I'm Adam Oslin. We got Chef Monckler. We're waiting to see if we'll
update can join us at some point. But we do have a special guest
joining us today in Law Murray of the Athletic. I am the Law.
We love him. He does fantastic work, the definitive write ups on Clippers
reports, trade deals. The Athletic is where you can get it all.
He's the reason I sign up there. He took the baton from Jovon Bouhan
and has been off and running with it like flow. Joe Law, thanks
for doing this today and thank you guys. I'm really happy to give us
yes talk some hoops. So coming up, we will get into the draft
with Law. But first, there was some news that broke earlier today,
and it was regarding Bradley Beale, and I'm not saying it was out of
nowhere because a lot of people anticipated this, but it sounds like if they
are going into a rebuild mode, he could become available from the Washington Wizards.
And it just so happens that Michael Winger now is in control of all
basketball operations for the state of Maryland, so that his new title Basketball's are
of Maryland. I think you're selling. I think you're selling is short because
they got a whole they got a whole region. Man the district. He
probably got da over there too. Yeah, the DMV, that's probably Yeah,
it's probably the whole thing. So law, how realistic is it for
the Clippers to bring in a guy who's making almost sixty million coming up in
the next couple of years on this contract. Yeah, y'all see the roster
the Clippers right now, she's asking me to do like y'all, y'all,
y'all man at Paul George and then y'all want to look at Bradley Bill Zummers
and get excited. I am not mad at Paul George for the record,
or I don't know who's mad him right now a little proverb. I mean,
I mean, look, I love Bradley Bill, but I knew him.
I knew when Michael took that job that it was just going to be
a matter of when, not if, that conversation happened. Like we didn't
even we didn't even get to draft week, and we already had this news
break because you could, you could. You didn't need it to be Haley's
common to see it like Bradley's an exceptionally talented player. The contract speaks for
itself. Unfortunately, the contract speaks for itself, like what are you asking
for your man? Like Bradley has been a I hate starting with negatives,
but in terms of their billion terms of like where Radley has been shooting the
three from, as far as the defense, as far as so much like
Bradley, he hasn't even been the guy that he was when he laughs at
Russ familiar, you know what I'm saying, Like he had Russ for one
year, that dude dropped thirty one point three points. That dude left,
and ever since it's been like I need your Russ ye, I mean you
had to defer to Kuzma time. I mean, come on, yeah,
yeah, it's like congratulations. Washington Wizards won this year's Award of Totally Uninspiring
Offenses. Fight three guys dropping twenty a game, it was, and it
was a close battle between Brad's, Brad's Wizards and his twin up there in
Portland, Damian Lilith, who I'm sure y'all want to ask them out too.
You know, those dudes had three twenty point scorers and wanted to get
them. So I mean, like, I'm no, this is the reason
why I'm so conservative when it comes to moves being made for certain star talents.
It's like, there's a reason these dudes are in this situation. You
are better off. There's a reason to Clippers built the team that they built.
So if you can get guys, if you can get Bradley Beale for
the minimum, hell yeah, you know sure of that. No, I'm
not trying to attain it too long. So that's that's my thing is.
People kept saying like the proverbial cost would be low, and I'm like,
the literal cost, though, is so high that the cost can't be low,
Like there's no way to move if we have three guys making that much
money with this new CBA. It makes no sense to me, just sort
of, especially from a finance perspective, how it would happen. Like this
man is to fifty seven million dollars in three years he has he has that
option, and the cap goes up. Okay, not that it goes it's
spiked for kad. How much Katie making this year? Tell me how much
Katie's making this year less than Bradley Beale, Le's for damn sure, forty
just under forty three points there, that's it. Yeah, which you want
me to talk about? So no insider trading just because Michael winters there and
he's not going to take Marcus Morrish Roco Terrence Man beat the zoo Bots.
Look, Michael Winger would be an executive the year next year if you were
to be able to pull that off. You don't even need to do making
the playoffs be the first executive year. I guarantee you without actually making the
playoffs, just for getting off of that deal with his former employee. Yeah,
that would be. That's true. The former employer thing again, another
thing where people think it's like a pipeline. So the beal thing not going
to happen. The guy who wants Damian Lillard is our other co host.
He's not here, so we're gonna spare you that discussion. The new CBA
kind of does what we know about the new CBA, It feels like,
yes, what we know about it? Like we don't know, yeah,
like we're kind of it seems like really between a rock and a hard place.
It's yet again margin moves that seem like what the Clippers are going to
do. If they're gonna do anything like they're they're stuck. I'm not saying
that especially a bad thing. It's just how it feels like it's set up
right now with what these aprons and everything are saying. The thing is,
um, you guys can still hear me, right? Yeah? Right?
Actually sounds better. That's yeah. I'm trying to switch up with the album.
Like here we all you know, like I said, I haven't done
anything in a minute. Um. But the interesting thing is like the draft
is next Thursday, and the teams forget media like I don't, I don't,
you know, I'm not trying to be Danny LaRue, but like the
teams themselves don't even have the full document that is going to govern how contracts
are done and how the league is regulated over and the you know, the
lifespan of this collective bargaining agreement. I find that to be interesting, you
know, like that's the whole day, you know, the whole part of
being able to manipulate things is to actually have someone to read damn thing.
You know. Um, I got an appreciation for the front office guys who
literally have people read it over. It's like, how do you think Andy
Ellisburg does his job in Miami, okay, like, because that dude just
citizen reads and they come out on top. Man, it's like you to
Miami, he's like almost the playoffs, I bet you're not. We're not
doing again next year, like, and that is critical. So I feel
like it's going to be a really silly summer because you know, how much
is a guy going to be worth this year When we go back to three
years from now, what's that going to look like? Yeah? And so
what we do know is that the Clippers have taken They've been heartened by the
realities of what we expect to see from the CBA, and that means that,
you know, I hope you enjoyed your Norman Power Robert Covington trade acquisition,
because he ain't getting that no more. You know, none of those
none of those home run anymore. Hey. The good thing is we ain't
got to worry about a guy like Norm getting hurt immediately after that trade.
So, you know, always a benefit, there's always silver linings, are
right, and and same thing with the biomarket. You know, y'all hate
it buyout acquisition. Some of y'all did, And I'm not gonna you know,
in general. I'm not talking about anyone specific, you know, but
obviously it was polarizing what happened at the biotmarket for the Clippers this year.
Um, guess what you gotta worried about? That no more like biomarket will
not have nearly the same options or nearly the same kind of teams dipping in
to get some of those options in the future. What does that mean for
the Clippers? It means that you can't You gotta do a lot more work,
and you have to be a lot more successful at things that you aren't
great at, namely the draft. It's easy to say, hey, we
got Terence Man at forty eight, Well, what you're gonna do at forty
eight this year? Because that's exactly the same kind of pick you got was
the last time you were excited about the Clippers first round pick. Everyone loves
saying, man, we need a trade for picks. One of the best
parts about the Paul George trade is that they didn't have to do anything like
draft Jerome Robinson again. Okay, so the Clippers have to win in areas
that they have not been consistently good at winning at in years past. And
the fact is, I don't have to say that. That's what the team
understands. That is the vibe going into this draft. That's what I can
tell you. They understand that you need to get cheap talent that isn't just
going to look good, you know, in the locker room and off the
bus and then the G League like guys need to start contributing. And to
me, that doesn't just mean whoever they wind up with after next Thursday night.
It means guys like Jason Preston and Brandon Boston year. I don't know
if they'll be on the team next year, but if they are, they
need to be in a position where all that development. Although you know,
shout out to the Showcase Cup champion Ontario Cliver killing people this year. Hey
Moosabo, that dude isn't on the Grammy trip and they make the G League
playoffs this year. Real talk, Well, guess what the dudes need to
show what all that development will translate like to the big team, especially if
certain things go a certain way in three and C and in the trade market
as soon as next week before we get more into the draft and the thirtieth
pick and all that and maybe this could come into play in this scenario.
Chuck mentioned we won't talk about Damian Lillard because it looks like they want to
double down with Dame and try to find that small forward. But you talked
about this recently on an article. You talked about the situation with Paul George
and them dangling the number three pick and Simons. Maybe something else. Is
that something that could happen or do you still feel like the Clippers are committed
to two one three? They're committed, man, They're They're They're They're committed
in a vacuum, and they're committed with the all terrier factors that include that
stadium that you see when you go in and out of lax Like And I've
thought about this. Uh, Sam Desini is first of all, he just
dropped the Bible as far as I'm concerned as far as getting ready for this
draft and shout out to all the work that he's been doing leading up to
this point. You know, this is a draft guru super Bowl. I
used to work with Jonathan Givoni, Mike Schmidtz who ironically up there in Portland.
Uh, you know I used to work with those news I'm just letting
y'all know, like this is a celebration for them. I wish we cover
the rest of the league like we cover the draft. We get into basketball,
be getting into players, we get in the fits, we get into
what makes a guy tick. We get into what's real and what's not when
you look at statistics. So with that all that said, like the Clippers
are in a we're come, we're trying to do this. Uh Like,
as much as I Sam loves Scoot and so like, to be honest with
you, we're talking about number three in Portland. Like I know Charlotte could
say to themselves, you know what, a wing makes more sense than a
guard. But um we we're gonna laugh at whatever Charlotte does. Um Like,
let's just be real, Sacramento Kings, you have graduated and the Charlotte
Hornets are now the team that we're gonna believe in the next guy day drift,
the next the next pick after the dude day draft, I mean,
it's Jordan's still there or not, because that usually adds a layer to it.
I mean, anytime you got one foot out the door on one foot
in, you two different people as far as I'm concerned. So you know,
for for any means of convenience. Jordan's inn and out. That's a
different type of last dance, That's exactly. And so, um, I
don't even believe Scoot would be available at three, Like Scoot is the better
player if you're talking about anyone else, if we're talking about Brandon Miller for
talking about um, you know, uh fuck cam went more Like I just
don't see Charlotte at like you're you're going to find fits and LaMelo ball Terry,
Like you can trade Terry's here, just like you could trade Gordon Hayward.
And so I mean it's Brandon Miller a better fit. Yeah, but
it is Brandon Miller is telling a Scoot Hender shouldn't know. Like that's just
really what it comes down to. And so we're talking about Paul George and
what Portland winds up doing. Now here's what's interestioning about Portland. All that
noise about the number three pick. They would love to trade the number three
pick and get people to think that Scoot Henderson is a guy that's going to
be available with that pick. Hella salty, that was not Scoot there,
right, That's true. That's a good point. Yet last year. This
is lying season. Okay, this is why I bring up what I bring
up about lying season. I love it. You're hearing all the smoke from
Portland. Yeah that's from Charlotte. Oh, Charlotte's gonna draft Brandon Miller.
Why the hell would they do that? Like, besides the fact that what
we already know about Charlotte, you know what he's like, Oh yeah,
I can justify them doing something like that, but like, let's be real,
it is Portland's interest to generate interests for a trade for a guy who
might not be scooted. And I don't believe Scoot's going to be there.
I really don't believe it. I would believe it if Scoot was just,
you know, a good prospect on the same level as Whittemore or the Thompson's
or Brandon Miller. He's he's not like have you seen Scoot, He's number
one to shoot? But like he's like the Marquel Foltz version of can't shoot,
as in, he needs to shoot, damn it. Like that dude
is that that dude looked like a Transformer? Okay, like straight up and
now, and so like Portland would love to be able to get a market
and make a trade that you know, regardless, just so if he's name,
Um, but I don't think that's gonna happen. Now, let's say
that Charlotte does mess around, they draft Brandon Miller, and all of a
sudden, it's like, hey, again, why wouldn't Portland just pick Scoop?
Dame is thirty grede. He's had injuries, both legitimate and you know
the tank version that we saw this past spring. Um, he's a small
guard who is merely a good playmaker, right Like, Dame has always been
a better producer of points and shots for himself than others. And defensively,
Dame is tough and he'll defend his guy. But is he you know,
is Dame mean Lillard's talents making you a great defense? No? Like,
Portland's been one of the worst defenses in the NBA for three years in a
row. Now something like that, right, Uh, that is like just
draft Scoot damn it. Do you know who Portland's shirt on a shirt?
Do you know who their backup point guard was? Absolutely? Keyan Johnson.
Keia Johnson was the question. It wasn't your question. That's why that was
the last we're not drafting s we're keeping and we're keeping Dane because of Keyan
Johnson. Tell me is that what you're doing. There's nothing in the rule
book says says you have to start a guy because you drafted him top three,
Okay, And so like, if you're Portland, it's like, sure,
you love to get a trade, you love to get a Paul George,
but also, who are you fooling? Like you're you're you're hoping that
if you can't draft Scoot himself, that you can find a trade for not
Scoot. So if you're at the Clippers, and I'll be real like,
if it's Scoots, it's like, that's that's a pivot. It's a pivot
that I don't believe they'll make just because I believe they're trying to give to
Lou the best chance to succeed, Kawai the best chance to succeed. I
mean, Scoot is great for the future, but you're not trying to win
for the future. You're trying to win a championship because Steve Baumber wants a
championship, And you know that's why this question is out there. It's like,
are the Clippers close? But I hope we get along to this podcast
about that part of the narrative. Sure, it would be the best move
for the future, but this is not a team that is concerned the future
right now. If they were, I'm not sure if t would be the
coach. I'm not sure if certain guys would have gotten promotions in the front
offense. You know, this is a team that believes that they can do
this, and I am on their belief that they should continue to believe that
way as well. But yeah, Scoots out there, then sure, But
I just I'm just very hesitant to put a whole lot of gas, a
whole lot more than what we're talking about now about a player like Scoot who
I just really believe, for one reason or another, ain't going to be
there. Yeah, that's gonna call. We're gonna take a quick break because
we're gonna talk about exactly what you were just talking about, which is the
Clippers are a team of right now. So where are they right now?
We got ads coming up. They've been loud for some people who are listening.
We've gotten complaints about that. If that's been your case your experience,
go ahead and turn it down. And then we're coming back with Law Murray
talking to where the Clippers are at right now, because that's what we should
all be focusing on. We got ads coming up in three two one.
All right, we are back with Law Murray from the Athletic talking clips.
You're on clips and if you can find us anywhere, you can find podcasts
on YouTube. We're at Clippers podcasts on Twitter, We're at Clippers pod So
Law, let's get into it. Adam was just applauding you after you said
that will continue and will continue to after the entire break. Need to focus
on winning now and seem to be ready to win now. I mean,
Adam, we know how he feels. Is it just health? A lot
of people there was the great Pine article in the Ringer about how again it's
the team is built. Well, we have a fantastic coach, we have
two in three. When they're healthy, we know what they can do.
Is it all just hope for health? Since we're kind of in this margin
move CBA scenario in the end of the day, the beginning of the end
of the day, it is health. I have to say it like that
because you believe in and when I say you, I mean like more than
media or fan base or whoever does the devil's work in Las Vegas. Like
you start with the two stars, you know on day one, right,
and at the end of the day, the Clippers under Toronto Lou have been
eliminated, with Kawhi Leonard not able to play in the last game or the
last series or in the play in tournament. So like when you look and
go, how did our season end? How did we get from playing and
traveling to packing it up for the summer. Every year it's under t Lou,
it's been Kawai wasn't there, and the last two it was Paul George
not being there. Paul George didn't play in the playing game against New Orleans
Pelican last year, Paul George missed the entire postseason this year. That means
Paul George has not played a playoff game since the twenty twenty one Western Conference
Finals. That means Kawhi Leonard has not finished a playoff series since the Mavericks
Game seven. And so at the beginning of the day, yes, like
those are two guys that It's not an MB Simmons situation. It's not a
Kyrie Irving, Kevin Durant situation in Brooklyn. It's not just these dudes are
good together. It's not just these zudes are getting along with each other.
These dudes are invested and motivated to make it work. Here. Paul George
is going on in GQ talking about winning a chipboard the Clippers, like he's
literally got his parents at every game, like he like like like he's still
playing in Palmdale, man, Like that is a motivating factor. Like Kawhi
Leonard Like literally we don't talk about Kawhi as much as Paul as far as
like the other people around him, but he literally has his family at the
game too. It's a different situation, I can tell you. That makes
this asion making on a team level harder because instead of you know, like
Kevin Durant saying, this time a year ago, I need you guys to
trade me or fire Steve Nash, Yeah you got Paul bragging about how him
and Lawrence are collaborating and whatnot. Jerry like, yeah, yeah, you
have you have Kauai, who you know is big on like the collaboration that
he has with all levels of the organization, with Steve Bamber, with the
front office and the head coach, Like he literally has his best friend on
the coaching staff. You know what I'm saying, Those dudes are more motivated,
and guess what it does make it harder to break him up. You
saw Blake and Chris Paul. It was easy to break Blake and Chris Paul.
We knew those zudos didn't get along no more. You know what I'm
saying. The Safe Farm commercial didn't have Blake anymore. So like it was
like it's only a matter of time, and so it's health in the beginning
of the end. But then there's that middle, and that's where you can't
look at it as guys just need to be on the court and be healthy.
We saw some thoroughly un serious basketball last year, and they dudes could
not play good basketball. I'm not talking abou Kwai and Paul anymore, but
it is a symptom of being on the same team as Kawai and Paul that
those dudes did not play well enough consistently. And again part of it is
those who's playing, you know, a string of games together. They literally
didn't play four straight games together until mid January, until they were one game
under five hundred. They lose in Utah second night of it back to back
to start that trip. Then they win five straight and the loss was a
rest game in Cleveland, and then they won the next game in Chicago.
That was the first time all year that those dudes played four straight games together.
And by that time, the team was gone. The team was gone.
I talked about Reggie Jackson a lot, Reggie Jackson, new new NBA
champion, Reggie Jackson, shout out to my man. But like that dude
knew going into the year that is something word to give with this team.
He would be the guy compromise. He was the only one who was entering
a contract year. Everyone else had multiple years left on their deal. When
things went sideways, and they went sideways three different times, Okay, yeah,
that's it. I'm talking just Reggie and ok yeah, yeah you know
it wasn't it three times? Yeah? How long was this season? It's
something I would say, Hey, look, if you go sideways three times,
this is like geometry now, like yeah, yeah, exactly right,
Yeah, it's like hardest right, And that's exactly what happened. Is like,
man, it was sideways three times and they and they took off.
Yeah, but like by then the team was gone, Like Reggie wasn't the
dude no more. You knew you had to get a real backup center instead
of, you know, basically saucing Moses Brown two way contract. Um.
You had to understand that certain dudes couldn't play together. We all talked about
the three guard lineups, but really Luke Canard and Norman Powell had the same
weaknesses and those were exploited on both ends of the floor. You know,
as much as we talked about Luke as a point guard option or Norm as
a point guard option, there was a reason neither one of those dudes were
the point option. It's re Luke. It was a lack of aggression of
making plays within the offense. For Norm, it was too much aggression,
because that dude's great if he's got a line to the cup, but if
he's got to make an interior pass, if it's a zoobox, it's going
the other way. And so that's how you wind up with Mason Plumley on
the team started as a real backup center. It's how you wind up with
Eric Gordon, which costs you going from the twentieth pick to the thirtieth pick
in this year's first round, because as fall as Eric Gordon is made most
of that, most of those falls a byproduct of him being a fifteen year
NBA veteran, Right, Eric Gordon still has the chest to defend on like
Luke and has the competency and a pick and roll onlike Norm. Right,
it was those kinds of things, and you still wind up with a guy
like russ As just as you start a guy like Bones who people get way
too excited about Bones, Bones of the player, but reliable starter. He's
probably asking way too much, right, But like they blew up the team,
and like there was just so much going on. There was a there
was a lack of urgency, even though guys literally sat on the dial on
media day talking about closing windows and now they needed to get it done.
Like they didn't know when the Detroit Pistons came to town, they forgot about
all that stuff, you know, Like when the Houston Rockets came to town,
they still kind of you know, played pity Pat on a Sunday afternoon
until the fourth quarter. So it's stuff like that where they do need to
compete. Like Lawrence isn't just you know, he's not paying lip service when
he talks about the level competition all of them basically, and you know what,
it was the entire Western Conference. Part of the reason the Clippers played
on serious basketball for so many portions of the year is because they looked at
the Western was like, we got some credit built, like people kept and
you know who else did the same thing, The Denver Nuggets. The Denver
Nuggets, that's a bad January one. Were by themselves in first place in
the Western Conference and they get to a certain part in early March and they're
like John just did what? Yeah, Like, oh oh, John Moran
gonna be out for a while. Man, We're gonna put this thing in
cruise control. We already know who we are as a team. Why didn't
know who they were? Like, the only team in the Western Conference that
had their five man lineup played more minutes together in the West all season was
a Sacramento starting lineup, a Sacramento team that had never gone to the playoffs
before. And also Sacramento look at their schedule in March. Everyone could see
that Sacramento was going to go through hell and shout out to the Kings because
they looked at that schedule and they when I talking about the schedule, I'm
not talking about just the teams you're facing. I'm talking about time zones.
I'm talking about five and sevens. Sacramento had a ridiculous schedule. If the
Clippers had the schedule in March that the Clippers had, y'all would have been
freaking out. Okay, we all saw that. The Denver Nuggas all that.
That's how the Denver Nuggts were literally a five hundred team the last quarter
of the season. Quarter of the season being twenty games. Yeah, okay,
the Nuggets were. They played un serious basketball for a whole quarter of
the season, and it might have led people to sleep on them slightly because
they backed into the one seed, you know going into the playoffs. Well,
the Clippers, they kind of had that attitude, but in the middle
of the bracket, which is not where you need to have that attitude.
It isn't. It isn't. But let me I'm trying to I'm trying to
tell y'all, like when I was on the road trip and the Grammy trip,
we all the minutes start elevating, the playoff minutes, just like oh
Kawai and Paul are playing heavy minutes. Like t Lou could tell you.
When we were in Brooklyn, we had a raised guys minutes because we needed
wins. We needed to we needed to play a best basketball. Everyone's looking
at ten and four and be like, man, Terrence Man was a certain
point guard, Like, that's what it's like. No, what's simple.
They played Kawhi and Paul George together high minutes, back to back games,
right to back to back games. That's what that's why they played their best.
As soon as they got back home, right before the trade line,
playing the Mavericks, it was yeah, we're gonna play basically thirteen guys,
which is what happened in the first quarter when Kyrie played his debut with the
Mavericks. That was the last game for Luke Nart, the last game for
Reggie Jackson. John had already been hurt, but he was on the bench
all those zo's wanting to getting traded. That's what happened. The next game,
the game after the trade deadline, the Bucks come to town, Kawai
sits, Brandon Boston Junior starts okay cool, and PG gets locked up by
Drew and out of the game. He's like, hey, I know Bones
was bragging about how the Clippers send him a PJ, but we need another
point guard didn't here. Yeah, so that is like the Clippers did not
take the season seriously, and that was a reflection of the Stars. It
was a reflection of the guys who played with the Stars. It was a
reflection of the head coach, but it was a reflection of the organization.
The organization was like, we're gonna throw this roster together because we can just
do it. And then Kawai knee steppings up and he springs an ankle,
and Paul's hamstring gets tender, and all of a sudden, you're at a
deficit. And then those guys get healthy, and you're like, we just
want to evaluate fully healthy. Going into the East Coast trip at the end
of December and you're struggling to be the roy pistance, you're losing six in
a row. You got your evaluation. Your evaluation is this team did not
fit the way you thought it would. That's an organizational thing, and so
they know all of this now. I expect the organization to approach this all
season much differently than last year and coaching staff. Whereas last year there was
a lot of energy and excitement about who is coming back the coach staff is
now on a bit edge because they see what's happening across the league and what's
happening here, and they don't have the level of security. You look at
the stars and they know they need to play up. Paul's out here getting
the graphics team and podcast p let y'all know we going to get this thing
right. Yeah. And then you got role players who you already blew the
team up. Everyone was like, running it back would be a mistake.
They can't run it back. They literally blew up the roster ry games left.
What running back are you asking for it? Kawhi and Pug played ten
games with Russ. I don't know if he's gonna be on the team.
What running back are you talking about? But even with all that, there
will be changes, and the changes ain't going to come from the draft,
and it's not going to come from free agency. There will be some trades
and it will be fascinating to see when and how and who's involved. Lie,
who do you think is the starting point guard going into next season and
who's the backup? Oh man, that's gonna be interesting right there. So
I talked about Chris Paul and y'all. Y'all people people out here and coming
at me like I'm the one who said Chris was kim kay. You know,
like I'm just letting y'all know how they talk about bull Like I'm not
saying that everybody. I'm just saying might be some highly angered people. See,
you know, like you can say one superstar ain't feeling Chris like that
because we watch television. We've seen all the sudden that we watched television.
We know what it's not like, it's not it's not protea, you know
what I'm saying. Then we know that, you know, Kauai would be
cool, Like, I mean, I don't think that's even that crazy.
Both things can be true. That's how things happen. Not everyone has the
same relationship. I just am boing out a relationship. Now. That being
said, I'm really interested to see what's going to happen with Russ. Russ
is the guy I'm concerned with more than Chris Paul. Like, I just
don't think the Sons or Chris are going to land in the destination of Chris
is going to be with the Clippers and the Sons are going to help him
get there. I don't think that's happening, And that's the only way I
think Chris would wind up with the Clippers, because if Chris gets free,
I think that more than likely there are other options for him With Russ.
It's coming. It's going to come down to who's going to bid high enough.
Who are the Clippers bidding with as far as trying to convince him to
stay home and stay with a group that he knows has his back, that
coaching staff that can put him into positions with success. Is Russell messi player,
Yes, but there's a difference between Russ being a messy player with a
star and coach ecosystem that is not set up to support him or not willing
to support him, versus what we saw this past winter and spring after he
joined the Clippers. Like, Russ's is not the dude that the Lakers made
him out to be. But I'm also not going to see him and be
like, Russ is the answer, or Russ's the best or Russ's the best
answer. Yeah, are you convinced that he works with two? One,
three? Still? We haven't seen much. We haven't seen much, But
I'm also not going to say it's a failure I'm not going to say that
it's the worst thing. I think Russ is a good option to have,
and that is why t Lou is the guy to trust. If t wasn't
coaching, I'd be like, that should be sail. But t Lo's coaching.
And the best thing about TLU season last year was the fact that he
had Russ. He didn't want Russ just to you know, stick it to
the front office or anything like that. It's like Telu is a former point
guard and TLU won a championship with crazy Kyrie Irving as his point guard.
I'd say crazy because that dude they won a championship together, and a year
later Kyrie asked out, like that's what Telu had to deal with? Okay,
yeah, like it was flat earth. Then he goes way back.
Yeah, Like I just I point these things out because it's like Telu had
to literally deal with the you know, not knowing who the heck was going
to play consistently for him on the star level and then having replacement level at
best talent at the point guard position before that, like or guys like you
know, basically asking Paul George to be the point guard, which was great
for the first three quarters and then the fourth quarter he was graged down.
Yeah he was throwing. Not a criticism one team man at all, But
like Terrence at the player that he is is at his best when he's an
every man player, That dude just needs minutes. I think Terrence should just
start, just to start, but not necessarily at the point guard spot.
You need a ball handler who can facilitate and someone who can at least get
guys to be the best version of themselves. And if you need to sit
Russ, which we saw t Lou do multiple times both with well especially with
Kawhi and Paul available, you had that. If you needed Eric Gordon to
be that guy, you had that right. So a lot. Why do
you think Terrence Man didn't have the love from coach Lou when he was closing
games in the twenty twenty one playoffs? What change to where he was on
such a short lesian getting DMPs early on the season. I mean Terrence never
got a true DMP this year. Terrence played every single game except for the
game where he got concuss and the only reason he got concusses because the Clippers
blew leading crazy. I forgot that was one of the stupidest games of the
year. If you had to put it, if you had to go letterman
and put a top ten together of Clippers games that gave you a concussion,
that game would absolutely be on the list. Why game winner going off kilter?
Like just that. Yeah. Like So the thing with Terrence, and
I think Terrence explained this, uh you know, I'm going to mention it
in this draft story I'm putting together hopefully for tomorrow morning, is that Terrence
goes into these seasons and the coaching staff is like, what's Terrence? Whatever
he is? He plays the scenes, Yeah, like he's he's he's a
guy who we're just gonna use when we need somebody. And what happens every
year the Clippers and needs somebody, right, and that doesn't help Terrence.
But Terrence is so good that he winds up out playing dudes that the coaching
staff thought was going to be ahead of him on the depth chart. It
happens every single year. And you know, the front office again, I
keep going back to this, The front office is kind of culpable in this
because the look the front office they really went in the last season being like,
we don't need a backup center? Who needs them? Who needs a
backup center? You know? So what the MVP of the league is a
center, you know, and in your conference, like you don't, you
don't need a backup center. And then he was like, I mean,
you know, I would watch my play there and like I said that in
Vegas and people rolled their eyes, and I'm like, how many times do
I gotta put together the clip of that Hawks game when they were wearing the
Great jerseys, the clips wearing the Great jerseys and they're down benches everybody and
T Loot and T Man and and Luke Canar go off. And then he
was like, oh, I guess we're winning this game. Let's put Kawhii
and Arents was literally at center, setting picks and rolling and catching and finishing
better than Daniel two reverage. Okay, like something was born out of that
night. Nicklatum said absolutely. And so what you have is a player in
Terrence who and I hate the position list terms so much because it gives certain
dudes a disservice and it gives some dudes way too much damn credit presisting list.
That means you got guys who do stuff that really no like you're gonna
have Rocco and Niko as your backup center. That means you have no in
tier threat, no offensive rebounding, no guys who actually do set screens.
You know who the best screener was, according to Reggie Jackson on the team
outside the center's Terence stricken Man. So Terence winds up feeling whatever role winds
up being a role that needs to be played. Kawhi Leonard says he's not
starting the first game of the year the maximize his minutes. Hey, Terrence,
looks like you're the backup small forward until Kawhi plays in the middle of
the second quarter. Roco, you got in health and safety protocols while I
guess Terence is going to play. John Wall can't play second night of back
to backs. All right, well, Terrence, you're gonna play the backup
point guard role. Reggie, we're gonna trade you in a month. Then
we got to figure this stuff out, Terrence. So we figure this stuff
out, you're gonna start. You're gonna start a point guard. That's a
disservice to Terrence. It's a disservice to the role, but it's something where
I guarantee you next year's coaching staff, they're gonna look and be like,
Okay, whether it's Terrence is starting or not, we're gonna they're gonna have
to give him, let him know what his role is. His role can't
be the position was jack of all trades that we're just gonna use when shit
hits the fan. Shit is going to hit the fan on day one on
this team, and he needs to be part of how this team plays fundamentally,
not just want to fly random basketball. You need to put a depth
chart together that includes him. That's not something they've needed. It's something that
they've taken for granted because of the depth that they've accumulated. But I'm not
sure when people joke and be like, how can you be too deep?
Well, the Clippers were an example of how you can be too deep.
You can have a bunch of players who are good NBA players, who are
competent on one side of the ball, but they don't necessarily fit together and
somebody's not going to play as much as they should. And I the CBA
is going to help them because they can't take that approach as much anymore.
They have to figure it out. What you're saying it's putting them in a
position to basically really figure it out now without that not telling him that's the
right word. But that's what happens with backups. Backups in the NBA.
And we're gonna watch the draft. We're gonna see all these kids get drafted,
and we're going to celebrate their you know, we're going to celebrate the
fact that they're professionals. Now. These kids are probably guys who when they
were in high school, when they knew they were had at tangent to touch
the pros. They had all these extra skills, these ball skills, like
basketball players in the pro level are incredibly skilled. But then you have to
do different things to get on the court when you're a young player, especially
if you're not a high draft pick with those one percent skills, So you
go from being a ball dominant Cale Martin's a great example. The dude cook
that Nevada all Right, put up hot numbers, didn't even get drafted.
So that dude had to be a different kind of basketball player to make it
as a two way contract as an undrafted guy, even playing with his twin.
And what that does is you got to show that you can play off
the ball. You gotta show that you can defend. You got to show
that you can play hard, right, and then when you show that and
have some consistency in your role, you might be asked to do more with
the best ball and show something there. And so when you have backups,
that means that's really where the game positions. But when you have a starting
lineup that is a five man group that goes into practice knowing what they're doing
day in, everything out. Yeah, exactly. The starting point guard is
not worried about being the backup small forward, the starting power board isn't worried
about having the you know, fill in on the wing and and check off
ball guy who's running the baselines and whatnot. No, that guy is Those
starters are static positions. Dynamic positions are the backups. Terrence has always been
a second unit guy. I'm wondering to see if this is the year that
changes and they go in and determine Terrence has to be a part of a
static lineup with the best players from the jump. That certainly was in case
his past year, which we all were not tripping about. It certainly wasn't
the case going into the year after the twenty twenty one playoffs where it was
established Terrence is going to be in the second unit, but he's going to
be a big part of the second unit because we are down, your down
guys, and obviously going into his first and second years, Terrence is just
happy to be on the damn team. He's going into year five and he's
going from a two million, not even two million, to a ten million.
If he's a part of your team and he's shown what he's been able
to show, especially if you're ignoring an entire position like power forward, then
you should strongly consider throwing Terrens out there. Law, because you're close with
coach lu. You guys have had some interesting interactions here and there. You
travel, you go to every game, road, home, away, doesn't
matter, and you've got to ask the tough questions. But I'm just wondering
if you have any insight on this, because we've been bouncing this around a
little bit over the last month. I think it was a lot of the
jam that talked about at first, but there's some speculation that the constant cycling
at the point guard position and them trying to find that perfect piece in the
two one three era and they've yet to do. So is more about maybe
what Paul George and Kawhi want with less responsibility handling the ball in the court
than maybe what point guard heavy favoritism Coach lu he said he had not favoritism,
but he said himself that he has a proclivity or he has a tendency
to favor point guards. He said, I know y'all love wings, but
I was a point guard. I was a guard fride hard Who is it?
Who is it more on when it comes to trying to find that perfect
fit? Do you think it's Kawhi and PG or do you think it's Coach
Lou. I know it could always be a little bit of both, but
who do you think more is responsible for them? Just trying to figure that
out, it's it's it's Kwion PG, And let me tell you why,
it's Quim PG. T lou Is just as frustrated as everybody who's trustrated with
him. He was, yeah, like he do. He's not trying to
run. He ain't trying to run the personnel department. He's not trying to
you know, like T lou Is. He's not Doc okay, Doc wins
press conferences. Tu Is like basketball coach, like you know T lou Is,
Eric Spoilstra. That like the funniest thing about Eric Spoelstra is you know,
not any un train eye comments. The funniest thing about Erik Sposture is
pregame playoffs. If you don't have a question, in five seconds, dude
is gone. He ain't waiting around. He'll look, he'll wink, he's
gone find a gift, host it and tag me in it. That's who
Eric sposure is, That's who T lou Is. T Lo's not trying to
talk about anything extra. He just wants to win. When t Louis started,
he said, y'all want to complain about point guards PG, you gonna
be the point guard. And that's what happened. That's what happened. And
so when you guys, when when people are talking about man, the Clippers
guys, they don't they don't play little management all this, which, by
the way, I hate, I hate that I ranted about that. I
mean, y'alln't get that same energy to the Golden State words this year,
doom dudes have entire eight man rotations not playing the second nights of back back.
But I digress, Like T Lou. He's frustrated too. He's like
man I played with Kobe, I played with forty year old Mike like TLU
hates slow management and was very very clear about that. Why does he hate
little management? Because he wants to win and he wants to win his way.
Tlu stubborn. Okay, he stubborn. He is going to do things
because he wants to do them because he believes in what he's doing. And
that is that like and he should like Look, he's an NBA head coach,
an NBA champion twice over as a player and as a coach, like
if Tlu carries himself like the dude who's won some championships. That's that's why,
Like t didn't didn't grow up, you know, with some lollipop group
of dudes, like his rookie coach, I mean not rookie coach, but
his he won with Phil Jackson for crying out loud. Like he played for
Scott Skiles, who go look up Scott Skiles. That dude used to quit
teams just because he didn't like them, like Scott Skiles is ruthless man like
t Lou had to play for both Van Gundhi's okay, both of the news
so like like Lou ain't with the BS man like and so he's looking at
his roster and it's like, I see thee how these dudes are. I
need this kind of player And that's really it. Like like everyone talks about
favoritism at the point guard position. There might be other positions and you know,
we'll get to that, but like point guard, like him and Reggie
didn't click this year. Like it was funny looking at people to be like
putting memes together about him and him and Reggie and it's like, dude,
Reggie and t Lou weren't. They didn't have the same connection this year that
they had the year before when Reggie had to be the guy. And even
then Eric Bledsoe started for for a reason, t Lou really wanted to make
that work. And after a while it was like I gotta separate Eric and
Reggie, you know, And it was mainly because Tlu wanted Eric to beat
that point guard. But Eric was just so incompatible with Reggie that it was
like, you don't make sense. And guess what it worked. Eric played
way better as a backup. Okay, Eric was effective and you know,
it was great because they bambooloo with the Portland's Trailblazers as they did, which
Portland obviously asked for it, because that they looked at Eric One was like,
hey, I know he played every single game, but like, we
need you to retire right now. Couldn't you do the opposite? Yo,
man, You're gonna score a bunch of points in China next year and we
just needed we don't need to get sharp, you know what I'm saying.
Like TLU got rich on Rondo and everyone was like, Rondo is a brain.
I mean not everyone just out frank uh, you know, like he
looked at that trade and it was like, Rondo's going to change everything,
but you know, Ball's going to be in quiet PGT and six persons at
the time. We've heard that for three years now. Guess what. In
the playoffs, TLU was like, I'm bench or Jhon Rondo, don't ask
about him. He's not playing kwaij JC All right, Ronald's gonna get a
chance western corner. Ronos. No, he dribbled the ball off his foot.
I'm not playing him again. Right, he lost his powers. He
was good for them. In the regular season, they completely fell apart he
was. He was the reason. He and Team Man were the reason they
won Game three. Jinn Rondo was not a complete failure. I want to
just point that out. I hated that trade. I think a lot of
that trade. Yeah, it was tough. Yeah, but it would be
capped to say that Rondo was a complete failure. If you're going at a
trade, give it a see or is he minus? Don't give it enough.
Rajon was very good in that regular season and Rajon Rondo in that Game
three when they were down damn near twenty in the first quarter, already down
two. Well in that series, him and team Man helped turn that thing
around and they win that game and they wind up winning the series. So
you know, it was the beginning end for Rajon Rondos. When he stared
a hole through Kawhi Leonard Game five, I was so crazy. Yep here
from again pretty much so. But like to Ron, Lou will bench a
guy, he will bench a guy, he will not play a guy.
He will say this ain't it. And that's what you know. But now
that's a speriment at the podcast and saying what about Marcus, And that's where
there need to be changes. That's where It's like, why why did Rocco
make sacrifices and Marcus? It took until March to basically UM do the same
things, and even that was handled differently, so UM and I will always
come back to this. The front office. They made moves affecting every single
position on the team except what except the four. Yep, they had just
the point guard situation. Completely blow that room up. They had to get
a backup center, which they ignored the previous offseason, including when they got
John Wall and Isaiah wound up moving on. Uh. They had their their
the wing situation, of course, but the backup wings were was Luke and
they had adjuster that They've made all those moves, they did not address the
four at all. They basically brought the same dudes in, kept those dudes.
We all saw what was going down. I thought when Marcus got ejected
in Brooklyn, I was like, damn, he got ejected in Memphis soon
maybe this is the year and that didn't happen. And I knew the vibes
were at a certain way, but we all saw it, and they still
didn't do anything about it. Whether that was because they felt like they couldn't
or they felt like they didn't need to. It was still an oversight.
Guess what, t Lou can't start anybody until late September October. That means
that don't blame t Lou for anything that happens. You know, if the
same group of guys are in training camp together, right, and that's where
I leave it, Like they know by the by the end of the March,
the coaching staff knew what it was, and it's frustrating. It was
frustrating for all those guys. I feel for Marcus because sure, yeah,
I mean Marcus so much the year before he was at Him and Reggie were
the two guys for the Clippers the whole year basically yeah, and everyone was
like, this is great, and then it was then they were also getting
so much undue hate. It felt sometimes that year where it's like, this
is what the team looks like when Reggie and Marcus are the one and two,
what are you expecting? People want consistency in their lineups, and they
want it to be like, hey, like keep keep team man in certain
line up, but they also want change um and it's like something with the
four position. You've heard both and it was kind of weird. The only
reason Marcus got the rope that he got was because it was cold. Say
this again, Kawai and PG. Notice how Marcus didn't leave the lineup until
after PEG's knee got compromised by lud. Yeah, Like, if that injury
doesn't happen, I'm not sure Marcus gets benched. You know, Marcus didn't
get bench until the Saturday night after Yeah, Paul hurt his knee. And
that's a lot of what matters, Like the star players got the kind of
pull, and the coaching staff already has enough to deal with. They're not
trying to break it all up. And Rocco situation this past year, like
it was basically Justice winslow, but everyone forgets Justice as experience with the Clippers
because of how absolutely upside down that entire season was, especially at the beginning,
like Justice was not playing, and then things changed and they needed a
backup power forward because they decided to start Nico and Marcus together, Whereas the
original plan was for Marcus start Nico to be the backup four off the bench
Paul obviously as you're starting small forward. But you know, when Paul was
having his elbow issues, and then Nico got over the COVID issue and when
he had the bone bruise in his foot by then early January, TV was
like, well, we need we need to start Nico and Marcus together in
a way to kind of and and the mirror was starting at the two because
the team decided that was the look that they were going with. They were
going to go with a look that approximated what it looks like when you have
Paul George and Kawhi Leonard. You know, they didn't play that way until
they lost Paul and was like, we gotta figure this out. That's opened
up the backup power for a spot. Justice was till in that spot,
Justice played great basket. Yeah, and then he gets traded for Rocco,
a player who when he came here, the team was not committing to Roco.
There was even a thought that they might flip Roco. He traded here
a week before the trade deadline. But Rocco Kris fans were saying he was
washed when they brought him in. I don't know about bringing in Rocco.
I like Norman Powell, Rocco, I think he's done. It wasn't done
because that Portland team was embarras seeing defensively, and Roco was a big part
of a starting lineup that included Norm and Rocco with a bunch of guys who
they were basically black, red and white cones for the first half of the
season when they were trying to win games, right, that's and and it's
like, yeah, like you weren't looking at Roco who I think miss I
want to say, at least his last ten threes with the Blazers. Like
Rocco's shooting streakiness is legendary, it goes all the way back to Philadelphia,
and so like, yeah, no one was like going to commit to anything
about Roco from a fan level, from a front office level, from a
coaching level. But Rocco was an outstanding fit as a backup for playing next
to a true backup center in Isaiah, and it worked. And Roco loved
his experience, loved the coach staff, loved his teammates, loved everything that
went into the season. But you know, no one could have really saw
it coming unless you were like, Okay, how well is this thing going
to work with no center? Well, they tried to play those guys,
They did try to play with guys. Yeah, Roco gets COVID and he
comes back, and the team was already in a state of we have to
do things differently. Kawhi's not here, the backuping ain't working, Terrence has
to play where it's Terren's going to play Rocco's spot. Yep, that's how
that's how. That's how that worked. That's how you get Terrence Man playing
three positions in three game four Thanksgiving. Yeah, so I feel for Rocco.
I can't see a scenario I can, but I more clearly can see
a scenario where he's not with the team next year. That makes sense.
Yeah, but we all know what it is with Marcus. Marcus has declined
to the point where and now his contract is in a situation where he's easier
to move it goes. I remember year too, right, I think he's
like they're all up in a year. Yeah. I don't care about like
how much money anyone's making next year. They have one year left. And
what we learned from Reggie Jackson's experience and by extension, john Wall, john
Wall had a team option originally, but it's basically like, hey, you're
on a one year deal and we have the team control of how that goes.
You got two point guards on one year deals that both of those dudes
went up getting traded off. All three of Marcus Morris Senior, Nicholas Vatum,
Robert Covington one year left on their deals and before this all season you're
like, hey, you got two years up in the dear. Here's how
hard things are in the NBA when it comes to contracts one year versus any
more than one year. John Wall would have been a Clipper two years ago.
But John Wall wasn't a Clipper because there's no way in hell the Houston
Rockets, even the state of tank that they were in, they weren't going
to buy out. When I told people when Sergeibaka got traded, and when
I said the Clippers aren't done, they were monitoring the situation in Houston,
and they got two guys, Rodney Hood and Shemmy Ojila, who were basically
cutible. We could have could have let them go. They weren't committed to
them. They could have let them go as soon as they were able to.
Rodney Hood stayed because the Rockets could not stomach buying out john Wall's contract
with multiple years left. Okay, they waited until john Wall picked up his
player option and then they bought him out the following off season. Shemy ojially
wound up getting cut so that Amir could get promoted and Xavier Moon can get
the two way to end this season. Kyle Lowry and Miami was the same
situation this past year. If Kyle had one year left on his deal in
Miami, he would have been bought out or they would have found a way
to trade him, and it might have been to the Clippers, because the
Clippers were interested in getting a guy like Kyle. Kawhi Leonard was interested in
that reunion, but the Heat kind of were like, Stewart, We're just
going to bench Kyle for a whole month. Would take attention to their thing.
Yeah, yea, and we're gonna bring him back as a backup,
which is what happened. Gave Vinson wound up starting the rest of the year,
but Kyle played damn near every game, and then all of a sudden,
the Heat put him on ice. While they were trying to resolve the
situation, the Heat were playing terrible Clippers like basketball, except against the Clippers
this past season. Okay, that team wound up in the NBA Finals,
not just in NBA Finals, they wound up going home Game three with home
court advantage, right, not even the lockout Knicks could claim that. So
but Jimmy Butler, Raine Kawhi Leonard, Jason McIntyre, Sorry, he's not.
He said he's had a better career than Kawhi Letard. I'm sorry to
have it because he gets money to talk and that's all that is very true.
Yeah, that's all that is. So like, I bring all that
up because the dynamics have to change. They know it has to change.
And that's the position where he's got to change, because that's the one position
where if everyone comes back, you are unquote running it back. And that
is what that would be. And yes, and that would be unacceptable.
There is no running it back with this past team. What you're running ten
games back is that whatever you're running back, it's not like you saw a
full season with this team. They blew the team up. They blew the
team up twenty eighteen Cavalier style. I'm talking like they're trade dealing. When
they brought in Jordan Clarkson and they bought in uh George Hill and uh they
brought in Larry Nance. Like that's a blow up. That is, know
what people mean though they're talking about Kawhi and PG. They think the experiment
is over. They're never going to be able to win a championship because of
the injury history. I'm with you, though, Like the grass isn't always
greener even if you could, it's not yet. High first round picks for
those guys from two thousands, probably not by the way, right, who
even drafted bad teams? What bad teams? Yeah, what are you trying
to do? You're trying to pick swop with a team that you wished death
upon. They're too good for that. Like, come on, and here's
my other thing real quick, because we're talking about contenders. You know how
many playoff series of Denver Nuggets one before this Ploseason run. The last two
years they won one. Okay, last year the team that came out of
the West was Gold and Stay Warriors. Everyone wants to tie last year championship
to the dynasty. I tie last year's championship to the worst team in basketball
in twenty twenty that didn't even make the bubble, literally the worst and a
team that lost in the play in tournament to the Memphis Grizzinies. The same
Grizzinies that everyone was a clown all right now, The Phoenix Suns made the
NBA Finals, beating Dailly Clippers in the twenty twenty one Weston Conference Finals.
Before that, they missed the playoffs ten years in a row. The Lakers
won the Chip in the Bubble before that worst stretch and franchise history six years
out of the playoffs, even before the Warriors dynasty of five years, they
won what two playoff series in twenty years? Yeah, like, there is
no like because you weren't close. You were not there. The Clippers aren't
close, But they would be foolish to break it up because they didn't win
a playoff series because dudes got hurt. If Kawhi and Paul, let's be
real talk. If Kawai and Paul were on that floor against the Phoenix Suns
and the quarter pos are we are we talking about things differently? If if
Kawhi and Paul are playing in their seven EME serions against the Nuggets, do
I think they win it? I don't know, but I would give them
a damn good chance to try. I know that they I know that the
Nuggets have dominated them since the Western Conference Finals in the bubble. But I
also know that the team that the Nuggets would have faced would have been different.
The Nuggets very well could have beat them. But that's a series that
you would have wanted to see, right because of all the dumb stuff that's
happened, because of the fluke injuries and the fact that, yeah, some
of these might be recurring. But because of some of that, you're saying
in one of the most unserious Western conferences that we've seen to date, one
that got even more un serious as the playoffs started, you're saying that they
should basically disqualify themselves from competing with that group next year. Did you see
what zion snaps look like? Do you see what has been teasing the entire
month in Memphis? The Sacramento Kings just make the playoffs are the first time
in seventeen years, Like, do we realize? Like that is the Western
Conference that the Clippers are in. The Lakers made the Western Conference finals.
I thought they were going to win the damn championship. They couldn't get one
game off at Denver and Lebron's finally for the first time ever using the threat
of retirement. That's the Western Conference. The Dallas Mavericks punted the play and
tournament even though they outscored their opponents on the year. The other team in
the East I could have did that. The Heat that actually lost the playing
game made it to the damn NBA Finals. I can't stress enough. This
is not the time. Like I know, people are tripping about Shae Gilgers
Alexander to being great. Shae Gilgers Alexanda, the next playoff series he wins
will be the first. No disrespect, Shay Gils Alexander is looking for his
Kawhi. Guess what The Clippers have their kauwhai. They have Kawhi and Paul
playing together. Still, they have the same chance next year as they did
the last four years, and you know what it might end up the last
four years. But having a chance to win something significant is more important than
having the hope that comes with a slander free zone that the thunder are in
because they keep winning trades with now an All NBA player. You know why
Shay got to be an All NBA player because he was a rookie on the
playoff team gets traded to a team that didn't make the playoffs but had Chris
Paul, which means you're going to make the playoffs and probably, you know,
lose maturely. People don't think about how the Thunders should have probably won
that game seven, but you know that's neither here nor there now. He
did not and then Shay did not play a game in April for two years.
You know, you might, you might get to be a damn good
player if it's all on you and the balls in your hands and you got
to figure it out and you are as good as Shade is and as wired
as Shade is. Sha is an outstanding young talent and it's not an accident
that he's a monster now, Okay, But to think that the same player
would have been the same player the same way if you would have stayed here
is the kind of thing that you know, TLC Warren ya all about chasing
waterfalls. So like that's where we're at right now. Like the Western Conference
is no disrespect to the Nuggets. It's going to be harder for the Nuggets
next year and the rest of them teams, they all can talk themselves into
having a real shot at it. What the Clippers can't do is say it's
just health. But I think they all understand that a little urgency might make
you a little bit better. And there's no urgency like your livelihood being that
state. As a real talk kawhi MPG as comfortable as they are in California.
How much y'all want to want this to work? Y'all want to do
this in another city? You put in the front another year and then the
player options, right, so those got exactly and you had a front office
that might be in a position where they feel like they need to save their
jobs. Well, that can mean a whole lot of stuff. And if
you're a player, you got to you gotta perform, even if you are
that start um, if you believe in the team and not asking for your
trade out and again trade out to where who's gonna give you an opportunity.
We just saw what would happen when Katie Katie got his trade. Katie just
got his head, not him, but like he went to a team and
that team went up firing their head coach. Kyrie got his trade and he
didn't even get to play in the playoffs. Kyrie Irving outside of Toronto lou
has won a grand total of two playoff series in his entire career. Been
I mean the court for teams that have won two in his entire care outside
of t outside of TLU and David Black like, it's not always greener on
the other side, and that goes for team level two. There's no greater
scam than trade the picks, and we're gonna let it. We're gonna keep
our jobs because we just traded the Star for picks. You know, Dandy
Angel can do that, but he in utah u La building a new stadium
the year the team is one hundred percent. The owners like, I'm paying
for this. This needs to work exactly. The West Camp be a whole
lot worse next year, but at the same time, it's gonna be harder
for everybody. So if you know that and you go in, that's how
Look, the Clippers were embarrassing the bubble, right, what did they do?
They were the best team in basketball until Kawhi and PG went in health
and safety protocols of the start of TuS first season and said, coach,
that's the energy that you can expect going into this next year. Yeah,
it's gonna come down to health because that was the attitude last year. If
they start it well last year, a lot of the frustrations don't fester and
develop as soon as they did. Like if Kauai winds up missing time in
November again, Paul Missus simon November again, that compromises your start. Yeah,
feelings are going to be weird and who knows what could happen. The
basement is pretty low for the Clippers. I'm not going to front on that.
That's fair. I mean, when your guys miss, when there's a
chance that your guys are going to miss some substantial time and you're top to
your guys, it feels like the basement is always low. But that's exactly.
But the difference with the difference with the Clippers, they do have a
ceiling. They do have another level. They do have a level of competitiveness
that they can get to. It can't just be Kawaii and Paul staying healthy.
And that's why I say, Look, they need to play harder.
The coaches need to coach like they want to, you know that, like
they're not looking at the standings. The fun office needs to put a team
together to protect against and well as support the coaching staff that they have.
And all of those factors lead two reasons why the Clippers can be better.
Am I selling that right now? Hell no, I'm not going to tell
you to clip with their favorites. I didn't tell you last year. I
got a whole lot. That's when we'll have to happen between now and when
the season starts in the fall. But I'm also going to say the Clippers
would be foolish if they were to break it up now prematurely. It would
give everyone a huge break. Oh man, Oh no, how West is
gonna go bo at least me. You got to worry about the Clippers,
That's true. Takes pressure off everyone else if you separate the two two top
ten fifteen guys obviously quite a little higer than PG maybe. But Adam,
what were you about to say? Well, my concern is kind of relating
to that. It takes the pressure off everyone, including the fan base.
I don't want Clipper Nation to fall into this. I guess section of fans
were you just want to be comfortable, and that's a team of guys overachieving.
But your ceiling is winning twenty nineteen Clippers basically, right, The little
engine that could type a team like this is what you deal with sometimes as
a team with expectations of winning a championship, and that has been new to
this franchise relatively over the last ten years. And there's gonna be hardship and
heartache that the Miami Heat fans are hurting right now. They've been knocking on
the door multiple times the last five years. I know they got those rings
with Lebron James. With this current iteration, they've been through heartache. It's
not always that easy. You mentioned the Denver Nuggets win in one playoff series.
The last couple of seasons, they go through a guy tearing an acl
at that young of an age, and you wonder if he's ever going to
be the same. But you keep knocking on the door and you just hope
that you have a little bit more luck, a little bit better fortune,
and it's your year. It's your time. This two on three era,
this is the closest they've had to really legitimately winning a championship. This group
of guys, having Kauhi and PG gives you that opportunity and that credibility you
start over with young guys. I went over the last ten years from two
thousand and six to twenty sixteen top ten picks just over twenty five percent of
those guys became All Stars. When they broadcast the draft next Thursday, everybody
gets talked about like they can be a future All Star in the first thirty
everybody and everybody has this false hope. That's not reality. The next SGA
isn't guaranteed for the Clippers just because they hit the reset button and you want
to do and go back in time to twenty nineteen and start over. That's
not the real SGA wasn't even a toughs in pick. Look at look at
the twenty eighteen draft. There's no way in hell the Clippers drafts SGA.
There's no way in hell he doesn't get there. Okay, that's the crazy
thing about the draft. Look at the dudes who were drafted five years ago,
five years ago, how many of those dudes are with the teams that
they began their your careers with, you know. And that's the funniest thing
about all this. It's like the draft is a crapshoot. But the draft
is also so going to take on more importance because we all know that there
are going to be some missus. If you can hit that that is cost
control talent for a number of years, especially when you already have the team
that everyone's trying to get to. The pills are trying to get two wings.
Like people want the Boston Celtics to break up because they're quote tired of
watching them, tired of watching them win in the conference finals. They broke
through one year, like they literally got to the conference finals this year.
They won more games this year than they did the year before with a backup
coaching staff. Okay, it wasn't just emay Udoka leaving and Missola having to
step up, Like they lost Will Hardy to a head coaching job before all
of that. They lost Damon Statamier before the playoffs during the regular season this
past year, and they still they be a very good Philadelphia seventy six ers
team. They went into a Game six on the road to save their season
and then got to the conference finals. They did compete to force the game
seven after being down three zero with a backup coaching staff. You want to
break up Jaylen Brown and Jason Tatum Jesse Jesse on that that would that would
be great because it's fresh and it's new, and it's basically it's this idea
of Jay Brown again, Like that's what people don't like telling the same stories,
watching the same thing, and they think that they get bored, like
and again, it's the biggest scan that that happens, Like it would be
a huge break to the rest of the teams in the league if they broke
those zodes up right, So we we're talking the draft. Last thing I
want to ask before we head out of here. We mentioned it in like
a week, which is so crazy. We had Choe Mare on the show
and he mentioned that he would be not surprised, but he it suggests that
that you know, since it's a thirtieth pick, it's a guaranteed contract for
the team, so they gotta be on the team. Are they going to
keep that thirtieth pick because there are a chance they moved back or like you
mentioned as the draft so important now that they're not that they weren't working hard
before. But you know what I mean, like, are they more zeroed
in on something there? I mentioned that I'm putting the I don't even know
when the spot comes out, but I mean I am. But you know,
don't spoil anything, all right, so easy? Yeah, yeah,
you know, you know, I'm uh, this is is one of those
nights where um, me and me and the laptop become one and the yeah
to the watching, watching the you know the numbers. I've looked at tons
of numbers, man, So like, I'm at the point where I can
tell you, dudes I haven't gotten to see play. I know what they're
capable of on a skill level and a production level. I know awards a
bunch of dudes have made. The last piece for me is like watching the
tape because I watch NBA basketball. This is the time of the year where
I watch college basketball ironically getting ready for that draft, and so I'm getting
a field for dudes. My colleague Sam Desini, my guy, like he
has this big draft guide out. He has part of it his top one
hundred or whatever, and I look at that and I'm like, Okay,
a team that has a thirtieth pick, you should only consider guys thirty and
below right wrong for two reasons. Number One, just because a draft expert
has his rankings doesn't mean that teams are going to think the same way.
Okay. The you know, there's a lot of groups speak that comes with
this, and you have to understand that I always play the Jay z Ignorance
shit track around the time of the year. You know, you can listen
to it for yourselves, Like this is the time of the year where you
get a whole bunch of people saying stuff they lying. So just because the
industry is like he's going to go number one every now again, Anthony Benett
goes number one, okay, So you have to understand for a brief period
of time. You know, you have to understand that just because a guy
is like ranked fifteen by you know, Christen's Peak, doesn't mean that they're
going to be the fifteenth draft pick. I remember they were talking about Kavan
Looney and Kevin Porter Junior as lottery picks. Those zudes both win thirtieth in
their respective drafts, and those zudes are both NBA starters and not just fringe
starters, Like I mean one of the Yeah, I know, Kevin Port
Junior plays one one of the worst teams in basketball, but this dude also
gave Drew Holiday fifty okay, like that, Like you can find dudes,
So you have to assume that if you're at thirty, just because of dudes
ranked twenty doesn't mean he might slip and you might he might be available.
So I gotta have a respectable range of those guys. But then the other
reason that is even more real. If you file the Clippers just because you're
at a spot, you can still trade up. They didn't make a trade
last year, and we made a big deal l frank about. Hey man,
it's the first time you ever didn't make a trade on draft day.
Ever the dude ran that was that was what the fifth sixth draft that he
ran. So you expect them to make a move. And I would say
they're more likely to move up in the draft than they are to move down
or out. Consider where they are at thirty. They would have loved to
have been twenty this year. I tell you we all would have loved that.
I think, well, some teams you don't care. Some teams you're
literally punting that pit because you're looking and traded. You're you're putting up for
sale. The Clippers, I believe, would have wanted to be higher in
this year's draft. And what that means to me is they will probably.
I can't be surprised if they find a way to go up. I won't
be surprised if they The draft is about reading the board, okay, So
you can't go into the draft with your head set on moving up. Just
like you can't go in the draft thinking you're going to trade the number three
pick to the la Clippard's creating. So like, so if you're at thirty,
it's like you are prepared to possibly go and get a guy that is
slipping way far. You know, you're not you're not really tripping at pick
ten and fifteen. But if it's pick twenty and it's like, oh,
he's still there, maybe those calls intensify and you look to investigate what it
would take to move up, you know, and maybe there's a bunch of
guys and you're like happy with five guys, you're looking at four of them
still being available. When pick twenty five comes around, you're probably like,
we're going to sit right here and take someone. So there's a lot of
things that happened in the draft, and I think a lot of people have
to understand it. This is not the NFL. In the NFL, free
agency starts first, and picks can just go whenever they go in the BA
because of our wonderful CBA environment that we've always been and not just because of
this new one. You know, uh, you're you're picking, but sometimes
you wind up picking for another team. Okay, people have to understand that.
Uh, the Denver Nuggets had the thirteenth pick in twenty seventeen, and
they could have picked Bam out of Bio, who wound up going fourteen?
You know who wound up picking nobody. They wound up selecting Donovan Mitchell for
the Utah Jazz so that they could get two years of Trey Lyles and Tyler
Lightning the NBA champion Denver Nuggets. You're gonna say, Moody, A oh
man, Oh my god. Well, I it's crazy that the draft is
so soon. I'm very excited about I think about if the Clippers might move
up. Um Law, We want to thank you so much. This has
been so much fun. We're happy that you're back on the grid a little
bit, at least at least with Clippers fans. So you're when does your
draft primer come out? You've been mentioned a little bit. I'm I'm I'm
I'm literally I'm gonna piece out to y'all, tag and what ch're gonna TAGGI
And I'm literally like I'm trying to you know, I got there's gonna be
thirty players that I have a sentence on. Look, I need people to
read. Yeah, I need people to read. Like you know, I
think y'all judge too many of us writers because of what we tweet or what
we what videos we post to you know, TikTok or I should be like
Belichick and be like top Graham. Yeah you know snap face yeah yeah,
yeah, yeah, you know zions stay off a snap face brouh or maybe
get on. I don't know what that is. But like, yo,
we we write, man, some of us actually actually about this life,
you know. We I love doing this. Uh. And I know some
people they click out after the first five hundred words, and that's their prerogative.
You know. My job is to make the first five hundred if you
want to get through the whole thing. But I'm telling you, um,
this is something that I'm really excited to put out. I really thought about
this. Um. There are dart throws because it's the draft, and draft
is a dart throw. You're not going to tell us the exact pick at
number thirty for look, look, man, you want to you want to
give me a you know, all of ownership of the DNB or New Mexico
Arizona Region or whatever job is available, y'all can do that. But every
head personal executive, it's a dart throw. You can do a whole bunch
of stuff. We have not gotten the draft down to a science. Just
because we're not picking you know, groundbound centers in the top ten, or
or just because we've discovered that small point guards can be selected later, that
doesn't mean we figured this draft thing out. That goes for the front office
people. That goes for people like me who just as happy to get a
chance to learn and cover the picks when they are made. So that being
said, it's only entertainment. Enjoy it. I'm going to enjoy it,
and I hope you get through it, because as much as I enjoy it,
I take it seriously. So hopefully Thursday morning, and we'll see how
things go next week, and more importantly, we will see how things go
years down the line when we gotta talk about how Michael Kidd Gil Chris went
from being, you know, a great top two pick to a guy who,
yeah, wondering if you ever get that form right man. Well,
I cannot wait to eat the piece Thank you so much, comes out a
week before the draft. We're gonna be back next week with a live stream.
Hang I think during the draft, which could be a good time,
maybe with Carl Tart, who knows. You can find us on Twitter at
Clippers Pod. You can find a Law on Twitter at at Law Worried the
new that is and you. Adam Oslem has follow Adam A I am at
Chuck Mockler, Well Updike sends his regards. He cannot be here. We
thank you everyone for listening. Please rate us and review us. Adam anything
you want to say to these wonderful Clippers fans as we let them go on
this way too cool June evening. Yeah, first of all, I'm glad
we could be the primer before Law writes his draft primer. Second of all,
at Clippers Podcast on YouTube, at clippers Pod on Twitter is where you
can find us. Let's go. We will see y'all next week.