The Cleveland Cavaliers are now looking at alternatives following the departure of Kyrie Irving. Isaiah Thomas, Jae Crowder and Ante Zizic may try to fill the void with a much-criticized all-star in the roster could be the answer – Kevin Love.
Love off the block
Love’s name has frequented the NBA trade rumor mill. A lot of that was tied up to his sub-par performance. Compared to his days with the Minnesota Timberwolves, the all-star forward had been struggling to co-exist with Irving and LeBron James.
Curiously, Love can deliver his numbers (points and rebounds) on any given night.
Though not as huge, Love was contributing his fair share and sacrificing a bit in the process. Such was something fans failed to realize with the 29-year-old playing second fiddle to the top guns of the squad.
The scenario now is quite different. With Irving out, head coach Tyronn Lue needs someone to fill in the scoring slack vacated by “Uncle Drew”. Rather than scamper for other trades, it looks like Love will be more involved.
“This year is going to be a big opportunity for him. We're going to play through him more. He's going to get those elbow touches again," said Lue in an interview with Zach Lowe of ESPN.
Will Love even care?
Kevin Love is an all-star and has impressively weathered the criticism hurled against him.
The story may be different from within unless the all-star forward is purposely trying to keep himself composed. He is in the third year of his five-year $113 million deal with the Cavs. He becomes a free agent in 2020 according to Spotrac.
With three more years to go, Love will likely play out his contract and take it from there.
But will he remain in Cleveland for long? A lot may depend on how he steps up this coming NBA season.
Getting touches
Before anything else, it would be best to note that the Cavs are more likely to start Derrick Rose at the point guard position. Thomas is expected to sit out a part of the 2017-18 NBA season.
Rose has been known to take it hard to the rim for most of his career.
With the Cavs, the former NBA MVP may tweak that a bit and do more playmaking. Will that involve Love?
James is still expected to be the main guy. He will hold the ball more, same with Rose. Seeing how these two fellow all-stars want to handle the spheroid most of the time, how can Love get more touches and be more effective?
Lue will have a lot of adjusting to do to make it all work. Love is deadly when utilized properly. He may be putting up the numbers though most of it has been overlooked by fans and pundits.
