H-Towns are real contenders NOW! – ESPN Report: Dorian Finney-Smith & Clint Capela sign with Rockets

H-Towns are real contenders NOW! – ESPN Report: Dorian Finney-Smith & Clint Capela sign with Rockets

the Suns are trading 15 time allstar Kevin Durant to the Rockets kevin Durant kevin Durant
kevin Durant
durant makes his move
oh big finish
i’m a villain i’mma kill it every time
for the Rockets this is something that gives them a number one option
you can hand them the ball and say “Take me there.”
Crazy crazy last couple weeks they wanted me to go so they got what they wanted and I got what I wanted of course the defending champs the Thunder they head into next season as the overwhelming favorite to take the West but the big story so far this summer Houston next in line after adding Kevin Durant the top three seeds from this season have the three shortest odds to win the conference next season and we got some more breaking news as free agency underway this hour in the NBA sham Shirani our insider reporting that forward Dorian Finny Smith is leaving the Lakers for the Rockets he gets a 4-year $53 million deal another move for Houston adding a veteran nba champ Kendrick Perkins joins us now and K perk so the Rockets add another big piece here to the roster with veteran experience how much are the Rockets a contender going into next season hey Raphael Stone got me thinking about going to his house on holidays cuz damn it he been cooking especially this off season he’s been cooking the war the the the the Rockets are the biggest winners right now when you look at what they’ve done this off season especially getting Kevin Durant right in the trade being able to keep their primary pieces when you talk about Afro Shangon Aman Thompson uh you know uh resigning Fred Van Vleet they have everything and more to compete for NBA championship it’s OKC and then it’s the Houston Rockets those are the top two teams in the league and when you think about what they have in Steven Adams coming in off the bench they have one of the best coaches in Eay Udoka and then they just signed Dorian Finny Smith right just signed him the most important position in the NBA the wing position and you get another 3 and D guy to go alongside Aean Thompson and Trey Een oklahoma City just laid the blueprint on what you need we was there Kev
you and I was there you was standing on the box but we saw everything
why you got to bring that up i’m feeling good now cuz we’re level level cuz I’m sitting down and you’re sitting down right all right let’s uh let’s get level here specifically about the Lakers all right uh because I notice on this graphic I don’t see the Lakers NBA title odds here i don’t see them in the top five lebron’s agent Rich Paul made it clear that the four-time champ wants to compete for another ring after he opted into his final year in LA who do you believe is going to help them on a possible title run in a jam-packed Western Conference well well now they got two issues they got to address the wing position right because they just lost Finny Smith
and and also the center position i believe they got to get the center uh point right first because it’s not about LeBron it’s about Luca luca needs a dynamic roller a live threat at the basket and I feel like that guy is DeAndre Aton i don’t feel like it’s Brook Lopez i’m not taking anything away from him but when you talk about the athleticism when you talk about a guy that’s going to rebound at a high level he has the ability to pick and pop pick and roll that’s what they need and so when you look at where DeAndre Aton is at yes some may question his love for the game at times some may question his work ethic but you put him in a locker room with the likes of LeBron James who has done it at the highest level far as being a professional and taking care of his body i think the Lakers need to go out and get DeAndre Aton he’s the best fit at the center position for starters by the way Eightton is the first player to average at least 10 points and 10 rebounds in each of his first seven NBA seasons since Dwight Howard much more from K Perk top of the hour on NBA Today’s free agency special appreciate you back
hey one of the big names Jiren Jackson is expected to sign a 5-year $240 million max extension with the Grizzlies that’s according to an ESPN report jackson averaged 18 and a half points five and a half rebounds for Memphis this past season a two-time all-star former NBA defensive player of the year he was named at the NBA AllDefensive Second Team this past season and staying with the Grizzlies the team also signed Santi Aldama to a three-year 52.5 million deal aldama had a career-high in points rebounds and assists per game this year as well free agent for Dorian Finny Smith agreed to a four-year $53 million deal with the Houston Rockets finny Smith averaged nearly nine points per game last year in stints with the Nets and Lakers it adds to a busy off seasonason already for Houston who traded for Kevin Durant and signed Jabari Smith to his five-year $122 million rookie extension on Sunday and with that million dollar deal with Dorian Finny Smith Rockets are going in uh after acquiring Kevin Duranti Smith this is a team that can contend in the Western Conference as currently built what is this move what do you think about the moves the Rockets have made here to bolster their roster
yeah this is essentially a replacement of Dylan Brooks right they trade Dylan Brooks and Jaylen Green to get Kevin Durant and then they go out in free agency and they find another wing defender to replace Brooks they’ve lost nothing and they’ve added Kevin Durant so you figure going into the season Houston is immediately the top contender against Oklahoma City and you know with all of their youth with Amen Thompson ascending with Reed Shepard maybe getting into the rotation giving them some shooting moving forward they’re in a great spot to contend not just this year but for the foreseeable future john when you look at DFS is that a move that pops for you
oh I love this i think he fits in perfectly sam just nailed it but I think that the the Rockets I what they’ve done this off season has been brilliant i was one of the people Hakee who was saying “Hey they were the two seed last year maybe they don’t need to make any moves it’s kind of like an OKC starter kit they’ve got this young core they’re cost controlled they’ve got all these draft picks maybe they should just wait until the trade deadline.” I was an idiot i love this i’m glad that they took the swing on KD and now they add Dorian Finny Smith who fits in seamlessly because he’s three and D just like basically everybody on the team they’re going to be some lineups where they have Kevin Durant on the floor and Kevin Durant is like maybe the worst defender that they have out there because they add Dorian Finny Smith to a team that has Aman Thompson and Jabari Smith who they extend and Tari E who I’m a big fan of the casuals might not realize how good he is cam Whitmore way down at the end of the bench he’s fantastic i mean just on on down the roster they are loaded again and on top of that when they went and got KD they addressed one of their main problems which is that they didn’t have a closer maybe they add some more shooting here everybody can always use shooting but you know moving on from Jaylen Green who is a bucket but super inconsistent and then you know moving on from Dylan Brooks and and then replacing them with KD and Dorian Finny Smith full marks here this team right now Oklahoma City is going to be the favorite no doubt about it in the Western Conference but I don’t think the Rockets are very far off
no stop what you’re doing stop what you’re doing right now they’re nine to1 to win the NBA championship this is my pick to win the NBA championship next year i think the Houston Rockets are wow you know they they needed a closer they needed Durant they got him now they have Shagon who’s a budding star uh Thompson’s a guy who’s getting better every single day fred Van Vleet has been through the wars but now he’s appropriately your fourth or fifth best player that’s when Fred Vanble is at his best and now you add in a guy who’s you know won a lot of games i’m shocked luca Donuch let this guy out of the Lakers facility because he loved playing with him in Dallas they’re playing with him in LA i don’t know what’s going on with the Lakers right now but as far as the Western Conference it’s Oklahoma City Houston and everybody else
they did sign Jake Laravia which we’ll get to later in this uh hour here as free agency rages on a deal now for D’Angelo Russell speaking of the Mavs uh Tim Luca’s old team guess what d’angelo Russell headed to the Mavs according to an ESPN report two years $13 million and you consider Tim that they’re not going to have Kyrie Irving for most of next season this is a great get in my opinion for Dallas what’s your reaction to the move here
no totally i mean you hate to call a professional athlete a band-aid but that’s what he is right he’s just bandating this up while Kyrie Irving is recovering and who knows if Kyrie is going to be back you know later in the season that’s what the reports kind of indicate here’s a guy that was one time an all-star but you know second time through Brooklyn he looked extremely disinterested last year now I get it they were absolutely terrible and he’s out there just rifling up threes so now he has to feel rejuvenated i I I know this about the Mavericks John and Sam Keem we need a hard knocks for the Mavericks the drama with this team okay and now you’re bringing a guy who you know has some issues back in the day with the phone and teammates and has bounced around you got Cooper there is Anthony Davis going to play in 16 games klay Thompson’s 106 years old kyrie Irvy’s bouncing back from injury the Mavericks I really don’t think they’re contenders next year but man I want to know everything about this team i want to watch every game going to want to see how this all plays out because the story is absolutely fascinating
you don’t think they’re contenders John you agree with that
contenders
the West is loaded i mean I as I mentioned like we were going through Sam and I were on the show on the podcast where we were like thinking about how many teams in the Western Conference have designs on making the playoffs next season and like I know the Suns think that they’re one of those teams but we’ll put them off to the side you’re looking at 13 teams that have designs on making the playoffs next year so I think that the Mavericks are right in that mix now are they as good as Oklahoma City and the Rockets no they’re not but could they be potential problems for whichever team draws them during the postseason yeah absolutely now this sort this D’Angelo Russell thing is like everybody this is one of those anticipated moves where it’s a nice fit for him it’s a nice fit for them it’s sort of like a bridge loan until Kyrie comes back because look they’re loaded in that front court with Anthony Davis and Derek Lively and PJ Washington and Dwight Powell and uh you know you got Daniel Gaffford they just resigned him and they got Cooper flag now but that back court is an absolute mess so you’re going to need somebody to dribble the ball i know Jason Kit said “Oh we’re going to run some point Cooper flag out there.” Rip to that idea but Nico Harrison like he sort of fell backwards into this right where I know he said “Oh now people are going to see the vision that we put together.” What vision you had a 1.8% chance of getting Cooper flag you got bailed out by the lottery balls that said Tim is absolutely right contenders or not this is going to be a very interesting team to watch yeah I’d like to do a uh documentary on the lottery ping pong whoa whoa whoa whoa whoa
yeah I’d like to see I’d like I’d like to see what happened there Tim that’s what I’d like to see if we’re trying to do it all behind the scenes access h Where did that pingpong ball land there 1.8% chance h All right okay if you’re you’re telling me you just traded away Luca and then you get the first overall pick that the kids would say Sounds a little sus sounds a little sus sounds a little sus just saying uh this deal reunites D’Angelo Russell with Anthony Davis they played together uh in Los Angeles look D’Angelo Russell is a nice piece here uh Sam when you look at this team they’re trying to of course fill the hole that will be left open while Kyrie Irving is recovering from the from the injury yeah this is about as well as they reasonably could have done right they’re only working with that taxpayer mid-level exception they don’t have resources most of their picks have been traded you know they were linked to Drew Holidayiday they were linked to some other veterans it was always going to be hard for them unless they were willing to break up that enormously unbalanced roster with all of these forwards and centers which Nico Harrison refuses to do it was always going to be hard for them to go out and get a starting level guard for them to do it at this price I think that’s a success and remember D’Angelo Russell very good regular season player he’s very nice to have in January and February when you just need somebody to raise your offensive floor well when April may come around and his playoff struggles start to present themselves he’s hopefully going to be a backup he’s going to be behind Kyrie Irving who unlike D’Angelo Russell is a very proven playoff player so I’d be fine with this at the value i have all of the same questions about Dallas’s overall vision that John and Tim do but considering the price I think they did pretty well here d’angelo Russell has never met a shot that he doesn’t like so uh he’s going to get up shots there in Dallas uh much more ahead here on CBS Sports HQ as we continue our NBA free agency coverage and you take a look at the names d’angelo Russells alongside 1500 threes 3,000 assists before turning age 30 russell Curry Harden and Lillard going into their age 29 season again D’Angelo Russell a two-year deal with the Dallas Mavericks a reported $13 million back here on CBS Sports HQ as we continue to follow NBA free agency go get it young fella clint Capella headed back to Houston on a three-year 21.5 million deal that’s according to an ESPN report capella spent the first six years of his career in Houston before being traded to Atlanta in 2020 capella averaged nine points eight and a half rebounds per game last season but lost his starting spot late in the year back here with Sam Quinn John Gonzalez and Tim Doyle and how about Houston here Sam going all in what do you make of the latest deal to get Clint Capella a three-year $21.5 million deal
yeah this is the most surprising deal of the night so far right didn’t Houston just resigned Steven Adams for 39 million over three years they still have Alper and Shenon they just resigned Jabari Smith to a 5-year $122 million deal last night they have a lot of people who are either explicitly centers or can play some center and you probably would want to experiment with that moving forward the Rockets do use a lot of two big lineups they gave the Warriors fits in that first round series when they put Shenun and Adams on the court together you can’t play two bigs for 48 minutes so I have some real questions here is there another move coming from a cat perspective there basically has to be right they can’t fit both Clint Capella and Dorian Finny Smith into their non-t taxpayer mid-level exception one of these is going to have to be structured as a signin trade i’m going to be very interested to see who Houston is sending out to make the money work on this but on paper three centers for the Rockets i’m stunned john are you also puzzled by this move
yes extremely i saw this and went “Wait what what is happening here it doesn’t make any sense to me.” For all the reasons that Sam just outlined here i mean they brought back Steven Adams they ran that double big lineup to some success during the regular season and then in the postseason but as Sam mentioned you’re not going to run a double big for 48 minutes they’ve got a glut of players at the front court i’m I I there has to be something that we’re missing here there’s got to be a next move and then also from Clint Capella’s perspective there had to be a better opportunity i mean you know go get your your money right $21 million who’s throwing that at Clint Capella the Hawks couldn’t wait to get off of Clint Capella’s money they were trying to trade him for the last couple of years no there were no takers out there for Clink Capella they couldn’t wait to move on to Aneka Akangu and then here comes the Houston Rockets with Steven Adams and Alberin Shenun and um who else am I jamar and Jabari Smith who can also play some center and they decided to bring in Clink Capella too i mean I would have expected if I’m Clint Capella opportunity-wise one of the two LA teams would have been a better situation for me than this log jam that they have at center so yeah look everything that the Rockets have done up until this point I’ve been on board with i thought was really smart i think makes them a contender but there’s something here that we haven’t figured out yet so there’s got to be another shooter to drop
right some more pieces to fall so what I have learned to is that if I was in school with Sam I would let him sit in front of me and I would look over his shoulder if I could if I could peer over that shoulder I’d be looking right at his scantron and copying his answers right onto my math test okay because you know the guy knows his numbers he does he know he knows his he knows his numbers i’m just curious if uh the numbers are going to work out to competing in the Western Conference cuz at the end of the day that’s what what what matters right John i mean you bring these guys in does it work for one season you have Kevin Durant he’s of course going to be ball dominant you bring all these pieces in and go “Yeah they’re all in.” It’s great when you say a team’s all in but does it result in a team that can win it all
oh I think absolutely i mean look we’ll put the center log jam over to the side and we’ll assume that it will iron itself out some way somehow but however it works the main core of KD and Alprin Shenon and Fred Van Fleet and then Ahmed Thompson who I’m a massive fan of who I think has all NBA potential already made all defense jabari Smith they just extended him five for 122 this is a young Tar East the bench is loaded we didn’t even get Sam Sam and I sometimes talk about justice for Reed Shepard who we think will be a really good player and one day Akeem asked Sam about his Wild Reach Shepard take but the whole point here is Oklahoma City we just saw what happened with them with they have the MVP and SGA and that Jaylen Williams really stepped forward making his first AllNBA team but there they are really deep maybe the the deepest team in the NBA right well what they’re building in Houston or what they’ve built in Houston I think is every bit as deep and will it work i think how could it not like you unplug Jaylen Green who can be a bucket but was also hyper inconsistent and Dylan Brooks who you know he likes to get after people and he can be a nudge and all that stuff you take those two guys aside and you replace it with KD and Dorian Finny Smith man they are absolutely loaded and I’ve mentioned this before but it bears repeating their main problem last year to the extent that they had one when you’re the number two seed in the Western Conference was they had no closer so frequently they just had a whole group of guys who on any given night could be really good for you right late in games when it got tough in crunch time they kind of look around at each other and go “Oh wait who’s whose ball is this tonight?” Well now you got KD at the very least you can always default to that position man I love Houston
tim is that a team right there you look at that starting five you go “Yep they’re going to win it all you’re that confident in that starting five right there.”
That’s the best team in the NBA in my eyes wow yeah i mean it’s going to be
I think it’s going to be a great series with OKC uh right when I saw they made the move for Durant because there was a lot of speculation on where he was going to go and of all the teams I said if he had his choice the best squad for him to go to would be Houston because they can defend they’re young they’re athletic and he they need exactly what he could do still finish out games i called some of their games last year um in the playin tournament and they had a tough time scoring when it mattered and those were like playofflike atmosphere same thing happened when they got to the playoffs against the Warriors tough time scoring especially in the half court now you add one of the greatest scorers of all time uh I love this roster this is my pick to win the NBA championship as far as this move I don’t know it doesn’t make any sense that’s what John and Sam say i kind of agree with them uh I would rather have Clint Capella than Steven Adams if I was choosing between those two
all right again a three-year 21.5 million deal for Clint Capella houston allin meanwhile free agent guard Caris Levert agreed to a 2-year $29 million deal with the Pistons that’s according to ESPN hey [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] Edit video [Music] [Music] i said I don’t know [Music] all right nice don’t do it don’t let me do it [Music] [Music] Don’t tell me that wait we got

H-Towns are real contenders NOW! – ESPN Report: Dorian Finney-Smith & Clint Capela sign with Rockets