3 things Cavs fans are missing out on seeing as result of hiatus

The potential viability of the Love-Drummond duo

We haven’t seen much of the Love-Drummond fit yet with the Cavs, as Drummond has only played eight games for the Wine and Gold thus far, seemingly in regards to a left calf strain.

There have been some encouraging instances when the two have played off each other well and looked viable, and that’s been in relation to Love spacing the floor for Drummond inside/on rolls, and in Love’s case, Drummond’s presence at 6-foot-10, 279 pounds bodes well for off-screen shooting situations, which we saw some instances of resulting in clean three-point shooting looks.

Nonetheless, Drummond, though I’ll give him more time as he was seemingly not comfortable just yet after being traded to Cleveland by the Detroit Pistons near the 2020 deadline, has had a net rating of minus-15.2 with the Wine and Gold thus far in 28.1 minutes per appearance.

His defensive rating of 120.0, per NBA.com, has been obviously underwhelming. Even while the Cavs are far from outstanding around him, and that includes Love, who is not capable of switching out on the perimeter either, and young pieces such as Garland and Osman don’t help there, it’s again, uncertain if Love and Drummond can eventually work out for the Cavs from a long term perspective.

I’d imagine that Drummond will opt into his $28.8 million player option for next season, however, so we’ll probably have a good chance of seeing more of their fit over seemingly a longer stretch of time.

Granted, both have shown, also factoring in Nance’s ability to play the 3 in some meaningful stretches, that they can physical be too much for smaller opponents inside, but again, in this switch-heavy NBA, it’s uncertain if Love and Drummond could work in a bunch of instances for meaningful stretches and of course, in crunch time.

Drummond, though he’s a good post-up player and roller, is a non-shooter, but perhaps if Cleveland grabs a piece such as quality passers in LaMelo Ball of the NBL’s Illawarra Hawks, Deni Avdija of the I-BSL’s Maccabi FOX Tel Aviv or Auburn’s Isaac Okoro Auburn’s Isaac Okoro in the 2020 NBA Draft, they could give Cleveland more playmaking to get Drummond the ball in his spots more in crunch time.

At any rate, this is something that us Cavs fans are definitely missing out on seeing as a result of the hiatus. That being said, I’d still imagine there’s a good chance considering how Love and Drummond could seemingly be trade assets for down the road, that Cleveland could potentially select a big such as USC’s Onyeka Okongwu or Dayton’s Obi Toppin to be groomed as eventual developmental replacements for Love/Dre.

That’s also factoring in how the expiring Tristan Thompson is reportedly likely to be playing elsewhere next season.

Last but not least, the third thing we’re missing out on seeing as a result of the current NBA season suspension is some experimenting in relation to one of the most promising young pieces on the Cleveland roster.