Speaker 1: To a Clippers Talk Live. I want to say the
Speaker 1: fifth edition of these we have done. I'm Adam Moslin.
Speaker 1: If you missed the show. Yesterday we had Carl tart On,
Speaker 1: new member of the SNL writing staff, and then on
Speaker 1: Monday we had om Young Masuuk from ESPN on. So
Speaker 1: it's been a great week and we're going to close
Speaker 1: things out with a great guest. It's our friend Justin
Speaker 1: Rousseau Russo that fly by Night kN Ite is where
Speaker 1: you find him on x He's one of my favorite reporters.
Speaker 1: We talked with Til Marizar the last Thursday. He mentioned
Speaker 1: Justin a certain situation that occurred last year.
Speaker 2: Because I messed up. I messed up.
Speaker 1: I tried to book both of them to see who
Speaker 1: would respond first, because I don't know. Both guys are
Speaker 1: hard to get ahold of sometimes, so I just figure
Speaker 1: i'd live out of text see who responded. Whoever was
Speaker 1: first came on with Clippers pregame show with me, but Justin,
Speaker 1: thanks for putting up with me. Thanks for doing this
Speaker 1: here on Clippers Talk on the live YouTube side.
Speaker 3: No problem, man, I'm glad to be here, glad to
Speaker 3: see you. It's been a know a couple of weeks
Speaker 3: since I saw you on Clips and Dead, but you know,
Speaker 3: it's always good to see you.
Speaker 1: It's good to catch up. This is a new format
Speaker 1: I got going on. If you're listening to this on
Speaker 1: the podcast side, check out the new YouTube. I've had
Speaker 1: it up for about I don't know, a month and
Speaker 1: a half, not even two months yet, and I think
Speaker 1: we're about two k followers, so I'm happy about that,
Speaker 1: and people are starting to come into the chat and
Speaker 1: confirm we are live and good. On the YouTube side,
Speaker 1: Alan n G says love Russo's work. We all do
Speaker 1: very much, especially if Marcus Morris truthers out there.
Speaker 2: They've had his back.
Speaker 3: Forever umer those days.
Speaker 1: Before we get into some of that talk I told
Speaker 1: you earlier, I told Justin in a text message.
Speaker 2: Something I wanted to focus on.
Speaker 1: Has been one of the themes here this offseason is just
Speaker 1: the two man game, the one two punch or twenty
Speaker 1: one blackjack, whatever you want to say for the new
Speaker 1: two man combination between Kawhi Leonard and James Harden being
Speaker 1: the focal points on offense now no Paul George and
Speaker 1: just how they have worked together in the past and
Speaker 1: what we can expect from them this season. So James
Speaker 1: Harden and I did look this up over the past week.
Speaker 1: Justin out of his last twelve seasons, twelve years in
Speaker 1: the NBA, since he became a number one option with
Speaker 1: the Houston Rockets, he has never been on a team
Speaker 1: that's had worse than a twelfth ranked offensive rating, which
Speaker 1: is pretty damn impressive. In fact, on average their fifth.
Speaker 1: So he has a lot of times in there. He's
Speaker 1: had the number one overall offense I think twice in Houston,
Speaker 1: then once with the Brooklyn Nets, even though he was
Speaker 1: only there for a little bit. So some of what
Speaker 1: people have wondered is, how do they without a lot
Speaker 1: of shock creaders on this Clippers team, how do they
Speaker 1: make up for the loss of Paul George and still
Speaker 1: be maybe a top ten offense somehow? Give us some hope,
Speaker 1: if you have any, Just give us the realism here,
Speaker 1: I guess, or the realistic view of how this Clippers
Speaker 1: team could look with the one two punch of Kawhi
Speaker 1: and James Harden.
Speaker 3: Now, so the optimistic outlook is Kawhi Leonard and James
Speaker 3: Harden were both very good last season. They actually each
Speaker 3: had pretty low touches or at least Kawi did touch
Speaker 3: us P thirty six minutes. It was the lowest for
Speaker 3: Kawhi since twenty fourteen to fifteen. This is for last season,
Speaker 3: so it was the fewest for him in about ten years.
Speaker 3: For James, it was the fewest touches for him, just
Speaker 3: like Kawhi since twenty fourteen to fifteen. So the optimistic
Speaker 3: outlook is both of them were very good offensively last
Speaker 3: year and the ball will be in their hands a
Speaker 3: lot more this year, assuming obviously health, which I mean
Speaker 3: no one can predict health going forward. So the optimistic
Speaker 3: outlook is the ball will be in their hands more.
Speaker 3: They were very good and efficient last season when it
Speaker 3: was in their hands, and that could lead to even
Speaker 3: better things potentially this season than some people might have thought.
Speaker 3: With losing pg.
Speaker 1: AM, I wrong in saying I believe they were the
Speaker 1: two best guys when it cames to isolation points per
Speaker 1: shot attempt or points per possession. They were the most
Speaker 1: efficient guys in isolation scoring last year.
Speaker 3: Yeah, I've seen it floated around. I think Kawhi was
Speaker 3: number one. I want to say James was number two. Yeah,
Speaker 3: So I mean, you know, look if you have two
Speaker 3: great isolation scorers, odds are you're gonna have a really
Speaker 3: good offense just because if defenses kind of limit you
Speaker 3: to the shots that they want to limit you to,
Speaker 3: you need isolation. Guys who can pretty much get whatever
Speaker 3: they want now they get it in different ways. Obviously,
Speaker 3: Kawhi's isolations for the most part, rely on him at
Speaker 3: the elbows or in the mid post or in the
Speaker 3: midrange in general. For James, his isolations usually just lead
Speaker 3: to step back threes, and it kind of tells you
Speaker 3: that there's no one way to be efficient in isolation.
Speaker 3: You can be an efficient jump shooter in the midlerange
Speaker 3: and you can be a hyper efficient jump shooter on threes.
Speaker 3: Both worked to a large degree, and for each of
Speaker 3: them worked very well last year.
Speaker 1: So is there a chance that they could actually compliment
Speaker 1: each other better? And it's not like it was bad
Speaker 1: between Kawhi and Paul George when they were both available,
Speaker 1: they won at about a seven hundred win percentage clip.
Speaker 1: They were very good when you could get both of
Speaker 1: them out there. But do these guys complete each other a.
Speaker 2: Little bit more?
Speaker 1: Jerry Maguire's style when it comes to James hard and
Speaker 1: Kawhi Leonard with maybe just doing more of the playmaking,
Speaker 1: which isn't necessarily Kawhi Leonard's strength, although he can because
Speaker 1: James Harden is so adept in that area, they might
Speaker 1: actually be a better tandem somehow.
Speaker 3: With the Clippers, it's possible. I could actually see it.
Speaker 3: I wrote about it a couple months ago, where I
Speaker 3: think the streamlines their offense a lot more than it
Speaker 3: was this past season when the three of them were together,
Speaker 3: because there were times last year, even during the twenty
Speaker 3: six and five stretch towards the end of twenty twenty
Speaker 3: three going into twenty twenty four, where at times it
Speaker 3: did look a little bit clunky and like, all right,
Speaker 3: your turn, my turn. We're trying to figure this out,
Speaker 3: which was very natural considering when the trade happened, there
Speaker 3: was no training camp, James was poor was therefore, so
Speaker 3: it took time. But at times you also got to
Speaker 3: see how good their offense could be when everything was
Speaker 3: flowing along. But for the Clippers specifically, it seemed and
Speaker 3: I haven't looked at the data specifically for this, but
Speaker 3: it seemed like if two of the three were on
Speaker 3: the floor, things did function better. Things seemed a lot
Speaker 3: more streamlined and simple and not overthought. So there is that,
Speaker 3: you know, thought of. There's only two of them. Now,
Speaker 3: perhaps this leads to maybe not better offensive numbers and
Speaker 3: offensive rating, but in what could be seen as better
Speaker 3: offensive structure and fluidity.
Speaker 1: Because guys aren't stepping into each other's spaces as much.
Speaker 1: Where Paul George and Kawhi Leonard you could see that
Speaker 1: happening sometimes, James Harden and Kawhi are so much different.
Speaker 1: It just seems like, I don't know, they're not taking
Speaker 1: away from each other as much on the offensive end.
Speaker 1: And I want to be clear, I don't think they're
Speaker 1: going to have a better offensive rating than last season,
Speaker 1: which ended up being fourth and was first throughout a
Speaker 1: lot of the season when they clicked in for that
Speaker 1: twenty six and five run over thirty one games. But
Speaker 1: I'm looking for can they still be a top ten offense?
Speaker 1: That's kind of what I'm trying to dig into here.
Speaker 1: Miles Johnson wants to ask you this justin big ups
Speaker 1: Adam and Justin and any chance Harden makes the All
Speaker 1: Star team this upcoming year.
Speaker 3: It's possible. The West is always tough for All Stars
Speaker 3: because it always feels like at least one or two
Speaker 3: guys get left out. If the Clippers are exceeding expectations
Speaker 3: in the first part of the year, then their a
Speaker 3: distinct possibility will be that it's because of James and
Speaker 3: how good he looks with the ball in his hands
Speaker 3: more both as a scorer and a passer, And it
Speaker 3: wouldn't shock me to see him make an All Star team.
Speaker 3: The one thing I've kind of grown to learn about
Speaker 3: All Star selections is it's not really what you do
Speaker 3: like throughout the whole course before the All Star break.
Speaker 3: It's really primarily what you do the first month of
Speaker 3: the season, and then like that narrative takes hold and
Speaker 3: you kind of get carried to the All Star breaks.
Speaker 3: So I think James could do it, especially if he
Speaker 3: comes out really well.
Speaker 1: Do you think he could average an efficient twenty and
Speaker 1: nine assists this season and his minutes might go up
Speaker 1: a little bit, because I think he was at one
Speaker 1: of his career lows at thirty four minutes as a
Speaker 1: Clipper last season, even though it still felt like it
Speaker 1: was taxing, and there was about a month and a
Speaker 1: half stretch where he kind of had to rejuvenate and
Speaker 1: wasn't playing as fast and didn't have the burst until
Speaker 1: the playoffs started and he looked much better. Do you think, though,
Speaker 1: that's realistic production from James Harden twenty plus points, nine
Speaker 1: or more assists Pro Bowl game.
Speaker 3: So basically it's like, can he replicate his last year
Speaker 3: in Philadelphia?
Speaker 1: Right?
Speaker 3: I think he can. I think it's there. That year
Speaker 3: in Philly he averaged twenty one points on almost eleven assists,
Speaker 3: shot forty four percent from the field, but also took
Speaker 3: seven threes a game, made nearly thirty nine percent of them.
Speaker 3: So it's like, can if dat James Harden shows up
Speaker 3: on I'm not gonna say a nightly basis, because that
Speaker 3: guy doesn't show up on a nightly basis pretty much
Speaker 3: for any player in the league. But if that guy
Speaker 3: shows up on the average, I do think, you know
Speaker 3: there is there is positives to be gained from that.
Speaker 3: I do think that would allow not just him, but
Speaker 3: the team to reach success that I know a lot
Speaker 3: of outsiders don't think is there for them this year.
Speaker 1: Jonathan Ing asks how do you feel the Clippers will
Speaker 1: be in the situations where Harden has to sit or
Speaker 1: load manages the Clippers do not have another dynamic ball
Speaker 1: handler on the team unless it is Bones justin.
Speaker 3: It's gonna be tough. It was always gonna be tough
Speaker 3: even if it was just one of the like even
Speaker 3: when PG was here, if it was just one of
Speaker 3: the three who was playing, it was always gonna be tough.
Speaker 3: But specifically without James, I do think it will be
Speaker 3: a lot tougher. I think they're gonna have to get
Speaker 3: by on just defense in that structure and in those
Speaker 3: situations where all right, Chris Dunn, can you can you
Speaker 3: at least replicate some of what James can do? Not
Speaker 3: all of it obviously that Chris Dune's not that guy,
Speaker 3: but then give us the defensive side of the floor
Speaker 3: where there's value there from Chris Dunn. And offensively, can
Speaker 3: you just make simple plays and make a couple of
Speaker 3: layups a night? Can Bones of Bones plays? Can Bones
Speaker 3: hit a three or two in a game? Can Kevin
Speaker 3: Porter Junior, depending on his situation in the minutes that
Speaker 3: he gets this year? Can you like the thing? And
Speaker 3: I kind of equate this to a little bit like
Speaker 3: with the PG situation, you're trying to fill things not
Speaker 3: like for like, but recreate it as in the movie
Speaker 3: Moneyball said in the aggregate like you're trying to create
Speaker 3: parts of things and just hope that it works. And
Speaker 3: I do think the Clippers have certain guys who can
Speaker 3: do certain things of a James or of a PG
Speaker 3: when obviously Pg's gone. But if James is out, I
Speaker 3: think they're could be enough. But they're gonna have to
Speaker 3: buckle down on the defensive end and it won't be
Speaker 3: pretty offensively. I'll just say that it won't be pretty offensively.
Speaker 1: He mentioned Kevin Porter Junior there. Correct me if I'm wrong,
Speaker 1: but I was thinking that if he is available, depending
Speaker 1: on the investigation by the NBA, he could be suspended
Speaker 1: to start the season. Well, let's say at some point
Speaker 1: he's available with the Clippers and he is getting some
Speaker 1: minutes out there and he's playing next to Chris Dunn
Speaker 1: or Norman Powell. To me, because of Norman Palell's inability
Speaker 1: to really be a passer, he can't be the one
Speaker 1: in that situation.
Speaker 2: And I actually think.
Speaker 1: Kevin Porter Junior would be a better number one with
Speaker 1: the ball in his hands playmaker also than Chris Dunn.
Speaker 1: And I'm am I wrong about that aspect of kpg's game.
Speaker 3: No, I don't think you're wrong. I think of the three,
Speaker 3: KPg is probably the more natural passer. I think you
Speaker 3: look at a guy like Chris Dunn. He's an off ball,
Speaker 3: second side attacker and creator against the against the swinging defense,
Speaker 3: and for Norm, normous value of a passer comes when
Speaker 3: he gets downhill and when he's able to maybe not
Speaker 3: just specifically dump off, but make little dump offs or
Speaker 3: even just make the simple like strong side kickout to
Speaker 3: the corner. Those talks like you're not gonna see rap arounds,
Speaker 3: You're not gonna see like James Harden level passes out
Speaker 3: of Norm or out of Chris Dunn or even KPJ.
Speaker 3: But I think KPJ comes closest to what you would
Speaker 3: look for in terms of a number one creator. There.
Speaker 1: What's KPJ's ceiling in your mind?
Speaker 2: Who is he as a player.
Speaker 1: It's not someone who's played a game in the NBA
Speaker 1: since twenty twenty three April twenty twenty three, and there
Speaker 1: are a lot of unknowns because he was even a
Speaker 1: young player. Then we know he had a fifty point game.
Speaker 1: People say it was against Drew Holliday. I went back
Speaker 1: and watched that game. He hit ten three pointers, A
Speaker 1: lot of them were not against Drew Holliday. The defense
Speaker 1: by the Bucks in that game was pretty atrocious. I'm
Speaker 1: not trying to take anything away. KPJ has a lot
Speaker 1: of a big but people reference that and probably over
Speaker 1: exaggerate just how much you know he was hitting difficult
Speaker 1: shots against the Milwaukee Bucks in that game.
Speaker 2: But who do you think he can be?
Speaker 1: What's the I don't know archetype or the comp for
Speaker 1: someone like KPg in your mind.
Speaker 3: I think a very reasonable thing to say here is
Speaker 3: I don't know, and I don't think anybody knows, just
Speaker 3: because you said he's been out of the league for
Speaker 3: a year. He went to play in Greece, but I
Speaker 3: believe he only played five or six games. There wasn't
Speaker 3: much to go on there. We don't know what he
Speaker 3: looks like. You know, I know he's done open runs
Speaker 3: and stuff like that, but you know that those are
Speaker 3: open runs and in a game setting, who knows. We
Speaker 3: don't even know if he's going to be able to
Speaker 3: practice with the team following the investigation for at least
Speaker 3: a little while. I don't know. I mean the guy
Speaker 3: that he was before all of this happened, and when
Speaker 3: he was in Houston was a shot taker, a good passer,
Speaker 3: not a great decision maker for a lot of stretches,
Speaker 3: Like there were a lot of not great things that
Speaker 3: he did with the ball in his hands, but there
Speaker 3: are a lot of really good things that he did
Speaker 3: with the ball in his hands. He and Jalen Green
Speaker 3: were not a great fit alongside one another. One of
Speaker 3: them had to go. Obviously, you don't want anyone going
Speaker 3: the way that KPJ did because of the situation. What
Speaker 3: happened never great. We don't know though, Like we just
Speaker 3: don't know. I think he can be a solid you know,
Speaker 3: maybe he's a ten point guy with three or four
Speaker 3: assists a game off the bench, and that's a valuable guy.
Speaker 3: A lot of teams would kill to have a guy
Speaker 3: like that off their bench. But it's not just number
Speaker 3: based with him. A lot of it is between the lines,
Speaker 3: like is he doing the proper things defensively with rotations?
Speaker 3: Is he competing defensively in general? Is he in the
Speaker 3: right spots offensively if he doesn't have the ball in
Speaker 3: his hands? Is he sagging two far off the line
Speaker 3: to where teams just don't even guard him because they
Speaker 3: know he's not getting the ball from there, Like, there
Speaker 3: are certain things that he has to answer beyond the
Speaker 3: stat sheet. So from that aspect, it's gonna be rather
Speaker 3: interesting for me to watch for other people to watch it.
Speaker 3: I just don't know the type of player that they're getting,
Speaker 3: and I kind of think the deal that they gave
Speaker 3: him shows no one knows what to expect out of him.
Speaker 2: Yeah, there's just so many variables.
Speaker 1: With the teams that he played on, the Rockets weren't
Speaker 1: playing defense at all. Then he has the wingspan, he
Speaker 1: has the ability to dig his heels in, I think
Speaker 1: on that end, but you know, it's happened a few
Speaker 1: times in spurts. But overall, Yeah, the book is out.
Speaker 2: We're waiting.
Speaker 1: We're gonna wait and see with KPJ and if he's
Speaker 1: available for the Clippers to start the season. Jonathan Ing
Speaker 1: asks this, given that Kawhi and Harden like playing a
Speaker 1: more half court, methodical offensive style, how is the team
Speaker 1: going to mess more fluidly between a more up tempo
Speaker 1: game versus half court style?
Speaker 3: Justin so, I think they're going to utilize what they
Speaker 3: tried to utilize last season, which is a lot of
Speaker 3: hit aheads when they can, like Russell Westbrook did help
Speaker 3: them in transition at times when he would get a
Speaker 3: hit ahead, pass, push the tempo, and even if he missed,
Speaker 3: there was usually someone else there to clean up, or
Speaker 3: you know, he'd make a layup or he gets to
Speaker 3: the line or something like that. And it wasn't just him.
Speaker 3: Norman Powell did it. PG did it at times, Kawhi
Speaker 3: would do it at times. A Mere Coffee was really
Speaker 3: good at it, Terrence was good at it. It's a
Speaker 3: collective effort where guys have to realize, look, we're probably
Speaker 3: not going to be a good or I shouldn't say good.
Speaker 3: You probably not gonna be a great offensive team. You're
Speaker 3: probably not gonna be top five offense. So there's gonna
Speaker 3: be nights where you have to manufacture offense in ways
Speaker 3: that are not conventional, where it's hit aheads from James,
Speaker 3: where he gets the ball early on rebounds, boom balls
Speaker 3: up the floor. He did that quite a bit last season.
Speaker 3: He likes to find guys over the top, especially in
Speaker 3: the mid and low posts. That's been like a pet
Speaker 3: path for him over the last years of his career.
Speaker 3: So they're gonna have to find ways and KPJ can
Speaker 3: help here pushing the temple early in transition. When they
Speaker 3: do get stops, they can't just walk it up the
Speaker 3: floor unless the defense is already set on the other end,
Speaker 3: you know, like a long three defense is already tracking
Speaker 3: back in transition. You don't have to push in that
Speaker 3: in so you have to be smart and calculated. The Clippers,
Speaker 3: if I remembera correctly, were actually I think an above
Speaker 3: average transition team last year based on cleaning the glass.
Speaker 3: But I haven't looked at those numbers in like a month,
Speaker 3: so don't quote me specifically on that, but I thought
Speaker 3: they were pretty I think they were top ten if
Speaker 3: I remember correctly, So they were a solid transition team.
Speaker 3: They just didn't run a lot. They just as they
Speaker 3: kept saying many times last year, they're old, they don't
Speaker 3: run a lot. They're gonna have to, you know, rely
Speaker 3: on these young guys to get out and transit Derek
Speaker 3: Jones Junior. If Derek Jones Junior averages let's say two
Speaker 3: fast break buckets a game, I think the Clippers will
Speaker 3: be very happy.
Speaker 1: And those long outlet quick strike strike passes we saw
Speaker 1: last season, that was an emphasis coming out camp that
Speaker 1: did carry over into the regular season. Justin Rousseau is
Speaker 1: our guest here at fly by Night. K and Ie
Speaker 1: is where you find him on X My Guy. JMI
Speaker 1: thirteen twenty four asks do you think the Clippers need
Speaker 1: another score? I've seen a mock trade where you guys
Speaker 1: get Jordan Clarkson for PJ. Tucker and Mira Coffee in
Speaker 1: two seconds.
Speaker 3: Just I think they need another score, but I wouldn't
Speaker 3: say it's something where they need to go out before
Speaker 3: the season to find I think teams are are more
Speaker 3: liable to deal a guy like Jordan Clarkson during the
Speaker 3: season than they are before the season. I think you can
Speaker 3: get a pretty good deal on a guy like Jordan
Speaker 3: Clarkson the season. Now, I try not to do the
Speaker 3: mock trades anymore because you never know what a front
Speaker 3: office is gonna do. For instance, I don't think anyone
Speaker 3: had ever even thought that the Clippers could trade what
Speaker 3: they did for Covington and Norman Powell. I don't think
Speaker 3: anyone thought that was a realistic possibility to happen. We
Speaker 3: never know what teams are looking for, so especially in
Speaker 3: this new CBA where teams are looking to get under
Speaker 3: the second apron. Teams are looking even to get under
Speaker 3: the first apron, So all of that needs to be
Speaker 3: taken into some context. I do wonder if you get
Speaker 3: to November, like middle of November, and they think that
Speaker 3: they do need another scoring punch, if they might actually
Speaker 3: do something like that and pivot to get one. But
Speaker 3: I also know they are hell bent, for lack of
Speaker 3: a better phrase, on being a defensive team. They want
Speaker 3: a defensive first team. Jordan Clarkson's not a great defender. Obviously,
Speaker 3: you can score the ball pretty well. It comes down
Speaker 3: to like what the cost benefit analysis of that would be, like,
Speaker 3: are you taking away a positive to get a positive
Speaker 3: but it's not as big of a positive as you're
Speaker 3: giving away. It depends how they see that.
Speaker 1: Is it a net positive overall?
Speaker 2: Considering his defense?
Speaker 1: That ties into this one here outside of the obvious.
Speaker 1: This comes from Miles Johnson justin where would they upgrade
Speaker 1: the offense or where would they upgrade the roster?
Speaker 2: I should say if possible, So the easy answer.
Speaker 3: And it's kind of funny because I have an article
Speaker 3: coming down in the next couple of days. It's like
Speaker 3: the five questions for the Clippers. This season that they
Speaker 3: have to answer, and one of them for me is like,
Speaker 3: what's the overall plan for them? Not just not just general,
Speaker 3: but like in terms of the roster of where they
Speaker 3: need to fix things because this is not a complete roster.
Speaker 3: I think we can all just say that right now,
Speaker 3: this is not a complete roster. It's the roster now.
Speaker 3: It might not be the roster on December first or
Speaker 3: January first, or by the trade deadline. I think they
Speaker 3: need to find a little bit more shooting. But the
Speaker 3: shooter that they get can't be a negative defensively, because
Speaker 3: then you're, as we said, is it a net positive.
Speaker 3: So they could use a little bit more floor spacing.
Speaker 3: It doesn't really matter the position. It'd be greatly benefit
Speaker 3: show if it was a backup center. Maybe they feel
Speaker 3: that guy's on the roster in Mobamba. I don't know,
Speaker 3: but they do need shooting, I do think, especially because
Speaker 3: of how much of the floor might be tilted towards
Speaker 3: James and Kawai specifically, a lot of guys are gonna
Speaker 3: get open shots, you know, whether it's Terrence, and Terrence
Speaker 3: has to be willing to take them. This year, I've
Speaker 3: seen him working out, you know, the videos of him
Speaker 3: working out. He's he's drilling it down pretty good. But
Speaker 3: he's got to take him when he's open. You know,
Speaker 3: Norm has to take him when he's open. Norman usually does,
Speaker 3: but you still got to say he's got to take
Speaker 3: him when he's open. Amir has to keep taking him.
Speaker 3: The biggest question from a three point shooting standpoint for
Speaker 3: them is Derek is what Derek Jones showed in the playoffs?
Speaker 3: Who he really is?
Speaker 2: Yeah?
Speaker 3: Yeah, like that's that is their biggest question for shooting.
Speaker 3: If that is who he is, a lot of their
Speaker 3: shooting was not all of them, but a lot of
Speaker 3: their shooting woes kind of fall by the wayside. If
Speaker 3: that's not they need to find a shooter. Not saying
Speaker 3: like Derek Jones Junior can't play, but like they just
Speaker 3: need to find a supplementary shooter, and maybe that guy
Speaker 3: can be KPJ, especially off the dribble. I don't know,
Speaker 3: but they are a little light on shooting. Originally I
Speaker 3: had thought, you know, maybe back like a more steadfast
Speaker 3: backup center. But also I'm not certain how much actual
Speaker 3: backup centers will play. The only reason I say that
Speaker 3: I do think we see Nico a lot of time
Speaker 3: at the five. He will see time obviously at the four,
Speaker 3: but I think we will see Nico quite a bit
Speaker 3: at the five.
Speaker 1: I think Kawhi could get some run there also, So yeah,
Speaker 1: I think it's a good point, depending on how Mobamba
Speaker 1: looks out there.
Speaker 3: What doesn't help them is they did obviously lose PG,
Speaker 3: who for stretches of the season was a center for
Speaker 3: them defensively. He was a center for them at times
Speaker 3: in small ball lineup, so they maybe Nico. Maybe that's
Speaker 3: the Nico John.
Speaker 2: I haven't heard this one before.
Speaker 1: This comes from Luis Lemmis. I've heard rumors of Kawhi
Speaker 1: getting traded to Golden State for Kamenka and picks, so
Speaker 1: what they would do cominga for Paul George, But they're
Speaker 1: gonna do it for Kawhi. I'd I understand the contract
Speaker 1: situation with Kaminga and they don't want to give him
Speaker 1: the max. He's a restricted free agent after this year,
Speaker 1: I believe, so they can wait it out and just
Speaker 1: match whatever team does make a run at him.
Speaker 2: How do you feel about this one?
Speaker 3: Justin they're not trading Kminga. Kminga was never even on
Speaker 3: the table for the Clippers, I can say that, and
Speaker 3: if they're not, I do find it kind of puzzling though,
Speaker 3: if he wasn't on the table in trade talks and
Speaker 3: you're not going to give him the max contract, which
Speaker 3: to be fair, I don't think Kminga deserves a MAX
Speaker 3: contract either, But if you're not going to give him
Speaker 3: the max contract and you're not gonna trade him, I
Speaker 3: kind of don't know what they're what Golden State's pivot
Speaker 3: to that is. But that's also not the Clippers problem,
Speaker 3: so they don't have to worry about that.
Speaker 1: Wait it out and see if another team tries to
Speaker 1: give him the max. If they don't, then they could
Speaker 1: just offer him something less exactly.
Speaker 3: I mean, he will be a restricted free agent, so
Speaker 3: they get to find out. I wouldn't trade Kawai for
Speaker 3: Cominga and picks. I don't even think it would matter
Speaker 3: what the picks are. The trade packages are so light
Speaker 3: these days because teams don't want to trade picks like
Speaker 3: they used to because they are so valuable now. Yeah,
Speaker 3: So I just I can't see that happening, And personally
Speaker 3: I don't think the Clippers, well, it sounds weird to
Speaker 3: say like they wouldn't trade them to Golden State. I
Speaker 3: don't think they trade them to Golden State for kamina
Speaker 3: and picks either way, I just don't think that's something
Speaker 3: they would do. It makes them worse and that's just
Speaker 3: too big of a hill to climb.
Speaker 1: I don't think even with his his injury history and
Speaker 1: how frustrating it's been not having him in the playoffs
Speaker 1: the last four seasons, overall, for the most part, I
Speaker 1: think Kauhai is a legacy player to the point where
Speaker 1: he represents them becoming a destination franchise for the first time,
Speaker 1: regardless of how things went in the two and three era.
Speaker 1: Justin this is someone that is a symbol of how
Speaker 1: far the Clippers have come, and to me, it makes
Speaker 1: any trade talks around him almost a non starter. Is
Speaker 1: that crazy or you're shaking your head?
Speaker 2: Do you agree with that?
Speaker 3: I wrote before free agency that the relationship between Kawhi
Speaker 3: and the Clippers organization front office is very much like
Speaker 3: on the best terms that they can be at this
Speaker 3: point from what I've heard, so they're basically in lockstuff together.
Speaker 3: We saw that in January obviously when he signs the
Speaker 3: extension what he did, you know they are in LOCKSTUFP
Speaker 3: with each other. I don't think decisions get made without
Speaker 3: them telling Kawhi. Now that doesn't mean that they wouldn't
Speaker 3: just make the decision even with telling him. I just
Speaker 3: think like they would like you do with every superstar.
Speaker 3: You wrote him in on it, like, hey, this is
Speaker 3: what's gonna happen. I think you're right. I think Kawhi
Speaker 3: is a legacy player at this point. I think he
Speaker 3: does represent, you know, their greatest free agent signing in history.
Speaker 3: You know how many teams in history have ever said
Speaker 3: that the reigning finals MVP sign with their team in
Speaker 3: free agency right right then and there, and they get
Speaker 3: to say that, and whether or not it works out
Speaker 3: in the end, it remains to be seen. But he's
Speaker 3: their guy. He likes it there. I don't see that changing.
Speaker 1: I understand people are gonna see what Yeah, I understand
Speaker 1: people saying, but what about Blake Griffin. Well, I think
Speaker 1: it was a different situation because he was drafted by
Speaker 1: the Clippers, and I don't think they could have that
Speaker 1: happen again in a similar fashion and then be able
Speaker 1: to convince the next crop of free agents to come
Speaker 1: play here. So there's even less of a chance that
Speaker 1: they would ever try that again. And at the time, look,
Speaker 1: they he still got paid more because he re signed
Speaker 1: with the Clippers, they could pay him more than anyone
Speaker 1: else did Blake Griffin at that time and still got
Speaker 1: all that money. And unfortunately the Clippers saw early on
Speaker 1: in that first season on the new contract that he
Speaker 1: wasn't going to be able to last, and his health
Speaker 1: deteriorated quickly. We got a lot of questions coming in here, guys.
Speaker 1: For Justin Russau, I love this. Thanks to everybody for.
Speaker 2: Getting in here.
Speaker 1: Here's an interesting CBA one because you touched upon this
Speaker 1: a second ago. Justin Jonathan Ing says, outlook on the league,
Speaker 1: how hard is the new CBA to do trades even
Speaker 1: if the Clippers are under the second apron when targets
Speaker 1: or what targets they may want to pursue happen to
Speaker 1: be on a second apron team as an example?
Speaker 2: Does that make sense to you? By the way they're
Speaker 2: under the first apron?
Speaker 3: It does make sense. Basically. I believe he can correct
Speaker 3: me if I'm wrong. I believe he's asking how does
Speaker 3: it like? How hard is it for the Clippers to
Speaker 3: do trades right now? With teams who are basically a
Speaker 3: second apron team For the Clippers specifically, it's not that hard.
Speaker 3: They can pretty much take back whatever they need to
Speaker 3: take back money wise, based on what they send out.
Speaker 3: It's just I think teams are finding it very hard
Speaker 3: to do deal and you won't see large deals at
Speaker 3: least for a little while, just because teams are trying
Speaker 3: to navigate the apron. But they also have a while
Speaker 3: to get under where they need to get to. Any
Speaker 3: trades that I think happen will happen closer to the
Speaker 3: trade deadline, just because by then teams will have like
Speaker 3: an idea of where they are standing wise and money wise.
Speaker 3: It is a rather fascinating subplot to like, not just
Speaker 3: the Clippers, but the NBA in general, that I think
Speaker 3: teams want to make a lot of moves, but a
Speaker 3: lot of moves are being held up because teams just
Speaker 3: do not want to be over the second apron. Like
Speaker 3: I said, a lot of teams don't even want to
Speaker 3: be over the first apron, so you know, it's kind
Speaker 3: of a you hat a wait and see approach. The Clippers,
Speaker 3: I can say they while they are into the luxury
Speaker 3: tax I've been told to some degree that then getting
Speaker 3: under the luxury tax isn't like an end goal for them,
Speaker 3: Like they're not worried about that. It's pretty much just
Speaker 3: an apron thing for them, specifically from a roster building standpoint.
Speaker 3: So any move that the Clippers make, I think they're
Speaker 3: going to do it to where they don't go over
Speaker 3: an apron, even the first apron, they'll try to just
Speaker 3: keep it to where if we're in the luxury tax, fine,
Speaker 3: If we're over an apron, that's not fine.
Speaker 1: Justin Rousseau is our guest here on Clippers Talk. We
Speaker 1: got a live for you as I sort through some
Speaker 1: of these questions. Oh, the guy who asks about that
Speaker 1: trade to Golden State says it hasn't worked in five years. Bro,
Speaker 1: cool story, Bro. What's the solution for the Kawhi Leonard
Speaker 1: issue with the injury stuff? To even think a team's
Speaker 1: going to offer multiple first round picks for him right now,
Speaker 1: I think is unrealistic. I've never heard that Golden State report.
Speaker 1: I don't buy it. The Coamingus stuff isn't happening at
Speaker 1: this point. So it's one thing to just complain and
Speaker 1: be upset and be frustrated. And I understand it to
Speaker 1: a degree, but you also have to be solutions based
Speaker 1: and be a solution driven of what you can actually do.
Speaker 2: That's with in the realm of possibility. In my opinion,
Speaker 2: to be fair.
Speaker 3: I understand why a lot of fans are frustrated. I
Speaker 3: get it, Yeah, I really do. Like I'm not gonna
Speaker 3: I'm not gonna say like they were sold a false
Speaker 3: bill of goods or whatever, but like, I think it
Speaker 3: was mentally torturing too for the fan base to get
Speaker 3: their hopes up, especially that bubble season that was like
Speaker 3: I think that was the first step, and then twenty
Speaker 3: twenty one Conference finals around when Kawhi goes down, it's
Speaker 3: just like how much more can we take? And then
Speaker 3: it was a lost season, then basically another lost season
Speaker 3: because Pg's out, and then Kawhi gets hurt, and then
Speaker 3: this past season it's like, you know, it's a lot,
Speaker 3: it's it's it's a lot of mental anguish and kind
Speaker 3: of getting over it, and a lot of people can't
Speaker 3: do it. I don't blame them. I don't blame people
Speaker 3: who are just very frustrated because I think for fans,
Speaker 3: you are allowed to be frustrated, be.
Speaker 2: As frustrated as you want, fan, however you want.
Speaker 1: All I'm saying is, at the end of the day,
Speaker 1: I don't think they're trading why. He's a legacy player,
Speaker 1: and I don't know what you would get from him
Speaker 1: at this point on that contract given his injury history.
Speaker 1: So I understand sometimes it's a good time to vent
Speaker 1: and Clipper Nation has been through a ton. But I'm
Speaker 1: looking for some answers here and not just lashing out.
Speaker 2: We'll take all your questions here with Justin Russ.
Speaker 3: I see a good one that's actually interesting for me.
Speaker 3: Which one do you want from old dirty Dasher? How
Speaker 3: does the loads retirement impact NBA Twitter and NBA journalism.
Speaker 3: I actually really do find this to be an interesting question.
Speaker 3: Get it cause someone actually did ask me this yesterday.
Speaker 3: A friend of mine text me and basically was like, Hey,
Speaker 3: did you see the Los news. I'm like, yeah, like
Speaker 3: it was. It was crazy, like it's speaking on it,
Speaker 3: Like I never thought I would see that, to be
Speaker 3: perfectly honest, like I never thought you would see the
Speaker 3: not just the top newsbreaker, but a guy at the
Speaker 3: level of what Woj was like that is essentially the
Speaker 3: King Kong of NBA. You know, reporters, journalists, you name
Speaker 3: it like.
Speaker 1: You ain't got nothing on wog didn't have it.
Speaker 3: For a while. But also I kind of respect the
Speaker 3: fact that he, you know, if the report is true,
Speaker 3: my friend told me that he turned down like twenty
Speaker 3: million dollars over three years, and if that's true, all
Speaker 3: respect to him for that. If you go walk away,
Speaker 3: if you go walk away from that to find peace
Speaker 3: of mind, amazing. But for the question, I think it
Speaker 3: impacts it greatly, I really do. I think it takes
Speaker 3: a lot away, it leaves. It leaves a void obviously
Speaker 3: that I think people are going to try to fill.
Speaker 3: Obviously the top two or Shams and Chris Haynes, but
Speaker 3: I do think that people are going to try to
Speaker 3: fill the void, and I could see it going poorly.
Speaker 3: But my one whole is that I hope a lot
Speaker 3: of the the news breaking responsibility falls back to beat
Speaker 3: writers in general, because they are with the teams the
Speaker 3: most of anybody, and I would like to see beat
Speaker 3: writers just across the NBA sphere get more stories to report,
Speaker 3: like more news to break, because they are they do
Speaker 3: know the teams, and they know the personnel, and they
Speaker 3: have the human interactions. Not to say that you know,
Speaker 3: Shams and Haynes and Woes don't or didn't, but like,
Speaker 3: you know, like I would like to see that be
Speaker 3: the end result. Now, will that happen? Probably not, because
Speaker 3: you know.
Speaker 1: It takes teams cooperating with their beat writers. That's it
Speaker 1: have to be working in unison.
Speaker 2: It does, and we'll see.
Speaker 1: I think Shams is going to be able to fill
Speaker 1: the void and he'll get the bag. But I think
Speaker 1: it's real that WoDES turned down a huge amount of
Speaker 1: money because as good as Shams has been and there's
Speaker 1: been competition there overall, WOJ is still the clear cut goat.
Speaker 1: He's been doing this longer, he has been just as
Speaker 1: good as ever. He never lost a step. He's in
Speaker 1: his prime currently. I think it's the coolest thing in
Speaker 1: the world that he's doing something for himself because the
Speaker 1: breaking news game is one of the more difficult games
Speaker 1: out there and often a thankless profession because you really
Speaker 1: only get you know, I get, I know, there's Wilje
Speaker 1: bombs and stuff like that, but you get anything wrong
Speaker 1: or get beat by the other guy to a story,
Speaker 1: and you never hear the end of it. So congratulations
Speaker 1: Adrian ro Trowski following his dreams out there.
Speaker 3: Uh see, I see shark in the box that Chris
Speaker 3: Haynes is a show, a show for the players. That's
Speaker 3: what I'll say. Everyone in the news breaking game, like
Speaker 3: the top of the line news breaking game, is a
Speaker 3: show for somebody. I'm like, I've done it. Other beat
Speaker 3: writers are don't like not to say shilling like a
Speaker 3: negative context, Like you are getting it from somewhere. Someone
Speaker 3: has to give you the story and you report it.
Speaker 3: And as the saying goes, there's always three sides to
Speaker 3: the story. Their side, my side, and what's real. And
Speaker 3: so you know you getting it from somebody. Haynes if
Speaker 3: he does get it from players, which you know sometimes
Speaker 3: he does. Shams gets it from agents or players or
Speaker 3: front office. WOJ gets it from front office or players
Speaker 3: or agent. Like everyone gets it from somebody. Everyone who's
Speaker 3: giving you something has their own spin on it. Everyone
Speaker 3: has their own point of view on everything.
Speaker 1: They get this information due to their relationships with a team,
Speaker 1: with the player. There's always an angle to it. People
Speaker 1: said a lot of the time, Okay, Chris Haynes is
Speaker 1: connected to Damian Lillard, so take it with a grain
Speaker 1: of salt if he's saying something that sounds like it's
Speaker 1: negative towards the Portland Trailblazers after the deal went down
Speaker 1: with him going to Milwaukee, Well, as kind of a
Speaker 1: buyer beware thing, you have to be informed on that
Speaker 1: and you can read the tea leaves from there. It's
Speaker 1: not up to Chris Haynes every time to say, yes,
Speaker 1: I have a personal relationship with Damian Lillard. If you've
Speaker 1: watched the interviews, you know what it is. So it's
Speaker 1: kind to be fair, and.
Speaker 3: To be fair, there's no one I trust more on
Speaker 3: Damian Lillard anything. Yeah, Chris, that's also the other side
Speaker 3: of it, So I think that's great.
Speaker 1: I think all these guys are exceptional at what they do.
Speaker 1: And there's this misconception that they have microphones inside team
Speaker 1: offices and that's how they're breaking this news.
Speaker 2: No, they're getting information.
Speaker 1: So then you have to kind of delineate what's important
Speaker 1: there and read through it a little bit yourself. Uh,
Speaker 1: there's another Jonathan Ing says Haines just doesn't have the
Speaker 1: track record that Wo Woje or Shams have.
Speaker 2: No, he doesn't.
Speaker 1: But with Wolves out of the game, teams are going
Speaker 1: to be looking for a new guy to give information to,
Speaker 1: and it could end up being Haynes if it's not
Speaker 1: sham Sharania. We did have a comment in here I
Speaker 1: wanted to address which one was it. Oh, this is interesting.
Speaker 1: J Bows eighty four said, I'm all in on bringing
Speaker 1: SGA back when he's a free agent, as if you
Speaker 1: were the one, my friend. Everyone here agrees that if
Speaker 1: they could do that, they would great. Just stay competitive
Speaker 1: and flexible until then. The problem is in twenty twenty six, Okase,
Speaker 1: he's still gonna have a lot of picks and flexibility themselves,
Speaker 1: and they may have won a championship by then. Now
Speaker 1: I'm under the belief justin that if they do win
Speaker 1: a championship, it actually gives the Clippers a better chance
Speaker 1: of getting SGA back, because then he would have fulfilled
Speaker 1: his part of the bargain when they trade for him
Speaker 1: in the first place. Just like Lebron and Cleveland, he
Speaker 1: could leave after they brought him a championship and not
Speaker 1: be ridiculed, and whenever he comes back they give him
Speaker 1: a standing ovation.
Speaker 2: There's nothing to complain about.
Speaker 1: I think it would be the same way with SGA,
Speaker 1: like he would have all the freedom he wanted if
Speaker 1: they win a championship in the next two years, which
Speaker 1: is very possible.
Speaker 3: Yeah, I look, every team with Caspace in twenty twenty
Speaker 3: six is gonna be looking at SGA. Every team with
Speaker 3: Caspace in twenty twenty six gonna be looking at Luka Doncic.
Speaker 3: Just how it goes, the Clippers will, other teams will
Speaker 3: just depends on you know, what deals they may or
Speaker 3: may not sign leading up to that. I Clipper related,
Speaker 3: I think that is not maybe their number one target,
Speaker 3: but I think it is like on the list of
Speaker 3: maybe number two or maybe number three, which is all
Speaker 3: in at twenty twenty six free agency. Just get someone
Speaker 3: and just kind of keep it going, because I think
Speaker 3: we have to realize and rationalize that the Clippers are
Speaker 3: not a like as where as it sounds, the Clippers
Speaker 3: are not a losing organization. For the last thirteen years.
Speaker 3: Thirteen years, yeah, it sounds about right. Thirteen Yeah, they've
Speaker 3: had winning seasons and while yes, that hasn't led to
Speaker 3: a title, they're still a winning organization at this point.
Speaker 3: They put in the infrastructure to be a winning organization.
Speaker 3: They're hiring people that have that come from winning organizations
Speaker 3: or have one thing in their career. They have an
Speaker 3: owner who will spend money, obviously to a certain degree
Speaker 3: based on the luxury tax penalties, which is why they
Speaker 3: worked a little bit to get under a certain threshold there.
Speaker 3: But you know, you get to look at it as
Speaker 3: they want to be in the market for great players,
Speaker 3: and I think Shay obviously fits that. He was very
Speaker 3: good his one season with the Clippers. They did not
Speaker 3: want to trade him, obviously, but you got to give
Speaker 3: something to get something.
Speaker 1: And when I look at twenty twenty six and the
Speaker 1: guys who are available justin.
Speaker 2: It makes me think.
Speaker 1: How perfectly things lined up for the Clippers to even
Speaker 1: have that opportunity to bring in Kawhi and Paul George
Speaker 1: at the same time, and just how rare something like
Speaker 1: that comes about, because twenty twenty six doesn't.
Speaker 2: Seem that likely at this point. It could change, but.
Speaker 1: Right now you mentioned every team's gonna be going, including
Speaker 1: two good organizations. They're already with retaining them. They could
Speaker 1: sign extensions before that even but what happened in twenty
Speaker 1: nineteen rarely comes along, and you kind of had to
Speaker 1: do that looking back, like, how do you how could
Speaker 1: you not do that at that time when you look
Speaker 1: ahead at the opportunities or lack thereof that are down
Speaker 1: the pike.
Speaker 2: Like, it's just it's so rare and the Clippers had
Speaker 2: to strike. So it didn't work out. It sucks, it's frustrating,
Speaker 2: But I.
Speaker 1: Think it was good process, is what I'm saying.
Speaker 2: Very good.
Speaker 3: I think the process was good. Everything after that. Obviously
Speaker 3: it just didn't work out, but the process was fine,
Speaker 3: and they shouldn't get crap for that. Essentially, like, if
Speaker 3: you asked thirty NBA teams, all thirty NBA teams, would
Speaker 3: you sign Kawhi Leonard in free agency and trade for
Speaker 3: Paul Georgian twenty nineteen, I'm pretty sure thirty NBA teams
Speaker 3: would have said yes. If given the option, they would
Speaker 3: have done it. The other thing I will say, and
Speaker 3: I want to shout out Keith Smith. So people who've
Speaker 3: followed Keith Smith and know who Keith Smith is. Keith
Speaker 3: Smith has a very funny meme that he always posts
Speaker 3: whenever he posts about because he's a cap guy for
Speaker 3: spow track, Whenever he posts about how much cap space
Speaker 3: each team in the NBA has, he always posts a
Speaker 3: meme that said, as a reminder, cap space is not
Speaker 3: just for signing free agents. It's also for trading for players.
Speaker 3: So I would keep that in mind as well for
Speaker 3: the Clippers that if there is a star or a
Speaker 3: star level type player who wants out of their current situation,
Speaker 3: twenty twenty six, the Clippers, based on projections, would have
Speaker 3: seventy eight million dollars in cap space, or maybe it's
Speaker 3: like seventy five million accounting for cap holds or roster charges.
Speaker 3: Excuse me that they could just give to free agents
Speaker 3: or take players and trades. So there's always the possibility
Speaker 3: of that, and this gives them two years to identify,
Speaker 3: as aug thing says, discruntled stars or even just players
Speaker 3: that are just looking for, you know, a change of venue,
Speaker 3: whether it's role player level guys or anyone among that. Ilk.
Speaker 1: When you talk about the Clippers having a winning season
Speaker 1: for thirteen straight years, longest current streak in the NBA,
Speaker 1: San Antonio had it over twenty for a while before
Speaker 1: they missed the playoffs and now losing record a few
Speaker 1: years back. To me, what I see this organization in
Speaker 1: front off as doing is stay competitive, stay competitive, refine,
Speaker 1: refine the roster and be opportunistic, and it's a hard
Speaker 1: thing to balance, but that, to me is what it is,
Speaker 1: staying competitive while having flexibility. It's not easy to do,
Speaker 1: but right now they do have some of that when
Speaker 1: it comes to the biggest croper free agents in twenty
Speaker 1: twenty six and how things line up for the Clippers,
Speaker 1: so there's something to be encouraged by. Here's a question
Speaker 1: for you, justin Andy eighty one twenty nine to three asks,
Speaker 1: is Jimmy Butler someone you could see being targeted? A
Speaker 1: playoff performer who isn't happy with this current situation. I'd
Speaker 1: take a year or two of Jimmy until we get
Speaker 1: to the twenty twenty six offseason.
Speaker 3: Who wouldn't I could see them being interested. The only
Speaker 3: problem with Jimmy is not this coming season, but next season.
Speaker 3: He has a player option for just over fifty two million,
Speaker 3: I believe, so that could be a thing. However, I
Speaker 3: will also say this, the Clippers don't want money on
Speaker 3: the books beyond three years from now, so he fits
Speaker 3: in from that standpoint, but also boils down to what
Speaker 3: would you trade to get him and what would Miami
Speaker 3: accept in exchange for him. There's no way of knowing
Speaker 3: Miami would have to be convinced that he's going to
Speaker 3: turn down fifty two million dollars when he's so I
Speaker 3: want to say, like thirty five, thirty six going to
Speaker 3: that year, So they would have to be convinced he's
Speaker 3: turned down fifty two million dollars in leaving. Maybe he does.
Speaker 3: We've seen crazier stuff in the world happen, so maybe
Speaker 3: maybe that's what his decision is gonna end up being.
Speaker 3: They decide to trade him at the All Star break
Speaker 3: if things aren't going well, but who knows. I wouldn't
Speaker 3: write off Jimmy Butler being someone they could target if
Speaker 3: the price is within a range that they're willing to
Speaker 3: accept where they don't have to give up anything too
Speaker 3: far down the line or too much player wise or
Speaker 3: what have you. So and I will say that Jimmy
Speaker 3: Butler was a top their list that twenty nineteen summer,
Speaker 3: So it is that's what you got to go off of.
Speaker 1: Yeah, it seemed like kaw I likes him and.
Speaker 3: Go there was a and Andy also asked another question earlier.
Speaker 3: He said, are the Clippers holding up the Terrence Man
Speaker 3: extension talks?
Speaker 2: I got it.
Speaker 3: Yeah, in case the need to include him in a
Speaker 3: trade scenario, or do you think it's strictly a contract issue.
Speaker 3: So last season, at media Day literally a year ago,
Speaker 3: I actually asked Terrence publicly if he because he was
Speaker 3: extension eligible, then if he and the team have had
Speaker 3: any extension negotiations. He said no. I said, you know,
Speaker 3: is an extension something that you would look to sign?
Speaker 3: He said yeah, he said, I like it here they
Speaker 3: did not have talks during last season. I know that
Speaker 3: for I know that I can report that they did
Speaker 3: not have talks that season. Both sides decided not to
Speaker 3: because Terrence could kind of end up seeing what the
Speaker 3: market would be a year down the line, both extension wise,
Speaker 3: and obviously a new CBA came into effect as well,
Speaker 3: So you gotta judge that from there, the Clippers didn't
Speaker 3: want to take you know, they didn't want to end
Speaker 3: up paying someone that they then couldn't trade if they
Speaker 3: didn't need to. But basically, I think the two sides
Speaker 3: right now are most likely trying to figure out what
Speaker 3: the price point is. Zeus price point essentially came out
Speaker 3: at twenty million dollars a year or thereabouts. I believe
Speaker 3: right it was like it was like three sixty or
Speaker 3: something like that, or too sit, whatever it was. Terrence
Speaker 3: will probably get around that so and it wouldn't shock me.
Speaker 3: I think people also need to I'm not saying anyone
Speaker 3: here hasn't, but I like the NBA consuming public needs
Speaker 3: to alter how they view contracts now. I don't think
Speaker 3: we can look at money anymore. I think we have
Speaker 3: to look at percentages. So like the Zoo extension I
Speaker 3: think was like eleven percent of the cap for each
Speaker 3: season going forward, which now twenty million dollars for a center.
Speaker 3: It's it's our eye, it's not bad. But then like
Speaker 3: if you look at it, like eleven percent of the
Speaker 3: cap for your starting center more than acceptable, you'll you'll
Speaker 3: gladly do that. And I think in Terrence's case, if
Speaker 3: Terrence got eleven percent of the cap, I kind of
Speaker 3: think the Clippers are okay with that because he is
Speaker 3: a good role player. He does embody what they like
Speaker 3: in players. He's a tough guy, he's been there from
Speaker 3: day one. He is the second longest tenured Clipper behind Zoo.
Speaker 3: Then it's a mere coffee, which hilarious to think about
Speaker 3: that those are the three longest tenure Clippers, so they
Speaker 3: like him, he likes it. There remains to be seen,
Speaker 3: but I wouldn't rule anything out.
Speaker 2: I don't.
Speaker 3: I don't think it's crazy to think that he doesn't
Speaker 3: have an extension for simply they haven't come to an
Speaker 3: agreement on a number, simple as that.
Speaker 1: And he could be betting on himself this season that
Speaker 1: he outplays whatever contract maybe floating from the Clipper's side
Speaker 1: right now, and they have to offer him more, which
Speaker 1: big ups to Terence Man if he pulls it off.
Speaker 1: Greg said, I saw people asking about certain players on
Speaker 1: the Toimerazarly stream. I'm wondering if a guy like Kyle
Speaker 1: Kuzma would be a good fit, which ties into a
Speaker 1: question somebody else asked about Kyle Kuzma, how do you
Speaker 1: feel about him and playing still with the Washington and
Speaker 1: our old friend Michael Winger now the president of basketball
Speaker 1: operations there.
Speaker 3: So the positives to Kuzma are He's been in the
Speaker 3: NBA for a while, so he knows the grind, he
Speaker 3: knows what it takes, he knows what it takes to
Speaker 3: win a title. Done that, his deal also runs through
Speaker 3: when Kawai deal would run through, So timeline wise, that
Speaker 3: fits I don't know if he's what they're looking for,
Speaker 3: though I know he's a really good rebounder Amarashins. I
Speaker 3: know he is a very good rebounder, solid shot maker,
Speaker 3: good off the good, get into the rim. But I
Speaker 3: don't know if he fits kind of the mold of
Speaker 3: what they're looking for. But that's just me saying now.
Speaker 3: They might think he's that type of guy, but I
Speaker 3: also don't know kind of how they feel. In general.
Speaker 3: I just don't think he's the type of guy they
Speaker 3: would look at. But that doesn't mean he's not someone
Speaker 3: that could, you know, get on a I won't say
Speaker 3: relatively cheap deal because his contract is what it is,
Speaker 3: but they might not have to trade too much for
Speaker 3: him as.
Speaker 1: That wise, Yeah, for a team that is in a
Speaker 1: perpetual rebuild right now, but it's relatively in a new
Speaker 1: era under a new front office administration.
Speaker 2: You could say.
Speaker 1: Kyle Kuzma is still twenty eight years old, he's just
Speaker 1: entering his prime.
Speaker 2: I like him.
Speaker 1: He still is only a thirty three percent career three
Speaker 1: point shooter, but he's somebody that could very easily average
Speaker 1: twenty points per game, and he does have a very
Speaker 1: high two point percentage. So defensively, I always thought, actually
Speaker 1: he was one of the lakers better defenders against Kawhi
Speaker 1: Leonard when they used to match up with the with
Speaker 1: the Lakers, and he has.
Speaker 3: A lot better defending as a fours, that's the thing
Speaker 3: for him.
Speaker 1: Yeah, he has a lot more ability, I think on
Speaker 1: that end, and a lot of people would realize Kyle
Speaker 1: Kus has probably become on the underrated side.
Speaker 2: Honestly at this point.
Speaker 3: I would say that too. I think, you know, it's funny.
Speaker 3: I think that happens to a lot of players who
Speaker 3: get traded Washington. Well, yeah, but get traded kind of
Speaker 3: fade away to anonymity somewhere in the league and you
Speaker 3: don't see them a lot on national TV or what
Speaker 3: have you. I kind of think we just as a
Speaker 3: basketball public, just like we take them for granted and
Speaker 3: kind of don't pay enough attention to those guys, which
Speaker 3: is fair considering the TV deal and who comes on
Speaker 3: that to the TV.
Speaker 1: No, but that's how you can find some value though, too,
Speaker 1: where you can find some steals and go.
Speaker 2: Oh, I forgot how good.
Speaker 1: Drew Holliday had that to an extent in New Orleans.
Speaker 1: He goes to Milwaukee. He's on a bigger stage, He's
Speaker 1: in the NBA Finals, and people start to realize he's
Speaker 1: one of the most valuable role players in the NBA
Speaker 1: and one of the best defenders in the NBA. Jonathan
Speaker 1: Ing wants to know under the old CBA, how much
Speaker 1: do you think t Man would have gotten in the
Speaker 1: open market. The new CBA shafted the middle class of
Speaker 1: players by capy their contract ceiling.
Speaker 3: That's a good question. I don't know the exact I
Speaker 3: wouldn't be able to pinpoint like a dollar amount, but
Speaker 3: I think for a guy like Terrence, I don't know
Speaker 3: how affected he will have been from this new CBA.
Speaker 3: I don't know. It's really tough to say. I do
Speaker 3: to a degree agree that the middle class did get
Speaker 3: shafted to this one. I I just think it's it's
Speaker 3: tough for a lot of guys, and yeah, maybe he
Speaker 3: did get shafted a little bit. I just don't know
Speaker 3: to the degree. And I don't know what he would
Speaker 3: have gotten the last CBA. Maybe he gets the same
Speaker 3: percentage wise as he as he will end up getting
Speaker 3: this year. What's interesting is the guy that I will
Speaker 3: say I think got shafted to a large degree based
Speaker 3: on the CBA turnover was Denny Obdia. I think Denny
Speaker 3: got a little bit kind of shafted because he was
Speaker 3: good two years ago and then he signed that extension
Speaker 3: and then the new CBA came. I think if he
Speaker 3: I believe that was the timeline, I think he would
Speaker 3: have been able to kind of cash in a little
Speaker 3: bit more than he did with Washington before he got traded.
Speaker 2: Hey, you no bird in the hand?
Speaker 1: Frankie boy nine wants to know justin why are almost
Speaker 1: all the sports news outlets thinking Paul George will be
Speaker 1: better in Philadela if Joelle is injury prone too.
Speaker 2: That's interestingly phrased.
Speaker 1: They're saying that situation could go better than the Clippers
Speaker 1: even though they have another star next to him that's
Speaker 1: also injury prone, like Kawhi's.
Speaker 2: I think how you interpret it?
Speaker 3: Yeah, so I'll use an analogy, and this is not
Speaker 3: meant to slight the Sixers or Drawling Bead or Paul
Speaker 3: George or anyone there. My dog gets a bark box
Speaker 3: every month, and my dog has a million toys. He
Speaker 3: loves his toys. But when a new toy comes in
Speaker 3: a bark box, he loves that toy more. I don't
Speaker 3: know why because it's new. And that's kind of the
Speaker 3: standpoint I have on this is everyone loves the new
Speaker 3: thing because it's the new thing. That's not to say
Speaker 3: I won't work out in Philadelphia for Paul George or
Speaker 3: the Sixers are drawing bead. I just think it's the
Speaker 3: new toy thing that's taken hold, where it's a new
Speaker 3: situation and everyone loves the new situation.
Speaker 1: The new shiny object in the room tends to take
Speaker 1: It's like the it was.
Speaker 3: A family guy right the boat. The boat's a boat,
Speaker 3: but the mystery box could be anything, even a boat.
Speaker 2: Our h wants to know. This is a question that
Speaker 2: has been answered many times on here.
Speaker 1: What do you think about zach Lavine as an option
Speaker 1: for the team also get get him for cheap and
Speaker 1: not give up top assets. There was a rumor earlier
Speaker 1: this summer that the Chicago Bulls were offering a first
Speaker 1: round pick with zach Lavine just to get rid of him.
Speaker 1: Justin and in that very fine state or under that context,
Speaker 1: I would I would look into it. I would because
Speaker 1: the Clippers don't have any first round picks. Depending on
Speaker 1: if it's top ten protected or whatever it is. And
Speaker 1: I'm higher on zach Lavine the most. But I think
Speaker 1: the issue here is, and you elaborate on this, his
Speaker 1: contract could run past the twenty twenty sixth summer.
Speaker 3: Yeah, so I'm like you. I'm I like zach Lavine.
Speaker 3: I think Zach Lavine is very good offensive player, and
Speaker 3: I think that does matter in the NBA. I think
Speaker 3: I think at times we have slanted too far defensively
Speaker 3: at times, not all the time, but at times, and
Speaker 3: I think what Levine has done throughout his career kind
Speaker 3: of gets lost in the ship. Maybe one of the
Speaker 3: underappreciated guys that we were just talking about. But yes,
Speaker 3: his contract not great for a guy who missed a
Speaker 3: large chunk of last season. But I wrote about Levine
Speaker 3: last summer and I said, I do think there is
Speaker 3: like a false sense of him being an injury prone
Speaker 3: player when before this past season he had he had
Speaker 3: played like eighty five percent of the games over since
Speaker 3: he came back from his ACL injury. That's over like
Speaker 3: five or six years, So eighty five percent of games
Speaker 3: played would have been massive for a team like the
Speaker 3: Clippers to get. But there's no guarantee you're getting that guy. Uh,
Speaker 3: even with how great he is offensively at times, his
Speaker 3: contract isn't great. But if Chicago's giving you a first
Speaker 3: round pick, maybe you do it. But I will say
Speaker 3: it's not something that Clippers look heavily into, mainly because
Speaker 3: of the second Apron stuff. It wasn't just like Zach
Speaker 3: Levine's not a guy we like. It was more or
Speaker 3: less we like Zach, we don't like what it would
Speaker 3: do to us if we got him. Financially. It's kind
Speaker 3: of like the aspect and you know, along those lines.
Speaker 3: Not to say they were going to trade for Zach
Speaker 3: Levine if they if they had to, That's all I'm saying.
Speaker 3: I'm just saying there were ramifications at play that kind
Speaker 3: of never really made it a realistic thing for them.
Speaker 1: Let's go to old Dirty Dasher worst case scenario before
Speaker 1: the trade deadline, Clippers are out of the playoffs by then,
Speaker 1: Is a fire Saiale possible?
Speaker 3: Yes? I will say that, Yes. Is Kawhi included, Yes,
Speaker 3: I just I don't think I think they would be
Speaker 3: foolish if everything wasn't on the table. I don't think
Speaker 3: you can go into a situation worst case scenario. They're bad,
Speaker 3: they're injured, or they're just bad in general. However you
Speaker 3: want to phrase bad. I don't think they can go
Speaker 3: into that at the trade that and go well, we're
Speaker 3: not gonna trade this guy, and we're not gonna trade
Speaker 3: that guy, and we're not gonna trade that guy. Everything
Speaker 3: has to be on the table, or else you're not
Speaker 3: doing your due diligence to make the team better down
Speaker 3: the line.
Speaker 2: I think that's fair.
Speaker 1: Uh, even you know James Harden, he can opt out
Speaker 1: after this year anyway, so if you could get something
Speaker 1: for him before that happens. Let's say his numbers are
Speaker 1: really good and he has stayed healthy, but the team
Speaker 1: overall doesn't have a good record, or it looks to
Speaker 1: be close to contention or even a piece away, then
Speaker 1: then yeah, I think you do have to make that move.
Speaker 3: What about I want to say what I will say.
Speaker 3: The only player guaranteed to be on the Clipper is
Speaker 3: going into next summer is a bas the only guy.
Speaker 3: So out of all the players you look at on
Speaker 3: the roster worrying about trades and stuff, he can't be traded.
Speaker 1: So don't even look there, Sorry, Zoo haters. He's got
Speaker 1: the Lori marknen Like sealed deal contract. Andy eighty one
Speaker 1: twenty nine to three wants to know if Lonzo Ball
Speaker 1: or Ben Simmons get bought out of the last year
Speaker 1: of their contract, who do you rather take a gamble on?
Speaker 1: So so, LaVar has said he wants his kids playing
Speaker 1: for the Cliffers. I was to stir if that was
Speaker 1: ai at first, but it seems to be confirmed at
Speaker 1: this point.
Speaker 3: LaVar says a lot of things. I think we could
Speaker 3: all agree on that. That's actually in a weird way.
Speaker 3: I kind of like it, just to a certain.
Speaker 1: Degree, because he's never wrong or never lost right.
Speaker 3: It's rather interesting. It's an interesting question. It's because it
Speaker 3: isn't either or I will go on record. I like
Speaker 3: Ben Simmons. I think Ben Simmons is a really good player.
Speaker 3: I think Ben Simmons has taken a lot of for
Speaker 3: lack of a better phrase, a lot of shit over
Speaker 3: the last couple of years, fair fair foul. I just
Speaker 3: I just think he has I think he's a really
Speaker 3: good player. At his peak, he was very good. I
Speaker 3: think we do forget that that this was a very
Speaker 3: good player. All defensive team Guy Spearhead for their offense,
Speaker 3: getting joeled the ball, all sorts of good steps. Obviously,
Speaker 3: back issues and what have you after that took its toll.
Speaker 3: Lonzo's the interesting one. He did show good things in Chicago,
Speaker 3: he really did. But I'm very wary of knee issues,
Speaker 3: and I'm like with Ben, I'm wary of back issues.
Speaker 3: If you're asking me to pick, I think I might
Speaker 3: actually go a Lonzo because I do think there's a
Speaker 3: track record of guys getting over knee injuries better than
Speaker 3: back injuries.
Speaker 2: That's not bad both.
Speaker 3: And I guess I should mention he can shoot now,
Speaker 3: so you take that. I guess he's a really good
Speaker 3: defensive I can't. I can't craft Alonzo. Lonzo is a
Speaker 3: very good player when he's healthy. He's just not healthy.
Speaker 3: It's such a weird thing for both of them. I
Speaker 3: feel like they're just lost in the stains of NBA time.
Speaker 1: I miss watching both of them play, especially Lonzo ball
Speaker 1: because of that passing ability. I mean, Ben Simmons was
Speaker 1: a good passer too, but I saw Lonzo more here
Speaker 1: at UCLA and then with the Lakers, and I was intrigued,
Speaker 1: especially after he fixed his shot. That is not easy
Speaker 1: to do.
Speaker 2: And I kind of. I don't know.
Speaker 1: I have sympathy for Levar's suns in some ways because
Speaker 1: he puts such a spotlight on them, and look, he's
Speaker 1: a good dad. He loves his sons. They got into
Speaker 1: the NBA and all that. But there was so much
Speaker 1: hype coming in because of him, and then Pat Bed
Speaker 1: picks up Lonzo ninety four feet his first game. But overall,
Speaker 1: outside of the injuries, I would say he turned into
Speaker 1: the type of player that could be a role player
Speaker 1: on a championship team that you need. So I hope
Speaker 1: he comes back at some point.
Speaker 3: He reminds me, like it's very he's the Alex Caruso
Speaker 3: type where team because he's a connector and he doesn't
Speaker 3: do bad things on the floor.
Speaker 1: Yeah, he he makes positive basketball winning plays out there,
Speaker 1: which is something you need.
Speaker 3: Uh. By the way, Caruso to Okay see is such
Speaker 3: an insanely good move and I hated it.
Speaker 1: It's insane that they didn't get a first round pick
Speaker 1: from the team with the most of them either of Chicago,
Speaker 1: which makes me think that first round pick with Lonzo
Speaker 1: might be real because I don't know what their front
Speaker 1: office is up to.
Speaker 2: Jordan's have you seen.
Speaker 3: The White Sox. It's not going well there.
Speaker 1: I heard over the last year calendar year, the city
Speaker 1: of Chicago sports wise has the lowest win percentage of
Speaker 1: their big three sports teams when you include baseball, football,
Speaker 1: and basketball, and obviously they have a couple of baseball teams.
Speaker 1: Out of anyone in the history of sports, the city
Speaker 1: of Chicago has the lowest win percentage combined win percentage
Speaker 1: of all their sports teams the Big Ones, out of
Speaker 1: any team in the history of sports, which.
Speaker 3: Is almost like, who could be with? I thought of Charlotte,
Speaker 3: but Charlotte doesn't have a baseball team.
Speaker 1: Yeah, and the Panthers are really bad once in a while,
Speaker 1: and they certainly are this year.
Speaker 3: But the Hornets were bad.
Speaker 2: It might be of.
Speaker 1: Cities that have a baseball, a basketball, and a football
Speaker 1: team and hockey, to be honest, because and hockey, the
Speaker 1: Black Tops were really bad.
Speaker 3: You're right, yeah, yeah.
Speaker 1: Jordan says. This will ruffle your feathers definitely. But I'm
Speaker 1: thinking Ben Simmons Nets are in a rebuild and can
Speaker 1: get rid of these players that don't fit the timeline.
Speaker 1: He is six ' ten and a versatile defender. The
Speaker 1: only reason this would ruffle my feathers is because you
Speaker 1: thought it would. We know they're in a rebuild, we
Speaker 1: know they're trying to get Cooper flag. So yeah, obviously, Jordan,
Speaker 1: I think it's all on the table.
Speaker 2: They will have a selloff.
Speaker 3: Can I just say what a great job by the
Speaker 3: Brooklyn Nets, And I mean that in all seriousness to
Speaker 3: getting all their picks back and reminded me of that
Speaker 3: movie Draft Day where he just getting all picks back
Speaker 3: for nothing. I mean, not the same to Calibridge as
Speaker 3: is nothing, But do you understand, I mean like it's
Speaker 3: kind of wild. They just ended up with other picks
Speaker 3: back out of nowhere.
Speaker 1: Okay, there's been a question that has been posed multiple times.
Speaker 1: I want to get to it here, and I'm sorry
Speaker 1: it's a very good question, but we went outside the
Speaker 1: Clippers for so long. We kind of have to circle
Speaker 1: back to what we were originally talking about with Kawhi
Speaker 1: and James Harden being the two man tandem. Bashian Schwinsteger
Speaker 1: I think Swinestager.
Speaker 2: So is he in Germany right now?
Speaker 3: Maybe Bastian Swinstager was a famous soccer player.
Speaker 2: Oh so, I'm just a casual when it comes to football.
Speaker 1: Should the Clippers look at dallas His finals run as
Speaker 1: a blueprint for their ceiling as a team this season.
Speaker 1: Two stars playing surgically half court isolation offense supplemented with
Speaker 1: athletic wing defenders.
Speaker 3: Justin, Yes, to a degree, Yeah, it's not bad, that's.
Speaker 1: Uh, especially with Derek Jones now, especially with Derek Jones junior.
Speaker 3: Yeah, to a degree. I think that's a viable way
Speaker 3: to look at it. I not whether or not they
Speaker 3: can deliver to that degree is obviously remains to be seen,
Speaker 3: But I think there is something there. They have the
Speaker 3: defensive center anchor and pick and roll threat. Uh. And
Speaker 3: it beats the Zubats who can supplement some of the offensive,
Speaker 3: like the necessary offensive baskets around the hoop that they
Speaker 3: might need. Because the Clippers do get jumped, they won't
Speaker 3: be a jump shot heavy with PG gone. I don't know.
Speaker 3: I think they still will because Kawhi takes a lot
Speaker 3: of jumpers and James's basically I don't I haven't look
Speaker 3: at the numbers. I want to say, like, James probably
Speaker 3: took eighty percent shots of the jumpers last year, if
Speaker 3: I had to guess, and I'm probably only wrong. It
Speaker 3: just felt like eighty percent of the time he was
Speaker 3: shooting the jumper. But yeah, I do think there are
Speaker 3: things you can take from Dallas in that scenario, where
Speaker 3: as he said to isolation heavy players athletic wings by
Speaker 3: athletic wings around them, who can see. That's the thing
Speaker 3: that's actually interesting from this. Defensive wings who take pressure
Speaker 3: off Kawhi specifically are very valuable. Kawhi wasn't guarding on
Speaker 3: the ball as much last year as he had in
Speaker 3: the past, and I think that also allowed him to
Speaker 3: save his legs while he didn't play, you know, while
Speaker 3: the playoff thing happened. Whatever.
Speaker 1: Sixty eight games, the most he had played since what
Speaker 1: the twenty sixteen to twenty seventeen season with San Antonio.
Speaker 3: Yeah, so like and he was that was the best
Speaker 3: I've seen him offensively. Like, his legs were saved to
Speaker 3: a large degree. They did everything to save him. I
Speaker 3: think that's the way forward. So I do think that
Speaker 3: can be the blueprint. It just depends on everyone played
Speaker 3: in the same direction and whether to some degree, whether
Speaker 3: or not Derek Jones is still you know, like a
Speaker 3: thirty six thirty seven three point shooter.
Speaker 2: That's the thing.
Speaker 1: I'm very skeptical about it, only because body will work wise,
Speaker 1: I think in his career he's shooting about thirty one
Speaker 1: percent from three Last year, during the regular season with Dallas,
Speaker 1: he was at thirty four percent, then in the playoffs
Speaker 1: at thirty seven percent, which was actually much higher. Before
Speaker 1: the NBA Finals it was over forty percent, and then
Speaker 1: he had a really bad series against Boston.
Speaker 2: But he's twenty seven. He's improving.
Speaker 1: This is his first big contract, non minimum type of contract,
Speaker 1: and I'm hopeful that he's still getting better and still
Speaker 1: just developing his ball game.
Speaker 2: Who do we have here?
Speaker 1: Oh, Grant Mona had this earlier. He was very curious
Speaker 1: about closing lineups. Harden norm team man DJJ kauwaizu Uh,
Speaker 1: I'm looking for a new Palell Rangers lineup without Paul George.
Speaker 1: That's what I've been thinking about a lot, justin.
Speaker 3: Yeah, you know what. The closing lineup stuff is actually
Speaker 3: rather interesting. I think it'll be obviously Kawhi and James
Speaker 3: will be there regardless. I think the other three spots
Speaker 3: are entirely up to just fit that night. I I
Speaker 3: think there's enough guys to wear look if on for instance,
Speaker 3: let's just say a team that they're playing on a
Speaker 3: given night has Let's say they're playing the Dallas Mavericks
Speaker 3: for instance, right, uh luka, doncis Kyrie Irving? Maybe you
Speaker 3: play Derek Jones done to at least have two point
Speaker 3: of attack defenders against those two guys, to where James
Speaker 3: doesn't have to do it, Kawhi doesn't have to do it,
Speaker 3: and the fifth guy can be whoever you want. Now,
Speaker 3: Dallas plays small, so Batoom likely plays the five to
Speaker 3: close that out. I do think Manny says he thinks
Speaker 3: Batom will close I do think Batoom will be a
Speaker 3: closing lineup guy for a large stretch of the season
Speaker 3: if he if he's healthy, if he's playing, et cetera.
Speaker 3: Like he's too smart not to be. I think that's
Speaker 3: what they value. They need. They need the the smarts,
Speaker 3: especially going small, But closing line up is is gonna
Speaker 3: be a very big question for them going into the year,
Speaker 3: and they're gonna have to stumble upon some things as well.
Speaker 1: I wonder if I thought about this the other day,
Speaker 1: From closing to starting lineups, it's all but assumed. We
Speaker 1: hope that we see James Harden next to Terrence man
Speaker 1: next to Derek Jones Junior, next to Kawhi, next to
Speaker 1: of eacha zubats. Do you think there's at all a
Speaker 1: chance that actually we see but toombs start the four,
Speaker 1: to slide Kawhi down to the three, then Derek Jones Junior,
Speaker 1: then James Harden meeting Terrence Man is the one coming
Speaker 1: off the bench. No.
Speaker 3: And the reason I say that is because Kau is
Speaker 3: a four.
Speaker 1: But he said last season, until we get a real one.
Speaker 1: He said that verbatim. I'll play it until we get
Speaker 1: a real one.
Speaker 3: I'm gonna be perfectly honest. Four.
Speaker 1: He's the four, is the real four in the room
Speaker 1: with us.
Speaker 3: He's the four. Defensively, he will be the four. Most
Speaker 3: physicians are designated now based on defense, so I think
Speaker 3: he will be the four. I think he's going to
Speaker 3: be the low man helps who suffocates passing lanes at
Speaker 3: the nail or you know, on the weak side. I
Speaker 3: think he's just the four and Derek's going to be
Speaker 3: the three. Now. Offensively, Derek will be the four where
Speaker 3: he's just parked in a corner most likely. But defensively,
Speaker 3: Kawi is the four. Kawhi is not guarding on the perimeter,
Speaker 3: as much as he used to. I hope that Kawai
Speaker 3: just accepts, not excepted, but I think he understands that
Speaker 3: he is going to be the four. That doesn't mean
Speaker 3: that you're not going to see Kawhi Nico Zoo out
Speaker 3: there together, but in that instance, Niko's probably the three.
Speaker 3: He's going to be guarding on the ball, and Kawhi
Speaker 3: is still going to be off the ball defensively. So
Speaker 3: I wrote the four last season, and uh, I want
Speaker 3: to say exit interviews last year. I say last season
Speaker 3: meaning twenty twenty three, that the best way forward for
Speaker 3: the Clippers was to understand that PG was the three
Speaker 3: and Kawhi was the four, rather than trying to keep
Speaker 3: playing them at the two and the three. They and
Speaker 3: it was really good, Like that's when there's a lot
Speaker 3: of their success happened last season obviously. So I think
Speaker 3: they understand that that Kawi is the four, But I mean,
Speaker 3: if there's a I just don't think that that's just
Speaker 3: what he is now. His knees are not great enough
Speaker 3: to play the three, like you think.
Speaker 1: It's more taxing to have to be on the perimeter
Speaker 1: and chase guys around rather than being bodies on the interior.
Speaker 3: Well this is this is the other thing for me.
Speaker 3: What fours are out there that he has to go
Speaker 3: up against that are physically darking for him.
Speaker 1: It's not c web kg and Tim Duncan anymore like
Speaker 1: Julius Randall.
Speaker 3: Yes, but you see him twice a year and he still.
Speaker 2: Takes a lot of shots around the perimeter.
Speaker 3: Right, So I it's tough that the game's changed. The
Speaker 3: fours are different now, you know, Like, for instance, you
Speaker 3: looked at Denver. Denver's four was Aaron Gordon who did
Speaker 3: hang out on the perimeter a lot. Sure, he went
Speaker 3: around the basket for duns and you know, cut layups
Speaker 3: and stuff like that, but he was on the perimeter
Speaker 3: a lot, you know. So I just don't think there's
Speaker 3: a lot of fours that are physically going to be
Speaker 3: taxing for him.
Speaker 2: I don't know.
Speaker 1: Jordan says, you're wrong. Kawhi at the four is awful
Speaker 1: for his health, even though he just played sixty eight
Speaker 1: games starting at the flour, which most he's played in
Speaker 1: almost a decade.
Speaker 3: It could be bad for him in the long run,
Speaker 3: But I don't think the Clippers have the benefit of
Speaker 3: long run here. I think it's a day to day,
Speaker 3: week to week, game by game assessment. I think at
Speaker 3: the four they have a better chance of not just
Speaker 3: surviving in the endium, but you know, succeeding.
Speaker 1: Jordan's kind of been out to lunch here the past
Speaker 1: couple of lives. He was talking about Kai Jones starting over.
Speaker 1: Vitza zoobots kpj is gonna be the starting shooting guard.
Speaker 1: He doesn't understand why Batoom would be in in the
Speaker 1: fourth quarter. Why would you be yelling why the f Batwo?
Speaker 2: Men?
Speaker 1: You want Nicholas batuh min late in games? Have you
Speaker 1: watched Niko BATOUM My god? All right, Jordan, you're cool still?
Speaker 1: Uh Let me ask you this well. I like this question.
Speaker 1: I think this is interesting. How would you feel if
Speaker 1: the Clippers move Norman Tucker for Tobias Harris at the
Speaker 1: deadline that comes from Andy eighty one to twenty nine
Speaker 1: to three. His contract's up summer of twenty twenty six.
Speaker 1: He's got two years left on his deal, no player option.
Speaker 1: He'll be an unrestricted free agent Tobias Harris in the
Speaker 1: summer of twenty twenty six. Which does line up with
Speaker 1: the Clippers plan.
Speaker 3: Is that when Normos deal is also off the table.
Speaker 1: Yeah, he's got two more years too.
Speaker 3: It's it's tough, It's uh.
Speaker 1: Is it more of a position of need because Tobias
Speaker 1: could play some four here and there and a three
Speaker 1: and four?
Speaker 3: Obviously it depends, like it depends what they what they
Speaker 3: deem a position of needs. I think there's been a
Speaker 3: lot of Tobias Harris hate when Tobias has been a
Speaker 3: good NBA player for a long time. But also the
Speaker 3: question here is that would you trade those two for
Speaker 3: Tobias Harris? And I don't mean to disparage PJ. Tucker here,
Speaker 3: that's would you trade Norman Powell for Tobias Harris? Straight up?
Speaker 3: And I don't know would Detroit do that? That's the
Speaker 3: other question. Detroit knows Tobias Harris very well, So I don't.
Speaker 2: Know, we know Tobias. I like Tobias.
Speaker 1: I know he was paid fifty million almost in Philadelphia
Speaker 1: and that wasn't going to go well because Jimmy Butler they.
Speaker 3: Let him go.
Speaker 2: Yeah, that's tell Elton Brands what we love. But that's
Speaker 2: the guy who made.
Speaker 3: Tobias Harrison walking and make them give him fifty million dollars.
Speaker 1: Ya, he's supposed to turn that down. I don't know
Speaker 1: understand what you want from these guys?
Speaker 3: Uh?
Speaker 2: Do you think.
Speaker 1: I have to ask you this? I even had it
Speaker 1: in my notes. Old Dirty Dasher asks why are they
Speaker 1: bringing PJ?
Speaker 2: To camp?
Speaker 1: And I'm wondering if maybe Justin Russo has some advanced
Speaker 1: numbers that prove PJ. Tucker's worth on the floor, like
Speaker 1: maybe there's a higher rebounding percentage when he's out there,
Speaker 1: even though he's not the one doing it, because that's
Speaker 1: how it.
Speaker 2: Was Remarcus right, I ain't got that. Do you got anything?
Speaker 1: Is there any benefit to PJ Tucker at this stage
Speaker 1: of his career outside of a couple of minutes against
Speaker 1: zion a couple of minutes against jokicch and I mean
Speaker 1: a couple literally, But I do like him as kind
Speaker 1: of a change of pays against some big bodies.
Speaker 3: So to answer the question, why are they bring him
Speaker 3: to camp? Because he's under contract. That's that's why.
Speaker 1: Because he opted into eleven million.
Speaker 3: Which I think he should.
Speaker 1: Have of course, But if he says, you know, I
Speaker 1: didn't sign up for this this time after he opted
Speaker 1: in when he could have been a free agent, I
Speaker 1: don't I don't want to hear that stuff.
Speaker 3: I'm sorry, boy, It's a really interesting situation, ain't it.
Speaker 1: I've asked everybody on here that has come on recently.
Speaker 1: Are he and Bones coming to training camp?
Speaker 3: I would be camp.
Speaker 2: I would be two.
Speaker 1: But okay, I'm gonna say I wouldn't be shocked shocked
Speaker 1: they were sent home last season at one point. They
Speaker 1: do want bigger rules. Lawrence Frank talked about that the
Speaker 1: presser for Team USA with Kawhi Leonard that they're searching
Speaker 1: for trade and if they could find one, I'm sure
Speaker 1: it would be done by now.
Speaker 3: I was sitting across the table when that part happened.
Speaker 1: So really, nobody's offered them enough yet for these two
Speaker 1: guys and I it hurts my heart because I want Bones.
Speaker 1: I would love for Bones to get a real opportunity
Speaker 1: like we saw early before they brought in James Harden
Speaker 1: last season. Even though I want James and all that,
Speaker 1: it's just it made it funky with Russell Westbrook.
Speaker 3: So what I will say is I stand with the
Speaker 3: players on this who want a larger role. I think
Speaker 3: every player should want a larger role. I think it's
Speaker 3: weird when players don't want a larger role. However, what
Speaker 3: I will also say, I don't know what the roles
Speaker 3: that they're looking for. I don't know if the roles
Speaker 3: that they're looking for on this team actually even exists.
Speaker 3: I think a role could exist for Bones, but the
Speaker 3: roles the role for Bones only exists if KPJ wasn't here, right,
Speaker 3: The role for PJ possibly exists if Nico's not here.
Speaker 1: But yeah, Bones is behind KPJ and Chris done now
Speaker 1: and James Harden like there's a norm, there's no there's
Speaker 1: no clear path. And he was the best guy they
Speaker 1: said in training camp last year, the most impressive guy.
Speaker 3: Year two. He was good.
Speaker 2: Progress he made He was averaging what fifteen points per
Speaker 2: game his first five games of the season.
Speaker 3: He looked great. He was dude, I think people he started.
Speaker 3: I know a couple of games, I said.
Speaker 2: I'm I'm holding the skeleton key. I attached.
Speaker 4: The game in Chicago he bowled out. I thought it
Speaker 4: was it was all gonna happen. And then he had
Speaker 4: thirty nine towards at the end of the year. In
Speaker 4: that game, who was it against Phoenix, he had a
Speaker 4: huge yes.
Speaker 1: Where they started Triple TV dam at the very end
Speaker 1: and not let him get to forty.
Speaker 2: Bones is a bucket.
Speaker 3: So I think Bones has a I think there's a
Speaker 3: better case for Bones having a place than PJ. I
Speaker 3: think Pj's situation's just tougher. Eleven million dollars finding a
Speaker 3: team that will take eleven million dollars in this cap
Speaker 3: climate is basically an impossibility. They're not going to wave
Speaker 3: and stretch him. It would get them under the luxury
Speaker 3: tax if they waved in stretch them. They're not gonna
Speaker 3: wave and stretch them. They could wave him. They could
Speaker 3: wave him the closer they get to the trade deadline,
Speaker 3: or even right after the trade deadline, if no one
Speaker 3: comes and gets him, they could just outright wave him
Speaker 3: and basically just be done with this contract at that point,
Speaker 3: because if they wave and stretch him, his contract goes
Speaker 3: over three years, which the benefit of that is you
Speaker 3: get under the luxury tax. But why would you want
Speaker 3: to keep that on your books for three years when
Speaker 3: you can just be done with it in one. So Yeah,
Speaker 3: if they get to the trade deadline and there's no
Speaker 3: trade possibility, I could see them waving him after the deadline.
Speaker 3: So they a team lack of Miami or a Milwaukee
Speaker 3: can go out there and just sign him so that
Speaker 3: he's still eligible for the postseason. But look, I don't
Speaker 3: see the harm as weird as I don't see the
Speaker 3: harm in bringing him to camp and seeing what he has.
Speaker 3: I really don't because of the one or two percent
Speaker 3: possibility that that he really does like show out and
Speaker 3: show you that he deserves a spot for both of them. Actually,
Speaker 3: I don't.
Speaker 2: Think it's crazy for me, and I think we know
Speaker 2: what they have with PJ. Tucker.
Speaker 1: The harm would be his attitude. If his attitude isn't right,
Speaker 1: like there's only like a downside because I think we
Speaker 1: know who he is as a player at this point
Speaker 1: and it doesn't look like he's going to be playing
Speaker 1: on this team.
Speaker 3: What I will say to that? And people can take
Speaker 3: this however they want a lot of the attitude issues
Speaker 3: with the team have left, and I don't think PJ,
Speaker 3: while he can be surly at times, while he can't
Speaker 3: be surly at times, is going to I don't think PJ.
Speaker 3: Tucker's attitude is going to scuttle the Clipper season.
Speaker 1: I can't believe that Stray just hit Mason Plumbing like that.
Speaker 1: I can't believe you're saying he was the gratitude problem
Speaker 1: of the.
Speaker 3: Mean Look, people could take it forever. Play they were.
Speaker 3: I'm not saying name. A lot of the attitude problems
Speaker 3: are gone.
Speaker 2: Okay. Andy eighty one twenty nine to three wants to know.
Speaker 1: Well, I guess he's making more of a statement, but
Speaker 1: he likes the idea of them trading bones, PJ and
Speaker 1: second rounders to the nets for Dorian Finney Smith. He'd
Speaker 1: be great next to Kawhi. Yeah, I think they can
Speaker 1: get more than that. Sorry, bro, unless they.
Speaker 2: Really value bones. I think they might be able to
Speaker 2: get a first from somebody for Dorian Finney Smith.
Speaker 3: I also don't know what Dorian Phinney Smith is. I
Speaker 3: think I think we like Dorian Phinny Smith. I like him,
Speaker 3: but I also feel like we've reached the standpoint Dorian
Speaker 3: Phinny Smith where I think we all like the idea
Speaker 3: better than what he is.
Speaker 1: Okay, that's that's a fair statement. I'm trying to pull
Speaker 1: up his numbers from last season. So he was an
Speaker 1: eight and a half points per game. He only shot
Speaker 1: thirty five percent from the outside. It was one of
Speaker 1: his lower seasons there he's.
Speaker 3: I mean Dallas. He left Dallas and kind of forgot
Speaker 3: how to shoot.
Speaker 1: Yeah, that's fair because in Dallas he was shooting like
Speaker 1: thirty nine percent back to back years.
Speaker 3: And even had thirty five and a half the half
Speaker 3: season he was there before he got traded. But like,
Speaker 3: I don't know, maybe he's just bummed about being in Brooklyn.
Speaker 3: I mean, it wasn't a great situation. Who knows.
Speaker 1: So I'm not the one following up here justin, but
Speaker 1: our smart listeners here wants to know. Who was that
Speaker 1: player that you had that cryptic comment about jam.
Speaker 3: It wasn't a player, it was plural, I think, I
Speaker 3: think not. I think there were several players who just
Speaker 3: weren't happy, and I think when when that happens, which
Speaker 3: is a fair feeling for a lot of people to have.
Speaker 3: I'm not sitting here and saying they were wrong. Okay,
Speaker 3: like you can. People can feel how they want to feel.
Speaker 2: But were these players maybe friends that played on a
Speaker 2: team together before the.
Speaker 1: Clippers or I'm just Ji wants to know.
Speaker 3: Okay, sorry, I think it cam bleed bleed into the
Speaker 3: team and sap it a little bit. I just don't
Speaker 3: think Pj's attitude is going to be an issue on
Speaker 3: a team where he clearly is not a I wouldn't
Speaker 3: even just say, I'm just gonna say top eight rotation guy,
Speaker 3: because from there on you could gripe about hey is
Speaker 3: either tenth or eleventh or twelfth or two, like we
Speaker 3: can gripe all day. But he's just not a top
Speaker 3: eight or nine rotation guy. I don't think that guy
Speaker 3: is gonna cause problems, and if he does, if that
Speaker 3: guy causes problems, it's a it's a more fragile team
Speaker 3: than they would care to admit. At that point, you're
Speaker 3: getting rid right now?
Speaker 1: Did Otani just did he get to Oh my god,
Speaker 1: he's at fifty one to fifty one? Now he started
Speaker 1: this game at forty nine steals and forty eight home
Speaker 1: runs and now he's fifty one fifty one.
Speaker 2: By god, goat Tani is at it again.
Speaker 3: So he was on my team. I'm an Angels fan.
Speaker 3: He was on my team for many years.
Speaker 2: So sorry, it's all right.
Speaker 3: I'm actually happy for him. But what my Showwi story is.
Speaker 3: I saw him in high school in Japan when he
Speaker 3: was eighteen, and I was blown away because, like I'd
Speaker 3: read scouting reports on him from like Baseball America and
Speaker 3: like the really like in depth, like scouting analysis of
Speaker 3: him from the guys who do it like year round.
Speaker 3: So I saw a video of him at eighteen. I
Speaker 3: want to say, this was what twenty twelve at the time,
Speaker 3: I believe, and he was incredible and I fell in
Speaker 3: love right there. And then the Angel signed him and
Speaker 3: I was so happy, and I'm happy for him now
Speaker 3: because he's he's crushing dude. Ever. Ever, he's Baby.
Speaker 2: Ruth played during segregation.
Speaker 1: I don't want to hear about Babe Ruth compared to
Speaker 1: Altani in today's day age.
Speaker 3: He's the greatest talent I've ever seen in baseball. I
Speaker 3: still think Barry Bond is probably the greatest baseball player
Speaker 3: of all time, but Otani, to me, is the greatest
Speaker 3: talent I've ever seen in baseball.
Speaker 1: I'm a Giants fan, and I've taken Otani because I
Speaker 1: know Barry Bonds never.
Speaker 2: Hit fifty home runs before Royd's.
Speaker 1: I mean, I've read Game of Shadows.
Speaker 2: Allegedly, nothing read Game of Shadows. No, we don't.
Speaker 1: It's a fact they have the receipts. Victor Consei and
Speaker 1: the guys have the receipts.
Speaker 3: How much you love receipts, So this is up your.
Speaker 2: Alley on the receipt master. All right, Jordan's over here.
Speaker 1: Am I gonna have to keep receipts on this wild
Speaker 1: trade package?
Speaker 2: Jordan says, I think packaging Norman Palell, Bones, Tilan Chris
Speaker 2: done for Ben Simmons would be good.
Speaker 3: No, yeah, like you just want to take a flyer
Speaker 3: like obviously Trady for Ben Simmons requires a lot of money,
Speaker 3: because I think he makes like forty million dollars. But
Speaker 3: I just don't think. I don't think that at that
Speaker 3: point the Clippers would trade a guy like Norm unless
Speaker 3: they're trying to get cap space now for next summer.
Speaker 3: That's the only that's the only upside.
Speaker 1: Ben Simmons has played less than sixty games combined his
Speaker 1: last two seasons. Guys, but yeah, let's bring in an
Speaker 1: injury prone guy to the Clippers. Uh okay, Bastian our
Speaker 1: German friend says, Norman pj for John Collins of the deadline,
Speaker 1: I never heard this name, John Collins. Jazz get off
Speaker 1: of Collins before his twenty six million dollar player option
Speaker 1: the twenty twenty five to twenty six season. They also
Speaker 1: take on PJ as they have no directions or franchise
Speaker 1: at the moment. The problem to me with this is
Speaker 1: norm is under contract for two more years, so why
Speaker 1: would they do that.
Speaker 3: I'm I'm just not a John Collins guy. That's a
Speaker 3: me thing. I know a lot of people who are
Speaker 3: John's like John Collins, I'm just not a John Collins guy.
Speaker 3: Seeing him up close, seeing the way people have described
Speaker 3: him defensively specifically, I'm just not a John Collins guy.
Speaker 3: I like the idea of John Collins. I'm just not
Speaker 3: a John Collins guy. And as far as Utah's direction,
Speaker 3: Utah's direction is just to be where they're at right
Speaker 3: now and to keep taking as many swings at the
Speaker 3: fence as as they can, to keep improving because because
Speaker 3: I'll tell you this right now, if they get Cooper flag,
Speaker 3: they're sent. And you can't convince me otherwise.
Speaker 2: I agree Danny Ames, he's working it there.
Speaker 1: John Collins did average fifteen to nine while shooting thirty
Speaker 1: seven percent from three last season, is still only I
Speaker 1: think twenty six or twenty seven, So I'm intrigued. I also, though,
Speaker 1: wonder maybe you can speak to this more. I didn't
Speaker 1: watch him a ton last season. Is he still the
Speaker 1: ridiculous athlete he was with Atlanta? When he can put
Speaker 1: his head on the rim like he used to. I
Speaker 1: think that dunk on embiid.
Speaker 3: So he is, but not to the same degree. It's dwindled.
Speaker 3: But I want people to think like, oh, he's not
Speaker 3: as athletic, Like it's just like a notch below where
Speaker 3: he was. Okay, and that's just natural because of age.
Speaker 2: Yeah.
Speaker 1: JM thirteen twenty four wants to say, Jam, I why
Speaker 1: is sports culture When a player leaves from a situation,
Speaker 1: they get blamed for everything that's happened, regardless of the
Speaker 1: good moments they had.
Speaker 3: Because example, well, I think he's talking about like PG
Speaker 3: to a degree, Here's how I'll say it, Because I
Speaker 3: think sports fans to a large degree have a hard
Speaker 3: time separating the good from the bad when it comes
Speaker 3: to emotions. I think that like when a player leaves,
Speaker 3: we we I say we, the sports fan contingency genuinely
Speaker 3: generally think that if things were good, the player would stay,
Speaker 3: and like the fact that they're leaving means that they
Speaker 3: just weren't good enough to deal with this. So we
Speaker 3: kind of like pie along with them. I don't agree
Speaker 3: that players should get blamed when they side to leave.
Speaker 1: I just heg is getting blamed because he took shots
Speaker 1: at the organization on his way out, shots that are
Speaker 1: directed at the fans in some way when you talk
Speaker 1: about the B team and then his dad saying we
Speaker 1: felt like we got stabbed in the back.
Speaker 3: Oh, he said, I'm speaking in general, not PG, So
Speaker 3: in general.
Speaker 1: Term, Well that I'm speaking specifically about PG, because in
Speaker 1: general it's a case by case basis. For me, always
Speaker 1: tell me the player, and I'll tell you how it
Speaker 1: should be viewed.
Speaker 3: Yeah, I I don't know. The older I've gotten the
Speaker 3: kind of less I've understood why why fans kind of
Speaker 3: pylon players to a large degree, because their job's tough.
Speaker 3: Like whether or not you say like they make x
Speaker 3: amount of money, their job's still tough. It's not like
Speaker 3: it's a great job, but it's still tough, like it's
Speaker 3: you know, they're all going up to ridic good.
Speaker 1: Fans are still smart enough today. We brought it up earlier.
Speaker 1: Do you think Philly fans are mad at Jimmy Butler
Speaker 1: for leaving or do you think they're mad that they
Speaker 1: made the decision? To keep Tobias Harris over him and mad.
Speaker 2: At the front office. They're pointing at the front office.
Speaker 3: They're not mad at Jimmy. If I know, Philly fans
Speaker 3: are just mad at everything.
Speaker 2: Well that's fair.
Speaker 3: They wake up mad, okay, like it's just in their
Speaker 3: in their spirit.
Speaker 1: I want to put a smile on everyone's face as
Speaker 1: I get this question asked from Frankie boy nine. When
Speaker 1: is the Ralph Lawler interview coming soon? Probably the next
Speaker 1: couple of days. I would say, at worst on Monday.
Speaker 1: I don't want to put too much pressure on my editor,
Speaker 1: but the Ralph Lawler sitting down one on one, two
Speaker 1: part interview.
Speaker 2: Is coming up within the next four or five days.
Speaker 2: Data Man asks.
Speaker 1: What should be our expectations if the Clippers coming out
Speaker 1: of camp should be rolling like they did in January.
Speaker 1: They're not going twenty six and five again, guys, or
Speaker 1: a slow build up expected NBA Cup champs.
Speaker 3: Let's go.
Speaker 2: What are the expectations, Justine?
Speaker 3: What to expect?
Speaker 2: It would be a good way to end things.
Speaker 3: Yeah, uh, you know what, I think they'll be fine.
Speaker 3: I don't when I say fine out, I mean like
Speaker 3: they're gonna win fifty five games, but I do think
Speaker 3: they'll generally be fine. I think it could be a
Speaker 3: slow ramp up, uh to where like they come out
Speaker 3: playing Phoenix. That's gonna be an interesting matchup right off
Speaker 3: the bat because Phoenix has a lot to prove themselves
Speaker 3: and it's the Clippers New Arena home opener, and they're
Speaker 3: gonna be fired up, the fans are gonna be fired up.
Speaker 3: So I would in terms of the expectations early in
Speaker 3: the season, I think it could be a slow ramp
Speaker 3: up with an early season, Like, I think they'll start
Speaker 3: out good, probably dip just a little bit, and then
Speaker 3: kind of have like a steady trajectory after that. So
Speaker 3: you know, it's it's hard to say, but I'm kind
Speaker 3: of expecting them to be good and fine. I think overall,
Speaker 3: I think, uh, what would I play them for a
Speaker 3: win total this year? What do you we'll give.
Speaker 2: Me the seeding?
Speaker 1: I have them at best being the sixth in the
Speaker 1: sixth spot in the West at best. If things really
Speaker 1: break their way, if they upgrade, you know, it's an
Speaker 1: evolving roster, then I'll recalibrate my expectations in my prediction.
Speaker 1: But I think anywhere from six to ten honestly, tell
Speaker 1: me how many games Kawhi is playing, and I'll tell
Speaker 1: you what the record could be, because right now, I mean,
Speaker 1: I think he's going to be at best playing sixty six,
Speaker 1: because sixty six.
Speaker 2: Is where you'd be if.
Speaker 1: You take away one half of the back to backs,
Speaker 1: because they're playing sixteen of those a two mins sixteen
Speaker 1: he gets sixty six, and you know that's that's being
Speaker 1: hopeful that he's only missing the front end or the
Speaker 1: back end of a back to back. I have real
Speaker 1: concerns about the swelling when I when I see there
Speaker 1: was no necessarily tweak to the knee. Not a doctor
Speaker 1: never even played one, wants to do a once did
Speaker 1: a show with the UCLA Doctor on A five seventy.
Speaker 1: But last season was different because it wasn't a step.
Speaker 1: It was just wear and tear over a season that
Speaker 1: eventually led to recurring swelling that they couldn't get down
Speaker 1: for justin We don't even know. It could have been
Speaker 1: two months. We don't know how long it took for
Speaker 1: the swelling to go down.
Speaker 2: That's my concern.
Speaker 3: That was one of the weirdest sagas of the season.
Speaker 3: So I was up and I flew to Sacramento to
Speaker 3: cover that game and that shoot around, we're going to
Speaker 3: pull the side and told you're gonna have a Kuhi update.
Speaker 3: He's not playing. He flew back home. Yadiada YadA. We're
Speaker 3: not that concerned, yadi da YadA. And then you fast
Speaker 3: forward and yeah.
Speaker 2: Uh, they couldn't control the swelling. That's what it was.
Speaker 1: And he said, and Om brought this up on my
Speaker 1: Monday show on Ome Young Masu from ESPN that you
Speaker 1: listen to his own words during training camp a Team USA,
Speaker 1: he said he reached a turning point two weeks before
Speaker 1: showing up at training camp with TSA. That means it
Speaker 1: could have been I don't know, two and a half
Speaker 1: to maybe three months where they.
Speaker 2: Were trying to figure this out.
Speaker 3: Almost Alm and I sat next to each other when
Speaker 3: Kawai said that at Tmusa and we and we doesn't
Speaker 3: mind me saying that, we both walked away and had
Speaker 3: like a ten minute conversation about what it even meant,
Speaker 3: because he made a comment after that that was like
Speaker 3: my knee was is like I can't remember, I can't
Speaker 3: remember the exact point. I said.
Speaker 1: It was in a neutral state. That's what day before
Speaker 1: they sent him home.
Speaker 3: Yeah, a neutral state, that's what it was. And I
Speaker 3: don't know what the hell that means. Does that mean
Speaker 3: it's fine, doesn't mean it's I just took it to
Speaker 3: mean stable, but I don't.
Speaker 1: To me, it means it hasn't flared up, it hasn't
Speaker 1: swelled up, even though he was doing.
Speaker 2: Five on five.
Speaker 3: Yeah, that's my guess. So what I will say from
Speaker 3: Team USA is the parts of practice we were able
Speaker 3: to see. He was always wearing uh sweat sweatpants, so
Speaker 3: we never actually got to see anything in terms of
Speaker 3: like if he was wearing anything on his knee, on
Speaker 3: his leg at all. It was all in sweatpants. From
Speaker 3: what I from what I can recollect from a couple
Speaker 3: of months ago, I don't know. I mean all I
Speaker 3: all we can go after was what he said, what
Speaker 3: Team usay, what Grant Hill said, And I asked a
Speaker 3: question to Grant Hill before the game against Canada the
Speaker 3: next night, which was the day that Kawi got sent home.
Speaker 3: And then when we talked to Lawrence Frank at Summer
Speaker 3: League in Vegas. Those are the only those are the
Speaker 3: only people who talked Aboutkawai's status on the record at
Speaker 3: the time and everything. Whatever answer you got from anybody
Speaker 3: was different from somebody else, and it was the weirdest
Speaker 3: thing I've ever experienced. On the record, we don't know.
Speaker 3: We don't know when the swelling went down. We don't
Speaker 3: know what precautions they took, We don't know things that
Speaker 3: they did to minimize the issues. When he was asked
Speaker 3: whether or not he had a procedure done, Lawrence Frank
Speaker 3: wouldn't on the record, wouldn't specify whether or not he did.
Speaker 2: He did say, though, if it was something significant, they would.
Speaker 3: Yes, which reading between the lines for me, meant they
Speaker 3: went in and cleaned cleaned up some stuff. Now that
Speaker 3: doesn't mean that is what happened. That's how I took
Speaker 3: it and interpret it. But that's not what he said.
Speaker 3: It's just how I read between the lines.
Speaker 2: What else can we do?
Speaker 3: I feel like I'm over here playing detective and I'm not.
Speaker 3: I'm not in a state to do that. But you know,
Speaker 3: I mean, look, everything I heard was that Kauhi looked
Speaker 3: fine in tem Usa camp. That's what I heard, is
Speaker 3: that he looked fine.
Speaker 1: Did you see him work out? Did you see some
Speaker 1: of the five on five run outside of the video
Speaker 1: were you there watching some of the practices.
Speaker 3: Anything that's on videos is all we got to see.
Speaker 3: We were everything that was filmed in terms of like
Speaker 3: anything that made its way to the public sphere was
Speaker 3: all we got to see. We were only let in
Speaker 3: for I'm trying to remember now, because it was four
Speaker 3: days of practice, and I think in each of the
Speaker 3: days except for the last day, the first three days
Speaker 3: we only came in for like a ten minute session,
Speaker 3: and I don't really remember Kawhi. I remember Kauhi for
Speaker 3: one of them. I don't remember him for two of them,
Speaker 3: but that doesn't mean he wasn't there on my member.
Speaker 3: It could just be hazy for the other one, though
Speaker 3: he didn't play at all on the court. For the
Speaker 3: last one, I don't remember him see being on the
Speaker 3: court at all. But everything we'd heard was that he
Speaker 3: looks fine, he looks good. He got people asked questions
Speaker 3: about him to Steve Kerr and other players, and they
Speaker 3: they all talked about Kawhi and glowing terms. And then
Speaker 3: I woke up in the hotel room that day of
Speaker 3: the game, found out that was gone, and was like,
Speaker 3: what the hell just happened? And it was it was
Speaker 3: a Great Vegas trip, and so yeah.
Speaker 2: There was something else.
Speaker 1: Lawrence Frank said that I'm also reading into and trying
Speaker 1: to decipher what happened here, and it was something to
Speaker 1: the extent of the degree of we know how Kawai
Speaker 1: looks in practice, we know how he should look. So
Speaker 1: I wondered if Team usay saw, okay, he's not giving
Speaker 1: maximum effort, which Kawhi we know has levels to him.
Speaker 1: Regular season Kawhi versus playoff Kawhi players never admit to
Speaker 1: this stuff. I think it's just instinctual. Well, it just happens.
Speaker 1: It's just subconscious that they start playing harder and show
Speaker 1: a different motor out there. But he probably was in
Speaker 1: slowed down version of himself, and maybe they thought that's
Speaker 1: related to the knee, and maybe that gave them pause
Speaker 1: for wondering if he's going to be able to make
Speaker 1: it through the entire run. With Team USA and Kawhi
Speaker 1: feeling good and making that comment still about his knee
Speaker 1: being in a neutral state, and then saying two weeks
Speaker 1: before he had a turning point, it probably just made
Speaker 1: them feel like, uh, well, we don't know if we're
Speaker 1: going to be able to rely on him over the
Speaker 1: next month, so maybe we should go in a different direction.
Speaker 3: Now.
Speaker 1: I don't like it because he's Kawhi Leonard and Kevin
Speaker 1: Durant wasn't playing at all. But we know Kevin Durant
Speaker 1: had a scoring title on the line for Team USA,
Speaker 1: so they weren't going to send him home even though
Speaker 1: he was hurt and didn't play at all during the
Speaker 1: Uh was it not the knockout round but the exhibition
Speaker 1: course of a Team USA. I That's all I can
Speaker 1: I can see.
Speaker 3: I just I that's such a weird situation because I
Speaker 3: do think that there is some truth to like the
Speaker 3: Clippers know how he recovers and how he looks in
Speaker 3: practice compared to what Team USA.
Speaker 2: And coach loves there. And Lawrence Frank was there for
Speaker 2: some event.
Speaker 3: Yeah, uh, Lawrence Frank was there for a couple of
Speaker 3: the days, I believe two of the days. So yeah,
Speaker 3: I they don't.
Speaker 1: Come out and have that press conference if Kawhi didn't
Speaker 1: feel like he was ready, right, they're speaking on behalf
Speaker 1: of him because he was so disappointed. I'm sure which
Speaker 1: which one the Lawrence Frank press conference regarding Kawhi Does
Speaker 1: that happen?
Speaker 3: The Lord I believe that press conference would probably still
Speaker 3: happen only because Lawrence just didn't get asked about Kaui
Speaker 3: at that press conference. He got asked about everything. He
Speaker 3: got asked about PG you got to ask about, uh,
Speaker 3: the rough situation, he got asked about, PJ, he got
Speaker 3: asked about, He got to asked about everything.
Speaker 1: Right, But he was there to make a statement about
Speaker 1: Kawhi off the top.
Speaker 3: He was, But that's not just what that conversation was for.
Speaker 3: That was an all encompassing interview that was set up
Speaker 3: for several of us to on the beat to talk
Speaker 3: to Lawrence about everything off season relationship. Now, what was
Speaker 3: what let off? It was the Kawhi thing because at
Speaker 3: the time that was the biggest story because just what
Speaker 3: two days before, two days before, three like four days before,
Speaker 3: Kawhi had just left. So it was like, oh, that's
Speaker 3: a little interesting, So we kind of need to we
Speaker 3: need to ask about this this topic. There's something else
Speaker 3: I was gonna Oh the other interesting caveat in all
Speaker 3: this is Clinton parks Kawhi. Leonards trainer has been very
Speaker 3: vocal on Twitter that this wasn't a Kawhi Leonard Clipper's decision.
Speaker 3: This was Team USA's call.
Speaker 1: I saw from what Lawrence Frank said. He mentioned they
Speaker 1: were very disappointed not once but twice with Team USA's decision.
Speaker 1: Of course, it wasn't their.
Speaker 2: Call, right.
Speaker 3: What I will say is that when I asked Grant
Speaker 3: Hill on the record in the press conference ahead of
Speaker 3: the game against Canada, when they knew that they would
Speaker 3: send like when they knew that they basically couldn't have
Speaker 3: Kawhi Leonard need to send him home, he kind of
Speaker 3: just didn't answer it like it was like generalization speak,
Speaker 3: which is fine, but it was a very like political
Speaker 3: answer of just you know, it happened and kind of
Speaker 3: stuff like that. So they I don't know. I look,
Speaker 3: it goes back to what we said a long time ago.
Speaker 3: There's three signs to every story, and the truth probably
Speaker 3: lies somewhere in the middle. I don't know. Maybe one
Speaker 3: day it will come to light and we'll just kind
Speaker 3: of wonder why it took so long.
Speaker 2: My opinion it lies with the Clippers. But that's cool.
Speaker 2: That's cool.
Speaker 1: We got Justin who so on with us, and we're
Speaker 1: gonna close things out here because we're almost reaching the
Speaker 1: two hour marker.
Speaker 3: And just I apologize, I'm a talker.
Speaker 2: You know, no, no, this has been great.
Speaker 1: I'm the one that's always worried about keeping somebody too
Speaker 1: long here. But Justin is at fly by Night K
Speaker 1: and I t e on X on Twitter Justin, where
Speaker 1: can everybody find you?
Speaker 2: For your wonderful work?
Speaker 1: And I encourage everybody to subscribe. I don't do it
Speaker 1: with everyone, but I do it with Justin. I am
Speaker 1: a reader of his and.
Speaker 2: It is very informative.
Speaker 1: Pieces that he gets done for you that are illuminating,
Speaker 1: as you've sensed here on the pod.
Speaker 3: Thank you. Uh it's Justin Arusso dot substack dot com.
Speaker 3: I will tell people that's starting in October because the
Speaker 3: season is starting. I am turning subscriptions on. It'll be
Speaker 3: five dollars a month, I think is what it is
Speaker 3: for substacks. I'm just letting people know ahead of time
Speaker 3: that you know, if you do subscribe, I appreciate it.
Speaker 3: It will be behind a paywall. It's just the nature
Speaker 3: of the business now. And I apologize ahead of time,
Speaker 3: but it is what it is. I things ain't cheap
Speaker 3: no more for folks, and man, when the when the
Speaker 3: double cheezburger a McDonald's, they ate two dollars anymore. I
Speaker 3: thought they're bringing.
Speaker 1: Back a five dollars value meal somewhere.
Speaker 2: Aren't they doing that somewhere?
Speaker 3: Look?
Speaker 1: Guy, you get, yeah, the top half of then.
Speaker 3: You get enough soda in the straw, and that's it.
Speaker 3: You know, it's just all you need. But no, I'm
Speaker 3: kind of interested to see how the season goes. I'm
Speaker 3: actually excited to a large degree. I don't know if
Speaker 3: it's because things are different or just because the closes
Speaker 3: we've gotten. I'm kind of feeling it again, like, oh great,
Speaker 3: I actually get to go now. You know, I saw
Speaker 3: someone a long time ago in the chat ask how
Speaker 3: excited are like the beat to go to the new
Speaker 3: arena for media Day. I'm I'm actually intrigued to see
Speaker 3: how they set it up. Because the old media day
Speaker 3: was at the old training facility, obviously, and everything was
Speaker 3: as you saw Adam those everything was on the two
Speaker 3: courts and split into like little sections and stuff. I'm
Speaker 3: curious to see what they do for this one. Is
Speaker 3: it gonna be the main court, is it going to
Speaker 3: be the practice facility? Are they gonna have stations in between?
Speaker 3: Like how do they do? I'm kind of I'm actually
Speaker 3: fascinated to see what they do. And yeah, so that'd
Speaker 3: be the last time I see them for at least
Speaker 3: a week or so because I'm not going to Hawaii
Speaker 3: for training camp. I did it last year. It was great.
Speaker 3: It was my first time ever in Hawaii, and I
Speaker 3: wish I could live there because it was so incredible.
Speaker 3: But I won't be in Hawaii this year, so but
Speaker 3: I am looking forward to media Day. I'm looking forward
Speaker 3: to see the arena all the way done. I was
Speaker 3: there for the Halo board thing and that was pretty cool.
Speaker 1: So Media Day, September thirtieth, we are looking forward to that.
Speaker 3: One cannot wait for that. Monday morning, four or five
Speaker 3: traffing baby.
Speaker 1: Oh yeah, I'm gonna have start leaving an hour earlier
Speaker 1: than I I used to Burbank, probably an hour earlier
Speaker 1: than I used to go to Crypto, which is fine.
Speaker 2: I am happy to go to into it.
Speaker 1: I'm happy to get there as early as possible because
Speaker 1: it is a dream arena.
Speaker 3: Living it right now, yeah, it's uh, you know what's interesting.
Speaker 3: So you've obviously been into it. You've parked in the
Speaker 3: parking structure, right, yeah, have you taken have you taken
Speaker 3: like the.
Speaker 2: The over overhead walkway, I did, and we went under.
Speaker 3: Oh you did, okay, So also you just walked across
Speaker 3: the street.
Speaker 2: Yeah, we hit the crosswalk, okay.
Speaker 3: So on the overhead park like, if you take the
Speaker 3: the well, I don't want to keep saying overhead walking,
Speaker 3: that's not what it's called bridge.
Speaker 2: I don't know what it's going.
Speaker 3: The other bridge, the overpass, I guess, yeah, you take
Speaker 3: that from the parking structure, you walk in straight eye
Speaker 3: level to the gigantic outdoor like TV board. So it's
Speaker 3: actually kind of a really cool thing to walk directly
Speaker 3: and just see that right in front of you the
Speaker 3: whole way.
Speaker 1: It's surreal. I was talking about it with Paul sheer
Speaker 1: on here. It feels like augmented reality, like we're wearing
Speaker 1: a lens, or like you're wearing a lens and you've
Speaker 1: got the Google glasses on or whatever they were supposed
Speaker 1: to be. It feels like virtual reality. Being at this place.
Speaker 1: Everything is just so high tech.
Speaker 3: It's it's such it just hits you in the face.
Speaker 3: It's like like there is like a culture shock type
Speaker 3: deal to it, or like your brain has to adjust
Speaker 3: to kind of how it is, and it takes. It
Speaker 3: does take a minute, So I will tell I will
Speaker 3: tell baby, like when you walk in, take your time,
Speaker 3: get used to, get used to what you see.
Speaker 1: Get comfortable, Flipper Nation, You're finally home.
Speaker 3: And for a fatty like me, those seats are very
Speaker 3: wide and I enjoy them very much.
Speaker 2: Listen, well, look the food. They're scriptures. They have to
Speaker 2: account for that.
Speaker 3: Listen. I'm a I'm a sucker for a great seat,
Speaker 3: and those are some good seats.
Speaker 2: I'd say the best seats.
Speaker 1: The top level seats are closer to the floor than
Speaker 1: I think.
Speaker 2: Any arena in existence.
Speaker 1: Yes, and what's more important than being closer to the action?
Speaker 2: They got that right, and your.
Speaker 3: Eye level with the most gigantic board anyone ever thought
Speaker 3: to build, because that's what I also need in my life.
Speaker 3: You know what's funny is I did have a Clippers
Speaker 3: person tell me at the Halo board unveiling that they
Speaker 3: were excited to hear my thoughts on it because they
Speaker 3: know how much of the data stuff I love to
Speaker 3: see and every piece of data that came out, Like,
Speaker 3: I know you didn't build this for me. This feels
Speaker 3: like a little bit for me though.
Speaker 1: Hey, it's justin russau Ga. It's kind of a nerd.
Speaker 1: What do you think about this stat we're putting up
Speaker 1: here on the.
Speaker 3: Halo exactly exactly. We make room for your wrapping and
Speaker 3: last comment here Manny says he can't wait for the
Speaker 3: sushi dogs. Yeah, you give me one of those. I'm
Speaker 3: there every.
Speaker 1: Day, sushi dogs, not with mustard, with with sabi. Oh,
Speaker 1: I'll be there every day.
Speaker 3: Maybe not for the traffic, but I'll enjoy the experience.
Speaker 1: I got a run because we got to clips and
Speaker 1: dip coming up in just a little bit. That's coming
Speaker 1: up a little bit later tonight with myself check Mockler
Speaker 1: will up Nike programming. Note there, this will be the
Speaker 1: last Clippers Talk of the week unless the Ralph Waller
Speaker 1: interview drops later tonight or tomorrow.
Speaker 2: It could happen or Saturday or Sunday. Be on the
Speaker 2: lookout for that.
Speaker 1: Follow me hat follow out of May at Clippers Talk
Speaker 1: is the YouTube And by the way, that Ralph Lahler
Speaker 1: interview will be a YouTube exclusive. I'm not uploading it
Speaker 1: to the podcast. It's a visual. We're doing it kind
Speaker 1: of documentary style. We're including a lot of clips, a
Speaker 1: lot of plays, a lot of great pictures with his
Speaker 1: best friend, the Goat, Bill Walton, who passed away earlier
Speaker 1: this season. That was one of the reasons I wanted
Speaker 1: to talk with Ralph and celebrate Bill Walton. So please
Speaker 1: subscribe to the YouTube side because that's the only place
Speaker 1: you're going to get this Ralph Lawler interview that I'm
Speaker 1: actually I don't say this very often, but I'm proud
Speaker 1: of something that I've done for once and it was
Speaker 1: mostly just because I got to hang out with Ralph
Speaker 1: and he's so amazing. So for Justin Rousseau, I'm Adam Mosland.
Speaker 1: We'll talk to you later later tonight on
Speaker 2: Clips and Dip.