What is crack a lack in all the Woodknox listeners. I am Dan for
Valley, coming at you with a quick NBA Draft rumor round up ahead of
Thursdays Prospect pageant. Just want to go through the latest news speculation, give
my interpretation of it what I think it was titled by ourselve. That's basically
what we're doing, not commenting on the reportings. I'm only using rumors that
I deem valid enough to or we should deep valid enough to discuss before we
dive in quick programming. Though, We're gonna be publishing probably daily, if
not maybe sometimes two pods daily right up until the start of free agency,
so make sure you're downloading every episode if you have subscribe. We're going to
have division look aheads coming out. I'm doing that with my good friend and
colleague Bleacher Reports Grant, and we decided it would make sense to just wait
until after the draft to begin all of them. So it is going to
be a ferocious publishing schedule over here at Hardwoo Knox, which is why you're
also not hearing from us until the middle of this draft week. And I
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one of you, But it feels like it's time to try and dive through
this rumor mill that I have. I've been pillaging through and we're just gonna
stick to like the biggest moves. It's not Look the Lakers want to buy
a second round pick, that's awesome. We're not going to go through that
type of stuff. I'm focusing on the meat and potatoes of the rumor mill
here. This one is only tangentially related to the NBA Draft, if not
at all. There was the report to start off the week from the Athletics
sham Shrania that the Nets and Kyrie Irving are at an impasse in their discussions
on his next deal. He holds that player option ahead of free agency.
Wog also as of Wednesday, Tuesday night or Wednesday morning, was talking about
how the Nets are worried to unfasten themselves from Kye. Th unfastenating was the
word that he used. They want to draw a line sort of in the
sand on his contract talks, but they don't want to risk alienating Kevin Durant,
who is a good friend of Kyrie, and the whole reason Kevin Durant
is in Brooklyn is not twin in Brooklyn. It was to play with Kyrie
Irving in the first place. He's not really had ample opportunity to do so
to this point, there was I think Nick Fredell. I didn't read the
article, so I don't want to. I hope this wasn't taken out of
context, but ESPNS Nick Fredell had apparently said that the friendship between them isn't
as close as it seems sometimes. I don't like it matters that they're still
friends, though, and that Kevin Durant publicly has been supportive of Kyrie for
the most part. I think even hinted in an interview we did that there
have been frustrations, especially with Kyrie's availability season, but I don't doubt that
these two are on good terms. The James Harden situation doesn't end the way
it does if Kevin duran and Kyrie Irving aren't still in this together. That
thirty six point seven million dollars player option, it lose large in this entire
discussion. I do think that Kyrie's camp was probably trying to create some leverage
here that he would really consider leaving. If I'm the Nets, I might
think about calling his bluff. At the same time, this feels like a
marriage out of necessity for both teams. Where is Kyrie going to go?
As a fair question to ask, He's not going to sign outright with the
Pistons or the Magic the Spurs maybe, but even that would be just like
a little bit surprising at this point, given where they are at the stage
of their development. You can go to sign and trade route, but one,
who are the Nets going to do business with where they're getting adequate value
for Kyrie in return? And two, a lot of the teams that he's
going to want to go to are gonna have a hard time completing assigned and
trade while staying within the hardcap and the Clippers, just as an example,
assign and trade is not going to work for them. They're just too far
over the luxury tax apron as it stands. Even if you might like a
package if you're Brooklyn built around Terrence Mann, Marcus Morris, Reggie Jackson,
is there as well, Norman Powell. Of course, it could be ditto
for the Lakers. I know they've propped up. If the Nets decided,
hey, we want their twenty twenty seven and twenty twenty nine first, and
we'll take back Russell Westbrook, and they would like, I guess, like
the Lakers have a little bit more. I don't guess the Lakers do have
a little bit more flexibility there than the Clippers. I just don't see a
pathway then flushing out the rest of the roster competently, and the math on
Tyree Irving's next contract and design and trade would absolutely matter as well. Since
the Lakers already have leading into next season more than eighty million dollars committed to
Lebron and ad alone, and the luxury tax aprons one fifty five point a
little bit over one fifty five point six next year, so you would have
in essence seventy six million. Let's now would be about seventy five million,
let's say to pay Kyrie his max salary, flesh out the rest of the
roster, which that gets pretty hard pretty quick, and you have town Horton
tuck around that ten point three million dollar deal Kendrick Nunn picked up his five
point three million dollar player option. There's a lot of logistical gymnastics involved there.
There are some other teams that could more easily do this. Of course,
Kyrie has to want to go there. There's also been the speculation maybe
he would opt into his contract and that would help facilitate a trade. Again,
it still matters what the Nets are getting back for him. And also
if you're Kyrie irving the money that you've made, and a thirty six point
seven million dollars salary is nothing to just sort of slouch at, but you
have the ability to sign for forty two point seven just next year, that
is a pretty substantial increase. It's almost six million dollars. And also given
your not just his vaccination status costing him games last year, which just throughout
his career always with the injuries that he has dealt with, you probably want
to lock down some longer term money he could still leave outright, or maybe
there's a signed tradeossbility if a team is willing to go nuclear. The Knicks
would be an example. Are they willing to just dump a bunch of salary
for a cat's an excellent job? Laying out the steps they would have to
get there. I don't even want to go too deep into it, just
because I don't view it as a realistic option. Kyrie leaving the Nets at
all, to be honest, but a team like that, if they can
clear cap space, the Knicks would also have an easier time getting involved in
assign and trade. That being said, if you're Brooklyn, are you sending
Kyrie like to the Eastern Conference to someone in your division? Insofar's divisions even
matter at this point? Is the offer good enough to do that? It
feels like even if the Knicks were giving their top dollar offer, or even
if they were smitten with the Lakers twenty twenty seven and twenty nine. First,
this requires third fourth team facilitation for squads that might actually place more immediate
value in those picks, because the Nets are going to want impact players,
And that, to me is what this all comes back to. Is if
you're the Nets, you can't move on from Kyrie Irving and think you're going
to get better, especially if you've already lost James Harden the mystery box that
is Ben Simmons and his back right now. You also can't move Kyrie Irving
and just assume that Kevin Durant will want to stay. We can get into
whether you think he should have went to Brooklyn in the first place. If
you're making this decision from your own perspective, the answer is no, Kevin,
why would you leave the Warriors to the Nets. But Kevin Durant wanted
this, and that's fine. I don't. I don't have an issue with
that, and wanted to play with his friend, wanted to play in Brooklyn.
I really don't. He wanted to go there, and players have agency.
That's that's great. He should play where he wants to. I'm sure
he considered that. Maybe that was costing him a few titles. Maybe he
didn't even consider it, Maybe he doesn't care. Maybe he still thinks the
Nets are championship contenders, which news flash. Kyrie Irving's healthy, Kevin Durant's
healthy. I've been Simmons his healthy. Next year, they're absolutely just that.
I still say calculus could change, not trying to project my feelings onto
Kemn Durant. I still feel his calculus could change if Kyrie Irving's not there
anymore. And so you have to take that into consideration. If you're Brooklyn
this all feels like it will end with a middle ground. I don't know
if it's just a shorter deal that the Nets are signing with Kyrie. Maybe
it's a a two plus one or something that gets him to free agency soon
or doesn't tie them down to him as long. Maybe it's just a full
boat at this point. But because of the nets lack of other options,
I would argue they have less leverage in this situation than Kyrie Irving because they
have to be committed to possibly rebuilding and starting over. If you let Kyrie
Irving go or move him, that's doesn't you would tenderly have to trade Kemn
Durant. But that all of a sudden just becomes an issue if you're trading
the primary reason that he came to Brooklyn in the first place. So I
expect all this to end with Kyrie playing in Brooklyn next season. Worst worst
case scenario, he starts the season there after signing a new deal, and
then they can move him once he's trade eligible if this marriage is that far
gone, which again, this just feels like a public game of chicken that's
being played more so than anyone else. One of the other biggest or the
Probably the biggest draft rumor right now is John Collins will be moved at some
point. It's just like this known thing. Wode said during an appearance on
Sports Center that the Hawks are was motivated as any team the league to make
a significant deal or deals to improve their team, to try to find a
co star for Trey Young. I think it's very likely John Collins is going
to be part of any of those deals. I think he's very likely on
the move somewhere this week as they try to do something big in Atlanta this
week. Verbiage caught me there. Bleacher Reports Jake Fisher also reported that Collins
is view just the most likely trade candidate among impact veterans around the league,
and that there's mutual interest between him and the Hawks organization and finding him a
new spot. Sam Amick, also on the Athletic NBA Show, had said
the Hawks have been tied to Jeremy Grant. They've talked to the Kings about
the number four picking a deal that would likely involve Harrison Barnes. I have
to assume there are third and fourth teams there as well, because unless the
Hawks are giving up Trey Young, I don't know how you're getting Harrison Barnes
and number four and a John Collins deal. Fisher, though, did say
that the talks between Sacramento and Atlanta have actually not included the fourth selections to
this point. Anarchy, that's what it is right now. John Collins trade
feels fad to complete. I gave my thoughts on that in the last podcast.
Hawks fans destroyed me for that. In the YouTube comments, I got
shipped from Suns fans for saying I don't think the Hawks should be moving John
Collins for DeAndre Eten. I don't think it makes them better when you have
Clint Coppela and Yaka Kongou as well. Even if you think DeAndre Ayton is
the better player than John Collins, I don't know if DeAndre Ayton is the
better fit alongside Trey Young. I don't know if Deandredon's gonna have a more
self sustaining offensive game if you give him even more responsibility, which you might
not because Trey Young is Super Bowl dominant himself. People pointed out, well,
then you move Clint Capella and or Onyeka Kungwu, like part of the
value in a trade is not oh, I have to get rid of at
least this other guy to make room for DeAndre, and if it is that
player needs to be an absolute megastar, which DeAndre is not. I still
think John Collins is incredibly underrated. His offensive game is so scalable. I
think a lot of at least Hawks fans in the YouTube comments were underrating what
his floor game could be. To me, there's not like a super high
processing speed there. I also don't know that the Hawks have given him a
realistic opportunity to plumb the depths of that in his current role really ever since
the Clint Capella trade. You also turn him into more of a spot up
guy because of the Capella trade, since he can't be the primary screener and
finisher rim runner on as many of those plays anymore. A better situation,
I think he probably looks better, or even if you kept him with Cappella
gave him some more offensive responsibility. It is crowded though, within Atlanta's pecking
order. You have Trey Young and then you have Bogdan Mgdanovich, you have
Kevin Hurder, so there are names that are going to be in front of
him. Gallo maybe won't be there next season. Perhaps that opens up opportunities
for John Collins, but this sort of feels too far gone. I'm not
saying the Hawks shouldn't trade John Collins. I think it would just be a
mistake to trade him for the sake of trading him, and they're clearly doing
their due diligence, otherwise this deal would be done. I'm more so fall
on the side of I'm not moving John Collins for draft equity. Yeah,
if it's a top four pick, reconsiderate, I guess, but Jay and
Ivy Trey Young unless you think one of those bigs are going to be there,
which case you still have to worry about the Capella fit. Unless you're
going to take a more gradual approach. I don't want to say completely start
over, but retool, quasi rebuild, whatever you want to call it.
I don't think that moving Collins and getting better is easy, because you have
to target players who are worth Collins and then other stuff, other players that
actually improve your team. There's a case for me that Rudy Gobert is that
guy. I don't if I'm the Hawks and it's costing me at least one
first Cappella and Collins, any Rudy Gobert trade, not even saying it's straight
up it's not a complete deal breaker. It's something I have to think about.
It's not a no brainer from the Hawks, as good as Regal Bear
is, So I do now expect John codes to get moved. The Woges
language with mentioning this week. I thought maybe it would be something I'll be
addressed, like before the season, but it feels like regardless when the trades
completed. While the better idea of where he'll be playing basketball by the end
of draft night, I just I'm fully prepared to be disappointed in what the
Hawks do with John Collins at this point. And if this even screams or
hints at any semblance of oh, they're trying to save money given their proximity
to the luxury tax, I will be furious because that's just to be a
misallocation of what's a really good player. And look, let's give the Hawks
a benefit of the doubt here. The trade has not been made yet and
they're clearly not dealing him willy nilly, Otherwise that might have happened already.
So John Collins trade, I don't know that I buy the idea, yeah,
that you have to move him but it certainly seems like he's going to
be moved this week New Orleans. This comes from Jake Fisher or Bleach Report
as well. If they cannot get Benedick Mathren or Dyson Daniels, excuse me
at number eight, they're reportedly open to moving down the draft ladder. That
was per Fisher. I'd buy it. I mean, Benedick Mathren is a
great fit just to provide motion shooting and another wing on that team. I
really like Dyson Daniels sort of this do everything wing who I don't know if
he's going to be super great off the dribble or hitting jumpers, but he
is a really good playmaker. He can defend his butt off it's six to
eight. He gives you a lot of positional flexibility. I think that the
passing and defense alone will have an instant impact. He is one of my
draft favorites, along with Marjehan Bochamp. That being said, I don't expect
that Benedick Mathren is still be on the board at number eight. Bleach Report
Shathan Washerman has him off beforehand did over Sam Vassini of The Athletic. I
believe Adam Spinella of the box and one has him off the board before number
eight as well. Tyson Daniels is sort of all over the place. Jonathan
Wasserman has him last thing until the number eight pick. Sam Massini has him
going I think at number seven right now, but as before the number eight
pick, and so moving down if both of them are off the board makes
perfect sense. If those are your guys, can you work out something with
Okase's number twelve Charlotte has thirteen and fifteen. Maybe you would even prefer to
get Usmanjang instead and just keep the number eight pick. I expect he get
Murried to be off the board by then too, which is probably why he
wasn't mentioned alongside New Orleans. But yeah, why not trying to attempt to
move down? I would be curious what teams were looking to get into that
spot if the players that New Orleans is targeting, specifically benned Ic Mathin isn't
there, But maybe they're trying to get a jail and Dern like, maybe
that's a team that's trying to leave up and get him. But I think
New Orleans should absolutely just be flexible on how they view this pick. They
could use sort of another I don't know, say the developmental project, but
use another infusion of lottery talent, of course, but they're also already good
enough. Is Zion's healthy to compete for one of the primary playoff spots in
the West, which gives you just some maaluability leading into draft night. I
wouldn't you know, I would want something immediate out of this pick, whether
it's actually using it on a player at eight lower in the draft or flipping
it for a veteran. I wouldn't be trading it for a distant first round
pick, but I think that they have more options on the table than a
lot of other teams in this situation. Jeremy Woo from si dot Com had
two interesting tidbits and among others, but the twos that stood out to me
in his latest mock draft. The first was that the Grizzlies are looking to
dangle number twenty two and the Anton Anthony Melton in an attempt to enter the
teams. They also had the number twenty nine pick. I don't think the
Anthony Melton. The number twenty two alone gets you into the teams just looking
at the draft order, I guess, like would a team like in Atlanta
I want to give up sixteen. Would Houston be open to moving back at
number seventeen? Charlotte does have fifteen. I don't know if the Anthey Mountain
alone is enough to do that. I guess if you think that you're primary
target is still going to be available and number twenty two, that changes the
calculus. The Anthy Mountain is also really good. He's owed eight point three
million next year, only a one point five million guarantee on his eight million
dollars salaries the year after, and he's become like this three indeed guard essentially,
and he can defend some wings, but he is just a a pesky
defender. And he has shown that he can hit threes over the past two
seasons without working with the ball in his hands a ton, and so that
makes him extremely plug and play if you're a team that has more immediate aspirations,
and maybe it's like a team like Charlotte would make so much sense,
but they have Terry Rosier there already, and I don't know, like why
you would want the Fte Mountain as well. I mean, I could see
what you would want him, but is that is he worth dropping back seven
spots if you're giving up fifteen the fthy Mountain is certainly not enough to get
at the twelve fourteen with Cleveland. I think they probably need more of a
connective tissue passer than the Anthy Melton is going to provide. I mentioned Atlanta,
I mentioned Houston, Chicago at eighteen, perhaps Minnesota at nineteen, and
then we're out of the teams right there. I think they would if you're
if you're Memphis, you probably need to dangle the twenty nine pick as well,
and perhaps that catches the attention of like a you know, Washington could
really use the Anthy Melton. Would you do twenty two twenty nine? A
Melton for number ten if you can't move up, because we know the Wizards
will get to that in a second, want Jade and Ivy or you know,
they can't take a swing like if Shayden Sharp. Some people have them
going as long as ten at this point. Maybe that's something that they consider.
It feels like Memphis needs to include a little bit more than Melton and
number two to jump up into the middle of the teams. It's it's like
number nineteen then yeah, that's you know, they're that worry they need to
move up three spots and strike a deal with the Timberwolves, then yeah,
more power to them. I suppose. The other thing from Jeremy was he
mentioned that the Warriors would be looking to move the their first round pick in
this year's draft, that's number twenty eight. I think it was. This
is spun is in service of them being able to just cut their their tax
bill. I don't I would just use the pick. I don't care about
saving Joe Lake up and crew like actual luxury tax money. If the player
you want at twenty eight is going to be available in the second round and
you can trade down and then you're not holding to the rookie scale. But
at number twenty eight, they're so cheap to begin with, unless you're going
the draft and stash like route, in which case, why do you even
need to necessarily get rid of this pick? So I just don't think it
makes a big enough of a dent. If you're moving it and just getting
rid of the pick, what are you getting for it? No team is
giving you a future first in exchange for number twenty eight right now? Are
you then moving that for a future second? So if you want to move
down and just escape being beholden to the rookie scale. I get it.
I don't know why you would move this pick otherwise, especially when you're trying
to straddle the two timelines and you've done it well thus far. Obviously as
the reigning champs, who also have Jonathan Cominga, Moses Moody, Jordan Pool,
and James Wiseman, I wouldn't be a big fan. Maybe the Warriors
surprise us and try and acquire some media talent. Again, I don't know
how they do that with this pick. They don't have like salary flots.
I'm just to include in trades. They haven't seemed like a team that's wanted
to shake up anything. And this pick is going to be worth as a
capital like two point one it's less than two point two million dollars. I'm
just I don't know the logic necessarily, aside from getting out of it outright
and trimming your tax bill that way, again, if you can get an
earlier second round pick, or maybe you know, Adams Panalo from the Box
that One did come on this podcast and said that there's just like this log
jam of talent where if it's like between twenty two and fifty five and if
you think that the guy you wanted twenty eight is gonna bevailable number fifty one
for some absurd reason, I guess you could punt on this pick entirely.
Otherwise use it on a player that can help you, like down the line,
whether it's draft and Stash, are actually bringing him into your program and
trying to develop him from here Jay Nivy when you talk about him, The
Knicks have apparently ramped up their pursuit of what is considered the consensus number four
prospect. Ian Begley of SNY wrote, as of mid morning on Tuesday,
I believe that the Knicks can get up to number four to select j Nivy.
That is some pretty strong language from Ian, who is as plugged in
his Knicks coverage as it gets and doesn't use language like that lightly. He
also wrote, it would take a significant piece. People in touch with Sacramentos
say that in the club's conversations with New York, the Knicks have talked about
offering you multiple first round picks. He doesn't know what players are offered,
but it wasn't enough to lock a deal in he closes with For the Knicks,
I think it will come down to whether they are willing to part with
one of their homegrown young players. Manuo, Quickly you'll be topping Quentin Grimes
in addition to multiple picks. This is interesting, we know, and we'll
talk more about the number four pick in the Kings of General in a second.
I buy the hell out of this idea for the Knicks. This is
the swing you make when you're wandering through the NBA's boondocks of mediocrity. Yo,
more, here's your future to clear enough cap space to sign Jalen Brunson,
a fantastic player who is not going to accelerate your position up the Eastern
Conference. He's really more of to improve while staying in place sort of player.
When looking at how you project your team moving forward, you certainly don't
hit your wagon in any way. To Kyrie Irving. You do what you've
ostensibly never done, and that's go after the potentially transcendent floor general who doesn't
accelerate or impede your timeline, but actively defines it. And so the idea
that the Knicks are considering going all in on Jay Nivey pursuit pursuit is actually
encouraging because they have of alternatives contingencies in place that I wouldn't be a fan
of. I like this aggressive move comes down though to cost. I think
the Kings are going to be the team that says no first here. Clearly
a lot of people think they should just move this pick because Jay and Ivy
and d Iron Fox don't make too much sense. I've come a little bit
more around on Jay Nivey's off ball offense, like his utility there and that
it could work. I just take him anyway and you figure it out later.
If he is the best player on the board. And I understand that
Kings are looking to end their playoff route spanning since two thousand and six,
I don't know if the Knicks are the team to help them do that.
They can include the number eleven pick, they can include the Dallas twenty twenty
three pick. They have all their own first round picks moving forward. But
then you're looking at sort of role player guys Neurlands, Noel Alec Burks who
actually just had foot surgery, Kema Walker, Like that's not going to get
your juices going. They have Evan Fournier. Those are like the impact players
they can give you. You're not gonna Waant Julius Randall. They're probably not
giving up R. J. Barrett in this deal. The impact players,
immediate impact players they can give you. I don't think they move the Kings's
needle enough to what they would want in a package for number four pick Now,
maybe the Knicks are offering so many future first, it doesn't matter if
they're offering number eleven and like two to three additional first. If you're Sacramento
to move down seven spots, yeah, maybe maybe you consider it. Perhaps
you're smitten with some players around that area. Perhaps you know that those assets
can be rerouted in another deal. They should certainly have interest. If the
Knicks are willing to include IQ or Topping or Quentin Grimes. IQ is not
redundant, but you're still running into a lot of guard questions with Fox and
Damian Mitchell already there. Quentin Grimes, the Kings need defensive wings. He
can. He's a little bit like he's not super big, but he can
defend up and defend on the wings, capably of three and D type.
It seems like some people think he has a little bit more ball skills.
I just don't know that we saw enough of him in New York oh,
we topping high energy guy. A front court with him and Samonis, though
would be probably pretty terrible on defense. Maybe they just plan not playing them
together. It feels like the future picks would be just a total of lore
for the Kings in this package, and I don't know how many Knicks would
have to include to get to that point. But if you're a Knicks fan,
you should absolutely be encouraged that this is the terms in which they're thinking,
and you shouldn't be discouraged if it winds up costing a small ransom to
get this pick. If Jay n Ivey is the guy, and he looks
like he's pretty clear, I mean, he's pretty clearly the best just advantage
point of attack creator in this draft. But if you think that he is
going to be able, his finishing is going to translate, that frenetic pace
is going to translate that he's going to even hone a mid range game.
You could trust him to hit maybe off the dribble threes moving forward, or
at least set threes off the ball. If you're giving RJ. Barrett Slash
Julie's random room to operate. If you believe that he is the guy,
you should absolutely be going after him. That is something this organization is just
not done. Even when they've had higher lottery picks than they do now,
they're not you know, go back to the Shake Gil Just Alexander draft,
where it seems like that was just a no brainer for them to draft the
guard with really good like who could who projected as a fair a good ball
handler could defend, but maybe a primary creator the Tyres Halibert and stuff that
is a little bit more obvious his creation at least than Jake Las Alexander's at
the time. I like that the Knicks are thinking in these terms. I
just don't think they're going to have the juice to get up to number four,
because if I'm the Kings, I'm looking at probably what other teams can
offer, or maybe I don't want to fall back that far, which brings
us to reporting from Bleach reports Jake Fisher. It's not just the Knicks who
were trying to pry number four away from the Kings. The Pacers, Spurs,
and Washington Wizards have all been linked to that pick. The sheer volume
of this interest doesn't necessarily increase the chances that the Kings will trade out of
what's deemed the Jay and Ivy spot, But the redundancy of having bold,
Ivy and Fox was Davion Mitchell does sort of increase to anything's possible factor here,
as does also the Kings's obsession with ending their playoff throughout. Maybe the
Kings keep this pick and go in a different direction, like a Kick and
Murray or a Benedict Mathrin. There they can deviate from what has been consider
the script. Maybe you just take Ivy figure like I said, and figure
out the Fox and Ivy stuff later. Inasmuch you even need to choose between
those two. A lot just going to depend on the deals that are presented
to them. I would guess that this just goes down to the wire right
before the pick is made. I think you could argue though, that Indiana
just being two spots behind Sacramento. If you're willing, if they're willing to
give up additional equity on top of number six, maybe even a future first
round pick, that deal might be easier for the Kings to make. The
Spurs can offer flat out more at number nine. I don't know if they
would be willing to. You would certainly like a lot of their young players
more than you would what the Knicks are. There's just more establishment there.
If it's a Keldon Johnson, if it's a Devin Missell, that just seems
a little steep for the Spurs to move up those five spots. If Washington
gets involved, they have KCP, they have Kyle Kuzma, the Kings need
wings. They can include a future first. I don't Denny Ava to move
up to four. That's a lot. I loved you. Everyone to listen
to podcast knows. I love Denny Abbia. The defensive progression he's shown over
his first couple of years has been really incredible. Just a lot more positional
versatility there than I expected, And I do think there's more of his just
looking at the physicality and some touchy show and putting the ball on the floor,
I think there's more of a there's a lot better of an offensive player
in there. If the if they Washington Wizards are willing to explore the depths
of his skill set. But in theory, like a lot of those,
if you're building something around Denny Abbia or a KCP and clues about a pick,
that might just be more enticing than what the Knicks are offering you,
especially given how much Sacramento needs wings. I don't have a feel for what
the Kings are going to do here. I'm a sucker for adventure, so
I just I want to see them create chaos and move out of the spot.
But it feels like it's going to come down to the wire. And
even though Jane and Ivy may not be the perfect fit, you can't take
moving. The number four selection. Lately, by any measure, somewhat obscured
within that bombshell Kyrie. Every report from Shams to the start the week was
an odd towards the Knicks. Continued interest in Malcolm Brogden, who's clearly a
contingency as to the Ivy stuff. Maybe he's even a contingency if they can't
get John Brunson in free agency. The reporting on John Brunson though, is
that he's you know, his return to the MAVs is set in stone.
ESPN. Brian Windhorse also reported on NBA Today that Brogden couldn't land with the
Wizards quote possibly for that tenth pick, possibly for not I'm just gonna go
out on, which would be a pretty sturdy limb here. I don't think
the Pacers are getting number ten or number eleven from Malcolm Broughden. They're not
getting a lottery pick from Malcolm Brogden. They've essentially been hawking him around the
entire league since April. That's when Mark Stein reported on his substack. The
Pacers made it clear they would they would jettison Brogden in the off season.
That's how long he's been on the market, given his injury history, in
fact that he's old three years and sixty seven point six million over the next
three years. This is not someone who's on a value contract, a positive
value contract. He has earned that money. The Pacers side him for it.
Teams are going to view that, I would argue, for the most
part, as a net negative asset for at least another year before they can
really see the light at the end of the tunnel. I do think he
has shown that his offensive game is broader than the catch and shoot, pump
and drive stuff that to find it in Milwaukee. But he's also not this
orthodox initiator in the half court or someone who's proved to knock down off the
drive looks at high clips. His defense is fine across ones and twos and
some more stationary threes like He's not going to torpedo or submarine your defense,
which has value in itself, that's not worth a lottery pick. He also
turns thirty in December. We have to remember here, so this contract is
taken him to his age thirty thirty one and age thirty two season. You're
not, You're just I would be floored if you're getting a lottery pick for
Malcolm Brogden a lowe. Now if you're including other stuff in there, this
is part of a larger Miles Turner trade. Are you willing to move christa
war Day's part of that? But I saw initially not lately that Pacers fans
are hoping Brogden could be the primary mechanism through which they move up to get
number four. That's not happening. And I really just don't think he's going
to net you a lottery pick. And if either the Wizards or the Knicks
do that without getting other stuff in return punting on a top twelve pick,
they should be rightly shame in the trade reactions because I just don't think that
that's a great. Yeah, Malcolm Brod's is a really good player. He
can help a lot of teams, but there's a difference between giving up it's
not a high lottery pick, but a top twelve pick for someone who may
not be available. He's only missed fewer than fifteen games once in his career,
and that was in his rookie season, So that's something that you have
to consider with him as well. I will be, just to reiterate,
shocked if the Pacers are only trading Malcolm Brogden and getting back ten from the
Knicks, eleven from a ten from the Wizards, eleven from the Knicks.
I'll be shocked if they even if for some reason Cleveland wanted him and they
were willing to give up fourteen as part of that package. Look, I
mean, if we want to be brutally honest, what's the Is there even
a like, what's the earliest first round pick you're giving up for Malcolm Brogden
in this draft? Forget about the team fit, but are you giving up
fifteen? Are you giving up sixteen? Seventeen? The teams that own these
picks make it difficult. When Minnesota give up nineteen for Malcolm Brogden, I
don't think that. I don't think that they would be in part because Dangel
Russell's there but maybe they know that they're moving him or something. I just
I think if Malcolm Brownen gets trade, it's going to be for a lot
less than people think. And if it's a first round pick, it's certainly
not. I think it'll be outside the lottery, either this year or a
lottery protected pick in years to come. This I'll wrap up with this because
I find this report hysterical. Brian Winhorse had said and hat tip Basketball newses
Evan Sidery for rallying this. But win Horse has said the Hornets are looking
to trade one of their first round picks alongside Gordon Hayward to clear cap space
to re signed Miles Bridges. The Hornets do not need cap space to resign
Miles Bridges. He's a restricted free agent. They can match whatever offer he
receives. You want to dump Gordon Hayward to clear some runway beneath the luxury
tax. That's how this needs to be spinned. We got to stop giving
MBA governors teams this ballout of oh well, well, we need to figure
out a way that some of these contracts don't count for the full amount against
their books so that they're more inclined to sign their players. No, you
get players for the most part. This is Miles Bridges, not Gordon Hayward.
You had them on a four year rookie scale below market value. You
don't need another benefit after that. You should not be controlling an NBA team
if you're not willing to pay to field a good NBA team and retain good
players. So we need we need to stop this spin, this billionaire empathy,
billion dollar entity empathy on these Teams's behalf on these team Governor's behalf.
I just don't. I'm not a fan of it. They it's also have
to worry about resigning Cody Martin, a restricted for Asian as well. Guess
what they can resign Cody Martin. And look, I don't have a problem
if the Hornets, I think it's dumb given the point of their development that
they're in to use any first round equity just to get off money. But
if you want to duct the tax, that's fine. That's how this needs
to be peddled, That's how this needs to be presented. Is the Hornets
want to make sure that they don't go into the luxury tax next season for
team that we know is not going to be good enough necessarily to justify paying
in the luxury tax. Do I think the one first round pick is enough
to get off Gordon Hayward. It depends on what you're looking to do.
If you're the Hornets, I wondered if Cleveland would consider Love for Hayward.
Straight up, you are saving a few million bucks this season if you're Charlotte,
and then you have the added benefit of Kevin Love being expiring contracts.
You're getting out of the entire final year of that Gordon Hayward contract. The
issue there is you're looking at like a less than two million dollars difference year
in salaries. That's not going to give you much breathing room. Can you
move other salaries part of that? If you're really looking to cut down on
salary, you look at the cap space teams. I don't know if maybe
Orlando Detroit would be willing to take on Gordon Hayward for the first round pick
that feels like something them or the Spurs would consider effort going through free agency
and deciding whether or not to spend their money. So, I don't know.
If you're looking to get off all of his money, it's one extremely
difficult without taking anything back just because there are so few teams with that type
of cap space. The other thing here is you can't just trade Gordon Hayward
for nothing. It's not additioned by some subtraction. Gordon Hayward's availability is an
issue. He doesn't seem to have much pep off the dribble, but he
can still score, get through his mid range game, a good shooter,
a really good passer, hold his own against some of the bigger, slower
forwards, and there are teams that would be able to use him really well
defensively when you look at their surrounding personnel. Replacing him is not just a
matter of like doing nothing, and so you have to get value back as
part of this. Would you where the first round pick comes in is can
you attach Gordon Hayward's thirty point one million dollars salary to this pick and then
get back a cheaper player or collection of players who deepen your team A team
to sort of watch out for. There would be the mix just because of
their level of mid end contracts, and they have a bunch of would be
expirings. When you're looking at Alec Burks and new Land's Noel and the non
guarantees on their final year. Burks's surgery recently, that of course changes the
how you would consider that there. But that could be a team that maybe
doesn't even need the first round pick to roll the dice on Gordon Hayward.
If you need the first round pick to get off Gordon Hayward, I don't.
I don't think it's worth it for Charlotte, just because he is still
a helpful player and when he's healthy, and the question mark surrounding his health
unless they know something that has just not been made public yet doesn't really make
like isn't urgent enough to be like, hey, let's punt on draft equity
that we we actually need. I thought about whether the Grizzlies could figure out
a way to take on the final two years of Gordon Hayward. He would
be a really good fit with their team. I just don't think they're going
to give up. They probably don't want to trade Steven Adams, and they
have cap flexibilities to win. Theory, depending on what happens with Tayas Jones
and Kyle Anderson, they could work out something there. I don't think they're
gonna want to get rid of Steven Adams, I would probably guess that he's
more likely to get extended by them than moved. For Gordon Hayward specifically,
not that he's untouchable. So look, if you're Charlotte and you're actually using
Hayward salary to upgrade your roster and training for shoun picks, fine, you're
not going to be doing that because you're looking to cut cash, not to
resign Miles Bridges because you don't need to do that, but to avoid the
tax. I don't have a feeling for how that Gordon Hayward stuff is going
to end. I don't see clear fits for him. This might be something
that gets tackled closer to free agency when teams have a better lay of the
market and who they can or cannot get, and maybe Gordon Hayward becomes a
contingency for someone who needs a good player trying to win now. But apparently
they can also get a first round picks as part of the process. So
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