Kevin Love wasn’t particularly happy when the Cavaliers fired Tyronn Lue. He was one of many Cavs players who were reportedly “pissed” about the decision, and he made an Instagram post that basically confirmed his lack of support for the move.
Considering that Love just signed a 5-year deal with the Cavs, he does have at least a little bit of weight to throw around. He’s the clear star of the team, and if the organization is serious at all about building around what’s left of his prime, then they might want to take his word seriously. Right now, Love would like to see Cleveland make Larry Drew the head coach — Drew is currently acting as not the interim, but the “voice” of the Cavs.
“I would love him to be the coach,” Love said of Drew, who is currently the team’s “voice” while the Cavaliers transition from the Tyronn Lue era. “Everybody knows how I feel about LD, especially after last year’s little run we had. We felt that definitely helped, especially having another huge voice on the bench. Having him step in would be great.”
The situation with the Cavs and Drew is a little odd right now. Drew was pegged to be the team’s interim head coach, but Drew doesn’t want that title. He has made it clear he either wants to be given a better, more secure contract, or for the Cavs to just go out and hire a new head coach.
“We’re actually kind of just weighing our options on [it not working out],” Drew said. “I really hope that we can get something resolved, but moving forward, I know there is a possibility that it may not be resolved.
“I would never quit. I won’t do that. As I said, I remain professional and will continue to do my job. I was told that there could be a possibility of them just bringing in somebody else to finish out the year and then I can move back into my original position as an associate head coach.”
Drew is prepared for the possibility that he isn’t made the full-time head coach, and while he’s comfortable in an assistant role, it’s pretty clear he wants a commitment from the organization beyond this year if he’s going to serve as head coach. He has the support of Love, so that should be a good sign for him.
The problem is that the Cavs haven’t shown any indication they care what Drew or Love wants. They’re acting in their own interests, which isn’t really that surprising considering they fired a coach six games into the season.
Hopefully Love and Drew aren’t too attached to the idea of him being the longterm head coach, because it probably isn’t going to work out that way for either of them. The Cavs aren’t showing much interest in keeping this current group around for an extended period, and whether that involves keeping either Love or Drew around remains to be seen.
