Yes, Kevin Love is better for LeBron than Chris Bosh

Love is in the air. Especially in Cleveland.

When news of the Kevin Love trade become official, people began drawing comparisons to another All-Star forward who teamed up with LeBron James to pursue a title: Miami Heat forward Chris Bosh.

From ability to circumstances, the comparisons between Bosh and Love were there. The most glaring comparison is that of their numbers.

Let us take a look at the numbers of both Bosh and Love in their final seasons before playing with LeBron:

Bosh: 24.0 PPG, 10.6 RPG, 2.1 APG, 25.0 PER

Love: 26.1 PPG, 12.4 RPG, 4.4 APG, 26.9 PER

As you can see, VERY similar numbers for both Bosh and Love. Although Love is slightly better by the numbers, Bosh at the time was considered the best power forward in the league, the same title that Love has been given by experts.

Despite the similarities, there are some people that say Love will not be as good at adapting to playing with LeBron than Bosh was able to. There is very little evidence to back that up, but there is evidence on why Love will be a better fit for LeBron than Bosh was.

3-Point Shooting

When talking about the top shooting big men in the league, Love is normally one of the first guys that come up. Last year, he has shot 37 percent on three-pointers last year while also averaging 3.5 three-point attempts per game. He's even got a Three-Point Championship to his name, which he won during the 2012 All-Star festivities.

Bosh, on the other hand, has shot only 31 percent on three-pointers in his career, six points lower than Love. He's also averaged less than one three-point attempt per game, meaning he is not the threat that Love from deep.

The perfect companion to LeBron is a big who can shoot. What Bosh lacked for in his three-point ability, he made up for in his mid-range jumper, where he shot 47 percent from 16 to 21 feet from the floor, a very high rate. However, that shot is still considered a two. That extra point that Love can create from his high efficiency on three-pointers will have a bigger impact than what Bosh could produce.

Passing

If there is one thing that Love can do better than other player in the league is throw an outlet passes. He looks like Peyton Manning threading a ball into one of his receivers in coverage. Nobody creates more fast break opportunities off defensive rebounds than Love.

Love is also a very good passer in the half court, where he averaged 4.4 assists per game last season, which was fifth among forwards (first among power forwards).

Bosh has never been known as a great passer, averaging no more than 2 assist per game in his four seasons playing with LeBron. Even in Toronto, Bosh was never able to average more than 2.5 assists per game.

In my opinion, Love's ability to pass will be the biggest reason why he will succeed. LeBron has never played with three guys with very good passing ability. This will take pressure off LeBron on offense, giving him the ability to be one of the deadliest players off the ball.


The biggest adjustment that Bosh needed to make was being third in line behind LeBron and Dwyane Wade after being the go-to guy in Toronto. Love will be asked to make the same adjustment, this time with LeBron and guard Kyrie Irving.

And if history repeats himself, then I think LeBron will "love" his current front-court mate than the one he previously played with in Miami.