With that belt thermal nuclear efforts. I might have to edit that out if
it turns out that it was too low for my mic to pick up.
Since we don't have an ASMO R MIC, we should maybe do that Grand
Power Rankings NBA Power Rankings as MR. I'm sure a lot of alternate I
don't know, like click my pen next to the mic. Maybe that's probably
I'm gonna chew on ice cubes from my my drink right now. This is
hard, but not welcome back. Thank you all for joining us. We
are here to talk some evergreen content. The playoff series have win them down.
We will still cover the playoffs as we'd even fit, but we're putting
out the data content. We're just getting tired if we want to talk about
some off season stuff, some evergreen things, which is why we have every
NBA team's toughest free agency decision in twenty twenty four to get to grant.
We'll be handling the Eastern Conference. I will be handing the Western Conference.
We are going to try and pace ourselves as we as we typically say,
so that we can get to all thirty teams in expeditious fashion. And I
don't know that I have any other notes. It's all relative these decisions,
will you know. I think for some teams there will be relatively easier or
the scale at which the decisions matter is you're certainly at the behest of Okay,
well, who's a free agent from this squad and we're focusing solely on
their own free agents. It's not, Oh, should have thunderspend their thirty
five million in caps based on bringing back James Harden or something. So that's
not That's not what we're focusing on here. However, I do have a
question, Grant, why didn't you call me certified fantabulous when you did the
intro last time? You should that's a note. That's a note you got
to give me right after. I was just trying to remember. Well,
because it's your certified fantabulousness, I feel like is implied, so we don't
have to highlight it. I forgot that, didn't I I didn't. Honestly,
I forgot too until a YouTube commenter said, so Grant is certified fantabulous,
Dan isn't. So. I mean there's a really long process involved.
There's like a board of governors that has to vote. Look, if I
were to applying next year. Yeah, I mean, and don't get discouraged.
It takes you know, most people, it takes several go rounds to
It's like the Hall of Fame, like sometimes you need to get you know,
if it's the basketball Hall of Fame, then you know, yeah,
and then everybody's in grant. How are you doing though, I'm doing well.
I'm excited to get to this particular bit of evergreen content because we've been
like like tentatively scheduling it for what feels like several weeks now and just not
getting to it. So I'm a big fan of like checking things off,
and so we're gonna gonna be able to do that with this. And also,
I mean, like we are at the point in the playoffs where there's
really not that much left and the thing everyone's talking about the same. I'm
not saying that ESPN covering only Brownie James is okay, but everyone is covering
the same four teams at this point, and we will check in on the
playoffs as we deem fit, But like, let's these series get a couple
of games under their belt this time. Think about how many times we adjusted
our priors during the first two rounds because we were just talking about basically every
series after each game. I know that that's like I feel like that was
probably a takeaway from last year and the year before and the year before that,
but it's really gonna be my takeaway from this postseason is just to like
just chill out after each game and not because you know, you want to
have something to say, like or you want to feel like, Okay,
we peeled back a layer of this series and like I understand it now on
this level, here's here's how things will go. And it's just like you're
never gonna be I mean, it'll be rare that like after game one it's
like I got it now, I got a handle on this, or like
you know, Minnesota Denver, it's like, okay, so after two games,
I really have a handle, and then after four it's like, no,
I have the opposite handle. You just can't that. I don't know
how you entire Nuggets Wolve series by the way that you just just like that
was the most extreme swings of a series that I can remember. So uh
yeah, we I think I don't know how like, but that's the thing
is then after each game, like if they say next year. When we
start to talk about the games, it's like we have to put this giant
caveat up front of like, well, but actually we have no idea what's
gonna happen because we never do. It's also that and I can't I feel
less emotionally invested in content that I know is going to be dated within thirty
six hours that we're putting out, and so it's like it's sometimes you know,
like that needs to happen, like we do the series previews or whatever.
But that's why you have to allocate time to what's gonna I think hold
more value. And right now I think us talking about what's gonna happen in
free agency, because there are twenty six other fans and fan bases in the
league. It will be a nice little primer for the off season before we
actually do are offseason look aheads or primers, because we don't do uh what
are they normally called? See, We're like, we've rebranded it so much
to the number one podcast in the world. I don't even know what previews
are. They're just look aheads and outlets. Grant you are starting us off
with the we're gonna go alphabetically again because we like to live da right,
all right, let's begin with the l A. Yeah, this was a
tough one, uh, just right out of the gate, because the Atlanta's
main issues just don't have anything to do with free agency. It's obviously it's
gonna be Trey Young or de Jontey Murray who's going if anybody in a trade,
And then there's the Jalen Johnson extension eligibility to consider, and then further
quite a bit further down the list, there is free agency. And so
if you had to pick one, which I did, I went with Sadiq
Bay. There's two like obvious complicating factors here for him. One is that
he's a restricted free agent, so like, how tough of a decision is
it to just match the market rate offer sheet that he gets or try to
avoid that by giving him a reasonable deal up front. And the other one
is, uh, he towards ACL so he's going to be a compromised Like,
I don't know how that affects his you know, contract prospects. It
certainly doesn't help them, but that's gonna be another factor that weighs into both
the offer sheets he gets from other teams and what the Hawks may be willing
to pay to match, but I would say, like, you know,
I guess probably you would label his tenure in Atlanta disappointment since the trade from
the Pistons, But he does play a position that they kind of need a
little bit, like just the idea of a spacing like higher volume three point
shooter, since I guess aj Griffin is just like not gonna play ever again,
and nobody is convinced that DeAndre Hunter is the answer, so I'm with
him. There's a couple other options, Garrison Matthews, Wes Matthews, team
option on the former unrestricted for the latter, but that's about it. I
don't know. I don't know how you feel about Sadik bay and the difficulty
of his free agent decision for the Hawks. I probably would have went with
Garrison Matthews. You know, are we gonna keep this guy? We're gonna
let him go. I think that that might be the bigger deal for Atlanta.
But no, I mean, this is really the only option for them.
I don't I don't really know if they should bring him back though,
Like I don't know if he played an important and they do have Jalen Johnson
just sitting there. So unless you think he's gonna play a ton of three
or you want to downsize a bunch, that's just but the cost might just
be so negligible at this point following the ACL injury, that perhaps you just
bring him back. And you mentioned Aj Griffin, who, like the team
doesn't seem high on or at least they haven't treated him like they're they're particularly
high on him. This just might be a guy that you need to bring
back because the price is right, and what else are we supposed to do
there? And we're so thin on those wing combo forward types anyway that we
just that we just need to do it. I mean the other thing though,
is maybe we tell them to handle their two way conversions a little bit
better. The fact that Vic Crachie could not play in the UH in the
playing was up was pretty disastrous. That was weird. That was weird.
So Boston, we did way under three minutes for Atlanta, but I feel
like it was two minutes and forty seconds. But that just we don't have
a concept of time, all right, So that takes us to Boston another
kind of for different reasons, because there's not a lot of tough decisions here,
because everybody that really matters is going to be under contract for next season,
So you've kind of got a choice between Luke Cornet and Exavier Tillman.
To me, as like just which of the backup backup bigs or in this
case, like Cornette actually played in Game one against the Indiana because Porzingis is
out and he just moves up the depth chart. Those they're both unrestricted free
agents. They both are probably minimum level players, so it's just kind of
like which of the two or both? I mean, really like at this
point you could bring both back just as further Porzingis insurance, I guess.
But if you had to choose between one or the other, I don't know,
I'd probably it seems like they would pick Cornett. He played a little
more than Tillman after the All Star break when they were both actually on the
team, higher true shooting percentage. Tillman brings just the switchable defense, and
it's sort of like, I don't know if it's it's kind of a false
narrative that they need to choose between them, but I'm I would probably lean
Cornet. But we're talking like minimum salary stuff here, so it's not like
huge pressing issue. Yeah, I mean they are without factoring in it.
If you keep Exavier Tillman's cap hold, just because it's so small, he's
technically a restricted free agent. They're at one hundred and ninety six plus million
dollars in payroll, and so that puts them past the second apron. I
wonder if they just see value and do we see one of these guys get
like an inflated short term contracts that they have because they do have picks if
they want you to move, and if they're really going to be all in
on this current time, like, oh, we're gonna go after it another
year and we'll deal with the ramifications and figure it out once Jason Tatum's Supermax
ends up kicking in the following year, I believe. So I'm just interested
to see, like, do they just go, we're gonna pay through the
nose this year, maybe we keep both, or does one of them the
one that they choose. I'm with you, I probably keep Cornette, But
does the one that they choose end up getting sort of an inflated price point
because of their tax situation. You need now for anyone who just doesn't know
this, you're gonna be a second Apron team. You cannot take back more
money than you send out in a trade. You either have to take best
less or be a dollar dollar dollar for dollar match. And that we were
just talking about this about for something that we're working on before we came on
that once you will, Okay, if the top six players are all limits,
I assume you know Al Horford's getting older, but he's been pretty important.
I mean we've seen like defenses go after him. But yeah, in
terms of staying it's not he can still stay in for this is so not
related, but Alhoverd can still stay kind of in front of guys. He
struggles when they're going to create separation, like going back to their step backs
and their pull up. Yeah, so the case in Game one against the
Pacers, like they started to eat against Horford later in that game. There's
your postseason analysis that we did it. So yeah, Bert agreed, shout
out Burt So. But like, assuming you're not going to trade one of
your top six, your seventh most expensive player or your best in this case
salary matching tools Peyton Pritchard who's on the books for six point seven million.
Yeah, that's why I just beat. Are they going to give till Man
or Cornette like more than that just to have that salary slot. I don't
know if they're gonna throw money around like that, but it's something to consider.
Yeah, I mean it's like, I don't know how much you would
be will a normal team that didn't have like whatever the just crippling additional tax
penalties are on say like a five million dollar salary would be but like you
really don't want to be paying five, you know, double the minimum to
a guy that is your like tenth or eleventh man anyway, you know.
But with Boston, it's like, whoa boy, that's that's not actually five
million, that's like thirty eight million or something ridiculous. All right. That
takes us to Brooklyn. This one's a little cleaner. Virtually everybody here is
under contract. I mean obviously Lonnie Walker, Dennis Smith, those guys were
minimums last year. They're unrestricted. But this is this is Nick Claxton.
Uh, it's you know, and it's not like do we want him or
not, it's just what's the market gonna set his value at? And then
you're you're trying to decide what he's worth to bring back to Brooklyn. I
actually had as just by way of comparison for some of something else I was
working on, like making the case that like there's a good chance like Isaiah
Hartenstein could come really close to or even out earn Claxton, just because I
mean, I think that playoff run really solidified Hartenstein's value and durability and everything.
But anyway, it's Claxton for sure. Like you take the teams that
have, you know, twenty five plus million in cap space, which to
me is probably on the high side of what I would be willing to pay
Claxton in the first year of say like a four year deal like Detroit probably
not okay, see kind of interesting, but probably not Orlando, no Philly,
no Toronto, no Utah. Probably. So it's like that might suppress
his value in that a lot of the teams that have money probably aren't gonna
be looking at a center necessarily. So I think he's probably back with the
Nets. But I'm not sure what that number is gonna be. Do you
have you thought about it all, like what his contract might look like.
I so I think his cap hold comes in at eighteen point three million,
and that feels sort of right and when you look at what Isaiah Hartnerstein can
get from his early bird rights deal, where it's going to be in between
the sixteen to eighteen million dollar range, it'll be below that eighteen million dollar
number for sure. That I guess feels right. And I also think I
agree with what you said about where's the looming thread out there? If you
asked me to pick the over the under based on his cap hold an eighteen
million, I'm almost inclined to go under. And I try not to do
this, but the Center Big market's always weird unless you're a star. And
as you outlaid with all the teams with cap space, it feels like,
where's the offer coming from a team like Okasee. I think would be easier
for them to talk themselves into what Isaiah Hartenstein does than Nick Claxton because they
like to play five out, So I just don't know where the money is
gonna be for him. Maybe Detroit would come in there and say, well,
we're okay with kind of this co op with Jalen Duran for now,
especially since Jalen Duran's on his rookie scale. Sure, but they need four
spacing as well, so he's a. He's a really good player. I
don't know where his number winds up. They'd be foolish to let him leave,
though, unless it's part of a sign and trade. If I gave
you that number eighteen point two million, would you take the over the under
per year? So you're probably so like an average, or we're starting at
eighteen and we're going up to like twenty twenty two, twenty four over.
Let yeah, let's go average that way. Okay, that's that's such a
good number. I guess. I guess if you're saying average value of eighteen,
it's I would put it more. That's right there. So that's like
seventy two eighteen four years seventy two. I could say like four for seventy
five, four for eighty something like that, Like Jared wasn't Jared Allen or
Jalon Jared Allen five for one hundred or four for eighty. I can't remember
something like that, five for one hundred. I think, yeah, that
seems that seems reasonable, So I guess I gotta go. I'll push it's
gonna be exactly eighteen million. That's the correct number. It is interesting for
for Claxton that like I feel like three to five years ago, his skill
set would have gotten in paid more, whereas now it's like there's not stretched
there's not like physical like dominant interior rim protection, and so the five position
switchable center defender isn't like the most in vogue type like it used to be.
All right, we're at Charlotte. Well, is that the nets are
now going to be like far enough beneath the tax where they're not probably gonna
try and squeeze him as much as they maybe normally would have a favor more
expensive. Yeah, his free agency will be fascinating. Yeah, moving to
Charlotte. So like, I don't know, we can we can make this
as shorter as long as you want to. But obviously it's Miles Bridges just
because of the money and all of the like how much do we want to
reset our image as a franchise with new ownership, new front office, new
coach. Bridges is a good NBA player, Like I think he is probably,
I mean, this is a guy that was probably in line for a
MAX right before like all the off court stuff. Yeah, so I don't
think that's realistic now, But this we're talking from Charlotte's perspective, like,
this is a tough decision, both from a like do we or don't we?
Full stop? Like do we want to be in the Miles Bridges business?
And then if we do, what's that look like? Contract wise?
Certainly not a max but like certainly also not like mid level money. You're
going to be much closer to the max than than that lower option. So
it's just it's it's almost it's not a franchise defining decision, but it is
going to give us some information about what kind of operation Charlott's gonna run here
going forward. I would just let him go reset, reset your image,
and or try, I mean maybe try and facilitate a signing trigs. I
don't know what cap spased teams. I guess Philly and Detroit would be names
that people would look at. Could Utah talk themselves into him? I don't
think he'd be an okay see guy, but uh, he will get paid
though, because domestic violence issues have no bearing on that. If you have
the ability to think the floor, probably all we need to say about that
takes us the Chicago Bulls. My incredible opening run is nearing its end here
with the Eastern Conference. I think it's DeMar Derozen, although all indications are
like who's the alternative? Well, that's part of it. I mean,
well, hold on, there's a couple, don't we don't we have There's
Andre Drummond, but I guess Patrick Williams okay, restricted, that's interesting,
so unrestricted that that really is it? Though, Like as far as guys
who's even like diehards would know who they are, it's Dero. Well here's
the thing. It shouldn't be DeRozan because he shouldn't be on the team anymore
and they shouldn't be facing free agency again. Will continue this angle of analysis
for Chicago until they change what they're doing. They have unfinished business Grant,
Oh right, yeah, right? Is the unfinished business like winning two games
in the first round of the playoffs. So yeah, Like, I guess
it's just I think the numbers that have been loosely out there is like they're
Chicago's willing to go like two years at like forty a pop, which I
guess that's better than going four years for you know, like one hundred and
thirty million. I don't know, they shouldn't be in this position they are.
Demart Rosen is still a really good offensive player. He doesn't make sense
on a Bulls team that needs to rebuild, et cetera, et cetera,
et cetera, et cetera. This is because you can't and let you walk
for nothing. I guess it's not disastrous, but that's terrible asset management by
them. You're stuck. What Patrick Williams though very quickly what is gonna happen
when he's coming up? He had another season ending injury. He's had a
bunch of lower body stuff since he started his career. I think he's shown
enough on defense, and there's been the flashes of not just a fishing three
point shooting, but of being able to dribble into the pull up or or
do some additional things on drives offensively, but never stringing together enough of it
with enough volume to make you believe like, oh, this should be someone
who gets twenty to twenty five million dollars a year. Yeah, it's tough
because there are flashes there of the you know, he shot over forty percent
from deep on low volume last year and has been like pretty good as not
quite forty percent, but has been a really good three point shooter again on
low volume in more than one season, good combo combo forward defender like that
that has value in a lot of places. I just don't think anyone could
look at the first several years of his career and conclude like this is there's
any high usage future in this guy. It's just he's going to be a
completely dependent scorer, I think based on what we've seen so far. I
mean, I guess he's young enough to get better. But I mean,
if I'm the Bulls, like, what's the number, Like, if he
gets a fifteen million a year offer sheet, do you match that just to
preserve the asset you have to? I mean, fifteen million is like barely
above the mid level right now. So like if and look, if I'm
a team like Utah or even Detroit and I'm trying to fuck with the Bulls
as cap sheet, I was going to ask you, I think the answer
is obvious because he is the restricted free agent. But who's more likely to
be on a different team next season? P will or DeMar Oh, Well,
I mean they're both, I think, but I think I really likely
to be bad. Part of my question is I think that even though I've
just leaned Demortros because he's the unrestricted free agent. The fact that I thought
about it for a second when he is a restricted free agent, I think
speaks to the fragility of just the situation. Yeah, I agree. I
mean, like DeRozan, they cannot well unless it's a sign and trade the
bulls. I cannot let him get away because that's just you know, that's
you're van fleeting it a little too hard right there? All right, oh
yeah, you're run It continues about to go to Dallas. I apologize we
can, because I don't feel great about this pick either. So options here
include Isaacacorro, who's a restricted free agent, Damian Jones unrestricted, Tristan Thompson
unrestricted, Sam Merrill has a non guarantee, so that's like technically not really
a free agency Marcus Morris, Isaiah Mobile You think Isaiah Mobley is gonna be
back on the on the calves next year? He's getting some fanasis. Did
you say this decision was hard? Well, it's a coro. I think.
I just I was just going through, like I don't. I mean,
it's another restricted one, and I hate picking a restricted guy as a
tough decision because it's just like especially not tough It's pretty simple. If the
number that he signs for is cool with you, you just match it and
and that's the end of the conversation. I mean in terms of like the
Calves existence as a whole, Like we've got a lot of other issues to
deal with in Cleveland that you know, this team could look very different next
year. But I would say it, you know, A Korro has not
been the exact kind of player that they've wanted at that spot, especially given
his draft pedigree, Like the shooting no one ever feels super confident in.
He's still kind of a liability offensively in the playoffs for that reason, really
good defender in another postseason where he didn't shoot it well and defenses didn't care
and the volume wasn't there. Yeah, I think, like it's just he
really is just a reliable three point shot away from being like, oh he's
a he's a high end like playoff starter because all the other stuff he's can
handle just fine. It just doesn't really have an offensive role to play.
So I don't know. I well, how about this. I think Patrick
Williams should sign a bigger offer sheet than a Korro does. But even though
they're like similarly situated in terms of their draft slots, and like I guess
roles on the team, but it just feels like because a korro is a
little smaller, doesn't have that like big time defensive versatility that Williams might I
think Williams might end up. Yeah, that's interesting because Corals I think,
still the better player, but he doesn't have the same defensive scalability where Williams
can guard kind of one through four if you really were two through four,
and like even a Corus just like if you start to put him on like
true sized wings, it gets if he which is also part of the problem
in Cleveland, And now you have these two small guards and your best perimeter
defender really shouldn't be checking the big the bigger wings, which makes getting to
his number pretty difficult. They just still have so much room beneath the second
apron, at least until all the you know, Dono Mitchell's nice contract will
kick in soon. If they signed to an extension, then you have to
deal with Evan Mobley. Well, Darius Garland still be on the team.
Jared Allen's next deal, he should probably be trying. He should have demanded
a trade already personally, that's what I think. So I think they keep
him. In terms of the number, I think he he'll get more than
the mid level, right, twelve point four million, he'll get over that.
As you said, he'll get more than I was like, twelve was
like about the number that I was gonna say. So, I don't know.
I guess he might, but it feels like around there too. I
feel like three for forty five or maybe even three for fifty, Like the
new cap climate makes it tough too, Like it wouldn't shock me if it
was like something like three for forty five or three for fifty or something around
there. Yeah, I'm still anchored to I think incorrectly the idea of like
fifteen million is like what you pay a starter like that, you know,
a pretty decent starter that's not a star. I think that's probably closer to
like seventeen eighteen now, so you're three for fifty is on the high end,
but like I guess, probably semi realistic for him. I guess it's
my turn. Now move on to the Dallas Mavericks have only one option unless
you think that they're not going to guarantee the contracts of Jadeen Hardy and or
just Jaydan Hardy's an only not yet excellent. Yeah, excuse me, excem.
It's Derek Jones Jr. They do not have his bird rights and he
has made himself some money during the postseason, not just with what he's done
on defense, but he's hitting his threes, making nice passes from the center
of the floor. I don't know what his I when I was talking about
thinking about him initially, I'm like, Okay, he's still a spacing liability.
He is the guy that defenses aren't going to guard. But if he's
going to continue to hit, take and hit threes, I don't know what
he ends up getting for the MAVs because they only have his non bird rights,
and this might service well in some of these future teams. They can
offer him one hundred and twenty percent raise off the minimum. That is not
going to cut it. Now. You can throw that out and it will
either take cap space, which they don't have, or an exception to resign
him. They have some wiggle room beneath the first apron, but like,
it's not enough to u right now to unlock the full mid level exception of
twelve point four million. I don't know if the mini mL which is like
substantially less, is going to be enough to lock him down. I struggle
to see where other suitors might come from it. It feels like he's not
going to be the priority of a team and so but I also think that
he has probably earned him himself more than just okay, like the tack player
mid level is what is it for next season? Five point two? I
think it's projected to be Yeah that low? Yeah? Wow? Why does
that seem so low? I don't know, but that's what I have too
on my sheet. Yeah, I thought it was a typo on my sheet.
So, uh, that's I think he gets. He gets more than
that, right, I mean he has to. As you're as you're laying
it out, I just keep thinking, like, oh, he's definitely not
coming back to Dallas like they. I mean, if even if they had
the full mL E, that would be no they. I think if he
gets the full MLLE, I might be a little bit so. And the
thing with also that you have to consider is if you're gonna give him the
full MLEE. Let's say they were able to open up, like they could
move Tim hardaway, Junior and save money that way and just have it avail.
Do you want to hardcap yourself for Derec Jones Junior just might be yes
the way that. Yeah. I mean, like if we're talking about a
Korro or several other guys, like Jones is starting in the conference finals,
like that's those guys, aren't. Nick Laxson's not doing that. Certainly Isaaca
Corrol is not doing that. It's it is it is like, well,
first of all, boy, he's ruining my one of my favorite pet like
theories, which is that don't ever invest in a player who looked really good
for the heat and is changing teams, like because he's just never gonna be
as good as he was with Miami, Like this is this is the best
Derek that for you with the Spurs too, Say who for who Derek White
do that for you with this with the Spurs to Like you should be you
should be all over anyone that the Spurs give up on. They've gone the
other way completely. H But you know what I mean, Like j Jones
is just the defenses. I mean, he's a huge part of Dallas's defensive
makeover. Uh And and I think you're right that we can't assume that he's
gonna shoot it like this, and even if he does for like a whole
other season, he's still someone that opponents are just that's the guy we're gonna
leave. So I think, like this is definitely Derek Jones, and good
for him. He's hitting the market at what is probably like the apex of
his value. Like even going forward, it's hard for me to imagine him
being better positioned to just do all the stuff he's good at than he is
right now in Dallas. So it's kind of perfect. I think he could
be a Bruce Brown candidate too, Whereas maybe he's not getting a long term
deal, but it's a one plus one with the team option, but it's
that first year is paying him twenty something million dollars. Here, like,
here come the Thunder, What if you swat? What if the Thunder just
want to go? We'll take another ace defender and super athlete and just play
him instead of just leave the boatload a cap, like, let's just have
more athleticism on the court, and maybe they use him as a backup five
and instances like when Be's not on the floor. So yeah, I don't
I don't want to get into whether he'll be back in Dallas. But if
Dallas wants to keep him, I think they're gonna have to preserve or actually
open up the access to the full MLLE. I don't see him like he's
not if he stays for the mini MLE. I'm calling Shenanigans and that they're
going to do the whole early bird rights stance, whereas they promised to pay
him next year. Yeah, or a Cuban in the new ownership group was
like, you get a whole casino named after you, probably in our new
sports betting empire outside the arena. Yeah, in a state where sports betting
is not currently legal and doesn't have any legislation pending. But we move on
Denver Nuggets. It's KCP here. He's a player option for fifteen point four
million dollars that he has projected to decline. He could always extend off of
that number if they wanted to go that route, which would help the Nuggets
in the sense that if you look at it through the lens of his cap
hold, if he opts out, he has a twenty two point one million
dollar cap hold roughly, so if you opted in and extended off that number,
he'd be on the books for fifteen point four, so that saves you
seven million dollars And that's not money that you could just go spend elsewhere,
but it's extra wiggle room for your tax bill. I don't know, like
he is the guy we're talking about Alcoro, KCP, Patrick Williams, guys
who could get offers. KCP fits on every single team in the league.
I know he's thirty one. That might repress some of the offer he's getting,
But you cannot give me a team with cap space that shouldn't consider going
after. Maybe it's Detroit doesn't want to get into KCP business again when he
said, you know, approaching like his post Heyday but Philly, OKAC,
he could probably even they need someone who's bigger. But okay, but fuck
it, Like, yeah, we'll take this guy here. Imagine replacing Josh
Getty with KCP in your best line up. Like it's not Asaad Joe either,
it's freaking KCP, who had a rough offensive playoffs. To be fair,
I don't know what number he winds up. You could tell me anything
at this point. Is it kind of a two year deal that just pays
him like sixty million dollars from another team. The Nuggets have to keep him,
and if they let him walk, it's absolutely inexcusable. I Christian Brown
is good. Peyton Watson, who did not play in ty World Series,
is also good. Neither of them right now have the ability to replace KCP
on the offensive end, unless you just think that KCP is not going to
hit his threes, and then we can have the discussion. I think,
though, what people who have to consider with Denver is that even if you
like just factoring in kcp's cap hold, but let's even forget the cat hold,
let's just throw in his player option there, like say he extends off
the number, they're a few million dollars, then into the second apron.
That's it's it's got checked time from the sense of, well, now we're
going to see how married to this core the organization app actually is and the
extent to which Calvin Booth has tried to prepare for this by having Peyton Watson.
And I still think they allocated too many roster spots to these younger guys,
and then people were talking about, you know, it's their starting lineup
that didn't farewell against the Timberwolves. It's not a depth issue, and it's
well, if you had more options and maybe he didn't need to play your
starter so much, things might have been different. So there's there's two ends
of that spectrum. But I think I ultimately land at like I personally believe
that they will bring him back, but I do find myself wondering, well,
they were so invested in doing X with Christian Brown and Peyton Watson and
having these other guys, there is there a chance that it wasn't just about
well, we're replacing Bruce Brown or trying to and then we're also planning long
term. Is letting casep walk part of the long term? I honestly have
no idea, but he is in terms of names we're gonna talk about that
absolutely cannot leave or should not leave. The Nuggets need to keep this guy.
And again, like you know, I can't I can't imagine how many
times we're gonna go to this. Well, but like, just as an
asset preservation move, like the leaving for nothing is always the worst possible option
if you have the ability, because like you, they can pay him just
whatever, right, So like, as long as you're not doing it,
you know, as long as you don't hit a number that's just like no
other team in the league would pay that. Well, then he's a tradable
asset, and like maybe this is a way Denver a year from now or
whatever it like gets a draft pick back or like you know, some something
like that, or get you know, breaks. He takes back less money,
just like you can't let it you. You cannot let him leave in
free agency. That's for a number of reasons, but not the least of
which being you're already really inflexible because of how expensive this roster is. In
the second apron. You can't let a guy go that could down the line
and maybe buy you back a little bit of flexibility if you're willing to like
float that number for a year or however long it ends up being, which
I did very quickly, just because I know we spend a lot of time
on the Nuggets. His cap hold is around twenty two million dollars, which
is just over fifteen percent of the salary cap that's projected the comount next year.
He opts out, is he getting more or less than that on an
annual basis? I think definitely more, and in large part because of the
like short term big dollar deal you mentioned as a possibility, like a two
for sixty or or something like that. Yeah, it's just like it's a
Warrior deal. I would take the I would take the under on it.
I do think I go back and forth, but I think that the non
stars, even in a market where teams are desperate for good like KCP,
might be an exception because the market's so bad around him. But I do
think we all might be in for sort of this sticker like reverse sticker shock
on certain like you know how sometimes we get it with centers where that's really
all the assigned for. Yeah, because they're not stars unless you're yaka PERTL
and the Raptors gave up a pick that, by the way, convey should
we talk to him, we can stop discussing it, then, I guess
so. I honestly, I don't have a great feel for what it's going
to look like for these non stars in the super tax era, But I
would say pretty comfortably if he signs unless he opts in and that's the number.
But if he ends up getting the same amount or less of his player
option, that would shock me on an annual basis, Like he should get
more, he should clear fifteen and a half million dollars, I would think
easily per year. I think he'll be closer to the twenty two cap hold
figure than the fifteen player option figure, like pretty comfortably. I would guess,
all right, that goes back to me. I've got the Detroit Pistons.
I want to try something on just just to see where you're at on
this? Is it? No? Is it absurd to have Evan Fournier's non
guarantee or what is it? Team option non guarantee? Which is it?
It's a team option. It's a team option, nineteen million dollar team option.
As like a tough decision like in that might you want to bring that
back for, you know, to just dump on somebody with a like can
you use that? Is that a useful tool in any way? Or should
we just talk about restricted free agency? For simone Fontechio, I'll let you
choose the adventure. It has to be simone fontechio because the motion shooting specifically
is something that will play in the open market, and because you can have
so much cap space, it sort of dilutes the importance of having because that
having Evanfortier sal s salary in theory, it's valuable if you roll it over
to the trade deadline. You could just sign someone who's better to a one
year deal for just as much and roll that over the trade deadline. Yeah,
it's it's it's it's always intriguing to me when a team has like this
fairly sizable salary that could like disappear after they you know, like that's,
oh, what do we do with that? Like it's not just you don't
want to just let it evaporate, because you know, nineteen million is like,
that's something you can use for something, even if you have no intention
of ever keeping Evanfortier in the rotation or on the roster. I think I
think it is Fontechio. I was like toying with the idea of like how
close will the contracts Fontec and Tobias Harris signed. B Oh my god,
Like how like is there a world that I don't think Fontechio is ever gonna
make more? But considering like where Harris is, you know, if Derek
Jones is at the peak of his value, Harris just partly because his contract
was so big, it's probably at about an idea of his and Fontekio is
like he's I mean as good or better of a movement shooter, is a
good defender, like also younger, have you remember what he did when he
was just in Detroit for fifteen or sixteen games, like over fifteen points a
game shooting, he's like plus percent from three fifty four percent on twos is
just I mean the pistons sucked like he was slash starting forward like on a
on a on a lot of times. I think you could make a case
that and like, if you're going through the you know what, I'm going
to make this case Simoni Fontekio is more important than Pistons than Jay and Ivy
because think about, well, hold on, hold on, I'm not his
ceiling, I'm not in terms of creating the floor balance necessary to optimize the
single most important player in the building, who is Kate Cunningham. So Mony
Fontechio is more important than Jay and Ivy that you could be like, well,
what if J andn Ivy gets to catch and shoot stroke? He doesn't
have one right now, folks, And so Kate Kate Cunningham is good now,
and so for next season you unless J and I is gonna completely reinvent
himself. He is more important to the Detroit Pistons than Jay and Ivy.
I just want to compliment you on establishing the parameters for an argument that seems
absurd except within the parameters you've set up, and then it's a logical argument,
just like really stellar work, because you're right, like if you're trying
to in the sense of how do we make the guys that matter on this
roster matter? More like he just he's super important in that effort. Here's
here's the Galaxy brain thought, Simoony Fontechio is more important to optimizing J n
Ivy than J n Ivy is stopped on J andn Ivy at this Wait,
just like, yeah, J and I's not gonna hit enough of his shots
to help manufacture him shels himself right now. This is another case where we
have a restricted free agent where the tough part quote unquote of the decision is
like, how come how high are we going in terms of matching or just
throwing a number out. I mean, he's a dude that like I guess
Philly has buddy healed in the building. So but like Fontechio is a better
defender, has better size to him, but like that's a team I think
you could like, Okay, see, just like let's get someone with size
who can shoot and not he's not really gonna help our rebounding, but he
won't hurt our defense San Antonio, like any any team that's just like,
we need guys that can space and move and and defense, like or who
likes saying Fontechio because yeah, who doesn't other than Orlando probably not going to
Orlando among the cap space teams. It's like he kind of works. Honestly,
he would work in Orlando too. They need Why can't he work in
Orlando? I mean, but that's that illustrates how valuable he is. It's
like that's the worst of the off under with this, that might be a
separate good podcast of how much will this player get paid this offseason? Bookmark
grant or Folks remind us that I just asked for this the mid level exception
twelve twelve point four. I'll say twelve and a half million, because twelve
point four is so weird over I think he gets more than that. I
think he should. I think he should. I would pay him more than
that, But I just said that. Jay and Ivy shouldn't even have been
drafted apparently, Yeah, Jay and Navy should quit. That makes anybody mad.
I wasn't talking about the players in a vacuum, but in terms of
partnering with Kate Cunningham, I still believe it. That brings me to the
Golden State Warriors, and it's Gary Payton's player out, it's Klay Thompson.
It's just how much do you people a talking about? Yeah, he might
stay like for a hometown discount. The fuck does that look like at this
point? Because what is Klay Thompson worth to you in a vacuum? He
hit threes at a very good clip this year, but he's just getting cooked
on defense on the ball. Away from the ball, He's clearly not at
a point in his career where you can count him to generate any sort of
space for himself with the ball in his hands. I think he's still valuable.
And there's the nostalgic emotional component to this. There's also the luxury tax
component to where if you actually, you know, we talk about the Warriors
just being so expensive, they're technically not really cheap, but like they're out
of the tax right now if they just if they wave Chris Paul, like
many expect them to do. Yeah, let's let's assume a guarantee. Kavon
Looney like, they're just basically outside of the tax at that point. I
think they're way outside of the tax at that point. The number I have
them at, I'm looking at one forty five point six, which is more
than thirty million dollars underneath attack. So there are scenarios in which if you
wave Chris Paul, you can resign Klay Thompson and stay out of the tax.
But one, how much is Klay Thompson accepting? And two, like
I do think these two things are related, What is the actual aim for
this team this summer is that? I know Joe lacub said in February on
I think it was Tim Kywa Komi's podcast, that it's not just about avoiding
the second aprin about getting out of the attacks entirely this year. Again,
you can do that with Klay Thompson on your roster. The method by which
you do it, though, one depends on his paygrade, Two depends on
what you want to do with Chris Paul, specifically, if you want to
waive him. Probably not much of an issue but if you want to keep
him, is it okay removing Andrew Wiggins? So I don't. I don't
know where it's gonna land, but it's clearly the toughest decision because there's so
much that goes into forget about the Warriors' payroll, but just like what is
Klay Thompson worth? Think about his importance to the franchise? And then the
two other most important players to the franchise and Draymond Green and Steph Curry.
Steve Kerr said, we need Klay Thompson after the season or is he gonna
say anything else? And then finally, are there other teams that would say,
like we'll take a shot at like we could use it like Orlando has
been a team that's been thrown out there. Detroit could use him. Were
won't to just give him his MAX or something over two years to get him
out of Golden State? I wouldn't, but I expect him to be back
in Golden State. But like, what's a number that you're comfortable with as
a team paying Klay Thompson, specifically that team being the Warriors. I think
that's the key. I think it's different depending on which like if you're Orlando,
I think two years fifty million you could totally justify, you know,
you go much higher than that if it's that short of or one plus one
or like something like that. For Golden State, I think for I would
be stunned if they offer anything close to the two year forty eight the extension
that was reportedly offered before last season that he turned down. That's not coming
back. I think for me, if you went two years like forty million
or something like that, that's about the I just don't think there's a case
to be made that he is worth more than that. And that's before talking
about the tax implications and all the other stuff you might have to do.
Like then you're definitely waving Chris Paul. Then you might even be hoping Gary
Payton does not opt out or does opt out. Then you're then you're also
considering, like are we going to really pull the ripcord on Kavon Looney with
that partial guarantee? Like so, I think even sentiment is like impossible to
avoid with this particular case. And so I guess, I guess there's a
way that Golden State might go above like twenty million a year. But I
think much beyond that, and it's just like it's just I don't want How
about this. I think if Thompson is back with the Warriors, he will
by definition not be taking the biggest contract he's been offered, and so I
don't know if that's something he's willing to do, because he's been so prideful
and like probably pretty eager to show that he can be what he was or
closer to it, like without all the system and the hell, like I
could that's the scenario I could envision where he's like, I'm gonna prove it.
I think two for forty is where the Warriors should go. I think
another team probably could justify going higher. And then it's just a question of
like what does he want? You know, I will say this and I
agree with everything you just said, and I don't actually care what he gets
paid good for, like Thompson, if they're gonna pay him for what he's
accomplished rather than what he's going to do good, that's But if the Warriors
are given him more than twenty million a year, and I don't even argue
if it's more than fifteen million dollars a year, I will view them as
his team that is deeply unseerious about making the most of what's remaining from Steph
Prime. And that's just it's nothing to do with Klay Thompson specifically. I
just don't know what message that sends that you're trying to pinch pennies and you're
going this route of paying someone who is objectively to you just not worth maybe
in a vacuum he's worth ten fifteen percent of the salary cap. He's not
worth that to you based off what you need at this stage of where your
core is at. Yeah, yeah, I mean I I don't the idea
of that, of him coming back at a too big of a number,
I don't know if I can get on board with that shows they're not serious.
I feel like, well, because if they want to stay out of
the tax and they're giving Klay Thompson over twenty million dollars a year, that
is not yeah you too. Those two goals are almost mutually explored two things,
or mutually exclusive of oh, can we pay Klay Thompson twenty five million
dollars a year or duck the luxury tax? Entirely they should be. They're
not mutually exclusive. Let make ta clear. They should be. Yeah,
No, you're right. I mean, it's just like if he it's it's
so tough because there's so many non basketball things that affect his free agency in
ways they just don't touch anybody else's. We're gonna talk about why they would
pay him. Yeah, we need I would say that we need to stop
tricking ourselves into thinking that the Warriors are gonna do anything other than just float
around the middle. If that's I'm not I'm not advocate for them to let
Thompson walk. Yeah, I just they seem very hesitant to make the big
time swing on the trade market. If they're so concerned about pinching pennies,
are they gonna be willing to even make a big swing on the trade market
while paying Klay Thompson. I honestly don't know. I'm gonna be fascinated to
see where his contract lands that gives us or brings us to the Houston Rockets,
who have no like they're gonna pick up Jay Shaun Tate's team option.
That's not a difficult decision. So I'm looking at the non guarantees for them
because their fat which is Jack Landel and Jeff Green. Jeff Green actually played
some minutes for them to some backup five stuff. I think you just guarantee.
I would guarantee both of them, But I think Jock Landell's a tougher
decision because he's not someone, especially with the emergencies and improvement from alphern ching
Gun and Jabari Smith Junior, profiles as someone who's going to play. However,
you look at just having that salary number on your books, because you're
not going to be this massive cap space team. Just keep the eight million
dollars slot so that you can use it in a trade if you want to
make that push. You don't really have to worry about a roster spot crunch
right now and looking at your own draft pick commitments, and so I would
guarantee him. But it is kind of a decision where what would we rather
just keep that roster spot open rather than you know, are they gonna if
it's one thing, if you're using it in a trade immediately, but if
that's something you're kind of kicking the can down until the deadline, are you
going to guarantee it. It's a very small decision in the grand scheme,
but I would, in the end guarantee both Jeff Green and Jock Landel just
because those are contracts that could help you in trade talks, and they also
just because they come off the books after next year, they fit with your
squeaky clean twenty twenty five cap sheet, which that itself is pending because both
Alpern Shangun and Jail and Green are currently extensional agrule, So maybe they're on
the books for more money than their cap poles right now. But it's it's
such a low stakes decision for Houston. But I think I land at the
point of I mean, when you look at some of the other guys who
could be traded, they don't make a ton of money, and so it's
you know, if you're going to include a you know, like like even
a And also some of the guys are just so important, but like unless
you're reading Steven Adams as that guy, I guess Jayshan Tate, but he's
only at seven point one million, and then Tari Easton probably on someoney if
he's healthy that you want to move anyway, that's only three point seven and
then it's okay, well it's Fred van Fleet and it's Dylan Brooks. Those
are the only players that are on the books for more than fifteen million dollars
next season. Grant, I don't know if you knew about the Rockets.
You have two players earning more than fifty I get. I'm sure neither of
them are untouchable, But when you're just talking about building these trade packets,
it just feels it makes sense to have both Jeff Green and Jock Landale in
your back pocket. To me, yeah, I think that's right, just
because as you're talking, I'm looking down their their salary list for like,
okay, what are some numbers that they could flip if they let this,
you know, the nine point six for Green in the eight for Landale come
off the books. It's like, okay, all right, somebody's at nine
point seven. Oh that's Jobari Smith Junior. Okay, that's not that's not
tradable salary. That's like a cornerstone piece. Oh not nine point two,
Okay, that you can put that together with a pick and some other salary
and get like a fifteen million dollar Oh that's that's Aman Thompson. It's like,
forget it, Like there's just you need those guys, or one of
them at least for that reason. So yeah, another loads if you're patching.
Let's you Jalen Green as an example. You want someone who's making at
least a little bit you well, you don't want You need someone or someonce
who are making those mid level salaries that you can step out of your way
to the because you're not trading Jalen Green for someone who's on a super cheap
deal. You're presumably making that trade because you're getting a star who's making over
twenty million dollars, so you need to get to that number something. Yeah,
all right, that takes me, takes takes it back to me.
Uh, and we are on the Indiana Pacers here. I went with Pascal
Siakam, not because I think there's any real intrigue or drama about like,
well maybe anything as we get deeper into this, but about him leaving,
about another team signing him away. It's just like we talked about this,
I guess with probably ogn Andobi the other day. So there's the five year,
two forty seven ish million deal dollar deal that Indiana can offer to me.
That should probably I wouldn't do that because you don't have to. But
Indy can also offer about four for one ninety. These will be slightly different
than I think the numbers we discussed for OG, but these are close enough
versus another team can go four for about one hundred and eighty three. So
Indiana can just have the best offer, full stop, no matter what.
And I be okay with him at four for one ninety just because almost no
fuss. We move on like this was a foregone conclusion when we traded for
him. It's just a question of, like, I don't know, do
they even need to go that high. Is there gonna be a four year
offer from another team out there that pushes them to go all the way on
a four year deal or even I don't know. I don't love this fit,
but like if it was a matter of trying to get Indeed to pay
the most and they would have to optimize, they're like, I wouldn't mind
okay See making a run, like creating some additional cap space. I don't
love the fit, but just as let's just put pressure on someone else,
he would be playing us to chet Homegrin super interesting. Yeah, I think
okay See is gonna loom pretty often here as a team. Well, I
mean there's not a ton of situations like Siakam, but like anytime there's a
you know, someone needs a leverage play, you know, the representation has
to come back to the Pacers in this case and say, like, I
mean, we got this offer from Okay, see, you know it's the
full boat for four years. You guys have got to at least go,
you know, four for one ninety and I don't know, give us like
a guaranteed parking spot or like something. They're just gonna use the Thunder as
leverage because the Thunder are the scariest we could fuck around if you really want
us to team this offseason, you know. But other than that, like
you know, the Pacers have a couple other things to think about. What
obi Toppin's restricted uh TJ McConnell has a non guarantee, which like the definitely
bring him back at nine point three, but that's more of an extension situation,
like right, yeah, how do we give him thirty million a year
in the postseason? To think about it, I did so I think there's
a chance Toppin could end up being the more tough decision because if Pascal's Siakam's
market, it's just the four year max. It's done and done. I'm
curious though your thoughts on and maybe this would be the option that makes it
difficult. Would you be willing to so a five year deal takes him through
his age thirty four season. If you're lowering the average annual value, would
you consider going to that fifth year? And I don't know how much you
need to lower it, but is it like, because if you're going to
go the full boat route over five years, you're looking at two hundred and
forty five, it's about two hundred and forty five million. It's a little
bit more than that. It's like, would you do like five and one
hundred and twenty five or something like just to lower the or is that just
not enough of a shaving off the top because I can't imagine five for two
hundred. It guarantees him like a good amount of money, But if you
could get a four for one ninety, why would you sign like a five
for two hundred? Tight? You know what I mean? Yeah? I
mean so, so what you's game? It out like what you've gained from
Indiana's perspective, because they're the ones that you'd have to like twist their arm
to do the five. Maybe maybe I don't know, maybe they think just
the fifth year on it would be worth going to two forty seven for whatever
reason. I just think that's based on the idea that he's more valuable as
a trade chip because he's under contract for longer, which is always the way
we used to evaluate longer term deals is like, well, this guy's worth
four first rounders because he's got four years left. And this guy's got only
two years left, so you can't give up as much in return because he
may leave, and you know, it's not a rental, but it's not
like this guy's on the books for half a decade or whatever. I'm not
sure there's enough of a payoff in terms of like preserved trade value because of
his age to justify a fifth year if you don't have to do it,
and Indiana doesn't have to do it. So like because if you and then
if you're Siakam and you're offered five for two, you would you say two
twenty five or two fifteen or something. Then it's like, well, wouldn't
I rather get back to free agency one year earlier and assume I can make
up that difference and more? You know, And there's also the options that
he signed shorter term to then go back into free agency and capitalize on the
ten year max because this was his eighth season, I believe, until he's
like, right, what if it what if it's a two plus one or
we we haven't even talked about a two plus one or a three plus one
or something like that, that might almost benefit Indie because it just gives them
more time, like because if things really don't pan out, or if you
start to see him on the decline, it's okay, this conference now at
least a year shorter, right, and then if he's playing really well,
you're probably yeah, okay, we'll worry about if we have to pay him
more when the time and from his perspective, that's like a bet on yourself
thing, which you know, given the hyper confidence of all these guys,
is not like the most outlandish, you know, hypothetical. Let's move to
the Clippers though, that's that's your team I picked. So it's between James
Harden or Paul George, and I picked up Paul George who has the player
option just because he has a market that James Harden does not. I don't
know what team I think figuring out James Harden's number is going to be a
difficult proposition, But where is the leverage coming from that pigeonholes you into number
X when you're looking at the cap, like certainly not Philly. So it's
just like where I don't see any outside forces pressuring the Clippers in any way.
And this also feels like something they probably hammered out before they ever traded
for him. And so I look at Paul George and still has yet to
sign an extension. If he opts out, he can sign a four year
max that is worth a boatload of money. It's four years and two hundred
and twenty one point one million dollars roughly. Do you just give him that
when you didn't give Kawhi Leonard like like that full boat type like he decided
to extend and Paul George did not, and so you kind of saved it.
You added a year of flexibility because you weren't committed to him for as
long. But you're really gonna let him walk or trade him for minimum return
because it doesn't at this point, it's like, well, I don't know
how much money they're actually haggling over because like the years are set because of
the over thirty eight, Like he can do he can go up to this,
And I'm just it really probably shouldn't be difficult, but now that you've
got no point where he could very easily just reach free agency and maybe doesn't
sign an extension, it is super difficult. And I'm like, I'm kind
of at a point where, Okay, you could in theory save a bunch
of money if you let him walk, But like you have Kawhi Leonard,
you're gonna resign, James Harden, You're gonna be in the second apron probably
anyway, even if you let Paul George walk for nothing. And here's the
thing, you can't let him walk for nothing because yes, you might have
some first round equity to trade, uh, but the trade restrictions are punitive.
And I like, I it feels like this shouldn't be difficult, but
because he hasn't extended yet, it seems like it's going to be. That's
my question here. It's clearly you're right, it's clearly Paul George. What
do you what do you make of Kawhi extending and Paul George not like because
there's two ways to go, I think, which is like the Clippers offered
a similar extension and Paul George said no, or they didn't offer a similar
extension, and were they I'm very if they're yeah, it's I don't The
QUI stuff is just like this is where he really wants to be. We
know that because of how he got there, and so he just decided he
knows his own injury history, and so we just decided, yeah, this
might be more franchise friendly than But I'm still like it was so it was
like so close. It wasn't the maximum number of years, yes, so
in terms of your sacrificing money, but like it was close enough to what
would have been his max salary that it's okay, what was the concession really
there? I'm just I want to know what the actual issue is with,
like how much money are the Clippers trying to sign him below the max?
That's what I mean. Like, so does it mean that that Paul George
views himself as more valuable than Kawhi Leonard on the open market? And then
it's the getting into the whole question of like, well is that actually true?
I don't know, you could make a case, I guess, or
do the Clippers clearly think he's worth less than Kawhi Leonard, which is like
another one. Yeah, you can make that case. Even with Kawai's unavailability,
the ceiling is still just higher than Paul George's in terms of what you
get with Kawhi Leonard theoretically if he's if he's healthy. It's just it's fascinating.
It just seemed like I thought for sure once Kawai signed the extension,
it's like, we'll get an identical one for George and like an end of
conversation, we don't have to think about this. It's just I'll be fascinated
in the wake of him signing someplace when all the details come out about like
how the whole extension thing shook out with the Clippers onto the Los Angeles Lakers,
where there's really only one option because Darbnham is gone, so it's not
gonna be Torrian Prince, Like, how do we figure out how to max
him out? It's the Endsvill Russell, and he has a player option which
everyone expects him to decline. And now, if you have never watched D'Angelo
Russell before, you might think he's in line to make quite a bit of
money this season. But the D'Angelo Russell experience is such that he tantalizes you
sometimes for long stretches at a time, only to not come through when it
matters most. And that was the track he followed this season, albeit in
a flashy matter because he was so good for them for most of the regular
season. Uh, it never should have been. Well, he's still good,
Like we don't really need Donovan Mitchell or Tree Young here, Like we're
good, we're good, we got we got d Lo. However, if
he's gonna opt out, you're not in the best like you do have other
salary matching tools for trades. I'm looking at and maybe you feel differently.
I'm looking at him purely as a player to be traded from the Lakers,
and you want to preserve that asset. It's not I guess the disaster scenario
of don for the Lakers not a disaster scenario in a vacuum. Let's say
Donovan Mitchell signs the extension, and then it's well, we're not gonna have
the best offer for Trey Young or the Hawks aside not to move him.
We don't think Dejontay Murray's high enough, and I don't really love Darius Carlin
for this team. But so if you can't get a league guard, then
danzelrstill becomes important to you. But the fact that you're on the hunt for
a league guard speaks to the actual importance of D'Angelo Russell to you. What
is the number you come in at? Then his cap hole is gonna be
almost twenty six million if he opts out, they do have room. Assuming
he ops out and they're not gonna carry his cap hold, they have a
ton of room beneath the luxury at tax almost thirty million dollars. That doesn't
necessarily matter as much when you're a Lebron James team and operating on his window,
But it's in a weird spot where it's well, you can't afford to
lose him necessarily for nothing, but maybe you can, because unless it's a
sign and trade, you're not gonna be able to move him right away,
and you need his cooperation and a side and trade, not just a team
to be interested in him. And when you do have other salary matching tools
Mikah Jared Vanderbilt, like a Gabe Vincent, like a Ruby Hachimra, Is
it that important to roll over d lo salary slot, especially if doesn't it
get harder if you know you're gonna go out and acquire guard X to make
that decision, or maybe it doesn't because if you know that, oh well
we had to include Gabe Vincent and Austin Reeves and that deal for Trey Young,
like we might as well just keep D'Angelo Russell. Anyway, I just
this is my incoherent rambling way of saying it feels like this could go in
so many different directions. And to top it all off, before I throw
it to you, I don't know which team is gonna come in and make
the Lakers pay through the teeth for D'anzelo Russell. Maybe because it's the Lakers,
we see some gamesman ship from another team, which I'd be all in
favor of. Orlando was just like we know that they're gonna like he's gonna
go back to them and we're going to force them to pay twenty one million
dollars a year for three years for Danzel Russell or something. Did you say
specifically whether you thought he would he would decline this player option or not.
I think he will, just because I think he's in a position to guarantee
himself over the even if he ends up signing three for forty five, Like
you've guaranteed yourself quite a bit of money. Then I agree, I think
he I think he will too. I just get a little, just a
little bit of pause thinking about, like, well, who really is going
to come in and you know, start him at a number that's close to
his eighteen or I guess his cap holds almost twenty six. I don't think
anybody's coming in with an offer starting there. But yeah, like I I
guess, well, I guess I would say an answer to the one of
the questions you asked, I only ever view D'Angelo Russell as a salary to
be traded, Like I don't. I don't really ever view him as someone
that's like a little bit you know, a little hyperbolic. But yeah,
from the Lakers perspective, it is a really interesting dynamic that they need a
lead guard, and getting D'Angelo Russell back on the roster so that he can
be traded is very important in acquiring a lead guard, because that lead guard
is not D'Angelo Russell. I just like, I don't, I don't see
how anyone is like even a Lebron James, we should mention as a player
option, But like all indications are the Lakers will do whatever he wants in
terms of contract years and dollars, and that's not going to be remotely dramatic
odds are. So that is like a higher profile situation. It's just there's
I don't feel like the that is a tough decision. I don't think like
for really anybody on either side of it. The next team is the Memphis
Grizzlies. Really only one option here unless you think that, and we already
know he's going back to Japan, so it's not Yuda want anabi here.
Luke Canard has a team option for about fourteen point seven fourteen point eight million
Memphis. If you remove that team option, and there's we're talking about a
franchise that is going to be cost conscious. I think we can all agree
they're about seven to eight, maybe nine million dollars under the luxury tax,
depending on some other decisions. So if you pick up Kannard's team option,
you were just automatically a tax team unless you're doing any other cost cutting maneuvers.
And it's well, then you get into where's the cost cutting coming from
if you don't have if it's like you're trading just dumping Daier Williams and six
million, like, because you're not going to trade Morant Jaron Jackson junior.
It seems like they're pretty married to Marcus Smart. Do you look at dumping
Brandon Clark looming over all this though? Is this team shout out to Gigi
Jackson making All Rookie second Team? He didn't make first team? Right,
Yeah, he was second team, So you still need to wing. You
kind of need to at least add one other big and that's gonna maybe go
rise to two if Brandon Clark ends up being moved in some type of salary
dump. At the same time, you're not nearly a good enough shooting team
in terms of volume more efficiency. Yet just say, well, we don't
need Lukenard's motion shooting. I would argue that you do. However, we're
talking about another season where he's playing in less than half of it. He
has all these sorts of lower body injuries, basically around the knees. I
don't know what you do there. I mean, this is not my money.
I'd pick up the team option because I think that he's a super useful
piece to a team that has contending aspirations. When it's at full strength.
But if Memphis is concerned about either preserving access to the full mid level exception
or just ducking the tacks entirely, which I don't think should be the goal.
But I'm sure that they have scenarios mapped out in which that probably is
the goal. If I'm being honest, they probably don't want to be a
tax team next year. And I get it from the stance of Okay,
well, Jared Jacks is eventually going to be earning more. We have year
a bunch of years left on the desmon Vane extension. John Moran's eventually gonna
have a new contract. Still, I would keep him. I don't know
if they do because of the injuries and the perspective tax situation. This is
like a true tough decision because there's arguments to be made on both sides,
and you laid them out. I think, I just my gut is that
they will keep him, if only because maybe you can like well, one
because like a healthy version of Lukenard really helps his team. Like that's and
that's kind of always true. It's just you don't get the healthy version version
basically ever. And two because again, like you're just preserving the asset.
We can flip him for something if you want to cut money, you know,
down the line, trade him for somebody check or whatever. That's something
we should mention because we mentioned in Haber Fotba all the time. They might
enter next season in the tax. Like, if they decide that's that's I
think why you keep them too. If you need to get out of the
tech or need want to do it to trade deadline, then I know it's
harder to find those cost cutting maneuvers. But his salary is like mid level,
we enough to where you could probably do it. I think that's right.
Yeah, No, that's that feels like the truest tough decision we've had
so far, and we're halfway through, so I don't know, maybe there
aren't really any difficult ones. I have the Miami Heat next here, So
I initially had Hayward high Smith here just because I, oh, there's a
bunch of guys with with player options that like, well as that really free
agency, I'm gonna pivot here. Highsmith is an unrestricted free agent. I
think he's valuable to the Heat. His cap hold is like two million dollars,
so it just he was he was my initial pick. I think it's
probably Caleb Martin with a player option for about seven point one million of the
guy, and there are several Kevin Love has a player option, Josh Richardson,
and Thomas Bryant. To me, Martin is the guy of that group.
That's clearly like, I mean, he's started playoff games for them and
has been you know, in the finals, was a huge piece. I
just like, I wonder if the Heat are of the mind that, like,
well, we don't need this guy. We can find the next Caleb
Martin. We can build him out of whatever. Maybe that next guy is
Hayward high Smith, who will bring back on another minimum and he suddenly is
like a ten million dollar player. The Heat don't have a ton to do
here small scale. The bigger issues are obviously like the Jimmy Butler extension or
lack thereof a potential Donovan Mitchell trade, like all all kinds of stuff.
Do we what do we do with Tyler Hero That like, that's a movable
salary. The Heat are flushed with movable numbers, by the way, It's
just a question of like does anybody want Tyler Hero at that rate? Separate
issue, but do you agree that it's Martin versus high Smith, even though
high Smith is technically is actually going to be a free agent no matter what
I think Martin is too. I don't think, yeah, I would,
just because he seems like such a formality to decline his player option. That
is someone who another guy that I don't think you can name a team that
it doesn't make sense that has catchpace to go after him. And even if
you have your mid level, like that feels like his floor right is the
twelve point four million dollar mL. Yeah, I guess probably, so I
struggle with the idea that well, I mean, do the heat go that
high? That's the question. I mean, I don't. I guess maybe,
But they have so many other It feels like they have so many other
things to consider that like devoting fifteen million or whatever ends up being, or
just the mid level to Martin is a mid level money they have if you
take his player option out of the equation, like they're a lot closer to
the second apron that I think people realize they're inside fifteen million without that's assuming
Kevin Love picks up his player option. That's without like, Okay, what
do we pay Caleb, like if you give him the mid level money twelve
point formulae, like that eats up all your flexibility below the second apron.
And oh, by the way, that's not including bringing back Thomas Bryant or
Joshus is injured. But it's you know, and that's not including paying Hayward
high Smith who you just mentioned. Yeah, right, so it's amazing,
like it gets them right. I don't know if you said this, like
right to one ninety if you give fifteen million to Caleb Martin and that's not
including guys on minimums for some of those other roster spots, so like that's
your second aproning real hard pretty much like probably no matter what. So maybe
maybe it's not that hard of a decision on Martin, but and maybe because
he had an offensive down year and I just don't that's I think that's another
tough decision for them because I don't think that they're going to want to pay
that much for a team that clearly isn't ready to contend as currently constructed.
But if you lose Kaylen Martin, I would argue that you're a significantly worse
team. I guess having Nikola Yovich and Jaime Hawkes helps you whether that a
little bit, but I mean, yeah, all right, that's it's back
to me again. I have the Milwaukee Bucks just just a trove of like
high high value, high leverage decisions to make. Here. When I initially
put this together, the question was Beverly or Beasley, And that was before
Patrick Beverly played aggressive catch with fans in the stands. Uh catch are you
doing pr for Patrick? Be catch? He was just trying to involve the
fans, And so Beverly seems like he's not coming back. But then really,
for anybody, there are several other guys who played for minimums that are
free agents, that include Jay Crowder the Nasis. Didn't he tear his achilles
nastas recently, so I mean he'll still get the minimum probably, And then
Beasley, Beverly or the other guys. It's like, I don't know,
is it a tough decision to offer the only thing you can, which is
the minimum, to those guys and hope somebody takes it, like what decision
they can offer Beasley one hundred and twenty percent? All right, sorry,
so he might make three million or whatever it is. No, he's gone,
he's gone. He's someone to get mid level money, right, well,
maybe not mid level, but he'll get like he could get a four
for forty four for fifty, someone will give him the mini M. I
would probably give him a short term like full Emily if I have it,
just that the shooting itself would be monstrous. But he's he's not gonna be
in Milwaukee, so there's really no decision there for them. Also, all
their free agents decisions, maybe with the exception of j Crowder, really aren't
their own. That's what I mean, like they don't. This is we're
seeing here with Milwaukee. I think the truest or the most profound like impact
of the second Apron already, where it's just like they don't have the bird
rights on some of these guys, but they have it on Jay Crowder.
So there's that, But that is that that might be the decision where it's,
well, do we like if let's they could probably get Jake Crowder back
for the money well they can offer. If you could get get Jake Crowder
back for a very small number, you would probably just do it to preserve
the death. But you do maybe now have to game this and be like,
do we give Jay Crowder more than anyone should be giving Jay Crowder just
so that we can have a tradable slot. Or do they view it as
like we have Pat Connaton's money, like you put it. At the same
time, it's like that's so low and when you can't aggregate, that's going
to be an issue you run into. So it might be Jay Crowder.
For me, I think it's just the The toughest decision is, well,
how do we best deploy the resources we like the scant few resources that we
actually have at Artisable. I love it. No, that's so what can
they do with Crowder? Can they can go they because he was Yeah,
because he signed a deal off a previous one. It was for a lower
number, so they should to have his bird rights unless for some reason they
renounced them last season and I didn't see it. So you could give Crowder.
Say they want to put a mid level, Yeah, you can max
out Jake Crowder if you want to. If I'm mistaken, someone could correct
me. But I am pretty on top of this stuff normally. Yeah.
So I know that you know you're That makes it clearer that that Jay Crowder
is the guy because everybody else, like you said, it's like, it's
not your decision, Bucks, there's no you're not deciding anything. It's just
like you put the offer out there for the minimum or one hundred and twenty
percent of the minimum, and either guys, except you could say that Patrick
Beverly's a decision in the sense that he would probably come back because I don't
know what team is going to offer him more. But now you're dealing with
Okay, he's also suspended to start the year, so that becomes a decision.
But if they want to do anything on the trade market, because they
will have a first round pick to dangle at the deadliner over this offseason technically,
and you don't think Pat Conington's what is his number going to be a
nine million next this is at nine point four. That might be big enough
for them to say, Okay, we're not gonna, you know, really
fuck with to Jay Crowder number. But it is nine point four doesn't even
get you, Alex Caruso, I don't think so. If you like,
that's the name you're staring at it. Deadline is just an example that's how
hard it is when you're going to be a second aprin team. All right,
talk to me about Minnesota. We have done something that no other podcast,
any sports, any podcast, has been able to do. It.
We found a way to talk about the Timbermost financial situation during the Western Conference
Finals. We really should. I'm not gonna pat myself on the back because
I'm just so amped I might dislocate my shoulder by complimenting us too much.
No one else is doing this. It comes down to Kyle Anderson or Monte
Morris and I've I've jostled back and forth more on this during the playoffs because
both of them are averaging under twelve minutes per game. Kyle Anderson is playing
slightly more than he is. I landed with Kyle Anderson because I think that
backup point guard's a bigger need for them. But it feels like he is
someone who will have more of a market than Montey Morris and just sitting here
right now, no just penciling in the requisite cap holds here, not including
Monte Morris, Kyle Henderson. The Timberwolves will wake up in the lead new
calendar year like a half million dollars away from being a second Apron team.
So they're a second Aprin team. What are you doing? I think you
can argue that is Kyle Anderson more expendable to them because you have Naz Reed,
you have Rudy Gobert, you have Karl Anthony Towns. Maybe Leonard Miller
pops that like they give him some run next year or is it well,
is that a salary slot that we need to preserve, because when you look
at these other if we're gonna pay through the teeth and do this for a
year or two, we're not gonna move a Jane McDaniels or a Karl Anthony
Towns then and we don't have all these other just mid rung type of stunt.
Like every one is like they're there, their salary is very allocated towards
the top of their roster. It's you have Rudy Gobert, you have Affy
Edwards extensions kicking in, Karl Anthony Town's extension kicking in, Jane mcdaniels's extension
kicking in, and it's like we're moving Mike Commedy when he's making under ten
million dollars a year, and'll be just fucking stupid. Yeah, we have
nos Reid. Okay, that's a number we could move, But do you
view Nasrina is expendable and then is there like a protest in the city of
Minnesota. Well, if you decide to move Nasrin, like, he doesn't
feel like someone they could ever trade. So I settled on Kyle Anderson,
but you could talk me into to Monte Morris. But either one of them,
it's and certainly both of them if you want to look it as they
can pay both, will they? I would guess I think it's more what's
more likely they let both walk or they bring back both Kyle Anderson and Monte
Morris. Probably letting bringing back both seems would be a surprise, So I
guess it's got to be more likely that they let both walk. I really
go back and forth too. I think I guess it's weird because like,
if you're just viewing whichever of the two, let's say they bring one back
as like, oh, this is a salary slot we're trying to preserve for
whatever reason. We're in the tech second apron anyway, so whatever, not
Like letting both go doesn't like take us out of that status because we'll sign
someone for the minimum and then we're over. Anyway, I just keep thinking
about Mike Conley being thirty six. Uh, and it's actually closer to thirty
seven now. Uh. And just like I don't know that Monte Morris is
the guy that you're like, oh good, we have him when Mike Conley
misses a month, like we're okay. But the position, I would say
is the one where like things could go sideways. Whereas like if Kyle Anderson's
hurt, you still have the other three bigs, you still have McDaniels that
can play the four whatever, So like, from just who matters more to
the team, it might be Morris and that might make him the one that
you bring back, like even though I think Kyle Anderson is probably just a
better player or has shown to be a better player at times. But yeah,
I just I think that I'm so nervous about what happens to them without
Conley, and you should just assume you will be without him for a stretch
next year or more because of his age. Like that's just that's got to
be priced in. So I really want Kyle Lowry to sign with the Timberwolves
on a minimum contract, if that's if anyone cares about one thing I want
to happen or that or Denver I'd love to see Kyle Lowry on one of
those teams as the backup, or he'll just be back in Philly, right,
Well, that's probably the most likely outcome, especially they might need to
pay him just because they can't tend their cat space everywhere. We're sticking with
me in the New Orleans Pelicans, they are like between fourteen and fifteen million
dollars underneath the attacks. When you look at next year, that does not
include a new contract for Jonas Valentunis, and it does not include what Naji
Marshall should be worth on the open market. So I think the decision it's
Jonas Valentiunas for me because I know that the reporting is he's just going to
leave, and that might be what happens. But okay, now what are
you doing? Is it you're just gonna sign a big off the scrap heap
or run it back with Cody Zeller and then a lot of Larry and Junior.
Do we see more Zion at the five? What does that due to
the physical toll that's already extracted on him when you look at all his injury
history, and like losing that salary slop comes a big deal for you too,
because it's okay if you're willing to move brandon Ingram or CJ. McCollum.
And perhaps that's why it's not as big of a deal to just lose
down on trewedness as it would be for other teams who want to preserve the
salary slot because you have money to make trades. But when you're also talking
about moving what are right now core pieces of your team to do, so
you lack sort of the mid end expendable salaries where it's okay, Larry Nance
at eleven is right there, but like you're not moving Herb Jones, that's
stupid. Do you count Dyson Daniels at only six point one? And also
just like hey, you need it'd be nice to have an above average center
on this roster and that you're not going to get that replicate that on the
open market when you look at the names were available. So I understand why
you wouldn't want to pay him with the intention of keeping him. Is this
a sign a trade situation? We know? I will believe the Pelicans paying
the tacks when I see it. Their fans have told this many times when
they said they were going to pay the tax when they Okay, when they
do, I will I will believe that they paid the tax. I think
people are making it out to be an easier decision than it actually is.
Like Yonas Valentiunas in a vacuum, a team that just doesn't have Yes,
they can make trades, but making trades then cost you assets as well,
so you'd be losing Jonas Valentnis, losing other players and picks. I don't
think it's as easy of a decision. And then just very quickly, I
wonder how much Naji Marshall gets, Like, are they the team that's going
to want to pay him too, especially if they bring back Valentiunis and are
either in the tacks or very close to it at that point. Yeah,
I was gonna ask you because you led with Marshall to some extent, like
he's gonna get certainly more than the mini mL e right, like he's more
than a five million dollar player. I don't think he's a full mL guy
maybe, although like I wouldn't stun me if he got close to like a
full mL level starting salary. But with Valentiunis, like for sure, he
seemed like this guy's a goner. Like the only thing we know about the
Pelicans is that they need an upgrade at center, Like you know, that's
all we have. Well, anyone ever talks about kind of true valentis you
said above average, Like he's above average a lot of things. I think
everyone would agree that, Like he's not the guy getting Nerorleans to the next
level. So he's clearly gone. And then you just start thinking about like,
well, well, one who's gonna pay him more than say, like
the fifteen he made this past year. I'm not sure. And then there
may be a scenario where New Orleans actually gets to bring him back at a
lower number potentially, like if you could go I don't know, like three
years, forty or something like that, and then he's like more tradeable at
that number down the line, or like I just the idea of him coming
back, which seemed like just totally not worth considering, is now suddenly seems
like I don't know if it's likely, but it's like on the table.
And then some right like which is just not where you thought you'd be.
No, and so it's I think it's it's part of a larger thing that
they have to figure out. But again, if you just say well,
they're gonna move brandon Ingram anyway and break him up into multiple players. And
it's okay, but you already needed to add shooting if you're gonna use that
vehicle, and now you need to make sure that you're also getting a big
back as part of that. And okay, by the way, he was
the closest thing you had to an actual co star when you're looking offensively.
It's just that's not CG. McCollum anymore, if it ever was, and
you'd be like, Trey Murphy is not. I don't think he's in wanting
to make like a LEAPERDS. Look at Trey Murphy's like really running things and
creating all this stuff from scratch. So you also have to factor that into
the equation. All right, I've got the Knicks here. We've talked about
this actually quite a bit on the previous podcast we did, so we don't
need to go nuts on it. I have Anonobi. It's kind of the
same exact analysis as Sam, where it's just like the Knicks don't have to
go five years, they can go for four. And I have the numbers
here, I don't when we take it's the same as them. So like
one eighty three or what one eighty two versus one eighty nine or one ninety
a bit talking about what the Knicks can offer over four years versus another team,
and the Knicks have that fifth year they can go to if they want
to. Again, like, actually, maybe just this as a thought exercise,
would you rather give O G the fifth year? Or I think it's
og to me even with the injury stuff. It's yeah, it's probably og,
but I think it's more of a discussion than it is. But I
also think you probably you're you're a hypothetical of Siakam for like five years and
like two to oh something like that feels more likely for Ananobe, like as
opposed to Siakam, if you offered five years to twenty something, you'd be
like, how about two forty seven? Or just give me the four year
max. I think Ananobe there's a little more wiggle room there if it's not
him, though, since we kind of already discussed sort of what you're weighing
with the Siakham decision, I mean, Isaiah Hartenstein, We've we talked about
it, like four years, the Knicks can only go four years, like
seventy two? Was that it so seventy and a half. Yeah, seventy
two and a half. It's not crazy that another team can come over the
top and it's like it's bought that team, which is why I guess I
was. I was like, shock, you picked out anobe. But then
we had outlined this on the previous podcast. Well if you just give Hartenstein
quote unquote the max that you can give him, So now I was like,
you have thirty million dollars wrapped up in your primary center rotation per year
with him and Mitchell Robinson. Not a big deal. Yeah, And it's
easier to spot teams that would come in and maybe force it, Like we're
OJE. If he gets a bunch of four year max offers from Okay,
se should be on it, Uh, Philly should be any everyone that has
cap spaced really or needs to carve out more should just be on it.
San Antonio should be on it. Like Matt ven we be on the same
team. That'd be fun. But like, if if he has those offers,
does that give him the leverage to get a fifth year? Not the
fifth year? If they signed into a five year max, I'll be flabbered,
gasted. But the letters to be like, hey, like, you
know how we talk about the five years and two twenty five for Pascal Siakam
OG kind of looking at his past injuries, might say like, yeah,
just give me the extra year of security. It'll be submax. But it's
close enough to where like you meet in the middle of it or whatever.
Yeah, I think that is more likely for him. I I don't know.
I just it's interesting to think about would would We'll just use og since
we're talking about him. If if he's got you know, two or three
of the four years one to eighty three, I mean, and he says,
let's go fifth year Nicks? Did the Knicks even did the Knicks just
go for one four for one ninety? Like that's still you're just gonna not
take seven million dollars to spite us and sign somewhere else that like odds are
you won't fit as well because we were awesome with you, like and you're
in New York. Like, It's just I don't I think it's still more
likely that he gets a fifth year than siakam But the Knicks like really don't
have to, like they they I think if he got a fifth year,
I bet we would view it as like, good job Nicks, because you
got two hundred or something. Yeah, and you got the number down by
offering that we did entertain the idea that because he's a non superstar, that
could we be get the term he's reverse sticker shocks sort of worths. Wow,
I can't believe how much that guy didn't get. Maybe I I just
think it felt to me like the four year max was just like, that's
just probably what's gonna happen. I don't agree, but I'm just saying because
teams are like the reality of the sea. And by the way, that's
the other part of this is you could have picked the boy on Bogdanovich's partial
guarantee. He's guaranteed two million. But if you assume that Ojiannobi is getting
the max at forty two point three, and then you're penciling in Isaiah Hartenstein
for again his quote unquote max that he can get from the Knicks. Well,
like, all right, that's the second apron territory. That is,
you're very close to second aprin territory. I mean you're actually, yeah,
you're probably in second apron territory. They're just looking at Yeah, I mean,
you're awfully but that's if you guarantee Bogdanovic's deal, so you could stay
out of the second apron if you then don't if you waive him. But
the whole point of getting him, aside from hoping he was gonna help you
and then he gets injured and wasn't really being utilized in the first place,
was what we want this empty salary filler to go out and make the bigger
move. If you get rid of him. Now you're in a position to
where anything you do has to cost Julius Randall has to cost Mitchell maybe even
need to dip into the Villanova Corp Josh hart or Dante Vincenzo. So that's
where things get iffy. And ojiannanobe He's deal because I think that Hartenstein,
if he comes back and it's less than what the max allowable they can give
him, that would be it just doesn't feel as critical to like, oh,
we're paying oh GB forty plus million dollars a year, that's really going
to impact your books long term more than whatever happens with Isaiah Hartenstein, was
my point. I think that's right, and we should mention that, you
know, talking about oh my God, like the proximity to the second apron,
just depending on some of the variables. I think that presumes like Alec
Burks is they renounce his rights, he's gone, And even like Precious Atchewa
who's restricted, might just be like nope, we're good, you can go
signs. I mean, like max if you let's let's pencil an anonobe for
a max. Right now, You're like, I don't know, like anyway,
the second apron fifteen to sixteen away from the second apron, that is
basically what Isaiah Hartenstein's salary would be, right, Yeah, you're so.
I think it's good that you mentioned like Randall maybe some wiggle room. I
don't know how you're trading him to like cut a bunch of money potentially,
but between Bogdanovic and Randall, you do have like there's a way to get
out of a second apron with og Ann Hartenstein on like top top numbers.
But no matter what, some of these guys that played like real minutes in
these playoffs are just gonna have to be gone. Like that's just that's non
negotiable. I think they could view it as wave Bogdanovic and then your trade
offer, assuming someone is making a ton of money. It becomes instead of
Randall and boy On Bogdanovich, it's Randall and Mitchell Robinson. That's not the
worst place to be, but it's not exactly a comforting but because like Bogdanovic,
even though he could be useful, just like this empty like salary slot,
like you can plan moving for without him, you can't do the same.
You can't necessarily do the same. And if you think they're better off
without Randall, it's a decision. It depends on who's coming back. But
now it's okay, now we have no safety net behind hartensteiner in front of
Hartenstein depending on how you expect the rotation to run. Yeah, all right,
you have the Powerhouse, off season Juggernaut, Thunder who have I mean,
I get like I thought if you would have had me do this exercise
like at the trade deadline, I would have easily said that it was Gordon
Haber, like, oh, should they bring him back? I think it's
Isaiah Joe's team option, just in the sense of because you have like you're
still in this grace period of Okay, yes, Jay gilleolexanders On a Max,
but j dub and Chet Holmgren aren't there Josh Giddy's only extension knowledge,
but who knows that they even pay him. Do you just decline his team
option and you do that with the intention of we already know we're gonna agree
to this deal with him, so you give him the automatic raise and a
time when you still could have cap space they can get past thirty five million
dollars in cap space without kind of breaking a sweat here, Or do you
want to use that cap space in the ep of having Isaiah Joe on this
cut rate market like we want we want to roll that over another year and
we'll let him become an unrestricted free agent in twenty twenty five and will decide
whether we want to pay him. Then. I think what's good about this
is it's entirely the Thunder's decision. You don't decline his team option unless you
know that he is going to re sign. But it is at least when
you're trying to map out your long term future figuring out when to pay him,
it's not really much. It's not as much of an if because I
think he is valuable. They could make trades that would devalue his utility to
the team. But as of right now, it's them deciding when they want
to pay him, and I kind of feel like they're going to go the
route of this offseason. But I really they were so good that maybe the
stakes have been raised a little bit. I still view it as the cap
space is not going to be the primary vehicle through which they improve anyway.
The free agency market is unless you are going to proach og, it's not
really gonna yield the answer for you. And yes, you'd like some flexibility
in trades to take back more money, but you can resign and I say
a Joe and still kind of have this like fifteen million dollars twenty million dollars
in wiggle room depending on some other decisions. And again that doesn't include any
other outgoing salary that you could actually use to match. Yeah, I think
I guess my gut is that, or my gut reaction to them declining his
team option would be disappointment, because that would indicate that they're maybe not gonna
go get somebody exciting. I could time it differently. His cap hold is
so low that you can basically preserve your cap space by you decline his team
option. You have this small cap hold, and so we still have.
But does it mean that they're actually gonna use their cap space and then go
back and pay him. That's certainly a fair question. Yeah, that that's
true. Like, it wouldn't necessarily mean they're not gonna try to use that
full thirty three ish or more depending on some other things, But it feels
like it would angle that way a little bit. I don't know, but
I'd like there just aren't any other choices on this roster. That's got to
be iad. But it does build a good will too, though, because
if you just let him hit unrestricted free agency, yeah, next year,
I'm not saying he's definitely gone, but you might have to pay a higher
premium just because well you made me wait another year before actually paying me.
So I have the Orlando Magic next And when we put this together, I
just like copped out because I didn't want to pick an actual player on their
team as their toughest agent decision, and I chose which the question being which
free agent guard will they sign, which is really like that is the question
for them this summer. But in keeping with the spirit of the exercise,
I think it really probably comes down to it's just between Gary Harris and Markel
Foltz, and of the two, I guess Gary Harris is the guy that
you would just put. Who's giving Mark el Folts money, No nobody.
I mean he'll get backup point guard money from somewhere, like he'll play.
It's just he's gonna be a back to me, purely a backup someplace.
Gary Harris is still like also a backup. But if you're if you're the
magic and your issues are we need spacing, we need shooting, we need
like that's just Gary Harris matters more coming off a thirteen million dollar salary.
Folts, just for reference, made seventeen last year. I think Folts gets
less in his next deal, unless it's like a one year. I think
Folts will get less than Gary Harris. Like that, do you think Gary
Harris gets more than just because he finished the season injured again, Yeah,
but I don't. I mean, he's what, he's not quite thirty.
I think just Gary Well just maybe this is the way to answer that question
all the time, Like Gary Harris fits on every team just depending on what
you're willing to pay him, and Folts fits on I don't know, Like
it's just he's such a harder player to build around. It's and while he's
younger, well, I guess he's still got the draft pedigree and is I
guess probably a better bet to be healthier, although like this is Marco Foltz,
like there's been some health issues. I don't know if you recall.
Uh, so I guess it's Gary Harris. But like, really, if
we're talking about the magic, we can't pretend as if like retaining either of
these guys or Gogo Bitadze, by the way, who's a free agent shout
out, guess a player at GOGA. It's just like their free agent questions
are who are we getting? Not who are we? Yeah? Uh do
you think both between Gary Harris and Marco Folse, do you think either one
of them will be back? I would guess no, just because you're gonna
sign someone over the top of Gary Harris and Folts just like there's I don't
see a reason to bring him back unless you want a third point guard and
he's very confident they are going to get after it, like in sign someone
in free agent. Yeah, I just think the combination of like resources and
clear need is just they line up too well. Uh, and not that
this is the greatest free agent class of all time. I think we've talked
about before. I think Orlando needs to trade for someone and sign someone uh
in the in the back court rotation. It just I mean, wouldn't you
be stunned if they didn't sign someone that's gonna like then let both of these
guys walk through you signing because you could like pay if Gary Harris makes equal
money, you still have like twenty five plus million in capsules. Yeah,
I just wouldn't have bringing either of those guys back. Harris being the bigger
priority as anywhere like towards the top of my list of like must dos for
for the off season. I would bring Harris back at I don't know if
i'd pay him thirteen, but you know, high single day, maybe i'd
pay him thirteen, would you? I guess that's is he gonna get a
four year, three year I would pay him. I'd probably give him like
two and thirty. Well, I guess that just depends on like what you
think you could do with the rest of that, But I guess you can
do it. Probably know your trades lined up too, and so like it
might and if you trade, like what if you end up making like okay,
Jonathan Isaac and Cole Anthony for Michael Porter junior type deal. And then
it's like, okay, like now we kind of just went two for one.
We could probably use Gary Harris back a little bit. Yeah, so
all right, that takes us to another team for me, another one I
copped out on, which is the Philadelphia seventy six Ers. My actual bit
toughest decision is what the hell do we do with sixty plus million dollars and
like basically two guys on the roster. Joel Embiid will be back. I
don't know if you've heard. Tyrus Maxi will also be back. He's just
not technically under contract right now. And then after that, you have the
one and only Paul Reid, and you have Ricky Counsel, the fourth that
constitutes the Philadelphia seventy six Ers current roster. I guess Jeff Dowton has a
Jeff Doughton has a team option for two million dollars, So I guess there's
I think they end up keeping Ricky, he Counsel, and Paul Reid,
and that'll be like they go into four players as like they're tentative cap holds
yeah, so we cannot pretend like the Paul Reid seven point seven million dollar
non guaranteed contract is a real decision point for them, Like he's more than
worth that, and even if it's only as a trade piece, which he's
not, he's actually gonna be in the rotation. Well we could really Galaxy
braindon say should they be the Isaiah Hartstein team because it's look, if Joelle
bed only plays half the season each year? Can can I tell? I
know you're not being serious, but like, oh man, here we go,
but this idea that like we need to be done with the idea of
like the insurance player for a superstar, because if you don't have Joel Embiid,
like it doesn't matter who his backup is unless his backup's Anthony Davis or
Yoke or whatever, Like you're you're if you're the sixers in Embiid is hurt,
you're screwed. I guess, like as a regular season thing, like,
oh, he keeps you from sliding too far down the standings if you
have hartensteinforg's just hypothetic, but like you're done if you don't have your best
guy and h win a championship. So it doesn't matter who the backup.
That's a good point, and I was like, it does that theory doesn't
at the highest levels. Yeah, I was about to frame it as well,
it all right, well, let's get a four who can slide up
to the five but also play alongside Joe and Bid. But that doesn't really
that's more of a regular season thing too. It's like that'll help you navigate
and eat innings. But like in the playoffs, if you don't have Joell
and Bee, you're just cooked anyway. So yeah, it doesn't matter.
So I think the question for them just has to be we'll pivot a little
bit. It's like, what do you do with all the money? Like,
what's the plan? Is it Paul George? If it's Paul George,
Like, then what how are you filling out? The rest? Space is
gone if you're maxing out basically like yeah, right here, Well you got
what I guess if you count minimums, Yeah, that what Paul George is
gonna get close to fifty of that, like sixty two ish million. It
looks like they're going to have. Yeah, I think it's about sixty two,
although that presumes that's with MAXI as a Apple to like, yeah,
I can say where it is. Yeah, you can time it differently,
so yeah, I don't know. I don't know if you want to go
a different direction on the sixers. But it's just like they don't have anyone.
It's almost their decision is like, well, who on the roster because
they're not gonna so should It's almost twofold to where they have to decide whether
they're gonna do their most heavy lifting in free agency or via trades. And
if it's going to be via trades, then you have to ask, okay,
like which of these free agents of our own are we bringing back?
You don't have bird rights on Kellyer Bridge? Or but will he come back
for you have the cap space? Sure, but can he come like because
you have the room exception, which is just I know it's relative to the
salary cap, like eight million dollars isn't nothing. I still think Kelly Bridgegnior
would probably want more, Like that's a tool in their belt if they're like,
so you could, let's say they signed Paul George. That would keep
the Anthony Melton. They have the room exception. Can they keep the Kelly
reg Junior with that? I don't know, that's like, not that's far
from a worst case offseason, but you're still so pretty shallow at that point.
I think probably the toughest decision for them is, well, are we
gonna actually do serious work in free agency or should this be about rolling over
useful salary shops slots of good players? Well, maybe going after some of
these minutes, like a Simoni Fontacchio, just taking a look at these guys
who are not stars, and then we're gonna have to make a trade using
some of these contracts. Now, the issue with them, though, is
if you go that route, Yeah, okay, cap space is cool.
So like, let's say they decide to use their cap space in a trade
before going back and signing these players. That's just all you really have to
offer, aside from draft picks. And as we've seen with teams, let's
use Toronto as an example, there are teams that, in a vacuum,
could have easily have beaten the Knicks's offer for ogn and OPI how much he
wanted to be in New York I do you think played a role in that.
Let's let's remove from the equation Toronto wanted players. If you run into
that scenario again, like, let's if they want McHale bridges from Brooklyn.
Okay, five first round picks of varying degrees of value is fucking cool.
Brooklyn's gonna want bodies and you don't have bodies to offer them. Yeah,
it's interesting that what the Sixers are equipped to do is like take on kind
of a bad contract. Like if the Warriors decided let's move Andrew Wiggins,
like the Sixers should be like cool, give us like a second round or
we'll take them just like that. Or if you're the Warriors, are you
at that point where it's well, I think you try some other stuff that
you've got Chris Paul to wave, you got Kevon Looney's partial guarantee, you
got like, there's other ways to go first. I don't think giving Andrew
Wiggins away is like the smartest use of that resource. Well, if you
were getting a second round pick for Andrew, well then it's done. No,
but that's not what they should really be There shouldn't be in the market
for that, Like that is not the most exciting use of your cap space.
You'd have to just hit right and be like, oh, we're gonna
get good Wiggins and know that somehow if you did something like that, But
like, let's maybe because I don't want to be dismissive of like the significant
number of actual incumbent six or free agents of the guys that are there,
Harris, Buddy Healed, Batoom, Covington, You mentioned Melton, Kyle Lowry,
campaign, Kelly u Bray, like just a bunch of guys that like,
if you brought all those guys back, I get team's pretty good.
Uh, if you had to pick, let's just say, between Melton and
Healed, who's more likely to be back Melton? I think so the back
issue stuff, but I think Buddy, he Old, Melton and Ubra and
if you want to throw Kyle Lowry in there, but that just kind of
feels extra like those are the guys that I'm looking at as like all I
want to bring these players back, And maybe Killy Uber Junior actually falls outside
that bucket because part of what was so tantalizing about him is that he doesn't
pass, but also just that he was so good relative to the minimum.
What did he look like if he's making closer to how do you feel about
that? If he's making mid level money, Even if he's making Melton's money.
It's like they're both eight million dollar players in this hypothetical. It's like,
I don't know, I kind of like Melton better. Melton might be
a guy with the back issues though that you just renounce him to use the
cap space and then does he come back for the room exception. Yeah,
I noticed. It's weird you didn't mention Tobias Harris as someone that might be
in terms of players, Tobias Harris being back in Philly might be I don't
want to say, the single biggest shock of free agency, but it would
be in the top three if something happening right, It's up there for sure.
He's just like if you had to get like where does he go and
for how much? It's just like you could sell I have no idea,
Like I have less of a feel for that than anything. Is this,
Like is it just a no? And it's not for an absurd number?
What about him and Okac? It's not just the no. I mean,
I don't know, get out of here, but this offensive to me.
No, I could see it, but like, what's that number? Twenty
a year? But for short term like by the time that Jay Dubb or
chet Holm Ren or on like their next deal, Tobias Harris is off the
books. Yeah, that's like a separate question though, because for the Thunder,
should they be should they do the Houston short term big money thing,
because like I guess it's sort of similar to Houston where you've got all these
extensions like coming down the pipeline and you got this window. But maybe I
would want someone that's under contract for longer, but like I just don't know
who that is. Yeah, But to your point, like Harris, it's
like he's the I don't know if he is good enough, but it's it's
better than the corpse of Gordon Hayward. Or like if you're gonna sub andize
at Joe for Josh, like you could, you could very easily sub in
size now for that like kind of fit spot to go with Shay Chet and
j Dub and then a Blue Dort I kind of consider just like a staple.
Yeah, Harris is the opposite of Uber, where it's like you're in
terms of like Uber looks great judged against his contract, and Harris is just,
you know, looks terrible judged against the value of his contract. And
if they both made the same amount of money. If they both made fourteen
million a year, you might just think Harris was You would feel better about
Harry, like his Q rating would be higher than New Braids. I don't
know. Let's move on. You got the Suns, the Phoenix, the
Phoenix, Suns twenty six. Other NBA teams want to be them, but
they can't be which is by twenty six? What do you ever think about?
Like why it's twenty six? What about twenty nine? Credatory mortgage lender?
I don't really know what, like what is that? I don't read
anything into what he's says. I want to know which three he thinks.
I'm ready for shit to happen with this team because the way he's mentioned that
your first round picks are stupid, and like he's not wrong based on the
situation that it's like, oh, to be a Suns fan in twenty twenty
thirty is going to be rough. That's all. That's all I keep it.
I know we shouldn't care when their windows now, but whoof when the
window isn't guaranteed to be worth it? I think it's it's fair of care.
Okay, So it's Royce O'Neill for them. They are going to enter
the summer basically, like just with an absurd payroll they're at if you're two
hundred yeah with and that's without by the way, carrying Royce O'Neill's capitol,
which is eighteen million. There are two hundred and one million dollars. They're
in the second apron. And so now because you can't aggregate salaries, we
get into the same two questions. You're not signing anyone with them animum,
who's going to be better than Royce O'Neal, who is defensive workload in the
playoffs was for the time that Phoenix was there was massive and two okay,
well, then what's the number like if we ever want to fold this into
another deal, like yeo, okay, cool, he's willing to come back
for ten million dollars, That really fucking do it for us if we're trying
to make a trade later on. I don't know. Now, if you
get Royce O'Neil for ten million dollars, I might just do it, because
that's actually kind of a bargain. But you can't let him walk. He
has he can leverage you to the hilt, though, in part because I
think he would be not on the same scale as some of the other guys
that we mentioned, but among teams with cap space, there's really not a
one he doesn't fit on, like just as someone who doesn't need the ball
on offense and you can move him around defensively. He's definitely regressed as a
defender, but now he's also been in a few situations Utah skipped over that
a little bit in Brooklyn, but then in Phoenix where it's like, oh,
he's defending dudes that he really never should have anyway. So it's it's
not a tough decision in the sense like they cannot let him walk, but
you do have to decide, Okay, well, how much do we pay
him? And so I'm gonna give you this over under Royce O'Neil getting the
full MLA, it wouldn't be actually, dam melie, but twelve and a
half million dollars. I think it's gotta be over because there will be mL
offers for him. He just he's coming off making nine and a half,
Like, it's not that big of a leap at age thirty one to go
up over that twelve number. So I think someone will have that ready for
him. And if your Phoenix, like you just you have no recourse,
like this is just it's gonna suck. It's gonna cost you all this and
all this and much more with all the tax penalties. But what are your
alternatives? Like you just I guess, well, I don't know. Nots
little you move up in the pecking order and we sign another minimum guy,
like that's that's not a great outcome. So I think I think i'd go
over. Don't you go over? I probably go over too. I'm I'm
just gonna be fascinating to see the length in terms of it all. So
like do they because they have those two first round picks, but again now
you can't aggregate them, so it's, well, how much value does Royce
O'Neal really have unless so if you're let's say they're really thinking ahead to the
trade deadline and I'm just gonna so you're moving your twenty thirty one pick at
the trade deadline and then what is like, who's the best guy you could
get like for that? And do you then like try to structure O'Neil's salary
accordingly where it's like, right, well, we signed from O'Neil to a
one plus one he's making twenty four million next year, but like it's okay
because we can bring back this twenty four million dollar player. That is I
hadn't really thought about that. But teams in their position, if the idea
is partly like, well, we know, if we signed Rose O'Neil for
twelve, we can't take anyone back making twelve point one, So like you
don't get that nice little bump up that you do if you're not a second
apron. So like maybe so it's so like it's almost like diabolical where it's
forcing, not forcing, but like incentivizing a team in this position to spend
even more, you know, on an O'Neill like declining scale contract, because
then you know, well I can trade him for a twenty million dollar player
now with like that's and what makes it. And now people could pour down
and say, well, they already have Grayson Allen on the books for fifteen
plus and they have use of Nurkic. Those guys have money left on their
deals after next season. So if it's sort of one plus one with roysonnil,
that's more flexibility for his next team. I don't think many teams want
use of Nurkicchen in the first place. I mean, Grayson Allen is just
way too important to you just say, let's attach our first round pick to
Grayson. Now, who's the best fifteen point six or less million dollar player
you're gonna get for a twenty thirty one pick, and Grace Allen honestly don't
know. It's just just like, so, that's why the Royce O'Neil contract
is fascinating, because you could structure it like it could be so inflated and
then so short term that it's like, well, they're clearly they're trying to
do what the Lakers did with d LO. I'm so into this idea now.
I really hope it happens. I hope we get a Royce O'Neil one
plus one for like fifty million dollars dollars, just because I mean it's What's
also tough, though, is like, how much value does your twenty thirty
one pick have as the centerpiece of a deal to a front office that's acquiring
it and knows, well, we're not gonna be the ones making this pick.
Well, yeah, that's true. But if just like I was gonna
say, well, what if you're Detroit or something, but like Detroit's front
office is gonna flip like tomorrow. Problem. Maybe that's how you get job
security is you lay out this seven year plan right takes twenty thirty one big
just as a like if you're being if you're a bad team with cap space,
that is, it should be in the business of getting what's probably going
to be a really kick ass valuable twenty thirty one sons pick, like is
it worth you know, twenty five million dollars? Basically like just or whatever
whatever you end up having to take on for O'Neil. It's like kind of
might be, but then you're right like that whoever whichever GM swings that deal
is probably not gonna be there to reap the benefits. The other thing I
would do, and they would never do this, is that I would create
my own rumor mill by signing him to the exact same amount of money that
Michail Bridges is making next seas him. And so it's like, oh shit,
are they like twenty thirty one and Royce and you'll get you Michail like
to the cent, like to the dollar. That's just what I would do
to see, like, no, that's not gonna happen, like, let's
let's start the discussion. I love it. I love it. There's who
you know, maybe the second aprons not restrictive. Maybe it just is gonna
foster creativity, like we couldn't have imagine. The counterpoint is that if things
get more punitive or they reinvent the way this whole thing is working, that
matt ishb is gonna probably be the reason why. Yeah, that's true,
that's true. The Portland Trailblazers. Uh, they're pretty low stakes here.
I didn't even have Like you can't identify like a well, I don't want
to phrase it this way. You can identify a could be free agent if
you want to. But they're not gonna you wave Tamani Kamara non guarantee,
they're not gonna. I would I would be shocked if they wave Jabari Walker.
They do have to decide though, well, fuck do we need open
roster spots because when you include, okay, we're gonna guarantee those two guys,
they will have then fifteen guaranteed contracts on the books when you factor in
their turning draft picks. Uh, that's not going to stand. Also not
going to stand is they will enter next league counter year in the luxury tax,
and so it's all right, well, what are we doing to create
roster spots? Is this h I think literally, anyone who's not Shaydon Sharp
or Scoot Henderson feels like they would be in play here. And if you're
looking to strictly cut costs, that's when you get into the RW three.
Malcolm Brogden is DeAndre eight enabling his way onto that. Jeremy Grant, of
course, will be an Apple team's eye, but they just need to kind
of figure out how to they they're gonna get under the tax, So what
does that look like? And can they also create roster spots in the process
of doing that, And the answer is yes, they can, just because
it's the off season so it'll be easier to do that. I'm just very
curious to see how they go about it. It's pretty simple, but it
has such an undefined answer. I was just staring at there, just like
death starting their cap sheet. It was this is a really weird inideal place
to be. It's really a well, the first thing that jumps out is
like you're looking at the cap sheet, It's like, okay, so they
got got one hundred and seventy eight million in salary, a give or take
depending on what they do to win fifty games next season. Yeah, there's
six there's six million plus into the tax. Like if you mess around too
much, that one ninety figure for the second Aprons like just I mean eminently
reachable. But like they do, they do have the ability to just say,
like I don't know, we'll get rid of Malcolm Brogden and for something
and like then we're okay. Salary wise, they're the rare team that is
one bad, two very expensive, and three like still needs what a weird
This is just such a bizarre roster construction which will not stay that way.
Yeah, that was a tough That was a tough one for you. I
don't know what the like difficult decision is there? Much easier than yeah,
and it's mostly the only answer because in a way, it's not a tough
decision. Malik Mung for the Sacramento Kings, since I didn't even mention the
team that we were on. Four years and seventy eight million is the maximum
that they can offer him because of the early bird right situation, I think
you offer it, but then I'm kind of thinking, all right, well
will they because it's not just a matter of what will he have a better
offer, but it's well, do they want to pony up that much and
then have to deal with the tax implications of that. They we are as
of right now, if you don't include Molik Monk's salary, they are a
team that has let's say about fifteen sixteen million dollars in room beneath the tax.
Resigning Malik Monk obliterates that and then you're not a finished product? Are
you using some version of the mL? Are you going out there making a
trade that ends up, you know, taking on money. I mean you
have to offer it just because he's you don't have anyone on the roster can
replicate what he's doing. And maybe you can view it as all right,
like we still key to murray on his rookie scale. Kean Ellis is a
great find and so we don't have to do anything super dramatic. It's just
keeping the leak Monk and then we kind of make some moves on the margin,
a move up move, use the mini mle At that point he probably
I don't know who you necessarily get for that, but like it is a
tough decision in the sense of, Okay, well it's a guard and we
still kind of do need wings at this point, but like we could also
talk ourselves into another like true frontcrep players in a big man who can play
beside Joe mas a bonus, you're not gonna have cap space anyway, so
just pay him. It is somewhat's probably a discussion they're having of well,
do we want to give Molik Monk four years and seventy eight million dollars to
be what will probably be their sixth man, or then you're just having a
weird at some point if you're starting backcourt, is Malik Monk and Diaron Fox
that's yeah, those two complayment it's together. But how good do you feel
about that? What does it then say? Though, if you pay Melik
Monk about the future of Kevin Herder specifically, would be the name that I'm
gonna look all over at. So it's him because it's really only him.
There's like you're looking at the other like could be or would be free agents,
and it's all right, like we don't care about alex Linn here.
Yeah, I think it has to be him, And I also think they
have to offer the four for seventy eight just because like the counter factual of
them not doing that doesn't give them an avenue to like, Okay, well
it's it's not like well either we pay Monk this or we go we save
that money and we go down these other roads where we get this player or
this player in that. But it's like, well they just that doesn't create
any real flexibility for them, so you just have to he has to.
I think the more interesting question to me, and this isn't on the King's
plate at all, Like their decision is do we offer it or not?
And the answer, yes, you do. I think the question is like
is that enough because you have I just Orlando, like does he just get
way more than that? And he's gone anyway, well here's and yeah,
but like that's again that's not their decision, Like that's just my old thing
is what is the team? I've seen Orlando floated out a lot, and
I understand it, Like Malik Monk, yes, I know the percentage,
like he's not a capslock shooter, and he's also just like his playmaking is
so predicated on needing some semblance of spacing because he has to get downhill.
It's not a bunch of from a stop or a bunch of side to side
stuff. I just don't like, that's not the team for me, at
least I'm Orlando. That's not the guy I understand he could fit. I
don't know if he's the opera fit. And then you go through the other
teams and I'm like, well, who is giving him that money? But
then there are just scenarios where it's if he gets two for forty and decides
that he's young enough he wants to get back into free agency, that's not
something that they can't can give him basically, so they go that like two
for fifty or something like the Bruce Brown type deal. Yeah, no,
I think, And it's just another like danger element here. He's hasn't really
made a ton of NBA money yet coming off like he's at the absolute apex
of his value. That's always a little scary considering like the lows of his
career have been really low, like you know, was out of the league
for you, not a performance related issue, but like just it it's a
little scary to be like, we got to come over the top of the
King's best offer. If you're Orlando, or if you're whatever other team you
want to throw out there. I just kind of feel like, there's,
well how about this, yes or no, he's getting a bigger offer somewhere
than four for seventy eight. I don't know. I don't think he is.
I kind of think he is. So this will be one to track.
It's not going to be like one hundred million dollars, I don't think,
but like could. But I think you also look at it as it
has to be. I would think appreciably enough more than what the Kings could
offer. You're looking at what is the lot? Like if someone offers him
four for eighty, is he just gonna leave? I mean, you wouldn't
think. You'd think it have to be a little more than that. But
what if they say, because this is the other thing, Well, I
think he should probably start in Sacramento, but you mentioned him, they still
have Kevin Hurd or Kevin Hurder started over him when he was healthy. Another
team says four for eighty and you're starting like you are our lead guard potentially,
Like I mean, like in Orlando, Orlando is the under on that
team. If that is the example, Like you know his per thirty six
numbers are great, Dan, He's just he's a he's a starter hiding on
a sick and a six man roll. I don't know. I could just
see a team having that as like the Trump card potentially if the money is
close to equal, But like in that scenario and your monk, then you
really might want a shorter deal to like run up some numbers here and get
back on the market potentially. But that we've all we've strayed way away from
well no, I mean, look, that's a fair thing to talk about,
because it might be more powerful. He's young. He's twenty six right
now. Yeah, so like it's not like someone who's in their thirties and
this is this is his chance to get his first big deal. I don't
know if he's gonna want to necessarily bet on himself to be like, well,
if I can get back in free agency in a year or two,
is that something? But it's it's something that should be and could be on
the table. We're onto the Spurs, though I couldn't bring myself to focus
on any of their you know, I can't like Jetty Osmond doesn't move me.
So I'm going with cap space or nah for this team if they renounce
all their own free agents except for Champenny, who's will guarantee him wave Wave
guys non guaranteed guys Wave Devonte Graham, who has I think it's like two
million guaranteed. You could get to about twenty million dollars in cap space.
That's a weird spot to beat right now when the mid level exception is twelve
point four and so, like the room exception is, you could view it
as separating into two parts where well, then you have the eight million dollar
room exception, so ithing twenty million in cap space plus the room exception,
like gusually the ability to do a lot of fucking stuff. Are the Spurs
gonna go that route or are they gonna decide? Hey, like it just
makes more sense, Like not that they necessarily need to opt rate as an
over the cap team, but do they just go that route where it's,
well, we're better off using Devonte Graham as an actual expiring contract in the
trades, will guarantee the twelve point seven million. We bring back Jeddie Osmond
just because we want shooting at maybe a slight race from the six point seven
that he's at right now, and we just kind of move forward that we'll
look at using the full mid level exception. So it just I don't know
what they're gonna do. And looming over all of this, of course,
is everyone believes and we have been advocates for accelerating your position in the West
with Victor Wimenyama, who made First Team All Defense by the way, first
time that's happened for a rookie in NBA history, and it was absolutely well
deserved. So well, how does that fit? Like what's the better route
to go? Is it cap space or having these Is it like, yes,
you can use cap space and trades again, but teams always want bodies
or is this something that if they're not going to do it, make the
decision right now? Is it better to have the guys under contract that you
can move at the deadline or to future date when you do decide to make
more of a consolidation trade. I don't know what the answer is for them.
I look at the free agent mark and it's kind of like, why
would you operate with cap space? Even if it's a matter of just getting
Tias Jones, it probably makes sense to operate with cap space. Yeah,
I think I lean that way. To. I almost wish they had some
harder decisions to make just just be well one, because it'd be better content
for us to discuss when we talk about whether they what they should give Mamu
in a restricted free agency, or we could talk about Dominic Barlow might be
a little bit of a decision. But I think it's just like that's too
low stakes from Yeah, what do you think about Charles Bassi's uh non guarantee?
Like what do we do there? Who's more likely to be on this
team? Actually, Charles Bassie or Dominic Barlow? I think, yeah,
the content everybody came here for, Yeah, Dominic Parlow versus Charles Bassie.
Where else do you get that? Nowhere? Uh? Locked on Spurs?
Maybe I have the Toronto Raptors, so uh they I just I'll say what
it is. How does this work in really to the pick conveying? Well,
because you just you don't have that first round salary slot to consider when
you're putting their cap together. So I mean just a plethora of options because
of the pick conveyance. That's like meaning Yaka pearls eight million dollars less than
he actually is this season technically, right. I never thought about that easy
to call it for a first round pick that was just ingenious by Massia.
Incredible. Uh, not saying this is it, but just for so we
have a kind of a global Gary Trent Junior made it to free agency,
made it now what don't know, not their top priority. But they did
not trade him. This is the last vestige of the like, come on,
Massa, you gotta get off this expiring contract. You know what happens.
We did it with o g. Couldn't quite couldn't quite hit the trifecta
with Gary Trent. We can talk about him if you want later, but
uh, they've got let's say, I'm trying to think of any other housekeeping
for them before we get to you. No, nothing that's moving me.
Jordan Wara should extend. Do you think that they should extend Chris Bouchet do
you? I know? I know because I would like him to be on
a team that's going to properly utilize him as the focal point on both ends
of the floor that he should be. Okay, that's fair, we can
I will stop with the preamble. Emmanuel quickly as a restricted free agent,
depending on when and where you got his salary expectations over the course of the
last year. There's everything from quickly not accepting a Knick's offer worth about eighteen
million a season. Before the trade, there was Michael Graines reporting that he
wanted five for one thirty five or in that range. So the question for
or the toughest free agency issue is just like, what's that number got to
be for Emmanuel quickly? Like what is he? Is he a twenty five
million dollar a year guy? Is it gonna have to be over thirty?
It's I don't know where the outside offers are coming from. Necessarily, I
guess we have to just obligatorily mention Orlando. I like him. Who do
you prefer for Orlando quickly or Malik Monk? I like quickly better. I
would rather have quickly for sure? Well I should say for sure, I
think I'd rather quickly. But so there is I guess then from that perspective
there's more leverage coming in against Toronto on him than there is coming in on
the Kings for Monk or really any other you know one or two that can
shoot it and run the offense. Do you have a feel for like,
like what number for quickly? Just say average annual value like feels about right.
And that's considering from Toronto's perspective, Like we traded some stuff for this
guy. We can't let him go, so maybe there's a little premium on
it, Like what number if it comes in is like, Okay, I
get it, that's that's fine something. But if he gets twenty five or
less, I think that'll be super team friendly. Okay, so I would
look at it more as like twenty seven to thirty. I would be fairly
shocked if he winds up getting the max. But I guess with like Detroit
floating around there and being super reckless, it wouldn't surprise. I know they
have j andn Ivy, but it's it's Detroit and who knows how how who
knows how married the next run office will be too ivy, I mean,
but he's someone I bet the Spurs wish they had a little more cap room
for well, they could, they could get there, Keldon Johnson. Usual
training into someone's cap space and done. Yeah, okay, maybe we gotta
find trade with Toronto. If you wanted to do something like that, well,
Keldon Johnson, you're gone. Detroit's taking you into cap space. Emmanuel
quickly becomes a spur. Oh, I would just feel really bad for Keldon
Johnson in that scenario. But uh so, so what would surprise you more?
If he gets twenty five million dollars or less per year average annual value,
or if he gets the four year max, which is four years one
fifty that's called it one fifty eight. It's like one fifty seven point nine.
I think the four year max would surprise me more. I just just
that that's such a big I mean, that's close to forty a year they
are. I'm just this team has so many tough decisions to make. This
Like there's the Gary Trent thing that you mentioned. It's do we roll over
Bruce Brown's team option to use him as a I don't even think about body
in the rotation they got. They just have like a weirdly medium to high
stakes off season on their hands right now. Scotty Barnes is extension not free
agency, which we probably should have mapped that out where it was, well,
why did you mention to the not free agency? So we're not talking
about it. Yeah, I mean, it's just nice that they know where
all their picks are going now. So, I mean, once that's.
Now that that's off the table, they can can turn to Scottie Barnes Free
Agency. I really want to throw it to you now while you're choking,
so you have to talk through the Utah so I have energy drinking my eyes
and it's now burning. Oh you're mainlining it. I see, I didn't.
Oh, that's just caught me off guard. That was great. But
yeah, if you're not ready for a pick conveyance reference on Toronto and you're
that's just that's not me. I shouldn't have sipped at all during the Toronto.
Now that we're free of Toronto and we've I've given you a moment to
collect yourself. Oh g power through the hamstring injury to play four minutes.
I'm gonna do one veteran power through the rest of this podcast with one point
five eyes. It's your last one because I have the wizard. So just
make it the Utah jazz they have like I guess, and it's not.
It's a it's a pretty big decision. It's Larry Markinen, who, by
the way, I botched this for some reason what I totally wrote about it,
and well that's an all fair conversation. But anyway the renegotiat and extend
with Larry Market, it's should we bring him up to the max looking at
the cap space that we have or anything close to it, or do we
let him hit unrestricted free agency pay him later because we value that flexibility.
And it's just like, I don't honestly know what you do, because I
think in essence, if you're if you're Utah, and you're saying, well,
we're operating on this gradual timeline, why wouldn't we just bring Let's just
say they bring his salary up to the max for next year, which would
be forty two point three million dollars, which is like twenty five million above
what he is making, and they have the cap space, by the way,
to just make that happen. They could have over thirty five million in
room is what they're probably projected to about have. They could increase that number
if they really wanted to. They could work with a smaller number if they
really want to, you know, keep tayling Horton Tucker for some reason.
I don't know why they would, but so they have the money to do
that. But if you're going to do that, you're kind of creating this
urgency, and it's like DECAF phase might be useful then to help you maximize
that urgency. I don't know what the right answer is, but if you're
going to keep him, it just makes more sense to well, let's do
this now so he's not a free agent ever, and then that's probably still
a contract you could move down the line. But to use twenty five million,
or even if he takes maybe the concession is will take less than the
max, or the salary starts declining after I get the max. We've seen
that happen already in the past. I just I don't know. I think
it's a tough decision. Then people make it out to be I would do
it if I was a utah. I want to make that clear. But
just using twenty five million or twenty million whatever ends up being of your own
cap space, just to basically keep the same roster intact, right, That
gets weird. It's really hard because I think what you're doing in any renegotiating
extent for him is trying to find a number that one it's worth his while
to sign for, and two that preserves or maybe even increases his trade value,
because like that he's twenty seven, like Utah is nowhere close. Like,
it's just I think he ultimately, whether he signs a contract that you
know, theoretically keeps him in Utah for longer, he's really like he's a
contract to be traded. I think it's just that that feels like the most
logical, like ultimate outcome for him. You can't go. I mean,
so maybe there's a number that would be an interesting thought exercise probably for another
podcast, Like there's probably a number where he's you're actually even though you're adding
years, Like maybe that makes his trade value lower than it could otherwise,
be like I don't really get him for four and total. Yeah, that
probably increases his trade value. But that's so. And by the way,
the other thing that we could mention, I just assume it's a non option
for his plate. If you just signed him to a basic extension, the
starting salary on that is gonna be like twenty five point three million. He's
not signing that. No, if you could sign him to that, like
then oh my god, Like what Brunton territory of did you see that?
He's that they expect him to sign the four for one fifty six point five
extension, which is just like that is this is someone who came in on
a second rounder salary and then now signed a contract that, yes it was
deemed market value at the time, but turned into one of the best bargains
in the NBA, is now going to sign another contract where I'd say at
least the first I would say the first three years of that, just because
like it's gonna be a bar I know, you're playing for Tims. It
takes you through your age thirty one season or whatever it is, But like
that shot like this would be on the same Honestly, it'd probably be more
shocking to me, just because the numbers so low, flowery market and just
extended to get twenty five million dollars. Yeah, no, that I we
should have probably talked about that with the Knicks. Just I just like I
we talked about it before. It's like, that would be what a coup
for the Knicks if they could get him for that number. Crazy. Only
by the way, if he does that, I'm calling it right now,
Michal Bridges ends up on the Knicks. They're the only reason to do that
is to make it so easier for your team to navigate the seven apron.
Moving forward, and they've promised you something else, and that something else is
another Villanova wildcat. That's the only watching doesn't get finished four year max,
which is like two hundred and eight plus or the five year max, which
is like two seventy. I'm doing all these rounding things right now for anyone
who likes to work in exacts, like you would still get a shit ton
more money than that, and you could be hedging against injury. But I
think he's now reached the status where if he gets injured next season, I
hope he doesn't. And he just had surgery on his hand. He's entering
twenty twenty five for agency declining the playoffs, so someone will give him the
four year max, right, Like that's just happening, I think, So
yeah, Like like what would have to happen for that. Let's we probab
shouldnt Eve talk about? Like something terrible would have to happen for that not
to be the kid, So it's I mean, you know, I'm just
I'm honestly surprised. I know he's tied to the next organization. I know
there might be an allegiance there because they kind of oversaw his rise to superstart
him and he's playing with a bunch of guys he loves, but that would
be just and maybe we're just way off and we're not sure. He's a
smaller guard. He now has some injuries in the rear view. How does
he age? But I don't know, man, just looking at like what
the like he could even just again, even if it's not the max,
like getting four years like in or something, just like that's so much more
money. Yeah. Yeah, but this is the Jazz. So I think
that's their most important that. I mean, it's clearly their most important decisions.
Do you expect to renegotiate and extend with lowry marketing him to get done?
Or sorry, what's more likely he gets traded or renegotiated and extended.
Oh that's fun. I guess I really want him to get traded. So
I'm like trying to like pull back from that big market. Yeah, it's
and I want him to get traded to the Thunder. So I'm just really,
let's go from Salt Lake City to Oklahoma City. Uh, I'll say
it's more likely that he I didn't think it was this I didn't think it
was this hard to make it kind of hard, I guess it's more likely
he renegotiates an extent. I don't know if do you have a strong feeling
on it? Yeah, I feel strongly it's more likely they renegotiate an extent.
Do you is there I didn't get We didn't get into your number on
this really quickly. Is there something that's like, what's the like? Are
you comfortable with him on the max? I think he's probably I was gonna
say, I think he's probably still a hugely positive trade asset at that number.
He's not like best player on a really good team level. So I
guess like by definition that I mean there's plenty of guys that make maxes that
that's true for I'd like it a little under the max. I think like
that seems a little rich for me. Are you are you going full max?
I probably would, just because I think you look at it as you're
taking off one of those years next year when you know he's still in his
prime, and then as as a trade asset or just from a team building
perspective, it's just like you have fewer years left on it. I know
that means he can get paid sooner, but uh, the way that the
NBA set up is a lot of the time you reach a point of your
career where you are paid for what you have done rather than what you're actively
doing or going to do. And this just kind of made sure you're you're
within that sweet spotify Like he's getting paid what he's worth right now. By
the time the contract ends, he's probably worth that or close to it.
Yeah, he's at least by even if on the back end it's like he's
not worth it anymore. As well, those previous three years, he absolutely
what happened Like he's on gonna be what thirty at that point, Like,
what's so? What what had happened in that you have bigger problems if that's
the issue. Uh, last, but I mean maybe least early in the
conversation for a least, the Portland had the least like I mean, it
was an interesting thought exercise, but they were the least compelling one from a
like there. But it's also, oh, the Blazers are technically in the
acts, but I think they're the team where it's so we gotta talk Anthony
Gill. I mean he's unrestricted. No, I mean, like even going
from that to the actual pick, which is Tias Jones is like, I
mean, it's a pretty big lead, but it's not exactly the highest stakes.
Tias Jones unrestricted was not traded at the deadline. There wasn't you believed
it? The wizard certainly like he made fourteen million last year. I actually
kind of think did I already say this? I can't remember. I think
there's a decent chance that like he could end up with a bigger total value
contract than D'Angelo Russell might get if he if he declines his player option.
Not annual basis, but like if you go this is like if Dilo declines
and goes like two for fifty and Tias Jones in free agency gets like four
for sixty or something like that, you're basically just saying, like Tias Jones
is more likely to sign a long term deal than the end just total,
yeah, total dollars on the contract. I think it. Yeah, I
thought for a second I thought you were like kind of on the level of
me saying font Tech you over j and Ivy. That not an annual value
I don't think, although, like you know, fourteen and Dilo made like
eighteen or the nineteen is sure honestly, yeah, yes, And and if
you're talking just like universal fits like Tyus Jones obviously fits more places than than
Delo does. I think it's just the smart money should just be on the
Wizards have to bring him back at whatever like reasonable number there is. They
can beat the market for him, I assume. I guess again, Orlando
might want to guard. Uh, like he's just gonna be brought back.
That's been your take. Well, it's just I know, I'm not like
mocking it. It's like I feel like I say it so much that I
feel like we got people get mad at you because you said Orlando's need a
guard because they didn't think they did. They had Mark go Folds. They're
fine, They're fine. I guess, like the the this isn't even quite
like Galaxy Brain, but like the two steps ahead is, well, they
didn't trade him because they know they can sign him to a longer deal that
will make him more valuable as a trade chip, just because the team getting
him has greater security. I think Tyas Jones is a good enough player where
multiple years is actually like a value add as opposed to well, he's a
rental, which you know last year he would have just been a rental and
there are plenty of teams that could have justified it, but I think that's
got to be the play here. Get him back for you know, three
four years and mid level are significantly better than that money, and then you
move him to it, and so like that's just that seems like the likeliest
outcome to me. I don't know how difficult of a decision that is,
other than like what does the number need to be to maximize the return trade.
The other thing is is I know he's maybe not the caliber of player
where it's fully in his hands, but like it's not just because the Wizards
are willing to pay him X doesn't mean he just leave, yeah for like
a better team. Without that is that's the element that makes this tougher,
right, is they may have to go higher to get him to sign with
them, and then if you go too high, suddenly he's not a valuable
as a trade ship. So it's there. That might be why it end
up being like a short term thing where it's like he signed like two for
forty or something just because he gets that higher annual amount. It could be
it's all a question of like what makes him more palatable for a trade partner
like doesn't have value to the Wizards other than like the adults in the room,
like take care of that. They need a for general, like they
just they need a for general, right, but like to do what like
this team is not is not you know, gonna play any serious games for
at least a couple of years or so what is like what is the does
he end up like how much does he end up making that? Because like
he can charge the Wizards attacks of like, hey you suck, You're going
to trade me, and you also need me otherwise you just don't really.
I mean, they could go out and they can sign like a cheaper point
guard, but like, could you see that is if I said it's sixteen
million, is that even too conservative for him? Particularly? You got to
beat the mid level I think for sure, and so then well that's less
than he's making now. So yeah, he signs for the mid level,
right, it's just for him. It's like I think, I I keep
thinking of like, well, what's a four year deal? Look like four
for sixty four for sixty five like something like that. But I wonder if
what you were kind of getting to like just the shorter deal, right,
the two for thirty six or something like that, or two even two for
forty or something thirty eight or something like that. Honestly, you mentioned like
three for fifty four feels like the tiest Jones like sweet spot deal. Well,
but for him, I think that's pretty great. But like I wonder
if if you're trying to trade him as the Wizards, is he more movable
on three for fifty four or like two for forty or do you want that
four for sixty five? Like I don't know which which one makes him more
palatable? Is it the longer security or the dollar you have to measure it
against? Does playing for them repress his performance in any way to where he
could have a more efficient shooting season just because the talent around him isn't great.
If he's running teams, why would we want to trade for this point
guard who's running the twenty eighth best offense league. Yeah, that's the thing.
And like really, if you're Washington, you should specifically be thinking of
like well, because like what player do we want back in the fifteen to
seventeen million dollar range? That's like we need a young guy who was projectable,
and like it's just got to be for a pick like right, and
you're hoping that this comes worth a first on his next deal. Yeah,
I would lean towards I'd probably give him whatever he wants within reason, just
because he still is super valuable to offsetting the playmaking workload of Denny Avvia helping
set up la Kola Bali. And it's just one of those We've talked about
this a lot where it feels like there are guys who may not fit your
timeline, but they very clearly can help streamline the development of those who do.
And he feels like a perfect case study of that type of player for
what like including the guys that they've i mean, the fringes of the roster,
and then also just who they're gonna ad via the draft this year.
Yeah, I just wonder like if the Spurs come in and say he goes
to the Wizards and says, I've got two for forty five coming from the
Spurs, Like, what are you doing? Washington? Then like that's where
it gets tough, because because I think you're right, like you can't the
walk away, it should not be an option. But there's got to be
a number where Washington says, like, all right, well that's too high
for us. Now he left for nothing. You give him Bilking Trey Jones
of the starting spot in San Antonio. That make for some awkward Thanksgiving dinners.
Right, dogg eat dog out there. You gotta you gotta get your
getting where you fit in? Uh? Was that all that? That was
all thirty teams? Right? Yeah? Alphabetically anyway we ended Washington stat padding
time, Grant, I have questions for you. Are I have answers?
Question? You have all the answers. That's the confidence we want to see,
mister Grant Hughes. Which NBA player is more important to the future of
their current team? Jalen Brown or Derek White? Oh? Well, Uh,
Jalen Brown, LaMelo Ball or Brandon Miller, Brandon Miller, Aaron Gordon
or Jamal Murray. Oh Aaron go wow id Jalen Johnson or Trey Young the
future? How which future is there? Uh? Trey Young because that trade
package, Patrick Williams or Kobe White, Kobe White, Donovan Mitchell or Evan
Mobley, Evan Mobley, Anthony Davis or Lebron James Anthony Davis just because his
future is longer in the NBA. I think Kyrie Irving or Derek Lively,
Oh Lively, jayde and Ivy or Asar Thompson, Asar Thompson, Jalen Green
or I'men Thompson, m M. I'm and Tom, Paul George or James
Harden Paul George, Desmond Baine or Jaron Jackson Jr. Oh Man Uh Jared
Jackson Jr. Jayden McDaniels or Karl Anthony Towns Karl Anthony Towns Ooh, Tyler
Hero or Jaime Hawkes Hawk as Herb Jones or Trey Murphy just dead even split
I'll say, I'll say Trey Murphy, I like it. Jalen Suggs or
Franz Wagner. It's still gotta be Franz. I disagree, Chet Holmgren or
Jalen Williams. Oh, well, it's obviously Jalen Williams. He can't ask
me that question. What's the actual answer, though, it's still Jalen Williams,
Kegan Murray or Domntis Sabonis Keegan Murray, R. J. Barrett A
Greedy Dick R. J. Barrett Ava or Bakola Bali, Oh, this
one hurts. I gotta Denny, Isaiah Hartenstein or Mitchell Robinson Hartenstein kyan'te George
or Walker Kessler. Oh, that's interesting. I think it's George aaron Ne
Smith or Miles Turner, Turner, Brooke Lopez or Chris Middleton. I'll say
Chris Middleton, he's under contract for longer, Jeremy Grant or Anthony Simon's Simons.
That's all I got for you, man, A little bit too easy
for you. I will know. I was just I was. I wanted
to ask a question, was like, Dan, what do you actually mean
future? Like I want the people who give a fuck, so we're not
going to define it. Did you want do you have any did you want
to do? Do you have some time to run through some Guessa players?
Of course? Like I just got to pull them up here. I don't
want. I assume I have some new ones, but I'm not. I
have one. I didn't respond to be Rich, but he gave me one
for you. Ready to get in the mind of a psychopath? Thank you
be Rich. My messages are uh I'm inundated at the moment. I need
to catch up. Uh yeah, I'm just pulling up some from Mike here.
I'm I'm ready. Clue one. I was drafted in the lottery in
the nineties, helping my team reach its conference semifinals during my rookie season.
Lottery in the nineties conference semifinals rookie season, I have to try, don't
I drafted in the nineties, and shit, I don't know uh sharif abduur
raheem. That is incorrect. Clue number two. I have the one hundredth
best wind shares per forty eight season in NBA slash ABA history for my two
thousand and one two thousand and two efforts, one spot ahead of Santa Clara
legend Ken Sears. Let me hold on, let me pull up my encyclopedic
knowledge of the all time greatest wind shares for forty eight seasons. I would
assume you just know where Ken Seears ranks and who would be in front of
him. No, is it McGrady. It is not McGrady. Clue three.
I finished my career thirty third in playoff assist with seven hundred and sixty
four, ahead of Kyle Lowry, Danny Ames, Darren Williams, Terry Porter,
and Derek Fisher. So a lottery guard conference semi finals, like that's
what we're gonna help And played in the nineties to two thousands. Uh,
we already did Andre Miller. Better not be Andre Miller. It is not
Andre Miller. Are you ready for the next clue? Yeah, I got
nothing. I'm ready to give you the next clue, then clue number four.
Three of my most similar players are Lebron James, Larry Bird, and
Charles Barkley. In other news, I was quite good at basketball. Okay,
so maybe not a guard? A bunch of playoff assists? Is it
Kobe Bryant? It is not Kobe Bryant? Okay? Clue five. My
career true shooting percentage was fifty five point one, despite only shooting eighteen percent
from three. Oh, I don't know what kind of player this is.
It's all over the place. A bunch of assists, but the comps are
forwards. Hmmm, yeah, I don't know. I got nothing. Clue
number What do we have? Two six? My career net rating was plus
fourteen due to an outstanding career ninety six defensive defensive rating. Did I mention
how good I was at basketball? So good at basketball? You will get
it on the seventh clue? Okay, cool, well, will I I'll
just go to seven. I got I don't know, despite never winning Defensive
Player of the Year. I'm one of the best defensive players in history.
I'm also one of Grant's favorite players. Is this Andre Carolinko? No,
that doesn't matter with you, but I got a lot of favorite players.
Uh, never was this? You should be more judicious and how you hand
out your affection. Don't tell me how to love Dan. Is it Tim
Duncan, Yes, it's Tim Duncan. Okay, sorry, Tim, The
final clue wasn't if for some reason, it isn't obvious. I was born
in the Virgin Islands and then and the patron saint of San Antonio, so
the name was not included in the initial gap on this, and I thought
it was Tim Duncan because I didn't look at it until we started recording.
But the assists and true shooting threw me off. I didn't realize this true
shooting percentage was that low relative to we G average. It was fine,
but the numbers are so ingreat. I was like, no, there's no
way this is But then the final clue is like, well, how is
it not? Yeah? I mean several of the look, this is what
it's like to be in the mind of a psychopath. So these clues are
designed to throw you off the scent for like, so he's just like messing
with you for the first like three to five clues, and then then you
get you get thrown a there. All right, I see how we're going
to play this game for now? One, I do have one for you
from Mike. I don't know what odds I'd give you on this. I
haven't looked at the clues yet. Are you ready? You just know the
player. That's an interesting way to go about it. Well, like,
there's a lot of clues and there's a lot of information the play. Just
the player is like it's a well, we'll see, we'll see how hard
or easy it is. Here Clue number one. I was drafted in the
first round in twenty fourteen and traded on draft night. The trade was largely
due to pressure from the team's star player, who had called me his favorite
player in the draft and the team wanted to make him happy. You might
I didn't read that clue, but you may want to correct One shot Killed.
Sorry, Mike. There's like six hundred words of clues that you put
together for nothing. One shot kill. That clue had to come later.
That's like the single most known thing about Shabaz Napier. Right by the way,
for anyone who says, and I don't want to burn too much times
that no team would draft Brownie James hopes of getting Lebron James, somebody said
were already kind of happened with from Naper. They did it in hopes of
keeping Lebron James, and he wasn't even related. Like, imagine what's possible
now, right, all right, we have the clue too. Notable players
taken after me include Clincapella, bogged On, Bogdanovich, SloMo Spencer, Dinwidie,
Jeremy Grant, Jordan Clarkson, and three time MVP Nicole jokicch never heard
of him three As a rookie, I averaged five points a game on thirty
eight percent shooting from the field. By the way, the start set star
player from clue number one, he was no longer on the team. Tough
break four. In case you're wondering how rough my rookie season was, I
was traded after one year with catch of the magic for a conditional second.
They again, sorry, Mike, Actually you apologize Dan, because you did
this. You rendered all this work useless. There are four, five,
six, seven, eight, nine, ten, eleven eleven clues in total,
lots of information about For example, this past season, Napier signed with
Serbian power our house. I shouldn't have gone down this road. I can't
pronounce this. Saverna Zvezda joining former NBA players Namanya Bilitza, one of another,
one of my favorites, Joel Bollomboy Onyon Kuzmich. It's two former Warriors,
Marcos Samanovic, Milos Tao Doosich and Javonte Smart. What a stacked roster
if that didn't win the Serbian league? Question? This kind of ruins the
one shot kills for me? Does I feel bad? How much? Like
I know the double edged sword? The one shot kill? All right?
Do you have something, honestly like, let's just call spatas bade. I'm
the bizarre of one shot kills at this point like this, you've got You've
got more than I do. For sure, we'll go back for the gorekeeper.
I do have one. You said he has Bill Walton stuff for me.
I have a guess a player from Mike for you. If you if
you're ready, all right, why don't you give me that? And then
I'll I'll give you the Bill Waltons and we'll call it Yeah, who won?
My name was invoked in a Chance the Rapper song in twenty sixteen,
several years after I retired. This was from young thug saying, I got
me some rings, like I'm blank, I'm balling on you like I'm Chris
Paul. This is because I am a three time NBA champion. It's just
fun. I'm laughing because I just know you, of all people, are
not going to be the one to know who this is. I was hoping
it would be an easier rhyme to guess, like what rhymes with Well,
you'll have to give it away, Like, I'm just impressed that you knew
Chance was a rapper? Why do you assume I don't know about Dalmatian from
dalmations? I also get that reference if you want to get a sense of
the breadth of my trivia, arm Wasn't there a pongo? Isn't that another
one hundred one Dalmatians? Pongo, perdita patches or something? All right,
all right, all right, enough, you win? What are cruel of
Deville's henchman's names? Can you remember those horus and are doing the wrong kind
of guessing games around here. Look at you? What how are we here?
I don't know. I don't know what are we doing. Oh I'm
supposed to think of a player that was in a Chance the Rapper song that
rhymes with Chris Paul Maybe that has three championship rings. I don't know.
I don't I gotta try, though. I feel like this is fair.
It doesn't rhyme Oh okay, thank you all. So I just have to
think of all the three time NBA champions out there that Chance the Rapper would
also know exists, and young Thug would also know. Oh okay, all
right, now we're narrowing down. Chance the Rapper is a Chicago rapper.
I think I think he's from Chicago. I didn't know. Let's see three
time chants. So who was on one of the three peat? Well,
I'm gonna say Luke Longley. How about that? Incorrect? No, damn
it. I like we were had that though. Trying clue number two.
I went undrafted in nineteen ninety three and started my professional career in flant France
with LaHave undrafted ninety three, but he wins day high. I apologize for
all the butcher pronunciations. Uh yeah, I'm not very good at the undrafted
nineteen ninety three players. I am confident you will get this player though,
if that's any consolation, Okay, uhnight, Well, but three time champion
that was undrafted, Okay, I don't know. CLU three. Between ninety
three and ninety seven, I played with five teams, bouncing back and forth
between the France and the Rockford Lightning of the Continental Basketball Association ninety three to
ninety seven, with three championships, and is not even in the league.
God damn. Yeah, I don't know. Clue four. I mean my
NBA debut in nineteen ninety seven, signing a ten day contract with the Heat.
In my debut, I played one minute, scoring zero points, but
recorded a block. This was my only action as a rookie. Shit eighty
seven, Heat, man, that's helpful. I still have just no idea
CLU five. The next season, I signed on with the Celtics. I
played sixty one games, starting nine, averaging one point four steals and five
points. Mmm, Heat Celtics. I want to say this is a European
player, just because he was what like four or five years in France and
I forget what else you said? What was the other team? CBA?
The Basketball Association? So that doesn't mean anything? Ninety seven? Do you?
I don't know. I'm all over the place. What's the next clue?
Please clue six. The next season was a disaster, as I fell
out of the rotation. Only playing in thirty games, I averaged two points,
shooting below thirty percent from the floor. My NBA future was in jeopardy.
I don't think that's going to help you. Is a Dino? It
is not him, but holy fuck, good guess. In nineteen ninety nine,
I signed with the Sixers, but was traded to the Bulls and immediately
waived. I would then sign up with on the Heat again for the rest
of the year to save my career. Oh man, so he's back on
the Heat in ninety nine two thousand. Who was on those Heat teams?
No, that's way too, way too late for him. I got I
got nothing. I can't think of who this is. I think this is
where it starts to get a little spicy. You got four or five more
clues left to eight. I re signed with the Heat in two thousand and
finally put it all together, earning my first NBA accolade as I was named
second Team All Defense. This is two thousand, two thousand. Oh,
you're gonna get it on the next clue, good heat defender. It's not
Kurt Thomas is it is not? Okay, that's that's too late. I
think, all right, what's the next one? Clue nine? That offseason,
I signed with the Spurs, being named the second team All Defense again.
The next year, I did it a third time, this time while
starting all eighty two games. However, the best moment from that season was
either winning an NBA title or karate kicking Wally Serbiak in the face mid game.
Bruce Bowen, there you go, Okay, final three clues. Every
year between four and oh eight, I was named to First Team All Defense,
winning my other two rings along the way. Who eleven My jersey was
retired by the franchise, but conditionally unretired when the Spurs signed l Marcus Aldridge.
Clue twelve. I'm one of the few legitimate Kobe Stoppers in NBA history.
That's like, starting with all the early career stuff is a really good
way to go for that, because once you get to the Spurs, that's
like and you have the era. That one's that one's over. I forgot
now It's like, yeah, I can picture him with the Celtics jersey and
a heat jersey. But that's okay, all right, good one? Uh
Dan, who's Bill Walton talking about? Blank just made the war first pass
in the history of Western civilization? Is it? JaVale McGee, Doug Christi,
Bonzie Wells, Dewan Wagner. Tremendous inclusion Tony Parker, who were the
first? Who are the He goes back Tony Parker, Javal McGee, Dewan
Wagner, Doug Christie is in there, and uh, Bonzie Wells is in
there. Let's go with Bonzie Wells. It is Tony Parker that must likes
to go to like inhumanity, Western civilization, Well love Western civilization. Really
is a big fan of that as a as a superlative. All right.
Number two, Blank's arrogance is an insult to people who think Gary Payton,
Quentin Richardson, Steve Francis, Shaquille O'Neill, Chris Cayman. Uh. This
feels like a what were the options? Hey, Gary Payton, Quentin Richardson,
Steve Francis, Shaquille O'Neill or Chris Cayman. This feels too obvious,
but I'll go Steve Francis, it is Shaquille O'Neill. Uh. I just
I want to see, Like I wish we had the ability to understand how
a person's brain like jumps from one thought to the next, just to explain
like how Mike settles on which names to include, because like you'll understand why
when I read you the next group, Because it's just like, how are
these people ever associated in your in your mind? Clue? Number? Uh?
Bill Walton is the number three. He looks like a ballerina out there.
Primore, Primo's Brezich, Tim Hardaway Senior, Chuck Hayes, Marcus Pfizer,
Adrian Griffin. I have Chuck Hay's You're corrected as Chuck case balletic Chuck
Ha's, Oh my god, or drop players. Good job. Primo Brezich
I have had I've had him on a fantasy team years ago. I forget
why you love him. Also, is he one of your favorites? No,
I think he underperformed. Antifection is conditional, It's super off. If
you want to know one thing about me, yeah, you know if you
don't score a goal, it's like you're walking home. Uh. Like most
of the fan base here, I want more from him. I want more.
I don't should have rather, I don't want a six inch I want
a twelve inch Katino Mobley, Tyrus Thomas, DeMarcus Cousins, Darius Miles,
Lauren Woods. Wow, I'm gonna say, DeMarcus Cousins. You're correct.
That's two in a row. That has to be the first two in a
row ever achieved. Bill Walton, I have three more. We have to
continue because you can't end on on a make number five. Blank might be
the most injured athlete in the history of sports, not Western civilizations. Be
clear A Derreck Rose, b Vince Carter, c Yao Ming d Tracy McGrady
E. Bill Walton. Oh my god, I want to pick Bill Walton,
but I'm not going to. I'm gonna say that it's Yelming. You
should have gone with your guy, Dan. First instincts are always correct.
It was Bill Walton talking about Bill Walton and Chris Ever Walton on Walton,
Uh crime, I don't know. Uh six. Is there a better shot
blocker on Earth? Than Blank? Jokim Noah Michael Stewart, Vladi devots Spencer
Hawes, Jerome James PTSD from that Jerome James contract in New York. Just
when you think of the best shot blocker on Earth. I mean, which
of those guys is it? Who are the other four locked into Jerome James?
Yeah, you're really fixated Spencer Hawes, Vladi devots Michael Stewart or Jokim
Noah, I'm gonna go with Spencer Hawes. It is Vladi. Uh,
just incredible? How many wild ass? Okay, last one? Lindsay Hunter
just starting with Lindsay Hunters did No, that's not even the Blank There're so
this is amazing. Lindsay Hunter is making Blank look like John Stockton today,
Mike Bibby, Brian Shaw, David Wesley, Devin George, Earl Watson,
Earl Watson. It's Devin George. What are the sets of circumstances that lead
to Devin George being compared to John Stockton? And how is Lindsay Hunter making
him look like John Stockton? What this is? I have more fun I
just have more questions than answers. I love this segment. It's like,
uh, well, since it's Bill Walton, it feels appropriate. It's like
you're pulled into like a psychedelic realm where like there are no laws and nothing
makes sense and like logic ceases to exist. Uh, are you take us
out here? I've thrown off because last time you did it and now I
don't know which ways up. Thanks everybody for listening. I hope you enjoyed
some evergreen content. You know, sometimes you got to throw that in there.
It's a good exercise for us. Hopefully as you're getting into checking out
your team's offseason or just are curious about the league wide off season potential here,
this will be something to refer back to or get you, I don't
know, squared away on some of this free agency stuff. Don't let anyone
tell you free agency is going to be boring. That's usually not the case.
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description, closing as always with shout the one and only Frankly Lakeena an apology figure about