COMMENTARY Love-fest can officially begin for Cavs

The most remarkable summer overhaul in recent history is complete now that Kevin Love is officially a Cleveland Cavalier.

The Cavs have the Minnesota Timberwolves to thank, just as the Boston Celtics did before them.

The Celtics, not the 2010 Miami Heat, were the last team to reshape their roster this dramatically in one summer. The Heat were a playoff team the year before LeBron James and Chris Bosh arrived. The Celtics transformed overnight from a 24-victory team into NBA champions.

Eleven months after the Celtics plucked another Kevin (Garnett) from the Timberwolves, they were celebrating a championship at Copley Square. Whether this Cavs season ends with a parade on Public Square remains to be seen, but the similarities between that Celtics team and the Cavs today are striking, beginning with their mutual trade partner.

It’s astonishing that just seven years after dealing Garnett to the Celtics, the Timberwolves have fallen into an identical predicament — an unhappy superstar named Kevin threatening to leave if he isn’t traded.

The latest deal sent Love to Cleveland, with Andrew Wiggins and Anthony Bennett going to Minnesota. The Timberwolves also received Thaddeus Young from Philadelphia, which in turn received a first-round draft choice from the Cavs in 2015 along with guard Alexey Shved and forward Luc Mbah a Moute from Minnesota.

It’s a trade that has been held up for 30 days to satisfy league rules, but it has been in the works for much, much longer.

The Cavs have been trying to acquire Love for years, but neither he nor the Timberwolves had much interest in listening to what they had to say. Love always had too many years left on his contract to make the Timberwolves seriously consider moving him, and he had too many dreamier options to ever consider staying in Cleveland long term.

James’ presence has a way of making men listen.

By the time all the new names are stitched onto the jerseys, the Cavs will likely be left with just five players who endured last season’s 33-49 finish: Kyrie Irving, Dion Waiters, Tristan Thompson, Anderson Varejao and Matthew Dellavedova.

Coincidentally, that’s also the number of holdovers with which the Celtics began their 2007-08 championship season: Tony Allen, Kendrick Perkins, Paul Pierce, Rajon Rondo and Brian Scalabrine.

The Celtics depleted their depth in the trades to acquire Allen and Garnett, making the free-agent acquisition of James Posey crucial to bolster a thin second unit. Posey is now an assistant coach with the Cavs.

The Celtics at least had Doc Rivers to transition from league doormat to powerhouse. The Cavs’ summer of change also included a new head coach.

James cautioned in the essay announcing his return that this will take time, that the Cavs weren’t ready to win a championship and that he knew his patience would be tested. Turns out, he only had to wait about a month for that championship roster. The Cavs were heavy favorites to win the East even before Love’s arrival, with one rival front-office executive predicting during summer league the Cavs would win 60 games this season.

Since then, they’ve also acquired Love, Shawn Marion and Mike Miller, among others, and Allen could be next.

Traditionally, teams don’t vault from postseason rookies to champions in one leap. The Celtics were that rare exception, but every member of their Big Three were at least playoff tested when they united.

James is the only member of the Cavs’ Big Three to even play in a postseason game. That’s why they’ve been busy adding past champions like Marion, Miller and perhaps Allen.

This roster still isn’t complete. The Cavs look vulnerable defensively and still would like to find a rim protector, but no cap space and the lack of available big men make that difficult.

For now, they have most everything else they need to win the East and perhaps their first championship in team history. They wanted to surround James with shooters, and now they have arguably the league’s best Stretch Four in Love.

The summer of LeBron has evolved into a summer of Love. A winter wonderland is sure to follow.