What We Love About the Red-Hot Cleveland Cavaliers | The Dunker Spot

What We Love About the Red-Hot Cleveland Cavaliers | The Dunker Spot

Hi hello and welcome to another episode of the dunker spot we are part of 342 Productions I am your host Nika Duncan and joining me as always is my co-host Steve Jones Jr Steve how are you doing sir what’s up though what the that is not the intro we

Do not have a guest I am concerned uh hope you are hope you are doing well we have a fun show plan for you going to start with some not so fun stuff first we get into some of the latest NBA news catch up on the allstar Reserves some

Thoughts there and then we’re going to check in with the Cleveland Cavaliers who have been one of the hottest teams in the NBA since mid December so want to dig into what’s been going on there why they’re playing so well and with Evan Moy and Darius Garland returning into

The lineup what their ceiling might look like and then getting into some W news to cap things off as fre agency isn’t as busy as it was on opening day but we do have did get some more moves over the weekend so we’ll cap with that there’s

Your rundown for today let’s get into the NBA news first we start with Joel embiid who has been having not just a tremendous season just one of the most prolific seasons in NBA history and it looks like that one at the very least is going to be halted if not finished for

The year he does have a he has suffered a left miniscus tear he’s going to have surgery he’s out in definitely Pam shirani of the athletic the hope is that embiid misses one to two months with his recovery but that is going to depend on what exactly is needed with surgery and

How that surgery goes one I think we can both agree that this objectively stinks for Joy embiid the stinks for the Sixers and beid leading the league and scoring scoring at a per minute Mark that hasn’t been matched by anyone and the only other person in the vicinity is

Wil Chamberlain in the 6162 season if that puts into perspective what kind of score he has been as before getting into the bump and playmaking how good the defense has been it’s been the best season of Joel embiid’s career following an MVP campaign and it stinks that he is once

Again suffering through injury things the broader question I have aside from the obvious hoping Joel and be gets better hoping the recovery goes well and he’s able to have long-term Heth not just come back the season I wonder how Philadelphia handles the deadline heading into Thursday I think the mbid injury

Obviously complicates you know with the timeline kind of being up in the air that kind of complicates what they may want to do Philly has been a team that’s been linked to the J Murray been linked to another a number of big names or bigger names rather and so I wonder do

They feel they can get embiid back by the end of the year and make a true title push or if it’s worth just okay let’s just roll over our c space into the summer let’s get him beat right even if he does come back later this year

Let’s just roll this team over see where he can go and then make a big move in the off season so did you have any obviously you can send your well wishes but beyond that did you have any thoughts on like how Philly should approach the deadline I mean for me I

Was always in the camp that Philly didn’t have to make a deal unless it took them over the top and if Joel embiid is going to be out for x amount of time H what is that deal for them and do you want to make that deal

Without NB being able to play to know exactly how good that deal is that’s where I get stuck I don’t know if that’s the move uh I think Joel embiid hopefully he’s able to get well both physically and mentally not easy to can like get back on the Shelf especially

When you’re playing at this level I mean it’s 35 11 five assists 53% shooting just as a heads up y’all if you want to talk about ducking games and all this other nonsense also mention that that would be the 53.3% shooting that was going to put

Him on track to be the third NBA player to average 35 on 50% shooting it would have just been him Wilt and Michael Jordan instead pretty impressive instead look at what the chatter became and so I want to make sure that I I send the well wishes Jo and be I also

Would hope at some point we can appreciate the greatness of these players while they are able to play instead of doing the tennis match of takes and then oh well guess he’s hurt who’s next yeah I don’t like any of that and like that is just the that’s the nature

Of discourse that’s the nature of online discourse and particular but it shouldn’t be and I made a similar tweet over the weekend where it’s like if nothing else if there’s a silver lining to this for us obviously for embiid he just needs to get healthy but for us I hope we can use

This as an opportunity to recognize with embiid in particular but just overall these players don’t play Forever these players don’t play at their peaks forever and with all of the hand ring that embiid gets the ducking conversation the free throw thing I’m not going to make the argument norit

Anyone that you have to have maximum enjoyment with every player in the league or else you are a bad basketball fan I don’t think that’s fair it is okay to root against people it is okay for certain players not to be your cup of te but as far as discounting the actual

Skill level that that Joel embiid has he’s only this because of this I don’t think that’s ever been fair and in light of all of the injuries that he’s had to overcome Again Medical Medical Red Flags back at Kansas he his first two seasons he almost won Rookie of the Year playing

What 29 games 30 games because he was that good Malcolm Brockton eventually won it but he’s always had a bit of a timer in light of the health stuff and I just feel like we should take at least some of the edge off with some of these MB takes where it’s like

This dude is phenomenal we should appreciate it even if you don’t fully enjoy it again not asking a Celtic fan or heat fan to root four6 because that’s just team rivaly stuff that’s fine like this dude is really freaking good and again scoring over a point per

Minute Steve just dropped the stat that he was in Wilton MJ company this is one of the most prolific mid-range scores in basketball in addition to what he does on the Block the passing Improvement being able to pick and pop from from three being a defensive anchor all at the same

Time this is one of the best players on the planet and I just hate that some of that just gets dismissed over all of the outside noise it doesn’t have to be that way with embid and it doesn’t have to be that way overall look basketball’s subjective a

Whole bunch of different ways to win there’s a whole bunch of different things that you can like I I for me it’s just okay even if you dislike Joel embiid’s game or you want to call him hashtag uh you know getting to the free throw line all the time the man scored

30 points in like 22 straight games he had a 30 and 10 rebound streak that was insane I think there’s enough room to at least acknowledge yeah that’s pretty good but also at least for me because you end up in a scenario where now Joel embiid’s out and what

Have you appreciated from the season that’s like just just one of the biggest stories in the league just gone for you that’s that’s where I land now I will ask this question you mentioned the trade deadline where are you at with Philadelphia as a whole going forward

Because the landscape of the East has changed as we’ll talk about here in a second a plus T’s the Sixers Now find themselves in the Five Spot a a game behind the Knicks my Math’s right three and a half games behind the Pacers as we record for

Six four ahead of the magic for seven which put them in the play in now magic Pacers little up and down uneven but halton’s minute restriction should end at some point him and seak finally got to win together Orlando is going to compete every single night hash Miami I’m not unlocking your rant

Today no sir not today when you look at it how do you feel about them going forward I think in terms of just their playoff stature like I don’t think they all out of the top six I think there’s enough of a cushion there and if you are of the optimistic

Timeline that you get in beat back in a month or month and a half in theory they should be able to Trad order to the point where they’re maybe they fall to six maybe Indiana passes them but if you get more inconsistency offensively from Orlando and Miami you don’t think both

Of those teams pass them then you get in be back and then you’re fine heading into the postseason I will say just watching Philly I want to see what kind of attention Tyrese Maxi gets and how he deals with that because I would imagine with him beat out he’s

Just going to get more of the game plan coverage similar to jayen Brunton and we touched on that a little bit during the Knicks episode last week and we saw over the weekend if it’s just you teams are more inclin to say hey how about we just put two on the

Ball then crowd the paint let’s see if we can funnel the ball to someone that you don’t want to have to make decisions I’d imagine you Tyrese Maxi sees a little bit more of that like I’ve enjoyed his season overall and I think he done a better job of handling traps

This year but I think it’s going to be a little bit different without embiid at all for at least the next month or so and so this this is going to be an interesting opportunity for Tyrese Maxi to kind of grow within that and even Beyond Maxi just to see

What kind of shots Philadelphia can generate now without imp beat uh well one thing on the Maxi front we saw Brooklyn uh put two on the ball against him uh as the Brooklyn Nets beat them over the weekend so twoe point it’s going to be huge to see the Reps that

Tyrese gets during this time and how much that pays off for him going into the playoffs say NB comes back or going into next year to where now yes you you’ve made the leap you’ve been able to find that Rhythm be able to make plays with embiid uh we’ve seen the drives hit

Now when a team is taking you away how do you adjust now that’s not any different than any young scoring guard is going to have to face on their trajectory you make enough shots you hit enough you know of these buckets we now have to shift our defense to make sure

It’s not you one thing that stood out it’s only two games incredibly unfair sample size two games with that embiid right 50 field goal attempts for Tyrese Maxi six assists yeah so now it’s not just that the fact that he has to quote unquote make plays and make them in a different

Way he still has to do the scoring part too so that’s going to be a different thing for him to balance but I think you know me there’s always an opportunity for a team within injury to be able to find something so now can you find more

Movement it’s outside of Maxi it’s what kind of shots can they generate consistently and what can they open up because if you end up in a scenario where Maxi gets these reps he’s able to handle two on the ball you find a few more movement things now Joel and be

Comes back and I assume if he comes back he’d be at a certain level of Health based on you know two three weeks or so you could put yourself in a different scenario do you recommit defensively just those little things do you find people off the bench that are now able

To elevate and say you know what I got this more Kelly UB we see more Tobias Harris how does that kind of balce out over the course of this stretch it’ll be interesting to see I don’t necessarily see them falling out but I do see you know Indiana Orlando

One run away from making it interesting yeah so it’s going to be important to uh going to be important to keep eyes on Philadelphia during this recent uh during this upcoming stretch rather um I do wonder you know to your point with maxi kind being at the helm of things

Who’s going to step up there like this going to be interesting from a lineup perspective if you were expecting him be back at any point getting a larger sample of here’s Maxi plus Paul Reed plus insert young bench players here like Jaden Springer starting to get a

Little bit more of a run now the defense has always been fun for me to watch can he find his way offensively can he make quick decisions like and he earned his way into all right we got the full compliment maybe we can afford to play

Jon 12 minutes in round one now because of what he showcased during this stretch or maybe we’re getting a little bit more out of Daniel house than we anticipated maybe he can be a reserve wing for us in the important minutes versus just feeling him during the regular season so

I do think this an interesting opportunity again overall of this this just stinks for Joel embiid I hope he’s better and I hope collectively we can all just be better about how we discuss these things uh while we’re still on the injury front just very quickly Zack LaVine

It was announced over the weekend he’s having surgery on his right foot he is now done for the year which again stinks but also as we head to the deadline with Chicago as Al Russo’s name has been mentioned dear rosen’s name has been mentioned this isn’t the first year that either of

Those things happen Chicago seems to be in a weird spot as they’re currently in the playin picture a half game ahead of Atlanta for 10 only two games ahead of Brooklyn right now uh they are four games behind Orlando four and a half ahead uh behind Indiana for that six

Spot does the calculus change at all for Chicago to you heading into the deadline with the LaVine injury well I was gonna flip it to you at first I mean because the interesting part here if you’re going just small picture short term well one it’s unfortunately another season

Where Zack LaVine is going to end up having to sit for a significant amount of time but you found things when LaVine was out a initially as far as Kobe white as far as Caruso uh being able to get more out of some of their different young guys and

Insert some different things Force more D rozan and vich into handling the offensive load what does that mean overall and what do you do big picture-wise I guess would be my biggest question because do we have an answer for what this big three is and of the answer that we have is

There anything that would change your mind on it I don’t know especially in relation to the rest of the East because like even if you feel like you can get a healthy version of LaVine moving forward and you get more of a playmaking bump from him or V is back to hitting

Threes do you feel better about the best version of Chicago than you do about the Knicks right now I would argue the Knicks as a concept because obviously randle’s out right now but like would you feel better about where the Knicks are at their ceiling I wouldn’t and that’s before getting into

Boston that’s before getting into Milwaukee if they’re able to figure out anything and so with that in mind I feel like I have my answer on like what the ceiling of this big three is and considering lavine’s already been in trade discussions dear is expiring and that price for Caruso is

Two first like you could probably get a first and something for Caruso like I would probably be looking into getting stuff for those guys heading into the deadline and just going for a bit of a reset especially in light of what you’ve gotten from Kobe white this year what I

Dumu is doing right now haven’t gotten Del leete from Patrick Williams at a certain point but we just have to see what Pat will like I still like him as a player like I feel like it may be more beneficial to them to try to find a pure blue chipper

Moving forward versus trying to salvage this build because the the LaVine stuff is unfortunate and it continues to be a talking point but it’s true like the Lonzo ball injury just tanked this build through no fault of his own but he was so important on both ends of the

Floor of this group and that going the way that it did like that’s not yeah that’s not Chicago’s fault but that just changes so much of the math of what this could be can I ask you an unfair question sure does Chicago quietly find themselves in a Toronto Raptors type

Scenario very quickly oh in what way dear is an expiring contract so he could just leave uh Lonzo who you mentioned does have a player option we’re hoping he returns but then there’s only one more year on that deal Alex cruso is probably at the I

Don’t want to say the peak of his value you but if you don’t do that guess how many more years he you have him for uh yeah one so Andre Drummond expiring yeah within that context and you don’t want to be in that boat so again like it’s i i as person on

Versus person actually in front office with job on the line it’s very easy for me to say hey just blow this up it ain’t working but I will say like I probably lean towards get what we can for dear get what we can for Caruso and let’s try to build this thing

Out now you mentioned it’s easy to say I believe you’ve said it almost every year that these guys have been together just throw that out there that’s true and I was very ready to take the L that first year where dear’s playing at FR MVP level Lonzo is

Incredible they’re forcing a bunch of turnovers but like that just deflated the build and even then like that was a really tight needle to thread with that group they were hitting it but there wasn’t a guarantee that that was going to sustain either because they would still if they

Stayed healthy there would still be playoff questions for them to answer and maybe they would have maybe they make an Eastern Conference Finals run that year and they would build off of that but even as they were the one seed before everything went haywire there were still

Questions that they would have to answer the fact that they haven’t had the opportunity to do that and it looks like now they just aren’t going to have the ability to do that it feels like Band-Aid ripping time as unfortunate as it is and again it’s not an easy

Decision to make but it feels like that’s where it’s going or at least it should go okay okay get to the D so it’s just rough it’s just rough for Chicago also I’ll throw in Julian Phillips as another name that’s flash he’s been fun oh both F he’s been

Cooking that man gets after it um and then one transaction before we get to some All-Star stuff and then we get to the Cavs we promis the Grizzlies and Rockets agreeing to a trade that I’m not sure many people if any had on the bingo card the Grizzlies getting Victor leipo

And three second round picks the Houston Rockets getting Stephen Adams uh one to be respectfully Messi I would assume that means no jo Landell next year for Houston huh the non- guarantees moving forward on that contract will probably be uh IID imagine he’s elsewhere next year

Which is painful to me as someone that enjoyed his run in Phoenix and thought that was going to be a really good signing and it just has not panned out to this point of the season but any thoughts on the Stephen Adams forcing to Houston obviously out for this year but

Like what kind of fit you see for him with Houston next year oh if he’s there in Houston he’s great now you have uh a little bit of symmetry he’s not alching goon but if you’re talking about an ability to screen if you’re talking about an ability to operate at the elbow

And handoffs he should add some juice to that second unit that he plays with which should hopefully open up the door for Houston as I assume that they will continue to work to add more movement add more flow add more Tempo to their half court offense uh moving forward to

Build on what they built this year you know the Memphis portion of it feels like uh the CBA is coming right yeah we are not trying to mess with that second apron with the jaw contract jiren contract the ban contract still gonna have Markus smart and if we have plans on adding anyone

Else if you remember over the offseason like they were one of the teams that was mentioned throwing out a whole bunch of pcks to try to get Mel Bridges in the room and that’s probably something they could at least attempt to revisit again but clearly Memphis feels like they’re

Still a piece away and they need they need the room and cracks at the Apple get no second round picks it’s not like Houston has done an awful job at uh finding rotation pieces in the draft they need as many Avenues as possible to add that guy since free

Agency might not be the Avenue form him so makes sense from their side the Stephen Adams fit is interesting especially if you’re just projecting him as just a backup like I don’t think eay tries to play him and shinon together at all with any kind of real sample um I guess you

Could make argum for it because of how both of those guys can be used as passers in the high post and stuff but I don’t think we see those two together Adam should absolutely help solidify that second unit and by all accounts just seems to be a really good locker room dude period

So if you want experience and you want accountability and you want someone that can help the young guys grow and also just ease some of the emotional burden off of The Young group Stephen Adams should be prime to do that while it’s in Houston so I like it I hate that we’re

Not going to get to see like the onc court vision of this until next year but caught me off surprise but it was interesting it was certainly interesting to me or since it’s this week they could trade him again you know that possibility does remain so I

Guess we will see what happens heading into Thursday very quickly the All-Star reserves were named in the East Jaylen Brunson Donovan Mitchell Tyrese Maxi Jaylen Brown bam M bio Julius Randle and poo banero though embiid is out for the foreseeable future Judas Randall also going to miss the All-Star games he’s

Dealing with the dislocated Sher who would be your two injury replacements for embi and Randall and in general did you have any issue with the uh the reserves that were named did I have any issue with the reserves that are named hey if you’re watching on YouTube you

Can click on the video where we had did The Old Man and the three things with JJ reic that is my entire lineup I would imagine the answer is no so no I don’t have any issues with it uh I think Trey young is gonna be a no-brainer replacement unless he just

Says I don’t want to do it but I would imagine he’d be at the top of the list I mean it’s kind of a weird dynamic that for the second year in the row 20 points 10 plus assists n i too find it odd but I mean I I think

That he’s been an impactful player especially the way that he’s been playing Hawks have won four in a row uh believe all those are home games I think he’s averaging 30 and 10 during that stretch shooting 50% from the field 60% from three so I would probably lock him

In uh my second name I don’t know if he gets it I would go Jared Allen the Cavs turn around and his play I think his double double streak ended but so now it’s at 17 of his last 18 games he has a double double but since

The injuries have gone down it’s been 18 points 13 rebounds three assists and a block from Jared Allen and so his aggression his consistency defensively been huge there could be an argument for Celtic potentially because of the impact but I don’t know if they get three so

I’d probably go Trey young and Jared Allen we’ll say you okay I got you well this is boring I was also going to go with Trey young and Jared Allen that’s my reserve the Tre is a no-brainer like I had him as a reserve if you want to go

Back to the old man the three things episode but did not make it uh he should be in I think that’s a no-brainer unless he says no pulls a Jimmy Butler something of that sort Jared Allen for all the reasons that Steve named and some more that we’ll get into when we

Get into the actual Cav Deep dive um I really wanted this to be Scotty Barnes and I still feel just you know on aggregate he’s had a tremendous season this recent stretch has not been the kindest for Scotty there’s context to add especially in light of like yaka perto just got

Back this is that’s his most important screener they’re working in New pieces so like there’s context to add it’s not all on him or anything like that but the recent slide plus Toronto’s record certainly doesn’t help the All-Star case with Adam Silver picking it in

Particular so I doubt he gets in I don’t want to go under the radar that he still had a really good season but I can’t get it to Allstar now and I say that as someone that had him on my he was an early reserve for me when we were going

Through the exercise go I forget which year it was but I remember we were doing the Pod and I made a case for Pascal cakam because his numbers like only everyone else that had them were in the All-Star Game or about to be in the All-Star game so like yeah why would he

Not and then he didn’t make it Scotty Barnes is averaging 28 and5 do you know who else is doing that in the East is that Pascal seago uh no Julius Randle Joel embiid and Giannis ah and they’re all allar speaking of which Pascal also having a pretty good season so could

Also be a reserve pick uh if Indie gets two somehow but to the West Devin Booker Anthony Edwards Stephen Curry Paul George Kawhi Leonard Anthony Davis and Carl Anthony towns as your reserves any surprises there because my brow r raised with one in particular um I I was surprised number

One I had Fox and sabonis both in so I guess you can hold my L go ahead if you’re on YouTube smash that in the comments or whatever y’all be Doon yeah go hit that no well no no no hit the Thumbs Up Button don’t hit that don’t

Not not the other one yeah don’t don’t treat me like I’m the rock all right um I I was surprised both Fox and simonis didn’t make it I had them both in I thought for sure at least one would get in just neither um Paul George didn’t necessarily

Surprise me again the West had a bunch of cases so it wasn’t like I was like oh shock Paul George is playing very well the Clippers are playing very well that tends to get rewarded and you got to remember Paul George can cause a headache in a coaches

Meeting he can do everything so you know what I mean it’s it’s it makes sense the Carl Anthony towns thing I would I don’t want to say that it was a surprise that’s going to sound disrespectful but at the same time in my head it was always Edwards and gobear as

The two for the wolves and then it ended up being Edwards and cat and when you look at the the numbers that cat put up in January it’s kind of like oh that kind of makes sense that man was cooking in the month of January I think

I pulled it up real quick he was after 25 a night on 54% shooting and 49% from three with volume so yeah I mean this is this is part of the fun of Allstar we talk about the impact of individual performances against the impact of winning and winning one out in the

West and you know a 60 burger also helps both the numbers and just the wow factor if you want to throw that in there don’t ask me how that game ended though um but yeah like I’m with you I figured it would be Ant for leading the offense and

Rudy for leading the defense the NBA’s best defense for that matter and so a little bit of surprise for me that cat got denied not that he didn’t have a case Steve just laid out what the January was and in general I do feel like it’s gone kind of under the

Radar just how many adjustments cat has had to make on both ends of the floor to really make this work and this is the healthy campaign for cat versus last year where you get year one of Rudy but not a whole bunch of cat and that was

Just a weird fit so like it’s really been a tremendous bounceback year for him he’s had to make a bunch of adjustments playing you know driving against and also defending forward and he’s been really good so like well deserved I just figured that goar would have got the knock there um no Kings

There man sabonis has 31 straight double doubles I’m I’m G find the people that like joic we’re gonna have a conversation at some point oh Lord 19.9 that many rebounds that many assists assist 60% from the field we just transfering takes now we just transferring takes now was

Insane how is that not an all star I yeah yeah like that’s yeah it’s odd and to your point about like winning winning out again I think Anthony Davis is an All-Star he was on my fake ballot made the real one he’s been tremendous should being a defensive player of the

Year race probably a little bit looser than it was than it case a little bit looser than it was ear in the year but should still be in the discussion at the very least but if we are if winning is the thing that actually won out it’s not like the Lakers have been

Winning a ton of basketball games this season if you look at like the sabonis case now again like full disclosure I feel like brow has been better than sabonis this year once you factor in the defense and AD hasn’t had the best offensive context to work with so I

Don’t want that to get misconstrued but if winning is the major factor here than like ad over sabonis that can get a little dicey they get a little bit dicey the Lakers got two the Kings didn’t get one well that’s fine but one of those is LeBron James and

Until LeBron James decides that he no longer wants to play basketball LeBron James is going to be an All-Star he’s getting so like that’s where for me I understand the two Lakers no Kings thing but one of them is LeBron James so one is going to be in and AD

Has been playing well he’s played extremely well he’s well deserved just just the winning argument is the only thing that was pulling if that is thear so that’s just unfortunate again you don’t wish for injuries or anything like that I would imagine if there is a tweak or something before the All-Star

Game sabonis is probably top of the line right so even then and then some other guys that missed out no Kings no goberry we talked about that no Lori Markin and no Brandon Ingram no Al shenon neither one of the rookies Victor wanyama in particular has been insane

If you want to just filter his numbers since Christmas have some fun with that but that’s interesting and we got some Three-Point Contest names Tyrese Halton Daman Lillard Malik Beasley Jaylen Brunton Lori marinan been announced I think the field is eight uh who are three other names that you want to have

In uh it gets interesting now uh I kind of hybrid it like did a hybrid here I we’re not going to see stuff G to be battling Sabrina ycu that’s going to be fun it should be fun put it that way so in my head I’m thinking okay

Where do we go here do they try and knock on Aaron neem Smith’s door and try and get two Pacers in there they do they try and ask do they try and ask Kevin Durant hey you want to do this real quick they’re trying Hey Cat you want to

Repeat you want to do it again I see hey CJ m call him you going to Indiana ah I see I see what would you do if D’Angelo Russell got the invite I mean if he’s gonna shoot like he did in January I ain’t gonna be too

Upset with it man been torching the Nets would he be would he be allowed to take pull-ups oh okay I’m just asking I feel like he gets the Rhythm do you think they asked Paul George I wouldn’t be surprised if they asked is it just going to be pulling

From the All-Star crew thinking about it I’m trying to see what names I know you got some deep names like is this is this how Dereck white goes it gets tricky because like hey man uh vacation with all due respect to Derek white and I know how well he shot like

That’s been part of the All-Star case Forum that feels very much polar bear Arlington Texas if he’s in the Three-Point Contest I’m just going to be you know as respectfully as I know how could win it we’ve seen some fun ones but like just on the surface that feels

You know what you’re going to name a thunder I’m gonna name one that’s gonna annoy you Jaylen Williams you already gonna be there that’s true that’s true that’s true can I get to some of my names yes like if we are just rewarding top tier three-point Shooters one have we gotten a Grayson

Grayson Allen announcement H I do not think we have if not he should at least get an invitation he’s shooting 49% from three on over five attempts like he has just been the best three-point shooter in basketball this year like that should at least warer a call even if he says

No uh you are absolutely right that I was going to name a thunder Isaiah Joe would be my name shooting 42% from three on nearly five attempts he should have been in the gosh darn contest last year so if you want to make that up to him

Give him the invite but beyond that if he’s an injury replacement I imagine Trey is going to be there he’s shooting 38% from 30 on9 attempts you could ask Trey to do it if you want to call on all reliable who after a cold start is now

Shooting 37% for three on high volume you could ask clay don’t think he’s gonna have any issue shooting the basketball uh Anthony Simons is another name if you want to get another young guy in there so that’ be like some of my short list candidates the the the Grayson Allen

Shadow is a good one I I do love when there’s uproar like I can’t believe this person’s done the Three-Point Contest I always want to raise my hand be like they might have just said nah now we got this vacation book for the Bahamas I don’t think I’m going to the

Beach yeah like I don’t I’m I’m averaging 34 minutes a game I I actually just want to I want to watch football game eat food okay let’s get to some Cavs talk oh can I ask a question oh go ahead Doc Rivers Allstar head coach do you have any

Thoughts it would appear as he has thoughts and he wants to say no which honestly like I appreciate like hey I just got here really Adrian earned this and I’m sure Bucks fans would push back on earn but that’s not this is not the time for that conversation Adrian

And his staff earned this if Adrian can’t do it Joe PR’s been here all year let’s let him do it let’s let the rest of Adrian staff do it and then we’ll just reconvene like I honestly feel like that’s pretty cool like there are going

To be some very obvious dot just want a vacation jokes and that’s probably like 10% of it at least but like I do think it’s a real it’s a nice gesture like I hope the NBA allows it I haven’t seen like it’s confirmed that he’s not going

To do it or anything so I don’t want to speak out of term but I feel like that’s a nice touch for him also giving the All-Star ring and the bonus and stuff to Adrian like that’s that seems fair uh very classy very classy for do to do

That especially to highlight the work that the not just Adrian Griffin did but the assistant coaches that remained did I think that’s a good hat tip very good I did find it a little ironic uh the just the by line of with his first win as coach of the Milwaukee

Bucks Doc Rivers punched his ticket to the allstar game like I feel like that doesn’t make a bunch of sense and then you know the other thing what’s up because I believe tyo did something similar to that adjacent not like this though it’s kind of funny that the only

Reason that he’s in this position is because Joe Missoula can’t do it again yet the takes on Joe Missoula as a coach is dot dot dot yeah kind of just want to get that bar off yeah that’s that’s at least a little bit funny the the back toback rule is in

Place so yeah I think it’s a nice hat Ti from Doc also we can be briefly respectfully Messi like that probably helps the Optics a little bit considering waves arms wildly uh but I think it’s a it’s a it’s a nice gesture nonetheless all right let’s stay out

East let’s talk about these Cleveland Cavaliers we we’ve kept the good people waiting long enough the Cavs as of recording recording early on the Monday afternoon we’re not going to get the Monday slate they do play later tonight so hopefully they don’t get blasted like 30 or something by the Kings with no

Allst stars so there’s some motivation there anyway you know as of recording a 31- 16 record they’re third in the East only a half game back of Milwaukee for the second seed five and a half back of Boston for the top seed they are 18th in offense second in defense seventh in net

Rating per clean of glass which removes garbage time 20th in half court offense second in half court defense uh when facing top 10 defenses the half court offense is 13th when facing top 10 offenses the defense is first ah so we found the reverse knck stat yeah seems so you hype

Now or just continuation to the clippers because they they ranked pretty well against the top 10 too uh best transition offense in the NBA fifth best transition defense in terms of points per possession allowed I’ve had a lot of fun with this Cleveland group so as someone on this

Podcast said uh currently wearing blue that once the injuries for Darius Garland and Evan Mo were announced that this was a unique opportunity for Cleveland to have some role players step up for J Allen to potentially do more for Don Mitchell to take more ownership Cleveland as a whole could maybe find some

Things I think it is fair to say that they have certainly done that uh since December the 15th an 18-4 record for the Cleveland Cavaliers they’ve had a good offense the defense remains Elite they’ve actually had the best defense in the league since that stretch and I’ve just enjoyed

Watching them work like watching Isaac aoro Dean Wade and Jared Allen on the floor at the same time that’s a whole lot of size and length that’s a lot of ball pressure from Isaac aoro a lot of smart rotations from Dean Wade the interior presence of Jared Allen when

They bring them up to the level of the screen they can afford to do so because they have so much length behind that especially if it’s okoro guarding the ball and they have a more dangerous threat you want to just get the ball out of that players’s hands you got a whole

Bunch of size and length rotating behind that the rotations for Cleveland has probably been the most fun part of their defense so I’ve really enjoy watching them get together defensively and then offensively I feel like I’ve had more fun watching Jared Allen than anyone else and that’s not intended to be

Disrespect to Donan Mitchell who has been insane all year and especially during this stretch pullup shooting the drives the increased playmaking we’ll dig deeper into those shortly Donovan Mitchell has been Cleveland’s best player so that’s not the argument I’m making but in terms of my personal enjoyment watching Jared Allen get more

Elbow touches more High post touches watching him play make out of that him and Max stru hooking up for D dribble handoffs stru consistently hitting them on the pocket pass watching the level of physicality that Jared Allen is playing with both as a screener uh he’s one of

The guys that I’ve highlighted for screen screen time but even as a finisher not quite sabonis but hitting first when he gets those deep seals when he gets into the post getting the offensive rebound making sure he’s going up strong to try to get more shots uh shots up or get to

The free throw line that part has been fun and then as part is a part of Cleveland’s transition offense and their early offense Jared Allen as a trailer has been a lot of fun for me not a stretch big at all so you don’t have that shooting threat but he just has the

The Perfect Blend of will grab this board fling an outlet and then run as fast as I can to get a deep seal a very deep seal and force pressure on defenses that way or let me just Trot up the floor you’re going to swing this across to Donovan Mitchell or another ball

Handler we can flow into this early drag screen and we can play out of that or let’s pitch this back to Jared Allen now I go to a handoff or pick a roll on either side of the floor he can make decisions from there and I feel like the

Way that they’ve been able to utilize Jared Allen as helped invert the offense overall but it’s also helped with some of the flow even if all the numbers don’t necessarily reflect that right now cuz like if you look at like the stru Allen pick and roll numbers or the

Mitchell Allen pick and roll numbers those aren’t like one. three points possession or anything crazy like that but in terms of the flow that Cleveland is getting into and the kind of pressure that they’re putting on defenses I feel like that bods well from a process standpoint as you work Darius

Garland back into it as Max strw who I feel like has played well on both ends but just has not shot well from three um during this stretch since December 15 in particular as those shots go in I feel like Cleveland’s going to be a they’re going to have better flow offensively

They’re going to put more pressure on defenses and the numbers should start to back that up in terms of the shooting and I think that makes them a dangerous team in light of what their defense already is we’ve been thinking about the Cavs almost all season long time almost all

Season and I I find it interesting it’s now it’s time to tap the button and and you know you you talked about the man in the blue you go back and we wondered what would happen with Cleveland during that stretch with no mo with no Garland you hit on a lot of the

Positives about it but I think big picture-wise this stretch feels important not just for their potential or being able to survive or Thrive playoff positioning or the playoff context which we’ll touch on I think it just ties into them as a unit and if you go back

To last season the disappointment in the playoffs and it’s not just a disappointment in the playoffs it’s a disappointment that’s very loud as far as how it happened we’re daring these people to make shots we’re daring your bigs to make shots we’re attacking your guards to have that happen to have those

Guys go down to recommit defensively to keep your principles and build on what you did off offensively to do that without two of your key Parts there I just think that’s huge and now you look at it hey would they add more movement would they add streu would Jared Allen benefit

Would Donovan Mitchell go Donovan Mitchell yes the answer was yes you mentioned the 18 and four Mark that’s the best winning percentage in the NBA during that span Nick guys let that sink in for a second yeah if you pull it back to November 15th Cleveland is 27- 10 that’s

Second behind Boston for the best record in the East during that span and news flash they have the same amount of losses they both have 10 14 and eight on the road are the Cleveland Cavaliers do you know what that is nayas that’s got to be one of the best

Marks in the East that is the best road record in the NBA and think about the Cavs being where they are right now three seed half game behind Milwaukee for two 13 Gams of Garland Mitchell streu Moy and Allen as a starting lineup eight and five record seems like some positive

Indicators are there for Cleveland drinking in man identity is so important for success in this league if you can find your identity if you can trust your identity if you can build on your identity it will carry you through a diversity bookmark that bar no matter matter what playoff

Limitations you want to stamp on the Cleveland Cavaliers it’s clear they have an identity and the way they’re playing it’s clear they believe in it I think there’s multiple ways we can go about it but I think you have to tip the cap to Donovan Mitchell he’s having a career year

Folks 28 a night six in the league is fantastic in scoring it’s a career-high 5.5 rebounds for me it’s a career-high 1.9 steals a night for me it’s a career-high 6 point four assists for me that’s going to paint the picture of his impact you know the month where there was no Darius

Garland and no Evan Mobley for most of it man average 28 and 7.6 assists we should probably talk about that instead of where’s he gonna go should they trade him should they trade Darius Garland this is a good basketball team I think what they do gets hidden

Because if you talk about defense these days what are people talking about with defense these days what defense okay that’s mostly it do you think people see defense uh not as much as they should so for me the biggest key to defense these days is sustaining your efforts can you

Clean up help and recover you are going to have to defend multiple actions multiple sets multiple drives watch the Cleveland Cavaliers especially with Evan Mobi back watch his help defense watch Jared Allen’s help defense watch Donovan Mitchell’s help defense they’re not perfect they have breakdowns they’re

There to help each other though that’s a massive difference and I know Advanced stats are fantastic and everyone loves them I enjoy them too so this is not an analytics rant don’t worry I’m not going to drop the a word which by the way when people say that they talking about somebody they

Just don’t want to tell you anyways Cas holding teams the third lowest points per game fourth in the league and opponent field goal percentage that is something that you can carry with you to the playoffs and I’m glad you mentioned Max stru I think he has been so huge for this Cleveland Cavaliers

Team the shooting numbers are what they are but I don’t think those tell the full story of his impact for this team it’s not just about being able to space him and teams being worried about him when he’s spaced it’s the usage is being able to use him off ball that

Enhances that movement for Cleveland which is a big key for them I’ve sat here for the last two years Cleveland Tempo start your sets earlier play with a flow guess what they’re doing now they do that consistently almost every night is it always as fast as I would like it no but

They are going to get from option A to B to C and having Max stru who not only is a reputation shooter he is someone that’s going to add value to those sets that you run it’s going to add value to the movement it’s going to add value to when you play

Outside of the play and now we can dribble hand off to streu or he can hit jiren Allen and cut and now we can dribble hand off to someone else or now we can set a stagger those little things that Cleveland does offensively it’s huge and part of that is stru now the

Best part for me with Cleveland it’s not just the struce you can use those same sets with Donovan Mitchell with Darius Garland with Sam Maro Caris LeVert if you want so now as you make substitutions you get deeper into your lineup you can keep a level of consistency George Nang Dean Wade can

Space the floor they can also keep things moving you mentioned the force that Jared Allen has played with which has been key for Cleveland we’ve seen who else play well at the five Evan Moy right so now if you’re the Cleveland Cavs what you’ve done

Is hey we got two guys that can play well at the five we have multiple guys who play alongside them at the four we have shooters that we feel comfortable spacing and moving we have point of attack guards who could score and create we have a little bit of Harmony in our lineups

No yeah that’s something you can take with you to the playoffs Caris LeVert has anyone called him the the Bastion of consistency no no they have not you know he’s been this year consistent pretty consistent another year where he has fought his tail off defensively where the decision- making is a little bit

Quicker Ste you know to steal your line like is it always as quick as I want it to be does he nail that portion of it 100% of the time he does not but it does feel better I think he’s been steady and I think it ties into this group of guys

Who know their jobs know their responsibilities they go out there and execute it Isaac aoro I’m going take these shots when they’re there I’m also going to drive the ball now what happens when I drive the ball we’ll see we gonna see but there’s no hesitation hesitation is not there

For me Sam Merill hey I’m here to do one job one job only I’m here to let it fly and you know what the sneaky part is we’ve talked about Sam Mar over the course of the Pod he has played his way into these minutes defensively that man is playing like he

Does not want to go back to the bench so you want to put me in action here’s a show here’s a recover oh no you slide under oh I got to switch now all right fine funnel two Health but that’s that’s kind of what Cleveland’s got and I think that’s kind

Of the fun thing I don’t know if they get enough credit offensively for what they do in all honesty they do a great job of combining actions when they’re really humming in the half court that’s been the most fun they just put different actions and sets together

Dribble handoff into a pin down into more dribble handoffs here’s jiren Allen setting the screen we don’t have anything oh here’s Jared down at the elbow as you mentioned oh here’s a dribble hand off to Max streu he cut back door wait we float in the stack

Pick and roll my goodness oh it’s Donovan Mitchell as a screener and a popper we didn’t get it clean the first time let’s rescreen so Donovan Mitchell can screen and pop oh no and then I I just it’s for me it’s the it’s the kind of shots they’re generating and the

Float they have that gives me confidence now when it comes to the playoff do you trust what you’ve seen I trust most of it okay and it’s funny that you asked that because one of the questions I wanted to ask you as we brought up like what Mo’s been able to

Do with the five more recently what Mo’s been able to do at the five as he’s come back how other guys stepped up Etc my question to you is going to be in light of the smallest sample because of injuries you mentioned 13 games with the with their ideal starting lineup do you

Feel better about the double big setup and moreover do you feel better about the double big setup within a playoff context because that still feels like the biggest question surrounding Cleveland and where all of the Annoying trade talk comes in with the group like do you feel better about that

Portion yes in the sense that they don’t have to use it the entire game M that’s where I feel better now I wouldn’t go this far but there’s a world where you can say hey who’s their best closing lineup and actually have a conversation is it Moy and Allen

Together or is it one of them plus pieces I think that’s a positive step for Cleveland now you do want to make sure you can figure out that portion of the program because your defense is a whole lot better when those two are playing together but it’s a lot closer cler

To the ideal of Minnesota to a degree where at one point we’re going to have a great big on the floor at all times how they maneuver through that lineup wise closing wise is going to be interesting but the pieces are there I feel more comfortable with that portion of the

Program knowing that if it doesn’t work they could pivot and not fall off than before where y’all need to make this work oh no no they making both y’all finish oh no we don’t have a pivot yeah and to that point just very quickly 690 possessions per clean the glass with

Evan Moy and Jared Al the floor together they are positive a plus 3.1 net rating but that is off the strength of their defense a 106.8 defensive rating that’s in the 97 percentile a 109.0 offensive rating which is in the 14th percentile so still some things to work out

Offensively but again we got to let the sample grow this is in the midst of not having Garland and Mitchell a lot together is in the midst of having a lot of Max stru but shot difficulty plays into plays a part of it but overall like he hasn’t

Shot as well as you would expect for him if any of that improves those numbers are going to look a lot better which is why I think both of us are of similar minds like okay let’s see what you’re trying to do obviously results matter when you get to

The playoffs you just got to win but let’s see what you’re trying to establish and see how that feels like I do think they are like the the usage with Jared Allen in particular not that this is new that they’ve used Jared Allen as like a elbow Hub or something

Like that but being able to up the volume to that degree and get those kind of results makes me feel even better that okay we can invert this anytime we want to if we do want to use Jared All in This Way like I feel more comfortable stagger away first guy goes

Okay now here’s a pitch to Darius Garland now you’re just flowing to an empty side something with uh with Evan Moy now and jald now has his being pulled away from the paint or making the help decisions even tougher because he’s about to break defending Jared Allen

Like I feel better about them able to flow into that kind of stuff than I was last year so like I think that por should be fine also very quickly as you get as you got into the belief in Cleveland very surprised you didn’t drop a beli uh believeland fund I was

Expecting that from you but that’s all right that’s all right um but no like that’s I just want the starters to get a larger sample now I don’t really want to hear the trade Garland trade M stuff right now like let’s let them get healthy and watch this core grow

Together obviously Cleveland still has some pretty big questions to consider heading into the offseason depending on how the season goes like can’t completely ignore that but we’ve seen Darius Garland be Allstar good Donovan Mitchell is All-Star good and it’s going to factor into the MVP conversation to

At least some degree like he wouldn’t be in my top two or top three right now but at the very least he’s going to be in the conversation we’ve seen Jared Allen Allstar good Evan Moy we’ve seen the All-Star flashes particularly the second half of last year heading into the playoff

Series against New York we saw oh snap this guy’s a terrifying Defender he is shooting with more confidence he’s making quicker decisions as a driver oh no if this is year two year four might be terrifying so let’s let this group continue to grow together I’m glad you

Brought up Sam marrow because I love the movement stuff with him I love both that they can just run him off a bunch of screens but also he can just be the initial screener and something and then fly off to the other side defenses do not have fun chasing that dude around

Also love how quickly not only does he have a job to do just how quickly he does his job just many a Cleveland game Sam Mar has checked in sideline inbound oh no Sam Merill is taking a three we need to account for him a little bit

Better than we have already um so like that portion has been fun and back to Isaac aoro very quickly cuz I just kind of quickly went over the defense for him has been fun and it has been I’m glad you brought up the decisiveness that he’s playing with the drives he feels a

Little bit more comfortable the results him as a finisher like you still waiting on that to get better but the defense has been so fun he’s had to take on so many tough assignments like go back to the Clippers game he’s had to deal with James Harden and Kawhi Leonard when

Necessary taking on Kade Cunningham watch the most recent Bucks game where he had uh Damen Lillard and Dame did not have fun dealing with Isa aoro so he’s had to take on some tough assignments his help has been good and I was like okay I felt really good about Isaac a

Coro’s defense and over this recent stretch I felt really good about it and I think we had a brief conversation about it during one of our online watch parties which Link in the description folks come watch basketball with us where I was like I don’t think I think

We both decided like I don’t think he’s going to make in all defense teams but he should at the very least be in the discussion because he’s been that good like he probably falls in the the kcp camp for me to where you watch him he’s very important to a really good defense

And he should get consideration but he may not have like the box score numbers or even the advaned numbers to really make the case strong in light of the all defense teams been position lless but he’s been insane so this morning I was like okay cool all the games through

Sunday are updated let me look up some ACC Coral numbers let’s see if I can get something that can contextualize what he’s doing uh 0.92 points per possession on any trip featuring a coral defended isolation that’s good it’s down to 0.85 uh since December 15 which is also very

Good he’s defended 265 off ball screens only 0.9 points per possession allowed on those that’s a good number he’s defended 122 dribble handoffs 0.74 points per possession allowed on that that’s the second best Mark among 140 players that have defended at least 100 number one’s Quinton Grimes and then

When defending pick and roll 0.94 points per possession there that’s 12 of 51 players that have defended at least 500 here are some of the names that he is ahead of on that list you may have heard of them Derek white cavius callwell Pope hi hello Lou Dort Alex Caruso herb

Jones so again that’s just to put this is just he’s in this class just to conceptualize that portion of the program these are some of the names that Isaac Coro is in the room with if you want to contextualize how good SL how important he’s been defensively oh what

Were you about to say I was ask is this you uh revving up those friers to serve up some fried aoro uh for all defense there’s no way you’re proud of that there is no way that you are proud of that and also I mentioned up top watching a Coro Wade

And uh Jared Allen defend together one the Mitchell strew a Coro Wade Allen Group has a plus 20.2 net rating in 452 possessions one of the best lineups in basketball but with a coral way now on the floor together a 108 defensive rating in those possessions the wolves

Have the best defense in the league their defensive rating is 108.5 per clean the glass so just with those three and while I’m here props to Dean Wade who also has to switch all over the place and take on some tough matchups the help has been good for him as well

Also he is hitting threes this year that seems important for this group and as Cleveland has consistently looked for okay who is a four that we could play alongside Jared Allen or Evan mbling when they delone Center the fact that Dean he’s always done the field the Gap

Stuff and defend it well the fact that the shooting is also complimenting all the little things that he does it helps those lineups pop even more so Dean Wade absolutely deserves a shot as well but yeah like I I’ve really enjoyed watching these guys step up the one sad

Part of the run for me is not their not anyone’s fault or I guess not directly anyone’s fault but with Sam Merill playing the way that he has with lebert playing the way he has now you get Darius Garland back into the into the foil I I do miss watching Craig Porter

Jr he he was having a fun rookie season I can’t justify him getting like 25 minutes now in light of what the guard room has been and turned into but like I I just enjoyed watching that dude play watching that dude post people up and get Block shots and snaking picking

Rolls and playing with his own Cadence like he’s just a fun play so I just wanted to quickly throw that in there but a lot of players have stepped up during this recent stretch all all right all right let’s let’s get to the business question then all this all this

All this do you trust Donovan Mitchell and Darius Garland on defense in the playoffs we gonna shoot it straight they gonna be putting action do you trust it I tell you what if Donovan Mitchell continues to defend like this I think it’s going to be a yes on the Mitchell

Front he’s long been very quick defensively he has good hands he has the plus plus plus Wings span he’s always had the tool and since he’s been in Cleveland like he has really competed on defense and if he’s going to defend at the level that he’s defending this year I think I’m a

Yes on Mitchell Garland is where it gets shaky I don’t think it’s going to be an effort deal for him but like the last time we saw him like we know he’s going to be a show and recover like some of those angles can get a little bit questionable and just

In general he is smaller than Mitchell and so I do kind of worry something that we saw last year you just see like guard actions all right let’s see how Mitchell and Garland defend stuff together versus let’s just pick on one they’re going to have to clean that up like is that going

To be a show to is that just G to be a clean switch and then you just trust the help behind that if it’s the ladder Cleveland should be better equipped to deal with the garland uh portion of the program so I guess overall I lean I’m closer to yes than I

Was last year if that makes sense I don’t want to write that down in pin like I think they have more options they have more Avenues to solve this where’s your confidence level it’s going to be interesting I think that’s where where do they land becomes very important like if they get

The two seed do things just get interesting or do they get here’s Paulo and fron attacking those two here’s Jimmy Butler trying to attack those two here’s Demar D rozan trying to attack the anyways big dog that’s what I was looking for right there I got it let’s say he big dog

Kyp I think ultimately it’s one of those things that they know it’s coming so I would hope that they have a game plan in place to show and recover and get back and know when to help and when to exit it shouldn’t be the game breaker it was

To degree last year but if the offense is better you feel better about your help defense you feel better about your line UPS you should be able to at least isolate that into okay this isn’t going these possessions aren’t going to absolutely cost us because we’re playing

At X Pace or we’re scoring X points you know what I mean yeah okay makes sense makes sense uh one question I have for you before we get into the W portion of the program uh you know friend of the program dear pal cter Rodriguez sent us a bunch of stats based

On what the C where the Cavs were before all the injuries took place and where they’ve been since and I updated those earlier today one thing I did want to harp on was the shot profile for Cleveland the types of shots they’re generating uh since December 15th they

Are eighth in Rim rate they are last in mid-range rate they don’t take a bunch of those their second and three-point rate and in terms of field goal percentage from those areas 16th at The Rim 12th in mid-range 17th from three entering the season we had questions about you know they added the

Shooting how much hit how much would that mean for Cleveland’s offensive ceiling if the shooting doesn’t tick up to a meaningful degree and we enter the postseason how does that impact their playoff ceiling to you shot generation for me can you generate these type of shots I think since December 12th

They’re third in the NBA on made threes per game they made 15.2 so if you can generate these type of shots you open things up as opposed to these are the shots you have to to take and now you have to make these shots that you have to take that’s the

Line for me with Cleveland in particular now this ultimately could end up being their weakness let’s put some sides on Donovan let’s tack them on the other end let’s make these guys shoot like the formula is still there it’s on Cleveland to overcome it but it’s the fact that

They’ve worked to overcome it that is a highlight for me okay makes sense uh any closing thoughts on the cast before we move nah oh no you know what respect JB biggera it’s my closing thought put some respect on his name the man been coaching he’s got those guys playing

Hard and again Cleveland has been one of the best teams in the NBA since mid December and as steeve pointed out 27 to 10 since November 15th I think was the date that you gave that’s pretty darn good and it’s not like Cleveland wasn’t a really good regular season team last

Year too so like they they have won Under J so Props to the Cavs we will keep an eye on them moving forward uh to close this out with some W news not as active uh as that initial Thursday because good Lord it was hard to keep up

Hold on a minute player what’s up before you say what you about to say can I interrupt with things that you did not notice while we were on this podcast uh yes yes you can returning uh a returning segment now I do not and I apologize I don’t know who did it first

I don’t know who put the news out first I am sorry in advance okay Bri Jones back to the Connecticut Sun oneye deal ah danana Bonner back to the Connecticut son there you go okay they did it they did it cause buddy and I’m glad we we

Can flow right into the sun there because uh one free agent that isn’t returning for the Connecticut sun is Rebecca Allen as the sun in the Mercury agreed to a sign in trade the son getting Mariah Jefferson point guard in that deal uh Mariah everon 10 and a half

Points nearly four assists and a steal last year for the Mercury and the Mercury getting Rebecca Allen who was one of the best defenders in the League last year didn’t make an all defense team but had a very strong case LED all perimeter players in blocks averaged nearly a steal shot 35% from

Three and one of the primary questions I was going to have was hey if Rebecca’s gone there’s even more pressure to BR danana back because if you aren’t able to do that and she was mentioned you know link to Seattle link to Phoenix that Wing room is going to have

To do some stuff that have to get more from d kington in particular who had a good year last year could have won six player of the year had a case for it until like things kind of tailed off last couple weeks of the Year whatever bringing danana back is huge

And Bri Jones got the court designation so I’m interesting to see like what they agreed to I would imagine it’s going to be submax on that oneyear deal but I do want to see where that comes in but that’s a good bit of work for Connecticut bringing those two players

Back how do you feel about Rebecca Allen and the Phoenix and how are we feeling about Mariah Jefferson’s fit in Connecticut I love Rebecca Allen Phoenix Phoenix continuing to make moves I think Rebecca Allen did a whole lot for that Connecticut team I I think her efforts were huge and

Fit right into the system offensively defensively I thought she was had a Resurgence guarding multiple positions being able to keep the ball in front blocking shots carrying that to Phoenix with what they have already I’m intrigued because now we can get after you defensively you may have some qualms

About some of the people that are doing the getting after part but if I have Natasha cloud and I have Rebecca Allen and I have BG in in the back I feel good about my defensive prospects and we also can space the floor a little bit better we can make

Some more solid plays we can move the ball a little bit more functional I think the pieces are coming together for Phoenix Mariah Jefferson is a good fit for me in Connecticut okay for me I it’s it’s for me it’s been like can we just find or a spot that

Works just hoop I think Connecticut gives me those vibes what say you okay I got you just quickly on the Mariah front you know bouncing off of what you said there like it was the Dallas run it started out hot and then hey what’s going on here with the roster spot they

Made some trades okay where does Mariah slide in then it was the Minnesota run then was the Phoenix run but then thanks fart with Phoenix but she was still good I’m glad that she’s just firmly on a good team and I do think her ability to

Push the pace is going to slot right in to the emphasis that Stephanie White had with Connecticut I think she’s absolutely going to get them into their stuff earlier she’s gonna be able to push in transition by herself uh she has shot well from three over the past three seasons not high

Volume though the fact that she has gotten more comfortable as a pull-up mid-range shooter gives them a nice little counter late in clocks so she can get to that and then defensively the way she can pressure the ball her quick hands I think she’s going to be a really good fit in Connecticut

And as far as Rebecca Allen goes like you pretty much nailed it like the fact that she you got Natasha Cloud at the point of attack you got Rebecca Allen that can just swoop in and you also have Britney grinder at The Rim like that seems like a pretty solid

Foundation so like that’s a pretty nice slot and then offensively the fact that at any given moment you can run Diana terasi off screens and Ben defenses you can run Sophie Cunningham off screens and make them think Rebecca Allen can flow off screens you make them think

Having that kind of shooting and that kind of movement around the Natasha Cloud drives Natasha Cloud pick and rolls with Britney grinder the britty grinder post-ups also helps Rebeca Allen very willing screener physical screener so if you want to just get into just your basic cross screen for BG that’s GNA be

A lot of fun like I can imagine cross screen for BG she’s flying off of a stagger off a pin down on the other side what the defens is do with that so Rebecca Allen is just going to be a valueable at on both ends of the floor

Like that’s really good work from Phoenix who continues a pretty strong offseason so far and it may not be done what what we got we good you sure uh The Sun Also weren’t done adding a St do fall to a one-year deal um 125k on that deal it’s a protected contract

That’s from Richard Cohen of her hoop stats uh we last Saw do fall in 2021 when she played for Chicago Scot they won the title that year actually shot a career high from three in that season uh nailed over 40% for threes wasn’t the highest volume but fun offensive big at

The very least can pass but like the pick and po ability is really going to stand out there and so I’m excited for the fit in Connecticut if they want to have some size and some spacing elements there like I would imagine they’re not going to start together but you can

Sprinkle in some minutes with her and at together at with the playmaking that she provides or if you just want to invert things we got do fall above the break the space you can play her and Olivia Nelson the ad DOTA together Off the Bench you you kind of invert things that

Way so like that seems like a solid scheme fit I do want to see what the defense looks like at this stage and just how scheme versatile she can be in Connecticut but like those were some of my early thoughts did you have anything

On to Ste I did not okay fair enough uh last signing that we had was Mo’Nique Billings leaving the Atlanta Dream signing a two-year deal with the Los Angeles Sparks uh average Five Points and five boards in roughly 17 minutes per game last year for the dream um in

Nine starts average seven points and eight boards it’s a bit of a homecoming she did play at UCLA and that was mentioned in the press release as well like very happy to have her back in the area period and but she is a wildly vet that should help an

Increasingly young Los Angeles Sparks team but I do think the defense is going to be pretty important for this group her being able to slot four to five sometimes three through five defensively she cleans up a lot and offensively being able to generate extra possessions with her offensive rebounding I think is

Going to be important for this team as well so like makes sense to get a vet in the room the Sparks will need them I get the fit as far as the scoring portion like hasn’t been a stretch threat I don’t think they’re going to dump it down to

Her on the Block unless she has a mismatch she is really good at sealing players off so if it is a transition opportunity or somebody botches a switch she has a guard on her she will absolutely put that guard underneath the basket so you may get the occasional

Dump in there but this is very much for defense and rebounding for my view did you have anything on Monique Billings all right fair enough quick thoughts there it is Dame time which means it’s time for us to hit the horns thank you for listening to and or watching

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Nekias Duncan and Steve Jones Jr. are back with another episode of The Dunker Spot! The East playoff picture is shifting by the day and WNBA free agency is heating up — feels like a good time to talk about both.

0:00 Intro
0:55 The unfortunate reality of Joel Embiid’s injury, and how we can all be better
12:55 How should the Bulls move forward in light of Zach LaVine’s season-ending injury?
19:05 Way-Too-Early thoughts on Steven Adams’ fit in Houston
22:20 All-Star reserves announced + 3PT shootout thoughts
37:00 What we like about the Cleveland Cavaliers
46:05 The importance of the Cavs movement and consistency
51:00 Current trust level in the Cavs
55:50 Love for Sam Merrill, Isaac Okoro, Dean Wade and others
1:00:50 The Garland-Mitchell defense question
1:03:40 What if Cleveland doesn’t shoot much better in the playoffs?
1:06:00 WNBA Free Agency update featuring the Sun, Mercury, and Sparks

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