WEBVTT 1 00:00:00.160 --> 00:00:03.640 Next on the drive, Tim McMahon dropping dimes for your 2 00:00:03.759 --> 00:00:05.000 NBA daily assists. 3 00:00:07.400 --> 00:00:15.119 Van McMahon, Vanman batted in all Land, Texas flood as 4 00:00:15.279 --> 00:00:36.960 tickets mud He's main Ban McMahon, Van mcman The Man. 5 00:00:30.839 --> 00:00:36.000 Stanley Cup Finals begin tomorrow nights. NBA Finals start Thursday night. 6 00:00:36.399 --> 00:00:39.399 We are your home for both of those events here 7 00:00:39.439 --> 00:00:42.880 on the espn Utah Sports on network, So stay tuned for. 8 00:00:42.840 --> 00:00:47.880 That random, big, busy NBA news. 9 00:00:47.759 --> 00:00:49.920 Cycle over the past twenty four hours. Our next guest 10 00:00:49.960 --> 00:00:53.000 good enough to give us some time. NBA Finals week. 11 00:00:53.600 --> 00:00:55.439 Tim McMahon, Happy Tuesday, sir. 12 00:00:55.240 --> 00:00:58.000 How are you, howdy partner? How you doing? 13 00:00:58.320 --> 00:00:59.119 I'm good, I'm good. 14 00:00:59.159 --> 00:01:02.320 So I see let's say, yeah, I see two Jordan elevens. 15 00:01:02.640 --> 00:01:06.200 I see two Jordan threes. I see a Jordan four. 16 00:01:06.879 --> 00:01:09.920 I think that's a six. I see two Jordan ones. 17 00:01:10.000 --> 00:01:12.799 How many how many pairs of shoes are you bringing 18 00:01:13.200 --> 00:01:15.200 for this NBA Finals trip of yours? 19 00:01:15.680 --> 00:01:18.359 Yeah, you are looking at ten pairs. There there will 20 00:01:18.400 --> 00:01:20.159 be a pair of my feet, then there'll be a 21 00:01:20.159 --> 00:01:25.400 pair of running shoes, and there will be some Sabrina one. 22 00:01:25.519 --> 00:01:28.079 That's what I'm hooping in these days. I can't wear 23 00:01:28.200 --> 00:01:31.879 I can't wear NBA signature shoes, so I guess some 24 00:01:31.920 --> 00:01:33.400 sabrinas fair enough. 25 00:01:33.719 --> 00:01:34.599 Best Jordan's. 26 00:01:34.680 --> 00:01:36.359 I did not know you were a sneaker head, and 27 00:01:36.439 --> 00:01:39.040 I am a sneaker head in recovery. I have a decent, 28 00:01:39.120 --> 00:01:41.519 not great collection, but I don't like to spend six 29 00:01:41.599 --> 00:01:45.319 hundred dollars on shoes anymore. So best Jordan's in your opinion, Yeah, 30 00:01:45.560 --> 00:01:46.920 I don't spend six hundreds. 31 00:01:46.920 --> 00:01:50.079 I like the threes the best. Yes, I am an 32 00:01:50.079 --> 00:01:52.359 old school guy. You know. You see a lot of 33 00:01:52.920 --> 00:01:56.959 one stories that do have some two twos lows in there. 34 00:01:58.239 --> 00:02:01.480 I like the fours five. Yeah, I'm old school. I'm 35 00:02:01.480 --> 00:02:03.879 like back to the childhood type stuff. The threeses are 36 00:02:03.920 --> 00:02:04.519 my favorites. 37 00:02:04.599 --> 00:02:06.719 Threes is the correct answer, all right. 38 00:02:06.760 --> 00:02:08.960 I already buried the lead, tim because we actually have 39 00:02:09.039 --> 00:02:12.280 a big piece of jazz news to talk about. Austin 40 00:02:12.479 --> 00:02:16.479 Inge was announced yesterday as the Jazz President of Basketball Operations, 41 00:02:16.960 --> 00:02:20.800 and his father, Danny, the CEO of the Jazz, will 42 00:02:20.879 --> 00:02:24.479 report to him. Justin Zenik, the general manager of the 43 00:02:24.560 --> 00:02:28.719 Utah Jazz, will report to him. So there was a 44 00:02:28.719 --> 00:02:31.520 lot of clarity in the presser yesterday in a way 45 00:02:31.560 --> 00:02:34.520 that quite frankly, Tim, we have not heard. Even when 46 00:02:34.599 --> 00:02:36.199 Danny was hired, it was kind of like he doesn't 47 00:02:36.199 --> 00:02:38.159 want to do anything day to day, so he's just 48 00:02:38.199 --> 00:02:40.879 gonna kind of hang out. Xanik is going to do 49 00:02:40.919 --> 00:02:43.479 most of the groundwork. So we actually have a little 50 00:02:43.479 --> 00:02:45.719 bit more clarity with the hierarchy of this front office, 51 00:02:45.719 --> 00:02:47.120 more so than we've had in a few years. 52 00:02:47.159 --> 00:02:47.879 What's your reaction. 53 00:02:49.400 --> 00:02:51.919 I believe that Danny Ainge is reporting to his son 54 00:02:52.840 --> 00:02:56.919 when I see it. But Danny, like, he's not, like 55 00:02:56.960 --> 00:02:58.879 he said, he's not a day to day guy. He 56 00:02:59.039 --> 00:03:03.479 wasn't handling the trade calls and you know down in 57 00:03:03.560 --> 00:03:06.159 THEMITTI gritty of dealing with the agents and you know, 58 00:03:06.280 --> 00:03:09.840 at the gms and whatnot. That's been justin Zani's job. 59 00:03:10.280 --> 00:03:13.240 I think Danny's more of kind of like the senior 60 00:03:13.319 --> 00:03:19.719 advisor almost to Brian Smith. But you know, obviously people 61 00:03:19.719 --> 00:03:21.319 are going to look at this, and I think that 62 00:03:21.360 --> 00:03:25.759 there will obviously be the initial reaction of mechanism of work. 63 00:03:26.120 --> 00:03:28.520 The one thing I would say is there is not 64 00:03:28.599 --> 00:03:34.039 a single executive in the NBA who considers often Age 65 00:03:34.080 --> 00:03:37.719 anything but immensely qualified for a position like this, like 66 00:03:37.800 --> 00:03:40.439 he was going to be a candidate for other teams. 67 00:03:40.479 --> 00:03:42.520 You know, he's obviously been in Boston for a while, 68 00:03:42.919 --> 00:03:47.680 been a significant part of building that Celtics championship team. 69 00:03:47.879 --> 00:03:50.919 So you know, I do think that this is the 70 00:03:51.000 --> 00:03:57.599 addition of a strong executive mind to the Jazz's front office, 71 00:03:57.599 --> 00:03:59.960 and he will be leading the front office. He ultimately 72 00:04:00.039 --> 00:04:05.039 he's going to be the top basketball uh you know, executive, 73 00:04:06.080 --> 00:04:09.000 you know, the probably the last voice in Ryan Smith's ear. 74 00:04:10.879 --> 00:04:14.199 So I don't know exactly how I don't want to 75 00:04:14.599 --> 00:04:17.199 speculate on how Justin Zanik feels about this. This is 76 00:04:17.240 --> 00:04:21.560 the second time somebody's been hired over his head by 77 00:04:21.720 --> 00:04:26.079 Ryan Smith, but he dealt with it just fine, uh 78 00:04:26.240 --> 00:04:28.839 under Danny Ainge. And you know, I don't know how 79 00:04:28.879 --> 00:04:31.319 they'll divvy things up in terms of like trade talks 80 00:04:31.360 --> 00:04:35.199 and dealings with agents, et cetera, et cetera. I thought 81 00:04:35.199 --> 00:04:37.439 the most interesting from the press conference was his answer 82 00:04:37.480 --> 00:04:40.879 on the tanking question. And I thought it was a 83 00:04:40.920 --> 00:04:44.040 pretty direct answer that still managed to leave some wiggle room, 84 00:04:44.240 --> 00:04:51.959 if that makes sense. But you know, there was, as 85 00:04:52.000 --> 00:04:54.160 you might expect, a lot of reaction within the Jazz 86 00:04:54.279 --> 00:04:57.240 organization when the worst case scenario and also the most 87 00:04:57.319 --> 00:05:00.639 likely scenario is what happened in a lot of and 88 00:05:00.680 --> 00:05:04.399 it's not just about the lottery odds. You discouraging tanking 89 00:05:04.480 --> 00:05:07.120 and those kind of are coming into play and you know, 90 00:05:07.160 --> 00:05:12.279 getting smacked of that reality, but the damage that you're 91 00:05:12.319 --> 00:05:14.879 doing the player development if you have another season where 92 00:05:14.920 --> 00:05:16.639 they take the approach that they did last year. 93 00:05:18.079 --> 00:05:20.759 Yeah, and your point about Danny is a really good one. 94 00:05:20.800 --> 00:05:23.079 And look, I've known the ages of my entire life, 95 00:05:23.120 --> 00:05:25.399 and you know, Danny doesn't need me to stand up 96 00:05:25.399 --> 00:05:28.040 for him, and quite frankly, neither does Austin. Austin does 97 00:05:28.079 --> 00:05:31.360 have a track record as a basketball decision maker for 98 00:05:31.399 --> 00:05:33.839 an organization that's really been the class of the league, 99 00:05:33.839 --> 00:05:35.680 among the class of the league for a long time, 100 00:05:36.160 --> 00:05:39.560 including the fourteen slash seventeen years he's been involved there. 101 00:05:39.600 --> 00:05:43.279 So their acumen and pedigree speaks for itself, it really does. 102 00:05:43.319 --> 00:05:47.240 But the Danny point is interesting, Tim, because I've honestly 103 00:05:47.399 --> 00:05:50.759 just wondered how invested he's been in this entire thing 104 00:05:50.959 --> 00:05:54.120 at all. And look, he's around, he's at games, and 105 00:05:54.160 --> 00:05:56.199 he's at workouts and such. But I also know he 106 00:05:56.319 --> 00:05:59.120 likes those riverside tea times. And I also know that 107 00:05:59.199 --> 00:06:01.199 he likes spending time I'm with his grandkids. He's not 108 00:06:01.240 --> 00:06:03.959 one of those guys that just gives you a face value, Hey, 109 00:06:04.000 --> 00:06:06.000 I want to spend time with my family. Answer then 110 00:06:06.079 --> 00:06:08.319 goes and travels to Europe for six months out of 111 00:06:08.319 --> 00:06:11.480 the year. He's a father and a grandfather, and he 112 00:06:11.839 --> 00:06:15.360 is living his life in his later stages in the 113 00:06:15.399 --> 00:06:17.319 way that he wants to do it. I wonder if 114 00:06:17.319 --> 00:06:21.120 you think Austin's addition could indicate that Danny will even 115 00:06:21.160 --> 00:06:23.319 be a little bit more removed than he has been, 116 00:06:24.639 --> 00:06:24.839 you know. 117 00:06:24.959 --> 00:06:28.160 And look, it's not like Danny Ainge wanted to go 118 00:06:28.319 --> 00:06:31.439 work for the Utah Jazz exactly. He was recruited by 119 00:06:31.519 --> 00:06:34.839 Ryan Smith. And again I don't necessarily know that this 120 00:06:34.920 --> 00:06:36.800 is going to change a lot for Danny, because he 121 00:06:36.959 --> 00:06:39.639 wasn't doing the day to day stuff. You know, he 122 00:06:39.759 --> 00:06:42.800 wasn't grinding on the trade calls, and he wasn't you know, 123 00:06:42.839 --> 00:06:45.199 worrying about who they're going to sign to a two 124 00:06:45.199 --> 00:06:48.160 way contract. He wasn't dealing with the agents. That's all 125 00:06:48.199 --> 00:06:52.319 been justin Xanik's job. And so I don't know if 126 00:06:52.399 --> 00:06:56.120 this changes is a lot for Danny. Again, I'm more 127 00:06:56.160 --> 00:07:01.279 curious to know how much will it change for Justin Xanik. 128 00:07:02.920 --> 00:07:05.920 But you know, this is a by NBA standards. They've 129 00:07:05.920 --> 00:07:11.040 had a relatively lean front office. You know, they've also 130 00:07:11.160 --> 00:07:13.399 let a couple other people in that front office go 131 00:07:14.839 --> 00:07:17.959 this off season, so you know, there still could be 132 00:07:18.000 --> 00:07:21.800 some hires to come well. You know, and the other 133 00:07:21.800 --> 00:07:25.480 thing I think that we should point out is, you know, 134 00:07:25.480 --> 00:07:28.600 while Will Hardy wasn't like part of the hiring process 135 00:07:28.680 --> 00:07:31.480 for us and names, they do have a relationship. You know, 136 00:07:31.519 --> 00:07:34.600 they did work together for a year in Boston. You know, 137 00:07:34.639 --> 00:07:36.920 I do know there's a lot of mutual respect there 138 00:07:37.600 --> 00:07:40.199 and you know, I would certainly anticipate that it would 139 00:07:40.199 --> 00:07:45.720 be a productive, harmonious head coach lead executive relationship between 140 00:07:45.720 --> 00:07:46.120 those two. 141 00:07:46.439 --> 00:07:50.480 So the xantic portion tim Okay, So let's let's be 142 00:07:50.639 --> 00:07:54.519 very clear. If you are able to traverse your way 143 00:07:54.560 --> 00:07:57.480 into an NBA general manager job, you simply want to 144 00:07:57.600 --> 00:07:58.360 keep that job. 145 00:07:58.600 --> 00:07:59.759 And it is one of. 146 00:07:59.720 --> 00:08:03.040 The best jobs that Justin probably ever thought he could get. 147 00:08:03.680 --> 00:08:06.240 He was a finalist in Milwaukee, in the fact, I 148 00:08:06.240 --> 00:08:08.399 think he actually almost took the job. 149 00:08:09.399 --> 00:08:12.120 No, he was and then they he was like next 150 00:08:12.120 --> 00:08:14.480 in line, and I forgot the exact circumstances, but he 151 00:08:14.560 --> 00:08:17.600 kind of got strength and that deal. 152 00:08:17.680 --> 00:08:19.839 Right, and they gave it to Horst and then Dennis 153 00:08:19.839 --> 00:08:23.319 Lindsay moved on and jay Z was elevated to general manager. 154 00:08:24.040 --> 00:08:26.480 And Tim, I know that you said that you don't 155 00:08:26.480 --> 00:08:28.879 want to speculate on where his head is that with this, 156 00:08:29.439 --> 00:08:31.519 But where's his head at with this? 157 00:08:33.080 --> 00:08:34.759 I haven't talked to him, and I'm not going to 158 00:08:34.799 --> 00:08:38.240 put words in a guy's mouth, you know. I mean, 159 00:08:38.919 --> 00:08:44.440 jay Z has always been a very faithful, hardworking employee 160 00:08:44.440 --> 00:08:48.639 of the Utah Jazz. I don't know anything that would 161 00:08:48.679 --> 00:08:51.519 indicate that that would change. Yeah. The other thing is 162 00:08:51.559 --> 00:08:58.240 he's had some extremely serious health issues. You know, how 163 00:08:58.240 --> 00:09:02.159 to get a life stating transplant. You know, maybe taking 164 00:09:02.159 --> 00:09:05.840 a little bit off his plate would be beneficial. Man. 165 00:09:05.960 --> 00:09:09.759 But again, that's me getting into speculation that I really 166 00:09:09.759 --> 00:09:11.960 don't want to do because I have not had a 167 00:09:12.000 --> 00:09:12.840 discussion with him. 168 00:09:13.000 --> 00:09:14.799 So let's go back to what you reference. 169 00:09:14.840 --> 00:09:17.960 And that was Austin's answer as a result of the 170 00:09:18.039 --> 00:09:21.480 question asked by our very own Sean O'Connell about the 171 00:09:21.519 --> 00:09:24.799 philosophy on tanking and it was a great SoundBite. I mean, 172 00:09:24.840 --> 00:09:26.519 I've had a lot of people send it to me like, oh, 173 00:09:26.559 --> 00:09:30.279 I guess things are changing, but I don't believe it 174 00:09:30.320 --> 00:09:33.720 to be true. And it's pretty simple, tim like, there 175 00:09:33.840 --> 00:09:36.559 is this top eight protected first round pick next year 176 00:09:37.080 --> 00:09:39.000 that if the Jazz aren't in the top eight, it 177 00:09:39.039 --> 00:09:40.720 goes to the team that's probably about to win the 178 00:09:40.720 --> 00:09:44.279 World championship, and then the year after I believe it 179 00:09:44.320 --> 00:09:45.840 conveys to two second rounders. 180 00:09:45.879 --> 00:09:47.279 I think something like that. 181 00:09:47.440 --> 00:09:51.320 So next okay, So next year is the final time 182 00:09:51.320 --> 00:09:53.600 that the bill could come do. And when you are 183 00:09:53.600 --> 00:09:56.399 a team that is in such bad need of a 184 00:09:56.480 --> 00:10:00.440 talent infusion, you cannot afford to lose a f round 185 00:10:00.480 --> 00:10:03.919 pick that could be, you know, a player that ultimately 186 00:10:03.960 --> 00:10:06.159 does hit, because they need players that are going to hit. 187 00:10:06.679 --> 00:10:10.519 So I understand what Austin said. I don't believe that 188 00:10:10.519 --> 00:10:13.600 that's going to be the approach. How do you think 189 00:10:13.639 --> 00:10:16.480 they do approach this season based off of the need 190 00:10:16.519 --> 00:10:18.679 to hang on to an asset I believe they badly 191 00:10:18.720 --> 00:10:19.360 need to hang on to. 192 00:10:21.480 --> 00:10:23.399 Can you read the exact quote to me? Do you 193 00:10:23.399 --> 00:10:24.159 have that in front of you? 194 00:10:24.440 --> 00:10:26.960 It was simply if Seohn asked him his philosophy on 195 00:10:27.080 --> 00:10:30.679 tanking manipulating minutes, you know, in the name of better 196 00:10:30.759 --> 00:10:33.799 draft odds, and Austin simply said, you will not see 197 00:10:33.799 --> 00:10:34.399 that this year. 198 00:10:35.600 --> 00:10:40.840 So you might see and you don't have to call 199 00:10:40.879 --> 00:10:45.000 it tank, and you might see long term transactions that 200 00:10:45.840 --> 00:10:48.279 make it even more difficult for the Jazz to put 201 00:10:48.320 --> 00:10:51.039 a winning product on the floor next year. Is that 202 00:10:51.200 --> 00:10:53.360 tanking or is that doing what's in the best long 203 00:10:53.440 --> 00:10:57.080 term interest of your franchise. I think, you know, if 204 00:10:57.080 --> 00:11:01.320 you take his statement at face value, they're not going 205 00:11:01.360 --> 00:11:05.639 to tank by coming up with mythical injuries. Okay, They're 206 00:11:05.639 --> 00:11:09.440 not going to tank by sitting there better players during 207 00:11:09.480 --> 00:11:13.440 the fourth quarters. They're not going to be you know. 208 00:11:13.639 --> 00:11:16.960 I mean, I think a fair word is dishonest about 209 00:11:17.320 --> 00:11:21.879 trying to on a night to night basis win basketball games. 210 00:11:22.399 --> 00:11:24.039 That doesn't mean that they're going to win a lot 211 00:11:24.039 --> 00:11:26.799 of games next year. Now, Will has proven that if 212 00:11:26.919 --> 00:11:30.840 if you know, if you give him NBA caliber talent, 213 00:11:30.919 --> 00:11:33.159 that he's probably gonna the Jazz will probably win more 214 00:11:33.200 --> 00:11:37.039 games under his coaching, then you would think just looking 215 00:11:37.039 --> 00:11:39.480 at it on paper, Uh, you know, if they're if 216 00:11:39.519 --> 00:11:44.279 they're not doing you know, egregious tanking measures, but like, 217 00:11:45.759 --> 00:11:49.600 look at the Western Conference, tell me which team you 218 00:11:49.720 --> 00:11:52.000 realistically think the Jazz are going to be better than 219 00:11:52.000 --> 00:11:52.480 next year? 220 00:11:53.960 --> 00:11:54.679 There is one? 221 00:11:55.399 --> 00:12:01.120 Okay, I was gonna wait. So look, they they went 222 00:12:01.240 --> 00:12:03.200 all out to get the worst record in the league 223 00:12:03.279 --> 00:12:06.120 last year. They ended up with the fifth pick, which 224 00:12:06.159 --> 00:12:09.440 again was the worst case scenario in that situation and 225 00:12:09.480 --> 00:12:12.639 by far the most likely. It's like forty seven point 226 00:12:12.759 --> 00:12:14.639 nine percent chance that if you have the worst record 227 00:12:14.639 --> 00:12:17.039 in the league, that's where you're gonna land. So it's 228 00:12:17.080 --> 00:12:20.480 not a shock that's where they landed. Now, what did 229 00:12:20.480 --> 00:12:25.000 they pay in terms of player development? Maybe bad habits 230 00:12:25.080 --> 00:12:27.480 kicking in, you know that sort of thing. How much 231 00:12:27.639 --> 00:12:31.480 they did they stunt the growth of you know, recent 232 00:12:31.559 --> 00:12:33.559 draft picks that are on that roster, that were in 233 00:12:33.559 --> 00:12:36.240 that rotation. You know, those are all questions that need 234 00:12:36.279 --> 00:12:39.919 to be discussed internally much less you know, on radio 235 00:12:39.960 --> 00:12:46.639 shows and whatnot. But I think realistically, you know, they're 236 00:12:46.679 --> 00:12:48.679 not going to make win now trades this summer. I mean, 237 00:12:48.720 --> 00:12:52.600 that'd just be silly. I think realistically, like we're looking 238 00:12:52.639 --> 00:12:55.480 at a team that's probably going to still land pretty 239 00:12:55.559 --> 00:12:59.000 high in the lottery. Now, if you land fifth or sixth. 240 00:12:59.039 --> 00:13:01.559 You know, I'm not looking at the table right in 241 00:13:01.559 --> 00:13:05.240 front of me. But to get to your point, the 242 00:13:05.320 --> 00:13:08.559 fear isn't necessarily oh my gosh, we might have fifth 243 00:13:08.639 --> 00:13:10.759 or six taken the drafting in it, so we might 244 00:13:10.799 --> 00:13:13.039 get leap frogged a couple of times. And you know, 245 00:13:13.080 --> 00:13:15.720 if you're if you're seventh especially, might get leapfrog a 246 00:13:15.720 --> 00:13:19.279 couple of times. Lad ninth. That would be a disaster. 247 00:13:19.679 --> 00:13:21.679 It would be a total disaster. Obviously, it's in the 248 00:13:21.759 --> 00:13:25.080 ninth overall pick to the Oklahoma City Thunder, So there's 249 00:13:25.120 --> 00:13:27.720 a there's a lot of gray here, a lot of 250 00:13:27.799 --> 00:13:34.159 nuance here. But to just repeat the approach that they 251 00:13:34.159 --> 00:13:38.360 took last year, I mean, I think you're kind of 252 00:13:38.360 --> 00:13:40.240 giving up on the young guys on the roster if 253 00:13:40.240 --> 00:13:40.960 you want to do that. 254 00:13:42.759 --> 00:13:46.600 So if they if they, if they want to uh 255 00:13:47.240 --> 00:13:51.519 go about their business of losing while being serious about 256 00:13:51.600 --> 00:13:54.240 trying to compete, I feel like it means they have 257 00:13:54.360 --> 00:13:57.120 to move off of marketing and probably Kessler, because if 258 00:13:57.440 --> 00:14:01.559 if Larry plays seventy five games, if Walker plays seventy 259 00:14:01.639 --> 00:14:04.720 seventy five games, if Colin Sexton plays seventy to seventy 260 00:14:04.759 --> 00:14:07.720 seventy five games and John Collins was better. And your 261 00:14:07.759 --> 00:14:10.639 point about Will is absolutely spot on. Okay, with a 262 00:14:11.120 --> 00:14:14.919 coach who has shown that he can maximize whatever talent 263 00:14:14.919 --> 00:14:18.399 he has if you allow him to maximize it, I 264 00:14:18.440 --> 00:14:21.320 see a team that could win thirty thirty five games 265 00:14:21.320 --> 00:14:22.799 in the West. I don't see a team that's making 266 00:14:22.799 --> 00:14:25.159 the playoffs or hanging a banner. But I see a 267 00:14:25.200 --> 00:14:28.080 team as presley constituted, and certainly if they draft a 268 00:14:28.159 --> 00:14:30.039 kid at five, they can step in and play right away, 269 00:14:30.799 --> 00:14:33.039 and they play all the vets and they do their 270 00:14:33.039 --> 00:14:34.720 best to win games. I see a team that can 271 00:14:34.759 --> 00:14:37.120 win between thirty and thirty five games, which puts you 272 00:14:37.360 --> 00:14:41.360 right in that area of potentially not being in the 273 00:14:41.360 --> 00:14:44.840 top seven or top eight, which is the worst possible 274 00:14:44.879 --> 00:14:48.080 outcome that we could actually come up with. So if 275 00:14:48.120 --> 00:14:50.000 they are going to do the thing where it's like, no, 276 00:14:50.080 --> 00:14:51.720 we are going to put our best foot forward and 277 00:14:51.759 --> 00:14:53.840 try to compete, I think it means they have to 278 00:14:53.879 --> 00:14:55.399 move off of Larry and probably Walker. 279 00:14:57.000 --> 00:15:01.720 I would agree that, you know, if they if they 280 00:15:02.600 --> 00:15:06.320 reached the conclusion that hey, we have got an reasonable conclusion, 281 00:15:06.720 --> 00:15:09.840 we've got to at least be in the top eight 282 00:15:09.919 --> 00:15:13.759 that there's you know, they need to address some of 283 00:15:13.759 --> 00:15:17.240 the uh Win probability issues. I had to put it 284 00:15:17.279 --> 00:15:21.720 politely via the trademarket, and I mean, do you think 285 00:15:21.720 --> 00:15:26.200 anybody in that roster is untouchable? No, Lowry wasn't untouchable 286 00:15:26.240 --> 00:15:30.759 last year. Now, their asking price for Lowry was I 287 00:15:30.799 --> 00:15:34.080 think other teams would say way too high, you know. 288 00:15:34.320 --> 00:15:36.960 Does that come down this year? I don't know. Again, 289 00:15:37.039 --> 00:15:39.000 I think those are discussions that need to be had. 290 00:15:40.799 --> 00:15:44.519 I don't think they asking price for Sexton or for Collins, 291 00:15:44.600 --> 00:15:48.799 or for the Clarkson or is too high, you know. Tesser. 292 00:15:48.840 --> 00:15:51.720 To me, that's a tough one though, because he absolutely 293 00:15:52.399 --> 00:15:56.039 is a guy who you could envision as the defensive 294 00:15:56.080 --> 00:15:58.679 backbone of a good team, you know, four or five 295 00:15:58.759 --> 00:16:03.440 years down the road. You know, it's not hard to 296 00:16:04.320 --> 00:16:08.240 look at Kessler, not not as like your franchise player obviously, 297 00:16:08.399 --> 00:16:12.759 but as a piece of a foundation that you can 298 00:16:12.799 --> 00:16:15.840 build upon. So that that one's tougher for me. 299 00:16:16.879 --> 00:16:19.120 I agree with you. I love Walker, I love Larry. 300 00:16:19.240 --> 00:16:20.120 Larry's good man. 301 00:16:20.320 --> 00:16:23.080 Like I'm just trying to understand how this thing can 302 00:16:23.120 --> 00:16:25.360 work with the long term game in mind, because to 303 00:16:25.399 --> 00:16:29.279 your earlier point him, they're a marathon away from the 304 00:16:29.279 --> 00:16:31.559 better teams in the Western Conference. I mean, Chris Finch 305 00:16:31.600 --> 00:16:34.200 after the Minnesota loss, He's like, hey, there are thirteen 306 00:16:34.240 --> 00:16:36.279 teams in the West. They're going to be trying to 307 00:16:36.320 --> 00:16:38.480 compete for home court. And it's like, oh, okay, so 308 00:16:38.519 --> 00:16:41.279 it's probably the Jazz and the Blazers that aren't. But 309 00:16:41.399 --> 00:16:44.159 because they're so far away, part of me believes they're 310 00:16:44.159 --> 00:16:45.759 probably going to look at some of the stuff and 311 00:16:46.360 --> 00:16:49.200 keep the you know, the mindset of we are three, 312 00:16:49.320 --> 00:16:51.919 four five years away from being being able to compete 313 00:16:51.919 --> 00:16:54.679 with the top teams, and maybe that does make Walker expendable, 314 00:16:55.039 --> 00:16:57.080 even though I agree with you that's a tough, tough 315 00:16:57.120 --> 00:16:59.000 decision to make because he's been so good. 316 00:17:00.240 --> 00:17:03.679 Yeah, and again, like they would listen to him last year, 317 00:17:03.720 --> 00:17:06.519 but they were asking for at least a couple of 318 00:17:06.519 --> 00:17:11.039 first round picks, and you know, and and then if 319 00:17:11.079 --> 00:17:13.680 you get into the discussions around now, what are the 320 00:17:13.759 --> 00:17:17.400 quality of picks, blah blah blah. You know, the lottery 321 00:17:17.440 --> 00:17:21.000 things also interesting to me because honestly, if you're going 322 00:17:21.039 --> 00:17:26.319 to trade him, was he more or less valuable in 323 00:17:26.319 --> 00:17:28.920 the trade market before you gave him a full blown 324 00:17:29.000 --> 00:17:34.000 max contract, you know, And I don't know, and I 325 00:17:34.039 --> 00:17:37.799 don't know. I don't know what his value would be 326 00:17:38.759 --> 00:17:41.519 in the trademarket now. I do think it's like Austin 327 00:17:41.519 --> 00:17:43.920 Ainge has to find out doesn't mean he has to 328 00:17:43.920 --> 00:17:45.319 trade him, but he has to find out what the 329 00:17:45.400 --> 00:17:49.680 value is. And I'm not sure, you know, And just 330 00:17:50.519 --> 00:17:56.680 like you can't really evaluate marketing his performance last year, 331 00:17:57.680 --> 00:17:59.839 I mean, it's such a weird situation or Dad not 332 00:18:00.119 --> 00:18:03.720 to play for no, they were clearly tanking, you know. 333 00:18:03.759 --> 00:18:05.119 He was out of the line up every couple of 334 00:18:05.200 --> 00:18:08.200 games just because they're like, hey, if you play, we 335 00:18:08.279 --> 00:18:11.559 might actually actually win this one. But he had a 336 00:18:11.559 --> 00:18:16.680 bad year. I don't know, man, I think I think 337 00:18:16.720 --> 00:18:21.960 some teams might have trouble figuring out what his value 338 00:18:22.000 --> 00:18:22.400 would be. 339 00:18:24.519 --> 00:18:28.000 So with the news today that the New York Knicks 340 00:18:28.000 --> 00:18:31.640 have moved off of Tom Thibodeau, you know, after going 341 00:18:31.640 --> 00:18:34.519 to the Eastern Conference finals, after winning fifty games and 342 00:18:34.599 --> 00:18:37.480 back to back years making the playoffs for the last 343 00:18:37.519 --> 00:18:40.240 five the last three years, the most playoff wins belong 344 00:18:40.319 --> 00:18:43.720 to Boston, Denver, and New York is third. It's another 345 00:18:43.759 --> 00:18:46.880 example of an impulsive owner who'd rather play the kazoo 346 00:18:46.920 --> 00:18:49.359 for his dumb band that actually continue to build something 347 00:18:49.480 --> 00:18:52.960 that means something. And so where where I think and 348 00:18:53.319 --> 00:18:56.039 look to be fair. Only time will tell if this 349 00:18:56.160 --> 00:18:59.519 is going to work. But bottom line is you need players, 350 00:18:59.720 --> 00:19:03.400 Nick players. The Jazz don't. But what Ryan has elected 351 00:19:03.440 --> 00:19:06.839 to do is kind of the anti Dolan approach. And 352 00:19:06.920 --> 00:19:09.359 Will Hardy, who's won thirty four percent of his games, 353 00:19:09.400 --> 00:19:12.839 is under contract forever and now he's locked in his 354 00:19:12.880 --> 00:19:16.000 front office guys that you know, I believe will be 355 00:19:16.039 --> 00:19:18.480 around for a long long time. Only time will tell 356 00:19:18.559 --> 00:19:20.400 if this is the right approach, And the bottom line 357 00:19:20.519 --> 00:19:23.359 is you do need players, but Ryan has elected to 358 00:19:24.480 --> 00:19:26.920 believe in the people he's hired and give them stability 359 00:19:27.000 --> 00:19:29.079 moving forward and playing the long game to try to 360 00:19:29.079 --> 00:19:29.640 build this thing. 361 00:19:29.680 --> 00:19:33.599 You know, I think good ownership is hiring good people 362 00:19:33.640 --> 00:19:35.880 and trusting them to do their job and supporting them 363 00:19:36.519 --> 00:19:41.720 without meddling. You know, Jim Dolan is not a good owner. 364 00:19:42.319 --> 00:19:44.960 He's just not. The next have been good the last 365 00:19:45.000 --> 00:19:48.319 four years, you know, Leon Rose, I would say done 366 00:19:48.680 --> 00:19:53.920 a good job all things considered, But I mean, I 367 00:19:54.000 --> 00:19:56.640 just I don't understand fir and Tips here, and there 368 00:19:56.640 --> 00:19:59.359 have been noise about his job maybe being in jeopardy 369 00:19:59.440 --> 00:20:02.559 for really going back months now, for a lot of 370 00:20:02.559 --> 00:20:07.119 the season, but after an Eastern Conference Finals birth, and 371 00:20:07.519 --> 00:20:10.960 I don't know, maybe they I would hope they know 372 00:20:11.079 --> 00:20:14.160 who their next hire is going to be. I don't 373 00:20:14.200 --> 00:20:17.440 know that. I've not even heard like really informed speculation 374 00:20:17.599 --> 00:20:22.039 on that yet. But just firing TIBs and then by 375 00:20:22.160 --> 00:20:24.559 figuring it out on the fly that doesn't seem to 376 00:20:24.559 --> 00:20:28.039 be a good plan. Now, good luck getting any idea 377 00:20:28.680 --> 00:20:32.079 of what their actual plan might be, because you know what. 378 00:20:32.279 --> 00:20:35.079 You know what the Jazz do, and almost every team 379 00:20:35.079 --> 00:20:37.880 in the league does it, with the exceptional one. When 380 00:20:37.920 --> 00:20:41.000 they make a major, major decision, they have the people 381 00:20:41.000 --> 00:20:44.599 who made the decision hold a press conference where they 382 00:20:44.599 --> 00:20:48.039 can be asked about things, where they can explain why, 383 00:20:48.119 --> 00:20:51.200 where they can explain their vision. The Knicks don't do 384 00:20:51.240 --> 00:20:54.319 that at all. And I don't understand that either. There's 385 00:20:54.319 --> 00:20:56.079 a lot of things that I don't understand about the Nicks. 386 00:20:56.200 --> 00:20:59.599 But you just you're in the midst of your most 387 00:20:59.640 --> 00:21:03.119 success full run in at least a quarter of a century, 388 00:21:03.960 --> 00:21:07.079 and then you say you need to get a new voice, okay, 389 00:21:07.920 --> 00:21:10.960 and Honestly, I really don't even want to hear from 390 00:21:11.000 --> 00:21:14.440 Leon Rose or Jim Dolan. What I really want to 391 00:21:14.480 --> 00:21:16.640 get is Jamn Bruns's honest thoughts on this. 392 00:21:18.839 --> 00:21:19.759 Yeah, No, for sure. 393 00:21:19.799 --> 00:21:23.720 He was asked about coach coach Tibbodeaux after Game six, 394 00:21:23.759 --> 00:21:26.920 and I thought he gave a really supportive, salient answer. 395 00:21:26.960 --> 00:21:29.319 I wonder how much of this and this is I 396 00:21:29.319 --> 00:21:31.720 guess it was. Haberstrow hopped on yesterday and pointed out 397 00:21:31.759 --> 00:21:34.680 because I asked him. I asked Tommy yesterday, what does 398 00:21:34.720 --> 00:21:37.720 the offseason look like in New York? Because I think 399 00:21:37.720 --> 00:21:39.000 they've got a cat problem. 400 00:21:39.119 --> 00:21:39.839 And the cat. 401 00:21:39.680 --> 00:21:42.200