Summer League Practice | D.J. Burns | 7.10.2024

Summer League Practice | D.J. Burns | 7.10.2024

DJ how would you describe this journey for you from NCAA tournament to NBA now trying to find your way on the summer Le team and grow in those aspects I think is damn booming voice prob yeah I didn’t know about that um I just think it’s been pretty cool you know I’m blessed to have this experience and be able to learn from all these guys you know um the ones who’ve already been through the process and be able to have fun with the ones who are coming into it with me it’s been a it’s been a h as well how much has your games been able to change and translate especially with your transformation off season and how do you feel like it’s going to help you grow in this Summer League season I would say offensively the main thing that um I learned from these guys was getting off of the screens quicker um and then on defense guarding the ball screens those are the main two things that I picked up over this time and um we’re going to put it to use come Friday I know you came in for a pre-draft workout so you had some kind of feel for the organization and you also obviously are participating with them for summer Lea what is it about this organization that stands out to you that you wanted to be part of it I think that the way that they play kind of matches how I play um the way that they use their bigs the way to their strengths um and that’s something that I’ve always had in coaches and that was something I immediately stood out here what are some of the questions that you’ve been asking some of these guys that you entered this camp in wondering like how can I either improve or what can I learn from these what are some of those questions uh just a lot about defense and and how to get through the rotations and ball screens and ways to help certain players you know everybody plays differently so when I’m with this guy how does he like to play and um how can I be most effective when I’m with him is there someone that you’ve been picking the brain of particularly uh really Craig um being in a lot of ball screens with him and Dex those two so those are the most the people I’ve been in the most ball screens with so just learning from them DJ so much has been said and written about your body transformation at what point did you think that that was a road that you wanted to go down and how do you feel that that process has gone for you I knew that once our season was over we’re going to have to hit that immediately there was no doubt about that but um it’s just kind of hard to you know change your whole diet in the middle of the Season you know you’ve been playing a certain way the whole year it’s hard to just change it all of a sudden what’s the thing that you missed the most uh no really it wasn’t too hard to change for real it’s just all about timing DJ guys your size typically don’t have the footwork whatness the agility that you do where and how did you develop that that have you always been this way since you were young yeah uh I pretty much have footwork from a young age um all my younger coaches they always worked on it a little more than most anyone I’ve ever seen that was one of the main things that we always did um especially when they knew I was going to be tall so um you know once I got bigger I just kept it it work that’s all what kind of challenges do you think you’re going to see in the summer league that that that you’re looking forward to trying to take on uh just really showing my my Improvement on defense you know um you’re not going to get every play right but we going to get more than most as you get ready for games and all that for the summer league just what are some of the goals things that you want to come away with when when the summer league comes to an now what do you to accomplish I want to win every game that’s pretty much why we here we want to try and win that’s the whole reason why we compete so just try to win all the games and then from a standpoint like during the NCA tournament and you sort of became Like a Star Overnight in a lot of ways like obviously people at and some State knew you but I think like in a national level people really found out who you were just what was that sort of Journey like for you and how’ you kind of handle that new found startom that came into your lap I mean it was kind of cool you know I I loved it until we got home and it takes like 20 minutes to get to my car but other than that I enjoy it a lot that’s the only thing kind of off of that what do you want fans Cavs fans now that’re getting to watch you that maybe didn’t know too much about you to that tournament what do you want them to know about I just want him to know we F to keep it rolling you know we going to try and make our way so we going to get it done where you get your personality from seem like you’re really happy got directly from my mother if you meet her you’ll understand immediately

Cleveland Cavaliers forward/center D.J. Burns spoke with the media following practice at Cleveland Clinic Courts on July 8, 2024.