1
00:00:03,160 --> 00:00:07,320
What is Krack Black and Hardwar Knocks
listeners, I am Damp Valley coming at

2
00:00:07,320 --> 00:00:12,199
you in a few moments with my
fantabulous co host Adam Bromwell doing this pre

3
00:00:12,400 --> 00:00:19,519
introduction. Because we have this podcast
every Western Conference team's top trade and free

4
00:00:19,519 --> 00:00:24,839
agency targets as told by Hardwood Knocks. We get into the criteria of how

5
00:00:24,879 --> 00:00:29,800
we structured this. But we recorded
this and then there was a Pelicans Grizzly

6
00:00:29,920 --> 00:00:34,039
trade that messed it up, so
we decided to record a separate part where

7
00:00:34,039 --> 00:00:38,920
we analyzed the Grizzlies and Pelicans trade
and then we also go into adjusted offseason

8
00:00:38,920 --> 00:00:43,119
approach free agency trade targets for them, So you'll hear that first. There'll

9
00:00:43,159 --> 00:00:49,119
be timestamps in the description at some
point, and yeah, scroll around,

10
00:00:49,159 --> 00:00:51,439
jump around, listen to the whole
thing. We encourage that if you have

11
00:00:51,479 --> 00:00:53,960
not already, if this is the
first time you're listening to this podcast,

12
00:00:54,000 --> 00:00:57,640
please please please rate, review,
and subscribe to us wherever you get your

13
00:00:57,679 --> 00:01:00,359
podcast. Leaving reviews and ratings though
on iTunes helps us out a ton.

14
00:01:00,399 --> 00:01:03,920
I cannot stress that enough, So
if you can head over there, if

15
00:01:03,920 --> 00:01:06,280
you have not already, whether you
use it or not and just throw us

16
00:01:06,280 --> 00:01:07,920
a five star rating right whatever you
want in the review, we will love

17
00:01:07,959 --> 00:01:11,439
you forever. Also, as always, follow us on Twitter at Hardwood Knox

18
00:01:11,480 --> 00:01:17,599
and check up check out our fast
growing YouTube channel. Search Hardwoodnox on YouTube

19
00:01:17,599 --> 00:01:19,239
and you will see it all.
Right, let's get to this podcast.

20
00:01:21,359 --> 00:01:26,280
So it didn't take long into draft
week to have the first trade with quite

21
00:01:26,280 --> 00:01:30,040
a bit of significance. As first
reported by ESPN's Adrian Wocharowski, the Memphis

22
00:01:30,079 --> 00:01:36,640
Grizzlies decided to unexpectedly clear out of
the blue trade Jonas Valentiunis the number seventeen

23
00:01:36,760 --> 00:01:40,640
and fifty one picks in the twenty
twenty one NBA Draft to the New Orleans

24
00:01:40,680 --> 00:01:45,599
Pelicans for Eric Bledsoe's bloated contract,
Steven Adams's bloated contract, the tenth and

25
00:01:45,680 --> 00:01:48,920
the fortieth picks in this year's draft. It's gonna be a little bit tough

26
00:01:48,959 --> 00:01:53,079
to analyze this one and fully break
it down because there are inevitably going to

27
00:01:53,159 --> 00:01:57,280
be some secondary transactions. We already
know, per Chris Haynes of Yahoo Sports,

28
00:01:57,560 --> 00:02:02,640
that Bledsoe isn't expected stay in Memphis. There are protections on the twenty

29
00:02:02,719 --> 00:02:07,479
twenty two first round pick that has
headed Memphis's way via the Los Angeles Lakers.

30
00:02:07,520 --> 00:02:10,680
Some of these picks could become second
rounders. It definitely doesn't seem like

31
00:02:12,159 --> 00:02:15,319
this is finalized yet. We're just
kind of going through the initial pieces that

32
00:02:15,360 --> 00:02:20,560
are in motion here. And my
gut reaction was a little bit of confusion,

33
00:02:20,919 --> 00:02:23,120
just because this was so out of
the blue. There was no warning

34
00:02:23,199 --> 00:02:28,879
whatsoever that this was going to take
place. But as you start to analyze

35
00:02:28,919 --> 00:02:32,280
these pieces in motion, it kind
of feels like the rare true win win,

36
00:02:32,439 --> 00:02:38,879
doesn't it It does. I don't
know that it came out of nowhere.

37
00:02:38,039 --> 00:02:43,400
This was like it was clearly in
the ether for a while because Woejin

38
00:02:43,479 --> 00:02:47,560
low like mentioned this the day before
Sunday. They mentioned it basically the exact

39
00:02:47,560 --> 00:02:52,360
framework of this trade, and so
whenever they mentioned like exact details, it

40
00:02:52,439 --> 00:02:54,960
piqued my attention as, oh,
it sounds like Memphis is going to move

41
00:02:55,319 --> 00:03:00,800
the pick. I was surprised that
they were able to move both Let's Adams

42
00:03:00,840 --> 00:03:06,120
in the same deal. And it
ends up clearing more than twenty one million

43
00:03:06,120 --> 00:03:10,080
dollars of payroll for next season.
Now what they turn that payroll into is

44
00:03:10,080 --> 00:03:14,560
still up for debate. I think
that's the big thing here is the implications

45
00:03:14,560 --> 00:03:17,080
for New Orleans. I mean they're
both big implications. The Grizzlies are clearly

46
00:03:17,439 --> 00:03:22,560
they're slow playing what they're doing more
than I think most people thought after making

47
00:03:22,560 --> 00:03:25,120
two playoff biz and I actually support
that. But looking at the Pelican side,

48
00:03:27,360 --> 00:03:30,400
they can have more than thirty five
million dollars in cap space now.

49
00:03:30,759 --> 00:03:34,840
But you're renouncing everyone in that scenario. That's Josh Hart, that's Lonzo Ball,

50
00:03:34,879 --> 00:03:38,840
they're just gone, and their interest
in Kyle Lowry and knowing how much

51
00:03:38,840 --> 00:03:43,599
he'll command. It might be a
situation where you can float Josh Hart's cap

52
00:03:43,599 --> 00:03:46,840
hold, which is I think about
ten million, and signing Lowry and you're

53
00:03:46,879 --> 00:03:51,199
just letting Ball walk, or you're
just paying Lowry and that's it. That

54
00:03:51,240 --> 00:03:54,479
would be an awfully larger price to
pay. You're moving back seven spots in

55
00:03:54,520 --> 00:04:00,599
the first round, you're moving back
was eleven spots in the second round,

56
00:04:00,639 --> 00:04:02,319
and then you gave up that Laker's
pick that yeah, you top ten protected

57
00:04:02,360 --> 00:04:05,719
it. If that's all, then
to let Heart and Lonzo Ball walk and

58
00:04:06,120 --> 00:04:10,360
sign Lowry, I don't know it
would to me. It would just feel

59
00:04:10,360 --> 00:04:15,560
steep. At the same time,
I don't hate this deal from what they

60
00:04:15,680 --> 00:04:18,240
paid to get off of that money
and there it's off. They save themselves

61
00:04:18,240 --> 00:04:20,959
even more in twenty twenty two because
Adams had another year left on his deal.

62
00:04:21,079 --> 00:04:26,319
I think Bledsoe was between three and
four million partially guaranteed. So you

63
00:04:26,360 --> 00:04:30,319
give yourself flexibility in twenty twenty two
free agency, and now you've done independent

64
00:04:30,319 --> 00:04:32,839
of Lowry. Let's say Lowry signs
elsewhere, which I don't know how you

65
00:04:32,839 --> 00:04:35,480
feel about this. I'll throw it
to you really quickly. Wouldn't you predict

66
00:04:35,480 --> 00:04:40,079
that Lowry's not on the Pelicans next
season? Would that not be your prediction

67
00:04:40,199 --> 00:04:42,800
right now? Yeah, I don't
think that's where he's gonna wind up there.

68
00:04:43,000 --> 00:04:46,319
It feels like there's more of a
chance of that now because it would

69
00:04:46,360 --> 00:04:50,639
be a good fit. He does
have an established relationship with Valancutis, but

70
00:04:50,839 --> 00:04:56,600
it doesn't feel like that's going to
be the number one priority for him to

71
00:04:56,720 --> 00:04:59,480
end up with the Pelicans. I'll
also say I think part of the reason

72
00:04:59,560 --> 00:05:02,560
I felt of surprise that this actually
came to fruition, despite the rumors that

73
00:05:02,560 --> 00:05:05,959
it was in the works beforehand,
was just that I was so firmly entrenched

74
00:05:06,439 --> 00:05:11,959
in the Memphis should not blow anything
up camp that I didn't want to believe

75
00:05:12,040 --> 00:05:17,399
that anything like this was going to
happen. I mean, yes it did.

76
00:05:17,759 --> 00:05:20,000
I'm going to yell at you in
a minute about that. But yeah,

77
00:05:20,040 --> 00:05:23,920
So if if you're not going to
have Kyle Lowry, which is a

78
00:05:23,959 --> 00:05:27,720
real possibility, there are other things
that you can do. Now. It's

79
00:05:28,160 --> 00:05:31,240
if you're a team and the Pelicans
aren't signing Kyle Lowry, and you know

80
00:05:31,399 --> 00:05:34,480
they have they always could have matched
whatever you were offering Lonzo, but now

81
00:05:34,560 --> 00:05:39,600
they're just so far away from the
tax that it doesn't matter. You're less

82
00:05:39,639 --> 00:05:42,399
likely to give him an offer sheet, which kind of squeezes his market maybe

83
00:05:42,439 --> 00:05:45,680
makes him more likely to return at
a different type of number for you as

84
00:05:45,720 --> 00:05:48,160
well. You can also do other
things. You can make a trade exception

85
00:05:48,279 --> 00:05:53,120
out of Eric whatzzo salary, so
you can split the difference where I don't

86
00:05:53,160 --> 00:05:56,279
know how much Lonzo Ball commands,
but let's say it's between like eighteen and

87
00:05:56,279 --> 00:05:59,920
twenty two to keep him, and
then you have another you know you can

88
00:06:00,360 --> 00:06:01,480
you can operate as an over the
cap team, especially, but you can

89
00:06:01,560 --> 00:06:06,040
use that exception to take in a
player who's making eighteen million dollars still,

90
00:06:06,160 --> 00:06:10,040
so like you can operate as over
the cap Keeplon's own heart, have that

91
00:06:10,079 --> 00:06:13,319
trade exception, then go out and
trade for someone in a sign and trade

92
00:06:13,600 --> 00:06:16,800
in that scenario from another team,
whether it's a you know, at Duncan

93
00:06:16,879 --> 00:06:19,279
Robinson. I think because the name
has been floated a bunch because the Pelicans

94
00:06:19,279 --> 00:06:25,120
need shooting. But yeah, yeah, and there's a lot of different stuff

95
00:06:25,160 --> 00:06:27,959
that they can do now. So
I don't hate the opportunity cost here,

96
00:06:28,199 --> 00:06:30,759
but it's one of those situations where
you kind of have to wait and see

97
00:06:30,800 --> 00:06:34,160
what the Pelicans turn this flexibility into. And my question now to you,

98
00:06:34,439 --> 00:06:40,319
though, is what also matters is
Janus Valentiunis is fit on this team next

99
00:06:40,319 --> 00:06:44,519
design On Williamson specifically, what do
you think of that whole dynamic in the

100
00:06:44,560 --> 00:06:47,040
front court. I really like it. I mean, Valentiunis has shown that

101
00:06:47,079 --> 00:06:51,079
there is a significant amount of stretch
to his game. He's not necessarily going

102
00:06:51,120 --> 00:06:56,839
to be a true stretch five knockdown
three point shooter, but he can operate

103
00:06:57,319 --> 00:07:00,360
back outside of the perimeter. He's
one of the best interior scorers in the

104
00:07:00,480 --> 00:07:03,959
NBA today, but he's also comfortable
operating out of the mid range. But

105
00:07:04,120 --> 00:07:08,439
what I think it does for you, even beyond the fit when they're both

106
00:07:08,480 --> 00:07:13,560
on the court together, is it
gives you the ability to maintain an offense

107
00:07:13,680 --> 00:07:16,759
when Zion Williamson is not in the
game. If he's if valid, Junis

108
00:07:16,759 --> 00:07:19,839
is leading the charge with bench units, he's going to be able to be

109
00:07:19,879 --> 00:07:24,680
a featured scorer. We've seen that
work in key situations in Memphis, and

110
00:07:24,720 --> 00:07:29,319
I think that's one of the early
overlooked aspects of this. The other overlooked

111
00:07:29,360 --> 00:07:33,639
aspect is I think this gives other
free agents more confidence in the New Orleans

112
00:07:33,720 --> 00:07:40,600
front office because they easily could have
accepted that they made a mistake by giving

113
00:07:40,639 --> 00:07:46,800
Steven Adams such a ginormous contract,
But instead they recognized that shortcoming and actually

114
00:07:46,800 --> 00:07:49,399
made the move to offload it in
a way that's going to better the team

115
00:07:49,399 --> 00:07:53,759
both in the short term and in
the long term. And they deserve a

116
00:07:53,759 --> 00:07:56,720
lot of credit for doing that.
We've seen plenty of front offices refuse to

117
00:07:56,759 --> 00:08:00,560
acknowledge mistakes and double down on them, and this was the exact opposite,

118
00:08:00,600 --> 00:08:07,040
and that shouldn't go unmentioned. Yeah, they deserve credit for undoing a lot

119
00:08:07,079 --> 00:08:09,680
of what they did. Lash,
I mean, ideally you don't make the

120
00:08:09,680 --> 00:08:11,519
mistake in the first place, but
like that, that is the definition of

121
00:08:11,519 --> 00:08:16,519
a sun cost so right, at
least they're getting out of that. Yeah,

122
00:08:16,560 --> 00:08:18,680
I'm just yeah, I agree with
everything you said. I would just

123
00:08:18,720 --> 00:08:22,600
be skeptical of given how much they
had to undo. Stan Van Gundhi,

124
00:08:24,040 --> 00:08:26,720
Eric Bletsoe right, Steven Adam Right. Again, ideally you don't make those

125
00:08:26,759 --> 00:08:31,360
mistakes in the first place, but
how many times have we seen organizations refuse

126
00:08:31,439 --> 00:08:35,240
to acknowledge that a mistake was made
and just dig yourself even deeper? I

127
00:08:35,279 --> 00:08:39,759
will say, what we've really yet
to see? And this was not an

128
00:08:39,799 --> 00:08:41,320
original thought for me, So I
want to credit that in the No podcast

129
00:08:41,360 --> 00:08:45,639
with Shamadua and Mason Ginsburgh was not
all that episode, but they are Blue

130
00:08:45,639 --> 00:08:50,000
Wire teammates. David Griffin really hasn't
proven that he can with them anyway,

131
00:08:50,039 --> 00:08:54,120
that he can make the right buy
now play. He's done a lot of

132
00:08:54,159 --> 00:08:56,879
good selling. When you look at
the jew holiday trade, when you look

133
00:08:56,879 --> 00:08:58,960
at the Anthony Davis trade, and
even this trade could be constitute as a

134
00:09:00,159 --> 00:09:03,360
cell. I guess you bought cap
space, but you grease the wheels of

135
00:09:03,360 --> 00:09:07,279
salary dumps. What is his the
fact that his hallmark move though might be

136
00:09:07,960 --> 00:09:13,799
what he got in the anti Davis
return, it's probably not great. And

137
00:09:13,840 --> 00:09:16,080
now I do think there's pressure of
what you also have to look in if

138
00:09:16,080 --> 00:09:18,720
you want confidence in the Pelicans run
office, how do they handle the Lonzo

139
00:09:18,799 --> 00:09:22,519
ball situation? Now? Does this
make it more likely that he's leaving that

140
00:09:22,600 --> 00:09:26,440
he's staying, Because there's two schools
of thought there. It's oh, they

141
00:09:26,519 --> 00:09:30,759
have they don't have to worry about
matching him at all. They're going to

142
00:09:30,799 --> 00:09:33,120
carry his cap hold. They'll see
what Josh harkeets in the market too.

143
00:09:33,120 --> 00:09:35,960
They're not really planning on using a
ton of cap space or they did this

144
00:09:35,000 --> 00:09:39,240
specifically to use a ton of cap
space in which part, in which case

145
00:09:39,559 --> 00:09:41,840
he barring other moves, and there's
still a chance they could make other moves.

146
00:09:41,879 --> 00:09:46,000
He is part of your opportunity costs
for if it's Kyle Lowry or if

147
00:09:46,039 --> 00:09:50,320
it's someone else, for whatever comes
next to mention your Jonas fun shun his

148
00:09:50,440 --> 00:09:52,120
point. I do like the fit, and he does have more range.

149
00:09:52,200 --> 00:09:54,960
He's not a high volume three point
shooter. But he did show that he

150
00:09:56,000 --> 00:09:58,759
could hit some trail threes while he
was in Memphis. I don't know that

151
00:09:58,840 --> 00:10:01,679
he counts the floor spacer, but
he also has that floater game that helps.

152
00:10:01,799 --> 00:10:05,679
And you mentioned he can manufacture his
own offense, which is something you

153
00:10:05,720 --> 00:10:09,240
didn't get consistently from Adams. You
don't have it yet in Jackson Hayes.

154
00:10:09,559 --> 00:10:13,120
So that helps you in It helps
you in the Zion minutes too, just

155
00:10:13,159 --> 00:10:16,519
because you look at your point guard
situation right now, and unless Kira Lewis

156
00:10:16,600 --> 00:10:20,960
Junior or Nag goes Boom, unless
Lonzo Ball shows an element of half court

157
00:10:22,000 --> 00:10:24,720
creation that he really just hasn't yet, you're gonna need a little bit extra

158
00:10:24,799 --> 00:10:28,360
of that. So I like the
fit. This team still needs spacing around

159
00:10:28,399 --> 00:10:31,600
Zion, and I would include it
would be nice to see them get whether

160
00:10:31,600 --> 00:10:35,399
it's a small ball five option or
just another type of center, a guy

161
00:10:35,440 --> 00:10:41,039
who can actually chuck threes at that
spot. And everyone's looking for the shot

162
00:10:41,039 --> 00:10:43,120
blocker who can space the floor.
But they do need a better defender at

163
00:10:43,120 --> 00:10:46,159
the five spot right now to me, because Valanciunis is like, if you

164
00:10:46,240 --> 00:10:50,960
need him to be like stout around
the rim. Okay, but he's not

165
00:10:50,159 --> 00:10:54,360
like gonna be supermobile on defense in
that area. I am looking forward to

166
00:10:54,799 --> 00:11:00,679
one seeing him pancake some dudes on
screens. Imagine running a pick and roll

167
00:11:00,799 --> 00:11:03,960
with Zion and Goonis Valancunists, like, just imagine that we're going to see

168
00:11:03,000 --> 00:11:07,159
a ton of that. It'll be
super fun. And the other thing is,

169
00:11:07,240 --> 00:11:11,240
I'm pretty sure that New Orleans might
have a higher offensive rebounding rate than

170
00:11:11,240 --> 00:11:15,120
defensive rebounding rate at this point.
I wouldn't surprise me at all. No,

171
00:11:15,960 --> 00:11:20,879
Yeah, I think we're too quick
sometimes to say that you're either a

172
00:11:20,919 --> 00:11:24,919
floor spacing five or you're not.
Like I think more realistically, there are

173
00:11:24,919 --> 00:11:28,679
three categories. They are the true
floor spacers, then there are the spacing

174
00:11:28,720 --> 00:11:31,720
detractors, and then there are the
people who operate in between those two extremes.

175
00:11:31,960 --> 00:11:37,080
And Steven Adams fell into that second
category and Valancunist falls into the third,

176
00:11:37,159 --> 00:11:41,440
maybe sometimes the first. That's a
huge upgrade for a Zion Williamson led

177
00:11:41,440 --> 00:11:46,240
offense. And the other thing,
I was already excited and intrigued by the

178
00:11:46,279 --> 00:11:50,519
possibility of Ball coming back to this
team and showing that the strides he made

179
00:11:50,519 --> 00:11:54,559
throughout this past season where legitimate could
carry over into the next campaign that he

180
00:11:54,679 --> 00:12:01,039
was an increasingly good fit for the
incumbent core. He's even better fit now

181
00:12:01,480 --> 00:12:05,240
because all of a sudden, you
have a center who can create his own

182
00:12:05,279 --> 00:12:09,840
offense, which lessens the scoring responsibilities
on Lonzo Ball's shoulders, which is his

183
00:12:09,919 --> 00:12:13,480
biggest weakness, a half court score. So all of a sudden, you

184
00:12:13,519 --> 00:12:18,279
have a team that's even more primed
to plumb every positive thing out of his

185
00:12:18,399 --> 00:12:22,279
profile that it can and account for
his weakness is better. So I do

186
00:12:22,360 --> 00:12:26,039
think they're going to pursue Kyle Lowry. They'll be floated as a possible landing

187
00:12:26,080 --> 00:12:30,840
spot for every intriguing point guard on
the open market. But Lonzo is an

188
00:12:30,879 --> 00:12:37,120
even better fit now. I'm wondering
if this trade the dream for me scenario

189
00:12:37,159 --> 00:12:39,120
for the Pelicans was having Lonzo Ball
and Kyle Lowry, because just think of

190
00:12:39,159 --> 00:12:43,960
how much Lonzo Ball benefits from being
alongside a floor general like Kyle Lowry.

191
00:12:45,000 --> 00:12:46,960
Just think about how much that amplifies
his game and how that can be a

192
00:12:46,960 --> 00:12:56,080
symbiotic relationship. So you had more
ready made salary filler for sign and trade

193
00:12:56,080 --> 00:12:58,639
with Kyle Lowry when you had Adams
Robletto on the roster. Now it's like,

194
00:13:00,200 --> 00:13:05,320
I guess you could do like a
Josh Hart sign and trade plus does

195
00:13:05,360 --> 00:13:09,720
I don't even know if Jackson Hayes's
money get you enough there. I guess

196
00:13:09,759 --> 00:13:11,720
you could still include Valichunist if you
wanted to. But I do think valentchunis

197
00:13:11,759 --> 00:13:16,679
Is value to the Pelicans was a
part of their calculus. Valichunis re union

198
00:13:16,679 --> 00:13:18,879
in Toronto wouldn't be the worst thing
in the world. It kind of sucks

199
00:13:18,879 --> 00:13:24,639
that I gotta see this Zion Valentchuta's
pick and roll. Now I am at

200
00:13:24,679 --> 00:13:28,600
my point though, is I think
it makes it less likely that you are

201
00:13:28,639 --> 00:13:31,879
going to have Kyle Lowry and Lonzo
Ball teams. Is very much of I'm

202
00:13:31,919 --> 00:13:33,879
of the mind now you've decided if
we're getting Kyle Lowry's because we have this

203
00:13:33,919 --> 00:13:37,320
cap space. Whereas before it seemed
a little bit easier to sign and trade

204
00:13:37,320 --> 00:13:41,000
because also you have the number ten
pick to use with any of the salary

205
00:13:41,000 --> 00:13:43,360
you were sending out. Now,
yeah, you still do have. They

206
00:13:43,399 --> 00:13:46,399
moved down in number seventeen, and
like I said, they have if I

207
00:13:46,480 --> 00:13:50,639
could see Toronto being semi interested in
Heart It's just I don't know where the

208
00:13:50,679 --> 00:13:54,279
rest of that money is coming from. If you're not including Valichunists, which

209
00:13:54,279 --> 00:13:56,159
I would agree, I don't think
that they should unless they have a different

210
00:13:56,159 --> 00:14:01,240
type of center coming in or deal
tea up. It was a pipe dream

211
00:14:01,279 --> 00:14:03,480
always, but I was kind of
hoping to see it, and I think

212
00:14:03,480 --> 00:14:07,799
this makes it less likely to sort
of put a bow on the Pelicans.

213
00:14:07,240 --> 00:14:11,320
Can I force you to make a
prediction of is Lonzo Ball in New Orleans

214
00:14:11,440 --> 00:14:13,120
next season? Yes? Or no? I think I think you will be.

215
00:14:13,200 --> 00:14:18,759
There's just so much cap space that
the ability to match without any repercussions

216
00:14:18,840 --> 00:14:22,519
is too much here. I'm gonna
say no. I still think they might

217
00:14:22,559 --> 00:14:26,440
try and split the difference here somehow
we're using the trade exception, or they

218
00:14:26,480 --> 00:14:31,240
can lower his capital by the way, because his capital is like twenty seven

219
00:14:31,320 --> 00:14:35,600
five, he's not going if he
gets that much money, the Knicks have

220
00:14:35,679 --> 00:14:39,720
done something wild. It would be
my prediction. But you can lower it

221
00:14:39,759 --> 00:14:43,639
by signing him to a new deal
that's worth less. If it's eighteen million,

222
00:14:43,919 --> 00:14:46,000
you lowered it by nine million.
It makes it easier to split the

223
00:14:46,039 --> 00:14:48,879
difference here. So I still think
it's going to be a sign in trade

224
00:14:48,879 --> 00:14:52,360
scenario for him. I'm fascinated they
were. I think they were one of

225
00:14:52,399 --> 00:14:56,840
my most interesting teams of the offseason
when Bleacher Reports Grant he was and I

226
00:14:56,919 --> 00:14:58,799
did this segment. They're even more
fascinating to me now because this is not

227
00:14:58,840 --> 00:15:05,679
a move that I think intimates any
one direction for them. I fully agree

228
00:15:05,679 --> 00:15:13,639
with that. On board. Hey
Hardonnox listeners, it's Dan again, this

229
00:15:13,759 --> 00:15:18,639
time to talk to you about hosting
your own podcast with our parent distributor,

230
00:15:18,720 --> 00:15:22,639
Blue iire Pods, and there's no
better place to host than Blue Wire Hustle.

231
00:15:22,919 --> 00:15:26,399
Hustle was created to give everyone the
opportunity to take their podcast to the

232
00:15:26,440 --> 00:15:30,000
next level. Or if you want
to host a podcast and just don't know

233
00:15:30,039 --> 00:15:33,360
where to start, Hustle is the
perfect place for you. As part of

234
00:15:33,360 --> 00:15:35,879
the program, you'll receive personal cover
art, q and a's with Blue Wire's

235
00:15:35,919 --> 00:15:41,159
top podcasters that has included me so
apologies in advance, access to our community

236
00:15:41,200 --> 00:15:45,679
discord, and an e learning course
full of tips and tricks. On top

237
00:15:45,679 --> 00:15:48,799
of all that will help you get
your show pushed out to Apple, Spotify,

238
00:15:48,919 --> 00:15:52,519
Google, Stitcher and all the other
listening platforms. The best part is

239
00:15:52,639 --> 00:15:54,720
you get all of this from only
fifteen dollars a month. That's the same

240
00:15:54,799 --> 00:15:58,759
rate any other hosting site, which
hards you just for the initial setup.

241
00:15:58,000 --> 00:16:00,919
So if you're ready to do more
or than just listening to Hardwood Knox's sub

242
00:16:00,960 --> 00:16:07,000
mediocre basketball takes, then make your
voice heard in Hustle. Acceptance into the

243
00:16:07,000 --> 00:16:10,639
program is limited, so get your
application in today. To apply, go

244
00:16:10,759 --> 00:16:14,960
to BW hustle dot com slash joint. Check out the description box in this

245
00:16:15,000 --> 00:16:18,639
episode to find out more. But
that's BW hustle dot com slash joint.

246
00:16:19,240 --> 00:16:26,799
So from memphisis perspective. You took
on over twenty one million dollars in salary

247
00:16:26,840 --> 00:16:29,679
this year. You're getting rid of
Justice Winslow is part of this. You're

248
00:16:29,720 --> 00:16:33,000
declining his team option because you need
the cap space to do that. You

249
00:16:33,120 --> 00:16:37,600
also have to factor in the cost
of Steven Adams next year, which is

250
00:16:37,039 --> 00:16:41,519
seventeen nine, and then you're probably
gonna wigh Eric Bletsoe if you're I think

251
00:16:41,559 --> 00:16:45,639
that was three point eight million,
I had the exact number written down three

252
00:16:45,679 --> 00:16:48,919
point nine million guaranteed. So at
minimum, as of now, you've now

253
00:16:49,000 --> 00:16:53,480
taken on twenty one point nine million
you've taken on forty three forty four million

254
00:16:53,519 --> 00:16:57,679
dollars in total to move up seven
spots in the draft, seven spots in

255
00:16:57,679 --> 00:17:02,120
the first round, eleven spots in
the second round, and you get the

256
00:17:02,200 --> 00:17:07,400
Lakers twenty twenty two pick, top
ten protected. I think it's a smidge

257
00:17:07,799 --> 00:17:11,000
of it's a smidge much. We
have to see what happens with Eric Bletso.

258
00:17:11,279 --> 00:17:17,079
Maybe they're able to use Adams or
Eric Bletso too in a subsequent trade

259
00:17:17,119 --> 00:17:19,480
because those are money anchors. Maybe
Eric Bletso gives a lot back and a

260
00:17:19,519 --> 00:17:23,039
buy out, because if I'm Memphis, and I'm not saying players should have

261
00:17:23,119 --> 00:17:26,519
to give back money, but if
he wants to leave and you're being pressured

262
00:17:26,519 --> 00:17:30,319
by Clutch Sports to buy him out, you're just having dead money on your

263
00:17:30,319 --> 00:17:34,079
books all of next season, so
you can't use him as a money matching

264
00:17:34,079 --> 00:17:37,359
tool in a trade. So I'm
not just saying there needs to be money

265
00:17:37,359 --> 00:17:41,759
given back off next year's partial guarantee. There probably needs to be money given

266
00:17:41,839 --> 00:17:45,039
back off this season to make it
worth Memphis. While what I like about

267
00:17:45,079 --> 00:17:48,519
this is and people were making the
joke like, oh, John Moran's gonna

268
00:17:48,559 --> 00:17:53,200
have to request out by mid season. Memphis is taking gradual swings here where

269
00:17:53,279 --> 00:17:56,240
I don't they don't even know if
they had and it wasn't Jonas Valanciunis,

270
00:17:56,319 --> 00:18:00,680
even though he was probably their most
consistent player last year and definitely their second

271
00:18:00,680 --> 00:18:03,720
best player last year. He wasn't
going to be the number two long term.

272
00:18:03,720 --> 00:18:07,000
I don't even think you can argue
that they know Jaren Jackson Junior is

273
00:18:07,039 --> 00:18:11,480
that guy. You've now moved into
tenth in this draft, where no,

274
00:18:11,519 --> 00:18:14,039
I don't know if you're going to
find that guy, but you're getting another

275
00:18:14,039 --> 00:18:18,720
bite at the apple, and you've
reloaded further your draft pick Cachet because you

276
00:18:18,759 --> 00:18:22,039
have a Jazz pick next year.
You have that Warrior's pick in twenty twenty

277
00:18:22,079 --> 00:18:26,720
four, which that could be Dad
could be effing tasty that Warrior's pick.

278
00:18:26,799 --> 00:18:30,480
I think it's top four protected in
twenty twenty four. So've you are in

279
00:18:30,559 --> 00:18:33,319
a position to still, especially when
you look at all these other type deals

280
00:18:33,359 --> 00:18:36,160
you have on your books. You
can go out there and make a huge

281
00:18:36,200 --> 00:18:38,920
trade if you view it as the
right opportunity. But now is the time

282
00:18:40,240 --> 00:18:45,039
to take the gradual approach because you
haven't doubled down on anyone on your roster.

283
00:18:45,400 --> 00:18:48,720
I know it sucks. John Morant
is really good now he's not Luca

284
00:18:48,759 --> 00:18:52,160
dan jag like. He has not
inferred the obligation too. We need to

285
00:18:52,160 --> 00:18:56,079
build a contender around him. So
while he is cheaper, and I'm not

286
00:18:56,119 --> 00:19:00,240
saying that because I want him to
be cheap, it's the clocks. It's

287
00:19:00,319 --> 00:19:04,480
kicking to me. Once you sign
your first Max cornerstone, that's gonna happen

288
00:19:04,559 --> 00:19:10,880
next summer. He's going to be
extension of the next summer, so you

289
00:19:11,000 --> 00:19:14,240
have two more years of a cost
control John Moran before that extension kicks in.

290
00:19:14,559 --> 00:19:18,599
Make these swings now to find that
guy when you have the flexibility to

291
00:19:18,640 --> 00:19:21,319
do so, because when John Moran's
making a ton of money, it's gonna

292
00:19:21,359 --> 00:19:23,960
be harder to make moves like this
to accumulate assets to either one trade or

293
00:19:23,960 --> 00:19:26,319
two. As I said before,
get you more bites at the apple.

294
00:19:26,599 --> 00:19:30,920
That's why I'm ultimately okay with this. And they're sort of doing they're not

295
00:19:30,000 --> 00:19:33,240
undoing, but they're admitting a folly
with the Justice Winslow trade wherever. They

296
00:19:33,240 --> 00:19:36,880
took on a lot of money to
get him, and because of injuries,

297
00:19:36,880 --> 00:19:40,680
he just never panned out by inevitably
declining his team option again unless there are

298
00:19:40,720 --> 00:19:42,240
other moving parts here. Yeah,
you've admitted to a mistake, but you've

299
00:19:42,279 --> 00:19:45,680
opened up another window of opportunity.
And that's why I like it for them,

300
00:19:45,720 --> 00:19:51,359
even though, and we have to
shout out Amy here. It sucks

301
00:19:51,480 --> 00:19:55,440
from an emotional standpoint because Joanna sound
Tunis did such a good job of endearing

302
00:19:55,480 --> 00:19:59,039
himself to the Grizzly sam base,
but also just embracing because he did resign

303
00:19:59,079 --> 00:20:03,720
there embrace sing the role of Okay, I'm on a young team that turned

304
00:20:03,759 --> 00:20:04,880
out to be better than expected,
but I'm on a young team and I'm

305
00:20:04,920 --> 00:20:08,880
going to immerse myself in this culture, be there for the younger guys.

306
00:20:08,920 --> 00:20:11,920
And he really did shine there.
So from that perspective it sucks. But

307
00:20:12,000 --> 00:20:18,960
from the callous, zoomed out team
building perspective, I think Memphis it's eminently

308
00:20:18,000 --> 00:20:25,160
justifiable, if not a really good
move for them, we can't say great

309
00:20:25,200 --> 00:20:29,079
until we see what happens. Obviously, I'm leading more towards the really good

310
00:20:29,119 --> 00:20:33,279
side of the spectrum because we need
to talk about Steven Adams here. There's

311
00:20:33,440 --> 00:20:41,920
such there's such a tendency in modern
NBA discourse to immediately fail to separate the

312
00:20:41,960 --> 00:20:47,960
player from the contract. Steven Adams
was misevaluated and signed to a ginormous contract

313
00:20:48,160 --> 00:20:52,759
that unquestionably overpays him. But because
that's the first thing that gets mentioned now,

314
00:20:52,079 --> 00:20:56,680
we forget that he's actually a really
good basketball player. He was not

315
00:20:56,839 --> 00:21:00,400
a really good basketball player this past
season, but going into the year,

316
00:21:00,839 --> 00:21:03,720
we knew how bad that fit looked, and that's exactly how it played out.

317
00:21:04,200 --> 00:21:07,079
He's only twenty eight years old.
He turned twenty eight six days ago.

318
00:21:07,599 --> 00:21:12,200
He is two years removed from an
excellent final season with the Oklahoma City

319
00:21:12,200 --> 00:21:18,440
Thunder. He's thrived when he's played
alongside good point guards like Russell Westbrook and

320
00:21:18,519 --> 00:21:21,759
Chris Paul and he now gets to
play with another one and John Morant,

321
00:21:21,759 --> 00:21:26,079
who is a score first guy who
can take advantage of defensive weaknesses with his

322
00:21:26,920 --> 00:21:30,400
athleticism and let Adams clean up and
do the dirty work. He is going

323
00:21:30,480 --> 00:21:33,359
to thrive on the glass. He
gives a screen setting presence that is better

324
00:21:33,680 --> 00:21:38,680
than Valentunis ever brought to the table, despite Valentunis being a good screen setter.

325
00:21:40,079 --> 00:21:42,799
That's what's another thing that's getting overlooked
about this trade, and the immediate

326
00:21:42,839 --> 00:21:48,799
aftermath is that we want to talk
about how the money doesn't make sense for

327
00:21:48,839 --> 00:21:52,160
Adams, how they had to take
on assets just to acquire the player,

328
00:21:52,480 --> 00:21:55,720
and we forget that, Hey,
this is a really good basketball player who

329
00:21:55,759 --> 00:22:00,039
actually does make sense for this team. And that's why I immediately liked it.

330
00:22:00,200 --> 00:22:04,920
Because he can elevate Morant's game just
by virtue of the screens, by

331
00:22:04,920 --> 00:22:10,400
the willingness to do the dirty work
to create second chance opportunities to grab defensive

332
00:22:10,400 --> 00:22:14,680
rebounds or to defer them to a
quick transition player. He makes a lot

333
00:22:14,720 --> 00:22:19,640
of sense for this team. Yeah, I somewhat agree with that. I

334
00:22:19,680 --> 00:22:25,519
just think he's deteriorated so much defensively
and we've sort of yet to see like

335
00:22:26,000 --> 00:22:29,119
a value. But well, you
know, but he's just a lot slower

336
00:22:29,200 --> 00:22:32,000
than he was two or three years
ago for someone who's only twenty eight.

337
00:22:32,000 --> 00:22:34,640
Now, he's a better defender than
you on his mountain tunis now. And

338
00:22:34,680 --> 00:22:40,599
I think he'll benefit from being next
to a league guard like a John Moran,

339
00:22:40,759 --> 00:22:42,079
or even just looking at some of
the secondary players at this point,

340
00:22:42,079 --> 00:22:47,559
like a Taias Jones or a Dylan
Brooks, like secondary playmakers like that compared

341
00:22:47,599 --> 00:22:52,519
to what he was working with in
New Orleans. I will I just and

342
00:22:52,559 --> 00:22:55,559
look, the number of two years
and thirty five million is just not like

343
00:22:55,599 --> 00:22:59,319
it's it's not great in retrospect,
but if it's on the right team.

344
00:22:59,400 --> 00:23:00,680
I still don't know if Memphis is
the right team. They need more shooting

345
00:23:00,680 --> 00:23:06,079
around him too, and their search
for a wing score is never ending.

346
00:23:06,160 --> 00:23:08,640
This is like, not since Rudy
Gay now have they really had one.

347
00:23:08,799 --> 00:23:12,039
I know they thought Chandler Parsons was
going to be that guy for them,

348
00:23:12,079 --> 00:23:15,799
but and it really seems like they're
going to pursue that in the draft,

349
00:23:15,920 --> 00:23:19,359
especially with the subsequent reports that they're
looking to move further up from that number

350
00:23:19,400 --> 00:23:22,960
ten pick. Don't know who's four, but it seems like that's the priority

351
00:23:23,000 --> 00:23:26,559
here, right. And you also, this trade looks better if you're in

352
00:23:26,559 --> 00:23:29,960
love with someone that you know is
going to be at number ten and you

353
00:23:30,000 --> 00:23:33,000
think he is the guy, then
you know what, Like that makes this

354
00:23:33,039 --> 00:23:37,640
trade a lot easier to justify from
their perspective too. I'm curious to see

355
00:23:37,640 --> 00:23:41,359
what are they attaching to move up
they have the Laker I guess it's like

356
00:23:41,359 --> 00:23:45,759
the Lakers pick the Utah pick.
I wouldn't attach the Golden State pick there.

357
00:23:45,839 --> 00:23:49,000
I'd be curious to see how far
they're moving up and then what the

358
00:23:49,039 --> 00:23:52,039
equity is to get there, because
looking at what they have right now,

359
00:23:52,400 --> 00:23:56,960
unless they bowl over someone with an
offer, I'm not seeing a path to

360
00:23:56,000 --> 00:24:02,119
them cracking the top six like Oklahoma
City six, Orlando at five, like

361
00:24:02,240 --> 00:24:04,359
Toronto at four, and then Cleveland
at three. He's in at two and

362
00:24:04,440 --> 00:24:08,519
Detroit at one obviously, so you're
moving trying to move up another three spots

363
00:24:08,519 --> 00:24:12,519
max. It feels like, Yeah, my initial assumption was maybe they're moving

364
00:24:12,559 --> 00:24:18,039
up to take James Smoke Night,
but like, I don't know, and

365
00:24:18,079 --> 00:24:19,279
he might still be there at ten, even though a lot of people think

366
00:24:19,319 --> 00:24:22,799
that he's going top ten, So
like he just might still be there at

367
00:24:22,839 --> 00:24:26,119
ten, in which case maybe you
don't need to move up. So I'd

368
00:24:26,119 --> 00:24:30,680
be interested with the opportunity costs there, just what is it going to take

369
00:24:30,720 --> 00:24:33,759
to move up three spots or whatever. And I can't shake the pairing of

370
00:24:33,839 --> 00:24:38,519
Corey Kissper here just because he's such
an elite shooter from so many different levels

371
00:24:38,720 --> 00:24:41,440
and a guy who shot forty four
percent on six and a half threees per

372
00:24:41,440 --> 00:24:45,480
game last year with last year with
Gonzaga, Like, if you're looking for

373
00:24:45,519 --> 00:24:49,119
shooting, that's the guy in this
class. He's not necessarily the creator that

374
00:24:49,119 --> 00:24:52,240
you might find a little bit higher
up. But that's where my head initially

375
00:24:52,279 --> 00:24:56,839
went when I saw that Memphis was
moving up to ten in the draft.

376
00:24:56,960 --> 00:25:00,440
Is he clear top ten two?
Like that wouldn't be like to move to

377
00:25:00,480 --> 00:25:03,240
get him ten? Yeah? Yeah, I mean I think, like you're

378
00:25:03,240 --> 00:25:07,640
probably not getting him just outside the
lottery in this class, but it felt

379
00:25:07,640 --> 00:25:12,480
like ten was a reasonable spot where
it's probably a slight overdrafting based on what

380
00:25:12,480 --> 00:25:17,240
we're seeing with the consensus big boards, but it wouldn't in any way be

381
00:25:17,359 --> 00:25:22,440
like unrealistic. The trade is exciting
because neither of these teams are done,

382
00:25:22,599 --> 00:25:26,480
like you just the set up of
their rosters. But that's why it's it's

383
00:25:26,480 --> 00:25:30,400
fascinating to me. The other element
of this is how it impacts the off

384
00:25:30,440 --> 00:25:36,119
season that we're getting there and do
you you know this is we all spoiler

385
00:25:36,200 --> 00:25:40,000
we already recorded something on this that
is now just terrible gone in the et

386
00:25:40,000 --> 00:25:44,480
there no one loves her hearing any
looking at what Memphis has done, do

387
00:25:44,559 --> 00:25:47,720
any trade or free agency targets now
stand out to you for them, because

388
00:25:47,720 --> 00:25:49,480
I still do. I still do
have a few, But I'm curious to

389
00:25:49,480 --> 00:25:53,240
see if if that crossed your mind
at all about how this impacts who they're

390
00:25:53,279 --> 00:25:56,480
going to target or what they're going
to target in the off season. No,

391
00:25:56,599 --> 00:26:00,160
I mean I'm going into this.
I was. I was in the

392
00:26:00,200 --> 00:26:03,759
camp where I didn't want to see
any moves like this. I think this

393
00:26:03,839 --> 00:26:07,319
was still a good one for for
Memphis given what was brought back in the

394
00:26:07,359 --> 00:26:14,000
return, but so much depends on
what happens with Eric Bledsoe here. I

395
00:26:14,039 --> 00:26:17,119
guess you're still looking for that shooter, that three and D guy. I

396
00:26:17,119 --> 00:26:22,079
mean, like if but you're you're
not close enough to true contention to make

397
00:26:22,119 --> 00:26:25,839
a play for for Danny Green or
something where it would just be you know,

398
00:26:26,559 --> 00:26:30,359
what are you boosting too? So
I don't really have any specific targets

399
00:26:30,400 --> 00:26:33,680
for this team. Still, I
think they need wings and shooting more than

400
00:26:33,720 --> 00:26:38,519
ever. I would argue now just
because you've you've you've shrunk the floor with

401
00:26:38,559 --> 00:26:42,519
this trade, even even though you
know Justice Winslow was a terrible shooter for

402
00:26:42,519 --> 00:26:47,920
them and barely played for that matter. And yes, as Daniel Green says

403
00:26:47,960 --> 00:26:52,359
in the chat they have three first
next year or projected to have three first

404
00:26:52,519 --> 00:26:55,680
and yeah, we already talked about
the Bledsoe buy out. There's a chance

405
00:26:55,680 --> 00:26:59,880
that they don't even have to pay
that four million Daniel, depending on if

406
00:27:00,000 --> 00:27:02,559
if he wants to buy out like
he's giving a crap ton of money back

407
00:27:02,559 --> 00:27:06,039
to whether they're gonna like that's me. If I'm Memphis, I'm holding the

408
00:27:06,079 --> 00:27:08,599
line there. I would still like
to see them even though it doesn't look

409
00:27:08,640 --> 00:27:15,720
like they're going super whin now like
Buddy Held still stands out here and now

410
00:27:15,759 --> 00:27:18,920
you have the money to match it. Where Sacramento wants to lean into a

411
00:27:18,960 --> 00:27:23,519
rebuild, which they might Buddy healed
Eric bletso structure, and then they're the

412
00:27:23,519 --> 00:27:26,039
ones that have to deal with the
Eric Bletzo buy out and what are you

413
00:27:26,079 --> 00:27:30,799
giving them an addition to the basically
two years worth of cap relief, you

414
00:27:30,839 --> 00:27:34,440
could also trade Steven Adams and then
lean into Jaren Jackson junior at the five,

415
00:27:34,759 --> 00:27:37,440
which is something I don't know if
they've been reluctant to it, but

416
00:27:37,440 --> 00:27:41,839
they couldn't experiment with it last year
because he hasn't been too healthy and I

417
00:27:41,880 --> 00:27:45,119
also think he does need to get
his bowling still under control. He probably

418
00:27:45,759 --> 00:27:48,960
I think he might be better suited
defensively at the five, maybe just because

419
00:27:48,960 --> 00:27:52,640
he won't have to cover as much
ground in a lot of instances, and

420
00:27:52,680 --> 00:27:56,000
he seems to be like there's a
little bit of chaos there. So there

421
00:27:56,000 --> 00:27:59,559
are a lot of different moves they
can make. But Buddy Held stands out

422
00:27:59,559 --> 00:28:03,200
to me if they wanted to.
And what this also impacts is now they're

423
00:28:03,200 --> 00:28:07,559
definitely not going to be a cap
space team, unless I won't say definitely

424
00:28:07,559 --> 00:28:11,039
because we just saw trades happen.
You're working with the non tax payers mid

425
00:28:11,079 --> 00:28:14,559
level exception. Maybe there's something I
don't think he signs for this, but

426
00:28:14,599 --> 00:28:17,599
Will Barton is still a target that
I would love for this team to help

427
00:28:17,640 --> 00:28:21,519
them generate more spacing with his passing
and just his shooting in general. Is

428
00:28:21,519 --> 00:28:25,240
there assigning trade with Denver if Miami
doesn't want to pay Duncan Robinson. That's

429
00:28:25,279 --> 00:28:26,400
also what the other guy, if
you're not looking at a Blootzow trade,

430
00:28:26,440 --> 00:28:30,000
is there are signing trade to be
worked out for Duncan Robinson because I think

431
00:28:30,000 --> 00:28:34,559
he's spectacular. Other than that,
like, can you look on the lower

432
00:28:34,680 --> 00:28:38,880
end of just some shooting, Like
you just need to put floor spaces on

433
00:28:38,920 --> 00:28:41,759
the floor. At this point,
you don't even in my mind, need

434
00:28:41,759 --> 00:28:45,559
to do like full mid level type
targets. It's just, hey, can

435
00:28:45,559 --> 00:28:48,480
we get Wayne Ellington back in Memphis
for a minute to generate some extra spacing,

436
00:28:48,759 --> 00:28:52,039
not saying he has to play a
ton of minutes for maybe you could

437
00:28:52,039 --> 00:28:56,920
also get a veteran to come in
and provide some spacing. You you're funneling

438
00:28:56,000 --> 00:29:00,000
him the full mid level exception,
which I think a nontaxpayers is gonna be

439
00:29:00,039 --> 00:29:03,920
out between nine point five and nine
point six. No one stands out in

440
00:29:04,000 --> 00:29:07,000
total. I would like Doug McDermott
for this team doesn't create a lot,

441
00:29:07,079 --> 00:29:10,799
but I think he'll probably get more
than the mid level, and I don't

442
00:29:10,799 --> 00:29:15,279
know why he would necessarily leave.
They could take a look at a Terrence

443
00:29:15,319 --> 00:29:18,920
Davis who's a restricted free agent,
but those guys are also well not Doug

444
00:29:19,000 --> 00:29:22,599
McDermott, but Terrence Davis is on
the smaller side, and you do want

445
00:29:22,640 --> 00:29:26,880
them to be like more of true
wing sized at this point. So I

446
00:29:26,920 --> 00:29:30,400
still think shooting is a priority to
where some of the targets we mentioned in

447
00:29:30,440 --> 00:29:33,480
the previous edition, Will Barton Buddy
Heals specifically, and you can go through

448
00:29:33,480 --> 00:29:37,359
I'm assuming you're gonna go through a
lot of suggestions we have in the chat.

449
00:29:37,119 --> 00:29:41,720
I think those are two those would
be the two ideal names for me.

450
00:29:41,039 --> 00:29:45,680
With Duncan Robinson also booming. I
just don't think the Heat are gonna

451
00:29:45,680 --> 00:29:48,000
balk at any or flinch at any
offer sheet or want to actually move on

452
00:29:48,039 --> 00:29:52,039
from him. Yeah, so we've
we've had quite a bit of activity in

453
00:29:52,079 --> 00:29:53,960
the comments here. Brad Henry says, maybe the Grizz want to get to

454
00:29:55,000 --> 00:30:00,359
eight for Vager. That's friends Vagger. I think that could make sense for

455
00:30:00,400 --> 00:30:02,960
this team. I wonder if they
do have to move up to get him.

456
00:30:03,000 --> 00:30:06,200
It feels like he could feasibly be
there at number ten as well.

457
00:30:06,599 --> 00:30:08,920
Ohen Mayat says, I'd imagine we
lean more into Jaron at the five minutes

458
00:30:08,960 --> 00:30:12,039
looks fairly good in the Utah series
and fixes some of the spacing issues.

459
00:30:12,319 --> 00:30:17,039
I think that's the dream from Memphis. Is that working, But it's just

460
00:30:17,160 --> 00:30:22,480
tough to rely on that given the
fragility and the injury history on display here

461
00:30:22,519 --> 00:30:26,319
where it's looked good, but the
sample size has been so small that it's

462
00:30:26,359 --> 00:30:32,079
tough to commit to that without any
contingency plans whatsoever. Dylan Hank says,

463
00:30:32,079 --> 00:30:36,640
I hear they like Josh Giddy at
number ten. I've seen that one as

464
00:30:36,640 --> 00:30:40,039
well. I don't know how much
validity there is to those rumors. I

465
00:30:40,119 --> 00:30:44,359
really like Josh Giddy as a prospect. I just I don't know if I

466
00:30:44,480 --> 00:30:47,359
love that fit. You're taking the
ball out of John Morant's hands, and

467
00:30:47,400 --> 00:30:52,519
you're adding another spacing liability, like
an oversized point guard who has no shooting

468
00:30:52,519 --> 00:30:56,319
to his game whatsoever. At this
stage, that feels like Memphis making a

469
00:30:56,319 --> 00:31:00,200
poor decision more than anything else right
now. Who would you be okay with

470
00:31:00,279 --> 00:31:03,319
them taking at number ten now after
making his trade, assuming they keep the

471
00:31:03,319 --> 00:31:07,519
pick, Is it actually kiss Burt? I think that's the play right now.

472
00:31:07,839 --> 00:31:10,960
It would probably be a bit of
a reach, But I just I

473
00:31:11,039 --> 00:31:15,359
can't come up with a better prospect
team pairing at that slot right now.

474
00:31:15,200 --> 00:31:18,960
But I also do really like the
idea of Moses Moody there. If he

475
00:31:18,960 --> 00:31:25,799
doesn't keep rising up the boards,
that's another great fit. As a self

476
00:31:25,839 --> 00:31:30,279
creator. I've seen a lot of
people wondering if I don't think he will

477
00:31:30,400 --> 00:31:33,559
just based off it feels like we're
he've been mocked. But A is Jonathan

478
00:31:33,640 --> 00:31:36,680
Cominga like the person that they're trying
to trade up still to get. If

479
00:31:36,680 --> 00:31:38,240
you're if they're still trying to trade
up, they better get into the top

480
00:31:38,319 --> 00:31:42,359
six probably. I see he seemed
that consensus top five or six at this

481
00:31:42,359 --> 00:31:45,440
point, so I was just I
was a little bit surprised at his name.

482
00:31:45,519 --> 00:31:48,640
I think I think they're probably helped
by the Scottie Barton's helium we're seeing

483
00:31:48,720 --> 00:31:52,200
right now, where it doesn't feel
like Comingo's get to go in the top

484
00:31:52,240 --> 00:31:56,559
five unless there's a big surprise,
but you still have to move up to

485
00:31:56,559 --> 00:31:59,920
get him. Moral of the story
though, is they got to get you,

486
00:32:00,279 --> 00:32:02,359
whether it's signing someone like a Reggie
Bullock or Alec Burks or making up

487
00:32:02,359 --> 00:32:05,799
a little bit of a bigger swing
on the trade market. I still like

488
00:32:05,880 --> 00:32:07,720
this trade from Memphis, though I
appreciate the bites at the apple they're giving

489
00:32:07,720 --> 00:32:10,799
themselves for New Orleans. It's kind
of the same question, and we went

490
00:32:10,880 --> 00:32:14,599
over it a little bit, but
you how do you think this changes their

491
00:32:14,680 --> 00:32:17,440
offseason approach when you're looking at additional
trades or what they might do in free

492
00:32:17,440 --> 00:32:21,160
agency. There's I mean, we
talked about the Kyle Lowry element to no

493
00:32:21,319 --> 00:32:23,960
end. Are you okay if the
end result is Lonzo Ball is gone,

494
00:32:24,119 --> 00:32:28,319
maybe Josh Hart's back, we don't
know. But you've signed Kyle Lowry and

495
00:32:28,400 --> 00:32:31,599
that's why you did all of this? Are you good with that? Probably

496
00:32:31,680 --> 00:32:37,000
not, just because what are you
what are you doing with that timeline?

497
00:32:37,359 --> 00:32:40,440
Lowry is roughly forty five at this
point right like, still a great basketball

498
00:32:40,440 --> 00:32:45,880
player, but how does he fit
with the Zion Williamson brandon Ingram timeline.

499
00:32:45,119 --> 00:32:49,119
That's what doesn't make sense to me
if you want to bring him in because

500
00:32:49,400 --> 00:32:52,640
you're anticipating making a huge leap by
all means, but you're not doing that

501
00:32:52,680 --> 00:32:58,799
by replacing Lonzo Ball and or Josh
Hart with him so much as supplementing.

502
00:32:58,839 --> 00:33:02,079
I'd be much more okay with at
if it's in conjunction with Alonzo Ball resigning,

503
00:33:02,079 --> 00:33:07,519
which there should be enough money to
do. Now to what, I'm

504
00:33:07,519 --> 00:33:10,359
sorry cant the last point. What's
in conjunction with Alonzo Ball signing a Kyle

505
00:33:10,440 --> 00:33:15,000
Lowry addition? But yeah, sign
and trade. I guess it is still

506
00:33:15,039 --> 00:33:17,119
possible. I just the framework gets
a little bit more fickle. Now.

507
00:33:17,839 --> 00:33:22,000
I will say, if Kyle Lowry
and Zion Williams in are on the same

508
00:33:22,079 --> 00:33:28,279
team, they must be the NBA
duo that has like the biggest collective asses

509
00:33:28,440 --> 00:33:31,440
that we've seen, right, Like
that has to be like that has to

510
00:33:31,480 --> 00:33:37,720
be a thing. The biggest Kadonka
donc duo or whatever it would be called,

511
00:33:37,920 --> 00:33:40,480
would be seen an all Kadonka dog
team. If that happens, I'm

512
00:33:40,519 --> 00:33:46,440
either episode right there, Yeah,
the dog team. I agree with you.

513
00:33:46,559 --> 00:33:51,200
If you can get Kyle Lowry while
keeping Alonzo ball, I think that's

514
00:33:51,200 --> 00:33:52,640
the move. I'm not saying signing
him would be a mistake. This would

515
00:33:52,640 --> 00:33:57,440
be an awful lot of trouble though, to just get him, and it

516
00:33:57,480 --> 00:34:02,319
would also reek of oh remember when
they kind of prematurely accelerated their timeline with

517
00:34:02,359 --> 00:34:06,920
Anthony Davis. I know Zion Williamson
is great, transcendent, but it's the

518
00:34:06,960 --> 00:34:08,880
same thing as sort of John Morant, Like this isn't Luca don Chich,

519
00:34:08,880 --> 00:34:15,159
who's shown that he's just gonna pull
a mediocre roster too, you know,

520
00:34:15,960 --> 00:34:20,280
fringe title contention, and maybe he
don't. Don't you have to in today's

521
00:34:20,400 --> 00:34:23,400
NBA firmly in the midst of the
player empowerment era, which is largely a

522
00:34:23,440 --> 00:34:28,440
great thing. But like, if
you're not immediately appeasing these teams, we've

523
00:34:28,480 --> 00:34:31,320
already seen how much speculation there is
about when they're gonna leave. So I

524
00:34:31,400 --> 00:34:35,880
say I'll say no because he's not
He's not off his rookie contract yet.

525
00:34:35,920 --> 00:34:38,960
I don't care whether his family is
happy, whether that's like valid there he's

526
00:34:39,000 --> 00:34:43,440
going to sign his next deal with
the Pelicans and just show him that there's

527
00:34:43,480 --> 00:34:45,880
a light at the end of the
tunnel somehow. This though, just ending

528
00:34:45,880 --> 00:34:49,760
this with Kyle Lowry not be the
worst case scenario. I'm just saying to

529
00:34:49,880 --> 00:34:52,440
go through all that on doing moves
that you already made that seemed a little

530
00:34:52,440 --> 00:34:58,679
bit premature when looking at the Adams
contract, specifically to just get Kyle Lowry

531
00:34:58,679 --> 00:35:00,599
where Lonzo Ball is now An said
that was given up as part of that.

532
00:35:01,000 --> 00:35:04,360
It would just feel a little bit
weird. I'm not saying it would

533
00:35:04,360 --> 00:35:07,199
be terrible because I love I love
Kyle Lowry and I love his fit on

534
00:35:07,239 --> 00:35:12,159
this team, but they also need
to you know, they still need wings.

535
00:35:12,320 --> 00:35:14,639
Like if you're what if Josh Hart
might leave is a part of this.

536
00:35:14,639 --> 00:35:16,760
If you're getting Kyle Lowry, so
you fix your league guard issue,

537
00:35:17,199 --> 00:35:22,760
what is happening with the wing situation
because you're brandon Ingram and then what and

538
00:35:22,800 --> 00:35:25,599
then again maybe Josh Hart, you
still have to like, you know,

539
00:35:27,119 --> 00:35:30,239
do you get into the justice winslow
sleepstakes right now just because he's a possible

540
00:35:30,239 --> 00:35:34,840
wing defender even though he can't show
sweepstakes. That's also fair because he can't

541
00:35:34,880 --> 00:35:37,840
shoot and the Pelicans need shooters.
So it comes back to some of our

542
00:35:37,840 --> 00:35:42,039
targets for New Orleans still hold a
lot of weight. Miles Turner obviously doesn't

543
00:35:42,039 --> 00:35:45,440
make sense anymore if you're planning on
keeping you on his faal and Chunis.

544
00:35:45,039 --> 00:35:47,360
I would still argue Miles Turners the
better fit, but we don't know what

545
00:35:47,480 --> 00:35:52,159
his Connor situation is. I will
tell you one two of the ideal free

546
00:35:52,159 --> 00:35:55,519
agents for them, or I'll go
three here, now I'll go four.

547
00:35:57,400 --> 00:36:02,480
Is can you diversify your or five
rotation further by getting a PJ. Tucker,

548
00:36:02,880 --> 00:36:07,599
a Jeff Green, a Paul millsap
or Jamichael Green. They don't address

549
00:36:07,639 --> 00:36:12,320
your biggest needs, but it allows
you to change up the look without pigeonholing

550
00:36:12,320 --> 00:36:16,119
yourself to oh, this third big
can only play center like Valentiunist and Jackson

551
00:36:16,119 --> 00:36:20,000
Hayes. Those guys can only play
center. All four of those guys,

552
00:36:20,039 --> 00:36:22,639
I would argue, you could get
minutes for at the four. Yeah,

553
00:36:22,800 --> 00:36:25,079
Jeff Green might be the one at
this point where you don't, but he

554
00:36:25,119 --> 00:36:30,719
could certainly defend for Aside from that, I'm just the wing shooting market.

555
00:36:30,760 --> 00:36:35,599
If they could get into Duncan Robinson
sweepstakes, that would be the splitting the

556
00:36:35,639 --> 00:36:38,679
difference part where it's Duncan Robinson keeping
Lonzo Ball. I don't know what it

557
00:36:38,679 --> 00:36:43,159
costs to get Duncan Robinson out of
Miami, whether that's even possible to do

558
00:36:43,199 --> 00:36:45,559
so you I think it might also
be time to think, you know,

559
00:36:45,559 --> 00:36:49,079
maybe we need to think a little
lower end for them. Just find shooters

560
00:36:49,119 --> 00:36:53,280
on the wings to put on the
court. A Firk on College Garrison Matthews,

561
00:36:53,360 --> 00:36:57,400
Like there are a lot of names
out there, Garrison Matthews would be

562
00:36:57,440 --> 00:36:59,920
fantastic for this team. That's a
great figured. You'd like that one.

563
00:37:00,800 --> 00:37:02,280
A Fork on Cork Moss, who's
not the best shooter, but it gets

564
00:37:02,280 --> 00:37:06,760
like kind of streaky and gives you
some size. James Ennis shot forty three

565
00:37:06,800 --> 00:37:08,519
point three percent from three this year, So those might be names who are

566
00:37:08,519 --> 00:37:12,519
looking at if you're not trying to
do anything too sexy. I even thought

567
00:37:12,559 --> 00:37:15,239
about someone who hedges this, and
I feel like his name comes up in

568
00:37:15,280 --> 00:37:17,639
every discussion. Well, Reggie Bullock, Obviously his name comes up. He'd

569
00:37:17,639 --> 00:37:21,679
be good for this team. Will
Barton all of a sudden, makes a

570
00:37:21,679 --> 00:37:24,960
lot of sense for this team.
If you're gonna commit yourself to Lonzo and

571
00:37:25,039 --> 00:37:29,400
you don't have that league guard fixed, He's someone who gives you some secondary

572
00:37:29,400 --> 00:37:34,039
playmaking, a little force basing,
not so much defense. It's just again,

573
00:37:34,199 --> 00:37:36,960
it feels like they could be pulled
in so many more different directions than

574
00:37:36,960 --> 00:37:39,440
we initially thought about. And the
wing market in free agency this year is

575
00:37:39,559 --> 00:37:45,400
very just sparse unless you're gonna like
even the biggest names like Norman Powell would

576
00:37:45,480 --> 00:37:47,360
kind of be nice for this team, but like, he doesn't give you

577
00:37:47,440 --> 00:37:52,599
the enough defensive though it's expensive.
I don't think he's big enough for them,

578
00:37:52,639 --> 00:37:54,440
and he's not going to give you
like the defensive juice that you need.

579
00:37:55,559 --> 00:37:59,119
The last question last year on the
Pelicans as a free asient target.

580
00:37:59,440 --> 00:38:01,840
Let's say just Lowry's not coming and
you're trying to split the difference. Another

581
00:38:01,920 --> 00:38:06,079
job thought, Frank Neil Keena here, I'm just gonna cut you off there,

582
00:38:06,159 --> 00:38:08,800
like, come on, let's let's
end the pocket. Now. What

583
00:38:08,880 --> 00:38:15,159
do you think? What do you
think about Spencer Dinwoody for this team.

584
00:38:15,199 --> 00:38:22,199
It's it's hard to pinpoint any guard
target right now given the inevitable dabbling with

585
00:38:22,280 --> 00:38:28,719
Lowry and Ball. If operating under
that assumption, yeah, then I do

586
00:38:28,760 --> 00:38:32,159
think Didnwoody makes sense as kind of
that downhill attacker who can create for himself,

587
00:38:32,199 --> 00:38:36,239
can get everyone involved. He's probably
a higher end target. I think

588
00:38:36,239 --> 00:38:42,519
that could get expensive quickly. But
theoretically that fit would make sense. The

589
00:38:42,639 --> 00:38:45,320
shooting would be a concern career thirty
one percent three point shooter. That's why

590
00:38:45,360 --> 00:38:49,519
it's just it gives me pause.
Maybe if you don't get Lowry to someone

591
00:38:49,559 --> 00:38:52,920
like a Gore on drag has become
available because the heat to climb his team

592
00:38:52,920 --> 00:38:55,000
option. I don't know they,
I think everything could be on the table

593
00:38:55,119 --> 00:39:00,519
for them. I just I would
like like Sterling Brown makes a lot of

594
00:39:00,519 --> 00:39:02,800
sense for them now, So I'm
interested to see what they do because this

595
00:39:02,840 --> 00:39:07,280
feels like the first This feels like
one domino that's gonna fall on in a

596
00:39:07,440 --> 00:39:09,760
line of let's not say many,
but a modest amount do you have?

597
00:39:09,880 --> 00:39:14,159
Brad Henry did say in the chat, I think in life, acceleration matters

598
00:39:14,159 --> 00:39:16,559
more than speeds, So just show
the player's team growth year over year.

599
00:39:17,159 --> 00:39:22,079
I would agree. I just think
Kyle Lowry's thirty five, and you just

600
00:39:22,159 --> 00:39:23,719
if you're giving up the tenth pick, I know you still have a first

601
00:39:23,800 --> 00:39:28,719
rounder. If you're giving up the
tenth pick and Lonzo Ball and Josh Hart

602
00:39:29,239 --> 00:39:32,280
and another first round pick while moving
down eleven spots in the second round to

603
00:39:32,280 --> 00:39:37,559
get him, it just feels like
that feels a little overly ambitious. Maybe

604
00:39:37,599 --> 00:39:42,039
I'd be wrong, and I love
Kyle Lowry, but I don't think that

605
00:39:42,119 --> 00:39:45,320
can be be moved like it needs
to be. Okay, we at least

606
00:39:45,400 --> 00:39:49,199
kept Josh Hart or something at this
point, but I would it would be

607
00:39:49,280 --> 00:39:54,159
less than ideal to lose Lonzo Ball
as part of the Lowry transaction. I'm

608
00:39:54,199 --> 00:39:57,760
right there with you. I think
that it has to be in conjunction with

609
00:39:57,760 --> 00:40:01,000
a resigning. I don't do it
for us, for people who are listening

610
00:40:01,000 --> 00:40:05,199
on the podcast, we will now
cover the rest of the Western Conference.

611
00:40:06,840 --> 00:40:10,719
Hello everyone, and welcome to the
latest episode of Hardwood Knocks. Today we

612
00:40:10,800 --> 00:40:16,239
are going to venture into offseason territory
and talk about trade and or free agent

613
00:40:16,280 --> 00:40:22,000
targets for every team in the West. So we're gonna start a third room.

614
00:40:22,679 --> 00:40:28,719
Actually, no, you okay,
edit the name. I'm sleep deprived.

615
00:40:28,800 --> 00:40:34,400
I apologize, Yes, I think
it was wrong in the first time.

616
00:40:34,440 --> 00:40:37,679
By the way, too, I
didn't in there. I was so

617
00:40:37,679 --> 00:40:43,280
focused on the missing hyphen. All
right. Take three. Hello everyone,

618
00:40:43,320 --> 00:40:45,559
and welcome to the latest episode of
Hardwood Knocks. This is Adam from Will

619
00:40:45,599 --> 00:40:50,639
here with my fantastic co host Dan
fa Valley. It's our third take at

620
00:40:50,760 --> 00:40:54,880
successfully titling the name of this green
room room that we are in. We

621
00:40:54,920 --> 00:40:59,679
are recording live, and we're gonna
be talking about some trade and free agent

622
00:40:59,679 --> 00:41:02,679
target It's for every team in the
Western Conference. We'll go alphabetically through,

623
00:41:04,039 --> 00:41:07,639
beginning with the Dallas Mavericks, finishing
with the Utah Jazz. But before we

624
00:41:07,679 --> 00:41:09,519
can get started with the Dallas Mavericks, I have to ask Dan, how's

625
00:41:09,519 --> 00:41:15,000
it going. It was going better
before I fucked up the title on this

626
00:41:15,159 --> 00:41:20,360
room. Twice and also thought that
I did not record it. But other

627
00:41:20,400 --> 00:41:22,280
than that, I'm tired, But
tis the time of year for that,

628
00:41:22,440 --> 00:41:27,000
I am spectacular. Other than that, how about yourself? I mean,

629
00:41:27,039 --> 00:41:30,119
in your defense, I'm probably one
of the very few people who would call

630
00:41:30,159 --> 00:41:32,840
out that you didn't hyphenate free agent
when it's being used as a compound modifier.

631
00:41:34,440 --> 00:41:37,880
Honestly, I don't care about that. It's the fact that I deleted

632
00:41:37,920 --> 00:41:40,400
it after thinking I didn't record it
when I did, and then still twice

633
00:41:40,480 --> 00:41:45,039
putting East when we specifically said we
were going to begin with the Western Conference

634
00:41:45,079 --> 00:41:49,360
pod. Yeah, you know,
mistakes happen. You're tired, We're all

635
00:41:49,360 --> 00:41:52,960
tired. We'll get through it.
How are you though, I'm good?

636
00:41:53,000 --> 00:41:57,559
Maybe I'm good. As I was
telling you before we started recording, I

637
00:41:57,599 --> 00:42:00,760
went to a neighborhood pool with my
toddler and the rest of my family today,

638
00:42:00,800 --> 00:42:04,280
and I still need to wash all
the chlorine off of me. But

639
00:42:04,360 --> 00:42:06,880
it was great. It was nice
to just be in the water album the

640
00:42:06,920 --> 00:42:12,400
sun having a good time. You
sound a comblination of sick and like you

641
00:42:12,480 --> 00:42:15,480
just spent a long day at the
beach, which is exactly how I sound.

642
00:42:15,480 --> 00:42:19,000
All the time. I mean,
that's pretty accurate because I was pretty

643
00:42:19,039 --> 00:42:21,920
sick last weekend and I'm like still
getting over it a little bit. Still,

644
00:42:21,960 --> 00:42:24,079
it's still a bit congested. So
I apologize for the nasally sound of

645
00:42:24,119 --> 00:42:29,079
my voice today, I make no
apology because it's my normal voice. Are

646
00:42:29,079 --> 00:42:31,440
you ready to would we need a
table set? How we approached this?

647
00:42:32,920 --> 00:42:37,519
I think it's always a good idea
too. Yeah, I'm not sure how

648
00:42:37,760 --> 00:42:40,119
well I know how you did it, because I know your list. But

649
00:42:40,400 --> 00:42:45,119
I based my targets off of who
I think should be a top target for

650
00:42:45,119 --> 00:42:50,719
each team on the trade and free
agency market, and I took into account

651
00:42:50,800 --> 00:42:54,760
obviously roster construction. But I'm not
the person unless I think it's feasible that's

652
00:42:54,760 --> 00:43:00,840
gonna say, Hey, the Lakers
should prioritize signing and trade for Kawhi Leonard.

653
00:43:00,960 --> 00:43:02,880
So like this was, I took
into the fact their their cap sheets,

654
00:43:04,199 --> 00:43:07,079
their assets, and what I think
is realistic, and I tried.

655
00:43:07,119 --> 00:43:10,880
I did varying levels of aggression.
So for some teams I have like an

656
00:43:10,920 --> 00:43:15,320
aggressive trade target, but then someone
who's probably just a little bit more realistic

657
00:43:15,519 --> 00:43:19,119
or easier to get a hold of, and like yourself, even though we

658
00:43:19,159 --> 00:43:23,960
did focus sometimes on their incumbent free
agents unless there are special circumstances where you

659
00:43:24,000 --> 00:43:28,639
don't think the Pelicans would necessarily be
guaranteed to resign Lonzo Ball, or you're

660
00:43:28,639 --> 00:43:31,960
the Clippers and you don't have full
bird rights on Nick Patuma, Reggie Jackson.

661
00:43:32,400 --> 00:43:38,079
I just implicitly left those guys off. I focus more so on outside

662
00:43:38,280 --> 00:43:43,079
cree agency targets when it came to
that category. I mean, that sounds

663
00:43:43,079 --> 00:43:45,079
like a lot of work, Like
I just picked names out of a hat

664
00:43:45,159 --> 00:43:50,280
while I was coming back from the
pool. So you're qualified to have your

665
00:43:50,320 --> 00:43:52,719
own TV show on Fox Sports one. That's all there. You go,

666
00:43:53,320 --> 00:43:57,679
congrats to you. Did you want
to I'm assuming we'll go on alphabetical order.

667
00:43:57,800 --> 00:44:00,159
Did you want to start us off
with the I'm not. I'm not

668
00:44:00,199 --> 00:44:05,280
going to say the team is because
I'm wanting to mess those up every once

669
00:44:05,320 --> 00:44:07,079
a while. No, I will
say before we actually start with Dallas though

670
00:44:07,119 --> 00:44:10,800
that you know. My my approach
was basically the same thing. I tried

671
00:44:10,800 --> 00:44:15,000
to error on the side of being
a bit too conservative here, just because

672
00:44:15,000 --> 00:44:19,760
I think that is more of a
service than getting too aggressive with moves that

673
00:44:19,840 --> 00:44:22,880
in all likelihood are not going to
actually play out. So in a lot

674
00:44:22,920 --> 00:44:29,320
of cases they are lower level targets
than you might typically hear being floated for

675
00:44:29,360 --> 00:44:32,199
the team, and that is intentional, look, and it's just to use

676
00:44:32,239 --> 00:44:35,800
an example, the Gold State Warriors
are taxed through the roof. Like,

677
00:44:35,840 --> 00:44:37,719
you can't get mad that one of
my top targets for them is out works,

678
00:44:37,880 --> 00:44:44,239
Like that's just the right Yeah,
yeah, for sure. So starting

679
00:44:44,239 --> 00:44:47,039
with the Mavericks, you know,
I think that the need there is pretty

680
00:44:47,079 --> 00:44:52,320
obvious because we've watched Luca don Chich
continue to raise his level of play and

681
00:44:52,440 --> 00:44:57,320
raise the team along with him.
But it's clear that a little bit more

682
00:44:57,320 --> 00:45:02,000
help is needed. Jalen Brunson great
backup guard, but his ceiling is limited.

683
00:45:02,199 --> 00:45:07,440
So you just need another guy who
can score off the ball because Luca

684
00:45:07,559 --> 00:45:10,719
is going to have such control over
possessions on a nightly basis. But you

685
00:45:10,760 --> 00:45:15,119
also need a little bit of that
self creation juice. So I'm looking at

686
00:45:15,119 --> 00:45:19,599
Norman Powell here. He's probably going
to be a bit more of an expensive

687
00:45:19,599 --> 00:45:23,360
target because that upside is so clearly
there. But the two way ability,

688
00:45:23,679 --> 00:45:27,400
the ability to create out of the
pick and roll, the ability to thrive

689
00:45:27,440 --> 00:45:30,920
as an off ball shooter. He
just feels like he makes a lot of

690
00:45:30,960 --> 00:45:35,039
sense for this Dallas team, regardless
of what ends up happening with Kristaps porzingis,

691
00:45:35,079 --> 00:45:37,719
if they do end up trading him
elsewhere, if he is a part

692
00:45:37,719 --> 00:45:40,920
of the team, because they're essentially
running it back with him and potentially Tim

693
00:45:40,920 --> 00:45:45,360
Hardaway Junior as well. Yeah,
and he's like kind of a score that

694
00:45:45,400 --> 00:45:51,079
they don't have that like North South
element of two, where I know he's

695
00:45:51,079 --> 00:45:53,199
not like the highest volume guy at
the rim, but he still will,

696
00:45:53,559 --> 00:45:57,320
you know, get there from time
to time, and that's not necessarily like

697
00:45:57,360 --> 00:46:00,840
you know, I know, Luca
Danges gets to the basket a ton,

698
00:46:00,000 --> 00:46:04,559
but like Dallas isn't getting to the
rim an absurd clip. This year,

699
00:46:04,559 --> 00:46:07,920
they were like they were set third
to last during the playoffs or no third

700
00:46:07,920 --> 00:46:10,119
to last the regular season at rim
frequency. So, and they do have

701
00:46:10,119 --> 00:46:16,920
the cap space for him I had
for free agent targets. So their cafspace

702
00:46:17,000 --> 00:46:21,320
situation is weird. So I'll say
that first they sensibly get to pick between

703
00:46:21,320 --> 00:46:24,400
Tim Hardaway Junior or twenty plus million
dollars in cap space. I think they

704
00:46:24,440 --> 00:46:28,719
can do both. If I'm them, and Josh Richardson opts in. I

705
00:46:28,719 --> 00:46:30,360
think someone would definitely take him into
cap space, and I would grease the

706
00:46:30,360 --> 00:46:34,920
creels of a Dwight of a Dwight
Powell salary dump two years and twenty two

707
00:46:34,960 --> 00:46:38,519
point two million left on his contract. You can then resigned him Hardaway Junior

708
00:46:38,519 --> 00:46:43,039
at basically an identical number to what
he got this year and still have twenty

709
00:46:43,079 --> 00:46:45,639
five plus million in room. So
I still I think probably makes him Hardaway

710
00:46:45,679 --> 00:46:49,719
Junior priority, but also try and
go after I would like to see him

711
00:46:49,719 --> 00:46:52,719
go after a Mike Conley or a
Kyle Lowry. I think Mike Conley's more

712
00:46:52,760 --> 00:46:54,719
gettable for them, and I like
him a little bit better for the fit.

713
00:46:57,000 --> 00:47:00,599
And then if you're talking lower level, like if you've resigned Tim Hardaway

714
00:47:00,679 --> 00:47:02,440
Junior or if you just don't want
to burn all your cap space, will

715
00:47:02,519 --> 00:47:07,519
Barton opped out and would be interesting. That's kind of like that secondary playmaker.

716
00:47:07,639 --> 00:47:09,760
He can. He does a good
job finding shooters coming around screens.

717
00:47:10,440 --> 00:47:13,920
He's a good for most part off
ball player. He's not gonna give you

718
00:47:13,920 --> 00:47:15,920
a ton on defense, but I
think he instantly becomes their second best shot

719
00:47:16,000 --> 00:47:20,599
reader. Or they could look at
and even I would imagine even cheaper options

720
00:47:20,639 --> 00:47:22,960
would be if Goran Dragic if his
team option gets to climbed by Miami,

721
00:47:23,000 --> 00:47:27,480
which I don't have a feel for
what they're gonna do, or DeVante Graham

722
00:47:27,519 --> 00:47:30,000
should Charlotte not want to pay him, knowing they have Rosier and LaMelo Ball

723
00:47:30,119 --> 00:47:35,079
in the fold. Barton was my
second choice for this team, But yeah,

724
00:47:35,079 --> 00:47:37,519
I think a lot does hinge on
what Josh Richardson does with on eleven

725
00:47:37,519 --> 00:47:43,159
point six million dollars player option.
If I think I do as well,

726
00:47:43,400 --> 00:47:46,719
I think that there's still enough intrigue
about his two way upside. As bad

727
00:47:46,760 --> 00:47:51,400
as these last really two years have
been for him, he's still, you

728
00:47:51,440 --> 00:47:53,679
know, going into I believe it's
age twenty eight season, there is still

729
00:47:53,679 --> 00:47:59,000
plenty of time for a turnaround here. If he does choose to opt in,

730
00:47:59,039 --> 00:48:01,360
which I don't expect him to do, I wouldn't hate them keeping him

731
00:48:01,360 --> 00:48:07,039
here either, because in theory,
he remains very much the kind of player

732
00:48:07,119 --> 00:48:10,599
that they should want to have around
this core. Again, in theory,

733
00:48:10,840 --> 00:48:14,360
it did not work out this year, it did not work out last year,

734
00:48:15,119 --> 00:48:19,800
but his skill set is ultimately what
they're looking for when we're floating out

735
00:48:19,880 --> 00:48:23,559
names like Norman Powell and Will Bart. Yeah, I'm with you. Did

736
00:48:23,559 --> 00:48:28,199
you have anyone listed as a specific
trade target for them? I did go

737
00:48:28,280 --> 00:48:30,400
with just one free agent or trade
target for each team. I think that's

738
00:48:30,400 --> 00:48:35,400
where our methodologies veered a little away
from each other, so really quickly I

739
00:48:35,440 --> 00:48:37,960
had I would like to see them
make a bigger deal, but unless you're

740
00:48:37,960 --> 00:48:39,639
gonna like I just don't. They
would need to do something with the New

741
00:48:39,719 --> 00:48:43,519
York pick they own in twenty twenty
three, whereas can they get it back

742
00:48:43,800 --> 00:48:45,719
so they have the freedom to trade
more picks? Is ostensibly the only way

743
00:48:45,760 --> 00:48:49,679
I can envision them getting into play
if they want a Zach Veen or Bradley

744
00:48:49,719 --> 00:48:52,639
Beale, and I still think their
offers would fall short just because they don't

745
00:48:52,679 --> 00:48:58,280
have that young centerpiece, and Christaps
porzingis really no longer qualifies as that.

746
00:48:59,039 --> 00:49:01,199
Maybe you could do with for Kemba
Walker, I focus he's strictly just looking

747
00:49:01,199 --> 00:49:05,000
to get off money and is intrigued
by Christops, so that would be an

748
00:49:05,000 --> 00:49:07,920
option from them. But the one
I actually listened was Jordan Clarkson. If

749
00:49:07,920 --> 00:49:10,360
you could do a deal with Utah, who, in my mind should Richardson

750
00:49:10,440 --> 00:49:14,719
opt in. I have Richardson listened
as a potential trade target for them.

751
00:49:14,760 --> 00:49:17,239
That might be a good sort of
Maybe Utah needs a little bit more because

752
00:49:17,239 --> 00:49:21,880
of how bad Richardson was, But
I know Clarkson cooled off towards the end

753
00:49:21,880 --> 00:49:24,239
of last year. He's still average
eighteen point four points while downing fifty two

754
00:49:24,239 --> 00:49:30,000
point three percent of his twos,
and he should get some higher shot quality

755
00:49:30,159 --> 00:49:32,239
Utah shot qualities through the roof,
so never mind, but he should get

756
00:49:32,280 --> 00:49:35,719
some off ball opportunity, more off
ball opportunities next to Luca. But he

757
00:49:35,760 --> 00:49:38,360
can also run those second units without
him, and at thirteen millions a year

758
00:49:38,599 --> 00:49:43,079
for the next three seasons, I
think that's reasonable for someone who very clearly

759
00:49:43,119 --> 00:49:45,960
becomes your second best shot creator after
Don Chitch. I get it. I

760
00:49:45,960 --> 00:49:51,519
don't love it, because I think
if you're making a trade in particular,

761
00:49:51,840 --> 00:49:54,360
you want a guy who can thrive
both as the leader of the second unit

762
00:49:54,679 --> 00:49:59,400
and alongside Don Chitch, who ultimately
is going to be playing forty plus minutes

763
00:49:59,440 --> 00:50:01,800
per game in the postseason. And
I don't know that I love the two

764
00:50:01,840 --> 00:50:07,920
of them together because Clarkson is so
much better on the ball monopolizing possessions and

765
00:50:07,960 --> 00:50:10,480
then you're relegating don Chitch to the
wings or to the corners. So I

766
00:50:10,480 --> 00:50:15,920
don't know that it makes as much
sense, but I still don't mind it.

767
00:50:16,440 --> 00:50:19,599
My other thought was like, would
they use Utah. I think could

768
00:50:19,639 --> 00:50:23,320
trade any one of favors by Danovitch, Clarkson or Ingles just to cut what

769
00:50:23,559 --> 00:50:27,360
would be a huge tax bill.
Should they bring back Mike Conley and so

770
00:50:27,480 --> 00:50:30,519
they just want because they Dallas as
Caspace. If they just want someone cheap

771
00:50:30,880 --> 00:50:34,360
and you're only giving up, you
know, a swap with Richardson work straight

772
00:50:34,440 --> 00:50:37,440
up. And if they're really just
want a Jettison cap space or something like

773
00:50:37,559 --> 00:50:40,559
that's something considering Ingles seems Ingles seems
like a great fit. And I can't

774
00:50:40,639 --> 00:50:44,400
quite put my finger on it,
but he seems like a good fit for

775
00:50:44,400 --> 00:50:49,159
the Dallas culture too, especially after
they resigned JJ Reddick moving right along though

776
00:50:50,000 --> 00:50:52,000
Nuggets. Yeah, yeah, so
I have Austin rivers On here just because

777
00:50:52,000 --> 00:50:55,920
he's non bird and he was pretty
big for them without Jamal Murray there.

778
00:50:57,239 --> 00:50:59,599
I also think they should take a
look at bringing back Will Barton. They

779
00:50:59,599 --> 00:51:04,920
do need secondary playmaking during the absence
of Jamal Murray recovering from the torn left

780
00:51:04,920 --> 00:51:07,559
acl some of the outside free agents
to consider. They still need to like

781
00:51:07,639 --> 00:51:12,440
beef up their wing defense and backcourt
defense. I think people are gonna laugh.

782
00:51:12,559 --> 00:51:15,119
It's the only team I listed him
for. I believe frank Neil Kina

783
00:51:15,480 --> 00:51:19,039
just throw him out on the floor
and look, he'll defend him. Gonna

784
00:51:19,079 --> 00:51:22,400
laugh. He'll defend one through three
and they don't have someone that's going to

785
00:51:22,480 --> 00:51:27,119
defend one through three right now.
Maybe Aaron Gordon, but like so if

786
00:51:27,119 --> 00:51:29,599
he's gonna be cheap enough, because
I'm assuming the Knicks just cut him loose,

787
00:51:29,639 --> 00:51:32,639
Frankie smokes. I have Kelly who
Bray Junior because the Nuggets do have

788
00:51:32,679 --> 00:51:36,159
a path to using the non tax
payramid level, and I don't know what

789
00:51:36,199 --> 00:51:38,719
his market is going to be,
just to have some like more size and

790
00:51:38,840 --> 00:51:43,360
length on the wings. The one
who entreats me the most though, would

791
00:51:43,400 --> 00:51:45,639
be a Danny Green. They definitely
need the non taxpayers mid level to do

792
00:51:45,719 --> 00:51:49,800
that. And for clarification, the
non tax payramid level, you could still

793
00:51:49,800 --> 00:51:52,000
be a tax team, but you
have to stay below the tax apron,

794
00:51:52,039 --> 00:51:54,480
which is I think one forty six
this year, maybe it's one forty three,

795
00:51:54,519 --> 00:51:57,880
whatever is, so those are the
ones I have to listen. Also,

796
00:51:57,880 --> 00:52:00,360
I had Reggie Bullock Bullock on there
too, but I think the Knick's

797
00:52:00,440 --> 00:52:01,320
end up keeping him, so I
don't want to list him for too many

798
00:52:01,320 --> 00:52:07,920
different teams. Noah has said wherever
Frankie goes, I will follow. But

799
00:52:07,280 --> 00:52:12,880
I'm right here with you. I
am there. My targets were slightly different

800
00:52:12,920 --> 00:52:16,079
here. I like the idea of
Buddy Healed in Denver a lot. I

801
00:52:16,199 --> 00:52:21,480
think that the best route for making
that happen is through a Wilbarton sign and

802
00:52:21,519 --> 00:52:27,159
trade the elite three point shooting.
I can't imagine how well that would play

803
00:52:27,239 --> 00:52:31,199
alongside Nicola Yokich. You're sacrificing something
on defense there, You're sacrificing a little

804
00:52:31,199 --> 00:52:37,559
bit of shock creation. But given
the number of playmaking guards on the roster

805
00:52:37,840 --> 00:52:40,760
and the presence of Yokich at center, you can kind of afford to get

806
00:52:40,760 --> 00:52:45,639
away with that. I just I
feel like the offensive potential would go through

807
00:52:45,679 --> 00:52:50,280
the roof with a shooter of that
caliber. As for a free agent signing,

808
00:52:50,360 --> 00:52:55,800
I looked a lot at Evan Fourier
here where he's another Yeah, definitely

809
00:52:55,840 --> 00:52:59,480
a reunion because that is where he
started his career, but he's grown a

810
00:52:59,559 --> 00:53:02,679
lot since then, both as a
self creator and as a facilitator, and

811
00:53:02,800 --> 00:53:07,960
I would love to see the veteran
version of him back in Denver. And

812
00:53:07,000 --> 00:53:12,719
I think it's especially appealing because Jamal
Murray is going to miss a significant portion

813
00:53:12,880 --> 00:53:15,840
of the twenty one twenty two season
and you are quite sure the level at

814
00:53:15,880 --> 00:53:19,679
which he's going to play when he
returns, so that kind of gives you

815
00:53:19,719 --> 00:53:23,760
this, this failsafe option as another
creator who can ease the regular season load,

816
00:53:23,800 --> 00:53:29,800
in particular off Yokich. I don't
mind the Buddy Heel sign and trade

817
00:53:29,880 --> 00:53:32,480
again. Actually, if I'm Sacramento, I'd be interested in Will Barton if

818
00:53:32,519 --> 00:53:37,039
you're losing you already mentioned they'd be
losing Will Barton in it. It's just

819
00:53:37,079 --> 00:53:40,440
the money for him when you have
Gordon and Michael Porter juniors coming up on

820
00:53:40,480 --> 00:53:44,840
deals four days really interesting. I
will say if he falls in like the

821
00:53:44,880 --> 00:53:51,159
non taxpayer MLI territory and Boston doesn't
pay him, that franchisees wandering through the

822
00:53:51,159 --> 00:53:53,559
woods right now. But I do
think he becomes He would be great for

823
00:53:53,559 --> 00:53:57,920
the Nuggets, especially if maybe they
don't think that they can keep Will Barton

824
00:53:58,079 --> 00:54:00,559
because he gives you probably a little
bit more on all shock creation, not

825
00:54:00,599 --> 00:54:04,840
as much passing, but on ball
shot creation, which they definitely need without

826
00:54:05,199 --> 00:54:08,400
without Murray, so he would be
an interesting one on the trail of lukewarm

827
00:54:08,519 --> 00:54:13,639
to scorching hot. Though, where
does it fall to say that Aaron Gordon

828
00:54:13,760 --> 00:54:17,599
is not a lock to be resigned? And his presence was disappointing once he

829
00:54:17,679 --> 00:54:22,519
arrived, Like the idea was that
he was going to become this unleashed offensive

830
00:54:22,519 --> 00:54:25,559
weapon to be able to guard multiple
positions, and he just disappeared. He

831
00:54:25,679 --> 00:54:30,559
was not a big postseason presence,
and it's I think we've reached the point

832
00:54:30,599 --> 00:54:34,880
in his career where the idea of
Aaron Gordon remains so appealing, but it

833
00:54:34,920 --> 00:54:39,119
has yet to translate into actual production. And Denver tends to be a pretty

834
00:54:39,159 --> 00:54:44,960
smart organization when it comes to doling
out contracts, and I don't necessarily see

835
00:54:45,199 --> 00:54:50,760
the Nuggets giving him a massive pay
day. I don't think he's a lock

836
00:54:50,840 --> 00:54:52,599
to be resigned either. I will
say they don't think they're going to resign

837
00:54:52,719 --> 00:54:55,360
him. They need to flip him
at the trade deadline given the assets you

838
00:54:55,400 --> 00:55:00,199
know RJ Hampton and another pick they
gave up to get him, and there

839
00:55:00,199 --> 00:55:02,880
will be teams like Minnesota, probably
Portland still that we're interested in the first

840
00:55:02,920 --> 00:55:06,079
time that will give you something,
not as much as you gave up for

841
00:55:06,159 --> 00:55:08,960
him. It does. It sucks
for them. It makes their job harder

842
00:55:09,000 --> 00:55:12,440
because there I don't know how much
time, even if they keep him through

843
00:55:12,480 --> 00:55:15,639
next season, how much time do
you get to measure his fit with Murray,

844
00:55:15,280 --> 00:55:19,960
MPJ and Yokich, those four At
the same time, you might not

845
00:55:20,039 --> 00:55:22,119
have that opportunity before the trade deadline. If you don't feel good about paying

846
00:55:22,199 --> 00:55:25,679
him at least as much as he's
earning now in his next contract, I

847
00:55:25,719 --> 00:55:30,000
would say that you have to move
him at the deadline. I agree my

848
00:55:30,119 --> 00:55:32,800
trade targets for them. We've already
talked about this on the podcast. I

849
00:55:32,880 --> 00:55:37,840
think they can build a pretty competitive
offer for Marcus Smart. Celtics fans who

850
00:55:37,840 --> 00:55:40,360
listened to this podcast, we're not
happy about that. There's definitely the emotional

851
00:55:40,440 --> 00:55:45,000
value that Smart holds to the franchise, But I think the Celtics will look

852
00:55:45,000 --> 00:55:46,559
at it if they're not going to
pay him his money and extension, if

853
00:55:46,559 --> 00:55:50,079
they can get value for him and
something to look at. I also have

854
00:55:50,119 --> 00:55:52,639
Josh Richardson listed again. Should he
opted in Dallas, that might age poorly.

855
00:55:52,760 --> 00:55:57,199
He's someone that they can take a
chance on, can defend one through

856
00:55:57,239 --> 00:56:00,199
four. His defense definitely suffered this
year, but it wasn't the worst part

857
00:56:00,239 --> 00:56:02,039
of his game. And if you
get the Josh Richardson who was in Miami

858
00:56:02,079 --> 00:56:07,280
on offense, you've mined like this
incredible gem, And so I would Josh

859
00:56:07,400 --> 00:56:12,559
Richardson Denver or Utah would probably my
favorite Josh Richardson trade destination if he winds

860
00:56:12,639 --> 00:56:15,639
up opting into that final year of
his contract. I actually really like him

861
00:56:15,800 --> 00:56:20,760
on the Lakers too, but we'll
get to that. It's in theory.

862
00:56:21,280 --> 00:56:23,719
I love Josh Richardson everywhere. He's
just one of those players where it's like

863
00:56:23,960 --> 00:56:28,880
Miami Josh Richardson is like, it's
not the same player. But Michael Bridges.

864
00:56:28,920 --> 00:56:31,519
I want Michael Bridges on all thirty
teams. I hear that that's totally

865
00:56:31,559 --> 00:56:36,880
fair. Are you ready let's do
the Warriors. I think we can keep

866
00:56:36,880 --> 00:56:42,000
this one pretty short because we've talked
about it a lot. It's basically whichever

867
00:56:42,079 --> 00:56:45,519
star becomes available. Like if we're
talking about free agent targets, They're going

868
00:56:45,559 --> 00:56:49,599
to be low level targets because there's
limited money. They're not going to land

869
00:56:49,639 --> 00:56:52,960
another star at this point unless there's
a trade. So right now, it

870
00:56:52,000 --> 00:56:57,880
seems like the leading candidate to be
a big name player who is legitimately available

871
00:56:58,000 --> 00:57:00,000
is going to be Bradley Beal.
If you're the Warriors, you want to

872
00:57:00,000 --> 00:57:05,000
capitalize on the window on the window
window while Steph Curry is still playing at

873
00:57:05,039 --> 00:57:07,559
this ridiculously high level. We don't
know how long that's gonna last. We

874
00:57:07,639 --> 00:57:10,559
hope it lasts a long time,
but we don't know. If that changes

875
00:57:10,599 --> 00:57:15,239
and somebody else requests a trade,
you know, like whether it's Paul George

876
00:57:15,320 --> 00:57:19,119
or someone else entirely, then they
should go for whoever that name is.

877
00:57:21,079 --> 00:57:24,039
Yeah, and look just for their
free agents. I have listed Nick batum

878
00:57:24,079 --> 00:57:29,519
Otto, porter Andre Goodalo if his
team option by Miami gets declined, just

879
00:57:29,639 --> 00:57:30,960
someone who similiar with their system.
And then Alec Burks, because they I

880
00:57:30,960 --> 00:57:34,719
don't know that you can guarantee you're
gonna trade for a star and you need

881
00:57:34,760 --> 00:57:37,000
that other shot creator and Alec Burks. I don't know how many people watched

882
00:57:37,280 --> 00:57:42,800
necessarily the Knicks this season all the
time, but he hit some mega important

883
00:57:42,800 --> 00:57:45,639
shots in fourth quarters for them,
in crunch time against tough set defenses.

884
00:57:45,639 --> 00:57:50,039
So if you can get him at
the taxpayers MLI, I think that's a

885
00:57:50,079 --> 00:57:53,079
win. So further trade targets I
have, I almost feel like it's going

886
00:57:53,119 --> 00:57:55,679
to be Bradley Beale at this point. And when I ended up on that

887
00:57:57,599 --> 00:58:00,880
is you give up. I think
whatever asset it costs you over the next

888
00:58:01,079 --> 00:58:05,239
like the twenty twenty three timeline,
if they want lives been numbers seven,

889
00:58:05,320 --> 00:58:07,599
number fourteen, your twenty twenty two
pick and a twenty twenty three pick swap

890
00:58:07,679 --> 00:58:10,280
do it. It's when they want
assets that go beyond it where it gets

891
00:58:10,280 --> 00:58:13,920
iffy. But here's where I think
the new level. I almost feel like

892
00:58:13,920 --> 00:58:15,639
bill end out there. But of
the four targets that have been mentioned for

893
00:58:15,679 --> 00:58:21,920
them more speculated about Bradley Beale,
Zach Lavine, Pascal Siakam, and Damian

894
00:58:21,960 --> 00:58:24,159
Lillard, how would you rank in
terms of who would do the most to

895
00:58:24,239 --> 00:58:35,039
elevate their ceiling. I think that
Lillard is number one just because of the

896
00:58:35,039 --> 00:58:38,480
sheer level of talent. I don't
think that he's necessarily the best fit alongside

897
00:58:38,519 --> 00:58:44,800
the Splash brothers. But what in
the world does a defense do against Damian

898
00:58:44,840 --> 00:58:47,679
Lillard, Steph Curry and Clay Thompson, assuming that Clay Thompson returns to even

899
00:58:47,719 --> 00:58:52,559
close to his pre injuries value.
It's it's pure talent for that one.

900
00:58:54,239 --> 00:59:01,119
Beyond that, I think that you
could safely put Lavine last because he he

901
00:59:01,239 --> 00:59:05,599
I mean, he's he's a great
player. He would elevate them, But

902
00:59:06,199 --> 00:59:08,960
his skill set is similar to Beal's, and deal is just better. And

903
00:59:09,000 --> 00:59:14,239
I think I would fit in Siakam
at number two because he actually fills in

904
00:59:14,280 --> 00:59:20,239
the holes better than the other guys. It's a deal all of these all

905
00:59:20,280 --> 00:59:27,440
of these players would unquestionably elevate the
Warriors Championship aspirations. Like we're splitting hairs

906
00:59:27,559 --> 00:59:30,599
regardless and trying to determine how much
of it is fit and how much of

907
00:59:30,599 --> 00:59:35,559
it is just here ability. I
think Lillard's ability supersedes everything else. And

908
00:59:35,599 --> 00:59:38,559
then the fit with Siakam puts him
at number two, and then I have

909
00:59:38,840 --> 00:59:43,199
the other guys in more of a
distant third and fourth. Again relatively,

910
00:59:44,119 --> 00:59:46,000
I think if you want to play
the Lillard talent card, I get it.

911
00:59:46,519 --> 00:59:52,360
He is forced for me. Just
because they would get flamed on defense

912
00:59:52,519 --> 00:59:58,440
if you play Lillard on the court. And it also yeah, but if

913
00:59:58,480 --> 01:00:00,280
you could tell me Clay Thompson's going
to fan like pre injury play thoms and

914
01:00:00,280 --> 01:00:02,840
maybe I feel better about it.
But any Lillard trade is gonna end up

915
01:00:02,840 --> 01:00:07,280
costing you Wiggins, who became important
to your defense. So I'm waying things

916
01:00:07,320 --> 01:00:13,480
like that. I have Beal first, because I think he has shown he

917
01:00:13,480 --> 01:00:15,000
can carry an offense on his own. But he's also used to playing off

918
01:00:15,039 --> 01:00:17,880
the ball more cutting, more so
than Damian Lillard. So it was Fit

919
01:00:19,079 --> 01:00:21,760
is better even than Lillard's the better
player, and he's better on defense than

920
01:00:21,800 --> 01:00:23,719
Lillard. Zach Lavine is two for
me. I agree with what you said

921
01:00:23,719 --> 01:00:27,559
about the Bill thing, the fact
that he's younger and could maybe help them

922
01:00:27,599 --> 01:00:30,840
serve as a bridge into the next
era. I think of the four names,

923
01:00:30,840 --> 01:00:35,559
he's also probably the least likely to
cost you just the whole kitten caboodle.

924
01:00:35,559 --> 01:00:37,039
I'm not saying Chicago would give him
away if Bill asked for a trade,

925
01:00:37,239 --> 01:00:39,840
but I think maybe you get away
with you can maybe build a package

926
01:00:39,840 --> 01:00:45,760
where you keep Wiseman and still get
Levine, And then I have Siakam third,

927
01:00:45,880 --> 01:00:47,840
just because I'm not as crazy as
the fit as you on offense with

928
01:00:47,920 --> 01:00:51,559
Draymond Green, I just don't know
how that works out. No one would

929
01:00:51,559 --> 01:00:55,800
score on this team with Draymond Green
Siakam, But you're also you know,

930
01:00:55,800 --> 01:00:59,800
at that point, then you're depleting
your wing depth even further because you're giving

931
01:01:00,239 --> 01:01:05,559
I think I think they're that Golden
State just has so much more spacing than

932
01:01:05,639 --> 01:01:10,000
Toronto ever has, just through the
sheer presence of Steph Curry alone. When

933
01:01:10,119 --> 01:01:14,960
when Sam has been slowed down,
it's because his moves a bit more predictable.

934
01:01:15,280 --> 01:01:19,920
You're able to send multiple help defenders
to anticipate those spins that, instead

935
01:01:19,920 --> 01:01:22,400
of to the basket, are then
into traffic. You can't do that if

936
01:01:22,400 --> 01:01:30,000
you're playing him with Golden State's corps. I get it, but I would

937
01:01:30,000 --> 01:01:32,280
still prefer the skill sets of Bill
and the venon offense because those are more

938
01:01:32,320 --> 01:01:36,760
they need. Yes, the playmaking
from Siakam is important, but they need

939
01:01:37,039 --> 01:01:42,280
a from scratch shot maker more than
they need that defense. In my opinion.

940
01:01:42,360 --> 01:01:45,920
Look, maybe I'm wrong, because
most of these trades, unless they

941
01:01:45,920 --> 01:01:49,280
work out an ubre sign and trade, are gonna end up Costia Wiggins.

942
01:01:49,320 --> 01:01:52,000
So I'm not saying he's a toppier
defender, and that's not why you do

943
01:01:52,039 --> 01:01:54,320
the deal. But all Wiggins and
Clay are your wings right now, and

944
01:01:54,400 --> 01:01:59,159
none of the guys we mentioned are
wings. Like Bradley Beale comes closest and

945
01:01:59,239 --> 01:02:02,119
he's not like this defensive wing.
So that's funny that we said the Warriors

946
01:02:02,159 --> 01:02:05,159
are going to be the shortest,
and I think they've been the longest team

947
01:02:05,199 --> 01:02:09,639
so far. Houston Rockets, I
believe my turn to start here. So

948
01:02:09,800 --> 01:02:14,880
for free agents, I just think
they need to look Their cap situation depends

949
01:02:14,960 --> 01:02:19,960
largely on what they do with Kelly
Olinik, and I think they're gonna just

950
01:02:20,000 --> 01:02:22,840
bring him back, so I don't
project them to be like this big cap

951
01:02:22,840 --> 01:02:27,079
space team. And so you're working
with the non taxpayers mid level in all

952
01:02:27,079 --> 01:02:31,440
likelihood, So I listed town Horton
Tucker because the non taxpayers mid levels the

953
01:02:31,440 --> 01:02:35,119
most he can get in year one. Anyway, maybe the Lakers match that.

954
01:02:35,639 --> 01:02:37,960
He's not a shooter, whe's the
rocket still need. But he does

955
01:02:37,119 --> 01:02:39,800
kind of fit the mold of like
let's just get these dudes who are going

956
01:02:39,840 --> 01:02:44,360
to defend their ass off and then
we'll you know, put pressure on defenses

957
01:02:44,400 --> 01:02:46,519
in other ways. And then the
other one I have for them is Jared

958
01:02:46,599 --> 01:02:52,400
Vanderbilt. Let's just get a guy
who will be affordable, will work his

959
01:02:52,440 --> 01:02:55,320
ass off getting up and down the
floor. His free agency does his free

960
01:02:55,320 --> 01:02:58,920
agency. His defense can leave a
lot to be desired, but he covers

961
01:02:58,960 --> 01:03:01,679
a lot of ground, and so
if you're playing him with some other guys

962
01:03:02,400 --> 01:03:06,599
or even in a front court with
Christian would like, there's a lot of

963
01:03:06,599 --> 01:03:10,000
mobility there along with size and rebounding. So that's where I'm at with them.

964
01:03:10,039 --> 01:03:13,119
Since they don't have money, a
ton of money to throw at these

965
01:03:13,119 --> 01:03:15,159
restricted free agents, I went sort
of that route. And then for trade

966
01:03:15,159 --> 01:03:19,760
targets I want a similar route is
the second draft or in one of the

967
01:03:19,760 --> 01:03:22,480
guy's case, third draft guys Kevin
Knox of the Knicks. They just haven't

968
01:03:22,599 --> 01:03:27,199
his playing times decrease in every single
year. Can you get him for very

969
01:03:27,239 --> 01:03:29,920
little try and reboot him. He's
improved a shot. He showed him off

970
01:03:29,920 --> 01:03:32,719
the dribble shock creation when he was
in Summer League, but that's now going

971
01:03:32,760 --> 01:03:36,320
back three years or whatever it was. And then Josh Jackson, I don't

972
01:03:36,320 --> 01:03:38,800
know what his future is in Detroit. But if they're gonna draft Kig Cunningham

973
01:03:39,519 --> 01:03:44,480
and they have Jeremy Grant there and
you have we have to imagine they're still

974
01:03:44,480 --> 01:03:46,960
invested in Saku Dumboya. They also
have Za deep Bay. Can you get

975
01:03:47,079 --> 01:03:50,800
Josh Jackson, So like, just
take flyers on those types of guys,

976
01:03:50,800 --> 01:03:53,800
because that's the point that Houston's at
in its development. I think we have

977
01:03:53,840 --> 01:03:58,440
pretty similar mentalities about this team,
And first and foremost, a shout out

978
01:03:58,440 --> 01:04:01,519
to John Wall and his forty four
point three million dollars salary for next season,

979
01:04:01,599 --> 01:04:08,400
because that sure messes with everything here. I also had Hordon Tucker as

980
01:04:08,519 --> 01:04:12,280
a primary target for all the same
reasons that you said, So the only

981
01:04:12,320 --> 01:04:15,119
name that I would really want to
add. And I think this probably hinges

982
01:04:15,199 --> 01:04:18,199
on them not bringing back Kelly Olink. Don't know the likelihood of that,

983
01:04:18,239 --> 01:04:24,039
because he did look like a good
quality fit alongside Christian Wood. I would

984
01:04:24,079 --> 01:04:28,920
love to see them take a bylow
flyer on Lori Martin it because ultimately he's

985
01:04:28,920 --> 01:04:32,960
going to offer a similar skill set
to Olnox, but there's more upside there.

986
01:04:33,480 --> 01:04:36,840
He is better off the dribble,
he's better of a self creator.

987
01:04:38,320 --> 01:04:42,440
There is more theoretical upside there.
He's more athletic, so that feels like

988
01:04:42,519 --> 01:04:46,639
a potential upgrade where they could play
off of the complete lack of development in

989
01:04:46,800 --> 01:04:53,679
Chicago as that organization has been in
such constant flux. We've seen the upside

990
01:04:53,760 --> 01:04:58,840
that Markenen has in small doses,
it's never been sustained. He's also dealt

991
01:04:58,880 --> 01:05:01,960
with a significant number of injuries.
He feels like the perfect kind of buy

992
01:05:02,039 --> 01:05:08,760
low option for this team where we
already know that his skill set could fit

993
01:05:09,119 --> 01:05:12,800
because we've seen Alytic play alongside would
and then they're just looking to make it

994
01:05:12,800 --> 01:05:16,840
even better. That's I don't think
that's unreasonable at all. One of the

995
01:05:16,840 --> 01:05:18,920
other names I did consider, and
it was a long lines of if they

996
01:05:19,000 --> 01:05:23,320
end up working with cap Space,
I don't know. It depends on who

997
01:05:23,320 --> 01:05:26,440
they draft. If you wind up
with Jalen Green or Jalen Suggs and you

998
01:05:26,480 --> 01:05:29,440
have Kevin Porter Jr. Maybe this
isn't as appealing, but they it feels

999
01:05:29,440 --> 01:05:31,000
like they could use another microwave scores
Like what it just about, I'm a

1000
01:05:31,079 --> 01:05:35,559
leak monk to come off the bench
and shoot fourteent three and get buckets for

1001
01:05:35,679 --> 01:05:42,639
you. So I'm totally good with
that. That brings us to your team,

1002
01:05:42,679 --> 01:05:45,039
which is the Los Angeles Clippers,
And by your team, I mean

1003
01:05:45,079 --> 01:05:47,840
the team of which you are a
diehard fan of. Yeah, apparently I'm

1004
01:05:47,880 --> 01:05:53,360
learning something about myself on this episode. But who do you have? I'll

1005
01:05:53,360 --> 01:05:58,039
start, I'll start with them,
I think the answer here. Again,

1006
01:05:58,079 --> 01:06:01,239
we're operating under the assumption that there
are no fundamental changes to the core,

1007
01:06:01,639 --> 01:06:04,960
and they do still have to figure
out a way to bring back like Reggie

1008
01:06:05,039 --> 01:06:12,679
Jackson. I don't see any path
to a departure for Paul George and Kawhi

1009
01:06:12,760 --> 01:06:15,880
Leonard, which means that they really
need to find another attacking card because this

1010
01:06:15,880 --> 01:06:21,960
team's biggest shortcoming was its inability to
create in the half court setting to get

1011
01:06:23,000 --> 01:06:27,480
to the free throw line to settle
for these hero ball jumpers that George and

1012
01:06:27,840 --> 01:06:30,719
Leonard are both good enough to make
on a consistent basis, but you're putting

1013
01:06:30,760 --> 01:06:34,119
an enormous amount of pressure on their
shoulders. So the best option in that

1014
01:06:34,159 --> 01:06:40,440
player archetype in this free agent class
is probably Derrick Ross. He presumably can

1015
01:06:40,480 --> 01:06:44,000
be had fairly cheap given his more
advanced age at this stage of his career.

1016
01:06:44,320 --> 01:06:47,039
He's not going to be a game
changer, but he was very good

1017
01:06:47,480 --> 01:06:49,960
for the Knicks during the second half
of the season. I mean to the

1018
01:06:49,960 --> 01:06:54,960
point that we both considered elevating him
all the way to the top of the

1019
01:06:55,000 --> 01:06:58,320
six man of the Year rankings just
based on what he did in New York.

1020
01:06:58,679 --> 01:07:04,199
So that could be a relatively cheap
option for the Clippers to shore up

1021
01:07:04,599 --> 01:07:12,800
what emerges their biggest weakness. Yeah, i'd really be I'm with you on

1022
01:07:12,880 --> 01:07:15,519
that. And look, he's kind
of like the only attacking guard that you

1023
01:07:15,559 --> 01:07:23,880
can envision taking the maybe the mini
mid level exception. I honestly don't like,

1024
01:07:24,000 --> 01:07:29,039
maybe go on drag if his team
option gets declined by Miami. I

1025
01:07:29,079 --> 01:07:31,159
still think Reggie Jackson, you have
to bring him back at this point you

1026
01:07:31,199 --> 01:07:33,559
can, and why I have him
and Nick Patuma on the list, and

1027
01:07:33,559 --> 01:07:36,719
so Nick Patum they don't have bird
rights on. He either needs to accept

1028
01:07:36,840 --> 01:07:41,559
one hundred and twenty percent rays off
what his minimum salary was this season,

1029
01:07:41,920 --> 01:07:45,719
or they can use their taxpayers mid
level to keep him. Some people think

1030
01:07:45,760 --> 01:07:48,000
he might resign for cheap just because
he got all that money from Charlotte,

1031
01:07:48,079 --> 01:07:53,599
and this would technically like so there's
that. At the same time, you

1032
01:07:53,679 --> 01:07:56,719
might just want to be paid what
you're worth. And I would pay the

1033
01:07:56,760 --> 01:07:59,320
taxpayers mid level for him if i'm
them. So if that's what he commands,

1034
01:07:59,440 --> 01:08:01,079
or chunk of a half of it, whatever, pay him that Reggie

1035
01:08:01,159 --> 01:08:04,440
Jackson they can pay up to about
eleven million dollars is the max. I

1036
01:08:04,480 --> 01:08:09,159
think they're gonna have to go close
to that high. I don't know if

1037
01:08:09,199 --> 01:08:11,880
there's a team that will come and
blow him out of water with an offer.

1038
01:08:11,920 --> 01:08:14,559
Looking at the cap Space teams like
a you know, okay, see

1039
01:08:14,559 --> 01:08:16,199
he's not gonna do it. San
Antonio probably doesn't do it. Maybe the

1040
01:08:16,279 --> 01:08:21,640
Knicks. So I think you just
need him back. You also do need

1041
01:08:21,680 --> 01:08:25,520
to without Kawhi Leonard and the fact
that you do like to play a little

1042
01:08:25,560 --> 01:08:28,800
bit smaller. You do need guys
on this team that can guard wings.

1043
01:08:29,159 --> 01:08:31,600
And so I have a Sterling Brown
listed had a really good season in Houston

1044
01:08:31,960 --> 01:08:36,239
this year. What does it cost
for you to get like a Jeff Green?

1045
01:08:36,520 --> 01:08:40,880
Would he be willing to leave Brooklyn? Maybe? I honestly don't know,

1046
01:08:40,960 --> 01:08:44,119
Like I don't know the answer to
that question. Can you poach a

1047
01:08:44,239 --> 01:08:47,800
Mark Kith Morris from the Clippers,
come play with his from the Lakers,

1048
01:08:47,800 --> 01:08:50,560
come play with his brother. Not
a great selection, but just another bigger

1049
01:08:50,600 --> 01:08:55,039
body to go in those smaller lineups, or even a Wesley Matthews to defend

1050
01:08:55,119 --> 01:08:58,199
on the perimeter from from the Lakers. So those are the names they're looking

1051
01:08:58,239 --> 01:09:01,680
at. I think personally they're more
interesting on the trade market. They're not

1052
01:09:01,720 --> 01:09:04,039
going to get Kemba Walker, I
don't think, because if you're okay,

1053
01:09:04,079 --> 01:09:10,720
see you own the Clippers pick outright, are you willing to trade Kemba to

1054
01:09:10,840 --> 01:09:15,039
them in that scenario? Probably not
right. I know Kemba's right. I

1055
01:09:15,079 --> 01:09:19,119
have Eric Gordon listed, who dealt
with growing in knee injuries last year,

1056
01:09:19,399 --> 01:09:25,159
but choice yeah, so his ultra
deep three point shooting even when they don't

1057
01:09:25,159 --> 01:09:28,439
go in, has value. And
he shot fifty eight plus percent on drives

1058
01:09:28,640 --> 01:09:30,560
this past year, so he gives
you sort of that attacking guard too,

1059
01:09:30,960 --> 01:09:35,119
and he's held up defensively on the
wings. I would assume there were rumors

1060
01:09:35,119 --> 01:09:39,680
that Houston wants to use Eric Gordon
and then either number twenty three or twenty

1061
01:09:39,720 --> 01:09:43,399
four to move up to in the
draft, and I think one of the

1062
01:09:43,439 --> 01:09:45,720
trades I saw was that to move
him to Indiana for number thirteen. There

1063
01:09:45,720 --> 01:09:49,039
are all sorts of things wrong with
that report, because what money is Indiana

1064
01:09:49,119 --> 01:09:53,880
sending to Houston in that deal for
it to work. But aside from that

1065
01:09:54,279 --> 01:09:57,680
two years and thirty seven point six
million guarantee for Gordon, given his injury

1066
01:09:57,720 --> 01:10:00,239
history turns thirty three in December,
I think teams will be willing to take

1067
01:10:00,319 --> 01:10:03,720
him on. I'd be shocked if
you get more than like cap relief.

1068
01:10:03,840 --> 01:10:09,159
And the Clippers do have all these
movable deals. When you look at Patrick

1069
01:10:09,199 --> 01:10:13,279
Beverley is expiring, if Sergebaka opts
in he's expiring, you have Luke Kennard

1070
01:10:13,880 --> 01:10:16,479
that deals at least small enough,
even though there's three guaranteed years left on

1071
01:10:16,520 --> 01:10:20,479
it. I really like Eric Gordon
in the Clippers. I almost you're not

1072
01:10:20,520 --> 01:10:25,039
gonna like this, and I still
might talk myself into it if you can

1073
01:10:25,079 --> 01:10:28,960
cobble together the salary filler, which
is like thirty three million, whatever it

1074
01:10:29,039 --> 01:10:32,279
is. I don't hate Russell Westbrook
in LA given how well they space the

1075
01:10:32,279 --> 01:10:38,279
floor if you have four years around
him. So oh, I what was

1076
01:10:38,359 --> 01:10:41,199
no? What was the best version
of Westbrook that we've seen in recent years?

1077
01:10:41,199 --> 01:10:45,159
It was him alongside Paul George do
it again? Was that his best

1078
01:10:45,239 --> 01:10:47,880
version? I think the version second
half of the year in Houston might have

1079
01:10:47,880 --> 01:10:50,840
been the best version of Westbrook we
ever saw when they got for a full

1080
01:10:50,880 --> 01:10:56,439
sustained season. But yes, that's
the best version of Paul George we've ever

1081
01:10:56,479 --> 01:11:00,880
seen him. Was like friends level
Paul George, Yeah, which I believe

1082
01:11:00,960 --> 01:11:05,640
he still refers to as MVP level
Paul George. Yeah. The only issue

1083
01:11:05,680 --> 01:11:11,680
with it, obviously is that to
just get to the number to bring back

1084
01:11:11,720 --> 01:11:15,479
his He's on the same contract as
Paul George. You're looking at Paul George,

1085
01:11:15,760 --> 01:11:17,960
John Wall the what is it?
Forty four million next year? You

1086
01:11:18,039 --> 01:11:24,159
have to trade like all of your
it's it's surge. Beverly Kennard and Rondo

1087
01:11:24,479 --> 01:11:26,840
is like, how you get And
I would do it, but like is

1088
01:11:26,880 --> 01:11:29,800
Washington They're only doing that if they
trade Bill, which maybe they do,

1089
01:11:30,079 --> 01:11:35,119
and then four for ones are just
wildly tough to pull off. I fully

1090
01:11:35,159 --> 01:11:38,840
agree with all of that. I
would really like to see that. I

1091
01:11:38,880 --> 01:11:44,239
don't know how likely it is because
unless Bill is out first and then Washington

1092
01:11:44,359 --> 01:11:47,079
is totally looking to reboot, it's
gonna be that'll be tough to make that

1093
01:11:47,159 --> 01:11:51,439
happen, but in theory it does
sound like a fun fit. The Lakers

1094
01:11:51,439 --> 01:11:57,439
are mine, right, they are
so the Lakers. It's funny because some

1095
01:11:57,520 --> 01:12:00,039
of their their trade targets for me
are free agents also, so I'm just

1096
01:12:00,039 --> 01:12:04,199
gonna throw all these together their actual
free agent targets. They might be able

1097
01:12:04,239 --> 01:12:08,560
to work if they renounce everyone with
the bigger mid level. I'm gonna assume

1098
01:12:08,920 --> 01:12:14,439
they're operating with the smaller, the
taxpayers mid level, which they won't be

1099
01:12:14,479 --> 01:12:15,680
doing. Like it gets all sorts
of tough if they do do sign and

1100
01:12:15,760 --> 01:12:19,399
trades. But like in Alec Burks, a Patty Mills for this team I

1101
01:12:19,439 --> 01:12:23,239
think would be really good. And
I think you let Dennis Shrewder walk at

1102
01:12:23,239 --> 01:12:26,479
this point. It's not even just
price range. I think if he believes

1103
01:12:26,479 --> 01:12:30,119
he's getting the eighty four million the
Lakers offered him, let alone the one

1104
01:12:30,159 --> 01:12:32,960
hundred million that he thinks he's worth, I would argue he is out of

1105
01:12:33,000 --> 01:12:36,119
his mind. But I'm just letting
him walk. I hated the fit.

1106
01:12:36,199 --> 01:12:41,039
He can't anchor lineups on his own. I'm not saying Mills or Alec Burks

1107
01:12:41,039 --> 01:12:44,760
could, but they're definitely more complimentary
on offense than he is. That being

1108
01:12:44,800 --> 01:12:48,079
said, I do think the Lakers
between having the number twenty two pick that

1109
01:12:48,199 --> 01:12:53,079
you can officially move after the draft, having Kyle Kuzma at three years and

1110
01:12:53,119 --> 01:12:57,479
thirty nine million, having KCP salary, the ability to sign and trade Tallin

1111
01:12:57,520 --> 01:13:00,800
Horton, Tucker, Alex Trusseau.
If again, they're metal because you do

1112
01:13:00,880 --> 01:13:03,319
need to work out with the players
evolved, they can be aggressive with signing

1113
01:13:03,399 --> 01:13:08,520
trade options like I loved Dinwoodie in
Los Angeles. I love Kyle Lowry Moore.

1114
01:13:08,840 --> 01:13:12,520
Maybe Toronto's willing to accept like effects
simile of the offer they wanted to

1115
01:13:12,560 --> 01:13:16,560
take at the trade deadline. Where
is this Kuzma assigning trade for Forrton Tucker?

1116
01:13:16,800 --> 01:13:19,520
And I don't even know if you
need more salary beyond that, Maybe

1117
01:13:19,560 --> 01:13:25,520
you need a smaller one to include
it, or I like Kemba Walker on

1118
01:13:25,560 --> 01:13:27,880
the Lakers. I know he's an
injury risk there, but if you can

1119
01:13:27,880 --> 01:13:30,640
calls together, it's just the salaries, it's KCP, it's Kuzma, and

1120
01:13:30,680 --> 01:13:33,560
I think you need another one.
It's probably a signing trade scenario with a

1121
01:13:33,640 --> 01:13:38,560
Thht or a Crusoe. I really
think Kemba could help out the Lakers a

1122
01:13:38,600 --> 01:13:42,920
ton, because they need that a
legitimate third best player, number one,

1123
01:13:42,920 --> 01:13:46,560
but someone who can leave the offense
in the no Lebron minutes or at least

1124
01:13:46,560 --> 01:13:49,840
elevate it in the playoffs during the
Lebron minutes. And a healthy Kemba Walker

1125
01:13:49,880 --> 01:13:55,199
does both of those things. Agreed, But I just don't know how much

1126
01:13:55,239 --> 01:14:00,319
we can count on the first word
of that name. The healthy part feels

1127
01:14:00,319 --> 01:14:05,399
like the knee. The knee is
troublesome enough that I have trouble believing that

1128
01:14:05,439 --> 01:14:08,880
he's going to turn the clock back
enough to be the third best player.

1129
01:14:08,920 --> 01:14:11,640
Like, as you're saying that,
I'm sitting here thinking, like, is

1130
01:14:11,640 --> 01:14:16,760
it that much of an upgrade over
this version of Shrewder? Yes, trade,

1131
01:14:16,840 --> 01:14:20,239
but I don't know how substantial it
is. Like I might honestly rather

1132
01:14:20,479 --> 01:14:25,000
bring back Shrewder at eighty four million
than commit to this Kemba Walker contract.

1133
01:14:25,640 --> 01:14:28,359
Oh No, I wouldn't. I'd
rather Kemba Walker. And what I think

1134
01:14:28,479 --> 01:14:31,399
is also hope I'm wrong, because
Kemba's great and healthy Kemba is so fun.

1135
01:14:31,680 --> 01:14:34,880
I just I don't know that we're
going to see that again. I

1136
01:14:34,920 --> 01:14:38,960
do think what's appealing about him,
and this wouldn't if you're going to shrewder

1137
01:14:39,000 --> 01:14:42,279
out. It doesn't apply to this. But you don't get hard capped by

1138
01:14:42,279 --> 01:14:45,600
trading for Kemba because it's not a
sign in trade, and if you're hard

1139
01:14:45,640 --> 01:14:47,880
captain Lakers, that really limits what
you could do mid season. So I

1140
01:14:47,880 --> 01:14:51,199
think that's why he might be more
appealing or more realistic than a Lowry or

1141
01:14:51,239 --> 01:14:56,439
didn't really I think Lowry is the
best fit if it's between throw the hardcap

1142
01:14:56,520 --> 01:15:00,800
situation out at the table. If
if it's between Damard rose In, Russell

1143
01:15:00,800 --> 01:15:04,520
Westbrook or Kemba Walker. Let's say
all those options are on the table,

1144
01:15:04,520 --> 01:15:08,119
and Russell Westbrooks obviously younger contract,
he's not a free agent. Which of

1145
01:15:08,119 --> 01:15:11,640
those three are you taking? I
really liked rose in La. If they

1146
01:15:11,640 --> 01:15:14,640
can make it work, I don't
hate it. I don't know if he's

1147
01:15:14,640 --> 01:15:16,199
the guy I want a hardcap myself
for, but I don't. I don't

1148
01:15:16,239 --> 01:15:19,039
hate it. It's fair he doesn't
offer enough spacing. But if you're talking

1149
01:15:19,039 --> 01:15:21,880
about a guy who can anchor a
second line up, there it is.

1150
01:15:24,840 --> 01:15:29,239
I did go. I went less
sexy here because as much as Lakers fans

1151
01:15:29,319 --> 01:15:33,079
love to dream on Twitter about lineups
of like Damian Lillard, Bradley Beale,

1152
01:15:33,119 --> 01:15:38,239
Pascal Siakam, Lebron James, and
Anthony Davis. It's not gonna happen.

1153
01:15:38,680 --> 01:15:42,319
I have trouble believing they're gonna land
any of those huge names because they just

1154
01:15:42,319 --> 01:15:45,800
don't have the asset used to make
it happen right now. So I'm going

1155
01:15:45,800 --> 01:15:49,319
with Reggie Bullock and Josh Richardson here
as primary targets because I think that's the

1156
01:15:49,359 --> 01:15:55,319
more realistic type of player. They'll
be looking at the three and D guy

1157
01:15:55,399 --> 01:15:59,640
because that's ultimately what you always want
to surround Lebron James with, and somehow

1158
01:15:59,640 --> 01:16:05,479
He's teams routinely failed to realize that. But Bullock hugely did you see what

1159
01:16:05,520 --> 01:16:09,560
would say that if they're unable to, I think if they move on from

1160
01:16:09,560 --> 01:16:12,920
Shooter or something, they might have
interest in trading for Ricky Rubio, And

1161
01:16:12,960 --> 01:16:16,520
I was just like, of course, they're never ending quest to not surround

1162
01:16:16,560 --> 01:16:23,520
Lebron James with enough shooting is actually
it's baffling. But yeah, Bullock had

1163
01:16:23,720 --> 01:16:28,159
just a hugely overlooked, underrated season
with the next this year, and we've

1164
01:16:28,159 --> 01:16:32,279
talked about Richardson already where if he
is able to turn it back and they

1165
01:16:32,279 --> 01:16:36,520
can hit on that dark fire,
that team is going to be so damn

1166
01:16:36,520 --> 01:16:41,159
good. But I think that's ultimately
the archetype they should be looking at.

1167
01:16:41,359 --> 01:16:45,199
Forget about the big names. Just
target the guys who actually fit this roster.

1168
01:16:45,039 --> 01:16:47,359
Do you know it's not they could
really do you know that? They

1169
01:16:47,359 --> 01:16:51,600
could really use Danny Green? And
that's not even tongue in cheek, like

1170
01:16:51,680 --> 01:16:55,920
that's you're right, they could have
used it. They could have used Danny

1171
01:16:55,960 --> 01:17:00,000
Green. But what if they got
Damian Lillard and Kawhi Leonard and Bradley Beale.

1172
01:17:01,199 --> 01:17:03,840
Reggie Block will be fantastic on the
scene. I really like that target

1173
01:17:03,880 --> 01:17:06,039
for him. I don't know if
he'll fall into the MINIMLI range, but

1174
01:17:06,079 --> 01:17:10,560
if they're working with the full MLI
I would love him in LA. I

1175
01:17:10,560 --> 01:17:14,720
think he'd be spectacular. We're onto
Minnesota, which is linked to big names

1176
01:17:14,760 --> 01:17:17,760
like John Collins or Ben Simmons via
trade. I don't think John Collins is

1177
01:17:17,800 --> 01:17:20,960
leaving Atlanta, so I don't even
think a sign and trade is really on

1178
01:17:21,000 --> 01:17:26,840
the table there. What they really
need is another front line partner for Karl

1179
01:17:26,840 --> 01:17:30,520
Anthony Towns aside from Jane McDaniels is
there and he's really good. I like

1180
01:17:30,600 --> 01:17:33,840
Paul millsapp there, maybe a Rudy
Gay. I don't think p J.

1181
01:17:34,000 --> 01:17:39,720
Talker would go there, but he
would be interesting. I could also see

1182
01:17:39,760 --> 01:17:42,399
if you knew he was gonna play
at some point next season, taking a

1183
01:17:42,439 --> 01:17:45,119
flyer on Zach Collins would be really
interesting, or maybe even just having a

1184
01:17:45,199 --> 01:17:47,600
multi year flyer or know that,
oh he's in house. Once he's healthy,

1185
01:17:47,800 --> 01:17:50,640
he will play for us. I
think they can be. They're one

1186
01:17:50,680 --> 01:17:55,399
of the teams that even if Otto
Porter would be want to go there to

1187
01:17:55,399 --> 01:17:58,680
try and reboot his value. I
think he would help a ton. I

1188
01:17:58,920 --> 01:18:02,399
am more interested to see what they
do via trade because I think they would

1189
01:18:02,439 --> 01:18:05,760
loved if they want to get into
Ben's Women's sweepstakes. By all means,

1190
01:18:06,039 --> 01:18:11,279
go do that, but as more
like realistic targets. I love the idea

1191
01:18:11,279 --> 01:18:15,239
of Jonathan Isaac in Minnesota. Imagine
him and Carlathy Town's playing together on the

1192
01:18:15,279 --> 01:18:20,079
front line, or even Harrison Barnes
as you're four, like that's you know,

1193
01:18:20,159 --> 01:18:24,079
and you have like some money to
get there, depending on what Sacramentals

1194
01:18:24,119 --> 01:18:28,399
asking prices and presumably Sacramentos leaning into
a rebuild or trying to cut money during

1195
01:18:28,439 --> 01:18:31,479
that. So those are the two
trade targets I have really circled for them.

1196
01:18:31,479 --> 01:18:33,399
I could add another name of that
list, but I didn't want to

1197
01:18:33,439 --> 01:18:38,000
list him for so many teams because
he's coming up and you'll notice him in

1198
01:18:38,039 --> 01:18:40,880
a second. But he would also
fit here, but he's he's a man

1199
01:18:40,960 --> 01:18:45,640
to be named later. Fair Enough, I wrote down not Danilo Gallinari because

1200
01:18:45,640 --> 01:18:48,600
I forget where the rumor came from. But there was the rumor that they

1201
01:18:48,600 --> 01:18:53,479
were looking to acquire him from the
Hawks, which just doesn't make any sense

1202
01:18:53,680 --> 01:18:58,880
for this already offensive driven team.
I love the idea of adding more front

1203
01:18:58,920 --> 01:19:05,119
court versatility to this lineup around D'Angelo
Russell and Karl Anthony Towns and Anthony Edwards,

1204
01:19:05,199 --> 01:19:09,439
and I like the names you mentioned. I'm also including Nick Patum and

1205
01:19:09,520 --> 01:19:13,560
Jamichael Green, both guys who can
feasibly play both of the three or the

1206
01:19:13,640 --> 01:19:16,279
four. They can fill so many
different roles. Patum really re emerges that

1207
01:19:16,319 --> 01:19:21,479
Swiss army knife during his resurgence with
the Clippers. Jamichael Green has been able

1208
01:19:21,520 --> 01:19:27,199
to defend so many positions and really
ingratiate himself to the Denver organization with his

1209
01:19:27,239 --> 01:19:30,760
work ethic and just willingness to fill
those little roles. And that's the kind

1210
01:19:30,760 --> 01:19:34,920
of player that you need alongside three
three plus guys who are such ball dominant

1211
01:19:35,000 --> 01:19:43,720
offensive offense first superstars or potential superstars. I really like the Jamichael Green pick.

1212
01:19:43,800 --> 01:19:45,880
I'm so curious to see what happens
because he declined a seven point six

1213
01:19:45,920 --> 01:19:48,720
million dollars player option, so I
assume he expects that he's going to get

1214
01:19:48,720 --> 01:19:53,079
at least the full mid level,
which the Demers could in theory work with.

1215
01:19:53,319 --> 01:19:57,159
I would like him there the free
agent, the most ambitious one if

1216
01:19:57,159 --> 01:20:00,319
they if new or Leed is open
to somehow sign and trade with Josh Hart,

1217
01:20:00,520 --> 01:20:03,520
feel like he would be a really
good fit in Minnesota. You are

1218
01:20:03,560 --> 01:20:09,199
getting smaller around the wings, but
just having Anthony Edwards, Jade McDaniel,

1219
01:20:09,760 --> 01:20:14,840
Josh Hart, like there's some like
really fun lineups that you could build with

1220
01:20:14,880 --> 01:20:18,439
that. Beasley too much for that
to be a huge priority for me,

1221
01:20:18,479 --> 01:20:23,199
but I do like the fit.
If you trusted Malik Beasley to run stuff

1222
01:20:23,239 --> 01:20:26,199
for you, you could throw Malik
Beasley with those three plus Karl, Anthony

1223
01:20:26,239 --> 01:20:28,880
towns. You do have d Low
on the bench in that situation, but

1224
01:20:29,000 --> 01:20:33,119
whatever Sun costs at this point,
no, that seems that's excessive. Orlando,

1225
01:20:33,439 --> 01:20:38,800
is you correct? That is incorrect
because Orlando's in the Eastern Conference,

1226
01:20:38,840 --> 01:20:42,159
So we're gonna go to Oklahoma City. That's what I meant Oklahoma City?

1227
01:20:42,199 --> 01:20:45,359
Is you? Yeah? Okay?
See is a tough one, just because

1228
01:20:45,840 --> 01:20:50,880
they only have so many players under
contract right now and even fewer under guaranteed

1229
01:20:50,880 --> 01:20:56,920
contracts because Sam Presty has acquired roughly
four thousand, seven hundred and eighteen draft

1230
01:20:56,960 --> 01:21:00,880
picks over the next decade, so
seems like they could go in a bajillion

1231
01:21:01,000 --> 01:21:05,880
different directions because what poor pieces do
they truly have in place? We know?

1232
01:21:05,920 --> 01:21:11,399
Skill? Just Alexander is one other
than that, like lu Dort is

1233
01:21:11,600 --> 01:21:15,399
intriguing, Teo Maladon, Darius Basley, Alexey Pokashevski, Moses Brown. These

1234
01:21:15,439 --> 01:21:18,520
are all who needs to be resigned. These are all intriguing pieces. I

1235
01:21:18,520 --> 01:21:28,319
don't know if you can call them
guaranteed centerpieces yet. Moses, my bad,

1236
01:21:28,439 --> 01:21:30,640
Well you messed up the Orlando one, so I was trying to make

1237
01:21:30,720 --> 01:21:35,239
you feel better. But regardless,
like to me, The only thing that

1238
01:21:35,279 --> 01:21:41,079
matters right now is making sure that
whoever you bring in fits with Shay,

1239
01:21:41,640 --> 01:21:46,239
because he is the unquestioned centerpiece who
you know should be around for a long

1240
01:21:46,239 --> 01:21:50,640
time. So even though I just
said I love the idea of Lonzo Ball

1241
01:21:50,680 --> 01:21:55,800
staying in New Orleans, I think
he's a great realistic fit for this Oklahoma

1242
01:21:55,800 --> 01:22:00,399
City Thunder team because his skill set
allows Shay to play more to his strengths.

1243
01:22:00,399 --> 01:22:04,800
Shay is a developing passer. He's
not the greatest facilitator out of the

1244
01:22:04,840 --> 01:22:10,640
backcourt right now. You give that
responsibility to Lonzo Ball, who can run

1245
01:22:10,680 --> 01:22:14,840
the show and transition and then take
more of an off ball role when Shay

1246
01:22:14,960 --> 01:22:18,079
is working as a primary score.
I just think those two guys they operate

1247
01:22:18,119 --> 01:22:24,119
on similar timelines. You can afford
to give Lonzo a slight overpay because you

1248
01:22:24,159 --> 01:22:27,840
know that your core is going to
be comprised of so many rookie scale players

1249
01:22:27,880 --> 01:22:31,159
for the next two decades or however
long. Sam Presti wants to horror draft

1250
01:22:31,199 --> 01:22:34,520
picks, and they work together.
So I just it's a fit I keep

1251
01:22:34,560 --> 01:22:39,920
coming back to as one that I
just really really like more so than almost

1252
01:22:39,960 --> 01:22:43,640
anything else. Okay, se could
do this offseason, because I don't think

1253
01:22:44,000 --> 01:22:47,720
the Thunder are yet in a position
where they should make a play for whichever

1254
01:22:47,840 --> 01:22:51,600
star becomes available two years from now, when more of their roster is fleshed

1255
01:22:51,640 --> 01:22:57,000
out. Yeah, go make a
play for whichever superstar demands a trade.

1256
01:22:57,000 --> 01:23:00,760
Because you have assets just boiling over
and you can you have to get rid

1257
01:23:00,800 --> 01:23:03,800
of them because you can't play that
many rookies. They're not there yet,

1258
01:23:04,000 --> 01:23:09,359
which means that the trade targets are
less appealing inherically. So I just keep

1259
01:23:09,359 --> 01:23:13,119
coming back to Lonzo here. I
hadn't thought about that. He's a very

1260
01:23:13,159 --> 01:23:15,479
interesting fit. It'd be a wild
fit wal Kemba Walker still there, Having

1261
01:23:15,520 --> 01:23:20,000
Shay Kemba and Lonzo Ball, I
wonder how they would feel about adding what

1262
01:23:20,039 --> 01:23:24,600
could probably be like a twenty plus
million dollars a year guy just as Shay

1263
01:23:24,680 --> 01:23:27,399
is about to be that guy.
The fall to have two of those guys

1264
01:23:27,439 --> 01:23:30,199
on under contract long term before you're
ready to win. But the Lonzo Ball

1265
01:23:30,239 --> 01:23:34,920
shafit is fantastic. So for them
I had listed I went two different ways

1266
01:23:34,920 --> 01:23:38,720
here as one is there a free
agent. I didn't have lons of Ball

1267
01:23:38,800 --> 01:23:42,319
that they should overpay, who's like
young but super plug and play. I

1268
01:23:42,359 --> 01:23:45,239
came up with Gary Trent Jr.
Would be a great fit for them.

1269
01:23:45,279 --> 01:23:47,640
Not gonna give you am not gonna
give you a ton of creation, but

1270
01:23:47,640 --> 01:23:51,960
they need shooting and he'll hold his
own on defense. And he does give

1271
01:23:53,000 --> 01:23:58,079
you some like close out verve when
he has open space. But if you

1272
01:23:58,079 --> 01:24:00,399
don't want to spend your free agency
bucks at all, a low key named

1273
01:24:00,479 --> 01:24:05,479
monitor here Garrison Matthews from Washington.
That man can shoot, he can defend

1274
01:24:05,520 --> 01:24:09,560
a little bit. I saw John
Hollinger was pretty critical that he can't do

1275
01:24:09,600 --> 01:24:12,760
anything on the ball. I kind
of disagree a little bit, but it

1276
01:24:12,800 --> 01:24:15,880
feels stupid to disagree with John Hollinger. It feels like we saw it a

1277
01:24:15,880 --> 01:24:18,600
little bit more in his first season
with Washington, and he's been on a

1278
01:24:18,600 --> 01:24:23,520
two way contract both years. I
think the Russell Westbrook edition kind of displaced

1279
01:24:23,560 --> 01:24:25,399
him, and it might have been
the same with a healthy John Wall.

1280
01:24:25,800 --> 01:24:30,800
He has some kind of like downhill
like flash like I don't he's not going

1281
01:24:30,880 --> 01:24:34,439
to change these directions, but he's
like confident and speedy going downhill, and

1282
01:24:34,640 --> 01:24:39,039
in his first season showed that he
could draw some contact and attempt to finish

1283
01:24:39,079 --> 01:24:43,000
through it. So if you're just
looking for a younger guy who is flying

1284
01:24:43,039 --> 01:24:45,359
under the radar, gives you shooting
taking a flyer on the rest of his

1285
01:24:45,399 --> 01:24:48,960
skill set, he would be great
here for trade targets with Oklahoma City,

1286
01:24:48,960 --> 01:24:54,279
I think you have to spot who's
going to be the next star that's undervalued

1287
01:24:54,479 --> 01:24:58,079
that they can take on and help
rebuild his value. I still think Kristos

1288
01:24:58,119 --> 01:25:01,640
Porzingis would be the guy. If
Dallas is interested in Kemba Walker and there's

1289
01:25:01,680 --> 01:25:05,520
like a spot potentially there I could
I like, and I like Christops's fit,

1290
01:25:05,720 --> 01:25:09,840
and he's younger on the younger side
anyway, and they they're not like

1291
01:25:09,960 --> 01:25:13,399
set at Center anymore. They have
some interesting piece of be like what is

1292
01:25:13,439 --> 01:25:17,359
poku going to be even long term
anyway, So I would very much be

1293
01:25:17,479 --> 01:25:20,640
in favor of something along those lines. I just don't expect them to make

1294
01:25:20,680 --> 01:25:25,439
a splash on the trade market or
even free agency. Probably they're probably more

1295
01:25:25,479 --> 01:25:27,800
likely to make a splash on the
trade market in the sense that if there's

1296
01:25:27,880 --> 01:25:32,039
unwanted money to be absorbed, they
can still get to like roughly one trillion

1297
01:25:32,079 --> 01:25:38,399
dollars in cap space and I'm thirty
plus million in cap space, but yeah,

1298
01:25:38,439 --> 01:25:42,000
you get the point, basically the
same thing. Yeah, I mean,

1299
01:25:42,039 --> 01:25:45,560
okay, see, it's just this
malleable ball of clay right now.

1300
01:25:45,680 --> 01:25:47,399
We don't know what it's going to
look like. And I don't think that

1301
01:25:47,720 --> 01:25:53,079
any move at this stage of the
rebuild should change that. The Phoenix Suns

1302
01:25:53,199 --> 01:25:56,800
are mine. I think when you
look at their own free agents, Tory

1303
01:25:56,840 --> 01:26:00,640
Craig and campaign are both important.
Tory Craig is a non birding Campaigns an

1304
01:26:00,680 --> 01:26:02,199
early bird. They should be able
to keep him. I don't know that

1305
01:26:02,239 --> 01:26:05,880
he's going to command the market above
the ten to eleven million dollar range.

1306
01:26:06,439 --> 01:26:10,159
Looking at outside free agents, I
think you need to beef up your center

1307
01:26:10,239 --> 01:26:13,640
rotation, especially with Dario Startz.
Now we're covering from that torn acl.

1308
01:26:14,159 --> 01:26:16,640
Daniel Tye I think would be great
for this team. Norland's Noel, even

1309
01:26:16,640 --> 01:26:18,760
if you're just looking for more of
a rim runner and mobbed and I think

1310
01:26:18,760 --> 01:26:21,079
he'd be really good on defense.
Do you trust his hands on offense he

1311
01:26:21,119 --> 01:26:26,119
has? It's a different story for
trade targets. So I think you could

1312
01:26:26,159 --> 01:26:28,520
go, oh, Cody Zeller I
had here as a free agent target,

1313
01:26:28,600 --> 01:26:31,039
to just someone who will pancake dudes
on screens, and he's not a bad

1314
01:26:31,079 --> 01:26:35,000
passer, So for trade targets,
I think they could do a lot of

1315
01:26:35,039 --> 01:26:39,000
different stuff. I would aim if
you're breaking Chris Paul back. On the

1316
01:26:39,079 --> 01:26:42,640
higher end, Larry Nance Junior is
a target I have listed. I think

1317
01:26:42,680 --> 01:26:46,000
that's someone you can get without giving
up Eton or mcal Bridges, but this

1318
01:26:46,039 --> 01:26:50,119
one you'll probably have to give up
DeAndre Eten for should he become available.

1319
01:26:50,399 --> 01:26:55,920
I love the idea of Pascal Siakam
and Phoenix. If Toronto decides to hit

1320
01:26:55,960 --> 01:27:00,760
the reset button wants to shop age
twenty seven, Pascal Siakam, the Suns

1321
01:27:00,800 --> 01:27:02,920
could like he gives you more shock
rease than DeAndre Ayten. And I don't

1322
01:27:02,960 --> 01:27:05,720
think Aten is necessarily the better defender
at this point. Maybe he's more suited

1323
01:27:05,720 --> 01:27:10,960
to play the five, but his
rebounding so inconsistent there anyway, or he

1324
01:27:11,000 --> 01:27:14,439
at least he can shrink enough,
and he did. Look he played phenomenal

1325
01:27:14,479 --> 01:27:16,600
points in the playoffs, but we've
seen the fact that he was able to

1326
01:27:17,479 --> 01:27:21,079
vanish at certain points. Pascal Siakam
is less likely to do that. And

1327
01:27:21,119 --> 01:27:26,560
also you want to proof your defense
should you meet the Bucks in the finals.

1328
01:27:26,560 --> 01:27:29,560
Again, Sam can be thrown at
Yanna should you meet the Heat in

1329
01:27:29,600 --> 01:27:31,199
the finals, so you'd be thrown
at Bamadabaio a little bit more, or

1330
01:27:31,399 --> 01:27:34,239
he'd be thrown at Kwaiet Leonard or
Lebron James who meet the Clippers and nor

1331
01:27:34,319 --> 01:27:40,039
the Lakers. So that would be
that is my favorite. People aren't talking

1332
01:27:40,039 --> 01:27:43,319
about this, but if this dude
becomes available, the Sun should definitely be

1333
01:27:43,319 --> 01:27:45,039
in the mix. And I would
say that even if Chris Paul's not there.

1334
01:27:45,079 --> 01:27:48,199
To be honest, I just think
so much of this offseason is going

1335
01:27:48,239 --> 01:27:51,760
to be about running it back for
Phoenix. With a new deal for Chris

1336
01:27:51,800 --> 01:27:55,920
Paul, They're going to be looking
at signing mcail, Bridges and DeAndre Aiden,

1337
01:27:55,960 --> 01:28:00,479
two extensions, campaign abdel Nader,
Tory Craig, all those guys they'll

1338
01:28:00,479 --> 01:28:02,760
want to be bringing back. So
I do think we're looking more ad moves

1339
01:28:02,800 --> 01:28:06,720
on the periphery for this team.
I understand the commits, the commitski I

1340
01:28:06,720 --> 01:28:12,319
was just looking at his name.
I understand the Pascal Siakam appeal. I'm

1341
01:28:12,359 --> 01:28:15,880
not sure I entirely agree, just
because my takeaway from the playoffs was slightly

1342
01:28:15,920 --> 01:28:19,600
different, where yeah, Aiden can
shrink. He's not always there in those

1343
01:28:19,640 --> 01:28:25,479
biggest moments, but we also saw
the flashes of just how good this team

1344
01:28:25,520 --> 01:28:30,239
can be when he plays at that
upper level, and he can be a

1345
01:28:30,399 --> 01:28:36,119
ridiculously dominant glass cleaner who is a
versatile defender focusing on rim protection and can

1346
01:28:36,159 --> 01:28:42,640
take over games and show flashes of
increasing stretchiness from the five. I looked

1347
01:28:42,640 --> 01:28:45,720
at those higher end performances from him
during the playoffs and was like, yeah,

1348
01:28:45,760 --> 01:28:50,760
like, this team still has another
level to reach even if the exact

1349
01:28:50,800 --> 01:28:55,279
same roster is brought back. I
love the idea of Daniel Tis on this

1350
01:28:55,359 --> 01:29:00,039
team just says that high quality rim
protecting presence off the bench that they didn't

1351
01:29:00,039 --> 01:29:03,600
necessarily have. I don't know that
I would swing for the fences with a

1352
01:29:03,600 --> 01:29:09,000
big trade because I do think that
there's enough internal growth opportunity here that you

1353
01:29:09,000 --> 01:29:13,520
don't need to. I would staunchly
disagree about running it back and full.

1354
01:29:13,560 --> 01:29:16,960
I get you want to bring back
like the Nucleus, but the as I

1355
01:29:16,960 --> 01:29:19,520
picked the Sums to win the title, so it's not like I'm super long

1356
01:29:19,520 --> 01:29:24,520
on them. The path to the
Western Confert out of the Western cons's gonna

1357
01:29:24,520 --> 01:29:28,119
get harder next year, even when
you're in the Kauai injury, the Jamal

1358
01:29:28,199 --> 01:29:31,479
Murray injury. So I think you
need to like a Larry Nance junior.

1359
01:29:32,000 --> 01:29:35,279
It is probably the median outcome of
a move that's the type of splash I

1360
01:29:35,319 --> 01:29:40,119
think they need to make either looking
at their front court rotation, or you

1361
01:29:40,199 --> 01:29:45,039
still do probably need a third shot
creator who can play alongside both Chris Paul

1362
01:29:45,039 --> 01:29:46,600
and Devin Booker at the same time, because you're not going to play campaign

1363
01:29:46,960 --> 01:29:50,520
in those minutes, and I don't
know that you could trust mcale bridges to

1364
01:29:50,560 --> 01:29:55,479
create in volume, even though he's
shown he can dribble into some pull up

1365
01:29:55,520 --> 01:29:59,880
mid range jumpers. And that's also
the appeal of Pascal Siakam is Deandre's never

1366
01:30:00,039 --> 01:30:03,159
going to be that player and Pastor
Siakam already is that player. So yeah,

1367
01:30:03,199 --> 01:30:04,960
but I understand where you're coming from. I don't think you need to

1368
01:30:05,000 --> 01:30:08,920
break it up. But if you
want to go to the third star route,

1369
01:30:08,960 --> 01:30:11,479
which I think there's real merit too, and it doesn't cost you mcaal

1370
01:30:11,520 --> 01:30:15,439
Bridges in the process. I love
the idea of Siakaman Phoenix. Yeah,

1371
01:30:15,479 --> 01:30:17,199
I think it's I think it's just
easier to go that third star route one

1372
01:30:17,239 --> 01:30:20,920
more year down the road. I
would bring back Chris Paul on as front

1373
01:30:20,920 --> 01:30:24,359
loaded as deil as you can and
try to do it one more time.

1374
01:30:24,960 --> 01:30:28,319
I think the problem with that is
then you're dealing with Chris Paul in his

1375
01:30:28,479 --> 01:30:32,399
age thirty seven season, right like, it's the time is now, if

1376
01:30:32,399 --> 01:30:34,920
you're gonna do it, I would
say do it now rather than wait,

1377
01:30:36,359 --> 01:30:41,640
which is totally fair. I just
I do think you're you're a bleeding hearts

1378
01:30:42,000 --> 01:30:45,039
here. You're bleeding I thought I
was the bleeding heart on this podcast.

1379
01:30:45,039 --> 01:30:46,520
You're like, no Keith Memphis together
so that they can lose in the first

1380
01:30:46,600 --> 01:30:51,279
round every year. I like Conman
Nudy, I guess, But I mean,

1381
01:30:51,800 --> 01:30:57,439
there's there's another level for so many
guys on this roster. Devin Booker

1382
01:30:57,880 --> 01:31:00,680
age twenty five season, DeAndre Aden
age twenty fourth season, Michel Bridge is

1383
01:31:00,680 --> 01:31:05,079
aged twenty five. What if Jalen
Smith does anything. Cameron Johnson has shown

1384
01:31:05,119 --> 01:31:10,680
more and more flashes like there's there
is still so much untapped potential within the

1385
01:31:10,720 --> 01:31:15,520
incumbent roster. I think the problem
to me, though, is that those

1386
01:31:15,560 --> 01:31:20,439
players getting exponentially better doesn't erase not
having extra bodies that you need, like

1387
01:31:20,479 --> 01:31:24,880
you're not replicating for sure, Devin
Booker, and you still I think you

1388
01:31:24,920 --> 01:31:30,359
still needed, which is why I
still you're focusing on guys like Tye again

1389
01:31:30,399 --> 01:31:32,680
along to periphery. I don't I
don't know that you need to do anything

1390
01:31:32,720 --> 01:31:38,600
groundbreaking here. Larry has just endorsed
my Larry NaN's junior suggestion in this movie.

1391
01:31:38,640 --> 01:31:41,560
Noah says, Jalen Smith isn't doing
anything, and I agree, but

1392
01:31:41,600 --> 01:31:43,960
he's also only going to be twenty
two next year, so I feel like

1393
01:31:44,000 --> 01:31:46,319
I have to mention them. And
maybe he has like the cachet of oh

1394
01:31:46,359 --> 01:31:49,600
I was drafted number ten last year, so like you can maybe get something.

1395
01:31:49,720 --> 01:31:53,680
You could use him to get something, is my point. So we'll

1396
01:31:53,720 --> 01:31:56,880
see. Dario Sarch's injury hurts you
there though, because he was probably like

1397
01:31:56,960 --> 01:32:00,680
the cleanest Siller and now it's like, oh shit, what do they do?

1398
01:32:00,159 --> 01:32:05,840
Yep? The Blazers are all you
Yeah, I mean the Blazers are

1399
01:32:05,880 --> 01:32:10,920
another team where it's just impossibly difficult
to predict what they're going to do because

1400
01:32:11,279 --> 01:32:14,800
they don't know what they're going to
do yet. Is Damian Lillard going to

1401
01:32:14,840 --> 01:32:16,039
be there is c J. McCallum
going to be there. If they are,

1402
01:32:16,560 --> 01:32:20,840
are they looking to entirely shake up
the rest of the roster. I'm

1403
01:32:21,039 --> 01:32:26,880
I'm personally operating under the assumption that
the core is largely going to be intact.

1404
01:32:27,279 --> 01:32:32,159
I still until Damian Lillard himself explicitly
says I want a trade. I

1405
01:32:32,239 --> 01:32:35,399
just I don't buy that he's going
to be on the move. He's under

1406
01:32:35,399 --> 01:32:40,239
contract for a long time. I
can't see Portland trading him unless it has

1407
01:32:40,319 --> 01:32:44,079
no other option, and we know
that he and McCollum fit well together.

1408
01:32:44,119 --> 01:32:47,760
It's the pieces around them. So
I don't think that we're going to see

1409
01:32:47,880 --> 01:32:54,560
any significant changes to this roster,
and ultimately it's going to be left working

1410
01:32:54,600 --> 01:32:58,079
with like the mL to make as
big a change as possible. So I

1411
01:32:58,159 --> 01:33:02,840
think that Nerland's Noel is my primary
target here because this team has to improve

1412
01:33:02,880 --> 01:33:10,000
on defense and having a reliable back
end rim protector who can also hedge out

1413
01:33:10,079 --> 01:33:14,600
and impact some passing lanes, freeze
up the rest of their wings who are

1414
01:33:14,800 --> 01:33:18,199
good team defenders. Looking at Robert
Covington in particular, to play even more

1415
01:33:18,239 --> 01:33:21,439
to their skill sets. Nerland's nwell
on this team in the twenty four minutes

1416
01:33:21,479 --> 01:33:26,680
per game that he plays makes a
big difference. Yeah, I had him

1417
01:33:26,720 --> 01:33:29,439
on my list too, and I
was operating under the same assumption. I

1418
01:33:29,520 --> 01:33:33,359
do think if the Blazers do nothing, there is a chance that Dame accelerates

1419
01:33:33,399 --> 01:33:36,840
his unhappiness. But it's clear that
he wants them to do something, and

1420
01:33:38,000 --> 01:33:40,560
I don't have any of those moves
listed. Aside from I think Ben Simmon

1421
01:33:40,560 --> 01:33:43,760
should still be their trade target.
I love if I'm in Portland, I'm

1422
01:33:43,760 --> 01:33:45,479
doing CJ. McCollum plus stuff for
Ben Simmons. I'm just doing it.

1423
01:33:45,479 --> 01:33:48,760
But I don't think Philly will.
But that's a trade target for them for

1424
01:33:48,800 --> 01:33:51,239
the free agents. I also have
Norman Powell, which I want to ask

1425
01:33:51,279 --> 01:33:56,199
you a quick question. Norman Powell
fifteen million dollars per year over or under.

1426
01:33:57,359 --> 01:34:00,800
I think it's going to be over
this year because teams had less of

1427
01:34:00,800 --> 01:34:04,720
a revenue loss and they expected during
the pandemic, which means that they're going

1428
01:34:04,760 --> 01:34:10,039
to be more willing to spend money
on a pretty depleted free agent class,

1429
01:34:10,399 --> 01:34:15,119
and he's going to be a beneficiary. Also, the only players to score

1430
01:34:15,520 --> 01:34:19,119
average as many points per game on
a true shooting percentage as high as Norman

1431
01:34:19,159 --> 01:34:24,000
Powell where Steph Levine and Dame.
So he was in a pretty good stack

1432
01:34:24,039 --> 01:34:26,720
on me. I'm gonna I'm gonna
take the over on that as well.

1433
01:34:27,039 --> 01:34:29,880
I feel like here's a fifty point
game on his resume two or something.

1434
01:34:30,560 --> 01:34:34,720
Yeah. So I also had Jeff
Green. Jamichael Green will be good for

1435
01:34:34,760 --> 01:34:38,159
them. I like Reggie Bullock here. The problem with them is, even

1436
01:34:38,159 --> 01:34:41,279
if you assume their core is intact, without knowing how much Norman Powell runs,

1437
01:34:41,319 --> 01:34:44,039
you there's a lot or if they're
want to pay the tax or how

1438
01:34:44,039 --> 01:34:45,319
deep they want to go into it. Are they minimid level, full mid

1439
01:34:45,399 --> 01:34:49,760
level? So those targets for me, me run the gamut. Also for

1440
01:34:49,800 --> 01:34:54,319
trade targets, I had Larry Yann's
Jr. Would be great on this team.

1441
01:34:54,319 --> 01:34:56,600
I think he would probably get away
with him playing more five than he

1442
01:34:56,640 --> 01:34:59,960
does in Cleveland. He could also
play alongside use of nur kids just be

1443
01:35:00,000 --> 01:35:02,560
because he has started shooting degrees.
He ups your defensive versatility a ton.

1444
01:35:03,039 --> 01:35:08,479
I would love, love love Jonathan
Isaac here if he's going to be healthy.

1445
01:35:09,159 --> 01:35:12,800
That's probably the closest non Ben Simmons
all in play. I could think

1446
01:35:12,840 --> 01:35:15,520
of for them, because when you
look at the other stars available, it's

1447
01:35:15,560 --> 01:35:18,520
like, how much I know Bradley
Beale's an upgrade over CJ. McCollum,

1448
01:35:18,600 --> 01:35:21,640
But how much better does Bradley Beal
make your team relative to having C.

1449
01:35:21,960 --> 01:35:27,119
McCollum. I don't know if it's
like this huge jump up if you were

1450
01:35:27,119 --> 01:35:29,399
getting him in addition to see J. McCollum. If it was a warrior

1451
01:35:29,439 --> 01:35:33,039
situation where you're keeping all your stars, it's different. I guess Pascal Siakam

1452
01:35:33,079 --> 01:35:36,359
would be interesting here. I don't
know if they have the juice to get

1453
01:35:36,399 --> 01:35:40,039
in there you would need. Toronto
will be interested in CJ. Which if

1454
01:35:40,039 --> 01:35:44,279
they're moving Pascal Siakam, they're probably
rebuilding, right. Yeah, No,

1455
01:35:44,359 --> 01:35:48,159
I agree with all of that again, I just I want to keep focusing

1456
01:35:48,239 --> 01:35:53,760
on defense for the Blazers, which
draws me immediately to Larry Nance Junior to

1457
01:35:53,840 --> 01:35:57,960
Jonathan Isaac. Those both seem like
great fits if you do want to continue

1458
01:35:57,960 --> 01:36:00,840
trying to see what you can get
out of Nurkics my turn with the Kings.

1459
01:36:01,039 --> 01:36:03,680
So for free agents I already had, Josh Hart would need to be

1460
01:36:03,680 --> 01:36:08,319
assigned and trade unless they're clearing money
which, by the way, you could

1461
01:36:08,319 --> 01:36:11,760
probably list for Shaun Holmes here because
the max they can give him is about

1462
01:36:11,800 --> 01:36:15,680
eleven million dollars. Otherwise they need
to create capspased to resign him. What

1463
01:36:15,720 --> 01:36:17,479
are you doing if you're them one, do you think Rashaun Holmes gets more

1464
01:36:17,520 --> 01:36:21,560
than eleven? Yes? So do
I. If you're the Kings, are

1465
01:36:21,560 --> 01:36:25,520
you clearing cap space? And it's
Look, when you look at your books,

1466
01:36:25,560 --> 01:36:29,119
it's not just get rid of Marvin
Bagley. It's either get rid of

1467
01:36:29,159 --> 01:36:31,479
him and de Lan Wright, or
get rid of Buddy Healed, or get

1468
01:36:31,600 --> 01:36:35,840
rid of Harrison Barnes while taking back
minimal or no money in return. And

1469
01:36:35,880 --> 01:36:40,159
I think that's where I'm like,
I don't know what you do because you're

1470
01:36:40,399 --> 01:36:43,319
I think Rashaun Holmes is great,
but as a King's team you're not great.

1471
01:36:43,359 --> 01:36:45,479
So does it make sense to get
off of talent just so that you

1472
01:36:45,479 --> 01:36:49,159
can pay to retain talent that doesn't
put you over the top. It's confused.

1473
01:36:49,199 --> 01:36:51,319
I think it does here. I
think it does here. If I

1474
01:36:51,359 --> 01:36:55,760
were the Kings, I would look
to make multiple of those moves. I

1475
01:36:55,800 --> 01:36:58,800
think you can try to see what
you can get for Bagley. You can

1476
01:36:59,199 --> 01:37:01,880
try to move Harry and Barns for
a younger piece and some draft equity.

1477
01:37:01,920 --> 01:37:09,000
You can move Buddy Heelds for a
player who has a more diversified skill set,

1478
01:37:09,000 --> 01:37:12,920
and really commit to bidding to building
around Fox and Aliburton. It gives

1479
01:37:12,920 --> 01:37:15,760
you a lot more flexibility. You
can then use some of those pieces subsequently

1480
01:37:15,840 --> 01:37:19,399
to flip them for you know,
bigger name players who are available. But

1481
01:37:19,479 --> 01:37:25,399
this current roster isn't going to do
much and doesn't have enough flexibility in its

1482
01:37:25,439 --> 01:37:30,720
current state to make a huge jump
up up the ladder. Christaps Porzingis is

1483
01:37:30,720 --> 01:37:34,039
a name that really comes to mind
here as a potential by low bylow ish

1484
01:37:34,199 --> 01:37:39,520
target. I would love to see
him operating alongside Fox and Aliburton's. It's

1485
01:37:39,560 --> 01:37:43,079
a fit that makes a lot of
sense. But I would still prioritize finding

1486
01:37:43,079 --> 01:37:46,199
a way to get Rashaun Holmes back
because he's going to go for something around

1487
01:37:46,399 --> 01:37:51,680
eighteen million on average annual value.
Wow, you might be higher on him

1488
01:37:51,720 --> 01:37:55,359
than I am. I guess my
problem then is though, and I think

1489
01:37:56,079 --> 01:37:59,960
people probably try to oversimplify the King's
situation. I don't think it's as easy

1490
01:38:00,119 --> 01:38:02,479
is just telling them to blow it
up. If they wanted to, because

1491
01:38:02,479 --> 01:38:05,520
you have Haliburton Fox if you can
go out and get a Pascal Siakam like,

1492
01:38:05,520 --> 01:38:08,680
and you're just gonna go like,
we're gonna go for it now.

1493
01:38:10,000 --> 01:38:12,239
Fine. I have Miles Turner or
listed as a trades target for them.

1494
01:38:12,279 --> 01:38:15,840
I have Jonathan Isac listed as a
trade target for them. Kings fans hated

1495
01:38:15,680 --> 01:38:19,159
well that commented on what I was
talking about. Hated the Jonathan Isaac idea

1496
01:38:19,199 --> 01:38:21,800
for me. But if I'm them, I would do Bagley and number nine

1497
01:38:21,960 --> 01:38:26,720
and maybe something else for Jonathan Isaac
if you know that he's healthy, and

1498
01:38:26,760 --> 01:38:30,079
we haven't really gotten a ton of
updates on his health status yet, So

1499
01:38:30,119 --> 01:38:32,079
I'm not against them making the buy
in play. I think where it gets

1500
01:38:32,079 --> 01:38:35,640
weird for me is that if you're
going to pay Rashaun Holmes, I feel

1501
01:38:35,680 --> 01:38:40,399
like your other moves, aside from
creating the money to retain him, need

1502
01:38:40,479 --> 01:38:44,079
to be buy in plays. And
if you're getting rid of healed and barns

1503
01:38:44,119 --> 01:38:48,319
and making those trades where you're divesting
players to get picks cost controlled prospects,

1504
01:38:48,600 --> 01:38:51,520
more flexibility, I don't think that's
a bad route for them if they want

1505
01:38:51,520 --> 01:38:56,359
to kind of reset, go with
number nine Haliburton and Fox, they shouldn't

1506
01:38:56,359 --> 01:38:59,319
be afraid to do it because,
like Haliburton's young, Fox is under contract

1507
01:38:59,319 --> 01:39:01,279
for a long time. The West
is tough. If you want to rebuild,

1508
01:39:01,319 --> 01:39:04,840
I think Kings fans deserve something more
than the sub middle that they've been

1509
01:39:04,880 --> 01:39:09,920
living in. It's just I don't
know how Rashaun Holmes fits into either of

1510
01:39:09,960 --> 01:39:14,399
those two extremes, because to afford
him, you're kind of taking yourself out

1511
01:39:14,399 --> 01:39:15,880
of a lot of the buy now
plays. And then if you're getting rid

1512
01:39:15,920 --> 01:39:20,720
of him, it makes the idea
of buying hard so much less appealing because

1513
01:39:20,720 --> 01:39:25,680
you don't have Rashaun Holmes, who
was I can't under like. He was

1514
01:39:25,840 --> 01:39:28,239
the second best player on the Kings
this year, and there were times where

1515
01:39:28,239 --> 01:39:30,199
he was their most consistent player,
I'll say, and the Fox end of

1516
01:39:30,199 --> 01:39:33,800
the year it is clearly their best
player, but he was their most consistent

1517
01:39:33,800 --> 01:39:40,159
player. So I if you could
get rid of Buddy Healed, like,

1518
01:39:40,199 --> 01:39:43,760
if that's its facility, right,
If it's if you can get rid of

1519
01:39:43,760 --> 01:39:47,000
Buddy Healed and keep him, then
I think it opens up more stuff.

1520
01:39:47,000 --> 01:39:51,520
But if you get into the oh
we're moving Harrison Barnes for this to cut

1521
01:39:51,560 --> 01:39:55,239
salary. That's where I'm like,
Okay, well now it feels like you're

1522
01:39:55,319 --> 01:39:59,079
very much treading water. I think
Buddy Healed is probably a lot easier to

1523
01:39:59,199 --> 01:40:04,439
replace. I think the only thing
I would want to add there is Rashaun

1524
01:40:04,479 --> 01:40:10,960
Holmes is going to turn twenty eight
in October. But he's a relatively young

1525
01:40:11,239 --> 01:40:16,800
twenty eight because there isn't a significant
injury history and he's played so infrequently until

1526
01:40:16,840 --> 01:40:21,279
the last two years that he doesn't
have as much mileage as some other players

1527
01:40:21,319 --> 01:40:27,000
who are at that current tier have
because he was such a late bloomer.

1528
01:40:27,199 --> 01:40:30,199
So I do think that your timeline
is a little bit more extended than you

1529
01:40:30,199 --> 01:40:35,520
would typically think when looking to resign
a player of his age. I think

1530
01:40:35,560 --> 01:40:39,920
that's also fair. And look,
it's not necessarily about the average annual value

1531
01:40:39,960 --> 01:40:43,720
for me. It's what it takes
for you to get there. And I

1532
01:40:43,720 --> 01:40:45,880
think that's where that's where it gets
weird really quickly, I get, but

1533
01:40:46,279 --> 01:40:49,319
I want to be clear on that
too though. That like what I'm saying,

1534
01:40:49,640 --> 01:40:56,560
move, move Buddy Healed and Harrison
Barnes, it's not just turn those

1535
01:40:56,600 --> 01:41:00,079
into young guys and draft picks.
I want to do that to create capps,

1536
01:41:00,359 --> 01:41:04,279
to create cap space, but then
make a secondary transaction for a guy

1537
01:41:04,319 --> 01:41:09,359
who fits better around that core.
Like, I don't think that you just

1538
01:41:09,479 --> 01:41:13,279
make those moves and then wash your
hands and say we're done here. I

1539
01:41:13,319 --> 01:41:18,760
think that you make those moves intending
to make a secondary move that diversifies the

1540
01:41:18,800 --> 01:41:21,800
type of talent that you have in
those spots. Because Barnes has such limited

1541
01:41:21,840 --> 01:41:27,479
upside and Held is such a specialist
that I just think you need to invest

1542
01:41:27,880 --> 01:41:32,359
those assets in something that fits better
along the subsequent core of Holmes, Fox

1543
01:41:32,439 --> 01:41:36,560
and Haliver. Barnes is such a
perfect fit for this team, though I

1544
01:41:36,560 --> 01:41:42,439
don't think. I don't think that
I don't have If you're gonna pay Rashaun

1545
01:41:42,479 --> 01:41:45,560
Holmes sixteen to eighteen million dollars a
year, you should be fine with Harrison

1546
01:41:45,560 --> 01:41:47,680
Barnes at a similar price point.
Declining would be my That's why I think

1547
01:41:47,680 --> 01:41:51,000
it's it's buddy Held is the most
expendable for me. You could talk me

1548
01:41:51,039 --> 01:41:55,760
into Delan Wright and I would move
Shield first two, especially because Barnes has

1549
01:41:55,760 --> 01:41:59,800
the declining contract structure. He's ultimately
going to make twenty point three This year,

1550
01:41:59,800 --> 01:42:02,159
ineen point four next year, So
yeah, I think we're on the

1551
01:42:02,159 --> 01:42:04,680
same page there I had, and
this is probably whether you're getting rid of

1552
01:42:04,680 --> 01:42:08,359
a Shawn Holmes are keeping him because
you still do need other options at the

1553
01:42:08,359 --> 01:42:11,800
five. But Daniel Tys for this
team. Nerland's the well for this team.

1554
01:42:11,840 --> 01:42:14,479
I think he might have already mentioned
him, and then Ken Birch even

1555
01:42:14,960 --> 01:42:17,680
just someone who's sneaky good if anyone
was paying attention to Orlando and then Toronto

1556
01:42:17,760 --> 01:42:20,560
this year, Ken Burchs played really
well. He's undersize, but he scraped

1557
01:42:20,560 --> 01:42:25,840
and he's hinted at having a corner
three pointers. So those were those rounded

1558
01:42:25,840 --> 01:42:29,359
out my list for the for the
Kings, which brings us to the Spurs.

1559
01:42:29,479 --> 01:42:31,960
And I believe you kick us off
or do I kicks off? I

1560
01:42:32,000 --> 01:42:35,920
can go ahead and kick us off. Yeah, I mean with the Spurs,

1561
01:42:38,079 --> 01:42:41,840
they're another one of these many teams
in the Western Conference where it's hard

1562
01:42:41,880 --> 01:42:45,279
to pinpoint what exactly they're going to
do because I don't think they know their

1563
01:42:45,279 --> 01:42:48,279
direction yet. Like ultimately Demard Rozen
is still in play for this team,

1564
01:42:48,279 --> 01:42:53,239
but they also have so many young
pieces that are they going to continue trying

1565
01:42:53,279 --> 01:42:56,800
to operate on two timelines and once
are they going to commit to more of

1566
01:42:56,800 --> 01:43:00,520
a whole sale rebuild are they going
to continue leaning in the veteran direction,

1567
01:43:00,600 --> 01:43:03,960
And we just don't really know yet. So with that in mind, I

1568
01:43:04,000 --> 01:43:09,239
think their primary target is a guy
who has been mentioned in connection with him

1569
01:43:09,359 --> 01:43:13,279
a few times at this point,
John Collins. I would love to see

1570
01:43:13,479 --> 01:43:18,000
him fully unleashed in a situation like
that with a really smart coaching staff,

1571
01:43:18,399 --> 01:43:23,960
because if you watch him a lot
with the Hawks, it is abundantly clear

1572
01:43:24,439 --> 01:43:29,680
how ridiculously impressive his skill set can
be. He can make face of jumpers,

1573
01:43:29,680 --> 01:43:32,399
he can operate off the catch,
he can guard multiple positions. They're

1574
01:43:32,439 --> 01:43:38,000
not necessarily well on a consistent basis. He's a developing passer. He's a

1575
01:43:38,039 --> 01:43:42,399
tremendous athlete who can dominate in the
pick and roll game, but he always

1576
01:43:42,399 --> 01:43:45,520
makes bad decisions and it doesn't always
feel like he knows where to be.

1577
01:43:45,640 --> 01:43:48,039
It's like there's a lot of squandered
talent. When you watch him for long

1578
01:43:48,079 --> 01:43:51,359
stretches, he can disappear for times. He can go through stretches where he

1579
01:43:51,359 --> 01:43:58,720
makes bad decisions and giving him the
leeway to operate with more autonomy with a

1580
01:43:58,800 --> 01:44:02,279
coaching staff in his ear is really
appealing. Like the idea of him serving

1581
01:44:02,319 --> 01:44:06,960
as the scoring centerpiece on a team
with a bunch of impressive young guards who

1582
01:44:06,960 --> 01:44:12,560
can also score and can also help
set him up but aren't so ball dominant

1583
01:44:12,640 --> 01:44:15,319
like Trey Young. San Antonio feels
like a really good landing spot for him

1584
01:44:15,359 --> 01:44:19,840
to maximize his value on this next
contract. There's also a look and I

1585
01:44:19,880 --> 01:44:25,359
know you say it makes me had
decisions. I thought he really typified his

1586
01:44:25,520 --> 01:44:28,399
value or growth in the playoffs,
where he still found ways to contribute on

1587
01:44:28,439 --> 01:44:32,279
offense to spite spending so much time
alongside standout games. Yeah yeah, and

1588
01:44:32,359 --> 01:44:35,079
when he's not, when he's not
the primary screener, that's taking away a

1589
01:44:35,119 --> 01:44:36,800
huge part of his game. So
the fact that he figured out how to

1590
01:44:36,800 --> 01:44:41,319
make an impact, he is so
much better defensively. There's people have said

1591
01:44:41,359 --> 01:44:44,119
that there's been regression as a rim
protector. I think that probably is more

1592
01:44:44,439 --> 01:44:45,680
to do with the fact that he's
not allowed to guard the rim as much

1593
01:44:45,680 --> 01:44:49,119
when Clint Coopela's on the floor.
So I love him in san Antonio as

1594
01:44:49,159 --> 01:44:54,119
a means of being able to balance
the two roles better. I ultimately think

1595
01:44:54,119 --> 01:44:57,319
he the Hawks match whatever. But
if I'm San Antonio, you just look

1596
01:44:57,359 --> 01:45:00,600
at the combination of you mentioned.
You don't know what they probably don't know

1597
01:45:00,640 --> 01:45:02,319
what direction they're going in. I'm
with you. I think they probably lean

1598
01:45:02,399 --> 01:45:08,239
towards Can we get an impact player
and then keep de Rosan, maybe Mills

1599
01:45:08,279 --> 01:45:11,199
as well, and like try to
tread water a little bit, but we

1600
01:45:11,199 --> 01:45:13,960
don't want to tire ourselves into anything. John Collins fits with that, just

1601
01:45:14,000 --> 01:45:16,000
because he's he turns twenty four and
September, so he's still young, and

1602
01:45:16,039 --> 01:45:18,680
I don't think he's going to be
immovable if you sign him to a max

1603
01:45:18,800 --> 01:45:21,920
contract. I still just think he's
he's really good. And so I know

1604
01:45:21,960 --> 01:45:26,079
there are people that are against the
Spurs spending that much. I would just

1605
01:45:26,159 --> 01:45:29,000
do it. You have so much
cap space if you announce everybody, just

1606
01:45:29,039 --> 01:45:34,520
do it and see what happens.
I do also have listed for them Josh

1607
01:45:34,560 --> 01:45:39,000
Hart or Duncan Robinson, just two
other restartive free agents that you could throw

1608
01:45:39,039 --> 01:45:43,640
some money at that I think would
be good for this team and as trade

1609
01:45:43,640 --> 01:45:45,880
targets for them. I have Lattery
Nance Junior listed. Again, I think

1610
01:45:45,880 --> 01:45:51,279
he's such a player, so and
look if I'm them Also, I'm not

1611
01:45:51,399 --> 01:45:55,279
ruling this out. I would never
predict it, but maybe they lean into

1612
01:45:55,319 --> 01:45:58,039
a point where they're a little bit
more open to rebuilding. Or can they

1613
01:45:58,039 --> 01:46:01,560
split the difference? Do you pay
one guy twenty something million use the other

1614
01:46:01,680 --> 01:46:05,039
twenty to thirty million of your Cavs
space to take on an unwanted contract that's

1615
01:46:05,079 --> 01:46:09,560
attached to a pick and or prospect
something else, like if New Orleans is

1616
01:46:09,560 --> 01:46:12,640
looking to shed money or do a
bigger trade, can you get involved and

1617
01:46:12,680 --> 01:46:15,439
take on Eric Blutze or Stephen Adams
if you're getting compensated for it. They're

1618
01:46:15,479 --> 01:46:18,880
so complicated. I don't know if
they're interesting, because I think this all

1619
01:46:18,960 --> 01:46:24,039
ends with them running it back in
some form just because that's the Spurs way.

1620
01:46:24,079 --> 01:46:26,640
But there's so many different directions they
could go, and they have a

1621
01:46:26,640 --> 01:46:29,800
ton of cass space. I would
like to see them be at least somewhat

1622
01:46:29,840 --> 01:46:32,079
aggressive with it. Or if they
are going to be like, hey,

1623
01:46:32,359 --> 01:46:35,640
we want to make the most of
Greg Popovitch turning seventy three next season in

1624
01:46:35,720 --> 01:46:40,760
January or whenever it is, we're
gonna get after it, then do something

1625
01:46:40,840 --> 01:46:44,600
significant to really mean it. Don't
just resign Tomar, Rudy Gay and Patty

1626
01:46:44,640 --> 01:46:47,199
Mills. The Collins thing is we
mentioned, or Hard and dougte Robinson or

1627
01:46:47,239 --> 01:46:50,800
again explore the trade market get involved
for that doesn't have to be a splash

1628
01:46:50,800 --> 01:46:54,680
a target. But again, like
a really fundamentally sound guy like Larry nance

1629
01:46:54,760 --> 01:47:00,960
Juior, I just I feel like
when you started this exercise you just wrote

1630
01:47:00,000 --> 01:47:03,960
down his name for every team and
just deleted him from some. Yes,

1631
01:47:04,079 --> 01:47:08,359
pretty much. I love lyon Next
Jr. The final team. We have

1632
01:47:08,920 --> 01:47:12,680
the final team who had not list
lyon Next Junior four although he wouldn't No,

1633
01:47:12,760 --> 01:47:15,279
he probably wouldn't be the best fit
in Utah, but now he would

1634
01:47:15,319 --> 01:47:19,199
fit Utah. So for free agents, they have the mini mid level there.

1635
01:47:19,239 --> 01:47:23,439
I don't know if they're willing to
spend it because their tax pay payment

1636
01:47:23,560 --> 01:47:26,119
not actual, like how far into
the tax they are. Their tax bill

1637
01:47:26,159 --> 01:47:30,000
could end up being between fifty and
sixty million dollars if they resigned Conley for

1638
01:47:30,039 --> 01:47:32,560
twenty to twenty five million, because
they're basically as they stand now in the

1639
01:47:32,600 --> 01:47:39,199
tax essentially, so every dollar amount
that you pay Conley is taxed, is

1640
01:47:39,479 --> 01:47:43,079
how he was looking at it.
I have Nick Batum does he want to

1641
01:47:43,079 --> 01:47:45,279
come back. Does he want to
team up with his French national teammate Rudy

1642
01:47:45,279 --> 01:47:49,119
Gobert Otto Porter They've had interest in
him previously. And then I have PJ.

1643
01:47:49,279 --> 01:47:53,000
Tucker just to drive home the point
and in my in my I drive

1644
01:47:53,039 --> 01:47:57,039
this home with my trade targets.
I don't think Gobert's a liability. I

1645
01:47:57,079 --> 01:48:00,720
think that what Utah has on the
perimeter her their defense in certain matchups,

1646
01:48:00,760 --> 01:48:04,319
because you can't rely on Gobert like
you normally wouldn't make your defense. So

1647
01:48:04,359 --> 01:48:08,319
I do think you need the option
to go smaller when it calls for it.

1648
01:48:08,399 --> 01:48:10,720
So someone like a PJ. Tucker, if he's wanting to play for

1649
01:48:10,720 --> 01:48:14,680
you, their trade targets. Josh
Richardson if he opts in, would be

1650
01:48:14,720 --> 01:48:17,800
great in terms of quickening your defense
up front to make life easier Uncle Bart

1651
01:48:17,840 --> 01:48:21,520
and certain matchups or to go we
want to be able to downsize at the

1652
01:48:21,520 --> 01:48:26,159
five, but they could also play
some four. Maxi Kleiba would be great

1653
01:48:26,159 --> 01:48:29,479
for this team, and Thaddy is
Young would be really good in Utah.

1654
01:48:29,560 --> 01:48:32,199
I don't know how gettable either is. If Chicago ends up having to move

1655
01:48:32,239 --> 01:48:36,119
Levigne or realizing that you know we're
not we shouldn't have made that food trade

1656
01:48:36,479 --> 01:48:41,079
or whatever. Maybe he's more available. They do have the contracts to make

1657
01:48:41,079 --> 01:48:43,239
it work. But as we don't
know if we talked about this at the

1658
01:48:43,239 --> 01:48:45,079
top of the podcast for some reason
we did with Joe Ingles, the Jazz

1659
01:48:45,159 --> 01:48:47,640
might just be looking to shed money, in which case, like any of

1660
01:48:47,640 --> 01:48:50,880
these trade targets are off the table
because they make money, not more than

1661
01:48:50,880 --> 01:48:55,399
the Jazz would necessarily be sending out. But they just might be someone who's

1662
01:48:55,439 --> 01:48:59,760
relatively dormant because they're trying to slash
their tax bill, which I hope they

1663
01:48:59,760 --> 01:49:04,520
don't. I hope they don't as
well. Everything about this offseason has to

1664
01:49:04,600 --> 01:49:09,800
start with resigning Mike Conley and then
going from there. I like all the

1665
01:49:09,800 --> 01:49:15,319
targets you mentioned. I think the
biggest need really seems to be another perimeter

1666
01:49:15,399 --> 01:49:21,680
defender, and even players on the
Jazz have admitted as much, per Ben

1667
01:49:21,720 --> 01:49:27,319
Anderson from KSL Sports, like we
already, Royce O'Neill has said, I

1668
01:49:27,399 --> 01:49:30,479
think having another guy to help us
all out besides myself, Joe, Mike

1669
01:49:30,560 --> 01:49:33,600
Donn and Rudy, probably another wing
guy like focusing on the defensive end there

1670
01:49:33,600 --> 01:49:38,600
so I love the Josh Richardson idea. I love them trying to go after

1671
01:49:38,840 --> 01:49:43,159
like Tory Craig would be another great
addition, Nick Batu makes a lot of

1672
01:49:43,159 --> 01:49:46,239
sense. If that doesn't work,
you probably want a little bit more guard

1673
01:49:46,239 --> 01:49:51,159
depth, just given Conley's injury history, given how little you can rely on

1674
01:49:51,239 --> 01:49:55,359
Jordan Clarkson from a night Tonight basis
in some of these bigger moments. So

1675
01:49:55,680 --> 01:50:00,960
Derek Rose can make sense for this
team again as another attacking guard. But

1676
01:50:00,039 --> 01:50:05,840
the options are limited by what happens
to Conley because if he does come back,

1677
01:50:05,920 --> 01:50:09,960
like as you mentioned with the tax
bill, you are not looking at

1678
01:50:10,000 --> 01:50:13,920
a significant payment beyond that. And
the other thing is like, even if

1679
01:50:13,920 --> 01:50:16,279
they lose Conley, they're still in
the taxes of now they get out of

1680
01:50:16,279 --> 01:50:18,520
it pretty easily. But what other
mover are you're gonna make. You're not

1681
01:50:18,560 --> 01:50:23,079
replacing Mike Conley with any version of
the mid level. They might just be

1682
01:50:23,399 --> 01:50:26,239
they might just say, you know
what, Jordan Clarkson had his career year,

1683
01:50:26,319 --> 01:50:29,840
he can create we still have Joe
Ingles buyon Bydonovitch, Donovan Mitchell,

1684
01:50:30,199 --> 01:50:31,880
like, let I just don't even
look at Oh, there's here's this low

1685
01:50:31,960 --> 01:50:35,000
level point guard option that they can
sign it and take a flyer on and

1686
01:50:35,079 --> 01:50:39,520
hope that it works out. They
can't afford DeVante Graham. I doubt they

1687
01:50:39,560 --> 01:50:41,760
want to bring back Derek Rose,
who never played a game for them,

1688
01:50:41,800 --> 01:50:45,279
and they probably can't afford him either. Go on Draggage maybe if he wants

1689
01:50:45,279 --> 01:50:47,399
to play there for a discount or
his team option get declined. So for

1690
01:50:47,439 --> 01:50:50,520
their sake, I think they need
to do whatever it takes to resign Mike

1691
01:50:50,520 --> 01:50:54,760
Conley, and if they're not willing
to pay an astronomical tax bill to do

1692
01:50:54,840 --> 01:50:57,680
it, then figure out a way
to lower it and still bring back Conley,

1693
01:50:57,760 --> 01:51:00,920
just because I think, as you
mentioned, he is missional to what

1694
01:51:00,960 --> 01:51:04,079
you want to do immediately the longest
term. Yeah, so that does it

1695
01:51:04,239 --> 01:51:08,359
for us. We stayed pretty true
to our five minute average per team that

1696
01:51:08,359 --> 01:51:13,039
I wanted to aim for. So
so yeay us until next time the first

1697
01:51:13,760 --> 01:51:15,680
Yeah, shout out at us this
episode if you if you haven't checked out,

1698
01:51:16,039 --> 01:51:18,399
thank you Noah. This was a
great episode. We really appreciate that

1699
01:51:18,439 --> 01:51:21,560
we're gonna do the East soon.
I don't know if we're gonna do it

1700
01:51:21,640 --> 01:51:25,560
on Locker Room. We should discuss
that but if you haven't checked out the

1701
01:51:25,560 --> 01:51:29,079
Hardwooknox podcast, do so. We
are wherever you get your podcast, Hardwood

1702
01:51:29,119 --> 01:51:31,279
Knox, but exactly as it sounds. You could also find us on Twitter

1703
01:51:31,359 --> 01:51:34,359
at Hardwood Knox, find us on
YouTube search Hardwooknox you will come up.

1704
01:51:34,399 --> 01:51:40,960
Subscribe Twitter at Hardwood Knox, Instagram
at Hardwood Underscore Knox, and again wherever

1705
01:51:40,960 --> 01:51:44,640
you get your podcast, subscribe to
us download every episode. We hope to

1706
01:51:44,680 --> 01:51:47,960
be speaking or speaking to you guys
soon, since no one jumped in with

1707
01:51:48,000 --> 01:51:50,760
the speaker request this time. Until
next time, though, leave with a

1708
01:51:50,760 --> 01:51:56,279
shout out to the one the only
who can solve all of the Denver Nuggets

1709
01:51:56,279 --> 01:51:59,600
is primitter defensive issues free agent Frank
Nilikina
