The Cavaliers’ Eastern Conference title defense is already off to a rocky start, and we’re still only in September.
On Tuesday, the team announced that guard Iman Shumpert suffered a ruptured Extensor Carpi Ulnaris sheath in his right wrist and will require surgery. Shumpert is set to have the procedure on Wednesday and is expected to be out for 12 to 14 weeks.
The 25-year-old Shumpert, the team’s best perimeter defender, was expected to start at the 2 this season. He averaged 7.2 points per game, 3.8 rebounds per game, and 1.2 assists per game for the Cavs last season after being acquired from the Knicks in a midseason trade. He just signed a 4-year, $40 million deal to remain with the team this offseason and is now possibly looking at an absence until the calendar turns to 2016.
Injuries have been killing the Cavs lately with Kyrie Irving rumored to be out until January, Kevin Love with no timetable to return from his shoulder ailment, Timofey Mozgov undergoing a minor knee procedure over the summer, and Anderson Varejao’s health a perpetual question mark. With the Tristan Thompson saga still not resolved and the team looking to play LeBron James reduced minutes next season, the Shumpert injury is an absolute killer.
Cleveland may rely on newly signed Mo Williams to log minutes at the 2-guard position, on top of his expected point guard duties, while the Cavs’ AARP squad of 34-year-old James Jones and 35-year-old Richard Jefferson could be forced into heavy minutes on the wing.
Also, the most important implication of Shumpert’s injury? Spread your wings and let it fly, J.R. Smith. Be free you beautiful, inefficient butterfly.
