Who’s MOST Responsible for Evan Mobley’s MVP Leap With Cavaliers? | Ideal Matchup for Season Opener

Who’s MOST Responsible for Evan Mobley’s MVP Leap With Cavaliers? | Ideal Matchup for Season Opener

Evan Mobley has MVP expectations, but it’s going to take some help to get there. Spence and I talk about it coming up next on Courtside with the Cavs on SI. What’s up fans? Spencer German, Spencer Davies, we are back. We are finally back together and very much excited about it. Spence and I I I feel like Spence like we’ve missed each other the last couple weeks. Like our schedule just didn’t align. Uh I mean it was fine. There wasn’t a ton going on in the NBA. Obviously this is kind of the down time of year, but I’ve been like nose deep in Brown stuff obviously and so I’m glad I get a chance to pivot back to this with you. And honestly, it feels like a good time to to get this thing rolling again because schedule comes out coming up next week and the the the pre-season like the media day is going to be here before we know it. Then preseason will be here before we know it. So, um, basketball, believe it or not, is just around the corner. Yeah, not too bad. You got your hands full with Browns. I’m sure you’re going to have Buckeye stuff to do. I’ve been enjoying my summer, man. And I mean, I actually haven’t golfed as much as I’ve wanted to, but just being in the gym with a lot of players has been really fun. I helped out with Enrique Freeman in his first career uh basketball camp over at Akran, so that was really cool. Um, going out to Las Vegas. I know we haven’t caught up since then, but it was great networking out there for me. And then obviously to be around the guys at practice and just see them kind of in that more laid-back environment, I think, is the best part about the off season. And then, you know, we talked about the moves up and down already to this point. And they still have a roster spot open and they’re figuring out the two-way contract situation yet, but it is really good to be with you. It’s been a while. So, uh, let’s fire this thing up. Yeah, man. You mentioned playing golf, by the way. I haven’t had a chance to to talk to you about playing in Austin Carr’s celebrity golf outing, by the way. So, you you missed that when you were in Vegas, and I continued I I was a good soldier. I showed up. I was like, “This is going to go terribly, but I’m here.” And it went okay. So, I I had like very low expectations. Like, I was like, “This is going to be awful.” I did get out to the range a couple days before, so that helped. Um, and I ended up listening to everybody. I was like, “Listen, I have a three-year-old at home. Makes life a little bit harder to get out, play golf as much as I want to, but I pre-loaded excuses ready to I had I had like three or four good shots and I made the putt to to get par on the last hole to like finish our round. So, I felt pretty good about the day overall and my my team was good. So, I I I ended up feeling pretty good about it. But, um certainly you’re right about the golf thing. Wish I could have got out more than I have, but uh at some point I’ll get back into playing golf. Maybe when my son’s 16 or something. I have no idea. Did you apologize that you were the people’s celebrity for that particular group as opposed to some awesome other guests that he has all the time at that invitational? I told everybody that I’m really not that big of a celebrity at all. My wife laughed when I said that I was considered the celebrity in the group. Uh I said I was the the lesser half of the courtside with the Cavs on SI podcast if they wanted if they wanted to look that up. So uh yeah, I was I was I was making sure that you would have overshadowed me had you been there. Um, but yeah, it was a good time and that’s all that matters. Just good time in Vegas. So, I was jealous of not being there. I’m sure you missed at least a little bit not being at the golf, but it’s okay. We we we held on the Fortnite. We covered each other. We covered each other each other’s bases, right? Yeah, that’s what good podcast co-hosts do. Um, but anyway, Spence, I I think there’s actually a fun conversation here in some of what’s transpired really, I think, dating back to summer league actually was when this really sort of percolated because both Donovan Mitchell and he and Kenny Atkinson have throughout this off season talked about Evan Mobley’s next leap and it feels like an annual thing. Each year we’re talking about, okay, what’s the next level for Evan Mobley? And now that he’s won defensive player of the year, like Kenny Atinson and Donovan Mitchell both have their sights set on the next thing for him, which for them it’s listen, he’s got to get to that MVP level and he he be in that conversation of being an MVP in this league. And I think Evan would honestly say the same thing, especially, you know, on the heels of at the All-Star game this past year, saying that in five years, he sees like potentially himself and Victor Webyama as the two best players in the league or two of the best players in the league. And so there is this massive expectation on him to get to that level and be in that tier of of player in conversation. But what I think is interesting is obviously a lot of that has to do with Evan and his work ethic, which we’ve seen, and his willingness to do even more than he’s already done and take that next step. But I also think that around him, there are some pieces and parts that matter to him getting to that level as well. And it’s the two people that we just talked about, Kenny Atinson and Donovan Mitchell. And I’m kind of curious like your thoughts on who you think is almost more responsible between those two for helping Evan reach that next level of being an MVP caliber player because from Kenny Atinson standpoint it’s a lot of the X’s and O’s but from Donovan standpoint there is that sort of conceding to him that also has to happen as well to help him get to that level. So where’s your head at with with I think this great overarching question that we have for today’s show. If I have to pick between the two, I would say Donovan. But I also have secret option C here. And to me, it’s Evan Mobley. You’re throwing something at me. It’s Evan Mobley. It’s Evan Mobley. It’s him. It’s him asserting himself. It’s him calling for the ball, making sure that he’s not getting frozen out. And if he is, that he makes sure to go and get it. He makes sure to go and call for it. And I think that kind of aggression on his part is self motivated. I don’t think that’s on his teammates to get him the ball and stuff like that. is on them to a point, but I feel like Evan has the potential to be as good as what Kenny Atinson is saying, that MVP candidate obviously being the top player on the Cavs, but it’s also going to take within himself to to believe that and to really up his aggress aggression level, not only with it in his hands, but without his without u the ball in his hand as well. So, I think it’s more on him than it is anybody else. But number two in that would be Donovan in my eyes, just because we saw last year Donovan taking the steps to the side, letting the other guys get their development going. Darius Garland, Evan Mobley having great regular seasons. I think he can also do that in the playoffs though. But we know that there’s all sorts of context behind what happened in the postseason, why Donovan went total like hero ball mode because of what was going on with Darius Garland and his nine toes, you know, DeAndre Hunter having his his thumb injury, Evan Mobley having the ankle injury. I think he can learn from this, but ultimately Evan Mobley getting to that superstar MVP level is on Evan Mobley and that’s first and foremost. Yeah. Listen, I I I like where you took this to a to a degree because um I my answer would be Donovan as well because here’s the thing like Kenny Atkinson is responsible yes for making Evan Moi a focal point in this offense and what they want to do on that end of the floor especially. We know what he’s going to do on the defensive end. Like I said, he won defensive player of the year. But Kenny can only do so much from the bench, right? Like he can draw it up. He can scheme it up. He can talk throughout the week of practice or when they practice ahead of games and as they prepare for games like here’s what we want to do with Evan, but it’s on his teammates to make sure that those things are sort of e being executed the way that they’re supposed to be. And so my answer ends up being if we’re talking about just the two people outside of Evan is Donovan Mitchell because yes, like he is viewed as the leader of this team, he’s viewed as kind of the star of this team to this point. And it is going to take even more unselfishness from him to allow Evan to blossom into again this what we’re talking about an MVP caliber player. And what’s about it is like I think Donovan’s a totally comfortable doing that too because he showed us this past year he’s totally comfortable with doing that. You bring up the playoffs. A lot of context there. He kind of had to be the hero in that situation because so many guys were hurt. They were dealing with a lot. There was a lot that was going on of why he sort of had to take over and I think it maybe spilled into that game five when Evan was playing really well in support of him and he just kind of still took over. I think it was just like a mindset thing at that point that kind of taking hold. But so yes, in the playoffs there’s some there’s some some of that that still has to happen for Donovan. He still has to be willing to concede. But I I think that you saw him during the regular season show he’s comfortable doing that and that has to reach another level if they’re trying to get Evan to that that stage. Now where I liked what you said about Evan though is like Donovan can absolutely concede to Evan Moore, but he also can’t like shoot the ball for him either or make him attack the rim. And so that is where like at the heart of this it 100% falls on Evan Mobley first because he has to be willing to be like the man the basketball. He has to be willing to um you know attack when he needs to attack and know the right moments. Don, we’ve talked about it with Donovan, right? Donovan knows when he has to take over a game. Generally, Evan has to learn that. He has to learn when like I’m the guy. It’s got to be me tonight. And I think that’s the part of his game that has to still come along. So, yes, most of this does fall at Evan’s feet, but I do think Donovan is kind of that secondary person to help him reach that level that we’re talking about. And that’s fair to say. And then you look at what also Kenny Atinson’s been talking about Evan Mobley bringing the ball up even more. Now that was something he did last year and it happened a lot I would say at least in the regular season. He would grab the rebound and then he would take it down the floor. Most of the time he’d go either coast to coast and look like Giannis or he’d go down the floor, execute a dribble handoff with someone like Sam Merrell or Max Streus, maybe get into a pick and pop, maybe get into a pick and roll and then end up, you know, being in the offense naturally from there. I think this year you’re going to see more Evan Mobley having the ball in his hands in a halfcourt role, kind of operating in that BAM at a bio type of mold, maybe like sort of yoke-ish in a way a little bit. um just kind of being more of a hub this year and we know that teams are going to start guarding him on the outside because he he hit his threes this year and I think that uh that’s a big part of opening up the floor for everybody else. We know what it does for spacing. Uh and we know what Evan is capable of as well when he’s driving off of closeouts and um he’s looked really solid in that. I think the handle can still get better and it’s going to get tighter. I think working with Olan simplis uh he’s one of the best guys uh to work with trainers to work with as far as improving your basketball handle. He’s worked with a lot of really good players in the NBA. Um he’s been you know those two have been together this summer quite a bit and uh you know you see the stuff going around the the internet and social media with Evan working on his mid-range and then working on his outside shot and uh these are all good things to work on oneonone but I want to see it with defense. I want to see it with some some legitimate competitive defense uh in a game setting. And that’s going to take probably some time, but I don’t think it’s going to take any time for Evan to be confident in his jump shot. I don’t think it’s going to take any time for Evan to be confident about closing out uh his driving out driving against closeouts and making sure he gets to the rim. And I I I feel like offensively he definitely has more confidence in himself and it’s just gradually come along. He wouldn’t have put it out there that he wants to be one of the best players in the league alongside Victor Webbyama if he didn’t believe he could get there. Like this is a guy who has absolutely come out of his shell. I think that slowly but surely he’s starting to talk a little bit more as far as like his confidence, not cockiness, but you know, his just self-belief and he’ll probably start chirping a little bit, which is good. uh you you’ll get that kind of that side of Evan out a little bit more on the floor and I think that goes handinhand with him making sure that he doesn’t get frozen out at critical points of the game or even at any point of the game. This is a guy that should be getting touches every single quarter, especially if he wants to be the best player on this team. That’s going to be necessary and and that ties right back into what you were talking about with Donovan. Ties right back what are you talking about with with Kenny Atinson. So yeah, um ultimately I think it’s on Evan, but you’re right. There are other people that can help him get along there. Well, and I’ll say this too. You talk about him gaining confidence and demanding the ball more and being more vocal. I think honestly that’s where like the entire team kind of comes in even beyond just Donovan because we saw it Spence like that night where he they they were trying to get him to kind of politic for himself a little bit the same way Draymond Green did for defensive player of the year and they were like trying they kept saying like who’s who’s defensive player of the like they were trying to get him to say it and so I I think it is going to be on it takes almost like village here the the entire team will continue to push Evan to break out a little bit and show that side of himself and build that confidence and then that I think will translate on the floor. So, I’m fascinated to see how that all kind of comes together, especially during the preseason. I’m I’m I’m fascinated, Spence, like as we get closer and closer to the start of basketball season. I I I really want to do some like individual breakdowns of like Kenny, year two, more time to scheme some things up. What does Evan look like? What does DeAndre Hunter role look like? Those things we’ll get to down the line, but you sort of got into the X’s and O’s of it, and I was getting a little giddy, but I I’ll save that for another episode because I know we have some other things we want to get to. And one of the things that you actually mentioned in our sort of pre-show conversation here was the idea that the that the Cavs could reunite with one George Nang. He was just traded to the Jazz. There’s some buzz that maybe he gets bought out. Something the Cavs should consider. You think, Spence? He fits in the locker room. He’s a guy that can knock down threes. He obviously brings that jovial presence to the locker room. And I I think that just knowing George like he loved it here and they were nothing but professional when they split last year. I I think that’s the importance of not burning bridges and you can see that come forth right now. Who knows if that’s who gets the final roster spot. We also see if the Jazz decide to buy him out in the first place because that’s not set in stone. But I think it makes all the sense in the world to bring that guy in. And you need him in a pinch to to shoot threes, you know, that he can do. Um, defensively as well, I think is a place that a lot of people in the organization appreciated what he brought to the table. Um, especially against those bigger bigger set wings. Um, I I know that he’s not quick-footed the way that other guys are on this team, but just in in terms of of firming up and staying in front and and really being an irritant, that’s what George is. And uh, he’s good at that. He he was tremendous with the float shot last year, too. That’s another thing. Like that little push shot when you get into the paint about 8 feet away. Um, that little one onehanded teardrop looking thing. Like he was good at that going off a high glass. Uh he he’s got all the ability in the world, man. And there’s a reason he’s been a vet in this league for as long as he has been. He is definitely somebody who has great IQ for the game and is an excellent communicator. And again, somebody that just lights up the locker room and, you know, the guys would welcome him back in. So, here’s another thing. I think everything you lay out is is is absolutely like check the boxes of reasons why he makes sense to bring back. He was such a fit in this locker room. brought such like chemistry-wise like you know it’s going to be flawless if you were to return. Here’s the other thing Spence like what’s the thing that everybody complains about the most with this team when they get bounced out of the playoffs every year the same thing. Yeah. Soft. They don’t have that they don’t have that grit. They don’t have that can like you said the word irritant like that can be sort of that irritant. George Niang is 100% authentically by the way that it’s not forced with him. And we saw that like there was times during the regular season where he kind of had to play that role because there wasn’t really anybody else that was and that in the playoffs and I and I I we didn’t we I don’t know that we got a chance to really talk about the the Larry Nance Jr. uh resigning and him coming back to Cleveland. Um which I love because I think that’s another guy that like he knows what it takes to win in the playoffs. He’s he’s an experienced player. He brings some of that grittiness, I think, to this roster the same way Tristan Thompson did. But the difference is he’s gonna play more than Tristan Thompson. And so, you get him out there and you maybe add George Nang back into the mix. And there’s just like this different sort of attitude and swagger about this team that you could use. I I know people are going to be like, “Well, George is a streaky guy and he he’s a mismatch in certain matchups.” And you’re 100% right about those things. There’s certain there’s games, matchups, whatever. You know, the Celtics this year were a bugaboo for him. Like he’ll get played off the floor in some series. That’s probably true. But he can give you a handful of minutes in any game, in any series. And that extra element of like that toughness factor that everybody complains about this team not having him bringing back that back into the mix and into that locker room, I also think would go a long way and be valuable to this team. So yeah, if this becomes a thing, if he becomes bought out and and you could use him as the the last roster spot, I think he absolutely do it. One more thing on George. Sure. He is durable and dependable. That guy plays every single night. Plays every single night. That guy is really good at taking care of his body. And I feel like especially over the last couple of years has been very available, which is something that coaches need, especially throughout the the rigors of an 82 game season and then particularly the playoffs as well when you need a guy to go to break glass in case of emergency or like you said certain matchups. I think it’s important. Yeah. And you know, um, you know, Spence is hold like you you and George butted heads a little bit at the start of last season. So, we always butt heads. No, I know. But that that’s the thing, man. Like, no ill will. You’re like, bring him back. He’s a great fit. I think that’s that’s uh important in terms of, you know, how you’re viewing the situation. I I think he’d absolutely fit again. And I appreciate authentic, you know. Yeah. Yeah. No, he he is 100% authentically himself. And I think that’s honestly why fans loved him. like he became a he was a role player that became a fan favorite the same way, you know, J.R. Smith was kind of like a fan favorite back in the day because he was just who he was. He was himself and people loved him for it. So, uh, yeah, if that happens, absolutely sign me up. I I think it makes a ton of sense for the Cavs. Um, Spence, the schedule’s supposed to come out, I think, next week. Is it the 15th or something like that? Or am I off on that? Is it the eth actually? Is it this Friday? I don’t know why I’m drawing a blank on this. I gotta look that up, honestly. Hold on. Hold on. This is great podcasting. Oh, yeah. I I can hear you typing away. It’s coming. I know it’s here. It says mid August in this story that I’m reading. Need Well, I think you’re gonna when it comes out because look once the once the the openers and the the Christmas day comes out, that’s when, you know, the NBA schedule is going to come out. So, just pay attention to Sham’s timeline. Last year was August 15th, so about uh like a little over a week. So, um, and I sort of thought it’d be fun to talk about what you think is the ideal season opening matchup for the Cavs because, okay, and there’s different ways you can go with this. I think a lot of people would say like, well, the Pacers, they’re the team that beat you and but but also like the Pacers are going to be a different team next year. Um, obviously Miles Turner’s gone and obviously Hallebertton’s not playing to start the year because of his injury. Um, I have a couple teams in mind, but I’m curious where Well, I’ll say this. The Knicks are always like an easy, I think, go-to because they’re they’re supposed to be another good team in the East or whatever. And I think like you could theoretically put that on an opening like them and the Cavs might be like team A and team B in terms of the Eastern Conference standings right now. But I actually have a team that I think is a better idea. I kind of want to see Orlando in the first game. I think Orlando as a matchup would be awesome because Orlando made some changes this offseason. They traded for Desmond Bane. They um they’re supposed to be like an actual force in the in the conference this year. And I kind of that that grittiness that they play with has always kind of gotten on the Cavs nerves and there’s always been a little bit of bad blood between them. We know how much fans here love Fron Vagner. So, I kind of like the idea of opening the season against Orlando, this up and cominging team against a Cavs team that is obviously on sort of like this redemption to prove that last year was wasn’t wasn’t like a fluke how good they were in the regular season and they got a lot to sort of prove wrong when the playoffs roll around. I like that. I like Orlando. I had two teams in mind and neither of them are in the Eastern Conference. Ah, okay. I like this. We’re going different here. I think Rockets would be really fun just because they’re new look, just because they’re fresh and they’re the ones that are going all in on this season. I think that would be a really fun matchup. You know, you see KD and then um you know along with that whole basically new nucleus. Um so that would be fun. And then honestly at OKC I think that would be awesome. I think that would be awesome. I don’t know how they schedule their finals champions on the first night and all that stuff, but I feel like that would be awesome. And every time the Cavs have met up with the Thunder, aside from the one blowout in OKC, the last time that they played there, they’ve been excellent matchups. So, the reason I think that that’d be really fun. The reason I really like that thought is because that was kind of last year the popular choices for the the finals, right? Like it was it was like, “Oh, the Cavs are the best team in the East. The Thunder are the best team in the West. They’re on a collision course.” And so you kind of got deprived of that. And I Yeah, I that that’s that’s a really interesting one where I’m like, hey, if that if that actually were to work out, I I would love to see the Thunder as a potential first game because like you said, it’s it’s kind of like the finals matchup we didn’t get and maybe those two teams are good enough again that they’ll be in the conversation again next year to maybe meet in the finals. Well, here’s where I my head’s at with that. I think that initially it would probably be Boston or it would be Indianapolis, but you have the two big injuries on those two teams. So, you’re thinking from a scheduling perspective, would they do the rematch even with that? Does it bring the same amount of eyeballs? Because this is what the game’s about. It’s about the ratings, right? So, you think about Tatum not being around, you think about Hi not being around. Would they schedule that still knowing that or would they go with the projected Eastern Conference champion Cavs if that’s the case this coming season or you know that’s the exter external expectation from a lot of people is that the Cavs are going to be pretty high up again. Yeah. So would they do that? Would they do that? kind of feel like based off of like as we think through this because we know the Cavs don’t get a lot of love when it comes to like thinking through ratings uh or like what what’s going to draw um I almost feel like they’ll probably be more inclined to make it like a Western Conference team like if to because to your point I think the injuries do deter them from making it Indiana or making it Boston and let’s and also they always reserve one of those matchups for Christmas like I’m sure Indiana will be a Christmas game against the the Thunder because they always just like do the rematch on that day. Um, it’ll be at least one of those taken care of, but um I Yeah, I I the injuries probably deter them from making it one of those teams. The Cavs make the most sense if not maybe the Knicks because the Knicks are a bigger market and but my thought is probably that they would probably put the Thunder against like the Lakers and LeBron or something like that because they want to just like get the eyeballs and and all that. We’ll see. But that’s kind of at least my thought process on like where they would go. But I I listen I am all for after talking this out it being the Cavs and we actually we actually get to see the finals matchup that wasn’t from a year ago with the two teams that were the best in the NBA during the regular season. I would absolutely love that. Um but I do think my my secondary pick of Orlando is is an intriguing one because Orlando really is supposed to like burst on the scene this year. They have higher expectations than ever before. think that that it’s it’s always like a gritty matchup with them and like I said, there’s a little bit of bad blood there when those two teams faced off in the playoffs two years ago. Now, um it’ be kind of like this, hey, this team’s arriving and the Cavs are already kind of here type thing. But also, as you think about ratings, you might maybe maybe they do want the Cavs in a in a prime spot, but they want to put them with a team that’s going to draw from a market standpoint, at least in their eyes, quote unquote. And so maybe the Knicks is ends up just being the fallback plan because they think the Knicks and the Cavs are going to be the two best teams in the East. That’s pro honestly we’re we’re like we’re thinking big picture on this Spence and we have some really good thoughts and I bet you the NBA is just going to be like ah Cavs and Knicks to open the season. Why not? Just how it always goes, right? And I mean watch OKC won a championship, but they’ll probably still get some small market team. They won’t, oh let’s go focus on Lakers at Clippers, you know, because we got into it dome. We got the big all the drama surrounding LeBron and Luca just signed his new contract. Yeah, let’s do that. Let’s do that. But with with with with Eastern Conference opponents, too, I I wouldn’t mind either if they faced off against like say an Atlanta or Detroit, too. You know, like one of those up and cominging teams. That’d be fun, too. So, I know we’re like naming half of the NBA right now, and that’s what we’ve gotten. But, I feel like those would be good matchups. I don’t know. I I they for what it’s worth, they did start the season last year against the Pistons. Um, and I think that they sort of lean into like the JB Bicker staff coaching change thing there, which makes some sense. Like ultimately like this league does storylines better than anybody, um, in my opinion. So, so being able to like manipulate the schedule in a way where they can be like, what’s the best story line for this Cavs team or the team that they’d be playing opposite of them, I think is what they’ll kind of lean into. Here’s another question real quick. How many nationally televised games, and I’m not counting NBA TV because you got to basically have NBA TV to watch them. Do you think the Cavs get Do you think the Cavs will get more nationally televised games this year than they did last year because they finally earned that respect at the end of last season? They were putting them on national TV. I think it’ll be about the same amount. Okay. But maybe get Flex basically if they’re good. Yeah, because that’s what happened. They they started getting flexed into a bunch of games late in the season because they were like, “Well, this cast seems too good. We got to put them on TV.” Right. Yeah. I know I don’t I don’t think I don’t think it’s really changed too much again because rightfully so when the playoffs came around that they weren’t, you know, ready for the occasion and that kind of probably soured a lot of those executives. I don’t know. Um I there’s also the injury there’s also the injury stuff too with Boston and and Indie so maybe there is more games but I don’t know. I I would expect him to have amount around the same amount, maybe a little bit more just because of what they did in the regular season, but um I don’t know how that works with Yeah. television like does does tele do television executives care that the Cavs floundered in the playoffs like you know like I I don’t I don’t know I don’t know how that works you know especially because they’re in a you know smaller market and stuff like that. How many games did OKC get last year because that was following a year that they were a second round exit. How many games were OKC on the team TV team TV team TV team TV team TV team TV team TV team TV team TV team TV team that’s a good question and obviously OKC got flexed a bunch late in the season too um yeah listen you’re probably right and I do think like this is almost the the curse of you lose where you lose in the in the playoffs you’re pro you’re trying to prove fans around the league wrong that that like about who you are and you’re also I think trying to prove like the TV execs in the NBA the people who make these overarching decisions wrong to a degree as well there’s a lot of that going on the Cavs have a lot of people to prove wrong basically this here um on the heels of the great regular season and the not so great postseason. The final thing I was going to bring up Spence here before we get out of here is that we have a new food option coming to Rocket Arena. Insomnia cookie is now going to be available. And I don’t know, man. I uh this might honestly keep me away from the arena because that’s going to be dangerous. I don’t know if I should be there with Insomnia Cookie there. So, a little peak behind the curtain, like we get a voucher as like medium members or like we can it’s like a little bit of money we can use at a concession stand and I might just use the whole thing on a cookie every time. You always come up with a fresh chocolate chip every time you come up to the seats anyway. So, what’s is it just cuz it’s it’s insomnia or insomnia cookies delicious? Are you gonna are you going to abandon the cookie shop that you’ve been going to the past two years? Is is this what’s going to happen? Is this going to come down to that? Because they’ll be very sad. Those people will. They will be sad. I I want to know like where maybe they’ll put it on like the third level and then I won’t have to like worry. I won’t have to think about it. I doubt it. But I’m just saying like maybe that’ll be the way that I can avoid it because you know me like I have a sweet tooth. It’s a problem. I know it’s a problem. I don’t work out nearly enough as much as I used to to, you know, combat this problem. Um I still try to keep myself in decent shape, but I certainly have lost a step or two in that category. Um, so yeah, I listen and I was like, it was that bad. You know what it was? It was the Alonzo morning gif. It was like it was like shaking my head like, “Oh no, this is a problem.” And then being like, “You know what though? Insomnia cookie is delicious, so I’m going to have to get some.” Listen, you’re excited about Insomnia Cookie. You know that I don’t have a sweet tooth. I’m more of a savory guy. I cannot wait to get back to pearls. I cannot wait to get back to flour pizza. I will be stuffing my face full of food every pregame. What’s the first meal you’re getting in the preseason? Is it the pizza or is it Come on. Come on. It’s going to be the pizza. It’s going to be flour. Oh yeah, for sure it’s going to be flour. But then it’ll be pearls like for three or four straight times. Dude, what’s great about Pearls is like they have everything. We’re like doing now we’re just doing an advertiser for like concession stands in Rocket Arena. So you’re welcome Dan Gilbert. I guess you guys I was going to say you guys can totally come to us if you want to and we’ll sample your food. Yeah, honestly we’ll do a whole bit around sampling food in the arena next year want us to and we’ll give you recommendations because we tried just about everything at this point. Um but yeah, Pearls has everything which is why it’s the best. But the flower pizza very very good pizza for being like a concession stand at an arena pizza. Do not sleep on that in front of you. Yeah, it’s the best. It really is. It’s usually fresh because they make it right there. Uh all right. Good stuff, Spence. I’m glad we’re back in the saddle here. Let’s plan on making sure we’re doing at least an episode a week here from here on out leading us up to the preseason, getting us ready for the regular season. There’s going to be some stuff to talk about as we get closer and closer. And uh I missed you, man. This is fun. And uh you know, maybe we’ll have another concession stand to talk about on next week’s episode. We’ll see. Maybe. Maybe. You didn’t let me tell my JB Bakerstaff story, though, so I want to do that really quickly. Oh, I I forgot. I’m sorry. Go ahead. So, no, it’s okay. It’s okay. So, it’s funny. We were talking about the Pistons earlier and I wanted to bring that up when we were talking about it in passing, but over in Las Vegas, saw JB Bickerstaff out. Love the guy. He’s awesome. Very nice, very respectful all the time, but he’s also a really fun guy. So, see him out in Las Vegas and I go, “Hey, JB, what’s up, man?” He’s like, “Spence, how how’s it going?” I said, “Nothing much, man. Just trying to figure out life.” and he looked at me just dead pan and said, “This is not the place to do that.” While we were out in Las Vegas, funny. You know what? You’re probably right about that. That’s a great story. And honestly, that’s a great oneliner from from JB Bickerstaff. I always love JB, man. He always has some great lines. He was very authentic. like he never and I and I I always I always had to laugh like his voice sounded completely different pregame than it did postgame because he always lost his voice. He always lost his voice. Very horse at those postgame and press conferences. I’m glad you got a chance to come across him and he’s probably right. Vegas is probably not the place to figure out your life, but I know you made some good connections. So, that is important. Yes, sir. Most definitely. No doubt about it. All right, guys. As always, I will encourage you tribe to the YouTube channel if you haven’t done so already. uh Cleveland Cavaliers on SI. We don’t have press conferences right now because there’s not anything going on, but we can guarantee you that as we get back into the swing of things here with the Cavs season, there’ll be more and more of those. We’ll obviously have more episodes of the podcast that you can watch. And of course, you can find this podcast wherever you get your podcast as well. And always head on over to si.comba cavaliers where you can read any of our written content over there and and keep in touch with or keep up to date on all things Cleveland Cavaliers as well. So for Spencer Davies, I’m Spencer German. Like I said before, good to be back in the saddle and we’ll talk to you guys again next week. In the meantime, keep on following along with all things Cleveland Cavaliers with the Cleveland Cavaliers on SI.

Everyone keeps saying Evan Mobley’s next step is becoming an NBA MVP candidate, but who is most responsible for ensuring he gets there: Kenny Atkinson or Donovan Mitchell?

Courtside with the Cavs on SI returns as Spencer German and Spencer Davies start looking ahead to the season with a discussion on Mobley. Meanwhile, could an old friend return to Cleveland following a buyout? And what’s the ideal season-opening matchup for the Cavs?

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