Lue: Kevin Love will be with Cavaliers next season

With Cleveland's first championship in 52 years now locked up, the Cavaliers are committed to bringing a majority of their core back to defend the title.

This includes Kevin Love, whose subpar play in the NBA Finals left a dark cloud hanging over his future with the franchise.

"Oh, he's going to be here," head coach Tyronn Lue said of Love during an appearance on ESPN's Mike and Mike on Wednesday morning. "I mean, without Kevin Love, we wouldn't have gotten to The Finals. You know, he had a great series against Detroit, a great series against Atlanta, a great series against Toronto."

The three-time All-Star averaged just 8.5 points and 6.8 rebounds on 36.2 percent shooting in six games against the Golden State Warriors, missing Cleveland's 30-point victory in Game 3 because of a concussion. Lue attributed Love's struggles in The Finals to Golden State's brand of basketball rendering him ineffective.

"You know, with the way Golden State plays, and the positions they put you in, it was just a tough series," Lue said. "It's the same with Channing Frye. He did a great job of getting us to that point, but it's a tough series for him to play in because they play small, and it was tough for us matchup-wise."

While the 2015-16 campaign was one of his weakest offensively since entering the league eight years ago, Love still managed to contribute a near-double double of 16 points and 9.9 rebounds in 31.5 minutes. Lue won't ignore how effective he was during that span, and how valuable he was in Game 7 on Sunday night both on the glass and defensively down the stretch.

"Kyrie missed 30 games this season, and Kevin and LeBron carried this team the first 30 games of the season," Lue added. "Then throughout the playoffs, those first three rounds, he was big. Then in Game 7, after hearing all the negative talk, he comes into Game 7, has 14 rebounds, a big stop on Steph Curry at the end of the game. So Kevin Love is going to be here, we want him here, and he's a big part of what we want to do going forward."

The 27-year-old signed a five-year, $110-million contract with the Cavs last summer after opting out and becoming a free agent.

- With h/t to Fear the Sword