TOO MANY THREE-POINTERS:
Love has shot more and more three-pointers in every season. Last season, 41.2% of his shots were three-pointers. His percentage of three-pointers has dramatically increased in every season. A corresponding statistic is that his average shot distance has increased in every season as well, and his more than doubled what it was in his rookie season.
Love’s rate of shooting three-pointers was 16.1% higher than the previous season and has risen 33.3% in two seasons.
POOR OFFENSIVE REBOUNDING:
His reliance on the three-pointer has put him out of position for offensive rebounds. This is emphasized by an anemic offensive rebound percentage of 6.5% that ranked 88th in the league last season.
Love’s career-low 6.5% offensive rebound percentage was lower than Tony Allen, Quincy Acy and Patrick Patterson. It was 23.5% lower than the previous season and continues a downward spiral. His percentage has decreased in every NBA season!
Kevin Love
NBA Career
Offensive Reb Pct
2008-09 15.1%
2009-10 14.5%
2010-11 13.7%
2011-12 11.6%
2012-13 11.5%
2013-14 8.5%
2014-15 6.5%
RATE OF DRAWING FOULS DECLINE:
In his final season in Minnesota, Love drew 496 personal fouls, fourth-most in the NBA. That was 6.4 per game! When compared to his field goal attempts, it was a very high but sustainable rate, comparable to his career average.
Last season, Love’s rate at drawing fouls plummeted by 24.2%, to the lowest rate of his career.
INCREASE IN SHOTS PER TOUCH:
Love was 8th in the NBA in touches per game two years ago (1st among non-point guards). He touched the ball 2.4 times per minute.
Last season, that rate dropped 19.8% to just 1.9 touches per minute. His rate of shots per possession made a similar decline of 22.3%.
The alarming number is that his rate of shots per touch increased 7.9%.
OVERALL EFFICIENCY DROP:
Love’s overall efficiency went from 3rd in the NBA two seasons ago to 47th last season, a decline of 30.1%. While Love still produces at a level 25.3% above the league average, he is no longer one of the elite players in the NBA.
Brandon Reed FTW!
Pete, I think it is unfair to say that Kevin Love is no longer an elite player. Almost everything that you mentioned in your article can be attributed to him becoming Lebron’s teammate. Granted, he was already becoming very fond of 3 pointers, as you mentioned, but I doubt 3’s would comprise over 40 percent of his shot attempts if he wasn’t being asked to spot up so he could space the floor for Lebron. We saw the same thing happen to Chris Bosh. With this in mind, it should be no surprise that his fouls per game dropped, he takes more 3’s and rarely gets the ball in the post, so when you would you expect him to draw fouls? This does not signify that he is declining as a player, it is clearly a function of his role being changed. His usage percentage is the lowest it has been since his rookie year.
Furthermore, loves PER was bound to drop because he stopped taking shots, and his number of touches decreased greatly, he no longer has a chance to score or make plays for his teammates. For a statistic that has “Efficiency” in it’s name, PER is surprisingly rewarding to players who put up big scoring numbers on fairly low scoring efficiency. Russell Westbrook is not a particularly efficient player in the traditional sense, his FG% and 3FG% are well below the league average, yet his PER was the 2nd highest in the league this year due to his incredibly high scoring and assist numbers. Lebron shot just 41% from the field and 27% from 3 throughout the playoffs, yet he posted a PER of over 25. If Kevin Love were the number one option on his team, he would probably put up numbers similar to the ones he did last year, and there is not much reason to assume otherwise. I suspect that most any player would appear to have declined in skill if their touches decreased substantially and their shots per game were decreased by 33%.
On another note, you mentioned that his shots per touch increasing was a sign of his decline, but you failed to explain why. I don’t understand why that is a negative thing.