NBA Free Agency Special | The Skip Bayless Show

NBA Free Agency Special | The Skip Bayless Show

LeBron was Allin I’m not sure he was Allin on giving up salary but Allin on getting clay and Clay chose Kyrie and the Mavericks over LeBron and his father I’m Relentless can you feel this I’m going all in it’s time to cash in one moment in time let’s get at this be tremendous Relentless I’m relentless [Music] here we go this is the skip B Show episode 119 this is a very special NBA free agency special because I’m about to unload and unleash on everything I’ve seen the last two bombshell days all things in ba I’m about to call out LeBron again forgive me I can’t help myself somebody’s got to do it because he deserves it and I’m about to tell you why the more I think about it the harder I look at it the more shocked I am that Clay Thompson chose the Dallas Mavericks over LeBron’s Lakers and Clay’s fathers Lakers are you kidding me that also could have a lot to do with LeBron bleep and James and I’m about to tell you why Paul George would not have mattered that much to the Clippers and I do not think he’ll matter that much to the Philadelphia 76ers and I’ll tell you why I’m sorry James Harden is just a loser and the Clippers are stuck with that loser I’ll tell you why my Oklahoma City Thunder will play the Boston Celtics in next year’s NBA finals and I will tell you why Chris Paul is about to be even more valuable than coach papovich is in San Antonio and I will conclude today with forgive me for this one small Dallas Cowboy topic because I can’t help myself I’m going to tell you why I was so happy that Malik hooker finally somebody called out Micah Parsons thank you Mal hooker I’ll get to that last stay with me but first up it is not to be skipped and I start with one of your questions is Clay going to Dallas more like him turning down the Lakers that Hal is a very good question when I first read your question last night I was of a mind that no clay just took far more money to go to the Dallas Mavericks he thought the Dallas Mavericks were just a little better opport opportunity to go win one more ring but I got to tell you Hal from Fort Wayne the more I thought about it I believe you’re right I did not initially think that clay chose the Mavericks over the Lakers for any other reason than money because I was convinced that the Mavericks simply offered far more money and that included obviously there’s no state income tax in the state of Texas so I I had tweeted this to start with I had tweeted that I’ll believe it when I see it when LeBron James actually takes less money to add a more valuable player a quote unquote third star Rich Paul was quoted as saying few days back LeBron will this time take less money to add that one key piece if that key piece is worth it and I tweeted immediately calling phony baloney on Rich Paul who is as smart as they come as Sly as they come a master media manipulator because LeBron has often made noise about taking less money to help improve his help and never done it except for the one small price that he paid to Pat Riley when he joined forces as you might recall we going back now what 14 years ago when he joined forces with Dwayne Wade and Chris Bosch in Miami and Pat Riley said everybody’s got to take a little bit of a haircut here to fit us all three under the cap okay guys and they did and ultimately it proved very fruitful for Lebron after that first debacle of a nightmare of his start in 2011 but the point is I have criticized LeBron again and again for why don’t you do what Tom Brady has done consistently did consistently throughout his career why don’t LeBron you do what Tim Duncan did at the end of his career over the last four years he took 10 million then he took 6 million 6 million and 6 million to finish his career and championships happened because certainly in 2014 when my San Antonio Spurs blew LeBron’s Miami Heat off the court by a record finals margin what happened it was the bench it was Patty Mills and Danny Green and Company down the bench raining threes on LeBron’s head it was the Spurs depth blowing LeBron’s Miami Heat off the floor so I have constantly gone after LeBron and ultimately after after Rich Paul Ju Just why wouldn’t you take half as much you don’t need the money of course everybody needs the money and one day LeBron wants to buy an NBA team obviously it would behoove him to go ahead and Max it out which I think he will do in short order remember sitting on the table from the Lakers right now is three more years at 162 million it’s well over $50 million a year and I do not believe for one second that LeBron had any notion of taking less than the full 162 million even for Klay Thompson it sounded good it played well but it was another Salvo of PR phony baloney because I think LeBron just wanted Laker Nation to think that he would sacrifice when he really wouldn’t sacrifice so the curveball I got thrown later last night is when my friend Chris Haynes was repor repor in Via Bleacher Report on NBA TV and I happen to watch this live that no actually according to Chris and I do believe in Chris Haynes that wait a second the Lakers offered Klay Thompson four years at 20 million per well that’s wait that’s 80 million for 4 years which is far more than the 5050 million for 3 years that clay accepted from the Dallas Mavericks huh really Chris now nobody else has reported that but I’m taking no issue with Chris Haynes I’m acknowledging his report I’m accepting his report heck I I might as well be validating his report because he was so definitive so authoritative about it but there was a catch to it there was a and trade possibility going on within this this issue with the Lakers and Klay Thompson and that was D’Angelo Russell being shipped to Golden State for clay D’Angelo obviously played briefly for Golden State and is still a very very good offensive player very explosive as we saw offensive player a guy who without LeBron and ad against Milwaukee got you 44 at home Laker Nation he’s still capable of that and would be capable of taking up slack for Golden State next year with clay and obviously Chris Paul now being gone so I’m thinking well wait maybe his 19 million I’m not a capologist but maybe maybe D’Angelo’s 19 million was was the way as it sort of washed out that the Lakers could then offer clay 20 million a year for 4 years but that was a sign in trade that did not reach fruition because clay in a shock to me chose Dallas well the the next issue with Clay choosing Dallas over the Lakers was I became a Derek Jones Jr fan during the finals run this past playoffs of the Dallas Mavericks he was really good he was really good on defense now he has bounced around and now that he’s joined the Clippers he’s on his sixth NBA team so he is a class journeyman once undrafted out of UNLV but he did win a slam dunk championship and he does give every ounce that he has on the defensive end and he is long and a quick jumper so I’m thinking well man that’s kind of a feels like a key loss he got 20 no I’m sorry he got 10 million a year to go to the clippers for three years now Dallas did add Quinton Grimes in the Hardaway Junior trade to Detroit the signed niji Marshall who’s a pretty good player so maybe those two guys are out of that same Derek Jones Jr mold where they’re Wing players who can defend at a pretty high level so maybe they can take up the slack but it just felt like drik Jones Jr was a pretty key loss and I’m thinking well Klay had to look at that and think I don’t know I still like the Lakers depth I heck I like Dalton connect he was the steel of the draft fell from around 6 to 17 to the Lakers so I’m thinking clay your father for the last what is it now 23 years I’ve got it here somewhere now 22 years has been the Laker radio analyst the Laker radio analyst for 22 years Michael Thompson Clay’s father ended his career as a Los Angeles Laker over the last four years after in 1978 he was the first overall pick in the draft to Portland that was the Larry Bird Draft when somehow red arbach knew to take Larry Bird with the sixth overall pick even though he was going back to Indiana State for one more year that that was the steal of the century obviously at sixth overall but that was the Michael Thompson draft I’ve been around Michael Thompson had one good chat with him one one time we were somewhere at Golden State in the playoffs he’s a really good man really good heart great vision and perspective mind so all of a sudden when this sunk in last night that wait LeBron was recruiting clay while Kyrie for the Mavericks was also recruiting clay so LeBron was on all in I’m not sure he was Allin on giving up salary but Allin on getting clay and Clay chose Kyrie and the Mavericks over LeBron and his father so the first thing I thought of is this will not reflect all that well on Michael Thompson as a Laker employee and if in fact LeBron runs the Lakers which he mostly does he tries to say I’m not involved don’t look at me I have plausible deniability I had nothing to do with JJ reic no no LeBron you had everything to do with JJ reic because you were doing a podcast with him and that was the biggest reason maybe the sole reason that JJ reck is now the head coach of the Los Angeles Lakers having never coached anything but fourth grade basketball in his life the point is that it starts to smack of Klay Thompson having inside information from his father it starts to feel like father and I’m only just projecting this but it starts to feel like father told his son clay it’s a circus it’s a mess LeBron’s in complete control he’s going to deflect blame if it doesn’t go right he’s going to point fingers as it as a first sign of going South it’s your fault your fault and your fault because it’s never his fault bronny signed sealed and delivered now with the Lakers he’s on a a guaranteed Laker contract there’s no g-league involved here he’s going to be on the Laker roster as I said from day one and he’s going to play fairly significant minutes fairly quickly I don’t know how many that’ll be and I am a bronny fan in fact I think Brony is built even tougher than his father is because Bron’s been through a lot in his life in the harshest Spotlight any kid could ever be thrust into as LeBron James Jr I love how Bron’s handled this I I get a good feeling every time I watch him not only play basketball but just handle himself carry himself kids got a backbone kids got guts kids got principle and character his parents did a good job raising him I think he’ll be more calm cool and collected in the eye of next year’s storm than even his father will be I think he’ll play pretty well alongside his father but it is going to be circus material because you have a firsttime head coach trying to juggle minutes with bronnie and proven veterans who are not going to love it when Brony gets his 12 minutes 14 minutes and 16 15 minutes and maybe even some nights 20 minutes a game playing alongside if not in place of his father I think bronnie will be pretty good I think he’ll he’ll become a clutch three-point shooter I I’ve always gotten the feeling that Brony had a bigger clutch Gene than his father does McDonald’s game he was in the spotlight they went to him late two or three times he just nailed threes he did not shoot the three well at USC but I’m giving him a complete and utter break cuz I’m knocking on wood for him he had a serious heart condition that way laid him to start his first year of college basketball at USC and it just never quite got going and I get it and that team never quite go got going around Isaiah K excuse me Isaiah Collier who I thought was going to be the first pick in the draft and he fell all the way to the bottom of the first round I’m throwing all that out because I think that Brony at only 61 and a half will become a very credible if not differen making on ball Defender I think that body of his which already looks pretty good to me will become more and more of a man body so I I like what bronnie will bring except it’s going to be very difficult on JJ reic to juggle minutes and egos down the bench I think clay heard that from his father father I think clay thought JJ reck is the head coach of the Los Angeles Lakers I I don’t want any part of that and one thing I’ve always loved about Klay Thompson of those Golden State Warriors he was the one guy who did not worship at The Shrine of LeBron James he did not worship at the feet of LeBron James Draymond did I know Draymond Once Upon a Time got mad at LeBron in the finals called him the b word as you know and got finally suspended because of that but I look up that off season and draymond’s business partners with LeBron draymond’s all about about LeBron I think Steph sort of weily Embraces LeBron they’ve been competitive for MVPs finals MVPs but the one guy who really wanted nothing to do with on was Klay Thompson and it smacks of in the end that Kay said you know what I’d much rather play with Luca and Kyrie for Jason kid in Dallas no Derek Jones Jr no problem that’s what clay ultimately said and as soon as I heard this move I immediately tweeted what I believe with all my heart and soul if somehow you could have quickly turned back the clock and had Klay Thompson on this past Year’s Dallas Mavericks team that team with Clay beats Boston in the NBA Finals when Luca went cold and Kyrie went even colder you don’t think Klay could have made some threes big stage big moments clay can be as clutch as they come yeah he can go cold also he can be extremely hot in fact he could be the hottest coldest player as a shooter I think I’ve ever seen 37 points in a quarter all catch and shoot but you put him on the final stage after he’s played now 33 games in the NBA finals in 158 playoff games you want to talk about a made man you want to talk about knowing how it feels to perform in the biggest moments at the highest levels on the greatest stage in sport clay would have made the difference for the Dallas Mavericks in the finals now obviously can they get back to the finals I’ll get to that in just a moment but but I’m still shocked that Klay Thompson in the end did not choose the Los Angeles Lakers how which brings me back to your Lakers I I still say in the end in the long run I I really like that team last year it just couldn’t stay healthy I’m mystified at what I keep hearing on television on radio shows keep reading this on all the big websites that the Lakers have have such a bad roster and I’m thinking what do you mean such a poor roster what are you talking about you don’t think Gabe Vincent was just with the doctor order you don’t think Gabe Vincent could have done last year whatever Klay could have done for the Lakers last year I mean let’s be honest Clay is on his last legs at 34 because he suffered some career-threatening injuries Achilles obviously ACL horrendous injuries that took away his defensive prowess he fell all the way to 233rd in defensive Wind win shares last year so he doesn’t defend at all anymore he’s just a catch and shoot three-point shooter maybe the greatest ever at that that’s just what the doctor ordered for Luca and Kyrie and it would have been what the doctor ordered for LeBron but you don’t think Gabe Vincent could have been that guy you don’t think Gabe Vincent could have played much better defense than clay would have played for the Lakers if we go back to last year or let’s even fast forward to next year Gabe Vincent is as clutch as they come in big moments on big stages here of late because I I saw him do it against Boston in the Eastern Conference Finals I saw him do it at Denver in the NBA Finals he is absolutely fearless and he will get up in you on defense and he tore carage in his knee beginning of the season I I know why they didn’t get it fixed immediately they tried they failed to get him back in the lineup finally he had to go have the cleanup surgery the scope and he was useless the entire year you don’t think Jared Vanderbilt could have helped last year he’s as nasty and long a perimeter Defender as there is in the league you don’t think Christian wood if he had been healthy could have helped last year he’s 610 and can Rim protect and shoot threes fearlessly provenly cam reddish I’ve always been a big fan of him of his since he was at Duke NBA body takes and makes big shots couldn’t stay healthy there are four key pieces to that puzzle last year who were not healthy and yet and still they’re right there in the fourth quarter a game one at Denver first round of the playoffs and LeBron pouts and won’t shoot until the game’s out of hand game two at Denver the whole series could have been turned on its head LeBron gets a wideopen free throw of a three-point shot to win the game seconds left and he missed it as simple as that but that team coached by Darin ham who was doing a pretty good job to me was right there so I I keep hearing Laker entitlement of well let’s just go get dejonte Murray and it came down to Atlanta saying no uh we want Austin Reeves you got to throw Austin Reeves into whatever the deal was probably ruy was in there maybe DLo I don’t I don’t know but they wanted Austin Reeves and I was with the Lakers for saying no because dejon is not that good I like him but I don’t love him Austin Reeves is really really good and he’s only going to get really really better and then I kept hearing about Donovan Mitchell let’s just snap our fingers and go let’s trade for Donovan Mitchell and I said Cleveland’s not going to give him up and Cleveland just maxed him out and he is now for the next whatever it is 5 years a Cleveland Cavalier de jante obviously went to New Orleans clay let’s go get clay and now on the front burner becomes Demar D rozan we’ll see how that works out my point is in the end something just happened a a message just got sent that the Lakers are no longer the destination maybe they’re no longer in the eyes of players around the league the Lakers anymore because LeBron has become more troubled than he’s worth running the Lakers with now his puppet head coach JJ reck LeBron is now effectively The Unofficial head coach of the Lakers for better and for worse this is Montel from Las Vegas is the thunder trading way Paul George to the Clippers officially now the biggest deal in NBA trade history uh considering the Clippers just let Paul George go for nothing boy you got me on this Montel biggest steel ever my God this was the hersel Walker trade of the NBA if you remember what my Cowboys did the Jimmy Jerry Cowboys did trading hersel for picks that became Emit and Darren Woodson and Russell Maryland and they got players on top of picks and as Jimmy Johnson called it The Great Train Robbery well now in hindsight this looks like an even greater Train Robbery because the Clippers gave up sheay gilis Alex Xander who should have won MVP this past year he would have gotten my vote they gave up Danilo galinari they gave up five first round picks five first round picks all of that for Paul George and by the way one of those first round picks has already become jayen Williams out of Santa Clara who has already become the Oklahoma City Thunders third best player my God what a hall what a robbery what a steal I mean if if it had just been SGA for PG that that would have been pretty big steal right there but this was all-time robbery so for the record I have never wavered for the record in my assessment of Paul George He’s Just Not That Guy he’s not a superstar he’s just a star and he’s a really good star but he’s just a second star he’s a complimentary star he’s a 1A and a very good 1A he he’s a wondrous Talent they nights I watch Paul George and I’m just in awe long 6 fo8 flows great Rhythm silky smooth when he gets it in rhythm woo can he stroke it from three shot a career high 41% from three last year has always been up around 40 in his career if you go back four five six years ago he was one of the best perimeter defenders in the league a steals artist a deflection wizard just got his hands on basketballs just hard to get around but he’s 34 now he’s played 14 NBA Seasons he’s not that anymore on defense still pretty good he ranked 52nd defensive wind shares but he’s not shut down locked down anymore what he is is just PG as in pretty good the problem with Paul George is he has no real killer will to him really good guy nice guy but remember when Carmelo Anthony their days together with Westbrook in Oklahoma City remember when Carmela sat up before the media early in the playoffs and chuckled at the notion of Paul George calling himself playoff P remember when Carmelo just chuckled playoff playoff P huh okay okay that that should have told you all you needed to know about PG isn’t pretty good remember how how Paul George in the bubble just came unglued just fell apart mentally just just said I just can’t take it here anymore remember that remember how my friend Jared Dudley playing for the Lakers who won it all in the bubble later said on a podcast them boys as in the Clippers them boys just didn’t want to be in that bubble and it started with PG as in pretty good Paul George can get hot he can get really really cold best I ever saw him play was in the 19 excuse me the 2021 playoffs he played like a superstar after after after kawhai went down remember kawhai going down against Utah and then here came PG who wasn’t pretty good he was real good because there there was no pressure there was no expectation nobody thought the Clippers had any chance anymore and they made it all the way to a game six of the Conference Finals out here in La against Chris Paul and Phoenix and Chris Paul had the game of his life to stop the Paul George run but their nights when I see Paul George have extremely confident body language in their nights he just looks nervy to me he looks unsure to me and Paul George is capable of sometimes saying and doing just goofy things wacky things huh kind of things so the Clippers just flat out just said to Paul George no you’re just not worth that we’re not going to go to four years 221 million because you’re not that guy we already paid that guy that’s Kawai the Clippers ultimately will go as far as Kawai Leonard takes them and I like Kawai I know a lot of people around Kawai I root for Kawai even though he burned my spurs back in the day but but I do I still pull for him and I just think he’s Starcrossed I I just think his body will betray him at the worst possible moment he’s got two creaky knees always in need of cleanup surgery every offseason he needs another cleanup surgery and I just don’t trust he’s going to be there when they really need him but the Clippers know it’s Kawai or bust not PG pretty good or bust it’s Kawai or bust so to their credit even they’re they’re about to go into a big new house out here in La Big new beautiful state-of-the-art Arena they just said said no we’re not going to be stuck with Paul George at 37 and 38 having to pay him that much money because he won’t be worth it and the point is the the Clippers just got stuck they they they just didn’t want to go there with him so they wound up having to go there again with James freaking heart I’m Excuse me James Harden because James Harden I’m going to say this one more time the the longer I watch him the more I believe he’s got nothing but loser intangibles he doesn’t keep himself in shape I don’t think he cares that much about winning just about making money putting up numbers he doesn’t play hard on defense ever because he just doesn’t care enough and he’s gotten by on allw world Talent rare Talent the likes of which we’ve never seen in Perimeter scoring talent and now as he ages he ages in dog years because he does not care what he eats and he does not keep himself in shape in the off Seasons he just has to play his way into shape and the Clippers had no choice as they let Paul George walk and go to Philly they just said just on sheer Marquee value we need to keep the star factor of James Harden we just need we we’re just just going to have to give him his 70 million for two years at 35 million he won’t come close to being worth that and and he’s another player when you need him most he will not be there loser intangibles cannot be trusted so that brings me to darl m in Philadelphia Daryl Mor said I’m desperate he’s been desperate for many years I need two years of Paul George I’ll pay for two years for Paul George with the two last years of Paul George the third and fourth years I’ll bite those bullets when it comes because maybe I’ll break through and win one NBA championship before then the one Championship that has eluded the genius darl M low these many years so he was willing to go Max four years 221 million for Paul George hoping that next year or maybe the next year Paul George will make the difference in the Philadelphia 76ers breaking through and winning the NBA Championship he went ahead and gave Tyrese Maxi his money and I was all for that because I love me some Tyrese Maxi I love his Spirit his spunk his joy that he plays with his kid energy that he plays with and as quick a first step as there is today in professional basketball I love all of that about Tyrese Maxi but he’s only about 62 I think he’s more 6 oneish so he can only lift you so high I like Kelly UB and they were able to keep him I I like the edge with which Kelly UB plays I like I like Kelly ub’s experienced scoring he’s got Savvy he’s got tenacity he’s got basketball brains he just knows how to play and how to make Big B buckets at Big moments but he’s still not enough to get you over the top to win a championship so will Paul George be better than James Harden ever was and pH sure he will be will he be better than Tobias Harris you better believe it let’s even go back to Ben Simmons will Paul George be more valuable than Ben Simmons was in his troubled state that he wound up in with the Sixers yes Paul George will be better but I’m here to tell you once again basketball ultimately is a Onan game and that onean is Joel embiid I have been as big a supporter and Defender as you can find in the media for Joel embiid I pushed for him to win that mvp I pushed two years in a row I thought he should have won it the year before over Joker and he did win MVP and I must admit I think it was the worst thing that could have happened Joel embiid is ridiculously gifted at 7 feet tall he is the greatest tall shooter we have ever seen and it ain’t even close he’s the greatest 7 foot or higher free throw shooter we’ve ever seen and it ain’t close on any given night when Joel decides to be he will always be the best player on the floor if in fact let’s do the hypothetical next year becomes B Boston and Philadelphia in the Eastern Conference Finals On Any Given night the best player on the floor if he so desires will be Joel embiid he’s better than anything Boston has Boston has no Joel embiid Jason Tatum got his money the biggest money ever paid any player ever I’m happy for him because he’s a great kid and he’s a very good player he’s not better than Jaylen Brown in my estimation and I’ve been saying it for three years and now Jay Brown’s going to come in next year with another chip on his shoulder because Jason Tatum now after Jaylen got paid got paid even more and that will do nothing but infuriate and motivate Jaylen Brown in a good way for the Boston Celtics but Jaylen Brown Ain’t Joel embiid Jason Tatum sure ain’t Joel embiid Joel embiid is the ultimate nuclear differen maker that once again you can’t trust he’s another one he’s he’s a bigger James Harden in a lot of ways he just doesn’t care enough you can’t light that fire he has to light it and he doesn’t always light it Joel embiid does not care what he eats or drinks I’m not talking about alcohol I’m talking about Cokes as in coca-colas as in Sugar drinks as in pizzas as in Donuts as in whatever he feels like eating he eats I’ve talked to people inside the Sixers organization who even last year they they were surprised he could sort of get up and down the floor because he’s in such poor shape he will not stay in shape in the offseason he will gain weight in the offseason it’s way too much weight to put on his knees which are Kawai like knes creaky at best they’re always in need of some scope cleanup of meniscus t they’re going to plague him because he weighs too much for his height it’s too much pounding to come down on those knees with three I don’t know what he weighs now 330 lbs boom boom boom all night long it’s just too much I fear for he’s 30 years of age going on 40 years of age some Knights I just don’t think he cares enough even though when he gets angry on the floor in a good way he does have some killer will in him that James Harden does not have I’ve seen him get angry and say I got this and just take games over because you can’t stop him you can’t stop him at The Rim you can’t stop him shooting little 10 12 15 foot fadeaways nobody can stop that got the deafest touch for his height we’ve ever seen but I just don’t trust it so you can throw in playoff P you you can throw in UB and Tyrese and on and on I I like the team I like the roster but in the end it just comes down to very simply what are you going to get from Joel when it matters most and when it has mattered most in the playoffs Joel has not been there for the Sixers and history would tell you he will not be there for them next year it’s always something he’s either hurt or he’s sick he’s got a AE he’s got a migraine he’s got his knee he’s wearing a knee sleeve then he gone then it’s back on again you just can’t trust him so as great a move as it was to sign Paul George for four years and 221 million just to have Paul George on your roster in the end Paul George will be Irrelevant in Philadelphia unless Joel embiid is relevant which brings me to the Oklahoma City Thunder that sound you hear approaching is Thunder with lots of lightning and maybe even some rain as in re e i g n rain I now love this team even more than I loved it last year far more than as an Oklahoma City native I was able to love those Durant Westbrook Harden teams 2011 2012 the team that went to the finals against LeBron’s heat the team that was already starting behind the scams to be at each other’s throats over Russell Westbrook opting to shoot more shots than Kevin Durant did there was something about that team I just couldn’t wrap my arm around but maybe I Knew Too Much about what was going on between Westbrook and Durant these Thunder truly love each other far more than I even love this team it’s been a while since I’ve seen a professional team love each other the way these Thunder do a professional basketball team that insists every time they do an on Court interview with the star of the game that everybody all the starters and a couple of bench players gather around arm and arm around the star of the game it’s usually sheay gilis but it can be Jaylen Williams it can be Chad holgren and they all gang around arm in arm and participate in the interview because they do it together I haven’t seen that in a long long time and I believe it is authentic I believe it is legit I believe in these thund because they believe in each other and somehow someway they won more games than any team in the Western Conference last year somehow someway against the Dallas Mavericks that won the West ultimately it came down to a game six in Dallas in which I don’t know what happened to Shay gilgas he lost his mind he tried too hard he committed a pretty silly f on a three-point shot PJ Washington that cost them the game and cost them the opportunity to get to play a game seven against Dallas back in Oklahoma City if they meet again in next year’s playoffs whatever round it might be that won’t happen I say next year Oklahoma City will beat Dallas because next year I’m here to tell you Oklahoma City is going to win the West in the playoffs as well as in the regular season and that is because when I least expected Sam presty did it again he’s got to be the best GM in basketball and he impressed by pressing two more wow buttons Alex Caruso is as tough and fearless and nasty a perimeter Defender as there is in the league and they went and got him they landed Alex Caruso who out here in La used to be known as the KW show with the Lakers when they discovered him out of Texas A&M and now he’s with the thunder right on time as a 30-year-old a proven veteran who can defend at the highest level who can disrupt at the highest level who can make offensive plays at a Supreme level when called upon when necessary and wait they’ve got Alex Caruso with L Dort and with kasan Wallace you may not know kasan Wallace out of Kentucky but he is long agile gifted Defender if those three are in the game somebody’s going to have a hard time getting the ball past half court that’s how good those three will be on defense and then I was hoping this move would happen presty went and signed Isaiah hartenstein from the Knicks it’s a key loss for the Knicks and a key gain for the Oklahoma City Thunder hartenstein averaged eight rebounds a game through the playoffs half of them were offensive because he is a football player in the paint he can BL block shots he can dislodge the basketball he can outc scrap you for loose balls on the floor he will pardon my language play his ass off and he’s got a pretty big ass to play off because he goes 7 feet and maybe 250ish as opposed to my man ched hren who’s 7 fo1 and maybe 200 I’m saying Isaiah outweighs chat by 50 lbs and it will show it will manifest itself in Havoc W in the paint it’s exactly what the Thunder needed they needed somebody to take the physicality pressure off Chad who is a gifted shot blocker but now they got two different kinds of shot blockers and rim protectors they got one who does it with muscle and hustle and one who does it with rare quick jump gifts at 71 and long it’s going to be hard to score on the Thunder next year and this will free up Chad to be a little bit more of a ball screener a pick and roller who can pick and pop out and shoot threes because Chad can flat out stroke the three he can do damage from three this opens up frees up the offense in ways I could only hope were coming Alex Caruso and hartenstein equals NBA finals for next year’s Thunder and I just want to congratulate Sam presty you were patient you stockpiled all those picks you still have a bunch of them and you will only get better and better and better we could be looking at a Thunder Dynasty this is Ken from Sacramento so how do you describe the Paul georgean kawhai ERA with the Clippers it was just five long hard years of hopeless hope there was always hope but it always became hopeless hope to me five years of this yeah this is going to be the year and then Kawai was hurt again the bubble the team fell completely apart they’re up three to one on Denver as you recall with Doc as the coach and they fell apart and they didn’t want to be in the bubble then in the next year’s playoffs in 21 after kawhai and Paul George had been so Sensational against Luca remember that series Luca comes out here to LA and wins games one and two as he is want to do as the road warrior didn’t do it against Boston but did it so many other times against so many other teams remember Luca wins games one and two and 21 out here in LA and then kawhai and Paul George go to Dallas on a Friday night with Michael Irvin and every other Dallas celebrity in the stands place was on fire in Kawai and Paul George just torched the home team torched them then torched them again on sun day then came home and lost then went back to Dallas and won and so now the road team had won each of the first six games and finally Kawai went home and said that’s enough and they won game seven and then next round right on schedule Joe Eng Les just just bumped kawhai I don’t know what it was he just bumped him as Kawhi was dribbling the ball to his right just bumped him and he was just knocked off stride a little bit one little false step AC tear good night Clippers I mentioned earlier Paul George went on a great roll but it just was never going to be enough that cost the Clippers all of 2022 no Kawai still ACL recovery 23 kawhai played two games in the first round playoff series but only two as they lost in five to Phenix because he was hurt and then this year he played only two games against Dallas in the first round playoff series because he was hurt and not right they say kawhai is going to try to play in the Olympics and I’m like man if I’m the Clippers I’m not happy with that I I just got to tell I know be true to your country and I I get all that but after all the games he has missed the big games the playoff games then you’re going to go play in the Olympics on those knees seriously just five long painful Seasons I just have a feeling Kawai will always be hurt and even though the cupboard isn’t bare and the Clippers aren’t finished yet it just feels like the Clippers are still always the Clippers bomber buys and owns them but they’re not a baseball team there is a salary cap and you can only do so much and now that Jerry West has gone as their advisor I just fear for Lawrence Frank making the right decisions because the more I watch Lawrence Frank operate the less I love it this is Christian from San Jose do you believe in Chris Paul as a Spur I believe in Chris Paul at age 39 as a coach for the Spurs as a player coach but more as a coach than a player the Warriors said no to Chris Paul because if you watched him last year he’s done he’s just done it’s hard to watch but as a player coach more of a coach than a player I should call him a coach player nobody nobody on this planet can show Victor wiama and the other younger Spurs how to run a pick and roll how to win basketball games in the National Basketball Association better than CP3 can nobody can teach tricks of the trade better than CP3 who’s always had one screw loose he’s always played in that gray area he’s been prone in his past to go below the belt with shots but nobody can teach this team better than Chris Paul can which brings me to why I’m still scratching my head last year I I watched every game I watched wimy start to figure it out oh wait I shouldn’t just stand out here at the three-point line all the time oh wait I should go inside and maybe try to kind of like post up and they can lob me the ball and I can shoot little two foot hook shots really oh I can do that and they can’t stop me oh I love that okay I’ll do that then every once a while he pops out like Chad Strokes the three I don’t think he’s quite as good as Chad from three but he he got better and better as the year wore on defense it’s a joke it’s a Flatout joke I thought the best defensive player in the league last year by far was wimy he by far blocked the most shots second was Chad and he was by far behind what was it like 50 behind in blocks so how with a player like that did you go 22 and 60 Greg papovich I kept asking on under spe how I would watch them and I’d say I know they don’t have a true point guard I I know they don’t have great scores but they have some pretty good ones they have some first round picks out there with them and you you can only win 22 games and you lose 60 night after night I would be in awe of how they would lose games or blow games and I kept saying is papovich getting a pass here I’ve said it before Greg papovich has not been Greg papovich since Tim Duncan walked out that door Once Upon a Time coach pop said when Tim walks out that back door I’ll be right behind him no that was a long time ago and Coach pop just signed on for another five years after he hit the lottery with wimy so how long does the honeymoon last here well maybe the new quote unquote coach of the San Antonio Spurs is Chris Paul next year Chris Paul will be more valuable than the man many consider the greatest coach ever Greg papovich which brings me to I’m going to pronounce this two different ways so forgive me if I get it wrong on one of my pronounciations it’s either gyro or hyro from LA but I love the question hyro or Gyro if you drew up a play where LeBron had to find an open Brony what would you call it I like that I I I like me some bronny as I mentioned so I actually actually thought about this so I thought well if if you happen to be in Philadelphia you could go with It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia right if it’s going to bronie then I thought I do like calling the play The Rising Sun play and then I started thinking I don’t know if it’s too far blast from the past but there’s a movie I like called Rising Sun featuring Shan connory and Wesley Snipes I thought well maybe it sounds too much like the movie title and so I landed on what I would call this play I would just call it Sunday sunay Sunday and I hope they do call Sunday occasionally for bronny even in some big moments I just have a feeling that the son has a bigger clutch Gene than the father does I don’t know maybe the son got it from mom maybe Savannah’s got the clutch Jean which brings me finally to one quick left turn into my Dallas Cowboys what’s left of them I just want to thank Malik hooker for saying something I’ve been saying for the last two years on Undisputed I needed somebody inside to validate it I needed somebody in the locker room to Echo it to drive it home I needed a player especially a defensive player to say what I have been saying and Malik hooker said it on kesan Johnson’s podcast thank you Malik for having the guts I I’m not sure it was premeditated I’m not sure he had thought about it maybe it just spilled out of his mouth because it spilled out of his soul out of his subconscious out of his psyche mik said in effect Micah should be the fourth to get paid on this team after obviously CD after Zack Martin after Dak Micah should be forth because Micah has not lived up he has not he has not lived up to the billing as Malik said he hasn’t even scratched the surface and he has not it seems like Micah early on in his career is a little more interested in commentating via podcast on football than actually dominating football games that’s how it comes across to me and I’ve said so many times so now he obviously wants to be the highest paid defensive player in the history of professional football and I’m not sure he ever will be the best defensive player in pro football in any given year that he plays in I hope I’m wrong about that but I’m starting to have my doubts so paying him the most money ever for a defensive player could be yet another really bad move for my Cowboys it could be yet another crushing Al Albatross of a contract that hangs over this team’s head going forward and keeps them from even sniffing an NFC Championship game the likes of which they haven’t seen in almost 30 years so somebody other than me because I’m just a hater but somebody had to light a fire internally under my Jerry’s not going to light it Steven Jones is not going to light it Dax definitely not going to light it I don’t even think Demarcus Lawrence would step out there and light it as the veteran presence on that defense but Malik hooker said I’ll do it again I’m not sure he slept on it and did it I think it spilled out and he called out Micah Parsons and Micah was not happy about it and Micah fired back and called out Malik and all I can say is good for Malik that’s it for episode 119 thank you for listening Andor watching thank thanks to Jonathan burger and his allpro team for making this show go thanks to Tyler Korn for producing please remember Undisputed every weekday 9:30 to noon Eastern the skip bis show every week [Music]

Skip opens episode 119 by answering the following fan question: “Is Klay going to Dallas more like him turning down the Lakers?” Skip also dives into why Paul George won’t matter much to the 76ers. And: here’s why Cp3 will be more valuable than Coach Pop in San Antonio. And more: Skip is happy Malik Hooker called out Micah Parsons.

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