Could JIMMY BUTLER come to the Cleveland Cavaliers? | Locked On Cavs Podcast

Could JIMMY BUTLER come to the Cleveland Cavaliers? | Locked On Cavs Podcast

on today’s show does Jimmy Butler make sense in Cleveland I’ve got Spencer Davies with me we’re gonna talk about it right here on lockdown Cavs you are locked on Cavs your daily Cleveland Cavaliers podcast part of the locked on podcast Network your team every day thanks for making lock on Cavs your first listen every day you can help to grow the show listen every wherever you get your podcast you can watch on YouTube subscribe to the show as well Apple Spotify everywhere you get your podcast we are free there free on YouTube as well part of the locked on podcast Network your team every day Today’s Show brought to you by FanDuel right now new customers get $200 in bonus Bets with any winning $5 bets visit fanduel.com loock on that’s fanduel.com lockon I’m Danny Cunningham you might know me from 923 the fan you might know me from Cleveland Magazine from my days covering the Cleveland Cavaliers at ESPN Cleveland as well joined today by Spencer Davies of Cavs iders he’s been around a long time covering this basketball team we have a lot to talk about Spencer thanks so much for taking the time thrill to have you on the show today of course Danny no problem my man so the number one topic that has sort of been I don’t want to say has overtaken the Cavs discourse right now but it’s been I think a pretty big player as far as the Cavs go and and that is Jimmy Butler which is a situation I didn’t expect to be talking about uh this off season at all but how we got here so I think the most recent thing that’s been reported by Keith Pompeo the Philadelphia Inquirer is that you know things in South Beach don’t look all that great between Miami and Jimmy right now and he says that the Cavaliers might be a team to keep an eye on there it’s I think a really interesting situation to see but the thing that ultimately I took away from that at the first glance just you know immediately digesting it is that’s a really good sign Spencer I think for the Cavs retaining Donovan Mitchell yeah I would say so too and I think it’s really important as well to make sure that when we read through the tea leaves and look at some of these articles that come out at this time of the year around the draft and when it comes to the off season that we make sure that you know these are like reports right so like in Reading Keith’s article uh he’s he even said in that paragraph that he was just kind of thinking out loud right like these are not like substantiated you know claims that that are being made knowing that something’s in the works it’s just kind of a gut feeling and I think that’s what a lot of us do um es especially this time of year just kind of go what you’re hearing and whatnot but I think in this case in the Jimmy Butler stuff that would kind of indicate to me like you said that the Cavs would be more inclined to go with a team that’s in win now mode instead of continuing to kind of continue to rebuild and continue to to to develop their guys I think that’s more of a sign that you’re inching more towards that other tier which it’s obvious that in the last few years that’s the direction they’re going and and with Donovan Mitchell being the guy that’s there and seems to want to commit and seems to want to sign this extension and be there for a long time it feels like that’s the way that that he would want the organization to go too and uh you know obviously not too many assets that that are in their possession but they have Darius Garland they have Jared Allen and there’s there’s ways to make it work yeah and we can I I do want to talk about the potential fit of Butler in Cleveland in a second too but I think it’s pretty telling now Spencer that we’re starting to hear these types of rumors about and you know I listening to some other podcasts out there there are people trying to create trades to get Mcall bridges into Cleveland and sign me up for that I think that would be a perfect fit but I think because we’re starting to hear a lot of that noise particularly nationally um I think for me that tells me that things are in pretty good shape with Donovan Mitchell staying in Cleveland because for so long we’ve been hearing about oh where’s Donovan going to end up he’s not going to sign the extension he’s going to want to be traded this off season and now we’re starting to hear about guys that could get traded to Cleveland as opposed to Donovan Mitchell being sent out and I think for this off season that’s a really good sign you know as it’s June 11th right now but that’s a really good sign for the Cavs before a lot of pieces and parts start moving across the league I think yeah and it’s a little bit you know that this few weeks in between until we get to July it’s probably going to feel like months for Cavs fans just wanting to get answers um but yeah no I would have to agree with that and it’s look you know there there’s a core four that’s been in Cleveland the last couple years and three of those guys have been around for the last three years four years so like it’s kind of probably hard for them to evaluate and know what works and what doesn’t work especially with all the injuries and whatnot so that probably doesn’t put Kobe Alman and Mike gansy and KW in the best position to evaluate just because you know the sample size probably still isn’t big enough but they’re at a point where they need to make a decision and figure out okay what’s gonna maximize Donovan Mitchell’s time in Cleveland what’s going to get them closer to that contention where you know the Nick are and where the Celtics are and when a healthy Philadelphia is and you know you can throw even Miami in there Milwaukee that we’re not even talking about because they had injury issues themselves so it’s it’s a crowded Eastern Conference and they’re probably you know kind of pressured to move this thing forward and incremental wasn’t enough to get it done as we saw with JB bicker staff’s firing yeah absolutely so now let’s put on our hypothetical hats here let’s say and I know that these these are just rumors right now there’s a long way to go but let’s put on our hypothetical hats here and say that there is some real substance to this type of to this type of thought process where you know Jimmy Butler and I I think there probably is something to his days in Miami just being numbered like the the way that Pat Riley made some comments about Jimmy during the playoffs I could see there being a breakup in the future there between those two sides so let’s talk hypotheticals here how do we think Jimmy would fit in in Cleveland if that were were to be the case because if Donovan does stay I I do think it would make sense to break up that core four a little bit see what you can get for either Darius Garland Jarett Allen or some combination of the two maybe Jimmy Butler’s an answer there but from a basketball perspective what sort of fit do you think he’d be on the Cavs alongside let’s just say here Donovan Mitchell Evan Moy and a bunch of other pieces and parts okay so if Donovan and Evan were there so I think that Jimmy would probably try to do the same stuff he did with bam with Evan Evan would be more in that playmaking type of role a lot of the dribble handoffs a lot of the the looking over the top um being in the dunker spot stuff that you know you thought you would see this season with Max stru and him but there really wasn’t too much creativity from that point of view on the offensive end as far as it’s fit with Donovan Mitchell I don’t know if I like that because both of them are pretty ball dominant guys very aggressive like to get downhill um you know Jimmy Butler has more of that kind of mid-range profile than than Donovan does Donovan seems to stick to his pull-up threes and getting to the rack um he obviously has the mid-range in his game but uh I I think that that’s kind of redundant those two together um now you you’re talking about hypotheticals with that but what if the hypothetical is that you know Donovan Mitchell goes to Miami and Jimmy Butler comes back and stays with you know Darius scarland and Evan Mobley like what if that happens right then that seems like more of a natural fit I think uh but is that the you know the the return that the Cavs would look for for Donovan Mitchell somebody who just had an amazing playoff run until he got hurt and had an excellent season building upon his first year with the Cavs I think that’s a really tough sell right and I think if the Cavs are in a position where they have to trade Donovan Mitchell I don’t think they’re looking for someone in his mid-30s to be the the Crown Jewel of the return price exactly right I don’t think that’s something that makes sense fit it has to fit agewise with this with this core I will say I’d be really curious in looking at how Jimmy Wood approach a situation where you know in Cleveland he wouldn’t be the best offensive player like right now I think it’s fair to say Donovan Mitchell is a more talented offensive guy if you want to maybe say that Jimmy is still the better overall player um certainly with his playoff track record I get it um I can listen to that but from just a pure scoring offensive talent I think Donovan is is clearly better than Jimmy at this point in his career so I do wonder how that would help Jimmy if that were to be the case because you could talk about someone that you know he very clearly has not valued the regular season I think that is putting it incredibly lightly over the last couple of years you know you talk about the heat being in the play in the last the last couple of years and just not since they were the one seed a few years back really not caring about the regular season putting Jimmy in a position where he can Coast still be on a team that potentially is a homecourt Advantage team rather than being a playin team and then start to turn things on for the playoffs I do wonder what that looks like yeah that’s a good question I I don’t know so from going back to the fit too with those two uh you know you see a lot of the the older stars starting to kind of take a backseat to to some of the guys that are in the more um you know more in their Prime uh you know you can even look at it’s not really comparable as far as like skill sets go but you can even look at like the usage you could say between LCA donic and Kyrie Irving like maybe you look it’s something like that ilk um because again two ball ball dominant guys hard to fit together especially when they’re doing a lot of the same things but I will say this Donovan Mitchell did show his chops as a playmaker when darus Garland went down and and was huge with in the pick and rolles with with Jared Allen so he’s proven to be able to be that kind of point guard but so so is Jimmy Butler though Jimmy Butler has been a great playmaker too um when called upon in the postseason so I mean it’s obviously able to happen but is that the most you know is that the best fit is that the best role for either of them when you know what kind of success comes when they both have the ball in their hands yeah and there are other guys that you know it certainly sounds like you think might be a better fit there are other guys that I think could be a better fit as well when you talk about what the dream Target could be for the Cavs so that’s what we’re going to dive into next right here on lockdown Cavs Today’s show of course is brought to you by FanDuel summertime is here summertime means baseball the NBA finals and so much more and you can bet on all of it with FanDuel right now new customers get $200 it’s $200 in bonus Bets with any winning $5 bet that’s 200 bucks you can use to bet on everything from Finals MVP I I have a finals MVP bet that I certainly like right now through two games you know I went into this series thinking okay if Dallas wins the series Luca is going to be the finals MVP or if Boston wins the series it’s probably going to be Jason Tatum despite the fact we 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potentially fit in with the Cavs but it in listening to what you had to say it doesn’t sound to me like you think he is the best fit or not your dream Target so if you could put on your Kobe Alman hat and you can pretend to be the guy that’s pulling the levers for the Cavs as we go into this exercise Donovan Mitchell signs a contract extension the day he’s allowed to sign it so that is as we start thinking about dream targets Donovan Mitchell is going to be a member of the Cavs that is solidified who is your dream Target for this team if that’s the case dream targets for me I have a bunch of them in mind um oh hell yeah I don’t know if you want you want real you want say dream targets and you have like realistic targets let’s start with dream targets you mentioned one of them earlier was Mel Bridges Mel Bridges for sure um that’s obviously a tough one to to figure out what kind of deal would really work out for that just you know I don’t know if Darius Garland or or Jared Allen would be enough um they’ve apparently demanded a king’s ransom for him on the market already um I always think of uh you know Trey Murphy down in New Orleans uh just a bomber from deep and is just somebody who has the right size and length um on defense similar similar player in San Antonio Devon Vel but reports are saying that he’s intouchable as well um so I would say probably those three come to mind right off the top of my head if you want somewhat realistic less trade machiney stuff I’ve always thought to myself the last year or so what would it be like for Donovan Mitchell to have a bigger guard next to him uh and somebody that doesn’t require the ball and I know he has injury history but I also know that this team isn’t really in the best of places so maybe they would be in an acquisition of talent mode I think to Portland I think to Malcolm Brogden and Jeremy Grant try to get both of them because Jeremy Grant’s kind of got that length um obviously can play that tertiary role very very capable defensively um and with malcol Brogden if he stays healthy I think he’s one of the best best table Setters in the game and he’s 64 65 put him next to Donovan Mitchell I think that is your ideal Fit U I don’t know the realism of that uh but I think that’s a little bit more towards something you can actually talk about versus something you can plug into the internet and say oh let’s let’s make this deal work right away so that those are just ones that you know that I’ve thought of um but it’s it’s not easy to find these wings out here and it’s not easy to find guards who aren’t ball dominant it’s just the you know the nature of the league yeah it’s tough to find the perfect fit um I do think McCall Bridges is that perfect fit though man like everything that the Cavs are looking for in a wing it feels like Mcall Bridges can do the and we talk about the Cavs as being one of the most interesting teams this offseason and I think that they are just because you know they have a coaching vacancy pH still the Donovan Mitchell question but the direction the Brooklyn Nets want to go I think could be a pretty big pivot point across the NBA because if Mall Bridges is made available there are going to be a lot of teams that are interested in him like I do Wonder would a Darius Garland for Mall Bridges trade be something the Nets are interested in I don’t know like he would probably be the guy that you know I don’t know if I have him number one so to say but he’s the guy that I would be most interested in as that dream Target I’m glad you brought up the Portland thing though because while Jeremy Grant doesn’t move the needle a ton for me like I think he’s a fine player I think he’d be a solid fit I just think that there are other options that could be better for the Cavs bringing over Malcolm Brogden even with the injury history that he’s got in his time in the NBA I do think could be a really good way to balance the backourt because I wonder if if Darius Garland is not here next year I think that would mean Donovan Mitchell is going to be playing more a point guard but I also don’t think that Donovan Mitchell can only be a point guard like I think that’s a bad idea and having someone like Brogden could really help to help to help to make that role so much easier for him yeah you got to share possessions and it’s not it’s not easy to kind of put you know 40% usage on someone’s back and expect them to do it an entire season it’s hard enough even in a playoff run you saw how much fatigue that Donovan had even coming into this he had the issue you know with his knee coming in um and that was you know pretty much after putting the team on his back for such a long time and you know you get to the postseason something flares up again and all of a sudden you’re you’re know you’re you’re out of luck so um you know that’s I think a really important thing to have someone that can take some possessions off a guy um who’s also capable of scoring and shooting themselves and you know I as we talk about targets and dream cart targets and whatnot like that um I got a couple other ones that come to mind um maybe a little less quote unquote sexy uh but you look to Brooklyn I think Dorian finy Smith has been kind of miscast in his role over there 69 he’s got plenty of length um makes his money as a corner shooter and somebody who can really defend uh I think he would be a beautiful fit in Cleveland and and secondly the one that kind of sprung up uh in reports the last couple days Atlanta said they’re looking for a place maybe for DeAndre Hunter and Clint capella to go I think DeAndre Hunter might be one of the most underrated three and D Wings in the league he also has injury history similar to Brogden but somebody who’s obviously got an improved shot from Deep uh somebody who can put it on the floor when necessary not primarily but when necessary and we obviously know his defensive chops so uh you know we just keep throwing names out there and this is how the game goes at this time of time of the uh off season but uh you know I I think that those two obviously you know could make some sense as well so the one other name and I I’m glad you brought up dor infiny Smith um I think he would be a really good fit I like DeAndre Hunter a lot I liked him coming out of college um obviously he was a fourth overall pick what feels like forever ago uh by Atlanta but the guy that we haven’t mentioned yet that I think pops up kind of every time this discussion is had is Brandon Ingram what would you think about his fit on the Cavs not a fan not a fan I I do I I do think that he’s extremely talented I do I think Brandon Ingram again one of those guys who’s who’s really aggressive and has that shot profile similar you know to to a Jimmy Butler he’s he’s he’s very you know mid-range oriented uh somebody who does get to wreck he doesn’t have quite as much muscle but he does have length something that this kind of just doesn’t sit right with me with Brandon Ingram though and maybe it’s because of the way that things have shaken out in New Orleans but it just seems like he plays sleepy sometimes and you know you don’t want someone who isn’t going to be giving it 100% every single time you know like and I hate saying that because I hate disparaging any types of players but like when you watch there’s there’s games where he looks like he could be a top 10 player in the NBA and then there’s other games where you’re like why isn’t he being aggressive why is he you know settling for these shots and again it could be and maybe it is unfair to to say it but just watching these games sometimes it just seems like he’s a little bit kind of he’s he’s playing slow sure I I think that makes sense I do think that there are times where in I I hate to do this but um it almost feels like there’s a little bit of Andrew Wiggins in his games where he can he can float at times like I I do think that that is a thing I I wonder if that’s a bet that the Cavs are willing to make that that’s a fit-based issue and not a Brandon Ingram based issue because I think that’s something that’s very possible I think it’s clear he’s not being maximized in New Orleans and I just wonder playing alongside a really good guard as opposed to just a good guard um that he’s got in CJ McCollum right now in New Orleans maybe that boosts his profile maybe that helps him out uh just a little bit last thing we’ve got on today’s show there was coaching news yesterday in the NBA World how’s that affect the Cavs that’s next right here on lockon Cavs this show is sponsored by better help if you are thinking of starting therapy give better help a try it’s entirely online it’s designed to be convenient flexible fit suited to your schedule a lot of people right now you’re able to work from home but maybe that means it’s difficult for you to go into the office and take care of your mental health better help can help you to do that because they are so fit for your schedule they’re suitable for any needs that you have just go online fill out a brief questionnaire and you can get matched with a licensed therapist plus you can switch therapists at any time for no additional charge I think that’s a really big deal because finding the therapist that fits your needs isn’t always the easiest thing so until you find the therapist you need being able to switch one without it incurring an additional charge that’s a really important thing and I think that’s a really good thing that better help does so if you need to get it off your chest with betterhelp visit betterhelp.com slocked on NBA to to get 10% off your first month that’s betterhelp hp.com locked on NBA and you can get 10% off your first month so Spencer we found out yesterday that Dan Hurley head coach of the Yukon Huskies turned down the Los Angeles Lakers not going to go coach LeBron who is a free agent after all like that’s something that I don’t think is getting talked about enough and maybe that starts to get talked about more with how that coaching search has gone Anthony Davis in just a glamour franchise of the NBA turns down that deal opts to stay at Connecticut I think that this has a little bit of an impact as the Cavs are searching for their coach because now you know JJ reic was a hot name in Los Angeles we haven’t really heard him all that connected with the Cavs opening but James bgo was the other hot name for the Lakers and that is one that we have heard here in Cleveland so the thing that I’m taking away is maybe this actually speeds up cavis process here if bgo is the guy that they are super interested in being the next head coach of this organization yeah I I think that that’s probably a good assumption James bgo somebody who is originally reported to be on their top two it was him and Kenny ainson um if you really want to break down what bgo is capable of I mean you just look at the last year that he had in Charlotte he had a top five offense with a team that played really fast and had a rookie LEL ball U you know miles Bridges was just you know kind of start getting to his you know rise to stardom uh you know Terry Rosier was having one of the best years of his career and they canned him because apparently they weren’t playing enough defense uh but you could look at that as a skap scapegoat situation uh but uh that that makes a lot of sense though especially if La is interested in bringing in a JJ reic then the Cavs probably should move a little bit quicker because the reports that I had read at least were that reic would have a quote unquote Allstar assistant staff right like that would bring in probably guys who have had head coaching experience and had a lot of years in the league and BGA would probably be on that list to help him as an associate so that makes a lot of sense what what you’re pondering there and you know we’ll we’ll see how these interviews go over the the next week coming weeks depending on how quick Cavs get things done um you know Kobe told us on his end of season press conference that they’d like to have someone in by the time the draft rolls around but uh it it just seems like it’s it’s probably going to pick up I would assume um but uh you know they’re they’re taking their time they’re trying to find the right guy right right person well I mean it certainly feels like they’re taking their time and then you look at the Lakers opening which has been opened much longer than the Cavs one so they are really taking their time um with the bgo stuff like I wouldn’t I mean maybe he’s on LA’s on a potential JJ reic staff but I also don’t think it’s a situation where he’s going to pass up being the the potential head coach of the Cavs if that were to if he were to be offered an assistant job and I think part of that because one there’s only 30 of these jobs in the world right but the other thing I think the Cavs opening Spencer is such a better opening than the Lakers one I I just don’t see a ton of positives to being the head coach of the Lakers right now other than it’s one of 30 jobs and it’s the Lakers it’s a glamour franchise but when you start to stack it up it’s the Western Conference much more difficult right now to get through than the East despite the East having the best team in basketball it’s really difficult to a to coach an aging Superstar which LeBron James is I think the Cavs are just so much better set up for Success over the next three to five years I think if you have your pick even between the two head jobs the Cav should be your choice I think so too just from the sense of yes there’s expectation here but Los Angeles expectations with a team with LeBron James and Anthony Davis are probably just out of out unrealistic like Darvin ham made the Western Conference finals and I get it this is not all a results thing but he made the Western Conference Finals in his first year and then in year two gets fired after losing in five games to the defending champs like that is it’s a raw deal and I get it’s not all the results but I I just think Cleveland is such a better situation for whether it’s bgo Atkinson even if the Cavs were to be more interested in JJ reic like if I’m one of those coaches I cannot imagine picking the Lakers drop over the Cavs just if you have your if you want to be set up for Success yeah and and if you look at it from this perspective too knowing all that stuff happened with Dan Hurley how much money they offered him the amount of years you already know that you’re going to be their second choice or their third choice uh even if you look look at earlier in the you know after the season they were talking about Tyron L possibly going over there from from the other La team uh and potentially being the head coach so like you know that you’re not their first option so that that I don’t know yeah exactly so I don’t I don’t see you do have the opportunity to coach one of the best players in the world and another one of the best player of the world in Anthony Davis don’t get me wrong right but if you look at from a longterm perspective how the Cavs organization has treated its coaches um I I think that the the longevity might be a little bit more attractive too um if you look at you know JB Bickerstaff had almost five years here um we can skip over the the John be line stuff so Ron was here for a good four years four and a half years and we can skip over the David blat stuff exact exactly exactly so you look at the the shelf life on a Lakers head coach at of late too and I mean that that that’s an NBA overall thing like you know they’re not getting much leeway anymore it’s a you know it’s a players League understanding that but still even if you’re you’re like looking it over and you’re looking at the amount of of young Talent too younger Talent uh the Cavs have uh and this again depends on what happens in you know in the trade market on draft night are Darius Garland and Evan Moy and Jared Allen and Donovan Mitchell all going to be together is there going to be three of them is there going to be two of them that’s also very important but I think that part probably plays a little bit more of in favor of them uh than some place uh in in LA with with LeBron and and Anthony Davis and seeing you know seeing the kind of fan reactions is over there and seeing the kind of pressure that you’re constantly under it just seems like being out of the spotlight might help yeah I I absolutely just think it’s a much better situation but Spencer very much appreciate you taking the time and joining the show today of course Danny appreciate you you can you can find Spencer at Cavs Insider you can find him on Twitter spin Davies all the great stuff he does I’m Danny Cunningham again thank you for listening to today’s episode of Locked on Cavs thank you for making us your first listen every day be sure to like the show on YouTube subscribe to our YouTube channel give us a fstar review wherever you get your podcast and we will talk to you tomorrow

NBA Rumor season has arrived, could that bring Jimmy Butler to Cleveland to be Donovan Mitchell’s sidekick?

On Tuesday’s Locked On Cavs, Danny Cunningham (@RealDCunningham) of Cleveland Magazine and 92.3 The Fan is joined by Spencer Davies (@SpinDavies) to chat about how Jimmy Butler would fit in Cleveland.

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