Time for the Cleveland Cavaliers to Split Up the ‘Core Four’? | Locked On Cavs Podcast

Time for the Cleveland Cavaliers to Split Up the ‘Core Four’? | Locked On Cavs Podcast

on today’s show the Cavs might want to keep the core four together but splitting it up makes the most sense you are locked on Cavs your daily Cleveland Cavaliers podcast part of the locked on podcast Network your team every day thanks for making locked on Cavs your first listen every day the best way you can help grow the show listen every day leave a five star review subscribe wherever you get your podcast like the video on YouTube you’re available free and everywhere you get your podcasts as well as on YouTube also really want to do a mailbag episode coming up to close out this week aiming to do that on Friday if you’ve got questions if you’ve got comments leave a comment on YouTube you can tweet me at RealD Cunningham you can email the show at lockon Cavs we’re part of the lockon podcast Network your team every day Today’s Show brought to you by FanDuel visit fanduel.com locked on and make every playoff shot count FanDuel America’s number one sports book I’m Danny Cunningham back for day number two as Lockdown Cavs host you might know me for my days covering the Cavs at 923 the fan at Cleveland magazine previously at ESPN Cleveland I’ve been around this team for quite a while now was around during the LeBron James era the second one that that is I’m not necessarily old enough to have been a professional back when LeBron was in Cleveland the first time but was around for much of that second era also Once Upon a Time covered the Minnesota Timberwolves for score North have covered the Milwaukee Bucks up in Wisconsin and have done some NBA draft and NBA coverage for complex uh we will be getting into draft talk a little bit coming up later on in this this month I know some of you out there are asking about that we will get to the draft talk the Cavs have the number 20 over off selection but on today’s show the Cavs have been reported that they’re not that interested in breaking up the core four they’re not exactly aggressive in listening to trades that was reported by Yahoo sports late last week I don’t think that’s the right idea I think that to get the most out of this team to get the most out of this group splitting it up is the right answer I’m not saying everything needs to be split up I want to start in the back court I want to start with Donovan Mitchell I want to start with Darius Garland because that’s where all of these questions immediately go to and the biggest question with the Cavs this entire offseason really what I think is one of the biggest questions in the NBA not just with the Cavs but in the entire league is what is Donovan Mitchell going to do when the Cavs offer him a contract extension so the Cavs by rule now in the NBA are allowed to talk to Donovan Mitchell about a contract extension once the finals are over NBA Finals Boston Dallas you know it starts Thursday it’s been a really long time without basketball like it feels like forever but as soon as that series ends whether one of these two teams wins in a sweep one of these two teams wins in seven games or somewhere in the middle once this series ends the Cavs can talk to Donovan Mitchell about a contract extension Donovan might not have an answer right away might take a little bit of time he might decide hey I love it in Cleveland I want to sign this extension I want to figure out how to win in Cleveland very well could be the answer or he could say you know I’m not crazy about signing this extension that will answer a lot of questions for the Cavs that they have I don’t think it answers all of the questions but once that happens eyes are going to look to either trading D ofan Mitchell or moving on from Darius Garland I think there’s a world in which it makes sense to move on from Darius Garland if Donovan Mitchell does commit to that contract’s extension it was reported by the athletic that if Mitchell does sign the extension that clutch Sports Darius Garland’s agency would likely approach the Cavs and have a conversation about moving Darius to a different situation I don’t believe this is a situation where Darius and Donovan don’t get along that’s not what I’ve witnessed firsthand it’s a situation as to where you know maybe Darius Garland can’t be the best version of Darius Garland in this situation I think that’s an understandable take to have I totally get it but I also don’t know that that is entirely true I do think that they can get more out of Darius Garland in Cleveland along side Donovan Mitchell certainly than what happened this year because you look at this season it was a nightmare for Darius Garland the fractured jaw he could never really find a rhythm when he did fracture his jaw he couldn’t eat for a number of weeks he lost I believe it was 15 lbs that he dropped during the season and had to try and find a way to put back on which you know I’ve never had my jaw broken I’ve never lost that amount of weight that quickly and not been able to eat but I can’t imagine that was a very pleasant experience to go through so while I’m not trying to sit here and say oh Darius Garland gets a pass for this year you do have to explain the circumstances that created or helped to create this nightmare of a season for Darius Garland but I do think that there are ways that this pairing can work in Cleveland I’m not saying that it’s even necessarily the best way to go but I think they can work and one question that I have here when thinking about this is you know Darius Garland is thought of as a a true point guard right where he is I don’t want to say The Last of a Dying Breed because that’s not true but it’s it’s become a rare thing where you see the the point guards that are really ped first right where you know when I was growing up you would see someone like Steve Nash and really an early version of Chris Paul where their their goal their job was always to get others involved and Darius is certainly cut along those lines that’s the the cloth that he has cut from and I actually think changing that just a little bit just a little tweak it doesn’t need to be a major overhaul it just needs to be a little tweak I think doing that is something that could really help this offense grow and that is I believe the way for Darius and Donovan to fit together I think that Darius needs to up his three-point shooting not the percentages he’s a good shooter he didn’t have a great year but he’s still a good shooter like that’s not something that’s going to be questioned but the volume needs to go up Darius needs to be taking more of those attempts I actually think both Darius and Donovan if they’re together next year need to be attempting more catch and shoot three-pointers I think that is something that could really help to unlock this Cavs offense because and we’re going to dive in the front Court coming up in just a little bit but I think that’s something that could help to unlock this Cavs offense where you want to see this offense play with one big three Shooters and a point guard right like that is the blueprint right now in the NBA for a successful offense ideally all five guys can shoot but if you’re not in that situation that’s what you want to have you want to have that sort of blueprint the Cavs don’t have that right now but I don’t think it’s necessarily because of Darius because of Donovan I think it has more to do with the front Court we’ll get into that but I think if Darius is more willing to take these catch and shoot three-pointers if he’s more willing to be more aggressive trying to seek out his own scoring rather than forcing in other guys to be involved I think that could go a really long way not only in terms of his game improving and his stock improving which listen I’m not a financial adviser I can’t give advice but I would buy stock in Darius garl that is where I’m at with this because not because I think he’s going to be some MVP candidate or really anything ideally better than the third best player on the Cavs next year but because his stock is so low right now and I just know that’s not the basketball player he is I know he’s a better basketball player than what we saw this year but if the Cavs do have to pick between one of those two guys the answer is so clear it’s so obvious it’s Donovan Mitchell I’m at the point now where I’ve been so impressed and I know Donovan didn’t finish the postseason because of that injury to his calf but even if Donovan decides you know what I want to wait this out I don’t want to sign the extension not saying he’s unhappy in Cleveland but just doesn’t want to commit right away I still might look to move on from Darius Garland if that’s the case I’m not saying it’s an easy decision it’s not but I think that what the Cavs have in Donovan right now is special and you could spend years trying to find a player as good as Donovan Mitchell when the Cavs have Donovan Mitchell it’s like that Meme you know can we get this oh no we have this at home well the Cavs actually do have that at home in Donovan Mitchell I think it can work with Darius but if it doesn’t the answer’s so clear to me which one should be moved on from and it’s not because one of them’s not a good basketball player they’re both fantastic basketball players it’s that Donovan is I think one of the 10 best players in basketball since he’s been on the Cavs go look at his numbers last year go look at what he did this year when he’s been on the floor and healthy he’s been an MVP candidate the Cavs don’t have another guy like that and I don’t think they have an Avenue to find another guy like that but I do think that because of that Talent they can make it work I truly do think that they can make it work if they really really amp up some aggressiveness from Darius Garland and I think amp up three-point shooting volume from him in general and the catch and shoot threes from both of them I think that’s the way to go offensively if the Cavs want to make this work up next does it make sense to try and keep making the front Court work that I’m not so sure of but Today’s Show is presented to you by FanDuel Sportsbook FanDuel sports book is one of my favorites to go to and there are so many great plays right now with the NBA Finals NHL finals going on it’s winner take all in both of those you’ve got the Finals NBA NHL and FanDuel is giving you a shot to bring home a big one of your own you’re you know you can’t raise a trophy but you can go home with some cash I was browsing around the sports book earlier today which I don’t have access to right now in Florida um my background I know not ideal but it is what is we’ll get that straighten away but I think that this NBA Finals is going to be a long series and I was looking at FanDuel okay I think this series is going to go six or seven where you can bet you know I bet Dallas to win or I bet Boston to win you can get fine value especially if you do think Dallas is going to pull off the upset but bet the Series MVP because we know that if Dall wins the finals Luca donic is going to be the Series MVP here we don’t know for certain that if Boston wins the finals at Jason Tatum would be the Series MVP but that’s something I’d feel pretty good about and FanDuel has the option to where you can put those together in an Exacta maybe you like Luca donic and Dallas to win in six games or maybe seven games maybe you like Jason Tatum win Finals MVP and Boston to win in six games or seven games you can get odds on that at FanDuel right now new customers get $150 in bonus Bets with any winning $5 bet that’s 150 bucks to bet on spreads money lines player props and more visit fanduel.com lockon and make every playoff shot count FanDuel America’s number one sports book so the Cavs have a decision to make in the back court I believe at some point that decision might be made for them but I do believe that the decision in the front court for the future of this basketball team for the ceiling of this basketball team is the more important one that they will have to make this off season they might not be the ones that make the decision in the back court that might be made for them but I believe that they have a decision to make in the front court and that decision should be it’s time to split up Tower City it’s time to move on from one of Jared Allen or Evan maybe you’re out there thinking hey Jared Allen’s been an All-Star he had the best year of his career yeah he got banged up in the playoffs and couldn’t finish but he was so good this year and truthfully I think he proved a lot of people wrong after what happened last year in the playoffs against the New York Knicks he came out I thought he had a lot to prove this season on the floor I thought he played like it you look at the start of that Series against Orlando for the first couple of games he was the best player on the Cavs he was he was terrific and then we know he went out with that rib injury things weren’t great for him didn’t play at all against Boston obviously didn’t finish the series against Orlando in the first round either but this isn’t about Jared Allen it’s not it’s not about what Jared Allen is or isn’t because I think Jared Allen is a really good basketball player I think he’s a fantastic Rim Defender I think that offensively he is in a terrific screen Setter maybe not quite but I think he’s a very very good screen Setter which really helps to open up things offensively for some of the Cavs guards and ball handlers that they have he’s a great lob threat he’s reliable in the mid-range but I don’t think he’s got the upside that evoy does and I think that the only way the upside from Evan Mobley is going to come out is if he plays center offensively fulltime I think that has to be a requirement to get the most out of Evan Moy what Evan has done particularly defensively this early in his career has been really impressive I love evans’s game I’ve got a lot of stock in Evan Moy I still think that he can be you know more than an Allstar like I think he is someone that if developed properly can appear on all NBA teams I think that he’s going to be someone that we hear about in Defensive Player of the Year voting for a long long time he’s special on that end of the floor and I don’t really think think that’s a debate but it’s also not a debate that the offense hasn’t come around quick enough for Evan to this point it hasn’t and I think part of that is because he has been playing out of position maybe when he first came into the league and this team of course looked so different you know think back to his rookie year when the Cavs were not playing two seven-footers they were playing three seven-footers at a time as Lowry Markin was really the team’s starting small forward it was a much different look and at that point in time when you know I I think Evan was 20 when he played his first NBA game maybe he was still 19 as a oneandone out of USC I don’t think he was ready to be a full-time Center and maybe even in year two I think you could probably make that case but as we go into year four of Evan Mobley I do think it’s time to see that shift for him from being someone that is you know playing Center at times but primarily a power forward where he sees a lot of his minutes at the four yes he and Jared Allen are split up certainly for significant chunks of the game I actually don’t know that the Cavs split those two up enough during games but it’s a difficult thing when you want to play all of your best players 35 minutes like that’s a tough task to ask of a coach that’s putting together rotation but I do think that Evan needs to be playing the majority of his minutes at Center not just next year but for the rest of his career because part of the thing that he’s being asked to do as a power forward is create space right where you can’t have four or two excuse me non-shooters on the floor Cavs have two guys in the back court that are respected Shooters Max dreu I do think and even some other guys that slide into that three spot do draw some attention on the outside but when you’ve got a four that and I know Evan was was really good shooting the three-pointer after coming back from E surgery I think he actually finished the season at like 37% but that volume is so low that teams aren’t going to respect him like how often did you see yeah Evan was taking those threes Evan was making those threes at a very respectable clip but they’re wide open and they’re wide open for a reason because he’s one of the guys that when opposing teams are putting together their game plans they’re looking at that and say okay yeah shoot that that’s fine we don’t care like we will if if that shot gets made we’ll shake your hand we’ll move on to the next time we’ll just try and get a stop next time good for you that’s how teams and I think we saw this with Isaac aoro a little bit as well too where you know he shot 40% but teams aren’t going to stick to him in the corner because they don’t believe that he can shoot 40% over and over and over again it’s going to be the same thing with Evan Mobley even if he does shoot 40% next year because he’s not shooting a ton of shots from the outside that volume needs to go up and I don’t think you’re actually getting the most out of him as an offensive player if you’re asking him to shoot five or six or seven three-pointers a game I think that’s what it’s going to take to get him to Be an Effective spacer I don’t think it’s worth it at that point I do think that the things he can do translates to playing Center offensively yes he still needs to get stronger I firmly believe that that’ll be the case this offseason he’s not going to be a finished product in year four very few guys are but I expect him to come into next season stronger and more able to play center and with that you look at that and say okay what can the Cavs do offensively to maximize Evan Mobley I think it is playing Center I think him improving as a screen Setter would go a long way but he’s also such a good passer in that short role in those situations to where I would trust him there and I also think it’s worth bringing up I would love to see them run some inverted pick and rolls with him as a ball handling five it doesn’t need to be you know something that’s super frequent but a couple times a game I think that could create some fun mismatches and be a fun wrinkle to throw in offensively and of course we don’t know who the the coach directing traffic is going to be but I think Evan Moy it’s time for him to be the full-time five on the Cavs and the other part of this if we’re being honest after the year that Jared Allen had I’m not sure his value on the trade market is going to be much higher than it is this off season I get it the end of this year the end of the year because of the way that the the playoffs went and he didn’t finish because of that rib injury and some things were said by particularly Marcus Morris that you know might not reflect well I don’t know how much of that’s true I don’t know how much of it’s not but he still had a really good year and he’s still someone that I I do believe a lot of teams across the NBA look at as a very very valuable piece he can do a lot of things really well on both ends of the floor but I just don’t think at this point it’s still a fit with him and Evan Moy and I think that that’s something that the Cavs really need to and should prioritize as they move forward because their ceiling yeah Donovan Mitchell’s going to raise it if he’s still around and I expect them to be Donovan Mitchell is going to raise their floor but the way their ceiling reaches its peak is if Evan Moy is the one that pushes it up there and I don’t think Evan Moy can do that unless he’s the only big guy on the floor I think that’s the answer there up next the Cavs have received permission to interview another head coach we’ll talk about a little bit about mic Nory where I think he falls into the coaching Power Rankings straight ahead right here on locked on Cavs and Today’s Show is sponsored by betterhelp if you’re thinking of starting therapy give better help a try it’s entirely online it’s designed to be convenient flexible suited to your schedule have have therapy sessions when you can better help will help you to do that just fill out a brief questionnaire get matched with a licensed therapist and you can switch therapists at any time for no additional charge get it off your chest with better help visit betterhelp.com locked on NBA today and you can get 10% off your first month that’s betterhelp hp.com lockon NBA going to therapy will be something that can change your life a lot of people out there need help don’t don’t be alone in silence talk to somebody it is something that absolutely can help to put you right back on the the proper track go to better help that’s betterhelp hp.com lockon NBA and you can get 10% off your first month so earlier on Monday it was reported by ESPN’s Adrien wjen rowski that the Cavs have received permission this is now head coaching candidate number five that we’re hearing about the Cavs have received permission to speak with Micah Nori who I think is one of the uh I I guess at this point more popular assistant coaches in basketball because of the postseason that he had so if you don’t know about Mike anori he is the lead assistant currently of the Minnesota Timberwolves and the reason why there’s been such a spotlight on him during the first round for Minnesota is they swept the Phoenix Suns out in four games Minnesota head coach Chris Finch was run into on the sideline by Mike connley junr turns out it was a pretty nasty injury for Chris Finch he needed to have knee surgery coached the rest of the postseason from behind the bench and mik Nori was the guy that was roaming the sidelines for Minnesota so he’s got I guess a really unique experience I can’t think of very many other situations like that where you’ve seen an assistant coach have to step up in the playoffs not just you know you’ll see it for a game here for a game there like I talked about on yesterday’s show there have been times where Chris Quinn has filled in for Eric spola but not for in this situation for an entire playoff run or I guess the majority of a playoff run not an entire one but a significant chunk of it it’s a really interesting situation the other area you might know Micah Nory from is his interviews with balet Sports North he typically or I guess at times has been the guy like you know you watch a Cavs game on B Sports Ohio and coming back from halftime Serena Winters will get you know a couple of questions in with a Cav’s assistant coach whether it was JJ Outlaw Greg Buckner Luke Walton someone like that mik and Nory would be that guy often times on B Sports North during halftime of a Wolves game as they would be coming back to start the third quarter go look up Mike andor’s Clips on the internet pretty funny guy I think that’s what a lot of his popularity is from it’s not to take away from who he is as a coach but if you see him it’s going to be if you recognize him for the most part it’s because you watch the playoffs with the wolves with him on the sidelines or you’ve seen these videos go viral on social media of him giving an interview to B Sports North but he does have quite a track record so he’s been an an assistant in the NBA for quite a long time at this point Nory spent time in Toronto he spent time in Sacramento Denver Detroit Minnesota so he’s been around for quite a while in the NBA I think that there are a couple of things that are interesting about his candidacy here and one of them and I just got done talking about the two big situation here in Cleveland but coming from a situation in which Minnesota plays two bigs frequently sometimes they play three when you factor in Rudy goar Carl Anthony towns Nas Reed coming from that situation not saying that he’s the offensive Mastermind behind it because I certainly think Chris Finch rightfully gets a lot of that credit for the way the Wolves operate on that end of the floor but coming from that situation and understanding how how it worked there I do think is a plus there being at least some part of the development of Anthony Edwards I think is a plus there as well and coming from a program that you know in Minnesota when he arrived there and I was there for part of the Ryan Saunders era those teams weren’t very good it was a really impressive buildup from what they were three years years ago when Chris Finch took over three or four years ago at this point to what the Minnesota Timberwolves are now and Mike anori is someone that as I said has been around a long time in the NBA he’s also spoken with the Lakers or the Lakers have at least received permission to talk to Mike and Nori according to ESPN and I do want to talk about a little bit probably on tomorrow’s show about which of those two openings is the more attractive opening but he’s someone that if he doesn’t get a job this year and I don’t foresee any other openings popping up other than the Cavs and Lakers but if he doesn’t get a head coaching job this year I would expect him to probably get one within the next couple of years I think Mike Anor is a good coach um someone that would be very interesting I don’t think he’s quite at the top of my list when you look at coaching candidates like I would certainly still have Kenny ainson number one still you know I’m not crazy about James bro I think there are other people that are higher on him than I am um but he’s definitely Mike and ory definitely part of that second tier but we’ll see what happens I still think there’s a long way to go in this coaching search I I think we’re going to hear about more names that the Cavs either get permission to interview or you know don’t need necessarily permission to interview because they’re not on a staff currently I don’t think this is the end of what we’re going to hear regarding this Cavs coaching search um like I said earlier in in this show Friday’s episode I would like to do a mail back I want to get to know each other a little bit I’m new here you’re new listening to me I want to get to know you guys I want you guys to get to know me you can shoot questions about the Cavs or even you know some questions about me too I I really want you guys to get to know me I want to get to know you as well shoot me questions you can email the show at lockdown Cavs you can comment on this YouTube video and also tomorrow’s YouTube video I’ll be checking the comments I’ll be writing down questions or you can tweet at me find me on Twitter real de Cunningham I can’t wait to get to some of your questions I can’t wait to get to know you guys a little bit better and I really really can’t wait for you guys to get to know me better as well so that’ll come up later in the week but on tomorrow’s show I do want to dive in just a little bit more to the coaching search probably some more Donovan Mitchell stuff as well um but thank you for listening thank you for making lock on Cavs your first listen every day [Music]

There have been reports about the Cavaliers wanting to run it back with the ‘Core Four’ for another year, but moving on from a combination of their All-Stars could lead to a higher ceiling for the organization.

On Tuesday’s Locked On Cavs, Danny Cunningham (@RealDCunningham) of Cleveland Magazine and 92.3 The Fan discusses the Cleveland Cavaliers’ three NBA All-Stars in Donovan Mitchell, Darius Garland and Jarrett Allen, plus the potential for a fourth in Evan Mobley. Which combination of that group raises the ceiling the highest for the organization?

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