Cleveland Cavaliers’ Offseason Strategy: Running It Back with Top 4 Players | GSMC Sports Podcast
welcome back into the gsmc sports podcast for our final segment of the day where we got a report that came out yesterday from Jake fiser of Yahoo sports about the Cavaliers offseason plans and amongst other things uh what stood out to me was the fact that the Cavs believe that they can continue to contend with their current core of the four players Darius Garland Donovan Mitchell Evan Mobley and jar Allen now I don’t think that that is a crazy take because all four of those players I just named are Allstar caliber guys including Jared Allen who I think is one of the more underrated players in the NBA but we have seen him make an All-Star team in 2021-22 so these are all players that are extremely talented and do play winning basketball I will add to that but it does feel like there is some level of redundancy with the group that they currently have in terms of Donovan Mitchell and Darius Garland both two guards that really aren’t great off of the ball our primary ball handlers score off of that haven’t necessarily developed that part of their game where they can necessarily be that Elite secondary scorer and it’s tough where you know Darius Garland he showed his promise with the Cavaliers prior to to Donovan Mitchell coming into town where he was an Allstar and he was leading the Cavaliers to these successful seasons and then the front office group thought that it was time to go all in and the skills just aren’t very complimentary between Garland and Mitchell and then you look in the front Court as well Jared Allen and Evan Mobley another situation where Moy I do believe in the ceiling of him and I I thought there was a lot of prompt in what he showed in the postseason run this past year especially the way that he was really getting himself going in that Celtic series even when he wasn’t having these massive you know offensive scoring nights he was still able to at least have the IQ to put himself in the correct dead spots to get himself easy looks as well off of passes and it was something that was very promising where Evan Moy his stock had probably dipped a little bit since his rookie season but in large part it’s because of the fact that him and Jared Allen are both centers that are incredible paint Defenders but in this new world of the NBA where it’s so perimeter Centric it means one of them is being dragged out to the three-point line more often than not they’re not having that same level of impact from a defensive perspective and then offensively neither one of them can really space the floor now Moy is inter because he did at least start to take a little bit more three-point shots over the course of this year I wonder if maybe that’s something that he is looking to add in in order to have a you know a fit in alongside Jared Allen because again it would be a scary defensive core if it would be a scary defensive core if these two seven-footers can play alongside one another and again that redundancy is reduced as Eric asks in the comment section I felt the coach did a decent job handling all of those egos on the court were the Cavs justified in the firing it’s interesting right because in the 2023 playoffs it was a very embarrassing loss for the Cavaliers losing in the first round to a lower seated New York Knicks team that obviously the Knicks of this year it was not the same level Jaylen Brunson was not at the same level individually as uh he was this season during the 2023 postseason and also for all that size that I’m praising for the Cavaliers they were just getting outmanned outrebound the physicality was just far too much for them and that was a really tough look but to your point Eric the egos is something that it does seem like has been for the most part A nonpr I thought the JB bicker staff actually did a pretty decent job considering especially once once Donovan Mitchell was out in the playoff series against the Celtics of you know actually keeping the team together to compete you know Marcus Morris he has coming off the bench in game five and is giving the Celtics a run for their money on their home court and Evan Mobley is turning himself around so I thought there was a chance that he could have saved his job but ultimately it’s it’s just an extremely difficult position to be in and I feel like NBA front offices are just far more willing to say that they were wrong on a coach than they were on the actual roster construction because for the general managers that’s their job and they’re the ones that are in the uh you know owner’s ears sort of talking about what’s going wrong for them so I wouldn’t the Cavs I’m I understand it’s okay that they fired bicker staff it’s interesting the fiser report also talked about the candidates that they are bringing in this week alone um they brought in into Cleveland James bgo who has been one of the main candidates for the Lakers as well associate head coach of the Norland Pelicans Kenny Atkinson former Brooklyn Nets head coach currently an assistant with the Warriors and mic Nory who was the top assistant for the Timberwolves you probably saw him during this past postseason after Chris Finch had his leg injury and he had to sit on the bench Mike anori was essentially the acting head coach at least on the sideline even though Finch was still there but they’re bringing in all of them this week going to be interesting to see how that plays out I mean those are some pretty solid options for them ultimately but again is that going to matter when it comes into this next season because to Eric’s point about the egos it is Bier staff did a pretty good job of keeping things together but there was a report earlier this um in the past month or so that Darius Garland may be uh looking to request a trade if the Cavaliers can sign Donovan Mitchell to a new contract extension which again it just feels like this team with its redundancy it a change needs to be made to some degree now they’re going with the head coaching change at that but but you know I do think that a roster change is going to need to happen and I believe that the Cavaliers if things sort of work out for them if I were them I’d look to keep Donovan Mitchell on board as long as that’s possible and again the Jared Allen Evan Moy thing you could probably get a lot I feel like for if you are trying to push your chips in now I feel like leaving Evan Moy sort of on the back burner I’d probably prioritize him and I’d probably prioritize Donovan Mitchell in the back courts that you have a competitive team right now but at the same time you do have something to at least fall back on Eric throw throws out in the comments section the possibility of signing Klay Thompson I mean I don’t know off the top of my head what the Cavaliers salary cap situation is but it’s interesting he would be somebody who knows that he could fall into the Warriors C salary cap situation we know as much as Warriors I I think Warriors fans probably want him back even though um he really struggled this past season but he is somebody who would be able to play into the sort of secondary guard role and just do his job if he can sort of work his legs back a little bit I don’t know necessarily if he still does have that defensive upside that he did for years when he was with the Warriors it would be an interesting fit and I do feel like it could he can definitely fit somewhat seamlessly into what the Cavaliers are trying to do again if they sort of move on from one of those primary guards as things currently stand but again the whole situation is just kind of messy and I want this to work out for the Cavaliers because again I do think that there is real upside and for the amount of talent that they have on that roster it would be a waste to never see it come into fru really in a real way but again I don’t think it’s necessarily an easy fix now they have probably the most playing cards for this upcoming uh off season where they can make a number of different moves the configuration of their roster they can make a number of different adjustments in order in accordance to who they end up hiring at head coach and what type of team they want to be but I do feel like a little bit of that comes down to the identity of this roster and I couldn’t really tell you what it is other than this word that I keep throwing out there which I myself am being redundant saying it but that is what the team feels like to me where it’s just clunky and I don’t know if necessarily a new head coach is going to fix that with their current roster but before we wrap up the show I want to get back to Eric’s comment from when we were at break with the Celtics having the two stars and also role players they do play unselfish basketball Eric says it reminds him of Tim Duncan Spurs years guys playing for each other not just the name on the back of the jersey and I absolutely agree that I think for the Celtics it has been this level of maturity that and I think the Drew holiday has been a massive part of that of sort of instilling in the Celtics what it takes for winning a championship and sort of coming into this team first environment and the Celtics in turn we’ve seen not just with the play on the court and the unselfish play which is absolutely a valid point but you listen to them at the podium as well and there just seems to be this greater understanding of what it takes to be a finals contending team uh we have another comment here from Dre what do you think about Joel embiid’s career and what should he do embiid is so interesting because again we understand in a world without injuries embiid is extremely he’s one of the most talented big men that we are probably going to see ever in the 21st century as we continue to move to an era in the NBA where everything is more perimeter Centric Joel embiid does have a little bit of that spacing ability but more than anything you know the way that he just works the post is something that you don’t get often in the NBA nowadays and ultimately when you look at like what Dre is saying embiid is 30 years old he’s injury-prone there’s this new guard coming in like to his examples Anthony Edwards and Tyrese halberton making all of these Conference Finals and beid is getting passed by in a lot of these instances and again you want to talk about the individual Talent of embiid I mean he is going to be a Hall of Famer when it’s all said and done but in terms of the overall Legacy with him it does feel like to some degree I he doesn’t necessarily get slighted quite as much as other stars for the lack of postseason success you look at the Celtics and Jason Tatum who it feels like the Celtics 76ers have definitely a little bit of a rivalry as well Jason Tatum it feels like publicly is bashed more for the coming up short in the finals than Joel embiid is for never even making it to a Conference Finals and we’ve seen you know Tyrese halberton make the East finals this year um we saw Trey young in 2021 now granted it was with Joel embiid also dealing with an injury and the undoing of Ben Simmons during that series is really when we saw that happen but Trey young with an undermanned Hawks team beat embiid to go to the Conference Finals himself so it’s really interesting the 76ers have a lot on their plate for this off season they only have I believe it’s four players three players under contract for next season I believe it’s embiid Paul Reed and it’s one other player I’m trying to think off the top of my head it might be Ricky counil now they’re going to give Tyrese Maxi a Max contract this offseason he’s a restricted free agent I have no doubts that they’re going to bring him back but they have a lot of spots to fill out on that roster do they go with the third star strategy sort of the traditional super team building model or do they just try and build around the edges and try and make sure that I mean you don’t have to overpay for a you know they’ve been stuck with Tobias Harris’s contract on the books for years now which I think has really hurt the way that the 76ers have been able to build their roster over recent Seasons as well so it is you know a very interesting conversation Dre says Anthony Edwards at 22 years old did what embiid couldn’t do at 30 years old as an MVP that’s the thing though to your point injuries are really one of the main reasons it hasn’t come to uh light for embiid to have this postseason success but part of it as well which can be a conversation that 76ers fans can be a little bit sensitive to but when you’re talking about final possession of a game and listen I understand there are a limited number of players that you want creating at the end of a game but Joel embiid he has never really been comfortable with sending those double teams now he’s improved the passing out of them but it just doesn’t feel like embiid is somebody who can generate a great look consistently when your back is against the wall where Anthony Edwards I I mean obviously embiid you know he is a force in the post like we just mentioned as well so it’s not that it’s impossible for him to get himself a good look but it just feels like in those moments there’s a very beatable way to get by that whereas these other upand cominging players as well with their level of shot creation with the level of athleticism from an Anthony Edwards as you mention it’s just something to consider and again I don’t I’m not trying to bash and bead by any means it is one of the most interesting careers that we’ve seen in recent time I wasn’t old enough to fully experience the Yao Ming years and embiid is probably all time again I I don’t want to speak down on Yao Ming I understand I’m a little bit misinformed in terms of that but a little bit of a similar conversation there where Yao mang Hall of Famer as well embiid is going to be but there’s just going to be a lot of ifs I would say that surround there as well Dre says since 2017 embiid has been in the playoffs he had a chance he choked and had the horrible series with great players like Butler Harden Simmons Maxi I mean he has had Talent around him absolutely and as we have the idea from Eric in the comments section talking about could the 76ers go after Jimmy Butler I just talked about in the show yesterday some of the hints of Jimmy Butler possibly leaving Miami would be interesting to see him back in Philly because that’s probably one of the bigger regrets ultimately for 76ers fans throughout the course of their career and tying that into Dre’s comment about Ben Simmons career the 76ers ultimately chose to go with Ben Simmons because of the upside that he was showing at the time over Jimmy Butler who his reputation was a little bit spottier in terms of his ability to you know be fully bought into a team system and his chemistry after working his way directly out of Minnesota back then as for Ben Simmons career I mean it feels like another type of what if as well where Ben Simmons I mean he was legitimately great he was one of the best defenders in the league you talk about a player that was sort of you know handmade to try and be a Luca dri stopper I mean Ben Simmons was built he had length I mean yeah the next LeBron idea that Dre mentions in the comments section he had that build he had the passing IQ as well which is what made these similarities to LeBron and ultimately I mean I have no faith really in Ben Simmons moving forward we’re f finally getting into the the season already of Ben Simmons posting all of these you know maybe this is definitely the wrong term to say it but it’s almost a thirst trap for basketball fans where it’s him in the gym knocking down shots putting in all of the work and talking about how you know the comeback is going to be great and then we don’t see him play and there’s always something bothering him it’s it’s a shame because I do legitimately think that you know there was a world where he could have been I don’t know necessarily the next LeBron that was always extreme but he had the frame of doing so as Eric says how does Simmons go from the future of the NBA to a basketball media punching bag it’s because mentally he’s weak and you know listen he might have stuff in his life that almost I don’t want to say justifies necessarily but we all have things going on in our own lives that impact the ability of the job that we do and I feel like that has to be the case of Simmons to some some degree we saw him especially when it comes to the jump shooting that was a massive issue for him and it’s not like we see these videos as corny as they are but he’s knocking down these jump shots in practices and stuff but then when he comes into these big stages he just kind of freezes up in terms of his three-point ability which just leads me to believe that it’s something meent with him which is obviously an extremely tricky thing to unpack and as for Simmons I mean what was he he was the first round pick in 2016 so he’s probably something like in his late 20s 27 28 years old at this point as um double-checking real quick he’s going to turn 28 later this year so you know in theory he could still you know be something in the NBA but at the same time it’s just it’s it’s tough to sort of you know watch this all play out the way that it has for somebody who was an you know an all defensive caliber player for years he was all NBA and 201920 it’s just again I think that we’re probably going to get some sort of a bigger picture story from Simmons probably after his retirement as to a little bit more of a deep dive into what went wrong but it was just sort of it it was just a diminishment over time and again I think that it stems from um the mental aspect of the game as well but that is all the time we have for today thank you very much for tuning in thank you to our viewers for helping to contribute to the conversation always happy to hear your thoughts on the matter we are live every 2: to 300 p.m. Eastern on weekdays so we will be back tomorrow remember to like follow subscribe wherever you keep up with us as for now I’m TJ maardi thank you for tuning in and take care go up to be a bad day yeah I’m tired of and the coffee ain’t hit yet damn ain’t that great
Welcome to the GSMC Sports Podcast, your premier destination for all things sports on YouTube, Apple Podcasts, JioSaavn, and Deezer. In this episode, TJ dives into the latest report that the Cleveland Cavaliers plan to retain their top four players—Donovan Mitchell, Darius Garland, Evan Mobley, and Jarrett Allen—despite concerns about roster redundancy. TJ explores whether sticking with this core group is a wise decision and addresses the potential fit issues within the team. Additionally, he provides updates on the Cavaliers’ head coach search and what it means for the team’s future. To cap off the show, TJ engages with live viewers, answering questions and discussing the careers and futures of NBA stars Joel Embiid and Ben Simmons. Join us for expert insights, in-depth analysis, and engaging sports talk you won’t want to miss.
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