Cleveland Cavaliers Vs. Chicago Bulls: Lonzo Ball RETURNS To Chicago!

Cleveland Cavaliers Vs. Chicago Bulls: Lonzo Ball RETURNS To Chicago!

[Music] Heat. Hey, Heat. [Music] Heat. Heat. [Music] [Applause] [Music] Hopefully that ends the technical difficulties that I face for the night. Welcome to another edition of the It’s Cavaliier podcast. It’s your boy Mack and tonight our Cleveland Cavaliers took on the Chicago Bulls for the second time in as many games in this home and home series. This time Cleveland would head to Shy Town to take on the Modest Bazillas LE Bulls. And just like that first game, my eyes were absolutely glued to the TV screen. And I honestly had to split my attention between two different between two different games with the Philadelphia Eagles playing and the Cleveland Cavaliers playing. But you guys know I cannot not record live with you. Get on here and, you know, listen to some of your thoughts. I just tried to process everything that I saw. But before we dig into the details, do your boy a favor and smash that like button, subscribe to keep the NBA content coming, and hit that notification bell so you stay locked in all offseason. Let’s dive into what we saw tonight. I mean, there was a lot of different things that occurred tonight. One of the things, one of the things that occurred right off the bat was the fact that that Chicago got into foul trouble really early. If I’m not mistaken, they were in foul trouble just two minutes into the game. And as I sat here and I watched the rest of this game play out, there were so many developments, so many different developments that were very, very encouraging to see. Whether that was three of the Cavaliers starters scoring in uh double figures right out there with so many different ways to attack you. You had Donovan Mitchell, DeAndre Hunter, and Evan Mobley all go for 20 plus in this game. And I’ll tell you what, DeAndre Hunter, this dude was absolutely phenomenal. And again, this isn’t a season that many of us are expecting him to take on a larger role in terms of offensive output, presumably starting alongside Evan Mobley and Jared Allen in that front court. And then when Darius Garland gets healthy, you got so much you got so much offensive firepower. You have a great blend of size and defense out there. DeAndre Hunter has been more active on the glass. Donovan Mitchell is his, you know, usual self out there as his scoring machine. Just doing a little bit of everything out there. But DeAndre Hunter spacing the floor. Went four or five from deep. You know, some pull-up triples out there, some catch and shoot stuff, some mid-range stuff. He was attacking the basket. There really was not much to complain about in regards to what you saw from DeAndre Hunter in this one. And he only he did so in just 24 minutes of action. I just I wish I wish that he would have been able to play the entirety of the game. But this is the thing, right? It’s preeason. You’re not going to you’re not going to put guys in potential scenarios where they could be hurt in a game that is rather meaningless. But just in case you weren’t able to catch this one, this was DeAndre Hunter statline for the night. 20 points, two rebounds, two assist, one steal. Was able to swat two shots. I had two blocks. He was six of 12 from the field. He was four of five from three-point distance. and he knocked down all four of his attempts from the charity stripe. You love to see that just production all the way across the board. And I think this is something honestly that you are going to see be the norm for DeAndre. Is he going to be a 20 points per game all season long? I don’t know. I just think there are so many different mouths to feed here in Cleveland. But the one thing that I can say is that when Darius is not out there or Donovan is is is not out there in a specific lineup, you can rel you you can reliably go to DeAndre Hunter as a source of offensive creation out there. Somebody who you know can pull up on guys. He’s not necessarily just a catch and shoot threat, though he can do that. It’s definitely somebody that you can trust with the ball in their hands. The one area that I want to continue to see him improve in from an offensive standpoint is simply just an attacking mindset. That is where I want to see DeAndre Hunter continue to do that. The rebounding, yeah, that is always something that we’re going to look at. And hopefully as the season goes on, we’ll get more performances like we got in game one where he pulls down six, seven rebounds and whatnot, not just two. But sometimes that’s just how it goes. Yandere Hunter was extremely impressed with tonight, especially as a three-point shot maker. That is somebody that I expect a big big season out of regardless of the rest of the, you know, the rotation playing or not. I expect a huge performance from DeAndre Hunter as the season goes on. You know, again, as I mentioned, Donovan Mitchell was also phenomenal as he would finish with 22 points, six rebounds, four assists. He had three steals out there, a block. Again, this dude did it all just as well as uh as DeAndre Hunter did, but eight of 16 from the field, so rather efficient. Three of five from the three-point distance, whether that be pull up or catch and shoot. You know, our boy was knocking him down. Three of three from the charity stripe as well. Donovan, man, Donovan just looked like he was in mid-season form already. He was attacking all getting a lot of dribble penetration out there. He was unafraid to let it fly. I hit some mini pull-ups. I just What What are you going to do? What are you going to do at at full strength when this team just has so many different options where you just have to kind of pick your own poison? We know what Donovan is capable of. But man, just to see this guy out there already putting in work just two games into preseason. I cannot wait to see him at point guard again. Donovan Mitchell, same starting lineup that you got in game one against Chicago. Donovan Mitchell at the point. Jaylen Tyson at the two, we’ll talk about just a minute. DeAndre Hunter at the three, and of course, Evan Mobley and Jared Allen round things out at the four and the five. Speaking of Evan Mobley, man, Evan Mobley continues to do things that just genuinely impress you in each and every game. It’s not only the two-way play, it’s the the individual developments. I know that we’re all been big big uh believers in his abilities to knock down the perimeter shot. And don’t get me wrong, he did that tonight. He did manage to do that. He knocked down a triple, went one of two from three-point distance. But the thing that probably impressed me the most outside of the sheer two-way play as he would finish with two steals and two blocks out there was simply the midies he was taken for the second straight game. and he did it multiple times tonight for the second straight game. We got to watch Evan Mobley take that turnaround fadeaway midi. Yeah, it was deep in, you know, closer to the post area, but still to see him knock down that uh fadeaway jumper out there and and continuingly doing so with confidence, that is a development that is only going to continue to add to his offensive arsenal. this dude is starting to formulate a bag out there. And I think that what we really really want to see out of him is is for him to do that consistently a few times a game. If he’s able to do that, he has no doubt a 20 points per game scorer on a stacked Cavaliers roster. Again, like you just really have to pick your own poison. When you when you got four players in your starting lineup that are capable of dropping four dropping 20 on you at the drop of a hat, that’s a scary that is a scary thing to think about. Now, Evan, he hasn’t he he doesn’t necessarily do it as naturally as guys like DG or Donovan or DeAndre for that matter, but he’s stumbling and bumbling his he has stumbled and bumbled his way to, you know, an efficient 16 and 10, 17 and 10 in years past. you add that MIDI to your game, you continue to take those three-point shots, you get to work in the low post, you’re an automatic 20 and 10 type of type of guy. He is as advertised as a facilitator. It’s always been something that he’s been good at coming out of USC, especially in those big to passes. He’s a very very good connective tissue out there, as most of these Cavaliers are. But I was really impressed with the just the the confidence to attempt some of the shots that he did. Now, we did get to see him, one thing that we did get to see Evan Moley do tonight, and he did it rather consistently, was bring the ball up the floor, and it wasn’t always pretty. Not necessarily going to be something that you’re going to want him to do throughout the entirety of a game. But this is something that the Cavaliers, as a coaching staff, have apparently placed an emphasis in, right? giving him the opportunity to handle a little bit more, especially with Darius Garland being out, giving him the opportunities to bring the ball up the floor or initiate uh initiate half court sets or from the elbows, kind of function as that offensive hub out there, whether he’s finding guys out in the corners or cutting baseline, just allowing him to utilize his sheer size and vision out there to find the the open man. And I think that that that is something that we should all really really be enjoying about the developmental process from Evan, win or lose in the preseason. But yeah, just to see him do a lot of these different things tonight, it was it was a treat. It it truly was because apparently these are all things he’s been working on all summer long, especially that mid-range shot. And I know the one name that people love to throw out there in relation to Evan Mobley comparisons is Kevin Garnett specifically because of that mid-range shot. Now again, he will never he will never put up that shot with the amount of volume that KG once did. But if he can get up to around, I don’t know 39 41, you know, 39 40 41% from mid-range on a solid amount of shots in from that area. I think we’re cooking at that point because it’s not necessarily a shot that that bigs tend to take with a high amount of volume. But if you watch the Giannis’s, if you watch the Joel Embiids or the Nicole Jokices of the world, these are all guys who added that to their arsenal or already had that in their arsenal entering the league and they lean on it come the playoffs when teams play a little bit closer when they’re, you know, cover they’re using that drop coverage on you or they’re making sure that that that you’re not getting to your spots as an onball threat. Evan Mobley, if he is able to do that consistently and uh confidently, I I feel really really good about his his chances of looking like an MVP type of player out there, which is what a lot of people are starting to envision him as a top five guy, potential MVP candidacy candidacy this season. And that’s something that I think is potentially on the way from him. I know we’re just two games in, but he has shown us little tidbits and pieces of things that he has worked on throughout this off seasonason, and I don’t know how that could not have you excited because it it’s just been phenomenal. Outside of that, another player obviously that uh is drawing a lot of attention right now, especially with Sam Merrill not out there, with Darius Garland not out there, with Max Streus not out there, is Jaylen Tyson. Now, if for Jaylen Tyson, here’s the thing. the defensive effort popped off the screen on Tuesday night against Chicago just because of the blocks, right, and the the effort level on that end. But he was held scoreless in that outing. He went 05 from the field. All five of those coming from three-point distances, he just could not knock down that shot. And we have all said in order for him to stick, in order for him to be a consistent rotation player, this dude has to at the very least knock down the open triples. He shot 29% from three-point distance on wideopen attempts last year on in limited capacity, limited volume. That cannot be the case this year. He has to be able to knock down that shot. And what do we get from Jaylen Tyson tonight? It wasn’t the most efficient night, but we did get to see him knock down at least one triple while adding in other areas outside of that. He would have finished with six points, four rebounds, three assists, two steals. So, he would kind of fill up the stat sheet a bit. But the thing that impressed me about Jaylen tonight, honestly, was his work as a connective piece out there, especially in transition. He had a couple of nice passes that led to good looks in uh in transition. He was able to uh compete on that glass out there, which is an area that we know he excelled in even during his rookie season in limited capacity, especially on the offensive glass. And tonight, he was able to pull down two offensive rebounds, two big ones. I think as time goes on, as the confidence continues, I certainly believe that Jaylen Tyson will become an efficient and enough shooter to carve out a really meaningful role in this rotation. And honestly, he kind of has to. The Cavaliers are banking a lot on this dude’s development. They’re banking a lot on internal development, period. But Tyson, the one thing that is continuously nice to see with him out there is like he’s not shy. He is not gunshy at all. He’s not going to not pull the trigger like we have seen from players in years past. Whether that be D uh whether that be uh Dean or Isaac, he is going to pull the trigger and he did so once more tonight. And even when that shot is not falling, you don’t want him to get in his head and I don’t think that’s the type of player that he is. Now during the summer league, he got those additional opportunities to handle. But in a lineup like this, you’re playing much more off ball than uh than you had been used to over the last couple of seasons. Uh obviously, we know coming out of Cal, he was a guy that played on ball, but prior to that at Texas Tech, we know that he was comfortable in that offball role. And if he can just get back to that, I think they’re going to be cooking. They’re honestly, they have a lot of good things working for them as far as versatility. So, if Jaylen Tyson is is not initially efficient out of the gate, I think that you can surround him with enough uh out there to make up for some of those deficiencies, but the leash is only going to be so long presumably, but they’re going to give him every single opportunity to contribute and and improve in that area. Kenny Atinson and company appear to be huge believers. You’ve heard nothing but good quotes about Jaylen Tyson this off season, right? Kenny’s just consistently raving about him, constantly raving about him. So, I cannot wait to see how he continues to develop. But, I thought it was a better showing, at least from an offensive standpoint tonight. At the very least, he didn’t put up a goose egg. And I think that’s always a good thing. That is that is always a good thing in my book. Um, even if uh you you tend to show up in other areas on the stat sheet, I think you want to typically avoid not scoring at all. And in that regard, I suppose we should talk about one of the other big pieces. The Cavaliers probably the uh the biggest acquisition of the off seasonason for the Cavs, and that is Lonzo Ball. And here’s the thing, because I spent a good deal of this game conversing with folks, trying to, you know, get them to see that, yeah, the scoring is not necessarily there. the the shot making is not there from Lonzo just yet in terms of volume and efficiency. But when he is not doing that, he is doing some of these little things that a lot of times does not show up in the stat sheet. And to the casual viewer, they may not understand or they may not get what is occurring. They may not be understanding what they’re saying. And so from a statistical standpoint, Lonzo Ball, he wouldn’t turn in a goose tonight, but he would finish with three points, three rebounds, three assists, and he did commit four fouls. And that was a lot of uh that was where a lot of the talking points were, a lot of the conversation was was with Lonzo early on because he picked up four fouls in eight minutes of play. And then he comes in in the third quarter and he’s doing a little bit of everything out there. Whether that be uh finding guys around the rim or clearing space for Dean Wade dunks or rebounding out there or locking down and forcing jump balls on the opposite end of the floor. Lonzo, he even knocked down a triple tonight. It was his first points as a Cleveland Cavaliere. He knocked down the triple. So you guys should love to see that. But I’ll tell you what, the developments with Lonzo, you gota you got to be patient with him, right? Obviously, this is a player who missed two straight seasons before. He would only play 35 with Chicago last year. And in those 35, he wasn’t necessarily efficient. And to be honest with you, Lonzo has never truly been an efficient player in terms of overall field goal percentage. But to me, that three-point shot was getting deadly at a point. there was an upward trajectory, an upward trend that he was going on uh prior to those injuries in Chicago. If he can just get up to 37, you know, 38% out there, hell, I might settle for 36 on good volume. If as long as he’s knocking down the open triples and he is bringing these other things that I continuously harp on. But if you watch Lonzo for an extended period of time tonight, because he did play uh he he was out there for almost 15 minutes tonight, 14 minutes and 33 minutes to be exact, and he was one of three from the field. If you’re simply looking at the stat sheet, you’re probably not all that impressed with what he does. Uh but honestly, I genuinely felt like the impact goes beyond the stat sheet with him because he gets guys open. He finds them before they even realize they’re open. He’s going to compete on the glass out there. We already know what he can bring to the table on the defensive end and we know what he can be as far as a catch and shooter. And also, one of the things that I really liked seeing from him tonight was driving and kicking, right? It it’s not necessarily something that’s been huge in his game. Lonzo has never truly been a huge drive and kick type of ball handler. It’s just never been a way that he has been utilized. that the volume in terms of drives has always always always been down for him. He’s not somebody who’s going to put up like 600 700 drives in a singular season. It’s just not who he is. But I do believe that in this offensive system, Kenny Atinson will use him that way. And just just so you are aware, Lonzo in his 35 appearances last year, he only drove the ball 84 times. It’s never been something that uh that that he has continuously been asked to do. It’s I I think it is something that he can do, but it’s not necessarily something that he has been asked to do. And so when you see him moving the basketball out there, it’s genuinely either side to side or it’s a transition pass. And by the way, by the way, I know we all saw the outlet tonight. That was a beautiful outlet pass that he threw to Jared Allen out there. very reminiscent of Kevin Love. You just don’t see that that often from the players on this roster. And Lonzo is certainly capable of making a type of play like that. And those are the types of things, those are the types of plays that the Cavaliers, I’m sure, envisioned when they first traded for him, when they acquired him. That is the type of um of uh sequence that they had in mind because obviously with him not necessarily being used much in the drive and kick game, one of the things that he does best is break starting. And that is a a perfect example of some of the things that don’t always um that are not always showing up in the stat sheet and if they don’t lead to assists. Being able to push the pace like that, being able to get guys good opportunities and looks at the rim, around the rim, you know, in the elbow area, being able to advance the ball in that way. That’s big time. That is big time. And I think it’s going to be a big big benefit to this team when you get Sam back, when you get Darius back, when you get Max back, and you got some of these shooters out there that can open the floor up a little bit more. But yeah, I say all this to say, Lonzo, even in games where the stats don’t necessarily um don’t necessarily look that great, you have to keep in mind that they don’t tell the whole story for certain players, and Lonzo is definitely one of those guys. Now, don’t get me wrong, he can fill up a stat sheet, and I think he’ll have games like that, but I can definitely say that if you you have to look beyond the bot score when it comes to Lonzo. And as long as he can get those percentages up, I’ll be very very excited about this upcoming season. And obviously health withstanding, right? Health notwithstanding. I’m I’m just hoping to see what he is able to do once he really gets his feet under him. And uh I know they’re going to play it cautiously with him. Outside of that, outside of those guys that I’ve already talked about, another huge, huge performance tonight, uh, from the likes of, well, I’m not going to say huge, but I thought it was a really, really good performance tonight from Tyrese Proctor. He wasn’t nearly as efficient as he was, uh, in in game one, but I genuinely felt that Tyrese Proctor was uh was doing some nice things out there. He had a really a couple of nice sequences out there tonight where whether that was finding Luke Travers on a cut to the basket or a dime splitting two defenders for to Thomas Bryant for Thomas Bryant triple. That’s the type of that I really want to see Tyrese Proctor uh continue to work on the the playmaking, the connective tissuess that he can bring to the table because I he’s never going to be a primary creator out there. He’s never truly going to be a primary ball handler. You’re not going to want to put him in that position. He can be a secondary ball handler, but I don’t ever truly see him being a um a floor general type of guard out there. I just don’t see that being his game. He doesn’t profile as that to me. I already know that he can shoot the basketball. We saw that in game one. We saw that at summer league, albeit inefficiently at times, and we obviously saw it at Duke. We know he can shoot the basketball. But some of those things that I was really wanting to see out of him, he is starting to show that the playmaking out there tonight was a nice start. On the defensive end, he was staying in front of his man. He was navigating screens quite well. And if you watched him at for for any length of time at Duke, one of the knocks on him was that he just did not have the lateral quickness to be able to recover whenever he was beaten. And I think that that is one of those things that is you’re gonna have to continue to work on. But I’ll tell you what, I’ll tell you what, I liked what I saw out of him on that end. He gave good effort. I thought that he rec he recovered at times tonight. I thought that he did his best to stay in front of his man, use that length, all that six, seven and a quarter wingspan that he has to his advantage. and uh he’ll have to he’ll have to beat guys with sheer craftiness, positioning, and and effort and hustle out there. And I thought that tonight was a good example of of uh how impactful you can be in that end when he is motivated and engaged. And uh I thought it was a solid performance from Tyrese tonight. Not necessarily nearly as efficient, not as effective as a shooter tonight, but I I’m I know those things are going to come and go, and I was pleasantly surprised with what we got from him tonight. Thomas Bryant. Again, I already mentioned he knocked down that triple tonight. I thought that he uh he rebounded nicely from the uh the failed gamewinner against Chicago on Tuesday. That was a little brutal, but uh I love the triple. I love the energy and effort out there on the glass. And even if you watch that final play um against Chicago on Tuesday, the thing that really impressed me and honestly I found maybe the best contribution of all from him was just the ang that he didn’t the attitude and just the the the apparently he cares. That’s all I’m trying to say. You could see that dude clearly cares about this type of thing. even in a preseason environment, he showed a lot of passion out there, and I genuinely think this team could use more than that. I love it, man. I I I love it. I think that this is the type of uh environment where you’re going to try and work out those things. You’re going to you’re going to mess around a little bit, so you can’t take everything too seriously. But um Thomas Bryan, I think he’ll be a really really good addition to the back end of this roster. And again, I will repeat for those of you who maybe may or may not have heard me in the live stream Tuesday night, Thomas Bryant is not likely to be the initial backup center. I do believe that the bulk of those minutes are going to go to Larry Net Jr. They’re going to go to Evan Mobley when the Cavaliers want to slide him over to the five. Thomas Bryant is one hell of an insurance policy, though. And I I don’t know how Kobe did it. I I truly don’t know how him and Mike Gany were able to sell Thomas on on getting here. And obviously, it’s probably not too tough of a sale considering that there was a clear need and the Cavaliers are expected to be a title contender this year. So, I guess that kind of speaks for itself considering that Thomas didn’t necessarily have a job up to that point, but he was generating interest and being able to get that type of piece who has that playoff experience, who brings that physicality and that toughness out there that’s going to pay big time come the postseason. But yeah, I I I I just genuinely love the fact that the Cavaliers have this the the type of uh depth that they do because this very well might be the deepest roster in franchise history. You may not believe it’s the best, right? If you don’t think it’s the best, that’s fine. But I certainly do believe that it it is the deepest roster possibly on at least on paper that they’ve ever had. Um, and if they’re able to put together a championship winning season, we’re gonna be having a lot of different conversations about uh about this roster in general and and the way that Kobe and company were able to put it together. But honestly, that that was um that was certainly a performance to to be excited about, win or lose. Oh, one other thing. One other thing before we get ready to head out of here. Dean Wade. I cannot leave this live stream without talking about Dean Wade in some capacity. Dean played 18 minutes and 38 seconds tonight. He went three of six from the field, scored eight points, pulled down one rebound, doled out two assist, and was two of five from three-point distance. Here’s the thing with Dean Wade, right? We know how good this dude can be in terms of the defense. We know how good or how impactful, how versatile of a defender he is. You can put him on the three, you can put him on the four, he can defend fives in spurts depending upon the matchup. We know how good of an impact player he can be on that end. The thing that has always troubled us about Dean Wade has been the perimeter shot and beyond the percentages of that because Dean, you could characterize him as a respectable shooter. shooting over 36% for his career. But it’s the volume. It’s the volume that has always bugged us. And you know, I’m going to speak I’m not going to speak for everybody. I’ll speak for myself. That is what is bugged me throughout the entirety of his career. The volume and moreover than that is the confidence, right? because you look at what he has done historically from three-point distance and it’s it’s not necessarily something to just completely throw out. He’s averaged 3.2 over the duration of his career and he did put up 3.8 attempts um per game for Cleveland just last season in his 59 appearances. But but one thing that has always left me scratching my head was, “Okay, Dean, there are clearly points throughout this season where you’re you’re in a game where you have the opportunity to pull the trigger, you’re getting the ball swung to you out on the perimeter or above the break and rather than attempting to um clo attack the close out, which it will come at times and we’ve seen him do that. We see we saw him do it tonight honestly off of the space that was cleared from him by Lonzo and where he drove inside and dunked the ball. But there are opportune times where Dean and this we we saw a few of them in game one where they got him the ball and I think one of them came with Lonzo on the court making a play for him. You have to be able to pull the trigger. That is the thing. You got to have the confidence and Dean has not always had the confidence to do that. And I think that is where like the much of the divide with Dean has been is just okay. Theoretically on paper you could be one of the best 3 and D wings in basketball. And we know that that’s relative. You know it’s subjective. It’s all opinionated. But one thing that you can’t really take away from him is how how much he has excelled on the defensive end. And when he actually has a confidence pull the trigger, he can make teams pay. and two of five. I mean, that’s four that’s 40% from three-point range. That’s solid. You You give me a Dean that will take five, you know, four, five, six threes a game, considering the role that he’s in, that’s an impactful Dean Wade, especially if he’s knocking him down and an efficient clip, especially if he’s giving you that effort on the defensive end. That is the Dean Wade that can be truly needlem moving for this team. And I think that if we can get that consistently, then we’re having an entire different conversation about Dean Wei’s future because as of right now, as we all know, he’s in a contract year. Maybe that’ll be a motivating factor, but we really honestly don’t know what the Cavaliers plan on doing with him past this season. We don’t know if he’ll be if they’ll be looking to move him mid-season. We don’t know if they’re going to let this thing play out and allow him to walk if it doesn’t go right. We don’t know anything right now about the future with Dean, but what I can say is that he kind of holds it in his hands, right? The his future is is going to be written by him. He is going to determine or dictate just how long he is with Cleveland. In my opinion, if he turns in a stellar season, there’s possibility of him resigning. in my opinion. Um they’ll make that happen if they can. But obviously it has just as much potential to go the other way. And I think all of that starts with Dean Wade having the confidence to pull the trigger because we know what he can do in in these other areas. That’s really all it’s ever been about with him. But I don’t know. I I just we’ll have to see. We’ll have to be patient. And I know that’s not necessarily the the strongest virtue for a lot of people out there, a lot of fans of this team. But I’ll tell you what, he did impress tonight. And that is not always going to be a sentence that I can uh that that that I could state out there that I can let leave my uh my lips, but two of five from three-point range, I’ll take that along with the defense that he’s providing. And so hopefully Dean continues to show that on a consistent basis. And honestly, that was really it in in regard to takeaways for tonight. For me, I thought Craig Porter Jr. um not necessarily as impactful from an offensive standpoint, you know, at least a statistical standpoint as he was on Tuesday, but I did like the effort on the glass out there. I did think that he tried to do some things defensively defensively tonight that were very very um promising, right? We know this is a player that led his school in blocks at the at 6-1 in his final season at Witchaw State. It’s not something you can always say. and he had one tonight that was uh that was called a foul, but I thought that he legitimately did his best to try and make a play on the basketball. It’s that type of stuff and and then having the confidence to pull the trigger from three-point range. Obviously, it’s always going to be something that we’re keeping our eye on with Craig Porter Jr. and he did attempt three threes tonight. One of them at least one or two of them was a pull up and as long as he’s continuing to do that, Craig will find minutes. That’s that’s really been the thing because although he plays bigger than his listed height a lot of the time, Craig Porter Jr. does not have a lot of positional versatility being just 61 or so. You’re really only going to look to put him at the one or the two. And Craig obviously in years past and two previous seasons was much more comfortable with the ball in his hands as the primary uh ball handler out there. But if anything, um, if anything, this preeason, it’s there’s been an emphasis on trying to up his game as an offball shot maker. That is an area where he has worked tirelessly at this this offseason. And we know, we already heard all the things. We already know what’s going on in in regard to the the work ethic because people have consistently misqued that. This is the Cavaliers. So many people think that that Cleveland felt that he was lazy or that he didn’t have a good or strong work ethic when that’s not the case. The case simply was they were asking him to be um you know a first in last out type of guy in order to secure a larger role in in the rotation, right? It’s not necessarily that he he he was not working hard that he was too lax. It’s simply when you have such little margin for error and you have so many good players ahead of you, right? When you look at the depth chart, Darius Garling, Donovan Mitchell, Sam Merrill, Lonzo B, Max Strus, these are all guys that figure to play guard minutes. He’s fighting an uphill battle in that regard. So, in order for him to be able to get on the floor, he just had to, you know, up his up his uh his work, right? Put in as much work as humanly possible. And I think we’re seeing the fruits of that labor kind of pay off. And from a statistical standpoint, it’s not always going to look pretty just because he’s not necessarily on ball as much. He does not have the amount of touches that a lot of these other guys will on a nightly basis. But if he’s adding in other areas as well, being able to knock down that open shot from range, he will he will find minutes. And the good thing about Craig is that with Lonzo, right, Lonzo being managed has a direct impact on Craig Porter Jr’s minutes because if Lonzo is not playing back to backs and Darius is still working his way back and Max is not likely to be back until January, well, December, January at the latest, there’s there’s a there’s a role for him here. And I think the Cavaliers, just like with Jaylen Tyson, they’re hoping that he pans out and they’re able to say that they were able to develop another undrafted gym. And we know the Cavaliers have had good experience developing undrafted talent over the years. And Craig is just a another feather in the cap of Kobe and company if that happens to be the case. But man, although they lost tonight, I like the individual development, some of the small things that we saw. Definitely enjoyed Evan Mobley with the midi jumpers. I enjoyed DeAndre Hunter letting loose from three-point distance because we’re going to need him this year. I enjoyed Lonzo Ball, you know, doing some of the little things out there that don’t always show up in the stat sheet. And this is why I’m excited about preseason, right? you you don’t take anything away in terms of win loss uh the win loss record. That doesn’t matter. You’re looking for the development. You’re looking for the progression from individual players and team concepts and whatnot. Substitution patterns, lineup changes. You’re looking at all these small things that will eventually all add up during the regular season to wins. And this is where you want to work out the kinks. And I know it’s kind of hard to do that without your full complement of rotation players, but Cavaliers are making do, win or lose. And I think tonight was yet another step in that development. And I can’t wait to see what they do moving forward. And with that being said, I’ll just take a couple of comments from the chat section and then we’ll head out. Orlando XX says thoughts about pick six. I’m assuming that’s in regards to Philly. I’m not going to entertain that just yet. Cavs King 2016 says, “Jaylen Tyson was doing this. Uh, Dwades jump pass causing turnovers. He hope he doesn’t make it a habit. Loved what I saw from Proctor. I don’t think I want to see TB in late game situations.” Um, so first off, uh, Jaylen Tyson definitely looked a little bit uncontrolled or indecisive with the ball in his hands at times. I thought he was trying to play a little bit too fast, faster than his body was allowing him, faster than plays were developing, and it resulted in a couple of different turnovers, whether that be the um the the back court, right? He he turned it over passing it back to Donovan Mitchell. You don’t like to see that type of call. There was a couple of drives where he he tried to get inside position down low and uh had to kick it back out or at least attempt to and it caused a turnover. Um, if like spoke says, “Tyrish Proctor is the tweet I’ve been saying. I think Tyres Proter can replace Tai’s offense from the bench in the regular season that people are worried about. Scored most points in summer league. Remember, honestly, I don’t think that Ty Ree Proctor is going to get enough minutes to replace Ty Jerome’s production. Now, that being said, I won’t rule it out, right? I think that with Lonzo, with Darius, with Sam, with um with with Max, with Craig, there’s just too many mouths to feed that for Tai Reese uh for for Tyrese to get consistent enough minutes to replace that scoring production. Is it possible? Yes. But I don’t think that will be the plan heading into the season. I think they’re going to take it slow with him. Wayne says, “Who was our go-to to get a bucket off the bench now that Tyro is gone?” That’s a really great question, right? Clearly Lonzo is not that type of player. Um, he’s much more of an offball shot maker in terms of point production. Sam Merrell isn’t healthy right now. I think I I imagine he’ll be out there to begin the season, though. Max Shu is unavailable. DeAndre Hunter is likely starting. So, I think it really falls on uh Craig or Jaylen Tyson if he slides back to the bench. I think that the Cavaliers are probably going to be banking on those two guys. But the reality is this, they’re going to likely have to have to do this by committee, especially if DeAndre is starting because that was the whole question, the um the conundrum that they found themselves in. Yes, we know DeAndre, we all would like him to start, but his point production, right, the the volume scoring that he can bring to the table could prove more beneficial off the bench. And that was a lot of people’s mindsets uh before he was slotted into that starting lineup. And I think that that is still going to be a conversation moving forward. If they struggle to find bench production early on in the season, they can always make a switch. But I think that they’re banking on one of Jaylen, Craig, um you know, Sam. I don’t know. It just depended upon what they do with the starting lineup. I I honestly think that Sam’s going to start once he returns. But even if he does not start, I think that you can get enough collectively from this group to kind of make up for that. You’re you’re sacrificing some uh the offensive output that Tai brought to the table, but you are gaining a lot of that defensive versatility out there. So, we’ll have to see. Um Annie says, “I miss DG to be honest.” Yeah. Um can’t wait to see DG get back out there. Hopefully he’s healthier sooner rather than later. Um DJ Jackson says that three-point shot Moly made over Bazillas was really nice. He was defended while being uh he was defended while by Yeah, I get what you’re saying. Yes, he definitely had the confidence to pull that shot. And that’s another one of the things that you love to see him having that confidence out there to take that shot. Sam Holic says, “These games are not really about winning, more about testing lineups back in a rotation, etc.” Completely agree. Completely agree. Nicotine says, “Cav seriously lacks scoring off bench without Tai. Malik Beasley would be perfect, but if he becomes available.” Yeah, and I think this kind of echoes the same type of conversation that I was just, you know, referencing. I think that they’re going to have to try and do this by committee. If they do not move DeAndre Hunter back to the bench, which I don’t think they intend to, I think this is very much a committee type of thing. they’re going to lean on the group getting it done rather than one or two individual players because that they just don’t have that guy at least right now. They they um they don’t have that guy who’s consistently doing that game in and game out. I think Jaylen Tyson could eventually get there. Who knows with Tyres Proctor? It’s too early to tell, but I think it’s been a good start for um for the latter. We’ll see. Cavs King 2016 says any reason we haven’t seen Sam yet? He has a minor abductor injury right now. And I honestly just think they’re taking it cautiously with him because they already got Max out. DG’s already out. You don’t want a third rotation player out when you’re these games don’t count. So, we already know what Sam can do. Um, I happen to believe he’s an underrated 3 and D type of player at this point in his career, but taking the cautious approach is definitely the best decision that they can make right now. We’ll have to see. We will have to see. As I always tell you guys, if you’d like to reach out, you know, I can. It’s Cavalary on Twitter, Tik Tok, Instagram, YouTube, and more. If you want to leave, if you want to be added to the Cavalary Discord chat, you know what to do. Leave a rating, leave a review, send a screenshot of set review to [email protected] and I will send you set empire. If you guys want to support the pop in a small but helpful way, please do consider becoming a member over on Patreon. You can do it on YouTube too for as little as $1 a month. But even if you don’t, your boy will still be here going live and creating Caps content because I love this team and I know you guys do too. Go Caps.

The Cleveland Cavaliers continued their preseason slate by once again taking on the Chicago Bulls, this time at the United Center. Time to react to what we saw including De’Andre Hunter cookin from 3PT range, Donovan Mitchell in midseason form, Evan Mobley putting in work on both ends, Lonzo Ball’s contributions and more!

#cavs #clevelandcavaliers #clevelandcavaliersnews #cavsnation #cavsbasketball #cavaliers #thomasbryant #tyreseproctor #craigporterjr #nba #nbafreeagency #nbafreeagency2025 #freeagency #nbaoffseason #larrynancejr #lonzoball #nbapreseason #donovanmitchell #deandrehunter #evanmobley #jarrettallen #deanwade #luketravers #naeqwantomlin

Give us a follow over on X/Twitter:
https://x.com/DevaronPerry
https://x.com/ItsCavalier_Pod

Join this channel to get access to perks:
/ @itscavalierpodcast1410

Wanna support this podcast? Consider becoming a Patreon Member here: https://www.patreon.com/Itscavalierpo…

Cleveland Cavaliers Cavs News. NBA News. Cleveland. Cleveland Cavaliers news. NBA trades. Max Strus. NBA Finals. NBA Playoffs. NBA Tiers. NBA Rankings. NBA ranks. Evan Mobley. Darius Garland. Donovan Mitchell. Jarrett Allen. Donovan Mitchell news. Donovan Mitchell contract. Basketball. ESPN. ESPN Cleveland. CLE. NBA. Emoni Bates. Isaac Okoro. Tony Pesta The Chasedown Podcast. Locked On Cavs. Across Cavaliers. It’s Cavalier Podcast. Cavaliers Podcast. Cavs Podcast. Cavs Pod. NBA Draft. Draft News. j.t thor jt thor stats jt thor contract jt thor nba jt thor highlights Junkyard pod

🎙️ New to streaming or looking to level up? Check out StreamYard and get $10 discount! 😍 https://streamyard.com/pal/d/5586142643879936