Until the Cavs came back from that 3-1 deficit, it seemed certain that Kevin Love was playing his last games with Cleveland. His defense was an issue and his third-wheel offensive output probably wasn’t worth the max contract he signed last summer. But a championship changes everything and there reasons to believe that Love will take a step forward with the champs this season, as The Plain Dealer‘s Terry Pluto writes…
The Cavs are very excited about Love this season. They talk about him “being in the best place” mentally and physically since being traded to the Cavs in 2014. Once again, he spent much of the off-season at the U.S. Olympic ski training facility in Park City, Utah. The Cavs like how Love dropped 15 pounds last summer and added flexibility — and I hear Love is in excellent shape right now.
But just as important, Love endured a very rough NBA Finals. He made a key defensive stop on Stephen Curry in the final minute of Game 7 over Golden State, finishing with nine points and a team-high 14 rebounds. In his 30 minutes on the court, the Cavs out-scored Golden State by 19 points. That was the best plus/minus mark of any Cavalier in Game 7.
He gave up his scoring to concentrate on rebounding, defense and doing what was needed to help win a title.
As someone close to the situation told me, “Kevin learned about what it takes to win. He really matured last season.”
