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Golden Colorado. This is Greg Olson

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and I'm thrilled to introduce my new
podcast, t E one. TE one

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will chronicle a sixty year evolution of
the tight end position from its origins as

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an obscure, overlooked blocking roll to
the first little superstar position that it is

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today. I'll explore the evolution of
the position through conversations with some of the

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all time game changing tight ends,
and just like the incredible tight ends we

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sit down with on my new show, The Chevy Silverado is in a league

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of its own. This truck is
all about grit, strength, and dependability,

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the same attribute it takes to be
a tight end. Hello Hardwood Knox

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family. This is Adam Fromwill here
with my co host Dan Favali, coming

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to you with another episode we currently
have and at the risk of dating this,

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I guess since this could change.
As of tonight, we have seven

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teams left in the NBA Playoffs following
the Milwaukee Bucks's elimination in five games at

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the hands of Jimmy Butler, Bam
Autobio and the Miami Heat. We're gonna

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be talking about that on this episode. We're going to be talking about the

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Oklahoma City thunders surprising decision to part
ways with head coach Billy Donovan, what

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that means for not only their coaching
search, but also whether they're going to

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be entering a rebuild or trying to
run it back. And we're going to

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be going through some standout questions from
our mailbag solicitations. Before we get into

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any of that, they shout out
to our sponsors door dash, bet Online,

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dot Ag and NFL Sunday Ticket which
we hope that you will definitely be

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using this weekend with the NFL back
in action. And also before we get

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into the actual content here, Dan, how's it going today? I'm doing

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well? And before I ask how
you're doing, I just have to say

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that I love At the top of
this, you were like, I don't

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want to date this, but allow
me to date this by talking about the

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playoff teams that are left. And
yeah, I mean the Raptors could be

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gone tonight, but no Raptors in
seven. Baby, talk about dating.

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I'm sticking with that too. I'm
sticking. I am doing well, though.

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How are you doing? I'm doing
pretty well as well. I just

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I just finished watching Serena Williams enter
the semi finals again at the US Open,

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which is always a joy, and
it was a fun match. So

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you told me that thirty nine before
we started recording, and I almost almost

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thirty nine. I'm I don't know
like tennis player ages, and that,

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honest to God, just just shocked
me. That she's been around. I

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know she's been around for forever,
but it almost feels like she should be

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younger than thirty eight. Yeah,
that is roughly ancient in tennis. Terms.

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Yes, absolutely, Where did you
want to start before we get into

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the other bed Thunder or and I
guess we could end. Look, we'll

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cover these more in depth because we
are going to do look aheads for every

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team kind of beginning soon and then
like taking us through the offseason free agency

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blah blah blah all that stuff.
But where did you want to start with

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the Thunder and Billy Donovan or the
Milwaukee Bucks and the existential crisis that they

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have face. Let's do the Thunder
first. I think the two most important

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questions are are one, who are
they going to turn to in their coaching

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search? And to what's going to
happen with Chris Paul. It definitely with

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the With the latter question, it
seemed based on the Twitter video that he

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said sent out, it almost felt
like a good boy to fans. And

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I guess I'm curious if you think
that's the direction they should go. Well,

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look, it's whether or not I
think it's the direction they should go.

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They're headed that direction because the video
it felt like a goodbye. And

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then you decide not to renew Billy
Donovan's contract, and then even the story

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comes out. Per Royce Young of
ESPN that he you know, Sam Presty

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and Billy Donovan like kind of who
was going to happen. So when they

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met, they just like had cheap
ears together and reminisce about the last five

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years. So that's the direction they're
headed in. I don't necessarily agree with

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it, just because I feel like
if you brought back Gallinari added someone with

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the mid level exception, you have
all those picks. You have some salary

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filler pieces when you look at Adams
and Schroeder and they're expiring contracts that you

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could really make a run at,
expediting where you are in the Western Conference,

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and look, you came within one
win of beating the Houston Rockets,

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who were considered a title contender.
All that said, I do understand it

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because Chris paul Is thirty five,
has two years eighty five point six million

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dollars left on his deal. While
I think you can very easily talk yourself

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into those two years either way,
it's two years because like that just shortens

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your window and there's a chance he
drops off even before that, and you're

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trying to build if you're Oklahoma City, something that's that's really more sustainable and

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While some people might point to,
well, what if they want to remain

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competitive while rebuilding, there's still sort
of position to do that because shake Gil

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just Alexander show that he's not really
ready to carry an offense at all,

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but specifically in the playoffs, like
he's already really good where he could be

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a fringe All Star, and you
flesh that out around him. You have

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two picks, I believe in this
year's draft in the in the I think

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it's going to be in the twenties, so that's you know, or maybe

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they only have one pick off to
the double check that. But you have

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the draft picks, so you can
see what you can do if you want

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to keep shorter. Now it's just
because they're gonna come off the books.

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You can look at how much it
costs to retain Gallinari. But I think

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it certainly seems like they're gonna let
Galla walk and then they'll look to trade

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Paul. And I ultimately don't think
there's a right or wrong move here for

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that call. Like it it felt
like a matter of preference and if this

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is the route they prefer to go
because they have so many guys who were

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just coming up on new deals.
You know, I didn't We didn't know

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about Billy Donovan. We didn't realize
that his contract was expiring this year.

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And then you have Gallinari this year, Schroeder and Adams next year, so

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it maybe it feels like sort of
a natural crossroads for them. Yeah,

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it's I didn't mind moving on from
Billy Donovan. I'm not convinced that he's

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an elite head coach. They had
great success this year, winning forty four

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games, unexpectedly taking the Rockets to
seven games in that first round playoff series,

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but I wonder how much of that
is just a testament to Chris Paul's

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and during excellence and to the construction
of this team rather than the actual coaching.

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It troubled me that he seemed unable
to make the necessary adjustments in that

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Houston series, just like not relying
on the many guard and lou Dort lineups

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as much as he should. It
seemed like some of the adjustments were a

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little bit too late, which is
an issue that we've seen since out since

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he really started this job back in
twenty fifteen sixteen and the last year of

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the Kevin Durant era for the Thunder
and Maybe this is just my anti Florida

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bias kicking in, but I just
never felt like he was an elite coach.

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I'm not sure that there are that
many better options out there. That's

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always the tricky part with making these
decisions. But regardless, I wish that

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it wasn't like the moving on from
Donovan that that inevitably has a rebuild following,

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because I'm not sure that you need
to like if they did choose to

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run it back, if they convinced
CP three to stick around, if they

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did resign Gallo, if you count
on more growth from Gil JUSTI Alexander,

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like, this team has the pieces
to be extremely competitive both now and in

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the future. But it does seem
like the rebuild is inevitable and it should

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be fairly easy to do given the
All NBA season that Paul just had.

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I mean, the conversation has shifted
so dramatically from the prior off season where

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I was like, Wow, is
this one of the worst contracts in the

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NBA? Would you have to give
up multiple first round picks just to move

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it off to like, maybe you
actually get something back in return for him.

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I think it almost connects to our
bucks conversation that we're going to have

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because that seems like a really legitimate
and possible destination for him. Yeah,

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there's I'm interested to see what teams
kind of crop into the CP three sweepstakes

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now that they're open, because look, two years eighty five point six million

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dollars is a lot of money.
We already mentioned that he's thirty five at

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the beginning of all this, and
you have to worry or concern yourself,

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Oh, is there going to be
this mega drop off? But I feel

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like after and then, look,
we don't even know where where the cap

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is going to land and how teams
are really faring financially after losing all of

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the at least the gate revenue and
then probably other revenue as well, And

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you sort of have to reconcile what's
going to happen next season when you're probably

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not gonna have fans either, And
is there a chance that the schedules once

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again then shortened so that all comes
to a head at the same time after

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the season, Paul had I think
you could name and this will eventually be

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an organic segue. I feel like
into Milwaukee, but I think you could

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talk yourself into like a bunch of
teams for him, and just at the

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off the top of my head,
like, let's say someone actually this was

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I wouldn't name them, but someone
mentioned the Clippers because you have Patrick Beverly's

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that salary anchor, and if Paul
was willing to go back, that would

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be incredibly interesting if you build something
around Lou Williams, Rodney McGruder, Patrick

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Beverly, Like, if you can
do that, I that'd be interesting.

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Not a team I would name front
Miami would be there. I know they're

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supposed to wait on Yannis, but
they're in the conference finals now and I'm

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not gonna say they beat Yannis to
get there because he should have played more

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before his ankle injury, and then
we basically had would felt like a game

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and a half of him playing on
a bum ankle and then not playing at

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all. They could certainly be in
there. Milwaukee is a team that we

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already mentioned. The Knicks will talk
themselves into Chris Paul if they need to,

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depending on what the Magic want to
do. Like gambling on Chris Paul

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wouldn't be the worst idea in the
world. Philadelp He is an obvious one,

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one of my favorite ones that isn't
being talked about enough would be Phoenix.

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They can build something around Kellyerbridge Junior. Would they be willing to give

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up Bricky Rubio in that scenario?
So that's probably where I would top out.

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I would normally name the Spurs there, but it does feel like they're

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approaching their own crossroads. I'm curious
if other teams I named, or if

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there's another one. If you have
a favorite fit for Chris, Paul Dallas

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could be a fun mentioned too.
I'm not entirely sure how feasible it is,

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but that would be a really interesting
look, just giving Don Chich another

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primary ball handler next to him,
and could take away a lot of the

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defensive responsibilities too. But no other
ones you mentioned. I think Phoenix is

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my favorite dark horse contender for Paul's
services, and Milwaukee is my favorite obvious

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one. I think that the path
to get Paul for Milwaukee is fairly straightforward.

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You know, you're moving Eric Bledsoe, You're moving Brook Lopez and probably

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some picks as well to get him, and from there you're you're looking to

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make cheap better in additions around them
and relying heavily on that. Paul Middleton

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Jannis trio, which would be incredible
and would fit together so well. I

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wouldn't hesitate to make a move like
that if I'm the Bucks, just because

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you do need to capitalize on the
window as it exists right now before Jannie's

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free agency. I'm also not too
concerned about Paul's contract aging poorly. There's

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only two years left now, assuming
that he picks up his forty four point

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one million dollar player option, which
we might as well just lock in now.

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But he's never had a game.
You know. We talk so much

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about how diminutive point guards have trouble
aging, how point guards in general after

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they hit like thirty one one,
there tends to be a steep and market

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drop off, But his game has
never seemed like one that's going to subscribe

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to those theories, just because he
doesn't rely on elite speed, elite athleticism.

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It's all changes of pace, it's
all trickery off the dribble, it's

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getting to his shots and hitting those
mid range Falloway jumpers. It's knowing exactly

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how to play and where to be
at all times. I just I don't

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have concerns about that contract anymore,
given the season that we just saw in

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a new location where he was able
to play more to his strength than he

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could in Houston. So if I'm
if I'm a team like the Bucks that

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needs to win right away, like
yeah, I'm going all in for it,

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I would say I'm less concerned.
But there is the level of he

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can't, you know, cook people
on switches like he used to with his

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handles, and so I think he
needs to get you know, he has

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that pull up mid ranger. Can
he do more of those from three point

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range? And he's look, he's
already kind of there, like we've seen

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him just meandering to pull up three
pointers and I call it semi transition like

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his entire career, and he could
probably do more of that. So I'm

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definitely less concerned, but there there
should still be skepticism there. Dallas is

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interesting and it's funny because they could
build a package of Tim Hardaway, Junior

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Delon Wright, and then Justin Jackson
and that's basically the exact amount that you

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would need to have in a trade
for for Chris Paul, which is like

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a hair over or around thirty three
million dollars. I just don't know that

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they'd want a Torpedo. There are
twenty twenty one caps Bay, which is

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why a team like the Bucks or
the Sixers or even the Suns might make

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sense where they're not necessarily going to
fancy themselves those twenty twenty one players.

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I still think Milwaukee, even though
it's obvious, is my favorite destination.

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And as you sort of mentioned the
top of this, it feels like there's

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a straightforward path, but they're also
it doesn't feel that way because the questions

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I have are why would Oklahoma City
want and Eric Bletso or a brook Lopez

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00:13:24,879 --> 00:13:28,879
guys? With Brooklopez's three guarantee years
left on his deal. Eric Bletzo is

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00:13:28,919 --> 00:13:33,279
two guaranteed years for a total thirty
eight point five million, and then that

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goes up if you guarantee a salary
for the third year, which is nineteen

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00:13:35,240 --> 00:13:39,000
point four million. I think it's
only three point nine guaranteed. Even George

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00:13:39,039 --> 00:13:43,480
Hill, you know, he has
one guarantee year and nine point six million

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00:13:43,519 --> 00:13:46,480
basically the midlevel next year a hair
under what it's supposed to be, and

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then a non guarantee year at ten
million. Why would you want him?

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And why would you want ilias I
guess he is a non guaranteed salary,

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00:13:54,039 --> 00:13:56,440
so that helps. And then if
your Milwaukee does it make sense? Like

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00:13:56,480 --> 00:14:01,000
if you had to give up Eric
Bletsoe brook Lope and George Hill to get

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00:14:01,080 --> 00:14:03,720
Chris Paul, I probably still do
it, but you're also giving up a

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00:14:03,720 --> 00:14:07,440
lot of rotation firepower there, and
I'm not so worried. Look, Chris

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00:14:07,440 --> 00:14:11,279
Paul Molder replaces Eric Bletso for George
Hill the shooting that he gave you,

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00:14:11,320 --> 00:14:16,000
and then brook Lope has made all
defense this year. Is there a way

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00:14:16,039 --> 00:14:18,559
to build this where I might be
more inclined to? Can you broker in

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00:14:18,679 --> 00:14:22,559
a you a third and fourth team
where you're making this sort of a Hodgepodge

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00:14:22,559 --> 00:14:28,000
deal where it's you know, Eric
Bletso, Orsano Lasova. Let's assume Robin

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00:14:28,039 --> 00:14:31,559
Lopez picks up his player option,
you have DJ Wilson with the one year

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00:14:31,600 --> 00:14:33,519
left on his contract, and then
you dangle Dante de Vincenzo, and it's

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00:14:33,559 --> 00:14:37,879
gonna have to be a distant first
round pick because you've traded yours through twenty

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00:14:37,919 --> 00:14:41,240
twenty two right now, that might
be the better route to go, and

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00:14:41,240 --> 00:14:43,639
will Oklahoma City look at it as
well? If we can get Dante de

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00:14:43,720 --> 00:14:46,399
Vincenzo and or that first round pick
for Chris Paul. Maybe we're willing to

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00:14:46,399 --> 00:14:50,559
take back some of that podge podge
money, including bletso or if you can

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00:14:50,600 --> 00:14:52,840
find a team. You know what, if Atlanta are they willing to take

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00:14:52,840 --> 00:14:54,879
on Eric Bletso to go along with
Trey Young for two years, maybe it's

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00:14:54,919 --> 00:14:58,120
a possibility that would be a route
that I would explore. I don't know

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00:14:58,120 --> 00:15:03,039
if Oklahoma City's interested, because then
you're looking at it as would you basically

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00:15:03,080 --> 00:15:07,960
accept cap relief in the form of
twenty one twenty two, not even next

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00:15:07,000 --> 00:15:11,840
season necessarily, plus a first round
pick or d D to get off of

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00:15:11,919 --> 00:15:15,639
Chris Paul. I think I would
still because they were in the tax this

234
00:15:15,720 --> 00:15:18,639
year. But I don't know.
If I'm the thunder, I'm not as

235
00:15:18,720 --> 00:15:24,080
concerned about taking on those salaries just
because of the situation that they're in right

236
00:15:24,120 --> 00:15:28,840
now. So Brook Lopez doesn't make
more than fourteen million dollars for any of

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00:15:28,879 --> 00:15:33,679
the next three seasons. Eric Bledsoe
does, but that twenty two twenty three

238
00:15:33,759 --> 00:15:37,159
salary is only guaranteed for three point
nine million, so you can move off

239
00:15:37,240 --> 00:15:43,399
him if you need to. But
the books for the Thunder aren't that concerning,

240
00:15:43,480 --> 00:15:46,600
to the point that they can take
on those mid level salaries without any

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00:15:46,879 --> 00:15:52,279
real issues because the only big assuming
that Paul has moved, the only big

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00:15:52,320 --> 00:15:56,200
contracts on their books are Steven Adams
for twenty seven point five million and Dennis

243
00:15:56,200 --> 00:16:00,639
Street for fifteen point five million,
both as expiring contracts. If brook Lopez

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00:16:00,639 --> 00:16:03,200
is coming back, you can easily
move Steven Adams to another team, maybe

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00:16:03,320 --> 00:16:06,960
even if you do have to attach
to a sweetener to it. You might

246
00:16:07,000 --> 00:16:08,840
have to attach a sweetener, but
when you have four hundred first round draft

247
00:16:08,879 --> 00:16:11,720
picks in the next decade, it's
not as concerning if you need to do

248
00:16:11,759 --> 00:16:15,879
so. Shrewder, I think you
can move as well, given the fringe

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00:16:15,879 --> 00:16:22,240
six man of the Year season he
just had, and because because you're entering

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00:16:22,279 --> 00:16:26,639
this rebuild where you have so many
incoming rookies over the next couple of years

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00:16:26,639 --> 00:16:30,840
on rookie scale contracts, taking up
so many roster spots, I think that

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00:16:30,879 --> 00:16:33,879
you can afford to have some bad
money on the books, so as long

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00:16:33,919 --> 00:16:37,799
as you're getting something for taking on
those contracts, whether it is Dante de

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00:16:37,919 --> 00:16:41,679
Vincenzo or whether it is a distant
first round pick or a collection of second

255
00:16:41,759 --> 00:16:45,200
rounders or something from a third team
that gets involved. Those contracts don't really

256
00:16:45,200 --> 00:16:49,080
concern me much. If I'm the
thunder, well what would be So I

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00:16:49,120 --> 00:16:52,399
think that's a fair point. I
still just I don't know, like if

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00:16:52,440 --> 00:16:55,639
I guess they could reroute them,
maybe they see value there, or if

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00:16:55,639 --> 00:16:57,919
they're looking to kind of just tread
water not at the bottom of the Western

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00:16:57,919 --> 00:17:00,879
Conference, you might you having a
Brook Lopez for the next two or three

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00:17:00,919 --> 00:17:04,400
years, George Hill for next season
and maybe the season after that. Bletsoe

262
00:17:04,480 --> 00:17:07,400
can obviously help you in the regular
season, apparently not the playoffs though.

263
00:17:08,480 --> 00:17:11,839
But if I'm the Bucks, then
I'm not including if I'm giving up three

264
00:17:12,240 --> 00:17:15,960
of my you know, six or
seven most used players, I'm not including

265
00:17:17,000 --> 00:17:18,559
Dante deven chensa wor first round pick. And that's where it gets messy.

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00:17:18,599 --> 00:17:22,039
And so if they want Donte even
chenso that first round pick, I think

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00:17:22,279 --> 00:17:25,279
you're the Bucks. You have to
figure out a way to to try and

268
00:17:25,319 --> 00:17:30,880
broke or the Hodgepodge model, just
because you're already giving up so much incumbent,

269
00:17:32,039 --> 00:17:34,319
so many incumbent minutes, and you
don't have the tools necessarily replace those

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00:17:34,759 --> 00:17:37,119
you're going to top out if you
trade it for Chris Paul, depending on

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00:17:37,160 --> 00:17:41,440
the timing obviously, Like let's say
they're willing to use the full mid level

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00:17:41,440 --> 00:17:44,559
exception and it can still be the
non tax players because they can stay below

273
00:17:44,599 --> 00:17:47,359
the apron. I'm not like,
are they going to divvy that up between

274
00:17:47,400 --> 00:17:48,200
two players? I don't know,
Like, if you're the Bucks, you

275
00:17:48,240 --> 00:17:52,000
probably want to spend that on one
just because they'd have an higher impact impact.

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00:17:52,000 --> 00:17:55,880
I do think it might be a
little bit easier to approximate brook Lopez's

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00:17:55,960 --> 00:18:00,400
value on a cheaper scale, or
at least with the mid level summer,

278
00:18:00,440 --> 00:18:03,359
but those are just really complicated.
At the five, yeah, I mean,

279
00:18:03,519 --> 00:18:06,920
look that's up, but full time
that's not something you're gonna do either.

280
00:18:06,960 --> 00:18:10,720
And then like who's your other five
if you're keeping Eliasova? Okay,

281
00:18:10,759 --> 00:18:14,000
but you know Marvin Williams is going
to retire and that you can actually still

282
00:18:14,039 --> 00:18:15,799
hoop, So that was that was
somebody could have looked at bringing back,

283
00:18:15,839 --> 00:18:19,079
and that's just complicated. The price
point matters. I think from Milwaukee,

284
00:18:19,119 --> 00:18:22,640
I'm not concerned about Paul's money if
I'm them, but what I have to

285
00:18:22,640 --> 00:18:26,200
give up to get him is certainly
a concern well, and ultimately I think

286
00:18:26,240 --> 00:18:29,359
it all comes down to how much
pressure Yannis puts on the franchise, and

287
00:18:30,480 --> 00:18:33,759
based on what he said immediately after
the elimination that he's not going to ask

288
00:18:33,799 --> 00:18:37,839
for a trade and that you know, some people are are met with a

289
00:18:37,880 --> 00:18:41,279
wall and go in a different direction, but he wants to break through,

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00:18:41,319 --> 00:18:44,599
and he trusts his teammates and knows
that it's hard to win a championship and

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00:18:44,599 --> 00:18:48,799
wants to get better. Like those
are all Those are all statements that I

292
00:18:48,880 --> 00:18:51,519
don't think are going to put a
lot of pressure on the front office.

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00:18:51,559 --> 00:18:53,079
But he could do so behind the
scenes and be like, hey, like

294
00:18:53,319 --> 00:18:57,319
I am considering leaving England, Like
I don't care if you throw a long

295
00:18:57,359 --> 00:19:02,039
term assets, let's win right now. It's very it's very conceivable that he

296
00:19:02,079 --> 00:19:06,079
could take that approach behind the scenes, and we could see them be more

297
00:19:06,480 --> 00:19:11,359
more persuaded to include divin Chenzo or
a distant first round pick, then they

298
00:19:11,359 --> 00:19:15,640
would otherwise be Yeah, that's a
that's a fair point. The thing I

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00:19:15,680 --> 00:19:18,839
wanted to ask you before we go
full on bucks, is there any name

300
00:19:18,880 --> 00:19:22,720
among the coaching candidates that you'd be
interested to see for Oka se assuming a

301
00:19:22,799 --> 00:19:25,359
rebuild. I mean if they went
with like a veteran guy where Also,

302
00:19:25,599 --> 00:19:29,119
I don't expect Kyler's name to be
mentioned here, but if that's someone that

303
00:19:29,759 --> 00:19:32,359
is mentioned, that would be surprising
me because, like I said, I

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00:19:32,359 --> 00:19:34,759
don't like you said, excuse me, I don't think like Billy Donovan necessarily

305
00:19:34,799 --> 00:19:38,400
elevated them. But also how many
different iterations of a team did he deal

306
00:19:38,440 --> 00:19:44,039
with during his half decade there.
Yeah, so it does seem like they're

307
00:19:44,079 --> 00:19:47,400
going to go more of the developmental
route, and Kenny Atkinson would stand out

308
00:19:47,400 --> 00:19:49,759
to me there. I still think
he got the weird shaft in Brooklyn.

309
00:19:49,839 --> 00:19:53,240
This would also be an opportunity where
you can go within I don't want to

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00:19:53,279 --> 00:19:56,319
say an unproven assistant, but one
of the assistants who don't have head coaching

311
00:19:56,319 --> 00:20:00,000
experience. I would have been very
interested if Jacque Vaughan didn't get the contract

312
00:20:00,039 --> 00:20:03,880
that he did from Brooklyn, whether
he would have been a candidate for a

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00:20:03,960 --> 00:20:06,880
job like this where it's sort of
known that hey, they're not they don't

314
00:20:06,880 --> 00:20:08,559
want to be terrible, but they're
not trying to win immediately. Because he

315
00:20:08,599 --> 00:20:11,720
did a heck of a job,
I thought in Brooklyn following Kenny acts his

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00:20:11,799 --> 00:20:15,000
departure, particularly in the bubble,
and I think the nets, you know,

317
00:20:15,200 --> 00:20:18,799
the optics of him being demoted,
and we're actually going to get more

318
00:20:18,839 --> 00:20:21,960
into this in the podcast later on
this week they're not great, but the

319
00:20:21,960 --> 00:20:23,119
fact that they made him one of
the highest paid assistants in the league,

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00:20:23,119 --> 00:20:27,119
I do think says something about his
coaching acumen at least how they value him.

321
00:20:27,160 --> 00:20:30,759
So that would have been another name
that's obviously off the market now that

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00:20:30,799 --> 00:20:33,920
I still would have been keeping my
eye on in this particular situation. Yeah,

323
00:20:33,960 --> 00:20:37,400
I think I think two names that
I want to throw out a are

324
00:20:37,480 --> 00:20:41,720
Becky Hammon interviewing for the PACER's position. By the way, apparently, Yeah,

325
00:20:41,759 --> 00:20:48,440
she's she's definitely going to be a
big name candidate, and the Spurs

326
00:20:48,559 --> 00:20:53,680
organization has shown nothing but immense respect
for what she's done on Greg Popovitch's bench,

327
00:20:53,920 --> 00:20:57,319
and I think that if you are
truly rebuilding, then that is a

328
00:20:57,480 --> 00:21:03,839
fantastic time to take a chance on
her. David Vanterpool is the other name.

329
00:21:03,319 --> 00:21:07,039
He has had a lot of success
with the Portland Trailblazers. He and

330
00:21:07,119 --> 00:21:11,920
Damian Lillard had a fantastic relationship.
He really helped with the growth of C.

331
00:21:11,039 --> 00:21:15,559
J. McCollum a lot. And
he has also succeeded as an associate

332
00:21:15,640 --> 00:21:19,240
head coach with the Minnesota Timberwolves.
And he does have some connections to Sam

333
00:21:19,279 --> 00:21:23,480
Presty because he was the director of
player Personnel starting in twenty ten, so

334
00:21:23,519 --> 00:21:27,119
he has been there before. He's
going to enjoy some familiarity with the franchise,

335
00:21:27,640 --> 00:21:32,039
and I think we'll see his name
come up for sure, either of

336
00:21:32,039 --> 00:21:33,920
those two, either of the ones
you mentioned. I think there are a

337
00:21:34,799 --> 00:21:38,839
lot of options here, and they
are helped by the fact that they're most

338
00:21:38,920 --> 00:21:42,880
likely entering a rebuilding. Can afford
to take a chance son on an untested

339
00:21:45,160 --> 00:21:49,319
untested I can't talk an untested coach
who has not held the top role before.

340
00:21:49,839 --> 00:21:52,960
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the bucks, though, shall we. So let's do it. I think

364
00:23:22,160 --> 00:23:26,799
that you're talking about Jannis putting pressure
on the organization, and so I think

365
00:23:26,920 --> 00:23:30,759
the few things that are clear is
that they're not trading him this offseason,

366
00:23:30,759 --> 00:23:33,119
and the rumors already come out that
the Clippers are going to try and make

367
00:23:33,160 --> 00:23:34,640
an offer for him. I don't
really know what are they offering, Paul

368
00:23:34,680 --> 00:23:37,079
George. They're like, I don't
know what they have to offer that would

369
00:23:37,480 --> 00:23:41,319
they would have an easier time going
after him in twenty twenty one three agency.

370
00:23:41,599 --> 00:23:45,839
Now you mentioned his comments, people
have sort of responded to that would

371
00:23:45,839 --> 00:23:48,480
saying, well, if you're actually
committed to the franchise, we've heard this

372
00:23:48,519 --> 00:23:52,240
before, you need to sign the
extension first. Here's what I'm absolutely doing.

373
00:23:52,519 --> 00:23:56,559
If I'm Yannis is I'm signing me
that extension either way, like it's

374
00:23:56,599 --> 00:24:00,680
it's happening, because if I want
out, I'll force my way out later

375
00:24:00,720 --> 00:24:03,279
because people can say he won't have
the leverage. You're not keeping a disgruntled

376
00:24:03,599 --> 00:24:07,000
star no matter how many how many
years he has left on his deal.

377
00:24:07,039 --> 00:24:11,079
If karlinthy Town's requested out of Minnesota
tomorrow, they would consider it. I

378
00:24:11,440 --> 00:24:15,440
think you would have to. And
maybe in that situation is different because he's

379
00:24:15,440 --> 00:24:18,480
so young and you haven't had as
many opportunities to win. But here faster

380
00:24:18,599 --> 00:24:21,519
oward a couple of years, if
he has three or four years left on

381
00:24:21,519 --> 00:24:22,480
his deal, I don't think it's
as big of an issue. What I'm

382
00:24:22,559 --> 00:24:27,400
also doing is I'm not signing any
extension now. It's going to be there,

383
00:24:27,960 --> 00:24:32,680
and the monetary value isn't actually going
to change. All You're gonna have

384
00:24:32,720 --> 00:24:36,960
his clarity on what the salary cap
looks like in twenty twenty two when that

385
00:24:36,960 --> 00:24:38,440
deal kicks in. Right now,
it's slated for one hundred and twenty five

386
00:24:38,720 --> 00:24:41,279
million dollars, which means this is
a five year, two hundred and fifty

387
00:24:41,279 --> 00:24:45,720
three point eight million dollars extension.
If you sign it, it's probably going

388
00:24:45,799 --> 00:24:48,519
to be lower, would be my
guess. And if it's substantially lower,

389
00:24:48,559 --> 00:24:51,160
or if you can see that there's
gonna be a huge uptick in the year

390
00:24:51,200 --> 00:24:53,720
after that. Maybe that convinces you
to sign a shorter term deal to increase

391
00:24:53,720 --> 00:24:56,599
your flexibility. The other reason why
I'm doing this, and I don't know

392
00:24:56,640 --> 00:24:59,759
if players would actually think like this, but if you want to stay in

393
00:24:59,799 --> 00:25:06,799
a lwakee short term, fuck with
the other teams Miami, Toronto, Golden

394
00:25:06,799 --> 00:25:10,519
State like they're not going to do
anything seismic until they figure out what Yannis

395
00:25:10,599 --> 00:25:12,240
is doing. And there are probably
other teams that fall into that category as

396
00:25:12,240 --> 00:25:15,519
well. But looking specifically at Miami
and Toronto, two of the teams that

397
00:25:15,519 --> 00:25:18,599
are in your conference, keep them
in limbo and yeah, you know what,

398
00:25:18,640 --> 00:25:21,799
the heat are good enough where it
doesn't matter. We can say Toronto

399
00:25:21,799 --> 00:25:23,559
brings everyone back on a one year
deal, YadA, YadA, YadA,

400
00:25:23,880 --> 00:25:29,119
Still don't sign it. That deal
is gonna He could get injured next season,

401
00:25:29,160 --> 00:25:32,119
it could be a catastrophic injury,
and they're still giving him the Supermax

402
00:25:32,359 --> 00:25:33,680
like it's still happening and that money
is still going to be there. So

403
00:25:33,880 --> 00:25:37,720
that's what I'm doing. If I'm
Yannis. Before we even get into what

404
00:25:37,720 --> 00:25:41,039
the Bucks are doing, and I'm
wondering how you feel about that perspective,

405
00:25:41,079 --> 00:25:44,000
particularly the latter one where it's like
I love that last point. I've not

406
00:25:44,079 --> 00:25:48,039
really heard that express before quite like
that. So that's that's really interesting.

407
00:25:48,079 --> 00:25:49,440
I wonder I wonder if players do
you think about it that way? That

408
00:25:49,440 --> 00:25:52,759
would be some interesting insight to get. But yeah, I mean, like

409
00:25:52,799 --> 00:25:56,920
he's entering his age twenty sixth season, he has a distinct argument to be

410
00:25:56,960 --> 00:25:59,400
the best player in the world.
He's most likely going to be the two

411
00:25:59,400 --> 00:26:03,960
time reigning MVP. Like, yeah, like we just saw how much play

412
00:26:03,039 --> 00:26:07,839
Kevin Durant got in his thirties coming
off and Achilles injury, which is like

413
00:26:07,839 --> 00:26:11,839
the most devastating injury that you can
have as a basketball player. Janice is

414
00:26:11,880 --> 00:26:15,000
going to be fine no matter what
happens this next season. So yes,

415
00:26:15,079 --> 00:26:18,319
by all means like delay signing it
if you need to, And that's not

416
00:26:18,400 --> 00:26:22,240
necessarily an indication of a lack of
commitment to the organization. He's said and

417
00:26:22,279 --> 00:26:26,079
done all the right things to this
point, and I think that even if

418
00:26:26,119 --> 00:26:30,440
there's a long long track record of
stars saying and doing the right things before

419
00:26:30,519 --> 00:26:33,519
leaving, like he does deserve the
benefit of the doubt here. Yeah,

420
00:26:33,680 --> 00:26:37,400
Look, he doesn't seem like the
type of player that's going to request a

421
00:26:37,440 --> 00:26:40,200
trade anyway. So even if he
doesn't sign the extension, and it's not

422
00:26:40,319 --> 00:26:44,119
because of my idea, which might
just be hair brained anyway, you roll

423
00:26:44,160 --> 00:26:48,480
the dice because he's that type of
a player and you are still close to

424
00:26:48,519 --> 00:26:52,920
a championship that you still if you
have the opportunity to sell him on staying

425
00:26:52,000 --> 00:26:57,559
long term, you take that over
divesting him into a hodge pods of assets

426
00:26:57,599 --> 00:27:00,519
whatever they end up being. How
many times I'm gonna say Hodgepodge on this

427
00:27:00,559 --> 00:27:03,559
podcast, that's a mortgage board of
assets. Let's try and change it up

428
00:27:03,559 --> 00:27:07,960
there. So he's just that some
optionality with your words. Just remember that

429
00:27:08,519 --> 00:27:11,359
he's that transcendent of a player,
is sort of my point. So unless

430
00:27:11,359 --> 00:27:15,559
he requests for out, like you
can't read too much into him not signing

431
00:27:15,599 --> 00:27:18,599
the extension. If on the Bucks, it's unless he requests are out,

432
00:27:18,599 --> 00:27:22,599
you're keeping him. And so now
that kind of informs their off season.

433
00:27:23,519 --> 00:27:27,799
I don't the Malcolm Brogden stuff has
now come up and been relitigated, and

434
00:27:27,839 --> 00:27:32,440
I think it's one hundred percent fair
because you have I believe it was Mark

435
00:27:32,519 --> 00:27:36,160
Lazary came out and said that they
would pay the tax, but that keeping

436
00:27:36,160 --> 00:27:38,480
Brogden was a luxury. It turns
out that wasn't a luxury because they it

437
00:27:38,519 --> 00:27:41,400
turned out to be too light on
shock creation the playoffs. How much of

438
00:27:41,400 --> 00:27:45,640
it did he add because I was
never necessarily as role Milwaukee, I don't

439
00:27:45,640 --> 00:27:48,559
know, but he's definitely probably a
better option a lot of these scenarios,

440
00:27:48,680 --> 00:27:51,599
especially against the heat, than Eric
Bletso was. And we saw that Dote

441
00:27:51,640 --> 00:27:53,359
DiVincenzo, who I was high on
in the six manut of a year discussion,

442
00:27:53,640 --> 00:27:57,279
just didn't really provide that that layer
of protection and it was thin there

443
00:27:57,680 --> 00:28:03,319
to begin with from him. So
now, and I'm using this to frame

444
00:28:03,359 --> 00:28:08,000
this as I'm using this year's salary
cap for for my projections, and the

445
00:28:08,039 --> 00:28:12,079
Bucks should still theoretically, even if
Robin Lopez comes back and they guarantee or

446
00:28:12,160 --> 00:28:17,720
Son Eliasova's seven million dollars salary,
have the non taxpayers mid level exception in

447
00:28:17,759 --> 00:28:22,119
full at their disposal estimated at you
know, nine million in something. But

448
00:28:22,279 --> 00:28:25,279
there's a chance that that takes them
into the tax if they use all of

449
00:28:25,279 --> 00:28:27,400
it, you absolutely go into the
tax next season. If it's if you're

450
00:28:27,400 --> 00:28:30,599
not making any size make Chris Paul
moves. But even if you do,

451
00:28:30,960 --> 00:28:34,440
like you, you have to use
every chip that's on your plate right now,

452
00:28:34,480 --> 00:28:37,839
because I do think you kind of
I don't know that you sent the

453
00:28:37,839 --> 00:28:41,880
wrong message last summer with the Brogden
stuff, but it was it was weird.

454
00:28:41,920 --> 00:28:42,720
And then to say like, oh, but we will pay the luxury

455
00:28:42,759 --> 00:28:45,720
tax because we're going to in the
future if you kind of evade it now,

456
00:28:45,880 --> 00:28:51,680
even given the financial ramifications of the
pandemic and the shutdown, I don't

457
00:28:51,680 --> 00:28:55,000
think that sends the right message.
Do I think it guarantees that Jannis will

458
00:28:55,039 --> 00:28:56,920
leave? Absolutely not. But like
now you lay all your cards out on

459
00:28:56,960 --> 00:29:00,920
the table. It's not just a
matter of try and find an all in

460
00:29:00,960 --> 00:29:03,720
trade. Whether it's Chris Paul,
Drew Holiday, I don't really know if

461
00:29:03,720 --> 00:29:06,759
they could work themselves. In the
Victor Ladipot conversation, my guests would be,

462
00:29:06,759 --> 00:29:10,000
no, it has to be we're
gonna spend too, and yes,

463
00:29:10,079 --> 00:29:14,480
you only have the non taxpayers midlevel
exception. Here's the thing that's basically the

464
00:29:14,519 --> 00:29:18,519
same thing as two thirds of the
league. They're working with some form more

465
00:29:18,559 --> 00:29:22,240
than that of the mid level exception, there's gonna be handful of teams with

466
00:29:22,279 --> 00:29:25,119
the mini mid level, and so
you're already above them if you have the

467
00:29:25,599 --> 00:29:27,680
non taxpayers mid level, and because
you're a contender in the East, maybe

468
00:29:27,759 --> 00:29:30,240
that appeals to someone. And I
don't know the name to throw out.

469
00:29:30,279 --> 00:29:33,079
I just feel like it's not going
to get you a Marcus Morris. But

470
00:29:33,319 --> 00:29:37,119
you know, if the Heat are
really trying to preserve their cat flexibility,

471
00:29:37,720 --> 00:29:40,480
if they're not going to give Jay
Crowd or like a huge one year deal

472
00:29:40,960 --> 00:29:42,480
up to stay of like thirty million, like a lot of people expect them

473
00:29:42,519 --> 00:29:48,759
to do with with not Jannis Dragic, like is he an option? Does

474
00:29:48,759 --> 00:29:49,799
he become an option at the mid
level of the sudden the guy who would

475
00:29:49,799 --> 00:29:53,440
typically be available, or we need
to command more than that. I don't

476
00:29:53,440 --> 00:29:57,440
know. I'm just spitballing there.
So even if using the mid level takes

477
00:29:57,440 --> 00:30:00,079
you into the tax now, I
think you have to do it. And

478
00:30:00,119 --> 00:30:04,079
I don't think that's oversimplifying the situation
at all at this point, no one

479
00:30:04,920 --> 00:30:11,920
half to I think that the Brogden
situation was understandable to some extent as long

480
00:30:11,960 --> 00:30:15,440
as they do show that they are
willing to pay the tax when it matters.

481
00:30:15,880 --> 00:30:21,000
Now, it's not really fair to
hold a small market team to the

482
00:30:21,079 --> 00:30:26,160
standard of perfection or else they deserve
to lose their their marquee superstar. And

483
00:30:26,200 --> 00:30:29,799
that's essentially what we'd be doing if
it's like, okay, like they misfired

484
00:30:29,799 --> 00:30:33,279
on Brogden and now Janis has to
leave because they haven't demonstrated a commitment to

485
00:30:33,319 --> 00:30:36,480
winning and don't know how to build
a team around him. You know,

486
00:30:36,559 --> 00:30:41,200
I think that you have to allow
for the possibility of mistakes, which is

487
00:30:41,240 --> 00:30:45,839
which that's what it was, that
mid level exception should be valuable this summer.

488
00:30:45,720 --> 00:30:51,400
I do think that someone like Drajica, an aging veteran point guard who

489
00:30:51,480 --> 00:30:55,680
is still playing fantastic basketball in the
playoffs, would be a really intriguing addition.

490
00:30:56,359 --> 00:30:59,599
What if they get like Gallow or
someone who's willing to take a pay

491
00:30:59,599 --> 00:31:03,759
cut to come play for an obvious
title contender. Now there there are options

492
00:31:03,839 --> 00:31:07,720
out there who I think that that
can add to this roster, which is

493
00:31:08,000 --> 00:31:12,920
largely set in place for next season
barring a seismic trade overhaul. You also

494
00:31:12,960 --> 00:31:17,880
get to have like Pat Connaughton off
the books, which is fantastic because that

495
00:31:17,920 --> 00:31:22,599
means that Mike Budenholzer can't give him
ridiculous minutes during the playoffs. So you

496
00:31:22,599 --> 00:31:26,480
know, there there there are positives
to this situation, and I think that

497
00:31:26,599 --> 00:31:32,720
all of that plus potential improvement from
Jannis, you know, That's That's one

498
00:31:32,720 --> 00:31:37,000
thing that I don't think gets talked
about often enough in this conversation. We

499
00:31:37,039 --> 00:31:38,759
talk about the trades that they can
make, the free agens they can sign,

500
00:31:40,079 --> 00:31:42,759
the decisions they can make with player
and team options and non guaranteed salaries.

501
00:31:42,799 --> 00:31:48,319
But like Jannie is entering his age
twenty sixth season and he still has

502
00:31:48,480 --> 00:31:51,400
a lot to learn. Like,
imagine if he comes back after a summer

503
00:31:51,440 --> 00:31:55,799
of hard work following another postseason disappointment
with better footwork, with an even more

504
00:31:55,839 --> 00:31:59,799
reliable turnaround jumper from mid range territory. You know, there are there are

505
00:31:59,839 --> 00:32:02,319
so many ways that he can continue
to improve his game as dominant as he

506
00:32:02,400 --> 00:32:07,799
already is. That would just make
this team even more competitive. Yeah,

507
00:32:07,960 --> 00:32:09,599
I'm with you there. The only
pushback I'd give is I think Gallo would

508
00:32:09,640 --> 00:32:13,960
be quite a reach at the mid
level. It is, It is definitely

509
00:32:14,000 --> 00:32:16,359
a reach. Maybe you fall into
like a Joe Harris and look at the

510
00:32:16,440 --> 00:32:20,200
Chris Paul stuff or even I feel
like Drew Holiday is going to be a

511
00:32:20,279 --> 00:32:22,440
name that we hear too for them. That's also going to instruct how you

512
00:32:22,480 --> 00:32:25,400
handle free agency, because Joshers would
actually be a nice fit for this roster.

513
00:32:25,480 --> 00:32:29,720
But if you're going to go out
and trade for CP three, your

514
00:32:29,839 --> 00:32:30,720
Drew Holiday, you don't necessarily need
him. And then the flip side of

515
00:32:30,759 --> 00:32:32,839
that would be, well, if
you're giving up George Hill and Eric Bletsoe,

516
00:32:32,880 --> 00:32:36,680
then you actually kind of sort of
might. But that's an interesting name

517
00:32:36,680 --> 00:32:39,519
I didn't really think about for this
team. The other I don't know if

518
00:32:39,519 --> 00:32:44,160
this will become a topic, but
Chris Middleton has received a lot of criticism

519
00:32:44,160 --> 00:32:47,720
for not being a conventional, conventional
number two. I kind of feel like

520
00:32:47,839 --> 00:32:51,799
that should be out the window now
because what we're seeing is I feel like

521
00:32:51,839 --> 00:32:55,480
the limitations on Jannis's game, they
kind of have these rippled down effects to

522
00:32:57,000 --> 00:33:00,039
everyone. And so unless if you're
saying his number two needs to be a

523
00:33:00,119 --> 00:33:06,039
Damian Lillard or Stephen Curry, those
are not conventional number twos because they're actually

524
00:33:06,119 --> 00:33:09,279
number ones. And so I think
Chris Middleton has shown even in the game

525
00:33:09,319 --> 00:33:14,119
four that they won after Janice was
injured, and then in parts of the

526
00:33:14,240 --> 00:33:16,720
Game five that they ended up losing
to Miami like he can No is he

527
00:33:16,759 --> 00:33:20,920
going to be number one level and
a top ten player in any given season.

528
00:33:21,400 --> 00:33:24,480
Probably not, But he can be
the number two on a really good

529
00:33:24,480 --> 00:33:27,720
team. He's gonna be able to
go out there and defend the number two

530
00:33:27,799 --> 00:33:30,759
or the number three option on a
team. That's also why Eric Bletzo was

531
00:33:30,799 --> 00:33:34,599
so important, because he's probably gonna
spend the most time on number one options

532
00:33:34,640 --> 00:33:37,000
for the squad. And how does
that change if you go to CP three.

533
00:33:37,119 --> 00:33:39,160
It doesn't change at all if you
go to Drew Holiday, who's just

534
00:33:39,200 --> 00:33:43,279
built for that type of role.
But Chris Middleton, to me, is

535
00:33:43,279 --> 00:33:45,559
the quintessential number two on a championship
team at this point. It's the people

536
00:33:45,599 --> 00:33:50,240
who need to frame it as you
need a second number one basically. And

537
00:33:50,279 --> 00:33:53,559
I think that that view on Chris
Middleton was exposed in a good way for

538
00:33:53,599 --> 00:33:58,440
the Bucks. And look, he's
a name that I think would probably be

539
00:33:58,920 --> 00:34:00,519
He's not gonna be brought up in
a rumors, at least by on the

540
00:34:00,519 --> 00:34:04,200
Buck's behalf, because you know,
if you want a Bradley Beale, you

541
00:34:04,200 --> 00:34:06,440
would probably have to give up a
Chris Middleton. I just wouldn't do it.

542
00:34:06,440 --> 00:34:07,840
I think that Chris Middleton is just
a better fit for this team for

543
00:34:07,880 --> 00:34:12,360
what he's going to do defensively than
Bradley Beal. He's just a player that

544
00:34:12,360 --> 00:34:15,679
if Jannas did lead did leave after
next season, like, yeah, the

545
00:34:15,719 --> 00:34:20,239
three years left on his deal at
that point are are quite a bit.

546
00:34:20,559 --> 00:34:22,920
He would be at quick math right
here, one hundred thirteen point eight million

547
00:34:22,920 --> 00:34:25,920
dollars. I feel like he would
become like one of the hottest trade commodities

548
00:34:27,039 --> 00:34:29,280
in the league. That that's getting
too far ahead of the game. I

549
00:34:29,320 --> 00:34:31,519
just want to give Chris Middleton a
shout out because I think even though he's

550
00:34:31,599 --> 00:34:35,960
had better postseasons in the past,
I'm basically looking at that seven game set

551
00:34:36,000 --> 00:34:40,800
loss to Boston and that twice eighteen
I think it was I feel like he

552
00:34:40,960 --> 00:34:44,800
sort of validated himself in a way, and maybe part of that is because

553
00:34:44,840 --> 00:34:49,159
of how the heat exposed Jannis a
little bit. Yeah. No, he

554
00:34:49,559 --> 00:34:54,239
is the classic number two that you
want, and I think that just with

555
00:34:54,280 --> 00:34:59,519
the super team stylings of the last
decade that fans have been a little bit

556
00:34:59,559 --> 00:35:01,079
spoiled by the idea that you could
have, as you put it, two

557
00:35:01,119 --> 00:35:05,880
number one options on the same team. And just because the Bucks don't have

558
00:35:05,920 --> 00:35:10,039
that second number one, that's not
a condemnation of Middleton's contributions. He also

559
00:35:10,119 --> 00:35:14,360
played really well in the playoffs,
aside from his shooting slump at the beginning.

560
00:35:15,039 --> 00:35:21,039
You know, he was asked to
carry a bigger load than expected and

561
00:35:21,320 --> 00:35:24,000
completely deviate from the Buck's typical style
of play, which relies so much on

562
00:35:24,079 --> 00:35:29,519
transition and semi transition attacks, and
operate in a half court with a tough,

563
00:35:29,880 --> 00:35:32,280
deep defensive team throwing all sorts of
options at him. And during that

564
00:35:32,480 --> 00:35:37,199
Miami series he still averaged twenty five
point six point six rebounds, six point

565
00:35:37,199 --> 00:35:39,360
eight assists, shooting forty one point
seven percent from the field, thirty three

566
00:35:39,400 --> 00:35:43,960
point three percent from three point range
of ninety three point one percent from free

567
00:35:43,960 --> 00:35:46,719
throws. Those first two shooting numbers
aren't great, but given the circumstances,

568
00:35:46,760 --> 00:35:51,280
I feel like they're at least understandable
because he was being asked largely to fill

569
00:35:51,280 --> 00:35:54,760
a role that he isn't meant to
fill, and alongside Jannis he gets to

570
00:35:54,800 --> 00:36:00,719
fill a much more comfortable one.
So I don't have concerns about that partnership,

571
00:36:00,719 --> 00:36:04,440
and I hope that the Bucks don't
either. Now my guests would be

572
00:36:04,440 --> 00:36:07,119
that they don't. It's just that
that felt more like a I wouldn't even

573
00:36:07,159 --> 00:36:10,159
say it was a prevalent take nationally, but they've just been I don't want

574
00:36:10,199 --> 00:36:14,159
I received a lot of pushback when
I ranked Chris Middleton, along with one

575
00:36:14,199 --> 00:36:16,639
of our BLEAE Super colleagues, the
tenth best player of the season, and

576
00:36:16,679 --> 00:36:20,000
this year. I don't think every
year that's gonna happen, but this year,

577
00:36:20,000 --> 00:36:23,400
given the sheer amount of injuries and
limited be a limited availability from otherwise

578
00:36:23,440 --> 00:36:27,320
top ten mainstays, that had opened
the door for him to do that.

579
00:36:27,440 --> 00:36:30,239
And we haven't seen the All NBA
teams come out yet, but it would

580
00:36:30,239 --> 00:36:32,760
shock me if he doesn't make third
team All NBA, and if that's not

581
00:36:34,039 --> 00:36:37,079
a number two on a title content
like, I don't know who's who's supposed

582
00:36:37,079 --> 00:36:39,880
to be, and I'm not trying
to say that it's Jannis is a bigger

583
00:36:39,920 --> 00:36:43,960
problem for this team than anything.
There's more about how they've fleshed out the

584
00:36:43,960 --> 00:36:46,440
supporting cast around him. I just
think if you are gonna say, Chris

585
00:36:46,480 --> 00:36:51,079
Middleton isn't the right number two beside
him. You're saying, well, then

586
00:36:51,159 --> 00:36:53,199
Jannis needs a second number one,
which is just like a weird way to

587
00:36:53,239 --> 00:36:58,320
frame that discussion. Yeah, especially
when the first number one, Jannis is

588
00:36:58,519 --> 00:37:01,280
so ridiculously good. Right, And
that's the thing that needs to be remembered

589
00:37:01,320 --> 00:37:05,440
throughout all this is the Bucks are
not screwed. They still have Jannis,

590
00:37:06,400 --> 00:37:08,119
the inside track on Yannis for another
year, if not probably longer. Look,

591
00:37:08,159 --> 00:37:12,559
he said he wanted to stay there, and I get once more,

592
00:37:12,599 --> 00:37:15,960
I don't think he's not signing the
extension, which he might do, by

593
00:37:15,000 --> 00:37:17,719
the way, like that might he
might sign the extension. Again, I

594
00:37:17,719 --> 00:37:21,639
wouldn't because it makes life at least, I wouldn't make the decision till after

595
00:37:21,719 --> 00:37:23,679
free agency, at least because he
has until the first day of next season.

596
00:37:23,719 --> 00:37:28,199
Like, let let the heat and
Raptors specifically remain in lurch. I'm

597
00:37:28,199 --> 00:37:30,559
just gonna keep coming back to that
point. But the Bucks are still set

598
00:37:30,639 --> 00:37:32,800
up to kind of run the East
next year. Yeah, Miami's coming,

599
00:37:32,920 --> 00:37:37,079
apparently they're already here. You have
Boston. You have to figure Toronto's gonna

600
00:37:37,079 --> 00:37:39,719
put together something competitive. I have
no idea what Philly's gonna look like.

601
00:37:39,840 --> 00:37:45,400
But the Trey Young Hawks, let's
not forget about them. Yeah, let's

602
00:37:45,400 --> 00:37:49,079
not forget about them, But let's
also forget about them if you just added

603
00:37:49,119 --> 00:37:52,119
an addition via the mid level exception
to this team, Like there's a chance

604
00:37:52,280 --> 00:37:55,480
they're marketedly better than this season.
I think they need to do something more

605
00:37:55,519 --> 00:38:00,760
stark than that. But like this
is not a day scenario for them by

606
00:38:00,800 --> 00:38:06,559
any stretch. Yeah, and I
think that. And maybe this is entering

607
00:38:07,039 --> 00:38:12,159
dangerous territory assuming something about players mentalities, And this is neither a positive nor

608
00:38:12,199 --> 00:38:16,320
a negative. But some players seem
more likely to want to go pursue opportunities

609
00:38:16,360 --> 00:38:21,320
elsewhere, and some players seem more
likely to want to stick around and try

610
00:38:21,360 --> 00:38:24,119
to win in the original location.
And for whatever reason, like Jana strikes

611
00:38:24,119 --> 00:38:28,360
me as someone who falls into the
latter category. Maybe it's just the way

612
00:38:28,400 --> 00:38:31,000
that he said things or the way
he's handled himself and you know, not

613
00:38:31,079 --> 00:38:36,880
wanting to do anything but shoulder blame
for losses even in the postseason, but

614
00:38:37,119 --> 00:38:39,880
he just he strikes me as someone
who who wants to finish what was started

615
00:38:42,679 --> 00:38:45,360
Wigan. That's not a positive or
a negative. It's just a statement of

616
00:38:45,400 --> 00:38:49,360
belief and look at you. We
could be wrong too. We've seen players

617
00:38:49,400 --> 00:38:52,119
say that they want to stay only
to turn around then leave. I would

618
00:38:52,119 --> 00:38:54,639
just feel confidence saying I'd be shocked
if he ends up requesting a trade and

619
00:38:54,639 --> 00:38:58,840
I don't think he's not signing the
extension to just be labor. That point

620
00:38:59,039 --> 00:39:02,800
doesn't equate to a requests in this
situation. Sunday Sunday Sundays are coming back

621
00:39:02,840 --> 00:39:07,000
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622
00:39:07,039 --> 00:39:12,519
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623
00:39:12,519 --> 00:39:15,400
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624
00:39:15,400 --> 00:39:19,599
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625
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favorite teams and favorite players if they
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626
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627
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629
00:39:35,039 --> 00:39:39,400
code blue Wire. Are you ready? To dive into this mailbag, though

630
00:39:40,199 --> 00:39:45,000
I am more than ready. Let's
start with someone who's calling me on my

631
00:39:45,079 --> 00:39:51,880
BS, which look I always appreciate. Here, Paul hi Hump says,

632
00:39:51,920 --> 00:39:57,599
I know both Adam and Dan are
big Nugs believers and Nicole Yokich fans,

633
00:39:57,639 --> 00:40:00,280
but I could not believe you guys
talking about how the Jazz ra run it

634
00:40:00,320 --> 00:40:02,559
back team, but the Nuggs need
to trade for Drew because their window is

635
00:40:02,599 --> 00:40:07,320
now. They seem like teams in
similar spots to me. Can you elaborate?

636
00:40:07,519 --> 00:40:10,840
I believe I spearheaded that Nuggets take, so I'll start with this.

637
00:40:10,880 --> 00:40:15,679
One part of that is because I
do believe that the Jazz don't have the

638
00:40:15,760 --> 00:40:20,400
assets to do anything drastic like their
trade pieces. You're not. If you

639
00:40:20,440 --> 00:40:22,880
want to dangle Rudy Gobert, maybe
that's something worth considering, but you're not

640
00:40:22,880 --> 00:40:28,199
going to get the type of return
that you're going to get for Denver.

641
00:40:28,400 --> 00:40:32,199
Should you dangle Michael Porter Junior?
With Gary Harris? Will Barton's deal a

642
00:40:32,280 --> 00:40:36,719
future first even Bull Bowl? At
this point? And so I think there

643
00:40:36,719 --> 00:40:42,679
are more options for the Nuggets on
the trade market that to me, they

644
00:40:42,719 --> 00:40:45,920
would be obligated to explore should they
flame out in the second round, which

645
00:40:45,920 --> 00:40:47,199
it does not seem like they're gonna
do. And so that was under the

646
00:40:47,199 --> 00:40:51,679
pretense of had they lost in the
first round or if they just get destroyed

647
00:40:51,679 --> 00:40:54,719
by the Clippers, which the games, except for Game one on the Nuggets

648
00:40:54,760 --> 00:40:59,239
behalf, has been super competitive.
They could they probably should have won Game

649
00:40:59,280 --> 00:41:01,000
three. They should be two to
one as we record this, and they're

650
00:41:01,039 --> 00:41:04,519
not. And so if they take
this to six or seven games, and

651
00:41:04,559 --> 00:41:07,719
they want to stand pat because they
believe that Michael Porter Junior is that wing,

652
00:41:07,000 --> 00:41:10,960
and I think we've put it it's
been pretty clearly proven at least since

653
00:41:12,000 --> 00:41:15,800
the start of the Heatles, like
you need that the Big three Heatles,

654
00:41:15,840 --> 00:41:20,679
you need that really incredibly high end
wing to win a title. And so

655
00:41:20,719 --> 00:41:22,840
the Nuggets are that weird spot where
they're building around Yokis and Jamal Murray,

656
00:41:23,360 --> 00:41:28,440
high end guard and a high end
big that is Michael Porter Junior, that

657
00:41:28,599 --> 00:41:31,360
completing piece. He's gonna have to
get better on defense, but he might

658
00:41:31,400 --> 00:41:35,079
be. The question is how soon. It's surely he can definitely put up

659
00:41:35,119 --> 00:41:38,679
numbers. Now we've seen it in
his quote unquote rookie year. But if

660
00:41:38,760 --> 00:41:43,920
a Bradley Beal becomes available. I'm
not dangling on Michael Porter Junior. I

661
00:41:43,960 --> 00:41:45,840
don't think in a draw holiday trade
that would be And I think I said,

662
00:41:45,840 --> 00:41:50,199
this is the baseline return that I
need to get for him. But

663
00:41:50,239 --> 00:41:53,480
with the way Gary Harris is defending
at plus what Michael Porter Junior is playing,

664
00:41:53,480 --> 00:41:55,880
I don't know if someone going into
free agency next summer is who I

665
00:41:55,920 --> 00:42:01,519
would target. So you're I guess
I would say, aside from a bill,

666
00:42:01,559 --> 00:42:05,119
if people comes available, you have
to monitor at least the trade market

667
00:42:05,159 --> 00:42:07,079
for Is there any other big name. I'm not talking about Chris Poal either,

668
00:42:07,079 --> 00:42:09,960
that just becomes available. I'm not
talking about Janis either, not even

669
00:42:10,039 --> 00:42:15,280
envisioning anyone, because these names sometimes
crop up that you just can't picture.

670
00:42:15,360 --> 00:42:17,679
I think you have to be vigilant
on that, and you're obligated to look

671
00:42:17,719 --> 00:42:21,440
for that type of a move because
you have the asset firepower to do it

672
00:42:21,519 --> 00:42:23,880
and are in this window window.
The Jazz are in the same window window,

673
00:42:24,239 --> 00:42:28,159
but one. I don't think their
top end talent is as good as

674
00:42:28,159 --> 00:42:30,280
Denver's top end talent, which would
be Nicole Yokich, who's borderline top five

675
00:42:30,400 --> 00:42:36,480
definitely top ten right now, and
again, just having the asset juice that

676
00:42:36,639 --> 00:42:39,679
Utah doesn't have, I think opens
more doors for Denver that they need to

677
00:42:39,760 --> 00:42:44,960
explore. The only thing I really
want to add to that is specifically with

678
00:42:45,079 --> 00:42:49,119
Utah, I think that it's more
reasonable to want to run it back because

679
00:42:49,119 --> 00:42:52,559
we didn't get to see what this
team as it was constructed was capable of

680
00:42:52,599 --> 00:42:58,760
doing it. It's easy to forget, just in the wake of Donovan Mitchell's

681
00:42:58,840 --> 00:43:04,599
offensive explosion during the playoffs, that
boy On Bogdanovich was a huge crucial piece

682
00:43:04,960 --> 00:43:09,039
to this puzzle. They very intentionally
deviated from their all defense everything approach to

683
00:43:09,119 --> 00:43:15,239
have more of an offensive modern style
throughout this twenty nineteen twenty season. So

684
00:43:15,239 --> 00:43:17,920
when Bogdanovitch, who was their second
leading score averaging twenty point two points per

685
00:43:19,000 --> 00:43:22,280
game in efficient fashion, had season
ending surgery in May, that changed a

686
00:43:22,280 --> 00:43:29,519
lot, and I felt like it
was reasonable to want to see them run

687
00:43:29,559 --> 00:43:34,639
it back with the same core of
incumbents because of how much he alone could

688
00:43:34,639 --> 00:43:39,159
elevate them. Denver also had key
absences during the playoffs Will Barton, Gary

689
00:43:39,159 --> 00:43:45,400
Harris for a large portion of their
their playoff experience to date, but neither

690
00:43:45,480 --> 00:43:50,440
of those is individually as big a
loss as Bogdanovitch was to the Jazz.

691
00:43:50,480 --> 00:43:54,719
So in addition to the asset juice
and the possible ceiling with Yokichen Jamal Murray

692
00:43:54,760 --> 00:44:00,119
together and wanting to maximize that by
parlaying some of the depth into trades that

693
00:44:00,159 --> 00:44:05,119
are going to help for the postseason, I think that Utah does have a

694
00:44:05,119 --> 00:44:12,840
more reasonable desire to keep the core
intact because of what was missing. Yeah,

695
00:44:13,000 --> 00:44:15,239
I think you can argue that to
them, boy and Bardanovitch is a

696
00:44:15,280 --> 00:44:21,400
bigger piece than Harris and Barton was
to Denver. It's tough there because Gary

697
00:44:21,400 --> 00:44:23,360
Harris is so important to their wing
defense just because they don't have a lot

698
00:44:23,360 --> 00:44:25,760
of better options, and so maybe
he's on par with that, and if

699
00:44:25,760 --> 00:44:29,719
he's gonna hit his threes, then
you know, that's a completely different story

700
00:44:30,320 --> 00:44:32,280
as well. So I think you
can make the case for both of them

701
00:44:32,280 --> 00:44:35,519
throwing it back, especially now since
it looks like Denver is going to be

702
00:44:35,559 --> 00:44:38,079
competitive with Utah. I just think
Denver's clear I'm fine with either of them

703
00:44:38,079 --> 00:44:40,760
doing it. Yeah, I wasn't
trying to. Maybe I came off as

704
00:44:40,760 --> 00:44:45,599
just being too exaggertary in that,
you know, discussion that we had.

705
00:44:45,280 --> 00:44:47,599
I wouldn't, you know, go
into this office and say, if I'm

706
00:44:47,599 --> 00:44:51,719
Denver, I need to blow it
up. But you know you're so close

707
00:44:52,159 --> 00:44:54,159
and you already have if Murray's gonna
play like this, the flips like that,

708
00:44:54,199 --> 00:44:58,119
arguing to be well with Murray,
I guess the Clipper series notwithstanding,

709
00:44:58,159 --> 00:45:00,199
but Murray's gonna be that guy in
the posy and that he was against Utah,

710
00:45:00,400 --> 00:45:02,559
Well, then why would you go
out and get someone else because you

711
00:45:02,559 --> 00:45:06,079
know that you're gonna have him as
the blanket. I think you could go

712
00:45:06,199 --> 00:45:10,119
either way. But there's I get
the concern too of if you traded a

713
00:45:10,199 --> 00:45:15,320
Gary Harris for Bradley Bill, you're
really weakening your defense there. If it's

714
00:45:15,320 --> 00:45:17,079
a Drew Holiday again, if there's
a way to construct that trade without giving

715
00:45:17,119 --> 00:45:22,000
up and PJ like that becomes absolutely
huge to me. It's just it's because

716
00:45:22,039 --> 00:45:27,920
Denver's closer, they have to consider
more on the table. Next question,

717
00:45:27,920 --> 00:45:32,280
though, comes from Pete Rudkins,
and his question is actually interesting, not

718
00:45:32,360 --> 00:45:37,039
that all these questions aren't interesting.
Bubble effects question mark is field goal percentage

719
00:45:37,079 --> 00:45:39,239
better free throw percentage? Other effects? And so I just pulled up some

720
00:45:39,320 --> 00:45:46,480
numbers here, and the average offensive
rating before the stoppage was one ten point

721
00:45:46,519 --> 00:45:51,920
seven affect the field goal percentage fifty
three point one. In the end of

722
00:45:51,960 --> 00:45:55,280
the regular season, which was only
eight games, you had an average offensive

723
00:45:55,360 --> 00:46:00,719
rating of one thirteen point two affective
field goal percentage of fifty four point one.

724
00:46:00,800 --> 00:46:04,280
In the playoffs, thus far average
offensive rating of one to eleven point

725
00:46:04,320 --> 00:46:07,480
six and affect the field goal percentage
of fifty three point nine. So it's

726
00:46:07,480 --> 00:46:12,559
again higher than that pre bubble regular
season aspect. And I will say right

727
00:46:12,599 --> 00:46:15,199
now the offensive rating average offensive rains
a lot higher than it was for last

728
00:46:15,280 --> 00:46:19,679
year's playoffs, which was one o
nine point eight with an average effect the

729
00:46:19,679 --> 00:46:22,280
field goal percentage of fifty one point
three. There are still a ton of

730
00:46:22,320 --> 00:46:27,760
postseason games to be played, but
it does seem like offenses might have benefited

731
00:46:28,079 --> 00:46:31,320
more from this. At the same
time, I'm like not, I'm almost

732
00:46:31,360 --> 00:46:36,079
pleasantly surprised that defenses haven't been worst
in the bubble, and so I don't

733
00:46:36,079 --> 00:46:37,760
know if you could say it's an
outright benefit for the offenses, but there

734
00:46:37,800 --> 00:46:42,320
certainly has not been a lag there, and if anything, it was an

735
00:46:42,320 --> 00:46:45,599
improvement, and perhaps that's something you
expect because you had, particularly at the

736
00:46:45,599 --> 00:46:50,079
beginning of this guys working their way
back into game shape. Yeah, I

737
00:46:50,119 --> 00:46:53,960
think that the other big impact is
the lack of travel and just players getting

738
00:46:54,000 --> 00:47:00,039
to refresh easier and to as mentally
grueling as this bubblic experience can be.

739
00:47:00,199 --> 00:47:05,360
Just the lack of physical toll that
comes from trying to recover after a tough

740
00:47:05,400 --> 00:47:07,800
playoff game while also traveling to a
new city on an airplane. Like,

741
00:47:07,960 --> 00:47:12,239
I think that that that's making a
big difference, and we've we've already seen.

742
00:47:12,280 --> 00:47:15,000
I think it was Dennis Lindsay who
said earlier today something about how the

743
00:47:15,000 --> 00:47:17,679
the NBA needs to listen to the
players and how much better they feel,

744
00:47:17,719 --> 00:47:22,360
and how we might want to to
consider like baseball styles series against teams to

745
00:47:22,360 --> 00:47:27,320
to minimize travel during the regular season
as well. So I think that's that's

746
00:47:27,320 --> 00:47:30,880
something we're seeing as well, that
that could be improving the quality of games.

747
00:47:30,159 --> 00:47:34,639
But yeah, I mean it's what
you said is most salient here.

748
00:47:34,920 --> 00:47:37,440
I think we can say if we
move on to the next question. This

749
00:47:37,719 --> 00:47:46,480
comes from doctor Mantis to Toboggan at
Coreboar Ask who he asked two questions,

750
00:47:46,599 --> 00:47:50,880
who are some trade targets for teams
that want to take the next steps for

751
00:47:50,960 --> 00:47:52,920
rebuilding and then also for rebuilding teams. He also asked, what are some

752
00:47:52,920 --> 00:47:57,000
other potential coaching candidates. We kind
of already covered that when we were talking

753
00:47:57,000 --> 00:48:00,199
about the thunder, So I'll throw
this one to you. Let's start with

754
00:48:00,239 --> 00:48:02,360
teams and we probably already mentioned their
names at this point. Teams that are

755
00:48:02,360 --> 00:48:06,559
looking to make the next step or
get over the championship hump. What are

756
00:48:06,559 --> 00:48:10,239
some trade targets that you could see
coming around this offseason. I really like

757
00:48:10,320 --> 00:48:15,199
the idea of Phoenix going out and
making an upgrade at point guard. That's

758
00:48:15,320 --> 00:48:17,000
that's what I keep coming back to
in my head, whether it's whether it's

759
00:48:17,039 --> 00:48:22,760
making a play for Chris Paul or
trying to go get Drew Holiday, like

760
00:48:22,880 --> 00:48:28,559
any of those level targets and would
would be really intriguing just given what we

761
00:48:28,599 --> 00:48:32,239
saw from that team in the bubble, especially if they bring back Kelly wee

762
00:48:32,239 --> 00:48:37,239
Bray and you also have this improved
version of Mkhill Bridges, Like this team

763
00:48:37,320 --> 00:48:40,599
is is pretty close to not just
being a playoff contender, but something more

764
00:48:40,679 --> 00:48:44,440
than that. And I think that
that that could push them over the hump.

765
00:48:44,559 --> 00:48:46,840
That's where my head went went first. At least up great a point

766
00:48:46,880 --> 00:48:49,880
guard. Think is interesting because I
don't necessarily know that that needs to be

767
00:48:49,920 --> 00:48:52,320
their primary target. But if you
could go from Ricky Rubio to Chris Paul,

768
00:48:52,360 --> 00:48:57,599
I think you should do it.
I'd be more interested them going after

769
00:48:57,840 --> 00:49:01,280
like a four the play alongside DeAndre
Ayton. Maybe you found something with the

770
00:49:01,360 --> 00:49:05,559
Cam Johnson starting lineup. I feel
like Ubray is sort of an awkward fit

771
00:49:05,679 --> 00:49:07,719
now because that's starting five did so
well, and then Dario Saris looks like

772
00:49:07,760 --> 00:49:13,159
he can really be in his bag
as a sixth man. I don't know

773
00:49:13,199 --> 00:49:15,840
what you would have to attach to
Kelly Ubray Junior to get like an Aaron

774
00:49:15,960 --> 00:49:20,360
Gordon, And I'm not sure whether
you trust is shooting enough too yet.

775
00:49:20,400 --> 00:49:22,880
I think I don't think that's a
fit though he I think it's closer just

776
00:49:22,920 --> 00:49:27,360
because he's become a better passer and
he always shoots well and catch and shoot

777
00:49:27,360 --> 00:49:29,960
threes towards the end of the year, but that might be a name worth

778
00:49:30,159 --> 00:49:34,199
considering. I know their fans are
really big on Jeremy Grant in free agency.

779
00:49:34,480 --> 00:49:37,360
I think you probably have to become
a cap space team to get him,

780
00:49:37,360 --> 00:49:40,960
and that certainly divulges us away from
from the trade targets of this.

781
00:49:42,039 --> 00:49:45,000
But they're definitely a team that I
think could be in play for that win

782
00:49:45,119 --> 00:49:47,320
now. Piece. The name that
I keep coming back to, and I'm

783
00:49:47,320 --> 00:49:52,039
not sure where I think his best
fit would be is Victor Oladipo in Indiana,

784
00:49:52,119 --> 00:49:58,079
because it seems like something is off
there and the sample we've seen before

785
00:49:58,119 --> 00:50:00,679
he got to Indiana, then you
know, even before he had this quad

786
00:50:00,679 --> 00:50:04,960
injury, that he was dealing with
the All NBA player he was in twenty

787
00:50:05,159 --> 00:50:07,719
eighteen, Like, there's a larger
sample that says he's not that player.

788
00:50:07,800 --> 00:50:09,400
He could still be a really good
player, and so he's gonna give you

789
00:50:09,679 --> 00:50:15,400
someone who can compete on defense off
the ball especially, and then if you

790
00:50:15,480 --> 00:50:19,559
have another guy who can create from
scratch on offense, that ends up being

791
00:50:19,599 --> 00:50:22,719
a big deal. Imagining him as
sort of a number two score is super

792
00:50:22,760 --> 00:50:24,920
interesting to me. The Suns might
be a candidate. I think if the

793
00:50:25,000 --> 00:50:29,800
Nets are going to go the third
star route, that's a name that would

794
00:50:29,840 --> 00:50:31,480
look at for Brooklyn. I'm not
sure I'd be fully comfortable giving up Arras

795
00:50:31,519 --> 00:50:36,199
Lavert for him, just because that
contract Lavert is on is such a steal,

796
00:50:36,239 --> 00:50:38,920
and Lavert might be a little bit
more pluck in play than a Ladipo.

797
00:50:38,960 --> 00:50:42,039
It's really tough to say at this
point. I wonder if you could

798
00:50:42,039 --> 00:50:46,360
put something together there with Spencer didn
Witty, Jared Allen and future picks without

799
00:50:46,360 --> 00:50:50,480
including Lavert, and then you're just
stocked on the wings. I don't know

800
00:50:50,519 --> 00:50:55,079
if that's absolutely feasible. Victor Ladipo
in Dallas would be absolutely spectacular. That's

801
00:50:55,079 --> 00:50:59,360
a team that probably doesn't have the
asset juice. I would love him in

802
00:50:59,400 --> 00:51:01,320
Denver, but that's not a situation
where I give up MPJ. And I'm

803
00:51:01,320 --> 00:51:05,559
honestly not sure if you have to
if he's heading into free agency, has

804
00:51:05,599 --> 00:51:07,239
this injury, and that if it
comes that he wants out. I mean,

805
00:51:07,320 --> 00:51:12,440
if you're looking at Gary Harris as
the starting point, Monte Morris and

806
00:51:12,519 --> 00:51:15,519
a future pick, like, does
that get you anywhere on that maybe even

807
00:51:15,519 --> 00:51:19,280
need to expand it to include Will
Barton and take back some other money from

808
00:51:19,320 --> 00:51:22,599
Indy. You could certainly look there, but he's a team, you know,

809
00:51:22,679 --> 00:51:25,360
even the Warriors, and this might
actually lead us into our next question

810
00:51:25,360 --> 00:51:29,360
after I hear from you, though, Like, that's a team that I

811
00:51:29,400 --> 00:51:31,599
think Victor Ladipo would be an absolutely
fantastic fit on. Maybe you can talk

812
00:51:31,639 --> 00:51:35,639
yourself into Minnesota they've the number one
pick, or you willing to give that

813
00:51:35,800 --> 00:51:37,519
up. But he's a guy that
I could see fitting on so many teams

814
00:51:37,760 --> 00:51:40,960
and has a high ceiling, even
if he hasn't been there and had this

815
00:51:42,039 --> 00:51:45,119
really long sustained peak that makes him
just this tantalizing trade option to me,

816
00:51:45,679 --> 00:51:49,800
assuming he is even a trade option. Maybe Indy just refuses to move him.

817
00:51:50,840 --> 00:51:53,320
One name that I'm curious about,
and I don't have any good destinations

818
00:51:53,320 --> 00:51:59,159
for him as Blake Griffin, especially
given the recent reports that he's feeling healthier

819
00:51:59,239 --> 00:52:01,360
than he hasn't along time, that
he's starting to work out six times per

820
00:52:01,440 --> 00:52:05,679
day that he's far enough remove or
six times per week, not per day,

821
00:52:05,800 --> 00:52:10,440
that would be excessive even by Jimmy
Butler's standards. You know, the

822
00:52:10,679 --> 00:52:16,679
contract that he has is still daunting. He's definitely not in his prime anymore,

823
00:52:16,760 --> 00:52:22,079
but I feel like he has enough
skill left in the tank, even

824
00:52:22,119 --> 00:52:24,880
not relying on his athleticism, that
he could be a really interesting addition in

825
00:52:24,920 --> 00:52:29,599
a number of places, Like if
there's a route for a Philadelphia or a

826
00:52:29,639 --> 00:52:32,239
Brooklyn to get him as another complimentary
star, that could be that could be

827
00:52:32,280 --> 00:52:38,239
a really interesting move for Detroit.
That's where could you see him going though,

828
00:52:39,360 --> 00:52:44,079
That's what I'm struggling with. You
know, those two names I just

829
00:52:44,079 --> 00:52:47,119
throw out, Philadelphia and Brooklyn I
think are intriguing fits. But working out

830
00:52:47,400 --> 00:52:53,800
actual realistic deals is tough. Beyond
that, it's it's tough to find wats

831
00:52:53,840 --> 00:52:57,559
for him. I wonder if Philly, I don't know what else would have

832
00:52:57,559 --> 00:53:00,159
to be involved that deal, would
Philly be okay? Going from let's say

833
00:53:00,159 --> 00:53:05,960
Al Horford to Blake Griffin, Right, that's just I'm that's like a move

834
00:53:05,960 --> 00:53:07,920
where I like, might not like
it for either team, but at the

835
00:53:07,960 --> 00:53:13,719
same time, like screw it like
that that would be It's an upside play.

836
00:53:14,480 --> 00:53:15,880
But yeah, I just I don't
want to see Blake at this stage

837
00:53:15,920 --> 00:53:20,719
of his career, like be stuck
in Detroit as the de facto number one

838
00:53:20,760 --> 00:53:23,079
option, because that's not what he
should be now. If he if he's

839
00:53:23,119 --> 00:53:28,360
able to go to this more a
more competitive situation where he can take on

840
00:53:28,400 --> 00:53:31,480
a lesser role and preserve his health. I feel like that he could be

841
00:53:31,519 --> 00:53:37,519
one of the absolute best tertiary players
in the NBA, even following all these

842
00:53:37,559 --> 00:53:43,079
injuries. Do you have any rebuilding
team trade targets that stand out to you?

843
00:53:43,119 --> 00:53:45,400
I have a couple if if you
do not, but you're better at

844
00:53:45,440 --> 00:53:50,320
this stuff than me, so you
leave this one. So one maybe it's

845
00:53:50,360 --> 00:53:52,679
I don't know if it's a buy
low candidate, because I don't think this

846
00:53:52,679 --> 00:53:55,199
team would trade him in that type
of scenario. Would probably be part of

847
00:53:55,199 --> 00:54:00,159
a bigger package. But Efremy Simon's
had a ridiculously terrible year, and if

848
00:54:00,159 --> 00:54:05,320
you're still kind of looking for someone
who might have that pinnacle as a shot

849
00:54:05,360 --> 00:54:07,079
creator, and maybe you can get
more out of him as as a passer,

850
00:54:07,119 --> 00:54:09,519
and he'll give you some at least
motor on defense, even if there's

851
00:54:09,559 --> 00:54:13,199
not a ton of discipline there,
like can you scoop him up Portland's and

852
00:54:13,239 --> 00:54:15,480
win now mode? And they do
have some you know, aside from other

853
00:54:15,519 --> 00:54:20,000
first round picks plus Simons, they
don't have a ton of salary filler unless

854
00:54:20,039 --> 00:54:22,199
they're going to guarantee a Rees's deal
and then use him that way, which

855
00:54:22,199 --> 00:54:24,719
they could certainly do. That's just
a name I'm looking at if you're a

856
00:54:24,719 --> 00:54:29,039
rebuilding team, another one I might
be looking at. And these are no

857
00:54:29,119 --> 00:54:35,320
specific teams come to mind, but
a Marvin Bagley is Sacramento ready to sell

858
00:54:35,920 --> 00:54:38,159
medium on him. I was very
high on him after his rookie years,

859
00:54:38,199 --> 00:54:42,679
just because the shooting touch that he
showed towards the latter portion, even on

860
00:54:42,760 --> 00:54:45,000
catch and shoot twos, but also
from three. And I think, you

861
00:54:45,039 --> 00:54:50,320
know, his price point really isn't
that great because he's averaging essentially more than

862
00:54:50,360 --> 00:54:53,280
mid level money over the next two
years, assuming that his team option on

863
00:54:53,360 --> 00:54:57,199
his fourth season gets picked up.
He's at two years and twenty point three

864
00:54:57,239 --> 00:55:00,159
million dollars. Are the Kings like
kind of turned off by that? Because

865
00:55:00,199 --> 00:55:05,320
they've already paid Harrison Barnes, They've
paid Buddy Heal, They're gonna have to

866
00:55:05,360 --> 00:55:08,079
pay by Danovich this summer, They're
gonna have to extend darn Fox, so

867
00:55:08,159 --> 00:55:12,559
they just willing to listen. Is
it sort of a move up scenario with

868
00:55:12,599 --> 00:55:15,239
the draft? I don't know how
far he would actually get you up in

869
00:55:15,280 --> 00:55:20,280
the draft order, but is there
just like, you know, Marvin Bagley,

870
00:55:20,320 --> 00:55:22,639
I feel like he would interest me
if it was in Charlotte, he

871
00:55:22,639 --> 00:55:25,880
would interest me. I'd rather have
him as the four next to Mitchell Robinson

872
00:55:25,920 --> 00:55:30,360
in New York than whatever the hell
the Knicks were doing now with Julius Randall.

873
00:55:30,079 --> 00:55:32,679
I don't know if you want him
in a Chicago, but you definitely

874
00:55:32,679 --> 00:55:37,079
don't want him in Atlanta. He's
kind of intriguing to me. In Cleveland?

875
00:55:37,400 --> 00:55:40,400
Would a Christian? Would Marvin Bagley
front court interest you? In Detroit?

876
00:55:40,599 --> 00:55:44,079
Probably can't defend worth a lick,
but I actually think Wood might be

877
00:55:44,119 --> 00:55:46,480
an underrated defender. What about Bagley
in San Antonio? Not really the type

878
00:55:46,519 --> 00:55:50,360
of player they tend to go after, I feel like, but he you

879
00:55:50,400 --> 00:55:52,760
know, if they can develop his
passing, maybe that's huge. That's just

880
00:55:53,079 --> 00:55:55,559
a name m'd be curious about.
If I'm a team that's rebuilding, not

881
00:55:55,599 --> 00:55:59,159
in the rush to win now,
and I can slow play this, I'm

882
00:55:59,199 --> 00:56:01,320
looking at Marvin and that might be
like the name I'm zeroing in on this

883
00:56:01,360 --> 00:56:06,159
offseason. A couple more names I
want to throw out that might be bigger

884
00:56:06,239 --> 00:56:08,880
names are Kyle Kuzma, just because
I think the fit continues to be a

885
00:56:08,920 --> 00:56:14,440
little bit questionable with him not really
having a starting role next to Lebron and

886
00:56:14,440 --> 00:56:17,480
Anthony Davis, and I could see
Los Angeles trying to parlay him into something

887
00:56:17,519 --> 00:56:21,840
bigger. And Rudy Gay is a
really interesting one to me, who has

888
00:56:22,000 --> 00:56:25,239
one more year left on his contract
and is definitely not going to be needed

889
00:56:25,280 --> 00:56:29,519
in San Antonio as it leans more
into a rebuild and it has in the

890
00:56:29,559 --> 00:56:32,920
past. He looked really good during
the season restart average seventeen point nine points

891
00:56:32,920 --> 00:56:37,199
per game over his seven appearances,
shot forty five point seven percent from three,

892
00:56:37,280 --> 00:56:40,360
looked more switchable, more active on
defense. He is thirty three years

893
00:56:40,400 --> 00:56:44,199
old, he'll be thirty four by
the time the next season starts, but

894
00:56:44,239 --> 00:56:46,000
he's got some left in the tank
and I could see him being a valuable

895
00:56:46,039 --> 00:56:50,639
veteran moved to a contender. Okay, I thought you were talking about rebuilding

896
00:56:50,679 --> 00:56:52,800
team for a second and I was
like, that is incredibly interesting and please

897
00:56:52,840 --> 00:56:57,119
delve further into it. But you
no, I'm just jumping into rebuilding teams

898
00:56:57,119 --> 00:57:00,280
who could move pieces too. That's
you know, that's been a popular name

899
00:57:00,320 --> 00:57:04,760
for the Warrior's trade exception that they
have Rondre godaland he could probably be a

900
00:57:04,760 --> 00:57:07,119
good fit there. So I do
think he's and He's also if you're looking

901
00:57:07,119 --> 00:57:09,679
for an encouraging sign for Grant post
Achilles injury, like Rudy Gay, not

902
00:57:09,760 --> 00:57:14,599
the same level of player, but
he's been effective even at times at both

903
00:57:14,679 --> 00:57:17,880
ends of the floor since he suffered
that injury. So yeah, that's an

904
00:57:17,920 --> 00:57:22,880
absolutely good name for a contender or
even want to be a contender if he

905
00:57:22,960 --> 00:57:24,960
might. I would like to see
him in Miami. That's my that's my

906
00:57:25,079 --> 00:57:29,920
dream fit for Rudy Gay. Just
see the Spurs trade him into Miami's cap

907
00:57:29,920 --> 00:57:31,159
space, or maybe they're willing to
attach like something small to it. I

908
00:57:31,159 --> 00:57:37,320
mean, they're gonna They're gonna have
incredible flexibility. This summer mentioned the Warriors

909
00:57:37,360 --> 00:57:40,800
briefly, so friend of the Pod
friend in real life former co worker Jacob

910
00:57:40,840 --> 00:57:45,280
Bourne, asked, he has two
questions. I'm gonna ask you this question

911
00:57:45,320 --> 00:57:49,840
first, that's not really immediately related. Peak Jared Jack or pek Kirk Condrich

912
00:57:49,960 --> 00:57:52,679
one on one, Who are you
taking? I'm on team Heinrich. I'm

913
00:57:52,679 --> 00:57:58,960
going with Jared Jack. We apparently
need to start another one on one tournament

914
00:57:59,079 --> 00:58:00,920
at NBA Math and just have them
play each other. Let us know what

915
00:58:00,960 --> 00:58:07,960
you think, pe Kirk Heinrich was
was a sneaky defender, good hands Jar

916
00:58:07,519 --> 00:58:12,159
kind of like this like tiny bowling
ball, and so I feel like he

917
00:58:12,159 --> 00:58:15,840
could overpower him. He might be
able to, but I don't know that

918
00:58:15,880 --> 00:58:17,840
he could stop Kirk Heinrich. I
don't know. Both both of them are

919
00:58:17,880 --> 00:58:22,159
kind of reliant on their passing to
set up any sort of self creating offense,

920
00:58:22,199 --> 00:58:23,280
though, so it would be I
think it would be a boring one

921
00:58:23,320 --> 00:58:25,679
on one game. No offense to
Jacob, Well, actually a lot of

922
00:58:25,679 --> 00:58:30,239
offense to Jacob. This is we're
probably gonna step on the toes of some

923
00:58:30,280 --> 00:58:31,719
of the stuff we've already talked about. But who should the Warriors target in

924
00:58:31,760 --> 00:58:36,000
a trade for their number two pick? Should they package it with Draymond Greene

925
00:58:36,199 --> 00:58:40,559
or Wiggins for best return? Both
are arguably damaged goods. Wiggins certainly is,

926
00:58:40,679 --> 00:58:45,280
even though I feel like the Warriors
have kind of trumpeted him up since

927
00:58:45,280 --> 00:58:47,519
they've acquired him. My stance is
that you trade the number two pick,

928
00:58:47,599 --> 00:58:51,760
if i'm them, you try,
like how to keep the Timberwolves pick,

929
00:58:51,760 --> 00:58:54,920
which seems to be more valuable.
Do any targets for you that you like

930
00:58:55,039 --> 00:58:59,559
come to mind. I don't have
a feel for what they're going to be

931
00:58:59,599 --> 00:59:01,440
able to get back for this.
That's that's the biggest issue here, is

932
00:59:01,480 --> 00:59:07,960
that this is just like an unprecedentedly
bad, universally viewed as bad draft class,

933
00:59:07,320 --> 00:59:09,960
And I just I don't know what
teams are going to be offering,

934
00:59:10,320 --> 00:59:14,599
especially in this off season of uncertainty. So I think, like you,

935
00:59:14,840 --> 00:59:17,239
if you can package it with Wiggins
to get anything, you know, if

936
00:59:17,280 --> 00:59:21,719
it's a Victor Oladipo, then great, If it's somehow a Bradley Beale,

937
00:59:21,719 --> 00:59:24,960
even better. But I think that
you end up moving it for whatever you

938
00:59:25,000 --> 00:59:29,719
can get, because this is a
team that needs no, no seriously,

939
00:59:29,760 --> 00:59:31,599
because this is a team that needs
to win as quickly as it can.

940
00:59:32,039 --> 00:59:37,199
As Stephen Curry and Klay Thompson and
Draymond Green are all are all continuing to

941
00:59:37,239 --> 00:59:42,000
age and move into their thirties,
what are you going to get at number

942
00:59:42,039 --> 00:59:44,880
two? If you use the pick
that can help you immediately? The best

943
00:59:44,920 --> 00:59:49,239
fit for them is like James Wiseman, right, who is this entirely unproven

944
00:59:49,320 --> 00:59:52,880
center prospect who's really raw and there's
no way that you can expect him to

945
00:59:52,920 --> 00:59:58,079
be a valuable positive contributor during his
rookie season, which is what you need

946
00:59:58,480 --> 01:00:02,159
with that number two pick. There's
not a player out there who is immediately

947
01:00:02,239 --> 01:00:07,159
going to come in and elevate the
ceiling of this Golden State Warriors team.

948
01:00:07,239 --> 01:00:12,559
So you shop at for what I
have no idea. I'll throw some names

949
01:00:12,639 --> 01:00:14,599
at you. Bradley Bill's at one
of them. Also, one thing to

950
01:00:14,599 --> 01:00:17,079
considers that if you end up with
Anthony Edwards, I consider keeping it,

951
01:00:17,159 --> 01:00:22,039
and then maybe along with that Minnesota
pick, you hope that Edwards increases his

952
01:00:22,119 --> 01:00:24,920
value as an actual player next year. And then if Jannis you know,

953
01:00:25,360 --> 01:00:30,000
became available after signing an extension for
some reason, or what I was actually

954
01:00:30,000 --> 01:00:32,199
gonna say is if he left and
then Chris Middleton's available, or you just

955
01:00:32,239 --> 01:00:36,880
see if that trade package can be
parlayed into the actual big star that you

956
01:00:36,880 --> 01:00:40,559
want now immediately. Though, if
you're dangling number two, this is one

957
01:00:40,599 --> 01:00:45,400
on thorn on. Would you trade
number two for Aaron Gordon for this specific

958
01:00:45,440 --> 01:00:51,039
Warriors team? I would? I
would. I think that he has been

959
01:00:51,079 --> 01:00:54,079
forced to fit into enough weird situations
in Orlando that he's developed a lot of

960
01:00:54,079 --> 01:00:57,679
different parts of his game. I
don't think that he's a star. I

961
01:00:57,679 --> 01:01:00,400
don't think that he's even a fringe
star, but I think that he can

962
01:01:00,480 --> 01:01:07,960
one hundred percent be a valuable two
way role player and except having fewer touches,

963
01:01:07,000 --> 01:01:12,000
but also being able to serve as
a secondary creator on some possessions and

964
01:01:12,559 --> 01:01:15,519
fill a lot of the gaps that
this Warrior's team is going to have.

965
01:01:15,119 --> 01:01:20,519
So yeah, I would do that. Would you trade number two for Victor

966
01:01:20,519 --> 01:01:23,440
Oladipo, knowing injury history, knowing
free agency? I would not. I

967
01:01:23,920 --> 01:01:28,800
really have Yeah, I don't.
I don't have confidence in an Oladipo at

968
01:01:28,800 --> 01:01:32,559
the moment until proven otherwise. As
you mentioned earlier in this episode, at

969
01:01:32,559 --> 01:01:37,960
this point, the sample of non
all star level play is greater than the

970
01:01:37,960 --> 01:01:42,039
sample of our all star level play. And I unfortunately, and I hate

971
01:01:42,079 --> 01:01:44,559
that I have to say this,
because he's such a likable player on end

972
01:01:44,599 --> 01:01:49,880
off the court. I have not
seen anything since he returned that gives me

973
01:01:49,920 --> 01:01:52,199
an indication that he's going to resume
being a star level player. He is

974
01:01:52,239 --> 01:01:54,960
also most effective with the ball in
his hands, which is not something that

975
01:01:55,000 --> 01:01:59,280
I necessarily want on a team that
has continues to have Stephen Curry and Ramon

976
01:01:59,360 --> 01:02:01,639
Green. I would do it for
Victor Ladipo. I'm not gonna lie.

977
01:02:01,800 --> 01:02:06,599
The other pacer that I mentioned here
is Miles Turner. Would you do that?

978
01:02:06,679 --> 01:02:08,400
And look there there could be other
permutations to this deal. Miles Turner

979
01:02:08,440 --> 01:02:12,719
you can actually get with if you
use the trade exception to you know,

980
01:02:12,760 --> 01:02:15,719
acquire let's say, at James Johnson, then use James Johnson a number two

981
01:02:15,719 --> 01:02:19,320
to get Miles Turner. Are you
doing something like that? In a heartbeat?

982
01:02:19,559 --> 01:02:22,119
Okay, in a heartbeat, yeah, I mean Turner with a three

983
01:02:22,119 --> 01:02:28,360
point ability with the defensive rim protection
like that is exactly the kind of player

984
01:02:28,639 --> 01:02:31,400
that the Warriors should be targeting if
they're intent on acquiring a five to go

985
01:02:31,400 --> 01:02:36,039
along with the incumbents. The here's
something else, I'll they write you.

986
01:02:36,079 --> 01:02:39,679
Then a dual scenario where, knowing
how the Pacers do with wings, what

987
01:02:39,760 --> 01:02:45,440
if they were willing to do number
two Andrew Wiggins Minnesota's pick next year,

988
01:02:46,000 --> 01:02:52,360
and then let's say Kavan Mooney and
Jordan Poole for Victor Ladipo and Miles Turner.

989
01:02:52,519 --> 01:02:53,800
Are you doing that deal if you're
going the state? Yeah, I

990
01:02:53,880 --> 01:02:58,320
am, especially with the added benefit
of getting off Wiggins contract. Is there?

991
01:02:58,360 --> 01:03:00,000
If you're Indiana, can you talk
yourself into that deal. If you're

992
01:03:00,000 --> 01:03:05,800
Indiana. That's the tougher part.
I think it depends on how how much

993
01:03:05,840 --> 01:03:09,480
they're willing to commit to the Sabonis
led cores, which after this season they

994
01:03:09,599 --> 01:03:15,199
very well may be willing to commit
to. Having Wiggins's money isn't ideal,

995
01:03:15,679 --> 01:03:21,880
but getting the number two pick for
a team that is like in a competitive

996
01:03:21,920 --> 01:03:27,039
flux would be would be a very
valuable asset. This will be my last

997
01:03:27,079 --> 01:03:30,880
one for the Warriors before we get
some quick hitters to finish this up.

998
01:03:30,880 --> 01:03:34,719
Would you trade and I'm not even
sure the Spurs would do this, but

999
01:03:34,840 --> 01:03:39,239
would you trade number two for Rudy
Yay? Derek White? And I think,

1000
01:03:39,360 --> 01:03:44,159
what do the Spurs have number fourteen
this year? Number thirteen? Spurs

1001
01:03:44,159 --> 01:03:47,599
have number eleven. Would you number
eleven Derek White and Rudy Gay for number

1002
01:03:47,639 --> 01:03:52,679
two? Yeah? I think so, especially because just given the weirdness of

1003
01:03:52,719 --> 01:03:57,440
this draft class, is there really
that much of a difference between number two

1004
01:03:57,480 --> 01:04:00,760
and number eleven? Like you're not
going to be able to control which player

1005
01:04:00,800 --> 01:04:04,880
you get quite as easily, but
you know, there's still this feels like

1006
01:04:04,880 --> 01:04:08,800
one of the classes where the best
player isn't going to be a top five

1007
01:04:08,800 --> 01:04:13,880
pick. So I think that it's
more acceptable to take you know, a

1008
01:04:14,000 --> 01:04:16,719
veteran without as much ceiling at number
eleven that at number two, and that

1009
01:04:16,719 --> 01:04:19,480
could be what what Golden State needs. So if you're san Antonio, you

1010
01:04:19,519 --> 01:04:23,960
wouldn't do that, is what you're
saying. Then if I'm san Antonio,

1011
01:04:24,000 --> 01:04:27,039
I don't think I'm giving Derek White
away just for the ability to move up

1012
01:04:27,079 --> 01:04:30,039
nine spots. I think that's probably
fair. Actually, the real last one,

1013
01:04:30,559 --> 01:04:33,079
I wouldn't do this if I were
the Warriors or the Knicks. But

1014
01:04:33,159 --> 01:04:39,719
Mitchell Robinson and number eight for number
two when in a heartbeat for Golden State,

1015
01:04:40,119 --> 01:04:42,639
I think you and I both love
Mitchell Robinson's game. He would be

1016
01:04:42,639 --> 01:04:45,519
an ideal fit there. But New
York is not doing that. All right,

1017
01:04:45,599 --> 01:04:50,000
I'll try and squeeze in some last
ones. So here's this one comes

1018
01:04:50,000 --> 01:04:56,079
from Phil Sizemore. He's asking about, how do you feel about what is

1019
01:04:56,079 --> 01:04:59,000
your take on the Lakers going big
versus small debate? And so I'll say

1020
01:04:59,039 --> 01:05:02,760
this, I let you answer it. The numbers they've basically been like equitable

1021
01:05:03,000 --> 01:05:06,119
when you look at their net ratings
in the regular season plus five point two

1022
01:05:06,199 --> 01:05:10,920
with per one hundred with Davis at
the four plus five point when he plays

1023
01:05:10,960 --> 01:05:15,440
the five. In the playoffs,
they are plus twelve point five points per

1024
01:05:15,440 --> 01:05:17,360
one hundred possessions with him at the
five, and then plus fourteen with him

1025
01:05:17,360 --> 01:05:20,719
at the fault four. The sample
sizes are incredibly small, but I want

1026
01:05:20,760 --> 01:05:24,719
to know how you feel about what
is the best version of the Lakers.

1027
01:05:24,760 --> 01:05:28,280
Does it include Anthony Davis at the
five? Does it include him at the

1028
01:05:28,320 --> 01:05:31,840
four? Does it not matter?
The best version of the Lakers has Anthony

1029
01:05:31,920 --> 01:05:36,360
Davis at the five. You knows
as important as JaVale McGee and sometimes Dwight

1030
01:05:36,360 --> 01:05:40,960
Howard can be to that team like
that. That is where they are most

1031
01:05:41,000 --> 01:05:44,159
difficult to guard, that is where
they are most effective on defense. It

1032
01:05:44,480 --> 01:05:47,960
allows everyone to continue to play in
the roles that they're most comfortable out,

1033
01:05:48,000 --> 01:05:53,039
even if Davis is continuously pushed back
at the idea of playing center for anything

1034
01:05:53,079 --> 01:05:57,599
more than a handful of minutes or
in certain situations, especially against the Rockets,

1035
01:05:57,639 --> 01:06:00,000
I think that you have to because
the Rockets are always going to win

1036
01:06:00,320 --> 01:06:03,840
the style battle and force you to
adapt to them because they have no other

1037
01:06:03,880 --> 01:06:08,440
options. They're not going to suddenly
throw out Tyson Chandler on the court and

1038
01:06:08,480 --> 01:06:10,800
be like, hey, we're playing
a more traditional style now, We're not

1039
01:06:10,840 --> 01:06:13,320
going to take a lot of threes, Like it's what you have to do

1040
01:06:13,360 --> 01:06:15,679
in this specific series. And I
think that with the two one lead that

1041
01:06:15,679 --> 01:06:20,400
they've already accrued, they're starting to
realize just how effective they can be even

1042
01:06:20,480 --> 01:06:25,960
wall catering to the other team's style. So I would one hundred percent continue

1043
01:06:26,119 --> 01:06:29,119
to go with that smaller lineup.
I am just moving forward. I think

1044
01:06:29,119 --> 01:06:30,400
that's his best position. We don't
have to worry about him being pulled away

1045
01:06:30,400 --> 01:06:32,199
from the rim as much. And
like, look at the end of the

1046
01:06:32,280 --> 01:06:34,480
day, I don't care if he
doesn't want to play to five. Like

1047
01:06:34,519 --> 01:06:39,599
I just I'm so old. I
talked with this about the athletics mode Kiel.

1048
01:06:39,639 --> 01:06:44,400
It's just weird when players have such
aversions to certain positions nowadays. Next

1049
01:06:44,480 --> 01:06:48,599
question comes from Adam Broun's teating.
I apologize by mispronounced your last name.

1050
01:06:48,599 --> 01:06:55,360
It could be Broun. Sein are
either Kelly Ubrey or John Collins good defenders?

1051
01:06:55,880 --> 01:07:00,599
No, I would say, I
would say no. I would say

1052
01:07:00,639 --> 01:07:03,480
that Kellyer Bridg Jr. Is gonna
give you more on the ball, and

1053
01:07:03,519 --> 01:07:09,159
then John Collins is like weak side
protection as a helper when he's playing the

1054
01:07:09,199 --> 01:07:12,559
forward feels like it's improved a great
deal over the last year plus. I

1055
01:07:12,599 --> 01:07:15,760
don't know what's interesting with him is
if he can be a full time forward

1056
01:07:15,760 --> 01:07:19,719
defender, just when you look at
the direction that the four spots seems to

1057
01:07:19,760 --> 01:07:23,320
be headed him where they could be
these glorified wings. And if they can

1058
01:07:23,360 --> 01:07:26,679
put the ball on the floor and
you don't have a stationary shooter, maybe

1059
01:07:27,000 --> 01:07:30,079
to stash him alongside. I don't
really know what you do then, so

1060
01:07:30,119 --> 01:07:32,519
that would be the bigger question with
him. Kellyer brid Junior is just a

1061
01:07:32,519 --> 01:07:35,320
guy that feels like he should be
better on defense, and he can really

1062
01:07:35,320 --> 01:07:39,800
do stuff on the ball, but
we've seen the highlights of him falling asleep

1063
01:07:39,840 --> 01:07:42,639
off the ball. He's not that
egregiously bad, but I also just don't

1064
01:07:42,639 --> 01:07:47,239
think he's he's reliable there by any
stretch. I'm gonna focus on Collins here.

1065
01:07:48,519 --> 01:07:53,039
We've seen mixed results to this point
in his NBA career, which is

1066
01:07:53,039 --> 01:07:57,400
why I say no to is John
Collins a good defender? But I think

1067
01:07:57,400 --> 01:08:00,960
that he could be. We saw
we saw positive returns during his rookie season,

1068
01:08:01,079 --> 01:08:06,519
especially when the Hawks decided to play
him more at center as the biggest

1069
01:08:06,519 --> 01:08:12,039
player on the court and he was
allowed to use his athleticism in a more

1070
01:08:12,199 --> 01:08:17,479
limited space. As a sophomore in
twenty eighteen nineteen, he was asked to

1071
01:08:17,520 --> 01:08:20,840
play more on the perimeter, which
was a huge adjustment and not something that

1072
01:08:20,840 --> 01:08:25,199
he'd really done at Wake Forest or
in the NBA, and that's where he

1073
01:08:25,239 --> 01:08:28,600
got in trouble. But I also
think that he started to pick up some

1074
01:08:28,720 --> 01:08:32,159
stuff by the end of the season, and then this past season, the

1075
01:08:32,159 --> 01:08:38,159
one that's still currently in progress for
teams not named the Hawks, they kind

1076
01:08:38,159 --> 01:08:42,920
of messed those two together and got
some mixed results. It's hard to play

1077
01:08:43,359 --> 01:08:47,479
interior defense on a team with an
absolute seven Trey Young on the perimeter because

1078
01:08:47,520 --> 01:08:51,920
he's going to allow so much penetration
that you have to pick up behind him.

1079
01:08:53,279 --> 01:08:58,359
But he has the tools athletically to
make some sort of impact. It's

1080
01:08:58,399 --> 01:09:01,439
just a matter of gaining the aware
and probably setting into settling into a more

1081
01:09:01,479 --> 01:09:04,880
defined role than he's been able to
have during his first three seasons, as

1082
01:09:04,880 --> 01:09:08,960
the Hawks have moved him around and
tried to figure out where he's best.

1083
01:09:09,039 --> 01:09:13,199
But I do think there's potential not
for him to be a good defender,

1084
01:09:13,439 --> 01:09:18,640
but for him to at least be
a passable average one. That's you've convinced

1085
01:09:18,720 --> 01:09:21,600
me. I'm still just not I'm
not entirely sold, but that's one of

1086
01:09:21,640 --> 01:09:25,159
the more optimistic takes I've seen,
and it does. It feels like it

1087
01:09:25,199 --> 01:09:28,279
makes sense. Final two questions super
quick, and we've already touched on this.

1088
01:09:28,359 --> 01:09:30,560
And also one may culpa or clarification. Oklahoma City has one pick this

1089
01:09:30,600 --> 01:09:34,159
year because Philly did get its top
twenty protected pick at number twenty one.

1090
01:09:34,840 --> 01:09:43,800
That's hysterical kind of This one comes
from David stat Guy. His question.

1091
01:09:44,319 --> 01:09:45,720
His question is about the Suns,
and since we already touched upon them,

1092
01:09:45,720 --> 01:09:48,520
I thought that it would be a
little bit easier to cover this. What's

1093
01:09:48,520 --> 01:09:51,840
the Sun's best realistic off season strategy? Run it back and build on this

1094
01:09:51,880 --> 01:09:56,640
year's progress, or try to grab
a free agent or make a trade and

1095
01:09:56,680 --> 01:10:01,479
try to push the process along.
I will say I would juggle between running

1096
01:10:01,479 --> 01:10:04,600
it back and looking at the trade
market, because you have to jump through

1097
01:10:04,640 --> 01:10:10,079
too many hoops for them to become
like a real cap space player. This

1098
01:10:10,560 --> 01:10:13,680
summer, you probably have to get
off Kelly Uber's money and then bid farewell

1099
01:10:13,720 --> 01:10:16,760
to Dario sarch And or Aaron Bains, perhaps both of them. And so

1100
01:10:16,880 --> 01:10:19,680
just I don't know who you're going
to get in free agency that makes it

1101
01:10:19,720 --> 01:10:24,039
worth Let's say losing two of those
three guys, knowing that one of them

1102
01:10:24,079 --> 01:10:27,159
is definitely gonna be Kelly Uber Junior. And so I think I would land

1103
01:10:27,199 --> 01:10:30,560
on running it back, or you
know, can we if I'm the Suns,

1104
01:10:30,720 --> 01:10:35,279
can we attach number ten and Kelly
Ubery Junior and get something interesting?

1105
01:10:35,319 --> 01:10:40,000
Just because Uber's money it's expiring.
It's not bad, but it's fourteen point

1106
01:10:40,039 --> 01:10:44,560
four million dollars. You could probably
do something with that. And so that's

1107
01:10:44,640 --> 01:10:46,880
kind of where I land with Phoenix. We already mentioned some potential trade targets

1108
01:10:46,920 --> 01:10:50,039
for them. I would absolutely love
Victor Ladipo there, Chris Paul as well.

1109
01:10:50,279 --> 01:10:54,960
I'm a little higher or a lot
higher on the potential Aaron Gordon fit.

1110
01:10:55,520 --> 01:10:58,119
If you certainly use the mid level
exception, I would operate as a

1111
01:10:58,159 --> 01:11:00,520
capt out team and use the mid
level exception. Maybe that gets you a

1112
01:11:00,560 --> 01:11:02,800
wing. It's probably not going to
get you in the Marcus Morris or Jay

1113
01:11:02,840 --> 01:11:08,359
Crowder or even the Joe Harris conversations. But it should get you someone who

1114
01:11:08,439 --> 01:11:13,199
is helpful. I wouldn't mind seeing
them trade for a veteran like Rudy Gay

1115
01:11:14,000 --> 01:11:15,960
as we were talking about earlier,
or making a bigger move and going after

1116
01:11:16,199 --> 01:11:20,279
Chris Paul or Drew Holiday. But
I'm also totally on board with him just

1117
01:11:20,359 --> 01:11:26,880
choosing to run it back. I
was totally buying into the bubble experienced sons

1118
01:11:26,920 --> 01:11:31,439
that we saw for that eight game
undefeated stretch and the improvements that Devin Booker

1119
01:11:31,439 --> 01:11:35,399
has made to become just this all
around superperstar who's actually trying a little bit

1120
01:11:35,439 --> 01:11:41,399
on defense. Now. Ricky Rubio
is excelling in his role. DeAndre Aiden

1121
01:11:41,479 --> 01:11:44,600
showed so much growth on both ends
of the court. He looks like not

1122
01:11:44,680 --> 01:11:47,880
just a competent, but an actual
good defender now that he is, he

1123
01:11:47,920 --> 01:11:51,680
actually is an understanding of the nuances
of NBA big man defense, which is

1124
01:11:51,720 --> 01:11:57,359
notoriously tough to pick up on.
During those first few years, mckal bridges

1125
01:11:57,399 --> 01:12:00,720
looked fantastic. Cam Johnson looks like
a long term fit in that starting lineup.

1126
01:12:00,880 --> 01:12:04,680
I love all the pieces in place
here, and I don't think they

1127
01:12:04,680 --> 01:12:09,279
need to make any moves to be
as I said earlier, even more than

1128
01:12:09,359 --> 01:12:15,520
just this last last birth playoff edition. But they could, they could pursue

1129
01:12:15,560 --> 01:12:18,439
something even bigger. I don't I
don't mind either direction. They don't need

1130
01:12:18,479 --> 01:12:23,359
to make a big splashy free agent
signing or a big splashy trade just for

1131
01:12:23,359 --> 01:12:26,439
the sake of making any moves.
But if they do find one that's going

1132
01:12:26,479 --> 01:12:28,560
to help them, then by all
means, go for it. What would

1133
01:12:28,600 --> 01:12:31,479
be more preferable to you for this
team become a cap space squad, knowing

1134
01:12:31,520 --> 01:12:35,359
the collateral damage you'd incur Kelly Uber
Jr. Let's say, plus one of

1135
01:12:35,439 --> 01:12:41,680
Sarich or Aaron Bain's and then you
signed a Neil Gallinari, or you basically

1136
01:12:41,760 --> 01:12:45,159
keep this roster as is. Perhaps
you could look at trading ubright, but

1137
01:12:45,239 --> 01:12:50,000
you add Paul Millsapp in free agency, I think I would lean towards towards

1138
01:12:50,039 --> 01:12:53,760
the ladder. I think I would
too, even though Paul Millsapps kind of

1139
01:12:53,760 --> 01:12:58,000
had a rocky playoffs, He's re
established his value versus the Clippers and him

1140
01:12:58,039 --> 01:13:00,039
playing next at DeAndre and just feels
like it works. And also in small

1141
01:13:00,079 --> 01:13:02,760
ball five lineups if you wanted to
go that route. And I think that

1142
01:13:02,800 --> 01:13:08,039
when you have DeAndre Aiden and Devin
Booker as your core pieces, that you

1143
01:13:08,119 --> 01:13:15,000
just naturally gravitate more towards defenders than
offensive players. Final question here, and

1144
01:13:15,039 --> 01:13:17,960
I'm assuming it's quick just because you
had notes jotted down on it comes from

1145
01:13:18,079 --> 01:13:24,920
Kate Sura. Are there any real
trends regarding ref assignments and game results?

1146
01:13:25,199 --> 01:13:29,800
Yeah? I mean, there really
are and there aren't, and that can

1147
01:13:29,840 --> 01:13:34,439
seem like a confounding answer, but
you know, you see the occasional reff

1148
01:13:34,600 --> 01:13:39,560
who tends to have a better record
for the home team or tends to have

1149
01:13:39,920 --> 01:13:43,399
higher scoring games, but those tend
to even out over the years. There

1150
01:13:43,399 --> 01:13:45,840
are always fan bases who think that
a ref is biased against them. The

1151
01:13:45,880 --> 01:13:50,680
most prominent prominent example right now is
probably the Celtics fans with Tony Brothers,

1152
01:13:50,720 --> 01:13:56,159
who know notoriously had a one in
eight stretch for the Celtics and playoff games

1153
01:13:56,199 --> 01:14:01,039
that he officiated. But it always
feels like it's more just like reaching for

1154
01:14:01,479 --> 01:14:04,800
something that's going to fit a preconceived
notion. You can dig into the referee

1155
01:14:04,800 --> 01:14:09,960
statistics and find something that's going to
support your point of view, whether it's

1156
01:14:10,560 --> 01:14:15,520
an official calling more fouls or favoring
one team over another, but those tend

1157
01:14:15,560 --> 01:14:23,079
to be such marginal differences over longer
and larger samples that if there is any

1158
01:14:23,119 --> 01:14:26,960
difference, it's a very very small
one. You know. I just I

1159
01:14:27,960 --> 01:14:31,279
just refuse to buy into the conspiracy
theories, especially in the wake of the

1160
01:14:31,560 --> 01:14:36,439
Tim Donneghee stuff from from a decade
or so back. It's it's so hard

1161
01:14:36,479 --> 01:14:41,319
to believe that, you know,
Adam Silver is calling into, you know,

1162
01:14:41,359 --> 01:14:45,319
the the officials and asking them to
marginally swing a game and one team's

1163
01:14:45,359 --> 01:14:50,560
favor because they want a certain desired
outcome. You can always find stuff to

1164
01:14:50,600 --> 01:14:55,960
gripe about because these calls are so
hard to make. I think it's really

1165
01:14:56,000 --> 01:15:00,520
notable to me that whenever we dispute
a call, we're using slow motion video

1166
01:15:00,600 --> 01:15:04,239
replay to maybe find something to disagree
with, and even then it can be

1167
01:15:04,279 --> 01:15:09,279
tough to tell. So we're talking
about these referees who are trying to make

1168
01:15:09,399 --> 01:15:14,800
calls with the speed of an NBA
game and trying to pay attention to so

1169
01:15:14,880 --> 01:15:17,439
much stuff Like, yeah, the
officiating has been poor during the bubble,

1170
01:15:17,720 --> 01:15:23,000
but it's not in a way that
is intended to favor one team or over

1171
01:15:23,039 --> 01:15:29,760
another, or the NBA's desired outcome
or anything like that. So there's no

1172
01:15:29,800 --> 01:15:32,119
conspiracy theories that play. That's really
disappointing that you don't feel that there are.

1173
01:15:32,199 --> 01:15:34,640
That's like not hot take. I
know that's shocking. I know that's

1174
01:15:34,680 --> 01:15:38,720
shocking. That will do it for
us though. Thank you everybody for the

1175
01:15:38,800 --> 01:15:40,960
questions. We did not get to
all of them because we did feel like

1176
01:15:41,000 --> 01:15:44,239
we need to talk about the thunder
and the bucks here. Maybe we'll get

1177
01:15:44,279 --> 01:15:46,560
to them next time. Please keep
questions coming in even if we're not solicitating

1178
01:15:46,600 --> 01:15:49,960
them. You could get at us
on Twitter, you know the handles anyway

1179
01:15:49,960 --> 01:15:54,319
you'd like. We'll also we'll try
and make these mailbags more regular because these

1180
01:15:54,319 --> 01:15:56,479
are one of my favorite podcasts to
do, so as long as there are

1181
01:15:56,560 --> 01:16:00,119
questions, we will be here to
answer them. Please please, pretty please,

1182
01:16:00,159 --> 01:16:03,239
though, do not forget to rate, review, and subscribe to us.

1183
01:16:03,279 --> 01:16:06,760
If you have not done any of
those things, subscribe and download all

1184
01:16:06,800 --> 01:16:11,520
our episodes wherever you're getting your podcasts, whether or not you use iTunes,

1185
01:16:11,560 --> 01:16:14,560
please just head over there, throw
us a five star rating, write a

1186
01:16:14,600 --> 01:16:17,520
review, even with constructive criticism or
questions in there are always reading the reviews

1187
01:16:17,560 --> 01:16:20,560
that pop up, so if you
can give us that rating right a review.

1188
01:16:20,800 --> 01:16:27,640
We have so little a few reviews
and ratings compared to how many people

1189
01:16:27,680 --> 01:16:30,800
listen to each episode, so if
you could help us choose those numbers,

1190
01:16:30,840 --> 01:16:33,600
we would really appreciate it. Until
next time, I leave you all with

1191
01:16:33,640 --> 01:16:39,920
a shout out two to one the
only future NBA Math one on one tournament

1192
01:16:40,039 --> 01:16:46,920
champion, Jared Jack. The weight
is finally over. Football is back.

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1204
01:17:41,079 --> 01:17:45,119
way rivalry define one of the greatest
errors in boxing history, relive their decade

1205
01:17:45,119 --> 01:17:49,800
of dominance in the new Showtime Sports
documentary The Kings, a four parts series

1206
01:17:49,840 --> 01:17:53,560
premiering Sunday, June sixth, only
on Showtime