It is tempting to try to classify what sort of player Kevin Love is for various reasons, mostly because he's just so good. Of course, it goes without saying that his best skill is his rebounding. The 15.7 rebounds per game he's currently averaging are the highest total since Dennis Rodman averaged 16.1 in 1996-97 (and the best by anyone not named Rodman since Moses Malone pulled down 17.6 in 1978-79). Clearly, he's a once-in-a-generation talent in that category.
Slowly, however, Love seems to be distinguishing himself in other areas that have to make you wonder how high, exactly, his ceiling might be. For starters, Love has become an elite free-throw shooter (17th in the league, and the only power forwards ahead of him are Dirk Nowitzki and Ersan Ilyasova) in just two seasons after shooting just 79 percent from the stripe as a rookie. He's 11th in 3-point field goal percentage after shooting just 33 percent last season.
More importantly, he's actually turned himself into an elite scorer overall. After putting up 35 against the Wizards on Thursday night, the 21.5 points he's averaging for the season have him firmly in the top 20, but the 23.5 he's averaged during his past 15 games would have him right on the fringe of the top 10.
All of this means (as if anyone needed this point driven home) that Love is one of the best players in the NBA. Forget the fact that his team is terrible; Love is putting up numbers that we haven't seen since, well, maybe ever. Finding a precedent for a guy who rebounds while also being able to step out and shoot the 3-pointer as well as Love is extremely difficult. If he ever can use those great hands to grab some steals, we could be looking at the best fantasy player in the NBA in the next few seasons.