Month / September 2022

Donovan Mitchell, cleveland cavaliers, jarrett allen, darius garland, evan mobley, atlantic files
by Alex Fischbein

Does Donovan Mitchell make the Cleveland Cavaliers a top-three team?

The Cleveland Cavaliers have obviously improved their team after the Donovan Mitchell trade. This team is getting the full hype train treatment now. Not that the hype is undeserved, but should we all pump the brakes a little?

Cleveland did not give up all that much to go and get a top talent shooting guard like Mitchell. They gave up a couple players that were non-factors last season and a player that has seemingly reached his ceiling in Lauri Markkanen. They did, however, give up a bigger amount of unprotected picks and pick swaps.

If we’re talking about starting five, the Cavaliers have one that can go toe-to-toe with a lot of teams. Darius Garland, Donovan Mitchell, Caris LeVert, Evan Mobley, and Jarrett Allen is a very good, all-around lineup.

Then, when the conversation moves to depth, that’s where this team might start to lack some talent. Kevin Love and Ricky Rubio are serviceable players, but do they match up well to the benches of the top teams that made the playoffs last season?

Teams like the Boston Celtics, Brooklyn Nets, Philadelphia 76ers, Miami Heat, and Milwaukee Bucks are all going to be competing for the top spots. Garland, Mitchell, and Mobley are going to be compared to big threes that include the likes of Kevin Durant, Joel Embiid, Jimmy Butler, Jayson Tatum, and Giannis Antetokounmpo. That’s not just a big task, but to face these star-studded lineups after just forming this trio without the chemistry is a whole different story.

Don’t get this twisted, Donovan Mitchell can score with the best of them. His talent level is not in question. Garland and Mobley are still growing as players, Allen is still reaching his defensive potential, and the team chemistry is going to have to improve quickly. Once all of this comes together and the Cavaliers can sign some more supporting pieces, this team can be a force for years to come.

Right now, though, do you think they’re top three in the Eastern Conference?

Donovan Mitchell, trade, cleveland cavaliers, Atlantic files, podcast
by Alex Fischbein

Donovan Mitchell is finally traded to Cleveland | TAF242

This week on the Atlantic Files Podcast, Donovan Mitchell was finally traded and the New York Knicks saga is over. Should the Cleveland Cavaliers be considered a championship team now, Montrezl Harrell heads to the Philadelphia 76ers, Shaq says Kevin Durant is a failure outside of Golden State years, who will the next target be for the New York Knicks, Giannis, Jokic, and Luka all breaking records in EuroBasket, Rudy Gobert flashing improved post game during EuroBasket as well, and our weekly “Whatchu Got” segment!

Trading Donovan Mitchell was an entire saga this off-season. Danny Ainge and the Utah Jazz were holding out for the most draft capital they could get. Finally, they decided to pull the trigger on a non-Knicks deal. The Cleveland Cavaliers swooped in with some more picks and pretty good young players to boot. Now, we might see Mitchell competing for an Eastern Conference Finals title.

Does this trade make the Cavaliers a surefire top-three seed though? Could they even realistically compete for a championship this season?

Now, the New York Knicks have to change their direction of which superstar to target. Which assets are they going to use now to find another disgruntled star? Shai Gilgeous-Alexander may be on the market if the Oklahoma City Thunder continue tanking like they are.

Speaking of players moving teams, Montrezl Harrell is now on his way to Philadelphia. The 76ers have been on the market for a backup big after Andre Drummond left. Especially since Doc Rivers never trusts Paul Reed, Harrell gives them another look behind Joel Embiid.

On Shaq’s podcast, he said that Kevin Durant is essentially a failure outside of his Golden State Warriors days. Is that even fair to say or is it way out of line?

EuroBasket has been moving full steam ahead and some of the NBA’s biggest stars have been showing out. Luka Doncic, Nikola Jokic, and Giannis Antetokounmpo have all been dominating and setting records. Even Rudy Gobert has been flashing an improved post game.

Finally, during our “Whatchu Got” segment, Dennis gives a prepared statement to the commenters on YouTube about Giannis Antetokounmpo, we offer our NBA Finals predictions, and talk about whether we’d pick Cade Cunningham or LaMelo Ball to lead a new team.

Timecodes:
00:00:00 Intro
00:04:27 Donovan Mitchell traded to Cleveland Cavaliers, NOT the Knicks
00:19:19 Are the Cleveland Cavaliers a top 3 seed in the East
00:26:30 The New York Knicks depth would suffer in Donovan Mitchell trade
00:31:10 Who should the New York Knicks target now, Shai Gilgeous-Alexander?
00:36:54 Whose trade package was better, Knicks or Cavaliers?
00:43:28 Rudy Gobert improving post game
00:46:46 Luka Doncic, Nikola Jokic, and Giannis Antetokounmpo dominating EuroBasket 2022
00:50:47 Philadelphia 76ers sign Montrezl Harrell to 2-year deal
00:56:34 Is Shaq correct about Kevin Durant being a failure?
01:04:14 Dennis’ prepared statement about Giannis Antetokounmpo
01:09:05 2023 NBA Finals Predictions
01:12:57 LaMelo Ball or Cade Cunningham to start a new team
01:18:23 Outro

Rudy Gobert, Minnesota Timberwolves, Atlantic Files
by Alex Fischbein

Is Rudy Gobert the missing piece for the Minnesota Timberwolves?

The Minnesota Timberwolves shocked many people by trading a boatload of assets for Rudy Gobert. Whether that was a smart move or not is still up in the air. One of the other pressing questions is whether or not Rudy Gobert was even worth all of those assets as a player.

The Timberwolves finally made the playoffs last season by the skin of their teeth via the play-in games. They took two games off of the Memphis Grizzlies but fell short in the first round. So, the person to take them from losing in the first round to a championship is Rudy Gobert?

Parting ways with the leader and heart of their team in Patrick Beverley, the young talent in Malik Beasley and Jarred Vanderbilt, the new draft pick in Walker Kessler, and FOUR unprotected picks with an added pick swap is a helluva lot of assets. This means that Minnesota thinks this team is winning a championship within the next couple of seasons.

One question is, who takes the role of leader and dirty work guy? Beverley played that role perfectly for this team. Karl-Anthony Towns is not that kind of player along with D’Angelo Russell and Rudy Gobert. So, does that mean Anthony Edwards has to grow into it?

As we all know, defense is one of the biggest needs in Minnesota. Gobert does satisfy that need, but does he make their defense good enough to limit high-powered offenses all while being able to outscore the other team?

Maybe a four-out, one-in type of offensive scheme works well with Gobert inside. This would force Towns to play primarily from the perimeter, which wouldn’t be a problem until you realize that 58.8% of his field goal attempts come from 0-10 feet from the rim.

Clogging the lane as a defensive scheme starts to sound quite successful.

That being said, we aren’t too confident in Gobert being the missing piece for this Timberwolves team. What do you think, let us know in the comments on the video below!

Gilbert Arenas, Giannis Antetokounmpo, Milwaukee Bucks, Atlantic Files
by Alex Fischbein

Gilbert Arenas isn’t entirely wrong about Giannis Antetokounmpo

So Gilbert Arenas, on his podcast, had some things to say about Giannis Antetokounmpo. He mentioned how Giannis doesn’t know how to train his body and that he doesn’t understand basketball nor how to get better at the game. These are some very big words against a player who has won MVPs, a ring, a Finals MVP, and Defensive Player of the Year.

Are all of Arenas’ thoughts incorrect though?

If one would go through and dissect each one of Arenas’ statements, some actually turn up quite true. One of the easiest truths to point out is that Giannis has not improved his three-point shooting.

Time and time again, every media outlet, podcast, and fan alike has said something along the lines of “If Giannis could shoot threes, he’d be unstoppable.” Now, heading into his tenth season, we’re all saying the same exact thing!

I know what a lot of you are going to say, “He’s still won multiple MVPs and a championship without having to add a three!” That’s great, honestly, that’s a feat in and of itself to be this good without having much of a shot at all from outside of three feet. My question to everyone saying that is, wouldn’t you still want him to improve and be even better?!

Giannis only has two seasons in his career where he shot over 40% from between three and ten feet from the hoop. While it hasn’t exactly slowed him down from tons of accolades, his weaknesses are starting to get exploited more and more come playoff time. Over his career, he’s shooting 36.1%, 36.9%, 36.2%, and 28.8% from three to ten feet, ten to sixteen feet, sixteen feet to the arc, and behind the arc respectively. Imagine if those percentages were above 40% from midrange and then 35% or better from three! A lot more space on the floor would be unlocked for him and his teammates.

Now, Arenas also talked about having to train your body just to play 37 to 40 minutes per game. This is quite irrelevant. We’ve seen Giannis play games in the playoffs where he was on the court for over 40 minutes and he held up just fine. Averaging a specific amount of minutes per game doesn’t make anyone great.

What do you think about Giannis’ game, does he have room to improve?