Tyronn Lue: Kevin Love to Have His Best Season in Cleveland

With Kyrie Irving no longer in the picture, Cavs head coach Tyronn Lue expects Kevin Love to have his best season in Cleveland.

Lue says the four-time NBA All-Star’s touches will go way up as the second option behind LeBron James.

Love, 29, averaged 19.0 points and 11.5 rebounds in 2016-17 (his best numbers since being traded to the Cavs.)

Per ESPN:

Playing alongside two pick-and-roll maestros transformed Love into a third wheel, just as Chris Bosh warned. He was a glorified Ryan Anderson at times, chilling along the 3-point arc while LeBron and Irving ran the show. He became a different player. The Cavs bristle at the idea that he became a worse player. They are confident Minnesota Love still exists, and they are redesigning their offense — and potentially their rotation, featuring more of Love at center — to unleash him again.

 

Whether an older Love weathered by injuries can still be that player in a LeBron-centric offense, against opponents who have gotten smarter about defending him, is one of the looming season’s thorniest questions. Cavs coach Tyronn Lue has talked before about giving Love the ball more, but it has never stuck for more than a few games at a time.

 

“Kevin is going to have the best year that he’s had here,” Lue said. “I thought he was great anyway. You keep bringing up 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.”

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