2018 NBA free agency grades: Cavaliers extend Kevin Love

The Cleveland Cavaliers don’t appear to be heading towards a rebuild any time soon after bringing back All-Star power forward Kevin Love.

Despite losing LeBron James, the Cleveland Cavaliers are still looking to remain competitive, dolling out a four-year, $120 million extension to Kevin Love, per ESPN‘s Adrian Wojnarowski and Brian Windhorst.

This deal will keep Love in Cleveland over the next five seasons, a message to all that the Cavs won’t handle themselves in a fashion similar to LeBron’s first departure.

Since arriving in The Land in 2014, Love has struggled to find his footing at times next to James and Kyrie Irving.

This past season as the definitive second option with Irving no longer there, Love’s counting numbers may have dipped to 17.6 points and 9.3 rebounds, but both his field goal percentage and 3-point percentage increased by 3.1 and 4.2 percent, respectively.

As a member of the Cavs, Love has been used primarily as a 3-point sniper, a catch-and-shoot guy spacing the floor for James and Irving, or operating out of pick-and-pop situations. But in his days with the Minnesota Timberwolves, Love was best known as a low-post threat.

Standing at 6’10” and 251 pounds, Love is capable of bullying his way to the basket against the toughest of defenders, drawing contact or simply finishing around the bucket with either hand. Then there’s his prowess on the glass, where he has pulled down 11.3 rebounds per game for his career, the 27th-best mark of all time.

He’s always had great fundamentals when it comes to getting low and boxing out the opposition. Combined with great timing and the innate awareness of where the ball is coming off the rim, it’s easy to see why Love is one of the best rebounders in the game.

Then there’s his ability to dish the ball, which may be the most underrated aspect of his game. His outlet passes have been well-documented, but in Minnesota, Love was also tremendous operating from the elbow, hitting cutters and working a two-man game with Ricky Rubio.

Because of the presence of his two former superstar teammates, Love was never fully utilized properly during his first four seasons with the wine and gold. Sure, he can play the role of spot-up shooter, but Love is best from the free throw line down, with the freedom to be aggressive in looking for his shot.

This was no more apparent than in the Eastern Conference semifinals against the Toronto Raptors, where Love averaged 20.5 points and 11.5 rebounds per game on a steady diet of post-ups and looks around the basket.

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With both James and Irving now playing elsewhere, Love is the clear-cut No. 1 option in Cleveland, a position that saw him put up historic numbers in his last few years with the Wolves.

Will his play translate to wins? It’s possible, given the state of the East, but this move appears to be more about staying relevant than anything else — unless the move is an attempt to trade him to a team in need of an upgrade a few months from now, like the Los Angeles Clippers did with Blake Griffin.

When LeBron departed in the summer of 2010, the Cavaliers were historically bad in four years before his return, garnering three No. 1 overall picks while claiming what was then the longest losing streak in NBA history at 26 games.

If trading Love isn’t the master plan, it seems like owner Dan Gilbert doesn’t want to put himself and the city of Cleveland through that type of losing again — hence the extension of a guy who is now the team’s best player.

Kevin Love may not be a top-10 player, but he is a five-time All-Star with a championship to his name, and that has to count for something.

He is slightly injury-prone and this new deal will pay him roughly $30 million as he approaches his mid-30s, but Love gives Cleveland a player that can lead them into this new era of post-LeBron basketball.

The Cavaliers may not reach the Finals over the next few seasons (or any after that), but given their desire to avoid a tank job — or their underlying desire to move Love and fully embrace a tank job — locking him up on a long-term deal was the right call.

Next: 2018 NBA free agency tracker: Grades for every deal so far

Grade: B+