All right, Vic, thank you. And earlier in the show, we
were talking about the NBA the Salty A. Adam Auslin joins the program,
Salty, thanks for jumping on here from the NBA to the Salty A.
I like it. Fred. That's how we roll on the point today of
the week. Let's go. Let's do Fred Firecracker up here took us say.
Let me say, whoa, I'm the king of the Segway. Let's
go speaking of that. Yeah what yeah? No, go ahead, go
ahead, but no, I'll let that go. You're gonna let it go.
Yeah, coolerheads will prevail him, not save it for the off air
podcast. Yes, it might be more appropriate, Adam, for that we
were talking earlier. Adam, I have to tell you, I really really
like what the Lakers did. I liked that they held on to that core.
I'd like the signings. I don't know if they're good enough to win
it, but I think they positioned themselves pretty well. Now, well,
this is a team that resigned the guys they had to. That helped them
get to the Western Conferences, and while they did get swept. If I'm
a Laker fan, I'm looking at all four of those games and saying,
how did we not get one against Denver? We weren't that far away.
We were in every one of those games in the fourth quarter. It was
as close as you could get to a competitive sweep as I've ever seen,
let me put it that way. So they bolster their roster and bring back
some continuity at the same time. And that's something Rob Polinka stressed heading into
the off season. He saw Denver, he saw that they got beat by
a team that had been together for a long time, and they had built
up that chemistry and they messed really well together. Can we do the same
thing here? It looks like they finally have a more sustainable roster after the
twenty Bubble Championship that they can run back with youth to match their older players
and Anthony Davis and obviously Lebron James. They have a nice mix now older
guys and young guys that can help carry the load a little bit more.
And even though yeah, you lose Lonnie Walker, you bring in someone like
Cam Reddish, who's a slasher, who's similar to that, who has a
ton of potential. This is a guy who is the tenth pick in the
twenty nineteen NBA draft. De'angelo Russell returns on a two year team friendly type
of deal. Gabe Vincent comes over from Miami. This is somebody who shout
over fifty percent in the Eastern Conference Finals from distance against the Boston Celtics.
Without him staying that hot, they don't win that series. And I believe
he shot forty percent in the first round from distance against the Milwaukee Bucks.
So a guy who has that heat culture is twenty seven years of age,
but is wise beyond his years because he's had a lot of postseason experience with
the Miami Heat. Already, the Lakers did great. Rob Polinka is knocking
it out of the park right now. You can't say a bad word about
what he has done. Torreon Prince, another guy a wing you bring in,
can play the three, can play the four. Little bit shot thirty
eight percent from the outside, solid defender, and you resign Hotchi more to
resign Austin Reeves. Jackson Hayes is a high upside type of player, so
to speak, because of his vertical but he's a little bit undersize at six
eleven, two twenty. I think the one thing they still need to do
is shore up that front court and bring in one more big man, whether
it's Bismack Biambo or bringing back Moo Bomba or Tristan Thompson, whatever it may
be. That's pretty much it for them, I think. And their roster
looks as strong as anybody's in the West. Lebron James, Yeah, does
Lebron get the credit because he takes a lot of blame. You got to
give him a little something for this too. Hey, keep it back together,
run it back, Adam. Do you think they look back and go,
we kind of messed up not keeping it together after the bubble win,
not keeping Caruso, letting KCP walk. Who's all those guys go? And
they looked up and go, oh my god, what did we just do?
It was they made every effort, it seems like, to keep the
cord there. It was strange that they went away from what worked in twenty
twenty, which was a ton of size next to Anthony Davis, where you
had JaVale McGee, you had Dwight Howard. So if ad doesn't want to
bang with the big boys in the front court, somebody else can take up
part of that responsibility from him. And they were a defensive minded team.
They were a lead on that end, and they were opportunistic offensively, and
that was good enough to win that championship then and then they kind of just
remain a roster. With Dennis Shrewder coming in with Montrese Harold, they went
a very different direction. And then obviously bringing in Russell Westbrook and trading away
three crucial guys, including Montrese Harold along with Kyle Kuzma and KCP that completely
changed the complexion of their team. So this to me is a roster with
sustainability. Now you can say Lebron's gonna turn thirty nine. I understand that
part of it, and he's likely gone after this season because he wants to
play wherever Brownie goes. But this is a team where even if Lebron leaves
and you still have Anthony Davis there with some of these young guys who are
going to get a lot better, you're building something you can compete now while
still building for the future. And that's pretty much the fine line in the
balance that every team tries to do. You want to be competing for championships
and you want to have a larger window. I think the Denver Nuggets trading
up to get some higher picks in the draft because they know you can't hold
on to some of these guys you get picked apart once you win a championship.
With the free agency, you know they are looking at a long term
plan, a bird's eye type of view. And I think the Lakers now
with Rob Plink, are in a good position to do some of the same
stuff where they could win the championship this season at least compete for it in
the West with the roster they have today, and then if Lebron leaves,
they could still bring in another player to pair with Anthony Davis and have this
youthful resurgence with the Lakers of guys that you know Austin Reeves. I was
shocked that he got that deal. Nobody challenged the Lakers because he was restricted
for agent. They said they were gonna match any offer, and they basically
said, hey, whatever you do, we're gonna match it no matter what
it is. And they scared teams away from time to say, do you
think that was a move by the Lakers A scaryybody off and say, okay,
what you want to do, but we're gonna match everything. And all
of a sudden, everybody said well, he's not in play, so we're
not even going to offer him anything. It was tactical. Usually you'd see
a team still like the old San Antonio Spurs, and Greg Popovitch will be
like, oh, we're gonna make the Lakers have to pay for him.
We're gonna offer him something. The problem, though, is when you do
that, you get money tied up, and the Lakers apparently we're gonna wait
till the last second to match it to keep Austin Reeves. So therefore,
that team that tried to pay him to make the Lakers pay more would have
had money tied up and they wouldn't have been able to make other moves.
So kind of a brilliant chess three D chess like game plan from Roblinka and
the Lakers' off season so far. I like what they did. I do
you know? And you have to give God if Fred likes it that when
Mellow comes, you're not gonna comes back. He don't remember the days.
We know what we need and we got him. And when this guy's healthy,
all bets are off Trevor a reason. I mean, there was a
period of time where they were depending on Trevor a reason. So credit Rob
Pulink or credit Lebron credit. Give credit where credit is due. They built
something, they burned it to the ground, and they rebuilt it, and
they rebuilt it in a way where they're going to be competitive. It'll be
fun to watch them going it. It'll be fun. We don't know how
healthy Anthony Davis will be. We don't know how healthy Lebron will be.
We don't know, but we do know this. Starting the season, this
goal round, they have an NBA roster that's competitive. Well, you give
yourself a chance. Now, if those guys are healthy. That's the thing.
It's still totally relying on your superstars being healthy in a seven game series,
but with the roster they are building around them, you got a chance
to compete for the entire thing. Of course, health is paramount. I
said it. I'll say it again. The Denver Nuggets had a guy coming
off in acl and Jamal Murray a guy with a back injury, and both
of them were able to play the entire way throughout the playoffs. You need
a little bit of luck. But if the Lakers get that with this roster,
with the depth they have with the young guys, it's you would expect
to be out there logging heavy minutes and being spryed and being innings eaters during
the regular season, so you can rest Anthony Davis and rest Lebron James more
often. You're putting yourself in a great spot. All right, let's go
to the Clippers now. The report today that Paul George was definitely available and
the Knicks just thought the price was too great. It really, any price
for Paul George was probably too great, not because he can't play, but
because you don't know if he's ever healthy. But it does tell you that
the Clippers we're trying to make moves. I like that as well. Adam
Well, if the reports are true, yes, I'm gonna go off of
I guess with the New York rate. Joho said, we'll assume it's true
for the sake of this conversation. I don't know if it was because the
Clippers rarely leak anything. Maybe it's coming from the Knicks side. And apparently
the issue was they don't want to give him that MAX extension. Had they
have brought him in because he's extension eligible this summer, he has an opt
out after this year and likely will to get one. More big contract at
the age of he'll be thirty four next summer. The Knicks have been a
team that have been looking around to find another supporting star next to Jalen Brunson,
who has turned into a star. And they got him on a great
deal. Now, when everybody said, we are they doing giving him a
hundred million dollars, Dallas wouldn't even pay him. Well, now it looks
like a team friendly deal. So the Knicks were a team that had been
rumored to be interested in Paul George. But if this is the route that
the Clippers were looking at, that means also maybe some of those reports with
the Portland Trailblazers and dangling him for Scoot Henderson maybe there was some truth to
that as well. So who knows. At this point though, it it's
like they're still building around he and Kawhi Leonard and they're going to run it
back and maybe if James Harden gets his way, he could be an addition
to this team. They already resigned Russell Westbrook, they resigned Mason Plumley,
and Westbrook's coming back for three point eight million dollars. Relievable deal that they
got with him. But I love them getting kJ Martin, who is a
need. This is somebody I've been talking about for a year. Watch him.
I think he's someone the Clippers may have an eye on. Young player.
Obviously he comes back home as well, but wasn't getting as much run
with the Houston Rockets. Ton of potential and they have a need at that
three four position and just an infusion of athleticism. A guy who can just
be a rim runner out there and have huge monster put back dunks like Kmart
his dad used to have back in the day for New Jersey and Denver.
But if James Harden, if you're able to make that move, and it
sounds like according to the reports, he wants to come also another homegrown guy
back to the West Coast and play for the Clippers. If you can make
that move, you find a way to do it. I think you go
all in this here bringing James Harden in. What do you think Frede feeling
about that? Fred No, I'm not gonna fits with them. Okay,
James Harden is standing alone. You made like whatever. But I think I'm
like with Adam you come. He comes into this team, this roster with
the Clippers, with Paul George and with Kawhi Leonard. Now they gotta they
gotta play, they gotta take you know, Denver's note and stay healthy.
But Harden would be a great fit for them, don't you think, fred
I think this. I think I really was a yes or no question there
for exactly. It really is, okay the question. The answer to your
question, Rodney is yes. I think the days of the three Stars and
they eat up and cannibalize the cap and then you have Trevor or Reason,
Carmelo Anthony come in doesn't work. But I think in the case of the
Clippers, if they're going to run it back, I mean, it's kind
of desperation time. We just got to go for it. And if that's
the case, this is our best shot to do it. It's championship or
bust either way. So if you can bring in someone like James Harden and
doubled down with the two one three connection, I think you have to do
so. And by the way, appropriately so I guess pertaining to this conversation
today, I believe it was the four year anniversary of when Kauai and Paul
George signed with the Clippers when they came over PG in the trade, then
Kauhai signing, and man it is, I know Clipper Nation is as hungry
as ever for a ring still when we thought it was a foregone conclusion when
these guys first came over. But listen to this, They've only been able
to play together in thirty three percent of the available games when they're both on
the court for the Clippers so far in these four years. It's just been
an extraordinary amount of bad luck that has been going on with this team and
those two stars in particular. Yeah, and you know what, I give
the Clippers honestly a ton of credit because when they signed him, they went
for it. Every year they've tried to go for it. Through no fault
of the front office, those guys keep getting hurt. And in this situation,
if you can get James Hardon, although the guy I would go for,
who's not gonna come. Yeah, that's the guy. That's the guy
they're rumored in. Damian Lillard talks too, but it looks like he wants
to go to Miami. Whether or not Portland wants to honor that. And
I don't think they really need to. They have paid him, I think
around two hundred and fifty million dollars. How much more do they owe him.
He doesn't have a negotiable trade contract where he can dictate where he wants
to go, like I think Bradley Beal could, so they could send him
anywhere wherever the best deal is coming back their way. It could you feel
like that. They feel like they got to do him a solid because he's
been there for so long, he's been a fixture that they're not trying to
send him to do a waste land somewhere. They're trying to make sure that
he's happy as well. You never know where that waste land could be.
A lot of people thought that was going to happen for Kawhi when he went
to Toronto. Oh, they set him out of the country. The Spurs
got rid of him all the way up north. They ended up winning a
championship. I think the majority of teams are going to offer the most are
going to be contenders anyways for him and San Antonio. Some people have brought
them up as a little bit of a dark horse and going for Damian Lillard
just because they have Wemby there now that would be interesting, but the Clippers
still have a ton of assets. They've worked with Portland recently when they brought
in Norman Pale and Rocco last year. So I wouldn't put it past him
that they wouldn't try to bring him in. Obviously that's not easy. He's
making over forty million dollars I think over the next three years now. But
you know, keep your eyes out, keep your ears open. If Freddy
there you go, Adam, appreciate your stopping by. All right, I
love you guys. Well I'm already here. What do you mean stopping by.
I've been producing the damn show. Well you actually, yeah? He
walked three feed God Forbiddy does it from the other room. He came in
here professional. Freddy's a professional. Thanks for making the walk. All right?
Good beer? All right? When we come back, it's the event
of the summer. It's happening in Vegas. We've been giving you a chance
to go, and you'll find out exactly why you want to be there.