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What is crack lacking? Hardwar Knocks
listeners, I am Damn Valley coming at

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you with a random late in the
day podcast, finally catching up on some

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news. Also, we have another
mail bag for you. Wanted to get

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to this earlier in the week,
my work schedule was hectic. I also

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thought we were gonna end up having
a final specific podcast for all of you

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on what was it Tuesday? Were
released on Tuesday or wherever it was in

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the middle of day Tuesday, It's
actually gonna release on Wednesday. So you're

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getting two podcasts this week within the
span of twenty four hours. Make sure

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you're downloading them. This is the
first time you're listening to us. Consider

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throwing us that permanent subscription rate reviews. Subscribe to us on Spotify and iTunes

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and wherever you get your podcast,
but definitely on iTunes and Spotify even if

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you don't use them. Subscribe to
our YouTube channel YouTube dot com Hardwood Knocks.

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We are there. Join our discord. The links to that isn't the

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description. You can follow us on
Twitter at Hardwood Knox, follow us on

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insta at Hardwood Underscore Knox, and
on TikTok at Hardwood Knox. So we

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do have male bad questions, all
of which came from our discord this time,

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so shout out to those people.
But we're going to release the answers

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public lease that you all can listen
to a bunch of fun questions. But

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we have some news notes that I
thought were worth getting to. And again

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this is going to be Finals light
because we were going to cover the Finals

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in depth before Thursday's Game six.
But the first thing we have to start

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with is the Nuggets. Okay,
see blockbuster leading into the draft. Who

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didn't want a big doorstopper like that
heading into June's prospect pageant? It was

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fairly significant. Though the Nuggets are
sending a distant it's a protected I still

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don't know the protections on it.
I tried to look, but it protected

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twenty twenty seven pick and Jamichael Green
to Oklahoma City in exchange for a twenty

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twenty three second and a twenty twenty
four second and number thirty in this year's

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draft, Denver now has number thirty
and number twenty one. A few things

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here I still don't I've been looking. I don't even know what picks specifically.

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Okay, se sending out in twenty
twenty three and twenty twenty four.

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I'll start with them. I think
this was a rock solid move. I

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did a quick reaction on ig TikTok
and YouTube for this, and that's the

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exact word wording I used. Jamichael
Green opping into his eight point two million

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dollars salary for next season as part
of this deal. He did not have

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a year where it implied he was
worth that. He's still somewhat in theory.

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If the Thunder keep him, who
they can reboot just as a potential

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stretch five can also play the four
in certain lineups, and the Thunder even

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if they're going to draft one of
those three bigs with the number two pick,

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they're not especially deep on that upper
front line right there. They can

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also use him as part of another
deal. Maybe they get to a buyout,

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maybe they stretch him. I don't
know, but that was a small

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cost to take on a distant first
from the Nuggets, where we have to

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see the protections, but betting against
Denver's long term future like it's not the

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worst idea in the world, because
now they've consolidated so many of their assets

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into this exact core. You have
Michael Porter Junior's back. Yeah, he'll

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still be young, but who the
hell knows what he'll look like. Then

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Jamal Murray coming back from ACL injury
and your kitch I believe will be thirty

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two, so still in his prime. But again, hedging against the Nuggets

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is long term future. You're essentially
saying, you know that you're going to

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use these because this cap space to
the thunder, it's happening this league year

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because they have all this cap space. It doesn't it just doesn't matter,

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like they weren't going to be you
weren't going to use it on a trade

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that was gonna net you this,
you know, unless Philly was trying to

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figure out a way to get off
of Tobias Harris or Atlanta was still was

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trying to figure out how to lop
off Nil Gallan already and that could still

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happen, by the way, so
that doesn't bother me. We have to

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see what the two second round picks
are, but let's just say it's using

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two seconds and number thirty to move
up to what in twenty twenty seven.

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The only way this is a net
loss really is if Denver is number thirty

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in twenty twenty seven, which kudos
to the Nuggets if they end up with

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the least best record that year.
So I'm completely fine with that. There's

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also more margin for error here with
the Thunder than most teams, just because

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they also have number thirty four.
Whoever that you're going to take at thirty

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can be available at thirty four,
and second round picks unless they're super high

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end. You get to a point
where a lot of these guys maybe you

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can just sign to a contract or
talk to beforehand and work things out that

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way if you really wanted to,
And so I like the bet of hedging

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against the future. Also, the
Thunder's roster runs out of body spots like

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pretty quickly at this point. They
did have four picks in the top thirty

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four before this trade. Now they
have three. You have to mention they're

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not keeping all of these players.
This doesn't necessarily make it easier because you

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are still taking on a player in
Jamichael Green, but it's still deferring what

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would have been someone you needed to
make a decision on now, whether it

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was a draft in stash or to
use them on the roster. You're delaying

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that decision when you have more flexibility. It's also one asset you could use

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down the line in a trade if
you really want to. Because there's that

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mystique of the twenty twenty seven first
round pick. I think it was just

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a solid move by Oklahoma City,
and again I think it's made all the

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better just knowing that, hey,
they were going to draft in a few

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spots after number three. Anyway,
for the Nuggets, I've seen this spun

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as they're gearing up for another trade. My response to that is, I

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very seldom see teams move a distant
first round pick and use it as a

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means to improve their offer in a
forthcoming trade. So like giving up your

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twenty twenty seven first in theory,
like that would have been a good asset

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in any other trade that you were
trying to broker. And so I don't

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think that having number thirty and twenty
one is more valuable than dangling number twenty

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one and two twenty seven, is
what I'm getting at. Listening to Lockdown

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Nuggets with Adamatas and Matt Moore,
I thought what was interesting is that they

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pointed out is maybe this signifies whoever
the Nuggets want at what have taken at

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twenty one is also going to be
there at thirty, so you're getting him

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cheaper on a rookie skill at thirty
while gaining the ability to move number twenty

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one. You're also just gaining an
extra first round pick. If you're trying

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to a mass cost controlled assets or
complimentary players while you've invested what will be

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tax money in a roster that has
Gordon Yokich, Murray and Michael Porter Junior

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on these massive deals, it couldn't
mean any number of things. If you're

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making the argument that perhaps they've done
it to juice up the trade offer appeal,

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my highest end response would be,
no, this is not a move

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to help you get Ogna Nobi.
Maybe if you're willing to give two first

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round picks to Detroit plus zeg Naji
and Will Barton, like, does that

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all of a sudden get you in
the Jeremy Grant discussion. If you're ever

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going to make a big time move, though, Bones Highland is the guy

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that you're looking at as the centerpiece
of any deal he has. I think

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he's probably one of the if we're
just talking raw terms and av he's probably

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one of the ten most valuable imminent
assets that you can dangle. If we're

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talking about this year's first round picks
and what could feasibly be available. Again,

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knowing that Oklahoma City is not trading
number two, magic, the Magic

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will trade number one, et cetera, et cetera. So again, I

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would still prefer if I'm a different
team that's twenty twenty seven first round pick,

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then number thirty. But if it's
just more likely that Denver thinks it

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as a deal for number twenty one
lined up, and you believe you can

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get your player that you want at
number twenty one at number thirty while also

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shipping number twenty one elsewhere, let's
see the other element of this is they

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did save a bunch of tax money, which I'm not going to celebrate.

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However, if that makes it more
likely they're willing to use their fullament level

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exception the MINIMLS at six point four
million this year, then yeah, fine.

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So I don't I don't want to
say him indifferent to this deal.

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I just don't think the Nuggets are
done and we have to see what they

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parlay this into, even if it's
just looking at who they draft and decide

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to use next season. I don't
think it wasn't agree moved by by any

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stretch, though, and this feels
like one of those win wins situation has

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provided. The Nuggets already have this
bigger picture mapped out, and I don't

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look training Je Michael Green also probably
gives more minutes to Zeke Nagy and give

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it out to Michael Green played last
season. I don't think you're actually losing

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much there. Green was probably better
suited the lock time at the five,

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but again, he didn't have the
best year. You could be worried if

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if you don't think that they're going
to have Jeff Green next season for some

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reason, that like, oh,
didn't we just give up to Michael Green?

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But why would you get rid of
Jeff Green in this circumstance now?

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So I don't want to say Je
Michael Green was excessive, But if you

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think you know you can get another
big on the cheap, or you're drafting

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a big plus you just want to
open up minutes for Zeke Nagy, that's

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fine there there too, So this
could end up being one of those win

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win situations. My biggest takeaway would
just be that I don't think Denver is

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done. When we're looking exclusively ahead
to the draft, I would expect more

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moves from them. I just don't
believe that they've somehow boosted they are bigger

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offers by getting another first round pick
this year. Yeah, I mean in

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draft equity is going to hold more
value. But it's number thirty. It's

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00:09:03,720 --> 00:09:09,440
not like number you know, even
like sixteen or seventeen in that in that

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area. And I don't think o
case he's done really quickly either. Just

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they still have a bunch of cap
space left over, like twenty two million

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or something ridiculous like that, So
they're going to be able to take on

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money that teams don't want and that
will still be available to them through the

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draft. And it could be another
instance where they're trying to you know,

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maybe they're going to send out players
to make the roster counts just balance out

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that way, or they're just trying
to amass some distant first round picks since

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they don't want to be getting into
these roster decisions where you have all of

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these picks and ensuing years and not
really the room to stash them. So

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I don't think they're done either.
And after the after the Green trade specifically,

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they're left with like twenty four million
dollars in room just about so that's

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00:09:58,120 --> 00:10:03,679
plenty of run way for them to
do something fairly significant. Other stuff that's

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00:10:03,720 --> 00:10:07,519
happening. I think there's been some
like rumors about a bunch of stuff,

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and Knicks are interested in Malcolm Rogden
YadA, YadA YadA. Zac Levi is

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00:10:11,480 --> 00:10:13,759
gonna return to Chicago. We've talked
about that already. The one that I

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00:10:13,799 --> 00:10:20,279
found the most interesting since we last
spoke was Jake Fisher reported that pretty much

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00:10:20,279 --> 00:10:22,159
everyone on the Hawks is available,
but John Collins is being mentioned a bunch,

156
00:10:22,240 --> 00:10:26,679
particularly in bigger packages for Rico Bear. You also Kevin O'Connor of The

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00:10:26,720 --> 00:10:28,879
Ringer saying the Hawks are willing to
move John Collins for a lottery pick.

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00:10:30,799 --> 00:10:33,759
My my only response to that is, I get I think the Hawks are

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00:10:33,759 --> 00:10:39,120
fine to be open minded on everyone
that's on the roster, with the exception

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00:10:39,159 --> 00:10:43,720
of Trey Young. If you're flipping
John Collins for a lottery pick, that's

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00:10:43,759 --> 00:10:46,960
actually fucking stupid. If you're planning
on moving that pick it's a three team

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00:10:46,000 --> 00:10:48,519
deal, or you have another transaction
set up where you need a lotto pick

163
00:10:48,600 --> 00:10:52,960
to make a consolidation or requirer a
you know, a player, a more

164
00:10:54,080 --> 00:10:58,240
established player than yeah, I get
it, but that would be just such

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00:10:58,240 --> 00:11:01,480
a to flip John Collins for a
lottery. I don't care how high you

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00:11:01,519 --> 00:11:03,919
are, Like, you're not getting
a top five pick for John Collins anyway.

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00:11:05,000 --> 00:11:09,279
So whoever you're high on in that
whatever seven to fourteen range, how

168
00:11:09,360 --> 00:11:13,480
much are they actually helping you right
away? That's more of a move that

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00:11:13,519 --> 00:11:16,480
would be driven in, Oh,
we don't want our cap sheet to balloon

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00:11:16,919 --> 00:11:20,759
too high, and you know we
have a path to staying outside the tax

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00:11:22,240 --> 00:11:24,240
next season. But as of right
now, you know, if they waved

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00:11:24,279 --> 00:11:30,240
Daniela Gallanari, they're gonna be twelve
thirteen million dollars away from the actual tax

173
00:11:30,279 --> 00:11:33,440
line. There are ways to increase
that if you find a taker for Daniella

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00:11:33,480 --> 00:11:37,519
Gallanari so you don't have to worry
about that five million partial guarantee, or

175
00:11:37,600 --> 00:11:41,440
you could stretch that five million partial
guarantee over three years, but that would

176
00:11:41,480 --> 00:11:45,200
just seem like, oh, we're
gonna try and dump some salary here and

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00:11:45,279 --> 00:11:50,320
make ourselves leaner. Will spend the
full tax non taxpayer midlevel exception without going

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00:11:50,320 --> 00:11:52,879
into the tax. They have more
than enough room below the apron to me

179
00:11:52,159 --> 00:11:58,440
to resign the lawn right and still
use their full non taxpayer it'll be tight

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00:11:58,399 --> 00:12:03,600
within that cap, but they have
the flexibility to do so. But you're

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00:12:03,639 --> 00:12:07,679
gonna trade John Collins for just an
incoming rookie that's not a top five prospect.

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00:12:07,799 --> 00:12:11,919
That Again, I'm not saying that's
actually what they're doing, but if

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00:12:11,960 --> 00:12:15,840
that is one of their angles,
it's stupid and you should be using John

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00:12:15,840 --> 00:12:18,679
Collins to try and improve your team, which is a hard thing to do.

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Laddering up to Rudy Gobert is like
kind of the move, although then

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00:12:22,519 --> 00:12:26,320
you get into the equation of Clint
Capella going in that deal as well.

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00:12:26,600 --> 00:12:28,240
And if you're giving up Clint Capella
John Collins in the same trade for Rudy

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00:12:28,279 --> 00:12:31,399
Gobert, how much better are you
actually? I think John Collins is one

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00:12:31,399 --> 00:12:37,240
of the most underrated players in the
NBA. Even you think he's been underutilized

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00:12:37,279 --> 00:12:39,799
in Atlanta, like, he's still
shown his scalability. When you've had to

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00:12:39,799 --> 00:12:43,960
play next to Clint Capella, you're
not allowed to be the primary screener.

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00:12:43,039 --> 00:12:48,039
So we've seen the expansion of his
floor game. We've seen him turn into

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00:12:48,159 --> 00:12:50,000
a reliable spot up three point shooter. Even if you wish that clip.

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00:12:50,039 --> 00:12:54,159
I think he was just under a
thirty seven percent on spot up threes this

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00:12:54,200 --> 00:12:56,639
year. You want that to be
a little bit higher. That's still that's

196
00:12:56,639 --> 00:13:01,159
still good enough to use him away
from the ball. He's also someone who

197
00:13:01,159 --> 00:13:05,919
can duck in from the perimeter to
grab those offensive rebounds. I think he's

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00:13:05,919 --> 00:13:09,799
gotten better defensively and that some teams
actually could get away with playing him at

199
00:13:09,840 --> 00:13:13,240
center, but you need more reliable
bodies in front of him, so Aka

200
00:13:13,320 --> 00:13:18,200
and not Utah and also not Atlanta. I just look at him, and

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this is someone who is never going
to earn more than twenty six point six

202
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million on his current deal, and
that's suit. He could decline his player

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option in twenty twenty six for twenty
six point seven million, But you have

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him under contract for four years with
three guarantee years of team control at like

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market value or just below superstar money. And I know he's not an all

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star quote unquote at this point,
He's still he's still young enough. He

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still has that type of potential.
He's just a lot more versatile on the

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offensive en specifically than I think he
receives credit for. And you know,

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the Blazers have been a team that's
been linked to him a ton. I

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don't. I don't really know what
the Blazer are doing, to be honest

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with you, But like in a
vacuum, do I think if a team

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could give up the number seven pick
and yet John Collins, I absolutely think

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that's worth that, and they'll probably
be people who think that. I think

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some of the trade per polls I
saw were the Hawks and sixteen like Collins

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in sixteen for seven. I'm just
like, if you don't give up John

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Collins to move up nine spots in
the draft, that is bonkers to me.

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So Collins is certainly a named to
watch. The Hawks seem itching to

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do something aggressive. But if they're
not moving Collins as part of a consolidation

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trade or to upgrade their actual roster
in the short term, I'm not going

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to like the move. And I
understand that this is predicated on the actual

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market. You can't move John Collins
to make an upgrade if that scenario isn't

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available. Here's a novel concept.
Just go with me on this. If

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you can't find a way to get
better while you're moving John Collins or to

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make a consolidation trade while moving John
Collins. Just keep John Collins right,

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Like that's mind blowing, right.
So those are my thoughts on the John

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Collins stuff. The other husition note, And I actually before I started recording

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this, I filed something to Bleacher
Report on this, so you can check

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it out there. Brian Windhorse went
on TV after the Andrew Wiggins epic Game

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five performance, and we might actually
talk about this when Modaquiel is going to

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come on the podcast tomorrow, so
I won't go two dvment. But he

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called it Game five a checkbook win
for the Warriors because they were able to

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pay Andrew Wiggins and Clay and Draymond
and Steph and this is something it's not

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unique to win. Wind Horse saying
that or hearing it. We even saw,

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I think in the original article that
Zach Low published recently on the Warriors,

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like there was the quote about rivals
are grumbling about their competitive advantage in

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their spending. I just don't and
I'm not saying Low buys into that.

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I it seemed like Windhorse buys into
that, but I don't want to necessarily

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he said it. He's not the
only one who's sang it, though,

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is my point, Like we got
to stop this, and I'm very much

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you know, people as I'm recording
this are mad on Twitter because ESPN is

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talking about whether Anthony Davis is still
top seven player in the NBA when we

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just had the epic Game five NBA
Finals. There are two things here.

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There's actual coverage that is detrimental or
misses the point, and I think saying

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the Warriors or checkbook win only falls
under that category because other teams they can

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spend. Like if you want to
talk about the limitations of a market,

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it's not actually spending, it's how
can you acquire talent that's worth spending on.

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And we know that free agency is
not a realistic avenue for a team

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like Memphis or New Orleans for the
most part. You have to get players

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view the draft or people want to
roll the dice via trade. We just

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so New Orleans do that with CJ. McCollum, and we've seen other teams

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do that. Okay, see acquiring
Paul Paul George, the Raptors going after

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Kawhi Leonard and he left after a
year. If you want to talk about

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those disadvantages, it's a separate issue
when it comes to spending and the city

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specifically to the Warriors. Let's look
at most of the players they're paying.

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There's no rule that's preventing other teams
from drafting Steph Curry and Raymond Green and

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Clay Thompson and keeping them long enough
to where they get so expensive they inflate

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your tax bill to Kingdom. Come, there's no nothing preventing teams from finding

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Jordan Pool, who's due for a
lucrative extension. I think the boat.

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What about Kevin Durant argument, I
get it. There was a seventy three

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win team that already had a title
and they added a top ten player of

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all time in his prime. That
again was not the Warriors witchcraft. They're

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00:17:37,960 --> 00:17:44,440
getting an exception to sign a current
top five superstar without having caps space.

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There was an infusion of TV money
at once in an unprecedented fashion, rather

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than smoothing it over time, and
that allowed the Warriors and other teams all

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this flexibility. In theory, other
teams could have use that flexibility, which,

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by the way, the Warriors still
had to get rid of Harrison Barnes,

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who they drafted to make that happen. Other teams that theory could have

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done that, and if they if
you're saying, well, yeah, it

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was Kevin Durant never going to go
to Denver. Okay, fine, but

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now we're talking about a market limitation, not a flexibility limitation. And I

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also don't want to hear about how
team governors ownership groups won't spend the When

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Forbes did their list of valuations to
close out twenty twenty one, the Grizzlies

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were the what do you call it, the cheapest franchise or like, the

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lowest valued franchise, and they were
still worth one point five billion dollars.

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We are. The fact that fandom, that an aspect of it is conditioned

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to care about the pockets of billionaires
or billionaire entities is just mind boggling to

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me. I get that it's a
part of roster building and we need to

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00:18:52,640 --> 00:18:55,720
factor it in. I just spent
time talking about why the Nuggets might have

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dumped Jamichael Green to lower their tax
bill and make it more likely that they

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spend elsewhere. That is, I'm
not going to celebrate them for that,

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but you can understand that logic,
understand that it's a reality of life without

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celebrating it, and also turning that
Warrior's victory and their place right now in

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the league, their dynasty overall into
something it's not. Their teams weren't complaining

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00:19:18,240 --> 00:19:22,400
when they traded for Andrew Wiggins or
even use Kevin Urrant to get the Angelo

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Russell. A lot of people thought
that Russell contract was terrible. Everyone thought

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that Andrew Wiggins contract was terrible.
The Warriors won the Andrew Wiggins trade at

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first because of that pick they got
from Minnesota. Are you gonna be mad

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at Minnesota for giving up that pick? Do we stop Golden State from making

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trades? I don't. I don't
understand. You can also just even argue

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that Golden States spending has been pro
is prohibitive, be just because looking at

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00:19:45,319 --> 00:19:49,200
how much time Clay Thompson missed.
Look at how topsy turvy is the word

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I used for Draymond Green on offense. There a lot of people are league

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you are not going to view those
as net positive assets and the value that

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those who have ended in the playoffs, They're not going to say that those

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00:20:00,519 --> 00:20:06,000
those are net positive contracts. The
Warriors have to rely on Otto Porter Junior,

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00:20:06,279 --> 00:20:08,359
Gary Payton, the second wore on
minimum deals. They had Andre Goadala

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00:20:08,519 --> 00:20:12,359
auto minimum deal. Did they get
lucky because they had ties with Andrea Gadaler

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because he wanted to play there,
or that he was available for them.

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Minimum sure, even Demonio be elites
in the regular season played a nice role

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for them. You can also argue
that as much as the gap period helped

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them, they whiffed on what should
have been the single biggest asset from that

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00:20:30,079 --> 00:20:33,880
gap year, which was the number
two pick in twenty twenty. James Wiseman

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00:20:33,960 --> 00:20:37,200
is still a mystery, but only
because he's appeared in just thirty nine games

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through his first two seasons. The
Warriors are here in spite of different reasons,

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00:20:41,359 --> 00:20:45,480
because of a multitude of reasons,
but they're mainly here because they were

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00:20:45,519 --> 00:20:48,440
fortunate or lucky, however you want
to phrase it, to get really good

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00:20:48,480 --> 00:20:55,079
players, and then they were smart
enough to keep those good players and acquire

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00:20:55,200 --> 00:20:59,599
other good players. That is not
a competitive advantage. That is something that

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is accessible to every NBA team,
And if it's not, if you're not

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willing to spend, you shouldn't have
control of an NBA team, And like

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00:21:07,920 --> 00:21:10,720
controlling an NBA team should be seen
as a privilege at this point, it

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00:21:10,799 --> 00:21:15,079
can't be the fucking Lakers where that's
your primary source of income. The Lakers

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didn't need a low ball ox Crusoe
in free agency last summer or apply for

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00:21:18,880 --> 00:21:23,079
a small business loan that was still
hysterical and sad and hopeless pathetic. Really,

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00:21:25,119 --> 00:21:29,160
the Bucks, even they have I
think their fourth they're gonna have the

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fourth highest tax bill this season,
and they went into the tax as a

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smaller market coming off a championship year. Good for them, They still could

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00:21:34,640 --> 00:21:38,319
have kept PJ. Tucker. Just
because you did one doesn't excuse you from

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00:21:38,359 --> 00:21:41,839
doing the other. Sometimes it is
that simple. And yeah, we're oversimplifying

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why the Warriors are here at all, and we're deviating from like what this

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00:21:48,279 --> 00:21:52,759
Finals has become about these two hilacious
defensive teams where they're countering each other.

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They feel like they're on a collision
course for a potential game seven. If

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not, like these games haven't always
been great. There's been these lops quarters

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and stretches and even some finishes,
but we're also sort of watching in x's

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00:22:04,359 --> 00:22:08,720
and o's or functional classic in many
respects, And even if you want to

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turn it into like the individual narratives, which is fine, that's part of

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00:22:12,440 --> 00:22:18,680
everything. Like Kavan Looney going from
seldom available to the third best player on

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00:22:18,720 --> 00:22:22,279
the Warriors in a final series right
now, because that's what he's been at

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00:22:22,319 --> 00:22:27,039
least the third most consistent player who's
been more valuable than Kavon Looney to the

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Warriors this finals. Aside from Steph
for Andrew Wiggins, it's not Draymond.

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00:22:33,519 --> 00:22:36,359
I don't really think it's been Clay. If you want to make a case

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for I mean Gary Payton, the
second that hasn't played enough, like even

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00:22:38,200 --> 00:22:42,680
Diddo for Odo Porter. At this
point, we should be talking about the

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00:22:42,759 --> 00:22:47,559
transformative performance from Andrew Wiggins, which
was brought to you by science. By

335
00:22:47,559 --> 00:22:51,640
the way, you want to COVID
nineteen vaccinations success story. Andrew Wiggins went

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00:22:51,680 --> 00:22:55,119
from potentially his future with the team
is just something in the air. Everyone's

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00:22:55,119 --> 00:22:56,559
pissed at him. Even Steph Curry
was kind of pissed them in the press

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00:22:56,599 --> 00:23:02,000
conference. Wonka vaccinated, gets vaccinate, becomes an All Star starter, and

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00:23:02,119 --> 00:23:06,839
now has been the second best player
for what will likely be the championship team

340
00:23:06,880 --> 00:23:10,160
as of now because they're head three
two in the series against the Celtics and

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00:23:10,200 --> 00:23:14,480
statistically that means they're probably gonna win
the title. We can talk about all

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00:23:14,480 --> 00:23:15,799
that I actually wrote about Andrew Wiggins
as well, so go check that out

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00:23:15,880 --> 00:23:19,119
up each report. Let me selfishly
plug my own work there so we don't

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00:23:19,200 --> 00:23:25,720
have to just lose, Like I'm
fine with the extra cribs, but we

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00:23:25,759 --> 00:23:30,720
can't always just deviate from the plot
entirely, or I guess we don't have

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00:23:30,759 --> 00:23:33,319
to make this into something it's not. And I'm not again, I'm not

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00:23:33,400 --> 00:23:40,559
touting Warriors like Joe lacub and co. Like Okay, yes them, Steve

348
00:23:40,599 --> 00:23:44,160
Bomber, they spent like that needs
to be acknowledged. I'm not going to

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00:23:44,240 --> 00:23:48,119
applaud them for it, but I
do think the Clippers specifically, they ended

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00:23:48,200 --> 00:23:49,519
up shaving off some of the money
with the surge of Baka Tray, but

351
00:23:49,559 --> 00:23:52,400
they went out and got normal power
on a season that was just lost relative

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00:23:52,440 --> 00:23:59,279
to championship expectations. That's that's what
you want to see, Like it should

353
00:23:59,319 --> 00:24:02,640
be an obligation when you have this
type of title window open to do what

354
00:24:02,680 --> 00:24:04,440
the Clippers are doing, even if
it's planning for next season, to do

355
00:24:04,480 --> 00:24:07,839
what the Warriors have done. Even
when the opportunity to get Kevin Durant presented

356
00:24:07,839 --> 00:24:11,200
itself, Hey, they jumped on
the opportunity to get Kevin Durant. That's

357
00:24:11,240 --> 00:24:15,119
not unfair. It's if you want
to say it's unfair that that avenue was

358
00:24:15,119 --> 00:24:18,039
available to them in the first place. It's on the league. It's on

359
00:24:18,079 --> 00:24:22,519
the players union for not smoothing out
that infusion of TV money. And look,

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00:24:23,039 --> 00:24:27,240
I criticize the Warriors for not spending
their taxpayers mid level exception this past

361
00:24:27,240 --> 00:24:30,200
summer, a lot of people did
had their season gone belly up because they

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00:24:30,200 --> 00:24:36,240
didn't sign another big or a better
big, or spent on a better wing.

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00:24:36,400 --> 00:24:38,720
Like if Outporter juniors in pan Out
or Igodola doesn't give them just enough

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00:24:40,279 --> 00:24:42,799
they don't stumble into Gary Payton a
second, then yeah, they would be

365
00:24:42,839 --> 00:24:45,680
under the microscope too. They're going
to be under the microscope as well if

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00:24:45,680 --> 00:24:49,279
they decide not to pay Looney unrestricted
free agent who they have his full bird

367
00:24:49,359 --> 00:24:52,759
rights so they can resign them for
whatever, or if they elect to play

368
00:24:52,799 --> 00:24:59,079
hardpool with Jordan Pool's extension, or
start moving other players other salaries, maybe

369
00:24:59,119 --> 00:25:03,519
even including lening Go, so that
they can quote unquote afford his extension.

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00:25:03,240 --> 00:25:07,920
This is not when it comes to
paying players. Yeah, there are limitations

371
00:25:07,920 --> 00:25:11,519
in play, like the tax penalties
are supposed to be punitive because that's going

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00:25:11,559 --> 00:25:15,440
to fuel the competitive parody. But
if you're willing to pay it, as

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00:25:15,480 --> 00:25:17,839
you should be, if you were
in charge of an NBA team and have

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00:25:17,920 --> 00:25:21,519
that type of opportunity in front of
you, that's not unfair. It's not

375
00:25:21,559 --> 00:25:26,680
a checkbook victory. The Warriors have
good players. They were lucky to get

376
00:25:26,680 --> 00:25:27,960
a lot of those players. They
have the Timberwolves to thank for a few

377
00:25:27,960 --> 00:25:33,920
of those players and passing on Steph
Curry and trading Andrew Wiggins then also giving

378
00:25:33,920 --> 00:25:37,680
them Jonathan Cominga. So yes,
there are levels to why Golden States here.

379
00:25:37,720 --> 00:25:44,599
It's not savvy front office wizardry.
It's not Joe Lacob and friends.

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00:25:45,160 --> 00:25:48,319
It's not even just Steph Curry.
The Warriors and more than Steph Curry,

381
00:25:48,359 --> 00:25:52,240
although they're made possible by Steph Curry, more than anyone. There's a multitude

382
00:25:52,279 --> 00:25:56,359
of reasons the Warriors are here,
and like, let's not lose sight of

383
00:25:56,359 --> 00:25:59,000
that. But the other thing I
will say, and this is probably the

384
00:26:00,880 --> 00:26:03,960
I don't know if it's cranky,
but I don't if ESPN wants to have

385
00:26:03,960 --> 00:26:07,759
a discussion in the middle of the
finals about anthy Davis being a top seven

386
00:26:07,799 --> 00:26:11,960
player. I'm not Actually is that
a conversation I'm having at the moment,

387
00:26:12,039 --> 00:26:15,799
unless it's a mail bad question,
which it is not. No, but

388
00:26:15,880 --> 00:26:18,160
hey, there are two teams in
the finals right now. There are twenty

389
00:26:18,160 --> 00:26:22,480
eight other teams in the league.
There are twenty eight other fan bases to

390
00:26:22,519 --> 00:26:26,039
serve. And while I know they're
not doing this with the Orlando Magic or

391
00:26:26,079 --> 00:26:32,920
the Detroit Pistons, like, just
understand that this is how engagement is made,

392
00:26:32,920 --> 00:26:37,720
how the sausage is made, and
it's not specific topic. Is Anthony

393
00:26:37,759 --> 00:26:41,519
Davis the top seven player is not
disingenuous. It's actually a fair question.

394
00:26:41,559 --> 00:26:47,359
If you don't like the timing of
it, who fuck cares. They're not

395
00:26:47,440 --> 00:26:52,319
doing a disservice by not talking about
these two teams game five, specifically,

396
00:26:52,079 --> 00:26:56,200
every minute of every hour of every
day until Game six, And even if

397
00:26:56,240 --> 00:27:00,519
they were, they're probably gonna get
criticized because it's surface level analysis most of

398
00:27:00,519 --> 00:27:03,400
the time. Since I'm just using
Stephen A. Smith as an example,

399
00:27:03,480 --> 00:27:07,799
on ESPN is tasked with covering not
only the entire MBA but every freaking sport.

400
00:27:08,160 --> 00:27:15,079
Basically, this is just like there
has to be some wiggle room to

401
00:27:15,319 --> 00:27:19,680
talk about things that are outside the
bubble or the spectrum that you think is

402
00:27:19,720 --> 00:27:23,240
acceptable. You want a certain type
of coverage, it's out there, Go

403
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find it. Curate your timeline to
that. You want to dunk on these

404
00:27:26,160 --> 00:27:30,400
takes for being funny because you don't
you don't like that ESPN said Anthony Davis,

405
00:27:30,480 --> 00:27:33,480
is or isn't the top seven player. That's fine too. Consume the

406
00:27:33,559 --> 00:27:40,279
league as you want unless it's actively
hurting anybody. And do I think that

407
00:27:40,440 --> 00:27:44,519
spinning the Warriors as some textbook victory
is disingenuous in a way that sort of

408
00:27:44,559 --> 00:27:48,880
hurts coverage of the product. I
absolutely do, and I wrote about it.

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But I also don't need to pay
it any credence if I don't want

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00:27:52,319 --> 00:27:56,880
to. Like, we need to
move beyond the virtue signaling when it comes

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00:27:56,920 --> 00:28:02,119
to covering the NBA. There's an
actual rich that is disingenuous, verging on

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00:28:02,200 --> 00:28:07,279
detrimental talking about the rest of the
league at a time when only one fifteenth

413
00:28:07,279 --> 00:28:12,960
of the league is actually playing like
there are people that are upset. When

414
00:28:14,720 --> 00:28:18,559
there were those on Twitter discussing the
results of the draft lottery, I think

415
00:28:18,559 --> 00:28:21,440
it was one of the Eastern Conference
Semifinals, Game five or Game six between

416
00:28:21,480 --> 00:28:23,640
the Heat and the Celtics was happening
or whatever, then maybe the NBA shouldn't

417
00:28:23,640 --> 00:28:29,839
have the lottery on a playoff game
night like that. Shit is topical,

418
00:28:29,880 --> 00:28:33,200
And even if it's not topical,
you can talk about other players, other

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00:28:33,279 --> 00:28:37,079
teams that aren't in the finals.
You can talk about other aspects of the

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00:28:37,119 --> 00:28:40,799
finals as well. Do I personally
think that we should get into the conversation

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00:28:40,839 --> 00:28:44,599
of man or the Warriors going to
be able to afford kevon Louy one.

422
00:28:44,680 --> 00:28:48,160
That's not an actual question. It's
a choice do you want covon loony or

423
00:28:48,160 --> 00:28:52,279
not? Or get into the Warriors
give Andrew Wiggins's extension? What does this

424
00:28:52,319 --> 00:28:56,119
mean for the Celtics if they lose? I think there's validity to a lot

425
00:28:56,160 --> 00:28:59,160
of that. Looking at the Celtics
offense, would we learn about them that

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00:28:59,160 --> 00:29:00,960
can be adjusted long term? Ditto
for the Warriors. They need to get

427
00:29:00,960 --> 00:29:06,279
more athletic, But you don't necessarily
want to focus on that because those two

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00:29:06,279 --> 00:29:07,640
teams. I'm not trying to tell
you what the Warriors need this off season

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00:29:07,680 --> 00:29:11,240
when they're one win away from the
championship. That doesn't make sense. I

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00:29:12,079 --> 00:29:15,279
again, this might just be the
crankiness coming out of me. I understand

431
00:29:15,279 --> 00:29:21,000
that there's actual coverage that is bad, disingenuous, detrimental or whatever. Talking

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00:29:21,039 --> 00:29:25,799
about Anthony Davis is not. We
don't need to. There's enough like actual

433
00:29:25,920 --> 00:29:30,519
shit out there that we don't need
to create our own. I'm gonna do

434
00:29:30,599 --> 00:29:33,240
it for this podcast. Like I
said, we're going to have an NBA

435
00:29:33,359 --> 00:29:37,799
Finals podcast in advance of Game six
up sometime late Wednesday, and then I

436
00:29:37,880 --> 00:29:42,279
have a mailbag that's either going to
come out maybe on Thursday, or it'll

437
00:29:42,279 --> 00:29:45,480
come out on Friday after the Finals. I don't know if I want to

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00:29:45,519 --> 00:29:48,119
reign on the parade of an outcome
if the Warriors end up winning, perhaps

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00:29:48,160 --> 00:29:51,920
we release it on Saturday, or
I'll record something in front of it about

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00:29:51,960 --> 00:29:55,079
the Finals and then dive into a
mail bag. Rest assured I have not

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00:29:55,240 --> 00:30:00,480
forgotten about your questions. I owe
you all a mailbag. Thank so much

442
00:30:00,480 --> 00:30:03,400
for listening. Please remember to rate
rue and subscribe if you haven't already.

443
00:30:03,799 --> 00:30:10,680
And has always shout out to the
one, the only Frank you k