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The Cleveland Cavaliers anticipate Kevin Love to return on the team's upcoming four-game road trip after the All-Star power forward was cleared for contact work. Love underwent arthroscopic surgery Feb. 14 to remove a loose body from his left knee and he was expected to be out six weeks. He has not played since Feb. 11, missing the Cavs' last 13 games.
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Love, 28, took part in a 3-on-3 workout on Tuesday prior to the game against Detroit Pistons.
"Everything that happens for him is just a step in the process," Cavs general manager David Griffin said Tuesday. "Every next step you take in a rehab situation when you come back from surgery allows for the possibility of swelling and setback, it's just how it goes. That's why the timeline was what it was. If he doesn't practice until the end of the week, that's fine. That's not something we would consider a setback, it's just what we anticipate.
"If he gets through it, he has no soreness, we'll let him keep taking the next step all the way through and we'll see what that means. I would anticipate that he'll play sometime on the road trip."
The Cavs' four-game, three-city trip starts Saturday in Los Angeles and concludes March 24 in Charlotte.
Love is averaging 20 points and 11.1 rebounds over 46 games in his best season since joining the Cavaliers in 2014.
Love posted a picture a picture of his jersey hanging in his locker before Tuesday night's game, causing a buzz since jerseys only hang for players who are suiting up.
"He did that to mess with y'all," Cavs cach Tyronn Lue Lue told reporters Tuesday. "He came into my office and said you're going to get a lot of questions today. I said why? He said because he posted something about his jersey in his locker, but, he's not playing tonight."
Meanwhile, recently signed center Larry Sanders was assigned to the Canton Charge, the Cavs' NBA Development League affiliate, to work his way back into shape.
Sanders signed a partially guaranteed two-year contract on Monday and played the final 1:58 of Cleveland's 128-96 win over Detroit on Tuesday night. He missed his only shot attempt while recording two fouls.
The 28-year-old Sanders was out of the NBA for more than two years.
"He wanted to go down to the D-League for a while to kind of get his legs and play and try to find a rhythm," Lue said. "He wants to get in better shape and just touch the ball, just play ... when he feels like he's right and we feel like he's ready, we'll make that jump."
