Shams Charania on Ace Bailey, Masai Ujiri and Giannis’ future with the Bucks | The Pat McAfee Show

Shams Charania on Ace Bailey, Masai Ujiri and Giannis’ future with the Bucks | The Pat McAfee Show

joining us now is a senior NBA insider at ESPN a man who’s had a very active week we have no idea what his screen time is we assume it is alarming ladies and gentlemen Sham Shirano how you doing Shami
i’m doing great two days of the my first ESPN NBA draft out of the way i’m still in Brooklyn i head to Bristol Connecticut tonight we will be stationed in Bristol until uh the foreseeable future working on free agency so it’s up to something season you’re living in Bristol i’m not living in Bristol i’m just going to Bristol uh uh for for free agency so Oh you’re you’re bunker don in Bristol for free agency
we’re in the cave we’re in the cave we’re in the headquarters we’re in We’re in the house like and we’re bringing the noise here so
being in the cave not a bad thing from what we had a cave conversation earlier actually my father purchased some land from some Amish people and turns out obviously no electricity uh no running water uh and also there’s a cave on property if you want to go splunking andre I believe we will go spunk
focus on the work just work
that’s it
put your splunking light on and get in there let’s talk about before we get into the free agency let’s talk about the last two nights of news uh obviously the Ace Bailey conversation still carried into the second round of the draft last night everybody’s kind of giving their opinions on this we talked to Ryan Smith yesterday ryan talked about how much he thinks Ace would be loved in Utah how supported he would be in Utah and how much they are uh excited for him basically and how they got selfless veterans was the way I think that was a very key word that he uh sent out there like hey we got a team full of vets who are very selfless ready for you to do whatever you need to do here as a member of the Utah Jazz what is the current like position here between Ace Bailey and the Utah Jazz and when will we get an actual answer on what the truth cuz I heard Monday press conference then I heard like yesterday press conference what is like the truth here a
Ace Bailey is by well regarded by everyone as just an unbelievable person unbelievable uh kid and people people all around the league know him as a person ready to play basketball the Jazz are ready to welcome him in whenever he’s there i mean theoretically they don’t start summer league practice until Monday there’s not going to be a press conference until Sunday or Monday and he didn’t work out with Utah which is common walter Clayton Jr who they drafted later in the first round didn’t work out there either and so there’s just obviously conjecture there there’s clearly been some communication lapses between both sides um as far as from Ace Bailey and and you know his situation is an interesting one i remember I was on the show a couple weeks ago he’s got a representative Omar Cooper who’s actually former NBA player Share Cooper’s father but he’s not a certified NBA agent so you know the theoretically there’s not really a way for NBA teams to necessarily you know if they’re going to commu communicate with with the certified agent there’s not really there are certified agents there in place but Omar Cooper has taken a lot of the responsibility there so what has the advice been there what what has the process been like clearly they had their eyes set on somewhere other than Utah right and whether that was Washington at number six and it didn’t happen but this isn’t the first time a player wanted to go somewhere else and then didn’t land at the team uh that he wanted to go to uh that’s the draft when you declare for the NBA draft or any draft in any league you understand it’s possible you you could get unless you’re the number one pick you could get drafted somewhere you don’t want to go to and so that’s just the nature of the NBA draft that’s the nature of of the league like the bottom line is the it’s Friday now uh the Jazz don’t start summer league practice until Monday and so Ace Bailey could show up to Utah tonight he could show up Saturday he could show up Sunday and I guess at that point it is a non-issue but the as far as the conjecture I mean the Jazz are not going to be trading Ace Bailey if he’s playing in the NBA he’s playing for the Utah Jazz that’s just a matter of fact that’s just a matter of the circumstance right now so uh I mean unless Ace Ace Bailey is sitting out uh the NBA season and forfeiting close to $10 million in his first year salary like that would be unprecedented so but that’s not something that uh has ever been done so I think the facts and the logic are that he will play for the Utah Jazz next season and I hear all the you know hey Eli did this and like hey John Elway did this and like this has happened before it’s like those guys were being considered like Hall of Famers as they were getting drafted for it to happen to the number five overall pick potentially third overall pick with Cooper Flag in this draft class i think that’s made a lot of people go like “Hey this kid needs to relax.” But I think to your point listening to Ace Bailey talk he’s like “I play basketball i got a team of people that’ll handle the thing so it does feel like there is a separation of like Ace and like what is what his people think is the best positioning for him which is what happened with Eli what happened with John Elway his people were trying to do it once again they were like Hall of Famers in the making maybe they feel the same way about Ace he could be a great player but a lot of people are like “Yo you’re number five overall pick let’s relax here especially in the NBA draft.” But in my eyes listening to him talk and watching his highlights it’s like “This guy might be a this dude might be a dude.” And it sounds like he is literally only he just has handed over all the reigns to other people who are smarter than him i assume have better knowledge of the situation we can get what what is best for you if he just gets to Utah I think it will all you know I think once you land there and you meet Big Jay
and and you meet Ryan and you see the entire operation and obviously Danny Ames living legend his son Austin then you see the facility you see all the coach Hardy
yeah hardy’s obviously a dog like you meet all this and then you feel I think it’s like that’s I think what is happening so hopefully this is a non-issue Sean that’s what I’m hoping i’m hoping it’s
I mean listen at the end of the day is it would never it’s never happened before or if a player is really going to sit out an NBA season like like just logically thinking I mean the Jazz no NBA team is giving in on this you know no NBA team is just like you know what yeah we’ll trade you to where you want to go after you’ve been drafted the risks were are there like you could want to go lower in the draft to get to your your spot but at the end of the day like a team is is viable to draft you unless there was a draft night trade and there’s something that was able to get worked out but that didn’t happen and the Jazz are ready they’re not trading Ace Bailey they’re not trading the pick they’re not doing anything with him he will be in Utah whether he’s going to show up there today whether he’s going to show up there Monday and then and then if he doesn’t show up Monday we’ll have something even more to talk about but as of right now um I I I would expect logic to start to set in here
i would like Ace Bailey to know and his team we think it’s going to work out just fine out there
but I appreciate you trying to make a move though yeah
you know like if you’re trying to get your guys somewhere you’re trying to get somewhere i think that has happened a lot like I I heard there were stories about hey we’ll send them to Australia you know now granted that was second round stories rumors but it’s like people do that i think people try to get people to places and then when it doesn’t work when you when the swing doesn’t work it’s like all right now we got to live in a new reality here and let’s go ahead and make the most of it that’s a part of the league there’s been players high in the draft that want to go somewhere they want teams that two three four to pass them up doesn’t happen they end up there and there’s always that moments of one or two days of emotional feelings of like oh it didn’t work out but at the end of the day logic always sets in and in this situation four years $40 million is the rookie salary um and the Jazz drafted Ace Bailey for Ace Bailey that that’s where he will be
imagine him and Clayton Jr do the thing up there they just you know turn the Jazz into a great team that place is already sold out for like 10 years straight every single game sold out every home game packed to the gills that is what it is out there if they were to have two young studs lead them to greatness i mean we’ve seen it already oklahoma City obviously Tyrese gets traded here and leads it over here it’s like anything’s possible good luck to all parties over there uh good luck also on future endeavors toronto Raptors fire president executive senior super duper decision maker up there uh he’s been there since 2013 I think is what I read he’s won a title he’s won executive of the year in that time he’s made the playoffs eight of the years that he’s been there it feels like he’s had success but we’ve seen these types of moves out of the NBA out of nowhere what What is this kind of how how do we get here you think Sean
yeah let’s take a step back the the the Toronto Raptors are under Maple Leaf Sports Entertainment that’s the you know the the big brand that conglomerate uh the Maple Leafs um the Raptors other sports franchises and and entities yeah like and and they’ve been evaluating all of their present for the last year or so they had new leadership come in at M uh MLSC
and they they actually fired um their their NHL teams president just one month ago uh Brendan Shanahan and so around the NBA there was all you know there was whispers that Messiah whether it was going to be this off seasonason whether it was going to be during the season whether it was going to be after the season he had one year and about $15 million left on his contract so the presumption was okay maybe you get the whole season but I woke up this morning and I got a text that Messiah Juri was being fired uh today and so uh he is out as the vice chairman I mean not only the president of the team he’s the vice chairman he’s had a high role there he’s essentially been as close to the go uh the governor owner of this team as can be he showed up to the board of governor meetings year after year after year so um Messiah Jiri’s out and he had a long run 13 years there 2019 NBA championship they went to the playoffs eight times the last three years though they kind of had floundered a little bit they didn’t make the playoffs and so now they’re going to go with a full search for a president and he was under contract for $15 million so the Raptors could have played the year out but they got out ahead of it and they’ve let him go and so now they’re going to have a full search and and we’ll see where this leads them i do appreciate Messiah for sending Pascal Seakkum to Indiana that was very kind of him he made our lives much better here is it stuff like that that maybe is a reason why or is it just an idea they want to reset because they did it with the Maple Leafs obviously who have never
I mean they are they still you know 2019 the Raptors win that’s great that’s huge foruge the entire entity up there not the whole country everything like that the Maple Leafs every year I couldn’t even imagine what ownership feels
oh no oh man just bang disappointment at the end of every year so is it just a reset they want to try to redo their things for both teams is that what everybody’s expecting or was there like a beef was somebody disagree with somebody messiah had a great run there but near the end of it it was very clear the new leadership that was coming into MLSC and Messiah they they just did not seem like they were going to be destined for a long run whether it was interpersonal stuff whether it was the fact that anytime new leadership comes in Pat you guys know this like there’s always going to be some level of change people wanting to bring new staffers in and so once it happens with the with with with the Maple Leafs with the Toronto Maple Leafs now it’s happening uh with the Toronto Raptors and so part of it is resetting but the other part of it is also I mean you have Pascal Seakum he’s out uh he goes to Indiana uh the run he has there ojanobi he gets traded to the Knicks
they he he’s had a level of success there
and the the Raptors just the last two three years like what’s the direction of the team right and I think that’s what if you’re MLSC you you already have your antennas up and even more so the last couple of years as they’re going through their ownership restructuring new transfer of ownership and so usually when when the old owner starting to depart usually it it follows suit in in some period of time unless there’s a strong strong relationship that that is able to be built there
yeah because whenever you buy something or take over something you have a vision of how it’s supposed to go so normally you know we see in the NFL new GM comes in it’s like
yeah I got an idea on how this is going to go and it’s not you i’ve been great here we don’t care we are moving on so it’s happening in the business world i think Wendy said it’s a
stunner though it is a stunner because he did have one year left on his deal and the fact that they do it the day after the NBA I saw a clip online Messiah was welcoming their their first uh pick
first round pick uh you know welcoming him to Toronto and and and then two days later he has been fired
wasn’t happy i
I I don’t think people around the league expected this timing i wonder I wonder if it was a bad dap
might have been
with the draft then meets with ownership the drafty gets How’s it been today everything been great pout team was good i had the double double from Timmy uh King Timmy’s uh came in here the entire staff was cool
who’s who’s the uh is that the president he just he missed it was a bad d and ownership was like you know what gone fired him could be the case we don’t know we don’t that that you probably do
our daps are clean you know that’s why keep the daps clean guys yeah you need you need a good you need a good need a good connection there you know that tells the whole story tells how that’s setting the tone for everything basically how’s this going to go not great
okay see you
you’re out new president in good luck to all parties okay let’s talk about uh you know turning over of ownership uh some of these things have come out of nowhere go ahead Khan
yeah Sean feels like the Lakers sale did come out of nowhere and then obviously the Timberwolves were have been the other team that has sold in recent memory the Celtics of course that was kind of out of nowhere the complete sale are there other teams that are up for sale right now that people might not know are we going to see more NBA teams getting sold because these numbers are getting astronomical when it comes to ownership of sports teams
so I don’t see any NBA team selling for less than three 3.2 25 35 like somewhere in that 3 to 3.5 billion ever again like I think that’s the that’s the bare minimum uh to buy an NBA team and and yeah I mean the the numbers like the Lakers and other sales like it’ll impact and it’ll it’ll make the numbers continue to skyrocket like the Lakers selling for 10 billion that’s the most ever in in the world for for a professional sports franchise not just in the in the United States uh so you talk about football teams abroad you talk about whatever league abroad it’s not it’s not close yeah of course abroads
yep
all all of them
so So it it is it is beneficial I’m sure to the other owners and we’ll see we’ll see if there’s going to be surprise ones the one team that is up for sale right now that I can definitively say and I’ve reported it is the Portland Trailblazers and so they have um they have been put up for sale and they’re going to start their their sale process as this year unwinds and um what’s that seven 67 i mean in that market I I was thinking five and a half plus but 67 sounds about right
the Lakers just went for 10 you know
the Trailblazers just got yang hands and so probably at 8 billion yeah
they’re estimated uh currently valued at 3.7 that was
so for a sale to take that was before the Lakers sold for 10 billion
so maybe I mean let’s just hedge five but here here’s the one cool thing though about this this sale that’s different than all these other sales
hold on hold on hold on final answer real quick 5 a.5 million over under or five and a half billion over under i’m saying over i’m I’m going I’m going I’m going under i’m so bad
i’m I’m going under
under celtics were six
oh way under
boston Celtics
Lakers were just 10 yeah but that even that deal seems like kind of that that number seems like hey biggest possible number because they sold what 45% of it and they’re saying 45% is 10 billion like I feel like they sold it and then the team valuation is they say they 5.1 billion or whatever for the majority share there 51% I think they got
that’s the actual what title they’re saying what it was valued at during the sale yeah and that and that guy he already owns like 20% so he only bought like 30 something% and then they the the agree yeah but the sale was at a10 billion valuation which is what the current valuation of the team is those valuations change if another team in the league goes for 10 billion i think comps what are comps i think that ups I think that ra
high tides raise all boats personally now granted the six billion Boston one is fascinating because that’s another pillar franchise there port people in Portland forget that the Trailblazers play there
yeah can somebody pick it up and move it
yeah can they buy it and move it that’s what I was going to ask
sorry Foxy it’s okay well that’s that’s always the conversation and so I’m not going to
No offense Portland no offense
i’m sure Timbers we’re big fans yeah Seattle need needs a team to get it they just do and this goes together with what I was going to say is the the the the reason why this ownership sales different than any others is that Paul Allen how’s the late Paul Allen this will be essentially essentially his estate his his his fund and they’re going to what all the money they have they’re actually essentially donating the money so whatever the sale is for they’re actually donating it through his estate and so that part of it makes me think that there’s going to be some level of understanding like whoever’s buying the team like you’re keeping that this team somewhere Paul Allen wants it to or Paul Allen would would have wanted it to be
you like Seattle right if we’re talking about Seattle don’t don’t want to you know dive too much into all of it but they said uh the internet is saying that they’re the 24th uh highest valued team in the NBA uh currently it’s sitting at three and a half billion i’ll be excited to see what it is professional sports franchise
exactly nba franchise a lot of people have a lot of money these days yeah everything everything is like that okay speaking of skyrocketing the market for the players what’s the market look like for an absolute superstar from the land of Greece go ahead Ty
yeah Shams when free agency opens up here what what do you expect the timeline to be with Giannis and then beyond him who are some of like the marquee uh most soughtafter people that should be you know kind of maybe moving around pretty early in free agency here so draft week is is is over with now now we’re heading into free agency time and so the Bucks have several free agents they have Brook Lopez Bobby Portoris Kevin Porter Jr Gary Trent Jr so which of those players are they able to retain what does the team look like after all of those decisions are made what does Giannis Andumbo think about how the roster has shaped up he’s observing very closely from my understanding and so this is going to be a process not only at at it’s not going to be a drafting it’s not going to be a free agency thing um and as the team comes together as you view the rest of the chess pieces around the league what does the landscape look like after free agency those are all things if you’re Jonathan going to be looking at as you evaluate what your best fit is in Milwaukee where could that best fit be and so um he’s going to be monitoring very closely and you know Sunday is going to be an important day for the NBA uh going into free agency that’s a day where a lot of players have player options so LeBron James has a player option james Harden has a player option bobby Portoris with the Bucks has a player option that day julius Randle has a player option oz Reed has a player option so Sunday is a big day for player option again these are massive massive player option right i mean think about LeBron James it’s in the 50s
most craziest most craziest most craziest about to happen get in that cave most crazy craziest cave
uh you you never know with free agency you never know so you know I would just say just you know be prepared be prepared for free agency that’s it
for the unexpected expect the unexpected
no no i’m not I’m not going to go that far i’m just going to say “Oh you’re already killing your time just be prepared sunday’s a very big day uh for player options for agency gets going on Monday night and so there there deals will start popping off most likely i mean in the leadup to it and then there’s a there’s a bunch of players with extensions too so like Oklahoma City is a team they have Shikos Alexander Chad Homegrren Jaylen Williams those three players where do their extensions go that’s going to have a big impact on their team building after winning a championship so uh there’s a lot of questions that will be answered in the next few weeks and as far as Jon and Dmpo’s future how the Bucks build out the team that will have a direct correlation which of their free agents can they bring back that’ll have a direct correlation on it
all right we appreciate the hell out of you Shams you’ve been batting thousand thus far with the NBA for us and uh we’ve enjoyed the covering the entire postseason thank you for keeping us on the right path brother
appreciate you next week are we are we are we live next week what
is basketball happening next week i don’t think so
i mean unless you gets you know goes somewhere else that’s really kind of the
I don’t know most craziest ever he said
yeah kind of a crop of
you know what we’re going to do
yeah has to has to be
universe ball universe ball
if this goes If this goes in Thank you Shams if this goes in we’ll see you next week we’ll see you next week
uhoh uhoh oh man you better make this
oh no shs hold on [Music] oh no
so close
see you three times next week
oh no
four times oh
all right not meant to be sean
see you Sean have a good week buddy see you see you in a couple months see you buddy thank you Sean

ESPN Senior NBA Insider Shams Charania joins The Pat McAfee Show to discuss:

0:00 Free agency preparation
1:33 Ace Bailey and the Utah Jazz
7:38 Will Ace report to Utah?
8:52 What led to the Raptors parting ways with Masai Ujiri?
14:28 What NBA team could be sold next?
18:43 Giannis’ future with the Bucks

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