Cleveland Cavaliers offseason update & Summer League observations w/ Mack Perry

Cleveland Cavaliers offseason update & Summer League observations w/ Mack Perry

[Music] What is up ladies and gentlemen? It is a beautiful Wednesday morning here in Cleveland. Mikey McNuggets joined by your guy. It is M. Perry, the man, the myth, the legend, the always online M. Perry. If you’ve followed the Cleveland Cavaliers in any capacity, you know exactly who my guy M is. Mack, you’re filling in for Jason today. We appreciate you taking some time to step in on a Wednesday morning. How you doing, my friend? Oh, first off, always a pleasure. I’m online way too much. I’m doing okay. I mean, we’re we’re at the point of the offseason where there just is not much going on. Summer League just wrapped up. We’ll discuss that obviously, but uh yeah, I’m doing good. I’m I’m patiently awaiting the next move of the franchise. Okay, I’m going to throw a wrench into the whole rundown because you just mentioned the fact that there’s nothing going on. And I was thinking about doing this on UCSS, but it may actually be better for you. And if you don’t have an answer, that is fine. We’ll come back to it at the end. If you could combine two role players in the NBA, can never have been an all-star, like two legitimate role player guys and take their skill sets and combine them into one player that you think would fit perfectly on this Cleveland team? What two role players would you try and combined and turn into the perfect fifth piece to go alongside the Cavs core four? Oh man, that’s I know I’m putting you on the spot and we literally just went over the rundown 30 seconds before we said let’s go and this was not part of it. So you want to come back at the end? You want to get uh you know I’ll take a shot at it. I mean if I’m if I’m fumbling I mean you’ll be there to pick me up but I don’t have an answer either on the defensive end. That is easy to me. I mean we just watched the finals, right? Alex Caruso is a guy that we hope we’re getting like a similar type of uh performance out of hopefully from Lonzo Ball on that end of the floor. Um that to me him or KCP uh somebody that is constantly on teams that have done pretty good things. Um but I think on the offensive end that’s where things get a little bit more difficult because it it really depends upon how you want Evan Mobley to function, right? If you’re going to try Evan Moley out at the five, um, you’re you probably want somebody that’s that fits more snugly as a floor space or honestly anybody in that front court. If you’re going to have him moy stay at the four, you want somebody at that five. If Jared Allen is not your cup of tea, you’re going to want somebody that could stretch the floor to a reasonable degree who can also rebound and not be completely chopped liver on defense. So, that’s a tough riddle to solve. I think a lot of people before we need to, and this just begs the question like what is the long-term plan with Jared Allen? Because I think a lot of people still, despite those horrific two games that he had against the Indiana Pacers, um a lot of people still undervalue what he brings to the table. Is doesn’t ask for a lot of touches. Um never really complains about his order and about his place in the pecking order. is not somebody that is is a terrible defender at all. I mean, he may not be all NBA level, but he’s very very close to it. He’s very switchable on that end. He’s the Cavaliers best pure rebounder out there most nights. It’s hard like it it in terms of finding a better fit at times with what they can actually afford to do. Now, in a perfect world, as you say, it’s still a difficult question because they don’t make bigs that can stretch the floor, that can rebound, that can play defense at a high level. U they don’t they don’t grow on trees. Most of them are very very expensive. So, I’m racking my brain. I mean, Miles Turner for a lot of people probably would uh be a perfect fit alongside Eva Moley for what they do. Um, I don’t know, man. I’m struggling with that one. That’s tough one. I And let’s just You see the three topics on the right of the the rundown. We’ll do summer league stuff at some point. We’re going to just we’re going to wing this back. We’re going to wing this. When I was thinking of the perfect like combo of role, guys. I want size and shooting and I’m racking my brain. I’m like, what if you put Bal Kulabali’s body with like Sam Merrill stroke or like like that had a real pause. That’s all the way fun was that was super pausey. I’m so sorry. like Denny Ovia with Seth Curry’s jump shot like like something like that or Jada McDaniels with, you know, I love Seth Curry. I always, you know, default to him as the random bench guy who could shoot the crap out the ball. You use Sam Merrill if you want, but Seth Curry is such a pretty pretty pretty jump shot. Um, let’s talk about Jared Allen, though, because you got to something with Jared Allen there that I don’t know if you and I have ever actually talked about. We may have gone back and forth on it on Twitter, but where I stand on Jared Allen is is he’s a damn good player. Like I think he’s a top 50, top 60 guy in the league. Legitimately in that range. If you want to argue he’s 62, 48, whatever. He’s in he’s in somewhere in that range. He’s an allstar caliber center. He’s not in the top five, six, but he’s in the top 10. However, I don’t think he’s part of the Cavs best lineups. I don’t. I think in today’s day and age of basketball, the way you win and the most advantageous thing you could have on a basketball team is a rim protecting five that can space the floor and that’s Evan Mobley. And I think for the Cavs to unlock this high-end top-notch potential they have, which is to win a championship, it’s going to come on Evan to become the best player on the team, to surpass Donovan Mitchell in that regard, and for the Cavs to unlock Evan as a five. He can play the four alongside Jared Allen, but I just don’t know if I want to pay a guy 20 million this year, 30 million when his extension kicks in that I don’t think fits modern era, modern-day closing lineups. And I like Jared personally. Great dude, great locker room guy. It’s nothing against Jared, but I I just struggle to see how the Cavs with the current construction of the core four can maximize the potential of the other three guys when I just don’t think your best closing lineup includes one of your four best players. Like that’s a fundamental flaw in this team. And I understand the versatility factor. You can play big, you can play small. I get all that. But Mac, I’m curious where you fall on that. Can Jared Allen be in a championship caliber closing five after watching OKC and watching Indiana both mix and match their closing lineups all throughout the NBA finals because neither one could really get a good feel of what worked best against their opponent. I think you can. I just think it’s very specific matchup, right? Um, I think nine times out of ten you’re probably going to want to close with some form of DeAndre Hunter at the four and Evan Mobley at the five, barring some other type of move. We have we don’t know what the heck is going on with Dean Wade. We hear that part. We’ll get to that part two. Yeah. Um, but DeAndre profiles as the uh the the guy in that closing lineup. They I mean they’re paying him big money after acquiring him. So, him beside Evan Mobley, um, who knows what they’re going to want to do in regard to the three because if you’re going to move DeAndre over to the four and closing lineups, you have to figure out, hey, do we put Max out there at the three alongside Darius and Donovan? Is it somebody else? Um, who’s who’s to say? That’s going to be on Kenny Atinson to figure out this year even because this is e this is as open as the Eastern Conference has been for a very long time. And I suspect that there will be specific games in the playoffs where Jared Allen may be pulled early. Maybe he pull maybe he plays 24 26 minutes per game. Maybe he’s a big-time contributor in the first three quarters and he just does not touch the floor outside of very specific matchups in the closing stretches of playoff games. Heavily matchup dependent. Um, can you win a championship that way? I still go back to it being matchup dependent. Now, Evan Mobley at the five, that may be his best long-term fit, but there are still specific matchups, Mikey, where I’m just like, I don’t know if I’d love Evan as the true five against specific players, a Joel Embiid, a Nicole Joic. I mean, that there are there are these big beefy true fives out there where I just still don’t necessarily feel confident in Evan Mobley taking every single possession. He’ll win, right? He is a defensive player caliber year defender. Uh he’s not defensive player caliber anymore, Mac. He’s got the award now. He’s got the caliber part of it. There. Hey, you’re right. You’re right. I stand corrected in that regard. Mobly will hold his own nine times out of 10. But there are very specific matchups where I still would prefer Jared Allen being out there alongside the other members of the core. And I’ll add this. There are a lot of people in this fan base that do not even consider Jared Allen a member of the core anymore. They consider him, you know, just a a top tier role player. And this is where I stand on Jared uh before I wrap things up on this long-winded response. Phenomenal talent. He is an allstar. He is an he is an allstar role players most nights. He can get in his head at times, but it remains to be seen if he can put together a full postseason of consistency. And I think you can say that about a lot of these Cavaliers, Donovan Mitchell included, at times, but for Jared specifically, there are questions regarding his toughness. There are questions regarding his uh his willingness to take on more of a challenge offensively and there are questions in terms of whether or not he can and he did remain healthy this this past postseason run but we have not seen him put all of these things together and until he does the fan base is still going to be quietly reserved about his future. Yeah. I mean the final two games against Indiana he was the healthiest of the Cavs starting five and he had a combined 11.6 six rebounds, I believe, over those. That’s unacceptable. That’s a tour date, M. That ain’t a stat line. Like, when you come into Youngstown 116, November 6th, that’s not an acceptable stat line for a starting center. I just think, you know, you’re right against the Jokic, the Embiids. Maybe those are the only two. I’m missing one maybe off the top of my head. Like, you prefer to have a traditional center. And I think for the regular season, it’s fine. kind of just think in the postseason, you know, having a five that can play defense at the caliber Mobly does and protect the rim and space the floors is kind of the ultimate cheat code. And when he’s playing alongside Jared Allen as frequently as he has, it’s kind of negating your biggest advantage. So, I don’t know what the Caps should do. We talked about Jared Allen trades at Nauseium on UCSS. Like, weren’t a ton that I really loved. Like, I didn’t think the Cavs could significantly get better by moving on from Jared Allen based on some of the hypothetical trades. and I’m not just going to give him away for nothing because how many teams want a center who’s not a a three-point shooter, not a floor spacer that would have to pay the price that Cass would need to get off Jared Allen and his is very favorable contract that doesn’t already have a center and needs the significant up. It’s just a lot easier to say than it is to actually execute me. But, uh, before we dive into the summer league stuff, before we dive into some of these Dean Wade rumors, I just want you a real quick thought. You had Larry Nance Jr. on your podcast, the Its Cavalere podcast. Go check it out. Great interview. By the way, Larry Nance Jr. is uh he’s just a really personable guy, you know, down to earth, friendly. The fact he was willing to hop on with you was was really cool. I’m not sure if you had any relationship with Larry Nance Jr. before that interview, but certainly came across like you guys had known each other for a while and uh he was really comfortable. So, kudos to you on a great interview. But do you get the sense because I I I kind of get a feeling that Larry Nance Jr. going to play a pretty significant role for the Cavs this upcoming year, man. Regardless of what he says, you know, he’s always the players always going to hype themselves up in a way and and give you them or or tell you the best possible scenario. I I do get the genuine sense he’s going to play a pretty damn big role here for Cleveland in 2025 2026. I do too. I mean, he was very reserved every single time I asked him, “Hey, what do you what can you bring to the table?” Um, you know, for those of you who may not have watched the interview, every single time I tried to throw him a question about, you know, what he could add, uh, what what was his best skill set and whatnot, he was pretty laid-back, pretty chill about it, and pretty reserved about what his, uh, his goals in certain regards are. But Mikey, I do believe that this is a dude the Cavaliers inquire with acquire with the full expectation, full intention of him playing primary minutes as the team’s backup five and some minutes at the backup four when needed, when necessary. This is all obviously hinging on health. That is that’s the question mark that that is the big question for a number of Cavaliers that were uh that are on this roster and uh others that were acquired this off seasonason. So for Larry in particular, man, this this is a guy on paper, and I think he said this, I’m going to try and steal the words right out of his mouth. Theoretically, it’s a great fit. It is a great fit on paper, just like it is with Lonel Ball. But but health, health is the biggest factor for Larry. I think he could bring so much in terms of the floor space and in terms of the rebounding. I think his defense, even at the age and the loss of mobility that he has at the five, it’s it’s good. He’s quite opportunistic. He plays the passing lanes. He can still get up and reject shots, and he has a connective tissue offensively. He’s able to make plays for others uh at that in the front court, which is big alongside whoever he’s going to be playing alongside, whether that be Evan Mobley or Jared Allen in specific lineups uh or Dean Wade. I mean, there are a lot of different ways that they could go about this, but uh I get the sense that Kenny Atinson, he’s going to love having Larry. Yeah, we’re going to take a break real quick here, Mac, and then get into one of the other guys who could be a potential Dean Wade replacement outside of Larry Nance Jr. after a quick word from FanDuel. Summer sports are in full swing. Whether you’re all about baseball, golf, soccer, FanDuel is the best way to make every game even more exciting. You’re already following the action, so why not make it a little more thrilling with FanDuel. You can get in on the game while your friends are at the beach getting sunburned. If you’re new to FanDuel, well, we got a brand new deal that FanDuel is offering for new customers. You can bet $5 right now. And if that first $5 bet wins, you can win $150 in bonus bets. Open up the FanDuel app today or visit fanuel.comuss to get started. All right, Mac, you mentioned Larry Nance Jr. potentially taking over the Dean Wade role as the de facto backup big because they don’t really have a traditional backup big. Uh, we’re going to talk about Naquon Tomlin in the next segment, but he’s also a guy that I think could be in line to potentially replace Dean Wade if the Cavs at some point decide to move on. We saw a report from Brett Seagull of Clutch Points earlier this week saying Cleveland turned down a sizable offer from Houston who was interested in acquiring Dean Wade. When that didn’t work, they pivoted to Dorian Finny Smith who they signed to a 5254 million contract. It’s a three-year full mid-level exception deal or four-year full mid-level exception deal. And according to the reports, they were going to give Dean Wade that deal. Mac, when you saw the report, when you heard Houston was interested in Dean Wade and the Cavs allegedly turned down an offer, and when you heard they were willing to offer Dean Wade 14 point, whatever the mid-level exception is, the full mid-level exception, what was going through your head? Because I certainly had some thoughts that uh was not expecting before reading that report. What was the return? I mean, that’s what what were they actually offering? That’s what I wanted to know because from the Cavaliers perspective in order like I mean I would have to think that around league circles and I know fan perspective is completely different than front offices and whatnot. People do value contrary to popular belief people value what Dean Wade brings to the table. I know that the offense has been inconsistent. I know that the three-point production has been inconsistent. I know that his confidence uh that that leaves a lot to be desired. But from a defensive standpoint, this is one of the more versatile wing defenders, wing stoppers that we have in this league. And there is value there considering the contract that he is on. So I was really wondering like what the heck were they actually offering the Cavaliers? What were these discussions? And let me just add this. I love Dean, but there’s no way in hell that I would have paid that much money if I was to to to sign him on an open market, right? If he was a free agent, if he was available, there is no way in hell I’m paying Dean Wayade that much money. I do two for 14, not 14 per for two, three seasons. No, I mean, look at what Ty Jerome got paid. Look at how valuable Ty Jerome was for the Cavaliers during the 2024 25 season. And I know that was a terrible series he had against Indiana, but look at the contract he got. Look at the contract that Sam Merrill got. And I know people feel all kinds of ways about Sam. Merryill at this point in time, but Dean Wade, there’s he’s not worth that much money, at least in my eye, but I do know that he is valued across the league for the versatility that he does offer. Now, for Cleveland, it would make sense not to accept just anything because they don’t necessarily, and this I would assume this is prior to Larry Larry’s addition, but they said they said the uh trade discussions happened after the draft before like in the week between the draft and free agency basically. So, Gotcha. prior to Larry Nance Jr. Yeah. And so, you didn’t have a bonafide like replacement on the roster and is I know you mentioned we’re going to talk about Naquan soon. um there just wasn’t anybody that you could comfortably rely on that was already on the roster if you would decided to move on from Dean Wade. And that’s still kind of the question right now. Like with with some of these young prospects that the Cavaliers have, some of this young and brimming talent that they could utilize this season and beyond, you don’t have a bonafide replacement. And so I just think depending upon what the actual like offer was, it made sense for the Cavaliers to turn down. Now, from the Houston side of things, I just don’t know what the hell they were thinking in terms of the money. Yeah. I mean, I would take Dorian Finny Smith over Dean Wade to start their contract was the same. I frankly don’t know how any team, and it’s no disrespect to Dean Wade, who does have value and makes a ton of winning plays. And even though his stats, you know, don’t look great, he he just makes a lot of things work on the court. The issue is he’s injuryprone and in the playoffs, he’s been a nothing. Mac in 14 playoff games. You know how many points Dean White has total points in 14 games? Not off the top of my head. I’m sure you’ll let me know. 28. He averages two points per game in 14 playoff games. He is a sub. And I apologize for reading these numbers because this may make you puke, but in 14 playoff games, he is shooting 31% from the floor, 21 uh 24% from three. He’s taken I think one free throw in in 14 games if pro basketball reference is correct and has 28 total points. Like you just can’t count on that. He has she’s shown you nothing in the playoffs when you need him most. And then you had the injury stuff. The thing with Dean and we talked about this on UCSS yesterday. It’s I’m okay moving on from Dean, but you have to get something back. And the issue is if you trade Dean for just picks or you know Cam Whitmore ended up get trading to Washington. Maybe he was part of the deal. This is before Larry Nansson. He didn’t have any backup big, right? And Cam Whitmore is not a big. You need some sort of something. And if you don’t get that in return for Dean Wade, you’re looking at the veteran minimum market. Now you’re looking at DeAndre Hunter playing a hell of a lot of minutes at the back of four as well. And guess what? He’s pretty injuryprone too throughout his career. I know he was healthy during his Cleveland stint, but it’s not like he has this shining pinnacle of health over his NBA career. And we just talked about the Jared Allen dilemma. Like, you do need some depth in the front court and getting rid of Dean Wade for second round picks for a package of Cam Whitmore and something. This is prior to the Larry Nance Jr. signing, but the Cavs would still have been over the second apron and still would have been shopping in the veteran minimum market. And how many of those guys can you really trust to solidify a front court that already has two guys that people don’t think are the toughest bigs in the league to begin with? So, I understand both sides of it. I can’t fathom Houston legitimately being interested in paying Dean Wade the full mid-level exception, but I’ve heard since we talked about this on the show today that that was legit. So, it goes to show you the value of Dean outside of Cleveland is probably higher than a lot of fans want to admit. And if that’s the case, Mac, maybe you could get more in return for Dean Wade than you and I would think. And if you can, Kobe should be exploring those options. I know the Cavs at the end of the day are looking to potentially get under the Second Apron to avoid the clock starting and the repeater offender and all the Yeah. Apron minutiae that we could get and do a three-hour podcast on that I only know half of anyway because even though I try to study it, there keeps coming new and new rules that I never heard of. But, uh, I just was kind of taken aback by that move. And I think anyone who’s willing to dump Dean for nothing is missing the big picture. And anyone who says Dean’s untouchable needs to go to a medical professional and and see he’s definitely he’s on an expiring contract. That’s the reality. I do not expect Dean Way to be to be back the following season. I do believe that one of two things will happen. They will either move him around the deadline. They’ll shop him. Kobe uh Kobe and company kind of have to. Let’s give Mike Gansy his credit here too. But um that’s either gonna happen or they’ll let him walk. Um I I just do not believe that Dean Wade is in the future plans for this team. But to give him away for nothing would be malpractice. Totally agree. All right, let’s get to our last part of this. But first, a reminder that Monarch Money is a proud sponsor of the Ultimate Cleveland Sports Show. Have you ever wished managing your money felt easier? Well, with Monarch Money, it can. Whether you’re growing your savings or planning a big purchase, Monarch puts you in the driver’s seat. It’s like having your own personal CFO, giving you full visibility and control over your finances, Monarch Money is more than just a budgeting app. It’s a complete financial command center where you can track all your accounts, investments, and spendings in one place. So, in addition to managing your money, you’re also building your wealth. Take control of your finances with Monarch Money. Use promo code lockdown NFL at monarchmoney.com for half off your first year. that it’s 50% at monarchmoney.com promo code locked on NFL for 50% off your first year. All right, Mac, it’s time to talk a little summer league. A little Naquin Tomlin, a little Jaylen Tyson, Craig Porter Jr., and Tyrese Proctor. We got 10 minutes, so we’ll go through this in rapid succession. But as I mentioned to you prior to starting the show, I was in Italy. I did not watch any of the Cavs summer league live because I was on vacation. I watched the highlights of the four players. What kind of fan are you? I know, right? Like, how how dare I? But I went through and I did watch the highlights of each of these guys. And I’m going to give you my quick highlight analysis based off these short highlights I watched. You fill me in on the rest that I was unable to get from said highlights. Let’s start with Jaylen Tyson. He’s just too good to be in summer league, which is exactly what we hoped, exactly what we needed to see. Uh, in the one game he played against Indiana early, was just in control, was able to get to his spots. He missed some shots. That’s going to happen, but he just looked like a guy that was too big, too strong, too physical, and too skilled to be playing against summer league competition. Jaylen Tyson is definitely too good to be in summer league at this point in time. But I think things that he was there to work on were still very valid. They want to see him get on ball reps. And I think with Craig Pter Jr., what happened with him in regards to injury scare, giving him those on ball reps was of key importance. Um, averaged four turnovers per game. Clearly, there’s still some work that needs to be done there, but this is something that should be worked on in this type of environment and can ultimately pay off in a regular season and hopefully in postseasons to come. um not a perfect player, but still has tools in the bag that needed to be developed. And that was hopefully the last time we see him in summer league, but I’m glad that we uh that we got to see that. Yeah, if he’s back next year, we have major problems. I think he’s going to get enough time this year for the NBA Cavs that the summer league will be a longgone, forgotten past for Jaylen Tyson. Let’s talk about Naquin Tomlin next. He’s a guy who put up some massive numbers in the summer league. He had a 30-point game. He had a couple double doubles. When I watch Naqucoin Tomlin, whether it be last year with the Charge and his short stints with Cleveland in the summer league, he reminds me of the guy that is at every pickup run where it’s like that’s a terrible Oh, it went in. Oh, wait. He did. He did that. It went Is that a good shot for him? Oh, maybe maybe that’s a good Oh, that’s a that’s weird. What? Oh, where? None of it makes sense. It it looks like he’s never moved in a basketball fashion, yet always seems to get to his spot. Always seems to be in the right spot. Is incredibly efficient around the paint. Seems bigger than I thought he was. And I I met him in person a couple times last year in the locker rooms. And he looks bigger now than he did. And he was taller than I anticipated when we got to see him in the locker room. And Mac, he’s another guy. He’s 24 years old, so it’s not like he’s a young buck, but he’s too good for summer league. He’s raw still, but he was able to score in ways that are unique and frankly have me completely intrigued in a good way. Mikey, he has handle. I mean, I’m having legitimate discussions with people in group chats talking about, hey, can Sky play the three? Can he play is he a four? What, you know, can he give us some minutes at the five? He’s a great rebounder, especially on the offensive glass. You already mentioned really really quick or I guess second jump technically. Yeah. And I mean his his positioning that was what really stood out to me. He always seemed to be around in the right spot right there. Kind of put a natural sense for where the basketball would bounce off of the rim. He was quick to get a put back and put it back up too. I think that’s highly important. Not just generating those second chance opportunities, but taking it upon himself to put that ball back up and score. The handle, as I mentioned, sticks out to me. But one thing that probably separated him from a lot of these other dudes out there, and I know summer league is an environment where it’s encouraged to jack up shots, right? Get make yourself look good. Naqucoin shows notes confidence issues. That is my number one issue with Dean Wade at at points. Confidence, confidence, confidence. Even in that final game where he kind of stunk it up at points and did not have a great shooting percentage at all, especially from three-point range, he kept letting it fly. And that to me, I think that can only be viewed in a good light. There are certain times where you’re like, “Dude, what what are you doing? Why are you taking that shot?” But for Naqucoin specifically from the front court, I want to see players have reckless abandon at times and just pulling the trigger because it’s a nice change of pace from what we have seen from some of these reserves at times. George Nyang notwithstanding I because George will let it fly too. Yeah. Um, but Naqucoin, that was very, very impressive to me. Now, he’s he’s raw, as you mentioned, not not too many years of organized basketball, no high school ball, and you can clearly tell that he still needs more structure around him, and that on the defensive end, there are a lot of things that need to be worked on there as well. Um, positioning at times, fouling, he averaged like four, five or six fouls during summer league action. I didn’t love it all. You mentioned positioning. It’s funny because on the offensive end, he has this knack of being in the right spot at the right time every time. And on the defensive end, as inherently natural as the offensive positioning comes, it is completely foreign to him. And that comes from, you know, he was a street ball player. I don’t say as a knock like he literally didn’t play high school basketball. He he learned how to play basketball in the streets of Harlem. went to community college, ended up going to Kansas State, then Memphis, undrafted. Like the tools, the skill set, it’s there. It’s like a a diamond in the rough. And I do think of all the guys we saw from the Cavs in the summer league, without including Jaylen Tyson because he’s in a different category, I’m most interested in his development because I do think he can become a legit player at some point. I’m not sure if it’s this year. I’m not sure if it’s in 2 years. It may be in Europe in 5 years, but the Duke could score the basketball. And at 6’8, 69, he’s listed at 610. He’s not 610, but I’m not quite sure how tall he is with his length and the fact his three-point shot looks pretty good, Mac. Like, he’s shooting with confidence, and that’s half the battle. That’s I mean, again, that is where I’m at. At the NBA level, we already know they’re not going to put the ball in his hands. Yeah, he’s going to have to be a catch and shoot option out there nine times out of 10. So, as long as you can do that and not be chop liver defensively, be a competent defender, which I think can only come with time and experience at the NBA level, I think you’ll be a a a capable rotation or back end of rotation player. Should I qualify that? All right, let’s talk about Tyrese Proctor, the Cavs second round pick, the first of their two second round picks. He had one monster game and the other stuff it looked like it was a little up and down. Matt, the clear takeaway is the dude can shoot the the out the basketball. Like the dude can shoot. He averaged 11.1 threes per 36 minutes in the summer league, which is exactly what Cleveland wants him to do. He had a couple threes from well beyond the three. Those are Monti Bates numbers, by the way. No, shout out. Naquin’s the new UCSS Ammani, by the way. We are fully on the uh Naquin train. He struggled to get separation at points. Um, he struggled to beat guys off the dribble and really get space. I think that was, and once again, I I’m going off what I saw. Mac, you fill me in if if I’m wrong. That was kind of the knock on him at Duke. You know, he was a good shooter, smart player, good size, but not the most explosive athlete. think that showed early on, but because he’s so smart, because he’s so shifty, he was still able to have a game where he had what, 30 34 points, whatever it was, and made some really tough shots and made some really tough finishes. You don’t have to be the most athletic guy to be a good driver and finisher. You have to be a smart, know your angles, know how to get around defenders. And I think he has a pretty good understanding of that, but the shooting certainly translated. back. I think he struggled a bit in terms of the separation, but overall I think it was a pretty solid showing for a guy who was the 49th overall pick. Yeah, I mean that’s the key word. Like those are the key words right there. He was a second round pick. He looked every bit the part of a second round pick. Clearly more comfortable offball. Um and I think at the NBA level that is where his shots are going to come from. Uh at least in the early going. is not strike me as a guy that can generate a lot of separation and I just don’t know if that’ll ever truly be the case at the NBA level. It’s already something that he was struggling with at the collegiate level. Um not somebody that is a true bonafide primary ball handler out there. So I think you can eliminate that at least in the early going for him. But the shooting is real. Um I think that there is a real reality in which he could be a potential Sam Maro replacement down the line. Um whether that be I don’t think it’ll be this season. Um Kenny’s in love. Sign to a 4-year $38 million. It better not be this season. M. Don’t put that out in the atmosphere. That will not happen. But in year two, year three, it’s certainly possible as Samuel’s contract will be movable if you need it to be and if Tyrese has made enough progress. But I liked what I saw. Mac, we got one minute left here. Anyone else stand out to you that that I didn’t necessarily mention? two young men, uh, Tristan and Aruna, Cleveland State product. A lot of people in the area are probably very familiar with him. Um, definitely didn’t lack confidence out there. It’s not a perfect game out there, but I appreciated the versatility that he brought to the table to that summer league squad. I thought on the defensive end, he did pretty he did pretty well for himself. not a playmaker by any means by at the NBA level, but I I think that the handle is there and I think the offball viability is certainly something that you could expect to carry over to the NBA level. And then Norado Amir, here’s the thing. Big- time fan uh of what he brought to the table on the glass, but I think in in regard to Amir’s future in the NBA, he’s always going to be viewed as a as a tweener. Um where are you going to play him at positionally? But I think it would be worth a look at the at with the two-way spot that they have if they do not go the route of inuna or pick somebody else up. Mac, I appreciate you hopping on with me on a Wednesday morning to talk a little Caps. It is the deadest point of the summer. It is the deadest point of the offseason. We will get you back on. We have some real bites of the apple to take. Uh Mac, real quick, tell people where they tell everyone where they can find you on Twitter and what you do podcast wise, show-wise, all that good stuff. I am way too available on all platforms on social media on Twitter as uh as Mikey already uh already mentioned, but you can find me over at Devon Perry over there. Um it’s Cavalary Pod is the actual podcast handle on Twitter and then it’s Cavalier Podcast on YouTube. I usually stream every game, but this is a it’s a pretty dead point in the offseason, so the schedule’s a little bit all over the place. That is M. Perry joining us on the Ultimate Cavaliers Show. We’ll see you in about what’s that hour and a half 2 and 1/2 hours for the full Yeah, 2 and 1/2 hours for the full edition of the Ultimate Cleveland Sports Show. For Mac, I’m McNuggets. We’ll see you later. Peace. [Music]

The grind never stops for the Cleveland Cavaliers, who are gearing up for next season.

What’s the future for Jarrett Allen hold? Can Koby Altman trade Dean Wade? How did the Cavs young guys look in summer league?

Mack Perry joins McNuggets to break it all down.

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