00:00All right, I think I speak for everybody when I say I thought LeBron was coming home.
00:07Daryl, I was sold. I should have known better.
00:10Shame on me.
00:11Owen?
00:12Oh yeah, I was 100% in.
00:14We have Ace and Gary in the back.
00:17I think they thought LeBron was coming home.
00:20Danny Cunningham, who follows the Cavs on their Eastern Conference Finals journey last year,
00:29home and away, he had all sorts of intel.
00:33I've been talking to Danny behind the scenes.
00:34Danny, didn't you think LeBron was coming back?
00:37Sure did, and basically everybody that I talked to across the league also felt as such.
00:43Well, Danny joins us on the Wiseheart Right.
00:45We make it right. Call Kyle Right hotline.
00:47Who do we blame?
00:49Danny, who do we blame?
00:51I think that you have to blame the Cavs for the most part.
00:54Now, I think that it's not 100% on the Cavs,
00:58but I think if you look at the way this played out,
01:00and everybody was surprised, shocked even, that it was Philadelphia.
01:04I know I certainly was stunned.
01:05I thought it would be Cleveland, and if it wasn't Cleveland, I thought it would be Miami.
01:09But let's think about the way that this was reported about by ESPN for most of this,
01:13because I think it's fair to say that Shams is the guy that's been the most plugged in.
01:18And the entire time it was, the focus has been on Cleveland or Miami or Philadelphia.
01:23Well, Cleveland obviously had the hometown attraction where LeBron spent most of his career,
01:29his greatest moments, all those things.
01:32And Miami and Philly both had that they made significant upgrades to the roster this summer.
01:38Miami added Giannis Antetokounmpo.
01:40Philly added, obviously, Jalen Brown.
01:41Those were two teams that were more attractive because of what they did from a roster standpoint.
01:47And the fact that the Cavs were a quote-unquote finalist, or at least a team that the focus was
01:52on,
01:53without making that sort of move, it makes me wonder,
01:57was this a situation where if the Cavs would have made a similar move,
02:02like adding a Jalen Brown or adding Giannis, would LeBron be in Cleveland?
02:07I tend to think yes.
02:09Like, it tells me that that's something that could have been wanted,
02:13but the Cavs needed to meet halfway, and that's not something they did
02:17because they didn't make their first outside edition, aside from Malik Thomas,
02:22to the roster until yesterday at 4.30 when they added Mario Hazonia.
02:27So it just makes me feel as if the Cavs would have done something to improve this roster
02:33that LeBron might be on it too.
02:36Danny, let's separate fact from fiction here.
02:38There's been, in the last couple of days, from the likes of Shams, Windy, Scoop B,
02:45talking specifically about the Cavalers' situation.
02:49And I know you said you can blame the Cavs because they didn't do enough this offseason
02:53in advance to entice LeBron to pick them.
02:58You have some using sourced reporting from LeBron's camp that the Darius Garland trade,
03:06Darius not being here, that was a negative, or James Harden being here, a bit of a negative.
03:12Donovan Mitchell, he wasn't moved, that being a negative.
03:17What's fact, what's fiction as far as what you've been able to gather
03:21about the thought process or the perception of the moves that the Cavalers did make
03:30in advance of LeBron making his decision?
03:33I, the Darius Garland stuff to me really sticks out because Darius Garland is represented by
03:39Rich Paul and Clutch.
03:40Like, that is something that I look at and say, yeah, of course, LeBron's camp is going
03:45to talk up the guy that they also represent.
03:47So, like, I look at that and I hear it and like, hey, I get it.
03:51Darius Garland, when he's fully healthy, is a nice player and a guy that guys would want
03:55to play with, certainly during the regular season because Shoney can be an awesome player
03:58in the regular season, the postseason, unfortunately for Darius and the Cavs at times, it's been
04:03a different story.
04:05So, I don't dismiss it entirely, but I look at it as something that, you know, what agency
04:11wouldn't do that?
04:11Because you think back to the Rich Paul whiteboard thing, he brings up Tyrese Maxey, and obviously,
04:17LeBron landed in Philly, so I'm sure Maxey had something to do with it.
04:21But who represents Tyrese Maxey?
04:23It's Rich Paul and Clutch Sports.
04:24So, I think that you have to kind of connect some of those dots and read into that because,
04:29yeah, I'm sure Clutch would have liked to have Darius in Cleveland.
04:33But also, Rich came out and said earlier that he told Darius before the season this was going
04:38to be his last year in Cleveland anyway.
04:39So, I don't necessarily know how much to read into that stuff.
04:43As far as the Donovan Mitchell not being traded thing, I don't necessarily buy that.
04:47I think that's one that the Cavs would have been a much worse team.
04:52Like, there's not a team in basketball that would have picked Darius Garland over Donovan
04:57Mitchell.
04:58Like, nobody would have done that.
04:59Donovan, can he be the best player in a championship team?
05:02I'm not so sure of that, but I know that he's been a top 10 player in basketball in at
05:07least
05:07three of the last four seasons that he's been in Cleveland.
05:09So, like, I think that wanting to move on from Donovan Mitchell to land LeBron James at
05:14this age, like, I think that there would have been some things that would have been worth
05:20moving on from in order to land LeBron James.
05:23Donovan Mitchell is not one of those things.
05:26Danny Cunningham, join us right now with this Cavs speculation looming.
05:32I mean, I talked to Jonathan Kaminga earlier in the show because, obviously, now they have
05:36to have their offseason.
05:37They put their entire plans at least on hold until LeBron decision.
05:41I know it's been one thing to say, well, they put all their eggs in the LeBron basket.
05:45Well, they can simply shift their eggs now.
05:48And what I mean by that is, Jared Allen, could they be moving him, like, now by the deadline?
05:55Like, what do you think is next for the Cavaliers as they try to construct a roster that can go
06:00further than they did last year?
06:02I think they need to be players in the trade market.
06:05And I look at a situation like the one that Denver is in right now, and I'm curious if the
06:10Cavs can take advantage of that.
06:11So, late last night, the Denver Nuggets matched an offer sheet for Spencer Jones.
06:17It's a two-year, $12 million deal that they matched to Oklahoma City, gave him on, I believe
06:22it was Friday.
06:23Now, why does that matter to Cleveland?
06:24Why would Spencer Jones matter to Cleveland?
06:26Well, because the Denver Nuggets, as of right now, are the only second apron team in basketball.
06:32And the Denver Nuggets are not thought of as a team that spends a lot of money.
06:37It would be surprising to me if the Denver Nuggets finished the year in the second apron.
06:41They're going to, I think, at some point, try and find a way to cut salary.
06:45Could the Cavs get in on that and take advantage of maybe landing a player that Denver would
06:50like to have in an ideal world, but doesn't necessarily want to pay?
06:54Could they land somebody like Cam Johnson, who I think could make a lot of sense in Cleveland.
06:58If he makes $23 million a year, can the Cavs find a way to send a cheaper piece to Denver
07:04to help them with their financial issues in an exchange, get a player that might fit what
07:08the Cavs need?
07:08I think that should be something that they try and pursue.
07:12And then, as far as the trade market goes, it always feels as if there is a trade that
07:18happens in late August, early September that not everybody sees coming.
07:23The Cavs were part of it a few years ago.
07:25They landed Donovan Mitchell on September 1st.
07:27The New York Knicks a couple of years ago, they landed Carl Lansing Towns in, I believe,
07:32the middle of September.
07:33It's like a week before training camp opened.
07:35So there are these moves that tend to happen, maybe not every year, but at least every other
07:40year, that catch people off guard.
07:42There's going to be, I think, a big trade that happens between now and training camp.
07:46I have no idea what it's going to be.
07:47I have no idea who's going to go somewhere.
07:49But I think we're going to see something like that.
07:52Can the Cavs be involved there?
07:53I think it makes sense for them to at least try.
07:56Kobe Altman has shown a willingness in the past to do that, and it could make a lot of
08:00sense right now.
08:01Because I do think, guys, that they needed to, this offseason, they needed to improve.
08:07And the team is worse right now than when the season ended.
08:11And I think it's unfair to say no matter what, this is a disaster.
08:16But it's been a disaster so far.
08:18The Cavs have time to turn that around.
08:19They can still get better.
08:21But I still think that's exactly what they need to do.
08:24All right, Danny, as a follow-up, I brought up the potential pursuit of Jonathan Kaminga
08:30earlier in the show.
08:31I talked about his athleticism that they so desperately need.
08:35But it's been kind of a rocky career.
08:38He has had some playoff moments on two different teams over the last few years.
08:42He works out in Cleveland.
08:43His agent and representation is based out of Cleveland.
08:47Cleveland, do you think it makes sense for this Cavs team?
08:51I think it makes a little bit more sense than I would have thought a week and a half ago.
08:56And I think that the Cavs have a, and I also think, too, like, this is obviously dependent
09:01on how much money Jonathan Kaminga would be making and what type of role Jonathan Kaminga
09:06would be willing to accept.
09:08I think having Kaminga come off the bench as somebody who can be this microwave scorer,
09:12and I think the Cavs need to become more athletic, and Jonathan Kaminga unquestionably
09:17would check that box off.
09:19But the Cavs also don't have a ton of bench scoring, and I think that is a bit of an
09:22issue.
09:23So they were 25th in bench points per game last season, which is not the end of the world.
09:28Like, the New York Knicks were 28th.
09:30However, the Knicks played their starters much more than the Cavs played their starters.
09:33So when you don't play your starters super heavy minutes during a regular season,
09:37which I think is the right way to go about things, you need to have somebody that can
09:43come off the bench that can fill it up at times.
09:45And that's part of the reason why the Cavs won 64 games two years ago is because Ty Jerome
09:50had this awesome season off the bench that nobody saw coming that he could just put the
09:54ball in the basket over and over again.
09:55When they traded for DeAndre Hunter, and he was awesome the second half of the year coming
09:59off the bench, it's like when their second union was out there, they were still better than
10:03teams, and that was not the case this past year.
10:05Like, for instance, the Cavs had one of the worst net ratings in the second quarter of
10:09any team in basketball.
10:10They needed to find a way to get better off the bench, and if that's a role that Jonathan
10:14Kaminga is willing to accept, dependent on what the price is, I do think that is something
10:18the Cavs should at least be interested in.
10:20I don't know how much interest they've exactly had in Kaminga so far, and I'm curious if that's
10:26going to change now that we know the LeBron situation is settled.
10:30Danny, we've talked about moves maybe that the Cavaliers did not make, right?
10:35Evan Mobley for Jalen Brown, Evan Mobley for Giannis.
10:38Obviously, Giannis is in Miami, Brown now is in Philadelphia.
10:41How much pressure is there now on Evan to validate the belief that the organization has
10:51shown in him and the commitment that the organization has shown by not being willing
10:57to trade him for another big-name player?
11:01I think there's a lot of pressure because Evan Mobley is a guy on a 30% max contract.
11:08That is a big deal in today's financial landscape of the NBA, where you have to, when you're
11:13on the type of contract Evan Mobley is on, you have to perform.
11:17And Evan Mobley has been, I think, a really, really good player, it's fair to say, throughout
11:20his career.
11:21But I think he's kind of always left, maybe not always, because I think the year the Cavs
11:25won 64 games, he met expectations.
11:29But last year, I think it's fair to say he left people wanting more.
11:32And he needs to have a much better year this upcoming season.
11:35He needs to be a better guy in the postseason.
11:37I didn't think he was bad in the postseason, but I think he needs to be a better guy in
11:40the postseason moving forward.
11:42And it's always going to be, and this is maybe a little unfair to Evan because he didn't
11:46decide this, but it's always going to be, if the Cavs traded him, could they have Giannis?
11:54Like, if Evan Mobley was available, is Giannis in Cleveland right now?
11:58I think that the Milwaukee Bucks would have rather have had Giannis than, or excuse me,
12:02Evan Mobley, than what they got from Miami.
12:06If Evan Mobley was available, do the Cavs have Jalen Brown?
12:09I know that Boston would have rather have had Evan Mobley than Paul George in the draft
12:13picks that they got.
12:15Like, this is something where, yeah, there's pressure on Evan, and how much of that can
12:19he live up to?
12:20We're going to have to wait and see.
12:21But when you're making as much money as Evan Mobley's making, you need to be a max level
12:24player.
12:25Last year, whether it's because of injuries, whether it was just because the role wasn't
12:29right for him, I don't know that Evan met that mark every single night, but the Cavs
12:33need him to be better moving forward without question.
12:36Danny, I said earlier in the show, I'd be booing LeBron James when he comes back to Cleveland,
12:41not because I don't appreciate the championship or anything like that, but it's a cutthroat
12:46business now.
12:47The Eastern Conference is very much potentially up for grabs.
12:52They'll be jockeying for position with teams like Philadelphia.
12:55Do you think the schedule makers will be bringing LeBron back for pool play in the vaunted cup?
13:06Danny, the cup is at stake here.
13:10I'll tell you what, group B is the toughest one I've seen, maybe in the history of the
13:14NBA cup line.
13:15The group of death, they are calling it.
13:16The group of death, I don't even know, honestly.
13:19I'm not sure that that term is strong enough.
13:22I don't know if group of death is strong enough or how tough it is.
13:28And honestly...
13:28Music's playing, Danny.
13:30It is.
13:31It's great music, too.
13:31So, I think at the Cavs, and the schedule's going to come out probably around three weeks.
13:39Typically, it's around the middle of a month.
13:40Three weeks?
13:41What the hell?
13:42We've got to schedule our cup games, the ticket market for the LeBron games.
13:49Adam Silver said LeBron was holding up the schedule.
13:51Well, guess what?
13:51LeBron's in Philadelphia.
13:52Get the schedule done now.
13:54Where's my schedule, Danny?
13:55The schedule will be to you in the middle of August, as it always is.
13:59It will be to you in due time.
14:02And I do wonder when Philly's going to come to Cleveland.
14:05Like, I don't think that's going to be a game that gets highlighted as far as one of the premium
14:10days of the season.
14:11Like, it's not going to be opening night.
14:13It's not going to be Christmas.
14:14But I think that probably will be a nationally televised game.
14:18And I think it should be.
14:19Obviously, I'm curious the reception LeBron gets in Cleveland because it has been very warm and fuzzy each of the
14:25last eight years that he's been back in Cleveland, or at least when people have been in the stands when
14:29he's been back in Cleveland.
14:31It's been very warm and fuzzy.
14:33And I don't know if it's going to be the case anymore.
14:35Like, I'm not saying that LeBron should get booed, certainly, because, again, I think if you want to blame somebody
14:43for LeBron not being on the Cavs, I'm not sure LeBron is at the top of that list.
14:47But I also think that when LeBron's on the Lakers and it felt like, okay, this guy's coming home and
14:54you can always think about the good times.
14:56But now that he's on the Easter Conference rival again, and pick that team over you if you're the Cavs,
15:01I don't know if those same exact warm and fuzzy feelings are there right now.
15:05It's not to say they won't be there in a couple of years when LeBron is done playing, but right
15:10now I'm not sure that they are.
15:11And does Gansey get a video tribute?
15:14I mean, we'll do a whole week of shows about that.
15:17What about Dean Wade?
15:18Dean Wade!
15:19Yes, we can't do that.
15:21I would bet Dean Wade gets a video tribute.
15:23No, we can't!
15:25Turncoat!
15:25I bet he does.
15:26I would bet he does.
15:28I bet Dean Wade gets a video tribute.
15:30They're going to need like eight TV screens outside the visitor locker room for their welcome home posters that they
15:35do.
15:36They might, man.
15:37You're not wrong about that.
15:39All right, Danny.
15:39I appreciate it.
15:40Thanks for coming on.
15:41Thank you for having me, guys.
15:43All right, there he is.
15:44Danny Cunningham on the Wiseheart Right.
15:47We make it right.
15:47Call Kyle Wright Hotline.
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