Once again, LeBron James and the Cleveland Cavaliers have befuddled the national media.
Despite all the conjecture following the playoffs that Kevin Love would never resign with the Cavs because he wanted to be “the man” and get more shots, and his so-called personality conflict with James, the free agent announced he will ink a five-year deal with the wine and gold, and will be here to pursue a title.
Not only that, Tristan Thompson and Iman Shumpert also re-upped with Cleveland, insuring that the same cast of characters that dominated the NBA entering the playoffs, and survived injuries to key players in the post-season, will be together again for the 2015-16 NBA season.
It was even reported the night before free agency started that Love was going to meet with the Lakers. The four letter network really missed it here, and when it comes to the Cavs, they haven’t been right very often.
We believe that most of these national “insiders” take their own personal feelings into account, and they cannot believe that given a choice, anyone would want to play or work in Cleveland. Therefore, they assume everyone wants out.
As for Love, he had steadfastly maintained all year-long that his intention was to be with the Cavaliers in the upcoming season, and instead of taking him at his word, these people chose to think he was just “saying the politically correct thing”.
And make no mistake, Kevin Love is very important to this team offensively. The Finals should be evidence of that.
With Love on the floor and his ability to shoot the ball, defenses have to account for him, meaning if he is at the three-point line, you have to guard him. This opens up the lane for LeBron James and Kyrie Irving to get to the basket.
Remember against Golden State how the Warriors packed the paint with defenders to stop James? That doesn’t happen with Love on the floor.
James needs to be surrounded by shooters, and against Golden State, he was missing two of his most reliable guys in Irving and Love. The wine and gold were down to J.R. Smith, an ailing Iman Shumpert, Matthew Dellavedova, and veterans James Jones and Mike Miller.
The latter two were not afforded a lot of minutes in the regular season.
Besides that, Love is a very good rebounder, averaging 9.7 per game in the regular season. He might be the team’s second best rebounder behind only Thompson.
And he’s not as bad of a defender as he showed earlier in the year. Once GM David Griffin traded for Timofey Mozgov, providing the team with a shot blocking presence, Love’s defense was much better, mainly because he didn’t have to guard centers.
Simply put, he’s one of the best players in the NBA, surely among the top 25 players in the game. And he’s committed to stay with Cleveland for five more seasons.
So, the national media will have to deal with the fact that the Cavs aren’t going anywhere. They will be making deep playoff runs annually with James, Irving, and Love.
They just don’t get it. One more reason you shouldn’t believe anything they have to say regarding the Cleveland Cavaliers.
JK
Cleveland Sports Perspective 