Cleveland Cavaliers have had success all season long, including last night when they clinched a playoff spot. The Cavaliers became just the third team to clinch a spot in the postseason after the Atlanta Hawks and Golden State Warriors clinched earlier last week.
When you look at their team and the reasons for their success, you immediately look at the usual suspects like LeBron James, Kyrie Irving or even some of the newer acquisitions in Timofey Mozgov, J.R. Smith or Iman Shumpert. I guess you can also put Kevin Love in there as well.
There is one thing that you can’t deny though, the bench is important to any deep playoff run. With the Cavaliers bench being led by Tristan Thompson, Matthew Dellavedova, Iman Shumpert along with Mike Miller and Shawn Marion, when they are healthy.
There is one man that has been forgotten about though, not because of his lack of skill but because of the role he plays on the team. He’s primarily on the Cavs for his insane trade exception, and that man is, Brendan Haywood.
Following from Chris Haynes of Cleveland.com.
“I feel like I’m the secret weapon,” he said facetiously. “My mindset is that the coaching staff doesn’t want to let the other coaches in the league have film on me. So when the playoffs come along, they’re going to unveil the secret weapon and they’re not going to know what hit them. They’re never going to see it coming. Me included.”
That’s classic Haywood. He always has a knack for implementing humor into a difficult situation. Now behind Timofey Mozgov, Tristan Thompson and Kendrick Perkins in the center spot, he hasn’t played in almost a month. But you couldn’t tell by his demeanor. He’s typically upbeat.
Haywood is obviously joking and trying to see the lighter side of the situation he’s in. I mean he’s living the dream, sit on the bench of a winning team, make your money and go in whenever you get called upon. Haywood has a pretty good situation, if I say so myself. Plus, if he gets called to come in, he’ll be well rested from sitting on the bench all season.
