00:00Kenny Atkinson went on SiriusXM.
00:05He made a couple of comments over the weekend.
00:08And this first one is courtesy of SiriusXM.
00:12And he went on and talked about his team,
00:18but took it a step further than you ever hear a coach actually take something
00:22when they're talking about somebody who's not on his team.
00:26Here's what he had to say.
00:27Listen, this is an exciting time for us, right?
00:31We're in the mix for the greatest player of all time.
00:37That guy.
00:40My personal opinion.
00:43It's exciting, right?
00:45Man, I think you're nervous.
00:50But we understand how it is.
00:52He obviously has earned that right to take his time.
00:57Obviously, family plays a big part of it.
01:01But I know the state of Ohio, man.
01:04There's something special there.
01:07That's Kenny Atkinson on SiriusXM.
01:10Okay.
01:11We're in the mix for the greatest player of all time, in my opinion.
01:15Okay, I agree.
01:16You don't say that unless you really – personally, Andy, you don't say that
01:23unless you think he's yours, unless you think he's coming to town.
01:26Because otherwise, then it's like, oh, wait a minute.
01:29He went to Philadelphia?
01:30What was Kenny talking about?
01:32See, I don't hear it the same way you do.
01:35Here's what I hear.
01:36I hear a coach that reads everything that we all read, that knows that probably in
01:40the front office –
01:41He better know more than what we read.
01:42Well, I'm just saying, Jeff.
01:44I mean, look, the whole world knows that he's in the mix.
01:47And Rich Paul's basically – Rich has come out and actually said it, right?
01:50I mean, if his –
01:51Well, it's a pretty small group.
01:53Yeah.
01:53But Andy –
01:54Like, I don't think it's that big a deal.
01:55But let's go back here.
01:56How often do coaches ever talk about guys who aren't on their team?
02:00Well, they don't if they're under contract from another team because you get fined.
02:03How often do coaches ever say, you know what, we're in the mix on this free agent?
02:07Because if it doesn't work, you look like a doof.
02:09I disagree, Jeff.
02:11I think he's just being realistic that this team and organization, he knows that this
02:16is Cleveland.
02:16This is where his roots are here in Northeast Ohio.
02:19He started his career here.
02:21He came back here and helped this city win a championship, and he feels good about the
02:27fact that they're in the mix.
02:28I don't see that – if we don't get him, I don't think it's that big a deal.
02:33I mean, would it be nice to get him?
02:35Yeah.
02:35If they don't, okay.
02:36Let's move on.
02:37They've got to have a plan.
02:38They're a Final Four team from last year, and they better have another plan.
02:42If they're banking everything on LeBron, I think it's wrong.
02:45Well, so far this offseason, they've re-signed Thomas Bryant, drafted a kid
02:51in the second round, and signed an undrafted free agent, and lost three guys who could
03:00have helped, Dean Wade, Keon Ellis, Larry Nance Jr.
03:03So, if they have a plan, their plan appears to be – and this is okay.
03:09I mean, this is okay.
03:10As Kenny said, LeBron's earned the right to take his time.
03:14But their plan appears to be, let's wait and see what LeBron does.
03:17Remember when Miami – when he first went to Miami, and we were looking at – you
03:22look at their roster, and you're like, huh, huh.
03:24And then they dumped the entire roster.
03:27They literally dumped their entire roster except for Dwayne Wade.
03:30So, what are the Cavaliers doing?
03:32They're not adding – they're letting most of that roster go away.
03:38Now, the guys that they want to say, you know, you've got Mitchell to come back.
03:43We're sitting here waiting for Harden to sign his deal.
03:46I think if Harden signed his deal today, then I'd be worried because then you'd be
03:50locked in on cash.
03:51Well, I'd give you that.
03:52I agree with that one.
03:54And the other thing you've got to keep your eye on is the other movement from other
03:58players that could get traded or move.
04:00Schroeder's gone.
04:01If he's gone, now you can see what's going on, right?
04:06But he isn't.
04:07Neither is Strews.
04:08Right.
04:08But we're watching those.
04:09Nor Merrill.
04:10Are you not watching those two players in particular?
04:12No.
04:13I am.
04:13I'm not visibly watching, like, okay, once this happens, then this is going to happen.
04:21Yeah.
04:21I think they're dominoes in this whole thing.
04:23There might be.
04:24And perhaps that's what's going on here with the waiting game.
04:28Kenny had more to say.
04:29Tony, during the telecast of a summer league game over the weekend, he made this comment
04:36about the Cavs offseason and a certain player in particular.
04:40That's going to be our step.
04:42And then you guys know there's a little free agency thing going on right now.
04:46So you never know what's going on.
04:49That could be our real job.
04:51Yeah.
04:51And you know what I'm talking about.
04:53So, you know, that's exciting too.
04:56There's this free agency thing going on.
04:58Yeah.
04:59And that could be our real jump.
05:01And you know what I'm talking about?
05:02Andy, I mean, he's basically saying our move is to sign LeBron, which is fine.
05:09I mean, I don't have any qualms with what Kenny said, except for the fact that my point
05:14is just this.
05:15He must know something.
05:16Because he basically not let the cat out of the bag, which is a weird expression, by
05:22the way.
05:23He didn't let the cat out of the bag, because as you said, everybody knows they're in the
05:26conversations here.
05:27But to me, that one in particular even says, this is what we're doing this offseason.
05:34This is our big move.
05:36I just, I don't.
05:37Can you play it one more time?
05:38Yeah.
05:40Kenny on NBA TV.
05:42We'll get it in a second.
05:44To me, it just screams, okay, this is our move.
05:47We're getting LeBron James in free agency.
05:48Here it is one more time.
05:50That's going to be our step.
05:52And then you guys know there's a little free agency thing going on right now, so.
05:57You never know what's going on.
05:58You know, that could be our real jump.
06:01Yeah.
06:01And you know what I'm talking about.
06:03So, you know, that's exciting, too.
06:06That could be our real jump.
06:09What needed to be said there, subtitles.
06:11Boy, if they don't get LeBron, what the heck are they going to do?
06:15Kaminga.
06:16I hope.
06:17Or they have another plan.
06:19I hope they have another plan.
06:20I still don't think that these, and I hear you, I heard Dan say what he thought this morning
06:26about these sound bites.
06:28I just think he, I mean, first of all, if you think he looks like a doof here because
06:32we don't get LeBron.
06:33No, I don't think he looks like a doof.
06:34If they don't get LeBron, right?
06:36Is that what you said?
06:36You said it looked like a doof.
06:37Yeah, I do think that.
06:38Jeff, there's nothing dumber than the analytical thing he said during the playoffs.
06:42Well, that's true.
06:43That's about as dumb as it gets.
06:44I mean, analytically, they've had LeBron on the team since 03, since he got drafted.
06:50But that's a, it'd be a really bad look, I think, Andy, after, and then I think the
06:54fan base would have to sit back and say, wait a minute, Kenny basically said we were getting,
06:58I think, basically said we're getting LeBron, and now we didn't.
07:02Okay, now what are you going to do?
07:04I'm curious if any, because I don't see it that way.
07:07I just see it as head coach who realizes what's going on in the world and gets excited about
07:13the thought of maybe having LeBron on a team that made it to the Final Four, and if he's
07:16the missing piece, then if you were Kenny Atkinson, would you not want to be in that mix?
07:21I also think about LeBron and his relationships with other coaches.
07:24I cannot forget about Byron Scott walking into the gym days before the decision and that they
07:30didn't even talk after Byron had been hired here.
07:34Not on Byron.
07:34No, it wasn't on, Byron went out of his way to go try to talk to him, is what it
07:38felt
07:39like at that point, and LeBron was like, eh, he said, I'll pass.
07:43I'm like, really?
07:43All the more reason that.
07:44And then he ends up in LA after that.
07:46This is even crazier.
07:47All the more reason for Kenny to say something, and you just don't do that.
07:54So to me, it just seems to me, okay, it's only a matter of time, and Kenny knows it.
07:59I think it, you think it, we'll see.
08:03What do you think what Kenny said?
08:05To me, it solidifies, okay, this is going to happen.
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