Ayton Expectations | Clippers Favorites For Beal | Lebron’s Relationship With Lakers

Ayton Expectations | Clippers Favorites For Beal | Lebron’s Relationship With Lakers

All right, good morning. Good morning. What’s going on, everybody? Thank you very much for being here. Appreciate you guys hanging out 8:00 a.m. Wednesday, July 9th. Uh couple days here now after 4th of July. We’re almost 10 days into free agency. Uh time’s just moving here. Time is just moving. Thank you very much for uh being a part of the show. Thank you very much for hanging out. Uh cheers to you. Whatever you’re drinking this morning, I got a nice cup of coffee waiting for me. nice and warm, nice and hot. Um, on days that I don’t have a guest, like today, it’s a little bit tougher. I got to be a little more strategic how I take down that copy. A little bit more strategic. Um, appreciate you guys being a part of the show. Please, uh, do me a favor if you guys don’t mind. We’ve been getting really, really good views um, over these last couple of weeks or so, which is, you know, expected. You get around free agency trades, all that stuff. Um, obviously the NBA finals, we finished the NBA draft, all that stuff. If you don’t mind subscribing to the channel, would greatly greatly appreciate that. I appreciate everybody who’s done that. We’ve uh definitely increased our memberships, definitely increased our um MVP members as well. So, those that have become members, our subscriptions. So, thank you very much for doing so. I really appreciate the support to the channel. Um okay, we got a number a number of topics to get into. This is one thing that’s kind of cool about this time of the year. I don’t listen when we get to August obviously things are going to be a lot different but I will say the one thing about this time of the year there’s always something new coming out and I feel like we got some good stuff coming from yesterday some stuff that I read this morning so Laker NBA fan um hang out for the hour and I’ll make sure to get you as much content as I possibly can. Um here’s a quick rundown what we got going on for the show right here that rundown. Beautiful rundown right there. Um yesterday DeAndre Aan was officially officially announced as a Los Angeles Laker him and Jake Laravia. So both of them were announced at uh in Elsagando Lakers training facility. Unfortunately I couldn’t be able wasn’t able to make it. Um but there was uh I thought some really good quotes from from DeAndre Aen and and something that I’d love to throw out to you know Laker fans that are out there. What what are going to be some of the expectations for DeAndre Aen this year? because I I think it’s great to see him on the Lakers and see how cheap they got him for and he kind of came out of nowhere but it is a Lakers and there’s always going to be expectations and you know for the love of God Lakers didn’t have a center and and you know obviously how bad they were in need of a player of that position and I don’t know anybody really thought they’re going to be grabbing this 26 year old a lot of upside all this yeah what are the expectations what are you going to expect from what what would make you say when the season’s over Hey, DeAndre Aton, that dude played his, you know what, off and he made it happen for the Lakers. And then what’s also going to make you say that, yeah, that was a disappointment. That’s why Portland got rid of him. That’s why teams were that’s why he was bought out at the contract as he was. So, we’ll get into that. I’ll spend a little time on that. I got some quotes from him as well. Uh Bradley Beal to the Los Angeles Clippers. Nothing official. nothing official, but every report that I’m reading out there is Lakers are a long shot and um it’s more and more likely that he’s going to become a Los Angeles Clipper. I think there’s some reasons for it. I think you know the slot that they’re going to open up for him, the fact that they traded for Nor or they traded Norman Pal. Um but that’s the latest of where we are. Um I I will read that latest one. I saw something from Evan Cery this morning, so I saw it on Twitter. I’ll pop that up for you guys. will take a look at it. I kind of want to compare too comparing the two LA teams. Lakers roster versus the Clippers roster. It’s kind of both rosters are a little bit odd. I mean, I think the Clippers make more sense, but I think at the same time, you could, you know, poke holes at both of these rosters. So, we’ll take a look at that. ESPN yesterday did basically some tears in the NBA. Where does everybody rank? And the Lakers, uh, I’ll spend a little time where they put the Lakers. Um, LeBron and the Lakers. Man, everywhere I turn, everywhere I look, somebody is saying something about LeBron and the Lakers. I don’t think LeBron’s going to go anywhere, but I I still want to kind of play how awkward this summer has been between both parties, and I do think it’s just a matter of time. Now, do I think he’s going to be a Laker, at least for the start of the season? Sure. But more and more stuff just kind of keeps trickling out between LeBron and the Lakers. We’ll spend a little bit of time on that as well. Um, summer league obviously you’ll have official summer league start tomorrow. Cooper flag Dallas Mavericks. When I say summer league will start as an in Vegas, but the Cali Classic is going on. Um, I did a video on Dalton Connect a couple days ago and he had not been performing. He performed yesterday, which is exactly what he should be doing in a Cali Classic. Um, Basisley as well was awesome and and Lakers came back and beat the San Antonio Spurs. But I just kind of talk want to talk a little bit about some expectations in the summer league. And then specifically on the connect video that I put out, there were some comments that were out there that I’ll read to everybody in regards to, hey, do do we just got to get rid of Daltton Connect because he’s not going to get the PT or got traded and came back or whatever else. Um, and then the last thing that I’ll spend a little bit of time on, did you guys see what Chad Homegrren signed for this morning? the Oklahoma City Thunder and Chad Homegrren came to an agreement. Um, there are some wild numbers, Chad and Sheay, how much they will take up of that salary cap or of the salary that the Oklahoma City Thunder will have. And the reason why I want to bring it up, I think it really, really will continue. They’re going to eventually have to pay Jaylen Williams as well. It really just kind of shows in today’s NBA, you could only pay a couple of guys. You could only pay a couple of guys, as in real guys, you could only pay a couple of them. And I’m not here to question what the Thunder are doing because clearly the Thunder know what they’re doing. But damn, do not tell me that other teams can’t compete with the Oklahoma City Thunder, especially if that much of their money is going to be tied up amongst those two players and then still got to pay Jaylen Williams. The point is is that rosters are going to have to be evolving every single year. And maybe that’s why we’ve seen seven different champions in the last seven years. Any NBA rumors that come up as well while I’m doing the show, I always got hoops hype up. I always got Twitter up. So, I’ll read those as well. And uh that’s going to be our show today. So, thank you very much for hanging out on this Wednesday. Cheers to everybody here. Sneak in a little sip. See how dramatic that was? Like I’m doing a coffee commercial or something, right? Very dramatic. Very dramatic. I’m a very dramatic individual. Um I thank you for being a part of the show. Please subscribe to the channel. Let’s get started here. Let’s get started. So yesterday, um you know, unfortunately I couldn’t make it out to Elsa Gondo. We got um a notification the day before that the Lakers would be introducing DeAndre A. They’d be introducing Jake Larabia. And um I had something going on in the afternoon yesterday so I couldn’t make it out to Elsa Gundo but they did officially announce DeAndre Aon Jake Laravia you got opportunity you know obviously media there you can ask some questions that you’re curious about and it was going to be the first time that uh they’re going to be in a Laker jersey photo op take a couple of photos call it a day now I’m sure for Aan and Jake Laravia they could go about their summer and not have to really worry about the Lakers for a couple of months and not worry about, you know, getting uh getting next season started. Um, I’m gonna read a couple quotes here that came from that interview yesterday and it’s predominately going to be for DeAndre A. It’s no disrespect to Jake Larvia. I’m actually excited to see him play. I’m excited to see what he could do for the Lakers, but I think we all know um you know the biggest piece for the Lakers at least up to this point is DeAndre and how they figured out a way to get him and the expectations are going to be on his shoulders. That’s just kind of the reality of the Lakers situation. That’s the reality for anybody that wears a Laker jersey, especially if you got Luca and LeBron on the roster and everything else. So, um I don’t think I need to explain that to you, but let me read a couple quotes here. I thought there were a couple of quotes that were interesting and then um and then uh I I want to kind of just key in specifically on what some of the expectations are going to be for him this upcoming year. So here’s one of the quotes that came out. One was about basically proving his critics wrong. Guys, you know, I I’ve said this before. If you think DeAndre Aton is coming to the Los Angeles Lakers and Portland is saying to themselves, “Oh my god, I can’t believe we let this guy go and what’s our franchise going to do?” They’re not. Um, I read some reports out there that there was stuff out there, I think it was Jason Quick, who wrote it, who’s part of the Athletic, had wrote some stuff out there about how the franchise just wanted to move on. I mean, they bought out they paid 25 of his $35 million contract just to say, “Yes, stay away from some of our young guns. Stay away from some of our young um young players here. We we want you to go in opposite direction.” So, there’s no guarantee or a lock that Aan coming to the Los Angeles Lakers is is, you know, a home run or the best fit or anything like that. It’s clearly not a long-term play for the Lakers as well. So, Aan was asked yesterday a little bit about his um some of the criticism that comes with him or some of the question marks that comes with DeAndre Aton, some of the reports out there about his, you know, how much is his desire there to play the game of basketball. If you’re being asked, if a question is out there, um, hey, does this person really care about his occupation? That’s not a good thing to have under your belt. So, let me read some of the quotes here because he was asked some of these questions. I like how Aan addressed them as well. U he said, “Most definitely.” This is about the criticism. It fuels me. It fuels me up completely and it’s a different type of drive that I’ve been wanting to express for a long time. I think this is a per I think this is the perfect timing here in the purple and gold and it’s a platform that I cannot run from. He’s right about that because here’s what’s going to happen after every single Lakers game. Um, people like me are going to have a microphone. Obviously, you know, the media that that circles around the Los Angeles Lakers, not just local media as well. Yes, you got the LA Times and you got the Athletic and you got the SoCal Register. You got all these different, you know, radio stations, news stations, all that stuff. But it’s more than just local media. Lakers are always a national story. Here’s what he went on to say. I can show what I really am and just be around some greats to really emphasize that for me as well. It’s a lot of fuel in me to prove the whole world. So, got a little bit of a chip on his shoulder. Um, you know, I said this when the Lakers got DeAndre and I don’t think this is breaking news. If the man can’t get motivated in this predicament, in this situation that he’s got with the Lakers, I don’t know what to tell. I you know I I honestly don’t know what to say because this might be DeAndre Aen’s either best opportunity or biggest mistake in his career happens this year and it’s while he’s wearing the purple and gold. And I don’t think I’m being dramatic. I I Let me explain exactly what I’m referring to. What I’m referring to is DeAndre Aton’s got a two-year deal with the Lakers. 8 million this year, 8 million next year. Eight and some change. something along those lines. If he ends up picking that player option for next year, you know what that means? That means Aiden didn’t have a good year. You can’t if if Aiden goes from 35 million a year to 8 million, that tells you more about DeAndre Aiden. That tells you more that you know what, no, a lot of teams out there just don’t trust him. A lot of teams out there don’t think that he’s the guy. A lot of teams out there don’t think that he can be a player that you can build around, that you can be excited about, that can help sell jerseys and everything else. That can happen. Here’s another thing that can happen, and I think this is part of the, you know, the point that he’s trying to make here. Um, the other point of what he’s trying to make is this is kind of it for him. This is as good of an opportunity as you’re going to get. You’re going to get Luca on one side, you got LeBron, we’re assuming you got LeBron James as well. Guys that can set you up. Lakers are in desperate need of a center. They go out in five games against the Minnesota Timberwolves because they got no size. They got no rebounds. They got no defensive presence. It it literally you can’t ask for a better situation if you’re DeAndre Aton. And you know, I’ll continue to emphasize this. It’s up to him. I mean, I could sit here all day long and say, you know what, Aiden at times in his career when he was with the Suns, he was averaging 18 and 10 in that finals run. um he was uh you know a big piece and he had opportunities and he’s the number one overall pick. All that really doesn’t mean anything. It’s up to Aan to prove that once you know next season starts that the player that the Lakers are basically begging to be good, begging to be great lives up to some of those expectations and hype. And I don’t think that really has anything to do with the Lakers. I think they have handed him the keys at the center spot. not the keys of the franchise, but just at the center spot. And they’re hoping and praying. And I’m sure Rob Pelanka did a prayer last night and say, “Please Jesus, please help DeAndre Aton be the player that I need him to be because I think the franchise is really depending on him for that. Not long term, but certainly for this upcoming year.” Another quote here from DeAndre. I’m going to read for you guys. This one was, let’s see, um, I like this one actually. I feel like at the end of the day, I’m on the court and I’m supposed to perform. It’s just different routes with organizations whether you want to win or not. I just took my route where I want to win. When it comes to wins, you play hard. You know, everybody’s goals to win. You do everything you’re supposed to do or can to win. Um I I think really what he’s trying to say there more than anything else, I think there’s a little bit of how do I explain this? I think there’s a little bit of um I can’t control being on a team with the Portland Trailblazers that doesn’t have interest in winning. I can’t control being with the Portland Trailblazers and they’re in a rebuilding mode or rebuilding process. I can’t control playing with guards that are trying to get theirs and not necessarily trying to set me up. I think that’s probably what DeAndre Aen is trying to say. Um but now he’ll obviously get his opportunity. Okay, one other thing that I want to read here about him playing with LeBron and him playing with Luca and you know I’m reading most of this by the way coming from the LA Times with uh Brad Turner. One of the things that I mentioned and this was actually my pitch for Bradley Beal as well which I don’t think is going to work. When you got LeBron and you got Luca, two guys that are wildly unselfish basketball players that are all about Yep. Uh, I could go drop 30, but I also have no problem dishing out 12 dimes. That’s both of their games. Yes, I can drop 30 on any on any team in the league, anybody who’s guarding me. But, um, if you watch me play, I also like dishing out dimes. Here’s what he said about Luca. Uh, who, by the way, Luca averaged eight dimes last year. LeBron averaged 7.8, so call it eight assists. Here’s what he said. They both averaged about nine assists over their career span. and just the type of players they create with their teammates. They turn them into superstars. They make them bigger than their roles. They make them very important on the floor. Just seeing that, finally getting the chance to go in and experience that would be big for me. Just getting back to my full form of how I used to play coming up and being a part of the NBA finals. It’s those playmakers I’m used to having around me that’s leading to win. So, I think he also obviously understands the importance of the players that he’s going to be playing with and put it on Luca’s back. I think Luca wants that. Luca wants to have a player where he can make um a player like Gaffford or Lively, make them look better than they really are. That’s what the greats do. LeBron’s been doing it his entire career. He’s played with guys that are less than, but he makes he gets the absolute best out of them. Lakers have two of those guys. They got LeBron and Luca who can do that. But what LeBron and Luca can’t do is they probably can’t set up Jackson Hayes all night or set up Jared Vanderbilt all night. That’s just not what those players are about. AD or LeBron could set up AD all night. LeBron could set up Dwight Howard back in the day. He could set up other big men that, you know, he can depend on and rely on. The question is going to be how much of that can he set up with um with um uh DeAndre Aid? How much of that can he set up with DeAndre Aid? So th those were really the main quotes that I wanted to take away. I think there was some He also talked a little bit about Luca specifically, how he’s in phenomenal shape. And then of course everybody’s losing it again because Luca is in shape and everybody wants to go out of their way and say, “Oh my god, Luca is actually he’s conditioning himself. Let’s all go out there and uh you know and let’s praise the Lord because a man is doing his job.” It’s your job, Luke. I can’t praise you for being in shape, but supposedly he’s in really good shape supposedly. Uh what did he say? I think Aan even said he dropped significant weight. He’s working on strict diet and cardio training. Um oh no, that was actually Dan Wy the athletic talking about that. Anyways, long story short, he’s obviously talking about how he’s excited to play with both of those players. So, here here’s something I I’ll throw at everybody else and um you know, obviously, thank you for uh being a part of the chat and the show and everything else. Um what what are the right expectations for him? Like, honestly, I I think at the end of the day, I could sit here and I could um I I can make a big deal about DeAndre A and I could say that I’m excited to see this dude play. Um, but what are what are the proper expectations? I’ll tell you my expectations. My expectations for Aiden coming into this season. It’s actually kind of very simple. Um, I know he’s not Anthony Davis, and I know he’s not a top five big in the NBA, but what DeAndre Aton needs to be is the best version that he was of himself in Phoenix, where he did, by the way, have a distributor like Chris Paul that can get him the ball. Um there were certainly a lot of people that were focused on Devin Booker, so Aton had more opportunities and things along those lines. He’s got to be that version of himself. Um I don’t think that DeAndre Aton is going to walk in this upcoming season and people are going to say, “Hey, it’s Joic and it’s Giannis and it’s Embiid and you obviously healthy and then there’s Aton.” I don’t expect that. But what I do expect is Aon to have some nights where he’s got 20 and 15 and Lakers are blowing out a team and Luca had 12 13 dimes because Aton is there. Um I’m expecting at least at minimum 15 16 and 10 a night from DeAndre Aton. I’m expecting a player like him who it’s going to be all about his next contract for him kind of playing for his livelihood in the NBA. I’m being dramatic there. But my point is is that if things go right for Aiden and the Lakers, he’s not a Laker after this year. If things go right for Aiden and the Lakers, he ends up signing a three-year deal somewhere else and got 90 million using as an example or got 80 million. something along those lines. What I don’t think would go well for the Lakers and I don’t think would go well for Aton is he comes back for the Lakers next year and he has to get that player option for $8 million. I think the other thing too is you got to remember um only played 40 games last year. He’s had a lot of games so far or at least in his career. It’s going to be important for him to figure out a way to stay on the court as well. So I don’t think you could be teed up for a better opportunity if you’re DeAndre Aton. I think you were given a gift by coming to the Lakers, getting that exposure, still getting your money from Portland, um getting bought out, getting Luca Donic, getting LeBron James. Now it’s up to eight to take advantage of the opportunity. I think that’s that’s a fair way to put it. All right, let’s read some of these comments here. Let’s see what we got here. Um let’s see what we got here. Aton will get his best stats ever in LA. Great opportunity for it, right? I mean, again, I I don’t want to be over dramatic, but can you tell me a better situation for him? You guys remember they were kind of walking through all the different opportunities for eight and where he can go and for a second there it was, oh, you know what, he’s going to end up in Milwaukee, but then they got Miles Turner. Not end up in Milwaukee, but Milwaukee was trying to make a case to get him because they lost Brook Lopez. And then it was, okay, well, watch out for the Pacers because in Indiana they lost Miles Turner. He’s he’s got a good chance to go there. This and that. They don’t have Tyrese Hallebertton this upcoming year. Who’s going to be setting him up? You can’t ask for a better position. All right, let let’s look at some more. I think ceiling Aan can be an all-star. Um, I’d be shocked if he was an all-star. I would. But again, if there’s a predicament or a situation where you get the exposure, where you get Luca setting you up and you start becoming the player that you were hoping to be by being a number one draft pick in Luca’s class. Uh, who’s in that? Luca’s in that class. Um, Trey Young’s in that class. Obviously, a good class there. Um, MVP Luca. All right. This one’s more about Luca. I hope Luca works out his shoulders this summer because we expect him to carry any workout. Any workout for Luca, I’m in. Any workout. Um, no, he is going to be expected to, you know, carry obviously a big load. I was looking at it and we’ll have to uh we’ll have to look at the two teams, but I I want to compare the Lakers and the Clippers roster and I’ll do that after I get into the Bradley Beal stuff. Um, the one thing I will say about the um the the way the league is winning today, it’s a weird roster. It’s a weird roster. Probably going to have to have a lot of things. It’s not a terrible roster, and I’m talking about the Lakers, but it’s a it’s a weird roster. You’re going to need some things to go your way and and we’ll see what the rest of the league does. Um, all right. Let’s uh let’s keep things moving here. I want to get I want to keep things moving here. Let me read one more here. Luca and LeBron will make Aan an all-star as long as Aan does his part. See if he can make that happen, Peter. It’s going to be on his shoulders. I I’ll tell you that much. Um, okay. Let me let let me kind of transition here a quick second. And there’s other things I want to get into. I I probably already spent too much time on the eight and stuff, but I think you guys um I think you guys definitely definitely understand where I’m coming from, where the expectations are going to be. And I think a lot of people are going to look at him and availability is going to be probably the most important thing for DeAndre Aen and then we’ll see what he can do from there. Um there has been some there has been read this here. By the way, if you’re a Clipper fan and you’re coming on the channel, I’m all good. Come on and and talk your piece. That’s okay. Um if there’s something relevant going on, I’m all in to talk about it. I invite any NBA fan to come in here. Uh but I’ll be honest as well. I I think, you know, in having that conversation, we’ll talk about the the Beal to the Clippers thing, but I was reading this morning. So, we’ve all kind of been just looking at this, where’s Bradley Beal going to go? And, you know, I’ve said this a couple different times. I never really thought, hey, Lakers are the clear-cut favorite. there was just no article or no report out there that made you think Beal’s coming to the Lakers or there’s a good chance Beal if and when he clears um you know gets bought out from the Phoenix Suns there’s a strong possibility that that’s the location he’s coming to. I thought what happened on Monday told a lot of the story of what could potential potentially happen to Bradley Beal. I thought the Clippers making a deal. They did something yesterday as well. So just, you know, they’re positioning themselves. I thought what they did on Monday by trading for John Collins and trading out Norman Pal who was really good for them last year. Good pickup for the Miami Heat. I thought that told something and I thought that, you know, opened up a starting spot for Bradley Beal potentially on the FE or on the uh the Los Angeles Clippers. I thought it I I thought it said something. Let me read something to you here. Evan Cider, who’s killing it with um his work covering the NBA and and and covering a lot of these stories. I’m going to share this with you. This is what I read this morning. So, this is what I saw. There is significant momentum building towards Bradley Beal signing with the Clippers once his buyout with the Suns becomes official soon. So, I think they’re expecting that obviously to happen here soon. Beal will have the ability to start on a title contender in Los Angeles plus the opportunity to reestablish reestablish his overall contract value. Um I don’t know how much the contract value dude’s going to get when the dust settles. I think this contract alone was 250. So I think Bradley Beal if he makes another dime in the NBA it’s kind of irrelevant. I think the guy is uh I think he’s healthy. I think he’s done well for himself. Um, so all all signs are pointing towards Bradley Beal probably ending up with the Los Angeles Clippers. So I know the Warriors were out there. They have to get creative. They got Jonathan Kaminga that they got to figure out. Uh, by the way, why does that guy get so disrespected in Golden State? Kaminga needs to end up somewhere else. And I think Kaminga is a a nice player. We’ll see, you know, what what opportunity ends up for John the Kaminga. Um the Bucks, it doesn’t look like it’s going to happen. Minnesota was on that list. Doesn’t look like that’s going to happen. That would have been an interesting situation for him as well. Um it looks like when he’s bought out, he’s going to end up with the Los Angeles Clippers. Let me give you guys the Clippers lineup real quick. All right. And I I’m I’m having a difficult time thinking to myself, hey, is this a really good team or is this just a good squad on paper? And if you compare the Lakers and the Clippers together, um, they’re just wildly different. And frankly, I’m not even saying that from a positive perspective for either team. I think you’re still trying to figure out the direction that both teams are going. I think we know the Clippers direction. Here are the Clippers. Here’s their starting lineup. Harden, Beal, Kawaii, I’m assuming John Collins. Let me just assume that. And then Avita Zubots. Here’s what they got coming off the bench. Chris Dunn, Derek Jones Jr., Nicholas Batum, uh, Brook Lopez, and, um, Buon Bdanovich is their 10 players. There might be some other players there. I I don’t know too much more depth after that. The point that I’m trying to make is there’s a lot of names. I just don’t know if that’s, you know, I is that a real contender. James Harden, Bradley Beal, Kawhi Leonard. I mean, sounds like players that get injured. Sounds like players that, you know, aren’t necessarily healthy at the right time, which has obviously hurt the Clippers in the past. Um, the Clippers also just have a stigma under them where it’s like, yep, they’re just never going to get over that hump. That’s always going to stick with them until they finally do. But on paper, that’s 10 deep. Much deeper than anything the Lakers have. All right, here are the Lakers 10. You got Luca Reeves, LeBron Ruie, and Aan. Then Gabe Vincent, Jake Laravia, Vando, Jackson Hayes, Dalton Connect. Maybe you want to throw Jordan Goodwin in there. You know, something along those lines. I don’t know how much they’re going to use Connect this upcoming season. I think the point that I’m trying to make is both of these squads, you got the Clippers that got all of these names, guys that have been in the NBA for a long time, veterans. I think in today’s NBA, you got to have you got to have nine ten players that you got to have some depth with. And if they’re able to obviously add Bradley Beal, that just adds another layer of another really really good player. I just don’t know what he is today. The the roster is it’s interesting because it’s got a ton of names, but that doesn’t mean a ton of names is going to equal a ton of winning. Um, but they got a lot of pieces that make sense. I mean, that that’s the bottom line. They got a ton of pieces that make sense. the question. I mean, you go look at the Lakers roster, a lot of questions. Um, they’re young, then they’re old. They got some size, but not incredible amount of size. You need they got superstars in Luca, but they also got, you know, obviously a 41-year-old LeBron. What’s that going to look like? You got Austin Reeves that’s trying to figure out, you know, I think his role with Luca. You don’t have the best defenders out there. Um, kind of all over the place. I I mean if hypothetically if Beal ends up signing with the Clippers and you kind of look at both of these you know obviously these rosters clearly on paper on paper the Clippers have a more complete roster but I don’t know once the season starts how much that’s going to have an effect. I will tell you this the best player of all those names is Luca. You probably even make a a case the second best player on that list is LeBron and then you know where does everybody else kind of layer in from there? Obviously there’ll be a lot of Clippers from there as well. Um, so that’s the latest on Bradley Beal that we’re seeing out there and that’s something to uh to keep in mind. Um, Kawawaii’s numbers were amazing last year. Obviously, you don’t know Ball. All right. I don’t think that’s at me, but if it’s at me, that’s okay as well. Yeah, Kawhi is definitely not washed. Um, I think the question is always going to be health. I think that’s always going to be the question. Question is going to be health. uh Clippers will get clipped and frankly that’s how people feel about the Clippers because they have not got to a stage where you can give them that ultimate respect. I mean hell we’ve been doing that to the Thunder and the Thunder have only had a two-year window and every time every regular season win they every regular season game they won this year and they had 68 wins. Every regular season win we would pause and stop and be like yeah but they haven’t really done anything in the playoffs. It’s like well this is only their second year as far as their window goes. the Clippers, you have just example after example. Now, I don’t think all whatever your history is, you shouldn’t have to apply it to today, but I think that comes with the Clippers. I think that comes with the territory. And I I frankly, I think that comes with the territory for a lot of teams in sports. Clippers are the Clippers. Clippers won’t get anywhere. Now, I I get it. I I understand that. Um, I understand it that this is predominately a Laker channel, so I’m aware of that as well. Uh, OKC did it, too. Right now, the Rockets and OKC are the blueprints with bigs. Um, Denver trying to add some side as well. We’ll see what happens to Valenunis. Uh, who else added size? Who else is big? Dallas is huge. Dallas has more bigs than you can possibly imagine. So all of a sudden, you know, that’s uh that’s uh that’s obviously how things are changing. Um all right, let me see this here. CP3 coming too. I saw that that he might go to the Clippers. So, um, all right, that gives you a little bit of an idea from that perspective of Beal, the latest on Beal and, you know, where he stands and then, um, you know, obviously the Clippers and what what what eventually they could be if Bradley Beal ends up signing and we’ll take it from there. Okay. Uh, got to give uh some love here. I got a couple partners I want to give some love to. Um, let’s start off today with Lexus Santa Monica. Lexus Santa Monica. Shout out to Lexus Santa Monica. I’m going to give you guys a little bit of information on Lexus Santa Monica and why we have this partnership going. Current car that I’m driving. I drive uh a hybrid. Um I drive a GS hybrid and I’ve had it for about eight years. I got it from Lexus Santa Monica. Uh the general manager slashpart owner of that uh dealership is Matt Anger. Have had a relationship with him for about 10 years or so. Um, the best thing that I could tell anybody out there, if you’re in the market for a car, go to lexasan monica.com or let me let me kind of get you a little bit behind the scenes here as well. Um, this is the email address of the general manager there. His name is Matt Oer. And if you’re in a spot where maybe you’re in a current lease and you’re like, man, I’d love to get out of this lease. Maybe you listen to me in this ad and you’re like, you know what, Al’s been talking about Lexus and how dependable they are, how reliable they are, the the the unbelievable luxury inside. And I’m telling you guys, you guys can be cost effective on a Lexus as well. There’s a way to be cost effective. I buy pre-owned. So, I I buy across the street from Lexus Santa Monica is their own pre-owned lot. That’s where I got my car. I have 180,000 miles on my car. That’s how I buy my cars. I I look at my car as an investment that’s try to be as smart as you can with an investment in a car knowing that it’s going to depreciate every year and everything else. Lexus can help you accomplish that goal and 100% Matt over at Lexus Santa Monica can help you with that goal as well. Here’s his email address. Matter lacaruy.com. Matthew lacarguy.com. Send him an email. You can put me on the email as well and say, “Hey, Al sent me and said that you can help me in, you know, the the industry of getting a car.” Even if you don’t want a Lexus, start with Matt and he’s got connections throughout uh all of California and he can help you out. So, um Lexusanammonica.com, matthew at lcarguy.com. It’s a great way, it’s a great game plan to have. If you’re thinking of a car and you want something longterm, Lexus is the way to go. So, shout out to Lexus Santa Monica. All right, let’s uh let’s keep going here. Got a lot of people a lot of people want to weigh in on this Clipper stuff. All right. Well, I’m I’m I’m moving on. I’m done with the Clippers. I’m done. That topic is over. It’s over. Um I I mentioned this and you know, I’m just going to throw this in there real quick. Yesterday, ESPN had a good article about the different team the different teams and the tiers that they’re in behind the Oklahoma City Thunder. So, you know, obviously the OKC Thunder win an NBA championship, everything’s running through them exactly how it should be. Uh, see if I can get this open here. Um, everybody is running through the Thunder and and kind of, you know, you could start looking at, all right, well, what teams after the Oklahoma City Thunder are there? What teams are there? um what what teams based off what they’ve done so far um this off season, can you start looking at the teams and say, “Okay, well, right behind the Thunder is this team.” So, they did this in tears. And I I’ll share this with everybody so you guys can look at it as well. Uh it just kind of gives you an idea of what the NBA looks at the Lakers and where they see the Lakers in some of these tiers. Here’s where they see the Lakers. The tier that they have obviously in tier one is the Oklahoma City Thunder. Everybody’s chasing the thunder. They just resigned Chat uh Sheay or gave him an extension off his rookie contract, which I think could be up to about 250 million. Um Sheay, we know the contract he just got as well. So, everybody’s chasing the Oklahoma City Thunder. Nobody’s going to question that. All right. Where are the Lakers in this tier? Here’s tier two. Ready to deny a repeat champ. KD obviously now in Houston. They got the Rockets right there. Houston had a really good off season. Um, they trade for Kevin Durant. They get DFS. They’re going to have other players coming back that will just step into a bigger role. A lot of people like the Rockets. I I don’t blame them. A lot of that’s going to be about health with KD, but clearly I think they got better. Denver, got to love what Denver did this offseason as well. They add Bruce Brown. They make the trade obviously. Uh, Michael Porter Jr. is out. They get Cam Johnson. Um, Tim Hardaway Jr.’s on their team. We’ll see what happens with Jonas Valenunis. They added depth. That’s the one thing that they needed and frankly I think the Michael Porter Jr. relationship was probably on its way. It’s time for them to move on. So there’s Denver in in that second tier. Minnesota they put in that second tier. All right. I I don’t know how much I agree with that, but they put Minnesota in that second tier as well. Here’s where they got the Lakers. By the way, here’s the Lakers and the Clippers again. Third tiers. So basically what they’re saying is Lakers and the Clippers. And this is uh just the West. So, just so you guys understand this, this is just the West. Um, Lakers and the Clippers. Basically, what they’re saying is they’re around fourth or fifth in the Western Conference, right around there. I don’t think that’s, you know, too off. I think there is a lot that the Lakers have to prove. I’ll kind of skip the Clippers portion of it. I I would say right now the Clippers got a more complete roster than the Lakers. Um, so let’s say they got the Lakers in about the fifth spot or so in the Western Conference. I I don’t think that’s too off. I think the question is going to be what do the Warriors end up doing? How they improve their roster? What happens to Jonathan Kaminga? Dallas is on the list here. Okay. Well, is is Dallas healthy? Uh will they be healthy? When is Kyrie coming back? How does DLO fit in with all those other guys? Is Cooper flag going to have a tremendous impact right out the gate? So, I think there’s still a lot of questions to be had. And um I think that portion is going to be interesting as well when you look at it. But at least in the Western Conference where they have the Lakers, they got the Lakers predominantly sitting around fifth, sixth, right around there. Then you got some of these young guns here, some of these young teams. I think San Antonio will be at a better team. I have no idea what to expect from the Memphis Grizzlies. I don’t think anybody does. So, we’ll see what happens in regards to that. So, that gives you an idea where, at least at this point, where the league and ESPN looks at the Lakers. And I think that’s about right. I don’t think that’s anything crazy. I I I think that’s uh I think that’s pretty accurate right there. Okay, I I want to keep things moving here. Um so we we got into let’s see what we’ve done so far today. We did the eight presser. We did the expectations for DeAndre Aton. We did Bradley Beal most likely favored to go to the Los Angeles Clippers. We compared the Lakers and the Clippers. And then we did where ESPN sees the Lakers as far as uh uh some of these tiers go. Um, I don’t know what you guys make of this, but every time Brian Winhorse, I saw some stuff from him yesterday. Yo, I saw some stuff from him yesterday. Every time I see anything about LeBron so far this summer, anything about LeBron, and this is literally since, you know, before obviously he signed that or he opted into his final year. Anything I see on LeBron, it’s about the same story every single time. And the story is, yeah, I don’t know if LeBron’s happy. Yeah, I don’t know if um I’m going to read something here from Brian Winhorse because Brian Winhorse had a couple of things. And um um he had a couple of things in regards to LeBron. And I’m going to kind of I think clear the air a little bit in regards to just my opinion of what I think happens to LeBron. But let me read something here. Brian Winhorse was on ESPN in Cleveland. And here’s what he said in regards to um LeBron and the summer that he’s had with the Lakers. LeBron absolutely knows that he will cause a wave with these social media things. And he was talking about some stuff that were posted on social media over the last couple of days. On one hand, he is just coming home for the holiday and doing something he’s done numerous times in the past. On the other hand, by what he’s doing, he’s absolutely poking the bear and being passive aggressive. By the way, the Lakers are being passive aggressive. Back to LeBron. They did not announce his opinion or his option pickup. So, they’re both acting in the same way. Here’s why I wanted to bring this up, and I really only have one reason why I want to bring this up. Um, one one other thing Wor said, if he truly badly didn’t want to be a Laker, he doesn’t pick up that option. Obviously, he picked up that option. Um, I only got really I I think one angle on this LeBron piece. Everything that has been mentioned by LeBron this summer and this off season honestly has just been about his future. Nothing else. Tell me where you’ve heard anything else about LeBron this summer that has had anything else to do with is he staying with the Lakers, is he not staying with the Lakers before he opted into that contract? uh the the the the opt-in that he had before he did that. It was like, “All right, well, we’re just all going to assume that he’s going to sign a oneplus one, whatever the case is.” Here’s what’s happened. Since LeBron opted into that that OnePlus 1, I think everybody was a little bit surprised like, “Oh, so LeBron didn’t didn’t do a onepus one.” Statement comes out, it’s like, “Yeah, well, LeBron didn’t do a one plus one because the Lakers doesn’t look like they offered him a onepus one.” So LeBron is basically just taking the contract that he was given and opting into his final year there. Um Eric Pinkis was on yesterday and when we were talking about it, Pinkis had a great point. He just mentioned he’s like there’s just there’s no player out there if you can sign a oneplus 1, there’s nothing negative about you signing a plus one. You sign a oneplus 1. If you can negotiate that, if you’re good enough, that’s what you do if you’re a player like LeBron James. Unless the team that you’re on is like, “Yeah, we don’t want to do that oneplus 1 again. We’re just going to do this final year of the contract and we’re going to go from there.” I don’t need to get into, you know, the statement that um Rich Paul put out and and just kind of the interesting intertwinings of that statement. But as we sit here today, has anybody really spent time on LeBron James, at least so far this summer, and talked about how LeBron and Luca, how they’re going to work together, how LeBron, Luca, and Austin Reeves are going to look for this upcoming season, what it looks like with DeAndre Aen at the center spot now. What will that do for LeBron and and his um how much can that free up LeBron from having to do a lot less than he was trying to do last year at least in the playoffs or closing out the season? The health of LeBron James. Maybe maybe there’s been a little bit on the health of LeBron, but every conversation we’ve had has been about two things. Is LeBron happy in LA? And is he going to request a trade? And then if he requests a trade, where is it going to be? Would it happen in the off season? Probably not. Maybe it happens at the trade deadline. All right, we know LeBron obviously wants to compete between now and and the time that his career is done. I mention all this because what an odd off season. It nothing has been about the basketball part. Almost everything has been about I don’t think LeBron’s happy with the Lakers. I don’t think LeBron feels like a player that is going into his 23rd year of his career and is just looking to kind of like, all right, let me kind of say my last goodbyes and call it a day. Sounds like LeBron still wants to play potentially for longer than just a year. And it sounds like just the relationship with the Lakers and LeBron James, there’s just no story that I’ve read out there where both sides are like, “This is the best partnership. everything is going perfect and we can’t wait to start this upcoming season. Doesn’t seem that way. So, how much of this is going to linger? I don’t know. I don’t know how much by the time we get to um by the time we get a little bit closer to October, if this is still a conversation, obviously the next big date for the Lakers technically, if they don’t go out and make any other trades and they don’t make any other moves, technically the big date coming up is going to be August 2nd to see what Luca Donuch does. Even though I think a lot of people already have a good feeling of what Luca is going to do, um I just find that it’s a unique place for both of these parties to be in between LeBron and between, you know, the Lakers. Uh clearly the Lakers have made a decision. This is it. We’re going to probably move on after this year. And I don’t know how much LeBron, who’s never been told no in his life, was told, “Yeah, we we appreciate your services, but I think we’re coming to an end here.” Obviously, the way he took that. Um, you go back to that that the statement from Mitch Paul. I think that gives you a little bit of an idea how he took it. We’ll see if this is just going to continue to be the conversation. I I’ve said this in the past, I’ll say it again. I don’t think LeBron’s going anywhere. I don’t think he’s getting traded this summer. The only scenario that I can play out that could potentially make sense is if the Lakers by the time next season starts, you’re a couple of months in, the calendar turns. He’s 41 years old. Lakers are sitting in the West fifth, sixth, something along those lines, but we all know they’re not a title contender. Is there a point where LeBron towards the trade deadline asks to be traded? And then the Lakers obviously officially end the chapter with LeBron James and then LeBron gets to go compete for a championship wherever he goes. The dollars not easy. 52 and a half mil obviously that’s going to be tough. Um and I think the bigger question is going to be where are the Lakers by the time you start getting closer to the trade deadline. Is there rumblings during the season that LeBron’s not happy? Is is did something happen between the front office and him? I don’t know. I genuinely don’t have that answer. But what I do know is every time these two parties have been mentioned together this summer, it has not been, well, I can’t wait for this upcoming year because we’re going to accomplish this, we’re going to do this, we’re going to do that. So, um, that’s just one observation that I think has been going on this entire summer. But this morning, I’m reading a couple more articles out there in regards to LeBron, in regards to, you know, the Lakers. And in my head, I’m like, “Yeah, there has not been really um one story out there that you could look at and say, “Oh, okay. Hey, that makes sense.” Oh, no, no, no. LeBron and the Lakers are good. Oh, okay. The Lakers made this camp statement or LeBron made this one. That really hasn’t happened. All right, let’s uh let’s take a look at a couple of the comments here. Um, thank you for hanging out, by the way. Please subscribe to the channel if you’ve yet to subscribe to the channel. Um, let’s see what we got here. Is this live? Nope. Nope. This was actually recorded in May. May 14th is when I recorded this, so I’m just airing it right now. All right, let’s keep going here. It’s not about LeBron anymore. He could be a great teammate this upcoming season and he will end his career on a team of his choosing next summer. It’s a good point. I do think there’s a little bit of where he wants to go next year if that’s going to be the case. By the way, he might even get his wish at the trade deadline. That could happen as well. Yeah, this one about him playing with also his other son who’s going to be going to Arizona. Uh Bryce, now it’s like it’s okay. This is this is too much. I I I think the Bronny thing, you know, obviously you accommodated to to to Bronny. I wasn’t a fan when that was all going down. I wasn’t. Um I’ve said this before. I think Bronny James is better off on a different team where he can actually just develop properly. Not a bad player as well. You go look at some of his stats in the G-League. I think Bronny’s got some potential. Um but it’s just I think we’re coming to an end of that chapter. Let’s just put it that way. Uh, LeBron will be all right. Not worried about him. He’s playing with his kid and Luca, I will admit, LeBron had a great career playing in fun cities with great players. Carrie, though, um, all right, let’s get another one here. Um, let’s see what we got here. Who the Lakers put next to Luca longterm? Yeah, I I think that’s a big reason why you see so many of these articles out there that keep saying that everyone’s kind of preparing for 2027. Now, I I want you guys to understand something because you might look at 2027 and say, “Hey, that’s two years away. What the hell are you talking about?” Which, by the way, you’re not wrong. Luca’s 26. You want to give Luca as many years as possible to try to compete for an NBA championship. That that that’s a reality. And I I I don’t think it’s going to happen until that chapter closes with one great, which is LeBron, and then they really figure out what’s the right fit here and and go from there. Um, I think what the Lakers are trying to prepare themselves for as well, and Eric and I were talking about this yesterday, Eric Pinkis, I think what they’re also preparing themselves for is it’s not about having cap space for 2027 and waiting till 2027 to be an unrestricted free agent or a player to have a player option and say, “I want out.” It’s about seeing. I’m going to give Giannis as an example. What does Giannis think by the time you get to next trade deadline? What does Giannis think one year from today or 11 months from today who will still be under contract? Will Giannis when there’s one year left on his contract say, “Guys, I want out. I I I this ain’t happening.” or at the trade deadline say I I want out of Milwaukee and there’s only one team that I’m going to. I’m only going to the New York Knicks. I’m only going to the Los Angeles Lakers. I’m only going to the Golden State Warriors. A lot of these teams are also preparing their cap space and trying to have matching dollars for these stars, not just for 2027, but if something happens in 2026, so that if they’re able to acquire a player, a star that wanted out of their team, then they could offer all that money, they have that cap space for 2027. So, it doesn’t mean just because a lot of teams are preparing for 2027 because of the stars that are going to be available. It’s more that doesn’t mean that they would just acquire a player in 2027. What it means is they have the capability to do that potentially in 2026 and then sign that player to a long-term deal in 2027. All right, let’s see what else we got here. Um, need to build more assets. Um, let’s see this one. These fans are unhappy with the lack of vision of Rob. What do you think? Rob every year talks big and then and ends up doing nothing. Uh what do I think? I think that I think Rob Pelanka a month ago had probably nothing to worry about. And I think Rob Pelanka today is eventually going to be under new ownership that will um judge you on your performance and not judge you on your personal relationship with the owner or with the franchise. That’s what I think about Rob Pelanka. I think Pelanka, if you told me in two years the Lakers have not moved the needle and the Lakers aren’t moving in the right direction and Pelanka hasn’t proved like I’m the man for this job, I think that new ownership group will do what any large corporation does. Is this person in this position good for our business or does this person need to be replaced by somebody that we think will be will handle that job more effectively? That’s what I think of Rob Blanka. I think if the new ownership group didn’t come in and listen, how long is that transition going to take? I know Jeannie Bus is still the governor. Um maybe that takes a while. I’m not 100% sure, but I I just think that at the end of the day, if new ownership identifies a president of basketball operations that they feel like is the right pres, it’s it’s it’s the no-brainer mind in the NBA. It’s like, yeah, of course, that’s the smartest guy in the NBA. Just bring him over to the Lakers and see what he can do. then I think the Lakers will will um identify who that person is. But I don’t think it’s going to happen overnight. And I think I think um Pelanka has a little bit of a runway. But the question is going to be what does he do over the next couple of years? And if he doesn’t do enough of the right things, then yeah, I think the it’s just not the same situation as it was before. His relationship with the team, the franchise, all that I don’t think will have as much of an effect as new ownership coming in and saying, “Well, cool. I love that you have, you know, this relationship with the franchise, but we got to get the best president of basketball operations that’s available. And if it’s that’s if that’s not you, it’s going to be somebody else. So, that’s what I think will happen in regards to Pelanka. Um, let’s see. Lakers, ju Lakers fan, just in breaking news, LeBron has a no trade clause. Yep, no trade clause. That part is correct. Um, can we get Wiggins, please? Let me tell you this, Nick. I put out a trade scenario right before Fourth of July and it was I think the trade scenario all the players that were involved it was Rui Hachamura Dalton connect and a firstrounder for Andrew Wiggins 90% literally that was the percentage because I did it on you know on X 90% of that that uh that poll said do not trade that much for Andrew Wiggins. So is there a price to get Andrew Wiggins? Sure. I don’t know what that price is, but I know that most Laker fans were thought Lakers would be giving up too much. By the way, you put that in the trade machine, it ain’t even going to work. So, you know, you got to come up with a a different um deal in order to make that happen. But that’s kind of the foundation of what the deal would be worth. Um let’s see. If he blew six years of LeBron and AD, why would he do any better with Luca? You know, it’s funny h how you can’t say he blew six years with LeBron with they won a championship with him at the helm. I I think you know what people should ask more of is the franchise heading in the right direction or are they not? I think that’s the bigger question. I really do. I think at the end of the day, that’s the bigger question to get into. Okay, I got a couple other things I want to get into. Um want to talk about Dalta Connect for a quick second. Um a little bit of the summer league, which tomorrow it’s going to start in Las Vegas. And then I got a couple things on the NBA and then we’re going to call it a day. Before I do so, shout out to Brad Wallace and the Walls firm. Shout out to Brad Wallace and the Walls firm. Uh wallwinds.com. Wallacewins.com. So you guys can see the URL here that we created. Uh basically it’s an opportunity to just get a free consultation. Um, if you or a family member has been in a serious injury, if you or a family member have been a part of a wrongful death case, please, please do me a favor. I hope nobody’s ever in this position or this predicament, but things happen in life. And if they do, you always want to have somebody that you feel like you could trust or that you can go to. Brad Wallace and the Wallace firm are 100% the injury attorneys in the state of California that you could count on, that you could rely on. Um, I’ve known Brad personally for 5 years. I think a lot of the partnerships that you guys are going to see on this channel or you’ve already seen, there’s some kind of a connection. There’s some kind of a connection whether it’s it’s this and the five-year relationship and he was with me when I was over at 710 ESPN and now with me here on YouTube. Um, there is a connection. If he can help you, at least just do a consultation with him. Uh, wallacewins.com. I’ve said this before. If anyone wants to email me personally and I can make an introduction to Brad Wallace, he and his team will be happy to help you, walk you through, you know, obviously the the daunting, intimidating process of what would be a case like this. He takes care of his clients. Certainly does that. Does not settle. Fights with these insurance companies. Make sure that his clients get the absolute most and exactly what they deserve. With all that in mind, the website wallwinds.com/slewa. Wallacewins.com/slewa. Thank you to our partnership with the Wallace firm. Yeah, I’ve said this before. You know, his my relationship with Brad Wallace, Lexus Santa Ana Matt Hunger, I’ve known him for 10 years. um my my relationship with uh better help. Um I believe in um online therapy. I believe in all that stuff. So any anybody that I I message anything across with as far as partnerships go, there is a connection there. So these are not just pay for play. That’s not how uh I want this channel to operate and it won’t operate like that. Um all right, let’s um Brad Wallace, please help the Lakers. Oh, okay. Okay. All right. I mean, listen, for the amount of texts that he sends me sometimes just uh trying to find a solution for the Lakers, he for all I know, he might have the answers to all this. U you guys watch I don’t know if any anybody’s watching and I understand if you’re not uh the Cali Classic, the California Classic kind of fun, you know, I I you know, I for me um I’m not going to sit here and go out of my way and, you know, watch each one of these games, but I find myself catching games and it’s fun to kind of see some of these young players in the NBA. And last night, uh, Lakers played or yesterday Lakers play. Connect 25 points, eight rebounds, nine of 18 from the field, hit 50% from the three-point line. Um, Cole Swider has been great. This is third consecutive game where he’s been great. Another 15 points for him uh with four rebounds. Then I think yesterday the the biggest chatter, the biggest conversation, Darius Basley, 27 and 13. I’m not going to sit here and break down, you know, obviously the the box score, even though I kind of just did. I think my point more than anything else is there’s certain players that are part of the Cali Classic or the Summer League tomorrow when it’s Lakers versus the Dallas Ma uh versus the Mavs. Cooper flag obviously in Vegas. I think there are certain players that everybody’s going to watch. I think for the Lakers on Dalton Connect, he really struggled in those first two games. And I get it when people are saying to themselves, Al, if this guy’s struggling struggling in a Cali Classic game against this type of competition, how the hell is this guy going to be a real deal player for the Lakers um this upcoming season? And and we know kind of the complications with Dalton Connect. The um you know, we we’ve talked a lot about it. Got traded, came back, blah blah blah. We spent enough time on that yesterday. I thought what he did is what everybody’s expecting him to do. If you’re going to be a player, a number 17 pick in the league and you want to have a chance to crack a rotation in the NBA, you kind of got to dominate these Cali Classic opportunities or these um summer league opportunities. I’ll go back a couple years ago, Max Christie. Max Christie in the summer league and watching him play in the summer league, especially his second year, you’re like, “Yeah, this guy is this guy’s clearly better than 95% of these players he’s playing against, but he was supposed to be.” And then when he got obviously to the Lakers, he started figuring out his role and but before he got traded as part of the AD Luca deal um before that happened, he had a real role with with the Lakers and and obviously had an opportunity to get minutes predominantly because he was playing defense and then his offense was just improving as he went on. I don’t know what’s going to happen to Dalton Connect. I don’t know if he’s going to be a Laker. I don’t know how much he’s going to be able to, you know, obviously help the Lakers down the road. But what I can tell you is I posted a video and I spent some time obviously talking about Dalton Connect on Monday because a lot of people were frustrated with what he’s done so far in the Cali Classic. Where is he? What is he going to do? All that stuff. Um, so here’s what I I I want to read a couple of these comments here because a lot of the people on here at least after Monday’s game were being very critical about Dalton Connect. Um, a lot of people are saying the guy needs to stop complaining. the guy, you know, he’s got to man up and whatever his situation is. I don’t think that’s it for me. I I think for me with with Connect, and I’ll just end it with this. I think for Dalton Connect, I think he’s a player that you’re asking, is he better off at this stage of his career, very early on, um, on a team that needs more defensive players, not necessarily offensive players. Is he better off just being in a better situation where he’s not going to get as much limelight and he could just properly grow quietly under the radar? Probably. But what he did yesterday, that’s honestly the expectations is what, you know, he should have based upon um a player at number 17. Had a great start to his season last year. He’s playing with a lot of guys that probably won’t even be in the league. So, he should be having performances like he had yesterday. Um, all right. Final thing I want to get into here and then we’re going to call it a day. and I appreciate you guys hanging out. Uh really do appreciate everybody being a part of the channel. So, thank you. Uh thank you very much for doing so. Um okay, so final thing I I just a couple NBA notes and rumors here that I’m going to throw in. Um I like to do this typically at the end of the show and and you know, obviously just kind of gives us a little bit idea of what’s going on around the rest of the league rather than just the Lakers. Um so I’m going to do that. I’m also going to put here in the chat if you guys want to become a member. Um, obviously anyone could subscribe to the channel. It’s absolutely free to be a member. It’s $3 a month. And really what the membership is, it’s just a great way to support the channel. So, if you guys want to support the channel, here’s a fantastic way to do so. I put the link right there. People already talking about how they missed Max. Max was a man and Max was really trying to get it uh starting to get into his own um when the Lakers traded him, but they had to give up some people. Um, all right. Let’s see what we got here. So, a couple of the rumors here. The Nuggets are trying to keep Jonas Valenunis. Um, and they’re going to do everything that he can they can to keep him. They did sign him and then he went and signed with some Greek team and now they’re trying to bring him back. So, keep an eye on that. See what happens in regards to that. The Celtics actively trying to trade Anthony Simons. So, they got Anthony Simons. He’s on an expiring contract. It looks like they just wanted to get, you know, um they want to drum dump Drew Holiday, which they did. Now they’re trying to to sell off on Anthony Simons. Maybe they just don’t think that’s going to be a part of their culture. Chris Paul could potentially be returning to the Clippers. That’s something that we saw out there. That’s something to keep in mind. Um I don’t really think it means all that much at this stage, but you know, who knows? I wasn’t watching every San Antonio game last year. And then two other things that are just some stuff going on around the NBA. The Oklahoma City Thunder extend Chad Homer runs uh Homegrren’s contract. So he has agreed to a fully guaranteed 5-year maximum rookie contract extension that could reach $250 million. It’s going to be tough. Look for all these teams, including the Thunder. Um it’s a conversation we’ve been having for the last couple of years. Eventually, the Thunder are going to have to pay their guys. Now, they’re definitely going to have to pay him after winning a championship, including Jaylen Williams. The tough part for the Oklahoma City Thunder, which I don’t really understand, and this is the only thing I don’t understand with the CBA, they’re not rewarding teams for drafting well and keeping their draft picks and developing them. Um, Thunder are going to have to figure out what to do and they’re going to have to kind of keep recropping and then eventually they’re going to have to trade out some players and guys like they got like Caruso and Hartinstein or Dort, some of these guys are not going to be able to be a part of that roster. this year they’ll be okay but for the following year um check got paid check got paid 250 Jaylen Williams will eventually get paid as well and then they’re going to have to figure out you know like I mentioned what they do moving forward um kind of a tough position for a lot of these teams to be in based off of that if you draft well and you develop well I don’t think they should be it should count dollar for dollar just based off of that’s what the league wants the league wants you to develop players well why are you going to hurt um the Oklahoma City Thunder for doing exactly what you want the NBA to do. Um okay, last thing I’m going to get into. I’m going to read this off here. Front Office Sports put this out. Lakers Mavericks became a mustwatch rivalry following the shocking Luca Donic trade in February, but the two teams are also the biggest draws at the Las Vegas Summer League this month as the debuting Cooper Cooper flag faces off against Bronny James. That’s funny that they put Bronny in there. Why don’t you just say that it’s Bronn or why don’t you just say it’s Cooper flag? The average purchase price, by the way, maybe there is a buzz around uh Bronny James as well. The average purchase price for day one of the Las Vegas summer league on Thursday is $21 per data from resell ticketing uh ticketing platform Tickpic provided to Front Office Sports. That’s the highest price ticket for summer league on record. So, if you want to go to a game tomorrow, average price is $200 for a summer league game. Um, that tells you everything you need to know about the hype that’s coming in for that summer league game. Cooper flag Lakers. I am I am planning tomorrow and doing a postgame show for that. I’m not going to do for all the summer league games, but I think tomorrow will be fun and I think there’s a lot of uh interest there. So, I think that’s going to be fun. Um, all right. I think that’s what we got for today. Um, let me just see here. OKC OKC took a risk though. Good scouting. Um, yeah, OKC is the class of the NBA right now. That just kind of very simply put, I don’t think we got to overanalyze anything. They are the class of the NBA right now. Uh, they traded at the right time when they got um, you know, obviously when they got Shay Gildas Alexander, that that’s going to go down as one of the more lopsided traded trades out there in history. Um even though everybody thought they should have Clippers should have done it, but it will go down as one of the most lopsided trades and now they’ll you know have to figure out what to do. But if you got Sam Prey, if you and I are thinking about whatever we’re thinking about today with the Thunder, Sam Pre is already four moves ahead. That’s just what he does. Um all right, my people, thank you very much for being a part of the show. Thank you for hanging out. I appreciate it. Really enjoyed the show today. That was fun. Um we’ll have a guest back tomorrow. Um, and we’ll continue to have some of these NBA conversations, Laker conversations, and then tomorrow we’ll spend a little bit more time on that summer league game coming up against the Mavs and Cooper flag and everything else. That should be fun. So, thank you for being here. Appreciate you guys being a part of the show. Uh, if you guys don’t mind, please please subscribe to the channel and I will see you guys tomorrow morning at 8 a.m. Thank you everybody. Hope you guys have a great rest of your day.

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Timestamp:
00:00–Intro
7:02–Deandre Ayton Introduced | Expectations On Ayton
14:58–Playing With Bron & Luka | What An Opportunity For Lakers New Center
20:36–Reading Listener Comments
24:03–Beal Expected To Sign With Clippers | Comparing Lakers & Clippers Roster
32:35–Partnership, Lexus Santa Monica
35:30–ESPN Put’s Lakers at #5 In The Western Conference
39:19–Lebron & The Lakers Awkward Summer Relationship
47:25–Reading Listener Comments | How Much Rope Does Pelinka Have?
55:28–Partnership, The Wallace Firm
58:15–Cali Classic | Dalton Knecht Chatter | Summer League In Vegas
1:03:02–NBA Stories | Chet Holmgren Getting Paid | Celtics Shopping Simmons

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