Lakers reportedly land Ayton, LeBron’s cryptic post & Knicks hire Mike Brown, not Staley | SPEAK

Lakers reportedly land Ayton, LeBron’s cryptic post & Knicks hire Mike Brown, not Staley | SPEAK

So, uh, key, you like this move for your Lakers?
I do. I I I like the move because one thing it it told me about him is he wanted out of Portland to get to an opportunity to win something and that’s what he did. He now the Lakers look a little bit different. It looks a little bit different for us because we got a rim protector, the big and DeAndre Aiden being the number one overall pick. Some people think that he’s not at the level at the worthy of that pick, but I think I believe just off the top of my head, he’s averaged like 17 points a game. I mean, he’s like in double digit rebounds. I mean, like he’s a real center, a real five, so to speak. So, it’ll be and he can score the basketball. I like him a lot. Um, and then the draft class that he came out in, people looking at that, right? Luca Trey Young and that so they started looking at him versus that and he’s not getting his credit and he was moved on from Phoenix to Portland in a in a dumpster fire trade and so now we get him and I think we get him with Luca and LeBron and whoever else we put on the roster now I feel good about our chances the rocket chair could have some cushion in now.
Yeah, no surprise here. Uh does it fix some of the issues? Yeah, you get a rim protector and the talent is all See, the thing about DeAndre, the talent has always been there. It’s just character issues, you know, the things that are behind the scenes. And you know, when you hear about him not making it to practice or making excuses like being in the driveway or having problems in the locker room, you got to feel like, hey, if he’s going to be in the locker room with LeBron and Luca and some of the uh the culture that he’s going to get while being a Laker, you know, maybe some of that stuff can rub off and make him finally fulfill the talent of being a number one pick. cuz you know, you got to understand this guy got picked over Luca Donic, guys like Trey Young and most notable names that come to mind in that draft. Uh so hopefully this can fill a a a gap for the Lakers who needed somebody to fulfill that because when we saw Rudy Goar going there looked like Will Chamberlain in the playoffs. It was definitely a hole in the middle that the Lakers needed to fix. And so I I love this move. Hopefully some of the LeBron type of mindset and culture setting could rub off on the kid because he could be a big asset. Yeah. Um I mean we we’ve been talking about this all week. One of the options for the Lakers being DeAndre and I think this is a great move for the Lakers. They needed to go and get a real big they needed a rim protector. They needed a lob option for Luca. I think this gives them someone that you know has the talent. So, if he can adjust to the culture and the situation in LA, this could be a really great thing for them. So, does this swing you back? Are you back on the bandwagon now?
I wasn’t I was never off. I just felt like it was a retirement situation coming up for LeBron. It had they not did some did something with the roster. So, we start off by now getting DeAndre A.
So, the LeBron thing is cool. And then we got Luca. Now, we’ll see Reeves and Ruie and whoever else if that’s something that we package up and move on from or we insert them into the lineup because that’s probably your five right there, right? You got LeBron, you got Aiden, you got Luca, you got Reeves, and you got Ruie. That’s your five. So, now what’s the next? What are we going to do with the others?
We’re going to add depth. We might be able to.
Yeah. You excited? No, I’m not overly excited, but I think we we got what we should have had last year in the Williams trade. that was vetoed for medical reasons, so to speak. Yeah, this is a great signing.
You know, LeBron has been the goat of subliminals throughout his career. You know, it could be something it couldn’t be. Um I think he wouldn’t mind going back, you know, for him to go to Cleveland and and golf. like I’m not flying to Cleveland for nothing, you know? And I understand he has his school there and his ties are there, but he’s out there golfing and wearing a hat that says welcome home. I wouldn’t put it past him if this could be a homecoming, possibly a trade uh of some type. Maybe he’s out there with Rich Paul, meeting with uh Dan Gilbert, uh about the possibilities of coming having his Fairwood tour out of Cleveland because look, fair uh Cleveland is the door is wide open for them out of the East to get to the finals. You put LeBron in that mix and if you can keep Donovan Mitchell and some of your core pieces and figure out how to get LeBron in there, I can see that happening.
He’s in Cleveland right now because that’s his area region that he’s from. That’s the only thing. He’s just there doing what he does every single year. Goes and visits the school, hangs out for a couple weeks, whatever the case may be. His roots are there. I don’t think he’s going back to Cleveland. And I said this last year when we were trying to figure out what’s going to do. He’s not going anywhere, Joey, until he decides to retire. And the reason that is is because he does not he doesn’t want to alienate the situation in LA by all of a sudden you have strung us along for so long hanging out with us meaning Laker fans and and and giving us hope for certain things and he’s just going to rip it right from underneath us. He’s not going to do that. He’s his grounds are here in LA now
from a business perspective. And I know people, oh, he could do that on the online and his phone calls and Zoom now. He doesn’t have to be in LA.
Yes, he does.
Yes, he does. Yes, he does.
You know, yes, he does have to be in Los Angeles to do some of the powerful things and powerful moves that he wants to make. And that that’s just the reality of it. I don’t think I think he likes the new ownership. uh when they first bought the team, him and Luca was praising the new ownership and and seeing things in a positive light. On top of all that, he just hired the damn coach last year. He just hired JJ.
JJ last year. I almost called him Steve Nash, but JJ last year. He just hired him. So now you had us hire him and you getting ready to leave us.
Yeah. I I don’t think that LeBron is going anywhere this year. I do think LeBron knows that the online detectives are going to
online
start getting all squirrely if you post something like this, but it doesn’t really make sense for Cleveland for them to give up their core. They’re in a position where they can compete for a championship this year. It doesn’t really make sense from LeBron from a business standpoint, right? You want to finish your career with this team that you’ve been playing for. Um and and I don’t know that the story is the same in Cleveland’s anymore. like we we had that moment they’ve done that.
So I I I think he’s just messing with everybody. Um and why not cuz they’re going to play along. Well, the Knicks have their guy. They reportedly hired Mike Brown as their next head coach. Brown has been coaching in a league for over two decades with three stints as a head coach over 11 seasons. He most recently was with the Kings, leading them to their first playoff appearance in 17 seasons back in 2023. And most notably, he coached LeBron and the Cavs to the NBA Finals in 2007. So, Paul, do you like this hire? Can Mike Brown get the Knicks to the finals? Yeah. Um, I love this hire because there was only a few people that can get the Knicks to the finals that I had in mind. Mike Brown was actually one of them. I myself was one of them, but I turned down the job course and, you know, I have no interest in coaching. And so I thought, you know, getting Mike Brown, a guy with the experience that he’s had, he’s a players coach, this is what they needed. Tibs was a coach coach. This is something that we’ve talked about uh over the last week or so that they needed a players coach who can understand them, who can understand what they need, that can put them in a system where they can thrive on both sides of the of the ball. And you need a coach that can deal with the New York media, and Mike Brown has been that. you know, he’s been in situations where, you know, he even got eject I remember he got ejected in a game and he came to the podium with the with the laptop like it was a joke like you know what I can deal with y’all like he was like he got ejected and look you know showed it to him like you know you know he he knows how to deal with the media and so I love this hiring a guy who has championship experience respected among the players uh been under the coaching tree of Steve Kerr pop He was recently coach of the year uh for the Sacramento Kings, I believe, a few years ago. Uh and so I I really like this hiring. Uh I couldn’t it couldn’t have got any better because all the coaches that are out there I was like they’re good. We’re either already having teams that they were looking at or they just weren’t didn’t want the job like myself. And so this is this is this is a great hiring for the Knicks. No, it’s it’s it’s it you know, it’s interesting because I always look at the coaching uh carousel, the cycle when it comes up and you look at the names and the recycler names and the microwaving of names. You know, you just push a bing and they they ready to go. Mike Brown’s one of those guys that is a really good coach, but he will never get that credit that from Cleveland when he took him to the championship because he’s playing with LeBron James. He wasn’t like out there with just some guys. He was out there with LeBron. So, people won’t give him that good credit. You look at Sacramento in a year ago, you know, guys coach of the year or two seasons ago, they give him a new extension, you know, pay him all this money, beginning of the season, they start off a little slow, they fire him, right? And now all of a sudden, he’s back on the market and the Knicks get the opportunity to get him. So, I think they got a really good coach. They need to address obviously the depth issues. But even even crazier than that, as I had Nick do some research for me and I thought about Tibs and I thought about Mike Brown and the minutes that they play they players. You know, Mike Brown will run your tongue in the ground, too.
You know, Tibs was third in the league at 32.7 and Mike Brown was 31.9 prior to being fired at fourth.
Yeah, he gonna run you he going to run you in the ground, too. So, you know, you getting a a disciplined coach from a defensive standpoint, but he doesn’t mind only going six, seven deep on the roster. Yeah.
You know, he doesn’t mind doing that. Just look at those minutes.
So, they got to be, you know, they got to be mindful of that. Well, I mean, I think he’s a good coach. I I don’t know that there was really anyone that I was that they were going to hire that I was going to be like, “This is a complete difference maker at this point.” I think he’s great with the media and he did a good job with Sacramento, which is not the easiest place to win and he has a lot of experience. So, I I think it’s a I think it’s a good hire. The thing that worries me about this hire, no matter who was going to be stepping into this role, is the pressure of immediately turning this team around and getting to at the le very least the Eastern Conference Finals, but the expectations is obviously the finals. Now, he’s done that before, so it’s not like this is, you know, foreign territory to him. and he’s played in in in many or I’m sorry, coached in many, you know, high-profile situations being with the Warriors and the Spurs, but and and with LeBron and Cleveland, but
and the Lakers
and the Lakers. I just this hire requires an immediate results and so whoever was stepping into this position is going to be scrutinized in a different type of way. I I I love that he’s up for the challenge and we’ll see how it how it turns out. But I I think that the the reasoning for firing Tibs did not set up the whoever was going to be hired for the Knicks for a great situation because you hadn’t been to the Eastern Conference finals in 25 years. You you improved every single year and then you fire him for reasons that now you hire Mike Brown and he’s not essentially the same coach. I think I was more of a he is more of a players coach than a coach coach. So, personalitywise and all of that, very different than Tib, but coaching style, same same tongue in the ground, defensive-minded coach like Tibs was, defensive coordinator like Tibs was.
So, then maybe the uh players coach element will be the thing that gets the over the edge. One name that was brought up during New York’s coaching search was South Carolina head coach Don Staley. The Knicks reportedly spoke with her about the opening and were impressed, but they ultimately passed on her for Mike Brown. So, he is a mistake for the Knicks to pass on Don Sale.
You know, I don’t like the word mistake.
Mhm. Because they kicked the tires on it and whatever for whatever those conversations were in the room, there was no offer that was made. Um, hell of a coach. women’s basketball in college certainly would have lost a a star in the coaching ranks, but at least and I and I hate to say but at least, but I don’t even know how to get to where I want to get to without saying that there was an opportunity that has now opened up the door for other women in women’s basketball that may have the opportunities to get a look. Mhm.
So, you got to start getting a look, especially in professional sports when you when you deal with uh gender issues, you deal with race issues, you deal with all that until the door is actually open. And the Knicks, just like Portland did with with Becky Hammond a couple years ago, they opened the door for an opportunity it just didn’t happen. And now you see it happening again where they open up the door, the Knicks did, but it just hasn’t happened yet. So, no, I don’t think it was a mistake. is an opportunity that just didn’t materialize at the level that we would probably all hope for.
Yeah, I don’t think it was a mistake either. I love that. Like you said, Keith, they’re opening the door for women who have brilliant basketball minds to enter the NBA as head coaches now because we talked about was it Becky Becky Hannon getting the interview with Portland. And so now more and more the women uh coaches are starting to come into the play and get in the coaching carousel as Keith likes to say. And so I love that. I don’t like this job for Don as a firsttime NBA coach. Well, it’s not it’s not the pressure. Don can handle the pressure, but this just hasn’t been a stable job. The head coaching job for the New York Knicks. When you look at the past coaches outside of Tibs, this is a two or three year deal. you know, for the most part, in some cases, one. And so, you know, I really like to have a situation to where she can come in, get her feet wet with a rebuilding situation to where you have a little more leeway uh to make a mistake and and do the things you want to do and implement your coaches and put in your system. And that takes some time as a new NBA head coach. And so, but I love the fact that she’s in the talks.
Yeah. I didn’t really like this job for any firsttime head coach, to be honest with you, for the same reasons. I mean, I I just said it with with Mike Brown. I think Mike Brown is capable of advancing the Knicks where they need to go because he’s done it before, but he is not going to have any time to do that. Tibs made them better every single year and they still fired him. Yeah.
And now the expectations are get back to the Eastern Conference Finals or the finals right away or at least within these first two years. So, this was going to be a tough job for anyone to take. But I do love that the Knicks interviewed her and that it’s out there that she’s being in these conversations because let’s be honest with Don Staley’s resume in college basketball, she would be hired immediately this year as a with all the coach openings. If she was a man, she’s 28 287 and 34, four time Nay Smith coach of the year, seven final four appearances, four national championship appearances, and three national championships in the last nine seasons. she’s more than qualified to step into the next level and and she’s a name that is respected in any basketball circle. So, I think she’s going to get an opportunity to be a head coach in the NBA very soon. Um, this particular job, I mean, I don’t know. It’s it’s so I don’t know how long Mike Brown’s going to last there.
Yeah, Mike Brown, they be my man, they be giving it to my man though. They give him a job and all of a sudden, boom. You know, Mike, stop it. Mike, hey, no, Mike is respected though. you as long as you’re respected in the NBA circles and like I said, he’s a players coach. The players still like you like Doc. He like Doc.
Yeah, I think Mike is a good coach. I’m I’m talking about the Knicks. I’m not talking about what Mike is capable of doing. If I knew that he was going to have a three or four year window to get the Knicks where they are trying to go. I don’t I don’t think that’s what it is, though. I think it’s a two-year window.
That was so crazy. That was what’s so crazy about the Sacramento deal. He comes from Golden State. He turns them completely around. They had been in the playoffs forever and then they blink and they like, “Oh man, you got to get out of here.”
Yeah. They started
after they gave him some money.
13 and 18.
But I I don’t think they should have fired him. No, not at all.
No, I think that has something to do with him and a player maybe.
Even if it was what’s the name they wind up um
trading him to to San Antonio?
Yes. Yes.
You know, something with that.
Deian Fox.
Deian Fox. Yeah. Heat. Heat. Heat. [Music] Hey, [Music] hey, hey, hey.

Joy Taylor, Keyshawn Johnson, and Paul Pierce react to reports of Deandre Ayton signing with the Los Angeles Lakers. LeBron James drops a cryptic message on social media which raises concern if he wants to stay as a Laker. The New York Knicks hire Mike Brown while passing on Dawn Staley, sparking debate about their long-term direction.

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Lakers reportedly land Ayton, LeBron’s cryptic post & Knicks hire Mike Brown, not Staley | SPEAK
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