The Cleveland Cavaliers are currently without Kevin Love and Tristan Thompson, arguably their two best players on the roster. But the question is, whose absence is hurting the team more?
It’s something nobody in Cleveland thought they’d be asking when the Cleveland Cavaliers’ season began. Kevin Love, who just inked a four-year extension with the Wine and Gold during the summer, was preparing to be the man for the first time in his five years with the Cavaliers. After the departures of Kyrie Irving and LeBron James, Love was going to be the first option on a young squad hoping for playoffs originally.
But then he went down four games in.
Love going down left everybody wondering how Cleveland would perform in contests and more importantly, who would step up? With such an inexperienced roster when it comes to winning games down the stretch and playing both ways for full four quarters, would the team even be competitive?
At the time, Love was averaging 19.0 points and 13.5 rebounds per game. His production was still there for the short sample size he’s provided in 2018-19 but in my opinion, it felt like there wasn’t much of a connection between him and the youth. That isn’t a slight to Love. But at 30 years old, sometimes it’s tough to connect with guys who were teenagers while you were in the league already.
So with Love down and out for the foreseeable future, who would answer the call and become the voice of the locker room?
Tristan Thompson answered the call.
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Not only did Thompson answer the call, he grabbed the bull by the horns. For years, he had been known as just a rebounding machine who didn’t have much of an offensive game. He was viewed as a good guy to have when it came to securing an extra board here and there but never as a leader. That changed quickly.
For starters, Thompson’s having his best year as a professional. He’s averaging 12.0 points and 11.6 rebounds per game while shooting 55.1 percent from the floor.
Unlike other seasons, there isn’t much concern when he puts the ball on the floor and goes to work in the post. He’s being trusted to show how much he’s grown as a player and it’s paying off for the Cleveland Cavaliers.
Off the court, we’ve heard more from Thompson when it comes to the rest of the team, more so guys like Collin Sexton. He was extremely vocal early on in the season when it came to guys not providing enough effort or paying attention to what they were doing on defense. He was visibly frustrated and for good reason: He wanted to win.
The way both he and Love go about things are obviously different. Love has always been status-quo with his responses, explaining what went wrong in games without singling anyone out. But on a team that needs some tough love to grow, Thompson’s open and no-nonsense mentality seems to fit best.
After the team’s third-straight loss to start the campaign, Love and Thompson were both asked (h/t NBA.com) what went wrong in the home-opening loss to the Atlanta Hawks. Let’s take a look at both of their answers.
Let’s start with Kevin’s take on the situation.
"“The last three quarters were pretty damn alarming. Opening Night at home we expect to play better. We expect to play better in front of our home crowd. I don’t know if alarming is the right word but it sure sounds right, just with our effort level. Our effort level wasn’t there, especially defending the three-point line. They were just gunning and we weren’t getting into them, we weren’t physical.”"
Now here’s Tristan’s response.
"“Whoever’s in the game has got to be ready to play, take the scout serious and understand what we’re doing. If you don’t know what to do, ask questions. But don’t go out there and say, ‘I know. I know,’ and then you come out there and get your ass whupped.”"
Two correct answers in the way the team performed that night. But there are contrasts in the answers, with Love’s answer being more politically correct than Thompson’s unfiltered analysis. I’m not saying that Thompson is a better player than Love. But he may be the better choice as the leader.
If you’ve watched the last month-and-a-half of Cleveland Cavaliers’ basketball, it’s apparent that the team is playing with more heart and fluidity. They don’t have a star to lean on in tough times and it’s forced everyone on the Wine and Gold to evolve.
While they aren’t winning a lot of these games, Thompson’s presence has been felt by the way guys like Larry Nance Jr. have developed. They’ve followed his lead in terms of effort and trying to get better in every facet of the game. Nance Jr. has no doubt done that since Thompson went down.
Back on November 15th, exiled Cavaliers guard J.R. Smith had this to say about Thompson, per Cleveland.com’s Chris Fedor.
"“Tristan, I think, has always been the heart of the team. He’s the backbone on offense and defense and really the only shot blocker we’ve had since I’ve been here. I think he has the biggest role on the team, being physical every night and bringing it every night, with the intensity and what he’s known for and that’s a hard thing to do, especially as a big. He’s done a hell of a job with changing lineups.”"
If players, or former members of the team, are saying things like this about the 27-year old, what’s that say about his role in Cleveland? He’s no longer just seen as a highly-paid rebounder in the Cleveland Cavaliers’ eyes.
He’s grown on and off the court and is ready to take the next step.
No one knows how this team will play when both Love and Thompson are back on the floor. But in my opinion, it seems as if the leadership role has been passed off to the former fourth-overall pick. And that’s not a bad thing for the future of this organization.