The NBA Finals have officially reached a fever pitch. The series is all knotted up at one game a piece and the storylines are beyond numerous. The one that has captrued the hearts of the nation is the Cleveland Cavaliers loss of Kyrie Irving due to a broken knee cap. The nation and basketball community has felt nothing but sympathy for Irving and his Cavs who seemed to be all but hopeless coming into game 2.
Now as the Cavaliers reserve point guard Matthew Dellavedova has stepped up and performed above expectations, the team now seemingly has a defensive answer for Stephen Curry and a solid option in a backup point guard going forward. It appears though that one time, the team might not have been sold on Delly and they did look at other options before the trade deadline.
Following from Mark Berman of the New York Post.
According to a source, the Cavaliers made a big pitch at the trade deadline for Knicks point guard Pablo Prigioni. The Knicks instead dealt Prigioni to Houston with a trade exception for a package that included Alexey Shved and two second-rounders. Prigioni helped Houston in the wake of Patrick Beverly’s injury and could have come in handy for the Cavaliers after the loss of Kyrie Irving.
While Prigioni isn’t going to burn the stat sheet or slow anyone down defensively, he’s another option to handle the ball and shoot when called upon. While Dellavedova did manage to defend Stephen Curry well, his offense wasn’t exactly anything too promising. He shot 3-10 on the night including 1-6 from 3 in game 2.
Prigioni going to this team might have changed a few things for the Cavs in the playoffs, especially when Irving when down with an injury in the Eastern Conference Finals. It would’ve been interesting to see four former Knicks on one team though and a backcourt of Prigioni and J.R. Smith might have brought back some nightmares for Knicks fans. Prigioni might have been able to score more but Delly’s defense and hustle have been the difference when he plays, not how many points he scores.
