What Lonzo Ball Can Mean for the Cavaliers This Season – Sports4CLE, 7/16/25
I know you wrote an article about Lonzo Ball joining the Cavs. Take us through that article and just your thoughts on what he means uh to this team or can mean to this team. I think the big thing with Lonzo, Dave, is that he elevates their playoff level ceiling because if you think about the style of player he is, it fits in the playoffs. He can defend multiple positions. He can create offense on his own, create offense for his teammates, but he can also play a secondary or a tertiary role if he has to. He can knock down outside shots. If you remember when he came into the NBA, Dave, he had that funky looking jump shot, and he has really worked throughout the course of his career to correct that and make himself a respectable and reliable three-point shooter. And he’s a high volume three-point shooter as well. So 37 to 40% from somebody who takes six to eight threes a game, that’s really really good. But but I think he’s going to be a really good fit for this team because of all of the different things and the different ways that he can impact a game. And I think that’s what makes him a potentially highlevel playoff performer if he can stay healthy. And that’s always the big if when it comes to Lonzo Ball. He was not able to play back-to-back games last year. The Bulls didn’t want him to play back-to-back games last year. They obviously limited his minutes. It’s something that the Cavs are going to have to look at as well. But I’ve been using this comparison, Dave, since even before the Cavs went out and traded for Lonzo. I brought it up as a potential um trade acquisition for the Cavs throughout the course of this offseason on the Wine and Gold Talk podcast. To me, Lonzo can have the kind of impact. I don’t care about production. I’m talking about impact. I’m talking about effect on the game. He can have the kind of impact that we have seen from Alex Caruso with the Oklahoma City Thunder. He can be your best on ball perimeter defender and he can also be evolved enough on the offensive end of the floor where you’re not in a situation where you’re giving up one side of the floor or the other by giving big minutes to Lonzo Ball. The way that the Cavs felt like they were giving up too much defensively with Tai Jerome. they were giving up too much offensively with Isaac Aoro out there. He does more than both of those guys um to impact the outcome of the game if he can be healthy. All right. And important to note was a wrist injury, not necessarily the knee last year. So that the knee being good that that’s a step in the right direction. Um let’s talk a little bit about Larry. I mean that’s something that I asked Lonzo about. I said like, “What were you most happy about in your return season to the NBA?” He said, “I didn’t have to miss time or I didn’t feel like I was missing time because of my knee.” The knee cost him two straight years in the NBA. It almost cost him his career, but he didn’t feel like that was problematic. He didn’t feel like there was something that the knee was preventing him from doing or being the player that he felt like he could be. I do think Dave, as you brought up, I think it’s a good sign, if there is a good sign for missing games, it’s a good sign from Lonzo’s perspective that what cost him time last year wasn’t the thing that prevented him from playing two straight years in the NBA. When it’s a wrist as opposed to a knee, you know, the knee is the thing that is troublesome for him. The knee is the thing that you have to be aware of, but that’s not what prevented him from playing those games last year for Chicago. And that’s a really good point you
Dave Bacon and Chris Fedor discuss what Lonzo Ball could mean for the Cavaliers.
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