Cleveland Cavaliers Training Camp 2015: Kevin Love To Play Bigger Role, Says LeBron James
Kevin Love struggled during his first season with the Cleveland Cavaliers, but LeBron James expects the All-Star power forward to play a bigger role in the 2015-16 NBA season.
Love was acquired by the Cleveland Cavaliers during a blockbuster trade last year, which sent top rookie pick Andrew Wiggins to the Minnesota Timberwolves. He was acquired to provide additional firepower to the roster that features James and fellow superstar Kyrie Irving.
However, Love failed to meet expectations, which generated questions on whether or not he is a good fit to the Cavaliers. But in the upcoming season, James is confident that Love will be more familiar to his role in Cleveland.
"I just think he's more comfortable in the situation that he's in," James said via ESPN. "He's got a year under his belt; he knows what he expects out of himself and what his teammates expect out of him. I expect big things from him this year with a year up under his belt."
When asked to give a more detailed explanation, James said that Love will play like the way he did before moving to the Cavaliers. "He will do some of the things he did prior to last year," he said.
Love averaged 16.4 points and 9.7 rebounds last season, which are decent numbers for starting power forward. But during the 2013-14 NBA season, which was his final year in Minnesota, the 27-year-old forward averaged career-high 26.1 points on top of 12.5 rebounds and 4.4 assists per game.
Love's performance last season also led to speculation that he will leave Cleveland. But instead of moving to another team, the former UCLA standout inked a five-year contract worth $110 million.
James believes that Love saw that he could play a big role in the coming years, especially after the Cavaliers struggled to keep in step with the Golden State Warriors during the NBA Finals. Love went down with a season-ending shoulder injury during their first-round playoff series against the Boston Celtics.
"It would've been huge for us obviously if he was in the lineup, but it gave him the opportunity to put things in perspective and see what his presence can mean to our team," James said. "Sometimes you have to take a step backwards to see how important you are."
In the same report, Cavaliers coach David Blatt also confirmed that they spent a lot of time this summer formulating ideas on how to integrate Love's unique skill set to their offense in the upcoming season.
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