Can Evan Mobley’s Rise PROPEL Cavs to Glory? | Should the Cleveland Cavaliers RUN IT BACK?
On today’s show, what are fair expectations for Evan Mobley on the offensive end of the floor next year? Plus, who could be in the rotation next year that wasn’t this year? We’ll talk about all that and so much more on today’s edition of Locked on Cavs. You are Locked On Cavs, your daily Cleveland Cavaliers podcast, part of the Locked Onet. Your team every day. What’s up everybody? My name is Danny Cunningham. You might know me from my time covering the Cleveland Cavaliers, places like my Substack, The Inside Shot, Cleveland Magazine, 923 The Fan, and a number of other stops along the way. I want to say thank you to you for making Locked on Cavs your first listen today and every day you can find the show anywhere you get your podcasts, Apple, Spotify, anywhere else. Drop us a fivestar rating. Leave us a nice review. Be a friend. Tell a friend about Locked on Cavs. Make sure you’re subscribed. Make sure a friend is subscribed as well. And if you’re watching this show on YouTube, do me a favor. Hit that thumbs up button for me. Click subscribe and hit that notification bell so you don’t miss the latest locked on Cavs content. A proud part of the Lockdown Podcast Network. Your team every day. Today’s episode, of course, brought to you by FanDuel. Right now, new FanDuel customers can get $200 in bonus bets, win your first $5 bet wins. That’s $200 in bonus bets win that first $5 bet wins. On yesterday’s show, we talked about a lot of the change that could happen with the Cleveland Cavaliers in terms of trade. Could they trade for Giannis? I don’t know. I doubt it, but maybe. You never know with these things. So, if you want to go check that out, that is yesterday’s show. But today’s show, we’re going to focus on how the Cavs can get better internally without having to move pieces and parts if they do choose to run it back, which I’ve gone on record. Don’t think should be the play, but if they choose to do so, where could they get that internal development? This is part two of a three-part mailbag at the end of this week. So, we’re going to get started right away with a question from expensive_ext_2912. believe this is coming from Reddit asks, “How likely do you think it is that Evan Mobley becomes our second option on offense by next year? And how important is that?” I think this is if the Cavs stand Pat, I think that this is even if they don’t stand Pat, actually, if they make changes to the roster, maybe Jared Allen is gone or maybe some other things happen. I don’t know. I think that this is the most important thing for the Cavs this off seasonason is the growth and development of Evan Mobley. Kobe Alman talked about this a lot I thought at his end of season availability earlier this week. Um he talked about there being a lot on Evan Mobley shoulders and that you know the the leap that he made from last season to the season that just finished was a big one, right? like he went from somebody that had never been an all-star um and I think a lot of this is more offensively like he’s I think still getting better defensively but his floor on that end is so high that any improvements you see it’s like okay so he went from what the fifth best defender in the world to the third best defender in the world and one defensive player of the year like the the growth is not going to be as noticeable on that end because he’s just been so good the entire time he’s been in the NBA where and I I think that that is less quantifiable if you will like there are not we don’t I don’t think at least this is my opinion I don’t think that we have great defensive metrics to tell you how impactful somebody is on that end of the floor. I think so much of that is circumstantial where there are so many stats that you can look at and say yeah this guy’s good offensively because he scores a lot of points or he gets a lot of assists. Um, I think that Evans growth offensively going from what he was this year, which I think was a very good offensive player, and as I mentioned, he went from somebody that had never made an all-star team in his first three years, to being an all-star. And if it’s not out already, I don’t know when it’s coming out. Um, I’m recording this on Tuesday morning, so it could be out by the time you’re listening to this, but I think that it he will be a second team allNBA guy. I would expect that to be the case. um he’s earned that. That’s the type of leap that he’s made this year. And it does seem as if the Cavs are expecting him next year to take a leap about the same size. Going from good to great is hard. And I think that’s what Evan did this year. going from great to elite I think is even more difficult. Um I think that you can see some of these things in the regular season. Are we maybe not 12 months from now but um let’s say 11 months from now. So let’s put this at the end of April or the middle of April, the end of the regular season next year. Are we having the conversation about Evan Mobley fighting for a spot on the AllNBA first team? I think the way Kobe Alman talked about him, I think that should be the expectation for Evan from year four to year five is not typically a time that I necessarily associate with a guy taking a leap. Like I think kind of by year four, you’re not you’re not who you are always going to be. You still have room for improvement, but you sort of know what the outcome is going to be. And I do think that Evan is going to be a first team all NBA player at some point. I don’t know if it’s next year. I don’t know if it’s two years, three years from now, but I think at some point he will have a season where we can look at him and say that guy was one of the five best players in the NBA this year. If it’s next year, I think that means more than to this question just becoming the second option on offense. I think that Evan Mobley should be at least second in touches offensively. I think he should be second in field goal attempts offensively. He should be touches is an interesting thing just because like Darius Garland’s going to bring the ball up so much and that counts. So Darius should probably lead the team in touches. Evan I think should have more touches than Donovan Mitchell next year. That doesn’t mean he’s going to score more. I don’t think that means he’s going to take more shots and I don’t think he should. But I think the offense should run through Evan Mobley more frequently next year than it did this past year. I think he should be second on this team in scoring. I think he should be second on this team in field goal attempts. And I think that one of the things Kobe Alman brought up was Evan can’t have 13 field goal attempts in a playoff game. Like it’s got to be a higher number. And I wholeheartedly agree with that. I think that his numbers need to and maybe part of this is playing more minutes. Like if you look at his just raw accounting stats, they don’t necessarily look like he took a gigantic leap from earlier in his career, last year in his career to what he was this year. And part of that is because he played fewer minutes. I I mean, he played 38 and a half minutes last year, only played in 50 games, played 30 and a half minutes this year. And yes, his numbers went up, but his per 36 numbers this year, I thought were so much better than what they had been at any other point in his career. like he averaged 22 points per 36 minutes. Can that be 25 points per 36 minutes next year? Maybe he plays 33 minutes. I do think playing him a few more minutes a game. I don’t think that the Cavs should go from what they were this year to like the Tom Tibido Knicks is something that they should do. But can Evan go from 15 fuel attempts per 36 minutes this year, which was a careerhigh by over two, to 17 next year? Can he go from shooting 3.8 threes per 36 minutes to shooting five and a half threes per 36 minutes? Can he stay at the same efficiency level where shot 55% from the floor, 37% from three? Can he do that on a higher volume? I think those are the questions we should be asking of Evan. I think those are the things that we should be expecting of Evan is probably a better way to put it. But I do think that him taking that leap is one of the biggest things. And we’ve spent a lot of time in the last week since the Cavs were eliminated, talking about mental toughness, talking about where they need to improve and stuff like that, trades they could make. I did a whole episode yesterday on that. All of that stuff is fine and well, but ultimately, and this is kind of the drum I’ve been beating for the last couple of years, ultimately for the Cavs to get to where they want to go to, Evan Mobley needs to be a superstar. The Donovan Mitchell trade was a bet on Evan doing that. Donovan Mitchell signing an extension in Cleveland was so the the trade was the Cavs betting on Evan doing that. Donovan signing the extension here was Donovan betting on that happening. Um, I think that for the Cavs to be a championship team, for a team that wins the Larry O’Brien Trophy 13 months from right now, Evan Mobley probably has to be at worst the second option offensively, maybe the first. Um, but I think he there has to be a conversation that’s had. And I’m not saying it needs to be a cut and dry thing, but I do think that there needs to be healthy debate on forums like this one, places like Twitter, or at least what’s left of it, the Cavs subreddit, the YouTube comments on a locked on Cavs video 12 months or 13 months from right now. Who actually was the best player for the Cavs this year? Was it Donovan Mitchell or was it Evan Mobley? I think if we are asking that question, if we are having that discussion 13 months from right now, we are talking about the Cavs maybe winning the title, at least being in the finals. Now, I think Donovan Mitchell is still getting better, too. That is part of this. I don’t think that he has reached his peak as a basketball player yet. And if you listen to this show, you know that I think the world of Donovan as a basketball player, I think he’s been one of the 10 best players in the NBA since the Cavs acquired him. But can Evan kind of blur that line? Because if the Cavs are in a spot where they have two guys you look at and say, “Yeah, that’s the Cavs best player.” And you can have an argument about it. And these are not like bad faith arguments. There’s not It’s not like one’s bad, one is good. It’s a very much a gray area argument, but if you’re doing that, if you’re talking about, well, Evan was actually better than Donovan this year while Donovan still being really good, that’s the best thing that can happen for the Cavs. So, I think that Evan being the second option offensively is kind of the bare minimum. I think you can make the case that he was that this regular season. He was not in the postseason, which is a bigger issue. And that’s where we really do need to see it next year is in the playoffs. But I think if you’re having those conversations about which player was actually better, Donovan or Evan, the Cavs are going to be in a really, really great spot because the number one takeaway, and I had a lot of takeaways, you can go listen to the the locked on Cavs episode I talked about coming off of Kobe Alman’s availability. You can go sign up for my Substack and read me breaking down what I thought Kobe Alman meant by some of his answers at his end of season availability. But I think the number one takeaway that everybody should have after listening to Kobe Alman, regardless of what you thought of his press conference, should be the Cavs are continuing to double down on their bet on Evan Mobley. So I think to this question, it’s very likely that Evan becomes the second option offensively. And I actually would go so far as to say it’s more likely that Evan is the first option offensively next year than he is the third option offensively next year. Not saying he’s going to be the first, but I think there’s a better chance that happens than he’s the third option. That’s where I think things are at with Evan. Um that’s just kind of where I think things should be going. That’s the bet the Cavs are making. That is the bet the Cavs should be making because he is the guy on this roster that without question has the highest upside moving forward. They’re going to bet on him. They should bet on him. If he hits, they’re going to be a team that can win a championship as soon as next year. Now, we’ve talked a lot about Evan. I do want to talk a little bit about Darius Garland. Evan Mobley very clear if you listen, you you know I feel he’s got another leap in him. Does Darius Garland? We’ll discuss that next right here on Locked on Caps. Today’s show brought to you by FanDuel. The NBA playoffs in full swing. Every night delivers highlight worthy performances, major momentum shifts, and of course, can’t miss moments. 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Imagine the excitement for $200 in bonus bets coming your way. Be awesome, right? And if you’re new to FanDuel, it’s the perfect time to sign up. Like I said, head to fandle.com. That is fuel.com. Place your first $5 bet. If it wins, you get $200 in bonus bets. Make every moment more with FanDuel, the official sports betting partner of the NBA. Thank you again for making Lock on Cabs your first listen today and every day. Like I said earlier, you can find the show anywhere you get your podcast, Apple, Spotify, anywhere else. Drop us a fivestar rating. Leave us a nice review. Be a friend. Tell a friend about Locked on Cavs. Make sure you’re subscribed. Make sure a friend is subscribed as well. Talked a lot about the leap Evan Moley should be making or the Cavs are expecting him to be making. Player we don’t necessarily often think about as still having a leap in him, Darius Garland. And this question was asked on Reddit by Remy Boys 1995. Do you think Darius Garland has peaked as a player? Does he have another leap in him? I don’t think he’s peaked. I don’t. Um, and I admittedly have a lot of stock in Darius Garland. I think the world of him as a basketball player. I came on this podcast. Um, this is before I was hosting this podcast. Came on an episode with Chris Manning. This was before the Cavs traded for Donathan Mitchell. So, this would have been um after they lost in the play into the Atlanta Hawks. I think it was around like the week of the playoffs starting that year. So, that would have been what 2022. Um, and I came on this podcast and I said Darius Garland is going to be an AllNBA player. And I did that without knowing they were going to add Donovan Mitchell. Like, I was expecting the core of the Cavs was just going to be Darius and Evan and Jared Allen. That has obviously changed a little bit of the calculus because Darius does not shoulder as much of the load because Donovan Mitchell is here and Donovan Mitchell is better than him. But I still think Darius is a very good player and I think that Darius this year was having a fantastic season before the injury started for him. If you go back and look at his numbers before he had that I know it was characterized as a hip injury against the New York Knicks that happened I want to say that happened like February 22nd. I’m going to pull it up right now just so I have it for sure. But he started missing time after that and he was not ever the same player once that happened. you know, we had discussions about, well, what why why can’t him and Donovan um have good games on the same nights and and stuff like that. So, before that injury happened, Darius had played in 54 games. He was scoring 21.3 points per game on 49.3% from the floor, 42.5% from three-point range, 54.9% from two-point range, which for somebody his size, very good. Getting to the line 3.6 times per game, averaging 6.7 assists and two and a half turnovers. He was having in my opinion the best season of his career and then the injuries started to happen. He was not the same player afterwards. So he missed two games with that injury and then missed a few more down the stretch but for the most part played through injuries this year. After that game he went from 21 points a game to 18 points a game. went from 43% we’ll round up from three-point shooting to 34% from beyond the arc. Went from shooting just under 50% as a whole to shooting just under 42% as a whole. The assists were still there, turnover stayed about the same, but he was not the same offensive player after the after the injury started to set in. Like that is what I look at and say, man, his season really changed. So, how much do I view that as bad luck? How much do I view that like do I think that there are some durability concerns with Darius Garland? I think it’s fair to think that. But I also think that if this guy’s healthy, he is, in my opinion, an allNBA caliber player. I think the Cavs on their roster right now have three guys that are all NBA caliber players. I think Donovan obviously, Evan, obviously, and I still believe what I said on this podcast three years ago at this point, Darius Garland is somebody that is capable of making an allNBA team. And I think had he not gotten hurt this year and played through it the way that he did, and credit to him because he did play through stuff all year long, well, the second half of the year, first half he was fine, um, and into the playoffs. I don’t think that we should be judging Darius Garland as a basketball player based on a postseason in which he was playing on one foot. I don’t I know that it’s the easy thing to do to say, well, Darius Garland’s not good enough. You know, he was terrible in that series against India. He wasn’t good. I’m not going to sit here and say that. But I also think that the injuries matter in this conversation. And I think and you know maybe I’ll talk about this a little bit on tomorrow’s edition of lockdown cavs probably will but we have gotten to the point where so much of the conversation after the loss against the Pacers was the injuries cannot be an excuse for the Cavs and they can’t be and the Cavs have not made them an excuse but I think it has shifted so far from the injuries can’t be an excuse to now we’re at the point in the injuries don’t matter like we don’t talk about them and that’s not fair either. Um, and I think that that’s kind of where we’re at with Darius. Like, I do not think that he has peaked as a player. Kobe Alman said on Monday. I’m not betting against 25y old Darius Garland. Typically, players of his caliber in the NBA don’t reach their peak until they’re like 28 to 30 years old. And Darius has not reached his peak. I still think he’s getting better. I still think he’s maturing as a basketball player. Think of what he was when he entered the league to what he is now. He is significantly better. I don’t think he’s just done getting better. I think he’s going to continue to get better. I think he’s going to continue to be a really, really good basketball player. I’m not saying that he is a lock to make an AllNBA team next year. And he has to prove he can stay healthy. And he did that for the regular season and then bad luck hit in the postseason. And that’s brutal. Like that’s not a great thing. It it it stinks. There’s no nice way to say it. But I would bet on Darius Garland. I said on this podcast when I started nearly a year ago at this point, we’re almost at the one-year mark of me doing lockown cows. One of the first things as I was like introducing myself and just getting all my baseline takes out there, one of the things, one of the first takes I had was Darius, I am buying stock in Darius Garland. Darius Garland is going to have a bounceback year. I am still buying stock in Darius Garland. I don’t think he needs to have a bounceback year anymore. I think he had a really good year, but I don’t think he’s done getting better. I think that Darius Garland, maybe a leap is a bit much, but I think there’s another jump that he can take. I still think he’s getting better, and I think that along with the Evan Moy stuff I talked about in the first segment is a really good thing for the Cavs. Now, the rotation for the Cavs, I think should be different. Is there anyone internally that could be in it next year that wasn’t this year? Yeah, we’re going to talk about that next right here on Locked on Cavs. Thank you again for making Locked on Cavs your first listen today and every day. Like I said earlier, you can find the show anywhere you get your podcasts. You’re watching on YouTube. Do me a favor. Hit that thumbs up button for me. Click subscribe. Hit that notification bell so you don’t miss the latest lock on Cavs content. The Cavs, I think, should look at least a little bit different rotationally. I have talked about Jared Allen potentially being somebody who could get traded. We’ve not talked about well what could the replacements be and I think there are a number of different spots where the Cavs could and maybe should look different. Like should Dean Wade be back? I don’t know. I think Dean’s a good player but I just don’t know that he’s ever going to get to the point where he shoots enough offensively for him to the idea of Dean I think is a little bit better than what Dean has been in actuality. So, Cavs Arsenal on Twitter asks, “Thoughts on the rotation next season? Possibly implementing Jaylen Tyson more, giving starters more minutes. I do think playing the starters marginally more minutes would be a good idea. They don’t need to play 35, 36 minutes a night, but should they play 33 minutes a night?” I think that’s a fair place to be, and that is something that I would start with. Um, I think we’re going to learn a lot about Jaylen Tyson this summer. Um, I would expect him to play summer league. I’ve not confirmed that. I’ve heard rumblings of it of it, but I would be surprised if Jaylen Tyson is not playing summer league for the Cleveland Cavaliers. I think that he should play summer league. I think Craig Porter Jr., who I’ve not heard one way or the other, I’ve not asked about that either to be fair. I think he should play summer league, too. And so often when guys are back for their second or third year in Vegas on the summer league roster, you want to see certain things. And I think it’s a big deal for Jaylen Tyson specifically to go out there and look like he doesn’t belong. Jaylen should be able to play in the summer league as a guy who has a full year of NBA experience. And I understand he was not in the rotation, but has a full year of NBA experience under his belt and he should be able to go there, play in three summer league games, and the Cavs should say, “You’re too good for this. You You look out of place playing in summer league because you know how the game works because you’ve improved that much from where you were a year ago.” And if that happens, I think you should feel really, really good about him being a rotational piece next year. If Craig Porter Jr. plays in summer league next year and does the same thing and the Cavs can’t retain Ty Drrome, and at that point, I think we’ll have a better sense of where Ty Drum is. Maybe he will have resigned with the Cavs. Maybe he will have signed with somebody else. I mean, summer league starts July 10th, so we should have an answer on that by that point. But does Craig Porter Jr. stand out in summer league if he plays so much so that he looks out of place? I think you feel good about those two being rotation members on a regular basis. Not saying that either of them are going to play 30 minutes a night, but can Jaylen Tyson play 15 minutes a game next year and impact winning? That has to be the hope for the Cavs. I don’t know where he’s at. We haven’t seen enough of him to know. I mean, he looked good when he played G-League games, and I think that’s probably a good sign. You don’t want him looking bad out there, but if and when he plays summer league, which again, I expect him to, does he stand out to the point it’s like, oh, this guy does not belong here? Like, this guy should be sitting in street clothes on the sideline watching a couple of second round picks play for the Cavs as opposed to going out there and dominating. And of course, summer league is going to be a different role for him. He’s gonna have the basketball on his hands more frequently than he can with the Cavs. But I think that would kind of be the the the sign you should look for this summer as to whether or not he’s going to be a meaningful contributor would is basically going to be how much does he stand out in summer league if and when he plays. Um, last one on today’s episode, this comes from ELB joint 2016 on Reddit. Jiren Allen worth keeping for his regular season production for another year, even if the lights are too bright in the playoffs against certain matchups? I don’t think so. I don’t. Um, and again, as I’ve mentioned all throughout this week, Jared Allen is a very good player. He’s a very high level role player. I do not think what the Cavs are going to do, and they have come out and said this themselves, I do not think what the Cavs are going to do in the postseason is going to matter next year. don’t or in the regular season, excuse me. Donovan Mitchell said, “We could go 82 and0 and nobody would care.” Now, that’s a little bit of hyperbole. I mentioned this on the Ultimate Cleveland Sports Show last week when I was on like if the Cavs go 82 and0, it’s going to be a really big deal. But if the Cavs win 60 games again next year for the fourth time in franchise history and look exactly like they did during the regular season this year, nobody’s going to care. There is a number in which people would care about the Cavs regular season next year and it it probably starts with the seven. Like if they win 70 games, people are going to care and they should care and it would be a really big deal and it should be. I don’t expect them to win 70 games next year. I think they’ll probably be around 60. I will be very curious when FanDuel drops its team total victories for next year what the Cavs are set at. I would imagine they’re set in the 60s, but it’s not going to matter. they’re going to be judged on the postseason. So, because of that, I don’t think that it’s worth keeping somebody around strictly for regular season stuff. I don’t um now if they believe Jared Allen can take a step in the postseason, then it’s worth keeping them around. But I think keeping somebody around just for the regular season, for the production they provide over 82 games, it’s kind of missing the plot because they can talk all they want about the postseason mattering, but it does have to be sort of an actions over words thing. And I want to make it very clear, I am not trying to run Jared Allen out of town. I’m not saying Jared Allen should be traded for nothing. I’m saying the Cavs should listen and they should not bring Jared Allen back if there is an offer out there that makes the team better, but he has to be part of it. I’m not saying trade him for a bag of peanuts. That’s not what this should be. That’s not what this is. And I really hope it comes across as that. But I also don’t think if there’s a deal out there that he is involved in that makes the Cavs better, I don’t think part of the equation should be, well, over 82 games, Jared Allen’s pretty good. I don’t I think everything the Cavs do from now until whatever day the regular season is going to end on next year, and I’m going to pull up my calendar so I can give you an estimation. I do not think that I think that everything the Cavs do between now and next April 12th, which is when I would imagine the regular season ends next year, every single thing they do, should be done with the question in mind of how does this make us better for the postseason. Everything they do, everything they do in the summer, everything they do in training camp, everything they do in the preseason, everything they do in the regular season, everything they do at the trade deadline, everything they do leading up to the postseason, everything they do in the week before the postseason begins. Every single thing the Cavs do should be done with the question in mind of how does this help us reach 16 postseason wins because they’ve come out and said that’s the only thing that matters and they’re not wrong about that. Thank you again for making Lockdown Cavs your first listen today and every day. Like I said earlier, you can find this show anywhere you get your podcast, Apple, Spotify, anywhere else. Drop us a fivestar rating. Leave us a nice review. Be a friend. Tell a friend about Locked on Calves. Make sure you’re subscribed. Make sure a friend is subscribed as well. And if you’re watching on YouTube as we get out of here, do me a favor. Hit that thumbs up button for me. Click subscribe. Hit that notification bell so you don’t miss the latest locked on Cavs content. I’ll be back tomorrow with more questions about the Cleveland Cavaliers.
On this episode of Locked On Cavs, Danny Cunningham (The Inside Shot, 92.3 The Fan, Cleveland Magazine) explores the Cleveland Cavaliers’ potential for internal growth next season. He discusses expectations for Evan Mobley’s offensive development, emphasizing his need to become a key scoring option alongside Donovan Mitchell. Cunningham also examines Darius Garland’s potential for further improvement, highlighting his strong performance before injuries impacted his season. The episode considers possible changes to the Cavaliers’ rotation, including increased roles for players like Jaylon Tyson and Craig Porter Jr., and the strategic decisions surrounding Jarrett Allen. The conversation aims to provide insights for Cavaliers fans on how the team might enhance its postseason prospects without significant roster changes.
Check out Danny’s Substack, The Inside Shot: https://theinsideshot.substack.com/
Email the show: LOCavsmailbag@gmail.com
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13 Comments
Koby Altman is making so many excuses.
If you're serious about trying to win a championship you can't leave things to CHANCE. There is a CHANCE Evan Mobley becomes a superstar, but it's not guaranteed. Major changes must be made if we are serious about competing for championships. You have to be ALL IN now! Altman clearly wants to run it back and lose in the 2nd round again.
There are plenty of trade options. Second apron teams can trade multiple players as long as they are under the second apron POST-TRADE. Stop the excuses!
Darius Garland is 25, he is who he is as a player. He's one of the worst defensive players in the NBA and in the playoffs he is inefficient on offense. Jarrett Allen is soft and always gets outplayed in the playoffs. Koby Altman likes soft undersized players who are nice guys.
Koby Altman keeps using the excuse that Darius Garland is 25 years old and Evan Mobley is 23, like we didn't watch the 2016 NBA Finals where a 24 year old Kyrie Irving averaged 27 points per game against the 73-9 defending champion Golden State Warriors. Tristan Thompson was 25 years old…
And he keeps making the we had injuries excuse…
Garland is one of the worst defensive players in the NBA and that won't ever change. Jarrett Allen won't stop being soft.
Koby is doing this because he wants to run it back and the only way to justify running it back with the same roster is by making up excuses. Our team is full of undersized players who are nice guys, and it's clearly NOT working.
Cleveland fans be ready for another 2nd round playoff exit.
Koby Altman says he loves our core roster.
I think what he is really saying is that he loves having good regular season teams and it's fine if the Cavs have early playoff exits every year.
LeBron showed this organization the blueprint to winning a championship and our front office refuses to put together a roster that can actually compete for a championship.
It's pathetic he's trying to keep this core group together. We lost in 5 to New York in 2023. Lost in 5 to Boston in 2024. Lost in 5 to the Pacers, got embarrassed in 2025.
This core group doesn't have what it takes to make a deep playoff run. 11 combined playoff wins in 3 years. You seriously think they will win 16 playoff games in 1 year?
Major changes need to be made, but it looks like it won't be happening. This is pathetic!
sending out Mobley, Hunter, Okoro, Tyson for Giannis brings them below BOTH aprons.
They could bring back Wade, resign Merrill + possibly Jerome
Garland-Mitchell-Strus-Giannis-Allen
CPJ-Jerome-Merrill-Wade-TT
use vet mininum for a Backup SF and Backup Center.
trade Allen and Garland, bring in Jaren Jackson Jr. and McCollum or something like that.
McCollum-Mitchell-Strus-Giannis-JJJ
or trade Allen, Garland, Hunter, Okoro and 1st round pick+swaps for Giannis. Hunter or Okoro to a third team.
Giannis or not, regardless, there's so many options we have to make major changes and get a completely better roster. Garland & Allen & Okoro should not be on the roster next year!
Thanks for staying strong and keep going Danny. Im still so sad about way Cavs went out
“Is Evan Mobley a future MVP??”
No less than 24 hours ago “we should trade Mobley for giannis.”
Looks like Danny finally read the CBA
That’s what I’ve been saying all year: if the Cavaliers lose a game, they should not use injuries as an excuse. That’s why I said that the Cavaliers kept using injuries as a reason why they lost many games they had absolutely no business losing in the regular season, especially against play-in and non-playoff teams.
if DG does not get dedicated to lifting weights, you will be having this same discussion about whether he can stay healthy 6 years from now. 6 years from now, Darrius will be 31; he had injuries that derailed his college career, he got pushed around for 3 years now, and it still is not a priority to lift weights. So will it ever be?
Danny do me a favor an look at history of big men KG, Dirk , Tim ,the dream shaq all hall of famers all took they leap in year 5 joker was year 6 they are all the best in history
It seems that Indiana was in better shape than the Cavs. Maybe rhe Cavs players need more playing time and more conditioning. Maybe Atkinson should concentrate on giving playing time to six instead of ten players. What do you think Mr. Cunningham ?
Hey Danny..start Hunter…we need to get taller and longer 1 thru 3! Move Strus to the bench as an important rotational piece and elevate Tyson..as that strong ball handler/playmaker in the BACKCOURT!!!! Our version of Andrew Nembhard
Can you make a case the chemistry was better before the Hunter trade?
could have made a difference mentally?
Cavs seemed to freeze up on the offensive side. Missing a lot of good looks.
Could be overthinking?
Since you are talking about DG, do you think it would benefit him to put on 10 or 15 pounds prior to next year
I agree with you 1000% regarding Darius. His entire season shouldn't be judged on his injury laden post season this year. I think the people out there who are critical of his post season don't understand how an injury like what DG sustained can effect one's play. This is EXTREMELY painful and to not have your big toe while playing hoops effects nearly everything. It's so so painful – you can't push off on it let alone juke side to side or back and forth like what is usually done when he's uninjured. Then when he's shot up, he can't feel it or gage what his push of is going to be (not to mention the carbon fiber plate in his shoe throwing everything off even that much more) so his play is not what it is during the regular season. Then probably mid 3rd Q, the shot is wearing off . If this happened during the regular season this is an injury where he should be off of his foot 4-6 weeks.
Now – do i think we should have had 3 players sitting on the bench during the playoffs??! No way! I think Hunter and Evan should have been in there either taped up or braced up (but how much is that the coaches say vs. the players say?)
I stand firmly behind DGs abilities – the ENTIRE TEAMS abilities.
This might not be a popular opinion – but i think we sustained injuries at the worst possible time. If we were healthy we definitely go deep (if not all the way) this past post season.
I'm still going to enjoy the ride of the regular season for sure. How can you not??!!!!
Let's go boys!!!!! See you in October!!!
What $20 million player is Jared Allen worth? That's the question. Trading Allen is not smart!
Jaylon Tyson has never been apart of an NBA rotation. To think he's going to be ready for the NBA Playoffs next season would be INSANE. You need proven role players who have experience, not guys youre trying to develop!
Wow these fans and this franchise learned nothing from LeBron. You cant wait around for guys to develop, you have to be ALL IN now if you're trying to win a championship. If the Cavs are hoping Jaylon Tyson will be their role player savior then we've already lost in the second round next season. Dude you're talking about Tyson playing the G-League and summer league…. thats pathetic, we need guys who played in the NBA playoffs, not the GLeague 😂 ….
Oh well, we can run it back and lose in the 2nd round again since y'all not serious about competing for a title. You really think Bron wouldve ran it back if we lost in the playoffs in FIVE games 3 straight years without once making the conference finals? Cmon man…