ESPN updates on NBA Free Agency: Al Horford to Warriors? – Jonathan Kuminga to Kings for Dario Saric

ESPN updates on NBA Free Agency: Al Horford to Warriors? – Jonathan Kuminga to Kings for Dario Saric

Welcome to Sports Center. We are in the height of NBA free agency 4 days in. You know what that means? Our senior NBA insider Sham Shirania is here alongside Christina Alexander. I’m Brian Kuster. Listen, we’re four days in. Shams has got the sale cuz news is always breaking. We know that the Lakers have finally got the center. They went and got DeAndre Aton. Uh what can you tell us? What does that mean for them going forward considering Rich Paul has already come out and says LeBron wants to play for a championship caliber team this season?
It means it’s a step in the direction of trying to build that championship quality team again. Rob Pelinka, the team’s president and general manager. He’s been saying since the end of last season that we need a center, we need a lop threat. We need an anchor for Luca Don. And now they get the number one pick from the 2018 draft, the same draft Luca Donage was in. So now they have the number one and the number three pick in that draft. So you get DeAndre Aiden. It’s just the start though. They get Jake Larravia as a wing free agent. They’re still working to shore up their front court depth. I’m told they’re in talks in with multiple free agents are bringing a center to Los Angeles as well to back up DeAndre Aton. So we’ll see between now the next several days look for them to potentially lock in another center.
All right, speaking of different talks, let’s bring in Anscape senior writer David Dennis Jr. to this conversation. And David, how much does DeAndre Aton move the needle here for LA in your eyes?
Okay, let’s start with the the positive here. Yes, he is a center. Yes, he’s better than Jackson Hayes. Yes, he may get you uh 10 and 10 a game and he’s a lob threat for Luca. If you’re a Lakers fan, uh stop listening to me uh after that because I don’t have much more good to say about what DeAndre Aiden is going to do in terms of raising the level of this Lakers team. This does not make them a contender. Of course, this does not make them really that much better because we have so many questions about DeAndre Aiden, especially when it comes to looking at what he left behind in these two teams. There’s been a lot of questions with Portland and Phoenix about his desire, about his maturity, about how he is in the locker rooms, and you’re coming to a Lakers team where they’re trying to win. Now, LeBron wants a championship right now. Luca is trying to figure out if he’s going to stay with this team. This team is in flux a little bit. and add in the fact that JJ Reic has a short leash on players if they don’t show that toughness and tenacity that he’s looking for. I’m not sure if this moves the needle in the right way and we may be looking at towards the end of the season this moves the needle in the wrong way for the Lakers.
All right, we’ll have to see uh how that pans out. Sean, back to you because there are a number of free agents still looking for homes. I mean, Chris Paul, Al Horford, let’s start with Chris Paul. What are you hearing?
Chris Paul Chris Paul has levels of interest from the Clippers Suns and the Bucks. I’m told he had a conversation with Bucks officials on Wednesday. He told the Pat McAfee Show several weeks ago that his preference is to stay on the West Coast. He is sorting through options though right now. Whether it’s on the West Coast, a team like Milwaukee, we’ll see where his future could go. Al Horford is another major free agent right now. I’m told he is reviewing multiple options including the Warriors, the Lakers, but also retirement. He’s 39 years old. He’s in se he just finished season 18. I’m told it would be a surprise if he makes a final decision by this weekend. He certainly earned the right to make a decision at his own time. I will say though that the Warriors are hopeful about where they stand in all this if Al Horford decides to play again.
Yeah, two players with a lot of experience here. That’s no secret. David, let’s bring you back into this conversation. When we talk about Chris Paul, Al Horford, which of these players will be more impactful on their new teams this following season? I I think it’s Chris Paul and all you have to do is look at OKC and the fact that they were welcoming this dude like he’d been with that team for years. He played one year at OKC and raised their level and sort of became a mentor for those players and that’s how SGA is treating him like a returning star uh during this playoff run. I think that Chris Paul, what he does is he elevates every team that he is a part of and he is a good uh example for a lot of those young players that they carry on even in the years after he has gone from that team. I think there’s nothing like having Chris Paul on a young squad for what he can do this season and what he can teach them going forward for the rest of their careers.
Yeah, still an interesting future there for both of them, especially Chris Paul as you mentioned. David Shams, thank you so much. Busy guy. I appreciate you stopping by here on Sports
on Sports Center. What can Brown do for you? Apparently for most Nick fans, not much. His hiring has left the Orange and Blue fan base ambivalent. NBA reporter Tim Bond tips is with us. Okay, Tim. So, now that Mike uh Mike Brown is in the fo, what might the Knicks be doing next, do you think? Well, look, the first thing they had to do, as you said, Brian, was get Mike Brown hired as their coach or get a coach hired to replace Tom Thibido, which they’ve done that. They signed Gershon Yabiselli the other day uh to the non-taxpayer mid-level, the one signing they had above the minimum. They also signed Jordan Clarkson, two guys that will give them bench scoring and production that they didn’t have outside their top seven guys last year. We’ll see if the Knicks can add to their bench now over the coming days. They should have some playing time and obviously the New York spotlight to offer. And then more than anything, they’ve just got to get settled in with this new reality that they’re in. And as you mentioned, the Mike Brown hiring here has left kind of a flat feeling around the Knicks. This is not the kind of splashy hire you would expect from a team that dismissed their head coach after making it to the conference finals for the first time in a quarter century. However, I would point fans back to 30 years ago when the Yankees after firing Buck Shoalter in a similar situation went out and hired Joe Tory. Guy was the same age as Mike Brown, 55, had had three prior stops like Mike Brown and was not lauded certainly as a winning hire. was called Clueless Joe on the back page of the New York Daily News at the time and he went on to win four championships and make the playoffs 12 years in a row. I’m not saying the Knicks are about to have a dynasty with Mike Brown, but he is a guy who’s been to the finals, has won a ton of games as a coach. You see there his record well over 500. He did a great job getting Sacramento back to the playoffs for the first time in a long time. And of the available candidates, I think he was clearly the best fit and should be able to give them an opportunity to make the deep playoff run everybody in New York is expecting.
Yeah. Also for former twotime coach of the year as well. Um, let’s pivot to the West because the team Mike Brown was coaching for at one point the Warriors, Jonathan Kaminga, restricted free agent. What are you hearing about his future?
Yeah, this is going to be one of the really interesting stories, Brian, coming up over the rest of free agency. We’ve seen a flurry of moves, obviously over the past couple of weeks, both leading up to and after the start of it at 6 p.m. on Monday, but Kaminga is sitting out there now as the best player available, a restricted free agent with a lot of talent. And you see there he averaged 15 points per game last year. And in flashes, Kaminguez looked like a guy who could be an all-star. He had 30 points in multiple games against Minnesota in the second round of the playoffs. However, he also has been a guy who has been inconsistent in his play and in his effort at different points, and that has led him to be in and out of Steve Kerr’s rotation. It’s led to a polarizing tenure in Golden State. And now he enters the restricted free agent market in a year, Brian, where there is no salary cap space for anybody to sign him with. So, he’s either going to be back in Golden State or the Warriors are going to have to come up with a sign and trade possibility with another team. Now, there are teams that are minor situation. There could be interest in Kaminga elsewhere, but getting a sign and trade done is a difficult proposition for a bunch of salary cap rules that I’m not going to bore people with. So, it is a tough situation to be in in any year as a restricted free agent. But in a year like this where there’s no salary cap space, it’s even more difficult. And that’s why this situation with Jonathan Kaminga really is going to come to the four because we haven’t seen the Warriors do anything yet in free agency. And a lot of that has hinged on what is going to happen with Kaminga and his salary slot. Be very interesting to see what happens in the coming days and weeks there. Certainly has the talent. He’s shown flashes as you pointed out to be a star. We’ll see what happens with him in his future. Timmy B. Tim Bond. Tips, thanks for the insight. All right, let’s keep this conversation going. Sports betting analyst Tyler Fulgum is here with us. It looked like you were getting ready to battle. Maybe you can explain some of these numbers. Free agency as we’ve seen, very active, a lot of player movement. So with that, how have the odds changed for some of these teams? Let’s start with the Lakers.
For some, it’s small, for some it’s way more significant. It’s been a small change for the Lakers after adding DeAndre Aton, but we know that Eightton was a piece they desperately needed. We saw last year in the playoffs, they were dominated in the paint by Rudy Goar. So now they had a former number one overall pick who may have some issues with his work ethic and things like that, but when he is focused, he’s productive. So they’ve moved from 16 to1 to win the title to 14 to1 after the move. Another team that made a significant move is the Denver Nuggets. They have championship pedigree. They traded Michael Porter Jr. for Cam Johnson. Saw a much bigger move. They were 18 to1 before free agency. They’re now plus 850. They also made some smaller moves trading for Jonas Valenunis to back up Nicole Joic and bringing back Bruce Brownley who was a member of their championship winning team. Then the squad that the market has told or is telling us I should say has made the most improvement has gone from also ran to legit contenders the Atlanta Hawks. They traded for Chris Sporzingis and that guy right there Jaylen Johnson is an allstar who they’re getting back from injury. So they add two allstars next year alongside Trey Young with the acquisition of KP, the return of Jaylen Johnson. And look at that. They went from 125 to1 to 25 to1 to win the title. They’re looked at as a legitimate threat in the Eastern Conference where they’re 9 to1 to come out of the East. So I like the moves that the Hawks have made. You’re not getting any value betting them now, but I’m going to keep my eye on them to see if they really do live up to the expectation.
Okay, that’s interesting. Speaking of leaving living up to the expectation, tomorrow, July 4th, known as America’s Birthday, also the Nathan’s Hot Dog Eating Contest. You can catch it at noon Eastern on ESPN 2. What’s the bet you like there, Tyler? Well, obviously Joey Chestnut’s the big name. expectation.

ESPN SC | Shams updates on NBA Free Agency: Al Horford to Warriors? – Jonathan Kuminga to Kings for Dario Saric