Report: Cavaliers will start Love at center, bring Thompson off bench

The Cleveland Cavaliers are reportedly making a change to their typical starting frontcourt to begin the 2017-18 season, sliding Kevin Love to center and moving Tristan Thompson to a reserve role, according to NBA.com's David Aldridge.

Love has predominantly started at power forward through much of his career, pairing with physical interior big men like Nikola Pekovic when he played with the Timberwolves, and Thompson and Timofey Mozgov since joining the Cavaliers. While not quite as strong as Thompson defensively, Love's elite floor-spacing will become even more pronounced when matched up with the opposition's own interior-oriented rim protectors.

Thompson started all 96 regular season and playoff games in which he appeared last season, but spent much of his first two regular seasons playing alongside Love and LeBron James as a reserve big man. Overall, the former No. 4 pick has started all but five games in the past three postseasons, and 127 of 242 regular season appearances.

The downsizing in the frontcourt coincides with the offseason acquisition of Jae Crowder as part of the Kyrie Irving trade. Crowder will reportedly start at power forward alongside Love, with James filling out the frontcourt, per The Athletic's Jason Lloyd.

Depending on health, some combination of Isaiah Thomas, Derrick Rose, Dwyane Wade, and J.R. Smith will fill out the starting unit to begin the year for the reigning Eastern Conference champs, as they seek redemption for their 2017 Finals defeat.