Cavs: the Podcast

Cavs: The Podcast
  • 4.3 (39)
  • Sports
  • Updated Biweekly

The folks who brought you Cavs: The Blog bring you Cavs: the Podcast. Here you’ll find the most in-depth Cavs analysis in our audacious game recaps. We boast an insightful, clever, and civil commentariat – the best you’ll ever come across.

  1. 22h ago

    327: Accountability's for Suckers

    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." Advertising Inquiries: https://redcircle.com/brands Privacy & Opt-Out: https://redcircle.com/privacy

    1h 11m

  2. May 19

    326: Breaking Through

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

    1h 6m

  3. May 15

    325: Startling Resurrection

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

    59 min

  4. May 5

    324: Survivor Series

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

    1h 29m

  5. Feb 6

    323: Bearded Report Card

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

    1h 59m

  6. Feb 2

    322: Enter the Umlaut

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

    1h 45m

  7. 12/23/2025

    321: Who Needs Garland Anyway? (Maybe the Cavs)

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

    1h 24m

  8. 11/25/2025

    320: Cavsgiving

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

    1h 37m
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4.3
out of 5
39 Ratings

About

The folks who brought you Cavs: The Blog bring you Cavs: the Podcast. Here you’ll find the most in-depth Cavs analysis in our audacious game recaps. We boast an insightful, clever, and civil commentariat – the best you’ll ever come across.

Information

  • Creator
    Cavs: The Podcast
  • Years Active
    2014 - 2026
  • Episodes
    242
  • Rating
    Explicit
  • Copyright
    © 2022 Cavs: The Podcast
  • Show Website
    Cavs: the Podcast

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