What is krack lacking hardware knocks listeners. I am Dan for Valley, coming
at you without my fantabulous co host Adam Prommel. I am, however,
as always super pleased and excited to be joined by good friend, longtime colleague
Perennial Hardwood Knox guest Bleacher Reports Grant Hughes. Follow him on Twitter for his
bi monthly tweet at GT Underscore Hughes, you won't regret it. Great writer.
Check out of stuff over at Bleacher Report before we dive in very quickly.
Just a reminder to pretty please rate, review and subscribe to this podcast
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We're also on YouTube, Sir Hardwoo Knox on YouTube. We're also on Instagram
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well at Hardwoo Knox. So follow us everywhere, help us juice those content
numbers and expand our brand. Grant, how are you doing? And I'm
doing great? And apropos of your intro, I did tweet today so and
it's been more than two weeks, so this is a pretty big day for
everybody. I have it bi monthly now because I feel like I haven't gotten
a notification that Grant Hughes tweeted for the first time in a while, so
i didn't even see today's tweet. But I'm looking at it now. It
was like it was it was within the past couple hours of recording this too.
Well, I mean, yeah, so I'm still riding high. It's
really a buzz. I basically was just agreeing with Caitlyn Cooper, which is
generally a good, a good, a good stance to take. That is
the just a fault to whatever Caitlyn Cooper says. And you know, I
just ride to coatails of her genius all the time. But anything, are
you good otherwise? Staying off Twitter? Is that? Is that helping you
at all? I'm great otherwise, and I'm especially great tonight because I'm excited.
I'm excited to talk to you just in general, but I'm excited to
talk to you about a basketball game, because we don't really do this very
often where it's sort of this is where recording this pretty much right after game
to two of the finals, and you know, it's kind of a fun
thing to sort of do. An instant reaction. I think, you know,
well, we'll talk about some other stuff, but I'm excited to just
kind of pick through this game and really the series as a whole, because,
you know, I guess that's kind of why we started doing this in
the first place, following basketball, because the games are fun. So I'm
excited to kind of focus on that. Going to sidestep dot comment about when
we started to cover basketball, Yes, we're gonna talk about Game two in
the finals at large, and we're also going to get into our most interesting
teams to watch for the offseason. But yeah, let's let's start there.
The Suns after beating the Bucks one eighteen to one oh eight in Game two
or now up two to oo in the finals, what do you make of
this series at this point? Like, what is the single biggest takeaway from
the first two games of these finals. So I'll preface it my thoughts after
the first game, or really during the first game, which was just an
extension of kind of the Suns throughout the playoffs, was just the macro thought
is the Suns have more guys that can just take whatever it is that the
playoff defense they're facing can is giving them and succeed that way. So you
saw that in game one where the Bucks switched a bunch and like, okay,
cool, well we can we can do that. And if the Bucks
make a bunch of adjustments in game two, which they did they tried,
which was everybody was screaming for it. Even if you know that was right
or wrong, I don't know. But the Sun's just adjust They have guys
Chris Paul, Devin Booker, you know, principally, but Michail Bridges who
basically matched Holiday and Middleton's scoring total on his own tonight, which is a
big deal for a fourth option. They just have a bunch of guys or
more guys than the Bucks anyway, that are adaptable and don't have glaring weaknesses
and aren't married to one particular style on either end. And I think just
that's what you need to make it through a bunch of playoff series and win
a title. And it's a stark juxtaposition against the Bucks, who for the
last several years have been, you know, I think rightly been criticized for
being a system team or you know, not being flexible. And to the
Bucks credit, they're trying to be flexible, but we're learning on their end.
I think is that they just don't have the talent that is flexible to
succeed in a flexible scheme or an adaptable scheme. So that, to me
is the principal difference. The Suns have guys that can beat you regardless of
how you play them. The Bucks are set up to sort of only win
the way that they want to play, and when you take those things away
from them that they really want on either end, they just aren't as good.
So I gave you a lot to chew on there, but that's that's
the nutshell of this series to me, is the Sun just have more guys
that can, you know, win in different ways. Yeah, and you
mentioned the Bucks adjustments. They made a todd in Game two. They've defended
so many different ways in the first half alone, and it's just the Suns
are gonna make these not just difficult shots, They're gonna make the right passes.
They're gonna make eighty five passes on the same possession that it was like
the penultimate possession of the first half. I don't know if you remember that
where they threw ten passes and it ended an end one to DeAndre Ayton.
The Buck's defense on that possession was fantastic. Basically the entire time, they're
still gonna find a way to pick you apart. They're they're at one surgical
but also decisive, and they can play with speed if they need to,
even if they're burning seconds off the shot clock, and to have so many
guys comfortable doing that. You just look at the synergy between a Cam Johnson
and a Mchael Bridges and a DeAndre at and this is outside of the stars.
And then there are just possessions where if there's one lapse or even if
you defend it perfectly, and Devin Booker is just gonna go ahead and throw
a cross court, one off handed pass to CP three in the corner for
a three on the baseline. It's just they're so ridiculous, They're so deep.
I don't know if we heard I kind of like tuned out during the
end of the game. I don't know if we heard what type of injury
Tory Craig is dealing with, but they already lost. Dario starts with a
torn acl That Tory Craig injury did not look great in the moment, and
I still just have full confidence that they're going to end up winning this series
because of the talent up and down the roster, and they're they're almost or
no, they are built to play all these different ways without even necessarily changing
up their personnel, like yeah, go small at center sometimes instead of Frank
Kamitsky. Now that starts is gone. But it's just you could play technically
play small with Aton, like do you need to take him off the court
if Jannie does get to the five. And looking at this more so through
the Bucks perspective, I don't know what they do here there. I look,
even though people make fun of coach Budenholzer, including myself, he has
forgotten more about basketball over the last sixty seconds than I will ever know in
my lifetime. And it does like he's done things like shorten up his rotation,
you know sometimes, I mean Pat Connaughton has given them some good minutes,
even though I still think he tries to make Pat content happened too often.
You can kind of criticize him for playing Jeff t too much, but
the alternative might be Bryn Forbes, who's just gonna get picked on defensively.
And if he's not knocking down shots an otherworldly clip, what do you do
the two things I kind of take away from this is you need Chris Middleton
and Drew Holiday to play a lot better. Otherwise you're just you're fucked,
Like there's just no way you can win. In Game two, they go
with combined twelve of twelve of thirty seven from the floor. Not great.
They were two two of nine Yes, combined from three. Middleton was good,
was fine in game better than fine in game one. Drew Holiday was
four or fourteen oh four from three. He's had a wonky playoffs, like
he's had some really good moments, but he just hasn't been great offensively by
any stretch. And that puts you at a disadvantage because those are the two
guys that when things bogged down in the half court, you want your offense
to run through them more so than Yannis. And two, Yannis's credit like
he's playing on this bung left knee and he's had to go into his bag.
Let's call it, or people will call it. In the half court.
Bogged it down more often than I think he would ideally want to.
And part of that is probably just because you don't want him blitzing up the
floor on that knee, or because he can't do it, and he's like
he's playing well, and to like in Game two he played, he played
really well. He had Where do you have if he have forty two points
on fifteen of twenty two shooting one of five from three, But that's just
you that eleven of eighteen at the foul line. I think the Bucks take
that on most nights sixty one percent from him. And so I don't want
to oversimplify it to ju Holiday and Chris Middleton need to play better, but
it is the element of that because those guys like need to hit those difficult
shots. And Chris Middleton when he's on is probably a top ten, top
fifteen player in the NBA. But when he's off, he's off and he
just doesn't have I guess the same level of consistency. And the final thing,
like the second thing here would be as I mentioned for I don't know
what the adjustments are. So people calling for the Bucks to start Jannas at
center, and like, I don't know that brook Lopez has been the problem.
He wasn't as good on offense in Game two, but like he's not
this super big defensive liability. He's actually helped them in spots, and you're
running out of person now at that point, because if you're just cutting,
you know, if you're cutting brook Lopez's minutes from twenty eight or twenty three
like he had in game one to what ten, twelve, fifteen, like
who are you playing? You're not adding more Bobby Porterus minutes. He didn't
even play five minutes in game two. So just they don't I don't know
that they have the personnelity even do that, nor do I know if it
even helps, because I think you would do that, I guess to create
more offensive mismatches, which does make sense. Their offensive rating has not been
great in this series. At the same time, you get to a point
where you run out of bodies because if you start your honest at the five,
you're essentially saying, okay, no Bobby Porters at all, and brook
Lopez is going to play between ten and fifteen, and just like, where
are you going? Because PJ. Tucker isn't the answer on offense either.
That's been the other thing here is just you know, he's never had that
volume. But it's just when you have someone where people can be stashed on
him or you just know that he's you know, he hasn't been shooting well
from the corners in the playoffs. Anyway, if you have that guy,
you know that that's another liability that you have to overcome. And there have
been nights, many nights, or I don't know that he provides enough defensive
value to necessarily make up for what you're giving up on offense with him.
And that's the dilemma to me for the Bucks. I have zero answers for
them moving forward. Yeah, I mean so, just to put a specific
point on the Drew Holiday thing and the lack of adjustments that seem obvious,
Like the Bucks did almost everything that we asked them to do after Game one.
We being you know, whatever, basketball Twitter or just critics of anyone
after game one saying like, well, here's what needed to change. Like
Drew Holiday was super aggressive out of the gate. It was just noticeably heard
the chatter, or was informed by the coaching staff, or got there on
his own realizing I can't be four of fourteen and make a bunch of defensive
mistakes, which he did, Like that was the low key problem in game
one, which is out of character for him. And he came out guns
blazing, and then you look up and at one point he was three for
twelve. He finished seven of twenty one. So if if your fix is
Drew Holiday, be more aggressive. And he did pick up Chris Paul,
you know, before half court several times. So that was another adjustment.
We're gonna put Holiday on Chris Paul. We're gonna have him chase over screens
a little more. We're not going to immediately surrendering, give up switches,
all this stuff. The Bucks just they did what was asked of them after
losing Game one, and the result was the same. So it comes down
to just I don't know that the Bucks have the top end talent necessary to
effectively implement the adjustments that everyone's asking them to make. And so that's that's
what is going to be so weird about this offseason. I were just burying
the Bucks right now, like the series is not over, but just looking
ahead. So there were two problems with the bucks last two playoff runs.
One was you could say, well, Yannis doesn't have enough help, right
like Middleton is a you know, whatever you think of Middleton, if he's
your number two and you don't have a lot else, doesn't feel like a
championship team. So you get Drew Holiday, and now Drew Holiday is wildly
and consistent in the playoffs, and as the Bucks, you have no avenue
to getting more talent. So Yannas still doesn't have enough help. I guess
the only bright side of that is we can't kill them for being inflexible,
like Boodenholzer. I don't think Boodenholzer should lose his job. I think had
they lost a round or two earlier, it was a foregone conclusion he was
going to be fired. I think with the talent that they have, with
the limitations of guys like Tucker and Lopez, and we're seeing limitations of guys
like Holiday, even a Max player that you gave up a million first to
get, I think Boodenholzer has done everything you can with this roster. I
just think there's just nothing to do. And specifically, Yeah, okay,
let's play Yannis at center more. Everybody likes to go smaller. Let's take
Brook Lopez off the floor. Well, DeAndre Ayton is guarding Yannis anyway all
the time when Lopez is in the game, So what are you gaining?
I just I don't understand it. You're taking a shooter off the floor a
big shooter, and you know, granted Lopez has not been anything close to
lights out, but you're taking your room protector off the floor. He has
value in that regard, and you're gonna play binforms or you're gonna play pat
Han like you just you're not gaining anything by going smaller, which is hard
to do in the NBA because it seems like every team in every previous playoff
round, the Clippers being a great example, gained something by going smaller.
The Bucks aren't going to do that, So I agree, I don't know
what the fixes are. You could just look at it and say, well,
the Sun's won by ten points. They made twenty out of forty from
three. They won't do that again. The odds of mchail Bridges scoring twenty
eight and Middleton and Holiday combining for twenty eight are not great. But the
thing about like hoping or expecting, you know, somewhat flukey or anomalous things
to even out over the course of a series is this is not a long
series. Now it's two oh, There's not a lot of time for whatever
regressions you're expecting to affect the rest of the series. The Suns have two
wins banked, So the Bucks just don't have a margin for error and they
can't count on well event, you know, give us enough time, Middleton
and Holiday will sort of hit their levels, like maybe, but it's not
going to be enough now that you're going to know two whole. So I
don't know. I'm ready to bear the books, but with no shame,
like they're doing what they can with the talent they have. The Suns,
we probably haven't talked about the Sun's just being great enough, even though you
did specifically before the season, So kudos to you. You can take your
victory lap. I think on this one. I'll mockingly take victory laps as
a joke, but I can't take victory laps given how wrong I am all
the time. So that's why you have to take this victory lab. I
will say. It's just funny how people remember either when you're wrong or just
something that they don't disagree with and then turns up like I picked the Nuggets
to win the title last year in the preseason. Actually they made it to
the Western Conference finals, and then I caught shit then, and then I
caught shit when they lost in the Western Conference finals. I picked the Suns
to win the title this year before the start of the playoffs. I actually
didn't have to make a preseason pick, and just I haven't, like,
no one said anything about that, and I don't expect them too. But
it's just funny how people remember the negative or just something that they don't agree
with that is then affirmed that they shouldn't have agreed with it to a t
more than like, I don't. I don't know how many people picked the
Suns to win the title at the start of the playoffs, so I imagine
I was. I was among the few that picked them to beat the Lakers
in general, let alone win the title. So I'm not doing a victory
LA. This is a victory lab, I guess. But it's just they
like they just make so much sense, and this is a conversation to have
if and when they win the title. There's a level of sustainability here.
I know that Chris Paul's player option is going to cause consternation among some in
the Sun's organization. He's also aged thirty six, but even if he comes
back, there's the element of that. But you have Booker Bridges eight and
Cameron Johnson. That's a real, actual base, and your cupboard isn't dry.
If you need to go out and make a trade to help this,
you owe your twenty twenty two first to Oklahoma City. But like, you
know, if you really wanted to take a bigger swaying, you could.
And one of the trades I proposed for them is like what if they went
after a Larry Naz junior in the office season. Now they have their after
the draft, they'll have their first round pick. They still have Jalen Smith
sitting there at the number ten pick from last year. Building stuff around that
maybe, but this team, like I don't think this and even if it
is even if Chris Paul leaves or even if they flame out in the first
round next year, like this, this is not a random title when you've
watched them all season and with the way that they're playing and their top to
bottom depth, and it's just, you know, I don't even not that
it's more. I don't want to say it's a surprise, I guess because
mcal Bridges doesn't really surprise me anymore. Although did I see him scoring twenty
seven points in game through the NBA Finals? Not necessarily, but the fact
they have that guy where yeah, he won't put up offensive volume a ton,
but on Knights where he can or you need it, like they'll be
Knights when he does. There's just so many different ways they get attack you
and like they're Knights when deand Raydon is not going to be great on offense,
but you can count on him to still of his defensive motor going Like
we're past the point where it seems like one is tied to the other for
him, and he picked a good time to put together not only the best
but the most consistent stretch of basketball of his career. I would argue there's
so much to like. Cameron Payne is just like in he doesn't play ten
minutes in Game two, He's one of three from the floor, scores only
two points, and yet I'm watching it. I'm like, Cameron Payne wasn't
in the league basically all of last season until the Sun signed before the bubble.
He's not drawing double teams out of the pick and roll and would be
a no brainer rotation guy for the Bucks, like he would be playing thirty
five minutes for the Bucks. It like just and he's you know, a
limited factor for this this I just like the thing. The thing for me
is there were plays tonight I noted two of them where I think it's fair
to call Bridges the fourth option for the Suns because aiden you know, just
general offensive rebounds count then yeah, sure, well that too. But like,
Bridges is theoretically a three IND role player guy, and I think he
is just sort of like a lab created perfect specimen of a three D you
know, wing, but he also I mean it speaks to the growth of
the Sun's young guys. I mean, Booker obviously has taken a leap to
to me like a full on top option, a top option on a championship
winning team, Like that's hard to become. He's pretty close to doing that.
DeAndre Ayton has become an incredibly good role playing center with I think,
based on his trajectory so far, the potential will be much more. But
Bridges is theoretically a catch and shoot guy who defends really good wings and then
oh also, when he gets a smaller guy matched up on him and the
shot clock's winding down, he can take three dribbles and generate his own shot
Like that's he's a mini game now. He does so wild and Suns fans
are going crazy because they're like we've seen this all year, but it's like,
okay, cool, this is the finals and he has the confidence and
the game to do this, to bail them out of possessions as a fourth
option and get a really good shot like that. I mean talk about against
against a defense like the Bucks too, and that's you don't have to do
that on a night and night out basis. And so even for someone who
you know, we had a whole podcast where we build the Suns as contenders
and I think we both said that they were the biggest threat to coming out
of the West of the non Lakers Division the time. And to still see
that, like all these guys do this, I'm like, fucking Cam Johnson,
just yeah, Okay, it's cool that he held his own defensively all
regular season, but now he's doing it all throughout the playoffs, and like
there's more to him than just his shooting, Like we've always known that,
but it's also there's more to him than just his shooting in the playoffs.
There's like that level of holy crap here, And so I want to wrap
this up, well, I guess it's with three things. I'm gonna want
your final prediction after this. But shifting back to the Bucks, we collectively
agree or that we can't see anything that they could do this series to turn
the tides, aside from Drew Holiday and Chris Middleton make shots on the same
night. And by the way, that's the other thing. I'll go back
and look, it doesn't feel like all three of the Buck stars have been
cooking at once this postseason. Mostly one of them, sometimes two of them,
but never three. But outside of that, like, do we agree
that there's just we don't have the answers? Yeah, I think so.
I think the Suns are just sort of answer proof. I think that's part
or the problem. Whatever you're gonna try, they're going to be at least
capable of attacking the right way. And so I would ask, then do
you if you're the Bucks, and I would agree with you that coach Bud
he's not He's not going to lose his job after taking them to the finals,
and I think now he's at least proven he's flexible. He probably loses
his job if Kevin Durant it has his foot on the line on that shot.
Crazy to think that, you know, there's obviously other moments. Nothing
ever comes down to one whistler or one shot. But yeah, that was
very close to Bud losing his job. There. Do you look at this
series if they lose in four or five, like if it's something like that
and read into it as well, we have to figure out a way to
do something significant to this roster or is it, as you just said,
the Suns are so answer proof and there's a chance that there's one not another
team the league at full strength. Even if you rack your brain for the
teams in league that would be as answerproof as the Suns. It might be
Brooklyn if all their stars were healthy, and but you could look at it
as okay, well the Suns, they might be busted up, or might
be different if Chris Paul as another year older, or do you actually look
at this series and go, okay, we need to do something and what
is that something? Well, so this is kind of an elevated version of
the question we ask about a team like like say the Portland Trailblazers for several
years, where like or even you know, the Pacers are kind of another
example where you'd say, you know, there's there's a third option between being
a go all out contender every year and rebuilding, and some franchises are kind
of cool being very good for as long as they can be very good,
and this the Bucks, it's sort of a notch or two up where it's
like, I think the Bucks, realistically, if they change nothing, maybe
Janie actually does learn to shoot, you know, maybe Devincenzo gets back.
I mean they're missing Devincenzo. That's not insignificant. You know, that's a
key rotation guy that would really matter in this series, particularly he's healthy.
A couple breaks and the Bucks could be back in the finals without swinging a
big deal. I think just it's so sure if you lose in the finals,
your inclination is going to be we gotta change something. The Bucks just
don't have the tools to do that. So it's that I'm punting on your
question because I just can't think of a realistic way that they're going to do
anything beyond the taxpayers mid level, you know, some organic growth from some
of the guys they still have. They're not a young team, so that's
tough. But the urgency needs to be there because you mentioned Brooklyn. If
Brooklyn's healthy, the Bucks are nowhere close to the best team in the East.
If the Sixers trade Ben Simmons and you know, get better and Joel
Embiid is healthy for a year, and that looks just like a more sensible
team than the one we saw this year. Than are the Bucks the third
best team in the East? Like the Hawks look really good. They have
a ton of young guys that could all get better. So now where are
the Bucks in the East. So the urgency to do something, I'm sure
they are feeling and should be feeling it. The ability to do something is
what they may lack. So I'm punting on your question. I just don't
know what they can do. The move I came up with for them,
I'm not sure if I like it, And I'm not saying this means that
Jannis needs to play center all the time. But if you can turn brook
Lopez, you have number thirty two this year, I think, or is
it thirty one? It might be thirty one if you can turn him in
number thirty one into and I proposed Dante de Vincenzo as well, because he's
coming off an injury. I'm not sure with values for Into Harrison Barnes,
does that move the needle for this team at all? Or is that very
much like you're sacrificing two rotation players At that point, Brook Lopez is still
valuable. Yes, Barnes allows you to downsize, and he is. You
know, I'm not saying PJ. Tucker won't be back, but if you're
subbing him in for the PJ. Tucker minutes, like you're getting a lot
more offense out of that without losing a ton of juice defensively. No,
he's not going to defend Chris Paul like PJA. Tucker can still switch on
to that guy. So but that's like the biggest move in my mind that
I came up with. If you're not gonna, you know, trade one
of your co stars in Chris Middleton or or Drew Holiday, which it's the
same situation that CJ. McCollum where and I think both Middleton and Julida are
better than sis you would call him. But like, you're not trading those
players and upgrading if you wanted to rebuild, Yeah, you might be able
to get a nice package for them, or you could maybe divest them into
role players, which is a tricky proposition onto itself. Yeah, I don't
know. I think Barnes is certainly the sort of the type of player that
you would for this series. You can imagine his utility because he's capable.
He's just solid, like he's not answer proof. He's not like the individual
embodiment of the Suns, but you can use him to do several different things
like in Dallas, remember he was kind of an isolation scorer for a while,
Like that was very weird. He's been sort of a lower usage role
player when he was young. He's been a he's sort of settled into very
solid, multidimensional not grade at anything, but you could give him forty minutes
in a finals game and he's not going to hurt. Like the Bucks need
a guy like that because Tucker. I think Tucker has been kind of a
zero in this series, and I think Lopez's utility has been sort of exposed
as two niche or two he's just too late night. So yeah, finite,
Yeah, there's there's so, there's book I mean, I'm looking at
Devin Booker. On my notes, I said Booker Barnes is the type of
guy they should go after. But like, if I'm the King's what do
I want? Brook? Lopez and a late pick and I don't know,
maybe you do. They might need it, said. My justification was they
might. They're good to need a center because Rashaun Holmes is I would guess,
is leaving just because they need cap space to resign them, which they
don't have. And no, he Brook Lopez doesn't fit the let's play super
fast, but like the box run the floor without him. The Sacramento Kings
can do the same, and they want a de Vincenzo when the Bogdanovitch trade.
He is one year out from a new contract year coming off this injury.
But I think it's fair value for Barnes, or at least close to
it. Maybe they are offers that beat it, so I'm not But that
was just in my mind, like that's the big move without blowing anything up.
And I don't know that because now you do have to. Yeah,
you can bank on finding centers on the chief who are serviceable, But like
I just don't like, does it do enough? It might, it might
not, And it's very unspectacular to me in the sense that I think I
would do it if that was the package. I caught a lot of ship
from Bucks fans when I proposed it, and maybe I'm kind of underselling Devincenzo's
value, but like, the Bucks aren't going to pay him, like they're
just it's not going to happen. Although if they're trading for Harrison Barnes,
who's making twenty million a year, so so I would probably do it,
But I wouldn't look at the Bucks and be like, we're a much better
team. Well, they're not a much better regular season team because they're thinner
and they lose the guy that anchors your defense, which goes a long way.
But I think they'd be a better playoff team. And I think every
year it becomes clearer and we get reminded because we forget over the course of
six months of a season. The playoffs are just totally different. You need
a totally different set of you know, sets of skills to succeed there than
you do in the regular season. Like ask the Jazz, ask ask the
you know. It's just it's it's just certain things to work in the regular
season that don't in the playoffs, and you need different types of guys to
really get over the top. This is the quickbait section of the podcast.
Devin Booker is a top blank player in the NBA. Well, this is
the same thing. So I'm gonna force you to I'm gonna ruin your clickbait
because I'm gonna ask several clarifying questions. I think. So just if you're
just like, oh, here's a here's an article I'm gonna click on,
or here's a something on an app, I don't think you can leave him
outside let's just say like all NBA range. So I don't think you can
leave him outside the top fifteen anymore. I think top ten is tough,
but you could talk me into it because of the value I think, and
I'm going to put a higher value on this than anything because this is the
type time of year where we're at, Like he's clearly capable of being the
first option on a team that's gonna win a title, like that's the hardest
thing to get. And he doesn't take anything off the table on defense anymore
either, So I don't know what that says. Armball defense in the playoffs
has been and it's been pretty good all season, but in the playoffs,
like he is guarded like they've had him on Middleton, they've had him on
Drew Holiday, they and that's part of the reason why the Suns can switch
themselves when they want to is because Devin Booker is. Yeah, the offball
stuff can get weird still, yep, but he's I don't want to say,
he's like a really good on ball defender, but this is, you
know, if you're in a plus plus plus plus plus offensive player who plays
C minus defense, let's just like I might even be underrating him there this
season, you're a mega star, like yeah, no, so like I
don't know where you so if you kind of group him, I always thought
of him sort of in a tier with like Donovan Mitchell, Jason Tatum.
I feel like Tatum kind of jumped a couple of notches ahead of him,
even Jalen Brown now Jamal Murray when he was healthy, I think I put
him. I think Tatum's the only guy I'd even think about taking over him.
But like, Booker's just proving it right now. So I don't know
in that class of this like next generation of stars that I think are sort
of ready to kind of flip the power structure a little bit. I think
Bookers is good better than like any of those guys, clearly better to me
than you know, Murray Mitchell, Like that back backgroup. Three quick notes
here, the last of which is going to kind of hammer out what the
locks because top ten was in my mind is do you have a justification?
But Devin Booker, there a couple numbers that are standing out to me.
Is just I don't know that his passing has received enough recognition. It is
now in the playoffs, but just in general, So he has when you
I'm trying to phrase this because it's like it is a mouthful, but among
everyone in the postseason who has averaged at least twenty passes per postseason game,
and that's a total of ninety three players. So among ninety three players who
have average at least twenty passes per postseason game, he ranks fifth in assist
to oh my God and assist to past percentage adjusted, And that assist to
past percentage adjusted is the percentage of passes by a player that are assists,
tree throw assists, or secondary assists. The only players in front of him
are Damian Lillard, Russell Westbrook, Trey Young, and Luka don Chich.
And I know he's not his primary ball handler. The primary ball handler,
You're like, Chris Paul does a lot of the he is the primary playmaker
for the Suns, but his passes are meaningful. And now anyone who thinks
that he's benefiting from the presence of Chris Paul. Everyone's benefiting from the presence
of Chris Paul. But we are now over the past five seasons, so
since his sophomore year, he is averaging twenty five point one points five point
one assists per game on fifty seven six true shooting percentage. The only other
players who are at twenty five and five on his true shooting percentage during that
time are Jannis, James, Harden, Dame, Kevin Durant, Lebron,
Steph, and Kyrie. So it's seven players, which is I guess is
semi large grouping, but they're all just superstars. Yeah, And so I
wanted to point out that, like Devin Booker's body of work supersedes just this
season. And when you're looking at the top ten guys, my locks for
the top ten would be Lebron, Harden, Jannis, Yokich, Luca Kawai,
Steph Embiid and KD are my only locks. And that's nine. And
once you get past them, you have Dame Anthony Davis. You mentioned Jason
Tatum, I'm just wondering, like, who else are you putting in front
of Booker? Aside from that though, which leads me to believe that top
fifteen is the correct answer. Maybe not the safest because I think people will
argue for Look, you can't argue for Jamal Murray right now because he's not
healthy. They will argue for Donovan Mitchell. Like I said, Jason Tatum,
I'm just like, when I'm looking at just the where would I put
him specifically? I think I'd have Dame as my tenth best player, like
to round out my ten, And then I'm like between a D Tatum and
Booker for eleven, and I don't know, like there's a chance that I
might put Booker over a D. It's a Booker and Tatum over a D.
At this point, well, I mean, the thing is like and
this is gonna get very you know, sports talk RADIOE. But in addition
to there's no questioning the statistical company Booker is in. I just I think
I've been more impressed at the shot making is incredible, the skill levels incredible,
but like his he's just tough like and this is such a hacky,
like unquantifiable thing but the toughness that he showed with the broken nose, and
just the the level of competitive it actually sounds like Jeffan Gundy, like his
level of competitiveness. He wants it. He wants it. He just wants
it at such a cliche, but like it's undeniable. He wants the big
shots. There were so many times tonight when the Bucks cut it to like
six or seven and he would just absolutely shred a three and just with Middleton
in his face or with just whatever. It's you know, it's the it's
the silly thing that you know, smart numbers. People will say, like,
well that three didn't matter anymore than any other points in the game.
I don't know. It just it feels to me like, in addition to
him proving uneququivocally that skill wise, he's an elite basketball player, he's you
know, top ten, maybe top fifteen, I think definitely he is the
type of personality I think that you can be very comfortable with as sort of
like the head of a snake of a very good team that's gonna win a
lot. And so, like you said earlier, if and when Chris Paul
is no longer a part of the suns. I think Devin Booker is very
capable of being sort of the you know, the guy who defines the identity
of this team. And I think that's the key, is what you said,
like being the head of the snake of a really good team is if
you're in the top fifteen. I think that's like the cut off, maybe
close to it. Maybe it's top twelve, maybe it's top twenty, but
that's the territory where you can be the best player on a title contender.
And I think that's what's most important, is what he's shown. And so
this is going to lead with Grant hughes Up. Bleacher Report says Devin Booker
wants it more than Jannis, and that's going to be if you haven't adjusted.
I had sons in six to begin this series. I don't know what
you had. I know I think you had sons. Yeah, I don't
remember. If I ever made any official predictions, I would have taken the
sons just because I with the Jannis injury, but you know, I think
it's still amazing that he's not their primary problem either the left knee. And
I mean we didn't yeah, we didn't talk enough about him. I mean
he was incredible tonight. He was the I mean, at twenty points in
the third quarter, that's just like, and he's not all the way there.
You can tell. Yeah, I think I think I don't see it
going more than six. I kind of think Phoenix is gonna get one of
two. I think it's I think I'm gonna go Sons in five. I
just think I think the Bucks are out of out of options, out of
ideas, and and I just don't know where they turn. So I think
maybe the Bucks get one, uh, just because they're gonna be super desperate
and the Suns might relax a little bit. I'm gonna take him in five.
I think i'd be with you. I tried not to overreact to Game
one. I'm very much overreacting. Now it's hard not to react to game
two, but I don't. I don't know that it's overreacting so much.
Is just reacting after everything that we've seen, And so i'd agree with you
there. Let's just make this unnatural segue though, into the most interesting teams
over the off season. You're you're the guests, so the floor is yours.
Who's your first team? Well, first, I'll just say that almost
all these have the through line of a star that they need to keep happy,
which always feels to me like it injects a special level of like urgency
for an off season. I won't take the Knicks, I'll leave them for
you. I assume they're on your list another Space Kings. They're not at
the top of my list, but no they're not. I left them off
mine entirely. I thought you get there. The first team that came to
mind was the Pelicans, which maybe comes as a surprise, but that my
first line item is what do you do to keep Zion happy? Because I
think even though we've sort of are going off of one report that his family
is frustrated. Like that's enough for me, especially with New Orleans history of
what happens with stars there. When there's just the tiniest like wisp of smoke,
it always turns out there's a lot of fire. So you have just
all these things to consider. You just fired your coach after one year.
Uh, you have Lonzo Balls restricted free agency. What are you going to
pay him? If you do pay him, you're locking yourself into him as
your third big salary slot because Zion's going to get his max ingram already has
his or if you pay him above market rates, which is what it might
take in this free agent market where there are no marquee free agents and several
teams have a lot of money? Uh, do you trade Brandon Ingram?
So there's those three things that are all kind of like tied together. Plus
can you do anything to get rid of Eric Bledsoe and Steven Adams which like,
certain he should not have gotten an extension and certainly not for two years
and dollars certainly by the way, But yeah, no, great, get
your money. He seems like an awesome guy, like probably one of the
better people and more interesting guys in the league, but he's not helping them.
Josh Hart's a restrict your free agent low key that kind of matters.
I think I could see him getting a big offer from somebody else where.
The Pelicans have to make a decision, and then, sort of in addition
to all that, if there's a team that has the AMMO to make a
really big like Brad Beal trade offer. The Pelicans basically control the Lakers and
Bucks drafts for like the next half decade, and they have their own picks.
So if you want to throw fifty seven first rounders and plus brandon Ingram
plus whatever into a deal for a star like that's on the table too.
They can put an offer out there that's gonna beat almost anybody's. So their
war chest is like overflowing. They have all these crazy competing incentives with all
their important players. So I just and who knows what this leadership structure?
Oh that's the other thing. The last thing is David Griffin has to know
that if he doesn't get this right, like he's gone because they just fired
the coach and the next step is always the ker above him. So there's
a lot happening with New Orleans. I just I think they're kind of a
tinderbox that could be really exciting this offseason. And look, there's I don't
care about teams paying attacks, but it is a reality in this situation where
especially now, the Pelicans aren't going to pay the tax. I have them
at thirty seven roughly thirty seven point eight million dollars away from the tax.
The restricted free agent capitolls of Lonzo Ball and Josh Hart are about thirty seven
point five, And so if you believe that they could get thirty seven point
five between the two of them. I'm not ruling it out. If someone
tries to throw a Lonzo his max is twenty seven five. If someone throws
him, you know, twenty million a year, like we're twenty five million,
then yeah, you're gonna get You're going to get like yeah there,
so there of a sudden're gonna be grappling with the tax and what do you
do. Are you gonna give up draft equity just to get off of Steven
Adams or Eric Bletzow because you're not really in a position to do that either.
That doesn't make you, you know, are you a better team if
you just get rid of Eric Bletzo or Steven Adams? Maybe, but it's
marginally like there needs to be a talent acquisition happening here, and I just
don't know how they do that. Maybe there's a trade wh if you include
enough draft equity, you can also get off one of those contracts. I
think everyone would still pointing to Miles Turner would be an ideal fit for a
team like this, But yeah, they're absolutely interesting. I just wonder if
you know, and I would imagine he does now David Griffin has the guts
to make Let's say if Dame becomes available, or if Bradley Beal becomes available.
I don't know if his ac lavine would do it for them. He
would be interesting here, But like, I don't know, the fact that
you're now kind of on the hot seat, you're probably not going to care
as much about all those you know, the Lakers twenty twenty four pick with
the right to defer to twenty twenty five. You're not gonna care about those
distant Milwaukee swaps because you're on such the hot seat. So maybe they are
right there to make the bigger move. There's also the you know you mentioned
the tinder box tinderbox aspect of this. What if they just like, don't
let Lonzo Ball leave and they didn't get anything for him. I assume that
that's not on the table because then you trade him at the deadline at the
same time, as I just mentioned, would it be outside the realm of
possibility to see the Knicks be like, hey, here's twenty two twenty five
million a year. I don't know. I don't think they should do that,
but I think they could, and well, I mean functionally they could.
They have a cap space, but like, I just don't think that's
outside the realm of possibility, and so what do you do. Do you
just match it and then hope that that's a tradable contract later, or you
cut costs elsewhere. There's a lot of moving parts here, and my guests
would be that both like one of Josh Art a Lonzo Ball is probably gonna
leave unless their markets somehow crater and are lower than we expect, and so
you might be losing a really good player. And that's just it's a very
combustible situation they're in because they still haven't made the play in tournament. This
was a team on paper where they were supposed to at least compete for that.
So here's here's sort of a weird paradox that they have to deal with.
Like I think the Zion thing gives them an immense amount of urgency,
right because they disappointed and he clearly to me looks like a franchise cornerstone superstar,
Like he's ready to be very very good right now. So there's urgency.
But there's also this idea that that just kind of occurs to me that
like we just talked about Devin Booker, right, Devin Booker's twenty four I
think maybe like for the first four of the six years of his career,
we were kind of like a I don't know, like, but guys get
better, and the guys on this team that are good are very young.
So if you had the luxury of patience, you could assume that a new
coach that the players actually like might get a little more buy in offensively and
otherwise from Zion, from Brandon Ingram from Lonzo if he stays, and they
could just absolutely organically get way better next year. But like, you can't
go back in. You can't go into next season with the same roster for
all the reasons we talked about, Like there's just it's gonna be too difficult
to sell that. So it's funny how like the best course might be patients,
but they just don't. I don't think that's an option for them.
Yeah, And I'm just I don't have any feel for what they're gonna do.
I think they'll probably keep or sign and trade Lonzo, Like maybe there's
a team that doesn't have cap space he wants to go to, and then
it's mutually beneficial for everyone to work out a deal. I just don't have
a you know, I came up with a I don't even have it in
front of me. Maybe I should, Maybe I should have brought it up.
But like a three team trade where they gave up number ten Eric Bletsoe
and Niquil Alexander Walker and some other like stuff. Oh, it was the
Lakers twenty twenty two pick and then a second rounder and they got Steven Adams
off that center and they got Myles Turner back. And I just don't know
if that's a move that's like big for them, is it? Because it's
it's a weird time where you don't want to necessarily make I don't want to
say an all in play because that's not what that was, but a very
buy heavy play because you might not be good enough. Yeah, and so
it's so confusing. That's why they're interesting. That's fair. I think my
team, first team is going to surprise you a little bit. I have
the jazz. Okay, Oh, I get it, let's hear it.
I think you can very much make the case that they again go further in
the playoffs if Donovan Mitchell isn't dealing with his ankle injury, because that was
clearly a thing for him, If they had Mike Conley for most of that
series against the Clippers. My whole thing is, I think what's become clear
is that even though their offense is going to be fine, they still need
that wing stopper. It doesn't need to be an all defense guy, but
they're Jay Crowder short. It feels like of being really matchup proof in the
playoffs because there are I don't view Rudy Gobert as a liability really ever,
like there are matchups like the Clippers where what he does best is not enough
to overcome the deficiencies on the wing in front of him. And that's a
big problem with going small is that Utah's perimeter guys, they're not going to
keep a lot of these other opponents in front of them, and that seems
where they're hurt most. And so there's that element of can you get that
wing type defender? And then I also think they do need the option to
play small themselves. That's the direction the league has gone in. And so
whether it's getting a wingstopper who can also give you those small ball minutes,
or it's that's a separate player, it's probably a separate player because there's only
so many Jay crowders out there, and the Sun's aren't just throwing jay crowder
at the five Willy Nilly themselves anyway, I don't know how they get there.
Looming over all this, by the way, is the specter of Mike
Conley's free agency. The Athletics Tony Jones reported that they're gonna do whatever they
can to resign him. And I don't view Mike Conley as someone who needs
to go to a sexier market, but he could just want to play on
a different team, like I think that that's eminently possible. He didn't choose
to be in Utah, so if he leaves, you're screwed. If he
comes back, I think you have a real conversation about I know people have
mentioned Joe Angels as the guy they could trade. I think you look at
moving Jordan Clarkson when his value is at its apex, or a boyon Bardonovitch
who you know he hit fifty percent of his pulp triples in the playoffs,
but I still one of them. I think you can get away if Mike
Conley's coming back of moving either one of those two. And the name I
circled for them is if Josh Richardson opts into Dallas. Is there a move
to be made there? Where is it Boyon Bardonovitch for Maxi Kleiba and Josh
Richardson Or is it Jordan Clarkson, Derek Favors and number thirty for Josh Richardson
and Maxi Kleba. Is there that type of framework there? There might not
be. Dallas may not want to help out Arrival, and I'm not sure
how much better off Dallas is with that trade, but they do seem incredibly
low on Richardson. But I just don't know what the move is. And
again I'm not certain, and I don't it hasn't just come out that he's
likely to stay in Utah. I just don't know what's gonna happen with Mike
Conley's free agency, and if he leaves, you really are in trouble because
I also think, and we saw this in the playoff when he was out,
he's kind of mission critical to keeping Rudy Gobert involved in the offense.
Yeah, no, I think I keep leaning back on. I forget when
it happened, but you know there was I think it was probably Tony Jones
in the athletic there's a Mike Conley interview, and he all he talked about
how much he loved him and his family loved Salt Lake City and how they
wanted to stay. And so anytime I talk about Mike Conley's free agency or
whatever, I was leaning back on that. While he likes it there,
so he's gonna stay, but like, what's he gonna say. I want
to get out of here as soon as I possibly can't. You know,
it's not it's ridiculous. The sort of there's there's kind of before you start
thinking about, well, what can the Jazz do to improve the roster via
trade assuming Colmley comes back a Calmley return on a deal on a market rate
contract, whatever that ends up being. If it's like twenty five a year,
you know, it could be more than that. Like Kyle Lowry got
I think three for ninety a couple of year, a few on his last
one. So my compan's only thirty three. There's I feel like people think
he's as old as Chris Paul, but he's he's only thirty three. But
so if you're gonna do that, and I think they sort of have to
because you can't replace him with you have no space to get anyone else from
the outside unless they're comfortable going way into the text. You have to potentially
move some of your your mid tier salary one or two of your mid tier
salary guys. So like the guys you're talking about Ingles Clarkson Favors, I
don't think O'Neil makes enough to really move the needle. You might have to
essentially salary dump one of those guys, Like I think that's a realistic possibility
too, And that only further complicates the idea that the very necessary task of
like we gotta update this roster so we don't flame out in the playoffs.
I think they clearly need a wing stopper. I think I was working on
something the other week, and he's not a wing stopper. He's been overrated
in the regard. But someone like Robert Covington would make sense in a scenario
like they faced against the Clippers, where you know you need guys that can
scramble around, and if you're not going to shut down a guy that you're
switched on too, that's at a different position. Maybe you deflect a pass
and you just derail the possession and Covington can do that. So I think
someone that sort of injects a little more sort of like well, sort of
meets the chaos of small ball with his own brand of like disruptive, defensive
chaos like that would make sense to me. But coming what are you going
to give the Blazers for Covington. I don't know, but yeah, they
clearly need to upgrade, and they've got all these other financial concerns that are
really going to complicate that. I thought about Derek Jones Junior two if he
opts in, could you do with Derek Favors or Derrick Jones Junior? Swap?
They make about the same amount of money and Portland, whether or not
they keep Nerk could use another big But Favors his salaries, you have to
view him as an asset. He I think he looks more overpaid in Utah
because he's playing like a like that's a ten minute role to play behind Rudy
Gobert. Yeah, most lines, but Derek Jones Junior at least gives you,
like some more pizzazz on defense. Yeah, I agree, I do
think I think Favors just doesn't have a place on the roster if they're trying
to win a title because those ten minutes a game just don't matter, and
they're duplicative in the playoffs when the only reason you're not going to have Rudy
Gobert on the court for the vast majority of the time is if you just
want to be smaller and Favors does not help you in there, which again
I think they need the option of going because they don't have that right now.
And the one thing I probably am not as concerned about as you.
I think they'll pay whatever in tax money next year. I think it's moving
forward after that if they don't win a title or flame out in the playoffs.
Again, they paid the tax this year. They were three point three
million into the tax about they have as of right now. They're well,
that's not including Mike Conley's hold, So like, if you bring back Mike
Conley, you're going to be a tax team, That's what I'm saying.
You're gonna they're gonna be like it's new ownership maybe and they're at the tax
now basically, So yeah, that is that is different from paying three million
in tax. But I think we'll probably see a Favors dump in that scenario.
I don't know, you can. First of all, Campi O'Neil.
He's the closest you come to having a wing stopper, so you can't even
trade him for another wing stopper. But because you just you need him,
and he's just he's on such a team friendly deal you can't afford to get
rid of him. So is there something that I mean, is there anyone
in free agency who can move the needle for them when they're like, will
they even use their mini MLI if they bring back Conley? I thought about
Nick Batoum, just you know, maybe him and Gobert or Chill and he
you know, he's still getting paid from Charlotte, but he might not want
to leave Los Angeles. He's someone who I wouldn't call him the wing stopper,
but he helps you. He defended a crap ton of tough assignments for
the Clippers, and he gives you the option of going small in certain instances.
It's probably not as fruitful as it was in LA though, because he
was also playing those minutes with like a Marcus Morris and a Paul George and
a Kauai at points, and just there aren't. That's the other trade off
here, is that going small and Utah's different from going small elsewhere because there's
not like this comprehensive perimeter defense in front of you. Gobert is that defensive
system and which is a testament to go there, but it also puts the
jazz in some precarious spots. Yeah, I agree. Who do you have
next? Who do I want to talk about? Should we just talk about
the Warriors? Is that interesting enough? I didn't pick them first because I
assume they were coming for you. Yeah, I mean so, I feel
like we've talked about them so much over the course of the year that we're
the only real changes are they have. We know they have the seventh and
fourteenth picks now, but like just to run down so again, I think
it's less of a concern than say the Zion issue in New Orleans or even
like Luca and Dallas. But you've got Steph Curry. You don't need to
keep him happy, so to speak, because I don't think he's the type
of guy that he's just different. He's not gonna I wish he was the
type of guy to do that, just because I'm tired of seeing this front
office kind of skate by. That's my right that's my spicy stack. No,
that's not wrong. But but but he is how he is, and
and so I think Any's extension eligible, by the way, for just an
absurd deal this offseason. So I don't think that's gonna be like even a
conversation. I think he's just gonna get it. But then, so you've
got seven, you've got fourteen, You've got James Wiseman, You've got Andrew
Wiggins. That's your some some combination of those pieces are your theoretical ways to
get an upgrade on the Wiggins salary slot. Another you know, a big
name whoever those even are. I don't know, Like Damian Lillard would be
fun and interesting and be like Brooklyn West, like it doesn't make any sense,
but the talent should work type of thing. Bradley Bill is never on
the table. Ben Simmons, can you play Ben Simmons and Draymond Green?
I don't know how. But so you have that the trade, the whole
trade thing, then you have the possibility of like, well, well they
what if they just used the picks and they you know, suddenly you've got
James Wiseman whatever he ends up becoming seven, fourteen Jordan Poole is a rotation
player. Now, how we prove that, Like, you have this kind
of interesting young core that could be the bridge to the post current era.
But like that doesn't do anything to keep Curry happy and contending? Now,
so is there a Kelly Ubrey sign and trade? I just like there's all
these weird little components. But I guess I come back to you know,
we talked about this probably even before the season, where I didn't feel like
then that there was a single move out there that would get the Warriors into
surefire contending status that was, you know, a realistic move, And I
kind of still feel that way. So I think that's sort of a bummer
to sort of have as the cloud overhanging all of the sort of interesting stuff
they could do this offseason. But you're gonna have to talk me out of
there being one big swing deal they could make that would demonstrably you know,
didn't even make the playoffs this year, by the way, like that would
elevate them all the way up to, you know, returning to contender status.
I would be interested in Pascal Siakam, even though with Draymond isn't clean
and that's been talked about you know, that's not an original idea for me.
I think Bradley Beale is still the move if he becomes available. What's
been interesting is seeing it from and so there's so many layers to unpack here.
Joe Lacob has mentioned like that there's a limit to how much they'll spend
on this roster, and so it's like the Kelly Junior sign and trade is
intriguing because he clearly doesn't want to be in Golden State. He basically said
as much on that Chris Hanness podcast. He wasn't happy with his demotion to
the bench this year. But also, when you look at the free agency
landscape, you don't see the team that's giving Kelly ubrig Junior a ton of
money, and so a sign and trade might be a way for him to
get more money than usual if you're sending him to a team that's going to
actually play him, but are you willing to? And that makes more sense
because it does seem that the Warriors and Warriors fans are I would say,
overly attached to Andrew Wiggins at this point. I get it. He was
valuable for you this season. He played fantastic defense. I think he's gonna
be even better on offense. People have you know, they say he was
a similar player on offense, maybe slightly more efficient. His role is going
to be more streamlined because Clay Thompson has come back, and so now you're
going from a number three to a number four. And imagine if you're the
number four in a team where your number three option and Draymond Green isn't afraid
to shoot at the rim. So, like, I think his role gets
easier, which will help him. He is still owed. Two years and
sixty five million dollars for Andrew Wiggins is a bad contract from a team perspective,
So our question if you want to move Andrew, like, I just
wouldn't be attached to Andrew Wiggins. Now that being said, I get because
they're so light on wings that unless you're trading for a wing, which of
all the names we listed fuel Siakam, if you throw Levigne in there,
they're not wings. And so I get that you want to keep Andrew Wiggins.
So then you unique Kelly Uber Junior sign and trade to help you get
to matching money, and then you need to owner a team governors to actually
want to pay more for this team because you're taking on money, then you're
not making lateral move when looking at your payroll. It does seem like what
I will say my guests would be that they don't do anything at this point
because it doesn't seem like it. I would agree with this move. They're
not just going to trade, you know, number seven for Marcus Smart.
That's not something they're gonna do, and that's fine. I would agree with
going that route. What I think they need to do, or what they
could do, is can you lower your sights a little bit where you're not
getting deal for this? But what's the name where you have to give up
two of seven fourteen, Wiseman and Wiggins rather than three or or all four?
Excuse me. To that end, I have a trade to throw at
you. It's predicated on and Kelly Ubrid junior sign and trade number seven,
number fourteen. They're twenty twenty two first round pick, unprotected, and they
can do this after the draft. So Stepian rulers, We're fine, this
is happening after their draft because I'm using the picks a salary in this twenty
twenty three first round swap with top three protection and then a twenty twenty six
first round pick top ten protected because you for some reason, oh a top
four protected twenty twenty four first to Memphis. That Andrea Gadala salary. Oh
that I get the thinking, but like it had to be cheaper to get
off of Andre Goadala I could have. Like, so I agree, well,
I want to count I counting right that there are essentially five first round
picks involved here our first of all. First of all, no, because
a swap is not a pick. A swap is a swap. I get
this from but it's it's four first round picks Kelly Uberg Jr. And a
swap. Okay, and you're getting back Zach Lavine. That's not doing it
for me. You've gotten to keep Wiggins and James Wiseman in this scenario.
Is my point. You're protected against disaster in twenty twenty six if you're bad.
And I think this year's picks lost a little cachet because okay they're too
Like, what would are you gonna like, let's take out the twenty twenty
three swap then, or you could take out the you know, if it's
one fewer first round pick, are you doing that? Because like you're not,
Zach Lavine is really good. And if you're not willing to give up
seven and fourteen and at least two additional things a pick and a swap or
two more like you're not getting like you're just commit to not doing anything,
would be my point. Yeah, well I may be ready to make that
commitment at following these questions, is I'm gonna have to max out Zach Lavine
though Zach Lavine is good and Zach Lavine is twenty five? Is he twenty
six? But so I realized that this So we just we just have been
drooling, drooling over Devin Booker. And I think a lot of the criticisms
of Devin Booker previously sort of apply to Lavine, like good stats, bad
team guy a little different because Lavine like demonstrably plays no defense and as a
ship passer, even though he gets a lot of assists, I push back
against the passing thing a little bit. I don't know. I think he's
like a I think those are a lot of empty assists numbers. But that's
not neither here nor there. I think if my choices are that or do
nothing, I'm not doing it because I don't want to pay Levine max money.
And I don't think he gets me to where I want to be,
to the point that I'm willing to sacrifice like so many different bites at the
apple to get someone that like how many shots am I giving up to get
a player that might be on balance as valuable as zach Levine and for the
for the version of zach Levine that cost me one hundred and some odd million
dollars. If I don't, I don't know, is there is there a
framework of that trade that you would do if we took out twenty twenty six?
I mean, can I just trade? Can I just trade like Wiggins
for Lavine? Can we just do? It's not but we would you do
like the Siakam framework that was thrown out there was basically seven Wiseman and Wiggins,
I think was like the deal for Sam, you'd do that. I
think I'd be more likely to do that. I think I don't know.
I'm not in love with that one either. Yeah. I look, I
just kept your weekends and Wiseman and you're you're out here complaining. Yeah.
I think probably it's because I just haven't come off my original stance of like,
there's not a move that makes them a contender. So as long as
Steph isn't uh, you know, setting the building on fire to get out
of there, I think I think part of that is just like you got
your rings, Like I'm satisfied with that. This is me turning back into
a fan of the Warriors, which like if you've heard me on here before,
I guess you should probably know that. But I don't know. I
just unless unless it's just like a complete no brainer where it's like who who
Bill really wants to come? There isn't there isn't like the name is not
even the no brainer just looking at his age and like that fit with Steph
is good luck on defense. You know what, the problems I think the
nets have maybe are going to maybe like indirectly create some really screwed up,
terrible rosters because people are gonna see like they just threw these guys together.
It made no sense, there was no chance this was gonna work, and
then it worked, and so now it's like, wow, damon, Steph
could totally play together. Just look at the talent, Like there's gonna be
some guys that there's gonna be some copycats that really flame out. No,
I don't know, you can't talk me into trading all the Warriors picks.
I don't think. Sorry, what about for Kyrie? And you're trading Draymond
Draymond picks for Kyrie, there's probably a thirteam because the Nets don't want picks.
Nah, I don't want I don't want Kyrie and Steph in the same
locker room. That's fair enough. You're press or time. Let me move
on to my next team to see if we can cut through a couple more
really quickly. I'm the Sacramento Kings. Okay, this is not a car
crash theory either. They're just approaching a point where it's like, hey,
you need to commit to a direction because this whole in between this or worse.
I feel like their fans deserve better at this point, and you are
approaching a natural pivot with we met. I think we mentioned Rashaun in this
podcast. They have a really bird writes on him, which, to boil
it down essentially means they could pay him around ten point three million dollars to
start, or they need to use cap space to resign him. I think
he gets more than ten point three million in free agency on a longer term
deal. So I don't think it's like a, hey, we'll give you
the mid level for four years, and will they create cap space to get
him? And at what cost does that cap space come? And are you
a better team a worse team because you subtracted talent? They to me are
at a point where they need to look at what Phoenix did with Chris Paul.
Maybe they look at what Toronto did with Kwai back in the day,
okay Se did with Paul George. Do they swing for a star trade because
they have number nine in this year's draft, they have all their own future.
First, they have Harrison Barnes, they have Buddy Healed, so they
have like salary matching tools of intriguing players. You have Tyrese Haliburton. Of
course I would only trade him for like you need to be getting a top
twenty player back if you're trading Tyrise Haliburton to me. But you have stuff,
so can you make that move? And if you can't, or if
you're unwilling to burn it down Tyres Haliburton, Daron Fox, everybody else at
number nine, everybody else has to go. And I think I'm curious to
see what they do or will they do. Historically, what the Kings have
done and tread water, and I don't know what they're leaning towards because they
made that the lawn right trade, and it's like, what was that really
aimed at? Because as of right now, if they come back, they're
fully healthy. Ad in the number nine pick, maybe you make a nice
mid level edition. I don't even know if you're better because what's happening with
Rishawn Holmes? What does your Senate rotation look like at this point? So
I think they need to commit to a direction, and I think that I
have an inkling that they will. It's probably an uneducated inkling, but I
think that there's they do something seismic one way or the other where it's going
after a win now guy. Maybe ends up being the wrong wind now guy,
but maybe they make that trade, and I think that they have.
I think they just do it. Do it. You've seen these other teams
and non glamor markets get after it, do the same thing, or hair
it down, just burn it all down and rebuild around fox Alibert at number
nine. And I don't think that's an away simplification either, because the Kings
are just I call it the sub middle of the NBA. That's where they
are. They're not firmly in the middle. They're in the sub middle where
if things break right, hey, you could imagine them getting six, not
maybe seven, eight in the last. They're making the play in but not
too much else. No, and they're a first round out no matter what.
Just I mean based on the talent. So what do you I agree?
And the problem I think a problem is that every year that the playoff
drought extends, the sort of the desire to end it and just let god,
let's win forty four games and like sneak in I think grows and it's
like that's the plan, that has been the plan, like for a very
Obviously they would like to be better than that, but I think that is
a success if if they you know, this is this is how you end
up with Harrison Barnes making twenty million a year. This is how you pay
Buddy Healed eighty four over five or four or whatever it is, ninety six
incentives. You're like, any reasonable talent that they come across, they just
like, oh, we gotta keep this guy because we got to try to
make playoffs. What do you think their best asset is that they would actually
trade. So Fox is out, Haliburton is out. Is it that ninth
pick? Because is it Harrison Barnes it's that? Or is it a future
King's pick because you bank on the King's Kings. So so how is yeah?
So I'm not even trying to throw the Kings like no, yeah,
of course like that. No, that's my thought is like the Kings can't
trade their first rounders like they need those. They're gonna be really great picks,
Liken, you know, but if yeah, I don't know. I
think so Siakam because we were just talking about him, comes strikes me as
an interesting guy. But I don't know. If nine, I guess nine
and a future Kings pick and you throw Barnes in there as the bulk of
the salary match, you have badly too interesting, is badly valuable? Okay,
So like, does he have positive trade value? No? Oh,
hell no, that's not positive trade value. But I think he has hope
and eleven point three for a year is over priced for him now, but
it's for a year. You could let him walk if it doesn't work out.
And the other thing is he's showed flashes towards the end of last season
and I'm still clinging to what he did towards the end of his rookie year
before we started dealing with injuries, and you know, the oddball King's rotation,
just showing a lot of catch and shoot range, nice little floor game,
confident in taking those turnaround shots. I think that, you know,
I didn't even think like if Toronto decided to hit restart, like if you
had like let's say Bagley nine twenty Robert Woodard, throw him in there the
wing and then a twenty twenty two first for Siakam? Do you need to
give another first? Can you protect it? I would consider it for Siakam.
That's you know, the other trade I thought of. And I guess
maybe this straddles too far in between, but I do think if he's healthy,
it would address their defense. Was Marvin Bagley Robert Woodard number nine a
lot will protect? Did twenty twenty two for Jonathan Isaac? Oh. I'm
all in on teams taking a huge swing on Isaac. I mean, I
think that's someone that everyone that has like high risk tolerance should be going for.
And I would do that in a heartbeat. If I'm the Kings,
I think I think I would too. I don't know if it's necessarily I'm
talking about, Hey, you need to pick a direction, and I feel
like that might be too straight, too far towards the middle. But at
the same time, if he can make your defense, and between him and
Barnes, if you sign a Cheapo center like, you could do a lot
of different things defensively. So the one of the thing is, I don't
know how many people are lower on Bagley than I am, like or have
been lower from the start, but it says something that even even I right
now feel like the best course for the Kings is you know, you got
to see if year four for Bagley is the year he figures it out,
Like you just you're you cannot trade him for value now, I don't think.
And it's like he's had so many chances, he's been hit by injuries.
I don't have any that he has like an actual serviceable position to play
in the modern NBA. But like, I think he's super critical to the
team this year because they just don't have I mean, Fox, I think
Fox could I always think Fox is ready to take a leap. He could
be an all star. Halid Burton were both high on. But I think
Badley, just like you sort of have to give him another shot, give
him a ton of minutes that he hasn't earned, and hope that this is
the year. And like that's such a leak. That's a bleak spot to
be in. It's bleak. But also they're kind of there if for Shawn
Holmes leaves, like they don't just like they're not overwhelmed with all these bigs,
Like, yeah, they can sign some for the mid level or cheaper,
but if you lose Rashaun Holmes, your center on this roster is chemezi
Metto, Like, yeah, you're I mean you can bring back Hassan Whiteside
for another minimum deal. I think this is this is a sad thing.
Like Holmes was really good for them and an incredible value at five million last
year, but like if he makes twelve debatable if that's a value contract,
fine type of center he is. If it's like fifteen, if it's eighteen,
and then it's like now you've made a mistake. You can't You just
can't do it. With as good as he is at what he does,
the things that he does just aren't good enough to justify you know, big
money. Do you have time to blow through another team each I do,
Okay, let's do Let's do Dallas. And again this is how do you
keep Luca don Chis from getting more pissed off because it seems like every report
that came out as he was mad at somebody. I wonder if he and
Iron are going to be case studies and how much power guys on rookie deals
or signing their second contracts actually have, because no, I don't think they're
not going to sign those deals. Dodgers are going to sign us this summer,
but like our team's already starting to worry about them leaving even though they
have four or five years left on their contract. Well do you remember I
feel like it was a couple of years ago when this was a conversation we
were having about Karl Anthony Town's not you and I, but a conversation was
being had where the Wolves have just messed everything up. It was before they
got Russell, which was clearly just to a piece Towns, and it was
like, if he didn't and he had already been maxed out or he'd signed
it, maybe it hadn't even kicked in yet. And what happens if Carl
Town says I got I want out of here. And I think maybe it
was on a low post podcast something, and the thought was that the Wolves
would say, like, no, sorry, you can just sit down and
not play. You're we are not trading you. Now. The clocks moved
up even more because these guys aren't even you know, we've moved two years
up. So I agree. I think the Dallas situation is a little different
than New Orleans because New Orleans like, sorry, but it's been It's a
backwater NBA team, right, Like their attendance is always among the lowest.
It's just like you're in SEC football country. You're not going to be the
biggest game in town. They all they do is lose their best players.
That's different. Dallas is, you know, certainly had very high profile problems
in the management side of things, but it seems to be a functional on
court operation and they tend to be pretty good, so at least you have
that working for you. But like Luca doesn't seem to be happy with anybody
that was in a position of power, So that's overhanging all of this.
Jason Kidd is your coach? Now, that's fun? What like, what
what does that what does that do yeah, big quotes around fun like terrible
decision, but so you, so you? Does that attract players? The
guys want to come play for Jason Kidd. I don't know. The sort
of nitty gritty of all this then, is like, is this the summer
Dallas makes a move before they have to deal with Donche's extension kicking in?
Uh? Is there a Porzingis trade out there? What are you going to
do with Tim Hardaway Junior's unrestricted free agency? Josh Richardson has a player option.
There's a path for them theoretically to clear enough money to go get a
Kyle Lowry or someone in that like sub slightly submac. They're probably the biggest
threat to Conley. I feel like, right for some reason, I don't
know why, but just like he played in Utah's played in Memphis, go
to Dallas. If you're in for Loury, you're in for Conley. It's
like, you know, if that's your type, that's your type. They're
not. You know, it's kind of the same idea. But the timing
thing is is interesting to me because the free agent crop is way better next
year. There's a ton of like that. That's a number two to Luca,
which we agree now and you are way ahead on this. Porzingis is
not and has never been. So your shot is never X offseason if that's
what you're going for, or do you need to do something now because Lucas
getting a little antsy? I don't know, there's just a lot of competing
concerns with again the you know, the one thing you can never do as
a franchise is drive your best player and you're you know, generational talent out
of town, and like that's a like low key risk if things don't go
great over this offseason and the next one. Yeah, and there's the I
think it was John Hollander and Nate Duncan posed this question. I don't necessarily
like looking at players in these but it was basically would They asked, would
you rather have Tim Hardaway junior? Or you're you know, eighteen to twenty
five million in cap space? And I just I look at the free agent
market and I honestly don't know if it's if you're gonna get a Lowry or
Conley. The answer is pretty easy, but how likely are you to get
those guys when you've never hit you know, have you ever hit a triple
in free agency. They've tried, Yeah, they've tried to swing for Homers,
and I wouldn't call those guys a homer like Homer's necessarily because of their
age and what they'll cost. But you know, and there are other things
they could do if you want to maybe keep part away is I don't think
he'll cost. I mean, if they end up paying him nineteen million a
year like he made this year, that's tough. But if you can if
Josh Richardson opts out, because eleven point six million is like right on the
cusp, I don't know who wants to pay him that right now, but
there's a dearth of wings available. And in theory we're dating back two years
now, but in theory, he could make shots off the dribble. In
theory he can hit threes. And he wasn't great on defense this year,
but in theory he could defend one through four. So maybe he opts out,
and that gives you more wiggle room. Do you grease the wheels of
a Dwight Powell salary dump? So you could maybe keep Tim Hardaway Junior and
add these other guys. But then it's like we'll have you den steered way
too far into offense, and is it you know, if it's Tim Hardaway
Junior and Mike Conley or Kyle Lowry's your off season and you've burned some equity
because you dumped Josh Richardson, You've dumped Dwight Powell, Like, are those
the moves that elevate you to title contention? I don't. I don't know,
maybe because I do think that putting any kind of secondary shot creator around
Luca nanch just goes a long way, just because we've seen how dangerous the
mass can be. At the beginning of series when it's just him, he
just seems to peter out. Towards the end. They might come close,
but it's it feels the collateral damage that would be involved. It just feels
like it's not worth it. But then I'm like, Okay, well,
are you worried about keeping Josh Richer send to Tim Hardaway Junior. Why am
I overthinking this? So? I don't. I'm fascinated by the off season,
dude, because I don't know what they do and it seems like a
big trade is out of the question unless they move for Zingis, and I
don't know how much value he has at three years one on one point five
million dollars left. I think he's probably more intriguing than a Kemba Walker at
two years and seventy three whatever he's at, But that's also not saying much.
It just took the number sixteen pick essentially to grease the wheels of a
Kemba Walker dump and you still have to take back an Al Horford, who's
good, but like that contract is weird, Like he has like half guarantee
in the final season, So it's like, do we pay al Horford fourteen
million dollars to go away or do we just eat him at twenty seven or
whatever he's on the books for in that final year, which is six five.
I was closed. It shouldn't be like look just looking at well,
what do the MAVs do? What you know, what are their options?
Like it feels bizarre that there's urgency because like, this shouldn't be hard.
You already did the hard part. You got you know, the best under
twenty five player in the league, and I can just do everything can be
your entire like Trey and eight and have both been to the conference finals or
beyond. Luca has not right what's Luca? What's Luca ever done? Like,
but it shouldn't be hard and it feels like Dallas has kind of I
don't know. I just so in answer to your first question or that you
were you brought up, like, well, what's better eighteen to whatever?
Twenty two? Twenty five million caspasers or Tim Hardwood Junior? The answer is
it depends, and it depends on, well, what's what free agent crop
are we talking about? Like what what's out there this summer? I don't
know, like I think you said, like, I don't know what that
money's gonna get you. That's a significant upgrade that isn't going to tie up
a bunch of money next offseason, because I do think, like we've seen
that it can be a mistake to build your long term plans around a particular
offseason where you think a particular free agent, be honest, is going to
be available and then he's not. So like, oh, I want to
everybody wants to save cap space for twenty twenty two because you know it's gonna
be a better crop whatever. Like a little risky, but it is clear
that as of now, the free agents that it might be available then are
better so if your Dallas, is there a balloon deal you can give someone
like not really because you can't a one year deal because you can't really,
Like, what's the point of paying Tim Hardaway Junior, like a whole bunch
of money on like a one plus one where it's a team option on this,
Like what's that get you? You're not getting appreciably better and Luca is
good enough to help you contend right now. So I don't know. The
timing part of this again is like the most fascinating aspect of it, because
I just don't know how they kind of thread the needle of we need to
contend next year because Luca's ready, but then we also want to be able
to contend for five more so that he stays happy. I don't know what
the answer is. Well, the other thing is too, is that Luca
Dancers is going to be on his SuperMac, So it's I don't know why
you can serve room that you're not going to have between him and Chris porzingis
not next season but the season after. You're looking at more than sixty million
dollars of commitments right there, and so plus Dwight Powell, you're over seventy.
I'm assuming you bring back Kleiba at nine. That's eighty. Like cap
space very quickly goes out the window. And I'm assuming you want to keep
Dorian Finnie Smith cap hold seven point six. You know there's you're not gonna
get max room. You'll have to move Porzingis, and so I would be
I'm a big fan of create cap space when you need it, So if
there's good players to bring in on multi year deals, do it. I
just don't know what this team, the quality of talent gets them with the
money that they'll have to spend. And I still don't have an answer to
would you rather have if that's the choice, the full breadth of your cap
spending power or Tim Hardaway Jr. I don't know. Well, I mean,
what are you going to pay to bring jj Reddick back? That's the
real that's the real question. Final team, and I'm not picking the next
By the way, they were on my list, but they were not one
of my top three teams because I don't think they're gonna be uninteresting, but
I think it's very much going to be They're gonna sign short term deals and
kick the can into twenty twenty twenty three, and it also wouldn't surprise me
if like they didn't sign Julius Randall to the I think he can get like
four. I have all my cap sheets up. I should just scroll at
their tab. But like he can get like four and one oh six is
the max extension he could get or four one oh three. I think that's
probably from a team's perspective. I hope Julius Randall gets all the money.
I wouldn't give him that four one hundred makes me a little uncomfortable for ninety
would probably be more of my range, but that's I want him to get
paid. So I just don't think they're gonna do anything. I don't think
they're gonna throw out like a huge offer seed to a John Collins or Alonzo
Ball. I don't think they're gonna be involved in Kauai. Maybe Kauai and
Dame also decide they want to play in New York, but it's very much
like, yeah, they'll be on the prowl for a blockbuster trade if it
comes. Otherwise, they're going to maintain their flexibility. I don't see them
getting super reckless over the long term, which is why they don't interest me.
In a good way. I just want the Knicks to be normal,
as everyone who listens to this podcast, no debtingly disenchanted Knicks fan is what
I count myself as. I just want a normal team. I have the
Raptors number four in the lottery. Kyle Lowry's entering free agency Messiah Jerry.
I think his contract is up right now, but he's still working for the
team. So does he get like a per diem of a million dollars per
day? Like? How does that? What is happening there? There are
so many different directions they could take this for I want them to bring back
Kyle Lowry, re signed Gary fred Junior, keep Chris Bouche. I'd probably
get rid of Baines, get rid of Hood. I think they could be
a really good team when they're healthy. We just didn't see them healthy this
year. But Kyle Lowry might just leave because there are teams that are better
positioned to contend. Or maybe the Knicks are like, hey, here's a
two year max or something, or here's a one year max, or here's
two years and sixty five million dollars or something, because they want to maintain
flexibility while getting him, or maybe he wants to go to Dallas or Miami
will probably be involved. Maybe he'd used them all as better contenders. What
do you do at that point? Do does having the number four pick in
Bolden you to be like, hey, we have og, we have number
four. Whoever that winds up being Gary Trent juniors only twenty two? Should
we look at moving Siakam and Van Fleet, both of whom are twenty seven?
Do we look at moving just Siakam because Van Fleet feels a little bit
more plug and play? Do we keep it together? The Raptors outscored opponents
by five point eight points per one hundred possessions when Siakam, Van Fleet,
Trent, and ad Aobu played without Lowry. So this is not a bad
team without Kyle Lowry, But like what is? And you could have cap
space if you get rid of hood Aaron Baynes, keep Bouche. Let's say,
keep Gary Trench Junior's cap hold. You get to about sixteen million dollars
in cap room. I have no idea who that gets you in this market
or who you even want to get in that market. I just don't know
what they're gonna do. And then there's just the element of Okay, Does
having Massa u Jerry make it more likely they would blow it all up?
Does it make it less likely if he leaves? Does that mean they're more
inclined to rebuild? And they could also Technically I wouldn't endorse this necessarily,
but like they could make a huge trade, like if Dame really was available,
why not? He has four years left on his deal, you have
number four. Build that around van Fleet future picks, see what it gets
you. You could go after other guys, like if you wanted to get
in on the Brady bal sweepstakes, should those ever become a thing. I
think that's probably the least likely path they take. There are so many different
directions they could travel, and I don't know that there's any one right answer.
But I also don't know that there's any one more likely answer. And
I think people will say that Kyle Lowry is ninety percent going to leave.
I'm just not sold. The fact that he didn't get the play in Toronto
last year, the fact that you kind of look at his options. Signing
and trading out of Philly is tough because they would be hardcapped, which unless
they're moving Ben Simmons is almost impossible to get around for them. Mimmy like,
yeah, well, I guess the Nicks, no Dallas, and like,
yeah, those are destinations if they're gonna pay you, sure. But
if I'm Toronto, I don't mind bringing back Kyle Lowry on an inflated to
year deal. So I just think it's more likely that he stays than people
are crediting. But I honestly just don't have a feel for how their off
season's going to pan out, which is why I'm tantalized. They're on my
list too. And the more I thought about it, though, because for
all those reasons, they have all these all these balls in the air potentially
and all these directions they could go, and the Massaias future I think hangs
over everything. But h the more I thought about it, the clearer it
gets to me that like they they're in a great situation, like they're like
to just keep this together. I mean, it's they didn't luck into the
fourth pick. They tanked real hard towards the end of the year to get
it to improve their like, you know, they earned that quote unquote earned
that that fourth pick. But this is a team, you know, granted
Kauai has gone Danny Green's gone. They want a title, and then I
think I may have been in the bag form a little bit too much,
but not But this past postseason, I thought they were a real threat to
come out of the East again. I really like, I just liked that
team. They didn't do it then come back close. Yeah, I thought
they were really good. The only thing that is changed now that really means
it thing is Lowry is a little older. But you know, Siakam I
think is going to be better than he was last year. The team will
not be playing in Florida, which has to be a factor. Og And
and Nobi is on the Kawhi track, I think, like, I don't
think he's Kawhi, but if you just look at their first, second,
third, you know their progressions. The numbers are similar, the makeup is
similar. I think Anonobe is a guy that, like if he just popped
an average twenty a game next year on good efficiency and was a first team
all defense guy like not surprised. So their upside just organically is high.
Then you add number four if that's Jalen Suggs, Like suddenly your three guard
rotation is nasty and all you need the center and the center is the easiest
thing to get, and you can play Siakam at center, or OG can
guard centers going like they're they are like just the sleeping giant that's built to
win playoff games. For all. We just spent, you know, all
this time talking about what playoff teams need. They have all that stuff.
So if you bring Lowry back, which like you, I hope they do,
you can just be really good now and you've got the number four pick
and OG carry you forward after this course sort of, you know, the
older parts of it age out, so they have a lot of options.
Don't don't let Lowry get away if you can help it. I just I
love the Raptors. I'm always gonna love the Raptors, and I want them
to stay this way forever. So do I. I just don't have a
feel like you for whether they're going to do it. Grant, this was
fantastic. You stayed way longer than you said you were going to. But
it was fun to talk about actual basketball. And you know, there's twenty
eight teams are preparing for the off season right now, so it was good
to talk about that as well. I'll be pestering you again in the future
as you know by now. I hope at least. I mean, if
it comes as a surprise when I ask you to come on, that's I
feel like that's on you at this point. Follow Grant on Twitter at et
underscore. Hughes does a great job covering the NBA for Bleacher Report and tweeting
on a bi monthly maybe sometimes even like bi weekly if you're lucky basis.
Thanks again, Grant, you got it. Thanks Dan