With all the new talent the Cleveland Cavaliers have added to their already championship-caliber roster, head coach Tyronn Lue has some tinkering to do. Though they lost their most explosive scorer in Kyrie Irving, they acquired other key pieces such as Isaiah Thomas, Jae Crowder, and Dwyane Wade, not to mention the highly-coveted Brooklyn Nets 1st round pick in 2018.
One of the players expected to have a more significant role change is big man Kevin Love. With Thomas out for the first part of the campaign, Love will have to carry on a bigger offensive burden, something he showed to be more than capable of during his days with the Minnesota Timberwolves.
Along with more touches being likely for Love, the natural power forward may also lineup elsewhere in the Cavs starting 5 as Lue will likely experiment with him at center according to ESPN’s Dave McMenamin:
Kevin Love could be named the Cleveland Cavaliers’ permanent starter at center this season, with Tristan Thompson coming off the bench, coach Tyronn Lue said after practice Saturday.
As McMenamin pointed out, a positional switch for Love would result in Tristan Thompson being demoted to a bench role, though he would still be an integral piece of the rotation.
As the NBA has gone to smaller lineups in order to better the space on offense, seeing a player of Love’s size at the 5 isn’t unusual. “Spacing opportunities, spacing the floor,” Lue said as to why he may make the lineup change. “Kevin is going to have the best year that he’s had here… 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.”
Though Kevin Love would have to adjust to playing center, he has played the position before in spurts when the Cavs go small and deploy LeBron James at the 4. If Love was to become a fixture at that position, there would likely be a ripple effect for the rest of the starting 5 as well.
Depending on which other wing player Lue decides to start, we could see James at the 4 if J.R. Smith starts at small forward. If Lue goes with the defense-oriented Jae Crowder to start the game, James could stay put at small forward though he and Crowder would be pretty much interchangeable at either forward spot. With abundant new, versatile talent, it’s not crazy to expect Tyronn Lue to make frequent adjustments to his rotations ahead of the playoffs.
