Kyrie Irving has yet to play this season, and yet the Cleveland Cavaliers are 2-1 with their only loss being a two-point defeat at the hands of the Chicago Bulls. For that reason you can understand why the Cavaliers are being extremely cautious with Irving and his knee.
Irving fractured his kneecap in the NBA Finals and has been rehabbing the injury, but he is reportedly getting closer to a return as he is ramping up his workload and even traveled with the team to Philadelphia for its game on Monday night, according to Chris Haynes of Cleveland.com.
After the injury, Irving was given a timetable of four months for his return, but this offseason his projected return date has been all over the place. There were some reports that he might be back for opening, day but there were also reports that he would be out until January. At this point, January seems like a very late estimation as he looks like he is getting very close to a return.
The fact that Irving traveled with the team to Philadelphia is a very good sign, but the Cavaliers are still refusing to put a timetable on his return. One thing is for sure, and that is that the 23-year-old point guard will not be back on the court until he is 100 percent healthy, as the Cavs have looked just fine without him. Having said that, they do need him back and in rhythm by the end of the season, but they have plenty of time to get that done.
In Irving's absence Kevin Love has been the focal point of the Cavaliers offense and he has done a nice job. Mo Williams has taken over as the starting point guard and is averaging 11.3 points and 5 assists per game, but it's been backup Matthew Dellavedova that has really stepped up with Irving out. Dellavedova has the third highest PER on the team (21.7) behind Love and LeBron James and has averaged 7.7 points and 5.7 assists in just 21.7 minutes per game.
It is a small sample size of just three games, but Dellavedova has earned himself a role when Irving returns, which looks to be pretty soon. The Cavaliers are about as much of a lock for the playoffs as you can be in the NBA, so when Irving does return they will be able to ease him in to ensure his health for the playoffs. The Cavaliers seem to think that if they were fully healthy last season they would be the reigning champions, and we might get a chance to see them fully healthy pretty soon.
