Where Do the Miami Heat Stand After Acquiring Kevin Love?

The Miami Heat’s stalling at the trade deadline left many fans frustrated. However, many can have temporary optimism after the Heat agreed to terms with former Cleveland Cavaliers forward Kevin Love.

Kevin Love intends to join Heat after clearing waivers - via @ESPN App https://t.co/Rwm0rIrZUA
— Adrian Wojnarowski (@wojespn) February 19, 2023

Love fell out of Cleveland’s starting rotation but has the opportunity to thrive in Miami. He is another big body in the frontcourt, allowing Caleb Martin to go back to being a wing player off the bench. Even at age 34, Love is still a solid rebounder that helps Miami’s lowly team rebounding rank. Love also helps the Heat’s scoring unit, which ranks last in the league in points per game. He is shooting 35.4 percent from 3-point range, and his size helps the team matchup offensively against bigger opponents.

Meanwhile, Martin can return to Miami’s bench, which has been an underwhelming scoring unit this season.

The Heat are seventh in the Eastern Conference but rank low in many categories across teams in the league. They are last in scoring, 29th in rebounding and 31st in bench points. If they can make strides over the last 23 games, they could elevate their contention status.

The Heat have to compete with teams like the Boston Celtics and Milwaukee Bucks but the addition of Love could make them a formidable opponent in the East. The Brooklyn Nets will most likely fall out of the playoff seeding after losing Kevin Durant and Kyrie Irving. The New York Knicks are only a half game ahead of Miami, and the two play each other three more times this season. The Cavaliers rank fourth in the conference and lack playoff experience, something the Heat and Love both have plenty of.

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Jayden Armant is a contributor to Inside the Heat. He is a student at Howard University. He can be reached at jayden.armant@bison.howard.edu or follow him on Twitter @jaydenarmant.