The Cleveland Cavaliers Get HOLIDAY Spotlight!

The Cleveland Cavaliers Get HOLIDAY Spotlight!

[Music] Every video and episode of the Its Cavalere podcast is made possible by my supporters over on Patreon. If you enjoyed the show here today, consider signing up. You’ll get early access, exclusive videos, podcast, member shoutouts, and more. And as always, thank you for watching. [Music] [Applause] [Music] Welcome to another edition of the It’s Cavalier podcast. It’s your boy Matt and you know what? I couldn’t not hop on here because we got even more exciting news. And I know we’re at this point in the NBA offseason where we just don’t have anything going on. There’s hardly any news being reported. So when something like this drops, it it’s a huge deal. And specifically for the Cleveland Cavaliers and a few other teams, a big piece of news drop. The Cleveland Cavaliers will now apparently not only play on Christmas Day in a matchup against the New York Knicks alongside the San Antonio Spurs playing the OKC Thunder, the Houston Rockets playing the Lakers, the Dallas Mavericks playing the Golden State Warriors, and the Minnesota Timberwolves playing the Denver Nuggets. But they will also suit up on MLK day. That is a big one. They will suit up uh against the OKC Thunder on MLK day. That is big to me. So, not only are you getting those games, but you are also opening the NBA season. You’re opening on ESPN against those very same Knicks who you will play on Christmas Day as well. So, clearly they are trying to foreshadow some Eastern Conference things here. I think it’s I think it’s really clear what they’re doing here. The NBA, at least on paper, appears to favor this matchup between the Knicks and the Cavs for Eastern Conference supremacy. At least that’s the way I’m viewing things because not only are they opening on uh on on opening night, but they are also playing them on a big time platform which is Christmas Day. That is huge. That is a huge thing for this Cavaliers team who just honestly hasn’t gotten the type of love over the past couple of seasons since LeBron departed that they are now getting this year. And I think most people probably, especially with the landscape of the Eastern Conference, the rest of what’s going on, right? Whether that be the Boston Celtics and what could end up being some some sort of a gap year for them and the Hallebertton injury as well as the uh departure of Miles Turnover there in Indiana. Uh New York and Cleveland appear to be the top of the the class there with with with New York probably being viewed as second to Cleveland’s number one over there with all the talent that both teams have now. I’m just very very excited about this. I know a lot of people after the offseason that the Cavs have had, you know, adding Larry Nes Jr. bringing him back, that’s huge. and getting Lonzo Ball in town in place of Isaac. A lot of people still have not been totally satisfied with the off season that Cleveland has had. But I also believe that hey, this this this team is in a much better shape than a lot of other teams in the Eastern Conference and the NBA entirely. They have continuity on their side. They’re going into this second full season of uh Kenny Atinson at the helm. DeAndre Hunter is gonna get a full off season and be in Cleveland for the entirety of the year rather than having to come in and learn everything midway through the year. There’s just a lot, right? You got some rookies in place in uh Tyrese Proctor. You got some upandcomers like Naqucoin Tomlin. You just saw the news the other day with Tristan and Aruna being, you know, basically kept in house and uh acquiring his rights. The Cleveland charge did. This is a big time thing for Cleveland and all eyes a massive spotlight is going to be shown upon them and I could not be any more excited just because it’s been it’s it’s felt like it’s been so long since this team has gotten this type of platform. I I think they are they they’re like something like 20 they’ve played 22 games I think on MLK day. I think they’re 11 and 11. Um, so that’s not been a common occurrence for them. And when you’re talking about season openers in in general for this franchise that is going into its 56th season of existence, they are 18 and 37 in uh season openers all time, not counting like uh opening opening day, right? This to me, this to me gives them that opportunity to put that spotlight on themselves once more. We already know last year I don’t think anybody expected Cleveland to be as good as they were. Not even myself, right? I didn’t I did not expect the explosive leap from a number of these players, right? I don’t think anybody quite saw Tyome exploding onto the scene like he did last year. I’m not sure many people envisioned uh um Evan Mobley winning defensive player of the year outright. And I know that uh Wimi going down kind of contributed to that, but still Evan Mobley had a substantial leap. Darius Garland got back to playing all-star level basketball. Donovan Mitchell was still his usual self and a number of other developments that you saw take place, but they have an opportunity this year in a wide open Eastern Conference to to really take the reigns, right? And it starts on opening week on opening night against this New York Knicks team who a lot of people still think is going to pose a lot of problems for Cleveland. I don’t see it right. The the Knicks do not terrify me the same way that a lot of other fans seem to be afraid of them. They just don’t. Very, very talented bunch. Um good coach that got in town now and Mike Brown. But I I I still believe that this Cleveland team is the class of the Eastern Conference, especially with what is going on with Indiana, with what is going on with Boston. I just don’t see any other way that this year is not setting up for Cleveland to make the finals. And that is where I’m at, right? And obviously opinions are fluid and these types of things can change throughout the the course of a season duration of a year. But for me, like at least on paper, this team is as good of a bunch as we have seen in a very very long time. Right from top to bottom, you have a lot of versatility now with Lonzo and Larry in town now with uh with DeAndre Hunter spending the entirety of the off season with Cleveland. Um, and hopefully hopefully, and this is the key, right? Health. Health is the defining factor for this Cleveland Cavaliers team, as it is for many other teams. But as long as they can get through the regular season and into the postseason mostly healthy, because you’re going to get bumps and bruises along the way, somebody will get injured along the way. It just it just happens. It’s one of those things where you have to have some luck. But for me, as long as they can stay healthy, this is their Eastern Conference to grab. Like, it’s it’s it’s up for the taking. There is no big bad in Eastern Conference that can oppose them in my opinion at least. I know New York is up there. There are a couple of Darkhorse teams. I know we’ll have to keep our eye on Milwaukee and with some of the additions they’ve made. Detroit, you know, they could be an upandcomer. Orlando, Atlanta, there are teams that could pose somewhat of a threat, but there’s nobody outright that screams like we should fear them in the Eastern Conference. Just that’s just where I’m at. Like, as the season wears on, that could change. But I just don’t see many teams in the East that could give this Cleveland Cavaliers team a a uh a run for their money. And for what it’s worth, this New York matchup, that should be that should be fireworks. I just you you can’t look at that and not be excited because there’s still so many fans whether that be on the Cleveland side or the New York side that still lends so much credence to that matchup in the playoffs two or three uh three years back now. I mean, still people cannot get that out of their head with what Mitchell Robinson and Isaiah Hartenstein and Josh Hart were able to do on the glass against this very undersized and out coached and underperforming Cleveland Cavaliers team in their first real postseason run. Like a lot of people still cannot let that go. And over the past couple years since that, there have been matchups between these two teams where much has been written, right? A lot of stock has been put into them, but it doesn’t get any bigger than these matchups. Opening night, Christmas Day, and MLK day versus the uh the OKC Thunder, the the class of the entire NBA at this point, the the current champions. So, these are big-time matchups, and these are the ones that, frankly, you want to see this Cavaliers team play. You want to see them, you want to see what they’re made of against the best of the best. And if you don’t view the Knicks as the second, some maybe you view them as the top team in these, but I think by and large Cleveland has probably earned that number one spot. But if you don’t view New York as anything less than the the third best team in the Eastern Conference because I think they’re second. I don’t view them any worse than third. And if you happen to, I don’t know what uh what you’ve been watching lately, but these are the types of matchups that you you you want this team to get up for because they they really tell you what you could be facing potentially come the playoffs. That’s that’s just where I’m at with it. But I would love to hear you guys’ thoughts below. Um, OKC, that matchup, that is one that I think a lot of people would love to see play out in a NBA finals setting, but that assumes that both teams can make it that far. And we know that um, getting to the finals is a very, very tough thing within itself. Hell, getting to the Eastern Conference Finals has been this team’s bane of existence over since Donovan Mitchell came to town. It’s it has eluded them. It’s been up it’s been up for grabs, right? It was up for grabs last year, but unfortunately you got poor play, you got injuries, you got Kenny Ainson getting out coached, a number of things that led to them not being able to advance past the Indiana Pacers to get to the Eastern Conference Finals. So for me, it’s finals or bust this year. Anything less than that should be seen as a collective failure on the part of the Cavaliers. It’s it’s finals or bust. And I think the NBA, they’re taking notice like they’re propping this team up. They will not give you these types of matchups if there isn’t some type of u some type of narrative that they can push. Right now, obviously, you see the Spurs playing the Mavericks on opening night or opening week. that right there. That’s not saying that they believe that the Spurs are going to be a a uh a finals participant this year or that the class of the Western Conference, but there is narratives that can be pushed. There is Victor Winyama, there’s De’arren Fox, there’s a number of players that they have on that roster that, hey, yeah, you can get behind the idea of that. Then obviously the Dallas Mavericks with Cooper Flag and Anthony Davis and you know Kyrie Irving eventually these are big- time names and to be right up there alongside that that grouping of players and you know let’s not forget about Jaylen Brunson and OB OG and and them boys over there like Carl Anthony Towns like these are the types of matchups that you want this team to face off against you know in the earlier portions of the season even if you don’t have Darius Garland available. So very very excited about that. Very very excited about the Christmas Day slate. Very very excited about the MLK slate because that just does not happen too frequently for this team. Uh but again, this is all on paper. A lot can change between now and even uh and even opening night, opening tip off in the NBA. This team, they still have roster spots open. They could add an additional player or two. They could convert the contract of Naquan Tomlin or Tristan Inarun or any other two-way that they have on the roster. They could do a lot of other things. So they they may not be finished yet, but you know that you are part of this uh this special slate. Uh you should as a fan be excited about that. I just I don’t see any other way like how you couldn’t be. But in other news, uh again, you’ve noticed that Tristan Inuna has been offered or his uh his rights have been acquired by the Cleveland Charge. Does that signify that this team is likely going to give him that final two-way spot? I think it could. And for me, during that summer league stretch of games, it it was really really boiling down to giving Inaruna that third 2A or uh Norado. For me, those two were the names that stuck out uh like a sore thumb. Those are the two names that I would have preferred to keep in house. And now you at least have an Aruna. And I think that that was probably going to be the plan all along is at least keeping this guy in house, evaluating him, seeing what you have and making an offer if you see fit, right? Once you know what you have or you have them in house right now, you could just let him play for the charge. And midway through the season, if you decide that you’re going to convert the deal of Naqucoin Tomlin and, you know, write out that 50 games of eligibility that you have for him, maybe maybe you look at it doing it at that point in time, but to at least have him available, I think that is a good thing within itself and can only uh serve to add to the in-house developmental pipeline that this team is trying to establish. And that’s important, right? you got this new CBA where it just makes it extremely [ __ ] hard to to to retain talent, top tier talent. You have to be able to surround the guys that you do have, the core players that you do have with pieces that fit beside them at cheap rates. And I think that that is what they’re aiming to do. And I think most teams in the NBA are emulating that or attempting to emulate that. not necessarily what the Cavs are doing, but they’re trying to develop from within because the CBA, the way it’s structured, the second apron stuff that really can put a damper on things, uh, that is becoming of, you know, uh, utmost importance. You’ve already seen a team that was at the top of the mountain in the Boston Celtics after the injury to Jason Tatum. And make no mistake, this was very likely to happen even if Tatum didn’t get injured. They had to cut bait, cut some salary. And so what did they do? They they moved off a number of pieces to rid themselves of that high level of salary that they had. And the Cleveland Cavaliers, especially if they flame out come the 2025, 26 postseason, they’re going to be looking at maybe pulling the trigger on similar moves. Not necessarily like a full-on rebuild because Boston didn’t initiate a full-on rebuild, but what they have done is uh trim the fat, right? And so for Cleveland, what would that look like? Who knows? But we know that that that will be addressed if we end up getting to that point. And so it’s important for them to seize the sees the day. You got a huge opportunity in front of you. It starts on opening week here, opening night against this New York Knicks team that should be right up in the forefront come the playoffs. It starts then. And I couldn’t be any more excited about the direction that this franchise is going. I know a lot of people have given Kobe Alman a lot of grief, a lot of flack for the way that he has operated uh during his tenure. And again, it’s there’s been some some misses, but there have also been a lot of hits to balance that out. And so, I think that uh the NBA has taken notice here. They see that they have a potential finals contender on their hands and they’re propping them up that you just don’t get all this coverage. You don’t get these holiday games without it. I mean, again, you you you you got not only opening night, but you also have uh you also have MLK day and you have the Christmas Day game as well. Very, very h very very exciting stuff. Very, very happy about that. And uh it just goes to show like anytime that you get news like this, it’s kind of hard to ignore because especially for a franchise like the Cavs who just frankly if LeBron is not on the roster, you often do not get the opportunity to play these games. And I think the NBA is recognizing the work that they’ve put in. They’re recognizing that this is a team that could very well represent their uh the Eastern Conference. And I don’t know how you can not be excited about that if you are a Cavs fan. As the the Cleveland Cavaliers, if you weren’t aware, they have a seven and seven record on Christmas Day. By the way, um the last time they played obviously was against the Golden State Warriors on Christmas Day back during the 2017 2018 season if I’m not mistaken. That was almost eight years ago. I mean, that’s crazy, right? It’s been eight years since this Cavaliers team has played in a Christmas Day game. That is that’s uh that’s big, right? And obviously with the Warriors stacking the deck there with uh with with Kevin Durant and then the departure following that of Kyrie Irving shortly after. It just was no contest, right? Golden State, they uh they won two out of the three matchups that Cleveland ended up facing off against them. And the crazy thing is like Cleveland due to LeBron being in town, Cleveland got four straight Christmas Day games. first day or the first game back was uh Cleveland against Miami and in LeBron’s I I believe it was LeBron’s first game against Miami um since he came back to Cleveland the for his second stay and then the three straight matchups against the Warriors. We already know that they lost that first one uh in 2015, but they they put on one of the best shows in Christmas Day history against that uh that Warriors team in which Kyrie Irving and a number of other Cavaliers went off. I think Kyrie hit basically hit the game-winning shot in that one. That was the one with a crazy Richard Jefferson dunk and a number of other things. But yeah, this it’s a big deal to me and I just I can’t wait to see it. Uh Soap Shack says, “Let’s go. Who’s your day one starting lineup?” I think it’s Porter, Spa, Hunter, Mobley, and Allen. Honestly, it’s such a tough question because and I know it seems trivial because a lot of these players and I just had CJ Miles on the show for any of you guys who didn’t uh get the chance or opportunity to stream it or listen to it, but when I asked him about whether or not players care about who starts and you know who comes off the bench, he said that’s still a huge thing. And so we speculate on this a lot and but players apparently also do as well. But for me at this point in time, I would have to think that it’s one of two options because I don’t think that they will elect to start both Max and DeAndre Hunter. Um, and there’s a lot of uh smoke being blown out there that Hunter will likely still come off the bench and that Max Stre could start. So, you could you could and I did a stream on this um featuring like 13 or 14 different lineups, but my personal preference at this point in time would probably be to start Donovan Mitchell, um Sam Merrill, DeAndre Hunter, uh Evan Mobley, Jerown. I think that gives you a solid balance of shooting. I think it gives you size and I think it gives you defense. Um, and it gives DeAndre Hunter the opportunity to start. Will that happen? Probably not. Not at all. And I know people are probably scratching their head at that lineup thinking, “Hey, why the hell are you thinking about starting Sam Merrill?” I just think that if you’re moving Don Mitchell over to that point, which we know that he can reliably play, Sam Merrill is a capable defender and he has size if he’s playing the two. Now, if you’re playing the three, you got a problem. Uh, but Sam Merrill playing the two is still a pretty dependable player. Gives you a good amount of offball shooting. He is a dependable defender at that size and he does not require the ball in ways that Darius Garland might, right? And that’s you don’t have to have that dance between Darius and Donovan. Now, if you’re thinking about starting Lonzo Ball, have no problem with that. But I do believe that Lonzo coming in, if you’re trying to keep him upright and healthy, you probably want to be a little bit more cautious with him. Um, and just because you start him doesn’t necessarily mean you have to give him a ton of minutes. But I think that I would prefer Lonzo to come off the bench for at least for right now. If you’re going to start Craig Porter Jr., which I see that as a potential thought, you’re putting him in at the one. You’re giving Donovan Mitchell his usual spot at the two, and then you have a decision to make at the three, whether that be Max or DeAndre Hunter. Now, if you’re starting Craig Porter Jr., I would probably elect to just go ahead and keep starting Max Stre because you do want that offball shot making. do want that connective tissue that uh that tertiary playmaker that Max has shown to be and he is a decent rebounder. Um I know a lot of people don’t want to start him considering that he is an undersized three but he has been dependable. The net ratings show it. The Cavaliers have been successful when starting Max Shre and this is a regular season. It’s not like it’s the playoffs, right? I think that’s important to keep in mind, too. The playoff lineup can be completely different than the uh the regular season lineup. And you know, with Darius Garland being out, that is assume assumably so, right? With Darius Garland likely to miss the start of the season, your lineup, the the start of the season is not going to be remotely the same as it will become the playoffs, assuming play uh players are healthy. So, if you’re going to start Craig Pter Jr., I think you just keep DeAndre Hunter off the bench and I think you continue to roll with Max Struce as your starter. There are a couple other lineup combinations they could go with, but I think that uh each one of them have throwing merit and it’s up to Kenny Atinson to kind of sort that out. I don’t think there’s really a right or wrong answer, I honestly believe you’re going to be experimenting a lot. Now, if Darius was healthy and you’re going crazy with your lineups, yeah, but with Darius Garland likely to miss the start of the season, I don’t think there’s really any wrong answer here. Um, you’re really just evaluating. You’re experimenting. You’re seeing what you have in Lonzo and Larry and some of these lineup configurations that you did not have access to last year. Some of that versatility that they afford you. There’s a lot of it now. There’s so much versatility, especially in that front court with the amount of players that can play three or four or five in the case of Larry. Um, I think really the only team, the only thing that this team needs right now to be solidified to not really have too many flaws would be a proper backup center, like a true backup center. But those um the the ones that you could probably depend upon come the playoffs, they’re basically gone. You’re really at this point just looking for depth additions. And either way, I would be ecstatic if they would go out and acquire a backup center. But, uh, yeah, that starting lineup day one, who knows what it’ll be. Um, I think that they have a number of lineup combinations that they could go with and feel confident in. And to me, as as most people probably share this lineup, uh, this this thought process in regards to the starting lineup, it’s not necessarily about who starts, it’s about who finishes the game. And I think your your closing lineup is probably going to feature um, Evan Mobley. No doubt. I mean 100% Evan Mobley will be in the closing lineup. Donovan Mitchell will be in the closing lineup from game one. I think DeAndre Hunter will. So those are three. The other the question marks here are Will and Jared Allen. And I think that at the start of the year probably, especially with Darius Darius being out and uh that fifth starter, that’s or that fifth closer that’s that’s going to be the tough thing. It’s probably going to be dependent upon what you need at that point in time in a specific game. That’s that’s what it all truly boils down to. Soap Shack says, “Is there any smoke to Alher signing for the minimum? He would be a perfect fit.” No, I think that it’s widely regarded at this point in time or at least well known that he has been linked to the Golden State Warriors. Um, really tough to tell at this point in time. There are a number of free agents where I’m like, why the hell is this guy still free agent? And I was wondering and racking my brain wondering why Chris Buché was free for as long as he was. and you you see what happened with him. I think that’s a perfect example right there within itself of a guy just waiting out the right opportunity for him. Like I am sure, no doubt in my mind that Al and Amir Coffee and you know Buchet prior to signing these are all guys who probably were getting offers but probably passed on a number of them because they didn’t feel like the the role there that they were being offered was right or there was a monetary situation like a gap in between the money that they wanted. So no I Al Horford would be the perfect like backup reserve big for this team. I put out content on that. and I still believe that he would be great. He would be a great uh addition and somebody that you could trust and rely upon come the playoffs, but I just don’t see him signing with Cleveland. Uh wish it could be the case, but I do not see that happening. Oh man. All in all though, still very very excited that we got this news today and in offseason because this is just the dog days of the summer, right? The dog days of the offseason where we just don’t have too much news dropping. We’re all waiting on the season to start. We’re all waiting to see who’s going to be in this lineup. We’re all waiting to see what they do with these final spots. But, uh, to get this news start of the week, that that’s big deal, man. So, you got opening, you got opening week, Cavaliers playing the Knicks. You have the Christmas Day slate with the Cavs playing the Knicks. You have the MLK slate with the Cavs playing the best team in the West, maybe the E the NBA in general in the OKC Thunder. Those are big-time matchups. They hate Collins says we should go get Brogden with Garland Alonto’s injury history. Brogden is also another piece that I kind of campaign for and put content out on. I think that he would fit in nicely as insurance for Lonzo. Insurance for Craig Porter Jr. maybe not necessarily turning out to be the player that the Cavaliers want him to be. And that no, that’s not me saying that he won’t. That is me saying that uh he could be a good insurance policy in the event that things don’t work out with uh with Craig. Yeah, would love that. I think Malcolm is another one of those players that’s probably waiting out the right opportunity, the right role. I don’t think it’s about money for him. I just think that Brogden is probably going to remain unsigned until he sees a specific place that he believes he could benefit from being in. And with Cleveland, right, it might be a more of a hard sell because they already do have Lonzo who figures to be a big part of that rotation. They do have Craig obviously in house who’s cheap right now. They probably are going to want to uh to feature him as much as they can to see what they have. And so there is not necessarily a guarantee for a role. And honestly, the same could be said for a number of other free agents they could potentially target with those final spots. But you could do far worse than adding a two-way player like Malcolm Brogton. And at even at this point in his career, I mean, he’s not young anymore. I think he’s going into his age 33 season. It makes sense, at least on paper. So, that would be a move that I would love to see. Um, let me know in the comments if you guys agree. Let me know if there’s a a name out there that hasn’t been discussed for this team that uh you would love to see them bring in because as it stands right now that free agent market it is pretty dry pretty dry. So I don’t know the Cavaliers obviously are not flush they are not flush with assets right now. They are not flush with money that they can’t just you know they can’t just offer a bunch. They it’s vet minimum or nothing at this point. And so if you’re a free agent and you’re wanting some money, it’s not going to happen, right? You have you would have to sign with this team knowing full well that you have no guarantee of a playoff role. You have no guarantee hell of a regular rotational role. And you have no guarantee of getting paid more than the veteran minimum. So if you are cool with all of those things, come to Cleveland. Maybe win a title. Maybe it’ll be worth it for you. But we’ll see what they end up doing. Uh, they hate Colin also says, “Also, great timing for a stream. I’m an inspector, so I work alone, so I’m just walking around listening to the pod. You may not be the biggest, but you’re hands down my favorite content creator.” Thanks, man. I appreciate that. Um, working on growing the uh the the following, working on making better streams for you all, and I got to update a couple of things, but it always it always is nice to hear stuff like that. So, appreciate you, man. Subject also says, “Why is Preston Sichua unsigned? Any shot at him? 25 years old, only 6’8. I think that’s the thing. Like I think that Precious Aua will eventually be signed by a team. I just think that um it’s all about timing, right? And I think it really honestly boils down to what that specific player is interested in. Like what is the goal for them? Is it just simply to secure a job? Because that’s the thing, all right? You don’t want to be a free agent. you won’t have no paycheck coming in period. Uh but for other players that can afford to weigh it like a Brockton or an Al Horford or uh or an Amir Coffee who’s been in the NBA for a while now. I mean or Russell Westbrook. There are instances where you’re you can afford to wait until midseason. You can afford to wait until a big injury happens because it’s inevitable. It will somebody will get hurt. Hopefully, it’s not for the Cavaliers. Um, but there will be doors that open for these players and that’s probably what they are awaiting the right opportunity for a big role, an opportunity to rebuild their value because we’ve seen that. We’ve seen player come in after an injury and um play well and then secure back, right? A longer term contract rather than a veteran minimum contract with some team, some contender out there. And so it wouldn’t surprise me at all if Precious Sichua ends up signing with the team later on in the offseason towards the start of the year or mid-season. Maybe he remains unsigned until he finds that right spot. But if you’ve looked at the free agent market at this point in time, um it ain’t great. It’s just it’s not right now, especially depending upon what positional group you are looking at. Now, if you’re me, you want to see this Cavaliers team add a true center. And those, my friends, there’s just not a lot of names. It’s you could you could bring back Tristan Thompson, which a lot of people are would probably be okay with at this point knowing who is available. You could look at trying to interest Charles Bassie in signing in Cleveland. You could bring in Bismak Bambbo, who I’d be okay with. Um, or maybe you go the route of a veteran presence like Gibson or DeAndre Jordan. I don’t know, maybe you think outside the box and and and get somebody who uh who could move the needle at least from a uh at least from a mentorship standpoint because there are still a lot of young players on this roster that could uh that could end up being impactful at least in practice and pushing these guys. Now, I know toughness has been like at the forefront of uh has been at the forefront of things that people would want to bring in and that’s always such a tough thing. Before I move forward, I just want to address uh thanks again. They hit Colin very much appreciate it, man. I appreciate that. Uh but there are there are a number of people that and very justifiably so that believe that the biggest thing that this team lacked, especially after being ousted by the Indiana Pacers, was toughness, whether that be physical toughness or mental, right? And I think for me, like I wanted to see them become mentally tougher. And I just don’t think that adding a player that doesn’t play come the playoffs is really going to move the needle in terms of that toughness thing. It’s either one of those things that you have nine times out of 10 or develop somehow. I don’t know. Will Jared Allen ever be viewed as a tough guy? Maybe not. But what I do think is that uh you can get there from a mental mental focus standpoint. Be more locked in. get more locked in. Show that you want it more than any other team out there. Show that you have that winning mentality, that do it all mentality, right? To dive on the floor for a loose ball, right? Get get out there and box out. Position yourself for those for those rebounds. I don’t know. However it would show up to you, but I think toughness is definitely still something that this team um they could use. It’s just such a tough thing to add. Like there’s no player out there that you can just point to and say, “Oh yeah, that’s a tough guy.” they’re gonna actually add in a meaningful way outside of practice. Katie Burner says Ben Simmons and Alford still available. What do you think about him on our group? Now, I will listen, I know it’s sacrilege to say that Ben Simmons would be a good player, a good fit here in Cleveland, but I still believe I have content on it that Ben Simmons, if you guys haven’t checked out that video, I encourage you to do so. Um, he still can he still can add to a team as a 14th or 15th man, which is what he would be here. There’s no guarantee of a role, but he is at a depth a big guard out there who is capable of, you know, quite uniquely. Ben Simmons is a unique archetype. Just he’s pass first. He can still contribute defensively. He’s not nearly as quick and nimble as he was in his younger years, especially after some of the injuries that he’s had. And we already know the off not necessarily offcore stuff with the mental stuff that he has dealt with. Um, it’s not it’s not a sexy name, not a name that a lot of people would like to see added to the roster, but I would be perfectly fine with adding Ben Simmons at this point in the offseason. I would be ecstatic if they got Al Horford. I mean, that would be like u, you know, adding Lonzo, adding Larry, that adds so much positional versatility to your team. adding um adding those two within itself is big because it gives you access to so many different lineup configurations and combinations out there. Those two are interchangeable in multiple positions. You can legitimately play Larry Nes Jr. at the four. He’s mostly at five at this point in his career, but he can contribute at the four. And in a pinch, I’m not saying they should do this, but if they’re if they absolutely need it, they want to go big, you probably could play him at the three still. He did this earlier on in his career. Probably not something you want long term for two big stretches, but he is capable enough of playing two to three different positions. Lonzo Ball can play the one, he can play the two, and he actually did, believe it or not, play minutes at D3 last year for Chicago. Adds a ton of versatility. He can fit in nicely towards any of those other players in the uh in the ranks of guard or uh in that front court. And then if you were to add Al Horford on top of that, man, a guy who can play reliably the four and the five and can space the floor and can defend at a high level still at this point in his career, which is crazy, and is a decent rebounder. That would be a win. Like that would be winning the off seasonason considering the assets that you had available coming in because not only did you flip Isaac for Lonzo saving $1 million in the process, not only did you add that versatility of Larry Nish Jr., But you add a veteran champion uh presence in Alford, that would just be phenomenal. I don’t see it happen for either of those two. But if you were able to bring either in, that’s a good offseason in in my opinion. That’s where I’m at with it all. I don’t know. Let me know what you guys think in the comments below. But uh I I’m having a good day so far. I saw this news. I hope you guys uh are are just as excited about these games as I am. And I just honestly cannot wait to see what Kenny Atinson does with the players at his disposal. Will Jaylen Tyson be a bigger part of the rotation than he was in his rookie season? Will Naquin Tomlin get real opportunities? I I think he will, but this is all contingent upon what they decide to do with Dean Wade around the trade deadline. Because for those of you who don’t know, Dean Wade is on an expiring contract. This is technically the final season of his deal. So, if you’re going to capitalize on the value that he has, because I know a lot of people don’t agree with this, but Dean Wade still holds value. A lot of teams around the league, as you saw from some of the news, some of the rumors that were being thrown out there, Dean still has value, especially as a wing defender. He still can technically knock down that three-point shot. He is not a terrible uh rebounder, but this is all about mental toughness for him. This is all about having that confidence to shoot the ball when he’s open for him. It’s all about how Kenny Aton views him in the grand scheme of things. And so for me, I think Tomlin is going to get an opportunity at some point this year. We’ll see. He’s still skinny, but I still think he profiles as a uh a backup for at this point, but I don’t know. Time will tell. Katie Burner says Malcolm Brogdom still free agent. Yep. would love to bring him in. I think I already talked about him a little bit, but yeah, I would Brogden would be a great fit. Ben Simmons would be a great fit. Al Horford theoretically would be a great fit. There are still a number of others that I would be okay with. Bismbo. Um, but we’ll see. Hell, I’d even accept Russell Westbrook. I mean, I know he’s not a center, but uh just to have that added depth as a kind of a like a Malcolm Brockton um insurance policy for the likes of a potential Lonelo Ball injury or Craig Pter Jr. not taken off the way that you want or um Daryus Scarlet taking a little bit longer to get back than we would like. These will be good additions. But as I always tell you guys, if you’d like to reach out, you know how you can. It’s cavalry_pod on Twitter, Tik Tok, Instagram, YouTube, and more. If you want to be added to the It’s Cavalary chat, you know what to do. Leave a rating, leave a review, send a screenshot review to it’s cavalary3.com, and I will send you an invite. If you want to support the pod in a small but helpful way, consider becoming a member over on Patreon. You can do so on YouTube as well for as little as $1 a month. Help support your favorite content creators. Go Caps.

The Cleveland Cavaliers will now play on MLK day (Vs. OKC) and on Christmas (vs. Knicks) in addition to opening the season against the Knicks! Time to react!

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