Speaker 1: Hey, magic fans, this is just into Silva and you're
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Speaker 1: We have an update on the witch hunt. I told
Speaker 1: you earlier in the show that my wife had told
Speaker 1: me that she was on the search for a two
Speaker 1: foot statue of a witch that you put outside in
Speaker 1: the yard. She was very excited about this thing, and
Speaker 1: they sell it at Cracker Barrel and they had not.
Speaker 1: And the only reason I know this is because she
Speaker 1: called the store to see if they had this item
Speaker 1: that had gone viral on TikTok and the truck was
Speaker 1: arriving today sometime between noon and seven pm. So, me,
Speaker 1: being the good husband that I am, I stopped at
Speaker 1: Cracker Barrel on the way to the studio to ask
Speaker 1: the fine people at the barrel do you have this witch?
Speaker 1: I'm walking around showing employees the picture of the witch.
Speaker 1: They didn't have it yet. Well I got sent the photo.
Speaker 1: It is now in the backseat of my wife's car.
Speaker 1: She was able to secure the witch statue, So stress
Speaker 1: no more, Tyler, We got it and you fail. Yeah
Speaker 1: you try. I went. You know, like, how cool would
Speaker 1: it have been if I was the one that secured
Speaker 1: the statue? That the brownie points that this would award
Speaker 1: me early in July coming up with this Halloween decoration.
Speaker 1: So how would you have tried to manage it?
Speaker 2: Would you have tried to surprise her with it when
Speaker 2: you got home from the studio today? Would have just
Speaker 2: been sitting there staring at her when she got into
Speaker 2: walk through the front door of the house today? How
Speaker 2: would you try to manage it? Because how funny would
Speaker 2: it have been if you were able to secure one earlier?
Speaker 2: She swings by on the way home from work and
Speaker 2: gets another, and then you have not one, but two
Speaker 2: two foot witches.
Speaker 1: You never you never want to call your wife crazy.
Speaker 1: But I know I know how my I know how
Speaker 1: Mallory's brain operates. So I would tell her because I
Speaker 1: would fear that exact move that what happened. I told her, Hey,
Speaker 1: I went there and they didn't have it. Sorry if
Speaker 1: I did that in a way to swerve her, and
Speaker 1: then she I knew she was gonna go yeah, because
Speaker 1: the the reason it wasn't there is that the truck
Speaker 1: just hadn't arrived yet, right, So you're gonna look out
Speaker 1: what this is. I'll send you the picture of this thing. It's, uh,
Speaker 1: it's pretty cool. Cracker barrel witch. Yeah, I think I
Speaker 1: see it. Yeah, I mean it's uh, it is it's
Speaker 1: a witch tree, so it looks like a tree. Yeah,
Speaker 1: you got that, I got it. What do you think?
Speaker 1: Kind of creepy?
Speaker 2: I'd say that you have to really love Halloween or
Speaker 2: witches in order to spend hard earned money on this,
Speaker 2: But who am I.
Speaker 1: To say whatever? I mean, whatever makes her happy. But
Speaker 1: the battle, the next battle, Now what this becomes is
Speaker 1: July fourth, fireworks go off, We lay our heads on
Speaker 1: our pillows. Wake up it's now July fifth. I think
Speaker 1: she's gonna want to put some of this stuff out,
Speaker 1: and I don't know. I think I might have to.
Speaker 1: I'm gonna fight her on that one. It's a little
Speaker 1: it's a little too early for Halloween.
Speaker 2: You're a little too new to the neighborhood, I think
Speaker 2: to where you are specifically, Like you can even get
Speaker 2: the title of crazy Halloween people. And I think there
Speaker 2: are worse things to be in a neighborhood. But this
Speaker 2: will be not your first Halloween, but your first full
Speaker 2: July in that house.
Speaker 1: If I'm not mistaken, you are correct. It's a little
Speaker 1: too early, Yeah, to be really crazy Halloween people. Don't
Speaker 1: let your kids walk by their house. You don't want
Speaker 1: to be those I think August is fine if you're
Speaker 1: really into Halloween. I think August July. It's just it'll
Speaker 1: be up too long's I'm not anti decoration, but you
Speaker 1: don't want to have decorations up so long, whether it's
Speaker 1: Halloween or Christmas or picking whatever holiday. If it's up
Speaker 1: for too long, then by the time you get to
Speaker 1: that holiday, it's not special anymore. That's the problem. You
Speaker 1: want to keep this stuff unique. Yeah, and you can't
Speaker 1: keep it unique if it's up for six months. So
Speaker 1: we we not only have an update in the witch Hunt,
Speaker 1: we also have an update in NBA free agency. The
Speaker 1: late move to come down. Free agent sharpshooter Tim Hardaway
Speaker 1: Junior has agreed to a one year deal with the
Speaker 1: Denver Nuggets. The Nuggets have had a really strong offseason
Speaker 1: so far, very deliberate in their moves. They traded Michael
Speaker 1: Porter Junior and an unprotected first round pick in twenty
Speaker 1: thirty two to the Brooklyn Nets for Cam Johnson. They
Speaker 1: also brought Bruce Brown back on a one year veteran
Speaker 1: minimum deal, so very clear what this team is trying
Speaker 1: to do. They want to add more depth around Nikola
Speaker 1: Jokicic and that depth needs to be three in d guys.
Speaker 1: That's going to help the team defend and help Jokic
Speaker 1: spray out to even more three point shooters. So I
Speaker 1: like the moves that Denver has made. They are clearly
Speaker 1: going to be one of those teams among the many
Speaker 1: in the Western conferences arms race than the West, they
Speaker 1: are one of those teams that you have to take
Speaker 1: seriously next year. I like the way that the team
Speaker 1: is reloading we.
Speaker 2: Talk about the weaklink era and why the under the
Speaker 2: three and D wing guard combos, it's endless. The Indiana
Speaker 2: Pacers getting the best out of guys like Ben Sheppard.
Speaker 2: The Knicks were kind of the variant to all of this.
Speaker 2: The Celtics with what Peyton Pritchard is six Man of
Speaker 2: the Year and Sam Houser the minutes that he was
Speaker 2: able to provide off of the bench.
Speaker 1: That's kind of the era.
Speaker 2: It's not only having the superstar, but okay, you need
Speaker 2: to not lose too much when your eighth, ninth, tenth
Speaker 2: men are out there on the court in the biggest moments.
Speaker 2: And Denver locked in this offseason that they are not
Speaker 2: going to have the weakest link on the court. With
Speaker 2: the additions that they have made, the probably the most
Speaker 2: strategic without a major splash that we've seen this offseason.
Speaker 2: I still think that Houston is the most revamped to
Speaker 2: bring in Kevin Durant, but I really like the trade
Speaker 2: to get cheaper Cam Johnson for Michael Porter junior swap
Speaker 2: and to free up the money to bring in guys
Speaker 2: like Bruce Brown and Valanciunas and Hardaway Junior.
Speaker 1: I really like the offseason for the Nuggets. The way
Speaker 1: that the cap works in the NBA, it has created
Speaker 1: I think a very similar type of build. It's different
Speaker 1: in how you get there, but the finished product for
Speaker 1: a lot of these teams that our championship caliber are fit,
Speaker 1: they're all built a very similar way. You have your superstar,
Speaker 1: you have your batman. That batman has his robin. For
Speaker 1: the Nuggets, using them as an example, Nikola Jokic is
Speaker 1: the superstar. Gotta have that guy. If you don't have
Speaker 1: a superstar in the NBA, you're never gonna win a championship,
Speaker 1: except for the Detroit Pistons that did it back in
Speaker 1: two thousand and four, but they were, you know, they
Speaker 1: were the unicorn. You have to have that superstar. They
Speaker 1: have it in Jokic. You have to have the the
Speaker 1: secondary star who's a clear step down from the superstar,
Speaker 1: but it's still good enough to carry the team in
Speaker 1: important moments. That's Jamal Murray. You have to have the
Speaker 1: superstar role player, a guy that he is absolutely a
Speaker 1: role player, but is the top of the line a
Speaker 1: Tier one role player. That's Aaron Gordon. And then you
Speaker 1: have to have depth. And the Nuggets now have all
Speaker 1: of those things, and the depth is what they were
Speaker 1: missing before. Moving off of Michael Porter Junior has allowed
Speaker 1: them to get there. I think you could look at
Speaker 1: OKC and they're built the same way, a younger version
Speaker 1: with guys that are still able to mature into more
Speaker 1: developed roles. But Sga is the star, Jalen Williams is
Speaker 1: the co star, chet Holmgren is the star role player,
Speaker 1: and they have depth and a lot of these teams
Speaker 1: are built that way. I think something interesting as well
Speaker 1: to keep in mind with Denver is a rookie from
Speaker 1: last season, Dayron Holmes out of Dayton who did not play.
Speaker 1: He had a season ending injury before the year got gone.
Speaker 1: I don't recall exactly what it was. We'll see how
Speaker 1: that hampers him.
Speaker 2: But he was an experienced forward center combo coming out
Speaker 2: of Dayton, very athletic, and he's still kind of a
Speaker 2: question mark of what he can.
Speaker 1: Be in this league.
Speaker 2: So I think Aaron Gordon may have drawn some comps
Speaker 2: for day run home. So that's kind of It's kind
Speaker 2: of the Nicola Topitch situation for the Thunder. You have
Speaker 2: another first rounder that you just get to drop in
Speaker 2: next year, and it's like adding another free agent, so
Speaker 2: I think it's a interesting to see how he meshes
Speaker 2: with the squad as well.
Speaker 1: NBA free agency has seen a flurry of moves, but
Speaker 1: not everybody is pleased with the action and entertainment of
Speaker 1: it all. We have a clip from Chris Haynes, NBA
Speaker 1: reporter on NBA TV's Free Agency special last night, reading
Speaker 1: a text that he got from a prominent voice from
Speaker 1: within the league.
Speaker 3: I want I'm not going to mention the name of
Speaker 3: this individual, but this is a high ranking NBA figure.
Speaker 3: It's been in the league for years. They said free
Speaker 3: agency is dead, and they think it's bad for the
Speaker 3: league because it's usually one of the league's biggest attractions.
Speaker 3: We have to remember that this is entertainment and we
Speaker 3: can't take that away. How do y'all feel about that?
Speaker 3: Do you do you believe that promise?
Speaker 1: My guess, by the way, is Magic Johnson. I think
Speaker 1: Magic Johnson sent him that tame prominent figure been in
Speaker 1: the league for years and is worried about the league's
Speaker 1: entertainment value. That to me, we know Magic Johnson is
Speaker 1: an opinionated guy and he cares about the health of
Speaker 1: the league. My guess is Magic Johnson. But either way,
Speaker 1: it's an interesting point and it's certainly not wrong the
Speaker 1: dead part. Free agency has created a flurry of moves,
Speaker 1: but free agency itself, with the stars of the league
Speaker 1: being mobile this time of year, it is certainly not
Speaker 1: what it used to be, the days of Lebron James
Speaker 1: making a live TV decision or Kevin Durant holding your
Speaker 1: Fourth of July holiday hostage because he's a free agent.
Speaker 1: I mean, we had a year. You go back to
Speaker 1: that Lebron year. We had a year where Lebron James,
Speaker 1: Dwayne Wade, and Chris Bosh were free agents in the
Speaker 1: same year. We're just not gonna see that anymore. We
Speaker 1: haven't seen it in years. Free agency is not what
Speaker 1: it used to be. Free agency is where you fill
Speaker 1: out your roster, you get a roll guy, maybe you
Speaker 1: get that big that you needed. But the superstars, they
Speaker 1: don't ever see unrestricted free agency. And I do miss it.
Speaker 1: I miss that being part of the equation. NBA free
Speaker 1: agency to me is still entertaining. But to say it's
Speaker 1: as entertaining as it used to be would be an
Speaker 1: absolute lie.
Speaker 2: Well, I think it's the trade off of it because
Speaker 2: we have seen the kind of flip where now there
Speaker 2: are cases going both ways. We'll continue to see big
Speaker 2: time free agents, not the Lebron caliber of guys, but
Speaker 2: still big time free agents signing contracts.
Speaker 1: They still will sneak through the cracks.
Speaker 2: I think that Kyrie Irving's extension and Miles Turner on paper,
Speaker 2: those were the two biggest financial contracts that we saw
Speaker 2: in this this free agency. But yeah, it's kind of
Speaker 2: flipped where if you're not drafting your star, then you
Speaker 2: trade for your star and then you sign your role
Speaker 2: players in free agencies, where it used to be kind
Speaker 2: of reverse, you would have trade to fill in the
Speaker 2: cracks around your star if you weren't able to draft
Speaker 2: them or go out and get them in free agency.
Speaker 2: So I think any negative that can be thrown towards
Speaker 2: free agency, it can be a positive towards the trade
Speaker 2: deadline and just trades overall. In this league that you
Speaker 2: still have guys is the top ten players in the
Speaker 2: league getting dealt around the deadline and through the offseason.
Speaker 2: So I think it's just a bit of a trade off.
Speaker 2: But there certainly is a point to it that you
Speaker 2: don't have any players making in this free agency period
Speaker 2: making or signing a deal that is worth more than
Speaker 2: an average of forty million dollars a year.
Speaker 1: He's right on the door at thirty nine, so we
Speaker 1: can even bump him. That's one. But there was never
Speaker 1: even a question as to whether or not he was
Speaker 1: gonna stick around with Dallas. Right, don't even count. I
Speaker 1: don't even think he counts.
Speaker 2: Then you have three guys, including Kyrie, that signed for
Speaker 2: twenty five or more, the other two being Fred Van
Speaker 2: Vliet and Miles Turner. Those are your top three guys
Speaker 2: in this period of free agency. You only have six
Speaker 2: that signed deals worth fifteen million or more, Dennis Shrewder, Nikyle,
Speaker 2: Alexander Walker, and Santi Al Dama.
Speaker 1: Yeah, we went through translation here. We went through an
Speaker 1: entire free agency first wave where the really good players
Speaker 1: get signed. Not a single franchise changing alters your timeline.
Speaker 1: Type of player was secured in free agency, not one.
Speaker 2: I'd have to look through this further. I think you
Speaker 2: only have one All Star, and Kyrie Irving. I think
Speaker 2: that he is the only player on this list that
Speaker 2: has an All Star appearance.
Speaker 1: James Harden would have. The other one was his A.
Speaker 1: He was a free agent heading into this summer. Yeah,
Speaker 1: but it was never a question as to whether or
Speaker 1: not he was going to stick around. That's why, you know,
Speaker 1: and the computer's chiming in on it too.
Speaker 2: Well, that's why I don't see James Harden on this
Speaker 2: Technically Lebron Lebron, Well, Lebron wasn't a free agent.
Speaker 1: He could have been a free agent, but he opted in.
Speaker 1: But either way, I don't I don't know those guys.
Speaker 1: There's never question as to whether or not those guys
Speaker 1: were weren't going to stick around where they were.
Speaker 2: Yeah, I'm trying to think with Harden of why he
Speaker 2: isn't on this list, in particular because he still had
Speaker 2: he wasn't an unrestricted free agent at all, right, I
Speaker 2: guess he would have been at one point once he
Speaker 2: declined the team option and then extended.
Speaker 1: So he's not on this.
Speaker 2: List that I'm looking at a spot trock dot com
Speaker 2: dot com, but he he certainly probably should qualify for
Speaker 2: this list. But it goes to the point that Santi
Speaker 2: al Dama's one of your top five free agents this offseason,
Speaker 2: and that is probably an issue. But on the other
Speaker 2: side of that, role players are still exciting. I have
Speaker 2: gotten text from casual NBA fans in my life saying
Speaker 2: whoa NBA right now? Just because you get the flurry
Speaker 2: of Sham's notifications and it all happens so fast, and
Speaker 2: every team in the league, for the most part, is
Speaker 2: getting involved in it. So whatever team you follow is
Speaker 2: probably getting a piece. So has it lost its flair
Speaker 2: its star power? Probably perhaps? But is it a Lacklusser event. No,
Speaker 2: I don't think so.
Speaker 1: I think what those big names did was create this
Speaker 1: buzz that exists around NBA free agency, and then free
Speaker 1: agency changed. But without what was in the past, which
Speaker 1: was much bigger than it is now, we wouldn't be
Speaker 1: as excited about it. So there is it is ingrained
Speaker 1: in you as an NBA fan to get excited about
Speaker 1: this time of year when it's impactful, but not nearly
Speaker 1: as impactful as it used to be. Tip of the
Speaker 1: cap to the Atlanta Hawks. I thought they absolutely crushed it.
Speaker 1: They have had probably the best offseason them in the
Speaker 1: Houston Rockets, it's those two and Denver. I like what
Speaker 1: they've done, but Atlanta and Houston have had the best
Speaker 1: offseason so far. I don't feel better about anybody else
Speaker 1: comparatively to how I felt about them before than those
Speaker 1: two basketball teams. The Hawks acquired Nikhil Alexander Walker and
Speaker 1: assigned in trade four year, sixty two million dollars. They
Speaker 1: signed Luke Kennard to a one year deal where eleven
Speaker 1: million bucks. They make a deal to get Kristaps Porzingis.
Speaker 1: They now have a legitimate starting five. They've got real depth,
Speaker 1: and they've got youth that can still get better. You know,
Speaker 1: you have a number one pick from a year ago
Speaker 1: in Zachary Resiche, Dyson Daniels, who is a most improved
Speaker 1: player kind of guy. And then the Houston Rockets they
Speaker 1: get Kevin Durant, that was the big find during this offseason.
Speaker 1: And they signed Dorian Finney Smith that's a great role
Speaker 1: player type of guy. We've seen a lot of those
Speaker 1: around the league that have been signed over the last
Speaker 1: twenty four hours. And then Clink Capella they add to
Speaker 1: a three year deal twenty one and a half million
Speaker 1: dollars for them. Who knows what the Milwaukee Bucks are doing.
Speaker 1: Ty Jerome landed with the Memphis Grizzlies three years, twenty
Speaker 1: eight million dollars. He's making nine point three million dollars
Speaker 1: per year D'Angelo Russell goes to the Dallas Mavericks and
Speaker 1: Brook Lopez to the LA Clippers, and of course your
Speaker 1: Orlando Magic getting Tias Jones as their backup point guard,
Speaker 1: a guy that has been on the Magic radar for.
Speaker 2: Quite some time, Danzo Russell, I think an another all
Speaker 2: star in this free agency class. Just to backtrack a bit,
Speaker 2: but I wouldn't sleep on this Tias Jones signing. Now
Speaker 2: we talked about it to open up the show. Does
Speaker 2: this push the Magic over the finish line? Are they
Speaker 2: done with the ross or no? They still have some
Speaker 2: money to play with, still have two open roster spots.
Speaker 2: I need imagine that they exercised that one way or another.
Speaker 2: But once something I didn't get to in the open
Speaker 2: of why I think that this Tias Jones, three years
Speaker 2: overdue for the Magic is such a great fit.
Speaker 1: Is that you got him at a really good price.
Speaker 2: Some of the counterparts that we talk about that Luke
Speaker 2: Kinnard did go for eleven million dollars to Atlanta and
Speaker 2: four million in the grand scheme of thing.
Speaker 1: Is it a ton no?
Speaker 2: But it's the difference between the Magic having what eight
Speaker 2: million dollars to play with and four million dollars to
Speaker 2: play with for those remaining roster spots. When we talk
Speaker 2: about Mo Wagner, why wouldn't the team opt into an
Speaker 2: an eleven million dollar team option because they're probably looking
Speaker 2: to get him for like eight on a multi year deal.
Speaker 1: So that four million dollars it is, it is very valuable.
Speaker 2: The Angel Russell at eleven point six, Dennis Shrewder at
Speaker 2: fifteen million dollars, Nikole Alexander Walker at fifteen and a
Speaker 2: half ty, Jerome a nine point two. These aren't average
Speaker 2: annual salary. So when you look at those numbers and
Speaker 2: you get Tias Jones for seven, I think it adds
Speaker 2: to the grave of why you know it gets an
Speaker 2: extra half point for this Magic deal. However, you great
Speaker 2: it because I think you got him on a really
Speaker 2: team friendly deal.
Speaker 1: And he brings a lot of things to the table
Speaker 1: that the Magic are looking for. A says to turnover
Speaker 1: ratio is probably his best quality, and then his three
Speaker 1: point shooting. He's been lights out the last couple of
Speaker 1: years forty one percent from three point range. If you
Speaker 1: want an extended ten minute breakdown of the Tias Jones
Speaker 1: deal and learn a little bit more about him Five
Speaker 1: things you need to know about Tias Jones. You can
Speaker 1: check out the latest episode of the zone Heads podcast.
Speaker 1: That's the bonus content that you get that you don't
Speaker 1: get from this live three hour show. That's the zone
Speaker 1: Heads podcast. The Tias Jones breakdown found there. The Future
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