CLEVELAND, Ohio — In this episode of the Wine and Gold Talk podcast, hosts Ethan Sands and Chris Fedor discuss the future of Dean Wade within the team.
Takeaways:
Cavaliers Coaching Staff Changes: The Cavaliers have experienced significant coaching staff departures. They are considering both external candidates and promoting from within.
Johnnie Bryant’s Status with the Team: Johnnie Bryant is likely to remain with Cleveland as associate head coach under Kenny Atkinson.
Larry Nance Jr.’s Return and Leadership Value: Larry Nance Jr.’s return brings valuable playoff experience and leadership, especially for mentoring younger players.
Projected Starting Lineup and Rotation: Projected starting lineup includes Mitchell, Ball, Strus, Mobley, and Allen, with Atkinson experimenting with various combinations.
De’Andre Hunter’s Optimal Role: De’Andre Hunter is best suited for a sixth-man role, providing a scoring punch off the bench.
Dean Wade’s Future with the Team: Dean Wade’s versatility makes him a valuable depth piece, particularly on defense.
Lonzo Ball’s Impact and Role: Lonzo Ball’s addition provides defense, transition play, and playmaking, differing from Ty Jerome’s scoring focus.
Regular Season Approach Under Kenny Atkinson: The Cavaliers will use the regular season to experiment with different lineups and rotations for playoff readiness.
Need for a Physical Center: The Cavaliers need a “bruising center” to complement Evan Mobley and Jarrett Allen, especially against dominant big men.
Make-or-Break Year for Several Players: This season is career-defining for players like Dean Wade, Craig Porter Jr., and Darius Garland, who need to excel in their roles.
Listen using the player below:
You can also listen using your preferred podcast app. Subscription information is below.
Subscribe and listen onApple Podcasts or Spotify.
The video version of the podcast is on YouTube as well.
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. Joining me today, Chris Fedor. And yes, you guessed it. We’re here with none other than another hey Chris episode. And today we’re going to get into everything that our subtexters had to ask us over the weekend during the fourth of July holiday. All of these things when it comes to how the Cavs are going into summer league, when it comes to how the Cavs are going into the regular season and projecting forward. And Chris, there are some decent questions here that we’re going to get into today. The first one comes from Howard in Lyndhurst. He asks what’s the latest on the coaching staff, who is staying, who is being promoted, what positions are open and who is being hired. And Chris, I’m going to do some already known information before you get into the insight that you have. As we know, Jordan Ott and demari Carroll are now in Phoenix. Chris Darnell, who is the former head coach of the Cleveland Charge, is in Sacramento. Brian Tabaldi is in Providence. And the Cavs are looking to add on to the coaching staff after already bringing in Jawad Williams. And I know, Chris, that you might have had a conversation with Jawad today. We’re not going to get into that because I feel like we have a bigger story coming in the coming weeks. But do you have any insight on who might be joining this staff and why it is so essential for the people to be just as good as the coaches who, when the Cavs go ahead and make these hires, I will.
Chris Fedor: Say that there’s going to be another departure coming for the Cavs. Not somebody that is well known. Not somebody who’s front of the bench, not necessarily somebody who’s back of the bench, but somebody who is part of Kenny Atkinson’s support staff. Somebody that worked hand in hand with Kenny with a variety of different things, including some player development stuff. He’s taking a different job, not even in the NBA, but doing, doing something else. So that one is, is going to be coming down the line. From everything that, that I’ve been told beyond that, you know, the Jared Dudley thing, it felt like there was a possibility that Jared was going to come here with Kenny. Kenny likes him. Kenny’s been around him. Kenny coached him. And, and Jared is well respected around the NBA. He, he’s looked at as a guy who, you know, if it’s not going to happen immediately within the next five years, probably going to be in the conversation for, for head coaching jobs. This step that he’s making, he’s choosing to make it with the Denver Nuggets. That’s totally fine. Those things happen. He was sought after by a number of different teams, including the Cavs, because he is so well respected, because he does have such a great resume already and he continues to build that resume up even more. So the Cavs were hopeful that they were going to be able to, to get Jared here, and it’s not happening. He’s. He’s going to Denver instead. Beyond Jared, from, from what I’ve been told that the Cavs have talked to about five or six different people from outside the organization and it’s just about waiting to see if this is the right opportunity for those guys, if they’re ready to make the jump here. But there’s certainly a bigger opportunity in Cleveland. It’s a 64 win team. It’s one of the best teams in the Eastern Conference. They have a legitimate chance at an NBA championship and there are prime positions open because of some of the departures. So if those guys that Kenny has talked to that he has relationships with, if they decide to stay exactly where they’re at, or if they decide to go to a different place because for whatever reason that might be more comfortable for them, then the, the Cavs certainly feel comfortable enough to promote from within because they believe in the depth of this coaching staff and they believe that they have guys on their staff that are ready for bigger roles and, and bigger responsibilities. So it’s kind of a wait and see approach for the Cavs. And Jared Dudley, you know, he did take the job in Denver, but, but while he was deliberating because he had so many different options and because so many teams were interested in them, those teams that were interested in him, including the Cavs, were kind of in a holding pattern because the last thing that you want to do is, is fill that spot with some. Somebody else. So you have to wait and see what he’s going to do. He made his decision. Now the Cavs can kind of move forward and figure out how they’re going to round out this roster. But at this point, a lot of signs are pointing to internal, internal growth from some of their assistants already on staff.
Ethan Sands: The other notion that I think is important to touch on because we mentioned him earlier in the summer, being tied to the head coaching position with the Phoenix Suns and also with the potential hiring in New York, Johnny Bryant. And he’s a guy that a lot of our subtexters and Fans and listeners are asking about trying to figure out if he’s still in these contentions to be an assistant coach elsewhere. Well, I think, and I’ve heard and I’ve learned that Johnny Bryant is not really in those conversations anymore. Right. Because he’s enjoying one being an associate head coach, getting to learn under Kenny Atkinson, getting to coach Donovan Mitchell and just having the experience of having the opportunity to win ball games. That’s one of the most helpful experience bonuses that any coach can get. If you’re a part of a team that’s going into the playoffs on a consistent basis, you’re getting extra opportunities, extra knowledge, extra experience that some of the coaches simply are not getting because they’re not being put in these scenarios. And, and for Johnny Bryant, a coach that wants to be a head coach in the NBA at some point, I think he needs more playoff experience. I think he needs to be a part of this roster, a part of this coaching staff to help them get over the hump and learn what it takes to get past the Eastern Conference semifinals, into the conference finals and even further, because that is the goal.
Chris Fedor: I don’t think Cavs fans should worry, Ethan. I don’t think they should worry about Johnny leaving the organization for, for what is perceived as a lateral move unless there are some unforeseen circumstances. That just doesn’t make a lot of sense from somebody like Johnny. If Johnny is more than likely. If, if Johnny is going to depart this organization, it’s because he finally gets the head coaching job that he covets. But there’s nowhere else that he could go that would give him a bigger, more prominent position than what he has here in Cleveland unless he became a head coach somewhere else. He’s the associate head coach. He’s the right hand man for Kenny Atkinson. So unless he gets a head coaching job, I just, I don’t see him having a desire to leave or thinking that it makes sense when it comes to his career, that that’s a step that, that he should make or, or he would need to make.
Ethan Sands: And of course, Mike Brown now taking the position with the New York Knicks as their head coach. He actually had his introductory press conference today, I believe it was. So that’s not in the realm of any opportunity he will be getting in anytime soon unless things burn in New York. There is always a possibility, Chris. It’s never say never in this fluid league. Right. But getting into the next question from our subtexters goes into one of the players that we actually got to talk to today. I got to meet for the first time Larry Nance Jr. A guy who, after his introductory press conference, Chris I wasn’t expecting a whole lot because I hadn’t met the dude yet, but I was ready to run through a brick wall for him and I wasn’t even playing. So I can’t imagine what some of these guys who have not only experienced him on the sidelines with them, but played alongside him. What that’s going to do for their confidence, what’s that going to do for their. For their readiness and just wanting to play for and elevating the chemistry and camaraderie that has already been built within this organization and within this roster.
Chris Fedor: I thought there was something that Larry said earlier today, Ethan, that was really, really important. And I don’t think it was predetermined. I don’t think he planned to say it. I think it happened organically. But I think it’s important. When you look at the scope of this basketball team, one of the things that we have talked about on this podcast and I’ve written about and I’ve gotten a lot of criticism for actually is talking about the level of readiness of, of some of the guys on this roster. Some of the guys on this roster not named Donovan Mitchell. And I, I think for Larry to open up and say, hey, like when I came to Cleveland the first time, he was three years into his career, he was coming from Los Angeles. That was not a winning team at that time. They were winning 17 games and then 20 something games. So there weren’t a lot of high stakes games that he was involved in. But the Cavs liked him, that’s why they traded for him. At the time that they traded for him, the Cavs were. It felt like there was a chance that maybe they missed the NBA Finals. It was the Last year of LeBron James, Kyrie Irving was gone, and this front office just felt like they needed a jolt. And they felt like Larry’s versatility, Larry’s defense, his willingness to play out on the perimeter, his youth, his athleticism, they just thought that he was going to be a really, really good fit. And at that trade deadline, the Cavs made a few different moves to kind of shake up their roster. And a lot of those based on what they did to finish out the regular season and in the early portion of the playoffs, a lot of those helped them get to the NBA Finals again. But at that time, Larry was still young in his career. He was still finding himself. He was still trying to figure out how to be a winning basketball player. And going from 17 wins in Los Angeles his rookie season to okay championship or bust expectations in the final year, potentially of LeBron James, that is a drastic change for a young player like Larry. So he admitted today, Ethan, that he wasn’t ready for that. His game wasn’t ready. He wasn’t there from a mental standpoint. He wasn’t there from an emotional standpoint. He said he was nervous going into those games. Obviously, there was a lot of pressure on him. There was a lot of expectations placed on him because he was part of the changes made at the trade deadline and because he was looked at as a guy to kind of help the Cavs get to that next step, to get to another championship opportunity against the Golden State warriors and maybe possibly do something, enough of something to keep LeBron from leaving as an upcoming free agent. So that’s a lot of pressure. It’s a lot of expectation. And if your game’s not ready for that and if you don’t have a level of basketball maturity, that’s going to show up. And Larry admitted that there was just early on in his career, in that stage of his development, he wasn’t ready for that. And I think it’s important. He’s gone through that and he’s figured out, okay, how do I get over that? What do I have to do to get rid of those jitters? What can I do to prepare myself better for playoff basketball? And since he left the Cavs, they traded him in 2021 because he felt like he was ready for an opportunity to compete for a playoff spot. More ready than. Than he was when he first got traded here. And. And he asked the front office, he said, you know, look, it’s. It’s not happening. We’re still in the middle of a rebuild. Can you send me somewhere that’s going to give me a better chance to compete in the playoffs? Because I think I’m ready for that now. I think I’m ready for. For that from a personal standpoint and from where. Where my game is as a professional. And so he got traded and he played in Portland, then he went to New Orleans, then he went to Atlanta. And during that time, he got opportunities to play in the playoffs. He got some of the things that he wanted, and he performed relatively well. And at the very least, he felt more ready for that, and it gave him more of a desire to compete at that level. He called it the itch that he has. But. But for somebody who admitted that he wasn’t ready and then figured out how to make Himself more ready. That is going to be so valuable for somebody like Darius Garland. That is going to be so valuable for somebody like Evan Mobley. Larry can talk through those kinds of things with those guys. He can have honest conversations behind the scenes with those guys, maybe more so with Darius, because he actually played alongside Darius, and at various points, you know, they shared plane rides together, they shared bus rides together. There was just more of an opportunity for Larry to build that relationship with Darius during that stage of. Of Darius’s career and that stage of. Of Larry’s career. So to have somebody like that who has gone through some of those. Look, Darius didn’t look ready. And I know he was injured and he was less than 100% and he was dragging his foot, but from a basketball maturity standpoint, he just didn’t look ready for Eastern Conference semifinals. Basketball, he didn’t look ready. If the Cavs were going to advance past the Eastern Conference semifinals, he didn’t look ready to compete for a championship. He didn’t. So to have somebody like Larry who can talk through some of those things, who can be open and honest and share those experiences and maybe give Darius a few pointers about how to take that next step, how to be better prepared for that, I think that’s really important. And, you know, we don’t know what’s going to happen for the remainder of this offseason and who else the Cavs are going to bring in. And Larry’s not going to just come in here and say, I’m the leader of this basketball team. Everybody else step aside. But the experience that he had, the potential, shared experience that I think that can be good for, for somebody like.
Ethan Sands: Darius, I completely agree. And the other part of that is Now Larry Naz Jr. Coming into here and saying, fist balled up, ready to go, ready to ball, ready to ride, right? This is a guy that is ready to not only have an impact on the perimeter, to play defense, to play alongside Evan Mobley or Jared Allen, whatever the situation might call for, but it’s also just. He understands what the physicality will call for in the NBA playoffs, and that’s huge because you understand what you have to bring. There’s not a switch that you have to flip. It’s just an understanding. And I really don’t like that saying, Chris. Like, I feel like if a team has to flip a switch, you weren’t ready to begin with. I feel like you have to have that mental edge already known already in you. Like, OKC didn’t change who they were. The Indiana Pacers didn’t change who they were. They just elevated to the level that they had to be at to have success in the NBA Finals or to get to the NBA Finals, which is the goal for the Cleveland Cavaliers. But I wanted to get to this question from Ben Wye in Akron, who asks, with Larry Nance Jr. Now on the roster as a big coming off the bench, does this move allow for DeAndre Hunter to be the starter alongside the core four this season? I would assume that bench lineup of Ball, Nance, Stru, Merrill, Tyson, Porter, Wade and Proctor are the game plan now. And while I understand the thinking of Ben Wise question, Chris, as the summer has gone on, I have came to your side of thinking more and more when it came to Max Strust as a starter, right? His impact over the season, his impact over the last two seasons, frankly, in the starting lineup and what he he does on the floor that is so impactful, right? His spacing, his pace, his ability to move off the ball, his ability to shoot the basketball, his ability to allow Donovan Mitchell and Darius Garland to get off the ball when need be, right? And I think now that the Cavs have showed utmost confidence in re signing Sam Merrill, he’s exactly the player that you would want to kind of flow into the role of Max Drew off the bench. So to say this, you would now have a different bench lineup which might include Larry Nash, which might not, right? So as of now, we’ve talked about this already on this podcast a couple of different times. My starting lineup would be Donovan Mitchell, Lonzo Ball, Max Struth, Evan Mobley and Jared Allen. And my second unit, the unit that would come in to play with Donovan Mitchell and Evan Mobley, who are generally going to stay on the floor floor to start it, would be Donovan, Sam Merrill. I would keep Lonzo in to start the season just because he’s healthy and you want to see how much he can give you. Plus you’re going to be able to give him more rest throughout the season when Darius Garland gets back and all of these things. So I would keep Lonzo Ball in that second unit as a small forward, allow him to guard the best perimeter player for the opposing team, have DeAndre Hunter at the 4 and have Evan Mobley at the 5. That’s where I would go for the second unit. But I know you have thoughts on what the Cavs construction and depth chart could look like coming into the season already.
Chris Fedor: Well, I think it’s just going to be a lot of different things. I think it’s Going to be a lot of different looks and Kenny Atkinson is a mad scientist and he’s going to come up with different lineups and combinations. I was talking to somebody yesterday, very close to the organization and they mentioned a jumbo package that the Cavs might use with Alonzo Ball at point guard, somebody at the 2 who’s got more size than Donovan Mitchell, Larry NY Jr maybe at the 4, DeAndre Hunter at the 3 and Evan Mobley at the 5, Dean Wade maybe at the 3 instead of DeAndre Hunter. So there’s just more options that Kenny has when it comes to these lineup construction situations that, that he’s going to put himself into and he’s going to experiment with a bunch of different things. But Kenny likes Max in the starting lineup. Kenny likes the skill set of Max Struse. DeAndre Hunter had the best year of his career coming off the bench in a six man role. Look, if he didn’t get traded to the Cavs midway through the season, he would have been a six man of the year finalist. He might have won the thing, who knows? The way that he was trending, the impact that he was having, the stabilizing force of the second unit for the Atlanta Hawks, that was a really, really good role for him. And I just don’t think you have to rush into making that kind of change when you know, DeAndre can come off the bench and fill in the scoring gaps, provide a scoring punch. Look, they’re going to need somebody to come off the bench and take some of that scoring load from Ty Jerome. If there’s one thing that you can say about Ty, he was a gunner, he was not shy and he was a microwave scorer. We’re talking about 12 points per game coming off the bench. That’s not Lonzo. Lonzo does different things. Lonzo impacts the game in a different kind of way. Lonzo thinks shoot second, he thinks pass first. That that’s how he’s been wired. So look, there are going to be times where Lonzo is going to look for his shot or he’s going to find himself open and catch and shoot situations where he’s going to grab a rebound and he’s going to push it up or he’s going to attack in transition. But Lonzo’s not that much of like a half court dynamo. Ty Jerome was. Ty Jerome was running pick and roll stuff. Ty Jerome was running DHO stuff. Ty Jerome was getting to that float game and whatnot. So they’re going to need somebody to pick up that scoring slack for the Second unit and it’s not going to be Lonzo because that’s just not his game. Like I said, he impacts the game in different kinds of ways. DeAndre is somebody who can impact the game in the same kind of way. Give him a bunch of shots, give him a bunch of touches, put him in different spots on the floor, maybe give him some face up opportunities, maybe give him some post up opportunities in a mismatch. So there’s just a lot of different things that Kenny can continue to explore with DeAndre in that role if he was in the starting lineup. There’s just not enough shots to go around. There’s not enough touches to go around. You got Darius, you got Donovan, you got Evan Mobley, who’s going to be a big part of this offense as well. You’ve got Jared Allen who needs touches and shots. So I just don’t know that based on the construction of this roster that DeAndre Hunter being in the starting lineup is the best thing for DeAndre. And I don’t know that it’s the best thing for the Cavs. I think him coming off the bench is a better fit for this team. But like I said at the very beginning, that’s, that’s not the case for all 82 games and that’s not going to be the case for all 48 minutes throughout the course of a basketball game because that’s just not how it goes. And if there’s one thing that, that we have heard since the, the loss against the Indiana Pacers from this Cavs team is that not that the regular season is meaningless because there’s still value to it, but like it’s not win at all cost. It’s not the end all, be all. And that means that Kenny is going to use the regular season to tinker with lineups and rotational things. And what is in October on opening night is not necessarily going to be what is in December or January, April, May, June. The reason why the Cavs are so excited about Lonzo, the reason why they’re so excited about Larry Nance Jr. Is because they can fill multiple roles and they can fill multiple positions. And it just gives a mad scientist like Kenny different ways that he can put together a five man lineup. And you’re going to see a whole bunch of looks from Kenny throughout the course of this season.
Ethan Sands: I think we’re going to get very tired of trying to keep looking up all of the different lineups that Kenny Atkinson uses and the offensive rating and defensive rating and net ratings of all of these different lineups, trying to figure out which lineup is actually the best so we can talk to Kenny about them. It’ll be fun in that regard. But, Chris, you mentioned Dean Wade and one of our subtexters going back to Ben Wye, he had a second question that got into Dean Wade, and I liked what you went into about the jumbo package of either DeAndre Hunter or Dean Wade at the 3, Larry Nance or Evan Mobley at the 4, and Jared Allen at the 5, or even putting Evan Mobley at the 5 to start, stretch the lineup as well. But we have had discussions throughout this summer about the potential for Dean Wade to be dealt because he was kind of in the same situation as Isaac Okoro, either not being able to show that he could have production offensively in the playoffs, or he simply would not take shots. And there was even instances in the playoffs this past season where we saw frustration from Kenny Atkinson, not just because he wasn’t taking or making shots, but because he wasn’t doing the role that he was asked or tasked with when he was on the floor. In one case, it was a rebound, an offensive rebound or a defensive rebound that Dean Wade simply did not attack the glass hard enough and he got put on the bench for it. And I was wondering, and so was Ben, why do you think that this move to get Larry Nance Jr. Someone who can defend, someone who can play next to Jared Allen or Evan Mobley, as we’ve mentioned, could mean that the Cavs are going to trade Dean Wade this off season? Or in Ben wise words, how likely is it that they trade Dean Wade this offseason?
Chris Fedor: I certainly don’t think it’s as likely as it was coming into this off season, because I think it was a situation where if they couldn’t trade Isaac for what they thought was an upgrade or a better fitting player, then I think they would have really explored the possibility of Dean Wade. But I think once Isaac left, I think there was like a hole within their roster construction of needing somebody with that kind of skill set. And Dean is not Isaac, and Isaac’s not Dean. But they’re asked to do a lot of the same things, get offensive rebounds, second chance opportunities, be a connector on the offensive end of the floor, space the floor, knock down open shots if you get them, defend, maybe take on the best offensive player on the other team, play multiple positions. So I think there’s. I think there’s a need still on this roster for, for somebody like Dean to make the Cavs feel good about their depth when it comes to a player like that and when it comes to the position that he’s probably going to play. And I just find it hard to believe, you know, based on how this roster is currently constructed, it doesn’t feel like there’s some glaring hole where they’re like, okay, we’ve got to find a way to fill that, some kind of way and that’s Dean Wade in multiple picks in the future or something. Second round picks in the future because they don’t have first round picks, but multiple second round picks with Dean Wade to fill some kind of hole. I think they feel like Dean is playable, that Dean could be in the rotation, that Dean provides more value to them as a player on this roster, as it stands right now, as a player on this roster than he would in some kind of trade that would bring somebody back. So I think having as many 3 and D type guys, multi positional 3 and D type guys, I think that’s a benefit to the Cavs. I think there’s also something here. Kenny dabbled a little bit with Dean as, as a five man. So if, and this is an if, if they’re not going to use that, that second open roster spot that they had coming into this off season, projected open roster spot, guy number 14. If, if that’s not a center, if that’s not like a big bruising physical center to provide more depth in the front court, if they decide that it makes more sense to, to make guy number 14 a ball handler or a two way wing or something like that in a pinch. Emphasis on in a pinch. Dean can play the five, and he did play the five last year for Kenny Atkinson. Larry Nance Jr. Doesn’t love playing the five. He has been very honest about that. He does not see himself as a five. But there are going to be opportunities in certain matchups where he probably is going to play the five. But like if something were to happen to Jared Allen, if something were to happen to Evan Mobley, having as many options on this roster potentially that could shift to that position in a pinch, in the right situation, in the right matchup, I think it makes more sense to keep somebody like Dean because of all those things.
Ethan Sands: Two quick thoughts before I get out of here, Chris. I’ve said this on the podcast before and I’ll say it again. I think it would be a mistake if the Cavs went away from Dean Wade this off season. Especially as you mentioned, with how the roster is constructed, his defense is and his size are so pivotal to what the Cavs are able to do and his versatility on the roster. And you mentioned how the Cavs could use him legitimately as a three, four or five. And I mentioned the physicality. Larry Nance Jr. Sure, he says that he’s going to be ready for that, and we believe him because of the experiences that he’s had. But you make a great point. He is not a five man and he doesn’t like banging bodies with players like Joel Embiid or Miles Turner, who he might have to with in the Eastern Conference playoffs. But the reality of it is, is Dean Wade has had opportunities to do that as well. Do I like him at the 5? I wouldn’t go that far. But I’m saying Dean Wade is playable at the 3, 4 and 5, and he can legitimately guard players 3 through 5. There are arguments to say that he can guard some one through five. We know that when the Cavs play the Detroit Pistons, it’s likely a Dean Wade game because Kate Cunningham does not like seeing Dean Wade on the opposite end of the floor. Right? But the other part of this is, simply put, how important the roster construction is going to be when they decide on who this 14 player is going to be if they go and get a bruising center. It is a lot of trust and a lot of belief in guys like Lonzo Ball, in Jalen Tyson, Tyrese Proctor even. Because the other option that we’ve talked about, the Cavs going and getting in this offseason in the free agent market is another wing, right? And that would depreciate the value again of Dean Wade slightly depending on the skill set of of that player. But in this league right now, you can never have enough of scoring wings with size that can play defense kind of right? But I said this again on this podcast and I’m going to reiterate it again. I believe that the Cavs need a bruising center. They need an enforcing center because Jared Allen does great against some guys like Giannis Antetokounmpo for some reason. Jared Allen has great games against Giannis, Right? Defensively, there are other centers around the league who are also bruisers who Jarrett Allen has success against Joel Embiid, not one of them. Nikola Jokic, not one of them. Right? So I think the Cavs need a bruiser, an enforcer, someone, again, who is not going to back down from any challenge and is going to help them. Not just in the emotional value that Tristan Thompson brought, not in the spacing value that Larry Ness is going to bring, but someone who is going to be an absolute deterrent on the defensive end and someone that is going to bully in the paint on the offensive end. Because if you can get spacing in some of these lineups, great. But if you can go to the paint on every given possession and use a screener and a half roller, you can and get into the painted area. That is so important also to what the Cavs are going to use. Because then you have sprayouts, then you have kickouts, then you have motion offense going on around them. That is going to allow everybody to be open in these scenarios where you have a big that is taking up space. And Jared Allen is one of the best screeners and rollers in the NBA, but there are situations where he gets timid. Look to Games 5 and 6 of the Eastern Conference semifinals if you need.
Chris Fedor: When it comes to Dean Wade, some of the conversations that we were having last year, they were through the lens of how important he was based on what else was here. You know what I mean? In the last six months it looks different and what the what the Cavs need from Dean and the role that he’s going to occupy for this team, it’s become different and it’s probably more catered to who he is as a player, how good he is as a player. Now all of a sudden you have DeAndre Hunter that can play those same minutes, right? You have Larry Nance Jr. Who could play those same minutes if he’s not playing backup five, he could play the four. You have Max stru that if you want to play small ball, you could shift max to the 4 in in certain lineups against certain teams. You might be able to do that with Jaylen Tyson too. Now that’s probably something that Kenny is going to dabble with a little bit. He did that with Isaac Okoro at various points. He made him a four man in in certain lineups. But it’s like what the Cavs need out of Dean, how much they’re relying on him. That that isn’t the same today is is what it was especially early on last season in the regular season. So now you’re talking about him being guy 10 in the rotation basically maybe 9 slash 10 in the rotation. That’s about right. You know what I mean? We you start asking him to be a little bit more than that when you start when you’re in a situation where you feel like you need the things that Dean brings to the table and he’s not as much of like a luxury rotational player or a sometimes rotational player or a matchup based Rotational player. That’s very, very different. That’s a different kind of conversation. And I think the depth that the Cavs have added and I think the way that they’ve not reconfigured this roster, but I would say revamped this roster and some of the other options that they have in terms of how they can put together these lineups and what they’re asking of DeAndre Hunter and what they’re asking of Larry Nance Jr. I just think that’s a better situation for Dean to be in where it doesn’t open him up to his flaws. And he does have flaws. He’s a flawed basketball player. He’s a $6 million player a year. You know what I mean? Like, he’s a back end of the rotation player on a championship team. That’s who he is. That’s how we should be talking about him. That’s how we should be viewing him. That’s how the Cavs should be viewing him. And some of the moves that they’ve made over the last six months or so, it allows them to view him that kind of way. And, and it puts Dean in a situation where, like, his flaws aren’t going to be as exposed by some of these other teams.
Ethan Sands: And Chris, I know we. We’ve talked about how the role of Dean Wayne has changed, and it absolutely has. And as we’ve talked about on multiple occasions on this podcast, the NBA is flying fluid. The roster is fluid. Things change at the drop of a hat. But I’m not really known as a take artist, and I don’t think I ever want to be known as a take artist. But one of my first takes on the cleveland.com beat came after the 2023, 2024 playoffs when the Cavs were bounced by the Boston Celtics. And I was very much of a believer that Dean Wade had to be healthy for the Cavs to make a deeper run in the playoffs. And even though his role has changed, I still believe that. I still think that he has to be a key role player for this team. He has to be a player that has the confidence that, when called upon, can do his job to an elite level, has to be able to, whatever the situation may be, whatever the scenario calls for, as we mentioned, is Kenny Atkinson puts you at the three. You gotta dominate, guarding whoever you’re guarding. If Kenny Atkinson puts you at the four of the five, you gotta get boards and you gotta stretch the floor. That’s what your job is. And we’ve talked about injury history a lot throughout the summer when it comes to Lonzo Ball, Ty jerome, Larry Nance Jr. Dean Wade’s in that conversation as well, and I think he needs to maintain his health when it comes to this next season to not only prove that he can maintain as an NBA player and maintain his value on a Cleveland Cavaliers team that is aiming and gunning once again for the number one seed in the Eastern Conference, but also while the contract conversations are happening whether or not you can be helpful to another team if that happens. Because not a lot of teams around the NBA want anybody that is afraid to shoot the basketball when someone is screaming at you and trying to invigorate confidence in you to shoot the ball. That’s not how the NBA works. So I think Dean Wade, we’ve talked about a lot of this year being make or break years for a lot of different players. Craig Porter Jr. Is one of them, Dean Wade’s one of them, and I think Darius Garland’s another one as well. 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. If you want to have your questions answered on our weekly hey Chris episode, this is where you send in your questions, and you can only do so if you 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.
Note: Artificial intelligence was used to help generate this story from the Cleveland Wine and Gold Talk Podcast by cleveland.com. Visitors to cleveland.com have asked for more text stories based on website podcast discussions.
If you purchase a product or register for an account through a link on our site, we may receive compensation. By using this site, you consent to our User Agreement and agree that your clicks, interactions, and personal information may be collected, recorded, and/or stored by us and social media and other third-party partners in accordance with our Privacy Policy.