Cavs start 2024 with a loss in Toronto | Cleveland Cavaliers podcast

Cavs start 2024 with a loss in Toronto | Cleveland Cavaliers podcast

On today’s show the Cav start 20240 And1 we’ll talk about that we’ll talk a little bit at the end about how the ncks Raptor trade affects the east standings that’s all on today’s lockdown Cavs for Tuesday January 2nd are locked on Cavs your daily Cleveland Cavaliers podcast

Welcome to 2024 welcome to lockdown Cavs I’m Chris Manning that is Evan damal thanks again to Jake Stevens as always for his work on production today’s episode is brought to you by FanDuel make every moment War right now new customers get $150 in bonus Bets with any winning $5

Moneyland bet that is 150 bucks if your team wins visit fel.com backlock on today to get started all right we’re going to go Cavs Raptors big takeaway in segment one we’re going to go Game Awards in segment two and then we’re going to talk about the seating standings competitive enough the East

Impact from the Nicks Raptors trade that we saw um if you want more in those trades check out lock on Raptors wish on Woodley check out the lock on Nick guys if you want more on that trade lock NBA as well we have you covered on every

Angle here at lockdown Cavs L to the Raptors 124 to 101 car Levert leads the Cavs and scoring to of a Mitchell chipon three other players with 16 Pascal hakam the highest scorer in this game with 36 Evan what is your big takeaway from Cavs Raptors uh defensively this is just

Not a good performance for Cleveland whatsoever um you you had noted this but I agree with the sentiment giving up oh my gosh um I don’t know almost 80 plus 90 plus points through the first three quarters is just not an optimal strategy I think

Coming out kind of flat and trying to go shot for shot with the Raptors who aren’t great this season they are 12 and 20 on the year now uh have a losing record at home whereas Cleveland is technically above 500 and has a winning record on the road like just wasn’t good

But I think in this one it’s kind of been indicative of quite a few games lately for Cleveland um Max Shu just isn’t giving them enough offensive juice just to kind of maybe counterbalance some of a lack of offensive Firepower without Darius Garland without EV Mobley

Out there um I think sure you got a stellar Stellar performance from Caris LeVert Off the Bench I think Sam Marill really stepped up for the Cavs in this game but like streu just was not really able to get much going for the Cavs and

I had noticed this in the past like even if his shot wasn’t falling he was making the extra play in terms of just playmaking and that could be the hockey ass for a regular assist or crashing the glass maybe giving Cleveland a second chance opportunity because of the

Offensive rebounds that he’s able to kind of Jin up in I wonder if maybe the offensive rebounding is more of a product to playing with both Moy and Allen but who knows but I have just noticed like stru has been a little bit flat and for team like Cleveland who is

Already struggling enough to find offensive consistency you you need more from guys like that I mean I think I think part of it is he’s not making shots we’ll get into the offensive rebounding thing because there’s a there’s some stuff in there that I think

Does pop I I think for me it does just come down to the defense is just in a weird spot right now and I think this is the way they do need to play to some degree I mean I I don’t even hate the fact I I kind of respect the fact that

They go to the start of the fourth quarter when they’re very much still in this game we’re really to the end of it they go Mitchell streu Merill Nang Tristan Thompson that is space that is Donovan Mitchell’s got the ball in his hands that is saying we know what we are

Right now we understand what a person El is it’s it’s not very many good Defenders I mean it’s it’s at best like two solid enough Defenders and yang and Mitchell and Merill are are guys you can attack and that’s kind of just how you have to play right now and the defense

Just isn’t quit I mean even in this run when they’re I think they’ve won decently they’ve had some good performances the defense for Cleveland over this stretch hasn’t been particularly good that just makes sense to me based on the roster they’ve had a couple good defensive games um in the

Milwaukee game rided out actually okay it rided out well against Dallas it rided out well against Chicago then they’ve had some bad ones and this one is going to fall more in line with the bad ones but that to me makes a lot of sense with this roster I think it’s

Just it’s not just you could you didn’t have the gear more than anything else I don’t think this team right now is capable of wholehearted monster defensive performance I don’t think this team is capable of the peak without Evan Mo this team is not capable of the best

Defensive possibly can be which is what led them to a ton of success last year what they are capable of you would hope is just enough defensive stops here and there and then this game you couldn’t do it this game it just wasn’t really an option and then there’s some other stuff

We can get into but that’s the core of this the defense has its moments but they weren’t ultimately in this game I think able to get just enough stops particularly early when they gave up 41 points the first quarter and never really dig themselves out of that hole

Permanently do you think that’s more of an understated appreciation of how valuable Evan Mobley is to this defense or just maybe the Cavs are in a bit of a funk um just because they are missing Garland and Moy maybe to kind of counterbalance things but like like you

Said like it Did Jin out okay against Milwaukee Dallas Chicago uh two wins and a loss for Cleveland on this recent stretch but I do wonder if like it does certainly crystallize the fact that the Cavs are missing their most important Defender and arguably their most important player out there while you’re

Still getting pretty solid effort from Jared Allen and I the guys at aoro has been huge in the stretch with all the Cavs being so banged up but I I want to pass it back to you like do you think that’s just more of indicative of just

The fact that the Cavs really do hope and pray that if they are the praying type that Evan Moy is back healthy and just isn’t unavailable down the stretch of the season when he is back I mean I think you can’t play defense at the level they want to without a m they’re

10th in defense on the year it’s not quite where it was last year but it when it was first but it is 10th it’s it’s gotten to a back up of better than League average but I think with no Moy and and on top of the Personnel changes you made

Going into the summer to skew more offensive heavy I think that’s where you end up where where this unit is I think that that’s that’s certainly part of it Moi allows Jared Allen to protect the rim he because he eats up so much space he closes things off he kind of denies

Easy roles at times that you just can’t replace that George D does not intimidate people Wade when he plays does not intimidate people they don’t have a single other defender on this roster aside from having Moy who can be a deterrent in that way so your whole defensive scheme now does just look

Different that’s not new but it shows up in this game one other thing I want to hit on from a takeaway from this game that I thought really cost them uh just to playwise we won’t get to it otherwise so it’s good to bring it up here I think

I hated the Donovan Mitchell 3 with 18 seconds left I absolutely it was questionable sure so so there’s you have a you have timeouts B you have time and you took a rush three-pointer that you weren’t even close to and then you have to play the

Foul game the rest of the way the strategy there whether that was what was called for we’re not in Toronto I haven’t seen what they said post game about it I just thought that that’s about the worst outcome you could possibly get in that moment you have the

Time you’ve had all this fight to get back into the game and that’s the shot you get that that is I think disappointing process if you’re looking at how the ultimate lose this game you did all this work to get back in the game and that’s where you end up to me

To me that’s disappointing for Mitchell that’s disappointing from the ks oh it’s first I can understand the thought process just because like you said you you fight all the way back into the game and you put the ball in the hands of your best player your best offensive

Player overall um and you say Okay Donovan these are the moments we brought you in for because we need you to just go out and win this game for us like yeah I understand that th press and maybe thought process excuse me and that sentiment but like you said it’s just a

Terrible shot just because it was so early into the shot you still had a timeout left like if you weren’t quite getting what you’re hoping the defense is going to give you you use that timeout to maybe re readjust redraw things and kind of figure out where

Things can kind of go from here and it just felt a little rush it felt a little forced and I agree like it was just not a great way to manage things especially when you fought all the way back into this game and yeah it just kind of like

A just a wet fart noise when you watch that shot go up and in you’re you’re like all right this one’s over so yeah it’s just a I don’t know a waste of resources that you had Available to You ultimately I think a frustrating loss for Cleveland I the only thing I

Will say in defenses um as far as energy bring into a game goes that Toronto just lost to the Pistons and ended that where that where the back end of that losing over and this was the the debuts of Emanuel quickley and RJ Barrett they were going to have I think some really

Organic energy to a make up for that last performance and B those new guys bringing in you always get a little bump it’s like the new coach bump it’s the new player bump you get a little extra energy and the Cavs just weren’t sharp enough in any way to overcome that art

After this let’s go to game awards that’s MVP stat of the Night play of the night today’s episode is brought to you by FanDuel the NFL regular season is wrapping up just one week left but there’s still time to get in on the action with FanDuel America’s number one

Sports book right now new customers get $150 in bonus bets guaranteed when you place a $5 bet that is a150 bucks in bonus bets win or lose so you can bet on Browns Bengals you could look at Kevin stansky Coach of the Year miles Garrett defensive player of the year they have

Cav stuff all over the place including games this week against the Wizards twice and the Spurs some could be some stuff there for that you could like the app is so easy to use and there’s so many different ways to bet like live same game parlays you can find bets in

Their new explor tab make a parlay in the parlay Hub and more so visit fanduel.com lockon and make your first bet a FanDuel official partner of the NFL and official sports book of lockdown again new customers get $150 in bonus bets when you place a $5

Bet all right game awards Evan I I think Levert’s the MVP uh I think considering for me that he had 31 he was 12 of 20 from the field five of five from the line four assists zero turnovers like his scoring at times bridged them in spots where Mitchell wasn’t totally

Overwhelming and he was just he was a little more efficient overall um I I just give the edge to him and he also just I mean he didn’t take the the the bad shot that we just talked about so Caris LT yeah uh the bad shot certainly helps Caris lt’s case over Donovan

Mitchell um I talked a little bit about Max streu in the first segment the Cavs would been much bigger golf if I think Carris LT didn’t step up the way he did did out for Sam Merill I think Sam Marill played very well in this game as well um at

Least just showing signs that the wrist injury was kind of just maybe uh it could be something worth keeping an eye on but maybe not as big of a concern going forward um let me ask you this about Sam Mar before you MVP should he just play like should he just should you

Just give him a run even when you’re a little more healthy just for the shooting like he played ahead of like Dean Wade like didn’t see the like played Dean Wade played 20 minutes didn’t feel like he played a single lick I felt Sam Merill 16 minutes in this

Game by comparison I yeah so when it comes to like Sam Merill or Craig Porter Jr who has been kind of a dude like against the Bucks as recent example like the Cavs kind of claw their way back into the game when Craig por Jr just

Gave them a little bit of juice Off the Bench I think whether it’s him uh Merill Dean Wade um just guys of that vein like yeah you give them a little bit of run if they have the hot hand you run with it I think JB has shown a comfort and uh

At least just trust Factor when it comes to players and trusting the hot hand a little bit and I think that has led to more opportunities injuries too for like Sam Merill and um cpj as well but like like you said like yeah you felt Sam Merrill’s like impact minutes and

Scoring and like there was just moments where momentum kind of Swang back into Cleveland’s favor because Sam Marill just hit one of those big like I want to say backbreaking but at least tide shifting three-pointers that they were just so desperately needing because Shu wasn’t able to get it going and like

Mitchell despite his high-scoring numbers wasn’t like hyper hyper efficient but yeah like the bench unit just stepped up big time for the Cavs when they kind of needed some type of spark because Pascal sakin was lights out um yaka Perle played well Scotty Barnes was phenomenal in this game

Quickly shrewder like the and then even RJ bar who had five fou like the the the Raptors got a lot from Seven guys and the Cavs just had to reach elsewhere and yeah Merill is just like that dude like if he just has it going like just let

Him keep rocking and rolling because there’s a lot of Sam that you can run with him that you do with Max stru that can get you similar results for your other guys and if like I said Merill has it going it would be remiss if you not to play

Him who who’s your who is your MVP pick if mine’s car SLT uh mine’s actually Isaac aoro I think aoro just played really really well in this game I’ve noticed like as of late he has really stepped up as a the starting three technically speaking with strews of the

Two in this game or just in general with Garland out um but aoro is just really impactful this one sure he only went 04 from three-point range but the fact that he took them is great I think the fact that he used his aggressiveness and physicality to the line seven separate

Seven separate times and he went six to four from the charity stripe is impactful too uh 16 points three assists two steals a block in this game like sure he had the lowest plus minus out of everyone on the floor at minus 18 but he also just was giving the Cavs a little

Bit of spark and a little bit of that edge and has just been stepping up as of late and this was just a performance to me that really stood out he’s got to make threes I think for me to get a BP consideration in this one just four from

Three including two just bad bad bricks is is tough all right stat of the night for me Cavs had an offensive rebounding rate of 17.9% that is much much lower than they’ve had in their wins of late if you go it this doesn’t explain everything but if you look at the games

They’ve won of late you look at the games they’ve lost theyve offensive rebounded well in the games they have won and they have not in the games that theyve lost uh they pulled down six offensive rebounds had that rate Raptors had had 10 offensive rebounds that that’s it’s not the whole

Thing again but it’s been an indicator lately is when the Cavs get Second Chance points they get offensive rebounds they win games didn’t happen tonight Evan what’s your stat uh B is the fact that the Raptors shot free throws and this isn’t going to be like

One of those games where the rafts were out to get the Cavs or I’m going to say anything like that it’s just more so kind of indicative I think to me of like that that statistic you noted in the first second just how many points the

Cavs gave up in the third quarter and how like defensively they have been great as of late especially without Mo out there and I think just like a rare skill set that this Cavs team really possesses especially when Jared Allen and Evan Mo are sharing the floor

Together or just one of them is playing individually is they can defend really well in the interior without fouling or just defend really well period without fing like sure you might see isaaco a lot sometimes but other than that like the Cavs don’t really seemingly give up

A ton of opportunities at the charity stripe and I mean the fact that Toronto went 29 of 40 is insane to think that they had that many free points that they left at the free throw line but more so the fact that like the the Cavs just were giving up so many constant

Opportunities and whether that was the fact that you saw Jared Allen in foul trouble this game with four fouls or Donovan Mitchell with four fouls or Max truth with four fouls or even Dean Wade is forced to play center at times and he had two fouls in this game like or even

Tristan Thompson who had three or George Yang who also got minutes at Center had five like the Raptors just put constant pressure on the rim at the Cavs and the Cavs were forced to foul cuz they when to give up an easy shot opportunity and

You saw 40 trips in the line and I I wonder if there’s maybe a correlation there just some of the defense we’ve seen what is your play of the night um play of the night for me is um just like Sam Merill hitting like close to a halfcourt shot early into the second

Quarter like it was like in the Bank of Scotia Bank for the arena but like that dude’s got some range and you know I like to tease Jackson Flickinger I know you do too but he was always beating the Sam Merill drum but like you asked it a

Very valid question like should Merill just play in like moments like that you say yeah he absolutely should just play for the Cav because he gives them a valuable commodity and he’s such a low usage player and like he can hit those big shots that just really swing

Momentum back in your favor yeah the problem with Merl is I think the moment you get him against a team with big wings he’s going to get hunted and he’s going to get hunted and roasted that’s that’s the issue like it’s double EDG thing yeah he’s you I don’t think that’s

A 16 game playoff guy U my plays it’s the Sam AR 3 I just the quick Trigger he has the the the the freedom he has to just shoot it um is pretty remarkable that he did this late in the third quarter he just catches it lets it Fly

There’s no one else on this roster that is really really capable of that um if you want to look at other ones as far as just like not just only picking the same r one Carris Levert about 5:30 left in the quarter gets through a trap gets one-onone in SE

Yakum dribbles dribbles dribbles step back three not the prettiest I’m not going to tell you it’s like the the encapsulation of modern basketball but Carver making that three putting them up one at that time pretty composed pretty big they need him to do that stuff particularly while Garland’s out so

We’ll give Levert some Shine for that too all coming up next Nicks made a trade we’re not going to talk so much about the Mitchell part of it we’re going to do a whole episode on what Mitchell is right now our next episode but what does this mean for the St in

These what does it mean for the Cavs who are trying to remain in the top six of these let’s talk about it after this today’s episode is brought to you by our friends at priz Pi prize piic is the largest DFS platform in North America they are the easiest and most

Exciting way to play DFS it is just you versus the numbers instead of battling thousands of other players including pros and sharks you just pick more or less than a two to six players stat projections and watch the winnings roll in with basketball season here you can now pick combo projections across

Football and basketball from the specials League that is a league created specifically for combo projections that include two or more players from different sports or leagues for instance you go LeBron James plus Travis Kelce at a combo of 10 and a half three-pointers made and receptions prize picks also

Allows you to play alongs alongside some of their favorite players including the rapper Meek Mill and the comedian Andrew Sut you can do that under the Community tab go to priz pi.com backlock innba and use called locked in NBA for a first deposit match up to $100 again that’s

Priz pi.com back/ loock in NBA and code locked on NBA for a first deposit match up $200 price picks daily fantasy sports made easy so as far as this trade goes Oobi to the Knicks precious auua to the Knick Malachi Flynn to the nick uh Emanuel

Quickley RJ Barrett to Toronto I I think with Toronto is not so much a factor in this to me Evan just because I think sakam it seems like is going to be traded next and then they’re they’re not particularly like good as it is they’re they’re 12th in the East right now um

You know they did just beat the Cavs who were now who have fallen out to eighth um in the standings live but they’re 12th or 13 and a half games back the Cavs are eight and a half back of first place here’s just I’m going to run

Through the standings in the East and then we can talk about where the cast F in this and what this means for the competitiveness of it Celtics are first 26 and6 Boston’s Milwaukee excuse me is 24- 8 Philly is 22- 10 Miami is 19- 13 Orlando is 19- 13 Indiana 17 and

14 Knicks 18 to 15 the Cavs 18 and 15 and then you drop down into I think another tier of teams but that top eight is really competitive obviously top six only ones that don’t have to go through the plane tournament Evan when I look at

This when I look at this OG trade I already it was already very clear to me that it was going to be hard for the Cavs to get fully into the top six I don’t think it’s a lock that they do based on what we’ve seen from them so far this year

And how this is shaken out I do think as much as I don’t know exactly how I feel about the straight for the Knicks OG does just is another guy that’s going to make it hard to match up against the Knicks will make the Knicks more

Competitive in some ways I think it I think there’s a real tough sledding ahead here for the Caps you just find a way to break through to that top six and compete against teams like the Nicks like the Pacers like the magic like the heat yeah so I might be higher on this

Trade than most people but when you look at just what New York is getting compared to what they were getting from RJ Barrett it’s an upgrade in the sense that sure neither player between RJ ver oi and anobi can like reliably dribble the basketball like drive to the basket

Just like as a primary ball handler but if you’re the knck you have Jaylen Brunson um Josh Hart um others on this team that can provide you that so it’s not like a huge huge pressing need at the small forward position but for me anobi is just a much better uh perimeter

Defender I think his he defense is criminally underrated and I am fascinated to see what Tom diido and the Knicks kind of get out of him as just like a team that really is comfortable with grinding it out and I think he just kind of fits

That mold of like a fibo type player but more so offensively like he just shoots and and makes three-pointers at a much higher clip than RJ Barrett ever did and that is an upgrade for a team like New York that can have Shooters across the roster sure they don’t have

Mitchell Robinson in the laying more leaning more on Isaiah hardenstein going forward but for a team like the Knicks that is nipping at the heels of Cleveland who as you said I just Fallen to eighth place after this loss to Toronto um and like just look at the

Cavs you are kind of like in this weird pool with the heat the magic the Pacers that include New York in this mix as well too um just trying to find a way to climb the summit and maybe either avoid either the Celtics in the Bucks in the

Playoffs and maybe sneak into the Conference Finals this makes it harder for you um I think just Indi is a really good upgrade for New York just in the sense of like the three-point shooting and just like maybe what tibs can get out of him defensively and kind of what

The Knicks can become defensively within anobi I’m not saying like he’s a superstar but like it was a power move that was big enough for the Knicks to at least create a little bit more distance between just like this weird mix of teams whether it’s Cleveland Miami

Indiana Orlando um just to kind of maybe separate themselves from the rest of the pack and just maybe make it a little bit easier for them Breathing Room wise as they kind of head into this second half of the Season as most teams are kind of getting close to that 40 game Mark

Already I think it’s just also just telling of where the Cavs are at I think more than like like again you people go check out lock at Knicks if they want the Knicks analys you can go check all the other shows but I think it from the

Cavs point of view here they entered this game 18 and 14 okay now they’re 18 and 15 eight and a half back of Boston and now they’re a game and a half behind Miami and Orlando that does on one hand I look at that and say this doesn’t feel like a

Terrible place to be considering how bizarre and odd and weird and I think underwhelming their season so far has been okay they’re also just not raiding out nearly as good and you can you can point out a ton of reasons why people can do that I that that’s all valid they’re all

Valid context is valid but they’re 19th in net they came into this game 19th in net rating 22nd in offense and Ninth in defense they have a the profile of a team that W that will win 44.4 games right now last year not that long ago but last season finished the regular

Season second in net rating only Boston was better seventh in offense and first in defense that caps he made a profile of a 22 of a 55 win team this team just isn’t as good as last year’s version it feels like again Darius scarland is Miss time Evan MO is

Miss time you’ve had these new pieces I get it but this just doesn’t feel like as nearly Rock Solid of a group overall and if I’m projecting this and saying okay should I feel confident as we start 2024 that they are going to make a push

And I should feel good about them being a top six team I would not if I’m looking right now if I had to say who I think who who it feels like the momentum would would lead me to think is going to be the seven and eight and be in the playing

Tournament it might be Cleveland in Indiana and I’m not saying that’s a lock you’ll get Garland back you’ll get Moy back other things will happen but the Cavs have something to prove amid this group and these other teams just have felt to me a little more rocks all

Thrust here in the Nicks go good OG and maybe there’s another trade for them I I don’t know but the Cavs I think are fighting an uphill battle a little bit and it’s going to the at the very very least if they get there it’s going to be

An absolute slog for them to get to like the six or the fifth seed and still have a very hard path to to get higher in the playoffs I mean Joe flacko ain’t walking through that door to save their season so yeah like you said context does

Matter matter um when breaking this down and the Cavs just kind of have come out flat I I do think injuries just constantly hitting them at the most inopportune times have more than played a part in it but they just there’s a lot of sness in terms of just like what the

Eye test is telling you in terms of just like what they can produce offensively or just the lack of Defense lately um and it just feels like the wind that they are trying to get in their sales just never blows them to Shore and they’re just kind of drifting lost at

Sea right now and sure we can look at this on a game by game basis but the fact they’re only a handful of games over 500 at this point of the year like that that’s disappointing if you’re the Cavs injuries are not and I think there’s a

Right to be frustrated if you’re a fan just considering that they do have Donovan Mitchell they do have Jared Allen uh Mitchells came off at all NBA season last year Allen is a All-Star caliber big man um and we’ve seen him step up quite a bit when the Cavs need

Him to but they just can’t seemingly struggle together consistency that play means impactful tangible impactful basketball and sure when they get Garland back hopefully there’s an update within the next two weeks because we’d be hitting that sweet spot of like that four-week initial window posttop for his

Uh jaw surgery and then soon after you get back ofm and the calvs are able to put together a bit of a stretch run that gives Garland and Moy the luxury and the grace to get health before like they have to really like lean on them heavier

And heavier but it’s just been a little bit disappointing I wonder what the general mood is inside that locker room I don’t think publicly you’re ever going to hear like oh the the everything’s falling apart and I think that that’s the right way to handle things and I

Think it’s impressive that they’re able to kind of maintain that composure consistently but yeah like if you’re the Cavs and you’re trying to just find some consistency and maybe separate yourself from this group between Orlando Indiana and New York Miami uh Philadelphia as well who is

Like that weird team that’s like on the precip on the precipice of things with Milwaukee and Boston too but um you have to just kind of throw up your hands and say come on man if you’re the Cavs just because like what was already Tough Enough as is isn’t going to get any

Easier because New York got a piece that does make them better on paper and I think will make them better with time as this trade just kind of we get further and further away from this trade and we’ll see what Kobe Alin and Company have up their sleeves it’s been widely

Reported at this point that like the Cavs are looking to move Ricky Rubio and find a way to just like something of value to put in that roster spot that’s being occupied by Rubio not being here and maybe they move on from taerom and Daman Jones were misses clearly just

Because jome hasn’t played since the home opener against the Oklahoma City Thunder well I mean he got he also got hurt that I mean I I I I know but like if you but if you’re a team like Cleveland like you’re trying your best

To get him back on the court and let him be healthy but also you can’t afford sometimes to maybe wait all season for a guy who could be providing you just s a little bit more juice at times when you are missing key players at the top and

These are the trials and tribulations of top heavy teams like Cleveland that they have to deal with and I am curious to see with you know about a little bit over a month to go until the trade deadline like what moves do the Cavs have up their sleeves to maybe kind of

Counterbalance what New York did obviously like the Cavs are in much different spot than the Knicks are in terms of assets but that I wonder if there’s a move in Kobe alman’s sleeve that he can make just to kind of keep them in the race and maybe keep them out

Of that play and tournament path that they seem to be heading on last thing I’ll say that is somewhere positive if you’re looking at be short-term optimism this week you get the Wizards twice and you get the Spurs those are two of the absolute worst teams in the NBA so if you’re

Saying hey can we build can we get it can we get home can we just be at home for a couple days before we go to Paris can we have some normaly and play some bad teams and maybe build some good habits and get a chance to just be settled for a couple

Days there to me there might be something to just let’s see what these couple things and to their credit I think for over by and large even in this loss there is something gritty there is something about the way they are playing to me that is would give me some

Optimism in terms about just where things could go if you get healthy you can just get things to break right but they do need things to break right and they just need to win some games and if you’re saying hey end of the year can we look back at a stretch where maybe

Things went right and we helped us get a top six seed in the East I think beating the Wizards and twice and then beating the Spurs would would go a long way even if you aren’t at full strength those teams are not good it’s it’s it’s time

To clean up and and take care of some business I think for the Cleveland kers coming back Mar that’s going to be it for today’s lockdown Cavs back tomorrow we’re going to do a what is Donovan Mitchell in 2024 episode episode his future the latest reporting about the

Cavs maybe I mean not being willing to trade him or entertain offers at this point there’s a lot to discuss with Mitchell so we’ll do that episode up next week and then obviously more games to come all week long I’m Chris Manning that’s been Evan daral thanks again to

Jake Stevens as always check out Lockton Knicks check out Lockton Raptors check out Lockton NBA for more coverage of the OG and OB trade talk to y’all later this week oh

On a new episode of Locked on Cavs (Tuesday, Jan. 2, 2024) hosts Chris Manning (@cwmwrites, The Just Basketball Show, SB Nation’s Fear the Sword, Forbes Sports) and Evan Dammarell (@AmNotEvan, Right Down Euclid) talk about the Cavs’ loss to the Raptors, how the defense struggled, if Donovan Mitchell’s three late in the fourth was a good shot, give out game awards (MVP, stat of the night, play of the night) and look at the standings implications of the recent Raptors-Knicks trade.

This episode was produced by Jake Stephens. The intro music is from our friends at Astral Radio.

Subscribe the Locked on Cavs Subtext – claim your free one month trial now!

Support Us By Supporting Our Sponsors!

Dave

Dave is the banking app that’s leveling the financial playing field. Download Dave today at Dave.com/LOCKEDONNBA. You could get up to $500 in 5 minutes or less! No credit check. No late fees.

PrizePicks

Go to PrizePicks.com/lockedonnba and use code lockedonnba for a first deposit match up to $100!

Ibotta

Download the Ibotta app now and use code locked to get 100% cash back on your Thanksgiving dinner starting November first!

Jase Medical

Get $20 off these lifesaving antibiotics with Jase Medical by using code LOCKEDON at checkout on jasemedical.com.

Gametime

Download the Gametime app, create an account, and use code LOCKEDONNBA for $20 off your first purchase.

FanDuel
This episode is brought to you by FanDuel Sportsbook, Official Sportsbook of Locked On. Right now, NEW customers can bet FIVE DOLLARS and get TWO HUNDRED in BONUS BETS – GUARANTEED. Visit FanDuel.com/LOCKEDON to get started.

FANDUEL DISCLAIMER: 21+ in select states. First online real money wager only. Bonus issued as nonwithdrawable free bets that expires in 14 days. Restrictions apply. See terms at sportsbook.fanduel.com. Gambling Problem? Call 1-800-GAMBLER or visit FanDuel.com/RG (CO, IA, MD, MI, NJ, PA, IL, VA, WV), 1-800-NEXT-STEP or text NEXTSTEP to 53342 (AZ), 1-888-789-7777 or visit ccpg.org/chat (CT), 1-800-9-WITH-IT (IN), 1-800-522-4700 (WY, KS) or visit ksgamblinghelp.com (KS), 1-877-770-STOP (LA), 1-877-8-HOPENY or text HOPENY (467369) (NY), TN REDLINE 1-800-889-9789 (TN)
Follow & Subscribe on all Podcast platforms…
🎧 https://link.chtbl.com/LOCavs?sid=YouTube

Locked On NBA League-Wide: Every Team, Fantasy, Draft, WNBA & More
🎧 https://linktr.ee/LockedOnNBA

#Cavs #ClevelandCavaliers #NBA