Cleveland Cavaliers
The Cavaliers removed forward De’Andre Hunter from the starting five against the Chicago Bulls on Wednesday, inserting rookie Jaylon Tyson in his place. In the 11 minutes that new group shared the floor, Chicago outscored Cleveland by eight points. Despite the rocky debut, league sources told Cleveland.com the team intends to keep Hunter in a sixth-man role for the time being. The organization believes the move could steady a second unit that has struggled with consistency and allows Hunter to reprise the role in which he excelled last season.
Indiana Pacers
Pacers guard Bennedict Mathurin acknowledged this week that the toe injury that sidelined him for 11 games earlier in the season still lingers. “It’s still an issue. I can still feel it,” Mathurin said, according to Circle City Spin. The second-year wing has not missed a game since returning on Nov. 17 but noted the discomfort has yet to disappear.
Chicago Bulls
Columnist Joe Cowley of the Chicago Sun-Times wrote that Chicago should shift its focus from chasing a play-in berth to accelerating the development of second-year forward Matas Buzelis. Cowley suggested a possible roster reset in which only Buzelis and guard Josh Giddey remain core pieces next season, arguing that maximizing Buzelis’ minutes now is more valuable than marginal wins in the short term.
Source: Hoops Wire
