Chaos for Clipper Nation. I guess a little bit late night, we get
the WOJ bomb. For those of you unaware, the full package, Clippers
got James Harden, PJ. Tucker and Philippe Patrusev, who I know nothing
about. The seventy six ers got a twenty twenty six first round pick via
OKC, the Clippers twenty twenty eight first round pick, a twenty twenty nine
pick swap, which I'm not I don't know how I feel about that.
Twenty twenty four and twenty twenty nine second round picks then BETWO Morris Covington and
the newest Clipper to be traded, kJ Martin. I think we should start
by saying, you know, first of all, should this trade go through?
We made this mistake before with Mount from Brocken, accurate from Adrian and
WO Sharowski will operate under the understanding that, yes, it likely is going
through here. And I was thinking this summer, you know, should I
grow my beard out until they get James Harden? Should I keep it growing
until they get James Harden? But uh, you know what, I kind
of like it now, But we need to respect the guys who are no
longer Clippers here and chose some love to Marcus Morris, to Robert Covington,
to Nicholas Batoum, kJ Martin not here for very long. But Nichola intro
video. Is he the first player to ever be signed that summer in the
team's schedule release video and then traded less than a week into the season.
Probably he might, considering we've only had these videos the last few years.
But uh, Nicholas Batoum was somebody when he came to the Clippers. A
lot of people had doubts about if he could rejuvenate his career, if he'd
be able to make the team when he came in in training camp after he
was bought out by the Charlotte Hornets, and he became one of the most
beloved Clippers. Batomb Battalion assemble. One last time I saw that tweet out
there. The Batum family is beloved by Clipper Nation. Shout out Lily if
you ever interacted with Lily on Twitter. She also none of the guys knew
about this, which is which Lily tweeted out. You know, she tweeted
that post from Drew Holliday's wife about how you're just sleeping and then you wake
up and you have to go to a new city and start a new life
without it. And lot Murray mentioned earlier in the year that the Clippers were
trying to avoid that scenario here, but apparently there was some phone call on
Monday that Champs was talking about. So hearts out to the Batum family.
They were part of. I think one of the cooler fan movement. It's
the Clippers have ever had the embracing of the Batune Battalion. Brian Seeman helping
boost that out. Just shout out, Joseph I Ward. He was there
when Will and I think Brian Colin and I like Will had had a couple
of glasses of wine and was shouting about how Batum was gonna be great.
And that's where Batum Battalion came. So that was a moment in Clippers time.
That was a wonderful time for the Clippers. Nico gave it is all
just tough and hit big shots from the get go. I think it was
a shot against the Denver Nuggets early in that twenty twenty one season. I
called him Saint Nick. It happened around Christmas because that season started later after
the bubble. He hit a big shot there, the shot against the Phoenix
Suns where Paul George trucked Devin Booker and kicked it out to Nicholas batoum early
in the season. He had a knack for knocking down big shots. We
were just talking about how we all had faith that if the ball had gotten
to him he would have knocked down the other night against the Utah Jazz.
So he's an all time fan favorite, and I thought he was one of
the glue guys for this teamlutely for a couple of seasons. And he'll be
remembered very fondly. And as much as people have derided Marcus Morris and how
things have soured with him, let's not forget how big of a move it
was when they brought him in in February or March of twenty twenty, and
there was an arms race for him with the Los Angeles Lakers. They were
in on him. We didn't know who would actually come through, and he
became a Clipper. And this was someone who hit seven three pointers in a
Game seven against the Dallas Mavericks after struggling early on in that series in twenty
twenty one, to propel them to the second round. If not for that,
they don't make it to the Western Conference Finals for the first time in
team history, where he also was very effective without Kawhi Leonard after he went
down in the second run. So, Marcus Morris, I think also you
gotta tip your cap for a lot of the dirty work that he did during
that playoff run along with big shots, and I hope people think of that
stuff more often than just the last three months of last season when he was
a Clipper, much longer than that. Yeah, I agree, it was
rough, and then you move it on to Roco. We just never got
to see it. We saw the opening game this season, the second game.
It just we never got to see it work like I think a lot
of fans wanted it to and thought it was going to. And he holds
the franchise record for three pointers made in a game. He had a point
game when he first came over from the Portland Trailblazers, and credit to him.
I think the best thing you can say about Roco is what a pro
he was all of last season. There's free Roco chance going on, and
he never made a stink about it whatsoever. The fact he wasn't playing and
even came into this season, were motivated with the right mindset, just an
absolute pro. And now he's headed back to Philly where obviously he's been before
and he'll be comfortable there. But so also a good situation. You can
say they're still on a team that's competing in the Eastern Conference now, I
think so. And I one more note on Robert Covington Clipper Vlad who if
you've ever been to a Clippers game, you've seen Vlad there. I'm sure
Roco signed Clipper Vlad's free Roco custom Clippers jersey, which is I think one
of the coolest things, one of the coolest piece of memorabilia you could have.
But let's talk about the team now. In the trade, we kept
Terrence Man, which is huge shows the belief in Terrence. I guess we
traded if you didn't think Terrence was gonna get thirty minutes this season. This
absolutely opens up that possibility. This is huge for him. I hope.
So so they have to who else can they play Chuck? They don't,
They don't have any other options. It's happening, I think, I mean
it has to happen. You're right, a lot of people are now you
know, we don't know when Harden's gonna debut, maybe against the Lakers,
that would be hilarious. Will's reported that he might be in the building tonight.
He was so excited to be coming to the Clippers he wanted to fly
out to la But again, the trade has yet to be made official.
I yeah, Josephry Warden, I did a whole hour and ten minutes after
this Brogdon trade didn't go down, So I hope we uh, we don't
ever have we don't have to redo this. But Miles Johnson on the stream,
if you want to hang out with us, we're on Twitter, at
Clippers podru on YouTube at Clippers Podcast. He said the factory kept Terrence Norman
bones is amazing and really lifts our upside. I do think it's I'm very
happy we kept bones Nor. I think is maybe not super long for this
team, given the kind of redundancy. You know, we have no power
forwards. Now we have all these guards. It's just gonna be interesting to
figure out that fit. I think on the second, I'm not against keeping
Norm but they did get PJ. Tucker, and I know Philly fans and
I've listened to them him last decent because it looked like offensively he just didn't
have much to offer anymore. He was shying away from even taking those patented
corner threes that he's been so good with in his career. But defensively he
was still effective on that end. So I'm not going to give up on
a guy. When they said the exact same thing about Nicholas Batoum that he
was done, they said the same thing about Reggie Jackson. We have seen
guys come to the Clippers and be resuvenated. It's happened. So they have
him. They have parents, fan, you know, somebody else who may
get back into the rotation. And I'd be very confident in him being out
there on the court. A mere coffee, a guy who won. We
got brought up a bunch on Twitter. People were like, so we kept
a mirror, which is his confidence has been really up and down. He's
had such a weird Clippers tenures and everything the team is asked for. But
so yeah, now it's like a mer let's more time for a merror from
a guy who was traded in the Malcolm Broncon trade to now maybe being a
more much more valuable piece like we saw him being used a couple of seasons
ago when he had that great January and was the best player on the Clippers
team, the most consistent player, I think, averaging an efficient fourteen plus
his defense for an entire month for them when they needed him desperately. And
so let's talk about the big aspect of this James Harden with the Clippers.
You can have issues about the fit. I think that's fair. I think
Jamal Christopher tweeted this, well, you can't have issues about who he is
as a player. That's just the qualifier. Like as a player, James
Harden is a very good player. He's the best passer we've had on the
team. To me, that's what makes the fit great. It's always I
think people were in baggage. It's him being on his fourth team in the
last twenty two months that people are more concerned about. Yeah, I agree,
But I think also some people are concerned about the Russ and James Harden
starting thing. It feels like Clippers Twitter is already like, let's bring Russ
off the bench, let's have Terrence in there. I think they're going to
start both. I think they'll initially start both, but I have been saying
my biggest point all summer for one of the reasons to get James Harden has
been it gives you the opportunity. I've said it time and time again to
bring Russell Westbrook off the bench, which I think he's better suited for because
then the offense is centered around him. He'll get more looks, he can
run the show. It's more of a familiar, comfortable position for Russ to
be in. Said it a million times. We literally did a Russ show
or a James Harden Great Debate show on this channel if you want to go
back and check that out. Now. I have been keying in on James
Harden and all the reasons he could help this team for some time. I'm
I think the fit is spectacular next to Kawhi and Paul George. If you
have to move rush to the bench and bring Terrence Mann in with the starters,
you make that move. Terrence Man was just named a starter, so
that's a little messy now, a little weird. There was a different situation
with a different roster, a very different roster than what we have today.
But I don't think while the initially they'll likely start Russ and James Harden.
Maybe we'll see I think by game eighty two we'll see different rotations in lineups
from coach Lou and it could be Russ coming off the bench. You don't
think we get the ten game Tyler sample size to start this thing off,
That's what I'm saying Initially, I think we'll get that. By game eighty
two, it could look very different. And I have a feeling, yes,
I think by game eighty two it'll be different. I mean this does
I was on the side. If you didn't watch the debate episode, I
was wearing aviators. I don't know why I wore them because I guess I
wanted to look tough during the debate Jackie. But I was on the side.
Yeah, I was on the side that James Harden absolutely raises the Clippers
floor. I think, I think if you're somehow so blinded by the off
court stuff that you can't see that, you're maybe lost in this whole process,
right, Like I understand I have a lot of the same reservations a
lot of fans do about his off court stuff. I think most rational people
do. But the on court stuff as a whole, you can't pretend like
the Clippers are worse. Well, to me, I just don't think you
can. You can actually think the Clippers are a worst basketball team in this
case, raising their floor raises their ceiling in two different ways. One,
I just think you're better off in a series if the Clippers are fully healthy.
James Harden is not the primary option, he's not the secondary option.
He's the third option. And that's pretty unbelievable to have him in a playoff
series as a third option. Back to his Okase days really, or back
to one first round series he had with the Brooklyn Nets when he, Kyrie
and KD were actually all healthy. For those that are so concerned with his
cold streaks in the playoffs at times, and it's at times because he's had
spectacular plenty of them, huge playoff games he just did against the Boston Celtics
in the second round last season. He had multiple forty point games and won
them. That game won without Joel Embiid. Like to only look at what
Lemish is or his off nights in the playoffs really discounts how great he has
been at times in the playoffs. Two and he's going to be the third
option. But also the reason I say it raises their floor and their ceiling.
It raises their floor in the regular season, which gets you a higher
seed, which raises your ceiling because only top three seeds outside of the ninety
five Houston Rockets have won the championship for the last thirty thirty five years now.
I think think there was a great treat I think it was Paul Headley
who said, like, if you're worried about James Harden in the playoffs,
you know, if the Clippers are healthy, he's the third option, maybe
fourth, depending what the vibe is and the momentum is. If Kawhi PG
are hurt, it doesn't matter. It doesn't matter if Kawhi and PG are
hurt because then it's not you know, things are a lot tougher that scenario.
So James Harden being the number one option as with Kawhi and PG being
hurt a lot better than when we had Reggie Jackson and Marcus Morris as the
number one option, but still not ideal. So it's kind of moot anyway,
Look, if they're both hurt, yes, but if one of them
is out for a brief amount of time, a few games, you can
get by in a series with Kawhi and James Harden and Russell Westbrook or Paul
George. James Harden and Russell Westbrook are just one of those guys and James
Harden. They would have look We all thought they would have won last season
in the first round against a Phoenix team with KD if they just had Kawhi
Leonard available. With how good he looked the first two games. They have
an opportunity now where it increases your margin for air or fluky injury things happening
of you just being able to get by, whether the storm for a little
bit until those guys can come back. Ultimately, yeah, to win a
championship, they're gonna need everybody, but you could get by in a first
round series with guys banged up when you have this much high end talent compared
to what we've seen in past years. Totally now focusing on things like this
terrifying regular season. When it comes to scheduling, Alan asked in the stream,
so who's playing power forward? They traded all of them away, fair
question. They didn't trade a guy away who was the starting power forward.
Who was named the starting power forward. That was Terrence Man. He's still
on the team. Sure, they traded everyone, but this starter, I
think he's the starter, the guy who was named the starter. I think
that's important to say. But it's a fair question. Sure, except like
the the guy who you want played playing power forward the most is still on
the team, correct, But we we still need like so is it.
I'm assuming it's you're saying it's PJ. Then Pj's the backup for yeah,
and then a mere coffee Kobe, You're okay? Well, I love I
do love that Kobe Brown. This opens up minutes for him, Chuck,
this is your guy. That's perfect actually because I hope so, I hope
he proves me a little bit right and he will get more minutes than Moosa.
Now, he just hit his first shot NBA shot. It was a
three pointer. So I think winning basketball the minutes crunch in the consolidation happened.
The happening of the consolidation finally occurred for this Clippers team that everybody was
asking for. And some think what they overdid it. They over compisated with
too much consolidation, because let's see Nicholas Batoum, who we love, who
was giving them good minutes already this season. Yes, but this is somebody
who was openly talking about retirement after this season. Robert Covington, a guy
they didn't use much at all last season, is gone. Yes, he
was starting, and it looked like that situation was going to be different this
year. But they didn't use him much at all last year. Marcus Morris,
most people didn't want to be playing. Those are the guys you lost
to bring in James Harden and you were able to keep Terrence Man, who
was named the starter, the fifth starter, whether you want to call him
the power forward or not. If what we're saying is going to happen in
the starting lineup with Russ and James Harden in there, that means Kawhi and
Paul George are moving up positions. So therefore, why are you worried about
the power forward position when it's going to be Kawhi Leonard, when it's James
Hard and Russ in the back court. Because you still need bodies, of
course you do. But if we learned anything last season, you can have
too much debt true, I mean, and your point about the Roco thing
too. It was like we've talked about this podcast, A lot of Clippers
podcasts have talked about it. If the Clippers weren't going to use these guys,
then what are we doing? Right? Like, we all wanted them
to use Roco and Wingstop and we wanted that, but they refused to so
we never got that. So if they're not using them, this is where
we're at. We kept the guy that we are using with Terrence Man.
It's I'm interested to see how Ty figures this out. I'm wondering what small
ball looks like. How long they were people who were saying no, Terrence
Man was technically the shooting guard out there. It's like guys he was.
He was gonna be guarding marketing. That was the point that coachlu made That
was one of the guys. His versatility on defense is why they wanted him
in the starting lineup. He was going to be guarding a lot of the
bigger guys out there. It was matchup depended. So it goes back to
more positionless basketball. Versatility on defense and Terrence Man can't play the power forward.
Uh, this is totally not an issue. Um I someone brought up
a good point about the bench. Because you got bones, Norm Man will
be fun off the bench. Man's gonna have a lot of possibility off the
bench defensively with Bones and Norm and the one and two. Not that they're
not that bones it's bad at defending, but Terrence is gonna be called along
quite a bit. U But the bench unit has some interesting properties. Now.
I like that they got the vet and plumbly there to kind of hopefully
keep things a little settled if if things go wonky. But uh oh,
Eric we has a good question here, shout out Eric Buie. He made
this fantastic background that you're that you're seeing right now. He said, you
see Russer Harden getting more run with the second unit. Gotta be Russ,
Yeah, right, like on the whole. It's gotta be rough. That's
a terrifying guy to run that second in a good way. It was just
mentioned by coach Lou that he wanted to pair him up more with Norm and
Bones, more with the starters. So there was already a glimpse into the
vision of how they wanted to use Russell Westbrook. That's why I wouldn't put
it totally past him to just start bringing him off the bench, because obviously
Russ was for this move. He and James Harden like each other. Everyone
he's willing and right. Like I've seen some tweets. Someone was like someone
tweeted out like, oh you know, you know PG and Kawi hate this
move. No they don't. Why on earth would like that's an insane day,
Like That's truly the wildest shit I think I've seen on those whole James
Harden trade is that PG and Kawh I don't like this. But in particular,
the guy who could be making the biggest sacrifice in coming off the bench
now, and Russell Westbrook was for this move. I think he knew that
possibility would be out there, that it would change minutes for him, that
it would change his role, and he was for it. So I don't
think it's nuts to think that it could start start off with Terrence Man back
in the starting lineup whenever he is healthy next to James Harden, Kawhi,
PG and Zubots. It may not take that long or those ten to fifteen
game sample size of having Russ in the backcourt with James Harden. And look,
we get make too big of a deal out of who's starting versus who
is finishing, and when that first guy goes to the bench early on in
a ball game. It's not the biggest deal to me. Interesting, I
mean, that's fair. That's been the rhetoric for the Clippers since Mark Shinger
tot was the starting center and he would play like an eight minute shift and
then just be like done with the game for the most part, for important
times. So I think the closing lineups and that's what I hope, that's
what I'm gonna be looking for, mostly because that's you know, when we
slow down in the half court, James Harden is going to be out there.
He's the guy you want running the half court offense when it's when it's
that bogged down playoff basketball, James Harden is not just one of the greatest
scores in NBA history, he's one of the greatest playmakers in NBA history.
That's quickly what Philadelphia learned, what Brooklyn Brooklyn learned when he left the Houston
Rockets, there was much less of I got a call about this after Game
one, and I actually try to bring this up on a show recently,
but you guys shouted me down and said we're not talking James Harden, which
is weird now, but uh, that was because people on Twitter wanted to
like give it to the Absolutely those people are lunatics. Are they the same
one as the one to into a dome rock thrown through their window? Yes?
Probably. But I think what teams realized is in leading the league and
assists last season, just how much he can adjust his game. James Harden
doesn't just dribble out the clock, and you know Charles Barkley would call him
the dribbler and play isolation basketball. He's a pick and roll god. He's
gonna make the game so much easier for Vita Zubots and everyone. I mean,
the main thing he's going to do is make the game easier for the
two to one to three connection to get the most out of them, to
get your best chance to win a championship. It's getting the most out of
Kawhi and Paul George, and I think the fit is going to be perfect
next to James Harden on the offensive end. There Now, defensively, there
could be issues because teams are gonna try to pick on him. They're gonna
try to get cross matchups where they go at James Harden, who will likely
also be guarding power forwards at times, so he's not on the perimeter and
getting beat off the dribble there, but teams are gonna hunt him, They're
gonna try to get switched onto him. His defense is also I remember this
happened in the twenty twenty All Star Game, the last good All Star game.
That was the one that where they changed the rules an All Star game.
Well, James Harden got matched up in the post I think against Giannis
Denikumpo, and guys were going hard. This was uh soon, Oh was
this the last like when they had to get to one of us? This
was the rules, the first situation with that quarter by quarter and it played
out great and it was the most exciting All Star game in a while,
and they got what they wanted. And guys were playing hard late and they
were trying to go at James Harden in the post and they couldn't move them.
They couldn't do anything about it. I think it was Jannis Denikoumpo who
was going after him. And people also realized, oh, he's a really
good post defender and he has been for a while. He's obviously grady eight
deflections, great at getting steals. Some of that is gambling, but it's
his perimeter defense. You worry more about you get him in the post.
James Harden is quality there. Agreed, totally agree with that. That is
something that historically is I think a little overlooked in James Harden game is that
low post that defense race. Marlin has a very funny question I want to
talk about. He said, are we worried about the black hole that PJ.
Tucker is? Offensively? I am not entirely. I don't think ty
Lou's worried about it because it's not like, you know, Marcus Morris towards
the end was a kind of a black hole Defensively, Roco wasn't ever asked
to do too much. These guys aren't. PJ. Tucker is not going
to be asked to do anything that necessitates, like if the Clippers need his
offense to win a game, things have gone horribly wrong. Can you be
a black hole on offense if you take less than two shots per game?
That doesn't even make sense to me. He took one point seven shot attempts
per game last season with the Philadelphia seventy six ers. Black Hole typically refers
to a guy who gets the ball, has tunnel vision and is looking for
his shot, and his shot only it doesn't make anyone better around him.
The problem with PJ Tucker on offense is just if teams are going to respect
his shot in the corner, where he has always been deadly from distance,
but that fell off last season. Those corner threes weren't necessarily there for him.
He ended up shooting forty on them, but he took less than two
per game. Those one point seven shots he took per game, they were
only three pointers. All he does is take that corner three pointer. So
if he can get his confidence back there, shooting is the last thing to
go. But he's thirty nine years of age. Now that's gonna be telling
to see how effective he can be because you can't have him. I guess
if you're referring to a black hole, as he gives you nothing offensively,
and teams could just sag off of him and play off of him, and
therefore, how could he and Russ and another non shooter like Zubots be out
there at the same time. Yeah, there's some worry, there's some concern,
but we'll see. I've seen guys be rejuvenated as Clippers before. I'm
interested to see what they can get out of PJ. Tucker. Now and
his defense from everything I've been seeing from Philly fans, is still very stout
on that end. He also isn't a complete He makes sound decisions. Usually
when he's passing the ball, he doesn't exactly you know what I mean,
Like he doesn't his turnovers per game. You know, it's he doesn't ever
get the ball very much to turn the ball over. But it's not like
he's you know, conceding a bunch of possessions. Kind of continue this power
forward talk, are are on the YouTube stream says, so are we trading
Norm or someone else for a power forward? We're gonna play this out.
The Clippers talked about patience. Sure they made the hard and trade in the
middle of the night, but we're they're gonna play this out. They they
want to. I guess see some youth like it's I'm not ruling it totally
out that they that they maybe move Norm, but it's not gonna be anytime
soon. We're gonna have to have like I don't know if it's gonna have
to be like mission critical to trade Norm for a power forward or something like
that, but I don't see it happening super soon. He's also had a
great start to the season. We can't discount norm start to the season.
Yeah, and eventtively has been better too. His SHOT's been there early on.
I'm interested to see. Just you mentioned the ten to fifteen game sample
size that coach lou loves. Let's see that with this group. I don't
think you need that big of a sense of urgency that, oh we have
to find that perfect power forward now when you have Terrence Man, PJ.
Tucker, and a mere Coffee, all those guys are more than serviceable at
that position. Oh and by the way, it could just be Kawhi Leonard
playing a bunch more power forward. I think you're okay, sure, So
I'm not sure if it's as much big of a need as some people are
making it out to be, or just they look on paper and saw that
we lost our three guys, our three power forwards, our three guys who
were most suited to play that position. Well, they have other guys to
make up for that there, And Morris was getting dm like Morris was not
going to play at all for the Clippers this year, like he after some
shit that happened, Like he wasn't gonna play. Yeah, he was getting
announced coaches decision DMPs, which I have never seen before on the injury report,
just like, yeah, he's not playing coach's decision. Sorry. I
was on the wall for some time. But you know, he was traded
in the Malcolm Brogna trade and that fell through. Right, he was already
off the team, So Mike dang, let's get into the real media discussion
on Philip Patruss. No, I'm just kidding, uh Optimus Prime Rim has
a good question. You said, chances at Kawhi and or PG sign extensions?
Now l Frank may have wanted assurances from them before pulling the trigger.
I think they were always probably gonna sign extensions. It's the amount of money
that the issue is gonna be. This is another sticking point for people who
didn't want Harden, and one that I'm a little interested to see. Let's
just say how it plays out. Is his status after the season. The
Clippers have his bird ride, which is helpful if they want to make kind
of a big splash. But I was already kind of pretty confident Kwai PG
we're gonna get offered extensions. I'm not sure. I think Lawrence Frank,
maybe you know, already has a hunch they're gonna do this because we also
pulled the trigger without Terrence Man. So I'm not sure if if the contract
you know, I don't. I'm not sure if they shook hands and said,
okay, we can finally do this trade. But it is a I
think it is a fair thought. If anything, to me, the Clippers
going all in like this with Harden tells you how confident they are in the
health of those two guys this season and how Kawhi Leonard has looked so far.
I don't think they make this all in move if they didn't feel like
Kawhi's back back. He looks great out there. He's got more lyft than
ever on his three point shot. That deep three he hit the other night
from Steph curry Land was impressive. Uh. So they're doubling down. It's
what we've been talking about all summer long. This is exactly what I wanted
to see play out. It sucks to see guys leave. It's a tough
business. That part of it's really hard, especially Nicholas patom He's one of
my all time favorite Clippers. He's got some of those Patrick Beverley vibes.
In a similar fashion for me where he's just he's just an all timer,
because it's not just the skill, it's the heart, it's the relationship with
the community and Clipper Nation. But if you want to win a championship,
you had to make this move. It gets you closer. That was the
question I kept asking, Does getting James Harden bring you closer to a championship?
Yes or no? If you say yes, then how do you not
make the move? And this is by the way, while we were still
talking about would they have to give up Terrence Man, Guys, they didn't
have to give up Terrence Man. That is a sprinkle to this that's unbelievable.
Everybody else is saying, if you saw last night, fleecet was trending
on x because well, I don't get I don't get how this makes the
the Sixers any closer to a championship. Well, they think they have the
assets now to trade for another piece, I think is what it is with
those two first round picks and some movable expiring contracts. I do think it
makes them obviously, it makes them deeper, and that has some purpose during
the regular season. We'll see how they use those guys. But they were
trying to get enough assets just so they can flip them and turn it into
another All Star type player to bring in with Joel Embiid. Who knows who
they'll go after. I think the Chicago Bulls are going to be one of
those teams that teams are looking at picking off of, maybe Zach Lavine,
maybe Damar DeRozan, somebody like that. They could become a Lasers. You
got a couple of guys on that Blazers team who probably shouldn't be there for
the Malcolm Rod is still there. So yeah, funny, real quick.
Patrick Beverley tweeted up, Uh, he said, damn they traded Philip with
an F. He loved Patrusev, which is very funny. He played in
the NBA, yet he's played in Summer League. He was getting beat up
by the nets and he went out and like and pat Bev kind of defended
him and stuff like that. So I do not think he's played in the
NBA. I think it also bears mentioning, not just the relationship they have
off the court. And we're talking about a bunch of guys now from southern
California, the two Pine three plus James Hard and Russell Westbrook Norman Powell.
But Russ had one of the best stretches of his career next to James Harden
before the bubble, and he had a thigh injury before that long hiatus after
COVID shut everything down, he was playing some of the best basketball of his
career when they leaned into that five out lineup, which I'm sure the Clippers
are going to be utilizing at times with coach Lou Russ. There we go,
Caesar, imagine the small ball lineup is gonna be better than the Houston
Rockets. James Harden and Russ are both older. They're not as good as
they were then. They aren't as quick, quite as quick as they were
then. Although rust looks pretty unbelievable, James has definitely lost a step.
Can he still get by guys? Can he still put up forty on you
in a playoff game? Yeah, we just saw it last season, but
it's not as consistent with that dribble drive to where he either. He was
such an impossible guard because if you played up on him, he'd drive by
you. If you played off of him, he'd have that step back three
pointer. This, also, by the way, gives the Clippers. I
don't know where they rank right now. It seems like they've been better in
this area and through the three games, but free throw attempts per game has
been an issue for them. That's gonna go up. Yeah, they're gonna
get more easy shots, but also more easy points just getting freebies at the
free throw LI now having James Harden, regardless of what you think about his
game and some of the ref baiting, whatever you want to call it,
it's been effective for him in his career. You could say we're talking about
another top seventy five player of all time. Guys, it's insane. Will
Updike, I will say, Will Updyke just texted me and said that was
five years ago. Lol. About the hard pairing, I just said they
were younger. No, I know he's at work when he's contributing. If
you're new to this, by the way, it's usually three of us.
Will Updike has to work. I should be working. But you know how
it goes. Kin Ja wants to know when is James going to make his
debut today against the Magic? Probably not, or tomorrow against the Lakers.
I hope he doesn't make his debut against the Magic tonight. Just for his
health's and things like that. So probably against the Lakers. But then don't
the Clippers have a bunch of time off after this back to back days off.
They don't after Wednesday till next Monday. So I think that actually played
a big role in making this move. Now, it made sense. You
get them in, get them acclimated, assimulated, you can get a few
practices in. There's this is really the only dead spot outside of the All
Star break in the Clippers schedule. So I'm sure that weight on the front
office's mind if we're gonna do it, now is the time to bring him
in because we'll be able to get him in the building, have a little
time to make up guys, and then played next Monny. For sure,
a bunch of people wanted this trade, you know, various people wanted a
certain kind of trade to have for James Harten as soon as possible. We
all kind of, you know, we wanted it, maybe before training camp.
There was all that momentum right when the season ended, and then just
kind of nothing about it. So this was the earliest they could make the
trade, I guess, and they got it done three games in. It's
like I guess, well, if they had done it earlier, it likely
would have cost them Terrence Man. That's how I see it. It was
a negotiating tactic to leap out, and it sounded like I caught something from
Sean Sharania earlier who it looked like Philadelphia ownership group put pressure on Darryl Morey
to have to make this move and get it done ship. Yeah. But
from the Clippers perspective, yeah, I think if you had done this months
ago, it would have the price would have been higher, the price tag
would have been higher, would have costed you more and likely Terrence Man.
I honestly, I don't think people, I don't think you can overstate how
important it is that this team was able to keep Terrence Man in a trade
for James Harden. That's unbelievable. You want to talk about switchability and lineup
combinations and having the perfect coach for that, and having this guy that's almost
like a queen on a chessboard because of all the different moves you can make.
You know in a way, Well, you don't like that, you
don't you don't like the chess. I just didn't. I didn't expect to
hear I did not expect to hear that that analogy. I'm not mad at
it. I'm just I would say I'm taken a back. He can fill
in the cracks wherever you need him. Like for as much as people have
complained about Terrence Man and not having a defined role, it's actually perfect to
have him, especially on this newly constructed Clippers roster, because, oh,
you need a guy in the back court tonight, Terrence Man. You need
a guy in the front court now, Terrence Man. And he's been through
this so many times. It's natural to him, it's innate. He's used
to it, having to be this versatile guy. It's perfect. I just
I can't say enough about them holding on a Terrence Man in this move that
is this front office has been unbelievable. I mean, Lawrence Frank Executive of
the Year a couple of seasons ago. And also this speaks to once again
the Clippers a destination franchise. They became that when they got Kawhi Leonard.
They need to be I don't think people are appreciative enough of just the fact
that guys want to come here now, big time superstars, some of the
greatest players all time, and they wanted to come back home, And how
cool would it be if a bunch of guys from Socow got together won the
Clippers their first championship. That would be a pretty unbelievable story. It would
be nice. Stu Quinn is in the chat. Shout out Stu Quinn one
of the old listeners from the Lockdown Clippers days. We would always, for
some reason do segments about his specific over under win total bets. But he
said, how much staggering do you guys expect? I feel like Luke can
keep at least two of the Big four on the court at all times.
I mean, I think he could. We talked about this on the last
episode. How it seems like I think the word we saw on Twitter was
Tyler is using Kawhi and PG to go on the court to just bludgeon opponents
and then not stagger them as much. This changes it where I have no
ish, I have no like disbelief that we're going to see at least two
of these guys on the floor most of the time. Yeah, and having
either James or Russ out there running the show at all times keeps your offense
a more well oiled machine or bones. By the way, he probably takes
the biggest hit in some ways by this move playing time wise, but he
also bones gets to learn now from Westbrook and James Harden. That's pretty great
mentorship at the position. James is somebody that I really don't think it gets
enough credit for his playmaking ability. I really don't like this guy sees stuff
that nobody else does. He has a high basketball IQ and it goes back
to making players around you better because of that basketball intelligence and just making the
right basketball play. And if you want to talk about playoff shortcomings, cool,
He's never been on a team this much snap cool where he's had two
wings like Kawhi and Paul George. I'm just saying that you want to go
down that road, it doesn't make a lot of sense to me because he
hasn't had a situation like this going back to his OKAC days where he was
a completely different player there anyways, and he was so young. So he's
back to being a third option like he was then, and he's gonna be
I think, on his best behavior, at his best playing ability. I'll
tell you what he's he's gotta be. I think he will be. I
know that you could probably find clips from four other teams saying exactly what I'm
about to say. But I think he's gonna do it this time. I
think it's gonna be great. I have no choice but to believe. That's
the other part the trade. For everyone who's upset, the trade has happened.
The trade has happened. We're here now. Let's hope the team wins,
right. I don't want anyone to lose their minds and be like,
well, no, I'm never rooting for the Clippers. We gotta hope they
win. Y'all that we wanted them to try. Shit, they're trying stuff.
Capt Terrence Man, We're here for the ride. You've been a Clippers
fan this long. If this is what gets you to stop being a fan,
I don't know what to tell you. Well, I just don't see
how with the former roster without and I said this before, somebody taking a
big leap this season in bones or Terrence Man then being able to get through
the gauntlet of twenty five instances of three games in four nights this season,
the fifteen back to backs, They're going to have Howard seventeen games in March.
This is where this I know, I harp on this so much on
this podcast. Seventeen games in the months March should be illegal. It should
not be legal for any sport except maybe baseball, I guess. But like
someone asked, do y'all see Westbrook on the bench to close games late in
the season in March, let's do it. We're gonna need this many like
not bench, but like we're gonna need all hands on deck and whatever's working,
Let's do it. Russ might have the legs late, maybe it's bones,
But like, I'm so worried about March every Clippers fans. Yeah,
I mean, I'm worried about November and December first, but yeah, I'm
worried about March too. The schedule overall is just so brutal. I do
think that played a role, I really do. I thought this schedule was
much tougher than last season. I thought it was the ultimate Clippers got the
short end of the stick schedule in their last year Arena. Yeah, they
were basically has come out as like I think Sham's reported that of Like,
yeah, basically they were like that's the last year. Fuck them. That
was kind of pell show Kinkos, you know what. Basically, Yeah,
I am the manager that's what the Clippers had to do. But James Harden,
like I mentioned, in a playoff series, being able to get by.
We already know there are going to be games where Kawhi and Paul George
are missing games. Now in the regular season, we already know that's going
to happen. If they play sixty five plus, you'd sign up for that
today. That would likely to be best case scenario. Now you have James
Harden to fall back on on those nights. And yes, hopefully he can
stay healthy too. He's had his own issues hamstring. Played I think fifty
eight games last year, sixty five games the year before. Look to be
in good shape at that training camp in Colorado with the Philadelphia seventy six ers.
But we'll see. If he plays tomorrow night against the Lakers, then
that'll say something about his conditioning. I guess yeah, that's true, Timothy.
I'll ban you apologize if I butchered that, he said. Hopefully this
trade lets us dial back Westbrook minutes to twenty five to thirty instead of thirty
five plus. Get maxim Evan from Westbrook in shortened stints will be a plus.
I think this does take some pressure off Russ a little bit in terms
of just straight up minutes. We now have two guys who, if they're
not out on the court together can run point very adequately, if not very
well for this Clippers team. So I like this trade for Russ's legs too.
I like where Tim's heads out on this one. Yeah, I expect
minutes to go down across the board. You're saving more legs now in the
regular season. We talked about Harden being a regular season innings eater this summer,
what he could do like a starting pitcher like Lance Lennie or who is
the who is the Dodger starter? Who am I thinking of? They gave
up all the home runs and uh this season? And in Game three against
the Arizona Diamondbacks, Lance Lynn yeah yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah yeah.
One of the reason they brought him in was because they needed someone to
soak up some innings. Now, Harden, it's not a fair comparison because
he's such a high level player, but yeah, let's not James. It's
comparing the innings eating and what you need him for during the regular season,
and James Harden can win you games in a similar fashion like we saw with
us last season. In that game against the Memphis Grizzlies where he had that
throwback MVP type performance took over. No Kawhi, no Paul George. I
think he had thirty six and hit something like five to three pointers or six
three pointers. There are going to be nights where guys are out and James
Harden just wins you the ballgame. Now, like this is the path to
being a top three seed, getting in James Harden. Now it is on
the table. And without that, they'd have to make history by being one
of those rare fluky teams that wins the championship, like the ninety five Houston
Rockets when you're not a top three seed. And by the way, Houston
has just won the year before, so they had the pedigree, they had
the experience. The Clippers have never won obviously, and James Harden I think
makes them better today. And that's what's most important. It gives you an
opportunity, a better opportunity to win a chip. That's what this entire era
is about. That's what Steve Balmer is about, trying to win them their
first championship. I mean, we got the new arena. Someone in the
chat was like, remember they got the new arena opening, and I'm like,
I don't think anyone's forgetting that. Oh for real new arena? What's
it called. Timothy Albanu also asked shout out to him for the questions does
this trade and lack of available players increase the chance that Kawi and PG played
them today and tomorrow? For both? I still think they're going to see
how they feel after the game. That's that's what Tyler said. I don't
think this change is it If they're not feeling good after what's going to be
a hard ass game against the Magic, I'm totally fine with, you know,
maybe not putting them out there on the back to back. It takes
the burden off of two injury prone superstars from having to push themselves unnecessarily too
much in regular season games just to scratch out victories and therefore wearing them out
before the playoffs even start. That was always a concern of mine coming into
this season, as much as yes, you you need to take the regular
season seriously, but if to do that it ends up affecting you in the
playoffs, you know, there's a downside to it. So there was never
this perfect middle ground for the Clippers to find a way to balance out managing
the regular season and still being a top three seed while also keeping your stars
healthy for the playoffs. Now they have that because they can rely on James
Harden so much to get the job done and be an inning Zeter during the
regular season. And it's gonna leave fresh legs for Kawhi and Paul George,
who are going to be your main two guys and closers in seven game series.
Steve Quinn is excited for some Coffeas for closers, we're all excited for
the Puns to come back. He has sacrificed a lot for his career to
stay with his team. It's been pretty pretty incredible to see. So maybe
a mir can get He might be another kind of reclamation project, even though
he's already been on the team. To your point, Adam, he's a
guy whose career could get a little more juice now. In that contract contract
that we talked about when they gave it to him, and that was a
steal, it may look like even more of a team friendly contract if he's
getting fifteen twenty minutes a night now, all of a sudden, mer is
just he's very reliable. I know he didn't shoot the ball that great last
season. Put on some size, maybe it affected his shot. But he's
somebody that I trust because he can play multiple positions, and I thought he
was very consistent when they needed him to be a couple of seasons ago,
when the Clippers were without Kawhi so much, without Paul George, who only
played I think thirty one games in that twenty one to twenty two season.
I like this freeing up a spot for Mire Coffee, who we've been talking
about is one of the unsung guys that kind of flies under the radar now
just because they had too much depth. Clipper Raider, who tough fandom there
right now, said definitely don't want bones minutes to get out, which I'm
sure it will. I mean, you know, we're we're here with Adam
Oslin, the Leader of the Skeleton Key Army as I think we should call
it, the Leader of the Skeleton Key Army. His mins are gonna go
down, but he's he said all the right things. For the most part,
I think he's gonna be He's gonna be fine. He's still the whatever
shakes out currently, he's still the backup point right, Like, as far
as we see it, he's still number two, So I don't his man's
are gonna go down, but his his status on the team. If he
gets hot, Tyler's gonna let him do his thing like it's I think Bones
is gonna be okay if he can really keep showing this kind of maturity is
not the right word. That feels too heavy handed, but I think,
you know what I'm trying to say, the clarity progress, the just understanding,
you know, feet on the ground, understanding where he's at in the
situation he's in. I'm excited to see him grow and and hey again,
there's gonna be plenty of Bones at certain points to see skeleton key will be
Yeah, you mentioned it before that in March, Bones was gonna be the
guy that had to be the inning zeter that was gonna play a lot.
I still think he's gonna get plenty of time out there and easier shots now
with James Harden. There are gonna be nights where Bones is still cooking,
where he's still looking just like he did at the beginning of the season when
he was getting more minutes. When there's nights where Kawhi and Paul George can't
go, I expect him to play more. I think Bones is still gonna
be very valuable for this team. It sounds almost counterintuitive because you bring in
a guy that plays his position and that it's used to playing thirty five minutes
a night. I understand that, but I just think Bones is too good
to keep off the court. Like he's played himself into a role where I
think he's allotted a certain amount of minutes every night no matter what. And
like you said, Coach Lou loves riding the hot hand. I'm excited.
I'm excited. I'm looking forward to ty Lou getting to figure the shit out.
If there's anybody that came out right, if there's anyone that, yeah,
I'm just the question marks aren't as big of an issue yet. Most
of I'm just excited to see everyone together. Want Terrence Man to be healthy.
He is out of the walking boot, which is great for the ankles,
so once everyone gets coalesced, I'm really looking forward to this. I
would encourage Clippernation to go back to like this one of the sixteen games that
Kyrie Harden and Kevin Durant all actually got to play together. I think two
of them ended up happening against the Clippers. Of course, they looked unbelievable.
Even though they had a minimum amount of time on the court next to
one another. It worked. It was easy the transition between those three because
they're great basketball players that can do everything well. Yeah, James hard and
Paul George and Kawhi Leonard, there's some similarities there. I expect them not
to have to take that long or not take that much of a learning curve
for them to figure things out on the court because James Harden is an unreal
number one playmaking type ball handler that you can have in this league. And
people think he's just a dribbler and a score and it's not true. And
I think a lot of people are gonna change their mind on James Harden that
are Clipper fans, just like they did about Russell Westbrook. DJF Music Productions.
I think he's dj F Underscore. Primal on Twitter has been on the
let's get James Harden trade. I don't know. Since the beginning. He
says the staggering of the four stars is gonna be huge, and every role
player is still going to be fine. He's guaranteeing it. So If this
doesn't happen, go to DJF Music Productions. He guaranteed it. I don't
know what he's giving you if things don't work. Yeah. See Also,
Adam, I know you're gonna hate this. I google James Harden astrology chart
just for fun, and I'm big on Zodia. We might have to bring
some people on the breakdown how this how this really all interacts with the Clippers,
because I'm dying at the thought of that being a main factor. What
is there anything else? I feel like I just want to see him play
now like that. This is this whole, Like every I'm done freaking out.
I've had reservations about this trade. We made it, we're here now.
I just want to see everyone playing now. They didn't have to give
up both their first round picks. They only had to give up one,
and they didn't have to give up Terrence Man. That is keeping the three
crazy when for this team they won the negotiation they did, and keeping keeping
that twenty thirty pick just you know, hey, hey, it'll probably be
the thirtieth pick in the draft, you know, but let's say it's not.
It's nice to have that still. Yeah, And it sounds like we
always make deals for second round picks. We always buy them because they cost
like sixty eight thousand dollars or whatever that weird equation. It's amazing to me
that the same people that say the Clippers never draft will also want to keep
their first round picks. It's like, which is it, guys? But
now I am. Oh, I'm very excited for this James Harden Uh,
because of the way he is shown to play the game the last couple of
seasons with Brooklyn, with Philadelphia, the little small adjustments he has made to
his game that I think are championship type of adjustments you have to make later
in your stage of your career, and playing with high end talent like Joe
el embiid k D and Kyrie. He's also i think, in in that
mode where he knows he needs to be that playmaker and defer more. And
that's what you're going to see. The full potential of two P one three
will be unlocked with James Harden. They well, what's the nickname for for
this four? The SoCal four? What do we what do we calling them?
Ooh, that's a good question. Uh, we'll get there, We'll
get there. Wait till it plays in the court. Carlo Amennez may come
up with it. Yeah, that's a good call, and you guys are
gonna be the Clippers play tonight. Speaking of Carlo Amennz, you guys are
gonna be over an am five to seventy pre and post game six thirty pre
game Clippers taking on a plucky Is that what you called them? Orlando Magic
team? Yes, lucky Orlando Magic team. They're a good team. They've
played all Western Conference teams to start the seasons. I think it's very weird
you'll be on a five to seventy. I have to go trick or treating
with my nephews and twenty degree weather. But the games start later here,
so I should be good to go on the radio after that one. Okay,
so check them Offler just invite himself on postgame. That's cool, just
booked himself. Yeah, let's the double dip tonight. Check it out,
and then we should have full pod with Will Updike, our other fantastic co
host here on Thursday talking maybe James Harden's debut and how it went against the
Lakers. We got a couple of nicknames being submitted right here. Cali Boys,
La four way, La La find it. We can't make it la
or you know, cause I mean it's like Palmdale, you got braino Valley.
Not technically, it's it's a bunch of yeah, we'll figure it out,
all right. We I have to go work. I'm getting emails and
whatnot. Thank you to everyone who came through. Oscar Rosco's asking where are
the smiles? You're about an hour late, buddy, go ahead and rewatch
it at the start. We're feeling pretty solid now. We will be back
with the double dip tomorrow maybe Wednesday, and hey, as always, let's
go clips. I'm gonna click end stream. There's gonna be a couple seconds
of awkwardness. So I hope everyone has a good rest of their day.