D’Angelo Russell to the Mavs + Nuggets trade MPJ to the Nets 👀| NBA Today

D’Angelo Russell to the Mavs + Nuggets trade MPJ to the Nets 👀| NBA Today

let’s start with the busiest person in the league our senior insider Sham Shirana Shams as I have been walking through the studio my phone has been vibrating with your reporting with your updates here What do you got for us
yeah I have uh I have some news for you guys Free agent guard D’Angelo Russell has agreed to a 2-year $13 million deal with the Dallas Mavericks sources tell ESPN co-heads of CA basketball uh Aaron Mintz Austin Brown reached an agreement as well as uh the Mavericks officials here tonight So this gives Dallas a stop gap at point guard He’s going to have a significant role especially when Kyrie Irving will miss at least half of the upcoming NBA scene So D’Angelo Russell going to the Mavericks two years $13 million
D’Angelo Russell to the Dallas Mavericks legs What do you think of this well first of all I think that’s a bargain of $6.5 million a year Really James Russell still can score And I think for me he said stop gap That’s a good word I just look at it as a solution to the Kyrie Irving problem We don’t know when we’re going to see Kyrie Irving again but they still have Anthony Davis They brought in Cooper Flag This is a team that wants to get out of the gate They don’t want to be buried behind a bunch of teams in the West To me D’Angelo Russell is about as good as you’re going to get on the market right now And that’s obviously a great number I mean with Kyrie being out you get a guy who averaged 18 points a game two years ago about 17 points a game the year before and then last year had a down year So this is a guy who can definitely score struggles to defend but you have those wing defenders you have those Nargi Marshals you have those Cooper Flags those Caleb Martins you have AD So you have guys that can cover that I love this move for them
There’s not a ton of free agent dollars on the market now There’s two teams that have significant space That’s Brooklyn and Detroit So so some of these free agents are going to have to take maybe a little bit of a pay cut Certainly this is the case for D’Angelo Russell So if you’re going to take a pay cut pick a spot where you have a really good fit And that’s the case here He’s going to walk into a starting job have a big role for a team that figures on being a Western Conference contender if Kyrie Irving can get healthy later in the season
The Dallas Mavericks have had a a really interesting sort of offseason even so far adding Cooper Flag as well
Yeah if you look at Dallas they are probably one of the most upwardly mobile teams in the whole league because they get Cooper Flag who we all think is going to be an impact player They’ve got Anthony Davis coming back healthy this fall and they’ve got a really good set of role players that they can either use or use in additional trades coming forward in the offseason
I was hoping we were going to be going back to Shams now but the way that this free agency goes he’s already off to the races He’s working on something right now Usually Brian we don’t start our free agency shows with a player opting into a player option But this isn’t just any player It is LeBron James He exercised his 52.6 million option But this is what caught everyone’s attention It’s what his agent Rich Paul told our Sham Sharan Quote “LeBron wants to compete for a championship.” Brian you said this well on on the Hoop Collective podcast Okay fine Yes of course he does He knows the Lakers are building for the future Okay that makes sense He understands that but and that is a big butt He values a realistic chance at winning it all We are very appreciative of the partnership that we’ve had for eight years with Jeanie and Rob and consider the Lakers as a critical part of his career That butt holds a lot of weight there Brian Yeah So he opted into his contract So he’s committed to returning to the Lakers He has a no trade clause which he can not only control where he would go but who he would get traded for which makes any sort of LeBron trade unlikely Not impossible but unlikely So Willie what LeBron what Rich is saying here is LeBron would like to see the Lakers get off to a very good start in free agency And I’m going to be honest with you there’s been a couple of transactions out of the gate and the Lakers have lost a player and replaced him with a player Dorian Finny Smith
That’s right Dorian Finny Smith is according to Shams is going to leave the Lakers He was a really big acquisition last summer or I mean last winter Um he’s going to sign with Houston on a four-year deal leaving the Lakers and they have according to Shams replaced him with Jake Larabia a younger player less accomplished another 68 wing who will fill in the role but again less accomplished maybe it’ll end up being a great signing but if you’re LeBron who’s talking about whether the Lakers are going championship moves this isn’t a move that’s going to make you feel super great just yet it’s just the beginning we’re an hour in
I personally don’t think he’s going anywhere I never really thought that he was the interesting thing about this was typically in this situation a guy would say “I’m opting in because this situation gives me the best chance to win a championship.” He opted in and then immediately the language was like “But are they going to do enough to make sure I have a chance to compete for a championship?” I think LeBron James made a decision a long time ago to to go to LA It had more to do than just basketball He’s settled there That’s where he wants to be I think that’s where he’s going to finish his career And look by the way you still do have Luca Donets next to you and I know they only had half a year a year ago It didn’t work out the way they wanted You’ve got one of the best players in the NBA next to you now with a full season uh to hopefully get some things done in LA
Um and he’s not going anywhere Like I will tell you this straight up First of all I know LeBron James This is LeBron James flexing his muscle This is LeBron James using what he has as a superstar to have hold the organization accountable As a player we are held accountable When we don’t win there is a conversation with us about winning As a player when you get to the level that LeBron James has gotten to and you won as many championships you have the right to have a conversation with the upstairs about what it takes to win I think there needs to be a collaboration on where we’re going what we need to win but also on the other side We have a young superstar who also is the future of this organization There’s two sides of this but Bronn is not wrong He only has a few more years and in those few more years he needs to be put in a situation to win How many times before Brian eight times nine times has LeBron been in a situation where he has the opportunity to opt into a contract and basically every other time he’s opted out He’s restructured There’s been something that has happened that’s more than just opt into a deal That’s also curious
This is where it is different He has never he has had player options in his last eight contracts dating back to 2006 when he signed his first extension He has never used them he has always opted out of the contract Three times he switched teams um and then you know the other times he signed new contracts In fact that’s happened twice with the Lakers Um in this case he opted into his contract So for the first time in 23 seasons Malikica
LeBron is on an expiring contract For the first time in 23 seasons he will start a season where he is not the franchise player
is what’s going on in the Mile High City Malikica we have a major trade for Nicole Yokic’s Denver Nuggets Michael Porter Jr is being sent to the Brooklyn Nets along with an unprotected 2032 first round pick for Cam Johnson So Nicole Yokic at the wing will now have Cam Johnson who got a ton of interest this past season The Nets had multiple multiple offers for first round pick for Cam Johnson They trade him to the Nuggets now and Michael Porter Jr now goes back to Brooklyn with an unprotected first pick This is a major jolt uh major change to the Nuggets We’ve seen this team the last few years ride it out with the same group They are making a pretty massive change at the wings
A massive change here for the Denver Nuggets Shams thank you so very much for that insight I think about Brian Nicola Joic at the end of the season Basically as loudly as we’ve ever heard Nola say we’re not a championship team And I don’t think he meant it as a slight towards anyone in particular but that’s about as pointed a as the MVP has gotten in previous years
Yeah And this is a big move for Denver This is the biggest transaction they’ve made in years Uh Cam Johnson was pretty much the the most coveted wing on the trade market Um teams have been trying to get Cam out of Brooklyn for a year now Um he is a high character guy plays both ends of the court shoots the three well and if I’m not mistaken and Bobby Marks can back me up I think he makes you know a salary that potentially would give them some wiggle room which is one of the reasons why I think they paid a first round pick here in addition to uh to Michael Porter Jr Now I think the biggest part of this is that he can play both sides of the floor Michael Porter Jr is a guy who can fill it up We understood that in the finals when we played against him This is a guy who we need to pay attention to But on the defensive end in my opinion the wing defender is one of the most important defensive positions in the league You have to be able to have those Swiss Army knife guys that can switch guard one through four sometimes five and go on the other end and make shots Michael Porter can make shots but he cannot do what Cam can do on the defensive end I love this move They need that defensive on the perimeter
This to me is a huge move for Denver To me this a major upgrade because Michael Porter Jr look I know he had the shoulder injury down the stretch of the season that really hurt his performance He just could not be consistent offensively but on the defensive end of the floor he was a guy that got better throughout his career but was still picked on quite a bit You have now upgraded defensively Basically a guy that’s almost the same size much more consistent catch and shoot shooter He can also put it down a little bit create offense but I think more than anything else it’s the consistency factor Denver felt a little bit stale to me and this was a team that took the champions to seven games So they know they’re still in the mix in the West but they had to do something significant to change up their core They have upgraded it I think this is a great move for them And they’ve had changes up and down really including in their front office their head coach and now we’re seeing changes to their roster as well Brian Yes this is a big move from their their front office And again it’s I will rely on Bobby but I think this reduces their payroll by about $13 million Brooklyn was able to do this are using some of their salary cap space assuming this is a straight up trade and again it might open Denver’s ability to to acquire another player Um so this is a move that not only I think that they believe probably upgrades and gets a better two-way starting five but also could add another piece There’s a real arms race in a crowded Western Conference right now And to me this move says that Denver knows they needed to make a change and they did that because to your point legs their championship window Even though Oklahoma City has the potential to be a dynasty they very much feel as long as they have Nicola Yogic it is open Speaking

On NBA Today’s Free Agency Special, Shams Charania joins Malika Andrews to discuss D’Angelo Russell agreeing to a 2-year contract with the Dallas Mavericks for $13 million. Brian Windhorst, Tim Legler and Udonis Haslem react to the deal before they speak about LeBron James’ future with the Los Angeles Lakers. Plus, reaction to the Denver Nuggets trading Michael Porter Jr. and a first-round pick to the Brooklyn Nets for Cam Johnson.

0:00 DLo to the Mavs
2:54 LeBron opting in with Lakers
6:32 Nuggets trade MPJ

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