Cavaliers Rumors

Cavs Players, Atkinson Advocate For Mobley As DPOY

March 26th, 2025 at 9:09am CST by Luke Adams

Since Warriors forward Draymond Green made his case a week ago for this season’s Defensive Player of the Year award, the betting odds have swung significantly in his favor. Green is the new frontrunner for Defensive Player of the Year honors at most sportsbooks, including BetOnline.ag, taking over the top spot from Evan Mobley.

In the view of Mobley’s Cavaliers teammates, those oddsmakers have it wrong.

“Evan was the favorite but then we lost four games in a row and you guys changed it up,” big man Tristan Thompson told Chris Fedor of Cleveland.com (subscription required). “Draymond is the favorite now, right? Draymond is a Hall of Famer and he is the anchor for their defense as well. But he has won Defensive Player of the Year. It’s Evan’s turn. I’ve heard rumblings about maybe (Thunder wing) Lu Dort. Yeah, we’re going for Evan in here. We are the No. 1 team in the East. Defensively, we are up there in the top 10 and no one can consistently score on him, so that’s who my vote is for.”

Thompson, advising award voters not to “f–k it up,” made it clear that Mobley’s case for DPOY is about more than just it being “his turn” to be recognized.

“He is the key for us defensively,” Thompson said. “Able to guard one through five. Alters shots. Blocks shots. In the passing lanes. Rule of verticality. Switches onto guards. He is able to do so much at that end of the court. Like I’ve always said, he is a young Anthony Davis. Ev is a nightmare defensively.”

Cavaliers guard Darius Garland agreed, suggesting that Mobley as this season’s Defensive Player of the Year should be a “no-brainer” pick for voters.

“He’s definitely the best defender in the league by far. Switching onto guards and bigs,” Garland said. “… He’s gotten robbed out of a couple awards already. I don’t want him to be robbed out of this one too. He’s deserving of it. He’s been doing it for three years now. He hasn’t gotten an award yet. I think it’s time the league gives him the recognition he deserves.”

As Fedor writes, Mobley has a strong statistical case for the award. He ranks sixth in the NBA in total blocked shots and third in contested shots per game and is in the top 20 in categories like defensive win shares, defensive box plus-minus, defensive rating, defensive rebound percentage, and defensive estimated plus-minus.

As head coach Kenny Atkinson points out, Mobley’s on/off court numbers also reflect the impact he has on that end of the court. The Cavs’ overall defensive rating for the season is a solid 111.4, good for eighth in the NBA. With Mobley on the court, that number improves to 107.7, which would make Cleveland the No. 2 defensive team in the league (and No. 1 in the East) by a comfortable margin.

“It’s just one simple stat — how we’re rated defensively with him on the court and then without him,” Atkinson told Fedor. “(President of basketball operations) Koby (Altman) always says this. He impacts winning and defense at a level he’s never seen and he has done it since he’s been in the league. This is not to put down any of the other candidates, he has won and leads a top 10 defense. Usually that lines up with Defensive Player of the Year.”

Besides Green and Mobley, other potential candidates for Defensive Player of the Year include Dort, Hawks guard Dyson Daniels, Grizzlies big man Jaren Jackson Jr. Those players will have an opportunity during the final two-and-a-half weeks of the regular season to make their final on-court arguments for recognition, though Mobley said he has no intention of altering his approach to try to strengthen his DPOY case.

“All the guys believe in me, and I believe in myself,” Mobley told Fedor. “I’m not going to change or do anything different. Just be myself. I feel like the numbers and the things that aren’t necessarily tracked, I feel like I play a big part in those things. Some guys won’t even take shots just because I’m down there. I’m going to keep going out there and playing the best defense I can and hopefully I get the award.”

Central Notes: Mobley, Cavs, Mathurin, Holland, Sasser

March 24th, 2025 at 2:09pm CST by Rory Maher

Cavaliers big man Evan Mobley is viewed as one of the favorites for Defensive Player of the Year in 2024/25, and while he had no qualms about making a case for himself, he was more interested in talking about the team’s goals when he recently spoke to Mark Medina of Sportskeeda.

“I’m mostly just focused on the playoffs,” Mobley said. “I’m just trying to be as great as possible in the playoffs and go as far as we can in the playoffs.”

Mobley has been highly impressive in his fourth NBA season, averaging a career-best 18.6 points to go along with 9.3 rebounds, 3.0 assists, 0.8 steals and 1.5 blocks in a career-low 30.2 minutes per contest across 63 outings. His shooting slash line is .568/.372/.729.

The 23-year-old forward/center is the only player from the East to have the won the new Defensive Player of the Month award two times this season, Medina notes. Mobley pointed out that his impact goes beyond what a traditional box score can measure.

“There are defenders not even taking a shot,” Mobley told Sportskeeda. “They’re coming in down the paint and see me there. Then they turn back around and go somewhere else. Those plays don’t necessarily get tracked. But that’s a big factor.”

Here’s more from the Central:

Chris Fedor of Cleveland.com (subscriber link) and Tony Jones of The Athletic explain why Cavaliers head coach Kenny Atkinson decided to have a “fun practice” on Saturday following a four-game losing streak, helping the players rediscover the joy they’ve played with all season. Instead of letting frustration seep in, the team instead played H.O.R.S.E and cracked jokes while watching highlights the coaching staff compiled of the players when they participated in the NCAA Tournament. “I think it’s been important to not overreact,” Atkinson said, per Jones. “To be clear, I’m not happy with the way we have played. We haven’t played well in the last week. But, you have to look at things in the big picture. And in the big picture, I’ll take who this team has been during the other 97 percent of the season over what we have been over the last week.” Cleveland snapped its four-game skid with a dominant second half on Sunday in Utah against the tanking Jazz.
Over the course of Bennedict Mathurin‘s three seasons with the Pacers, there has been a constant effort to try to figure out how best to incorporate his more ball-dominant, one-on-one style within the movement-oriented flow of a Tyrese Haliburton-led offense. As Dustin Dopirak of The Indianapolis Star writes, the issue becomes even more complicated in instances when Haliburton is unavailable — he missed time recently with a back ailment. When Haliburton is out, Mathurin, who will be eligible for a rookie scale extension this summer, gets more freedom to try and score however he can out of necessity. The tension between the two playing styles has defined Mathurin’s tenure with the team to this point, Dopirak adds. “It’s two different styles,” Carlisle said, “and I just let him know at halftime (on Saturday vs. Brooklyn) that I acknowledge that if he had the ball every time and we spread it out every time and he was doing the stuff we were doing when we were down in those games (without Haliburton), that he would score and he would get to the free throw line. But in the flow of our normal game, that’s not who we are. We’ve gotta work to bring the two forces of nature together.”
With Cade Cunningham (calf soreness) and Tim Hardaway Jr. (ankle sprain) out Sunday vs. New Orleans, rookie forward Ron Holland helped spark a Pistons victory, recording 26 points (on 10-of-14 shooting), six assists and five rebounds in 36 minutes off the bench. The fifth overall pick in last year’s draft tied his career high for points in a game and set a new one in assists. Second-year guard Marcus Sasser, who has been in and out of the rotation in 2024/25, was also instrumental to the win, scoring 10 of his 20 points in the fourth quarter. Hunter Patterson of The Athletic and Keith Langlois of Pistons.com have the stories and quotes.

Central Notes: Mitchell, Slumping Cavs, Cunningham, Lillard

March 22nd, 2025 at 10:06am CST by Tristan Tucker

Cavaliers star Donovan Mitchell is owning responsibility for Cleveland’s current losing streak, which extended to four games on Friday in Phoenix, Chris Fedor of Cleveland.com writes (subscription required).

“Put this on me,” Mitchell said. “When your leader ain’t doing [expletive], this is what happens. If I’m not being who I need to be then we’re not going to get to where we want to get to. So, until that happens — and it will — yeah, if you’re looking for where to point, it’s right here.”

Since the beginning of March, Mitchell is shooting 32.9% from the field and 17.9% on three-pointers, compared to 44.1% and 37.0% on the season, Fedor adds. In their four straight losses, he’s down to 18.5 PPG on 29.6% shooting.

“I’ve been like this for the past four games, and we’ve lost four straight,” Mitchell said. “I have to be better. Simple as that. We have to guard better. We have to rebound. [Expletive] all that. It’s on me. I have to be better for the group. I’ve been good for the group all year. But this is on me. There really is nowhere else to look. I will be better.“

We have more from the Central Division:

The Cavaliers‘ Friday loss represents their lowest point of the season, Fedor writes in another story (subscription required). Cleveland has given up at least 120 points three times in its last four losses and ranks in the bottom half of the league defensively this month. Meanwhile, the scorching-hot offense that overshadowed any defensive shortcomings earlier in the year has faltered as of late. Of course, the Cavaliers still hold a five-game lead over the second-place Celtics in the East, but they’ll want to right the ship in the coming weeks to regain some momentum entering the postseason.
Wednesday’s performance against the Heat was the pinnacle of Pistons star Cade Cunningham‘s young career, Hunter Patterson of The Athletic opines. Cunningham recorded team highs in points (25), rebounds (12) and assists (11) as he notched a triple-double and knocked down his first career game-winning three-pointer. The former No. 1 overall pick felt the game was a culmination of everything he has been through, including the 28 straight losses the Pistons endured last season and the injury that limited him to 12 games in his sophomore season. “It’s still early though, I feel like,” Cunningham said. “I still feel like there’s so much to do. There’s still so much that I haven’t experienced.“
Bucks star Damian Lillard missed Thursday’s game against the Lakers due to calf soreness, per NBA insider Chris Haynes, and he’ll also miss Saturday’s tilt in Sacramento, according to Jason Anderson of The Sacramento Bee (Twitter links). It’s the first time since late December that Lillard had to miss consecutive games. He’s averaging 24.9 points and 7.1 assists per game in his age-34 season. Guard Ryan Rollins drew the start on Thursday in Lillard’s absence.

And-Ones: Rebuilding Teams, Free Agency, Flagg, NBL

March 21st, 2025 at 9:44pm CST by Luke Adams

Among 11 NBA teams in various stages of their respective rebuilds, the Spurs are best positioned for the long run, according to Tim Bontemps of ESPN (Insider link). San Antonio’s place atop the rankings has a lot to do with the presence of Victor Wembanyama on the roster, but Bontemps points to Stephon Castle, Devin Vassell, and recently acquired point guard De’Aaron Fox as other likely core pieces for the Spurs, who could end up with two more lottery picks this spring.

Interestingly, Bontemps places the Hornets and Wizards at No. 2 and No. 3, respectively, on his rebuild rankings, praising Charlotte in particular for its promising collection of young talent. The Trail Blazers and Bulls come in at 10th and 11th on Bontemps’ list, largely because there are questions about whether either team has a franchise player to build around and whether they’ll be in position to land one in the draft anytime soon.

Here are a few more odds and ends from around the basketball world:

John Hollinger of The Athletic highlights several of the challenging situations that teams will face in free agency this summer, including the Cavaliers with Ty Jerome, the Nuggets with Russell Westbrook, the Kings with Jake LaRavia, and the Sixers with Quentin Grimes and Guerschon Yabusele. Many of those clubs will be limited in what they can offer their free agents, either due to a lack of full Bird rights or tax/apron concerns.
Meanwhile, Yossi Gozlan of The Third Apron (Substack link) looks ahead to 2026 and explains why next year’s star-studded free agent class will likely be something of a mirage, given all the contract extensions likely to be signed between now and then.
ESPN draft experts Jonathan Givony and Jeremy Woo (Insider link) spoke to 10 NBA executives about projected No. 1 overall pick Cooper Flagg, surveying those execs on the Duke freshman’s strengths and weaknesses, his odds of winning a title with the Blue Devils, and whether there’s any chance he decides to stay in school for another year. “I can’t remember a No. 1 pick deciding to go back to school,” one Eastern Conference scout told ESPN.
Ahead of the NBA playing its first games in Australia this fall, a battle over the ownership of the country’s National Basketball League appears to be brewing. Olgun Uluc of ESPN Australia has the story.

Central Notes: Cunningham, Duren, Pistons, White, Allen, Mobley

March 20th, 2025 at 10:53am CST by Dana Gauruder

The Pistons and Cade Cunningham got a chance to show their stuff Wednesday on a national-televised game against the Heat and they took advantage of it. Cunningham hit a game-winning three-pointer in the final second as the Pistons improved their record to 39-31, giving them 25 more wins than all of last season.

Cunningham, a first-time All-Star, deserves to be on an All-NBA team, in the opinion of center Jalen Duren, as Omari Sankofa II of the Detroit Free Press tweets.

“We’re still trying to make a case for that? Man. If you don’t know that by now, not only are you not watching us, you’re not watching basketball,” Duren said. “He’s been the best guard in the NBA all year, if you ask me. Watch the games, man.”

An All-NBA selection would be a financial boon for Cunningham. He signed a five-year max rookie scale extension in July, which goes into effect in 2025/26. Making an All-NBA team would push the first year of that extension to 30 percent of the cap, rather than 25 percent.

We have more from the Central Division:

An underrated reason for the Pistons’ success is that they’ve answered the bell, Sankofa notes. Other than Jaden Ivey, who suffered a broken fibula on Jan. 1, the rotation members have remained healthy and available for the most part. Cunningham, who battled injuries in his previous seasons, is on pace to play 70 games. Rookie Ron Holland and sixth man Malik Beasley have appeared in every game. “That’s been huge towards our consistency as a group, having pretty much the same starting five most games this year,” Cunningham said. “Same rotation, guys are able to play every night. It’s a huge thing. I know it helps coach a lot. It’s huge for our synergy, knowing where everybody is going to be at, keeping the same consistency as far as groups on the floor and things like that. Health is the main thing. ‘The best ability is availability’ is what they always say.”
Bulls guard Coby White, the reigning Eastern Conference Player of the Week, told the Chicago Tribune’s Julia Poe that his struggles early in his career are now paying dividends. “I wasn’t very good when I came into the league,” he said. “I had a lot to learn. It was all about humbling myself to the point where I looked in the mirror and said, ‘I have to get better. I have to get stronger. I have to be more physical. I have to figure out who I am as a player.'” He’s averaging 24.1 points, 4.6 rebounds and 4.2 assists since the All-Star break.
Prior to this season, there was serious doubt whether the pairing of Evan Mobley and Jarrett Allen could work. Those concerns have been eased by the Cavaliers’ success. Allen explained to Sportskeeda’s Mark Medina have they’ve learn to be effective for long stretches. “Evan is really benefiting from this offense. You can see his numbers and his confidence. We can all see it,” Allen said. “He’s leading our team. It makes it easier. We have our separate roles now. He’s on the outside, shooting threes, running the offense and pushing it. And I’m in the dunker (spot) doing what I’m used to.”

Eastern Notes: Bucks, Okogie, Raptors, Cavs, Wizards

March 19th, 2025 at 3:21pm CST by Luke Adams

Bucks head coach Doc Rivers met after Tuesday’s loss to Golden State with Giannis Antetokounmpo and Damian Lillard, according to NBA insider Chris Haynes, who reports (via Twitter) that the session served as an “open forum” for the Bucks stars to share ideas for how to get the team out of its recent slump.

As Haynes notes, the Bucks have lost five of their last seven games and have struggled on offense during that time, including scoring a season-low 93 points vs. Golden State in Tuesday’s defeat. Haynes describes Tuesday’s post-game meeting as “productive.”

Here’s more from around the Eastern Conference:

Veteran wing Josh Okogie got off to a good start in Charlotte after being traded to the Hornets in January, registering a +16.3 net rating in his first 149 minutes with the team. He has missed the past 23 games due to a left hamstring strain, but appears to be nearing a return. He was assigned to the G League on Tuesday to practice with the Greensboro Swarm before being recalled to the NBA team, per Rod Boone of The Charlotte Observer (Twitter links).
The Raptors have won six of their past nine games and have been buoyed during that stretch by strong performances from players on two-way or 10-day contracts, including Jared Rhoden, A.J. Lawson, and Colin Castleton. What useful information might Toronto glean from this late-season hot streak? Michael Grange of Sportsnet considers that question, exploring how the team can separate the signal from the noise.
After losing a second consecutive game in a row on Tuesday, the Cavaliers are now tied with Oklahoma City for the NBA’s best record at 56-12 and won’t have a shot at 70 wins unless they don’t lose again this season. Neither earning the league’s top seed or winning 70 regular season games is a top priority for the Cavs heading into the playoffs though, as Chris Fedor of Cleveland.com writes. The team’s two primary objectives? “To be healthy and playing great basketball,” according to head coach Kenny Atkinson.
The Wizards are the latest team to cut back on minutes for their veterans, presumably in an effort to tank, writes Varun Shankar of The Washington Post. Jordan Poole and Khris Middleton each played just 10:31 in Monday’s loss to Portland and didn’t appear at all in the second half, even though it wasn’t part of a back-to-back set.

Central Notes: T. Jones, Giannis, Haliburton, Atkinson

March 12th, 2025 at 11:53am CST by Luke Adams

As an undersized pure point guard who rarely takes three-pointers, Tre Jones doesn’t really fit the Bulls‘ blueprint, but he has impressed the team since being acquired from San Antonio in last month’s Zach LaVine trade, averaging 9.6 points and 3.7 assists per game on .538/.429/.905 shooting in his first 13 outings with Chicago.

“He’s got the ‘it’ factor,” head coach Billy Donovan said of Jones, per Julia Poe of The Chicago Tribune. “He really does. He’s just a winner. … You can look at size and length for his position and he probably doesn’t have any of those things. But he’s got really good speed. He’s really tough. He’s got a high IQ. He understands competition. He can really stay in the moment and compete.”

Jones played well for San Antonio in 2022/23 and ’23/24 as the Spurs’ primary point guard, putting up averages of 11.4 PPG and 6.4 APG on 48.0% shooting across those two years. But he took a back seat to Chris Paul this season and saw his playing time and production crater before he was dealt to the Bulls at the deadline.

Now, as he nears the end of his current contract, Jones is looking more like his old self, increasing his value ahead of free agency — and potentially making a case for Chicago to retain him, though that will likely depend on the team’s other offseason roster decisions.

“I know he’s going into free agency and we’ll see how that plays out,” Donovan said. “But when you talk about a guy you want to have for 82 nights — and I’m not saying he’s always perfect — but he understands competition. He understands what goes into it. That’s what you want.”

Here’s more from around the Central:

As we outlined last week, Bucks star Giannis Antetokounmpo is taking and making mid-range shots at a higher rate this season than he ever has before. Jamal Collier of ESPN digs deeper into that trend, noting that Antetokounmpo wanted to develop a reliable mid-range game in part to reduce the physical pounding his body was taking when he was relying more on playing inside and getting to the basket. “I’m in my thirties, obviously, (and) I believe that I have four (to) six years, still, of good basketball to give, but I got to be smarter,” Antetokounmpo said. “I got to be smarter in the way I play.”
The Pacers went 0-3 with Tyrese Haliburton sidelined due to a hip injury in the past week, culminating with head coach Rick Carlisle, frustrated by how his starters were playing, pulling all five of them at once in the third quarter of Monday’s loss in Chicago, as Dustin Dopriak of The Indianapolis Star details. So it was good news for Indiana that Haliburton was back in action on Tuesday vs. the division-rival Bucks. The star point guard capped his return by completing a ridiculous four-point play in the game’s final seconds to steal a win for the Pacers (Twitter video link). ESPN has the story.
In a subscriber-only story for The New York Post, Brian Lewis takes a look at how Cavaliers head coach Kenny Atkinson has grown as a coach since he was “unceremoniously” pushed out the door by the Nets in 2020. “When you’re a first-time coach, you’re searching. You have your thoughts and ideas, but you’re searching for that identity,” said Atkinson, the favorite to be named Coach of the Year this season. “I think later on in Brooklyn as we got to that playoff that third year, I started to know. That’s when I really started (to think), ‘OK, I can coach in this league. I know what I’m doing. I kind of know what our identity is.’ Then the second time around, I was much more comfortable just coming in.”

Central Notes: Allen, Stewart, Bucks, Antetokounmpo

March 8th, 2025 at 11:59am CST by Tristan Tucker

The midseason arrival of De’Andre Hunter to the Cavaliers altered center Jarrett Allen‘s role, but he has no problem with taking a step back for the greater good, Chris Fedor of Cleveland.com writes. As Fedor observes, heading into Friday’s game against Charlotte, Allen wasn’t a part of recent closing lineups, with Hunter joining the other four starters.

“It’s not really difficult for me,” Allen said. “I trust Kenny [Atkinson] wholeheartedly. Sometimes I wish I was out there. Sometimes I understand why I’m not. At the end of the day, it’s not my job to decide. It’s my job to do the best I can whenever my number is called.”

That closing lineup changed a little in a close game with the Hornets on Friday, with the team in need of rim protection. Allen took over a closing role in place of Max Strus.

“They know they’ve got to earn it,” Atkinson said. “There’s earning it and then there’s matchups. We’ve had a discussion with the whole team. Whether it’s you’re in the rotation or not in the rotation, you might deserve to be in a rotation but you’re still not in the rotation because we’re so deep. You might finish the game, you might not. That’s just kind of how it is. That’s what it takes to get to that next level. That’s part of the sacrifice and chemistry thing we’ve got going on.”

Allen said he’s willing to do whatever it takes to help the team win and is drawing tremendous reviews from his teammates for his consistency, confidence and leadership.

We have more from the Central Division:

Appearing on ESPN’s NBA Today (Twitter video link), Pistons center Jalen Duren complimented fellow big man Isaiah Stewart, arguing that his teammate deserves more recognition and should be on an All-Defensive team at the end of the season. Just one year after winning only 14 games, Detroit is in prime playoff position and is just two games back of the fourth-place Bucks. Over an impressive month-long stretch that has seen them win 10 of their past 12 games, the Pistons are allowing fewer points per possession than any other team, according to Fred Katz of The Athletic. Katz agrees with Duren’s sentiment that Stewart, averaging 1.4 blocks per game, should get an All-Defensive nod. Stewart is holding opponents a 46% shooting percentage on dunk and layup attempts, which is the best such number in the league in the last five years, Katz notes.
The Bucks have demonstrated a willingness to build around the duo of Giannis Antetokounmpo and Damian Lillard and their deadline moves are paying off, according to Eric Nehm of The Athletic. “Hopefully, I think that it’s more about, ‘How do we make the top two guys their best selves?’” general manager Jon Horst said. “And, ‘How does everyone else play their role around them?’” The Bucks brought in Kyle Kuzma (15.2 PPG) and Kevin Porter Jr. (9.2 PPG), along with Jericho Sims (4.6 RPG) at the deadline.
Antetokounmpo became the sixth-youngest player to reach 20,000 career points on Wednesday, Jamal Collier of ESPN observes. “I always look back at myself, and I don’t want to say I get emotional, but it’s a good feeling,” the Bucks star said. “I’m proud of the journey, but I have so much more to give.“

Cavaliers Become First Team To Clinch Playoff Berth

March 6th, 2025 at 7:34am CST by Luke Adams

The Cavaliers clinched a top-six spot in the Eastern Conference on Wednesday with a 112-107 win over the Heat (Twitter link). Even if Cleveland loses all of its remaining 20 games, the club would be guaranteed a playoff spot.

While the Cavs were projected to be a playoff team in the East this season, no one expected them to be quite this good. As Joe Vardon of The Athletic writes, their 52-10 record is the best in franchise history through 62 games and they’re one of two teams in NBA history to register three separate winning streaks of at least 12 games in a single season, joining the 2006/07 Mavericks.

The Cavaliers, who have held the East’s No. 1 seed since October 30, opened the season with 15 consecutive wins. They also won 12 in a row from December 13 to January 9 and are currently riding another 12-game winning streak, which they’ll look to extend on Friday in Charlotte.

“Everything’s kind of gone our way, right?” head coach Kenny Atkinson said on Wednesday. “We have great talent, great continuity, great togetherness. … There’s luck when you do that. There has to be because it’s so hard to win in the NBA. It’s special. It’s really special. We know what we’re going to be judged on, but we enjoy this.”

Although the Cavaliers are now assured of a playoff spot, they’ve maintained the same message all season after being eliminated in the second round of the 2024 postseason: their goal is a championship, not just regular season success.

“This was an expectation,” Cavs guard Donovan Mitchell said of clinching a playoff spot, per Vardon. “Is it great that we did it in March? Yeah, but this is the bare minimum for us.”

Kevin Love Talks About Adjusting To Reduced Role With Heat

March 5th, 2025 at 5:03pm CST by Arthur Hill

As Kevin Love returns to Cleveland tonight for the first time since agreeing a buyout in 2023, Barry Jackson of The Miami Herald points out that he’s filling a role with the Heat that he wasn’t willing to accept with the Cavaliers two years ago. Love has become an elder statesman in Miami, dispensing knowledge more often than taking the court. He told Jackson that he “wasn’t ready yet” to be a part-time player at age 34, but that has changed now that he’s 36.

“I’m certainly understanding of where I’m at,” Love said. “It’s one of the things I told coach (Erik Spoelstra). I get it. I want to keep pouring into this team and doing whatever I can. Stay ready, and if I do or do not get time, I’m going to keep being a mentor or sounding board for (teammates).”

Love has appeared in 20 games this season, averaging 5.3 points, 4.3 rebounds and 1.0 assist in 11 minutes per night. Jackson notes that he has only gotten onto the court in five of the past 27 games when he’s been on the active roster and has played just 36 combined minutes since January 1.

However, Love occasionally shows flashes of the talent that earned him five All-Star appearances and has enabled him to remain in the league for 17 years. With the Heat short-handed Monday against Washington, Love came off the bench to grab nine rebounds in 12 minutes.

Love inherited the veteran leadership role that Udonis Haslem used to fill before he retired. He uses a mix of humor and serious discussions to keep his teammates focused, adding that the conversations often spin off into other directions.

With one season left on his contract at $4.2MM, it’s a role that Love figures to occupy for at least another year.

“I let Tyler (Herro) come to me about stuff non-basketball related,” he said. “I’m trying to create a really great ecosystem here where we can celebrate each other, celebrate small wins, and build guys up. I know how this thing goes. It’s monotonous. Guys can get into a situation (where they’re wondering), ‘Are we headed for the play-in again? Or what are we doing?”

Love told Jackson that returning to Cleveland will be meaningful after missing both games last season — one due to injury and another for personal reasons. Tonight is Miami’s only trip to Rocket Arena this season, although the teams could meet in the playoffs if Miami winds up with the No. 8 seed.

“I have so much love for that organization and city and Ohio,” Love said. “When you go on a Finals run with special players, that will always be a part of you. I’ll probably go home and look at my ring and reflect a little bit.”

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