- 17 hours ago
Category
🥇
SportsTranscript
00:00He's on the Make It Right Call, Kyle Wright Hotline. Jason, good morning.
00:03I never know what I'm walking into with you guys.
00:05I'll tell you what, it is pretty horrific. I'll tell you about it at another time.
00:13I'll get to the Cavs first here, basically because I want to wait to start screaming at you.
00:17I almost lost my voice earlier today, so I'm kind of trying to take it easy here.
00:21Is it smart or cowardly for the Cavs to try to pick their opponent for the postseason here?
00:29Oh, boy. I think this is – I would actually lean more toward cowardly, but I understand why.
00:37Whoa! Tone! Tone! Fight him!
00:41No, I saw what Lima said. There's a lot of truth to what Lima said yesterday. I saw the clip.
00:48This isn't black or white to me because, number one, would those teams in 16, 17, and 18
00:54been trying to navigate, maneuver around, and pick their opponent and be scared to play
00:58certain teams at certain times? No. No. Of course not.
01:02So that's the part to me that's like, just go in a championship.
01:05You're trying to win a championship. You've got a team good enough. Go win a championship.
01:09The flip side of that is there's a lot riding on the – there's a lot of stakes this summer.
01:13And if they lose in the second round again, I don't know what that does to the plans of
01:17re-signing Donovan and everything else.
01:18So that's why I'm saying, like, this is more complicated than a normal – like, this
01:23is different than a couple years ago when I thought that they tried to steer their way
01:26to Orlando, which I did not like that either. But I also understood it like, yeah, they're
01:31trying to take another step. They're trying to go one step further in the playoffs.
01:34So there – like, normally I would say, like, just play the games, win the games, fall where
01:40you fall, and go play who you play. Because I just think it sends a bad message to the
01:43locker room that you don't believe in these guys. But – and also, the part nobody's
01:48talking about, what's Detroit think about all this? Because they're the number one seed.
01:53They're pretty freaking good. They lost their best player. They kept rolling. Like, I don't
01:56think the second round is going to be easy regardless of who it is.
02:00So that's just another layer to this whole thing. So I get what Lyme is saying. You're
02:05right in terms of, like, the timing of the injuries. You never know what guys are going
02:08to look like and everything. I just don't love the message it sends to the locker room
02:11because they know. They know what you're doing. If you've got a team good enough
02:14to go in a championship, go in a championship. It doesn't matter who you play when.
02:18Can I look at it and say you guys are a bunch of – I mean, we're dealing with
02:21veterans here. James Harden's been in the league for over 10 years. So has Donovan.
02:25It'd be like, hey, you know, we just got you guys together. It's not smart to go out
02:30and try to play Boston in the first round when we still have – we've dealt with injuries.
02:34We still need to gel this thing. Like, can't we all be – does everything have to be
02:40a personal affront? Does everything have to be motivation or can we look at this
02:44and be practical about it?
02:46Well, it would be the second round, not the first.
02:47Well, regardless, you got what I'm saying.
02:50Well, but I still just think, like, Donovan sort of addressed it the other day.
02:53He's like, you screw with the basketball gods. And I tend to agree with him on that.
02:57Not that I have a belief in basketball gods, but I know what he's saying.
03:00It's the karma of it or the juju of it or whatever you want to call it.
03:04I think there's – when you are a – like, there's a big difference between being a
03:08playoff contender and being a championship contender.
03:11A few years ago, the Cavs were probably more playoff contender than they were
03:13championship contender. Now they are championship contenders.
03:17So I just feel like it doesn't send the right message to the locker room when you
03:20start manipulating this stuff. Just go win the games.
03:23It doesn't matter who you play when.
03:24I didn't realize George Mikan's going to make sure we can't get to the Eastern
03:27Conference Finals because we're messing with the whole –
03:30The gods, yeah.
03:30Gods.
03:31Well, I would say this, Jason. Like, I don't even really disagree with everything you said.
03:36I do think that they have to live in a reality of, you know, they've had these
03:40early-ish flameouts in the past. It's why they made the Garland move, too,
03:44because they couldn't count on Garland to be healthy or whatever or play well in
03:47the playoffs. So now they've got Harden. I do think they're confident when their
03:52core is together and the numbers support it when their new core four are together.
03:57They're one of the best teams in the league. The problem is they just haven't been
04:01together. And I would argue that these next few games, especially,
04:06given how they've limped into the playoffs in the past and Donovan has limped into
04:10the playoffs, like, he's already got banged up again. Like, I think it makes all the
04:14sense in the world to just sit guys tonight, which I think they will do, not just
04:18because you want to orchestrate a cleaner path, but because the only thing that
04:21matters is health into the playoffs, because if they don't have health into the
04:24playoffs, it's all a moot point anyway.
04:26And I agree with all that. That's why I'm saying this is so complicated. This isn't as
04:29simple as you're ducking teams and you're not. There's more layers to it.
04:35And I think the biggest one of all of them is this team cannot lose in the second
04:38round again. Like it just, it would be catastrophic for this team to lose in the
04:41second round again, because that's been their ceiling for so long. So I, and
04:45catastrophic is probably dramatic, but just because of everything that's at stake
04:48and the contract decisions that have to be made this summer and everything else,
04:52you really, you, this team really, it would behoove them to make the conference
04:55finals. So I understand, I get it. I get all sides of it. I just think that this is far
05:01more nuanced and complicated than do you duck this team or do you play? Like, I just
05:06think there's far more to it than that.
05:08Jason Lloyd with us right now on the hotline. So what do you think about this
05:11team? If I'm able to tell you that they will have all their pieces in parts
05:18starting in round one in a couple of weeks, let's say it's against Atlanta.
05:21How do you feel genuinely about this team's chances to make a run?
05:26Genuinely, I believe this team can win the East. I don't know that I would pick them to
05:30win a championship. I just think the West is too good, but can they win the East?
05:33100%. Absolutely. This team can win the East. I think it's foolish to think otherwise.
05:37Now, you know, it can also go the other way. I can see it going the other way
05:43relatively easily. But yeah, I mean, I don't know that I would pick them to beat
05:47Boston in the series, but it won't shock me if they do. I don't want, I don't know
05:51if that's a cop-out answer, but I would probably pick Boston to beat them, but I won't
05:56be at all surprised if the Cavs win that series. I would pick them to beat every other team
06:01in the East, I think. I'd pick them to beat Detroit. I'd pick them to beat, after everything
06:05I just said about Detroit, I'd still pick the Cavs to beat Detroit. I'd pick them to
06:08beat the Knicks. I think Boston's probably the only one. So yeah, I think absolutely.
06:13This team's really, really good. When they're healthy and they're whole and they're rolling,
06:17they're really good. And I know Kenny kind of came down on them for their defensive
06:20efforts a couple weeks ago. The one thing, like I said this for a couple years, when
06:26they were elite defensively, I kind of hung on this, that you don't have to be elite.
06:30You just can't be terrible. You can't be worse. It's far more important to be able to score
06:35in the playoffs than to stop. And there's probably other people that will disagree with me on
06:39that. And again, I'm not saying you can't be atrocious defensively. You can just be middle
06:45of the pack and that's okay. That's good enough. You don't have to be a top two or three
06:49defensive team to win in the NBA, to win a championship in the NBA. But you certainly
06:54have to be able to score. And I think that they've addressed a lot of what their flaws
06:59were from earlier in this run, in this window, if you will. So yeah, I absolutely think this
07:04team can go to the finals.
07:08Jason Lloyd joining us on the show. Lyman's got one more about that.
07:11Yeah, I just want to ask how you felt about the Harden deal before and now that you've seen
07:16him here for a month. Have you changed your view at all?
07:20No, because I loved it. It took me about 10 seconds at first of like, what? And then like
07:25the more I thought about it, the more I dug on it, the more I was like, yeah, actually,
07:30I really, really like this. So I, the thing that I guess that has been a pleasant surprise,
07:35I didn't know what the, first of all, I didn't know how Harden and Donovan would fit together.
07:39I thought that that may take time for them to sort of figure things out because they play
07:43such different styles. And I think that's gone better than I thought that it would.
07:48And the Harden Mobley pick and roll combination has been way better than I thought it would. I
07:53think everybody said Jared's going to have the time of his life playing with Harden and that was
07:58accurate, but Evan was not as good of a screener. And, and, and the way that those two have sort
08:05of turned the corner on this thing, the last few weeks has been a pleasant surprise. So I was never
08:10down on the trade. I always liked it because you just couldn't, you said earlier, you couldn't
08:14count on Darius. You just can't count on him. And for as much as they've talked over the years of
08:19what, what a long runway this contention window was, well, they were running out of runway and
08:23they had to get this thing off the ground. They had to get the plane off the ground. And they
08:26did
08:26that with the Harden.
08:30If this damn thing would work. Um, Miles Garrett is not at voluntary workouts. Is that a big deal
08:35or not a big deal? No, I'm tired of talking about that. We've, we've talked about that
08:39for years. I've made my stance clear on that. I ain't, I ain't do it again. I was like, well,
08:45of course he's not there. So you think he's suddenly going to be there?
08:49Well, I got, this is why I'm hoarse this morning. I was, I didn't think it was a big deal.
08:53And I
08:53ended up yelling at Lima. Well, I mean, I, of course you'd rather have him there than not.
08:58But wait a second, you can't come on and act like you're indignant over the question and
09:06then go, well, of course he should be there. I didn't say should. I said, you'd rather have
09:12him there than not, but I'm tired of having the miles and OTAs discussion. We'd have it
09:16every single year. It is. Why do you want to mess with tradition? It ain't going to be
09:26changed. Move on. All right. April 8th. Right now, who would you start a quarterback?
09:31Not to Sean. I've been, I've been, I've been consistent on that. Like, listen, I knew you're
09:44going to get me on this quarterback thing. I told you yesterday. I texted yesterday. You're going to
09:46make me talk about these freaking quarterbacks. Hell yeah, I am. Hell yeah. I want to see your,
09:51I want to see your mentions. I want to see you get cussed out. Well, then you tell me what
09:55they are
09:55because I don't even look at him. When I've been consistent on this from the start, I see no
10:02upside in playing to Sean. None. Zero. Why? Okay. He goes out and looks moderately decent. Again,
10:09you're going to sign him to another extension. God, I hope not. So, so what are you doing?
10:14Like you guys know where I am with Shador, but if you're making me pick between Shador and
10:18Sean, it's no contest. There's no comparison because I just don't see any upside to playing
10:24to Sean. Unless Shador is, unless it's not like, unless like Shador just looks so awful
10:32that you can't trust him to go out on the field. I don't see why you would not play him.
10:37And
10:37I don't think either one of them is a long-term answer. I can't believe that the Browns are
10:41in this position that they're choosing between these guys, but regardless, here we are.
10:45You got to pick somebody. Well, this is, this is galaxy brain for me. Like I'm going to ask
10:50you a galaxy brain question here. Like, okay. Todd says he liked him, right? Okay. I'm going to
10:56hold him by his word. Yeah. Todd said he liked him. What are you talking about? The Munkin.
11:02Okay. No, I know Todd. Oh, Shador Sanders. Okay. Okay. Sorry. It is important. So Todd said he
11:10liked Shador Sanders. Is there a possibility he felt that Shador was thrust into a situation
11:18unjustifiably in a position he'd rather not be in and then goes, listen, you were thrown out there
11:22too soon. It's a different offense. We're going to start the veteran and have you be the guy who's
11:28takes, gets a breather. And then I'm sure everybody's going to want to see Shador again. Cause I don't
11:33have much faith in Deshaun Watson. And so maybe he becomes the, I don't want to say hero, but he
11:39becomes
11:39the guy that everybody wants to see again. In this case, I, I'm, it is galaxy brain. I'm saying that
11:44at the
11:44beginning and end of it, as I ask you, can I answer a question with a question? Yeah, go ahead.
11:50Would we be having any of these discussions if they didn't win their last two games and they
11:54were about to take Fernando Mendoza? No, they would just take Fernando Mendoza and they would
11:59just play Mendoza and that would be that. Would they? Because they just hired, they just signed
12:04Kirk cousins in Oakland, right? Oh, Las Vegas. So I may, they might not start him week one.
12:09So you think they would start Deshaun over Mendoza? No, you're right.
12:15So you see what I'm saying? Like, I hear you like, okay, they might play a veteran for
12:19a few weeks and they may not like Mendoza may just win the job and they started week
12:22one. And now you've got a viable backup in case something happens to them. And you've
12:26got it. Cause I also think it had like the cousin sign. It isn't necessarily to play week
12:30one. It's for the locker room and for show them how to be a pro and dah, dah, dah, dah,
12:34watching some, all that stuff. Um, I, I just think like had the Browns had the number
12:39one pick, we would not be having this discussion of, of who are they, who is the week one starter.
12:44It'd be, it'd be Fernando Mendoza and whether that's an indictment on how they feel about
12:50truly feel about Shador or whatever, that they're entertaining this idea of bringing Deshaun
12:55back, you know, we'll wait and see. Uh, but I just listen, Shador didn't play last year
13:00because he wasn't ready to play last year. That's why. And people aren't going to like that.
13:05And people are, can hate that or whatever. That's, that's the reason. And so I, I don't
13:11think that he was done wrong or anything like that. Um, if Deshaun starts this year, I absolutely
13:17think Shador is still going to play. These are the Browns. When, how often do they ever go the
13:20entire year playing one quarterback? It's very, very rare, but I just, I just, I wouldn't flip
13:26it and say, would we even be talking about this? Had they had the number one pick and they were
13:30taking for Daniel Mendoza. And I don't, I think the answer is no, they, we would not be
13:34entertaining any of these conversations. All right. What do you got? Jason, uh, anything
13:39changed in terms of how you feel about this draft as we're getting closer and there are
13:44more rumors floating around? No, I was in Phoenix last week for the owners meetings and I, I just
13:52got the impression that like, it's just not, it's just not a great draft top to bottom.
13:56It's just not like, listen, there's good players there. Like nobody was talking about Carson
14:01Schlesinger a year ago at this time and look what they found. And, and that's sort
14:05of, I think what Andrew Barry's up against now is he's got to find the right players
14:08again. But I like from conversations I was having, you could punch holes in all of the
14:13linemen, you can punch holes in all of the receivers. Like, I don't think that there's
14:17a Joe Thomas in this draft to go take when you're talking about tackles or linemen or anything
14:22like that. I don't think that there's a, an elite, elite number one playmaker, no doubt
14:28about it, run to the podium and write his name on the card receiver. So, you know, obviously
14:33I think I've sort of advocated the trade down all along. I just don't know how much, how
14:40much of a market is for that pick right now. So I just think, I think they got the work
14:43cut out for him in this draft. That's not to say that I could get good players. Like
14:47there's a ton of holes on this offense. You can get good players. You can address the
14:51needs. I just don't know that there's elite level talent on the offensive side of the ball
14:57with, with what they need. Jason, I know you were in Scottsdale. We got to go, but
15:00you get a chance to get down to Sedona for all those great views. No comment. Nice
15:05try. Jason, thank you for the time. All the best to you and yours. We'll talk to you again
15:09soon. Hopefully I'll see you guys. Goodbye. Jason Lloyd on the make it right. Call Kyle
15:14right. Hotline.
Comments