What is up, Fellows Thermonuclear A Efforts. I am Damba Valley coming at
you with the third part of our three part mailbags that I felt like get
dragged on forever. We're kind of in a good way because I had so
many questions and I committed to answering all of them, and so we're gonna
get what was left or some of the last minute ones, the stragglers that
came through, get them out and answered in this episode. First though,
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YouTube descriptions as well. With all of that out of the way, let's
dive right into this. I'm taking a chance and recording this like in the
morning of US Sunday, so that I can get a bunch of other shit
done. And since we have so many you know, it's a Donovan.
It's three questions and they're related to Donovan Mitchell, the Jazz and also Kevin
Durant, So talk about questions that could technically blow up. They come from
Robert Fletcher, who is nice enough to email them. Shout out Robert.
First question, do you think the fact that the All Star Game is in
SLC next year is playing any role in the Mitchell trade discussions? I would
say no, just because at this point you've already traded Rudy Gobert, and
by doing that, you've kind of ensured that there's going to be a deviation
of national focus on you. And I think part of being an All Star
is capturing the attention of the voters, and I just don't think this wouldn't
be an insult if Donovan Mitchell played at an All Star caliber level. He's
perfectly capable of doing that. We've seen it already. Would enough people be
watching the Jazz to say that, or are they going to go the route
of, well, what if the thunder have a better record? For instance,
che gelis Alexander's contributing to more winning, or you know, Steph Curry
and Damian Lillard a contributing to more winning. The other thing that I think
you can't factor in here is that Donov Mitchell is guaranteed to be an All
Star even if we let's just assume that enough people are watching the Jazz that
the voters aren't gonna stigmatize Utah probably not being good or all that great at
the very least right now their roster or at most, I should say it's
like a playing team. At best, they're not They're certainly not a title
contender. Can you guarantee that Mitchell, just even if everything's fair, is
going to make the All Star Game over just the smattering of other guards in
the Western Conference. When you look at Luca Nanche it's qualifying as a point
guard? Will people be allowed to vote Lebron James in there as a point
guard this year? There's also then Steph Curry, Damian Lillard, Jay Gilders,
Alexander's a guard. Jamal Murray's gonna be back this year? Will you
play enough? Maybe not? Devin Booker, Chris Paul. There are just
so many talented guards in the Western Conference specifically that I don't think you know
if you're a and I would say this about Shay Gilders Alexander two. If
the game was in Okay, see, like, you can't guarantee that your
player is going to be in there, would voters gravitate towards them because their
team is the host? Sure? Now that being said, if you are
Utah, if you're the front office, if you're if you're Danny Age,
if you're if you're the team owner, if're Ryan Smith, you know you're
okay maybe having Donovan Mitchell because it would give you sort of that representative in
Utah that you can't guarantee. Do we even know if they're gonna have anyone
in the Rising Stars Game? If it's not Donovan Mitchell, really have any
three point as of right now in their roster three point contest candidates. I
don't think they have a dunk contest candidate. Maybe Donovan Mitchell's health might be
the best chance there, so you're maybe you're more okay with keeping Donovan Mitchell
because if you have him here, one, are the best offers right now
going to go anywhere in the next year if Donovan Mitchell is healthy, And
the answer is no, because he's still two more years left on a deal
before he can hit free agency after that, And the other thing to factor
in then two is just that okay, if the offers aren't up to snuff,
maybe that gives us in it emboldens us and I'm speaking as the Jazz
to keep this asking price where it is where if we want five first round
picks and actual young players from the Knicks or other teams, we're not going
to move it down because we're comfortable with the time left on Donovan Mitchell's deal.
And there's also just that I would call it a small incentive to just
having the player in Utah where the All Star Game is going to be.
But if you're the Jazz specifically, I don't think Donovan Mitchell necessarily ruins your
you build by helping you win too many games. But I think you want
to get away from the specter of this next era that is looming over you,
because if Donov Mitchell's on your team all of next season, there's just
going to be a lot of will they, won't they? When are they?
And that's going to dominate the discourse around Utah rather than being able to
take a foot forward and figure out what direction you're headed in. That's not
to say I think the Jazz should trade Donovan Mitchell for whatever. I think
they can be absolutely comfortable going into next season with him. I really do
think that they're going to have more leverage than any team that they're negotiating with.
And you could argue right now that the Knicks have more leverage than anyone
because they're like second best or third best offer realistically might just be better than
any other team's top offer. So that does give them some added leverage.
But as the Jazz, you have time to wait this out. And again
there's maybe the small benefit of oh, Okay, we have Donovan Mitchell on
the roster. He is an all star player. To have him on our
team when the game's going to be in you it's but I don't think you
don't delay this decision, and I think you've already sort of shown that you
won't if the right offer comes along by moving Gobert in the first place.
Robert also asked at this point, do you think it's more like the Jazz
are going to keep Mitchell into the season and look to trade him around the
trade deadline? Also, if they do plan on keeping him, what other
roster moves would you anticipate. So the first part of this question first,
which we sort of stepped on the toes of in the answer to the trade
discussion ones center on the All Star Game, centered around excuse me, I
don't I honestly don't know. My guests would be that this trade with the
Knicks is just gonna get done because this feels just like such a no brainer
trade. Maybe it's a matter of the Jazz acquiescing a little bit, or
are the you know, maybe the Knicks are giving so many first round picks,
but perhaps they're not all their own, since they have the the Washington,
Detroit, and Milwaukee Bucks first rounders as well as that Dallas first rounders.
So maybe they're just including a way more picks than we're thinking, but
they've saved a little of theirs, perhaps on the front end or on the
back end. However they're able to figure it out. My bet would be,
if I had to bet, which would thank god I don't because I
don't want to on this, would be that they're going to move Donovan Mitchell.
I did make the case that maybe you should keep him into the season
because would that open up I did previously make the case, I should say,
would that open up a list of other trade suitors who this season doesn't
go according to plan? And then they're more likely to throw their all and
offer on the table or enter the sweepstakes at all they're not currently involved.
You can even frame this around the Knicks too, if they after getting jail
and Brunson being so heavily tied to Donovan Mitchell, if they start off the
season like four and seven or something, there's going to be clamorings throughout that
organization to get a deal done. And so do you ultimately get more out
of them by waiting out the let's call it the awkwardness. And we know
it's inevitable that Dono Mitchell gets moved, but do you try and wait out
this this awkwardness to drum up more from the Knicks or again to increase the
the scope of your suitors. Now, when you go through teams that might
fall under that umbrella, that's where things get difficult. I don't know that.
Look, I'm sure Miami's best offer is probably on the table, and
so you're not. You can't physically get more out of them less they're acquiring
additional first round picks somehow, What is the team that's gonna get off to
a weird start? Could it be Cleveland? Then maybe all of a sudden
they're looking at Okay, they're not gonna move Darius card and they won't move
Evan Mobli is basically every one and everything else left. Will they put them
and additional first round picks on the table? That could be something to look
for. Does something happen in Memphis? I hate the Mitchell John Morant pairing,
even if Memphis wanted to operate with urgency. Some people mentioned the Pelicans.
I don't really just buy that. They have CJ. McCollum and Brandon
Ingram and Zion Williamson already. I don't think they need Donovan Mitchell there.
Okay, SE's not going to operate with urgency. Let's is or Orlando gonna
be like better than expected? Twenty games into the season, they decide,
well, maybe we should fucking go for it. And Palo Bank Caro,
you know, we're not moving him, but everyone else pretty much is available.
Maybe they were making friends Wagner untouchable or jail and Suggs one of the
other two, but they could certainly attractive offers a team like the Kings.
No, they're not gonna get involved. Maybe Washington might be more motivated to
do something if they start the season even better or worse than expected, because
if they're better, they could view making this big push in the East is
more attainable than before. And if they're not, they if they start poorly,
well, we just paid Bradley Beal, like we have to at least
we're obligated to try and go for it now. I do think that if
they can negotiate a round that first round pick that's owed to New York,
which is difficult because New York isn't gonna unprotect that pick willie nilly. If
you're the Wizards, though, or you're the Jazz and you're looking at it,
like, Okay, that protection, it's gonna convey no later than twenty
twenty four. Let's just say that. Then you can build out offers from
that. Afterwards. It's top twelve protected next year. So if the Wizards
are really good, maybe the Jazz can look at it and say, well,
yeah, they can conditionally trade us twenty five, twenty seven, and
twenty nine. They all need to turn into second rounders if they don't convey,
YadA, YadA, YadA. But we think it's gonna convey, and
so at worst, maybe they're missing out on that first first round pick in
twenty five, but in twenty seven twenty nine, they know that they're gonna
get those picks in all likelihood. So that is a team that I could
see maybe upping the Anti there. I don't like it's it's hard to spot
anyone else. Maybe Charlotte gets more heavily involved. I don't think Chicago like
would be right. Dallas can say they want to get more involved if they
start off the season really poorly, but they just don't like their best offer
is not great. They could if they put every pick on the table in
the future. Sure twenty five, twenty seven, twenty nine, they can
do all the swaps that they want to, maybe that's semi attractive, But
just looking at they don't have any blue chip young players to send out aside
from Lucanachach obviously, and if you're Utah, like you don't even want I
guess you could want to flip them for other value. But like if you're
able to get as an example, would and Maxi Kleebo or even dor and
Finney Smith as like, what long term value do those players hold to your
rebuild If you're rerouting them the third and fourth teams and you're getting more first
her and equity for that, and you've just decided, hey, we don't
need like a tangible youngster. We're just we're gonna fucking just load up on
picks, picks and picks and picks. Cause as many bites to the draft
apple and also the trade apple as we can. I could see that.
So those are just some teams to maybe keep an eye on there. But
if the Jazz decide to keep Mitchell, you're looking at the rest of the
roster. I think they're gonna need to do something to probably address the front
court rotation a little bit better. I don't know if that comes in the
form of do they sign one of the afterthought three agents at the moment,
are they making a trade with one of their many guards. It's gonna be
a combination, I think of of the two of they're gonna move another guard
and maybe there's a big coming back because that just you know right now having
Walker Kessler, I guess Jared Vanderbilt like, Okay, that's fine, and
if you still believe in you joke as a bookie, Okay, you could
play small with Rudy Gay like, that's just that's uninspiring stuff for the most
part. So I would expect them to upgrade somewhere in the front court while
also sort of diluting the guard situation. And I think what's important here is
that if they're keeping Mitchell, we could discuss the route of would they consider
like if he says all of a sudden he wants to stay forever and ever
and ever, would they consider like moving forward with him, then we can
talk about like actual names. But if you're gonna keep Mitchell in the next
season or even through next season, I don't think your direction has changed.
You're still trying to rebuild, and so you're not going to go out and
like you're not going to be a team that tries to go out and acquire
a winnet. Like you're not gonna go out and try and acquire John Collins
right now. So like you could maybe do something like that straddles the line
between if it seems like Jay Crowder might be unhappy in Phoenix, is there
something to be built around, like Boyad Bogdanovitch for Jay Crowder and then Dario
Sarich, like that could be a deal to look at us because that's a
defensive downgrade for Phoenix, but it's definitely an offensive upgrade. And they need
their third best player to be a better self creator, and I call it
an outside in creator. And I don't know that Boyomdonovitch checks that box.
He's not gonna you a ton of pressure, but he gives you shooting in
a little bit of self creation that's going to be more than DeAndre Ayton probably.
So I wouldn't say Boyomdanovich is their third best player, but you would
probably be their third best offensive player or just very close to DeAndre Eton in
that vein. I mean, look, it's tough because DeAndre atan is just
so good in his offensive role, and we can't let how the sun season
ended or how negotiations went with him sort of taint our view there. My
point is, if you're looking for a way to diversify and juice up the
offense, I mean, Boyomdonovitch just before would be interesting. I think you'd
probably prefer to keep Jay Crowder still in that instance. But if you're Utah,
yeah, you want Cam Johnson, even though he's extension knowledgeable, You're
not getting him for Boyomodonovitch, And so maybe there's like that's the move to
look at where you've balanced out your roster, but you haven't traded any long
term assets. Because Boyomdanovich is on an expiring contract, I could see making
a move along those lines. And you have started to play some four and
he's also played a lot of small ball five before his ac landry. But
I would still expect him to look at, Okay, what are we doing
with Beverly, What are we doing with Conley, Boyamdonovitch, Molik Beasley,
Jordan Clarkson. I think all those names, and I would say, if
donov Mitchell stays in the next season, I would think at least one of
those guys gets moved, if not more than one of them. And look,
a lot of this stuff with Donovan Mitchell might just be held up by
the Kevin Durant stuff. There are teams that could enter the fray, like
let's just say Toronto after Kevin Durant's moved, they missed that boat. Maybe
they entered the favorite Dono Mitchell, or maybe don Mitchell's moved as part of
this mega Kevin Durant tradehere, Kevin Durant's not going to Utah, but is
it? Because the by product of a Kevin Durant trade is the Nets are
moving Kyrie Irving and so they're sending him to Lakers. The Jazz get involved
to take on picks to take on Russell Westbrook. They're sending Donovan Mitchell to
another team or are they sending Donovan Mitchell to Brooklyn itself, which you would
have to figure that out because he and Ben Simmons cannot be on the same
team. It'd be bigger, bigger, bigger. I'm just saying business for
Donovan Mitchell is probably being held up at least to some extent outside of the
Knicks runoff as anyway, by what's happening with Kevin Durant. So if they
are going to keep Donovan Mitchell, I think the move is, let's,
you know, let's sort of truncate this gard rotation and see if we can
just get some some front court help. And it could be you could skew
younger and try and take a flyer on like because there were but they were
like no, like young four, could you get PJ. Washington and Utaha
or but like what is the opportunity cost of that going to be? And
also kind of like what's the point it'd be cool to get on Yeka Kungu
from Atlanta? Like what are you giving up to get him? Atlanta used
him as a player that's going to help them win now. So but that's
that's the route you would go, and you can, you can if you
want to still field a competitive team, I guess to be interesting. But
at the same time, like there's value in your pick. I don't think
Dono Mitchell ruined your your rebuild, but like you're gonna have there's value in
your pick being as bad as possible is my point. So, uh,
this season, I guess it technically doesn't matter because they own it out right
whereas in twenty and twenty four it's top ten protective. So you don't want
to be too good when you're looking at the obligation of Okay, see that
being said, you want to get this thing started right away, and I
don't think that changes with or without with Donovan Mitchell staying in the Fold or
another year. The final question from Robert in the wake of the Katie ultimatum,
it really feels like Nash is out of a job regardless of what happens.
If he's ultimately let go, who would you expect as his replacement?
Do you think Quinn Snyder would consider Brooklyn his next coaching stop. That's interesting.
So do I think Steve Nash is out of a job regardless if Kevin
Durant stays Yes. If he doesn't, I think they're probably going to be
more inclined to just I think it depends on their direction. They've made it
very clear as so far that they want to get back a player who helps
them win now in a Kevin Durant trade, and that makes some sense because
of how much of their draft future is mortgage to Houston right now. But
they want picks and players because they want to compete. They still have Ben
Simmons. I don't know what they're gonna get. Maybe they're just figuring on
what we'll get picks for Kyrie if we move them to the Lakers or whatever.
So I think they would still let it play out with Nash. Should
kd get moved your own getting rid of Nash? I think at this point,
if you never wanted him to begin with, if you're Josi and Shawn
Marks, and it was just fully that that band wagon was completely driven by
Katie and Kyrie. But now that Katie doesn't want him anymore, like you
know, I don't think and he looped him and Sean Marks together, and
we know that Shawn Marks and Steve Nash have have somewhat of a history.
But I think that people are really underestimating the extent to which Kevin Durant played
a role in Steve Nash coming on the nets radar. I don't think he's
not only to blame. There's so much blame to go around here with the
organization with the players, so I would I'm not putting it all on Katie,
but like we can't, he's not teflon in this either, Like he
fucked up a ton and he has not proved to be. Look, this
is why I wouldn't fire. This is my my I don't want to get
into this too much, but like I wouldn't fire Shawn Marks and Steve Nash
just to keep Kevin Durant at this point because one, I'm not even sure
if he wants to actually stay or is this just a ploy because he knows
the Nets aren't going to give into it and he wants to accelerate the trade
sweepstakes. But two, it was just like, well should we trust Kevin
Durant's judgment as the quasi operator of a team where he wanted DeAndre Jordan on
the roster. He wanted the Nest to go all in on James Harden,
and then couldn't figure out a way to keep James Harden in Brooklyn or figure
out a way for Kyrie to get, you know, be more involved with
the team so that James Harden might want to stay in Brooklyn. And then
now he wanted a coach and he's going to want him fired. He also
talked about the research that he did on Kenny Atkinson before he signed in Brooklyn.
He was intrigued, but then Kenny Atkinson was forced out basically the minute
that KD and was fully healthy and able to play there. So that's why
I'm not fine. I'm not putting this all in KD, but he has
not shown like as someone with a primary voice in the organization like Josiah Shawn
Marks and Kevin Durant. If this was actually a collaborative effort, he's gonna
deserve equal, if not more, of the Blaine based off some of the
decisions that were made, specifically the DeAndre Jordan one. But I look,
the nets fucked up there too. They never should have allowed that to be
a condition, or you at least don't let him start for so long over
Karen Allen. So this is all to say that if Kevin Durant is still
in Brooklyn, though, I would probably has her that it's because you got
rid of at least Steve Nash, if not both him and Sean marsh or
maybe you just don't care about the awkwardness. You're gonna keep Steve Nash in
general. Do I think Quinn Snyder would consider Brooklyn. I think he's smart
enough not to touch this with a one hundred foot pole, because this is
combustible Kyrie's going to be a free agent after this season? This season,
is he just going to leave given how contentious contract talks were, I would
absolutely predict that unless they figure out a way to extend him or they're willing
to to max him out. And then also just we don't know if Kevin
Durant actually wants to be there. If you're allowing him to hand pick the
next coach, then okay, maybe that changes things. So I couldn't even
reasonably throw names out here, just like, should we just put Rich Kleman
into the GM job if Sean Marks gets flied? Like, is that the
level of control that Kady wants or the level of say, that he wants
in the organization? So I can't even throw name out there because we don't
also know Brooklyn's direction. If Nash gets fired. Now, if Nash gets
fired and it's to keep Kevin Duran and Kyrie and they're committed and the organizations
committed to them, then maybe you could enter the fold for the quinn Snyders,
the Mike y Antoni if he's sort of hovering around out there, if
you're not operating under the assumption that either of those players will be there,
I think you keep Nash. And if you're not going to keep Nash at
that point, I honestly don't know what the argument would be to get rid
of him. If you do move Kyrie and Katie, see what he could
do with the roster, and then also get a feel for what's going to
be in the market, what's going to be in the market leading into next
season when you kind of have a better idea of what your return was on
the Kevin Duran and Kyrie Irving trades in the first place, And that might
be The other thing is if if Kyrie and Katie aren't going to be there,
we need to see what the Nets roster looks like before we decide whether
Steve Nash would be there. Maybe Steve Nash doesn't want to be there where
he's like, I don't I don't need this shit. I didn't need this
ship in the first place. Why I even take this job? YadA,
YadA, YadA. And the other thing is, just like, if you
get rid of Kyrie d doesn't that make the Nets more attractive to prospective coaching
candidates because they know that they're probably gonna get more leeway, more runway to
actually build up the team, and so that might make it more attractive to
someone like Quinn Snyder. I think a lot of people believe that he's just
going to be next in line in San Antonio at this point and that he's
taking a gap year here until that spot opens up as possible, But I
would argue that to an established name, unless you're throwing just ungodly sums of
money at them, But to an established name where you have some leverage in
talks, you know that you'll be sought after regardless, and other coaching areas
like you could probably feel more comfortable with KD not being in Brooklyn because it
shows that they're gonna, at least even if they want to win soon ish,
they're gonna give you some graduality there. They're going to give you a
you know you're going to be great and on a developmental curve. Just because
there's so many what ifs outside of this, what does Ben Simmons look like,
how many games does he play? What's up with the back? What's
his fit with the roster? So I if I had to predict who's more
likely to be on the nets to start with the nets to start the season,
Katie or Nash. I'm probably gonna take Nash because it really, to
me just feels like Katie wants out of Brooklyn at this point. That's where
that's where I'm certainly at with that. It just feels like I would not
go as far as saying that it feels like Nash is out of a job
regardless, though I don't know that we have enough of a sample size too
with a full strength roster to draw any sweeping conclusions about him. But yeah,
if Katie is gonna come back, and like you've made the conscious decision
to try and make this work, it probably doesn't make sense to get rid
of Nash at this point. Thank you for the questions, Robert. Let's
move on to we have a couple from uh some YouTube friends, so e
E L. I ask my question is who do you think will be the
starting four and five in Detroit? Amongst the Lenox m ME three, Duran
beef stew and Newland's Noel So And there's two questions here. I'll get to
the first one. Get to the first one first, obviously in case no
one caught that. So for the Pistons, I think, so we know
who's gonna be Like the three starters that are locked down at this point is
you do you have Kade, you have Jade and Ivy. It's like,
you know those are gonna be I guess you're if you want to call it
a starting backcourt, and then you have I guess Sadiq Bay would be the
guy that we just assume is also going to be in there because he's been
such a starter. You could maybe justify it by trying to make him be
the the three. But I think a lot of people believe it's gonna be
like Stew and Bagley and that Durham won't start right away. I would advocate
for Stu and Isaiah Livers actually, because I don't think this team is surrounded
Kade and Jade and Ivy two with enough shooting, nearly enough shooting, I
would say, And so I'm gonna try and roll out as much shooting as
possible in that starting five. Bagley and Stew together, to me, would
be a disaster. Isaiah Livers showed a lot in Suverer League, and he's
not afraid to get those shots up, and so I think I would start
him Stu, and then I would go with Bay, Ivy and and Cade.
I'm not opposed to starting Durhan. I just feel like this is a
team that's going to prefer that he come off the bench to start his career.
I will say I'll be fairly shocked if Newlands Noll is starting, just
because I don't know how much they're really invested in new Lands no well succeeding,
and so I'd rank him as the least likely to start of anyone that
we just mentioned, even more so than Alynic. Also, maybe if Alc
burks As you're starting three two and then you just put Bay at the four.
But if we're choosing from these players, I know Livers wasn't on your
list, Lee, I would start Livers and be stew is my front court.
I might even start Livers and Durhan because I would just go full like
I don't stew Is not old and he's good, Like I really think that
he's underrated on defense specifically. But I don't want to see Bagley and stup
Plague. I don't want to see Bagley at the four with another big I
guess it's a little different if you signed to play with a link, but
I don't really know that. I want to see the defense of a Bagley
Olnic front court. So I would go with isa A Livers and Beef stew
with an honorable mention to Isaiah Livers and Jaen Duran with Jay and Ivy and
Kate Cunningham just need to start. I want to see that second question from
uh Lee, who do you see in free agency next season being a good
fit with the Pistons. That is an interesting question. I think you need
to look at like, what do you think they need long term still?
And it's probably if you think they drafted their center of the future and then
their point guards, their back goor to the future in paid Cunningham and Dave
and Ivy, you're looking at the long term three and four spots. Now,
is Bay in the conversation to be a long term keeper? Absolutely?
I would say that they might view him as a long term guy more than
not. So you just go with someone who I guess can operate well off
of him. And if you're gonna have maybe I think my the spreadsheet I'm
looking at, we'll have them at almost sixty million dollars in cash base.
You're kind of not gonna say, have your pick of the litter, but
you can go a lot of different directions. I still think what you ultimately
should do is probably skew younger when you're going it's target these free agents because
you're not going to be at the uh You're not going I mean maybe maybe
I shouldn't say that because maybe they shock us and they're just really good this
season. So you could talk to yourself into going after someone more veteran,
like if Andrew Wiggins hits the open market, if if Harrison Barnes is there,
are you good enough to go that route? I would be interested in
Kyle Kuzma for this team, if you like Jay Crowder uh like, just
to get a veteran presence in there. What could be interesting if you really
wanted to go sort of the younger route though, If let's just say he
has a good year and stays healthy and hits retarcht to free agency because he
hasn't agree in extension with Atlanta, Like, are you one of the teams
that maybe throws an offer sheet at DeAndre Hunter? That could be certainly something
that would be worth taking a look at. Maybe depending on how Cam Reddish
plays in New York this season and he enters restricted free agency, do you
take a look at him, I would not. I want to make that
clear and not prioritize him. I'm just trying to think of restricted free agents
from for twenty and twenty three. But I like the idea of like,
is Wiggins, do you consider him young enough? He'll be having wrapped up
his age twenty eight season, I believe or he's twenty eight and a half
right now, so maybe that would be his age twenty nine season. I
should double check that, so I don't know, and also costs. I
don't think you need to overpay anyone. So yeah, he's about to oh
excuse me, he's about to play out as age twenty seventh season, So
he's younger than I actually thought. So maybe he's a name that you that
you could look at there. I don't like r J. Barrett with this
team as another restricted free agent that jumps off the page. Cameron Johnson would
be fun if he enters restricted free agency. You have him and Duran as
your four or five with Bay. That's something that could totally work. So
you could certainly take a look at him, maybe as someone who's like a
poor man's Cam Johnson. You look at PJ. Washington, Grant Williams as
well. He'd be a lot He's a lot better than Johnson or PJ.
Washington, a lot of defensive end too. That type of name, though,
I don't think that you need to go spend like a bookoo bucks.
Now. If you want like a building block type wing or someone who's gonna
maybe elevate your status a little bit more, then yeah, Like if we're
talking about small forward specifically, like a true three, maybe with someone who
is the potential to play the four, Andrew Wiggins comes to mind. I
would probably steer clear of a reunion with Chris Middleton in so far as that's
really possible. I like the idea of Kelly Woodbridge Junior, just because they
could get out and run with him. But I just don't. I don't
really like the I want to see more shooting, and so that's where Andrew
Wiggins would kind of makes sense there. But yeah, those are names that
spring to mind. You could also just take the flyers or players who really
you know, if T. J. Warrens stays healthy and balls out in
Brooklyn, we know they don't have his bird rights, can't keep him,
do you just take a look at him? And so I still think you're
you're in flyer mode, but if you want it to go the all in
route, I would keep it eye on someone like a Hunter and Andrew Wiggins.
Like those would be names because the Pistons have so much cap space and
if they, let's say they're bringing another high draft pick, they anticipate being
good. I think they still need like wing depth and wing shooting specifically on
this roster, So you could take a look at those names. Even Harrison
Barnes, if you're committed to playing him more at the four than the three,
and you have sa deep Bay, they're still so those are some names
that spring to mind for me. Thank you for those questions. Lead we
have I believe another one on YouTube if there was any This is from Nathan
Stock. If there was any team to get relocated in the future, cough,
King's cough, which one seems most likely? Bonus? What would be
your personal favorite locations for expansion teams and what seems most likely? So I
don't I don't know what team would get relocated. It's probably the Pelicans.
And like the King's fan base is too like rapidly supportive in a great way
or engaged, I should say, because a lot of them are critical of
the King's organization. I don't want any I want to make this giry.
I don't want any market to lose their their franchise. I would just be
devastated for the fans. I'm more about expansion rather than relocation, so I
wouldn't even hazard to answer this question. I will say that it feels like
maybe it would be New Orleans. Maybe I'm just you know two, I'm
being hashtag national atalysts and reading too much in the market, but that would
be my pick if there was going to be a relocation. Again, I
don't think there should be. I don't think New Orleans. I definitely don't
think people have named Memphis in the past. I don't think Sacramento. Those
are not markets that should lose their franchises. It's not, you know,
Kings fans fault. It's not the market's fault that the King's front office is
by and large, been fucking awful over the past couple of decades. My
personal favorite market to put an expansion team, just because I would want to
cover them, there is San Diego, just full stop, and then all
of a sudden, it's oh, it's quiet, going to go there,
But realistically, I just I think it's gonna end up being Vegas at this
point, Vegas or Seattle. I hope of the two. I prefer to
see Seattle first. But if you're gonna expand, I feel like we're gonna
get two franchises at once at this stage, so it would be Las Vegas
and Seattle for me, and I don't I would just love to see a
franchise in San Diego so I could go there. That is the selfish answer.
I don't think it's necessarily the right answer. I want to make that
abundantly clear, and the right answer is just probably Seattle. That market deserves
a franchise, So Vegas and Seattle I think most likely after that, I
honestly don't know. Is it West Virginia and New Mexico maybe, Like I
don't know where San Diego really falls on that list. It's probably not anywhere
close to where I want it to be, though, just because I would
like to make the trek out to San Diego or Bleach Report could just open
up some corporate headquarters, maybe Hardwar Knox heused to open up. I'm gonna
llc Hardwar Knox. Then we're gonna open up a headquarters in San Diego,
so just selfishly, so that I could travel. I don't want to live
there because it's really expensive, although I live in one of the most expensive
parts of the country anyway. So yeah, we're gonna open up a corporate
headquarters in San Diego for hardware Knox, and I'm going to move there.
That is the dream. It'll be a lot easier to justify said dream or
actualize it. I should say, if there is a team in San Diego,
let's get to this. This will be the last. It's the last
question I have banked. So it comes from on Twitter Tybel's wingspan. So
this question was interesting and I had to ask people around the league who covered
the league friends of mine as well about this. So the question is so,
on Danny LaRue's pod Real GM Pod, he was going through pros and
cons of the Knick's roster and listed a few of those cons. But one
of those cons was and then you combine that with having a million different left
handed people, and he said so, he said it so confidently that I
had to wonder if that was true. Our right he's more valuable than lefties
and why so I asked people about this. I also went and listened to
that podcast he did. Basically, Danny Rue did say this, and I
have no doubt that Danny Larrue is plugged in and knows his shit. I
did ask multiple people, though, like who cover the league, coach,
because like I asked people like plugged in people, not like a GM's and
stuff. I'm not. I'm not plugged into next step, but I asked
people I trust smart basketball people. Is the best way to frame it,
and they don't understand why this would be a thing. Collectively I think the
best. So a lot of the answers I got were lefties give you more
mismatches because they're like idiosyncratic basically on offense, and so it makes them more
difficult to cover. And you look at you know, there are players who've
talked about left handed players say they feel they're more difficult to cover, and
then there are defenders that say it's a little bit harder to contest a shot.
I think what LaRue was getting at, and I think he kind of
mentioned this as well, is that Jalen Brunson and Julius Randall specifically like to
have plays run for them on a specific side of the floor. Now,
players are going to be used to playing on opposite ends of the court,
but if you're just placing one another or you're stacking the court too far to
that end, and then you're also kind of dealing with the fact that RJ.
Barrett's on the floor. Maybe that's not a big deal because RJ is
so comfortable I think operating to the right. But like I guess there could
be some issue with that. I really don't see like that being detrimental.
Maybe that's more a comment on just a talent in New York where it's okay,
they have all these left handers, but do we trust any of them
to be able to adapt as much? And I think the bigger thing here
when you look at the Knicks is that Barrett, based off how he played
the last season, Brunton, and Randall all prefer to operate inside the arc.
I think Barrett is the most comfortable operating beyond the arc of all three,
just because he has so much experience as a set shooter. And Jalen
Brunson will take set threes and we've seen Julius Randall will take off the dribble
threes, and this past season they did not go in, but that's not
the strong suit at this point for any of them. And RJ probably comes
close as a set shooter, which is like the pressure you put on the
rim. They put the ball in his hands. So you're probably worried just
about all three of them, among others on this team wanting to occupy too
much of the same space. Does that unnecessarily clump up your offense. I
don't know that I view it as a downside, but it's certainly something I
guess to watch for if you believe that Brunson and Randall or so there's a
rigidity to where they want from where they want to operate. I guess something
to watch, not something I can say that thought about. It was a
fascinating question, and so out look all the fur to Danie LaRue, who's
smarter, way smarter than I am. But I it's not something I considered.
But I do look at the Knicks offense overall and see that, oh,
there isn't enough shooting. There's a lot of guys that like to occupy
the same space. But I would just wonder if if you're running too many
plays on one side of the court, are other players who are left handed?
Are they gonna feel out of place? But like that's in existence they
have to deal with anyway. If you're you're having right handers, like,
you're all not gonna be able to They're gonna have to play on on opposite
ends. But I guess because of that, you're gonna be more comfortable where
you're actually standing. So is there going to be a discomfort level they are
with the left handers on the Knicks roster? Are we gonna see like left
handed lineup staggering where there's no more than two lefties on the court at the
same time for New York. I don't know realistically, no, because you
right now you have three lefties. I think three lefties projected to be in
your starting five. So that's just not something that you're gonna be able to
to get around. And also I think I forgot this is Evan four ya
lev No, he's alright. I just looked this up. That's why I'm
stuttering. So yeah, that I just I never thought about it. But
I do think that's the rationale, is that you're worried about having too many
players who already like to occupy sort of the same space like inside the ark.
But now we're also sort of like narrowing that down even further to the
side of the court from which they like to generate their touches from, and
that could really, you know, make things clunky. This was a fun
quick by our Standards mailbag. Thank you everyone for the questions this past week.
Beginning if you're listening to this, on Monday the fifteenth, we begin
our division division by division off season grades. I tried to wait for Kevin
Durant and Tom and Mitchell. I can't do it anymore. Like, we
just either get these out and we'll react to those trades if and when they
happen. I might try and push back the Northwest and Atlantic division grades just
a little bit, but probably not at this point. So those will be
rolling out. We'll have four for you through this week, and then we'll
have the other two either Monday Tuesday of next week or might be Tuesday Wednesday
if I just want to put out a different sort of po to change up
the pace. And finally, just the housekeeping notes for people who make it
to the end. I will be traveling a couple of times during this offseason.
I'm gonna try and pre plan some content. You all have been great
about consuming it, and I know a lot of people have said they appreciate
that we're putting out content during this time of the year. So I want
to make I want to make sure that that I'm continuing to put out content
during this time for you all. I'd like producing content. I look it's
gonna help me, I guess stay up on the game, but I will
be traveling, so I don't know what the volume is going to be.
Like I can guarantee you that one of the times we're traveling for four days
at the end of August. I think that's not a leisure trip unfortunately,
and then I'm taking my I will call it much needed. I'm gonna try
and unplug at the beginning of September kind of just like I think it's September
eight to twenty, I will we really start to ramp up as one I'm
meeting on I'll try and have content plan, but I'm not as responsive as
normal and discord on YouTube. And you've listened to this far. That is
going to be for the reason why until next time though, and is always
one remember to subscribe, but two I leave you with the shout out from
one the only Frank Neil A. Kno