Since All-Star forward Kevin Love was traded to the Cleveland Cavaliers in 2014, his name has come up in multiple trade rumors that often made him seem like the odd man out in Cleveland. Love has been discussed in trades as recently as this summer, but according ESPN’s Zach Lowe, Love is no longer on the trading block.
On Thursday, Lowe discussed Love’s likely role on the new-look Cavs and reported that members within the organization are expecting this season to be Love’s best year in a Cavs uniform.
“Kevin is going to have the best year that he’s had here,” (Tyronn) Lue told ESPN.com this week. “I thought he was great anyway. You keep bringing up (Chris) Bosh. What did Bosh average in Miami? Kevin averaged almost 20 [points] and 10 [rebounds] with two other All-Stars. If you are on a championship-caliber team, you have to sacrifice. But 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.”
Because of that expectation, it appears that the Cavs plan to keep the four-time NBA All-Star on their roster.
“The Cavs have contemplated trading Love off and on almost since that series, though they have no plans to do so right now, sources say. (Love does not have much standalone trade value.) They nearly flipped him for Paul George in a three-team trade in late June,” Lowe wrote.
Lowe also discussed how Love will likely be used next season and how his role may be different from previous seasons.
“The Cavs are intrigued by shifting more of Love’s minutes to center — without (Tristan) Thompson. The quartet of LeBron (James), JR Smith, (Jae) Crowder and Love provides a nice mix of skills, and could function just fine even without a traditional point guard while (Isaiah) Thomas recovers,” he wrote. “It gives Cleveland the best chance of roping the biggest opposing player into guarding Love, and exploiting that; Love slips to the rim way more often when he plays center in wide-open space. Switching the LeBron-Love pick-and-roll becomes a no-go if a lug has to guard LeBron on the other end of it.”
The shakeup in Cleveland has been dramatic this offseason. While the Cavs lost one of the major pieces that helped win a championship in Kyrie Irving, fans should be happy to know that Love will have a major role in attempting to repeat that success for the foreseeable future.
