AT THIS MOMENT Jazz have a decent roster, closer to Play-in than tank. AT THIS MOMENT. Trade EGo / Fournier FRP. Flip EF for 2nd.
Markkanen was actually very integral to Cleveland's offensive success last year. Agbaji can start and will be quick to develop. You have an instant backcourt right there with Sexton. Walker Kessler will be a strong presence at center. Man, that was a quick rebuild. They could easily be .500 next season with a ton of draft assets.
Cavs have a deep and talented team and the East is now really strong. Boston, Miami, Philly, Milwaukee, Cle, Brooklyn, Toronto, and Chicago…. Can’t remember the last time the East was this tough.
Sexton was injured last year. Cleveland is a black hole of an organization and he still managed to develop there. He's boss. His best year was before the injury and before Garland got increased playing time. I think the system in Utah will show how much Mitchell benefited from great coaching and better teammates. This is a scary looking Utah team with fresh talent now. Heck of a smart front office. The Knicks on the other hand . . . wow.
Yeah. Curious how they play this. They will want to capitalize on their draft assets, so might see them deal some more.
Are you serious? They are one of the very worst teams in the league and are in literal fire sale mode having unloaded 2 max players in 2 months for draft assets way into the future. When your best remaining player is... Bojan Bogdanovich? Jordan Clarkson? Mike Conley Jr... in the year 2023, even if you add Collin Sexton, you may as well change your team name to the Utah Wembytanks
Brian Windhorst, Tim MacMahon, Tim Bontemps https://open.spotify.com/episode/22LiylZMGcmNmfr0J9hrAM BW: Collin Sexton, break out the champagne. You hit the jackpot. He was headed for the qualifying offer last week. BW: Knicks & Jazz had gotten to some stage where there was some progress, some traction. A wrecking ball hit when the Knicks & Jazz wouldn’t come to terms. I don’t know who said no, Knicks or Jazz. Knicks went ahead and signed RJ Barrett to a contract extension. That created an incredible amount of animus between the two organizations. … TB: Knicks looked at this and played a game of chicken. “We don’t think you can get the draft capital you want somewhere else so we’ll wait and do this deal on our terms.” They played a game of chicken and lost. In the long run, maybe they’ll get someone else but they had been building up assets to get a star. They had a CAA star who wanted to play for the Knicks, with ties to New York, franchise had ties(Johnny Bryant), a thousand reasons pointing for him going to the Knicks. The Knicks let the pitch go by and the Cavs stepped up and hit it. TM: The Knicks stuck to this Donovan Mitchell plan. They just didn’t execute it at the end. They treated it as a want and not as a need. If they gave up what it would have taken, I don’t think that’s something that would have vaulted them into getting out of the first round. … Everyone I talked to around the league still thought this would end up with Mitchell in MSG. … Ainge sent a clear message this is about what he wants to do, what his vision is for the Jazz and what Donovan Mitchell wanted to do had nothing to do with the business the Jazz did this offseason. That’s a complete 180 from the previous few years. TM: Even though Mitchell wanted to go to New York, he landed in a better win now situation in Cleveland. BW: Donovan was very excited when he found out initially 1)he was traded and 2)he was traded to the Cavs and Cavs weren’t not trading any of their “star” players for him. We’ll see how he feels in 3 years but I can say confidently he was excited in the moment. BW: Talking to executives who have been in the NBA a long time, many can talk about big deals. There’s something to be said about executing a big deal. Look at Pat Riley and his front office over the decades (Alonzo Mourning, Shaq, LeBron/Bosh, Butler). Look at Sam Presti, whether bringing stars in or trading them out. Look at how many times he’s landed the plane on a big deal. Closing a deal is hard in the NBA. Masai Ujiri is another guy. He landed the plane on Kawhi. The tough thing here is the Knicks weren’t able to land the plane. They still have the 8 first round picks. But you’re right Bontemps, it took a long time for them to get in position where they had the edge on a trade. TB: They were the undisputed runaway leaders in the clubhouse. Everyone thought the Knicks had the best chance. Knicks spent all this time building up capital to get a star. They had a star sitting there and didn’t use it to get him. The whole Leon Rose tenure comes down to that decision. BW: It was reported that the Knicks offered Barrett, Grimes and two unprotected firsts. I have reason to believe that report is accurate. They signed Barrett, that in theory took him off the table, not really but took him off the table. Would you rather have Barrett, Grimes and two unprotected Knicks picks or what they got from Cleveland? Which deal do you like better today? TM: The picks. I like Barrett better than Sexton. It’s about picks. It was about picks. They’re getting at least one more pick and swaps in ‘26/‘28. Those swaps could matter. I go with the picks. TB: You look at what’s happened here, Ainge makes a trade for a bunch of picks two months ago. Whatever we think is the better package, it was clear what the Jazz thought is the better package. That was, to Tim’s point, the picks. What the Jazz wanted was the picks. … Because they didn’t put in the picks, do the Knicks think Donovan Mitchell is not worth 5 firsts? Do the Knicks think they’re not good enough to advance that it’s worth putting in 5 picks? Whatever the reason, they weren’t willing to put the same picks as the Cavs. I like Knicks package a little better in terms of pure value. That doesn’t matter. The Knicks weren’t willing to pay that price. BW: I wonder if the Knicks would have gone to 3 unprotected firsts by the end of September. TM: I also wonder if they would’ve thrown in Dallas and either Washington/Detroit’s firsts. TB: Again, go to Minnesota and the action the Jazz took. Unprotected future draft picks. What did he get from Brooklyn in the KG/Pierce trade? Unprotected long term future draft assets. That’s what he was going to get for Mitchell, full stop. If you wanted Mitchell, that’s what you had to give up. Look at people’s actions over what they say. Knicks actions said we don’t think it’s worth it. BW: They traded Royce O’Neal for a first from the Nets(via Philly). They get four unprotected firsts from the Wolves. They got Walker Kessler. They get 3 unprotected firsts and two swaps and Ochai Agbaji (the 14th pick in the 2022 draft). The way they calculate it, they’re looking at ten firsts they pulled and haven’t done anything with Bogdanovic, Clarkson, Beasley or Conley. All those guys could be on the move. BW: Cavs and Jazz have a great comfort level with each other. … As far as I know, I checked in last week and told no meaningful contract negotiations between Sexton/Jazz. I think it happened pretty fast. Let’s talk the Cavaliers. The Timberwolves, one reason they felt comfortable going in, they had Towns and Edwards under control. They said let’s go now. The Cavs have Mobley, who we all think has potential to be a perennial all-star and dominating player on the defensive end. They have Jarrett Allen. Darius Garland just signed a 5-year extension. Mitchell has 3 years left, 4th year is a player option. About to turn 26. That’s why a mid-market team like Cleveland who won’t get guys in free agency, they felt they could go. … TM: What the Cavs have done is open a window to be very good at least 2 years. Maybe you have to make a decision on Donovan then. They have a chance to be a really good team. TM: Do you like the Donovan Mitchell trade for Cleveland better than the Dejounte Murray for Atlanta? TB: I like this a lot better for Cleveland. They are better built to take advantage of what they have. I like the fit of Murray/Young but not sure the rest of the roster has a chance to elevate that much. When you have Garland and Mitchell, you’ll have trouble guarding people. But if you have two seven-footers who can move around the court and switch and protect the rim, you take away those disadvantages. They’re probably gonna be a top 10 offense. Evan Mobley is going to get better. I like this trade better for the Cavs. Their ceiling is higher.
BW: Let me say a couple things about the Cavs gamble. If you go back to the first Harden trade, they wiggle in and get Jarrett Allen. That is a turning point for the organization. TB: They got Allen for the last pick of the first round. Just an absolute heist from the moment they did it. BW: Turning point moment in the organization. 2nd, Collin Sexton gets hurt. It clears the lane for Garland. While unfortunate for Sexton, it clarifies Garland is the PG of the future. They hit the lottery in a way where the 3rd pick is great and teams in front of them, like the Rockets were obsessed and locked in on Green. Doesn’t mean it’s wrong but other teams had Mobley higher than 3 on their board. There was no drama in their pick. Mobley was there for the taking. He looks like an absolute stud. … All their actions indicating they were protecting 2023 cap space for LeBron. LeBron signs his contract. Now we have to come up with a plan B. The Knicks don’t land the plane. Koby Altman comes in and lands the plane. Those events coming together allows the Cavs to pull this off. This is deep in the CBA but the Cavs did create a problem. You are only allowed 2 designated players on your roster. TB: This won’t be a problem by then because Mitchell will be off his 2nd contract. BW: You are only allowed to trade for one. The Nets couldn’t trade for Mitchell while having Ben Simmons. The Cavs had one this summer when they signed Garland to a 5-year max. That makes him one of those designated players. They traded for one in Mitchell. Now, Evan Mobley, assuming he continues to play this well, will be a designated player. He becomes eligible to sign an extension in the summer of 2024. Mitchell will still be on his contract. Even if Mitchell extends, which is doubtful at this point, they can still sign Mobley but not the 5-year contract. TB: Also not accurate. They can’t give him a 5-year extension. They can sign him to a 5-year max in the summer of 2025. He can sign a 4-year extension in 2024 or 5-year max in 2025. BW: When the Cavs did this deal, they did create a little thing to deal with on Evan Mobley. We don’t have to belabor the point. … If you’re Toronto, Chicago, Atlanta, you’re not feeling great about the Cavs making this move. TB: Mobley is in the situation Ingram is in. It’s a quirky thing. Don’t think it’s a huge issue. … When Minnesota made the Gobert trade, we talked about how they had so little playoff success. When was the last time the Cavs won a playoff series without LeBron? BW: 1992. TB: 1992-93. 30 years ago this season. They’ve won a playoff series in 3 years in their entire history when LeBron wasn’t on the team. Without LeBron, they’ve had little playoff success. This gives them a real chance to do that. I love the fact we’re seeing these teams with young stars taking a huge swing like this. It’s awesome for the league. League is in a great place. Interesting young teams — Cleveland, Minnesota, Memphis, even Atlanta — it’s fun and wide open to see teams taking swings. I’m pumped from a competitive basketball standpoint for both the East and the West. … BW: Cavs have 9 national TV games this year. … … Jazz are not done moving here. The Jazz/Lakers can still do business here. I don’t think the Jazz will want to be in the tax. Lakers will have to assemble a deal if they go that route. Bogdanovic, other teams will be interested. … I want to see what the Cavs do with Kevin Love. TM: He’s a big expiring contract. BW: They’re willing to take on money. TB: Where do the Cavs stack up in the East? Boston is better. Milwaukee. Philly. Brooklyn. TM: I can’t say Brooklyn. BW: Can’t assume anything in Brooklyn. TB: Miami is an interesting one. Are they better? Lost PJ Tucker. Another year older for Jimmy. Kyle Lowry struggled last year. What about Toronto? BW: 3 hours ago, I would’ve said Toronto is better than Cleveland. I can’t say that now. TB: I think I prefer Cleveland. I prefer Cleveland to Atlanta/Chicago. BW: If you’re the Cavs, you’re gunning for home court. BW: I wonder if any teams behind them wonder if they have to make a move. I will also say that we don’t know what Evan Mobley will be. If Mobley comes back and goes big step forward, what if he comes back and is all-star starter material? He’s a quiet guy, not posting what he’s doing. What if he comes back and is now hitting 40% on threes?
You have forgotten about San Antonio. And Orlando losing Harris doesn’t help, either. Warmly welcome Andrew Wiggins (a year early).
