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All right, let's welcome in the
salta Adam Austlin. Hello, Adam,

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what's up, guys? How are
we doing? What's up? Rodney?

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What's up? Adham? How you
doing? Buddy? Let's go, let's

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go. All right. Bronnie James
best game is a pro. Too much

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focus on him, Adam, Well, you're starting off this segment talking about

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him, so probably if you talking
about the Clippers or some other things.

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Look, it's Lebron's son. It's
all expected. I'm not shocked by any

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of this. I'm not shocked that
he played a little bit better the last

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couple of games. First two games
in Vegas, he was shooting about twenty

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percent from the field, last two
games forty seven percent. I gotta commend

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him for not shying away. If
you watch the last two games, he

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started things off with a jumper right
away. In fact, he hit the

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first shot the game for the Lakers
last night. He at least, you

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know, is not curling up into
a ball in the fetal position or anything

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like that, because he knows the
spotlight is on him. He knows that

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he had missed at one point sixteen
straight three pointers. God, I thought

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he was going to get to twenty
seven straight threes like the h Houston Rockets

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in the Game seven of twenty eighteen
or whatever it was. It was bad,

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it was ugly. But he's picked
fifty five. And while I don't

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believe if he didn't have the last
name Bronnie, he would have been picked

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in the second round. This stuff
is unusual, or I should say it

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isn't unusual. It is not unique
to Bronnie James. Nepotism in the NBA.

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What the hell are we talking about? Guys? Giannis Denakoopo's brother Thanasis

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is thirty one. We've had ten
years of evidence he is not an NBA

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player, Yet he gets to remain
in the league when he scored thirty two

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points all of last year in his
thirty four games that he played for the

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Milwaukee Bucks. Why do the Bucks
do this to appease Gianni Dinakoupo. Why

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are the Lakers doing this to appease
lebron James as any other franchise would.

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J R. Smith had his brother
in the league. Dwayne Wade had his

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son drafted late in the second round
by a team as he's a minority owner

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in with Utah Jazz. It's just
not unique to just Bronnie James. The

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amount of coverage is not sure he's
asking for any of it, but uh,

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he knew it was coming. Everybody
knew it was coming. So I

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understand some people want to push back
because they're trying to push him on us

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and some of the media and the
way they're reacting to any time he makes

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a shot and talking about him like
he was a top ten pick. It's

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absurd, it's ridiculous. He's going
to be in the G League, hopefully

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all of this season because he needs
reps. If he's going to have any

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shot of making it in the NBA, he either has to get taller or

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more realistically, he's got to get
a handle, be a better playmaker,

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be a better shooter. The only
way to accumulate those skills is to get

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reps in the G League, which
is likely going to happen this year.

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Yeah, no doubt, no doubt. And I will say this that you're

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right about him, you know,
not letting you know the first couple of

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games affect him, at him and
coming out and firing right away and putting

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a lot of that to rest because
he was like zero for fifteen threes.

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And then you know, some guys
would shy away from shooting I don't want

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the ball, but he has done
that. And I will say, just

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kind of knowing him a little bit, and Lebron has said this about him,

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he does not hear or feel y'all
hear you know, we all hear

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it, but does not feel the
outside noise. And you got to believe

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that's true. Being Lebron's son and
having to deal with it his entire life

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of what people have said about him
from the moment he was probably eight years

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old starting to play organize basketball that
people were talking about him. So you

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know, just again, he is
the fifty fifth pick, and we talked

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about this Adam before. It's like
we're going to go run down the list

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of fifty fifth picks that that people
think that it's going to have a real

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impact on a season that year,
we can do it. It doesn't happen.

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It doesn't happen, so just just
let it be what it is going

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to be. He's going to be
in the G League and hopefully he does

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get better and we'll see what happens. But yeah, people are enamored because

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either they they hate Lebron and want
to see him fail, or they love

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Lebron and want to see him succeed. I think there's very few people that

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are in the middle. Is it
not a Roarshack test on just whether or

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not you like Lebron James. Yes, it is. It's another way that

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he can be polarizing. I guess
to some either appreciate it, think it's

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cool if they ever get that moment, and they will at some point,

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they'll get the photo ops, they'll
get the play in where they have it.

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Yeah, I think you're right.
Christmas Day they'll have the Christmas miracle

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out there with Bronni on the court, with Lebron James. He'll throw an

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alue to his dad or vice versa
or something like that, and some people

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will think that's great and that'll be
something to celebrate. Others will think it's

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contrived and manufactured. I understand both
sides of it, but I can't hate

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that much on Lebron wanting his sud
in the NBA with him. It's at

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least I don't know. I want
to see how it plays out here.

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I want to see Bronnie James be
in the G League and start in the

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G League. But I just I
can't be that outraged against them taking a

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chance on a late round pick on
a guy who, yes, wouldn't be

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in the league if it was fertile
Bron James. I don't believe. But

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still, it's his son. You
knew what was coming. I don't understand

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the level of backlash from some Adam
all Right bleacher Report saying a possible deal

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for Brandon Ingram could make sense,
could be in the works. I mean,

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I guess you'd have to give up
maybe de Angelo Ruy Reddish, or

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would a first round pick for a
guy like Ingram who's a stud but oftentimes

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injured and a pending free agent?
Do you see something like that happening.

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I like Brandon Ingram, I like
b I obviously he was a former Laker

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before traded for Anthony Davis. The
real issue is just whether or not you're

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gonna pay him the one hundred and
fifty to two hundred million dollars that he's

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going to demand after this season.
If he was under contract for two or

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three more years, some team would
have already made the move for him,

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as it hasn't been a great fit
with him in New Orleans on the Pelicans

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when Zion has been available to play, just because they both kind of clog

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up the pain a little bit becau
Zion's trying to get to the basket.

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Brandon Ingraham likes to play in the
mid range. In fact, he has

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been someone while he has shot it
well at times from three, he just

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refuses to do so. Assistant coaches
want him to do it more. The

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analytics say he should do it more. He hasn't done it, so he's

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not necessarily a great floor spacer out
there. Would he be okay next to

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Lebron and Anthony Davis. I mean, it depends on how the coaching staff

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wants to use him. I think
it would make them better depending on what

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you give up. If we're talking
about DeAngelo Russell, but I think the

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New Orleans Pelicans are gonna want more
than that. They're probably gonna want what

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another first round pick from the Lakers. They do have a few they could

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give up, but it's a big
commitment because if this season doesn't go well

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for Brandon Ingram, if it doesn't
work out, if it doesn't look like

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he can play next to Anthony Davis
moving forward in the next five years,

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when Lebron James is off the Lakers. You would assume if it looks like

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a bad fit, then you could
you could give up assets and lose him

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for nothing if you're not willing to
pay him after he might have a down

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year with the Los Angeles Lakers,
because somebody's gonna give him around at least

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one hundred and fifty million dollars.
And I don't know if the Lakers,

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you know, are that committed.
It all depends on how this season would

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go. But it's just a big
risk to take on a player like that.

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He's only twenty seven, though,
guys, so he's just entering the

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beginning of his prime. He could
still grow as a player out there,

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and he's been an All Star before
already, and he is a high level

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offensive threat when he wants to do
it at all three levels, when he

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wants to get downhill and not just
stay in the mid range but also shoot

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it from the outside. Like he
has the skills set you're looking for.

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It just hasn't materialized enough with the
New Orleans Pelicans and some of the players

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on that team. And then he
also had a really bad first round series

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in the playoffs that a lot of
people are thinking about right now. So

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there's some recency bias there, But
I like brandon Ingram overall, and depending

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again on what you give up,
I do think he could upgrade the Lakers

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top end talent. Yeah, but
a lot of people are talking about Lakers

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got to make moves, do this, do that? How much of this?

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You know what they can do?
Adam, we're talking about brandon Ingram,

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talking about some other guys maybe,
but how much with the second apron

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and the salary cap and things that
they have, how much can they really

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do this offseason to get better?
Are we gonna look at this team as

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is, as constructed as we start
the season. It's fair they're just under

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the second apron right now. I
guess Lebron's taking a little bit less help

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him out there. Didn't end up
being twenty million dollars less, which I

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thought he might do. But if
they weren't getting someone that he wanted,

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and Demarta Rosen are one of these
guys on his list, I guess he

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wasn't gonna play ball like that and
help him out that significantly. I don't

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blame him for that, that's fine, but if you're not going to go

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over the second apron you got to
make the salaries at least close to matching.

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I think it's got to be within
one hundred and twenty five percent or

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something like that of what they send
out to get brandon Ingram, who I'm

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guessing makes around thirty five thirty million
dollars right now. I haven't looked at

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his contract, but again, he
has it's either easy going to be a

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free agent at the end of the
season straight up, or a player option

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that he's going to end up opting
out of to get that next big contract.

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So you have to make a decision
after year one what you want to

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do with this guy. And if
you're giving up high quality assets, It's

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like the Clippers gave up a first
round pick to get James Harden. You

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knew they were going to bring him
back this season, they gave up a

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first round pick to get him.
If the Lakers do the same thing,

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give up one or two first round
picks to get to get brandon Ingram,

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you kind of gotta go all in
with that. You kind of gotta make

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sure that situation works out and you're
willing to pay him one hundred and fifty

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million dollars plus this next offseason.
So I think there's a way they could

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do it without going over the second
apron right now, Rodney, to answer

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your question, it wouldn't be easy. But then going into next season it

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may get a little bit tougher because
of that next contract, he's gonna be

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owed. All right, Let's shift
over to the Clippers your wheelhouse first,

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Russell Westbrook, I actually felt sad
to see him go out. How did

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you think? I thought the fit
after getting James Harden was just awkward.

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I said it right away. You
can't start those two together. You can't

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play them on the court together.
It just doesn't work. Russell Westbrook obviously

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doesn't offer a lot off ball,
and you want James Harden to be on

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the ball the majority of the time. I love Russ I love the energy,

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the passion, the heart, the
intensity he would bring night tonight.

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But he hasn't looked the same in
a couple different ways over the last year.

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I mean, for one, guys, he just went eight of forty

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two the last five games of that
playoff series against the Dallas Mavericks, where

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they desperately needed more from him in
a series where Kawhi Leonard was a shell

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of himself, in the two games
he played eight of forty two over a

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five game stretch in a playoff series. That is the lowest shooting percentage nineteen

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percent anyone has ever shot over five
games in the playoffs before, and Russ

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hasn't had a lot of playoff success. That chaotic style that he plays up

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and down game. The playoffs are
about slowing things down, being more methodical,

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plotting a little bit. That's not
Russ's game. I think he can

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still be a regular season innings eater, if you will, And I'm interested

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to see the fit next to Nikolojokic. I think it's strange. Once again,

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he's replacing KCP basically like he did
when he came to the Lakers.

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We know how that went. But
if anyone can make it work, it's

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Nikola Jokic. And if he does
and they win a championship with Russ,

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give him all the MVPs. Ever, I guess because right now, Russell

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Westbrook, to me, we talk
about three level scorers, two level scores.

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He looks like a zero level score
and I'm not trying to be harsh,

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but he can't shoot the three.
He's not good in the mid range.

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And this season. I think he
was bottom five in shooting percentage at

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the rim. Guys. It was
strange because you know, he's thirty five,

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I think turning thirty six. Now
his hands are really mangled, and

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I think he's lost what touch he
did have before. So when he's flying

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towards the basket, he's blowing and
smoking a lot of and then what happens

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is the other team has a five
on four going the other way. It's

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basically a turnover because Russ goes so
hard on the basket he usually ends up

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on the floor, and if he
doesn't convert those layups, it turns into

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a fast break opportunity for the opposition. So I think it was time.

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The situation kind of ran its course
with the Clippers appreciated for his time,

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but Chris done. To me.
He's been one of the more underrated players

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in this league for a bit defensively, while his offense has never showed up

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the way it was at Providence.
Defensively, all the analytics say it he

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is one of the best on ball
defenders and point of attack defenders in the

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league. So for fifteen to twenty
minutes a night of Chris Dunne coming off

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the bench for the Clippers and helping
solidify more of a defensive identity with this

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Clippers team. That's going to be
really helpful for them. Adam, what's

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the latest and what's going on with
Kawhi Leonard and you are you buying you

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know, Lawrence Frank's criticism of USA
Basketball and dropping him from the team in

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the comments that he made. I
thought initially it sounded to me like,

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you know, he's sticking up first
player and Kawhi Leonard, who you're not

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going to see on social media talk
about or anything like that. He's not

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going to hold a press conference if
he was upset about being dropped from Team

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USA. But I read the situation
like this, Kawhi Leonard wanted to play

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Team USA, was not willing to
wait and see if he was fully ready

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to play or if there could be
an issue along the way with that right

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knee. Because some of the verbiage
and some of what Kawhi Leonard was talking

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about when he initially got there,
he said he had a turnaround with the

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swelling what he had been dealing with
in the playoffs just two weeks before training

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camp to Team USA. So we're
talking about what two and a half months,

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almost three months of him dealing with
this injury, going back to late

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March. I think March thirty first
was the last game before he had the

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soreness in his right knee. That's
a little bit concerning. And then also

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he said that the knee is currently
in a neutral state mode. Right before

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they let him go, and he
thought maybe he was going to be playing

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that first game for them against Canada
on what was that last Wednesday. So

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the way he was talking about it, there seemed to be a little bit

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of uncertainty, and I guess that's
natural because it's been flaring up over the

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last couple of months when he has
played. But Lawrence Frank said he was

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there. He played the first two
practices fully. It was after that third

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practice where he wasn't there, and
then Temusa made the decision or thought better

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of it, or just wanted somebody
in Derek White that they knew could be

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a little bit more reliable. So
I don't know, I can see both

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sides of this, but I know
it was a bucket list type thing for

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Kawhi Leonard. I know he really
wanted to play, and I'm sure as

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Lawrence Frank put it. He said, you know, we're really disappointed,

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very disappointed, he said multiple times
at that press conference, because they knew

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this was something Kawhi wanted to do. I understand some people say, well,

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he hasn't been available for the Clippers
to end the last four seasons.

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He can't pick and choose like when
he's healthy, when he's able to go,

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and not when he is he should
probably be playing basketball, right,

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I mean, if he wanted to
play in Tmusa and he was fully healthy

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and he felt good, then he
should be able to play. But I

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can see the other side where the
way he was talking about it might have

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made them think, you know,
we're not sure if he's going to be

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able to make it through the entire
ordeal. Adam put a bow on the

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Paul George saga. Paul George said
one thing, Lawrence Frank seemed to indicate

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another. How did that all play
out? Well, look, I've heard

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the promo with you, Fred and
what's been playing here on this station,

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and I know you've kind of had
the position where correct me if I'm wrong,

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but you have said that, you
know I had the Clippers picked the

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wrong guy? Should they have gone
in with Paul George and let Kawhi Leonard

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test free agency, or he could
have opted into the last year of his

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contract. To am I misstating things, bred I will not correct you.

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Okay, Here's what I will say
to that the difference between the two players

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on the court is greater between the
difference of games missed between those two players.

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For instance, Kawhi missed an entire
season with the torn acl and Paul

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George still only ended up playing forty
more games than he did as a Clipper

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the last two years. Paul George
only missed or only played about five more

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games than Kawhi Leonard as a Clipper, so both had extreme availability issues.

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You can say Kawhi more than Paul
George, but I'm saying this, Kawhi

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when he's on the court plays like
a number one, far more than Paul

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George. He plays like the best
guy out there, far more than Paul

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George. And that comment that you
heard from Chris Haynes with that report saying

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that, well, Paul George came
out and admitted a couple of years ago

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that he's the number two. Kawhi
is the number one. Look. They

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also said in that report that yeah, he plays like it at times,

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and the day before that little excerpt
from Chris Haynes came out, I said

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it on Twitter when Paul George talked
on his podcast and said, you've viewing

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Kawhi Leonard and us the same,
right, So I'll take what he got,

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I said the day before this report
came out. The problem is Paul

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George doesn't even view himself the same
or play the same as Kawhi Leonard.

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I love the guy, but he
was brought there to be the one b

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not the obvious two, not the
guy who I said after the playoffs series

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was relative to expectations, the fourth
best player against Dallas for the Clippers in

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their time of need. With Kawhi
out, he only scored nineteen points per

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game, and more damning than that, he only attempted fifteen shots per game.

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You have to at least go out
firing in that situation if you're Paul

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George. So what do I think
think happened? I think he wanted the

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Max. I think he always woned
the Max. I think he always knew

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the Max would be there for him. I think the three years, one

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hundred and fifty million was there and
available, and it was kind of mischaracterized

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with what he said about they first
offered me two for sixty million dollars.

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Well, that was on top of
him opting in to the fifty million dollars.

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So the starting point was really one
ten in negotiations after two seasons where

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he only played a combined e three
games. I don't think that was a

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slap in the face or complete low
ball as a starting point. And according

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to Lawrence Frank, and you can
take it from each side here, you

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know, he said, he said
type of thing. But Lawrence Frank stated

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that, you know, we upped
the offer after how good they looked with

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James Harden and we didn't wait for
their agent to say, okay, let's

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let's let's bring this up a notch
here. No, they upped the offer

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without being probed by either agent from
Kawhi Leonard or Paul George. So it

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seemed fair to me. It's fair
for Paul George to go take the max

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though too. I have no issue
with that. If he wants seventy two

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million more dollars, I'm not gonna
hate on that. Give the guy.

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Give the guy what he wants if
he wants to go to Philly, and

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that meant more to him. And
I have no issue with getting the money

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with the short lifespan you have as
an athlete, so to speak like that's

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that's not an issue to me.
And it wasn't to the Clippers either.

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If you heard Lawrence Frank, he
understood it. They just said, you

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know, for our situation and moving
forward with now the cap and paying all

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these guys, this is what we
can offer. So I don't think there

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should be, you know, hurt
feelings too much on either side in this.

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All right, Adam, good stuff. Thanks for hanging out today,

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man, double A love you guys. Feel better, my guy, Ronnie,

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thank you, brother,