Love back at power forward for Cavs
INDEPENDENCE, Ohio — Kevin Love’s latest move hasn’t made any of the Cavaliers screaming mad. There’s a positive change. Targeted by some teammates during a heated meeting this week, Love is returning to power forward after Cavs coach Tyronn Lue tweaked his lineup in hopes of reviving a team that has dropped 10 of 13 games. Lue had been resisting changes, but following Thursday’s practice he announced he’s dropping forward Jae Crowder to the second team, returning center Tristan Thompson to the starting lineup and switching Love, who was named an AllStar reserve, back to a position where he is much more comfortable.
LeBron James and his teammates have been consumed in recent days by chaos, highlighted by a pre-practice meeting Monday when players aired grievances. A few targeted their frustration at Love, who went home sick from Saturday’s lopsided loss to Oklahoma City and missed Sunday’s practice.
Lue said he considered other changes, but decided the Crowder-Thompson-Love maneuver is it for the moment.
“It’s not a good time right now,” Lue said. “Just see how this works first and go from there.”
Cleveland’s season is crumbling with every loss, and Lue had little choice but to do something to slow the decay. He had several other options, like benching either point guard Isaiah Thomas or struggling shooter J.R. Smith, but Lue felt the move with Crowder made most sense. Lue said Crowder, who started 43 of Cleveland’s 46 games, accepted the demotion without pushback.
“Jae has been playing good the last few games and it has nothing to do with Jae,” Lue said. “He’s been great. He’s all about the right things. He’s all about the team. You hate to make these changes. Not saying it’s permanent, but he’s about the team. Went and talked to him this morning and he said, ‘Whatever is best for the team. I’m all in.’ It was a great talk with him.”
When Lue informed Love of the switch, the five-time All-Star said, “good.”
It’s the best thing that’s happened in days for Love, who has spent much of his four seasons in Cleveland under attack. While he struggles on the defensive end against bigger players, Love is a matchup nightmare for defenses because of his ability to play with his back to the basket and outside range. He willingly moved to center this season for Lue, who appears to be done with his “small-ball” lineup.
“He felt good about it and I think offensively for him now he can post more 4s,” Lue said. “Get back to posting him more. I think it’s a good adjustment for us. Just have to see how it looks going forward.”