Cleveland Cavaliers media day: Kevin Love seems to be in a good place

With Cleveland Cavaliers media day underway, Kevin Love seems to be the undisputed leader of the team.

The Cleveland Cavaliers are relying on Kevin Love to be the number one option offensively this season, and step up as the primary leader of the team. Love is no longer second-fiddle to LeBron James this year, and he appears to be comfortable as “the guy,” particularly from a leadership standpoint. Our own Quenton Albertie noted how Love is taking major strides as a leader, and his spreading of mental health awareness was a major focus in today’s media day session, as Spencer Davies of Basketball Insiders noted.

Love is going to be the focal point of Cleveland’s offense, and with that being the case this season, they’ll need him to be locked in on and off the floor. Being around LeBron James for the last four seasons has produced its ups and downs, as Love has had to sacrifice production offensively, most notably in the usage department.

This year, with more touches, especially in the mid-post area and as the screener in pick-and-rolls more, Love will need to be in the right place mentally.

Cleveland is a team heading in a younger direction, and it will show on opening night. With players like 2018 first-round pick Collin Sexton, Cedi Osman, Larry Nance Jr., Rodney Hood and others now playing significant roles, Love believes the Cavaliers will still be a viable team in the East with him as a number one option offensively, per Chris Fedor of Cleveland.com.

As was previously mentioned, learning under LeBron’s leadership tutelage was huge for Love. This season, that should pay off with the Cavaliers having intentions of competing for an Eastern Conference postseason birth. Greg Swartz of Bleacher Report demonstrated how Love noted that leadership ability, both vocally and by example, of James.

This young Cleveland team will need to learn how to win through the experiences of a long 82-game season and not having LeBron anymore. Love’s influence will play a huge role in determining how the team performs, and how young players respond mentally and physically to the game-to-game grind of the NBA season.

If his head’s in the right place, as it appears to be as the regular season approaches, that will go a long way in the Cavs making the postseason again. Cleveland head coach Tyronn Lue needs Love to have a big year.