The Optimistic, Pessimistic and Realistic Views on the Cleveland Cavaliers This Season

0:00This is the Lockdown podcast network celebrating 10 years of your team every day. Hey sports fans, it's JD, the host of Lockdown Cardinals. And did you know with the Discover Cashback card? It's payback time when you earn cash back on everyday purchases. Activate and earn 5% cash back in different categories each quarter on up to $1,500 in purchases. That's 5% cash back at different places, each quarter like grocery stores on gas and at restaurants. It pays to discover terms apply. See discover dot com slash five for details. That feeling when you're trying to build your credit and it's like over and over again. Good news. Chase credit journey can help you with a personalized score improvement plan provided by experience. So when you still need that credit built, you have the guidance you need. You can even get a chase for your banking account with no monthly service fee if

1:01you're 17 to 24 years old. Hallelujah. This tool is for education purposes and doesn't guarantee you'll reach your credit score goal. The score you receive uses Vantage score 3.0 model and may not be the model used by Lenders member FDIC. On today's show, we are two weeks out from CAHVs me today. This is a team compared to where they were 12 months ago. We'll discuss on this edition of Lockdown CAHVs. You are locked on CAHVs. Your daily Cleveland Cavaliers podcast part of the Lockdown podcast network. Your team every day. Hi again, everybody. My name is Danny Cunningham and I cover the Cleveland Cavaliers over at my substack the inside shot and you're listening to the latest edition of Lockdown CAHVs where today is a Monday, September 14th and two weeks from today. CAHVs me today will be taking place at Rockett Arena before the CAHVs will be heading overseas to Spain for training camp and basketball season is going to be here before you know. And not the off season is for all and since some purposes done, the CAHVs roster is what it is.

2:01We know what this team is going to be or we know, I guess better, who is going to be on this team and what the roster is going to look like when plague gets underway in just over five and a half weeks, six and a half weeks or six weeks from right now. It's it's closer than you think. Like I said, media day is two weeks away. And on today's show, one of the things I wanted to talk about is how the CAHVs compare to where they were 12 months ago. Because let's jump back in the time machine here where 12 months ago, the CAHVs are coming off of a 64 win season that was ended in the second round of the playoffs against the Indiana Pacers and part of that was because of injuries and at this point, we had known that Darius Garland was not going to begin the season healthy with the CAHVs. We had known that Max Truce was going to miss who knew how much time I don't think people anticipated it to be as much time as it actually was, but we knew Max was going to miss a lot of time and the CAHVs were going to have to figure things out early on. And this year, there feels like there is some more certainty, at least who's going to be available on the roster, I guess, maybe knock on

3:01wood so that there are no pre-training camp injuries because that has been a problem in the past with this Cleveland CAHVs team. But we know who the CAHVs are going to be. We have a good idea of who's going to be playing. We don't exactly know what it's going to look like. And I think that is a difference from what last year was. We had a very clear expectation about what the CAHVs were going to be. And this year, I think is just a little bit different. And I think that there are three different viewpoints that you can take on the CAHVs for the upcoming season. I think you could take an optimistic viewpoint. I think you can take a pessimistic viewpoint. And I think you can take what I think is a realistic view point. And I want to begin this by talking about the optimistic viewpoint, which basically is the statement the CAHVs are a better team than they were 12 months ago. Now, this could be right. The optimistic, the optimism could be the way to go here. That could be what ends up happening. But there are a number of different things that I think would need to happen. And it need to happen really quickly for this to be a correct statement. Because the CAHVs very well could be a better team than they

4:02were 12 months ago. In fact, I kind of think that they will be. But I'm not necessarily in this line of thinking. These are some hypothetical things that would need to happen. Maybe they do. Maybe they don't. But I think most of them would need to happen in order for us to feel like, you know what? No, the CAHVs are without question a better team than they were 12 months ago. As we sit here getting ready for media day. And of those things, some of them are more likely than others. I think it's fair to say. But like a lot of this. And a lot of this conversation, I think starts with Peyton Watson. Because Peyton Watson is the new guy on this team, right? James Harden wasn't here 12 months ago. But James Harden was here the last time the CAHVs played a basketball game. Yes, Mario Huzonia is new. Yes, Malik Thomas is new. Like the CAHVs have some other new additions. But Mario Huzonia is the one that we should be looking at and saying, if any of these new additions are capable of truly changing who the CAHVs are, it's Peyton Watson. Could Mario

5:02Huzonia go out there and do some good things for the CAHVs? Absolutely he could. But I kind of look at that as say, you know, that's a little bit of found money, right? If Mario Huzonia is good, that helps the CAHVs. If Mario Huzonia, if that doesn't work out, I don't know if that's going to change anyone's opinion on what the CAHVs are, right? Like I think that that is more of a, it's a low risk type of type of maybe not move is the right way, but like his performance is kind of low risk as far as I'm concerned. Malik Thomas was the second round draft pick. Like you're you should not be expecting him to go out there and be a difference maker from day one. If he is, that's great, but that is a wildly unfair expectation for a guy who is the number 34 overall pick in the draft this past summer. Peyton Watson doesn't fall into those categories. Peyton Watson is the guy that the CAHVs gave 88 million dollars to that they gave up an unprotected first round draft pick, albeit a long, long time from now, but they gave up the only tradable first round pick they had left to acquire. That means there's some real pressure there. That means that the CAHVs believe Peyton

6:04Watson is the guy that is capable of going out there and changing who the CAHVs are. If the CAHVs are better than they were, for sure, like if there is no doubt about it, if the CAHVs are better than they were last year, I think a lot of it's going to be, well, Peyton Watson came in and he was freaking awesome. He looked like somebody who maybe he's not an all star this year, but he looked like somebody who we can look at and say that guy, you know, he's not made an all-star team yet, but he's going to make an all-star team and he's going to make more than just one all-star team. And this is not like, oh, he made an all-star team because he was in an injury replacement or he made an all-star team in a week Eastern Conference, which the Eastern Conference right now was the furthest thing from week. And I think that making the all-star team in the East is going to be a very real accomplishment for whoever does make it this year. But we could be coming out of this saying those things about Peyton Watson. And if we are saying those things about Peyton Watson, then we are going to be talking about a team that this year is better than they were last year. Because if Peyton Watson is the guy that he showed he could be that that month

7:06in Denver that everyone wants to talk about, because that is like really where he flashed his potential, Nikolay Okich was heard, Jamal Murray in and out of the line of Peyton Watson kind of got to be the guy and he kept the Denver nuggets afloat. And the opportunity that he's going to have in Cleveland is not going to mirror that, right? Like if Donovan Mitchell and James Harden and Evan Mobile and Jared Allen, if those guys are all healthy, it's not as if the calves are going to toss up all the Peyton Watson say, Hey, go be the guy that's not going to be the case. But if he can show some of those qualities that he had when he did get to be the guy and he can help lift this calves him up, I think that then you can look and say, Hey, we've got in Cleveland. Maybe not the next superstar two way wing, but we've got an all-star two way wing. And if that's the case, the calves are going to be better than they were last year. And that is something that I'm not confident in going to happen. But if it does happen, I am confident the calves will be much better than they were. So that to me. And we will talk about Peyton Watson in all three of these as we go through the optimism, the realistic

8:06and the pessimistic. Peyton Watson is the biggest part in all of this. I have zeroed out about that. Like he to me is the swing player on the calves. It's not as if the calves are going to go as far as he can take them. That's going to be on Donovan Mitchell. That's going to be on Ivan Mobile. That's going to be on James Hart, right? Like the roles that those guys have kind of are more conducive to be like, Hey, we'll take this team as far as it can go. But the more Peyton Watson can give, the less those other guys have to do. And I think because of that, he to me is the swing player on this roster. Thing number two, that I think needs to really go right. If you want to take the optimistic point of view about the calves, is evident mobility returning to all NBA for him. So two years ago, Evan Mobile was second team all NBA. He was the NBA's defensive player of the year. He took that leap in the 2425 season. He took the leap that that like was what you expect a number three overall

9:06pick in the draft to take. He was he was awesome. It was his fourth year in the season or fourth season in the NBA should say. And he did everything he wanted. Now his counting stats were different. Incredible. But part of that is because the calves were winning all these games by 20 plus points that year. And he didn't have to play a ton of minutes. He's playing like 31 minutes game. So you look at and say, yeah, like his numbers maybe are not going to blow you away. But the reason they're not going to blow you away is because the league leaders and minutes are playing six and a half more minutes than he is because the calves are winning all these games in dominant fashion. And he was a big reason why. Last year, that's not who Evan Mobile was. Now to be fair here, injuries were a big part of Evan's story last season. He missed multiple weeks, multiple times with calf injuries. And then I do think when we got to the post season, what is he, his all NBA self? No, but I think he was a better player in the playoffs than he was in the regular season. If Evan Mobile returns to all NBA form where he was in the 2024, 2025 season, a top 10 player in basketball. He was second team all NBA.

10:07And that's what you are. You are a top 10 player in basketball for that season. If he returns to that form, he will be in the NBA. And he will be in the NBA. If he returns to that form, the calves are going to be much better this year than they were last year. Because that wouldn't be and this is also thinking Donovan Mitchell is going to remain who he has been. And that's part of this too. Because I believe Donovan Mitchell is in the prime of his career. I believe that these are the peak years of his career. I think last year should be this year and probably should even be next year. Should Donovan stay healthy? Should be the best version of Donovan Mitchell that the NBA ever sees. And if he remains who he has been and Evan Moby gets back to who he was a couple of years ago and can stay healthy which again. I believe to be a big part of what went wrong for him last year. It's not everything because he didn't handle the role that he was given early in the season. As well as you would have liked to have seen, he couldn't carry the offense the way the calves hoped that he could by giving him that

11:07responsibility early on. But I also think that the injuries did take a toll on him to some extent. It's not an excuse. I think it is a truth there. But if Evan Moby gets back to being an all-in-b a player, if Evan Moby takes multiple steps up from who he was last year, the calves are going to be much better than they were last year. And I think that's a fair thing to think. The next guy is Jalen Tyson. And I know I mentioned Donovan Mitchell and I'm not going to mention Jared Allen here because I look at those two and James Harden to some extent, although I do think there is something to be said about James that will get to and judge. But I look at those guys as just like the pillars of consistency that the calves have. I know what Jared Allen is going to give on a regular basis. Now, you know, maybe on the second night of the back to the back, he's not great. Like he's not the best player on the floor really ever. But I can count on Jared Allen to just go out there and be a really good consistent player. So like this episode is not going to talk a ton about him because I just feel like we all know what to expect. And it's good high quality basketball. And I think that's what

12:07I think it's going to be a really good high quality basketball. But I just don't feel like there's a lot of wiggle room. Like I don't think that the best version of Jared Allen and the worst version of Jared Allen, I don't think there's a big gap there if that makes sense. Like I think that his consistency is a really, really positive thing about him. So it just kind of doesn't fit in to, okay, the calves are better. Like Jared Allen was great. Does anyone think that's going to happen or the calves are worse? Jared Allen stinks. No one thinks either of those things are going to happen. At least I certainly don't think so. So I think that's what I think of the most of the things. So I guess getting back to an optimistic point of view here, Jaylin Tyson is part of this discussion too. Because he took a massive step forward last year. Year number two, he develops after really not playing meaningful minutes as rookie and to be fair, his rook year. Like I said, the calves won 64 games. They have really, really good injury luck that season not perfect, but really good injury luck. Jaylin Tyson doesn't need to play a lot of games. It's a really challenging thing for a rookie, even if you're playing football or you're playing football or you're playing football or you're playing football or you are a rookie,

13:07even if you are a first round pick, even if he was a non lottery pick. But it's really challenging for a rookie to come in and make an impact on the team that is a title contender the way that team was. So I don't think that we should look into him not playing that season as like, oh, this meant that this was such a surprise that Jaylin was good in year two. But what was a surprise is the fact that he's shot as well as he did from beyond the arc. Because I don't think anybody within your organization thought that Jaylin Tyson was did from distance. But it wasn't just that. It was he was able to do a lot of different things at a really high level when he was given that responsibility. And he took a huge step forward in year two. What if he takes another step forward like that? Now I don't know how much of it I don't know how much of the opportunity is going to be there. He was a starter for a good chunk of last season. I wouldn't anticipate Jalen Tyson be the starting small forward for the calves this year. I think that's going to be Peyton Watson when you're paying Peyton Watson $22 million per year on an average basis. I don't think you're

14:09paying for that guy to come off the bench. So I do think Jalen Tyson is probably going to be in a six-minute role. But can he shoot above 40% again? Can he be one of the best three point shooters in basketball the way that he was last year? Can he take a step forward defensively? Can he be a little bit more of a creator with the basketball on his hands leading some of those bench units? Can he be somebody that kind of in some ways resemble a bigger, more physical, more athletic version of tied room a couple of years ago when tie was one of the six man out of your finalists? I think that's a possible thing. I think that is something that when you look at Jalen Tyson and what his goal should be for this season. I think that's kind of what this should look like. Two more things to get to. James Harden entering age 37 season turned 37 a couple of weeks ago. No drop off. If James Harden remains who James Harden has been at age 37, one, we should all be impressed by that. That is really tough to do. There are not very many guys in basketball history that have been as good as James Harden is at the age of James Harden is. At some point, there is going to be a decline

15:12in the regular season. We've not seen it yet. I mean from his MVP days we have seen it. He's not, you know, the guy he was in Houston when he was winning in MVP or finishing in the top three seemingly every year. Like that's not who James Harden is anymore. I'm not saying that, but like relative to his age, he's still really good. And there's not been some sharp decline in his skills. If the calves are going to be better than they were last year, there can't be that sharp decline this year. I don't think there will be. I think that James is going to be somebody who his game continues to age really, really well because of how excellent of a passer he is. But that has to be part of the equation if the calves are going to be without a doubt better than they were last year. And then the final thing is that the calves are able to find a consistent answer for the backup point guard spot. Then a shooter not here anymore. Last year they go into it with Lonzo Ball as the answer. That did not work out. This year they're going to be asking some combination of Craig Porter, Jr. Tyrese Proctor, Malik Thomas, to really step up and take the reins there. I think one of them, I think maybe multiple guys there are capable of doing it. But finding a consistent answer

16:16there is sort of to me. One of the storylines that I look at and say, this is an important thing. It's underdiscussed. It's not the sexiest thing in the world, right? Like when I get on this microphone or on this podcast, the backup point guard conversation is maybe not the one that I'm always running to the microphone with. But it's one that I do think is important for the calves. It is something that they do need to get figured out. And if it goes well, that is going to be, I think, a really, really good sign for this basketball. Now that's the most optimistic way to look at the calves. What's the most pessimistic way? We'll do that next right here on Lockdown Caves. But first today show is brought to you by Fandall. Welcome to your most rewarding NFL season ever, only on Fandall. How rewarding are we talking more rewarding than a touchdown with time expiring, more rewarding than an 18 point comeback, maybe even more rewarding than an alignment catching a touchdown. While this season fandalls, making the excitement go beyond what happens on the field with the

17:18all new Fandall rewards club featuring exclusive offers, surprises, and so much more. Obviously Sunday was the first full day of NFL action this season. And it's not over for the week because we've got Monday night football coming up tonight, 815 Eastern time, Kansas City, taking on Denver, KC at home, two and a half point favorites, the return to action for Patrick Mahomes after he tore his ACL last year, Denver coming off of a really I thought strong postseason run. They might have the second best defense in football. I think Houston has a better defense than they do. But I think Denver is right up there. They are no doubt a top five defense. Are they going to welcome Patrick Mahomes back to the field? I kind of like Denver plus the points plus two and a half points. Now we'll see Bonaix coming off an injury of his own. That is nothing to just overlook. That could be something that factors in here. But I think Denver's got a little bit more weapons if Bonaix looks healthy. I think this could be a game that Denver wins. KC trying to, you know, kind of overcome some adversity for last season.

18:20We're quite frankly, they weren't a very good football team. So you can find that over on Fandall or maybe you just want to play the total. That is set at 43 and a half or if you want to look ahead to next week, we are going to briefly do this because you're O and one Cleveland Browns who looked like a complete dumpster fire on Sunday. They've opened up as seven and a half point favorites on the road in Tampa against old friend to Baker Mayfield. I think we all know how that game is going to go. So make this your most rewarding season ever with Fandall. Visit fandall.com to get started today. That's fandall F-A-N-D-U-E-L.com. Fandall. Play your game. Hey sports fans, it's JD, the host of Lockdown Cardinals. And did you know with the Discover Cashback card, it's payback time when you earn cashback on everyday purchases. Activate and earn 5% cashback in different categories each quarter on up to $1,500 in purchases. That's 5% cashback at different places each quarter, like grocery stores on gas and at restaurants. It pays to discover terms apply.

19:23See Discover.com slash five for details. Thank you for making this edition of Lockdown Caves your first listen of the day. Please do me a favor. Hit that thumbs up button and click that subscribe button and it's one of the very best ways to help grow locked on Caves. Now we already talked about what it would look like if the Caves are just without a question better than who they were last year. Well, let's look at the other end of that equation. What if they are without a doubt worse than they were last year because that is I think a real possibility. This is not what I would bet on. I think the Caves will be a better team even if their record might reflect it which we'll talk about in a second. But I think this year's Caves team should be better than the last year's Caves team. But that's no guarantee as we have seen because we thought last year's Caves team was the favorites. And at this point, you know, going back 12 months, if you wanted to pull up Fandall, the Caves were the odds on favorite to win the Eastern Conference last year. That did not come to fruition. They finished fourth. They lost in the conference finals. But it was easier to be optimistic and that didn't come to fruition. So why do we have

20:26to be sure this year? It's going to come to fruition. We don't. That's why we're going to talk about the pessimistic viewpoint. So like I said, Peyton Watson is a big part of this because if Peyton Watson pops off, if he is the guy that Caves think that he can be going to be awesome, what if Peyton Watson is just kind of is who he's been? Because Peyton Watson on the surface, now the Caves are making a bet on his potential. They're not making a bet on who he's been. They're not paying him for what he's done in the NBA. They're paying him for what they think he can do. They gave up that draft pick because of what they believe he can do. They didn't give up that draft pick because they saw, oh, man, we were really, really impressed by the full, complete body of work Peyton Watson had as a member of the Denver Nuggets. No, that's not how this goes. They're paying for future potential. But potential does not always come to fruition. So what if Peyton Watson just isn't what the Caves think they're getting here? What if he's just kind of this nice role player that doesn't really elevate the ceiling for the Caves or the floor for the Caves and

21:29he maybe is a marginal upgrade over Dean Wade. He's better offensively but worse defensively. I'm not so sure the Caves are going to be better. If that's the case, they might be a little bit worse if that's the case. They need Peyton Watson not to be the guy, but they need him to be a trustworthy starter at that small forwards. Now, I think he'll hit, I think he'll be really good. But there's a world where this doesn't work out. And if that doesn't work out, I think to me, and this is why I said Peyton Watson is, I think one of, if not the biggest swing players for the Caves. If that doesn't work out, the Caves then aren't a position where they still don't have an answer at small forward, which has kind of been the case for the last 10 years, nine years since LeBron left for Los Angeles. They really have not maybe that year of Loury Markinan. They've really not had an answer at small forward, or I guess the few months of DeAndre Hunter, he was awesome the first few months they had him. So then,

22:30if this doesn't work out, they're still searching for that answer and they've no assets to go make it happen. That to me is the worst case scenario here. And if that happens, the Caves are not going to be as good as they were last year, because at least last year what they could do is they were able to kind of turn things over a little bit and reconfigure this roster on the fly. I don't know that they'll be able to do that this upcoming season. Some of the financial constraints they have, because they are hard capped at the first apron, because they acquired Peyton Watson in a sign-in trade, could make this a little bit more difficult. So Peyton Watson is just not as good as he showed in Denver last year. Well, then if that's the case, Caves might be worse than they were last season. I think that to me is the number one thing that could pull this Caves team down. Now, there are some other things that we're talking about here. Like I've talked about James Harden, not declining at all. James Harden does start to decline. That is something that is going to pull the Caves down a little bit. They're counting on James Harden. If nothing else, or I guess for a

23:31lack of a better term, they are going to rely upon him to be a bit of an innings eater if nothing else, where they need him to go out there and play 70 regular season games and do so at a high level. And then when the postseason arrives, yes, James has certainly left some things to be desired, but the Caves shouldn't be asking a ton of James Harden. What if James can't get through the regular season? That is horrible news for the Caves. And at 37 years old, that wouldn't be the most stunning thing. Again, I'm not betting on it to happen. James has done a great job of taking care of himself as a basketball player and ensuring that his game ages really well. But at some point, he's not going to be an all-star caliber player anymore. That could be this year. Again, I'm not betting on it, but that could be this year. What if that happens with Donovan Mitchell, who turned 30 earlier this month? Well, guys, Donovan's size after 30 years old, they don't necessarily age particularly well. I think Donovan is still in the prime of his career. I think he's still on peak years. I'm not expecting him to take a step backwards. But if he did, it wouldn't

24:35be the most stunning thing in the world, especially for a guy who has that with a number of lower body injuries, particularly in the spring. That would not be the most stunning thing in the world if Donovan Mitchell isn't a first team all-in-be-a-calibre player the way he has been. He's been a top 10 player in basketball since he's been in Cleveland. What if he's not that this year? The Caves are going to be worse because of it because they need Donovan Mitchell to be awesome. And this one to me, the next one here is maybe this second swing thing behind Peyton Watson. And this is the thing that I think could end this era. But what if last year was the real Evan Mowgli? What if the guy Evan was two years ago when he was second team all-in-be-a, when he won defensive player of the year, when he was like a guy that looked like he was on the verge of superstardom? What if that was the

25:35Mirage? Instead of last year being the Mirage. What if the guy he was last year where he turned into a bad shooter from beyond the arc where he couldn't stay healthy? Where he was I think still good defensively? I don't think he was defensive player of the year, caliber defensively last year. He's still a good defensive player and I don't think that's ever going to change. I think his floor on the defensive end is extremely high. But what if he's just just the guy offensively? What if he's not somebody that's capable of carrying an offense for stretches during games? What if he's not capable of ever turning into a 25 point per game score? What if he's just the guy that is going to go out there and get you 18 points and eight or nine rebounds and dish out three or four assists and he's a good player. Don't get me wrong. Like a lot of teams would sign up for that. Just not at the contract that he's on right now. Teams wouldn't sign up for that. The calves need definitely to take a step forward. They need him to be who he has been in years previous, not this past season, but the years before that. But what if the guy that he showed he was this past season?

26:40It's just the guy that he is. That'd be horrible news for the calves. That is something that I think you could look at and say, hey, this ain't working. This is something that could make the calves a worse basketball team. Some other things I have written down before I want to get to what the most realistic outcome here is because I am running out of time on today's show. I kind of probably could have predicted. What if the calves don't have a way to replace Dean Wade's defense on the wing? Dean was for all of the things he left to be desired on offense. It was an excellent defender. He was a top tier wing defender. They will miss that. What if the calves mismactures his playmaking on the perimeter, which they did miss last year when he wasn't available? What if they missed the toughness that he has routinely brought to this group? I don't know if that toughness is going to be replaced. I think there's a good chance the playmaking can be, but what if they can't replace Max Shrutes? What if Jalen Tyson is not the 40 plus percent shooter from beyond the arc that he was last year? That could be a big problem for this offense. And then finally,

27:41what if the calves get off to a slow start? Because this schedule they have, it's really difficult. And I know that I've talked in the past on this show about the brutal stretch they have from December 23rd to February 6th, where they do not play consecutive games in the same city. If they're trying to keep their heads above water during that stretch, this thing could get really rocky. And I know the start of the season is incredibly difficult. They play the next four times before Christmas. The NBA Cup East Group B is people are saying, many people are saying this, the most difficult group in NBA Cup history. What if they get off to a slow start and just never recover? I think all those things are possible. I wouldn't bet on those things happening, but I think those are things that we probably do need to think about. Now, what is realistic here? Because I'm not so sure the calves are going to be no doubt better than they were last year. I don't think they're going to be no doubt worse. I think the realistic thing here,

28:45so there's a pathway for them to be better. Let's talk about what actually might happen next right here on Lockdown Caves. But first, today's show is brought to you by Indeed. When work class cast hits and you need the right hire, Indeed sponsor jobs helps connect employers with candidates who manage specific needs, skills, certifications, location, less time is going to get spent searching and more time is going to get spent finding the right fit. People are finding quality hires on Indeed right now. As I'm talking as you're listening, people are using Indeed. Because in the minute that I've been talking to you, companies like yours, they've made 27 hires on Indeed according to Indeed data world. Why? So spend less time searching and more time actually interviewing the candidates that are going to check off all of your boxes. Because one great addition, it can have a ripple effect on everyone around them. When you find someone who brings the right skills added to experience, all those things that you need, it's going to make that entire group better, right? And you can do that with Indeed. So less stress, less time, more results with Indeed sponsor jobs. Because when you need the right person to cut through the cast,

29:46this is a job for Indeed sponsor jobs. And listeners of this show right now, going to get a $75 sponsor job credit to get your job, the premium status that it deserves at Indeed.com slash podcast. Just go to Indeed.com slash podcast right now, support this show by saying you heard about Indeed on this podcast. Once more, that's Indeed.com slash podcast terms and conditions do apply. Do you need to hire? Well, this is a job for Indeed sponsored jobs. Hey sports fans, it's JD, the host of Lockdown Cardinals. And did you know with the Discover Cashback card, it's payback time when you earn cashback on everyday purchases. Activate and earn 5% cashback in different categories, each quarter on up to $1,500 in purchases. That's 5% cashback at different places, each quarter like grocery stores on gas and at restaurants. It pays to discover terms apply. See Discover dot com slash five for details. Thank you for making this edition of Lockdown Caps your first maybe even second listen to the

30:48day. If you are making this your second listen to the day, I'm going to assume you hung out with Spencer German from Lockdown Browns and listen to what he had to say about that just pathetic performance that the local football team put on on Sunday. Personally, I am expecting several more of those performances because that football team is not very good whatsoever. But there is a realistic way to look at what the calves are going to be this year. And I talked about ways to be optimistic. I talked about ways to be pessimistic. I as you can probably imagine, I come out on I don't know that the calves are better than they were last year. I definitely don't think they're worse than they were last year. I think that there is a pathway. One that I don't think is all that narrow, but there is a pathway to being better than they were last year. I need to see it. We need to make sure. But I do think that I can look at this roster. I can look at this team and I can say, I don't

31:48know for sure that they're better than the team that went to the conference finals. But I think they will. And I think again, a lot of the owners here is on Peyton Watson. I really believe that he's a guy that can become something really important to the calves that he can become somebody that we look at this year and say, you know what? He can make an all-starting. That is, I think firmly on the table. Now, a lot has to go right there and I don't know that that's going to go right from the start. But I do think that having Peyton Watson in this expanded opportunity from what he's had in Denver is a good thing for the calves is a good thing for him. And I think with that, that's going to be a bit of a process. It's going to be a growing experience certainly. But I think it's going to be something that we are going to look at the calves and say, you know what? I don't know that I love the depth of the back of point guard spot. I think it's still a question. But I think you could look

32:49at last year and say, okay, well, the calves were strong in the front court. You've Jared Allen, you have Evan Mowbley, right? Like that is a really, really good front court pairing. Strong in the back court, you've got Don of the Mitchell, you've got James Harden. It's a really, really strong back court pairing. But there wasn't a lot in between. And I think with Peyton Watson, after this upcoming season, that's not going to be the thing anymore. Like I do not believe that we're going to be talking about this is, hey, you know, the calves are still a wing away. Now Peyton Watson is not going to turn into LeBron James in this prime. But I do think that this is something that can one probably extend this era. If it works, this is also something that I think is important to look at and say, hey, this can really help the calves now. And if Peyton Watson is that two way superstar is strong, no one's asking him to go be Jason Tatum. But if he can be somebody that's like, yeah, you know, Peyton Watson makes an all-star team twice over the next six

33:52years, I think that's a realistic possibility. As far as Evan Mowbley goes, because that's another really important thing that we've obviously talked about here. I think the most likely thing is last year was not who Evan Mowbley is. I think the most likely thing is Evan Mowbley is a consistent all-star. So not every year, not a perennial all-star, not Donovan Mitchell. But somebody who makes two out of every three year, maybe three out of every five all-star games, I think that makes sense. And maybe he makes two out of every six or two out of seven all NBA teams in the right year. You know, I'm not going to sit here and say he wins another defensive player of the year, like as long as Victor Reimony, I'm a play 65 games, I think we can send that award to San Antonio right now. But I think that who Evan was last year is not who Evan is. I don't know that he's going to be an all-in-b-a guy the way he was two years ago, but I would expect him

34:52to be better than he was this past season. I think that he's got a really good chance if he stays healthy to be an all-star caliber player. Like if you gave me the calves at one and a half all-stars, I would probably take the over. Donovan Mitchell's a lock if he stays healthy. Like he is a true superstar. He's going to be at the all-star game. But I think that Evan's going to have a good season. I am back in on Evan Mowbley. I also think that James Harden might not be an all-star guy every single night. There's no shame in that. Doesn't mean he's not capable of playing in like an all-star. Pretty frequently. But I don't know that he's going to be in that conversation. I think that's a realistic way to look at things. And I'd love to be wrong about that. I would love to see a guy at 37 years old other than LeBron James and Steph Curry because other than that really hasn't happened. I'd love to be wrong and say yeah, that guy is still freaking awesome. And I think Donovan Mitchell and Jardin Lund remain the same. Like I think that those guys are who they are. Donovan's the top-send player basketball. Jardin Lund is one of the best centers in basketball.

35:56That is like borderline all-star caliber. I don't think that's going to change. And I think if all those things happen, we can look at this and say you know what? The calves did end up being better than they were last season. I think that's a realistic possibility. I think there's a pathway. I don't think it's a narrow pathway. I don't think it's hey, all of these really, really unlikely things need to go well or need to happen for the calves to hit all those marks. I don't think that's to be true. In fact, I think the pathway is them being better this upcoming season than they were last season. I think that pathway is wider than the pathways and them being worse because that pathway exists too. But I think the chances of them being better than they were last year, even if the regular season win total might not project it because this schedule is a bear for the calves and the Eastern Conference is very, very good. But I think the pathway of them being better or at least feeling better about this team in the postseason, I think that does exist and I think it end up. It will end up being the one that does happen. So that's going to do it for this

36:56edition of Lockdown Caves. I appreciate everybody making this part of your Monday here on YouTube or maybe Apple Spotify wherever you listen to your podcast. I very greatly appreciate it. If you please do me a favor and subscribe wherever you're listening to it. And if you're watching on YouTube, hit the thumbs up button and click that notification bell so you don't miss the next edition of Lockdown Caves. And I will be back tomorrow talking so much more about the Cleveland Cavaliers. Spend less time searching the more time actually interviewing candidate to check all your boxes with less stress less time and more results. When you need the right person to cut through the chaos, this is a job for indeed sponsor jobs and listeners of this show will get a $75 sponsor job credit. To help get your job, the premium status, it deserves indeed.com slash podcast. Just go to indie.com slash podcast right now and support our show by saying you heard about indeed on this podcast. Indie.com slash podcast terms of conditions apply need to hire. This is a job for indeed sponsor jobs. How do you want to split it? Actually, dinner's on me. Okay, big money. Well, I got a Venmo balance that I can spend with my Venmo debit master card. So

38:00Well, I've been a mod you three times last week, so it's kind of on me actually. Yeah, you send it, I spend it. Did my money get like reincarnated? He has chicken sureba. We want it back? I can't believe you like ate my Venmo. Spend your balance instantly with the Venmo debit card. No monthly fee or minimum balance. Venmo balance account required to get a card and use a balance. Venmo master card is issued by the bank card bank NA. Thank you for making locked on your first listen every day. For your second listen, find the locked on NBA podcast where there's no offseason. West mat and haze keep you up to date on contract negotiations, rumors and everything you need to be the most informed NBA fan. Find locked on NBA on YouTube or wherever you listen to podcasts. Part of the locked on podcast network. Your team every day.