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It's CBS Sports HQ on this Wednesday afternoon. Chris Hassel, Amanda Gara, and Ashley Nicole Moss, who was not supposed to be here. Oh, your consolation prize in instead of going to game five is a front row ticket and a front row seat right here on HQ. It's all right. I'm already working on the finals, though. Don't worry. I'm sure people are watching this and your social media and reaching out.
Don't you worry. Like I mean you guys if you're gonna offer her a ticket like just don't get a ticket for game five. Make sure it's a good one though. Yeah. Game three. We want I want Game three. Okay. Let's just put it out there. Game three. All right. So the Knicks, they are now resting. They're waiting to find out who they will be playing in the NBA finals. But on the other side, a lot of questions about the Cleveland Cavaliers because it's not just the fact that they lost. It's really how they lost that. It was such a massive collapse. A chaotic Cavaliers summer is what is on tap because they
also got to figure out some contract situations. After the series was done, James Harden said, "I 100% want to be back in Cleveland." Whether that's the truth or not. And then you have Donovan Mitchell who could get extended. He would also be eligible for that supermax if he waits another year. So, a lot of decisions to be made when it comes to the Cleveland Cavaliers. So, let's get Brad Botkin in here as well. And we'll start with the decision that they've already made for this upcoming season, Brad, and that is to bring back their head coach, Kenny Atkinson. What do you think about that? Analytically, it's the correct answer to bring him back. I don't know about realistically, you know, when I hear about some of these retread names
that were potentially going to be in the running if they didn't bring Kenny Atkinson back like Jason Kidd. Um I don't know that changing coaches in this situation is something that is going to revive a team that to me feels like it buted up against its very ceiling. Uh they took a run here and they fell short. and we're going to get into some of the roster decisions that they have to make, but this does not feel like a team that a coaching change would make too much difference for. Yeah, I'm actually surprised that they brought him back. I think um it's not so much that he took them to the Eastern Conference Finals and obviously a lot of people didn't have the Cavs going there.
I being one of those people, I think a lot of us thought it would be Detroit and the Knicks or Detroit and Boston, whatever side of the equation you were on there. It's just the complete failure in every single way of that conference finals appearance that makes me kind of raise my eyebrows a little bit at him retaining his job. To Brad's point, it could be the lesser of two evils. Like you stay with the coach, you know, versus going out for a coach you don't know when there's not really that many options. And a lot of the coaches that are out there have been fired or let go from their previous uh teams. But I mean, when you look at what transpired, you got swept. It was the analytical
comment of being down 0 and3 which is just absolutely crazy. The decision to keep James Harden on in the game switching during on Jaylen Brunson during that overtime that absolutely abysmal overtime loss. It just wasn't the tenure of a coach in the conference finals that I would feel confident with going into the new season. Granted, not everything he was his fault. I think there were shortcomings in the roster. James Harden didn't do what or actually James Harden did what he was supposed to do and what we thought he would. Donovan Mitchell um went missing a lot of the games at the wrong times and you know wrong parts of the equation and then the
supporting cast. But I don't know, Kenny Ainson to me is just not the guy. And I think he showcased he's not the guy and him keeping his job isn't so much because I think they have faith in him. I just think there's not a better option out there. It's kind of like not leaving your girlfriend or boyfriend because there's not because there's not like another better option out there. Just being single. Be okay with stay with you know the situation you're in. Uh unfortunately the Cavs can't be single. But I think Brad to Ashley's point especially when you look at the way he was coaching when you had Mike Brown on the other side and the way he was coaching the Knicks. I mean there
was a glaring difference there. It felt like Brad. Yeah. I mean but some of this stuff is so resultsoriented. So, I'm actually somewhat the analytics comment is sort of you can't justify it in terms of going public with it, but I am a process over results guy. I think most people should be if you're logical about it. They didn't have as good a players as the Knicks, you know, and so every time a team butts up against a better team and they kind of hit their ceiling. If you thought James Harden, to Ashley's point, was going to come in and be a good defender, um, or was going to push you over the top of a championship hump, then you haven't been watching James Harden for the bulk of his career. Uh,
and so I think sometimes when something doesn't go your way to suggest that Kenny Atkinson is the one that failed them, you know, that's what basketball is these days. You take certain shots from certain spots, you play percentages. That's what every team does. Kenny Atkinson just said it out loud after a loss. The optics of it don't look good. Um, but I don't think he did anything glaringly wrong in this series. The end of the day, he ran up against a much better team, a team that is going to fight with the Spurs and the Thunder for a big-time NBA Finals, one of the two teams. So, I you know, again, I just go back to we're going to talk about the roster and what they can do with it, but to me, when you
start reaching for we don't have anything left that we can do roster-wise. We pulled all our punches. We sold a 26y old guy for a 36 year old guy. We went completely all in on this stuff. And then when it doesn't work, because you can't just go out and change the roster, we just change the coach. That becomes the easiest way to do it. And I just look, I know those comments sounded bad, but that's basketball today. That's what the Celtics do. That's what every team does. They take certain shots from certain spots and they think that the math is going to add up. And usually it does. So I, you know, I don't think that's certainly not a fireable offense.
Okay. So he stays. Let's talk about some of those contracts specifically when it comes to James Harden and Donovan Mitchell. Where do you think they should go? What should they do? And maybe what will they do? Well, Donovan Mitchell's staying. He's up for an extension, a hefty extension at that. And James Harden didn't get traded to the Cavaliers, not knowing ahead of time that they were going to offer him a deal. I mean, let's call it spade a spade. I know he said, "I want to go someplace where I'm going to win a championship." That was never true. He wanted to go someplace that was going to pay him. And for everything that kind of points to it is that the Cavs are going
to offer him an extension in some way, shape, or form. whether that's 2 years or 3 years, he's going to have guaranteed money coming his way, which I believe was always his top priority. And the Clippers weren't going to do that because the Clippers are trying to get younger as we can see with Darius Garland and now they have the fifth pick in the draft and they're going to be making some moves. They were already on to their next iteration. So, the conversations behind closed doors um probably were James Harden requesting a trade because he knew that was coming down the pipeline. And I say this all the time and people get mad when I say it, but it's just calling a spade a spade. And there's nothing wrong with
approaching basketball from a business landscape. And that's what James Harden does. James Harden worries about James Harden first and what the end goal is. And the end goal for him is to have security. And that is a ideology for a lot of players. I want to be secure. Especially when you're of a particular age and you know you're at the tail end of your career, not the beginning. you want to go somewhere that's going to pay you and you have some sort of level of security. That was probably the biggest um you know shiny spot on the Cleveland Cavaliers. And I think the Cavs at this point, LeBron's not coming to save them, so they got to stick with what they got and figure out what they can do on the
margins to possibly get better. But if we're going to be honest, the Cavs also overachieved this season. So I don't know how mad you can be with what the outcome was. You don't think LeBron's going to finish his career where it started? I think LeBron would be smart to stay in LA. I don't see the him going to Cleveland. I mean, I guess the storybook ending would be cool. Full circle moment. I don't know how it would look on terms of his resume. And you're you have the opportunity to play with Luca in your final year, two years. I would take that over Donovan Mitchell and James Harden in Cleveland any day of the week. But
I'm also not LeBron. But also like if the Lakers aren't going to pay him, let's just say 50 or 20 million, whatever that range of number is, you think the Cavs are going to do when they're on the hook for Jonathan Mitchell and possibly James Harden? I don't think that's happening. Yeah, the Cavs can't do it. So that's that's the difference here. The report is already out that LeBron wants a max contract from the Lakers because the Lakers can give him that. They have bird rights. They can go over the salary cap. They can go into the T. They can do all this stuff over the aprons to pay LeBron. You can't do that when you're coming into a different team. And so the Cavs are going to be limited. The reason that they will
probably sign James Harden to a lower annual deal that has more years on it is to reduce their overall salary number down below the apron and get rid of some of those punitive taxes and give them some more roster building flexibility. Um I don't I wouldn't rule out LeBron going to Cleveland. He will if he does it, he will end up compromising a lot of money for the reason that I just said. they just can't give him as much as the Lakers because it's not his incumbent team. Um, but this James Harden situation to me feels a lot like back when the Sixers were bullied into paying Tobias Harris $180 million. Now, James Harden's not going to get $180 million, but the idea is that you went out and traded a major piece in Darius Garland for him, and
it's just too bitter of a pill to swallow to then turn around and let him walk away. And so I think for that reason, you're sort of forced into signing him again when I don't think that's in anyone's long-term interest. And you know, let's be clear, the Sixers probably, it sounds like, this is what James Harden says, made him this backroom promise, too. Yeah. Come here, take a little bit less money so we can build around the edges and sign PJ Tucker and we'll reward you. And then Daryl my didn't give it to him. So that the Cavs don't have to give him this money. And I would think very long and hard about if you really want to be in the James Harden business. Beyond that, they think in my mind they need to decide between Evan Mobley and
Donovan Mitchell. I believe that they ran into a hard ceiling here. This team does not have meaningful room for improvement. Um, and so I don't think they can contend. The East is only going to be better next year and I think they need to really look at do they want to ship off say Evan Mowgli to the C to the Bucks and make a real offer for Giannis and pair him with Donovan Mitchell or do they start looking at ways to possibly get off Donovan Mitchell. He's owed 50 million this year. then he has a $53 million player option in the next season. He can be a part of a major deal and you can start to retool around Evan Mobley. To me, determining which one of those guys you want to build around
because the combination of the two hasn't turned out to be what you thought it was going to be. Evan Moley has not turned into that co-star that he needs to be. You need either need to build around Evan Moley and go get a ton of assets for Donovan Mitchell or trade Evan Mobley for a guy like Giannis and give Donovan Mitchell a real reason to resign a supermax extension. Staying and playing with James Harden for a few more years is not reason to sign a supermax extension. That team ran up against its ceiling. So I think there's major roster decisions for the Cavs to make here. And I think one of them should be considering trading Donovan Mitchell.
Imagine him going to a team like the Pistons who are sorely in need of a second creator next to Kade Cunningham and then building around whatever they could give back. The Rockets have a ton of assets that they could outfit uh Cleveland with and they need a go-to score point guard type guy. Uh I think there's options for Jonathan Mitchell trade and I think there's options for an Evan Mobley trade and as far as James Harden, they're going to end up getting bullied into paying him because of what they gave up to get him in the first place. I think it's a tough situation for the Cavs and I go back to it really has nothing to do with Kenny Atkinson.
Uh I will give James Harden credit. He has made uh I looked it up according to many sites not just AI around $400 million during his time and he has a lifetime deal with Adidas. He'll be all right. NBA he'll be just fine. So he talked about potentially some moves though. Do you look at bringing in Giannis? Giannis isn't going to Cleveland. Jiannis is not. I don't know if he is, but you look at it. You get on the phone and you say, "Look, Jiannis is not going to Cleveland, Brad.
He's not leaving Milwaukee to go to Cleveland." It's like a lateral move. I'm sorry the mirror at each other. I'm literally I'm sorry to the people of Cleveland. Whatever. I've been there. Cool. She like with the nail. Like he's not leaving Milwaukee to go to Cleveland. It's just not happening. Giannis wants to go somewhere I think that's somewhat in a bigger market although he's never made it clear if that's the case or not but all the teams that he's been linked to and the teams that he has eluded in some way shape or form that are ideal for him or all bigger markets than where he currently is also I just think that he wants to go someplace that he is going to win a
championship and I don't believe that Cleveland is an enticing place for him I don't believe Cleveland is a championship team even when put um Giannis on it. I think that there are they are stacked against some other competitors in the Eastern Conference that I think are better suited. The Knicks are going to be just as good next year. You have to worry about the Pistons getting better, um which they will be. The Celtics are going to be at full strength. I'm just I'm not It just doesn't make sense to me. More than likely, what we are going to see maybe some movement on Evan Mobley. You're going to see Donovan Mitchell and James Harden in a Cavs uniform next season. That's that's the gist of this entire
conversation. they will be back. Ashley's probably right. Um, but you just have to keep in mind that, you know, we've seen instances of it doesn't always come down to where a guy wants to go. You know, Donovan Mitchell probably didn't want to go to Cleveland, but they took a chance, they signed him, and they built enough around him for him to then resign another Max. But Brad, Donovan Mitchell hadn't even made a conference finals. We're talking about Giannis, a top three MVP candidate, a world champion, a multipletime MV. Like, they're not in the same stratosphere. Giannis is not going where Giannis does not want to go.
You and I both know that. Maybe Damen Lillard didn't want to go to Milwaukee. Damen Lillard's not Giannis. Okay. I'm I just I'm I'm saying they're going to make a call if and if it's not Giannis, it just I just go back to my point. I think the Evan Mobley, Donovan Mitchell dream of them being a one-two championship punch hit a ceiling. And in my mind, they need to decide between one of those two guys. Mobly is the younger guy. Mitchell is the win right now. And the Warriors have showed us operating on a two timeline uh two timelines playing the, you know, for the future with Evan Mobley and for the now with Donovan Mitchell is very
very tough to straddle that line. They tried it uh and they're not doing it. And to me, with James Harden now more or less in the fold moving forward, you're now like on an immediate timeline. He's going to be 37, you're saying we got to win right now. So then that to me that would say let's go out and look at deals for Evan Mobley and guys that weak now. If it's not Giannis, then let's look elsewhere. But it's like win right now. And I agree with Ashley, they probably can't, but they're still going to do the best that they can to at least put a team on paper that they believe can be the best that they can do. And so I to me I just think that running it back and saying, "Let's just resign Harden and
let's try to get Donovan here," you're going to end up with a 33-year-old whatever Donovan Mitchell on a supermax contract and a team that can't get out of the second round. These are tough contracts to hand out. Yeah, we have a uh an article up at cbsports.com where we put odds on where Giannis is going to end up and the Cavs are way down the list. Well, have you ever heard anyone They're just ahead of the Knicks. Have you ever want Have you ever heard anyone say they want to go to Cleveland on vacation, Chris?
Uh actually, growing up in the Midwest. Yeah, we took a vacation to Cincinnati once and this somewhat close to Cleveland, but never to Cleveland, never to Milwaukee. To your point, we stuck with the Chicago and the St. Louises and the Minneapolis. Uh I was I got to say that I was uh I heard all this about Cleveland and I was there for the 2018 finals. Dude, if you stay down by the arena, you know the party. Cut his mic. Shout out to Cleveland. Blazing. It's pretty cool. No, it's not. Said no one ever. Brad Bodkin on the side of Cleveland.
The Cleveland defender. Uh defending the land, if you will. Uh thank you to Brad and Ashley as we look at the last four seasons for Cleveland. They still have not won a conference final game in these four seasons during this recent run.
