The Cleveland Cavaliers have been without Kevin Love‘s services for this season to this point aside from a game-plus, really.
Love reaggravated a high-grade right calf strain he initially suffered in preseason play on Dec. 27 in a win over the Philadelphia 76ers, and was initially expected to be sidelined for at least three-to-four weeks, after which he was set to be re-evaluated.
Per a Cavs team status update on Wednesday, it was stated that Love has “begun basketball activities” and will be undergoing treatment and rehab and that he’ll be “reassessed daily” in relation to the injury/his progress.
That report was some positive news, and was nice to see, as was other news about Love having gone through an on-floor workout on Saturday for a decent bit before Cleveland’s loss to the Milwaukee Bucks. Love reportedly has been doing light on-floor stuff, anyhow.
Here was more on Love’s workout on Saturday, though, per a report from Cleveland.com’s Chris Fedor.
"“Alongside assistant coach Dan Geriot, with everyone else from the Cavs and Milwaukee Bucks in the locker room, Love all moved all around the floor, taking jumpers from inside and outside the 3-point line, standstill and on the move. He also worked through a variety of simulated post moves and pick-and-pops. Love completed the workout with some free throws before getting a warm ovation from the fans who arrived early.”"
Per Fedor’s report, that pregame workout was for “nearly 30 minutes” for Love, for further context. It was definitely a good sign for him and the Cavs, albeit according to Fedor in that same report, it’ll be some time yet before we see Love out there in-game.
It’s reportedly “highly unlikely” Love plays during the Cavs West roadie.
Here was more on that per Fedor, anyway.
"“The Cavs open a five-game West Coast road trip Monday in Phoenix. When asked if Love would be able to participate in any of those upcoming games, a source said it was ‘highly unlikely,’ but we’ll see.”’ The Cavs would prefer to have Love practice first, allowing him to test the injury, before bringing him back — and that plan is complicated given the jampacked schedule over the next week.'”"
Fedor would go on to note how the Cavaliers might not have a full practice “until after they return to Cleveland.”
That essentially says it’s going to still be a bit at least before we see Kevin Love out there for the Cleveland Cavaliers in game action, realistically, and in the mean time, they’ll have to find ways to generate more point attempts than they’ve been to a large extent.
Cleveland’s outings versus the Bucks, which ended up being two losses, due to big surges for Milwaukee in fourth quarters/somewhat in the third on Saturday, did appear to feature positive strides in that realm.
The Bucks have been more content than many other teams in giving up three-point attempts, though, for what it’s worth, and the Cavs had varying success in that realm, albeit there ball movement did have again, some positive steps forward.
For Cleveland to aid in compensating sans Love on this West road trip, however, they’ll probably need to trim Isaac Okoro’s minutes down about five or six minutes, and play Taurean Prince/Cedi Osman some more. Although, those two, along with Dylan Windler to some extent, have played together a fair amount since Prince was acquired via trade from the Brooklyn Nets, anyway.
In any case, if the Cavs were able to still have Andre Drummond buy into making some kick outs and being more of a screening/rolling presence, in non-Jarrett Allen minutes, that’d help their offensive flow, even without Love available. Even while Drummond is seemingly a key subject in trade rumors, mentioned in reports about potential Cavs trades, he still can be an impact player for Cleveland.
And Collin Sexton, of course, whose had 21.0 points and 4.1 assists per outing in his past eight games, and Darius Garland, whose had 17.3 points and 5.1 assists per outing in that span, will need to help generate more efficient looks for Cleveland in this roadie.
Moreover, we’ll have to see when Love is eventually back for the Cavs, but it’s reportedly not likely that will happen on this upcoming road trip.
Granted, Love himself will feasibly be a subject mentioned in Cavs trade rumors, anyway, and the Cavs, like with Drummond, will reportedly look to deal Love when he is healthy, per Sam Amico of OutKick and Forty Eight Minutes.
Dealing Love by the March 25 trade deadline this season, given his injury history and still contract, though, seems unrealistic, honestly. And Love still is a valuable player for this Cavs team, anyhow; perhaps this coming offseason a Love trade could play out.
That’s even more so with how the Cavs will reportedly not have Larry Nance Jr. for four-to-six weeks due to a fractured finger on his left hand, per ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski and ESPN’s Brian Windhorst. God, that’s a crushing recent blow as Nance had still been banged up even still it seemed because of a prior right wrist sprain.
Nonetheless, I’m excited to see Love, who seems especially bought-in, and has been a huge presence on the Cavaliers sideline it appears, back in there for Cleveland.