Lue vows to involve Love more after Irving's departure
Cleveland Cavaliers head coach Tyronn Lue says - again - that he's planning to get Kevin Love more involved in the offense.
With Kyrie Irving's departure this summer and Isaiah Thomas out indefinitely with a tricky hip, there's a void for Love to fill.
"Kevin is going to have the best year that he's had here," Lue told ESPN's Zach Lowe. "I thought he was great anyway."
Love's numbers - and his importance - have tumbled since his last season with the Minnesota Timberwolves, when he averaged 26.1 points, 12.5 rebounds, and 4.4 assists as a top-10 player in the league. Love became the third banana behind Irving and LeBron James, and was often relegated to playing away from the ball waiting to capitalize on kickout passes.
The same pattern played out with Chris Bosh on the Big Three era Miami Heat. Like Bosh, Love had to sacrifice, although Lue doesn't want to go too far with that.
"You keep bringing up Bosh. What did Bosh average in Miami? Kevin averaged almost 20 and 10 with two other All-Stars. If you are on a championship-caliber team, you have to sacrifice," Lue said.
"But this year is going to be a big opportunity for him. We're going to play through him more. He's going to get those elbow touches again."
This isn't the first time Lue has teased more touches for Love at his preferred spot. Lue made a similar promise when he took over from David Blatt in January 2016. But after a temporary boost to start, Love's place in the team settled back to what it had been previously.
Love actually received fewer touches at the elbow than Tristan Thompson last season. He dropped from 11.6 elbow touches in 2014 with Minnesota down to 2.8 with the Cavs. He also held the ball for just 1.6 minutes per game last season - a rate comparable to Iman Shumpert and well below Irving (6.4) and James (6.1).
What Love did manage to do, however, is reinvent his game so he could thrive without the ball. He quietly pieced together a strong 2016-17 campaign where he averaged 19 points and 11.1 rebounds while hitting 37.3 percent from deep, making the most out of the few moments he had the rock.