Kristian Winfield: Kevin Love to the Nets both makes sense and doesn’t at all

NEW YORK — The Nets have their work cut out for them as they maneuver a critical offseason with the goal of rounding out a championship roster around Kevin Durant, James Harden and Kyrie Irving.

In the event he and the Cleveland Cavaliers negotiate a buyout of the remaining two years, $60 million on his contract, the former All-Star big man will reportedly make a full sprint for Brooklyn.

Love won’t connect Brooklyn’s current puzzle pieces. But he is a piece nonetheless, and it would be a par-the-course signing for a general manager whose moves in the past suggest signing Love is a possibility.

Love alone will not heal Brooklyn’s playoff wounds. The Nets need to get healthy and stay healthy. They need to find a real center: Jeff Green, Blake Griffin and Nic Claxton were solid fill-ins, but rebounding and protecting the paint ultimately undid the Nets. They need to add depth in the backcourt, especially if Spencer Dinwiddie leaves town. They also need to be better defensively on the wings, as a 3-pointer on one end doesn’t always compensate for 2s created on the other.

It should go without saying, but the Nets should not trade for Love given what he has left on his contract. And Brooklyn would need to part ways with players they could use in deals elsewhere.

But if Love becomes available in free agency via a contract buyout, they should welcome him with open arms. Even if he’s not going to play a ton of minutes.

In many respects, adding Love would align with the blueprint laid out by the Brooklyn front office. They have gone for big names at every turn, and they have addressed their gaping holes on defense and in-between the lines by adding, wait for it, even more offense.

This is an offensive team by roster composition, from the head coach and coaching staff down the line to the players. It’s just short of a miracle they trended toward defensive competency as the season carried on, especially given how poorly they started the season on that front.

Yet, deficiencies and all, it still took injuries to two stars to keep the Nets from beating the Bucks in a Game 7. Had Irving not gotten hurt, had Joe Harris made a 3, had Harden’s hamstring not been so restricting, hell, had Durant’s foot been one size smaller, it would have been the Nets against the Hawks, which all but meant the Nets in the NBA Finals against the Suns.

The truth is the Nets don’t need to do too much. With three of the world’s best scorers and playmakers, they need to simply fill in the holes. They need someone to play the role DeAndre Jordan was supposed to fill: an enforcer, a glass cleaner, a lob finisher and a defensive anchor all in one. Jordan didn’t sniff the floor in the playoffs because of his inability to switch defensively.

Adding Love would help rebounding, one of the team’s biggest weaknesses, and it would add spacing — which they already have with Green on the floor — but it would give opponents an easy target on defense.

Love is not the versatile defender that Green or Griffin have shown themselves to be, but he’s not quite stuck-in-mud slow, like Jordan switching on a pick-and-roll. He’s also one hell of an outlet passer, a quality playmaker out of the high post, can get a basket on the low block and can hit an open shot.

At his best, Love is a scoring threat who can occasionally command a double team if he gets hot. It is unclear, however, if Love is at his best, and his performance in the Olympics this summer will dictate how much interest he garners this offseason.

The same questions surrounded Griffin when the team acquired him after his buyout. After all, he hadn’t dunked in over a year, in-game or in practice. Players who join a team competing for a championship, however, receive an immediate boost in morale. That showed outside the stat sheet for Griffin, who left an imprint in-between the lines by diving on the floor, taking charges and recovering loose balls, and the more-than occasional flop or two. It showed for Green, too, as a versatile switcher, corner three specialist and poster dunk extraordinaire.

Love’s health is also in question. He has not played more than 60 games in a season since the Cavs won it all in 2016. Early-season reports out of Cleveland suggested Love was rejuvenated and refreshed for the 2020-21 season, but a Grade 2 calf strain spoiled his season. Love appeared in 25 games and averaged just 12.2 points and 7.4 rebounds, shooting 40.9% from the field and 36.5% from downtown. In the one full game before his calf injury, Love played 37 minutes and posted 15 points, nine rebounds and three assists. Griffin, a member of the Pistons at the time, scored 26, and Jerami Grant scored 28, in that game.

At this point, we know how the Nets want to play: They want to run and get out in transition, neither of which can be accomplished without getting stops on the defensive end, an area Love has never been known as strong. We also know that they know defense is a weakness. They want to be better at protecting the paint and at stifling the point of attack. The Nets want to switch everything, and it’s unclear how effective a 33-year-old Love will be slowing down 25-and-under perimeter scorers.

Love does know, however, what it takes to win a championship, having won one alongside Irving and LeBron James in Cleveland in 2016. And if he’s coming to Brooklyn at the veteran’s minimum, adding him for 3-point shooting, rebounding and veteran leadership purposes alone makes sense.

Love to Brooklyn would feel like more of a performative signing than a functional signing. He can rebound and shoot 3s but makes the Nets even more susceptible to exposure on defense. And if you’re already thinking about how someone exposes you before they’re even a free agent, you should probably think twice about signing them in the first place.