Playoff Podcap: Cavs 128, Raptors 110 (Or, LeBronto!)
2018-05-04https://soundcloud.com/ctb-5/episode-170-lebronto
I joined Evil Genius and Nate Smith to talk about the Cavs convincing win against the Raptors. Tom Pestak hopped in midway through too. We discussed the win, OG Anunoby, the match-up issues for Toronto, Chewbacca Ibaka, Star Wars, the 76ers, Rodney Hood and Jordan Clarkson‘s lack of NBA ability, TT’s awesome screens, LeBron’s unstoppable skyball turnaround, and much more. Get the quick recap below and then listen to us talk about the game.
*We experienced some issues with the podcast tonight. I cut out around the 37 minute mark and at that point Nate did some producing magic to make the podcast listenable. We’re going back to our old recording methods for the next game, so appreciate the broken pod for what it is. I cut out and Nate, Tom, and EG, talk without me. It’s a mess, but it’s a beautiful one. * Listen above, on Soundcloud, Apple Podcasts or Google Play.
–
This year the Raptors grabbed the number one seed after being the three seed last year. They’ve changed how they play. Last season they scored .98 points per isolation and they isolated 8.5% of the time. This season they scored one point per isolation and isolated just 5.9% of the time. They averaged just 18.5 assists last season which was last in the league. This year they have averaged 24.3 assists per game which is sixth in the league.
Still, none of that mattered tonight as the Cavs managed to contain Toronto’s pass first offense. The Raptors had 26 assists and shot 54.3% from the floor and 40% from deep hitting 12 of their 30 3-pointers. Cleveland still came out ahead by 18 after 48 minutes.
Early on the Raptors got a lead in the first quarter behind fast break points. Eight of their first ten points came from transition or semi-transition buckets. The Cavs weren’t stopping the ball at all in the first quarter afters misses or even makes. LeBron James took just two shots, while Kevin Love went 4-9 from the floor. James finished the game with a magnificent 43 points on 19-28 shooting to go with 14 assists, eight rebounds, and just one turnover. Kevin Love finished the game with 31 points and 11 rebounds. George Hill also contributed in the first with blow-bys. He had four points all at the rim, and finished the game with 13 points on 5-8 shooting.
In the second quarter, the Cavs had some trouble. After rolling out Rodney Hood and Jordan Clarkson, the Raptors realized they could get whatever shots they wanted and proceeded to go on a 8-2 run. Kyle Lowry scored eight of his 21 in the quarter and Fred VanFleet scored eight of his 14 in the quarter. LeBron and Kevin Love responded though scoring 12 and eight respectively.
The Cavs came out of the locker room down 61-63. They ran it right away. J.R. Smith completed a 2-point And-1 just a minute in after a turnover and finished the night with 15 points. LeBron James and Love combined to go 11-15 for 24 points to outscore the Raptors 37-24 in just 12 minutes. In the third, the Cavs realized that the Raptors were switching far too much. C.J. Miles was abused. James drove on him nearly every time he was matched up and Love just backed him down any chance he got.
Heading into the fourth, the Cavs pretty much had the game won, 101-87. LeBron James kept making circus shot turnaround jumpers and put the game out of reach with little effort.
He hit his first 3 shots in the quarter to put the Cavs up 107–89. James, Love and J.R. Smith finished the night calmly watching the final minutes from the bench. The Cavs finished the night shooting 59.5% from the floor and 42.3 from deep for 11 3s.
DeMar DeRozan finished the evening with 24 points on 11-23 shooting to go with three assists. Kyle Lowry went 7-10 for 21 points to go with eight assists. He picked up his fourth foul early in the third and sat much of the time the Cavs took a lead in the third.
Gripes
- The Cavs gave up too many threes. The Raptors made 11 deep balls. Cleveland needs to recover after trapping more consistently.
- Cleveland needs to stop transition buckets. It’s not hard. If you’re not gonna stop the ball, just wrap a big up wherever you’re close enough to do so.
- Rodney Hood And Jordan Clarkson are contributing nothing.They went 2-7 for five points. Cedi Osman and Ante Zizic should get run at some point.
- The Cavs got the win, but Lowry had a career game that was wasted. He shot nearly perfect from the field, 7-10, and still lost.
Hypes
- LeBron had a bounce back game and so did Kevin Love. The Cavs are set to make a deep run into the playoffs if these two perform like this every night.
- Even if they don’t, the Cavs backup crew did a great job. Jeff Green hit four of his six threes on the way to 14 points. J.R. Smith had 15 points on 5-8 shooting.
- The Cavs faced the hardest part of this series so far. Now they play two home games, and a sweep isn’t looking that crazy at all.
Amusing to see Mitchell doing the ‘no touchy’ Spurs hands off defense on Harden…
This one is over.
Rockets hitting a ton of shots, some gimmes and some tough…not a good recipe for Jazz…
Getting absolutely boatraced after that mini-Jazz run.
Love that give and go with Harden and Capela. Old school just like PJ Carlissimo said.
WOW this Utah crowd is LIT!!!!
Nice run by Jazz, still down 15….
IKR….. gotta give credit to the crowd though!
Is Exum gonna suck, always, or will he be good some day? Not high on him.
He’s young…. but he really needs to work on his jumper. His FT shooting % suggests he just needs practice as opposed to a fundamental flaw in his shot.
Agree he’s really young…but he looks to me to be a permanent bench guy. He’ll need to do some serious improvement.
His length and athleticism gives him tremendous upside. He also seems to get how to play the game…. he was actually really good in summer league. He just needs to continue to develop he could be a solid starter for sure IMO.
I think his injuries really set back his development. He was only 19 when he was drafted and really raw. Basically he has only played two out of four years. Missed his entire second year and nearly all of this year. He is still only 22.
O… didn’t know about injuries… hard to develop then.
Crowder must shoot like 15% on those above the break threes. I’d almost rather have TT taking them.
Starters for Utah weren’t ready to go….. looks like a little more juice from the backups.
Lol that last minute was hilarious
Where was this kind of swag from Crowder in Cleveland???
Dude he’s been amazing in Utah. it sucks
He’s been basically the same as he was in Cleveland, which wasn’t amazing. Just higher usage.
I’m only talking about his attitude…. he just seems happier there. Good for him I guess.
He’s clearly happier in Utah than he was in Cincinnati. Also I thought he had a bad attitude here, wasn’t there an issue with him about starting vs. coming off the bench? It’s clear that he’s better coming off the bench.
*Cleveland not Cincinnati LOL.
There’s Crowder again… almost miss him…
Boy, I don’t. He sucks.
I say almost… I feel for him, as we drafted him and moved him, then sent him through the ringer that was the 2017-18 Cavs season…
Horrible start for the Jazz…cannot turn it over like this…
Utah crowd pretty lit…
Definitely…. UTah didn’t come out well though…. gonna be a climb tonight.
21 dimes for Rondo.
As is often the case, the second game back after the injury layoff is a struggle. 6-19 tonight.
For Curry. Love to see this turn into a series.
NO with some fantastic defense…. they shot terribly tonight.
There’s no such thing as playoff Rondo😈
Hot take: LBJ stays in Cleveland….. Kyrie comes back to avenge GSW!!!
“I’m coming hommmme, I’m coming hommmme…”
HAHAHA!!!
Tribe ties it in the 9th off Chapman! Single, HBP, and two wild pitches. Chapman’s first blown save of the year.
Though the worst thing for the Indians’ bullpen would be to have to go into extra innings…
So, no worries about the extra innings…
PG13 to NO?
Love seeing GSW getting dominated!!! Game 4 will be a big one!
Me too ;)
The tribe really needs to find some bullpen help…
Really seems like Deavis could score on every possession
Refs are starting to help the warriors now
Figured the Pels would get this one, game four will tell if it’s going to be a series. This one far from over, ofc.
Yup… bout that game 4 now.
Tomlin going 7 against the Yankees and only giving up 4 earned is a win for the tribe.
Actually one of his better performances and about all you can ask for from him nowadays.
NO has great fans.
Zimmer and Ramirez homers give the Indians a 5-spot in the 8th to tie the Yankees. Now to the bullpen…
Anyone notice the FT discrepancy in the first two games of this GSW v PELS series?
GS shot 59 freebies to 20 for NO…
Hard to believe the Warriors pulled those two games out…
Wow what a load of crap.
Love Bray getting his pocket picked by Rondo…
Awesome. And he’s miked up – counting on them not playing the recording of Dray’s reaction to it.
Gah. The ESPN studio show is even worse at closing quarters.
Gah. New Orleans is so bad at closing quarters.
“HOME RUN DERBY ” THOMLIN —DOING WHAT HE DOES BEST —SERVING UP THE ‘GOPHER BALL ‘—-WHY IS TITO STICKING WITH HIM—-OR AT LEAST DON’T LET BATTERS SEE HIM FOR THE “2ND “TIME
No one else to go to until Salazar and Merritt come off the dl. Yes Merritt is also on the dl.
Jrue had a huge first quarter. Can he keep it up? Probably not.
Really enjoy seeing Steph Curry’s”humility” on full display.
Look guys and gals, Star Wars is for kids. Never forget that. It was space fantasy and fun and also spoke to a generation of adults. It was never supposed to be realistic. It has been borderline camp since the beginning. Terrible but true fact: The kids love Jar-Jar Binks. These movies are fun for kids and, at their best, are pleasant and mindless for us bigger folk. Don’t get lost in anything other than having fun, it’s what they’ve always been about. Rogue One was just about the darkest Star Wars, more than Empire. The heroes all died. That… Read more »
I was a kid (13, which is granted borderline for what those movies are probably aimed for) when Phantom Menace came out and found Jar Jar insufferable at the time. Also Revenge of the sith is probably darker in tone. That whole movie was doom and gloom. Anakin cuts off Dooku’s head, slaughters kids in that movie, and is burnt to a charry little crisp on camera.
Could have been great if not for awful dialogue and Hayden Christiansen.
I’ve blocked out so much of the prequels it’s hard to remember.
Fair and definitely the right choice. I don’t think I have watched any of them in 10 years.
Rogue One was basically a gigantic exposition of the text crawl at the start of Star Wars, i.e. tedious crap that nobody cares about. This is fact.
This Blog is about to descend into bloody fisticuffs. Zero percent of K-2SO is tedious. Felicity Jones is awesome, full stop.
I’ve read an article talking about the possibility of LeBron joining the Rockets and to my surprise it gave a nice explanation of why most people on their organization are not sure adding Bron will make them better.
They feel they would need to give up too much to get him and if they finally get him they would have to change the way they are playing right now.
Both are fair points. Thoughts?
I believe the Cavs just need to add another great playmaker or a guy that can draw double teams consistently in the post and try to find some good to great shooters that can play decent defense and they could still compete in the east for a few more years.
It’s mostly correct. At this particular juncture in his career and with the salary cap situation of most teams, coupled with Lebron being pretty adamant about being paid max money out of principle, there are few destinations where it would make sense for both teams. For example, the Rockets could make a sign and trade for him, but why would Cleveland take on a bunch of crappy contracts when losing Lebron means rebuilding? Not to mention, the Rockets would be basically changing everything about their team for a likely part time rental. There are precious few teams with the cap… Read more »
Agreed, it seems Philly and the Celtics are the only teams that can go after him but Philly has a better chance. I believe the Celtics will not go after him, they have enough talent to compete against the Cavs next year if they make it to playoffs healthy. The Lakers could have a chance if they find a way to land PG13 and another high caliber all star but if they are not able to add those pieces they are out of the equation.
Never considered the celtics. Ky obviously would have to go. Ironic if he got traded right back to the Cavs.
Celtics would have to shed 30-35 million via trades. They have 104 mil guaranteed next year.
It’s Cleveland, L.A., New York, or maybe Houston, in that order.
NY?!!! What?!
Cleveland can’t even take back those contracts in a sign-and-trade unless it somehow ends up with them under the tax threshold when it’s over, and somehow Houston under the threshold too. That’s almost impossible.
Cleveland is one of the few places that would be happy to pay him 40 Million in his year 39 season and be content to watch him go for Kareem’s record, plus they can go over the cap to keep him. It’s why this crap with Gilbert is so disheartening. It would take precious little to keep him here – competent GM, decent role players, competent coach, not having a owner that is a Trump supporter.
Almost all NBA owners are staunchly GOP and therefore Trump supporters.
Exhibit A is Donald Sterling.
This IS the 1% we are talking about. The top 0.1%.
Philly’s owner was an adviser to Trump
They would have to gut a lot of their roster via trades. Certainly Ryan Anderson and likely Eric Gordon would have to go in addition to a couple of other pieces via trade in order to clear space to sign James and Paul. Not an easy thing to pull off. They would have to count on filling in their roster with vet mins. It would be easier if CP and LBJ took less money. Not likely to happen on lbj’s end. Before the Kawhi situation, I thought San Antonio was the most realistic based off the contracts they could shed… Read more »
The above assumes no sign and trade. That obviously would make things much easier for any of the above teams.
Some of the above teams (basically all but la).
All the reasons above are why I put the Cavs first.
If Philly comes back and wins the Boston series and then seriously challenges the Cavs, I would throw Philly as the most likely spot. If they beat the cavs I doubt LBJ goes. He doesn’t want a Durant level tarnish on his legacy. If they lose to Boston but take it to 7, I could see them being neck and neck with the cavs. Otherwise I think he resigns, unless the Spurs patch up the Kawhi relationship…..
Lost all respect for Nate’s opinion’s about movies when he said Rogue One was a good movie.
May I recommend some RedLetterMedia to change your mind?
I’m not really a Star Wars geek at all (I was a kid when the first movie came out, and I loved it, but the Star Wars stans are frightening), but I agree with you. I really disliked Rogue One. Not a single noteworthy performance in the entire movie, no Daisy Ridley to latch on to, and no one with any on screen charisma.
Seems an unpopular opinion, since a lot of people apparently loved it, but not me.
I don’t love any of the new ones and I was a huge Star Wars fan back in the day. However, I thought Rogue One was entertaining and had the least problems/goofiness out of all three new ones. That being said, I get these movies aren’t really for me anymore because they are made in the style of the Marvel Movies and I think for the type of audience that loves those kind of movies. To me, they have far more, and more extreme, tonal shifts than the originals which I find very jarring. They seem almost too goofy at… Read more »
I loved Bladerunner 2049, but the original Bladerunner is an old movie, and it was always kind of a cult classic. They were never going to make Star Wars money on that sequel. They also had an arthouse director, who I love, but he was probably not going to make some brainless sci-fi crowdpleaser.
I actually like Force Awakens a lot more than I expected, but that was largely because Daisy Ridley brought so much energy and charisma to her role. I haven’t seen The Last Jedi yet.
Daisy Ridley is fantastic and is the best part of those movies in my opinion. I thought for what they are given to do, Carrie Fisher (RIP) and Mark Hamill were also pretty good. You are probably right on Bladerunner. I think I thought that maybe the original had moved from cult classic to more in the mainstream and would subsequently pull in a huge number just from the passion for the original. I think I believed that due to an echo chamber effect caused by a lot of my friend groups having similar tastes in pop culture. A ton… Read more »
What was great about the original is that it was not only decades ahead of it’s time, but Ridley also made it on a shoestring budget and it looked so much more expensive than it was to make. Sequel was a good movie in it’s own right, but no way should they have spent the nearly $200M they did to make it…
True. However, you can really see that 200 million on the screen. It certainly deserved the cinematography oscar it won in my opinion. It is maybe in the top three most visually stunning and beautifully shot movies I have ever seen. Deakins’s lighting and visuals combined with the effects are incredible.
For sure… just pointing out why it wasn’t considered successful… too much underlying cost to recoup even in the international markets… I mean it still made $260M worldwide, which would be great if they’d made it for under $100M…
it’s entertaining. it is rewatchable it has fun characters and decent dialogue oh, but it does have potholes you could drive a star destroyer through and an endless stream of macguffins. but if we are grading on a curve is a million times better than the last Jedi. it’s also much more rewatchable
Lost all respect? Seriously? Rogue One wasn’t perfect by any stretch, but it was entertaining.
Think he or she was being somewhat hyperbolic.
do we have any she’s on this blog at all?
TV63 is the only for sure regular I know of…
LoL You guys make me chuckle. I remember a few years back there was another but I can’t remember the name. There isn’t many female sports fans that blog. It’s a damn shame because this blog Rocks!! There was another Cavalier blog site (5 years ago) that if you dared revealed you were female, you got harassed pretty bad. So if you wanted to participate, you would choose a vague screen name. Thankfully, it’s never been this way on Cavs the Blog.
Holy shit… had no idea you were a “she” TV63! Props to Nate for being gender inclusive LOL.
TV63 is on the Mount Rushmore of CtB commenters.
Rogue One is the best starwars since Empire. Truth
I second that emotion. We got your back, Nate.
Thirded. Motion passes.
So, I’m usually awful at predictions, BUT, I’ve been ON FIRE this Playoffs.
-I said Cavs in 6 vs Pacers (but THEN I Charles Barkley GUAR-UN-TEED Game 7)
-Start/don’t give up on JR… check
-Hood isn’t ready/he’s a system player…check
-Use TT against Jonus…check
-Raptors don’t have the mental toughness to beat us (still)…check
-Cavs in 5 (maybe 4) vs the Raptors…
-Celtics in 6 vs Sixers…
Nate, EG, Tom, how about a segment with me, called “Crystal Ballin’ w/Jwhodey/60% of the time, it works every time…”??!!
Got a certain je ne sais quoi to it???
Well, hopefully you haven’t gone and jinxed yourself/the cavs with this post. Hehe, I am blaming you if TT and JR revert to regular season form, the cavs lose both games at home the Raptors, and/or if Philly pulls that series out.
A nice montage of LBJ fadeaways from throughout his career.
https://slate.com/culture/2018/05/lebrons-fadeaway-jumper-killed-the-raptors-and-now-theyre-dead.html
probably not the place for these comments, but i will throw them out there.. i have not been able to avert my eyes from the sports websites (i don’t watch or listen to the games).. as a born & bred clevelander, my inner child is still addicted to sports, try as i might to extinguish the yearning.. (Note – i lived in boston in late ’70s – early ’80s (yep.. bird, mchale, parrish, tiny, ml, cedric, robey, etc.. that was FUN!).. i loved the genius of red auerbach.. trading away the no.1 to golden state for the no.3 and robert… Read more »
You’re right… not the place for these comments… here’s a redirect for you…
https://www.celticsblog.com/
not a celtics fan.. just a long-suffering (61 going on 62) cleveland fan who has been tortured by incompetance for decades..
Shouldn’t your torture have been relieved by the championship in 2016? I mean, the Celtics have won exactly the same amount of titles as the Cavs in the last three decades…
5 decades of pain leaves a mark on your soul.. the cavs have been very very lucky in the lottery.. absent that., the last 15 years would be very different.. would just love to see some organizational savvy.. a little intelligence.. to turn luck into long term growth.. luck has played a big role in the celtics recent growth.. the crazy russian in nj made it all possible.. but you still need some smarts to grow something of value.. most of that appears to be finding people who will still work when they are being paid millions to play a… Read more »
http://www.jt-sw.com/football/pro/teams.nsf/histories/steelers
this says it all.. look at what this organization has been able to accomplish (and avoid) over the last 45 years!!!.. it really is unbelievable, and is not the result of “luck”..
i have never been able to hate the steelers.. i respect them.. hating excellence is just stupid
Dude, you have seen more than most, but don’t choose to wallow or be a victim–that is the narrative the rest of America writes for us. That 2016 championship was EPIC… and another run may be happening right before us now. Smile and enjoy the ride!
hence my unwillingness to watch the games live.. my enjoyment comes from reading this stuff after the fact, and watching after i already know the outcome.. 50 years of disappointment is bad for the human brain..
Meh. They’re good, but they’ve had a lot of misses. Don’t think Kyrie and Hayward will be the same players.
realize I might be beating a “dead horse ” still waiting / hoping / praying to see a “LITTLE ‘ OF “UTAH HOOD “—–saw some when he 1st arrived —assumed it was only going to get better / am perplexed why that hasn’t happened —-think Clarkson is going to bust loose one of these games / ty needs to allow a few more minutes to let him get in the flow —-LNJ –?????—-still think he is a valuable part of this team —IF I -don’t have confidence in those 3 players then I guess we really got screwed again in… Read more »
They all have potential, but I think they all would function better in a more defined system or if they had better defined roles. I am sure it’s an adjustment to play with LeBron and have the lineup constantly changing without much practice time. I think for this season, it is what it is, and depending on who’s here next year, I’d imagine they start to play more consistently.
Maybe LeBron stays for one more year with a new coach to see what they’ve got…
I’m betting LeBron signs at least a four year deal and probably 5.he didn’t fight for the supermarket not to sign it.
I think the cavs arent getting enough attention for how improved their defense is since the playoffs started. I dont know the numbers and it hasn’t been every game, but they have turned into a decent defensive team out of nowhere.
This is great ;)
I really like Wes Anderson’s visual styles and Moonrise Kindgdom is one of my Top 10 movies of all time.
Nate, is it you or EG who works in the film industry? Asking because I just finished a 6 page short script and would love feedback. Just saying…
Brilliant
https://twitter.com/ElusiveGin/status/992440710497386498
Serge Chewbacca…
http://estaticos.marca.com/assets/multimedia/imagenes/2015/12/18/14504268175147.jpg
Sergebacca?
Sixers will be coming back strong in their series against Boston. Cavs need to close the deal at home and get some rest.
May the Fourth be with you…
This is the best thing I have ever seen on the internet. Never realized how weirdly parallel the Lindsay lusting after Michael b-story is with Luke and Leia in the first two Star Wars.
Agreed–thank you!
Only a few minutes into the pod, but there are some rough takes I need to contest or at least elaborate on. 1. The Raptors absolutely played hard. Their gameplan is what failed them. They went in determined not to double. It killed them. 2. They have to switch with Love and Korver screen action. It leaves the other defender on Love in the post or it leaves JV behind the play thus leading to Love’s dive to the rim. 3. Bron absolutely tried in the first half on offense but was determined to give Love the rock when he… Read more »
I’m with you on the Green and Nance points.
I think Green will go back to his norm and we will be calling for Lue to bench him. Sucks but yeah. Someone called him Steph Green on the Live thread, that was great.
Regarding Nance, he seems to be getting a bad rep. I still think he’s better than TT at everything they do.
On point one, I feel like the Raptors did an awful job covering the shooters. The whole point of not doubling is to prevent the other guys from getting clean looks. If you don’t double, you better bottle up the other guys and the Raptors gave the cavs a ton of wide open looks and cuts to the rim. Just bad execution. Also Casey gets an F for the small ball lineups featuring Miles. Ibaka was bad, but several times he was replaced with Miles, who was abused by James at the end of the second qtr and continually abused… Read more »
I didn’t say LeBron didn’t try on offense. I said he didn’t expend a lot of energy. He was a great set up man but didn’t bang in the post or have to explode in transition too much. Plus he played at a very controlled pace (and hence the low turnovers). But they didn’t need him to do those things defensively he spent a lot of time conceding open jumpers. Again, all a part of a brilliant plan. We expounded on some of the stuff you did in the lost final hour including the Korver /love switching. Truthfully I’d take… Read more »
Coming back to this again. Definitely think you are over rating Toronto, after watching some again and listening to the postgame stuff. Cleveland is thrilled with how much less physical Toronto is than indy. They have so much more freedom of movement on and off the ball.
D) would be a great podcap title .
That could had been yesterday’s podcast title per LeBron’s show.
This….this is amazing, lol.
Seconded! The gentleman’s expression says it all.
Holy Cow all those LeBron fade-aways were Jordanesque. That was one for the ages.
76ers / Celtics games are pretty fun, in their way. I expect the Philly to bounce back and even the series in Philly.
I wonder, if ever, LeBron will stop being compared to Jordan? Specially when it comes to in-games situations as opposed to overall career stats/play.
Yeah, I don’t get this. Lebron has had that particular turnaround for years and years. Really since Miami. I want to even say he showed that in very limited quantities starting in 2010. Didn’t use it all that much but I am pretty certain he was doing the reverse pivot fake all the way back then. He didn’t use it as much back then because he didn’t need to. He doesn’t really need to use it much now. If he wants he can still get to the rim at will. It is nice to have, but like any fadeaway, including… Read more »
Nope… just like MJ was always compared to other greats like Magic, Bird and Dr. J… and especially now in this era of social media and hot takes galore…
A decade from now… the stars of that era will be compared to LeBron…. in fact, Ben Simmons and Giannis already are…
Yes! This
A lot if possible breakups this off-season.
PG13 in OKC. The Raptors, Wiz, & Blazers all have interesting decisions to make. Kawhi in San Antonio. And I wonder if a loss to Utah would change CP3’s outlook in Houston.
Not that we have much of a shot a landing a big fish. Boston has the most assets. Philly has more cap room. Houston can make some.
But maybe they feel they don’t NEED to make a move & just want to let what they have grow.
OKC will be in financial trouble with Melo having a $28M player option. I don’t see him giving that money up. He’ll play one more year there and then bounce to a contender to maybe come off the bench. Although he says he won’t. I don’t see any team, other than one trying to sell tickets, giving him max (or closed to) contract at 35yo. As far as PG13, if I was him, I would make my way to a top 4 team any way possible. He’s 28yo and only has 3-5 years of being at his best, with maybe… Read more »
IMO they’ll end up stretching melo
that is an option if Melo wants but would that help OKC land any big free agent. IF not, they should ride Melo’s contract next year and pretty much give up next year and focus on creating space for following year. OKC should try hardest to convince Lakers to trade for Westbrook for their young guys. Not sure, any stars want to play with OKC anymore.
PG to Utah will be really good.
Do they have the cap space?
I would think OKC doesn’t want Melo, specially after the way the playoffs went. But I’m sure Melo will take the money for one more year.
I’m not sure anyone is going to want to play with Russell.
I am all for PG13 to Utah if we can somehow land Joe Ingles as a result.
Melo is a crummy player on a horrible contract. I was terrified the Cavs were going to get him last year or over the summer.
I bet Danny Ainge will try to screw someone with Terry Rozier. Rozier is having his best season by a mile in President Stevens’ system. If some team bites on a trade for him, they deserve all the sorrow they will receive. I doubt Danny wants to pay market rate for Rozier, or for Smart, for that matter.
Never trade for Celtic scrubs.
How Ainge handles Smart would be interesting off season story ? I don’t think Ainge wants to pay Smart max while Smart does want to get max.
I’d bet money that Ainge will try to ship out Smart to some dumb team. Teams should slam the phone on him.
Crowder has had two stellar games against Houston. I like Zizic.
I would take Horford, Tatum, Brown, or scary Terry.
PG13 should make Utah his home joining Gobert, Mitchell and Favors. That will be contender for years especially with Mitchell in rookie contract.
Philly can sign him if they renounce Reddick and Johnson. Might put them over the top. I attribute the Boston losses more to inexperience than any flaw in the team. They will get better. Simmons will likely develop a 15 footer. If they can sell Reddick on a championship run, maybe they could get him back on a cheap exception for a year, especially after his massive payday this year.
*if Kyrie doesn’t sign an extension or say he will stay long term.
*The team has shown.
Even Obi Wan would have been powerless to stop Lebron’s turnaround last night.
OG Anunoby kinda sounds like Obi Wan Kenobi…
Yes, but even with a light saber at his disposal, Lebron would have scorched him last night.
St Weirdo on EPSN just now made me chuckle. On Melo & George: “It’s tough. It’s tough when everybody need the basketball. There’s only one basketball.” He is still trying to figure out the solution in 2018.
Waiters on Get Up was painful to watch. Zero insight, and not crisply delivered (…by a long shot). When they said former LeBron teammate, I was hoping for someone like Eric Snow.
^^^first and last times the words ” When they said former LeBron teammate, I was hoping for someone like Eric Snow” will ever be used^^^
Compared to CJ McCollum’s First Things First interview on the cavs and raptors, it certainly is pretty brutal.
Need more Nate imitations of Hubie.
Those were hilarious.
So glad K Love is feeling better. Pretty clear he was able to use his left hand a lot more. Also, how is it possible that LeBron’s footwork is STILL getting better. The smoothness of those turnarounds is sick. What a thing of beauty.
As amazing as LeBron was – and he was absolutely unreal – Kevin Love also came to PLAY last night. I was shocked. I really think he is a guy that will always have the skill, but is 90% mental. I’m sure LeBron told him hey man, we need you if we really want to go get this thing, and he delivered. He was an animal – not just scoring, but also rebounding and playing defense down low. I loved it.
LeBron is the GOAT.
His cut to the basket with Korver screening, receiving an LBJ pass & reverse layup was epic. I knew we had them at that point. Didn’t quite expect the LBJ clinic in the third. In fact I thought it was unnecessarily humiliating to the opposition to add this measure. /s
The point I knew KLove was back for real was that block on I think DeRozan. Sweeeeeet.
Only. Three. Turnovers.
Ties a PO record.
Serve us well vs Boston, Philly, & GSW, this would.
May the 4th be with us! The Cavalier Alliance is strong. Lukbron Air(CanadaCenter)Walker, Kevn Lovo, JR-D2, Green-3pointPO and Georgie-Hill Kenobi were all fantastic last night. “I had a bad feeling about this” coming out of the Indiana series, but now I’m confident we’ll be back in the Finals facing the Evil Empire again! Go Cavs!
Very nice, this is.
Turned out the Alliance could totally return firepower of that magnitude.