Ace Bailey!?!?

Ace Bailey!?!?

we live we live we live we live we live all right all right all right yeah it looks like It looks like we live man so I’m sitting on the couch and I just text James “Man you want to talk about Ace Ace Bailey in the morning?” He like “Yeah man.” So we I’m texting James like “All right man i’mma hit you up in the morning we can we can do a pod about Ace you know tomorrow’s Junth you got work tomorrow?” Yeah man i got to work man so my goofy on though oh gosh so I’m sitting there with my wife my son i’m thinking like you know we about to finish watching this Shaq documentary it’s 11 o’clock and then boom I get the news jonathan Gavone tweets news ruter star Ace Bailey has cancelled his workout with the Philadelphia 76ers sources told ESPN Bailey remains the only USbased prospect yet to visit any NBA teams but the Sixers have not ruled out selecting Bailey sources say what’s the first thing that came to your mind cuz soon as I saw it I was like yo we got to jump on the pie you ready to go live uh I mean I’m not mad at Ace Bailey i know a lot of people feel like he’s getting bad advice uh in this in my opinion I don’t think this situation is too much different than what Tyrese Hallebertton did a few years ago when he allegedly told organizations not to draft him because he wanted to go to Sacramento but because it’s Ace Bailey and he plays the way he plays and you know his agent is his agent people may take it differently than Tyrese saying “Yo no I don’t don’t do that.” So um I get it in a sense um you know you want to be in a spot where you’re going to have a chance to you know have a ball in your hands and ultimately if the ball in your hands and four years from now you’re looking at making a lot of money uh but at the same time I still feel like the Philadelphia situation isn’t a bad situation for him because again I think that there’s no way you’re going to get 60 games from either Paul George or MB shoot you might not get 60 games combined from those two dudes so like you’re going to have opportunities and even still I think um Paul George’s contract he’s got they can’t move it he’s got four years left by the time his contract three years left after this season by the time his contract is up you know you’re up for your extension so but you know I you know I guess the rumors are you don’t want to be the fourth or fifth option some people think that’s running from the grind some people think that that’s crazy so I don’t know and it just depends on who does he who moves up to take Ace who has a guarantee for him so I don’t know man this is this is interesting yeah it’s very interesting and it’s like dang of all the players that don’t need this type of press in this draft it’s him it’s it’s it’s Ace Bailey i mean there’s been rumors all year it it’s it’s starting to come out i think Sam Vini kind of alluded to it that some of the stuff that teams were worried about all year is now just kind of seeping out into the public which is which is very true the hard part sometimes about being in this space is is sometimes you got to act like you don’t know what’s going on right and you know I don’t like for me it’s like all right I guess I’m part of the media technically but you know you hear so much stuff i mean you hear like I I hear a lot of stuff like so much stuff I’m trying to tread lightly here you know uh yeah I’m just trying to tread lightly here james and I we went to this church once and if you ever been to the black church you know they got some sayings and this preacher was saying something and every time he would say something halfway profound somebody would yell out in the crowd “Walk heavy Bishop walk heavy.” Well I’m like trying to tread lightly here so um so with that being said everything that’s going on I’m I’m not I’m not surprised um I think Ace is a good kid i’ve never met him but from everything that I I’ve just heard that he is just a really really really good kid and there’s people that just think just flat out that he’s been getting some some bad advice his representation isn’t you know is inexperienced in a sense as far as handling this type of kid i’ I’ve heard the rumors and I can’t confirm that you know like if you want to interview Ace Bailey it’s going to cost you a certain amount of dollars just to get an interview with them and so on and now that he’s not like working out for teams the question is does he have a guarantee or is he trying to or not him but is his representation trying to push him into a situation where for them they think you know it’s better if we slide down to a team where we know we’re going to have the keys as opposed to going to Philly and that’s that’s to me that’s the only thing that makes sense is like maybe they’re being strategic but the question is is this a strategic bet or is this like a red flag so in your opinion what is it strategic or red flag or is it a combination of both i think it’s a combination of both i I the strategy it could work like I said Tyrese Hallebertton allegedly correct me if I’m wrong Rob allegedly he told a few teams not to draft him and he wanted to go to Sacramento and at the same time with some man’s name Bobby Marks was saying that was the best interview that he’s ever had where versus Ace mean his playing style is polarizing and then you like I said you know the agency is inexperienced as people say so and at the same time I get it cuz like you want to be in a situation where you can have an opportunity to have a ball in your hands but um but you know what’s crazy though like for the the one side of it that is uh you know go to the Nets go this place go that place um like get all the usage that you want that’s still not a guarantee for money because like look at look at Cam Thomas and Ace is you know supposed to be will be I wouldn’t say will be could be is right now a better prospect than Cam Thomas but Cam Thomas averaged what 25 last year got better they even shut him down and they didn’t extend him going into this season so it’s like it’s not necessarily the it’s not necessarily a guarantee that you’re going to get paid because you’re in a situation where you have the keys and you have more usage so like I said it’ll be interesting to how it works out um uh it’s happened in the past but like you know Dante Exom was drafted by the Utah Jazz he didn’t work out for the Utah Jazz man dante Exom again that’s why I said “Is this a strategic bet or a red flag?” And I like that Dante Exom example dante Exom if I remember correctly played extremely well at the Nike Hoop Summit and his agent at the time I think it was Rob Pelinka was like “Hey man your stock is as high as it’s going to get now you’re gonna chill out this this whole year.” And maybe Rob Pelinka knew like his stock was going to drop if he played and I think that’s part of being a good agent sometimes is knowing exactly like when to just make sure that you’re putting your client in the best situation and sometimes you know it may be taking a PR hit maybe in this case Ace’s representation is like you know we’ll take the PR hit to get us in the right situation because we want to go somewhere where we can play if we scare Philly and they don’t take us and Charlotte moves on but we get to let’s say Utah which I don’t think Utah is is I mean basketball-wise it might be a good fit but there’s some reports and I don’t know how true they are that he doesn’t want to go to Utah but let’s say he wants Hold on real quick though Raf if I’m Utah and he’s there and Trey Johnson’s not there and VJ Edcom’s not there I’m taking him i dare you not to show up well it’s it’s risky because like like you know what I mean it’s like you want to bring the kid in your gym you want to know what type of person he is you don’t want it to be a situation where it’s it’s just a bad look all year i mean just think about it from I mean I guess we haven’t seen a rookie do it maybe Steve Francis is the closest thing but sometimes owners are like “Hey man this this star is disgruntled every thing is about him and he’s being unhappy let’s let trade him gm I know you don’t want to trade him i think that happened with the James Harden situation in Philly the owner was probably like “You know what call that man a liar in China everything is all about James Harden it’s nothing basketball and let’s just go ahead get this out the way and let’s just get back to talking basketball.” So but at the same time it’s risky though if he doesn’t want to be there and you’re forcing him to be there then I don’t know if that’s like good for your locker room good for the front office i think it could end up being a headache and if I’m a GM and I’m about to pay you X amount of dollars I don’t want to pay you this amount of money and I think that you’re going to be a a a headache and and you don’t want to be there you’re looking at it like you know what I’m drafting you and I dare you not to show up that sounds I I get it that sounds crazy but from a basketball standpoint and from a monetary from a money standpoint if you say we want to be in a situation where we can guarantee playing time guaranteed money i didn’t say guarantee but you know the max money should be there you want the reps you want the development like you know no disrespect but like that’s Utah that’s what it sounds like to me and it’s like are you hurt you’re not helping yourself by being disgruntled on a rookie deal because now your name is Mud but when you’re talented you get passes i mean I just had this conversation earlier with with Marcus Johnson from from the Bucks i did a podcast and I’m like I don’t I don’t want to compare Ace to Kevin Porter but when you are talented you can get multiple options i mean you can get multiple passes if you’re not talented you you you might get half a strike and you’re done so I think with Ace because he’s so talented there are teams that are going to overlook it i mean I just think it’s risky i think it’s very risky to bring in a player that you haven’t worked out that you and and it happens all the time sometimes bring in teams bring in players that they haven’t worked out but I just think it it’s risky if you you know maybe you’re not getting the medicals you haven’t had a chance to get a feel for the kid and there’s so much around it because like to me and I like to try to think like a GM sometimes and sometimes I try to think like a agent so I’mma think from the GM perspective all right this i want to know the kid who we’re bringing in i want to know who’s around him i want to know who’s going to be in the family room i want to know like you know but Roth it’s the NBA and a wise man once told me the NBA are the feds they know exactly who’s around Ace Bailey they’ve known who’s been around Ace Bailey since probably November they do they know all that stuff right they do but you know you still want to get a good feel right like if I’m trying to hire you it’s not necessarily the family i’m trying to get a feel i’m trying to understand like all right who are you as a person because this is my team this is my organization i want to know like especially in a smaller community like Utah it’s are you going to embrace the community you know what I mean so I mean there’s just so many factors outside of just basketball but again is this a strategic bet or is it a red flag someone said Hallebertton said himself on the podcast and I do think because it’s Ace Bailey that maybe it makes it look worse than magnified obviously we’re magnifying even more by doing a live because I know this is what people I don’t want to be clickbaitish or anything like that but I know like this is interesting alex Sar did it but it was kind of like in a more subtle way yeah but and also the difference it’s also a combination of like I said it’s somebody’s saying “Nope don’t take me.” And also like Ace Bailey’s just his style of play like depending on who you ask somebody might think he’s T-Mac depending on you ask somebody think he’s Andrew Wiggins like he’s kind of in a sense his his style of play is polarizing except for Mike Jones because Mike Jones you know Mike Jones said that the Spurs are going to take him number one number two or number two except for Mike Jones but I mean it’s interesting so Ralph you asked me the question i’m flip it back to you is it risky or is it is it No is it strategic or is it a red flag i I think it can be a a a combination of both so from an I’m going look at it from two hats from the team side I think it’s a red flag i think it’s situation where he’s trying to control the you know he’s trying to control the narrative or not control the narrative he’s trying to control the situation maybe he’s thinking more so and it’s and it happens all the time he wouldn’t be the first person he’s thinking more so about the second contract is that a red flag the last person I heard say that well I think two people said it i think Anthony Edwards may have said something similar and I think DeAndre Aiden may have said something similar about DeAndre definitely said something i think they asked DeAndre Aiden what’s success to you and he’s like getting a second contract so it’s it’s multiple ways you can look at it but from a team standpoint I think it I think it is a I think it is a red flag from his agency standpoint it is definitely a strategic bet maybe they have a place in mind maybe they want to get to New Orleans and we’ve seen it before sometimes agents would not give their medicals to to different guys or or they would grant an interview i’ I’ve seen it before and they’re trying to control the best way that they can like literally Alex Sar did the same thing and we talked about it last year for Alex Sar i don’t know why he didn’t want to go to Atlanta like to me Atlanta would have been and no offense to you Wizards fans but al Atlanta may have been a better fit for him because he would have had easier shots playing with Trey you might get four points on lobs and those four points on lobs and maybe you shoot less threes that helps your field goal percentage out but Alexar did not want to go to Atlanta he wanted to go to Washington so again this is not the first time it’s happened but Ace is so polarizing and I think for a guy who probably needed some good PR this is definitely a risk but you know sometimes you you take the PR hit to get to where you want to go and maybe that’s what they’re thinking well and another you know uh I guess you could say a uh point of usage doesn’t always equal more money like I like Alex Sar and offensively I don’t know it depends who they draft i mean like all those guys are in a situation where they they get usage and so nobody has separated themselves from on the Washington Wizards to make money you know what I’m saying so again Ace is different right ace is going to score the ball it’s just it’s just not a guarantee that you know you’re gonna make more money on a team with less talent because you know at that point you know they’re they’re factoring all kind of analytics i know Mike Jones doesn’t like you know analytics but like they’re going to factor in all of that stuff when it comes time to time to pay guys but um all right here’s a question for you real quick and if you’re watching and we’re going to get to the comments in a second name the last guys that were drafted in the lottery that went to a team that was trying to win that wasn’t in rebuilding mode that it worked out for so off the top of my head I’m thinking James Wiseman nope didn’t work out for him but also real quick it never worked out for him when he was on a bad Pistons team the year before but I’m just saying like for Wiseman like it didn’t work out for him uh Reed Shepard didn’t work out for him rob Dillingham didn’t work out for him jonathan Kaminga yeah don’t know if it’s out for him evan Moley worked out was yeah but were the Cavs they weren’t like good the year before i mean like they brought in but they had Jared Allen who plays almost the same but they didn’t have Donovan Mitchell at the time like they were like a young team like Philly is trying to win now so I think it could be a situation where maybe his agent is saying like he may not really get the developmental minutes and the ability to play through mistakes because if you if you’re trying to win it worked out for Chad it definitely worked out for Chad but I think Chad is easier to slide in in a sense because Chad can really impact the game without being featured in a sense so I’m just I’m just trying to like think of all different angles i think Ace Bailey is easy to slide in if he buys in but I mean but that’s but you’re expecting him to change who he is you’re expecting a guy that openly said “These aren’t bad shots.” Hey to be a catch and shoot guy i actually talked to someone today and they made the comment like “Yeah I didn’t like what he said because just because you make a shot and you work on it it can still be a bad shot.” Like making a bad shot does not mean it’s not a bad shot and so he thought it was a red flag that Ace would make such a a a comment that it didn’t help him out and so I think when you add on those comments I could see how someone could make a statement like I don’t know this this could be a red flag mike Jones says “I’m hating hard.” Man I said nothing hating man mike Jones might as well be Mike Bailey man man I I I have not said anything hating i’m just thinking of scenarios and I’m being as what’s what’s the word objective objective as possible i’m trying to look at it in multiple ways because you know you look at I mean some people will say the Kaminga situation has not worked out for him at all he hasn’t gotten a contract extension so you know like sometimes going to a team where there’s pressure to win it may not be the best situation for a guy projected to go high because look at it this way and this is what I’m I’m we talked about this offline so if Nick Nurse is like I’m trying to win now and Ace is 18 right and I don’t know if he can help me win now he may not play him we just saw the same thing happen with Reed Shepard udoka was like I don’t think he can help me win now i’m going to play Aaron Holiday and I I get that you don’t want that to happen at number three absolutely not but here’s the thing reed Shepard lost confidence couldn’t defend lose confidence but hold on have confidence in let me cook he couldn’t defend there wasn’t any time for him to learn how to defend at an NBA level on a team that ended up being a top whatever i can’t off the top of my head but they were a top 10 defensive team ace Bailey at 68 should be able to come in and defend because he has the physical tools to do so at 6869 and again I don’t I’m not Daryl my he doesn’t follow me he follows you but Kelly Ubé is likely not coming back and why not they got him on a cheap deal he tried to go out in the market like the story that I heard was they made him an offer and he said no he waited until he could get more money found out he couldn’t and end up having to go to Philly on the cheap deal i mean maybe he put himself in position to to to play more but I feel like I feel like um Uber has had some success in Nick Nurse system and I think Nick Nurse trust him so I guess but but Kelly Ubé is a he’s he’s a a box score guy in a sense that you know I feel like Ace Bailey can come in and do what Kelly Ubé does right now and one thing about Nick Nurse if he likes you he loves you he will play you he doesn’t like you so he play 35 minutes again and and another thing why I say that is this like I said man like they’re not going to play Embiid back to back embiid Yeah but they don’t play the same position they don’t but but at the same time when Embiid’s not Embiid is Embiid like leads the league in usage every year so when he’s not playing Paul George’s best days are behind i just feel like if Ace Bailey in in the perfect situation if he averages 13 as a 76er next year which is very possible like 13 he does those things and in three years he’s up for a max contract he would get a max contract i Yeah I’m not doubting that but I’m just saying like I could see how someone could say “Hey we seen what happened with Wiseman we seen what happened with Kaminga we just saw the third pick last year barely played after having a phenomenal summer league remember after summer league we thought oh man Reese Shepard he but he was also behind Fred Van Vleet regardless you know what I’m saying i just feel like there’s a spot so what’s Philadelphia starting lineup next year next year we know it’s going to be Maxi we know it’s going to be Paul George at the four because he can’t guard threes anymore and we know it’s going to be Embiid the two three spot we don’t know you I don’t think you start Jeremy Kane and Maxi because that’s 6’2 and 62 right we don’t know what they’re gonna do with Quinton Grimes and we don’t know what they’re gonna do with Kelly Ubé there’s opportunity that they may lose both i don’t know so then who are you starting justin Edwards if I’m Ace Bailey I’m running from Justin Edwards no disrespect to Justin justin Edwards had had a a good year it may have been like you know bad team but if if Justin Edwards went number one and had the same exact year as he did on a bad team people would be talking about man he had a good year he was a bright spot so I get the risk rob Dillingham did not play but we knew that we knew that that was a long-term play we didn’t Yeah but they traded But here’s the thing but they moved they moved up to get him because that’s a longterm play mike Conley’s 38 like I didn’t expect and they they traded for Dante Vincenzo so I didn’t I didn’t expect Rob to play a lot of minutes but they love Rob the coach or excuse me the GM at the end of the season was like yo he’s a thousand% a part of our plans now they traded for Katie that’s different but like they you can’t not say that after you traded up for the guy the coach is the one that didn’t play him so here’s my thing about Rob Dillingham rob what I fear what could possibly happen with Rob is Rob’s game is all about confidence like that’s to me his best attribute is confidence if Rob starts playing like I’m scared to mess up i’m scared that if I make a couple turnovers I’m going to get the quick hook because they’re trying to win now and he’s not playing like Rob Dillingham then you don’t get what you drafted and and I wonder like if it’s a situation where if I’m thinking like I’m Ace’s agent right now maybe he wants to go to a situation it’s like “Hey my guy’s 18.” He’s going to need to be able to play through mistakes he’s going to need time to like mess up he’s going to not need a coach that’s like “I got to win now i want to I’m going to go with the safer option.” But we also saw again this is Nick Nurse we saw Nick Nurse before the team fell apart he didn’t trust remember he did not trust Jared McCain at the beginning of the year jar McCain wasn’t even playing a lot during preseason if I remember correctly but when he threw Jerry McCain out there Jerry McCain took the job closing out games but he threw him out there because he had to he didn’t have any other options he didn’t come out trusting Jerry McCain early like people remember we did preseason shows almost every day i don’t think we talked about Jared McCain until like it was like the end of preseason where they just like “Hey we’re going to rest our guys.” That’s that’s fair i just feel like with with in the case of Rob Dillingham like you know that’s my guy i follow his situation closely when he wasn’t playing and you know it could be just Twitter propaganda but like he was always in the gym he was always with Pablo Pion like Ant-Man was always trying to like you can tell they believe in him and you know he’s a confident player but they you could tell that they were still trying to like say man hold on chill like Ant-Man was like yo I didn’t even start my first like 20 games and like can’t nobody check me but and then like Reed Shepard you know it was it was a okay what’s what are the Rockets are they trying to win or they trying to develop so they’re trying to win Philly is not trying to develop Philly is trying to win i feel like But I feel like at 68 69 you’ll have your opportunities especially on a banged up team but you know think about it like this houston needed shooting and they still didn’t play the number three pick who was the best shooter in the draft but he couldn’t guard though but they need they had defenders around them so I’m thinking of it this way if I’m Reed Shepard’s agent I’m like “Wait a minute y’all got defenders y’all y’all play good defense y’all need shooting and the coach still didn’t play me so I I lost one year i mean yes he got some experience but I’m like I lost one year so now if Van Vleet if they pick up Van Vleet’s option which I think they probably are he’s going to agree to less money but long term longer years yeah is Udoka going to play him i think it could be a situation where the front office is gonna have to be like “Hey you gotta play him because we drafted him number three.” Not that you could trust him i mean that’s he didn’t even get he didn’t even get a shot and he was good during summer league now Rob Dillingham struggled during summer league right i can see how the coach can be like “Hey man we we think that we can win a championship we just went to the conference finals so I’m not I’m not sure i just don’t want I just don’t want like Well I shouldn’t say that i just kind of understand the PR hit that AS’s team is trying to do to probably get him in the best situation where he can play through mistakes for Wiseman i think Wiseman’s confidence was cooked i think Wiseman’s basketball IQ was cooked he struggled everywhere i I agree with that but I think he needed time to play through mistakes because he did have some moments in Detroit was like 10 his rookie year but like his his coach tell me once he had a player and this was kind of different situation this was a player in Europe a European player who was high lottery pick he’s out the league and I remember a coach on the team said “Man he knows how to play basketball he doesn’t know how to hoop.” And because he doesn’t know how to hoop on a bad team he’s trying to play the right way the ball’s not getting swung back to him and he lost his confidence and the coach is like the guy is really an NBA player but his confidence is gone because he just lost his confidence and so once you lose your confidence I mean what’s the saying confidence is 90% of the battle yeah so with that being said like you know like I don’t want to see I said with Rob not being robbed because he’s scared to make mistakes i feel like Golden State’s system is too but everybody thought it was plug and play think about it at the time but at the same time they’ve never had they’ve never had a a running dunk five i mean the last run and dunk five they had was Javal McGee it’s not necessarily plug and play you got this more read and react you got to know how to play basketball and not just hoop but didn’t McGee like kind of extend it i mean think about it if you’re a run and jump guy you would think that’s the easiest plug-and-play position yeah but it’s not just that you got to know you got to be able to hit Steph Curry on a back cut you gota I mean they wasn’t giving James Weisman the ball to to hit him on a back cut all he was think about all he was supposed to do was run jump it was supposed to But at the same time there was still defensive coverages though i know but and that’s where he struggled and even then like you know the Pistons traded for him he he just not a good defender steve Kerr doesn’t trust Jonathan Kaminga why because he’s trying to win a championship right but Jonathan Kaminga has lapses where he doesn’t re it’s like little stuff that he doesn’t re he’s 68 with a 40inch vertical and he’s grabbing four rebounds a game you know what I’m saying there’s defensive lapses there’s times where he doesn’t hit cutters head at the same time you think Ace is not going to have those same defensive lapses you think he’s going to hit cutters you think if No he definitely not hit no cutters that’s not his cuts together he’s going to hit them but we not talking about the same system though we talking But we talking about possibly the same scenarios if a coach is trying to win now some coaches aren’t going to trust an 18-year-old because they’re thinking like I want to I want to win now and sometimes have to be from the front office like “Hey man the GM like I drafted this dude and you making me look bad so you gotta play them.” I get it i understand but so with that being said Raf who’s who’s where is Ace landing at if you make a if you had a prediction to make if you were putting $5 on it where do you think Ace Bailey goes do you think Jazz do you think I think he ends up in New Orleans you think they trade up no I think like here’s the thing hold on time out though Ralph so like okay if you’re sitting here you want to be strategic and say I want I want minutes they got wings in New Orleans but allegedly they’re trying to trade up to get him so they like may really want him so I actually had an NBA scout tell me and I think I wrote about it he told me if Ace doesn’t go to three it could be a slide and he predicted this a while ago he thinks it could be a slide so I think that if if the rumors are true that the Pelicans want to move up to get him and Philly doesn’t want to do it maybe his agency is just like you know what they want him they probably have a path for him and I’m just I’m gonna take the PR hit so we can get to the situation that we want to be in but at the same time if he falls to New Orleans I mean it may not be I’m not saying it’s the best fit but I’m just saying like but that’s what I’m saying though like let’s say it’s New Orleans and we’re talking about somebody that said if you say “Oh man I don’t want to there’s a log jam on my position.” You don’t think my man Willie Green ain’t trying to win like he was on the hot seat last year they just brought in Joe Dubar this new management i don’t think Willie Green is on the hot seat i mean they had the injuries but check this out they did but this is year This is like year five yeah but I mean Zion ain’t ain’t been playing the Jonte Murray to his ACL i mean check this out though i I read something that said uh and this is something that Gavon put out that geographically is something that something like you know they prefer place geographically close right Atlanta in New Orleans i mean that’s where you know Ace he’s not from he’s from Tennessee but he spent the last few years in Atlanta so if that’s true then maybe there’s there’s something there what’s the um that’s interesting what do you what’s the geography geographically close to Atlanta i got to pull up the report i don’t know that was just what That’s what I’m saying like what is it i just want to know what does it matter like his representation maybe his support system you rich bro i don’t I don’t know he’s 18 years old he is 18 years Then again like to me that doesn’t make sense because he went to Rutgers which That’s what I’m saying that doesn’t make sense you went to That was just I’m just saying what was reported okay all right so New Orleans does New Orleans make sense from a fit do you feel like I’m talking if they don’t make any trades and you say New Orleans you feel like you want to get all the usage you’re not going to get all the usage because Zion is there now again if Zion’s injury history keeps up then there’s an opportunity but Willie Green regardless if he’s on the hot seat or not he wants to win you know what I’m saying is he going to are there developments developmental minutes there i mean excuse me maybe but it’s a new front office and they It’s a new front office but like patient with him jordan Hawkins was a top 15 pick he I agree i don’t like out a lot he didn’t play a lot of minutes the fit maybe the fit in in New Orleans isn’t the best i mean ideally if I’m Ace’s representation maybe I’m like “All right try to get to Brooklyn.” Now Ace and Cam Cam Thomas would be like I mean that would be pretty pretty fun to watch from just a entertainment standpoint or whatever but it’s I don’t know man i I can’t think of the situation that shots a game in New Orleans i don’t think so not unless they tr no way not 16 they still got CJ McCullum there they still got Zion they still got Trey Murphy herb is coming back i mean even he’s going to get more shots than her but 16 I don’t think that’s going to happen all right so I’m I’mma flip it back to you go ahead outside of Philly what do you think is the best situation for him or actually you know what i’m I’mma end that do you think he has a guarantee i don’t know i don’t think he has a guarantee because there has to be something behind this i don’t know oh I guess okay so if he does have a guarantee who is it from and then is it Washington it it would make sense to me basketball standpoint all those things the teams that make sense would be Washington and Brooklyn all kind of make sense to me you know i mean but I’m talking about if for for his demands Washington demands I say Washington and Brooklyn if I want shots and I feel like shots the Wizards don’t have like I mean obviously they got Jordan P right now but the Wizards their young guys aren’t like you know they’re not going to take 20 shots in the game right you know what I mean like real quick Mike Jones says the Spurs no it’s not the Spurs not he’s not trying to play a role as you’re not get you’re not taking shots from Wimby you’re not taking shots from Fox you’re not taking shots from Castle so he can rule out the Spurs so if say somebody good question if he wants to go to a rebuilding team then why hasn’t he worked out for the Wizards Pelicans or Nets that’s a good point too that I’m saying is it a guarantee because you would think like I mean I read something that he doesn’t want to go to Utah but you would think like I can go work out at Utah if I slip to five I can go to Utah and I know they got Cody Williams on the floor he not gonna shoot the ball hey Isaiah Ker going to throw you at least five G isaiah Kyler’s gonna full head of steam and he gonna he don’t again I’ve never been to Utah i’m not going to sit here and talk about Utah like it’s scenic i heard Utah is he said castle stop all right man mike Jones but I like from a basketball standpoint and you want ample opportunity to get shots up it makes sense so but if he’s ruling it out for geography reasons then there’s shots to get up in Washington and there’s shots to get up in Brooklyn definitely shots in Washington shut up i don’t feel like there are a lot of shots to get up in New Orleans though exactly make moves but they reportedly want him they pray for him so you know maybe somebody’s in the I mean like to be honest with you if New Orleans were to trade up to get Ace I would imagine Herb Jones has to be part of that deal he would have to be like unless you know what I mean like he especially if it’s Philly Philly may say “We need another defender.” So I would imagine Herb Jones would be have to be you know that makes sense all right man let’s answer some questions man all right let’s answer some questions excuse me um not no Mike Jones question because Mike Mike Jones might be Omar Cooper mike Jones might be got to be at this point ace Bailey needs to develop it take a couple years he be a superstar could he actually fall to eight that would be insane uh I think he needs to boot that wannabe manager raf is wild i think I’ve been objective i haven’t made a hard stance either way i’m looking at it from multiple stances i feel the same way like I What do you think about this i heard this this could be another situation i’ve heard can’t confirm heard it to multiple people that his agent wants to charge teams for interviews so I think it’s ironic that that is coming out like right around the time that he wants to charge teams for interviews or my I’m I’m sorry don’t don’t aggregate that but there’s a charge for interviews and I I find it ironic that that comes out like maybe a week or two after the Shaq documentary where they were trying to like sign him or whatever and they were like he he didn’t show up to the Iverson Classic and that could be unrelated and then the Shaq’s guy was just like he wanted a significant offer and Shaq was like so I don’t know all right what makes a a be what makes Ace a better fit alongside Zion than Ingram that’s that’s that’s val I just think like to me I like that new pel that New Orleans Pelicans team they just weren’t healthy like how many games did Zion and Ingram play together i bet you they didn’t play 60 games together no and like I feel like Zion when he when he is there he’s a top seven eight player in the NBA nobody i saw Zion Slim Zion in person for the first time this year and I had seats on the second row hey man that dude was different i have no issue with him not working out for the Sixers but not working out for any teams make zero sense that’s That’s valid fair point wizards and Nets are the best spots i think Wizards because they are young with some vets i think the Wizards gonna end up Mark huh i would still take Queen i I love Queen and I could I could see the Wizards like if I’m again I’m trying to put my you know I got my Omar Cooper hat on that’s AC’s Asia i’m like you know what alex Sar he not super aggressive right loud not super aggressive bub he gets his shots up but he want to pass too he want to pass all right jordan Pool may not be there all right so that means at the end of the shot clock I’m gonna be that dude and the coach could look behind the bench and be like “Oh shoot yeah he just took eight bad shots in a row but who am I going to put in?” So that’s a very fair point and if I’m the And if I’m the Wizards if he’s with the Wizards you imagine he’s going to get a lot of minutes per game and the Wizards are like “Hey we trying to develop we trying to win but we also trying to get Darren Peterson next year so the Wizards could be a a a good destination but again I still think the Wizards front office comes from OKC so I do think it’s not just going to be like here you go i think there’s going to be some structure in in place so I don’t think it’s going to be just like hey man you can get up 40 shots and play some really bad basketball so I don’t know but I actually kind of do like that his plan is going to backfire and the Rockets will take him at 10 and he would ride on the bench like Cam and Reed i like the name generational hater spurs are going to try and compete ace would be redundant i guess he’s talking to Mike Jones this Ace might end up being the most booed rookie come next year i don’t think he’s gonna be booing brian Pumper is the name that’s a wild name in 2020 brian Pumper with the with the with the jewelry that sound like hollow there’s shots in Washington yeah we talked about that uh let’s see if you were his agent which of the Nets or Wizards do you think he mainly wants H to go to i would probably say Brooklyn i mean he went to school in the area um the agent is actually from the New Jersey area maybe he goes back and forth between Atlanta and and and the Northeast what do you think Charlotte does if the Sixers take VJ honestly I think if if the Sixers take VJ Charlotte is probably going to take Khan Canppel see that is I wouldn’t do it i would if I’m going to go with the shooter i would go with Trey Johnson i’ll go with Trey that’s fact that’s what I’m going to do but I still don’t like those three together justin Edwards had 18 on Houston and 25 on OKC let’s not act like it’s sweet out here yeah i mean I don’t think people really paid attention justin Edwards was good he He was He was good and actually I think a lot of teams made a mistake on not drafting him he was good in the second half did your inside information tell you that he said “Don’t draft me.” Or he really just like went undrafted because I thought he should have been a late first round pick i heard that there were some teams that were concerned that he still saw himself as a guy that was the number one player in high school but so does that same Okay so does that same Well it’s a different talent level no but but I just think like maybe he came out over some thought some teams maybe thought he came out overconfident and they’re bad they’re mistake because he was better than some guys like if you would have told me coming into the year that Justin Edwards would play more than Reed Shepard I would have been like “Man you tripping.” Yeah but he was the best rookie on that from that Kentucky team so he came in with the best ranking man that that yo the Sixers was playing Jared Butler no disrespect to Jared Butler but they were playing Jared i just watched seven minutes of Quinton Grimes major buckets and Quint Yo Quinton Grimes was hooping it’s ironic though that coming into the year Edwards was the top guy and then during the season Shephard and Dillingham got all the love but it switched back all right hold on hold on someone said BJ play like Dwayne Wade i don’t know man dwayne Wade was handling that thing like Dwayne Wade had handles and Dwayne Wade was an electric pull-up shooter yeah and like scouting report like go to NBAboard.com actually I haven’t put out the article yet but I talked to a a a coach that coached against VJ and he was like their game plan was to just let him shoot the pull-up jumper because they didn’t believe that he can make the pull-up consistently enough and I don’t think you’ll ever see that game plan ever saw that with Dwayne Wade roth do you really see Queen as more of a forward than a center i don’t know if I can get there even with the things he can do on the ball i don’t know if it matters man like Houston Rockets playing Alpring Goon and Steven Adams together and being effective just made me just change my my thought about double big lineups cuz I saw you on that no the the numbers did but in theory though you would think like in today’s NBA that the the lane would be clogged up but they were they were effective and you’re starting to see some double big lineups the Asian thing has Shadur Sanders written all over it i knew that was going to be a comparison i just knew it was going to be a comparison aces Ace is afraid of being dominated at the Philly workout by Justin Edwards justin Edwards is like four years older than someone says Mory is still drafting him all right here’s a question do you think it’s smokec screen and Philly is still taking him yeah and I don’t know why Philly would Why would they put out that Do you think like some of this is just smoke screen i don’t know who benefits from this smoke screen to be honest with you bulls trade up for Ace how they gonna get Oh my god could you imagine Ace and Maselis on the same team mike Jones would be just unsufferable how they gonna get there though that’s Hey hey hey this this is what I’ll say this I don’t think Ace and Cam Whitmar are the same but nobody saw Cam Whitmore falling to like what 18 i had him at number five and then I heard he could fall because I heard the interviews but he fell so if Cam can go from five to 18 you know maybe if there’s enough bad stuff put out over the next few days maybe Ace can fall because this might be kind of similar cuz remember the Cam Whitmore stuff started coming out but did he have a knee injury too though i mean they they said it was a knee injury from back when he was in high school but I don’t know if it was like you know what I mean i don’t know i’ve heard two different things i I heard that he doesn’t really talk and he wasn’t really engaging in interviews and I mean there’s a human element to it like you want to feel like comfortable so I’ve heard that i’ve heard it was a hand injury i’ve heard that you know maybe like some coaches didn’t have good things to say about him which ended up being denied but I don’t know what it was i mean it’s mysterious but I mean he went from everybody’s top five to 18 in like a matter of like days and I remember I was in New York at the draft at that time and I just kept hearing about it and then but nobody thought he was going to fall off the top 10 the way you’re talking about him on the Wizard speaks to a player that is toxic for building a strong basketball culture we never said anything about Ace we haven’t said anything bad about Ace we’re just wondering like what is going on here like I don’t think anybody knows that’s what I’m trying to figure out ace will never be a superstar lazy and can’t shoot i think he can shoot i mean my man went like 13 or 15 from the from the floor no he’s definitely a score i don’t how you can call somebody lazy unless you personally know him uh remember Jaylen Wells from last year don’t sleep on Cedric Coward you talking to the wrong people my man we’ve been pro Cedric Care Shepard is Jimmer Fet 2.0 white-on-white comparisons fellas we played Alex Reese yeah that’s the game i think Alex that’s the game they said that Justin Edwards got off like Yeah I was begging the Mavs to buy into the second round for Justin Edwards omax’s been baking in the G- League for two years and still can’t dribble without watching the ground justin never should have been a late first round pick i’m pretty sure I tweeted that out last year when you know I told you that he wasn’t the first pick but he settled into his role and yeah man was actually good in the second half of the year he just got off to a bad start and that’s what I think is going to happen with Nolan Trayor people just they’re not forgetting the bad start like people pick and choose what they want to forget it’s different for a point guard my man it’s different dj had a bad VJ was not good nah conference pay but people were like man he might go number three no why does a workout matter when they have years worth of tape that’s I mean that’s that’s that’s definitely valid i mean I don’t think anybody should be drafted skyhigh because they’ve had a crazy workout because most of the time workout is one-on-one but I just think it’s more so like it’s it’s an interview they want to see for example I I I have a friend that he works with a team and one of the things that he does is he studies film on the player and then they bring the player in to I guess uh look over film and just how they think how they process things do they see how they read and adjust to different things then of course you want to get get a feel for the kid what you know you think about him is this a person that’s going to fit into your your locker room culture you know all all of that stuff so it’s more than just somebody going in the gym and and and working out let’s take some questions man before I go to bed dog his tape was horror can’t shoot and lazy that’s not true uh Ace Bailey is a combination of Clay we not listen to Mike Jones man you supposed to be team ace until the wheels fall off the way you was acting he’s talking about me i don’t know i got one for you what are your thoughts on Chaz Laneir Ryan check out this article that I wrote today on NBA bigboard i interviewed an SEC coach and he gave me like the raw unfiltered scouting reports on all the players in the SEC and they have some good stuff about Chaz Laneir the question I proposed was “Who’s the better shooter Chaz Laneir or Kobe Breer?” And he said “Without a doubt Chaz Laneir because Laneir was taking a lot of threes per game he was the number one name on the scouting report every time you played Tennessee and he made threes from deep off the catch step backs on the move and he felt like Tennessee couldn’t win if if if uh Chaz Laneir didn’t play well but he felt like or he mentioned that Kentucky could win if Kobe Bray had an offshooting night so I like Chaz Laneir james is with me there was a representative from a team that we saw at the NBA combine and I don’t know if he has final say but he said if it were up to him with their pick they are definitely taking Chaz Lane Lenir obviously um it was received by random gut feeling Messiah taking either Sorber or Trayor at nine that’ll be interesting oh no math jump in to get Trayor in the 20s that I could see at this point i’m just waiting for Sixers ownership to sell the team it I don’t think this is on the Sixers but it is on the Sixers that they paid Paul George and Embiid a lot of money man they paid I get Embiid embiid won MVP i mean he wasn’t even up for like he still had years left on his deal why would Man but hold on man they gave Paul George 412 that’s crazy do y’all have any random gut feelings about this draft yeah that we’re wasting our time doing these mock drafts yeah I was going to think that we’re like trying to like predict to make the picks aren’t going to be making them i don’t think Brooklyn is going to keep four picks i don’t think the Thunder are going to have we’re going to keep their two picks um I think teams are going to try to move up to get in the first round because there’s I mean like the Pacers like they deferred their pick to get to 2026 because what are they saying like they don’t need another salary for next year oh here’s another example all right what do you think about this jarus Walker six pick not in the best situation can’t get on the floor position man yeah but I mean like they drafted him and then they brought in Obie Toppin afterwards right yeah but I mean where are the minutes at at the four they drafted him like I get it but what’s when they when did they draft uh my man Ben Shepard though again he’s older but they drafted Ben Shepard ben Shepard’s in his second year too he’s in that rotation so again is it a Jarus Walker thing is it a Rick Carlile thing but I don’t always think it’s just I mean you don’t know yeah you you you don’t know but I mean that’s an example of a young guy not getting the developmental minutes he’s already two years down the drain so if you’re his agent you’re like shoot time is ticking but at the same time okay I got one for you i’mma flip it back on you Patrick Williams ample opportunity and they paid him and he still is what he’s still young he still got you know alleged he went to like to me that’s he went to a situation where he got an opportunity to play he went to a situation where he got an opportunity to play he got paid and if he flames out he got 90 M i’m not agent that’s that’s like think about it we talk about guys being bust and so on patrick Williams agent did his job for sure he got him paid he got him he whatever he did in the pre-draft process he got somebody to bite take him early they they they bid on the the potential the physical tools and so on patrick Williams is like the biggest shocker he goes number four he gets an opportunity to play he gets his 90 M and if he’s not if he wasn’t worthy of a top five pick and he got 90 million on the outside looking in you’re like man that was a bad decision by the Bulls Patrick Williams yada yada yada but that is a great job for his agent because he put his pro he put his client in the best position to succeed and get that second contract that’s what you want it just goes to show that just because you get opportunity doesn’t mean that it it’s always going to work out it worked out for Patrick i mean but again relatively speaking yes but at the same time you know it’s all Hey man my man got generational wealth and it just only didn’t work out for the Bulls that’s what I’m saying for the Bulls and Bulls fans for the Patrick Williams family you good porzinga skipped Sixers workout and we took Okafur can’t happen again hey man I like Jal Okafur he just wrong era he just uh the wrong era how did my man get this graphic on the screen did you do that oh I think I hit that my fault i don’t like my man got ski my bad bro ace is trash nobody’s trading up for him come on more questions more questions who do you think would be the surprise lottery pick uh if it were me it would be Maxi Reno i think it would be Cedric Coward for me great live fellas this ace stuff is intriguing hope it works out for him yeah I definitely hope it works out for him ace said he wants minutes and the spotlight to be a star i think that’s a hint for Brooklyn and the bright lights of New York City hey he did choose to go to college against the grain like he did choose i mean it’s not New York City but it’s like in New York City’s backyard so Trey Way number three but you spelled Trey wrong any rumors on LaMelo Trey i haven’t heard anything ace Bailey reminds me of a skinnier Carmelo Anthony i hope he ends up with the Wizards i don’t think there’s a such thing as a skinny Carmelo Anthony yeah that’s like say he reminds me of like a I don’t know unathletic Vince Carter right yeah he reminds me of a slow John Wall you heard about the prospect who refused to work out for Charlotte because he don’t want to play alongside Lelo yeah who was I gota I don’t know i I heard about it though i But you heard about So that’s real no I heard about it like just on social media i didn’t hear about it from any sources but I thought that was some NBA cent stuff or something yeah I think it happened last year too i had that before there were some teams that didn’t that didn’t want their guys to work out in in Charlotte preseason podcast P was what we signed then he buckled hey the thing about Paul George I’m I’mma cut Paul George some slack man he got hurt he hyperextended his knee i think he felt the pressure of the contract tried to play on it he wasn’t fully ready hyperextended it again i just man it’s like you you don’t know when if he would have like waited a long time and and and got healthy they would have been like hey man we paid you all this money all of that is cool but he went on the same podcast and said yo I’m not trying to do the dirty work yeah I mean we don’t like honesty around here we we really don’t like honesty around here like you said they don’t pay me to play defense and Nah but that’s that’s nah you that’s not going to work like man you really don’t pay a dude $200 million to do the dirty work you surround guys to do the dirty work you just don’t say that because people don’t like honesty that’s not necessarily true like you paid 200 you paid $300 million to Jaylen Brown and he’s guarding Luca Donic full court that’s dirty work yeah but how old is Jaylen Brown man don’t say it then man free Johnny Fury yeah Johnny Fury in my opinion I said it last year Johnny Fury should have stayed in school for what man he getting paid he might play tomorrow night yeah but I think he would have made more money in NIL in Kansas and I think he would have came back this year because Johnny I think Johnny Fury tricked people he had like a That’s what I’m saying he tricked people so it’s like he what 31 I believe but I remember saying like Johnny Fury had a small stretch of games and people were talking about him as a first round pick justin Edwards had a better stretch of games and he didn’t get drafted that’s weird i was there i was there but I mean you know Johnny Fury signed a four-year $8 million guaranteed deal like that’s good money is that more money in NIL say he would have got let’s say the jump shot was really broke like it really maybe it is is this a good year to trade a 25 pick for a 26 pick yeah especially if you’re like Brooklyn like you can probably trade if you’re like the Nets you got four picks you can probably get one of these teams that wants to move up get another asset in return 27 right now 27 looks like a down year because the 2026 high school class isn’t strong but I think some of the guys that we think are from the 2026 class are going to spill over into 2027 yeah what range do the Mavs need to trade into the draft cedric Howard top 20 yeah but I think they don’t I think they’re going to take a point guard jet Howard not getting minutes on a team that desperately needs shooting is wow to me too plus he has the size that they like patrick Williams doesn’t love basketball i can’t wait till the summer until Cooper Flag starts breaking threes man you are obsessed with Cooper Flag we not even talking about him right pat Will had the opportunity to play with a turnstyle center behind him and no playmakers with him he got a raw deal team contextwise but he got that 90 m that’s a fair point but now that Ace Bailey has made it clear he don’t want to come to Philly VJ is good but we have too many small guards what is a small guard man he’s 6’5 is that a small guard he had a plus three inch wingspan we know Trey is bigger trey is a a better a better shooter um should Minnesota move up to secure sober by the way surprise pick is Baron Jet baron Jay uh would I move up to secure server i think I had them taken him anyway uh I I think he’s going to be there i’m Darren Jay i wouldn’t take him if I was Minnesota i think he’s still a few years away personally Ace cancelling a workout a day after the ASUS lighting talk came out yesterday is not a good look it’s just so weird i can’t put my finger on it that’s That’s We got We going to do five more minutes i don’t think Cedric Cow will be a surprise i’m hoping he’s there at 14 hopefully Se gets a green room invite yeah when they drop it uh if the Mavs traded 22 and third and all three players are there Walter Clayton Trayor or Demond dem’s not going to be there i don’t think he might be he might be then if that’s the case I mean I might as well take them if I’m the maths just because four years in and Jaylen Green is averaging the same 20 points per game on 55% true shooting do y’all think he will ever improve to be a 25 point per game score at least 25 points per game on good efficiency i don’t know i mean I don’t Jaylen Green situation is is is tough right i I’m looking at it this way right if I’m Jaylen Green I’m like “Dang.” At one point people thought me and Cade were close I’ve been healthier than Kade and Kade got the max and Cade has been given and they they put everything around Kade but Kade is a better basketball player right but I’m just saying again I’m thinking like from Jaylen Green’s people and Jaylen Green is probably or Jaylen Green not his people Jaylen Green is probably thinking like then all of a sudden they just started running things shon they took me number two everything was supposed to be around me now heliocentric heliocentric whatever whatever the word is at the same time Roth like you got to be honest with yourself man you had 38 one game and then you followed up with like an eight-point game you might not have scored 38 combined over like three games like Jaylen Green is is a he’s an up and down player it just it is what it is man like he’s gonna average 20 because he’s talented but he’s an up and down player and the money that he did make in Houston like that to me is fitting of his production yeah it just seemed like it was a tradable a tradable deal i’m a Sixers fan don’t want Ace after him canceling the workout sixers might as well draft a big at this point all the other prospects are guards yeah i mean you if I’m Philly maybe I’mma try to see if I can trade in trade well keep obviously number three but maybe if I can get if I can get into I got one for you Ralph i got one for you i don’t know how accurate is but do you try to offload that Paul George contract if it’s offloadable i don’t think it’s offloadable huh i don’t think it’s offloadable he’s still owed what 175 million yeah like Like I don’t think it’s offloadable at least not right now you probably got to wait until he’s you know if he has a good second you know good start to the season but I don’t know i just think like man like he just he was trying to play man he hyperextended both legs and was trying to trying to play then he has a podcast i mean he just you know you just you just can’t you just can’t win man if he if he would have been like “Man I hyperextended my leg i’m going to wait until I’m 100% before I come back they would have got on him and B somehow mysteriously got hurt between the Olympics and training camp he was hurt during the Olympics he was Yeah he didn’t look healthy but he got He shouldn’t He shouldn’t have played during the Olympics i think he should have you know why why cuz he’s probably like “Hey man i’m on borrowed time i don’t know if I’m going to win a championship but I need to win something so let me go ahead and try to get Look this how I know he was hurt went beyond pump fake blew by him and we didn’t see him again for the rest of that game he was cooked he shouldn’t have played he just looked out of shape vj is KJ McDaniels that’s That’s funny that’s funny do you guys think the bang gone he should he should he broke his he actually broke his foot last year in Dallas at Desmond Bane’s crib raf when can we start talking about the two 2026 draft when the season you know when the 202 draft is over but we’ve been talking about the 2026 draft just mixing it in bj all right somebody just hating somebody nicks move up for Kobe Brea low 30s high enough to grab him yeah I think if you’re if you’re the Knicks I think some some teams like at I rather have Chaz Laneir than Kobe Bri yeah but uh Brea is taller he can’t guard a chair yeah but I mean the Knicks have some some defend I think some teams like you can you can draft a specialist all right here’s one dog i’m taking Will Riley over VJ you know what’s interesting about that i have that Will Riley is cooking in workouts cooking in workouts someone told me he is a shiftier version of Caris Levert i still don’t buy that but that’s And I had a team tell me well this is a person that works for a team said they would use their lottery pick on him what is that plain Cooper flag shirt 75 i don’t know i haven’t I haven’t seen it cooper hey man New Balance probably paid them the grip of money so they trying to recoup some of that money back cuz you think kids are going to be walking around in some Air Cooper flags man and you know the young kids they I mean New Balance makes some nice makes makes some nice shoes like the 1906A i like those i had to get some but they expensive so I had to get the cheap mustard colorway but I I like some of the New Balances i don’t know about the New Balance hoop shoes though that that big end was weird to me no the the Kawawai looked all right i just Yeah that big end is is wild uh now that PG deal heavy as Fort Knox safe that joint stand right where say “Yeah he gonna spend all that.” I just don’t see like him being moved 68 LeVert Carris shifty Caris is so shifty yeah Caris moves like he’s Caris and you’re in a bubble he was legit 76ers should wave Paul George go out and sign John K he what how you going to wave him and just pay him 176 million and go away the amnesty clause is not in it khan got a better vertical than Cooper flag lol yeah man you know there’s that testing vertical and then there’s that game vertical again which which Zeller was it one of those Zeers had a better vertical than Griffin now who you throwing a lob to to me it don’t matter how high you jump it’s how quick can you how high you jump in the game not Yeah there’s game hops and then there’s there’s testing hops all right can’t believe my agreed to give PG a 15% trade kicker in his contract uh yeah I mean honestly who were they bidding against orlando i think that’s was the only team that had cap money last year and Orlando paid KCP so I feel like they were bidding against themselves i don’t buy Will being shiftier than Levert yeah I mean to me that was pretty I was pretty shocked when I heard that but I have heard that there was one prospect that wanted nothing well actually I’ve heard two there’s one guy I’m not going to say his name they say he’s running from people they say he’s he’s running like he’s looking after at the schedule oh who going to be there i’m cool i’m not coming but I have heard that uh yeah that Will Riley is cooking in workouts all right last one james you pick the question uh oh man shot one man Kelly Perry he’s talking about Sky James he ain’t talking about you no I know him i know him for real that’s my guy uh it says we have 1,000 people in the live chat for the 2026 draft that’s how stacked it is yeah but I mean 2026 right now it looks it looks deep i get it but I just think like it’s going to be like this draft i think if you are freshman and you’re not in the lottery or you’re not top 20 you’re going to go back to school and then you’re going to see I just think that’s I just think that’s how it is because every year there’s guys that we project to be first rounders and then they don’t pan out they may need another year and I think in years past if a guy was a projected firstrounder and he doesn’t pan out then he may leave but now it’s like why would you leave i mean I think Drake Pow is the only one that really did it this year is there any any other freshman that you thought like dang that was risky i think Drake Pal is the only one I feel like but I think Drake Pow’s a top 25 pick so I think he goes in the first round yeah i So this last question is on me Roth all right how high will Queen go if I was in charge and I I mentioned it before i love Derek Queen in DC i think he answers a lot of questions you may have i think he fits Sar perfectly i think Sar fits him perfectly uh Queens fit Toronto i like it but you got to get everybody to buy in on defense i think uh Queen with those big wings that they have there you can almost mimic what the Rockets do but you got to get Brandon Ingram to buy in on defense he really wasn’t a great defender in um New Orleans but he has the tools uh the gang will stay or go back to China he’s in he stayed in the draft yeah he stayed the draft he’s in uh but yeah I really like somebody could draft and and and stash him but yeah that’s true i mean if you’ve been following us we’ve been on the Yang Gang for a while and now you’re starting to see him creeping up on rankings and all of that man we’ve been talking about Yang for at least two years now what happened to my man Ding P ding didn’t have a good combine dink didn’t shoot the ball well he actually shot the ball well at the combine no I’m talking about just playing he didn’t look good in the scrimmages uh I think Dink needs to change his mindset and be a wing and not think that he’s a point guard because I don’t buy him as a point guard unfortunately but I do think he has a talent it’s just going to take him some time to figure it out he’s got to clean up i think the mechanics on his jump shot um and just kind of buy into being a role player cuz that point guard dream is I don’t think that’s going to work out for him no to Queen in Toronto ray know is better than Queen i disagree with you John Cooper you know I’m Maxine Reno i’m right i disagree i disagree with you i think I think Queen is taking Reo’s lunch i think Queen is a better playmaker the rebounder you give that to Ray No but at the same time Queen played with Angel Reese’s brother like rebounders in that man blood um Queen has no handles name name Maxi Reno’s teammate man a little homie that shot the ball like crazy no that was that Cal name actually uh dude that’s from here that went to Capel Indian dude you don’t even know his name not off the top of my head i can Google i know who he is but at the same he said Queen has no handles i think you’re tripping but Reo is a better shooter but at the same time like I think Queen is I think Queen is going to get whatever he wants at the next level do you worry about Ace creating Jimmy Butler level drama no I don’t honestly I don’t think it’s it’s not Ace it’s his people i don’t think it’s Ace i just think that he’s he’s doing what his repres representation is telling him to do and I think part of signing with an agency is you’re supposed to trust your agent but if I were if it were me personally if I were representing Ace Bailey I would have taken the interviews i would have even reached out to the maths like “Hey can I come in for an interview?” Like I’m like “No you good.” No but I’m just saying like confident that like this is me if if I’m Ace Bailey’s agent right i’m calling Nico and I’m like “Hey I’m just putting it out there put me in a workout with Cooper Flag i know it’s not one-on-one but let let him let him match me shot for shot you know and But word on the street is I don’t think he I don’t know if he’d win that i’m just saying if I’m his agent I’m just saying like he’s already expressing extreme confidence i get it but I’m saying like word on the street is if it was shot for shot in the workout he might I heard I heard Cooper shot the ball extremely well but I’m just saying like again if I’m his agent I’m if if I’m his agent I’m I’m working out for San Antonio i’m working out for the Spurs i’m working out for everybody i’m working out for for everybody not everybody but everybody in the top five yeah then if I already know like there’s a perception about Ace and this is just me this is just me if I already know there’s a somewhat of a negative perception about Ace I’m doing everything I can as his agent to change that perception we are going above and beyond we wearing a navy suit white shirt to the interview where I’m I’m coaching him on how to answer questions i’m doing everything I can to put him in the best position to kind of change the narrative because the media is is brutal ace is setting himself up to be the guy that the media picks on right every year we see it the media like they’ll build you up and they’ll tear you tear you down but he’s going to be the guy that now with the way everything is shaping up and again I mentioned earlier that I think the agency has decided you know we’re willing to take the PR hit to get to where we want to go but I think it’s asking a lot for 18-year-old kid it’s already I mean he’s already an 18-y old kid but I just think like you’re setting him up to just be heavily criticized and scrutinized even more you know so I would do everything I can to change that i would I would have I mean if he’s a good interviewer then I’m putting them out there i’m having them on different podcast i’m I’m just giving people the opportunity to get a feel for him as a person i’m trying to sell him i want the fan base to say “We not only like him as a player but we like him as a person.” That’s what I would do if I’m his agent of course you know you want them to work out you don’t want to spend a whole bunch of time not working out doing interview stuff but I’m definitely trying to erase some of the negativity around his name but now I just think it’s gotten a lot worse and he’s I mean he’s going to be heavily scrutinized and maybe they forget about it like people forget about Alex Sar but Alex Sar didn’t Yeah he didn’t come in with the It’s different for them with with the narrative so that’s that’s just me working out for Charlotte we working out everywhere but I’m saying SAR is French in what people thought was a weak draft and you know I Ace Bailey is far more popular far more polarizing like unfortunately Ace Bailey if he has a rough summer league they gonna fire him up for that and summer league doesn’t matter but fire up for it summer league doesn’t matter but there is a lack of content going on and in this era that we live in you need something to write about basketball year round or here here’s a comment he didn’t win at Rutgers because he was playing with bums it’s not that hard to understand i mean but he chose those bums allegedly i don’t I mean you know there’s there’s a thing out there that he Yeah I get it but I actually talked to a coach about that and a rival coach in the Big 10 and he he basically said the same thing he was like “Ace and and Dylan the talent is the talent it is legit.” But he’s like “They didn’t have anyone around him they didn’t have no shooting they had a big that couldn’t finish.” And he was just like it was not a good situation for them and then if you think about it they didn’t win but they did what well prior to this week they did what they came into college to do preserve their draft stock and so I think Dylan Harper did but I thought Ace did until until this week but they didn’t start five they started three ace just wants to go to a team where he can be number one jazz are that team i don’t think from day one i don’t think he’s going to be the number one option from day one they trade Larry he is yeah but Danny they but they’ve said like they not about to tank they said they trying to win i mean if you can get a 2026 and shed some salary like hey man you know we g we gonna try one one more year taking the fine was only like a $100,000 for the lineup manipulation they were doing so I’ll take the $100,000 fine that’s like Yeah L Somerville is a below the rim finisher and I think he’s probably like 67 yep that’s That’s okay but they weren’t starting five freshman though dak started a bunch of games last statement end of the day this is setting up all to come down really hard on Ace in a way i don’t want I don’t want to to see even if I’m not the biggest believer in this game i I agree man again these guys are human their kids they want to just play basketball and I just think the media is going to be he’s gonna have to like dominate like if he oh my god god forbid he has you know just a really really rough year they not gonna Yeah they It’s It’s It’s going to be It’s It’s just You know what I It’s just going to be It’s going to be sad it’s It’s going to be sad all right well that is it big thank you to everybody that stayed up super late for this chat i’m going to repurpose it i’m going to repurpose it and uh put a little intro a little music in a in an ending behind it so if you missed the live chat then it will be available for you tomorrow somebody said Malikica Andrews digging dirt on him right now lowhanging fruit i’m not falling for that one all right hold on man i If you got to go you got to go ace comp says he wants clear path to stardom that’s some diva to say prove yourself you can be a star anywhere you so confident play next to people as talents to uh again I get both sides of that i get I get both sides of it i get both sides of it ace is shad all hype no game will never win but see here’s the thing ace hasn’t said a word i mean other than other than the comment about you know he doesn’t bad shot i don’t think Ace I think Ace was already polarizing the people because they don’t like his game and maybe it doesn’t fit like what the what the analytics guys are saying but I don’t think this is all on Ace i think he’s just trusting his representation and they have not put him in the best situation but to say he has no game I think that’s that’s that’s pretty crazy if he had no game we wouldn’t be talking about him right now you think I’m gonna be up at 12:49 a.m central time talking about a guy that has no game thanks for the beatball talk Barlos yeah man you know that’s what we do is that Tom Jackson from ESPN it might be Tom Jackson from ESPN what’s it he got jacked up remember Tom Jackson was hanging with Michael Urban he had a line at one time irvin took him to a barber shop in South all right well that’s it man again thank you for staying up late it says 230 people in the chat man this is fun man we got How many days away are we from the draft wednesday it’s a week is today Wednesday or it was Wednesday yeah it’s a week away no no today Thursday right now I think it’s Thursday but I’m saying we whatever man you know what I’m trying to say it’s Thursday he said “Nah come on man.” Man your name is Tom Jackson that’s the only thing I can think of right tom Jackson it’s like if my name was Tom Brady on here you would be like “That’s Tom Brady.” Great stream y’all this this fire man we appreciate it man we gonna do this a few more times before the draft maybe even do it live at the Barlay Center i don’t know man i don’t know we We’ll We’ll Well man thankful just thankful for everybody that pays attention and listens to us because we used to talk like this with nobody watching so all right y’all holl at y’all and we’ll be back live soon and we are out of here

Breaking news out of the pre-draft cycle: Ace Bailey has canceled his workout with the Philadelphia 76ers, making him the only U.S.-based prospect yet to visit a single NBA team. In this episode, James and I go live to break down what this means for his stock. Is there a hidden guarantee? A strategic play for leverage? Or is the red flag finally starting to show? We also dive into Bailey’s polarizing combine feedback, his confusing pre-draft strategy, and how his draft night could unfold.