Kevin Love was a full participant in the Cleveland Cavaliers’ practice on Saturday, which marks the first time he’s done so since separating his shoulder in May.
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Love said he could play “maybe a few minutes” Thursday against the Indiana Pacers, however. “As time goes, I’ll get more accustomed to being out there playing, but today was the first step”.
“(Six months is) just a ballpark figure that has generally been thrown out there by anybody who has talked about the rehab process for this kind of an injury”, Love said. Although he’s not yet at his All-Star form, Love said he’s pleased with his progression.
“I’m still hoping that the opener is something that I’ll be playing in”, he said. “We’re just going to keep working and keep progressing consistently and steadily with him“. It makes everybody good to see him out there..
The good news for central Ohio fans: James is expected to play on Monday at Value City Arena when the Cavs take on the Memphis Grizzlies.
Cavs coach David Blatt said he could sense his star forward’s impatience. He’s going to be so good for us.
Added James: “I think he’s going to be so good for us, man. I’m excited to just have him back out on the floor”. Although Love is still not confirmed to be ready for opening night of the regular season on October 27 vs. the Chicago Bulls, his participation represents a significant step in his recovery. The fear of damaging his shoulder again has subsided, but they want to stay on top of his development. It plans to open a store every four days until reaching 200 late in 2016. The 6-5, 205-pounder spent last season with Paris-Levallois in the French LNB Pro A League.
Before being injured last season, he averaged 16.4 points and 9.7 rebounds per game.
Cleveland needed depth at the position with Iman Shumpert sidelined until midseason after undergoing right wrist surgery. Dunigan received an invitation to camp after power forward Tristan Thompson failed to report on time.
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“He’d been hungry to play”, Blatt said. “We wanted to bring in a good player, and Dionte was good”.
