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What is krack Lack and fellow Dermo
nuclear a efforts. I am Dan Valley

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coming at you with my certified than
tabulous co host Grant Hughes. Part two

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of our mail Bag It's back.
It's been a couple of weeks it was

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on hiatus, but the mail Bag
is back. We have a bunch of

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other fantastic questions to get through before
we get started. The user reminder to

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continue subscribing to us wherever you get
your podcasts. If you're on YouTube,

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hit the subscribe button like comment help
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ton. Reviews are great too.
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the Apple charts or something to really
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where people are always having discussions,
So come be a part of it.

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Grant, before we kind of ball
into this mail bag the one question that

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we know for sure everyone wants to
know the answer too, because we talked

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about at the top of the last
mailbag, how are you doing? As

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was the case last time, I'm
doing great. I feel like the mail

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bags they give us, they give
us and they give me strength, you

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know, they give us lighter lifts. We don't have to come up with

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topics, which is always nice.
So I'm in a good I'm in a

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good place. How are you?
Dan? I never responded by asking how

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you are, and that's really bad
form by me, so I'm gonna start

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doing that. I'm elated that you
care even the slightest bit about my well

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being. That's what I'm feeling.
It only took me like fifty pods to

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ask you how you are doing?
So pretty good. Let's let's belly flop.

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Let's not even die, let's belly
flop into this mail bag. So

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the first question we'll start off with
is for you. He Blue one one

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seven asked what percent chance would you
give this current net squad to make it

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as far or farther than the best
KD nets team, which was the second

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round of the playoffs. Also,
what is McHale's mcal bridges ceiling on offense.

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Can he be the number one guy
and a contending team? These two

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questions are inextricably linked, right because
once he is the number one option.

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No, so the first one.
I mean, if we're just talking about

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this year, which I it's the
current NETS squad, I guess, and

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like going forward, it'll probably change
a lot so to get into the second

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round, Like what are we talking? I mean twenty percent, I mean

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it seems pretty high even there because
if you if you look at the Nets

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now, they're the fifth seed.
I guess they have a decent chance of

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holding onto that they're going to get
Cleveland in the first round as a road

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team. I like Cleveland a lot
more on that series. I don't really

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see another matchup that's super favorable,
like if they're way too far from three

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to maybe draw the heat or the
NI and the three six So real though,

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but that's kind of not the point
that you train Kevin Durant, you're

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not expecting to make it as far
as you did when you had Kevin Durant.

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So that's that. Do you disagree? Like, is there is twenty

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percent too high? I just don't. I don't see the pathway for the

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for the Nets to win a playoff
series. No, I don't see it

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this season. I mean they would
have to just everyone catches fire or mcgl

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Bridges would have to be it's just
authentic number one opt and continue to hit

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all these off the dribble dribble jumpers. But even then it's just I guess

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between him and Cam Thomas and Spencer
Dimiti, do you have enough playoff from

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scratch creation to beat you know,
let's just say, whether it's the Heat

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or the Calves or someone else,
like they could there are only three losses

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ahead of the Knicks, right,
I was like, they could drop out

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of top six territory. Yeah,
which I feel bad saying there's almost no

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realistic chance because I like, I
think we both like the Nets. I

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think we like you know, how
many good players are on the roster.

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It's just not a team that's like, you know, they didn't want to

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be in this position. This was
not the plan. They just got what

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they could get when they could get
it, and they're gonna make do for

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the rest of the year. So
but to get to Bridges, because that's

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kind of the more I don't know, certainly will be the more interesting angle

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for them the rest of the year
than you know, what their playoff seat

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is, in my opinion. So
you got to kind of start with the

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fact that Bridges had already really expanded
his game with the Suns prior to coming

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to Brooklyn, and it had been
kind of gradual, like I know,

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you and I had talked, you
know, several times about oh my god,

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he's got like a two dribble pull
up now, and that that wasn't

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there before. That was a couple
of years ago, and now it's you

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know, just to get the numbers
out there, he's running about two point

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three plays as the pick and roll
ball handler per game. Last year that

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was point six, you know,
So he's just his volume as like a

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guy who is tasked with making a
decision with the basketball, is you know,

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much much higher. You can look
at like percentage of his field goals

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that have been assisted fifty nine point
eight percent this year. That's by far

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the lowest of his career and in
Brooklyn, tiny sample, but only one

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out of three of his field has
been assistant. So he's generating offense by

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himself to a much you know,
much larger extent than ever before. But

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he's twenty six. His efficiency in
terms of true shooting percentage is way down

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this year relative it's still fine,
it's fifty seven percent, but he was

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a guy that was, you know, sixty two, sixty six, sixty

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the three years prior to this one. So if you're looking for let's add

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more volume to a guy that's averaging
seventeen a game, I don't think there

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are a lot of signs that you
could do that without losing even more efficiency.

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I think it's impressive that he can
do what he's done. He's that

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he has leveled up the way he
has, But given his age, given

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the sort of cost that we're seeing
in terms of efficiency that goes with him

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doing more with the ball, I
think there's probably not a lot of There's

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not a ton of room for him
to expand. I think he'll get better

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because he's gotten better, And that's
always a safe bet for someone that you

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know, if they have improved some
you you know, it's reasonable to say

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they work hard enough where they understand
the areas that need to be addressed in

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order to improve more. But number
one option on a good team like just

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that's just not. That's just not
what he is, and that's not what

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I think he's going to be.
Would you think that he could be number

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two on a good team? Maybe
maybe I think, But so just to

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if if these were his numbers,
you know, we're seventeen point two per

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game, fifty seven just you know, slightly above average true shooting on like

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twenty three percent usage. I think
twenty four percent usage. That's probably not

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quite good enough, right I think
you need you'd need him to be up

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over twenty points fifty eight fifty nine
true shooting for that's to be a number

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two on like a on a really
good team. I think that that feels

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like the bar to me, and
maybe he gets there, but I'm not

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super optimistic. He has a ton
more than he's shown so far. I

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would agree with you, But I
also wonder if we're encumbered by the context

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of his role in x TO where, yes, we saw him branch out,

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especially during the Devin Booker groin injury, but now there's just no like

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pecking order in Brooklyn at the moment, And so is this a case of

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if you put him and it's like
think of Julius Randall going to New York

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is that you thrust him into this
situation. Even then Julius Randall probably show

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him more on ball versatility maybe then
bridges to that point. But I'm just

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saying, like, this is the
role he's never been in the Nets.

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Are this different infrastructure and everything might
start funneling through him, if not this

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season, then potentially next season looking
at what they might do with their roster.

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And I wonder if we're or at
least myself, I'm constrained by not

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being able to imagine him branching out
even further, just because we haven't seen

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it, Like he's never just run
a team like he's run sets, and

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so they decide to make him We're
gonna have him run a team. Are

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we looking at someone who's just like, offensively the next Chris Middleton or something

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for some reason, like on the
ball? I don't I don't know.

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I would guess no, but I
think it's he's at least shown enough to

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where if I were the Nets,
I would plumb the hell out of his

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on ball depth. Yeah, I
think for sure that is that should be

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I mean, maybe priority one right
the rest of the way, just because

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you don't really have a reason not
to, and you sort of know what

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Spencer Dinwiddie can do. You have
a rough idea of most of the other

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guys on I mean, maybe Cam
Johnson even as someone you should probably kind

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of stretch and push to see.
You know, One, are we going

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to pay this guy wout a cost
and free agency to keep him? But

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two? Does he does he have
it? Yeah? Yeah, it feels

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like I'm being negative about Bridges.
He's, like, I think both for

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both of us. He's one of
our favorite, like non superstar players in

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the league. So I just it's
a big ask to be a number one

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option or even a number two really, and he's so good at so many

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other things that make him fit everywhere
that it's like we're really we need him

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to do this too. I mean, that's what's tough is that they just

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decide to trade him for four first
round picks this off season. I don't

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think that they should, just because
there's not really an incentive for them to

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bottom out, but that's he could
end up in a completely different situation before

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the start next year. Yeah,
I agree, Okay, let's off Bridges.

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This is for you. This is
from Rhet Bauer. It's kind of

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a two parter here, So real
quick, how are you? How are

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you feeling about our disagreement like a
year ago regarding me taking Orlando's future over

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New Orleans ten out of ten times? Are you still in Team New Orleans?

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Are you like Orlando's future better?
Now? I'm still Team New Orleans.

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I just you have Zion Williamson,
and we don't know if Paalo Bank

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Carol or friends of out and wherever
they draft with this pick is ever going

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to reach what we know can be
Zion's top end outcome. And you still

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just have safety valves floating around and
Trey Murphy and Deyson Daniels, all these

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inbound Lakers picks, plus the established
talent of Brandon Ingram of CJ. McCollum,

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So there are just more avenues I
think for them to get to a

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sustainable level of title contention. If
you pick Orlando at this point, I

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think you just have to firmly believe
Zion injuries are always going to be an

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issue and always gonna repress New Orleans
the ceiling, which I think is a

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fair belief. But to pick New
Orleans ten times out of ten times in

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a head to head rebuild matchup versus
Orlando, I'm not there. Yeah,

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and I'm very high on Orlando's rebuild. You should probably do an episode where

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we rank like the futures of every
team. But would you take Orlando over

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New Orleans at this point out of
ten times? No? Probably not.

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I mean, I think Orlando is
the risk averse person's pick because I think

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probably Orlando's median outcome over the next
five years, you know, if you

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simulated it a thousand times might be
higher than New Orleans just because the downside

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is is like substantial as Zion just
never as healthy. Then then you're a

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nice team with all these you know, young players and assets in Brandon Ingram,

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but you're not, you know,
you're You're just pricing in that downside,

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I guess is what I'm saying.
Scares me. The other thing,

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though, too, is like I
think Orlando's pretty close after this year to

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kind of not having as many paths
to get better. It's certainly through the

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draft because they're gonna start winning more
games, whereas New Orleans still has the

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Lakers stuff they have, you know, just totally this guy and like Dyson

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annual types Dyson Daniels so like Orlando, Yeah, Bank, Caro, Wagner,

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00:11:05,840 --> 00:11:07,600
Carter, like, those guys are
all really good and probably good enough

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now to where the draft upside is
too low. But you know that who

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knows who knows? Right, Like, things can go sideways, and I

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just think generally New Orleans ceiling is
higher. But I do understand if you're

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just like, which team might have
the most playoff berths in the next you

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know, x years. Orlando's not
a crazy pick, but the ten out

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of ten times thing is stuff.
But so it's also from Rhett, which

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team is going to look the most
different next year after basically standing pat this

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deadline? Some of the examples he
gives, and you could add to this

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if you want. You know,
the Wizards, the Bulls, the Heat,

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Pacers, Grizzlies, Pelicans, Kings, Wolves, Hornets, like,

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which of those is going to make
their changes in the off season if if

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you see any of them, you
know, doing something substantial. Kind of

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a lot of this so tough with
some of these teams, I think,

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and I'll use the Wolves as an
example. I still think a lot of

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it just depends on, well,
how is this season going to end?

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And so like, if it's just
a complete Karloley Towns comes back and it's

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just a complete no show in the
playoffs. As a team, they're gonna

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start looking at the nuclear move,
which is to shop Karl Anthony Towns.

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I don't really know. With like
Memphis, I don't They're just not a

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nuclear team, so I wouldn't pick
them. I don't know why Sacramento would

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look drastically different after breaking their playoff
streak. I gravitate towards and Charlotte's listen

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here. I don't know what they
change, like, it's okay, maybe

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you let PJ. Washington walk,
Like what is it? What are you

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doing that's super meaningfully different by blowing
up your roster. I'm drawing towards Chicago

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or Washington. But that takes a
level of trust and those front offices to

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really like they're going fucking nowhere.
And I don't know if I have that

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trust in any of those teams.
I think I would just lean towards I

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think I'm leaning towards Chicago just because
it feels like tomorrow. Rosen, going

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into his final year, there was
already the zach Lavine stuff. Caruso another

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00:13:03,679 --> 00:13:07,039
year will have ticked off his deer
Nikolavuchevich is a free agent. They're at

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a more natural crossroads than a lot
of these other teams on the list,

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and it would be not more in
character, but it just feels like the

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combustibility factors they're more for them.
So I think I would go with Chicago

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here. I will say that dark
horse pick might just be Miami if they

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suck in the playoffs, and Jimmy
Butler also on the agitates for out.

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But you have Jimmy Butler, Tyler, Hero Bama, Dabaio and you can

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still trade a bunch of first round
picks. It just feels like anything they

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do will be more of that singular
home run swing, which is what I

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feel like Sacramento or even New Orleans, if they're going to change anything,

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maybe even Memphish you throw in there, that's what they'll do. Rather than

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sort of shaking the foundation of the
roster by making multiple moves, they will

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go all in on a singular transaction. Yeah, I think I would hope

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that the Wizards and Bowls, those
are the first two look different. Just

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we're of the same mind like it's
past time to do it. It maybe

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like too late. It's certainly in
Washington's case, because they're just gonna pay

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maybe Kuzma and Porzingist to stay and
then this is just your team forever.

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But Miami was gonna be my pick. I mean it's partly partly because like

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they have guys that actually play that
are going to be free, like Struce

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gave Vincent Victor Oldipo has the player
option that he could reasonably decline. So

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that's three guys that are in the
rotation and then some that have started at

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times that you know, who knows. But then really the main thing is

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Miami, of all these teams,
is the one that has shown the willingness

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to be like we will make take
that home run swing, Like we are

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going to have some picks available.
We're gonna try to find someone that you

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know, gives us another big name, you know, between next two Hero

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Butler out of Bio. Miami is
just the team that like does stuff when

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things aren't going great. The rest
of these teams, I think interest I

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mean, you don't want to lump
Memphis in New Orleans and they're necessarily but

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and Sacramento has been prone to doing
crazy stuff. But these are a lot

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of teams that kind of just are
more have historically been okay, kind of

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hanging around the middle, so drastic
change doesn't really tend to come with that

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kind of thing. But yeah,
the heat, the heat don't like being

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pretty good. It doesn't seem like
I think they want more than that.

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The next question is I'll give you
this one, Jake g one two three.

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I've been having this discussion a lot, but we used to be the

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worst place for wemb to end up. It feels to me that they have

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no direction. They're just throwing darts
hoping something hits. I mean, I'd

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like to say we've already you know, I'd like to say nice things about

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Houston, but it just sort of
seems like the like the sort of lawless

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outpost of the NBA right now,
where it's like, you know, there's

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just not enough adults in the room
on the roster. The style of play

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is just chaos. That they lead
the league in turnovers, they just have

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all year. It's just their guard
play. It's it's a tough spot because

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they let really young players like Jalen
Green and Kevin Porter make a lot of

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the decisions and they're just not good
at that yet. So the offense is

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kind of a mess Steven Silas.
I think I've written you know recently.

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I think it's pretty clear he's lost
the team and that may or may not

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be his fault, but that is
kind of an irreversible position to be in.

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So yeah, I don't want when
ban Yama winding up there, even

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though you could make the case that
no team needs like an organizing like,

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Okay, this is our guy,
this is our direction, this is our

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identity more than they do. But
I just if I'm invested in his future,

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I don't want him playing in an
offense that doesn't seem to like have

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any structure, and playing with guards
that are not going to make him better,

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and potentially playing who knows who the
next coach is going to be.

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I think we both assumed Silas will
be gone because he'll be a lame duck

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next year otherwise, So I think
it's pretty clearly the worst place to be.

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But are we being like, is
it fair that the Spurs are worse

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by point differential than the Rockets by
a significant margin this year? Is it

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fair that we kind of just give
the Spurs a pass that you know,

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we're leaning on how good and functional, and you know, cutting edge and

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whatever they were for twenty years and
that's not really been the case the last

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several Like is it should do they
deserve like a little bit of a nod

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as you know, maybe they should
be in there too. I don't know,

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just because I feel like my biggest
criticism is it took them too long

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to get where they are now?
And are you unhappy with the development of

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Kelvin Johnson, Devin Vassell, Malkai
Brandam, Jeremy Sellen. No, I'm

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just being a devil's advocate. So
my pick I'm just wondering is like,

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does Charlotte deserve some blowback here or
is it just always plays with a mellow

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and that would be great? And
the other team is just like, why

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would you trust Detroit at this point
because they're so hell bent I'm playing with

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two bigs that it's just weird,
and I don't trust the vision of the

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roster under Troy Weaver winners. They've
just decided that hey, wings don't matter

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apparently, which is weird a little
bit. And so when Binyama comes in

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and could I guess play a multitude
of positions, But those are two teams

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that I would have I agree with
Houston. But I almost wonder if if

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Charlotte or Detroit is the actual answer, because Detroit just feels like it's veering

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into eighty different unimpressive directions it wants. Yeah, I think my reaction would

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be I think Charlotte like actually deserves
when Binyama the least just because of the

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way, like the position it has
put itself in. You know, I

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didn't really want to tank. They
didn't realize that they weren't that good,

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00:18:33,799 --> 00:18:37,960
and they have almost like lucked into
it with injury and like even the Miles

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00:18:37,960 --> 00:18:40,960
Bridges stuff, like, honestly,
they would be a better team if he

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had actually played this year. So
and I just feel like Charlotte would be

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the most likely team to sort of
squander him, although him and Lamel together

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00:18:48,359 --> 00:18:52,599
would be a lot of fun.
But yeah, I think it's Houston.

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I just don't. I mean,
I don't really have a strong second place

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00:18:56,000 --> 00:19:00,319
contender there. Do you want to
do an Evan Mobley question or distant first

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00:19:00,400 --> 00:19:03,599
round picks question? Next? Oh? Hit me with the Evan mobile question?

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00:19:03,640 --> 00:19:07,480
All right, so this is from
Muffle. What are your here?

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00:19:07,480 --> 00:19:11,400
It is what are your thoughts on
year two? Evan Mobley took a lot

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00:19:11,400 --> 00:19:14,759
of heat the first half of the
season because it seemed like maybe he didn't

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quite make the leap that was expected. I know you and I have talked

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00:19:17,640 --> 00:19:22,000
about him before on that exact topic. But he's already an elite defensive player.

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He's learning to play offense with Mitchell, which is you know, he's

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a high usage guy. So basically
is where is his developments? He was

300
00:19:30,559 --> 00:19:33,400
it ahead of schedule? Is it
where you expected it? What have you

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seen from him that you like,
didn't like? Want to see more?

302
00:19:34,960 --> 00:19:38,200
Just the Evan Mobile update. Basically, it's a head of schedule in the

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sense that I was just not high
enough on him coming out of the draft,

304
00:19:41,759 --> 00:19:44,759
but using last year as a baseline, I think it's probably where it

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00:19:44,759 --> 00:19:47,440
needs to be. But the offense
all of a sudden does feel like it's

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ahead of schedule. And I'm wondering
how much the Donovan Mitchell absence with the

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groin injury helped him there. Where
we started to see him bringing the ball

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00:19:53,400 --> 00:19:57,880
up even more after rebounds. He's
hit these you know, he's shooting over

309
00:19:57,920 --> 00:20:02,640
his last like twenty games, like
forty six percent on fadeaway jumpers. We've

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seen him hit some floaters. I
like that the shot isn't there yet,

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00:20:04,559 --> 00:20:07,279
but I like that he's just averaging
over a three point attempts per game,

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00:20:07,440 --> 00:20:11,599
that he's willing to explore that we've
seen him make some nice passes in tight

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00:20:11,680 --> 00:20:12,799
space, not just as like,
oh, let's give him the ball at

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the elbows, but like he's putting
the ball on the floor face ups and

315
00:20:15,720 --> 00:20:18,920
making those passes. I also like
that I think he had mentioned this in

316
00:20:18,960 --> 00:20:23,119
an interview, that some players need
to be the guy on offense, and

317
00:20:23,240 --> 00:20:26,000
he's not someone who needs to be
the guy, and he knows how to

318
00:20:26,000 --> 00:20:30,359
play within a larger ecosystem when you
look at the matter in which he moves

319
00:20:30,400 --> 00:20:34,400
off the ball, and like the
calves don't always have pristine spacing in the

320
00:20:34,440 --> 00:20:37,720
half court, and he's just still
able to navigate that. And it's not

321
00:20:37,759 --> 00:20:41,519
just going in for putbacks. It's
like it's coming in from the baseline where

322
00:20:41,519 --> 00:20:45,039
it's navigating around like an action that
isn't even involving him, and being able

323
00:20:45,079 --> 00:20:49,519
to get through bodies that way.
So I don't know what his apex looks

324
00:20:49,559 --> 00:20:55,640
like on offense, but that's almost
encouraging to me at this point because we

325
00:20:55,680 --> 00:21:00,880
don't have to shoebox him in to
a play finisher role. Like this is

326
00:21:00,920 --> 00:21:04,279
someone who I think could could,
I just want to could have a higher

327
00:21:04,319 --> 00:21:10,720
offensive ceiling than bam Adebaio while still
playing with Darius Garland and Donovan Mitchell.

328
00:21:11,160 --> 00:21:14,240
And that is just kind of a
and if you think about it's like a

329
00:21:14,240 --> 00:21:17,680
blasphemous thing to say, but it's
really not when you go back and watch

330
00:21:17,759 --> 00:21:21,039
him. And so I think what
will be key is that you want to

331
00:21:21,079 --> 00:21:23,839
see him have more of a consistent
jumper if he's gonna take a three point

332
00:21:23,839 --> 00:21:26,240
in ten per again, like you
want to see him get closer to league

333
00:21:26,240 --> 00:21:30,720
average there. But for now,
it's just like my god, Like this

334
00:21:30,799 --> 00:21:36,680
is just someone who is he still
has to me and I wouldn't predict this.

335
00:21:36,720 --> 00:21:37,599
It's just you should bet against the
field in this. But like,

336
00:21:37,640 --> 00:21:41,640
this is someone who very much looks
like he has a best player in the

337
00:21:41,720 --> 00:21:47,079
league package of skills because of the
impact that he can have defensively. Yeah,

338
00:21:45,480 --> 00:21:49,759
I would echo all that. I
think. I think like it is

339
00:21:49,839 --> 00:21:53,359
different. He is a weirdly difficult
player to evaluate, and I sort of

340
00:21:53,359 --> 00:21:56,759
get it if you're looking from Afar
and you're just looking at points, rebounds,

341
00:21:56,799 --> 00:22:00,240
assist you know, fiel Over like
it all looks pretty similar to last

342
00:22:00,279 --> 00:22:04,160
year. He's playing a little more. But I think I guess I would

343
00:22:04,160 --> 00:22:07,240
look at it like, yeah,
you gotta watch the games. I hate

344
00:22:07,319 --> 00:22:11,480
using that as like a as a
cop out, but it just he doesn't

345
00:22:11,720 --> 00:22:17,200
already watch the games. He does
just pop off the screen right like he

346
00:22:17,240 --> 00:22:19,160
cut. He's so fast and he
moves so well, and he covered This

347
00:22:19,200 --> 00:22:23,319
is all just like scouting mumbo jumbo. It's not it's not there's no numbers.

348
00:22:23,319 --> 00:22:26,240
I mean, probably there are numbers
attached to it with like advanced tracking

349
00:22:26,279 --> 00:22:30,920
stuff, but like the way that
he covers ground, the way that he

350
00:22:30,000 --> 00:22:33,759
changes direction for a player his size, with his wingspan, it's just like

351
00:22:33,920 --> 00:22:37,640
it's undeniable. And if that doesn't
do it for you, just think about,

352
00:22:37,960 --> 00:22:42,039
like how many twenty one year olds
are there that their teams say we

353
00:22:42,160 --> 00:22:45,640
must have this guy on the floor
at the end of close games because of

354
00:22:45,680 --> 00:22:51,799
defense, like twenty one like that
just that's basically unheard of, like rookies.

355
00:22:52,359 --> 00:22:55,599
He's not a rookie, but rookies
are basically always bad defensively, and

356
00:22:55,599 --> 00:22:57,519
he was good and now, you
know, in his second year, I

357
00:22:57,519 --> 00:23:03,599
think he's better, and I think
it just excluding all the some of the

358
00:23:03,599 --> 00:23:06,279
points that Michael Mason is talking about, like, well, if some of

359
00:23:06,279 --> 00:23:10,000
these passes look great, you know, he's just looking more comfortable. All

360
00:23:10,039 --> 00:23:12,680
true, But I just go all
the way back to like, he's twenty

361
00:23:12,720 --> 00:23:17,519
one and he's one of the best
defensive players in the world today right now,

362
00:23:17,920 --> 00:23:21,160
and that's the thing that always takes
forever. Like I just think if

363
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he stays at this level offensively,
he's still just an insanely valuable piece that

364
00:23:26,799 --> 00:23:30,920
because he doesn't need the ball all
the time, fits on any really good

365
00:23:30,920 --> 00:23:36,400
team. Like there's nothing other than
spacing. I guess there's nothing that you

366
00:23:36,440 --> 00:23:38,160
sort of wish, Oh, if
he could only do this, he could

367
00:23:38,160 --> 00:23:41,279
have a big role, you know, or he could be this corner He

368
00:23:41,359 --> 00:23:45,519
is a cornerstone piece, and that's
while acknowledging some of the stuff that he

369
00:23:45,519 --> 00:23:49,559
doesn't do that well yet. So
my take on Evan Mobley's year two development

370
00:23:49,599 --> 00:23:53,039
is that it is right where it
needs to be for him to be one

371
00:23:53,079 --> 00:23:56,119
of the best big guys in the
league for the next ten years. Basically,

372
00:23:57,160 --> 00:24:00,319
do you want to take us to
the first round pick question. Sure,

373
00:24:00,400 --> 00:24:04,079
let's do that. So this is
from Kilhaus. I've I've heard arguments

374
00:24:04,119 --> 00:24:07,880
going both ways on this. Do
you think teams value very distant picks more

375
00:24:08,119 --> 00:24:11,559
or less? I guess relative to
the past, or just in general.

376
00:24:11,880 --> 00:24:15,640
For instance, let's say the Lakers
have their first round pick in twenty five,

377
00:24:15,759 --> 00:24:17,920
twenty seven, twenty nine. You
can take one of them. Which

378
00:24:17,960 --> 00:24:22,400
one do you want? In a
vacuum? You want the later one,

379
00:24:22,640 --> 00:24:26,599
or at least the mid end later
one. So if it's between twenty seven

380
00:24:26,599 --> 00:24:30,000
and twenty nine, I argue that
twenty seven was more valuable for me because

381
00:24:30,240 --> 00:24:33,160
twenty twenty nine it's so far into
the distance that it gives them time to

382
00:24:33,200 --> 00:24:37,359
stubble into a free agent signing or
figuring things out. What I think complicates

383
00:24:37,400 --> 00:24:41,440
this is that it depends on the
team too. Like if it's the Lakers,

384
00:24:41,440 --> 00:24:44,920
teams just might not value just in
first round picks because they'll bet on

385
00:24:44,960 --> 00:24:49,720
them again following ass backwards into an
elite player somehow via free agency. These

386
00:24:51,119 --> 00:24:56,200
front offices that are making the trade
for picks most of the time do not

387
00:24:56,240 --> 00:25:00,839
have the job security to prioritize that
two and twenty twenty seven first round pick

388
00:25:00,920 --> 00:25:04,000
coming back as the meat and potatoes
of the deal. Denny Age can do

389
00:25:04,079 --> 00:25:07,480
that in Utah. He is the
not even just the job security, but

390
00:25:07,559 --> 00:25:11,880
just the experience and the wherewithal.
If Sam Presty wanted to do that,

391
00:25:11,160 --> 00:25:14,920
he could do that. Even look
at what happened in Brooklyn though with the

392
00:25:14,960 --> 00:25:18,960
Kyrie Irving trade, like you still
got Dorian Finney Smith and Spencer Dinwoody.

393
00:25:18,000 --> 00:25:22,559
There needs to be an immediacy there
for a lot of front offices, which

394
00:25:22,559 --> 00:25:27,240
is why I think most would either
prefer getting first round picks sooner or getting

395
00:25:27,319 --> 00:25:32,920
players. And I think the key
there is you want to get something else

396
00:25:32,960 --> 00:25:36,759
that's attached to the distant first round
picks to say this is our immediate return

397
00:25:36,880 --> 00:25:40,839
versus we're playing the longer game here. But hey, I know that ownership

398
00:25:40,920 --> 00:25:44,599
needs to see something that's more instant. And then from a selfish perspective like

399
00:25:44,759 --> 00:25:47,000
I'm probably not gonna be the one
that's using this first round pick, whether

400
00:25:47,000 --> 00:25:51,200
it's a trade asset or actually drafting
and developing the guy, when you're actually

401
00:25:51,200 --> 00:25:53,720
looking at more value, my guests
would be it's the later first round picks

402
00:25:55,119 --> 00:25:59,119
that is very much a guest though, because we're not really at a point

403
00:25:59,240 --> 00:26:02,759
just yet where we've seen you look
at all these distant first round picks that

404
00:26:02,799 --> 00:26:06,839
have been thrown around in recent years, they just haven't started conveying yet.

405
00:26:07,319 --> 00:26:11,240
There's like Brooklyn's gonna be an interesting
example with Houston because that wasn't really too

406
00:26:11,279 --> 00:26:15,240
distant, like their first round picks
top four protection not no, if that's

407
00:26:15,319 --> 00:26:19,519
Houston's to uh okay see, but
you're looking at like Brooklyn's picks going to

408
00:26:21,440 --> 00:26:25,759
the Rockets over the next three years
basically, so like that is even a

409
00:26:25,839 --> 00:26:29,799
unique circumstance. So I do think
in my mind it's, yeah, well,

410
00:26:29,839 --> 00:26:32,279
you get those first round picks because
maybe the team is bad by then

411
00:26:32,519 --> 00:26:36,119
there's no guarantee they're bad, and
you're you're still playing two craft shoots,

412
00:26:36,240 --> 00:26:40,240
which is that team is gonna be
bad by two twenty seven or two twenty

413
00:26:40,279 --> 00:26:44,640
nine, and then we're gonna hit
on the draft while they're bad. Yeah,

414
00:26:44,839 --> 00:26:48,480
I think as the Clippers put even
more like, as those later picks

415
00:26:48,480 --> 00:26:51,279
start to convey, even as I
don't even know what the Rockets are,

416
00:26:51,279 --> 00:26:52,559
like, theirs are going to start
to convey with top four protection, Okay,

417
00:26:52,559 --> 00:26:56,680
see, but as we see more
of the like the Cleveland picks going

418
00:26:56,720 --> 00:26:59,960
to Utah, the Minnesota picks going
to Utah, we'll have a better idea

419
00:27:00,680 --> 00:27:03,799
of what's actually more valuable. As
of right now, though, like the

420
00:27:03,920 --> 00:27:07,720
two have been so inextricably linked.
When you're looking at these deals and saying,

421
00:27:08,839 --> 00:27:11,559
you're not just getting a distant first
round pick, you've got other stuff.

422
00:27:11,559 --> 00:27:15,960
It's immediate in most of these cases, it's immediate picks, it's immediate

423
00:27:15,000 --> 00:27:18,480
players. But I do think if
you broke it down too, let's even

424
00:27:18,519 --> 00:27:23,240
go to the Danny Age route with
Cleveland and Minnesota in the Utah negotiations,

425
00:27:23,359 --> 00:27:29,079
I do think that they would have
prioritized, Like, let's frame it this

426
00:27:29,119 --> 00:27:33,720
way. I think Utah would have
preferred Jaden McDaniels over distant first round picks.

427
00:27:33,799 --> 00:27:37,920
I think they definitely did. Yeah, and so Minnesota didn't. So

428
00:27:37,960 --> 00:27:42,839
I do think that teams value the
immediate equity more where even if even if

429
00:27:42,839 --> 00:27:45,480
you think that first round pick is
gonna be crappy, at least it's something

430
00:27:45,519 --> 00:27:48,519
that you someone you could bring in, or trade chip you can trade because

431
00:27:48,519 --> 00:27:52,400
another team will be interested in,
or when it's an actual younger player who's

432
00:27:52,440 --> 00:27:57,519
still unknown but more of a known
quantity than draft pick that's gonna a draft

433
00:27:57,559 --> 00:28:02,519
pick that's gonna convey almost a decade
from now. I think when push comes

434
00:28:02,559 --> 00:28:07,119
to shove, teams value that more. I will say, though, logistically

435
00:28:07,359 --> 00:28:12,680
it feels like the distant first round
picks should be the more valuable assets.

436
00:28:14,319 --> 00:28:17,599
Yeah, it's it's interesting. It's
like, well you made me think.

437
00:28:17,640 --> 00:28:22,359
First of all, it is clear
that the young player on a rookie scale

438
00:28:22,400 --> 00:28:26,839
deal that's already pretty good and is
projectable is clearly more valuable than a first

439
00:28:26,920 --> 00:28:30,279
round pick, a distant one,
because like there's I mean, and it

440
00:28:30,319 --> 00:28:33,319
makes sense logically right, It's like
you can sell this is a human like,

441
00:28:33,359 --> 00:28:36,559
hey, fan base, this is
a guy that you can follow and

442
00:28:36,640 --> 00:28:38,759
like, invest in and like and
root for, and he's pretty good and

443
00:28:38,759 --> 00:28:42,680
we think he's gonna get better.
That's way easier of a just from a

444
00:28:44,039 --> 00:28:48,200
like marketing standpoint than we have Team
x's twenty twenty nine first round pick.

445
00:28:48,240 --> 00:28:52,559
Like most fans, I think the
vast majority of fans like, don't that's

446
00:28:52,640 --> 00:28:55,920
like a twenty twenty nine first round
pick who cares like I'm gonna watch six

447
00:28:56,000 --> 00:28:59,480
more seasons of this team before I
can get excited about that. But the

448
00:28:59,480 --> 00:29:03,519
other thing is we didn't really have
to contend with the value of distant first

449
00:29:03,559 --> 00:29:07,799
rounders nearly as often as we do
now because this just this whole trading your

450
00:29:07,920 --> 00:29:11,279
entire draft is kind of new.
I mean, you know, you can

451
00:29:11,319 --> 00:29:15,119
go back to like the original Celtics
Nets trade with you know, Darren Williams

452
00:29:15,119 --> 00:29:18,880
and Kevin Garnett and and everybody there, But like, I wasn't there any

453
00:29:18,880 --> 00:29:22,920
Paul Pierce Kevin Garnett that that deal. But before that, it wasn't like

454
00:29:22,960 --> 00:29:26,839
a thing to trade your entire draft, or at least I don't remember it

455
00:29:26,880 --> 00:29:30,480
being so common. So I think
the short answer is, like teams are

456
00:29:30,480 --> 00:29:34,119
still kind of trying to figure out
what these distant first rounders are worth.

457
00:29:34,200 --> 00:29:38,359
I think it varies. It's it's
specific to each situation. Like and usually

458
00:29:38,720 --> 00:29:41,680
if you're getting back at twenty twenty
nine, first, it's coming with a

459
00:29:41,680 --> 00:29:45,839
bunch of other stuff, and it's
because you're giving up a Superstar, so

460
00:29:45,960 --> 00:29:48,240
you have a rough idea of how
you might want a time the picks you're

461
00:29:48,240 --> 00:29:52,799
getting back, because you know when
the Superstars contract is up and you know,

462
00:29:52,799 --> 00:29:56,440
you're in a position to sort of
make an informed decision on do we

463
00:29:56,480 --> 00:30:00,759
want twenty five or twenty seven or
twenty nine or whatever. But ultimately I

464
00:30:00,799 --> 00:30:04,079
think we don't know we like I
think it depends on the team, and

465
00:30:04,119 --> 00:30:08,359
I think it depends on how much
of a change we're going to see,

466
00:30:08,480 --> 00:30:14,799
like starting at this most recent deadline, because the value of firsts even in

467
00:30:14,920 --> 00:30:18,920
February seemed to be different than it
was in June and July, which is

468
00:30:19,000 --> 00:30:22,000
kind of a wild thing. So
it's very much like up in the air

469
00:30:22,119 --> 00:30:30,200
right now. Let's move on to
this question from Brian C. Maybe not

470
00:30:30,240 --> 00:30:34,279
a mail bad question, but what
team? What's that beg to differ?

471
00:30:34,400 --> 00:30:37,960
Yes, it is what teams should
do, what the Nets or Jazz have

472
00:30:38,039 --> 00:30:42,960
done this past offseason. Nice to
hear what players they should trade in ballpark,

473
00:30:44,039 --> 00:30:45,960
what they receive, not specific,
but as cat worthy, unprotected first

474
00:30:47,000 --> 00:30:48,799
and m kail level player. Then
run down what the team would look like.

475
00:30:48,839 --> 00:30:52,839
I think the teams need to trade
everything besides Edwards, apologize for destroying

476
00:30:52,839 --> 00:30:56,200
the team with the Rudy trade and
beg him for one more chance. Also

477
00:30:56,319 --> 00:31:00,640
think Hawks, Bowls and Raptors need
to consider before it's too eight. Yeah,

478
00:31:00,640 --> 00:31:04,519
so there's a lot there. I
think just as a starting point,

479
00:31:04,559 --> 00:31:07,839
we've hit on this already, which
teams should do what the Nets or Jazz

480
00:31:07,839 --> 00:31:14,559
have done, which is I mean
this kind of different situations because the Jazz

481
00:31:14,599 --> 00:31:17,559
got out in front of it and
the Nets kind of reacted. But the

482
00:31:17,599 --> 00:31:21,200
idea of kind of stripping it down
Chicago, obviously, I think we agree

483
00:31:21,200 --> 00:31:25,279
it's like a little too late they
should have this. This is a rebuild

484
00:31:25,319 --> 00:31:27,319
that should have started a couple of
years ago. Washington's in that group.

485
00:31:27,359 --> 00:31:33,200
I'm kind of tempted to say Portland
just because they're hovering around five hundred again,

486
00:31:33,559 --> 00:31:37,480
and you know, Jeremy Grant I
think is probably gonna resign, but

487
00:31:37,599 --> 00:31:41,119
maybe not. And then if he
doesn't like what, you know, where

488
00:31:41,160 --> 00:31:45,200
are you? And is it a
problem that he seems to matter that much

489
00:31:45,240 --> 00:31:48,079
even though he hasn't really he's played
well, but it hasn't, you know,

490
00:31:48,759 --> 00:31:52,240
moved the needle a ton for Portland. They're they're not a contender,

491
00:31:53,240 --> 00:31:57,440
so I might want to throw them
in there, and they may just be

492
00:31:57,480 --> 00:32:00,960
put to that decision anyway, if
I mean Lillard ever relents and says like

493
00:32:01,039 --> 00:32:06,640
I'd like to try another flavor at
some point before my career is over.

494
00:32:07,200 --> 00:32:09,559
But yeah, so those are my
teams. I don't know if before we

495
00:32:09,599 --> 00:32:13,440
move on, if you have anybody
to add to that group that it's just

496
00:32:13,440 --> 00:32:15,920
sort of like it's time to change
it up, basically, is what the

497
00:32:15,960 --> 00:32:19,759
question seems to be asking get a
bunch of picks if you can. The

498
00:32:19,839 --> 00:32:23,279
Bulls and Wizards would be mine,
and I think that you're probably more equipped

499
00:32:23,839 --> 00:32:28,799
to do so as the Bulls just
because you have Kyle Kuzma and Christos Perzinkis

500
00:32:28,799 --> 00:32:31,400
are both free agents this year in
Washington, and so I guess you could

501
00:32:31,480 --> 00:32:35,799
orchestrate sign and trades for them.
That's how you recoup some of your value.

502
00:32:35,839 --> 00:32:37,920
But you would give value for Rosen
on an expiring contract. I think

503
00:32:37,920 --> 00:32:43,119
you would get two first round picks
for Zach Lavine. What would you get

504
00:32:43,160 --> 00:32:45,720
for Alex Caruso. That's probably another
first round pick right there. So I

505
00:32:45,759 --> 00:32:50,759
think they would be the Timberwolves or
the Timberwolves in the Hawks though, seem

506
00:32:50,839 --> 00:32:53,640
like the only teams that have the
player who could fall into this discussion then

507
00:32:53,680 --> 00:32:58,880
have the player that could command like
that type of massive returm because we're looking

508
00:32:58,880 --> 00:33:00,759
at Trey Young, which I just
if I'm the Hawks, I wouldn't blow

509
00:33:00,759 --> 00:33:05,559
it up just yet. There's like
definite flaws there, but it doesn't seem

510
00:33:05,599 --> 00:33:07,119
to be as bad as reports led
us to believe. Initially, if he

511
00:33:07,200 --> 00:33:10,000
requests for out, that's when you
move him. But if he's not requesting

512
00:33:10,000 --> 00:33:13,079
for out, I'm not moving him. That's the stance we always took.

513
00:33:13,839 --> 00:33:16,599
But for Minnesota specifically, they have
the cat level player, and I do

514
00:33:16,799 --> 00:33:20,279
take not to steal the second part
of the question for you, but I

515
00:33:20,359 --> 00:33:22,920
do think he would probably get you
three unprotected. First, I don't know,

516
00:33:23,519 --> 00:33:27,160
I'm a cat level players, like
a top fifty player in the NBA.

517
00:33:27,200 --> 00:33:29,839
I guess the Jazz they get Larry
marketing for Rudy Gobert, but that

518
00:33:29,920 --> 00:33:34,559
was more and Walker Kessler. But
I don't know. It's I do it?

519
00:33:34,640 --> 00:33:37,880
What's so over under on picks?
So that's the question. So that's

520
00:33:37,000 --> 00:33:40,319
cat is so interesting because my first
thought was, like, it seems like

521
00:33:40,359 --> 00:33:45,319
he should get you two or three
first, right, I think, But

522
00:33:45,319 --> 00:33:49,319
but I think we'd agree that he's
not at the peak of his value right

523
00:33:49,359 --> 00:33:52,079
now, like far from it.
And it's not just because of the contract,

524
00:33:52,160 --> 00:33:55,759
which is just massive, five years
and two hundred and fifty four million

525
00:33:55,759 --> 00:34:00,839
dollars remaining. Like that's huge,
but I mean he's young enough to where

526
00:34:00,160 --> 00:34:05,400
that should be fine in theory.
But like, you know, it's tough

527
00:34:05,440 --> 00:34:07,000
to judge this season because he's been
hurt for so much of it. But

528
00:34:07,159 --> 00:34:12,519
you know, it didn't go great
early with Gobert and like he's got these

529
00:34:12,519 --> 00:34:15,440
playoff no shows and the fact that
they even felt they had to give all

530
00:34:15,480 --> 00:34:19,880
this up for Gobert because the towns
cannot anchor a defense at center, which

531
00:34:19,960 --> 00:34:24,840
is a huge problem. I don't
know. I think three first would be

532
00:34:25,440 --> 00:34:30,960
the top, like you could if
it were two and like and say just

533
00:34:30,039 --> 00:34:34,239
let's just say Bridges. He's not
on the table. But as a hypothetical,

534
00:34:34,719 --> 00:34:36,679
if you told me right now,
if I'm the Wolves, that I

535
00:34:36,719 --> 00:34:39,880
could trade Cat for Bridges, obviously
the money doesn't work, there's all these

536
00:34:39,880 --> 00:34:44,199
other things, and two unprotected first, I think I might do it,

537
00:34:44,639 --> 00:34:50,199
just because I'm not sure that as
we continue. Like also, the alternative

538
00:34:50,280 --> 00:34:55,519
is maybe once he's back and healthy
and Conley's running the show, everything looks

539
00:34:55,519 --> 00:34:59,400
better in Minnesota and he is back
closer to peak of his value, but

540
00:34:59,519 --> 00:35:02,719
like the inability to anchor a defense
as center is such a huge deal to

541
00:35:02,760 --> 00:35:07,480
me, and the playoff stuff,
and so yeah, I don't know.

542
00:35:07,599 --> 00:35:10,440
If it's three and a player like
Bridges, that would be phenomenal, But

543
00:35:10,519 --> 00:35:15,639
I don't know if that's totally realistic. Just just the town's town stock is

544
00:35:15,679 --> 00:35:19,280
not at its all time high right
now. I'll just put it that way,

545
00:35:19,440 --> 00:35:22,360
So you would bet against Let's frame
it as three picks plus a very

546
00:35:22,400 --> 00:35:27,039
impactful player, not because the Jazz
got an All star three compare trade,

547
00:35:27,039 --> 00:35:31,440
which is just bonkers to reflect upon, but you think three picks and a

548
00:35:31,519 --> 00:35:37,239
player like a really like value.
Look at that and said, oh,

549
00:35:37,440 --> 00:35:39,920
other teams really wanted that player like
we did with mcal Bridges or even doring

550
00:35:39,960 --> 00:35:44,559
Finny Smith. I mean, if
it's someone on Finny Smith's level, then

551
00:35:44,559 --> 00:35:46,480
it's got to be three picks if
I'm Minnesota like, because he's just not

552
00:35:46,519 --> 00:35:50,920
the same as Bridges. But but
I mean that's I mean, how many

553
00:35:50,960 --> 00:35:54,519
teams out there are saying we're we're
gonna make town Because if you're giving up

554
00:35:54,519 --> 00:35:59,360
that many picks and a good player, you're basically saying towns is a foundational

555
00:35:59,360 --> 00:36:02,800
piece, like he's if not the
guy, he's you know one A because

556
00:36:02,800 --> 00:36:07,400
we're gonna pay him, like you
know, option one. So I don't

557
00:36:07,400 --> 00:36:08,920
know how many teams that are out
there that are like, we're gonna give

558
00:36:08,920 --> 00:36:12,639
all that up for him. I'm
just trying to It only takes one,

559
00:36:12,760 --> 00:36:15,880
that's the thing we always say.
But still, would you do Tiler Hero

560
00:36:15,079 --> 00:36:22,079
and picks for Carl Anthony Towns if
you're Miami? If I'm well, I

561
00:36:22,119 --> 00:36:28,039
mean, is Town's gonna survive in
Miami? Jimmy Butlers don't, Wow,

562
00:36:28,079 --> 00:36:32,760
I forgot, I'm gonna work.
But that's a pro Like it's such a

563
00:36:34,000 --> 00:36:37,960
that's like a whispered thing in Oh, towns is soft or whatever people seem

564
00:36:37,039 --> 00:36:39,719
to think. But like, I
don't know, you don't they don't say

565
00:36:39,719 --> 00:36:43,719
that about everybody. I think it's
a real like it's a data point that

566
00:36:43,880 --> 00:36:50,079
like some guys whose competitiveness we respect
are out on towns as like as competitors.

567
00:36:50,159 --> 00:36:52,360
That that is like a thing I
would consider. So answer your question,

568
00:36:52,440 --> 00:36:55,559
I think if I'm the heat and
Butler signed off on it, I

569
00:36:55,599 --> 00:37:00,440
probably would do that just because you
know, Hero is a really good man.

570
00:37:00,559 --> 00:37:05,599
I think and maybe a decent starter
Towns, I guess the upside and

571
00:37:05,760 --> 00:37:07,800
the way I mean, maybe he
works with Autobio too, by the way,

572
00:37:07,840 --> 00:37:10,880
maybe Autobio I think that pairing works, by the way, which is

573
00:37:10,880 --> 00:37:15,039
why I suggested. But it's as
you were talking about it. What's interesting

574
00:37:15,039 --> 00:37:17,400
is that I don't see the team
anymore that would even just be dying too

575
00:37:17,519 --> 00:37:21,000
this. Conley Towns a very good
basketball player. I want to make that

576
00:37:21,000 --> 00:37:23,119
clear. Yeah, he's one of
He's a generational offensive talent. But it's

577
00:37:23,119 --> 00:37:25,639
like, would the Knicks even do
the like are they gonna look at it

578
00:37:25,639 --> 00:37:29,559
say like, we're good with Mitchell
Robinson and Julius Randall at this point in

579
00:37:29,599 --> 00:37:31,320
the front court. I'm not saying
they should, but would they look at

580
00:37:31,320 --> 00:37:35,199
it and think that way because they
were the team that's like, oh they'll

581
00:37:35,199 --> 00:37:37,639
give up everything. They didn't do
it for Donovan Mitchell, are they gonna

582
00:37:37,639 --> 00:37:39,639
do it for Carlo Anthony Towns.
Well, it's a weird thing that,

583
00:37:40,039 --> 00:37:44,480
like just to talk about Mobiley for
example, like if you have Evan Mobley

584
00:37:44,559 --> 00:37:46,519
in contrast on your team, you're
not really having to like, well,

585
00:37:46,559 --> 00:37:50,360
okay, now we need this here
and we need this position to be able

586
00:37:50,400 --> 00:37:53,360
to do this, to accommodate for
what Mobile can't do. That's not really

587
00:37:53,360 --> 00:37:58,199
a thing. But with Towns,
we saw the Wolves exemplified it. Oh,

588
00:37:58,239 --> 00:38:00,920
we gotta worry about this. We
have we need interior defense. We

589
00:38:01,039 --> 00:38:04,559
you know, we need certain things. And it's like, if you're a

590
00:38:04,599 --> 00:38:08,360
Supermax guy, there really shouldn't be
a situation where the team that gets you

591
00:38:08,559 --> 00:38:14,239
is then having to make subsequent moves
and altering its style or whatever to accommodate

592
00:38:14,280 --> 00:38:16,760
you for like for negative reasons.
Like I get it if you, you

593
00:38:16,800 --> 00:38:21,440
know, need to do other stuff
for other superstars, but like that's just

594
00:38:21,519 --> 00:38:25,639
kind of a weird He's a weird
like trade value guy to pay surprisingly because

595
00:38:27,199 --> 00:38:31,000
Minnesota obviously thought he was worth just
like no questions asked full Max. The

596
00:38:31,079 --> 00:38:35,079
moral history was though. I think
the Bulls are the team that's most likely

597
00:38:35,159 --> 00:38:37,199
to just strip it down and start
a new next I think that's my guess,

598
00:38:37,239 --> 00:38:42,320
hopefully, hopefully. All Right,
I gotta get us to Darkwing Duck.

599
00:38:42,400 --> 00:38:45,119
I generally don't like to post mode
by questions about my favorite team,

600
00:38:45,119 --> 00:38:50,480
but we have a Jazz question.
So basically, now that Conley's gone,

601
00:38:50,519 --> 00:38:54,599
the longest in your jazz player is
Jordan Clarkson, and then after that it's

602
00:38:54,639 --> 00:39:00,719
a Dooca Zubookie and you're forgiven if
you're not sure who he is. So

603
00:39:00,880 --> 00:39:06,440
basically the question is who do you
think will be the longest tenured jazz man

604
00:39:06,599 --> 00:39:08,360
to start next season the current list? So clark sends three and a half

605
00:39:08,440 --> 00:39:13,079
years, Azubuki three, Rudy Gay
two, and then we're into the Leandro

606
00:39:13,199 --> 00:39:17,559
Bolmarrow's Kessler, like who's so,
what do you say here? Who's gonna

607
00:39:17,599 --> 00:39:24,119
be the like the standard bearer of
the jazz franchise in terms of longevity next

608
00:39:24,199 --> 00:39:28,320
year. I think it's gonna be
Clarkson. I think that they's there.

609
00:39:28,440 --> 00:39:30,639
You're thinking he's gonna be there.
I think that they will resign him.

610
00:39:30,639 --> 00:39:34,840
It's not him, it's gonna be
Kessler, Like they're just just everybody.

611
00:39:35,000 --> 00:39:37,960
I guess I'm betting on Technic Bowl
Armo still be there. So I'm just

612
00:39:37,960 --> 00:39:42,079
gonna go it's not really a limb. I think that if you weren't,

613
00:39:42,280 --> 00:39:45,199
if you're gonna let him walk in
free agency, you should have traded him.

614
00:39:45,480 --> 00:39:47,199
Maybe they're signing trade scenarios. I'm
not thinking about at the moment,

615
00:39:47,320 --> 00:39:51,239
but the fact that they didn't move
him now leads me to believe that he

616
00:39:51,280 --> 00:39:52,920
will be there next season. Yeah, I think I agree with that.

617
00:39:53,079 --> 00:39:57,760
It's an interesting question. I mean, I'd be curious how many other teams

618
00:39:57,760 --> 00:40:00,519
have a situation like that where the
longest and your guy is just you know,

619
00:40:00,519 --> 00:40:04,159
it feels like he was traded there, like not that long ago.

620
00:40:05,199 --> 00:40:07,840
But yeah, it's probably Clarkson.
I do think it was not him.

621
00:40:07,960 --> 00:40:12,400
Who would be your pick? I
don't know. Can they get rid of

622
00:40:12,480 --> 00:40:15,239
Rudy Guay? Like, is he
gonna just be? I just feel I

623
00:40:15,280 --> 00:40:17,199
could see them like stretching and waving
him or something from that points it's the

624
00:40:17,239 --> 00:40:21,559
final year or it's an expiring contract
they move. I feel like my pick

625
00:40:21,639 --> 00:40:25,360
might just be because who's tripping over
themselves? You could but as Utah,

626
00:40:25,360 --> 00:40:30,480
you don't need to grease the wheels
of this deal. But who And first

627
00:40:30,480 --> 00:40:31,920
of all, uh, like,
is it even gonna be? It wouldn't

628
00:40:31,920 --> 00:40:36,360
be as a bookie because he's coming
off the books after this year, so

629
00:40:36,519 --> 00:40:40,199
you're not you're not bringing him back, right? And I guess even Palermo's

630
00:40:40,239 --> 00:40:43,679
expiring, isn't he Unless I'm reading
this wrong, So I thought he had

631
00:40:43,679 --> 00:40:46,480
another year left on his deal.
So I would say that they would probably

632
00:40:46,519 --> 00:40:50,199
get rid of those two and that
they would wave and stretch Rudy guy or

633
00:40:50,199 --> 00:40:52,559
trying to take here, that it
would just be Walker Kestler at that point.

634
00:40:53,039 --> 00:40:57,559
I love it. Let's see,
I got another one for you.

635
00:40:57,880 --> 00:41:00,039
Well, I have a question for
you that's gonna be tied. Were I

636
00:41:00,199 --> 00:41:02,400
to talk a lot about the Phoenix
Suns? All right, this is it's

637
00:41:02,480 --> 00:41:07,599
dated a little bit. But did
the Phoenix Suns give up too much for

638
00:41:07,719 --> 00:41:13,760
Kevin Durant? I don't think so, I think, And the main reason

639
00:41:13,800 --> 00:41:16,079
for that is Kevin Durant is basically, you know, the best player that's

640
00:41:16,079 --> 00:41:19,800
been traded and like I don't know
how long, a really long time.

641
00:41:19,840 --> 00:41:24,000
So the fact that I mean,
if he's wanted, like the fifteen greatest

642
00:41:24,000 --> 00:41:25,559
players of all time, you have
to go back to like, well,

643
00:41:25,559 --> 00:41:29,320
how many of the fourteen in front
of him we're just traded? You gotta

644
00:41:29,360 --> 00:41:31,679
go pretty far. So yeah,
I think. I mean it's a lot,

645
00:41:32,320 --> 00:41:37,119
but you know, you compare it
to the Mitchell package and the Gobt

646
00:41:37,159 --> 00:41:39,960
package or even like the I don't
know, Drew Holiday package or Anthony Davis

647
00:41:40,000 --> 00:41:45,519
package, like, there's a pretty
compelling case that Durant's just better than all

648
00:41:45,559 --> 00:41:50,719
those guys. So it just costs
what it costs. And four first and

649
00:41:51,480 --> 00:41:53,079
you know one really good play.
Yeah, it's a lot. It is

650
00:41:53,119 --> 00:41:58,159
a lot. But now I think, don't you feel better about the Sun's

651
00:41:58,280 --> 00:42:00,440
chances to win the West than you
did before the trade? I mean just

652
00:42:00,599 --> 00:42:06,679
significantly, I mean I do so. Yeah, I don't think it's too

653
00:42:06,760 --> 00:42:08,400
much. I think it's it's a
ton, but it's not too much.

654
00:42:08,440 --> 00:42:12,280
It's just that's that's what it takes, even if you're not. Really the

655
00:42:12,280 --> 00:42:15,719
problem I think you can talk about
this is there wasn't a ton of competition

656
00:42:15,840 --> 00:42:19,800
to drive up the price. It
was sort of like they just did it

657
00:42:19,800 --> 00:42:22,960
to themselves almost and you would That
was my issue is that he only wanted

658
00:42:23,000 --> 00:42:25,679
to go to Phoenix, and he
asked for the next to keep it quiet,

659
00:42:25,760 --> 00:42:30,599
which they did, and they sent
him to Phoenix. But Phoenix was

660
00:42:30,639 --> 00:42:34,519
negotiating against themselves. Now Durant could
have become disenchanted and said, well,

661
00:42:34,559 --> 00:42:37,880
Phoenix didn't go and get me,
maybe I have eyes from Miami or Golden

662
00:42:37,920 --> 00:42:42,679
State over the off season. You
also increase your chances of them just sending

663
00:42:42,760 --> 00:42:45,840
Kevin Durant wherever, which I don't
think they would have done. Maybe if

664
00:42:45,840 --> 00:42:49,840
the package was good enough Toronto or
New Orleans came in and offered the moon.

665
00:42:50,280 --> 00:42:52,920
You always run the risk of that, and you were essentially, I

666
00:42:52,920 --> 00:42:55,920
guess, paying a premium for that, like pre negotiating window, you had

667
00:42:57,280 --> 00:43:00,639
exclusivity which you couldn't have guaranteed over
the off season. But I'm just like

668
00:43:00,199 --> 00:43:02,440
you begged over to that, And
I'm not saying that they should have been

669
00:43:02,480 --> 00:43:06,400
able to keep mcal Bridges. That
would have been the ideal. I would

670
00:43:06,440 --> 00:43:09,159
have included more swaps like that would
be well, that was your only card

671
00:43:09,199 --> 00:43:14,519
to play if it was like DeAndre
and in additional swaps. Really I'm saying

672
00:43:14,559 --> 00:43:15,920
like you had to throw in Jay
Crowder at the last minute, who you

673
00:43:15,960 --> 00:43:21,280
could have rerouted for extra pick equity, like just you know what I mean.

674
00:43:21,440 --> 00:43:22,880
And so it just felt like they
went one stone too far. I

675
00:43:22,880 --> 00:43:28,000
think people, though, in general, are under selling the risk of this

676
00:43:28,039 --> 00:43:31,199
trade because Kevin Durant is age thirty
four, hasn't played a full season and

677
00:43:31,239 --> 00:43:36,679
basically a half decade. Chris Paul
is going on thirty eight and DeAndre has

678
00:43:36,719 --> 00:43:38,840
played really well lately, but he's
just been all over the place, in

679
00:43:38,880 --> 00:43:44,039
part because the Suns, I would
say, mishandled his extension talks, then

680
00:43:44,079 --> 00:43:47,239
the whole restricted free agency drama.
Now we're just supposed to expect that he'll

681
00:43:47,280 --> 00:43:52,199
be okay because he was shopped very
openly and Kevin Durant trade talks. There's

682
00:43:52,239 --> 00:43:54,440
the element of okay, yeah,
Kevin Durant, it's Kevin Durant. Like

683
00:43:54,480 --> 00:43:59,760
it's it's Kevin Durant. Sometimes the
argument just stops there like that, that's

684
00:43:59,760 --> 00:44:01,440
what it is. And again,
he's been playing really well. He's tailor

685
00:44:01,519 --> 00:44:05,320
made to fit with these three stars. But does he want to fit with

686
00:44:05,360 --> 00:44:07,440
these three stars? How does it
impact his defense? I would argue that

687
00:44:07,480 --> 00:44:10,800
he might be the most important defensive
player in the NBA right now, or

688
00:44:10,800 --> 00:44:13,960
at least in the playoffs. When
you're just looking at how this team is

689
00:44:13,960 --> 00:44:19,280
structured. You bankrupted your two way
wing depth, which I guess wasn't really

690
00:44:19,320 --> 00:44:22,519
like super deep to begin with,
if but like because Jay Crowder was gone

691
00:44:22,519 --> 00:44:24,639
already, but that was part of
it. Micael Bridge is gone. Cam

692
00:44:24,719 --> 00:44:27,920
Johnson not a wing but more of
a two way player than I think people

693
00:44:27,920 --> 00:44:30,599
will gave him credit for. So, like, there are real holes now,

694
00:44:30,639 --> 00:44:31,960
and you've traded your future dress.
So if this doesn't work out,

695
00:44:32,480 --> 00:44:36,559
you're just saying, okay, well, Devin Booker and DeAndre will be good

696
00:44:36,639 --> 00:44:39,119
enough to float us. I don't
know if that's the case. I would

697
00:44:39,159 --> 00:44:42,079
have made the trade. I want
to make that clear. I would have

698
00:44:42,119 --> 00:44:45,000
made the trade. I don't under
I don't think that the Nets would have

699
00:44:45,039 --> 00:44:47,000
walked away from the table over Jay
Crowder though. I don't think that would

700
00:44:47,000 --> 00:44:50,719
have been the and I. But
then it's like, well, should Phoenix

701
00:44:50,760 --> 00:44:55,679
have but no, Phoenix conceded the
swaps, the picks all unprotected, and

702
00:44:55,880 --> 00:45:00,440
Michael Bridge is like, the Nets
negotiated everything, and I know they have

703
00:45:00,519 --> 00:45:01,679
Kevin Durant, but they did this
well. Kevin Durant was sidelined with an

704
00:45:01,760 --> 00:45:06,800
mcl injury, and they're already there's
rumors of like, well would they pair

705
00:45:06,920 --> 00:45:09,719
Kyrie and Phoenix, Like don't even
please, just don't even get me started.

706
00:45:09,960 --> 00:45:15,400
So it's just like, what potential
baggage are you taking on or issues

707
00:45:15,519 --> 00:45:20,119
or you also bringing into your locker
room by acquiring Kevin Durand why I'm not

708
00:45:20,159 --> 00:45:22,800
saying he's a cancer. I'm also
just I'm over there, Oh, he

709
00:45:22,840 --> 00:45:24,639
just loves basketball so much. We
need to bow with the author of Kevin

710
00:45:24,679 --> 00:45:28,639
Durant there. I would have made
the trade, but I just think that

711
00:45:28,760 --> 00:45:32,679
it was riskier and more impulsive based
off the reporting that we know about how

712
00:45:32,679 --> 00:45:37,119
matt it should be handled. It
then like it very much felt like new

713
00:45:37,119 --> 00:45:42,559
ownership coming into Minnesota. Let's make
the splash to get Rudy Gobert, except

714
00:45:42,559 --> 00:45:45,320
that it was Kevin Durant, who's
one of the best players of all time

715
00:45:45,360 --> 00:45:50,280
and still in his prime, but
like he's always in he's always dealing with

716
00:45:50,280 --> 00:45:53,559
these lower body injuries. Now I
think I think he's gonna age well.

717
00:45:53,639 --> 00:45:58,119
I don't know how like inner gold
to the conversation that is, but that's

718
00:45:58,119 --> 00:46:00,280
hard to say with all the time
he's mad over the last several years.

719
00:46:00,639 --> 00:46:04,239
I think it's like, when healthy, I think his game will be like

720
00:46:04,280 --> 00:46:07,000
pretty close to you know, he'll
look really good when he's on the floor.

721
00:46:07,079 --> 00:46:09,800
I think going forward and for the
Suns, like this is very much

722
00:46:09,800 --> 00:46:14,760
a trade you make where you're just
hoping that the time that he's on the

723
00:46:14,760 --> 00:46:16,960
floor happens to be you know,
April to June, and you just need

724
00:46:17,000 --> 00:46:21,159
to catch one of those over the
next you know, three years basically,

725
00:46:21,639 --> 00:46:25,639
and you've got a shot I think
two. And you mentioned it. The

726
00:46:25,760 --> 00:46:32,000
Nets probably had a good sense of
we can hold really firm because it does

727
00:46:32,079 --> 00:46:37,079
seem like this the new ownership group
is like they're calling us back, you

728
00:46:37,079 --> 00:46:40,920
know, at the eleventh hour after
we've basically hit an impast It suggests desperation,

729
00:46:42,119 --> 00:46:45,320
and the Nets, I think we're
smart to just say, yeah,

730
00:46:45,320 --> 00:46:46,480
this, I mean, yeah,
he demanded a trade, and yet we

731
00:46:46,559 --> 00:46:51,880
still have all the leverage somehow,
even though there's actually no competitive offers,

732
00:46:51,920 --> 00:46:54,360
Like that's kind of amazing. But
the Nets played it right, or as

733
00:46:54,440 --> 00:46:59,239
well as you could play that situation, I think, yeah. And I

734
00:46:59,239 --> 00:47:01,000
guess really at the core of it, it's like it's a trade you made

735
00:47:01,079 --> 00:47:05,159
as the Suns because you think it's
going to win you a title, and

736
00:47:05,239 --> 00:47:08,480
like, probably that won't be right
because only one team ever gets to win

737
00:47:08,559 --> 00:47:13,360
it every year. But I do
think it raised their chances enough to just

738
00:47:13,480 --> 00:47:15,559
be like, yeah, we got
all these other problems depth health, you

739
00:47:15,559 --> 00:47:19,079
know, we don't have a draft
for a while. Screw it, Like

740
00:47:19,159 --> 00:47:22,440
let's we won sixty four last year, we've been to the finals, Let's

741
00:47:22,440 --> 00:47:24,840
like, let's do it. I
think it's it's just the kind of like

742
00:47:25,159 --> 00:47:29,440
swing you make when things are teetering, maybe a little bit because of Chris

743
00:47:29,440 --> 00:47:31,719
Paul's age and the eight and stuff, to really just like this might be

744
00:47:32,039 --> 00:47:37,199
we have to do it now because
tomorrow is not promised. You know the

745
00:47:37,480 --> 00:47:39,639
next part of this question, did
you want to take us to that?

746
00:47:40,360 --> 00:47:45,719
Yeah? Okay, so let's see
we have. This is from Usher in

747
00:47:45,760 --> 00:47:47,360
the summer at a questioning team trades
dress. I want to make sure I'm

748
00:47:47,360 --> 00:47:52,360
not going to repeat what we just
did. Okay, I'll just read it.

749
00:47:52,039 --> 00:47:57,039
In the summer, I asked question
regarding whether Katie getting his trade request

750
00:47:57,119 --> 00:48:00,320
with three years on his deal will
affect the future CBA? Does this have

751
00:48:00,360 --> 00:48:02,320
any effects since he played for half
a season, was compliant with the nets,

752
00:48:02,800 --> 00:48:07,079
didn't sit out until Irving asked out
or do you think him still getting

753
00:48:07,079 --> 00:48:09,679
his wishes loved downstream consequences on the
CBA. It's kind of a player empowerment

754
00:48:10,079 --> 00:48:14,960
question. I guess basically, I
don't think it's gonna have any consequences.

755
00:48:15,039 --> 00:48:19,440
I think in large part because they
have other priorities where it's teams specifically are

756
00:48:19,440 --> 00:48:22,239
going to be more prioritized, like
can we change the extension rules so that

757
00:48:22,480 --> 00:48:24,480
someone like Oganna Nobi doesn't have to
hit free agency, or something like Jalen

758
00:48:24,519 --> 00:48:27,960
Brown doesn't have to hit free agency
if every want to sign an extension,

759
00:48:28,239 --> 00:48:30,920
I think they're more worried about that. Also, in the case of the

760
00:48:30,960 --> 00:48:34,360
Nets and Kevin Durant, they probably
still could have just had both these dudes

761
00:48:34,360 --> 00:48:37,719
if they paid Kyrie Irving, and
so this was their choice to some extent.

762
00:48:37,880 --> 00:48:39,519
And so Kevin Durant already did sign
an extension too, so you actually

763
00:48:39,519 --> 00:48:43,800
weren't obligated to trade him his leverage. If we really think Kevin Durant loves

764
00:48:43,800 --> 00:48:45,920
basketball that much and would have continued
to play, you didn't have to trade

765
00:48:45,960 --> 00:48:49,960
him. So this was not that
this went down on the NETS's terms,

766
00:48:50,280 --> 00:48:53,960
but they had more alternatives rather than
Superstar X going and boxed him into a

767
00:48:54,000 --> 00:48:57,039
quarter by saying I want out.
I mean, Kevin Durant did that,

768
00:48:57,119 --> 00:48:59,280
but it wasn't like he was in
the final. This wasn't Andy Davis,

769
00:48:59,280 --> 00:49:02,000
Sarka and war a few years ago, and so I just don't. I

770
00:49:02,000 --> 00:49:06,000
can't imagine it being an impact and
tell I'm sure we'll just come up.

771
00:49:06,039 --> 00:49:09,519
But what was what was the actual
preventative measure here for Brooklyn? And also

772
00:49:09,519 --> 00:49:13,840
what were they fighting to keep?
They didn't want Kyrie Irving and so that

773
00:49:13,920 --> 00:49:16,360
was just that became eminently clear.
So I would think, like, if

774
00:49:16,360 --> 00:49:22,360
we get to a point where this
is becoming more common among non top ten

775
00:49:22,400 --> 00:49:27,519
superstars, then yes, maybe well
where it's like, oh it matters jail

776
00:49:27,559 --> 00:49:30,000
and no, well requested to trade
and we need to oblige, Like if

777
00:49:30,000 --> 00:49:32,800
we get into where his trade were
Firk on Cork Moss requested or trade before

778
00:49:32,880 --> 00:49:37,239
years left on his deal. If
it gets to that level, yeah,

779
00:49:37,280 --> 00:49:39,400
but like what is the recourse even
gonna be? You can't like you're just

780
00:49:39,440 --> 00:49:44,199
gonna be punitive the players who are
still under contract for requesting trades again,

781
00:49:44,599 --> 00:49:47,280
their teams don't have to move them. And I just think it would it

782
00:49:47,320 --> 00:49:51,840
would be more of a red alarm
fire if this wasn't Kevin Durant, like

783
00:49:51,840 --> 00:49:54,320
I'm trying to think of like a
just a different level of like Mchaal Bridges,

784
00:49:54,480 --> 00:49:58,400
for example, gon to Phoenix and
said I want out. I'm done

785
00:49:58,440 --> 00:50:01,519
with this, like you know,
Chris Paul made me run winsprints or something,

786
00:50:01,559 --> 00:50:06,559
and just I'm not just so I
fail to see if it will have

787
00:50:06,880 --> 00:50:09,239
an impact. I thought over the
summer. I think more impulsively my answer

788
00:50:09,280 --> 00:50:12,639
might have been different. I don't
know what I answered then, assuming I

789
00:50:12,639 --> 00:50:15,559
answered this at all, but just
sort of stepping back and looking at it.

790
00:50:16,360 --> 00:50:20,199
I just don't think it's gonna be
addressed at all in the next CBA.

791
00:50:20,880 --> 00:50:23,039
I think Duran is just too much
of an outlier and like you know,

792
00:50:24,239 --> 00:50:27,559
we just talked about it. He
was one of the best players of

793
00:50:27,599 --> 00:50:30,719
all time. Like, yeah,
I guess if a player with that level

794
00:50:30,760 --> 00:50:32,599
of clout makes a trade request with
so much time left on his deal,

795
00:50:32,639 --> 00:50:36,920
then you know, that's just that's
just what it is. It's not like

796
00:50:37,039 --> 00:50:39,880
I think if you're talking about changing
rules or changing the collective bargaining agreement to

797
00:50:40,360 --> 00:50:45,280
address this somehow, it would have
to be more widespread or happening with players

798
00:50:45,320 --> 00:50:50,119
that weren't at Durant's level, which
is true for like basically everybody. So

799
00:50:50,280 --> 00:50:52,840
yeah, yeah, I don't I
don't see major change. Another just one

800
00:50:52,880 --> 00:50:58,559
more SUNS related thing, basically asking
about the backcourt, depth, guards and

801
00:50:58,559 --> 00:51:01,519
playmaking for Phoenix. You know,
Campaign has been out things played two games

802
00:51:01,519 --> 00:51:07,519
since the middle of December, and
Landry Shammitt's out as well, So ushers

803
00:51:07,639 --> 00:51:10,280
just curious, like, do you
think this is a problem that can be

804
00:51:10,280 --> 00:51:15,320
solved with Devin Booker kind of leading
bench lineups as the point guard or is

805
00:51:15,360 --> 00:51:19,079
there if they need to go get
somebody, Like what or how big of

806
00:51:19,079 --> 00:51:22,280
an issue is a playmaking position on
a team that has Booker, Durant,

807
00:51:22,440 --> 00:51:28,800
Chris Paul that you can throw out
there in some combination. So I'm a

808
00:51:28,840 --> 00:51:31,760
big fan of Devin Booker at point
guard line ups. I've advocated for them

809
00:51:31,800 --> 00:51:35,639
for multiple seasons for them, but
basically since Chris Paul came up, they

810
00:51:35,679 --> 00:51:37,760
should lean on the more. We
saw them lean on the more in that

811
00:51:37,800 --> 00:51:42,360
game against the Kings actually, and
I believe when I looked the lineups were

812
00:51:42,360 --> 00:51:45,039
a net negative or net even in
those minutes. You don't even want to

813
00:51:45,039 --> 00:51:49,119
be much better than a slight net
negative ornet even. I'll also point out

814
00:51:49,159 --> 00:51:53,320
the sample size is incredibly small,
but when Phoenix plays with Devin Booker at

815
00:51:53,360 --> 00:51:59,039
point guard this season, ninety five
possessions a net rating of twenty four and

816
00:51:59,079 --> 00:52:01,320
so like, yeah, there's a
difference because mcaal Bridges was a part of

817
00:52:01,360 --> 00:52:06,039
a lot of those lineups and now
he's gone and so is so is Cam

818
00:52:06,079 --> 00:52:08,239
Johnson. But I think just between
like could you go to Devin Booker like

819
00:52:08,320 --> 00:52:13,480
a fuck ton of defense route or
just tie those minutes to DeAndre Ayton as

820
00:52:13,519 --> 00:52:16,039
well? But I think that is
the route to go. And there's just

821
00:52:16,079 --> 00:52:19,960
the buy out market. I don't
know what it's gonna yield, I would

822
00:52:20,000 --> 00:52:22,760
say, like, I think that's
why we've seen people are mentioning, Oh,

823
00:52:22,760 --> 00:52:24,280
why isn't Derrick Rose and the Knicks
talking a buyout? Well, two

824
00:52:24,320 --> 00:52:27,840
things, he has a team option
for next year, like if they want

825
00:52:27,840 --> 00:52:30,519
to facilitate a trade that he could
wind up getting quite a bit of money,

826
00:52:30,719 --> 00:52:32,840
So why punt on that? But
also who is signing him when also

827
00:52:34,480 --> 00:52:37,239
Shams is reporting that Russell Westbrook can't
find a destination, there's no clear spot

828
00:52:37,280 --> 00:52:40,679
for john Wall. Maybe some teams
prefer Derrick Rose whatever, Like I would

829
00:52:40,760 --> 00:52:44,599
argue, I'd probably wouldn't at this
point. I just haven't seen enough from

830
00:52:44,639 --> 00:52:47,360
him this season, So like,
I don't know what the buyout market is

831
00:52:47,360 --> 00:52:51,199
gonna get you. What's what's weird
is that I know that Kevin Duran and

832
00:52:51,239 --> 00:52:52,840
Chris Paul hate him. Patrick Beverley
would kind of make sense for this roster,

833
00:52:53,159 --> 00:52:55,920
but he's also not. That's more
from a defensive perspective, and I

834
00:52:55,960 --> 00:53:00,679
know that he is not the defender
he wants was. I would role with

835
00:53:00,719 --> 00:53:02,480
the Devin Booker at point Guard lineups
and then just hope that you know,

836
00:53:02,840 --> 00:53:07,559
campaign gets healthy and that we can
chill on these Saban Lee minutes eventually.

837
00:53:07,599 --> 00:53:10,920
But the campaign stuff is just very
It's sort of flown under the radar.

838
00:53:10,960 --> 00:53:15,079
I think because you were dealing with
injuries to Devin Booker, Chris Paul was

839
00:53:15,159 --> 00:53:16,960
up and down for so long,
and then you had the backdrop of like

840
00:53:16,960 --> 00:53:21,039
what's going on with Eton and then
all these trade talks. But like him

841
00:53:21,079 --> 00:53:23,199
just being out for so long is
pretty big, and I think even Landry

842
00:53:23,239 --> 00:53:25,519
Shammitt missing some time. You do
have Terrence Ross now, but I think

843
00:53:25,559 --> 00:53:30,239
that alleviates not the playmaking, but
just it makes Devin Booker at point guard

844
00:53:30,320 --> 00:53:32,079
line ups even more palatable to me. But you can go so many different

845
00:53:32,079 --> 00:53:37,400
ways because Devin Booker is so good, and I think that's also a way

846
00:53:37,400 --> 00:53:38,960
to ensure I don't think he cares. He doesn't strike me as that type

847
00:53:38,960 --> 00:53:42,360
of player who cares about his numbers. That's also kind of the way to

848
00:53:42,440 --> 00:53:45,800
ensure that his stats stay juiced while
he's seating. At least, let's say

849
00:53:45,800 --> 00:53:49,960
shot attempts or just touches to Kevin
Durant. We know Kevin Durank will play

850
00:53:49,960 --> 00:53:53,400
off the ball. I would very
much explore this, especially while campaign's out,

851
00:53:53,400 --> 00:53:55,400
and it does if Look, if
I'm going to read into the one

852
00:53:55,440 --> 00:53:58,719
game that I've seen from this team
since the trade, which was the King's

853
00:53:58,760 --> 00:54:00,440
game, I'm gonna say that,
yeah, there are going to explore that,

854
00:54:00,480 --> 00:54:05,199
and I think it's the right surprise
surprise he who is campaign for these

855
00:54:05,239 --> 00:54:08,960
lineups campaign, how do you feel
about? How about that who is who

856
00:54:09,039 --> 00:54:13,599
is advocated for these lineups for the
past like two or three years is in

857
00:54:13,679 --> 00:54:16,239
support of it. How big of
a shock is that? Well, I

858
00:54:16,280 --> 00:54:21,599
think it's not like the position that
the Suns are in right now, because

859
00:54:21,639 --> 00:54:24,039
they are in a win now situation. But as we alluded to, there

860
00:54:24,079 --> 00:54:30,440
is this sort of downstream scenario where
suddenly your core is Booker and Eton and

861
00:54:30,159 --> 00:54:34,960
like don't know what else, probably, so it's not the worst thing for

862
00:54:35,039 --> 00:54:37,599
Booker to just yeah, you're gonna
be on the ball way more now,

863
00:54:37,679 --> 00:54:42,480
because there is a reasonable possibility that
in the future it's you, You being

864
00:54:42,480 --> 00:54:45,599
on the ball all the time,
while not ideal, could just be a

865
00:54:45,719 --> 00:54:51,239
very regular thing, you know,
just you may be the primary facilitator if

866
00:54:51,239 --> 00:54:53,480
we don't or if we just prioritize
other things from the point guard spot going

867
00:54:53,519 --> 00:54:58,880
forward. Like yeah, campaign being
hurt matters for the regular season, but

868
00:54:58,920 --> 00:55:01,440
I think if you have Booker and
and hopefully Durant like the playoffs, like

869
00:55:01,519 --> 00:55:05,840
Pain's role is going to be pretty
small. I think unless he's just running

870
00:55:05,840 --> 00:55:07,039
really hot, it's just not going
to be that big a factor. So

871
00:55:07,039 --> 00:55:10,119
you may as well just have book
or kind of I don't know, get

872
00:55:10,199 --> 00:55:15,519
reps. Just get comfortable both for
now and for you know, a few

873
00:55:15,599 --> 00:55:19,320
years from now when the team looks
a lot different. That was it.

874
00:55:19,400 --> 00:55:21,760
This was fun. Do you want
to take us out? Yeah? Thanks

875
00:55:21,760 --> 00:55:22,960
every one for their questions. By
the way, everybody, yes, thank

876
00:55:22,960 --> 00:55:25,440
you for your questions. Thank you
for listening. Remember to follow us on

877
00:55:25,440 --> 00:55:30,840
our socials, join our discord so
you can provide questions here and just generally

878
00:55:30,880 --> 00:55:35,639
interact with what has become a pretty
awesome community of people that really like basketball

879
00:55:35,639 --> 00:55:38,360
and like to talk about it in
intelligent ways. Everybody's nice to each other.

880
00:55:38,519 --> 00:55:42,039
That's cool. You don't see a
lot of that on the interwebs.

881
00:55:42,679 --> 00:55:46,320
So yeah, check us out.
Thanks for listening to us here, remember

882
00:55:46,360 --> 00:55:51,719
to subscribe to us wherever you get
your podcasts, And as always, we

883
00:55:51,760 --> 00:55:55,880
will shout out the one and only
Frank Nilikina and issue another sincere apology to

884
00:55:55,920 --> 00:56:07,639
jar it out