An earlier report said Kyrie Irving might be out until January, but the Cavaliers expect him back way before then
Cleveland Cavaliers fans collectively experienced shortness of breath when the initial reports regarding Kyrie Irving’s knee injury surfaced this summer. After seeing LeBron James and the Cavs go into the NBA Finals without Irving (and Kevin Love), hearing that the All-Star point guard could be out until January had to be less than settling for Cavs fans. They can breathe a little easier now, though.
Discussing Irving for the 2015-16 season, Terry Pluto of Cleveland.com is saying that Irving’s status as he recovers from knee surgery is still on the uncertain side. However, the belief within the organization as of right now is that Kyrie will be back on the floor in game-action “well before January.” That’s subject to change, but it’s better to hear than the initial report.
Pluto also noted that the plan for the Cavs is to alleviate the minutes-load on Irving this season. Even if he makes an incredibly speedy recovery from this knee injury and subsequent surgery, they plan to cut down his minutes from last season when he ranked third in the league in terms of minutes per game.
The arrival of Mo Williams from free agency certainly will assist in alleviating the workload on Irving this season, but it’ll also prove to be valuable during the time that Irving does miss. Having a guard rotation of Williams and Matthew Dellavedova isn’t the same as having Kyrie in your lineup, but the Cavs could definitely be much worse off than they will be while Irving is still recovering.
Even with Irving out, the Cavs should still be the team-to-beat in the Eastern Conference. Because of that, taking precaution with this injury and not rushing him back makes a great deal of sense, as does keeping his minutes limited. However, that doesn’t make it any less joyous to hear for Cavs fans that he won’t be out for essentially the first half of the 2015-16 season.
H/T to CBS Sports
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