What is krack lacking hardware knocks listeners. I am Damp Valley, coming at you without my fan tabulous co host Adam frommel I am, however, in a skin tight Nick shirt that I needed to change into before I did this podcast because I knew I was coming on with my very good friend and longtime colleague Bleacher Reports Grant Hughes follow him on Twitter at gt Underscore Hughes. And I was trying to make it look like I was super jacked or something, and it wasn't because I was in gym clothes and was dripping sweat just before I finished working and then jumped onto this podcast before having a chance to shower. And I'm very thankful that Grant cannot smell me as we record this. We're gonna talk about free agency, But first, Grant, how the hell are you doing? I'm good, but that's not important. Do the listeners, dear listeners, know that you are, in fact super jacked? Do you like good for your image? No? They don't. I think they know him a gym rat, but I phrased it. When people ask me like what that like, why, I'll say, like I'm a Jim Ratt and they'll be like, what does that mean? I say, if you realized, if you knew how much I worked out and then was concerned about my diet and then waited against how I look, you would think that working out is the stupidest thing and the biggest ways of your time. I feel like you should really lean into this, though, because maybe people will take your takes more seriously if they know that, like you could break them in half if they were to pop off on Twitter at you. I feel like you need to lean into your image. I need to get I need to actualize that image first, so that'll be the goal over the offseason. How are you so? During this free agency period, this was the first time we didn't preamble thirty minutes before recording because we decided that as confused baffled as we both thought right now after two days of free agency, it was best to just do this organically and try and reconcile and rationalize everything. But I'm just I don't know about you. I am floored, flabbergast and confuse the whole nine after two days. Yeah, it's it's been a weird one to me, And I mean that's super vague, but I guess Like, so the first thing that sort of occurred to me later on the second day of free agency now was just a question of, like how much does any of this change? Like how much does this matter in terms of if you're talking about the hierarchy of the league or who's a real contender and who's not. And there are lots of other prisons to view free agency through, and I'm sure we'll get to those, but just like the overarching question of like did a new did the new like power structure? Is there a new power structure? And like, I kind of't think that there is, because so the Lakers made a bunch of signings and everybody's making the all these guys are one hundred years old jokes. But I think the Lakers are probably better. And but but like they were maybe the title favorite going into the playoffs anyway last year, So like, I don't know, there that doesn't change a lot. I think the Heat are better having signed, you know, signed and traded for Kyle Lowry. They got PJ. Tucker, they kept Duncan Robinson, and a couple of minimum guys are coming in Deadman and Martieth Morris. It looks like, I don't know if the ladder is official, but I don't know if that puts them on like clear top tier championship putting. I think, you know, they're at least like a second tier maybe better than that. But then after that, it's kind of like a couple of teams sort of made some win. Now like we're cool trying to be the fourth seed at best moves, But yeah, like there's there hasn't Maybe we're spoiled with like you know, free agency just totally changes the landscape of the league. I don't know if we've got that this time. I'm wondering if that becomes a thing too, And that's probably a separate discussion to have, where it's just based on the amount of superstars who will force their way to teams pre agency and then sign with them based on the extensions that we're seeing and now sort of the use of the sign and trade with the Kyle Lowry for a you know, an older star who didn't get to go where he wanted to go apparently by the trade deadline. Does free agency not turn into that landscape shifting mechanism anymore like it has the past, you know, decade plus. I wonder too, you know, everybody, I think agrees that this is a weak class relative specifically to twenty twenty two is free agency classs, and in the past, you'd had a lot of teams making, you know, clearly making moves or not making moves with an eye toward what we want caps based with this particular class, and like that hasn't really worked out very well in the past. And I wonder if the fact that this in this free agency session haven't really been a lot of like one plus ones or balloon payments or anything that would position a team that is really gunning for whatever they want in the twenty twenty two class, which I think you and I agree, Like that's always a risky play. You know, you always say you can get caps based when you need it, or try to get it when you need it, don't set it up for like this is our four year plan and we're really dialed in on twenty twenty three. Because so that's another thing that just didn't really happen this year that has been kind of a constant for the last several so pre agency seems different. I don't know, maybe it's just because this class isn't any good, and that's that's just how teams are treating it. But but yeah, I don't know, you've kind of been working on this more than I have. In't termed the writing. I like, I just I just don't feel like, you know, if I were working these last couple of days, that there would have been a particular signing that I would have been like, well, this is the a storyline, like we have to cover this because it's changed so much. I think Kyle Lowry comes closest to that. The Bulls out of Sheer Intrigue might come close. I want to start with the Lakers though, because I actually haven't podcasted since the or didn't podcast specifically about the Russell Westbrook trade. I think what they kind of did there, They're minimum sidings were fine, like Kem Bay's Moore and Wayne Ellington, Trevor they get mellow now they bring back talent, Horton Tucker. They have shooters now I would say the only lights out shooters or Wayne Ellington and is that is that like it? I'm trying to think of wood like Trevor Reza can shoot it, but he's like up and down there, you know, I don't Malik Monk all right, he shot over forty percent three like that was a very interesting signing. But are you playing those guys in the playoffs? Wayne Allington? Probably not. And the thing was Wayne Allington too, and I mentioned this on Twitter when it happened. He's not just some chill in the corner stroke spot up three's guy. He wants to get his shots in motion, coming off handoffs and stuff. The Lakers, like Lebron James's teams typically just don't do that. Maybe they will now, but with Russell Westbrook specifically, I don't want to dismiss it. I think they've clearly raised their floor because the Lakers have been essentially a disaster in the non Lebron minutes since he's been there. Last year with Dennis Shrewder, their half court efficiency was in the twenty fifth percentile when he played without Lebron. I think Westbrook he is the most erratic, most inefficient jump shooter perhaps that we've ever seen. He can still anchor those lineups better than anyone else they've had in place. But I don't think that you've necessarily nudged your ceiling in the right direction with the pairing of Lebron Westbrook NAD because Westbrook has now shown in OKAC, in Houston and in Washington, like playing off the ball is not his thing, and I don't We can say that playing next to Lebron will make a click for him, but for me, it's more like, why wouldn't have clicked when he went to Houston with his really good friend James Harden, where the Rockets had to end up punting on center play entirely And there are just so many questions here. I think they rebounded nicely because I made a joke about their shooting, but they're propensity for skirting the use of their best spending tool or best talent acquisition tools on actual shooting continues to amaze me, because that's what you should just do for Lebron James is surround him with a ton of shooting, And I don't want to say, well, I will say I would have want the Buddy healed route, the Westbrook in a vacuum, the talent play, Yeah, sure, do it, but I'm just so curious to see how they function from here. I don't think that again. I think you can give Lebron more rest now, and maybe you could take more place, more stock in the minutes without him, But I don't really know what this does for them when we're talking about a playoff series, and like you said, they might have been the favorites that they really done nothing, maybe just resigned Dennis Shrewder, who, by the way, it remains on the open market as we record this, they could still just technically bring him back we're signed and trade him somewhere. So I don't I like their minimum signings more than I like their offseason's biggest move, which is just a weird place to wind up in. No, I agree with pretty much all of that. I think, like Russell Westbrook's defining characteristic is he is uncompromising, and I think it's it's not realistic to say that he's going to change the way he plays one because like that's just not how he operates. Is one of the things that makes him great is like he's just relentless in wanting to play a certain way and he's great at it. But also because like he just can't, like that's he's not capable of of being a different type of player. I agree that it raises their regular season four and I would go even farther. I think, like, well, the counterpoint, I would go even farther on the counterpoint and say that the Lakers' entire goal needs to be and is how do we win a title? Which this requires being built to win playoff games, and Russell Westbrook, it has been demonstrated, and every team does this. You scheme against guys that can't shoot, and that compromise spacing. And if the Lakers insist on playing centers, you know, and Anthony Davis of the four, maybe they'll change that, but they're not going to have spacing. And Westbrook's gonna get ignored. It's gonna it's gonna hurt them in the playoffs. I think I don't feel like that's too harsh of a thing to say. Westbrook is is a great player at what he does, but in playoff setting, if you have an obvious weakness, and as you said, there has never been a worse high volume of three point shooter than Russell Westbrook, Like that's a weakness. So I don't think he acted. I think he might actively hurt their chances at winning a title. And I don't know that. And he helps it like it's it's a it's a it's a balancing act, like he helps in that Maybe Lebron stays healthier, Davis stays healthier. Some of these older guys stay health Just whatever he's he's gonna eat a bunch of innings in theory, although physically he's breaking down a lot. Quit getting to the room last year. That's a big deal. But yeah, I think they sort of they did well to address needs with you know, the very limited avenues to add players that they had. I don't know that that's enough to offset of a point guard that can't shoot, that's going to play probably every meaningful minute of their playoff room. So yeah, I don't know. I think I mean, I kind of think we might have the Nets to blame for this, because because they sort of like succeeded in just throwing together top end names and talent that seemed to overlap, and Harden was sort of a little like Westbrook and like can he change the way he plays? The answer was guests. But I think the Nets are the exception, and if you just start throwing superstars together, regardless of fit or you know, how they affect your ultimate specific goal of winning a title, I think it could. It's not the best idea that the Nets are the exception and not the rule and even the nets didn't. I mean, you know they were injured, but they fell short too. And just to drive that point home, and this is it's not just a Westbrook problem, but sixty one players averaged at least five pull up jumpers per game last year. Westbrooks affective field goal percentage among that sixty one player group ranked fifty seventh, and Anthony Davis is ranked fifty eighth. So that's that's a real problem. I have to confront that. Said. I don't want to ship on everything they've did. We both liked their minimum signings. Whose was your favorite of just all the minimum guys that they got. I think, well, this is weird. Like I think Ellington makes the most sense of because, like God, they need shooting and that's what Wayne Ellington does. But I also kind of like Dwight Howard coming back because he's he's been in a per minute small role, like really good the last couple of years. He fouls too much and he doesn't obviously doesn't space or anything, but he's an effective defender. I think if you're counting on Marcus Ol to eat a lot of minutes so Davis doesn't have to play center, like we're we the soul might be done now, Like I love Marcus Ol, but like I just don't know that he's gonna anchor your defense anymore. I think he just can be kind of played off the floor. Howard's got more brown and bounced. He might matter. They're all at least fine, like Baysmore's fine. I mean he can be a the end of the rotation guy Areza. I guess. I mean he's I think is the reason thirty seven. Yeah, I think, well it's not on a minimum, but I think Kendrick Nunn two for ten million like that, I mean he might, he might play major minutes. And just being someone that you know, theoretically can run around for a while without without keeling over, I think that's going to be a factor. He Kendrick Dunn does intrigue me, but because he also prefers to operate with the ball in his hands to fit there as curious. I like the Monk signing for that reason. I'm just I'm also curious to see how much they will lean on him. I think I like the mellow addition because you're going to play him, and he shot the ball wall from three really well in Portland, they let him indulge his inner mellowness a lot in those possessions. I'm sure on some possessions, Excuse me, I'm sure the Lakers will do the same. But I think it infers a commitment to playing Anthony Davis the five more in the regular season, and we've always shown they've always been willing to do that in the playoffs. And yeah, maybe it's not as important to do that during the regular season. I would argue with the addition of Russell Westbrook, it does become really important to do it during the regular season now, and you don't sign it Carmelo Anthony to play him at like to three right now. And so maybe it's a situation where it's Davis, Mellow and Lebron are just your front line, which is like anthy Davis is still the center in that instance, And just based off how Mellow has shown that, what do he get in Portland? I know he was a liability at points. I know he's still divisive. I'm not saying he's clearly going to be bad on defense and they're gonna be shots. He takes the jab steps to the post ups that you don't want to see it. There are gonna be moments where it's like, oh, okay, But I think he's done well in a complimentary capacity over the past two years, and I think just what that can do for some of the Lakers lineups in terms of nudging Davis to the five, I like at least what that signals. But maybe I'm misreading that situation completely wrong. Well, I think for a team that has had a hard time scoring in the half court, I think Mellow and Monk and None are all guys that, like they're not efficient offensive players, but like you can throw it to any of them and say gets makes something. You know, get me like a a forty two percent shot, you know, as the shot fox winding down, we have nothing going, Like there's there's value in that, especially in the playoffs, and like sometimes that's the best you're going to do. So yeah, I think all those guys the Lakers. I don't know if it's who won the offseason or not, or if we even care, but or at least free agency because the Westward thing I don't like, but the Lakers had as good A good a free agency is really anybody which team? Since I picked the Lakers to start off which team are you most fascinated by based off what's happened in free agency so far. I think it's probably the Bulls. I mean, you alluded to it, and I think I kind of had a macro thought about them. And this might just be like trying to be contrarian, but I feel like we judge. So let's just take the derosin signing or sign and trade. So he's gonna make eighty five million over three years. Everybody that covers the league fairly closely and cares about the numbers knows that, like, his teams are always worse when he plays. He's a bad defender, he doesn't space the floor, he's you know, an empty calories score even though he gets to the line, like he's just not in. He's not well thought of among people that care about the numbers and or you know, more than just like, oh, that was a suite like midpost move, which he can do. And they also got Lonzo Vault and they signed Alex Gruzzo. So the Bulls are better or they're more talented, their offense should be better. But essentially, like these are all moves that you make, with possibly the exception of ball that just broadcasts, like we are not trying to win at a high level, like we just you cannot, you cannot make these moves and say, this is a team, we're trying to build a championship. And you could take that back to the Buchevitch trade last year, like that's not a move you make trading two firsts and some salary killer for a guy that just you know, his team's top out at the eighth seed. That's what happens. But I think, like, was there a realistic move that the Bulls could have made that would have put them in championship contention? Note like, of course not so. And I think that would be true for as long as you honest is in Milwaukee and as long as the Nets are good and as long as the Lakers are good, Like there was no paths of the Bulls being a title contender for like the next five years conservatively. So they're going to be better and more entertaining and sell more tickets and win more games. And so I'm just trying to, like Devil's advocate my way into the Bulls off season not being horrible while acknowledging that like dollar for dollar, DeRozan is probably one of the worst signings. I think the Cavs might have made the worst one of free agency. So I don't know it's on free agency. I'll get to that Cavs one in a second. But the Bulls, so I think you're being a little hard because I liked the Caruso Alonzo signings on their face. Maybe the Crusoe deal in that final year looks a little bit iffy, but I think a Lonzo ball is a nice fit next to Levigne and Vuci, and he's young enough to wear. If you're bad, it's not that big of a concern. I think this might speak to the overarching problem of free agency this year, is that the market of available, gettable talent did not meet the demand, and teams did not adjust their timelines. According to the Bulls, clearly wanted to win now, and they still operated like that. The DeRozan moves where they kind of lost me. I could see a path to them being good next year, but I don't know what that means. And now you owe that twenty twenty three pick to the Magic I believe it's top ten protected, And then now as it's the twenty twenty five pick, I think it's top ten protected to the Spurs, and then protected top eight two years after that, in addition to the Lakers twenty twenty two second rounder and your own twenty twenty five second rounder. So you've mortgaged like parts of your future. And there are two ways to look at this. They're finally acting like a big market team where it's hey, we're going to operate with some level of competency on the court, and maybe that will attract other players to come. And they still have Kobe White, they still have Patrick Williams. These deals that they signed are not with the exception of DeRozan or not unmovable. Maybe if someone wants to come, they can flip for another star. They are taking a risk, though zach Lavine seems happy with the moves. He tweeted the purple devil eye emoji whatever you call that, so he seems happy. But now you've punted on a renegotiation and extension with him. You get to low for him the most money and free agency. But now he's reaching free agency and if this year goes belly up, that's it could really come back to bite you. So I applaud the aggression, but the market just didn't justify it, and I think what they did within the confines of that market was actually really good, verging on no brainer activity until you got to that de Rosen deal, because you know you already made the Boots trade. I wouldn't have made it. I said that Bulls fans killed me. I know that Zach Lavine missed time the health and safety protocols after that, But to give up those two first round picks. I still believe in Wendell Carter Junior, but you know you're not gonna cry over him. You're not gonna cry over out of port right. I get it. But to give up those two first round picks and then miss the play in tournament, that's disastrous to me. But I still don't hate they're Also the Rosen move is what makes me go okay wow, And I don't know how this fits. Then. I liked the Rosen with Lavigne offensively. I liked the Rosen with Lonzo offensively. All those three guys together throw roots in there. You're asking a lot all of a sudden of Lonzo and Patrick Williams on defense, And is what is their big name rotation right now? After trading Thaddy is young, They haven't resigned Lowry market In. I would assume, and here's so I want to throw this questions to you. I just assumed Lowry Marketing would be involved in that side and trade if it happened. The fact that he wasn't. Do you think that shows san Antonio preferred the draft equity or that Chicago wants to keep marketing. They kind of have to keep him now, But I'm wondering if that was their prerogative going into those talks. That's a good question. I feel like all along I sort of thought that marketing would end up with the Spurs. I can remember writing stuff predicting that they would make him an offer. Shoot, But yeah, no, I think I think it's probably the Spurs just preferred the package they got and didn't want I guess, didn't want anything to do with marketing. I want to go back to a couple of derosen things though, because like I am, I'm with you, like I'm up two minds about it. The Derosin thing, so two problems. I actually don't think he's a good fit with Lavine because you're gonna have two wings that can't guard anybody. And I think if what you're you can say Lavine can play off the ball because he's a great shooter, But I don't think you should take the ball out of his hands if you have a choice between him and De Rosen, and Derozen doesn't space before at all, So I don't I don't like that fit. I think I think they overlap in ways that might make it harder for Leavine to succeed. The other thing is just the money, Like I'm sure this take is out there and it's justifiable. Who was gonna who were the Bulls beating with this three for eighty five? I'm assuming it was just the Spurs where they were like, well, we're just gonna keep de rozen and it was sort of but that type of thing where maybe the Rosen and then worked in tandem to just drive up the Bulls offer, both monetarily and looking at the assets. I but I'm with you, I don't know what I'm looking at that, And I'm going to mention this team like who is giving Derrick Rose three years and forty three million dollars? I don't know it's Tom Tibodau gonna get hired by another team during three see because the Mad Team might do it but I can't. No, Yeah, I don't know the Bulls. I would would the Bulls have been on your shortlist of the like interesting or intriguing teams in free agency because I just think, I mean, they're They're fascinating as hell now if they weren't before. And so I think the Rosen and Lavine can work offensively. Just find the Rosen's Chicago's best passer now. And so maybe that's what he's turned into. A really good point guard like point wing you're gonna I'm assuming he's gonna play a lot of power forward. He started doing that in San Antonio, so maybe that opens up different like you know, machinations to hide him. I don't know. I would expect them to be pretty bad defensively, but they could have a top ten offense. I don't. I don't hate their off season, but I went from embracing it to being iffy on it after the Rosen deals. Is pretty much where I sit, and we kind of have to see where the pieces lie. But like their big man rotation is now shallower, I think you can argue that Thaddie is Young was a much better fit for this team based off their knees than bringing back lowry marketing. That being said, the defense last year with Rooch and Young on the floor were still they gave up more than one hundred and fifteen points per one hundred possessions, So it wasn't great and so maybe you're looking at that. But even still Young as a five option in certain lineups from Boots is sitting. It just felt like it made more sense. You have to see how it all comes together. But they're taking a lot, They're they're taking on a lot of risk here, and I'm just not sure that the payoff is going to be worth it. Where I still think with Crusoe and Lavine and with that first pick in the Boots trade already conveying, it was sort of like, okay, we're in between mode, but now you firmly committed to win now. Without I would argue a ceiling that even includes a top four finish in the East, I would be look, if you're going to finish ahead of Miami, Brooklyn. I think Philly's still there. There's weird shit afoot at the moment. Danny Green still hasn't resigned, and what's going on Ben Simmons. But Milwaukee, Philly, Miami Brooklyn. Like, those are three teams, I'd probably say you're still better than Chicago. Then you're getting but you get into a lot of ifs, but there are enough ifs where it's like, not all those are gonna break right for the For the Bulls, are they better than the Knicks? You could probably say majority, maybe the Hawks you mentioned them? What about the Celtics haven't done much? But it's okay to like the Celtics from my perspective better than the Bulls right now. The Pacers just have a bunch of really good, above replacement level players, many of whom don't fit together, but maybe they tie it all together in some way. So this the de Rosa move was curious. The overarching play of going all in I think was more justifiable before that move, just because they've acted like such a penny pinching non glamor market franchise or non flagship market franchise, whatever you wanna call it, for too long and so I like the idea here, but it's once again, with the Foots trade, I feel like they went a step too far and the assets they gave up, and now with this, I'm like, you went one investment too far. This offseason, and like, does the Rosen deal look like? What if it was? Like, it couldn't have been because it was a sign in trades. It has to be at least three years in length. But if it was a two plus one and it's a team option on the third year, then okay. But I think it's fully guaranteed from what I'm seeing. So they're fascinating as hell, but I don't. I went from again almost loving their offseason to kind of what the fuck mode? What do you think of the other side of the Lonzo equation, which is the world? Well up? So I think I'm going to be the Debbi downer on this podcast because my two teams that I have circled right now is fascinating or for the wrong reasons. New Orleans is one of them. So let's look at this kind of in some they moved back what was it, seven spots in the drafts or ten spots in them? It was seven spots in the draft, and then gave up the Lakers twenty twenty two first rounder, which whatever, but they also gave up Lonzo Ball and in return they got rid of the Steven Adams and Eric Blezzo money, So that they could make a run at Kyle Lowry. That was that was what they did. And they didn't get Kyle Lowry. They got Thomas Aderanski, Garrett Temple and a second round pick, and like, then they give up a lottery protected first for DeVante Graham, who I like and I think he's it was off the dribble three kind of waned last year, but he can shoot three ball. He's proven that over the past two years. And if he even returns because he wasn't too healthy last year and the dynamics of the roster were different in Charlotte, if he returns to what he was doing in twenty nineteen twenty twenty, where he was authentically one of the most valuable offensive players in the league. Given how importantly was it Charlotte, that's huge for them on four or was it four and forty seven or whatever it was. But like the asset the opportunity costs here, I don't and like, maybe you could look at it as, oh, well, the Pelicans aren't sending out their first round pick next year because they're gonna be a lottery team. That's not the end goal to be a lottery team. Against that you keep your first round pick in the DeVante Graham sign and trade just a I don't you can appreciate the aggression level with which they dumped salary, but they were It was another instance of them on doing mistakes from last offseason, like with stan Van Gundy apparently, and definitely one of two ways. You could give them kudos for not doubling down on it and trying to insist they were right. But at the same time, it's like, this is so confusing to me, and I'm trying to wait to give a more profound take on him until the off season's over. But what is the other move? Now? You just like, maybe you didn't want to pay Lonzo of all that money, I get it, but that was the return that you got from Chicago. I'm just so confused. And why did you have to give up a protective first rounder for DeVante Graham? He was coming off a down year. I'm just I am. I'm so confused by their off season and there are so many moving parts and I don't want to get to a nuanced into it because whenever we talk Pelicans on this podcast, the numbers just implode. I love the Pelicans, I love every team, but their off season. To me, they've got to be the biggest loser in the entire league right now. And I'm not saying Zion Williamson is gonna ask her out. He's not, Like no one in his position is not signing that second deal when it's time for him to do it. I'm not worried about that. I'm just like, why shed that? If shed that money, like when you're sure that you need it. I'm a big like you said, I'm a big propone to figure out the cap space equation when you need it and if you weren't going to use that, and it didn't have to be Kyle Lowry, but on someone else, It's just like, I don't I don't know you could if they even would have kept Alonzo Ball and said, you know what, we did this so we could pay both Lonzo Ball and Josh Hart and not worry about the tax at all, that I even would have been just a little bit more on board with. I also don't understand why they're so down on Alonzo Ball. I know a lot of Pelicans fans, bloggers, podcasters. I try and follow them for their point of view. Then they're making sense. A Lonzo might be a touch overrated defensively, like he's fine, but he's not. He's not a one on one stopper. He's he's portable, which I think is valuable, and he doesn't. He can't be your point of attack offensive guy. He can if you're running the floor, he will find people in transition. He's turning too, I think, a really good shooter, but he doesn't get to the rim. He's not even a threat to like shoot on drives or whatever, or efficient when he's doing so. I get being down on him, but like that was the return, I'm just I don't under you have to believe that. Okay, if they let him go for that, there wasn't much more out there. You have to assume they did their due diligence and then just keep him. I don't like was four and eighty five that disastrous of a deal from a team perspective? Well, Serri apparently think so. My Apple watch is going off, But I just I'm so. I think they so far they have royally fucked up the offseason for them. And I liked DeVante Graham, but the path by which they've gotten here, it's just nonsensical to me. To me, it feels like I think the Zion thing, I agree, it would be totally unprecedented if he were to really start leveraging his way out. Now, I don't think that's going to happen. I do still think that a lot of what they've been doing has been motivated by a fear of that and also by David Griffin, just like I need to keep my job, I need to like take some swings. The failure that really seems obvious to me, not having any like intel on this at all, obviously, but like if they thought so, there was a scenario I think, like you said, where all right, the trade that they made involving Valance unists. They got the best player in the trade. That's cool. They saved some money and there was a pathway there for a minute where they can keep Lonzo, keep Josh Hart, and go out and sign Kyle Lowry. That was possible. But if they thought they were going to get Kyle Lowry when clearly the Heat had this like buttoned up and done before free agency ever started, they were mistaken and they were foolish to think that because there were several teams that were going to be able to make Lowry and offer in a similar range, and there's no scenario where he was going to pick New Orleans at the end of his career when he's trying to compete at a high level. I think the Miami thing was done forever, and so it was totally unrealistic to be making moves with an eye towards signing Kyle Lowry, especially when you're a team in the Pelicans position. And the other thing I think it seemed likely to me is that Lonzo just kind of eric gordoned them and said, do not match an offer sheet, like I don't want to come back. Here's that to me seems more plausible than the Pelicans saying four for eighty five is too much, because it's not too much. I think. I think there's a very likely scenario where a Lonzo did not want to stay and the Kyle Lowry thing was just a total watch job where maybe the Pelicans knew that they weren't whatever, and now they're in this position where Graham might be if gam like you said, Graham might be one of the best dollar for dollar signings of this offseason. It's very possible based floor and run some pick and hole, pick and pop whatever. But I think the Pelicans are maybe slightly better and we can leave after this because I get it, nobody cares, but they're maybe slightly better. But man like, if they thought that they had a path to do what it seemed like they could with Lowry and Lonzo and stuff like that was just that that didn't ever, that didn't seem like it was gonna happen. And so now I just I don't know what they do. I don't know how they sell this as like, this is the big offseason. We had to make improvements, we had to get better, and they just they just didn't. I mean, they didn't make like meaningful changes. Yeah, and I think if you look at everything I did individually, none of it's just super egregious. Maybe even a Lonzo thing because you look at the number and you're like, hey, Thomas Dranski can still be fine. But just everything in some because I don't even mind if you gave up the protected first round pick for DeVante Graham, fine, you want to operate like you're doing it, to operate as an over the cap team, maybe to keep Josh hartfold the Devonte Grand thing into a bigger deal if it's with the Memphis trade. I get everything. The payoff needed to be bigger after all this series of events than I think that they they got to Who's another team that is fascinating you? Oh, that's good? Fascinating to you? I mean the other big one. I guess we should talk about Miami. I don't know how fascinated I am. I think Lowry makes them better. I don't know. I guess I'm more fascinated with, like how much this matters because I'm trying to stretch, like we, like I said at the beginning, to sort of I don't know, convince myself that free agency has meaningfully changed the landscape. I think Lowry makes them really interesting, and like, now this team is like, how has there been a tougher team than the Heat are gonna be. They can annoy the hell out of everybody to play PJ. Tucker, Lowry Butler, even Marky Borris. They're gonna be just brutal, and so yeah, I like what the Heat did? I actually, if I have any reservations, it's about Tucker because everybody seemed to be like, oh, look at this defensive played on Kevin Durant in the playoffs and and always just the missing piece, and yeah, like he contributed to a title winner, but like the planets have to align for him to get a three point shot off. So this like PJ. Tucker stretches the floor, thing is over. Like he just you can't get him up at volume. I think defensively, he's not overrated. He's gonna be a year older. Two for fifteen is fine. I don't know that he's actually going to play a significant role on if this Heat team gets back to the finals, And I could you could convince me that Marky Morris will actually like play more finals minutes at the four than Tucker will. Five for ninety for Duncan Robinson, I I'm okay with that. Shooting matters, and like he can totally transform an offense just by like being standing on the court or running around in a million miles an hour, which is more accurate for him. Ninety and five got me a little bit though. I'm not a problem with it, but I thought it was gonna be like four and seventy or something like that. Yeah, that's a big number when there weren't a lot of teams that could throw that kind of for sure, But I like, if you're gonna pay for that, I keep wanting to get back to the Cavs and Jared Allen. If you're gonna pay almost one hundred million dollars for five years or someone, do it on a shooter and not a non stretch center that is like maybe the fifteenth best player in his position. That's all I'll say. We're not we are going to follow up with that after this, but yeah, Miami's clearly intriguing for obvious reasons. I don't have a problem with the PJ. Tucker deal. There's it's two years, it's the player option, but they are their window is just I know bam Adebayo was young, but it is condensed now. The Jimmy Butler extension takes him through his age thirty six season, I believe, Yeah, like fifty seven million dollars that year or something. Yeah, So that's just it's a concern. You pay for Jimmy Butler because he's Jimmy Butler. But it's just interesting how teams kind of through like the age of the player out the window of this offseason. When you just look at Conley and I know Chris Paul, there's the partial guarantee in year three and the stuff with your four obviously, still there's some trepidation here because the Miami Heat went to a great deal of trouble too. I'm not sure elevate themselves into the first tier or even let's even say the let's say the Nets are in the tier all their own in the East, which I think is fair to say. I'm not even sure if you're building the next tier. Are you putting Miami in the Milwaukee I guess Philly tier. Are you putting them in the same tier as Milwaukee is the question? And look based off PJ. Tucker's Instagram post, the Bucks went into petty pinching mode around the tax, which is fucking inexcusable. I don't care that you just want a title. You didn't build up any goodwill as the front office, I see fans like defending the decision. No, no, you have the ability to keep him. Don't protect a billionaire owner pockets. It's just you're tight window with Jannis is now and just because he signed, just because you want a title, I'm not here for this, Like, look at all we accomplished and we've gotten into I'll say arguments and tips, but really just funny banter about this with the Warriors. You have a transcendent superstar. You have a legitimate big three. That was the other thing people saying that the Bucks were able to do without a big three. Let's have this credit. How good Drew Holiday and Chris Middleton are day. P J. Tucker was important because of what he brought. Defensively, he was a complete non factor on offense. His corver three point shooting was sub thirty two percent in the playoffs. There were moments where I thought he wasn't providing enough defense to be on the court. Offensively, I get it, you didn't have avenues to improve your team. Getting George hillback is fine, but and you kept Bobby Portis, which is great, but that's not a license to be like by p J Tucker. And what was the money? You weren't willing to match what he got or even if it was two and twenty. That is it's inexcusable, it's disgusting, it's grotesque, and it's just a reminder that stop caping for the billionaire team governors here. Just stop like it's I don't care, like they even counted it, like at the the championship parade where it was just like we brought in the best coach and spent on this roster. You did it for one fucking season, Like, you spent that money for one season, and you want a title that you probably, if we want to play this card, wouldn't have won if Kevin Durant had normal human sized feet. So like, let's just stop. You are not some higher authority on building a championship contender now, And I just feel for fans and I feel for the Bucks players who maybe they're still riding that championship high. Do not let Milwaukee skate by on this, because it seems like this was not a matter of PJ. Tucker wanted to go to Miami. It was a matter of Milwaukee wouldn't pony up to someone who unlocked I think certain important combinations with Jannis at the five, and I think you can or as your primary big whatever you want to call it. I think there's a world in which next season, at least PJ. Tucker is more important in your postseason rotation than Bobby Portis. I genuinely think that that's all. That's a whole separate issue. But anyway, I like what Miami did. Would you put them on the same level as Milwaukee though, well, so here they made the fine, you know, they were in the finals and took two games from the Lakers, and it was the bubble and so everything was different. And who knows. But if if you're of the opinion that like there, they could be that good. And let's say hypothetically that Bam gets a little better and Tyler Hero recovers from the sophomore slump and is not necessarily a rookie in the playoffs, Tyler Hero, but like a quality like third guard at least. I think there's it's possible that they are in that tier. But that's two years ago now, and last year they weren't anything close to that. And they've got several players just as they've got guys coming up that are like Lowry could be way worse, Like it could Lowry, you know, declined a little bit last year, Butler had the one of the maybe the best year of his career. I don't know if you want to bank on that trajectory continuing as he gets deeper in his I think there's I'm just I'm I'm equivocating, but I think a chance that the Heat are in that top tier, like I wouldn't shock me. If they represented the East in the final, It's like it would be a surprise, but it wouldn't be like how did they do this? They'd be like, no, they just made it back after making it in twenty nineteen, Like that's not the craziest thing in the world. All the nets are gonna get hurt again anyway, right or whatever. But like, I think I don't think that there was They didn't make any would you say that the Heat had any like even questionable like or like just let alone, like this is a bad move that they made this offseason. No, they're the epitome of figure out how to get players when they actually want to, Like that's my whole stance, And look they haven't. They didn't empty they emptied their cap space clip. But like if Tyler Hero goes boom and now they have like other like the PJ. Tucker salary, I wouldn't suggest moving him like the Duncan Robinson salary once he's eligible to move. I'm not saying, look to trade these players, like you have movable salaries and it's gonna get easier for you to trade future first round picks at some point, just based on the protections that you have on what is it the twenty twenty three one that they owed to Oklahoma City. I'm all over the place right now, so I'll look up that just to confirm it. So like they could in theory if Tyler Hero plays better. No, they're not going to add Bradley Beal to this team. I don't think they would anyway. I mean if he has out at the trade deadline, I don't think Hero and Robinson and you know, a future pick or two does it. But like there are still avenues for them to improve this team on the trade market. They are, however, hard caps, so like that get after the Lowry sign and trades like that's definitely something too that gets confusing anyway, it's a twenty twenty three first round picked Oklahoma City that really just you screwed up their their pick commitments and they're just they've decided that second round picks don't exist in their book essentially, which I respect it, so I don't there's no questionable move. I would have done everything that they did giving Lowry. I think it's three years and eighty seven is what it amounts to, unless there's other moving parts that sign and trade that I didn't factor in just based on the calculations of what they could give him. You could argue that that's a little bit if he but he didn't play a good chunk of last year and he like didn't have the wear and tear on him before he really entered his prime, just because he bounced all over the league and people weren't really sure what he was. Maybe that age is fine. If you get two years of Kyle Lowry being Kyle Lowry, of this three year deal, it's one dred percent worth it and so and because entering the third year there's no immovable contract. We have seen it time and time again, there's no such thing. You get two good years out of Lowry. The last year is easier to move and get off of than the Heat have proven they could rejigger. I think they I think they clearly are one of the winners of this offseason. I'm just curious see how much it actually elevates they're sailing, because some look they're spacing could still be wonky. Jimmy Butler's decided he's not shooting threes. Bam mid range game. BAM's mid range game helps, but like he needs to step beyond the three point line of Tucker's not being higher volume and efficient from the corners, it gets a little wonky. But they have I keep coming back to you, they have a swing piece that teams in their positions really normally don't have in Tyler Hero. They actually probably need him to be their third guard now, because you are looking at their rotation and it's like, Okay, you have Jimmy Butler and you have h Kyle Lowry, who are really going to give you playmaking and scoring from the point of attack. That's kind of hit though, unless I'm missing somebody on their depth chart right now, So then you do need Tyler Hero a step u who would you say, the mighty Max Strews. Yeah, that's gay Vincent. Don't forget about him either, And like bad can facilitate from the elbows and lead fast breaks, we know that. But they need Tyler Hero to be and they dabbled with him at point guard this year, So I like what they've done. I just question I wouldn't undo anything that they've done. I think this might be a situation that where we need to take a step back and be like, they're not suddenly the second best team in the Eastern Conference. Are you ready to talk about? My next team is the New York Knicks. I was going to ask you what you thought about the Knicks, because you got a little more skin in the game on that you're wearing a Knicks You're wearing a skin tight Knicks shirt right now. That's just to intimidate you, to make it look like I haven't worked out. Look here, I don't think any Everything they did, nothing is terrible. Four and seventy eight for Evan four eight caught me off guard. The third years, the fourth years using me the team option. That's fine. I believe Burke's and Noel the final two. The last year on each of those deals is also non guaranteed. I haven't seen anything on the row stuff. I wouldn't have given out that Rose contract. I think it's bad on its face for someone who hasn't proven that he can stay healthy. I know he merged an important cog in their offensive machine last year, but if it's the year twenty twenty one and Derek Rose is that mission critical to your offense, it's probably time to rethink the people that are mission critical to your offense. Would be my official stance. What I have an issue with And the other thing I want to say is people, when I tweeted about this, they came at me and said, none of these deals are approvable. That's great, That's not the goal of free agency. Nor am I saying that they could have gotten better players, because I think it's quite clear that Miami wasn't gonna let Uncan Robinson walk if they even five and ninety. Kyle Lowry wasn't considering the Knicks, Mike Conley wasn't considering the Knicks. It's just they didn't do anything this offseason that shows me they have a long term vision intact, and that was what I think they had received a lot of credit for leading into this year. Yes, there's still the development of a Manuel Quickly and Obi Toppin and RJ. Barrett, But had they even done anything like taken an actual swing on Draft night, drafted Keyan Johnson a project to show that, hey, we're still married to developing prospects long term. And I know there are people that Likeduced McBride. I know there are people that like Quentin Grimes. That's fine. They didn't take a swing, in my book, and I think at minimum that's what they should have done this offseason. They didn't do it in free agency. They focused predominantly on talent retention. Evan Fournier's deal might age okay because he's very plug and play. He's probably overrated as this secondary playmaker, but I think he might be underrated as someone who can pull up threes and just threes in general. They didn't. But again, it's the It feels like they don't have a central vision, and I understand they need to be able to pivot, but this is not some grander plan to have contracts that you can move into Damian Millard of Bradley Beal trade because no one is looking at Alec Burke's or Norland's Noel or Evan fourney or Derek Roses. Oh, that short term salary fodder that we could just gobble up. It makes it super easy. And I'm not even saying that they needed to conserve cap space, because we just talked about how free agency might just not be even for bigger markets as attractive of a rebuilding mechanism as it once was. It might more so be let's be competent and a player or two will eventually demand a trade to us and the Knicks maybe that's what they're trying to do. But they're not, like they don't have these these tons of high end assets. They have future picks galore. That's fine, But the Charlotte this is where like this is dating back to my Draft Night impressions on them, people were arguing that the lure of the allure of the Charlotte twenty twenty two pick does more for your trade prospects than selecting anyone at number nineteen would have. And no, but maybe, but like it's you're not getting a lottery pick. The best pick you're getting is fifteen. At any point in over the years is protected. I want I wanted to see them take a swing then, because the whole point of this is that there might not be a star that comes there, and if there is, if Damian the lord estra out because you don't have the cornerstone type player to trade the Blazers. I don't think it's maybe RJ. Barrett's that player, but I think now you're entering year three, sellers become inherently lower on those guys because of their next contract. It's like, so you have topping you have quickly, you have grimes like those aren't moving that type of needle, and you're not using these if you think Fourna or Rows or Burkes or Noell. And I want to make it clear, I would have if the third year I'm both Noel and Burke signings they're non guaranteed, I would sign them to those contracts. Again, Mitchell Robinson's cheap enough to where him and Noel combined to make under fifteen million next year, and so you have one year, then you're maybe overpaying for the center position if you keep Robinson. Burks was just really important to their offense in the fourth quarters last year and put up some ridiculous shot making. I don't even again, I'm not even mad about the Fourna deal. The Rows one is the one that I think is just the worst by far. They needed to take a bigger swing, and I think it was easier to do that in the draft, and I know it. Maybe I'm oversimplifying up by saying had they taken even Keyan Johnson, which I think was something everyone the front office wasn't going to do. But had they done something like that, or even in free agency, like just focused on getting going younger to some regard, I would have respected that more than the talent retention plus evan four night thing. It feels like they're sort of wandering in the middle now. And I don't think them trying to upkeep last year's performance made the most sense without also making in tandem some type of swing somewhere, and they didn't do that. I want to make that clear. And I don't think last year was a fluke from Julius Randall. I tend to think it was more real than not didtover RJ. Barrett's development didtover the flashes top and showed towards the end of the year. But there's a very real pathway where the knicks are better and maybe eighth or ninth in the east just because the way the structure is, and that's in the grand scheme. Fine, but when you've invested in kind of not doing that, it becomes a problem to me. So nothing they did was gross or egregious on its face, but the absence of something to plan around your long term, whether it was taking a bigger swing in the draft, we're doing something more inspirational in free agency, that's why not use some of your cap space. There was unwanted money out there. We saw it with Derrick favors and with the jet like something even like that. So that's where I landed up on them. I am thoroughly uninspired discouraged by their offseason. I know a lot of Knicks fans disagree. It's just I never would have done the Derrick Rose deal. That's the one that I'll be like. I think it's going to come back to bite them probably or just not look great. But overall, I think you can be like, oh, I don't hate anything they did. If you want this team to act like a normal team, it's time to start incrementally moving the bar up beyond. We just want them to act like they don't suck. And I don't think this front office sucks. But again, I just think this offseason was thoroughly, totally, unequivocally uninspiring. That is my rant. I apologize I had. I had spittle flying on of my mouth as I was saying that I love it. Can we take a second to appreciate the irony of saying the Knicks did not take enough aggressive big swings in their transaction, like, because that's you know, them making foolish decisions you go back twenty years or going all in too soon or you know, signing this veteran to to deal that's too much, the Parmelo Anthony, all this, this, that and the other, like and now it's like they were too conservative or they didn't go for it, Like I agree with you, but it's kind of wild that Like that's the stance now on the Knicks, which is that like they didn't go for it, which was like the whole reason they've one of the main reasons they've been kind of irrelevant and bad is that they go for it too often and they go for the wrong thing. So that's fun. But so if you what the surprise me most is, you know, they were one of just a very small number of teams that had significant cap space and then they and the Spurs really had the most spending power to do something with. Were you surprised that, at least as far as the reporting went, that they were not factors in any of the big restrict creators, Like would you this is maybe a rhetorical thing, but like, wouldn't you feel better if they had thrown like a four year ninety five one hundred at Lonzo instead of Derrick Rose and Fournier, Like how would you feel or Jean Collins, Like, can we just beat the market on John Collins? Not an ideal fit on this roster obviously, but like, what would it have been better if they had just said effort, Like we're getting this mid twenties guy, young early to mid twenties guy for whatever it takes. We're gonna pay twenty percent above you know what anybody else is willing to do. Would that have made you feel better about it? I was a big opponent of the lines up Alas signing because I think you need the actual floor general to pair with him for it to make sense, which they didn't have. And I wouldn't have Hell, let's say him and Derrick Rose instead of having you know, two of four yer no Welber. I wouldn't have liked that, And so I'm not trying to be hypocritical here, but that might have at least shown, Okay, well they were taking bigger swing on this youngster. Or had you then gone, they still could if there were other maneuvers to go. Okay, if we had a Lonzo who's kind of fulfilling the Evan Fournier role at this point, he's not hitting the same off the dribble jumpers, but we'll stretch the floor and he's gonna give you more defensively. Then go out and spend on one of the other point guard. Reggie Jackson's still floating around on the market. I didn't want to see Denis Shorter within ten feet of this team, and so I'm trying to be realistic about the free agent market. But just in combination with the draft and what they did in free agency, that's what I think is so uninspiring about it. And what was you know, what was the market for Derrick Rose that the third year had to be in there and so, and just what was the market for Evan Fournet that he had the leverage to get more than two guaranteed years out of there? There was the report about him haggling over that fourth year, and it's like, what was a leverage? Because the Celtics were clearly all about twenty and twenty two if they cared about flexibility. They were never in on Evan Fournier because he wasn't signing a one plus one with them, And I just want to know what was the market out there for that. Largely I could look at every signing move the Knicks made this offseason and there's a logic behind it, but I can't tether it together. And so I viewed this offseason as a big ass met from them, And yes, I think if you're asked me, would I have preferred them to have given Lonzo that contract versus let's say signing Burkes and Rows. Maybe, but I'm just if you know, like I would rather have suffered the downgrade on at the point guard position than given Rose this deal if i'm them, because let's not try and be the seven or eight seed necessarily next year. Then so I'm again it's tough because I'm sure there were limited options of bulls them based on how free agency unfolded, but there were teams that got creative with what they did. And I'm not saying they even should have given the Rosen that money. There are a lot of people that wanted him In New York. You could have had Evan Fournier. It took They went one too far for me with the Derek Rose signing, and just the lack of ingenuity on Draft night to me was just it was Matt And that's how I view their off season overall. So maybe it's this works out for them somehow, But I don't know what the best case scenario with them is. I'm not saying they need to have a better record, even a higher season the East, but what are they working towards right now? That's my thing is what are they working towards? And I can't necessarily identify that beyond a shadow of a dat. Yeah, it feels a little bullsy to me, you know, when we talked about or in my opinion anyway, like they're just they're going to try to be better than they were slash pretty good, and I guess they're okay with that. Maybe that's giving you know, that's that's assuming that they didn't just make a bunch of mistakes the Knicks. Kind of this feels like that kind of feels like what the Knicks are doing like forty eight like I'm just reading, which is because that all these deals individually are they're okay other than maybe Roses. So I guess it feels more disappointing that the Knicks maybe are just kind of doing the same thing of like, hey, let's stick one at one. They were way better than the Bulls last year, so it's sort of like shows lack of ambition. I guess to say, like let's kind of stick there and you know, let's try to be a fourthfeit succeed or whatever. I do think I know you don't like this angle on it, but I do think that there are worse things than having like more future first coming in than you've got going out and some tradeable numbers on your cap sheet. Like I think if you want to be charitable, like you know, that is a sort of a silver lining, like that's an out, that's an avenue towards getting better. There are a lot of hypotheticals involved in a lot of things that you would have to happen. Is to the right player, would have to want to get out of town, you want to have to go to the Knicks, the team that's trading, and would want to have to take whatever burks and you know whatever. But like there is flexibility there. But I understand how that's disappointing when you go into the offseason like theoretically trying to get a lot better and you have the most captists in the league. So I get that. I do think that it's not it's disappointing, but it's not like it's not catastrophic. Things had catastrophic, So I think, you know, and framed that way, it's maybe it's a little bit of progress. I don't know. Again, again, if you've told me this is how their free agency played out, and they're like, you know, we don't really expect like the where we want both players, like two stars to come in or demand to trade. And if assuming that's what they're working towards, which I assume it is, just based off how this off season played out, like we expect that's the timeline for stars to demand of trade, like Damian Lillard has so much time left on his deal. Maybe we're kind of wondering what eventually happens with a Karl Anthony Towns or a Devin Booker or a you know, just whoever. I'm just throwing names out there, and I'm not even saying they should have conserved their pawn. Again, we had that free agency discussion, the lack of swings. Then in the draft, there needed to be just a bigger picture, bigger picture bite at the apple this off season somewhere, and I didn't see any. So that's why I am discouraged. Do you have another team though that you're fascinated by? After all, these free agency happenings. I mean, we should probably talk about the Warriors, so there's not a ton to talk about. But I know, I know, we kind of come at it from differing viewpoints. So obviously the biggest thing is but the least surprising thing is the step very second two hundred plus million dollars extension, but then getting Auto Quorter for the minimum and getting Numanu Belitza for the minimum. Obviously, personally, I would have I think everybody was hoping for Nick Katoum, which didn't happen. But but I mean, if the Warriors aren't willing to spend the tax payer mid level exception, they weren't going to get Nick Katum. I find that to be absolutely absurd. But please carry out well well, jan As as a defender of billionaires, I would like to say that had they used if they use that taxpayer mid level, it's actually in a cost them like thirty one million dollars instead of the five point nine or whatever because of all the penalty. So I wish you would just be a little more sensitive to Joe lacoms like spending. I did ask you. You texted me something similar where you're like they won three titles. When I said, I think it's ridiculous they won't spend a tax face your level exception, and I was like, are you a closet billionaire and just not telling me? I would argue, that's fair if you didn't think there was someone worth them in the MLI on the market, But like, you know, I feel like they're clearly are players who are and maybe they're still stuff to figure out. But I'm only rambling because you're screen froze in front of me, So I just wanted to make sure I didn't have to edit this out of the podcast. But like, where do you I think they're minimum signings were good, but how do you you legitimately feel like, yeah, you know what, they really shouldn't use the minim emily because there's no one worth that, or are you of the mind like throw money out of the equation. Doesn't it make sense to be like we should look at bringing back Kelly Woobery Junior so we have this trade chip at mid season potentially, or can we broke or a sign and trade now and maybe get back a trade exception that we can use later on. I just you know you yes, you keep staff and you have played coming back, but you didn't think a star. A trade for a star put them like a Bradley Beal, put them in the pantheon of current contenders. So how are we supposed to view them like without sort of and look the market for stars. It's not it's clearly not available. Brother Bill doesn't want to leave Washington, Zachovine isn't available in Chicago. They are at the behest unless they want Pascal Siakam. It seems of what who's available to them. But just like I don't have a problem with their off season because I don't know that anyone was better was available. But to say that you won't spend the mini MLI, which is basically like Joe lacob Is hinted at that a million times and said he's okay straddling two timelines. GTFO to me on that, just use Stephen Curry. Use Stephen Curry. I don't care. I don't care about your three titles. You've had two gap years. That's the that's the good will that you got is you had two gap years, couldn't figure it out, and they Clay Thomp's injury hurts, But you and you know what I first of all, I don't buy a thing that they say because they acquire Dienzelo Russell without the intention of treating him brand did you know that? So I'm I'm not buying anything. But there's I'm very skept that Stephen Curry is spoiled that front office, that team governorship into thinking that they are smarter than they actually are. And I like their draft picks. By the way, Comingo's a nice swing. Moses Moody feels like a help right away, and I get I don't think that the trade was out there that they could have made, So I'm not going to dumple over them for keeping it. But miss me with the whoa, whoa, the mini mL E like, let's let's calm down. Yeah, well, this will alienate some percentage of the audience, but like because you're going to defend the one percent. Oh no, yeah, not quite that much. But it's like it's sort of like when you're buying a house where it's you know, you make an offer and then the seller maybe counters at like a few thousand dollars more and you're like, oh no, I gotta draw the line somewhere, when like, in reality, it's like a fraction of a percentage of the money that you are very very willing to pay, like right up until that count offer showed up. So it's like, yeah, the Warriors have a three hundred and forty seven million dollars payroll with the tax thrown onto there, and if you use that five point that the taxpayers mid level, it goes to three seventy nine or something like that is what I think I saw, And so it's like, well, shit, man, we're in this far, like let's just do it, and who cares? Like I think it's you know, honestly in my heart of hearts, like, yeah, of course I want them to use the And this is my fan coming out. I don't know. I don't have a Warrior's skin tight shirt, but there is a Draymon bobblehead behind me somewhere and you'd probably see, Yeah, I want them to use that. I want them to sign and trade Kelly your Brave for like a guy who's going to be, you know, a rotation player. I want them to do all that stuff. But like I think, I think in addition to the money thing, I really do think that they're trying to play both sides and like split the difference between, look, we got this aging corps, We're going to try to supplement this roster with quality, like with veterans, which I think both of their minimum signings accomplish that job. Not done because this team did not have enough NBA caliber players on the roster last year. But I think that addresses sort of like we got to try to win now. But I mean, even go back to last year, I think the Wiseman pick was we kind of want to bridge, like we don't want to fall flat after the you know, Steph Curry and at step playing Draymond age out. I think Cominga you could argue that like he's maybe drafted to be traded because he has you know, high, the highest feeling certainly of anybody at that draft slot. But like I think it's also like, hey, there's a scenario wherein like four years Cominga and Wiseman highly unlikely based on what we saw from Wiseman last year, but he's so young. There's a scenario where like these are our cornerstones now, and like STEP's thirty six and he's a great floor spacer, and like I think I think that's what they're trying to do. They're trying to Like it's the light years thing, right if we're being super charitable to the Warriors, that they're not trying to win three championships. They're trying to win, you know, twice that many with a totally new core like for the next three. Like that really is I think the level of their ambition. So that does not address your fresh station with them not spending or using every resource they could. Uh, but like, I think that's their plan. I think I think that's that's the end goal. Is like we're not we're not just catering to this core now, we're trying to sort of do vote and probably it's not gonna work, but I think I think that's the way to go, or that's what they're doing. I don't know. I'm not endorsing that. I think that's what's happening. First of all, I don't know that Like Patty Mills seems like he might have chosen the nets over them, so they might have. I'm not even criticized them for not spending it yet, But what's that don't get Danny Green if he could be had for the like at tax payersman level. What is Philly doing? First of all if he wants any Philly for that. So I'm not even criticizing them for not using it. It's the report coming out I think Anthy's leader of the Athletic mentioned on ninety seven point five point seven. Excuse me that or whatever the station is, I don't I don't live out there. I don't know, but that they probably didn't prefer not to use it. Like, That's what I'm going to take issue with, even though that there might not be I wouldn't given it to Oddo Porter. I would have given it to Nick platoon, but why would he leave the Clippers. The other thing they did not address, though, which is gonna be a problem for them, is like and I don't know that they could have. So this isn't me dumping on them for it. They still need like the second shot creator, like they just don't. They just don't have him. Unless you think that's Jordan Pool is gonna play a ton of point guard that's gonna work. That's exactly who I think it is. Dan, you gotta you gotta give Jordan Pool as Flowers. This man went down to the g League and turned returned a titan like this guy. It's a point guard so much better. He got so much better. Like look, it was like a hot couple of months, right and like everything before that. I'm pretty sure on this podcast I have said Jordan Pool is not an NBA player at some point, and I'm so I'm totally wrong. I just in my defense, everybody thought that blink twice. If Bob Meyers and Joe Lakop are in the room with you, no, I'm telling you, I'm on the Jordan Pool bandwagon. I don't know how rational I'm being about it, but I do think that he is, like if he is your second unit shock creator, I have I feel like okay about that, provided they put not two way guys guys and G league guys and retreads around him, because like he's pretty good with the ball in his hands. He's from because it was not here even like for the first half of the twenty twenty twenty one season, like it just he something happened and he just became like a good sixth man. So I feel okay about that. But obviously, like if he and Steph are are only guys that can do anything to make a play like that's still a problem. So hopefully for their sake, this. If they do something to replace the Michael Molder slot on the roster, it's somebody that can, like, I mean, because in otherwise, what is it gonna hic comanion? Like who actually has looked good in the Olympics. But are we is he going to be unless I'm pei Smiley is done. He is out. That experiment is over. Yeah, for now, they can bring him back. That's all I'm saying. Yeah, give him the keys while we're I was so high on him too, man, you weren't. Please tell me you weren't. I I was. I drink the kool and I was like, oh, they totally stashed this guy and they kept other teams from looking at him because they hoarded him in Santa Cruz. And he's just like, was beyond not ready. So I want to ask you two more things. The other thing team I think probably needs to be talked about. And then I'm I'm just curious about your thoughts in the Western Conference hierarchy now, But the Raptors a befuddling offseason. I know that sign and trades teams don't have a ton of leverage, and the Heat did have cap space, but Lowry clearly wanted a little bit more money, and I'm not even sure how much money he stood to make, you know, if he would, I think the Heat only had like like could start him at twenty three and maybe now he's gonna be at like twenty five. Whatever. It is so put precious Chiwa and Goran Dragic is very not inspiring when you could have had more at the trade deadline for him and then basically shut him down after that. I don't understand the Sam Decker signing. They needed someone who was a campaign for the oppression of white culture on the team. I guess, so they check that about him, damn it, they check that box. Apparently, we want to believe that the Raptors are just like this basketball like you know Utopia where they're they're getting these you know, they're getting these fringe guys. They're turning them into the real players and they're gonna be competitive and they're gonna be hyperactive on defense. We need to start holding them to a higher bar then, because this is just like, yeah, okay, maybe they did lowry of solid and I think Dragons can help them if they're trying to compete next year, like just you know, pair him with fred Van Fleet, and he's still gonna put some pressure on half court defenses even though he's older. And I do think the gap between him and Kyle Lowry is definitely significant, especially obviously on defense. But like precious to Chiwa, is your main squeeze there? And are are you rebuilding or you're not rebuilding? The Siaka rumors are getting louder that he was just sort of readily available. You went with Scottie Barnes over John Suggs, which I guess is fine, but I don't understand what they're doing. MASSI is still a free agent apparently and making decisions for this team. What are you gonna do with Drag? I think? And you know, maybe Philly wasn't actually willing to give up their reported offer because they knew that Lowry wasn't fascinated infatuated with Miami and so that factored into you keeping him. But like just I don't know you could have gotten more for Kyle Lowry at the trade deadline if all you were going to accept with Drag and pressius a chewas so unless you really thought that he was going to consider coming back, which I don't think that was based on what happened in free Agi. I don't think I was ever on the cards for either party, and Massi was pretty open that he thought he had moved Lowry, I think to either Philly or or the Lakers. So I just I don't know how to feel about there. I'm fine with the Scottie Barnes over John Suggs swing. That doesn't really bother me. I'm just not really sure what they're doing, and it feels like they might lack a little bit of aim right now. Yeah, which you can understand when the guy guy that's been making your decisions, most of which have been very good for the last several years, might or might not be back. Like I'm sure that there's you know, it's it's got to be more difficult to have sort of a I don't know, to have your your goals aligned and your plans in order. I mean, I think to your to your point, like, I don't think Drugas is going to be on this team this season. I think that this Druggage to Dallas stuff feels like pretty legitimate to me, as you know, they'll move him on, But there wasn't I think from the athletic that Dallas didn't want to give. I think it was that Dallas didn't want to give up the white Powell in that deal, and I'm like, uh, why, I assume they would want to and would have to compensate Toronto accordingly to get Dwight Powell off in that. Yeah. Well, and that's the thing. Like my point is, I think the Raptors will look worse, like you know, the Lowry signing trade will they will have gotten less after they move druggas doing Druggats can still play any kind of makes sense as a second guard there with Van Vleet, but I think he's not going to be on the team. And if if in fact the package coming back is headlined by Dwight Powell, I think worse. Even though you know Toronto doesn't need a center, but yeah, I don't know. I still like, I still like their core because I like Van Vleet. I think you and I agree that Annonobi is someone that, like, if he pops, it would not be remotely surprising if he were just suddenly like has a Seakham type leap and he's a most improved guy and whatever. I still think Siakam is a good player. I think Scotty Barnes makes a lot of sense. I was surprised they didn't take Suggs. But if in theory Barnes can't shoot, that's a big problem. But in theory, if like, while we're losing Lowry, we need another playmaker, right, I want to take the guy that's sixty eight, that's a playmaker instead of the combo guard. I don't know. I think the Raptors have a lot of potential and talent. I'm in the bag for them. I'm on the record, you know to that, you know, having said that several times, so I might not be the most unbiased commentator on them. But I don't know. I do think they they do seem a little muddled, But in the end, I don't know that they have enough talent and like kind of the right kind of talent they got all they got, wings they got, you know, I still like them. U. The Trent signing felt a little rich to me. I don't know, we did you talk specifically about that. I think it's three for fifty four, which he's still only twenty two. So it's like, and that's what kind of muddies their future a little bit. Is like, Okay, he's young, but that does sort of infer that you're looking to compete now, so and so I don't have a big issue with it. I just I the way the Lowry stuff played out is just so weird, weird relative to what could have happened at the deadline for them, and so I don't know what and just the like that, in conjunction with how loud the Siakam chatter got around the draft, like that was just really that was just really bizarre to me, and like they're not barren now that Lowry's gone, And you know, it should be noted they had when Trent, Siakam, Vanfleet and Og played without Lowry last year, the Rappers were a plus five point eight per one hundred possession. It's a limited sample size, but if you factor out, if you filter out Trent and go with the larger sample size of those three guys, the Rappers were still net plus. Like they were a team that was just so much better than their record. This was sort of it could have been a one year It could be a one year tank. So I just don't know, like, are they committed to that. They didn't really do much in free agency go aside from the Lowry thing then keeping Grant Grant Trent. So I'm I'm just I'm not down that the Sam Decker signing is bullshit. I think that's that's dumb as hell. But the I'm not down on their future. I just have less of a feel for it than I thought I did, and I didn't have a great feel for it entering the off season. Maybe the field needs to be And look, I think we both wanted Lowry to come back, but maybe the feel is there are a lot of worse decisions than not paying a guard ninety million dollars for his age thirty five, thirty six, and thirty seven seasons. Like maybe that's just you know, because look, there are a lot of older players. I think Henry Abbott, for true, who did something today or yesterday about like over thirty three players are basically are almost never elite like and that's thirty three, and like are a bunch of guys, you know, Butler, Curry, Lowry, Conley, Paul that are going to be making months. Most of those guys are already they three and just maybe training is better now and maybe guys last longer. But it might make sense to be one of the teams that just doesn't do that commit a huge show of your cap to guys that are gonna decline full stop, but like might just completely like fall off and be like Albatrov's contracts. Like some I think we can do without saying who. I don't know who, but some of these gus times there are these big deals like there they will be. You know, Kevin Love can't be the worst contract in the league forever. Like We're gonna get some new entrants into that conversation, and a lot of them are the guys that are getting paid this offseason. I'm with you there, So I'm curious as the East is a different discussion, but you look at the West. I mean that could it could tetually lead into a larger conversation about what's these other teams did. I thought, you know, I'm a big Phoenix guy. I don't think this season was a fluke, and I would I could still pick them to come out of the West next year. But to burn half of your non tax payers mid level on Javal McGee was questionable. When Portland's out there signing Cody Zeller for the minimum and I think I think Zeller problems staying healthy. But was the overall better player if you want more of a Rim runner obviously, and Rim protector McGee makes sense like they didn't, you know, Tory Craig leaves, they get Nader back. But you look at the Western Conference power structure here, and I think this sort of dovetails with what we were talking about with the Warriors, who were the guaranteed playoff teams. In fact, we got factor in the Kauai injury, the Murray injury in Denver. Breggie Jackson hasn't resigned with the Clippers, although I expect him too. I thought we'd get some news while recording this at basically midnight Eastern time on Wednesday. Technically I thought we'd get some free agency news, but we didn't. So, like, who were your guaranteed lock playoff teams in the West right now? Make any assumptions you have to, like r J going back to to the Clippers, Yeah, it's hard. I was just looking at the things from last year, and it would be a lot easier to just try to pick the one or so they're going to fall out, and this would be memphiss in my sights in that regard. But the Lakers are are locked, right like they have. Lakers have to be a locked. Art there. I Utah is the lock, they're gonna make the playoffs. Phoenix is a lock. So what are we? Yeah, I mean Dallas is dad. I'm starting to feel less locky about them. The Clippers. Sure, and now we're talking we're out of lock territory because we're now talking about like Portland and Golden State. And I don't know that I think any of the teams that were out of the play and Knicks are going to jump up. So yeah, I don't know. It's it was kind of muddled this past season. It might be more muddled now. Yeah, I don't know. I think I mean Utah, Utah is gonna If Utah's the one seed again, that's not going to surprise me at all. Yeah, they still feel like they just still need that like bigger wing for the playoffs and maybe the option of playing smaller in certain matchups and they just don't have it. But I agree with you on the locks. I think the Clippers are still there. I think the Jazz, the Suns, the Lakers, the Nuggets are still there. So that's five. I don't know how to feel about the Mavericks because I like their obtusly. By the way, that was my other qualm with the Knicks. If that's what it costs to keep Reggie Bullock, go ahead and keep Reggie Bullock. Oh my god, over Berks at the least, I mean, just paying a little more for Like I don't understand that one at all. I did the load he carry for them defensively last year, and like, I get he can't put the ball on the floor, but like, who is there? Their best wing defender now is RJ. Barrett, which is I think he might be fine defensively, but yeah, I don't you know so, But I like Dallas's offseason. They're still just like missing that second shot creator that they needed. I would pencil them in because it's the Luca and because Christos Porzingis will be healthy. I'm just gonna go ahead and say they're a lock. And I'm really at the point where it's like, you know, unless Dame demands a trade, why won't Portland make it? They did pony up to keep Norman Powell. It is objectively hysterical that Dame said if you look at the roster right now, I don't think coaches a coaching change makes US a title contender, and the Blazers proceeded just signed three minimum guys, and so you know, there's not they didn't have all this slexibility, but it is objectively hysterical that that's the series of events right now. I honestly think the way it looks is that the Warriors jump up, Memphis drops out, and that's it because I don't see a team in the playing territory that made I don't like, are the I guess? Are the Pelicans better? I guess? And the other thing they didn't mentioned, by the way, is they did get Jonahs Sound Chunis, so anyone who didn't listen to Pelicans like all the way through and it's mad at the Pelican segment. They did get Yanna sound Chunist, who's like somewhat a better fit offensively but not so much defensively than Steven Adams. So I think it's gonna that would be my prediction right now. Maybe there's a trade that shakes up this landscape, but it's it's it's at once hard to figure out. If you asked me to pick who's to be like the exact seeds in the West, That's where I think it's wide open. You could if he told me that Portland was like two and like they keep there, I'll believe it. You can tell me whatever you want. Among the eight teams I picked, I just don't know. I thought there was gonna be more of a more urgency in the play in territory of teams getting better to try and leap up, like like this, Minnesota have a chance here, and look the off season. There's plenty of off season left, So maybe there's a bigger trade that we're not seeing. It always seems like there's one of them. I just the Western Conference is tough to figure out when you're trying to pinpoint it exactly. At the same time, it feels like not enough is changed within the top eight where it's like that's what's of interest. It's no longer this. Oh, there's like ten or twelve teams that are going to be so fascinating. Yeah. Well, and I think to that point, like you look at the cutoff after the tenth seed, after the play in eligible teams, and the Pelicans are if you go up to eight, just say eight. So the Grizzlers were the eighth seed and the Pelicans were the closest and tied with the Kings. They were tied for eleven. That's a seven game gap in the standings, So like there's a huge there already was a huge gap between you know, the playoffs excluding the plane because whatever, and the top eight. So like none of the teams that were like way out of the did close to enough to close that gap. So you know, we say this every year. It's all hard to pick, like who's gonna jump in, who's gonna fall out? I think the Warriors and Lakers have the most room to move up the West standings, just for obvious reasons. But other than that, like I mean, who of your locks, Let's just let's play a stupid game of the locks, who's the most likely to slip out? Like just looking at it now, I could I could see that I'm focusing on the Nuggets and the Blazers one because I don't know. The Nuggets just seemed way way too high as the third seed from last year. That seems like that didn't happen, and the Blazers blow it up, like that's those are those are my two. I guess the Clippers, I don't know, what do you The Clippers might be my pick because there's a real chance that Kauai to me doesn't play next season and they're, you know, a significantly worst team with that, Like if Reggie Jackson doesn't come back or doesn't have like an en quarter or what he was doing in the postseason, or Nick Mattum, who led your team in regular season minutes played, doesn't have another renaissance, you're in real trouble there. Or Karen's Man doesn't win you up more than one playoff game, right, So I would say they probably the most drop out of potential. You can also throw Portland in there, because, like you said, the potential to blow it up where I don't know, does Dame agitate for a trade mid season? I would have said no. I said, it felt like we're at least a year early on all of this. But if the Blazers don't do anything else where, it's like, hey, here's Cody Zeller, let's move forward. This is the team and you're just not that good, then maybe that escalates the situation in the middle of the year. So I don't it's the West is bizarre to me, but I you know what, I I think some of the teams meant like, I think the Jazz, given what they had they did, you know, they had to give up dumping Derek favorite salary came with an opportunity cost. But I think the Rudy Gay signing, I like, it's not the athleticism they need on the wings. It looks like they're willing to pay the tax unless they're gonna dump playing on Madonovitch Clarkson, they're Joe Ingles at some point during the year, and they would need to dump. I think two of those guys do even have a prayer of exiting the Tacks right now, So like, that's kind of cool to see. I think Phoenix is still gonna be really good. I was hoping they would do something a little bit bigger. Adam argued on this podcast that they don't need to and I would agree that if your angle is to be let's get in the top four, top five and enter the playoffs, they didn't need to make these seismic changes. But it still feels like they're a you know, another wing or like backup big like or a verse like a four or five guy short where I said, imagine if they could trade I think Liaron nance Junior would be a fantastic trade target for them, but they unloaded their number twenty nine pick to yet Landry Shammitt, and so like, I think that would have you know, Jalen Smith were trying of trade value does he have after his first year? He doesn't necessarily have that cachet of a number ten pick. Dario Startz's money is now dead money because he tores acl for all the next year. I also entertained I got killed for this when I suggested it. But if a scenario came where you could get Pascal Siakam in a deal that didn't cost you mcale Bridges but it cost you DeAndre Ayton, would you do it? And I said one I got, I got, I got destroyed annihilated in the comments section of the suggestion. It was on YouTube, and I think I might have suggested it in an article. I wrote, maybe Siakam is not that big enough of another grade, but it does feel like they need another creator who's not Cameron Payne on this team, and Siakam could technically satisfy that. I'm not saying give up the James Harden trade package for Pascal Siakam, but I like Pascal Siakam's fit on the Sun. So in this scenario, is Siakham playing center for them full time because he starting at center? Yeah, well, I mean you're giving up what do you I mean you could sign another big for nothing. I'm That's the other thing. It's just like if Zella signed the minimum, was JaVale McGee worth half your mL Yeah? CP three recruited him. Like in the screenshot that went viral about CP three recruiting JaVale McGee was actually the moment that CP three was apparently recruiting javal McGee. So shout out to Twitter on that one. But the West landscape is wild and I'm not disappoint I'm a little disappointing the Sun's offseason. They had limited tools, But I thought after the way that the CP three deal is structured, it lowers his immediate salary and basically sure they could have the bigger mL E and then to use most of it on JaVale McGee was just like, hmm, yeah, I will say. I will say the campaign signing, I thought was one of the best value players of the whole oposite of the whole creed. So look, they won the minutes he played without Chris Paul and Devin Booker in the regular season last year. That's that's actually huge. Yeah, and like everything about I mean, you know, granted, there's there's this, you know, he was done and then he emerges in the bubbable and suddenly he's like a really high end backup point guard that could maybe even start for some teams. But I think everything he did last year is sustainable and real. So to get like one of the best backup point guards on a team where your point guard is one hundred years old by the way and is definitely gonna miss some time, I would think there's no way, Like, there's no way Paul's gonna do another Ironman season like to get this past year, so past two years right right, I mean, just for his own good, the Sun shouldn't let him do that. But yeah, Paine is one of the great one of the best signings. Also, since we're jumping around, I don't know if you have an agenda, but like I think Daniel Tys thirty six in Houston, I kind of like almost everything Houston did this off season, by the way, but tights at four for thirty six, that's a guy you can trade to any team that's going into the playoffs and still needs the center that can do like sort of non center stuff, so like as a trade chip, which I assume is all Houston cares about because they're not trying to win. But like, that's a guy that I think you could really you can pull a first round pick out of somebody for that and the first round come, yeah, don't you? Maybe I didn't hate the signing, but it was like Carrie, I had Tyson as just a target of teams that might have only had the mini mid level and he voting for four and thirty six was the was the fourth year non guaranteed though I can't remember, I don't, I don't know, I will. I'd say this like people are talking about how Rishaun Holmes four for fifty five is, Like, by the way, it was, it wasn't four and fifty five because they resigned him using early bird rights. So it's four for forty six. Oh even better. That's the steel of free that might be the maybe not be steel, but that was I mean, wow, I can't believe that that. I assumed he was going to get at least fifteen. I was wrong, completely wrong. Yeah. I didn't think there's any way they were going to be able to use to get him back just with early Bird. That's crazy, and that that becomes a contract that can be very easily traded because the Kings are you talk about aimless. I'm first of all, you keep for Shaun Holmes on that deal, I'm not. But you tried to trade Buddy Healed or thought you were for Harold and Kuzma, now you didn't, and then you drafted Davion Mitchell when you have Aaron Fox and Buddy Healed and Dawn Wright is no longer on the team, but you know Tyrres Alberton is, So there's a lot of weird stuff there. I would advocate that unless they're gonna go all in on a star trade, which if you told me the Kings are going to mortgage everything except for Haliburton and Fox to bring in Siakam or whatever star becomes available, I'm fine with it. Make that play. Get out of the fucking submittle already. Like, if you're not gonna do that, it's time to tear it down and rebuild around Haliburton and Fox, and I guess Davidan Mitchell, I'm you know, that's such a weird set up there, so there are another team to watch. But I don't think that they got better. I think keeping Holmes was just really smart business on that. I cannot believe his The market for bigs remains just weird. Like you're gonna tell me Tys got four for thirty six and Rashawn Holmes got four for forty six. Come on, I think as a playoffs center, I'm it's more than Holmes, Like this is getting way in weeds. But like in terms of what you need to do in the playoffs, Tys can move a little more. But but yeah, I don't know that it's uh, get back to Jared Allen because I've mentioned him like fifteen times and just refused to let me talk about Jared Allen U for one hundred, right, I don't Uh, I have a hard time understands right now. Well, it's like I'm trying to put like why it's like you so okay, I don't think it's bad because you could talk me into him being able to play with Evan Mobley because the whole selling point on Mobile is he could do guard stuff. He didn't. I we don't. We think he has a projectable three point shot. He's defensively good enough to guard anybody. So sure, but like the optimal version of a guy that can do that is to play him at center, Like like, that's the best way to use an Evan Mobley type insofar as there are any Evan Mobley types there, it's a rare thing. It's not. You're not getting the maximum value out of him. Guy, you used the third pick on by saying, well, he can play the four next to a conventional center, Like, no, this guy needs to be your center. Jared Allen is a rim running bob threat that defends the basket and switch a ton some I need to see way more like, I yes, theoretical some switch Like you're not gonna convince me that. I mean, he's no daniel Tys. Let's how do we leave with Daniel Tys speaking one of the five best centers in the game off this podcast? All right, he get there's also Allen. I just don't know. I don't understand why you're paying a one hundred million dollars to a conventional center and you're not a good team. This is like, I just I don't This is how you stay a bad team? Is you spend huge resources on the most replaceable fungible position in the league. I just it makes no sense to me. I don't care that he's young. I don't care like it just it doesn't make sense. You're gonna have to talk me way into this one. I don't know. I don't I wouldn't have given him that much. I was surprised by that number. I guess I don't hate as much as you. But that's a great point where it's you don't maximize the third pick in the draft by saying, well, he can't play the like that's some Al Horford Joel and bad logic k in Philly. So I actually I totally get that. And you also, you know, we assume that Jared Allen is young, and we assume that these deals can be moved later on, like Kevin Love is still on the Cavs roster after signing his extension. He was an All Star, so he can shoot right, And there seems like there's a unnecessary risk there. And I come back to this is who was the team. Who was the team that was they couldn't give him a fifth year? Who was the team that was going four and eighty for Allen? The Hornets punted on that, but the idea of going after Holmes or Allen essentially before free agency by acquiring Mason Plumley and even drafting Ki Jones. So I you know, and I know teams don't necessarily want to play hardball, Like there's that good will, but then there's also these weird value propositions where it's like, Okay, I know Jared Allen is younger, and it's more transformative defensively, Rashaun Holmes is just ridiculously good on offense and serviceable on defense, and he's getting average annual eleven point five million e versus Allen getting twenty. And then there's even this, and maybe you feel differently about this. John Collins is probably gonna sign for five and one twenty five. Is John Collins only five million dollars a year per more valuable than Jared Allen. I'm honestly asking, And I would argue, no, I think he's more. Yeah, I agree, and I'm not a huge Collins fan, like, but I think I think Collins is well. First of all, Holmes is objectively a better player than Jared Allen. I think, like, if you just put the tolls nobody, I'd rather have homes if the money were equal, and I wouldn't pay Homes one hundred million dollars obviously, but like I think that would have been what Holmes got kind of feels a lot closer to what Allen is going to be worth. Like now the age thing is, and you know the Cavs did actually they didn't even They just like snuck into the hard and trade to get him. So it's not even like they were pot committed and like had to, you know, make sure he didn't walk. They're actually went plus mobili like you could absolutely let this guy walk. Who cares the sign and trade scenarios how to be I'm sure Toronto would have gotten involved in a Jared Allen sign and trade for somebody, sure, sure, yeah, No, I think your point's the best one of like where was the who who was offering for for for eighty Like maybe I just I don't know, I don't know where that offer was. Grant, as always, it was great talking to you. I did not expect to leave this podcast with you ranking Daniel Tais is one of the five best centers in the game. Like I said, everybody follow Grant on Twitter if you do not already at gt Underscore used does fantastic work for Bleacher Report and frankly on this podcast because he's such a reoccurring frequent guest. Thank you as always for all your time and as you know, I know that you're currently on you know, vacation for trying to take it easy for the month of August, but I think, as you know, I'll be pasturing you again in the near future. It sounds like you have a lot of free time on your hands, so it'll the request will definitely becoming I do and I look forward to it.