The Cleveland Cavaliers are into the eastern conference finals against the Atlanta Hawks in the NBA playoffs and LeBron James now has the chance to lead the Cavs to the finals with Kyrie Irving by his side and this comes after Kevin Love was injured and lost for the postseason, which could set up him opting out as a free agent this summer.
The Cavaliers won over the Chicago Bulls in six games in the east semifinals and in one of those games LeBron James hit the winning shot at the buzzer. James has had to do a ton with Kevin Love out and Kyrie Irving banged up and the King himself also has injuries to deal with. James said that he will be fine for the Hawks series and Irving also appears ready to go after dealing with a leg issue.
According to ESPN.com, Irving will be playing in Game 1 of the series after being injured in the final game against the Bulls. Irving has been dealing with a couple minor injuries in the series and in that game he aggravated an injury in his left leg and only played 12 minutes in that game. Irving did not practice on Saturday and ESPN writes that he has had "marked improvement" since the Bulls series ended and now he is set for the matchup on Wednesday night.
James is averaged over 25 points and seven assists per game this postseason and he will be the main player the Hawks need to stop in the series. Paul Millsap has been leading Atlanta with 16 points and nearly eight rebounds per game, while Jeff Teague has been averaging seven assists per game and needs to step up after finishing off the Wizards in the last round.
Love likely will not opt out, but the media narrative that he could opt out has not died down. According to Yahoo Sports reporter Adrian Wojnarowski, who was speaking on the Dan Patrick Show, the Cavaliers s have "legitimate fear Love leaves as a free agent" this summer. Love has come out to say to the media that he is "not" opting out of his contract, but that was from much earlier in the season and it remains a possibility until the June 30 date passes, which is the last date he can opt in for next year.
Woj is usually very dialed in and while Love opting out doesn't mean he will leave either, it surely makes the Cavaliers nervous if he goes down that route. The team might be okay with it if they win a title this year, but if Love leaves without that, the Cavs will be disappointed. The Cavs gave up Andrew Wiggins and Anthony Bennett to get Love and they would be upset if he ends up leaving after one season.
Love played well down the second stretch of the season, but over the year there have been some issues with his place in the offense and frustrations playing alongside James. This can happen with players like James and it can be a tough adjustment for others, especially when they are used to being the number one option. Love had to adapt his game to James and the Cavs this year, as he was the alpha dog in Minnesota during the first part of his career.