Cavs Fans Are Sleeping on James Harden While the Rest of the NBA Isn't

0:00Coming up in about last night we say goodbye to a legend also whether or not Stephen Vogue needs to be called on the carpet. John is quite a takesman when it comes to baseball and people are noticing and I enjoy it. He's got some strong ass opinions. There's a lot of people who disagree with those opinions. I can't say I agree with all of them. In fact I disagree with most of them but there's been a lot of people noticing that John likes to certainly bring it strong when it comes to his baseball. And that I support. I support a takesman on a sport that we don't sit here and spend four hours talking about every single day like the Cleveland Browns whether we want to or not. Because you know most people think that we're the one setting the agenda. And much rather speak about the other thing. Anyway, speaking of another thing, you wanted to bring this up a couple days ago.

1:00We obviously got it indated with other news. James Hardin gets signed to his official contract. You know a lot of people outside of Cleveland are much more bullish on the Cleveland Cavaliers than the Cleveland than any Cleveland fan that I can think of right now. And they are much more bullish on James Hardin than any Cleveland fan I can find. And I hope you know usually like by the time the brown season comes around people start to talk themselves into it. The Browns I think are going to be a five win team. You think our four win team will sit here and we'll deal with it now and deal with it later. The Caps can be good. The Caps can be an Eastern Conference finals team again. I hope that people start to get themselves going by the time late September gets here early October when they go to Spain for camp. I have seen more optimism nationally than I am seeing locally, which is a really, really weird place to be in that in this city is normally the exact opposite. Normally this city. There's a lot of people I talk to. It's a tomer mode. It's delusion and then the national people have to have to strike it down and say, what

2:05are you talking about? I mean, especially when it comes to the Browns, how do we feel about when national guys talk bad about the Browns? How do we feel about that in this case? In this case, it's the local people who are talking bad about our sports team. It's very weird. I can't remember. I'm there. Not a bunch of examples here where I can remember the Zach Loas says with the Peyton Wall is signing that the Caps can absolutely come out of the East. Well, I don't hear that from people locally. Well, outside of the one show that you have it out with about the Cavaliers and really the one host that you have it out with about the Cavaliers, I don't know. You're a lot of negative coverage on them. I hear a lot of negative signs. No, I just hear no coverage. May honestly cover right now. Tell us why they're going to get out of the East. Well, I'm a. Listen, I can't guarantee that they're not the favorites. I certainly wouldn't pick them to any Eastern conference. But now you have a full season out of this team. Remember, it was just how many games did James Harden play with the Cavs last year? Was it even 30? And in those games that he played, the Cavs were unbelievable.

3:05They were on a 60 win pace in March. I know it's the end of the season. So you get some weird, weird results, weird outcomes. But then they backed it up by getting to the Eastern Conference finals. And that was just a taste of James Harden where we didn't have any idea what the defensive rotations were because they made such a huge, huge move. There was no other team that made that kind of a deal. And yet it kind of seamlessly worked at the end of the regular season. Yeah, wasn't seamless in the playoffs. They lost a bunch of games. You know, they lost more games than a one because they got swept by the nicks, but the nicks run an all time heater. It's one of the all time runs we've ever seen in the NBA playoffs. I feel like not enough credence, not enough credit is given to the run that the nicks just went on. But I get a full season and Kenny Atkinson actually gets to coach his team and the staff gets to try to develop a real system here. Or something they didn't have last year. So why do they not like James Harden? Are they just not as in tune with the Cavs? Cause I mean, 30 games, 30 games last year was a nice sample size.

4:06And I think again, he plays in every, it's not quite Leonard. We're quite Leonard will get in the street clothes. I mean, James Harden is going to use today. James plays in the games. James made this team better. I understand he's long in the tooth. But what I failed to come to grips with here is that three years ago, I'm having knocked down dragouts with callers about about Darius Garland and saying that this team as they were is is better was better with Darius Garland on the team. This is before the trade, right? Then we know that there's going to be a trade that has to happen at some point that you're going to move on. They make the trade where you have a guy who's now injured, who is a injured, injured guard. You want a dynamic wing. They don't just fall off a trees. I can't trade my off injured undersize. He's a fine player. I got nothing against Darius Garland. It's not a knock. It's just the truth. Why am I going to give you my dynamic wing for Darius Garland when he's playing on nine toes and he says in himself for crying out loud. So I had to get the best offer.

5:07And who has been notoriously bad in the playoffs? Maybe James. Like all the games not just game sevens. He's been bad in most playoff games. And maybe if I had times, maybe James Harden, who has also not been that great in the playoffs, but maybe James Harden isn't the best offer I could possibly get if we're calm down. Except we're kind of against it. We kind of had down in Mitchell where we didn't really know what his future was going to be. We had to make this decision like there's a lot of pressure to make these moves either by the fan base or certainly with Don of the Mitchell there. So you make this move for James Harden. And all he's done in a very short amount of time here has helped me take the Cavaliers more serious as a contender in the Eastern Conference. I mean, he clearly made him better. Nobody, nobody could possibly dispute that they're not a better team. Yes. Harden anywhere. Darius. We're disappointed. Obviously, everybody's disappointed how the season ended last year against the New York Knicks. But it was like the next day and go on to win the finals and the way that he worked with the team on his contract allowed them to bring in what we all think. Hopefully, it can be a really legit young wing that is getting better every day in

6:11Peyton Wallace and Peyton Watson. And the more time that he got to play, you know, it's looked better and better and better. So I don't know, people that don't like James Harden because they're thinking about, you know, what he did in game sevens when he was the best player on his team, you know, six years ago. It's not really relevant to me now, especially when we've seen him be on teams that have won two game sevens. They did it last year. They beat Toronto one of the best defenses in the league. They beat Detroit one of the best defenses in the league and he was a part of it. Yeah, they didn't get by the next. Guess what? You did it San Antonio. It concerns me. Are they down about San Antonio and San Antonio? I don't think so. They shouldn't be. It concerns me so much because I don't think that this team is going to stay together for very, very much longer. I just can't. And eventually you're going to start to liquidate the assets and move on. And you're getting ready for some not so good basketball coming up here. And I just want to enjoy this as best I can. I know I sound like Paul Dolan here when I say it, but damn it.

7:14Like the stakes are high. And it's disappointing when they lose, but it's not an out and out more fun franchise. The way I keep hearing from some people about it. And maybe it is a hangover. Maybe it's a, you know, you thought LeBron was going to come back and LeBron didn't come back. And so it made you feel even worse and makes you feel like you're not a contender. I can't control LeBron's emotions. When I have taken him back, absolutely. I still take him back. But I still think it's a damn good basketball team. And when James Hardin signs a contract with you, we're still talking about a Hall of Famer here. And I don't think that he deserves like, yes, some of the things that he's done, he's been upset about. And I don't think I'd have this perspective. If he's still played in Los Angeles or was shipped somewhere else from Los Angeles. I hated that. I hated him in other cities. I did. He rooted against him. And he came here and I'm like, all right, but he is an upgrade over Darius. So what am I going to root against him now just because I didn't like his playing style five years ago? He's come here and given a professional effort.

8:14And he's given a above board professional effort and a good effort. Yes, he has struggled in the playoffs historically. But you have to play at a high level to have any thought that you're going to struggle in the playoffs historically at all. I just, as much as I like Darius Garland, I don't think he's physically capable of it anymore. Now you're going to play on a team that's not going to be good at all. Yeah. I actually feel bad for Darius. Well, I actually don't. He's in a wasteland. I mean, he's just the clippers are going to be forgotten now. Right now I don't because I do think that Darius, when it comes to winning, judging by everything that we've been told here over the last couple of years, nice young man. I'm not trying to be mean-spirited about it. But when it comes to seriousness, I think this injury may help him in terms of like the lust to win, the yearning to win that Donovan Mitchell lives with. That I think that James Hardin to a certain degree lives with, that I think that they're trying to impose on Evan Mowley to go, hey, you got to get it. It's not going to last forever. Legacies are at stake here.

9:14You're going to make a boatload of money. We already have more money than God. Legacies are at stake. It's a ring's culture. And I don't know if Darius got that all the time. Yeah. This was a pressure cooker when James came into. It was like win immediately. And they did. So, you know, that's not for everybody. That wasn't necessarily for Darius. He played his best when the stakes were probably the least. All calves conversations brought to you by the fine folks at Surfside Hard-Ice T that asked you to please enjoy that Surfside Hard-Ice T responsibly 731 and 49 seconds for those scoring at home. What did you think of the Tom Pelicero tit bit that there was an offer of three ones by the bills? Well, I took it in a different direction than I think most people. You said you just didn't even care. Well, no, I said I like the calf. I like the Browns deal. I mean, I like what they ended up getting. Yeah. And Josh Allen, as long as he's on the bills, like I think those first round picks are probably going to be very late for a long time because he seems like someone who's going to be able to play a while and all he does is produce, especially in the regular seasons.

10:16So, they're going to win a lot of games regardless of the defense, regardless of the running game, even though now it seems he has a running game. But I took it a different way. It got me thinking, should we have, should Andrew Berry have kind of really put this out there more to see what he could have gotten from other teams too? And I like Jared verse. I'm just saying where they're at. Well, that's a different way to look. Where are there other options? Yeah, I just remember the story from Andrew Berry was this wasn't something that was in the offing for a long period of time. It's like, just kind of came together quickly. And I'm like, I don't know if I wanted to come together. But I don't believe that because there was a story that was out there that they've been chasing Domiles Garrett since 2022. Well, yes, yes. And so, no, no, no, Andrew had had talked about that. He met this time in this instance with the same team that's been trying to get him for four years. Yeah, that he, that he just thought this came together very quickly. And I'm like, I don't know that it needs a big deal like this needs to come together quickly. And I think they did find regardless of whether it was quickly or not quickly. I just think the one mistake that I think everybody came back and admitted when the Dallas

11:19Mavericks traded Luca was that they didn't do an auction. They didn't leave it open to the rest of the league. They could have got so much more. I don't know if we could have gotten so much more for Miles. He's not a quarterback. He is a defensive player, but he's the best. I don't know what we could have gotten, but that's kind of the point. Let's see what we could have gotten. Now, see, this is why, you know, you have the benefit of time. At the first blush, I know what I was obsessed with when we were talking about trading miles, which I didn't want to talk about trading miles. And it was very short-sighted because I was emotional over it. But I said, if we were going to trade miles, I was fixated on three ones. I wanted three ones because you're trading miles to get the quarterback situation, right? That's what the hell we're doing here. I'm going to trade away the best defensive player in the history of the team, one of the three best players in the history of the franchise overall. And what am I going to get in return? I'm going to get a bunch of hopes and dreams back. So I wanted three ones. But when the bills call, okay, well, the bills expect to be a deep playoff team every year. Sometimes expect the same thing, but I'm also getting a player that I know is going to be top quality back.

12:20It's a guessing game in the draft. So when I say these things, I know how my first reaction would have been. I know it. Had I known that there was a three first round picks type of thing there, you know me, I know me, they know me. If made to make a snap decision, a lot of times in a snap decision, I'm going to make the wrong decision. I do think that it's a better deal. If these things are all true, it's a better deal with the Rams because you're getting Jared verse back. You're getting a very quality, you're getting a top quality player. You're going to sign him to a contract. I have him for a long time. I have a defensive leader, a guy who can help change the culture and eventually I have my quarterback. So that's part of it as well. Right now I could take, I could take three first round picks. I could use two of them to possibly move up to try to go after that quarterback, but then I'm still left with what on defense? I mean, I have a big gaping hole and then go into this year. Imagine you didn't have Jared verse and then you really didn't have Eric, right because of the injury. What do we have a defensive end? They are trying to win some and they're trying to be competitive.

13:25I understand that we're in this weird purgatory right now of what do we really want to do? Do we want to be a competitive football team or do we want to try to go for the gusto and go for the quarterback? You could say if you want to really go after the quarterback, you should have taken the three ones. They're going to be deep ones and I know that that player is not going to be Jared verse or I believe that player might not be Jared verse. I'd rather just have Jared verse. He's going in the year three. It's not like we're trading for a 35 year old pass rusher here. So the deal that's better is still the Rams deal. When you bring up like kind of auctioning off a player, I think that that could have got really messy and I think they should have kept quiet. This is what I did say back then is that you probably should keep it quiet because do I want it out there that miles who has a no trade clause in his contract, correct? He did have that. I'm not mistaken. Yes, he had control. Okay, we've put together this deal with the bears. Miles don't want to go to Chicago. Great. So now I have this contract that's next. Now they know that I'm wanting to move on from miles, Jared. And now I have to possibly go to OTAs and go to all these things where Miles is going

14:28to have to answer questions or I'm going to have to answer questions about miles. I still think it was probably better for the franchise. This is a good deal and it was probably better for the franchise to rip the band. I mean, I don't think it needed to get messy. I think he just asked what I could have been. I mean, he obviously didn't want to be here. So that's the first thing. So you're giving him a get out of jail free card and you get to go to a competitor. And so, you know, the bills, good team, Rams, good team, bears. I mean, come on. They were just in the end of the championship. These are in the, you're not. That teams aren't trying for him. I know that. I think you can have conversations. You can be an adult and have conversations and know that yeah, we are, we are turning the page here. We're not keeping miles here. But the fewer people that know the less chance it is to actually get out there. Like just like once you initiate those conversations, you're giving every team a deadline and then going, giving your best off for now, we got to hurry. Like guys in the station and especially Padoin, they started getting notifications like Wednesday before it was actually going down, going into the weekend, like, hey, the Rams are sniffing around. This could actually be a possibility. You started getting that. But you only heard about one team. And it was still quiet until it actually happened.

15:30If you get more teams involved, there's a tendency to get messy. And then I have this player that might decide he doesn't want to go to some city. He wants to go to LA. He always just wanted to go to LA in some form of fashion has wanted to be in LA if he wasn't going to be competitive here in Cleveland. So we made this work and we got a good deal out of it. I think the less time we spend as long as Jared verse plays well, now if Jared versus and good, then all of a sudden we have to deal with all that what could have been, but if Jared verse plays well, I think the less time wondering about what it could have been for these fictitious trades, probably the better for everybody's psyche. 820 Mary Kate Cabin. I want to ask her about this conversation. And John wants to know if we should throw any criticism in Stephen votes direction after last night. Ken Carmen Anthony Lima about last night and five on the...