Cleveland Cavaliers guard Iman Shumpert will undergo surgery to repair a ruptured muscle in his right wrist and miss 12-to-14 weeks, the team announced Tuesday.
Iman Shumpert suffers wrist injury, will miss at least 3 months
The Cavaliers will be without a key wing defender for at least three months.
Kyle Terada-USA TODAY Sports
Cavaliers general manager David Griffin said Shumpert suffered the injury on the rim during a workout last week. His surgery is set for Wednesday.
Shumpert, 25, signed a four-year, $40 million contract with the Cavaliers this summer after coming over from the New York Knicks in the midseason deal that also brought in J.R. Smith.
Shumpert played in 38 regular-season games with Cleveland last year, averaging 7.2 points and 3.8 rebounds while shooting just under 34 percent from three in a tick over 24 minutes per game. His minutes went up significantly in the postseason, and while his offensive output remained inconsistent, his strong defense on the wing helped bolster the Cavaliers’ stellar defensive performance in the playoffs.
Cleveland is already working several key players back from surgery, including Kyrie Irving and Kevin Love, so this is an unfortunate setback for the team expected to once again come out of the Eastern Conference. This injury will give veteran Richard Jefferson a greater opportunity to show he still has something left in the tank, and there will be more pressure on Smith to be a consistent contributor on the wing.
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