Breaking Down James Harden's Impact and More with Spencer Davies

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On today's show, James Harden has changed the calves for the better since he arrived

around one month ago in a trade for Darius Garland, Spencer Davies is here, and we're going

to break down exactly how he's changed the calves and why they're better off because of

it on this edition of Lockdown Caves.

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On today's show, we will be talking about the James Harden effect that he has had on

the Cleveland Cavaliers since the team acquired him just over a month ago.

At this point, we'll talk about what we've liked from Harden, how we think the thumb injury

has affected him.

We also dive into the other two acquisitions that Caves made, Dennis Ruder, Ken Ellis,

the impacts that they have had.

We will talk about the looming question as far as who the fifth starter should be for

the Caves and then we will also give some goals for the remainder of the season in Cleveland.

But before we get started, please do me a favor, hit the thumbs up button on YouTube if

you have not yet done that.

I would greatly appreciate it with one of the best ways that you can help to grow this

show.

And now here's my conversation with Spencer Davies.

Back for the first time in about a month or so, maybe even longer.

I don't know that we've had a conversation on a podcast since the Caves acquired James

Harden, but we're going to do that today with Spencer Davies of Clutch Points covers the

Cleveland Cavaliers over there.

It does a lot of stuff over at RG Media as well, Spencer.

Just kind of want to begin with the James Harden conversation because now we're at the

point where we do have some data.

And I think some of it is a little flawed considering that he is right now playing through

a fracture in the thumb of his right hand, which of course, this is not shooting him.

But I do think that is something that has been impacting his play.

But I just kind of want to start with through what we have changed so far.

What do you view?

Like, how do you think James has changed the Caves?

I think there's a calmness about him now that there wasn't beforehand just the maturity

and how he's able to slow the game.

I think you see that a lot when it comes to fourth quarters, when the Caves have been

in close games, just the way that he's able to, as Kobe Altman put it to at the post-trade

deadline, media availability, just be able to slow things down when the crowd gets hot,

when the team's on a 6-0 or 8-0 run and the Caves don't get sped up when he's in the game.

I think that's the biggest area where you're seeing the Caves personality changing

away.

You obviously have to talk about what he's done for Jared Allen as well.

Sucks that Jared suffered that knee injury the other night because he's been on an absolute

tear.

It was a candidate to win player the month in February and James was a big part of the

acceleration of what had already been going on, but still just the way that he's timed

up his passes to Jared, Jared Rowling, calling him a speed roller and being one of the better

bigs that he's been around.

That combination has been great and look, and I think James taking a load off of Donovan

Mitchell as well has been something that Darius did obviously beforehand, but a healthy

dependable to be on the floor type of player like James Harden is and being playing through

the injury here as of late.

I think that's where you've seen the biggest impact of James Harden on this team and still

waiting for a little bit more of a sample size, but I think in the first month, the returns

have been pretty solid.

I think so too, and I'm glad you brought up the calmness aspect of it.

And I do think that is one thing that I don't want to say is not been the case while

he's been hurt.

I don't think he's been as good in some of these situations while he's been hurt.

You look at the end of the game against Detroit on Tuesday night where he gets to basketball

hooked away from him by a Sar Thompson and Sar Thompson is an incredible defender.

But if James isn't dealing with a broken right thumb, I'm not sure that that happens.

I just think that he closes that game out better.

And I do think to some of the shooting will be better, like he's not been the most efficient

guy in the world since dealing with that thumb injury.

And I'm at the point where maybe you feel differently, like I am willing to have some

grace here because I know what James Harden does.

I know who James Harden is.

And I know that what we're watching right now is not the peak version of what we should

expect from him.

And I do think ultimately, while the thumb injury is not a good thing, I do think ultimately

getting some time without Donna from Mitchell over the past couple of weeks.

And I know he didn't play in all of those games, but he did play a couple of games without

Donna, while he's stood out with this minor growing issue that he's had.

I think that'll be a good thing for not only James, but for the rest of the team as

they look to acclimate to what James brings to the table.

Yeah, no, I have to agree with that because you look at the Brooklyn game.

That was not exactly the picture of execution for the team.

I also, I also would have to at least put a disclaimer on that that the cas were in an

overtime game that lasted three hours, as you know, because you were there in Motown

on this game.

That was the one I've ever been to.

That was the one I've ever been to.

I've never been to a longer basketball game.

Three hours and 19 minutes, a 12 minute buzzer delay over time.

The Cavs did everything they couldn't lose that game.

James did not play in that game.

I'm just a pertains to this conversation, but you're right about that.

Like I think that that was a game that had they lost to Brooklyn on that Sunday that they

would not have lost to Brooklyn.

They actually would have lost to Detroit twice on Friday.

That's how that's how I would have that.

That's a funny take.

That's the game that you had to sample size without Don Mitchell.

You look at what happened obviously on Tuesday against Detroit, nice bounce back effort,

the way that they played, matching the intensity and matching the physicality.

I think a lot of that had to do with Jalen Tyson, to be honest, and Thomas Bryant coming

off the bench thought I did a great job, and he's given them some great minutes.

To the point of James, getting some single big time with Evan Mobley on the floor as well,

which we haven't seen too much of since the trade.

That was good to just see some reps there, Evan having to get used to his tendencies and

getting to his spots because we know Evan is not as hard of a screener as Jared Allen

is.

He's more up top above the break.

You're going to see him slip.

You're going to see him ghost.

You're going to see him popping more than Jared Allen because Jared Allen's a straight

speed roller, straight to the rim.

Direct line, whereas Evan's got a little bit more versatility, changed to his game.

You can get him in the ball in triple triple prepositions and he'll drive off of close

out.

He'll drive off of triple preposition.

You can even get him going off of those cuts, but being a single big line up with James,

that's something that they haven't been able to do as well.

I'm looking forward to seeing what that looks like in certain line ups as Kenny goes forward.

Here to happen again by nature because Jared got hurt in the first four minutes of the

second half last game, but could be a blessing in disguise for them.

The one thing I will say to just to keep it a buck here, James has not been great defensively.

We know that his reputation precedes him and it's nice when you have the double bakes

behind him because then you can rely on two guys that can get that job done.

The perimeter defense is still in an area that I still have some concerns with as anyone

should when you watch James Harden play, you know what he does.

I think that there's a balance here, but there's more good than bad that's been seen here

so far.

Yeah, and to your point about Evan Mowbly playing with Harden, we've only got according

to cleaning the glass, 57 possessions so far this season once in like everything is

small, simple size leader with with James because he's only been here for a month at this

point as a member of the calves, but they've played 57 possessions with Harden on the floor,

Mowbly on the floor and Jared Allen off the floor and I think a good chunk of those came

on Tuesday against Detroit when like you mentioned Jared Allen left that game

after playing just 20 minutes because of an injury and as we record this at 11 a.m. on Thursday

March 5th, we don't necessarily have an update on Jared Allen other than he told time

withers of the Associated Press after that game that he'll be fine, but that was of course

before any imaging that may have been done, we don't have an update for you as of right now,

by the time you listen to this, there might be an update output as we record this,

there is currently not an update on that, but as far as that goes, one of the things that I'm

very interested to see because I do think for as good as Jared Allen has been, I still think

Kenny Atkinson is going to be comfortable closing games without Jared Allen, like I just think

that is who he is as a coach, he's not going to close games, I shouldn't say that, it would have

to be an extreme situation where he closes games without having Mowbly, but I do think he's

comfortable closing games without Jared Allen. So one of the things that I am really interested

in seeing and we have even fewer of these possessions because of the injuries, but I am really

interested in seeing what does it look like for the calves when it's Don of a Mitchell on the floor,

James Harden on the floor, I have had Mowbly on the floor, Jared Allen off the floor so far that

has played 10 possessions together, like it's too small of a sample size even to read off any

numbers about how they've done, but that is one of the things that I am very interested to see how

much run that gets and what that looks like when that's the group out there together.

Sure, that's a great question because you look at Evan Mowbly, you ultimately become the third

option obviously with those two on the floor, and even when Jared Allen's on the floor, he becomes

a fourth option. Let's be honest, like I think the way that I've been putting it with the regular

starting five that they've had or the new core four if you will is just making sure that Evan

is in the spots to succeed, but he's not a focal point anymore. You're going to want him to play

the best role player that he possibly can be, and I know that's a lot of money that you're paying

for a top end role player like that, and I hate that label, but it's just facts or facts. James

Harden is a future hall of fame point guard. You have Don of a Mitchell who is well on his way to

becoming that type of resume type of player, so those two automatically get the first bite at the

apple, and then you look at Jared Allen in the month that he had, and even just the 2026 that he's

had, how can you take that away when what's working is working? So Evan's just got to figure his way

out into this, and I think, and this is where I was, you know, we were talking to Kenny

Atkins in a couple games ago, and asking him how Evan could get involved, I think the perfect role

for Evan is to get his butt on the baseline, make sure that he is cutting, and then when Jared

Allen is getting that ball in the pick and roll, find the cutter on the baseline, where are you

going to go? Because you can have Sam Merrill or Jalen Tyson on the perimeter too, and you're

going to have to worry and shade over that way. Evan's going to be, I don't know, I don't want to

put this the wrong way, but he's going to be the least, the least worrisome threat on the floor,

offensively, of that group. So then you look at someone like Evan who is awesome with the ball

when he's on the move, and Evan can be on the move all the time in that darker spot on the

baseline, have him cutting, do the high low pass with Jared Allen out of that pick and roll out

of that short roll, and you can have a really big weapon. Because if you look at it fluidity wise,

Evan's been moving greatly lately. In that game against Detroit, he looked great. I think I've

said this on this podcast, I think I've said this on court side with Kaz of Spence a ton of times.

Evan Mobley is a left-handed player. He doesn't shoot with his left hand, but he is a left-handed

player. If you watch him going right to left on any of his drives, any of the ways that

he gets to his spots, it's always going right to left, and I think you saw what the left-hand

dunk in that game. He did it in Detroit and in Cleveland. He is just really superb going that way.

So if you can find some actions for him to do that, and switch out him and Jared Allen in certain

pick and roll situations, and that inverse role of pick and roll situations too, I think that

can really be beneficial. Something I saw in that game too on Tuesday that I want to see more of,

and I don't know if it's always going to be Evan, but when you have Hardin and Sam Merrill on the

floor, and you have a big in the middle, the top of the key, or at the top of the perimeter,

and they're running split action. They have James Harden go left, they have Sam Merrill go right,

or vice versa, and teams have to figure that the heck out. Because that is some really good

shooting company to have if you're Cleveland, and that is a whirlwind to figure out right off the

top of the start-up possession and the half-court for sure. So I think Evan could thrive in that kind

of action. I know that Jared Allen has thrived in that kind of action as well, so plenty of options,

plenty of options for them to go to. More of a Spencer in just a second, but

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This is Nick Gangsta with the Lockdown Mavericks podcast. This message is a paid partnership with

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You're right about that. And I do think, too, as it pertains to Evan, he has been moving around

much better. And I did yesterday's podcast or about this, speaking about Evan, and like one of

the things that has it's held to me that he's getting back to being himself and being back to the guy

that was second team all NBA last year, he since December 29th is shooting almost 65% on two.

Last year, he shot 62% on two. Now, the difference is last year, he was also making 37% of his

threes. And since that December 29th, he's only making 27%, but he is shooting 40% since he also

break, albeit a very small sample size of only I believe it is six games that he's played.

But I think that a very close one on Tuesday, that was one of them. I think there were a couple

of plays from that game that I look at as I think back to it that, okay, if you know, you can,

you can always do the if blank doesn't happen, the calves lose this game.

Evan Mobley's three over Jalen Durin is one of them. And the fourth quarter was an off the

dribble play. It was the end of the shot clock. Caves offense. I thought I'd gotten stagnant at

that point. Like it was just not great basketball. They looked like a team that was four minutes away

from having four days off and it played eight games in 12 days. Like they looked exhausted and ready

for that came to just be over. And that was a big shot that I don't know that they win without.

And then the other one, and maybe this is the transition to talk about the other two new guys.

The other one was when Dennis Reuter had that scoop layup where he just blew past to buy his

Harris. It was like a minute 20 left on the clock and put the calves up five. And I thought that

was the dagger basket. Like that was the one where, okay, it's going to be hard now. Don't put

anything past the calves at the end of game situations because they've not been good here.

But I thought at that point, okay, it's going to be hard for Detroit to come back and win this one.

And I have to sit here and say when the calves made that trade for Keon Ellis and Dennis Reuter,

my thinking was Keon Ellis is the prize here, right? Like they wanted Keon Ellis and Dennis Reuter to

some extent is the cost of acquiring Keon Ellis because Dennis was his contract was not viewed as

a positive one across the league. And it's been hard for me to say to pick apart anything Dennis

has done. I think he's been awesome so far in Cleveland. Yeah. Bulldog mentality is the way that

he's put it and he's backing up his words. I'm with you. I was not the biggest Dennis Reuter fan

before this trade. Maybe it's because I haven't been able to watch him play as much as I have been

since he came over to Cleveland. I give you the scout right now. I mean, you talk about that little

scoop play. He has a great, a great skill of being able to shield the ball away from guys to

contest that thing. So the way he uses his body, the late, the late job that he does to get it off

of the glass, making sure that it doesn't get blocked, making sure that he times it up to where

it doesn't get contested in time. It's it's a huge skill. And what I said this on our podcast,

of course, I would have what's what's good to me about what Dennis does with those types of plays.

A lot of them seem to come at the end of the shot clock like 9-1-1. Usually you see him fire it up

threes. He's somebody that can get from point A to point B in about three seconds. So if you're

down to five seconds on the shot clock and you're able to get by your defender and do that or at

least get to the line, that's a huge skill to have. We don't have to go back and forth and say,

hey, you know, the last guy that that was coming off the bench with those types of minutes was

Lanzo ball and Lanzo ball was not getting to the free throw line or getting to inside of 20 feet

at any point. Dennis gets to the rim. Dennis gets to the rim and that stylistically fits a lot

better the profile that the calves need to have. I think that he did a really admirable job in

Detroit and when James Harden was out playing big minutes, not meant for that amount of

amount of minutes anymore. I don't think especially because you look at the turnovers that he had,

a lot of ones that were either overly aggressive or just boneheaded. But defensively,

you just see the mentality he brings. He's six foot one, six foot two, and he's just in guys'

grills. And he's that irritant that he's one of those guys, you know, the classic, hey, if he

plays for your team, you want to root for him. If he doesn't, you just hate his guts. And that is

the type of nasty that the calves have definitely lacked over the last couple of years, but it's just

a mentality. It's a belief that he brings and the veteran in him that is very effective for

this team. And, you know, Kenny's talked about it before, but even the international experience

being on the fever stage, being a World Cup MVP, being someone that's won a Euro basket before

that is valuable. And those are big stages. They're not in the America, but they're big stages.

So he's going to be a Hall of Famer because of what he has done on that stage. He does not have

a Hall of Fame caliber NBA career, but he has a Hall of Fame caliber international career.

Yeah, yeah. And he's stuck around for a long time, 13 years in the NBA. Being that size,

it's a really impressive resume. It is. And again, I'm not the biggest fan of his, his jump shot.

And I don't think it's the prettiest looking thing, but he does get some to fall here and there.

But he's just enough of the threat to where they do have to guard him on the perimeter. And again,

when he's got that elite type of burst to get to the to the cup, that's something that the calves

have desperately needed, you know, since the trade deadline. And he's proven himself since. And I

think he's really fit in and getting the other guys and uplifting the other guys to get in that

same mind frame when he's on the floor, almost being like a coach on the court. So yeah, you had it

right where I was. I was like, okay, Keon Ellis, let's see what he can do. He's in a contract year,

see what, see what he brings to the table. And you know, all, here comes Dennis with his $15

million contract that probably people view as an albatross. But you see that he is, he is,

he's about winning. And sometimes the numbers don't come with that. But he has definitely been a

huge huge impact on the squad. And again, it goes back to that veteran leadership. And with Dennis,

offensively, one of the things that really stands out to me because you brought up Lonzo Ball. And

I kind of have this internal debate. Okay, his Dennis been really good for the calves because he's

not been the most efficient guy. Like he's shooting just a take under 40% in the 12 games he's

played with the calves. He's shooting 32% from three. And you know, some of that is when you all

heavily played 12 games. And he had that game in Detroit where he was very clearly fighting

through a spray knuckle that he suffered against Milwaukee. And he was gutting it out. And he

played 30 minutes to, yeah, he played 38 minutes and was four or 15 from the floor. So that is

going to be something that skews that data quite a bit. But one of the things, because you mentioned

Lonzo Ball. And it was like that could not have gone different, any more different than what I

expected it to go. Lonzo was the disaster in Cleveland. And you know, it's not something I take joy

in saying, but it's the truth like it needs to be said. In the 35 games that Lonzo Ball played for

the calves, do you know Spencer? How many field goal attempts he took inside the paint in 35 games?

Oh, inside the paint, field goal attempts, let's go 20, 20, you're not far off 24. He took 24

inside the paint field goal attempts did not do well on them. In the 12 games that Dennis

Schroeder has played for the calves so far, do you know how many field goal attempts inside the

paint he's taken? Okay, let's go inside the paint. Think about how many shots he's taken.

45 60. He has taken nearly three times as many shots inside the paint that Lonzo Ball did in

about a third of the games played. And that's me as something that was just really missing from who

the calves were offensively. And I don't want to say that they've been trying to replace Ty Jerome.

But that is part of it because you look at it and this looks much different than Ty Jerome. Like Ty

Jerome had one speed and that speed was slow and Dennis kind of has one speed and that speed is

really fast like he's just quicker than everybody. And Ty would get into the painting. He would take

these like awkward slow floaters that just terrorized teams last year until the Pacers in the playoffs

when he couldn't find out how to make one of them. Where Dennis gets to the cup battery,

he doesn't shoot the ball from behind the arc as well. But the calves so badly needed

that third guy that could get into the paint. And I do think too the thing that made it even more

glaring that they didn't have it is that Darius Garland was not at his best because of those toe

injuries that he had when he was a member of the calves earlier this season. So I look at this as

one of the things and we'll talk about Keon Ellis in a second. But one of the things that the calves

sneaky did at the trade deadline is they went from having one guy that could consistently get into

the paint to three. And I think that might be as big of a deal as anything that they did.

Yes, stylistically if you touch the paint then you're naturally going to draw defenders in

sometimes two defenders. And then that's going to help you with the spray outs. It's hopefully

going to help you with less turnovers because you're not dribbling into crowds. You're not

getting too on the ball too much. So yeah, stylistically that is a formula for succession.

That makes sense too because if you have the threat of getting to the cup that means other teams

are going to react. And that means either a corner is going to be open or somebody who's going to

try and dart to the paint is going to be open. And you know, I think we've seen a number of plays

where Dennis has gotten to the paint and he's either sprayed out to the corner or getting to the

paint almost the the carousel of hurt play, right? Like where he gets in and then he does the little

shuffle feed over to a Thomas Bryant or a J.A. who's waiting there in the inside because his way

of working with J.A. is a little bit different than James's way of working with J.A. Like J.A.

knows how to make himself available with Dennis on the floor. He knows how to make himself

available with Harden on the floor. But as long as they're touching the ball, that's a good thing.

When you're swinging around the perimeter and you're not hitting your shots, that's detrimental.

That's your melody or offense, but it's also detrimental to your defense because you're thinking

about the long rebounds going the other way. Your transition defense is going to tire the heck out

if you're just swinging and ping ponging that ball around the arc. It's not going to work.

So you need someone to put pressure on that cup. Because if they do that, then you're going to be

able to get it starting to swing actions. And that's why Dean Wade started playing well too.

When when they started to get some chemistry together. So it's it's all relative. It's all connected.

It's all on a string. And yeah, Dennis has done a great job of of doing his job.

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do apply need to hire this is a job for indeed sponsor jobs. You brought up Dean Wade.

Who do you think should be the fifth starter when this calves team? I guess maybe if is a bad way

to put it. But if this calves team is ever fully healthy, who do you think should be starter number

five? Cop out, cop out answer matchups. No, that's no, that's not what we're doing here. I need

matchups does not play for the calves. Matchups does not play. No, no one has a jersey with matchups

on the back. You know, I have I have all the reasons the trust coach can, you know, I don't mind

Dean being in that lineup. And here's why I think we know the other four. Like let's, you know,

we don't even have to mention those guys. But with Dean there, here's the thing. All those guys

on the floor. They are great at having, I wouldn't say great at like, at having the ball in their hands.

You know, you have two guards that are great at having the ball in their hands. You have very

effective biggs that have different skill sets. But you want to get them involved is basically what

I'm saying. Dean's low usage. There's a lot of low usage guys around the league that you need to

have in there because they're doing their they're playing a role. You know, obviously with Dean being

their best like big perimeter defender, someone that can switch one through five. We've seen it.

He's very good at that. He's very good at getting defensive rebounds. And he's a ball mover.

And you know, if he's making threes, as Kenny said, they're tough to beat. That is that is the

emphasis of what Dean does. He goes out there and he gets you, I don't know, nine points and seven

rebounds. That is a job well done for Dean Wade in that starting lineup. And people can't stand

that because they look at the box score. They're saying, what the heck did this guy do?

Especially if he goes over three and, you know, has like two points in five boards. You're like,

what did this guy do in the starting lineup? But what if he did a really good job of guarding

Jalen Brunson? What if he did a really good job of guarding Jalen Brown or any of the above?

Right? I understand the Jalen Tyson crowd. I do because he's a heck of a player and we've seen

what he does with a higher volume and a higher usage. I understand that. But if you give that guy the

second unit to run, he's going to have the ball in his hands more. He's going to be able to do a

little bit more damage than when say hard and and Mitchell are on the floor together at the same time.

Do you really want to relegate that guy? That guy who's doing such a good job of playing above what

his role was anticipated to be? Do you want to make him have the Dean Wade role? Is that what you want

in the starting lineup? That's my only question. So there's no doubt that he can play with those guys.

Like don't get me wrong. But that that pistons game the other night,

Diamond Mitchell wasn't on the floor. He wasn't on the floor. And he was essentially the

second scoring option that night. So that team points. Yeah. That changes though when

Diamond's on the floor. Yeah. Yeah. That changes. So do you want Jalen Tyson to be just strictly

that role player? Or do you want him coming off the bench and giving you that spark? Because

the scoring punch changes too when Dean Wade's on the bench and Jalen Tyson's in the starting

five. So that that's where I'm trying to plead with a lot of people like low usage guys are okay.

Low usage guys are needed when you have superstars in the lineup. It's just it's just fact and

and Dean does a good job with his little usage, especially when he's hitting his shots. He's got to

take at least four or five six of those threes to be effective and to not be just left alone.

And he's got to make them. I get that. But with with Jalen, I think you give him a better opportunity

to to excel with that second unit. I really do. And he can play he can play with Mitchell. He can play

with Harden as you can see already using him in the short role. So what's wrong with him not being

in the starting lineup? It's not like there's a you know a thing where where you you have to close out

with your starting five. You don't have to close out with your starting five. He can be on the floor

if he's playing that damn well at the end of the game too. So I think it's just a little bit tougher

and then you add Max Truce into all of this, right? You add Max Truce potentially coming back into

all of this and even Sam Maryland pitches or Keon Ellis. He says Keon Ellis is close games for Kenny

Ackinson because of the way he's played. So you've got you've got a lot of tough decisions to make,

but I trust I trust Kenny on this the whole way. I really do. I think he knows his game. I think

he knows his players and you know it it frustrates people when Dean doesn't make shots because you know

you look at points to see what is equivalent to production and that's not the case with Dean Wade.

I think that kind of to compromise because I agree Dean should be that fit starter and I've been

on this bandwagon for a while now. I just think that he gives them more defensive upside than

Jalen does and I think that when you have two Hall of Fame caliber guards in Donovan Mitchell in

James Harden that you're going to be an elite offense kind of no matter who that fifth player is.

Like I expect the calves to just be killer offensively whether it's Dean Wade or Jalen Tyson

or Sam Merrill like Max Truce Keon Ellis whoever just name your fill in the blank with the starting

small forward. They should be an excellent offense no matter what. I think Wade gives them a higher

defensive upside and I think starting games that way matters. Now with all of that said I think

Jalen Tyson should play more minutes than Dean Wade does. Like I think that kind of needs to be

the compromise because one of the things that I do think is a concern is that when the calves are

fully healthy they can't figure out the right role for Jalen Tyson and that needs to be figured out

because he has proven at least in my opinion and it sounds like your opinion too that he is

somebody that is too good to not be contributing in a significant way every single night because like

there was the one game I think it was I want to say it was against Oklahoma City where Jalen only

played 15 minutes. Now he wasn't very good in that game but you can't have Jalen Tyson only

playing 15 minutes. Like he needs to be above 25, 26 minutes every night. I can't say the same

about Dean but I still think having Dean in the starting lineup is the thing that makes the most

sense to me. Yeah and Kenny's even talked about this too like the way that they want Dean to be

used is like in that 20 to 25 minute role which opens up that time for Jalen to play that

amount of minutes that you just mentioned because they know Dean's injury history they know that

he can't do exert the amount of energy that he does for longer periods of time and they have to

understand what stands to play him and they understand you know hey he's dealing with a

sprained ankle right now hey he's had some knee issues sometimes he's had some back problems

like he is he's had a lot of you know tread on the tire so to speak or wear on the tires I should

say so that's where Jalen comes in and look I mean you want Jalen to play with Donovan and

Harden on the floor at the same time but you want also Shruder to get some minutes with that.

You also want Keyon Ellis to get missed with that and that's why it's hard if you're Kenny to

figure out hey how you get all these guys on the floor right it's a tough it's a tough equation

and you know the fans are always going to be right because they're going to look at the next guy

on the bench hey what happens if you play this guy hey you know like why isn't this guy playing

and and it's funny because it's going to be a great game in the playoffs when you know they lose

a game and say hey you know why didn't Nick want Tomlin come in for four minutes you know like you

know like you know it's going to be like one of those things um so yeah it's it's not an easy

an easy solution the good the good news is is they are very deep we know that we saw that in Detroit

we've seen it um over the last week and a half when they've had guys in and out of the lineup

and they've been able to to step up to the occasion so I'm looking forward to seeing how they

figure that out I can't tell you how they're going to you know maybe Max runs with with that for

you know eventually because he'll be back soon ish but Sam's earned that too Sam's earned the right

to play uh 20 something plus minutes one of the best three point shooters in the world like yeah

and he's grab him on for he's awesome yeah and he's good just three point shooter now like he's a

legitimately really good NBA basketball player yeah yeah play making off of the catch and get into

the rim even like he uses him a lot on ATOs with those fake cuts get into the basket uh good luck

finding time for all those guys just a good look I don't know I'll get you out of here with this

and I'll leave it open ended what do you think the goal for the calf should be the rest of the

regular season they've got 19 games left beginning on Sunday against the Boston Celtics they have a

game on Monday against the Sixers and then the schedule really gets light after that get into the

thing as healthy as possible that is the number one goal that is the number one goal make sure

you lick your wounds uh make sure that everybody is as close to 100% as possible going into the

postseason because you made this move to go for it now you made this move to go for it next year

that is what you have to do and we know that there's been some knickknack things here and there

Sam's wrist been bothering them all year you have Jarrett with this new knee problem you know Evan's

had calf issues you know Donovan's got this groin thing going on but he's also had some soft tissue

stuff before in the past James Hardin has a broken finger you have Keon Ellis with a broken

finger that a shooter's dealing with an ankle injury you can go down the list someone's got some

kind of ailment at this point of the season make sure you're as close to 100% as possible before

you get into that field of eight and and figure out um you know ways to to get yourself in the

right mind frame before the the playoffs start that's the number one thing for me they only have a

handful of games left that they have to prove something right they play against the Celtics on Sunday

right that's the only one right well that's what I'm saying you have you play the Celtics on Sunday

right and then you have your back to back against Philly who's been banged up themselves on

Monday the six I know they're out of gas they're not good like I I wouldn't be surprised I would not

be surprised and I don't think Orlando's that good either I don't think Miami's that good I mean

Charlotte right now to me is the fifth best team in the East I don't think they have enough time

to get up to number five I'd be surprised if they get up to number six even but I look at Toronto

is solid I don't think the sixers are good I don't think the magic are good I don't think the

heat are good I don't think the hawks are that good I think the hornets are really really good um but

like those games because the Celtics game so they play the Celtics on Sunday they play the sixers

on Monday and then they have one more game against the team in the top six in either conference

the rest of the way after Monday and that's a game against the Lakers who I also don't think are

that good yeah no but but the point being is we're basically going to be in that time of

are the playoffs here yet that that we're getting to that point of the season and so you you

know you you you go all out on Sunday as the Celtics see what happens because that could be

that could be for all intensive purposes an Eastern conference finals matchup or you know like

whatever the way the the the the standings shake out um you know give a good effort against

Philly like you said um not as good as they were at the beginning of the season are they going to

be close to healthy I don't know um and then you have the magic who are getting healthier in a way

but they're still doing with their own ailments I think they've been better um as of late because

they've had more guys on the floor uh but yeah are they quite to that level yet I don't know

probably not so you're not you're you're running out of time to where you you have to exert

a ton of energy and all this stuff I think as James Harden put it um last week you can utilize

these games as practices right and and I know it's you know you look at the opponent and you're

probably like uh maybe you know we don't have to bring up the like this amount of effort or

whatever but as long as the reps you're getting are important um you're you're keeping yourself healthy

and you you get a solid top four spot I think that's that's the goal right that you just don't

want to lose that home court that's about it um but yeah they're you're you're getting to that

point of the season now it's March 5th I believe it is and you have a month and 10 thank you

and a month and like 10 days left of the season or whatever the heck it is so it's it's getting

to that time it's getting to that time so not too much else to to figure out I don't think

yeah I think that figuring out how this team can gel together staying healthy and winning

games along the way is what it should look like and I imagine that's what it will look like

for the Cleveland Cavaliers but Spencer Davies does a great shop covering the calves over at

clutch points you can also read some of his other non-cavve stuff nationally geared stuff

over at rgmedia make sure you check out his podcast as well you can find him on twitter

at spin navy Spencer thank you so much for the time man no problem Danny thank you man

big thanks to Spencer for stopping by today show greatly appreciate his time like I said

you can go check out his work over at clutch points or on rgmedia where he does a great job

covering the NBA at whole not just the Cleveland Cavaliers but as we get out of here if you could

please do me a favor hit the thumbs up button and click the notification bell on youtube on this

video and make sure you're subscribed on apple spotify or anywhere else you might be listening

to this podcast and I will be back after the calves take on the Boston Celtics on Sunday afternoon

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