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What is up, fellow thermonuclear A
Effers, Grant and Dan are coming back

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at you with another batch of offseason
report card grades. We are on the

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Northwest Division, which I'm going through
the the outlines that Grant and I set

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up, or if it's wrong,
I set it up myself. If it's

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right, both Grant and I set
it up. It took me forever.

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This division was fucking annoying, but
I am wearing my pokumon shirt for the

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occasion. If anyone who's watching on
YouTube, shout out to the homies at

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the Uncontested Podcast for sending me this. This division is going to be a

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hum dinger. But before we get
started, Grant, how are you doing?

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I'm doing grade. I'm very excited
to hand out some high grades because

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we have had some rough ones and
this is gonna be a lot of positivity

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at least flowing from my end of
the great sheet. So I'm excited.

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Just a pluses across the board.
I don't really give out a pluses.

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I've done it before, but it's
very rare. A plus to you for

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putting these transactions together. By the
way, as you alluded to there,

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Yeah, I wish people could see
the sheer length of this Google doc with

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the Northwest transactions. Dude, the
Northwest was over a thousand word recap,

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Like fuck these teams for making and
like we don't even know what's happening with

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don Van Mitchell yet, but very
quickly to recap the criteria. Homers need

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not listen to this podcast. There
will be some I guess not for this

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division. Homers feel free to listen
to this podcast specifically, like this is

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your podcast. But we're grading teams
relative to the tools that we're at their

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disposal. We're not going to say
nice things all the time. We're also

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not trying to unjustifiably destroy teams.
If there's a move that we dislike,

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we are going to name what we
thought they should have done instead, and

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players that we thought they could have
targeted. Again, that's really just irrelevant

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to this podcast, and and just
a reminder again really matter for this podcast.

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But C is good, like C
is, they had an average offseason,

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maybe if it's a C plus slightly
above average, So don't take those

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personally. I know that no one
will probably even pay any mind to this

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recap of that or description of how
the grades work. But if It makes

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me feel a little bit better knowing
it's out there. We are going to

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begin with the Denver Nuggets, and
I'm just looking at this list of transactions

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as harrowings, but we're off notable
moves. They signed to Coal Yokas to

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a five year, two hundred and
seventy million dollars designated veteran extension. He

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has a twenty seven twenty eight player
option. It's worth sixty one point four

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million. At the age of thirty
two, Jeff Green picked up his player

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option for four point five million.
The Nuggets traded Jamichael Green and at twenty

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twenty seven first which is top five
protected through twenty twenty nine, then turns

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into a twenty and twenty nine second
for the number thirtieth pick in this year's

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draft, which was Peyton Watson,
and a two twenty three second rounder,

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which is the most favorable of Washington, Miami, Dallas, and OKAC,

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and then a twenty twenty four second
under more favorable of Charlotte, Minnesota,

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which they then traded to Portland.
They also created a traded player exception as

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part of that deal. They used
more than half of it already. They

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have a little over three point six
million dollars remaining. They drafted Christian Brown

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at number twenty one. I actually
think that he is a chance to play

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for this team. They acquired Contavious
called Loo, Pope and Is Schmith for

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Will Barton and Monte Morris. They
created a nine point two million dollars traded

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player exception in the process. For
Morris, they signed KCP to a two

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year, thirty million dollars exception extension. Excuse me, the final year of

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that extension, twenty four twenty five, is a player option. They signed

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Colin Gillespie to a two way contract. They acquired center Ishmael Comagte at an

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at number forty six from Portland for
twenty twenty four second rounder. That was

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the more favorable of the Charlotte Minnesota
pick that they acquired from Okay seeing the

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Jamichael Green trade. They signed Bruce
Brown for the MINIMLI two years thirteen point

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three million. That final season is
a player option. They signed DeAndre Jordan

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to a one year VET minimum deal. They resigned black Chanchar to a three

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year, six a two million dollar
deal. The final season is a team

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option. They signed Avonrid to a
two year, four million dollar four million

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dollar deal. The final season is
non guaranteed. They promoted Calvin Booth after

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Tim Connolly left for Minnesota. They
signed a Donna's Arms and Kelln Grady to

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an Exhibit ten deal, and they
also signed Jack White to a two A

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contract. Their notable exits include Austin
Rivers and Brent Forbes, who both went

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to the Wolves, and then DeMarcus
Cousins and Marcus Howard remain unsigned. Holy

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fucking shit, Grant, what Greg
did you give the Nuggets? Should I

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talk for like five seconds and make
you start talking and after Yeah, I'm

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like, my watch is tracking my
heartbeat. I'm like in cardio mode at

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this point. This is an A. I'll start with the arguments I think

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I'd be willing to hear for knocking
it down to an A minus. Losing

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Connolly to Minnesota. You know,
I think it was initially reported he got

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ownership steak or something, and then
maybe it's like, well, I don't

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know it. Just if you've been
critical of the Nuggets for being too cheap,

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for being a really good organization that's
owned by a very rich owner,

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that losing Connolly to another team potentially
over money, you know that might rub

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you the wrong way. And then
the DeAndre Jordan's signing. It's a one

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year veteran minimum deal. I think
it's a dumb signing, but it's like

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it's not fatal, Like it can't
kill a veteran minimum signing. Like whatever

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they'll find, go find. Let's
talk about Hassan Whiteside again, Like,

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go find somebody else out there if
you need a backup center for the like

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four minutes of playoff games that Yogic
doesn't play. So it's an ay,

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the Yoga extension great, locked in
awesome. I think Ksep fits perfectly.

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I just I've seen him play in
finals games on a title winner, and

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like that's kind of a reductive way
to think about it, but he fits

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exactly. I think what this team
needs at the two. I love Bruce

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Brown and the defense both him and
KCP. The defense that they're going to

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get out of those two are big
upgrades I think with Aaron Gordon being back,

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So just the idea of this team
now if you have Murray back,

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and you have MPG back, and
you're you know, you've got like you've

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got options, and this roster just
feels like every every edition they made made

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sense. So I mean, I'm
not going to go through all the smaller

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things like the Jamachael Green trade fine, just to move that money off.

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I think a lot of people,
like Christian Brown, I can't profess to

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know enough about that to have a
real strong take on it. Plus,

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this team is so good. I
don't think he's going to be a factor

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at least this year. I just
think they got the big moves right.

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You know, extending KCP was also
like, I think that's a solid move.

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So big moves, small moves,
like theory of the team, addressing

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needs just kind of just ticked all
the boxes as you go down them.

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So I think this is one of
the best I mean, it's an A.

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It's one of the best offseasons in
the league to me. So we

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diverge from this pretty substantially. I
gave them a B. And this is

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kind of someone who might pick the
Nuggets to win the title, like if

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I was forced to choose right now, I think they had a good offseason,

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But I think it's an excusable to
let him Connelly walk over money.

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I know that there's some sort of
like equity type incentive that they gave him

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but the fact that he was even
in a position to leave in the first

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place speaks to where they've skimped on
executives. Just in general, it feels

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like, dating back to Massa Jerry
Calvin Booth team is more than capable.

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From what everyone around around the league
says, that's great, It's still just

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the optics are just I don't know, that's uninspiring. Yes, they now

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the Yokis contract, they now some
of like the other move. I love

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the Bruce Brown signing. It might
have been my favorite like free agency fit

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one of them of the off season. The Casey P. Tree was great

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for them. I think the extension
is absolutely fine too. But just like

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giving up a twenty twenty seven pick
and that's your Michael Green dump, I

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know that they got number thirty Peyton
Watson better be really fucking good, just

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because I'm not in favor of giving
up a distant first round pick that's protected

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so far out. You've limited if
you wanted to go make other mid seasons

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like you've kind of now tethered yourself
to a certain level of transactions, or

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you have to start talking about,
like what we do we need to take

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a swing by putting bones Highland in
there. This team may be already finished,

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so I'm not trying to say they
need to make another big trade,

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but that's just I don't like trading
distant first round picks in to get off

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like an expiring contract and to get
back the number thirty pick and some other

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second rounders. It just felt like
a that was weird, and to me,

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I thought it was just like incautious
like it was. It was just

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a little bit reckless. And then
yes, they nailed most of the big

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moves, but why are you signing
DeAndre Jordan, Like because it's solely for

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the locker room presence, and you
also you just gave two guaranteed years to

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Lacko Kanchar, and I know that
he's tight with Nicole Yokich, but like,

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you gotta do one or the other
at that point, because I know

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you have Yokich. But your front
court bench rotation is still just like their

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bench might be better than last season
by virtue of just them being healthier and

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maybe having a little bit more better
fitting talent. At the same time,

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you just look at their backup big
right now and it still is sort of

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uninspiring, is it? Jeff Green
playing a lot of small ball five.

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You have Zeke Naji as well,
Are you actually planning on playing DeAndre Jordan

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because then that's that's absolutely terrifying.
So just like missing on those small moves

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in addition to trading a twenty twenty
seven pick in a non blockbuster deal that

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didn't let you any significant assets,
and then on top of letting Tim Connolly

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leave, I just don't think it
was a perfect offseason. And I get

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that some people will probably be higher. I think there might even be some

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people who are lower than this,
but they've also I believe in Bones Highland,

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but like going from Monte Morris and
Bones Highland as backup guards to fucking

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Ish Smith now is in like,
that's a that's a huge downstreade. You

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have Bruce Brown in there too,
so that's not that didn't factor in.

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But I don't think this was by
far and away a home run off season.

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I think they got the biggest thing
right, and that's the Nicola Yoket's

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trade and then Bruce Brown signing I
loved, and the Casep trade while it

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was in effect they were dumping money, it's won that addressed one of their

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bigger weaknesses. So I'm better than
okay with it. I like it,

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but to miss on some smaller moves
on the margins or give up that long

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term pick. And then again,
I think connolly leaving has to be a

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part of this grade as well.
You've talked me down to an as because

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because the flat A implies like they
got everything right, and I did already

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listed the Connolly thing, which is
not nothing, and the Jordan using a

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roster spot on Deanry Jordan is also
not nothing. So I'm gonna go a

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minus. But I still I still
like it a little better than you,

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I think overall. They also did
use the mini mL when a lot of

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people were concerned that they wouldn't,
So maybe maybe I'll book mine up to

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a B plus like later, but
they look they had a very above average

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offseason regardless. But yeah, so
I'm gonna stick with my B. You

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want with an A minus. The
next team up, the Minnesota Timberwolves,

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did some stuff too. They hired
Tim Connolly as president of basketball operations.

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They signed karl anthy Towns to a
four year two hundred and twenty four point

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00:10:54,639 --> 00:10:58,720
two million dollars million million dollars extension. He has a twenty twenty seven two

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00:11:00,000 --> 00:11:03,039
twenty eight player option valued at sixty
two point one million dollars that will be

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his age thirty one campaign. They
traded Jake Lavia the number nineteen pick two

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the Memphis Grizzlies for Walker Kessler the
number twenty two pick and ty Ty Washington

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the number twenty nine pick. They
then traded thy Ty Washington two thousand,

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twenty five and two thousand and twenty
seven seconds, both unprotected, for Wendel

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Moore junior number twenty six. They
traded for Rudy Gobert from the Jazz and

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00:11:22,679 --> 00:11:28,080
exchanged for Malite Beasley, Patrick Beverley
Leandrol Balmarro, Walker Kessler, Jared Vanderbilt,

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a twenty twenty three first round pick
unprotected, twenty twenty five first round

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00:11:31,679 --> 00:11:37,519
pick unprotected, and unprotected, twenty
twenty six first round swap at twenty twenty

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00:11:37,519 --> 00:11:41,039
seven first round pick unprotected, and
then a twenty twenty nine first round pick

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top five protection. Minnesota also created
a four point four million dollar traded player

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00:11:45,919 --> 00:11:48,279
exception for Vando. As part of
that deal. They traded Bryce McGowan's the

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number forty pick to Charlotte for Josh
maynot the number forty five pick, and

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00:11:52,240 --> 00:11:56,559
the Knicks is two thousand and twenty
three second rounder. They signed Kyle Anderson

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to a two year, eighteen million
dollars deal. They signed twenty and Prince

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00:11:58,720 --> 00:12:03,000
to a two year fourteen point six
million dollars extension. The second year is

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00:12:03,000 --> 00:12:07,120
non guaranteed. They signed Bryn Forbes
and Austin Rivers to one year veteran minimums

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00:12:07,120 --> 00:12:09,919
deals. They signed Nathan Knight to
a two year, two point eight million

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00:12:09,919 --> 00:12:13,039
dollar deal. It fully guarantees on
January tenth. He can also vi to

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a trade LOL. That second season
is a team option. They picked up

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00:12:16,440 --> 00:12:20,679
the options on Jail and Noel and
naz Reid. They signed cj Ellaby to

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00:12:20,679 --> 00:12:24,039
an Exhibit ten deal, and they
signed A. J. Lawson to a

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00:12:24,080 --> 00:12:28,279
two way contract. Notable exits include
Joshua Kobi, who signed with the Sons

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00:12:28,320 --> 00:12:31,399
and Jake Layman as I now remains
unsigned. Grant, what great did you

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00:12:31,399 --> 00:12:37,480
give the Minnesota Timberwolves. So this
is a bee for me. I think

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that we get caught up, and
I maybe I shouldn't say we, but

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I think in general, you know, we look at as you're reading it,

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00:12:46,840 --> 00:12:50,200
all those firsts and all is how
many times you sat unprotected and like

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you know, you're talking about at
least one, two, three rotation guys

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00:12:56,799 --> 00:13:00,000
that went out for Rudy Gobert.
Like it's just a lot, and it's

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00:13:00,000 --> 00:13:03,440
time. You're the team that everyone
talks about as like you reset the market

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00:13:03,600 --> 00:13:07,679
in terms of what a first rounder
is worth. Like you've done, you've

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00:13:07,320 --> 00:13:11,679
you've been, you've operated boldly,
Like let's put it that way at least,

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00:13:11,759 --> 00:13:16,039
and maybe that's the nicest thing you
can say about it. But I

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just think for this particular franchise where
it's at, I'm okay with it.

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I think the Gobert contract is there's
like four for about one seventy left on

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it, and like, yeah,
the last couple of years of that might

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be ugly. I just think he
has. The upside is big. The

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potential for Gobert to turn the Wolves
into one of the league's best defenses.

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It's very real because he's sort of
just if he's on the floor, that's

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just the situation is that the defense
is elite. So yeah, the two

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big thing, I don't know,
but if you're gonna fit another big next

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to Car next to Gobert, like
it's great that he's the best high volume

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three point shooting big guy of all
time. Like, so Kat is gonna

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have trouble guarding guys on the perimeter, it's less of any with Gobert behind

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him. All that said, like
the playoff picture for this team, I

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don't know because all the same problems
that Utah had might manifest and this just

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doesn't work in the postseason. This
is the Timberwolves. They just like they

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have They jump on the table when
they win playing games right like this is

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this is a franchise that if you're
gonna take a swing, I think I

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think it's okay. I think it's
okay to have done this, and like

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it cuts against how we evaluate almost
every other team. And I don't know

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if that's it's not logically consistent,
it might not be fair, But just

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getting Gobert in there, I'm okay. I'm just okay with it. It

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costs more than it should have,
but I love the swing. I love

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the truck, and it also as
a as a as a bigger picture thing.

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It feels like the Timberwolves are ready
to start operating as like a franchise

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that's gonna do some stuff. The
Connolly Higher is another piece of evidence to

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that end. I think the ownership
changing. I think the pockets are deep

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and they are open. I think
there's just it feels like the Timberwolves are

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getting serious and and maybe this will
blow up and it was a huge mistake,

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and like we could talk about Brent
Forbes and Austin Rivers and whatever else

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or I don't know. I just
that's not that big a deal to me.

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It's just the Gobert thing. I
just I like what it signals.

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I like the the called borderline recklessness
felt like the right time, and and

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like we haven't even I didn't even
talk about, you know, getting Kat

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on that new extension, which I'm
just fine with. I guess this is

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all about the Gobert trade. It's
so I give that a B. The

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downside is massive, but I think
the upside for this particular franchise is high

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enough that that I just I like, I gave him a B plus.

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And I'm with you on the Gobert
trade. And the only things I would

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add to it are, there's an
outcome. Because you mentioned the downside,

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you mentioned the upside. The upside
is you have three all NBA players on

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your roster all of a sudden,
because the Anthie Edwards looks like he's on

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that trajectory, and so why not
go in on a move like this because

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the highest and outcome is championship contender, and I think they're going to be

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a dominant regular season team. My
question which is why I don't think you

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give them an A minus or an
A plus. The two biggest ones I

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have from this trade. What does
it look like in the playoffs? We

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saw Steven Adams get played off the
court against the Wolves specifically, but then

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he was also on the court against
the Warriors, and hey, we just

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watched in the finals the Warriors and
the Celtics played with they predominantly started to

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you know, Kavan Ludi and draymondri
and aren't like Biggs, but Biggs,

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so I'm okay with this. And
also carl Anthy Towns and Rudy Gobert,

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they compliment each other well on offense
because if Towns is shooting his ball handling

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from the outside in and Rudy Gobert
such a devastating screener and roller and finisher

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above the rim, and you can
stagger their minutes during the regular season yes,

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there are questions about crunch time.
The downside is there, but it's

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like I said when we were talking
about the Hawks and Jean Ty Murray,

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I want franchises that are not the
Lakers, the Knicks, the Bulls,

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the Heat, the Warriors. I
want them to take these ricks when there

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is even if it's a three percent
potential outcome of them being like an actual

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title contender, take that swing because
of what it signals. And that's what

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they did with Tim Connolly. The
other question I do have, which is

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also why I didn't go a little
higher, is one I love the Kyle

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Anderson signing, like do you have
enough shooting on this team? I also

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thought you must really trust that you're
still gonna be good in twenty five and

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twenty seven, that you gave those
picks up to get Wendell Moore Junior,

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who I actually like, if his
three point shot from his final season at

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Duke is real and when he shot
over forty percent on like I would say,

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semi modest volume like that helps you
have like a three Indie wing type

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in there. But Jane McDaniels,
the whole spin has been they gave up

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somebody picks, so that they could
retain him. I am very high on

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Jane McDaniels. If you told me
that the Jazz were willing to let you

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keep the twenty twenty three pick and
then the swap if they took Jade McDaniels,

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then yes, I would throw those
in there now. If they were

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willing to take back the twenty nine
pick or the twenty seven pick, that's

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where I would have considered it.
But my guess is that the Jazz wanted

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those picks over Jane McDaniels. And
also, so I'm viewing this as if

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you include Jane McDaniels, maybe you
save your twenty twenty three first, then

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that swap, and you know what, I'd rather have Jane McDaniels just flat

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out if it was those distant first
round picks, then we can have that

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conversation the other reason they had to
pay. And I'm not you know,

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I'm not someone who's gonna bow with
the author of Danny Ainge. He made

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it very clear, just based off
the lack of other offers that were out

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there, that they were just going
to keep Rudy Gobert. And so if

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you needed to get Gobert of Utah
this was the price, like if they

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actually over this isn't about what was
the second best offer, because it was

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probably dog shit because teams needed to
value Rudy Gobert more than the Timberwolves did,

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and they clearly did not. If
we're talking about an overpay. Could

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00:18:40,000 --> 00:18:44,039
they have fought hard to keep Walker
Kessler. Could they have fought hard to

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00:18:44,079 --> 00:18:48,720
keep Jared Vanderbilt? Maybe, But
like neither of those players matter. When

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00:18:48,720 --> 00:18:52,559
you have Kat and karl anthy Towns
on those Cat and Rudy Gobert on your

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team, so instantly they become a
little bit more expendable to the Wolves than

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00:18:56,279 --> 00:19:00,200
people are viewing them in those terms. The one criticism I could give to

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00:19:00,279 --> 00:19:04,400
this is that if without knowing whether
this is gonna work, you could have

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gone for much cheaper than Miles Turner
route and effectively done a lot of the

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same things where you just have two
floor spacers and Turner isn't as good as

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00:19:11,200 --> 00:19:15,279
a rim runner. But Rudy Gobert
is a generational defender who has enjoyed much

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00:19:15,319 --> 00:19:18,839
better health than Miles Turner and Mike. I said, your highest end outcome

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now is you have three all NBA
players on your roster for the next Rudy

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00:19:22,079 --> 00:19:26,200
Gobert another what two to three years
of prime Gobert at this even if it's

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two and look, there's a chance
that he opts out of the final year

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of his contract. Day Moore pointed
this out on his podcast, and I

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00:19:33,799 --> 00:19:34,920
think we're not pointing it out enough. It's stuff, you know, but

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00:19:34,960 --> 00:19:40,759
it's not acknowledged. Forty six point
seven million dollars in twenty five twenty six

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00:19:41,119 --> 00:19:45,920
might be something like the thirty if
the fortieth, highest paid player in the

305
00:19:45,039 --> 00:19:48,880
NBA, And so maybe he opts
out, in which case this is a

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00:19:48,920 --> 00:19:52,160
three year deal and if disaster strikes, you can just move on. So

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I'm not just eminently Okay, I
love it, and I acknowledge that there's

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00:19:57,799 --> 00:20:02,640
a risk there and what I personally
have given up that much me personally,

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00:20:02,720 --> 00:20:04,519
I am too risk averse to do
it. But I appreciate what they did,

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00:20:04,559 --> 00:20:07,359
and I think they, you know, not, I don't want to

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00:20:07,400 --> 00:20:11,480
make this all about the Gobert trade. I think they you know. I'm

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00:20:11,519 --> 00:20:14,200
I don't really love, like I
said, the Wendelmore junior trade, but

313
00:20:14,200 --> 00:20:17,240
I like him enough to where giving
up the two seconds in there, Okay,

314
00:20:17,240 --> 00:20:19,200
whatever. I like Austin Rivers for
this team. I think Grin Forbes

315
00:20:19,240 --> 00:20:22,720
helps. I think Tory and Prince
folding him into a wing who can actually

316
00:20:22,720 --> 00:20:27,559
shoot, or just some trade ballast, salary ballast is good for them.

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00:20:27,599 --> 00:20:33,359
I think that they made some nice, complimentary moves on the margins and they're

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00:20:33,440 --> 00:20:37,200
most gaping hole. I think it
depends on how you feel about Jallennell at

319
00:20:37,200 --> 00:20:42,279
this point is do they have enough
like playmaking outside of the starting lineup,

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00:20:42,359 --> 00:20:47,240
which maybe they don't, but they
can stagger mints so creatively here. I

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00:20:47,359 --> 00:20:51,480
liked what this offseason was for this
team, even if they overpaid and maybe

322
00:20:51,480 --> 00:20:56,079
skewed too far like towards non shooters
or you know, are not like if

323
00:20:56,079 --> 00:21:00,319
there is a playmaking deficit on the
roster. I two two things and made

324
00:21:00,319 --> 00:21:03,039
me. You made me remember my
very first thought about this trade when I

325
00:21:03,039 --> 00:21:06,640
was trying to because my initial gut
was like, wow, good for the

326
00:21:06,640 --> 00:21:10,160
Wolves, But then you worry about
all the picks. The thing about Gobert

327
00:21:10,279 --> 00:21:14,000
having a player option, like if
he gets to that point where he's essentially

328
00:21:14,039 --> 00:21:17,000
an expiring deal, or even if
you get two years down the road and

329
00:21:17,039 --> 00:21:19,359
he might be picking that up.
I still think there's a scenario where you

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00:21:19,440 --> 00:21:22,720
can move him and maybe you're getting
you're still getting positive value, and so

331
00:21:22,920 --> 00:21:26,200
like it doesn't work right, the
fits bad or just he doesn't get along

332
00:21:26,359 --> 00:21:30,599
with with Anthony Edwards or something the
second star guard that he can't see i'd

333
00:21:30,599 --> 00:21:33,680
eye with. You can move him
and get maybe you get a first back,

334
00:21:33,720 --> 00:21:37,799
maybe you get a first and another
protective something like that. His value

335
00:21:37,839 --> 00:21:41,880
is maybe high enough just on the
market that you're recouping some of the stuff

336
00:21:41,880 --> 00:21:45,279
you gave up. That's one thing
I think that's a reasonable possibility if it's

337
00:21:45,319 --> 00:21:48,039
just you know, we get a
little ways down the road and it doesn't

338
00:21:48,039 --> 00:21:51,920
work. The other thing is if
Edwards is that guy, which I think

339
00:21:51,920 --> 00:21:55,359
we agree and I think consensus seems
to be that, like it's not even

340
00:21:55,400 --> 00:21:57,200
fair to call him like a dark
horse superstar, you know, as soon

341
00:21:57,240 --> 00:22:00,839
as next year. I just think
everyone's sort of agrees that there's a list

342
00:22:00,880 --> 00:22:04,720
of guys that might pop and might
just be who we talk about for the

343
00:22:04,759 --> 00:22:08,680
next ten years as like franchise cornerstones. Great chance that he's that guy better

344
00:22:08,720 --> 00:22:12,799
than almost everybody. Then the first
rounds, first rounders, you give up

345
00:22:12,799 --> 00:22:15,319
don't really matter that much because you've
raised the floor on what those are going

346
00:22:15,400 --> 00:22:18,240
to be. You're you're talking,
You're not talking losing. You know,

347
00:22:18,400 --> 00:22:22,480
unprotected picks are terrifying. I just
think if he's anything close to the type

348
00:22:22,480 --> 00:22:26,039
of player we think he is plus
kat is lockdown, now the Wolves are

349
00:22:26,079 --> 00:22:30,200
not gonna be like a thirty win
team. I think, you know,

350
00:22:30,319 --> 00:22:33,519
I think if you're conveying those unprotected
picks, you're probably talking about late teens

351
00:22:33,720 --> 00:22:37,839
twenties. If things don't go well, if things go really well and they

352
00:22:37,880 --> 00:22:41,359
just kick ass in every regular season
for the foreseeable future, which seems very

353
00:22:41,400 --> 00:22:44,640
likely to me. Now you're like
twenty four or twenty five, who cares

354
00:22:44,640 --> 00:22:48,279
like those guys maybe make you know, maybe signed second contracts. I don't

355
00:22:48,279 --> 00:22:51,599
know. So so those are the
two things that sort of mitigate the risk.

356
00:22:51,680 --> 00:22:56,519
To me, I'm sticking with a
Bee just because that's just so much

357
00:22:56,559 --> 00:23:00,960
to give up. But I wouldn't. You could not talk me into going

358
00:23:00,039 --> 00:23:04,839
lower. You could definitely talk me
into going higher. Love it that brings

359
00:23:04,880 --> 00:23:08,559
us to the Oklahoma City Thunder,
who I'm repping with my Poku mon shirt

360
00:23:08,640 --> 00:23:12,440
on right now. Notable moves Derek
Favors picked up his ten point two million

361
00:23:12,440 --> 00:23:15,759
dollar player option. They drafted Chat
home Run. At number two, they

362
00:23:15,759 --> 00:23:19,039
acquired Jamichael Green, who they bought
out and he gave back two point three

363
00:23:19,079 --> 00:23:23,240
million dollars and the Denver nuggets twenty
seven first round pick, top five protected

364
00:23:23,240 --> 00:23:26,400
through twenty nine before turning into one
second round pick. They gave up in

365
00:23:26,400 --> 00:23:32,599
that deal to number thirty pick Peyton
Watson and a twenty twenty three second rounder

366
00:23:32,960 --> 00:23:36,279
and a twenty twenty four second rounder, neither of which are their own.

367
00:23:37,319 --> 00:23:41,799
Drafted Jawn Williams at number twelve,
they acquired Uzman Jang, the number eleven

368
00:23:41,839 --> 00:23:45,880
pick from the Knicks, in exchange
for Denver's twenty twenty three first Latta protected

369
00:23:45,880 --> 00:23:48,960
through two thou twenty five, then
two seconds Detroit's twenty three first. That's

370
00:23:49,000 --> 00:23:52,799
top eighteen for the next two years
protected. Then it's top thirteen protected in

371
00:23:52,839 --> 00:23:57,079
twenty five and top eleven protected in
twenty six, top nine protected in two

372
00:23:57,400 --> 00:24:00,559
twenty seven. Then it turns into
a twenty seven second if it is not

373
00:24:00,640 --> 00:24:04,240
conveyed, and they also killed Washington
two thousand and twenty three first round pick.

374
00:24:04,279 --> 00:24:07,920
It's lotto protected for the next two
years. Top ten in two thousand

375
00:24:07,960 --> 00:24:10,960
and twenty five, Top eight in
two thousand and twenty six turns into two

376
00:24:11,000 --> 00:24:15,920
seconds, so effectively they viewed Usmanjang
worth the three conditional first round picks.

377
00:24:15,160 --> 00:24:19,319
They drafted another Jaalen Williams at number
thirty four. They declined new doors one

378
00:24:19,359 --> 00:24:22,680
point nine million dollars team option,
then signed him to a five year,

379
00:24:22,759 --> 00:24:26,759
eighty two point five million dollar deal. Only sixty four point eight million is

380
00:24:26,799 --> 00:24:30,079
guaranteed of that number, and there's
a team option on the final season,

381
00:24:30,119 --> 00:24:32,880
which, by the way, he
will only be it will only be his

382
00:24:32,960 --> 00:24:36,440
age twenty seven campaign. They signed
Kenrick Williams to a four year twenty seven

383
00:24:36,480 --> 00:24:38,759
point two million dollar extension, team
option on the final season when he'll be

384
00:24:38,839 --> 00:24:42,400
entering his age thirty one campaign.
They signed Mike Muscala to a two year,

385
00:24:42,440 --> 00:24:47,079
seven million dollar deal after declining his
team option, and he has a

386
00:24:47,079 --> 00:24:51,359
team option on the final season of
this deal. They signed Eugene Omery to

387
00:24:51,440 --> 00:24:55,119
a two way contract, and they
signed Sacha Kalia Jones to an Exhibit ten

388
00:24:55,519 --> 00:25:00,839
deal. Notable exits They waived Isaiah
Roby and NBA Twitter was incredibly mad about

389
00:25:00,880 --> 00:25:03,240
it when it happened. Grant,
Well, great, did you give the

390
00:25:03,279 --> 00:25:06,920
Thunder? This is an A.
Uh, it's it's a flat A.

391
00:25:07,000 --> 00:25:08,799
I was about to talk myself down
to an A minus because I'm not sure

392
00:25:08,839 --> 00:25:12,799
about the Jane trade, but like
you said, three conditional first for a

393
00:25:12,839 --> 00:25:18,799
guy that is a typical lowcacy product
like we project. We just like the

394
00:25:18,880 --> 00:25:22,279
upside is through the roof, is
a ten percent chance of reaching it?

395
00:25:22,359 --> 00:25:26,119
Like I love the big swing.
Fine with that. I think getting Homegren

396
00:25:26,119 --> 00:25:32,160
at two. You know, we've
just gushed about Paulo bank Caro on the

397
00:25:32,240 --> 00:25:37,079
last pod that we recorded. I
think home Gren is just right there the

398
00:25:37,079 --> 00:25:40,559
way that he might transform that defense, Like if he led the league in

399
00:25:40,599 --> 00:25:44,000
blocks this year, would you I
wouldn't be surprised. And then you've got

400
00:25:44,079 --> 00:25:47,400
all this other ancillary offensive stuff that
he looks like he's gonna be capable of.

401
00:25:48,000 --> 00:25:51,599
If you didn't like the Jamichael Green
move for Denver, you have to

402
00:25:51,640 --> 00:25:53,799
like it for the Thunder, even
though he you know, he was just

403
00:25:53,880 --> 00:25:59,359
essentially bought out. But I think
that's a fine trade. So Jalen Williams,

404
00:25:59,720 --> 00:26:02,400
I went to Santa Clara and I
have a text thread with a lot

405
00:26:02,400 --> 00:26:06,160
of Santa Clara people I went to
school with, including him, even you

406
00:26:06,200 --> 00:26:10,319
know, he's not on it.
Even that thread did not was not as

407
00:26:10,440 --> 00:26:14,279
there was a lot of hyperbole on
that because Santa Clara doesn't have NBA prospects

408
00:26:14,319 --> 00:26:19,160
almost ever. And even on that
thread, nobody foresaw this the way that

409
00:26:19,200 --> 00:26:22,160
he rose up the draft boars and
the way that he looked in summer League

410
00:26:22,160 --> 00:26:26,359
like Hunt, that's a two way
big wing that can make plays with him

411
00:26:26,400 --> 00:26:30,799
without the ball, and it looks
looks like he's going to defend, finish

412
00:26:30,839 --> 00:26:36,319
athletically like this just was kudos,
okay see forgetting him at twelve because this

413
00:26:36,359 --> 00:26:41,119
was it, I mean, wasn't
even wasn't even like a first round thought

414
00:26:41,160 --> 00:26:44,599
really for the vast majority of the
season. So and it looks like they

415
00:26:44,680 --> 00:26:48,240
really hit on that. The dort
deal awesome, especially when you knock off

416
00:26:48,279 --> 00:26:51,920
all the money that's not part of
the guaranteed salary. It's just like a

417
00:26:52,160 --> 00:26:56,400
great deal. Maybe the Kenrick Williams
one is even better because we all we

418
00:26:56,519 --> 00:27:02,400
were obligated to love him and that's
just a bargain. So I just I'm

419
00:27:02,440 --> 00:27:07,640
looking really hard for moves that knock
this down from an A and I just

420
00:27:07,960 --> 00:27:10,599
I'm having a hard time finding him. I'm curious if you were as high

421
00:27:10,599 --> 00:27:12,599
on this as I was. I
an A and the only thing that you

422
00:27:12,720 --> 00:27:17,960
really can argue against, and that's
why I considered an A minus B plus.

423
00:27:18,240 --> 00:27:21,400
Did they give up too many picks
to get Usman Jang? They don't

424
00:27:21,440 --> 00:27:25,759
fucking need all those twenty three first
round picks like those move in the roster

425
00:27:25,799 --> 00:27:27,720
spots immediately, and you're at a
point where like you have actual players that

426
00:27:27,720 --> 00:27:32,559
you just drafted now that you just
can't create all these roster spots. You

427
00:27:32,559 --> 00:27:34,240
have Josh Giddy, and you have
chat Homegrin, and you Shay Gillens,

428
00:27:34,240 --> 00:27:37,680
Alexander signed. You're not just gonna
give away Kendrick Williams like he's a veteran,

429
00:27:37,720 --> 00:27:41,079
but he's good. So it was
people already mad you cut Isaiah Roby,

430
00:27:41,119 --> 00:27:42,680
and hey, that's not going to
be the last cut they make.

431
00:27:42,720 --> 00:27:47,000
Their favors is probably next Tail Maldon
might be on there because they have so

432
00:27:47,039 --> 00:27:51,000
many they still need to cut down
their roster. I liked that they went

433
00:27:51,079 --> 00:27:52,440
all in on Usman Jang, who
I actually liked it just seems like a

434
00:27:52,559 --> 00:27:56,039
very smart player. Who's gonna keep
the ball moving on offense defend his butt

435
00:27:56,079 --> 00:28:00,000
off, and like if the oh, hey this hired, I didn't mention

436
00:28:00,000 --> 00:28:07,400
this, Chip England. Yeah,
I can't believe I didn't even mention that.

437
00:28:07,480 --> 00:28:10,160
So that I'm sure there'll be people
who don't listen to this entire segment

438
00:28:10,200 --> 00:28:12,839
going by the way, okay,
see signed Chip England, Like if you

439
00:28:12,880 --> 00:28:17,559
trust anyone to not just like I'm
not saying rebuild, but help Ushman Jang

440
00:28:17,599 --> 00:28:22,160
with a jumper, or hey,
Josh Giddy working with or like just chet

441
00:28:22,160 --> 00:28:23,720
home Grid all of a sudden to
have this like much quicker release or something.

442
00:28:25,039 --> 00:28:26,839
It was an a through and through
and look, you don't we have

443
00:28:26,960 --> 00:28:30,759
to stop being hypocritical. And if
it happens inadvertently, I get it,

444
00:28:30,960 --> 00:28:34,000
But we can't be mad if Okasey
is tanking and then get mad when they

445
00:28:34,000 --> 00:28:37,720
take swings like trading three first round
picks into Ushman Jang. And look,

446
00:28:37,759 --> 00:28:41,440
there's a chance that I would say, there's a chance at least one of

447
00:28:41,440 --> 00:28:45,920
those picks they gave up doesn't convey
I don't know which one I'm kind of

448
00:28:45,920 --> 00:28:48,160
staring at right now is most likely. I guess, like the Wizards,

449
00:28:48,160 --> 00:28:52,000
I might build is the one that's
least likely to convey. But like none

450
00:28:52,000 --> 00:28:56,440
of those picks, profile is like
these top end assets. And so maybe

451
00:28:56,519 --> 00:28:57,839
if you thought that, oh,
well, none of these are going to

452
00:28:57,920 --> 00:29:02,680
convey into that in twenty three,
well Denver's is going to It's like they

453
00:29:02,720 --> 00:29:04,799
gave up a late twenty three first
round pick if you thought, like Detroit's

454
00:29:04,799 --> 00:29:08,119
and Washington was gonna spill into the
bitter end, and you know, you

455
00:29:08,160 --> 00:29:11,720
have a chance of getting a lottery
pick. If you want to just mark

456
00:29:11,759 --> 00:29:15,240
them down a bit for that,
I get it. I like the fact

457
00:29:15,240 --> 00:29:18,319
that they recognize someone they like now. Also, they look they signed in

458
00:29:18,359 --> 00:29:22,640
the past year plus three good players
to keep when you look at Shaykill just

459
00:29:22,680 --> 00:29:26,759
Alexander the extension and Kendrick Williams extension, the Ludwort deal, which by the

460
00:29:26,759 --> 00:29:30,839
way, when you break it down, it's like four years and sixty four

461
00:29:30,839 --> 00:29:33,680
million a season without the incentives and
that team option. That is anyone who

462
00:29:33,720 --> 00:29:37,920
thinks that's too much for a wing
who just defends his ass off. Maybe

463
00:29:37,960 --> 00:29:41,039
a little small for a wing,
but he's built like a fucking brick house

464
00:29:41,319 --> 00:29:44,119
and he can really get to the
rim there's some directionality on his drives,

465
00:29:44,279 --> 00:29:45,319
and hey, he's not afraid to
shoot threes, you know, if they're

466
00:29:45,319 --> 00:29:48,920
not always going in. And I'm
a big believer of there's value in the

467
00:29:48,000 --> 00:29:52,480
volume as well as the accuracy.
So I don't know how you dislike their

468
00:29:52,519 --> 00:29:56,720
offseason. I just don't know what
there is to hate. And look that

469
00:29:56,039 --> 00:30:00,000
I just criticized the Nuggets for giving
up the twenty twenty seven first round pick

470
00:30:00,039 --> 00:30:03,440
can the J Michael Green trade.
That's sort of a nice rainy day asset

471
00:30:03,480 --> 00:30:06,880
because what if something goes wrong in
Denver? It's only top five protected.

472
00:30:07,200 --> 00:30:08,960
So I thought this was a home
run off season for them. I don't

473
00:30:08,960 --> 00:30:12,519
think they instantly become good, but
like, this is a team that and

474
00:30:12,559 --> 00:30:17,400
I thought this last season we definitely
they deserve to be slaughtered for the way

475
00:30:17,440 --> 00:30:21,680
that they were actually slaughtered by the
Grizzlies, but that was not reflective of

476
00:30:21,720 --> 00:30:25,960
their rebuild, which has had a
rhyme and reason and direction for longer than

477
00:30:26,000 --> 00:30:29,160
people have credited. If you want
to, you know, if we fast

478
00:30:29,240 --> 00:30:32,640
forward months and they're shutting guys down
again, I can get being frustrated at

479
00:30:32,640 --> 00:30:34,559
that point, what are we doing
here? But like they're doing actual things

480
00:30:34,599 --> 00:30:38,720
to build up the immediate player base. I loved this offseason from them,

481
00:30:38,720 --> 00:30:41,039
and I think the chet home Grin
pick, when you're looking at the two

482
00:30:41,039 --> 00:30:45,200
players that were back on the board, is there a chance to borrow Smith

483
00:30:45,279 --> 00:30:48,880
Junior is better than him? Sure? But chet Holmrin is going to be,

484
00:30:48,039 --> 00:30:51,599
I think, a monster and if
he gets stronger, like he's going

485
00:30:51,640 --> 00:30:53,880
to be the quintessential complimentary offensive player. I think. But if there's a

486
00:30:53,960 --> 00:30:57,880
chance that his ball handling skills develop
and he's given that agency over the offense,

487
00:30:59,039 --> 00:31:02,640
and then he's getting even stronger on
defense, we're talking about someone who

488
00:31:02,759 --> 00:31:06,799
himself could be a very transcendent town
agree, nothing to add. This is

489
00:31:06,920 --> 00:31:10,160
just the flat a. I don't
know why it was someonem passionate about giving

490
00:31:10,160 --> 00:31:12,279
the thunder and ages there. I'd
spittle flying off my mouth into my microphone.

491
00:31:12,680 --> 00:31:18,079
The Portland Trail Blazers they signed general
manager Joe Crone into a four year

492
00:31:18,079 --> 00:31:21,759
deal. They acquired Jeremy Grant and
the number forty six pick for number thirty

493
00:31:21,759 --> 00:31:25,519
six Milwaukee's twenty twenty five first,
which was top four protected, and the

494
00:31:25,559 --> 00:31:29,720
twenty twenty six second, the most
favorable of Portland or New Orleans. They

495
00:31:29,759 --> 00:31:33,039
then traded number forty six to Denver
for a twenty twenty four second rounder more

496
00:31:33,039 --> 00:31:37,079
favorable of Charlotte, Minnesota. That
was actually I thought a good deal for

497
00:31:37,119 --> 00:31:41,839
them the Nuggets. Excuse me as
I'm like burping over here, Ishmael Comagte.

498
00:31:42,000 --> 00:31:45,599
That's who the nugget of the Nuggets
took with the number forty six pick,

499
00:31:45,640 --> 00:31:48,799
or that's who was taken there that
the Nuggets got. The Blazers drafted

500
00:31:48,799 --> 00:31:52,640
Shaden Sharp at number seven. They
drafted Jabari Walker at number fifty seven,

501
00:31:52,640 --> 00:31:55,279
and then signed them to a three
year, four point eight million dollars deal.

502
00:31:55,480 --> 00:31:57,799
The final two years were completely non
guaranteed. They signed Gary Payton the

503
00:31:57,839 --> 00:32:00,759
second to a three year twenty six
point two million dollar deal, the final

504
00:32:00,799 --> 00:32:05,119
season as a player option when he
will be aged thirty two. Signed Efrey

505
00:32:05,160 --> 00:32:07,160
Simons to a four year, one
hundred million dollar deal no options. This

506
00:32:07,240 --> 00:32:10,519
takes him through his age twenty sixth
season. Signed use Off Nurkics to a

507
00:32:10,559 --> 00:32:15,079
four year seventy million dollar deal no
options, takes him through his age thirty

508
00:32:15,079 --> 00:32:17,400
one season. Signed Drew you Banks
to a one year veteran minimums deal,

509
00:32:17,519 --> 00:32:21,400
signed Damian Lillard to a two year, one hundred and twenty one point eight

510
00:32:21,440 --> 00:32:24,960
million dollars extension. He is now
signed through his age thirty six season,

511
00:32:25,319 --> 00:32:29,839
and he will be slated to make
sixty three point two million dollars in that

512
00:32:29,960 --> 00:32:32,960
campaign. They waved and stretched to
Eric Bletzo's partial guarantee, so there'll be

513
00:32:32,960 --> 00:32:37,079
one point three million dollars in dead
money on their books through twenty seven.

514
00:32:37,279 --> 00:32:40,119
Twenty eight. They signed Jared Rodin
to an Exhibit ten deal, and then

515
00:32:40,119 --> 00:32:45,559
they signed Isaiah Miller and Norville Pell
to Exhibit tens as well. Notable exits

516
00:32:45,599 --> 00:32:50,119
include Joe Ingles who signed with the
Bucks, Cjlab signed with Minnesota. Bletsoe,

517
00:32:50,319 --> 00:32:53,440
Elijah Hugh's and Ben McLamore all remain
unsigned. Grant, what was your

518
00:32:53,480 --> 00:33:00,559
grade for the Blazers? I gave
him a B plus, And the lockdowns

519
00:33:00,599 --> 00:33:04,640
for it were the Lillard extension,
just the sheer cost of it, as

520
00:33:04,680 --> 00:33:08,480
you outline, and the fact that
like he's got was it three more years

521
00:33:08,519 --> 00:33:12,839
on his existing deal. I just
like we didn't. It didn't feel like

522
00:33:12,839 --> 00:33:16,000
we needed to do this, clearly, Portland felt differently. That's just kind

523
00:33:16,039 --> 00:33:22,200
of a different situation there where the
loyalty between the franchise and Lillard, you

524
00:33:22,200 --> 00:33:24,240
know, needs seems to seems like
they need to project that as strongly as

525
00:33:24,240 --> 00:33:28,400
they possibly can in both directions,
just to keep everybody, you know,

526
00:33:28,519 --> 00:33:31,799
from trade speculating or whatever. That's
a little rich. The Nurkics deal I

527
00:33:31,839 --> 00:33:36,640
really didn't like at all at first, but you know, the CAP's going

528
00:33:36,759 --> 00:33:39,640
up. It's just I don't know. I guess four for seventy is for

529
00:33:39,720 --> 00:33:45,240
like an a guy who's I mean, he's also younger than I is.

530
00:33:45,680 --> 00:33:47,240
This takes him through age thirty one, he's still in is he's twenty eight

531
00:33:47,359 --> 00:33:52,079
right now. So yeah, but
to me, he's he's average at best

532
00:33:52,200 --> 00:33:55,759
on on both ends. Uh.
And I if the Blazers intend to play

533
00:33:55,799 --> 00:34:00,000
meaningful playoff games, I have questions
about how they'll hold up there. Clearly

534
00:34:00,079 --> 00:34:02,079
they do intend to do that,
But everything else I was good with.

535
00:34:02,200 --> 00:34:05,920
I just I like the Grant trade. I think he really helps. I

536
00:34:05,920 --> 00:34:10,400
think adding him and Peyton together finally
in a meaningful way changes the way that

537
00:34:10,480 --> 00:34:14,440
this team can hold up against good
offenses. Because this, you know,

538
00:34:14,719 --> 00:34:19,039
just every year, every year,
for as long as Lillard has been there

539
00:34:19,519 --> 00:34:22,199
with like maybe a blip in there
when you know Herkless and Aminu were in

540
00:34:22,239 --> 00:34:27,760
their primes. Defensively, the defense
has been terrible, so I think just

541
00:34:27,840 --> 00:34:30,639
getting those guys in there, certainly
Peyton to a greater extent than Grant at

542
00:34:30,639 --> 00:34:34,599
this point in his career, can
really change the game defensively. I think

543
00:34:34,679 --> 00:34:38,880
that matters. I think the numbers
are fine for Peyton specifically, Simon's iffy

544
00:34:39,400 --> 00:34:45,000
because you're building a team around two
small guards again and you're really crediting him

545
00:34:45,039 --> 00:34:49,920
for some meaningless games. I love
his potential. I think athletically there's like

546
00:34:50,039 --> 00:34:52,760
he should just be such a better
finisher. All the three point shooting he

547
00:34:52,800 --> 00:34:57,559
can do. I think that's real. Now it's been off of dribble stuff,

548
00:34:57,599 --> 00:35:00,559
has been there since day one.
Yeah, it's large enough that's that

549
00:35:00,599 --> 00:35:07,360
doesn't seem like a fluke. So
I think backing up, Portland wanted to

550
00:35:07,400 --> 00:35:10,760
put as good a roster as possible
around Lillard. I think they did that.

551
00:35:12,119 --> 00:35:15,480
I think that doesn't mean that this
team ceiling is any higher than like

552
00:35:15,480 --> 00:35:19,360
the fifth seed in the West potentially, but I think they're relevant. I

553
00:35:19,400 --> 00:35:22,159
think they're competitive, and then you
kind of you back all that up with

554
00:35:22,159 --> 00:35:25,480
shade and sharp who There are some
people, I think who believe that maybe

555
00:35:25,519 --> 00:35:28,519
this guy, if we'd seen more
of him, would have gone first.

556
00:35:28,519 --> 00:35:30,440
Now there's also people that think he
would have gone twenty fifth if we'd seen

557
00:35:30,480 --> 00:35:32,920
more of him. But I love
the upside swing. I love that they

558
00:35:34,000 --> 00:35:37,639
kept him. The injury sucks that
he got hurt in Summer League, like

559
00:35:37,719 --> 00:35:42,199
right away basically, but I like
it was very shade and sharp of him.

560
00:35:42,199 --> 00:35:45,320
Though it's like fading away, like
difficult over a defender on the baseline,

561
00:35:45,840 --> 00:35:47,719
I like that. I like the
potential for that to give them a

562
00:35:47,760 --> 00:35:53,199
guy who in a couple of years
is ready to like be a rotation guy

563
00:35:53,280 --> 00:35:57,360
or a starter. I think I
think the upside's there. So I get

564
00:35:57,400 --> 00:36:00,719
it if you hate the Lillard thing
or you think Nurke could is overpaid.

565
00:36:00,760 --> 00:36:04,519
But I think on balance, the
Blazers like and they were active, Like

566
00:36:05,039 --> 00:36:07,719
all the moves you listed. This
team had as many like consequential moves as

567
00:36:07,760 --> 00:36:10,880
anybody else over the summer, and
I think they hit on most of them.

568
00:36:12,400 --> 00:36:15,000
Yeah, I know. Look,
I'm fine with a Simon's contract if

569
00:36:15,000 --> 00:36:17,119
you I gave them a B I
don't like I think I liked an arkish

570
00:36:17,119 --> 00:36:21,159
contract less than you do. I
would say he's decidedly above average on offense

571
00:36:21,199 --> 00:36:23,840
and probably average on defense, but
I have questions about how that's gonna hold

572
00:36:23,920 --> 00:36:27,280
up for them in the playoffs.
And it was just like, what was

573
00:36:27,320 --> 00:36:30,480
the center market here? Yeah,
viewed in comparison to Mitchell Robinson getting four

574
00:36:30,559 --> 00:36:34,519
years and sixty million dollars for no
fucking reason. Yeah, this deals okay.

575
00:36:34,599 --> 00:36:37,199
I thought it was a slight overpaid, but nothing that was too sinister.

576
00:36:37,280 --> 00:36:39,079
Again, the cap is going up, and even Lillard's deal, I

577
00:36:39,119 --> 00:36:44,719
thought it was unnecessary. But like
someone's gonna if the Blazers need to pivot,

578
00:36:44,760 --> 00:36:46,519
someone's gonna give you value for this
contract, because they're gonna look at

579
00:36:46,519 --> 00:36:50,320
Lillard and say, look at the
many years he guys left on this deal.

580
00:36:50,679 --> 00:36:53,159
And again it's sixty three million dollars. That's probably not even gonna be

581
00:36:53,199 --> 00:36:55,960
the ten highest paid player in the
league at that point with the way the

582
00:36:57,000 --> 00:37:00,360
cap is scaling right now. So
I wouldn't have done it. I think

583
00:37:00,400 --> 00:37:04,480
that was probably the most reckless thing
that they did. But the like is

584
00:37:04,559 --> 00:37:07,000
Damian Lillard, so there's the there's
the cache there with use of Nurkis.

585
00:37:07,039 --> 00:37:09,679
I'm kind of like, but I
like the Grant trade for them, and

586
00:37:09,719 --> 00:37:13,199
if things go belly up and you
don't think he's coming back, you could

587
00:37:13,199 --> 00:37:15,440
still move him. I know you
mentioned them building around two small guards.

588
00:37:15,480 --> 00:37:20,039
Again, I think Simon's is a
different level of off the dribble shopmaker that

589
00:37:20,119 --> 00:37:22,679
it works, and then just athletically, you would hope that he becomes better

590
00:37:22,679 --> 00:37:27,679
defensively than Cheezie McColl him there.
But they've also insulated them more than ever,

591
00:37:27,800 --> 00:37:30,960
at least since like Wesley Matthews was
there with pre Achilles tear By,

592
00:37:31,000 --> 00:37:35,400
having Gary Payton a second Josh Hart, Jeremy Grant, and you are a

593
00:37:35,440 --> 00:37:38,199
little smaller like I like that.
I like I want to see and look,

594
00:37:38,280 --> 00:37:40,519
frankly, we should when you look
at their backup bigs, I like

595
00:37:40,599 --> 00:37:45,719
Drew eu Banks, but they don't
really have like a true blue backup five

596
00:37:45,880 --> 00:37:49,599
or at least the battle tested one. Jeremy Grant at the five with Josh

597
00:37:49,599 --> 00:37:52,320
Hart, Garret Payton the second,
Simon's and Lillard why not why not go

598
00:37:52,440 --> 00:37:55,679
that small and be super dynamic?
Did they need to give Garret Payton the

599
00:37:55,679 --> 00:38:00,519
second a player option? Like that's
questionable, But I don't think anything they

600
00:38:00,119 --> 00:38:01,880
did was detrimental. There are things
that I think there are a bunch of

601
00:38:01,880 --> 00:38:06,639
things that I'm just sort of harping
on, which is why I go scale

602
00:38:06,679 --> 00:38:08,360
it down to a B for them. But Shayden Sharp is big here,

603
00:38:08,400 --> 00:38:12,679
and I just don't know if I'm
accounting for him enough just because I didn't

604
00:38:12,679 --> 00:38:15,000
see enough of him, And I'm
curious as to how they bring him along

605
00:38:15,400 --> 00:38:20,440
if he's healthy, given what their
immediate aspirations are. Is he more trade

606
00:38:20,440 --> 00:38:23,159
fodder than actually a future peace?
Does that become reckless by moving someone like

607
00:38:23,199 --> 00:38:27,199
that? But you functionally done for
now? Is have that upside in the

608
00:38:27,239 --> 00:38:30,199
bank and still got better. It's
like you didn't mortgage a huge party of

609
00:38:30,239 --> 00:38:32,840
future. And you mentioned this on
one of your the podcasts we did.

610
00:38:34,159 --> 00:38:37,320
The trades that were floating around for
Jeremy Grant was like number seven for Jeremy

611
00:38:37,320 --> 00:38:42,800
Grant and other stuff. It wasn't
even close to that. So I don't

612
00:38:42,840 --> 00:38:45,760
think there was anything. I think
there are things to maybe dislike. There's

613
00:38:45,760 --> 00:38:49,639
nothing to hate or that seems unforgivable
about their off season. I think if

614
00:38:49,639 --> 00:38:52,639
the fact that they extended Lillard is
probably the biggest risk or the most reckless

615
00:38:52,679 --> 00:38:58,079
thing they've done. There are far
worse, most reckless things to do.

616
00:38:58,199 --> 00:39:01,039
And like you said, their ceiling
seems captain immediately, but you have Shane

617
00:39:01,079 --> 00:39:05,360
Sharp in the bank and so like, if we're projecting forward, this is

618
00:39:05,360 --> 00:39:07,719
a team that like they're not tethered
to one direction anymore. And there's a

619
00:39:07,760 --> 00:39:10,920
difference between what CJ. McCollum was
getting paid and he was going to be

620
00:39:10,960 --> 00:39:15,679
extension mails well this summer and getting
up there in age to now Anthony Simons

621
00:39:15,719 --> 00:39:17,639
is on this four year deal that
might be below market by the end of

622
00:39:17,639 --> 00:39:22,199
it, and he's only through age
twenty six. The final thing I will

623
00:39:22,239 --> 00:39:24,320
say, though, it probably would
have been nice to see them like if

624
00:39:24,320 --> 00:39:29,920
you trust in nas little I get
it, and like you want to play

625
00:39:29,920 --> 00:39:31,039
them all all the time. It
would have been nice to have seen them

626
00:39:31,199 --> 00:39:36,480
figure out a way to add like
other or another bigger wing if you consider

627
00:39:36,559 --> 00:39:39,440
Jeremy Grant one bigger wing, like
someone who's bigger than Josh hard or Jared

628
00:39:39,480 --> 00:39:45,079
Roden here or at least like,
could we have gotten a more inspiring backup

629
00:39:45,119 --> 00:39:47,239
big rotation than like, Okay,
if it's not little Jeremy Grant, you're

630
00:39:47,239 --> 00:39:51,519
gonna downsize sign. But if it's
Drew U Banks and you know, CJ

631
00:39:51,719 --> 00:39:53,840
LB or whatever, you're gonna run
out with that. That's something. And

632
00:39:53,880 --> 00:39:58,159
look, there's there's an easier way
to get like impact centers on the cheap,

633
00:39:58,199 --> 00:40:00,719
and so that's something they definitely could
have addressed. But this was a

634
00:40:00,719 --> 00:40:04,639
good offseason for them, especially it
seemed like they were tracking towards disaster at

635
00:40:04,679 --> 00:40:07,119
one point last season. Yeah,
credits to them. They I mean,

636
00:40:07,280 --> 00:40:08,480
yeah, like you said, it
was bleak, it was. It didn't

637
00:40:08,519 --> 00:40:10,599
look it did not look like there
were a lot of outs here, and

638
00:40:10,599 --> 00:40:15,800
they I mean, this isn't a
rebuild per se, but it's a pretty

639
00:40:15,880 --> 00:40:17,840
quick pivot, I think, and
a good one. And they also just

640
00:40:17,880 --> 00:40:23,320
have like Keyan Johnson and uh Justice's
Winslow like floating around on this roster out

641
00:40:23,360 --> 00:40:27,440
there. Those are players that if
Keyan Johnson pans out with his figgles physical

642
00:40:27,440 --> 00:40:30,320
tools and Justice's Winslow can hit a
set jumper in addition to defending like he

643
00:40:30,360 --> 00:40:34,599
did. Those are hey, look
you found you your wings. That I

644
00:40:34,760 --> 00:40:37,480
was just you know, sort of
right. Winslow could play like if Winslow

645
00:40:37,559 --> 00:40:42,679
is the best version of himself which
we've seen, Like then suddenly is now

646
00:40:42,719 --> 00:40:45,119
your rotation looked real interesting because you
can you can have him and Grant at

647
00:40:45,119 --> 00:40:49,639
the four or five and really get
some stuff done. The thing I wanted

648
00:40:49,639 --> 00:40:52,320
to see them do when they were
never going to do this, because even

649
00:40:52,360 --> 00:40:54,000
as of right now, I think
they're they're in the tax, I would

650
00:40:54,000 --> 00:40:57,159
imagine they're going to get out of
it. So I'm not going to compliment

651
00:40:57,199 --> 00:41:00,800
them for going into the tax after
a catastrophic season. I wanted them to

652
00:41:00,880 --> 00:41:04,440
keep Eric Bletzo was a human trade
exception, just guarantee his salary and then

653
00:41:04,440 --> 00:41:07,559
flip them. But that's not something
to actually knock them for B for me

654
00:41:07,639 --> 00:41:12,280
on the Blazers, B plus for
you our final team, the Utah Jazz,

655
00:41:12,880 --> 00:41:15,440
Donovan Mitchell. The stuff is looming
over all of this, so I

656
00:41:15,519 --> 00:41:17,840
kind of caked in the fact that, like they're going to move Donvan Mitchell

657
00:41:17,840 --> 00:41:21,480
at one point, but it was
just tough to do this team anyway.

658
00:41:21,559 --> 00:41:23,400
Quinn Snyder resigned. They then signed
Will Hardy to a five year deal.

659
00:41:24,519 --> 00:41:28,840
Trade they traded Royce O'Neil the Nets
for a twenty twenty three first round pick,

660
00:41:28,840 --> 00:41:31,320
it's the least favorable of Houston,
Brooklyn's or Philly selections. They created

661
00:41:31,360 --> 00:41:35,920
an eight point eight million dollars traded
player exception in the process. They used

662
00:41:35,920 --> 00:41:38,639
most of that on Balermo and Vando. They traded Rudy Gobert to the Wolves

663
00:41:38,679 --> 00:41:44,079
for Malik Beasley, Patrick Beverley,
Leandro Balermo, Walker Kessler, the number

664
00:41:44,119 --> 00:41:47,599
twenty two pick Jared Vanderbilt, a
twenty twenty three unprotected first and unprotected two

665
00:41:47,519 --> 00:41:52,119
thousand and twenty five first and unprotected
two twenty six first round swap, and

666
00:41:52,199 --> 00:41:54,480
unprotected two thousand and twenty seven first
round pick, and a top five protected

667
00:41:54,519 --> 00:41:58,440
two thousand and twenty nine first round
pick. They also created a nine point

668
00:41:58,480 --> 00:42:01,039
seven million dollars traded player option is
part of that deal. They signed Johnny

669
00:42:01,159 --> 00:42:06,119
Jus to a two way contract.
They signed Simone Fontechio to a two year,

670
00:42:06,159 --> 00:42:09,039
six point nine million dollars deal that
is fully guaranteed. Their notable exits

671
00:42:09,039 --> 00:42:13,800
include Daniel House left for the Sixers. They waved one Herning Gomez. He

672
00:42:13,880 --> 00:42:15,639
ended up with the Raptors. Trent
Forrest signed a two way with the Hawks.

673
00:42:15,719 --> 00:42:21,079
Eric Paschcal signed a two way with
the Wolves and Assan Whiteside remains unsigned.

674
00:42:21,360 --> 00:42:23,320
Grant, well, great, did
you give the Utah Jazz. It's

675
00:42:23,360 --> 00:42:28,880
an a. I almost don't even
care what happens with Mitchell because keeping him

676
00:42:28,960 --> 00:42:30,719
is good and then getting three or
four first, I guess, which would

677
00:42:30,719 --> 00:42:35,320
be the market right now, would
also be good. We both like the

678
00:42:35,320 --> 00:42:37,320
Gobert trade for Minnesota. I think
you have to love it for the Jazz,

679
00:42:37,360 --> 00:42:40,079
like this isn't new. That's just
such an incredible haul for a player

680
00:42:40,159 --> 00:42:46,719
that you're gonna pay a lot of
money to that the the the sand had

681
00:42:46,840 --> 00:42:51,360
run through the hourglass on the Gobert
Mitchell pairing, and so a great way

682
00:42:51,400 --> 00:42:54,440
to put it. You know,
you're right, it's I've been considering it,

683
00:42:57,679 --> 00:43:00,719
and it's just so it's it's not
quite like saying you got this incredible

684
00:43:00,760 --> 00:43:04,760
haul of picks and like some useful
players too, which you could flip or

685
00:43:04,840 --> 00:43:09,039
keep for a guy that had no
value to this team. But it was

686
00:43:09,079 --> 00:43:15,960
like they were they were going to
move him, or they were the change

687
00:43:15,039 --> 00:43:19,239
was happening. So it's like he
wasn't going to be on the roster.

688
00:43:19,679 --> 00:43:22,840
It didn't seem like and so I
think clearly they got the absolute best possible

689
00:43:22,880 --> 00:43:29,880
package, imaginable beyond imagination, uh
for for Gobert, and so everything else

690
00:43:29,920 --> 00:43:35,880
is secondary. I think it's kind
of it's a type of thing where we

691
00:43:35,920 --> 00:43:38,280
are we are so guilty all the
time of like you're either you're either trying

692
00:43:38,280 --> 00:43:42,719
to build a title winner or you
gotta strip it down and you got to

693
00:43:42,800 --> 00:43:45,960
start over, and there's like nothing
in the middle is okay, and we've

694
00:43:45,000 --> 00:43:47,559
I think cut against that by a
lot of these teams, and Blazers are

695
00:43:47,559 --> 00:43:52,360
a great example being more in the
middle is okay sometimes. But what I

696
00:43:52,400 --> 00:43:55,559
love about this is the Jazz just
just did it, like there wasn't you

697
00:43:55,599 --> 00:44:00,519
know. Danny Ainge comes in and
like suddenly we are starting over, and

698
00:44:00,599 --> 00:44:05,519
nobody can be mad about it because
everyone agrees we just absolutely reeled in the

699
00:44:05,559 --> 00:44:08,800
biggest hall that could have possibly been
foreseen. So I love that they just

700
00:44:08,840 --> 00:44:13,400
pulled the trigger and did it.
It sucks lose Quinn Snyder, but I

701
00:44:13,440 --> 00:44:15,840
think maybe that's another situation where you
know, the time was just up,

702
00:44:16,559 --> 00:44:20,079
and he saw the writing on the
wall and didn't want to coach a rebuild.

703
00:44:20,199 --> 00:44:22,480
So that's fine. I think bringing
in Will Hardy on a five year

704
00:44:22,519 --> 00:44:28,039
deal feels feels kind of like a
Brad Stevens type of thing with with that

705
00:44:28,079 --> 00:44:32,559
Celtics pedigree. So yeah, and
just like ancillary stuff, getting a first

706
00:44:32,599 --> 00:44:37,000
for Royce O'Neill. What how how
did that happen? I can't believe that

707
00:44:37,000 --> 00:44:39,880
that was the market rate for that. That's great, So I don't know.

708
00:44:40,440 --> 00:44:44,719
I guess the Mitchell thing could make
it an incomplete if we were trying

709
00:44:44,719 --> 00:44:47,519
to be like really, I don't
know attention to detail on this, but

710
00:44:49,440 --> 00:44:52,239
the Goberty trade was just such a
such a coup for for the Jazz that

711
00:44:52,239 --> 00:44:55,119
I can't really do anything less than
an A. I give him an a

712
00:44:55,199 --> 00:45:01,280
minus because they ruined my fucking summer
by leaving on. I gave them an

713
00:45:01,280 --> 00:45:05,039
a minus, like to sort of
account for the incomplete that it's you need

714
00:45:05,079 --> 00:45:07,320
to follow through with this rebuild and
that if it's not trading Dono and Mitchell,

715
00:45:07,360 --> 00:45:10,880
it is balancing out the roster to
have fewer guards and actual wings on

716
00:45:10,920 --> 00:45:15,920
the team. But the Gobert trade
home run Quinn Snyder leaving that was the

717
00:45:16,159 --> 00:45:19,880
circumstances were so weird. But it's
like you said, was it just sort

718
00:45:19,920 --> 00:45:22,599
of time for everything to blow up
and he prefers to be the next guy

719
00:45:22,599 --> 00:45:25,039
in San Antonio and pop leaves and
coach that rebuild. Then whatever the Jazz

720
00:45:25,079 --> 00:45:29,360
are doing. It's also he had
clashed with This is a different front office

721
00:45:29,400 --> 00:45:31,079
regime, but there have been like
weird stuff behind the scenes with Quinn Snyder

722
00:45:31,079 --> 00:45:36,000
and the Jazz for a while.
So I'm ultimately okay with that because they

723
00:45:36,039 --> 00:45:37,679
are rebuilding. If you were trying
to make the most of this roster going

724
00:45:38,000 --> 00:45:43,079
getting like seeing Quinn Snyder leave that
that's hard to get what they did for

725
00:45:43,159 --> 00:45:45,239
Gobert when I don't think even if
we went to the second best offer that

726
00:45:45,280 --> 00:45:49,159
there was ever a trade package anywhere
close to that. I get why the

727
00:45:49,199 --> 00:45:52,000
Wolves did it, but for the
Jazz to actually get that much is huge.

728
00:45:52,159 --> 00:45:54,960
And I know people say, and
it's typically when you're talking about national

729
00:45:55,000 --> 00:46:00,239
writers or podcasts or whatever like ourselves, that we romanticize draft picks and rebuilds.

730
00:46:00,679 --> 00:46:04,559
I get that. Sometimes this doesn't
feel like that situation. This Jazz

731
00:46:04,599 --> 00:46:07,639
Corp had very much run its course. There was discord sewed behind the scenes

732
00:46:07,679 --> 00:46:10,840
for a while at this point.
And the other thing here is just like

733
00:46:12,559 --> 00:46:15,199
don't police fandom or what you value
in a team. If you if you

734
00:46:15,280 --> 00:46:19,599
want to root for a team that's
just gonna flirt with contention or never get

735
00:46:19,599 --> 00:46:22,559
there or get all these second round
exits or first round exits, that's fine.

736
00:46:22,719 --> 00:46:27,360
As someone who covers the league and
like likes watching the league, I

737
00:46:27,440 --> 00:46:30,000
want to see teams strive for a
championship. And if you don't have the

738
00:46:30,039 --> 00:46:34,559
clearer path to the title that,
I'm fine with you starting over. Could

739
00:46:34,599 --> 00:46:37,360
they like bump up my grade to
a flat out A depending on the Mitchell

740
00:46:37,400 --> 00:46:39,679
trade or what they do with the
other players. Absolutely, could it go

741
00:46:39,760 --> 00:46:44,039
lower? Probably not, because you're
not gonna lose the Mitchell trade when you're

742
00:46:44,039 --> 00:46:46,079
looking at you and you won the
go Bar trade by such a high margin

743
00:46:46,400 --> 00:46:51,760
that you have like room for error
elsewhere. I don't know, like the

744
00:46:52,039 --> 00:46:54,440
I think the only way you could
absolutely despise the off seasons if you thought

745
00:46:54,559 --> 00:47:00,079
that there was an avenue to them
acquiring a fringe star big with like could

746
00:47:00,079 --> 00:47:05,280
they have given up their twenty twenty
six pick and gotten Jeremy Grant And would

747
00:47:05,320 --> 00:47:08,159
that have actually elevated them to title
contention if it cost you, let's say

748
00:47:08,239 --> 00:47:12,239
Jordan, Let's say you're able to
keep Boye Mardanovitch, but it costs you

749
00:47:12,320 --> 00:47:15,920
Jordan Carson and other stuff. That
might be a fair criticism, But I

750
00:47:15,000 --> 00:47:20,960
also like the idea of you were
existing in sub contention, because that's I

751
00:47:21,000 --> 00:47:23,840
do think the peak Jazz when they
were in the bubble, we're title contenders,

752
00:47:23,840 --> 00:47:28,440
but since then it's been like sub
contention. I respect that you blow

753
00:47:28,480 --> 00:47:32,360
it up and you're starting pretty much
anew This grade could go lower if they

754
00:47:32,440 --> 00:47:37,039
just sort of let everything drag out
to where you have so many veterans on

755
00:47:37,039 --> 00:47:38,679
this team, you don't move them
and you keep Mitchell that you're not good,

756
00:47:38,719 --> 00:47:42,400
You're not bad enough to maximize your
pick. I just don't see that

757
00:47:42,440 --> 00:47:44,760
being the case, even if they
let this league into the regular season,

758
00:47:45,000 --> 00:47:47,239
where you could argue that maybe they're
banking on the Nicks starting slowly and upping

759
00:47:47,280 --> 00:47:51,400
their offer or another team coming out
of their woodwork. I think the deal

760
00:47:52,039 --> 00:47:54,280
donno Mitchell moving ultimately gets done,
and the fact that they didn't on their

761
00:47:54,280 --> 00:47:59,239
own terms rather than anyone asking for
out, rather than anyone going into the

762
00:47:59,239 --> 00:48:01,960
final year of their Looking at Mitchell
and Gobert specifically, I think that's great

763
00:48:02,079 --> 00:48:06,280
for the franchise as well. These
decisions are tough to make, even if

764
00:48:06,320 --> 00:48:09,280
you're new like Danny Age and operate
as this detached executive in the past,

765
00:48:09,320 --> 00:48:14,360
like you did in Boston. To
just get rid of to just not junk,

766
00:48:14,440 --> 00:48:17,519
but to annihilate a team that was
dominant in the regular season for the

767
00:48:17,519 --> 00:48:21,519
past half decade plus, that's a
hard call to make. You made it.

768
00:48:21,559 --> 00:48:24,239
You got a ton of value for
Gobert, and I totally respect it,

769
00:48:24,239 --> 00:48:28,280
and I think it was a fantastic
outcome for them because now the band

770
00:48:28,320 --> 00:48:30,599
aid's finally ripped off too. They
didn't like half ask their way into this,

771
00:48:30,719 --> 00:48:35,280
you know what's happening, and no
one's talking themselves into some illusion of

772
00:48:35,280 --> 00:48:38,440
something else. The other thing,
too, is is there's so much room

773
00:48:38,519 --> 00:48:45,519
for them to collect more future assets
because you know, we talked about Bogdanovich.

774
00:48:45,760 --> 00:48:47,440
You might get a first for him, I don't know, a future

775
00:48:47,440 --> 00:48:52,320
protected first. You're definitely getting something, sure, why not? So,

776
00:48:52,400 --> 00:48:58,199
I mean Conley probably doesn't have any
value, but like there's a scenario where

777
00:48:58,599 --> 00:49:01,639
you know, the Jazz collect two
three more first, I mean just for

778
00:49:01,760 --> 00:49:06,719
Mitchell, and then maybe one or
two more elsewhere. And now we said

779
00:49:06,760 --> 00:49:08,480
it for the Spurs when we did
them. Like you're kind of in the

780
00:49:08,480 --> 00:49:13,079
wimban Yama and sweepstakes if you really
go all the way down and suddenly you

781
00:49:13,119 --> 00:49:15,719
start to look like the thunder of
the last couple of years with all these

782
00:49:15,719 --> 00:49:19,559
incoming picks and you're bad. But
like the turnaround is ready to happen like

783
00:49:19,840 --> 00:49:25,599
asap. So I think there's actually
you know this, the rebuild could stop

784
00:49:25,639 --> 00:49:29,280
now and they'd be and the Jazz
would be in great shape even if they

785
00:49:29,360 --> 00:49:31,360
kept Mitchell and like had a gap
year and tried to really put it together.

786
00:49:31,599 --> 00:49:36,800
But the rebuild could just like I
mean, this could be like this

787
00:49:36,840 --> 00:49:42,280
is like two or three off seasons
of rebuild work done in one so and

788
00:49:42,559 --> 00:49:45,679
it's not done so like there could
be even more stuff coming in. So

789
00:49:45,760 --> 00:49:47,760
the Jazz are just I mean,
this is how you do it. This,

790
00:49:47,760 --> 00:49:50,559
this is really how you do it. And like you said, the

791
00:49:50,639 --> 00:49:52,760
key was they did it on their
terms. They didn't wait until they were

792
00:49:52,840 --> 00:49:57,360
over a barrel. They didn't wait
until, you know, they felt like

793
00:49:57,400 --> 00:50:00,920
they were losing leverage. They just
they just went And so I mean,

794
00:50:00,199 --> 00:50:02,159
I think that should be a lesson
to a lot of teams. Is if

795
00:50:02,199 --> 00:50:06,559
it's not working and you know it's
not gonna work, just just go for

796
00:50:06,639 --> 00:50:08,639
it. And also, even giving
will Hardy a five year deal, let's

797
00:50:08,639 --> 00:50:13,000
say that it's only first four that
are guaranteed. You've given yourselves runaway for

798
00:50:13,000 --> 00:50:15,079
this rebuild. Now it's not operating
on a shorter timeline, and so I

799
00:50:15,079 --> 00:50:20,079
think that's easy to appreciate as well. Yeah. Agree, let's recap these

800
00:50:20,119 --> 00:50:23,840
grades on the Northwest Division a very
rosy podcast. I gave the Denver Nuggets

801
00:50:23,840 --> 00:50:28,440
a B. Grant gave them an
A minus. I gave the Minnesota Timberwolves

802
00:50:28,440 --> 00:50:30,960
a B plus. Grant gave the
Minnesota Timberwolves a B. I gave the

803
00:50:31,000 --> 00:50:36,039
thunder an A. Grant gave them
an A as well. I gave the

804
00:50:36,039 --> 00:50:38,639
Blazers a B. Grant gave them
a B plus, and the Jazz got

805
00:50:38,639 --> 00:50:44,360
an A minus for me and an
A from Grant. If you have not

806
00:50:44,400 --> 00:50:47,239
done so already, follow us on
the socials. Grant is at GT Underscore

807
00:50:47,280 --> 00:50:51,800
Hughes. I'm at Damp Valley.
All the podcast socials are in the podcast

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00:50:51,840 --> 00:50:55,039
description the YouTube description. Join our
Discord podcast and YouTube description as well.

809
00:50:55,079 --> 00:50:59,320
It's located in there. Please subscribe
to us on YouTube and wherever you get

810
00:50:59,360 --> 00:51:01,239
your podcast. Layers do it at
both mediums. That helps us out a

811
00:51:01,239 --> 00:51:06,239
ton and leave maybe like nice or
pleasant or at least positive, not positive

812
00:51:06,280 --> 00:51:09,599
reinforcement, but like constructive comments and
likes help us out a ton on YouTube,

813
00:51:09,679 --> 00:51:13,639
and some of the comments on YouTube
get a little a little dark,

814
00:51:14,000 --> 00:51:16,079
I would call them until next time
th and like always grant, and I

815
00:51:16,159 --> 00:51:20,280
leave you with a shout out to
the one, the only, the indelible,

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00:51:20,400 --> 00:51:22,599
the legendary Frank Nelotino.