into the playoffs, this team may be able to compete with anyone.