Cup of Cavs: Cleveland Cavaliers news and links for Wednesday, December 15

Good morning! Your Cleveland Cavaliers play basketball tonight which is something we can all get excited about.

The first sip

No team has shaped the recent direction of the Cavs more than the Houston Rockets and vice versa.

The Rockets chose a late Milwaukee Bucks first round pick over Jarrett Allen. If the Cavs don’t get involved in the James Harden trade Andre Drummond might still be in Cleveland and they probably don’t end up with the third overall pick. The Cavs fell off the map last season when Drummond’s effort level dropped and they were no longer a good/decent defensive team.

Houston again changed the Cavs fate when they drafted Jalen Green over Evan Mobley. It’s way too early to say that Houston made a mistake in choosing Green over Mobley. But we can say with certainty that the Cavs wouldn’t be 17-12 without Mobley.

Conversely, Kevin Porter Jr. is now a Rocket because of the Cavs couldn’t make it workout here.

Life is often about being in the right place at the right time. The Cavs feel like they were in the right place at the right time twice thanks to the Rockets. It’ll be fun to see the two teams take the court together even if Green, KPJ, and possibly Mobley won’t be playing.

Second sip

I’ve watched this clip almost a dozen times and it still makes me laugh.

Read this

How the Grizzlies are playing their best ball without Ja Morant

Links of the day

Seven NBA observations as trade season draws near

Trae Young is making his bid for stardom

19-years ago: Pippen beats Jordan in their only duel

Takeaways from Rockets win over Atlanta