Kevin Loves says Cavaliers needed to trade half the team

The Kevin Love victory lap continues! Love has been very outspoken lately when talking about the issues surrounding the Cleveland Cavaliers, as well as making light of the blame he received from some of his former teammates during the losing streak. Case and point:

But those players are no longer on the team, and Love is. Despite being shopped frequently during his time with the Cavs, it’s clear the organization sided with him when they elected to reconstruct the roster. In an interview with Joe Vardon of Cleveland.com, Love opened up about the difference between his new teammates and those that came before them:

“It might not have been a bad thing to get some fresh faces in there and guys from situations where they really wanted to win,” Love said. “I think first and foremost, seeing those (new) guys in Atlanta, they didn’t play, but they got there right after the trade and they just said they want to win. You can tell when somebody says it, you can tell when somebody means it. They really meant it and it felt good to have that there.”

Love also went on to address the talk that Dwyane Wade was a source of locker room friction. Wade reportedly was the first to bring up Love’s unexplained absence from practice to Tyronn Lue, which lead to the confrontation between Love and Isaiah Thomas:

“If there was a lot of friction, I didn’t see it.

”I know that guys were pissed that we were losing during a time that it happened,” Love said. “I think there was a number of guys that used Ty Lue as ... a sounding board and wanted to bounce ideas off him, and D-Wade was one of those guys.”

It’s funny to see Love be so outspoken and honest when speaking about his experience this season. He hasn’t necessarily been shy throughout his career, but he seems to recognize that he is a leader in the locker room now and is far more secure in his role with the team.

When he returns from his injury, it’ll be the LeBron and Love show for the first time without any caveats. There is no high-usage point guard returning from injury that will change how he plays. The team needs him to be aggressive and be the second star that allows LeBron to not feel over-matched.