2 key areas of concern about Cavs head coach J.B. Bickerstaff

Concern No. 1: Benching of and buyout agreement with Kevin Love

The Cavs and Kevin Love just agreed on his contract being bought out after he was sat on the bench over the last 12 games. He was in the last year of the contract. Kevin Love was the “grandpa” of the team and was well-loved by his teammates. Something happened in this story that we may never know completely, and in fairness, Love was still dealing with a thumb injury.

But going from one of the biggest reasons for the team’s recent success these last two seasons to a bench warmer, speaks to a disconnect between player and coach. And far too often the problem lies with the coach and his perceived power.

Losing Love will hurt the Cavs the rest of this season. There will be many that will point out Love’s lack of defensive skills of late but again, playing defense has to do with motivation. And who is supposed to positively motivate his players? Well, that would be the coach. It’s a sad state of affairs, especially when you consider that Love was the last of the high-profile players from the past like LeBron James and Kyrie Irving that have stayed through the low lights of past Cavaliers seasons.

Beyond, the feel-good story of having Love still be in Cleveland, he is an excellent three-point shooter, which is what the Cavs need the most down the stretch now, especially if they want to win in the playoffs.

Cleveland has already been searching for a couple veteran players that could come in and help out in that three-pointer department; sure, Love had been off, but he’s more than capable of catching fire. So, now this team is worse off.