Cavs: the Podcast

After going 4-0 in the regular season last year against the Knicks, Cleveland dropped its opener in the Garden, 119-111. The story of this game was free throws, focus, and rebounding. The Knicks were more focused (Cavs fouled four three point shooters in the first half), were much better on the glass (48-32 rebound advantage), and then were blessed by the officiating gods as New York played refball down the stretch (as I called pregame). Still, you can’t spot a team 15 points in the first half on their home court, especially an NBA darling like the Knicks.

Donovan Mitchell and Sam Merrill turned in monster second halves, helping the Cavs briefly go up 1 in the fourth with 23 and 16 respectively, while Mobley dropped 22/8/3 on the night. Jarrett Allen played soft as triple ply Charmin, and Jalen Tyson shook like he was haunted in his first start in the bright lights. Meanwhile, CPJ no-showed, and Tyrese Proctor looked like a player unafraid of the big city in his NBA regular season debut, with good handle, feel, and some nice dimes to complement a team high +11 with zero turnovers. OG Anunoby started his quest for DPOY with a 24/14/2 line with three stocks, while Brunson scored 23 on 13 (mostly bullshit) free throws. It was a frustrating loss with some bright spots, and as some commenters noted, the Cavs were missing 50 ppg worth of injured players.

Nate Smith and Chris Francis made a long overdue return the podcast booth to break it all down and go around the NBA with some instant reactions, over-under win total predictions, and a look forward to the coming six games in nine days stretch for the wine and gold.

Advertising Inquiries: https://redcircle.com/brands

Privacy & Opt-Out: https://redcircle.com/privacy

At the almost midpoint of summer, Nate, Chris, and Eli hopped in the CtB podcast booth to dig deep into the Cavs Summer League so far, opine over the news from around the association, and divine whether Rich Paul and LeBron are scheming to get the King out of L.A. and back to the land of his birth. It's a tight 60 that also features Eli's tour of the Cavs' premises, Chris and Nate fighting over the portent of Jalen Tyson's turnovers, and all of us gushing over Nae'Qwin Tomlin's very high ceiling.

Advertising Inquiries: https://redcircle.com/brands

Privacy & Opt-Out: https://redcircle.com/privacy

Episode 317 found us on the first night of free agency (you know, BEFORE the Shamsbombs about Lillard's buyout and Myles Turner becoming Buck). To start it off, Late bemoaned the Cavs' decision to keep Sam Merrill over Ty Jerome (or both), a decision that was originally about money, that became less so when we figured out that Merrill got four 4/38 years instead of Jerome's 3/28. The Cavs' decision to sign Isaac Okoro to a multi-year deal last year ended up backfiring as it made the luxury tax payments very difficult when it came to keeping both. Chris talked me off the ledge with some salient counterpoints, but I still contend that Lonzo Ball isn't going to play any meaningful playoff minutes for the Cavs.

Eli Kim joined us for the second session, and we rode my stalking horse for 6/30: a Darius Garland for LeBron James trade before the 2024 fiscal year ended. Obviously that didn't happen, and there was a lot of meditation on LeBron's weirdness and the mess of the Lakers. The general tone of the pod was muted frustration and reluctant patience before we went around the rest of the moves in free agency and their impact on the Cavs. Oh, and Eli tried to trade for Giannis again (another thing that is obviously not happening).

Finally we figured out who could be out there for the Cavs, busted a whole lot of chops, asked Eli what was for dinner, explored the details of his impending move, and discovered who his favorite hockey team is. It was a pretty fun 100 that saw us return to the podcast quality you've come to know and love.

Advertising Inquiries: https://redcircle.com/brands

Privacy & Opt-Out: https://redcircle.com/privacy

Hope you all had a happy Father's Day, Cavalier fans. With the NBA finals in full swing, last week, Nate, Eli, and Chris Francis constructed an impromptu podcast booth in an abandoned culvert underneath I-80, and exorcised the demons of the Cavs' 2025 playoff exit. Full warning, this one might have the worst audio engineering in the history of CtB, and it's almost a week old now. I've been burning it at both ends at work and this was the soonest I could post. So it's Amateur Hour from us as we flexed our dormant podcast muscles. 

To kick it off we got into why the Cavs lost highlighted by some major criticisms for Kenny Atkinson, the Cavs' perpetually injury mismanagement, the Cavs' lack of punch, and the NBA officials. Up next we got into slop season with no one off the table in our discussion of how to reconstruct this Cavs roster. The conversation revolved around a few key points key points: the Cavs have one last shot to make a major move before the end of June, before they're locked in salary cap purgatory, above the dreaded luxury tax apron; there are no perfect deals out there, and there aren't any clear paths for improving the roster; the Cavs might be stuck with what they have; Cleveland desperately needs some longer wings, better secondary ball-handling, and a guard set that complements both each other and Cleveland's bigs; and finally, the luxury tax apron is going to act as a hard cap and make it very hard for teams over it to operate.

After that we got into the finals, celebrated a big birthday, and looked forward to the summer. It was an entertaining podcast, even if it was a little rough around the edges.

Advertising Inquiries: https://redcircle.com/brands

Privacy & Opt-Out: https://redcircle.com/privacy

The Cavs and their fans find themselves in unfamiliar territory. Up 2-0 on the Heat, the Wine and Gold appear to be on the best side of the talent gap between themselves and the Miami Heat. Not to jinx anyone, but Cleveland has dominated at times against Miami and has pulled out just enough to win at other times. The've looked in complete control at all times. The other unfamiliar territory: being in the thick of NBA awards season.

To tip off our coverage of the NBA playoffs, we called on our best 3-on-3 squad: Nate Smith, Chris Francis, and Eli Kim (affectionately .known as "The Korean Channing Frye" around these parts). Our trio broke down the series so far and all the latest Cavalier news: Evan Mobley's Ddefensive Player of the Year award, Kenny Atkinson's Coach of the Year from the NBA Coach's Association, and Payton Pritchard's theft of Ty Jerome's 6th man trophy.

The guys got into contract talk a bit: discussing who might be a threat to sign Jerome, and the odds of the guys outside of the "core four" being on the team next season. Mostly, though, it was a celebration of the Cavs playoff run so far, with expectations that the best is yet to come.

Finally, our guys went around the rest of the playoffs and put our spin on each series with some prognostication all the way to the finals. Affter the first sign-off brought, we brought it back for a little bonus as Eli spun the tale of his and and Chris' experience at Cavs vs. Clippers in the player family section and how much fun they had. I know I was pretty touched by how well they repped CtB, and I think you will be too!

Advertising Inquiries: https://redcircle.com/brands

Privacy & Opt-Out: https://redcircle.com/privacy

Let's face it. The Cleveland Cavaliers were due for a stinker. After flirting with losses to the likes of Portland, Charlotte, and Brookly, the Cavs finally dropped one to the Magic. Donovan Mitchell had a bad game with too much hero ball, Okoro had an horrible eight minutes, Sam Merrill couldn't shoot, Ty Jerome effed around and found out, and no one seemed to want to feed Jarrett Allen in a loss to to the Magic that halted the Cavs' win streak at 16. Elijah Kim and Nate Smith manned the podcast booth to break it down, and lament over the dog days of the NBA season.

With 15 games left in the next 26 games, to say the Cavs schedule is "back loaded" would be an understatement. The Cavs kick off a five game road trip in a week and have a compressed schedule to close out the year. Everyone right now from the coaches, to the players, to the fans, just want the Cavs to get through the regular season with their focus in tact, and all their players healthy. If it means dropping some games, I think we're here for it. To that end, Nate and Eli talked about managing the rest of the season, how they'd like the Eastern Conference playoffs to stack up, and who's in and out of the Cavs' playoff rotation. Finally the guys asked if there were any more bigs to be had in free agency, and didn't find many answers on that front. Mostly, the guys just rubbed their lucky rabbits feet to make sure the Cavs get through the next four weeks healthy and unbored.

Advertising Inquiries: https://redcircle.com/brands

Privacy & Opt-Out: https://redcircle.com/privacy

The title of this podcast comes from the way the Cavs have been winning lately: the possession game. In their 12 game win streak, the Cavs have outrebounded their opponents in every game, and won the turnover battle in most of them. Rather than having one or two great rebounders (though Jarrett Allen is very good), with the addition of De'Andre Hunter, the Cavs have become a team that recreates great rebounding in the aggregate across all their lineups.

Cleveland found a way to win the possession battle and the game again Wednesday night when they notched perhaps their ugliest win of the season. Despite three frustrating turnovers in the last two minutes, Cleveland clung to a 110-107 lead after a Mobley lob and a Hunter floater as the roll man put them up three with 1:20 to go. Tight defense, and exceptional SLOB D (sideline out-of-bounds) forced a Miami timeout, and then a cross court heave to Duncan Robinson who stepped half an inch out of bounds.

Nate Smith and Chris Francis broke down this game and the last few from the CtB podcast studios where the topics ranged far and wide: the possession battle, Max Strus and Donovan Mitchell's struggles with biofeedback, De'Andre Hunter's sublime offensive and defensive fit, Evan Mobley's defense, Max Strus' gluey-ness, Ty Jerome's sixth-man cred, who scares us in the playoffs, Kenny Atkinson's coaching brilliance, Koby Altman's roster construction, Nate's bowling addiction, shout outs, the SNL 50th, and the Cavs' march to history are just a few of the threads.

Join us as we revel in this season of gravy that is your 2026 Cavaliers.

Advertising Inquiries: https://redcircle.com/brands

Privacy & Opt-Out: https://redcircle.com/privacy

The CtB hunting party piled into the Canadian Goose Blind to discuss one stalwart in particular, newly acquired forward, De'Andre Hunter. Hunter's upgrade to the backup power forward position was palpable against Toronto as he dropped 18/5/0 and went 4-9 from deep in just 27 minutes. His J was high, quick, and feathery, while his D was long and imposing. Nate, Eli, and Chris all marveled at what an upgrade Hunter is and broke down his strengths, weaknesses, and how the Cavs will use him in the regular season and the playoffs. The CtB hunters all gave Koby an A+ on the trade.

After, the guys graded the moves from around the ssociation over the last couple weeks, slung some gossip, wallowed in some buyout slop, and then looked forward to a Cavalier heavy all-star weekend. Finally, with the sun setting over the hunting grounds, the huntsmen went over the post ASB schedule, made some predictions, and tossed out their NBA finals picks. It was a tight 75, and no animals were harmed in the making of this podcast, with the possible exception of some pissy Raptors. ("They should all be destroyed.") Go Cavs.

Advertising Inquiries: https://redcircle.com/brands

Privacy & Opt-Out: https://redcircle.com/privacy

Tough loss, Cavs fans. Cleveland overcame a 20 point first quarter deficit to cut the Boston lead to four about halfway through the fourth quarter, and then after a miraculous four point play by Darius Garland to cut the diff to five, Spida Mitchell pounced on a steal and roared up the court. With a wide open Garland waiting on the right side of the arc, Mitchell went the other way, the Cavs turned it over, and that was the ballgame. Still, a valiant effort by Darius, Donovan, and Jarrett Allen was waged, but alas Cleveland couldn't overcome turnovers, nervous shooting, and Boston offensive rebounds. The Cavs' bench, perhaps in their heads a little too much due to the impending trade deadline, was especially rough with Georges Niang and Caris LeVert joining starter Evan Mobley in putting up some of their worst performances of the season.

To document it all, Nate Smith, Eli Kim, and Chris Francis hopped into Ye Olde Podcast Boothe and broke down the game, the impending trade deadline, the team, and the news from around the league. After recapping, the guys got into slop season with what they think the Cavs should do, and what they think the Cavs will do with the trade deadline less than 36 hours away. Inspired by Devin Vassell's unorthodox jump shooting form, our intrepid bloggers asked "do the Cavs follow the Medieval tenets of biological warfare, and jettison any of their underperforming players via trade as if they were cadavers launched by trebuchet?"

Did our podcasting yoemen said "yay," or "nay?" Does this team has too many good vibes to mess with right now, or do the Cavs need to make a change to compete for a championship? You'll have to listen to find out, but we all gave some names of guys we think might be able to help, and though we want to see some of the guys on the floor a lot less *cough cough - Georges Niang - cough cough* we'd be heartbroken to say goodbye to any of them and see them depart this special team entirely. We'll see what the next two days hold, and in the mean time, enjoy your favorite CtBers slingin the slop around and making fun of the Mavericks.

Advertising Inquiries: https://redcircle.com/brands

Privacy & Opt-Out: https://redcircle.com/privacy

J.B. Bickerstaff returned to the Rocket Mortgage Fieldhouse Monday night to take on Georges Niang and the Cleveland Cavaliers who were coming of a three game losing streak. After the wine and gold broke their losing streak,, Cavs the Braintrust joined their hive mind to podcast about the Cavs recent woes, what they need to do to get back on track, how thankful we all still are that Bickerstaff's gone, and to look at NBA's upcoming slop season. Many intriguing questions were posed: is the Cavs' January defensive swoon just due to injuries and variation, or something to worry about? What do the Cavs have to do to stop playing Georges Niang? How good is Darius Garland? Why in God's name haven't the Cavs grabbed another big? Should Nate be fired for suggesting a trade with Golden State? All these questions and more were answered as Nate, Eli, and Chris broke down the game, the team, and the association.

Advertising Inquiries: https://redcircle.com/brands

Privacy & Opt-Out: https://redcircle.com/privacy