The Spurs Have a De’Aaron Fox PROBLEM & Former Star Big Man Wants BUYOUT

The Spurs Have a De’Aaron Fox PROBLEM & Former Star Big Man Wants BUYOUT

An update on the buyout market. We’ve got another player looking to get out of his situation right now. But first, De’aran Fox. He saw Luca get his extension. Where’s Fox and his deal with the San Antonio Spurs. We’re going to talk about that as well. I’m Trevor Lane. This is the Basketball Bulletin. Make sure you subscribe right here to the channel and turn on those notifications. Joining me is Donnie Freeman. Donnie, we saw the Luca deal come down. Now, all eyes on De’aran Fox who’s eligible for a similar deal right now. Yet, now there’s questions about whether or not the San Antonio Spurs will actually given give him a max given that Dylan Harper happens to be in town. Where do you see this this situation going? Ah, yeah. I I we talked about this not long ago and you know I asked you if if they knew they were going to get Harper if they still would make this trade. Hindsight being 2020 and all. That is something I do think that they probably wonder. But ultimately though I think that they’re going to figure something out. Uh maybe they have to come to terms on a different than super long-term deal or anything like that or maybe it has to have some sort of stipulations on it like an option or something like that. But I think they’re going to figure something out for sure. you can’t you can’t let him go or anything like that. You just want to get this knocked out. So, I think they’ll get it done. 100%. 100%. All right. So, here we’ve got uh the this is from Mark Stein. Fox today eligible to sign a similar three and four-year contract extension. The same three and four-year contract extension that Luca got. Uh but San Antonio has watched Stefon Castle win rookie of the year. They drafted Dylan Harper number two overall. So, there’s a lot of people leaguewide asking how automatic is a max deal for Dear Fox. That that’s really the question. Yes, they’re going to get something done, but if Darren Fox says, “You traded for me. You gave up stuff to get me. You want me to be the guy next to WBY. You drafted two players that, well, maybe they don’t take over my role in the back court. There are certainly other players that you can lean on in the back court.” So, if you’re San Antonio, do you still do a max? What do you What do you do here? If you’re San Antonio and Darren Fox wants an extension, you’ve committed assets to get him and he says, “I want max money.” Yeah. That’s why it’s a little bit weird because right technically like Fox is the best of the three, but you would project for the other two of course as they get older over the course of the next couple years to get better of course. And you know, Fox, I’ve said it several times, he’s I think right on the limit of how old you’d want a player to be as part of your core for this team, uh, on a team with WBY as your main centerpiece. And he’s eligible for this. But you’re going to look at it a couple years from now and you’re going to be like, “Okay, well, I’m going to have Fox on this deal. I’m going to have to resign these guys in a few years.” And all of a sudden, you’re going to be having a lot of money invested in basically the same position. And yeah, you could probably play these guys together to an extent, and you would hope that they would round out their games to make it more seamless, but I do understand why this would be a question because of the fact that it it’s like you’ve got this three-headed monster at the guard position that you want to get all these guys minutes and opportunity. I don’t know that you need it. And that’s why I said I don’t know if it’s not against Fox or anything like that. I don’t know if they make that trade in hindsight. Also, Fox is weird because he’s not Luca right now. Many players are Luca. He’s not Luca though. And what I mean by that is, are you sure you want to give Fox what 50 million? That’s what I was going to ask. Is he just in a vacuum forgetting the Spurs situation under the new collective bargaining agreement that we’ve got or not? We’re two years into it. But under the CBA that we’ve got, is Dear and Fox a max player? I’m not sure, man. I I think he’s really good. I think he’s really really really good. I just don’t know if he’s a Max guy, though. And that’s where it’s tricky because if you’re San Antonio, you need to be sure he is a Max player because that could turn into a bad deal all of a sudden on the latter half of it if he doesn’t wind up living up to the contract potentially. Where would you where would you rank Dear Fox among NBA point guards like like obviously he’s not in the same tier as SGA? I would say he’s not in the same tier as Jaylen Brunson. Obvious even Steph Curry of course is above him. Um, would you rather have Darren Fox or Trey Young? I was thinking about that. Yeah, I think that’s a Styles makes fight right there. Um, personally, I would rather have Trey. Me, too. I would I would go. No, it’s closer. It’s a lot closer than Steph or Fox, but I would rather have Trey than Fox. And I know Trey’s extension is another another topic for conversation in Atlanta. So, where do you like Tyrese Hallebertton? I would assume you’d rather if he was healthy, I would assume you’d rather have Hallebertton than Faul, which is a little bit ironic, right? Yeah. Let me let me do this really quick. So, I actually will share this with you, but I pulled up and this is uh this I figured it was an easy way to do this, but I have a ratings list from NBA 2K of the point guards. I like it. So, I figured I figured that would be an easy way to do this. Now, it’s not perfect. Of course, the site is not letting me share my screen. Uh, there we go. Okay. It’s not perfect, of course, because the ratings are subjective. Sure. However, however, I thought this would be good because um it sorts them out by uh basically how good the players are. So, Shay is at the top. Obviously, I would take Shay, Luca, Steph, Jaylen, Kade. Kade. What about Cade? I think I’m taking Kade. He’s Kade 100%. This is where I think it’s more interesting. Jaw. What What would you remember? Oh, what about Jaw? Jaw or or Fox? Uh, I Okay, so I I think I I think I’d take Jaw, especially because he’s younger. Yeah. Um, I think maybe Jaw also has more explosive to him. Sure. So, I I think I would bet on that. But also, I I am also concerned about J, his play style. So, there’s that. Yeah. Uh, and then guys like Dame, I just I I would probably rather have Fox today than Dame. Uh especially because he’s going to miss a season. We talked about Trey for sure. That’s Yeah, that’s no no question. James Harden, obviously I would I would rather have Tyrese, but he’s hurt. Um James Harden, I would rather have uh Fox. It depends on if you’re trying to win for the Spurs. I would rather have Fox. But that’s But that’s really the thing though, right? Because Harden’s not on a Max. No, no, no, no. This is where it’s like these are guys more See, like Fox is right here around Murray, Maxi, Garland. This is where I think he is probably a This is probably good for him, right? Like Yeah. And so these guys are some of these guys are Max players based on their team, but like Jamal Murray does great things in the playoffs, right? And we’ve seen him do that. But there’s been a lot of conversation like how excited should the Nuggets be that he’s actually on a max deal? You know what I Like look at the guys that are around Fox right now in those in those rankings and like Tyrese Maxi is ahead of him. Darius Garland is is ahead of them. You know, we’re getting into guys where you can really have a conversation about whether or not they’re a true max. And I think it’s so important that you’re careful about who you give a true max salary to that it’s these types of guys specifically that teams have to be cautious with. that Luca and Shay and all they’re Steph easy Max no question here you go take it and you’re thrilled and you’re celebrating and you’re going to watch Backstreet Boys in Las Vegas if if they’ll take that Max deal but a guy like Darren Fox that’s where if I’m giving him the max if I’m the Spurs I’m not doing it for four years I’m doing a shorter term deal if I’m saying I’m trying to put team friendly stuff at the end of it or ideally I’m doing I’m not doing quite the max I’m doing less than max money. And I’m still trying to build in team control and things of that nature. He’s not I don’t think he’s of that tier that it’s a no-brainer to just hand over the Max. I think under the old CBA, he’s a no-brainer max because under the old CBA, anybody who was a quasi allstar tier player and and up just automatically gets a max. That’s not the case anymore. I don’t think if I’m San Antonio, I would do the max. Certainly not a full fouryear max, especially, you know, the four-year max player option at the end or anything like that. I’m not doing that if I’m San Antonio. Yeah, that’s where I I think it’s just questionable. Like I think again, while we compared him to some of these guys, I think he’s really good. I do. I absolutely do think he’s good. I think he could be a lead ball handler on a team that has title aspirations. I don’t think that’s a stretch to say. I just don’t know if he’s worth that and and if they wouldn’t be better suited potentially, you know, and you need to bridge over the next couple years to let the other guys develop and and maybe you also maybe we’re putting a little bit too much faith in Castle because I do wonder about his efficiency. That’s one thing with him. But like assuming those two can turn into what you would want, you may be better suited getting a a front court player or a wing player that’s going to be taking up that max space. But this is something that, you know, a couple of years from now, you’d be looking into doing. So maybe for now, he’s worth that. But if you’re if you’re going to sign him to a max, like you said, you would ideally have a short-term one and then go from there. Like if you still need another reup after that, you would do it. Um, and and again, this is why I just question if there was the best decision to make that trade, but he wanted to go there. They were able to get him for pretty cheap. I would have done that trade if I was them. So, and the way I think I would structure it if I’m San Antonio is I would want some kind of optionality with Fox when I have to pay Stefon Castle, and that’s coming up in 2028. That’s where I’d want to try to build in some optionality. So, I’m looking at like a two-year extension there. But does the Aaron take that though? like he may not he may not but that’s where can you build in a team option something like like that that’s the ideal structure I think for the San Antonio Spurs again though when push comes to shove we’re talking about 28 he’s not 34 he’s not 33 he’s 28 it’s probably not going to be a problem if they give him you know a deal that’s that’s you know as long as they don’t go the full max if it’s a three-year deal or whatever he’s actually 28 in December also he’s not even yet so like it’s not like Like when I say he’s older, he’s not old or anything like that. It’s not like he’s 30 already. He’s he’s just already in the heart of his prime right now. And that’s why like I and he’s also a smaller guard, relies on a lot of athleticism with his quickness and stuff like that. I would be questioning that, you know, how that ages a few years from now just because sometimes that doesn’t go great for that type of archetype. Yeah. But I think right now if if you were San Antonio, I think you’ve got him right where you want him. I think he’s a good piece of what you’re trying to build right now. It’s just what is your timeline? Are you trying to be competitive immediately or are you trying to be competitive a couple years from now? But regardless, I think in the short term at least you try to work something out and resign him. Yeah. Yeah. You you want to have that harmony going into the season because I do think San Antonio has the ability to push and become a playoff team this year. All right, let let’s talk a little bit about the buyout market. It’s been a very busy buyout market uh this season and maybe maybe more so. We talked about how this was going to be the summer of trades and it kind of was it wound up being more so the the summer of buyouts. I mean the Damen Lillard buyout, the Bradley Beiel buyout, DeAndre Eaton, all of these big-time players that wound up uh getting bought out, big name players that wound up on the buyout market. But that’s not the only ones. Now we’ve got a new name here. And it’s not a surprise uh at all that we’ve got Kevin Love now hitting the buyout market here with the the San Anton or with the uh Utah Jazz. And again, not a surprise because Kevin Love, the state he’s at in his career. He doesn’t want to be in Utah, you know, on a team that is probably the only team in the West that’s not a legit playoff threat. Um, obviously varying degrees of that in the Western Conference, but Utah is the one team that’s probably on the outside looking in. So, Mark Stein saying Kevin Love is actively exploring pathways out of Utah. So, this is the type of player that gets bought out typically. You know, when we look at the Damen Lillards and the Bradley Beiels and stuff, those are guys with multiple years left on their contracts and I mean, the the two largest buyouts we’ve ever seen. like those are not the types of players that tend historically to get bought out. Maybe it’s the new reality of the collective bargain agreement, but that’s not typical. What is typical is guys like Kevin Love, veterans last year of their deal on teams that don’t really have a shot to win. Those are the guys that tend to get bought out. Now, why is this happening now and not perhaps in the season? Well, if Ed, we don’t know for sure if the buyout is going to happen now, but one thing is allowing him to get to wherever he wants to go and then go from there and and and you know, build a uh build himself into a rotation somewhere. He’s only making $4.1 million this season. But it also uh is important because teams are still at the point right now where they don’t have their rosters all locked in. Now, the other potential part of this is you could wait till in season and then he could get loose and you know, maybe there’s an injury somewhere or something like that that he’s able to fill in for, but I think this is a situation where the Jazz understand that they’re not the right fit for Kevin Love and they try to do right by him and we do see some kind of a buyout here. Yeah, absolutely. I mean, he unless he’s interested in being a mentor for some of their players, there’s not really much of a need for him on this roster. And it does sound like he wants to get bought out and keep on trying to be a part of an NBA team’s rotation and potentially getting minutes elsewhere. So, I wanted to ask you, do you think he actually is worthy of a rotation spot on a competitive team? I mean, he would be like the 10th man or something. Maybe. Yeah. Maybe. I’m not sure. Then, yeah. Yeah. kind of a break glass in case of emergency. You really because that’s the one thing you and I looked at what he what he’s still producing. He is still an elite rebounder. Um that’s what he showed even last season. When it comes to defensive rebounds, he can still do that. The problem’s been the other parts of his game that have largely kind of fallen to pieces here. But 99th percentile among bigs even last season with Miami as a defensive rebounder. Yeah, that that’s incredible that he’s still doing that. It’s the other areas of his game that have really fallen apart. So, he would need to go someplace where he could be again a 10-minute a night guy maybe and can just come in and focus on doing the things that he if we’re talking about a team that’s going to be good and going to win. Um, what’s the best spot? Where where should he go? LeBron needs a Don’t say Lakers the L the Lakers can’t even if they wanted to, the Lakers cannot find him. They don’t have to do LeBron needs an old friend on the roster, man. and he needs somebody his age on the team. He was so excited his age and he’s the oldest guy. He’s the oldest guy in the NBA. That was the argument for getting Chris Paul. At least he’s at least he’s close. He was so excited when they got Markee last season. He he literally said, “Oh, I’m happy to have somebody my age.” Um yeah, I I think if you’re a team that needs because basically he’s a stretch big that that’s an elite rebounder. That was always his superpower and it’s still his superpower interestingly today. Uh if you’re a team that needs that, I would probably go for that. But I don’t know if he can be your four. So he’s probably has to be like a small ball five. Yeah. And so a team maybe like Orlando or Okay. Atlanta could be a good spot for him where you can insulate him with perimeter wings. Uh switchy big guys, things like that. Maybe with Atlanta it’s a little bit tricky with Trey specifically. Um, but with I don’t have that same concern with Orlando, a team like that where you can put those other guys around him and maybe just run a switch everything scheme or something like that and just play around that. But it’s kind of if you if you don’t have if you’re going to try to do like a double big thing, I think you needed an anchor big. So somebody like a Rudy Gobear or something like that beside him. I think you could make that work potentially. Even though on the perimeter it get kind of tricky. So maybe Minnesota would be a Going back to Minnesota actually. Go back to Minnesota. goer. That could be something if he wanted to, for sure. And and he wouldn’t be relied on heavily. He’d be somebody they could plug in if they need to just as they already have their bigs there. They’ve already got they’ve got they’ve got uh Reed and Reed and Randall. Yeah, they’ve got their guys. So maybe there’s something to that now capwise. It’s a little tricky for Minnesota, but yeah, you know that it just I don’t know if this will happen this summer. I think it makes sense because I that it it would a lot of times buyouts they they happen later on in the year for example like Stein noted that Vuchovich Nicola Vuchic with the Bulls he’s not getting bought out this summer if he goes through the trade deadline though and doesn’t get traded. Okay, that’s where I think there could be a real conversation for Buch to get bought out depending on where Chicago’s at. Kevin Love is a guy where he’s only making four million bucks. like Utah, it’s probably worth it for them just to generate a little goodwill with a veteran player, cut him loose, and let’s go from there. Actually, I just thought of it. He would fit perfectly with the build strategy of one specific team. Oh god. Do you know who it is? Yep. Who is it? Yep. Is it the Clippers? The Clippers. The Clippers are going to have to stock up on so much icy hot. Just every every player 30 or older is a Clipper right now. The the the retirement home team. They must have I have not done the numbers, but they have to have the oldest average age in the NBA. They have It’s either I’m pretty sure it’s them, but the only team I think will that will be close is Golden State once they’re done with the offseason. That’s true. go. Especially with Lead Al Horford. Yeah, that once they’re done with the off seasonason, maybe them, but it’s it’s definitely the Clippers. But look at that. I mean, their young guys are 28, which is I mean, that’s still young, but that’s not like that’s not young young for the NBA. Their young guys are 28, man. I mean, I’m talking about their actual rotation. They’ve got some end of the bench guys, but and Yanuk I like a lot, but he’s probably not going to play a ton with no Brook Lopez. So Kevin Love would fit perfectly. He’s 36, 37. He’d fit perfectly. Yeah. Throw him Throw him in there. Add him. Add him in. Why not? Why not? You I mean, you need as many of these guys as you can get cuz half of them are going to be taking their midame naps anyway, so you need somebody. Stop. We’re on bulletin. Um he actually might fit pretty good on Milwaukee, too. In all, I can’t talk. I’m older than all these guys, so Oh my god. Yeah, he I think he would I think he’d fit probably solid on Milwaukee, too. I think you No, Milwaukey’s a good cop. Yeah, with Kevin. So, I think there’s teams that could be interested. I just He’s obviously not a guy that teams are going to try to position themselves to really pick up. They’re probably going to try to get if depending on when this happens, there may be other buyout guys, uh, teams are forecasting being bought out and stuff like that. They’re probably going to try to get those guys first and then pivot to Kevin Love. But um and I don’t really expect him to go anywhere and play a big role on any team. But if he’s able to go somewhere where he can play 10 15 minutes a night and hit a couple threes for you, grab a few rebounds, that that might be good value on a minimum deal. Definitely could be. Definitely could be. All right, everybody. Give us your thoughts in the comments down below. Where do you think Kevin Love should wind up? Should Utah do him a solid and buy him out here? Should they should Kevin Love have to give back any money in order to secure that? Give us your thoughts in the comments section. And what should the San Antonio Spurs do with De’arra Fox? Luca’s got an extension. Now De’arra Fox says, “My turn.” What do the Spurs do? Do they say, “Here’s a max.” Do they try to play hard ball? How should they play it? Give us your thoughts again in the comments section down below. Don’t forget to subscribe right here to the channel. Till next time, see you and stay safe.

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