Despite beginning the 2016-17 NBA season with six consecutive victories, the Cleveland Cavaliers have had their fair share of problems with starting point guard Kyrie Irving resting on the bench. That’s due to the hole they currently have at the backup point guard slot, which in turn, has led to talk of fellow guard Iman Shumpert being traded elsewhere in order to fill that hole.
Joe Vardon of Cleveland.com indicates that the Cavaliers know that the current stopgap strategy of having Shumpert serve as Irving’s primary backup won’t help them win another NBA title. That’s because Shumpert’s usual position is shooting guard, not playing the point.
Speaking of Shumpert’s status, Vardon wrote:
“If the Cavs need to trade him to land the backup point guard they desire, they will. It’s true, Shumpert’s scoring, shooting, perimeter defense, turnovers and conditioning have all improved from last season — his worst as a pro. But the team really needs a second point guard, a spot currently occupied by Shumpert (he’s playing out of position). On Friday, coach Tyronn Lue said the Cavs have played poorly to start fourth quarters in part because Shumpert was playing point guard.”
Per Lue:
“I think our pace goes down when Shump’s playing the point guard because he doesn’t want to make a mistake,” Lue said. “He kind of slows the ball down and runs sets, tries to get us in our offense, which we’ve asked him to do. But, not having that backup point guard out there to get us in our stuff and run it with pace, run it with speed, it’s kind of hurt us a little bit.”
Currently, the only other point guard on the team is rookie Kay Felder, who’s seen very limited action in the team’s seven games.
