Transcript
Speaker: Hey Cavs fans, welcome to the Cavs Pick and Roll podcast, the podcast for diehard fans by diehard fans. I'm Alex and I'm here with Corey. How's it going tonight, Corey? Oh, it is going fantastic, Alex. We are officially 30 days away from the start of the Cleveland Cavaliers season. I can smell it. I can taste it.
Speaker: And I'm so excited to watch Cavs basketball again. And I know you're getting excited as well. It's crazy. It feels like it's taken forever to get to this point. But basketball is almost here, man.
Speaker: It's great. I'm so ready. I'm so ready for it to start. like i um I feel like we got our roster set. Let's get it going. I think there's actually one final roster spot. I'll have to talk about that and see if there's any names or anybody that makes sense. I haven't heard of any rumors or anything like that.
Speaker: But I thought I saw they had one final roster spot open. I could be wrong. But yeah, for the most part, the roster is set. We're going talk about it. It's been a while since we recorded. um a lot has happened.
Speaker: um But yeah, Cavs basketball right around the corner. And we got to get into it, Alex. They finally found their man. They're starting small forward, Peyton Watson. Yeah, i think that's ah think it's a great pickup.
Speaker: I mean, he's a really young guy. He's only been in the NBA for three seasons, so he's only 24 years old. um Yeah, he came over from the Nuggets. I'm a little surprised Denver couldn't make it work to keep him.
Speaker: I think they really wanted to. They just couldn't make the money work. I'm surprised we were able to make the money work. I'm really happy to have him on the team. i You know, I think he's one of those guys that um he has a really high ceiling and he's going to keep improving.
Speaker: It kind of reminds me of... ah You know, I see comparisons to Jaden McDaniels and, um you know, players of that caliber. So excited.
Speaker: Yeah, I think Watson is maybe the Denver Nuggets version or the Cavs version of Ty Jerome. They know they just let a good one go. They just couldn't hang on. Right. And that's kind of how we felt with, with Ty Jerome and the calves get to be the beneficiary of that. And man, Alex, it was exhausting over the summer every day, especially after the LeBron news broke and and that wasn't going to work out.
Speaker: It was every day talking about Watson and Camonga. Like it was exhausting that that was like the daily calves news from, from the social media channels. I think in our last episode, we you know we talked about if we want Kaminga or Watson, and and I think we both picked Watson. I think so as well. and And of course, the trade happened just a couple of days after that episode.
Speaker: course it did. Of course it did, right? That's how it always happens. but But I'm excited about it as well. it was one of those things where it felt like it drew out so long. I was like, this isn't going to happen, is it?
Speaker: Like we're going to go into the season and we're not going have, you know, our guy, quote unquote, it's another year searching, trying to plug guys in. Okay. Jalen Tyson, can you stop? Like it was going to be that circus, that merry-go-round. But kudos to the Cavs, man. they They pulled it off. It did require sacrificing Max Struess, which we could talk about here in a second.
Speaker: But I'm excited about Watson, man. He's a young up and coming player um that has continued to improve year over year. And I feel like in today's NBA is on a very team friendly contract, making around 21 to 23 million over the next three years.
Speaker: um So that's a great, a great salary for an up and coming player who, if works out, is potentially your starting small forward for the foreseeable future. Yeah, I mean, we've been, you know, that small forward position has been a rotating position since LeBron left and Peyton Watson, six foot eight, 200 pounds. You know, I saw some video of him working out with Harden and a few other Cavs players already.
Speaker: Looks like he put on a ton of muscle. I'm excited. I think he's going to be a beast. I think so too. And I wanted to ask you a question, you know, pick any era since, since LeBron has, has, has been vacant. All right. Which is multiple times and in Cavs history here.
Speaker: Who do you feel has been the best small forward so far post LeBron era?
Speaker: Ooh.
Speaker: No one good. like The names coming to mind are like, do I really want to say that? like Do i want to say Jetty Osmond? DeAndre Hunter? like ah andm Hunter wasn't here long enough.
Speaker: Luol Deng comes to mind. i'm I'm drawing a blank on right and and when he was exactly here. I want to say was after LeBron first left. Was he a small forward? Was he his shooting guard? Was even here a season Probably not. I think he got flipped for Andrew Bynum, if I remember correctly.
Speaker: So yeah, that's the whole point of why I asked the question is you really have to sit down and think about it. And i don't mean this in any disrespectful way, but Chetty Osman might be your guy just because the tenure that he was here, which was seven years,
Speaker: And sure, he his ceiling was never that high, but that's also the the the crazy part about it is that, again, no disrespect, but the best the Cavs have been able to do has been Chetty Osman.
Speaker: I think Peyton Watson has an opportunity to be that player that we say when that question gets asked. Who was the next best small forward in Cavs history post LeBron? I think Watson has an opportunity to do that. He's young. He's up and coming.
Speaker: He's hungry, defensive beast, shooting the three-point ball. We'll see. We'll see, Alex. But I'm excited. it's not It's not another Dean Wade. It's not another quote-unquote Max Jr., another kind of homegrown guy that kind of just can't nobody knows the name and you're trying to insert him into the lineup.
Speaker: Watson's still young and on on you know not a household name yet across the NBA. But you just see the upside he has to where i don't even know Chetty even reached where Watson is today yet. Did did Dean Wade even reach where Watson is today yet?
Speaker: I don't know. I don't think so. i don't know. I don't think so. So it's interesting. It's got me excited to add him to the to the to the roster and see what he can do with these guys.
Speaker: Alex is still trying to think of a name. He's like, I got, I got he's going to think about it tonight. ought be he he's yeah There's gotta be somebody, right? Did Karis Levert, was he small forward or was he shooting guard? I don't know. Karis Levert, maybe. Maybe. Solid. Maybe. He was here, what, two two seasons, maybe somewhere around there. it also depends on tenure as well.
Speaker: But, uh, it's an interesting one to think about. We'll to do some research and maybe we'll, we'll talk about on the next episode. um after ke Kevin Love. Kevin He was more power forward maybe though. He was power forward. He was power forward for sure.
Speaker: um So after the Watson you know trade finally happens, I'm like, okay, but the Harden thing is going to happen any second now, right? It was weird. It was like three and a half weeks until the Harden news dropped.
Speaker: Um, everybody saw it coming a mile away. Again, you got to give some kudos to Harden for, for allowing the Cavs to do everything they could to try to negotiate any other deals that they could before he signed his own deal.
Speaker: So I will give him that props, but he did end up signing a three year, $97 million dollar deal, puts them in the over $500 million career earning club, along with LeBron, Kevin Durant.
Speaker: and Steph Curry, it's kind of crazy and that he's only one of four players in that club. And Alex, not surprising, but how do we feel about potentially James Harden?
Speaker: Well, not potentially, but James Harden for the next three years at 30 plus million. It's exactly what I predicted. I remember I sent you ah a message from a Reddit post that I had made where they were predicting what, you know, Harden will re-sign at, and I absolutely nailed it.
Speaker: I said, three-year, $100 I got so much hate. Like, why would they sign him for that amount of time and that much money? And I was like, because it makes sense. It's he's not going to, you know, decline his player option making, you know, 45 million and, you know, leave millions of dollars on the table. He's obviously going to sign, ah you know, at least a two plus one deal, at least 30 million. So, I mean,
Speaker: I thought it was right in line with what I was expecting. i think a lot of other people thought that he was going to take some, you know, much less or maybe only two years for some reason, or maybe people are just wishful thinking because a lot of people aren't, are hating on Harden. They're, They didn't like the way that you know he performed in the playoffs for us. but Sure, I didn't like how he performed either. But he wasn't taking a two-year $50 million dollars deal at $25 million a year either. He knew it was his last payday.
Speaker: And you know to be honest with you, i don't love it either. But the Cavs aren't trading away Darius Garland, who was 10 years younger, for a year and a half of of of James Harden, or two years of James Harden. That just wasn't going to be realistic, right? So when they made that trade, they already knew they were going to bring Harden back, and potentially, most likely, for the rest of his career, because he just turned 37, I think, last month.
Speaker: And by the time this deal is up, if he's even still playing by then, you know he'll 40 years old. so um It's his one last payday. It's the Cavs, you know, kind of just what were they going to do, you know, not bring them back and and and basically lose lose Garland for, you know, the 20 something games we got in the regular season and what we saw in the playoffs of James Harden. It just wasn't going to happen.
Speaker: um I will say this, though. you know i still have a hard time, Alex, believing that he's actually going to finish his career in a Cavs uniform. i just I don't know why, but I just got this feeling.
Speaker: And listen, no no contract is untradeable. Um, you know, I mean, there's nothing stopping the calf starting to enter entertain ways to move off from Harden.
Speaker: Um, even, even starting, you know, this summer coming up after the season, you know, and and so on and so forth. So it'll be interesting to see if he actually finishes his, his career retiring as a Cleveland Cavalier, Alex. I don't know, man, I have a hard time seeing it.
Speaker: Well, I'm not in a hurry to see him move on. We haven't seen Harden. I agree. In a Cavs uniform for a full season yet. Yep.
Speaker: So maybe at the end of, you know, the 20, 26, 27 season, I'll be ready to see him move on or I'll be happy to see them run it back with him again at the two. So, I mean, that's, that's one point. I guess my, my second thought to what you just said that,
Speaker: you know With LeBron, we you know we always talk about, oh, he should come back to the Cavs for you know his final season. who who do you What team do you think Harden would want to return to if he were to do final season?
Speaker: a final season Of any of his past teams. Yeah, exactly. So that's the Thunder. That's the Rockets. That's the Nets. That's Philly.
Speaker: That's your four, right? Wasn't Brooklyn in there? that Brooklyn Nets. I said Nets. Brooklyn Nets. Yeah, yeah, I don't think it'd be the Nets, although you don't know. Nets could be kick-ass team in two years. I don't know.
Speaker: You know, Oklahoma could be falling apart by then. 76ers, whenever that thing's done, that thing's going to be in shambles. I don't care what anybody says. That's fine. They're going for the title shot.
Speaker: But I think you're trying to say Philadelphia, right? i don't know. Maybe. my opinion, in my opinion i i when I think of Harden, I think of Houston Rockets.
Speaker: Yeah, I do too. So that's me. Yeah, I think Houston, Oklahoma would be kind of a cool story. Go back to where it started. But it it'll be interesting. Again, I'm with you. i really liked and I've said this multiple times on this podcast. I really liked what I saw out of Harden when he first got here in the regular season, the pick and roll game. with with ah Allen while Mobley was hurt was fantastic. When Mobley came back, he had great chemistry chemistry as well. My biggest beef is that when the playoffs came, we got ISO hardened instead of pick and roll hardened.
Speaker: And pick and roll hardened is deadly and unstoppable. And that's what I want to see. they really changed up They really changed up the gameplay when they got into the playoffs. It was almost like a completely different team. I blame that more on Kenny than I blame it on Harden because Kenny played him 38 minutes a game. okay The oldest freaking guy in your starting roster is playing the most minutes, and he obviously had to greenlight what was going on out there. right I don't think Harden just said, ah I'm going to play isoball. I don't care what you're going to say, coach. I don't think that's how that went down.
Speaker: So I blame it more on Kenny for, for some of the things that happened. and i think a lot of other fans do, but Harden got a bad rap because of it. And yeah, I want to see what happens a full season, including the playoffs.
Speaker: And, uh, we'll see where we're at, you know, next off season. Yeah. Well, I mean, he, He was a turnover machine, right? Like yeah it was ah sight to see. yeah, yeah for sure. more For sure. it was It was not great. But I mean, you know, like you said, you had 20 regular season, regular season games with the team.
Speaker: you know they need more time than that to prepare. Absolutely. Absolutely. So I did want to call out, I kind of should have said it before we we jumped over to Harden, but but the Watson trade did require moving out Max Struess. couple of you know things that happened as well.
Speaker: um Struess was here, i think, three years. what If you had to sum up Max Struess's career as a Cleveland Cavalier, or what will you think of when you hear the name Max Struess while he wore the wine and gold?
Speaker: I like Max Drews a lot. I thought he was a great player. Great hustle guy. Lots of grit. Lots of energy. you know Could hit the three. Maybe it was a little streaky, but he would have games where he would go off. so you know he he He earned that nickname Super Max for a reason.
Speaker: and thought he was great. I'm going to miss Max. I think about like the three different hairstyles he had. Remember when he came in, he was all his short hair. And when he left, he looked like freaking a tennis player or something. I don't know. Yeah. Bizarre man. Yeah. Bizarre. But yeah, I mean, great story. I believe he was undrafted. If I remember correctly, you know, found his place with the Miami heat.
Speaker: Um, obviously the cows were able to, to, to grab him, steal him away. And we were both excited when he first came and he was able to do some nice things. Never really stuck as a starter,
Speaker: And unfortunately, didn't make much impact consistently in the playoffs over the last several years. But he was a workhorse. I mean, he was always out there giving it his all.
Speaker: And even in this past playoff series, you know, we saw that when the Cavs were down and out, he was still out there working. Um, so yeah, it was time to move on for sure. um I'm, I'm, I'm willing to take a chance on a younger player, a rising player like Watson for Max Drew's Max Drew's is going to be fine. He has a long NBA career ahead of him. He will continue to, uh, find his way into rotations. And I think it's kind of crazy that he's now a teammate of Darius Garland out in Los Angeles with the Clippers who also don't have a draft pick for the next five years. So that'll be interesting to see how um, how they, that duo does out there, but
Speaker: One of my favorite Max Drew's moments, Alex, is, man, that buzzer beater that he hit from like half court was was amazing. It's probably going to be one of the most played moments of his career.
Speaker: But I also think about, man, everybody thinks of him as a shooter or soft player or whatever. Man, he had some freaking thunderous jams when he would take it to the rim, dude.
Speaker: He had some nice throw downs over those three years as well. And man, yeah, just a great player, a fun player to watch. Yeah. Yeah. i always remember, i mean, ah he was injured for quite a bit last season, but when he came back that first game back, he was just on fire um from the three point line. Couldn't miss.
Speaker: It's just hitting everything. was awesome. Yeah, it was great. It was great, but it was time to move on, and and the Watson era has officially begun.
Speaker: um he was just introduced in the latest presser that just happened just a couple days ago. Yeah. um you know We got to meet the press and all that, got asked some questions, gave the typical...
Speaker: you know kind of responses you would expect, which, yeah you know what, gets boring, but it's okay. You don't want a knucklehead or something like that out there either. no he's Yeah, he answered all the questions very well. He was very well-spoken, seemed to be very quick with his answers. um He talked about Harden reaching out to him during the whole where the Cavs were still trying to decide what direction to go, so they weren't like fully committed to him.
Speaker: Or, you know, they were still waiting on LeBron, really, is what they were doing at the time. But Harden had already reached out to Watson and, hey, we would love to have you over here kind of thing. And so when the LeBron thing fell through and then, you know, it was, are we going with Watson or Kaminga?
Speaker: i think he said that Harden had reached out to him again and said and was like recruiting him when Watson was going through some... talking to his camp about, you know, what, you know, he was probably, he was getting offers from other teams as well.
Speaker: And they were trying to pick a a direction to go. And that was one of the reasons that he decided to take the Cavs offer. That's great. And you'll, you'll never know what those other offers were, but it makes you wonder, well, did he turn down higher offers from maybe,
Speaker: worse teams that maybe aren't in the position of what the Cavs are, which most people nationally aren't going to label them as a title contender. But listen, there's still, there's still a team to be reckoned with in the East versus going and join like Utah.
Speaker: Who's who who's been ah in ah in a freaking sea of nothing for years now, basically since the Mitchell trade and getting 30, 35 million a year instead. Like, I wonder if he turned down more money,
Speaker: come here and if if so it's pretty cool and even if not it's still pretty cool more brownie points more kudos points whatever to james harden for being the one that comes that has publicly been linked to recruiting watson and making that happen along with waiting for his own contract to be signed so that's pretty cool and yeah i read something today about mitchell's been great welcomed him with open arms basically you know taking him under his wing inviting him everywhere And that's one thing I like about this Cavs team, Alex.
Speaker: You know, Harden's probably the guy the most that I think that has somewhat of an ego just because the stigma that's been around him. But I think we're still getting to know him as Cavs fans. But your other star players, Donovan Mitchell, Evan Mobley, Jared Allen, like there's there's no egos there, right? They're going to welcome you in. They're going to take you under your wing. And they...
Speaker: This is going to sound like a bad comparison because they definitely haven't achieved what the team that I'm about to say has achieved, but they somewhat remind me of the Detroit Pistons teams. back in the early 2000s when they won the championship where like that team was labeled as no there was no superstar on that team. It was just a bunch of guys together.
Speaker: It's kind of what this Cavs team feels like. They just haven't gotten over the hump yet. They just haven't fully figured it out yet. And it's pretty cool that yeah they recruited him, and and so far he's been welcome with open arms. I wouldn't expect anything other than that.
Speaker: Yeah, I can't really think of any other tidbits from that interview. But it was it was a nice it was a nice press conference. Good. Well, the Cavs made one more small signing.
Speaker: And for you old head Cavs fans out there, before you get too excited, no, it's not the Shagana Jop's son, cousin, brother.
Speaker: But there's another D-op on the team, Alex, in 2026.
Speaker: What do we know about this guy? Anything? They signed 6'11 center Khalifa Diop. He was a 2022 draft pick.
Speaker: Draft and stash, I think, right? Yeah, he's played his last three seasons in Europe. So they signed him, brought him over. He'll be competing for a backup big man role, probably yeah with Thomas Bryant.
Speaker: Yeah. Yeah, not expecting much there. um Was hoping for a bit more of ah a known name, maybe a veteran or something like that. But hey, listen, Cavs are where they're at salary-wise.
Speaker: you know We'll see what happens. right i'm not im not ah I'm more looking forward to okay, can Tomlin continue to grow? Can Bryant give us some more consistency in minutes and so on and so forth? But hey,
Speaker: you know you're and You're under your roster. You got to take some flyers on some guys. and Going back to some of those names we listed earlier in in the episode, the the Osmonds, the Wades, you know even Astruis, those were all flyer guys. Tomlin, you know these guys that nobody knows who they are, and and somehow they find they find a little bit of a path with the Cavs.
Speaker: We'll see what happens. We'll get a look at them in the preseason, I'm sure. and you know We'll see what happens from there.
Speaker: So Alex, it feels like, you know, even there, I believe again, there's one more roster spot. I could be wrong on that. Um, it feels like this calves team is pretty much wrapped up as far as the roster going into the start of this season.
Speaker: We had a couple of bodies go out. Keon Ellis, Schroeder, Max Struess, couple of bodies come in, Watson, Razonia, couple of other guys. um For the most part, you know it's kind of a lot of familiar faces.
Speaker: And what do you feel about this roster right now today as we're recording this podcast? you feeling good? you feeling bad? you feeling iffy? Are feeling nervous? What are you thinking? Yeah.
Speaker: No, I'm feeling good about it. i think they'll still be a top four seed and seed team in the East. um You know, they're almost running it back, except they I feel like they probably upgraded, you know, replacing Dean Wade with ah Peyton Watson um and Mario Hazonia. So, i you know, there's two guys there that they added that I think can contribute right away.
Speaker: Uh, yeah, I mean, but other than that, it's kind of running it back. Uh, I think they'll still be good. You know, there'll be a 50 win team at least. Um, yeah. in the and And now we'll get to see Harden mesh more with the rest of the team and these other guys and we'll see how it goes.
Speaker: Yeah, this team to me is is a wild card. They're a wild card because we don't know what we're going to get yet. But I will say this. I grabbed some quick quick stats.
Speaker: And ah Dean Wade, okay? like this is This is last year's stats of a couple key guys here, okay? Dean Wade no longer on the roster.
Speaker: Now LeBron's back up. 5.8 points, rebounds, from last year. Not the most impressive numbers.
Speaker: okay maxru eleven point two points five point four rebounds two assist forty percent from three missed most of the season Peyton Watson alone averaged 14.6, 4.9 rebounds, 2.1 assists, 41% from three, and off also averaged 1.1 blocks per game.
Speaker: So Watson alone almost replaces the production you got from both Wade and Struess. And then if a guy, like you just mentioned, Herzonia, can give you anything— If he could just find a way to be in the rotation for 10, 12 minutes a night and give you Dean Wade numbers, you have now surpassed but with those two guys what you were getting from the two guys that went out. right And then if we keep going, Darius Garland's stats last year, 19.9 points, 2.3 rounds, 6.4 assists, 43% from three. realms
Speaker: six point four assist forty three percent from three James Harden, 20.5 points per game, 4.8 rebounds, 7.7 persists, and 43% from three.
Speaker: Pretty close numbers. Harden edges him out in a couple categories, assists, rebounds, durability, so on and so forth. So again, on paper, the production value should be higher for those guys and the guys that that went out last year. But they're still very much a wild card.
Speaker: Analytically, we should win is what you're saying. That's exactly what I'm saying. You know, a lot of it's going to come down to Kenny, right? And how he's going to coach this team and and finding minutes for all those guys. Because at the same time, you know, I i want to see Craig Porter Jr. get some minutes. I want to see Tomlin get some minutes. i want to see Jalen Tyson get some minutes. Some of these guys that might be able to take another step.
Speaker: And that's exactly the key right there, Alex. First, I'll say this about Kenny. Kenny's definitely on the hot seat this year. This could potentially be Kenny's last year coaching the Cleveland Cavaliers if they have another disappointing early exit from the playoffs. Hopefully that doesn't happen.
Speaker: I like Kenny, but he's on the hot seat this year. But everybody's mad about the Cavs running it back. how How are they going to improve? All these other teams in the East got better. The Cavs, yeah, they got Watson, but that's not a big enough name. What are they going to do?
Speaker: Well, if guys like Jalen Tyson can take that next step, if, quote unquote, one of these young guards, Malik Thomas, Craig Porter Jr., Tyrese Proctor, one of these guys can develop into a actual backup point guard, that'll be huge, especially if it's Malik Thomas out of everybody that you get something from, right? If Tomlin can continue to to do what he was doing last year and and give you just a little bit more, right? And if God forbid, if Evan Mobley can increase any parts of his game, well, all of a sudden, that's the way you got better. You got better from within, within the roster you already have.
Speaker: And to me, the Cavs have to figure some things out. But figuring out how to incorporate Peyton Watson in this lineup is a lot less stressful and a lot easier to achieve.
Speaker: and figuring out how Tyrese Maxey is going to figure out that he's going to be the fourth option on the Philadelphia 76ers, how the Boston Celtics are going to figure out, we don't have Jalen Brown anymore. Who the hell is our second star player to go to when Tatum's sitting on the bench?
Speaker: Or let's go to New York. They just won the championship. Are they still really going to be hungry enough to go back and repeat and win it again? Like all these other teams that added on pieces go down to Miami.
Speaker: Okay. What are they going to do when they realize they're only about seven guys deep? Yeah. Right. So like those are all bigger challenges as those teams have to overcome than the Cleveland Cavaliers team who is running it back already knows each other from the most part already gel.
Speaker: They just have to finally figure it out and get it to click. And maybe that's the Cavs advantage this year is they don't have to figure out all this other noise and all this other drama while Jalen Brown is doing a streaming podcast and training for um MMA fights. while LeBron is doing LeBron things and Joel Embiid is hurt by February. Like,
Speaker: Give me a break, right? The calves aren't going to have any of that noise or drama and nobody is picking them and they're an underdog on top of it. So they were over they will surpass most people's expectations as a result is my prediction, my hope at least.
Speaker: Wild card. The calves are a wild card. Just need them stay healthy, man. They just got to healthy. Stay healthy, man. And the calves are going to be okay. That's something you mentioned, Peyton Watson, 41% three-point shooter. That's actually something that came up in the his introduction conference. He made a comment.
Speaker: One of the reporters asked him ah you know that he's labeled a 3 and D player. Does he feel like he's a 3 and D player? You know, and obviously he answers, well, that's how, you know, I got my role, you know, you into the lineup being a three and D player, but I want to evolve. I want to do more. i want to become, you know, add more to my game. And one of the things he said was that I want to, you know, I'm a 41% three point shooter this next season. I want to be a 45% three point shooter.
Speaker: That's amazing. Yeah, that's amazing. Right. And if he can do that again, that that production versus all the rotating guys, Tyson included. Listen, Tyson had some great moments last year and when there was injuries going on, but he could not sustain.
Speaker: And he also wasn't given an opportunity come prime time in the playoffs. But if Watson can insert into this lineup, and even if he just gave you those numbers that he gave last year, that's going to be such a huge boost.
Speaker: i can't I can't think of the last player at the small forward position that averaged 15 points, five rebounds, and shot 40-plus percent from three-point for the Cleveland Cavaliers. i can't think of anybody.
Speaker: So that's going to be huge for us. And for Tyson, you know, at first I was a little bit worried. I was like, man, I hope this doesn't discourage him because the Cavs didn't promote you to that position.
Speaker: They went out and got somebody else, right? But I think Tyson's one of those guys. He's got too much of a dog in him. I'm hoping he sees it as a challenge. And at the end of the day, he's going to want his payday too, right? So he's still playing for that that first real money NBA contract. So he should be coming hungry whether he's in the starting lineup or not.
Speaker: But I would love to see Tyson develop into like that six-man role, first guy coming off the bench to to to to to relieve Harden or relieve Mitchell or whatever. you know And i want to see the two of them running around out there, two young guys running around scrapping.
Speaker: right And Tyson can shoot the three ball as well. So I'm excited about just the various different lineups that can be out there. And then all of a sudden you got Sam Merrill hiding in the corner that everybody's forgetting about. like You start to get excited when you think about how this thing can can look out there.
Speaker: Yeah, yeah, for sure. Yeah, I mean, yeah, Tyson, he's a dog. He's he's great on defense. he's ah He's got all the tools, right? Like, he's got all the talent in the world. He's just got to put it together, figure it out, you know, get some experience, let the game slow down for him, and, you know, he could you could be an animal out there for us.
Speaker: I think he... Yeah, so this is... I thought so. So he's he's listed as six six I was going to say, he's I think he's a little bit smaller Yeah, he's more of 2... 2 guard, right? So that's the other thing, too. i mean, he's playing behind Mitchell. You ain't you ain't cracking that starting lineup anytime soon unless there's some injuries.
Speaker: But again, he he he has all the right tools, like you said. He's a young he's a young player. He's kind of our Peyton Watson. um um um Thank God we didn't include him in any kind of trades or anything like that over the summer because, again... I think he is one of the guys to watch for as being one of the most likely players to actually have the runway to take the next step.
Speaker: We all want Mobley to take that next step, and he's still very young in his NBA career, but I... I don't know how much more runway there is for, for Evan Mobley. I don't think he's going to average 25 points a game ever in his career. I just don't.
Speaker: moling But can Tyson put up 15 a game? I think that's possible. Sure. Why not? You know, so it'll be interesting to see and and we'll keep an eye on what his development looks like this upcoming season.
Speaker: Yeah. I was listening to NBA radio like i always do on the way to and from work and they did, talk about Mobley for a little while and that, you know, this is going to be the season that he's going to take a step and he's going to be the guy and he's got to become that guy for the Cavs if they want to have success. And I mean, I agree.
Speaker: that he needs to become the guy and he's got to take that another step. But will he like, he's had five, five seasons. This will be his sixth season. Yeah. So it's time. It's, it's, it's time. And, um, what I, what I, what I'm already not looking forward to is if he doesn't, and the calves fall short again, is Moby being the scapegoat.
Speaker: See if you would have traded them for Giannis. See if you would have traded them for Jalen Brown. Like, You know, it's just the natural reaction people will will have. Listen, he's still a young guy. He still can be a perennial all-star if he stays healthy.
Speaker: um he's he's he's He's a good player, but he's not Kevin Durant. You know, he's not he's not he's not a superstar player, at least not yet. And I don't know if he'll get to that point.
Speaker: um But listen, he's still a very valuable piece and ah a piece that, you know, 29 other teams would be killing, dying for right now. So we'll see what happens. We'll see how he looks. And yeah, I'm just excited to see how these guys look since, since last season.
Speaker: Yep. So speaking of seeing how these guys look and, and how to watch calves games, Alex, another thing that came out um probably the most disappointing news is how calves games are going to be aired this year.
Speaker: I got to say, Alex, I haven't had cable since since I lived with my mom and dad. right They still have cable. Guess what? They can't watch Cavs games this year. Because for the first time that I can remember, the Cavs will not be offered on any cable packages.
Speaker: Really? Are they not? I thought they would still be on, like, DirecTV, right? Mm-hmm. I haven't heard anything about them being available on any cable packages.
Speaker: We can look that up. We can verify. I thought there was a... you know so the So the Cavaliers announced a new partnership with DAZN. I heard it's pronounced DAZN.
Speaker: To exclusively stream and broadcast games. correct Since the shutdown of FanDuel Sports Network Ohio. So DAZN, I thought, had a TV channel that was like on DirecTV and maybe Comcast or some other packages, but I could be wrong. I could be wrong, too.
Speaker: But all I know is that it lit a fire under Cavs fans' asses when that news dropped. And any time the Cavs make any social media post about games being streamed or or whatever, they just get lit up in the comments.
Speaker: And it's unfortunate because even if they do, even if they had a package with DirecTV, Who has DirecTV? A small population of Cavs fans, right?
Speaker: And unfortunately, it's going to not allow folks like my parents or longtime cable subscribers, which are typically the older generation, who are not going to know how or want to pay an extra expense just to watch Cavs games, right? Because they're still going to keep on paying their cable package for $200 plus dollars a month.
Speaker: but they're not going to pay another $20, $20 plus dollars a month to stream Cavs games. And that's, that's disappointing, man, because we love the Cavs, man. I want, I,
Speaker: This will always be a Brownstown, but I want more people to watch the Cavs, enjoy the Cavs. I want kids to grow up being Cavs fans and so on and so forth. And it's just disappointing that the the feeling is is, we're shrinking the way that you can watch Cavs games.
Speaker: And I get it. It's the way we are. It's the world we're in. Streaming services are everywhere. I'm tired of paying for them as well. But even if you wanted to go back to how it was, Alex, with cable, they're not going to be waiting for you.
Speaker: thank you Yeah. So it's it's it's kind of crazy. It's kind of disappointing. Yeah, it is. You know, when we were growing up, you know, I mean, Fox Sports Ohio, you just turn it on. It was over the air. You didn't pay anything. The games were just on TV. yep You flip the radio on, listen to them on the radio if you couldn't watch it on TV. And now now you got to buy a streaming package.
Speaker: And the cheapest package is $20 a month. $20 a month, which matches FanDuel. Matches FanDuel. But I get it, right? Because, and here's the thing, and I'm certainly not going to make that argument, but anybody that tries to make any kind of argument Like, well, get with the times. you should be You shouldn't be paying for cable anyways. And this is the same cost as FanDuel. And, you know, you you don't understand. People don't want to pay on top of what they already paid for when they were able to watch Cavs games last year, which was cable packages.
Speaker: Right now, you're telling them that they have to pay more. That'd be like somebody telling you you had to pay more to watch something you really enjoy, even though last year you didn't have to pay that extra dollar amount. So it just, it sucks.
Speaker: It sucks. um And yeah, I mean, 20 bucks a month. um Listen, I mean, that's, people spend more than that at Starbucks, right?
Speaker: um But I get it. So the principle is, is I didn't have to pay that last year to watch them. And now I do. So Or where you can buy the the season for And twenty dollars hundred twenty dollars and we're listen, we we we we have done our many different ways of watching Cavs games over the, what, six, seven years of this podcast existence now.
Speaker: Some legal, some not legal. And you just get to a point, man, where you're tired of messing around with that crap. I'm too lazy. I got too lazy, man. Like, yeah, yeah i could VPN and get, you know, and NBA League pass from Turkey or it's only $5 a month. And yeah like, yeah, you could do that. But then you got to, you have to have, you there's a lot to it. There you go. You got to you got to connect to it with the VPN every single time. Because if you don't, if they catch you just the one time connecting from the U.S., they,
Speaker: They ban your subscription. You got to find a payment method yeah that works originates from Turkey. and There's just a there's a lot of hoops to jump through.
Speaker: Sure, there's streaming websites. Those are hit or miss. Right. yeah You know, and it just sucks going through a Cav season with an unreliable resource to watch games. So, yeah that's the thing.
Speaker: we did We did sign up. Alex signed up for for for a season package um you know with with multiple streams, and and we're splitting you know that. we can We're sharing that. and And maybe that's an option, guys. I mean, you guys have done it. I know that these streaming services have have locked down more over the years, but we've all shared Disney Plus logins. We've all shared Netflix logins over the years and so on and so forth.
Speaker: Maybe you go in there with a buddy, maybe you go with a family member and all of a sudden it's 60 bucks a person for, for that season. Um, with this, what I'm sad to see, Alex is so many comments of, I will not be watching Cavs games this year. I will not be watching Cavs games. I will not be watching Cavs games. I, right man, I just really hope that, um,
Speaker: the CAS base doesn't shrink as a result. that's That's what I don't want to see happen, man. so And we're not, we're not promoting, uh, subscribing to, uh, DAZN streaming package. Like if you find another way to watch the games that works for you, like awesome. Like that's yeahp do it.
Speaker: I'm just saying I'm too lazy. We're going to test it out. We'll give some feedback on how it works. We did both log in. There is some content on there. They have all the road back episodes on there. That's kind of cool. Although they're on YouTube, they have another series on there where they do like interviews of players. I was watching the one of Ty Jerome. Of course, that was the first one I watched.
Speaker: um So they have some content on there and listen, we'll see, we'll see how it looks. We'll see how it works and we'll, we'll share some feedback and, you know, maybe as the season gets started, maybe they'll have some sales and stuff.
Speaker: They certainly can't charge that full price. They do have a seven day free trial. They do. um They do let you watch or download, download the games to watch later.
Speaker: Yeah. So that's kind of a nice. Yeah. the the The other thing I'll say, and then we can move on. and And this is one of those examples of even with a quote unquote positive post, the Cavs just got crushed when they sent this out.
Speaker: The one unique thing that they are doing is they are allowing for 15 free games that you can watch for free. Um, on DAZN or over the air on WUAB, WAB 43. Remember that?
Speaker: Oh yeah. And WOIO channel 19. 15 games, Alex, for free. WAB takes me back to like Michael Ray guy and like a young Austin Carr when that was the duo. Gundarina, man, ma man that brings back so many childhood memories.
Speaker: But what I was impressed about this is the games that are part of this package. I'm thinking, oh God, these are going to be horrible games, right? I'm just going to rattle these off real quick. I'm not going to give dates. This obviously starts in October and goes all the way to April.
Speaker: We've got the Minnesota Timberwolves, Atlanta Hawks, Thunder, Mavericks, Warriors, Pistons, Hornets, Dallas, Raptors, Magic, Suns, Detroit, Kings, Hornets,
Speaker: There's another one here. i can't make out whose logo that is. It might be Washington. But there's a lot of quality matchups there that could easily have been nationally televised games. Warriors, Minnesota, the Raptors. Two Detroit games. Two Detroit games. like those Those should be some nationally televised games that you'll get to be able to watch, quote-unquote, for free if you have access to those other you know means and stuff.
Speaker: and then of course they're doing the nba is doing their games on the rotating streaming services a peacock prime espn so if you have any of those services you'll be able to catch some games that way as well if you're adamant about you know not signing up for another subscription package so again like alex said not promoting it not happy about it but just spreading awareness that there are some ways that you can catch some games without necessarily needing to sign up for another streaming service this year.
Speaker: So we'll see how it goes, Alex. Yeah. I'm already already committed. yeah I can't wait. I can't wait for the season to start. I can't either. i was thinking about it. as ba I was like, man, I'm just so excited for some, I'm just so ready for some Cavs basketball. It's like, I'm just going to sign up for this. Just be done with it. Just, yeah, just have it over with, be ready. Like I was shocked to be honest with you. This is like maybe almost two weeks ago. Now Alex texted me and said,
Speaker: i I just signed up for it. I was dead set against it too. i The last time we talked, I was like, there's no no way I'm signing up for this. i will get a subscription to NBA league pass in Turkey before I do this. It got to a point to where this true story, it got to a point to where I, I had a conversation with the wife I'm like, listen, like,
Speaker: There's this new streaming service. I don't think we're going to be able to share like we were. Alex is even talking about like he's not going to sign up for it. I'm like, we're just goingnna sign for our own thing this year. She's like, cool, go ahead and do it.
Speaker: It's like, all right. um And then i was like, Alex isn't going to sign up for this. He might do the seven day trial, but he's going to wait to the last minute to sign up. And then it was like the second week of September. I get a text. He's like, I signed up.
Speaker: Here you go. Yeah, let's do it. i Like sweet. I was. I was going to wait, too. i was going to wait at least until preseason or maybe till the end of preseason to see if they offered some sort of deal. Right. Like some discounted try to, you know, to get people drawn into it.
Speaker: Yeah. And that's the other thing, too, guys, like you could do, like Alex said, there's a seven day trial. Right. So. if you want to catch some preseason games for no cost, go sign up, right. Or go sign up and catch the first two, or three games, whatever it is over those seven days. Right.
Speaker: um And, and you can work the system that way a little bit too, but yeah, just again, unfortunate that, that we're making it harder to, to watch sports in general. It's not just the calves, not just the and NBA. It's just, it's just the world we're in right now. So.
Speaker: Yeah. Well, you know, I did do the FanDuel subscription after. Yeah. yeah ah getting many discount codes and promotion ah promotions by spending $5 on FanDuel. But one of the nice things about it was that you could also watch the Blue Jackets hockey games.
Speaker: And there was some other some other content I used to watch on there that I don't think made the jump. to It was like college, like some college stuff was on there as well. um on FanDuel. On DAZN, they have some boxing stuff on there I saw. but I think I also used to be able to check out the Pittsburgh Penguins games. I don't know. There was there was a few like it would pick up some other sports and teams. Yeah.
Speaker: yeah Yeah, and it wasn't it wasn't bad. FanDuel worked out pretty good. Here's hoping that DAZN works out you know just just as good as well. And like I said, we'll we'll talk about it on the podcast after we get to see a couple games and and let you guys know what we think.
Speaker: Well, Alex, we we're almost 50 minutes into this. It's been a blast. i do want to I do want to kind of... Call out some, some more news in case anybody is unaware. Um, so 2k 27 has come out.
Speaker: Um, I did end up purchasing it. I have been having fun with it. I always liked using the calves teams, but I liked using the older teams more than I liked using the current teams. Um, but.
Speaker: again, for you old heads that have been a Cavs fan for a little while and and have played 2K games over the years and so on and so forth. After over a decade, Delonte West is finally in a basketball video game again, which he announced himself, by the way, on social media. It's kind of crazy to think that he's even on social media. You wouldn't think that because every time you see a clip of him on social media, you just see a guy that's homeless and trying to figure it out, but struggling like, oh He has his own account. Didn't even think about that or to look that up.
Speaker: um But he announced that recently. And i was telling Alex this before we started recording off air. actually checked tonight and he is in the game.
Speaker: He is in the game. Unfortunately, not as a Cleveland Cavalier though, Alex. Um, the calves classic teams that are in the game is the 89, 90 calves. So think Mark price, Brad Doherty, the 0607 calves, which is the first year they went to the finals and and lost to the Spurs.
Speaker: And then the next classic team is the year that the calves won the championship. Delonte West didn't join the calves until the year after the cows went to the finals. So he just kind of missed the cut and where they have him in the game.
Speaker: is in the LeBron era, the 2010 era, on the Boston Celtics roster. So we'll take care of that, Alex, real quick. we'll We'll make a trade. We'll get him over to the Cleveland Cavaliers roster, and he can ah play with Jamario Moon because LeBron left us by then.
Speaker: But still, it'll be cool to have Delonte in a basketball video game. Who are you going to trade? I don't know. don't know. I will say another another thing I was pleasantly surprised about is Manny Harris and Christian Skyenga are in the game now as well in that 2010 Cavs roster. But I can't flip one of those guys. I got to keep them. And that's going to be my new trio. It's going to be Manny Harris, Skyenga, and Delonte West, and we're going in for the chip.
Speaker: Nice. ah But pretty cool, man, that he's that he's in a video game again. And yeah, just thought I would share that with any other fellow 2K players out there. Yeah, it's cool.
Speaker: Anything else, Alex, before we wrap up? ah No, I think that's pretty good. We could talk about, you know, there's some news about the expansion teams being ah Seattle and Las Vegas. But yeah, let's we'll save it for next time.
Speaker: Yeah, yeah, definitely. i did see that. we we we will talk about that. That'll they'll be fun to talk about because, um man, what was the last expansion team, Alex?
Speaker: Pelicans and...
Speaker: Charlotte? Bobcats. Before they moved back to... Bobcats. Yeah, yeah, yeah. Point is, it's been a while, right? When I think expansion teams, I still think of Toronto Raptors and and Vancouver Grizzlies. Big country.
Speaker: Brian Reeves, Damon Stoudemire, Tracy McGrady. and like That's what I think of. um But it's been a long time since the NBA has had an expansion draft. And that can make things very interesting. Because even though it' a couple years away,
Speaker: um the Cavs will have to figure out who they want to protect when that time comes, as will every other and NBA team. And we'll have some fun talking about that, looking at the roster, kind of just playing out who we think we would protect. And we'll get into that here in a future episode as That news is seeming to become more and more realistic as everyday passes. So I still think it's lame. There's going to be a team in Las Vegas, but I think it's pretty cool.
Speaker: There's be out in Seattle, unless they name it something different than the Supersonics. If they kill anything else, Alex, then it's lame. It's not going to It's not going work. They have like orange and black colors and they're called something completely different. Like, no, get out of here with that.
Speaker: So... right, Alex, let's wrap up this episode of the Cavs Pick and Roll podcast. want thank you, Cavs fans, as always, for tuning in and listening. And Alex, let them know they can follow us and connect with us.
Speaker: Follow us on X, at Cavs Pick and Roll. of Follow us on Instagram, Cavs Pick and Roll. Email, Cavs Pick and Roll at gmail.com. Follow on Facebook, Cavs Pick and Roll Podcast. Watch this episode on YouTube.
Speaker: Wherever you're listening, click like, subscribe. Leave us a rating or review. We'd appreciate it All right, Cavs fans, there it is. will talk to you again soon. Peace out, Cavs fans.
