Nikola Jokic REJECTS Nuggets Extension | What Does It Mean For Denver Nuggets?

Nikola Jokic REJECTS Nuggets Extension | What Does It Mean For Denver Nuggets?

It’s locked on NBA for Wednesday, July 9th. On today’s show, load management in summer league. Plus, the Spurs get more help from WBY and Na Joic has people wondering about his future. All of that and more on Locked on NBA. When that final buzzer rings, you know it’s time for Locked On NBA Game Night. All the postgame reactions to every game across the league, every single night with insights only the hosts at Locked On can provide. It’s the true NBA fans. One stop for all the action. Every game, every night. It’s locked on NBA Game Night tipping off now. All right, welcome to Locked on NBA. Wes Goldberg here with Tony East, however you might be tuning in on YouTube or on your favorite podcast app. Thanks for making Locked on NBA your first listen every day. Jam-packed show for you today. The Spurs made another trade that we’ll talk about in a second. Plus, Bradley Beal is likely on his way to a new team. But let’s start with summer league in Salt Lake City. No VJ Edgecom or Ace Bailey on Tuesday night in these pre-LOS Vegas summer league games. Uh why aren’t these teams playing their top rookies? Here’s more from locked on Sixers. Talking about it on locked on 76ers earlier today. Was this just part of the Sixers master plan to only play him one game then shut him down until Vegas? You know what I mean? I know they’re saying that he has a some confusion, but when you listen to his interview after the first game, when he says next game Vegas, basically saying his next game is going to be Vegas. To me, it kind of let the cat out the bag. I mean, he’s listed dayto day. I mean, let’s be real, the NBA really wants their stars to play in the Vegas summer league, right? And I think if he does have a little bruise, what do you want to do? you want to give him a couple days of rest so he can go out there and play, you know, to his highest level. So to me, it kind of smells as that he they were going to shut him down after that first game. Breaking 76ers now tanking in the Utah summer league. Can’t put it past him. Tony, what do you think about load management in summer league? Is this what it’s come to? Yes, it is. Uh I mean I don’t know if you were there last year like or two years ago Thompson’s get hurt in the first game like the the league is very obvious how they schedule this because the schedule for summer league comes out after the draft right they want the big rookies playing each other on the TV networks and it’s like literally the only non- baseball and WNBA sporting event happening in the summer so they actually get TV slots for these games and so it’s like Cooper Flag versus Bronny and all this stuff. It’s fun. we’re both going to go. But it’s also like if that’s the case where you set up Vegas to be the thing because all 30 teams there, why is Utah and California summer league still a thing? Like what what is the point of this? If you’re going to do those things, have those teams only go there, right? I that I’ve never quite understood the point of those smaller oneoff one, two games there and then you go to Vegas. I guess it’s good for the players to get more reps, but it it leads to this situation where someone goes to Utah to watch Ace Bailey or California to watch Khalil Wear’s not playing tonight, right? Like, and they just don’t see him. Like, what what are we doing? What’s the point of this? It is a little silly because you’ve got a bunch of teams flying to San Francisco to take part of the California Classic. You have a bunch of these teams that are going to Salt Lake City to do that one. And yet you have a lot of these other NBA teams that don’t do the California or the Utah one just kind of doing a pre-Lost Vegas uh mini camp, right? And I think maybe that was the intention of what San Francisco and Salt Lake City were supposed to be, but then as soon as you put them on TV and sell tickets against it, then it’s not allowed to just be a mini camp and these guys have to suit up and they actually have to play. where I understand these teams wanting to get these guys a little bit of run before they all like you don’t want to just roll the ball out for the first time in Las Vegas and be like all right guys figure it out like you want them to have a little bit of experience so I understand why this is a thing in the NFL you don’t have this you don’t have summer league or whatever but you do get teams that will scrimmage with each other in the offseason and that’s what I think San Francisco and Salt Lake City are supposed to be is kind of just like these sort of like little inter squad scrimmages to kind of get some reps but Then again, you and I end up having a to do a podcast after it and having nothing to talk about because the star players aren’t playing. West cares. We get to do a podcast. Correct. We get to No Ace Bailey, no wear, none of the Grizzlies guys who were like all awesome out there. There’s other games later that I’m sure, you know, nobody’s playing for. It’s just tough. Like right now, I think the most notable players playing in the two games happening as we’re talking is that Broom, Johnny Broom, uh, is playing, Justin Edwards is playing. like they’re real dudes for the Sixers, but like outside of that, it’s a lot of like maybe this dude will play in the NBA again someday. A lot of guys fighting for something. That’s not It’s proud. They should be proud to be here. Yakushonus is playing. He’s over for five again. Uh it’s just not a It’s not the crop that every sorry that everybody is looking for. Vegas will have the crop. They will have the crop. Uh well, let’s go from talking about some of the worst NBA players to the best NBA player. Uh it was reported on Tuesday night that Nicola Joic will not not seek a contract extension this summer and he’s going to instead wait until next summer to have those conversations with the Denver Nuggets. Yokic has three years remaining on a 5-year deal worth $276 million. Um uh an extension that he signed in 2022. He can become a free agent if he wants in 2027 by opting out of the final year of his deal. He’s eligible right now to sign a three-year $200 million extension. Um, and he’s he’s eligible for this through October, but he’s already told the Nuggets, “Yeah, yeah, I’m not interested. Talk to me next summer.” Are you surprised by the news, Tony? Yeah. That So, next year he could get four years for 285 and a half. That’s going to be the main driver because uh breaking news, the Nuggets will offer Yok next summer. But like, is it really news? like kind of in that like Shay just took his extension a year early. Jaylen Brunson took the low market extension a year early. Like I don’t think it’s going to be a thing. But as the NBA money continues to just look like comically high every year where it’s like how much money is that? Guys are willing to take a little less because the money is so big to help their team and not all the time. I don’t think guys should do that all the time. Guys taking the money is good, but it’s always wondery when this happens because of that. And two, I’m just I’m I’m not ever gonna think a Euro guy is leaving or demanding a trade until it happens. But I’m just putting a pin in the no extension on the team that their owner just on the record for no reason was like, man, it would suck to have to trade Jokic. And everyone’s like, why did you say that? What just happened? And there’s been like the smallest fake rumor in the NBA world for forever that Joic and Donic want to play together at some point. It’s probably impossible, but uh you never know. So, I’m gonna give this like a 0.5% chance of being a thing, but I think it’s a 95.5% chance that it’s a Oh, look, 80 million extra dollars if I wait a year that I’m getting paid the same amount anyway. Exactly. I think it’s specifically it’s $77 million that can he can make an additional guaranteed money if he waits the next summer. No, I don’t mean to nitpick, but that’s probably it, right? It’s the 77 million reasons why you just wait until next summer. Knowing exactly what you just said to Nikolic can, knock on wood, tear his Achilles in the first minute of game one and the Nuggets will still offer that extension next summer. It’s it it’s basically in the bag. So yeah, why not just wait and get the guaranteed money when you know kind of know that it’s coming to you one way or the other? At the same at the same time, I love the extra little layer to this conspiracy-wise of well, Nikolic, I think, correct me if you disagree or uh uh tell me if you disagree. I thought we saw Joic about as frustrated as we’ve ever seen him since winning the championship last playoffs, calling out teammates. Uh that teammate is no longer on the team anymore. Uh, I think this is a guy who even though everybody kind of looks at him as somebody that doesn’t really care about things and whatever, this guy clearly is a highlevel competitor who desperately wants to win and doesn’t want to just be a one championship and done kind of guy. And maybe you learn from the LeBron playbook and say, “Nah, maybe I can apply a little bit of pressure there. Maybe he doesn’t mind those rumors about Luca Donuch being out there.” Uh, true or not, he doesn’t mind them being out there. He doesn’t mind the owner of the Denver Nuggets wondering if Joic will sign the extension. Maybe he likes the ability to apply a little bit of pressure here because he’s seen the changes that they’ve already made, but maybe he’s like, you know what, what else you got for me? Maybe these changes have been nice, but I got to see the proof in the pudding before I end up signing this extension. Yeah, it’s always beneficial to get more information, right? And that like this is the proof of concept that you’d want if you’re him, right? You get Cam Johnson in instead of Michael Porter. We’ll see if that’s an upgrade or not. But getting the right using the difference in the salary between those players to get Tim Hardaway Jr. to get Bruce Brown to maybe get Valenunis. I we still don’t What if all of this hinges on Valenunis? Yeah. Yeah. But like those I think those three players that that last three I said basically sum up to the salary difference between Porter Jr. and Cam Johnson. Like if they’re paying the same amount but get those four instead. I think that’s a better team. They were very good last year in the playoffs. They pushed the champs to seven. So, he has a good team and if I think if they I mean I think he’ll stay anyway, but if they play well, you know, there’s no reason for him to leave. It’ll just be like great $77 million more dollars. Here you go. You can have a player option too. You’re the best player in franchise history. But you just I’m just putting a pin in it after he said, “Oh man, it would be terrible if we had to trade 15.” And everyone’s like, “What did What did you just say? Did you just say that on the record on purpose?” Uh Strange can’t ever be surprised in the NBA, right? And I I I think that’s kind of what we’re talking about here. But we all love when owners go on the record. It’s awesome. And then they say stuff like that. It’s like, wait, wait, wait, wait, wait. This is why you have some owners that are just better off, you know? Oh, that’s why you don’t talk to the media. Right. Got it. Got it. Um, coming up, we had a trade on Tuesday night that gives Victor Webmanyama even more help. We’ll talk about that next. Coming up, today’s episode of Locked on NBA is brought to you by Monarch Money. Ever wish managing your finances felt easier? With Monarch Money, it can. Whether you’re growing your savings or planning a big purchase, Monarch puts you in the driver’s seat. It’s like having your own personal CFO, giving you full visibility and control over your finances. Monarch Money is more than a budgeting app. It’s a complete financial command center. You can track all of your accounts, investments, and spending in one place. So, in addition to managing your money, you’re also building wealth. By using Monarch Money, I found that I was paying a ton of money, and I mean a ton of money, on food delivery services. And it motivated me to start planning ahead, grocery shopping on weekends and save tons of money that now my wife and my wife and I use to treat ourselves to a nice date night. So instead of ordering in, we’re going out a little bit less times, but a lot more enjoyable. Take control of your finances with Monarch Money. Use the code locked on NBA at monarchmoney.com for 50% off your first year. That’s monarchmoney.com code locked on NBA for half off your first year. We’ll be right back. Welcome back to Locked on NBA. The best way to support the show is to like and subscribe on YouTube. Follow us on your favorite podcast app. We have a trade to report. The Wizards are trading Kelly Oolen to the Spurs from Malachi Brandham, Blake Wesley, and a 2026 second round pick. It’s at least favorable of Dallas, Philadelphia, Oklahoma City, not that anybody cares. Um, this was reported late Tuesday night and uh I think it’s a really interesting trade, Tony. The Spurs clearly prioritizing surrounding Webman with front court help that can also space the floor. This is going to be a key part, I think, of their identity. uh which makes sense given that you’re built with not only Victor Webbyama but Darren Fox now Dylan Harper Stfan Castle who’s not exactly a floor spacer and you look at Wemby and then obviously they had signed Luke Cornet earlier this off season it’s front court help it’s size it’s all of these things that help Victor Webbinyama so he doesn’t have to play the five full-time it’s also guys who could space the floor much like Wii right like not these guys aren’t Webyama but clearly the Spurs are identifying and prioritizing ing big men who can provide that size while also spacing the floor for WBY and their guards. Yeah, I agree. Their front court rotation was not particularly exciting. I mean, still Cornet’s good and WBY is great. Like that’s exciting. WBY Womb is so exciting, but Sohan, is he really in their future? What else they have? I don’t I don’t remember Zack Collins what what the deal is with him right now. I think he’s still there. I don’t know. Whatever. Chicago. Yeah, they have like nothing in the front court, right? So, another front court piece and Olen can like kind of shoot and kind of pass and kind of do lots of stuff. You know, that that matters. I I was like, I’m pretty sure Zack Collins is gone. So, that’s good because they had no other bigs. Like most of the other players in their team are like three, fours and four fives who aren’t really centers. Now, they have a full great you can do this rotation. And I think most people believe that Wii can play with another big. I don’t It wouldn’t be awesome if they’re not a good shooting big, but that is a nice versatile weapon to have as the Spurs. Honestly, to me, US, I think we knew this when they traded for Fox last year. I think they traded for Fox right before they found out about the blood clot, I believe, and they never played together. But it’s just exciting to see Webyama’s team going for it. This is such a small move, right? Brandon never really plays. Wesley never really plays. Like, you look at the team they have, the guys they’ve drafted, they’re probably not going to be in the mix. The second round pick is like, who cares, right? But the fact that they’re trading little things for like a real contributor is things you do when you’re trying to get better, right, and win some games. And I’m excited for a Weyama team going for it, right? Like they have a really, really solid top seven. Let’s say they still have some young guys who are going to play in there that might be good and might not be this year. But that is why I think this trade is exciting is it is the biggest tell of everything they’ve done that they are totally going for it this year. And that’s exciting. It’s a great call, right? because they’re also looking at the teams at the top of the Western Conference. Oklahoma City, Houston, Denver, Minnesota. These teams are big. These teams can throw out multiple big men at the same time and and and put out some of their best lineups in doing that. And the Spurs couldn’t do that. They had one big man, a great big man, a very tantalizing, exciting big man, but one big man nonetheless. And a guy who can frankly still get, you know, pushed off of his spots in Victor Webbyama, right? He’s if he’s going up against those bigger guys, they needed some size. is they needed some heft. I don’t know that I would describe Kelly Olen as hefty, but Luke Cornet is certainly hefty. He’s a big guy. Um, and you know, it’s heftier than what they were. Maybe there’s still another move for them to make, but I do think that you’re seeing even Houston did this and adding Clint Capella, right? Like I think you’re seeing teams respond to Oklahoma City winning and Houston adding and things like that and Minnesota being in the Western Conference Finals two years in a row now by saying, “Look, we size is really important. Size matters in the Western Conference. We need to be big. And the Spurs are going for it to your point and they’re going for it in a way where they are responding directly to the top teams in the Western Conference, which um I guess the next logical part of this and before I get this last thing on the Spurs, can I just say one thing about the Wizards? Kind of like this trade for Washington, too. They went and got Cam Whitmore earlier this week. I like Blake Wesley. I like Malachi Brandon. They’re just like, I don’t know. Bring us all of your tired and young and hungry young players that never get to get minutes. We’ll figure it out here. Uh we’re going to give everybody We’re going to roll the rock out and let everybody play with it. But um the Spurs Well, hold on. Yeah, go ahead. The Wizards are going to have to cut so many players. They like they have like 18 real players with guaranteed contracts. Like someone someone decent or good or interesting is going to be cut by the Wizards now. But yeah, this is what this is what they should be doing, right? So, this is a this is a classic overcrowding in schools where the teacher is Chris Middleton and Marcus Smart and they’re just like, “Look, we don’t have the resources. We don’t have desks. We don’t have enough for these people.” That is the most hilarious team. It’s just like the old vets who are like, “Where why are we here?” And these young guys who were like, “Why are we here?” They’re they’ll they’ll all figure it out together. Um the Spurs, how do you feel about them as a playoff team? Yeah, I mean, if WMBB is awesome, which he was last year, like they could be really good. You know, their wing rotation is is like full of good, not great, but not bad players. Vel is good. Johnson is good. Barnes is good. Whatever you think of Castle, maybe he’s a wing, you know, is kind of solid. I love the Champenny guys. Then they have Carter Bryant sneaking in as rookie. Like that could be like a pretty dang good forward rotation. Darren Fox has been an all-star before. Maybe Dylan Harper’s ready to do stuff. Castle is definitely a guard. Like if he if he’s good this year, they have a legit like three guys at every position group who are good. They’re a little thin beyond that, right? If they have to go to their fourth guy at all these spots, it’s not as exciting. But I think that that they certainly have the room to do stuff now. I think they only have 12 players under contract after this trade. So, they’re in a good position to add, too. But if WBY is as good as he was last year, stop right there. Like their net rating with him on the floor last year was good. They’ve added better pieces around him. Full stop. That’s a good team. They have Darren Fox. They’re going to be better than that, right? So, Mhm. I think they’re positioned well to be in the mix for top eightish. I don’t know if they’re quite like, yeah, this is a for sure playoff team this year, but when you have a transformational guy, like that could just happen all of a sudden. And so, I like what they’re doing. I like that they’re slow building, too. Figure out what works with your core. Figure out when the right time to hit the accelerator is because Harper could be awesome. But, uh, yeah, I think they’re going to be really threatening and I think that they’ve shown that they believe that, too. top eight I think is right and there’s going to they’re going to be a hipster pick like they are the last couple years to be like oh look at the Spurs top six they’re going to homecourt advantage in the west don’t not okay maybe like look if Victor Abanyama just keeps improving at this rate he might just end up being one of the best four players in the league next year and who knows what happens but I I still think their depth is a little shaky to me they’re one other they’re one wing that I really like away and frankly a point guard away like I like Darren Fox I like Dylan Harper. I like Stefon Castle. Dylan Harper and Stefon Castle are still really young. Darren Fox as your lead ball handler. I think that there’s some limitations there. But like, ironically enough, I would love if Chris Paul came back as a backup, but it doesn’t seem like that’s going to happen. Us also like Darren Fox is still on an expiring contract. Like I think this we’ll see what happens there, but like that is a little telling to me. My my radar is up on that guy. Yeah. Yeah. Uh we’ll see what they do there. Um, but yeah, I I think I’m with you. To me, they feel like a pretty solid, at least in the playin tournament, which is a lot better than what they’ve been the last few years. Um, moving on. Bradley Beal likely headed to a contender, but does he move the needle? We’ll talk about that next. All right, welcome back to LockNBA. It’s time for a little segment we like to call buy or sell. We’ll start in Phoenix where Bradley Beal is expected to get bought out by the Suns and signed with the Clippers according to the Athletic. Tony, buy or sell Beal as a good fit in LA. Um I I’m selling Beal as a good player anymore. It’s like catching a falling knife a little bit, but I I actually kind of think LA is the perfect team. That Clippers team is like the perfect team, right? James Harden was like the only guy who could dribble in their starting five at times last year. He saw a lot of pressure. Someone else to kind of be that release valve type will be helpful. I don’t even know that he’ll start, but you know, if he is the third guy that they always have him with either Kawhai or Harden, but rarely both, I think that’s a good fit because then these one-dimensional players who are still good, your Bdonovich, Christristen, Derrick Jones go down the line for their team, all make a lot of sense and fit very well and both of their centers and Zubach and Lopez can do enough stuff on both ends that they will be always pretty good on both ends of the floor and really good on one end and so he fits there really well because they don’t really need him to do a lot on defense and he can still just kind of like, yep, I can still make off the dribble threes and move the ball on offense. Even though he certainly is not that impactful as an efficiency guy anymore. He’s not the greatest passer ever. They’re going to be a team that’s just like very reliant on ecosystem stuff because they don’t have any good setup men. But, uh, I believe in Tyoo specifically to make Brad be an ecosystem player. They’ve been described as the favorites for a while. I think that is definitely the best place for him. So, a good fit if he picks there. Yeah, I’ll I’ll push back a little bit. I think Beal is still a good player. He’s just not a $50 million a year player. No, no, no, no. And if you’re getting him something at the a portion of the mid-level, the minimum, whatever, like all of a sudden that looks pretty good. Look, two years ago, he averaged 18 points a game on 51% shooting, shot 43% from three, averaged five assists per game. Uh, and I I say two years ago because last year Phoenix was actively trying to make him miserable, which doesn’t feel like that’s a great place to to create good basketball. So, you know, two years ago, his first year in Phoenix, I thought he was still pretty good. And if he’s somewhere between 17 and 18 points per game and shooting 40% on threes, which he’s done a couple times during his career now, he’s a career 37% uh three-point shooter. So maybe two years ago was a little bit of an anomaly, but playing off of a guy like James Harden who does such a great job at creating those open looks and when you’ve got Kawhi Leonard in the post attracting the attention that he does, be going to get a ton of open looks, clean looks and we saw a guy like Norm Powell feast on those things. And if you’re the Clippers, you’ve essentially now, as long as this Beal thing goes through, and who knows by the time people are hearing this, maybe it’s already done, but if you trade Norm Pal for John Collins and Bradley Beal, that’s a pretty good return. all things considered, you just basically added you swapped out one rotation p piece for two. Um even if none of them in a vacuum is as good as Norm Pal, it’s more of a quantity thing. And and to your point, be definitely fills a need there on the perimeter for them. Um go ahead. Can we talk about something very quickly? Yes. I am endlessly fascinated by this new buyout right at the start of free agency trend happening in the NBA. I don’t know if it’s because the cap barely went up last year, so a lot of teams are up against aprons they didn’t expect you up against. If it’s a new CBA thing where teams like we have to have our spending in order all the time, if it’s players realizing getting to your destination earlier is better because you can extend there and it just makes more sense and that’s part of why free agency is different now. Who knows? But like Aon just had this, be probably will make up the money. He’s going to have this. Dame got waved and stretched like that was obviously not a buyout, but that was crazy. Like I am very intrigued by because you never see buyouts early in the year, right? Daniel Ty got bought out by the Pacers two years ago. Went to the Clippers. Everybody’s like why did they just do this in November, right? Like that fell early and it just keeps happening earlier and earlier and so be is a prime example obviously where his is extremely unique. He has to take like a specific amount to actually legally be weighed and stretched. But I am I’m very fascinated by this new CBA opening up this whole like wait, we’re buying out guys in in July. What’s going on? and it’s like kind of working for the players in teams. But that that is very new and very interesting to me. It’s a great call, right? And I think there’s maybe a couple reasons. Number one, I think it helps to buy out the guys early because you’re doing a solid for the representation for the agents are like, “Hey, we’ll take care of your guy, take care of us down the road in some way, shape, or form.” But also this new CBA, I think teams are making the calculation of uh we’re going to either get slammed with luxury taxes or we could just pay this guy the salary or or most of the salary to just go away and then avoid some of the luxury tax implications. So if you’re a general manager trying to increase the flexibility that you have early on in the offseason, you go to the owner, it’s like you could pay Bradley Beal, you know, when it’s all said and done $120 million or whatever the tax multiplier is or $50 million. Which one would you rather do? Yeah. Right. The owner might just like, “All right, I guess we’ll just pay him $50 million to go over Jordan Clarkson, too, right?” Like, it it’s just kind of it works for everyone, right? The Jazz don’t want him anymore. He has no trade value. The Knicks do want him. Like, okay, perfect. It worked for him. It worked for Raid and it’s probably going to work for Beiel. It’s just very it’s a very interesting new way of going about like these trade valueless players. And it’s not even they don’t have trade value. All those players are good. Like, they signed with a new team immediately. just the new landscape of trades makes it harder for them to be traded for positive value. And this is one way for everybody to move around and make some savings in a way that makes sense. Uh Anthony Davis underwent a procedure to repair a detached retina that he suffered during the season. He’s expected to be healthy for training camp. Tony, buy or sell this is something that the Mavs should be worried about. Uh yeah, every Mavs injury should be scary for them. Um, it it is obviously not a muscle thing or a bone thing, which is better. Uh, detach. Doesn’t that sound really scary? Detached retina. I just imagine one of those uh prop comedy things where the with the glasses with the eyeballs just like come out. I’m pretty sure that’s not what it is, but that’s what I’m imagining. That is funny. Yeah, there’s a lot of like suggestion in the reporting that this might have like happened during last season, which is kind of crazy. Uh, yeah. If Anthony Davis can see you better, that’s great. If it makes him shoot better, that’s great. Any injury that makes it so he’s like favoring anything or doing anything different is not great. So, I’m not going to say like it’s a worry for the Mavs, but I saw Anthony Davis injury. Uh oh, not again. Oh, boy. But, uh the Mavs I hope they’re not cursed because Cooper flag should be fun. Um I am selling this as a worry just because it wasn’t a leg or a back thing. Yeah, right. I’m like eyes that feels like something that we’ve corrected before. Get glasses. I don’t know. It’ll be fine. Um last one here. The Bulls or Bulls reporter Casey Johnson reported that he does not expect the Bulls to offer Josh Giddy an extension that reaches $30 million a year annually, which is reportedly what Giddy is asking for as a restricted free agent. He is still unsigned. Tony, buy or sell Giddy as a $30 million a year player. Uh probably sell I I understand how Josh Giddy and his reps are like, “Hey, there’s Jaylen Suggs’s contract. We like that one. We want that one.” and they’re like, “No, you’re not as good as him.” So, like he what did he not do that they would have wanted last year? Like he shot better. He played pretty well. I think a lot of people thought for that trade that everybody hated, but he’s still I don’t think a guy with his limitations as a shooter or defender is a $30 million player in the current NBA, but he doesn’t have time to show more. Qualifying offer sucks for everybody. Like, they want to find a resolution. I bet he gets mid to high 20s the end anyway, but I am selling that Josh Giddy is a $30 million player right now. I’m going to go ahead and buy it. I’m gonna buy it. The NBA isn’t about what you deserve. It’s about what you can leverage. It’s about what you can negotiate. And he’s the Chicago Bulls got what else? This is the whole thing. This is they are a team that would do that. Yes. Right. And they would be like, I guess like if we don’t have Patrick Williams, then what do we have? We got to give him $20 million a year. But this is a little bit different. Like Josh Giddy is a former top five, top six pick, 22 years old. playoff experience and played really well in his first year in Chicago. Almost 15 points per game. He did shoot almost 38% from three-point range on four three-point attempts a game last year. Um he’s a rebound. He he stacks the box score, rebounds, assists, right? Uh he does get steals. Like there’s things that you like about his game. I thought he was really good for them. He’s he’s big. He’s versatile in terms of that size. You can play him in a couple different positions. And I do think that with Billy Donovan as their head coach, he really leaned into Josh Giddy’s strengths of the pace and space and playing fast and uptempo and all these things. And without Giddy, I just don’t know, especially now with Lonzo Ball gone, I don’t know who does that for you. Um, and so I kind of think Giddy will eventually get something close to that $30 million a year. The $30 million is interesting because I think about Jaylen Green, the extension that he signed last summer, and it’s like, okay, where’s Josh Giddy on the Jaylen Green scale of I hope so, you know, and he’s probably right around where Jaylen Green was last summer. I’m very curious about these 2021 draft guys in general anyway, who are in restricted free agency because I think all the guys who have signed already did not get qualifying offers, right? Dron Sharp and Zyra Williams and they went the unrestricted route. Most the other guys who got paid got extended. Does Has has anyone signed like as a restricted free agent? I don’t think so. Right. No, I mean they either got the extension earlier or uh Oh, the Santi Alama he signed already with Memphis. I think he might be the only one who did not get extended but has already signed going through restrict specifically restricted for agency. Cam Thomas still out there. Grimes is still out there. Obviously, Kaminga is still out there. Getty is still out there. All of them who are interested. It’s going to be a horrible year for restricted free agents and that’s another reason to sell. But it’s the Bulls. They’ve done a lot of things that go, “Wait, what? What are you doing? Why did you do that?” So, that is extremely possible. Yeah, that’s crazy. Every single player in this draft class besides Aldama, who signed was either unrestricted or extended. That’s wild. Uh well, the Bulls will certainly figure it out. Uh we’ll see. That leaves it. Uh we’ll leave it there for now. That wraps up Locked on NBA. Make sure you’re subscribed on YouTube and wherever you get your podcast with Tony East. I’m Wes Goldberg. This has been Locked on NBA. Thanks for hanging out with us.

NBA Summer League sparks controversy as top rookies sit out. Is load management reshaping the league’s future?

Wes Goldberg and Tony East analyze the evolving landscape of NBA talent development. From Nikola Jokic’s contract decision to the Spurs’ strategic moves around Victor Wembanyama, the hosts dissect recent trades and roster changes. The conversation shifts to Bradley Beal’s potential Clippers move and Josh Giddey’s contract negotiations.

0:00 Intro
1:30 Load management in Summer League
5:06 Nikola Jokic declines contract extension
10:17 Spurs trade for Kelly Olynyk
19:49 Bradley Beal
25:08 Anthony Davis undergoes procedure
26:38 Josh Giddey’s future

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