Is NBA Free Agency Already A Letdown?

Is NBA Free Agency Already A Letdown?

what is up fellow sickos i am Dan Favlli a little delirious Dan Favlli coming at you with getting changed changing wardrobes at least what four to six times per day at this point the certified fantabulous Mr grant Hughes rumor has it NBA free agency is happening um so we’re going to be here to talk about it mostly everything that happened in day one we will react to anything breaking hopefully if it happens um but other than that Grant before we kind of cannonball in and we’re going to hit most teams maybe every team will be talked about we’ll do a quick rundown at the end of like kind of smaller type stuff for you sicko you the sickoest of sickos
true truest sickos
right uh but first Grant how the heck are you doing i feel fresh as a daisy because I’m in my third shirt of the day uh it has been a sweaty day partly because of free agency partly because of uh being outside and it’s 100 degrees here uh so I I feel fantastic i uh can’t believe we’re here again but I think it’s time I think it’s time to discuss NBA free agency day number one let’s without further ado let’s just let’s just dive right into this we’re going to begin with the single biggest move that I think has happened so far for sure i mean like monetarily like teams keeping key players sure but the Denver Nuggets and we’re going to tackle this each side so like the Brooklyn Nets will be next but from the Denver Nuggets side they traded excuse me Michael Porter Jr and a 2032 first round pick for Cam Johnson that pick is unprotected um of note this was definitely financially motivated mpj has two years and 79.1 million left on his deal cam is at 2 years and 43 million and then the Denver Nuggets also uh got Bruce Brown in a one-year vets minimum i know Bruce Brown isn’t championship Denver Nuggets Bruce Brown but that’s like a nice depth piece to add grant I’m really interested before I give my thoughts which I’ve already written about but I’m very interested to hear your thoughts on this trade so I think I’m I like it just upfront i I think it’s interesting to note that in this case it seems like an unprotected first round pick is basically you could frame it as basically the cost of 17 millionish dollars in savings over each of the next two years which is the rough difference between Cam Johnson and MPJ salaries uh Cam Johnson is older than MPJ you could however make the case too that he’s a better player uh I think Porter Jr has more of a reputation as just a can’t leave him gunner uh but the percentages are close enough at least last year and and Cam Johnson actually per 36 has gotten up more threes than MPJ has in each of the last two seasons so if it’s a specialist you’re after I think they’re comparable i do think Cam Johnson probably it’s hard to say this now in the wake of MPJ really gutting it through that shoulder injury and and you know defending as well as he could and getting in there to rebound i think you could argue that Cam Johnson might be a little more well-rounded can do a little bit more with the ball defensively might be a little better all things being equal um I think as we’re getting here from Colton in the chat the durability issue which you’d normally associate the problem with MPJ Johnson has actually played way less than MPJ in recent years have a stat for that
yeah it’s so that’s he’s never played the equivalent of 70 games in a
season so so that’s an issue the cost is just I it enables Denver to maybe do more and so it’s not just Johnson for MPJ obviously the pick is in there so I I like it for Denver and uh I also I I very much like Bruce Brown i agree he’s probably not championship Bruce Brown but you know when he was last championship Bruce Brown when he was with Denver so let’s just assume that we’re going to get the the best version of Bruce Brown not a lot of guys that look great with Joic and then leave have circled back to prove whether or not it is just Jokic like Gary Harris needs to come back to to test that theory uh but I I I like it i’m curious what you you put a fair amount of thought into this because you wrote on it where are you on the on the on the swap
i like that you think I put thought into the things that I write but
Well more than I just did i understand it and I think that it could work out but there’s like a real risk here because you’re not getting deeper as a result of this trade it’s just Cam Johns for Michael but you’re saving money and so I want to see what that money turns into is it tax savings for John Josh Josh Kroni or are you going to go and spend it because now you have access to most of the non-t taxpayer ML and like if you figure out a way to dump um like Zeke Naji or Dario Shar like you can get all the way and I we don’t need to we’ve look we’ve criticized the Nuggets for not being aggressive enough to improve around Nicole Joic i can’t sit here and get bent out of shape that you gave up that you know Jokic that’s age 36 season for Joic with that uh draft pick that’s going out at the same time to send that out and it’s really just a one for one swap you’re not getting any deeper and I think it’s like I you said it’s justifiable to say that it’s an upgrade i would agree that it’s probably an upgrade i mean Cam Johnson just shot 58% on twos 39% on threes while in whatever Brooklyn Nets like were running out for the latter half of the year here and I know he missed some time is it a big enough upgrade though to justify the opportunity cost of what could have that pick have gotten you like else like down the line or had you attached it to other salary to me this skews just a little too far towards they really wanted to get off Michael Porter Jr’s money with that being said that’s a very reflexive this very moment take if they go out and spend money to get someone else in here that’s going to be a top seven rotation member that changes the calculus because then you’re effectively it’s Michael Porter Jr in 2032 for Cam Johnson and player X and so this feels like a very I don’t think it’s a bad deal for the Nuggets i want to make clear cam Johnson’s going to be a fantastic fit next to Jokic but older hasn’t played as much who knows you know if he was on a different team last year maybe he winds up playing in more games but I just there is an opportunity cost and a risk profile here i I would say I agree with sort of the the foundational issue here is the savings can’t just be savings uh they have to something has to be done with the money Denver is saving in this deal because I I I like I said you can make the case that this is lateral or maybe an improvement um but it has to lead to additional depth and like a another meaningful player or two coming in for it to be a home run um and if that look Yeah so it’s it’s not quite a TBD because I think you could defend it on its own uh especially if you think well Bruce Brown I don’t know is like now they’ve got two rotation players and they just gave up one so they’ve increased their depth that way but the Brown signing is so small comparatively that it’s you know it’s not like they saved all this money in the trade so they could go get Bruce Brown it has to be somebody else or a couple of somebody’s I think to really put this over the top for Denver if it is as you said just savings for ownership then I I hate this trade you can’t give up you can’t give up distant firsts unprotected for to save the owner money
it does seem now like Josh Kroni was like inarguably talking about Michael Porter Jr in his press conference where he was mentioning like we’re one catastrophic injury away from having to trade Nicole Yic and I just feel like that Michael Porter Jun like the offc court comments he’s like did someone take the podcast microphone out of his hands like please I beg somebody anybody but as a basketball player like seeing him gut out the shoulder injury during these playoffs like that was just like a that run me a little bit of the wrong way uh but I think this is I think it’s largely fine for Dem but I’m curious to see what happens next are you ready to go over to the Brooklyn side of things do you want to take us through any additional details here um that don’t have to do with the the trade package
uh well as you said the picks unprotected there’s a 17 million there uh coming basically both years um they still have the nets this may be the the the most interesting aspect of this they still have the most cap space but it is significantly reduced that between 17 and 25 million left uh under the cap uh part of that also is because they resigned Dron Sharp for two years and 12 they resigned Zire Williams for for two years uh the 26 27 season there is a team option that’s also a 12-ish million- dollar deal I think if I recall correctly so uh I’m a look this is what we kind of wanted them to do with their cap space anyway is to is to take on money with with a pick attached uh or and or be a facilitator in a three team deal so this is kind of what we were asking for it is like it kind of limits them a little bit right you can’t you they were never going to sign a max guy but now that that chunk they had to to kind of use as a facilitator is significantly reduced not not they’re still the main player you’re still coming to Brooklyn if you’re trying to swing a deal and you can’t make the money work uh but you know this is this is a kind of a limiting move in some ways
it is but like the upside on that pick is insane and Michael Porter Jr that’s not like Michael Porter Jr is also someone that couldn’t you flip for value if not this season then next summer as an expiring contract
yeah it’d be interesting to see where Right just to say next summer where when theoretically there’s just more flexibility around the league what he’s viewed as like valuewise you know considering you had to give up an unprotected pick to move him just now like it it’s going to be quite a turnabout if you’re getting draft capital for him but that’s not out of the realm of possibility especially if he puts together another 75 was like 77 and 81 games the last couple years if he just continues to be durable and shoots it like he has then I think you know he’s never going to be “Oh that’s a hugely positive value but you might be able to get something for him.” Allan Davis in the chat says “To circle back to the Nuggets the Nuggets are reportedly in the mix for Horford or Yahoo i wouldn’t be surprised if there was more.” I mean in minimum sure but I think Yabuselli or Horford would cost you most of the flexibility i would love I mean find me a team I wouldn’t love Al Horford on uh
yeah I very much disagree with this because Al Horford has to go to the Warriors or I’m gonna be upset so I don’t like him anywhere else
what do you think about the idea of using like if you’re presumably I mean maybe he signs for something ridiculously low but like of using like your best spending tool left on a big when Joic is your best player
like how like how important are those al Horford at least and I guess Yabooi too at least those are bigs that in theory you could play with Jokic a little bit not I wouldn’t want that to be a core line i mean maybe Horford i mean I’m just Horford Pilled anybody knows this at this point
yeah same i think like well there’s kind of two ways to come at it and and they’re sort of butdding up against each other one is like well it’s stupid to spend resources on someone who in the games that matter like Joic is going to play 43 minutes or whatever it is or more if he has to so and and the games that matter are the ones the Nuggets are trying to win and should care about so like allocation of resource-wise like I don’t know if I love it but then there’s the fact that like Denver has worn down in multiple seasons now and Aaron Gordon can’t just be asked to play backup center all the time so you do need a body there i just it’s tough i I like So that’s all to say I would understand it if the Nuggets went that route route and spent resources on a backup big it’s just you you’d hate to see Al Horford play seven minutes in a postseason game because you’re just playing Jokic and Gordon till they fall apart i find that I’m liking this deal more for the Nets than I think consensus and like it a little bit less than for the Nuggets like I I maybe I overromanticize the upside on those picks that far out but an unprotected pick seven drafts away and I am kind of interested over the past three seasons Michael Porter Jr has shot sub 32% on threes with Nicole Yokic off the floor but I am still kind of seeing like I I I still want to see what he’s like in a more featured role which presumably he’ll have because the best passer on the Nets right now Grant as of we’re recording this is Jay Gore Deon I would argue
so like Michael Porter Jr is going to have to do some more on ball work and I’m just kind of curious to see like in Denver we saw it like to some extent it didn’t always end well some of the jumpers he would take but this is different Jordy Fernandez head coach i’m just I’m still curious to see it but I like the upside of that pick and it does sort of seem like you know the way that the Collins Sexton and we’ll get to that like going to Charlotte and then the Jazz just buying out Jordan Clarkson is the salary dumping market not necessarily as lucrative as you would expect when there are only how many teams are looking to either slash money to get out like what Boston was doing and they had players where they they could get compensation for them basically um or the Suns like you just you don’t have a lot of teams in those like desperate situations and Denver isn’t desperate um I’m still curious to see whether this was a money-saving move or just to open up the the MLE but I think to get a 2032 unprotected pick on a team whose timeline is very much like the next two to three years and when Jamal Murray and Aaron Gordon are like getting up there and they have a lot of miles on their treads
oh yeah
um I I I like this deal for Brooklyn
i I like it fine too i mean the upside’s undeniable it’s just it again it’s so far out and just who knows the and now by the way the Kevin Durant trade tree um as disappointed not mans fan the comments said still waiting for the crazy love me some Cam Johnson and KD got traded so you look at the KD trade tree now how many what have they turned him into like a dozen first round picks when you look that’s insane
I think they’re they’re ahead on the picks uh that that seems fair yeah no that like again I I’d be curious to know how many other offers were out there uh that could have gotten D could have gotten the Nets an unprotected pick there this may have just you know this may have been the best possible thing they could have done we we’ll have to see we move on to I don’t even know the order at this point i sort of Yeah the Rockets just like flexing embarrassment of Rich’s m muscles quite frankly they get Dorian Finny Smith four years 53 million that’s most of the non- taxpayer MLE the Rockets are just so in their bag that they signed Clint Capella for three years and 21.5 million without legally being able to do so that’s going to be a sign and trade with the Hawks we have no details yet as we’re recording this um on what those details are going to be uh they got the Jabari Smith Jr extension 5 years and 122 million we that’ll kick in in 2627 that’s an incredible deal like I know he hasn’t done much there because they’re so deep but I think Jabari Smith could be an allstar one day and so to get him on like that far below the the max granted he was never going to get the max absurd and then they brought back Jeff Green J Sea Dayton and Aaron Holiday for one-year veteran minimums um and of course we know they already traded Jaylen Green Dylan Brooks and the number 10 pick which turned into Malawatch um for what’s his name i can’t get Grant
uh some Kevin guy kevin Willis I think
yeah I think Kevin Kevin Willis what are you thinking about what the Rockets are doing right now
so the Capella one was I did a I did a double double take on the Capella one because I was just like well they got Stephen Adams back uh he extended and you’ve you’ve got still got obviously Alpurn Shingun is like somehow forgotten uh so what’s the theory of Capella like what I I guess you’re banking on Adam’s missing time you want another conventional big like I I was I was surprised by the Capella move the money’s fine i mean you’re you’re 7 million a year um I I like that’s a pretty pretty solid value for a guy who you know may or may not be like a legit starting caliber center anymore but he’s an insurance guy i’m just I I just never in my in my like you know thinking about what the Rockets needed ever landed on Capella do like what did you bump on that too or is it just like sure they need another big yeah I kind of felt they needed because how were you supposed to play five centers at once if you only if you have fewer than five centers on the roster yeah they had double big yeah the double big worked so I maybe three uh no I don’t know it’s fine the money’s not going to kill you um but I would imagine too there’s going to be maybe a team option the Rockets like those or partial guarantee or something once the rest of the year come out
because signing trades only need to have one guaranteed year on it
could be a Jack Landale situation where it’s like everything is non-g guaranteed so that was that was a little bit surprising but yeah like why don’t you just play Clink Capella Jabari Smith Jr steven Adams Alper and Shangon all at once at this point then who’s your other big we’ll call it Ahmed Thompson or Tari E and just
Kevin Kevin Durant just everybody’s 610 or taller
interesting what can I give you my theory on the Dory and I already gave you this when we were doing the Bleacher Report show i will find a way to bring
pretend I haven’t heard it
i find a way to bring every single Rockets transaction back to Reed Shepard and so that’s what I’m going to do here dorian Finny Smith does feel like an embarrassment of Rich’s type signing to me yes you lost Dylan Brooks but you have Aman Thompson you have Tari E you have Cam Whitmore that like he can do things um not as good as a defender i want to make that clear but like this just makes me believe because they could still use another ball handler passer i think they should unleash Reed Shepard and right now like that’s their only option right is because Kevin Durant is just he can still do so many things but like running your entire offense is not what he should be doing and so I take this as a sign that the Reed Shepard experience is going to be progressively higher volume next season and you know what Grant the Rockets get a A++ for that from me
i I was going to ask you are you here for it at all i because I kind of think you might be
i might move to Houston for it i’m there for it i’m not just about to be there for love it yeah you’re going to be on on the ground for it uh yeah I think that’s a fair assessment of it and like look it should be he was a super high lottery pick that came with this crazy uh statistical pedigree and then just didn’t play so I you Yeah you almost independent of anything else you kind of got to find out what’s there because the Rockets just like Jabari Smith just signed his extension there’s going to be plenty more of those coming reed Shepard before you know it’ll be eligible so you gota you got to get some uh do some factf finding get some information there um Finny Smith here though maybe maybe it’s we’ll touch on this more so with the Lakers I think when we get to them but this was surprising to me because for him this is and I I’m going to regurgitate what I said earlier on our BR stream like doesn’t this feel like he decided that the Rockets were just the better win now option because the Lakers have way more minutes to give him and could have done similar money i I view it more as they weren’t willing to do similar money which is what we’ll get into with them is that they’re really prioritizing keeping their books clean because you could have paid him more than that i expected him to opt in like for the 15 million or whatever it was and extend off that number and now he ends up signing for less than like the non-T tax pyramid level per year so yeah he locked in more long-term security and he is what is he 31 30 what so he’s like in his 30s but yeah I it’s this just surprised me because I kind of thought if the Rockets were going to do anything it’d either be maybe another trade or just be extensions or maybe they would sign like would they just come in and pick up one of these guards like that could handle the ball run the offense for a little bit i did not see no you know what we don’t have like enough perimeter defense on this team like we got we we have to go get more i mean they have sufficiently insulated outun who got better defensively but then like they don’t he could do nothing and they’re probably still going to have a top five defense when he’s on the court like just just insane um they’re shaping how do you feel about the offense overall now though i mean it just you you so you remove Dylan Brooks you remove Jaylen Green you swap in Kevin Durant the offense is just better period i would assume too that Yes hot take um Finny Smith I think will help a little bit um I I mean yeah he he’s got more offensive juice I guess in a half court setting particularly than than like Een does um I think really if you’re looking for real offensive growth independent of the Durant deal organic it’s coming from Cam Whitmore it’s coming from Reed Shepard it might be coming from Jabari Smith um so yeah
Cam Whitmore is supposed to get minutes on this team now with Dorian Finny Smith here
it’s going to be tough i mean he may be a trade candidate look Finny Smith at that number is a great trade candidate good team should want Finny Smith on that contract so like the Rockets just hap like he’s a great trade asset now if nothing else if he if if if Whitmore proves to be so good that you can’t keep him off the floor and Smith on that new deal you have to play him well all right we could trade Finny Smith for positive value like no problem uh and finally do you think like Jabari Smith will like Tari E is also extension eligible do you think he gets significantly less than five years in one let’s just say like an average of what does this end up being like 25 million a year close to it I guess because he’s going to play he’s always been a lower minute guy than Jabari Smith Jr for the most part but now the Rockets have a trillion bigs is that So what would you do you think one I think he’ll get an extension the way the Rockets have handled their business what do you like if if J Barry Smith was almost 25 million a year do you think he’s going to crack 20
i don’t think so i I I I wonder I’m not as certain that he’s going to get an extension i just you can’t do it for everybody um and I think Een while he has like very clear positive ways to positively impact the game I just don’t know if offensively he’s he’s at a level where you need him to be to just go 20 million a year i I think like you know again 20 million isn’t what he used to be uh but I I would either hold off or see if he’s willing to take 15 16 something like that as a starting salary we are going to talk about the Lakers now Grant so in addition to losing DFS you want to take us through what else they got going on nothing nothing big right
no nothing big just LeBron James opting in for the first time his entire career in his entire career and look like that that’s one to unpack i We had Dave McMenan reporting earlier this afternoon that you know look he’s that essentially no James hasn’t asked for a trade there’s been no discussion about that the fact is this is sort of the way for him opting in is kind of the way to if you wanted to get yourself traded that’s the step one as opposed to doing another one plus one or or some of the other options that may have been there to me the question is was this a LeBron decision to pick it up or was it a Lakers broadcasting to him that hey maybe another deal is not really there for you uh if you opt out certainly an extension may not be there that kind of stuff so this is kind of the core question for the Lakers some of the other moves i I mean signing Jake Laoravia for two years and 12 million is I kind of like that signing but I I don’t know if that gives us any information on on what you mentioned earlier related to Finny Smith leaving which is to say are the Lakers just kind of not gapyearing it but maybe looking more towards next season and reorienting around Luca like yeah maybe maybe reorient around Luca no matter what because he’s clearly the new cornerstone but I think a core offseason issue here is are is LeBron the guy that’s not sure about the Lakers or the Lakers not sure about LeBron and and some of the Finny Smith one as you pointed out kind of signals it might be that the Lakers are not sure about veteran long-term big money guys anymore right i that’s my read on it completely i like the Lavia signing i felt bad for Kings fans it was really funny a Kings fan uh I think his name was Fred like when I posted about it said it’s so sad that Kings fans should be gutted that Jake Laravia left Sacramento but that he’s become a punchline because they lost Dorian Finny Smith just to sign him like that’s the bar man I feel for Kings fans he is going to do a lot of the same stuff defensively maybe with even more positional flexibility than Dorian Finny Smith at this juncture I don’t know if I’m going to trust him offensively as much I I wouldn’t but I think that this is just they’re on this long-term term plan with a shortterm like cap sheet and I will say I would be curious to know what their plans are in 2026 because I’m going to give you a list of what could be the best free agents the best one is Luca Dodge who they already have with this player option paulo Beno he’s going to get an extension from Orlando surprised we haven’t heard about it already quite frankly jaylen Williams of Oklahoma City would you would you guess that he signs an extension
not not going anywhere
de’arenar Fox I would guess he gets an extension chad Homegrren not going anywhere kevin Durant I would guess that he probably signs an extension trey Young is a player option we’re gonna get Look I got two teams I’m prepared to say some pretty incendiary stuff about and the Hawks are one of them he was out there recruiting Luke Canard and Nquil Alexander Walker so I be like he might get extended but okay Trey Young and Luca you’re not going to pair they were traded for one another they’re not gonna be paired together after that it’s like oh LeBron said Damen Lillard Zack Lavine James Harden Male Bridges Norman Powell Kristoff Porzingis grant stop me nicole Austin Reeves
all All I’m hearing Austin Reeves again all I’m hearing is that the we’re going to be here a year from now or let’s say 11 months from now going man there’s just nobody in this 26 free agent class remember when everybody thought that free agency was coming back like that’s bleak man uh I look I I I don’t know what to make of of let’s just again I’ll just recap it lebron opts in so like was there a deal on the table from the Lakers that he didn’t want because he thinks there’s a better contender out there or was like I I just I don’t know i think the framed this way now what you’re talking about it kind of makes the the gap year thing seem stupid because who who’s out there that you’re waiting for like don’t you have to go for are you going to wind up with two better players than age year 23 LeBron and Luca by like next summer like Luca re-uped and whoever else it doesn’t sound like it
can can now I go into my what should be the conspiracy theory of gap years
that I could play out as what they should They should trade LeBron to the Phoenix Suns for Bradley Beal so two no trade clause guys you have Bradley Beal on your books for two more years then in 2027 as of right now Luca is one of Luca’s really good friends in the NBA nicole Yokic going to be a free agent maybe bet on that class bet on free agency coming back around then um the Suns could maybe if they can get under the second apron can you get Malawatch out of them you still need a big on this team that’s like you have other like teams that you could talk to but I’m not against the Lakers planning for the future or having this like I’m I’m kind of against a gap year because you said this so I’m cannib I’m stealing what you said there’s no guarantee that Luca’s next five years are better than the previous five because of how [ __ ] good those previous fives maybe maybe with the exception of this past season were so I guess I just don’t understand they could be waiting for the next trade but now you’re really kind of banking on Lakers exceptionalism because you’re not going to have a ton of you’re never going to have the best package in a trade for a star and as we just saw you got Luka Donets by doing this so is that what you’re waiting for is it’s not the free agent it’s who’s the next star like honestly like the way out their name that be like they only want to go to the Lakers they have the leverage to make it happen like is it maybe Jokic i feel like it’s more likely Luca leaves to go to Denver than vice versa quite frankly right yogic seems like the last guy that’s like let me get to the big market not that that you you know there would be appeal in playing with Luca but I look I’ll just jump ahead a little bit like Brook Lopez went to the Clippers for a number of the Lakers could have matched right like I I guess and and look as as Taib not notes in the chat like DeAndre Aton’s still out there it seems like that’s a decent chance that Eightton will be the guy they end up with but I don’t even know now do you know what would have been the funniest thing ever is if the Brooklyn Nets had just claimed him that would have been an interesting use of cap space uh yeah no it’s it’s uh we’re not doing winners and losers but uh the Lakers are not coming out of this looking so hot i would say that
it kind of makes Nico Harrison look look worse for losing that negotiation somehow
yeah right too look the last thing I’d say uh I I I take your point that you know maybe there’s a a 2027 scenario where there is like a Luca there is a Jokic teamup situation i’m not real comfortable betting on like or like the Heat have kind of fallen into this too like they’re really targeting this free agent off season right like but like they just dry up it keeps happening over and over where we think there’s going to be this this uh you know this treasure trove of free agents out there and you’re really going to want cap space for this one summer and like how often has it worked out was the last one when the Knicks saved all their money for KD and Kyrie and got neither like even that isn’t a foolproof plan
it was the Nets kind of doing the same thing it was like they said they just came over the top and they did it yeah so yeah that’s a good point um I guess
we just have to wait and see maybe it’s a ster but it’s like they’re just not I keep coming back to the package it’s how do you get Giannis how do you even What if Bam wants out of Miami i just like how are you actively getting the the Anthony Davis trade for Luca was just such a unique circumstance so yeah there’s a lot of offseason left but I’m very confused by what the Lakers are doing here i’m not going to lie i have no idea where we’re going next Grant oh but it’s to Atlanta
oh you love it
i Oh I love it so they’re adding Nquil Alexander Walker on a four-year $62 million deal that’s coming via sign and trade it’s costing a 2027 second in cash and they’re signing Luke Canard for one year 11 million not that’s coming out of the non-tax MLE they already acquired Christophs Porzingis and they are losing Carris Levert to Detroit for two years and 29 million oh my god can I just tell you that I’m in love with the Hawks off seasonason and the fact that they like used the Dejonte Murray trade exception like that’s how they’re getting Nquil Alexander Walker
like holy holy [ __ ] like kudos to like why was not why was Anie not running this front office the entire time and why were they ever looking for someone to come out over the top of him if this is what they’re doing behind the scenes this team is like they got some shooting around Trey Young the ball handling could be a little light but like you do have Jaylen Johnson can do that kill Alexander Walker you have Dyson Daniels maybe you’re letting Zachary Reese explore more on that end this team is like I don’t Grant I mean this is just in the moment like prisoner of the moment type [ __ ] but I feel like they’re going to be a top four team in the Eastern Conference next season
it’s not out of the question i just I think like we go back and we’ve tal we talk a lot about like do you do you really want the the Taius Jones type as your backup point guard or could you get away with like well we’ve got two or three guys that can kind of share the the playmaking load and like is that enough you know it depends on the situation I guess but in this case like Alexander Walker I don’t love him running second units but man he’s he really can dribble he can create shots like he’s pretty good at that same thing with Canard canard is known for being one of the best three-point shooters like of his era but there’s enough like pick and roll zip and like he’s a good passer so and and like Alexander Walker’s defense offsets Canard’s like those two just as a second unit back court that’s nails man like those guys complement each other really well i think you do get enough playmaking especially if maybe you leave like Reese out there or Jaylen Johnson especially out there dyson Daniel like you can mix and match enough here to get I think plenty of ball handling like in in in support of or behind Trey Young um it’s just this is just win after win after win for Atlanta i like I can’t remember the last time they I’m sure we said this about a team last summer and we’re probably wrong about it but like they just keep stacking these additions that all seem to make a lot of sense um I may have said that about the New Orleans Pelicans last offseason after the Dejonte Murray trade with the Atlanta Hawks what to say who’s could ever possibly look that up not me
uh couple chats to catch up on BJ i love what the Lakers are doing as a Celtics fan uh and also BJ says “Hawks play this masterfully they added good players but Canard and KP on one-year deals so they can duck below the tax next year if needs to and try again especially at center.” Yeah uh Darth Van Diggo uh Hawks are gonna be fun next year yeah they are and it’s I will say this will be like a good case study of I know Jaylen Johnson’s there but like how good can your defense be with Trey Young because he’s try I think the thing that’s gone undertalked about except with Hawks fans who I think it’s gone overtalked about so we’re going to try and course correct here he’s tried a lot harder on defense and like the it hasn’t like the effort level matters but he’s just at such a disadvantage but now you surround him with guys like Resee Onaka Kungu is there if Porzingis is healthy Dyson Daniels is a monster and now Nikquil Alexander Walker who if he played more last season would have had an alldefense case himself so this is just like absurd I Glasscow doing the Zack Low should I try and do it Kaka that I’m on the I’m on the Hawks bandwagon I like this team around Trey Young better than any other team they’ve ever put around him yeah and it’s like it’s funny because Nikil Alexander Walker does the type of stuff defensively that I think the Hawks believe that Dejonte Murray would do but that was like kind of never his brand like that was more of a gamble type situation he was rangy i love the Hawks offseason i don’t have a bad thing to say about it and if if this is the take that blows up in my face so be it this is And by the way they that pick they got from the Pelicans i know Pelicans fans a lot of them are
even mentioned that
that I know they don’t want to hear this but holy like they could be a Giannis destination if they have the salaries like for next off seasonason if they need they have some of like the the prospect equity i’m not saying they should go that route but I still we’re going to talk about the Pelicans in a little bit because I honestly and if there are Pelicans fans in the chat I’ll bookmark it and save it i want to have an honest discussion because all I’ve only been called names or you’ve made fun of my appearance or my voice or whatever and fine whatever that’s we’re on video that’s fair game i’ve yet to hear a compelling argument other than like “Oh you guys don’t know.” And that’s not compelling you don’t know ball derek Queen is going to be a Hall of Famer or something this isn’t about Derk Queen it’s about asset management specifically like if you like what the Pelicans are doing please explain to us i’m genuinely asking you to please explain to us why because I think this is honestly one of the most like all time dumb off seasons that we’ve seen and it’s only a couple weeks old i cosign your Hawks support and I cosign your Pelicans derision i would also add uh if you do think that you can logically justify New Orleans offseason you’re sort of already wrong so do your best
grant’s being a little bit less but Grant saying the quiet part out loud is really what it is
uh one of the I’m dying at the comment from Ryan Bo and Derek will be all fair that would do it so the Pistons uh is this you or me i’ll take it they signed Caris Levert which was kind of in the rumor mill for a while and and maybe Atlanta just knew we got we got some uh some some better options uh two years and 29 million for him that’s that’s part of the non-ax uh mid that’s probably the full non-tax mid-level based on the $29 figure could do it with cap space this is kind of the issue with the Pistons they have a couple routes to go here depending on what they do with Beasley what they do with Shruder who I believe we’ve got reports is going to the Kings but that that’s a weird one floating out there undisclosed years and dollars don’t know yet that’s Hey first day of free agency uh also signed Paul Reed for two years and 11 million the second year is non-g guaranteed we have the Malik Beasley federal investigation for betting on NBA games and props uh during the 2324 season he was uh up for a three-year $42 million deal it was reported before all that uh suffice to say he is not up for that deal right now uh and who knows what that ultimately does to the Pistons off season um I guess I mean it kind of changes whether they need to use Cap space or not because if they’re not bringing him back at all then there’s a couple other routes to go
i was going to say is there a chance it makes it we have to talk about the basketball and the cap elements is there a chance it makes it better because if his market just comes out from underneath him and he’s going to be allowed back to play he could just sign the minimum with Detroit and or off 120% raise or whatever from if they’re able to continue carrying his capold and then they’ll have early bird rights next off like they could wind up keeping him without having to use their non- taxpayer mid level to get him so that would be I guess the silver lining but there’s really like this is all this opens up a different can of worms about betting and sports and we just don’t get into that
and really if if it is true which I I’m fairly sure it is we agree that Shruder is gone then what are like I I guess you’re you’re thinking about Tim Hardaway Junior’s Bird Rights maybe like and and keeping him around or like I don’t know Timmy Grant he was already like the third the third guy of the Beasley Shrruder THJ like trio that they were concerned about it was kind of like let’s figure out the first two and then whatever’s left we’ll give to Hardway if if we want to at all um yeah I don’t know what let’s talk about Levert what do you think of Levert there just as a as an on the court piece in that rotation
i think it’s a perfect size deal for them um that’s very movable and then it’s both insurance against maybe Jaden Ivy not working out as your kind of secondary ball handler next season but it’s also like he can play alongside Kate and J i think he’s improved as a shooter enough we saw improvements defensively in Cleveland at least maybe not so much when he was traded to Atlanta i really like this as just sort of a and what I also like about it is what it kind of informs us and there’s still a lot of offseason left but about the Piston summer is that they’re not going to exaggerate the impact of last season is you still kind of need to see let this core marinate see what you have in them if you give them another year mostly together or make those sort of step ladder improvements like you are with Caris Levert so I like this especially in the face of like if you can’t really bring back like why would you bring back Malik Beasley when that investigation’s going on this feels like a smart pivot because it’s not you’re losing a lot as of right now you’ve lost a lot of three-point shooting but at least there’s less a little bit better as a shooter not than Beasley which is better as a shooter overall he’s played more off the ball i I think he has Cleveland to thank for that uh and you can like you said you could still bring back Tim Hardaway Jr so I in the face of like I would have preferred Malik Beasley not to have bet on basketball games and then been able to bring him back but allegedly this is right allegedly so I I I I like what they did here like they had to pivot quickly it seems or even having to pivot at all when you thought you were going to bring back this guy i think it was smart by them how do you feel
no I like it i I was just going to raise the issue if he doesn’t really address the shooting issue he’s kind of another maybe Jaden Ivy comes back and in addition to being kind of you know helping shoulder the load as a from a playmaking perspective he can also improve on his shooting it’s I I would have felt look I would have felt a lot better if they had just not had the Beasley issue and could have brought him back and and then you just you’re not you know thinking so much about the shooting that just isn’t a major strength for Levert throughout his career he’s had some high points but that’d be my one nit to pick there on a deal I otherwise like they do need to probably figure out a way to get some extra shooting in here if you don’t think you’re going to have Beasley because that is what’s going to help Cade shine and I don’t know like do you go to the trade you have options on the trade market I guess so they can look at that i’m going to guess the Timberwolves are next and they’re not the Grizzlies are so just whatever so Memphis the big one they renegotiated and extended Jiren Jackson Jr it’s a fiveyear $240 million dollar deal in total it’s not the actual deal but that’s is now contract value so the extension is four years uh they still have to create cap space is another situation where it was reported that they it’s like the um Rockets signing Capella and they renegotiated they they they extended Jiren Jackson Jr because I can’t talk without having the money to do so they have to bump his salary up by about 10 million and that should bring his salary for next year right up to what his max would have been in free agency of 2026 uh yeah Z Glasco says Sham starting out with the Grizzlies news out the wazu yeah that was really funny grant we have the other moves that like well here’s how they’re going to recoup that cap space my read on this so far is that Cole Anthony is going to get bought out and there’s no like if he’s giving back half of his salary so that the Grizzlies can make up the difference for Jiren Jackson Jr why have we not heard about his next destination because that would feel incredibly weird um they did resign Santi Alama 3 years 52.5 million just as a note that’s less than on average the non- tax MLE and they signed Tai Jerome three years 27.7 million which is the room exception how do you feel about and you made an interesting point before we hopped on how do you feel about the Triple J renegotiate and extend
yeah I I think a couple benefits here um one in terms of the new money he’s getting if you over the four year the new four years basically it’s right in line with the four-year max he could have gotten from another team and then this is a Kevin Pelton note because and we were both like “Oh [ __ ] I wish I would have thought of that.” I think one other way you can frame if you if you’re like sticker shocked by this which maybe you’re not i mean Jackson is is a borderline all NBA player but critically has not officially been one uh in the time frame that would affect his contract this takes the possibility of him had he not done this had the I should say had the Grizzlies not worked his extension this way as a renegotiate and extend had he not signed anything he could have made an all-NBA team this coming season and then been eligible for the bigger max so you take that off the table as Memphis and maybe if you think this is a bit of an overpay part of that expenditure is going to eliminating the possibility of a massive uh salary which like again if a guy makes all NBA typically you’re like well okay I guess that’s a good thing uh but this does potentially a potential selling point here is that it does save the Grizzlies uh from having to deal with that um I think it’s a fair deal for Jackson overall um again I I just keep laughing thinking like you know did Cole Anthony go like “Hold on what?” Like when he got that deal because it like as if Cole Anthony knew the Grizzlies cap sheet and realized that he was going to have to be gone john Kchar is another guy they could maybe wave and stretch I think but Anthony is someone that seems like he’s he’s going to be the one i I I wanted to ask you about uh Ty Jerome uh this is a team that has John Morant that has Scotty Pippen Jr one of my favorite backup point guards and now here’s Ty Jerome at a like a dollars to production deal looks great right three for 27 that’s totally fine do you are you reading anything into this with respect to like what the backcourt point guard rotation might be it’s a little interesting i think they probably view it as you can play Tai Jerome with one of the other two i don’t view this as like oh the Cavs traded for Lonzo Ball so now they’re going to trade Darius Garland like it feels like that this isn’t a throughine to them trading John Moran
is that what you read into that trade
no no no i’m saying that’s what people there was the immediate reaction of oh Darius Garland could he now be on the block because of Lonzo Ball and the answer is no with Jaw Moran i feel like he can Tyrone can play with Jaw or he can play with Scottie Pippen Jr but also Jaw tends to miss time i don’t have Did you know that
i was gonna say it wouldn’t be a shock if Tyome did have to play a fair amount for that reason
and so I think this is more about that they’re pro I mean like they’re built just as well I guess to insulate him defensively as Cleveland was so we’ll see if he’s better for them should Memphis get to the playoffs i think dollar for dollar i mean this sort of comes down to since apparently Colean is leaving would you rather have Desmond Bane um or would you rather have uh some would you rather have Ty Jerome and like some picks and Contavius Caldwell Pope so it’s like it’s kind of a fair question to ask because you would have renegotiated and extended Triple J anyway you would have kept Aldama anyway so that’s kind of they’ve decided like picks and Tai Jerome um like that they’re better off and Kavius Colope excuse me I don’t know why I keep forgetting him and then a cheaper dead money hit for co I don’t know what the hell is happening there this is another bizarre type of report
but Mel wants to know with these moves is Memphis a top six team in the west
so who are the let’s do that because a part of the Pelicans fans justification has been the only teams in the west guaranteed to make the playoffs next year are Denver OKC and Houston and that’s why the Pelicans are making the moves that they are um I still don’t understand that there’s a team in Minnesota that would uh have have an issue with that
so if we were talking about guaranteed to be in the top six right now it does feel like there’s four spots minnesota OKC Denver and Houston correct uh Minnesota OKC Denver Houston sure I would agree with that i might add to that list before I got to the to the Pelicans i think the Clippers should be in that conversation as like they’ve added we haven’t gotten to them yet but uh I think we put Golden State in that conversation based on how they finished the regular season last year they haven’t really done anything but um I put them up there and then
Yes sir they’ve done stuff they’ve picked up team options okay sure like let’s pump the brakes there
we’ll do 40 minutes on them relax i know Quinton Post did was part of a transaction technically so yeah we’re going to get there uh it’ll be behind the payw wall but we’ll get there um yeah I I guess like I think Memphis is I’d say borderline i mean it’s it’s going to come down to health right if the Warriors lose Steph for 25 games then they’re going to lose 19 of them uh and if Memphis can’t keep Jaw on the floor and they have some other bad luck then who knows but I mean Dallas would be in that conversation phoenix Portland I think you might put in a similar tier to Memphis um maybe that’s a little unfair to the Grizzlies but I don’t know that this at this early stage of the offseason I don’t think that’s way off base
yeah there does feel like there’s those four teams and then there’s just that there’s things that could turn to like in Dallas as an example okay with DLO and then Kyrie comes back what does Cooper Flag look like as a rookie they’re deep they should be defensively monsters overall so you could see them being like a top three team in the West but it feels like there’s a clear-cut okay there’s OKC then there’s Houston Denver maybe loop Minnesota into that same tier and then there’s like I don’t know like eight or nine teams that might that you could just see anything happening with them and Memphis is if you told me Memphis was the third seed that would shock me if you told me they were the nine or 10 seed that also would not shock me
yeah I could I could see that where are we going next Grant because not even I know apparently we’re going to Cleveland where as you’ve just reported the Lonzo ball acquisition means Darius Garland is cooked um so uh before we get to that uh Sam Merrill’s back four years 38 million pretty good value deal in my opinion just for one of the better shooters in the league and that I you know he’s not going to he’s not going to change the game defensively but he’s good enough i think he’s better than most specialist types at that position um also Isaac Aoro going out for Lonzo Ball aoro’s got two years and 22 million left uh Lonzo two years 20 million uh that that second year of that deal as a team option uh Ty Jerome also gone it’s just the hilarious thing I could never stop uh repeating when discussing Jerome was like if he signed for$ 14 million it would cost the Cavs close to a hundred just because of where they are in the apron so he was he was always going to be a goner um I don’t know you want to start with Sam Merrill or Lonzo here i I I think maybe Lonzo is more interesting just because he gives such a different sort of uh I don’t know skill set dynamic than Aoro um I we haven’t really talked about this one what What’s your feeling on the Lonzo of it all
so I love the acquisition and I think you are giving up some type of more conventional halfcourt ball handling and playmaking by going from essentially Tai Jerome to him but you’re getting I would say a better shooter um you’re getting a better defender he has great positional size as well so you can play him with Don Mitchell or Darius Garland depending on the team you could play him with both of them like depending on the opponent and I also think that he will do more to keep those secondary lineups in Cleveland like you can really get them out in transition lonzo Ball either throw the hit ahead pass he’ll catch them so we’ll keep you moving there so what he kind of lacks in that traditional playmaking he’s going to make up for with pace setting now the issue is he like you could say oh the minutes like he only played 777 last year but like Tyro didn’t actually play that many more because he was barely he wasn’t eligible for some of the awards cleveland’s so deep if you believe Sam Merrill’s able to take on a bigger role I think like and you have DeAndre Hunter there your perimeter minutes are so locked in anyway that I think this is a reasonable gambit to make you look at the Tai Jerome money and you’re like man that would have been pretty good value so you’re taking a a risk with Lonzo but I didn’t like a Cororo for this team because everything he did defensively I just think he gave back too much offensively in the playoffs for them and now that you have Hunter and Dean Wade if he’s held like you just Max Struce like you just have better options so I really did love the Lonzo trade for them one I want to know what you think but also like losing Tai Jerome like how how do you like does this offset it at all do you view it as an upgrade when you’re looking at the fit of everything on the Cavs now like where are you at so I’ll if you’ll allow me I’ll engage in some uh gross oversimplification uh Isaac Aoro could not get on the floor in high leverage games and late game situations in the playoffs for the Cavs it’s just like he would have good regular seasons we would start to believe in the shooting and then he just became someone you couldn’t trust uh for for you know rotation caliber minutes in postseason games i think Ty Jerome fell prey to a little bit of that too right like he suddenly his tricks didn’t work um and Lonzo Ball while I would concede it’s you have to just say like it is unlikely that he is healthy enough after a season after a full season or whatever that amounts to for him to be on the floor in like critical situations in the postseason but if he is healthy I do think it’s much easier to imagine him being out there right like whether whether it’s in the beginning the start of the fourth quarter in a second round series or whatever because Garland is resting or Mitchell’s resting I think Ball could be out there i really do i think because of the defense because of the shooting because of the playmaking he’s not someone you attack he does add value on both ends he’s not someone you leave alone beyond the arc so like he’s a guy that if he’s right is the type of player Cleveland has to have right and not as a starter but as as a playable postseason guy and I think Aoro wasn’t that and I think Jerome wasn’t that now they might be much more valuable innings eaters during the season but I don’t think Cleveland should care about that so that that’s why I like the ball acquisition even if you’ve got to acknowledge like there’s a highly likely chance that he doesn’t hold up physically i think it’s worth the risk bj in the chat says ball costs more than what Jerome got for Memphis did not see that coming and clearly Cleveland didn’t either maybe but I would also argue that this isn’t a perfect analog but Isaac Coro is at 11 million or 11.2 whatever it is next year ty Jerome’s at an a So if Isaac Cor is at an average annual value of 11 Ty Jerome is at an average annual value of eight and change 19 million let’s just say they got like kind of the one like there’s some trade-off because Lonzo doesn’t do everything Tai Jerome does he doesn’t do everything Isaac Cor does on defense but he’s a two-way player and you got that for 10 million bucks so I I would argue that that they viewed it as we’re going to kind of combine these two players into one player and save money that way yeah next up we are on to the Charlotte Hornets i one of the most bizarre trades that I’ve seen in recent memory uh they traded Yousef Nerkage to Utah for Colin Ston in a 2032 second round pick that pick is most favorable of the LA Clippers and Utah i would just like to point out that it’s not a typo the Charlotte Hornets are the team who received the draft pick in this trade they also signed Mason Plumbley for one year at the veterans minimum because they have no big was Musa Diabate is the only big man under contract for them i if you want to include Grant Williams who’s like grants taller than Grant Williams I think um moved moved Josh’s guarantee date back from June 29th to July 15th that’s interesting if you’re just thinking of trade possibilities um and they also just as a reminder Grant I think have already talked about this or maybe it was Morty and I they traded Mark Williams to Phoenix for Vile Mitch uh familiar friend there liam McNeely who was the number 29 pick and then a 2029 first round pick that’ll be the least favorable of Minnesota Phoenix and Utah
um can I just ask well actually I think we need to talk about that with Utah who I’m sure will be up next what do you make of what Charlotte is kind of doing here like because the Colin Ston you could look at it two ways do you think that they’re preparing to kind of like oh like it’s the East it might be a little bit more wide open we’re going to see what happens with him you’re going to throw um Kanipple back into the fold if LaMelo and Brandon Miller stay healthy anything maybe we get a better year from Tan Salon or Miles Bridges or is this just a front office looking at it and saying like we kind of we don’t know what’s going to happen with Trey Man he was injured and are we going to bring him back colin Sex is actually good we might be able to actually get value for him at the trade deadline so they just pounced
that’s my first thought is I just imagine it’s easier to get something for Sexton at the deadline because more teams would might be interested in that player type than would be in Nerkach um and I I kind of almost looked at it more from Utah’s perspective just because this was one where I had to do like a triple take to like which the pick’s going which way because they’re like almost identical salaries right and identical
you could have taken out the pick and I still would have been like
it’s confusing no so I I imagine Utah wanted to remove and they just did it with Jordan Clarkson too in a different way let’s just get these guards out of the way so that it’s going to be George and Kier uh that that are running the show um and and Ace Bailey maybe is going to get more on ball stuff that so if you just have Stexon out of the way that’s what it is um I don’t know why they didn’t just I guess he’s probably too good to buy out but you could I don’t know i like Charlotte getting Ston but it’s somehow paradoxically easier for me to understand why Utah would move him just I don’t know this is a weird trade we’ve been We’ve supported the Hornets in general this one just just confusing
i think from their perspective though I don’t I don’t find it confusing because I landed on just whatever they’re trying to do colin Ston is the more valuable player than Yousef Nerkage like that’s just the fact that he’s younger like he shoots
i And we wanted more shooting around LaMelo ball i don’t know how much those two are going to play together to be clear like now you have Colin Sexton who’s not a motion guy but he can shoot and then Kanipple on top of if Brandon Miller and then if is Miles Bridges going to hit his threes so this just feels like what have we talked about with Charlotte kind of at every turn the past couple years with the Jeff Peterson le front office they’ve just been opportunistic it seems like they’re kind of playing the long game they’ve not taken on long-term money they didn’t do that here colin Saxon’s expiring i like this just shows like a level of forethought from Charlotte that we are still maybe not entirely used to kind of like what’s going on in Washington where we just you talk about that might be our single most viewed video by the end of like the like the season of like of a clip like the Washington Wizards fans i guess maybe they’re not used to the national people saying nice things about them the Hornets are just like this is smart like this I don’t know what’s going to become of it maybe they don’t turn them into anything and yeah you could say well like look at the center position they had to go assign Plumbley that kind of signals to me that they’re not going to go out and do what the Lakers tried to do and overpay for Mark Williams
like they’re clearly gonna long game this so I tip my cap to Charlotte because you might not be able to necessarily see the vision of it on the court perfectly but if Trey man’s not going to be there if you’re worried about him being healthy like you need a backup ball like it’s not Josh Green well say it go ahead
depends depends on if he’s on the move or not Dan yeah if he’s standing still he’s useless it’s weird but I love this for Charlotte i don’t understand what’s going on in Utah grant would you care to take us through that
yeah I would love to uh they they pick with Sexton uh the nerkage of it all i I Yeah I it’s it’s hard to understand i just have to view it as we need to move Ston to clear the decks for our younger players to be on the ball um we already mentioned the pick there the 2032nd with most favorable of of the Clippers and Utah uh is going out uh they also bought out Jordan Clarkson shout out to you congratulations he’s going to be a nick uh for the vet minimum uh they waved Johnny Juang uh I don’t know what else is there to talk about here maybe do do we want to talk about what the Jazz did not do which is there’s no Kesler extension yet uh there’s that’s pretty much it i don’t understand the theory of just doing what they did with Sexton because if you needed to get if you were worried about getting like clearing minutes why was he not moved like you’re going to tell me that not at any point over the past couple seasons you couldn’t have gotten second rounders for Jordan Clarkson or Colin Sexton at minimum Austin coming in and saying let’s do something
we’re not going to tank we’re just going to be actively bad we’re not going to fud with the minutes yeah so I you know there was a time where Nerkach was playing over Nicole Joic so maybe maybe the Jazz are just ready to unlock that
now here’s the thing is that time was shortlived
sure
i And so this just feels like poor asset management by them like you should I feel like we don’t know what the offers were you’re going to tell me there wasn’t going to be deals out there for Jordan Clarkson maybe we’ll have to see how much he gave back in his buyout but you couldn’t have like you had to give up a second round pick to get is that what the market was in the NBA this just feels like a misread i understand the logic of we’re really leaning into the youth movement now and you cleared the way for Ace Bailey to get like you took you took off two of your highest volume on ball guys and now you have Ace Bailey Isaiah Collier and Keonte George as your highest on ball guys and maybe a little bit of Larry Markin sprinkled in Walder Clayton’s there as well
i just I I don’t like this is just it’s way underwhelming the only thing I could think is with Jordan Clarkson is maybe he’s been there so long and been kind of a good soldier that they did him the solid and they we don’t need second round picks for Jordan Clarkson we want to take on money so I understand that almost more than I understand the Colin Ston deal was it they wanted to make sure he wasn’t there like sort of take the club out of Will Hardy’s bag and but they also wanted to preserve the salary slot like it and but they didn’t want that salary slot to extend beyond next i just I’m having a lot of trouble understanding it this is another one where the more I’ve like read about it it doesn’t seem like anyone has a hold or at least the cases I’ve seen for the Jazz have not been very compelling for it i I would agree with that this is so far the hardest deal to understand also not not very hard to understand but um Jordan Clarkson’s now a Nick i this is how I feel about it is it means that Russell Westbrook is not a Nick so I I kind of fave it um they’re getting Jordan Clarkson in for uh one year at the minimum assuming he clears waiverss the Knicks also picked up the $2 million team option on Ariel Huckporty and declined the $3.5 million team option on PJ Tucker and just rumor has it um permal reports they’ve reached out to Al Horford so they still have the mini MLE in their bag i for the value Jordan Clarkson at the veterans minimum is like taking up the campaign minutes sure
um but it still kind of sucks because they don’t have like the secondary guy who can drive offense for others like who is the who are you trusting aside from Jaylen Brunson to set up other players on this team the most it might be Tyler Kolic
i mean I was going to say Bridges but that wasn’t going to be something I’d say and feel good about yeah fair so I just like I don’t know this is fine i’m curious to see what the Knicks still don’t have a coach which is like less than ideal headed into free agency um what would you like to see them use there quickly before we move on what would you like to see them use their mini MLE on like would you support it being used on a big or you’ve mentioned like you want to see more shooting or you wanted them to get another ball handler I believe and they I mean Jordan Clarkson is that
yeah Clarkson is yeah I guess Clarkson look if it were a if it were a Tibido kind of situation first of all like the depth would would matter less but like you could see Clarkson kind of doing a Jaylen Brunson as a backup where he’s just really kind of dominating the ball and look generating most of his own shots and and maybe that I don’t know there’s some some value in like stylistic continuity there between the first and second units um he just I think you were kind of touching on this he doesn’t quite like scratch the the itch of scorer playmaker like he he’s been a he’s won six man of the year uh that’s that now is kind of receding into the rearview a little bit too much and he but he isn’t the he’s by by no means like the pure facilitator so I think he’s an upgrade it’s It doesn’t like I’m not going crazy over it um mostly I’m thinking about what hasn’t happened which is a Bridges extension yet that’s still that’s just been my most interesting kind of Knicks offseason subplot but but maybe that’s maybe there’s nothing to worry about there because Jackson’s like the only guy in Memphis that’s that’s signed an extension those just haven’t quite happened yet yeah that but if he doesn’t like if we start to kind of like with the coaching search taking a couple weeks if it’s been a few weeks you’re going to start to wonder are they just going to let this get to unrestricted free agency and either have to give him the fifth year or watch him walk
so
I don’t I don’t think he should take what he can the four for 156 if I’m him I’m not doing it
we just went through the list of free agents with the Lakers so anyone who might just be choppering in to listen to this segment like Mckelp might end up being the best available free agent on the market next year
yeah and and even if he’s not it’s not that hard to beat four for 156 it’s just like that for a player like 157
easy that’s one way to do it you just did it
i Glasco says “Nick’s coaching search is like watching the person at the bar at 1:30 a.m who will not go home alone it’s getting desperate.” Mike Brown is getting a second meeting he’s reportedly the favorite i will say he’s he can do some stuff on offense um which is funny because wasn’t he viewed maybe I just have not been like covering the game long enough wasn’t he viewed as like a defensive-minded coach way back when and now he’s viewed as like this offensive savant
i think it’s definitely flipped uh the Kings the Kings years at le well the Kings year the the one year when they briefly set the record for offensive efficiency i think that that was a thing that happened right something close to it uh he got a lot of credit for that but yeah I don’t know i think that’s who it’s going to be though Dan like I think Mike Brown’s about as good as the Knicks are going to do
which is just sort of like me and look by the way I will say
you better nail this off seasonason as the Knicks because Messiah Juri is just floating around out there and I know James Dolan is like still mad about how the Carmemelllo Anthony negotiations went and uh the Andrea Bunani negotiations went after that but like like they went after Messiah in the past before they hired Leon Rose grant do you remember that Messiah was on their list so like if you’re Leon Rose and you’ve already shown like James Dolan don’t give no [ __ ] about the CIA connections at this point like he’s the one who spearheaded the Tibido exit so I’m I’m just putting a pin in that and so like if you’re just you fired your coach after getting the Eastern Conference Finals they were compelling cases on either side i’ve even said my initial take on the matter was just absurdly bad but now we are getting to the point where like okay now it’s been a few weeks and we’re in free agency like ideally you’d want to have like a coach in place now and we’ve only heard like are you really waiting out like the Jason Kid situation in Dallas to see if he gets an extension or not which is also one inspire just if you made it to the conference finals and you hire you changed the coach without making any big- time let’s say upgrades like and then at the end result is Mike Brown or Jason Kidd like I I have lots of questions at that point don’t care for that um by the way the other thing they have not done yet which you have to keep an eye on is just like you don’t want Josh Hart and Jordan Clarkson I think coming off I guess they are going to come off the same bench but like that unit as the spacing could get weird unless you trust Clarkson shooting so is Josh Hart aren’t going to be starting again next year Grant but like where’s Mitchell Robinson like because you don’t want Clarkson Robinson and Hart on the floor at the same time at least for too many minutes
no
our next team up you want to take us through the Dallas Mavericks
yeah ry Irving back three years 120 million uh he declined his player option uh lowered his 2526 cap number in the process uh that also allowed Dallas to open up the mini MLE which went to D’Angelo Russell two years 11.7 million um that was one of those deals that was out there like several days before it happened it was maybe I don’t know how you felt but that seemed to me like the the most locked in deal dallas obviously at least until Irving comes back is going to need an offensive leader a ball handler um I think Russell’s f that’s a I look anyone who’s listened to this for any length of time knows that I’m not a big deal fan but like this is a totally reasonable expenditure for him i think he will help Dallas offensively um that other than that fairly quiet around Dallas unless you want to talk about Cooper Flag who is not a free agent hardwood Knox from B Rich Hardwood Knox is the only place you’ll hear an Andrea Bonhoney name drop on the first night of free agency in 2025 yep that’s our brand i look I think it’s fine like if you were to get I mean for what they had available it also makes the Kyrie deal look better like kind of regardless of who they signed because okay four year three years 120 that lowered his cap number enough to open up
right
the not um the taxpayer mid-level because they were over the second apron after they won the draft lottery they weren’t planning on that salary slot I think weren’t they though Dan I mean our fan fans Nico Harrison said fans are finally starting to see the vision this was it what what a what a [ __ ] [ __ ] I don’t say that like I don’t I don’t say that lightly like are you kidding
the Mavs fans were supposed to see was your vision even you’re going to get lucky as [ __ ] in the draft lottery and
your timeline is that yeah that was the plan and like it just puts the onus on like yeah hopefully the fans can see the vision now like dude shut the [ __ ] up my god take the microphone take control of the reigns out man i didn’t want to go on a Nico Harrison rant right now i need to stop this
you I really I didn’t mean to trigger you but I but I am not sorry about it
this is just like the lack of self the whole oh I didn’t know that fans are going to be mad that we traded Luca dumbass like just man some people the lack of self-awareness of some people including myself sometimes but I’ I’ve never tried to put the onus on like yeah the thing that I’m not saying like you guys didn’t see the vision my vision was that we were going to win the draft lottery without even trying uh and by the way what did that do what did that do aside from give you more of an excuse to like not continue building around Anthony Davis and Kyrie Irving
right it’s a complicated vision it takes a while to understand it you I mean and so we haven’t really even fully real look it I wish I believed in myself like Nico Harrison believes in himself i I would get a lot more accomplished if that were true there is some times where like arrogance is aspirational and this for me is is honestly not one of those times because he’s he’s such like an unstoppable [ __ ] about it that and it’s unsufferable like just listening to him like spin this be it’s just so unsufferable a 1.8% visionary uh okay i’m sorry i didn’t mean to I don’t know why that triggered me it’s late where I live maybe that’s why uh our next team is the Minnesota Timberwolves i can guarantee you I meant to put them on sooner so apologize to Wolves i don’t know how they ended up this far down um they signed Nas Reed for 5 years 125 million i really want your thoughts on that Grant uh resigned Julius Randall for three years 100 million bucks he gets a player option on that third year then they had to sign and trade with Na four years $62 million to Atlanta they received a 27 second round pick and cash this is the big one they guaranteed Leonard Miller’s contract for next year i think this means that they’re probably going to trade Rudy Gobar and Anthony Edwards and continue to rebuild around Leonard Miller and they’re bringing back Joe Engles as just sort of like the you know the Yodonis Hasslam role except he’s only been in Minnesota for uh a little bit less but the I want to start with the not what do you make of that even the new cap like I just saw I saw five years and I it stopped me in my tracks it it was a it seemed like a lot was my very first thought both in years and dollars because like Reed I think maybe not to the same extent as some other guys felt like all right well the Wolves are going to need to beat the midlevel because certainly they’ll be mid-level offers for him if he like if he were to hit the market i didn’t think he’d have to go this high or this long in terms of years and I do think it raises the interesting hypothetical of like would you look I I think you can make the case that Reed I mean it’s been basically proven is the best backup big in the league um and I think you could make the case that there’s a world where like you maybe move forward without Rudy Gobear and your defense gets worse but he’s okay at center and and you have Randall back and you can you know Jade McDaniels can play some four but like a team that that also has Randall back and that can play McDaniels at the four and that continues to have Rudy Gobear do you give any pause and maybe think like wouldn’t it could you have just kept Alexander Walker and like for that for what he got and would that be preferable than having Nas at this number i mean I think it’s a fair question i I think I want to make clear I think Reed is a really really good offensive big and I and I think there are scenarios where he could start for them um I I just it’s a big number for a backup just maybe that’s the simplest way to put it i’m surprised that that Minnesota went this high for a guy whose utility is just kind of limited because of the guys they have on the roster at his pos you know around his position what did you think
i kind of fell in the same camp and it’s just I know you said that maybe there is a scenario where okay you move on from Rudy Go Bear he’s just your starter i just don’t know what the defense looks like
it’s worse that’s for sure and so they were in the 26th percentile last year of defensive efficiency when Randall and Reed play without Rudy Gobear the rim protection during those minutes was actually pretty good and so I’m wondering if this telegraphs two things that they believe that Nikil Alexander Walker given how yeah he’s improved as a shooter but that hasn’t translated into the past two postseasons for him at least not perfectly so they viewed him as just more expendable especially with Terrence Shannon and Jaylen Clark on the roster and then even Rob Dillingham too maybe that’s part of the calculus because I would say Shannon and Clark like they’re not going to be anywhere near the shooter or at least they’re not profiling as now that Nause has been but I’m wondering if it also kind of thinks that the Wolves believe that they could sustain better without Rudy Goar because if you put him into trade packages it probably gets pretty interesting i know he’s older but he’s still just you plop him on that roster and during those minutes that he’s on the floor you’re going to have like a top seven eight defense at minimum so that I feel like I’m reading it that way is that they decided Randall was the most like indispensable i know he got a shorter deal but like they don’t have a second option on this team other than him it’s just Anthony Edwards as Julius like Nas can’t really do that mike Conley like can’t even really drive the offense in that vein anymore maybe it’s Dillingham one day but it’s it’s not happening right now um do would you agree though like if you were to tar this when you’re looking at their three main free agents and we obviously know how this shook out like or is it like even throw Rudy Gobear into the equation then so if you were to rank those four players in terms of being indispensable to the Wolves it does feel like the Wolves decided Randall Nas Gobear and Nquille and that was their rankings like what would your rankings have been well I I don’t know what to do with I think it is clear that it that of the three it’s Rand Nas nas is gone randall got the highest annual value reed got the longest deal so that Randall one Nas 2 Alexander Walker 3 i I’m I think it’s interesting to frame it like you I guess we sort of have both kind of talked about this in in the context of like what this means for Gobear’s spot on the team i kind of think like in terms of like who this Wolves team is right now and this is a team that’s made the conference finals twice in a row go probably still is number one on that list I think but I but I but I also think what we’re kind of butdding up against is like the Nas deal suggests that the Wolves may not think that’s the permanent state of things uh or or that there’s another way but like I I like Gobear has his problems and they’re mostly on offense i think we’ve we’ve been pretty clear in in like hammering that home whenever we have the Gobear playoff discussion but at the moment he still matters a ton
let me point you to the evidence that he gets played off the court defensively where is it damn can’t find it [ __ ]
damn terrence man making 14 corner threes in one game and the narrative sticks forever
that’s on Rudy Gobear that’s
Yeah just got to get out there already um Yeah no I think the goar of it all is pretty interesting i I I guess I would say Reed at this number certainly makes it more likely that a Goar move uh is is a possibility that that’s maybe the conservative way to frame it what is Rudy Gobear making
i don’t know 30-ish i mean like who’s the player that you could get for that like I’m just cur I’m cur like the team that would also be interested i think it would be out I want to be clear but Minnesota’s kind of strapped for other assets but like what would make and maybe is there a way where okay maybe you’re bringing back a cheaper rim protector as part like honestly what about like I’m trying I’m trying to make the money work in my head like immediately and it’s not going to so this package is going to need to be fleshed out a little bit more but what about Rudy Gobear for Derek Lively and Klay Thompson i think I probably Oh man you’re I I I was gonna say I would do that if I’m Minnesota but that really puts a Derek Lively being what we thought he was going to be as a rookie like immediately you know like prime wise is doing a lot of heavy lifting there uh because Lively would have to come in and be your defensive anchor in the middle which like not out of the realm of possibility but that’s a little bit of a a reach what about Klay Thompson and PJ Washington for Rudy Gobear
no I don’t I don’t think that’s moving the needle enough especially I don’t know thompson is someone that you just might not be able to get on the floor for Minnesota in like big minutes
what about Rudy Gobear for Carl Anthony Towns now we’re talking you get Mitchell Robinson and Rudy out there good luck good luck offenses anything else on the Wolves before we move forward i feel like they’re not done i’m just because it doesn’t feel like their offense still kind of they’re they’re maintaining the status quo which I think is smart for the most part but I don’t where does their is it just unccork Dillingham more often i don’t know whether or are you banking on Dante Dvenenzo having more of an even campaign you can’t bank on Mike Conley being much better
no I think you’re banking on Dillingham’s rise at least like offsetting Conley’s further decline and maybe netting out as a positive overall at some point in this season and then yeah more consistency from Dvenenzo i I’m not sure what else I’d see them doing i mean it’s not they they’re not super flexible at this point
would they Rudy Gobear for like a lamelo ball construction the Wolves like Rudy Goar and Rob Dillingham for LaMelo Ball you’ve really become obsessed with getting Rudy Rudy Goar off of the Wolves why why
i just weird they have It’s a I don’t Well I mean let me talk about the support for RFK Jr really quick here uh do you have a few minutes we can move on from the Timberwolves uh cuz I’m trying to trade Rudy Gobear everywhere the Clippers uh I’m ready to say some pretty inflammatory things about them after you take us through what they’ve done so far grant
uh transaction number one resigned James Harden for two years and 81.5 million that second year’s a player option uh also signed Brook Lopez didn’t really have that on our bingo card i mean maybe disgusted in passing uh he’s going to back up Avita Zubat’s two years$18 million that’s part of the uh non-ax midlevel also brought Nick Batum back two years 11.7 million that is also a team option on the second year that’s after Batum opted out but that was a fat comp play that he was coming back um I’m going to guess you’re big on the Clippers off seasonason Dan big positive lots of thumbs up
this is just like it doesn’t s they still feel like they need another passer on this team but like Brook Lopez is just your backup center now that’s insane
pretty good
that’s insane like that you know in certain matchups it’s just like it doesn’t because if Zubos doesn’t get played off the floor defensively and now Brook Lopez you can’t play him off the floor offensively because of the stretch he provides they’re deep and it’s just like they’re the problem is is that they’re one like James Harden rolled ankle away I think from maybe being a lottery team you have enough depth especially on the defensive end where maybe you cobble together just sort of you know those like pre superstar Clipper that pre- superstar Clippers team where they were just scrappy as hell so that’s something they need to look at and we’ve seen a bunch of those names come off the board i will say if he could stomach playing with James Harden again like a CP3 like coming over here like kind of makes a lot of sense or like how badly does He’s not really a point guard though i say what is Trey Mann’s market at the moment malcolm Brogden though of the Clippers now feels like the biggest no-brainer that was my prediction was that he would finally end up on the Clippers uh just the Brooklyn hasn’t even cost you the entire MLE i know he’s old but damn no that that’s that’s one of the better value signings that that we’ve seen so far i I think like and really I I I know when we talked about like what would you like we agreed uh the Clippers among other things could use a backup big and I was like I kind of want like someone that’s going to give you a little different dimension from Zubots like maybe some stretch i was thinking of like the Boucher model but like to get Lopez who will provide that stretch but just like I don’t know i mean yeah Zubots is a better defensive center or was last year but Brook Lopez was one of the best defensive players in the league full stop for a really long time like so you’re giving zero back defensively with him especially against backups only and you’re getting that stretch like I I mean I’m I think you could really get up to some stuff with Harden Kawawaii Lopez like you’re spacing the floor norm Powell’s out there like I it’s a pretty they could have some pretty interesting looks here I think with Lopez and at that at that price point it’s just like clear I have to believe he picked the Clippers over teams offering more money somebody had to go full mid-level for him i’m I’d be stunned if that wasn’t true
i Glasgow cracked it
that’s it closer
closer to Disneyland that’s I mean
100% that’s
Robin Lopez did it for Orlando so easy peasy i feel like I like want this team to just go out and trade for Kobe White right now i would I I don’t know if I would pick them to win the title because OKC exists but I would certainly pick them to be in the Western Conference Finals if they went out like they are so well balanced and deep right now it just feels like they’re uh it doesn’t even need to be Kobe White but it just feels like if they sign Malcolm Brockton I I just might be like “Okay there’s a lot of guys with health issues here but you’re going to cobble together an eight to nine man rotation on any single given night.” Cole Anthony on the buyout market how about that that’d be fine
you think he’s a good enough passer
probably not
i was being This is a genuine question if you said yes I would trust you i was genuinely ask
No I don’t think that’s really what he’s what he’s out there to do so much um yeah great off seasonason for the Clippers just I what I can’t get over the value for Lopez
and they were a team like if Pelicans fans want to latch on to something uh Grant and I destroyed the Clippers last off season and uh that did not age like all that well but
I don’t remember any of that
yeah me neither good call uh our next team the Bucks are look they’re up to some shenanigans and I would like the league office to go and investigate them uh now they’re going to an awful lot of trouble to maybe keep like overpay Gary Tren Jr to Prince at some point but so they resigned Bobby Poris for three years and 44 million after he declined his player option i think that deal is largely fine especially if you lose Brook Lopez you need like the other big next to Giannis and as of right now like unless they’re really in love with Jericho Sims um you’re probably going to need uh like Giannis to play center resign Gary Trent Jr so here’s here’s where the shenanigans are coming in gary Trent Jr gets two years and 7.5 million with a player option on the second year tory and Prince got basically the same deal with a player option on the second year um they did resign Kevin Porter Jr two years uh and 11 million i didn’t put it up on screen because again this is just I’m frazzled at the like tonight you put bianual every everybody knows the bianual is 5.5 million right that’s But the problem is the math isn’t mathing on that because I think this is like reporting where it’s oh it’s $1 million and I’m pretty sure the bianual is less than that over two years but maybe maybe I’m wrong i’m wrong all the time what the Bucks are clearly doing here is they are signing Gary Trenton Jr and Torian Prince with the intention of you guys can opt out next year and we’ll have early bird rights at which point they can give them a lot more money and it’s like we saw the Clippers do this with Nick Batum but I don’t think they got like fined or anything like docked a pick but like this is so egregious you sold Giannis on a gap year like that’s been the messaging out there you did this with two players now you can’t tell me Gary Trent Jr didn’t have more money on the market and is he coming back like they said they’d play me a point guard because Damen Lillard’s injured this is I first of all I want to make clear good job Milwaukee this is smart this is super smart but I as a Tattletale as a resident Tattletail I’d like Adam Silver to investigate this immediately but I also question the Bucks’s logic to where okay like how much are you planning on paying like it’s a percentage of above the average annual salary but the average annual salary grant next season I think this would be like 15 million bucks
so it’s like I don’t need to see a Gary Trent Jr like fouryear $80 million deal on the I would just like to put on the record that the views expressed by my co-host uh alleging conspira conspiracy uh blatant flouting of the collective bargaining agreement are are his views um I believe the Milwaukee Bucks are acting on the up and up and that Gary Trent Jr who’s one of the better three-point shooters in the league in fact did not have offers out there of paying him more than like $3 what $7 million a year um this is all perfectly above board and I uh just really want to distance myself from this opinion as much as possible well uh yeah no this feels a little shenanigy uh I think you’re right it does happen before batum is the is the off-sided example um moving away from that how do you feel just about the idea of like So Giannis is gonna stay I guess uh because he hasn’t left yet and we’ve just got tumble weeds blowing around on the on on that front and the deal is we’re going to just bring back the roster that wasn’t good enough last year like actually and also lose Brook Lopez and also not have Damen Lillard at like h how are we how are we feeling about the logic overall of the Bucks relative to Giannis at this point Dan like cuz I I got I got some questions i don’t I honestly don’t understand how they’re pedalling this gap here i’m not even saying that they should trade him i’m of the mind that you don’t trade someone like Giannis especially when you don’t control your own draft until 2031 until he asks for it but I’m just curious as to what are the merits of this like what is it actually gaining you by the end is that okay we’ve now kept Gary Trent Jr and Tory Prince so we can overpay them next summer bobby Porter Jr.’s coming back we got out of the Brook Lopez business and you could say well he was aging the deal he signed wasn’t going to set you back like if he was willing to take the same money that wasn’t going to set you back but clearly he wanted to contend it seems like and the Bucks aren’t shaping they have Yiannis not shaping up to do that it feels like what the Bucks are saying here is this is maybe it’s a gap year of development and Ryan Rollins pops and Andre Jackson pops but it’s basically oh we’re going to go through this season at which point we will have the first round pick that we’re using next year plus 2031 and 2033 to trade on top of this massive expiring contract from Damen Lillard let’s go see who or what that could get us i guess that’s a fair gamble to take but I don’t like I don’t know this is just I’m excited to see point like is Jiannis gonna be point center at some at some point next year right
i mean other unless KPJ is going to play point guard for 40 minutes a night i mean yeah who else is going to do it
i don’t know i’m asking you tell me
i told you uh yeah I look I I I know I I I guess I agree that Giannis is of the caliber that you just don’t do anything until he asks you to in terms of trading him but like there must have been a conversation where the Bucks go to him and say like “Hey we’re not going to be any good are you like is this what you want cuz we need to pivot and do some other stuff and if if if we if we do this and by this I mean the transactions that are on the screen bringing back the same guys like we’re kind of gonna just be down a path that’s going to be like not just one year but this is going to be a while like we you’re going to have to re if you’re in you’re going to be in and waiting for a lot longer than you might be comfortable with and even then nothing’s guaranteed like I don’t know it’s almost like you’re you’re sort of asking him to ask you to be traded at some point as the Bucks and and maybe that’s just maybe it’s just better to have the superstar and be a one team guy and never leave but I don’t know man like it just at some point and we’re past it like the Bucks window closed like and if it reopens it’s going to be a while from now I guess but like if if they could get someone trading all that stuff next year wouldn’t that technically then make it all worth it because you bought yourself at least two more years with Giannis this coming season and then you have to give
you have to give them credit like their their vision is clearly working because I think Giannis’s loyalty like the emotional component I I truly believe that that’s played a bigger role than they’re telling like look how many assists you could average without Damian or something um or look at what Ryan Rollins could turn into but like with Gary Tren Jr and Tory Prince they’re probably selling them on the possibility of like like let’s I won’t even joke about it like yeah the possibility of them opting out and then they’re going to come back using early bird rights definitely on the table now but they could also say hey if we pivot in a different direction with Dame down you guys are going to have huge roles and you’re going to be able to inflate your market value to where you could then get your payday next summer when there will be more cap space floating around that’s probably most valuable when it comes to Gary Trent Jr specifically so you have to give them kudos at least for this i just don’t know
like I’m fine with everything they’ve done so far but it’s all right you lost Brooklyn like there needs to be another big here right were they one of the teams that contacted Al Horford
i mean I think they might league so I’m just They still have the mid level right like they could use the the full mid level
i don’t know we have to wait and see but I don’t honestly I don’t know how to feel with the Bucks because I agree with everything you said where the window feels closed but if they actually believe that because these teams have more information than we do there’ll be players that want to team up with Giannis but if if you’re so if you think that that package is going to actually get you someone but I think that leads you back into the what did we talk about with the Lakers you’re never going to have the best package for anybody even when you put everything on the table and if you’re selling the cap space dream that’s a 2027 thing that’s not a 2026 thing for the Bucks
i guess I guess I’d say and maybe we’re both kind of circling this idea like I don’t know that we agree that this is the best like overall path for the Bucks to be taking but given that this is the one that they’re they’ve chosen these moves are all like pretty good or very good in that context you know like we don’t agree with the vision uh not to get back to Nico uh but like for what it is this is about as well as you can execute it and and maybe that’s disappointing but but it is what it is
yeah you’re trying to make me emotional again have a temper tantrum by mentioning EO’s name
our next team up is the Sacramento Kings do you want to take Do you want to take us through their mystery box
they’re signing Dennis Shruder for I don’t know uh we don’t have any details on that uh I thought I had seen two years and at like mid-level money but I couldn’t find that report so
aggregators any anyone who writes for a website or their own blog I’d like you to aggregate what Grant just Grant Hughes reports
uhhuh that one time somewhere he saw or thought he saw but was probably wrong the the terms of the Dennis Shooter deal uh they also picked up the $2.3 million team option on Keon Ellis they picked up the $2 million team option on Isaac Jones jake Laravia gone in two years 12 million to the Lakers uh let’s Ke Keon Ellis we hadn’t really discussed this this was a situation where declining it and sending him into restricted free agency was on the table but they picked it up so he’ll be unrestricted following this season uh I believe uh I don’t think that was the right decision Dan um but it’s the Kings so so what are you going to do uh Shruder makes sense for them uh they especially if it is at the uh mid-level money I thought that I saw uh they do need a point guard uh I mean this is his uh 10th 10th team he’s really bounced around a lot the last couple years but uh I think he’s fine there i just you know pardon me for being a little uninspired overall by the Kings off season
can’t they they can still extend Keon Ellis though
maybe yeah maybe they can i was I was I was uh maybe unfairly framing it as just restricted versus unrestricted that feels safer because he now he can just bet on himself you’ve given him the option of you don’t like of relinquishing team control so I I get where you’re coming from but it does feel I do feel like what this means is that they were planning on being a little bit more aggressive in making up so Dennis Shruder but it’s like okay what else is happening here they’ve been linked to this makes no sense to me Jonath Jonathan Kaminga team can you rationalize that to me at all
oh absolutely he plays for the Warriors uh the Kings are still very into those those ties i mean that’s just that’s just how it’s
Oh is Mike Brown coming back or is it like they they give him a good reference for the Knicks job
yeah no I I I I I don’t know what the Kings are doing i don’t They like Again I don’t have an issue with Shruder at this number it’s a position of need for them but it’s it’s just not going to it’s not going to inspire anything great do you have anything else on the Kings i’m not sure i really do uh what do you view as their actual biggest need if if like uh if
two-way players uh they don’t they don’t have a whole lot of those i mean
did they did the Lakers offer Jake Laavia just enough uh to like that the Kings couldn’t resign Jakeia because of the team option
well they declined the team option so they were limited to I think
5.1 5.2 million so yeah the Lakers gave him justice that
Honestly I fave that that’s the type of shenanigans that I’m here for i like it very petty i enjoy it
i We have not heard
Oh sorry go ahead
no I was just Go ahead i was just going to say some Loravia things
uh well say more Lorrabia things talk Loravia to me
i I I think Loravia like I don’t know that it’s a shame that I mean it wasn’t the Kings problem right because it was the Grizzlies ultimately or initially that declined that that fourth year option right and that just kind of followed him to to the Kings do I have that right so like it’s too bad that he kind of looked pretty good and you could really see him being a rotation guy there but sorry just that actually does suck
yeah there’s a ceiling on what they could offer him i’m sure they would have been happy to pay more if they could um I haven’t asked you about this yet and it hasn’t I assumed he was going to maybe get one but perhaps not the Keegan Murray extension he’s extension eligible what do you see like his value coming in at and I think a lot of the like infl the like comparison points have been Jade McDaniels Trey Murphy which probably feels fair i think he probably gets so I’ll throw I’ll throw an over under here 25 and a half million per year on average in an extension would you take the over or the under on that and I’ll note that Jaden and Trey Murphy both got less I believe yeah but I and the Murphy deal we thought was pretty fantastic and the and the well we’ve the Jaden Mcde deal McDaniel deal was long enough ago that maybe some of the numbers are different i I think I would go over um but I would say it is concerning that like just because of the construction of the team you’ve never really had Murray in a position where he could prove that he was willing to be a higher volume offensive guy because I I suspect that’s not quite in him but he’s just the way the Kings have put teams together you’ve never really known for sure if maybe there’s more there on offense than you and it’s just a situational thing and that’s why he hasn’t been you know I don’t know getting up more shots I guess just to really simplify it but I think that’s a fair you know 25ish is is more than fair for a guy who improved a ton defensively has you know what he set the rookie record for threes he’s kind of had like some ups and downs and back and forths with his offense and defense but that’s that’s right in the fair range i go a little over I think what about you you set the number what do you think
i think I would go over too i know there’s been a lot of concerns about his offense but I just think that the ground around him has shifted so much over the past couple years
it’s really hard to judge anybody especially like a I mean he is kind of a he’s a he’s a high-end role guy it’s hard to judge those types of players in like funky offense only you know teams uh so yeah I go over as well but I think the Kings like they need some type of consolidation tra like they need a they need a second best player or a third best because like Lavine’s really good um but man I don’t know this is such a weird situation for the Kings because like Dennis Shruder is your point guard like there’s Malik Monk Devin Carter Lavine D rozan can all do stuff they gota that’s too many guards that’s just too like who do you trust among those guys to play the wing probably Devin Carter the most just because of what he does defensively
yeah I mean just the offense the overindexing on offense is and is just been a problem there for a while bj imagine being a point guard after drafting four in the first round the last eight years damn
imagine Kaminga with Lavine De Rozan and Sabonis for Mike Asco one of those guys would have like Oh no no they can’t it’s a base year compensation how How the hell does that even work man if if the Warriors end up with Demar D Rozan is the only one who might fit into like a a prospective trade with the Warriors would that would that get you giddy or would you just prefer Josh Giddy
i would I would pass on both i would just rather like Kaminga walk i don’t want Demar Rosen on the Warriors you kidding me no way
next team up i think we’re we’re getting close to like the lightning round here okay
i have
I’ve got words to say and I should like tweet this out and promote it so that anyone who’s actually mad at me can come in and defend their case but if you’re a Pelicans fan and you want to justify your case in the comments after the fact I will read them and if you’re not a a tool or rude I will respond to them this is not Look Cavan Looney two years and 16 million fine
tread tread carefully tread carefully you’re talking about a legend yeah when’s the statue going to be outside Chase Center or we’ll be at Oracle um
here’s my thing this is just This is another Oh all right so we’re not going to have any floor spacing in the front court alongside a team that has Zion Williamson and Derek Queen and we’re determined to have as many like undersized centers I guess as possible at this point size doesn’t matter i get that this is just an extension of here’s here’s the tweet that got me in trouble i thought it was clear that it was a joke but someone told me uh well I didn’t respond to it was like they told me to go guzzle gas or something like that i said Joe Dum Mars and Troy Weaver are running the Pelicans like their NBA league office plants trying to ruin the franchise so they get extricated to another market this is like this is one of the all-time dumb off seasonasons I’ve ever seen i don’t care what Derek Queen turns into and they did decline team options by the way on Alfred Payton that’s honestly that’s what I’m mad about how do you decline Alfred Pton’s team option they also decline the Brandon Boston uh team option grant what is have you tried to stop and first of all I feel bad for Cavon Looney for maybe being into like the Bulls and the Kings exist and I’m like not entirely unsure that this isn’t the worstrun organization at the moment like I I don’t understand what the Pelicans vision is like you can’t We just went through the teams in the Western Conference like if you were prepared to This is Pelicans fans can talk themselves into they’re going to be a top six team um next year if Zion Williamson plays in 82 games there is still a pretty good chance that that doesn’t happen
like that is on the table dejante Murray’s recovering from Achilles injury when he’s gonna come back i’ve seen people talking about how like Jordan P being there to sort of like mentor I think Brandon Boston Jr was one of them and like now he’s just off the team as of now what is have you I’ve actually sat there I’ve read comments most of them have been negative towards what you and I said when we did the Pelicans offseason look ahead there’s either they’re just insults there’s never an actual case made other than you don’t know ball or look at how many points Jordan P just averaged or we have Zion or Joe Dumar is determined to make us better yeah I want Jordan P mentoring Jeremiah fears i want them to have the same exact shot selection i don’t Robert says if Zion plays in 82 games I’ll eat Joe Dumar’s that’s just unhinged enough and I knew that would get you um look I’m going to jump in i will not say I can’t talk
i will good i’ll take over it’s a team effort i will not say a bad word about Kavon Looney i’m ecstatic that he got two years and $16 million uh he is a legend he is a champion three times over he is a good locker room influence i don’t think he would have had more than minimum offers from any other team in the league it like may you never know uh that this signing stacked on top of the draft night trade that I I think I’m comfortable saying was as universally panned as any trade I can remember in the last like I don’t you have to go back it it feel the social media environment was a little different at at this point but like the Kings attaching a first to dump a bunch of salary so they could get Rajan Ron Ondo and somebody else like that’s what you’re comparing this to um and I think the downside of of this draft night trade which exposes the possibility of losing a high lottery pick who knows how high it might be uh removing the incentive to tank for a team that fell apart because of injuries and like maybe normally you would say well that’s just luck this team has Zion Williamson and is built around him so you don’t get to say it’s luck it’s the pattern now the downside of giving up that pick is difficult to overstate so maybe if that hadn’t happened I would be just more amendable to like yeah you know what you’re paying a premium for a for a guy with championship experience to come into a locker room that maybe needs some adults got it uh that okay slightly maybe defensible we I I we don’t know if the second year is non-g guaranteed or something like that uh even if it were I still think you could have gotten Looney for less the sum of it all is like if you are a Pelicans fan and can defend all of this I would love to hear like the rational justification i’m just saying what you’re saying because like like Joe Dumar is not someone that was has been regarded as a good NBA team builder like since he had something to do with the Pistons 20 plus years ago and really ever since then has kind of been cited as a guy that like doesn’t know how to do this job so good and now you’re seeing this with the Pelicans it just feels like outdated thinking like like sort of a failure to value draft assets the failure to to see the risks or or like maybe not see them like I’m sure if you trade a a firstrounder with the upside of the one the Pelicans did that 26 selection to Atlanta you’re aware of what could happen it’s just like you’re miscalculating the likelihood of it it’s highly likely that that pick is valuable and and so I just I I’m I’m just backing you up i don’t read comments and no one has come at me from Pelicans and if they do I probably won’t see it so
they have you just don’t You just haven’t read the comments on YouTube
i don’t know and I don’t care uh they were on us for knocking them for what was their like lucky three-point defense two years ago or something how’s that working out meanwhile I’ve smashed the Pelicans over the past like half decade and they’ve just disappointed me every single year so you know what no the Pelicans are operating like a dumb team if they’re not a dumb team they’re doing a good impression of one maybe that’s the
And you know what the way that the search for Joe Dumar’s unfolded isn’t even about Joe Dumar’s himself like that proved it then was just that was an unserious search willie Green and Zion were seemingly attached to whoever needed to be hired that’s that’s a terrible process this and you could say that I’m not saying David Griffin did a fantastic job here either i don’t think he did but like man this is if I’m a Pelicans fan I’m not rooting by the my joke if people thought I was serious I don’t want to see any market lose their team i want New Orleans to stay in New I want the Pelicans to stay in New Orleans the fans deserve it but like they also deserve a team that’s run properly and that’s just we’re not what we’re seeing here and there’s I don’t even know like what would be the scenario to wrap up here where you look back and say like how would we be wrong about criticizing this trade
the trade and then this is it’s not about Cavon Looney
derek Queen wins rookie of the year
does that make us wrong though like you couldn’t have figured out another way to get
No I mean we’d be the result would make it seem like we were wrong yeah we that would make us wrong because we’re like it’s it’s not worth it to give up this pick if Derek Queen wins rookie of the year and I guess also what would have to happen is the Pelicans are good enough and the Bucks which they don’t have any control over are good enough to to make that pick not worth very much but even then like the risk calculus as it exists today is just like screaming don’t do this deal i honestly I don’t Derek Queen could win rookie of the year that’s great if he does it as the Pelicans the 14 seed in the West
right
cool um final actually final question how many teams are you prepared to guarantee in the West that the Pelicans will be better than next season
uh Utah is one right
well no i mean yeah that that’s the only one i I don’t even know if Yeah I guess I would You’d have to You’d have to say the Jazz will be worse after that there’s nobody I would say is guaranteed to be worse stop it the pick a future mom the pick they gave up is going to be 14th okay congrats to the Pelicans on giving up a lottery pick that you didn’t have to give up like is that like if you believe Darren Queen’s going to be a superstar that would end up being worth it in the end you can’t tell me and like the some of the justifications I used were oh the Pells apparently called teams like 9 through 12 and offered them the whatever it was like the same deal and couldn’t Okay like so you couldn’t get so you settled for a later one like I I find it very hard to believe that you couldn’t have done something else other than giving up an unprotected draft pick to move up 10 spots that is malpractice you don’t get to say otherwise
the Pelicans won 21 games like that pick 14 yeah it could be 14 it could be one like I
Is there an analog like I didn’t we didn’t know about this to begin with but like when’s the last time a team won under 25 games and then proceeded to trade an unprotected first round pick like for the following season
that’s that’s that’s a that’s a research
that’s got to be like some Isaiah Thomas Nicks level [ __ ] i’m sure that at some point right yeah yeah
oh man uh look if we’re wrong we’ll end up being wrong but I am we’re not trying we’re not piggybacking off what everybody else said either i think everyone else is saying similar things because it’s that obviously egregious that’s where that’s where I’m at um thoughts on comment the Bulls they haven’t done the Josh Giddy deal has not been announced yet Grant um do you want to take us through what they have done though
trey Jones three years 24 million uh also we mentioned Lonzo Ball uh out for Isaac Aoro coming in um roughly equal money as we said earlier uh Lonzo had a team option on the second year of his $20 million deal coro’s got two at 22 left um yeah the Giddy deal not being done little surprising but then it does just seem like extensions are lagging behind signings at this point um what do you think of Trey Jones at three for 24 i think like I think that’s a perfectly reasonable deal for a team that you know he’s not going to start he doesn’t have to they’ve got a fair amount of guard depth especially assuming Giddy is back and you still got Kobe uh Kobe White uh and Iodumu there like I I think that’s reasonable money for Trey Jones um not not a lot going on here though until the Giddy deal comes that’ll really be the one that I think we like if you’re forming your Bulls offseason grade whatever Giddy gets is going to be the bulk of that i think between the Giddy deal and how do they handle their expiring contracts with IO and VU and Kobe like if they start moving those guys it would signal all right they’re playing a longer game here um but if the Giddy deal is like massive so let’s let’s think Trey Jones that number is fine he was really good for them last year he was hitting shots like he he did great and with Lonzo not there anymore having him and certainly if you think okay maybe IO gets traded he’s been linked to a ton of trade rumors the giddy deal are you gonna go I’m gonna say 22 and a half million a year are you going over or under and in terms of what I think it will be or what I would do myself what you think it will be i know what you would do did you you didn’t happen to listen to the podcast I did with Mort on this did you
uhuh i’m sure Mort’s about as low on the Bulls as anybody
he like wasn’t willing to I don’t want to misquote him so but he wasn’t willing to like even give Josh Giddy like the non- taxpayer mid-level exceptions
like no qualifying offer just walk i I mean I would I in terms of uh preserving the asset I would I would go a little higher than that um I think he’s getting more than that you know the number from what like months ago was 30 a year i I please Bulls don’t do that i don’t think you have to and he’s I don’t think he’s worth that um but if it’s 22 I’m go I think he’s going to get more than that like I’d be shocked if it were if if they could get him at 22 a year starting salary i mean even even I might say that’s that’s actually okay
i don’t want to make you go down a vortex but Mort asked me this
what is the scenario like how do you build properly build a team around Josh Giddy or is the problem sort of in the question that you shouldn’t be asking yourself how do we build the right team around Josh Giddy that uh yeah I I don’t and I think like there are certain player types uh I sorry I I use Sabonis as as an example of this godamn it
that they’re so productive that you just it seems like you just got to pay them like they’re stars but the the problems they present in team building are such that if you’re paying them like a star you really can’t build that good of a sustainable winner and I think Giddy falls into that category just at a different position where he has to have the ball i I know the three-point percentage has gone up i just think the maximal value of Giddy is he has to have the ball and I think that limits how good your offense can be and then defensively he sort of doesn’t have a position and he’s a size that you normally have a good defensive player at and so you’re doing all these acrobatics to sort of figure out how to cobble together a defense too so the problem is in asking the question I think I think you don’t build around Josh Giddy if you get Giddy as an additive piece that’s fine and you pay him like that great but he isn’t someone that you pay like a star and then make decisions around him as he is now maybe maybe he’ll get so much better offensively that the conversation changes i’m just saying that right now today I don’t think it’s it’s plausible to build a winner around him i just don’t I don’t even know like how he squares away as a complimentary piece either because what would be the type of star that you would I guess if your best player is a big man who doesn’t want the like Anthony Davis or is that not like am I I mean I just don’t I don’t know that he’s like a starter i I think I think like he could be a really interesting second unit leader where you can get away with like having to just have imperfect lineups but yeah the the lineup problems and the roster construction problems are so significant with him that I like I’m just not I I don’t know maybe I haven’t given it enough thought like how what do you need around him to make it work because like I just I sort of cut the conversation off and say like I just you why why would you even try to do that it doesn’t make any sense
this is a good question who should get more Josh Giddy or Jonathan Kaminga
both RFAS yeah it’s they’re probably going to be really close I would think um I still I still think a caveat i’m never rational about Kaminga and I change my opinion every 30 seconds um I think Kaminga has the higher upside um I think Giddy has been more like conventionally boxy productive than Kaminga may ever be uh but but yeah I don’t know i think it shakes out probably pretty similar like in the low 20s at the moment um but you have to acknowledge that just athletically and positionally Kaminga like the realized version of Kaminga does fit on good teams it’s just that he’s never shown that he can you know be that guy yet robert I’m laughing at your comment but I can’t in good conscience post it on screen uh future mo what if Giddy the Giddy trade with Chicago’s Paul George for Shay i I will eat Joe Dumar’s what if indeed i guess we’ll have to see if if the if he leads the Bulls to a title in like what four years then we’ll know
uh we do do regrades every offer so we do and we do we were wrong and we’re sorry at the end of every season so that would we be issuing some apologies would be my guess that’s that’s what would happen
did you we I haven’t talked to you about this what did you think of what they did with Lonzo for Aoro how did you feel about that uh I I mean I I we talked about the Cav side of it and I was very pro uh getting Lonzo and moving Aoro out i from the Bulls side of it is kind of I don’t know the stakes are so much lower that I don’t have nearly as strong a feelings about it i guess you could say that Okoro for this team might actually provide more value because he maybe will be healthier and will give you you know some I mean he’s not he’s probably not I guess in some ways he’s a better defender i don’t know i don’t have real strong feelings about it i guess just from a durability standpoint maybe Aoro you could argue has more value than Lonzo does for Chicago but like I don’t know you they they I’m not I’m not seeing like a huge needle mover there do you What are your thoughts i can’t It’s hard to imagine having strong thoughts on this one from the Bulls side i understand it from like kind of the defensive perspective and he did there was once upon a time where he had some more on ball reps in Cleveland and like he showed some feel as a secondary playm like kind of the Josh Green type of playmaking where if he’s on the move um can do some
speaking my language
yeah so like it’s it’s not on the level of Alex Caruso for Josh Giddy but it feels like I don’t know you got the worst player on a more expensive contract so you like Isaac Aoro really needs to pop um and you also just you winnowed down your collection of two-way players on a roster that doesn’t have many of those to begin with and I don’t know if the I don’t I honestly don’t know what the thought like I would have wanted as much bankable floor spacing around Josh Giddy if you’re going to pay him as and certainly Modest Boozelis and Noah Senue like so I found it curious i don’t think it’s malpractice or anything but they must see something in Isaac Aoro that I don’t or maybe they are gearing up for oh if we think we’re going to trade IO we need someone who we think can play like 30 minutes of just really like gritty point of attack defense in the back court and that’s where they’re coming at and like we know Lonzo can’t play 30 minutes a game right anymore right
our next team we’re entering the Lightning round before the super lightning round uh the OKC Thunder grant they resigned Jaylen Williams big Jaylen Williams for three years 23.9 million they resigned AJ Mitchell for three years and 9 million not 29 million as I put up on screen they had a decline the Thunder declined team options on both of those dudes to make this happen they also traded Dylan Jones in a second round pick to the Wizards uh who we had an extensive video on the other day we won’t be talking about them much tonight but Wizards we talk about just being opportunistic taking flyers they continue to do that any thoughts here on OKC they were in a bit of a roster spot shuffle which is why they to make room for uh inbound first rounder was a Thomas Sorber you kind of had to get rid of Dylan Jones uh but this is just like these deals just might turn into a freaking steal for
OKC i mean the Mitchell one is so cheap that uh it just it makes sense i mean he was before he got hurt he was actually like there was some real like weird backup playmaker possibilities there maybe he maybe he reprees that and and if that if he can kind of do anything at at that salary rate like that’s a huge win and Williams like again uh you know I think a lot of what if there’s going to be a domino that falls in OKC as extensions come in it seems like it might be Hartinstein and and they’ll be able to get out of the last year that deal so obviously a lot of the Sorber pick was kind of viewed through that lens and then also maybe Jaylen Williams He was like much younger than I thought i think he’s 23 i don’t know why i just assumed he was older than that but uh maybe he’s someone that continues to improve as a shooter just keeps taking charges and is a like a legit first big off the bench for a version of the Thunder a couple years from now at that pay grade like that’s a huge value so yeah go i mean surprise surprise the Thunder just kind of continue to to make smart moves on the margins they I saw people trolling like why is it not a big deal when the Thunder give up like a second round pick to wipe off a contract and then who just why and then why is it a big deal that the man what was the trade that I saw the reaction to and it was just like I mean it was Dylan Jones versus like someone who might have actually had I can’t remember it but yeah this seems mostly shrewd like okay the Thunder have picks to spare so getting off a first round pick one year later to create like roster spot it’s a little weird but whatever but I I would echo what you said and as they if they have to make tough like you mentioned Hartinstein maybe with AJ Mitchell specifically like if you ever have to make a tough decision on Kasein Wallace or Alex Caruso just depending on what their price points land at
he’s just insurance for that and he’s by the way he was before his injury he was in the rotation and I know the Thunder were banged up at that point but he was a rookie
not an undrafted rookie exc or was he a second round pick he was undrafted right
I think so
um regardless he’s in the rotation of what ended up being the NBA champion that is absurd and I would expect I’m wondering if the Thunder will look at maybe getting shooters like adding in another but the bar is so high to crack the rotation it’s just sort of like can you actually do that i think the the last piece of business that they’ll probably do is both Jaylen uh Jub and Chad Homegrren are getting their max right
yeah 34th pick uh in his draft so
that how did I not remember that undrafted early when you said undrafted I was like that feels exactly right i’m gonna say
it was funny because I scouted him for something that I did last year so I should have known that it was number 34 but uh whatever we move on so we’re gonna have to spend roughly like 120 minutes or so on this team do you want to take us through what the Golden State Warriors have done
uh let’s see nothing to see here picked up Santos’s team option 2.2 million there cavon Looney gone salute you champion uh Jonathan Kaminga question mark and then the most important uh of all things Quinton Post got his team option picked up $2 million uh just I mean he’d be a bargain at a hundred times the price uh so yeah I I don’t know i mean like
is he starting next season well maybe yeah I bet he does i’ll bet they go into the season well they’ll say it’s a competition like Trace Jackson Davis will have a shot at it al Horford will have a shot at it when they sign him and then Post will also have a shot at it i think if you’re really going to have Draymond and Jimmy Butler on the floor together like you better start Post
and maybe Kaminga
and maybe Kaminga just to get spacing um even if even if it’s Pajki half the time who goes through stretches where he can’t make a shot um you’re going to need more shooting more spacing uh I think I think Post is going to be the guy um you’re going to have to deal with all the shortcomings i do think I made the point last season that I do think there’s a good possibility that he’s someone that improves his defense to the point where it’s at least like a net neutral i don’t know that he’s ever going to be a good defender uh but I I do have some faith that he can be like an adequate guy out there to the point where you at least are able to keep the shooting on the floor um but yeah I really Kaminga is who we got to talk about um I just like there’s no offers uh the Nets don’t have any money anymore and it’s seeming more and more likely that he’s going to come back and then probably get traded at the deadline when the base year compensation stuff is off the table that’s my That’s my forecast where are you on it
i think I’m with you i think maybe there’s like an outside chance he just signs his QO and tries to go into unrestricted free agency which would be quite the bet on a team that’s not built to give him like the role that he wants and so he would really have to embrace the role that they want him to play and I haven’t asked you this about him so it’s two questions i I want to know what’s the number like you’re the war where the number gets queasy and you’re like you’re almost hoping that he signs the qualifying offer or you’re or you’re really squeezing him like what is the like what’s the most you’re willing to pay him as a warrior is in terms of preserving the asset
yeah not not from a like oh he’s going to be on the team at this number like so I think I think he would be very easily tradable if you hold on to him and move him at the deadline uh when you can go more dollar for dollar and not this like 50% BYC stuff um I think he’s pretty movable at 25 or under a year or maybe just say starting at 25 uh if you get up into the 30s then I I really I just don’t I don’t know that he’s going to play enough or show enough in whatever new role he might be in for that half a season to generate like real value and then that’s without even getting into the length of the deal i don’t even know what kind of what length of deal he would want right like maybe he’d like to just get back on the market quickly uh two plus one
yeah something shorter like that you know we always default to like the four fouryear deal or you know some of these guys are getting five on the higher end but but yeah I I don’t know if you want to if you go above 25 I don’t know that he’s necessarily a safe bet to be tradable for positive value bj says in the chat Qo makes him easy to trade in December it does but his bird rights don’t transfer and he has veto power over any move and so I don’t know what a team would give up to get him
at that point um my final question here would be do you think for the role that the Warriors would if they if you let the Warriors map out the role that they wanted him to play do you think he’s capable of I don’t want to say it’s scaling down but fitting into that like if he really like from what you’ve seen is this really a preference thing on his part or you just think that he’s not wired or not capable of being that guy i think uh that’s a it’s that’s a well phrased i I think physically he is capable at least on defense and as a rebounder of being exactly what they want him to be um I I’m less certain that as an offensive player he’s outfitted with the skills to be a quick read and react like you know point whatever the Spurs thing was 0.5 or whatever decision maker i I just think some guys can do that and some guys can’t i don’t I’ I’ve never really seen him consistently be the type of offensive player that makes the correct quick pass dribble shoot decision and I don’t know if that’s in there um the bigger issue though and and you did delineate like is it a capability or a preference thing is his preference is just not to be the guy the Warriors want him to be at all he wants to be he said I mean he said it Anthony Slater had the reporting on it like he wants to be an all-star he wants to be a first option scorer he wants the ball in his hands he wants to create shots get to the foul line i think that’s awesome that he want that you got to believe in yourself right like that’s that’s you should be that confident
can I quote Grant Hughes to Grant i tried to remember what I said but I couldn’t
if you don’t believe in you who will
right if you don’t believe in you who will like you should be irrational about how good you are i think to a point um what I just He’s never shown the ability to drive good offense and maybe that’s not a fair thing to say because of the situation he’s been in but I I just think the the the the major issue I’ve said it a hundred times with the Warriors and Kaminga is that he thinks he’s a different player than they think he is and I just don’t know if that’s ever going to square i Glasco asked “What are your actual thoughts on Al Horford for the Warriors?”
I I think he’d be a phen a great fit uh obviously like he’s just he’s he would give you spacing he’d give you defense uh he’d be another smart addition a good passer he would thrive in in the kind of offense they want to play uh yeah Robert Kamigas is like DeAndre Aton in that way yeah just the processing speed’s not there maybe and also the sort of semi-inflated uh view of your skills and place on a team um yeah no Horford Horford would make a ton of sense for the Warriors don’t don’t you agree like just then you’re not really relying on Post and Trace Jackson Davis to to be your starter i think the big problem there is that the Warriors aren’t the Knicks so right sorry I forgot about that
is this gonna break up the podcast where
it might just we fight over Al Horford in his age 57 season
and then he just he signs with Milwaukee or some
he’s dead to both of us
yeah then we have a common enemy so it’s it’s make or break season we are on to the Sixers um they signed Trendan Waffer for two years $5.3 million that’ll make Mort happy and I actually think Tren Offer is like sort of a graband go like undersized like big point guard typey i like him
um Kelly Jr picked up his player option of 8.4 million eric Gordon declined his player option which makes me think that they’re just going to pick him back up on the minimum so it can offset with the way that the league reimbures you and they declined the option on Lonnie Walker i think none of this stuff is surprising the Sixers don’t have a ton of flexibility the big thing that we would talk about quickly is the Quentyn Grimes stuff what do you think is a reasonable number where does this end up at the Nets are the only team now that can really throw anything at him unless it’s a signin trade just what do you think happens and where do you view him just when you look at Jared McCain and now you have VJ Edgecomb and Tyrese Maxi where does he rank on the scale of priorities for those guards and I know that VJ Edgecom could be more of a wing but just you know
Yeah no I I I kind of view that as a bit of a log jam especially if you think McCain can sustain and improve on what he did as a short rookie season uh with the Nets kind of looking less like a threat I’m lowballing um because one you’ve got the positional glut you just can’t overinvest in Grimes and two Grimes has been this guy for two months uh and you just I’m a little hesitant to go nuts on a $25 million a year thing uh based on that sample size uh so I think I think if you if you’re the Sixers I’m starting negotiations at like 15 a year and just be like well it’s going to beat the mid-level so uh you know this is still probably the best you’re going to do and if you want to just play on the qualifying offer good luck to you and then maybe you find out whether he’s worth kind of bending over backwards to try to keep some other way uh you probably are kind of just giving up on a long-term relationship if if you do go the qualifying offer route but I I think the way that this offseason is shaken out so far with the lack of suitors and and the Nets looking less threatening I don’t I’m not starting in the 20s on him maybe just he’s worth that but I’m not not starting there this feels kind of like a situation where he’ll get slightly more than the mid level because it’s like okay this was what the market could give you so it’s 14.1 to start we’ll give you 15 and the raises go up from there like doesn’t it kind of feel like that’s how this all ends which by the way is fair because I don’t know how he fits in to the larger context of like it was cool that he had all that shot creation stuff but will he play with the same mojo when the ball is not in his hands as often
and from an opportunity standpoint like he’s just not going to have that those kinds of touches if unless the Sixers fall apart physically again so it’s so not even it’s not even a question so much of could he do it again it’s like will he even be allowed to which probably not and then so what does his value look like if it’s four years and 64 million I would say that’s eminently tradable but it’s like what is his actual value and so it’s and they don’t know enough because they haven’t seen it it’s not to say it can’t be like great but they just haven’t seen it enough
our next team Grant which I believe is our like final real team uh you want to take us through the Orlando Magic really quick
yeah they signed Tyus Jones one year 7 million that’s part a portion of the mid-level exception uh declined Moagner’s 11 million team option i’m sure he’ll be back on a different number just because the I mean one he was super good offensively before he got hurt and two his last name uh they declined a $2.2 million team option on Caleb Houston um Tyus Jones quickly so I I think when we were like sketching out who the Magic need we were always kind of like oh dynamic playmaker and shot creator and Jones was always like an okay fit but now that Desmond Bane is there you can deal with a game manager right like which is what Jones is i think I think I’m fine with it especially at that number uh even if like Jones isn’t the the real like exciting I don’t know like score scoring spacing threat that like I don’t know we kept using Anthony Simons as that guy right i mean he’s not like he this might allow him to blend what he did in Phoenix which he didn’t like he was in the corner a lot versus like they will give him on ball touches but he’s also not a great defender so will Jamal Mosley ever play him is the question
i just I did not see him getting less guaranteed money per year than Trey Jones i guess Trey Jones was negotiating with the Bulls but I like the fit here it’s a game manager for Orlando and just like in the minutes whether it’s with Paulo and Fron or without like this is just they’re not Orlando we talked about maybe they could get a lot better on offense this year when they sign like now they’re set up with Desmond Bane tied like you can get like and I wonder how much Desmond Bane Tai Jones’s former teammate played a role in getting him to Orlando so yeah
I like this i think it’s fine for the Magic and it’s I look I I said this to Mort they have to be considered the third best team in the East right now right right they might be considered the second i think Cleveland would be favored and then maybe it’s like New York Orlando kind of in that mix who would we be we like Atlanta at this point for sure i like Miami is not going to be in that maybe if the Sixers are healthy but that’s a big if
yeah I think Cleveland’s the only lock it in ahead of them at this point um and and like pretty comfortably but but after that yeah they got as good a shot as anybody i’d probably put the Knicks in that same in that same area like but like who I mean Orlando won sighting put you over the top on New York is
well I just I mean Orlando won 10 fewer games than the Knicks last year and they had their two best players out for like a huge chunk of the season so the gap even based on last year isn’t as wide as it might seem
i actually lied and we have this team the Spurs i found it fascinating so Luke Cornett got four years
and $41 million the final year is a team option so like you know all right that was how do you feel you have WBY that you could play them together I guess at point like L Cornet gives you in theory could give you some stretch you have the cornet contest like do you think the Spurs are built to I think Boston allowed him to do a lot of things defensively that would cover up for his weaknesses do you think the Spurs are built in a similar fashion i think I think he’s a he’s an okay fit there it’s a little more than I thought Cornet would get but given like the Spurs just had nobody uh at center be like whether behind Wimmenyama or like next to him so he’s a pretty significant upgrade there um I I it’s it’s a little more like I mean yeah the the the the team option on the on the final year is maybe if it’s like if it’s effectively three for 30 like maybe that has a little less sticker shock but even this four for 41 that’s totally fine fine by me i think it’s fine i mean they’re in a position where it works i was just the number caught me off guard a little bit there uh do you think they’ll play him and WBY together probably not right because they just don’t have like enough backup big man types on the roster in general well yeah more so for that reason than than like a fit issue because I think you can sort of play any actual center with Wimyama if you want to if he’s going to shoot 10 threes a game this year why not
now my big question is how do you like how will Brad Stevens reacquire Luke Cornet in the middle of the season uh let’s see they’ll Derek White back to back to San Antonio that’ll be the trade so I’m going to just read to you the other teams that we didn’t go through what they did it’s going to be 10 sec like less than 30 seconds on each team um just to see like if there’s any storylines to keep track of basically so the Boston Celtics they signed Luca Garcer so they found their big man replacement they picked up the team option on JD Davidson i think the story line kind of here is are they done with their cost cutting and no justification needed does this make it more likely they bring Horford back now that they lost i think everyone thought “Oh Cornett’s going to end up being the cheaper one so he’ll be back.” And now it’s like “Well Cornette got like more money than Brook Lopez.” Yeah wow that’s now that’s the way to frame it uh I just I don’t understand why Horford would come back other than if it’s like a lifestyle kind of you know he wants to be in Boston because he’s gonna I think he’s going to get full mid-level offers um and I don’t think Boston should be in the business of doing anything close to that as my I send everything on my desk flying the Pacers picked up the team option on Tony Bradley miles is Miles Turner gone Grant is that what’s happening
i’m just I’m just looking at your keyboard i can’t concentrate right now yeah my clearly Tony Bradley is going to be the center of the future for the next championship iteration of of the of the Pacers not like Turner’s he’ll be back like I don’t I don’t know why he hasn’t signed yet but like there I don’t think there’s any realistic scenario where Turner gets away do you no I don’t and then if it is it’s going to be a sign and trade at this point too i do wonder do you think that they’re going to enter the season in the tax or that they’ll cut salary before i think they’ll cut salary before unfortunately uh the Hallebertton injury I think gives them cover to do that even though they said they would pay it
um the Miami Heat they did resign DaVon Mitchell on a two-year deal i think it was 24 million uh that’s fine duncan Robinson is a free agent so he declined his early termination option had he picked it up he would have been guaranteed almost 10 this just feels like it’ll end with him signing for multiple years that like maybe two years and 20 so it’s like he’s locking in slightly more guaranteed money than he had for year one and then you get money in year two and maybe it’s not guaranteed i honestly I thought that was that was an interesting um decision by him
yeah I hadn’t thought about the obvious possibility he’ll just be back i was like “Oh there’s a shooter on the market.” Like maybe maybe he fills the Beasley void and everybody throws money at him um yeah I I think that’s that’s a fair assumption now to be back in Miami with more guaranteed money what’s wrong with that
so Phoenix we know about the they acquired Mark Williams they guaranteed the salary of Nick Richards they also drafted Malawatch so they got some centers there um they traded Misich as part of that deal for uh as part of that deal for Mark Williams cody Martin was officially waved by Phoenix uh go pick him up knicks Celtics every single team in the NBA he’s a fit everywhere and as you pointed out they agreed to a one-year $2 million deal with Nigel Hayes Davis gotta get our Euro League champion and Turkish Cup MVP guys some shout outs
uh the Sun the Blazers we we probably could have talked about this more at length but the they waved DeAndre they finalized a buyout with DeAndre Aton we know they traded for Drew Holiday we talked about that at length more so that’s why we didn’t go through it what did you make of that he reduced his salary by 10 million which made me think that okay he’s getting like most of the non- taxpayer mid level somewhere else uh I think that my takeaway is that really big expiring salaries may not be what they used to be uh because what was he about 35 a year and then coming off the books you would think there in in years past there would have been a market for that guy um maybe it was to take on longer term money that might not be so hot but you would have you know it just I I as we’re trying to figure out what this new CBA is going to uh inflate the value of and diminish the value of it kind of feels like maybe expiring salaries are not uh quite so great
yeah uh how’ they get Turkish Tatum from BJ talking about Phoenix good for them so will he be Turkish positive Tatum or negative Tatum how does that how does that work
tbd so yeah I would echo everything you kind of said there and especially the Colin Ston deals and what I look at where it’s like all right they had to get off like give up it’s just bizarre some weird stuff uh the Toronto Raptors grant you know what they’ve done absolutely nothing they did get rid of Messiah Jiri though your thoughts on that
uh well he’ll be running the Knicks pretty soon so we’ll talk about it then no I don’t know i mean it seemed like that was souring didn’t it in hindsight like there was some question about I mean he was be he was making a ton by all accounts and like he’s presided over this team that has kind of been like treading water for a little bit too long so I I get it i’m not surprised and he’s like he’s a big personality too like he was kind of bombastic in some of his comments about the team’s ambitions and then didn’t deliver so that’s that’s always going to maybe you know rub ownership the wrong way
yeah this just felt I don’t know the press conf press press conference vibe based off the quotes I saw from it just made me feel like they don’t really have a plan like this felt like more of a power comp like Tory issue than it was anything else yeah so I don’t favor it finally the Washington Wizards they waved Anthony Gil they acquired Dylan Jones from the Thunder uh we just did so Iglasco says Messiah drafted one more wing who can’t shoot um before he left though i like that that’s the optics made it the timing was weird because the optics made it look like they were so unhappy with the draft and they fired him which is clearly this is stuff that builds up
did he like sneak the pick in to everyone’s surprise like I no takebacks see you uh just we recorded something recently at length with the Wizards i’d encourage you to go check it out on our YouTube channel or podcast feed we like the direction that they’re headed in um I think that they have enough expiring contracts though where it’s like we haven’t heard from them yet during free agency
but we will hear from them at some point
feels like a threat is that a threat
that’s Look it’s uh 1:15 a.m my time are you ready to take us out of here sir after two hours and 17 plus minutes of free agency talk pretty good for us on a day one of free agency i don’t know what our average is but this feels like it’s under it um thanks everybody that that checked in for commenting for watching uh if you’re listening to this on your podcast player of choice rate review subscribe do all the things give us a thumbs up on YouTube leave us some comments there um tell your friends tell your enemies join our Discord a lot of Discord members in the chat nice to see everybody in a in a different uh parasocial setting I guess i don’t know we’re friends here too uh shouts Franklin Lino apologies Jared Allen

Dan and Grant react to Day 1 of what Shams Charania said was going to be the “most craziest summer” ever. Did the start of NBA free agency live up to the hype? Let’s find out!

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CHAPTERS⬇️
0:00 – INTRO
1:08 – Denver Nuggets (Cam Johnson trade)
7:43 – Brooklyn Nets (Michael Porter Jr. trade)
13:49 – Houston Rockets (Dorian Finney-Smith!)
21:49 – Los Angeles Lakers (LeBron James wants out?)
29:53 – Atlanta Hawks (CONTENDERS?!)
35:14 – Detroit Pistons (Caris LeVert + Malik Beasley)
39:51 – Memphis Grizzlies (Proving everyone wrong?)
47:06 – Cleveland Cavaliers (East favorites?)
52:12 – Charlotte Hornets (Robbing Utah???)
53:43 – Utah Jazz (What’s going on in Utah?)
59:03 – New York Knicks (Jordan Clarkson Era!)
1:05:04 – Dallas Mavericks (D-Lo Time!)
1:08:06 – Minnesota Timberwolves (Treading Water is Pricey)
1:16:43 – Los Angeles Clippers (They Are Terrifying)
1:20:05 – Milwaukee Bucks (Shenanigans!)
1:28:33 – Sacramento Kings (Uhhhh, Now What?)
1:36:20 – New Orleans Pelicans (😔)
1:46:11 – Chicago Bulls (Josh Giddey, Where Art Thou?)
1:54:30 – Oklahoma City Thunder (They Can’t Keep Getting Away With This!)
1:57:59 – Golden State Warriors (Quinten Post!)
2:04:58 – Philadelphia 76ers (Hurry Up, Quentin Grimes!)
2:07:57 – Orlando Magic (Tyus Jones SZN)
2:10:08 – San Antonio Spurs (Luke Kornet????)
2:12:02 – Celtics, Pacers, Heat, Suns, Blazers, Raptors, Wizards

#nba #nbafreeagency #nbatrades

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