Listen to our Cleveland Cavaliers preview here.
Wow, that was an eventful offseason in Cleveland. It feels like last decade that David Griffin was let go and Kyrie Irving was still in town.
To help us, Fear the Sword's Chris Manning and MMA Hour super producer (and massive Cavs fan) Eric Jackman jumped on to dissect the following:
- So, uh, how do Cavs fans feel about Kyrie Irving now? Should we have seen his trade demand coming?
- Pretty sweet return for a dude that wanted out, though, right? How will Isaiah Thomas and Jae Crowder fit in? What about that Brooklyn pick?
- Dwyane Wade! Derrick Rose! Kevin Love at center! What the heck will this rotation look like?
- Sorry, Cavs fans, we gotta have the Future Of LeBron discussion. How did we get to the point where all the tea leaves point to him leaving next summer? Is it even worth worrying about Bron's future at this point?
- Are the Cavaliers actually better than they were at the end of last year? Has Cleveland's competition sufficiently caught up?
- How many (and which) Warriors have to get injured for the Cavs to be favored in a Finals matchup?
- Would Cavs fans rather see LeBron lead the Cavs to another title this year and bounce, or fall short and stay for the long haul?
- We predict the fake scandal that'll cause LeBron to go on his annual social media subtweet barrage at midseason. This got very creative.
- Banana boat stuff, which was an excuse for Eric to tell the unique story of how he became a Cavs fan and Mike to watch Christian Eyenga videos. (Seriously!)
- BOLD PREDICTION TIME. Wins? Will LeBron stay or go? And much more.
This podcast was part of the Limited Upside podcast’s 2017-18 offseason series previewing all 30 NBA teams with members of SB Nation’s team communities and other friends of the show. We’ve spent the last two-and-a-half months gauging the temperature of every fan base heading into what should be a terrific NBA season. There’s no better way to understand what makes NBA fans in each market tick.
We began these in August and counted down worst-to-first leading up to the season. Here’s how to listen to them all:
- Nets with Kristian Winfield and Nets Daily’s Anthony Puccio
- Lakers with Zito Madu and Silver Screen and Roll’s Anthony Irwin and Harrison Faigen
- Suns with Bright Side of the Sun’s Dave King and Evan Sidery
- 76ers with Tyler Tynes and Liberty Ballers’ Kyle Neubeck
- Knicks with Kristian Winfield and Posting and Toasting’s Seth Rosenthal
- Magic with Orlando Pinstriped Post’s Zach Oliver and Cory Hutson
- Kings with Kenny Carraway and Sactown Royalty’s Tony Xypteras
- Mavs with Tim Cato and Mavs Moneyball’s Kirk Henderson
- Wolves with Canis Hooups’ Eric Goldman and John Meyer
- Pelicans with The Bird Writes’ Oleh Kosel and Travis Tate
- Hornets with James Dator and At the Hive’s Nicklaus Denning
- Pistons with John Ketchum, Kofie Yeboah and Detroit Bad Boys’ Lazarus Jackson
- Nuggets with Denver Stiffs’ Adam Mares
- Heat with Kelly Cohen and Hot Hot Hoops’ Surya Fernandez
- Bulls with Ricky O’Donnell and Blog a Bull’s Jason Patt
- Pacers with Whitney Medworth and Indy Cornrows’ Caitlin Cooper
- Blazers with Blazers Edge’s Brian Freeman and Peter Sampson
- Bucks with Kevin McCauley and Brew Hoop’s Mitchell Maurer
- Hawks with Harry Lyles Jr. and Peachtree Hoops’ Brad Rowland
- Grizzlies with Grizzly Bear Blues’ Joe Mullinax
- Thunder with Eddie Maisonet and Welcome to Loud City’s Joshua Broom
- Thunder addendum! Carmelo Anthony trade emergency pod with Eddie Maisonet
- Wizards with Sports Illustrated’s Andrew Sharp and Bullets Forever’s Michael Sykes
- Jazz with SLC Dunk’s Mychal Lowman and James Hansen.
- Raptors with Raptors HQ’s Daniel Reynolds and freelance writer Seerat Sohi
- Cavaliers with Fear the Sword’s Chris Manning and MMA Fighting’s Eric Jackman
- Clippers with Clips Nation’s Lucas Hann and former L.A. video coordinator Mo Dakhil
- Celtics with Paul Flannery and Celtics Blog’s Nick Gelso
- Rockets with The Dream Shake’s Ethan Rothstein and Jeremy Brener
- Spurs with Pounding the Rock’s J.R. Wilco and Bruno Passos
- Warriors with Golden State of Mind’s Bram Kincheloe