What is krack lapin Hardwaro listeners, I am Damn Valley about to come at
you with my fantabulous post Adam Bramo, but wanted to drop a quick tree
recording so we could address the Nuggets losing Tim Connolly to the Minnesota Timberwolves on
a massive deal. That news came out after we recorded this podcast on our
biggest question for every Western Conference lottery team entering the off season, Tim Connolly
going to become the president of basketball operations for the Minnesota Timberwolves. He signed
a five year deal worth forty million dollars, which, per the Athletic,
more than doubles his salary with the Nuggets. And he is also going to
get an ownership stake some equity in the team, which makes him one of
the per the Athletic once again, you know, just more lucratively compensated executives
in the league. Based on that package, the Nuggets did make a last
ditch attempts apparently to keep him. Woage classified their final offer as making him
one of the better paid execs in the league, which is hilariously on brand
for the Nuggets to do that. I do think this is this is a
big loss for Denver, just because Tim Connelly has become known as one of
the better talent evaluators in the NBA, and just looking at the roster he's
put together. I know a lot of people have tried to point out,
will look how expensive the Denver Nuggets are. I mean, every move that
they've made, if you take out injuries, it's it's pretty much a success.
You can maybe equipable about their decision to max out Michael Porter Jr.
Amid his checkered health bill, but having Jamal Murray, Nicole Yokich, Aaron
Gordon, Michael Porter Jr. That's a core that should be contending and in
the West next season if it's able to stay even relatively healthy. And I
don't think you can argue that any of those moves haven't necessarily worked out just
yet. Again, MPJ, you have to wait and see. But the
Ared Gordon trade, that's an unequivocal success for the Nuggets. In my opinion.
He's done a lot of what he was brought in to do. It's
just that at times he's been shoehorned into this outsized offensive role and even defensive
role. When you look at how much time he spent guarding the point of
attack, and you really, the Nuggets just this front office under Tim Connolly,
I'm doing a great job of mining talent later in the draft. This
isn't just in a cool Yogi situation. But you know, having even just
most recently getting Bones Highland, that's a big win for them, and either
a trade chip that's going to you know, really glitz up Denver's packages moving
forward, or someone who might be able just to grow with the team and
give you another building block. This is troubling in the sense that short term,
I don't think there's anything wrong with Denver, and I'll wrap up the
Nuggets really quick. This is more so about the Timberwolves, really, but
long term this does bring questions. The Nuggets have for the most part,
always paid their talent, and they've on the court and they've shown that with
this core. You look at Yokich, who will probably get the Supermax this
summer, Jamal Murray, Michael Porter Junior, even extending Eric Gordon, but
they haven't you know, necessarily invested in their top executives. Massi U Jerry
leaving for Toronto, and then even our touris Karasovas leaving for the Chicago Bulls.
At least Karnasovas. I think that that qualified his promotion for him,
so there's more cover there. But to see Connelly and Massi leave for what
are essentially lateral roles with different franchises, and it's really just money separating them.
It's not the best look. There's no salary cap on coaches front office
members. To lose them someone who's proven that he's great at his job and
done really well for you, it's you know, it's penny pinching in the
most pointless form, because I do think over the longer course, Dever probably
feels this absence. Maybe it's on the margins that being said, Calvin Booth
will take over the basketball the head basketball operations role up for now. I
know a lot of people around the league like him and think that he's done
a great job right under Tim Connelly, and so maybe this is just another
situation where they have the next guy step up like it was with Tim Connolly.
Now Kevin was going to come in and he turns into a fantastic executive
and then he'll just go and leave for another team when he's able to make
more more money. But I do again, I think this is more of
a loss than some people are sort of crediting. It might not be reflected
immediately in the record, but there's a chance down the line we're sort of
looking at this as a weird not just a pivot point, but just a
missed opportunity or sort of some self inflicted harm that the Nuggets did to themselves.
For the Timberwolves, I love it. I just like that they were
so aggressive to the extent that they offered this much money to one of the
bigger executive names in the league. The ownership stake that that equity, that
is no small commitment, and so to go that route it does show that
they were devoted to making this huge splash. And you bring in Tim Connolly,
I think people are probably wondering, how does this work. They just
signed, you know, sort of signed Chris Finch. He has a working
relationship with Chris Finch in the past, so that should help. And I
think all the reporting, and this happens all the time when a team hires
an executive when a coach is already in place. But the reporting is that
Tim Connolly's perfectly happy to have Chris Finch there. But I do think it
helps that they just have a more They have a closer working relationship than I
feel like most It's not tangents like these two were with the same organization,
sort of with the same error when you're looking at the work that Chris Finch
did with the Demo Nuggets. So I do think that's a plus there.
You also just look at what Minnesota is trying to do, and they're they're
attempting to figure out a way to go from the middle or sub middle of
the Western Conference to that next level. You need to get creative to do
that. You're not going to have cap space this summer. You need someone
who might be open to or might be able to be more aggressive on the
trade market, or is going to be I don't want to stay smarter,
but has proven that he'll be able to go into the draft in the in
the ensuing years, and even if you don't have a high pick, you
might be able to mind talent out of whatever spot that you're in. And
that could start this year for the Timberwolves, of course, and then just
looking at the free agency stuff, there could come a time where they are
a little bit more flexible. They have the Hazel Russell coming off the books
after this year. But I also think that and most recently Chris Finch,
excuse me, Tim's Connelly has shown in Denver that if he believes that the
missing piece, the missing player, is out there, he will go get
him and I'll gets mortgaged. I honestly, I want to say quite a
bit of their future. But they give up real appreciable value for a Gordon.
Yeah. I don't think that's a trade that you regret. But he
made the call mid season, and so he does feel like he has experienced
haking a team to that next up through these all different forms, and you
might probably just like what he and his front office in Denver have done from
a draft perspective and minding some of those talents on the margins. Minnesota could
use that. And I think more than anything though, just because we can't
guarantee how free agency ever plays out, how they structure their books, you
can't even guarantee what's going to be available on the trade market. The timber
Wolves go out now and trade for Jeremy Grhant because they have Tim Connelly,
you know that's not really going to be the difference for them. I think
the message that it sends though just to the league, to the fans,
and what it says about how the Timberwolves look like they're going to conduct themselves
in the final days years of Glenn Taylor being in control and having Mark Lare
and Alex Toronriguez as sort of the governors of the franchise. It does show
that this is a team that's going to continue to sort of double down and
chase the bigger splash year hires acquisitions when it comes to free agency trades.
So yeah, overall, I think it's tough to even come up with an
argument to dislike this move for the Timmerwolves. Don't pick it all of a
sudden puts them on a map in a way that they didn't. I just
think it really proves a level of creativity and aggression that they're going to eat
if they want to sort of make this jump around Karl, Anthony Towns and
Anthony Edwards to the upper echelon of the Western Conference, and they'll be fascinating
to watch Immediately. You know, they have the number nineteen pick, they
have some interesting trade pieces on their team, and they have the incentive to
really go after it. And I don't think that Tim Connley's necessarily tasked with
coming in and blowing anything up or going out and getting that third star immediately.
I think this is just an organization that clearly wants to put its stamp
on the Western Conference, and it feels like by hiring Tim Connelly, they've
set themselves up to have more ways of doing that, just based off the
track record that he's shown in Denver. Let's dive into the full podcast,
though, before we get started, the final quick reminder to please rate,
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us. The link to that is in the podcast description as well. With
all that out of the way, let's talk with Adam about our biggest questions
for every Western Conference lottery team. Hello, everyone, and welcome to the
latest episode of Hardwood Knocks. This is Adam from Will here with my always
fantastic co host Dan Favalley. We've got four teams left in the NBA Playoff,
and naturally everyone is talking about those four teams, so naturally we're not
going to Instead, we're going to give some attention to the Western Conference lottery
teams. We're running through the seven squads that did not have a chance to
play any postseason basketball and trying to come up with the single biggest offseason question.
It can be anything at all. With these exercises, we do typically
try to stay away from the classic who should they draft with pick X questions
because those are just a little bit too much low hanging fruit. I also
did not run that by Dan, so I'm hoping that he actually stayed away
from those. As we usually do. But well, we'll find out live
before we get to any of those questions. So I have the single most
important one of the episode, and that's how's it going, Dan? I
am doing well. Thanks for asking. I did, in fact ignore sort
of who are they going to draft? At x spot? Also only fair
because we recorded the Eastern Conference part of this before the draft lottery, and
since we just couldn't record the one until the West until after the lottery,
it's it's only right that we continue by that, So we're not ignored worrying
this super obvious, but the whole oh who is okay, so you're going
to draft at number two is not going to be at play here. How
are you doing? I am good. Always a ton of stuff going on,
but enjoying watching playoff basketball, and it's it's just a fun time of
year to be a sports fan in general, just with so many big events
happening in so many different sports. Yeah, and the NBA playoffs have certainly
been a trip of content, especially if you're a Patrick Beverley fan, which
I am not. Yeah, that was something. I don't know what that
something is, but something we don't need to focus on, I would think,
so it's kind of ball into this this lottery team exercise that is fair.
Yeah, we're gonna go alphabetically, so we'll start with the Houston Rockets.
I feel like you can ask a ton of questions about this team just
because it's a roster that's in so much flux. I want to I wanted
to focus on whether they're willing to extend Kevin Porter Junior and or Jay Shawn
Tate. Porter is able to receive up to one hundred and eighty four million
dollars in an extension. Tate would be around sixty million. Obviously, those
are big numbers, and you know they're not going to get the full scope
of those extensions. But if they do come to terms, how much would
it be for And are they even going to come to terms because beyond Jalen
Green, I don't know who Houston views as a true building block for whatever
the next competitive iteration is, Which is why I'm focusing on these two guys
because they're candidates. Even if Porter is coming off a pretty disappointing season,
and even if Tate is ultimately limited to more of like a higher end role
player ceiling, do they view these guys as long term pieces for the organization.
Yeah, that's a that's a fantastic question. And the extension specifically are
are tough, because what do you want to give Kevin Porter Jr. Knowing
that he's not we've seen it like but him at point guard is not the
answer. He's probably best office, sort of a microwave player off the bench.
I think Jason Tate has a ton of value for his defense. And
we know that these wing types, even if they're not the best shooters or
the best offensive players, they're going to get some money in free agency.
And so I could see numbers where or the justification behind drawing a line in
the sand and saying if they're willing to sign for X, will keep them.
But you're also so early into your rebuild that you don't want to lock
yourself into any deals that are that are too steep. And I would be
curious as to who they value more moving forward between those two. And I
agree with what you said about Jalen Green kind of being the only tent pole
prospect Alpern. Shane Gun probably comes closest. But does that change with you
know, we said we weren't going to reference the draft, but they're in
a spot to take one of the three bigs that are viewed as the consensus
top prospects in these draft how does that change? Alpern Shane Gun's value to
this team is future trajectory with this team still those two players and you have
the unknown inducement Gruba. Yeah, there there's there's long term foundation pieces here.
But I don't think that Tate or Porter Junior is necessarily one of them.
I think this is more so a matter of, Oh, if you
can get them cheap enough and they can help us, or these are deals
that they can be moved later and they're actually more helpful at a more expensive
number than these sub two million dollars salaries they're working on right now, or
sub four million in KPJ's case, that could be a value play for them.
I have to admit that I totally misfired on KPJ. I thought that
going into this season, I thought he was just going to explode. Actually
be the answer to that point guard question. Couldn't have been more wrong.
It didn't work. And then I mean, it's and that's not supposed to
be his game either, and I think it's you know, he might be
more useful to them, knowing what we saw from Jalen Green over the second
half of the season. I don't think Jalen Green's a primary initiator type,
but maybe he can be your one B. And so now you just have
to focus on finding more of a floor general to go with him, and
you can still have room for someone like k PJ. I just I don't
know what the number is that you'd feel like if he wants, you know,
mid level money in his extension, are you're given it to him eleven
twelve million dollars a year? Yeah, I think you would. I probably
would Jay shown Tate. Who do you view is more valuable to them?
Though? Between those two, I think KPJ ultimately is because of the ceiling
where I just I think that's a few levels higher. Take. While a
good role player who can fill a bunch of different roles provides energy, provides
enthusiasm and intensity, like, that's the easier role to go out and find
on the cheap, it's harder. It's harder to find a cheap version of
what Porter does in theory. In theory, but I think you're still at
a stage of this rebuilding process where you can feasibly chase that upside, knowing
that it could backfire. I just wonder if not having a building block wing
on the team, maybe aside from Tate group is not awaying Garrison Matthews isn't
really a wing. I just don't like you have Jalen Green. I'm just
wondering if that factors into it at all, and knowing even if you have
KPJ, you're gonna have to go out and find someone else who can be
a primary ball handler. Anyway, if that sort of diminishes his long term
utility to this squad, it definitely could. And really either of those either
either of these players could go either way. It's it's a good question.
I think I don't have an answer because Houston could very feasibly go in any
direction with these players. If I had guess, I would say Tay,
it's more likely to get an extension than KPJ. I don't think either,
just because of the numbers right right, And I don't think that. I
don't think that either of them get extensions personally, But I mean, who
am I to say anything? My question for them is are they going to
move Gordon and or would this offseason? And then you can throw, or
you could fold john Wall into that. I still think forty seven point three
million dollars salary that's gonna end in a buyout unless the Lakers decide they want
to give up a pick with Russ for john Wall, which makes zero sense
for them. In my opinion, I think I'd be curiously who has more
value around the league. It's probably would just because he's younger and he's more
of an anomaly at his position offensively. But Eric Gordon was really good this
year man, and just the rim pressure he puts on the shooting someone who
can hold up defensively. Yes, he's getting older, Yes he has had
his injury issues, Yes he has that No unguaranteed twenty point nine million dollars
salary for twenty three twenty four. You happily pay that salary if he makes
an All Star team or you win a championship, So I get it.
Why would though would be more appealing, especially where they are though in the
draft order. Now, I'm not a big fan of drafting for fit this
early in the process, or building your team necessarily for fit. But when
you have Shangoon and it's really time to own Corkaruba and you're about to get
one of those three bigs, and you know that Christian Wood is going to
commit. He's extension knowledgeable too. He's gonna command a ton of money,
or at least more money than he's making right now, probably if he gets
the free agency, and that you really shouldn't be bankrolling that next deal.
He feels like the guy that should absolutely be moved because it's less egregious if
you just look if you house Eric Gordon for the rest of the season and
kind of just let him come off your books. I think he might technically
be the more useful player in a lot of circumstances. But it feels like
you can get more compensation for Christian Wood, and so you might as well
just go out and get that compensation. Whilst you can totally agree, but
I feel like we're going to see both players moved. And I say that
knowing full well well that I was downright shocked that Eric Gordon wasn't moved this
past trade deadline. He seemed like maybe the most obvious player to be on
the move, just because of what he brings to the table as a guy
who can put pressure on the rim, a guy who can know feasibly launch
away from a foot or two beyond the three point arc. A guy who
played pretty pesky on ball defense, and he was ready to go to work
for a contender, it seemed, and for him to stay in Houston was
pretty shocking for the same reasons. I don't expect him to remain. Plus,
Jalen green Set can have breakout. You know, the ball is going
to be in his hands even more if they do keep KPJ, they're gonna
want the ball in his hands too. So it feels like there's an even
smaller role in store for Gordon if he stays. So I would think they're
going to get something for him knowing that, you know, if he's on
the roster, like, sure, he might speed along the development of some
of these younger guys, but he's not going to be contributing to a playoff
team. Yeah, I mean that's a great point as well. I don't
know how much, like do you want a strong veteran presence in the locker
room Again, a team like Eric Gordon wanted to suit up for a contender
too, and so he actually just might be the more likely to get moved
by virtue of his age and how counter to the the quote unquote timeline how
much he runs counter to that for Houston. And also, look, they
have Josh Christopher Gallams a nice minutes too, and who knows what they can
look if they bring Dennis Shooter back, or if they wind up with you
know, getting someone else out of the draft or ann you know, an
undrafted free agent that they signed, or they want to give more reps to,
they might just decide to go the all in youth route or organically just
having another options. So you kind of talk me into Eric Gordon being more
likely to get moved. I think both of them should be, because Christian
was not someone you look to is like the steadying veteran leadership presence anyway,
so I think you should be fine to get rid of him, especially when
I don't know, I think Biggs of his caliber might be a little bit
more in demand than we think because of the way we've seen playoff teams play
where it's not necessarily downsizing. But you have Biggs who can play a small's
game on offense and defense. Christian would cannot do the ladder, but he
can certainly do the former, and so a team like Charlotte would they be
willing to give up real value to again him, even though he doesn't stabilize
their defense. Maybe the fact that I can't like just rattle off a bunch
of different suitors for him off the top of my head speaks to that his
value might be lower than we actually think. But given how just given how
anomalous to use the word again, his offensive skill set is at his position,
if you're going to use him at the five, it just feels like
there will be a team where you're going to get more than just a first
round pick for him. Yeah, if you had to bet which of them
or both or none gets traded, I'm just gonna say both. There's gonna
be enough top end talent in Houston now too. When you look at this
year's pick, Jalen Green to say, okay, like we can just turn
the keys over sort of what Okasey did, and like our veteran presences are
going to be a Derrick Favors or a Mike Muscala, like a much cheaper
person than than an Eric Gordon or a Christian would especially because it's gonna be
a veteran who doesn't have the leverage to one out. I think Eric Gordon
is good enough to one out in true hardman knocks fashion, though we have
already gone two minutes over our time limit on this team, So do you
want to take us to the next one? Next up, we have the
Los Angeles Clippers. My question for them is kind of simple. Can you
run back a team that went forty two and forty but couldn't make it through
the planned tournament? You know, the obvious confounding variable there is health,
because had Paul George been fully healthy all year, had Kawi Leonard been available
at all, They're probably not finding themselves in that situation. Those health concerns
aren't going away. This is ultimately an older roster that is only going to
keep getting older and doesn't really have that potential breakout young guy, nor does
it have any cap space to go out and get anyone of significance. If
you're looking to run it back, you're probably going to have to give Nick
Batoum a new contract. He has a three point three million dollar player option
that he's likely going to turn down. You're gonna have to pay Isaiah Hardenstein.
You're gonna have to pick up Vika Zoobox's contract. As a team option,
So there you can bring back the entirety of this core and see what
happens. But is it worth it? Yeah? I mean this feels like
a no brainer. Yes, Like who is the core piece that you're moving
from this team? And when you move Morris, maybe I don't consider him.
See that's where I guess we sort of diverge would be, I don't
consider I'm looking at Peg Kauai, Norman Howell, and that's like, you
know, probably I vits zoobox needs to be there as well. And I
just everything points towards them running it back in some form because they already extended
Robert Covington. And that's part of the reason I went this route is because
they're off season's basically already done. Like they're going to make small moves here
and there, but like what is the big question if not whether it's worth
running it back because their hands are essentially tied here. Yeah, I mean
they're gonna have the Mini mid level to use, and I would anticipate them
using that just based off how Steve Bomber is spent. And this dovetails with
my actual question for them, But what sort of happens with some of their
own free agents, and Robert Comington's obviously removed from that. But Nicholas Patuma
as a player option, it feels like there's some quid pro quo there because
he resigned at you know, they were able to resign him using non bird
rights last year or something I didn't anticipate being possible, and if he declines
the player option, they now his early bird rights so they can pay him
above the league average salary, which is quite substantial. At the same time,
now that you have Robert Comington, now that you have Norman Powell,
you have Terrence Man, even a mere coffee who's restored to free Asian and
was just quietly really good for teams that are operating with sort of a beggar's
dime. He would be someone to go after you have him. Does that
at all sort of change the calculus of how you're fleshing out your ring wing
rotation. Also, Isaiah Hartenstein great pickup by them. I still can't believe
that he wasn't on a roster to start the year. Really good passer,
solid rim protector. I don't want to say he has stretched to his game,
but he can pop. And then he's also just you don't look at
him as this explosive finisher, but he can catch and finish above the rim.
It's not these highlight real dunks, but he can do all of those
things. And so I'm very curious to see how they prioritize some of them.
Maybe they bring all their own free agents back, but they're gonna need
their mini mid level at least. I would think to keep Hartenstein at this
point, and then are you going to pay Nick Batoum. That would probably
mean that coffee's out the door, So one of those guys is probably gone.
If all of them are back, I mean, good for the Clippers,
but I'm also kind of wondering. I think there's an it's overstated how
much this team needs a floor general, but they could definitely use a connective
passer or someone who could get them into their slower sets, just because right
now you are so reliant on Reggie Jackson, Paul George, and Kawhi Leonard,
and then you do have some secondary guys like a Luca Nard off the
dribble, even Terrence Mann. We saw Norman Powell is going to give you
rim pressure. But I'm talking about if you really need to slow it down,
and go through the motions. They don't really have anyone who's gonna do
that outside of Paul George and Kauai, and I think you could argue that
neither of those two is Again, those are very good. You know,
they could be one A playmakers, but they're not. There's just a difference
between a floor general and I'm not saying they need a Ricky Rubio so with
that type of command over the game, but are they gonna go out and
try and find a player like that? And maybe Ricky Rubio can be picked
up on a bargain because he's coming back from that ACL injury. Just someone
who could give you spot minutes in those situations or fill in the gaps when
you have players missing games and when it's Paul George and Kawhi Leonard the ladder
specifically, there's going to be missed games there. And so I've thought,
just based off the salaries that they have, could they be a team that
sort of enters the running for a Mike Conley on the trademarker. I know
a lot of people think he's cooked. He was really good this past season.
He's had some issues the past two postseasons. You slot him into the
Clippers team. It's just it's a whole different world compared to worries in Utah
or can they get someone This entails using your mini mid level, and I
don't know what that means for Hartenstein. Can you get a Delon right?
That feels a little too cheap for Delan Wright. It was really good for
Atlanta this year. But that's the type of things I'm thinking about. It
feels like this team, I don't want to say needs like a triple or
a home run, but maybe a double. It can't be a single,
and it can't be fully It could be fully running it back and they might
be the favorites, but you are still in a precarious situation should that happen.
But what I'm laying out invariably probably comes at the expense of some of
your own free agents, most notably Coffee and Hartenstein. If you let Hartenstein
walk, I know Biggs can be replaced on the cheap the value he brought.
It's just not something you're probably gonna look into a second time a minimum
contract. And to your point about his stretchiness, I also think that gets
a little bit overlooked. He went nineteen of thirty four on shots from ten
to sixteen feet, didn't take a single long too beyond sixteen feet. But
when fourteen of thirty on three pointers, so small sample sizes, but fifty
five point nine percent on that longer mid range on that shorter mid range zone
and then forty six point seven percent from beyond the arc, is it sustainable
and scalable? Probably not, but there's something there. And the thing with
him too, and I'm not this is not just like me being with the
benefit of hindsight here, I thought, and I think we had this conversation
between the two of us already. I thought that he did enough when he
was with Cleveland in the preceding season to warrant an NBA contract, and then
he did a lot of the same things, just in more volume with the
Clippers. And look, he's not the most mobile rim protector, but opponent
shot forty seven point five percent against him at the rim. That was the
stingiest mark this year among one hundred and sixty three players to challenge at least
one hundred fty of those shots at the rim. And his also his assist
rate among all centers who average at least fifteen minutes or more per game nineteen
point three assist rate that rings sixth at the position. That is, he's
surrounded by good players, but you want your centers to be able to make
those those passes, and he's just I think the point that you really ended
up making, whether you meant or not, is he's just one of the
more versatile role playing bigs they're gonna be able to find, and so losing
him isn't nothing, especially with Zoobots is in the final year of his contract
now all of a sudden, and so it's like, what are you doing.
I know you want to downsize a lot, but I think you still
need one more big on this team. Where if it's Zoobots and Hartenstein,
okay, you're set done. You're fine because you could downsize when you want,
play big when you want. But if you lose Heartensign or even if
maybe some people think they should trade Zoobots and keep Harten signed, it's not
really that's not really an option unless Harten sign can come back for your mini
midlevel or less. But like they will still need a big if one of
those two is gone, So they do still have, I guess, relatively
boring off season, but it could be fascinating to me at least on the
margins. Yeah, on the margins for sure, but just fewer like big,
big decisions to make then we see from a lot of teams heading off.
I'm not going to give Steve Bomber a pat on the back for paying
the tacks this past season. They did cut their bill with the Surge Baca
trade, but they I like the fact that they took on money while planning
ahead for this season with the Norman Palet Tray and Robert Covington. And by
the way, I've said this like eighty times in the podcast, Portland not
getting a first round pick this year while giving up Nance McCullum, Covington,
and Norman Powell at the same end, that's great. No, it's not
great. They're not next up though? Who is next up? Next up
is the other Los Angeles team? That would be the Lakers, who,
yes, we're a lottery team this season. Can we just agree that we
probably have the same question. I have a second one in my back pocket,
is the question, what do you have to give up to move Russell
Westbrook? Right? Or what is the Russell Westbrook trade? That's out right,
it's not even even the way the way I actually phrased it was,
are they actually willing to move Russell Westbrook? Are they at Well, look,
they seems like they've been laying the breadcrumbs that maybe they're not going to
do that. I'm sure you saw the report from that. It feels like
they're just trying to save face, right like, because it's gonna be hard
to move him without attaching a sweetener. Forty seven point one million dollars for
a player who looks like pretty washed. And it's just even if he's not,
he's still very hard to fit into a larger ecosystem. We've just we've
seen it three times now and maybe even four if you count some of those
latter seasons in Okay. See, so I don't know what the move is
is out there, and I think I think they give up like a three
thousand and seventy four first round pick that's their next available, right yeah,
roughly. And look, I get that people say there is value in the
picks that they can give up, which if we're gonna include swaps, which
I would because they have so little, twenty six and twenty eight, they
can swap twenty seven and twenty nine they can actually trade. I get the
idea that you're looking at this team now and thinking, oh, four or
five years down the line, imagine controlling their first round picks. I'm not
saying that everything is always going to work out for the Lakers. They fell
asked backwards into Lebron James by just ensuring they had cap space. That's and
you need to give them credit for drafting the players they did, putting them
in the position to you know, Anthony Davis wanted to go there. But
there, which players are we giving them credit for here? I mean little
brandon Ingram, those are good players at Bonzo Ball. That they have done
a phenomenal job of drafting players who are only good when they leave the Lakers.
Well, but even I actually think that they've done a better job than
advertised on them, like Alex Caruso should be more of a I'm mostly being
facetious here, right, and then even Austin Reeves is like there, if
you look at their players who are under contract for next season, like,
forget the picks, it's Austin Reeves the most attractive trade asset. I'm not
even I mean, you can say Lebron or a D but if being realistic
of players they would move. It's not none, it's not TWN, Horton,
Tucker, Stanley Johnson as a team option. And then there's there's sucking
Austin Reeves, like, hey, don't overlook Whendon Gabriel. I'm going to
he's very he's hustle incarnate. I really like watching him. Actually he was
closing games for the Lakers by seasons then, So I'm not sure whether that
says more about Windon Gabriel or the state of the Lakers. Let's just let's
agree that it says bulls because let's not dismiss what he does. And he
had some really nice moments in New Orleans last season. That's why I liked
watching him so much. But what I was saying though before I derailed us
entirely those picks in the distance. They're attractive in theory, but there's the
risk that what happened with Lebron happens again with the Lakers this time around again.
The other thing is also what front office has the job security to say,
we're gonna take on this money, even it's for a year, and
we're also going to give up someone or someones that can help the Lakers.
Maybe they're not super good, maybe they're on like less than desirable contracts,
but they're still more valuable than Russell Westbrook on those deals. What front office
has the job scory to say the only return We're not going to see a
return on this this deal until twenty and twenty six, twenty twenty seven at
the earliest. Woodfront office has that job security. Maybe, Okay, see
anyone in San Antonio, Shore fine, Massie, Just like, should we
say Tim Connelly in Minnesota? Or is that too soon? She's doing Okay,
so by the time this releases, it might not be too soon.
But since we're recording this like a few hours after that news, uh so
yeah, I don't I just don't think what the Lakers can do. And
the most popular one has been floated. Brogden healed for Westbrook and those Lakers
picks. Okay, sure, but like what are You're not getting anything imminent
if you're Indian Indiana, and I just I don't even understand the incentive to
give up anyone of value if you're the other team, Like, why why
would you move Brogden there? What leverage do the Lakers have? Like you're
giving us this awful contract and a pick way down the road that might not
actually be this good let us let us give you this good player. I
think it's the only reason, and this isn't specific to the Pacers, is
that Brogden's extension Kicks said next season, you don't want to pay the balance
of it. Russ is done in one shot. Maybe you save a little
money on top of the buyout this season. It's over cap space does not
mean the same to about twenty five to twenty six teams in the NBA as
it does to the other four or five. And that's why if it's the
Knicks and they're looking to get off Randall Fournier, there seems like there's frameworks
there. The Knicks just don't think like that because they are just there an
archaic franchise. I'm sorry they They've had some hits in the draft. RJ.
Barrett is good, Your IQ takes remain terrible. Quentin Grimes intriguing,
like Deuce McBride intriguing as well, and look alc Berk's nice find. I
think people were too hard on him this season, But like the Knicks don't
think like that, and so I don't know what the market is him.
And I also think because you're the Lakers, you can't view this as just
addition by subtraction. Russell Westbrook is not getting you cap space. So if
you're attaching first round picks to Russ and just getting nothing in value of return,
you're now still tasked with fleshing out the rest of your roster on a
beggar's dime, which I think is really the only other question here is how
do they properly flesh out the roster here, because as of right now,
they're gonna have I'm gonna say the mini mid level, but and that they're
going to be too close to the apron to even use the biannual. So
you have the minimd level six point four million, and then the rest of
your roster on minimums. You need to hit on all of those signs,
like most of those signings, and you need to hit You need to hit
on your minimid level this year because you whipped on it last year with Kendrick
Nunn and looming over all this by the way, Malik Monk, you don't
have his bird rights, and so if he wants to come back for the
minimid level, fine, he was valuable, He's probably worth it. Your
minimid level is gone gone if he signs for less than the minimid level.
I want investigation lodged into what was going on there. That feels like super
quick pro crow, even more egregious than the Nick Batum instance, just because
he is so young, passed up a chance to probably make a little bit
more elsewhere. Neither here nor there on that. But I'm just curious to
see what they do. Is there still the like, is there an appeal
to taking a little bit less with the Lakers or to contend because can you
even guarantee your contending? No? Absolutely not. I don't understand what the
motivation is going to be for the Veterans this time around. Like last offseason,
they could at least operate under the guys that this is going to be
a competitive roster. It's not. It's just not like if you want to
play with Lebron and if forty games of Anthony Davis awesome, right, and
look the thing that might help them, because I don't want to It is
still LA It is still Lebron and ad because so much of the league is
working with less than like even the full mid level, exceptions, flexibility when
the money's equal, I do think compared to most organizations. And I'm to
be honest here, I love Toronto fantastic franchise. If Toronto and LA are
offering the same or comparable money, right, ALA is going to win that
battle and so that will help them. But they need to the front office
needs to hit on these signings and do you know novel concept and I know
you agree. I think they should probably target shooting and defense in complimentary capacities
around lebron and eight. What was that shooting in defense? Complimentary shooting you
said? You said, what in defense? Ball dominant playmaking non shooters who
play on one side of the floor. No, okay, that's what I
thought. Because we're still on the Lakers, right, we haven't moved on
to the Thunder. We probably should. I think that's the final thought.
It's just like sign a bunch of old guys who need the ball, right,
We're going to be an outside roles, play one side of the floor.
That's cool. I just want to make sure we're on the same page.
Let's move on to the next team, Oklahoma City Thunder. I feel
like this question could just be copied and pasted into every off season for the
foreseeable future, because it's is this the offseason? They move the timetable up.
The Thunder of thirty five total draft picks through twenty twenty eight, and
last I checked, there are not thirty eight roster spots on an NBA team,
So there are consolidation moves coming. They have set themselves up fantastically to
make that big move for whichever star becomes available. Is it going to be
Bradley Beal? Is it going to be someone new? Someone we haven't even
even fathomed is going to be available this offseason. But someone, because it
happens every year, is going to become unexpectedly available. What if it's Zion
Williamson. What if it's Julius Randall because he decides he wants to be a
star again. Whoever it is, Is this the time that the Thunder decide,
Hey, let's actually go win some games. Now we have Shay Gil
just Alexander, we have Josh Giddy, we have a bunch of intriguing pieces
around them. Let's cash in some of the chips and still have more chips
than anyone else at the table. So I think that's a fair question.
It's I feel like we're too soon on it. And I also feel like
they're not going to do it, mostly because Sam Presley came out and said
that that's not how they're going to operate. And I know he could be
lying, but oh, they're gonna get more picks for Like, they're gonna
have forty five draft picks through twenty twenty nine by the end of the off
season. And is it going to be a situation where so they have number
twelve an addition to number two in this draft, are they drafting and stashing
at number twelve or are they We've seen them do this before, they trading
that pick for another pick down the road. We've seen it. Look,
we've seen them do it before. So that's a fantastic question. And look,
even this summer, the body count is up there. I say body
count like people are dying. That's a terrible phrasing. I apologize. The
roster count is up there already. Derek Favors already opted in. I know
Mike Mscala has a team option, but like he was pretty good for them.
And so you pick up that three point five million dollar option, I
would say you're guaranteeing Kenrick Williams's contract, lu Dort's team option is getting picked
up. You're guaranteeing Aaron Wiggins' deal, and so like there are maybe one
or two players Tail Maldone or like, I just you're still and you're you
have two picks in the first is it two or three to two picks in
the first round of so like, you're gonna get to fifteen bodies pretty quickly
when you're looking. Yes, you can carry more in training camp, YATA,
two A deals, YadA, YadA, YadA, but you're gonna get
to the roster max pretty quickly. There's gonna have to be some smaller scale
consolidation here. And I thought it was interesting. It doesn't matter anymore because
they're gonna wind up with one of those three bigs in the draft. I
thought it was interesting that Wold was linked them to DeAndre Ayton because they don't
even have cap space this summer. Just they have that Shaye Jojas Alexander's extension
kicking in and you have Kemba's dead money on the books, So like,
are they the team that I don't think they would do this? But are
you just gonna start wave like, are they just gonna wave Derek Favors to
create a roster spot and deal with that ten plus million dollars in dead money?
Maybe they wave and stretch him like, I don't know, but I'm
with you that they need to figure that out. My question for them initially
when I thought we were gonna do this before the lottery, was how are
they gonna fill like the big man spot because I think SGA and Josh Giddy
need I don't want to say a true big but like someone other than Mike
Muscala, who you know it doesn't need to pop off screens like a rim
roller. And Jeremiah Robinson Eurrow was good this year, but I don't want
him having a monopoly on the center minutes. They're going to get that now.
My other question would just be, I think it's just in line with
yours, is what moves are they going to make independent of the draft and
is that Are they going to trade for someone? Are they going to facilitate
a trade where maybe you know, look we talk about Russell Westbrook. It
wouldn't be the worst thing in the world for them to get in on that
as part of a be the third team. I just don't know what money
you give up, so that's a really bad example. But are you gonna
just they don't have the money matching to go out? But are you going
to try and consolidate a different way where it's these smaller scale moves this year?
Do we see them explore? And this is what I'm getting at,
It might be a spicy take. Are you exploring the market for a Darius
Baisley? Are you exploring the market for even a lou Dort at this point
because he's headed into the contract year and I know this is a callous way
to think about it. Are you paying him long term? I think the
only person I'm prepared to say is a temp pole cornerstone is Shie gillis Alexander,
And I don't mean an offense to Josh Giddy for that. His sub
fifty true shooting percentage concerns me. He's a fantastic pass, solid defender at
his position, good size, solid rebounder. I don't see the long term
vision with him and SGA. I really don't, And maybe it just naturally
unfolds where if you're surrounding them with complimentary star types or blue chip building blocks
like one of these big men that are coming out of the draft, that
there's some organic fit there with some extra staggering. I'm just only prepared.
I would be more prepared to say whoever they draft plus SGA or the tempole
prospects is everybody else on the table. I'm just I don't think it's going
to be the consolidation for a star, but I am interested to see what
other transaction or moves they're gonna make here on the margins to free up spots
or even playing time for some of these incoming players that some we don't even
know. I forget the two first round picks that they have, like they're
gonna make other moves on the margins. That's what they do well, if
it only takes pressures to Chiwa and Ogna Nobi to get Zion Williamson. I'm
glad you saw that the YouTube comments for Hardwood Knocks are always an adventure.
Go follow us on YouTube, subscribe. But yeah, I think okay,
see and look, if they wanted to go out like in Like you said,
they're an interesting sign and trade destination. I agree with you, though
this isn't the off season. It doesn't feel right from a roster timing standpoint,
or from a player availability standpoint. All I look, all they need
to do is keep Poku and play him forty minutes a game and they'll be
fine. He's the other chip cornerstone. If I were on that, I
actually think that poke Who's going to be absurdly good? Besides the point,
who's our next team? Next up? We have the Portland Trailblazers, or
at least what is left of them. My question here is just is a
quick turnaround feasible because they've made their intentions quite clear that they're trying to do
one of the simultaneous teardowns scale ups. Except they've messed up at like every
step of the process, so they have a bunch of flexibility to do what
exactly. This year's free agent class is actively awful. They aren't set up
to add much of anything in the draft, so we're ultimately left looking at
like a five man group of Damian Lillard, Anthony Simon's assuming he's resigned,
Yusef Nurkic assuming he's resigned, Josh Hart and Nassir little Yay Like is that
enough to make any noise in the West? I don't It feels like even
their best case outcome of the off season is going to be more of a
lateral move if it's still a regression. And look, my question is kind
of similar in that what are they doing with the number seven pick? And
it's more so who are they trading it for? And if you're not trading
that pick at all, is Dame actually on board with this rebuild? He
looked pretty crestfallen when they when they failed a number seven in the lottery.
And look, I'm gonna be honest right now, I know Pistons fans think
that they're getting the number seven pick for Jeremy Grant. If the Blazers do
that, that is going to be a significantly damaging move to their future.
Jeremy Grant's a very good player, not super old. You're mortgaging a huge
if there has I don't even know what the other moving parts of that deal
would be, but it would be a basketball catastrophe if that's what you're turning
the seventh pick into. And and I know that these draft picks are more
like ambiguous appeal than anything. It's the it's the allure of who could turn
into and then all of a sudden they'll draft someone and it won't be as
valuable as it's Shane Sharp as a Kegan Murray. Whoever, at the same
time, like it's at least a viable younger like prospect around whom you can
potentially build to punt on that flyer for Jeremy Grant given in a bad draft
class, and I look right and I don't even I don't even think this
draft class, I'm only like a little bit higher than Shin Deep. I
said this on the previous podcast in the Draft Crep. I'm like kinda not
like I'm in on this draft class, not as much as last year's.
I think we see a lot of role players, which is valuable. I
just don't know that you get like building blocks. Well, here's the thing,
Jeremy Grant is closer to role player than star, and you're gonna give
him the where you're one. I'm on board with you. I'm just I'm
giving the caveat that this is all true even with this being a weak draft
class. I was going to throw to you to ask what do you think
of the idea? And this is just operating on the assumption that because look,
you have Damian Millard, who is age thirty two. Correct, you're
you have to move this pick if you want, like there's no oh,
Dame's gonna be in this another two or three years and then will be good.
No no, no, no no, that's not how this is gonna
work. Would you move other moving parts involved? Oh the other thing I
wanted to say, And you made this great point. They have this flexibility.
It's basically all conditional because their cap space is submax. If they if
they really want to, you know, get rid of everything they need to
to inflate that number as high as possible. They're probably looking at I don't
know, like almost let's say twenty four million in space. You can then
dump salaries to get to like a max for DeAndre Atan. If you want
to go to the sign and trade route and figure that base year conversation out
with Phoenix at the same time, then you're pumping on the Jeremy Grant trade
exception that you have. And so like I call it to Jeremy Grant trade
exception because it's Pericles eyes for Jeremy Grant. But you're not having both here.
You have to operate basically as an over thecap team if you want to
keep that trade exception, so their flexibilities very conditional where it's like you can't
have it all for them. I wanted to throw to you, would you
give up the number seven pick in a deal that got you Rudy Gobert or
a deal that gets you brogged in and Miles Turner. I probably would in
either of those instances, partially just because I am lower on this draft class,
but also because selfishly I want to see Dames stay in a Portland Trailblazers
uniform. He's one of those players that feels so attached to a city and
you know, I you know, player autonomy is great, and fully promote
that, but also like I love the idea of these legitimate superstars staying in
one Jersey forever and if there's a chance for that to happen, because there's
an immediate move of that caliber, we're talking about something way better than Jeremy
Grant with either of those situations. With Rudy Gobert, all of a sudden,
you have a great, rim rolling threat who completely transforms what Portland can
do on defense, and the same is true with the Indiana Pacers move,
just albeit on a lower scale with Turner, who also gives you some pop,
and you're picking up Brogden in that deal, who is very much a
jack of all trades, can fit alongside Dame. So in either instance,
I think the reward is worth the risk. I would be curious what the
Rudy Gobert deal needs to look like just for you, because with Utah,
you're giving up Gobert, you're not getting better. But I also don't know
that you're trying to rebuild, and I'm just still assuming the Gobert's and Charlotte
already, You're gonna make a lot of people in Atlanta man with that comment,
So I think I'm with you too. I would do both instances.
I'm a little bit more if you're on the Pacers one, because I don't
love the Brogden extension anymore. But you compare him with Simons and Dame,
and that's fine. I think if Josh Hart there presumably still with Turner's coming
up on his next contract and then his Nerk all of on, just you're
letting him off for nothing, I guess, in either of those scenarios,
or you're keeping Turner and nor because they're a signing trade for Nerk. My
bonus question really quickly was do you think Anthony Simon's is getting max or near
max money in restricted free agency? I don't think so. I think it's
a tier or two short. I'm like, I'm just wondering if the I
guess so. The Pistons fallowing to five hurts this theory. I actually wonder
if they've become a DeAndre Ayton suitor now because they missed out on all those
bigs. I thought they might have been a team just him next to Cunningham
would have been super interesting. I will say, I'm kind of with you
in the sense that there's just not enough money out there, and so unless
it's going to be Detroit, Indiana, Orlando or or San Antonio, I
don't know which of those teams. Detroit might, but if they're going to
draft Ja and Ivy, they shouldn't. They don't have the incentive. I
really don't think Simons is like the Simons dejud be, like a really intriguing
backcourt, but you have you have they kind of have like this overstock of
swing men slash wings already with facell Josh Primo is there, Trey Jones emerged,
so and they just don't. That's not san Antonio's game. Let's go
max out or near max out this other team's free agent unless he's LaMarcus Aldrics.
Apparently so, and Orlando just has so much of everything, such a
lot everywhere, right, and a lot of it is guard So to go
after Simons would be a little bit weird, but it wouldn't surprise me if
he just signs a deal with like, let's set the over on drown his
salary. His max could be thirty point five. I'm gonna say twenty two
million. I was coming in around twenty four, so over, so a
little over, unless he decides to go to the Lakers on the mini midlevel,
the Malik Monk route, but make a little bit more money than Malik
Monk in right, exactly exactly. Who's our next team? Next up?
We have the Sacramento Kings, and I'm gonna go the easy route here and
just ask where is Rashaun Holmes going to be traded too? Because he is
on the books for eleven point two million dollars next year's contract runs through twenty
twenty five or the player option for that final year. It's pretty clear that
they're committed to Demonta Sabonis and darn Fox, which worked better than I expected.
At the tail end of this past season. It looks like there is
legitimately something to build around there. As they gain more comfort, Holmes is
only going to be phased out of a primary spot within the rotation. Even
more, Harrison Barnes is still there to absorb a lot of the minutes at
the four. He can play some small ball five when Sabonis isn't on the
floor. So Holmes needs a different home. I think that's that's pretty clear.
We thought that he was going to be commanding a lot more money last
offseason. Charlotte was easily our favorite destination. Are they still in play?
Are other teams going to get in the mix, because Holmes is still a
legitimately good, impactful player even if he's not Demonta Sabonis Also really quickly because
we haven't aggres Sin on the podcast, and I feel we are not saying
the off court stuff with his I think it's his girlfriend and his son.
I just feel whatever the truth is there, I feel terrible for his son.
It seems like he's been through a lot, and so please his son's
okay, and everything we're saying about Rashaun Holmes has only everything to do about
what's going on basketball watch. Just wanted to throw that caveat out there.
I think I'm with you in the sense Charlotte Dallas would be a really good
fit for him and Toronto are teams that I could see going after him,
and maybe it doesn't take. You know, the Kings have kind of hurt
his trade value. His contract is still so good, but by having some
bonus, you've made him superfluous and our team's gonna low ball you there.
This falls under the umbrella of my question, what the fuck are the King's
going to do? Is was my actual question, and I have I think
anyone who listens to the Kings, they are in a perpetual state of existential
crisis. That is, that is the Sacramento Kings. We've we do not
typically gobble the low hanging fruit with the Kings on this podcast. I want
to make that clear. Everyone eat binging away at the low hanging fruit.
They deserve it at this point. And I don't know what they do here.
They've tethered themselves to this weird timeline and it's just hysterical that they landed
in the number four spot, which that's a huge asset Ja Nivy with the
Aaron Fox and baby On Mitchell. I'm not a big proponent of drafting for
fit. I would go best player available, so I would take Jay and
Ivy and I wouldn't think to wife about it. But like the Kings have
tied themselves to this more urgent timeline to where well, you have to care
a little bit because what happens there, and that's not the cleanest fit with
Fox and Sabonis and Ivy's going to be a developmental project anyway. And so
I mean in theory you could say, oh, well, then we'll get
to bring them along slowly because Fox and Sabonis are there. That's not how
the Kings are going to operate. It's also what are you grooming him for
to take the end foxes chop. It's like the Aaron Fox is not thirty
five years old. I'm just curious. And I know we say we didn't
want to talk about the draft, but are they going to either is this
a trade down scenario for them or are they this would have been fair game
regardless, did they try to use that pick to materially upgrade I would say
the wing rotation and the issue there. And I've scoured like the potential wing
market. I don't even know what perspective deals are gonna be worth giving up
what would be the number four pick. So it feels like they're they're gonna
be in a situation of, oh, they're probably better off trading down.
I saw some people float, like John Collins for the number four pick.
I don't know if John Collins is worth that in a vacuum. He's not
worth that to the King. You just traded for force a bonus and you're
not you know, Miles Turner, You're not gonna go after him after you
just readed for sibonus. He's also would be though can you imagine it would
potentially be the most King's move ever? Though it would be They've seen people
mentioned could they be a sneaky Rudy Gobert destination? That is, you freeze
a bonus from playing with another big, only to play him beside another big
who's an even worse offensive fit next to him. So no, you don't
that. I just and he clearly doesn't fall under the wing umbrella there,
So I don't know. There are other moves they can make they're not.
There shouldn't be a caps faced team unless unless they dump other salary. What
is their mid level exception? Get them? What are they gonna do with
their draft picks? It does feel like there's going to be a significant trade
here, and that it's gonna be a buy. I don't see them wanting
to move Seawan homes strictly to get spare parts or future assets. That's not
the timeline on which they're operating, and so I asked my question was,
what the fuck are they going to do? Because I honestly just add a
loss for There's all these different options available to them, but none of them
seem to coalace into whatever the hazy bigger picture they've assembled here is. And
I just that number four pick. It feels like the draft is going to
start with them, like they are the first wild card, and I think
it's a three player top tier. So of course the Kings have the number
four pick, but you know, even if they had, I don't even
know if I want to go there. That's just too mean to the Kings.
I think you know where I was going. I think I do,
which is why I'll carry us right along. It's just like I'm again,
I'm at a loss, don't know really what and you I'm even stumbling through
it now because of the lead in that you the thing that you just tease.
I'm just like, do they even have the Like, are they the
team that's just gonna keep the pick and then not draft who the obvious player
at number four feels like he is because they're not gonna get the benefit of
the doubt If they go with Shayton Sharp at number four, that's they're not
gonna be the team that gets the benefit of the doubt there, right,
just put it in the bagley, I mean back so I don't I just
don't even know. It feels like the more prudent move would be to explore
the trade down scenarios just because it doesn't look like the market for what they
need is a name that I floated just because his I don't want to say
it's fit, but his future is a little bit more murky in Toronto is
og Ana Nobi. Just with the emergence of Scotty Barnes, we sort of
saw our og stagnate on offense. I think in part because of the roster
construction. Is there something there ever? Shawn Holmes and number four for og
is that too much? Does Toronto say, WHOA, so we're gonna get
number four? Is supposed to draft someone who stands under six seven? I
don't, So I don't. I don't know, But like I can't come
up with a deal that makes sense for the number four pick. That's that's
for a natural player. There are a bunch of different trade down scenarios that
that you could look at. For sure, Yeah, I would. I
would rather than try to trade down to get more picks, you know,
just let's let's take some more flyers in this class, because even if it's
a weak at the top, there should be a lot of rotation players throughout
the back half of the first round, the top half of the second round.
Yeah, I could, Like, would they do something? I feel
like this maybe isn't like the Spurs if the Spurs offered number nine and people
are gonna laugh because he's become a meme, but Josh Richardson and then something
else, because Josh Chrison was really good for them and was having a solid
season before he was traded from Boston. Anyway, but like, maybe that's
a team that could look at doing it. I know that Charlotte has two
first, but who are they giving the Kings. That's where it gets weird.
Is even when you look at the teams that I could see maybe wanting
to trade up to number four, can the Pacers actually do anything for you?
I'm sure they're just pissed that they didn't end up in the top four.
Here brogden' and what Brogden in six? And I think you would need
something else there too. I'm not even gonna lie, so you don't.
I don't think Broden is not like this team needs a wing, and like,
yeah, but I'm not sure that moving down from four to six matters
that much of this class. Well, then fair enough, But then if
you're the King's I guess I don't know. Like I said, I don't
see the options there, even when you get into the trade down stuff with
teams that have interests. So Sacramento's offseason it's always like chaotically fascinating, detrimentally
fascinating, I think on more of a higher level here, a deeper level.
It's just fascinating for so many reasons because of what it's going to say
about their philosophy, their timeline, and then of course the other players that
are currently on this roster what it says about them. Last, but not
least, we have the San Antonio Spurs, and my question here, is
there a building block in San Antonio other than Dejante Murray. Ton of intriguing
players, Kelton Johnson, the energy that he brings crashing to the rim and
serving as like a secondary scorer, really impressive. Yaca peartle good defensive anchor.
I think they should bring back Lonnie Walker. Devin Vassel showed that there
was more juice to his game, especially in the second half of the season.
You still have Josh Primo, Trey Jones emerged towards the back half of
the schedule. Are any of them like building blocks, because if they're not,
that's an awful lot of good, not great players when there should be
a little bit more urgency around a version of Dejante Murray that hit like full
fledged stardom this last season. I am with you there, and it's probably
an oversimplification to say dejan Da Murray camp be the best player in the championship
team. There are like ten players who maybe maybe ten, that fit that
bill. And so with the Spurs, I think are tasked with are kind
of finding dejan Day Murray's equal or one who perhaps makes him the one B.
And so you're asking, is anyone on the roster going to I think
I think the Cell would have the best chance, and you would have to
take sort of the Kawhi Leonard route of his offense really coming. We saw
him get more ball screens after the trade deadline, But I don't know.
And you could even argue, just because he's more mystery box like, is
Josh Primo have a better chance of being that player, all of which might
be to say they don't have that player on the roster right now. And
as much as it's the Spurs, I don't think you bank on them getting
it at number nine. And that's just probably not how do you build out
from here? Because you could argue that they are a consolidation candidate and we
see, look they've been a little bit more willing to make moves the Demard
Rosen sign and trade, they flipped Derek White at the deadline. They would
be a very and I know Jeante Murray tweeted this out a photoshop picture of
Zach Levine spur Jersey and then deleted it. Respect to him for tweeting that
out. Though they are a fun zach Lavine team for me, I think
you could argue they might need defense a little bit more, But they also
don't have the level of shot maker that zach Lavine is. And I'm talking
about someone who's also flying around off the ball as well, because he's become
like the quintessential dual threat, whereas he will hit these tough jumpers and it's
not even a dual. He's in every level score basically, but it scales
to both on the ball and off the ball. And they have a bunch
of players who I think can score fine on the ball, can score fine
off the ball, they don't have someone who can score on ball like zach
Lavine. And completely agree, and I think for the same reason Bradley Beale,
this is a sneaky, fun landing spot for him. I would agree.
But do you think, I guess you wouldn't care about going for quote
unquote age when zach Lavine's not that much younger than Bradley Beale and Jante Murray's
not exactly young anymore either. What you get into the issue of is that
zach Lavine has to want to leave. It feels like it would almost be
easier to get Bradley Beale as much as he's come out and said he wants
been watching them Levine because the Bulls have sort of married themselves to wanting to
win now, and so Zach Lavine has to really want out of Chicago where
I think there's a better chance. Doesn't mean it's likely that Washington could say
it's really time for us to go in a different direction because we have the
number ten pick what are we supposed to do with that? To build around
you? And so that would be a super fun destination. My question,
which I guess could fall under this umbrella as well, how do they use
their cap space? Which can I think they there's a chance that they end
up having the most cap space in the NBA they can get up to if
they really want to maximize it, like almost thirty million at this point,
there's Orlando and Detroit and even India of the potential get more, but they
have to take additional steps to get there. They are the team just based
off like the extra step or that they would need to take to get like
the actual max if they decided to get rid of Zach Collins. Or is
this just can we find a destination for Romeo Langford move his money? Are
they a team would go after one of these RFAs And I'm saying Miles Bridges
or DeAndre Ayton and I'd probably say no, Like, I don't think that
they're gonna like take a huge swing in free agency whether and that would pertain
through Zach Levine and Bradley deal as well, even if signing trade possibilities are
on the table. Yeah, I struggle to see any of those restricted freatings
really working out for this team. And once you move past that level,
Miles Bridges, are you gonna throw a ton of money at him? And
like the think so? And I don't even if they did, I don't
know that it really like elevates you as much as you need. What if
what if Kyrie Irving or James Harden turned down their deals and look for new
contracts? Feasibly? Irving is a is a good fit alongside Murray. I
don't know what to make of Harden at this stage. Do you want to
even deal with the headaches? Probably not. I can't imagine a Ridge,
a disciplined system like san Antonio Well going after Kyrie Irving right now. But
like the options are just so limited. This feels like one of those off
seasons where like, congrats on having your cap space, good luck using it
next year. I do wonder if they could inflate the market on shorter term
deals for some of like the the second or third tier free agents, Like
could they be if they want Tis Jones, or if you're looking at guys
like Gary Harris who rebooted his value, or Victor Oladipo rebooted his value,
or guess Colin Sexton, I don't know. I guess I don't mind his
fit here, but they just feel so guard heavy where it's exactly like,
why are your right and so this would lead to the question of if you're
not, and it's fair to say that they're not just because the options to
and who's the we could talk about a consolidation trade, the question who Oh,
it's just I feel I feel like I am normally pretty good spotting,
even if it's not the obvious star or high end player that could want out
next, and I just look up and down the NBA right now, and
I'm like, I just don't see that guy. Maybe I'm too high.
I'm like every team or the situation that they're in. I just don't know
who that surprise, smack you in the face player is going to be.
So what does what does leaning further into this rebuild? Because right now he
call it a build, I wouldn't even call it a rebuild. Another question,
what does leaning further into it if they want to do it look like?
Because like, if you're trading Yaka Peartle and Josh Richardson, I think
Jacko Peartle makes your substantially worse. But I do get to the question of,
like, well, why are you moving Yakob Peartle. He's so cheap
and you don't Maybe he makes a lot in his next contract, but maybe
he doesn't. He's not a player that I think you cry over. Should
he leave for a ton more money? And the only way to actually lean
further into it, and I don't think you do it. I'll make that
clear, is do you make the Jante Murray available? Is he the player
that we haven't given enough thought too. I just don't see them doing that
to Pop or even to him wise and how much they value the homegrown talent.
They are maybe the toughest team to peg for the offseason just to look
at well, what are they? I know, we just like, what
the fuck are the King's going to do? The Spurs are in a similar
boat, albeit I would say is it even a more enviable boat? I
would say maybe. I think this is this is the byproduct of trying to
skirt two eras, like you end up in this this treadmill of slightly above
mediocrity where you're too good to get the high end prospects, but you're you're
not good enough to really compete, and it's really tough to escape that.
And I think the Spurs maybe we're undervaluing some of the developmental projects on their
roster, or maybe their ability to mind talent at a spot like number nine
in this draft. But I don't think it's fair to start asking those questions.
They've they're like in a pleasant mediocrity right now because they finally moved on
from the post Kauai error where they had to rose and it felt like they
were even more trapped. So they're not stuck. I might argue that Kings
are more stuck because of what they're going to have to do with Sabonis his
next contract. Would they owe Fox? I think I would disagree, just
because Sabonis and Fox give you higher upside than Murray alone does. I mean,
that's that's probably fair, but the Spurs just wouldn't you. The Spurs
are built better to make the consolidation trade if an opportunity rising right now,
Yes, absolutely, but there's I think there's a scenario in which Sacramento just
breaks out. If Sabonis and Fox totally click, If Davion Mitchell explodes as
a sophomore, Harrison Barnes is still there, you have some depth across the
board. I don't think it's too far fetched that they actually make some postseason
noise. Wow, unlikely, unlikely, But I mean, if you're looking
at like the distribution of outcomes, sana Antonio probably has a hire me and
media and outcome, but it tails off a little quicker. I think Sacramento's,
like true peak, rises a little bit higher than san Antonio's does right
now. It's just unlikelier that they get that it gets there. I'm gonna
throw very couple quick scenarios at you. If these opportunities rise, are the
Spurs a good destination for these players? What if the what if the jazz
or he asked for oute? What if Donovan Mitchell becomes available. The idea
of a Murray Donovan Mitchell backcourt. I don't really love that one, just
because Mitchell has become such a black hole on defense where just there's nothing there.
What about Damian Lillard, if you can get him, go do it.
I'd say that about any team. I want to make it clear.
I think this is a situation in Portland where you they're going to continue onward
until Dame says stops. He said stop. But just if he becomes available,
I wouldn't. I know he's older, but like I wouldn't mind the
Spurs if you're keeping Murray as part of that. Let's let's see what pop
can do with with Dame. We both already said yes to Zach Lavine and
Bradley Beal. I guess that would mean and look, that's like, that's
like where I'm at with I thought about what ifs? Why do you called
Jeremy Grant as star right now? I don't know U. The final one
would be just and I don't think you do it. But like what if
Phoenix is just like everything's gone to shit and they're like, okay, Chris
Paul is like we're gonna move on from Chris Paul. He's great on the
teammates if you can get him without giving up like material value. I would
love him in San Antonio as well, but you'd prefer Devin Booker. If
things are gonna go upside down in Phoenix Suns fantom't make it clear. I
don't think it's getting to that point, nor do I. That will wrap
us up. We did all seven teams. Thank you everyone for listening.
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