Barring more bad luck of the absolutely staggering variety, the Cleveland Cavaliers will be much healthier when it matters most in 2015-16 than they were last season. But the wine and gold will still embark on another quest for a championship at less than 100 percent. Kyrie Irving will miss an early portion of the regular season as he continues recovering from offseason knee surgery, and Iman Shumpert is sidelined for at least three months after injuring his wrist on the first day of training camp.
It’s little by little that the Cavaliers will hopefully approach full health this season, a process that began on Saturday when Kevin Love participated in his first 5-on-5 action since surgery to repair a dislocated shoulder. After practice, the three-time All-Star told ESPN’s Dave McMenamin how excited he was to play without any restrictions.
“I felt good,” Love said. “Just getting into the rhythm of the plays more than anything, just getting my legs under me and contact — 5-on-5 felt really good.”
[…]
“[I felt] pretty anxious,” Love said. “It had been six months now. As far as progressing from the pad into 1-on-1, to 3-on-3, I was ready to get back out there in 5-on-5. As time goes [on], I’ll get more and more accustomed to being out there playing, but today was the first step.”
David Blatt said he wasn’t surprised by his starting power forward’s performance, stressing how diligently Love worked over the summer to hone his skills and further improve his conditioning. Though the Cavaliers coach said Love likely wouldn’t play in Tuesday’s exhibition contest, he expressed encouragement about the prospect of the sharp-shooting big man being ready for opening night.
Love originally suffered the injury in Game 4 of Cleveland’s first-round playoff series against the Boston Celtics while grappling for the ball with Kelly Olynyk. He had surgery to repair it on April 29th, upon which the Cavaliers announced a 4-6 month timetable for his complete recovery. Cleveland’s regular season opener against the Chicago Bulls on October 27th will mark nearly six full months since Love went under the knife.
He, LeBron James, and other members of the Cavaliers have maintained throughout training camp that Love’s involvement in the offense will increase in 2015-16. His numbers fell well below their established norms in his first season alongside James and Irving, leading many to surmise that Love wasn’t worth the nine-figure contract he signed with Cleveland on the first day of free agency. While we’ve never agreed with that assessment, it was obvious nevertheless last season that the 26-year-old’s impact on his team’s offense could stand to grow.
And now that he has a clean bill of health and permission to play unencumbered, Love will have the chance to prove it in practice before the regular season finally begins later this month.
[Via ESPN]
