The Athletic NBA Daily – Slam N’ Jam

Episode: Cavs Identity Crisis + Land of the Lost
Hosts: Andrew Schlecht, Alex Spears
Guest: Carter Rodriguez (Chase Down Pod)
Release Date: November 15, 2025

Overview

This packed “Slam N’ Jam” episode kicks off with a whirlwind tour of league trends—surging defenses, wild scoring nights, and identity crises—before diving deep into the Cleveland Cavaliers’ strange but promising start with Carter Rodriguez. The team unpacks roster changes, defensive struggles, Cleveland’s evolving offense, and the wild three-point eruption across the league, then sets up for a fun, competitive Cavs trivia showdown.

NBA Weekly Recap

(03:02 – 16:26)

Biggest Stories

• Mavericks Fire GM Nico Harrison

  • Harrison is let go less than a year after the Maxi Kleba trade.
  • Despite his “defense wins championships” mantra, the Mavs had the fourth-best defense and housed the league’s second-worst all-time offense until recently.
  • “With this kind of obvious progress, was Nico Harrison fired prematurely?”—Alex (03:02)
  • Attention turns to possible big trades but Alex pokes fun at AD rumors.

• Defense Becomes the New Meta

  • Denver Nuggets:
    • Sporting the league’s #3 defense, Jokic shares an absurd 37/12.5/9 line on 79/75/87 splits, even scoring 55 in a win over Beal-less Clippers.
    • “Our game plan was to make him score 55.”—Ty Lue (05:35)
  • Detroit Pistons (#2 defense):
    • Cade Cunningham dropped a 46-12-11 triple-double in an OT win.
    • Backup Paul Reed (B-Ball Paul) had a breakout 28-13-6 line.
  • Oklahoma City Thunder (#1 defense):
    • Defense nearly 7 points per 100 possessions better than Detroit; SGA leads in clutch points despite sitting most 4th quarters.
    • “SGA is still averaging over 30 points per game while also somehow leading the league in clutch points.” —Alex (06:53)

Good, Bad, or What?

The Good

• Jalen Duren’s Leap

  • Leads league in pick-and-roll roll man efficiency (1.46 PPP).
  • Rim protection surge: “Teams are shooting 60% at the rim with Jalen Duren as the closest defender… that gives you a good blueprint…” —Andrew (08:38)
  • Still only 21; paired with ‘Beef Stew’ (Isaiah Stewart), they anchor Detroit’s defense.

• Role Player Three-Point Outbursts

  • Vite Krechi and Onyeko Okongwu (8 threes each); Grayson Allen (10 threes in a game).
  • Hosts predict the next unlikely role-player to go nuclear (“I’m gonna go with Simone Fontecchio.”—Alex; “Keon Ellis for the Kings.”—Andrew, 13:33)

The Bad

• Superstars Suddenly Struggle in Isolation

  • KD, Tyrese Maxey, Giannis, and Ja Morant are all posting extremely low points per possession in iso.
  • “Ja Morant at .52—just so, so bad.” —Andrew (15:38)
  • Numbers must improve with time.

• The ‘Land of the Lost’: Shocking Number of Teams Have No Identity

  • A record 8 teams are bottom 10 in both offensive & defensive efficiency:
    • Brooklyn, Clippers, Washington, New Orleans, Sacramento, Memphis, Indiana, Utah.
  • “Never had this many teams… in the land of the lost one month into the season.”—Alex (18:29)
  • Memphis and the Clippers picked to escape, mostly via defensive improvement.

The What

• Lineup Extremes in Orlando
  • Magic’s starters with Jalen Suggs: +19.6; swap Suggs for Anthony Black: -6.3; sub in Tyus Jones: -54.4.
  • “The extremes that have existed so far with this team are too wide right now for it to be a real thing.”—Andrew (23:20)
• Bigs Getting Challenged: Alex Sarr’s Breakout
  • Sarr leads the league defending 12.1 shots at the rim per game, holding opponents to 53.1%.
  • “A lot to like about his game… holding up really well with that defensive workload.”—Alex (27:08)

Schedule-Focused Predictions — Scoring Alex’s Preseason Calls

(28:07 – 34:47)

Alex revisits August predictions based on schedule quirks:

• Orlando would be the East’s top seed: Missed, but schedule validated the prediction.
• Sixers as a top 4 seed: Nailed it due to cupcake calendar.
• Blazers would start slow: Wrong, as they fought to .500.
• “Trade rumors will start early for the Sacramento Kings”: Nailed—those began just this week.
• “Spurs will be a top-4 seed by mid-November”: Nailed, riding favorable scheduling.

Featured Segment: Wheel of Fandom — Cleveland Cavaliers

(38:21 – 58:30)

Interview with Carter Rodriguez of the Chase Down Pod

1. Cavs Identity Crisis: Defensive Personnel & Philosophy

• Loss of Isaac Okoro (low stocks guy) traded for chaos-creating Lonzo Ball & Larry Nance.
• “Turns out you give up a lot more easy looks when you’re gambling for steals…” —Carter (40:17)
• Struggling to find defensive balance: gave up stability for activity, now catching more busted coverages.

2. Offensive Shifts: Missing the Pick-and-Roll Crutch

• Moved on from Ty Jerome, put more responsibility on Lonzo Ball (a different, less PNR-dependent player).
• Need for guards to get defenders rotating—offense is “chunky,” heavily reliant on threes.
• “At times they’re playing Celtics ball without Celtics personnel.” —Carter (45:05)

3. Jalen Tyson’s Breakout

• Now a strong, active wing, rebounds well, improved 3-point shooter with quirky no-dip release.
• “He’s showing just enough chops … one of the real bright spots of the season… started terribly, now shot out of a cannon.”—Carter (47:00, 49:08)

4. The Jared Allen Barometer

• When Allen is productive, offense is generally healthy; quiet nights often a symptom, not a cause.
• “He’s not a self-creator… canary in the coal mine for the overall health of the team.” —Carter (50:16)
• Critique of lineup downshifting without re-adjustment—Cavs sometimes “downshift” to small-ball and don’t reinsert Allen for size late.

5. Cavs & the Three-Point Tsunami

• Lead NBA in 3PA per game—Mobley taking 5 per game.
• Carter: “I don’t really care that much… if it’s a byproduct of constant rim pressure and getting defenses in rotation.”
• “Don’t treat symptoms, treat illnesses… The illness is rim pressure…” (56:17)

6. “The Diff”: Bizarre but Beloved Cleveland Tradition

• Carter defends (“I’m the hero Cleveland needs, not the one it deserves right now”—59:43)
• “My daughter will ask me who’s winning. Guess what I get to point at… the diff.” —Carter (59:16)

Andrew Versus The Beat — Cavs Trivia Showdown

(59:56 – 73:05)

• A light-hearted, competitive trivia battle focused on Cavs player stats, roster quirks, and league history.
• Carter drops fun bits (“I’m indiff-erent”; “Let the record show I am here to protect the pod from dead air…”)
• Notable Q&A exchanges:
  • Who’s had Cavs’ 30-point games? (Just two: Donovan Mitchell and Jarrett Allen)
  • Transition defense is Cleveland’s top-rated category per Cleaning the Glass.
  • Lonzo Ball’s career high: 33 points.
  • Only 7 players in NBA history have 4+ made threes per game in a season (Steph, Klay, Lillard, Hield, Harden, Doncic, Anthony Edwards).
  • Drew Ilgauskis was the distant #2 Cav scorer in 2008 (14.1 ppg to LeBron’s 30+).
  • Mobley is one of only four players averaging at least 1.3 steals and 1.3 blocks (others: Scottie Barnes, Myles Turner, Walker Kessler).

Memorable Quotes & Moments

• On defensive identity: “Turns out you give up a lot more easy looks when you’re gambling for steals... I think where they are right now is kind of an open question: Have they swung too far in the other direction?” —Carter (40:17)

• On Jalen Tyson: “He kind of catches it and does kind of a no-dip jumper... almost trebuchet style. But it’s going in at a really, really high rate.” —Carter (47:00)

• On the surge in threes: “The Cavs three-point volume… if it is a byproduct of constant rim pressure and getting defenses in rotation, I think right now, when we’ve seen this offense at its best, that’s still what they’re doing.” —Carter (55:52)

• On The Diff: “There is no more overwrought concern trolling than trashing the Diff user. It’s fun. It doesn’t matter… for a five-year-old who’s basically still learning to count, I point at the diff.” —Carter (59:16)

Important Timestamps

• 03:02 – Weekly NBA rundown: Mavs, Nuggets, Pistons, Thunder
• 08:38 – Duren’s rim stats and impact
• 13:13 – 14:05 – Role player 3-point bombs and predictions
• 15:38 – Ja Morant’s shocking iso struggles
• 18:29 – "Land of the Lost" (8 teams with no identity)
• 21:54 – Lineup stats, Magic with/without Suggs
• 27:08 – Alex Sarr's rim protection numbers
• 38:21 – Cavs “Week of Fandom” begins; intro to Carter Rodriguez
• 40:17 – Carter's deep-dive on Cavs’ defensive shift
• 46:48 – Cavs’ evolving offense; what’s missing post-Ty Jerome
• 47:00 – Jalen Tyson’s developmental leap
• 50:16 – Jared Allen: The team’s health barometer
• 55:52 – Rethinking the Cavs’ huge three-point volume
• 59:16/59:43 – “Diff” defense; Carter’s hero stance
• 59:56 – 73:05 – Cavs trivia contest
• 73:34 – end – Next Wheel of Fandom revealed: the Denver Nuggets

Conclusion / Takeaways

• The Cavs’ “identity crisis” is real—a team in transition, grappling with balancing defensive chaos and offensive flow, integrating new personnel, and shifting playstyles.
• Jalen Tyson and Jalen Duren are both experiencing breakthrough years.
• Three-point shooting is up everywhere, turbo-charged by role players, with some teams going full “Celtics-mode” (sometimes without the shot-makers).
• The league is uniquely stratified, with a wild, early-season number of truly directionless teams (“Land of the Lost”).
• The trivia battle and playful tone keep everything accessible and engaging—even as the show crunches data and delivers deep team analysis.
• “The Diff” is a cult artifact, lightly defended as family-friendly whimsy—summed up in Carter’s spirited defense.

Summary prepared for listeners seeking a substantive, entertaining, and nuanced breakdown of the NBA week—especially fans interested in Cleveland’s evolving direction and the oddities of early season league-wide trends.