NBA Rumors: 5 replacements for Kevin Love in Cleveland

If one of Cleveland’s biggest gripes about Love is his lack of mental toughness, then the Cavaliers front office may have wanted DeMarre Carroll of the Toronto Raptors. Carroll emerge as a great three-and-d player for the Atlanta Hawks from 2013 to 2015 before getting his well-deserved pay day with the Raptors last summer.

Carroll was the on-court vocal leader in Atlanta and continues to thrive in that role for the Raptors. He is one of the better on-ball defenders of James and can shut down most team’s elite scoring threat one through three. He’s even become a 40% shooter from beyond the arc the last few years.

Besides great mental toughness and competitive fortitude, perhaps Carroll’s greatest strength is his ability to cut to the basket and score at the rim. Playmakers like James and Irving would love to play with a wing that can both catch-and-shoot, as well as flash towards the goal for easy points.

Best of all is that Carroll would provide great energy that would inspire his theoretical Cavaliers teammates. While he could conceivably butt heads with James as a vocal leader, both would be coming from a strong place emotionally and could feed off each other, as Cleveland pushes towards a championship.

Next: 2. Andrew Wiggins.