00:00But joining us right now on the Wise Heart Right,
00:01we make a right call, Kyle Wright Hotline.
00:03Greg Schwartz, local man, good man.
00:06He's from the Bleach Report.
00:07We've had him on before because he was the one dissenting opinion
00:11that we shared on this station about the James Harden trade.
00:15Well, have the chickens come home to roost?
00:16Greg, good morning to you.
00:18Do you do a champion's pose?
00:19Do you tell everybody, I told you so about James Harden,
00:22or did you like the way he played, or how do you feel about James now?
00:28I feel exactly the same way about him that I felt like
00:31when I was on your program months and months ago
00:34when we kind of forecasted what this was going to happen.
00:38And, you know, obviously it ended the way it always ends for Harden, unfortunately.
00:42And now the Cavs are kind of stuck with him for the next couple years.
00:47And we'll see what that final contract number is going to be like.
00:51You say we'll see with that final contract.
00:53Do you know something?
00:54Is it going to be more than what we want, or what are we thinking?
00:58I mean, if it's what I personally want, we would waive him
01:02and stretch that remaining $13 million
01:05and open up the full mid-level exception and explore other options
01:09and not go into the playoffs next year with a 37-year-old point guard
01:11who can't defend.
01:12That would be what I want.
01:14What I think is going to happen is it's going to be a two-year,
01:17$60-some million contract that was presumably agreed to
01:21at the time of the deal, which is why Harden wanted out of the Clippers
01:24and to leave his hometown of Los Angeles was because he wanted that financial security,
01:29which the Clippers were smart enough to say,
01:32we're not going to give that to you.
01:33So I think there's been enough writing on the wall
01:37that Harden's going to get that two-year, $60-ish million contract.
01:41And that's probably been agreed to, like I said, probably since February.
01:44James Harden's made almost $500 million in the NBA.
01:49How much more financial security does he need?
01:52Come on now.
01:53Yeah, that's a great question.
01:55We could say the same with LeBron when we're all like,
01:58hey, LeBron, take that veteran minimum for $4 million
02:01and come back and play for us.
02:03I don't think that's how these guys are essentially wired.
02:06I think they have a lot of business ventures,
02:10and obviously LeBron had ideas of team ownership at one point.
02:15So, yeah, it's easy for us to say, hey, you don't need that money.
02:18But unfortunately, that's not usually how these guys work.
02:21Greg Schwartz joining us on the Weissart Right.
02:23We make a right call Kyle Right hotline.
02:25So I'll ask you about LeBron coming up here in a bit.
02:27Would you be willing to part with Evan Mobley for Jalen Brown?
02:29Would you be willing to part with Evan Mobley for anybody?
02:33So, yeah, I put this out on Twitter the other day.
02:36I was in the camp that I would not trade Evan Mobley for Giannis.
02:40And that was one I kind of went back and forth on,
02:42and I thought about it.
02:43And, okay, obviously, you know, if you get Giannis,
02:45you're going all in for a title right now.
02:48But the contract scared me.
02:50The injury scared me.
02:51The age scared me.
02:52There's just all these, like, unknowns with Giannis.
02:54Obviously, he's a tremendous player.
02:55But I think Evan is, like, your safety net.
02:58I'm not on board with trading Evan Mobley.
03:01And I understand you sped up your timeline when you traded Darius Garland
03:04for James Harden, who's going to be 37 this summer.
03:07I understand that.
03:09I just feel like, okay, in a year or two,
03:11James Harden's not going to be on this team.
03:13He might not be on an NBA roster because he's going to retire soon, right?
03:16He has to.
03:17Look at his age.
03:18Donovan Mitchell has one, essentially one guaranteed year left on his deal,
03:22and he's going to be 30.
03:23There's a lot of uncertainty there.
03:24We don't have him under contract.
03:26Your one safety net is Evan Mobley, who just turned 25 years old.
03:30He's under contract for the next four years.
03:33He's the one piece that presumably could still raise your ceiling, right?
03:37Donovan is who he is.
03:38He's a fantastic player.
03:39He's not going to get a lot better.
03:41James Harden is getting worse.
03:42Jared Allen is who he is at this point.
03:44Evan's your one player you can point to and say, okay, this, you know,
03:48we fell short last year, but Evan's going to be better next year.
03:52We can point to him and say, okay, that's our growth.
03:55And if you trade him, if you trade him for, you know, Jalen Brown,
03:59who's going to be 30, if you trade him for, you know, whatever player,
04:02you're taking away that future safety net.
04:05And you're saying, all right, we're going all in.
04:06And if it doesn't work, we don't have control of our first-round pick
04:09for the next three years.
04:10So we're in danger territory now.
04:12So I would not trade him for Jalen Brown.
04:15There's obviously, you know, like Victor Wemben-Yama,
04:18Shea Gilders-Alexander, there's players out there that obviously
04:20you would trade him for.
04:21But I don't think there's anybody that's going to hit the market
04:23that I would say, yes, let's definitely trade Evan Mobley for that guy.
04:28Would LeBron James returning to the Cavs fix the Cavs?
04:34No.
04:36It wouldn't fix all of our issues.
04:39Obviously, we have some defensive issues.
04:41I think we could get better.
04:42You know, we need a point-of-attack defender.
04:44We don't have that.
04:46Isaac Okor was probably the best player we had there.
04:48LeBron is not going to fix your defense.
04:50LeBron is going to help you in the playoffs.
04:52Absolutely.
04:54If you have the opportunity to go out and get LeBron
04:56and it doesn't cost you Jared Allen, absolutely.
04:59I think you absolutely go do that.
05:01But he's not going to fix your defense.
05:03He doesn't fix your long-term window.
05:05And I understand you're trying to win a championship right now.
05:07But you also want to be competitive for, you know,
05:09the next three to five years,
05:10especially when you don't have control of your first-round pick.
05:15I love LeBron.
05:16I'd love for LeBron to come back.
05:18But it can't just be like, all right,
05:19we're going to move heaven and earth to get him like we have in the past.
05:23That's not the stage that he's at.
05:25That's not the stage that we're at.
05:27If he wants to come back and sign a veteran minimum deal, awesome.
05:31Like, that's the best-case scenario, right?
05:33If he wants to do a sign-and-trade deal where we send them, you know,
05:36Max Strews or Sam Merrill and we package some salaries together, okay, great.
05:41Like, we can do that.
05:42My dream scenario would be we use James Harden's contract in some sort of three-team.
05:46I don't think the Lakers want James Harden,
05:48but in some sort of three-team iteration where Harden goes somewhere,
05:51we get LeBron in a sign-and-trade.
05:52Like, that would be amazing.
05:54But, no, LeBron doesn't fix everything for this team.
05:57They have toughness issues.
05:58They have defensive issues.
06:00They have a lot of issues.
06:02But, yes, if you can get LeBron and it's not going to cost you a core piece,
06:06you absolutely got to go do it.
06:07Explain toughness issues if you can, Greg.
06:11Yeah, I still don't think this team is tough enough.
06:14If you look at, like, you know, the end of Game 1 in the Eastern Conference Finals
06:18where you just needed somebody to step up and say,
06:21okay, we're not going to blow this fourth-quarter lead.
06:24Like, someone in the huddle to say, like, you know,
06:27just demand that toughness out of them, that grittiness, that say,
06:31okay, we've hit adversity here.
06:35We're blowing this 20-point lead in Madison Square Garden right now,
06:38but we need somebody to step up and say, no, this isn't going to happen.
06:41Give me the ball.
06:41I'm going to go get a basket.
06:43And I think too often the moment has looked too big for them.
06:47And if you look at the rosters, how many of these guys are tough?
06:51Donovan Mitchell's a great player.
06:52Is he tough?
06:53Evan Mobley's a great player.
06:54Is he tough?
06:55I think Jalen Tyson is tough, but Kenny Atkinson didn't play him a lot.
07:00I think Naquan Tomlin is tough.
07:02You know, obviously he wasn't in the playoff rotation.
07:04There's just not enough tough guys on this team.
07:07And I think the Knicks have a lot of those guys,
07:09Jalen Brunson, OG Ananobi, and Josh Hart,
07:11where the moment's not going to be too big for them.
07:14And obviously LeBron's a guy that is tough,
07:16and the moment's never going to be too big for him.
07:18But I think up and down this roster, we still have too many nice guys
07:21and not enough tough guys, and that matters when the playoffs start.
07:24Put yourself in Kobe Altman's shoes.
07:26What would you do to toughen up this team in this offseason?
07:30Yeah, like I said, perimeter defense, I think, is one of the big things.
07:34Unfortunately, I think James Harden's going to be back.
07:36And it's like, okay, if you're going to the playoffs next year
07:39and you have James Harden and Donovan Mitchell as you're starting backcourt,
07:42okay, offensively, that's great.
07:45Who's guarding Jalen Brunson in the playoffs?
07:47You know, if you make it to the NBA Finals,
07:49who's guarding Shea Gilgis-Alexander?
07:51Like, you have real point-of-attack defender issues.
07:54Can you go out and get, like, a Herb Jones from New Orleans,
07:57like a big wing defender?
07:59You know, especially we don't know what's going to happen with Dean Wade
08:01in free agency.
08:02Is Dean Wade going to leave?
08:03Okay, now we lost, like, our one perimeter guy that has size.
08:07We have too many of these 6'4", 6'5", wings,
08:10especially if Keon Ellis comes back,
08:12which we don't even know if we can re-sign Keon Ellis.
08:14I think if you get LeBron, that helps some of your size issues,
08:17especially on the wing, that would be amazing.
08:19If you can re-sign Dean Wade, that would be great.
08:22But, you know, it only takes one team out there
08:23to give him a big chunk of their mid-level exception.
08:26All of a sudden, the Cavs can't afford him.
08:28So I think you're looking at maybe not making a monumental move,
08:32but maybe banking on, okay, we know Evan's going to be better.
08:35If we can even trade, like, a Jared Allen to, like, the Pelicans
08:38for, like, a Herb Jones and Eves Meesey,
08:41and we kind of pick up more depth pieces.
08:43We have a guy that, okay, can play center next to Evan Mobley.
08:46Now we have a good point of attack defender.
08:49We've gotten bigger on the wing.
08:51I think that's my ideal Cavs offseason,
08:53especially if you can pick up LeBron James in some sort of way
08:56and give you that extra playoff experience.
08:58What's your feeling of the team?
08:59Greg Schwartz joining us on the show from Bleacher Report.
09:01What's your feeling on the team in their chances if they run it back?
09:08I mean, they have a really good team, right?
09:10They made it to the Eastern Conference Finals,
09:13and there's things that they can point to.
09:14They say, well, you know, we just got James Harden in February.
09:17Now we've got him for a whole training camp.
09:19Obviously, Evan Mobley's the wild card.
09:21Like, this is year six.
09:23Like, it's not like Evan Mobley's, like, you know, 19,
09:26and he's this complete mystery box.
09:28No, but he still has room to grow.
09:31Jalen Tyson, to me, is, like, the biggest X factor on this team.
09:34You could point to him and say, wow, look at the leap he made
09:38from year one to year two.
09:39I still believe right now I would go into next year and say,
09:42Jalen Tyson, you're my starting small forward.
09:44We might be a little bit undersized,
09:45but now I have a guy that can guard point guards.
09:47Now I have a guy that can guard the opponent's best perimeter score.
09:51Now I can have a guy that, you know, makes 42% of his three-pointers
09:54that I can put him in my starting lineup.
09:55Why Kenny didn't use him in that role, I don't know.
09:59It drove me nuts.
10:01So Tyson is that one guy that I think you could point to and say,
10:04all right, this is why we're going to be better, along with Evan Mobley.
10:09But I don't think that you can look around the east,
10:12especially with Giannis going to Miami.
10:14The Indiana Pacers are obviously better.
10:16We'll see what happens with the Boston Celtics,
10:19and obviously I think they're going to have to trade Jalen Brown.
10:22I just don't think the Cavs can do nothing and expect to be in the absolute
10:26title race next year.
10:28Is there anything they can realistically do to guarantee that they're in the
10:33title race next year?
10:35No, I mean, I don't think you can guarantee anything.
10:38Like I said, it's, you know,
10:39if you were going to trade Evan for Giannis and you had a, you know,
10:43a crystal ball that was going to tell you that Giannis was going to be healthy,
10:46absolutely. Like, yeah, if you could have paired Giannis with Donovan Mitchell,
10:50with James Harden, with those guys, maybe then you,
10:52you feel better about your title chances. But I mean,
10:56you just never know. Look at the last two years in the east.
10:59Did anybody think the New York Knicks were going to make it out of the east?
11:02No, I mean, it was Boston. It was Cleveland.
11:04It was Detroit had the best regular season record two years ago.
11:07Did anybody think Indiana was going to be, you know,
11:10you put out a great roster, you build it with depth,
11:13you build it with toughness, you build it with shooting,
11:15you build it with defense and you see what happens. And, you know,
11:19no one thought the Oklahoma city thunder were going to be down two of their
11:21leading scores and not make it to the finals.
11:23You put the best team out there that has a legitimate chance and you see what
11:27happens. And that's what we've seen in the east,
11:29especially the last two years.
11:30Should Donovan Mitchell be untouchable? I mean,
11:33if you can have a conversation about trading Evan Mobley for Jalen Brown or
11:38Giannis or whatever,
11:40why can't the Cavs have a conversation about trading Donovan Mitchell?
11:46That's a great question.
11:47I would probably be more likely to trade Donovan than Evan at this point.
11:52And a lot of that comes down to money, right?
11:54If Donovan agrees to sign that four-year extension of 270 million,
12:01that's a lot of money, right?
12:02You're paying him $70 million a year for a guy who's going to turn 30 this
12:06year. He's a, I don't want to say a smaller guard,
12:09but a shorter guard. That scares me a little bit, right?
12:12But that's kind of how the NBA is going. Okay.
12:13He's still arguably a top 10 to 12 player, 70 million is a lot,
12:18but you can justify that.
12:20My problem is if Donovan says, no,
12:24I want to wait till summer of 2027.
12:27I want my full 10 years.
12:29I want my full 35% of the cap.
12:32I want my five-year $380 million contract.
12:36I'm saying no as a Cavs. I can't do,
12:39I can't give you $80 million a year moving forward when we don't know if you
12:43can be the best player on a championship team. You know,
12:46that's Wemby money. That's Luca money. That's Shea money.
12:49I can't give you $80 million.
12:51If Donovan wants to sign that four-year extension now, great.
12:54Like we can do that. Is that a little bit of an overpay? Yeah,
12:57I think it is, but I'll do that. But if he says, I love it here,
13:02but I'm not, I want my five years, my full max.
13:06I'm saying, thank you for your time.
13:09I'm going to start finding another team for you.
13:11I can't give you $80 million a year. So it just depends.
13:15Is he willing to sign the four-year? Great. Let's keep you.
13:17If you want the five-year, you're going to have to get it somewhere else.
13:20And then that's when I started having those trade conversations with Donovan
13:23Mitchell.
13:23Let me ask you this, Greg, I'm sorry. And I'm sure you've mentioned this again.
13:27The five-year possibility that's at the end of next year. Is that correct?
13:31Correct. So if he plays out this year and he wants to go into,
13:36and he can pick up his player option.
13:38So if he accumulates 10 years of service,
13:41then he can get 35% of the cap.
13:44And if he signs an extension this year,
13:46he can only sign it for 30% of the cap because he's not super max eligible.
13:50He doesn't have 10 years of service.
13:52So you're basically looking at paying him just under $70 million a year on a new
13:56contract.
13:57Or if he goes into unrestricted free agency in another year,
14:02you're giving them a five-year max.
14:04Yeah.
14:05That's going to be $80 million a year.
14:06That's a no for me.
14:07I can't do that for Donovan Mitchell.
14:09Greg Schwartz, find him on social media.
14:12He's fantastic.
14:13Local guy.
14:15Obviously he's from the Bleacher Report.
14:17He was on the Wiseheart, right?
14:18We make it right.
14:19Call Kyle Wright Hotline.
14:20Greg, thank you so much for the time.
14:23All right.
14:23Greg Schwartz, again, on that Wiseheart, right?
14:26We make it right.
14:26Call Kyle Wright Hotline.
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