Cleveland Cavaliers: Kevin Love’s injury makes trading even tougher
Cleveland Cavaliers’ all-star Kevin Love‘s injury placed the team in an even tougher spot heading to the trade deadline.
The Cleveland Cavaliers‘ struggles over recent weeks have been well documented, but things just got a lot harder for the reigning eastern conference champs. All-star forward Kevin Love suffered a non-displaced fracture in his left hand during Tuesday loss to the Detroit Pistons.
The injury is expected to sideline the all-star for the next six to eight weeks, according to ESPN’s Brian Windhorst.
Shams Charania of Yahoo Sports reported Wednesday morning that the “need for surgery is still uncertain” for the five-time all-star. Due to timing, Love will also miss his second consecutive all-star game thanks to injury.
Last season, Love underwent knee surgery five days prior to the game causing him to miss the event.
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“When it rains, it pours,” Cleveland head coach Ty Lue told reporters following the loss.
The Cavs could not overcome Love’s absence losing to the Detroit Pistons 125-114. Detroit came into the game losing eight straight games. The Pistons also did not have a full roster to play with after trading for PF Blake Griffin on Monday. They sent F Tobias Harris and G Avery Bradley to the Los Angeles Clippers in exchange for Griffin.
That’s also not including the Pistons not having starting point guard Reggie Jackson. In other words, the Cavs should not have lost to this team.
Where does that leave Cleveland now?
The Cavs are now guaranteed a losing month in January (5-8 with one game remaining). They will enter February without the team’s second leading scorer (18.2 points) and top rebounder (9.6 rebounds).
The Miami Heat, who the Cavs play Wednesday, are half a game behind the Cavs for third place in the east. The combination of those factors will put an enormous amount of pressure of the rest of the team to pick up the slack while the front office tries to make a move before the February 8th trade deadline.
The roster was already tough to evaluate prior to Love’s injury due to the return of PG Isaiah Thomas. According to Bleacher Report’s Scott Sargent, Love’s production has taken a considerable hit since the team activated Thomas.
In December, he had his most efficient offensive month of the season, producing a true shooting percentage of 63.5. Since Thomas’ return in early January, that mark has dropped to 57.9.
With the trade deadline in less than two weeks, does this new injury change Cleveland’s targets? Will they try to find someone to fill a void for Love or do they go after more three-and-d type players the roster needed prior to the injury?
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Los Angeles Clippers center DeAndre Jordan and Sacramento Kings PG George Hill have been swirling around the rumor mill for a while. Owner Dan Gilbert and first year general manager Koby Altman will have important decisions to make in the coming days that will impact the future of the franchise. Choose wisely.