Fansided

Cavaliers expect Kyrie Irving, Kevin Love to participate in training camp

By Tom West

Nov 21, 2014; Washington, DC, USA; Cleveland Cavaliers guard Kyrie Irving (2) dribbles the ball in front of Cavaliers forward Kevin Love (0) against the Washington Wizards at Verizon Center. Mandatory Credit: Geoff Burke-USA TODAY Sports
Nov 21, 2014; Washington, DC, USA; Cleveland Cavaliers guard Kyrie Irving (2) dribbles the ball in front of Cavaliers forward Kevin Love (0) against the Washington Wizards at Verizon Center. Mandatory Credit: Geoff Burke-USA TODAY Sports /
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After the Cleveland Cavaliers endured the loss of both Kyrie Irving and Kevin Love in the 2015 playoffs, they are now expected to participate in training camp as their recovery improves.

As if the Cleveland Cavaliers didn’t already have a tough enough task in the NBA Finals by taking on the Golden State Warriors and reigning MVP Stephen Curry, they had to compete without two of their three All-Stars after losing Kyrie Irving and Kevin Love to injury. The former suffered a fractured knee cap whilst the latter was essentially attacked by a mad Kelly Olynyk and received a separated shoulder.

Both Irving and Love may be absent for the early stages of the 2015-16 season, but both appear to be making good progress as they recover when considering the information shared by Chris Haynes of Northeast Ohio Media Group in a recent report for Cleveland.com.

Haynes gave Cavaliers fans a lot of excitement by revealing that Timofey Mozgov, Anderson Varejao and most importantly Kyrie Irving and Kevin Love, will be available to participate in training camp:

"“The Cleveland Cavaliers anticipate that Kyrie Irving, Kevin Love, Timofey Mozgov and Anderson Varejao will be ready for the start of training camp Sept. 29, Northeast Ohio Media Group has learned.All four players are recovering from surgery.Irving (fractured knee cap) and Love (separated shoulder) will be active during camp, but on a limited basis. The Cavaliers will work the two in slowly and cautiously. The anticipation is that Love will be fully cleared with no limitations before Irving is given the green light, I’m told.Love said on the “Late Night with Seth Meyers” talk show Sept. 11 that he was “a month and a half away” from returning.Irving refused to give a timetable for his return in a recent interview with the Associated Press in Miami.So far, Love’s workload on the court consists of non-contact drills; while Irving has been coy about what he has been doing.”"

No matter how great LeBron James is, there’s no way that anyone can successfully carry a team after they lose their starting center and two All-Stars. It’s an incredible testament to LeBron’s leadership and competitiveness that he was actually able to take the Warriors to six games in the NBA Finals this year.

However, as Haynes has reported, that won’t be the case for too much longer. If Love does return in a month and a half as he said on Late Night with Seth Meyers, and Irving’s recovery continues to go well (per ESPN.com, he “feels great”), the Cavaliers may be able to have their full trio of All-Stars back in action together by Christmas.

This isn’t certain, but their likely participation in training camp — even to a limited extent — is a very promising sign for their recovery.

The other issue that the Cavaliers still have to deal with, though, is whether or not Tristan Thompson will re-sign. He’s more than intent on getting a max contract, even though he’s hardly done enough to deserve one; regardless of the upcoming increase to the NBA team salary cap. So, unless that changes and he refuses to accept the Cavaliers’ current offer of $80 million over five years (per ESPN.com), he can accept their qualifying offer of $6.9 million before leaving Cleveland to become an unrestricted free agent next summer.

If we put aside Thompson’s greed for a minute, we can look at the current situation of the Cavaliers. Which, with the return of J.R. Smith, the addition of a valuable veteran such as Mo Williams, and the positive and fast recovery of Irving and Love, the Cavs should once again be set for a run towards the top of the Eastern conference.

Even if they start a little slow without their All-Star point guard and power forward, they should fare just fine for the time being.

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