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What is up a fellow siko's I
am Danvalley coming at you with another solo

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podcast on a Sunday. Though I
don't feel bad about it being so I

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normally feel bad. Still hate doing
these, but loves the talk hoops and

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we have some stuff that I wanted
to hit for a while, and we're

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gonna have to talk about the jail
and bruns. An extension is basically what

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I want to spend a lot of
time on. Of course, very quickly

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though, just want to announce that
thank you for everyone who helped us hit

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five k subscribers on YouTube recently.
We are going to have a merch drop

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in celebration, and if you're watching
this, I'm giving you a preview of

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it. One of the designs right
now, I think we have four.

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I wanted to have five, but
there's one that there's been a hold up

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and I can't necessarily do it myself, so there will be four in the

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drop. This is the first one. Oh man, you can't see my

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MIC's here? Hold on, hold
on. That was better on YouTube if

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you didn't see the pause. Nice
little Sicko mode shirt for the siccos it

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is going to be called the Siico
collection, so I won't spoil all of

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it. Grant has seen it,
he did approve it. I wanted to

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get some test merch to make sure
that everything, like the material is good.

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The place very quickly. It's a
little bit more expensive than when we

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were using Tea Public, but the
quality seems to be a lot better.

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And I think we'll run a promo
when we launched, like maybe fifteen percent

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off of a certain amount of purchaser
something, So if you want to support

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the show, be on the lookout
for that. I'm really happy with how

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all the stuff turned out and excited
to share it with you guys, and

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hopefully everyone sends me a bunch of
pictures in screenshots and them wearing it because

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we might have well, definitely have
magnets I will send you. If you

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send me the screen shop for free. You don't have to pay for the

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magnets. I know, very generous
of us with all these magnets. I'm

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trying to get stickers. Those might
take a while though, so that's exciting.

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But let's come on, let's talk
about John Brunson did the thing.

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Son of a brun He did it. I was I'm not surprised that he

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did it, because a lot of
people I trust and who know things believe

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that he was going to but it
was still one of those things where it

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was I'll believe it when I see
it. And so I want to get

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into the framing of this because their
woe was reported that he's basically leaving an

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unprecedented amount of money on the table. It's an unprecedented concession. I even

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made a joke that we saw Lebron
take almost a three million dollar pay cut

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and then Jalen Brunson said watch this
and took way more or sacrificed way more.

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But then I also saw the pushback
like, well, this is a

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three plus one. He's going to
opt out. Afterwards, he'll be able

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to sign a thirty five percent max. He'll recoup x amount and all these

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numbers being around, or maybe he'll
extend off this current one. There's been

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a bunch of different ways to frame
it, and so look, Jalen Brunson

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could have entered. So I want
to start here. There's just a few

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points I want to make about this. About we know how important he is

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to the Knicks, but that's why
this is important. But about what this

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means for their future. But like, let's look at the framing. Jalen

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Brunson could have opted out next summer
and would have been eligible for a max

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of five years and about two hundred
and sixty nine million dollars is what the

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cat projects to be at. He
is so important to the Knicks. If

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you want to get into whether you
actually think when you kind of saw that,

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well, there wasn't a market for
James Harden and yeah there was a

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market for Paul George, but it
was like kind of Philly and that was

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it. It was weird. John
Brunson younger jet to nat but again small

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guard. Maybe there's not people tripping
over themselves to give him a four year

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max compete with the Knicks. He's
so important to the Knicks, and they

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have built their team in the image
of him, of believing that he is

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going to be there, that he
is there north Star because he is.

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He was before they made the mcaal
Bridge's trade, before they made the Aniobe

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trade. But my point is they've
continued to lean in to that. You

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were going to give him the five
years in two hundred and sixty nine million

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if he wanted it. That is
my point, So that is actually something

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that he opted against doing. He
could have if there was a catastrophic injury

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and Achilles or something. Okay,
maybe we have this debate. Does he

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have enough equity that kind of Clay
Thompson did with the Warriors, were gonna

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pay him anyway? I guess would
be yeah, because they don't have a

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choice like this is just he is
everything to the Knicks, so he waited.

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He would have signed, he could
work. I should say he could

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have signed for five to sixty nine. So that is something he actively passed

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on. So I don't think it's
fair to say that he didn't really make

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a sacrifice or that he's planning on
recouping this towards the end of the deal,

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because or not the end of the
deal, but on his next deal.

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And yeah, okay, you can
look at it that way and think,

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oh, I mean, Rick Brunson's
on the coaching So that was one

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of the better jokes, by the
way, to someone quote to me that

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it was like an unrelated news though. Rick Brunson got a fifteen million dollars

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per year race, which was great, and I think I saw it might

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have been a dunked on subscriber made
the joke to them that that they were

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that the rights to the like the
Roommate's podcast was being purchased for like a

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half a billion dollars or something.
So that was funny. But if you

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believe that Leon Rose and that the
Knicks brass have his thing set up where

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they're agreeing to paying Brunson when he
can opt out the full boat, which

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that deal right now, So he
opts out on his current deal, which

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he can do, that would be
the twenty twenty twenty nine season. His

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max salary at that point, I
believe at thirty five percent seventy two million

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dollars over, so a five year, four hundred and seventeen point eight four

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hundred and seventeen point nine million dollar
deal. Yeah, I mean there's a

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chance that there's I won't rule out
anything because of just the way that he

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got here. Yeah, there's a
chance that they've told him that they'll take

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care of him in some form.
That's still a risk on his part.

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We're talking about someone who when he
hits free agency again, that will be

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he will be thirty two years old, and so we know what we know

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about small guards. He's listed at
sixty one six foot In some places,

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it's probably on a good day that
he's hitting six' to one, so

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there's a risk of leaving that money
on the table. What he did was

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as close to like this is.
It was a real concession. I don't

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understand people framing it a different way
now if you want to frame it in

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a different capacity, because he's going
to hit free agency sooner. So even

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had he waited to sign that five
year deal, it's not the same thing.

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That's fair. So let's break this
down in the terms of this is

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let's look at it as a three
year deal like following this, so he's

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under contract for this season play and
then his player option beginning in twenty five

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twenty six was declined, so there
are three seasons before the next player option.

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So we know that he's going to
be on this number, never gonna

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make more than forty point five forty
point six million dollars I believe per year

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under this contract. So let's just
look at those three years. In the

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first year of the contract he is
he is taking an eleven point four million

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dollar pay cut, the second year
of that contract a twelve point four million

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dollar pay cut, and then the
final year. Even though the before the

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player option thirteen point three million dollar
pay cut, that adds up to thirty

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seven point one million about over three
years. And so when you do the

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math on that, like, just
thirty seven million dollars over three years is

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not nothing for someone who is not
coming off a mega deal. Remember when

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he signed this contract with the Knicks. Then I continue to own this.

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I was wrong about his fit,
wrong about how aggressive they were to I

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was just wrong. I mean,
even people who are optimistic about you to

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be fair about jam Brunton were wrong. He just turned into a top five,

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top six MVP candidate. But there
were people who were uncomfortable with the

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money. I wasn't uncomfortable with the
money, but there are people whore uncomfortable

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with the money. So this isn't
someone who is signed. Yeah, at

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the end of all these these two
deals, like yet he's still gonna be

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like, wow, man, this
dude made over a quarter of a million

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dollars or whatever it ends up being. Okay, I get that, but

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like, this isn't someone like,
this isn't Lebron And I'm not we'll get

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into the pay cut situation itself,
but he is taking over the next three

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years, not the upcoming season,
but the three after that. An average

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of twelve point four million dollars per
year is what he conceded. So even

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if you want to just isolate that
down to a three year window, that's

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a lot of fucking money. That's
not quote, that's Dante DiVincenzo every year

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basically, or because Mitchell Robinson is
declining Mitchell Robinson every year. That is

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what he basically conceded, one of
the Knicks's top six player salaries per year.

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But over the next three seasons,
that's that Just like I don't want

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to I'm not saying you need to
commend him for it, but let's not

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try and for this is John Brunson
is not making a sacrifice, and let

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Knicks fans kind of have this.
Everyone knows Knicks fans hate me, which

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is honestly hysterical, but like people
making fun of their reactions saying it looks

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like they just you know, won, like formed a dynasty or something,

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And that's what that's the positive side
of fandom. Where a player does something

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where it feels like they care about
the jersey, the city name on their

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back, and the fans where it's
not just a job and you're going to

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react in that way. It's the
toxic bullshit that's annoying to or should be

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annoying everyone. Like those reactions.
Okay, troll them, that's fine,

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but like to actively make fun of
them in a like a means bearded way

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to just I find that so like, let Knicks fans have this like this

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is a big deal, and I
don't think John Brunson was obligated to do

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it by any stretch. That kind
of makes it even that much sweeter.

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And now there are another two there
are three points I want to make after

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this, and so this is let's
start with the mcl bridges strait. This

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podcast is right every once in a
while, this is one of those times

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once in a you know, every
years. We had mentioned that one of

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the reasons I came around on Jaln
Brunson sign and the extension was because of

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the mcale bridges trade. And you
now need to fold what Jalen Brunson just

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did, and even if you want
to frame it in a three year window.

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So the twelve point four million dollars
per year in extra wiggle room beneath

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an aprin because it's not just it's
not necessarily a cap space situation. We

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will get to that, I promise, but you need to fold that into

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the cost they paid for McHale Bridges. And so it was already justifiable in

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the sense that if you believe he
is a missing link to you becoming a

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championship contender, go ahead and make
the trade in all likelihood the first two

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first round picks that you have to
convey in twenty five and twenty seven whatever,

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it's the other two on the back
end of that, and of course

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you want to see what Milwaukee's turns
into. But there you can make a

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case that three of the five picks
they gave up are going to be bottom

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ten and that's not an astronomical price. Now, when you get to the

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swap and then the two picks in
twenty twenty twenty nine, pick twenty and

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thirty one pick, shit gets uneasy
because you don't know what Brunson again,

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he's like, this core is young
enough to where it could still be together.

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But we know windows closes all the
time players leave they get too expensive,

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and so there's a chance the Knicks
could be in a rough spot if

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they don't meticulously kind of balance the
future with the president and whatever move they

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make next be for someone who can
help be the bridge with Jalen Brunson,

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because you look at even if they're
on the younger side, like to you

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view Dante DiVincenzo and Josh Hart and
even McHale Bridges and of course Julius Randald,

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just all these guys are not John
Brunson is the guy. The fact

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that he'll only be only be thirty
two when he set to hit free agency

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next that's twenty twenty nine, Like, yeah, he could still have even

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what we know, like what Kyle
Lowry was able to do, like you

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could still have two three years left
of his prime even if he's not at

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this level. And I think it's
a fair bet to say, Okay,

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you know, when he's up for
his next deal, maybe he's not at

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this level. This level, this
level's fucking top ten territory or better.

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He was just six in MVP voting. I think I erroneously said fifth the

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other day in a podcast, So
I apologize to anyone who was a me

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getting that wrong. I like those
picks again, just to justifiable costs.

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It was a lot, and it
was an overpay, but you know you're

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gonna have to overpay mchal Bridges because
he's on a below market deal with two

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years left, no options to get
out of that. Brunton coming back on

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this below market deal that basically within
that same span is saving you twelve point

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four million dollars just that three year. It's more. He could have signed

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for way more. But I'm using
the I guess I'll call it the least

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favorable interpretation of this, or maybe
you just want to call it the most

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realistic one, whatever you want to
use it. But Brunton signing this deal

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to have him at three years and
never just coming like he's never going to

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make he would if he opted in, but I'm assuming he'll decline his player

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option in twenty twenty eight, like
forty point six million dollars he's gonna top

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out at Like that is just that
is wild when you look at the percentage

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of what the salary cap is.
I mean, we're talking about someone who

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finishes this is now his third contract, and under it, he is never

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going to account for more than twenty
two twenty three percent of the salary cap

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if projections, So hold, that's
absurd and it's it's a big deal,

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and you folded into Michel Bridges trade
because Michel Bridges is his friend, is

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buddy, the same way with Done
Evincenzo and Josh Hart. The other thing

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you fold into the Michel Bridge trade
is what does this mean about Michael Bridges's

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future? Because in six months he
can sign an extension. I think it's

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like three years, one under thirteen
million. Given the archetype of player he

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is and the fact that he's also
on a deal that aged into an extremely

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team friendly contract, he shouldn't sign
that extension. He should probably wait because

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there will be a team that will
pay him more. Even I it's just

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a matter of getting more years and
slightly more money per year. Like I

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don't know if he's going to be
a max contract guy when he hits free

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agency in twenty twenty six, but
like, there are a lot of people

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who probably prefer him as a player
to og Annobi and look at what og

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just got over five years, five
and two twelve. Does this mean,

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though, that he's just going to
sign an extension, because then that needs

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to be factored into the cost of
these players are willing to make those sacrifices

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to keep, to help you keep
the core together, to help you keep

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improving. Now, this is a
big deal in the sense of let's actually

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look at the Knicks' finances in that
first year, and so you have Jalen

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Brunson now is going to be penciled
in at which is just I still can't

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It's thirty four about thirty five million
dollars, We'll round up a little bit.

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That's I still can't like that.
That's what I'll have to wrap my

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head around. So if you pencil
him in for that, which again substantially

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less than he would have gotten in
that season, So you're gonna pencil him

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in for the thirty five million dollar
number. With Julius Randalls cap Hold who

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has a player option, and Julius
Reynolds cap Holds, I think like forty

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three point four million. The Knicks
are like, this is we're scaling so

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far out. Their books could change
just pressures that you will come back.

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But I'm talking about right now,
right here, right now, the Knicks

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are like three million, four million, maybe two million if they don't do

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anything else, which they obviously will
outside of the second ape or they have

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excuse me, they have about ten
they they're about three million into the first

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apron, and so yeah, they'll
be into the tax comfortably. But the

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second apron room is like they're closer
to now because of this bruntson deal.

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That's with Julius Randall's cap hold ten
million dollars beneath the second apron. Let's

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just say it might be rounding up
a little bit. I don't think Julius

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Randall's maybe he signs an extension.
Maybe A doesn't. I'm not paying Julius

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Randall forty million dollars a year in
his next deal, maybe if it's super

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short term, so there's a chance
that number comes down. And now all

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of a sudden, you're talking about
okay, like we have the meat and

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potatoes of our let's just call it
the top what seven players on this roster.

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I'll just we'll assume Julius Randall will
come back if you want to throw

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Reduced mc bride in there, like
that's your eight man core is under contract,

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and that's where we're at. And
we've got fifteen million dollars beneath the

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second apron. Right, we're rounding
out of rotation with a bunch of cheap

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guys. But if we have to
make a trade move one of these Villanova

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guys, or make a trade with
Julius Randall, it just becomes more feasible

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to do that. So John Brunson
has increased the Knicks's ability to stay out

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of the second apron where the tax
penalties. One are going to get more

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punitive starting next season. But two
we know about the trade restrictions, then

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those are like legitimate where you're talking
about frozen draft picks when you're about not

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being able to take back more money
into trade in addition to a litany of

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other limitations. That's to a team
like New York, at least when they're

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not already paying an absurd amount of
luxury tax. That's important because they might

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be willing to fork over. Yeah, we don't care about the tax bill's

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let's just say you're thinking that way. It still limits your maneuverability. And

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so in this way they might have
who knows who comes to play for the

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minim level exception, there are pathways
if Julius Randall leaves or if he takes

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a lot less like could they open
the non tax payerment level? Probably,

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00:15:31,840 --> 00:15:35,000
I mean maybe maybe, but it'll
have to be like a pretty substantial pay

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cut. This is a big deal
that Jalen Brunton did that because I would

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say, like, there's now a
pathway for instead of the Knicks just being

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and they still might be, I
want to make that clear, but instead

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of the Knicks being a second Apron
team in twenty twenty five or by twenty

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twenty six, maybe it's by twenty
twenty seven, maybe it's even after that.

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At this point that matters when we're
looking at the limitations applied to what

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happens to you on the trade market
and your ability to sign free agents.

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And this is nothing about the finances
of having to pay a more punitive luxury

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tax bill. That's a big deal. It also what it does, and

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this is gonna lead me into I
think, what might be the larger point

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here, but or one of the
most interesting ones I should say, is

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it kind of set an example.
And maybe it's you could say, oh,

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Jannoby took less than his max to
stay over five years. I don't

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know if he took a pay cut
relative to his market. Yes, there

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were four year maxes holding around there, but he couldn't get a fifty year

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from any one other than the Knicks. If you're Julius Randall specifically, and

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you're seeing Jalen Brunson on the books
for thirty five million dollars next season,

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there that has to like, there
has to be a little bit of light

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00:16:37,240 --> 00:16:41,600
bulb. Yes, that's gonna be
less than I don't mean next season twenty

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five to twenty six, that's the
year I'm talking about. That's less than

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O Jannoby, who is gonna be
about thirty nine point six million. So

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maybe don't factor it in that way. Maybe you think you're the more valuable

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player than Jalen Brunson. But it
kind of sets the tone for negotiations with

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his extension, which is good for
the Knicks. I don't know if it's

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good for Julius Randall, but it
it does kind of create a trickle down

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effect of well, if Julius Randall
sees brunts and doing this to help keep

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00:17:04,759 --> 00:17:08,359
the team together, help give them
flexibility, everyone could believe that they're just

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gonna take care of Brunson in the
next deal. That's fine, He's still

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taking a risk here and giving them
immediate flexibility. Not in the vein if

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they're gonna have all this cap space
to spend, although if Julius Randold is

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left, but in the vein of
we're not going to be as kneecapped when

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it comes to making other transactions free
agency signings and trades specifically, but it

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does. It could also like do
you get Julius Randl for I don't know

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what the number is that I'd be
comfortable with extending Julius Randall ad he has

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more leverage I think actually than he
did before the mcal bridges trade because the

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00:17:37,960 --> 00:17:40,759
specter of well, they might just
go out and get a better second best

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00:17:40,759 --> 00:17:44,839
player, that's not happening anymore,
like Julius Randall is if you want to,

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00:17:44,920 --> 00:17:49,200
if you think anonobe and and mckal
bridges are better on balance or more

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00:17:49,240 --> 00:17:53,920
valuable and balance, I will listen
to cases for that. But Julius Randall's

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00:17:53,920 --> 00:17:59,559
shot creation is now more important following
the mchaal bridges trade than before it,

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00:17:59,640 --> 00:18:02,680
because I don't want to call it
a threat, but like the possibility of

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00:18:02,720 --> 00:18:07,079
a Knicks acquiring a second best player
who's a better shot creator than Julius Randall

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00:18:07,160 --> 00:18:10,839
is now off the table, so
that gives him an additional amount of leverage

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00:18:10,839 --> 00:18:15,920
I would think. Still, I
think It sets an organizational tone, especially

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for someone like Julius Randall. It
was in a similar situation where he was

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00:18:18,680 --> 00:18:21,920
already good. We knew it like
we saw it with the Lakers, we

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saw it with the Pelicans. But
the Knicks played host. I won't say

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they're responsible for they gave Hi an
opportunity if they played host to John Runson's

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00:18:30,000 --> 00:18:33,400
superstar ascension. They did the same
for Julius Randall. Regardless of where you

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00:18:33,400 --> 00:18:37,440
classify him relative to the rest of
the league. He has made two l

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NBA teams, which is something that's
most likely not happening if he had stayed

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00:18:41,799 --> 00:18:47,960
in New Orleans. So or like
nor doesdn't even want him think about the

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00:18:48,319 --> 00:18:51,200
context under which Julius Randall came to
New York in the first place. So

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the fact that Jalen Brunson does this, I'm not advocating for Julius Randall to

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00:18:55,319 --> 00:18:57,160
do it. I'm not saying he
should do it, but it does set

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00:18:57,440 --> 00:19:02,359
a precedent that probably cost him a
little bit of leverage and extension talks,

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or maybe makes him more open to
like, well, I'll just give me

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00:19:04,319 --> 00:19:07,400
the JB deal or something like would
he do that? I don't I don't

318
00:19:07,400 --> 00:19:12,559
know if he would do that,
but that even the fact that that possibility

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00:19:12,599 --> 00:19:17,319
is on the table is a big
deal for the Knicks. And so I

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00:19:17,319 --> 00:19:18,839
don't know where it's gonna head,
but like this, and maybe it sets

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00:19:19,200 --> 00:19:23,039
an example of for Michale Bridges too, where he just ends up signing his

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00:19:23,119 --> 00:19:27,720
extension. Again, I'm I am
always just the players should get paid as

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00:19:27,759 --> 00:19:32,160
much as they like. We've I
trolled Lebron for taking it was such like

324
00:19:32,200 --> 00:19:34,400
a negligible pay cut. I think
the you know, the PR tour that

325
00:19:36,039 --> 00:19:38,400
it went on like good job by
his people. But it's just if the

326
00:19:38,480 --> 00:19:44,160
Lakers could have just made trades and
finished further beneath the second apron uh if

327
00:19:44,200 --> 00:19:48,759
they wanted to. But again,
I he took less, and it's millions

328
00:19:48,799 --> 00:19:53,680
of dollars less, that's not his
obligation to do so. Like so the

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00:19:53,720 --> 00:19:56,920
fact that Jale Brunson did this is
a big deal, but like, let's

330
00:19:56,920 --> 00:20:00,359
not we don't need to troll Lebron. I guess you control again the PR

331
00:20:00,400 --> 00:20:04,000
tour of it all. But this
gets into a fascinating question of and I

332
00:20:04,279 --> 00:20:08,480
did see some people ask this is
the players union going to be mad about

333
00:20:08,480 --> 00:20:11,079
this or should they be mad about
this? Is this going to become a

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00:20:11,119 --> 00:20:17,880
norm where stars are taking less to
help facilitate their team's existence. Under that

335
00:20:17,960 --> 00:20:22,200
second aprin I think it's a fair
question, but we need to see more

336
00:20:22,319 --> 00:20:26,640
instances of stars doing something this dramatic, even if you're viewed as this temporary

337
00:20:26,640 --> 00:20:30,559
three year window that's costing them a
total of thirty seven million dollars. And

338
00:20:30,599 --> 00:20:33,640
we just haven't seen that yet.
And there are two other things here,

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00:20:34,160 --> 00:20:37,200
and with Brunton specifically, I don't
I don't think the players Union is going

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00:20:37,279 --> 00:20:41,039
to be mad because I outlaid the
risks at the top of this segment.

341
00:20:41,640 --> 00:20:45,160
We're talking about a smaller guard.
There's no you could you could believe whatever

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00:20:45,160 --> 00:20:49,079
you want. The Knicks have worked
out under the table. There's a risk

343
00:20:49,200 --> 00:20:52,880
here if he's not the same player
in three years, the Knicks are not

344
00:20:52,920 --> 00:20:55,640
going to give him that four hundred
plus million like this, that's just not

345
00:20:56,160 --> 00:20:59,240
going to happen. I mean,
and so like you could look at what

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00:20:59,240 --> 00:21:03,319
happened with James Harr and Philly So
and at that point, yeah, Brunton

347
00:21:03,359 --> 00:21:06,119
will be like around the same age
Jame, like close to it that James

348
00:21:06,160 --> 00:21:08,079
Harden was when the whole Philly stuff
went down. He'll be a little bit

349
00:21:08,119 --> 00:21:11,799
younger and clearly has a better relationship
and longer standing ties with the organization.

350
00:21:12,759 --> 00:21:18,240
But like he there's a real risk
here and no guarantee that he recoups it,

351
00:21:18,759 --> 00:21:22,319
And I get that element of it. But he also could look at

352
00:21:22,359 --> 00:21:26,720
it as, Okay, I've had
two years of hitting the stardom ceiling,

353
00:21:27,680 --> 00:21:30,559
and what if I do suffer an
injury, I am a smaller guard,

354
00:21:30,680 --> 00:21:34,240
Or what if he's looking at the
free agency market this year, where yeah,

355
00:21:34,359 --> 00:21:38,559
non stars are getting hit more than
any thing, but mostly because stars

356
00:21:38,559 --> 00:21:41,160
weren't hitting free agency in the first
place. Like you can kind of look

357
00:21:41,160 --> 00:21:44,599
at James Harden and say, well, there just wasn't a market out there

358
00:21:44,599 --> 00:21:48,240
for him. Again, James Harden's
older Paul George, had a market of

359
00:21:48,319 --> 00:21:49,880
one team, maybe two if you
want to include Orlando, and there might

360
00:21:49,880 --> 00:21:52,799
have been other team. Golden State
tried to get him in a sign and

361
00:21:52,839 --> 00:21:56,960
trade. But if you're trying to
use the threat of not needing to not

362
00:21:56,000 --> 00:21:59,680
needing your team's help to get to
where you want to go and get paid,

363
00:22:00,000 --> 00:22:04,680
he might have just said I want
to lock this down like this is

364
00:22:06,359 --> 00:22:08,680
I go through my the first part
of my career as sort of undervalued in

365
00:22:08,759 --> 00:22:12,359
Dallas until we get to that final
playoff run that he had, where that

366
00:22:12,519 --> 00:22:17,400
was we always knew that, or
Sikos knew that he was really good,

367
00:22:17,440 --> 00:22:21,599
really valuable, But that was sort
of his introduction to the national stage.

368
00:22:21,640 --> 00:22:25,400
Maybe the more the more casual fan, maybe maybe a postseason push that his

369
00:22:25,480 --> 00:22:26,480
name had been linked to the Knicks
for a while, but that makes Knicks

370
00:22:26,480 --> 00:22:30,799
fans excited about not when they got
him, but like actively pursuing him.

371
00:22:32,960 --> 00:22:36,599
There's still he could look at that
and say, though, like I didn't

372
00:22:36,599 --> 00:22:40,039
make a ton of money in my
first contract, I'm I can set myself

373
00:22:40,119 --> 00:22:42,680
up now it's still in the scene
amount of money and I'm going to be

374
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fine. And then yeah, maybe
there's a chance I get paid more at

375
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the end of this. But I
wouldn't even rule out if he does.

376
00:22:49,279 --> 00:22:52,920
He's let's say he gets another deal
from a Knicks. I just I think

377
00:22:52,960 --> 00:22:56,319
we're taking in the assumption that he's
just going to get the five years and

378
00:22:56,319 --> 00:23:00,400
four hundred plus million dollars, Like
that's just I I honestly, personally,

379
00:23:00,440 --> 00:23:03,079
I would be kind of surprised if
that's the route they go, but that

380
00:23:03,119 --> 00:23:06,200
probably also means that he had a
hell of a three years if that just

381
00:23:06,240 --> 00:23:11,240
becomes like a no brainer option for
the Knicks. So because it's Jalen Brunson

382
00:23:11,279 --> 00:23:15,799
and there's his unique path here,
I do I don't know that the players

383
00:23:15,880 --> 00:23:19,319
Union should take exception to this,
and then also the team circumstances of he's

384
00:23:19,319 --> 00:23:23,200
just reuniting with all the Nova Knicks, so he's he has all those guys.

385
00:23:23,640 --> 00:23:26,039
If you want, if you're happy
somewhere, this is your team.

386
00:23:26,079 --> 00:23:30,799
And that's the other part of this
is that he's doing this for a franchise

387
00:23:32,559 --> 00:23:37,799
on which he is the guy,
and that no one officially, no one

388
00:23:37,839 --> 00:23:41,039
currently on the roster and know one
that they could feasibly acquire with the assets

389
00:23:41,039 --> 00:23:45,920
they have, is ever going to
usurp him in status or importance. And

390
00:23:45,000 --> 00:23:48,480
so as the face of the franchise
to do this, I do think it's

391
00:23:48,680 --> 00:23:52,559
a little bit different. And again, as I mentioned before and didn't really

392
00:23:52,599 --> 00:23:55,480
get in the numbers, he might
have just seen. Free agency is so

393
00:23:55,559 --> 00:23:59,119
weird where you see Somni Fontakio go
for two years and sixteen million. It's

394
00:23:59,119 --> 00:24:02,559
like okay as a heart and got
paid, but only on two guaranteed years.

395
00:24:03,119 --> 00:24:06,079
Jalen Brunson is a different caliber of
player than all of those guys.

396
00:24:06,359 --> 00:24:11,079
But free agency has changed, particularly
even when cash bases floating around out there,

397
00:24:11,319 --> 00:24:15,000
particularly as teams try to figure out
how to navigate these new rules.

398
00:24:15,519 --> 00:24:19,599
So this is not a case where
I would say the players' Union should be

399
00:24:19,720 --> 00:24:23,559
upset now if it continues to happen
that that's the question. Is this what

400
00:24:23,799 --> 00:24:29,480
star players are going to have to
do to ensure that their teams can remain

401
00:24:29,680 --> 00:24:33,039
under the second apron in flexible enough
to make moves on a whim, just

402
00:24:33,240 --> 00:24:37,359
to hustle to make adjustments to where
you're not locked in for specifically, never

403
00:24:37,400 --> 00:24:41,279
mind even frozen draft picks and the
tax bill, but the dollar for dollar

404
00:24:41,359 --> 00:24:45,480
matching in trades just becomes a huge
conundrum along with not being able to aggregate

405
00:24:45,519 --> 00:24:48,759
salaries. Could it happen, Yeah, for sure, I think it could

406
00:24:48,759 --> 00:24:52,319
become a trend. We need to
see it first, be for you're overly

407
00:24:52,319 --> 00:24:56,640
concerned about it. But this is
I think this would be an unintended consequence

408
00:24:56,680 --> 00:25:00,440
because I really don't think the league
or the players union kind of understood the

409
00:25:00,440 --> 00:25:04,559
impact that the second apron was going
to have on excuses if you're the Clippers,

410
00:25:04,559 --> 00:25:10,640
but really transactionally on what teams are
going to be doing. So the

411
00:25:10,720 --> 00:25:15,640
thing you need to look at though, and this everyone I think cadency coming,

412
00:25:15,759 --> 00:25:18,079
is we might just get to a
point where the money is so absurd

413
00:25:18,839 --> 00:25:22,440
that these guys are saying, well, I'm just going to be super rich

414
00:25:22,480 --> 00:25:25,759
and put myself into what I think
is a better sitchu noise. Yeah,

415
00:25:25,759 --> 00:25:27,480
I'm making a little less, but
I'm in a better situation to win,

416
00:25:27,920 --> 00:25:33,960
and so I'm going to take less
and still make in Jaln Brunson's case,

417
00:25:33,200 --> 00:25:37,880
still guarantee myself one hundred and fifty
million dollars. But I think about what

418
00:25:37,880 --> 00:25:41,240
a pay cut could look like for
Jalen Brunson's next contract, where you know,

419
00:25:41,240 --> 00:25:45,559
we're talking about the five year,
four hundred and seventeen point eight million

420
00:25:45,599 --> 00:25:48,480
dollar number. What if he's just
like, you know, like, yeah,

421
00:25:48,519 --> 00:25:52,759
I'll take he's gonna be five and
three hundred or something. So because

422
00:25:52,119 --> 00:25:56,720
it still such a ridiculous number,
we need to be I'm not advocating for

423
00:25:56,759 --> 00:25:59,240
it. There's a mac salary and
if players are able to get it.

424
00:25:59,279 --> 00:26:02,319
They should get it if they want
it, but we now kind of need

425
00:26:02,359 --> 00:26:03,359
to I don't think, and it
should never be. This would be the

426
00:26:03,359 --> 00:26:08,079
thing I would take his exception to
is that if you think Brunson should have

427
00:26:08,160 --> 00:26:11,519
done this, was obligated to do
this. If you now think that Julius

428
00:26:11,599 --> 00:26:17,160
Randall should be taking less just because
of what John Brunson is making, yeah,

429
00:26:17,200 --> 00:26:19,200
John Brunson is the better player,
but he's now making less than Ojan

430
00:26:19,240 --> 00:26:22,880
and Obi, like he's locked that
down like during the life of his deal.

431
00:26:25,279 --> 00:26:32,200
That that expectation that is cringy,
That is toxic. We're not there

432
00:26:32,559 --> 00:26:36,720
yet, and the money's just getting
so upsene. Yes, it's it's relative

433
00:26:36,759 --> 00:26:40,519
to the salary cap to basketball related
income, like all this stuff is connected

434
00:26:40,519 --> 00:26:44,680
to what the NBA is doing,
but like the number itself, like that

435
00:26:44,839 --> 00:26:48,039
is outpacing the percentage of the NBA's
business. Okay, great, fine,

436
00:26:48,440 --> 00:26:55,039
that is way out pacing reality when
you look at what is happening with wages,

437
00:26:55,240 --> 00:26:57,400
like that's just I mean it,
And it's always even if you're taking

438
00:26:57,440 --> 00:27:00,079
a pay cut, you're still a
millionaire. But we're getting to a point

439
00:27:00,079 --> 00:27:04,200
where the contracts are growing it feels
like exponentially, and it is important to

440
00:27:04,200 --> 00:27:07,799
look at them as a percentage of
a salary cap. But the raw dollars

441
00:27:07,480 --> 00:27:10,720
what they mean when you're looking at
them, and then what they mean to

442
00:27:11,400 --> 00:27:15,160
a player's an individual's generational wealth to
where they can set up the next ten

443
00:27:15,240 --> 00:27:21,039
generations of their family or whatever.
The money's getting so ridiculous that it would

444
00:27:21,039 --> 00:27:26,200
not surprise me if something like this
would be abnormal because Brunton hasn't had that

445
00:27:26,319 --> 00:27:30,000
mega deal, But if someone in
a Paul George's situation at the end of

446
00:27:30,000 --> 00:27:32,240
his career could have gotten a MAX
and if there was some way with the

447
00:27:32,240 --> 00:27:36,279
Clippers and the negotiations weren't totally fucked, it sounded like we're just like,

448
00:27:36,640 --> 00:27:40,200
I'll take I mean again, the
number is so different because now we're only

449
00:27:40,240 --> 00:27:42,960
dealing with like in the two hundred
millions and rather than the four hundred millions.

450
00:27:44,200 --> 00:27:47,799
But we need to probably be prepared
for maybe this to become more common.

451
00:27:47,920 --> 00:27:49,359
I just don't think it should ever
be the expectation of a player if

452
00:27:49,400 --> 00:27:52,680
a team is going to if there
are teams that are willing to pay you

453
00:27:52,720 --> 00:27:56,279
that money and you want that money, that is totally your right and you've

454
00:27:56,319 --> 00:27:59,920
earned it, and then it's on
the team to flesh out a competent roster

455
00:28:00,079 --> 00:28:03,880
or make the most of the core
around you. With the resources and financial

456
00:28:03,920 --> 00:28:08,359
spending power they are still left with. Brunton did something here that is extraordinary

457
00:28:08,559 --> 00:28:11,279
to me, and it's you can
look at it however what you want.

458
00:28:11,319 --> 00:28:15,279
I don't think really any framing is
disingenuous. I think you can look at

459
00:28:15,319 --> 00:28:18,720
it and say, Okay, he
always had a player option even at the

460
00:28:18,799 --> 00:28:19,960
end of that five year one,
and just like it's fair to say,

461
00:28:19,960 --> 00:28:22,000
look, we broke it down to
that three year window. I think that's

462
00:28:22,039 --> 00:28:26,000
the worst way to view this the
whole Oh, he's just gonna get the

463
00:28:26,000 --> 00:28:29,519
four hundred and seventeen point eight million
when he's a free agent next time because

464
00:28:29,640 --> 00:28:32,799
Nix in relationship with Leon Rose and
YadA YadA. I don't want to hear

465
00:28:32,839 --> 00:28:34,559
it. I think that that's bullshit. And you can let Knicks fans have

466
00:28:34,640 --> 00:28:38,279
this victory because it's an actual victory
from a team building perspective and just what

467
00:28:38,279 --> 00:28:42,039
it means for the vibes of just
well, this feels like a roster that

468
00:28:42,079 --> 00:28:45,599
might be or core that might be
together a little bit longer than some others,

469
00:28:45,640 --> 00:28:51,599
just because there's like this top down
alignment between not just front office and

470
00:28:51,640 --> 00:28:55,079
coaching, it seems like, but
front office coaching and players that you don't

471
00:28:55,119 --> 00:28:59,920
always have with even the top tier
organizations. With the Knicks or Frank,

472
00:29:00,400 --> 00:29:02,759
I mean, they're turning into one, and they are one at this point

473
00:29:02,799 --> 00:29:07,200
with the way that they've operated on
the margins and the Jalen Brunton extension is

474
00:29:07,400 --> 00:29:11,079
like he has once again changed literally
everything for the Knicks. And the fact

475
00:29:11,079 --> 00:29:12,799
that he's now done it a second
time in less than half a decade,

476
00:29:14,279 --> 00:29:17,359
it's a big deal. He should
be commended for it. It should not

477
00:29:17,480 --> 00:29:19,880
be something that was considered an obligation
of his. It should also just not

478
00:29:19,920 --> 00:29:22,119
be something that we're kind of poop
pooming. Is just like, well,

479
00:29:22,160 --> 00:29:29,359
he's gonna recruit this, but now
he sacrificed immediate guaranteed money a lot per

480
00:29:29,440 --> 00:29:33,720
year, like almost admit that he
sacrificed that Dante DiVincenzo per year. I'm

481
00:29:33,720 --> 00:29:38,400
just gonna frame it that way.
So huge for the Knicks, obviously,

482
00:29:38,480 --> 00:29:42,039
and it increases the chances that this
core is able to stay together way longer

483
00:29:42,079 --> 00:29:47,240
than maybe some others, and it'll
be interesting to see what they do with

484
00:29:47,319 --> 00:29:49,160
this in the years moving forward.
Doesn't impact how much they're giving Julius Randall.

485
00:29:49,160 --> 00:29:52,960
Does it increase the chances of mckel
bridges, just extends that. That'll

486
00:29:53,000 --> 00:29:57,200
it'll be fascinating to watch from that
perspective. The next thing I wanted to

487
00:29:57,200 --> 00:30:00,039
talk about might surprise a few people, but I did. I had s

488
00:30:00,039 --> 00:30:04,759
Brahemy on and we talked about rebuilding
teams. We've had extensive talks about the

489
00:30:04,839 --> 00:30:07,880
nets, so I don't feel bad
that we kind of had to blow through

490
00:30:07,920 --> 00:30:10,119
them. But Charlotte Hornet's hands were
upset that we didn't get to them.

491
00:30:10,119 --> 00:30:12,680
We got to every other quote unquote
rebuilding team. We ran out of time.

492
00:30:12,799 --> 00:30:17,279
I am sorry, but let's talk
about the state of the Charlotte Hornets

493
00:30:17,279 --> 00:30:19,519
rebuild, which we said on this
podcast, which, by the way,

494
00:30:19,559 --> 00:30:22,519
this is why Grant and I go
through those even though they seem basic and

495
00:30:22,880 --> 00:30:26,759
some of them are, you know, they're obvious ideas, But that's why

496
00:30:26,759 --> 00:30:30,119
we do the every team or break
up per conference things that it gives us

497
00:30:30,160 --> 00:30:33,119
a chance to talk and analyze every
team and try to appeal to every single

498
00:30:33,160 --> 00:30:41,480
fan base. But for the Hornets
specifically, I've liked basically everything they've done,

499
00:30:41,759 --> 00:30:45,720
like since the trade deadline. Now
the quibble. There are two things

500
00:30:45,759 --> 00:30:48,839
you could quibble over, and let's
start with the biggest one. So you

501
00:30:48,880 --> 00:30:52,160
give Miles Bridges. It ends up
being a three year, seventy five million

502
00:30:52,200 --> 00:30:56,240
dollar deal. I believe, yes, three year, seventy five million dollar

503
00:30:56,359 --> 00:31:02,880
deal. And from a human perspective, it makes me uneasy because it doesn't

504
00:31:02,920 --> 00:31:07,720
seem like and publicly, it doesn't
seem like he has done or said anything

505
00:31:08,079 --> 00:31:14,240
that demands the benefit of the doubt
or a chance at redemption. Maybe stuff

506
00:31:14,279 --> 00:31:17,119
has happened behind the scenes. I'm
not saying you need to publicize if you've

507
00:31:17,119 --> 00:31:21,119
done something good, but just the
initial domestic violence incident, followed by the

508
00:31:21,279 --> 00:31:27,119
allegations thereafter, credible allegations. By
the way, it makes me from a

509
00:31:27,200 --> 00:31:33,400
human element, it makes me uneasy
and not thrilled. However, and I

510
00:31:33,480 --> 00:31:37,400
really hate doing this. But however
he did, the punishment that was bestowed

511
00:31:37,440 --> 00:31:41,519
upon him was argued according to the
NBA's rules, like he ends up missing

512
00:31:41,559 --> 00:31:45,799
an entire season, which is not
what he was actually suspended for, so

513
00:31:45,200 --> 00:31:48,759
he served the suspension or the punishment
that they leaved, and it seems like

514
00:31:48,799 --> 00:31:52,599
the league has moved on and this
is someone they're going to take talent over

515
00:31:52,680 --> 00:31:57,240
morality in any given point. I
don't I and this isn't to I'm not

516
00:31:57,279 --> 00:32:00,880
trying to give the NBA cover from
an individual perspectives that we can't look at

517
00:32:01,039 --> 00:32:07,480
a corporation and this massive entity as
an arbiter or a billboard for It'd be

518
00:32:07,480 --> 00:32:09,119
great if we could, but it's
just not. It's just not going to

519
00:32:09,119 --> 00:32:15,039
happen. And so there could be
just this disproportionate views of Okay, well,

520
00:32:15,039 --> 00:32:17,400
why didn't he Like he's out here
getting this huge contract with John tay

521
00:32:17,440 --> 00:32:22,359
Porter's band from life after betting on
games. You don't want to get into

522
00:32:22,400 --> 00:32:27,119
comparing the two just too much because
it in some way then ends up diluting

523
00:32:27,680 --> 00:32:30,920
the severity of both, or at
least one of them, and that's just

524
00:32:30,920 --> 00:32:32,920
not something you want to do,
especially when there are other people involved.

525
00:32:34,599 --> 00:32:38,599
The mother of Bridges' children, his
children, specifically from a basketball perspective,

526
00:32:38,640 --> 00:32:43,119
this roster now though with him,
when you look at them drafting t John

527
00:32:43,160 --> 00:32:46,000
Salon, when you look at them
having Brandon Miller and LaMelo Ball and having

528
00:32:46,039 --> 00:32:53,079
Mark Williams. That's like a like
a deceptively big lineup there where it's a

529
00:32:53,200 --> 00:32:57,480
mellow ball. I think he's your
smallest player at six' five, and

530
00:32:57,599 --> 00:33:00,960
so that's an interesting core off which
to work. Now. Would I have

531
00:33:00,960 --> 00:33:05,440
taken Salon in the hornet spot,
No, I would have went with Cody

532
00:33:05,480 --> 00:33:07,160
Williams with that's because of Cody Williams
at the top of my board. I

533
00:33:07,200 --> 00:33:12,799
still think he's interesting from the the
perspective of I don't agree with a lot

534
00:33:12,839 --> 00:33:15,640
of the draft comps I've seen.
I guess Obie Toppins is the one that

535
00:33:15,680 --> 00:33:19,240
I've seen a lot. Maybe you
can make a case offensively for the way

536
00:33:19,240 --> 00:33:22,559
he moves without the ball and his
ability to finish above the rim and having

537
00:33:22,559 --> 00:33:27,000
the three point shot, which percentage
wise does not look good. Free throw

538
00:33:27,039 --> 00:33:30,200
percentage was encouraging, and I was
watching some of his jumpers that are mostly

539
00:33:30,240 --> 00:33:34,720
coming off the catch. There's nothing
that stands out. There's sometimes where the

540
00:33:34,799 --> 00:33:37,079
form looks a little wonky. It
feels like where he's kind of off to

541
00:33:37,160 --> 00:33:40,519
his like his right or his elbows
out too much. But like just from

542
00:33:40,519 --> 00:33:45,200
a comfort perspective, it seems like
he will be an above average shooter in

543
00:33:45,200 --> 00:33:49,000
the NBA. Now, in the
situations where he's taking off the dribble,

544
00:33:49,039 --> 00:33:52,359
looks needs to tighten his handle one
for that, but there are sometimes where

545
00:33:52,400 --> 00:33:55,799
it looks smooth and the floor is
really open. I don't know if he's

546
00:33:55,799 --> 00:34:00,119
ever gonna become that type of an
offensive player. And this team doesn't need

547
00:34:00,200 --> 00:34:04,240
him if you're gonna keep Lamello,
when you have Brandon Miller and you do

548
00:34:04,319 --> 00:34:08,000
have Miles Bridges, you don't need
him to be that. Where I diverge

549
00:34:08,079 --> 00:34:14,039
from the comps is like Solan has
the chance to be really good defensively,

550
00:34:14,360 --> 00:34:15,960
and I don't know if he's gonna
hold up on the ball right away,

551
00:34:16,000 --> 00:34:20,519
but this seems like someone who when
you look at players and you kind of

552
00:34:20,519 --> 00:34:22,760
wonder, right, we don't know
if they're good defenders out of the gate,

553
00:34:22,800 --> 00:34:24,280
but they can be disruptive away from
the ball, or they can force

554
00:34:24,320 --> 00:34:29,440
turnovers a bunch, or you can
put them on really difficult assignments. And

555
00:34:29,480 --> 00:34:32,440
I think this is someone who could
incredibly guard both the three and the four,

556
00:34:32,519 --> 00:34:36,920
And then if you really wanted to
get like funky, let's just roll

557
00:34:36,960 --> 00:34:39,360
them out as a small ball five
and see what happens. So I like

558
00:34:40,360 --> 00:34:45,920
purely talent on the court perspective.
I kind of like the base off which

559
00:34:45,920 --> 00:34:50,280
they're working and I think that we've
I don't know if it's because the Hornets

560
00:34:50,320 --> 00:34:53,880
have been so bad and look incompetent
for so long that we've lost the plot

561
00:34:53,920 --> 00:34:57,719
a little bit on how to kind
of view the context of their rebuild.

562
00:34:57,719 --> 00:35:00,880
But they're now a net plus in
the first round pick department. I think

563
00:35:00,960 --> 00:35:02,320
the deal they made for PJ.
Washington was good for them, and it

564
00:35:02,320 --> 00:35:07,119
turns out it worked out for Dallas
quite well too. They also have the

565
00:35:07,400 --> 00:35:09,559
that pick that they got from Miami
and the Terry Rozier trade. A lot

566
00:35:09,559 --> 00:35:15,079
are protected in twenty twenty seven,
but then unprotected thereafter. That's like you're

567
00:35:15,199 --> 00:35:16,960
again your net plus in the first
round pick department. You technically owe one

568
00:35:17,039 --> 00:35:21,039
to the Spurs, but it's only
taught. It's now I think we're entering

569
00:35:21,039 --> 00:35:22,480
the final year. If it's lottery
protection, that turns into two seconds.

570
00:35:22,599 --> 00:35:25,400
So you have all your own picks, and you have some extra first here,

571
00:35:25,840 --> 00:35:30,119
and you have like actually intriguing young
players. And I mean you look

572
00:35:30,159 --> 00:35:32,480
at Josh Green, maybe some people
throwing him in here. He's only twenty

573
00:35:32,519 --> 00:35:37,039
three. I don't love him.
I think he's become kind of like the

574
00:35:37,079 --> 00:35:38,880
idea of Josh one of those players
the idea of Josh Green is better than

575
00:35:38,960 --> 00:35:42,480
Josh Green. This might be a
team that can put him on the ball

576
00:35:42,559 --> 00:35:45,199
more so. I think that he
could be more interesting offensively. I've just

577
00:35:45,239 --> 00:35:49,760
never really seen it from him.
Defensively, you can call him a wing

578
00:35:49,800 --> 00:35:52,519
defender, but I don't know if
he ends is really a net positive in

579
00:35:52,559 --> 00:35:54,920
that department. And if you're asking
wolves he more, is he better than

580
00:35:54,920 --> 00:35:59,320
Miles Bridges on that end might be
a good barometer because Miles Bridges is defensive

581
00:35:59,400 --> 00:36:04,280
body. I would say Josh Green
is probably a better individual defender than Miles

582
00:36:04,320 --> 00:36:07,559
Bridges. Miles Bridges, because of
his size and frame, is going to

583
00:36:07,559 --> 00:36:09,599
be more malleable when you look at
if you want to move assignments around and

584
00:36:09,679 --> 00:36:14,239
kind of tailor if you're trying to
insulate LaMelo or just do different things with

585
00:36:14,280 --> 00:36:19,719
your lineups. They're in a really
good spot here and it might take some

586
00:36:19,840 --> 00:36:22,519
time, and I think that,
like even the Grant Williams acquisition ended up

587
00:36:22,519 --> 00:36:24,000
panning out really well for them,
And you look at just what he's getting

588
00:36:24,079 --> 00:36:30,199
paid basically less than mid level exception
money at this point moving forward, that's

589
00:36:30,199 --> 00:36:31,760
a good value deal and you could
do some interesting stuff with your front court

590
00:36:31,760 --> 00:36:36,159
lineup now. And the other thing, too, is just you have guys

591
00:36:36,159 --> 00:36:37,599
that could have value in the trade
market if you want more pick equity.

592
00:36:37,599 --> 00:36:42,320
And I'm saying guys in the sense
of message is a team that could help

593
00:36:42,320 --> 00:36:44,400
out a lot of other squads,
Like where if I was the Nuggets,

594
00:36:44,400 --> 00:36:49,239
I'd have been trying to figure out
how to get him instead of waiting on

595
00:36:49,280 --> 00:36:51,440
this Russell Westbrook thing, Like,
is there a way to get message for

596
00:36:51,440 --> 00:36:53,599
the Zeke Nagy deal? Can you
compensate enough without including second round equity?

597
00:36:54,360 --> 00:36:58,679
That's someone who because he has a
team option too in twenty five to twenty

598
00:36:58,679 --> 00:37:01,840
six, could be viewed as an
inspiring contract. Cody Martin not been healthy

599
00:37:01,840 --> 00:37:05,239
in two years, but you look
at that as someone who's on the books

600
00:37:05,239 --> 00:37:07,199
at eight point one million and he's
non guaranteed the year after. Okay,

601
00:37:07,360 --> 00:37:10,360
salary matching for sure, but do
you remember the like, we're not that

602
00:37:10,480 --> 00:37:15,360
far removed from the version of Cody
Martin that was hitting some threes, giving

603
00:37:15,360 --> 00:37:17,880
you some connective passing on the offensive
and then just really defending his ass off,

604
00:37:19,039 --> 00:37:22,719
like the just the breadth of assignments
he was covering that would be twenty

605
00:37:22,920 --> 00:37:27,480
twenty one, twenty two. I
think, yeah, was incredible, And

606
00:37:27,559 --> 00:37:30,679
like he's twenty eight going on twenty
nine. If he's it's not about him

607
00:37:30,679 --> 00:37:34,199
getting better, but you can't rule
out that he's going to be good.

608
00:37:34,519 --> 00:37:37,079
You have Nick Richards really solid backup
big, you have Trig Mann. There's

609
00:37:37,119 --> 00:37:39,639
just some way like there's the word
that you use a lot with him is

610
00:37:39,679 --> 00:37:44,800
wiggle, Like there's just he's slippery
on the offensive with the ball in his

611
00:37:44,880 --> 00:37:46,159
hands. So just a lot of
these, even if you want to throw

612
00:37:46,159 --> 00:37:49,599
Grant Williams in there, a lot
of these Josh Green, include a lot

613
00:37:49,679 --> 00:37:52,559
of these sort of intriguing flyers that
I don't think it's gonna make the team

614
00:37:52,559 --> 00:37:55,239
a lot better than expected. But
I think you look at because you have

615
00:37:55,239 --> 00:37:59,400
bridges, because you have a mellow, because you've Brett Brenlaer was good as

616
00:37:59,400 --> 00:38:02,000
a rookie. If get good health
from Mark Williams and Cody Martin, and

617
00:38:02,400 --> 00:38:05,920
if you're playing me stit's like,
yeah, there's a chance of everyone might

618
00:38:05,920 --> 00:38:09,599
pencil this team in for just another
like Bob last season. I don't think

619
00:38:09,599 --> 00:38:13,360
they'll contend for a playing spot,
and if they end up doing so,

620
00:38:13,400 --> 00:38:15,960
I do believe they'll trade out of
it. But this team has a promising

621
00:38:16,039 --> 00:38:20,800
base and I've seen more discussions.
We'll get to the cliche. Part of

622
00:38:20,840 --> 00:38:23,639
this now is trying to not be
the typical should they trade LaMelo? Like

623
00:38:23,760 --> 00:38:27,360
Tony Jones, the athletic respect the
hell out of that guy was the one

624
00:38:27,360 --> 00:38:30,559
who kind of introduced the idea that
I'm not putting this at his feet.

625
00:38:30,599 --> 00:38:34,760
A lot of people believe this,
think that you should move LaMelo and just

626
00:38:34,800 --> 00:38:39,360
rebuild around Brandon Miller if there's something
in LaMelo's medicals and he's had all these

627
00:38:39,360 --> 00:38:45,519
lower bodies, specifically ankle issues over
the years. Entertainment, but like that

628
00:38:45,599 --> 00:38:47,599
Max contract is not a big We're
talking about a twenty three year old who's

629
00:38:47,599 --> 00:38:52,320
already been an All Star. As
I would call him, transcendent vision if

630
00:38:52,320 --> 00:38:54,880
you want to say he's a transcendent
player, he has transcendent vision and his

631
00:38:54,960 --> 00:38:59,519
ability to make full court passes in
the open floor, his ability to see

632
00:38:59,559 --> 00:39:02,920
things, you know, just the
live people playmaking aspect. The shooting both

633
00:39:04,039 --> 00:39:06,719
on the both away from the ball, like as someone who could play off

634
00:39:06,719 --> 00:39:09,199
Brandon Miller who can play off Bridges
who can playoffs a lot if you want

635
00:39:09,199 --> 00:39:13,199
to give them on ball reps,
could playoff Josh Green Apparently it's important to

636
00:39:13,199 --> 00:39:16,679
get him on ball reps. But
also the pull up shooting like that is

637
00:39:16,679 --> 00:39:19,440
there, And yeah, there are
things you'd like him to work on.

638
00:39:19,519 --> 00:39:22,360
He's like, could be stiff and
inattentive defensively, and he can be disruptive

639
00:39:22,360 --> 00:39:25,159
too because he's a great size,
but it waxes in wings. Yeah,

640
00:39:25,199 --> 00:39:28,599
you'd like to see that get better. He's twenty three. He might get

641
00:39:28,639 --> 00:39:30,760
better, especially if he's healthier on
that end. You'd also like to see

642
00:39:30,800 --> 00:39:34,400
him get if he's not going to
get stronger. And so we're getting to

643
00:39:34,400 --> 00:39:36,519
the point where's okay, can we
expect him to get a lot stronger?

644
00:39:36,559 --> 00:39:38,519
Is there a way he got to
the basket a lot more last year?

645
00:39:38,639 --> 00:39:43,719
And encouraging sign the finishing numbers are
still not great. He's twenty three,

646
00:39:43,960 --> 00:39:46,320
we're talking about it. Okay,
you finally increased is at the basket frequency?

647
00:39:46,519 --> 00:39:50,239
I should have had that exact number
pulled up of how much he increased

648
00:39:50,239 --> 00:39:52,679
it by but like the La Mellow
ball drives were a thing, and they

649
00:39:52,679 --> 00:39:57,039
were anarchic to some extent. But
like the fact that he was doing it,

650
00:39:57,360 --> 00:40:00,199
maybe I view that is step one
and then and the finishing should come

651
00:40:00,239 --> 00:40:04,519
after that. So his rim frequency
thirty two percent of his shots came at

652
00:40:04,559 --> 00:40:07,840
the rim last year, compared to
twenty three the year before and twenty eight

653
00:40:07,880 --> 00:40:08,880
the year before that. He had
a ton as a rookie, but like

654
00:40:09,719 --> 00:40:14,320
that just played in only fifty one
games, and like the sample size all

655
00:40:14,440 --> 00:40:17,119
is all weird, and we're basing
it off of the two seasons, where

656
00:40:17,360 --> 00:40:21,800
like he was a more seasoned pro. He increases and still, you know,

657
00:40:21,840 --> 00:40:23,079
fifty six percent at the rim.
No, that's bad, that's terrible

658
00:40:23,159 --> 00:40:28,119
shot percentage, twenty three percentile inefficiency. But he could get better, and

659
00:40:28,199 --> 00:40:31,079
like he he can he can score
from at least two levels right now,

660
00:40:31,079 --> 00:40:34,960
like when you're looking at you know, getting to the mid range and having

661
00:40:35,000 --> 00:40:37,920
the counters there. He shot forty
four percent again twenty one game, twenty

662
00:40:37,920 --> 00:40:39,960
two games, sample size, sorry, forty percent from mid range. Like

663
00:40:40,000 --> 00:40:44,079
that's an that's an active counter now
that you can kind of stash him.

664
00:40:44,400 --> 00:40:46,440
Oh not stash him, but you
can use him off the ball. This

665
00:40:46,599 --> 00:40:52,480
is like a unique building block that
I don't think people it's almost what's the

666
00:40:52,880 --> 00:40:58,199
saying about absence making the heart grow
fonder and almost feels like LaMelo Ball's injuries.

667
00:40:58,239 --> 00:41:00,800
And I think this tends to happen
in sports, is people forget or

668
00:41:00,840 --> 00:41:07,280
they then just automatically lower his rating
or his value. I can't get there

669
00:41:07,400 --> 00:41:09,480
yet. I mean, like we've
seen look at Steph Curry what he turned

670
00:41:09,480 --> 00:41:12,920
into after dealing with some mankel problems
early in his career. Like, I'm

671
00:41:12,960 --> 00:41:15,079
still really high on LaMelo Ball and
I would not move him. And I

672
00:41:15,119 --> 00:41:20,159
think if you weren't happy with the
way the demeanor with which he was playing

673
00:41:20,159 --> 00:41:25,519
offense last year, there's more like
if you're healthy talent or coherence on this

674
00:41:25,639 --> 00:41:29,159
roster, because you could say,
well, I mean it's talent, but

675
00:41:29,199 --> 00:41:32,320
it's it's probably a drop off from
Terry Rozier because they're younger and less experienced,

676
00:41:32,679 --> 00:41:37,800
Like there's a clear vision in place
and so and look you have a

677
00:41:37,840 --> 00:41:42,440
coach and Charles Lee who come in
there's like a fresh voice in there for

678
00:41:42,559 --> 00:41:47,599
him. I think that could help
as well. There's off court stuff that

679
00:41:47,639 --> 00:41:51,599
we know that that's public. There's
those off court stuff that's not public.

680
00:41:51,679 --> 00:41:53,280
Yeah, that could be a concern, but this is when you're looking at

681
00:41:53,280 --> 00:41:57,440
the talent on the basketball court.
I hate framing things this way to dismiss

682
00:41:57,480 --> 00:42:00,760
any concerns you might have about anything
off the court. Looking at it from

683
00:42:00,960 --> 00:42:06,199
like a basketball view. This team
is in a pretty good spot right now,

684
00:42:06,239 --> 00:42:08,519
and it changes if you don't believe
that LaMelo or Brandon Miller are capable

685
00:42:08,519 --> 00:42:14,519
of being the guiding light for a
rebuild. But one of the single toughest

686
00:42:14,519 --> 00:42:19,239
thing to do in a rebuild is
to not just get the guy around whom

687
00:42:19,280 --> 00:42:22,880
you base everything, but it's to
get two guys around whom you base everything.

688
00:42:22,880 --> 00:42:28,000
Those Hornets, I firmly believe have
those two guys, and there's health

689
00:42:28,000 --> 00:42:30,800
that needs to be caked in for
there with Lamel of thecaveat, But to

690
00:42:30,880 --> 00:42:34,320
be at that point when you're still
kind of early in this iteration of the

691
00:42:34,320 --> 00:42:36,639
rebuild, we know that they've been
all over the place for a while now.

692
00:42:37,440 --> 00:42:39,719
That's also a big deal, and
I we're kind of also forgetting I

693
00:42:39,719 --> 00:42:43,000
wouldn't call him, I'd call him
part of the corps, but I'm not

694
00:42:43,000 --> 00:42:45,039
re going to call him a building
block. Mark Williams dealt a lot of

695
00:42:45,039 --> 00:42:49,639
back stuff last year. That's a
red flag slightly alarming. Let's see how

696
00:42:49,719 --> 00:42:52,800
he heals. I believe he said
recently that he's feeling pretty good. When

697
00:42:52,840 --> 00:42:54,679
you watch this guy, and I
don't know if he's ever going to expand

698
00:42:54,719 --> 00:42:58,519
his range to include kind of like, oh, does that floater go down

699
00:42:58,559 --> 00:43:00,519
a high raiders? Is he gonna
take them in? Jumper shot seven of

700
00:43:00,599 --> 00:43:04,039
sixteen on jumpers last year, and
they were hints of it as his rookie

701
00:43:04,079 --> 00:43:07,519
season. Don't think he's ever gonna
scale out to three. But that's like

702
00:43:07,679 --> 00:43:13,559
he is still an extremely tantalizing developmental
piece. And I think his rim protection

703
00:43:13,639 --> 00:43:15,840
slipped a little bit last year.
I don't know how much of that had

704
00:43:15,880 --> 00:43:19,039
to do with like the initial injury, the fact that he just didn't play

705
00:43:19,280 --> 00:43:21,760
a ton, and he looked pretty
good at parts during early of the year,

706
00:43:21,800 --> 00:43:24,440
especially with some of those Lamello minutes, But when you watch him,

707
00:43:24,559 --> 00:43:27,639
there's like, I don't even know
who I compare him to, and I'm

708
00:43:27,719 --> 00:43:30,079
very interested to see if they can
get more out of him. Coming in

709
00:43:30,119 --> 00:43:31,920
I was kind of higher on him
as a passer. Can they do stuff

710
00:43:31,920 --> 00:43:35,440
with more stuff with him in the
short role. I don't think we've seen

711
00:43:35,559 --> 00:43:38,760
enough of that just yet. They
could experiment with that, but like the

712
00:43:38,800 --> 00:43:43,119
ability to play four out around him
basically at all times. Now if you

713
00:43:43,159 --> 00:43:45,639
want to, maybe that's something you
can unlock. But when you watch him

714
00:43:45,639 --> 00:43:50,400
play, he kind of has like
I don't know he We'll have to see

715
00:43:50,400 --> 00:43:52,320
how it is with all this back
stuff now in the rear view. But

716
00:43:52,679 --> 00:43:57,760
I don't have a great comp But
the two players that immediately that came to

717
00:43:57,800 --> 00:44:01,480
mind is what if Hassan Whiteside was
also in Yeka Kungu And it's so those

718
00:44:01,599 --> 00:44:05,480
those are imperfect players. You might
not like any of those players, but

719
00:44:06,039 --> 00:44:09,199
he seems like those two rolled into
one. That's a really good player,

720
00:44:09,280 --> 00:44:13,719
especially when you think about what Hassan
Whiteside was at his peak. But like

721
00:44:13,800 --> 00:44:19,920
having the additional mobility and offensive range
and vision of an n Yaka kung Wu.

722
00:44:20,159 --> 00:44:22,360
I don't know, when you're looking
defensively specifically, he might be.

723
00:44:22,519 --> 00:44:25,440
It feels like he's probably closer to
a white Side than a kung Wu.

724
00:44:25,480 --> 00:44:29,880
I don't think we've seen enough from
him looking at the sort of lateral stuff

725
00:44:29,880 --> 00:44:31,440
on the perimeter. There's there's definitely
been moments. I don't know if he

726
00:44:31,480 --> 00:44:36,239
can be that all over the place. Let's just cite Ages again. This

727
00:44:36,360 --> 00:44:39,000
is someone who is going into his
third year and he is gonna be that.

728
00:44:39,039 --> 00:44:42,840
This will be his age twenty three
season. He's twenty two right now.

729
00:44:43,320 --> 00:44:45,199
I think the Hornets are in a
good spot. I think him a

730
00:44:45,280 --> 00:44:49,239
vibrating on their rebuild. They're still
like, okay, well, how does

731
00:44:49,320 --> 00:44:52,000
Miles Bridges fit in long term?
Is he a part of the corps here?

732
00:44:52,800 --> 00:44:54,920
What is your intent to do with
Josh Green? How are you gonna

733
00:44:54,960 --> 00:44:59,000
use Salon right out of the gate? I can't give them the ten of

734
00:44:59,000 --> 00:45:00,760
ten, eleven of ten, no
notes, but just based off if,

735
00:45:00,760 --> 00:45:05,159
like if they wanted to get assets
via trade for Nick Richards, for Mesitch,

736
00:45:05,239 --> 00:45:09,719
for fucking Bridges at some point that
like, even I think a team

737
00:45:09,760 --> 00:45:13,000
would give you some You're not I
doubt you get a first round pick for

738
00:45:13,000 --> 00:45:14,960
Williams at this point. Maybe he
has a hell of a year and by

739
00:45:14,960 --> 00:45:17,079
the trade deadline, but he's only
twenty six years old. This is he's

740
00:45:17,079 --> 00:45:21,800
twenty five. This will be his
age twenty six season. That's like they

741
00:45:21,840 --> 00:45:24,920
have a lot of movable parts that
you could consider not in. You can

742
00:45:24,960 --> 00:45:30,159
consider them dispensable. They're valuable,
but they're they're not mission critical to what

743
00:45:30,199 --> 00:45:32,199
you're doing over the long term.
So they're like they can be light on

744
00:45:32,239 --> 00:45:36,239
their feet in terms of roster building. And so I think we have to

745
00:45:36,320 --> 00:45:37,159
kind of cake in. This is
a new regime, so you don't have

746
00:45:37,239 --> 00:45:39,960
to bake it in too much,
but you do have to account for right

747
00:45:40,440 --> 00:45:44,239
well they short circuit this at all. Look at the years of the track

748
00:45:44,320 --> 00:45:46,599
record. We still don't know enough
about really any of these guys. And

749
00:45:46,639 --> 00:45:51,440
that includes a Melos. There's the
wild card aspect I'm gonna go seven point

750
00:45:51,800 --> 00:45:54,760
three out of ten. Is the
vibes that I'm getting for the for the

751
00:45:54,840 --> 00:46:06,719
Charlotte Hornets rebuild. You guys know
what time it has to give you a

752
00:46:06,719 --> 00:46:09,320
third extra one there? It is
single person stat padding time, which means

753
00:46:09,320 --> 00:46:14,000
that I will be reacting to a
clip that I find interesting until we might

754
00:46:14,039 --> 00:46:15,599
have some like more memeable stuff.
Maybe we'll get some from the Olympics,

755
00:46:15,599 --> 00:46:19,639
but I want to deal with uh
footage stuff with that to be honest with

756
00:46:19,679 --> 00:46:22,679
you. But maybe during the end
of the season when there's kind of viral

757
00:46:22,719 --> 00:46:24,159
moments, we'll be able to do. So. You're free to submit clips

758
00:46:24,199 --> 00:46:29,480
to me via Discord email whatever.
I wanted to tackle this. Paul George

759
00:46:29,519 --> 00:46:32,920
explaining how he left the Clippers and
what sort of led to it. There's

760
00:46:32,920 --> 00:46:36,199
been a lot of stuff talked about
it with already, but I found it

761
00:46:36,199 --> 00:46:38,199
to be a I watched it the
clip already. Of course, I'm not

762
00:46:38,239 --> 00:46:43,519
a listener of the what is it
the pe podcast? What is it?

763
00:46:43,559 --> 00:46:45,800
I don't even know what the name
of his podcast is right now, a

764
00:46:45,920 --> 00:46:50,119
podcast p with Paul George, So
I haven't listened it. I've heard people

765
00:46:50,239 --> 00:46:53,119
talked in pretty long terms about it, including his co hosts. So let's

766
00:46:53,119 --> 00:46:59,039
get into it. Paul George explains
and exposes why exposed to the Los Angeles

767
00:46:59,079 --> 00:47:02,519
clip theres Los Angeles Clippers on why
he left, What was the negotiations like

768
00:47:02,719 --> 00:47:07,039
with the Clippers to let you know
yet, Hey, I'm leaving, y'all,

769
00:47:07,199 --> 00:47:09,880
and I'm calling to Philly. Just
okay, I'm gonna stop it here

770
00:47:09,920 --> 00:47:15,079
because I love that he already just
has his Philly jersey on in this.

771
00:47:15,199 --> 00:47:16,800
I think that's cool. I loved
the If anyone didn't read that, I

772
00:47:16,840 --> 00:47:22,559
think it was a Ramona Shelburne piece
at ESPN when the recruiting team from Philly

773
00:47:22,599 --> 00:47:25,280
finally showed up at Paul George's house, I believe in California, and the

774
00:47:25,280 --> 00:47:29,679
fact that he was wearing an Alan
Irison T shirt for it, I still

775
00:47:29,719 --> 00:47:31,679
want that to be real. I
hope that that's like a real, legitimate

776
00:47:31,679 --> 00:47:36,119
anecdote that he was just like,
hey, yeah, I kind of already

777
00:47:36,119 --> 00:47:37,719
made my decision and we haven't had
like the nuts and bolts of this discussion

778
00:47:37,760 --> 00:47:40,800
yet, and I'm just gonna wear
this AI shirt that I have laying around

779
00:47:40,840 --> 00:47:44,000
for some reason. I'm sure he
could have acquired it pretty quickly, but

780
00:47:44,280 --> 00:47:46,440
I thought that was a fun detail, potentially performative detail. But I so

781
00:47:46,599 --> 00:47:50,320
bad. They just want it to
be true. Put it out there,

782
00:47:50,360 --> 00:47:53,360
like I never wanted to leave La
La is home. This is where I

783
00:47:53,400 --> 00:47:57,760
wanted to finish at. I wanted
to work as hard as possible to win

784
00:47:57,840 --> 00:48:01,920
one in La like that was the
goal. I will say, that's that's

785
00:48:01,920 --> 00:48:05,360
all fine, and we know I
mean the way him and Kawhi got there,

786
00:48:05,400 --> 00:48:07,239
Like that's that's accurate. He has
a better chance of This is just

787
00:48:07,239 --> 00:48:10,280
objectively speaking, had he just resigned
to the Clippers, there's a better chance

788
00:48:10,280 --> 00:48:14,679
of him winning a title with this
version of the Philadelphia seventy six ers than

789
00:48:14,719 --> 00:48:16,920
that version of the Los Angeles Clippers. If anyone thinks that's a spicy take,

790
00:48:17,760 --> 00:48:21,880
we have years worth of evidence,
since roughly two thousand and one,

791
00:48:21,960 --> 00:48:27,000
that it's just objectively true to be
here and be committed to la as it

792
00:48:27,039 --> 00:48:35,800
played out, though, like the
first initial deal was, I thought kind

793
00:48:35,800 --> 00:48:38,679
of disrespectful. I love it.
I love this type of candor. That's

794
00:48:38,719 --> 00:48:42,559
you know, that's how you are. Again, I haven't seen aside from

795
00:48:42,599 --> 00:48:45,840
clips of the podcast be with Paul
George. I love this type of cannon,

796
00:48:45,880 --> 00:48:49,079
and it's why I probably need to
get back on I've listened to a

797
00:48:49,119 --> 00:48:52,400
lot of JJ Reddick, this old
podcast now it's JJ Rex's former podcast.

798
00:48:52,760 --> 00:48:57,519
But I guess I'm inherently hesitant to
listen to player podcasts because I find a

799
00:48:57,599 --> 00:49:00,119
lot of them to be empty.
It's also why, like I, I've

800
00:49:00,159 --> 00:49:04,639
interviewed agents and we've had we've talked
to players in the past. I don't

801
00:49:04,719 --> 00:49:07,199
maybe that's now I'm older. I
could ask better questions than trying to get

802
00:49:07,199 --> 00:49:09,559
better answers. I love the camp
like this is just right off the bat,

803
00:49:09,639 --> 00:49:13,719
him framing it as he's not even
like fuck these guys. It's I

804
00:49:13,840 --> 00:49:19,039
view the offer is disrespectful. So
I fave this right. And again,

805
00:49:19,280 --> 00:49:23,840
no in all of this, no
horror feelings. So the first initial deal

806
00:49:24,119 --> 00:49:30,800
was like two years sixty Wow,
they offered him Isaiah Hartenstein money. Folks,

807
00:49:30,880 --> 00:49:35,400
congratulations to the Clippers for offering Paul
George Isaiah Hartenstein money. I've seen

808
00:49:35,480 --> 00:49:37,639
the framing of this whereas well,
they were gonna have them opted in for

809
00:49:37,719 --> 00:49:39,800
about fifty million, and so if
you view it that way, it was

810
00:49:39,880 --> 00:49:45,159
three years and one ten. That's
still fucking disrespectful relative to what the market

811
00:49:45,199 --> 00:49:47,320
would have been for Paul George and
relative to what you gave. I'm assuming

812
00:49:47,360 --> 00:49:51,960
this is before Kawhi signed his extension. It sounds like, but you ended

813
00:49:52,039 --> 00:49:53,840
up at three and one fifty.
Basically, I'm just gonna use round numbers

814
00:49:53,880 --> 00:49:58,880
here for Kawhi. What are what
are we doing here? And even just

815
00:49:58,920 --> 00:50:01,400
as a I understand and the way
that negotiations are supposed to work, and

816
00:50:01,440 --> 00:50:06,639
I've been critical of teams, maybe
not negotiating harder, but like, what

817
00:50:06,719 --> 00:50:10,320
are you okay? So opt in
and like we're gonna cut your salary by

818
00:50:10,320 --> 00:50:14,000
twenty million. It's gonna be nowhere
near your max. It's almost like half

819
00:50:14,039 --> 00:50:16,360
of what your max salary could have
been. I find it a very even

820
00:50:16,480 --> 00:50:21,320
bizarre starting point. And it's like
coming with a real offer, or like

821
00:50:21,440 --> 00:50:24,159
even let them make the first offer
so then you could count, like let

822
00:50:24,199 --> 00:50:27,760
Paul George and his team say like, no, we want the max or

823
00:50:27,800 --> 00:50:30,239
whatever. Uh So even if you
want to frame it as three for one

824
00:50:30,320 --> 00:50:36,639
ten, still terrible. That is
a is like a putrid offer. I'm

825
00:50:36,719 --> 00:50:44,719
like, hey, that's crazy,
bro, that's Great's so I want to

826
00:50:44,719 --> 00:50:49,199
make I agree, but I'm just
it would be really funny if just one

827
00:50:49,239 --> 00:50:52,760
of I don't know their names either, so someone kid me in the chat

828
00:50:52,840 --> 00:50:55,039
or discord whatever with them if they
want it, just be really funny if

829
00:50:55,039 --> 00:50:58,920
one of them was like, bro, you didn't sign out like that was

830
00:50:58,960 --> 00:51:00,360
fun you see what you did went
out to do in the playoffs that was

831
00:51:00,400 --> 00:51:04,079
like fifteen million dollar money. You
were playing like a player on the mid

832
00:51:04,159 --> 00:51:06,480
level. I would just be funny
if one of his co hosts went like

833
00:51:06,679 --> 00:51:08,599
what else. I'm curious, like, what else are you supposed to do

834
00:51:08,639 --> 00:51:13,079
in this if you did disagree?
This offer is so egregious that the reaction

835
00:51:13,199 --> 00:51:15,559
is fine, but it'd be funny
whereas you know, and they offer me

836
00:51:15,679 --> 00:51:19,239
like like the three and one fifty
and are they like are you gonna be

837
00:51:19,280 --> 00:51:21,920
like what it's that big deal?
Like yeah, you probably should take me.

838
00:51:21,960 --> 00:51:24,239
But so I'd just been curious,
like would there be a good strong

839
00:51:24,320 --> 00:51:30,519
counter opinion here? So I'm like, wow, no, I'm not signing

840
00:51:30,559 --> 00:51:34,800
that. This is maybe like October
ishgo, So there we go. That's

841
00:51:34,800 --> 00:51:37,440
where so I must have when I
watched this clip realized I was October.

842
00:51:37,480 --> 00:51:39,360
That's again, even as the starting
point, even not knowing what's gonna happen

843
00:51:39,360 --> 00:51:44,039
with Kawi, that's a bullshit offer. Associations first started and it was two

844
00:51:44,079 --> 00:51:46,280
sixty and as we kept going,
it was like, you know, they

845
00:51:46,280 --> 00:51:53,639
would go up you know, inches
inches inches to where it was like forty

846
00:51:54,639 --> 00:52:00,079
four forty five. Right, Yeah, I hate if you're negotiating a salary

847
00:52:00,079 --> 00:52:02,800
in real life, which believe it
or not, I have done. I

848
00:52:02,840 --> 00:52:07,320
don't understand it and it sucks that
it works this way. So like you

849
00:52:07,440 --> 00:52:10,519
ended up at thirty million at first, and then you came up to forty

850
00:52:10,559 --> 00:52:15,760
five, so you just increase your
offer by fifty percent? Is do they?

851
00:52:15,159 --> 00:52:19,280
What is the when you know these
players have agents? Are you just

852
00:52:19,320 --> 00:52:22,119
hoping that these players or these agents
are gonna feel pressured or stupid? I

853
00:52:22,199 --> 00:52:29,039
don't like where where these are.
Everyone has to value. I'm not trying

854
00:52:29,039 --> 00:52:30,039
to say that, but like,
if I try to go and negotiate my

855
00:52:30,119 --> 00:52:34,360
salary, there are people who are
younger than me who will I don't.

856
00:52:34,559 --> 00:52:37,000
I think I work pretty hard and
then I'm pretty incredible what I do.

857
00:52:37,039 --> 00:52:39,159
But there are people younger than me, maybe we'll do more quantity than me,

858
00:52:39,440 --> 00:52:44,039
who will work for substantially less than
I will. It just and it

859
00:52:44,199 --> 00:52:46,719
undercuts in a way what I do
to a point of Okay, like I

860
00:52:46,760 --> 00:52:50,599
can negotiate as hard as I want, my leverage is always going to be

861
00:52:50,599 --> 00:52:53,639
capped in this instance, Like Paul
George is a not too dehumanize him,

862
00:52:53,679 --> 00:52:57,760
but he's like this commodity and so
I don't understand that. Okay, if

863
00:52:57,760 --> 00:53:00,360
it's just a and I'm not saying
this is right, but if this is

864
00:53:00,360 --> 00:53:02,559
someone who's a lesser player, if
this is like a regular negotiation where you're

865
00:53:02,599 --> 00:53:07,599
just hoping that it's maybe they're not
familiar with the way negotiations work or what

866
00:53:07,639 --> 00:53:10,159
they're actually like. You're just you
know, you're working for a corporation and

867
00:53:10,199 --> 00:53:14,360
that's what they're giving you. I
almost understand it more than this perspective where

868
00:53:14,360 --> 00:53:17,239
it's you know what the market for
PG is going to be next summer,

869
00:53:17,639 --> 00:53:21,840
You like, you understand how important
he just is objectively to your team.

870
00:53:21,920 --> 00:53:23,639
Is no worse even if you think
James Harden trade is happening or did it

871
00:53:23,639 --> 00:53:27,280
happen, or it happened already at
that point, no worse than your third

872
00:53:27,280 --> 00:53:34,360
most important player. I just find
that mind bogglingly numbingly stupid to start there.

873
00:53:35,840 --> 00:53:38,840
But this was like a couple months
in between before we got it to

874
00:53:38,920 --> 00:53:44,599
forty something. I'm still like,
I'd like to know what the breakdown is.

875
00:53:44,639 --> 00:53:45,519
It's like, all right, they
offered thirty and then the day like,

876
00:53:45,559 --> 00:53:47,639
what is Paul George's team count with
no, you know, we want

877
00:53:47,639 --> 00:53:51,199
the max. And then they're like, all right, what about like two

878
00:53:51,280 --> 00:53:53,320
years and sixty four and they're just
going up at like million and two million

879
00:53:53,320 --> 00:53:58,000
dollars increments like over the course of
months. I hope, honestly hope that's

880
00:53:58,000 --> 00:54:01,440
what happened, because that's so objectively
Still, ah, I'm not doing that.

881
00:54:02,519 --> 00:54:06,519
Then I hear wind of like,
you know what they're going to give

882
00:54:06,599 --> 00:54:10,000
Kauwhi. So I'm like, just
give me what Kawhi got, Like right,

883
00:54:12,440 --> 00:54:15,039
I'm with I'm with the other guy
on the podcast. Why not,

884
00:54:15,280 --> 00:54:17,880
Like that's just they came together.
We know Kawhi his peak is the better

885
00:54:17,920 --> 00:54:22,599
player. Paul George, if you're
trying to project forward, is probably going

886
00:54:22,599 --> 00:54:25,280
to be the more available player.
Just give him what Kawai got. I

887
00:54:25,400 --> 00:54:28,760
totally agree with that reaction. That
doesn't seem like a big deal. And

888
00:54:28,800 --> 00:54:31,000
I also I think you we'll go
on and dispel this, but like that

889
00:54:31,159 --> 00:54:35,840
was the I do wonder if the
Kauhi extension ended up costing him leverage when

890
00:54:35,840 --> 00:54:37,440
he came to getting the max,
which we know Kawhi took slightly less,

891
00:54:37,639 --> 00:54:42,199
but like to get a fourth year
specifically, if you didn't give that to

892
00:54:42,280 --> 00:54:45,320
Kawhi. Did the Clippers do that
hoping it would pressure Paul George into taking

893
00:54:45,360 --> 00:54:50,280
a three year extension, and clearly, like I don't know if he felt

894
00:54:50,280 --> 00:54:52,039
pressure but he saw Kawhi do it, and he was like, oh,

895
00:54:52,079 --> 00:54:54,480
all right, Like I'll do it
too, and let's see what they said,

896
00:54:54,480 --> 00:54:59,000
folks. He was the same,
like, you know, we came

897
00:54:59,039 --> 00:55:04,119
here together, we want to finish
it together. I'll take what Kawhi got.

898
00:55:04,840 --> 00:55:09,719
Let's normalize. Not bleeping out expectives
on podcasts. It really fucking aggrevates

899
00:55:09,760 --> 00:55:13,000
me. It's a family show.
We don't bleep it out, like,

900
00:55:13,079 --> 00:55:15,039
no problem. I was cool with
that. Like, and we were still

901
00:55:15,079 --> 00:55:19,639
taking less. We were taking less. Kawhi took less. I was like,

902
00:55:19,639 --> 00:55:22,639
if why gonna take less? I'm
not gonna say I want more than

903
00:55:22,639 --> 00:55:27,840
why, Like I'm a that's like
a pretty rational response that he's under no

904
00:55:27,920 --> 00:55:30,679
obligation to have. By the way, like his market is the market,

905
00:55:30,679 --> 00:55:31,480
and yeah, you would have to
leave to get it, and he did.

906
00:55:31,880 --> 00:55:35,960
But to look at it that way
is just Paul George gets meaned a

907
00:55:35,960 --> 00:55:38,119
lot. And there are a lot
of people who I respect, cover the

908
00:55:38,119 --> 00:55:42,840
Clippers, follow the Clippers, and
they just didn't like his attitude and some

909
00:55:42,880 --> 00:55:45,199
of the stuff that I guess he
preferred to happen on the court or didn't

910
00:55:45,199 --> 00:55:46,639
want to do on the court,
and so I get all of that,

911
00:55:46,679 --> 00:55:50,320
but like right here, relative to
what his market is, and also the

912
00:55:50,360 --> 00:55:52,760
importance to his team to just say
I'll take what Kawhi got, which was,

913
00:55:52,800 --> 00:55:55,280
Look, if this was Lebron James
taking that less right out of the

914
00:55:55,280 --> 00:55:58,440
gate, he probably would have went
on before the seasons started, like a

915
00:55:58,440 --> 00:56:01,480
full scale press tour about it and
done signings and had these extended interviews about

916
00:56:01,559 --> 00:56:05,880
yeah, like it took like one
point five million less, like, and

917
00:56:06,000 --> 00:56:08,079
it's gonna allow the Lakers to set
up the next dynasty long after I'm gone,

918
00:56:08,079 --> 00:56:12,199
and I'm just I'm just here to
I'm just here to make sure that

919
00:56:12,360 --> 00:56:15,960
I'm preserving the Lakers flagship flagship name, and I'll figure out a way to

920
00:56:15,960 --> 00:56:17,920
make up the money somewhere. It's
gonna be tough, but uh, maybe

921
00:56:17,920 --> 00:56:22,400
I'll have to stop getting maybe Brownie
James, I'll start paying rent. It's

922
00:56:22,400 --> 00:56:27,320
even still live in there. So
uh but seriously, like this Paul George

923
00:56:27,320 --> 00:56:30,559
bit in the fact that like the
stuff like this didn't come out more uh

924
00:56:30,239 --> 00:56:34,840
a little bit surprising, But his
response of I'll just take what Kawhi got

925
00:56:35,280 --> 00:56:38,199
is an appropriate response, and I
still I remained flabbergasted that things ended up

926
00:56:38,239 --> 00:56:42,719
the way that they did. I'm
not gonna like, it's not about me

927
00:56:42,840 --> 00:56:44,840
being paid more to him, Like, I'm gonna take what he got.

928
00:56:44,920 --> 00:56:46,840
Y'all give him that, give me
that. They didn't want to do that.

929
00:56:49,360 --> 00:56:52,159
Why, oh wait, the second
apron, right, so let's offer

930
00:56:52,199 --> 00:56:54,960
him a deal that's less but still
gonna keep us in the second apron,

931
00:56:55,639 --> 00:56:59,920
I know. And at this point, so maybe he'll clarify the time on

932
00:57:00,000 --> 00:57:01,639
I can't remember, Like, are
we at the point where Kawha was like

933
00:57:01,719 --> 00:57:06,480
he might be an MVP candidate And
that's kind of the you know, when

934
00:57:06,559 --> 00:57:07,880
Kuhi got his extension, like he
was at that level, which is why

935
00:57:07,880 --> 00:57:10,320
it was seen as such a big
deal. And so they were looking at

936
00:57:10,320 --> 00:57:13,639
Paul George and saying, well,
you're clearly a notch below that. Look

937
00:57:13,679 --> 00:57:15,800
what you know. I talked about
this with Jalen Brunton earlier in the episode.

938
00:57:15,800 --> 00:57:19,000
If you're watching you didn't watch the
philipsod, go check it out.

939
00:57:19,039 --> 00:57:22,840
But like they were hoping, oh
you saw, let's use Jalen Brunton with

940
00:57:22,920 --> 00:57:27,079
Julius Randall. Knicks are hoping,
lookude, how much Jahn Brunston took last

941
00:57:27,079 --> 00:57:30,440
a year about thirty twelve and a
half million bucks. You have to do

942
00:57:30,480 --> 00:57:32,400
the same. Look at what Kawhi
did. The saying is to Paul George

943
00:57:32,400 --> 00:57:35,599
and the next saying, that's that
Julius Randall. I mean, I guess

944
00:57:35,639 --> 00:57:37,639
you could say that, but you're
like, do you actually well, you're

945
00:57:37,679 --> 00:57:40,800
the worst player and he took this
much less, so you should take even

946
00:57:40,880 --> 00:57:45,400
less than that. That's just that
logic is kind of funny. So this

947
00:57:45,519 --> 00:57:47,920
was before the All Star breaks,
so I'm like, you know what,

948
00:57:49,519 --> 00:57:51,880
I don't want, like, don't
even let's not even have no more conversation,

949
00:57:52,119 --> 00:57:53,199
Like let me let's just play this
year out, because it was starting

950
00:57:53,239 --> 00:57:57,960
to get into like my like my
move now, I'm you know what I

951
00:57:58,000 --> 00:58:01,239
mean, Like we also need to
for that too. If you thought Paul

952
00:58:01,280 --> 00:58:08,000
George was particularly unbearable off the court
or with his demeanor this year, okay,

953
00:58:08,039 --> 00:58:10,639
fair, but like if this is
going on and he's in a different

954
00:58:10,639 --> 00:58:15,639
situation where it's fucking with his livelihood, but he knows that he can replicate

955
00:58:15,800 --> 00:58:19,800
or in this case, succeed,
what they're offering elsewhere, and so it's

956
00:58:19,800 --> 00:58:23,199
not but it still takes that mental
toll again as someone who's negotiated like contracts

957
00:58:23,239 --> 00:58:29,440
year to year at points in my
career, it's super stressful and like I

958
00:58:29,440 --> 00:58:32,400
almost I respect him kind of saying. And by the way, why I'm

959
00:58:32,440 --> 00:58:36,360
going through this in part is because
Zach Lowe is reported and he's just one

960
00:58:36,400 --> 00:58:38,639
of the especially because he doesn't report
a ton, but he had heard that

961
00:58:38,800 --> 00:58:42,480
pretty much everything Paul George said was
accurate, and when you're kind of going

962
00:58:42,480 --> 00:58:45,400
through this timeline, it sounds like
it would be accurate, and so it's

963
00:58:45,400 --> 00:58:47,440
feasible, and so it's not like
you know, Patrick Beverley coming up and

964
00:58:47,480 --> 00:58:52,559
just embellishing and high perberalizing everything.
So that's also why I'm going through this

965
00:58:52,639 --> 00:58:55,039
is because from what we know and
what I understand personally that his version of

966
00:58:55,079 --> 00:59:00,440
events is the most accurate that we've
seen, and probably more accurate than the

967
00:59:00,440 --> 00:59:05,920
statement that the Clippers ended up releasing
when before he even officially left, I

968
00:59:05,960 --> 00:59:08,880
didn't want to have that energy carry
over into the team season in I finished

969
00:59:08,920 --> 00:59:15,480
healthy seventy four games play and had
one of my most efficient seasons. I

970
00:59:15,519 --> 00:59:20,239
mean, so Paul George was good
when I was doing my l NBA teams

971
00:59:20,719 --> 00:59:24,480
again Regular Season Award he did receive
some like splash consideration. He was never

972
00:59:24,519 --> 00:59:29,239
really a serious threat for me to
win, to win to make my third

973
00:59:29,280 --> 00:59:32,280
team up twenty two point six points. He ends up averaging three point five

974
00:59:32,280 --> 00:59:37,960
assists, shoots fifty two point three
percent on threes on two and forty one

975
00:59:37,000 --> 00:59:42,760
point three percent on threes over ninety
percent from the foul line. Yeah,

976
00:59:42,880 --> 00:59:45,079
heck of an efficient season. There's
is there going to be any mentioned about

977
00:59:45,119 --> 00:59:47,639
what he did in the playoffs?
TI, I mean you still had like

978
00:59:49,000 --> 00:59:52,719
twenty points five assists he shot.
Yeah, he dipped on two forty five

979
00:59:52,760 --> 00:59:57,280
percent and then thirty seven percent.
Like even those numbers are not I know,

980
00:59:57,320 --> 01:00:00,119
people were mad about his defense by
the end of that series. And

981
01:00:00,199 --> 01:00:02,800
you look at you know, especially
when sometimes Kawhi is not on the floor,

982
01:00:05,039 --> 01:00:08,320
it feels like he's just not like
that Paul George isn't there all the

983
01:00:08,360 --> 01:00:12,119
time. And so you turn in
in the final two games of that Dallas

984
01:00:12,119 --> 01:00:15,639
series or four thirteam from the floor, you're six of eighteen and in that

985
01:00:15,719 --> 01:00:20,559
game was I game six, in
game six, so leaving a bad taste

986
01:00:20,559 --> 01:00:22,679
of the mouth. And then you
had the seven point game that the Clippers

987
01:00:22,679 --> 01:00:25,840
lost in Game three where you totally
took eleven shots and went three to eleven.

988
01:00:25,920 --> 01:00:32,039
So again that stuff matters, But
he's not wrong about what he did

989
01:00:32,159 --> 01:00:37,320
during the regular season. That was
I have not checked. I'll check now

990
01:00:37,400 --> 01:00:39,960
as i'm looking. That was probably
yeah, And it was the highest true

991
01:00:39,960 --> 01:00:44,480
shooting percentage of his career at the
age of thirty three, and his role

992
01:00:44,519 --> 01:00:46,400
got a little bit more stream behind
after the acquisition of James Harden. But

993
01:00:47,360 --> 01:00:52,519
just like he had a really he
had maybe not his best regular season overall,

994
01:00:52,559 --> 01:00:59,159
but he had a really good regular
season. So now we're going to

995
01:01:00,119 --> 01:01:05,559
negotiations. Now they now they bring
it to three years, where we at

996
01:01:05,880 --> 01:01:10,599
one fifty. All right, okay, so he got to the Kawhi number

997
01:01:12,320 --> 01:01:17,599
and shit still went sideways. Let's
find out why. That's cool. It

998
01:01:17,920 --> 01:01:21,519
sucks that it had to get to
this point like that. They couldn't we

999
01:01:21,519 --> 01:01:23,159
couldn't get this figured out a lot
sooner. But now we at the end

1000
01:01:23,159 --> 01:01:25,760
of the year, three years,
one fifty. So I'm like, all

1001
01:01:25,840 --> 01:01:30,760
right, like, now we're in
we're in a ballpark, you know what

1002
01:01:30,800 --> 01:01:35,679
I mean. So it does seem
like if you had to be critical,

1003
01:01:35,719 --> 01:01:37,320
if he said, just give me
what Kauhi got, and they did.

1004
01:01:37,880 --> 01:01:42,559
But now you're saying, all right, we're close to in the ballpark and

1005
01:01:43,039 --> 01:01:45,440
we know that he's gonna end up
asking for something different, and I am

1006
01:01:45,480 --> 01:01:49,559
wondering, what's see, let's see
what he had asked for first. See,

1007
01:01:49,639 --> 01:01:52,360
Now now we can have conversation here. I presented the three one fifty

1008
01:01:52,440 --> 01:01:55,880
no trade because in the meaning,
they're like, you know, we want

1009
01:01:55,920 --> 01:02:00,000
you here long term, we want
to you know, when you're retired,

1010
01:02:00,079 --> 01:02:02,920
we want you to be a Clippers
for a lifetime, like all of this

1011
01:02:02,920 --> 01:02:07,480
stuff. So I'm like, cool, always there for a player if they're

1012
01:02:07,480 --> 01:02:12,440
eligible for to ask for the no
trade. I do think it hamstrings you

1013
01:02:12,480 --> 01:02:15,559
in ways where they're probably like right
now, if everyone was a free agent,

1014
01:02:15,599 --> 01:02:19,519
maybe there's five players I would give
it to, so as well within

1015
01:02:19,519 --> 01:02:22,039
the Clippers' rights to say no.
But I don't think it's egregious that Paul

1016
01:02:22,079 --> 01:02:27,440
George asked for one, especially when
anyone like getting Blake Griffin vibes if we

1017
01:02:27,480 --> 01:02:30,039
want you to be a Clipper for
a lifetime. They pitched Blake Griffin on

1018
01:02:30,039 --> 01:02:34,440
that, and then they shipped him
out the following season, and again that

1019
01:02:34,519 --> 01:02:37,760
was their right according to the contract. But I understand why you would ask

1020
01:02:37,880 --> 01:02:43,320
for the no trade, especially with
this team. Cool, give me the

1021
01:02:43,320 --> 01:02:45,920
three years one point fifty no trade
then like no trade club, then I

1022
01:02:46,039 --> 01:02:50,039
not like I'm taking less, but
least I know I'm here, like I'm

1023
01:02:50,079 --> 01:02:52,719
committed to y'all. Like they didn't
want to hear the no trade wow,

1024
01:02:53,000 --> 01:02:59,400
So then now I'm actually so I
get why the Clippers don't want to do

1025
01:02:59,440 --> 01:03:02,320
that ask I would not have given. I would not have given Paul Georgian

1026
01:03:02,320 --> 01:03:06,079
no trade clause if that was the
I mean for three years and you click

1027
01:03:06,079 --> 01:03:08,559
at it right like there's at the
end, like we can tough this out,

1028
01:03:09,000 --> 01:03:13,320
and there's also just an element of
where are you gonna try and send

1029
01:03:13,360 --> 01:03:16,079
him that he wouldn't approve. I
wouldn't have given it to him, however,

1030
01:03:17,079 --> 01:03:20,440
and if they would have given it
to him over the three years,

1031
01:03:20,880 --> 01:03:22,559
whatever, But I understand why he
asked for it. I do find the

1032
01:03:22,599 --> 01:03:25,800
reaction of the other two people on
this podcast like, WHOA, they really

1033
01:03:25,840 --> 01:03:29,360
didn't give you a no trade clause? Like there are two people in the

1034
01:03:29,440 --> 01:03:31,880
NBA able to have a no trade
clause right now, But that that's the

1035
01:03:31,960 --> 01:03:35,320
reaction where it's like, wow,
they wouldn't even give you a no trade

1036
01:03:35,320 --> 01:03:37,559
clause. Well, like, that's
not a small thing. Teams just don't

1037
01:03:37,559 --> 01:03:42,079
include that, asked. Ask the
Wizards how Bradly Beale's no trade clause worked

1038
01:03:42,079 --> 01:03:45,679
out for them? Ask the Suns
how inheriting that no trade clause is working

1039
01:03:45,719 --> 01:03:49,679
out for them currently? I'm like, all right, would then it only

1040
01:03:49,719 --> 01:03:55,400
makes sense for me to do four
years, two twelve. Yeah, that's

1041
01:03:55,599 --> 01:03:59,199
that's fair saying if you're gonna move
me in whenever, like I want to

1042
01:03:59,239 --> 01:04:02,239
guarantee myself like this, because here
go somewhere. This isn't just about injury.

1043
01:04:02,280 --> 01:04:05,400
If you just trade him, which
this team is implosive when you especially

1044
01:04:05,440 --> 01:04:09,239
now without him, they just trade
him somewhere. What if he's just not

1045
01:04:09,280 --> 01:04:11,719
as good a fit or used to
acchelming himself and like his game begins to

1046
01:04:11,760 --> 01:04:14,639
the climb because they were using him
differently and he doesn't get to go through

1047
01:04:14,679 --> 01:04:15,920
a training camp initially, or the
chemistry is just always off, or it

1048
01:04:15,960 --> 01:04:18,320
isn't the perfect fit. It's a
team that made a stupid move and wanted

1049
01:04:18,320 --> 01:04:23,280
a big name. This is and
again it's what he ends up getting anyway,

1050
01:04:23,440 --> 01:04:25,960
So that's not a big ask at
all. And by the way,

1051
01:04:26,000 --> 01:04:30,079
the Clippers, you can't like this. This gives you flexibility to work underneath

1052
01:04:30,079 --> 01:04:31,440
the aprons, but it does not
give you the cap space to replace Paul

1053
01:04:31,440 --> 01:04:34,400
George if you do not go to
four years, right, like, at

1054
01:04:34,480 --> 01:04:38,639
least pay me my money. If
y'all gonna trade me, then y'all gonna

1055
01:04:38,639 --> 01:04:41,599
trade me, But at least like
now, I'm not in a situation where

1056
01:04:41,679 --> 01:04:45,679
I could have got more had I
just gone to free agency. Then take

1057
01:04:45,719 --> 01:04:48,280
this deal and y'all could just shit
me wherever I want. And now I'm

1058
01:04:48,320 --> 01:04:51,840
on this deal that I didn't want. That's really fair too, when you're

1059
01:04:51,880 --> 01:04:57,039
looking at it from the perspective of
a no trade clause of just for the

1060
01:04:57,039 --> 01:05:00,559
three year asks, where it's okay, I could just I'm sacrificed a year

1061
01:05:00,840 --> 01:05:03,960
and guaranteed money here, So it's
not just you might be able to recoup

1062
01:05:04,039 --> 01:05:08,039
that when you sign your next deal, like to extend your career as a

1063
01:05:08,079 --> 01:05:11,320
max Ish player, let's say,
but maybe not. So you're taking your

1064
01:05:11,400 --> 01:05:13,800
risk. And so for him to
frame it as yeah, I am like

1065
01:05:13,840 --> 01:05:15,079
we're cutting down, like I want
the extra year but if you do the

1066
01:05:15,079 --> 01:05:17,519
no trade clause, I don't need
it. So if he came in four

1067
01:05:17,599 --> 01:05:19,960
years, no trade like this is
just what it needs to be, okay.

1068
01:05:20,320 --> 01:05:24,159
But when he frames it like this, it makes the ask of the

1069
01:05:24,159 --> 01:05:27,559
no trade clause a little bit.
Not that it wasn't understandable in the first

1070
01:05:27,559 --> 01:05:29,679
place, but it's okay, Like
I could see why thin clippers might have

1071
01:05:29,760 --> 01:05:33,320
considered it. The fact that they
said no, I'm perfectly fine with so

1072
01:05:34,239 --> 01:05:39,920
they didn't want to do that stupid
again, and they release the statement that

1073
01:05:40,000 --> 01:05:44,159
sighted the second apron and the limitations
Those limitations are real when you're looking at

1074
01:05:44,559 --> 01:05:45,840
I doubt And first of all,
the tax penalties aren't going to be as

1075
01:05:45,840 --> 01:05:50,320
punitive until twenty twenty five, twenty
twenty six. I really don't think this

1076
01:05:50,400 --> 01:05:57,000
is about Steve Bomber specifically caring about
the money. It's but I mean sure,

1077
01:05:57,039 --> 01:06:00,280
caring about the money, But these
teams are only worried about the restrictions

1078
01:06:00,280 --> 01:06:04,039
it poses on transactions and your ability
to make them. That is the bigger

1079
01:06:04,079 --> 01:06:10,559
thing here. The issue is they
offered him a contract that would have put

1080
01:06:10,639 --> 01:06:14,079
him in put them in the second
apron. If they were planning on keeping

1081
01:06:14,159 --> 01:06:16,079
James Harden, which they obviously were
Otherwise why I give up the pick equity

1082
01:06:16,440 --> 01:06:21,880
that you did, and so it
doesn't square. And if you thought,

1083
01:06:21,880 --> 01:06:25,239
well, like next year, fine, but like what about these, you

1084
01:06:25,239 --> 01:06:28,719
know, the two years after that? Figure it out, like these are

1085
01:06:28,719 --> 01:06:31,239
all guys that you could move if
you need to duck to separate second Apron

1086
01:06:31,320 --> 01:06:35,559
or you want to hit the reboot
button and to let someone walk away for

1087
01:06:35,920 --> 01:06:40,360
absolutely nothing. Who's a talented as
Paul George, especially when you gave up

1088
01:06:40,360 --> 01:06:42,800
the moon to get him that we
don't need to religate that trade. Yes,

1089
01:06:43,000 --> 01:06:45,079
it's a failure when you look at
their success in the moment, there's

1090
01:06:45,360 --> 01:06:49,239
not. Sam Presty might be the
only GM that wouldn't have been on the

1091
01:06:49,239 --> 01:06:53,199
other side of that trade at the
time. And I would argue that if

1092
01:06:53,199 --> 01:06:56,719
you rewind time and he had he
was in the Clippers spot like and he

1093
01:06:56,800 --> 01:07:00,239
was negotiating with Okay, like he
makes that trade. So maybe making the

1094
01:07:00,280 --> 01:07:01,599
trade was totally justifiable. But to
now end up at this point where he

1095
01:07:01,679 --> 01:07:05,480
just left for nothing is inexcuseable when
you had the opportunity to keep him on

1096
01:07:05,639 --> 01:07:11,320
just something that was out there for
him. This isn't astronomical really just brain

1097
01:07:11,400 --> 01:07:14,519
bendingly dumb stuff from the Clippers.
So now I was like, now like,

1098
01:07:14,559 --> 01:07:18,679
now I'm open to entertaining what's out
there. And then I mean,

1099
01:07:18,880 --> 01:07:23,039
you know, through the negotiations,
they they wasn't budgeting, they ain't work

1100
01:07:23,079 --> 01:07:27,559
on budge. I wasn't going budge. I thought I played. I played

1101
01:07:27,880 --> 01:07:30,679
well enough. By the way this
is, I don't like the other side

1102
01:07:30,679 --> 01:07:33,360
of this, where we're talking about
Lebron taking the biggest pay cut anyone's ever

1103
01:07:33,400 --> 01:07:36,679
taken, followed by Jayalen brunts and
basically not even taking a pay cut because

1104
01:07:36,679 --> 01:07:40,360
he was promised money after the life
of his deal or however people want to

1105
01:07:40,360 --> 01:07:43,119
frame that. This is the other
side of that, like sort of the

1106
01:07:43,159 --> 01:07:45,159
brunts and things where so, yeah, first of all, he was willing

1107
01:07:45,159 --> 01:07:47,599
to take less than the max anyway. But yeah, don't budge. If

1108
01:07:47,599 --> 01:07:49,960
you think you had a good year
or get like you are elsible to make

1109
01:07:50,000 --> 01:07:53,599
this money, that money is out
there for you, like that is your

1110
01:07:53,599 --> 01:07:56,599
market value. Even if people think
that's a bad deal, it's well within

1111
01:07:56,639 --> 01:08:00,480
the Clippers' rights to also think that's
a bad deal. But you knew an

1112
01:08:00,519 --> 01:08:03,719
offer like that would be out there
and if you didn't want to pay Paul

1113
01:08:03,800 --> 01:08:08,320
George that that fourth year in a
vacuum. This sounds outrageous to say,

1114
01:08:08,400 --> 01:08:10,679
especially when you look at where they
were at the trade deadline. But then

1115
01:08:10,719 --> 01:08:14,960
you should have moved him. And
so I will never believe that this was

1116
01:08:15,000 --> 01:08:16,800
part of their plan, that they
let Paul George walk because of the secret

1117
01:08:16,920 --> 01:08:21,840
they fucked this up, I think
is really what happened for them to,

1118
01:08:23,239 --> 01:08:25,119
you know, be like, you
know what, he's a part of our

1119
01:08:25,159 --> 01:08:28,479
future, Like I thought I did
that. I thought I earned that.

1120
01:08:29,000 --> 01:08:32,119
You know, granted we didn't win
while I was there. You think,

1121
01:08:32,359 --> 01:08:36,600
buddy, just stay in the obvious. But look, granted we didn't win

1122
01:08:36,880 --> 01:08:41,079
really much of anything, and we
haven't won a playoff series in two thousand

1123
01:08:41,119 --> 01:08:45,119
and one, but just a small, tiny caveat So again I get the

1124
01:08:45,119 --> 01:08:49,000
Clipper's trepidation to perpetuate this, but
like, then, why give kawhiity extension

1125
01:08:49,000 --> 01:08:54,119
and keep James Harden type deal?
Be all in or like hit the reboot

1126
01:08:54,159 --> 01:08:57,560
button. I don't do this sort
of half baked bullshit that's going on here.

1127
01:08:58,039 --> 01:09:00,319
Don't we should remember to answer that? Because it's a family the show

1128
01:09:00,319 --> 01:09:02,239
oh wait, we don't censor that, because censoring the expletives is stupid.

1129
01:09:03,279 --> 01:09:06,079
But luck has a lot to do
with that. You know, we could

1130
01:09:06,199 --> 01:09:12,439
remain healthy as a unit. But
I thought I did enough to earn that.

1131
01:09:12,720 --> 01:09:15,479
I love Steve, I love Lawrence. Uh the platitudes, I don't

1132
01:09:15,479 --> 01:09:18,239
even know if we need to watch
those. He doesn't seem like he has

1133
01:09:18,239 --> 01:09:20,920
any genuine hard feelings for it.
So I commend Paul George for the way

1134
01:09:20,920 --> 01:09:26,840
that he ended up handling all this. And I look this, the timeline

1135
01:09:26,840 --> 01:09:30,279
all lines up, and the I
think the most ridiculous, the most ridiculous

1136
01:09:30,319 --> 01:09:34,600
thing that's not even really ridiculous at
all, is I think it's just how

1137
01:09:34,600 --> 01:09:39,479
shocked Goose fellow co hosts were it
that he didn't get the no trade clause.

1138
01:09:39,520 --> 01:09:42,960
And it's like, come on,
nobody gets a no trade clause unless

1139
01:09:42,960 --> 01:09:46,239
you play for the Wizards, obviously, or you're Lebron James. So uh

1140
01:09:46,439 --> 01:09:48,920
this. I still think the Clippers
fumbled the back. We'll see what they

1141
01:09:48,920 --> 01:09:53,439
look like next season, but they're
like teetering somewhere in the sub middle of

1142
01:09:53,479 --> 01:09:57,079
the Western Conference. It feels like
now and then Kawhi being pulled out of

1143
01:09:57,159 --> 01:10:00,119
Team USA for concerns about his knees
like that, it's just really and Kauhi

1144
01:10:00,199 --> 01:10:03,479
is a dominant force when he is
healthy, but it's we're now. We

1145
01:10:03,600 --> 01:10:08,359
just have so many year's worth of
proof that he's probably not going to be

1146
01:10:08,359 --> 01:10:10,600
available when you need him, and
that I don't know what the best way

1147
01:10:10,600 --> 01:10:13,359
to handle that is is it don't
play him during the regular season, lower

1148
01:10:13,399 --> 01:10:15,439
magic gambers. They let him play
so that he's like, doesn't have to

1149
01:10:15,520 --> 01:10:17,479
ramp up, does it? He
did that last year. Neither one of

1150
01:10:17,520 --> 01:10:19,760
its work so far. So it
sucks that his body's betraying him. And

1151
01:10:19,800 --> 01:10:24,680
I wonder if that factored into Los
Angeles' decision. But even if it did,

1152
01:10:25,199 --> 01:10:29,319
Paul George would have been movable on
the like if one you could just

1153
01:10:29,319 --> 01:10:31,399
offered him at the same time as
Kawhi. It sounds like you could just

1154
01:10:31,439 --> 01:10:33,279
offered him the same deal and he
would have taken it, and then you

1155
01:10:33,279 --> 01:10:35,560
could have just moved him whatever.
You still could have moved him on the

1156
01:10:35,600 --> 01:10:40,359
four year deal, And so I
don't buy, and that's why you buy.

1157
01:10:40,399 --> 01:10:42,800
More of what Paul George is saying
is that what the Clippers have said.

1158
01:10:43,439 --> 01:10:46,960
Frankly, just doesn't add up.
I hope you enjoyed this. This

1159
01:10:47,079 --> 01:10:50,520
was this was a fun episode for
a for a solo podcast. I enjoy

1160
01:10:50,640 --> 01:10:54,359
doing it. Please rem a rate
review and subscribe. You ready for the

1161
01:10:54,399 --> 01:10:56,880
merch drop It is coming. I
don't know when I'll talk to Grant about

1162
01:10:56,920 --> 01:11:00,159
it. Siico Mode shirt it's the
Sico Collection. I'm really proud of it.

1163
01:11:00,199 --> 01:11:03,279
I did most of the design work
on it. My wife also helped

1164
01:11:03,319 --> 01:11:06,920
me out because she's awesome. But
yeah, so subscribe if you haven't already.

1165
01:11:06,920 --> 01:11:11,159
YouTube, Spotify, Apple, the
whole nine. Go join our discord.

1166
01:11:11,720 --> 01:11:14,439
Rumor has that the discord will be
locked at some point soon. I

1167
01:11:14,439 --> 01:11:16,119
don't know when. So get in
there. Everyone who's in there already,

1168
01:11:16,119 --> 01:11:18,680
like the discord will still be there, but we don't know how long we're

1169
01:11:18,680 --> 01:11:23,199
going to keep the link itself actually
open for so head to if you've always

1170
01:11:23,199 --> 01:11:26,119
thought about getting in there. There's
a lot of good spirited discussions that happen.

1171
01:11:26,319 --> 01:11:29,399
There's also right now, like the
Boston Celtics room is dedicated to one

1172
01:11:29,439 --> 01:11:32,840
of our listeners. I'm just wrapped
their first watch through of Psych so jealous

1173
01:11:32,840 --> 01:11:34,680
that they were able to do that. So go check out that show.

1174
01:11:34,800 --> 01:11:38,199
Sounds like he still has the movies
to go, so go check those out,

1175
01:11:38,520 --> 01:11:41,680
Go check those out. But so
that will be going away soon.

1176
01:11:41,680 --> 01:11:44,640
The discord itself will remain active.
Anyone's already in there, but I don't

1177
01:11:44,680 --> 01:11:46,840
know if I don't think it's going
to remain open much longer. So if

1178
01:11:46,840 --> 01:11:50,039
you haven't done so, now's your
chance to get in there until next time.

1179
01:11:50,119 --> 01:11:54,359
And as always I leave with the
shout out till one the only the

1180
01:11:54,439 --> 01:11:58,399
indelible. Can't wait to see him
back in the NBA. Please don't send

1181
01:11:58,439 --> 01:12:01,399
me direct messages about how poorly he's
doing what he runs Point for France, Frank Newick