Grading EVERY NBA Team’s Offseason (so far)
What’s popping y’all? Welcome back to another episode of Tee It Up. I’m your host Pierre PBD Plug Andre. We are back from our last episode which was an incredible draft special with League him aka Jacob Meyer. Shout out to my guy. I love the response that we got on that episode and I love the the support y’all giving uh Jacob and League him since then. He texts me personally saying, “Man, the audience that you guys have is so supportive. They’re showing me so much love.” And for me, that’s always like um I don’t know. It It makes me feel good knowing that our community is such a open, supportive, loving uh community of people that just love basketball. So, I thank y’all for hosting him and showing love to all of our guests and welcoming them all with open arms. It’s uh something that you know can never go too unnoticed and I don’t ever want to take for granted or or not communicate that with y’all. But we are starting today. We got producer Christian on board. We have an incredible free agency episode or offseason episode to get into. I don’t want to take up too much time with the intro, but I have been under the weather since we returned from Bristol. Part of that is just I think the traveling the the weather. when we went out there it was like 97 96 degrees and out here in Chicago it’s been crazy. So I think just the environments of going outside in heat and then you know going from 95 97 degrees to going into your house or going into your car to 72 that back and forth it really took a toll on my body and so I got sick and then when I was sick I had like a stomach bug stomach flu type thing so I couldn’t eat that well and the first few days I felt better. I went overboard of my eating cuz I was starving. And I’m like, “Oh my gosh, I got to eat something.” So then I tried to eat too big, too fast, too soon, and I kind of remes myself up. So, um, I’m back feeling well, though. I’mma take I’mma take as many days as I need to ease back in so that don’t happen again. But, um, shout out to Christian for holding me down cuz, uh, yeah, we we we on a bounce back. We ain’t 100% yet, but we we about 92, 93. Christian, what’s good, man? I ain’t seen you in a while.
Good to see you. Happy to happy to be here. Easing your way back in. Appreciate you stepping up. I know. I know it’s been tough, but we’re going to go through alphabetical order. The Atlanta Hawks are a team that a lot of people are talking about right now. Their odds have shot up in the Eastern Conference. So on draft night, they they trade down, get Aanu at at 23, pick up the unprotected first next year. Um, sign Nikil Alexander Walker, sign Luke Canard, and trade for Porzingis. And then out the doors, Capella, LeVert, Larry Nance, George Nang, Terrence Man. How are we feeling about what Atlanta’s done
when all of the injuries started to happen, right? You got the Tatum situation and then we knew what Boston was going to do heading into the offseason. Kind of taking a step back, then you got the Hallebertton injury and it was all this talk about teams going forward. Like I think they’ve done the best job of displaying going forward. And I’ve been high on the Hawks the last few years. It’s been a little bit underwhelming for a lot of different reasons, but there’s still something there that has attracted me to this situation. So, to see them kind of push their chips into the middle of the table, and it’s we it’s a weird situation because they’re doing it, but they’re doing it in an attractive way. Like, some teams are just going to do whatever to try to get names or just just literally throw anything at the wall. I really feel like they’re putting together a really good team that even if there wasn’t this Tatum injury or Hallebertton injury, this would still be a team that I’m like, “Wow, don’t don’t sleep on the Hawks.” So, I think they’re having one of the best off seasonasons. Um, an incredible team to start this uh episode with because they’ve hit on everything. I think they maneuver the draft as well as anybody, trading back and still getting a guy that they were mocked to get at 13 and Ace Newell. Um, and then again, like you mentioned, getting that that trade with the Pelicans and getting an unprotected pick between the Bucks and the Pelicans, the whichever is more favorable, that’s going to be another asset for them next year. Um, when you talk about moves and trades and everything like that. So you look at their lineup, it’s going to probably be something of what, like Trey Young, Tyson Daniels, Zachary Richard, Jaylen Johnson, double O, and now that bench is Nikquille Alexander Walker, Chris Stabs Porzingis, um Luke Canard, who’s a sharpshooter, Kobe Buffkin, who I’m still interested in, and then you have the Ace News of the world. So I really love what the Hawks are doing. I don’t think enough credit has gone to them for also maneuvering the Terrence man contract that I wasn’t a fan of them receiving when they did. But the Chris Wizing trade is interesting. So Christian, when this trade first happened, I was fully healthy. I wasn’t sick or anything and I was streaming and talking about it and there was a lot of people that was kind of like h like I don’t know about this one. And I was surprised because it’s like you traded nothing to get him and you got rid of the Terrence man contract. And I think if you’re going to take a swing on a player like Porzingis, these are the times you do it. Last year of your deal, so it’s a contract year for him, he has to play his best basketball to get some type of lucrative deal. And you you you don’t really need him to like play 82 games. You already have a starting center. So it isn’t like they’re relying on Porzingis to come in and be this starter who’s going to play 70 games and be one of the top players on the team. No, their understanding of what Chris Porzingis is. His injury history is obvious. I hate when people mention it like it’s some surprising thing that somebody forgot. Chris Rosing is a guy at this point who’s probably going to play 45 to 57 games a year and that’s just what it is. Um, but I think you take that if you’re the Hawks considering the price it took to acquire him. So, I think the Hawks are going to be good and I think um I’m going to have Trey Young as my darkhor MVP going into next season. If I was giving the letter gray to the Hawks, they would be an A. Boom.
Next up, a related team obviously with the Celtics making that trade with Atlanta. So, not only is Porzingis out, Holidays out and um Luke Cornet bolts to the Spurs.
Uh you bring in Anthony Simons, couple cheap deals, Josh Mina, Luka Garza, and then uh George Niang, who Boston fans hate by the way for like grabbing I think Jaylen Brownley. So, we’ll be will be interesting to see if he stays. Then in the draft get Hugo Gonzalez 28th from Spain, Amari Williams 46, and Max Schulga 57.
Loved some of the draft picks that they had. I think Hugo Gonzalez is an intriguing wing. Um I don’t think you have to rush this process. Probably stays another year um overseas as well. Um I like Williams from Kentucky. He was very intriguing to me. I’m surprised that other teams didn’t take a little swing on him. And then Schuga is a an experienced guard who played really well last year. Um, I think a lot of our viewers should know him because we talked about the bracket and whatnot and I think his name was one that came up. So, love love what they did considering who they are in the draft. Now, the second apron thing is interesting because I was I was under the assumption that they were going to make moves but try to keep their team kind of pieced together in some sort of like way and that just wasn’t it. They like legitimately traded their guys for any and every anybody that had an expiring deal. They didn’t care about what that player was going to look like next to Tatum or Brown. It was like, we want expiring deals and we want to make sure we have cap flexibility so when Jason Tatum is healthy, we can remmane and restructure this team and fill the holes that we need, which is interesting. I’m not saying it’s right or wrong. I don’t expect George Niang to be a part of this team’s future. Even if he has to play this year, who cares? Like Celtic fans hate him. It’s a business. It that’s just what it is. He’s an expiring deal. The Brad Stevens doesn’t look at him and says, “Oh my gosh, like we we we love him. He’s going to be a part of this.” He’s expiring. That’s That’s just what it is. Um I think the main thing for me is to see what they do with Anthony Simons. They got in Anthony Simons and now it’s being rumored that they’re going to try to flip him and trade him again. I was actually intrigued with seeing Anthony Simons on the Celtics just because he shoots a bunch of threes. Um, and I also want to say like I think it’s time to see Anthony Simons play legitimate like highle basketball. Just as a fan of the NBA, we’ve seen flashes and different things from him and it’s always kind of been on an underwhelming Portland team. So, I was kind of excited to see him there. But, uh, yeah, I don’t I don’t know because Tatum isn’t here. It don’t it don’t really matter. I do think losing Cornet was big for them. I do believe that. And um if they lose Al Horford, that’ll be another big thing. So, we’ll see. I think the one thing about them compared to a lot of the other teams, they won’t have Jason Tatum anyway. So, they kind of this is a nothing year. And they may be tanking for one of these guys in this upcoming draft. So, you know, shout out to the the Celtics, but it’s hard to judge or grade the off season knowing that they’re not going to really look into next year. This is what I will say. Will Derek White or Jaylen Brown survive? Because when I look around the NBA, a lot of teams are legitimately like doing whatever. And as much as you love Jaylen Brown and Dererick White, I would not be surprised, even if it’s past the offseason, it could go into next year at the deadline if somebody is like, you know what, we’re better than we thought. or like the Spurs, let’s just say the Spurs are like, you know what, we are a lot better than what we are and they put together this package for Jaylen Brown. Like like that’s what I’m interested in. Is this core of Brown, Tatum, and White going to stay together? And I that’s yet to be known or seen, but I can’t wait to see the answer. If I was given a grade to the Celtics, they would be a B minus. And the reason they would be a B minus is because I don’t like the things they got back. But again, I don’t think these trades were about getting anything back other than expiring contracts. So, on that front, it evens itself out and they get a B minus. We have some breaking news on the pod that the Knicks just hired Mike Brown. Yeah. Um,
do you want to save these thoughts for when we do the Knicks or do you want to have it we could do like an emergency?
Yeah, we could we could just talk about it. Congrats to Mike Brown. Um, this is one of those things that I think for me at least over the last few days has kind of felt like it was going to happen. Um, interested to see what he’s able to do with the offense. I think we have a talented team. Um, I wanted to get somebody that has some sort of experience and I’m just glad to have this over. Um, so yeah, shout out to Mike Brown. I think I think he might be a guy that is able to do some things, man. I think he’s a I think he has some some um interesting philosophies offensively that we was able to see with the Sacramento Kings. And I think if you’re going to unlock this Knicks team, it’s it’s using that. And they they went through the hiring process very detailed. I believe he had two interviews, so he must have really laid out and displayed some things that made the Knicks brass ultimately decide with him. So, I’m confident in their decision- making. Um I love some of the offseason moves that we did, which I will save for when we get to the Knicks. But as a Nick fan, I’m happy with this move. Um, I’m glad it’s finally over and now we can move on and pivot and think about what we’re going to do next year. Staying in New York, Brooklyn Nets, five first round picks definitely got some flak for it. They get Diego Demon eighth, Nolan Triori 19th, Drake Powell 22nd, Ben Sif 26th, Danny Wolf 27th. Um, obviously the big one is trading for Michael Porter Jr. getting that 2032 unprotected from Denver. Uh they got the Terrence man contract as I mentioned earlier and then they brought back uh Daron Sharp and Zyr Williams. Then the the other thing is Cam Thomas. I’m a little confused by the situation, but I think he’s a restricted free agent still, so he could be getting a payday, right?
Yes. Um if you’ve noticed, not too many restricted free agents have gotten anything. I think the only person is Santio Dama. him and the Grizzies quickly worked out whatever they were going to do and it’s done. But Josh Giddy is still out there. Quinton Grimes is still out there. Thomas is still out there. Kaminga is still out there. So what what I’m thinking using just what I know is these teams and these GMs are letting these other teams work and use their money. Because now once these teams use their money, they can’t they can’t create a market for their players. So restricted free agent is playing against the market. If I’m the Bulls and I want Josh Giddy and there’s another team like Brooklyn that has a bunch of cap space. I don’t want Brooklyn to entertain my guy because now if Brooklyn gives him a $30 million offer sheet, I have to match it to retain him. So now if I wait a couple days and I let all of these teams use all of their money, like for instance, it came out and said Quinton Grimes wanted 25 million a year and for a second it was like man a team like Brooklyn could take that swing and take that chance. But now after the Michael Porter Jr. trade, Brooklyn is kind of out of it. They can’t entertain that idea. So now it puts a lot of these teams in position to not really have anybody to battle with for their guys. Now that’s one part of it. If a guy really does feel like he wants 29 or 30, he can always threaten to take a qualifying offer, bet on himself for the year and go into free agency next year as an unrestricted free agent. That’s a very big bet and it’s sometimes risk. Not sometimes, a lot of the times it’s risky and your management and agency isn’t really going to suggest that you do that. So, that’s the thing that I’m thinking of with the restricted free agents like Cam Thomas. If you’re the Nets, you don’t know what you really want to pay for them. You kind of let the dust settle. you let free agency go by and then you’ll be able to say, “Okay, let’s come to a deal. There’s no there’s no other place that’s out there. Nobody offered you anything.” A lot of teams do that. They they tell you we’ll pay you that if the market tells us you’re worth that. Don’t tell me I got to give you 27 million a year and there’s no other team giving you that. That doesn’t make sense. So, um I am interested to see what Cam Thomas is going to get. When I said he was going to make a hund00 million, I was expecting like 25 over four. Um Brian Winhorse told me personally, that was his reaction. So, um I that made me change like, “Oh, damn. Okay, maybe he’s not.” So, is he going to get 80 over four 20 million a year for four year? Like, I I have no idea. Um Brooklyn though, I said it before, I’ll say it again. The five picks, I I just don’t believe in that. Even when I do 2K rebuilds, I never bring on five rookies. That’s just number one, a lot of roster spots that you’re committing to. Number two, it’s just no way you’re going to develop all of that talent. And um I don’t know, man. I don’t know. Joerger Demon, I like him. I’m glad that he had a team that was willing to bet on him. And this is again to me a blank canvas. I do think Michael Porter Jr. to fit next to Jerger. Well, not I don’t want to say like Jerger Demon as LeBron, but I think I I kind of like the idea of having a point guard like Jerger Demon and having shooting like Mh Michael Porter Jr. Whatot, having an athletic center like uh Nick Claxton. I just don’t I just felt like there were some better options with some of those later picks in the 20s or whatnot. I think Danny Wolf can materialize into something. And um the guy that I I I wish they could have kept was Trenon Waford. I’m a big Trenton Waford fan. I think he went to a better situation personally. But yeah, I I I’m going to give them a D+. I I like coming into the off season, there was a lot of hype and a lot of avenues for them to kind of put together a I don’t want to say significantly, but a much better team and roster. And it don’t feel like that. It don’t feel like that at all. Uh, I guess you get the 2032 pick which could have some value, but yeah. I I mean, what is their starting line gonna be? Joerger Dem, Cam Thomas, Michael Porter Jr., uh, Nick Claxton. I mean, is Noah Clowny going to start? I don’t know. I don’t know. I’m not really sure what they’re going to look like. And I don’t, correct me if I’m wrong, Christian, they don’t own a 2026 pick. They got their own pick, but nobody nobody else’s.
They have They own their 2026 pick.
Yeah, they own their own pick.
Okay.
Okay. Okay. Okay. So, I guess may was that the trade with the Rockets where they got back their future?
The swap is 2027. So, Houston has the right to swap it 2027 first for Brooklyn’s 2027 first.
Boom. So, yeah, they they do have their own first round pick. They got it back in a trade with Houston with their 2020. Okay. Okay. Okay. Okay. So that makes sense.
If Houston’s if Houston’s one of the best teams in the league in 2027 and Brooklyn’s still ass, then they lose that pick. So that pick is a swap.
So point is if Brooklyn’s not going to be good next year, but can they be a little bit better the year after that? But like I don’t know if they’re tracking for that. So because of the trade with Houston to get 2026 back, maybe that’s why they didn’t do a bunch of stuff this year because next year’s draft is going to be good. Even if you don’t get the first pick, I mean to leave with Peterson or Boozer or, you know, AJ, you know, we talked about MueL Brown with Jeremy before this the show started. There’s going to be some things out there. So that’s why that makes a lot of sense. So because of that, give him give him a C+. I still feel like there was some things to do, but you know, Jordy Fernandez coached so well last year that they was probably like, man, we got to we got to get him some straight ass. like we got to give him some youth and some maybe not so good players because if we give him anything to work with, he’ll overplay and we’ll have a little bit too much success when we want to damn sure guarantee ourselves a top four pick. So maybe that’s the thought process behind it. But um yeah, I I mean I just felt like overall they could have played the off season a little better for future picks. I hate that so much of the value went into 2025. To not be able to move up. If they did all of that with those five picks and moved up from eight to five and got Ace Bailey or something like that, that was rumored would be totally understandable. if they only took three of those guys and use some of those other picks for a future pick down the line or something, but to bring on the five. Ah, maybe they’ll maybe they’ll be the first team to be be able to have successful um five first round picks. We’ll see. But I’ll give them a C plus.
Next up, Charlotte. Uh resigned Trey Man the three-year deal. Pat Coneton joins in a trade. I don’t know if he’ll he’ll stick around. Colin Ston comes in from Utah and then they bring back Plumbley who changes teams every year. Of course, Charlotte’s one of the teams he’s already been on. Love what they did in the draft. Getting Canipple fourth, McNeely 29th. Seion James 33rd and Cal Brener 34th.
I don’t know. Feels like something is changing out there in Charlotte. Man, I’ll give this I’ll give this a A minus. I really will. First thing I’m going to start with is the draft. Um, I think not only did they bring in really good basketball players, I felt like they brought in players that have been a lot different than the type of players they brought in over the last x amount of years. And it’s nothing against the players that they brought in previously. I just think that in order to have a real good complete team, you kind of have to change your philosophy once you start to bring in high level talent. So when you get the LaMelos and you get the Brandon Millers, you got to start being able to identify the Ka Nipples and the Ryan Calprinters, you know what I mean? To make an overall well-rounded team, you got to be able to have complimentary players. And so I was happy to see them do that for every single pick. They brought in guys that I think are going to be really good as far as skill, and I think they’re going to complement the guys that they’re quoteunquote building around. And I think that’s a great step in the in the uh in the right direction. And then Colin Sex, I thought the Colin Sex move was really really really good. Um can you go and bring down the details to that? Cuz all in my mind they gave up Yousef Nerkage who they did not want and was it a second round pick or something? Was it
Yep. 203 second in Nerkage.
Great trade for them. I think Colin Ston um it’s an as a
Oh, I lied. No, the Hornets got the pick with Sexon. They got the Jazz 2032. They just got nerfed.
Oh, so even better. That was a phenomenal trade for them. And again, for the people at home, I am not a person that’s like Twitter people. Like I don’t judge everything as far as championship. I think the the basis for the Hornets in this step in their rebuild is to just play a certain brand of basketball and be respected and not be a team that you can go in and just beat them. And this team is prepared to have Brandon Miller and LaMelo. This team seems like it’s built to also maybe be prepared to not have LaMelo for some games because that used to be the excuse. Hey man, LaMelo got hurt. Okay, well now what are you gonna do? Because LaMelo has shown us that he’s going to have some injury history. He’s kind of injuryprone. And so now it’s like Colin Stson is no LaMelo, but I think he can still hold down that starting guard spot while LaMelo misses 10 to 11 games if need be. I think you brought back Trey Mann on a really really team friendly deal because he got hurt last year as well. And so yeah, I think that this is a team that’s going to take a step up and as far as their culture, I think they’re going to really have a really solid team. Um, and if you have Brandon Miller and LaMelo on the floor for x amount of games, this is a team that can that can have a better year versus the last couple of years. So I like I like what they’ve been doing. The only thing I didn’t like, but I understand it is the Mark Williams trade. The relationship was torn. Once he got traded and that trade fell through, Mark Williams never wanted to return to the Hornets. Never wanted to return to the Hornets. He’s also getting to the point where you would have to extend him and figure out his value and everything like that. So, they had to move. But, um, this team is this team is set up to be better. So, shout out to the the Charlotte Hornets, man. I’ll give them I know I said A minus. I’m I’m going to change it to a B+. I’m gonna change it to a B+.
Moving on to the Chicago Bulls, Trey Jones returns on a three-year deal. Uh trade Lonzo straight up for Isaac Okuro. And then in the draft, uh grabbed Noah Sang at 12. And then Lachlan Olrich 55th, who played one year at UC Riverside like three years ago and then came from Australia. I had no clue who he
I just seen some highlights, but I have no clue either.
What do we think about the Bulls?
Dminus. Um, you get some love for Noah S. Lonzo Ball trade was absolutely trash. Um, in my opinion, no offense to Isaac Aoro. I’m just thinking about the team and what the team needs and what the team has. I don’t see the value of Isaac Aoro on this particular team. Um, and you allow so many moves to to happen. So, if you are or were going to trade Kobe White, like where too? And I’m not saying it’s impossible now, but I just feel like when you had so many teams in such a frenzy right after the the NBA finals during the draft, right at the start of free agency, the Bulls just kind of sat around with their high value guys. Um I I just don’t I don’t know what they’re doing. I really don’t know what they’re doing. And it’s even a Dminus because this is also a year in an offseason where they’re extending their decision makers. So, they’re not going to be a terrible team long as they retain Josh Giddy, as long as they have, you know, Modis Buselis. I think Noah Sing is going to be really uh solid his rookie year. Um I But you have like IO, Vousvich, Kobe. I I just like I just don’t know what they’re doing, man. I have no idea. I have no idea what they’re doing. They feel like a team that should be in a lot of these moves, but they’re not. And then I I also, you know, I’m around Bulls fans because I’m in Chicago and whatnot. And Bulls fans have a right like when you see certain teams get involved on certain things, it’s like why don’t we do that? When you see a team that’s like, hey, we’ll go in there and we’ll help out this trade so we can get like a extra pick. The Bulls are never in that. The Bulls, even in their trade, you gave up Lonzo and there was no picks in that. Just kind of like the Caruso trade all over again. And it’s just I I don’t know. It makes me scratch my head. They’re they’re a mess in these times and I can only imagine the people who supports them. They’re just it’s it’s really it’s really kind of mindblowing because the Chicago Bulls I think um shouldn’t be where they are. I think the Bulls could be in a a much better place. It just feels like legitimately their their decision makers are holding them back. And then they’ll do a press conference and they’ll pretend that they had the exact off seasonason that they wanted and this is all a part of the plan to do something big and they’re just going to come out and be a mediocre team. It is very surreal and crazy to live in the city that has the team that is like the bare minimum boys. Like let’s just do the bare minimum. can’t I can’t like I can’t wrap my head around some of the the decisions that they make. Mostly the grade that they got is for getting Noah Si and that’s me believing that he is, you know, going to materialize into a really good player. But boy, that Lonzo ball trade was god awful. It was god awful. And again, once you see one or two moves made, it just blows my mind that they weren’t involved in other things. Once the Magic got Desmond Bane, I would have been like, “Yo, Kobe White is fully available.” No disrespect to Kobe White, but you’re just looking at the logistics of your team and how it’s being set up. I would have instantly been like, “Hey, we’re taking calls on Kobe White instantly.” But then Kobe White goes um Michael Porter Jr. has been traded. You got um the Porzingis Drew Holiday, Anthony Simons has been tra like there’s so many things I I would have just been like, “Yo, these guys are available. Yo, hey, the Magic made a move. Y’all sure y’all don’t want to make a move? Like the East is going to be why?” I would have been picking up my phone just like really getting to it. And it doesn’t feel like the Bulls did that at all. It does not feel like they did that at all. It feels like they are unaware of anything that’s going on around the league. and they mismanage their assets. This has been a conversation with them and you know it’s you I don’t think we’re ever going to see the Bulls be a team like what we saw with the Desmond Bane trade. A lot of people was like yo like man they got that for Desmond Bane or the Nets got that for Male Bridges. The Bulls would never do that because they’re always going to be too late. It’s always it’s never going to be like damn the Bulls got four first round picks for Kobe White and it ain’t because a guy is necessarily worth that but it’s just like if you use the right time and right opportunity and call and contact the right desperate team there is no market and the Bulls have some of that talent but you know they’ll mismanage it. So I give the Bulls a D minus man. Seriously, when you said you don’t know what they’re doing, I don’t think they know what they’re doing. Like truly, like I don’t think there’s any team where there’s less clear of like a a direction. Like every there’s there’s your teams in the middle that are deciding whether to gamble or not or to wait it out. You’ve got your teams that are clearly rebuilding. You got your teams clearly competing. And then there’s just the the Bulls. And like even if Bzelis was a great pick and Asen could end up being a great pick, like there’s still just a lack of direction. I think the teams around the league are like like when you talk about why they’re not involved in stuff like even if they really wanted a sen you got to take that call about Derek Queen you know if the Pelicans are like do you not know that the Pelicans are trying to move up to get Derek Queen but everyone else does like do they not want to call you like there’s also like you also gave OKC the perfect role player to go win a championship and they didn’t get a first round pick out of it when they had unlimited of them and like what does that say to the league like of the way you’re moving and like you know how team either teams thinking you’re suckers or just being mad and not wanting to trade with you because you did that like they’re so frustrating. I I think Trey Jones is a good player but it’s like and that’s a nice deal but like
that can’t be the headline of your Yeah. When I get to Chicago sometimes that can’t be like the backstory like Bulls secure Trey Jones. Like are are you tanking or not? Like are you tanking or not? If you’re going to tank, like do it better. And and yeah, it’s nice that you got giddy from Cruso and he put and he was super productive, but like like you said, you missed the Magic got Tyus Jones and drafted Jace and got like you missed the window for for Kobe moving. Like I I don’t know what they’re doing. I don’t know what you’re going to get for Vu, but probably not a first. Like they’re it’s just a mess. And I just think Bulls fans deserve a little bit of a direction because you’re floating in like kind of half rebuild, which is like just an awful place to be,
dog. The Lakers have allowed everybody everybody to sign the Senters and I still haven’t heard Vousvich to the Lakers. That’s still not a report. like all of the like the the the Hornets had no center to the point where they were like Mason Plley slide back and you didn’t hear man Bulls I reach it like and again maybe they did maybe I I don’t I can’t say I don’t know but it’s just odd to me because you see how other organizations move. It’s like sharks and you smell blood in the water and you go and you attack. You attack. And so I don’t Yeah, I’m I’m with you. I I hate seeing what the Bulls are doing because it’s just it’s just stupid. And the other part about it is these guys are getting extended. That’s another But that’s why I told you that I told you a few episodes ago fandom can be a a scam because I think Bull fans should do something to let it be known that this is some [ __ ] We’re not saying you got to win a championship every year, but to not have a direction and then to also double down on the things because the Bulls and AK, they’ll do this [ __ ] and they again, they’ll have those press conferences trying to tell the fans like, man, this is what we wanted. It’s exactly what we plan to do. Trust us, everything is where we want it to be. We feel so so great about the offseason we just had. It went perfect. This that you we we planned all of that to happen that way. They’ll go and they’ll do that at the start of the year. And it’s like at some point that’s when I say fans have to start stepping up and just being like, “Man, that’s some [ __ ] We’re going to make you feel it. We ain’t buying no jerseys this year. Y’all [ __ ] ain’t got nobody that we should be buying jerseys of. So, we ain’t doing it. We ain’t buying. Y’all wanted to.” And then the Bulls do [ __ ] like they put the Bulls behind a payw wall when this when this is the team that you have out there. No, you do that when you have a playoff team, [ __ ] When it’s when it’s worth watching. So now a person like me that lives in Chicago. I I didn’t even go get that antenna. Neither did Derek. And he’s an actual Bulls fan because it’s like the Bulls ain’t on [ __ ] The Bulls are not worth going extra to go go watch them on TV. The the hell. It’s no way I’m supporting that. Ain’t no way. There’s no way I’m supporting the Bulls of making a move like that when that’s the product they put out there. But um so yeah, give give me a D minus and that’s that’s because I think Noah Si can materialize into a good player and you know even that with their history is a long shot. They’re not good at developing. So I don’t even know why I’m kind of giving them that or why we are all like man Noah Asa they don’t develop [ __ ] So as much as you like Noah Asen you’re betting on the Bulls to handle his development. I thought Patrick Williams was an incredible prospect um coming into the draft. I was not against Patrick Williams being a top five pick, but he went to the Bulls. And one final thought on management and ownership and fandom. Guess who led the league with 825,000 fans in their door this year? And I understand the United Center is the biggest, but like
and I was there. I was at some of those games. I didn’t pay my money, but I was there. I was there and it was packed. It was packed. So,
they don’t deserve any more of our attention. Moving on to Cleveland, who, as we mentioned, did the did the Lonzo Isaac Coro swap, Ty Jerome’s out the door. Um, brought in uh Larry Nance, and then Sam Merrill gets the four-year deal. And then in the draft, they had uh couple second round picks, Tyresese Proctor at 49. And then this guy, I don’t know who he is, Salu Niang went 58th. Um, how are we feeling about Cleveland? They did a a hell of a job, man. Got Lonzo Ball, Sam Merrill. I really like the Larry Nance pickup if I’m just being honest. And again, a lot of people were hard on the Cavaliers because they had an underwhelming finish to the season, but you you that’s in the rear view. You go back into next year, they have pretty much the same team. They added some things. Um, they lost Tai Jerome. Ty Jerome was saying that they didn’t even give him a chance to return. So, that was kind of odd. But, um, I really think the Cavs are going to be able to duplicate what they did last year. And I think they’re going to take advantage of people not giving them grace for last year. Like, we have this mentality in our sport where like if a team doesn’t do what they’re supposed to do, you just write them off. I don’t believe in that. You know what I mean? like new year, new team, new vibes, and it takes one year for you to figure it out and go go to that next step. Like it the Bucks when they had Giannis kept knocking on the door, kept knocking on the door, kept knocking on the door. Then they bust through and won a championship. The Nuggets with Jokic kept knocking on the door, kept knocking on the door. They had some underwhelming finishes. Then they just boom, won a championship. The Celtics, I remember when the Celtics lost to the Warriors and people was like, “Man, yeah, see they this, they that, and the third.” Then they got it together. They figured it out and then they went and won a championship. Um, you know, so I’m not counting the Cavaliers out. That team has all of the makings from last year, and they very well could have the same type of year this year and have an even better playoff story. So, you know, um, a full year of Garland and Donovan and, you know, Moy and Allen with Hunter and Merrill and Struse and Lonzo and Nan. Like, that team is deep. That team is talented. That team has defense. It has offense, guard play, shooting. It checks a lot of the boxes. It’s also going to be year two with Kenny Atinson. You know, I’m never a guy that thinks teams are going to win the championship in that first year anyway. So year two is always that year where I feel like the coaching imprint kind of settles in. So I’m I’m a big believer that the Cavs can have a lot of success this upcoming year. I’m gonna give them an A real quick. I hate when people overreact like if if Halle Burton doesn’t hit that shot in game two. They they’re you know and they went on the road and won by 20 in game three. Injuries too like
Yeah. They didn’t have Garland or Moy and they still if Halurn doesn’t hit that shot and they don’t blow that seven-point lead I think it was in the final minute like they’re up 2-1 in that series against the team that went to games to the NBA finals. It’s year two at the coach got everyone back quick adjustment like they’re the best team in the East, right?
I agree. Depending on how the Knicks come out with Mike Brown, but yeah, my money would be on one of those two teams. Moving on to Dallas, obviously hit the lottery jackpot, bring in Cooper Flag. Um, bring in D’Angelo Russell on a two-year deal and then extended Kyrie Irving. Phenomenal. I’m not going to spend too much time on them because we we’ve talked about them for the last eight months with the Luca trade. Um, but they position themselves to when they’re fully healthy, they’re going to be a team to to watch out for out west. I really like the D’Angelo Russell pickup. I think he’s a really good bridge point guard for when Kyrie Irving returns and then when Kyrie does come back having him come off your bench. This team is gonna be deep and it’s gonna be loaded. Um and I can’t wait to see in in the summer for summer league Cooper flag. Jason Kidd said he’s going to put the ball in his hands almost let him be like a point guard. So I’m interested to that. I think that shows even their brains for the uh development. The only thing I don’t like about the off seasonason is Nico Harrison acting like this was a part of the plan. That’s it. Like now you see the vision. Like get the [ __ ] out of here. I hate when these basketball guys that are in the professional realm or of the league sit and talk to us like we’re stupid. Like yeah y’all y’all ain’t noticed what I was doing at first. It’s like bro just take your W and just like go go go about your business. But um I like this team. So when healthy, this is Kyrie Clay Flag, AD Lively Off the Bench, D’Angelo Russell, Daniel Gaffford, PJ Washington, Max Christy, Naji Marshall,
and don’t forget about Brandon Williams who was cooking at
Brandon Williams, Jaden Hardy as well. You’re right. That’s that’s they signed uh Little Nehard to a two-way as well. I had to throw that in there.
This team looked good, man. This team looked good. Another team with a great You gave them their grade, right? No, I will give them. I’mma give them I’m gonna give him a A, but Nico, you get
right.
Nico, it’s not because of you.
Yeah.
All right. Uh, another team that had a great offseason, Denver Nuggets. No draft pick. Brought in Tamar Bates on a 2-way, but bringing in Cam Johnson, the big move. Bruce Brown comes back. Tim Hardway Jr. on a one-year deal. And then Valenunis, uh, they traded SARS for him. How are we feeling about Denver’s new regime and those moves?
A+ when you have the best player in the world and you went seven games with the reigning champs, the defending champs, this is the type of response that you want if you’re a fan or if you’re in that locker room. Cam Johnson, I think, is an upgrade for MPJ because I think bottom line, he’s going to be a little bit more consistent offensively. I think he has a little bit more to his game and I think defensively um there’s just more he’s going to be more consistent offensively. I think I said more consistent defensively. Offensively he he can be relied upon to do a little bit more and then defensively he’s going to move a lot better than MPJ. But dog Tim Hardaway Junior off the bench for this team. Chef’s kiss. Jonas Valenunis off the bench for this team. Chef’s kiss. Um, and who was the other person at? Bruce Brown back on his team. Chef’s kiss. This team is going to be a force to reckon with, man. This team is going to be so so so so good compared to this past year. And even this year, they went seven again with the Thunder, but just from the regular season, there was parts we’ve been kind of talking about the Nuggets like, I remember when I had them on my list for contenders and people was like, “Yo, you tripping. You tripping. You tripping. This team is crazy, man. This team is loaded. This might be one of the deepest teams they’ve had since Jokic has emerged as the best player in the world. So I think they get a extreme A+. This is the type of response you want when you fire your coach and the GM and have everybody in shock. This says no, we knew what we was doing. And so if my money was on any team to take down uh the Thunder next year or to be a new champion, it would be the Nuggets, man. It would be the Nuggets. They have to me one of the best teams on paper considering that they have Nicole Joic. Quick shout out to Bruce Brown. Got a two-year $45 million deal after winning the title.
I’ll be back.
He goes, “I got my money. I want to go play with Jokic again.” So, shout out to him. But he got to play, man, cuz he ain’t I feel like he ain’t been on the court that much.
Right. Moving on to Detroit. Obviously, the big story is Malik Beasley. that money that probably would have gone to him to return goes to Duncan Robinson on a three-year deal. Signing trade, Carris Levert comes in on a two-year deal and then they kept uh Paul Reed on a two-year deal. And then uh in the draft, they get Chaz Laneir 37th
C++. I’m disappointed. I wanted more coming off the year that they had. I really wanted more from them and I’mma give them some grace because I do believe they potentially tried. Um, I I’m I’m going just give them that benefit of the doubt. I don’t know. I have no source close to the Pistons, but boy, I wanted them to take some type of swing. And they lose they lose Shruder and it and we don’t know what’s going on with Beasley. And to me, that was the two priorities this off season was to bring back those guys um in ways that wasn’t going to hurt the team. I understand why they didn’t bring back Shooter. 15 million per. I don’t know if that was going to be doable for them. Um I did car what what is Caris Lever’s contract? Did he even get 15 million per?
Uh Caris got Yeah. two years 29.
So he got roughly about that. Okay, I guess. Um shorter term. I think Shruder was three over 46, three over 45. So yeah, I just really wanted them to take a swing. And now with the Malik Beasley thing, if you’re not going to bring him back or maybe it works in their favor because this cloud makes him just, you know, a little bit more cheaper. But next year their team is what? Cade, Ivy, Assaar, Tobias, Duran, Caris, Ron Holland, Duncan Robin. Duncan The Duncan Robinson saves them. It saves them. But I still just wish that they did a little bit more. They’ll still be they’ll still be all right. They’ll still be tough. But man, that that Dennis Shooter punch and that Malik Beasley shooting took them to a different level. It took them to a different level. So to lose that and not get anything super substantial would would hurt me. I’mma give them a C+ and I’mma hope that there’s something else that they that they can do and pivot to that we haven’t seen yet to kind of save the offseason. But thus far, I really wanted them to be one of those teams that was ultra aggressive, like super super aggress. I wanted them to go get like Gary Trent or and, you know, bring back a lot of the teams, a lot of the guys from the team and just add [ __ ] or if the Pacers were going to lose Miles Turner, why don’t you be the team to go get him? You know what I mean? You was rumored. So, yeah, I just wanted them to take some type of swing. Santio Dama, you know what I mean? Quinton Grimes. I wanted them to do something. But they Quinn Grahams already played for them so never mind. Never mind. But yeah, uh I’ll give him a C++.
Little Devil’s advocate. Is any part of it like they didn’t get to see Jaden Ivy in that playoff environment and maybe they think, you know, there’s more for him or is that
that could be? My only thing with that is how do they feel about Jayen Ivy? Because I mean if you if you’re trying to figure out Jaden Ivy after that year and you and it doesn’t go that way, the risk ain’t worth the reward to me. You know what I Because I could tell you right now, I don’t think Jay Ivy is going to be an all-star next year. And he he could prove me wrong. I think he’s good, but is he worth like not having the same team? You know what I mean? Like I don’t know. My the the the the benefit of the doubt that I will give them is Shruder became a little bit too expensive with that third year and the Malik Beasley is something they couldn’t prepare for and so their pivot is Caris Stver and Duncan Robinson which maybe for all I know they’ll end up being upgrades. Maybe they’ll play better but I I like Dennis Shruder on this team more than Caris Lever. You know Caris Lever is a little it’s a hit or miss. He’s gonna have 32 points or he’s gonna have nine. Like, you know what I’m saying? That’s that’s been his thing.
Moving on to Golden State, the Kuminga situation is is definitely the thing at top of mind. But, um, Cavan Looney over to New Orleans and then couple late second round picks. Uh, Will Richard from Florida and then Alex Tui I think another Australian. Um, what are we thinking about the Warriors? Uh, so far with this Kuminga cloud over their head, one of the toughest teams to grade. Um, you lost Kavon Looney. Don’t know how big of a deal that is. You still haven’t added size to your team and you haven’t figured out the Jonathan Kaminga thing. The best thing I can say for them is that the Miami Heat were able to let go of Duncan Robinson. So, that maybe helps you find a way to give them Kaminga and the side and trade. But maybe I don’t I don’t know. I think in order for me to grade them realistically, the Jonathan Kaminga situation would have to be figured out. It’s hard to grade them without that being handled. And I don’t know what that’s going to look like for them. I don’t know if that’s him being in a signing trade. I don’t know if he’s just staying and you figure out a long-term deal for him. I have not the slightest clue. All of these reports say that he feels like he can be a little better somewhere else and maybe like do more because he feels like he has more to his game. So, I don’t know, bro. I I have no idea. Um they’re they are going to get like a what’s one of those grades that you
not applicable.
Yeah. N slash a n sl a I have no idea man. I have no idea. They haven’t done anything.
Yeah. This one will be easier. Houston Rockets obviously trade for Kevin Durant bring in Dorian Finny Smith. Bring in Clink Capella. Three and four year deals respectively. Then you extend a bunch of guys. Jabari Smith gets a payday five years. Fred Van Vleet two-year extension. Um, and even bringing back guys like Aaron Holidayiday, Jeff Green, JH Tate, did I say Stephen Adams? Stephen Adams got three years as well. And and all that’s out the door is Dylan Brooks and Jaylen Green. And then the the pick that became Malawatch. So no draft picks for Houston.
A++. This is a team that I also feel like could be a championship contender. It was like, man, they gonna get Kevin Durant and they going they going to be better, but like nah, we got Kevin Durant. We add Dorian Finny Smith. We bringing back Stephen Adams. We getting Clink Capella. Like they are going crazy. I cannot believe the off seasonason that they are having. Raphael Stone deserves a lot of flowers, man, cuz he is legitimately killing it. I am so excited to see this team next year. I think they’re going to be super super good. This is one of my favorite rosters around Kevin Durant that ain’t like a star-studded situation if you know what I’m saying. So, I’m happy for them and I think they are going to be like a legitimate great team. I think they’re going to be really, really good. I think this could be like a high 50, low 60 win team. No, no [ __ ] This team is going to be really, really good. And to get Dorian Finny Smith away from a a Western Conference competitor, even better. Is there room for Cam Whitmore and Reed Shepard to play more now, too? Or I mean, they still have so much depth.
I think Reed Shepard, I don’t know about Cam Whitmore. I don’t know. the Dorian Finny Smith sign and kind of takes some of that away, but you never know. Uh, next up, the Eastern Conference champion, Indiana Pacers, biggest storyline, Miles Turner, of course, going to Milwaukee. And then in the draft, getting Cam Jones, smooth operator out of Marquette 38th, and then Tayen Peter, who I made that video on, uh, 54th out of Liberty, um, who I’m intrigued by. And then there was something with Isaiah Jackson uh qualifi I think he might have been a restricted free agent and they they made the qualifying offer to keep him as well. Yeah. Um losing M Turner is a big hail for them. It just really is. Um especially when he leaves for essentially what four more million dollars annually I believe it was. Very very tough situation. Um, but I will say they still get a B because they did that one move which got them back their own 2026 pick that saves their off seasonason. So you won’t have Hallebertton, you lose Miles Turner. This team could still stay afloat and be somewhat competitive, especially if they end up being a team that DeAndre Aiden decides to go to because it’s rumored that it’s going to be between them and the Lakers or something like that. But man, lose mouth turner hurts. It really does. I’m going to give them a B because they were able to keep um keep their 2026 pick before all of that stuff happened, which I feel like is a win for them and was a blessing in disguise. But yeah, um that’s all. Again, they’re a team that hasn’t done anything. They got some things that they’re going to have to figure out with Jarus Walker, Benedict Mathan. Um but I know it’s going to be hard to make those decisions without your best player being on the floor to come back and uh help this team. But man, tough off season after a championship run. Really, really tough off season.
The LA Clippers, Brook Lopez in on a two-year deal, extend James Harden and Nick Batum returns. And then you got your Penn State pullover on right now. Yannik Conan Neerhouser, one of the biggest riders in the draft. They take him 30th. And then Kobe Sanders 50th in a trade uh with your Knicks. Yeah. Hey, the Clippers, man, they found they found ways. I’m interested to see if they are a team that could figure out a way to make another move, right, with the Norman Pal contract and whatnot. I would really like for this to be a team for Anthony Simons. Um, him in the back court with James Harden or whatn not. But I do like the team. I like the depth. Uh, maybe Chris Paul, you know, rumored to want to go to one of these LA teams. Maybe this is a spot for him. If they are able to add Chris Paul or even, you know, even better. Brook Lopez backing up Zubot is going to be just incredible. I think if they had Zubot and Brook Lopez in this year, they would have probably beaten the Denver Nuggets in that playoff series. So, I think this team had a really good year when nobody was expecting it after losing Paul George. And I think they’re now positioned to kind of stay afloat or have an even better year. And, you know, rumors were that Kawhi Leonard stayed training through the finals to keep his body um in a in a state that it would be prepared to play that long. So that was also dope to hear. I like this team. I like this team. I think they’re still one move away, but I think they still have the necessarily to necessary tools to go and make that move with the contracts of Bdanovic and uh Norman Pal. So where are we going next? Uh to the Lakers. Aducier 36th in the draft. Uh Jake Lavia on the two-year deal. DFS heads to Houston of course. And then just waiting on on the big man situation. Is it eighton? Are they just not doing anything? Is there anything going on with LeBron? What do we think about the league?
F FFF F. Here’s why. Number one, you lost Dorian Finny Smith, who is a best friend to Luca Dantic. But the reason why you lost him is because you were going around trying to tell teams that his knee was bad in order to lowball him. he finds out about it and is saying, “I’m damn sure not coming back.” And then goes to another Western Conference competitor and he was pivotal for what they were trying to do defensively in JJ Reic’s scheme. He was one of those guys that can guard up and down the lineup and run around and cover a lot of ground for Luca Donic. He’s going to be big to lose, man. Because now the other guy that can do that is what Vanderbelt, but he doesn’t give you the spacing and the shooting that Doe was sometimes giving you. You know, he’s a much better shooter spotting up than a Jared Vanderbelt or whatnot. So, I think that’s tough for the Lakers. And then, yeah, they don’t have the center situation. Clink Capella didn’t go. Brook Lopez didn’t go. Even if you get DeAndre Aiden, he’s an upgrade. But, I’m not sure if his play style and who DeAndre Aiden has shown me who he is as an NBA player. I don’t know if that’s the type of center I want with Luca Donic. I think I want the Daniel Gafffords, the Derek Lively’s, the Clinkapellas, the guys who are screening, rolling, running the floor, and blocking shots. DeAndre Aiden has shown us he likes mid-range jumpers. He likes to touch the ball and face up and hold the fit you want with Luca. I think the Luca guys are guys that can’t do post post moves and ain’t got that in their game, so he can just hold the ball. So, I don’t know if I like that marriage of DeAndre Aiden with Luca. I can’t ignore the fact that he is talent for talent, an upgrade over Jackson Hayes. And then also defensively, JJ Reic wants this defense. DeAndre Aiden, I don’t know if that’s what you’re going to get from him in that situation. So, I am hoping for the Lakers sake that DeAndre Aiden goes to the Pacers and the Lakers somehow have to pivot to getting like a Robert Williams. But then even that situation, Robert Williams hasn’t shown us that he can play a substantial amount of basketball games each year. So I don’t know what the Lakers are going to do. And now all of this has turned into like LeBron and Clutch having to sit down and wonder about his future. Rightfully so. Rightfully so. But that changes the entire dynamic. And I will say this too, Christian, not to do the I told you so because LeBron hasn’t requested a trade and he hasn’t been traded and it’s all speculation right now and they’re all just kind of viewing how everything is going to go this off seasonason. But when the LeBron trade happened, Peewee the Plug was saying, “Hey, this move to me is going to make the Lakers shift to the the Luca Donic future Lakers and less about the current LeBron Lakers.” And I don’t know how LeBron is going to feel about that. You can find me saying that on my YouTube channel, maybe on numbers on the board, and probably on here. Just putting that out there. This to me was always kind of written on the wall unless the Lakers are going to have one of the best off seasons, which all of us knew was going to be pretty damn hard with the assets they had. And I don’t think anybody in the NBA was going to do them any favors after seeing them get Luca Donic. You talked about the Bulls and how they gave Caruso away to the Thunder and now the other teams around the league are probably like, “Man, we ain’t helping y’all.” Like, forget y’all. I think teams are also going to look at the Lakers that way. Though the Lakers aren’t the ones that gave up Luca, but people are going to be like, “Man, y’all was gift after Luca. We ain’t helping this damn team. We ain’t go We’re not going to do a trade with you to absorb um Gabe Vincent and Maxi Clever to give you a little bit more of a budget to work with to go sign a Gary Trent and build out this crazy team around LeBron and Luca. We ain’t doing y’all no damn favorites. Not at all. And so now they got to sit up here and tell everybody, “Yeah, yeah, yeah. We’re doing two-year deals cuz we’re planning for 2027.” And now you got Rich Paul and LeBron like, “You planning for what?” 2027. 2027. Oh, hell no. We respect y’all. We love y’all, but [ __ ] no. 2027, LeBron James is going to be a owner of the Las Vegas basketball team. He ain’t gonna be playing on the bat. So, that’s why the Lakers are ultimately a F for me. Um, tough situation. Tough situation, man. And Austin Reeves turned down his contract extension because he could probably get more. So, you know, um, yeah. So, even if LeBron leaves and goes, Austin Reeves is showing you he want top-notch bread. Luca Don is going to come in top-notch bread. So, you’re always going to run into these situations of like maybe not having as much wiggle room and now you’re going to probably go into what the Mavericks have to deal with, which is building around Luca, getting all of these pieces, but staying in an affordable range because now the second apron is such a thing. The old Laker way, which is just spent. We we’ll just spent. We’ll put we’ll put Kobe Shaq, Gary Peyton, Carl Malone all on one team and we’ll hire Phil Jackson to coach him. This NBA is a little different. So, I can’t wait to see what this all turns out to because I can’t imagine LeBron in year 23 being traded, but it’s interesting, man. It’s interesting. Moving on to Memphis, obviously the Desmond Bane trade, uh Luke Canard out in free agency. You retain Santel Dama gets paid three years, 58 million. Jiren Jackson gets a 5-year extension. Um Cam Spencer back and then Tai Jerome three-year deal. KCP in the Bane trade and then Cole Anthony uh as well who they’re buying out. Real quick, I saw a headline that said like veteran guard Cole Anthony waved. I’m like, is he a vet already? Like he is he’s 20 he’s 25 but like damn
cuz he’s been in the league probably what six years now
I guess that’s just crazy.
It is crazy but yeah I mean
he kind of is a vet. Yeah like he’s probably one of the older guards in Orlando. Him I mean Corey Joseph was older but it was Yeah. That’s that is wild though. I agree with you. I agree with you. He’s definitely not a young player no more. Six years in NBA. Good off season. So I’mma give them a B+. This is what I would say about the Memphis Grizzlies. What are their goals? That’s what’s I’m really trying to figure out because I feel like this team is another solid Memphis team, but I don’t feel like it’s a team that could win the West. I still feel like they’re a move or so away. Who that is, who it’s going to be, I don’t know. Jiren Jackson signs the extension, immediately has the turf toe surgery, which he’s going to be out now four to five months. I have never liked that for Memphis. It feels like that’s been the case for them the last three or so years or two two years, maybe I’m adding an extra year, but they don’t come into the year fully healthy. They get behind the Aball and they show us certain flashes of like being this really good team and then we get to the playoffs and they just are okay. And if that’s all they want to be, then that’s fine. But again, with the second apron and because you traded Bane, you got to be damn sure that you’re committed to Jarra and Jiren Jackson. You got to be damn sure. I do like the Cedric Coward draft pick. I do like the Tai Jerome signing. I do like bringing back Santiama. It’s just weird. They’re a good team, but they are still under the great teams even on paper. J KCP, Jaylen Wells, Jiren Jackson, Zack Edy. What What how far does that team go to you? I’m asking you.
I mean, what is Jaw’s availability is always the biggest question, but I mean, the West is just loaded. I don’t think they’re a top five team even in their top outcome.
So, that’s my whole thing. Like, from a on paper standpoint, they did a really good job of retaining talent. You lose Desmond Bane, but you keep Santi. It would have hurt to trade Desmond Bane and then to also still lose Santi Odama would have been a big blow for them. But to be able to escape losing Santiama to get Cedric Coward, you still have Jaylen Wells, it it’s really good. It just feels like there’s still a they still like are missing that wing. It feels like John Jiren need a star wing. Like if they somehow was able to get Jaylen Brown, it feels like damn, this team is it. But it feels like they’re always going to be missing that unless Cedric Coward is about to turn into Kawhai or Jaylen Brown and then that would be different. So, um, we’ll see cuz they’re deep. They still have Gigi Jackson, Vince Williams Jr., Scotty Pippen is tying Tai Jerome, Brandon Clark will be back healthy. You know, Jay Huff is on this team. They’re still a deep team. Um, they just either need Jaw to get back to that MVP status or Jiren Jackson to take another step because if not, this team is always going to be feeling like they’re missing something. I forgot to do the draft uh when I was mentioning their transactions. As you said, Cedric, they move up from 16 to 11 to get him. And then Javon Small, 48, and then Jamaak, defensive menace, who I was surprised to see get drafted, honestly, because he can’t do anything else. But, um,
that’s a grit and grind type of guy. Javon Small is a G is a Grizzlies type of guy, too. He just kind of fits perfect there. Miami Heat, uh, Jackonis falls a 20. They bring him in. Um, I’m not saying all the two-ways, but I think Vlad Golden is worth noting as a two-way.
Um, they also brought in like Dane Danger and Omar Balo, so they’re definitely looking for
the big a big for sure. And then, uh, they got Fontinekio in the signing trade.
Fontio. I’ve never heard it pronounced that way.
Wait, is it Fonteio?
Fonteio. Yeah,
Pontekio. And then uh DaVon Mitchell on a on a cheap tier deal uh stays. Uh it’s cool. It’s cool. It’s cool. Uh this is a C minus. Like they were so attached to getting everything and everybody. Nothing ever happened. They did get Kevin Durant. Um the Giannis ain’t available as of right now. And even if he was, don’t see how the hell he would get there. Um, didn’t trade Andrew Wiggins. Didn’t don’t know if you’re gonna get Jonathan Kaminga. They just haven’t really done anything. This is the same team we keep seeing come back and forth, back and forth. They really should have a Dminus because they were rumored to be in a KD sweep stakes and be one of those final teams, but they were reluctant to give up Jamez and Nola Yoic and [ __ ] like that. Koair. So this Yeah, they get a D minus actually because you had a chance to get Kevin Durant. You wanted to be greedy with things that I don’t even feel like is doing much for you as of right now. So yeah, man. Uh Miami Heat. Interesting. Interesting. Interesting. Interesting to say the least. But I’mma give him a D minus. I I just don’t I don’t know. I don’t know, man. I I have no word. Dminus. I like and you would think that East being wide open, this is the type of team that you would feel like would have done what the Hawks is doing. They would have just jumped on it and been like, “Yeah, let’s do this. Let’s do that.” They ain’t been able to do [ __ ] And they best bet is that Tyler Herro is going to have the same type of year. Bam Adabio is going to put a full complete year together. Khloe Wear takes a step as a sophomore starting center. And then the others are just good. Like Wiggins is good. Um, but yeah, they ain’t they ain’t done nothing. Or your best bet is that Damen Lillard signs with you while he rehabs and there you go. You get a blessing out of disguise. You get Damen Lillard and when he is back ready to play, you now have something. But if Damen Lillard don’t go there and he go to some [ __ ] like the Warriors, Miami gonna be looking crazy, man. I don’t know what the [ __ ] they doing. They they like a better version of the Bulls as of right now. The only thing I can give them is they always figure it out and they never god awful and they not that long ago they were in the NBA finals. That’s about as best as I can give them. But like as of right now, Heat fans are going through it, man. Speaking of Damen Lillard, waved by the Milwaukee Bucks, who also lose a couple championship pieces in Pat Huntton and Brook Lopez. Uh the Miles Turner move uh with the money created from Dame. Uh, they brought in Gary Harris on a two-year deal and then ressigned Gary Trent on a pretty cheap deal. Jericho Sims stays, Torian Prince stays, Bobby Poris extended, and Kevin Porter Jr. returns. And then in the draft, they got Bogle Jub Marco 47. He could shoot
and sign my boy Mark Sears on a two-way
D minus.
And Ryan Rollins is out too. Ryan Rollins is out, isn’t he? He that wasn’t on my side.
He is not. He He might be coming back, but he’s not with them. C minus. The reason I’m giving them a C minus is because I don’t think it hurts to bring back guys and because you have the luxury of having Giannis. So, this roster is not that good. But because you can add Giannis to this pitcher, this is still a team that in the Eastern Conference, Giannis could make this team be a fourth seat. He really Giannis is that good. Ham and Miles Turner is the backline of the defense. You got a guy like Gary Trent that could spot up. AJ Green can spot up knockdown shots if they’re able to bring in some point guard that like I would have loved Tyus Jones for them. I’m so surprised that Taius Jones is not the point guard of this team. It just feels like that would have been the route to go. U but if they’re finding a way to bring in a Malcolm Brogden, if they found out a way to convince Chris Paul to not go to LA and come to Milwaukee even though he said he wants to go around his family, then I think that helps them. The one thing that I’m giving them the the the the credit for is you have to please Giannis. Anything you have to do to keep Giannis around, you you do it. I don’t really like the Miles Turner move outside of that. I like it to keep Giannis happy. I don’t like it because you’re paying Miles Turner essentially $50 million because you stretch Dame’s contract. So the 26 that you’re giving Miles and now the 22 that you’re going to have to pay every single year over the next 5 years from letting Dame go is basically combines. Now it’s basically a $48 million cap penalty that you’re paying because you wanted to get Miles Turner. Any other situation that is the stupidest [ __ ] I’ve ever heard because Miles Turner doesn’t take you to crazy levels. But because you’re trying to please Giannis, if this move is the move that makes Jiannis say, “I’mma just stay.” Then it I guess this is a [ __ ] A+. It’s a home run out the park. But if Giannis is still like, you know what, this [ __ ] ain’t for me. This is a move that you going to look back on and be like, holy [ __ ] Holy [ __ ] Um, but I think they have to we have to go through free agency to really grade them because again, if they’re able to get Brogged in and CP3 and there’s able to be a couple other moves, then I think this team is still a team that Giannis can drag through. Um, and I’m interested to see year two of some of these players. Like, I can’t wait to see Giannis and Miles Turner. I think that’s a really good fit. Like, I think that’s really, really good for them. But like, what version of Kyle Kosma are we getting? And you don’t even need Kyle Kzoosman to be the best version of himself. He just has to be better than what he gave you last year. You know what I mean? Um, so we’ll see. I’mma give him a C minus for now just because again you’re it’s about pleasing Giannis and I guess this is a good step in that direction. But if the minute Giannis says he ain’t with this, this goes down to an F. Minnesota, five years, 125 for Nas Reed, three years 100 for Julius Randall, and then losing Alexander Walker. In the draft, you got a couple potential long-term broody replacements and Joan Beinger at 17, and then Rockco Zakarsski, another big at at 45.
C plus still don’t know how I feel about the Julius Randall contract. Maybe you can trade it down the line. Maybe that’s a thought process. Um, obviously I hate losing to Kil Alexander Walker and I would have liked to see them maybe going a different direction with the with the big fella and the and with the pick. Two centers kind of overkill. Um, but then again, you drafted Rob the other hand last year. I don’t know. The benefit of the doubt that I’m giving them is that you’re going to have the main suspects next year. You’re going to have Ant, J-Mack, Nas, Rudy, Randall, Connley, Dante is back. This team can still be good. So, I’ll give them Yeah, I’ll give them a C++. I’ll give them a C++. I think they bring back the same team. It’s going to be good. Wasn’t really many avenues um they could have had to really improve that much. It was more about making sure you don’t lose nil and Nas. They didn’t even allow Nas Reed to get into the market like that. It was rumored that the Pistons were going to really go after Nas. They didn’t even allow it. So, because of that, I’ll give them a C+. But there’s also the world where being the same team isn’t good when everybody else is improving because the West is going to be even tougher now with the Rockets and the Nuggets taking these major steps. So, and you didn’t say Terence Shannon in the rotation. I liked what I saw from him in the
You’re right. You’re right. Terrence Shannon. You’re right. Maybe it’s a B minus now. You’re right.
The New Orleans Pelicans trading McCullum and Kelly Olen uh getting Jordan Pool and Sadique Bay signing Cavon Looney to that two-year deal and then in the draft get Jeremiah Fears at seven. make the risky move that Joe Dumar has gotten a lot of a lot of flack for going to get Derek Queen at 13 and then uh Micah Peavey in the second round uh 40th
the D+ D+ because that that pick and I like Derek Queen but that pick it’s just not it’s just not smart. It’s not smart. Um just just again managing your assets unless you believe Derek Queen is the guy to save the franchise. There’s no way you can convince yourself on that because if you believed he was that guy, you would have probably taken him in a spot where you took Jeremiah Fierce. And I don’t even like this spot for Jeremiah Fierce. It’s not the talent, it’s where they’re going because this team has Jordan Pool and Fierce and, you know, Alvar Rod, Deshonte Murray, and I I don’t know. Um, again, I always say this, this is a team that has a bunch, but at the same time, you look and it’s like, damn, they don’t really have nothing either. Is Jordan Pool making this team a playoff team? You know, Jordan P, Herb Jones, Trey Murphy, Zion, Ease, Missy. It’s all up to Zion, man. It’s all up to Zion. It’s all up to Zion. Maybe there’s a plan beneath all of this, which is to allow Zion to play up his value and then make him available. But they must really think this is a playoff team. I don’t think so. I think there’s a chance, right? Everybody has a chance. But I wouldn’t be surprised if this team didn’t make the playoffs. But we’re going to see. Um I would have liked to seen them have shedded some more money. They took on the money. CJ was heading to the last year. They said, “No, no, no, no, no. Let’s bring on P who has a couple more years attached to his contract.” So yeah, man. Um not a fan. Not a fan so far. But prove me wrong. You think Trey Murphy trade is on the table?
I would hope so. just looking around the landscape and fans, this is one thing fans will understand because I I talk about this a bunch. Fans have attachments. I think Trey Murphy is a good player. I do not think Tre Murphy is the face of the franchise. That’s just me personally, but I think he can compliment a really good star player. Like if he was on the Pacers, I think he would compliment Tyresese Hallebertton to a te. looking at how much teams are trying to do and what teams are looking after, I would have I would have made him available the minute Dez Bang got traded cuz I like the Spurs would the Spurs would probably give you a lot for Trey Murphy. He doesn’t take the ball out of Dear Fox’s hand. He doesn’t take the ball out of Vick’s hand. He can compliment them. He can play off of them. He has the positional size. He can explode for 30 to 40 point per performances. I think Tre Murphy is really, really, really, really, really, really good. And I think you can get a really good back, a good return with teams who overpay for Trey Murphy. But so it’s like what are y’all why are y’all holding on to him? Moving on to your New York Knicks, Yabuselli aka De Mills on a two-year $12 million deal. And then uh Jordan Clarkson, I don’t think the money’s announced yet, but once he clears waiverss, he’s going to slide on over. And then nothing in the Mo Dawara 51st in the draft. Um and then obviously Mike Brown today.
Not going to spend too much time. I think these are great additions. I think we got our head coach. I love it. Um we’re going to be a team that was going to bring back the the big main portion of our team. I love spicing up and strengthening that bench. Yava, I think, is a really really incredible pickup for us. Love the Jordan Clarkson uh pickup as well. And I’m interested to see if we’ll have one more move in us or if we’re done. So, um I love it. This is a I’ll say a B+ for the Knicks, man. It’s a B+. We got to see how the coaching hiring happens before I can say A. But I’ll give like a team that went to the Eastern Conference Finals, adding Yaba Sally and Clarkson B+. Haven’t seen Clarkson play in a while. So, I don’t know if he’s about to get the Clarkson that I know or if it’s gonna be a maybe not so electrifying Clarkson, but I think he’s gonna have some big performances in the Garden. Real quick on Clarkson, I was thinking the same thing that he’s been playing some garbage basketball. Um, the one thing that I’m thinking about with him is like I feel like something the Knicks needed in the playoffs was more from Deuce McBride. He didn’t score more than 11 points in any of those playoff games and like Jordan Clarkson just gives him some real
legit scoring pop off especially with Mike Brown being a coach now. Um OKC champions SGA gets a four-year extension. Uh Jaylen Williams, JAY Williams on a threeyear $24 million deal. And then uh AJ Mitchell. Then they gave away Dylan Jones away for free to the Wizards, which I’m still kind of wrapping my head around. like how come the Wizards got him if all you were going to do was give a second round pick and then get Kobe Jones and wave him. Maybe they’re friends. And then the draft you bring in uh Thomas Sorber at 15 and then local friend uh Brooks Barnheiser from Northwestern 44th. A+ not surprising there. They drafted well. They extended their guys. They didn’t lose anybody significant. A+. That’s what you want from a championship team. If you’re a part of the team or you’re a fan of it, we won a championship. Let’s do it again. Let’s bring back the same team. I love it. Didn’t overthink anything. Then try to get too sexy. We’re going to believe in that the fact that we have young talent. They’re all going to take steps to get better, even if it isn’t Jurassic. And we also have Nicole Topic coming back. We’re g We’re going to see what we have here. I love it. Simple offseason. Do you understand the Dylan Jones thing?
They don’t have room for him. You you you they literally don’t you just you brought in two rookies,
right? But why does Washington get him? Like how did they pick their suitor if all they were going to get in return was a Kobe Jones that they were going to wave?
Because that’s probably what they wanted was a player they were going to wave.
But couldn’t any like the Bulls could have done that too, right? Somebody had to get him. You if the Bulls got him, you could say the same thing. Why didn’t Washington get him? But some he can only go to one team. So, it’s like maybe Washington did something with them. You know, they did the uh they did didn’t they do a trade before um them in Washington? I’m not sure.
Yeah, maybe they have a good working relationship. Maybe Washington is a team that really How many teams really wanted Dylan Jones? Did the Bulls really want him? I mean, the I’m pretty sure the Thunder gave five second round picks to the Knicks to trade up to get Dylan Jones like last year. It’s just it’s just a wild thing to see that there any other team that would be malpractice, but because OKC is just so elite uh front office wise, they can afford to do this. It’s not that big a deal. It’s just it was just wild for me to compute that they just gave away a guy that took 26th overall for free.
Yeah. I mean, they probably didn’t know what they were also going to get AJ Mitchell and you know, so and then and then also you got to remember it’s the Thunder. So they also traded those picks because again they don’t they can’t bring them all anyway. So it’s like [ __ ] it. Like if we let’s maybe Dylan Jones could be something and he showed some flashes but now they like [ __ ] we we we loaded. So here you go Washington.
Yeah. Hey maybe maybe they like Dylan and they wanted to get him to a location they thought they thought worked.
Yeah. Yeah. That’s true. That’s true too. Yeah.
Orlando obviously the Bane trade is the big one. They brought in Tyus Jones on a one-year deal. Gary Harris, KCP, Cole Anthony out the door and then um in the draft, everyone kind of predicted this one. Jace Richardson at 25 and they got Noah Penda uh second pick of the second round from France.
I think it’s the A minus man. They they executed. They executed. I can’t wait to see the rest of it. Like is Mo Vagner coming back on a different type of deal or whatnot. Um but I think talking about taking a swing for it, going for it, Desmond Bane puts a lot of pressure on everybody on this roster to perform up to the expectation. There’s really no more excuses now. This team has to be healthy. They have to be ready per to perform. And if they don’t, I would not be surprised if Orlando comes back next year um willing and able to give up some of the guys that we look at as core pieces. You know what I mean? Like can’t they’re not going to keep making excuses for France. Jaylen Suggs is going to have to be healthy and be able to play. Pala Ben Carroll is obviously their guy, but adding Desmond Bane brings pressure. This team now is going to have expectations. They had it last year and now you go out and make a move like this, they’re going to be looked at as a team that has to in a down year for the Eastern Conference perform to a higher level in the regular season and in the playoffs. I don’t make these rules. This is just the reality because I know Magic fans may hear this and be like, “Oh man, this is the reality. When you go out and you make major moves and you spend four first round, four or five first round picks, you’re telling your your organization and you’re telling the fans and you’re telling the rest of the NBA that we believe in what we have to compete for the highest level of success. Doesn’t mean you have to have the highest level of success, but you’re willing to compete for it and be somewhere close in the conversation. You do not spend four or five first round picks to just be okay. That’s just the reality of the NBA. Real quick, Paulo Bonero, could he be a Could he be the second best player in the East next year? Could he be first team all NBA? Could he? Yeah, he could. Will he? I I I wouldn’t think so. Jaylen Brunson, Donovan Mitchell, Jaylen Brown is still out there. Um, you know, the Evan Mobley is still a guy from the advanced stats perspective. Trey Young with a team that he has there. It’s going to be some guys, but I I get where you’re coming from. And can he? Yeah. Yeah, he definitely can. You know, is Embiid going to be healthy? Tyresese Maxi, Paul George. I you just don’t know what to expect with the [ __ ] 76ers. Jiannis Tumpo, you know what I mean? So, speaking of Philly, only out the door is uh Yabuselli. They bring in Trendan Watford, who you mentioned earlier, on a two-year deal. Justin Edwards, undrafted last year, he gets a three-year deal. Eric Gordon back on a one-year deal and then obviously get VJ Edgecom third overall. And then Janai Broom at the at the top of the second round. This is another NA. The reason why they’re NA is because I don’t know anything. I don’t know if we’re expecting when we’re expecting Joel Embiid to play. That changes everything to me. If Joel Embiid is going to be ready to go relatively in the first part of this season, then I think this is an incredible off seasonason. I think um you kept Kelly Ubé, you brought back Eric Gordon. Tren Waford is a signing that I absolutely love. Only you know that maybe some part of Twitter. I love Tren Waford. I think this is an incredible pickup. I think this is one that’s going to just go on beneath everything and when the season starts or when we get to the playoffs it’s gonna be like damn that Tristan that Trenton Waffford guy can play. I bet a lot of Do you know who his brother is? Uh the dude who hit the Indiana shot. That’s his brother.
Christian Watford. That’s his brother.
I didn’t I didn’t that didn’t compute until you said it and I thought Wford and then that
that’s his older brother. But um Quinton Grimes bringing him back is going to be substantial too. So I love the way that they went out. They got VJ Edgecomb McCain is going to be back. Quinton Grimes, Trendan Waford, Maxi Paul George, Joel Embiid. I think Drummond exercised his option to return to be the backup center. This team is going to be good as long as they’re healthy. But if they’re not going to be healthy and it starts with Embiid and then before you know it, Paul George, you know, I feel as a Paul George fan, this is no offense, but I feel like Paul George because he’s like a co-star, he feeds off of his co-star. So when Kawhai was kind of banged up, Paul George was kind of banged up, you know, besides that one playoff run, you know what I mean? when Embiid was kind of banged up last year, Paul George was kind of struggling to stay. You know, I feel like when everything is set in stone, they’re going to rock out. But it’s hard for me to just picture Paul George carrying this team next year with no Embiid. I do think Paul George going to have a bounceback year, though. I really do. But I think it’s going to mean a lot more if Embiid is there. And I they got to consider that, too. Do you even want Paul George to like play crazy if it’s no Embiid knowing his age? Like Paul George needs to be playing meaningful basketball. So Embiid, it starts and ends with him like it always has. But this team to me on paper, they look good. I like this team if he’s going to be healthy.
So Grimes, you expect them to match. Do you do you have an idea of at at what point they wouldn’t match or is there really not much many teams? I think Brooklyn has space like
I don’t think there’s no teams that can give him 25 million.
Yeah.
So I don’t know what that’s going to look like. Um, even Houston giving the money to Doran Finny Smith, like even if he feels disrespecting, it’s like, “Fuck this. I’m gonna just go somewhere even if I can’t get 25 million.” I don’t even know if that’s still out there. Maybe it’s Oh, there’s always the signing trade, right? There’s always that. So, but I I do expect him to be back. I do. Moving on to Phoenix. Pretty active off season. KD trade. Tyus Jones gone. Uh, they waved Cody Martin. uh Plumbley, whatever. Misich. Um then you bring in Dylan Brooks and Jaylen Green in that trade. Uh the Mark Williams trade of course and then Nigel Hayes from Wisconsin, a name I wasn’t expecting to see. Seam tweet out. And then the draft, you got Malawatch at 10 and Rasheed Fleming at 31. And Gillespie. They resigned our boy Colin Gillespie.
B. It’s a B. It’s a B because you you got a lot for the Kevin Durant trade. Um, I think Dylan Brooks was a get good get. I think Jaylen Green has Jaylen Green is a good player. I think Jaylen Green gets abused in the media and social media because Jaylen Green isn’t the one of the best shooting guards, but that’s okay. You know what I mean? He’s still 23. He has some things he has to figure out. And I think he was put in a situation in Houston that was too large for who he is as a player. So, I think the next step for Jaylen Green, especially in a in this opportunity with the with the Suns, is to figure out how to be impactful in in in a co-star role, right? Because that’s his future. Houston was about trying to see if he could be one of those guys. And it turns out that’s too much of a responsibility for him. We saw that in the playoffs, too up or down. Now, it’s about finding some consistency in this type of role. And I think that this could be a blessing in disguise for him and his career. I’m not here to say that him and Devin Booker are going to take over the West, but just him and his career and playing good basketball. Playing Nessa Devin Booker is I think is going to be really good because he he that’s his future. He’s never going to be in a situation, I think, going forward where he has his own team and he’s one of the top options and the ball is going to kind of go through him. It was really unique in in Houston with Singon because Son is ultimately a big, right? Like that’s just what he is. So, he’s not going to really command the ball too much, but Devin Booker is going to command the basketball. Devin Booker is going to have the basketball a lot, and now Jaylen Green has to kind of figure that out. So, I think that’s a good bet on him. The contract also isn’t like four or five years. It’s shorter. Maui Watch ended up falling to you at 10. I think there’s no better uh scenario for Phoenix than him falling there at 10. We saw Rich Paul getting on that phone, making sure that that was going to happen. And then I also love that you brought in uh Rashir Fleming. I was a big Rashir Fleming guy. Um you brought back Glei. We’re going to see what happens with Nick Richards. I wouldn’t have been mad if they brought in a Trin Wford. Um and then who else did they did they draft? Did they draft one more guy that I’m not remembering?
Um I thought it was just M Washington Fleming. I don’t think there was
So yeah, I like I like what they got going on there. Oh, Mark Williams. Mark Williams. I’m sorry. Mark Williams. Oh yeah,
Mark Williams is the center which I love.
Kamal Maui watch kind of like what you saw with Donovan Klingan last year.
You can’t bring these big tall centers in and try to throw them into playing 30 minutes a game as rookies. So, uh Mark Williams being able to be the guy that can play 24 25 minutes and Maui watching this rookie year plays an additional 23 or 24 minutes or whatever he’s ready for. Maybe it gradually goes up but you know it’s a good situation. Good two bigs to have. I like it, man. I really I really like it for them. Um I think that’s what you got to have. Now you’re about to sign Deon Devin Booker to a two-year extension, $75 million per year annually for $150 million. And now it’s about keeping a competent team around him, making sure he ain’t on a team that’s winning 17 games. So I think they made the most of their situation. And if they find a way to maneuver with this Bradley Bill [ __ ] that’s going to really just take this grade up to another level in my opinion.
Two years 150 is insane.
Yes. Yes. Super crazy. Moving on to Portland. Um Simon’s an eight and out. Blazers legend Drew Holiday returns uh to the program and then they got the big tariff. Hansen Yang at 16 which turned some heads in the draft. I’m jumping on board with with with Yang, man. Them buying out DeAndre Aiden to make sure that this dude is gonna have minutes to be able to play. Tell me something. They know something that we don’t know. And then Mike Smith is a part of that. So, you know, I have uh the utmost respect for him and his basketball. I The Anthony Simons trade. Interesting. Interesting. Interesting. Interesting. Don’t know how I feel about Drew Holiday yet. I understand the value and what he could bring defensively and, you know, just being a really good vet for them, but the price that he costs while already having Jeremy Grant and, you know, um, that situation, it’s interesting, but I do like this team. It’s something about this team that I like. They ended the year strong. I’m a big fan of Donovan Klingan, big fan of Shaden Sharp, big fan of Tammani Chimera, big fan of Denny, and now you have Drew Holiday with all of that and it’s still going to be a good mentor for a Scoot Henderson. So, um, and they still have Jeremy Grant. It’s kind of crazy. Jeremy Grant, I felt like when he first went there was going to be a guy that would be sought after. Now, it’s kind of like he’s just chilling out there in Portland. So, did you give him a grade? B minus. Sacramento. Laravia out. Valenunis out. Dario Sarich joins in in that in that trade. And then they pa Schroeder. Um threeyear 45 million. And then in the draft, couple old guys I like in Ne Clifford at 24 and Maxim Renault at 42. Love what they did in the draft. Love that. I think that gives them a B+ don’t know how I feel about the Dennis Shruder contract. Um because Dennis Shruder is a good guard, but like is he a is he legitimately are you doing anything crazy with him as a starting guard? Uh I just don’t know. They’re kind of like the Western Conference Bulls. You know what I’m saying? Like I don’t know exactly what they’re trying to accomplish here. Um, you would have loved to see them figure out a trade for one of these guys like a D Rozan or Lavine or Sabonis. They’re going to bring back that collective. What is Keegan Murray worth? What is that contract going to look like? Um, Malik Monk was supposed to be in some type of sign and trade. I heard he still could be. Uh, so we’ll see about that. Yeah, I I like what they did in the draft saved them. what they did in the draft saved them. The Valentunas trade, I think Dario Sar is on expiring. So, you give away the extra Valentunis to bring back him and be able to have that expiring deal. Yeah, I’ll give them I’m gonna give him a B+ because I love what they did in the draft. And Dennis Shruder isn’t god awful. He’s not god awful. I like Dennis Shruder. And maybe they are maybe all they want to do is be in the playoffs. Maybe they want to continue to be a play team. I think this is going to do that. I think this does that. If you’re gonna be paying Sabonis, Lavine, D Rozan, you might as well win a few games. So, Shruder is gonna help you in there. Shruder will be a a bridge for Devin Carter potentially, too.
Don’t think so. They made Devin Carter available for trade. I don’t I don’t think they look at Devin Carter as a point guard, and I’m not sure I do. I maybe Bruce Brown type of guy, smaller, but
uh I don’t like how they handle Keon Johnson either. I mean, Keon uh Ellis either. I think they gave him the qualifying offer which will make him an unrestricted free agent next year which I didn’t like. I feel like he should be even if you don’t have him a part of your future, his value around NBA. Am I right? Is that what they did? Yeah, they picked up his team option.
I would have tried to figure out an extended contract where you know if you look at Trey Man and uh who else got the and Jaylen Williams those type of deals was three year 24 you playing only eight annually. I would have tried to see if I can do that with Keon Ellis. You know what I mean? Here’s three years 27. You know what I’m saying? Nine per year or something. People like Keon Ellis around NBA. They really do. And even again, if you don’t feel like he’s a part of your future, you retain him at a friendly salary and you just make him available. But to just like it’s almost like you don’t even know who you have on your team,
but they still have the opportunity to extend him if they want to. I just think people were surprised that they didn’t do it now.
Okay. I was surprised that they I thought he took the qualifying. He picked up a team option because he’s a second round pick. Okay.
So, hope hopefully that’s the case,
right? They can’t let him go. Like they’re they’re lacking young Lavine Monk D Rozan. There’s got to be more movement, right? Or like
Yeah. May maybe maybe maybe like the Heat don’t do anything and you’re like, “Hey, we got D Rozan and the Heat and you take back like uh Roier on his expire or something like that.” That would help the Kings. Something like that would really help the Kings. I don’t know though. I I really don’t know. San Antonio crush the draft Harper at two and Carter Bryant at 14. And then Luke Cornet gets a payday. uh four years 41 million and the only guy out is Mamu Mikashi who who’s hire Toronto who we’ll get to next. Flawless off seasonason. I love what they did in the draft. They were the winners of the draft getting Dylan Harper and then Carter Bryan at 14th is [ __ ] ridiculous. Um and then to get Lucernette like Lucernet can play with Vic backup Vic if Vic misses a game or two. They have a really good team. I’m really really excited about the direction. Again, not here to say that they’re going to win the NBA championship next year, but I think there’s value and rebuilding appropriately step by step by step by step. There’s this theory that they say don’t put too much on yourself to improve, right, like dramatically overnight. Just get it 1% better every day and that’ll add up to something substantial over a grace period. I think the Spurs are an example of that. like they’re just out here getting better and better and better. Is it going to be a overnight success where we wake up and now the Spurs are dominating the Western Conference? No. That’s how a lot of NBA organizations want it to be, though. NBA organizations have no patience. They just want to go from 29 wins to being in the conference finals. There’s foundational pieces being laid here. And I love it for them. I love it. A+ Toronto pays Yaka Purle a bag. four years, 104 million. As I just said, uh they brought in Sandro from from the Spurs on a two-year
Spencer Denwitty just signed a one-year deal with the Hornets. They’re pushing for a playoff spot
and they’ll probably make it. He’s so bad. And then Toronto uh drafts Colin Murray Bole’s ninth and then Elijah Martin 39th. So, a lot of money being spent up north. So, this is what I’ll say, Christian. I came to this conclusion and they this this is going to be interesting for my Raptor fans. What dawned on me is that the Raptors and their fans are not like the other 29 teams. And the reason is because they’re a country. A country is being represented with the Toronto Raptors. So a lot of people hear about winning a championship, championship, championship. I really think they want to just be a good team. When you look at the history of the Toronto Raptors, they haven’t had a bunch of like tank super super bad year. I think they have five years in their total history where they won less than 25 games and three of those years were in the first four years of them being created. So like the last couple years have not been as great. I think they had 25 wins. I think this past year they had like 30. But even this year they they respectfully tanked where like the guys played three quarters and then they would sub him out in a fourth. You know what I mean? Like really classy. They never doing like the Scotty Barnes ain’t going to play in the last two months because his knee hurts. So on one hand this is an expensive roster. On one hand this roster is solid. It isn’t great but I think that’s all that they really need. And while I’m saying this, if you can look at their future picks for me, I want to know what their future draft capital looks like because the other part that I think a lot of people could be missing is they may be big fish hunting. So they may be keeping their money afloat so that if Giannis or one of these other Jaylen like one of these other guys become available, they’ll have money to match and they’ll have their picks because if I’m not mistaken, they they should have some of their draft picks.
They’ve got all their own picks, but they don’t have anybody else’s,
right? So they got all their own.
Perfect. So yeah, if you needed to give up if if Giannis got available today, they probably would be able to put together a a package because they would have Colin Mary Boils now. You have Grady Dick, Jacobe Walter. All of those guys are super young and haven’t really stood out crazy, but I could see somebody wanting Grady Dick attached to a trade. You still have RJ Barrett, Scotty Barnes, Emanuel Quickley. Obviously, you don’t want to give up Scotty Barnes, but if you’re trying to get Giannis, Scotty Barnes would probably have to be a part of that. And then they would have their own picks, which you can attach two or three of your own picks and a pick swap or something. They’ll be there. So, you know, that that’s that’s a that’s a thing that I think a lot of people aren’t taking into consideration when you talk about the Raptors. The team is solid. I’m not here to tell Raptor fans that they’re going to win 55 games. This team is solid. Um, I do think some of the things are questionable, right? you extended Brandon Ingram before he ever played a single game for you. I am never a fan of that. As much as I love Brandon Ingram, I just personally think I want to see a player with my team um and how he meshes, how he fits before I throw out the big money. But, you know, you would have had to or you would have, you know, maybe lost him. And then the the Emanuel Quickley deal, that contract is large, man. That contract is large. But I do think that there is there’s some things that that they can work with. This team is not awful at all. I I kind of like like them, but I don’t love it. I don’t love it. But again, it dawned on me when I was thinking about them like, man, their fans probably don’t give a damn. They don’t need to love it. They just be a good team and make the playoffs, be be a six seed or something like that and they’ll be they’ll probably be happy. An entire country is being represented. It’s not like [ __ ] no offense, Sacramento or Charlotte where it’s just like, you know, Toronto has never shown us that they’re willing to do a five-year rebuild. They’ve never they like the history of their team does not show that since I’ve been alive. The Raptors have not been like a bottom feeder for five years where they just won 20 games, 21 games, 19 games, 17. That’s never been them. So, we have to evaluate how they look at basketball and they’ll take the 45, 46, 47 wins and stay afloat and [ __ ] you know, they may be maybe again you you find yourself in another Kawaii situation where one of these guys become available and you trade them and you bring them into a team that has some things ready and I don’t know, you know, I’m I’m not here to say that’s going to happen. I’m just, you know, giving some context. So, the the Raptors, real quick, just little history, 95 they joined the NBA. They won one playoff series uh before 2015. So, it took them 20 years, they won one playoff series. And then in that D Rozan Lowry era, um they won between 48 and 53 wins um you know, for what seven years in a row and then obviously won the championship. But um you’re right. I think they want to get back to being just they’re cool. Everyone they’re on I’m you know the talking heads are saying oh Rose and Kyle you’re never going to be LeBron like yeah but they’re chilling like they’re fun. They’re a good team
that and like you just said I’m glad you mentioned it during those years where they were never going to be LeBron. That was their that they were never experiencing even hearing their names be in a a a context like that. Like and my life growing up Vince Carter was dope. He was exciting to watch. But the Raptors when they were playing like Iverson and the Sixers and [ __ ] like that in the in the playoffs, it was never like, “Oh man, the Raptors about to nah. Utah, it was three years ago that Windhorse delivered his what does that mean?”
That was three years ago already. [ __ ] Foreshadowing the Utah rebuild. Uh it’s been three three years of bad basketball out there. Um you get Ace Bailey at five, Walter Clayton at 18, John Ton Jay at 53. Um, you grabbed Nerkage in the trade with the Hornets and then Sexton’s gone and Jordan Clarkson’s gone.
I like what they did in the draft. I don’t like the Nerkish situation at all. Is he on expiring? That must be what it is. Um, John Collins is back. I wish they would have found a Trey Sutor for him. Felt like some teams wanted him. I don’t know. Um, I’mma give them a C. You got to hope that Ace Bailey is one of those wands or or somebody out of this group starts to show some potential because this again is a a rebuild that just seems like it has no light at the end of the tunnel and you’re going to need Ace Bailey, Taylor Hendris, Keonte George, Isaiah K, Kyle Filipowski. Somebody’s gonna have to break out and say, “All right, I’m the standout guy and now we’re building a core around me.” So, Walker Kzler I heard is on a block for two first round picks. Not going to happen. Just not gonna happen. Nerk last year of that deal signed in Portland. Um 19 million and then he’s off the books.
Okay, makes sense then. Yeah, I’ll give them a C.
Last team, who by the way, I think I’m considering becoming a I think I might become a Washington Wizards fan because I love I love everything that they’re doing. So Sadique Bay gone, Jordan Pool gone, you bring in CJ McCullum, you get Dylan Jones for free, you get Kelly Oolen, and then love the draft. You get Trey Johnson at six, Will Riley at 21, Jamir Watkins at 43. It’s the league him draft. You got all Jacob guys
and you’re bringing them in a team that has Bub Carrington, Balo, Kabali, Alex Sar, Keshan George. Really, really good team. AJ Johnson.
AJ Johnson, uh, Cory Kissert. Really, really good team, man. Really, really good team. A lot of upside here. What I love the most about it, they’re going to have a bunch of money coming off the books. Chris Middleton, Marcus Smart, Rashawn Holmes, CJ McCullum, Ty Lawson. It’s going to be like $189 million coming off of the teams next year. U Yeah, Ty Lawson is still on their books. Crazy. Sheaz too, right?
Shabbaz Napier or Shebazz Muhammad?
Napier. Okay. But I do love these vets being on these one-year deals to kind of like mentor these guys, right? Like there there’s there’s some things here. So I I like it for them and I love the young talent that they’re bringing in. Um Kelly Olen in the front court with Alex Star is going to give some so much space and creativity. Yeah, I I like this team a lot, man. I think Trey Johnson gonna come in and fill it up and light it up. You know, give this team two years, they’re going to be back in the mix. their or organization, the front office knows exactly what they’re doing. Some other teams around the league should take notes. This this is a really really good rebuild so far. I love it. And then with the money opening up, they’re going to be able to use that financial flexibility to then keep going out here and absorbing bad contracts to get assets and just continue to allow that asset pool to expand and grow. Because when you look at the NBA and you’re seeing how many teams are panicking, and I don’t even want to use the word panicking, but you see how many teams are becoming aggressive to take these shots and take these chances, but they’re also trying to be smart around the second apron. You need, if you’re not going to be a good competing team, you need cap flexibility to step in and be the beneficiary of helping teams. So, you know, the Orlando Magic, if they’re trying to make a move next year and they don’t have a bunch of wiggle room and you’re the Wizards who have a bunch of wiggle room, hey man, you hell yeah, we’ll come in and we’ll take Terence man for that that uh 2028 first round pick. You damn Skippy will do that. We got all the money in the world to absorb that. You know what I mean? Hey, uh Zack, y’all need somewhere for Zack Lavine to go for his last year, man. Send him over. That’s what they’ve been doing with Smart Middleton and now CJ. And then once those guys go off the book, they’ll have a brand new canvas to do it for a new batch of guys who are like, “Hey, y’all really need to get rid of him, huh? Y’all really okay. Send them here. Give us this. Give us that.” And we’ll start to look at the the Wizards like, damn, they got that many first round pick or they have that many second round picks and they’ll be the team that will be able to be like, “Hey, we’ll give you six first round picks because we want to move up and get that guy.” I think that’s how the game has to be played from a front office standpoint if you’re not going to be a good team. Get all your assets up. So then when you do start to put it together to be a good team, you have a wide pool to work with. Oklahoma City has given us a blueprint. Wizards are seeming to follow it and I think it’s going to work. You know who else did that blueprint I feel like really well was uh Houston because they cleared their books and they had money to bring in a Dylan Brooks and Fred Vley who only knew about winning at the NBA level and the college level honestly and like the Washington’s going to be able to do that. There’s so many free agents coming up. What
that’s the Mike Herd
the Washington instead of saying the Wizards. Also, one thing about those was as excited as they should be to have Trey Johnson, I feel like they deserved Cooper Flag. That’s like that’s where Flag should have gone if if the Mavs didn’t finesse the lottery. I would have liked to have seen him there. I ain’t mad at you
more than like I would have liked to see him in Utah or Brooklyn.
I would have liked to see him in Brooklyn. I’m not going to lie. That would have been my choice. But I ain’t mad at you. I would not have been mad at Coopa Flag in Washington at all. Um, but yeah, that’s a recap of the off seasonason so far. That was that was a lot. That was a lot. Um, we are incredible at our job to keep up with all of this stuff and to be able to talk about it in depthly. Like super super crazy. Thankfully, it’s the NBA because I there’s other content creators who are doing this about the NFL, which is bringing in 20 guys and, you know, seven round drafts and everything like that. So, baseball got 162 games of coverage or whatnot. Um, thank you to everybody that tuned in. Please, please, please flood these comments with all of the thoughts and opinions um about your team or another thing. If you agree or disagree, we are so open to people that disagree with the things we say. This is what we do it for is to have good dialogue and conversation and to uh, you know, inspire and uh, give some creativity to one another. So maybe one of y’all will say something about a team or something and open up my eyes like, “Hey, no, P. No, no, no. The Bulls do know what they doing.” And maybe me and Christian will look and be like, “Oh, he convinced us.” I highly doubt it, but maybe you will. Um, as always, this is Tee It Up. I’m Peewee the Plug, aka or I’m Pierre Andre, aka Peewee the Plug. This is Christian. You can catch us weekly here at T It Up. We’ll have more content coming to y’all soon. We out. Peace.
In today’s episode, Pierre and Producer Christian go through every NBA team in alphabetical order, assigning a grade for how they’ve fared in the Draft as well as free agency.
CHAPTERS:
Introduction – 00:00
Atlanta Hawks – 2:31
Boston Celtics – 6:15
Knicks Hire Mike Brown – 10:25
Brooklyn Nets – 11:38
Charlotte Hornets – 19:24
Chicago Bulls – 23:07
Cleveland Cavaliers – 33:40
Dallas Mavericks – 36:50
Denver Nuggets – 38:56
Detroit Pistons – 41:16
Golden State Warriors – 45:18
Houston Rockets – 46:54
Indiana Pacers – 48:35
Los Angeles Clippers – 50:17
Los Angeles Lakers – 51:49
Memphis Grizzlies – 57:28
Miami Heat – 1:01:31
Milwaukee Bucks – 1:04:23
Minnesota Timberwolves – 1:07:58
New Orleans Pelicans – 1:09:57
New York Knicks – 1:13:03
Oklahoma City Thunder – 1:14:40
Orlando Magic – 1:17:36
Philadelphia 76ers – 1:20:10
Phoenix Suns – 1:23:25
Portland Trail Blazers – 1:27:32
Sacramento Kings – 1:29:03
San Antonio Spurs – 1:32:26
Toronto Raptors – 1:34:15
Utah Jazz -1:40:27
Washington Wizards – 1:41:52
Conclusion – 1:46:20
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33 Comments
P the GOAT!
Why P got on PSU drip?! As an alumni I approve lmaoo
Let’s go P, just in time for lunch
As a kings fan I’m so happy to see Mike Brown get the job in New York. I’m glad we fired him so he doesn’t have to work for our awful management anymore 😭
Weirdly see the vision w the nets – if Egor or Traore hits their upside and they get boozer or AJ in the next draft they could be competitive quicker than people realize I think
Christian cute asf
Pierre "day to day" Andresen
The wizards making the play in and keep our protected pick in 26 we are looking good for once
Let’s not forget jaden Ivey was 20 point scorer b4 the injury and pistons didn’t have big stew against the knicks
Christian be on his Clark Kent shi with the glasses
do you think jalen green needs to be what jaylen brown is
Orlando also got Shammgod too, promotion to an A+?
The average 12 year old playing 2k MyGm is smarter than the Kings front office
1:16:08 to answer Christian's question as to why Washington got Dillon Jones, the Wizards new GM is Will Dawkins and he came from the OKC Thunder tree that helped draft and develop the team they have now, so they're obviously good buddies👍🏾Also OKC simply have too many picks rn😭i think you're gonna see a lot of them just giving them out for free
Good knowledgable ep
How u gonna give detroit a c+ because of beasleys issues? Pivoting to duncan and caris in short time was a good pickup. solid B
Love to see P repping Penn State 🔥
Okc fan here.
They get an A imo. Only reason it’s not an A+ is because you can’t shoot sub 30% and sometimes (sub 20%) from 3 in multiple playoff games and not address it imo.
Must be a Hawks fan because I haven’t heard anyone else speak so knowledgeably about the team. Still having Risacher and Okongwu as starters. Kobe Bufkin mention. Great stuff.
Brooklyn is a weird team, just a bunch of good hoopers with not much a team gameplan. I dont know if Cam Thomas is too ball dominant to be on a championship roster but he can drop 30 a night
Halfway into the video it’s fantastic
As a Miami heat fan, all we can count on is the history of pulling themselves out of messes. There's no hope for a team that gets swept the way they did this year in the first round to bring back the same starting five.
Thursdays are great
1:19:40, we’ll see about that 😂
Hello Pierre greetings from Greece I ve been following you for a couple of years keep up the good work you keep us great company among with the guys hope you continue your great work blessings ❤️
u look good in penn state twin 🤤
“The big tariff” had me rolling😭😭
I'm also on the Trendon Watford hype train, he was on my blazers through some tough years and always was that bright spot, cool to see him really building a career from being undrafted.
Aye nice shirt man didn’t know you were tapped in like that
Pierre put that shii on. Then penn state jacket clean
listening on spotify, but leavin a like here.
P how much better do you think dennis and beaseley are than caris lavert and duncan robinson bruh😭😹
Td uppppppp