ESPN gives update on Nuggets target Al Horford – Jonathan Kuminga to Heat – LeBron to Knicks?

ESPN gives update on Nuggets target Al Horford – Jonathan Kuminga to Heat – LeBron to Knicks?

9 Eastern on ESPN. Philly will get their first look at third overall pick VJ Edgecomb, a two-way player that averaged 15 points per game and set a Baylor freshman record with 68 steals last season. Whether or not he wants to, Ace Bailey will be making his summer league debut for the Jazz. Bailey averaged 18 points per game last season, which included a 39point performance that tied the most for the most points in a game by a Ruters freshman. Jazz will also get their first look at 18th overall pick Walter Clayton Jr. The bucket getting guard averaged 18 points per game last season on route to leading Florida to its first national title since 2007. To help get your mind right, NBA front office insider Bobby Mars joins us now. Bobby, Utah is going to get a lot of focus in summer league particularly particularly because of Ace Bailey. What aspect of his game are the Jazz and he looking to improve upon this evening? Well, I call him the master of the mid-range, but that also is is his Achilles here. And I think when you look at the overall body of work of Ace Bailey and what we could expect in Utah, here’s three things that I’m looking forward for him to do. The ability to get to the rim and finish in with contact. Uh shot less than 50% of of his layups as far as getting to the rim. What does Utah do with him as a playmaker here? roughly over 1.3 assists per game, two turnovers per game at Ruckers, and then a shot creator. He has the uh cany of making the tough shot, but also taking the tough shot here. So, summer league is a little bit of a trial and error, but certainly the ability to become a playmaker during these couple games in Utah is something I’m going to keep an eye on. This is the time, I imagine, that they want him to make the mistakes if necessary. Now, today could also feature someone that you’re saying is quote probably the best athlete in this year’s draft and it’s not Cooper Flag. Who could that possibly be be, Bobby? Well, it’s Sixers VJ Edgecomb. And I think what you what you saw last year at Baylor, the ability to play defense, you know, roughly 2.1 uh steals per game at Baylor last year, he he’s ready to come and play NBA minutes right now. Now, it’s the offensively that I’m going to keep an eye on over these next couple games and certainly during the Las Vegas summer league. Shot roughly 33% on his pull-up jumpers last year. Like Bailey had trouble finishing at the rim, 49% field goal here, but certainly defensively, he’s as good as it gets as a player coming out of this year’s draft. Again, you can see VJ in action this evening, 900 p. p.m. Eastern on ESPN summer league action in Salt Lake City. Now, LeBron James is well beyond his summer league days. Bobby, but still finds himself at the forefront of the news cycle. Regarding his future in LA, how realistic is it that the Lakers can go out and get more help for both him and Luca? Well, over the last week, they’ve added Jake Lavia, DeAndre Aon, and yesterday Jackson Hayes. And if we’re going to do a little bit little bit of napkin math right now, the the Lavia and DeAndre Aon signings has hardcapped the Lakers at the first apron. They’re roughly $3.3 million below. So that doesn’t really get you much in free agency. The likelihood is that they’re going to sign second round pick Ado Adu Theoro. If they want to create more room, they’re going to have to wave a player like Shake Milton. His $3 million contract becomes guaranteed on July 15th. That would give them the ability to go out and sign another player um potentially to the veteran minimum exception. They do have those expiring contracts if they want to be a player out in the in the uh the trade market. Um, Gabe Vincent, Ruie Hachamorea, Maxi Cleber, nearly $40 million in expiring contracts. The Lakers trying to make some money moves, trying to figure out exactly which timeline to play on, either present or future, fresh off that first conversation with Bucks officials on Wednesday. He told the Pat McAfee Show several weeks ago that his preference is to stay on the West Coast. He is sorting through options though right now, whether it’s on the West Coast, a team like Milwaukee, we’ll see where his future could go. Al Horford is another major free agent right now. I’m told he is reviewing multiple options including the Warriors, the Lakers, but also retirement. He’s 39 years old. He’s in se he just finished season 18. I’m told it would be a surprise if he makes a final decision by this weekend. He certainly earned the right to make a decision at his own time. I will say though that the Warriors are hopeful about where they stand in all this if Al Horford decides to play again. Yeah, two players with a lot of experience here. That’s no secret. David, let’s bring you back into this conversation. When we talk about Chris Paul, Al Horford, which of these players will be more impactful on their new teams this following season? I I think it’s Chris Paul and all you have to do is look at OKC and the fact that they were welcoming this dude like he’d been with that team for years. He played one year at OKC and raised their level and sort of became a mentor for those players and that’s how SGA is treating him like a returning star uh during this playoff run. I think that Chris Paul, what he does is he elevates every team that he is a part of and he is a good uh example for a lot of those young players that they carry on even in the years after he has gone from that team. I think there’s nothing like having Chris Paul on a young squad for what he can do this season and what he can teach them going forward for the rest of their careers. Yeah, still an interesting future there for both of them, especially Chris Paul as you mentioned. David Shams, thank you so much. Busy guy. I appreciate you stopping by here on sports on sports center. What can Brown do for you? Apparently for most Nick fans, not much. His hiring has left the Orange and Blue fan base ambivalent. NBA reporter Tim Bond tips is with us. Okay, Tim. So, now that Mike uh Mike Brown is in the f, what might the Knicks be doing next, do you think? Well, look, the first thing they had to do, as you said, Brian, was get Mike Brown hired as their coach or get a coach hired to replace Tom Thibido, which they’ve done that. They signed Gershan Yabiselli the other day uh to the non-T taxpayer mid-level. The one signing they had above the minimum. They also signed Jordan Clarkson. Two guys that will give them bench scoring and production that they didn’t have outside their top seven guys last year. We’ll see if the Knicks can add to their bench now over the coming days. They should have some playing time and obviously the New York spotlight to offer. And then more than anything, they’ve just got to get settled in with this new reality that they’re in. And as you mentioned, the Mike Brown hiring here has left kind of a flat feeling around the Knicks. This is not the kind of splashy hire you would expect from a team that dismissed their head coach after making it to the conference finals for the first time in a quarter century. However, I would point fans back to 30 years ago when the Yankees after firing Buck Shoalter in a similar situation went out and hired Joe Tory. Guy was the same age as Mike Brown, 55, had three prior stops like Mike Brown and was not lauded certainly as a winning hire. was called Clueless Joe on the back page of the New York Daily News at the time. And he went on to win four championships and make the playoffs 12 years in a row. I’m not saying the Knicks are about to have a dynasty with Mike Brown, but he is a guy who’s been to the finals, has won a ton of games as a coach. You see there, his record well over 500. He did a great job getting Sacramento back to the playoffs for the first time in a long time. And of the available candidates, I think he was clearly the best fit and should be able to give them an opportunity to make the deep playoff run everybody in New York is expecting. Yeah. Also for former two-time coach of the year as well. Um, let’s pivot to the West because the team Mike Brown was coaching for at one point the Warriors, Jonathan Kaminga, restricted free agent. What are you hearing about his future? Yeah, this is going to be one of the really interesting stories, Brian, coming up over the rest of free agency. We’ve seen a flurry of moves, obviously over the past couple of weeks, both leading up to and after the start of it at 6 p.m. on Monday. But Kaminga is sitting out there now as the best player available, a restricted free agent with a lot of talent. You see there he averaged 15 points per game last year. And in flashes, Kaminga looked like a guy who could be an all-star. He had 30 points in multiple games against Minnesota in the second round of the playoffs. However, he also has been a guy who has been inconsistent in his play and in his effort at different points and that has led him to be in and out of Steve Kerr’s rotation. It’s led to a polarizing tenure in Golden State. And now he enters the restricted free for agent market in a year, Brian, where there is no salary cap space for anybody to sign him with. So, he’s either going to be back in Golden State or the Warriors are going to have to come up with a sign and trade possibility with another team. Now, there are teams that are modern situation. There could be interest in Kaminga elsewhere, but getting a sign and trade done is a difficult proposition for a bunch of salary cap rules that I’m not going to bore people with. So, it is a tough situation to be in in any year as a restricted free agent. But in a year like this where there’s no salary cap space, it’s even more difficult. And that’s why this situation with Jonathan Kaminga really is going to come to the four because we haven’t seen the Warriors do anything yet in free agency. And a lot of that has hinged on what is going to happen with Kaminga and his salary slot. Be very interesting to see what happens in the coming days and weeks there. Certainly has the talent. He’s shown flashes as you pointed out to be a star. We’ll see what happens with him in his future. Timmy B. Tim Bondips. Thanks for the insight. All right, let’s keep this conversation going. Sports betting analyst Tyler Fulgum is here with us. It looked like you were getting ready to bat, but maybe you can explain some of these numbers. Free agency, as we’ve seen, very active, a lot of player movement. So, with that, how have the odds changed for some of these teams? Let’s start with the Lakers. For some, it’s small. For some, it’s way more significant. It’s been a small change for the Lakers after adding DeAndre Aton, but we know that Eightton was a piece they desperately needed. We saw last year in the playoffs they were dominated in the paint by Rudy Goar. So now they had a former number one overall pick who may have some issues with his work ethic and things like that, but when he is focused, he’s productive. So they’ve moved from 16 to1 to win the title to 14 to1 after the move. Another team that made a significant move is the Denver Nuggets. They have championship pedigree. They traded Michael Porter Jr. for Cam Johnson. Saw a much bigger move. They were 18 to1 before free agency. They’re now plus 850. They also made some smaller moves trading for Yonas Valenunis to back up Nicole Joic and bringing back Bruce Brownley who was a member of their championship winning team. Then the squad that the market [Music] [Music] I need

ESPN gives update on Nuggets target Al Horford after Valanciunas gone – Jonathan Kuminga to Heat – LeBron or Giannis to Knicks? | NBA free agency