Mike Gansey | Post-Round 1 Media Availability | 6.26.2024

Mike Gansey | Post-Round 1 Media Availability | 6.26.2024

tell us about this guy yeah we’re excited um you know obviously Jaylen big guard 66 67 big body three-level score gets downhill you know I mean he had to do everything for Cal this year um you know played Point played one two three didn’t have a lot around him you know they were they were very young played Walk-Ons a lot um obviously Mark madson’s I think one of the better coaches in college college basketball so Mark did a great job with them they really overachieved but he just I mean he’s tough competitive I mean he he he was one of the only guys that you know we had you know kind of in that 20 ER that came in and worked out actually so you know and he had a great workout for us he he was everywhere I mean just he can rebound he can pass he can shoot like he just fills so many gaps you know does a little bit everything can play one through three um you know gets in passing Lanes you know was tough like he just he just kind of checks a lot of boxes and we’re excited and hopefully he was going to be there at 20 when a guy plays at three schools and three years in this day and age is that is that even flag anymore is that not really not really I mean obviously with Jason there were different circumstances why you know he he had three schools essentially but um you know it’s just really he gets the cow and Madison was a perfect fit for him you know Mark obviously played in the NBA coached in the NBA for the Lakers and you know Mark just gave him a ton of confidence and let him go and I mean you know you saw flashes of it when he was even at Texas Tech like this guy can be a pro but it just didn’t work out there and then he goes to cow and you know kind of gets the keys to the engine and just took off might coming into tonight just how were you approaching this with the 20th pick what were you trying to find I think we’re just trying to get the best player available um you know whether it was upside guy um older guy you know like we look at our Rost and especially for this pick 20 I don’t think like there’s really expectations for him to play you know obviously if he comes in competes and can play that’d be great but I think just with our roster I think we have good depth where he can he we can bring him along slowly but um but with Tyson we’re just like he just checks so many boxes and you can kind of play him with any of our guys any other four guys out there on the floor with him so um just you know adding obviously versatility and and Wing size you know helped because he’s 6667 and um you know just trying to get the best player available and we just felt he was the guy there at 20 W said that Kenny was there in the draft room with you guys uh number one What attracted you to Kenny during the the coaching search and how much was that in your mind of of his system what he may want moving forward yeah yeah Kenny just got here late last night so you know we we me and Kobe and our staff obviously chopped it up with them a little bit today but um you know Monday you guys can ask big you know Kenny ainson questions but I think you know like I told Kenny whoever we’re taking at 20 is going to get better CU that’s what Kenny does and we’re excited and you know I know some of our players already been reaching out to me to to get a hold of jayen so we’re excited and Kenny’s excited and you know we’re just ready to get going with him you mentioned that while at Cal was you know in a very high usage role had to do basically everything for them and I think it’s fair to say with what this roster looks like here it’s not going to be his role not right away how do you judge what that transition should be like as you go through this process going from someone that is in such a high use of Ro to more of a ro player type yeah I think the biggest adjustment for him would be like playing without the ball because obviously a cow he had the ball 95% of the time I mean he basically played point guard where at Texas Tech he played more off the ball so watching more of that film you know he can shoot I wouldn’t call him like a a great shooter but he’s a he’s a good shooter and I think he’s going to improve with that you know playing off the ball on the catch but um you know with him like you know he he can get downhill he can make a play play pick a roll you know second side even off the ball he catches it you know drives Closeouts you know can make the right play you know I just think he fits with with all our guys and canot do so many things where but like I said like off the ball will be a challenge for him and then even defensively you know like he’s got he’s got good size he’s got good strength Good Feet you know if you watch them as defensive Clips they’re probably not going to be great just because he had to do so much offensively and he played you know in the whole game you know like like a lot of these college guys do they they kind of take a take a back end on that on that end of the floor but um but we’re excited and you know I think he’s smart enough he’s got a high enough IQ that he’ll he’ll figure out how to play with our other guys off the ball how do you guys view him defensively positionally I think probably like two three you know he’ll guard the two and three um obviously he’s strong enough you know maybe in a pinch you could put him on you know smaller fours but that’s an area he’s got to improve at um like I said that and playing off the ball offensively but he’s strong he’s smart you know he gets steals you know one of the things that we don’t really do well is rebound especially offensive rebound and he does that well I think he got like one one 1.6 a game so if he gets gets us two extra opportunities a game you know that’ll be helpful but uh you know I think he’ll figure it out and you know even talking to Mark Madson to the process you know he’s been in the NBA so he’s like just knowing the the schemes adjustments rotations the NBA be an adjustment like any rookie je I was going to ask about the defense so how do you in the SC reports i’ read that is is shortcoming so how do you project how that will improve I think it’s just you know obviously teaching you know like these rookies come in and they have no idea how to play you know defensively and I think obviously the level of athletes and players is obviously at a high level but you know he’s smart he figures it out you know he’s strong so I I think he he’ll figure it out like obviously as any rookie it’s going to be a struggle but I think having good vets and you know having our our two bigs in the back can obviously help erase some of that but I think um you know he’s not a a liability on that end I think he’ll be average to above average I don’t see I would to call him like a defensive stopper but but he’s got he gets in passing Lanes he gets steals he gets you extra extra opportunities and he rebounds like he’s going to put his neck in there and go get go get 50/50 balls so so we’re excited and I think just a level of Engagement and effort on that end will be much better than at Cal because he had to do so much for that team on the other end I know you said you take best but last time you guys had first round pi was round team yeah I think so I mean you know we don’t have our we don’t really have control of our first for a long time obviously and um you know Tyson just kind of a guy that fits a lot of different roles you know can play with a lot of different guys and I think um you know I think he’s probably more ready than maybe some of the other guys that were there at 20 so I think that was definitely in our in our mindset just because you know how it is 82 games we have a bunch of injuries you know he can come in and play one two and three you know probably more two three but he can handle in a pinch so I think it was just you know he fills a lot of gaps he’s big we need more Wing size more shooting more playmaking guys that can go get a shot you know cuz our offense sometimes you know was stagnant at times but um you know he just fit fit a lot of different different you know checked a lot of checked a lot of boxes that that we just wanted wanted to have that actually was be my follow the fact that you don’t control your the next five years how does that impact seems like it makes this Air important yeah well we we had a lot of options to move back or even out you know because a lot of teams you know like Tyson I think and some other names so but we just thought hey man we don’t have a pick for a while if he’s our guy and we really like him let let’s take him you know like we feel like he can contribute you know may I don’t know first year but he contribute at some point with us and you know he’s we just need a big Wing that can go make plays and he was the best guy on the board for us and you know we just said hey we don’t want to regret trading the pick and you know getting get getting a b getting a bunch of other picks down the road where we can get this guy 20 and he’s our guy does it factor in it all I know it’s not the deciding factor but does it factor in it all that he played for former NBA player just yeah that guy like Mark who was yeah M do a little bit you know I mean obviously like you know I had a bunch of conversations with Mark and he obviously he’s been the NBA coach so you know talking to him and asking him questions he he knows you know so he knows if he can translate or not and some of the stuff he can or can’t do you know strengths and weaknesses so that that definitely helped cuz I think Mark’s one of the more underrated and better coaches in college like you know obviously what he did at Utah Valley and then at Cal um you know it’s funny I actually played against him when I was in the g- league and he was coaching there so we we’ve known each other a long time but um you know he’s you know he knows the NBA game so I think Jay with Jaylen obviously had a great year but I think that that might help him more than maybe some other rookies just CU he he had a guy that that coached in the NBA and played in the NBA so that’s a little bit advantage I think for him you know coming in being a rookie hey you mentioned the workout early on um how useful of a tool is it in the process and with his specific workout did you have like a memorable interaction yeah actually he came in that was probably our best group of guys you know of of all our six seven workouts I think we had and at first I don’t think he was going to actually go cuz he had a really bad back like he he pulled like a spasm in his back like a couple workouts ago and this was going to be his last workout and he said the last two or three he was like I he couldn’t move and then when the workout start I mean he couldn’t he couldn’t move like Steve spirro trainer’s like are you sure you want to go and he’s like no I want to go I want to go so like obviously his mental toughness and and fight to to play through things obviously showed but I mean he just did everything in that workout I mean he was getting every rebound he was making every play he was making shots like he was defending and it was like a high level workout of guys you know that a couple guys that got drafted tonight so um he just it just really stood out I mean it was by far the best workout of any guy we had in here and you know the workouts are a little piece to the puzzle we’re not hey we’re drafted him because he had a great workout obviously we’ve seen him you know for three years but that did help we like hey this guy probably shouldn’t have worked out and he fought through it and obviously played at a high level so that makes you feel good like man this guy’s going to play through some pain and he’s going to compete at a high level and you know that really stood out when best player available in your eyes kind of coincides with bigger wi the way that you you said knowing the direction that the League’s going how beneficial is that that that worked out like that yeah I mean the hardest thing to do is get big wings that you know can kind of do a little bit everything and play both ways and I think with Jaylen it’s he’s unique where he was our best player but also like our best fit on the board you know so having that you know was pretty much a no-brainer and um you know his size he can just do so many things that you know we’re excited just to get him in and get him with our group get him with Kenny and and just really hit the ground running far as your evaluation I know you said you went and got the best player but your front Court dep far as two big men kind of empty back there yeah what went through far your evaluation process so this is the guy we we going to get even though we do have people at that position whereas in this position It’s Kind no definitely I mean you know obviously Evan and and Jared are going to play the five a lot but you know that’s definitely something you know we got to get better at and you know there were some bigs there still left but we just felt jayen was the guy and you know obviously in free agency and stuff we can address you know the backup big but uh you know I think with you know especially especially with Evan and and Jared obviously 82 games you’re going to have injuries but you know whoever we drafted you know like I said earlier like the expectations are going to be low on them but we want him develop them the right way and obviously if they can play they can play but um you know we looked at the bigs obviously because we know that’s that’s an area we need to improve but jayen was just the guy that we liked more um when it comes to jaylen’s develop development um do you anticipate him getting the opportunity to earn minutes under C you think he would be better off just playing the Char Seas yeah I think you know obviously the first steps get him here get him for summer league obviously he’ll he’ll play a lot there and then you know when training camp comes I think just you know talking to Kenny he’s like hey whoever whoever can competes you know everyone’s going to compete for minutes and you know obviously like I said like the bar is low so to speak just because we don’t want to put too many expectations and pressure on the kid but if he comes in and plays like I think Kenny will play him you know what I mean so I just think like we have 10 11 guys that can play you know including Craig that we have on our roster and it’s going to be hard for him to get minutes but if he plays well and earns it like you know I don’t think Kenny’s going to get in his way yeah khif and LC will they’ll be at summer league with us um Khalif is still injured so to be determined if he’s going to play but but Luke’s going to be with us you know obviously had a great year in Melbourne and you know we’re still valuating him where you know we could potentially bring him over this year you know after before Summer League last Jason I’m just 30,000 foot view you saw the Nick’s move yesterday and with first a the second APR is it getting harder to make trades and it feels like this is the start of a new era have you guys sensed that at all in terms trying to get yeah it’s hard because with these aprons there’s so many restrictions on what teams can do um you know it’s just I mean you know you get you get locked into stuff where you can’t trade your picks you know you don’t have picks um you can’t take back more money you know so I think it makes it difficult because you know especially for us like we have a really good team you know I hope we’re going to keep trending in the right direction and we might get expensive here soon so it’s times you know like look at all these other teams they have to make decisions that they probably don’t want to do but it’s just the way it is just the way the money is in these aprons so you know obviously we have great ownership and you know Dan Dan takes care of us and you know and is going to help us with whatever we feel is going to be best for the team but I think um it the apron stuff and all the way the new rules are set It’s just tough for teams I mean you look at some of these teams up top like they’re just so limited in you know what they can do like you know they don’t have bu they can’t get buyout players they can’t you know their second round they they only have second round picks essentially you know picks get Frozen maybe down the line so there’s just a lot of that that that’s tough for teams and you know we’re still kind of learning that and navigating that but um I think it’s just a work in progress for everybody last one person like going off of that um with the Knicks making moves with the Celtics winning the championship is there a level of pressure to feel like hey we’ve got to do something to match what those other teams are doing so that they don’t create more distance anything along those lines yeah I mean we want to get better I mean we’re looking at every Avenue to get better you know obviously draft trade free agency um you know we’re we’re not going to leave any stone unturn but um and we can’t control what you know these other teams do obviously you know I mean we’re not in their war room we don’t know what they want to do but you know we want to compete you know obviously wish we a little more healthy towards the end of the playoffs but um we think we have a great group a group that can compete with those teams and you know we’re we’re going to try and get better I know that we we me Kobe our Williams our front office I mean I mean just just for this draft and the coaches they put in so much work to just to get here and I know we have another day of the draft but um you know we’re constantly in there working thinking of strategies thinking of you know trying to be creative and just ways to get ways to get us better somehow someway you mentioned the next day of the draft round two being tomorrow um do you see a pathway to getting a second round pick oh yeah I mean we’re going to be aggressive man I mean you know you know leading up to this whole thing you know we know we know what teams could potentially move picks so you know we’re always trying to get better and you know obviously look at the board now that you know obviously it’s been adjusted now you know that’s what’s nice is you can kind of take a deep breath and now kind of re reshuffle your board in some way and kind of see where the teams are and the players are at and see if we can go grab someone

Cleveland Cavaliers General Manager spoke with the media at Cleveland Clinic Courts following Round 1 of the NBA Draft, where the Cavs selected Jaylen Tyson with the 20th overall pick.