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Cleveland Cavaliers: Can They Keep Kevin Love And Tristan Thompson?

By Gerald Bourguet

Oct 30, 2014; Cleveland, OH, USA; Cleveland Cavaliers forward LeBron James (23) talks with forward Kevin Love (0) and forward Tristan Thompson (13) against the New York Knicks at Quicken Loans Arena. New York won 95-90. Mandatory Credit: David Richard-USA TODAY Sports
Oct 30, 2014; Cleveland, OH, USA; Cleveland Cavaliers forward LeBron James (23) talks with forward Kevin Love (0) and forward Tristan Thompson (13) against the New York Knicks at Quicken Loans Arena. New York won 95-90. Mandatory Credit: David Richard-USA TODAY Sports /
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Cleveland Cavaliers
Oct 30, 2014; Cleveland, OH, USA; Cleveland Cavaliers forward LeBron James (23) talks with forward Kevin Love (0) and forward Tristan Thompson (13) against the New York Knicks at Quicken Loans Arena. New York won 95-90. Mandatory Credit: David Richard-USA TODAY Sports /

Win or lose in the 2015 NBA Finals, the Cleveland Cavaliers have an interesting offseason in store this summer. Whether they’ll be trying to keep a championship team intact or revamping the roster to bring Cleveland its first title in 2015-16, the Cavs will have to work pretty hard to put a competent, competitive roster around the core of LeBron James and Kyrie Irving.

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    • Nearly every foundational piece of this roster will have to be addressed this summer. At the forefront of the issue is Kevin Love, who has a $16.7 million player option that he should opt out of to secure his long-term future somewhere. Tristan Thompson also becomes a restricted free agent on a $7.1 million qualifying offer for 2015-16.

    With Love out because of a shoulder injury, the Cavs have still managed to breeze through the Eastern Conference all the way to the NBA Finals. They’ll have their hands full with the Golden State Warriors, but Thompson’s playoff emergence as a beast on the offensive boards and a strong interior defender has led some to question whether this team needs Love at all.

    To be clear, even with Thompson thriving in a starting role that fits in with Cleveland’s newfound defensive identity, this Cavaliers team is not as good without Kevin Love. However, Thompson’s meteoric rise, combined with the support of LeBron James, means the Cavs will have to pay up this summer if they want to keep him around.

    There’s no getting around it: this team’s salary cap situation will look substantially different a few months down the line. The question is, will the Cleveland Cavaliers be able to keep both Kevin Love and Tristan Thompson at power forward?

    Next: The Cap Situation

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