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00:00We just had a good eight minutes off the air about Tony Romo and the video that we watched.
00:04We'll get to that maybe later on in the show.
00:06A lot of stuff still rolling in when it comes to the Cavs because they clearly have not made their
00:14big move.
00:15It would seem on its face that their big move was to get LeBron James,
00:20and then maybe there would be more companion moves in addition to that,
00:24given whatever assets they have left, maybe a Jared Allen trade.
00:27But so far, right now, you have your exact same Cavaliers as last year,
00:34and minus Dean Wade, who started a bunch of playoff games for you,
00:38and minus Keon Ellis, who is no longer here.
00:43And so I heard this on the Game Over podcast earlier this morning.
00:50We have new information.
00:51I can't wait to get Chris Fedor's reaction to this.
00:54Were the Cavaliers ever truly going to talk to LeBron James?
00:59Listen to this.
01:00Now, you tell me, Rich, if I'm right or wrong.
01:02The Cavs front office group, Kobe Altman, Brandon Weems, the Gilbert family,
01:07meeting with LeBron in Akron in early July.
01:11Wait a minute.
01:11How did you know about that?
01:12I couldn't say.
01:13So you thought this got by Shams, but he has all the details.
01:16I thought it got by Shams.
01:17No, he never said anything to me about that.
01:19Nobody knew about that.
01:21You know the history of LeBron in Cleveland, what he means to that organization,
01:26and that's probably why it was told to me off the record.
01:29If that were something that got out, it does lead on a little bit.
01:33Apparently, Shams didn't want to part with that information,
01:36didn't want to hurt the Cavaliers fan base,
01:39and yet I feel like the Cavaliers fan base is hurt by that.
01:42Owen called it some of the worst acting he's ever heard.
01:45I want to get the thoughts of Chris Fedor, Cavs reporter,
01:48Cleveland.com on the Wise Heart Right.
01:50We make it right.
01:50Call Cow Right hotline.
01:51Chris, you heard that this morning.
01:53What did you think?
01:56Every reporter is going to reveal what they feel like they want to reveal.
02:01You know, I had heard a few different places from people
02:05that I didn't consider reliable enough to verify,
02:09but it wouldn't surprise me if LeBron in Akron met with Brandon Weems,
02:15Kobe Altman, and the Cavs front office.
02:17It would not surprise me if that happened.
02:20I do think LeBron has a deeper relationship with this organization
02:24based on all of the history between him and this organization,
02:28the 11 years with this group,
02:30but Shams decided that he didn't want to put that out there,
02:34and that's on him to make that decision.
02:36Chris, does that make this whole LeBron picking Philly over Cleveland
02:41and Miami sting for the Cavs a little bit more then, if it is true?
02:46Because if they had a direct meeting with LeBron
02:50and some members of the ownership and Weems and Altman,
02:53like, they probably had to feel pretty good that that was working
02:56in their favor, at least in early July, right?
03:00I mean, guys, I do think that the Cavs felt pretty good
03:04about certain aspects of their recruitment process of LeBron,
03:08and I think they felt pretty good about where they stood with LeBron
03:12and why he would potentially choose them.
03:15But you can't force a free agent to pick you just because it's good for you,
03:20just like you can't pick a certain player to become available via trade
03:24because you desperately need a two-way wing that can guard and shoot threes
03:29and stuff like that.
03:30You know what I'm saying?
03:31So, yeah, I mean, I think there were draws to Cleveland from LeBron's perspective,
03:36the fact that it is home, the fact that he does have a relationship
03:39with the organization, the fact that the Cavs do on one team
03:43have four of the top 50 players in the game.
03:45But they didn't offer, in LeBron's mind, they probably offered a compelling argument,
03:52but they didn't offer the best argument, and that, to him, was Philadelphia.
03:57And I think there are a variety of reasons for that.
04:00I think some of them are basketball-related.
04:02I think some of them aren't basketball-related.
04:04I think some of them are legacy-related.
04:07I think some of them aren't legacy-related.
04:09And that was the hard thing, I think, guys, about this whole free agency process
04:13with LeBron is that nobody knew exactly what the driving force of it was going to be
04:19because they cloaked it in happiness.
04:22They used that term, and I think they used that term purposely
04:25because they wanted it to be as vague as possible
04:28so that there wouldn't be any kind of potential backlash after the fact.
04:33You could just say, well, LeBron picked the place that was going to make him happy.
04:37Chris, but LeBron's a guy that's been in the league now,
04:41entering his 24th season, don't we kind of know that competing for championships
04:46makes LeBron happy?
04:48Having an influence in some basketball operations decisions makes LeBron happy.
04:54We kind of do know some of the things that makes LeBron happy.
04:59Evidently, though, he liked what Philly had to offer
05:04in terms of Maxie and Jalen Brown and Joel Embiid and Edgecombe
05:08better than Harden and Mobley and Allen and Mitchell here in Cleveland, right?
05:14Do you blame him for that from a basketball standpoint?
05:16See, I think one of the things that LeBron was kind of wrestling with
05:20this whole time, guys, is that he is probably the smartest basketball player
05:25that we have seen over the last 20, 25 years in the NBA.
05:29And I do think there was part of him where his basketball brain was wrestling with his heart
05:35because this is not the great basketball setup for somebody like LeBron.
05:41Like, this isn't to diminish what the Cavs have built here.
05:45This isn't to say that they shouldn't celebrate getting to the Eastern Conference Finals.
05:50This isn't to say that this organization is a disaster.
05:53But from a basketball-fit perspective, does he want to play alongside two non-spacing bigs
06:00in Evan Mobley and Jared Allen?
06:01Does he want to be the third option offensively behind James Harden and Donovan Mitchell?
06:07Does he want to have to have the same kind of responsibility defensively as he had early in his career
06:13because James Harden's not guarding the opponent's best player
06:16and Donovan Mitchell's not guarding the opponent's best player
06:19if you're talking about out there on the perimeter.
06:21So who would that responsibility fall on?
06:24It would probably fall on LeBron.
06:26And then you ask yourself, okay, what kind of defensive team could the Cavs be
06:30with James Harden, Donovan Mitchell, and LeBron James playing 30 to 36 minutes a night?
06:36From a basketball standpoint, that doesn't sound all that appealing to me.
06:40Not for somebody who has accomplished as much as LeBron has.
06:43Not for somebody who is as smart as LeBron is.
06:47Like, this doesn't mean that he couldn't figure it out here in Cleveland.
06:51He's a smart guy.
06:53He's been willing to sacrifice throughout the course of his career.
06:56He has fit his game alongside a lot of different players and a lot of different play styles.
07:03But I don't think it was seamless from a basketball standpoint.
07:07And I think he looked at Philadelphia and he looked at that situation and thought from a basketball standpoint,
07:14that was more compelling.
07:16The other thing that Cleveland doesn't offer, that Philly does,
07:19is he has a chance now to become the first player ever to win four championships with four different franchises.
07:26Of course that appeals to him.
07:28That's part of what his legacy is in the NBA.
07:32He's this guy who goes to these different franchises and he lifts them higher than they thought they could go.
07:38Or he lifts them higher than they could go without him.
07:41There's always been an appeal.
07:43There's always been an appeal to be the guy that teams are winning championships because of.
07:49He did it in Miami.
07:50He did it here in Cleveland.
07:52He did it in Los Angeles when they were nothing.
07:54He went to the Lakers at a time where they were nothing and they had very, very little on that
08:00roster.
08:03And that was something that appealed to LeBron.
08:06And now he can go to Philly and he could potentially end a 40-plus year championship drought for that
08:13organization,
08:14for that fan base, for all of that history of that franchise.
08:19Yeah, I think that's something that appealed to LeBron.
08:22And Cleveland couldn't offer that to the same way because the thing that he did for Cleveland in 2016,
08:29delivering that championship, you know, that to me was the potential ender of the Cleveland championship.
08:37And it would be hard to top that in his own mind.
08:41So I think all of those different things, when you're talking about LeBron,
08:45you're always talking about multifaceted things.
08:47When you're talking about LeBron, you're always talking about things that are layered and they're complicated.
08:52And I think this decision, I think people are making it a little bit more straightforward
08:59because they're trying to explain it the best that they can.
09:02But when it's LeBron, it's usually not straightforward like that.
09:07All right, Chris Fedor joining us.
09:09Yes, you mentioned all these things that are going to be possible in Philly,
09:13although he's not going to be living in Philadelphia.
09:15There's been some reporting that he had gone to the Knicks.
09:20They said, thanks, but no thanks.
09:23There's also what Rich Paul said that said, had the Knicks not have won the championship,
09:26that it would have been the Knicks.
09:28So did we miss out on all of this?
09:30Was it always going to be something out on the East Coast?
09:34Is that just the next act of LeBron's life that he wanted to have?
09:39And if that's the case, couldn't he have just told the Cavs on moment one,
09:42sorry, thanks, but no thanks?
09:45Did you want him to tell the Heat?
09:47Sorry, no thanks.
09:48Did you want him to tell the Minnesota Zimmerwolves?
09:51Sorry, no thanks.
09:52Like, this is a deliberation process, right?
09:55And I do think that there were aspects of the Cavs that were compelling.
09:59I do think there were aspects of the Miami Heat that were compelling.
10:01I think there were aspects of Minnesota that were compelling as well.
10:05But I do think it was interesting that, you know, at this point, over a month ago,
10:11that Rich Paul went on his podcast and he did say,
10:14there would be no board here if the Knicks didn't win the championship.
10:18And I thought that was a telling comment, and it started to make me think,
10:22hey, what kind of setup is very similar to the New York Knicks?
10:27And the answer to that question was Philadelphia.
10:30It was from a basketball standpoint, from a talent perspective,
10:34and from the legacy thing that I already talked about.
10:38Because what would have been appealing about the Knicks beyond the fact that
10:41Mike Brown is there, beyond the fact that it's a championship-ready roster?
10:45Well, it's New York.
10:48It's one of the historical franchises in the NBA.
10:51And he would be the one to put them over the top, potentially.
10:56And he would be the one to end a 50-plus-year title drought, another 50-plus-year title drought.
11:02That's something that resonates with a basketball fan base.
11:05That's something that resonates with a basketball community.
11:08That's something that resonates in the history books.
11:11So I think when you looked at what was Rich Paul saying about New York specifically,
11:17and who has the same kind of setup, the answer to that was Philadelphia.
11:22And it's part of the reason why the day before LeBron made his decision,
11:26I actually went on the Sports Reporters with Jeremy Schaap,
11:28one of the biggest moments of my entire career.
11:31I was on the Sports Reporters with Jeremy Schaap.
11:33On ESPN?
11:34The 92.3 The Fin.
11:35Wow.
11:36No, he does it on YouTube now.
11:37He does it on YouTube now.
11:39So does he say Jeremy Schaap, YouTube?
11:42Yes.
11:43Yes, the Jeremy Schaap, YouTube.
11:45But it was still the Sports Reporters.
11:47And it still had the intro and all that kind of stuff.
11:49And my dad watched Sports Reporters all the time when I was growing up.
11:53So it was a big moment in my career.
11:54And please don't diminish it because it was only on YouTube.
11:58So I'm on that show.
11:59And one of the things that I brought up is exactly that,
12:02what Rich Paul said about New York and who fit that kind of setup.
12:07And I said, don't count out Philadelphia here at this point in time.
12:11Because I think, again, there wasn't a perfect place that hit everything that LeBron wanted.
12:17There wasn't an easy, let's just go to Cleveland in 2014
12:21and undo the smudge on our resume that is the decision.
12:25Or let's go to Los Angeles in 2018 and play for the purple and gold.
12:31The allure of the purple and gold.
12:32The allure of the history.
12:34The allure of everything about that franchise.
12:37This was a little bit more complicated.
12:39It took more deliberation.
12:41It took some ruling out.
12:43It took some convincing of his family, I think.
12:46And that's part of the reason why it dragged on as long as it did.
12:50And let's be honest, LeBron loved the fact that he was back in the spotlight
12:53for basically the last free agency of his entire career.
12:58But I don't think he did anything wrong in terms of not telling these teams.
13:02Because I do think the Cavs were in the equation just like some of these other teams.
13:07Chris, in the fallout from this LeBron thing,
13:11the Cavs have gotten a lot of criticism for inactivity.
13:15They did sign, or at least they're intending on signing,
13:19Mario Hazonia to a veteran minimum contract.
13:22There are some online rumors and speculation that maybe that signing might not even be that easy
13:28because of Real Madrid might want to keep him across the pond in the EuroLeague
13:33or something like that.
13:34The Cavs are still intending on signing Hazonia, though, right?
13:38They are.
13:39And I had a couple of sources reached out to me yesterday.
13:42And I asked about the situation.
13:44And I asked about whether the signing is in jeopardy.
13:47And how likely it is that he stays overseas.
13:50I had one say, it'll be fine.
13:52Another one saying that we have no concern about this whatsoever.
13:56So I do think the feeling is from the Cavs organization
14:00that Mario Hazonia is going to be playing for the Cavs this year.
14:04All right.
14:05Good to know, Chris.
14:07But then what else is next?
14:08A lot of Jonathan Kaminga rumors that have spilled out
14:13into some other players that they could be pursuing.
14:15I saw Terry Pluto say, Bruce Brown.
14:20Are they still having those conversations?
14:22It seems like their offseason is really just beginning.
14:26So I am a little hesitant now to criticize their inactivity
14:31when I still think there are going to be moves to be made
14:35that could happen all the way up until the start of the season.
14:38Yeah, definitely.
14:39And it's just a matter of how motivated are they, guys,
14:43to do these kinds of moves.
14:45And it's the same thing when it came down to Giannis and Jalen Brown
14:49and Kawhi Leonard and some of these other guys that were available
14:54that have already changed destination.
14:56The question is motivation.
14:58And the question is for the Cavs,
15:00when they get an offer that's in front of them
15:04or they have these discussions with these other teams around the NBA,
15:08they are asking themselves, right or wrong,
15:11they are asking themselves how worth it it is
15:14when these deals are placed in front of them.
15:17And they ask themselves, does this make us a better basketball team?
15:20Does this give us a better chance against the Knicks,
15:24against the Indiana Pacers,
15:26against some of these teams in the Eastern Conference?
15:28And they made the decision to not trade Evan Mobley.
15:32They made the decision to not have conversations with Boston
15:35centered on Evan Mobley.
15:37They had conversations with Boston.
15:39It was about other players on the roster
15:41and other potential packages for Jalen Brown.
15:45But the minute that they chose as an organization
15:47to not pull the Evan Mobley lever,
15:50that made things very difficult for them
15:53to significantly improve this roster.
15:56Because in terms of free agency spending,
15:59they don't have any.
16:00In terms of attractive, tradable assets
16:03that can be centerpieces of those types of deals,
16:07the only one that they have is Evan Mobley.
16:10Like, yes, they could make lesser deals involving Jared Allen.
16:14Just like last offseason,
16:15they could have made lesser deals involving Jared Allen.
16:17In the offseason before that,
16:19they could have made deals involving Jared Allen.
16:21But there has to be one that they consider,
16:24this one makes us better.
16:26This one allows us to take the next step as an organization.
16:30It's just not that simple from their perspective
16:33because the value that Jared brings
16:35at both ends of the floor
16:36and what's available out there in the open market.
16:40So I think they're just in a situation
16:42where their chance of significantly improving this roster
16:48has seemingly passed them by.
16:50Now, that doesn't mean that they can't get players
16:53that would be additive.
16:56Jonathan Kaminga would bring length and athleticism
16:59and theoretical upside.
17:02Peyton Watson from the Denver Nuggets
17:04is somebody that I'm told
17:05that they've expressed interest in recently.
17:08He obviously would be the starting caliber small forward
17:12that they've been looking for.
17:14But none of these guys are Giannis.
17:16None of these guys are Jalen Brown.
17:17None of these guys are going to have the impact
17:19that LeBron James would have had for them.
17:22So it's, we feel relatively good about the roster
17:26that we already have here.
17:27We're coming off an Eastern Conference Finals appearance
17:30and we don't have to drastically shake up this roster.
17:34And if they felt like they needed to drastically shake up this roster,
17:37it would have happened already.
17:39All right, Chris.
17:41I mean, I could do this all day,
17:42but I know you're going to be excited to pay attention
17:44to the quarterback competition going on in Berea.
17:47So I'll let you get to that.
17:49That's exactly what we want to be talking about
17:51now that this LeBron stuff is over.
17:53You guys should be thanking LeBron
17:55for actually dragging out his decision as long as he did.
17:59We did.
17:59We thanked him.
18:00One less day.
18:01Good, good, good, good.
18:03Wow.
18:03One less day of talking about the worst quarterback competition
18:07maybe in the NFL in the last 10 years.
18:10And you know what other ones are in that same conversation?
18:13All the other ones that the Browns have had over the last 10 years.
18:16Wow, see, now just cheap shots out the door.
18:18All right, Chris, you go get back to Jeremy Schaap
18:21and one of their old relics of shows that were big 35 years ago
18:27and you enjoyed that with your dad.
18:30Yes, you got it.
18:31Chris Fedor on the Wise Heart right.
18:33We make it right.
18:34Call Kyle Wright hotline.
18:35It was a lot there on LeBron.
18:37James says LeBron didn't really owe Cleveland or Cleveland fans
18:41any kind of a heads up on this.
18:43Plus he had more on the Hazonia news.
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