Peyton Watson became a Cavalier last week, effectively turning a humdrum off-season into a qualified success. That this came before DeShaun Watson was named the Brown's starting QB this week, made things all the better for the premiere sports team in the 216. Peyton is a young, talented soon-to-be-24-year-old, who popped in his fourth year with Denver to force an unfortunate financial decision for the Nuggets. Wary of big penalties in the second Apron, Denver moved Watson to get themselves out of luxury tax hell, while the Cavs took advantage of James Harden's (more than appropriately compensated) good will to arrange a trade for Max Strus and a ninth grader (the likely current age of the draft pick they traded away).

To celebrate, Eli, Nate, and Chris piled into the newly refurbished podcast studio and broke it all down: the upside, the risk, and the ridiculous new contract for the beard. The guys broke down the LeBron decision mark four, then went through the contenders in the surprisingly deep eastern conference. Then they went over private equity slush fund that has become the NBA, nominated Adam Silver for prison, and made some pitches for restaurants and coming Cleveland nightlife.

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You might think it hyperbole, but we’ve been been on watch for where LeBron would end up playing for almost 8500 days. That’s right, 8453 days ago, we were watching our TVs for the NBA draft lottery when one LeBron James fell into Cleveland’s lap on that fateful day in 2003. We’ve been tracking his movements around the NBA ever since, and here we are one more time, supposedly waiting for the King to decide between Cleveland, Miami, Philadelphia, and Minnesota. So much smoke for one more grandstand: I won’t even say it’s the last grandstand because given the King’s longevity, we might all be doing this again in a year or two. Anyway, Eli, Chris, and Nate climbed up to the podcast tower to scan the horizons for any sign of the King’s return to Cleveland.

Will he be back? Will he take his talents to South Beach yet again? Does Minnesota have a chance? Is Kevin Love along for the ride? We pondered all these questions and more, and to wile away the hours, we broke down some Sumer League action, and pondered what roster moves the Cavs might make if LBJ returns or if he declines. With no real intel to be gathered from our tower’s spotlight, we looked around the NBA and graded the offseason for the rest of The Association, which is very much still in limbo as their front offices wait for word like the rest of us. Who crushed their offseason? Who is lost at sea? Who is best positioned to take advantage of Adam Silver’s nutty new rules? Who stole the stationary from the desk of Koby Altman? We mused idly as our long watch continues.

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Welcome to the great settling, Cavs fans. After watching one of the most exciting (Western) Conference Finals in history, we await the start of the NBA finals, and lament what could have been if the Cavs had only held on in Game 1. After the biggest fourth quarter playoff collapse in team history, and one of the two worst in NBA History, neither the Cavs front office, roster, or coaching staff has taken accountability for the utter abdication of common sense, toughness, and composure that was Game 1. As we saw with OKC/San Antonio, Game 1 of a playoff series can change everything. For San Antonio, it was validation that they were ready to compete with the champs, and they would not under any circumstances go gentle into that good night; and for Cleveland Game 1 was a demoralizing loss which has apparently left the Cavs on cruise control with the speedometer set on "happy to be in the 'offs."

To break down the recent reports that the wine and gold have moved into a nice Craftsman in the exurbs on the banks of denial, Nate Smith and Elijah Kim rafted into the podcast booth to give a current state of the team. What are the rumors around Evan Mobley, Jarrett Allen, Max Strus, James Harden, Donovan Mitchell, Dean Wade, CPJ, Tyrese Proctor, the coaching staff, and the coming offseason? Are Giannis or LeBron walking through that door? Will we be forced to watch Dennis Schröder next year? Will Nate have the will to turn on the games? Eli channeled his inner Brian Windhorst to let you all know.

After going through the Cavs ugly loss, the CtB brain trust looked to the Spurs, Knicks, and Thunder to see if there were any lessons to be taken from the top three teams in the league. Two themes emerged: "trust the young guys," and "play taller players." We broke down the amazing OKC series, the ridiculous upside of Wemby, the Spurs' stellar young core, whether the Knicks have a chance, and the great disappearing Chet Holmgren (and why Kenny doesn't have the balls to bench players who're sucking). We gave our series picks and our pitches. It was cathartic, even as we settled into living a lyric from Father John Misty's "bored in the U.S.A."

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The Donovan Mitchell Cavs did it. 10 years after winning the greatest championship in North American pro sports history: to say that losing in the second round of an NBA playoffs would have been a disappointment for Spida and his friends would be the biggest understatement in Cavalier history. Fortunately, the lights were not too bright in Detroit. The question remains, though, will they be too bright on Broadway?

To break down the break through - an epic Game Seven smackdown of the Pistons - Nate, Chris, and Eli jovially piled into the pod booth before garbage time was even over to break down the game and the series. The guys all had different reactions: some saw it coming, some were gobsmacked, and some were relieved. We were all happy that our season isn't over yet. After taking stock of a monster game seven from Donovan Mitchell, Evan Mobley, and Jarrett Allen.

For the second, half, our pod contemplated Knicks series. How do the starters, the bench, and the coaches match up? What are the keys to beating the Knicks? Do the Cavs have a secret weapon deep in the skunkworks of the Q? Are there barely concealed skeletons in New York's closet? Who could the Cavs face in the finals? It was pod full of joy and relief.

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The Cavs came from nine down with three minutes and change to take the Pistons to overtime and ultimately defeat them, Friday. The win started all of us in a game where the Cavs didn't seam to be in the lead in regulation for more than five minutes. But a 9-0 run, which included a 7-0 Evan Mobley stretch that no one saw coming, led the Cavs to O.T. before the Cavs dominated overtime.

To break it all down, Nate Smith, Eli Kim, and our own resurrected Winter Solider, Tom Pestak came out of the ice to record an instapod. Only Nate actually got to watch the game live (and he was never worried), while Tom and Eli had to glean the improbable news from media scraps. The trio broke down the crunch time, overtime, the officiating morass, the unbelievable moments from the "core four" and looked forward to a closeout game at home Saturday.

In the second half of the pod, Nate and Tom traded old school CtB stories and complained about officiating. It was a lot of Dad talk for CtB grizzled veterans as they basked in the glow of a reunion and an unexpected win.

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Cleveland survived a nerve wracking first round series against Toronto, Sunday. After a monster third quarter from Jarrett Allen, the Cavs held the Raptors at arm’s length going up by as much as 22, before things got heated. Two Cavalier flagrant fouls and a late game dust-up let the fourth quarter drag on. Finally the Cavs emerged victorious, and we we all breathed a sigh of relief. Exuberant but tired, we blew the dust out of the podcast studio to allow Nate, Chris and Eli take stock of the series and the one to come.

What were the tactical adjustments that helped Cleveland win? Who were the heros of game seven and the series as a whole? What the heck was wrong with Harden and Mitchell? Why did the Cavs choke away two games? Why were the refs SOOOO bad? Is Scottie Barnes a superstar now? Has R.J. Barrett figured it out? We answered all these questions and more, and looked ahead to the second round against Detroit, and around the NBA. We even got a little biblical.

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After the biggest trade deadline week in NBA history, at least in number of players and picks moved, Nate, Chris, and Eli hopped in the podcast booth to break it all down for Cavs fans. First up, a review of the Portland beatdown which saw our first looks at the Umlaut and Keon Ellis in wine and gold. Then, the main event: Nate and Chris went toe to toe on whether this trade was a good idea or not before Eli came in over the top to drop the flying elbow. It was one of our favorite CtB segments ever.

After we were all good and bloodied, we lightened it up by going around the association and giving grades to every team in the league on their trade deadline day performance. We covered about a million other electives too. All in all, we'd give our personal evaluation (written in comic sans) 5 Fred McLeods for energy, three Fratellos for cogence, and an "I agree, Go Cavs" as our dissertation defense.

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One of the most frustrating Cavs of my lifetime is no longer wearing wine and gold. De'Andre Hunter was traded to the Sacramento Kings, Saturday, and in his place arrived Keon Ellis and Dennis Schröder, a man we've joyfully referred to as "The Umlaut" for the shock of white in his hair he often wore and the dots over the "o" in his name. To break down the trade, Nate Smith, Chris Francis, and Eli Kim jumped in the the podcast booth and went through, the pros, the cons, the why's, the optionality the grade brings, and where the Hunter experiment went wrong. There was definitely a difference of opinion on the move.

As a fair warning, this was recorded right before the Cavs' entertaining defeat of the Portland Trailblazers, Sunday night, which saw Jarrett Allen post the best game of his career: a 40/17/5, six stock, zero turnover evisceration of Portland's Donovan Clingan. To say that the Cavs seem to be suffering from the departure of Hunter would be a lie. The ball moved and everyone played more free.

To decide whether trade was good for the Cavs, and whether it might lead to something larger, we broke down Ellis' and Schröder's gamea and how they mesh, and the best (and worst) case scenario for their Cavs' tenure. We got into a lot of other topics too, including the All-Star selections, the possibility of LeBron returning to Cleveland next summer, whether the Cavs will be able to swing for the fences in another trade, whether Giannis gets moved at all this season, Koby's talent development pipeline, news from from around the Association, and so much more.

 

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Merry Christmas eve eve, Cavs fans. On Christmas eve eve eve, Nate Smith, Elijah Kim, and Chris Francis podcapped the Cavs 139-132 handling of the Charlotte Hornets. Garbage time ruined what should probably have been a 15 point win. (Charlotte's back door cover I'm sure has some folks up in arms - to which I'd say, "Stop gambling on pro sports. It's dumb.") After going through the game, (one of Garland's best of the season). Elijah Kim started the slop talk early with his plea to ditch the Christmas Garland as we teased in yesterday's live thread. Lots of trade proposals, some of them fantasy, some of them meh, and some of them nightmares (LaMelo might make me sell this blog) were explicated from our dreams). We covered lots of other minutia too: egg nog, New Year's resolutions, never playing De'Andre Hunter at power forward, Christmas wishes, Dan Gilbert, off color jokes that no one but Nate got, the state of the NBA, the NBA cup, and so much more.

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Nate Smith and Chris Francis fired up the podcast booth during the middle of a back-to-back to go over the Cavs season so far, recap the Cavs win against the Clippers, and pitch a whole lot of things to be thankful for. The guys took on the whole roster: all 17 of whom have played so far this season in real minutes for the wine and gold. Who do we like? Who do we not? What lineups are gelling? What teams have a shot at the cup (and who cares? Then we went around the NBA to break down the surprisingly deep East, and the top-heavy West. We went over the things we weren't so thankful for (the slog of the NBA season). Finally, we went over the things worth gratitude: no more having to watch Isaac Okoro, awesome family, great co-workers, and some bad-ass organizations that do a lot of good for a lot of folks that you should support.

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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.

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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.

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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.

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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.

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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!

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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.

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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.

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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.

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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.

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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.

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