Cleveland Cavaliers Are Enjoying the 'New-and-Improved' Kevin Love

CLEVELAND — Life is going much better for Kevin Love these days.

After a rocky first year, and signing a max contract this past summer to stay with the Cleveland Cavaliers, this season has been a fresh start for the 27-year-old power forward.

The team has been dedicated to using Love more often, something he was concerned about when meeting poolside with LeBron James this summer. James has even gone out of his way to call Love the "main focus" of the offense.

"He's going to have a hell of a season. He's going to get back to that All-Star status. He's the focal point of us offensively," James comfortably stated back in October, per Joe Vardon of the Cleveland.com.

From his role, conditioning, comfort level and beyond, everything about Love (who had to rebuild his dislocated shoulder this summer) was supposed to be new and improved.

Nearly a quarter of the way into Year 2 with the Cavs, what's really changed, and what can we realistically expect from Love's future in Cleveland?

Rising Numbers

Love became a fantasy basketball dream while with the Minnesota Timberwolves from 2008-2014, regularly racking up 20-30 points a night to go along with 10-20 rebounds.

While his 16.4 points and 9.7 rebounds were good enough to finish third and first, respectively, on the Cavaliers last season, fans wanted to see more. After all, this represented a drop of nearly 10 points per game from Love's final campaign in Minnesota.

Even though he hasn't quite climbed back to that level, we have seen an increase in Love's statistics across the board.

Love's usage is the key figure here. He's taking nearly two more shots per game (14.6 to 12.7) compared to a season ago despite logging nearly the same amount of court time (34.1 minutes to 33.8).

"I think Kev's been very involved in the offense," head coach David Blatt told Bleacher Report. "I'm pretty comfortable with the involvement of Kevin in our offense this year up to this point and want to see more of the same in the future."

The question now becomes, are the Cavs really incorporating Love in the offense more, or is his increased scoring due to a lack of Kyrie Irving on the floor?

The Cavaliers' second-leading scorer last season, Irving represents a great deal of the team's offense. His absence inevitably means more work for Love, James, Mo Williams and others.

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With Irving yet to play a game because of his recovery from knee surgery, even Love isn't quite sure if that's what's leading to his increase in touches compared to last season.

"I think I'm getting a lot of different looks this year. I don't know if that's a product of Shump (Iman Shumpert) and Kyrie being out. But from a comfort standpoint and just looking at what the offense breaks down as so far, just getting near the basket, it's a lot better for me."

When Irving does come back, it's important that the Cavaliers continue to get Love his 14 shots (or more) per game and have him be an integral part of the offense.

Picking His Spots

It's no secret that Love spent much of his time hanging out at the three-point line last season and not in the paint, where he's been so dangerous throughout his career.

Over 41 percent of his total shots came from the arc, by far the highest mark in Love's first seven seasons. He's often remarked about wanting to open the game with an inside touch instead of a three-pointer, something that was supposed to be a point of emphasis in his agreeing to return to the Cavaliers.

So what's changed?

While Love has increased his number of shots near the basket (23.3 percent of his total attempts compared to 21.3 last year), he's also putting up more three-pointers as well (6.7 attempts to 5.2).

The strange part? This hasn't necessarily been a bad thing.

Despite saying he wants to get away from the arc, he's actually become quite a lethal weapon from outside. Love is shooting 39.7 percent from deep on the year and a whopping 52.2 percent over his last seven games. His career-best mark is 41.7 percent, albeit on just under three attempts per game. If Love can keep his success rate around 40 percent, few would dare complain just how much time he did spend floating around outside.

James needs to play with floor-spacing power forwards to open up his driving lanes. It's why he worked so well with Chris Bosh in Miami and why the Cavaliers once paid a 32-year-old Donyell Marshall $25 million.

That being said, it's important to play Love inside, if for no other reason than to get him to the free-throw line.

One of the best big-man-freebie shooters the NBA has to offer, Love owns a lifetime 81.5 percent mark and is converting a career-high 87.1 of his shots from the charity stripe this season.

Unfortunately, this success has largely gone to waste.

Entering a game against the Atlanta Hawks on Nov. 21, Love was attempting a career-low 3.6 free throws per contest.

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When asked about bumping this number up to take advantage of Love's elite ability from the line, Blatt said, "A lot of times where he's playing on the floor has to do with matchups and things of the nature and how we want to spread the floor. He'll get his share of looks inside, no doubt."

Since that night in question, Love's attempts have risen to 4.5, a mark that would eclipse his frequency from last season (4.3).

Is Love getting more touches in the paint? Yes. Have his three-pointers decreased as many expected? No, and that's not a bad thing either.

Comfort and Future Expectations

Love seems more laid-back this season, and that's not taking into account the floppy hair and Fu Manchu mustache.

According to Jason Lloyd of the Akron Beacon Journal, James was frustrated with his teammate's conditioning at the beginning of last season, one where Love regularly missed time with back and knee pain. After games, Love was often found sitting with feet in ice at his locker, rarely making eye contact with the surrounding media.

After an offseason filled with rehab and training at the high elevations of beautiful Park City, Utah, Love appears to be in the best shape of his life.

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He no longer sits gloomily after games. Instead, he is regularly joking and staying upbeat with teammates and reporters, and sporting his "Menace" nickname on a black baseball cap.

All of this has led to an increased comfort factor and his newfound ability to fit in.

"I'm comfortable," said Love. "I like playing the game both inside and out. Guys are finding me and also just continuing to get into a rhythm. I thought it would take about this long, and it's something I've got to continue to work on."

As for his dislocated shoulder in the 2015 playoffs, there haven't been any noticeable lingering effects.

"Truthfully, I don't think about it anymore," he said.

Others around the league are noticing a change in Love as well.

"It looks like he's in much better shape," Brooklyn Nets coach Lionel Hollins told Andy Vasquez of NorthJersey.com. "I was watching the tape, and I had to ask who that was because he looks like he's in better shape. He continued:

"

He's probably better focused. When you play with guys like a LeBron, who are very focused and very disciplined in how they prepare and work—not that Kevin didn't work in Minnesota. But I think that when you're in a high-level winning environment, it's a different level that you have to be consistent with. And I think that being with LeBron has helped him see that level and move toward that level.

"

Love is showing his commitment to winning and to the team in a number of ways.

In a close game against the Charlotte Hornets Nov. 27, the Cavaliers began a fourth-quarter rally with Love out of the game. Instead of potentially messing with the on-court chemistry, Love willingly told Blatt he would sit if it meant a better chance of winning. Cleveland did just that, 95-90, with Love standing and cheering the whole way. For this night, the Cavs required him to swallow his ego and sacrifice for the good of the team.

Of course, this was just a small sample of the season. Cleveland needs Love to play a large role to advance deep into the playoffs. 

We still don't know what the future will look like for Love in Cleveland until the team can field a complete, healthy roster. When Irving returns, will Love still be featured in a prominent role? Will his stats continue to increase based on efficiency alone?

He will never put up the numbers he did with the Timberwolves, and that's OK. Bosh's scoring dropped significantly (24.0 to 18.7) after joining James. This season in San Antonio, LaMarcus Aldridge's points have plunged (23.4 to 14.8) after jumping ship from the Portland Trail Blazers to join the Spurs.

Now Bosh has two championship rings to his name, while Aldridge's Spurs are 16-4. Love's Cavaliers lead the Eastern Conference with a 13-5 record, a winning mark that should only improve with the return of Irving.

For now, Love is in a good place. His numbers are up, the Cavaliers are playing good ball and there's no contract situation or free agency questions to worry about.

Meet the new—and improved—Kevin Love.

Greg Swartz is the Cleveland Cavaliers Lead Writer for Bleacher Report. Follow him on Twitter, @CavsGregBR. All quotes obtained firsthand unless otherwise sourced. Stats via Basketball-Reference.com and are current as of Dec. 3.