By now, it’s been well-documented that Kevin Love has barely played for the Cleveland Cavaliers, but he’s reportedly made significant progress. That has to give the squad a mental lift.
Kevin Love has only played four games this season for the Cleveland Cavaliers due to a reported toe injury, and one would have to believe that at this point, the five-time All-Star has to know the narrative surrounding him, in that he’s injury-prone. Objectively speaking, that’s a valid criticism, but Love’s reportedly made steady progress in his rehab per Cleveland.com’s Chris Fedor, who noted “Love was back on the practice floor Monday afternoon, going 5 on 0 with teammates in non-contact sets.”
Seeing Love out on the practice floor, yes, even if it’s just currently doing non-contact stuff, has to be a considerable lift for the squad.
Collin Sexton has not played significant time with Love on the floor, and many others haven’t in a while, either, and with Tristan Thompson currently sidelined due to his reported foot soreness and the Cavs as a whole being decimated by injuries, seeing their All-Star out on the floor, even if it’s just doing 5-on-0’s, is a positive. A career 18.3 points on 56.8 percent true shooting and 11.3 rebounds per game (per Basketball Reference) for Love don’t grow on trees.
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Love has said to the media time after time that he wants to be in Cleveland for the long haul, even after LeBron James left via free agency to the Los Angeles Lakers this past summer, and as we’ve touched on here at KJG, that loyalty from Love stands for something.
So having Love reasonably healthy at some point in hopefully the next few weeks should be encouraging for pieces such as Sexton, Larry Nance Jr., Jordan Clarkson, Cedi Osman and Matthew Dellavedova, among others.
Cleveland Cavaliers head coach Larry Drew said “I don’t anticipate it,” when asked if Love is available right now to be full-go, per Fedor, and Fedor also highlighted how Drew said Love “won’t play tomorrow and chances are he won’t play this week.”
From there, Fedor emphasized that the big test for Love’s progress toward returning to the floor for game action will come Thursday, after Cleveland will likely have an off day tomorrow after a game against the Washington Wizards tonight.
"“The Cavs are expected to have Wednesday off following their matchup against the Washington Wizards. Then they will hold a full-contact practice Thursday, two days before hosting the Dallas Mavericks. Thursday will be the first time Love takes contact since his surgery. How he handles that will go a long way in determining his official return date.”"
If Love can get through that practice on Thursday well, that would be a huge mental lift for the Cavs, knowing one of their leaders and overall best players’ return would be on the horizon.
Even if Love can’t go a normal 30 or so minutes-share in his first few games back on the floor for Cleveland, that’s fine. His presence on the floor, even if it’s for potential trade rumors purposes (although Cleveland is said to keep Love through the upcoming trade deadline, h/t Fedor) means a lot to Drew and the Cleveland Cavaliers.
From a team psyche standpoint, having your best player active matters, even if the overall team is struggling.