What's up, y'all is Drewski and I've teamed up with Mountain Dew to produce a hilarious new basketball podcast called The Duo Zone with Drewski. Learn the backstories of your favorite balls and celebrities like Jamal Murray. Did you have like a favorite team? Was it the Raptors at the time? Or no, was the Raptors even started on the topic? Come on, bro hid like I'm Vivity, Taylor Rogues, Asian Wilson, and many more. You won't want to miss this. Listen to The Duo Zone with Drewski on Apple Podcasts, Spotify and wherever you listen to podcasts. Aheart Knox listeners, We're pumped to be able to share an exclusive trailer with you after today's show. From Blue Wire Studios comes Golden Goal Stories of Soccer Legends. Each Monday, two new episodes will take a look into some of soccer's biggest stars in the moments that define their careers. All narrated by Brandon Kelly, the host of Blue Wires Always Cheating podcast from Holland Zalton, Messi, Rapino, and many more. Each episode will focus on the historical plays and personalities that make the sport great. So stay tuned after this episode and checkout Golden Goal Stories of Soccer Legends. Wherever you get your podcasts. What is popping our Renox listeners? I am Dan Pavali coming at you with yet another respite from our decade rankings series. Today we're going to be speaking with the New York Daily News is Christian Winfield. He covers the Brooklyn Nets and the NBA at large for them. We talk about a whole lot of stuff. He covered the protests in Brooklyn, so we talk about that at the top. We talk about the NBA's restart plan, as I've been asking all of our guests when they come on. We talk about the delete eight bubble. There's a live unboxing of his shoes that starts in the middle, and then you'll get more of it at the end if you're into that kind of thing. And then we get into some nitty Nets stuff. They're missing a ton of players seven due to injuries and COVID nineteen concerns. We did We did, however, record this before the Nets ended up going on assigning spree of Justin Anderson, Michael Beasley, and Jamal Crawford. Yes, Jamal Crawford and Michael Beasley are now members of the Brooklyn Nets, which is absolutely fantastic. Do you, however, talk about Kyrie Irving, Kevin Durant, the futures of Caris Lavert and Jared Allen their developments. We get into potential trade targets for the Nets, whether they should even be looking for a third star? Is Caris Lavert that potential third star? What is the flight risk of Joe Harris in free agency? We all thought about what they should be looking to do in the bubble since their expectations are pretty much torpedoed at this point. So, like I said, this covers a lot of ground. It was a fun conversation. I hope you enjoyed it. Please, though, allow me quickly to get through our usual housekeeping notes above all, Please please please please please continue rating, reviewing, and subscribing to us wherever you're consuming your podcasts. Regardless of where you're listening to this, though, we would appreciate if you head over our iTunes throw us a five star rating. Writer review constructive criticism is fine, whether you want anything you want to talk about. We're reading those and they help us out a ton make sure you are subscribed though. Wherever you're listening to podcasts and downloading all our episodes, if you have done slash or doing all those things, we appreciate shoutouts, whether you're retweeting our promos on Twitter or just telling friends, family members, random people in their mentions on Twitter. They'll thank you later, I think, maybe, possibly, hopefully, we appreciate every single one of you. You can follow us on Twitter at hardwoo Knox spelled like it sounds, and also follow our YouTube channel. Go to YouTube dot com search hardwood Knox. We will pop up subscribe like our videos. That's appreciated as well. Last, but certainly not least, shout out to our sponsor, as always, bet online dot Ag for making this podcast possible. With all of that now out of the way, I hope you're excited because we're going to talk some wide ranging hoops topics with the New York Daily News is Christian Winfield, Christian, welcome back to the podcast. I'm excited that you agreed to come on once again during these crazy times, and I asked all my guests this. I know it's a loaded question given everything that's going on right now, but how are you doing, man, How am I doing? I have seen I've both seen better days, and I'm feeling pretty excited and great seeing better days obviously because of the climate in the country right now with everything that's going on from George Floyd's Brianna Taylor to the protests around the country maybe really even around the world since then. Obviously, you know, I was a part of the protest a little bit when I was covering them. Just amazing to see all types of people black, White, Asian, Hispanic coming together for a common goal, which has been amazing. And then I'm just excited because you know, I'm you know, I feel blessed to still have a platform at the Daily News. Obviously we just spoke about it, but July first was a year for me at the Daily No dream job I wanted since I was a kid. So for me to have this platform and use it, I'm pretty sure we all saw the stats of how many black journalists are in each sport versus what right population of black players or in each sport. So just for me to have this platform to be able to use it has been amazing. So it's I'm fifty fifty. I feel I feel that the weight of the country on me right now. But I also feel like, you know, I have a platform that I need to use, and I feel like I've been trying to use it to the best that I can. You definitely have, and I saw you covering the protests. That had to be like a combination of a great experience, but also I would have to imagine like a little bit of an anxiety filled one, just because it's a lot different from covering the league, where yes, you don't know what's going to happen on day to day basis in the NBA, but you're dealing with something so much more profound, And so I commend you for one covering it and being there, But that had to be again like a combination of a good but to me, just from from zooming out, also an anxiety field experience, a little bit man anxiety leading even tie in the fact that this is a coronavirus pandemic going on. So not only am I covering a protests with maybe somewhere between five hundred thousand people around me at any turn, but I'm also paranoid because I've got to have my mask on it all the times I'm looking around. Okay, why don't you have a mask on what's going on? There's free masks over there. What are you doing? But yeah, no, it was that was that was one of the That was the first time I'd ever really gone to any type of protest really in my life. And it was really eye opening just to hear different people's stories, to hear especially from people in the fifties sixty seventy year old range who had already protested, and they're telling young folks, hey, we protested, we did this. And that's kind of how I wrapped up this story for anyone who's who's listening to this podcast and maybe wants to find it. The way I wrapped my story up was, hey, man, the old heads are telling us, you know, we did this before, and y'all are still protests the same things we are protesting for twenty thirty, forty fifty years ago, So what are you gonna do that's different from what we did? And that was really a profound moment for me. And now we're starting to see we're starting to see some change in the country. I know we're seeing a lot of NBA players try to use their platform for better but it's going to have to be better than sports and end saying we need so we need a you know, a real tangible policy reform, and we're starting to see it. We saw it in Minneapolis. How there, I guess, disbanding the police and turn it into a community let whatever you want to call it, watch group, whatever it is, but it's got to be bigger than that. It's got I don't have all the answers, obviously, but it's just been enlightening. That was an enlightening experience for me, for sure, and it's clearly a different experience for someone who looks like mate. But and then also just given that I feel old, but again I'm not all that old. This time feels different with what's happening. But as you mentioned, if you're talking a sixty seventy eighty year old to have who are protesting themselves, does this time feel different to them? Because that might be what's important. You don't just want this to be another thing that's sort of another movement that sort of just peters out and where it's almost like these police killings and these protests they've become topical. And it feels so callous to say that, and they they're not topical anymore, and to me, again, just for someone like me, this time feels different, perhaps because it feels like these protests have lasted longer than they did in times past, and so I would hope that that's a good thing. But I honestly don't know, And I would think getting the perspective from people who did this decades ago and to have lived through this for even longer period of time would probably be super valuable in that context. If you don't mind me flipping this this interview the other way real quick, what is this? What have these last couple months been like for you? I don't know. I don't necessarily know where you're hold up. Where where have you been located? What have you been what have you been learning? What have you been doing? Just with this time, given everything that's been happening. So I live with people who are at risk, considered an at risk group of COVID nineteen, so I've not been part of the protests. I'm also in the suburbs of New York, so please don't hold that against me. This for me personally, this experience has been enlightening to the in the sense that I always wanted to consider my I wanted to myself an ally to the cause, but I was always afraid of coming off as too performative or speaking out of turn, and so I was the and I would say that this is part of the problem. I was the supporter. Who would, you know, retweet people who I think their voices need to be amplified or who I agreed with, who I thought were more experts on the subject. I would when the go fund means came out, I donate what I could in certain situations, and I just wouldn't want to publicize it because I didn't want to feel like I was infringing on the conversation. And I do think that this has taught me that it's okay to speak out and that it's actually not a hard balance to strike to where I want to support the cause and I don't have to make it about me or feel like I'm speaking out of turn. And then it's also just my Facebook activity has changed dramatically where I'm going to go at where I want. I wasn't really on it to begin with, but now I'm going to have the more awkward conversations with people in my feed or my comments, specifically white people who are just going to fall on what I believe is going to be the wrong end of the spectrum here, because it doesn't what we're talking about now really isn't a political issue to me, and so I think that's what this experience has been like for me, and it makes me sad on my behalf that I didn't get to this point sooner where it was more of this sort of passive support that I do realize was or now realized that was part of the problem, you know, And that's it's interesting that you bring that up. And I know we're we're gonna head to basketball soume, but you know, it's you have kind of responsibility to use your platform even if you know you might be wrong on something, and half the time a lot of this stuff is educational. Just even on the other end of the spectrum. We saw what happened with Stephen Jackson to Shawan Jackson, how he was just completely wrong. But that sparked a different conversation from one of my my one of the guys who work at the nets who who has a Twitter following his name is Jordan Robinowitz Jewish, and was just talking about how, you know, Jewish people have to understand the balance of inherently having that privilege versus also being you know, a people that had their own things to deal with in the past and they're still working through that as well. So that's a conversation that I would have never been exposed to had Stephen Jackson and just Seawan Jackson not come out and been wrong about it. So sometimes being wrong has a trickle down effect to others who want to educate the rest, you know. And I felt like a lot of this, even it's from yesterday or from the entire Black Lives Matter moment, I feel like the educational portion of a lot of this is more is even more important. I just had a I was interviewing Dick Barnett last night for another story I'm working on, and that was half interview, half history. Lest he was just schooling me on a lot of different things. And that's just that that just came about because I was open enough to have a conversation and just be like, hey man, you went to Tennessee State fifty years ago. I know nothing about what it was like back then, and it kind of just educated me and all that. So a lot of this stuff is just being open to having these conversations, putting yourself out there knowing that you don't know everything, and just being open to learning. And I think that's what has been most enlightening to me, is that a lot of you have been open to understand. Okay, I know I'm not racist, but I know I come from a lineage of people who suppressed and oppressed people for four hundred years, So how do I learn more about these things? And it's just been a dope experience for me, just learning and just watching everybody open up and for anyone who's interested. At Jordan rab jlr DA n ra AB had a fantastic thread on the Jamayan Jackson comments and I thought it was just comprehension and I think it just put it into fantastic perspective. So check him out on Twitter and then to see that threat. If you're interested, Sports are coming back, and so are your chances to bet on your favorite teams and events, and there's no better place to start than our exclusive partner, bet Online. Get in on the action for this week's big UFC fight, or check out odds on NASCAR, Formula One and the Premier League. Can't wait for your team to come back? Bet Online has futures odds including wind totals, division winners and even league championships. Or check out daily simulations of Madden and NBA two K to watch and wager on. Visit bet online dot ag and use promo code blue wire to receive your new welcome bonus. That's promo colored bluelyre all one word that online. You're online wagering experts. So what we just talked about, I don't think that they're there really shouldn't be a debate or a two sides to the argument when looking at the macro issue there, But looking at the NBA specifically and the restart plan, I do think when there's this, everyone strives to speak in absolutes on social media. I feel like where they don't want to operate in this gray area. I do think there's a conversation to be had about the NBA restart, whether it should be happening, why it's happening, And so I've been asking every guest that comes on. I know maybe listeners are kind of sick of hearing about it, but I love hearing the different perspectives, and so I was just curious what your opinion was on the NBA's restart plan. You know, from the perspective, not just should it be happening, but given what the NBA is set up, how do you feel about that? You know, it's interesting to me because there's two sides of it, right. There's obviously the health side, in which players are going in and putting themselves at uh for basketball right and and I understand completely that players have the the they have the option if they want to, they can sit out. And we've seen it happen in Brooklyn. We've seen Wilson Chandler sit out. He's not he doesn't have the coronavirus, but he's scared. He doesn't want to get it and pass it along to the family. I feel for him. I feel for players like him that don't have family members that don't necessarily want to pass it on. Wilson Chandlers specifically side of his grandmother. Uh. And that's somebody. You know what I'm saying, that's we want to avoid that at all costs. So salute to Wilson Chandler. Same for staying out. It's interesting. It's tough. It's a tough call for me because I want to think that the NBA has their players best interests at heart. But if you're putting them in a position to play in the middle of a global pandemic where numbers are spiking, and you're sending them to the state where numbers are spiking most it's a little it's a little alarming, for sure. But at the same time, you're getting the sense that these players still want to play, and you're hearing from all these players like, no, whoever wins a championship in this that shouldn't be in service as an exclamation mark. I mean, I kind of get that, But at the same time, it's it's just a tough sell for me to have players going back risking themselves in the Orlando bubble where I don't necessarily know how it works. But if one person has the coronavirus and they're in this bubble and they spread it to a bunch of people, like, we don't know the far reaching implications of this coronavirus. We're still in year one. What happens rights was like what seven months ago in the United States, exactly like what happens when a player's lung capacity gets compromised years from now after he thought he was clear of the coronavirus. You know, like, there's still so many unknowns that I can't fully say I'm comfortable with the NBA starting up, but when you think about the oh, is that it? Oh? See it happened. Okay, give me one No, you know, I'm gonna take you guys with me. I told you this is gonna happen. I had a pair of sneakers that was coming in today and the FedEx truck is outside. I ordered some of some Adidas kicks not too long ago, and uh, guys, outside of waiting for these things all day, I literally haven't done anything that spectacular. This podcast is gonna cover every single thing you can think of. We're gonna have a live sneaker on boxing here in just a couple of seconds. Shout outs to Mic Psikes. I don't know if anybody follows someone, so you guys should follow him. But he's the host of a product of a newsletter on podcast called The kicksiewere and uh I got these just on his recommendation. I wouldn't even say anything's recommendation, but he posted them. I was like, no, these things are retiredly too fire. But I digressed. Let me get back to what I was talking about. Before we get to these sneakers. There's also the other part of it, where it is obviously the social justice and everything that's going on in the world. The NBA players want to kind of touch on, and I know Kyrie had an entire thing talking about, Okay, we need to skip the bubble because of X, Y and Z. We can you know, get away from basketball and mix statement that way. For me, it's I don't think if if safety was just the number one goal, that the season wouldn't resuming. And I think saying that, though it's been interpreted as I hate the league I watch or cover or I hope the bubble fails, which which isn't it? For me, it's just and I mean you you conveyed these points. It's this convolution of feelings right now. I don't think it should happen, but I get why it is, and they should be transparent about it. Like part of the issue is is money. It's not just about getting back to normalcy or serving as this higher power, because we know sports does have a higher power, but it's not solely about that. I hope it doesn't fail. I also hope that the bubble ends up being safer than having these players go about their deli lives, because we've seen just the sheer number of of COVID tests have come back positive since players have started coming back into markets with their teams. A lot of these guys, they're not going to be quarantining the during their regular life at home when they when they have when they're not inside the bubble is basically how it is. So I hope maybe there's a chance that the bubble ends up being safer. I don't know if it will be is because if there's one or a few COVID tests, is it going to spread like wildfire? Then I also don't know if it's okay at this point that the NBA has such ready access to so much testing when when others don't. It's such a complicated issue, and I also understand that at some point we do have to accept the risks involved and try to live with this virus, just given how it's headed. I also just don't know if we're at that point right now. And I'm not saying that there isn't going to come a point where we have to get there, but I think that's where our matters. I don't know if that point is right now and it just feels wildly uneasy. Yes, I'm excited to watch hoops. I hope it works out. I'm going to be covering it. I'm going to be watching it. But as you touched on, I think it's just this melting pot of feelings and it's okay to land in all these different areas to me because I don't think right now that there's this clear cut, right answer knowing how everything's going to be viewed. Again, if this was really all about safety, we wouldn't be having this conversation. But there are other factors evolved, and whether you agree with them or not, that is you know you do. Those are just matter of facts there. So that's kind of where I land on. The whole situation is that I'm being pulled in so many different directions. Again, I don't think it should be happening, but there's just there's so much else going on and there are so many other feelings involved. You know what I will say, If it is indeed about money and the NBA recouping money as as as a vehicle, well using the Orlando restarts a vehicle to recoup money, then they have done a good job of not letting that be the story. We see what's happening in the MLB. We've got players and owners just openly arguing with one another over salaries and things like that, and that's just an absolute disaster. The last thing anyone wants to hear when the unemployment rate of skyrocketing, when people are out of jobs and people are being furlough left of right, last thing anybody wants to hear is a players need a couple of extra zeros on the end of their checks, and owners want to be pocketing x amount of extra dollars or recouping money that they didn't get because the regular season what's lost. Listen, We've had lives lost. We've had people who've had limbs loss, who've had lungs loss, who've had all different types of things lost as as by part of this of this pay endemic. So the NBA has done a pretty good job of not making it money centric, or even if it is, it hasn't gotten now hasn't been leaked. So I'm pretty happy that that hasn't become the story because it could have been a lot worse. And yeah, everything that you that you that you touched on. I get it, I'm being polled, would be imposed in a lot of different different directions. I don't even know how I feel about the NBA letting players wear certain messages on the back of their jersey and then telling them, Okay, you can only wear these messages on the back of your jersey, but we're gonna paint black lives Matter on the court? Like, who cares if you paint black lives matter on the court. Who cares if I can't wear Brianna Taylor or George Floyd's name on the back of my jersey. But I could wear the word of quality or I could wear the word vote. You know. Like that came off a little gimmicky to me, but I kind of understand. No, I'm not even gonna say I don't understand. You know, if you're going to let players make a statement, everybody should be able to make their own personal statement for what truly matters to them to a certain extent. You know, we obviously saw a John Moran catch survived for what he wanted to post on back at his jersey, and uh, you know, I mean at a certain place, I get it. You know a lot of people that echo the same sentiments. You know, police are the ones who who are responsible for George Floyd and Brianna Taylor's murders and all the other innocent, unarmed black people that have died at the hands of that chal as many people say as twelve. You know what I'm saying, A lot of a lot of it stems back to that, And I understand that there has to be some form of cutoff of what is allowed in the back of a Jersey. But come on, I mean, you saw the list of those things, man, that's that's kind of if I could just call spade a spade, that's bullshit. Man. The kids should be able to wear whatever the hell they want them back in New Jersey. So I'm being pulled in a bunch of different directions, but I generally feel that a restart is not good in terms of health. Right. I think we can all agree that players should not be going to play in the middle of a pandemic when we don't know the implications of the coronavirus. In year two, three or four, I think we can all agree that players shouldn't be playing. But if they're going to be playing right, and if we're going to all be finding our own normal lives and we're going to return to life at some point. Then. I do feel that Returns of Play is the best opportunity for players to use this platform in Orlando to really promote some type of message. And I think also the NBA is kind of a bell weather for people that also want to get back to work and believe they're headed in that direction, because, like you said, a ton of people have lost jobs and been furloughed. We both of us are fortunate enough to not be one of them, and so I get the impulse there that seems like a larger failure of our country for the mindset. You know, we haven't figured out a way to constructively keep people at home where it's because they are feeling fearing for their livelihoods by trying to do the right thing, or because they lost jobs because of this, And so that's a larger issue. And as you mentioned about the messages on the jerseys painting black lives matter on the court, I had talked about this with Yasmin from the Dishes and Dimes podcast on the last episode. I want to see something because I agree with everything you said. I want to see something and I would never dare to instruct players on how to go about this. I want to see something that can't be ignored, because all the gestures we've seen so far, as you said they could be can true just gimmicky, They can be ignored and doing something you know, in the pregame or the post game that can be easily ignored. There needs to be something more active happening during the broadcast. I don't know what that is. Is it's speaking with people, activists, players that aren't in the bubble, like during these broadcasts that are being held remotely. I honestly don't know what it is, but there needs to be something happened during live game play to me so that it's clear that these messages won't be lost or ignored. And that's kind of where they land on it. Yeah, it's tough because I'm not, like you said, I'm not sure exactly what that looks like either. And maybe it's maybe it's subbing out a broadcast or maybe it's doing so I don't I don't know, and that's a tough call because at the end of the attention is going to be and this is this is my initial fear. You know, obviously, no matter what you do pregame or what you do postgame, the attention is going to be on the box scoring, on the highlights, right, that's what people want to see. People are gonna want to see the dunks. They're gonna want to know who won the game. They're gonna want to know who went for fifty, and they're gonna want to know who beat Lebron or who Lebron beat. They're gonna want to know who the champion is. They're not gonna certainly care about whose name is on the back of what jersey or care about what's written on the hardwood. FLA still find that to be the most gimmicky thing you're gonna paint Black Lives Matter on the world. I mean, sure, I thank you. Maybe question mark like, okay, what do you do with that? But I mean it's tough because the NBA is balancing the same question we're balancing, like what would make the hardest impact mid game in the middle of the game that people can't ignore. Maybe it's something, maybe they have something that happens on the broadcast, where as a banner that goes across I don't I don't necessarily know. Maybe it's someone that they bring on to interview during the game, kind of like how they have courtside interviews with I don't know, you know, how they have mid game interviews with the head coach or like cut away to talk to whoever during them, or like an assistant coach or something like that. Maybe then they have a cut away to deal with the police chief in Minneapolis talk about how they're being active, you know, and they I'm sure the guys in the NBA are a lot smarter than me, you know, I'm not afraid to admit that. So I'm sure they've got lot of different ideas going on. But it can't just be giving players something to put on the back of the jersey and writing Black Lives Matter on the floor. And no doubt it's going to be. I'm really excited to see what they do because I know the players have been trying to do something. I know the Coaches Association is also trying to do something separate, I'm sure the NBA is and it's our league is trying to do something. And then we've seen individual efforts. We saw the thunder partner with the Tulsa I forget what exactly it was that they did but they partnered with the Tulsa Educational System. I got to look into exactly what they're doing. We saw Bradley Beal give out scholarships for kids to go to Howard and Hampton and North Carolina Central and Norfolk State. For really, you know, Hampton is my alma mater, so shout out to the kid that's going there. But I want to see more of that. I want to see more players take initiative on their own. We're seeing Kyrie Herving. I'm going to be glued to my TV today. He's doing a documentary. I'm bringing a tailor to night. Can't wait to see that. I just want to see more of that. I feel like every NBA player is I think once once an NBA player signs a contract, they're automatically moving up into the top. I don't know what percent of earners in this country, and I'd love to see them take some of that money individually and really make a statement with that, and whether it be a charitable donation, whether it be starting something or helping some kids out, you know they've got it. I think it has to start on the individual level, and I think we're seeing some of it, but we need to see more. And so the figure mentioned about okay see I brought it up. They announced a Thunderfellows program along with CIA Sports, which is basically, the goal is to unlock new career opportunities for black students in Tulsa, and they're going to emphasize data analytics and creating pipelines for jobs in sports, entertainment and tech. And so that's a really cool thing. And as you acknowledged, it's easy for you know, us to sit here and say that these things need to be better. The hope is that just like we know, you know, if we're going to criticize the NBA's return, we also have to know that they have the resources and have definitely gone through a certain level of risk assessment. Their plan has been mostly complimented by epidemiologists, which is which is huge. It's more so it's less about the bubble and what's and more about what's happening outside it and about the individuals within it. Can you trust them to do the right thing? And then with this issue, is it's easy for me to say, yeah, they needed to do more. If I'm not going to come up with a suggestion, I guess that rings a little hollow hope though, is that you have more creative minds than mine from the NBA and the players Union putting their heads together and figuring out a way. And you know, maybe one of the most powerful things would be we see a lot of you know, whether they're cookie cutter statements or really profound ones from from teams, they seem to originate more from players. What if these team, you know, team chairman, if you have them really come out in support of their players, that might actually mean a boatload more than some of the cookie cutter stuff that we're seeing now. I don't know though, but that's definitely I'm hoping it's a discussion. I'm sure it's one that's happening internally right now. I'm wondering if we can all agree that the Chicago bubble just shouldn't be happening with the deleting. Yeah, that's not that's that sounds like a glorified summer league to me. And I don't think there needs to be any time like these teams are eliminated from the playoffs, there's no reason from to be playing, there's no reason to expose them to the coronavirus. Now, I understand why a team might want to play some of their guys. Obviously a lot of these teams that are missing out, these are our teams on the younger and that maybe want to develop their players that maybe we want to see. You know, we're entering free agency. Do we have anything left in this prospect? If the Knicks are going, what does Kevin Knox have in the tank? Right? What does r. J. Bryant have? See a guy we can build around, or is he just another top pick that doesn't pan out, or is he somebody that we might try to include in a trade, or is he somebody that we want to keep in and keep around for a little longer. So I understand it from a basketball perspective. Obviously you want to have as much time you've got all these other teams that are playing, we still want to. We still want to, you know, scout some of our players, see if they're part of the long term vision. Maybe develop them over these next eight to ten games or however many games. But at the end of the day, it's just careless, right, You're putting players in a position to where there's no there's no reason to play. They're not playing for anything like one or something right, it's not like there's anything tangible attached to it. And then on top of that, it's it's it's just not a smart idea. You've got the coronavirus pandemic, which is obviously either in the second uptick of the first wave or in the second wave. We don't know yet. We still got people done, we've still got cases, We've got more NBA players testing positive by the day, and you want to restart the season for teams that aren't playing for anything in Chicago, one of the bigger cities in the country. I don't think it's a smart idea. I don't think it'd be a smart idea if they did it in Albuquerque, you know, And it just doesn't make sense to me, And I don't think they should do it. And look, they're maybe it will be useful for some teams, but there's also going to be you know, there's only eight of them, but I feel like they're especially if you look at the Golden State Warriors, they're not playing Steph or Draymond in a double state bubble. And would the Knicks even play RJ Barrett because if they give him, if it's eight games, could that do more harm than good for his public perception if he's just super rusty and doesn't play well, And so there could be instances of that as well. And who's going to be really invested in watching the Hornets versus the Santa Cruz Warriors At that point, it just doesn't seem like I'm with you. There doesn't seem to be a real incentive. I'd rather see these teams be able to hold mini camps, and I understand the thought process that maybe they'd be safer if they go through the bubble protocol in Chicago, but we also don't know if it ends up being safer. That might be something to monitor in in Florida. But before you can make that decision for the other eight teams that you want to send to Chicago, right, And then there's the other side of the of the I was gonna say the bubble, but this is the other side of the equation as well, And something that a lot of guys have spoken about. What if a player gets hurt in this Orlando bubble or in a Chicago bubble and it's a serious injury and that guy's about to be a free agent, just got put back onto the floor for no reason, and now he's probably not going to get another contract because he put his life on the line, and then maybe catches the coronavirus on top of that, Like, there are a lot of worst case scenarios the NBA could avoid, but really just not. I mean that for Orlando as well. But if a player gets a season ending injury or career threatening injury in the Chicago bubble, that is a terrible, a terrible thing that happened that it'd be it'd be terrible optics for the NBA. So I don't think it's worth it for them to resume the season in Chicago, let a Leone Orlando. But at the end of day, the NBA is going to do what it wants to do, and if it if it resumes the season in Chicago, it's going to be a very hard sell to tell me that this doesn't have to do with money, right. If you're taking eight playoffs, if you're saying eight non playoff teams and you're gonna put the Charlotte Hornets against the Santa Cruz Warriors, I'm immediately thinking, Okay, you obviously want this money. And I mean, honestly, I understand from a certain a certain standpoint. You know, all these NBA owners are businessmen, they're entrepreneurs, and they're losing money not playing games. I understand it, you know, I see both sides. But at the end of the day, this is like, you see what's happening. I touched on it about the MLB stuff. You see what's happening. It would be just a terrible way to go out if the word becomes these guys are greedy and putting and risking their players health and livelihood for a couple of extra zeros in the middle of a global pandemic. So I just don't think it's worth it. And look, these things are collectively bargained, so you can say that the players want to do it as well. But after seeing the reaction from some of the players about going to Disney, but looking at what Jason Tatum said about having to leave his family and just feeling settled, it makes me again, I know these are collectively bargained. I know the players want their money too. There's also nothing wrong with saying that. It just it makes me feel even less okay, insofar as I ever would have been okay with that Elite eight bubble. Actually happening. Yeah, it's man. I'm just hoping that they don't go through with the Chicago restart. I understand that, I said, I said, I see all sides of this thing, man, but I just don't think it's a good idea. I do feel for the reporters that are going to Orlando. They're gonna have it's an interesting experience. I know Moliica Andrews is one of them that's down there already now, and she's kind of like a guinea pig ring the bubble. I'm shout outs to Molika. But man, this is going to be a real eye open the next couple of months. I really hope everything is okay with a lot of the different players, especially the ones that are soon to be fathers. Garrett Temple is expecting the kid in September. I know, said, is he expecting too? Did I see that? I possibly? I mean number one. I doubt that that's make it to September past the first couple of weeks in August, but h you know, there's that, and then someone else is expecting the child and they might I think, is it Gordon Hayward. Is Gordon Hayward expecting the kid? Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, and just guys like that, because once you leave, I'm pretty sure you can't get backed in. So I feel for guys are gonna have to make that type of decision. But it's obviously no decision. You're either playing in the Orlando bubble or go see the birth of your child. I picked the birth watch out every trip, and I do think they're allowed back in, but it's you have to go through that protracted quarantine process, all right, right, and it guy like Gordon Hayward, if you leave and come back, you've got to wait. I don't know how many days your team might be gone by then. So it's gonna be interesting because the Celtics are a team that I think can shock a cup people a couple other teams if everybody's healthy, and if going here with leaves at at just the worst moment, that could really put them in jeopardy. But I mean, at the same time, they're all everybody's in jeopardy right now, so I don't know. It's it's a lot going on. It's almost too much for your brain to process at one time. I guess that's why they put us in these positions, right, That's why I'm that's why you're there so that we can try to make the most sense of what we can. That is the best way to put it, though, is it's too much the process. And again, even if you don't like it, sounds like we don't believe that necessarily the season should be resuming. The hope is that it can resume, and everything's just that this works. That is the is the actual hope. Are you ready to answer some questions though about the Brooklyn Nets, who are incredibly topical at the moment. Absolutely so. We knew Kyrie Irving and Kevin Durant weren't going to be playing. And now you don't have Spencer, Dimwitty, you don't have DeAndre Jordan or Wilson Chandler, Nicholas Classon as well Tory and Prince. Who else am I forgetting at this point Wilson Chandler? I think I said him already. You run through the list, there's seven that are out. So you've got Kevin Duran, Kyrie, Evan, Wilson, Chandler, DeAndre Jordan, Spencer did Witty, Nick Lackson, and there's one Moratory im Prince. Yeah, that's seven. So to spin it in a that's a totally unfortunate situation, and you respect someone like Wilson Chandler who's just choosing to stay out of the bubble for safety reasons. As you mentioned before, what should we be watching for in Disney from the nets? Now? Knowing that they were immediate expectations, they were kind of already out the window because you wouldn't have Kyrie or KD. But now they're just gone, and so what is what should we be watching for? Is there may be an offbeat player worth keeping an eye on for them? Is there anything that you're going to be looking at specifically through all this, you know the other than the other person. They're not going down to Orlando with this Kenny Atkinson. Kenny Atkinson got fired, well parted ways mutually quote unquote three three and before the regular season is over. So one guy we've got to really look out for his jacque Van. Now, I don't think jacque Jan has a chance in the hell at keeping the code the Nets cope and glow later ruin of the future questions. But Love was a guy, great guy. I would love nothing more than the next to co sign another black Head coach, making it eight out of thirty teams to have a black head coach coaching majority black players. But if you just look at Jacques Joan's resume and what he did in Orlando, and I don't even really want to get on him for things that happened in Orlando because Rob Henniget was running the show and it was just a complete disaster while that guy was in charge. But I mean, if you're building a team that is supposed to be a championship contender, you want a coach with some sort of championship pedigree, right, And Jacques Blant has championship pedigree. He's one one in San Antonio. He's played on championship contenders. I think he was the championship contender with the Jazz. He played on the nets with some champions he played on they didn't win, but I don't think he was even there for the championship run. But he played with him in the aftermath of the of the Jason Kidd and and h and Man. That was a great team that those nets were a lot of fun to watch. But he really got to look out for Jacques going and what he's going to implement in this in this Orlando bubble because as much as Seawan Marks is gonna say wins and losses don't matter as it pertains to the coaching higher the coaching starts. That's that's I don't even know if I curse, that's hogwash, right, we know that's not true. Jacques von We needs to win as many games as he ken. Now, mind she's the all NBA's only undefeated head coach. He's got two wins. He beat the Bulls and then he beat He went to la and he beat the Lakers. I think that can't go under the radar. He coached the team that went to Los Angeles and beat a fully healthy Lebron James Caanthony Davis led Los Angeles Lakers team. That's as impressive as it gets. But what is he going to do with this team of it's not even really a team right now. At this point, you're gonna have carros Laver running the point guard. After that, you're gonna have the starting lineup is probably gonna beat carous Lavert, Joe Harris, Garrett Temple. I don't know what power forward they're gonna put in there. Probably some guy whose name you can't pronounce, like Rodeyards Corus probably gonna put him at the four and Jared Allen at the five. We've got no help other than Tyler Johnson and Christiosa coming off the bench. And then after that, you're just grabbing guys that you can find on the market. I wrote today in a piece that went online New York Daily News dot com today about four different guys that the Nets could sign. One of them. You know, obviously there's a big gap at point guard. I thought Tim Fraser would be a great pickup. I think Tim Frasier, the guy was falling on the radar, is undersized, but he could move the ball. He could hit the three at a good rate. Another guy. Obviously, if Isaiah Thomas is out there, the Nets need all the scoring they can get, So maybe you give Isaiah Thomas a flyer. But at this point in the nets life cycle, they're not going to be able to convince veterans to come out of free agency to play for them. No veteran like like they have a hole at center. You're not gonna get Powerless all for eight games in our first round exit right, thirty nine year old Powerless always looking at the Nets like no thank you. Maybe a team at the Bucks or the trail Blazer or somebody else with a legitimate chance at upsetting in the first round could but the nets aren't gonna be able to get guys like that. So I think we're gonna a lot of the spotlight is going to be on Jacque Vaughan and what's and how he's able to maximize what he's been given. You Listen, Jack's been dealt the worst possible hand for a guy in his position. He's going into an Orlando bubble, exposing himself to the coronavirus already, He's gonna be short seven. He's not gonna have any starters. Your best guyt there's gonna be Caroslvert. Love Carols LeVert. Hope he can be the third piece in Brooklyn, but honestly, he may end up being a trade ship. We don't know. And then on top of that, you're gonna be playing with guys that you're picking up off the street, guys who otherwise wouldn't be on an NBA roster. It's gonna be a tough sell. But to get back to your question, but guys, you should watch Karros Lavert is number one. He's got something improve and that's that he can be that third star that Kyrie IRV was talking about. Spotlights on him, not saying he's got to go for fifty every night, but he's got to put up forty nine and from that point it's it's gonna be hard. Other than that, Jared Alls, another guy's got something to prove. Listen, Jacques want took over. First thing he did was put DeAndre Jordan's start line up and bench Jared Elle And I asked him about that and he was like, hey man, look I know what I can bring. I know what I can bring to a to an NBA team. I've done it for two years. So the more sol Orlando is gonna be him trying to remind everybody what he can do. I think Chris giosas another I got to look at who really came on strong in the last few games of the season before the coronavirus outbreak. He's kind of reminds you of Fred VanVleet, not just in the way that he looks. I mean, they have similar profiles, but in the way that they play. They're tough, a little undersize, can shoot the three. Fred's a little bit, a little bit bigger and can play a lot tougher defense, but Christio is a guy that's gonna need scoring and anyone who could bring I think losing Tory and Prince was a devastating blow because the Nets put in Wilson Chandler is a starting four, and Wilson Chandler was shooting the ball particularly poor, but he was a good defendatory. And Prince is inconsistent, but he can get you some buckets, and losing him as a blow, it's gonna be tough. The Nets don't really have much to do, so you're gonna see Garrett Temple handling the ball. Love Garret Temple and one of the one of the better guys, just like one of the better men in the NBA. But there's only but so much you can ask him to do, and there's only butts so much we can ask of these Brooklyn Nets. I don't think anyone is expecting them to upset anybody, and anyone's expecting them to win more than three games out of their eight in the Orlando bubble. I think I think people want to do is just all all people want to see is Brooklyn basketball. They want to see this team compete, at least try to give a f right and after that you know the cards are gonna fall where they may. If cars Lavert is out there averaging I know, I said forty nine, this is averaging twenty six points on somewhat decent efficiency. You're happy. If Joe Harris is hitting three is at a good rate, you're happy. If Jared Allen is averaging a double double, you're happy. But there's not much you can ask for me. I think more so, you want to see Jacques go On really manipulating this team to his will and going out there and executing his offense on one end and playing tough defensively. I think that's really what next fans are looking to see. Yeah, I think the goal for them it would have to be obviously keep remain in the playoff picture, but then trying to avoid the Bucks in the first round. Like that's like you're feeling like, hey, if we play a Boston or Toronto, maybe something happens. Who knows, But Chris Chios is the guy that I'm most interested in seeing. In terms of off beat names. Carus Lavert, I'd love watching, but just looking at someone who maybe has a who isn't guaranteed to spot on this roster, but has a long term place. Just like you said, he shot the three ball well, particularly from above the break this year. He's not the best finisher, best finisher, best defender, but he at least has a presence on that end, so I'm sure see what he can do to your Since I had a question about Jacquevon, you already answered it. You don't think that he's really going to coach or won't be in a position to divide for the head coaching position for this team. Do you have any sense of what name you could see them looking at or what direction they'll go in that search once the season ends. Before I touched that, you talked about avoiding the Bucks. I don't think that the Nets have a chance in hell of avoiding the Magic. Twice Magic only a half game behind the Magic gonna beat them into the ground twice a goat Aaron Gordon and Nikola Rusovic. I don't think they stand a chance and the Magic to have an overall lighter a lighter schedule. I think just staying in the playoffs and not losing in a play in tournament to the Wizards without Bradley, Bill Ord Davis, Bert Toms is as much as the Nets fans can ask for, and not getting blown out by fifty in the first round series by the Bucks. It would be criminal. If we get a play in tournament in the East but not the West, that will be talk about backfire. That would be awful. That's not I wouldn't even want to watch it, but I have to. But to get back to your point on who the Nets are gonna hire as the head coach, I don't have a name, but I do know this. They're gonna hire whoever. Kevin duran and Kyrie Irving tell them too, right, and that's we don't know what's going on in their minds. I wish I could pick up a phone in dal Kyrie and ask him, now, hey, who do you want to hire as head of coach? And he go, hey, sure, I'll tell you whatever you want. But that's not how it works, you know. But I'm pretty sure, and Shaun Marks came out and said it the other day. We're going to take input from Kevin Durant and Kyrie Irving very seriously and as you have to. These are the guys that you have committed. What's this one sixty four and one forty six more than three hundred million dollars over the course of four years. You're going to put them in the best position to succeed, and that means getting the voice that they want in there. I don't know who that is. I don't know. Maybe they want Mark Jackson, maybe they want I don't know, maybe maybe maybe want Tyron lou Maybe they want Greg Popovich is a name that I've seen come up more often than not, and I really hope that that would be the way they go, because if the Nets go get Greg Popovich and pry him from San Antonio, that could be a three piece or at least a repeat waiting to happen. But I'm not sure. And that kind of ties into what it's been like covering this team for a season. There's just a mystery about them. It's a mistique. I mean, Kevin Duran and Kyrieerver and the two guys who like to control the narrative as much as they can, and they do so by by using misdirection. They'll tell you one thing and then something else will come out, and it could be frustrating, but it's also like you understand, because every day we see these guys say something and something else, and then a little bit of what they say gets twisted, it turns into a whole story and nothing gets Nothing is more frustrated from me as a reporter when I write something and someone else takes one sentence of the entire thing that I wrote and turns it into a think piece about something else. So I understand in a way, but at the same time, these guys have been particularly tight lipped about a lot of things. Kevin Durnstlan speaks spoken to media twice. He spoke to media during the presser during introductory day press conference, and then he smoked to us. Actually a big shout off to him. He spoke to us not too long after Kobe died. Kyrie wasn't ready to speak, so Kevin spoke to us instead. But we haven't spoken to him in a while. We haven't spoken to Kyrie since he got hurt, and it's just been tough. But to get back to your question, I have no sense of who the Nets are going to hire as their next head coach. I just know unequivvally that Kevin Duran and Kyrie River are going to have a big voice and who that is. If the Spurs just decide to blow it up and then Greg Papovic ends up coaching elsewhere. That will be I don't I mean, it'll be amazing, but also it would feel weird, one of those like seeing a player in a different jersey, you know, like knowing that Hicky Malajuan played for the Raptors or something like that, where was like seeing Jason Kidd were in Knicks jersey. Right, So getting into some specific players, where do you kind of land on Jared Allen right now? Because as she said, he was benched and I still think he was better than DeAndre Jordan overall this year, but there was like it felt stunted growth where it was he didn't expand his offensive range. DeAndre Jordan is the better passer, Allen is the more portable defender, but is he enough of a difference maker on the defensive end where you wouldn't want to put DeAndre Jordan on the floor, who in theory does kind of stack up against the stronger bigs better than than Allen would. And so this is interesting because he is I don't think he'll get one, but he is extension aligeable this year, correct because this was his third season. I believe so I don't think they give him one. But I'm just curious whether you still think he's part of their long term plan. That's an interesting question. If you ask me that on Draft night when the Knicks took Nick Claxton, I would have told you no, because Nick Claxton is a bawler. He's a guy who's I think he's he's got a bright future in this league. You know, obviously he's got comparisons to Chris Bosh, but I think he's a guy who's going to be able to extend that range out to to reliably knock some threes down. He's he's got the size, he's got the lettuces will really jump out the gym. But now when you get to see what happens now with DeAndre Jordan, we don't know. Again, we don't know what the implications of this coronavirus are, and now he's got it, we don't know what the future holds for him. Well wishes prayers to him. But if we're talking about just basketball standpoint, I think Jared Allen is going to be one of the first guys out the door if the Nets have an opportunity to trade for a star, If you're going to get a guy like Bradley Beale. That deal is probably going to start with either Carous, It's going to start with three of Carous, Lebert Spencer, then with Torrian Prince, Jared Allen and picks to Infinity. Right, that's what it's going to cost. And I think Jared Allen is the first. Well, Torrian Prince is out the door, and Jared Allen, well, I mean Torrian Prince also. Now it's coronavirus. We don't know, and that's just such a it's such a bummer. And I just feel for a lot of these guys who are tested positive for this thing because there's not enough information out there, because we don't know what this means, and we've the only thing that we've seen consistently from people who suffer from the coronavirus is what happens to your lungs, and lung capacity is the most important thing if you're for any pro athlete now basketball. So I feel for a lot of those guys. Shout out to the dog, but yeah, no, Jared Allen really talented guy in that I wouldn't even know he is talented the way he can get up and down the floor. His shot blocking last year, we saw him just get all types of blocks or lebron On Jannis and Anthony Davis, Blake Griffin, we saw him block all these guys and then to bring DeAndre drewiding in and really caused mayhem in at that starting center. I know Jarry Ellen is not gonna say it, but I'd be pissed off if I was him. You know, I'd be a little irg because this is if if you leave Jared Allen as the start of this year and he goes from playing twenty five minutes last year to thirty one minutes this year, you're going to see that natural uptick in numbers, which would have, you know, helped his case to get a bigger extension because now he's gonna be averaging what fourteen points and ten rebounds as opposed to what he's averaging now. So I mean, it's it's it's an interesting dynamic. But this this just goes to show you now that the Brooklyn belongs to Kevin During and Kyrie Irving. And that's generally why DeAndre Drell was inserted into the starting live and granted the offense did started flowing, did start flowing, a little bit better once you throw DeAndre in there. DeAndre just has more experience being in different offenses and operating out of what he likes to call the help, which is that area just above the elbow where he can make decisions, the same place we'd like to see Al Horford, same place we'd like to see guys like Nicola Busavish. All the great passers at that center position. DeAndre Jordan he's one of them. I've seen him make some really really good passes out that space. And when you're a team like the Nets, where everyone needs to touch the ball because you don't have Kyrie EV and cas and Carsl, Kyrie IV and Kevin Durant on the floor, it's important to have that passer out there at the center position, and Jared Ellen doesn't provide that. But I still think that he is a premier center in this league from a m protection standpoint. It's going to be his job to remind us in Orlando the Nets needs someone to play thirty minutes at that center position. They don't have. He doesn't have another option, so he's going to be put to the test. And we spoke to him not so long ago. He's ready for this opportunity. He's been he's been preparing for it, and he has a chip on the show. But like I said, he's a guy who was demoted from his starting position from a guy who couldn't get off the bench in the last two spots, who was at in Dallas and in in in New York. So you know, he's got a little bit of a chip on his shoulder. And I personally want to see him go out there involved because he's a good dude. Man. Jared Allen's a guy. All he does is play basketball and play video games and grow his hair out, you know, and you don't want you don't want to root for another guy like that. So I really wish him the best. And uh, I think we're gonna see it. I think we're gonna see a side. We've got to see a different solvable. We've got to see a dominant Jared Allen, and that's got to be on both ends of the But we've got to see a guy dunking on people on one end and really don't really dunking on people on the other in terms of blocking them at the rim. And I hope we see that out of him. I think we can see some of that out of him. That's something that I really haven't given a ton of considerations that you touched on, is the like financial futures of players who have contracts coming up who have contracted the coronavirus because of we don't know what the implications are. Another player on the nets who kind of factors into the same discussion, carosel Vert. This seems like an opportunity for him, just because he's going in a now to solidify himself as part of the long term future or at least up his trade value for them. And look, I know it was only a five game sample size last year, but when the Sixers just decided to have Ben Simmons a race, D'Angelo Russell Karas, LeVert played really well twenty one points, three assists, sixty two true shooting, and he shot the lights out on off the dribble threes. And so this he might have I don't want to say that he might actually have more at stake than any current rotation player. There are some guys who are kind of yeah, they're still fighting to maybe make sure that they stick in the NBA. And then there's the Jared Allen element. You want to see if he can play himself into the long term future. But if you're looking for a third star to go with Kyrie and Kevin Durant, cars laver is the only internal solution that you potentially have. And so now that he's going at it without not only Kevin Durant and Kyrie Irving, but you don't have Spencer Dinwoody either, this seems like a really big opportunity for him and it also could end up being this pretty monstrous barometer for what the next at for what the nets excuse me, as current he constructed could look like, you know, I mean this guy karras Lavery as Corn wrote his hair. If there's any indication that he's ready to go off and score one hundred points a game on people, that would be it. I think people forget that right before we saw carroslvert play some incredible basketball and last year's playoffs, but right before he had that gruesome foot injury, right he was the next best player. I know. Deangel Russell got the nod for the All Star placement for Victor Ladipo last year, but carros Laverte was the next best player before he suffered that that foot injury. Right, Remember he had that game winner. I believe they're playing to trick. We had the game winning floater, and he just had so many different games where he was just going off and Deangel Russell was just like the backup guy. Obviously he was starting, but he was not the number one on that team at that point. And then after kars Lavert goes down Spencer Dinwood, he starts taking over, and then Spencer Dewidy gets hurt, and then Deangel Russell starts blossoming, and then you start seeing twenty thirty thirty point games out of D'Angel Russell. Karros Lavert is ready for this opportunity. He's a guy he's put on somewhere. He hasn't put on weight, but he's turned his lean, his lean into into actual mass. You can see it. We saw it when we when we had a chance to have him on the Zoom call. He said his weight hasn't gone up too much, but he looks like a guy. He looks like he's growing up, but he's gotten over like he's like his body is matured, and that's what you want to see. And also he's a guy who's also been on fire from three this year. I've just been I've just been so happy for him just to see him take this step in his career, because it's been difficult for him, especially bringing a guy like Kyrie Irving. I mean, obviously, Kyrie IRV is not a guy who is going to come in and absolutely destroy chemistry that you've got going on in a locker room. That's not the sense that I got. But he's a guy who requires the ball to be in his hands more often than not, and that's been a real growing pain for some of these players to figure out how they fit where they can fit around him. Caris LeVert specifically has grown as a spot up shooter. I think that cannot fall under the radar of the team. Where you've got Kevin Durant and Kyrie Irving as guys who're gonna be taking a lot of the shots, Karis Lavert has got to be able to a hit those open shots and be take people off the drip of wind. He can, and he can do both of them. Now the issue is on the defensive end. Is he going to be able to guard his man one on one? I think that's we saw him. The size he put on is going to help him in that regard because we've seen him get moved around a little bit too much. So I'm glad that he was able to kind of see put some masks on him. This is a very good opportunity for him, I can't and he's excited for it as well. From everything that we've got the chance to speak for him as well, He's gonna be playing a lot of point guard, which he played this season a ton. This is a good a lot of things that you said were spot on. This is an opportunity for him to either a booster's trade value or be you know, show that he's a guy who can stay in that in Brooklyn as that number three guy alongside Kevin Duran and Kyrie Irvan. Now what do we need to see from him to be that number three? Well, what did we see from Chris Bosh in Toronto before he became the number three in Miami? Right, he was an all Star caliber player. He could basically dominate a game to his will. I'm not sure Karris LeVert is there yet. He has the Orlando bubb would approve to us. He's going to have to put up some good numbers, not just to prove that he can be part of this next team moving forward, but also to prove that, you know, this is that he's going to be worthy of whatever is coming next. This is a guy who he signed a nice little three year contract, but after that contract is over, he's going to be eligible for some type of max deal if his play lawrants it. So this is a chance. This could be his coming out party or it could be a Okay, Harrison, right is what we thought he is, which is good but not great. He's gonna have to prove to us that he can take that leap from being good to great, and I think we can see it here in Orlando. Yeah. I think some of the things that I'll be watching for is I think it's really huge that he's shown he can hit off the dribble jumpers, and that's why you sort of forgive he's had not only availability issues again this year, but some efficiency issues. Can he finish better around the rim? Can he get to the free throw line at a higher clip a little bit? Particularly he has this extra responsibility without any outlets. I'm actually more interested and you already mentioned the catch and shoot efficiency. That's gonna be big if you want to play with Kyrie and KD. The other thing for me is, and you touched on it, is is this increased strength going to translate to him being able to guard bigger wings, because you're not even before Kevin Durant was injured, that wasn't necessarily something you were going to have him do in the first place, and now that you're gonna be more worried about him just getting back his offensive form. If you want to run out those LeVert KD irving lineups, you're going to need LeVert to defend wings, and I would think he's going to get a pretty good chance to guard some for the extent of the time the Nets are in the bubble, because when you look at their roster, a lot of these lineups state, I feel like they could tilt towards the small ball end of the spectrum, And so yeah, maybe he's their de facto point guard on offense, but he also might be the you know, the the second or third biggest guy on the court just defensively. So that's something that I'm really interested to see if he can have a better hold on because as you mentioned already, he's been moved around a lot on the defensive end, where it's like he moves well, but can he hold his ground and can you count on him to you don't have to say lock up, really, just to hold his own in certain one on one situation one hundred percent. And another thing we're gonna need to see from Carrots, which we're gonna see we have no choice but to see it is has he grown as a decision maker? You know, we know he can pass the ball, but in terms of keeping the turnovers down and really making the best decision out of picking rolls and making the best passes, that's somewhere we need to see growth from Carros Lavert as well, especially in this extended period time where he's going to have a lot of point guard responsibilities. I'm really interested to see and what he's able to do with that, how he's going to be able to initiate an offense. You know, when D'Angelo Russell was running the point guard last year, a lot of the issues with him were trying to figure out when for him to keep the ball on his own and when to initiate the offense. Right, you've got to get other players involved otherwise it's just not gonna work. And that was that took some time for D'Angelo Russell, but towards the middle ladder end of the season he started to get it. We started to see that growth. We're gonna need to see that growth from carros Lavert because he has a little bit of and one winning him and he has a little and one. And I got a chance to talk to his high school coach actually for a sir, for a profile I did on him, and he goes, yeah, you know, Karris had a lot of an one, but I had to teach him D one for him to get into into Michigan where he went to school. Now, is that going to come back out where he's got the green light? All basically all game wrong, and we're going to see him coming up court and jacking up shot. So we're gonna see him getting in the sets and initiating the office and then taking the shot when the ball comes back to him. I think that's what we're gonna have to see, and I kind of want to see. I want to see what he looks like with a complete green light, because if he can go out there NBA, I don't know, let's just call it monest he can be a guy who goes out there and gives you twenty two and eight twenty two points an eight assists is shooting the three ball thirty eight percent, making forty five percent of his shots all together, and get into the line's that that bodes well for him. So I really want to see what he's able to do from all areas. I'm glad we were able to touch on basically every area that we need to see from him before I ask you about the specific games that are attached to this line of thinking. The Nets have been linked to a search for a third star, mainly by ESPNS. Brian Winhurst has mentioned it a few times now. Is consolidation into a third star? Are the route that you think they should go? Is it the root they will ultimately go? Do you think that they should be waiting to see how this all comes together when you look at a potential Dinwitty Lavert, Durant Alan Irving Core. Is that worth them waiting to see how it fares in the beginning of next season or do you think they're going to act with more haste than that over the off season. I think it depends on the third star, and the only thing there's one third star that makes sense to blow it all up for it. That's Bradley Bill. If you can go get Bradley Bill, you do whatever you have to do to get Bradley Bill. You go take them on intour of Brooklyn, take them the pizza, Sabrima, go get up some oxtail, Go do whatever you've got to do to convince Bradley Bill that Brooklyn is the place to be. Because if you can get a core of Bradley Bill, Kyrie over Kevin Durant, and then you can get those guys to resign after this three to four year turn. So you've got this window now and then you can convince those guys to resign for another turn. You've got a dynasty in Brooklyn that could last. Could you could theoretically win if you keep Kevin duran Kyrie Irving a Bradley Bill together for call it six years, you could win at least three championships with that cool right. So if you can go get Bradley Bill, you do that now. If there's other names out there, like I don't know if you're talking about Kevin Love, No, you don't want Kevin Love. I don't I don't even know who else is available out there for trade that if you're going to get Blake Griffin. Maybe maybe they want Blake Griffin and you put together a trade for that. But even Blake Griffin, we've seen him on the decline. What position do you put him at? You put him at the four. You can't put him at the five. Now you've got oh well, I mean there it is. You could bring DeAndre Jordan, break Griffin back together. Now you've got a lot of in Brooklyn. Wow. I think at that just came together with an idea on the podcast this podcast. But yeah, I think it largely depends on who that third star is. Also, I think the Nets have enough cap cond well maybe they do have enough contract Blake Griffin's control, but that guy's making a lot of money. But to wrap it all up, I think that Bradley Bill is realistically the only guy and maybe Blake Griffin. You know, if you've got Kyrie Irving, Kevin Durant, Blake Griffin, DeAndre Jordan and a shoot on the floor, sure and you keep you somehow keep Karros Lavert in all of that, I think that's as dope as a line up as you can get. But if you also have a chance to trot out Kyrie Irving, Bradley Beal and Kevin Durant for the next six years. You do whatever it is that you can to do that. I would definitely fall on the opposite end of the Blake Griffin spectrum. I wouldn't want to see him if this team, the Bradley Beal stuff is interesting because I want. I do think the Nets can build more interesting trade packages than people give him credit forward, just because Lavert and Dinwoodie are already good salary fillers, but they actually don't make that much money. In the grand scheme of things, you also have Jared Allen, and you can trade distant picks. I go back and forth on bial because when you don't know what Kevin Durant's going to be, specifically looking at what type of a shot creator is he going to be when he gets back. We know that he can shoot over anybody, but he's gonna kind of just have that same really wiggle or burst to him. We don't know. It'd be great to have Bradley Beal, But then I'm like, well, you have to give up Lavert and Jared Allen in that scenario. What really happens to your defense if you're having Bill Durant and Kyrie Irving together on the floor. The flip side of that argument is, you know, Leavert or specifically Alan and Dinwoody are gonna need to be paid again very soon. Dinwoody could be a free agent in twenty twenty one, and Alan is already going to be extension eligible RFA in twenty twenty one. So if you're gonna make large investments, why not consolidate that into a star. So I'm kind of like indifferent to the Beal thing, but I think where you really hit it is it has to be the right third star, And for me, I don't know if Bradley Beal is that. It also seems like the actual ideal third star for them is not really available, because it feels like it should be someone who plays the you know as a Cobbo Wing plays the three four, and then there's a real in addition to being able to create his own shot or play within the flow of an offense as well, he's also a defensive difference maker, and that player just really isn't available. You can look lower end of the spectrum. Does Aaron Gordon become available in Orlando? I think he ends up being a good fit for this roster, but you're not giving up the farm for someone like him. And so that's the predicament that I think they find themselves in most is I get. I think I would just tilt where you are, go get Bradley Beale if you can, whatever it costs. But there still seems to be a level of combustibility there. And then the larger problem is just the third star that would be the quintessential fit for them, he's not available right now, and I can't even identify someone who would become available along those lines. Yeah, to me, it sounds like you're talking about Paul George or a guy of that Paul George Oak who can really defend space to Flora, hit spot up threes and then create on the fly if anybody is out. But I think Bradley. But and to be fair to Kyrie, I think Kyrie gets gets a bad rep as a defender. I think that he defends at a decent rate when and it's just not consistent enough. And I think that's the thing. But when he's really locked into some of the games, I've seen him make some really good defensive plays and it's like WHOA. I didn't know he could do that. Can he do that consistently? Is what we need to say. And we saw him locking in the NBA Finals against Steph Curry. You know we've seen it happen Kevin Durant. We saw him be an elite defender in Golden State. He arguably changed what they were able to do defensively just by virtue of having him out there, being able to switch so off and again having him even putting him at the center. He's a better rim protector than a lot of people gave him credit for. But now him coming off and Achilles, we don't know, and that factors into a lot of the uncertainty in Brooklyn, Like we don't know what Kevin Durant is going to look like. But I'll tell you this, I've seen the guy work out. I've seen him move, I've seen him run. At one day they brought I don't know who it was, they were throwing a football, had Kevin Durant running routes at the HSS training facility and he looked good. It may have been in No, it wasn't March. It may have been November or December. But I saw him shooting turnaround fadeaway jump shots, and he was just getting full lift off the ground. And if that's how he was before the calendar turned, then what is he at now. I'm excited to see what he looks like. I think he's gonna shock a lot of people. I think he's gonna look really, really good. And we're also have to consider this isn't a guy whose game was predicated on jumping out of the gym in the first phase, the guy who's a sniper who can just take you off the drible and pull up. Now, on the flip side, he didn't get injured on a super athletic play either. He got injured making a regular basketball move. And that's the scary part. So I think there's a lot of uncertainty. But even with all that uncertainty and Kevin Durant, you know what, more of a reason to go get a third star? Then Okay, we don't know how Star number one is going to fair, so let's go get another one just in case we can't play Kevin Durant thirty five minutes a game in year three or in year two. We saw what happened last year with the Raptors. They Load managed Kawhi Leonard and they saved him, and they had enough players around them to where that team's record without him was incredible. That's what the next needs to do. They need to put a team together where their record would be great without Kevin Durant on the floor. And I think if you add you put Kyrie Irving and Bradley Bild and you somehow keep Karris LeVert on that team, then I think you'll be just far. And they're obligated to act in haste, just because we don't know what Kevin Durret's gonna look like. But you signed him in Kyrie Irving and they have player options on their fourth year. So you're down to a two year guaranteed window now, and you have to ask with that urgency a name that I don't know if he'll become available. You have to deal with his next contract, and then he will, of course. You know he's working his way back from his own injury. But Victor Ladipo seems like he might have reached the two gaps. You know, when I'm worried about Beale's defense, but then also you want someone who could defend some wings. He's not the biggest, but you could get away with him defending one through three. He might be an interesting fit for this roster again, if he's healthy and available. Right, I didn't even think about that. Victor Ladipo, the Pacers, man, they need to do what they can. I'm just gonna talk about the Pacers really quickly. Pacers are an incredible franchise. I just wish they'd get a star to commit to them for life. Right, it's a guy. First, they get spurned by Paul George. Now they're probably gonna get spurned by Victor Ladipo. I hope he resigns there, just because I think the NBA is a great place when the Pacers are are competitive. Look at them now. Look at them last year or was it was it last year or the year before that when they I think it was the year before that when they really when they took Lebron to a seven game series and they almost when they should have won. Arguably Victor Ladipo hit that game win and they ruled it. That was a really that was a fun series. And I enjoy watching Pacers basketball when they're good. And Victor Oladipo's guy who plays into that? Would he be a great net. Yeah. Sure, I don't think he's a guy you want taking thirty shots a game. But I'd love for him to get ten to twelve or fourteen shots after Kyrie and Kevin Durant get this like he's a guy I didn't think about that. That's a great I think that that's a great that's a great idea. How would he he'd fit great? He could be a spot up shooter. You can leave him in the game. I think the next they're gonna have to find those rotations where they stagger their stars, so you need one guy on the corrida all the time. So he's a guy that you could have run the offense through while Kevin Durant and Kyrie over taking a break, and play him in pick and roll situations. You could play him off the ball, Victor lever. Would it be a great get? And I think he'd come in a lower price tag than than Bradley Beale as well. Yeah, just with the injury history and impending free agents. With the injury history, with the pending free agency, and just I think the overall value if all things were equal, if they were both equally healthy, I think more people I think people would be would be would give up more generally for build than they would for Oladipo, But I could be wrong. Yeah, nah, that's that'd be a great fit. It probably also helps too that if Indiana was moving Aladipo, they're not a team that's looking to hit the full restart button, and so someone like Taras LeVert particularly and even Spencer Dinwoody are a lot more attractive to a team like that that's still trying to compete. Oladipo and Kevin Durant also have that PG County tie. They both from the same they're both from the same area. Then that'd be interesting. You know, maybe you should give you should give Sean Marks a call and float that by them. That might be one network. I have just a couple of questions before I get you out of here. What is there so aside from just moving from beyond the third star stuff, they're not going to have cap space this summer. They will have the non tax they will the taxpayers mid level exception. Excuse me, what is the biggest need for this roster? I think consistently it's just been identified as just a four who can stretch the floor. Is that is that the biggest need for them. Absolutely. You know, it's it's it's not just this year, it's last year to last it's they didn't really address as they hope. Here's what happened. The Nets hope that Torrian Prince would be the guy. And unfortunately I've kind of had this conversation with Torrian Prince, but not full on. He just hasn't been consistent enough. And he acknowledges that He's acknowledged that on on a number of occasions. This is a guy who shot thirty nine percent from three last year, but he's shooting thirty four percent this year. It's also always an adventure when he decides to work off the dribble. Just don't know. Oh man, I'm glad you said it and I didn't because that guy, Man, he's a guy the first day and and a source I'm not even gonna put him out there source told me that before you know, I was a guy who's like I was like, oh, yes, we got the Nets got Torrian Prince. He's the answer to all their their woes at the four. Source dms me on Twitter and he's like, hey man, I wouldn't get too excited about this. The guy thinks he's Kobe. I'm like, what do you mean? He goes just watch man. The guy thinks he's Kobe. Three games in, I hit him back, like, man, you are correct. I've seen Torrian Prince shoot side step three is. I've seen him shoot turn around, fadeaway jump shots, and one thing I have not seen is him consistently stay his ass in the corner and hit a quarter three. Great dude, though not even gonna hold you wanted the one. He's just a completely humble guy, really real down to earth, enjoy just talking to and being around him just turns into I'm woln to call him Kobe on the floor, but he just like opens his game up beyond what the Nets need. And I think that's the area that Sean Marks and company really needs to target in free agency. They need to get somebody who's gonna have size, who's gonna be able to knock down that corner three at three point shot consistently, that knows their game, And that's really what I think it's free agency. It's bigger that. It's just the theme for this team going forward is just really identifying roles and making sure players understand that and are comfortable with that role and are not trying to do more than their capable or do more than what is required. When you've got guys like Kyrieer and Kevin Durant, the last thing when you need on the roster is someone else who's trying to be another star. If you're bringing in another star, that's gonna think if you're turning character let into that third star. That's another thing. You can't have a guy out there trying to assert himself as more than what he is on a team that already has a pecking order established of Kevin Durant, Kyrie Irving, carslover expensive than with whoever else. Right, So the Nets need more guys like One guy that I think is a perfect fit after this two year concent is going to get an extension is Garrett Temple. Garrett Temples a guy that he's gonna go out there, play defense, shoot open threes, and make the playlists necessary. That the Nets need more guys like that. So, yes, they need a four I think an ideal for that they're probably not going to be able to get as a guy like, I mean, an independent. Some guys are saying Sergeyback will be a good fit. I think Sergey Back is a little bit past his prime in terms of defending. He also seems like he needs a certain amount of shots per game to be a yeah, exactly. I don't think that's a guy. But I look at guys like Dallas has a guy in who is it Dorian Finney Smith that I really like that. I think it will be a really good fit at that combo four position, who can guard multiple positions, who could space the floor. They need guys like that, guys who can really space the floor out. I'm not sure there's there's an answer out there for them in free agency. I'm hoping there is. I haven't you know, to my discredit, I haven't done enough research on this year's upcoming creating class. I'm hoping there's a four out there that they can be able to get. I think guy like maybe a I think Jamichael Green is a discount version of the guy they need to have. They need to have a guy who can play gritty defense, who can shoot threes, who can make the right pass, who can get up and down the floor. I'm not sure if that guy's out there for them. Maybe next time you bring me on the podcast, I have a laundry list of guys they should get. But hey, last night I spent I spent all the last night looking at free agents, and the best I could the current free agents, which is a lot Beyonce Davis, Tim Fraser, Imon Schumpfern and Justin Anderson. So asked about it, but yet to answer your question. They need an answer at that four spot, and they need more guys who know their role, wings who don't want to do more than what is astra of them, which is shoot threes and play defense and run up and down the floor. They're also going to need a backup point guard because if we've known anything, it's that Kyrie Irving is not durable. So they need some other guys, perfectly, a veteran who can go in there fill in fifteen to twenty minutes a night if needed. And then it also depends on what they do. If they trade Spencerdility, you're gonna need an actual backup point guard who can go out there and produce, not just somebod who's going to go out there and run the show. So it'll be interesting to see. I think a lot of what they do in free agency will will really be determined by what they do in the trade market as well, because the NETS free agency if they have been able to look a lot different than than NETS free agency if they don't. Yeah, I had four names penciled in for them. You mentioned one of them, Jamichael Green. If he declines his player option, this one's more so pie in the sky. But if he's if he views the NETS as a spot where he can win a ring and the market is just so soft, my guess would be he gets more than the taxpayer's mid level. But if the market is just so soft and he wants to go somewhere where he thinks he's a better chance at winning a ring, I don't know if that's Brooklyn, but that can also guarantee him a starting spot. That would be Brooklyn. Paul Millsap would be a very better fit than Sergeibaka. And then this one is more of a trade target. But if Chicago decides to unload Otto Porter Jr. I don't know that you would have to give up like a ton of value for him. It would be a matter of maybe matching salaries and Torri and Prince gives you a start, can you then get there without having to give up I would say, I wouldn't want to give up Maybe you're willing to give up Spencer Dimity in that I wouldn't be. You're definitely not willing to give up Carras, But that would be a name. Or Chicago, with its new front office regime, is looking to sell off some guys and maybe cut some salary. He might be a name. And look, we have to come full circles. And that's are just bringing all these guys in that they signed a monster restricted free agency offer sheets. They have Tyler Johnson now they already had Alan Krab. You gotta bring in Otto Porter next. That is fair. I've seen a lot of people talk about bringing Mellow into Brooklyn. Bice Harkless maybe was another name that's bringing to mind. Yeah, I think more Harkless would be a great fit hometown guy. And then he's he's in New York right now, would he also come across the water inside? I think he'd be a great fit in Brooklyn. To be honest, they need guys are gonna be able to get up and down, hit those threes and played some defense and defend multiple position. Again, I don't think you need a guy that's told that really that's like bulky, that fits the mold of what you expect the power forward to be. Which needy guy's versat who could defend two through four at least? And maybe Shadow and Cameos a five, but I'm not sure we had we had Tim and Tayloe Woocaberrou. He'll talk about he's never played the five in his life, but he might have to do so in Orlando. And so I think I think I'm generally I generally trust Sean Marks and what he's been able to do. I mean, look look at what he's done with the Nets from when he took over the now if you asked me a couple of years ago if I thought the Net would have Kevin Durant and carry over, and I would have laughed in your face. Now look at them. They've got both of them, and now they've got they've got they've got good problems, not bad. And I think that that Shaun Marks is going to figure it out for sure. And Harkis is probably the most realistic of any of the candidates we named, just in terms of the price point. And then the one question would be Kenny hit enough of those threes? And you would think with if you again, if you have the same other players around him, Kyrie Durant, even Laverne didn't what you're going to create high enough quality looks that he should, but that would be the one wild card with him. My final question for you, and it is kind of a loaded one, and one of these guys is a free agent, so maybe it's an easy answer, but who's most likely to be on a different team next season Joe Harris, Spencer, Dinwoodie, Carris Lavert or Jared Allen. Oh, that is tough. My general sense is that the Nests are gonna do whatever they can to protect Carris LeVert from being traded. I think everyone in the organization, from players to coaches to two executives, value Carris a lot higher than they do a lot of these other players, and for that reason, a lot of teams are gonna say no trades start with Carris, right if you're if you're the Wizards, you'd be foolish to not ask or demand Carros Lebright in any deal for Bradley Beal. That being said, I think the Nests are gonna try their hardest to keep him, and for that reason, it's tough. I don't think you. I think you bring back Joe Harris if you can. The Necessary said that they know they're going to be a tax paying team, so I think they try and do whatever they can to try to bring back Joe Harris. He's a major loss if he goes did he fits within any team and he at least competes on the defensive end, exactly exactly. I think it's a toss up between Jared Allen Spencer Den with it. To be honest, I think if one of them go, they both go. So I think that we're getting a package deal of Spencer, Dinwed and Jared. I think it's inevitable and I think they're gonna have to do that if they're bringing in another player, So that would be my guest. I think the Nets protect Carris from any trade, and they do that by throwing draft picks to Infinity here, take whatever you want. I think they bring back Joe Harris. I think Torrian Prince. I think that the Nets are gonna start if they make an offer with another team. I think that offer starts Spencer Denwdy Joe Spencer Den withy Jared Allen, Torrian Prince and two picks, and I think that's I think that's the starting point for any trade, and they work from there, just that enough to get you Bradley Bill. I highly doubt it. So then you start throwing an extra picks. You might have to throw in Nick Klackson, who I don't want to see go. But again, the nets are in. The nets are in such a position to where you don't necessarily have to go get that third star. You theoretically have two different start lineups in there, Especially if you go out there and get you a starting four next season and you keep Torrian Prince, you could have Kyrie Irving, Joe Harris, Kevin Durant starting for DeAndre Jordan as you're starting lineup, and then still bring Spencer Dinwitty, Carris Laverte, Garrett Temple, Torian Prince and Jared down off the bench. Don't I'm not sure if you can name another team with a deeper starting ten than that. And then you've still got Nick Claxton, who I think is a star. I wouldn't say a star, He's definitely a player in this league in the making. You'll probably have a long career in this league. You still got him, and then you still have this one now they might lose this series pick depending on whether they make the coiloffs or not. I think the next could they have There's two different next right across ro I've written. I've written about this before. They could either go all in on star Power or they could have two versions of one team on the floor at any given moment. And uh, like I said, these are these are rich people problems for Brooklyn. They're in the driver's seat. Well, Christian, thank you for giving me so much of your time. As always, I really appreciate it. I am of the mind too that I think ideally you would see what Lavert did, Witty, Kevin Grant and kyr Irving looked like. But the fact that you didn't see any of it this year might work against them, just because they're they're operating with this with this finite window. But also before I go, I opened these these sneakers. Oh, here we go are Adidas Salvation I think they called Adidas Salvation sneakers. I got these because Mike Psychs had or had posted them on his Twitter and they looked pretty clean. And now I'm looking at them in person. Just some contact. These costs one hundred and eighty dollars, so they were a little bit more on the expensive side. I'm not sure they looked like one hundred and eighty dollars sneakers, But these are sneakers I could definitely see myself wearing occasionally. They're pretty cool. I think I'll wear I'll rock him a couple of times. Yeah, No, these are these are all right. They're not like they're keepers. Yeah, I mean, if I had to attach them in a train for Bradley Beale, they could go too. But no, they're they're pretty good, and I think they Now I've just ordered let's see what this one, two, three, four, five, six, seven. This is the seventh Paris sneak because I probably worded in a two months man, and I have parent number eight coming tomorrow. So I think these make the top five of my top of my eight, but four and then they make it into the top four. But I've got I'm gonna power all my new sneakers when I get some chances. That'll be fun. They're based on they're basically this season's Brooklyn Nets, like directly in the middle. Yeah, this season's Brooklyn. That's that's exactly how I put them. Well, Christian again, Thank you so much for giving me a ton of your time. As always, if you guys are not following Christian on Twitter, please change that immediately. He's at Chris Flashed at kr I, s p l A, s h e. Ed covers the Nets and the NBA at Large for the New York Daily News. As we mentioned at the top, Christian again, thank you so much, and I think you can guarantee, as you know by now, that I'll be pestering you again in the future, you can guarantee I'll be on. Thank you for having me. I appreciate it. This is Brandon Kelly, the host of Bluewire's new podcast, Golden Goals. From Lionel Messi to Marta to Pelee, our show takes a deep dive into soccer superstars way a welcome from Meghan Rapino, from Zlatan Ibrahimovich's brash confidence with the play to back it up to Megan Rapino's heroic outspokenness and World Cup flare, Each episode examines a personality of the world's game will dig into Maradona's Hand of God performance and subsequent downfall, the teenage trio at Dorton that signaled the next generation of superstars and that infamous headbut that slung Zenadin Zadan from Glory Golden Goal Soccer Stars and the moments that made them, premiering this summer on Blue Wire