Biggest WINNERS & LOSERS of Free Agency Day 1 📈 📉 | The Hoop Collective

Biggest WINNERS & LOSERS of Free Agency Day 1 📈 📉 | The Hoop Collective

hello and welcome to the Hoop Collective podcast we talk about the NBA which we’re doing on Monday evening joining me from New York City is Tim Bontimps
hello everybody
joining us from Dallas Texas the new home of D’Angelo Russell is Ban McMahon howdy partners you know what they say D’Angelo wins championships huh yeah not bad um all right so first day of Regency is mostly uh in the books i’m sure that there will still be transactions that happen from when we record this to when it posts but that’s the nature of the beast uh however we’ve seen a lion share of um maneuvers across the league on the first day um we’re going to kind of go over some winners and losers should we do the winners or the losers first
oh you know what you want to do well I’m just a little bit skeptical of calling the team a loser on the first day of free agency because where would you like to start Brian that’s the question then we can decide which way to go
hit their arena with a rock right now if you had a good arm
you know um every year on Jul in and around July 4th um uh here in downtown LA uh they have the anime convention and uh every year it gets bigger
mhm and every year it gets a little bit weirder and um the the anime folks are starting to move in around here so I have free agency in anime every year this time of year um anyway uh the Lakers I thought for sure would have a center done by tonight um they don’t and the night is not over the sun is still up here in LA so it could still happen but uh a number of centers have come off the board and um they’re not um they’re not Lakers and as we do this um uh DeAndre Aiden has not signed but I don’t know if he’s going to be Lakers so we’ll see what I’m interested in when it comes to the Lakers is that they agreed to a contract with Jake Lorravia who is a you know he’s a backup wing player um combo forward um you know they they lost uh Dorian Finny Smith to the Rockets on a four-year deal i will be interested to see how much of those four years are guaranteed the um the Rockets are known for doing team options and non-g guaranteed money um but the Lakers lost a wing defender in um in Dorian Finny Smith and they replaced him with Jake Laavia and what I’m a little bit what I totally you know again we’re first knife free agency is ongoing but they used $6 million bond temps and that $6 million allowed the Clippers to outbid Brook Lopez allowed them to out bid for Brook Lopez now I don’t know if Brook Lopez’s decision came down to money brook Lopez ended up signing with the Clippers to do to be a backup for 9 million a year the Lakers had less than that because they had promised Jake Laavia the 6 million as far as far as I understand and again I’m not saying it was the only decision but that was that was a factor and then Clint Capella who I think was an option for them ended up uh going to Houston so um Bontemps I’m not sure maybe the Lakers didn’t prioritize Rook i don’t want to make it sound like they were out totally outmaneuvered but if I were the Lakers I would have had my first signing be a center not a backup forward
i mean if you look at the way free agency’s played out so far you know as you said we’re still we still have the DeAndre Aton situation outstanding he’s still got a little ways to go before he clears waiverss um you know Luke Cornett has signed with the San Antonio Spurs good big like would have been a potential starter for the Lakers he’s off the board capella obviously wouldn’t have been a super exciting option but at least as a lob threat he’s off the board brook Lopez which I think we all thought was going to wind up with the Lakers that was sort of what the the trending belief was to your point he goes off the board and not only goes off the board goes to the Clippers who have an incredibly deep and interesting team now getting Nick Patun back getting Brooke back him and Vita Zubox are tremendous combo inside like the complimentary skills really like that um you know Al Horford sitting out there still we’ll see what happens with Al Horford i don’t think he’s going to the Lakers like what have we talked about since the moment the Lakers traded for Luca Donuch well they got to find a long-term center they took about 5 minutes to trade for Mark Williams then bailed on that 5 minutes later and now we’re sitting here five months later and the one deep position in the market the center spot virtually every option’s off the board the Lakers don’t have anybody signed it’s not really clear what direction they’re going to go in and to your point like Jake Lori is a nice player like I think that’s a fine signing for them but maybe this means that they’re going to do a trade with one of these various expiring contracts they have or with Austin Reeves or something to get a center but you certainly have to assume the Lakers are going to come out of this off season with some sort of center long term and as of now it looks like the only way that’s going to be is via trade and I you know I’m not sure immediately who makes sense for them to go get on that front
yeah now I I will say Capella or Lopez would not have been long-term solutions for LA they’d have been stop gap uh solutions and and Capella frankly at at this point is a quality backup i was surprised that he landed back with Houston um simply because you know they have two good bigs um Alpar and Shenon and and Steven Adams you know they valued him as a as a third big they want to play a bunch of dual big lineups whatever you know I thought he was going to land with the Clippers um I thought he was going to reunite with James Harden not with the Rockets um but when Lopez like you said everything kind of the intel was pointing toward Brook Lopez signing with the Lakers when you saw Lopez to the Clippers it’s like ooh okay uh that’s an issue um but you know regardless there’s no like long-term solution on the horizon for Luca unless I in terms of pick and roll partner for Luca unless like you said they they pull a trade and I don’t know man and and again you’re telling me you don’t think DeAndre Aiden lands in with the Lakers i’m telling you I don’t think he he’d be a good fit with Luca anyway um if you’re Luca and they haven’t figured something out by August 2nd when you’re eligible to sign your extension maybe you just want to say “Let’s revisit that next summer.” Look I mean uh Jason Quick who is a um uh longtime uh writer based in Portland who’s covered the Blazers for many many many years and he currently writes for the Athletic he wrote a story tonight that um detailed one of the re some of the reasons why the Blazers um you know moved on from DeAndre Aton and you know I’m not going to get into all of it right now nothing like you know it’s bad habits not like it’s anything sinister but um you know if I read that I you know and assuming it’s accurate which you know Quick is known for his accuracy I wouldn’t necessarily be you know saying that this guy is a make or break um
well and the other thing is it’s not like that any of that stuff came as a surprise to anybody in the league what it’s the same reason Phoenix want to move off of him
that’s true I agree um but yeah but um you know the issue is is that you know there’s these so many times that you can you know add to your team and and this this couple of days is one of them and the Lakers have no centers on their roster
and Dorian Finny Smith was a critical midseason trade acquisition for them that ended up being a a short-term piece that’s not necessarily what they gave up to get him but Finny Smith was a huge part of the Lakers drastic defensive improvement uh in the second half of the season and I you can argue Lavia is a a much more versatile offensive player but it’s definitely a defensive downgrade yeah um we’ll see i’m I’m considering LeBron and you know Rich Paul came out and said we’d like to see if they build a championship team and then the first night of free agency didn’t exactly produce steps forward like there was a lot of assumptions you know maybe not the best night for the Lakers but um there’s more days and there’s more assets to use they have expiring contracts they have some draft assets um uh you know Aiden’s stats look impressive and I’m sure that Laker fans would have been happy to have him especially on some sort of discount but um I certainly would not declare them in the winner category
well especially as other teams in the West get better around them
all right now here’s a team that’s been a winner for a lot of the last few years but their team’s just been depleted and that’s the Celtics the Celtics um are you know they they traded away Chris Aspenus they traded away Drew Holidayiday and they came into this week pretty sure that they were going to lose um both Luke Cornett and Al Horford cornett who I think has pretty much played on a minimum his whole career bon don’t you think like two ways and minimums um I think Bob
he signed one he signed one uh just above the minimum deal for a couple years with the Bulls um
okay
few years ago and sort it’s actually a pretty pretty fascinating story for him because he was a guy he came in with the Knicks he came out of Vanderbilt and he was a guy who was seen as kind of a you know sort of a Brook Lopez light guy was sevenfooter who could shoot the three a little bit and has his shot completely deserted him and he’s reworked himself into a guy who you know sort of operates around the basket now doesn’t really shoot at all and has turned into a very good center been a really nice piece for the Celtics the last couple years and um you know I think he’s going to be a very interesting fit playing next to Victor Wanyaman now with the Spurs
yeah I remember uh a certain USWB telling us that uh Cornell was just going to stay with the Celtics on a minimum his whole career because he’s loved in Boston he’ll transition to a media gig
things have changed
well thank goodness him saying his agent well listen last he was he was convinced to stay there last year and it’s one thing if you’re staying on the Celtics and they have chances to win a title and it’s another thing when the Celtics are not a team that looks like they can make the playoffs and I think right now they look like a team that could struggle to make the playoffs let alone be a contender
yeah so he um Jackson says the average career high is in minutes rebounds and assists um this year and uh anyway he goes to the um the Spurs on a four a four-year $41 million contract bobby I think Bobby Mark said that his career earnings to this point were 9 million total so a huge um uh moment for Luke and his family um when I was flying um during the finals uh conference finals and finals over the over the last few years uh sometimes I flew with his family he’s got uh several kids and his wife and kids would fly um sometimes in the playoffs you end up flying with the with the players families you get to kind of know him a little bit so I’m really happy for his family we’ll see if all four years of it is guaranteed but you know and honestly I’m not going to focus on that because it’s great for him he will be uh a highlevel backup the Spurs Hope to Victor Wimbeyama but Al Horford is almost certainly going to sign elsewhere the the you know it looks like he’s going to sign with the Warriors that didn’t get done tonight um maybe it’ll get done in the next couple of days um so they’re going to have lost u you know basically their whole all three of their centers that they played in their rotation they reacted to that by signing Luca Garza away from the Timberwolves the Timberwolves lost Nquille Alexander Walker and Luca Garza tonight um but Boston you know you know you said Bontemps that they may struggle to um to make the playoffs we’ll see i think they’re still they still have some pretty good talent on their roster and the East is in flux but I would just say that um my position on this is they have identified uh assuming there’s no Jaylen Brown trade coming which I don’t think there is
they’ve identified who their core three players are and um they’re going to retain them and build around them and yeah they’re going to have to work to rebuild the team around them but they’ve identified their core three players all three of them are in their 20s actually how old’s Derrick White is he in his 30
yes I believe so believe he’s 31 i’ll check okay
it’s got to be
but he’s in his prime and so um
yeah he I believe is turning 31 in go back actually turning 31 on Wednesday happy birthday Der
happy pre-birth to Derek White
all right um that’s what they’re going to do they’re going to have to re restructure their role players around those guys but um those are their three core players they’re very good they’re a championship core they can climb back up to the mountain top but this is the second apron at work well I I mean yes and no it’s it’s the second apron at work sort of it’s it’s also they had arguably the most consequential injury in the history of the league happen in the second round of the playoffs and it caused them to have to go in a completely different direction like I still think if Jason Tatum doesn’t get hurt in game four of that series that they win the next three games and win that series and they might have won the East and I mean they very well could have won the title still right
yeah but they still weren’t paying Luke Cornet 40 million
well sure take from a man who lives in New York but go on
well listen the the Celtics the that injury totally shifted so many different things in the East i don’t think Desmond Bane gets traded to Orlando if that injury doesn’t happen obviously Indiana goes on to make the finals you know the way the Celtics team has been taken apart obviously some of that stuff was going to have to happen because they weren’t going to be able to go quite to that number but if the Celtics have won the title it would have been a fascinating question how much would they have been willing to spend this year to try to go for the first three repeat since the Lakers 25 years ago like that would have been something that would have had to be a real discussion even if it’s just for one more year so that happens and you know look again like Al Horford if Jason Tatum’s healthy Al Horford I can’t imagine is not playing on the Celtics this coming season
but Jason Tatum’s not healthy the Celtics are not going to be a contender al Horford’s going to go somewhere else um you know like it it is it is going to be fascinating to see exactly how Boston approaches this season and what they do over the next couple weeks and the next several months i mean look I still think there’s a very good chance they try to get fully out of the luxury tax it would make a lot of sense for them to reset their books completely and get out of the tax and they’re only 134 million dollars into the tax right now and they’ve got some expiring money they could potentially move around but they don’t have a lot of size inside you know they obviously have Tatum out probably for the year jaylen Brown is recovering from a knee injury we’ll see how he is at the start of the year but you know I don’t think the Celtics are going to win 22 games but I also think that if you told me right now to rank them in the East I think they’re a playin team so you know it’s
well there’s a lot of uh it’s it’s been a fascinating few weeks there and it’s probably going to be a very interesting week or so ahead to see what their team looks like after free agency is over well and and shedding salary was going to be a priority for the Celtics regardless of the circumstances like you know they’re all season long one of the big questions about the Celtics moving forward was okay hey which of their core guys are are they going to move to save money because they were so far into the tax but it went from being a priority to the priority like if Tatum’s healthy I don’t think they’re moving both Holiday and Porzingis and letting Horford go and not keeping Cornet you know my understanding is they made the offers they felt that they could go to with with Horford and Cornet and and it wasn’t close it wasn’t like difficult decisions for those guys to leave but you know like with Cornet $41 million from the Spurs like I don’t know what that math works out to with the Celtics but it’s well into nine figures when you throw in tax and so you know a gap year a reset year whatever you want to call it if they end up missing the playoffs it’s almost like okay cool then you get to add a lottery pick to the mix as you build back up around that core um you know once Tatum returns for 26 27 but you know it’s not sexy it’s not fun but slicing payroll is prior priority A B and C for the Celtics this summer all right let’s talk about some of the winners here um let’s start with the Atlanta Hawks um they acquired Alexander uh Nquil Alexander Walker uh in a sign and trade with uh Minnesota we could kind of tell that uh there just wasn’t enough room i think we talked about it on yesterday’s podcast and that turned out to be the way it was and Minnesota accommodated um uh naw because u uh the hawks had a trade exception so they couldn’t have signed him out right to this kind of money so it was four years and was it 62 million 62 million 462 yeah
by the way Bontam’s not bad value for Nikquil Alexander Walker 15 a.5 million a year
like yeah
that’s that’s pretty like I mean like In addition to you’re acquiring a strong uh multi-talented you know combo guard who defends has great length that you can put alongside Dyson Daniels um like I don’t think they overpaid for him i think that was pretty good value
no I mean look he was he was the most popular free agent on the market this summer in terms of guys who were going to be realistic options to change teams and look it’s been an incredible week for the Hawks the port they get Chris Porzingis last week in a really slick deal with the Celtics um getting off the Terrence man contract for the cost of the 22nd pick in the draft um getting getting in a guy who’s an elite
rim protector three-point shooter when he’s healthy every expectation he’s going to play in Euro basket this summer and be over the issues he had in Boston um then they have the draft night trade with New Orleans we’ve talked plenty about that that obviously could be Darren Peterson or AJ Deansa or Nate Dement one of these elite prospects in next year’s draft then they followed up by getting Alexander Walker who’s an incredible fit alongside can play him next trey Young can play him next to Dyson Daniels can play him on and off the ball very good three-point shooter borderline 40% three-point shooter who can defend um and look the Hawks if you look at what they’ve done they’ve and they also signed also tonight by the way they signed Luke Canard um you know I think there was some potential for Caris Levert to also come back but when the Bleep bea situation happened
Detroit goes and gets Carris Levert to replace his production there that leads to the Hawks getting Luke Canard another great shooter on the wing and if you look at what the Hawks have done this last week under an Salah across the board they’ve gone out and gotten shooting and length and at least in the case of Alexander Walker and Porzingis defensive impact from those guys and you can see a real vision of how this team is going to want to play under Quinn Snyder and there’s I think a decent look at sort of what the what Quinn did with the Jazz and what this Hawks team is going to be not that not exactly the same but Rudy Gobear and Chris Asporzingis are similarly sized you could do some similar things with Porzingis at the five and Yaka Kongu last year started shooting a lot more threes towards the end of the year they’ve got length and athleticism all over the place they’re going to be a terrific defensive team and you know this is we don’t we haven’t really looked at Atlanta as a destination in a while and like I said Alexander Walker had his pick of teams he could have gone Yeah
10 12 teams maybe and yes Atlanta could go over the mid-level but it’s not like Atlanta to your point Brian gave him 30 million over the mid level right like he he chose to go to Atlanta so yeah they they paid a premium to make sure they could out bid all those other teams but they didn’t go crazy
no oh I mean if if he wanted to go somewhere else the money was negligible like he could have taken a mid-level deal from somebody else if he wanted to be somewhere else so I I think the Hawks I mean you know we’ll probably get to another team that we’ve talked about a bunch lately too but I think the Hawks at least in the East are the clear biggest winners so far in free agency and again we go back to the Boston conversation like right now I think Atlanta going into the season assuming health is the top four team in the East like they they got a chance I think to be really really good yeah I I I think you can definitely make an argument that Atlanta’s the most improved team in the East that they’ve had the the best summer in the Eastern Conference i agree with you there the The reason I kind of grimace a little bit when you compared this to the Jazz I think the Jazz after they scrapped the two big thing with Favorvers they definitely leaned into being an offense first team that was propped up on the defensive end by one guy you know I mean they were a good defensive team because Rudy Gobear was like a generationally great uh defensive presence where I think this is a team it uh obviously look Trey Young has major defensive limitations he’s a brilliant offensive player and I think they’ve done a really good job of putting a cast around him that can mask his defensive issues um Dyson Daniels one of the best on ballwing defenders in the league you know you mentioned Porzingis a Congu who’s also a very effective uh defensive anchor type of guy uh Alexander Walker you know when he’s on the floor with Daniels like they’re going to be really tough defensively reach
they were two of the top deflection guys in the league last year
yeah Reys Shay and and and Jaylen Johnson both long uh you know athletic johnson’s like a special uh just like a top 2% in the NBA type of athlete look Canard’s not going to improve your defense but he’s
I think he led the league in three-point shooting this year if you Yeah and you’re totally right it’s it’s obviously not exactly the same thing but it’s just like you could see ba the basic vision right the Jazz had that big center in the middle who could protect the rim and then had a ton of shooting around him and obviously this team doesn’t have the same level of shooting it’s a little different mix but like the clear priority this summer has been to get shooting and defensive length combined around Trey Young and it’s going to be very interesting to see if this Hawks front office can get an extension done with Trey Young who could be a free agent in a year uh he’s got a player option for next summer um but they they’ve minded their books these contracts are good they they have a team that really makes sense around Trey like they’ve had a great summer and it’s going to be very fun to see what they look like next season
yeah and then as Newell you know who they traded down to get I don’t know how ready he is but you know maybe he’s ready to help as a rookie as well
they also have to they don’t have to but Dyson Daniels is up for an extension so
that will also be a very interesting negotiation
for sure because you know he was a guy who had uh you know explosive uh improvement uh defensively this last year so
I mean defensively he’s the same guy offensively he improved and he was the most improved player in the league and all defense and was a guy that they identified as a got to have him in the Dejonte Murray deal and ended up being a phenomenal acquisition for them
yeah um okay uh Cavs Corner
oh Cavs Corner okay cavs corner wait is this a winner or a loser the Cavs fans are really upset about Ty Jerome leaving to go to Memphis um he signed for three year three years and 28 million slightly
third year player option
right less per year than Sam Merrill is agreed to merryill four and 38
basically the same deal I think okay it might be ne negligible difference all right um well one is That’s right that’s true um and the Cavs fans who fell in love with Ty Jerome last year and was a driver in their their bench production he was third and six man of the year um the Cavs fans don’t understand why Sam Merrill was resigned and Ty Jerome was not they don’t understand why they couldn’t have signed them both mhm
and Lonzo Ball the Lonzo Ball trade um you know Lonzo’s health issues have been well documented even though defensively um he is better than Tai Jerome assuming health and he’s more potentially more effective in a playoff setting where Ty Jerome was exposed by the Pacers last year the Cavs fans are feeling a certain way about this so would you call them a winner or a loser at this point Bon Temps well I mean the Cavs fans can get mad but I mean they didn’t resign Tai Jerome because they’re currently according to Bobby Marx’ numbers $36 million into the luxury tax that that’s why they didn’t resign Tai Jerome i think it would have cost them $100 million to give him right
a fouryear $38 million deal and that’s the whole point of the the apron system and why things are set up the way they are now you could say why is Cleveland being penalized for spending money but Dan Gilbert has just about as much money as anybody in the league ownership wise south of you know this side of Steve Balmer
dan Gilbert did spend $250 million on Monday because he was awarded a WNBA expansion franchise
that’s right cleveland Rockers I assume will be they’ll be called the Rockers we have the Portland Fire back we have the Detroit Shock probably back new team in Philly i don’t know if they’ll be I guess they’ll be the Rockers but they’re they’re the the the Twitter handle the X handle just says Cleveland WNBA so I don’t know if
it’s yet to be determined but I guess we’ll see but but yes so like Dan Gilbert could spend all the money in the world he wanted if it was just about the money um but look at the end of the day I if if you ask me what I rather have if I was a Cavs fan Lonzo Ball and Sam Merrill or Ty Jerome and Isaac Caro I’m taking Lonzo Ball and Sam Merrill
okay hold on why is it like why is it Lonzo Ball and Sam Merrill and why isn’t it like to me it’s Merryill or Jerome
well because
you could ball and and still had Jerome and not Merryill well I here’s why I would say uh the Cavs I think at times this offseason and Brian can check me on this he’s certainly the the Dennis of Cavs corner but I think the Cavs at times this summer hoped they could potentially keep both Sam Merryill and Ty Jerome and it wasn’t sure they were not sure they’d be able to the Cavs were working to get rid of Isaac in part to free up some salary to potentially I think keep both of those guys and then when this Lonzo Ball deal came along and they could get Lonzo Ball for Isaac who is a perfect fit for the Cavs team and also has a contract that they can get completely out of after this season
then it turned into okay like what are you you know what are both of you guys going to do and Sam Merryill took a deal from the Cavs and Ty Jerome looked elsewhere for a contract so I I think like it’s a you’re correct to ask like why isn’t it Sam Merryill or Ty Jerome i think the way it worked out it had a chance to be both of them coming back and then when Lonzo Ball showed up then Sam Merrell resigns and then there isn’t really room for Tai Jerome in their rotation or in their balance sheet anymore but I but so to me if you just look at that trade it’s a win for the Cavs i think Sam Merrill is a better fit as a potential playoff player um he’s a better defensive player than Ty Jerome he can play off the ball and he’s a great shooter obviously the Cavs have plenty of onball stuff with Darius Garland Donovan Mitchell and even Evan Mobley maybe doing more of that and Loel Ball when he could stay on the court and his knees were fine last year his wrist was the reason he didn’t play down the stretch in the season if he can be on the court he’s exactly the kind of guy the Cavs need he’s a 67 guy who can guard bigger wings he’s become a really good three-point shooter incredible connector incredible guy in getting teams to out run in the fast break something the Cavs did excellently last year i think I really like where the Cavs are at overall and if you say “Hey we come out of this summer we’re into the second apron and the one piece we lost was Tai Jerome and we essentially replaced him with Lonzo Ball.” I think if I’m a Cavs fan I’m feeling pretty good about where they sit in the East and the question now is just can these guys all be healthy when they get to the playoffs which they obviously were not in part during their loss to the Pacers
yeah so I don’t really want to go too far deep into just analyzing the Cavs bench but they had three players Isaac Aoro Tai Jerome and Sam Merrill and they were only going to be able to keep two long story short
and their evaluation by the way they could have traded a Cororo away and just traded him into somebody’s space but that was going to cost them
something you know draft capital and so this
you could argue they should have had to you could argue they should have had to pay draft capital to the Bulls but the Bulls don’t really like to get draft capital in trades so they didn’t
yeah to get Lonzo Ball for him was definitely a win it wasn’t to the level of the Caruso trade where it’s like how many picks did they get none but when you saw that trade you definitely said
it was a similar chorus though of are they really not getting anything with them really anything
i mean that that was definitely a good trade for them look you know Lonzo Ball’s minutes going to have to be managed and all that but he’s like that’s an upgrade for their bench for sure
all right here’s another team I have a question about factoring in Desmond Bane the Grizzlies um uh they get Jiren Jackson Jr on a $240 million extension um they uh bought out Cole Anthony to help make room to do that extension um they traded up uh to get Cedric Coward on draft night uh with some of the Orlando um capital uh they they lost Luke Canard they lost Desmond Bane and they signed Ty Jerome uh are the are the Grizzlies in the winner or loser category uh I mean I’m not sure I’d put them in either yeah I think a lot of that probably depends on how Cedric Coward pans out um you know like the one certainty with Memphis coming out of last season was they were going to be building around Jiren Jackson Jr i suspect that had there been a robust trade market for Jaw Morant even dating back to before the previous deadline that perhaps Jaw could have been the one traded and not Desmond Bane but the way it played out was they
I forgot to I’m sorry i forgot to include that they got Contavius Caldwell Pope in that trade too i’m sorry
right but but that trade was that trade was about the draft capital in return and about acknowledging that the you know the the we find in the West Grizzlies weren’t fine in the West and that that group had hit its ceiling that wasn’t that high and you know needed to be reshuffled and again needed to be reshuffled with Jiren Jackson Jr as the centerpiece moving forward um I don’t think that the Grizzlies got better this off season i do think that the I know that the Grizzlies got more flexible moving forward and uh you know that that wasn’t a trade that was about you i mean Contavius Cowwell Pope’s been the final piece before that’s not what this is you know this is about acknowledging hey we’re not close to contending and uh gathering ammo to to try to you know take steps forward in the in the years to come not right now so
yeah you know what i Oh sorry i didn’t mean I didn’t mean to cut you off big man i was thinking about it as you were talking and I they are clear winners and they’re clear winners because of what you just said that Zack Kimman the GM of the team looked at them and and we can go back to his press conference after the season right it was a very refreshingly honest answer when he was asked about where they’re at and he said “Look if you want to try to argue that we’re close to where we want to be we’re not we’re not close to being a contender.” Right and so the the piece that is sort of unsaid here is they have this pick either this Washington or Phoenix pick next year very likely the Phoenix pick and the Suns are worse than they were a few couple weeks ago without Kevin Durant and that’s probably going to be a very juicy pick may not be quite as juicy as the pick that the the Hawks got but it could be in the same range and this is a team that has again part of it let’s see what Cedric Coward looks like and how good he’s going to be but the Grizzlies were not in a position to be a real contender i don’t think they’re a lot worse than they were at the end of the season they might even be about the same team and they have a lot more long-term upside so from that standpoint I do think they’re winners even if it’s not in the same vein as like a Houston or an Atlanta where it’s like they got meaningfully better but I think by recognizing where they sat and pivoting and attacking the situation they were in they’ve come out of this summer at a better position than they were a few weeks ago even that if that included trading a really good player and a really good guy Desmond Bay
and and they had been a team that was acting as if they were close like the Marcus Smart trade was about trying to get
a finishing type of piece you know they were aggressive they they were on the they felt like they were on like the five yard line to get the Dorian Finny Smith deal done last year and then obviously he he lands in with the Lakers but that was about trying to
they tried to get OGN and Obi MueL Bridges in the past too like guys that you know were the kind of trades who you’d go hey we got a chance to really contend for a title with this group or contend for a West title didn’t get them but they were trying to and this is about surveying their team surveying the West landscape and and realizing like hey you know let’s reload in terms of of assets take our foot off the gas and give ourselves a better chance long term because short term you’re kind of butting your head up against the wall
all right what about the Denver Nuggets
i like it i like it go on and lay out what they did so they made
Okay
they Oh here we go they made a big splash tonight look they haven’t made an im off the top of my head this is the biggest transaction they made since trading for Aaron Gordon do you disagree with that
yeah no for sure
okay for sure
the only argument
they basically had the same team since then right
well no the only argument is when they this summer when they added KCP and Bruce Brown you know as the finishing pieces of the championship team but Yeah oh yeah that’s true that was the next year
but you know they’re bringing
How did they get KCP i can’t remember they traded for
Will Barton traded Will Barton and somebody else to Washington
okay
kcp and uh
somebody else whatever anyway they traded
but this is huge for for financial reasons and roster reset reasons
right so they traded Michael Porter Jr and a 2032 unprotected unprotected first round pick to Brooklyn one pick to trade
this was it for Cam Johnson um I believe just this year Cam Johnson makes about 16 or $17 million less than Michael Porter
um there’s some unlikely bonuses in there that count which is relevant with the apron but
it saved them a lot of money and then subsequently they signed Bruce Brown who was uh one of their unsung heroes uh or just heroes of the 2023 championship team back to a contract this transaction enabled them to a open up their full mid-level exception of 14 million should they want to use it which you know that’s a key clause should they want to use it
which is what I watched when it happened live for us on on our free agency special on ESPN was like wow this trade gets a a quality uh player and it could enable them to sign a a piece or two to like help their depth but Then Bontemps you know text me what I was talking about he’s like you know it got him out of the tax is what it did
yes as a repeater team so it led me to believe especially after I saw Bruce Brown signed for the minimum it led me to believe whether this was a tax move but okay you said you liked it McMahon so tell me why you liked it
well because they needed some some financial relief to me if they d if they use if there’s a reason to use a mid-level okay but if they can duck the tax as a repeater team that’s huge just to reset the clock there um and look Cameron Johnson has a lot of similarities to Michael Porter Jr um in terms of like movement shooter big-time three-point threat a guy who’s going to feast off of feeds um from Nicole Joic uh you know I think he’s a pretty significant upgrade on the defensive end um not as good of a rebounder and then you know to bring Bruce Brown back look we all understand why Bruce Brown left denver could not compete by rule with uh the offer that he got the man had a chance to make $45 million in two years this morning he’s made in the rest of his career by like multiple times but he was such an awesome fit with the Nuggets to bring him back and basically he’s taken Russ’s spot in the rotation it’s such a better fit um I think that’s a a big boost for their bench um so I I just think this makes sense financially i think it makes sense for basketball reasons and look the 2032 pick that could very well end up being a steep steep price to pay but it’s a price that you’re paying after Joker’s Prime and you know to me you got to do what you can to maximize your chances to contend uh during Joker’s Prime and I think this was a step in the right direction a big step in the right direction uh on multiple fronts there that’s where I agree wholeheartedly with the first part you have to do whatever you can to compete in Yokic’s prime and I vehemently disagree on the second part because I don’t think this actually made them any better like when you’re talking about an onc court thing right michael Porter Jr and Cam Johnson are basically the same player there’s a little bit of different strengths and weaknesses but Michael Porter is a big forward who’s a close to 40% three-point shooter good rebounder flawed defender iffy health but when he’s out there he’s a solid player durable the last couple years even playing through a a
significant shoulder injury this playoffs
that’s right cam Johnson in the past has had his own health issues he’s been healthier in recent years and is a bigger wing good shooter like okay defender like same player right one guy is way cheaper the Nuggets had one real trade asset they traded it it sure looks like to get out of the tax when they have the best player on the planet they just went seven games with the Thunder right and what did we all say coming out of that series denver’s got to get more depth they don’t have enough players right and they come out of this summer and Bruce Brown replaces Russ in the rotation bruce Brown has been pretty bad the last two years i’m sure he’ll be better playing with Jokic but still
he was pretty damn good in Denver but
he was and I think he’ll be a good fit and he could be a better fit than Russ but he he’s not he’s been banged up and in and out of the lineup and like he just hasn’t really been anywhere near the same player since he left so we’ll see what he is when he comes back doesn’t seem like Westbrook’s coming back obviously Westbrook’s a very flawed player but we’re sitting here now denver’s traded their one chip they’re not any deeper they’re a year older they could use the full mid-level exception to Brian’s point to go add an impact player of some sort or even the tax Emily if they want i I’m gonna bet that they’re not going to do that and they’re going to stay out of the tax and yes you could say that Denver needs to reset the repeater tax but this is not a team with a six-year window and unlike the Celtics they have Nicole Joic healthy they pushed the Thunder as much as any team last year and if they had two more players who could play they might have won that series they might have won the title and if they’d had more depth the year before they might not have blown a 20-point lead in game seven against Minnesota and I think they could have won the title that year so now you’re coming back with a team a year older without any way to really improve and we’re going to be talking about the same question potentially in February and March and April and May of does Denver have enough depth and to me this is just a massive missed opportunity when the only real material change to the roster is that they just got a lot cheaper if you have one trade chip and that’s what you do that’s pretty hard to swallow for me when you’ve got the best player on the planet who if you had a little more help you could look at them against the Thunder anybody and think they got a real chance to win
so Jokic is going to get offered a contract extension here it’s three years and like 205 million it’s a lot of money
sure is you probably should not say no if every if anyone ever offers you that you probably should not say no however if he waits till next summer he can sign for four years um I’m not saying that this decision is going to affect his decision but if I was Jokic and the MA and the Nuggets come to me when they I mean Josh Kroni their governor already said
they flat out said they’re going to offer it to them yeah yeah
well when they come to you with the contract offer I might ask them what their plans are with the salary in the for the next few years
well and and and here’s the thing if you stay out of the tax this year it’s so you can be aggressive next year right it it it’s to maybe it has to be now if with Joker that that that’s the one acceptable bit of logic to to duck the tax this year it’s to reset so you’re not a repeater team and hey next year full mid-level you know blah blah blah um also like where is their depth coming from they need some of these young players to take steps pton Watson’s become a solid rotation player he is an improved jumper away from being a really good uh role player we’ll see if he can make that kind of development julian Strather you’ve seen flashes can he become a reliable reserve you know Jaylen Picket fewer flashes fewer opportunities he’s probably going to get more opportunities what can he do you know Don Holmes the second um
Yeah that he he was their first round pick last year missed all year with an Achilles right
yeah yeah and so you know what’s he look like it’ll be interesting to see i I believe he’s playing summer league i probably
I’m not certain on that but you know be interesting to see what he But my point is they need they need some of the internal development honestly one of the massive whiffs for the for the Nuggets is they used their full taxpayer MLE last year on Dario Sars and he was in the rotation for like a week and a half and they realized oh gee
yeah and he got a player option which he picked up and that that’s tough when you have as few kind of bites at the apple as a team in their position did to to just
I just can’t believe we’re going to go into another season going the Denver Nuggets young guys have to be better like that just that’s just not acceptable to me it’s just not an acceptable outcome when you have Nicole Joic like this isn’t a theoretical situation
i mean well hold on i I’m going to say that was their you know their take last year with letting KCP go and promoting Christian Brown to the starting line and Christian Brown had a hell of a season and but Christian Brown we knew Christian Brown was good the issue with that was not him being good it was that they lost a good player this summer yes they have to pay him this summer and see what he extends for um like they like the issue was they lost another good veteran player who fit with their team and they didn’t replace him just like they didn’t replace Bruce Brown and they didn’t replace Jeff Green before that and I we understood at the time why they did that they weren’t going to pay Jeff Green what he got paid they weren’t certainly going to pay Bruce Brown what he got paid couldn’t i get that but we’re now going into a third straight year with the same exact issue for a team with the best player on the planet on the team in his prime doing insane things on the court to the point where he feels inevitable when he’s playing that he’s going to win and to just again have the exact same situation and it even would be one thing if the if if these guys had three or four first and he used one to get out of the tax and then could use another one to go turn like say Zeke Naji and Darius Arch into another player
i’d feel totally differently about it like hey sure good move smart to get out of the tax etc you have one chip and you turn it into basically getting out of the tax for the same team
it’s just hard to it’s hard for me to stomach that you keep saying one chip i I don’t think Michael Porter Jr on that contract had some kind of immense trade value
well no my point My point is No i the the chip is the draft pick they use the draft pick to get the same basically the same player just for half the money like that the team isn’t better like the team is the same they’re just a lot cheaper sam Crocky’s got a gazillion dollars like I’m sure Nicole Yokic is sitting there going “Yeah like we got the same team we didn’t have enough talent before.”
I guess I’m looking at I’m looking at getting out of the tax as a as part of a two-year strategy to improve the roster
and you’re looking at it as being cheap so I I I think that’s where probably we’re being differently all right the last team I want to talk about is the Rockets um I said on TV tonight that they’re on an organizational hot streak um from their draft picks to their development to their free agency to their trades yeah somebody talked about that yesterday yeah anyway they signed Dorian Finny Smith today they signed Clint Capella um they’re going to have to I think they I think they’re going to have to offload a salary um which some people think is going to be Cam Whitmore um
well they could also just cut Jock Landale yeah they’re going to have to do some sort of signing trade to to fit Capelli in i’m not
No they I think that that should go that should be part of the Durant trade once it’s all done
all right well we’ll whatever
anyway Houston we we’ve already talked about him a lot but um they they use their um midlevel essentially on um on Dorian Finny Smith and also bring Clint Capella i will say this um in the Western Conference you have to have size you know one of the things we talked about for the last 6 eight months was size and depth depth and size you need to have that in the in the modern NBA by retaining Steven Adams and going and getting Clint Capella and then you have Shenun and then you have Jabari Smith i mean they have incredible optionality now they can organize their front line and
can also get Steven Adams time off during the regular season which is pretty key because they need
I was a little surprised by the Capella signing um
so was I
honestly I I thought Capelloa was gonna end up
I think Sham said it was fully guaranteed which that was surprised me as well too
yeah I I thought he was heading for a reunion with Harden but obviously Lopez ended up there um and he does join a very crowded center rotation but the Rockets really liked that too big center lineup that that they kind of found and and rolled with late in the season and and was a big factor for them in their playoff series against the Warriors they want to have the the option of of playing the two big center lineup uh on a night toight basis they understand and accept that hey Stephen Adams is not playing 82 games he’s not playing 70 games maybe he plays 60 games maybe it’s a little bit fewer than that you know we’ll see i
mean honestly now they could play him 40 games i mean you could basically just alternate him and Clint every other game and get him through the season i think that’s the to me that’s the biggest reason to do this deal
exactly they they they’re going to be very careful managing Steven Adams minutes now they can do that with Capella and still have the uh you know the flexibility to play two bigs there’s you know it’s insurance in that way and just with whatever uh health things might come up um the Finny Smith signing I love i mean I am a like I’ve always liked Finny Smith obviously saw him develop himself from an undrafted guy into a really good role player in Dallas um I think he’s the kind of guy who can make good teams better um and has proven that in Dallas proved that uh with the Lakers last year um and they lost some some toughness they lost uh you know defense with Dylan Brooks being part of the KD trade he’s not going to guard the Steph Curryries he’s not going to be the primary on ball defender against star guards but he damn sure can can hold his own against bigger wings and power forwards and even a lot of centers and he’s a he’s a really good spot up three-point shooter so I think Finny Smith’s a great fit for them and they are deep man they they’ve got a deep wing rotation they’ve got a deep big rotation um and then you know I think I think Reed Shepard you know how much he can give them next year is going to be kind of uh quietly a key factor in how good the Rockets are
did we talk about Dory Finny Smith leaving the Lakers as part of the Laker thing or do we just talk about the centers i just it is interesting that a guy who’s incredibly close to Luca uh left the Lakers and they could have kept him that’s I think just something to monitor a guy who drastically improved their defense also I’m not certain they could have kept him i I really think being able to get back to Texas um for family reasons for tax reasons for comfort reasons for as he says a a country boy i think those are all factors too i’m not I’m not sure that this was a case of the Lakers could have just you know paid him and and everything would have been fine i I think Finny Smith liked the situation he used to better
that’s fair but it is it is worth mentioning or monitoring that a guy who’s incredibly close to Luca who they got last year left this summer and didn’t leave for like this wasn’t a Bruce Brown situation right now it may have been exactly what you said i’m not saying it isn’t but
they didn’t get out bid on him
like he he ended up signing for less guaranteed next year than he had on the option he had so just it’s another reason this was not exactly a banner opening day for the Lakers all right was a banner opening day for you Bon Temps
we should it’s always a banner day for me
was it
can I Can I say something amazing that happened today please
um uh McMahon
yeah it’s your podcast
so I was here in the hotel in LA and I’m on the phone with Bontemps
sorry yeah yeah
so very unfortunate for you and I’m walking you know I’m I got AirPods in i’m walking through the lobby of the hotel
doing the windy shuffle doing the windy shuffle
that’s exactly right
being recognized McMahon you’ll be shocked to know with AirPods so you can Yeah
okay
so I see a a friendly face a friend of the pod in fact
oh
and uh I embrace him and uh we’ll hold that
okay let him tell the story let him have a back and forth it’s an NBA someone from the NBA who’s been on the podcast um you know him and uh Bontmps just hears his voice just hears his voice and it’s not a guy whose voice you hear very often and I cannot believe he knew he recognized his voice and knew who it was it was James Capers the referee who was here with his family members to go to the Dodgers game tonight
oh okay which is I’d love to go to the Dodgers game but
yeah nice guy about 5 foot doesn’t that like I’m just going to say it kind of freaked me out that Bontemps recognized James Caper’s voice over my AirPods
i mean he’s on the Listen K we’re having a conversation with him and he’s somebody we’re friends with
i didn’t say “Hey uh how was the referee?” this year
like you know I I said nothing about who it was
there’s a couple things here one Capers was on the pod two like he is a man you know Bontim pays close attention during those replay challenges and whatnot and crew chief gets a lot of air time
we saw him during the finals three nobody kisses ref butt more than Bondims every time I sees those guys oh my god i mean it is just like hobnobbing and
I have to I have to try to make up for your uh attacking them all the time to make sure that we don’t get bad uh bad reviews on the pot
well I also feel like Bonimp Bonimps is especially friendly with all the we little fellas in a little Oh yes he’s subt uh the Bucks are in flux and there may be another signing that they do tonight and so we’re gonna we’re gonna put them off
yeah we’re gonna try to give Jackson a break and not have having to do form editing
fine by me
so we’ll we’ll the Bucks are
we’ll see what happens with the Bucks i don’t think it’s like you know they’re not trading Yiannis tonight just to be clear like it just um
no
that I know of
you didn’t make any inappropriate jokes that Jackson has to edit out this time so that that’s good
i didn’t think that joke was inappropriate i didn’t either i thought Jack I think Jackson’s gotten a little bit soft i think he’s You know what jackson’s management now so he’s gotten a little uppety a little stuffy
yeah there was a joke that was edited it actually wasn’t a joke it was just a passing line it was just a It was a remark
you know he’ll probably edit out my my uh ref short jokes because I did give Jackson multiple two smalls during the media pickup run in OKC
he probably has edited all this out this is all probably not going
I would hope so we hope so for his sake
and the listener’s sake
all right thank you for listening and watching Hoop Collective thank you to Blair who helped us out on the pod tonight who we learned that Blair is in the middle of the summer here it’s July for crying out loud in your you know you don’t have air conditioning in your apartment it’s not working i mean this is terrible news i mean it’s 20
also a a poor post defender man can you can you just leave everyone alone
what
just give everybody a break dude listen
people are helping us out with the pod they’re trying to get it out to the people and you’re just slaughtering people
guys
I’m just I’m being It’s an honest scatter report dude sure just like the Just like the Yic 3030 Just like the Yish 3030 3030 scouting report from your own game
oh
bang on those are confirmed yes
sure
all right we’ll talk to you i don’t know i don’t know how many times we’re freaking potting this week okay it check every day i can’t do it much more i can’t take much more of you people wow we got a little diva on our hands also he is I understand the sensitivity i’d like to apologize and just bid you farewell with an adios amigos

Brian Windhorst is joined by Tim Bontemps and Tim MacMahon to discuss the winners & losers of the first day of NBA free agency. The guys break down the Lakers’ inability to find a center, Boston’s continued deconstruction, a big day for Atlanta, some financial moves from Cleveland, a new direction for Memphis, a big trade in Denver and a massive summer for the Rockets continuing.

0:00 Intro
0:36 Winners & losers of Free Agency Day 1
1:38 Lakers’ center vacancy remains open
10:11 Boston’s offseason reconstruction
18:18 Hawks having a great week
25:34 Cavs Corner – Moves forced by apron
32:04 An eventful summer for Memphis
36:43 Denver trade the right move?
49:05 Massive summer for Rockets continues
54:24 Storytime with Windy

Vegas Summer League Live Show Link: hoopcollectivelive.com

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