Cavs' adjustment
Love to center, Thompson to reserve role
CLEVELAND — Cavaliers All-Star Kevin Love is being moved after all — from forward to center.
Love, who has been the subject of trade speculation for three years in Cleveland, will be the club's new starting center, coach Tyronn Lue announced Monday night after the team played an intra-squad scrimmage at Quicken Loans Arena.
Lue has experimented with Love at center during training camp and believes the new-look lineup will create matchup problems for opposing centers as well as open the floor for LeBron James, Derrick Rose and others.
"He's a great passer," Lue said of Love. "Fives (centers) have to get out and try to guard him on the pick and roll with LeBron and D-Rose and those guys making plays, so it's going to be tough for those guys. We liked it."
Center Tristan Thompson will come off the bench, and newly acquired forward Jae Crowder will take Love's former spot, Lue said. Crowder, acquired this summer in the Kyrie Irving trade, is a strong defender.
Lue said he spoke to Thompson about the switch and "it was great." Thompson started all 78 games at center for Cleveland last season. In 2016, he made just 33 starts and the Cavs went on to win the NBA title.
"I told him I'm one guy you don't have to worry about," Thompson said. "I'm a team-first guy. I understand that at the end of the day it's about winning and if you win, we all look good — whether you come off the bench or you start. And it's not about who starts the game, it's about who is in the game in the fourth and who is finishing it. So, I'm not worried. The last time I came off the bench, if history repeats itself, we had a parade in June. So, I'll take it.”