The Cleveland Cavaliers have won four games in a row now, sit on top of the Eastern Conference, and there hasn't been much talk about David Blatt. Blatt was often criticized last season but so far this season things seemed to be going pretty well between him and the team until this latest report surfaced. Richard Jefferson was a DNP coaches decision on Christmas day and that did not make some of the veterans very happy, according to Jason Lloyd of the Akron Beacon-Journal.
The Cavaliers are currently in a situation where they are getting everyone on their roster back healthy and since they are so deep there are going to be worthy players left out of the rotation. Mo Williams is currently third on the point guard depth chart which he likely isn't happy about and now Jefferson might see his role all but evaporate.
Jefferson has appeared in 31 of the teams 32 games so far this season so Christmas day against the Golden State Warriors was the only game he didn't play and he reportedly wasn't the only one unhappy about it. Blatt's decision to not play Jefferson a single minute reportedly "did not sit well with a number of veterans in the locker room." Jefferson is currently in the same type of predicament Shawn Marion was with the Cavaliers last year and that is that he is a victim of a very deep roster.
Jefferson has appeared in all five games for Cleveland since the Christmas day game but on Monday night in Toronto he only saw five minutes of action. Iman Shumpert appears to be fully healthy now so it is likely to come down to J.R. Smith and Jefferson for one spot in the rotation and many people believe Blatt trusts Smith more.
Jefferson is now 35 years old and in his 15th season in the NBA and it is clear at this point that he is very well respected. The issue is that Jefferson hasn't played well enough for gripes from veterans to get him consistent minutes. Jefferson's 8.8 PER is the lowest on the team among regular rotation players and although he is shooting 38 percent from three he is not someone that needs to be on the floor, especially for this team.
This report comes as a pretty big surprise considering the Cavs should be focused on much bigger things than Jefferson's playing time. It would be one thing if Jefferson was playing great, but since he is not the Cavaliers need to focus on getting everyone on the same page and playing championship level basketball.
