Can Donovan Mitchell be the Cleveland Cavaliers’ FULL-TIME PG next season?

Can Donovan Mitchell be the Cleveland Cavaliers’ FULL-TIME PG next season?

Good morning and welcome to another episode of the Ultimate Cavaliers Show, Cavs and Coffee with Jason Lloyd. I am Mikey McNuggets as always. And Jason, I said this a couple weeks ago, I’ll say it again. I cannot believe we’re sitting here at the end of May talking about the Cavaliers offseason plans and now having more than enough time to digest what went wrong. But here we are. It is silly season. There are fake trades galore going around. Most of them are not even cap compliant if we wanted to seriously consider them. But one of the big talking points, one of the things that it’s come up time after time after time is if the Cavs are going to split up the core four, do you move on from Jared Allen? Do you move on from Darius Garland? If you do, who can you get? But the unspoken part of those conversations is what we’re going to dive into today. If the Cavaliers are to move on from a Darius Garland, who plays point guard? Can it be Donovan Mitchell? If the Cavaliers move on from Jared Allen, who becomes the full-time center? Is it Evan Mobley? Is he ready for that? And those are the conversations we’re going to dive into today. But let’s start on the point guard front, Jason. In a world where Cleveland does move Darius Garland for whoever for the sake of this, let’s assume it’s not for another point guard coming in coming in return. Can Donovan be the Cavs full-time point guard for 82 games? Or is that asking too much from a guy at this point in his career? No. Okay. Well, a couple things that No, it’s not asking too much. I mean, he’s still in his 20s. It’s not like he’s 35, 36 years old. You’re asking to play new positions. So, so no, that that’s not unrealistic necessarily, but I think you have to look at within the uh context of what team he’s on and what their philosophies are because the Cavs have always sort of believed in the two creator type of offense. And it was Darius and Colin Ston for a while and then it obviously became Donovan and Darius. So, that’s where I think you start. It’s not can Donovan be the point guard. It’s well the Cavs belief and philosophy to this point and I don’t think it’s changing has been two is better than one. uh now it’s asking him to carry a different load because he’s also he they’re so dependent on him to be a scorer that I think it’s it’s hard for guys you know there’s not there’s a few obviously Steph Curry um but there’s not many guys who are point guards who you you want to rely on to initiate the offense run the offense keep everybody involved and oh by the way we need you to get 25 every night 28 every So that I don’t know is necessarily a fair ask to put on him just because of how this team is constructed and how they’re built. Obviously, you know, in these fake world scenarios, if you’re moving Darius out, you’re going to get some sort of score back in return. Uh but so I I would say it’s not completely unrealistic. I just don’t know that that’s necessarily uh the path. it, you know, it it sort of struck me at Kobe’s end of season where I think the question came up again about Donovan and Darius playing together and he said basically, we can put that to bed. They can. Yes, the answer is yes, they can. They’ve proven that they can move on. And and just the way that he had answered that uh kind of told me everything I needed to know. And I mean, listen, I’ve talked to people in the league who feel like they need to break up the back court. This isn’t just random fans saying break it up. There’s people working in NBA front offices who feel like they’re going to have to break this thing up. They disagree and they and I tend to actually agree with the Cavs on this one. I even last summer, even after everything that we wrote, I still felt like if you had to break one of them up, it was the front court. And I still think that I still think if you’re going to break one of these tandemss up, it’s the front court. So, can Donovan play point guard? 100% absolutely yes, he can. Does that put the Cavs in the best position to win? I mean, you got to see what you would get back in a Darius type move. I just don’t think it’s a realistic conversation because I don’t think they’re moving him. Yeah, I think your last sentence answered the question. Can he play point guard? Yeah, of course he can play point guard. There about three, maybe four, if you squint really hard, old school traditional point guards left in the NBA. Tyresese Hallebertton being the prime example of a guy who still plays with a true pass first mentality. But after that, you’re looking at guys like Chris Paul, who’s old enough to be my dad, and Mike Connley Jr., who I remember watching play in college when I was in diapers. And then who else? I say that because I was covering them in college. I mean, I’m being exact. I I was I was in high school. It was 0706. But like, how many of the traditional old school legit point guards are there? They’re very few and far between. These guys are almost all combo guards now. So, can Donovan play point guard? Yeah, Donovan can play point guard. Is that the best course of action for Cleveland? Not at all. A, we just watched a playoff series against Indiana where you took Darius off the court andor hobbled him enough to be far below his expected contributions. And did you see how hard the Cavaliers had to work to generate good looks? And did you see how hard Donovan had to work to create for himself and others? And did you see how hard it was for other guys on Cleveland to try and create good shots for themselves? Because guess what? They need multiple ball handlers and multiple craters on the court at the same time to get this free flowing motion offense that Kenny Atinson installed working at its top capacity. You saw Donovan’s usage rate go through the roof in the playoffs. Jason, I was looking up some of these numbers. I’m going to pull it up here for you. Donovan’s usage rate in the regular season was 30.9. That was seventh highest in the NBA. Giannis led the NBA in usage rate 34.6. Donovan’s playoff usage rate, this is including both series, so not just Indiana when guys were down, was 37.2, two and a half points higher than the league high during the regular season. That is unsustainable. And of course, you’d get something back for Darius in any kind of trade that would alleviate some of the playmaking and scoring off Donovan shoulders. But we just saw Donovan, who played the fewest minutes of his entire career, who they handled with, in my opinion, almost perfect care and caution leading up to the playoffs to keep him healthy, who not only played fewer minutes, but played fewer high leverage minutes than ever before. Jason, he was on cruise control in a lot of those games, in a lot of those minutes because the Cavs were up by 25 points in the third quarter. and he still saw his body break down on the biggest stage when his team needed it the most because of the incredible load that was put on him to not only create a good look for himself but no one else could. So he was creating everything. If you think Donovan at this stage of his career would be put in a situation to maximize what he does by not only creating for himself but creating for others every single possession he’s on the court. You better not complain if he breaks down late in the season. You better not complain if at some point his body just says, “This is too much. I can’t handle it.” Can he play point guard? Yeah, Donovan can play point guard. He played about half his minutes during the regular season at point guard alongside Ty Jerome. But I I think that is a terrible, terrible, terrible idea to try and reconfigure this Cavaliers roster and the future of this team by shifting Donovan to the one and filling in the two with somebody else. Donovan’s a score first, Jason, at the end of the day. And sometimes a Tiger can’t change his stripes. He can facilitate, but when you need a bucket, I want the ball in 45’s hands, not the other way around. Now, in an ideal world, if the Cavs had a 66 two guard who could give you 23 a night, hey, make Donovan the point guard. Sure. Yeah, you’re you’re right. But it but I where is that happening? Like what is the trade that’s or what’s the move that’s going to make that first of all, who’s that player? and then how do the Cavs get them? So, I just think you have to be a little bit realistic with where you’re at and where what your lot is in life. And this is the path that they committed to years ago. And now this is sort of what they’re committed to just because the the time to move off of this, I believe, unless I’m missing something, the time to move off of this was has gone already. That window’s closed. It was a couple years ago. And and and yeah, I’m not saying it’s un Darius isn’t tradable. That’s not what I’m saying. But you have to look at the packages that you’re going to get back. And in what trade is Darius going to get you a 662 guard that can shoot threes and average 23 24 a night? I I just I don’t see it. And defend. And defend. Yeah. And and guard. And And then you could say, well, maybe make another Well, now you’re really blowing this thing up. And I just think I I just think for where they’re at and the uncertainty of the East and what this is going to look like in a year from now, I I I tend to I tend to agree with Kobe on this one that their best path forward. I I I listen, I still think you have to try and see what Jarrett’s market is, but in terms of the back court, I I think that they’re sort of committed to this at this point. I I it’s hard for me to see them making a move off of this. Yeah, I’m not anti- making changes. Let me let me preface everything I’m saying with I I I if I’m Kobe, I’m being incredibly creative and exploring all the options. I heard Brian Winhorse talk about yesterday that when the draft comes up, a lot of the insiders around the league are expecting some chaos because teams are looking to get under that second apron luxury tax line. Teams are looking to make their push now because they know these windows are so short, Jason. And the Cavs, if you remember how they acquired Jared Allen in the first place, he was just a dump off in the Jared uh the James Harden deal, right? And that could be another situation where a player that no one thinks is available suddenly becomes available because he has to move for money purposes, but he doesn’t make sense on a new team. So then a third team gets involved and then and then we start working in these crazy hypotheticals that are impossible to predict beforehand. But I’m not anti-breaking it up. I’m more anti if you’re going to break it up, it has to make sense. And I just don’t think that there’s a return for a Darius package that lands you that perfect two guard to complement Donovan in the back court, a Derek Whiteesque. Like if you could get Derek White, then sure, Donovan and Derrick White can split point guard duties. But I don’t know how Darius is turning into a player like that with the size, the playmaking, the ball handling, the defensive prowess to then make Donovan feel comfortable moving over to the full-time one. I think the Cavs are going to mix it up. there are other avenues to mix it up to achieve the same result other than trying to force Donovan into a point guard role that he’s certainly capable of playing but doesn’t best fit his skill set. I want to go back I didn’t hear what Brian said. Um obviously I adore Brian. Um I I think the Cavs are comfortable being a second apron team next year. No, he wasn’t saying that. He wasn’t saying the Cavs were trying to duck the tax. He was talking about teams around the league. Okay. making moves to get under the he was not talking about the C. He was saying the Cavs could be buyers in a sense because of other teams. I’ll send you the I’ll send you the clip so you could hear exactly what he said. Okay. He basically said this has a chance to be a chaotic draft. Oh, not necessarily in terms of the picks, but because there are so many teams in different financial situations, there could be players flying around. and he and and Brian said, “If I’m Kobe, I’m very interested in seeing what guys become available during that chaos that maybe I didn’t think were on the radar of being moved, but all of a sudden that guy’ be a good fit. How can I get him and how can I be involved in some of these multi-team trades?” Yeah, I mean, okay. Yeah, I’ll buy that. And I do agree with the sense that I mean, listen, Giannis and Kevin Durant could both be traded this summer. And look how the lottery broke out. Look how the lottery fell with teams at the top. I mean, Dallas and San Antonio are teams poised to win right now. So, or San Antonio, certainly Dallas is trying to win right now. San Antonio, I think, is ready to try and press the button to go. So, those picks suddenly are in play. I think could very much be in play. Certainly the San Antonio pick. So, yeah, I do think it could be a chaotic summer. But when the Cavs traded for DeAndre, they cast their lot in life that they were going to be a second apron team. And this idea that and and maybe I don’t know, maybe I’m reading something that isn’t there, but it seems to be this narrative forming of will Dan pay the tax. Of course, Dan will pay the freaking tax at least for one year Dan will pay the tax. Like I mean I was told Dan lost lost $50 million near the year the championship in 2016. It cost him out of his own pocket $50 million to win that championship. So, he will pay the tax. It’s been a long time since the Cavs were a taxpaying team. Now, in terms of the season after this, the year three of the three-year window that I think they have, you know, let’s wait and see how this goes. But for one year, he 1,000% will pay the tax. That’s not a question. And even the Second Apron, that stuff with the Second Apron has more to do with roster building down the road than it does with the tax. They don’t really get whacked with repeat offender stuff until well into the future. So, this isn’t a problem for them for next year of being in the tax. Like, understand that anyone out there wondering whether or not Dan will pay the tax and I’ve said and written some mean things about Dan over the years, that guy will spend. So, that’s not an issue at all. Uh, but it’s I I I guess I tend to Yes, I hear what Brian’s saying now with a little bit more context. I get it. But again, because of the second AP restrictions, I don’t know what great move is out there for them to make, but it is going to be a compelling summer. Like the one thing the league, I think, was trying to get away from the the biggest the most exciting part of the NBA season being July. Like I think the league has been trying to move off of that and make the games important again because that’s part of the reason I believe ratings are down. uh because everyone’s so excited about where’s everybody going and that’s been the talk for 10 years, 15 years is who’s the next star to go and trying to c chart out the course of teams over the next two, three, four seasons. So the league sort of with all of this in the parody that you’re seeing was to get back to making the game the most important thing. But in this instance this summer when you’re talking about Kevin Durant and Giannis could both be on the move. Yeah, it’s going to be an explosive summer. Sham’s also said on the Pat McAfee show he is gearing up for what could be a wild wild summer because he doesn’t know how some of these owners and general managers are going to operate in this new waters new territory that is the second apron and the CBA that really hasn’t had the uh the binds on roster construction yet like it will this summer. Jason, we got the second part of this question coming up and it’s brought to us by Buckeye State Credit Union. If you haven’t heard of them, meet your new favorite financial partner. Buckeye State Credit Union is a local institution offering everything from checking accounts to home equity lines of credit and auto loans with some of the lowest rates in Northeast Ohio. Their Cleveland branches in Shaker Heights, which is one of five locations across the state, making it easy to find one near you. If you can’t get to a branch, no problem. They make banking simple through digital banking. What sets them apart? 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So, and I know early in his career they wanted to sort of protect him from those matchups, but I think we’re well past that point now. He’s Evan is established as a rising star in the NBA, obviously, defensive player of the year. You and I have both not hidden where we think his career could go. So I I think that I mean if you’re gonna ask me what’s easier, Evan at the five or Don at the point guard for how the team fits around them, I actually think it’s Evan at the five is easier because you can play five out style on the offensive end of the floor and you can really create space and driving lanes and open everything up. Uh you know, I I just I it just makes too much sense. So, and and I think that they would in that sense need to look at a league minimum veteran type of guy like try and go get a big body for those few matchups. And they listen, I don’t have a name off the top of my head, but they exist. You can go out and you can find a guy. I mean, even Tristan in the regular season, not that I mean, he’s going to be overmatched size-wise, but if you’re just trying to keep the pounding off of Evan, off off some of those bigger matchups, um, you know, you have guys you can put out there, because those are so few and far between now that you can’t really say, well, we’re not going to do this over a course of 82 games in a postseason series because of these three or four centers that still exist that wreak havoc when I mean, what of of these guys that we’re talking about, how many of them are even contending teams and would make problems in the playoffs. Mitchell Robinson in New York for sure. Uh, what’s that? Hartinstein on OKC. Hartinstein and OKC. Yeah. I mean, so there there are a couple of them. Certainly Hartinstein you would, that’s a team that you would expect to see in the finals. If you’re the Cavs, you’re projecting out to next year. Uh, Robinson could be a problem. Then with the Knicks, we’ll wait and see what Boston does. going back to the color the conversation that’s one team to have circled, highlighted, double bolded and asterised is what’s Boston going to do this summer. Uh so they those guys still exist, but there are ways to handle them. Uh I wouldn’t not move off of Jared or I wouldn’t be concerned because of that. That’s not the reason not to do it. Yeah, Evan, once again, can play center. I think it’s a lot easier, like significantly to the eenth degree easier to find a league vet minimum center who can play alongside Evan for 10, 15 minutes a game, whether it’s to start, whether it’s to close, whether it’s for a few minutes in the middle to spell him than it is to find a 662 guard to play alongside Donovan Mitchell who can shoot, score, and defend. Like, it’s just a significantly easier task to find that backup big to give you 15 minutes minutes than it is to find another all-star caliber two guard to pair with Donovan. So, yeah. Can Evan play the center? Yes. I think I’ve come around to the conclusion, Jason, that regardless of whether Jared Allen stays with the team or not, I want to close with Evan at the five next year. Like, I think your closing lineup, your best way to defend, to score, to compete in those clutch moments is with four shooters around Evan Mobley and get that spa like get that court as spaced out as possible. And you could run, run, run. And you’re watching Indiana now and it’s kind of the style they play with Miles Turner who by the way is an awesome defensive player, really good rim protector, an atrocious rebounder except when they play the Cavs except which which says a lot about Jared Allen and Evan Mobley and their rebounding prowess and toughness right now and that’s something they have to fix this summer. But Miles Turner is getting taken out of the game for Tony Bradley, who’s been on six NBA teams in six seasons. Had two consecutive DNPs for two straight seasons. He was not good. He was in the G-League. And now he’s playing legitimate playoff minutes because he’s just a bigger body that can be more physical against Mitchell Robinson than Miles Turner. And I like Miles Turner. Like he’s a very good player. I would take him on a team in a heartbeat. But he’s not a good rebounder unless he’s playing the Cavs. And what does that say about Cleveland’s too big? So different discussion, Jason, but I am all for closing next season. Your death lineup, your final five in those five minutes of the game, I think needs to be Evan and four shooters. So yeah, can Evan play the full-time five? If he doesn’t start there because you have someone else starting, sure. But when the game’s on the line in crunch time, barring a matchup against a Jokic or Embiid or somebody like that where you need just some you need a bigger ass note for lack of better words, some more, you know, power down low to stay in front of him. Evan’s got to be your five Jason. He has to be. And if that means surrounding him with Darius, Donovan, DeAndre, and Strus or some combination of that, you need more shooting. You need more spacing. You need more guys who can create off the dribble. And as good as Jared Allen has been in certain situations, when the Cavs needed buckets this postseason, they could not dump the ball into Jared and say, “Go make a play recipient. They need creators on the court.” And I am fully convinced that the Cavs best closing lineup moving forward involves Evan at the five and four shooters around. It’s probably what you just mentioned. DeAndre could play the four in that instance. I don’t love Max at the three, but I don’t know where else he fits. Maybe Tyson if he takes a big step forward. It could be. I was actually thinking him when we were talking about this when you first started talking four shooters. If Tyson, you know, I know they’re excited about what he can bring. They were excited to be able to hold on to him through the trade deadline and see what he can bring next year. He’s going to be a guy that, you know, as you talk about Second Aprons and navigating some of this stuff. He could be a guy that’s relied heavily upon here moving forward depending on who they lose, who who comes back. Uh, you know, if Ty Jerome’s not here, if they lose both Jerome and Sam Merrill, which I think is entirely possible. I don’t think that’s unrealistic at all that they lose both of those guys, uh, then, you know, that creates an opening for Jaylen Tyson to really sort of emerge. So, but overall, I agree with you. I I agree with the point. Um, I think Evan is at the is at his best. I think the Cavs are at their best with Evan at the five. I I think certainly there’s moments where Evan personally could thrive as the four still, but I think when you’re talking about team success, I think the Cavs are at their best with Evan at the five and four shooters around. It’s funny, real quick, this is going to lead us right into our last topic here, Jason. But the Knicks are in a bit of a conundrum right now. It’s the exact same conundrum the Minnesota Timber rolls were in last summer. When you have Carl Anthony Towns in your team, he is best offensively at the five and best defensively at the four. And when he’s at the five on defense, teams just completely isolate him, call him out and say, “We know you can’t stop us. Like, you may score 30, you’re going to give up 45. We’re going to win that battle every time.” So then Tibs benches him in the fourth quarter of game two. And then in game three, they need his offense. He scores 20 points in that comeback, but he’s playing alongside Mitchell Robinson. And when he’s playing alongside Mitchell Robinson, he gets relevated to the most expensive, most prolific 7 foot corner spot-up shooter in the history of the league. and you’re like, “What do you do?” Because we can’t play him as the only big, but we take away a lot of what he does and a lot of the value he brings when he’s with the four. So, so what do we do? And that’s the exact same conundrum Minnesota was in last year with him and Rudy Gobear. Yeah. So, when you look at the Jared Allen, Evan Mobley pairing, it’s not to that extreme because, you know, Allen’s not the offensive threat that Carl Anthony Towns is. And by the way, do you know his name is Carl Anthony Towns? Not Carl Anthony Towns. Yeah, that’s why the hyphens in Carl Anthony. Yeah, I literally learned that this week my whole life. And he’s from New Jersey. Like I I thought it was Carl space Anthony Towns was his last name. Not Carl Anthony and last name Town. But but besides that, I I thought Evan Moy was left-handed. So, we all have we Yeah, we all we all have some uh some slip ups here. But it’s it’s not to that degree of I don’t know what to do with these two. Like Evan and Jared are not at that level where it just some of the things don’t make sense together. But I just think in today’s day and age of the NBA, you want as many guys on the court at any given moment that can create their own look. And when the shot clock runs down and in the postseason series, when defenses are more scouted to what you want to do and they’re taking away your first and second looks, when there’s six, seven seconds on the shot clock, you got to go get a bucket. You got to go generate a good look. And I think the more guys on the court who can do that, the better chance you have of not going through these scoring droughts that we saw Cleveland go through in the postseason. So I I think moving forward, as much as I like Jared and is he’s a good player and he brings a lot to the table. I’m not sure in those final five minutes unless it’s for a certain matchup, he maximizes the potential of the team. So if that means putting Yemen at the full-time five and moving forward and so be it, Jason, and move on to the last topic because this is a fun one. Awesome. All right, our last topic is brought to us by FanDuel, guys. You know, FanDuel is an official partner of the Ultimate Cleveland Sports Show. They are the only sports book we use here and a new customers right now have a chance to score big on FanD with the NBA playoffs in full swing. There has never been a better time to have some fun, throw some money responsibly down on player props, lines, overunders, you name it, FanDuel’s got it. And if you haven’t signed up for FanDuel yet, if you go to fanduel.com/uss as a new customer and place a $5 bet and that $5 bet wins, well, you get $200 in bonus bets to continue betting with FanDuel. So make more of every moment by heading over to fanduel.comus. FanDuel, an official sports partner of the NBA and the ultimate Cleveland sports show. Okay, Jason, you were not on the show yesterday. And on yesterday’s show, I had asked the guys if what Indiana has been what they’ve been doing, and they were up 2-1. They’re up 3-1 now after beating the Knicks last night made you feel any differently about what happened to the Cavs in round two. It’s something Tyus had texted us over the weekend. I know you responded and I even referenced your text yesterday on the air, so I’ll let you kind of explain that. But Jason, I’ll ask you the same question. is what Indiana is doing. Currently up 3-1 on the Knicks, one win away from reaching the NBA Finals. Does their success against New York as well make you feel any better or even just slightly different about the Cavs loss to Indiana in five games in round two? It doesn’t make it feel any better. I I don’t think it changes at all. And the thing I told Ty like Tyus said, “Well, is it are the Cavs still?” I forget what he said exactly. Are the Cavs still soft or the Knicks soft too now or something like that. It’s like, listen, okay, first of all, both the head coach and the general manager came out and told you this team needs to get mentally tougher. They both said that. Their words, not mine. Former players who play were in that locker room, who played on that team destroyed these guys. Yep. For their lack of toughness. So, what are we talking about here? So, let’s start there. And then secondly, the thing I told Ty was like, listen, let’s put this in college football terms for for our guy Tai. If Ohio State lost to Boise State and then Boise State beat Penn State, does that make you feel? No. Because Ohio State’s supposed to be better than all of them and the Cavs are supposed to be better than all of them. So why does Indiana beating on a team that’s supposed to be inferior to the Cleveland? I know the Knicks won the series two years ago. I get that. But all year long, we all talked about in a matchup Cleveland would be favored, we would expect the Cavs to beat the Knicks in the series this year. Would they? I don’t know, man. But that’s what we thought all year long. So now, how suddenly can you turn around and say, “Oh, well, look, they’re doing it to the Knicks, too.” It doesn’t work that way. So, no, it doesn’t make me feel any better just because when you’re the one seed, when you are the the top dog, and I mean, I think obviously everyone would make an accommodation for Boston, be in that conversation as well. Boston’s in a different category. They’re coming off defending champions. I think everybody thought that they were the best team in the league. Um, even with what OKC did, even with what Cleveland did, it was still, you know, Boston is the is the boogeyman in the East, but not New York. New York’s not in that conversation. So, no, it doesn’t it doesn’t change anything how I look at this. When the head coach and the GM are telling you you have to get tougher, what are you really arguing about? Yeah, I’m with you. Listen, Indiana’s on a heater right now. They’re playing out of their mind. This is now back-to-back postseasons where they’ve somehow brought their game up another level from the regular season. That’s a testament to the guys on that team and to Rick Carile in particular for doing that. You know, Carile’s 10th all time now in playoff wins in NBA history. That surprises me and that doesn’t me all 83 playoff wins. That’s number 10 all time in the history of the NBA. They’re a great coach team. They play a unique style that clearly translates. We always talk about Jason how in the playoffs pace slows down, right? And teams slowed down, defenses tighten up. Indy’s doing the opposite. They’re running faster than ever. I heard Bill Simmons this morning with Steve Nash say that this is an even faster version of the 7 seconds or less Suns. This is the 6 seconds or less Pacers. And Steve Nash signed off on it. He said, “I can’t even blink now.” As soon as New York scores, Nehart’s at the rim before the camera even cuts back from the ISO. And it’s like, well, that’s not a good Oh, he made it, so maybe it is a good shot. They keep making it. So yeah, Indiana deserves a ton of credit. A ton of credit. They beat the crap out of the Bucks, which I call. They beat the crap out of the Cavs. They are beating the crap out of the Knicks right now. But it doesn’t make it any less disappointing for the Cleveland who won 64 regular season games. Jason, we mentioned that stat when Cleveland lost. You confirmed it with Statad. There have been 16 teams in the history of the league that won 64 regular season games and had an average margin of victory of nine points or better before this year. 13 of 14 of those teams reached the NBA finals. 12 of those teams won the NBA finals. OKC’s one win away from becoming the 14th team to reach the finals. And Cleveland, well, they lost in the second round. So, no, it doesn’t change the level of disappointment from Cleveland. Their weaknesses got exposed. And I actually went back, Jason, do you remember when Indiana played Cleveland the first time this season? And it was in Cleveland. Cleveland was wearing their light blue city connect alternate jerseys. They got pressed the whole game. Indiana won. We came in the next day and you were on the panel. We talked about did Indiana expose anything about Cleveland. We were like, “No, it’s a regular season game. Who really cares?” But they pressed. They were physical. If you’re going to beat Cleveland, that’s how you beat them. Well, guess what? I’m not sure if expose is the right word, Jason, but that was for sure the blueprint. Yeah. And that was in January. The Cavs had four months to figure out a way to change the script and the narrative on the blueprint to beat them. And they did not. They could not. And they Well, I was going to say did not again. I already said didn’t. I couldn’t think of a third word, but you get what I’m saying. Like the script was out on how to beat them. They have to figure out a way to change. And Indiana is just continuing to roll right now. And unfortunately for them, they’re going to face a team in the finals if things hold 3-1 3-1 that does everything they do but 10 times better. Yeah. And if this somehow finds a way to succeed against Oklahoma City, well then maybe the basketball god just had placed a large large wager on Indiana. And when there’s divine intervention, Jason, there’s nothing anyone can do to stop it. We’ll see. Yeah, I think it’s going to be I mean we said last year I remember saying last year when it was uh Boston Denver, right? Boston Denver match up last year. No, Boston beat the Who did Boston beat? The Luca Mavericks. Oh, that’s right. Denver won Denver won the year prior. Yeah, Boston Dallas finals. And no one was really excited about it, right? Like it was kind of a this is not going to be a very good finals. And the one thing I said was this is what you all wanted. This is what everybody wanted by breaking up the Super Bowl. This is what you get. And now even to the nth degree now of an indie OKC series that I think a lot of fans are going to go, “Oh, that’s not very exciting.” This is the world of parody. This is what you’re going to get year after year after year. But from a purely basketball standpoint, the way Indiana is playing right now, it’s gonna be a hell of a series. I’d pick to win it, but I it should be a good series. and the Emerson guys guaranteed to win a championship if that is how the uh how the final shakes out. I want to address one thing though because you were on the show yesterday Jason and during the show I got into it with G and and Bowl because they kept saying well the Knicks are better than the Cavs now they they’ve proven it that they’re better than the Cavs and in the moment sometimes it’s hard to articulate from where I’m sitting to out there where you can’t really see them and they’re spewing some nonsense and it’s just it’s it’s hard to go back and forth. So, I just want to lay out what I wish I could have said in the moment yesterday and I didn’t think of it and bad job out of me, but they both tried to argue that the Knicks are definitively better than Cleveland right now. Definitively better because of what they’re doing currently in the playoffs. Now, mind you, the Cavs lost four games to one to Indiana. The Knicks are down three games to one to Indiana. in the regular season. Cleveland beat the Knicks four times this season. So, they tried to go back and say, “Look at the last three years. Who have the Cavs beat in the playoffs?” I was like, “Well, it’s fair. They beat Orlando. They lost to the Knicks. They beat Miami. Then, they lost to the Pacers.” And they tried to say, “Well, look at the Knicks playoff record the last couple years.” I was like, “Yeah, please. Let’s look at the Knicks playoff record the last couple of years, guys. What happened after they beat the Cavs two years ago? They got smoked in the second round. They lost to the Pacers team in seven last year in the second round. And yeah, they beat Boston. They deserve credit. It’s a great great playoff win. They would have beat Boston with or without the Tatum injury, but they’re facing the same team the Cavs just lost to. And they are currently in the exact same situation. Yeah. Lost the first two games at home, one game three, lost game four as they were. Bull tried to say the Cavs don’t have a a good playoff series win in the last four years. Well, a when you go back four years before they got Donovan, you’re trying to include a play in that is the biggest moving the goalpost I’ve ever seen ball attempt. And then secondly, if you win a playoff series, does does it does it really matter how you win? Like we’re mad at the Cavs for not winning playoff series, but we’re also mad at the Cavs for winning ugly against Orlando last year. And we want to criticize the Cavs for having all this regular season success and having the ability to play Miami in the first round and blowing the absolute doors off Miami. It was the most lopsided series win in the history of the NBA, Jason. Yeah, but you want to give the Knicks credit because they beat Detroit in six, a Detroit team that bulls shhat all over the entire season for not being good and wanted to discredit all of JB Bicker Staff’s accomplishments. But no, the Knicks get credit for beating that team in like I’m just I’m I’m very curious as to what the real argument was there. And and I’m not saying the Cavs are definitively better than the Knicks. I think they would have beat the Knicks in a series. I also thought they beat the Pacers in the series and I was wrong on that. Yeah. But to make any sort of declarative statement that the Knicks are are better than the Cavs because somehow they made it one round further and are now losing to the team that Cleveland lost to in the exact same fashion is just beyond me. And and I just wanted to point out how many times the goalpost moved in that one one argument to where I’m not even quite sure what the point is. Some days I go some days I watch and I’m not on, some days I don’t. I did not see yesterday’s show. Uh, I’ll have to go back and watch. A couple of the segments I’ll have to go back and and and watch. Uh, no. Listen, we’ll never know who would have won a playoff series between the Cavs and the Knicks. I do believe if the Cavs were fully healthy, I think they beat both of those teams. I think they beat the Pacers. I think they beat the Knicks. The problem is in the NBA at this point in the year, it’s hard to be totally healthy and you have to learn how to play through that stuff and still perform at a high level. And that’s where this team is at. That’s where this Cavs team is at. Uh, but when they’re whole, when they’re healthy, when they’re firing on all cylinders, I think the Cavs are the only team in the East I thought that could really knock the Cavs off would be Boston. Obviously, injuries played a factor, played a role in it. Um, and listen, I’ve I’ve hammered on the Cavs as hard as anyone over that, so I’m not giving a pass for that. I’m just saying if they’re totally healthy, I I think that they beat both of those teams. Yeah, we’ll never know. And it’s a point it’s a it’s a pointless hypothetical argument that I can’t believe I got myself drugged into. But I hate G is prison G is the is the captain of prisoner of the moment and uh he’s he’s sucked Bol in with him. Bolan normally is very good at not being a prisoner of the moment but in this instance I think he is well that that was what the text was in reference to this morning. Uh we’re back on UCSS here. Two hours and 23 minutes. Bull doesn’t know this. I’m going to give you guys a little secret, but we are going to ask Bull to power rank the four throws the Browns tweeted out, one from each quarterback because I know he loves that. He has no idea it’s coming. We’re going to make him power. Hope he’s not watching this. He pops in here once in a while. Listen, after the Cavs discussion last night and after the Knicks lost, which is further my point of, hey, if the Knicks beat Indiana, you guys win. I’ll fully concede, but they’re down 2-1 and now they’re down 3-1 in the exact same capacity. And New York’s healthy, by the way. Cleveland was missing some of their guys, so whatever. It doesn’t matter. I know people there’s 135 comments. I know people are going to be mad at me for this this whole thing. And guess what? We’ll never know the real answer. All I know is I saw him play four times in the regular season and Cleveland beat the brakes off the Knicks all four times. So, I’m going to go with what my eyes told me when these two teams matched up. And even though the Cavs turned into melted dog poop in the playoffs in terms of their mental toughness, I’m not quite sure the Knicks are all that tough either. You know why? Because they blew leads the same way Cleveland has. So, what are we really arguing, guys? Yeah. All right, Jason, that’s gonna wrap it up. Next week, we’re gonna go over some fake trades because they have demanded I put together some Darius Garland deals. And I have one, Jason, I have one that I actually kind of think makes a lot of sense for both teams. All right, the other ones, not so much, but that’s what they wanted. I’ll see y’all next week for Jason Lloyd. I’m Mikey McNuggets, and we’ll talk soon. Peace.

Donovan Mitchell is a combo guard. He’s a natural shooting guard, but can play the point when Darius Garland heads to the bench.

If the Cleveland Cavaliers move on from DG this summer, can Mitchell take over as the team’s primary point guard?

In the ever-evolving landscape of the NBA, the Cleveland Cavaliers find themselves at a crossroads, contemplating a seismic shift that could redefine their roster and aspirations for the upcoming season. At the heart of these deliberations is Donovan Mitchell, a pivotal figure whose presence has sparked widespread speculation about potential trade scenarios. As the Cavaliers weigh their options, a bold proposal has emerged, suggesting a blockbuster trade with the Brooklyn Nets, centered around swapping star center Jarrett Allen for the multifaceted talent of Cam Johnson.

The Cavaliers, buoyed by the “Core Four” of Mitchell, Darius Garland, Evan Mobley, and Jarrett Allen, have enjoyed a cohesive synergy that has been the foundation of their success over the past three seasons. This quartet has navigated the team through the highs and lows of the league, establishing a competitive edge that many believe warrants another run with the same lineup. However, the winds of change are blowing, hinting at a potential reshuffling of this core group to inject new dynamism into the team’s strategy.

The proposition to trade Allen, along with Jaylon Tyson and a top-14-protected 2031 first-round pick, in exchange for Cam Johnson, is a testament to the Cavaliers’ ambition to bolster their roster with a top-tier 3&D talent. Johnson, with his impressive averages of 18.8 points, 4.3 rebounds, and 3.9 assists on 39.0% shooting from three, represents a significant upgrade in terms of offensive firepower and defensive versatility. His addition could transform the Cavaliers’ forward lineup, pairing him with DeAndre Hunter to create a formidable duo capable of challenging the best in the league.