What is krack lackin ord w Knox listeners. I am Dan fa Valley, coming at you without my fantabulous co host Adam Promo. Once again. I am, however, and as always, super pleased and excited to be joined by good friend and longtime co worker at Bleacher Report. Grant Hughes. Does a fantastic job covering the NBA. Check out his work over at bleacher Report. Follow him on Twitter at et Underscore Hughes. He's back for a second podcast. This week, we decided to tackle the biggest questions facing eliminated NBA playoff teams Part two. This time around we will have the Memphis Grizzlies, Milwaukee Bucks, Phoenix Phoenix Suns, and Philadelphia seventy six Ers. It's a good time. I hope you check it out. A quick reminder, please please pretty please rate and review us wherever you are getting your podcasts, and even if you're not using iTunes or Spotify, please head over there throw us ratings and reviews. Those really do help out a ton. They've stagnated in recent weeks, so help us out. 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You can find that in I think it's in the podcast description, but if the hyperlink doesn't work on your medium, go check out our feed. And we also did this for the Eastern Conference lottery teams as well. The Western Conference lottery teams will be up on Monday May twenty second or Tuesday May twenty third. I'm not even sure if those dates are right, but it'll be Monday or Tuesday of next week. That's enough for me. Let's get the Bleacher Reports Grant us Grant Welcome back yet again, second appearance this week, love recording a back to back with mister Grant Hughes of Bleacher Report. How are you doing since the thirty seconds ago when we when we last book, Oh so much better and also so much worse because we just talked about a bunch of teams at won games and are still alive, and now we're going to talk about some losers. Yeah, we are here to get into our biggest question. We've done it for the eliminated teams in the first round. We have to do it for the eliminated teams in the second round. Our biggest questions for every team that was bounced during the semi finals? Where did you want to go? I will let you pick of the four teams where you want to start. Well, first of all of the four, at least three are incredibly interesting. But I'm gonna go alphabetical because I believe in quarter and organization, and so you start with you know, that's like my week plant it was the alphabet, you got alphabet, Well, we botched the alphabet on record several times. So yeah, Actually, as I was saying that, I was thinking to myself, so does Memphis come before Milwaukee on my on that even if it doesn't, we're gonna go with that. We're gonna do the Grizzlies. I think. I think the Grizzlies are a super interesting offseason team. I was gonna say that they probably had the least interesting offseason ahead of them, though, no, Well, it's all about the potential, so I think so my big offseason kind of question that is will they take their shot because they can be among the very few teams there's a half dozen I think depending on what Portland does that you have like consequential cap space, it would have to come at the it would only be about twenty million, and it would have to come at the cost of Kyle Anderson and Taias Jones not coming back. So that might be where the conversation ends. That'll probably be where the conversation ends, because I think at least in the case of Jones, I mean, he's shown he out enough that you probably need to bring him back and hope that you can beat the market for him because he's going to be in demand. But so they've got that potential of clear twenty million. They've got a couple firsts in this draft. They've got eight in the next seven, they've got the full mL, they've got the bi annual a trade exception worth about four million, and so they just have these options, right, Like if you want to package a star, you know, I'm sorry, not a star. But if you want to take Steven Adams or Dylan Brooks, both of whom will be on expiring deals next year, throw them in with one of those picks in a trade for a player making more to come back. You can do that because you're gonna have that twenty million in space. You can have an unbalanced trade so you can sort of star hunt. You can get like even more creative with sign and trades for some restrictive guys. I don't think DeAndre eight necessarily is a fit or really is plausible. Miles Bridges is probably a little too rich. But I just think they have these options, right, and they have to kind of look closely at at what they might be able to do this offseason, which sucks because there's not a lot of talent available this year. Because once Marant signs the full max, which you will, that'll be another thing that happens this offseason. You basically like next offseason, you're not really gonna be able to do too much unless you figure out a way to trim money elsewhere or don't bring Adams or Brooks back. I don't know, but so this is kind of a pivot point for the Grizzlies. I think they should just kind of run it back, bring Jones back, even Anderson. They can extend Jones. I think I had it written down. They can go four years for fifty five point eight million if they do it before June thirtieth. Just keep him off the table entirely. That's gonna beat you know, mid level exception offers he could get from other teams, So that's at least a competitive offer. They may just do that. I think that's that's fine, but I do just I am intrigued because maybe they think they're one more star away and they could kind of swing for one to the extent that one is available in kind of a week market. It would be with you on that question as well, is just what does this team need? Was basically, what do they actually need to take the next step and are they willing to go after it or are they just going to bank on internal development getting them there. But you just finished with the second best record in the West. I think that the Grizzlies, after doubting them the past three seasons, I think they'll be back. But you can't take anything for granted in the West either. The Nuggets and the Clippers should be healthier this season. What if the next season, excuse me, the Pelicans are coming. They're gonna they get Zion Williamson back to a team that really pushed Phoenix in the first round. What if the Lakers don't suck, Porland might make some big like there are just wild cards pepper through Yeah, you talk blow it up, fine, they're just wild cards pepper throughout the West where you can't I think just say, okay, well, Zaya Williams is going to be another year better. We have Desmond Bay and Jaren Jackson Junior really got it together. We'll bring back tires, We'll bring me back Kyle Anderson, and we'll be fine, and we'll be right back in the top four of the West and maybe even higher. I just don't think they can bank on that. You would really have to believe, because I don't know how much better is Desmond Baine gonna get. He was there most important player for pretty much the entire postseason. Jaren Jackson Junior is fantastic. They still feel one significant player short is that players I hear Williams, it does feel like that player needs to be and that's where they run into the issue with free agency is why it might not be the most effective use of their resources. That it needs to be another creator type half court, put the ball on the floor. You're asking a little bit too much of Baine and Jaren Jackson Junior. It definitely should not be dealing Brooks on a game of the game basis. To do that at like after John Rank or if he's not on the floor, or if he's just having an off nighter of teams are really throwing the kitchen sink at him. So that player isn't available on the market. I think Zach Lavine would be a fantastic fit, But we've also reached a point where it's any of those transactions feel like they're going to happen through side and trade anyway. So I do I'm with you where I think it's very important to bring back at least Tis Jones, if not Kyle Anderson as well. Did any names spring to mind to you when you were thinking about if they were going to take this way, because look, they can do it without prioritizing castis you laid out their assets. They have a bunch of middle run deals, and this is a team where it's I would say, your three most important players moving forward or Desmond Bane, Jaren Jackson Junior John Morant. I don't think you need to put any of those three on the table to go after who realistically might be available this time. You're not giving up any of them. For if it was a zac Levi and Sign trader, if it was a Bill sign and trading. Yes, I know those players need to want to play in Memphis, YadA, YadA, YadA. But like that's the move that would be uncharacteristic of the Grizzlies. But it's the one that they are built to make. And I think you can, if you're the Grizzlies, talk yourself into making because of just where you were this season. Yeah, that's where this gets, you know, goog when you when you try to take it from the hypothetical, Well, they've got these options, so like practically, what should they do? What could they do? There? Just isn't that guy that that I think, you know, like someone like a Jalen Brown. I think I feel like he's been rumored, you know, as not not as like someone that could happen, but like that that's a fit, right, Celtics are gonna trade Jyleen Brown for you know, a couple firsts and the Anthony Melton Like that's not it's not gonna happen. I think you could if if if, like Jeremy Grant would be potential, but I don't, I don't know, like how much better he Yeah, right, it's not what they need. So I think I think you bank on organic growth. I think like ideally you just want someone that has Dylan Brooks's frame, that doesn't have his shot selection and then like can pass a little bit and you're good. But like who is that? I don't know. I think I think Williams getting better is a huge like path forward for them. And but yeah, so it's it's maybe they fall last on my list of like most intriguing because all of their intrigue is potential and hypothetical and not like really grounded and oh they're they totally could go get this guy. I don't. I don't have that guy. I think they're more likely to do and this would not make them better. Like they're the team that they'll run it back and they get they trade for Alec Burks or they trade for ken Rick Williams, And I'm not you know, if you get more improvement from Zaya Williams, you can't talk me out of fat that they there's some chairs they might be significantly better just with an Alec Burke's type on this team. I'm not saying he's the guy, but someone who's semi comfortable creating his own shot doesn't always need the ball in his hands. That adds another dynamic to their offense. It's probably a little bit smaller than you want. But like those you know, those just super strength like power wings, whatever you want to call them. They don't grow on trees. But I would fully expect Memphis to whatever we're talking about. I would argue they're going to do less than like, yes, of that, I don't think they're gonna do the bare minimum. They're too good. I think they're too good to be like, let's just run it back like there needs to be I think like some material change here, but I think it's going to be on the sub middle end of the spectrum. Yeah, I agree. Next team, if we're going alphabetically, would be who why have put me on the spot. Milwaukee's Milwaukee's next, They're They're of the four, they're the least interesting. I just think because like we might even be talking about them, if Chris Middlesen had just been healthy, they would still be playing potentially. I mean, they went to seven without their I think, their second best obviously their second best offensive player, their third most important player. So having said that, I think his absence did expose what they need, and that's just another playmaker. If it's a two way wing, awesome. If it's just someone else that can pierce the defense, score or find someone open. I think that's what it takes. Because we saw, you know, Drew Holiday, I think did the right thing against Boston, and he took a lot more shots than he normally would. I think you could almost you could see him realizing this is a bad shot, but I have to take it because we don't have anyone else that's gonna, you know, get something markedly better than this at this point in the shot clock or whatever. And if you honest is off the floor, just forget it. So I think they have to and you know, not a lot of resources. They've got to upgrade the George Hill spot. So if that playmaker is another backup point guard, great, but they just need someone else to create shots, I think in that offense, because Janness is phenomenal, sometimes that's all it takes. But against the best defenses, and Boston was like the best defense, you just need that one more guy. And even if Middleton's back, I still think that's a need for them, right. I think we kind of saw people are probably two down on Grayson Allen in the sense that what did you expect Grayson Allen to be? It's not that player. It's not going to be George Hill. I thought Javon Carter should have gotten more run towards the end, but it wasn't for like the shot making element of it. And I don't really know how you go out and get that advantage creator because they have no money to work with, Like you're gonna have the mini mid levels gonna be their best spending tool, and hey are they gonna are they gonna spend it? Because you have Pat Conaton as a player option and Bobby Portis as a player option, I would expect both of them to decline there's Pat Conatton, the way he closed the postseason and how important he was Milwaukee, he should absolutely decline his player option. Are you gonna pay to keep those guys? Are we talking about team that's actually shallower? And so that was my question of just like what are they willing to do to improve this team? But I also my other question was like how much do they need the I saw like a lot of over they didn't get rid of PJ. Tucker. Maybe that series plays out differently. I know offense was their problem. I actually don't disagree with the take because of the Jannis. Like those lineups where Yannis is your primary big so to speak, without Porters or brook Lopez on the court, I still think those give you the best chance to just steamroll everybody else. You didn't have the guy, especially without Middleton to kind of fill that spot to make that lineup make so much sense, whereas p J. Tucker would have given you that can you go out and like imagine they were able to sign like an auto porter in free agency. That's someone who opens up more time for those lineup combinations. And it's interesting, I'm just curiously what they prioritize versus talent retention, because there's Bobby Porters and Pat Content hitting free agency, and then there's also just it doesn't have to be either or. When you're talking about the limited amount of resources that you have, it almost is either or where they do they need someone who can unlock their most versatile lineups or do they need more of that creator Because at the end of the day, we also could say, yes, I know Chris Middleton was injured, but you have Drew Middleton and Janice to have to prioritize another The offensive creator seems almost excessive, but injuries crop up and we know that, Yeah, when things slow down, I Drew Holiday, you probably want Chris Midleton going through the half court motions a little bit more than then Drew Holiday. And I know what, I agree with what you said about Holiday, maybe not wanting to take those shots, but he could have toned down the early shot clock and tested jumpers that I will I will die on that hill. No, you're not wrong, just like a couple of housekeeping things. Because I was looking while you're talking. So they got bird rights on Connathon, so if like they can pay, you know, they can beat the market if they need to, the question Is will they or obviously because you know it's Milwaukee and they're very, very very much committed to high dollars to their three best players. Portis. I think he's got a player option. You're totally right, he's going to decline that. But he can come back. They can pay him basically two years for twenty two and a half million, So that's right around mid level exception money. I don't think Portis is going to get more than that from anybody else, So I think both should be back. One guy just this is kind of like a I don't know, fanciful idea, but you know, they don't have a lot of resources. This may be a minimums, you know, type of thing, or at the most the taxpayermid level if they even choose to spend that. But someone you're gonna laugh, someone like Ricky Rubio, distressed asset coming off a major injury. I was looking at sort of his profile in his like thirty or so games with Cleveland this year, of guys that drove at least twelve times a game, his assist rate, there aren't that many of those guys, you know, there's twenty or thirty. His assist rate's like top five. So if you just want a guy to get in the lane and find somebody open, which is sort of what you got to do for your secondary scoring with the Bucks, because they're just going to keep employing guys like Wes Matthews and Grayson Allen that are going to be catching shoot types. I think Rubio or a Rubio type that can just get into the defense and move the ball, you could get that guy pretty cheap. So and honestly, I think Rubio is an upgrade over George Hill. Like the idea of George Hill has always been great, but again, he played seventy six minutes against the Celtics, scored five points and had three assists, like just nothing. So you need more than nothing from your backup point guard, even on a team with all the creators you mentioned, the high end creators you mentioned, they just need more than that. So Rubio, just take your veteran free agent point guard that can get into the lane and find a shooter like to take your pick like that type of guy I think is gettable for the minimum. Yeah, coming off the ACL injury, for sure, I thought about the two names that's prone to mind for me were and I don't know this and by the way, with content and ports, it wasn't they can keep them. I'm just they're at they're any attacks without those guys on the books, they're below the apron but into the tax I'm just curious what their you know, break number is there I thought about and I don't know if these guys will be too expensive for what the Bucks to spend, like a d lawn Right or even a Dennis Shrewder at this point two very different players obviously, but Dennis Shrewder will get you into the lane or either of those guys are gonna fall into the minim level territory. And before anyone laughs, like most of the teams if you're not a catchpace team, like there are a lot of teams that are only gonna be working with part of the mL or the Mini mL E, like there's even the full mL E is not just available, and like this huge supply, And I don't know if either of those two YEO Atlanta should probably keep them on right, but I just don't know how this market is unlike any other I can remember in free agency to where if you told me that the lawn Right signed for the Mini mL E, I wouldn't be shocked. No, Dlawn right is someone that I am like whenever I'm doing work that requires me to think of, like, who's like an on the quote unquote on the cheap guy that could really help a team. He always comes up and he's gonna constant only come up because he's you know, he can guard three positions and he's kind of a point guard and he's a good enough three point shooter that he fits everywhere. Yeah, I mean, he would be him forget Rubio. If if if the Bucks could somehow fit him into that you know, six point four ish million taxpayer slot and are willing to do that, he would be a huge upgrade over Hill. Yeah, I mean it might be hard to find like someone who is in an upgrade over We've been rough on old George. I mean, as long as we should leave him alone. I'm just I also wonder do they decide like maybe this can be done via trade, but they just they don't have the pick equity to get it done, even though they do have some of the middle wrong salaries. When you look at George Hills four million next year, Grayson Allen's nine point four I'm assuming that their top four guys are just going to be off the table, and that includes Brook lopezl though maybe they'd be more open to try if you're bringing back Portist. Do you think that. I mean, Brooke was huge for them at points during the postseason after he came back from his back injury. They're just they're even independent of the knees we're talking about, they're just oh so shallow to where it's they almost to me, you can't let Pat Conetton leave, like you need to bring him back. Probably you need to bring Bobby Porters back as well. And then it's like West Matthews is kind of just floating around out there. No, you don't want him playing eighty minutes a game again, but he was incredibly important to what they were doing by the end of the season, and he's going to be a free agent. I couldn't. I mean, maybe we're misreading these guys too, because West Matthews didn't have a team to start the year then he finished is probably like the Bucks is like third or fourth or like fourth most important player. With the Middleton injury in that final series, it's really hard to judge Matthews on the Boston series. But there were a lot of moments where like the second he put the ball on the floor, it was just like, well, this has become a bad possession because he's not going to finish and he can't. He's not gonna do anything productive if he's not just catching and shooting. They need like the thirty one year old version of West Matthews. That's that's the guy. They need those. But those guys are oh that's a three and the wing that so everybody needs one of those, and any of the dreams is like, oh, maybe we can get Roco for the minimli out the window because he extended this free agency. Yes, it's going to be. It's going to be rough Milwaukee in the bag. That brings us too for going alphabetically grant who uh the Philadelphia seventy six ers because Phi is before PHO. I'm three for three. Look Out, what do they do with James Harden's contract? Like that's that's my big question, Like that's that should be the only I don't know what matters more for the long term and short term future of this team. And I don't know if you're aware of this, but I am bearish on James Harden's future as a productive and helpful component of a winning NBA operation, both because of his encore play and his just long history of not giving a shit and not being happy or trying hard on teams that he gets himself traded to. So the options are, he can opt out sign a five year, two hundred seventy ish million dollar deal. He can opt into his forty seven ish million dollars salary for next year and extend for four over two or two twenty three over four years, or he can sign for less than that what the Sixers do? How much less than that? They can retain James Harden four because I think they sort of have to keep him that that's that's the make or break thing for me. I just don't under no circumstances can they do the five two seventy and under no circumstances can they pay him the MAXs over four years? Like I just like, not even close, not even close. I don't care how pop committed they are. They've got to get that number down. And if his move is to say I'm opting in and leaving, fine like that to me, is preferable to paying him the max over like any multi year scenario yeah, I will say down Voy did call James Harden basketball Jesus. So if there's someone in the league who might give him the full boat, it could potentially be downmore. Yep, he's the only guy, by the way, way, he's the only guy that would do it. Is there like, so we know James Harden has to stay. Is there a preferable or rather, what's the most preferable outcome for the Sixers at this stage? Is it he's willing to he opts out? And then it's sort of the Chris Paul situation where he's guaranteeing himself more money over the longer term, but he's signing at a per year annual rate noticeably low below his max. Is it him just opting in and you extend him lower off that number? Is it him just opting in as an expiring contract. Stay, we come back to the table next year when we see how those hamstrings are, how you look, and there's obviously the alternative. It's just like, is it just a you know, a shorter term where it's not even the Chris Paul where it's you walk away and it's like it's in between the max and something egregious where you're still paying him a bullet or a shorter term deal even where the salary is inflated, but there's the shorter term commitment there. So for me, I don't know. If he gets there, I guess you would technically have to opt out to do this if I'm the Sixers and I'm not Darryl Moorey. First of all, if I'm the Sixers and I'm not Darn moore, I don't have James Harden on my team start with. But if that's the situation I'm in, I wanted to opt out, and I'm going to push an offer across the table that's like three for ninety and there's partial guarantees on the third year. And if that's and even that is just like it feels like it might be too much, honestly, with the trajectory that he's on. But that's that's about where i'd stop. And if his response is I'm going to take my forty seven million, and I'm pretty confident I can go somewhere else and find forty three over the next couple of years, so I'm not going to sign this, then fine, he's gonna risk getting way less than that. If he continues to perform poorly and you know, not be in good shape and quit in big moments like this is all. This is all in the record now, it's all. It's a lengthening track record of what's been happening with him. So I don't know how much confidence realistically he should have that he can do better than you know, a three for ninety ish type of deal, even with the partial guarantees, or you can put escalators on it if you want, like if he plays X, you know, if they reach X round of the playoffs, or if it has or performance in elimination games, that's what Yeah, he's got to have at least a thirty percent usage and a sixty percent of tree shooting in any elimination games they play to collect a penny. That's what I would do. I think to wrap this up, because I knew you were going to pick this question, since it needs with the question, I didn't pick this question. I think I would prefer if there was a way or not a way. If he's opting out and you're restructuring the entire deal on a lower per year number, it's where you might be immediately. Can you open up? Is it easier to open up the full mid level exception have the BAE as well. Maybe that still involves moving to Bias Harrison breaking up that contract. There's also been floated that Daryl dal Moore is gonna go star hunting again. And in theory, you haven't traded away all your picks and you do have that Tobias Harris salary. That's just what leads me to my next question. You are obliterating any chance you have at functional depth at that point. And I'm curiously how they flesh out the rest of this roster not receiving two things that are probably not received or a bunch of things. I know we talked about how they lost Andre Drummond in that hardened trade and he was really good for them. Look at what the backup center position became. How much are you still going to invest in that? I guess Andre Drummonds proof you could find quality backup five minutes on the cheap Okay, fine, Danny Green just towards ACL and now I have to assume that they're gonna wave his non guaranteed contract. He was the only three in d wing on the roster, but Tis title might be the most overrated player in the NBA right now, And maybe he's not because I think we saw how much the Sixers understand that he can't give you anything on offense. I personally think he's marginalized even further on a team where when you play around James Harden and even Joel will be to some extent like you're not looking at all this off ball movement and everything is very much happening on the ball or in the direct action. Not to say, I guess you can't sprinkle things in. Is Doctor Rivers the coach to do that? That's another issue. You lost Seth Curry, super important to the way your offense was functioning. You still have Tyrese Maxey be like, where are you allocating your best spending tool, whether that ends up being the bigger mL E or is it the mini Emily? Okay, is this even a situation when you can afford to give one? Like could you give the middle of exception to one player? Or do you so desperately need to maybe break that up somehow? If it's a mini mid level that's just this non starter or if it's the bigger one, you know, how are you spending that? And what is your biggest need because we could talk about how it's stupid to invest any sort of equity in a backup AIG when you have your own bid. He's going to miss time. He's going to miss time. And so if you have the opportunity to get at Chris Bouchet and it costs you, you're a chunk of the bigger mid level or all of your tat, Like, is that something that you could instantly say no to. I'm just very curious to see how they flesh out the rest of their roster on the margins. I'm not saying they can't do it well because there are some like again, getting Andre Drummond last year is a good proof of that they have everyone loves Bball Paul who's there right now except for Doc Rivers apparently, and then even Maxie like getting him so low in the draft. It's like this front office or this team is shown that they can hit in certain instances, but they're just unless you restructure Partan's pay rate or you have just something like an as and this leaves they just feel like they're they're so strapped in what they're going to be able to do versus the number of things that they need to do. Yeah, that's the thing. The guys they go get need to do multiple like need to cover a lot of bases, right because of they're no. Three in d wings they need they don't have quality backup depth up front, which they need both obviously. Like so just looking around and look, these are going to be minimum type guys, but want Toscano Anderson can kind of guard five positions, can kind of be your super small center has hit threes occasionally, that's a suspect part. But he's going to give you the defense, and you might also be able to like shoehorn him in for like eight minutes a game at center if you had to, maybe not in a playoff series, I don't know, or maybe in a play series when things downsize, Like are you gonna go like, let's see if Joe Ingles is gonna be okay for like the last four months of next season, could he help us on the minimum? Like they're gonna really have to do some scraping because they just there's a lot of holes. They're not deep at all. They've got just a lot of guys titles a perfect example of he's fine in the regular season, I think, or useful you can find uses, but in the playoffs, Like, I think that's someone they should look to trade. See if there's a team out there that's young, that is, you know an Okay See or like a Detroit or whatever that's like, well, we'll teach this guy to shoot. We'll just take the potential and give you back someone who's like slightly more useful in a situation where you have to be able to do more than just like playoff ball defense. Like there's there there, there are some ways to do it, but it's gonna be tough. They should be in a mere coffee team. He was quietly really good for the Clippers. And I thought about Nick Batum also from the Clippers said he wanted to play with Drow and Bead and I'm just there seems to be like some quick pro quo there based off what Nick Batum resigned for, like and now they have his early bird right they can pay him. But they did just they got Norman Powell PG and Kauai You extend Roco, Do you need Nick batoum as much? I mean maybe if you're playing with me, Marcus Morris, that's someone who I think would help the Sixers a bunch as well, But I'm truly I'm fascinated by this offseason because of there's so much they need to do that I don't even know how they come. And the Danny Green injury I think just throws them completely off tilt, because that was a spot where you could be like, hey, we guarantee him at his ten million dollars salary and at least we know what Danny Green brings. That is gone, that's just gone. Well next year at this time, when we're talking about what thirty six year old West Matthews did for the Sixers, will know how this offseason we might also be talking about Joel Emid's trade request at that point, very moment. Our final team, the Phoenix Suns, being dragged through the mud right now as we record this, and rightfully so for the most part, I'm not a big fan of one series or one game referendums. I think Patrick Beverly needs to shut the fuck up. I cannot stand that guy. But Phoenix has some wholesale questions to ask itself. What is a question about Phoenix that you have and during the offseason. First of all, I totally agree that like this is you gotta stay you can't get crazy emotional after a series like that, as bad as it looked, and it's like, especially with just the way the Game seven went, I think the biggest but that said, the biggest question is what do you what do you do? Destroy Scorest Earth, trade trade Devin Booker for picks and start all over. I think they got to figure out what to do with Eton, right, Like I think you know, they didn't max him when they had the chance. In hindsight, I think that was probably the right decision, just from my perspective, I can't max my fourth best player, especially if he's a non superstar that place center like Eton's really good, and I think he's shown that he can be really good as a center in the playoffs, like it has worked. They made the finals last year, and a lot of it was because he can survive against small ball, against space like that's he's and he's young still and he's you know, there's he it's just crazy. I was gonna say. Also a part of that he can and I was very deondre in his matchup proof some of that sort of fell by the way side. Doubt. Yes, That's why I said last year he's proved in the past. He's also not proved in the reason past that he can. But so I can't maxim they have a ton of leverage. He's probably already pissed off. He's didn't he didn't outright say that after not getting the preseason MAX extension, But I mean, wouldn't you be, Like, I can understand if he was. Monnie Williams done with him. I think he met In one of the interview clips I saw, he mentioned guys who need to step up is the secondary creators, and he was like he named like everyone including mill Andrew Shammitt, but and they very much. Oh so Aton is just gone type of moment. But that's the thing. He can't be. You can't just you gotta, you gotta. Here's the it's the two step process. You exercise the leverage afforded you by restricted free agency. Let him do not max. Don't do the five one seventy seven max like, under no circumstances, can't do it. Even the four one third I think it's four four one thirty one is the four year one that they can make or that's that's what other teams can give him, which obviously the Suns can match. I think the Sun should hope that nobody does that. There's a decent chance that that eighton is not going to get that offer because like, yeah, I guess you know, Orlando is not doing it, Memphis can't do it, Portland probably isn't going to have the cap space that they project to. Detroit's a threat the Spurs. I guess Indiana there's three teams that can kind of screw with with the Holy Eight and Sun situation. I don't think it's going to happen, but I think the hope should be he doesn't get that monster offer, you match it probably if if he does, and then you hope you can keep him for like four years one hundred million, and he'll be upset, But maybe he already is. He'd be tradeable on that contract down the line. I think it's still a positive value deal. So there's really no like clean solution to this, especially if as if Williams is just done with Aton or of Aton is done with the Sons and this is not salvageable. But I think you kind of play hardball, assuming he's already pissed off and just who cares, We're going to make him angrier just to get him out of reasonable number that you could trade him later if you do want to break this thing up, at least as far as he's concerned. I think that's kind of the top priority for the Suns. I mean, and it should be. I My question is similar, just in the sense like do they have the one the assets but to the gall to go out and make I think there needs to be a big move here, and it's I think I was very much an advocate of and I don't know how realistic it was that they should have went out and gotten Eric Gordon at the trade deadline. I thought he was the player that they were missing. I think now you could point to other holes in their roster for sure, But you also do have to question, oh, my Eric Gordon assumption was that Chris Paul can be your second best offensive player. Can Chris Paul still be your second best offensive player when it mat in the higher leverage moments of the postseason. I don't know the answer to that. After watching that, and I know he he's dealing with an injury. I get it, he's thirty seven. That has to be part of the calculus. And so now you've gone to where I don't know that Eric Gordon. Yes, it helps, he helps, excuse me, But I think you need someone higher end than that. Do you have the firepower to get that? Do you also have to go off to say, Okay, looking at this roster, Booker CP three not going anywhere. That might need to be the limit. And that's coming from Michael Bridges Truther. I would keep him personally, but like to go out and get the third creator that you need. If it costs Michael Bridges, that might not be able to be a deal breaker anymore. I was also wondering kenned deandret and sign and trade even get you that type of player. We don't normally see that being given up, you know Biggs for and I look, I think you could say that it needs to be a wing because Jane Crowder and Michael Bridges and just like the Booker's not small for his size, but like Booker is average for his position, CP three small for his position. You need like the bigger creator. And that's why Pasco Siakam was such a popular Like if they were going to go all in on a trade like eighteen months ago or when people thought Pascal Siakam was going to be traded, I can't find the player who would be available. The theory that I bounced around in my head was, if Indiana's really looking to get younger, is there something there with it has to be sort of a mega deal. But like Miles Turner and Brogden and then you're building it out from eight and Cam Johnson part of that equation, do the Suns like Brogden enough? Does brog didn't even give you enough of what you're looking for. He's not bigger, So that's why I think it's an imperfect He's bigger for a point guard, and I think he would help. But is that I just don't see. I think they very much need to be open to making this huge move. I don't see the vision of what the huge move is though, based on what the trade market projects to be. Yeah, I think I don't disagree. I think to flip it and go to come at it from another angle. I think, like step back, they won sixty four games. They were really good, just right up until it just went to shit in the last few games against Dallas. I think my first approach might be, how do we just make sure first of all convinced Chris Paul to embrace load management. He's like the loan holdout among the older star players, and like maybe it's maybe it's a coincidence, maybe it's a freak thing. Like he clearly just broke down and he made it a long way, but it happened again. So I think you gotta just just find a point guard. Find a point Campaign really disappointed me, Like Campaign had an awesome year a couple of years ago. He just he was out of the rotation. I mean Landry Shammitt was playing point guard ahead of him, you know, in the rotation against Dallas after a while. So I think if you just like, we're gonna hear he is again Glan right, Like, maybe you get him for the tax paymid level. He can play back up point guard. He could play with Booker and Paul if he needed to play smaller and you go, you know, the bridges at the four and figure out what to do at center. Take Crowder out, but you know whatever, Like I think, I think, just someone who can give Chris Paul night or two off a week, you know, so Chris Paul should play like fifty games next year. Just be on the full Kawai plan and have someone who's going to be like fine, and Booker is a very good facilitator for a shooting guard. He can take up some of that playmaking stuff you don't need, you know, Prime Isaiah Thomas or whatever. Like, you don't need just this ace point guard. You just need someone that you need your game manager. Right, So Paul is it just it may not, it may not be possible at his age and with his mileage and its history, but you just need someone that gives you, like a ten percent lower likelihood of Paul coming apart at the end of the season. And maybe that's all it takes. Because this team was great during the year, and they looked very good through the first two games against Dallas. They're up two. Oh like it just you know, I think they're the other way. So I'm looking at it as they're not that far off, right. This team had something great for a very long time and then it lost it, and so just don't lose it next year. And maybe it takes a small change to do that. I think it's fair. Where I'm coming from is where I once thought that in Eric Gordon or a Carris Lavert like made the difference. I feel like the gap might be bigger and that's not just on can Chris Paul still be your number even if you want to call him the one B because of the stuff he did in crunch Time? It's did we see enough offensive development this year from DeAndre Ayton, Cam Johnson, mcal Bridges to make you feel confident in standing pat or making more of the negligible moves. Maybe I'm getting caught up. I just scolded people for saying, like for Deliver spouting their hot takes off of one series. Maybe I am getting caught up in the moment. The Sons were my title pick from the preseason. They were my title pick. I feel like that gap is larger than I thought it was now if you're watching that Mavericks series. And again, maybe that's me just reading too far into the moment. And I'm just curious to whether it even be open to making sort of a bigger move. I think it's very clear they don't want to pay eight, and it's been clear for a while. I just don't know if he's the ingredient that's going to, you know, get you that player that you need, you're that level of move. I do think this needs to be probably more of an active offseason on their part than we saw the year before, and even especially you know, definitely more active than they were at the trade deadline this year where it was just oh, we're gonna bring back Tory Craig, Hey, what's up. That's fine. I think whatever primary move they make needs to be substantially bigger than that type of on the margin's tinkering. Yeah, I think there's a lot of You may be right because look like Chris Paul is gonna be a year older, so that the gap is only you know, the need for someone to really make a difference is only growing, right, It's not going to get smaller. The odds of him getting hurt or breaking down are only going to climb. So yeah, the tinkering may just be like I don't know my risk aversion or something. Grant, can you tell our listeners where they can find you and all the great work that you do. Yes, you can read what I write about the NBA on Bleacher Report, a lot of free agency and obviously and stuff coming up, also some playoff stuff, and you can follow me on Twitter at gt Underscore Hughes and you'll be able to get a notification that Grant he was tweeted for the first time in a while when when he actually uses it. This was great. Thank you so much. As always, I think, as you know by now, I'll be pesturing you again in the future and I appreciate you doing the I guess it would be a road and road because it was really a home at home. But thank you for recording back to back podcast with us, and thank you for helping me get the alphabet right.