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What is up Hardwin Knox listeners.
I am Dan Vavalley coming at you with

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my without my fantabulous co host Adam
frommel I am however and as always super

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excited to be joined by Sabrina Merchant, who covers all things basketball and other

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stuff for sp Nation. If you
don't follow her on Twitter, rem me

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that immediately. Just a great mix
of analysis sometimes these like really biting jokes

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that I really like to see.
Follow her on Twitter though, at Sabrina

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JM. That's at sab r E
and a Sabrina. How are you doing?

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I'm doing well, doing very well. Thank you for having me back

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on Dan, Hey, thank you
for coming on. I think this is

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your third time, so I think
it's officially your fault that you're here if

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you say yes twice like I'm willing
to be like, all right, I

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hoodwinked them into it. But now
that you're back a third time, I

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think that this appearance is on you. So but I really do appreciate you

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coming back to let me pick your
brain. As always, I just love

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talking the off season, you know, and we're officially in it. Day

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one of the NBA off season.
The Bucks are champions. I don't did

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you have any lasting impressions after that
game six? That finals in general?

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Are you still lamenting the fact that
it wasn't you know Lebron versus KD.

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You know, I never knew that
Jannis had this in him. I after

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watching the last couple of postseasons,
I thought there were limitations in this game,

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and you know, still limitations in
his game, But for him to

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be the best player on a title
team like that's that's such a rare feat

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to accomplish. There are like three
guys in the league who you can definitively

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say can be the best player on
a title team, and now he's one

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of them, So that's just super
super cool. I had so much fun

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watching him celebrate, Like what a
delight yannispo is And I'm just glad that

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you had to have this moment because
it was so much fun to watch him

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and just like a very enjoyable finals. It was. I've covered the league

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full time since I think two eleven, maybe two thousand and twelve, of

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them getting old, but that might
have been the most enjoyable finals i've covered.

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Twenty sixteen is definitely up there,
but just like it were these two

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teams that I don't think of.
The Bucks were like in that conversation entering

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the season, but even people who
are super high on the Sun's never envisioned

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them getting there. And I know
stuff happened en route to the finals,

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but stuff happened for every team when
you're looking at injury. So I thought

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that was so cool, and then
just it was. I was disappointed we

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didn't get a game seven because that's
how much I love the Finals. But

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I'm with you on all the Yanna
stuff, especially the part about I'm sure

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we would have enjoyed seeing Chris Paul
celebrated title and Devin Booker and all that.

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But I would have enjoyed Chris Paul
a lot last time here to tell

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you that. But Yannis, just
like flexing about not joining a super team,

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would like to point out he still
has like two really good number two

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and three options on this team,
so it's not like, right, what

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an awkward plane ride as this gets
released, Devin Booker might be on a

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plane with Chris Middleton and Drew holiday
to Tokyo. Good luck to them.

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I hope they stay healthy, But
that's going to be an awkward What does

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that twelve fourteen hour. I'm just
like calling Robertsarvor, like, get me

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on a first class flight some other
way to get to don't you know?

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I don't want to be a part
of this. Yeah, that's it.

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I mean that that has to be
so awkward forty eight hours or whatever it

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is. After I did not,
I did, I guess I did Tangentially,

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here's the segue. I did bring
you on to talk about potentially two

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super teams, not the Bucks or
the Suns, in the Lakers and the

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Clippers. You do a fantastic job
covering both, as well as just the

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general NBA at large. But they
are I find every team fascinating heading into

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the postseason, but I think naturally
they were always going to be interesting.

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I'll begin with the Clippers. I
feel like they've become a lot more interesting

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for all the wrong reasons. The
Kauai partially torn right ACL injury is just

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an absolute bummer. How does that
how? And Kawai is going back to

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the Clippers like that was just never
in doubt, like all the steps he

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took to get there. But does
his injury change in your view? Their

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their off season approach at all?
And the one thing I'll say. And

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I think this might be a subset
of where your Twitter was talking about how

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they should maybe trade the Clippers should
trade Paul George, load up on prospects,

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and like put themselves in a position
to do stuff when Quick comes back.

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You just I'm gonna table that you
don't know in your first round pick

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next year, so there's no point
in having a gap season. So but

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I'm just curious, Like what do
you do now though, Like Hua,

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if you even think, if you
think he's gonna play at some point next

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season, you just lost one of
the five best players in the league for

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I presume most of next year.
Like, what do you do now?

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Yeah, I'm glad you brought up
the pick because I think that's the big

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part of it. You know,
the Clippers do not control their own draft

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destiny for the next five years.
That is in the hands of the Oklahoma

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City Thunder Paul George Tray Well,
you know that that paskey little Steppian role

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means you get you get saved a
little bit. But yeah, I mean

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the more you're saying is so funny
because I'm sure they were all advocating trading

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Draymond Green and Steph and Curry while
they waited for kay Thompson to get healthy,

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right, Like that's exactly what you
do when your stars are hurt.

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I guess Drymond Green is the more
app comparison in this case. But you

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know, the Clippers were pretty good
in the playoffs after Kawhi got out.

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I mean I don't think that they
were at the level that they hoped to

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be, obviously, because when you
lose a top five player in basketball,

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it's hard to be at that level. What they got to a place that

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they'd never gotten in franchise history,
of getting to the conference finals, winning

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those final two games, like on
the backs of Terrence Man and Reggie Jackson

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filling in for Kawhi Leonard, which
was just stupid fun, Like just a

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tremendously good time watching Terrence Man have
this first twenty point playoff quarter and Clippers

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franchise history, Like who had the
money on that. I think that the

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Clippers fins are gonna be the same. I think they're still going to try

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to run this back, win a
title with this very same group. You

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know the problem is that like they
have more intel about Kwai's jury than we

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do, right, Like we know
that it's a partially torn rad ACL.

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There's the Spencer Dinwoodie timeline right where
it takes six to seven months to come

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back, And I think that he
had said that he had planned to return

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for the NBA Finals were the nets
in it, so like that would have

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given him about a seven month timeline
from when he originally hurt his knee at

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the start of the season. But
then, like I keep reading that ACL

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reconstruction surgery is the same regardless of
whether it's partially torn or fully torn,

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and so in that case, that
puts Kawai back at like more of a

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twelve month timeline, And even then, guys don't really get their full lift

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back for another two years after ACL
surgery. And for a guy like Kawai

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Leonard, who already has this degenerative
quad stuff going on in his right leg

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and had a foot in joy earlier, like it's just very scary to think

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about what he's ever going to look
like again, because in theory, he'd

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be what thirty two years old by
the time that two year timeline is over,

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and thirty two ye old Kawhi Leonard
is is not the guy who I

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associate with being a top five player
on a championship team. So a lot

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of this is in flux because we
just have no idea what when or wh

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or the version of Kauai that we're
getting back, right, So I think

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that the Clippers just have to play
it as if they're going to win,

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though, because again they don't have
the pick, they have no flexibility going

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forward. I mean, they could
draft like a young, high upside guy

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with the twenty fifth pick in the
year's draft, but like, what are

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we hoping to get out of that? You know, even jannat Stack in

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fifteenth, Like, yeah, you
find gems later in the draft, but

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not not that low. So I
just think that there are no other options,

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right, Like Paul George is under
contract for for more years, Yeah,

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but like do you want to do
the route of like trading him for

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three more picks just to like refill
your craffers. It's not even like you're

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loading up your draft assets. You're
just you're so depleted at this point that

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trading Paul George would at the very
most get you back to even which even

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is not the place you want to
be if you're going to be tanking.

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And then if you're taking like what
what does that make for Reggie Jackson,

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then Nick Patoon and Marcus Morris and
all these other guys. So they put

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themselves in position to win two years
ago, right, They made all of

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the they traded all the picks for
Paul George, they traded an additional pick

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for Marcus Morris. So they set
themselves on this path to be all in.

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They kind of have to do it
right. There's just no other way

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of going about it. Like,
Tyler is not here to coach rebuilding team.

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Ask Cleveland. Tyler is not here
to coach a rebuilding team. So

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I just I don't see any of
half like it just said, has to

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be done this way, I don't. I couldn't even come up with an

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argument against anything you just said.
There's just like there's no other thing for

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them to do. It's probably good
that they ended up signing Paul George that

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extension last year, because all of
a sudden, I wonder if his free

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agency would have gotten interesting this summer. Had he looked at oh Kauai has

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gone basically all of next season,
and I'd read the same stuff you did.

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I thought, partially torn acl recovery. Time's got to be shorter,

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but then it's like he underwent surgery
anyway. So a lot of the stuff

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that I read said the timeline is
basically the same. It's also Kauai,

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as you mentioned with the other stuff. I'm assuming even if he didn't have

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they weren't worried about the quad.
They're just it's Kauai. You're gonna treat

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him with kid gloves early on.
So you look at I think the first

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steps for them, because it's actually
kind of difficult in at least two instances

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looking at their own talent in free
agency where I didn't think I'd be talking

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to you or anyone this offseason about
they really need to bring back Nick Batoum

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and Reggie Jackson. And by the
way, one of my favorite Clippers stats

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and it makes sense when you consider
the context of Clipper season, but Nick

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Batoum led them in total regular season
minutes played. That's just also something that

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was never you could have predicted.
Do you think among their own free agents

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and we're looking at I would say
mainly Nick Batoum, Reggie Jackson, and

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Serge Ibaka. If he even reaches
free agency, I'm curious to what you

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think he'll do with the player option
following the back injury. What do you

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expect to happen? Do you figure
do you think they figured out a way

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to keep all those guys? Do
you think one of Batoum and Jackson leave

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just given the bird right situation on
them? My guess is that Reggie Jackson

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is going to come back because they
can offer him about ten upwards of ten

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million dollars for that starting salary with
the early bird rights. And I know

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that, you know he's he just
played for a minimum like the previous contract

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was like something in the range of
five years eighty. So I don't know

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what the market is set on for
Reggie Jackson, but I think, like

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at age thirty one, playing with
his best friend Paul George in Los Angeles,

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playing for a team that clearly values
him has brought out the best in

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him. I think that ten million
number is gonna be fine. You know,

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I don't think it's gonna I don't
think some other team is gonna bowl

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Reggie Jackson over with an offer that
he can't say no to, Like do

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the New York Knicks want to throw
out twenty million at Reggie Jackson to be

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their point guard? The future?
Like I don't think so. I mean,

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I could be wrong, Like the
New York Knicks do crazy things all

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the time, but I just don't
see the money coming for Reggie from another

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team that's gonna like make him say, oh, I have to say no

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to the Clippers because like it's it's
good enough money, you know, like

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it's not it's not ridiculous, Like
they're not giving him a minimum again.

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Right. The Buttom thing is a
little more interesting because he's got, you

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know, that final year of his
Charlotte contract is still coming in, right,

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Like he was making twenty seven million
that last year of the Charlotte deal,

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So he's he's kind of, you
know, sitting on borrowed money here,

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right, Like he doesn't need to
be catching in a new contract.

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But at the same time, you
want to be playing for your worth,

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right, Like if the more that
you say that you're a minimum player,

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the more that the league values you
as a minimum player. Right, It's

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really hard to go from a minimum
contract back into the even like the mid

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level of range. So that's the
only thing that's tricky about the Tomb is

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like how much more does he him
does he see himself playing to the point

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where like he needs to be a
mid level guy or you know, just

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anything more than a minimum guy,
because I don't know how much you really

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do want to pay him. Like, like you said, he did lead

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the Clippers in regular seas minutes this
year, which is just a crazy fact.

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I learned it actually just last week
when I was like setting up the

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player's season and reviews. That esmunation
as like, oh, that's super weird

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that Nickpoto was leading the league,
leading the team in minutes. But like,

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the Clippers just don't work without him, right, Like he played small

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belt center he started the season of
Power four. He just fills in every

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single slot there. He guarded the
best perimeter player for most stretches during the

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regular season. He was defending Rudy
Gobert during the playoffs. Like it's it's

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just a lot that was asked to
him. I don't expect that he would

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have a similar regular season role next
season, just because like he's of a

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certain age, you know, it's
it's probably the time that Nickpotum is not

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leading your team in regular season minutes, Like that shouldn't be happening for a

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guy who's this far in his his
NBA career. I think the Clippers are

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going to have to just dip into
that mid level to bring him back.

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I don't really see a way around
it. The problem is, and I

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know you plan on getting in this
later, it's just I think they need

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another wing to build out the rotation, and like, how are you going

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to get at that other wing unless
you have your mid level to attract that

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guy? Right, So, like
I've heard rumors of, like, you

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know, the Warriors not bringing Kelly
Bray back, But like if Kelly Ray

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wants to ring Chase somewhere else,
it's going to take at least a mini

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mid level to get him. Right, you can't just get him for a

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minimum. I don't think that's a
reasonable situation. Like even if you wanted

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to go after let's say the Pelicans, like just blow it all up and

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let Josh Hard hit unrestricted free agency, Like that's another mini mid level guy.

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So I it's gonna be really fascinating
negotiation to see how low they can

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get the tumb Like can they just
give him like a one hundred twenty percent

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raise on that minimum that here in
last year because they just need to keep

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that mid level intact to do something
because like you, like we talked about

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earlier, they have to go for
it, and this roster, as presently

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constructed, needs more juice to go
for it. So where is that coming

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from? Yeah, and if pushed
game to shove, just because of everything

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you mentioned about Nick Batoum, and
even knowing that, I don't think that

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you could count on him to replicate
everything he just did if it costs you

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most of the minimate level to bring
him back. If I'm the Clippers,

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I'm probably we have to bring him
back. And you know, maybe you're

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just hoping that Terren's man that ends
up playing a bigger role. And I

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think it's also tough too. Is
you mentioned they could go try and go

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bargain hunting in free agency, but
like if you do use your best spending

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tool in the summer on just retaining
your own talent, you're not even open

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to Like you're just so far into
the tax at this point you can't even

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acquire someone via sign and trade,
and so you would have to then take

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like a bigger swing on the trade
market, and that's just tough to do

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because they have the depleted asset pool. Like, yeah, you can trade

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this year's pick after you take it, and you have some of those Detroit

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seconds, and you do have some
like matchable money. But I don't know

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if do you think the Kauai injury
makes it more or less likely that they

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would be open to taking a bigger
swing on the trade market. That's a

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good question. I think that whatever
trade they make is probably not going to

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be something that makes them worse in
the present, right Like if they were

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going to make a trade like a
big swing to further deplete their asset pool

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and get better, like I have
to think that they would do that even

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if Kauhi were healthy, right,
Like they traded two seconds away to acquire

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Rajon Rondo, right Like, It's
not like they weren't doing anything with their

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assets last year. So I just
keep coming back to Luconnard in my head,

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like he is such a swing piece
and all of this, because he's

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that matching salary that you would need
if you work to acquire like a player

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of a reasonable price. Right he's
entering year one of this extension that I

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think the cap hit is sixteen million
a year. But I don't really know

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how the matching works because a lot
of its incentives and I think the base

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salaries like twelve million, but whatever. Like, the point is that Lukenard

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is a movable salary if the Clippers
decide that he's not worth having around.

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But at the same time, they
gave him that extension for a reason.

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It wasn't just so that they can
move him. You don't give a guy

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for your extension just to turn into
a trade piece, right, Like,

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they think that he's gonna be a
part of the team going forward. Can

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he take some of that ballhandling responsibility? Can he be some of that shooting

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and playmaking that the Clippers are going
to need without It's stupid to say that

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Luke Nard is going to replace Kawhi
Leonar's production, But like they have voids

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in their offense now that Lukenard is
going to have to fill. So I

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do think that, like that's really
the swing piece. Is he's the only

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guy that the Clippers can move who
theoretically has valuing forward because he's still fairly

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young, He's only twenty four years
old. He's shown the ability to play

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in the playoffs, right, Like, the Suns didn't abuse him by any

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means. It just was a hard
series to playing because the Suns are really

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good, and like that's just to
be expected for a guy who's playing in

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essentially his first postseason because I don't
count an eight seed playing against the Cavaliers

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is like a real postseason experience.
Apologies to all Pistons fans, but that's

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that's sort of where I see it
coming. Is like that the only big

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move they can make is if they
decide that like Luke is no longer part

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of the future. Because other than
that, like I don't see them trading

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Terrence Man, It's just they've they've
struck old with him, like how could

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you possibly move in? And he
doesn't make any money, so like how

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is that going to get you anything
in the trade market? And then beyond

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that, it's like, well,
zoombatch, I guess makes some money and

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Patrick Beverley has an expiring salade,
But like, what's the value of Patrick

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Beverley on the open market At this
point, He's going to be suspended the

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first game of the season because he's
two handed chev Chris Paul like he's constantly

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hurt. I Mean, we didn't
talk about Roggie Jackson's the starting boy gard

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for the Clippers last year, but
he he basically was he started forty games

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last year because Patrick was always hurt. So I just don't see where the

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value, like to trade anything is
going to come from their teams. So

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they could make a big swing,
but like, I don't think the Kawhi

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injury affects that at all, because
like we said, they're just all in

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regardless. I would wonder if Patrick
Beverley something more valuable to them too,

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just because of the load he's going
to have to carry by default without like

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a Kawhi Leonard there every night.
He did have some good moments in the

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playoffs, And I think the other
thing is you definitely don't move parents.

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Man, if you were going to
make a trade, you're probably in a

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situation where it's not an undesirable player. We're zone unders. Like I think

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people mentioned Kemba walker I thought that
was a good idea, and then I

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realized, why would the Thunder want
to help out the Clippers in any way

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when they own the rights to their
pick next season. So unless they think

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that Kemba Walkers just like doesn't have
cartilage anymore or something in his knees,

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I don't know why they make that
move. But then you're looking at like,

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yeah, if you can just step
ladder your way with your salaries to

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a Russell Westbrook. Okay, fine, but I don't really know how much

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that will actually help you, and
so it really does hamstring you from doing

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00:17:22,839 --> 00:17:26,400
anything big on the trade market again, unless you're going to enter the sweepstakes

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for a player that teams might just
be looking for cap relief from. Did

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00:17:33,039 --> 00:17:37,440
you give any thought to like any
like free agents, like cheap ones,

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or even just like under the radar
trade targets that you thought would be a

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good fit for this team, or
even just I know you mentioned that they

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need a wing, Is there,
like the what are just the biggest areas

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of needs that you think they need
to fill if they want to actualize the

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best version of their non Kawai selves
next year? Right? So I think

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00:17:52,960 --> 00:17:55,759
that the best version of the Clippers
is when they're playing small, right,

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and they're opening the floor and just
switching everything and eating you with her pace

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and blow eyes and just making the
floor really spaced out, which is like

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what we saw them do when Terrence
Span came into the lineup for Kawhi Leonard,

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right, Like, that's just how
they beat Utah, It's how they

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occasionally played against the Suns because I
still quibble with the defensive decisions they made

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in that series, but you know, it's neither here nor there. They

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00:18:18,640 --> 00:18:23,119
weren't going to win a title without
Kwhi Leonard anyway. So the problem is

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is, like again we talked about
this before, whatever wings are on the

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market, if the Clippers are using
their money to bring back Nickbatum like which

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00:18:33,599 --> 00:18:36,519
I think is probably the right choice
because I don't think that anybody who's better

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00:18:36,559 --> 00:18:38,680
than Nickpatomans can be had for that
level of money. Like what are they

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00:18:38,720 --> 00:18:41,440
going to do? Like they just
offer minimums to guys like we saw how

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00:18:41,480 --> 00:18:45,240
this went last decade with the Clippers, Like yeah, come one, come

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00:18:45,240 --> 00:18:48,799
all your Paul Pierce's, you're Lance
Stevenson's, your Wes Johnson's. Like is

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00:18:48,839 --> 00:18:52,319
that what level of bargain been hunting
the Clippers are going to be doing or

321
00:18:52,920 --> 00:18:56,119
do they really have an ability to
get something better? Like I mentioned Josh

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00:18:56,279 --> 00:19:00,440
Hart earlier, if the Pelicans aside
to blow things up there, he's restrict

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00:19:00,519 --> 00:19:03,640
cre agent. I imagine that they're
going to bring it back. Like the

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00:19:03,200 --> 00:19:07,440
gettable guy there appears to be Lonzo, not Josh Harden. Alonzo is definitely

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00:19:07,480 --> 00:19:10,599
not in the money situation where the
Clippers have here, although I think he'd

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00:19:10,599 --> 00:19:17,000
be a nice fit. I mean, are we talking about like I don't

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00:19:17,039 --> 00:19:21,079
even know, Like, uh,
do we bring back up Sterling Brown?

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00:19:21,279 --> 00:19:23,559
People were frustrated at that trade idea
last time you're on the podcast that I

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00:19:23,880 --> 00:19:30,599
threw. They thought it was Sterling
the lawn right stuff. Yeah, I

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00:19:30,920 --> 00:19:34,359
just I don't see who it is. Like Reggie Bullock is going to be

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00:19:34,400 --> 00:19:37,599
a free agent. He was a
Clipper once before, you know, he

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00:19:37,720 --> 00:19:41,279
was even drafted by them in the
first round, but like he's going to

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00:19:41,359 --> 00:19:45,640
demand more money, talking like David
Nahuaba types. I just don't see what

334
00:19:47,240 --> 00:19:48,839
what's happening here. Like I love
David Nauava, but I don't know.

335
00:19:51,279 --> 00:19:53,240
And the Clippers are former greater than
I am. Obviously the front office finds

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00:19:53,319 --> 00:19:56,799
things, but like I think that's
the player they're going to target. It's

337
00:19:56,799 --> 00:20:00,680
probably someone they should just draft.
But like maybe a mere Coffee plays more.

338
00:20:00,680 --> 00:20:04,240
I maybe Jay scrub plays more next
year, but like I don't really

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00:20:04,240 --> 00:20:07,960
see it on the free agent market
for a minimum, like it just it.

340
00:20:07,640 --> 00:20:11,440
I have this like again, like
this West Johnson PTSD, It's just

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00:20:11,480 --> 00:20:18,279
like the guy's golfe. Do you
think that Serge Ibaka is going to end

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00:20:18,359 --> 00:20:19,400
up opting in? And if he
opts out, do you think the Clippers

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00:20:19,400 --> 00:20:22,599
want to bring him back? When
I think you had just mentioned their best

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00:20:22,640 --> 00:20:27,279
identity is playing small. Yeah,
Well, Baka is kind of interesting because

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00:20:27,400 --> 00:20:32,759
he does space the floor right,
like he can shoot, so he's not

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00:20:33,039 --> 00:20:37,279
a traditional big in the same sense
that like Zoobatches. I don't know that

347
00:20:37,359 --> 00:20:41,440
he can switch defensively like he used
to, right, I think the defensive

348
00:20:41,480 --> 00:20:45,799
reputation of Sergebacca kind of outpaces where
he is talent wise at this point,

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00:20:45,759 --> 00:20:48,519
and for a good reason, like
he was he was damn good in Oklahoma

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00:20:48,599 --> 00:20:52,680
City, so it's it's fair for
that reputation to still follow him, even

351
00:20:52,720 --> 00:20:57,440
though I don't think he's that same
defensive player anymore. But the Baka thing

352
00:20:57,519 --> 00:21:02,000
is very interesting because he could be
super cavalier about this and just opt out

353
00:21:02,039 --> 00:21:03,880
and be like what are you going
to do a Clippers, like you have

354
00:21:03,079 --> 00:21:07,119
to pay me? But then at
the same time, like he's coming off

355
00:21:07,119 --> 00:21:11,200
of back surgery, and do you
really want to risk the Clippers playing chicken

356
00:21:11,279 --> 00:21:14,440
with you? Because I do think
that the Clippers would play chicken with him.

357
00:21:14,839 --> 00:21:17,519
So the most likely option to me
is that he just opts in because

358
00:21:17,519 --> 00:21:21,240
he's getting paid a fair amount of
money and like, that's backup center money.

359
00:21:21,240 --> 00:21:22,839
And I think we're at the point
where, if he's a sup watch

360
00:21:22,880 --> 00:21:25,599
is going to be starting for the
team during the regular season just to save

361
00:21:25,880 --> 00:21:29,480
the backup from himself really at this
point, So yeah, I don't think

362
00:21:29,480 --> 00:21:30,400
there's gonna be a lot of injury
there. I imagine he's just going to

363
00:21:30,480 --> 00:21:36,279
come back. They're gonna manage his
minutes as carefully as possible so they're not

364
00:21:36,359 --> 00:21:38,119
in this situation again and hope for
the best with his back, which is

365
00:21:38,160 --> 00:21:41,279
really just a scary situation. I
think he said he had a pinch nerve

366
00:21:41,400 --> 00:21:45,240
during the regular season, and that's
just super painful to think about. So

367
00:21:45,359 --> 00:21:49,160
it sounds like we should really just
expect the Clippers to look mostly the same

368
00:21:49,279 --> 00:21:53,759
with moves made on the margins,
which given their cap and asset situation,

369
00:21:55,400 --> 00:21:56,920
pretty much makes a ton of sense. Yeah, I'm going to say that

370
00:21:56,960 --> 00:22:00,839
the most changes that the Clippers make
this off season are happened on their bench

371
00:22:00,000 --> 00:22:06,359
with their coaches as opposed to their
actual rest. Well, They've already lost

372
00:22:06,400 --> 00:22:08,160
three. From what I understand,
Chauncey and ro Rodgers are both going to

373
00:22:08,240 --> 00:22:14,920
Portland and then Kenny Atkinson is going
to Golden State. So development I didn't

374
00:22:14,920 --> 00:22:17,279
compute the Roy Rodgers one. I
thought it was two. My god,

375
00:22:17,359 --> 00:22:18,519
three. Ye, it's a lot
of coaches to lose. Yeah, I

376
00:22:18,559 --> 00:22:22,480
mean they we talked all the year
about like the player development for the Clippers,

377
00:22:22,519 --> 00:22:26,480
like how important it was for you
know, Terrence Mann obviously coffee,

378
00:22:26,799 --> 00:22:30,720
even Paul George like becoming a playmaker
with something that wasn't really part of his

379
00:22:30,799 --> 00:22:36,039
bag earlier. So Kenny Atkinson was
basically the guy in charge of that.

380
00:22:36,160 --> 00:22:40,279
So I'm interested to see how they
replace what he brought to the staff.

381
00:22:41,119 --> 00:22:45,960
Terrence Man, are what do we
make of him following the postseason? I

382
00:22:45,079 --> 00:22:49,839
mean, he was just a delight
to watch And are you expecting them to

383
00:22:49,920 --> 00:22:55,319
still kind of like, is he
gonna be in as prominent a role in

384
00:22:55,359 --> 00:22:57,200
the regular season next year given that
Kauai definitely isn't gonna be able to start

385
00:22:57,240 --> 00:23:00,200
the year. Is there anything you're
hoping to see Hi add to his game?

386
00:23:00,880 --> 00:23:03,880
I know he did on offense,
like was very dangerous off the ball,

387
00:23:03,960 --> 00:23:07,759
but like he has some really off
the dribble juice to him. I'm

388
00:23:07,759 --> 00:23:11,240
not saying that we should make Terrence
Man a primary initiator for the Clippers,

389
00:23:11,519 --> 00:23:12,599
but if Kauai is going to be
out and you're not going to make any

390
00:23:12,680 --> 00:23:17,799
substantive additions, like, can we
maybe plumb the depths of Terrence Man's offensive

391
00:23:17,839 --> 00:23:18,680
game a little bit more? Do
you think they're still going to kind of

392
00:23:18,720 --> 00:23:22,559
want to shoehorn him into that specialty
role. No, I think he's gonna

393
00:23:22,559 --> 00:23:26,559
be the starting small forward or whatever
you want to call him for the Clippers,

394
00:23:26,599 --> 00:23:30,160
Like he and Paul George will be
the two wings starting depending on how

395
00:23:30,160 --> 00:23:33,559
the rest of the lineup works out. My best guest is like it's going

396
00:23:33,640 --> 00:23:36,240
to be Ready Jackson, Paul George, Terrence Man, Marcus Morris in a

397
00:23:36,319 --> 00:23:38,279
center. Like that's seems to be
the most likely option for how the Clippers

398
00:23:38,319 --> 00:23:44,559
are going to start the season.
But yeah, like I love watching Terrence

399
00:23:44,599 --> 00:23:47,720
Man play. Every time he just
like fases up a guy crosses over and

400
00:23:47,799 --> 00:23:49,799
slashes a jumper in his face.
I am shocked. I still can't believe

401
00:23:49,839 --> 00:23:52,519
that that is a part of what
he can do, just based on how

402
00:23:52,599 --> 00:23:56,599
he came out of college, he
was not a shooter, and for him

403
00:23:56,680 --> 00:23:59,839
to have all of this, like
you said, juice on the ball,

404
00:24:00,200 --> 00:24:03,200
like just this creativity and he's always
moving and cutting into the lane and like

405
00:24:03,279 --> 00:24:07,039
he's got these super weird hook shots
that come out of his hands, like

406
00:24:07,119 --> 00:24:10,440
he's there's a lot of flare to
his game, which is super fun.

407
00:24:10,519 --> 00:24:14,640
He's tremendously confident, except for you
know, a couple of times when like

408
00:24:14,720 --> 00:24:18,240
he was just not hitting the corner
three and then decided, Okay, well,

409
00:24:18,240 --> 00:24:19,559
I'm just gonna like take it to
the rack on rudygo. Baron's dead.

410
00:24:19,599 --> 00:24:23,640
But how can you not love watching
this kid play? I do think

411
00:24:23,680 --> 00:24:27,279
that they're just gonna expand him as
much as possible, Like I don't think

412
00:24:27,279 --> 00:24:32,160
they want him to pigeon hole into
any one thing, Like he has already

413
00:24:32,160 --> 00:24:34,759
gotten so much better at the shooting, and I do think that they're going

414
00:24:34,799 --> 00:24:41,359
to try to encourage that playmaking aspect
of him too, because as much as

415
00:24:41,440 --> 00:24:45,119
like he has grown as a shooter, he's still not a guy that guys

416
00:24:45,160 --> 00:24:48,319
are going to defend. You know, if he's spacing the floor right,

417
00:24:48,319 --> 00:24:51,160
He's not Reggie Jackson He's not Marcus
Morris. He's not somebody who you just

418
00:24:51,240 --> 00:24:53,200
trust to like dead eye knocked down
shots. So putting the ball in his

419
00:24:53,240 --> 00:24:56,519
hands I think makes a lot more
sense because one, it saves Paul from

420
00:24:56,559 --> 00:25:02,319
him having to do all that and
PEG's handles concerns me. But you know,

421
00:25:02,480 --> 00:25:03,640
it's just if you put the ball
in Terrence his hands and like,

422
00:25:03,720 --> 00:25:08,200
it just creates so much space around
him. So I think that's like the

423
00:25:08,279 --> 00:25:11,039
most exciting thing about the Clippers next
season, which is probably not what you

424
00:25:11,079 --> 00:25:15,160
want to be saying about a team
that has championship inspirations, but the Terrence

425
00:25:15,279 --> 00:25:19,240
man like growth curve monumental. At
this point. I know he's up for

426
00:25:19,240 --> 00:25:22,640
an extension with the Clippers because he
signed a three year deal out of the

427
00:25:22,720 --> 00:25:26,359
draft. I don't really know what
that would look like. I don't quite

428
00:25:26,440 --> 00:25:29,640
understand the cap machinations, like is
he eligible for the same like Taylor Marton

429
00:25:29,680 --> 00:25:33,279
Tucker type extension or is it like
a lower number. I don't really know,

430
00:25:33,880 --> 00:25:37,519
but he's he's just like the most
fun player on the Clippers, And

431
00:25:37,559 --> 00:25:41,400
I don't think that's like a controversial
statement made. Maybe Reggie Jackson, like

432
00:25:41,440 --> 00:25:45,960
the die hards, but I do
think they're gonna be putting the ball in

433
00:25:45,000 --> 00:25:48,720
his hands a lot. What I'm
looking forward to is his defensive improvement because

434
00:25:48,759 --> 00:25:52,880
he was low key hunted when you
know, opposing teams like won against those

435
00:25:52,880 --> 00:25:56,640
Clippers small lineups, and he's got
to get just better and more disciplined at

436
00:25:56,640 --> 00:26:00,559
defending on the ball because he gets
a little too foul happy, a little

437
00:26:00,559 --> 00:26:03,559
too jumpy. So that's really where
I'm looking for the improvement from Man.

438
00:26:06,359 --> 00:26:08,359
Is there? I would first of
all, watching Karen's man should count as

439
00:26:08,359 --> 00:26:11,920
a form of cardio because he is
just isn't all over place and he's pure

440
00:26:12,000 --> 00:26:15,880
joy. Is there anything I know
we skipped around here? Is there anything

441
00:26:15,880 --> 00:26:18,160
about this team I didn't ask that
you think really needs to be touched upon

442
00:26:18,279 --> 00:26:23,400
leading into their off season? And
I think you talked about point right thing

443
00:26:23,480 --> 00:26:27,839
with Reggie and Patrick Beverley that that's
the one thing where I do think Patrick

444
00:26:29,160 --> 00:26:32,559
they're they're going to be shopping him
because of that expiring contract and it's just

445
00:26:32,680 --> 00:26:37,759
the only way to really get any
flexibility. Yeah, you know, just

446
00:26:37,200 --> 00:26:41,200
another day of talking about the Clippers, about mentioning I's Subach, who's just

447
00:26:41,359 --> 00:26:45,279
solidly the most consistent player on the
team and does everything you could possibly ask

448
00:26:45,319 --> 00:26:48,359
of him. But that's such as
still viewed as like some sort of a

449
00:26:48,440 --> 00:26:52,160
liability, which is just a crazy
thing to be crazy to me. And

450
00:26:52,240 --> 00:26:56,000
I don't know why you would move
him unless it's part of unless you're hitting

451
00:26:56,039 --> 00:26:59,480
a home run trade like just the
value he brings that's your starting center at

452
00:27:00,039 --> 00:27:03,480
sub eight million dollars a year like
that, you're just not replicating that.

453
00:27:03,720 --> 00:27:07,519
And he's when you look at his
size and just like his like with or

454
00:27:07,559 --> 00:27:11,039
girth, whatever you want to call
it, like he's a lot quicker than

455
00:27:11,119 --> 00:27:12,319
other dudes that are built like him. And so I don't know why you

456
00:27:12,359 --> 00:27:17,319
would move off of him again unless
it's we're about to hit like this home

457
00:27:17,400 --> 00:27:22,279
run or there's this really for like
irrational opportunity for us on the trade market.

458
00:27:22,480 --> 00:27:25,680
It's crazy to me how many Clippers
fans want to start to mark his

459
00:27:25,759 --> 00:27:30,559
cousins over him, like it's it's
mind boggling to me. But hey,

460
00:27:30,640 --> 00:27:34,920
Cousins is flashy in a way that
zoo Watch is not, and such as

461
00:27:36,000 --> 00:27:41,200
life. I guess I didn't want
to ask you some questions about the Lakers

462
00:27:41,279 --> 00:27:45,640
who are They're just by virtue of
having Lebron and a d they were always

463
00:27:45,680 --> 00:27:49,759
going to have a fascinating off season. But I'm wondering if after these playoffs

464
00:27:49,839 --> 00:27:55,240
you see Anthony Davis banged up,
not as usual in the playoffs, mostly

465
00:27:55,279 --> 00:27:57,039
because he hasn't doesn't really have a
ton of playoff experience when you look back

466
00:27:57,279 --> 00:28:00,519
prior to Los Angeles, but he's
banged up. Lebron is banged up,

467
00:28:00,519 --> 00:28:03,880
which is definitely new, and then
you remember, oh, yeah, that

468
00:28:03,039 --> 00:28:07,079
was his age thirty sixth season.
Maybe this is not you want to say,

469
00:28:07,119 --> 00:28:10,480
a regular occurrence, but you know, your future kind of flashes before

470
00:28:10,480 --> 00:28:11,359
your eyes there without Lebron. I'm
going to deal with that. Do you

471
00:28:11,480 --> 00:28:17,359
think the circumstances under which they lost
this year increase the urgency for them to

472
00:28:17,480 --> 00:28:19,839
find I'm going to call it a
third creator because I do not believe that

473
00:28:19,880 --> 00:28:22,920
they have the ammo to get a
third star in there. I know Chris

474
00:28:22,000 --> 00:28:26,839
Paul's name is already being floated after
the Sun's lost. I just don't see

475
00:28:26,839 --> 00:28:29,039
it. Yeah, I just don't
see a path. I mean, I

476
00:28:29,119 --> 00:28:30,799
guess you with the salaries. If
the Wizards decide to blow it, up

477
00:28:30,839 --> 00:28:33,839
to get Russell Westbrook. I just
if they get a third star, I

478
00:28:33,880 --> 00:28:37,759
will be flabber gassed. So let's
say a third creator. Do you think

479
00:28:37,799 --> 00:28:41,400
it increases the urgency or was this
just like it was always going to be

480
00:28:41,720 --> 00:28:45,799
the urgency or my overreacting where it's
like they did come off the shortest offseason

481
00:28:45,839 --> 00:28:48,240
in sports history. Now you've given
Lebron a regular offseason to heal up,

482
00:28:48,240 --> 00:28:52,720
and he's just gonna come back and
dominate as per usual and they'll be fine.

483
00:28:52,599 --> 00:28:56,200
Yeah. It's interesting because there's a
couple of ways that you can look

484
00:28:56,240 --> 00:29:00,319
at the Laker season. On one
hand, they are up to one double

485
00:29:00,359 --> 00:29:03,480
digits in Game four against the Suns
before Anthony Davis gets hurt, and it

486
00:29:03,559 --> 00:29:07,799
feels like they've sort of figured out
this opponent right, Like they looked very

487
00:29:07,839 --> 00:29:11,920
comfortable against Phoenix. They were just
manhandling them with their size in a way

488
00:29:11,960 --> 00:29:15,240
that we saw Milwaukee do in the
finals. So you can look at that

489
00:29:15,319 --> 00:29:17,559
way and be like, oh,
healthy Anthony Davis, they definitely get out

490
00:29:17,559 --> 00:29:19,279
of that round. They fare very
well against Denver, and then you put

491
00:29:19,359 --> 00:29:22,519
him against Clippers, we'll see what
happens. But on the other hand,

492
00:29:22,599 --> 00:29:27,640
like they were the seventh seed,
and yeah, Lebron was hurt for a

493
00:29:27,640 --> 00:29:30,039
stretch of the season, Anthony Davis
was hurt for a stretch of the season.

494
00:29:30,640 --> 00:29:36,400
But for all of their gifts,
like their supporting hauts, was just

495
00:29:36,480 --> 00:29:38,079
not nearly as good enough, not
really good enough for what they were hoping

496
00:29:38,119 --> 00:29:41,880
to be. Right, Like Dennis, Shrewder was not the third ball handle

497
00:29:41,920 --> 00:29:45,000
that they were hoping him to meet. And whether that was because he may

498
00:29:45,119 --> 00:29:48,319
or may not have gotten COVID at
the end of the season, lord knows.

499
00:29:48,359 --> 00:29:52,799
How Dennis tried to explain that,
Let's just say that the Lakers were

500
00:29:52,839 --> 00:29:56,119
not thrilled with his decision making on
or off the court, and that might

501
00:29:56,200 --> 00:30:00,119
be a reason to not wat Shrewder
around for another year. Yeah, I

502
00:30:00,200 --> 00:30:03,640
think like that was their big ticket
move, right, It was getting Shrewder,

503
00:30:03,799 --> 00:30:07,000
was getting a guy who they hoped
was going to inject some bounce like

504
00:30:07,119 --> 00:30:11,680
in the half court playoff of Lebron
and Anthony Davison for the first half the

505
00:30:11,720 --> 00:30:15,720
season, like before Valentine's Day,
when Anthony Davis gets hurt, I think

506
00:30:15,880 --> 00:30:17,920
that there was a reasonable argument that, like, yeah, hey, the

507
00:30:18,000 --> 00:30:19,960
Lakers did the right thing. This
starting line up with Shrewder and Marcusol is

508
00:30:21,039 --> 00:30:23,880
going bananas like it's really really good
and this is everything they'd hoped for.

509
00:30:25,000 --> 00:30:29,160
And then obviously the wheels fall off
and you know, they fall into the

510
00:30:29,160 --> 00:30:32,599
seven seat and blah blah blah.
But so that's the problem I have with

511
00:30:32,680 --> 00:30:34,960
the Laker season is that depending on
which part you want to focus on,

512
00:30:36,079 --> 00:30:37,519
Like you have an argument in favor
of whichever direction in the off season you

513
00:30:37,519 --> 00:30:40,880
want to pursue. You have an
argument for, hey, let's run it

514
00:30:40,960 --> 00:30:42,920
back because this team was working when
they were healthy, or hey, maybe

515
00:30:42,960 --> 00:30:48,359
it's a problem that all of our
best guys are over thirty and gimpy and

516
00:30:48,799 --> 00:30:52,960
maybe aren't relied upon to stay healthy
for an entire postseason like they were.

517
00:30:52,000 --> 00:30:56,519
Starting Marcusol, I don't think that
his health is something that we should overlook

518
00:30:56,519 --> 00:31:00,839
either, because the guy just plays
all year round right in the Olympics right

519
00:31:00,880 --> 00:31:03,799
now. I don't know how much
we can trust him to be like fully

520
00:31:04,000 --> 00:31:07,920
ready to go for another eighty two
game season. So it's it's just very

521
00:31:07,960 --> 00:31:11,359
tricky because like, what what is
the real version of the Lakers? Which

522
00:31:11,359 --> 00:31:15,799
one should we be looking at?
And like, I think they had the

523
00:31:15,880 --> 00:31:18,880
same sort of questions after the twenty
twenty season. Even when they won the

524
00:31:19,440 --> 00:31:22,319
finals, it was like, well, did we have to go through all

525
00:31:22,319 --> 00:31:26,440
the best teams? No, so
maybe we still have to improve. And

526
00:31:26,160 --> 00:31:30,559
for them to have that proactive of
an approach after winning the championship makes me

527
00:31:30,640 --> 00:31:33,720
think that, oh, hey,
losing in the first round as a seven

528
00:31:33,799 --> 00:31:37,160
eight, they're going to blow some
shit up. So I do think that,

529
00:31:37,279 --> 00:31:38,480
like, yeah, they're going to
try to get a third playmaker.

530
00:31:41,119 --> 00:31:44,640
I don't think that the Russell Westbrook
smoke is anything to discount by any means.

531
00:31:44,880 --> 00:31:49,079
La gu Rob linkl loves star hunting. You know, Chris Paul is

532
00:31:49,079 --> 00:31:52,119
obviously a lot more challenging to acquire
it just because of the number. And

533
00:31:53,559 --> 00:31:59,720
why would Phoenix do that? Really
is my question? So that I mean

534
00:32:00,480 --> 00:32:02,799
you mentioned Kemba Walker with the Clippers
earlier. I think Kemba Walker is another

535
00:32:02,880 --> 00:32:07,319
name he might think about with the
Lakers, just because they need another greader

536
00:32:07,359 --> 00:32:09,359
and his value is a little bit
depressed. Right, the earlier you go

537
00:32:09,400 --> 00:32:15,160
after him PROMOTEKC I think the better. But yeah, I don't expect Shrewder

538
00:32:15,200 --> 00:32:19,559
to be back with the Lakers.
I do expect them to heavily shop this

539
00:32:20,319 --> 00:32:25,400
KCP Kuzma to maybe not KC like
this THHT Kuzma Struder twenty twenty two pick

540
00:32:25,480 --> 00:32:29,279
or what they're gonna set the record
for the number of sign and trades they're

541
00:32:29,279 --> 00:32:34,480
sending out in one trader in one
trade. I mean we mentioned this with

542
00:32:34,559 --> 00:32:37,839
luken Ard earlier, Like you don't
sign like Kuzma was signed to a two

543
00:32:37,960 --> 00:32:42,319
year extension that is a contract that
is builds to be traded. Yeah,

544
00:32:43,359 --> 00:32:45,440
yeah, I just don't. I
mean, they can get there, but

545
00:32:45,519 --> 00:32:49,839
it's just for them looking at the
Russell Westbrook and let's even just say you're

546
00:32:49,839 --> 00:32:52,720
trading for CP three on his option
number, so like they're both forty in

547
00:32:52,759 --> 00:32:57,160
the forty four million range, and
so you're unless you're signing and trading Dennis

548
00:32:57,200 --> 00:33:00,920
Shrewder like it's KCP. I guess
who need Harold to opt in and then

549
00:33:01,039 --> 00:33:05,200
Kuzma, Like that's the way that
you get there. And I'm not even

550
00:33:05,240 --> 00:33:08,000
sure, Like I just are those
packages that interest the teams that would be

551
00:33:08,039 --> 00:33:12,279
sending out Russ or Chris Paul in
those instances, I honestly don't know.

552
00:33:12,319 --> 00:33:15,680
And yeah, you could include other
stuff and you mentioned I guess the possibility

553
00:33:15,680 --> 00:33:19,200
of a THHT trade. It's just
a lot of just machinations to go through.

554
00:33:19,240 --> 00:33:22,200
But I do kind of agree with
you that I think I actually expect

555
00:33:22,240 --> 00:33:24,920
them to complete like some either they're
going to get one of those like older

556
00:33:25,119 --> 00:33:28,880
pricey point guards, or maybe they
figure out a way to do the one

557
00:33:28,880 --> 00:33:30,400
I pointed too that I thought I
would be fascinating. I know the shooting

558
00:33:30,480 --> 00:33:32,559
is not a great fit, but
like a sign and trade for Spencer did

559
00:33:32,599 --> 00:33:37,519
why involving Kyle Kuzma, who I
think could actually help the Nets. But

560
00:33:37,920 --> 00:33:40,200
they need they need the help because
in Lebron the past two years, their

561
00:33:40,279 --> 00:33:45,960
half court offense is ranked in the
twenty fifth percentile and nineteenth percentile respectively of

562
00:33:45,039 --> 00:33:49,000
efficiency with Lebron off the court,
And I know that's sort of like a

563
00:33:49,079 --> 00:33:52,279
harbinger of Lebron teams. It's a
lot more damning when Lebron is entering his

564
00:33:52,359 --> 00:33:57,680
age thirty seventh season. Yeah,
I mean, there's like a if you're

565
00:33:57,720 --> 00:34:00,759
the Lakers, rass and you're watching
the finals and you're looking at Milwaukee,

566
00:34:00,119 --> 00:34:06,279
just junk up the game and play
really physical defense and win the math advantage

567
00:34:06,319 --> 00:34:09,280
by getting to the foul line more
and living in the paint and just getting

568
00:34:09,320 --> 00:34:13,840
more shot attempts. Like that's the
prototype of a Lebron James Andy Davis team.

569
00:34:13,840 --> 00:34:15,840
It's not like this beautiful game that
the Suns are running. We can't

570
00:34:15,840 --> 00:34:17,599
do that with the Lakers, Like
that's just not going to happen. So

571
00:34:17,960 --> 00:34:22,599
the fact that a team like Milwaukee
is so successful with this old school like

572
00:34:23,679 --> 00:34:28,119
just again terrible half court offense,
but really good and transition type of game,

573
00:34:28,119 --> 00:34:30,119
I think that gives you a little
bit of comfort and your approach going

574
00:34:30,159 --> 00:34:32,679
forward, like you can still do
this bulleyball thing, like it wasn't just

575
00:34:32,840 --> 00:34:37,159
a fluke of the bubble. I
think that there is a legitimate reason to

576
00:34:37,159 --> 00:34:40,159
believe that that can work even in
this small ball era. So, like,

577
00:34:40,320 --> 00:34:44,400
I that's why I think that that
Russell Westbrook thing is something to think

578
00:34:44,400 --> 00:34:46,880
about, just because yeah, he
can't shoot, but I mean he gets

579
00:34:46,920 --> 00:34:51,480
into the pain, he gets you
extra possessions, Like there's something to be

580
00:34:51,559 --> 00:34:53,760
said for that if he's willing to
rain in his defensive tendencies or whatever.

581
00:34:55,159 --> 00:34:59,079
The pipe dream I keep hearing about
from Laker's Twitter is like, oh,

582
00:34:59,119 --> 00:35:00,639
what if Zach Levine is wants out
of Chicago, Like, yeah, great,

583
00:35:01,760 --> 00:35:06,519
wouldn't I don't know if I don't
know if Kuzma in a first round

584
00:35:06,519 --> 00:35:09,360
pick in twenty twenty seven is getting
there Chicago's own tailor, Horton Tucker,

585
00:35:09,519 --> 00:35:15,840
is really what you're going for that
one. I did see the Damian Lillard

586
00:35:15,159 --> 00:35:19,199
sweepstakes linked to the Lakers, where
it's like it would depend on how interested

587
00:35:19,199 --> 00:35:21,519
the Plazers aren't talent Horton Tucker,
and I was like, DoD, They've

588
00:35:21,559 --> 00:35:27,400
views like eight first rounders. Yeah, And I think that was a great

589
00:35:27,440 --> 00:35:30,719
point about the box. I think
what if they might even boldened the Lakers.

590
00:35:30,800 --> 00:35:32,239
But it also kind of proves like
you do need at least the set

591
00:35:32,280 --> 00:35:37,000
because milwaukee second and third best players
are both guys capable of handling the offense

592
00:35:37,039 --> 00:35:40,639
and Jannie's absence, and they're both
arguably running more of the offensing crunch time

593
00:35:40,679 --> 00:35:45,119
than Yannis anyway. So if you're
the Lakers, you need you have that

594
00:35:45,400 --> 00:35:49,599
sort of prototype and Anthony Davis you
need the second creator aside from Lebron James.

595
00:35:49,599 --> 00:35:52,519
So I think feel confident and then
I will never doubt Lebron James.

596
00:35:52,599 --> 00:35:55,800
But just age thirty seventh season scares
me, Like you had the high ankle

597
00:35:55,840 --> 00:35:59,840
stuff, plus the playoffs. I'm
just like, there needs to be somebody

598
00:36:00,000 --> 00:36:02,679
else there, Like we were scared
at age thirty four a run, So

599
00:36:02,800 --> 00:36:08,599
I mean three years later you get
the sense that it's like the one of

600
00:36:08,679 --> 00:36:12,320
the shoes has to drop at some
point, Like this get like this can't

601
00:36:12,360 --> 00:36:15,519
go on forever. Ken it and
I hope it does, but I get

602
00:36:15,639 --> 00:36:17,880
increasingly wary each and every offseason about
it. Yeah, and which is why

603
00:36:17,920 --> 00:36:22,280
they try to, you know,
get shrewder and give him an additional ball

604
00:36:22,360 --> 00:36:25,599
handler so he wasn't running everything in
the half court, and that didn't quite

605
00:36:25,639 --> 00:36:30,000
work out. I don't think THHD
is ready to assume that responsibility. Alex

606
00:36:30,039 --> 00:36:32,519
Caruso, for all of his gifts, is not that ball handler for the

607
00:36:32,639 --> 00:36:37,000
Lakers. Like it's just it's not
his game. So they got to do

608
00:36:37,119 --> 00:36:40,679
something. I mean, I think
the Dinwoody thing is probably the most likely,

609
00:36:40,840 --> 00:36:45,719
just because there's so much noise about
him coming to LA and like he's

610
00:36:45,800 --> 00:36:50,760
just perennially unhappy with the nets.
But like, I don't know, it's

611
00:36:50,800 --> 00:36:52,679
got to come from somewhere. But
like you said, I fully expect some

612
00:36:53,199 --> 00:36:58,360
big move to happen here. They
do have a ton of free agents,

613
00:36:58,400 --> 00:37:00,360
so I'm wondering if you can quickly
join me for a round of keeper nah

614
00:37:00,559 --> 00:37:09,239
with them, the first and most
important one, Andre Drummonds. No,

615
00:37:09,840 --> 00:37:15,159
No, I do think that the
Lakers are going to look into reacquiring Javal

616
00:37:15,239 --> 00:37:20,000
McGee Dwight Howard this season. That's
Olympian JaVale McGee. I'm sorry, I

617
00:37:20,320 --> 00:37:22,320
knew it immediately as I said,
a team USA's own JaVale McGee. I

618
00:37:22,360 --> 00:37:27,719
apologize. So Dennis Shrewder and I
think you've kind of already touched upon this

619
00:37:28,360 --> 00:37:30,639
that people have talked about a lot. He kind of has them in the

620
00:37:30,679 --> 00:37:35,239
bird rights trap, and he does, but like does he really? Because

621
00:37:35,280 --> 00:37:37,559
it might be more valuable for them
to have the room under the apron than

622
00:37:37,880 --> 00:37:42,840
signing Dennis Shrewder anything for anything close
to the eighty four million dollars that he

623
00:37:42,960 --> 00:37:46,280
turned down already, right, And
I think the bird rights trap also works

624
00:37:46,320 --> 00:37:51,360
when you can leverage another offer from
somewhere else. And collect did Dennis Shrewder

625
00:37:51,519 --> 00:37:54,880
do during this season to say,
like, hey, someone else comes signed

626
00:37:54,920 --> 00:38:01,239
me. I'm clearly not a starting
point guard. But so if you're the

627
00:38:01,320 --> 00:38:05,719
Lakers, are you looking at more? Do you view it as an obligation

628
00:38:05,800 --> 00:38:07,840
as you have to bring him back, or do you think that this team

629
00:38:07,920 --> 00:38:09,320
might just be better off letting him
walk. I think that sign and training,

630
00:38:09,360 --> 00:38:14,320
and I don't think they're gonna resign
him just to stay town Horton Tucker.

631
00:38:15,679 --> 00:38:17,519
Yeah, they got to keep him. It's just for the days.

632
00:38:17,519 --> 00:38:23,280
The only asset you can thrown around, right. He's also just his game

633
00:38:23,400 --> 00:38:27,960
is so like herky jerky, and
his the way his body moves doesn't make

634
00:38:28,000 --> 00:38:30,280
sense, and I absolutely love it. And he like kind of started hitting

635
00:38:30,320 --> 00:38:34,639
some jumpers like towards later in the
season, so that you're flinched at that,

636
00:38:34,719 --> 00:38:37,719
So like that's like not something.
But I think Tucker's three point percentage

637
00:38:37,760 --> 00:38:42,119
was under thirty percent for the whole
season, So if he was hitting jumpers

638
00:38:42,159 --> 00:38:45,079
for any consistent stretch, think about
how bad the rest of the year rest

639
00:38:45,119 --> 00:38:49,920
of him. He's so young,
though, so like maybe that was him

640
00:38:49,960 --> 00:38:52,840
turning a corner. But he also
has the same physical measurements as Brianna Stewart,

641
00:38:52,920 --> 00:38:55,639
So I have hope there you go. I mean, look, that's

642
00:38:57,000 --> 00:39:01,280
that's that's that's what you're touting first
foremost in trade talks with anyone you're trying

643
00:39:01,280 --> 00:39:06,400
to acquire. Alex Caruso is super
interesting and what I will say, like

644
00:39:06,599 --> 00:39:08,960
with THHT and Caruso, I would
view them as guys that ideally you would

645
00:39:08,960 --> 00:39:12,199
want to bring back in most situations, but I also think those are guys

646
00:39:12,239 --> 00:39:15,000
that other teams are really going to
like, and so like you do have

647
00:39:15,039 --> 00:39:17,719
the ability to keep them, it's
do you want to pay these guys like

648
00:39:17,840 --> 00:39:21,679
over the longer term. And I
know that THHT is captain what he can

649
00:39:21,760 --> 00:39:23,719
get obviously, but still, as
you mentioned, how many minutes is he

650
00:39:23,840 --> 00:39:28,360
gonna play? And Kenny actually even
shoot thirty percent from from three point range.

651
00:39:29,719 --> 00:39:32,440
Yeah, Caruso is the scariest one
to me because number one, he

652
00:39:32,519 --> 00:39:38,320
is the most beloved by Lakers fans
right along actually along with KCP and Kuzma.

653
00:39:38,360 --> 00:39:42,840
He's the longest tenured Laker, whether
you see it that way or not,

654
00:39:42,920 --> 00:39:45,199
because technically the first two years were
spent on the two way, but

655
00:39:45,400 --> 00:39:47,079
whatever, he's the longest tenured Laker
along with those two guys. A long

656
00:39:47,159 --> 00:39:52,119
live the twenty seventeen Summer League Lakers
Champions, but he is the one,

657
00:39:52,199 --> 00:39:55,280
like you said, who I think
is going to get offers from other teams

658
00:39:55,480 --> 00:39:59,480
right, Like I've heard Cleveland would
be interested in him as a defensive guard

659
00:39:59,519 --> 00:40:02,400
to pay with her other guys.
I've heard that Atlanta kind of makes some

660
00:40:02,480 --> 00:40:07,039
sense because I mean, you can
actually play Caruso next to treyng I think

661
00:40:07,079 --> 00:40:09,960
that works pretty well and then just
you know, move Herder, Bogdanovitch or

662
00:40:10,000 --> 00:40:13,840
whatever to the three, and you've
just got some super interesting line ups to

663
00:40:13,880 --> 00:40:15,760
work with there. So there's a
fit for Caruso a lot of places who

664
00:40:15,760 --> 00:40:19,840
could use him right now, which
is what would worry me if I were

665
00:40:19,840 --> 00:40:22,519
the Lakers front office, because he
is going to get offers from elsewhere.

666
00:40:22,559 --> 00:40:24,719
I know, even like Golden State
tried to post him the last time he

667
00:40:24,760 --> 00:40:27,639
was a free agent, but he
decided to stay with the Lakers. So

668
00:40:27,840 --> 00:40:30,280
you just got to hope that you've
built up enough equity with the guy to

669
00:40:30,559 --> 00:40:34,519
keep him around. And the thing
I always come back to is like,

670
00:40:35,639 --> 00:40:38,400
there is not a single teammate that
Lebron James has played with in his entire

671
00:40:38,440 --> 00:40:42,679
career who he has a better net
rating with Alex Caruso, Like it's like,

672
00:40:44,280 --> 00:40:49,360
yeah, so you just got to
keep the guy around because he amplifies

673
00:40:49,440 --> 00:40:52,360
your best player. And what is
the point of everyone else on the Lakers

674
00:40:52,400 --> 00:40:55,519
if not to amplify Lebron James.
So if he wants like twelve to twelve

675
00:40:55,519 --> 00:40:58,599
to fifteen million a year, like
you just got to give it to him

676
00:40:58,639 --> 00:41:04,000
because he's that good around your best
player. Also, he brings social media

677
00:41:04,079 --> 00:41:09,159
impressions, which that has the factory
free. Caruso Mantras, Harrold, I

678
00:41:09,199 --> 00:41:12,079
don't even think you need to say, like, I don't think he should

679
00:41:12,079 --> 00:41:13,840
be back. I don't think they
should have signed him in the first place,

680
00:41:13,840 --> 00:41:16,400
and I actually thought it probably turned
out worse than it should have or

681
00:41:16,679 --> 00:41:21,280
maybe many people expected. Do you
think he winds up opting in, opting

682
00:41:21,320 --> 00:41:22,800
out? And do you think it
matters? Is he just gone from this

683
00:41:22,840 --> 00:41:29,320
team? Either way? It's kind
of crazy. I don't know if he's

684
00:41:29,320 --> 00:41:31,920
gonna opt out, because like,
this wasn't a good season for him in

685
00:41:32,079 --> 00:41:37,400
terms of increasing his market value,
right, he didn't he didn't prove that

686
00:41:37,400 --> 00:41:39,360
he could play in the playoffs.
I mean, he didn't really have an

687
00:41:39,360 --> 00:41:43,639
opportunity to prove that. Frankly,
for a lot of it, for whether

688
00:41:43,719 --> 00:41:46,800
that was the right decision or not. He's obviously said some things about the

689
00:41:46,880 --> 00:41:50,519
Lakers, you know, during the
off season, so is Drummond. I

690
00:41:50,559 --> 00:41:53,159
think if we're to rank those,
Drummonds probably rank worse than Montres Harrold's.

691
00:41:53,280 --> 00:41:58,039
But I mean, as long as
we're talking sign and trades like or not

692
00:41:58,159 --> 00:42:01,239
signing trades. But Blake, would
Charlotte be interested in taking Montres Harold,

693
00:42:01,280 --> 00:42:06,840
Like if the Lakers could somehow swing
DeVante Graham out of it, that's something

694
00:42:06,920 --> 00:42:10,000
maybe to look into. But yeah, this this is like, this is

695
00:42:10,039 --> 00:42:15,559
a no. I would I would
hope that he opts in because I think

696
00:42:15,599 --> 00:42:19,199
that gives the Lakers more freedom in
terms of their trading possibilities just because of

697
00:42:19,280 --> 00:42:23,079
that salary. But I don't think
he's starting next season on the Lakers.

698
00:42:24,079 --> 00:42:28,440
It's funny as we're recording this just
another a second report that the Lakers could

699
00:42:28,440 --> 00:42:30,599
trade for Russ, following the initial
report that they could trade for Russ or

700
00:42:30,679 --> 00:42:37,239
CP three bottom of the Russ's wife
follows A d and Lebron James on Instagram

701
00:42:37,320 --> 00:42:45,519
as skip Bayliss likes to point out
real journalism matters is basically story. The

702
00:42:45,599 --> 00:42:49,000
final two I have bottom of the
barrel here, but West Matthews and Marquis

703
00:42:49,079 --> 00:42:55,880
Morris good questions. Wes Matthews was
like this really interesting, uh you know,

704
00:42:57,039 --> 00:43:00,800
sort of sentimental signing for the Lakers
last year because his dad had played

705
00:43:00,800 --> 00:43:04,079
for the Lakers and they had this
a strange relationship and it sort of meant

706
00:43:04,159 --> 00:43:07,039
something to him to be in the
same uniform, and like he's got these

707
00:43:07,320 --> 00:43:12,079
baby pictures of his dad carrying him
like at the Great Western Form. So

708
00:43:13,119 --> 00:43:15,360
suffice to say it didn't quite work
out that long. But I do think

709
00:43:15,440 --> 00:43:21,280
that we talked about this with the
Clippers. Right there just aren't any wings.

710
00:43:21,400 --> 00:43:22,599
We're going to come play with you
on a minimum. So if Wes

711
00:43:22,880 --> 00:43:27,840
is willing to play for that,
I think he got the BA last year.

712
00:43:27,880 --> 00:43:29,920
So like if on a similar salary, if he's willing to come back,

713
00:43:29,960 --> 00:43:31,599
just on that number, you just
do it, you know, because

714
00:43:31,719 --> 00:43:37,719
like it's a perfectly fine use of
a roster spot. And then I've already

715
00:43:37,719 --> 00:43:39,360
forgotten the last name. Who was
Marcosol? Sorry, no, you didn't

716
00:43:39,360 --> 00:43:45,159
say Mark Marks Marky FORRTS. Yeah, okay, if there's a roster spot

717
00:43:45,239 --> 00:43:49,280
field, like I guess I don't
know, Like Steve bamber is subsidizing him

718
00:43:49,320 --> 00:43:52,599
to play like for a Los Angeles
right, isn't that the groth the running

719
00:43:52,639 --> 00:43:55,400
down? So yeah, I mean
he likes living in LA, you know,

720
00:43:55,480 --> 00:44:00,800
around his brother and around his family. I don't think he was particularly

721
00:44:00,880 --> 00:44:02,360
good last year for the Lakers.
I think the playoff run that he had

722
00:44:02,440 --> 00:44:07,239
was a little overblown, which obviously
is the reason why they brought him back.

723
00:44:07,280 --> 00:44:10,199
But like when you get to these
end of the bench guys like,

724
00:44:10,280 --> 00:44:14,800
I don't know, it is what
it is, unless it's Jared Dudley,

725
00:44:14,880 --> 00:44:17,159
of course, unless it's who you
did not mention on your free agent list.

726
00:44:17,679 --> 00:44:20,800
I just assumed he wouldn't be a
priority, but maybe he will be.

727
00:44:21,000 --> 00:44:23,679
He's locker room glue. I think
Jared Dudley is a higher priority than

728
00:44:23,760 --> 00:44:28,800
Marky Morris, honestly. Fair enough, I feel like Markieff is gonna either

729
00:44:29,039 --> 00:44:30,280
if he doesn't sign with the Lakers, gonna havem signing with the Clippers,

730
00:44:30,360 --> 00:44:34,159
so he'll he'll still be on in
LA one way or the other. We

731
00:44:34,679 --> 00:44:37,039
we kind of oh, I agree
with you on West and they also in

732
00:44:37,159 --> 00:44:39,679
theory. I know he wasn't this
guy this patch year. They need wings

733
00:44:39,719 --> 00:44:43,719
who can both defend and shoot,
and he's at least, in theory,

734
00:44:44,159 --> 00:44:46,880
one of those guys, even though
the shooting was very much all over the

735
00:44:46,920 --> 00:44:51,519
place. Yeah, I do have
to make a correction. Lebron and Ad

736
00:44:51,760 --> 00:44:55,719
follow Russ's wife, not the opposite. So my bad. It's okay.

737
00:44:55,800 --> 00:45:00,159
We'll we'll give you on that.
We appreciate you relaying such hard hitting an

738
00:45:00,199 --> 00:45:05,280
important news and context. Anyway,
So we've already talked about what the Lakers

739
00:45:05,320 --> 00:45:07,679
might do with they're sign in trade
targets. Do you think it's because I

740
00:45:07,719 --> 00:45:13,960
think it would be easier in theory
to acquire a Kemba or Russ because it

741
00:45:14,000 --> 00:45:15,599
feels like there's a higher chance of
those teams. There's a scenario where those

742
00:45:15,639 --> 00:45:19,440
teams just want to get off their
money. But it feels like it might

743
00:45:19,480 --> 00:45:22,480
make more sense to go after like
a medium price guy that's probably more in

744
00:45:22,480 --> 00:45:25,840
demand, like a Spencer Dinwoody or
maybe even an Evan Fournier, like depending

745
00:45:25,880 --> 00:45:29,960
on what Boston's thinking. So do
you think the Lakers are gonna wind up

746
00:45:30,800 --> 00:45:32,199
what would be more likely in your
estimation that they wind up with a Russ

747
00:45:32,719 --> 00:45:37,239
or a Kemba or that they end
up with a Dinwoody type guy that's an

748
00:45:37,239 --> 00:45:39,880
actual free agent in assign and trade. Who's going to have more of a

749
00:45:40,239 --> 00:45:45,880
market. I just keep thinking about
that, Kyle Howart trade from Trade top

750
00:45:45,920 --> 00:45:50,559
Life. I still can't believe that. I can't believe they turned that down.

751
00:45:50,679 --> 00:45:52,480
I know people thought that the Raptors
asking price was like through the moon

752
00:45:52,559 --> 00:45:57,000
for that. I was just like, if they were going to take that,

753
00:45:57,920 --> 00:46:00,440
why wasn't this deal done? I
was like, yeah, you trading,

754
00:46:00,480 --> 00:46:02,360
you're starting the like two of your
guards, I guess. But like

755
00:46:02,599 --> 00:46:13,480
it's Kyle freaking Lowry. Yeah,
absolutely, It's just a super weird hypothetical

756
00:46:13,599 --> 00:46:16,199
thing about But yeah, assuming Kyle
Lowry is not available on sign trade market,

757
00:46:16,239 --> 00:46:19,639
which I don't think it's going to
happen now, he could technically be

758
00:46:19,840 --> 00:46:23,599
if he really wants I mean,
if we if they didn't want Dennis Shrewder,

759
00:46:23,719 --> 00:46:29,039
then I don't think his value has
really gone up since. But yeah,

760
00:46:30,039 --> 00:46:31,880
I think the Lakers are gonna swing
big. Like that's just their m

761
00:46:31,920 --> 00:46:35,800
O, right, Like they could
have probably tried to do something a little

762
00:46:35,800 --> 00:46:37,679
more manageable at the trade deadline,
and no, they went for Kyle freaking

763
00:46:37,760 --> 00:46:43,320
Lowry. So they didn't go for
George Hill or something like that, right,

764
00:46:43,760 --> 00:46:46,559
So this is the Lakers, This
is Roblinka. He likes flashy guys.

765
00:46:47,599 --> 00:46:51,519
I would think that a bigger name, even if they're not nearly like

766
00:46:51,599 --> 00:46:55,119
necessarily as effective as a more middle
of the road name, is probably where

767
00:46:55,119 --> 00:46:59,719
the Lakers are going to go.
A couple questions last before I get you

768
00:46:59,719 --> 00:47:04,280
out of year? Is Kyle Kuzma
like somehow underrated? Now? Outside of

769
00:47:04,360 --> 00:47:13,719
those, Kuzma had a pick for
Damian Lillard. Like conspiracy theorists, it's

770
00:47:13,800 --> 00:47:16,679
Kyle Kuzma underrated now? Is that
what we said? Underappreciated for what he

771
00:47:16,719 --> 00:47:21,039
does under I could do without his
social media presence, if we're really throwing

772
00:47:21,079 --> 00:47:22,079
it on the table, I could. Yeah. I just wish we could

773
00:47:22,119 --> 00:47:27,519
do without the hair dying constantly.
Just I feel like the blonde Kus jokes

774
00:47:27,559 --> 00:47:31,159
have gotten a little a little too
much, and I really do think he

775
00:47:31,159 --> 00:47:36,280
plays the worst when he's blonds.
But you know, it's interesting in the

776
00:47:36,320 --> 00:47:38,119
twenty twenty post season, I think
we sort of hit this cap with Kuzma

777
00:47:38,159 --> 00:47:43,280
where like he was not really that
playable against Denver and Miami, and like

778
00:47:43,760 --> 00:47:45,000
there is a level of player who
can get you through the first couple of

779
00:47:45,079 --> 00:47:49,000
rounds, but when they're going,
like when you get to the final four,

780
00:47:49,000 --> 00:47:52,000
it's harder to slot them in.
And I didn't think he was nearly

781
00:47:52,000 --> 00:47:57,440
good enough in the conference finals.
With the finals and then what was what

782
00:47:57,559 --> 00:48:00,159
was so fun about Kuzma during the
first eighty ron year was that whenever one

783
00:48:00,159 --> 00:48:04,320
of them was out, he would
come in and just like go full gunner

784
00:48:04,559 --> 00:48:06,760
right, and he would put up
like twenty five points and be like,

785
00:48:06,880 --> 00:48:08,039
yeah, I could do this every
night if you gave me the chance.

786
00:48:08,079 --> 00:48:10,159
And obviously he can't do that every
night. I gave him the chance because

787
00:48:10,159 --> 00:48:15,079
he was given the chance this here, and that didn't happen. So I

788
00:48:15,079 --> 00:48:19,000
I kind of think he's probably rated
right. Like his offensive game has regressed

789
00:48:19,159 --> 00:48:22,000
since he was a rookie. He's
never shot the ball as well as he

790
00:48:22,079 --> 00:48:24,119
did that first season. I think
that was just a he was unfortunate.

791
00:48:24,119 --> 00:48:28,039
I remember he was like one of
the five most efficient ISO players is a

792
00:48:28,119 --> 00:48:31,400
rookie, which was just crazy.
He put up like forty points and three

793
00:48:31,480 --> 00:48:37,760
quarters against Pistons once. It was
nuts. But I don't think that he's

794
00:48:37,840 --> 00:48:42,639
an afficient offensive player. I do
think he's added a good deal of value

795
00:48:42,639 --> 00:48:45,559
on the defensive end, like he
was solid wing defender, rebounds the ball

796
00:48:45,599 --> 00:48:50,280
while but like the Lakers need some
creation and for whatever reason, Kyle has

797
00:48:50,320 --> 00:48:53,320
like lost that ability on the offensive
end. And I've come to the belief

798
00:48:53,400 --> 00:48:55,920
that, like anybody can defend pretty
decently in a frank vocal system, So

799
00:48:55,960 --> 00:49:00,719
I'm not giving him all that much
credit on that end. So yeah,

800
00:49:00,719 --> 00:49:04,840
I kind of think he's properly rated. Like it's it's unfortunate because like there

801
00:49:04,920 --> 00:49:07,559
was much higher expectations for him,
even though he was the twenty seven pick,

802
00:49:07,599 --> 00:49:10,119
just because that like phenomenal Summer League
and then the way he came out

803
00:49:10,159 --> 00:49:15,679
gangbusters during that right he year.
But he he just is a very one

804
00:49:15,719 --> 00:49:19,239
dimensional offensive player now, Like he
doesn't shoot the ball well, he just

805
00:49:20,239 --> 00:49:22,440
he doesn't have that craft around the
rim that he used to. I don't

806
00:49:22,480 --> 00:49:25,480
really know where it went. Like
those are the kind of things that shouldn't

807
00:49:25,519 --> 00:49:30,719
have gone away. But yeah,
I think we're pretty clear with what with

808
00:49:30,840 --> 00:49:34,519
what Kuzma is, and like if
other teams like him, so be it.

809
00:49:34,639 --> 00:49:39,119
But like I don't think there's this
untapped star potential here or even that

810
00:49:39,320 --> 00:49:43,400
much more than what we saw the
last two seasons. The point about his

811
00:49:43,440 --> 00:49:45,199
defense under Vogal, I guess I
didn't give enough consideration because I look at

812
00:49:45,280 --> 00:49:49,280
at three years and thirty nine million
and the final years of player option.

813
00:49:49,679 --> 00:49:52,719
For another team that maybe has enough
creators to where they don't need Kuzma to

814
00:49:52,800 --> 00:49:55,719
come in and put the ball on
the deck, you might actually appreciate that

815
00:49:55,880 --> 00:50:00,320
he's you know, put himself in
more of a niche offensive roll, like

816
00:50:00,440 --> 00:50:01,880
the Nets as an example, like
you're not you don't need Kyle. You

817
00:50:01,880 --> 00:50:05,840
don't want Kyle Kuzman to handle the
ball if you're Brooklyn. So maybe a

818
00:50:05,880 --> 00:50:07,079
team like that was he thought.
I just think the number is fine.

819
00:50:07,559 --> 00:50:12,000
And it's like I was seeing deals
thrown out where like teams were getting off

820
00:50:12,199 --> 00:50:15,719
like taking on Kuzmos that they could
get off bad salary and being spun as

821
00:50:15,760 --> 00:50:17,679
doing the Lakers a favor. And
so I could almost feel like perception of

822
00:50:17,719 --> 00:50:22,119
Hit is levered too far towards negative
because he was too you know, pumped

823
00:50:22,199 --> 00:50:24,920
up as a guy who was playing
for the Lakers, and again because of

824
00:50:24,960 --> 00:50:28,480
what he did during his rookie season. As you mentioned, I like the

825
00:50:28,559 --> 00:50:30,840
idea of him going back to the
nets where he was originally drafted. I

826
00:50:30,920 --> 00:50:36,440
guess I'm part of the D'Angelo Russell
trade. But yeah, I mean like

827
00:50:36,519 --> 00:50:38,440
the Kuzma didn't what anything obviously makes
a lot of sense for both sides.

828
00:50:39,559 --> 00:50:44,519
Anthony Davis, after what a decade
or so in the league, has said

829
00:50:44,519 --> 00:50:47,239
that he is ready to play more
center. Do you one buy it?

830
00:50:47,440 --> 00:50:52,000
And two? Is it an oversimplification
for people like myself to say that his

831
00:50:52,119 --> 00:50:55,960
aversion to playing the five was stupid
in the first place? I just I

832
00:50:57,000 --> 00:51:01,159
can't. I've asked, and I
have asked scouts whether I'm being like like

833
00:51:01,360 --> 00:51:05,559
stupid ass talking head here, and
a lot of them have said no.

834
00:51:06,320 --> 00:51:09,280
And I'm just curious, smart basketball
person like yourself, like what your interpretation

835
00:51:09,440 --> 00:51:14,039
is of one him saying that into
his aversion to it in the first place.

836
00:51:15,000 --> 00:51:19,599
Have you seen space sham yet?
No? Okay, do I need

837
00:51:19,639 --> 00:51:23,119
to see space him? No?
No, I think Anthony Davis is playing

838
00:51:23,159 --> 00:51:24,880
the five and space jam, which
is why I bring it out, like

839
00:51:24,920 --> 00:51:29,480
maybe this is a tune shift.
You know that we're spoilers alert, And

840
00:51:30,800 --> 00:51:32,840
yeah, it's unclear to me though, because Necho gumc is also when she

841
00:51:32,960 --> 00:51:36,360
kind of toggles between the four and
the five. So I haven't quite figured

842
00:51:36,400 --> 00:51:39,679
out positionally what they're doing yet,
but something to keep in mind anyway.

843
00:51:40,280 --> 00:51:45,840
Uh, you know, I I
love the idea of Anthony Davis being able

844
00:51:45,880 --> 00:51:47,880
to play the four, and like
when the Lakers switch, he's still there

845
00:51:47,960 --> 00:51:51,679
to play backline defense, or if
he's out on the perimeter, then he's

846
00:51:51,679 --> 00:51:53,920
the one that's immediately leaking out and
jump starting the transition offense. Like,

847
00:51:53,960 --> 00:51:58,159
I think there was a valid reason
to play Aim at the forder in regular

848
00:51:58,199 --> 00:52:00,239
season, then obviously he switched to
the five more often during the playoffs.

849
00:52:00,280 --> 00:52:05,800
I mean, the Lakers, like
Dwight Howard got an exceptional amount of credit

850
00:52:05,840 --> 00:52:07,960
for the defense he played on Yokich
in the Conference finals, and I think

851
00:52:07,000 --> 00:52:10,840
that was wildly overblown because during go
time of those series, that series,

852
00:52:10,880 --> 00:52:15,000
it was always Anthony Davis at the
five on yok And like, yeah,

853
00:52:15,079 --> 00:52:16,800
eighty couldn't really guard him, but
who could really Guardio? Like I think

854
00:52:16,840 --> 00:52:21,559
we've seen that that's not really a
thing that happens provided his entire starting backward

855
00:52:21,639 --> 00:52:28,159
is not injured. But like,
I don't think that the whole like eighty

856
00:52:28,199 --> 00:52:30,440
needs to play five during the regular
season is like an actual thing, like

857
00:52:30,599 --> 00:52:35,440
he could play it for He played
what forty percent of his minutes at the

858
00:52:35,480 --> 00:52:37,239
five his first year with the Lakers, and obviously ten percent last year was

859
00:52:37,360 --> 00:52:43,079
far too little. But I think
that some of that was just because what

860
00:52:43,159 --> 00:52:45,920
are we classifying Montrese Harold as you
know, is he a center? As

861
00:52:46,280 --> 00:52:52,599
center? Yeah, one of those
things. But the problem with the Lakers

862
00:52:52,599 --> 00:52:54,880
wasn't that Anthony Davis wasn't playing five. It is just that the rest of

863
00:52:54,920 --> 00:52:59,239
their perimeter rotation like sucked, you
know. And I don't think that that

864
00:52:59,360 --> 00:53:02,480
was because they didn't have the space
to attack because Anthony wasn't playing the five.

865
00:53:02,480 --> 00:53:06,239
I think it was just because,
you know, their center rotation wasn't

866
00:53:06,239 --> 00:53:08,920
as good as it was last year. Like for all of the jokes we

867
00:53:08,960 --> 00:53:13,079
make about JaVale McGee and Dwight Howard, like they were much more effective in

868
00:53:13,119 --> 00:53:15,599
their roles than what are Drummond and
montres Heroll and even Marcus all doing extent

869
00:53:15,639 --> 00:53:21,079
we're asked to do. So I
think the Lakers problems are a lot more

870
00:53:21,480 --> 00:53:23,280
nuanced than oh yeah and the Davy
should just play his best position and get

871
00:53:23,320 --> 00:53:25,400
it over with. Like he'll do
it during the playoffs. We've seen it.

872
00:53:25,440 --> 00:53:31,800
It's not a problem. I also
just like, like he's so like

873
00:53:32,039 --> 00:53:36,079
fragile, you know, and I
don't want him to have to deal with

874
00:53:36,159 --> 00:53:38,119
that during the regular season and having
to play center all the time. So

875
00:53:40,039 --> 00:53:43,880
yeah, I kind of lean on
the Yeah, eight should probably play five

876
00:53:43,960 --> 00:53:46,199
more than he was during the regular
season, Like ten percent is just way

877
00:53:46,239 --> 00:53:50,920
too low for his minutes total at
the five. But I'm not of the

878
00:53:50,960 --> 00:53:53,000
belief that, like you need to
go into a season starting Anthony Davis a

879
00:53:53,119 --> 00:53:59,480
you're at center, and like just
make him do it, because I don't

880
00:53:59,519 --> 00:54:05,119
think that exactly solves the Lakers problems
either. Yeah, that's a good point.

881
00:54:05,159 --> 00:54:07,159
I guess where I fall on it
is just it feels like it puts

882
00:54:07,199 --> 00:54:09,800
a cap on their offense if he's
at the four, unless the right five

883
00:54:09,920 --> 00:54:13,840
is next to him, which I
thought that right five was Gasol, And

884
00:54:13,880 --> 00:54:15,559
I think there were minutes where it
proved to be, but he Gasol became

885
00:54:15,639 --> 00:54:20,000
like a pariah, like he was
this year's Danny Green among Lakers Twitter exactly.

886
00:54:20,079 --> 00:54:22,679
Yeah, Like, and I didn't
understand that I would have rather seen

887
00:54:22,760 --> 00:54:25,199
more Gasol a d than Harold ad
and I know those minutes ended up being

888
00:54:25,280 --> 00:54:30,360
fine during the regular season, but
like even when Drummond came in, like

889
00:54:30,519 --> 00:54:31,880
everyone was making fun of Gasol for
pouting, but I was like, no,

890
00:54:32,119 --> 00:54:35,400
Like I kind of feel where he's
coming from from that front. So

891
00:54:35,960 --> 00:54:37,880
I think I don't mean to dilute
it down that far. But that's where

892
00:54:37,880 --> 00:54:40,119
I'm at is, I think it
puts a cap on the Lakers offense if

893
00:54:40,159 --> 00:54:44,639
he's playing the four that often,
unless they change up their center rotation.

894
00:54:44,760 --> 00:54:46,559
Yeah, I think you're absolutely right. I just think that Frank Vogel has

895
00:54:46,599 --> 00:54:50,599
shown time and time again that he's
going to prioritize their defense when their defense

896
00:54:50,679 --> 00:54:54,199
is better when Davis is at four
during the regular season. I also agree

897
00:54:54,239 --> 00:54:57,920
with you that Marcusol is the kind
of five who theoretically he could bring out

898
00:54:57,920 --> 00:55:00,119
the best aspects of eighty on both
ends of the But the problem is,

899
00:55:00,199 --> 00:55:05,840
even when Marc Gasol was playing center
and theoretically spacing the floor, like,

900
00:55:06,159 --> 00:55:08,159
they never ran any pick and rolls
they d so there's just like a lack

901
00:55:08,239 --> 00:55:14,079
of offensive ingenuity. I think that's
also bringing the Lakers down a little bit,

902
00:55:14,079 --> 00:55:17,000
which is why I'm interested to see
if like Fizdale changes that at all,

903
00:55:17,159 --> 00:55:22,159
or whoever they bring in on the
assistant ranks like changes things up.

904
00:55:22,320 --> 00:55:28,039
Because I watched Lakers a lot and
I'm not I'm not sure that they're optimizing

905
00:55:28,119 --> 00:55:30,960
their personalities, not so much that
like they don't have the space to do

906
00:55:30,039 --> 00:55:35,280
it. It's just a D needs
to be used in different ways. You

907
00:55:35,400 --> 00:55:37,239
mean a D and the pick and
roll is better than a dy like Iso

908
00:55:37,280 --> 00:55:42,280
wing from eighteen feet away or jacking
up jumpers from outside the bubble. Of

909
00:55:42,320 --> 00:55:46,760
course, because he wasn't, My
goodness, what a concept? Did anything

910
00:55:46,800 --> 00:55:50,519
glaring I missed on the Lakers that
you think needs to be talked about.

911
00:55:52,079 --> 00:55:54,440
I think we're good. I mean
we spent a good, solid twenty minutes

912
00:55:54,480 --> 00:55:58,199
on the denistrator experience, which I
think is what everyone is looking for when

913
00:55:58,239 --> 00:56:01,840
they talked about the Los Angeles Lakers. So good to go, well,

914
00:56:01,880 --> 00:56:06,480
Sabrina as normal, Thank you so
much for coming on. I do normally

915
00:56:06,559 --> 00:56:07,480
try and space out when I will
ask you to come back, but I

916
00:56:07,559 --> 00:56:10,239
hope you allow me to pester you
in the off season once all the moves

917
00:56:10,280 --> 00:56:14,519
are over. I always enjoy talking
hoops with you. Listeners. Love it.

918
00:56:15,000 --> 00:56:19,559
Follow Sabrina on Twitter at Sabrina JM. That's at SA b R E

919
00:56:20,360 --> 00:56:24,920
and AJM does a fantastic job covering
basketball, NBA, w NBA, all

920
00:56:25,000 --> 00:56:30,039
other stuff at SB Nation. Thanks
once more for coming on and as you

921
00:56:30,119 --> 00:56:31,159
know, and I just said,
I'm definitely gonna be pestering you again.

922
00:56:31,760 --> 00:56:34,119
Yeah, happy to do it.
Thanks Dan,