While We’re Waiting…Hardesty & Hillis, Signing Asdrubal & Masterson, McCoy & Daboll’s Rocky Past
September 25, 2011Led by Braxton, the Buckeye offense bounces back against Colorado
September 25, 2011With the lockout casting a chill over the NBA, we haven’t heard much about the Cavs, particularly their incoming draft picks Kyrie Irving and Tristan Thompson. But with a camp in Westlake over the weekend, the number one pick Irving did take some time to update the Cleveland media on his progress, putting the Cavaliers back in the headlines.
All we’ve heard so far this summer is that Irving is going to continue taking classes at Duke. The biggest nugget coming out of Irving’s availability this weekend is that the Cavaliers team doctors, in their one week of access before the lockout, strongly advised Irving to avoid playing this summer. The point guard says he feels “150%” but Cavs doctors indicated that the foot he injured last year at Duke is not fully recovered, and likely won’t be until December. While Irving is still not under contract and the Cavs cannot order him to do anything, he has still followed the suggestion and stayed away from competition – both formal and informal.
It’s been difficult for Irving, especially with all the notoriety and hype some of the organized playground-league games have received this summer (with yet another one featuring LeBron, Carmelo, Chris Paul, and Kevin Durant this evening). Irving, on his summer of inactivity:
“It was the hardest two months of my life. It was hard to sit on the sidelines. Especially with the amount of exposure everyone was getting in playing in those pro-ams and being everywhere. That was different for me, not being able to work out and get better. Summertime is when my game has gone to a different level every year and that’s happened throughout my entire life. It was a learning experience.”
He did, however, reiterate to the media that regardless of health or Cavs doctors’ recommendations, he won’t be going overseas this season, as many locked out pros have done, including fellow Duke rookie Kyle Singler.
The foot remains the biggest concern. While he says he feels completely back and healthy, it’s alarming to hear that doctors do not think it will be fully recovered until Christmastime. You have to wonder about Irving, after sitting out for most of the season, playing last March in the NCAA tournament for Coach K and the Blue Devils. There are no indications that anything was re-aggravated during that time, but there were reports that his father was strongly against his suiting up for the Devils.
It’s likely the lockout will persist into the winter, giving Irving even more time to heal. In this way, the lockout is likely a benefit for Irving – prepping his body to be “full-go” whenever camp and the season do actually start.
In the interim, he’s keeping in touch with fellow NBAers and Cavaliers, including one who the media likes to tag as his team mentor – Baron Davis. Davis is also excited to show the rookie the ropes, writing to the PD’s Tom Reed:
“[I’m] really looking forward to playing with, and mentoring, Kyrie. He’s so talented, creative, smart, has so much potential and could become a great cornerstone of the Cavaliers’ franchise for many years to come. I’ve been talking to him a lot this summer about NBA life, and in Cleveland, he’s going to learn so much from coach Scott, who will be a great mentor as well…Hopefully, I can help show him the ropes. It’s a big jump from the college to the pros, but he’s got the energy, work ethic and skill set to be very successful and contribute right away.”
Irving seems to have a good head on his shoulders and his approach to the summer, following doctor’s recommendations and avoiding the pro-am spotlight, have to be encouraging signs for the Cavaliers front office and fan base. Now, let’s just get that foot fully healed so we can get the complete package.
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That Mo Williams trade was ideal.