Speaker 1: Your afternoon drive just got a little better. Well that's
Speaker 1: the hope at least. Now back to in the Zone
Speaker 1: with Brandon Kravitz.
Speaker 2: Keep the text rolling in five zero eight five seven
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Speaker 2: Just tap that microphone icon and let it fly. So
Speaker 2: this Kevin Durant trade very interesting, kind of spiced up.
Speaker 2: It was already a pretty good sports weekend, but this
Speaker 2: made it even better. The deal is essentially this. The
Speaker 2: Rockets get Kevin Durant, the Suns get Jalen Green, Dylan Brooks,
Speaker 2: and all the second round picks they want. Oh and
Speaker 2: the tenth overall pick in this year's NBA draft, which
Speaker 2: is not nothing.
Speaker 3: This is a really good NBA draft class.
Speaker 2: And I'm excited to hear who Tyler Karen thinks the
Speaker 2: Sons should now be taking with that pick. But they
Speaker 2: have the tenth pick, they have Jalen Green, they have
Speaker 2: Dylan Brooks, and they have all the second round picks
Speaker 2: you want. I imagine that this is how the negotiations go.
Speaker 2: Whenever you get down to the second round picks portion
Speaker 2: of the deal, you go, Okay, we've laid it out.
Speaker 2: Jalen Green, Dylan Brooks the tenth overall pick, and we'll
Speaker 2: give you four second round picks unless you need more.
Speaker 3: You can have as many as you need. I imagine
Speaker 3: that's kind of what it sounds like. And then the
Speaker 3: other side goes.
Speaker 1: Can we get six of them?
Speaker 3: And they're like, yeah, why not?
Speaker 2: You know, let's not let this hold us up. Essentially,
Speaker 2: the thought comes down to this. It all comes down
Speaker 2: to how good you think Jalen Green is slash can be.
Speaker 2: If you are not a believer in Jalen Green, this
Speaker 2: trade is awful and the Sons did not get enough.
Speaker 2: The tenth pick is nice, but a slew of seconds.
Speaker 2: We joke for reason when the Rockets own a twenty
Speaker 2: twenty seven Phoenix pick and a twenty twenty nine pick swap,
Speaker 2: it feels like the Suns probably could have done a
Speaker 2: little bit better. If you're gonna start over, don't you
Speaker 2: want your own picks back? I would have said the
Speaker 2: conversation starts there. We need our picks back, and then
Speaker 2: we'll work to add other pieces to the equation. But
Speaker 2: I'm good with it because I think Jalen Green is
Speaker 2: a good player, and ultimately it's not enough when you
Speaker 2: trade someone like Kevin Durant to just get a good
Speaker 2: player back. But when you can get a good young
Speaker 2: player and other pieces and the tenth overall pick is
Speaker 2: that if you do it right. I don't think this
Speaker 2: is that bad of a deal. And you have to
Speaker 2: keep in mind this is so different than the Desmond
Speaker 2: Baine trade because Bain is twenty six, he's under his
Speaker 2: current contract for the next four years. The Rockets have
Speaker 2: to immediately start negotiating with Kevin Durant, and if he
Speaker 2: wanted to, he could leave at the end of the year.
Speaker 2: He's an unrestricted free agent at the end of the
Speaker 2: next season. So if he just wanted to make this
Speaker 2: a one year trip, which by the way, it's Kevin Durant,
Speaker 2: so there's no guarantee, that's not the way he's gonna
Speaker 2: handle this. This is his fifth team.
Speaker 1: Let's just the Tiger had stripes.
Speaker 3: Okay, let's just call it what it is.
Speaker 2: I don't think this is that bad of a deal,
Speaker 2: but they are getting slammed for it.
Speaker 3: Phoenix.
Speaker 2: According to everybody out there, Phoenix lost this deal. I
Speaker 2: feel like they did. Okay, I don't think they killed it,
Speaker 2: but I think they did fine.
Speaker 1: They did the best that they could.
Speaker 4: As a whole, they have probably mismanaged and mishandled this
Speaker 4: whole Kevin Durant experiment in situation of bringing him in
Speaker 4: and adding Bradley Beale and the truckload of money that
Speaker 4: he brings with him. Phoenix acknowledged through this process that
Speaker 4: they failed with this experiment. So all the reports that
Speaker 4: we have heard was that Phoenix's asking price for Kevin
Speaker 4: Durant was simply too So it gets to a point
Speaker 4: if you are that Sun's front office saying you are
Speaker 4: going to get swindled, you are going to get squeezed
Speaker 4: in a way because everyone around the league knows that
Speaker 4: you are looking to get off of this guy and
Speaker 4: that he is a veteran at thirty seven years old
Speaker 4: that comes with a big price tag and that there
Speaker 4: is no guarantee, as you mentioned, that he will sign
Speaker 4: again to play the remainder of his days in the
Speaker 4: NBA in your jersey. So the asking price was already
Speaker 4: too high, and if you're Phoenix in that point, you
Speaker 4: just have to get the best that you can. So
Speaker 4: when you look at it from that lens of you
Speaker 4: are able to get a young star in Jalen Green
Speaker 4: that if you can kind of get the mentals with
Speaker 4: him right and kind of get him I don't want
Speaker 4: to say basketball IQ, but you kind of reel him
Speaker 4: in a little bit, get the efficiency up, and get
Speaker 4: him in the right spot. He's an all Star caliber
Speaker 4: player in this league, has the potential to be one
Speaker 4: of the deadliest offensive players in this league.
Speaker 1: That's a win. The tenth overall p we'll discuss it
Speaker 1: further throughout the show.
Speaker 4: Phoenix has a chance to get a team changing player
Speaker 4: at that pick. High upside guys will live in that range.
Speaker 4: You can consider that that has the potential to be
Speaker 4: two young stars. Then on top of that, a Dylan
Speaker 4: Brooks is a guy that can contribute in any locker
Speaker 4: and for any NBA team that you drop him in.
Speaker 1: He is a winning player day one.
Speaker 4: He gives you all the things that you look for
Speaker 4: in NBA players when it comes to three and D guys.
Speaker 4: So considering do you want extra picks for it, absolutely?
Speaker 4: Do you want your own picks back from the team
Speaker 4: that you dealt with, Absolutely, But the asking price was
Speaker 4: too high for Kevin Durant and Phoenix at the end
Speaker 4: of the day had to settle with what was available,
Speaker 4: and so that's where you look at it through that lens.
Speaker 1: I think they did well for themselves.
Speaker 2: I don't think the Suns are going to be very
Speaker 2: good next year, but they will be fun to watch.
Speaker 2: Carve out some time next season to watch you some
Speaker 2: Suns games. Devin Booker and Jalen Green next to each
Speaker 2: other on the cour Jalen Green is an explosive offensive player.
Speaker 2: The issue is that I think he's a little immature
Speaker 2: and he's incredibly inconsistent. And for a team like Houston
Speaker 2: that was stuck offensively, they were just kind of a
Speaker 2: better version of what the Magic were. So when you
Speaker 2: think about what they need, they and they actually in
Speaker 2: some ways were more depleted offensively than the Magic were,
Speaker 2: because at least the Magic could go, hey, Paolo, get
Speaker 2: us a bucket. When Jalen Green wasn't in the zone.
Speaker 2: They didn't have anybody that could do that. Just at will,
Speaker 2: just get us a bucket. They got a bunch of
Speaker 2: really good players, they have defenders, but they needed what
Speaker 2: Kevin Durant brings because now they can go KD. We
Speaker 2: need a point, you know, late in the game, we
Speaker 2: got to get a basket. Just give it to Kevin Durant.
Speaker 2: Now they have that guy, Phoenix has a lot of
Speaker 2: work to do. But I liked the Houston side of this.
Speaker 2: Kevin Durant at this stage in his career couldn't just
Speaker 2: go anywhere and make that team a title contender. All
Speaker 2: this stuff about Miami wasn't willing to part ways with
Speaker 2: hime Hakkez and whatever. I don't buy any of that.
Speaker 2: By the way, I don't think Miami was serious about
Speaker 2: adding him, because I think Miami is smart. I would
Speaker 2: like to give one of the more well run organizations
Speaker 2: in the NBA some credit that they know they could
Speaker 2: add Kevin Durant and maybe they sell a few more
Speaker 2: tickets and they're a little bit better than they were before.
Speaker 2: That doesn't make them a title contender. I think KD
Speaker 2: does do that for Houston, though. He's the perfect player
Speaker 2: to drop in to what they have already created. This
Speaker 2: is a really good situation for both sides. I'd really
Speaker 2: like this from the Houston angle.
Speaker 4: Kudos to them because again they took advantage of a
Speaker 4: wounded animal in Phoenix. Of again, there was only so
Speaker 4: much of a market for Kevin Durant and whoever they
Speaker 4: were trading KDI two had all the leverage in the
Speaker 4: situation because they knew Phoenix needed to get off of them.
Speaker 1: So what does Houston do.
Speaker 4: You're able to hold onto those future picks that we discussed,
Speaker 4: and you're able to hold on to your best stuff
Speaker 4: as a whole.
Speaker 1: Jalen Green was the leading scorer for the.
Speaker 4: Rockets last year, but alper and shen Gun is your
Speaker 4: all Star, Amen Thompson, Reed Shepherd, Cam Whitmore, Jamari.
Speaker 1: Smith Junior, Tarry Easen.
Speaker 4: Those are your great young pieces that you have in
Speaker 4: your pocket moving forward that can contribute to both winning now,
Speaker 4: which many of those players did last season for Houston,
Speaker 4: as well as building towards the future. And then you
Speaker 4: start to build lineups for this Houston team and what
Speaker 4: they're going to be able to look like. What does
Speaker 4: Reed Shepherd? Can he take a year two jump and
Speaker 4: really be a full time NBA player and a contributing
Speaker 4: one at that? Can Jamaris Smith Junior to get to
Speaker 4: the next level of just kind of it's kind of
Speaker 4: plateaued at about thirteen points to nine. He's a reliable
Speaker 4: ish shooter, but can you get him too closer to
Speaker 4: that fifteen to seventeen range one way or another. Though,
Speaker 4: you start building lineups of Fred van Vliet and alpri
Speaker 4: and Shen Gun on the outsides, and then the mid
Speaker 4: court of Amen Thompson, Jamari Smith Junior, and Kevin Durant.
Speaker 1: That's a lot of length.
Speaker 4: Right there, not all necessarily great defenders, but that's a
Speaker 4: problem for teams defensively. I think this Houston team is
Speaker 4: gonna be able to create a lot of advantages for
Speaker 4: themselves with some of the interesting.
Speaker 1: Lineups they'll be able to throw out there on the court.
Speaker 3: They do miss Dylan Brooks though, absolutely.
Speaker 2: He was a huge part of why their defense was
Speaker 2: as good as it was last year. But I'm in
Speaker 2: Thompson is the real deal and he should be able
Speaker 2: to anchor things as well. Are you with me that
Speaker 2: this now for right now? And there's still a lot
Speaker 2: of moves to be made. This makes Houston the second
Speaker 2: best team in the Western Conference. They were, by the way,
Speaker 2: they were already the second best team in the conference
Speaker 2: record wise. Now they add Kevin Durant, an up clear
Speaker 2: upgrade at scoring guard, small forward, whatever position.
Speaker 4: Yeah, I mean Kevin Durant. Here's the interesting thing. Phoenix
Speaker 4: wasn't a playoff team last year. With Kevin Durant at
Speaker 4: the center of it all, Houston is a much better
Speaker 4: team around Kevin Durant than what Phoenix was last year.
Speaker 4: So I think for surely you can kind of pencil
Speaker 4: them in as a top as a home court advantage
Speaker 4: team when it comes to round one in the playoffs. However,
Speaker 4: when Denver still has Jokich in a full offseason, full
Speaker 4: year of Lebron and Luca together in La can Anthony
Speaker 4: Edwards and Minnesota put together a regular season that has
Speaker 4: been as impressive as what their postseasons have been.
Speaker 1: Those are questions that remain.
Speaker 4: But right now, on paper, yes, I think talent wise,
Speaker 4: mixed in with the coaching and the chemistry that you
Speaker 4: have seen from a year ago, Houston should be one
Speaker 4: of the top teams odds wise to come out of
Speaker 4: the West next season.
Speaker 2: The Lakers have to do something else. If I'm going
Speaker 2: to buy into them. Lebron and Luca are a that's
Speaker 2: a star attraction, then they can win games here and
Speaker 2: there throughout the course of the season. They can give
Speaker 2: you a good record at the end of the regular season,
Speaker 2: it's still not enough. You have to have a team
Speaker 2: around those guys. Lebron is aging. Luca doesn't defend. That's
Speaker 2: to me. The Lebron Luca thing is candy. You know,
Speaker 2: they'd need a little more substance. But Denver's for real
Speaker 2: for the reasons you laid out. They have Jokic and
Speaker 2: they do have a good.
Speaker 3: Team around him. The Clippers.
Speaker 2: I thought I could trust the Clippers for the first time,
Speaker 2: and you just can't, So just forget about them. Minnesota
Speaker 2: is legit. I would say Oklahoma City, Houston, Minnesota right now,
Speaker 2: and Denver are the teams that I trust. I don't
Speaker 2: know what's going on with Golden State. They probably have
Speaker 2: to make another move if you're gonna take them seriously.
Speaker 3: Memphis losing bang and they head in the wrong direction.
Speaker 2: It's I think the West probably gets too much credit
Speaker 2: for as loaded as it is, because if you're being
Speaker 2: honest with yourself, I don't think you can go more
Speaker 2: than four or five teams into the conference. So you go,
Speaker 2: this team is a legitimate chance to represent this conference.
Speaker 4: Partially because of how impressive Oklahoma City was.
Speaker 1: I think this year that the bar is a little
Speaker 1: bit higher like the bar in the West.
Speaker 4: Comparatively to the bar in the East are too completely
Speaker 4: different stories that you had Indiana representing the East this
Speaker 4: year and they were on the doorstep last year, and
Speaker 4: now the Tatum injury and now the Halliburton injury, the
Speaker 4: question marks in Milwaukee. Cleveland showed that it was good
Speaker 4: enough to put together a great regular season, but injuries
Speaker 4: struck as injuries have shruck Cleveland throughout the entirety of
Speaker 4: this Core four experience.
Speaker 1: So the East seems.
Speaker 4: Very open, whereas out west you do have that big
Speaker 4: dog on top, and that is Oklahoma City. So I
Speaker 4: think it's one of those cases that you drop a
Speaker 4: couple of those these Western teams in the East and you.
Speaker 1: Say, Okay, those guys are closer to contenders and what
Speaker 1: we give them credit for.
Speaker 2: Let me ask you this, then then we'll break how
Speaker 2: many teams in the West if you drop them in
Speaker 2: the East to be the number one seed next year,
Speaker 2: now win the conference. We're just saying regular season, they're
Speaker 2: the number one seed, home court advantage. I think I'm
Speaker 2: only gonna go.
Speaker 1: Five. That's still that's still a lot.
Speaker 4: What there's still so many, so many questions to be answered,
Speaker 4: But yeah, probably four four.
Speaker 1: I think a good number.
Speaker 3: It feels like a better number, all right. Just something
Speaker 3: to think about.
Speaker 2: Coming up next our first four things, we've got updated
Speaker 2: title odds, so we've got an update from the golf
Speaker 2: event this weekend and a little bit on the NBA
Speaker 2: draft as well, which is this week by the way.
Speaker 2: Right now, I am ranked seventy.
Speaker 1: Third overall for ROI.
Speaker 2: That's return on investment over the past seven days on
Speaker 2: better