Factory Of Sadness
FanSided

Cleveland Cavaliers Can Only Take Kevin Love At His Word

By Nick Dudukovich

facebooktwitterreddit

Factory Lines kicks off the week that was and gets you ready for a new grind.

It’s being reported AGAIN that Kevin Love intends to return to the Cleveland Cavaliers. The most recent report comes from Fox Sports’ Sam Amico. At the very least, Amico offers some fresh news regarding the future of the 6-foot-10 power forward.

The hyperventilation that escalated following Love’s decision was crazy, but to be expected in the world of Twitter. The Lakers and Blazers can express as much interest in Love as they want, but it doesn’t mean the three-time All-Star is going anywhere.

Cleveland sports teams have been burned by their own free agents countless times in the past, but something about Love HAS TO BE different. He can get his money AND win WHILE playing with the best player of his generation. He knows what it’s like to be a stat stuffer who plays on a losing team. Don’t try and convince me he wants to go out west where the road to the conference title is clogged with title contenders.

• I visited historic McCormick Field in Asheville, N.C. for the South Atlantic League All-Star Game last week. The venue is located on a picturesque location in the smokey mountains and it’s said Babe Ruth and Ty Cobb once roamed the historic grounds, which dates back to 1924.

All-Star festivities afforded me the pleasure of watching former Colorado Rockies slugger Vinny Castilla participate in the home-run derby. Despite closing in on 50, Vinny still has massive forearms and can still mash.

A kid named Ryan O’Hearn won the derby with by belting mesmerizing moonshots over Asheville’s 35-foot wall, which goes down 297 feet down the right-field line. O’Hearn’s in the Royals system and plays first base. Chances are he’ll be haunting the Indians in the not-to-distant future.

• While in Asheville, I attended a lunch featuring Hall-of-Fame baseball writer Hal McCoy, who’s covered the Cincinnati Reds for well over 40 years. Hal is credited with coining the phrase, “Big Red Machine” for the famous Reds’ teams of the 1970s. For a sportswriter, I could just sit there in awe. That’s why he’s in Cooperstown.

Around Browns Town…

• FoS writer Kris Grimes wrote a must-read post about Mike Pettine holding his team, and state of mind together this season. Pettine, who is generally lauded for his communication skills, uncharactersly seem frazzled by a column written by a local media member during OTAs.

• Former Ohio State coach Jim Tressel believes his former quarterback, Terrelle Pryor, can succeed at wide receiver.

In Tribe Town,

• Grady Sizemore has been promoted to the Tampa Bay Rays.

• Should the Indians be buyers are sellers at the trade deadline. FoS writer Ric McElroy gives his answer.

• A post at Wahoo’s on First argues that the Indians need to recall  Lonnie Chisenhall.

In Cavs Country,

• Rakeem Christmas may be a second-round pick, but it shouldn’t be a shock to see him contribute something next season. Here’s why:

• J.R. Smith wants a deal starting around $8 million per season–about $2 million more than he was making this season.

On a short-term deal, the Cavs would probably consider this.

• Former Raptors All-Star DeMar DeRozan is apparently coveted by the Cavs and his name has been tossed around in Brendan Haywood trade talks.

Trending up: Adrian Wojnarowski. The Yahoo writer ticked a lot of people off by Tweeting the NBA draft picks before they were announced on the television broadcast.

As a Dad of three who was jammed in his Cedar Point hotel room trying to get his kids to go to bed, I appreciated Woj’s coverage.

If you don’t want the spoiler, turn off Twitter.

Trending down: The Indians season. Entering Monday, the Wahoo’s were 12 games out of first..and it’s not even July 1 yet. When’s Training Camp start.

Next: Cavs Were Bidding Against Nets For Rondae Hollis-Jefferson

More from Factory of Sadness

Home/Cleveland Sports