Will Kevin Love The Cleveland Cavaliers System?

Once it was apparent that “The King” was coming home, the task ahead of the Cleveland Cavaliers was to put together a roster that would be ready to contend for an NBA title right now – not down the road. After all, LeBron James has already left once, and the Cavs front office and certainly the fans, don’t want to see history repeat itself.

When the Cavaliers struck the lotto (literally) getting the #1 overall pick in the NBA draft for a THIRD time in recent years, the rumor mill started to wind up. Would the Cavs keep the pick? Would they trade it for an established star? Would they draft a talented youngster in Andrew Wiggins? In the end, all those situations played out in front of our eyes. The Cavs did indeed keep their pick and the drafted the best player in the draft in Wiggins – and then they traded him to Minnesota for and established star in Kevin Love.

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Instantly, the basketball world was abuzz. Plenty crowned the Cleveland Cavaliers as NBA champions already — that is just how potent the core of

Kyrie Irving

, LeBron James and Kevin Love is. When you slot in the rest of the talent around this trio (

Tristan Thompson

Dion Waiters

Anderson Varejao

) and you can see why people (especially Cavs fans) are excited about the season ahead.

Kevin Love, who has yet to taste playoff action during his seven-year career with the Minnesota Timberwolves, has finally found himself on a team loaded with talent and potential, the games best player and nothing but a huge opportunity (and nowhere to hide). The All Star power forward had long been rumored to be unhappy in Minnesota and finally managed to make his way out of Minny. In doing so, he also left every excuse for lack of success at the door.

Love is a huge talent, but while he can rebound and score the basketball at will, he is far from a perfect basketballer. He has trouble on defense, often goes missing for periods of time and hasn’t had the best run with injuries over the course of his career. Plenty of people fly the flag for Love, acknowledging he is a top tier talent on a less than stellar team, while others point the finger at Love himself for his lack of success in the league.

This season will ultimately prove just who is right — the “lovers” or the haters.

The Cleveland system is going to be very interesting. LeBron is such a multifaceted star, he often plays “every” role on the basketball court. He can not only guard all positions, but he is adept at running a team, crashes the boards and starts the break and finishes from almost anywhere on court as well.

During his time in Miami, another All Star power forward in Chris Bosh really had to sacrifice plenty of his individual game in order to achieve the greatest team success. Dwyane Wade also sacrificed — but he had already been “the man” and won a ring long before his new “Heatles” teammates.

Now, Kevin Love is going to have to re-establish or reinvent himself. He won’t be the focal point of an offense, he won’t be the “go to” guy and he won’t have his pick of his spots on the court. He might have to sacrifice his long range shooting to compliment the strengths of James and Irving and his numbers are likely to take a tumble. We have heard recently comments from LeBron’s former teammate Chris Bosh about the sacrifices made and how much he is “looking forward to eating again.”

Obviously not to be taken literally, Bosh’s words will be in the back of Love’s mind. “Just how much fun is it going to be if I have to give up a lot of what got me here?”

The former UCLA standout is placing a LOT of faith in winning. Winning is something that heals a lot of ailments. It can change a city, a fan base — a franchise. It can right plenty of wrongs. Can it overcome personal stat lines and sacrifice?

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