CLEVELAND, Ohio — In this episode of the Wine and Gold Talk Podcast, hosts Ethan Sands, Chris Fedor, and Jimmy Watkins focus on the introductions of Lonzo Ball and Tyrese Proctor.
Takeaways:
Lonzo Ball is excited about the opportunity to compete for a championship with the Cavs.
Despite his talent, Lonzo has never played a playoff minute in his career.
Lonzo’s journey has made him a relatable and easy player to root for.
The Cavs don’t need Lonzo to be great for their success.
Tyrese Proctor showed maturity in his first media appearance.
Proctor’s experience in Australian basketball has prepared him for the NBA.
Proctor needs to improve defensively to make an impact.
Omar Cook’s coaching will be vital for player development.
Kenny Atkinson has a history of developing point guards effectively.
The Cavs’ Summer League will be a crucial opportunity for young players.
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Transcript
NOTE: This transcript was generated by artificial intelligence and could contain misspellings and errors.
Ethan Sands: What up Cavs nation? I’m your host, Ethan Sands, and I’m back with another episode of the Wine and Gold Talk podcast. And joining me today, Chris Fedor, Jimmy Watkins, some of cleveland.com’s best. And we just got done talking to Tyrese Proctor and and Lonzo Ball for the very first time following the Cavs summer league practice. Obviously, Lonzo Ball is not on the Cavs summer league roster, but they made him available to us for his introductory press conference. Guys, I don’t want to throw anybody under the bus, but we did have to wait three hours almost to talk to Lonzo after initially talking to Omar Cook and talking to Tyrese Proctor first and foremost. I know it’s hard to make a good first impression when you have to you leave the reporters waiting for an extended period. Chris, what was your first reaction to Lonzo and his appearance at Cleveland Clinic courts today?
Chris Fedor: I think he said all the right things, guys. I mean, I think the thing that stands out to me is just how excited he is about this opportunity to compete for a championship. And that’s the beauty of joining a team like the Cavs. That’s the situation that this Cavs organization has put themselves in. And when Larry Nance Jr. Talks for the first time, you’re going to hear him say some of the same things. He’s excited about the opportunity to compete for a championship. And I don’t think it, it can be overlooked that, you know, just a few years ago the Cavs weren’t in this situation, but they have become a destination where people are excited to go where people want to go. An organization that people want to be a part of because not just the way it’s run, not just the reputation that they’ve gained over the last couple of years, but they are one of the few teams in the NBA that people around the league believe have a legitimate chance to compete for a championship. And that’s a really good situation to be in. And that’s obviously a situation that appeals to Lonzo, somebody who has not been in that situation during his career.
Jimmy Watkins: Yeah, as much as Lonzo Ball has done in his career. As long as he’s been in like sports psyche, he’s never played a playoff minute. I think that’s a, in a 20, he’s going to be his 28 age, 28 season next year. It’ll be his sixth healthy season. He’s been on talented teams, he’s been on playoff teams. He just hasn’t been able to play for play for one, be out there with his teammates. I’m excited to see how he looks in that setting again. Fingers crossed that he gets there. And today that’s really what it’s about for me. When the move is made, you’re thinking of it. It’s like left brain, right brain, whatever. I don’t know which is which. But when the move is made, it’s like cold, analytical risk, risk calculation type stuff where it’s like the injuries as we talked about last week, are a major risk and could leave the Cavs with a major hole in their roster if, if Lonzo’s injury track record continues and they don’t really have a great backup, at least not an experienced backup plan for him. But when you, when you. The way I approached today is. But was by reading a bunch of stories about Lonzo’s recovery and how intensive it was, how much it affect. I mean there’s a. The ESPN did a story before Lonzo. Well, maybe after hadn’t been after Alonzo came back because there’s a few scenes in there from his return during the preseason. It was Jamal Collier and I think Mona Shelburne teamed up on that one. And like when Lonzo returned during the preseason, preseason last year, we were anecdotally like Zach Levine was in tears watching him play. Like how much, just how much Lonzo went through and the procedure that eventually got him ready to play was what, what one of the doctors called a Hail Mary. They did not know that Lonzo was ever going to be able to play again or you know, beyond playing. He has a kid that you want to be around and mobile for just general life stuff. So from now I’m thinking of it from the up like okay, cold anal, like whatever injury risk is what it is. But from a human perspective, I think this is a really easy dude to root for. It’s not just a familiar name. It’s a, a guy who’s really fun to watch when he’s right. Like Chris said, he’s. He seems to be about all the right things on a basketball. I mean you think about all the hoopla that Lonzo’s dad stirred up around him during the pre draft process for that not to, for that not to pollute Lonzo’s perception of himself or that can go a lot of different ways. The big baller brand, everything that’s attached to that. By the way, there’s another anecdote in that ESPN story where, where they bring the question to Lonzo. Hey, do you think these Skechers branded big baller brand shoes could have contributed to your, your string of injuries here. And he’s like, yeah, it’s a possibility. Like, what? That’s, that’s, that’s not like a. That’s a startling revelation. It makes sense. I had not considered that, but there was just a lot attached to him being like, there’s that. There’s Lavar going on first take saying his children are going to be this, that. And the third, all of the attention that was on him. I think it’s. He was basically a child star.
Chris Fedor: He.
Jimmy Watkins: He’s clearly handled that really well. And when you have something that you love as much as this dude loves basketball, get taken away from you for two plus seasons, I think that’s. You start looking at this thing a little bit differently. I still think it’s a risk for the Cavs, but it’s a really cool opportunity for Lonzo and I think everybody’s hoping that it works out for him.
Chris Fedor: I also think it’s a really good situation for Lonzo because at this point, he’s so far removed from all that other stuff that you were talking about, Jimmy. And he doesn’t have to be second overall pick Lonzo Ball. He doesn’t have to be everything that his dad pumped him up to be. He’s in a situation. It’s an established situation. It’s a team that won 64 games last year. Is he important to their success? Absolutely. Is he going to have a big role on this team? There’s no doubt about it. But Lonzo doesn’t have to be great for the Cavs to be great. Alonzo doesn’t have to be great in the way that Evan Mobley has to be great on a nightly basis or Donovan Mitchell has to be great on a nightly basis. He’s going to be able to slide into a specific role where the Cavs ask him to do the things that he can do at an extremely high level. Initiate offense from time to time, push the ball up ahead in transition, make plays for yourself, make plays for others, space the floor number, knock down, catch and shoot threes. They’re not going to ask him to do too much because they don’t need him to do too much. And I’ve used this comparison a few different times on this podcast. It’s very similar to Alex Caruso in the role that he slid into with the Oklahoma City Thunder. And that’s what the Cavs are going to be asking of Alonzo. And he has shown even last year when he missed time because of the wrist, even when he was still Trying to trust his knee and his body again, he showed that he could do that complimentary winning basketball type role. And that’s not to diminish what he’s going to mean to the Cavs success. But it’s a lot different when you’re talking about the seventh or eighth guy in the rotation. That’s kind of who Lonzo is for the Cavs and that’s probably the best that you can ask for him to be at this stage of his career because of everything that he has already gone through.
Ethan Sands: I think the other interesting portion of this is the fact that he talked about it today in his introductory press conference, having spent time with the doctors and the training staff already with the Cleveland Cavaliers and what he was doing behind the scenes a little bit with them before coming to talk to us, which I think is important. And although he did talk about just wanting to be back on the floor and being able to have a healthy summer, he emphasized the fact that it was not really about getting his game back to it. It’s getting his body back in condition and shape and strength wise to be able to deal with an 82 game season in the NBA. And also a fun tidbit, just the fact that he had an entire day planned out in Cleveland. In his first day in Cleveland, he was trying to get acclimated not only with his teammates and his coaching staff and the support staff and all those people, but also just getting into it with the city of Cleveland and trying to figure out where he can put his feet and having his feet on the ground. But as we talk about reactions, I don’t think we can go any further without talking about the number 49 overall selection, the multi year deal man, Tyrese Proctor. Chris, let’s start with you again. What do you think about Proctor, his abilities and just how he handled the situation with when talking to the media in the NBA for the first time, he seemed very mature. He seemed like a guy who had a good head on his shoulders and Duke media training did a good job with him.
Chris Fedor: It’s not just Duke media training either. It’s the fact that he’s been a pro before. He was a pro in Australia and Australian basketball. When you’re playing at that level and you’re surrounded by a bunch of different guys with a bunch of different backgrounds, a bunch of different ages, you have to grow up quickly. And I think that’s the one thing that you’ve seen from a lot of these guys who come from the Australian pipeline is that they’re hardened in A different kind of way. They’re prepared in a different kind of way. He even said it earlier today, Australian basketball is very different than college basketball in America or what the NBA is going to be like. And that’s the thing, you know, you’re playing alongside guys who have been pros in the NBA or guys that have been pros in Australia for a long, long time and they don’t care about your five star recruiting rating or anything along those lines. They don’t care about all of the hoopla that has surrounded you since you were a teenager and stuff along those lines. I also thought it was really, really important that like he recognized and was willing to admit that his first couple of years in Duke did not go well. Because they didn’t. I mean, coming out of Australia, there were so many people that were looking at Tyrese Proctor saying, ah, one and done, future lottery pick. He’s not going to be at Duke very long. And he came over. A lot of people would say probably a little bit too soon, probably a little bit earlier than he was ready for. And I think going through some of those struggles at Duke and having that eye opening experience where he has to admit that, hey, things didn’t go well my first two years at Duke, but I kind of found my way when I was a junior. I kind of found a role that, that fit me and that I could play to and that maximized my abilities and being surrounded, I think, by lottery picks the way that he was at Duke and having to fit a certain kind of role and playing a certain kind of way, I think that’s going to benefit him coming here to Cleveland because look, he’s not going to have the ball in his hands a bunch if he plays as a rookie. And it remains to be seen how much he’s going to play as a rookie, but if he does, the possessions are going to be occupied by a bunch of other guys not named Tyrese Proctor. So how do you fill in the gaps? Like what can you do to potentially make an impact? What can you do that’s going to benefit the basketball team? He had to learn how to do that. He had to take a back seat to Cooper Flag. He had to take a back seat to Concanip. He had to take a back seat to all these other lottery picks or all of these other first round picks. And I think that helps him coming to a situation like this.
Jimmy Watkins: Yeah, and to me, filling in the gaps means one of two things, probably a little bit of both. It’s one, becoming a passable NBA defender. She has a long way to go on that right now. He’s got a good frame for it. He’s got good, you know, length and, and height or like to the next step is to, you know, put, put a little bit more weight on and you know, his, his deflection numbers weren’t awesome and College’s steel rate wasn’t very high. The indicators are not there in that regard. But I don’t, that’s not why the Cavs drafted him. The Cavs drafted him because he’s got that frame and he was, he showed some real signs his last year at Duga being an elite three point shooter. I mean pick like the pull up stuff, the movement stuff off the dribble. He was very impressive at every level. Now I’m a little bit skeptical of how real that stuff, any, any partial sample size, any partial season sample sizes, particularly at the college level. I, I, you’ll, you’d rather see it than not. But I’m always hesitant to believe those site on site unseen or, or you know, short flashes. I’d like to see it sustain across multiple seasons at multiple levels. He was also still, I think a sub 70% free throw shooter granted limited attempts. So that’s that there’s small sample size clouds you both ways. I just think that the way that Tyrese Proctor fulfills the first round dre, that the first round grade that the Cavs put on him during the draft process is by becoming an absolute knockdown shooter and then getting to the point where, you know, maybe teams still hunching. Can you get to Sam Merrill? Can you be taller Sam Merrill? Not, not a one to one comparison there, but just from the standpoint of you knock down shots and you can hold your own when teams try to, when teams try to target you in playoffs, that’s, that’s the path there. And I see the logic, but I also have my questions.
Ethan Sands: Everything is still to be seen with these guys. And I think when we talk about these players, it’s projecting the future, right? And obviously not none of us have a crystal ball to look into and see how things are going to pan out. But we can go based on the analysis that we make, based on film, based on breaking down what people have already said about these players based on the NBA draft profiles that they have, or Lonzo Ball’s case, what he was able to do successfully in the time that he was on the floor. And I think these two players, again as we mentioned on this podcast previously, are part of the plan for how the Cavs want to orchestrate this entire roster to play a run and gun style, to play a modern style of basketball, to enhance what was already working extremely well in the system of Kenny Atkinson. And speaking of coaching staffs and speaking of helping get along the way, can.
Jimmy Watkins: I ask a Tyrese Proctor related question here? Because I agree with any rookie, particularly a second round rookie. You want to temper your expectations and keep your eye on the bigger picture. Don’t overreact to anything you see early on. I’m, I co sign all of those things. The things that makes Tyrese Proctor unique though. You know the contract that they gave them, the they. I mean as Ethan, I talked about this last week. I mean 70, it seems like 70% of teams who take guys in the second round then go to a draft post trap podium and say wow, we had a first round grade on these guys. But like I, I believe it a little bit more with Tyrese Proctor. Given all of those things, is it reasonable to expect that the Cavs expect him to maybe pay dividends on a slightly quicker timeline than another player, player X of his ilk?
Chris Fedor: Well, I think so, but I also think there was a financial benefit to giving Tyrese the kind of contract that they gave to him because now that contract is being taken by pick number 49 who’s going to make less money than what a veteran minimum would be making, around 3.6 million. So I do think there was a financial benefit to it and that’s part of the thinking of the Cavs here. But, but I also do think, and you’re right, there were a bunch of guys that were picked before Tyrese that have signed their contract today. And you see all these terms and they’re two ways money. Bates didn’t get this kind of deal from the Cavs, right? He was the number 49 pick a couple years ago. He got a two way contract. I think it was Jameer Watkins, a guy that the Cavs worked out prior to the draft. I think he went 43rd, six picks in front of Tyrese Proctor. He had to sign a two way contract. Some of these other guys are signing two way contracts instead of these firm NBA full time contracts. And, and that does put a little bit more expectation on him. It does put a little bit more pressure on him. It does create an environment where the Cavs might need him a little bit more and might ask of him to do things to a different level than what they’ve asked of some of these guys in past years. I would also say that, you know, the Roster has kind of changed slightly, and there is an opening, at least at the back end of the rotation for somebody with his kind of skill set to step up if he’s ready for that opportunity, if his. If his body is ready, if his game is ready, if he’s mentally ready for that kind of thing. I do think we do have to look at this in a different view from a different lens than the way that we looked at Amani Bates, than even the way that we would look at Sally Niang and some of these other guys in the past. One of the things that the Cavs mentioned about liking Tyrese is NBA ready from a mental standpoint, NBA ready from a maturity standpoint. So I don’t think it’s out of the question to look at the contract that he signs, some of the things that the Cavs have said about him, his style of game, the way that the roster is set up, and say, hey, this guy might need some more NBA minutes than some rookies that are normally drafted number 49 overall.
Jimmy Watkins: Okay, I would say, like, yeah, Sally Yang. Sally Nang is just a flyer, a draft and stash flyer. Tyrese Proctor is someone the Cavs view as a. As a future rotation player.
Chris Fedor: Yeah, I think that’s right. And I’ll say this. I think it benefits him to have Craig Porter Jr. Playing alongside him at summer league, because one of the things that you often see when you talk about summer league basketball is these teams come with guys who just have no idea how to run an offense. They have no idea how to get their teammates involved. And then you ask some of these. These younger players, hey, go create your own shot. And it’s like, well, wait, that’s not my game. So I think the fact that the Cavs are going to have Craig Porter Jr. Out there, I think the fact that the Cavs are going to have Jalen Tyson out there and they’re going to put the ball in his hands every now and then. It keeps Tyrese Proctor from having to do a little bit too much and maybe putting him in a situation where his skill set doesn’t match what the Cavs need from him based on the other components of their summer league roster. Some of these bigs go to summer league and they never touch the basketball because they just don’t have guys that can pass or dribble or initiate offense or something along those lines. So I think it benefits Tyrese, and I think it’s going to allow him to be more comfortable in this transitional aspect, and I think it allows them to say, hey, these are the things that we’re probably going to ask you to do when the regular season rolls around. Just do these things that summer league. Omar Cook said earlier today, he’s the one who’s going to be coaching the Cav summer league. Omar Cook, the guy who’s been overseeing the development of Darius Garland. Omar Cook, who is one of the best passers in European basketball history and one of the best passers in college basketball history. He said, hey, the message to Tyrese Proctor is shoot, shoot, shoot, shoot. Every time you’re open, shoot. We don’t need you to run the offense. We’ve got Craig Porter Jr. And Jalen Tyson to do that. We just need you to shoot on the offensive side of the floor. And that simplifies things for somebody like Tyrese Proctor and maybe puts him in a situation where he may not fact fail as much as some of these other guys that are asked to do a little bit too much early in their tenure at summer league.
Jimmy Watkins: Another thing about these summer league guards, it’s not just whether they can pass or not. Their motivation to pass is it varies, let’s say, because I think a lot of these dudes come in here like, this is my shot right here. This is my, my chance to show NBA GMs what I can do with the ball. And by the way, I don’t fault them for that because that is kind of what this is. It’s, you know, a glorified pickup showcase for guys who were, who are drafted or trying to glob onto a team for them, for them to get more reps in a live setting than they would in basically any other type of, type of setting. And obviously the whole league gathers into the same gym to watch him do it. So I understand where they’re coming from, but I think having a guy to Chris’s point, like a guy like Craig Porter Jr. Who, I mean I, I think you could, there’s a way you can view this as like Tyrese Proctor’s kind of coming after Craig Porter junior’s minutes or opportunities, all that sorts of things. But like Craig Porter Jr. Is just wired a little bit differently. He’s got more of an old school point guard feel to, to him. So he is a really good pairing for, for a guy like Tyree and a lot of these summer league guys, honestly who are trying to get opportunities. If in most cases, I would say if you like the beautiful game and a multi pass possessions, then you could probably skip the summer league sessions. I do think Craig Porter Jr. Will have the Cavs looking like a group of people who have practiced together before.
Ethan Sands: And Chris, you kind of get got into where I was going next with Omar Cook, obviously the head coach of the Cav summer league, as you mentioned. His experience, I think is going to be vital for all three of the main pieces of this roster when it comes to Craig Porter Jr. When it comes to Jalen Tyson, and when it comes to Tyrese Proctor. Having the experience of not only playing in the NBA, playing in the G League and playing overseas is extremely important to the development of of these kinds of players, especially Jalen and Craig, who have had the first two experiences in the NBA and the G League already learning from Omar about what he’s thought about his progress and not necessarily imagining that he would be at this stage already so soon. Obviously we know Jordan Hott was the head coach in the summer league for the last few seasons. He is now in Phoenix. So it’s a different kind of scenario now being ran by Kenny Atkinson giving more and new opportunities to a player development heavy coach like Omar Cook, who has worked with Darius Garland extensively throughout his time in Cleveland. What do you think Omar’s role is going to be and how he’s able to impact these younger guys and especially at the point guard position where he has so much knowledge.
Chris Fedor: I certainly think that he has been important for the development of Darius Garland in terms of the passing, in terms of reading the defense, the film breakdowns that they do together, just the cerebral aspects of, of the game. Because that’s, that’s what Omar was. That’s who he was. He wasn’t somebody who was going to go out there and score 20 to 25 points per game. He was going to have to do the little things. He was going to have to run an offense. He was going to have to get teammates involved. He was going to have to become one of the best passers. That’s what he was. And that turned him into a really, really good professional. Maybe not at the NBA level, but from a professional standpoint. So I think he’s going to be good for somebody like Tyrese Proctor. I think he’s going to be good for somebody like Jalen Tyson. I think he’s going to be good for Craig Porter Jr. Even. And I also think for somebody like Omar, there’s an opportunity here in Cleveland. Now this, this is a coaching staff that looks different than what it did at the end of the series against the Indiana Pacers. Demari Carroll is gone. Jordan Ott is gone. You know, Chris Darnell is gone. There’s a couple of other coaches that, that have moved on as well. And the Cavs were interested in Jared Dudley. And the Cavs have talked to about five to six other coaches from outside the organization about the possibility of coming aboard and joining Kenny’s staff in, in some capacity. And we’ll see how those things play themselves out. But if it turns into the same situation where they were interested in Jared Dudley for a variety of reasons, you saw how many other teams around the NBA were interested in Jared and they didn’t get him, then the logical other thing that they could do is just promote from within and give a bigger responsibility and a bigger role to somebody that was on the staff last year that Kenny believes in, that Kenny thinks is ready for that kind of opportunity. And Omar is somebody who comes to mind who has big ambitions as a coach, who is really excited about this opportunity to coach the summer league team. And it kind of gives Kenny an idea of what can Omar handle, how much can he handle, how does he look in this particular role, where it’s more outside player development, where it’s more coaching, where it’s more calling plays, where it’s more adjustments. And I know summer league in the NBA and it gets all convoluted and stuff like that, but the responsibilities that Omar is going to have as a coach are different than what they have been in the past. And Kenny gets an opportunity to observe how Omar looks in that, how comfortable he looks in that, and if he’s ready for the next step as, as a coach and if he is one of those guys where if you’re talking about promoting from within, he would be a logical fit for that kind of thing. So I think a good opportunity all around. But I know for a fact in talking to a number of different people, including Garius about it, that Omar has had a positive impact on Darius’s. I don’t know if revival is the right word, but. And Darius’s revenge season where he became an all star once again.
Jimmy Watkins: From a coaching development standpoint, I think summer league is an interesting exercise and adaptation. I mean, if you’re, if you’re your best player in summer league, often plays.
Chris Fedor: Like two games, right?
Jimmy Watkins: And any, any awkward landing is shut it down mode for any of your, again, any of your important players on your team. So it’s almost. It’s like a. It’s kind of like throwing little firecrackers at a coach’s feet and say, well, how do you do with this? How do you deal with that? That’s the aspect of it, too. I do think, though, that four more point guards make a natural coaching transition in Miami. You think about in the league right now, we got, we got Jason Kidd, we got Chauncey Billups, we got Ty Lou, I mean, Billy, Donna, just to name a. Just to name a few. Just to name a few. That’s. That’s such an easy transition because I think point guards are kind of coaching all the time anyways. It’s like quarterback in football. You have a mind meld, sort like you have to share and execute the coach’s vision at all times. You have to know what all five players are supposed to do in any given situation and know their responsibilities interchangeably. So I think that, that Omar has sort of been preparing for this opportunity his entire basketball life. It is, of course, another thing to do it from a different vantage point and be in charge, like literally, literally in charge of people. There’s leadership in a locker room and then there’s, you’re the boss. Now, those are two very different things. So that’s probably another thing that, that Kenny will be watching here. But it goes back to what we were talking about before, where players, players take coaching differently. I don’t know, better maybe from someone who’s been doing the things he’s trying to teach them how to do. I think that’s just a natural respect thing. Like we said, everyone who works in basketball speaks the basketball language, but former players can speak a little bit of a different dialect. And I think Omar Cook can apply those, especially with these summer league guys. He’s been exactly where they’ve been, so he’s a really good fit for that position.
Chris Fedor: And you bring up the former point guards turn coaches. Kenny Atkinson is another example. And there is this, this line of thinking from people around the NBA that Kenny has an ability to get through to point guards. And I don’t know if point guard whisperer is the right term for it, but. Jeff Teague became an all Star under Kenny Atkinson. D’ Angelo Russell played the best basketball of his career under Kenny Atkinson. Darius Garland was once again an all Star with Kenny Atkinson in his system. Ty Jerome had a career year for the Cavs. And this isn’t to discount the individual player and their role in becoming those things, but when you have all of that evidence, you can’t just overlook it. And I think the Cavs look at this situation and say, well, if we’re going to get the most out of Craig Porter Jr. It’s going to happen here. It’s going to happen with Kenny, it’s going to happen with Omar Cook, it’s going to happen in this player friendly system. If we’re going to get the most out of Tyrese Proctor as an on ball creator or a combo guard type guy, it’s going to happen here with Kenny Atkinson, with Omar Cook in this situation, in this system. So it’s probably like further down the list of reasons why the Cavs were more willing to move on from, from Ty Jerome. But I think they feel like they have a coach here who can take an internal option at point guard like Craig Porter Jr. And turn him into a more reliable ball handler, turn him into a more reliable backup point guard, turn him into some version of what the Cavs got from, from Ty Jerome. And if it doesn’t happen with Kenny Atkinson, if it doesn’t happen in this situation, in this system, then that’s probably not a great sign for the future of Craig Porter Jr. But, but Kenny has done that at every single stop and Mike d’ Antonio was the same kind of way. And by the way, Kenny Atkinson learned under Mike d’, Antoni. But there was always these guys who are going to be at their best with Mike d’, Antoni and we saw that and we’re seeing the same thing when it comes to Kenny Atkinson. And I don’t think that that can go overlooked in the long list of reasons why the Cavs were more okay with, with not bringing back Ty Jerome.
Jimmy Watkins: I think that’s such a good point about, about Ty Jerome. So it’s, it’s kind of, kind of two layers deep on the Ty Jerome conversation as it pertains to the Kenny point we’re making here. One, generally the worst time to have to pay a player is after they just had a career season the likes of which we have never seen before. Now I know it’s not, that’s not super fair to say to Ty Jerome, who struggled with injuries this point in career and who straight up told us the reason he wasn’t having seasons like this before is he wasn’t getting opportunities. Maybe that’s all true and the Memphis Grizzlies just got a steal. I think it’s certainly possible that Ty Jerome could have replicated some of the things, not all of that, not the otherworldly shooting from floater range, but some of the things that he was doing in Cleveland if had he stayed here. But you add in. So we have all time great season for Ty Jerome, the likes of which we’ve never seen before from him and where the guy he did it under tends to get this kind of season out of other guys. So maybe he can get it out of some other guy that you find later on. Maybe he can get it out of another guy that’s already on the roster. And maybe there will be a post Kenny Atkinson diploma for Ty Drew that does, that does add another layer to it that I think needs to be considered. That d’ Angelo Russell All Star season needs to be studied by the aliens. Needs to be it was kind of a perfect storm where like d’ Angelo Russell actually probably was the number one option on the Brooklyn Nets. But the fact that it translated to like semi winning basketball. D’ Angelo Russell just signed for the BAE to the Dallas Mavericks who desperately need a point card. Yeah, in theory like a decent amount of leverage and they’re just like, yeah, 6 million a year. That sounds good to you? Sorry, I think 6 million is the non taxpayers MLA, not the BAE. Not that it matters. Just want to clean up my own poop.
Ethan Sands: With all that being said, that’ll wrap up today’s episode of the Wine and Gold Talk podcast. But remember to become a Cavs insider and interact with Chris, me and Jimmy by subscribing to Subtext. Sign up for a 14 day free trial or visit cleveland.comcavs and click on the blue bar at the top of the page. If you don’t like it, that’s fine. All you have to do is text the word stop. It’s easy, but we can tell you that the people who sign up stick around because this is the best way to get insider coverage on the Cavs from me, Chris and Jimmy. This isn’t just our podcast, it’s your podcast. And the only way to have your voice heard is through subtext. Y’ all be safe. We out.
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