00:00You heard the news. Donovan Mitchell, four-year, Max with the Cavs. Thoughts?
00:05Donovan is what we want our athletes to be in Cleveland.
00:10He is.
00:12He's exactly what we want. We want people who want to be here,
00:16who are unwavering in their dedication to their team, dedication to the city.
00:24He's been that. This is the second extension he has signed in Cleveland.
00:29He has been a model citizen. He's been a phenomenal player.
00:33This is exactly what we want in our professional athletes in Cleveland.
00:39That said, now they have some work to do.
00:44And how do you build a team around him?
00:48Again, they made the Final Four, and that can't be dismissed.
00:51And I know a lot of people wanted to dismiss it.
00:53I hear a lot of that. Well, they only made it to the Final Four.
00:58It means only two teams went further than you did.
01:03But I think it's going to be a challenge to make the team significantly better
01:12based on some of the people that they have here under contract and locked in.
01:18And it doesn't mean it's not possible.
01:21And it doesn't even mean that what they have couldn't get it done.
01:25But I think it's a challenge, Andy.
01:27You're now locked in on Donovan.
01:29You're going to be locked in on Harden.
01:33Mobley has the max.
01:35Jared Allen has a very reasonable NBA contract.
01:39And, you know, his kids will never work a day in their lives if they don't want to.
01:42If that's the way they want to raise their kids.
01:46You know, there's a lot of silly money going around.
01:48But how do you get this team better?
01:52How do you get it better?
01:53And that's what Kobe Altman has to figure out.
01:57I'm not in a big hurry to get rid of Jared Allen.
01:59I can't stand the conversation just assumes he is gone.
02:04He is the trade piece.
02:05He's the guy that isn't going to be a part of this somewhere down the road.
02:08But because I think there's a world where Allen and Mobley should exist together, it's also a philosophical basketball issue.
02:16Get them the ball.
02:18But now you're sitting here and you're back to where you were, square one.
02:22So I think the first thing that I thought of when this happened was they're pushing forward.
02:28They're going back with exactly what they wanted to do unless there's some kind of blockbuster trade behind this.
02:33And, you know, you look at it, and I hate to be so cynical sometimes, but the first thing I
02:38thought of was like, okay, good.
02:39He's here for a while, and he lives up to the expectations that you just laid out.
02:43But then you wonder, well, I wonder if the franchise is thinking something different and maybe somewhere down the road,
02:48you know, they'd want that flexibility.
02:50Although with a trade kicker, he's got a full trade kicker.
02:54So isn't that what makes us feel like he's solidified here, that the Cavs wouldn't want to trade him anywhere
02:59during this contract?
03:00I would think so.
03:01I've said this before.
03:02I'll say it again.
03:02Again, I don't want to pay Donovan Mitchell $60 million a year.
03:06Okay.
03:07I thought it was $70 million.
03:08That was next year.
03:10Well, to me, this is way too much money, and I think he's phenomenal.
03:18Right.
03:18Right?
03:19I just don't.
03:21I just don't.
03:22Is it too much money, or is it too much restriction against the Cavs?
03:24Is that where you're?
03:25Because I think money is relative.
03:27I'm hard-pressed to think that he can lead the Cavs to what Jalen Brunson led the Knicks to.
03:31That's why.
03:34Okay.
03:34That's why.
03:35And again, I think he's an incredible basketball player.
03:39But I've said it for years, five, and I'll tweak what I've said a little bit.
03:49Whether it's Evan Mobley or whether it's somebody else, I don't think this team achieves what it needs to achieve
03:57unless somebody else is at least an equal to Donovan Mitchell when it comes to the pecking order of a
04:05team.
04:05I don't know if Donovan's the guy who can lead you to a championship.
04:10They obviously do because they just invested six, what is it, Dana?
04:1560, 65, 70, and $75 million over four years, basically?
04:19Yeah.
04:20He's 73.
04:21And again, I think he's a great basketball player.
04:26But that's not, you know, that's not what, they're not trying to collect great basketball players.
04:31No.
04:31They're trying to build a championship team.
04:34According to Bobby Marks, the four-year deal is structured this way.
04:36It's going to be $60.9 million, $65.8 million in the second year.
04:41In the third year, it will be $70.6 million.
04:46And then buckle in, in the fourth year of this contract, Donovan Mitchell will make $75.5 million.
04:54Whatever.
04:55I mean, the money to me is just...
04:57Andy, it's silly.
04:58It is what it is.
04:59It's silly.
05:00I can't...
05:00They got a guy they believe that can help them win a championship locked up for four years.
05:05What are you going to do with the pieces around them?
05:07That's...
05:08Jeff, I think you hit it in the beginning.
05:10It's like, how do you make it so now that everything around him is going to help him and guide
05:15him
05:15and figure out a way to get this team to the next stage?
05:19My question before I get to what's next, though...
05:21Is this a decision, though, from the Cavs that we think you are the guy to lead us to a
05:25championship?
05:27I think they've made that statement today.
05:30You are one of the guys.
05:32It's one of the guys.
05:33They know he can't do it alone.
05:35Yeah, well...
05:36They're going to have to get him help, and, you know, Mobley is...
05:38But when you're making that much money, Andy, you kind of have to do it alone.
05:42You're going to have other players, but it's real clear, hey, you're our guy.
05:48Get this done.
05:49All right.
05:50So there were two other questions that came to mind as soon as this thing happened.
05:53One, if you were Donovan Mitchell, why do it now and why not wait a year?
05:58I know you've laid that out a couple times, injury things.
06:02You know, to look at that money and look at 60, 65, 70, and 75, I'm locking it in now,
06:08probably, in case I get injured.
06:10If he, next year, tears up a hamstring, you know, and it becomes...
06:17We know how hamstrings can be.
06:20If he tears up a hamstring and it becomes chronic, you're not going to give him $300 million.
06:28If he blows out a knee, you're not going to give him $300 million.
06:33Smart move.
06:34Just take the money and go, man.
06:36Like, again, you're talking enough money that...
06:39Are you going to miss whatever it is you're not going to get in guaranteed money?
06:44And you're going to make some of it up, you would think, at the end of this contract, because somebody
06:47will pay you to play.
06:52I think sometimes we look at these contracts and these deals in the eyes that...
06:58Like, Cavs fans and Clevelanders sometimes see things differently because of our experience with LeBron.
07:05And, you know, I was just thinking this morning, like, LeBron's not only, like, Hall of Famer on the floor,
07:11he's Hall of Famer in business.
07:12And I've talked about this before.
07:13I just...
07:15You know, I always found it fascinating, and here we go again with talking about LeBron, but...
07:20You know, he always bet on himself on those contracts to be able to get more money, to be able
07:25to control, to be able to force teams to sign other players by...
07:30You know, I know when he said he was done taking haircuts when he went down to Miami, but by
07:35taking haircuts to bring other guys in to make the team...
07:37You know, options for him to be able to have them as teammates.
07:42And so, I think maybe sometimes we're taken aback by the fact that we have a guy that wants to
07:48commit, and he doesn't know what this team's going to look like three years from now.
07:52He may know what it's going to look like now and next year, maybe even a little bit into the
07:56next year after that, but he doesn't know.
07:58And so, he's rolling the dice as well in that situation.
08:02They're both rolling the dice.
08:05I'd rather roll the dice and know I'm going to get $273 million.
08:09That's not that much of a roll, Andy.
08:12I get it, but he doesn't control his future.
08:15That's the whole thing.
08:16He doesn't...
08:17He controls everything except where he's playing and who he's playing with.
08:21Correct.
08:22Whereas the difference was, our learning curve year over the last two decades or whatever, it was LeBron.
08:30And how many years did we sit here, Jeff, and be like, oh, we're sweating bullets whether LeBron wants to
08:34stay here or not.
08:35Oh, is he going to stay?
08:37Oh, is he...
08:37Oh, summer LeBron, whatever, blah, blah, blah, blah.
08:39Donovan's never given the city that angst.
08:41No, not at all.
08:43Ever.
08:43And so, maybe that's why I'm just kind of like, wow.
08:46Really?
08:47Andy, you want a guy to say, I like you.
08:49Yeah.
08:49I want to be here.
08:50And you want the team to tell them they like him, too.
08:52They are.
08:5360, 65, 70, and $75 million a year.
08:56Great big group hug there.
08:58To make sure you're doing this.
08:59All right, so does this contract make the team a better team?
09:02No.
09:03What does it do?
09:05And this, if I'm not mistaken, I don't think I am, but I might be, this is the same deal
09:12that Jalen Brunson gets a lot of credit for.
09:15Remember how they said Jalen left such and such dollars on the table?
09:20And it's because he signed it early and didn't wait the extra year to get the extra money.
09:25And, you know, the thought was, great teammate, allows the team to build and sign and do some things.
09:31Okay, that's...
09:32Which is fine.
09:33And he still got paid.
09:34And Donovan could have held out for more, but he's, you know, for the extra year, but he still got
09:40paid.
09:41I mean, how do you not, if anybody offered you $273 million, how do you walk away from that?
09:48You don't.
09:49Yeah, I'm impressed that he signed it.
09:53Now, Nikola Jokic in Denver.
09:54Isn't it funny how his money feels different than Deshaun Watson's 230?
09:58Yes.
09:59I don't know why, but it just feels different.
10:00Like, Deshaun Watson's 230 because it was guaranteed in a league where you don't have to be guaranteed.
10:05That's part of it.
10:06And the other part is there's no baggage with Donovan.
10:09And there's nothing but great play.
10:12Like Nikola Jokic in Denver, who has said, I want to finish my career in Denver.
10:18Never want to go anywhere else.
10:19He's not signing the extension this year.
10:21He's going to wait a year.
10:23And he's going to go get the deal that Donovan didn't.
10:27Right.
10:29It's not like he's going to lose any athleticism.
10:32All right.
10:32If he were to get hurt.
10:35So, what do the Cavaliers do next?
10:38Now you're talking, Andy.
10:40And so, where is LeBron in this whole situation?
10:43And is this deal motivated by, like, I think Dan said it on the conference call.
10:50And it's what I was thinking, too, that, you know, does this mean that somewhere, or maybe I heard it
10:55on the morning show, actually.
10:56And that, where they said, somewhere down the road, we're going to find out that, you know, Mitchell was talking
11:01to LeBron.
11:02Or was LeBron talking to Mitchell?
11:03Or were they not talking?
11:04Like, if LeBron doesn't come, are these guys talking right now?
11:07Are they, yeah.
11:08Somebody played a trick on Giannis.
11:10Did you see this?
11:11I don't know.
11:11It was an internet trick.
11:12Or at least they staged it for the back of a limo.
11:15But Giannis was sitting in a car with probably his agent or his buddy.
11:20And he goes, oh, LeBron signed with Cleveland.
11:22And Giannis, like, was like, what?
11:25What?
11:25And he was like, he had a heart attack.
11:28He was acting like he had a heart attack afterwards.
11:29And I was just like, but if that's real, and Giannis thought that LeBron was going to Miami, then, you
11:37know, what are we actually seeing right now?
11:38What is really going on on the happiness tour of 2026?
11:43And if we're asking LeBron to take a haircut on a contract, would he feel okay coming in for whatever
11:49it is he'd come in for,
11:50knowing that this guy over here who's never won anything is making $60,000?
11:56That's a great point.
11:57Donovan Mitchell signing a four-year max deal with the Cavaliers.
12:00$273 million.
12:01Decides he's going to do it now instead of next year.
12:04Maybe cost him, would you say, $80 million, maybe somewhere in that range if you...
12:11He left $80 million on the table for what would have been the last year.
12:15But, again, when you say that, you can make it up when you get to that point, you know?
12:22Like, if somebody signs...
12:24If he signs another contract for $40 million for one year, well, then you left about $40 million on the
12:29table.
12:30Do you know what I mean?
12:30Yeah.
12:31Yep.
12:32You just got to stay healthy.
12:34You need to get that money towards the end, too.
12:36I mean...
12:36Oh, Andy, you don't have to do anything.
12:39You got $273 million.
12:42Just saying, if you want that money that you think you didn't get, just stay healthy.
12:47That's all you got to do.
12:47No, you're probably right.
12:49Right.
12:50And not have your game slip.
12:51Well, that's the other thing.
12:53And I think that's something that when we talk about LeBron, too, I mean, eventually, you know,
12:59Father Time is going to catch up with him.
13:02It's just a matter of time.
13:03I mean...
13:03That it's not this year.
13:04I hope it's not this year, especially if he comes here.
13:07Now, if he goes somewhere else, it'll be like, okay, remember when he played here and he was in his
13:10prime?
13:10And then you forget about it the other times.
13:14So does this mean, though, that they're going to run it back with Harden and Mitchell?
13:19And Mobley and Allen.
13:21And like I said at the top of the show, it drives me crazy that people want to give up
13:25on Allen and think that he's the trade piece to make things better.
13:30Are you hearing something new?
13:31Because I've not seen that lately.
13:34It's sometimes you, especially when I'm listening to other shows or I'm just kind of reading stuff.
13:38It's like, oh, well, Allen is the trade piece to make this happen.
13:41We heard it throughout the season.
13:42I think that's probably true.
13:44I know.
13:45Maybe I just don't want it to be.
13:46I don't want it to either.
13:48I mean, is it based on play or is it based on flexibility of contract?
13:53You don't have enough big guys anyway.
13:55So if you want to trade Jared Allen, then he's – I think you need to go out and get
14:00at least one more big guy.
14:01I mean, you brought back Thomas Bryant.
14:03That's great.
14:03And it is.
14:04I'm glad they did.
14:05Right.
14:05But even with that, I think you need at least one more big guy.
14:09You trade Jared Allen, you're going to need two.
14:11But seriously, Andy, if you're going to bring back Harden, you would assume he's locked in.
14:17Right.
14:18Donovan's locked in.
14:19But locked in for what, two years on Harden?
14:21Yeah.
14:22Okay.
14:22But we're talking about making the team better for next year.
14:26Okay.
14:26You know, I'm not – I'm thinking you're locked in for this coming season.
14:32And I would think you're not trading Evan unless you get a great haul in return.
14:37Especially after what Rich Paul said on his –
14:39Yeah.
14:40Didn't that give you the feeling there's no way the Cavs are trading?
14:43Rich is not the general manager.
14:45No, I know.
14:46But it was the way he said it.
14:48Yeah, I know.
14:48He said, why would you trade Mobley?
14:50Or they're not trading Mobley.
14:52And Jared might bring you back a wing player who could really help you.
14:57That's if you don't have a wing player who will wear number 23.
15:01But if you trade – again, if you trade Jared, you're going to –
15:04it's a different – it would be a very different looking team.
15:07Evan would probably be your center, which may or may not work.
15:13Might work great.
15:14He might just get pushed around like crazy by bigger centers in the league.
15:17Who knows?
15:19Maybe he comes out on the floor and it creates more space inside for driving lanes.
15:23Who knows?
15:26But, Andy, they have to do something.
15:28Well, I think if you're going to roll it back next year –
15:32I'm kind of locked into the fact if they don't get LeBron, they go for Kaminga.
15:37And that's kind of where they're going to stand on the rollback.
15:39Can they even afford Kaminga?
15:41Or they have to figure out a way to – yeah.
15:43I don't know.
15:44You know, see, that's – and just because we think, well, if you don't get LeBron,
15:49you sign Kaminga, yeah, well, probably 20 other teams are thinking the same thing.
15:54You know, about, well, we can go get Jonathan Kaminga.
15:58And Jonathan has yet to show that he's going to make that step
16:02and become a standout player in the NBA.
16:05I say that as a guy who liked him when he came out in the draft.
16:10He was the – if the Cavs didn't get Evan Mobley, he's the guy I wanted.
16:17All right.
16:18And I do think what you read and what you see, too, agrees with what you just said, too.
16:23But I don't – the posturing around LeBron –
16:27I also think that it was an aggressive move for the Cavaliers to do this, too, right?
16:30I mean, it was on the table.
16:31He did it in the first moment.
16:33I mean, was it a no-brainer?
16:35Probably.
16:36But it was still aggressive that they came out right away and said,
16:39okay, here we go.
16:39Here's the deal.
16:40Here's where we're going.
16:41He's an asset you don't want to, like, get away.
16:43That's for sure.
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