Speaker 1: We're back on the drive with ESPN's Dave mcminimon joining
Speaker 1: us for today's NBA Daily Assist.
Speaker 2: You know, Porter, I'm gonna try not to get emotional here,
Speaker 2: but this is a proud moment. It's also been a
Speaker 2: long time since we've had our next guest, oh for sure.
Speaker 3: But one of the things I love about.
Speaker 2: This business is when I get to mentor young media
Speaker 2: members and interview them and teach them the ropes and
Speaker 2: you know, sometimes make them uncomfortable. Then watch them rise
Speaker 2: up the ranks to what I call celebrity journalists. And
Speaker 2: my list is long. You know, Coward Stephen a Isola.
Speaker 2: You know, they all came to me, you at some point.
Speaker 2: But you know, when Dave mcminnimon canp me with a
Speaker 2: sincere desire to join the show consistently, I warned him.
Speaker 2: I said, well, here's what I said. I said, are
Speaker 2: you ready to be great? Is this something you want?
Speaker 2: And now we fast forward a few years later and
Speaker 2: we can't even book our guy because he's such a
Speaker 2: big deal.
Speaker 3: Yeah. I had to go through his assistant and then
Speaker 3: his assistance assistant, and then they sent me through like
Speaker 3: a booking agency. But we we.
Speaker 2: Did it so, Dave mcmanhamon on a Thursday, I'll ask
Speaker 2: the question that I asked you a few years ago.
Speaker 3: Are you ready to be great? Is this something you want?
Speaker 1: I think I blacked out after you called me a
Speaker 1: young journalist. Everything after that was just start shining rainbow.
Speaker 1: So I mean, I'm just basking in the age domination
Speaker 1: you gave me. I want to be young forever as
Speaker 1: far as greatness concerned. If I'm young, it doesn't really
Speaker 1: matter for great or not. I'll just be happy being young.
Speaker 3: Fair enough. Well, it's been too long, man, So how
Speaker 3: are things everything good?
Speaker 1: Yeah, everything's great. Happy to join you, and yeah, I
Speaker 1: was of a bonehead getting back to the Porter the
Speaker 1: last couple of weeks, so I'm happy to rejoin.
Speaker 3: No, not at all, Not at all.
Speaker 2: And I'll just get one thought from you on the Jazz,
Speaker 2: because there's really nothing interesting about them other than the fact, Dave,
Speaker 2: that it looks like they're finally doing what they should
Speaker 2: have been doing all along and going all in on
Speaker 2: trying to just make sure that they're in a good
Speaker 2: position to draft somebody potentially special coming up. They're going
Speaker 2: to need a ton of luck draft night every lottery
Speaker 2: team does, but last two years they've waited up until
Speaker 2: the trade deadline to break it down, and they're drafting
Speaker 2: like ninth through twelfth, which is no man's land, and
Speaker 2: it looks like they at least have a plan in place.
Speaker 3: But it's a tough ask of this fan base.
Speaker 2: To watch what looks like it's going to be really
Speaker 2: bad basketball all year long.
Speaker 1: Yeah, they were not competitive for the bulk of their
Speaker 1: game against the Lakers the other night. Obviously their record
Speaker 1: in the standing reflects that. I think they're going to
Speaker 1: end up being centers r us for the rest of
Speaker 1: the league, calling about you know, guys like Walker Kessler,
Speaker 1: Philapowski and Drew you Banks. Because there's a lot of
Speaker 1: contenders out there, Lakers included, that need another big man.
Speaker 4: And this is a.
Speaker 1: Year, you know, maybe not quite as enticing as the
Speaker 1: Wendy year, but certainly a year where it's considered to
Speaker 1: be a really deep draft. And so if you don't
Speaker 1: end up with number one, you know, I think there's
Speaker 1: top five are all considered to be pretty much blue
Speaker 1: chip talent that you're looking at, and I think it's
Speaker 1: a good strategy. Now. On the other hand, Will Hardy
Speaker 1: I'm a big fan of and I think he's going
Speaker 1: to be a special coach, and it's kind of tough
Speaker 1: for his development here to go through another year where
Speaker 1: being competitor is really not going.
Speaker 4: To be on the table.
Speaker 2: So you reference the centers on the roster, I wonder,
Speaker 2: and look, I'm not going to ask you about John
Speaker 2: Collins all year, Dave, I promise I will not do that.
Speaker 1: Well, you throw him to the list too, Yeah, exactly, But.
Speaker 2: Yeah, John Collins, Jordan Clarkson, Collins, Saxton, like maybe outside
Speaker 2: of market and of course some of these young players,
Speaker 2: do you think we are going to see real movement?
Speaker 2: Our team's going to be calling about some of these
Speaker 2: vets that the Jazz have and maybe other teams could use.
Speaker 2: I don't know if John Collins the guy, but you know,
Speaker 2: I guess I'll say, who's safe as far as you
Speaker 2: know outside of market?
Speaker 3: And who do you think is safe on this roster
Speaker 3: for now?
Speaker 1: I would say, yeah, obviously you start with marketing in
Speaker 1: I think, yeah, I don't think they're going to be
Speaker 1: given up on a guy like Cody Williams anytime soon.
Speaker 1: Probably Kessler and Filapowski would be part of their long
Speaker 1: term plans. But I asked well Hardy about that the
Speaker 1: other day and he kind of admitted that there are
Speaker 1: some redundancies in what they do. They're not exactly a
Speaker 1: clone of one another. But in today's NBA, where you know,
Speaker 1: most teams are playing basically one and a half centers
Speaker 1: in the rotation, you know, one of those guys could
Speaker 1: end up being movable for the right offer, certainly if
Speaker 1: it's an offer that would include a but at the
Speaker 1: apple in this year's upcoming draft. And outside of that, yeah,
Speaker 1: I do think you're looking at, you know, a lot
Speaker 1: of players that could be had for the right price.
Speaker 2: All right, Obviously the Lakers one of your main, if
Speaker 2: not your main responsibility, And I want to start with
Speaker 2: the macro question. You know, they're ten and four, and
Speaker 2: there's the narrative that JJ has found some things and
Speaker 2: other coaches have not been able to find with this roster.
Speaker 2: Where they didn't do much, they added some. I mean,
Speaker 2: Dalton goes for nine to threes the other night, so
Speaker 2: they've got some different pieces. But what has stood out
Speaker 2: most to you about what this coaching staff has quote
Speaker 2: found with this Laker roster?
Speaker 1: And I think the buy in from Lebron James and
Speaker 1: Anthony Davis has been a parent and you're going to
Speaker 1: need that to have any cancer success with this group.
Speaker 1: And it wasn't that Darvin hen didn't have that. I
Speaker 1: think it just waned over time and I personally think
Speaker 1: that a lot of that had to do with some
Speaker 1: bad injury hands that Darwin was but in today's NBA
Speaker 1: like you just got to find a way to make
Speaker 1: it work, not use excuses. And JJ has had some
Speaker 1: injuries to role players just like Darvin had last year.
Speaker 1: You know, Ruy Hatchimore has been in out of the lineup.
Speaker 1: You've had Cam Reddish missed some time, but he found
Speaker 1: a way and they have a clear offensive identity. And
Speaker 1: you know, when you have a team that's theoretically when healthy,
Speaker 1: about twelve deep, that's important because it makes sure if
Speaker 1: the ball is being shared and it's moving that even
Speaker 1: if your minutes are limited, you feel like you're a
Speaker 1: part of what's happening when you're out there on the court.
Speaker 1: So that's been really good defensively. There are still some
Speaker 1: limitations to this roster, and I think the addition to
Speaker 1: Jared Vanderbilt whenever he can get healthy in return should
Speaker 1: help that somewhat, but it's not going to completely fix
Speaker 1: the idea that you know, as great as Lebron James
Speaker 1: still is, this is probably not going to be a
Speaker 1: good transition defense team with him on it. They might
Speaker 1: not be as bad as they've been if they all
Speaker 1: buy into the roles of what they're supposed to do.
Speaker 1: But you know, Lebron is in energy conservation mode and
Speaker 1: outside of the perfectly timed chased down block, and you'll
Speaker 1: see him do that, you know, about once a week.
Speaker 1: Still at this stage's career, he's not going to be
Speaker 1: getting back and forming a wall in the lane. So
Speaker 1: there will be some things that JJ will continue to
Speaker 1: have to work with with this team. But you know,
Speaker 1: starting off ten and forward does a lot towards building
Speaker 1: confidence in what he's trying to instill and keeping the
Speaker 1: guy's attention as they move towards the latter part of
Speaker 1: this schedule.
Speaker 2: Could Redick open up like a new pathway, I guess
Speaker 2: it wouldn't be new new because he played in the
Speaker 2: league and he did and he was a broadcaster for
Speaker 2: everybody simply never coached outside of his kid, right, like
Speaker 2: it's the fourth grade coaching whatever, We've seen some other
Speaker 2: situations in other sports. Our local soccer club had a
Speaker 2: player transition to coach right away.
Speaker 3: But you know, there was a lot of noise.
Speaker 2: About JJ getting that job without having.
Speaker 3: Any coaching experience.
Speaker 2: It's still early, but do you think this is something
Speaker 2: that maybe could be a break the mold type moment
Speaker 2: of how NBA coaches are typically higher, You know, I.
Speaker 1: Think it will allow teams to look at it with
Speaker 1: more open mindedness. I do think JJ's pretty unique, and
Speaker 1: I also think that the Lakers did themselves a lot
Speaker 1: of favors by adding two guys who have been head
Speaker 1: coaches in the last couple of years in Scott Brooks
Speaker 1: and Nate McMillan, who have plenty of experience, and also
Speaker 1: has they have the respect from what that experience meant
Speaker 1: from the guys on this roster. So I think it
Speaker 1: could happen, But I think you're gonna it's really come
Speaker 1: down to just how special the guy is, right, because
Speaker 1: you know, Steve Nash and Derek Fisher were pretty special
Speaker 1: players who got out of the game and then rather
Speaker 1: quickly became head coaches. And I probably would have bet
Speaker 1: that both of us would have been success stories, but
Speaker 1: they weren't. You know, really it's Jason Kidd and JJ
Speaker 1: Redick the guys recently that come to mind. There could
Speaker 1: be another guy like that, you know, JJ Redick. You know,
Speaker 1: it's kind of if you want to see who the
Speaker 1: next guy is going to be, watch pregame and see
Speaker 1: who from the layup wine of the opposing team, JJ
Speaker 1: Redick goes in chats with. Those are the type of
Speaker 1: guys who gravitates towards So that's probably a good list
Speaker 1: to try to figure out who could be the next
Speaker 1: guy to do that. But I still think it's going
Speaker 1: to be more on the individual than just like a
Speaker 1: rash of them that will be qualified. I think where
Speaker 1: we will see a change is more people like that
Speaker 1: getting interviewed because it's a copycat league, and more teams
Speaker 1: will want to find their JJ Reddick.
Speaker 3: All right, So I haven't watched every Laker game.
Speaker 2: They're on national TV a lot, so I'll tune in,
Speaker 2: you know, TNT or ESPN or whatever. But of course
Speaker 2: we're watching the jazz around here. And Dalton connect looked
Speaker 2: like Ray Allen circa you know, nineteen ninety five.
Speaker 3: But he was doing it against the defense that.
Speaker 2: Will Hardy with a great line after the game said,
Speaker 2: everyone knew he was gonna shoot except for a few people,
Speaker 2: and they happen to play for us. So look, it
Speaker 2: was it was Stan still Dave mcminnimon back in the day, buckets,
Speaker 2: because you could have made those threes, Dave, you could
Speaker 2: have I mean, he was wide open. But how how
Speaker 2: real is his addition? Does it make them a little
Speaker 2: bit more dangerous? Taking the jazz game kind of off
Speaker 2: the table because the defense was so pathetic?
Speaker 1: I mean, the last three games as a starter after
Speaker 1: ruiy Hachemar dealt with an ankle injury, he's having like
Speaker 1: twenty six points on sixty two percent of the field,
Speaker 1: Like six from three is got a sustainable? Real thing?
Speaker 1: Absolutely not. But the guy plays with a ton of confidence.
Speaker 1: And the stakeholders in this team being JJ, Anthony Davis
Speaker 1: and Lebron, they have confidence back in him, and so
Speaker 1: I don't think this is a mirage. He'll be a
Speaker 1: part of this team's success moving forward, and quite frankly,
Speaker 1: some of the moments he's already been thrust into make
Speaker 1: me think as the games become more consequential, whether we're talking.
Speaker 4: Playing for five hundred thousand dollars in in NBA Cup
Speaker 4: title or playing in a you know game down the
Speaker 4: stretch that will factor into playoff seeding into the actual postseason.
Speaker 1: I don't think the stage element too big of a
Speaker 1: moment is going to affect him the way it would
Speaker 1: with other rookies. To me, it will be as team
Speaker 1: scout him and figure him out a little bit more
Speaker 1: and put more of an emphasis on him. Will he
Speaker 1: be the next level thinker to be able to counter
Speaker 1: what these NBA high level defenses are doing. And you know,
Speaker 1: quite frankly, when you talk about how the hell did
Speaker 1: this guy fall to number seventeen in the draft, some
Speaker 1: of the kind of murmurs around it is, you know,
Speaker 1: maybe his basketball IQ isn't quite where it could be.
Speaker 1: And so I think that will be the next stage
Speaker 1: of his development, seeing whether he can actually become a
Speaker 1: sustainable star.
Speaker 2: With Lebron leaving social media, how do you plan on
Speaker 2: getting scoops?
Speaker 1: So let me ask you this. If someone tweets that
Speaker 1: they're leaving social media and later on that day posts
Speaker 1: on their Instagram story, what does that mean?
Speaker 3: It must mean that he's only leaving Twitter or ax.
Speaker 2: Would be my guest because you're You're right, he was
Speaker 2: heading over to Instagram. And look, I'm rarely on Twitter anymore,
Speaker 2: and it's part of the gig. I sent out the work,
Speaker 2: you know, after the shows, and I send out links interviews,
Speaker 2: but I rarely just like tweet away I used to,
Speaker 2: So I'm not judging. I wonder, Dave, though, from your
Speaker 2: advantage point, does this have to do with how cruel
Speaker 2: people are to his son? And you know how kind
Speaker 2: of this story has unfolded? And look, he's a six
Speaker 2: to one combo guard that doesn't appear at this point
Speaker 2: to have an NBA skill set. That's not a knock,
Speaker 2: that's an analysis, and that's the job. And I don't
Speaker 2: put any of this on Bronni. And look, I also
Speaker 2: don't feel bad for him. He's in the NBA making
Speaker 2: millions of dollars. But Lebron had to know that if
Speaker 2: this was how they were going to roll, that people
Speaker 2: were gonna come out of the woodwork and take some
Speaker 2: vicious shots.
Speaker 3: And I've seen a lot of them.
Speaker 2: Do you think that's kind of the issue with Lebron
Speaker 2: taking off from Twitter?
Speaker 1: I could see that being part of it, you know,
Speaker 1: I do wonder, and I haven't had a chance to
Speaker 1: kind of talk to Lebron about so I'm just speculating,
Speaker 1: but I do wonder if the kind of the political
Speaker 1: season had something to do with it, the owner of
Speaker 1: X becoming a government and pointe on decide that he
Speaker 1: did not vote for, did not endorse. I'm sure that's
Speaker 1: part of it. I do think this is a evolving
Speaker 1: conversation I had with him over the years just about
Speaker 1: the discussion around basketball. Why is it always about comparison?
Speaker 1: Why is it always about this guy doesn't do this well?
Speaker 1: Why don't we celebrate the game more? And that was
Speaker 1: kind of part of the point that Rich Kleiman was making,
Speaker 1: the longtime friend and business partner of Kevin Durant, that
Speaker 1: these are some of the greatest players you're going to
Speaker 1: see today or in any era, and it seems to
Speaker 1: be the discourse around them, particularly on online, where it's
Speaker 1: a bunch of non to miss people who there's no
Speaker 1: consequences for for being negative and showing that side of
Speaker 1: them that have we just kind of lost our way
Speaker 1: and like kind of that was part of the point
Speaker 1: of the JJ Reddick and Lebron James podcast. Mind the
Speaker 1: game was supposed to be let's embrace the minutia of
Speaker 1: the actual game of basketball and kind of get away
Speaker 1: from the discourse that it seems to delve into toxicity
Speaker 1: quite so often. So certainly, you know, I I gotta
Speaker 1: live online, you know, for for my work. And I've seen,
Speaker 1: just by being someone who carries the news of what's
Speaker 1: going on with Lebron James, the same trolls that would
Speaker 1: attack Lebron well orbronni will latch onto me sometimes and
Speaker 1: it's not it's not a pretty place. But I also like,
Speaker 1: I take it with a grant assault that Lebron is
Speaker 1: actually off the social media.
Speaker 2: Yeah, he'll he'll back, you know, he's taking a break,
Speaker 2: and that's fine. But I've got to say, Dave, that
Speaker 2: the crap you get is an ultimately it's the ultimate
Speaker 2: compliment if you can understand what they're saying, because the
Speaker 2: only thing I hear about you is you don't deserve
Speaker 2: to be married who you're married to, and that means
Speaker 2: you're winning.
Speaker 3: That means you're winning, Dave. That means you're winning.
Speaker 1: Yes, I'll take that, but that's fine. Yeah, and I
Speaker 1: agree with it. So it's all good.
Speaker 2: How many names, uh, you know, I kept walking out
Speaker 2: to the mailbox when I heard the news, and I'd
Speaker 2: open the mailbox, and then I'd go to work and
Speaker 2: I'd interview you and it's like, hey, maybe we're friends.
Speaker 3: He's in town for the All Star breaks. Say what up?
Speaker 2: Do a live hit hangout? And you know, was I
Speaker 2: close to making the cut? That's all I want to know.
Speaker 1: I could just say this that Lebron did ask where
Speaker 1: his invite was. Okay, so you're in good company when
Speaker 1: it comes to that.
Speaker 3: I feel better. I feel better day.
Speaker 1: It's a tough thing, but it was a wonderful day,
Speaker 1: great thing to look back at.
Speaker 3: Very happy for you.
Speaker 2: Hey, before I set you loose, we are doing this
Speaker 2: thing around here where the fact of the matter is
Speaker 2: the front office told the fans last offseason big game hunting,
Speaker 2: and there are rumors that they wanted to sign Paul
Speaker 2: George and trade.
Speaker 3: For mckel bridges.
Speaker 2: I'm like, yeah, okay, right, so do I you know, Like, okay,
Speaker 2: I don't know that any of that was real. But
Speaker 2: every time they're front facing with the public via the media,
Speaker 2: they talk about wanting to add good players as soon
Speaker 2: as they can. And with this era of the Second
Speaker 2: Apron with this era of teams that have a lot
Speaker 2: of talent, they can't afford them moving talent on. One
Speaker 2: thing you can latch onto is the Jazz are in
Speaker 2: a position to capitalize with cap space and draft picks
Speaker 2: if a team decides to shed a really good player.
Speaker 2: It's only fifteen sixteen games, but any candidates you think
Speaker 2: prior to the trade deadline of good teams with a
Speaker 2: high budget, they want to get out from under some money.
Speaker 1: Oh, I mean, I wouldn't go back to kind of
Speaker 1: where we started with this conversation with the Dad, I
Speaker 1: do think it's in their best interests for lack of
Speaker 1: a better term and bottom out this year. Agreed how
Speaker 1: attractive that the draft could be. But I think there's
Speaker 1: any number of guys from Brandon Ingram to Jeremy Grant
Speaker 1: to even you know, someone like Terram Young. I'm not
Speaker 1: convinced that he'll be in Atlanta long term, just because
Speaker 1: they're floundering around five hundred still and he's a defensive liability.
Speaker 1: Like there will be names that I'm sure will be moved,
Speaker 1: maybe even Zach Lavine, maybe Jimmy Butler, like and you
Speaker 1: know Jimmy Butler. Okay, there's a relationship between Wade. You know,
Speaker 1: you could maybe make that makes sense in the jazz structure.
Speaker 1: I'm just not so sure. Again, they would be best
Speaker 1: served doing that this year.
Speaker 2: I agree, Dave. Thanks for the time, man, great to
Speaker 2: have you back on the Shoe Show. Have a great
Speaker 2: weekend with Chattoon.
Speaker 3: Okay, thanks Bess, all right. Great.
Speaker 2: Dave McManaman covers the NBA for ESPN. You can get
Speaker 2: him on Twitter at mc ten is where you find him. Yeah,
Speaker 2: he married Millie Andrews this summer looked like a lovely event.
Speaker 2: We could never like talk about that on air. I
Speaker 2: heard they were dating like three years ago. I'm like, oh, dude,
Speaker 2: we should talk with me. He's like, no, no, don't want
Speaker 2: anybody to know. So that was the wedding I was
Speaker 2: talking about. And if you search Dave mcminnimon on Google,
Speaker 2: the first result is Malik Andrew's husband.
Speaker 3: So our guy just gets cracked on. But he's a
Speaker 3: good dude.
Speaker 2: Man.
Speaker 3: Appreciate Dave's time today.
Speaker 2: On this Thursday afternoon, Jazz are in action tonight they're
Speaker 2: taking on San Antonio. I do not think we will
Speaker 2: see Victor woman Yama, So I guess you could watch
Speaker 2: Chris Paul against Patty Mills.
Speaker 3: I don't know.