Giannis Can’t Keep Getting Away With This

Giannis Can’t Keep Getting Away With This

Giannis just forced the Bucks in one of the craziest moves. They will pay Damen Lillard $23 million in the next five years to not play basketball for them. Oh, it’s tough to build an NBA roster trying to do it with 23 million less than everybody else, but they did it to sign Miles Turner. They opened up money to pay him in free agency, filling a big need in the roster. Brook Lopez just left for LA, and there are very few centers who are a perfect fit next to Giannis, but Turner is one. Plus, this hurts the Pacers for years and they hate those people. Turner’s just 29 years old, was key to their success making the finals. But is this going to work? Not even close. I am sorry, but Miles Turner isn’t like a superstar player. But that is how they are paying him cuz dude makes 27 million now plus the 23 million of Dame’s money. So it’s like they’re paying 50 million for Miles Turner. Do you know who makes $50 million last year? like Nicola Joic, Kevin Durant. It’s more than Giannis himself. But is having Miles Turner like having two Giannis type players? Not even close. And you guys know the number one rule in this new CBA is to not have bad contracts. Well, they’ve got a heck of a bad one. Now, not saying that Miles Turner isn’t worth 28 million, but when you add it all together, no. So, Giannis might stay for now, but how long till he realizes this mistake? But Chris Haynes already reported, “Hey, Giannis was not pleased with the team’s decision to wave Damen Lillard.” And right after that, Giannis posted, “Mood 100 with the caption,” I have no idea what’s going on. What does that even mean? Does it mean he’s not happy? Because if so, shut up, Giannis. Constantly pushes his team to go allin so he can’t complain when they do something crazy like this. First, rumors that he could leave. So, they trade for Drew Holiday. Rumors again, trade for Damen Lewis. Then, oh, they’re all out of ammo. No moves left. But out of nowhere, we have never seen a salary this big get waved. Nobody thought it was possible. So, Giannis keeps getting away with this. But there’s a problem. Pressuring your team only works if you plan to leave. Like LeBron forces his teams to spend all of their assets to compete. And then when they’re no longer a contender, he’s like, “All right, guys. I’m out. It was fun. Go into another team. Have fun with that.” But who cares? That’s cool, right? Like plenty of teams would love for LeBron to come do that with them. But if you plan to stay on the team, it doesn’t really work. Like Dirt Nitzky or Tim Duncan, they played the long game with their teams. Even Steph Curry, he doesn’t pressure that much. Allows Golden State to build in a smart way. Giannis is like burning it to the ground and then wondering like how did this happen? So I am tired of Giannis threatening to leave but not having the guts to actually go through with it. like so many quotes like, “Oh, I don’t want to be on the same team for 20 years and only win one chip.” But did it ever feel like he was actually going to leave? No. So, the Bucks did this to keep Yiannis happy. And let’s be honest, they actually have a golden opportunity next year. Celtics are dead with Jason Tatum’s injury. Pacers are screwed with Tyres Hallebertton and now Miles Turner gone. So, Milwaukee could potentially make the finals with some luck. They feel a valuable need at center, but they’re not done yet. They still need perimeter defense, scoring outside of Giannis, and a point guard to help Giannis handle the ball. Maybe they go after Anthony Simons from Boston. All they would have to do is deal Kyle Koosma in a clean swap. Chris Paul. I’ll tell you who I don’t feel bad for is Damen Lillard. The dude obviously didn’t love living in Milwaukee away from his family. This way, Dame can actually get paid twice just to rehab, and he gets to pick where he goes for the first time in his career. Rumors say the Miami Heat are interested, and this time they could get Dame without giving up any assets other than cap space. Dame’s chances of winning a ring actually went way up with this. The Athletic actually reported he’s at home, quote, elated about the move. Dude must have been legit miserable in Milwaukee. But I do feel bad for the Pacers. Can you imagine? You are one win away from the championship and then your owner goes cheap. How could he not pay the luxury tax to keep Miles Turner? Well, actually, there is a brand new NBA rule this year that forced this to happen. So, Herb Simon owns the team and he is a shopping mall billionaire. You know, not exactly a thriving industry, so he’s a little cheap. That’s cool. He hasn’t paid the luxury tax for 20 years, but said, “You know what? I will do it to keep this roster together.” Then two things happened. Number one, Tyresese Hallebertton got injured, so it kind of sucked to pay the luxury tax for a gap year. And two, this new luxury tax rule. Starting next season, for every dollar above the tax you spend, you have to pay an extra dollar up to 5.7 million. The next level is 5.7 million to 11.4. You owe a $1.25 for every dollar above the tax. But then it gets insane. Level three jumps to 350 for every dollar you spend. And level four is five bucks for every $1 you spend above the tax. So there is no way Herb Simon, a guy who hasn’t paid the tax in 20 years, was going to be a level three or level 14. But check this out. Pacer salary cap. These are the guys under contract for Indie. And by the way, they’ve got to keep 14 players on the roster. That’s an NBA rule. 14 minimum. So down at the bottom to minimum contracts, but add Miles Turner to this. Bam. 12 million over the tax. A level three team. There was no way Herb Simon was going to pay that. So it makes sense. They probably went to Miles Turner. They were like, “Hey dude, we we really actually need you to take a really teamfriendly deal.” And other teams were like, “No way, dude. We’ll pay you.” So Miles was like, “I have to leave. I have no choice.” In fact, we know they offered three years, 60 million, which is a slap in the face to a guy who’s been a lifelong Pacer, key to their finals run. The Bucks almost freaking doubled that. And now the Pacers have to see Turner go to their biggest rival. Now, what are the Pacers going to do next? We’ll see. Maybe they get DeAndre Aton at center. He might already be a Laker by the time you see this video, but most likely this is a big blow to Indie, especially Tyrese Hallebertton, who is now down one key teammate when he returns from that injury. But the real question is, what happens with the Bucks if they flame out? How bad is their situation really? Honestly, I think it’s kind of genius. And here’s why. Let’s say Giannis realizes they’ve got no chance to win next year. They’re not even a top three seed or something. And then team building beyond that’s impossible with all of Dame’s dead money on the books. So if Giannis does get traded, they also now have Miles Turner who’s got real value. And then at that point, if you’re rebuilding, who cares if you have 23 million in dead money on the books? Rebuilding teams don’t need big money anyway. It would be an excuse to suck and not pay for a good roster. Of course, in this scenario, the Bucks would need to trade for their own first round picks back. But before this deal, they had Giannis and Dame to trade, and Dame had very little value as an injured 34 year old. But they flip in for Miles Turner, who absolutely has value. So, I love what Milwaukee is planning here. They are taking a wild swing to keep Giannis. But if that doesn’t connect, then they get to start all over dealing both Giannis and now Turner who has value. But one guy on the Bucks who is in serious trouble is Malik Beasley. While in Milwaukee, feds are investigating him for betting on games. This is the third major scandal that we’ve had in the NBA lately. So, I took a deep dive into the Malik Beasley situation to see how shitty is this dude actually. Is he innocent or is his NBA career officially over?

Giannis and the Bucks are making news this offseason but not in a way anybody expected. This is a look at how they signed Myles Turner away from Indiana and what it means for Giannis going forward.