Frustration is high within the Cleveland Cavaliers. The team fell to the Sacramento Kings on Sunday night as their recent number of trades has yet to make their impact. The Cavaliers now have Iman Shumpert, Jr Smith and Timofey Mozgov, but according to head coach David Blatt, if the max players are not playing to their ability, then none of it matters. The spotlight now shifts to Kevin Love who could be getting a heavy dose of the blame.
Blatt took a number of shots at players on the roster following the loss, noting that he simply expects more from the team. A reporter asked the head coach why things are so bad when they have two max players in the lineup, referring to Kyrie Irving and Love. However, Blatt was quick to say that Love is "not a max player yet" (via ESPN.com) which is raising some eyebrows about the forward's potential on the team.
The Cavaliers gave up a lot to acquire Love including their past two No. 1 overall draft picks. The issue is that Love's contract will still expire at the end of the season regardless of whatever verbal agreement the two sides might have had regarding his long-term future with Cleveland. Now, according to Bleacher Report, Love is not expected to re-sign with the Cavaliers as many believe he will opt out of his contract.
Love's plan all along was to test free agency in 2015, but many believed that might change after the trade to Cleveland. It is unclear if Love will opt out in order to leave Cleveland, or opt out and sign a short-term deal because of salary cap issues. According to the Akron Beacon Journal, Love is only planning on signing a one-year deal with the intentions of getting a max contract with the salary cap spikes in 2016.
"Love has said all the right things about re-signing with the Cavs this summer and the Cavs continue to insist he's here long term. Executives around the league, however, continue to believe Love could leave Cleveland at the end of the season. We'll see. There is still a long way to go," Jason Lloyd writes.
For now, Cleveland must try to start getting some wins as LeBron James makes his way back to the court. Mozgov is confident that he can begin to make an impact on the team, plus getting a healthy Shumpert back will also help. It remains to be seen if these new pieces will make the difference in Cleveland and who will get the blame if they are not.