For starters, let’s look at Matthew Dellavedova. Delly served admirably in the 2015 postseason, including the NBA Finals, but there was a reason the Cavs signed Williams instead of entering the season with Delly as the immediate backup to Irving.
Well, when Delly was given the opportunity to start against Milwaukee on short notice, he dished out a career-high 13 assists. He followed that up Monday night in his third start of the season putting up 15 points and nine assists.
One player who has as much fun with Delly on the floor as anyone is Tristan Thompson.
The combination of Delly to Tristan for the alley-oop, otherwise known as “the Delly Lob,” has brought fans to their feet time and time again already this season.
I never see fans chanting “overpaid” when Thompson throws it down.
When it was announced that Mozgov would be sidelined 10-14 days, Tristan was right there to pick up the slack, just like he did for the injured Kevin Love the last three rounds of the playoffs.
Thompson made his first start of the 2015-2016 season Saturday night against Atlanta, and showed why he is so valuable on this roster, hauling in 16 rebounds.
He also moved into sixth-place in franchise history in offensive rebounds with five on the night.
Monday night against Orlando he had another typical game hauling in 14 boards.
Thompson, even coming off the bench 12 of the first 14 games this season, only has two games with less than eight rebounds.
He also has played in more than 300 consecutive games including the postseason, the fourth longest streak in franchise history behind the likes of Cavs legends Danny Ferry, Jim Chones, and Austin Carr.
Although Delly and Tristan have been on the floor more than the rest of the bench, we’ve seen great production from Richard Jefferson, who is averaging 7 points per game and shooting 45 percent from the field.
Another significant piece who many Cavs fans had never even heard of before this season is Jared Cunningham.
The injury to Williams gave Cunningham an opportunity to play more the last two games and he stepped up, contributing seven points, three assists, and four rebounds against Milwaukee; and eight points with four rebounds against Atlanta.
Cunningham’s ability to handle the ball and defend either guard position also make him a player David Blatt can trust if needed.
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