Speaker 1: Donovan, Mitchell brandon Ingram Trey Young. Which of those three
Speaker 1: high profile stars is most likely to be traded this offseason? Also,
Speaker 1: what's going on with the Lakers coaching search, and what
Speaker 1: were the latest adventures that Chris Haynes stumbled into on
Speaker 1: his latest trip to the Big Apple to Madison Square Garden,
Speaker 1: the mecca of basketball. We get into all that next
Speaker 1: here on this League Uncut.
Speaker 2: Welcome to this League Uncut in the world of twenty
Speaker 2: four hour NBIA News. This's you love, Chris Haynes. It's time,
Speaker 2: works time, It's so time. This League Uncut is.
Speaker 3: Underway in a fire.
Speaker 2: This should be a good one.
Speaker 1: Hey everyone, welcome in to another edition of this League Uncut.
Speaker 1: Mark Stein here with Chris Haynes. Bit of an unusual
Speaker 1: schedule for us as we record on this Thursday afternoon,
Speaker 1: will be a same day record and post. We're doing
Speaker 1: this before the big game six in Minneapolis. Nuggets, once
Speaker 1: down two in this series, have stormed back to win
Speaker 1: three in a row, including two in Minnesota. Nuggets with
Speaker 1: a chance to finish this thing off tonight, let's see
Speaker 1: if the Wolves can win one at home and take
Speaker 1: that series. The most anticipated second round series to a
Speaker 1: game seven, But we decided, because of the schedules that
Speaker 1: we both are following this week, that it would be best, easiest,
Speaker 1: safest for us to get together in the afternoon before
Speaker 1: this game. So we will not be able to talk
Speaker 1: much about that series, but we're going to talk about
Speaker 1: everything else. Chris Haynes fresh off another trip to his
Speaker 1: favorite city, New York, New York. We'll get to that,
Speaker 1: but just in general, was it all right? They are?
Speaker 1: They still treating you well in Manhattan.
Speaker 3: Treat me, you know, treat me tremendously. They were trying
Speaker 3: to convince me to come to a game seven, if
Speaker 3: there is a game seven, they want me to come
Speaker 3: to that game. As you know, well as you should know, ESPN,
Speaker 3: ABC have Game six and Game seven of the series,
Speaker 3: so I will not be attended. That was officially my
Speaker 3: final sideline game of the season.
Speaker 1: Breaking news, your last sideline game of the season, last
Speaker 1: Massive Square Garden berger of the season.
Speaker 3: Yeah, that was it for the Knicks or four and
Speaker 3: oh when I cover a game?
Speaker 1: Last hangout with Latrell Spree, Well for the season.
Speaker 3: You're a hero, not just that again. I met Latrell
Speaker 3: Massive Square Garden has been really good to me. Producer Ryan,
Speaker 3: I know he's going to get on this Stein because
Speaker 3: we told we were going to get to the meat
Speaker 3: and potatoes at the beginning. But I'm sorry, I have
Speaker 3: to say this.
Speaker 1: This is it's more natural to talk about your travels.
Speaker 3: He was.
Speaker 1: Producer Ryan was wrong. This is the more natural show
Speaker 1: because I know where you're going. I think I know
Speaker 1: where you're going with this. Can I just can I
Speaker 1: just say? Is this about meeting another one of your heroes?
Speaker 3: Yes? It is. How would you know where this is going,
Speaker 3: Stein when you don't have an I G. How do
Speaker 3: you know? I think if you're on I G.
Speaker 1: No, because I think it was on Facebook too, so
Speaker 1: I think I saw it there.
Speaker 3: It was on Facebook, I did. I did Madison Square.
Speaker 1: Gold Man, I saw it on Old Man.
Speaker 3: I yes, I met my favorite player of all time.
Speaker 3: I'm growing up as a killer Trails free Will masson
Speaker 3: Square Garden a few weeks ago. We talked about that.
Speaker 3: But Stein the other day in New York Game five,
Speaker 3: Oh Man, met my favorite rapper of all time, My
Speaker 3: favorite rapper of all time, the one and only Buster Rhymes.
Speaker 3: Oh my goodness, man, that was the first time I
Speaker 3: met him, so I had the chance to go talk
Speaker 3: to him. He gave me a hug. Man, I said, Buster,
Speaker 3: I named like five of his albums just to prove
Speaker 3: that I'm a fan, I said, Buster, I was with
Speaker 3: you from the Leaders of the New School Days, from
Speaker 3: from Genesis, the album from When Disaster Strikes to Extinction
Speaker 3: Level Event. I just started naming all the albums. He
Speaker 3: was just laughing and he I said, I'm from Fresno.
Speaker 3: I was one of the rare West Coast dudes that
Speaker 3: was rocking a East Coast cat in Fresno. Buster rhyse,
Speaker 3: he said, Fresno, Hunt Fresno. He said, Man, I'm actually
Speaker 3: performing in Fresno this weekend, he said, he said, he said,
Speaker 3: He's performing with t Paine this weekend in forres Though,
Speaker 3: I'm like, ain't this a bouttle bitch, Like, I'm not
Speaker 3: even gonna be there.
Speaker 1: Fred, I'm hearing that you would have gotten.
Speaker 3: Oh that would have been so awesome, man, But nah,
Speaker 3: that was cool. Matt buster Hides took a picture of him. Man,
Speaker 3: everything was cool.
Speaker 1: So did you just run into him or did someone
Speaker 1: introduce you guys or he know he was what happened?
Speaker 3: He was sitting courtside and I had to pass by
Speaker 3: him to get to my seat. He was sitting directly
Speaker 3: by the Indiana Patients bench and I sit behind the
Speaker 3: Indiana Patients bench, so I had to walk past him
Speaker 3: to get to my seat. And I saw him. You know,
Speaker 3: he got this got this big old platinum diamond shame,
Speaker 3: big old platinum dimond. You know, you can't miss him.
Speaker 3: And so I saw him and I was like, man,
Speaker 3: this is I gotta go like it was doing a
Speaker 3: time out. I'm sorry, y'all. I know I'm supposed to
Speaker 3: be working, but I had to. I had to go
Speaker 3: talk to him. Chat went on for briefly for a minute,
Speaker 3: but nah, he was cool. So I had some good
Speaker 3: experiences at message.
Speaker 1: Did you invite him for a burger at halftime? To
Speaker 1: your person, your personal VP of of the a top
Speaker 1: three burger in your life?
Speaker 3: He said, well, let me let me tell you this,
Speaker 3: din Yes it is. And what you're talking about that
Speaker 3: area where the front row fans get to go, that
Speaker 3: is different from the area of where the celebrities get
Speaker 3: to go. So I imagine the room that they get
Speaker 3: to go to, there's no burgers in there. I can
Speaker 3: guarantee you that this that's this is where Chris Rock
Speaker 3: Ben Steeler, Oh did you see? You see? I got
Speaker 3: you see? I got Tracy Morgan on our pregame show.
Speaker 3: I pulled that off stole. I pulled that off man.
Speaker 3: I wanted to give Draymond some ship. And I actually
Speaker 3: tried to call Draymond before Tracy come on, just to
Speaker 3: give him my heads up. Draymond an ascwer. So I'm like, Okay,
Speaker 3: he's gonna find out this way. So you know, Knicks fans,
Speaker 3: they're not feeling Draymond right now. So I asked Trace.
Speaker 3: I said, Tracy, I'm about to do this pregame show
Speaker 3: inside the NBA. Drey mind is going to be all,
Speaker 3: can you come on and give him some shit? He said,
Speaker 3: I'm doubting. I want to give him a piece of
Speaker 3: my mind anyway.
Speaker 1: And so that that led to that what a life
Speaker 1: you've led in these playoffs already?
Speaker 3: You know what?
Speaker 1: Like we said, like we said Ryan two weeks ago,
Speaker 1: not a single listener to this league uncut would have
Speaker 1: believed that outlandish claim from Chris Haynes that New York
Speaker 1: had passed up Miami as his favorite NBA city. But
Speaker 1: after these first two rounds of the playoffs, between meeting
Speaker 1: your hero Latrell's pretty well, hanging out with Buster Rhymes,
Speaker 1: and getting a top three burger. Now at halftime of
Speaker 1: every game you cover a top three in his life burger,
Speaker 1: We finally do believe that Madison Square has vaulted to
Speaker 1: the top of the Chris Haynes Personal Power rankings.
Speaker 4: Stein Haynes, as the old saying goes, the times they
Speaker 4: are a change in.
Speaker 3: Yeah, yeah, and it happens. Y'all didn't believe me, So
Speaker 3: you'll be sad.
Speaker 1: You'll be sad if the Knicks can win one more
Speaker 1: game and go to the conference finals, you won't be
Speaker 1: along for the ride because you have an updated assignment
Speaker 1: in in the conference finals. Can you share that with us?
Speaker 3: Yes, I've been reassigned. So usually I'm the what you
Speaker 3: would call the B crew. You know, you have Reggie Miller,
Speaker 3: Kevin Harland, and Ali Leforest. That's like our A crew.
Speaker 3: Then I'm part of the B crew me Stan Van
Speaker 3: Gundy and Brian Anderson. So T and T has the
Speaker 3: Western Conference finals and so that our A crew covers that,
Speaker 3: and then I usually cover the opposite conference. So this
Speaker 3: year is going to be the Eastern Conference. So while
Speaker 3: I don't do sideline as I'm there basically as a
Speaker 3: reporter or a correspondent and I give my reports on
Speaker 3: the inside the NBA from the Eastern Conference. So just
Speaker 3: about a week ago they took me off of that,
Speaker 3: they reassigned me. So tn T is going to have, well,
Speaker 3: I should say, it's going to be on True TV.
Speaker 3: It's going to be an aut cast show where we're
Speaker 3: going to be watching the game live. It's going to
Speaker 3: be me, Vince Carter, Hall of Fame Vince Carter, Adam Lefko.
Speaker 3: We're going to be hosting this altcast show on True
Speaker 3: TV watching the Western Conference finals. So that's going to
Speaker 3: be an alternative broadcast. You still get the traditional broadcast
Speaker 3: on TNT. So well that's what I'm doing. I've been
Speaker 3: reassigned to that, and you know they asked me for
Speaker 3: want to do it? You know, I say yeah, good,
Speaker 3: good change of pace, to be cool, and we'll be
Speaker 3: bringing on guests, so we'll have some heavy hitters, some players,
Speaker 3: some coaches coming on during this a hash show. So
Speaker 3: I would encourage everybody, you know, give us a try,
Speaker 3: come tune in to be on True TV covering each
Speaker 3: game of the Western Conference Finals.
Speaker 1: Okay, before I react to that, I want to ask
Speaker 1: producer Ryan if he hears what I'm here. And Chris
Speaker 1: Haynes is in Atlanta as we speak, checking on his
Speaker 1: daughter who both attend university in the Atlanta area, and
Speaker 1: yet somehow the beeping fire alarm of old from Sacramento
Speaker 1: has made its way across the country and is infiltrating
Speaker 1: this podcast. Do I have that correct?
Speaker 4: You do have that correct? So peek behind the curtain.
Speaker 4: We set up our little recording session here. Haines had
Speaker 4: got on just a couple of minutes before you, Stein,
Speaker 4: and that was actually something I almost immediately brought up
Speaker 4: to Chris. I go, you know, you're you're down visiting
Speaker 4: your daughters, and it seems like this smoke alarm issue
Speaker 4: has followed you from Sacramento down into the South area.
Speaker 1: So I predict any moment, any moment now, Prince, the
Speaker 1: official dog of the show, will start barking and the
Speaker 1: doorbell will ring with a pizza delivery. There may not
Speaker 1: be a pizza delivery, surely will all happen in the
Speaker 1: next fifteen to thirty minutes.
Speaker 3: Yes, I told producer Ride. I was gonna give a
Speaker 3: disclaimer at the the end of the show, but we
Speaker 3: went astray. So I want to apologize everybody my daughters have.
Speaker 3: They are mimicking the bad habits of their father of
Speaker 3: not putting batteries in the smoke detectors of alarms, and
Speaker 3: so they are going off everywhere. There's too they are
Speaker 3: too many in this house. It's like six of them
Speaker 3: going off. I'm sorry. So I told you I apologize.
Speaker 3: I will mute my mic when I am not talking.
Speaker 1: There's no need to mute your mic. But I mean, look,
Speaker 1: I am the least handy person on earth. I can't
Speaker 1: make toast. But you know, my late father, we used
Speaker 1: to say he had hands of gold. He was the
Speaker 1: handyman in the family. And every time he came to
Speaker 1: visit me, I mean I just would hit him with
Speaker 1: a list of please fix this, please fix that. So
Speaker 1: I just would have thought, as you're visiting your daughter's
Speaker 1: dad would have taken care of the fire alarm before anything.
Speaker 3: There's too many of them. There is high ceilings. This
Speaker 3: in his house. It would take It's gonna take some time.
Speaker 3: I'll get to it, stot, I'll get to it.
Speaker 1: Your vertical can't get you up to those high ceilings.
Speaker 1: You need a ladder.
Speaker 3: Nah, these are these are these are There's a lot
Speaker 3: of work to do in this house. We bought this
Speaker 3: house a few years ago. Five bedroom house. We bought
Speaker 3: it from my daughters. But dang, five bedroom. But the
Speaker 3: reason we got five bedrooms because we we told our daughters, listen,
Speaker 3: we'll get you a place near campus. But you got
Speaker 3: you girls are responsible for recruiting, so we can make
Speaker 3: a profit. So you know, let's get these rooms filed.
Speaker 3: Let's make a profit. We ain't made a profit yet.
Speaker 3: It's been two years. We had a room field for
Speaker 3: a semester only. I think that was like the first year.
Speaker 3: And so yeah, I told them, I'm like, yeah, as
Speaker 3: soon as y'all done graduating, this house is going on
Speaker 3: the market asap.
Speaker 1: That's still pretty awesome though, that you're both your daughters.
Speaker 1: They basically go across to the other side of the country,
Speaker 1: but they get to go to school together. That's pretty nice.
Speaker 3: Yeah. No, it saved us a penny. There was actually
Speaker 3: a sister a sister brother special they had at Clark Atlanta.
Speaker 3: I saved a few pennies, so I appreciate them doing that.
Speaker 3: So yes, I'm excited. My oldest daughter, Justice, she graduates
Speaker 3: this weekend, and then my daughter Jasmine, who's a junior,
Speaker 3: should graduate next year. So I'm proud of my girl.
Speaker 3: So I'm here early. I know it does it does?
Speaker 3: My daughter came here fast, she graduated. Yeah, my daughter,
Speaker 3: my oldest, graduated high school twenty twenty, that pandemic year,
Speaker 3: and she didn't get to have Remember twenty twenty, she
Speaker 3: didn't get to have a graduation, so she didn't get
Speaker 3: to experience that. So I'm very proud of her, you know,
Speaker 3: getting it, you know, getting this far, and she's finally
Speaker 3: going to be able to have an official graduation. So
Speaker 3: I'm going to stay here in Atlanta. I'm here early.
Speaker 3: I'm gonna stay here in Atlanta until the Western Conference
Speaker 3: final start for that All Cash show.
Speaker 1: I constantly whine about how fast my kids have grown up,
Speaker 1: But it seems like your kids have grown up at
Speaker 1: lightning fast speed. But I can Producer Ryan is just
Speaker 1: throwing things in the background because we have talked about
Speaker 1: New York. We've talked about fatherhood, we've talked about real life,
Speaker 1: We've talked about everything except what producer Ryan wants us
Speaker 1: to talk about so right now, immediate transition to potential
Speaker 1: trade movement this offseason. The Cleveland Cavaliers, their season ends
Speaker 1: Wednesday night in Boston. They lose Game five. Let's face it,
Speaker 1: with no Donovan Mitchell, with no Jared Allen, I mean,
Speaker 1: they were not going to win a Game five on
Speaker 1: Boston's floor. They took the series to five games. I
Speaker 1: don't think anybody really expected much more from this Caves team,
Speaker 1: given how much they struggled in Round one with a
Speaker 1: new to the playoffs Orlando Magic team. But now, of course,
Speaker 1: the question becomes, has Donovan Mitchell played his last game
Speaker 1: as a Cleveland Cavalier? And you know, the Calves throughout
Speaker 1: the regular season, up to the trade deadline in February,
Speaker 1: they swatted away external interest. Teams did call, they wanted
Speaker 1: no part of it. But now it is widely anticipated
Speaker 1: throughout the league that if the Cavaliers cannot convince Donovan
Speaker 1: Mitchell to sign a contract extension this summer, that they'll
Speaker 1: be forced to trade him. Because the Cavs only have
Speaker 1: one more season with Mitchell under Cavaliers control. Donovan Mitchell
Speaker 1: has a player option after next season. For twenty five
Speaker 1: twenty six, So twenty four to twenty five that's the
Speaker 1: last guaranteed team control season on Mitchell's current contract. But
Speaker 1: I'm gonna ask it a little bit differently. Donovan, Mitchell,
Speaker 1: Brandon Ingram and New Orleans Trey Young in Atlanta. There
Speaker 1: is considerable trade speculation slash anticipation about all three of
Speaker 1: those players. Look into the Chris Haynes crystal ball for
Speaker 1: me and tell me which one of those three players, Mitchell, Ingram,
Speaker 1: or Ice tray On one of those three is most
Speaker 1: likely to be moved before the start of next season.
Speaker 3: I would have to go with domin I'm going with
Speaker 3: Donovan because that's that's something we'd be Yeah, I'm going
Speaker 3: with Doblin because that's something we've been hearing all season long.
Speaker 3: This isn't something we've heard about over the last few weeks.
Speaker 3: We you know. And let's even take it back further
Speaker 3: than before this season, when he got traded to Cleveland,
Speaker 3: it was loudly known behind the scenes that he wanted
Speaker 3: to go to New York. He did not want to
Speaker 3: get trade to Cleveland. So the Cavaliers understood that you
Speaker 3: either had to get you know, there are teams like
Speaker 3: Toronto Raptors. You know I mentioned the Raptors before. You know,
Speaker 3: you take a risk on trading for Kawhi Leonard. You know,
Speaker 3: Kawhi doesn't want to be there, but you do it
Speaker 3: in hopes that you would have some success and then
Speaker 3: you get a whole season or you know, sometimes even
Speaker 3: two seasons to recruit. Basically, you're trying to recruit him
Speaker 3: to stay. And teams that are not a successful team,
Speaker 3: or you're just not a team that players want to
Speaker 3: play for just because of where you are, where you're
Speaker 3: at on the map, then most likely you have to
Speaker 3: take a chance. If you're not one of those two teams,
Speaker 3: if you're not a team that's in the sun and
Speaker 3: great weather, great views, or a team that's just having success.
Speaker 3: If you're not one of those two situations, then most
Speaker 3: likely a team has to take a chance. And so
Speaker 3: Toronto took a chance. They have success everything when it's
Speaker 3: playing as you're saying, it still didn't work. It still
Speaker 3: didn't work in retaining Kawhi. They got a championship out
Speaker 3: of it, but they wanted to keep him. So same
Speaker 3: with the Cleveland Cavaliers, and I just don't let them
Speaker 3: know that they're going to be able to keep them
Speaker 3: as well. So I say Donovan as long Wooden answer,
Speaker 3: I say Donovan because you know, we've heard for a
Speaker 3: while where he would have liked to have played at
Speaker 3: you know, when he was traded.
Speaker 1: I'm gonna go with Brandon Ingram. He's the one at
Speaker 1: this point as we speak on May sixteenth, He's the
Speaker 1: one that I feel most confident in projecting that his
Speaker 1: team is going to really look at what the trade
Speaker 1: market looks like. I mean, look, I think there's some chance,
Speaker 1: I don't know what the exact percentage would be, that
Speaker 1: all three could get moved. But in Donovan's case, it's
Speaker 1: going to depend on whether he's willing to do an
Speaker 1: extension or not. I think Atlanta, after seriously considering de
Speaker 1: Jonte Murray trades at the trade deadline, I think they're
Speaker 1: more apt to explore the Trey Young trade market this
Speaker 1: offseason rather than Dejonte again. But because Trey already has
Speaker 1: that two hundred plus million max, it might be more
Speaker 1: complicated to find the landing spot to find the team
Speaker 1: willing to take in all that salary. But these are
Speaker 1: early projections. Like I said, I think there are scenarios
Speaker 1: you can envision in which all three get moved. I
Speaker 1: know in Cleveland there are still people connected to the
Speaker 1: Cavs organization who hold out hope that Donovan Mitchell can
Speaker 1: be convinced to sign the extension this summer. Let's face it,
Speaker 1: signing an extension to stay, it's a lot of money,
Speaker 1: and more often than not in the modern era, we
Speaker 1: see players take the extensions rather than go to free agency.
Speaker 1: So the Cavs are going to hope that they can
Speaker 1: convince Donovan to re sign. But there's enough doubt about
Speaker 1: it that you might be proven right and there might
Speaker 1: be a more robust Trey Young market then, I imagine
Speaker 1: as we're trying to analyze this on May sixteenth, but
Speaker 1: just again at this early juncture, and it's still early.
Speaker 1: I know, the whole league is in Chicago this week
Speaker 1: for the pre draft combine, and that does kind of
Speaker 1: in some ways get the offseason player personnel machine cranking.
Speaker 1: But it is still pretty early in the trade process,
Speaker 1: and so I think we're gonna need a little bit
Speaker 1: more time to fully assess it. I think Cleveland's mindset
Speaker 1: is they're gonna do everything they can. They're going to
Speaker 1: explore every possible option to try to keep Donovan Mitchell.
Speaker 1: They're only going to to trade him if it reaches
Speaker 1: a point where they feel like there is just no
Speaker 1: hope and they can't get him on an extension, and
Speaker 1: that they know if they let next season start and
Speaker 1: it plays out that they risk eventually losing Donovan Mitchell
Speaker 1: for nothing. So I feel like the Calves are gonna
Speaker 1: do everything they can to try to salvage that relationship
Speaker 1: and keep Donovan Mitchell, whereas New Orleans, the Pelicans have
Speaker 1: to really look at changes because their main three guys.
Speaker 1: There's just a lot of data and a lot of
Speaker 1: numbers to support the idea that the Zion Williamson, Brandon
Speaker 1: Ingram CJ McCollum trio. The Pelicans just did not flourish
Speaker 1: with that trio on the floor. And when I check
Speaker 1: with other teams on it, there's just no mistaking that
Speaker 1: there's a rising expectation out there around the league that
Speaker 1: New Orleans is going to explore the Brandon Ingram trade
Speaker 1: possibilities this offseason, and the Tray Young call is still
Speaker 1: a little harder to me to assess that because now
Speaker 1: that the Hawks have the number one pick. You know,
Speaker 1: they're trying to figure out exactly what they should do.
Speaker 1: Should they try to move Trey, Should they try to
Speaker 1: move to Jonte again, Should they try to use the
Speaker 1: number one pick in some sort of other deal for retooling.
Speaker 1: The Hawks are still kind of evaluating all their options.
Speaker 1: But again, I think I don't want to rule out
Speaker 1: the idea. I mean, we there is a world, there
Speaker 1: is a scenario where all three get moved. I think, man,
Speaker 1: it would be hard to imagine none of the three moving.
Speaker 1: I have to think at least one of them gets
Speaker 1: moved this offseason.
Speaker 3: Let's talk about New Orleans and Cleveland, just for a
Speaker 3: little bit. On New Orleans end, Brendan Ingram was your
Speaker 3: pick out of the three players selected. And if they
Speaker 3: do MOVEBI, that means they feel really good about somebody
Speaker 3: being able to come in there and fill that rule.
Speaker 3: Trey Murphy that he's ready. Trey is ready. Trey is
Speaker 3: actually going to be one of our guests on an
Speaker 3: all cast show that we do do in the Western
Speaker 3: Conference Finals. He's ready, He's ready to take that next step.
Speaker 3: He is a starter in this league, and he just
Speaker 3: he just happens to play behind brandam Ingram. But you know,
Speaker 3: he's somebody who's you know, salivating at the opportunity to
Speaker 3: potentially have a bigger role, and he's up for the
Speaker 3: extension this summer. So New Orleans has some decisions to make.
Speaker 3: Do you give do you give Trey a big extension
Speaker 3: and you keep brandon Ingram there? I don't know if
Speaker 3: that makes sense right, you know, so I get you Stein,
Speaker 3: you make some you make a compelling case of why
Speaker 3: b I is your pick to be moved of those
Speaker 3: three players, and it makes all the sense of the world.
Speaker 3: But I definitely think Trey, I mean, just his presence
Speaker 3: being there is definitely going to factor in to what
Speaker 3: New Orleans decides to do with b I. Now on
Speaker 3: the Cleveland's end, you know, with you know you're talking
Speaker 3: about Atlanta, they got to figure out things, figure out
Speaker 3: what they're gonna do. Cleveland has a lot to figure out.
Speaker 3: Coach Bickerstaff, Donovan Mitchell, Darius Garland and and Donovan Mitchell
Speaker 3: are those two? Can they continue to play together along
Speaker 3: stretches and be successful? They had a pretty good run
Speaker 3: this season. Jared Allen, You know, there there's there's reports
Speaker 3: of complaints about Jared Allen not taking an injection and
Speaker 3: playing and playing in the playoffs, and so as we know,
Speaker 3: you know, Jared Allen had a rib injury and he
Speaker 3: did not play. And the report came out from the
Speaker 3: athletic that the team I don't think he got specific,
Speaker 3: but members of the team were frustrated that Jared declined
Speaker 3: to get a pain injection to play in the playoffs.
Speaker 3: And what I can add to it, I haven't done
Speaker 3: my own research, I haven't checked in on that, but
Speaker 3: what I can say is that, yes, it is true
Speaker 3: Jared he chose not to get a pain injection. And
Speaker 3: one of the primary reasons why I was told that
Speaker 3: he declined. I don't know if people remember, remember about
Speaker 3: four years ago, Tyrod Taylor, the quarterback, he was the
Speaker 3: quarterback of the Chargers at the time. He had some
Speaker 3: busted ribs and the team doctor tried to administer a
Speaker 3: pain injection and accidentally punctured is long. So that was
Speaker 3: what I was told. That was in the back of
Speaker 3: back of Jared's mind at that time. That's a very
Speaker 3: serious situation. And you know, I can't fault a guy
Speaker 3: for choosing to go that route. I can't faultimate if
Speaker 3: he if he chose to take the pain injection, but
Speaker 3: you know that was that was a primary factor and
Speaker 3: why he decided not to based off of, you know,
Speaker 3: the experience that that they experienced, that tyre that Tyrod
Speaker 3: had with the Chargers and Tyrod ended up suing that
Speaker 3: team doctor for that as well. So you know, it's
Speaker 3: it's a serious injury, but you know, you have to
Speaker 3: leave it up to each player to choose what's best
Speaker 3: for their body. Now, with all that being said, again,
Speaker 3: Cleveland has a ton of decisions to make. It's bigger
Speaker 3: staff going to be brought back. Is Donovan Mitchell going
Speaker 3: to be brought back? Ken Evan Mobley and Jared Allen
Speaker 3: continue to play together. You know, listen, I think they've
Speaker 3: had a had a they've had great success. And I
Speaker 3: think in the playoffs, everybody knows it's all about matchups.
Speaker 3: So if you can get the right matchup, or you
Speaker 3: can if you can get in the right bracket laying
Speaker 3: in those playoffs, you can see yourself with a path
Speaker 3: to the Eastern Conference finals. Because if Donovan Mitchell and
Speaker 3: Jared Allen, if they were there, I think they can
Speaker 3: give Boston a battle I still say Boston, you know,
Speaker 3: would would beat them, but you know they have some
Speaker 3: good competitive games, so you just never know. So I
Speaker 3: think a lot of this is overblown, but there are
Speaker 3: definitely real decisions that have to be made.
Speaker 1: I'm gonna have to quibble with you on great success.
Speaker 1: And look, on one hand, you can say that the
Speaker 1: pressure on JB. Bickerstaff has been unfair to a degree
Speaker 1: because this season they have been absolutely smothered by injuries.
Speaker 1: They lost guard Marland and Mobley early and then had
Speaker 1: their best stretch of the season. I think it was
Speaker 1: mid December to mid January. But look, Jamie Bickerstaff has
Speaker 1: been under pressure since the playoffs last season, when the
Speaker 1: Calves did so poorly in that first round series against
Speaker 1: the Knicks, going out meekly in five games. The rumbles
Speaker 1: about his job security have honestly been percolating since the
Speaker 1: end of last season, and he had to cope with
Speaker 1: it throughout this season. And given all the injuries that
Speaker 1: the Cavaliers faced and the fact that they ultimately got
Speaker 1: out of the first round, you could make the case
Speaker 1: that it was too much. On the flip side, they're
Speaker 1: just the Calves did not finish the regular season well,
Speaker 1: and they had an experience edge against Orlando. That's the
Speaker 1: team they clearly wanted to see in the first round,
Speaker 1: an offensively challenged Magic team, and the Cavaliers squeaked by
Speaker 1: in that series in seven game and not until they
Speaker 1: fell way behind at home in Game seven. Yes, they
Speaker 1: got out of it, but it has been a bumpy
Speaker 1: ride and injuries. We cannot discount injuries as a factor.
Speaker 1: Injuries were a massive factor in what a bumpy season
Speaker 1: it was. And if the Cavaliers decide to bring JB.
Speaker 1: Bickerstaff back, one of the factors would undoubtedly be what
Speaker 1: direction are they going in terms of a replacement. That
Speaker 1: certainly isn't clear cut. But there's been so much discussed
Speaker 1: about Bickerstaff's future that it does make you wonder how
Speaker 1: can he even come back from it? When, you know,
Speaker 1: when there's been so much talk about a coach's job,
Speaker 1: it's hard to kind of put that in the past
Speaker 1: and pretend like it didn't happen. But putting aside the
Speaker 1: whole coaching situation, I think what you said was exactly right.
Speaker 1: Question number one is Donovan Mitchell's future. Can they sign
Speaker 1: him to an extension or do they have to explore
Speaker 1: a trade. Are they forced into exploring the Donovan Mitchell
Speaker 1: trade market? If they do get an extension done with
Speaker 1: Donovan Mitchell, does that mean that Darius Garland is for
Speaker 1: sure going to be traded? I think it's reasonable to
Speaker 1: assume that there will at least be discussions, and just
Speaker 1: the prospect of that scenario will certainly encourage teams out
Speaker 1: there that are interested in Darius Garland to make the
Speaker 1: call and test the Cavs and see how willing they
Speaker 1: are to talk trades there. And then with the two
Speaker 1: Bigs as well, there's been tons of questions lingering now
Speaker 1: for seasons with an s about the fit Jared Allen
Speaker 1: next to Evan Mobley. Do they work together? The way
Speaker 1: Mobley played late in these playoffs, he had some really
Speaker 1: good games in the Boston Series. Does that encourage Cleveland
Speaker 1: to say, you know what, We've got Jared Allen on
Speaker 1: a value contract. They could easily trade Jared Allen and
Speaker 1: get a lot. There would be a long line of
Speaker 1: teams interested in him if they decide to move him.
Speaker 1: Do the Calves finally decide, you know what, let's move
Speaker 1: Jared Allen. Let's make Evan Mobley the focus of our
Speaker 1: front line instead of trying to play those two together. So, yeah,
Speaker 1: you're right, the Calves have so many things to tackle
Speaker 1: and discuss and decide over the next month or two,
Speaker 1: no question.
Speaker 3: All right, Well that's an easy segue right there. You're
Speaker 3: talking about potential coaching moves, coaching decisions, coaching searches. Let's
Speaker 3: get to coaching searches. The Los Angeles Lakers are holding
Speaker 3: coaching searches right now, and they're going to meet with
Speaker 3: a few coaches right now. There's still in the preliminary
Speaker 3: stages and it's still to very much the initial stages
Speaker 3: of this search. But Stein tip read off some of
Speaker 3: the names that that are going to get an interview,
Speaker 3: that's going to get an interview initially as of right now.
Speaker 1: Well, there, there's going to be a lot of interviews
Speaker 1: because I think the most important thing here the Lakers.
Speaker 1: All signs at this point point to JJ Reddick not
Speaker 1: being available to the Lakers if he's the guy, if
Speaker 1: he's the candidate. The Lakers ultimately choose here until after
Speaker 1: the NBA Finals, and the reason for that is ESPN ABC.
Speaker 1: A year ago, they let both Jeff Van Gundy and
Speaker 1: Mark Jackson go. You were talking before about the A
Speaker 1: broadcast crew and the B broadcast crew for ESPN ABC.
Speaker 1: This season, the A team in terms of their broadcasting crew,
Speaker 1: Mike Breen, Doris Burke, and Doc Rivers with Lease Assaulters
Speaker 1: on the sideline, and ESPN ABC was under the belief,
Speaker 1: or maybe we should say the hope, that they would
Speaker 1: have Doc Rivers for at least one season. I think
Speaker 1: they knew deep down that Doc Rivers would be lured
Speaker 1: back to coaching. I don't think they expected it to
Speaker 1: happen before February. Doc Rivers had his next coaching job.
Speaker 1: By the end of January, JJ Reddick was swiftly elevated
Speaker 1: to the A team. So it would be huge egg
Speaker 1: on ESPN's face if they lose now another member of
Speaker 1: their Finals team to a coaching job. So within the industry,
Speaker 1: when you hear people project what's going to happen with
Speaker 1: the Lakers, that's definitely a factor that people are looking at.
Speaker 1: The working assumption that the Lakers, if they chose Reddick
Speaker 1: as their next coach, couldn't even have him until after
Speaker 1: the Finals. ESPN needs him for their Finals coverage, so
Speaker 1: the Lakers are going to slow play this. They're going
Speaker 1: to talk to lots of assistance. There are some former
Speaker 1: head coaches in the mix, most notably James Barrego of
Speaker 1: New Orleans. Barrego this past season was the associate head
Speaker 1: coach in New Orleans. Kenny Atkinson and Golden State is
Speaker 1: another former head coach who's on the Lakers list. Then
Speaker 1: you have assistants like Sam Cassell from Boston, Chris Quinn
Speaker 1: from Miami, David Adelman from Denver, Mike and Nori from Minnesota,
Speaker 1: and I suspect there will be more, and I might
Speaker 1: even be forgetting a name or two, but the Lakers
Speaker 1: are going to move deliberately. They're going to talk to
Speaker 1: a lot of people. If you've forced me right now
Speaker 1: to pinpoint a favorite based on everyone I've talked to,
Speaker 1: based on people I've spoken to in Chicago at the
Speaker 1: pre draft, combine what's buzzing around there the early favorite.
Speaker 1: If you were insistent that we had to choose one today,
Speaker 1: if producer Ryan refuses to let us publish this podcast
Speaker 1: without identifying an early favorite, it would be JJ Reddick.
Speaker 1: But there is a whole interview process to go through,
Speaker 1: and my read on it is I do think both
Speaker 1: Sam Kassel and James Brego will also be strongly considered
Speaker 1: for this job, and then we'll have to see if
Speaker 1: there are any other curveballs that emerge during the search process.
Speaker 3: I'm very high on Sam Cassel and Chris Quinn, and
Speaker 3: that is not to diminish any other candidates in this pool,
Speaker 3: but Chris Quinn and Sam Cassel are two assistants that
Speaker 3: have been primed for the role of a head coach
Speaker 3: in the NBA, and you know, just just thinking about
Speaker 3: what the Lakers present and what they're trying to do
Speaker 3: right now, I think those two candidates makes sense those
Speaker 3: you know, it's rare that was It used to be
Speaker 3: rare that an assistant coach who's never been a head
Speaker 3: coach will get a job where there's championship expectations from
Speaker 3: day one, But that landscape has changed over the last
Speaker 3: five or six years now, so we're seeing scenarios like
Speaker 3: that playout. And I think those two are really great candidates.
Speaker 3: So I hope the Lakers really do their due diligence
Speaker 3: on those two like they're doing with JJ and everyone else.
Speaker 3: But yeah, no matter how you slice it with this
Speaker 3: Lakers search, there is not a guy that just makes
Speaker 3: home run. Since you know that candidate is not out
Speaker 3: there for this team, usually you will want to have
Speaker 3: a veteran head coach who's had some success, possibly even
Speaker 3: had a championship, coach the team to a championship, but
Speaker 3: definitely had a lot of success, experience in dealing with superstars,
Speaker 3: experience of different dealing with different personalities. That coach is
Speaker 3: not out there, So you know, I don't know's you know.
Speaker 3: I like to think that the Lakers already knew who
Speaker 3: they wanted in the back of their mind before they
Speaker 3: fired coach Ham. Hopefully they're not just going through the
Speaker 3: motions right now and being going to end up with whoever,
Speaker 3: you know, whoever gave the best interview, because it's whoever
Speaker 3: you hire this this hire would likely be scrutinized. Whoever
Speaker 3: it is. You know, if it's an assistant coach, well
Speaker 3: there's no experience. How can he tell Lebron and Ad
Speaker 3: what to do? If it's JJ Riddick, Oh it's Lebron's
Speaker 3: podcast partner, you know, whoever gets this job is going
Speaker 3: to be scrutinized. So you know, hopefully whoever gets it
Speaker 3: can do a good job, but you know, just it's
Speaker 3: going to be tough. So I'll just say that whoever
Speaker 3: gets the job is going to be going to have
Speaker 3: a tough seat.
Speaker 1: Yeah. Look, I think there's no question that JJ Reddick
Speaker 1: already does have fans within the Lakers organization. But he's
Speaker 1: never coached anywhere but his son's youth basketball team. He
Speaker 1: really has no coaching experience whatsoever. And yes, he has
Speaker 1: the relationship with Lebron, maybe even the closest relationship with
Speaker 1: Lebron when we talk about all the names or in
Speaker 1: consideration now, but on that basis alone, to step into
Speaker 1: one of the most high profile coaching jobs, not just
Speaker 1: in the NBA but anywhere on the sports map, that
Speaker 1: might be too much to ask. When I look at
Speaker 1: Sam Cassell, I think it's very similar to the circumstances
Speaker 1: when Darvin Ham was hired. Okay, Sam Cassell has not
Speaker 1: been a head coach in this league, but he's been
Speaker 1: an assistant for fifteen seasons on some really good staffs.
Speaker 1: He's way overdue for a coaching job. Darvin Ham, it
Speaker 1: took too long before he got his first shot. It's
Speaker 1: taken way too long for Sam Cassell. He should have
Speaker 1: had a head coaching opportunity by now, and I think
Speaker 1: it's worth pointing out, as I reported earlier this week,
Speaker 1: Sam Cassell is a clutch Sports client if that stuff
Speaker 1: matters to you, just like both Lebron James and Anthony Davis.
Speaker 1: And one more footnote on Sam Cassell if he does
Speaker 1: not get the Laker job, I'm told that Doc Rivers
Speaker 1: really wants Sam back with him. He would love to
Speaker 1: bring him to Milwaukee. We'll see if the Bucks would
Speaker 1: be able to pull that off. But Sam, for almost
Speaker 1: two thirds of his coaching career has been on the
Speaker 1: bench with Doc Rivers, either with the Clippers or Philly.
Speaker 1: So Doc Rivers, i'm told, would love to reunite with
Speaker 1: Sam Cassell and bring him to his Buck staff if
Speaker 1: Sam is unsuccessful in getting the Lakers job. James Barrego
Speaker 1: is another very highly rated assistant coach who of course
Speaker 1: has already been a head coach in this league more
Speaker 1: than once Orlando and Charlotte, and I think James Barrego
Speaker 1: has to be taken very seriously in this search. And
Speaker 1: like you said, Chris Quinn another highly rated assistant. He
Speaker 1: comes from the Heat program, which is as highly rated
Speaker 1: and as respected an organization as there is. And Chris Quinn,
Speaker 1: as you mentioned, okay, he missed interacting with Lebron as
Speaker 1: both a player and a coach. He narrowly missed out
Speaker 1: on playing with or coaching Lebron. But Chris Quinn has
Speaker 1: already been a member of Eric Spolster staff for a decade.
Speaker 1: He's their longest tenured assistant coach. He's already been in
Speaker 1: the mix for some head coaching interviews. So Chris Quinn
Speaker 1: certainly is another notable candidate here. And again, I do
Speaker 1: think you can expect a pretty deliberate search that's going
Speaker 1: to go into June, because there's just really no incentive
Speaker 1: for the Lakers to go fast here. Anyway. The only
Speaker 1: other current coaching opening is Washington. The Wizards are rebuilding,
Speaker 1: They're not going to be competing for the same candidates
Speaker 1: most likely, And there's already there's this widespread working assumption
Speaker 1: in coaching circles anyway, that Brian Keith, who was the
Speaker 1: interim coach for the Wizards basically from late January on,
Speaker 1: that Keith's going to end up getting that job anyway
Speaker 1: in Washington. So, as Cleveland contemplates JB. Bickerstaff's future Right
Speaker 1: now as we speak, the Lakers really aren't competing with
Speaker 1: anyone in the coaching market, so that does afford them
Speaker 1: the opportunity to take their time. Okay, I think we're
Speaker 1: going to put a bow on things here. We haven't
Speaker 1: done much playoff talk again because of when we're recording this.
Speaker 1: It's Thursday, late afternoon, so we can't really work in
Speaker 1: the Minnesota Denver series because that game Game six in
Speaker 1: that series will follow us tonight. Obviously, we did address
Speaker 1: Boston eliminating Cleveland. We will have plenty of Boston discussion
Speaker 1: when we get to the next round. The series that
Speaker 1: Chris has been mostly covering Nicks Pacers, that goes back
Speaker 1: to Indiana for Game six. The series that I've most
Speaker 1: closely been covering, Mavericks thunder Dallas will have the chance,
Speaker 1: of course Saturday night to eliminate Oklahoma City after a
Speaker 1: huge bounce back from the Mavericks to win Game five
Speaker 1: in OKC on Wednesday night. But the next time we
Speaker 1: get together for a pod, we should have a clear
Speaker 1: picture of our final four. And I should just say
Speaker 1: again though, when we I mean like we started getting
Speaker 1: into it today with all this coaching carousel talk and
Speaker 1: a look at the trade possibilities with Donovan Mitchell and
Speaker 1: Brandon Ingram and Trey Young. Just just think about this
Speaker 1: list of teams. This is your list of teams that
Speaker 1: have been eliminated since the play and Round began. Hawks, Bulls, Warriors, Kings, Pelicans, Lakers, Sons, Clippers,
Speaker 1: heat Bucks, Sixers, Magic Cavaliers. Almost any team you name
Speaker 1: on that list has major, major off season decisions and
Speaker 1: business to tend to. And you know, maybe if you
Speaker 1: except like Orlando, they're a young team, they didn't have
Speaker 1: huge pressure on them, even though they were hugely disappointed
Speaker 1: to lose a Game seven. But the Magic have tons
Speaker 1: of cap space, so we know they're going to be
Speaker 1: active this summer. The Sixers have tons of cap space.
Speaker 1: We know they would love to make a run at
Speaker 1: Paul George in free agency or make a splashy trade
Speaker 1: to bring someone in to their cap space. So really,
Speaker 1: anybody on that list again, Hawks, Bulls, Warriors, Kings, Pelicans, Lakers, Clippers, Sons,
Speaker 1: heat Bucks, Sixers, Magic Cavaliers, all those teams are going
Speaker 1: to be active. I mean, you could see several of
Speaker 1: those teams making significant changes, whether it's through signings or trades.
Speaker 1: I mean, there is going to be a ton of
Speaker 1: business and tons of discussion going forward on this league
Speaker 1: Uncut as we try to sort out what's going to be.
Speaker 1: It's going to be a really active offseason. I think
Speaker 1: there's going to be a lot of change with this
Speaker 1: new very punitive luxury tax system that has been ushered in.
Speaker 1: It just gets really tough the more expensive your team gets,
Speaker 1: and it's going to put players in play for trades,
Speaker 1: probably more often even than we've seen in the recent past.
Speaker 1: So there is going to be action between now and
Speaker 1: July fifteenth. When you listen to other teams forecast the
Speaker 1: next six weeks to two months in this league, almost
Speaker 1: universally the answer is get ready, buckle up. It's going
Speaker 1: to be busy. And the good news for us is
Speaker 1: Chris Haynes will have it all figured out to break
Speaker 1: it down for us here on this League Uncut. Isn't
Speaker 1: that right, mister Haynes? And let's face it, as this
Speaker 1: podcast war on, we heard a lot less maybe even none.
Speaker 1: I really haven't noticed the fire alarm. So if you
Speaker 1: can solve that while you're on the air recording, who
Speaker 1: knows what else is in store in the weeks ahead
Speaker 1: is a big hilp. Oh that's what you did. Okay,
Speaker 1: I didn't. There, it goes, yeah, I didn't. I didn't notice.
Speaker 3: I didn't notice you were.
Speaker 4: You go.
Speaker 1: So yeah, I wasn't.
Speaker 3: I was not quick at it.
Speaker 1: That just shows you how handy I am. I wasn't
Speaker 1: even quick enough to notice that you were using mute.
Speaker 3: So when this podcast concludes, I will still have a
Speaker 3: smoke detector alarm going off. I just wanted to spare you, guys.
Speaker 3: That's all I'm thinking about you.
Speaker 1: Thanks for thinking of us. We appreciate it. Everyone out there,
Speaker 1: please remember to follow us, rate the show, review the show.
Speaker 1: We would love a five star review. I mean, let's
Speaker 1: face it, the New York Madison Square Garden stories alone
Speaker 1: from Chris Haynes in these playoffs, that's five star review
Speaker 1: material right there, all right? That is going to do
Speaker 1: it for this edition of this League Uncut. The next
Speaker 1: time we're all together Chris Haynes, Producer Ryan and me
Speaker 1: Mark Stein. By then we should be down to a
Speaker 1: final four, which means twenty six of the league's thirty
Speaker 1: teams will have begun their off season. We will get
Speaker 1: into all of that next time here on This League Uncut.
Speaker 1: Thanks everyone for listening, and that'll do it for us.
Speaker 2: See you next time.
Speaker 1: This League Uncut is an iHeartRadio production
Speaker 2: Lockup Chris Hanes and Mark Stein