Delonte West was the most efficient player during the Cavaliers playoff run last year. He shot very well from the field, and played solid defense.
His ability to play an defend the point guard and shooting guard positions was very valuable to the Cavs. Now that he is missing time due to a personal reason, the Cavs’ offense is struggling.
Cleveland’s biggest weakness last year is again a sever weakness; their bench. After Orlando’s Mikael Pietrus outscored the entire Cavs bench last year in the eastern conference finals, questions about the quality of the bench arose.
After no significant improvements were made during the offseason to upgrade the bench, the Cavs find themselves inserting a bench player into the starting lineup to make up for West. Now, the Cavs have to take one of their best bench scorers off the bench, and into the starting lineup.
West now needs to get back quick, before the Cavs’ starters have to play too many minutes. LeBron James has to play too many minutes now for the Cavs to be successful, an that will tire him.