Love: 'I still find myself spacing' playing center

Kevin Love has certainly had his moments with the Cleveland Cavaliers, and he's played a significant role in their three straight Finals appearances, but he's never seemed entirely comfortable or settled in his role.

Since being traded from the Minnesota Timberwolves in 2014, he's had to adjust to being a tertiary option on offense, to being a spot-up shooter rather than a facilitator, and to being more a diversion than a focal point. Love has mostly managed those adjustments admirably, but there have been hiccups along the way. And now that he's been tabbed as the team's starting center - and is consequently seeing more time there than at his traditional power forward position - he finds himself needing to adjust once again. This time, the biggest changes have come at the defensive end of the floor.

"It's been a little bit of a change for me," Love told Chris Fedor of the Cleveland Plain Dealer. "I still find myself spacing a little bit wanting to roll a little bit more, and on the defensive end just playing the primary big on their team the whole time on the defensive end. It's been a little bit different figuring things out on that end, but it comes with the growth I'm talking about. We need to do that and hopefully be a machine when things start clicking."

Cavs coach Tyronn Lue feels the move to center will benefit Love and the team in the long run.

"It's going to be tough for fives to move around with him," Lue said. "When we run pick-and-rolls, they can't really get out and show. He's going to have a lot of open shots and we know Kevin, he can make shots. ... He was frustrated at first, but now he's enjoying it."