Cleveland Cavaliers

Iman Shumpert's play is showing promise for Cavs

Published Feb. 19, 2015 9:17 a.m. ET

foxsports

The Cleveland Cavaliers brought over Iman Shumpert from The New York Knicks for extra backcourt depth. So far, according to some number work from Fear The Sword, it looks like their investment is working:

Shumpert's impact - key bench minutes as a defense-first off guard with some limited offense - has been far less noticeable than the impact brought by Timofey Mozgov's rim protection and Smith's shooting ability/excellent Instagram account. But Shumpert is still making an impact and has made the Cavs a more complete team. After returning, Shumpert has been a useful two-way player on a team in need of that type of players.

While he isn't starting at shooting guard as some expected, Shumpert has been playing 20.6 minutes per game with the Cavs (down 5.4 from his time with New York, where he was a starter) and has been a part of the reason why both Shawn Marion and Mike Miller are not a regular part of David Blatt's current rotation.

We'll see how Shumpert's numbers pan out down the home stretch, in the race to the Eastern Conference playoffs.

(h/t Fear The Sword)