Browns Just Don’t Have It. A Culture That Is

We definitely believe that winning is a learned skill. Yes, it comes through experience, but it is also a mindset. It’s a lot like waking up in the morning and deciding if you are going to have a good day or a bad day.

Or you are an optimist or a pessimist.

We do complain about the money the Cleveland Guardians spend, but there is no question in our mind that there still is an attitude of we are going to win throughout the organization.

We all saw it this past season, when the Guards fell 15 games out of first place, and lost their closer to a suspension and still wound up winning the American League Central Division. Of course, that comes from over a decade of success, but their manager, the front office, and the players didn’t let negatives creep into their mindset.

Since Terry Francona was hired by the team in 2013, the Indians/Guardians have only missed the post-season five times and the worst season they had was a year where they lost 86 games.

There has been no tanking, no deliberate losing.

The same holds true for the Cavaliers, who won the city’s only professional sports title since 1964 in 2016. Yes, they had some down years when LeBron James left via free agency, but we would guess that everyone involved with the Cavs knows owner Dan Gilbert wants to win, and they take steps to get back to that each year.

Just five seasons after James departed, the Cavaliers won 51 regular season games. Yes, the LeBron years set a foundation and expectation to win, and it continues today.

Which brings us to the Browns. From our perspective, it doesn’t appear there is a culture of winning. Now what is that? We don’t know exactly, but you can tell who has it and who doesn’t.

We have said this many times on this site, but the Browns are like the sign in the bar proclaiming free beer tomorrow. One of the area’s sports writers (Jason Lloyd) has written the Browns are great at talking about different plans to win, but they rarely are able to execute them.

The front office is stuck on having one way to be able to win, getting a franchise quarterback, and they think there is only one way to do that, and that is to get a very high draft pick.

We have detailed in past posts that there is simply no evidence to suggest that a path to success. When you look around the league, yes, you probably need to have a QB drafted in the first round to be able to win, but it’s more about recognizing talent.

We all know the Browns did have the first pick overall and drafted a QB just eight years ago in Baker Mayfield and after a few years, they convinced themselves he wasn’t the guy. How is that working out?

They saw a shiny object in the corner in Deshaun Watson and decided to move on from Mayfield and trade for him? Why, because it makes the process easier and quicker.

There isn’t an easy way to establish culture. It’s hard and sometimes painful.

We laugh at times at the “tanking crowd” because they will look at some quarterback with disdain. They want the first overall pick in the draft, but only when and if guys like Joe Burrow, Andrew Luck, or Peyton Manning are at the top.

So, the strategy is luck of the draw? If so, that’s a poor method.

Heck, the owner told everyone the hope is to find the “franchise quarterback” in 2026. What do the players think about that? It’s hard to set a winning culture when the team owner is talking about next season.

Free beer tomorrow.

That’s why new leadership is needed. Not new ownership, because no one is selling a cash cow. But someone who will set a standard of winning football games, no matter who the QB is or what else surrounds the team.

All you have to do is look two hours to the east and the rival Steelers. They have a winning culture. And guess what, they are always in the mix.

Stop making plans, stop making excuses. That’s the first step to building a culture.

Cavs Need To Show Progress, Like It Or Not

The Cleveland Cavaliers open their NBA season this week and it goes without saying this is their biggest season since LeBron James left via free agency following the 2017-18 campaign, the last of four straight Finals appearances.

This is Donovan Mitchell’s fourth season with the wine and gold, and each year the Cavs made the playoffs. The year prior to his arrival, Cleveland qualified for the play in tournament.

Each of the three years Mitchell has been here have ended in what is called a “gentleman’s sweep”, meaning a five-game series, and really, Cleveland hasn’t been competitive in any of the series in which they have been bounced from the tournament.

After being eliminated by Indiana in the second round last season, Mitchell told the media it wouldn’t matter if the Cavs went 82-0 this season. He’s right.

We said before Kenny Atkinson’s first year at the helm that for a team like Cleveland, the regular season didn’t matter, so while the 15-0 start was great, and so was the 16-game winning streak later in the season, the proof for how much this team improved would not come until the playoffs.

That’s why we would have reshaped the roster this summer. We could make a very solid argument that as currently constituted, the Cavaliers aren’t tough enough to win in the playoffs.

Yes, we know about the injuries. Darius Garland was hampered. Evan Mobley had a bad ankle. Mitchell’s calf and ankle weren’t 100%. But it’s the playoffs, every team is banged up at that point in the year.

Indiana used its size to force the Cleveland offense further away from the basket and they pressured the ball in the backcourt forcing the Cavs to use more time off the shot clock.

Team president Koby Altman did make some roster changes, but not to what the organization calls “the Core Four”, consisting of Mitchell, Garland, Mobley, and Jarrett Allen.

We will find out this year if that gamble pays off.

Altman and GM Mike Gansey did bring in Lonzo Ball, a 6’6″ guard to provide the Cavs with some size in the backcourt. However, Ball has played just 35 games combined in the last three seasons, and 70 contests in the last four years.

If he can stay healthy, Ball can provide Atkinson with someone who can handle the ball and see over the top of the defense. They also signed Larry Nance Jr. to provide another big player and a very shot blocker.

The Cavs have gotten off to great starts the last three years and kind of faded a bit or at least weren’t playing their best with the playoffs came around. It would be better if the Cavs found out about some younger players early in the year, to see if they can help with late April and May come along.

With Garland and Max Strus missing time early in the year, last season’s first round pick, 6’6″ Jaylon Tyson should get a chance to claim some minutes. And Strus’ spot looks like it will go to De’Andre Hunter, who will provide more size to the starting lineup at 6’8″.

Barring some significant injuries, the Cavaliers will be in the playoffs at the end of this season. After winning 64 games last year, what really matters for this group is doing enough to qualify for the playoffs and going into the final month of the year playing their best basketball.

This team is good enough to get to the NBA Finals. Anything less than making the conference finals will likely result in a drastic roster shakeup next summer.

Atkinson and his team simply have to make progress. That’s what this season is all about.

Love Cavs’ Season To Date, But Playoffs Will Tell The Story

As the Cleveland Cavaliers keep rolling along, with an NBA best record of 47-10, it is time to remind everyone what we said during their 15-game winning streak to start the season.

It is definitely sad, but the real season for this group starts when the regular season ends, and the playoffs begin. And that’s not being a Debbie Downer. It’s just that the Cavs won a playoff series a year ago, and when your regular season record is as good as Cleveland’s, championship aspirations in play.

That doesn’t mean we aren’t enjoying the regular season either. The style of play this team uses and the togetherness they exhibit make it very enjoyable to watch. For example, last Friday we were looking for a competitive game against the Knicks, and instead it was a 27-point lead on the way to a blowout win.

But we can look ahead because there is no playoff race to speak of. Cleveland is going to be there. In fact, Sunday’s win over Memphis meant the wine and gold have already clinched at least a spot in Adam Silver’s “play in tournament”.

And there are 25 games remaining.

The NBA playoffs are just different. In the regular season, teams rely on what they do well and sometimes it causes an issue against a singular opponent because their strength isn’t something you are good at defending and vice-versa.

But in the playoffs, you are playing the same opponent for perhaps seven consecutive games. And if you can identify a weakness on the other side of the floor, you attack it until the other team adjusts.

Most Cavs’ fans will remember how in the 2016 NBA Finals, the Cavs went after Stephen Curry on the defensive end, taking advantage of the Warriors’ switching on defense until Curry was on LeBron James and/or Kyrie Irving.

That’s the sort of thing we are talking about.

So, as marvelous as Darius Garland has been this season, shooting a career high 49.3% from the floor and 42.5% from three, and a turnover rate the lowest of his career, there will be a lot of pressure on him once the post-season begins.

He would be the first to admit he didn’t play well in either of the last two playoff seasons, and opponents hunted him on the defensive end as well. And we don’t know if he will be better until we see it on the floor.

We were discussing Isaac Okoro over the weekend and agreed he is a very good defensive player. However, opposing teams are going to leave him open in a playoff series until he proves he is willing to take and make shots on the perimeter, particularly three pointers. If he cannot, Kenny Atkinson will have to be very judicious with his minutes.

Again, this is not to be a pessimist, rather it is exciting to see if the Cavs have learned from the past two campaigns and will be better for it.

We want to see this version of Evan Mobley in a playoff series. The All-Star version of Mobley. He’s averaging three points more per game than a year ago, while still remaining one of the best defenders in the league.

It is important to keep winning in the regular season and stay ahead of Boston in the conference standings if only to make them play New York in the second round. And the Cavs do have a six-game lead there.

Regular season success is nice, but in the NBA, teams are measured by playoff performance. And we will have to wait six weeks for that.

Garrett Is In Concert With The Fans In Saying Get It Fixed

Myles Garrett caused quite the commotion last Friday in his weekly chat with the media, telling the Browns’ front office to get their act together.

And as usual, there was a lot of overreaction from the media and Browns’ fans.

First, Garrett did not ask to be traded. In fact, he said he wanted to finish his career with the Browns. He said he did not want to be part of a long rebuilding program such as the one the team started in 2016 when they stripped it down and rebuilt from the ground up.

Garrett was the first pick in the ’17 draft after Cleveland went 1-15. He played on a team that went 0-16 in his rookie year.

He will also be 29 years old next season and understands his NFL future isn’t going to be lengthy.

We compare it to LeBron James’ second tenure with the Cavaliers in which he continually put pressure on the front office to put a winning team on the court. He didn’t want to be on a real good team, he wanted to be with a group that can compete for titles.

Garrett has played for the Browns eight seasons and has participated in three playoff games, winning one. He will likely be named to his sixth Pro Bowl this season, and of course was the league’s Defensive Player of the Year following last season.

And when he retires, he will likely head to Canton to be enshrined in the Hall of Fame.

Since 1960, he’s the greatest defensive player the Browns have ever had. He’s just would like to see how the team is going to compete next year and the following seasons. He’s tired of wasting his talents on what has turned out to be a mess of a season.

In a way, Garrett was talking for the fans. He was on a squad that made the playoffs a year ago, with coaching and leadership that guided the team through four different quarterbacks.

After the season, the front office decided to make wholesale changes to that coaching staff and overhaul an offense that proved to be pretty effective.

Gone were people like Alex Van Pelt, Bill Callahan, and Stump Mitchell. Since Cleveland’s first run to the playoffs in 2020, the Browns have been a running team, led of course by Nick Chubb. In the defensive end’s comments Friday, he talked about the lack of a running game this year, and how that impacts his side of the ball.

He probably can’t believe after all these years; wholesale changes were made to a winning season. Frankly, we thought the same.

And all the changes were made to suit a quarterback who came here with great numbers but hasn’t really produced since he arrived in town.

As the best player on the team, he feels it is fair for the powers that be show him what the plan is going forward. Maybe he saw the reports that they were planning to give Deshaun Watson a shot at the QB job next year, and he knows that’s not going to work.

Perhaps he just wants to be reassured this isn’t going to be another total rebuild again. Teams in the NFL go from fourth to first place every year, why can’t the Browns do the same thing next season?

That 1-15 team that Garrett and David Njoku arrived to play with didn’t have players like Denzel Ward, Grant Delpit, Jeremiah Owusu-Koramoah, Jerry Jeudy, and Wyatt Teller on it.

We are sure the front office’s plan didn’t include making their best player upset.

Garrett is with the fans on this. He’s saying to the front office, “get it fixed”. He’s earned the right to make that comment.

The NBA MVP “Ladder” And Should Mitchell Be On It

One of the dumber things we see in sports is the “MVP Ladder” listed weekly by one of the NBA’s sponsors. It starts in the second week of the season, for goodness sakes. Why not wait until say, the All-Star break to start talking about the award.

We feel like in the NBA the media tries to give the award early and then spend the rest of the season justifying it. And usually, it’s because it is a specific player’s “turn”. For example, Jayson Tatum’s name always comes up early in seasons, but by the end of the year, others have passed him up.

What’s worse is other sports have started the same nonsense. But we digress.

We bring it up because the Cavaliers’ Donovan Mitchell has started to come up in conversations about the league MVP. Charles Barkley even said Mitchell should be discussed for the honor.

Mitchell is having an incredible year. In scoring, he is even with last year’s career high of 28.3 points per game, but it’s the other numbers that are more impressive.

He’s dishing out assists at a career high pace, with 6.3 per contest, beating his previous best by one assist. His turnovers are consistent with the rest of his career.

His rebounding has also increased over his career best, as he is grabbing 5.4 boards per night. And his shooting percentage has increased since arriving in Cleveland, as he shot 44.1% with Utah, and in his two years here, that is up to 48.4% last year and 47.5% this season.

Most importantly, when Darius Garland was injured, and J.B. Bickerstaff essentially put the ball in Mitchell’s hands, the Cavs have won 22 of 27 games, roaring to the 2nd seed in the Eastern Conference standings.

He has boosted his numbers since the day Garland went out to 29 points and 7.3 assists per contest. And it is not like he has been on the floor too much. After the first two games in this stretch, he’s played over 40 minutes just once, partially because of all the blowouts the team has played.

There have been games were he flat out carried the wine and gold. He had 45 points and 12 rebounds in the Paris game against the Nets. We woke the team out of a malaise against Detroit on January 31st, scoring 45 with 8 assists and 6 rebounds.

He’s likely also headed for his second all-NBA appearance in two years with Cleveland, which would make him only the third Cavalier to receive that honor more than once. The other two are LeBron James, who was named ten times (8 first team, 2 second team) and Mark Price, who received the honors four times (1 first team, 3 third team)

Mitchell made the second team last season.

He finished sixth in the MVP voting last season after leading the Cavs to a 50 win season, and they are on pace to surpass that mark in 2023-24.

Mitchell isn’t likely to win the award. Since the turn of the century, the only guards under 6’5″ to win it are Allen Iverson, Steve Nash, Steph Curry, and Russell Westbrook. But if the Cavs can finish second in the East, perhaps he can get to the top five.

Either way, he’s having a heck of a season. People who know the game know it, even if the national love isn’t there.

Cavs Have Come A Long Way, But It’s OK To Want More

It was just two years ago that the Cleveland Cavaliers finished the shortened 2020-21 season at 22-50, and those 22 victories were the most by the franchise since LeBron James departed for the Los Angeles Lakers after four consecutive Finals appearances.

They’ve come a long way since then, winning 44 games last season and this year stand poised to make their first playoff appearance without James on the roster since 1997-98 when Mike Fratello’s squad went 47-35 and lost in the first round.

This will likely be the best non-LeBron season since 1992-93 when Cleveland went 54-28 and lost in the Eastern Conference semifinals to the Bulls, led by a guy named Michael Jordan.

So big picture, the Cavaliers have made tremendous progress over the last two seasons, going from one of the worst teams in the league to one that right now would have home court advantage in the first round of the playoffs.

How can anyone complain about that?

It’s a fair question to ask, especially to us, since we have been a little concerned about the play of the Cavs, particularly their bench, which obviously is still a work in progress.

When Koby Altman started the rebuild, it began around lottery pick Collin Sexton, but really made a leap when Altman was able to get Jarrett Allen from Brooklyn in the James Harden move from Houston to Brooklyn.

Since the center arrived, he has averaged 14.6 points and 10 rebounds a game, while providing excellent defense. His presence and the drafting of Darius Garland the same season gave the wine and gold three solid pieces, although Garland had some struggles in his rookie year.

The past two seasons saw the drafting of Evan Mobley and the dealing of Sexton for the more polished Donovan Mitchell, an established three time all-star, adding two more building blocks, giving the Cavs a “core four” as a foundation for success.

That success has arrived, as Cleveland will likely win 50 games this season.

There is an angst that comes with success though. There are no guarantees the Cavaliers will finish in top four of the East next season, so although we don’t want the front office to do anything that will jeopardize success down the road, because Mitchell is the oldest of the core at 26-years-old, but you have to think Altman and GM Mike Gansey could have strengthened the current roster for the stretch run.

We understand the brass wanting to see how the current members on the roster play in important games and post-season ones too, but we also think it’s fair to not expect those guys getting better with higher stakes on the line.

We’ve also been very concerned about the lack of size on the roster besides Allen and Mobley, and Allen’s eye injury brought a spotlight on that. Thankfully, it doesn’t seem he will be out long, but we don’t see Robin Lopez being effective for a long period if he was needed.

And time will tell if J.B. Bickerstaff’s plan to ramp up minutes right now to prepare the players for a heavier workload come the post-season will do just that or will the four most important Cavaliers just be worn down after the regular season.

At some point, we believe the coach will rest Mitchell, Garland, Allen, and Mobley for the playoffs, perhaps in a couple of weeks.

The Cavs have turned it around over the last two seasons and a best-of-seven series will come their way next month. But it’s alright to want more, with the expectation that the best will come in the next couple of seasons.

There’s nothing wrong with that.

Love’s Time Here = Sacrifice

We discussed the Cavaliers’ decision to let Kevin Love go previously and wanted to take the time today to discuss his tenure with the wine and gold.

By now everyone knows Love has signed with the Miami Heat, meaning he is also taking his talents to South Beach, only he didn’t have a primetime special to announce it.

The Cavs have a back-to-back coming up in a couple of weeks (March 8th and 10th) in Miami, and hopefully Love doesn’t play a factor if Cleveland loses either of the two contests.

Time really flies because Love has been with the Cavaliers for nine seasons. It just seems hard to believe.

We would maintain no player ever sacrificed more than Kevin Love. We aren’t talking about money here, because as we all know, Love was paid very handsomely to stay in Cleveland after LeBron James and Kyrie Irving departed. No, we are discussing how he sacrificed his stats in order to win.

When Love arrived in town, he was coming off a 2nd team All-NBA season with Minnesota in which he averaged 25.9 points and 12.4 rebounds per game. He averaged 18.3 shots, and the previous three years with the Timberwolves, got between 17.4 and 18.3 shots with them.

He was also 2nd team All-NBA in 2011-12. Since Irving was 3rd team All-NBA in 2014-15, people should realize Love, not Irving, was the more accomplished player when the deal was made to send the first overall pick in Andrew Wiggins and Anthony Bennett to the Wolves for Love.

Love had to make the difficult transition from being the best player on a mediocre team, the Wolves were 40-42 in his last season up north, to being the second or third option on a team with title aspirations. His shots per game dropped to 13.5 per game with the Cavaliers.

There were some adjustments for Love and we all remember the “fit in” of “fit out” comments by James in Love’s first year in town. But in the end, it worked out with four straight Finals appearances.

His minutes also dropped. Some of that was due to the Cavs blowing teams out and some was due to nagging injuries, but he was playing 36 minutes with Minnesota, and his high with Cleveland was his first season here at 33.8 minutes.

Ultimately, Love did make two all-star games with the Cavs, bringing his career total to five. They were in the last two years of “the LeBron era”, 2016-17 and 2017-18 when he 19.0 points (his Cavalier high) and 11.1 boards, and 17.6 and 9.3 respectively.

After he signed the extension to remain here, injuries became more prevalent, and he played just 22 games in the first year after James signed in LA, but he did play 56 of the 65 games in the pandemic season of 2019-20, scoring 17.6 points and getting 9.8 rebounds per game.

Last season, he remade himself as a sixth man, the leader of the second unit, playing in 74 games and scoring 13.6 points as well as grabbing 7.2 caroms in just 22.5 minutes a night. The reduced minutes kept him healthier and he was a key part of a resurgence for the franchise, with their first year over the .500 mark since they went to four straight NBA Finals.

If you want to remember Kevin Love as a Cavalier, remember he was the ultimate teammate. He did the things, the “little things” teams need to be done in order to be successful. He probably could have continued to put up huge numbers, but he wanted to win.

And he was a huge part of putting the only championship banner for the franchise in 2016.

Thank you and fans here will always be appreciative.

LeVert Is A Very Important Piece For Cavs

Basketball is a different sport. It’s the only sport where you have to transition from offense to defense or vice versa on a moment’s notice. It’s also a sport where you can execute a play perfectly, and the shooter misses a shot or you can do everything wrong, and a player puts a ridiculous shot in the hoop.

It’s also a sport where too many people look at numbers and think about how the player with those statistics can fit in with their team.

That was the case when the Cavaliers traded for Kevin Love prior to the 2014-15 season. Many people assumed Love would put up the same 26 points and 12.5 rebounds he did for the Timberwolves, but Love was the primary offensive option on Minnesota, and he would be the third scoring option in Cleveland, after LeBron James and Kyrie Irving.

Love scored ten points less per game in his first season here and grabbed three less boards. But the Cavs went to the NBA Finals, the first of four consecutive trips.

We believe that is why fans were so critical of Love in his early tenure with the wine and gold. They expected more than the player could have produced considering he was no longer the best player on the team.

For the most part, Love understood and did his job, and was rewarded when the Cavs won a title.

We think the same is true for Caris LeVert, another player we don’t think Cavalier fans appreciate enough. When LeVert came over from Indiana last season, he was scoring 18.9 points per game and was the primary perimeter scorer (the Pacers also had Domantis Sabonis at the time) for the Pacers.

He was hurt shortly after he arrived in town and averaged 13.6 points a game with the wine and gold. Our guess is people expected him to score the same 19 points he did in Indiana, but the Pacers didn’t have a player like Darius Garland.

His role changed again when the Cavs acquired Donovan Mitchell. Coach J.B. Bickerstaff started him a small forward to start the year, but they agreed he would be better coming off the bench.

He’s not a great three-point shooter, which seems to be the fixation of all fans these days, but he still is very important for the Cavs because he is one of the few players, and the only member of the second unit, that can create his own shot. And believe us, that’s very important come playoff time.

Besides LeVert, the only players on the Cleveland roster who can create their own are Mitchell and Garland.

He’s also shooting the three ball at a career best 37.6% and he’s not just a scorer, averaging four rebounds and four assists per game. And he’s the tallest guard (6’6″) on the roster.

In short, even though his numbers aren’t where they were in Indiana (again, circumstances), he provides the Cavs with a unique set of tools. Meaning he is very important to the team.

We’ve been saying since the beginning of the year the Cavaliers have six proven players, and Caris LeVert is one of those six. Be careful about wanting to move him.

The problem all along were the expectations of what LeVert could be vs. the player he is. And he is a very good player.

Talking About Mitchell’s Amazing Performance

In the Cleveland Cavaliers’ first season, Walt Wesley scored 50 points in a game against the Cincinnati Royals on February 19, 1971. That record held for 34 years, until LeBron James put up 56 vs. Toronto in March 2005.

The 50 point barrier has only been accomplished 15 times in franchise history and only five players have done it. James did it 10 times, Kyrie Irving did it twice, and the 57 points he put up on March 12, 2015 established the club record, which was tied by James two years later.

Earlier this season, Darius Garland became the fourth player in Cleveland history to hit the 50 mark when he put in 51 against Minnesota.

It doesn’t happen often for a player wearing wine and gold.

And then we have what happened on Monday night.

Donovan Mitchell had a night for the ages, shattering the team record with a 71 point effort, tied with David Robinson for the eighth most in any game by an individual. There are only three players in NBA history to have recorded more points in a single game, and their names are Wilt Chamberlain (of course), Kobe Bryant, and David Thompson.

Yes, the game went into overtime, but Mitchell had 58 at the end of regulation, which would have broken the Cavalier team record anyway.

The Cavs were without two starters, Garland and Evan Mobley, so they needed someone to step up and provide scoring. Garland is after all, a 20 point per game scorer. In the first half, no one stepped up and the wine and gold were down by 18 at halftime, 65-47.

Mitchell started getting in going late in the second quarter. He had five points until he hit a three with 6:53 remaining in the second quarter and scored eight more before the end of the half.

Again, for the entire game, no one outside of Jarrett Allen, who was nine of ten from the floor, and Raul Neto, who took just three shots, hit more than half their attempts for Cleveland.

So, Mitchell took over, which is what stars do. He basically willed the Cavs to a win. And it wasn’t as though he was playing selfishly either. He dished out 11 assists. He also took just 34 shots to get the 71 points, as he went to the foul line 25 times, making 20. That helped.

He scored 24 points in the third quarter to cut the Cavs’ deficit to five heading into the 4th quarter. He added 18 more to force overtime. He needed to score that many points to get a win for Cleveland. That’s what made it even more special.

He took only two more shots in the same game as Chicago’s DeMar DeRozan, who scored 44 points taking 32 shots. And on the same night, Golden State’s Klay Thompson hoisted 39 shots, scoring 54 points and doled out just three helpers.

We were in attendance on March 28, 1990 when Michael Jordan scored 69 points against the Cavs, and he took 37 shots in that one, and he went to the line 23 times. After the game, Lenny Wilkens remarked that since Jordan fired the ball 37 times, he should’ve scored 69.

That game also went overtime.

By the way, in Bryant’s 81 point night in 2006? He shot 46 times in 42 minutes. Mitchell played 50 minutes in his history making night.

What an incredible game. They don’t come about that often. It was almost 17 years since Bryant’s outburst. We are sure everyone will remember it for years to come.

Love’s Career Arc Has Not Been Seen Here.

When Kevin Love arrived in Cleveland, he was 26 years old and coming off a season in which he scored 26.1 points and grabbed 12.5 rebounds per game. He made the All Star team, and was second team all-NBA twice in his career.

Cleveland traded the first overall pick in the previous draft, Andrew Wiggins, along with another first overall pick in Anthony Bennett to Minnesota to bring him to the Cavaliers, thus forming a “Big Three” with LeBron James and Kyrie Irving.

Love’s numbers took a dip, mostly because he was no longer the first option offensively, dropping to 16.4 points a night, and his shooting numbers dropped, and so did his rebounding totals.

No player sacrificed his individual numbers more than Love, and while James remained with the team, no one was more of a whipping boy for the fans. Whenever the Cavs didn’t play well, the fingers usually pointed at Love. We always thought fans figured he was going to average 25 points per game here, but he was getting around 17-18 shots a contest with the Timberwolves. That number dropped to around 13 here.

The deal paid off for the Cavs and Love with the 2016 NBA title, and Love had his signature moment late in the fourth quarter with a great defensive possession against Steph Curry. He was the first player James hugged as the clock ticked to zero.

Irving was traded after the former UCLA standout’s third year in town and James left following the next year, both of which ended with losses to Golden State in The Finals.

When James left, the Cavaliers gave Love a long term, very highly paid contract to keep him in town and he became the best player and the face of the franchise.

But injuries started to hit as Love turned 30. The first post-James season was a disaster, Cleveland finishing just 19-63 and the team’s star played only 22 games, due to a toe injury on his left foot which needed surgery. He averaged 17 points and almost 11 rebounds but shot just 38.5%.

The next year, he clashed with John Beilein and seemed to have a problem with how some of his young teammates played the game. Injuries limited him to only 25 games the following, and folks started to wonder how GM Koby Altman could figure out how to move Love’s large contract.

Last year, Love agreed to have his minutes reduced to stay healthy, and it helped that the Cavs doubled their win total. Now a veteran leader, he played 74 games, scoring 13.6 points and gathering 7.2 caroms in 22.5 minutes a night.

He was once again an important player on a winning team, and he seemed to buy in, embracing a leadership role.

This year, with the Cavs off to a 7-1 start, after trading for Donovan Mitchell, he’s at 12.4 and 7.2 a night. Friday night against Detroit, he had 10 assists and was two rebounds shy of a triple double.

We write about this because we can’t think of a Cleveland athlete with the career arc of Kevin Love. From key player on a title team and title contender, to a guy struggling to stay healthy and happy on a losing squad, to a key part of a young team seemingly ready to contend again.

It’s hard to believe, but this is Love’s ninth season with the wine and gold. Most athletes don’t play here long enough to go through that cycle of contention. He’s 9th in franchise history in points, 7th in rebounds, and second to James in three-point field goals.

Someday, his number will be hoisted to the rafters for his contributions to this franchise. And it seems now, the fan base realizes how important he is to winning, now as a long-range shooter, who can still rebound. He’s also the Cavs’ king of drawing charges, and his young mates call him “grandpa” or “uncle”.

It’s great to see, particularly because he sacrificed a lot of numbers in order to win here. Glad to see him get his due.