Pardon the Interruption | Wilbon reacts to Celtics trade Kristaps Porzingis to Hawks – NBA Draft?

Pardon the Interruption | Wilbon reacts to Celtics trade Kristaps Porzingis to Hawks – NBA Draft?

pardon the interruption but I’m Mike Wilbond tony a California cabin got burglarized turned out to be a bear and a cub tony Cornheiser Brian Erlacer and Rick Russell bear and a cub i like that combination one is in the Hall of Fame my buddy Brian Erlacer and the other Rick Russell you know he won 20 games once and he also won like 19 and 18 and 17 tony nobody wins 20 anymore rick Russell won 20 for us one year yeah but not anymore that’s the whole point if he pitched now he’d be happy with 14 like all the rest of them are welcome to PTI boys and girls in today’s episode Kyrie Irving signs up for years with the Mavs two young baseball stars forget what out it is and Jay Bilis joins us from the NBA draft but we begin today with the Celtics trading away another piece of their championship puzzle chrisaps Porzingis to Atlanta in a three-way deal with the Nets and getting back George Nyang and a second round pick just the other day the Celtics traded Drew Holiday as a result of both trades the Celtics will save $180 million in luxury taxes wilbon what is the most interesting angle here the Celtics trading Porzingis the Hawks acquiring Porzingis or the Nets now having five first round picks tonight no you said it already in the lead it’s it’s it’s the Celtics saving by in terms of tax and salary $180 million by getting rid of Porzingis and Porzingis is going to go to Atlanta and my overunder for the number of games he plays next year is 38 because that’s all he’s going to play in and he’s played more than 57 games I think once in the last like eight years he’s he’s not going to play he played enough for the Celtics to really help them win and was vital part to their championship i give you some credit for that cuz when a lot of us are saying I don’t know you went full in with Porzingis and helping them win a championship good for you that’s over so the Celtics decided to move on we know they’re restructuring they got to save some money these are new owners it’s not with gross back this that these guys don’t don’t necessarily want to pay two players you know $300 million i’m sorry $600 million so there could be more dealing to come from the Celtics we’re not sure of that but this answer to this question is Porzingis being dealt out and the saving of $180 million so I’m going to sort of agree but I’m going to go at it a little bit differently the most interesting thing to me is what the Celtics are doing because Mike it seems to me they are giving up on next year they know that Jason Tatum with a torn uh is it his ACL or Achilles i think it’s his Achilles achilles okay achilles they know he’s going to be out all of next year they just traded two other starters Holiday and Porzingis and they picked up in return two guys Simons and Nang who are on expiring contracts so they’re probably not going to be in Boston when Tatum gets back i want to know what Boston is going to look like when Tatum gets back and the reason is the most interesting thing to me is cuz they’re just one year away from winning a championship you know that that is a big deal to me um so I I think that’s a big deal i would just mention I’m over my head with the five first round picks for the Nets because all I know is Cooper Flag and I don’t know anybody else i guess that’s a bonanza Mike when you consider you know they could package a couple of them couple of them and make trades right now tonight you could but I don’t know how deep the draft is does the draft go to 27 cuz they got 22 26 and 27 does it go that deep i don’t know here’s how here’s how deep recent dra here’s how deep deep recent drafts have been somebody got a guy named Joic in the second round and somebody got a guy named Brunson in the second round so I don’t know that this draft was that deep either real quickly too the Celtics were looking at a two-year window that’s all they were looking at they were going to have to do this anyway but they lose the second year because of Tatum in the end it’s weird and I love Porzingis you’re right but he’s an itinerant now he floats from team to team he doesn’t stay anywhere doesn’t produce he’s not he’s he’s Joel Embiid he’s not healthy let’s stay in the NBA go to the Dallas Mavericks they have extended Kyrie Irving for three years after Irving declined his player option to make this deal the other day the Mavericks signed Daniel Gaffford for three more years tonight they are expected to draft Cooper Flag with a number one pick wilmont what do you see in Dallas’s future i see them being a serious contender year after next because I don’t know how soon Kyrie can get back i know there are all these optimistic you know discussions about and predictions and forecasts about him coming back in January i I I don’t know that I’m buying that and Kyrie knows his own body and he knows he doesn’t want to rush back at this stage of his career but when Kyrie Irving gets back in there and he is for Dallas what he was for Dallas for you know a year and a half you know getting to the finals and of course then the be the next year it looked like he was going to be he was being great again and you got Flag and you got Gaffford oh you got a guy named Klay Thompson and you got you know PJ Washington and you got oh wait a Hall of Famer named Anthony Davis they got a roster Tony and they got a coach the big thing for me is whether Jason Kidd is going to be there i still wonder Jason Kidd is going to be the coach of the Knicks but that’s another whole story but they got the assets the human resources to be really really good and if all those guys are healthy in the lineup and if Flag is just if Flag is the third best player on that team they can look at Oklahoma City and say “Let’s go drop the gloves.” Now we probably could not disagree more on this one what do I see in Dallas’s future i see them firing the GM Nico Harrison because of that insane trade getting rid of Luca Donets what I don’t see and here’s where we do agree i don’t see Jason Kidd coaching there i agree with you i think he’s going to one of his top assistants left the other day another top assistant that’s being reported is publicly contemplating leaving that seems to me Mike a precursor for Jason Kid to leave kyrie Irving that so here’s what Kyrie Irving did he’s out we don’t know when he’s going to come back that’s That’s not an Achilles right or is his is an ACL it is it is an Achilles too i thought his was an ACL all right okay it doesn’t matter they’re both Oh ACL it’s an ACL acl for Kyrie for Kyrie yes so so he’s going to come back nobody knows when not at the beginning of the season it’s a very serious injury you don’t know what he’s going to be like when he comes back and he’s 33 years old at this point i think Mike I think he took the long money in this contract because maybe he knows something that we don’t know you mentioned Anthony Davis what does his history tell you his history tells you that he he’s not healthy and and can Cooper Flag be great right away maybe but he’s 18 years old he’d be 19 in December he’s going to go up against men mike I think Dallas has a lot of names and that’s all they got is names i’m not sure that their future is anything but uncertain at the moment it is uncertain Tony but next year not this year that’s why I said give Kyrie some time i agree with that he’s not going to he’s not going to come out and be Kyrie right away coming off a serious injury next year and they got to be healthy but you can say that about every team you can say that about Jason Tatum’s team and Hallebertton’s team you can say that about everybody i think they got one shot in them and you did too by the way when they first made that deal you said that Dallas was going to be okay short term this year I said this year let’s move to two cases of absent-mindedness in baseball last night in the first O’Neal Cruz of the Pirates was pulled for failing to run hard to first cruz said he lost track of the outs and thought the force and second was the third out inning over okay but Cruz had also casually blundered a fielding chance last week in last night’s second case and this kills me i was watching it live pete Crow Armstrong and my Cubs hauled in what he thought was a third out deep in center field at the fence in St louis but it was only the second out and he allowed what proved to be the winning run to score from second base on a sack fly Tony which lapse was worse you know it’s Pete Pro Armstrong there no doubt about that because it led directly to a runner coming in from second base okay he makes a catch at the wall he stops looking at the field cuz he obviously thinks it’s the third out and the guy comes in it proves to be the winning run because St louis wins by one that’s the run when it happened it’s 85 St louis in the fourth inning but ultimately it’s 87 so that’s more costly now what Cruz did looked worse because Cruz he’s he should have gone to first he’s fast he could have gotten on if he gets on maybe he comes around to score but even if he comes around to score and that’s speculative at that point it would be 74 Milwaukee it ultimately ends up that Milwaukee wins 9 to3 so we’re just wondering what would happen with him what we see with Pete Crow Armstrong as you well know is is it has a direct bearing on the end of the game and the final score and maybe more than that look Pete Crow Armstrong who I have on a very short list of candidates for National League MVP has been a wonder for the Cubs a he I tune in every night to see Pete Crow Armstrong field hit run the bases all of it but he made this catch last night and I’m wondering whoa is it me i think this is the second out and you see the St louis Cardinal I think it was win just tearing around third and I’m like “Oh my god he forgot Tony.” Yeah this is the Cardinals the Cardinals are chasing the Cubs it’s a one-run game and suppose you get to the end of the season in that division which is tight with the Cubs Cardinals and Brewers suppose it’s a oneame difference oh my god I love this kid but that’s an enormous mistake enormous your Cubs have lost five out of six lately let’s take a break coming up the NBA draft starts just hours from now we are pleased to welcome back our great friend ESPN college basketball and NBA draft analyst the dashing Mr jay Bilis dressed like an adult in a tie makes me happy let’s start with this what do you see as Cooper Flags floor and what do you see as Cooper Flag’s ceiling the floor is really high uh I I I think his ceiling is a allNBA uh perennial allstar you know kind of a fa face of the league if you will that kind of player because he’s got that kind of ability and his defense is every bit as potent if not more so than his offense with his size his length and athleticism and and it’s really his maturity level and then his uh his level of competitiveness at age 18 is honestly kind of hard to fathom um a lot of a lot of these guys are competitive i get that but he’s on the top tier of competitors that I’ve watched over the last 30 years uh and I’m not saying he’s the best one but he’s right there with the best of them and especially at that age like Duke’s never had a freshman as good or as accomplished as Cooper Flag not one they’ve had guys that maybe you could argue Grant Hill or Kyrie Irving were more talented in certain areas but nobody uh was as complete and as accomplished as a freshman as Cooper Flag was well we seem to know a lot more about Cooper Flag than we do Ace Bailey Jay who has decided or his people have decided to take him the route of mystery but you know about him what are you seeing in him as a player as we finally go into this draft tonight ace Bailey is almost as young as Cooper Flag he’s just 18 years old and I as far as shot making making difficult shots uh he’s the best in this draft uh really good off the dribble and getting into his shot he can make tough shot after tough shot and you go back watch tape of his games against like Indiana or Northwestern where he had 39 points and 38 points respectively uh even seasoned NBA players were watching that going “Man like there there’s nobody else in college to make shots like that.” Outside of Dylan Harper of Ruters and Cooper Flag of Duke uh Ace Bailey is the most talented player in this draft does he go number three like I think he’s the third most talented prospect in this draft does he go number three to Philly i don’t know i I I would not be surprised if Philly took VJ Edgecomb of of Baylor but but if you’re looking for a super talented offensive player that’s got length athleticism and can make every shot in the book it’s Ace Bailey it’s just a little puzzling why he would turn down all of these uh these workouts and really basically say to the league I’m okay going six seven or eight because that’s given up millions upon millions of dollars in in rookie contract salary um I don’t have a problem with him doing that that’s fine uh but when he schedules a workout he’s got to show up that that’s sort of a level of professionalism that that even at 18 he’s got to have and and he needed to show that jay for decades we could go 30 35 college players deep into the second round and know everything about them not so much now particularly with internationals included but tell us because you’ve been studying this of someone who the rest of us are going to say is unknown who you like well there are a few of them i’d start with Asa Newell of Georgia uh he’s long and athletic great offensive rebounder can guard multiple positions uh really good in transition excellent finisher at the basket plays above the rim but there are three 3 and D guys that I think are going to be really interesting to watch in this year’s draft one is Carter Bryant of Arizona who’s got a 7 foot wingspan excellent defensively and can knock down open threes he only averaged seven points a game the other is Rashir Fleming uh of St joseph’s he’s got a 75 wingspan another guy who shoots 39 40% from three uh and can stretch a defense uh and the last one is the mystery man cedric Coward of Washington State started at a D3 school went to Eastern Washington did well transferred to Washington State and was about to transfer to Duke before he went into the draft and I think you could see him it’s possible he could he could sneak into the lottery so those guy it shows that you don’t have to average 25 or 20 points a game to catch the attention of of NBA teams if you’re a if you’re a 3 and D guy like those three I just mentioned you can find your way onto a roster and really help teams win and we saw that we’ve seen that with you know teams like Oklahoma City and Indiana and all that uh uh guys that can help you win that aren’t necessarily leading scorer types this makes me so happy because Will Bond said “Tell us about people we are not familiar with and I don’t know any of those people.” So that was very good we will get you out of here on this we look back on some drafts over a period of time and we go “Whoa if we reddrafted today we would do it completely different after all of the evaluations that people put into these drafts.” Why isn’t this more of a science than it is a speculation yeah that’s a great question and I think we could look back at every draft and we would do it differently because uh uh most of the prospects are 18 19 years old they’re not finished products there’s not a ton of data on them so you gather as much information as much intelligence to make it sound uh more hoidy toy as you can and then you try to make a sound decision but there’s no way to measure this and I I think when you look at the NFL draft I I would venture to guess they make as many mistakes as are made in basketball and they have five years often times to look at these guys uh it’s just not an exact science i think when I started doing this 23 years ago it’s my 23rd draft for ESPN i probably was mistakenly thinking that I knew after doing all this work now I just believe and I think that’s probably true of every NBA front office like that you have beliefs but you don’t know cuz like hands up all those who thought when Shay Gilis Alexander was drafted 11th that he was a future MVP i don’t know that anybody saw that uh it’s certainly a a a happy happening um but the one thing we know the one thing that’s certain is we’re going to be wrong about certain players and uh you just have to accept it and do the best you can a great pleasure Jay thank you for being with us thank you Jay appreciate it man thank you nba draft coverage starts at 700 p.m eastern on ESPN let’s take one last break but still to come have a time people happy 27th birthday Desmond Bane until last week Bane was a starting guard opposite John Morant on the Memphis Grizzlies bane was drafted with the 30th overall pick in 2020 out of TCU by the Celtics but the Celtics traded Bane to Memphis on draft night this past season Bane averaged 19.2 points 6.1 rebounds and 5.3 assists none of that matters now because Memphis traded Bane to Orlando for a couple of players and some draft picks suddenly there is optimism that Orlando can make a big move in the East because Bane gives the Magic what they lack three-point shooting bane’s a career 41% shooter from three last year Orlando was the worst three-point shooting team in the NBA yeah with Indiana and Boston not healthy I do expect Orlando to slide up the big move may take a little longer but I love Bane going there love the move for for Orlando happy anniversary San Antonio Spurs on this day 26 years ago tim Duncan scored 31 points and the Spurs defeated the Knicks to win the first of what would become five NBA championships the core of that team was Duncan who was named Finals MVP David Robinson Shawn Elliot and Avery Johnson the Spurs became the first of the four ABA teams who joined the NBA in the merger to win an NBA title denver became the second a few years ago neither the Nets nor the Pacers who were multiple ABA champions have won in the NBA though both have appeared in the NBA Finals twice thing the Spurs didn’t do was go back to back but they should have done that in 13 and 14 ray Allen prevented that from happening but the Spurs did a won and 13 as well Tony it was on their racket as we say happy trails to Bonner the Indiana Fever released Bonner today after failing to find a trade partner 37year-old is a two-time title winner and was lauded as a big offseason pickup after following coach Stephanie White over from the Sun bonner began the season as a starter was soon moved to the bench and then set out the last five games for reasons she said in a statement that quote “The fit did not work out.” By the way the Fever beat the Storm last night but Caitlyn Clark has been struggling one for 23 from three with 22 turnovers in her last three games bonner by the way has a Hall of Fame resume she does let’s get to the big finish as quickly as we can let’s do it the Oilers traded Evander Kane to the Canucks does that make sense yeah save some money he seems to be slowing down a step back it seems Yeah it makes sense the Mets have lost 10 of 11 you got to be concerned yeah they’re sinking fred Van Vleet and the Rockets agreed a two-year extension worth $50 million big deal wow the Rockets declined at $44 million he was owed people thought he going to trade him not getting traded now justin Verlander fell to 0 and5 last night your boy Max Scherzer returns tonight to face the Guardians your thoughts my thoughts are I’m rooting for the Warrior Guard of course I am last one colin Marawa looking for a new Caddy for the second time this season your reaction if I could take a cart I want to do it you know I love Morau i’d love to be his caddy but you can’t caddy in a cart they’re not going to let you caddy in a cart i’d like to we’re out of time try and do better the next time i’m Tony Cornheiser i’m Mike Wilbond same time tomorrow knuckleheads and now more amazing sports commentary [Music] [Music] foreign speech foreign speech foreign speech [Music] let me see in there die good morning are you looking Okay yeah

Pardon the Interruption | Wilbon reacts to Celtics trade Kristaps Porzingis to Hawks – NBA Draft?