Kevin Love to Boston the Best Thing for the East

Not many expected Kevin Love to return to the Cleveland Cavaliers until he came out this post season and announced his intentions to stay. Well, things have changed once again as executives in the NBA are expecting Love to join a new team next season.

Love would, for the second consecutive year, be one of the most coveted free agents and there is no doubting the Boston Celtics will be interested in offering him a max contract.

It’s not difficult to see why the Celtic would want Love. His ability to stretch the floor and score in any way possible is a perfect fit into Brad Stevens’ offensive system. Love can rebound and pass the ball and even if he does not provide the defensive improvement the Cetics desperately need he would become the face of the franchise and should be able to get back to his Wolves days where he averaged 26 points and 12.5 rebounds.

Mar 7, 2014; Minneapolis, MN, USA; Minnesota Timberwolves forward Kevin Love (42) boxes out Detroit Pistons forward Greg Monroe (10) during the first half at Target Center. The Wolves defeated the Pistons 114-101. Mandatory Credit: Marilyn Indahl-USA TODAY Sports

It’s also not that difficult to see why Love would want to go to Boston. He would once again be the go to player as there is no Kyrie Irving or LeBron James for him to defer to. Everything would run through Love and the Celtics’ great ball movement will give him more offensive help than he ever saw in Minnesota.

Love and the Celtics are a great match for each other, but they would also be a great fit for the eastern conference. After the shorthanded Cleveland Cavaliers steamrolled through the east this season a sad reality is that there are no true and prominent rivalries in the eastern conference.

The Chicago Bulls and LeBron James have had some great battles but with the Bulls firing their coach and with uncertainty around both Derrick Rose and Jimmy Butler that matchup will be one-sided for a long time.

The Indiana Pacers and the Miami Heat also had some great battles during the James era but too many things have changed on both sides. The Heat may have a solid team when Chris Bosh returns next season and the Pacers will see significant improvement when Paul George returns but neither of those teams appear to be championship ready.

There will always be historical rivalries in the eastern conference but in recent history James has so thoroughly dominated the eastern conference that he has prevented another team from being considered a true competitive rival.

The last team to show resistance to LeBron James in the eastern conference was the Boston Celitcs and if Kevin Love decided to join them then that could reignite a great rivalry in the eastern conference.

Apr 23, 2015; Boston, MA, USA; Boston Celtics guard Evan Turner (11) is called for a technical foul against Cleveland Cavaliers forward LeBron James (23) during the second quarter in game three of the first round of the NBA Playoffs at TD Garden. Mandatory Credit: David Butler II-USA TODAY Sports

The Celtics and the Cavaliers faced off in the first round of this year’s playoffs and even though the Celtics were competitive in each game it was clear that they needed significant improvement before they could be considered a rival.

The addition of Kevin Love would not only make the Celtics competitive against the Cavaliers but it would add all the fuel needed to make them the most hated rivalry in the east.

The Cavaliers already hold a lot of animosity towards the Celtics after Kelly Olynyk ended Love’s season in the first round and to see Love join that very same team may not reach Ray Allen‘s level of betrayal but it would be a hard pill for Cavaliers fans to swallow.

James is the most prolific player in the NBA and the Celtics are the most historical franchise in the NBA and it would be a lot of fun for all fans of the NBA to have those two going head to head for year’s to come.

Lets take a stroll down memory land and see some of the better moments in the recent Cavaliers Celtics rivalry.

It was not that long ago that the eastern conference was determined by the winner of Cavaliers Celtics and if Kevin Love decides to join the Celtics we may not be far from that being a reality yet again.

The eastern conference is in need of another great rivalry and losing Kevin Love to the Celtics could bring those two teams close enough to create it again. The Celtics may need a little more time to improve and develop their young talent but the addition of Love would go a long way to brining the Celtics to the level of the Cavaliers and there is no doubting that the hate between the two franchises could reach an all time high if Love opts to join the team that ended his season and may have contributed to the Cavaliers’ losing effort against the Golden State Warriors.

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