What It Means:

It's still very early in the decision-making process, but with the acquisition of Jae Crowder, it allows Cleveland to start Love at the five and Crowder at the four. This would bump Tristan Thompson to the bench, which would probably hurt the Cavs' defense, but it would also improve their spacing and up-tempo offense. Love played just 13% of his minutes at center in 2016-17, but that looks like it will increase this year.

Our models project Love to average 19.8 points, 11.4 rebounds, and 2.6 assists over 34.5 minutes per game. We project him to shoot 50.0% from the field, and 34.2% from downtown.