4 changes the Cavs should consider making to jumpstart their starting lineup

Bringing Kevin Love off of the bench

This may be so against the grain that it’s never crossed anybody’s mind but if the Cleveland Cavaliers want to start the game off with their best defensive unit possible, they should bring Kevin Love off of the bench.

Ideally, the Cavs would start LeBron James, Jae Crowder and Tristan Thompson in the frontcourt with Derrick Rose and J.R. Smith in the backcourt. This would give the Cleveland Cavaliers a lineup with four out their five most athletic players and four out of their top six defenders. That’s the type of personnel that can fly around to wreak havoc on the defensive end.

Starting the game with solid defense, easy points in a fast-paced up-and-down offense (that will force teams to play small to match their speed) and a simplified attack in the halfcourt (useful for a team full of players lacking familiarity with one another) could allow the Cavs to get off to quicker starts.

Bringing Love off of the bench would also stop the Cavs from force-feeding a big who develops a hair-trigger when he hasn’t shot the ball enough. Though Love is certainly capable of putting up stellar scoring performances, the Cavs have honestly always been at their best when they have a two-man show going from the perimeter and while before it was James and Kyrie Irving, now it’s James and Derrick Rose (eventually Isaiah Thomas). Give them the ball to attack and space the floor with shooters to keep the floor balanced and the ball-swinging around.

Tristan Thompson doesn’t provide Rose with as much space to attack the rim as Love but this is where Rose will have to be the facilitator he gloated about being in training camp and find Thompson in the pick-and-roll and work open spot-up shooters as much as he tries to finish over (and around) trees.

Love should obviously be the first player off the bench and when he comes in the Cavs should have the lead (or at least be down by a respectable amount), which should prevent him from pressing and rushing his shot attempts. Love should be able to come in and play center because in coming off the bench, he should certainly have the energy necessary to bang in the post and be the lineup’s primary scoring option when he’s eventually joined by Dwyane Wade, Iman Shumpert, Kyle Korver and Jeff Green.

Is giving Love the Manu Ginobli treatment really the worst of ideas, when it always seems like he never quite fits?

Starting lineup: Derrick Rose, J.R. Smith, LeBron James, Jae Crowder, Tristan Thompson

Related Story: What to make of Cavs new starting lineup

*All stats gathered from www.basketball-reference.com