The CLEVELAND CAVALIERS need to KEEP PACE in the East! | Locked On Cavs Podcast

The CLEVELAND CAVALIERS need to KEEP PACE in the East! | Locked On Cavs Podcast

on today’s show the rest of the Eastern Conference is getting better it’s time for the Cavs to do some improving 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 you can find the show wherever you get your podcast Apple Spotify anywhere else please be sure to leave us a five-star review um write some nice words in the comments as well you can also find the show on YouTube at the free locked on Cavs podcast YouTube channel if you’re watching this on YouTube right now give this video a thumbs up make sure you are subscribed hit that notification Bell as well so you are getting the latest lockon Cavs as soon as possible part of the lock on podcast Network Today’s Show brought you bu FanDuel make every moment more as the playoffs are over in both basketball and hockey the sports aren’t going on quite as much as they are at their Peak but there’s still plenty to be interested in there’s something for everyone this summer and FanDuel is hooking up all customers with a boost or bonus every day all summer long visit fanduel.com locked on to get started on today’s show um the Eastern Conference is getting much better I want to talk about where it was a week ago where it is now Donovan Mitchell has not signed his contract extension quite yet want to talk about if there’s any reason to be concerned and later on today Kenny Atkinson going to be introduced as head coach of the Cavaliers just want to talk through some questions some interesting things that I’d like to learn about Kenny ainson as he meets with the media here in Cleveland for the first time I’m Danny Cunningham you might know me for my time covering the Cavaliers places like Cleveland magazine 923 the fan some other places along the way um thrilled to be here with you I do want to say the month of June was one of the best months that lock on caps has ever had thank you for all making that possible thank you for subscribing for sharing for everything that you guys have done I very much appreciate it I hope you guys have enjoyed the content um one month down so so so many more to go so again thank you for helping to make lock on Cavs grow as fast as you have so very very very early this morning and I’m recording this at 7:45 Monday morning just as the head heads up in case something happens um there I you know I’m around for emergency episodes if need be but I’m recording this at 7:45 Monday morning so about 3:30 a.m. uh Adrian W ask if ESPN I believe it was the first one to break that Paul George had agreed to a 4year $212 million contract with the Philadelphia 76ers so this obviously affects the Cavs a couple of ways number one I don’t think the Cavs were ever in the Paul George sweep Stakes I think he would have been a perfect fit but I don’t think George was ever considering coming to Cleveland so I don’t think that this is a thing where you know another team in the East got better and the Cavs you know weren’t involved I don’t think that that’s a fair thing to say um I just don’t think it is a fair thing to be up upset at the Cavs at Paul George went elsewhere I don’t think Paul George was ever coming to Cleveland as perfect of a fit as he would have been but the way that this affects the Cavs is that the Eastern conference is much better now than it was a week ago I don’t think Paul George going to the Sixers makes Philly a better team than Boston I don’t but a week ago you know we talked about how you know right now it’s Boston’s number one in the East and then there’s a question mark for number two well then what happens the New York Knicks they make a trade for male Bridges so I I personally think well now the Knicks have a a roster that’s built out pretty well I don’t know that they have the prototypical best guy in a championship team on the roster despite how good Jaylen Brunson has been over the last couple of years for the Knicks but their roster fits together really well the roster has basically the best complimentary pieces that it possibly could have Josh Hart’s part of that Michel Bridges is part of that Dante D venzo is part of that and then you’ve got two All-Star caliber guys and Jaylen Brenson and Julius Randle who we all forget about because he hasn’t been healthy so I have the Knicks ahead of the Cavs then and then the news that came very very early this morning with Paul George it’s hard for me and I understand health is a giant question mark with that team but it’s hard for me to look at the roster Philly has with Paul George with joeel embiid with Tyrese Maxi with a a decent you know a decent cast of role players Kelly UB Jr um Eric Gordon’s going to Philly it’s hard for me to look at that roster and say right now the Cavs are better than them doesn’t mean the Cavs are bad I don’t think so I think now but now where that question mark was who’s the second best team in the East and the Cavs were part of that conversation I think now that question mark is okay well who is the fourth best team in the East and I think the Cavs are part of that conversation the Cavs might be at the top of that conversation but that’s a conversation that includes teams like Milwaukee who is one at title In The Last 5 Years the Orlando Magic who I think this the kcp signing three years for $66 million is a very nice signing for them I don’t think that they’re quite there but as Paulo benero continues to improve and get better the magic are going to be a problem in the Eastern Conference they’re a team that’s on its way up and I still think the Cavs are on their way up but the magic are going to be in a very similar conversation to them I haven’t mentioned the Indiana Pacers who just went to the Eastern Conference Finals the East is getting much much better and the Cavs need to do something about it not because the Cavs aren’t good but I do see on paper and the games are not played on paper they’re played on hardwood but on paper I see teams that are passing the Cavs by in terms of talent level I still think the Cavs are really really talented I don’t think that is a question but I think other teams have done enough adding guys to where New York added Bridges the Sixers added Paul George the magic who I don’t think are better the Cavs but added canvia cwell Pope and the Cavs have not done anything yet they’re not going to go all summer without doing anything that’s silly that’s a really silly thing to think but I think what this last the last four or five days really since the Knicks traded for male Bridges what that period of time has told us about the Cavs is that they need to improve I don’t think just running it back the same way it it has been is going to be enough maybe even to get to the second round depending on who the matchup is I certainly don’t think that as of right now running it back is enough to get to the Conference Finals and if in year three of Donovan Mitchell with this organization if the Conference Finals isn’t the goal I think that the bar is set a little too low for this team Donovan Mitchell is in his prime we’ll talk about his contract extension coming up in just a little bit on today’s show but he’s in his prime Evan moble is only getting better better we don’t know what the rest of the roster is going to look like around those guys it sounds like they want to run back their core four I don’t know if that’s going to be the case but the Cavs need to get better whether it’s with better role players I don’t know I I think that there are a few guys available that the Cavs should be interested in and as the week goes on we can talk about those guys or if it’s with breaking up the core 4 and reallocating some of that talent but I think something needs to be done for the Cavs because right now as it stands today and it is July 1st so as it stands today doesn’t matter nearly as much as what it looks like in October for good and bad as it stands right now I think the Cavs need to improve if they want to reach the Eastern Conference Finals if they want to reach the NBA Finals most certainly they might need to improve if they want to reach the second round again and yes I think that there will be some improvement that comes just because of Kenny ainson I think that the Cavs because of Kenny ainson will be a better team than they were last year because of JB bicker staff but I still don’t think that’s good enough I don’t think that Improvement on the bench which I do think is a real thing and I do think matters I don’t know that that Improvement on the bench is enough right now to keep up with the arms RAC in the Eastern Conference I’m willing to give this team the benefit of the doubt for a little bit because it’s 8:00 in the morning on July 1st the fact that moves haven’t happened yet isn’t a reason to panic I truly don’t believe that you should be panicking because other teams have made moves and the Cavs haven’t if we’re being honest with ourselves I think yesterday when free agency opened up at 6:00 on Sunday things moved a little slow now I think part of that is because teams were allowed to negotiate with their own free agents since the finals ended two weeks ago or 10 days ago or however long it’s been so I think that’s part of the reason why at 6:00 there wasn’t you know that influx of agreed upon contracts at 601 that clear clearly had been agreed upon beforehand other than Luke cornette which I thought that was really funny he was the first one to uh to have his contract reported but but I think that the Cavs should get the benefit of the doubt a little bit now if in a week we’re still in the same situation I think the conversation’s a little bit different but right now it’s been a little slow with free agency I think the Cavs will make moves but I think that the past 12 15 hours depending on when you you’re listening to this the starter free agency has shown me that they need to make moves today’s lockdown Cavs is brought to you by FanDuel I I love watching sports guys I know you love sports if if you are watching or listening to today’s episode of lockdown Cavs I know you love sports I know you love the Cavs you might love the Cleveland Guardians as well that is absolutely something that you need to keep in mind when you are browsing FanDuel because I think that there is a lot a lot with the Cleveland Guardians that is very interesting Guardians didn’t have a very good week they lost well they won two a three in Baltimore very impressive series then they lost three out of four to Kansas City Guardians still as I record this right now have the best record in the American League I think that’s worth something despite having the best record in the AL they’ve got just the third best odds to win the American League on FanDuel at plus 700 I think that’s a really smart play If you’re looking to make some coin on baseball but you don’t want to do you know dive into the daily minutia of the game you don’t want to be betting games studying pitching matchups every day FanDuel makes it easy you can put money on the Guardians to win the AL at plus 700 on fandel or if you want a little bit of a safer bet a little bit less of a value play here Guardians are minus 280 to win the American League Central Division minus 280 to win the AO Central it’s not great value but I love the guardian’s chances to hang on to this division lead throughout the year and of course this summer FanDuel is hooking up all customers with a boost or a bonus daily that’s right so every day you can can get a boost or a bonus all summer long head on over fanduel.com lockon that’s fanduel.com o c k d o n and start making the most out of your summer FanDuel the official sports betting partner of Major League Baseball so one of the things that I think a lot of people expected to happen by now and certainly I am a little surprised that it hasn’t happened yet is Donovan Mitchell’s contract extension and we will talk about that coming up in just a second right here on lockdown Cavs but are you watching Fox Sports or ESPN on your TV all day and you have to turn down the volume because you get a headache from all the shouting that’s going on on some of those shows well I’m here to tell you to make the switch to locked on sports today it’s a free 247 sports streaming Channel That’s programmed for you every day to bring you the best stories without all the screaming lockdown sports today brings you can’t miss analysis opinions and news streaming 247 on YouTube or the free Amazon Fire TV channels app part of the lockdown podcast Network your team every day so with Donovan Mitchell there’s been a lot of thought that he’s going to sign a contract extension with the cuen Cavaliers and he has not yet as I record this there has not been reporting and I will check Twitter right now just to double check and no there has been nothing yet there’s not been reporting that the Cavs and Mitchell have agreed to a contract extension there’s no reason to worry I do not believe that Donovan Mitchell is going to do anything this summer other than sign a contract extension with the Cleveland Cavaliers I feel very confident about that I’m a little surprised that reporting has that it has not been agreed upon and reported as such to this point but I don’t think that there’s a reason to worry I understand that there can be trepidation when these things drag out a little longer there might be some Minor Details that need to be worked on but I right now do not see a reason for Cavs fans to worry about Donovan Mitchell and his future in Cleveland I think that if if there were reasons to be concerned you would have heard about it I really think that if there were real reasons that you know maybe there’s wavering going on on one side or the other that they’re not sure this is the best idea if that would have been the case you would have heard about it it would have been something that would have been reported and I I think that this is really the key here too you would have start to have heard more rumors pop up about destinations for Donovan Mitchell notice how throughout the season you know you’ll see photoshops on Instagram of Donovan in a Miami Heat jersey or a Lakers jersey or something like that and that stuff has largely gone away because those rumors have died down because everything in the NBA in League circles has pointed to Donovan Mitchell signing a contract extension in Cleveland and staying with the Cavaliers I don’t believe anything has changed I don’t have reason to believe anything has changed so I’m telling you right now don’t worry about this this isn’t something that is a big deal sometimes teams wait on this stuff sometimes there are Minor Details that need to be worked out sometimes yeah there is reason to worry I don’t think that this is one of those things I think that Donovan’s going to sign a contract extension with the Cavs I think he’s going to be here for a while I’m not saying he’s going to finish his career in Cleveland not saying he’s going to be a member of the Cavaliers for life but I think he’s going to be here for quite a while I think he’s still going to sign that contract extension I don’t think that there’s any reason for a concern right now now what the rest of the roster looks like around him I think is a very interesting conversation um and I also think you know it is worth noting this past weekend Donovan had a basketball camp I believe it was the spider Elite Camp um and it was out in Los Angeles Cav’s president of basketball operations Kobe Alman he was out there new head new Cavs head coach Kenny ainson he was out there there was video of those guys all talking um everything looks fine like they look like a team that is going to uh to be be together for quite a while and if you really really really want to dig into this like really want to dig into this Donovan yesterday posted a posted a ton of Stories on Instagram and I don’t think that this stuff is ever really worth reading into but if you really want to read into something I get it if you’re just digging for any morsel any netive information well he’s been posting quite a bit on his Instagram story as one does and you know he posts himself wearing calav stuff to me a guy that is unhappy with his situation A guy that is unhappy and doesn’t want to sign a contract extension isn’t doing that type of stuff if you want to read into everything and you want to psych yourself out and freak yourself out that Donovan Mitchell might not sign a contract extension with the Cavs be my guest but I think you’re wrong I don’t think that’s I don’t think that’s a possibility I would be very surprised still if he does anything this summer other than sign a contra direct extension now I don’t know how long that extension is going to be it could be 3 years it could be 4 years I don’t know if there’s going to be a player option there might be there might not be but there’s no reason for concern that he’s not going to be on the Cavs really I I I think that there might be some Minor Details that still need to be worked out but I don’t think I really truly don’t think that you should be concerned about whether or not he’s going to sign a contract extension I I don’t um one guy who has signed a contract with with the Cleveland Cavaliers is Kenny ainson he’s going to be introduced to the media today at Cleveland Clinic courts I’ve got some questions some things I’m interested to learn about Kenny ainson we’ll talk through that next right here on lock on Cavs so Kenny Atkinson is now the 24th head coach of the Cleveland Cavaliers he was named head coach by the Cavs late last last week this was obviously agreed upon um a week ago so for all intents and purposes he has been the head coach of the Cavaliers for about a week and he will be introduced to the media early this afternoon and it will be I have a lot of questions for Kenny Atkinson obviously I’m not going to have the opportunity to ask all of them I will have the opportunity to ask some of them but I wanted to talk through three or four questions that I have that I want to hear Kenny ainson answer today um the first question that I’m interested to hear from Atkinson is why this opening what was it about the Cleveland Cavaliers job opening that was appealing to you because since Kenny and the Brooklyn Nets parted ways a couple of years ago his name has popped up with a lot of openings there have been quite a few openings across the NBA in that time I know it doesn’t feel like that long ago but you know there have only been there are only five coaches in the NBA right now that were in place in their current situation prior to the covid-19 pandemic think about that there have been a there’s been a lot of turnover since Kenny ainson lost his job and Kenny has been you know rumored for several jobs he’s interviewed for some jobs he was even offered the job in Charlotte with the Hornets when they fire James Breo so why this one what about this situation with was most appealing to Kenny ainson that he has because you know he passed on the job in Charlotte and I totally understand why but there have been several jobs that teams have been interested in him I’m sure he’s been interested in them what’s the right fit been and why is it this that’s question number one that I’m really interested to hear how he answers number two since he was with the Brooklyn Nets he spent time as an assistant in LA with the Clippers under tanl and then in Golden state with the Warriors as the lead assistant to ster in that time he spent a lot of time around Superstars you know you think back to the time with tyou in La Kawai Paul George those guys were there in Golden State obviously Steph Curry Draymond Green Klay Thompson won a title as the lead assistant what did he learn from that experience how did that experience as an assistant after being a head coach better him for his second opportunity as a head coach what did he learn from those situations what did he learn in Golden State what did he learn in I believe it was only a year but what did he learn in LA with tyo how has that bettered him as a head coach because I don’t think he’s a Flawless head coach by any stretch of the imagination I don’t I don’t think anyone does I think if I asked him a said hey Kenny do you think you’re a Flawless head coach he’d say no I don’t think there’s a coach in the NBA that would say they are a Flawless head coach at least you know if they did I believe they’d be talking factiously so that’s question number two question number three how do you plan on maximizing the two big situation because I don’t want to ask him a question as if you know they’re for sure going to split up the bigs until they do I am going to operate until there’s a trade with Jared Allen I mean let’s be honest if they’re trading away one of the two bigs it’s not going to be evmo it would be Jared Allen so as long as he’s on the roster the Cavs have a different situation in the front Court than most teams how does Kenny Atkinson plan on maximizing that I think that is a very interesting thing I think that is something that I really want to hear from him I want to ask the same thing about the backourt you know Darius Garland and Donovan Mitchell I think that they played really really well together Donovan’s first year in the NBA or first year in the Cavs excuse me and then this past year it was a nightmare of a season for Darius How does Kenny ainson helped Darius Garland get back to what he was before the jaw injury and how does he get the most out of a back court that has two ball dominant guards neither of which are you know considered to be average or above average side for their position they’re two smaller guards how does he maximize that on both ends of the floor another question I have is what kind of pace do you want to play with the Cavs have been a bottom five team in Pace in the NBA for the last several years Kenny ainson as a head coach his teams were either in the top 10 in Pace or near the top 10 in Pace every year he was in Brooklyn the one year they weren’t in the top 10 they were 11th so he is as a coach had teams that have run up and down now is that a is that a stylistic thing that Kenny ainson likes or is that because he wants to coach to his Personnel I think that’ll be a very telling answer when we get it from Kenny ainson so he will be introduced later on today um tomorrow’s episode will certainly cover more NBA free agency stuff it will cover how Kenny ainson introductory press conference went so be sure to stay tuned keep it locked right here to locked on Cavs thank you for making lockdown Cavs your first listen every day as I mentioned earlier in the show um the month of June was awesome for lockdown Cavs and I cannot thank you guys enough um we had our best month on YouTube ever in the history of the lockon Cavs channel the podcast numbers were really really good as well so I just want to say to all of you thank you for helping to make lockdown Cavs such a fast grower of a podcast it’s been awesome to see I can wait to see where we can all take this show because this is not just me sitting here talking it’s you guys listening it’s interaction I’ve loved the first month of doing this show I cannot wait to keep going um I can’t wait to be out in Vegas at Summer League bringing you guys content from there I cannot wait to get really creative throughout this summer as we we talk about the Cavs during the summer months before basketball gets here and then of course I absolutely cannot wait for the games to start up I mean that is the thing I love that’s the thing I know all of I cannot wait to talk about the Cavaliers every day um 5 days a week coming at you and certainly more often than that during the actual basketball season but thank you again for making lockdown Cavs your first listen every day sorry this episode’s coming out a little bit later today I just wanted to see if the Cavs were going to do something if there was going to be more news to talk about but we might have some of that tomorrow of course this is part of the lockdown podcast Network your team every day have a great Monday everybody

On Monday’s edition of Locked On Cavs, Danny Cunningham (@RealDCunningham) of Cleveland Magazine and 92.3 The Fan looks at some of the moves made by other teams in the Eastern Conference and talks about what the Cavs need to do in order to keep pace.

Follow & Subscribe on all Podcast platforms…
🎧 https://link.chtbl.com/LOCavs?sid=YouTube

Locked On NBA League-Wide: Every Team, Fantasy, Draft, WNBA & More
🎧 https://linktr.ee/LockedOnNBA

#Cavs #ClevelandCavaliers #NBA