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What is krack alakin fellow Thermonuclear A
efforts. I am Dan for Valley finally

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a partially healthily dam for Valley coming
at you with my certified fan tabulous Thermonuclear

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A f co host, mister Grant
Hughes, fresh off the completed demolition of

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his kitchen in a show of just
just such massive masculinity sure redoing his kitchen

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that I know for a fact that
his amazing wife Katie did most of the

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work for from what I hear anyway, shout out the planning, so shout

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out to her. We got lots
to get to. We're gonna go for

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about ninety minutes and just get through
as many teams and topics as we.

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Kens's words like this weird space now
when we don't want to do off season

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age yet and the rumor mill is
kind of just always talk about the same

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three players over and over again.
Before we do my usual reminder to please

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subscribe to us if you've not done
so already, hit the subboton on YouTube,

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like and comment on these videos to
help the alt go love us back.

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Subscribe to us wherever you get your
audio podcasts, Apple, Spotify,

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Big help if you leave ratings and
reviews on Apple. Those can help us

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in the charts a ton. We
do continue to put out more content,

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I would say than most national shows
in the summer as we get into the

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dead period. So now's a good
time to hop on and stay on with

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us once the season starts back up, and follow us on all the socials

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at Hardwood Knox on Twitter and TikTok
at Hardwood Underscore Knox on Instagram, and

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join our discord. The link to
that is in the podcast and YouTube description.

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And if you would like to support
the show, we strongly encourage you

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to buy tons and tons of merch
from our stores. A link to that

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is in the podcast and YouTube description. Grant has his mug behind him.

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He's pointing to it. I am
wearing a Thermuclear af T shirt around New

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York City on Monday. I was
there for Bleacher Report that day. I

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had buttons on my bag, I
had stickers all over my thermis. I

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was wearing a Hardwood Knock shirt and
our colleagues. Grant made a note one

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of our bosses specifically to say,
you look like a billboard. Basically is

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what he said. I was like, that was the plan. I knew

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I was going to conversation. Let's
get Yeah, so do all of those

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things and word of mouth recommendations.
That's the best way to build podcasts at

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this point is all these social media
platforms is burn tell people who you don't

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like hoops about us. We really
appreciate it. With all of that out

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of the way, Grant, how
the heck are you doing? I'm doing,

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Grant? I just had a phenomenal
hour long conversation, wide ranging,

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hour long conversation with you, and
that's always a treat. So we need

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to Should we start a separate Your
listeners want a separate podcast where they just

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listened to Grant and I brainstorm sometimes
about things that don't even have anything to

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do with it. We mapped out
content for the next few months at this

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podcast at Bleacher Report, we talked
about your kitchen project little bit. We

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talked about my Johns into the City
where I'm I'm convinced that I gained us

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thousands of subscribers, which is walking
around the streets and my hardwood knocks swag.

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Yeah yeah, No. I think
if we ever go to like a

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subscription model, we just put those
behind like the highest tier of subscription you

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know level, so that if you
really want to know about our not that

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interesting lives, you get that free. You get that charge twenty five dollars

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a month. It'll be one person
that does it. They'll get to hear

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like all the shit, yeah talk
about it are Yeah. I think that's

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a sustainable model. We should definitely
do that. I'm doing well. I'm

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glad to hear you're on the mend. As I said to you off offline,

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I always take it as a personal
affront when I get sick and it's

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like a hundred degrees outside because it
just feels wrong. So I was feeling

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for you. I appreciate that.
I would also like to say very quickly

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that I feel for you or unconcerned
about you. Because I had to take

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four days off from the gym because
I was like really three because I had

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a play at rest day and then
I got sick, talk about in the

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front, like why can't you be
So I traded multiple body parts at one

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I'm very I'm not a bro,
but I liked the bro split where I

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just nuke one body part at a
time, six days a week. So

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I had to combine body parts and
I was struggling. I texted you after

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I did the first one and I
was like, this is absurd. It

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was only back in byes. It
wasn't even like these huge body parts.

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I did chest and shoulders like to
wrap up, and I wanted to die.

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I was just like, how does
Grant do this regularly? And so

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I'm impressed, but also just concerned
because I don't want you to hurt yourself

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at some point or just be so
exhausted because you're training. Probably even I

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split up into two for the most
part, I had chest, shoulders and

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tries and that gutted me. You're
probably doing like all of them and these

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total body workouts, and it just
it made me very worried about I was

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impressed, but then like immediately in
the middle of the workout, I was

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like, I'm just very concerned about
Grant, Like how maniacal? How much

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of a massochist do you have to
be to follow that type of a of

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a workout regimen. Well, one, your concern is appreciated too, There's

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no way. This is an interesting
topic of conversation for the listeners, is

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it like the nobody can We love
all of you guys, but at this

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point like, yeah, we'll get
to like the you know the reason this

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podcast exists in a minute. Uh, Well, one, what I already

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gave you two bullet points, so
three, I'm not I'm lifting a fraction

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of what you're lifting, uh for
it right now in particular, and this

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is the part where no one will
be interested my gym is doing. It

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goes in like cycles where it's like, you know, for this eight week

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cycle, we're emphasizing something, and
for this next six week cycle, we're

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emphasizing something else. And the lifts
we're doing now require a lot of shoulder

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mobility and like technique, and I
don't have either of those things. So

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I'm lifting nothing basically, just trying
to learn how to do it correctly.

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So I feel great right now,
Pipes, I'm listing a lot of like

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thirty five and forty five pound bars
and not anything. There's like no weight

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on it half the time. So
uh Like, physically, I feel phenomenal.

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Mentally and emotionally, I'm just showing
up and failing to follow instructions for

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an hour every morning, and that's
taking a toll. But this is a

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baby step situation. So I don't
feel bad for me because I'm not sore

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at all. I feel great right
now. I refused to believe that you

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don't have pristine technique. I don't
buy it. If listeners wanted us to

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talk about our lives more, there
it is if and to quote the great

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philosopher Joe Cronin, if this podcast
take takes months, it takes months,

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so be it. Yeah, do
we want to start there? Where do

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we want to start? We want
to start with the n season tournament before

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we dive into teams, and uh, that's yeah. I think feel like

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we should start there. Yeah,
because I didn't. I actually had to

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research it because I'd heard it described
like four different times that I still didn't

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have a handle on the logistics of
it and what it all is. And

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it's like potentially problematic just throwing it
out there. If I think it's problematic,

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No, no that if if people
can't, like, is it too

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confusing? If you've heard well,
yeah, needed that, And the answer

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to that is no, not really. I'm just like, I'm I'm dumb.

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But now I get it because I
read about it a little more and

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it's it's kind of like elegant is
too strong of a word, but it's

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like pretty unobtrusive, right, because
that was the concern is like, how

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are we going to shoehorn this stupid
thing into a regular season that everyone agrees

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is too long and meaningless and all
this other stuff. But it's really just

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like the way they've set it up
is you know this, but for the

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listeners, you know, there's a
group play stage that are just basically regular

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season games with like a fancy label
slapped on them, and they count towards

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your group play record. You advance
out of that like a like a World

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Cup scenario, you get into the
knockout rounds, and then if you make

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it out of the knockout rounds,
you go to Vegas in early December and

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play a what a semi final and
a final, and that's that's it.

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Like, that's that's how it works. It's not too so that's that's all

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just to say, like, pretty
good job of finding a way. I

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don't know if this will work at
all. I don't know if it will

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generate the interest the league wants it
to generate. But at least the way

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it's being executed is not going to
sort of exacerbate the pre existing problem of

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we got too many games. The
players aren't going to give a shit about

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this like that. The problems I
think have been mitigated about as well as

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you could expect them to be.
I don't think, and Steve Jones pointing

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this out on Twitter, I don't
think fans are for people who are like

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up in arms, not that you're
not going to feel most of it,

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because they're just games that are baked
into the schedule, and it's once you

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get to the knockout round stages that
it becomes interesting. My question is,

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like it's always been, are the
players going to care enough about it?

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And if they do, if they
buy into it, I actually think it'll

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really work out. I know Mark
Stein's a big skeptic of it. I'm

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kind of a I guess an optimistic
skeptic. Like the play in tournament has

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worked out, but there are more
stakes there. I don't know. It's

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half a million dollars per player,
high enough stakes for some for sure for

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all of them, no, I
think they should. They should have used

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that to a million dollars at least
per players. Where I'm at, the

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other thing, can I well,
this is probably I have a proposal that

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I think is going to be shot
down. I pulled people about it already

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while I was at the Bleacher Report
office the other day. I don't really

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think anyone liked it. To be
fair, I love it, but I

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like the I'm wondering if, like
they're gonna change the resting rules for these

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games specifically, and they say they're
gonna apply them to like the rest of

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the regular season, maybe that could
just help it, because it's not like

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no one's not I know that we
get like annoyed by the amount of games

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sometimes that star players are appearing in, or just a collective, you know,

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approach to load management. Like players
want to play and when they play,

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they're not actively not trying, so
these it should still be entertaining.

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And if you can build these is
like oh these there's more national games on

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like a what is it Tuesday and
a Friday or whatever it is. Yeah,

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00:09:43,320 --> 00:09:45,639
Like I kind of you know,
they're gonna sell more sponsorships. The

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00:09:45,759 --> 00:09:48,840
ESPN studio shows are gonna remain awful
because there's only gonna be like two minutes

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00:09:48,879 --> 00:09:54,120
of non analysis filled by eighty commercials. But like, I'm open minded to

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it, like anything to maybe drum
up more interest or higher stakes before Christmas,

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which is what everyone says the season
officially begins, and I don't know.

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Sometimes I don't even buy that,
like, yeah, there might be

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more interest in it, but yeah, because and look, it's important to

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00:10:07,600 --> 00:10:11,320
do this like early too, because
I'm a big believer in this. Now

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after watching the Nuggets for the final
four to six weeks of this season,

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I'm not buying into anything I see
from March through the end of the end.

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I'm over it, Like it just
it's not happening for me. And

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so I'm hoping this works out for
sure. Yeah, I think like there

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00:10:26,080 --> 00:10:33,639
was a way this could have gone
that could have foreseeably made these games less

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interesting or like had lower stakes,
like, hey, we're gonna do this

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in season. Tournament doesn't count towards
your regular season record. The win you

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00:10:43,720 --> 00:10:48,519
get ultimately is just that cash prize, Like you might have had guys or

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00:10:48,600 --> 00:10:52,399
teams just saying like, well,
we're scheduling all our rest for this since

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00:10:52,399 --> 00:10:54,720
none of it counts in the standings, right, Like so I think that's

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00:10:54,879 --> 00:10:58,480
that's sort of like the elegant part
of it is, Yeah, they still

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count, and if maybe it does, maybe it doesn't generate more player like

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00:11:03,519 --> 00:11:07,279
interest or fan interest, but like
it's not gonna detract at all, so

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00:11:07,399 --> 00:11:13,039
like there's not really a downside and
maybe if it has like some incremental gains,

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00:11:13,080 --> 00:11:16,799
then it's a success because again they've
made it so that it's not like

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it's as integrated into the season as
you can make it. So it's like

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it might not work, it might
not generate a bunch of interests, but

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it's not gonna hurt, so it's
like it's worth worth trying for that reason.

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00:11:26,679 --> 00:11:31,120
It is funny though we've made all
this concern about player workloads that the

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00:11:31,159 --> 00:11:35,360
winning team is going to play in
eighty four Yeah, like regular season games.

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00:11:35,360 --> 00:11:39,720
So I'm just gonna I'm going to
believe that whoever has McAll Bridges is

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00:11:39,720 --> 00:11:43,799
gonna win in he's in tournament because
playing at eighty four of eighty two regular

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00:11:43,799 --> 00:11:46,399
season games at the most mcael Bridges
think of all time, for sure,

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00:11:46,519 --> 00:11:50,799
for sure. Yeah, I wanted
to know for each each conference from you,

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00:11:50,919 --> 00:11:54,159
which group most intrigues you, so
I'll read them off for Yeah,

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00:11:54,200 --> 00:11:56,399
well I had it, and let
me let me pull it up because I'm

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00:11:56,480 --> 00:11:58,080
go ahead, you read them off, I'll pull it up. So in

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the West group, A, the
Grizzlies, Sons, Lakers, Jazz and

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00:12:03,399 --> 00:12:09,120
Blazers, Group B, Denver Nuggets, Clippers, Pelicans, Mavericks, Rockets,

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00:12:09,320 --> 00:12:13,799
and Group C the Kings, Warriors, Timberwolves, Thunder and Spurs.

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00:12:16,000 --> 00:12:20,279
Well there's so I thought it was
interesting how they how they even picked these

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groups right, because there was like
a weird randomization based on record and you're

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split by conferences obviously cycled through.
Yeah, it was just like the way

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I think it was like pleasantly not
complex, but it was confusing. Well,

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so I was trying to look for
like where is the where's like the

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00:12:39,279 --> 00:12:43,600
pushover group like you do for the
World Cup, and I was surprised by

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00:12:43,600 --> 00:12:46,279
sort of how balanced it is.
I couldn't find any place that had like

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00:12:46,320 --> 00:12:50,039
an obvious like, all, this
team is gonna waltz through this group or

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00:12:50,080 --> 00:12:54,840
whatever. The first one that jumped
out as I'm looking at it now is

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00:12:54,919 --> 00:12:58,519
the West Group C, which has
the Kings, Warriors, Wolves, Thunder,

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00:12:58,559 --> 00:13:03,159
and Spurs. And most of that
interest is is what I'm going to

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00:13:03,240 --> 00:13:05,600
step on our teams I don't want
to talk about, but having the Thunder

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00:13:05,639 --> 00:13:09,879
and Spurs together is really really fun
to me. I'm very excited to watch

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00:13:11,120 --> 00:13:15,879
those two teams. I'm trying to
think. I always see you West too,

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because that's just well, I was
asking you just about the three groups

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in the West first, so I'm
with you on West C. I just

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feel like I like the idea of
between the Wolves the Spurs, that that's

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thunder. There might be three teams
that we just have no idea how good

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that they could be during this season. And like the kids of the Warriors,

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both have ultra high ceilings and so
fun. I like the I guess

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this wasn't intentional, but the Kings
and Warriors, I think you know,

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they got it. They finally got
a playoff series together and it was pretty

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heated and competitive and like, oh, you know, if you're trying to

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you know, rivalries may not exist
anymore. Everybody likes to say that,

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but I think that's cool that we
have them in there together too. Group

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A in the East, the Sixers, Calves, Hawks, Pacers, had

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Pistons, Group B, the Bucks, Nick's, Heat, Wizards at Hornets,

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Group C the Celtics, Nets,
Raptors, Bulls, and Magic.

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Which group most intrigues you. I
think I like A the best, just

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because there's too many like, if
you have Washington and Charlotte in the same

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group, I'm out only Southeast Division
and Group B not not not interested there.

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Yeah, I think I mean of
the of the like quote unquote bad

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teams or the teams that you know
one thirty or fewer last year. I

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think Indiana and Detroit are a couple
of the most interesting and they're in East

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Group A. So I think probably
I'm looking more at the bottom end of

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this because I don't know why.
I just sort of I sort of think

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that the teams that might really get
up for these are the ones that probably

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aren't going to be, you know, making deep playoff runs, and so

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this is like, hey, we're
gonna win something, and maybe we jump

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on the Sixers or Calves or whatever, maybe the Hawks. I'm kind of

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fit in between those two tiers,
But I like a the best there.

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What about you? I like see
the best just because when you have the

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Celtics nets and big question mark with
the Raptors and then Bulls and Magic,

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this is the group that has a
chance where there's no suck yea within it

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has the highest percentage chance. Depending
on how you feel about the Bulls of

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the Raptors, and so that's just
altering where you look at. You know,

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Group B, either of the Hornets
or the Wizards are going to be

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bad, Like the Wizards are trying
to be bad, So that's not even

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a question there. And then how
much are the Heat gonna care about something

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that's happening in the regular season?
And then in a it's just I don't

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know how to feel about the Hawks. Is it too early for the Pacers?

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And then the are the Sixers gonna
have James Harden or even Jowell and

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Beat on the roster? We'll have
to talk about them eventually. Is it

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too early on the Pistons? So
I like Group C the best here,

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that's that's that's fine, you're you're
entitled to your opinion. Dan, whatever,

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Uh, let's talk. Where do
you want to go next? Oh?

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Man, we have like we've got
the requisite trade stuff. We don't

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need to talk about Dame, do
we and the Blazers? I guess because

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we haven't talked Dave since the trade
request? Oh okay, Well let's see.

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I think just like broad Strokes,
I'm okay. I was actually thinking

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about this earlier today. I can't
really get and it's always hard to judge

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if this is real or just because
we're in the social media silos that we're

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in, it seems real, but
it's not this idea that like, oh,

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Dame is is somehow deeply wrong for
talking about not running from the grind

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for forever and then asking for a
trade, or the Blazers are deeply wrong

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because they may have promised to do
X, Y and Z, and then

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Scoot Henderson became available and they said, well, maybe we should just build

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around this guy, and that wasn't
something we expected to have the option to

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do. So, you know,
I just like, I can't get to

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a point where one I care or
two I have strong feelings about somebody in

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this mix, whether it's the Blazers, Joe cronin Dame ownership is like has

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done something that I should get worked
up about because it's just like zoom all

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the way out and it's this guy
was there for a decade, they didn't

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win big, they had a couple
of decent runs. He's getting older and

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really expensive and he wants to go
to a contender now and the team that

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he plays for currently has every incentive
to make that happen so they can start

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over and they can get sixty million
per year off the books in a few

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years. Like, it's just like
everybody's sort of doing the right thing.

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And if you want me to be
upset because for a long time they all

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said they weren't going to do the
right thing, that I can't quite get

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there. So that's like, I
don't know if that's a take, but

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it's or if it's a response to
like people's opinions that aren't as like forcefully

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00:17:37,920 --> 00:17:41,720
out there as they seem to be
to write. But so I'm with you

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in the sense I'm with you on
every front. The only thing that I

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take a little issue with is one
I don't like that this has become some

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00:17:47,599 --> 00:17:52,200
barometer of morality for not just Day
but the league who cares though sort of

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confounding having an opinion about the problem
the problematic trade request mackinations where it's okay,

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we didn't talk enough about this with
Kevin Durant, I think because the

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00:18:02,880 --> 00:18:07,960
Phoenix Suns negotiating against themselves, have
the best package for Kevin Durant that was

279
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going to be on the table.
It's different with the heat where I find

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myself toward people I think are shitting
over their shitting on their package too much,

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because if they can renegotiate that pick
with the Thunder, they can offer

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up the three first round picks and
three swaps. That's not nothing. I

283
00:18:22,640 --> 00:18:25,880
know, Oh it's heat picks.
Pat Riley is like gonna be eighty or

284
00:18:25,920 --> 00:18:27,720
whatever. He's not like you want
this and heat picks. Those are worth

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00:18:27,759 --> 00:18:32,799
something. And Tyler Hero's I know
he doesn't fit on the Blazers. I

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00:18:32,799 --> 00:18:34,160
think that's a good player. You
asked me if I'm on Tyler Hero or

287
00:18:34,240 --> 00:18:37,119
Jordan Pool. Tyler Hero, like, it's not on the level of that

288
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contract, is my point at this
At this level, maybe Jordan Pool rebounds.

289
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And I will say, I do
think it's a slippery slope where when

290
00:18:45,519 --> 00:18:49,839
you have this much time left on
your deal, when you signed multiple extensions

291
00:18:49,839 --> 00:18:55,759
with a franchise that was sort of
traveling alongside this undefined path in the first

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place, limiting it to one team
is just not you need to open it.

293
00:19:00,079 --> 00:19:04,119
And I mean it needs to be
something where it's like at least three

294
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teams that have legitimate packages, and
Brooklyn was kind of already mentioned, so

295
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that let's just say there's two.
There needs to be another one, and

296
00:19:11,119 --> 00:19:12,920
don't give me the Lakers. Don't
give me the Clippers. I don't want

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00:19:12,920 --> 00:19:18,000
to hear that in this instance.
I'm not having a conversation about abolishing the

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draft right now. I know that
some people are pro that. I don't

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know. That's a whole other discussion. Damian Lillard has had the opportunity if

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he wanted to reach free agency and
pick his own spot to do so.

301
00:19:27,480 --> 00:19:33,279
Give me a list of three teams
that don't have nothing like the Lakers.

302
00:19:33,640 --> 00:19:36,599
I think you could even if he
said the Clippers, that might be a

303
00:19:36,640 --> 00:19:38,960
real team just with you want two
first round picks and tears Man from the

304
00:19:38,960 --> 00:19:42,920
Clippers. So I have a problem
with the one team trade package. And

305
00:19:42,960 --> 00:19:47,519
also fans and the Blazers should want
Yeah, they should want the best for

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00:19:47,640 --> 00:19:49,680
Dame. They should be thankful for
his loyalty, everything he's done for the

307
00:19:49,720 --> 00:19:55,599
organization. It's also okay to want
your franchise to get the best package possible

308
00:19:55,960 --> 00:19:59,559
for your franchise. Quarterstone, because
yes, you do have these springboards into

309
00:19:59,559 --> 00:20:03,119
a rebuild with Shandon Sharpe and Scoot
Henderson, but the idea is to continue

310
00:20:03,119 --> 00:20:07,160
building on top of that, and
so there's just it's not black and white.

311
00:20:07,200 --> 00:20:11,119
I want to make that cleared.
I do based off things that I

312
00:20:11,160 --> 00:20:15,880
have heard from people who actually know
shit, We're gonna find out some stuff

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00:20:15,279 --> 00:20:21,799
after the fact that maybe Payton's like, I'm just gonna say, we're gonna

314
00:20:21,799 --> 00:20:23,640
find out some stuff that I think
will change a lot of how people feel

315
00:20:23,640 --> 00:20:27,359
about this. But this goes back
to the Kevin Durant trade request as well,

316
00:20:27,680 --> 00:20:33,039
after eas sided extension. The difference
was that despite only negotiating with one

317
00:20:33,079 --> 00:20:36,880
team, they put everything on the
table, and the Sun putting everything on

318
00:20:36,920 --> 00:20:40,680
the table, in large part because
Michael Bridge is better than Tyler Hero is

319
00:20:40,720 --> 00:20:42,480
going to be a lot more.
There's a chance that that just might have

320
00:20:42,480 --> 00:20:45,039
been the best offer if you even
if you opened it up to all thirty

321
00:20:45,079 --> 00:20:48,119
teams, Like, there's no guarantee
the Pelkids or okay se would have come

322
00:20:48,119 --> 00:20:51,880
in with all this stuff, or
that the Raptors would have put Scottie Bards

323
00:20:51,880 --> 00:20:55,039
on the table. Sounds like they
did, so I think that's the difference

324
00:20:55,079 --> 00:20:56,799
here that people are failing to see
that. I think it's okay to be

325
00:20:57,319 --> 00:21:00,920
concerned about Okay, well, free
agency is done, Like the league has

326
00:21:00,960 --> 00:21:04,279
just decided like, hey, these
big names aren't going to reach Tree Agency

327
00:21:04,319 --> 00:21:08,519
really anymore. And what trades are
such a big part of now star acquisition

328
00:21:08,559 --> 00:21:15,079
where it's drafting or trading to just
rule out twenty seven twenty eight teams right

329
00:21:15,119 --> 00:21:19,440
off the bat, is you know
it's something that's worth discussing. Yeah,

330
00:21:19,519 --> 00:21:23,720
I think that's I don't know how
to feel about that because I sort of

331
00:21:23,839 --> 00:21:27,759
I sort of think like at a
certain point, if I'm gonna be okay

332
00:21:27,799 --> 00:21:33,480
with a not just gonna say a
player, if I'm okay with Lillard asking

333
00:21:33,519 --> 00:21:38,359
to be traded, I don't know
if I can draw some kind of line

334
00:21:38,400 --> 00:21:44,000
at you know, because it's just
about like who, what's he entitled to?

335
00:21:44,079 --> 00:21:47,119
What's he owed? What are the
Blazers owe him? It's all this

336
00:21:47,160 --> 00:21:51,359
whole thing is like it's just a
transactional relationship, like they're paying him money

337
00:21:51,400 --> 00:21:55,279
to do a job and like that. So I don't I don't think it's

338
00:21:55,319 --> 00:21:57,640
fair. It's already dropped. I
don't think it's fair to compare Damian lillard

339
00:21:57,720 --> 00:22:03,839
situation to the general work labor force, Like it's very different when you and

340
00:22:03,880 --> 00:22:07,799
I if we were to spurn our
contract or like something you weak to report

341
00:22:07,920 --> 00:22:11,839
versus what is happening now at that
scale. It's just it's different. Again,

342
00:22:11,839 --> 00:22:15,400
these things can't be black and white
and uniform like. It's just it's

343
00:22:15,519 --> 00:22:19,599
different. I'm guilty of that too, because it's it feels it's so easy,

344
00:22:19,640 --> 00:22:22,279
it's so like intellectually comfortable to say, like, well, if this

345
00:22:22,319 --> 00:22:26,039
were any other job, you would
act this way. Therefore, you know

346
00:22:26,160 --> 00:22:29,359
NBA players and their bosses should act. It's like, you're right, it's

347
00:22:29,400 --> 00:22:32,920
not It's not that simple. Bleach
report wants me to sign a lifetime contract

348
00:22:33,000 --> 00:22:34,880
or I can't be moved for fifty
million dollars a year. You know what

349
00:22:36,000 --> 00:22:38,279
I will. I will suck it
up and I will do it. I'll

350
00:22:38,319 --> 00:22:41,480
figure out a way to survive.
That's the thing. It's just a minor

351
00:22:41,519 --> 00:22:47,759
point. But he signed that extension, you know, not that long ago,

352
00:22:48,559 --> 00:22:52,400
and it's like, there's no so
if I guess you could definitely bump

353
00:22:52,440 --> 00:22:56,960
on the idea of you know,
this is certainly you know this trade request.

354
00:22:56,759 --> 00:23:00,480
It's not the first time he's thought
about it, right Like ever,

355
00:23:00,799 --> 00:23:03,880
it's clearly he was here. He
was holding free agency meetings even though he

356
00:23:03,920 --> 00:23:07,480
wasn't a free agent they're like Davey
a little met with the lebron and Afy

357
00:23:07,559 --> 00:23:11,119
Davis to decide if it made sense
to join the Lakers, and it was

358
00:23:11,200 --> 00:23:14,720
like, uh, he's under contract, right, well, that's what I

359
00:23:14,720 --> 00:23:15,920
mean. It's like and all,
but then at the same time, it's

360
00:23:15,960 --> 00:23:21,160
like, what is he gonna turn
down like one hundred and twenty three million

361
00:23:21,359 --> 00:23:25,000
that he's you know, just yeah, of course you're gonna take that extension

362
00:23:25,039 --> 00:23:26,880
if you're him, like the insane
amount of money. Even if you even

363
00:23:26,920 --> 00:23:30,359
if you know, I don't know
if it's wrong to take that extension.

364
00:23:30,359 --> 00:23:33,880
If you know beyond a shadow of
a doubt that within X number of months

365
00:23:34,440 --> 00:23:37,680
you're gonna ask for a trade,
I think you probably still should just sign

366
00:23:37,680 --> 00:23:41,119
that. Yeah money, right.
So it's like it's not wrong. I

367
00:23:41,200 --> 00:23:44,880
can't get I can't get worked up
about it. It's like everybody is sort

368
00:23:44,920 --> 00:23:48,880
of acting in a practical way.
It's just like it just runs counter to

369
00:23:48,759 --> 00:23:52,799
all these everyone professing, you know, whether it's the Blazers or Dame that

370
00:23:52,880 --> 00:23:56,359
like, it's not this way for
us, like we operate differently. It's

371
00:23:56,400 --> 00:24:00,000
like, no, you're when it
comes down to it, you're just gonna

372
00:24:00,039 --> 00:24:03,799
to make the best decision for yourself
as a business or for your business as

373
00:24:03,839 --> 00:24:06,200
a business, if you're the Blazers, like, that's just where we are

374
00:24:06,240 --> 00:24:08,079
now. I would agree with that. But unless we find out that,

375
00:24:08,119 --> 00:24:11,519
like they guarantee they were going to
trade Scoot and then decided not to.

376
00:24:11,799 --> 00:24:15,559
Yeah, I think the one team
stuff is just mind numbingly annoying. Like

377
00:24:15,599 --> 00:24:18,160
that's just And I don't even problem
that. If he wanted to tell other

378
00:24:18,240 --> 00:24:22,200
teams that weren't on his list of
five, they're like, oh, I'm

379
00:24:22,200 --> 00:24:23,200
not gonna I get it, And
then it happens all the time. So

380
00:24:23,200 --> 00:24:26,319
it's not and I wanted to me
it's not Damian Lillard that it's just I

381
00:24:26,880 --> 00:24:32,359
want more randomness to this. And
like the whole CBA, the new CBA

382
00:24:32,400 --> 00:24:34,559
specifically was supposed to create more of
an even playing field, but I don't

383
00:24:34,599 --> 00:24:37,599
think it will, to be honest, I think it's gonna end up hurting

384
00:24:37,599 --> 00:24:41,039
the middle class player. I think
it's gonna end up hurting stars in Damian

385
00:24:41,079 --> 00:24:44,319
Lillard's situation where they're not going to
get paid as deeper into their career.

386
00:24:44,359 --> 00:24:47,759
I think this was an absolute farce
by the players unions to sign it,

387
00:24:47,799 --> 00:24:49,440
and it makes me wonder if CJ. McCollum does not like to sell players

388
00:24:49,599 --> 00:24:52,599
when I just think about all these
like rules that we're imposed. So I'm,

389
00:24:52,839 --> 00:24:56,440
yeah, it probably enough on the
Blazers, but I think you're probably

390
00:24:56,440 --> 00:24:59,880
I'm probably more worked up though about
the one team stuff than you are,

391
00:25:00,000 --> 00:25:03,440
it seems like, and I understand
that if i'm if I'm making the argument

392
00:25:03,440 --> 00:25:07,440
that everyone's acting practically, and that's
why it doesn't bother me. The specifying

393
00:25:07,480 --> 00:25:11,119
one team is like an impractical thing
to do because that just makes the act

394
00:25:11,160 --> 00:25:15,200
of getting yourself traded harder. So
like, I think I would agree with

395
00:25:15,240 --> 00:25:17,960
that. I just like I also
I'm kind of like, I mean,

396
00:25:18,240 --> 00:25:19,920
if he wants to play there,
it's okay to say that, but maybe

397
00:25:19,920 --> 00:25:23,880
you don't broadcast it. You know
that that might be the issue. I

398
00:25:23,960 --> 00:25:27,680
wanted to ask you about this though. What do you make of the Miami

399
00:25:27,759 --> 00:25:33,599
He's off season right now, independent
of the Damian Lord, Like if they

400
00:25:33,680 --> 00:25:36,400
let's just say that, it could
look grant if it takes months. It

401
00:25:36,440 --> 00:25:38,599
takes months that it's so funny And
I know there was more to that quote.

402
00:25:38,599 --> 00:25:41,279
Sean Hikind had it up on Twitter
that made it sound like less aggressive,

403
00:25:41,319 --> 00:25:47,160
but would just tweet that's the breast
conference was amazing. What do you

404
00:25:47,279 --> 00:25:51,160
make of Miami's off season? Independent, because let's just if they don't wind

405
00:25:51,240 --> 00:25:53,680
up with Dame, how do you
feel about their off season? Not good?

406
00:25:53,880 --> 00:25:56,680
I mean they lost, like what
do you? What do you That's

407
00:25:56,720 --> 00:26:00,640
the obvious answer, right like,
you you lost three, you lost Gabe

408
00:26:00,680 --> 00:26:03,759
Vincent and it's not like you were
that deep, right like you you had

409
00:26:04,319 --> 00:26:07,319
not I mean, I guess it
matters that Tyler Hero wasn't there. So

410
00:26:07,440 --> 00:26:11,680
if you slot him into some of
the you know, a big chunk of

411
00:26:11,720 --> 00:26:15,319
the struce Vincent minutes, you make
back some of that. But they they've

412
00:26:15,440 --> 00:26:18,240
definitely lost more than they've brought in, right like, unless Orlando Robinson is

413
00:26:18,279 --> 00:26:22,519
just gonna be the next guy that
they which maybe I think there's already kind

414
00:26:22,519 --> 00:26:26,119
of a ground swell of like,
oh look out, they got another one.

415
00:26:26,119 --> 00:26:29,559
But I mean it's it's way too
You can't give the Heat like,

416
00:26:29,759 --> 00:26:32,920
oh, therefore they get a B
minus for their offseason because this guy might

417
00:26:33,440 --> 00:26:37,720
you know, break out or something. I just I ultimately like, what's

418
00:26:37,759 --> 00:26:41,359
the Heat's grade for the off season? It's incomplete because the most transformative thing

419
00:26:41,400 --> 00:26:45,440
that might happen hasn't happened. So
but but like, if this is how

420
00:26:45,480 --> 00:26:48,680
they go into the seasoned with this
roster, it's like they're worse obviously,

421
00:26:48,119 --> 00:26:52,440
So it's not great if you just
made the finals and got worse to a

422
00:26:52,559 --> 00:26:56,000
pretty significant degree. Yeah, to
have so Kevin Love is back. I

423
00:26:56,079 --> 00:27:00,279
thought that Josh richards ad minimum deal
was big, Like that's just we could

424
00:27:00,279 --> 00:27:03,200
look back and be like we can
play Sorry, can he still play?

425
00:27:03,359 --> 00:27:07,000
Like I mean, are we doing
this? Don't be one of those I'm

426
00:27:07,039 --> 00:27:10,119
just asking like because I've always been
of the mind that like, man,

427
00:27:10,160 --> 00:27:11,480
you know, Josh Richardson kind of
fits anywhere. He can do a little

428
00:27:11,519 --> 00:27:15,599
bit of everything. And I wonder
if I'm clinging too hard to five six

429
00:27:15,720 --> 00:27:21,599
years ago or you know what I
mean. He's too confident off the dribble

430
00:27:21,839 --> 00:27:25,240
and the defense isn't what it was. But like, as someone who's just

431
00:27:25,400 --> 00:27:26,920
like this three and d wing on
a scale of like, I don't know

432
00:27:26,960 --> 00:27:30,920
who would be who's going to be
more valuable next season, mattist Table or

433
00:27:30,000 --> 00:27:33,400
Josh Richardson. There's a chance of
Josh Richardson. Yeah, that's fair.

434
00:27:33,759 --> 00:27:37,880
That's fair. I'm trying to I'm
just looking up how old he is too

435
00:27:40,160 --> 00:27:41,720
him at the minimum though, like
come on, yeah, for sure at

436
00:27:41,759 --> 00:27:45,720
the minimum, given his position.
It's just like I don't know. I

437
00:27:47,039 --> 00:27:52,400
feel like I just can't get visions
of like peak, you know, Miami

438
00:27:52,480 --> 00:27:55,119
heat. Again, don't get guys
that leave the heat. They're gonna get

439
00:27:55,119 --> 00:27:59,039
worse. That's how it works.
Watch out, watch out Max, watch

440
00:27:59,039 --> 00:28:03,680
out Cleveland Cavaliers and Lakers for Strusan
Vincent, respectively. I just yeah,

441
00:28:03,720 --> 00:28:07,680
I mean he's the thirty six and
a half percent career from deep get you,

442
00:28:07,839 --> 00:28:10,799
yeah, I mean he's yeah,
for the minimum, what are we

443
00:28:10,839 --> 00:28:12,960
doing? Of course that's a good
minimum signing. I can't think like a

444
00:28:14,039 --> 00:28:17,039
minute talking yourself into jost Well,
I was just like, how big of

445
00:28:17,119 --> 00:28:18,839
a deal is it? Because at
first it was like, oh, I

446
00:28:18,920 --> 00:28:22,200
can't believe it. But it's like
that's it's a good minimum signing. I'll

447
00:28:22,200 --> 00:28:25,079
give you that. So, like
they have the bodies, and I guess

448
00:28:25,119 --> 00:28:26,759
Thomas Brian is fine as a bat, like you were playing Cody's ell or

449
00:28:26,759 --> 00:28:30,359
against the koli Okis, Like I
don't know that, Like maybe Thomas Bryan

450
00:28:30,400 --> 00:28:33,119
has the inside scoop on how to
stop your kisch now because he spend time

451
00:28:33,119 --> 00:28:37,200
in Denver. But you're right,
they're worse than they. I think than

452
00:28:37,200 --> 00:28:41,279
they because Kyle Lowry just got a
year older, and I love Josh Richardson

453
00:28:41,359 --> 00:28:45,640
now he's a year older son year
older. Yeah, so they should still

454
00:28:45,640 --> 00:28:47,759
be a really good team. But
I don't think they're better if they don't.

455
00:28:47,799 --> 00:28:51,039
So if you don't trade for Dame
or somebody else, like they're all

456
00:28:51,160 --> 00:28:52,680
like having an off season discussion is
yeah, okay, you just made the

457
00:28:52,720 --> 00:28:57,839
finals, like you also kind of
got waxed in. He also won forty

458
00:28:57,920 --> 00:29:03,680
four regular seas games before you turned
it on, Like it's not like I

459
00:29:03,759 --> 00:29:07,359
mean every so everyone will be terrified
to the heat if they make them if

460
00:29:07,519 --> 00:29:11,039
when they make the playoffs, but
it's like they they barely made it,

461
00:29:11,279 --> 00:29:12,599
and they're worse, like how do
you know how the season's going to go?

462
00:29:12,880 --> 00:29:17,359
And I think the big thing here
too is that they got worse when

463
00:29:17,400 --> 00:29:21,200
you look specifically that I mean,
I know Brian and love and Richardson's space

464
00:29:21,319 --> 00:29:26,599
the floor in theory, like they
needed half court creation and spacing, and

465
00:29:26,799 --> 00:29:29,640
I would argue they have less of
it, or let's say a net neutral

466
00:29:29,680 --> 00:29:33,000
amount of it. I think without
Gabe Vincent and even Strue, you probably

467
00:29:33,039 --> 00:29:36,519
have less creation and spacing, right, I know, they're shooting percentages were

468
00:29:36,519 --> 00:29:37,519
all over the place. So even
if you want to say they have better

469
00:29:37,599 --> 00:29:42,920
stand still spacing with richardsitting Kevin Love, they definitely have less creation ability on

470
00:29:44,039 --> 00:29:47,119
this roster, right, Yeah,
no, that's definitely right. And again,

471
00:29:47,200 --> 00:29:49,240
yeah it's you know, we don't
need to talk about them, but

472
00:29:49,359 --> 00:29:52,920
like the Celtics had a real problem
with the offense bogging down and not enough

473
00:29:52,960 --> 00:29:57,279
good passers and offensive organizers, and
they traded away, you know, two

474
00:29:57,319 --> 00:30:00,200
of their better guys at that,
so like, yeah, maybe they're you

475
00:30:00,279 --> 00:30:03,240
know, not that much worse overall, but they didn't address like a real

476
00:30:03,480 --> 00:30:07,160
issue. So yeah, the heater
kind of they kind of fall into that,

477
00:30:07,960 --> 00:30:12,160
uh, for the same reasons.
They've lost something they had in pretty

478
00:30:12,200 --> 00:30:17,920
short supply to begin with, which
is if you're talking about a playoff context,

479
00:30:18,000 --> 00:30:19,839
it's all about like just don't have
a glaring weakness. If you can

480
00:30:19,880 --> 00:30:22,960
avoid it, you know, be
okay at least at everything, And they

481
00:30:23,079 --> 00:30:26,799
had kind of a glaring weakness and
it's it's more glaring. Now, that's

482
00:30:26,880 --> 00:30:30,599
that's not great. The two other
just team slash players. I want to

483
00:30:30,640 --> 00:30:33,759
get to that. We have to
get to on the news front before we

484
00:30:33,839 --> 00:30:37,319
start alternating through. Uh, let's
start with so de Jante Barry he started

485
00:30:37,400 --> 00:30:41,519
a four year, one hundred and
twenty billion dollars digit with Atlanta. I

486
00:30:41,559 --> 00:30:44,640
believe there's a player option on the
tail end of that deal. Yeah,

487
00:30:44,839 --> 00:30:48,119
he will right now, So that'll
be a player option in two and twenty

488
00:30:48,160 --> 00:30:51,599
seven, two and twenty eight at
thirty one point six MILLIAD. Were you

489
00:30:51,720 --> 00:30:53,799
surprised he signed this deal? Do
you like this deal for both sides?

490
00:30:53,839 --> 00:30:57,119
Like? How did you just feel
about that? In general? Actually was

491
00:30:57,279 --> 00:31:00,880
surprised that it got done at all, because I felt like I had just

492
00:31:00,960 --> 00:31:07,200
sort of written off the idea of
a Murray extension, much like well before

493
00:31:07,279 --> 00:31:10,119
the CBA change, like Jaylen Brown, like it wasn't gonna make sense for

494
00:31:10,240 --> 00:31:14,160
him to get one hundred and twenty
percent one forty changes it. It didn't

495
00:31:14,160 --> 00:31:17,279
make sense for I'm trying to think
like O G N and Obi doesn't seem

496
00:31:17,359 --> 00:31:19,640
likely to sign an extension for the
same reason, just because free agency he

497
00:31:19,720 --> 00:31:22,319
can sign a bigger deal. I
thought that would be the way the Murray

498
00:31:22,400 --> 00:31:25,920
thing went, and that was honestly
part of the reason that we were,

499
00:31:26,039 --> 00:31:29,440
like, I don't know about the
trade, because you're giving up a bunch

500
00:31:29,480 --> 00:31:33,200
of draft capital for maybe a guy
that's gonna walk because you can't extend him.

501
00:31:33,680 --> 00:31:36,440
So I was surprising. I think
it's a I think it's just an

502
00:31:36,480 --> 00:31:40,640
objectively a good thing for the Hawks
that they locked him down, even if

503
00:31:40,799 --> 00:31:42,599
even if like that's just to trade
him at some point, I don't think

504
00:31:42,640 --> 00:31:45,640
that's the reason. But yeah,
I think I think the numbers fine.

505
00:31:47,160 --> 00:31:49,400
I think, uh, you know, we'll have a much better idea of

506
00:31:49,480 --> 00:31:53,440
how his pairing with Trey Young is
going to go under Quinn Snyder for a

507
00:31:53,480 --> 00:31:56,680
full season. I think you'll get
a better sense of that. So yeah,

508
00:31:56,680 --> 00:32:00,359
I was surprised just because I had
I did not think that this was

509
00:32:00,400 --> 00:32:05,519
an extension that would get done.
So like, almost by definition, the

510
00:32:05,920 --> 00:32:07,640
Hawks got a good deal, right, because the thinking was that they were

511
00:32:07,720 --> 00:32:12,480
not going to be able to,
you know, entice him to just avoid

512
00:32:12,519 --> 00:32:15,799
free agency, which which is what's
happened now, right, And I think

513
00:32:15,839 --> 00:32:19,640
so someone had said that we got
the Anthony Edwards extension amount way wrong on

514
00:32:19,759 --> 00:32:22,559
our YouTube channel, So I apologize
if I was. Actually they're pretty aggressive

515
00:32:22,559 --> 00:32:24,440
about it. But if my max
contract calculator was wrong, or maybe I

516
00:32:24,440 --> 00:32:29,079
had the wrong salary cap number in
there, but he could have signed next

517
00:32:29,160 --> 00:32:30,160
year if we went four years,
like there could have been a five year

518
00:32:30,200 --> 00:32:32,519
option too. But let's just say
he would have signed. A four year

519
00:32:32,599 --> 00:32:36,720
max could have run as much as
one hundred ninety one hundred and ninety one

520
00:32:36,759 --> 00:32:39,519
million based off where the salary cap
is I think one forty two for twenty

521
00:32:39,680 --> 00:32:45,839
twenty five, So just by virtue
of guaranteeing yourself seventy million dollars less or

522
00:32:45,920 --> 00:32:50,240
so, just based off that,
he might still opt out. I do

523
00:32:51,000 --> 00:32:53,000
do you I feel like maybe we
should have considered it more likely that he

524
00:32:53,079 --> 00:32:57,720
signs it because this is someone who
has had an ACL injury in the past.

525
00:32:58,039 --> 00:33:00,799
It might just want to lock down
the most buddy as possible. There's

526
00:33:00,839 --> 00:33:04,160
also just like, do you not
trust the shaky foot of your audit Atlanta

527
00:33:04,240 --> 00:33:07,759
to where I think you know coming
out of that season in Atlanta, were

528
00:33:07,799 --> 00:33:10,839
you hire or lower on your Dejante
Murray stock, I might be slightly higher

529
00:33:12,039 --> 00:33:15,000
because I thought he played a lot
or shot a lot better off the ball

530
00:33:15,359 --> 00:33:17,799
than I do on volume. But
I didn't come away thinking that, oh,

531
00:33:17,880 --> 00:33:22,160
this is someone who might actually be
like a top twelve guard or something

532
00:33:22,240 --> 00:33:23,640
in the in the league. Like
it doesn't if you had to bet,

533
00:33:25,079 --> 00:33:29,359
you know, the over under out
him making another All Star team point five

534
00:33:29,759 --> 00:33:32,559
all Star periodism, you're taking over
the under own bat. I might.

535
00:33:32,640 --> 00:33:37,519
I'd probably go over because I can
imagine he's just finished his age twenty sixth

536
00:33:37,519 --> 00:33:39,640
season. But it's like that's a
good number to set it at. Just

537
00:33:40,119 --> 00:33:44,000
something you made me think of,
wasn't. Wasn't one of the reasons the

538
00:33:44,039 --> 00:33:46,720
Spurs traded him because he basically said, like, I'm not gonna extend here.

539
00:33:46,880 --> 00:33:51,119
I need to I want this,
I want the max, and so

540
00:33:51,279 --> 00:33:53,400
you need to go before we do
about the one hundred forty percent thing.

541
00:33:53,519 --> 00:33:57,960
Maybe that's the difference. Yeah,
maybe that's the but I mean that was

542
00:33:58,279 --> 00:34:00,720
that was That was the state of
the rules when the Hawks got him.

543
00:34:00,759 --> 00:34:01,880
So that was why I was like, well, why are you any different?

544
00:34:02,240 --> 00:34:05,920
He's not going to extend here.
Maybe he also looked at it too.

545
00:34:06,039 --> 00:34:07,960
I don't know this for sure,
but like looking at what's happening with

546
00:34:08,039 --> 00:34:12,039
James Harden who yes he is older. For there wasn't really a market and

547
00:34:12,119 --> 00:34:15,840
then even Fred van Fleet got the
max for two years. But look at

548
00:34:15,840 --> 00:34:16,840
where you're gonna go to get it
right, It's like if you want to

549
00:34:16,840 --> 00:34:20,159
be on a team that maybe he
just believes is more competitior, he might

550
00:34:20,199 --> 00:34:23,239
really like Atlanta whatever. I'm just
I think it's probably fair for both sides

551
00:34:23,239 --> 00:34:27,760
because I don't know that I just
don't know how good he is in the

552
00:34:27,880 --> 00:34:30,360
context of the league right now,
where it's yes, he's a top fifty

553
00:34:30,440 --> 00:34:35,880
player for sure, So like this
salary is totally I think it probably skews

554
00:34:37,000 --> 00:34:40,360
more team friendly than player friendly,
but I think that it's probably more just

555
00:34:40,880 --> 00:34:45,960
representative of his value as a player
and to this team than anything else.

556
00:34:45,199 --> 00:34:50,039
Yeah, I think he's a good
starter that might have an All Star game

557
00:34:50,079 --> 00:34:52,519
in him, and so that just
makes the money that it's, you know,

558
00:34:52,719 --> 00:34:54,480
four for one twenty. I'm sure
there's incentives. It's actually less than

559
00:34:54,519 --> 00:34:58,800
that he's probably not going to get
maybe he will, but if it's less

560
00:34:58,880 --> 00:35:01,000
than that by a few million bucks, that's even better. Obviously. Yeah,

561
00:35:01,039 --> 00:35:05,400
I think I do wonder though about
the Well we're probably going too long

562
00:35:05,440 --> 00:35:08,480
on the john Ton Murray, but
like what do you think the ideal team

563
00:35:08,599 --> 00:35:13,159
for him is and and why doesn't
it involve Trey Young right, like,

564
00:35:13,599 --> 00:35:16,800
like it seems like he should be
on the ball more, right, It's

565
00:35:16,840 --> 00:35:20,719
just the team is just like,
can you surround him with at least three

566
00:35:20,719 --> 00:35:23,079
shooters and that is the second best
player or the best player on the team.

567
00:35:23,239 --> 00:35:27,320
Look, because probably he's in the
idea of his role right now,

568
00:35:27,480 --> 00:35:30,760
is the second best player on this
team makes sense for him? But it's

569
00:35:30,800 --> 00:35:32,280
can the first best player not be
his? But like if he was put

570
00:35:32,360 --> 00:35:37,239
him on the Celtics, Yeah,
that's like that's the team where it's like,

571
00:35:37,400 --> 00:35:39,039
oh, you'll have four shooters around
you at all points for the most

572
00:35:39,079 --> 00:35:44,159
part, or your RW three and
then three shooters with you and Murray.

573
00:35:44,559 --> 00:35:46,280
Like that's the team model. And
I know there aren't a lot of teams

574
00:35:46,320 --> 00:35:52,840
that could replicate that at the moment, but like Atlanta theoretically comes pretty close.

575
00:35:52,960 --> 00:35:57,000
Not so like they don't have a
four spacing five right now. So

576
00:35:57,760 --> 00:36:00,000
like, but if Trey Yug was
less ball dominant, I would think that

577
00:36:00,000 --> 00:36:02,599
they would come pretty close to being
a situate was should that makes sense?

578
00:36:02,760 --> 00:36:07,360
Could you imagine it made in Denver
instead of Jamal Murray? Like that's the

579
00:36:07,440 --> 00:36:09,239
setup too, that could work.
I'm not saying he's better than Jamal where

580
00:36:09,239 --> 00:36:14,039
if that's like you imagine in Denver
with Jamal Murray and Nicolo Kis would make

581
00:36:14,079 --> 00:36:15,639
a ton of sense. Yeah,
I mean just take the Bruce Brown roll

582
00:36:15,719 --> 00:36:20,239
over. I did want to ask
you, though, are we in agreement

583
00:36:20,320 --> 00:36:22,920
that the Atlanta Hawks offseason this deal
I think is a good deal for them.

584
00:36:22,960 --> 00:36:23,920
I want to make that clear.
The else season kind of sucks,

585
00:36:24,039 --> 00:36:29,079
right, Just hey, we duck
the tax? What are they under it?

586
00:36:29,239 --> 00:36:31,719
My right now, it's like,
okay, we have how much wiggle

587
00:36:31,760 --> 00:36:35,440
room under the tax? At the
moment there they have a ton under The

588
00:36:35,480 --> 00:36:37,719
first April they were about nine million
under the tax. Okay, cool.

589
00:36:37,880 --> 00:36:42,480
But your biggest addition is Kobe Buffkin, who I actually really like. But

590
00:36:42,519 --> 00:36:45,760
it's what does his play time look
like with Jejante Murray and Trey Young on

591
00:36:45,880 --> 00:36:50,480
your roster? You sat out somewhat. Do you remember the YouTube comment there

592
00:36:50,599 --> 00:36:53,360
when we were doing our Mega Show
live stream where it's like Atlanta started and

593
00:36:53,880 --> 00:36:57,199
free agency started. Atlanta was like, Oh, I'm gonna go out and

594
00:36:57,239 --> 00:37:00,400
get cigarettes or somethink were gonna say, Like what did they even do?

595
00:37:00,559 --> 00:37:06,599
I forgot about the I mean the
return. Ultimately, So are tight Ti

596
00:37:06,679 --> 00:37:09,320
Washington and Uswan Garuba? Are they
tied into the Collins trade? Did that

597
00:37:09,400 --> 00:37:13,760
get like roped into? They're not
even on Atlanta anymore? Okay, so

598
00:37:13,840 --> 00:37:15,760
they had them and they don't have
them. Where are those guys? Patty

599
00:37:15,800 --> 00:37:19,480
Mills at the moment is their big
addition? That's right, the yah tracking

600
00:37:19,519 --> 00:37:22,519
we're Patty Mills. It was Garuba
and Thai Washingtons. But one of the

601
00:37:22,599 --> 00:37:27,400
more difficult things of the ass,
did I just what I mean? Yeah,

602
00:37:28,679 --> 00:37:31,199
I'm never excited if like the big
achievement was we got under the tax

603
00:37:31,280 --> 00:37:37,480
again, Like that's not that's not
never sell you can understand it from a

604
00:37:37,559 --> 00:37:40,760
team perspective. Never celebrate it.
Wow, that was a good business by

605
00:37:40,800 --> 00:37:45,480
Atlanta. Yeah, so we guess
what we did it guys. It's an

606
00:37:45,480 --> 00:37:49,719
indictment on how much they fucked the
shit out of John Collins's value. They

607
00:37:49,760 --> 00:37:52,320
were trying to trade this dude before
they sign him to that mega deal.

608
00:37:52,559 --> 00:37:55,000
They signed him to that mega deal, and at every turn, they were

609
00:37:55,039 --> 00:37:59,360
like, how can we make John
Collins a worse fit for our roster?

610
00:37:59,800 --> 00:38:02,760
It was okay, we're gonna pair
him with a primary rim running big,

611
00:38:04,639 --> 00:38:07,239
and then we're gonna add another ball
dominant guard to the equation. So he

612
00:38:07,400 --> 00:38:09,800
is just relegated to accessory duty.
And look, maybe you don't buy into

613
00:38:09,880 --> 00:38:15,000
John Collins's value as anything more than
an offensive accessory. That's a different conversation.

614
00:38:15,360 --> 00:38:21,920
Atlanta literally just devalued him like at
every turn, after, before and

615
00:38:22,039 --> 00:38:25,519
after paying him. It's one of
the more mind boggling just developments that I've

616
00:38:25,519 --> 00:38:30,559
seen, where it's they had all
this information on the he was on their

617
00:38:30,599 --> 00:38:34,679
team. This is someone who saw
thrive and in a role, and then

618
00:38:34,719 --> 00:38:38,199
you decided, hey, let's continue
to pull him further and further away from

619
00:38:38,280 --> 00:38:43,280
that role. I really want I
would love to see like a not that

620
00:38:43,400 --> 00:38:46,320
you could ever get the true measure
of it, but like a like a

621
00:38:46,800 --> 00:38:51,800
like a line graph of like what
John collins trade value was starting in like

622
00:38:51,880 --> 00:38:54,599
twenty nineteen, just to see like
where how high it went and how low

623
00:38:54,679 --> 00:38:58,639
it was. I ranked him as
one of the ten best trade assets leading

624
00:38:58,679 --> 00:39:02,360
into the last offseason because he's so
undervalued right now, the contract is reasonable.

625
00:39:02,639 --> 00:39:07,719
Like look at where we had lots
of conversations about I mean, they're

626
00:39:07,800 --> 00:39:12,280
only gonna get one first round pickback
for him, Like that's not enough.

627
00:39:12,360 --> 00:39:14,440
You can't trade him for that.
And then like lo and behold, they

628
00:39:14,480 --> 00:39:16,639
don't even get that, Like that's
I just can't. That's not on this

629
00:39:16,800 --> 00:39:20,800
front office. But like the whole
ducketing attacks think like we didn't do anything

630
00:39:20,840 --> 00:39:22,920
else. My prediction would be and
this might be a way of forcing us

631
00:39:22,960 --> 00:39:27,519
to segue to the next team.
I think they are one of the two

632
00:39:27,639 --> 00:39:30,440
or three most likely teams to wind
up with Pascal Siakam be a trade until

633
00:39:30,519 --> 00:39:34,480
that would change the complexion of their
off season. Which hey, speaking of

634
00:39:34,559 --> 00:39:38,679
that segue Pascal Siakam mark Stein,
I think there's been a bunch of rubblings,

635
00:39:38,719 --> 00:39:44,559
just official and unofficial for a while
on him, but Atlanta per mark

636
00:39:44,599 --> 00:39:45,920
Stein has been one of the most
aggressive teams trying to get him, and

637
00:39:46,559 --> 00:39:50,760
he basically said he didn't come out
and write this out right, but he

638
00:39:50,880 --> 00:39:53,840
kind of hit did that. Siakam
is more likely to be traded at this

639
00:39:53,920 --> 00:39:59,199
point than James Hardner, Damian Lillard
or at least as likely or he's the

640
00:39:59,320 --> 00:40:02,320
likely star to be traded first.
Where it take Pascal Siakam was dealt before

641
00:40:02,760 --> 00:40:07,039
Damian Loward or James Harden here,
So I'm just where do you land on

642
00:40:07,159 --> 00:40:14,159
that whole situation. All I'll say
is because this is this has been a

643
00:40:14,199 --> 00:40:17,159
thing with Toronto for at least a
year that we've been talking about at least

644
00:40:17,840 --> 00:40:22,840
with it didn't It wasn't just Siakim, it was Anobi and Van Vleet and

645
00:40:22,960 --> 00:40:29,239
Gary Trent Junior. Having just seen
Van Vleet leave for nothing when you absolutely

646
00:40:29,280 --> 00:40:32,719
could have traded him for positive value, after seeing Kyle Lowry leave for basically

647
00:40:32,840 --> 00:40:36,440
nothing where you could have gotten more
than just precious to you up, I'm

648
00:40:36,519 --> 00:40:40,960
sure that I'm positive if you're so. If because of those things, the

649
00:40:42,119 --> 00:40:45,760
Raptors more than a normal team or
just a random team, if you're talking

650
00:40:45,800 --> 00:40:49,840
about it, you better trade this
guy like you better not make this the

651
00:40:50,000 --> 00:40:53,440
next guy that you end up in
the position of, well, we could

652
00:40:53,519 --> 00:41:00,840
keep him, but either we're going
to have to outspend a crazy like Houston

653
00:41:00,920 --> 00:41:05,079
Rockets level offer, even though the
brevity of that overall contract makes it for

654
00:41:05,199 --> 00:41:07,400
Van Fleet. I'm talking about a
little more sensible or we just lose,

655
00:41:07,480 --> 00:41:12,000
you know, I just I don't
like and you always you call me on

656
00:41:12,079 --> 00:41:14,800
this, and you're right, there's
always signing trades. There's you know,

657
00:41:14,840 --> 00:41:17,760
it's not like if a guy hits
free agency you're guaranteed to lose them for

658
00:41:17,840 --> 00:41:22,719
nothing. I just having seen Toronto
do this now and kind of lose it

659
00:41:22,920 --> 00:41:25,719
twice with with van Fleet and with
Lowry, just move them. So so

660
00:41:25,920 --> 00:41:30,440
I'm not surprised. I'm actually kind
of hopeful because I want to see the

661
00:41:30,480 --> 00:41:34,199
Raptors go one way or the other. You know, they've been one of

662
00:41:34,239 --> 00:41:37,599
the most you know, annoying offseason
teams for us, just because they're not

663
00:41:37,760 --> 00:41:40,960
going. They're sort of like league
fact. League forces are like acting on

664
00:41:42,079 --> 00:41:45,280
them. They're not doing anything.
They're just like, well Van Fleet left,

665
00:41:45,320 --> 00:41:47,800
what are you gonna do. There's
just there's no activity. There's they're

666
00:41:47,840 --> 00:41:51,559
just being reactive or non active.
I don't know. Yeah, no,

667
00:41:51,679 --> 00:41:52,760
that's a great way to that.
The way you close as a great way

668
00:41:52,760 --> 00:41:57,880
to phrase it. And I guess
I'm with you there. Move them just

669
00:41:58,000 --> 00:42:00,320
because you can't be in the business
giving players away for free or basically nothing.

670
00:42:00,800 --> 00:42:04,519
And we know he doesn't want to
be moved. He was telling teams

671
00:42:04,559 --> 00:42:07,719
that I think Portland and Atlanta that
he wouldn't resign with them or something.

672
00:42:07,960 --> 00:42:12,679
He wants his Supermax. I have
some news for Pascal Siakam, who's a

673
00:42:12,760 --> 00:42:15,760
very smart person, fantastic basketball player. You ain't making All NBA on this

674
00:42:15,880 --> 00:42:19,559
Raptors team. That's not fucking happened. No one's gonna watch you enough.

675
00:42:19,639 --> 00:42:22,599
We will. I promise to vote
you for All NBA if you're good enough

676
00:42:22,800 --> 00:42:27,119
and they have surrounded you somehow with
even less space. I guess Grady Dick,

677
00:42:27,159 --> 00:42:30,679
if he comes on, it's just
like but having Dennis Shrewder run your

678
00:42:30,719 --> 00:42:32,840
point and like it's just and then
Scotty Barnes, it's just gonna be too

679
00:42:32,880 --> 00:42:36,920
iffy. I like the idea of
the Raptors saying, hey, let's really

680
00:42:37,199 --> 00:42:40,199
pivot into more of Scottie, more
of of Og, even on the ball,

681
00:42:40,440 --> 00:42:43,480
Like that's gonna have to be.
The next discussion is you need to

682
00:42:43,519 --> 00:42:45,960
be sure that you're giving Og the
role that he wants and you're prepared to

683
00:42:46,000 --> 00:42:51,719
pay him because someone's gonna I think
with Siakim and Og specifically, they might

684
00:42:51,800 --> 00:42:53,639
have been more sought after in free
agency than Fred van Fleet, like this

685
00:42:53,840 --> 00:43:00,159
year versus next summer, and like
Justice the Sixers right now lining themselves up

686
00:43:00,159 --> 00:43:02,480
for a ship ton of cap space
and having ogn and Obi float around out

687
00:43:02,519 --> 00:43:07,039
there. Some of these other teams
that will be involved, just like Orlando

688
00:43:07,119 --> 00:43:09,119
could have a crap ton of Capsa's
getting. Detroit will be right there.

689
00:43:09,480 --> 00:43:14,079
Someone's coming with these mega offers,
and some of them will be able to

690
00:43:14,119 --> 00:43:16,199
offer him maybe just as big of, if not a bigger offensive role than

691
00:43:16,239 --> 00:43:21,079
he's ever had in Toronto. Commit
to a direction. And that's been my

692
00:43:21,119 --> 00:43:24,440
biggest issue with Toronto is that they've
been straddling. They almost went like Portland

693
00:43:24,480 --> 00:43:29,079
Trailblazers east on us to where it's
are we going to try and stand pat

694
00:43:29,199 --> 00:43:31,119
or hit these singles and doubles rather
than going for a home run like the

695
00:43:31,199 --> 00:43:36,320
Yacca Peodle trades a perfect example that
was a needle mover, but it was

696
00:43:36,400 --> 00:43:39,000
we gave up this loosely protected first
round pick so that we could pay this

697
00:43:39,119 --> 00:43:43,679
guy twenty million dollars a year and
then let the guy who assisted on more

698
00:43:43,719 --> 00:43:46,199
than one third of his buckets last
season just leave for nothing. It's like

699
00:43:46,280 --> 00:43:49,920
you could have maybe gone all in
and been more aggressive and tried to get

700
00:43:49,960 --> 00:43:52,440
a better player than Yaka Peardle and
tried to be involved in more of these

701
00:43:52,519 --> 00:43:57,519
star sweepstakes, or create your own
That's the other thing we don't talk about

702
00:43:57,599 --> 00:44:00,559
enough is you want me to name
a player, create your own trade market.

703
00:44:00,639 --> 00:44:02,039
You had the players to do that, You had the outsets, everyone

704
00:44:02,079 --> 00:44:06,079
wanted them. Create your own trade
market. You have to pick one way

705
00:44:06,159 --> 00:44:07,079
or the other. I think at
this port, at this point, the

706
00:44:07,159 --> 00:44:09,840
league has picked for them towards.
You have to look at this and it's

707
00:44:09,960 --> 00:44:14,440
all right, we don't have Fred
VanVleet, and okay, we sign re

708
00:44:14,519 --> 00:44:16,599
sign Yakom Peartle, and like we
have Gary Trent Junior floating around out here,

709
00:44:16,719 --> 00:44:20,719
but like, what are we doing? Siakam and og? You're about

710
00:44:20,719 --> 00:44:23,599
to hit free agency. And if
Siakam saying he won't extend with other teams

711
00:44:23,800 --> 00:44:27,920
or won't stay with them, I'm
assuming he won't sign the one hundred and

712
00:44:28,000 --> 00:44:30,840
forty percent extension, which I don't
know. If I'm him, I don't

713
00:44:30,880 --> 00:44:34,280
think that that's like a I think
it gets Oh, does he get to

714
00:44:34,360 --> 00:44:37,480
his max on the one hundred and
forty percent, so he's got thirty seven

715
00:44:37,519 --> 00:44:39,039
point nine, so like, oh
yeah, he gets to fifty three.

716
00:44:39,159 --> 00:44:43,599
So like that's not like are they
even offering it? Because if you're looking

717
00:44:43,599 --> 00:44:45,760
at moving him, he's he wants
to be qualified with the Supermax. Is

718
00:44:45,760 --> 00:44:50,519
your team even willing to extend you
right now? I mean that? So

719
00:44:51,400 --> 00:44:57,119
I wonder how different it is saying
for Siakam, I'm not gonna, I'm

720
00:44:57,159 --> 00:44:59,320
not gonna. I'm probably not gonna
resign, so like, don't bother,

721
00:44:59,559 --> 00:45:01,159
you know, if you don't trade
for me. It's not that different than

722
00:45:01,239 --> 00:45:05,719
Dames saying there's one team I'm going
to play for, Like that's I like

723
00:45:05,840 --> 00:45:09,599
it. Yeah, it's just like
it just like doesn't it doesn't make any

724
00:45:09,639 --> 00:45:14,880
sense. And Siaka, I mean
this is probably a little unfair, but

725
00:45:14,920 --> 00:45:20,880
it's almost like the Raptors I pretty
clearly I don't think want to give him

726
00:45:20,960 --> 00:45:23,599
the most money they possibly can.
Like that just doesn't seem like something they

727
00:45:23,760 --> 00:45:29,199
would prefer to do. They walk
in free agency for absolutely nothing. Yeah,

728
00:45:30,000 --> 00:45:32,440
and then but then you don't also
get to it. Just I don't

729
00:45:32,440 --> 00:45:35,639
know. It feels a little bit
like the Dame thing where it's it's just

730
00:45:35,719 --> 00:45:37,960
like, don't say that, don't
don't don't broadcast that you're you know,

731
00:45:38,119 --> 00:45:42,599
hey, don't trade for me,
because if what you actually want is options,

732
00:45:42,679 --> 00:45:45,159
you're just you're like trimming off way
too many that way. I don't

733
00:45:45,159 --> 00:45:50,719
know, it's I guess it's not
a totally analogous situation, but a disastrous

734
00:45:50,719 --> 00:45:52,679
offseason from Toronto. I would say
he's fair body phrase. Yeah, I

735
00:45:52,719 --> 00:45:54,880
think it's one of the worst one
of the worlds and like they might still

736
00:45:54,880 --> 00:45:59,440
be a pretty good team that's totally
in the cards, but like pretty good

737
00:45:59,599 --> 00:46:02,039
is has been you know, a
status quo for them for a little bit

738
00:46:02,079 --> 00:46:06,559
too long. I think for both
of our tastes. One word prediction is

739
00:46:06,599 --> 00:46:10,679
Siakam on the Raptors to start next
season. Uh, I'm gonna say no,

740
00:46:12,000 --> 00:46:15,840
just because this feels like a there's
fire where the smoke is situ and

741
00:46:15,920 --> 00:46:20,400
like when Stein goes in on something
like that and you're like, I think

742
00:46:20,440 --> 00:46:23,199
Michael Grange has been reporting this,
he's in Toronto, has been kind of

743
00:46:23,239 --> 00:46:28,039
on this a little bit more to
a bunch of stuff too. Yeah,

744
00:46:28,159 --> 00:46:30,639
I think I think there's enough here
where I feel pretty good about and like

745
00:46:30,800 --> 00:46:35,320
also because like we just spent forever
talking about it makes sense. If you're

746
00:46:35,360 --> 00:46:37,840
Toronto, you should You've got it, you should trade him. It's not

747
00:46:37,000 --> 00:46:39,920
just you know the rumors. It's
like, yeah, this seems like the

748
00:46:40,039 --> 00:46:45,079
right decision. Where do you want
to take us next? We finally reached

749
00:46:45,119 --> 00:46:47,920
we're past the obligatory stage of this
podcast. Let's let's vacalate team. Let's

750
00:46:47,920 --> 00:46:52,679
alter eight teams. Okay, I
we haven't talked about this team. I

751
00:46:52,719 --> 00:46:57,639
don't think at all. And I
was watching, uh, we're working on

752
00:46:57,920 --> 00:47:01,679
a all rookie team thing, uh
for Bleacher Report, you and I and

753
00:47:01,760 --> 00:47:05,880
I was watching a bunch of chet
Holmgren Summer League clips and it was just

754
00:47:06,000 --> 00:47:09,239
kind of one of those moments where
I maybe you don't have these, but

755
00:47:09,320 --> 00:47:13,239
it was. It was It was
very much like, wait, so,

756
00:47:13,480 --> 00:47:20,400
why aren't the thunder gonna just be
like a fifty win team? Like Grant

757
00:47:20,480 --> 00:47:22,599
talk yourself out of this, and
yeah, like, don't judge anything on

758
00:47:22,639 --> 00:47:25,920
summer League, but just the totality
of that picture. I think we love

759
00:47:27,079 --> 00:47:30,599
like eight guys that they have,
just like love eight guys. You know

760
00:47:30,599 --> 00:47:34,760
how I feel about Jalen Williams by
the way, Yeah, well, hey,

761
00:47:35,400 --> 00:47:38,480
Jerry's still out on this whole thing. I mean, like s GA,

762
00:47:38,760 --> 00:47:43,519
we you know is if he's not
a he's definitely a top ten guy

763
00:47:43,920 --> 00:47:46,519
right like this year. Yeah,
it's not a crazy thing to say.

764
00:47:46,960 --> 00:47:51,519
I think we both like Giddy,
I mean, Cayson Wallace. I just

765
00:47:52,119 --> 00:47:57,199
I'm sure I'm forgetting. Like five
guys want to really intrigued me, and

766
00:47:57,239 --> 00:48:00,400
it's a lot of it's Chet because
he gives them a demension and they just

767
00:48:00,679 --> 00:48:02,880
really don't. I mean part of
this because he offers a dimension that like

768
00:48:02,960 --> 00:48:07,920
nobody has short of like women,
Yama, I guess, but I just

769
00:48:07,039 --> 00:48:12,920
wanted to we need to discuss the
thunder as I'm leaning towards them, and

770
00:48:13,000 --> 00:48:15,880
this isn't a hot take because they
won forty games last year, but like

771
00:48:15,400 --> 00:48:20,920
leaning towards them being kind of like
a Memphis level, like oh shit,

772
00:48:21,079 --> 00:48:24,119
they're here, like regular season kind
of assent. I'm very much ready for

773
00:48:24,199 --> 00:48:28,119
that, and I'm ready also for
you to try to talk me out of

774
00:48:28,199 --> 00:48:30,719
that. No, I won't because
I think Chet home ran based off what

775
00:48:30,920 --> 00:48:35,360
I had wondered if would he be. I wanted them to overpay, overpay,

776
00:48:35,400 --> 00:48:37,719
I wanted them to max out Brook
Lopez for two years just to play

777
00:48:37,719 --> 00:48:40,199
with Chet Home ran them in the
spurs like my two And even if Pelicans

778
00:48:40,280 --> 00:48:43,239
get done a sign trails, like
if Brook Lopez was gonna leave, I

779
00:48:43,239 --> 00:48:45,639
want him to end up here watching. From what I've seen with Chet Holman,

780
00:48:45,719 --> 00:48:50,880
he's just ready to play center.
And that change is the dynamic of

781
00:48:50,960 --> 00:48:52,039
how you're able to flush out the
rest of your roster. And even just

782
00:48:52,239 --> 00:48:57,280
like you know, Jay will like
having that center on there, like you

783
00:48:57,360 --> 00:49:00,679
can step in and take take all
these charges. And I my criticism of

784
00:49:00,719 --> 00:49:04,400
them would be so it wouldn't shock
me. It's not a real criticism because

785
00:49:04,400 --> 00:49:06,880
if they came into you told me
they had, like remember how we felt

786
00:49:06,880 --> 00:49:09,440
about the Pelicans in December of this
past year, we might feel that way

787
00:49:09,480 --> 00:49:13,079
about the thunder where yeah we kind
of saw it coming a little. Well

788
00:49:13,119 --> 00:49:15,480
now we saw it coming with the
pell because like they could. It wouldn't

789
00:49:15,480 --> 00:49:16,639
shock me if you told me,
yeah, they have the two scene in

790
00:49:16,679 --> 00:49:20,280
the West right now. I still
question whether their offense will be good enough

791
00:49:20,599 --> 00:49:23,519
or are they gonna try and disperse
minutes amongst too many guys they have too

792
00:49:23,760 --> 00:49:28,079
they have too many guys, like
quite literally they're gonna end up waving people

793
00:49:28,480 --> 00:49:30,960
that are guaranteed money, and I'm
just even like, oh, they're the

794
00:49:30,000 --> 00:49:34,239
team that ended up with Usman Garuba. I have hope that maybe they'll play

795
00:49:34,320 --> 00:49:36,599
him. They won't, they might
wave him. Probably know like Usman,

796
00:49:36,679 --> 00:49:38,599
Jay is still a guy that's just
like, has a really good feel at

797
00:49:38,599 --> 00:49:42,960
both ends of the floor, and
if he doesn't get injured like this past

798
00:49:42,960 --> 00:49:45,840
season, I think we're talking about
him as an all rookie guy. So

799
00:49:45,760 --> 00:49:50,840
but like, Cayson Wallace is a
perfect sort of Litmitz test for how you

800
00:49:50,880 --> 00:49:53,360
feel about the Thumber, because one, what do the minutes look like when

801
00:49:53,360 --> 00:49:57,920
you just have lou Dort here,
you have Sha Gilder Sauxander, you have

802
00:49:58,119 --> 00:50:00,840
Josh Giddy. Now Kayson Wallace is
in this fold, trey Man is still

803
00:50:00,840 --> 00:50:04,679
floating around. I know you prioritize
Case and Wallace over trey Man. Like

804
00:50:04,800 --> 00:50:07,599
even the wing rotation with Jollen Williams
and ken Rich Williams gets crowded and Alexei

805
00:50:07,639 --> 00:50:14,199
Polkachowski's right here, but looking at
and we're adding metches to the equation even

806
00:50:14,440 --> 00:50:19,000
looking at just the Case and Wallace
move as a larger portrait of their offseason,

807
00:50:19,320 --> 00:50:22,880
whereas they entered with thirty plus million
in cap space and the number twelve

808
00:50:22,960 --> 00:50:27,280
pick and you turn that into the
number ten pick in Case and Wallace and

809
00:50:27,360 --> 00:50:31,559
a bunch of seconds and then like
twenty two million guaranteed Indavis Berton's Usman Garuba,

810
00:50:31,599 --> 00:50:36,800
Tai Tai Washington. They It bothers
me because they are good enough to

811
00:50:36,920 --> 00:50:42,880
have looked at this offseason as there
might be a market like deficit of teams

812
00:50:42,960 --> 00:50:45,880
that players actually want to play for. It could be good enough, Like

813
00:50:45,039 --> 00:50:47,519
why couldn't they could have done what
the Rockets did, is my point with

814
00:50:47,679 --> 00:50:52,239
somebody. Maybe it's Pja. You
really thought chent Holmegren is good to play

815
00:50:52,280 --> 00:50:55,280
center. You could have went out
and PJ. Washington is still floating around

816
00:50:55,320 --> 00:50:59,880
out they are technically at the time
being so just they like you could have

817
00:51:00,039 --> 00:51:02,599
gotten involved on maybe not you know, maybe not Kuzma, but even like

818
00:51:02,920 --> 00:51:07,400
Harrison Barnes on a two year overpay
if you knew chet Holmgan was gonna pay.

819
00:51:07,639 --> 00:51:10,840
I'm not saying the thunder failed.
And you have to give Sam Presty

820
00:51:10,880 --> 00:51:14,599
and co. Of the benefit of
the doubt here. Maybe Case Wallace is

821
00:51:14,639 --> 00:51:17,159
the next great star and then it's
oh, everything just makes sense and they're

822
00:51:17,159 --> 00:51:20,840
still gonna be really good, but
you have the chance to be even better,

823
00:51:21,079 --> 00:51:22,239
and like, like you could have
been the team, well you have

824
00:51:22,320 --> 00:51:24,159
all these guards, Like you didn't
need to be the team that went out

825
00:51:24,199 --> 00:51:29,159
and poison pilled Austin Reeves, Like
you could have done something more. It's

826
00:51:29,199 --> 00:51:30,840
not, well, what else were
the thunder What were they supposed to do?

827
00:51:31,079 --> 00:51:34,800
There's a bunch of shit that they
could have done. And the other

828
00:51:34,880 --> 00:51:37,960
thing that I think bothers me a
little bit is well, how how valuable

829
00:51:38,079 --> 00:51:43,920
was tap space? The Spurs got
Reggie Bullock and a twenty thirty swap just

830
00:51:44,280 --> 00:51:47,320
to facilitate like Grant Williams getting a
Dallas and Reggie Bullock is a guy who

831
00:51:47,320 --> 00:51:50,960
could just come in and be He
was playing forty minutes per game for like

832
00:51:51,079 --> 00:51:53,440
the team that went to the conference
finals two years ago. So it's just

833
00:51:53,559 --> 00:51:59,440
like it feels like they didn't make
the most efficient use of their tap space.

834
00:51:59,480 --> 00:52:01,880
I'm not even they had to sign
anybody big. That would have been

835
00:52:01,920 --> 00:52:06,000
my preference. I want to make
that clear. Great Williams would have been

836
00:52:06,000 --> 00:52:08,519
great for them, especially because of
what Chet home. Grin looks like right

837
00:52:08,559 --> 00:52:12,239
now, I just wish they would
have done more or at least put a

838
00:52:12,360 --> 00:52:15,920
higher premium on their cap space went
using it to move up in the draft.

839
00:52:16,159 --> 00:52:20,320
Take on these salaries, et cetera, et cetera. Vitor Oladipot is

840
00:52:20,320 --> 00:52:22,760
currently on this roster. Tip,
by the way, do you think some

841
00:52:23,000 --> 00:52:28,119
of the motivation for what I think
you're I would, I think pretty much

842
00:52:28,159 --> 00:52:31,039
agree with you is sort of disappointing
use of their cap space? Do you

843
00:52:31,239 --> 00:52:37,440
do you think the which you said
they sort of have too many guys like

844
00:52:37,559 --> 00:52:39,960
went into that because it's it's almost
like, well, if we go sign

845
00:52:40,519 --> 00:52:45,599
whoever, maybe we don't get you
know, we still all these guys other

846
00:52:45,679 --> 00:52:50,920
than SGA. You know, you
probably would like another full season look at

847
00:52:51,000 --> 00:52:52,519
like, well how much can we
ask Jaleen Williams to do? And like

848
00:52:52,639 --> 00:52:58,559
how much offensive production are we going
to get from chet? Like I get

849
00:52:58,599 --> 00:53:00,079
it, Like, you know,
guys get hurt. Nobody plays eighty two

850
00:53:00,159 --> 00:53:04,480
games, you're gonna need, like, you know, a pretty deep roster

851
00:53:04,599 --> 00:53:08,280
of actual NBA players. But like, and so you should maybe go use

852
00:53:08,320 --> 00:53:12,400
that cas spase to sign someone that
will help your rotation as opposed to kind

853
00:53:12,400 --> 00:53:16,639
of dead money. But I wonder
if maybe just the idea of let's kind

854
00:53:16,679 --> 00:53:21,719
of still see what these guys that
we really care about, these core young

855
00:53:21,800 --> 00:53:23,679
guys look like, and we don't
want to get anybody sort of in the

856
00:53:23,760 --> 00:53:27,840
way, you know, of their
development. I'm just I'm just like,

857
00:53:27,920 --> 00:53:30,480
sort of that's not quite Devil's advocate, but I'm just trying to justify how

858
00:53:30,519 --> 00:53:34,599
they went about it. No,
I would agree there. I still think

859
00:53:34,599 --> 00:53:37,360
they had more flexibility to do things
in the front court specifically. Then if

860
00:53:37,400 --> 00:53:40,239
that's and I'm sure, look that
had to factor into their approach, like

861
00:53:40,280 --> 00:53:43,320
you're gonna be okay, like some
of these other aids that they might have

862
00:53:43,400 --> 00:53:45,039
to wait for guarantee money. It's
not a big deal. So they have

863
00:53:45,119 --> 00:53:47,519
all these extra bodies, but they
don't factor in to the log to replay

864
00:53:47,559 --> 00:53:51,519
at that changes when you actually offer
someone a contract. So yeah, I

865
00:53:51,559 --> 00:53:53,000
get that for sure. Yeah,
all right, you give me, give

866
00:53:53,039 --> 00:53:57,480
me a team because we just went
along time on Okay, see it really

867
00:53:57,599 --> 00:54:00,039
wasn't that log for us. By
the way, let's let's talk about the

868
00:54:00,119 --> 00:54:04,559
Phoenix odds, because I've seen this
question floated around and this you're the perfect

869
00:54:04,599 --> 00:54:07,360
person to ask it about general pressions
about their off season where you look at

870
00:54:07,400 --> 00:54:13,440
everyone they've got, but it's after
and this is kind of like them versus

871
00:54:13,480 --> 00:54:16,440
the Denver Nuggets a little bit?
Do they deserve to be the title favorites

872
00:54:16,480 --> 00:54:19,360
now? Like what are the teams
you're placing in front of them? But

873
00:54:19,360 --> 00:54:21,880
I also want to know how you
feel about because you were iffy on the

874
00:54:21,920 --> 00:54:25,239
Bradley Beal trade, do you feel
any differently about that now seeing what they

875
00:54:25,320 --> 00:54:30,880
were able to do with their roster
since then? Or are you just sort

876
00:54:30,920 --> 00:54:32,719
of like, all right, let's
not get all excited about a bunch of

877
00:54:32,760 --> 00:54:38,880
bit of a contracts. I think
I'm probably a little more. I feel

878
00:54:38,920 --> 00:54:44,320
a little more positively about the Beal
trade now because one of the big knocks

879
00:54:44,480 --> 00:54:46,679
was like, all right, so
you got what eight roster spots you got

880
00:54:46,760 --> 00:54:50,920
to fill out with minimum guys something
something crazy like that, Like that's just

881
00:54:51,039 --> 00:54:54,440
unrealistic for you to think you're gonna
build any depth. And depth was a

882
00:54:54,559 --> 00:54:58,440
problem right in the playoffs. They
just you had Durant, you had Booker,

883
00:54:58,519 --> 00:55:00,800
and just nobody else could do anything. And then someone made the point

884
00:55:00,880 --> 00:55:05,199
I forget where I saw it,
but like Well. One of the problems

885
00:55:05,280 --> 00:55:07,559
this team had is they needed someone
else to create a shot other than Booker

886
00:55:07,599 --> 00:55:12,280
and Durant, like Bradley Bill can
do that, So I mean it's you

887
00:55:12,360 --> 00:55:14,880
know, it's easy to also say, well, he's duplicative because he does

888
00:55:14,920 --> 00:55:16,639
a lot of what Booker does,
just not quite as well, almost across

889
00:55:16,679 --> 00:55:22,480
the board, with some exceptions.
So I think that the combination of like

890
00:55:22,599 --> 00:55:25,920
Bill does actually address one of the
main issues for them last year, and

891
00:55:27,320 --> 00:55:30,119
the fact that they could fill out
the roster. We've talked about this before

892
00:55:30,119 --> 00:55:36,159
when we agree like kind of shockingly
well with using minimum salaries, So I

893
00:55:36,239 --> 00:55:40,440
do feel better about it. I
haven't really thought about how they would stack

894
00:55:40,559 --> 00:55:44,760
up as a contender. I know
last year, just with Durant, we

895
00:55:44,840 --> 00:55:47,679
were kind of like, well,
if they're healthy, who's better Denver.

896
00:55:47,760 --> 00:55:51,480
I think we agree it has gotten
worse, right, just yeah, I

897
00:55:51,559 --> 00:55:54,440
mean we lost. I even think
losing Jeff Green kind of blows. And

898
00:55:54,559 --> 00:55:58,480
yeah, I still think that the
single worst deal of the off season was

899
00:55:58,519 --> 00:56:02,000
giving Reggie Jackson. I can't wait. I can't wait till Reggie Jackson.

900
00:56:02,960 --> 00:56:06,480
I want Reggie Jackson to play really
well. So we have to make a

901
00:56:06,519 --> 00:56:08,760
shirt apologizing to him. I look, I hope he does, and maybe

902
00:56:08,760 --> 00:56:12,519
they know something. I don't play. I want to know how he had

903
00:56:12,519 --> 00:56:15,719
the leverty even get the player,
right, I totally agree with you that

904
00:56:15,880 --> 00:56:22,800
was an inexplicable contract. Well,
so should our logic change, like from

905
00:56:22,880 --> 00:56:27,360
last year when the Durant trade happened? Like if healthy, aren't the Suns?

906
00:56:28,639 --> 00:56:30,559
Like why would you bet against the
Suns? Is it just so?

907
00:56:30,679 --> 00:56:32,840
What is it? Then? Maybe
that's the better question, Like if this

908
00:56:34,000 --> 00:56:37,239
doesn't, if they're not the favorites, why is it? Is it?

909
00:56:37,360 --> 00:56:40,920
The defensive question? Is it like
Cam Johnson or a campaign? Is your

910
00:56:42,039 --> 00:56:45,880
point guard? Like, I'm not
sure where you'd start. I can't bring

911
00:56:45,039 --> 00:56:50,920
the offense stuff like in terms of
eating regular season innings. I guess if

912
00:56:50,960 --> 00:56:53,239
you want them to have like another
point guard on the roster other than Campaign,

913
00:56:53,559 --> 00:56:58,159
but like Booker, bel Durant,
even Eric Gordon, Like what are

914
00:56:58,280 --> 00:57:00,719
like your offense is going to be
playoff to begin Like what point guard are

915
00:57:00,719 --> 00:57:04,440
you putting in there right now?
Is gonna be closing games? Right?

916
00:57:05,280 --> 00:57:07,559
So? I don't the offense is
fine. The health I just think you've

917
00:57:07,639 --> 00:57:15,000
now between Bo Booker and Durant like
you're going to have I would guess sixty

918
00:57:15,079 --> 00:57:19,639
five to seventy plus games of just
two stars and two at every point.

919
00:57:19,719 --> 00:57:22,079
And Okay, that's a big deal. So I can't bring myself to care

920
00:57:22,079 --> 00:57:24,960
about that as much. Either.
I think the two things would be the

921
00:57:25,039 --> 00:57:29,079
defense, or there's three things.
There's the defense. I have real questions.

922
00:57:29,159 --> 00:57:34,079
It's yes, getting Kata Bates Diop, getting bringing back josh Akogi's a

923
00:57:34,079 --> 00:57:37,239
big deal. I would like to
I think they need to bring back Bismack

924
00:57:37,280 --> 00:57:43,599
Biondo, even after getting uh jemez
met too and Drew Eubanks. Excuse me,

925
00:57:44,880 --> 00:57:46,639
I think they probably should have tried
to bring react Tory Craig, but

926
00:57:46,800 --> 00:57:50,559
maybe they didn't think he would play
a big enough role to warrant paying him

927
00:57:50,639 --> 00:57:55,960
that money. But like, like, how deep are you actually like?

928
00:57:57,039 --> 00:57:59,920
Because those guys who are your best
defenders is what I'm getting at when you're

929
00:57:59,920 --> 00:58:02,599
looking at a Kogi and Diop or
those guys gonna hit enough threes or do

930
00:58:02,719 --> 00:58:06,440
enough on offense. I know Diop
had a really good year last year,

931
00:58:06,840 --> 00:58:09,280
but and so it looks like a
great signing right now, So what does

932
00:58:09,320 --> 00:58:12,800
that look like? And then what
are you getting like the eighten factors into

933
00:58:12,800 --> 00:58:14,800
this, Like, if you're getting
the eighten from a year and a half

934
00:58:14,880 --> 00:58:17,280
two years ago, on defense,
you're fine. Like between him and Kevin

935
00:58:17,400 --> 00:58:21,559
Rant, I think Booker's gotten better. And then I think you probably have

936
00:58:21,639 --> 00:58:23,480
the offense to say, okay,
well we'll could just play a kogie and

937
00:58:23,559 --> 00:58:28,199
not like and care about the spacing
as much. But I think that's a

938
00:58:28,239 --> 00:58:30,920
question. The other thing is just
like, well, what teams Let's just

939
00:58:30,960 --> 00:58:36,039
say Phoenix answers all their questions in
the affirmative. What are what teams could

940
00:58:36,119 --> 00:58:38,480
possibly you have higher than them?
I think the Nuggets are still there.

941
00:58:38,880 --> 00:58:42,519
Yeah, I think the Celtics belong
there. There's a lot of there.

942
00:58:42,519 --> 00:58:44,400
They might be on my list though, so I don't want to talk too

943
00:58:44,519 --> 00:58:49,960
much. But like the Celtics,
and then who is here like the Bucks

944
00:58:50,079 --> 00:58:53,000
Warriors, tier of I'm sure,
I'm sure there's someone else we're forgetting,

945
00:58:53,360 --> 00:58:58,960
but it's not going to be a
team. I'm not kidding the thunder you're

946
00:58:59,000 --> 00:59:01,679
telling. I think I was gonna
get to like the Lakers first before I

947
00:59:01,760 --> 00:59:06,679
got down there. But yeah,
no, I take your point. I

948
00:59:06,800 --> 00:59:10,840
think it's I'll tell you what I'm
what I'm not looking forward to is the

949
00:59:10,920 --> 00:59:16,840
possibility of like it's March and it's
like, you know, uh, Bill,

950
00:59:17,119 --> 00:59:21,840
Booker and Durant have only played six
games together. How are they gonna

951
00:59:21,880 --> 00:59:24,519
gel in time for the playoffs?
Like, I'm not excited for that possibility,

952
00:59:24,559 --> 00:59:30,440
which is very much on the table
based on how these these U Super

953
00:59:30,519 --> 00:59:34,960
Team Trio things have worked over the
last several years. Just thinking of Brooklyn,

954
00:59:35,039 --> 00:59:38,280
particularly who's the fifth closer right now? I don't play out very over

955
00:59:38,320 --> 00:59:42,519
the regular right regular season, but
who's who are you picking to close as

956
00:59:42,599 --> 00:59:47,119
that fifth spot as the closer?
The first thought was was KBD, just

957
00:59:47,159 --> 00:59:52,760
because he's got more size than say, like Gordon. But but I also

958
00:59:52,840 --> 00:59:58,119
kind of think Okogi's gonna probably might
start just to you go guard that guy,

959
00:59:58,360 --> 01:00:00,400
like that'll be his job. I
guess I'll say Bates, but but

960
01:00:00,559 --> 01:00:06,480
that's it's him, it's Gordon,
or it's it probably won't be a Kogi

961
01:00:06,559 --> 01:00:10,079
closing, right What do you think? I think it's between Gordon and KBD.

962
01:00:10,280 --> 01:00:14,199
Probably I'm with you. I was
gonna say KBD two, which I

963
01:00:14,239 --> 01:00:17,719
thought we might have separate answers there. I would look like I would look

964
01:00:17,760 --> 01:00:22,239
at making it. Want an Abby
is a name that I think should kind

965
01:00:22,280 --> 01:00:24,960
of slink in there, and especially
we could go you want to go extreme,

966
01:00:25,320 --> 01:00:29,880
like isn't want an Abby and kb
D because DeAndre it's on the beach.

967
01:00:29,920 --> 01:00:32,039
Well, if you got real problems
if that's the case, unless you've

968
01:00:32,079 --> 01:00:37,440
traded eighten for like three others you
like if Kevin Durand at the five is

969
01:00:37,440 --> 01:00:40,559
a closing option, I think I
think my problem, my concern is like

970
01:00:40,679 --> 01:00:45,119
I don't think what Watson Abby is
not go lock that guy down type of

971
01:00:45,559 --> 01:00:51,159
if he's your four and then kbd's
on the cord or Josh Akogi, I

972
01:00:51,320 --> 01:00:53,519
just I just think you gotta have
it almost I mean, we're sort of

973
01:00:53,599 --> 01:00:58,480
just making the case over and over
for KBD because and maybe to a lesser

974
01:00:58,519 --> 01:01:04,079
extent of Kogi, like you gotta
have one guy out there that if they're

975
01:01:04,119 --> 01:01:07,159
in the finals against the Celtics or
whatever. It's like, I guess you'd

976
01:01:07,199 --> 01:01:12,000
be okay with Durant on Tatum or
but like I think you'd just much rather

977
01:01:12,079 --> 01:01:15,320
have a guy whose whole job it
is to just go guard the best guy.

978
01:01:15,800 --> 01:01:17,000
And I don't think you want to
use book or beal or durant for

979
01:01:17,079 --> 01:01:21,599
that. So, I mean that's
the case for bats Yop. I think,

980
01:01:21,960 --> 01:01:23,920
so to put a bone, it
should they be the title favorites,

981
01:01:24,000 --> 01:01:28,320
and if they're not, who is
who should be the title favorite here?

982
01:01:28,920 --> 01:01:31,639
I think it's gonna be boring,
But I'm always just like I would just

983
01:01:31,960 --> 01:01:36,199
say Denver should be the favorite,
even though we have already said they got

984
01:01:36,280 --> 01:01:39,400
worse and they weren't like some juggernaut
and it's not there. I will argue

985
01:01:39,599 --> 01:01:43,719
it's mostly not their fault. They
got they couldn't pay Bruce Brown that money.

986
01:01:43,760 --> 01:01:45,159
That doesn't happen. I don't like
the Reggie Jackson deal. And I

987
01:01:45,239 --> 01:01:49,360
would have brought Jeff Green back.
I mean, like, why couldn't they,

988
01:01:49,880 --> 01:01:53,679
Like I would have given him the
two year mini MLI before I would

989
01:01:53,679 --> 01:01:58,159
have given it to Reggie Jackson.
Yeah, I just don't know what really

990
01:01:58,199 --> 01:02:00,119
bad in the playoffs. But I
mean Jackson didn't even play, so so

991
01:02:00,400 --> 01:02:04,000
it's just like, yeah, but
I can't be up in arms about letting

992
01:02:04,159 --> 01:02:08,719
Jeff green leaves my point? No, No, well, I'm still I'm

993
01:02:08,719 --> 01:02:12,679
picking Denver, I guess. I
mean, do you feel I just have

994
01:02:12,800 --> 01:02:16,679
too there's the downside is just still
there for the Suns because doesn't exist for

995
01:02:16,719 --> 01:02:19,840
the Nuggets. I think it is
what it is. Yeah, they got

996
01:02:19,880 --> 01:02:22,039
the best player in the world and
they just want a title, and they

997
01:02:22,079 --> 01:02:24,719
don't really have anybody that's still there
that I would say, oh, drop

998
01:02:24,800 --> 01:02:28,679
offs coming for that guy, you
know. So I think I think it's

999
01:02:28,719 --> 01:02:32,360
the safe pick they might be.
I think my big concern with Denver's they

1000
01:02:32,519 --> 01:02:37,920
probably a substantially worst playoff team without
Bruce Brown. I will say, though,

1001
01:02:37,039 --> 01:02:40,360
if you actually trust Michael Porter Junior, you don't whatever the health question,

1002
01:02:40,440 --> 01:02:45,000
that's the same thing with everybody then, or if you really believe in

1003
01:02:45,079 --> 01:02:46,639
Christian Brown, I don't. I
don't think he's ever going to replace all

1004
01:02:46,679 --> 01:02:51,599
the things Bruce Brown did offensively.
But if Christian Brown can replace like seventy

1005
01:02:52,280 --> 01:02:55,199
Bruce Brown gave you defensively and like
he might even not better, he might

1006
01:02:55,239 --> 01:03:00,280
give you more optionality because Bruce Brown
wasn't, Hey go lock up a should

1007
01:03:00,280 --> 01:03:04,239
sid go guard Jimmy Butler, like
straight up like that wasn't that wasn't Bruce

1008
01:03:04,320 --> 01:03:07,960
Brown necessarily, So there's that risk. But for the regular season they're gonna

1009
01:03:07,960 --> 01:03:12,000
be fine. And also even for
the playoffs. Is their rotation was so

1010
01:03:12,280 --> 01:03:15,519
short that if you're just able to
replace Bruce Brown with two guys, so

1011
01:03:15,639 --> 01:03:21,280
it's Christian Brown. And does Reggie
Jackson give you enough? Do you acquire

1012
01:03:21,360 --> 01:03:23,880
a backup point guard somehow on the
trade market? So the Nuggets, it's

1013
01:03:23,920 --> 01:03:25,840
not even close for me, By
the way, the Nugget should be the

1014
01:03:25,880 --> 01:03:30,119
title favorites. And I think it's
a more during interesting question is well,

1015
01:03:30,280 --> 01:03:34,960
does Phoenix belong in that number two
spot or should we be You know,

1016
01:03:35,079 --> 01:03:37,599
you could say Boston, but like
Boston has its own questions, I think

1017
01:03:37,679 --> 01:03:42,880
Milwaukee where it's just how different are
they leading in the next year, Like

1018
01:03:42,920 --> 01:03:45,360
we're gonna have the same unless Malik
Beasley really pops with them, which is

1019
01:03:45,480 --> 01:03:50,519
possible. I don't know how different
Lee we should feel about that roster Miami

1020
01:03:50,639 --> 01:03:54,760
if they don't get Dame like's Cleveland
coming, the Knicks didn't get drastically better,

1021
01:03:55,159 --> 01:03:59,480
So it's I think it's fair to
say Phoenix should be the number two.

1022
01:03:59,840 --> 01:04:05,079
I might trust more like the floor
of a Boston still or maybe even

1023
01:04:05,239 --> 01:04:10,559
like do we trust the floor of
the Warriors a little bit more about them?

1024
01:04:11,000 --> 01:04:14,119
I will say they belong above the
Clippers for sure. I'm just like

1025
01:04:14,199 --> 01:04:17,119
I'm out, I'm out of the
Clippers business right now. Yeah. No,

1026
01:04:17,280 --> 01:04:20,960
I think I would probably have Denver
and like a tier below that with

1027
01:04:21,119 --> 01:04:25,320
like I mean, you could probably
like five or six teams that I would

1028
01:04:25,400 --> 01:04:28,840
view like pretty similarly and Phoenix would
be in that in that tier. That

1029
01:04:29,000 --> 01:04:31,039
That's how I'll like non answer your
question of are the number two that we

1030
01:04:31,199 --> 01:04:34,639
have? Mercifully we're gonna end this. Uh, when you didn't mention,

1031
01:04:34,800 --> 01:04:38,239
you didn't take us out in the
sense of whether you're listening to part one

1032
01:04:38,360 --> 01:04:40,760
or part Yeah, no, I
don't know whether you listen to part one

1033
01:04:40,880 --> 01:04:44,119
or part two. Neither of us
knows which ways up at this point.

1034
01:04:45,039 --> 01:04:47,599
And if we seem really loopy at
the end of a short hour long podcast,

1035
01:04:47,679 --> 01:04:50,400
it's because this is actually part of
a much longer podcast we did.

1036
01:04:50,960 --> 01:04:55,159
Uh. Dan said this at the
top, and he always says it,

1037
01:04:55,239 --> 01:04:58,199
and I always say it. Uh. Follow us on all of our socials

1038
01:04:58,239 --> 01:05:02,199
at Hardwood Knocks on Twitter and TikTok
at harblod Underscore Knox on Instagram. Make

1039
01:05:02,199 --> 01:05:06,760
sure you subscribe on YouTube. Comment
there say good things wherever you listen to

1040
01:05:06,880 --> 01:05:13,000
your podcast review us give us many
many stars on Apple. That is always

1041
01:05:13,039 --> 01:05:15,360
helpful. Tell your friends, word
of mouth is great. Tell your enemies

1042
01:05:16,159 --> 01:05:19,239
so they can become smarter and then
maybe you're more likely to be friends with

1043
01:05:19,320 --> 01:05:23,440
them. I don't know, Uh
yeah, buy our merch. Dan's wearing

1044
01:05:23,519 --> 01:05:28,599
it, mine's behind my head.
My coffee cup wars on the way.

1045
01:05:28,639 --> 01:05:31,079
I will be sporting it, possibly
by the next time we do a podcast,

1046
01:05:31,559 --> 01:05:34,360
And yeah, thanks everybody. We're
going to close this with a shout

1047
01:05:34,400 --> 01:05:36,800
out to Frank Nilikina and an apology
to char Down.