00:00On the line, it's Odyssey Sports NBA Insider, Nick Friedle.
00:03Insider Calls brought to you by Hyundai.
00:06Now you can buy a new Hyundai at Amazon.
00:08Visit HyundaiUSA.com for details.
00:13Nick, welcome to the show.
00:14Guys, it's great to be with you, and I know there's a lot of pain
00:17because my college roommate's from Strongville,
00:19so I've been listening to him the last week and a half,
00:23and I know there are a lot of people that can't believe what they just saw.
00:27So I don't really know where to begin because there's so many damn things
00:32we can get to here, but maybe we'll get to the simplest explanation
00:35for why this series went the way it did.
00:38Is it as simple as the Cavs had the best chance to win this series
00:42with that game one, and then because they blew that game,
00:46the rest of the series went downhill from there?
00:49I think that's as smooth as we could make it,
00:53and it was just a complete mental meltdown in the end of game one,
00:58and then the hangover of game one was apparent.
01:02I mean, that thing was done, guys.
01:05You guys know it.
01:06Everybody watching knows it, and they just blew it,
01:09and there are a variety of reasons.
01:10I'm sure you've gone through a hundred times over,
01:14but when you watch the Cavs and you see the way they played
01:18through most of game one, and then you see the lack of adjustments
01:21and the complete meltdown that was the end of that game,
01:26what would scare me moving forward is they couldn't adjust
01:31and come back from that mental breakdown at all.
01:34It just got worse and worse and worse, and then last night it was over.
01:37So I think that is the quickest explanation,
01:41but you don't often see a complete mental breakdown
01:47the way that the Cavs bowed out over the last week.
01:51Yeah, mentally, I mean, you're right,
01:53but how much of this do you feel like plays into the idea
01:55that they were just gassed by the time this whole entire series went down
01:59and their legs just weren't anywhere close to as fresh as the Knicks?
02:02I think that's absolutely part of it,
02:05but as I watched the way the series went,
02:09you can have gassed teams that still play hard through the end
02:13and still give whatever team they're facing better games
02:19than the Cavs did in two, three, and four.
02:21So I think the accumulation of the games
02:24and what it took to get by Detroit, that all factored into it,
02:28but to see a team just fold the way they did
02:33is not something that anybody's used to seeing on that kind of stage.
02:39So with this, obviously it's the NBA,
02:42so the first thing we do is fire the head coach,
02:44but beyond just that's what I think most fans are calling for today,
02:49does it make sense that Kenny Atkinson would be the fall guy
02:52for what ended up being a very brief time
02:55in the Eastern Conference Finals this year?
02:57Sure, and that's obviously the next step
03:00and always has been in the league,
03:02but guys, as I look at the Cleveland situation,
03:06I mean, Kobe Altman and that staff have to be honest with themselves.
03:10When you look at what happened in the way in which it happened,
03:16I just don't know how the Cavs can look at this team and go,
03:20yeah, yeah, let's run it back
03:22and let's make sure that we get pretty much the same roster.
03:27I know that there's hope, and there has been for months,
03:31that LeBron appears for one more year.
03:34It's my opinion, but I just don't think they're that close.
03:37I mean, you play to win titles.
03:39I don't think where the Cavs roster-wise are set up
03:42are close enough to where you go,
03:45oh, well, a little move here and there and one tweak,
03:48and we got it.
03:49I think Donovan Mitchell is a really good player,
03:51but I don't think he's in that top tier of stars
03:54that can lead a team to a title.
03:57I know why they wanted to get rid of Garland.
04:00I saw him belt a few years back in person at the Garden
04:04in those games, and they lost to the Knicks before,
04:06but the idea that James Harden is somehow the answer to the problem,
04:13no way, not a chance.
04:16So if it's me, I'm looking at this,
04:20and I'm having serious conversations looking in the mirror
04:24if I'm in that Cavs front office
04:26because the gap between where they are right now
04:30and where they need to be to legitimately be a title contender
04:34is pretty wide from where I'm sitting.
04:37Okay, I can't tell in that answer then
04:39if you're closer to trading for Giannis
04:41or just you're suggesting blow the whole team up?
04:44I mean, you can get Giannis,
04:46but in order to get Giannis,
04:49you're going to have to give up who knows how much
04:52in every draft pick you got.
04:54And guys, Giannis is going to be the centerpiece
04:57of all the conversations over the summer
05:00because of what he's done in the past.
05:01But I would be very hesitant to trade for Giannis
05:06just because of the injury concerns.
05:08It's not that he still can't be a dominant player.
05:11It's that can he be out there every night
05:15and can he stay healthy enough to dominate in the playoffs?
05:18So everybody's got their opinion when they watch what happened.
05:23If it's me and I'm looking at the Cavs situation,
05:28I'm of the opinion that you blow it up
05:30because you're just not that close.
05:33Now, Dan Gilbert is competitive as hell.
05:35He's proven in the past that he'll spend money
05:38and that is something to be said
05:41compared to a lot of other owners in the league.
05:43But when you look at, again, the Cavs situation that they're in
05:47and the pieces that are in place right now,
05:50you can bring Giannis on,
05:52but in order to get him to give up what you would need to
05:55and then for him to sign off on coming,
05:58you're going to have to give him a brand new deal
06:01and a whole boatload of money.
06:03I still don't think that's enough
06:05given where they stand at the moment.
06:08Nick Friedle, Odyssey Sports NBA Insider.
06:11Insider Calls brought to you by Hyundai.
06:12Now you can buy a new Hyundai
06:14from the comfort of your new home at Amazon Visit.
06:17HyundaiUSA.com for more details.
06:19So I don't disagree with what you're saying about Donovan Mitchell.
06:22I think that's the appropriate conversation to be having,
06:25not just today, but over the next week or so.
06:27I do think it's interesting that Jalen Brunson
06:30and Donovan have been tied together
06:32and compared to each other for now the last couple years.
06:36What do you see as the difference
06:37between Jalen Brunson and Donovan Mitchell?
06:40The difference to me is when you give Brunson the ball
06:43at the end of the game,
06:45he knows he's going to score,
06:47his teammates know he's going to score,
06:49and that confidence that he creates within them
06:52permeates through the rest of the roster.
06:54Donovan Mitchell is a heck of a player.
06:57He's a really nice guy.
06:59He seems to be well-liked internally
07:02within the organization,
07:03but he's not a basketball killer
07:05the way that Jalen Brunson is,
07:06and that's the difference.
07:08I mean, when Brunson has the ball,
07:10he's one of the most clutch players
07:12in the game right now.
07:14When Donovan Mitchell has the ball,
07:16he's had his moments,
07:18and certainly in the regular season,
07:19there's plenty of times where like,
07:20hey, he was great.
07:22But time and again in the postseason,
07:25when you need him to not only score,
07:28but carry the rest of the team across the line,
07:31it doesn't happen.
07:33So that's the difference between those two guys
07:35is very clear.
07:36It's in the perception.
07:38When Brunson has it,
07:40there's a feeling that he'll find a way
07:43to make everything happen.
07:44And the same just can't be said
07:46for where Donovan Mitchell's at.
07:48So do you buy that now at this point
07:49in the years we've seen of Donovan,
07:51him being a number two,
07:52him being like a robin roll
07:53is probably the only way he wins a title?
07:56I think so.
07:57I mean, I look at where he was.
08:01Let's go back to Utah.
08:02You had that moment in the bubble.
08:04You're like, ah, the progression is there.
08:09Again, you can have difference of opinion
08:12on where guys stand.
08:13As I've watched Mitchell progress through the years,
08:16I just never thought he was that guy.
08:19And I think we're way past the runway now,
08:21especially with the way this series ended,
08:23to think that something's going to turn
08:26and he becomes that guy.
08:27And that's part of the issue, guys,
08:29is when you're giving out
08:31these new gigantic Mega Max deals
08:34and let's see what happens
08:36as far as the new deal for him goes down the line,
08:38you have to count on
08:40that when you give out those deals,
08:42that those players are who you need them to be.
08:46Donovan Mitchell is a hell of a player
08:48in the regular season.
08:49But time and again in the playoffs,
08:52he's getting beat by guys
08:55that are just at a different level.
08:57So I think he is best suited
08:59in that 1B role.
09:03And I just don't believe that his time
09:06as the guy needs any more kind of experience.
09:11I mean, we've seen it over and over and over again.
09:15He's just not the guy that's going to get you
09:18all the way there on his own.
09:20Nick, how do you expect the Knicks will fare
09:23in the NBA Finals?
09:25I just didn't think that they could get to this point.
09:29But to their credit,
09:31I mean, I didn't think they were getting past Boston
09:33if they saw them.
09:34And then we saw what happened
09:35in that Philly series early on.
09:39Everything has fallen their way.
09:41So to sit there and say,
09:42oh, well, I still don't think they can do it in the Finals.
09:45Absolutely they can now.
09:47They have the momentum.
09:48They have Brunson playing at the level he is
09:52with the rest of the core playing at their own high level.
09:56And they have confidence.
09:57It's very clear, like as each game goes by,
10:00that that is building even more.
10:02Guys, if we were betting on it right now, though,
10:05I would still not only bet that the winner in the West
10:09ends up winning the Finals,
10:11but I would bet it's the Thunder.
10:12I mean, I might be completely wrong on that.
10:14I just think they're a little bit better
10:16and they're a little bit deeper than everybody else.
10:19But can the Knicks win?
10:22Absolutely they can.
10:23And with the rest they're going to get,
10:25either way, that is going to help them a lot
10:27heading into a couple weeks from right now.
10:30Is there any way that they can lose the NBA Finals,
10:32but the East still has some sort of glow up?
10:34The Knicks, that is?
10:35Because the run they went through to get to the Finals,
10:37and then if they show themselves in a way,
10:39will people turn around and be like,
10:40oh, maybe the East wasn't as bad as we thought,
10:43or is that just a foregone conclusion?
10:44The narrative's out there.
10:45It is what it is.
10:46I think it's already been cast.
10:49I think people are already like,
10:51all right, well, the Knicks came out
10:53and they had a hell of a run,
10:54and let's see how it ends here.
10:56But there's just a feeling that OKC and San Antonio
11:02and some of the other periphery teams,
11:04they're just a cut above everybody in the East.
11:06And that's certainly where I stand as well.
11:11But if the Knicks can come out of this
11:13and they can roll through the Finals
11:15and keep this historic pace going,
11:17then sure, people are going to look at it
11:19a little differently.
11:20But I'd say the general feeling within the league
11:22is there's just a higher quality night to night,
11:25especially at the top of that West.
11:28What do we do with Harden long-term?
11:30I know the reports are that it's already decided
11:34he's going to be in a team-friendly, multi-year deal
11:37that has already kind of been agreed upon
11:38that he just needs to opt out and then sign this summer.
11:41But how does he factor into this mess long-term?
11:46Oh, man.
11:47Even hearing that, I feel bad.
11:51I feel bad for any of the millions of Cleveland diehards
11:57that there are out there.
11:58Just because we've seen it.
12:00We were talking about Donovan Mitchell.
12:01You know, he's not Batman.
12:03He's Robin.
12:04How much more do we need to see of Harden?
12:07I mean, how many more years and examples are there
12:11that there are nights when James Harden goes off
12:14and he can still drop 35 or 40 and you're like,
12:17ah, it's still in there.
12:19But in the biggest games, in the biggest moments,
12:23he's not there.
12:25You're not going to find him.
12:26And this has been the knock on him for years and years and years.
12:30This is why when they made that deal, I was like, huh?
12:33You know, Cleveland has flaws, but that's not a guy that you bring in
12:37that you go, ah, well, this fixes everything.
12:40There is something that happens in the playoffs with Harden.
12:45He still has his moments, but more often than not,
12:48you're sitting out there and you're going, what is happening?
12:51He's not even out there.
12:53And then as we saw in game one, guys, problem also is defensively,
12:58it couldn't have been any clearer in trying to hunt him out.
13:01That doesn't exactly change when you get older.
13:03So good luck with that deal.
13:06That's all I could say after watching it all these years
13:10and all these different places.
13:12I mean, Harden's going to the Hall of Fame.
13:13He's an unbelievable scorer.
13:15But to think that any part of the narrative around him will change
13:21as he gets a year or two later into his career is laughable.
13:26Nick, great stuff.
13:27Appreciate you.
13:28We'll catch up with you down the line.
13:30All right, you got it.
13:30Thanks for having me on, guys.
13:32Thank you so much.
13:32That was Odyssey Sports NBA Insider, Nick Ferdel.
13:35Insider Calls brought to you by Hyundai.
13:37Now you can buy a new Hyundai at Amazon.
13:40Visit HyundaiUSA.com for more details.
13:43You can buy a new Hyundai.
Comments