Bob Finnan: (Kevin) Love story takes a sad turn

This isn't supposed to end this way for Kevin Love. The Cavaliers power forward, the last remnant from Cleveland's 2016 championship team, has been relegated to bench duty on coach J.B. Bickerstaff's team. Love, 34, hasn't played in the last 10 games. He was inactive for three of them and has been a Did Not Play-Coach's Decision in the last seven heading into tonight's game against San Antonio. The 6-foot-8, 241-pounder has fallen out of Bickerstaff's rotation. It's difficult to argue that he should be playing over Dean Wade, who is more athletic, a better defender and eight years younger. If Wade continues to make a few 3-pointers, Love might not ever see the light of day. Wade, though, is just as inconsistent as Love at shooting the ball, as of late. The numbers paint a different story, however, as Wade is second to Darius Garland on the team in 3-point percentage — .419 to .396. Love is shooting at a .354 clip from behind the arc. They are both stretch 4s —power forwards whose shooting prowess stretches defenses —but at different stages of their careers. Love was the fifth overall pick in the 2008 draft from high-profile UCLA and has been a five-time All-Star, a two-time All-NBA player and an NBA champion. He makes $28.9 million this season, his 15th in the NBA. Wade, an undrafted free agent from Kansas State in 2019, will likely never earn any NBA honors. He earns $1.9 million this year and is a hard-working, bring-your-lunch-pail-to-work kind of player. But he's moved ahead of Love in the Cavs' pecking order. Unless he gets hurt, it will likely stay that way for the rest of the season. Love will be an unrestricted free agent in the offseason and will either retire or move to another team at a much lower price. Love started the season on fire and was knocking down 3-pointers and rebounding at a high level. Then he fractured his thumb and suffered a back injury and things unraveled. He quit making shots and it seemed as if he couldn't guard anyone. He forced Bickerstaff to make a difficult decision. Love is a borderline Hall of Famer and clearly isn't happy rotting on the bench. Cavs president of basketball operations Koby Altman said last week Love's camp hasn't approached him about a buyout and he doesn't anticipate that happening. But that doesn't mean it won't happen at some point. "I think we're asking Kevin to make another sacrifice this year to do what he's doing right now, which is be a great teammate, stay positive every day, stay ready and work on (his) body," Altman said. "(He'll need to) work on everything to be ready for when that opportunity comes next. "We got healthy and I think J.B. liked the rotation that we were going with. I think that's part of it. (It's) not easy for Kevin, I'm sure. I've had a conversation with him (and) he wants to play. I think he'll have an opportunity to play again this year, but where we're at now, I think J.B. is really comfortable with the rotation that we have." It's clear that Love wants to play. His body language says so. The only way for him to snap out of his shooting slump is to keep firing and the Cavs can't afford to watch him miss outside shots. They are already suffering through that with the players who are getting minutes. Only two players shot 50 percent or better from behind the arc in Saturday's win over Chicago — Garland (3-of-6) and Evan Mobley (2-of-4). The bench was atrocious shooting the ball against the Bulls — 1-for-19 from the field, 0-for-13 from the 3-point line. The bench managed just five points in a combined 68 minutes. So, yes, someone needs to start making shots off the bench. The Cavs hope it will be Wade. However, whether he does or not, Love has become an afterthought and it seems sad he's going out on those terms. Contact Bob Finnan at rfinnan30@gmail.com and follow him @BobCavsinsider on Twitter.