Figure out Donovan Mitchell’s future and Cavs resolutions for 2024 | Cleveland Cavaliers podcast

Figure out Donovan Mitchell’s future and Cavs resolutions for 2024 | Cleveland Cavaliers podcast

On today’s show 2024 is right around the corner let’s set some Cavs resolutions and ask the question of who is the most important person in the organization for next year let’s dive in are locked on Cavs your daily Cleveland Cavaliers podcast welcome in to a Friday episode of lock

On Cavs and today’s episode is brought to you by prize pick the easiest and most exciting way to play daily fantasy sports go to priz picks.com backlock innba a news called All overc Case locked in NBA for your first deposit match up to $100 I’m Chris Manning Here solo today

Jake Stevens is doing the Lord’s work on production if you haven’t already you can do two things to help the show you can hit subscribe on YouTube hit that notification Bell and you can go leave us a five-star review on your podcast platform CH hit subscribe there as well

We appreciate all the support we appreciate everything uh that the the people that are really engaged with us here at lockdown Cavs have done for it this year and we’re excited for 2024 I’m at least excited for 2024 I don’t want to speak for everybody else but I am I’m

In a in a good place Cavs are fun right now that comeback win Remains the most thrilling thing I’ve seen that team do this year and it’s going to be a lot of fun we will have I will have up a recap uh after Cavs bucks Friday night that’s

In Cleveland have a recap up of that game after after final tip and we’ll see how that game goes we’ll see if Donovan Mitchell returns all of that and more coming up but Today’s Show is about resolutions it is about turning the calendar to 2024 next week we’re going to do some

More looking ahead I have a great guest in mind for an episode to look at three specific players and what the next year could hold for them I think there’s some looking back to do 2023 still but I want to look ahead to next year a little bit

I am in a state with this organization when I came up with this episode structure and often times I would say 99% of the time I am the one coming up with the show structure you don’t like the you can at me whatever that’s fine tell me what you’d like to see that’s

Cool to you where I am so fascinated about where they’re going to go and what is going to come and how this is all going to work the the the actual games themselves are obviously number one basketball itself is the best sport but the mechanics of this team the

Mechanics of how this organization works and where they’re going and what their goals are and how they do or do not have to Pivot are f fascinating endlessly and you could spin tons of webs and tell yourself tons of stories about what is happening and what or what isn’t happening

Frankly and there’s one person that starts with so my first resolution is figure out what’s going on with Donovan Mitchell Donovan Mitchell is someone who has a lot of the cast future on his plate he is the best player on the team right now I think with where Evan Mobley has

Gone this year and obviously I’s out and and what Darius Garland is and what he is not there’s the chance Mitchell is just the best guy in the team and that may be something I have not emphasized enough that that’s just maybe the best guy on the team and whether he wants to

Be here long term or not that that’s just a fact what I will say and something I feel pretty strongly about with him is that you do have to figure out what is going on with him and not not let it Cloud your overall future for starters he is extension

Eligible coming up he’s extension eligible now he’ll be extension eligible again in the summer if he does not want to sign one in let’s say June or July then you are in a position if you’re the Cavs where you do have to face the uncomfortable reality that

Maybe you do have to move on from him and that it’s better to do that ahead of time than it is to wait too long you look at around the league right now there are situations where trades have kind of dragged on and and been not helpful or trades haven’t

Been done I look at Toronto and pasz yakum is not as good as Donovan Mitchell but they’re kind of in no man’s landan with him because they waited up until his contract expires in six months and he might only want to go certain places and does that eliminate teams I might

Want to trade for him or do the teams that might want to trade from also not have the assets you might you might like to get back for a player that has been so ke you and helped you win a title in the C’s case with Mitchell you gave up a

Ton to get him you I think need Clarity on the situation this year it is coming in one way or the other it is I don’t think it is coming in the next month but ahead of the trade deadline I think that much feels pretty clear there’s been so much

Reporting over the last couple weeks Zack low had it I mean I’ve heard this I think Evan has heard this Chris Fedor has reported it everyone Under the Sun that has any lick of connection to the Caps has I think been told some version of the same thing

That the Cavs aren’t looking to trade Mitchell right now that they’re not actively exploring that that could change right maybe that does but they would take a pretty drastic change to me for that to switch in season or maybe that’s just bad posturing whatever it is with Mitchell though you get to next

Summer if he has one year left on his deal and he says yeah I don’t want to sign something now I need another year I I think there’s there’s some pressure to make a decision and move on from him at that point then you get into possible

Trade scenarios is it the Nicks is it the heat what kind of value can get on the market who who is actively going to give you the best package possible there’s a lot of complications when it comes to that you’re you might not get an overwhelming return it’s possible that

Your your hands are tied and you end up in a in a tough spot there and you maybe don’t get everything you would have wanted in that possible trade but there’s just no denying that I think you do need some clarity on what Mitchell is that’s going to inform your

Roster the rest of the way that’s going to inform how you spend in a bunch of different ways because if you are going to spend on Mitchell okay you kind of understand where you’re at as far as cap space goes you understand that you have

Garland on a Max mo is going to get a big contract in the summer I’d expect he’s going to get the rookie Max Jared Allen still you know it’s $20 million in a rising cap but it’s still $20 million Donovan Mitchell is going to make a lot

Of money that’s going to impact the rest of the spend on your roster what you can afford how you need to fill the rest of the roster then if you trade Mitchell you know if let’s just say it’s the Knicks and you get quickly and you

Get Grimes and you get some picks okay so you’re going to have to pay quickly immediately Grimes will be do a contract you’re still spending there anyway but the money’s being spent in a different way and over multiple players if it’s the heat okay you’re getting matching

Salaries maybe some of them go off the books and you’re getting and I think you’d be asking for Hae hakz and if by all account I don’t know if you’re getting in my vastar lock than he Guys West Goldberg and David remill about hakz and they’ve just been like yeah

They’re not trading that guy but you have to ask right and maybe they feel more pressure you’re for now way they didn’t for Dame I don’t know but there’s at least some cost control there Mitchell and whatever happens with him it’s going to have an impact or

Frankly you just keep him and you pay him and you figure it out later you could do that but at least you’d have a contract at least you then have him under team control and able to trade him without having to if you needed to trade him worry

About not getting a a valy back or having him walk that is there are a bunch of scenarios here the three main ones trade him resign him let him run it out of year I think the first two are the likeliest I think you could convince me in a in a

Couple different ways of how this is going to break out and certainly Mitchell is is great and I think you just keep the guy if he wants to stay there’s a reason you traded for him in the first place even if there are some questions to me about what his ultimate

Ceiling and and everything and and where he really Falls among the League’s best best players kind of looks like I think that’s all fair so I I just think you’re in a question with him where you do need Clarity you do need to know where this

Is going I think they probably have a better idea internally than anyone does in the media they know the behind the scenes stuff all that stuff but I I think some clarity on the situation is coming I think it’s necessary I think the organization will be better for it

But that’s going to be the story of the first 6 months of the year I think the playoffs will matter too but I what happens with Mitchell and what would he wants or does not want and what the team wants and does not want and how this all shaks out is not just

Going to reverberate this year but it’s going to reverberate into the future on its impact it’s absolutely a massive thing to watch the rest of the way here and getting some clarity and figuring out where this team ultimately stands in all in all aspects of it it’s going to

Be one of the defining stories of the Year all right after this let’s go to resolution number two and it’s going to sound I think a little bit paradoxal to how I’ve talked about Mitchell and keeping timelines open and keeping flexibility open but there’s a point to we’ll talk about that after

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Job Cavs bucks for Friday night go check it out get prepped for that opponent uh and all that is coming there so number two for me is be in the moment and maximize what you have right now I am all for and I think the correct approach with Mitchell considering the

Cavs midmarket status all of that is to look at Donovan Mitchell and say we cannot let you impact our future in a really poor way right like you can’t you cannot Define our entire future and we can’t be bound to what or does not work with you right I think that is all

True organizations have to be mindful of the future and plan and and not be so in the moment that it costs them down the line and make imprudent decisions for the sake of something that isn’t there we see teams every year make trades make signings that cost them and that hurt

Them in the long run but you also never know how long your window is you don’t you don’t know 100% right that you’re going to make the playoffs every year very few teams can say that especially you need to have jic or Lebron in his prime or

Embid or Giannis like you need these god tier a tier level guys to assume that and even then it can go wrong sometimes look at the Suns this year with how they’re they’ve not played up the snuff with Duron Booker look at the where the Warriors are at R despite Curry still

Being very good the league is so competitive the league is so talented that you have to be mindful that sometimes you could get passed by and I think you also just have to push for the best season you can every single year and be willing to go for it

At times I think if you’re Cleveland part of what is coming here is a need not a need but I think a realiz that not everything is going to be the same every year you cannot Bank on this just existing forever you can’t 100% bank that because you have Darius

Garin and Evan Moy and they’re both going to be signed that you’re just going to be great for a long time you need to go make moves you need to make hard decisions at times you need to do a lot to maximize what you have in these

Moments you know you can aim for consistency you can aim for you over your sustained success but the goal of this league is to win championships the goal of this week is to make playoff runs I think especially when you have guys that are good and you have guys

That are still growing you owe it to yourself to just go for it you don’t know when this is going to end you don’t know when an opportunity is going to break your way look at the Atlanta Hawks as as a as a point here certainly you could just say that

Like hey maybe don’t trade for Deon muray to pay with Trey young and that hasn’t worked I think that that’s certainly the case and they’re sliding right now but look at how fast it seems like their window came and went they they definitely I think overachieved in

Getting to the Conference Finals that wi you’re thank you to Ben Simmons I I think they would but then what have they done since nothing and right now they’re sliding and they’ve paid guys that aren’t very good and they feel like they’re in a situation that maybe something has to change

Again but they got somewhere and they went for it and there’s something I I least respect about that that they decided hey they decided hey like you know what we made the Conference Finals we have Trey let’s be ambitious we went got Quinn snd let’s be ambitious there is

Something entirely admirable about that and if and if you’re a Cavs fan and you’re listening to the show I think you want your team to be ambitious I think you want your team to go for it at times if there’s a trade they can make this

Year within reason and they don’t have a ton of assets but if they can turn Ricky Ruby into some picks into something that helps them I think they should do it I think if the I if if trading like Dean Wade and some picks you get someone makes you better you

Should do it Dean Wade is like a nice success story he’s on affordable contract all that stuff but can you get better and get a guy that’s going to fit your team not just right now but maybe like next year he’s a little bit older

And it it means a change yeah I think you go for it I think if you can maximize what you can be and give your chances better chances to win you can do that there are obviously limits to that you can go overboard you can indulge in

Too much of a good thing and I also wouldn’t want to stop development I mean I think ammani Bates I think Craig Porter Jr not so much as aoi now but I think you want to develop your own guys I think that’s why the g- league matters I

Think that’s why the charge and the work they’re doing down there matters I think that’s why at times it’s been good to see those guys get actual minutes that’s been really cool in it in its own right too but I think you just also really need to be aware that this doesn’t last

Forever that you can’t guarantee anything in the NBA stuff changes guys get traded guys get hurt no one nothing lasts or goes exactly how you plan it to be and this brings me back to Mitchell because if I would feel skittish about this and all the reporting and the way

It’s talked about thing nationally would make me skittish about this as well and Kobe alman’s a really smart guy but he so I’m sure he he knows this but if I was him it would make me SK is you if you decide next year that it’s like hey

Donovan Mitchell we have one year with him we just got to go for it and try to prove it to him and we we don’t feel like the value we’re getting back from the Nicks or the heater or whenever is really worth it like we just want to go

For it then you know what I I app I would applaud them for that I would feel squeamish about it I would feel worried about it because you gave up so much for Mitchell and you’re you’re then just maybe not getting value back and I said in segment

One that that would make me squeamish that you don’t want to end up in the situation but I also would respect it I I would understand that it’s like you know what if we’re getting a poo poo platter of stuff back and we have Mitchell for

One more year and we think we can prove it to him we think we can win and and compete for something then maybe do it now you have to look yourself hard in the mirror and say okay what did the last two years really go for us where

What is our ceiling what is our real ceiling you know is it just second the second round do you have this year and you know the the Nick series and that you don’t get out of the first round or something and that leaves you stuck right and then

You say okay like did we actually do anything what what is there to build on here and there’s nothing to write home about then you’re in trouble but let’s say you make a run this year maybe you pull something out here and you really improve this year and you get to a

Really great place then maybe you just say you know what Donovan we understand you’re not signing the extension maybe this changes in three months and we lose a little bit of value in a trade but we feel like there’s something here let’s go for it I would applaud

That this is again not a league that lasts forever this is not a league where everything just is kumaya and your favorite guy is going to be in the same team for 10 years just because it’s cool and fun stuff changes it has never changed more than it has now I would

Argue so go for it if the opportunity is there know your window short and go for it at the very least it would be interesting that’s where I’m at with that all right after this who is the most important person in the Cavs organization I’ve said his name already

It’s not Don of a Mitchell we’ll do that after this today’s episode is brought to you by our friends at fandel the official sports book of lock down right now new customers get $150 in bonus Bets with any winning $5 moneyline bet that is$ 150 bucks if

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Organization heading into the new year I’m I’m going to cheat and I’m going to give you two names but they’re for two different reasons and they’re both at the executive level number one is Kobe Alman this is the easiest one this is the layup of the show this is the

Easiest most obvious thing I could have said I think this entire show you could argue it’s Mitchell I think you could argue it’s Mooby in terms of needing his development to come along you could argue JB bicker staff as the head coach but think about who is holding all

Of the levers for this Cavs organization think about who is holding what happens with Mitchell and what other trades to make who is the final decision maker in that regard it’s Kobe Alman the president of basketball operations what he thinks and you know at the extension of Mike gainy and all

That what what that organization thinks is the right decision as far as players as far as coaches as far as Donovan Mitchell as any aspect you want to consider it’s ultimately going to come down to Kobe Alman he is the one who’s going to have to answer for

He is the one whose job performance will be looked at as a result he is the one who is going to make the hard decisions at the end of the day JB bigger staff will have an opinion ownership Dan gilburn and Grant Gilbert will have opinions the players will have opinions

Agents that they hear from will inform those decisions and and cause them to make certain decisions all of that is true but the buck stops with Kobe Alman ultimately Ely at the end of the day he has to be the one that decides this and he will then have

To after something happens at media day whatever have to then answer and explain those decisions he is the one wielding the levers of power in this organization as far as basketball decision-making goes and there’s a lot of pressure this is going to be a pivotal year this is going to be a year

Where Donovan Mitchell’s future likely gets decided and you have an Evan moo contract and you have other trades to make you have to navigate this Ricky Rubio situation and handle that with tact and care and and not come and not do something that is frankly unfair to Rubio considering his mental health and

All of that you have to figure out where this team is going you have to chart the direction for this team you have to decide okay are we going to keep trying to level up in some way or do we need to take a half step back and readjust do we

Want to move to Evan Mobi at the five and make a drastic style of play change with if Jared Allen leaves that’s ultimately all up with Kobe Alman and for me that makes him the most important person in this organization no one else has their finger in every little thing

In the way that person in that job has to do they have to work with the coaches they have to have a relationship with agents the players make decisions all that stuff it’s on him ultimately the buck stops with Kobe Alman as far as where this team is going and what the

Future this organization looks like the players have an impact the coach has an impact but the person making the decisions at the end of the day the person deciding what works and what doesn’t who has to analyze everything and be the one making final calls Kobe Alman the other person is Dan

Gilbert probably also not a shocker but Dan Gilbert is reportedly more involved it doesn’t seem like it is the same way it might have been before Jason Lloyd has reported on this and there’s there’s probably more reporting to come at some point so maybe he does get more involved and

And you see some changes because there’s an impetus to change things that that has happened in the past we know that about Dan Gilbert as owner Grant has I think in his role been a little different the organization has been in a different era those guys are obviously

Signed to Long contract extensions in terms of bicker staff and Alman so like that have to eat money okay the other part of this to me is the money side of it and and the capital of this organization what I’m about to say is just purely speculative I’m not telling

You I know anything I I don’t know anything about this as far as How likely it is but the NBA is heading into this really interesting era where the money is going up and up and up and up Dan Gilbert is one of the richest people in

The world so he has a lot of money he could spend a lot of money tomorrow and maybe more than I spend in an entire lifetime any of us would spend an entire lifetime but we’re in this era where we’re seeing investment from outside people and we’re seeing unique

Organization structures to me the one of aside from like the nuggets winning the title in Lebron and all that stuff to me the biggest story in all of basketball this year is Mark Cuban selling his stake in the Mavericks selling some of his stake in the Mavericks to the adelon family and

Taking something of a different role within an organization that is one of the most public long- tendered owners in the league him stepping back is very much a business play it is bringing in people that have gambling infrastructure in the Adon family and saying you know how to

Do this when Sports Bing becomes legal in Texas we want a profit off of this also we just want more money in the organization to spend on facilities and players as as the cap goes up and all that stuff do the Cavs at some point does Dan

Gilbert and and the Gilbert family at some point look for something like that I don’t think there’s a world where they are going to like sell the team and they’re not to their credit you if you say anything you want about them the biggest the best thing you can say about

Them is they not like the owns and don’t don’t spend like they have spent when when the time comes to spend but do they do we see some kind of evolution of the organization instructure maybe not even 2024 but 2025 as the salary cap goes up as TV deals

Come up and that’s also a really big story for next year um is what’s going to happen with with the Cavs local TV rights it’s still very much up in the air by all accounts do they go look for some money and what does that mean for

The Gilbert era what does that mean for how this organization Works does it change things does it make them bigger players do do they just stand pad and and fall behind if other teams spend more that to me is one of the most fascinating stories you could look at as

Far as where this C team is going is does the organization structure Chang anyways Dan continues to get older do they want to bring in more capital is there ways they want to modernize the organization they they have the Caesars partnership there’s a sports book there

All that stuff is already kind of there but are there certain parts of this organization that they want to modernize and do as a way to make more money and then spend more money on the team there’s ways you could do it and there’s people out there with money I mean

You’re I think we’re we might be past the day of single team Rich owner being the best ownership model you might it’s going to be groups man ispia is a group um the Wizards have taken on overseas money the obviously the Mavericks are in the situation there’s there’s people

That have invested in the Pacers this is going to be something that at some point perhaps comes up with the Cavs and someone wanting to invest lots of money take on some sort of ownership stake and what does that mean for for Dan Gilbert and and what is what

Are his thoughts on this we don’t know we might never hear from Dan in a media session again and I that that’s fine probably won’t hear from Grant either I I don’t know what these decision are may not know until it gets reported one day but it’s just something on my mind as

That when that happened with Mark cubin if it happened with Mark cubin if Mark cubin took that money and decided to do something different with his business his NBA team Could Happen anywhere including Cleveland Ohio with the Gilberts all right we’re going to end there I’m Chris Manning thanks again for

Tuning in happy end of the work week back with you Saturday morning for one last show for this year in 2024 recapping Cavs bucks be well take care of yourselves enjoy the Oops

On a new episode of Locked on Cavs (Friday, December 28, 2023) hosts Chris Manning (@cwmwrites, The Just Basketball Show, SB Nation’s Fear the Sword, Forbes Sports) discusses Donovan’s future with the Cavs

This episode was produced by Jake Stephens. The intro music is from our friends at Astral Radio.

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