Iman Shumpert to Undergo Treament on Knee Injury, Out 5-7 Days

Cleveland Cavaliers guard Iman Shumpert will be out five to seven days while he deals with soreness in his right knee, the team announced Tuesday. 

Doctors evaluated Shumpert's right knee and found no structural damage, and the Cavs will have another update on his health in a week.

There are some durability questions with Shumpert after he suffered a foot injury during the preseason and played just 54 games in 2015-16 and 62 games in 2014-15.

He's averaging 6.0 points and 1.0 assists this season as part of Cleveland's backcourt rotation.

Shumpert averaged 7.5 points and 2.9 rebounds per game last season, which was his second full campaign with the Cavaliers. However, he saw his role decreased when he played just 16.2 minutes per game in the playoffs and 13.4 minutes per game in the NBA Finals loss to the Golden State Warriors after playing 25.5 minutes a night in the regular season.

He can serve as a formidable defender when healthy, as opponents shot 1.1 percent worse than their normal averages when he guarded them in 2016-17, per NBA.com.

Fortunately for Cleveland, it has a number of pieces in the backcourt who can shoulder more of the load when Shumpert is out. Between Dwyane Wade, Derrick Rose, JR Smith and Jose Calderon, there are plenty of options, and LeBron James often serves as a ball-handler who facilitates the offense.

Shumpert provides important depth, but he is not a necessity for the Cavaliers as they pursue their fourth straight NBA Finals appearance.