The Cleveland Cavaliers are set to play the San Antonio Spurs on Wednesday night and the news and rumors are ramping up.
Check out the latest buzz below.
LeBron Wants Playing Time Reduced
LeBron James says that he wants to play fewer minutes, indicating that the time is right for the minutes to start coming down.
James is averaging 39.1 minutes per game--third in the NBA--with Kyrie Irving (38.4 minutes) and Kevin Love (37.0) ranking fourth and fifth.
“I wouldn’t mind it. I think we have to give our guys on the bench more of an opportunity. I looked at a stat and myself, Kyrie (Irving) and Kevin (Love) are three of the top five guys in the league in minutes per game and that has to come down,” James told ESPN.
“For me, I don’t want to do that all year. Obviously right now it’s difficult because we’re trying to find a groove, we’re trying to find a rhythm and we’re trying to implement something that you don’t want to shortcut it, but at the same time you want to be smart about it.
“So, I don’t mind giving a few of my minutes up just to help the team, to help my minutes go down. I think it would be for the best.”
James has been playing so much partially because Shawn Marion, who was designated his backup, replaced Dion Waiters in the starting lineup.
Coach David Blatt says that he has the minutes situation on his mind and that he wants to lower them for some of the players going forward.
However, he said there’s no problem with James’ minutes specifically.
“Right now LeBron has said and has told me that he’s feeling good and he’s starting to feel his real game shape. So this is not the time to think about resting him. He’s feeling good. This is the time to allow him to get comfortable and to get in his rhythm. And he’s been playing great basketball. Let’s not overlook the fact that he’s been playing great basketball and he looks good physically. He looks excellent,” he said.
“So, for the foreseeable future, we’re going to ride that. Would I like to get him a couple less minutes per game? Yes. And that really has to do with how we’re playing, how we’re doing game to game. But down the line, if that’s a necessity, then like anything else we‘ll weigh it and we’ll consider it and we'll do what’s best for the team and for the player.”
No Trade Out of the Question
