Opening night in the NBA is upon us, basketball fans. Tomorrow night, the Cleveland Cavaliers will finally receive their 2016 championship rings in a pre-game ceremony before taking on the New York Knicks. However, they’ll be a bit short-handed for their long-awaited season opener.
In a post-shootaround interview with the media at Cleveland Clinic Courts on Monday afternoon, Cavaliers Head Coach Tyronn Lue announced that rookie point guard Kay Felder will miss Cleveland’s season opener due to the mild concussion he suffered in an on-court collision with Chris Andersen’s elbow during Friday morning’s practice.
Felder was subsequently placed in the NBA’s concussion protocol program after his unfortunate incident with Andersen and has yet to be cleared for activity. Initial reports indicate that Felder should be ready to play on Friday night against the Toronto Raptors inside The Air Canada Centre.
Coach Lue added that Iman Shumpert will be filling in for the injured Felder at the backup point guard position on Tuesday night, saying:
“We’re going to give Shumpert a look and see how he does. If he’s comfortable with it and feels good when we’re doing it then we will continue to roll with Shump.”
However it’s done, the slack in Cleveland’s point guard depth will likely be picked up by committee. With Jordan Mcrae and DeAndre Liggins making the roster cuts, the Cavs will have several options to work around Felder’s absence.