CLEVELAND, Ohio — In this episode of the Wine and Gold Talk podcast, host Ethan Sands and columnist Jimmy Watkins discuss the Cavs’ roster dynamics, focusing on the development of players like Craig Porter Jr., Jaylon Tyson, and Tyrese Proctor.
Takeaways:
Craig Porter Jr. Needs to Improve Work Ethic: The Cavaliers are working with Craig Porter Jr. to raise his intensity and work ethic, as his dedication was described as just “okay.”
Cavaliers’ Guard Depth Situation: With Darius Garland injured, the acquisition of Lonzo Ball and drafting of Tyrese Proctor creates competition for the backup point guard role, making Porter’s development crucial.
Jaylon Tyson’s Impressive Work Ethic: Jaylon Tyson has demonstrated exceptional dedication, working out for extended hours, impressing even Donovan Mitchell.
Summer League Expectations for Jaylon Tyson: Jaylon Tyson should aim to dominate in Summer League, showcasing his skills in three-point shooting and solid defense.
Tyrese Proctor’s Shooting Advantage: Tyrese Proctor’s shooting ability from Duke gives him an edge in the competition for playing time, as NBA teams value consistent shooting.
Contract Situations Affecting Playing Time Decisions: Contract situations, including Porter’s expiring guaranteed year and the team’s proximity to the second apron, could influence playing time decisions.
The Importance of Shooting for Guard Play: Shooting ability will likely be the deciding factor for guard playing time, potentially favoring Proctor if his shooting translates to the NBA.
Cavaliers Still Need to Add a 14th Roster Player: Cleveland still needs to add a 14th player to their roster, considering options like a big man, ball-handling wing, or Tristan Thompson.
Positional Versatility and Situational Needs: Playing time for Porter, Tyson, and Proctor might depend on specific game situations and lineup combinations, offering the coaching staff different options.
Veteran Free Agent Option Remains Available: If Lonzo Ball’s health issues resurface, the Cavaliers might sign a veteran free agent instead of relying solely on the development of young players.
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Transcript
NOTE: This transcript was generated by artificial intelligence and could contain misspellings and errors.
Jimmy Watkins: Foreign.
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. Joining me Today, Jimmy Watkins, cleveland.com’s columnist. We know we usually have Chris Fedor on this podcast and he has all the insights that anybody could want when it comes to the Cleveland Cavaliers. But there is one person with cleveland.com that may have more tenure and more sources than Chris does, and that’s Terry Pluto. And Terry wrote for the site earlier this week that there was a specific player that could get more opportunities this next season if he works for it. So Jimmy, I don’t know if you had a chance to read this article, but Terry Pluto went into different bullet points of things when it comes to the lines of ball trade, Kenny Atkinson, Sam Merrill, all of these things and his letter E. His subject E was the Cavs are working with Craig Porter Jr. To raise the level of his intensity and work ethic. Another Cav source told Terry Pluto that Porter’s dedication was okay, quote unquote, but he needs to become one of those first, first in the gym, last to leave guys if he wants to push for more playing time. Jimmy Leaf talked on this podcast about the importance of Craig Porter Jr’s role, especially in this coming season where Darius Garland is going to enter the season on the injured list and Kyrese Proctor is coming into the fold and you just traded for Lonzo Ball, who has an extensive injury history. What do you think? This says a source coming to Terry Polito, who’s been around the Cavs for decades, about having to need more of an effort, more of a work ethic, more of an impact from a guy who went undrafted and had to work his way to get to where he is. I find it very surprising.
Jimmy Watkins: I find it confusing as well, because I don’t really know how a guy like Craig Porter Jr. Who wasn’t drafted, can end up in this position without having the drive, the dog, the work ethic built in. It just seems like that’s a prerequisite for a guy in his position. I wonder a little bit if this Cav source told this to Terry, knowing Terry would write it. Maybe they light a little fire under Craig, more in the vein of he works hard, but for him, for him to get where we want him to get next year, for us to feel comfortable with him being our break class in case of emergency, backup point guard for real, which is more on the table this year because next year one of him or Tyrese Proctor is going to have to start as the backup point guard with Darius missed some time at the beginning of the season and we talked about Lonzo’s extensive injury history. That makes sure that the, that makes the guys further down the depth chart that much more important. So I can see it coming from that way. But I’m also looking around here again, I don’t, I don’t know, I don’t doubt Terry. I also don’t know who said that. I’m also looking around right now and saying, okay, if I’m Craig Porter Jr. And I heard that Ty Jerome was leaving, I’d be like, okay, here’s an opportunity for me. And they trade for Lonzo Ball and then they draft Tyres Proctor, a guy who they had a first round grade on. And I’m buying that the Cavs have a first round grade on Tyrus Proctor. Well that means they kind of just drafted over Craig Porter Junior Tyres Proctor’s tall enough to play 23 but you know Pat Wise, he’s firmly in that backcourt. And when you’re planning on having one of Darius or Donovan on the court at all times, your position is not really determined by how much you have the ball because you’re not going to have it very much. Generally in today’s NBA it’s determined by who you defend. And so I just, there’s just a lot of movement in the guards, in the guard room for the Cavs right now. A lot of new faces that the Cavs are excited about And Craig Borden Jr. Is going to have to earn his keep, whatever that looks like. That means more weights, more jumpers. That’s kind of the swing skill for him, is the shooting and we don’t have a ton of sample size on that in NBA games. I too am surprised to hear, was surprised to read Terry write that and it confuses me. Given again, the typical rags to riches story includes a built in amount of grind. I don’t know how hard Craig Porter Jr. Works. I’m not in that building from dawn till dusk every day. But I will say if there was a guy on the team who was lacking in that area, I don’t think the players would be telling us publicly. That’s something that you might whisper. There’s someone behind the scenes, someone like a Terry Pluto, potentially someone you know, when the Cavs were starting to lose faith, the JB pickerstaff Max wasn’t saying it in Max Juice wasn’t saying it in scrums. Okay. Chris was coming up to him afterwards and Max was saying without saying it Even then. So continue.
Ethan Sands: I kind of thought Max Sch was saying it in press conferences. Max.
Jimmy Watkins: Maybe Max was the wrong Max. Max can’t always bite his tongue.
Ethan Sands: Fair enough. So, so either way, I, I, I just think that the situation is interesting and I find it even more intriguing because the player who is coming off his rookie season, Jaylon Tyson, we’ve legitimately seen him working from dusk till gone. Like Donovan Mitchell in press conferences with us, while Jaylon Tyson is shooting in the background, has said, jalen, go home. You’ve been here all day. And then today we were in Cleveland Clinic courts for what, three, four hours, Jimmy, today. And Jaylon Tyson was taking shots for almost the entirety of it. He left the court, came back, and we were still there. Like, I think that tells you exactly the type of person Tyson is. You understand what kind of work ethic you’re getting from that player. And even though you might not see it translate immediately and you don’t see it translate at all, you understand that he’s putting the work in to get where he wants to go. And that’s where I’m going with this next part. When it comes to the summer league team and having so much of a leadership role for Craig, for Jalen, obviously, Craig, this is going to be his third summer league. Jalen Tyson, this is going to be his second summer league with the Cleveland Cavaliers. And I don’t know if you noticed, Jimmy, but Tyrese Proctor wasn’t working out with Craig Porter Jr. He was working out with Jaylon Tyson. When we walked into Cleveland Clinic courts, he was working with Jalen Tyson on his jump shot, working with Jaylon Tyson on the things that he does to improve. Because you know what, Jimmy? When Jalen Tyson entered the league, he knew that defense was where he was going to have to bide his time to get on the court. Tyrese Proctor today, during his introductory press conference, because it was the first time we talked to him, was like, I know I still have to get better defensively. It sounds very familiar. The one thing Tyrese Proctor is reliable at, shooting the basketball and he has utmost belief in his three point shot. Jayla Tyson still working to gain that confidence from beyond the arc and ensuring that his shot release gets quicker. What did you see from today’s practice, Jimmy? What did you see and what do you hope to see from the trio of Jaylon Tyson, Tyrese Proctor and Craig Porter Jr. In summer league? Because we know how big of an opportunity this is, and Kenny Atkinson is obviously going to be watching the entire time.
Jimmy Watkins: I Want Jaylon Tyson to look too good to be in summer league at this point. You get a first round pick from last year who played well in summer league last year and didn’t get a ton of opportunities to showcase his improvement over the course of last season. Tough Life on a 64 win team that drafted you. You have to kind of wait your turn in that regard. But this is one area where you can really showcase his skills again, even sometimes wear the old cow hat again. Be the best player on the court. I guess for the Cavs purposes, they’d want to see him make some threes and play some D because that’s, that’s what his role is going to be at the, at the club level summer league functions, the best players tend to perform like the best players. Any basketball court kind of lend, kind of bends itself to whoever the best player is on the court. So you want Jaylon Tyson to be that guy. You want Craig Porter Jr. To look pretty similar. You want him to be dicing up these summer league defenses. Elmar Cook said it pretty straightforward. I would say. Let’s see those elite shooting numbers that he put up last season at Duke. Let’s see the unconscious, let’s say no conscious when it comes to shot selection. Let’s see him putting them up, let’s see him going down. Let’s see him hold up physically against other NBA ish type bodies. I mean, this is still summer league we’re talking about here. Not a ton of grown men out there. Although some of the guys who have been around for a couple years and are fighting to get noticed will throw some weight around. But one of the main reasons that Tyrese Proctor dropped 49, besides potentially wanting to be, you know, knowing that the Cavs might have a, a better contract situation for him. That’s always part of this equation. But why other teams might have passed on him would be, man, we like that frame. But 66184. After three years in a college weight room, you know that that gives people pause, that that makes people wonder, when’s it going to come? Is it going to come for you in the weight room? The physical side of things, you want to see him make shots, you expect to see him make shots. And then you just, you want to see him holding his ground, chesting up to people on defense, throwing some shoulders around on the offensive end and doing, doing all those things while staying under control. Right? Because you’ll sometimes you’ll see with some guys who are physically overmatched, they can look the part, they can Throw a shoulder, they can try to chest up, but then they get completely knocked off balance. And great offensive players will manipulate you when you’re off balance. So that’s again, again, Jalen Tyson, be the best dude out there and show the defense, you know, take pride in it. Cray Porter Jr. We’d love to see you make some jump shots as well. And Tyrese Proctor, it’s the physicality for me.
Ethan Sands: Jimmy, I think you make a great point when it comes to Tyrese Proctor and how the game can get away from some of these types of players that are just coming into the NBA. I think I would put that on Jalen Tyson for this summer league. That would be where I want to see him have the biggest step forward. I want the game to slow down for you. I don’t want it to feel like you’re moving 100 miles an hour. I want you to dictate pace. I want you to dictate the flow of the offense. I want you to dictate how the game is going to evolve. Even defensively. Don’t allow for switches and all these things to take the game out of your hands. So I think Jaylon Tyson being able to show how he leads, show how he can develop as a defender and as a flow state performer, I think is extremely important, especially in a season where he could see himself grow. We talked about it on a previous podcast. If Craig Porter Jr. Doesn’t show that he’s capable of handling the workload that the Cavs might need, and Tyrese Proctor is still too raw of a player to just throw into an NBA spotlight that has the expectations that were number one seen the Eastern Conference. I know we said before that Jaylon Tyson hasn’t been used as a guard, has been used more as a wing and a forward and a rebounder and a. And a defensive stopper, but Kenny Akinson might be like, well, let’s see what you can do with the ball in your hand. Can you be a secondary playmaker? Can you be a third ball handler for the Cavs? Right. Because we know his experience at Cal allowed him to have the ball in his hands for a majority of the time. And I’m not saying that Donovan Mitchell and Darius Garland don’t exist and they’re going to offer the ball to Jalen Tyson when they’re on the floor. But having somebody that you can trust in to bring the ball up the floor, and we’ve talked about this as well, the fact that everybody on the floor for this Cavs team to be successful needs to be able to dribble, shoot and defend. And for Jalen Tyson, the first two are extremely important because the third one he’s shown, even though that wasn’t his strength coming into the league, that was one of the highlights from his first year in the NBA, how he was able to hold up defensively against some of these bigger wings, some of these guys who are six six, six foot eight. All of these things. I don’t know about you, but I was high on Craig Porter Jr. A couple seasons ago just because of how he came into the NBA, how he handled pressure and all these things. I think this is the true test for Craig Porter Jr. You had the weird rookie season where it wasn’t really like you were a rookie. You had to play so many significant minutes because Darius Garland was dealing with so many different injuries. And now you come back and you have Darius Garland now on the floor and you have to be in more of a secondary third ball handler with Ty Jerome back on the floor. So it was more like his second season was more like his rookie year than his actual first season. Now do you take that jump? Do you take that step? And I think Craig Porter Jr. Is a big question mark for this team. And there’s a lot of eyes that are going to be on him more so than ever has been before.
Jimmy Watkins: I mean, it’s also his last guaranteed year on the team, right? I mean, his team option is comes around next summer and that’s the way the Cavs roster and cap situation is structured. I don’t know. This is not a. They don’t have the patience. I’m saying I don’t know how much patience they would have for a guy like Craig Porter Jr. At the end of the roster making $2.4 million next year. We’re talking 26, 27. When we know that $2.4 million is not $2.4 million to them. When every penny counts, when we’re talking about the second apron, as we’re talking about, you know, third guard type options. The Cavs also have a team option on Lonzo Ball next year if The Craig Porter Jr. Experience doesn’t work out, if the Lonzo Ball experience doesn’t work out for whatever reason, the Cavs might be minimum shopping again next year. And the veterans minimum is closer to about 3 million now. So Craig does have that going for him. He can save a little bit of money at least for. I think it’s 3 million for guys who have like at least seven years experience. But like he’s not cutting it. And basically to me what it comes down to for this, this third guard spot behind Lonzo and to start the season it will be third got spot because again Darius is going to be hurt. Craig Porter Jr. Has proven he’s a reliable enough ball handler. Defense, he works hard. Size is an issue. Shooting is a question mark. Jalen Tyson works hard on defense. I have questions about whether the ball handling would translate to the pro level. He just hasn’t been in that. And again it needs to can’t be overstated enough. This is not a primary ball handler type person we’re talking about because again the idea of this team as currently constructed is that one of Donovan or Darius will always be on the floor. Heck, Evan Mobley in the second units is often going to be on the floor with you. Oh look, there’s DeAndre Hunter. Like we don’t actually need you to do a ton, but we need you to be capable when called upon handling the ball. Create, you know, attack closeouts, beat your man in a pinch, create advantages, but needs you to be able to shoot. Needs you to be able to space the floor, provide support for Donovan and Darius. And that’s the biggest hurdle to me that’s Tyrese Proctor’s biggest advantage in this. We’re calling it a three man race that we’re talking about the summer league trio options for guys who could fill that third guard spot start the season is again, if that shooting from Duke is real, that’s a hard thing for coaches to turn down. The physicality has to catch up. But I’m telling you, in NBA programs, teams usually feel good about that getting there eventually, maybe not right away, but if the shooting is there, teams will be patient. Teams will put up with a lot over if a guy can really, really knock it down. And Craig Porter Jr. And Jalen Tyson just haven’t proven that at this level. They both by the end of their college careers pretty good, passable mid-30s, three point percentage, guys on decent volume. But just the sample size at this level is small. That skill I think reigns supreme above all else. As much as we’re calling this the summer of defense and the Lonzo ball decision is all about defense. Larry Nash Jr. Decision is a lot about defense in this particular situation, I think shooting is going to reign supreme.
Ethan Sands: That’s kind of how it goes with guard play, right? Even though the NBA is becoming more and more stretch bigs and all these things like the guard’s job is to knock down shots, the guard’s job is to create shots. Whether that’s passing, facilitating, or actually getting to your spot and making your own bucket yourself. It’s so interesting to see the NBA dynamic continue to change. Jimmy, like, we continue to have these conversations, like, do the big three lineups work, right? Do the two big men lineups work? Do you go small now because you have stretch bigs who can also stretch the floor? All of these things that, like, the era of the NBA continues to shift. And that’s one of the things that I like about this league is it’s continuously moving. And the other thing that I don’t really like is it’s a copycat league. And so if somebody does something that works, everybody else is going to try and follow in suit, right? The Thunder, Boston, trying to find out how many wings you can have on a roster, how many big defenders that can switch on to everybody. The switchability of the Cavs being part of that as well. I think it’s just so interesting how the Cavs are constructing their roster. It’s a little bit of everybody, right? It’s a little bit of the best teams. You get the defensive acumen of both the Thunder and. And the Boston Celtics. You have the passing acumen of teams like the Indiana Pacers and the Atlanta Hawks who love to run and get out into space. And then you have the shooting acumen of these teams as well that have people on their teams that are just solely met to make buckets and to get to their spots. Sam Merrow, Max Strut, Tyrese Proctor might become one of those guys. He could become a specialist. Jimmy, that could end up being his role depending on where the Cavs season goes. But summer league is for everybody to make their first impression. And what I was getting into with Jaylon Tyson is more so it’s not your first impression. Show us how much you can do at an NBA level. Show us how much can translate to the NBA floor. Because there’s so much good that you had in your first year, and it got you some starting spots and it got you some extra minutes down the stretch. But what does that mean? How have you developed? Where have you grown, especially over this off season, where as an NBA player, your entire job is focused on improving your weaknesses. And Jimmy, we didn’t get to see a whole lot today, but his jumper looks eerily similar to the one from last year. Not a whole lot has changed, at least in that department. When it comes to just watching him take shots.
Jimmy Watkins: The shooting is as much as about fundamentals and repetition and mechanics. It’s also. It’s a between the shoulders conversation. I mean, speaking of watching practice, there’s a lot of guys on this team that don’t shoot a ton of threes that in a practice setting would wow you with. The amount of threes that they can hit in a row is another hurdle to overcome when the ball swings to you and someone 68235 is doing their best to close out on you and you have to lock in on the focus on the rim just like it’s an empty gym except for the fact there’s 20,000 people in the arena. Breathe a route in four or against you and you know you’re on TV and all that stuff. So I’m not going to pretend to be any sort of shooting mechanics expert. I’ve never gone frame by frame on on JT’s jumper. I just know that by the end of his college career and even sophomore year at Texas tech, he shot 40% from three on three and a half attempts in, you know, 28 minutes. That’s promising stuff. And he was much closer on that team to the role that he’d be playing for the Cavs than he will be or than he was at Cal, I should say now again, I’m looking at the free throw percentage numbers too. Those creep crept up as he evolved as a college player as well. That’s a good sign too. It’s. It’s always a chicken or the egg. And we’ve talked about this on the pod before with like your eyes and CORA types and when Evan Mobley was still developing as a shooter, it’s like, does confidence come from made shots or do made shots give you confidence? The answer is yes. Kind of both. And that’s the trick.
Ethan Sands: Jimmy to end today’s podcast since we focused on the training camp slash backup, backup point guard debate, who do you think? Based on day one and previewing summer league, who do you think of these three? A Tyrese Proctor, Jay Jaylon Tyson and Craig Porter Jr. Who is most ready to crack the 10 or 11 spot in the Cavs rotation and earn some meaningful minutes, more so than they got last year. And for Tyrese Proctor immediately entering in.
Jimmy Watkins: The NBA, I gotta say I’m not really sure that I would describe any of the three as I’m not sure I’d stamp any of them as ready today because I just haven’t seen enough. So I’d go it’s kind of a blah tie.
Ethan Sands: I I would.
Jimmy Watkins: I want to lean. So my general read on this stuff is that draft pedigree wins above all this is an unescable politician, and if you invest more in a player, you’re naturally going to want to see what they can do. And that would, that would point to Jalen Tyson.
Ethan Sands: Right.
Jimmy Watkins: But he’s not. I don’t think you want to get too caught up in positional stuff. He’s not quite this kind of position. And I don’t think his shooting. I think. I think if. Okay, here’s what I’ll say. I think the Cavs want it to be Tyrese Proctor. I think that’s their messaging about how ready he could be. And him playing professionally in Australia, potentially preparing him for what life could bring in the NBA and three years of college production, that, that sort of archetype of player coupled with the fact they have a first round grade on him. If the shooting is real, I think the Cavs would be rooting for him to get that spot because he’s. He’s the most readily. He’s the guy that you could say immediate shooter and then we can put on the weight as we go. But I think I’m going to say Craig Porter Jr. Just because I’ve seen it the most with him and I think that he can. He’s got. I just like his game, man. He’s not. He’s not.
Ethan Sands: You’re.
Jimmy Watkins: He doesn’t fit into your traditional mold of even like your 21st century combo guard. Because I’m not sure about the jumper and that I know that contradicts what I just said. I just think that he’s got the longest tenure here and I think when in doubt, a coach is going to trust the guy who has the most pro experience.
Ethan Sands: If I have to answer my own question, I think the Cavs would want it to be Jalen Tyson just because he’s the former 20th overall pick. He’s a guy that they projected to improve defensively. He’s a guy that they’ve been working on his shot. He’s a guy that they offered starter minutes to like, in part to put him next to some of the better players on the roster to give him a look at what it’s like to play next to these guys. So I’m not saying he’s ready for starter minutes. I’m not saying that’s going to be in the future anywhere near time. But I’m saying, like, if the cows could in fact make it so, like when the second apron makes them make hard decisions, that depreciates the roster that they have. I think Jaylon Tyson’s a guy that’s on a contract that’s helpful and that’s going to want to be here, especially because it’s been home for him. It’s been his second home. And again, as we mentioned, he’s been in the gym all the time. He’s talked about wanting to sleep in the gym if possible. And I think if Jalen Tyson improves his shooting, he has the 6 foot 6 frame, he has the defensive acumen that we mentioned and he has the basketball iq. And if he slow, if the game comes any slower to Jaylon Tyson and he’s able to dictate things rather than letting the speed of the game dictate what he does, I think he could have a major impact on this team down the road. Again, this is a team projected to be the number one seed in the Eastern Conference. Again, so we’re not saying he’s going to do this this season, but future, as they say in spongebob. Future. Future. Right. Because Jalen Tyson is a guy that, that they drafted for a reason. Obviously Tyres Proctor is the same way. But you have to get to a certain point where you’re reliable shooting. As Jimmy mentioned, it could be the. It’s kind of. It’s really funny because we, we have these conversations like it could be the summer of defense or it could be the summer of shooting. Well, to both of them make sense based on how this roster is being constructed.
Jimmy Watkins: I guess I would just say that the context around them also matters too. It might not. This as much as we just racked our brains and we did. We. We did. I think we did a pretty detailed job breaking down this race for 10/11 in the, in the Cavs rotation. Don’t say we didn’t give you anything in the middle of July, folks, because we’re doing. Might just be like, who else is out there? You know, because if it’s, if it’s for. If it’s four shooters around Evan Mobley, well, you might need more defense. And then you turn to Jaylen Tyson. If it’s a, if it’s a Dean Wade, Dean Wade, Jared Allen pairing in the front court, maybe we need more shooting. And maybe in that case it’s Tyrese Proctor. And if it’s. I don’t know if there’s a situation where Donovan has the night off, well, ball handling becomes, you know, that importance becomes emphasized even further. And then That’s Craig Porter Jr. Someone who’s more suited to run the show. So I guess it’s also a good thing that you have three kind of different archetypes of players for this, for this kind of conversation. It goes back to what we’ve been saying. You want to be able to be a chameleon and blend to all the different styles and, and shapes that you might have to play over the course of a season.
Ethan Sands: When you say who else is out there? I’m like, oh, the unrestricted free agent market, that, that, the buyout market. Obviously we talk about that when it comes to the Cavs still needing to make one last move to acquire a 14th player for the roster. And obviously again, they’ve already linked themselves to Luke Travers and Naquan Tomlin as two way guys. They still need a third two way guy because they allowed Imani Bates to walk free. So I do think it’s interesting we touched on a couple of different players on previous podcasts that we think could come into this role. But if Malcolm Brogdon doesn’t get tied into a situation along with the Bradley Beal trade, the rumors around that about a buyout or on all these things, I think it’s interesting to think about him potentially racking our brains. Again, Jimmy to worsen the opportunity chances for Jaylen Tyson, Craig Porter Jr. Like, are the Cavs going to go get another big for the 14th man or are they going to go get a ball handling wing as the 14th man to be on the roster just in case break glass break in case of emergency. That’s where we’re at for the 14th man roster. Or do they just bring back Tristan Thompson for locker room support along with Larry Nance Jr. I think it’s an interesting conversation where the Cavs are going to go, but one thing is for sure, they still have to find one more player to bring onto this roster. So it’s interesting and we’ll keep you guys updated throughout the summer.
Jimmy Watkins: You bring up the, you know, the outside market made me think if Lonzo ball does end up going down, I think they would sign somebody and that’s probably the real answer to this question. Look again, the Cavs would love for one of these guys and you’re, you’re right to point out again, Jaylon Tyson with the draft pedigree, probably the guy that they’re rooting for, especially in year two. Tyrese is a guy they see immediate potential in. As we were talking about, Craig Porter Jr. Has the tenure in the franchise. But if you know, each of them, as we’ve been discussing, has their flaws and if they don’t, you know, if they don’t improve upon those enough, then the Cavs might just decide let’s go get a vet. Someone we we can a known commodity. Someone we can count on this we know there’s not as many swings with the with the vet as there might be a young guy trying to still earn his stripes and learn the hard way through the league. That’s entirely possible. Entirely possible too.
Ethan Sands: I wanted to read this list really quickly of free agents that are still on the market as of July 7th when we’re recording this podcast at 11pm center still on the market Marvin Bagley III. I am intrigued by him, but I know we haven’t talked about him a whole lot. Mohammed Bamba, Bismack, Biambo, Moses Brown, Thomas Bryant, Taj Gibson, Al Horford, Kai Jones, DeAndre Jordan, Alex Lynn, Micah Potter and Tristan Thompson. Power forwards on this list Precious Achua Bol, Chris Boucher, Anthony Gill, James Johnson, Trey lyles, Markief Morris, J.T. thor and P.J. tucker. Small forwards Marcus Baddley, Amir Coffey, Terry Tory Craig, Jay Crowder, Kessler Edwards, Javante Green obviously is another name that’s still circulating. Kevin Knox, Cody Martin, Cam Reddish, Lamar Stevens and then the shooting guards Trey Alexander, Malik Beasley, who we know is questionable in every conversation right now. Brandon Boston Jr. Alec Burks is an interesting one. Josh Christopher Sam, Seth Curry, Bones Hylam, Mason Jones, Johnny Juzang, De Anthony Melton, Gary Payton ii, Trevalyn Guin, Lonnie Walker and then point guard is still on the market as I mentioned. Malcolm Brogdon, Markell Foltz, Reggie Jackson, Corey Joseph, Cameron Payne, Alfred Payton, Ben Simmons and Delon Wright are all options still out there for the Cavs to look at. Sorry that was long winded, especially to end the podcast, but I wanted you to have the names of people to think about and for our subtexters come and text and see or and tell me and tell us who you might want from this list. There’s obviously probably more out there that I missed. Go do your research on the back end and come back to me with who you think would be a great fit for the CAVS for the 14th roster spot. 14th roster spot. And if the Cavs end up bringing on a 15th player, which they usually don’t, to start a season, who you would like them to use that spot on. But 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 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 in the Cat cast 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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