Speaker 1: What is up, fellow Siko's I am Dana Valley back
with our bonus clip pod snippet thing of a jig
of the week. We're gonna talk about Tyrese Maxey, the
Sixers and the role that Tyrese MAXI, but also Rich
Paul apparently played in putting this team in a position
to make just a massive, massive splash over the summer.
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It's not that we have thousands of magnets for some
ungodly reason. Let's talk Tyre's Massy and the Sixers though,
So there was a clip Daryl Morey went on the
WAP afternoon show in Philly to talk about kind of
the off season, and there was about like it might
be a little bit less that it's just a couple
of minutes that really stood out to me from his interview.
The whole thing was sort of enlightening, But I enjoy
the discussion about Tyrese Maxi and kudos to I think
it's Spike Eskin opening and get his name wrong is
the one who asked the question. I thought that was
a great question because some of the nuance will times
get lost in all this about what not what concessions,
but what kind of all the steps that were made,
because when you look at Philly, they're in an interesting
situation where Okay, this was a team that had boltloads
of cap space, like could have carved out if they
wanted to sixty plus million dollars, and yet so they
use that cap space and then as of now, like
they're a team that's in the tax that is not
they have some room under the first apron, but their
team that's in the tax. That just doesn't happen. I'm
trying to think of the last time that happened where
a team entered the off season with cap space and
then exit it in the luxury tax. Hopefully you now
will realize if you're watching on screen, why I'm off
to the side so that this thing could fit up there,
we go there, it could fit there, you go out.
That hurts my shoulder, it can fit right there. Start
an interview, let's roll through it.
Speaker 2: So one of the big things that allowed this to
happen was.
Speaker 1: Right off to that. Love I'm gonna love this question.
But I like that this doesn't look like you're typical.
This looks like someone that might join us in the
Hardwood Knox Discord to talk about EMAO music and the
latest plan gwent eighty two or a yellow Card concert
that they went to. So I favorite.
Speaker 2: Hyres MAXI you guys not signing him to the extension
last offseason, and.
Speaker 1: Which for those two need to be reminded if they
would have given him a MAX number, he would have
ended up on the books. Have they extended him last,
you know, before last season about thirty five point one million,
And while he did go on to have a career year,
and maybe in some people's minds wasn't considered a no
brainer to get that Max. I'd probably like to meet
the people who didn't think he was a no brainer.
I mean, this is last year is there's no denying
what he did. Twenty six points six assists, shot fifty
percent on two thirty seven point three percent on threes.
I thought he improved as a playmaker too. Overall, but
he averaged over twenty points fit next to the previous season.
His third year was played next to James Harden, played
independent of James Harden. The passing, he didn't see as
much of it there because he wasn't saddled with his
much responsibility. But the iterations even look at his second
year like he's just been through so many iterations of
the six has already proven he could fit inside all
of them. So just to be clear, he was a
for anyone who just forgot, I'm not saying anybody did
not trying to be, you know, a patronizing asshole. Year
he was a MAX candidate at this time last this
time last year, he was absolutely a MAX contract. I
wouldn't even call it a candidate put.
Speaker 2: A lock waiting until this offseason so you could sign
Paul George. How does the conversation go with Tyrese Maxi
And you know he's represented by Clutch, So that's Rich
Paul and telling a player, you know, wait till next year.
And with the risk obviously that he is looking into
the future, he could get injured, he could have a
bad year or whatever. How do you get him to
do that? Because it seems like such a major piece
of this happening.
Speaker 1: This is an excellent question because we've talked about this
on the pod before, about the important shout out anyone
who could see Cosmo on screen just going ballistic behind
me or to the to the side of me. We
talk a lot about why players like why can't teams
just force players to wait when it comes to the
matter of restricted free agency holds they have all the
power restricted free agency. I'm not here to relitigate whether
restricted free agencies would be thing. It's a thing right now.
The Players Union collectively bargained these circumstances. Teams should use
it to their advantage when it's appropriate or when it
can actually benefit them, not just for you know, if
they don't believe in the players different. But it's not
just for we're not gonna have cap states. We're gonna
make them wait anyway to see if we can get
them for cheaper somehow. So but we never think about
what is that like because we just assume these players
are gonna be conditioned to trust teams. And maybe that's
the case in certain circumstances. But you're an NBA player
and you're coming off your first deal, you haven't been
capslock paid yet, I don't care if if you know
you're gonna be with the franchise for life, you're gonna
be worried about injuries. This is your first time to
lock up generational wealth and that's like a really big deal,
like because every contract now in the NBA after that
first one is generational wealth essentially if you're if you're
a really good player. So it is a concession. And
it's fascinating to actually ask that question, and you wish
that you could almost get more of an unplugged answer
of okay, like what is that converse? Like, like how
do you convince a player? How do you sell them
on this path? And they're going to get into that
a little bit. That's why I found this clip fascinating.
I know Darryl Mory's comments about Maxie were making the rounds,
but I find the stuff we're about to get it
about to it about Rich Paul just as fascinating.
Speaker 3: I think, you know, I'm glad you brought up as
Tyrese deserves like he made this offseason happen. Without Tyrese,
this offseason can't happen.
Speaker 1: And that's also I'm not, by the way, I'm not
diminishing with Tyre's max he's doing here. I'm saying he
deserves all the credit in the world. So his cap
hold was and if people don't like the cap me
once as I get it. But his cap hold was
thirteen million dollars leading into this summer. Had he signed
the max you're talking about, he's on the books for
thirty five point one million dollars, the Sixers still could
have had cap space and had him on the MAX,
but it wouldn't have been nearly as consequential cap space.
And so you look at what they were able to
do in maxing out Paul George using the room exception
to get Kelly you Bridge, Keith Kellyubridge on your and
then be able to sign Kayleb Martin. These are not
all things they could have done if he was on
the books for thirty five one million. And the way
cap holds work, just for anyone who might not be familiar.
If you're a restricted free agent specifically, let's just use it.
You have that you know, if you meet the startup criteria,
there's that not predetermined cap hold essentially, and that is
the amount that you count on the books for while
you're a free agent. But because the team has your
bird rights, you can in this scenario, you leave that
number on the books, that thirteen million, You go about
all of your off season business, and then you are
allowed because the player as still not under contract but
you have his bird rights. Like that's the whole point
of the cap hold. You then go and sign Tyre's
MAXI to his max deal. That's what happened here, That's
what he waited on, and by doing so, it's it
doesn't amount dollar for dollar here, but in this case
it kind of essentially does. Like it afforded Philly twenty
plus million dollars in additional wiggle room, if not in
raw spending power, even though in this case it probably does.
It is a perfect analog one to one analog, but
that additional flexibility, that's a huge deal. And this offseason
does not happen the way it does. They're not even
getting to Paul George money. If Maxi's like that their
biggest acquisition. Yeah, they could have done the Kayleb Martin
stuff to Kelly, they could have signed maybe someone else.
They couldn't have gotten Paul George. They wouldn't have had
the cap space to even be in the running for
Ogiannaobi and like Tyres Maxi like without him waiting, because
he did have the left you could have said no,
I'm not waiting, and the Sixers would have said, tough shit.
But do you know what could happen if you do that?
You can get to the Gordon Hayward instance where the
Jazz were different. They told him to go get an offer,
which was hysterical in retrospect and shout out Gordon Hayward
to retirement. I hope daddy's finally happy if you know
you know so, if you told him no, but we're
gonna make you wait anyway, he could have went into
restricted free agency, not signed with you right off the
bat and said, well, I'm gonna sign a three year
offer sheet that gets me in a free agency sooner.
That's what you're matching. So fuck you for making me wait.
That's why the relationship here is super important. But you're
talking about a kid in his early twenties, lots of
money on the line. He's played up to snuff of
a MAX player. And the other thing here is like
they've put him through the ringer of just sort of
different utilities. When he's been there, you know, with Joel
em Beat injured, he's been there, had to playoff James Harden,
played independent of James Harden. You bring. He's there for
the whole Ben Simmons situation, and all of a sudden
he is like he had the mid season where's always
taken on this bigger role and then James Harden comes
along after the trade and it has to be adjusted again.
So he's it was well within his right not to wait.
And so the fact that he because if he would
have said to me, if he tells them, no, I'm
not waiting, then they're probably gonna sign him anyway. Just
to not they wouldn't wanted to have risked him going
into restricted free agency signing that shorter deal that would
have put him in free agency sooner.
Speaker 3: All his tiers in that draft, I think pretty much
all of them who are on the way he was
on the ways to being an All Star all got
a big extension.
Speaker 1: So I think this sounds right. But why don't we
go through the draft class and six So, okay, we
have Anthey Edwards he got the max. James Wiseman did
not get an extension. LaMelo Ball, Yeah he got the max.
Patrick Williams not on that level. A Korro still not
signed as I record this. Recorded this by the way,
when Yaka Kungu he got an extension, they're way cheaper
than they max. He would have signed on Yekakungu's deal.
I think it's what four and sixty four whatever it
was that Sixers would have pounced at that. Tillian Hayes
not currently out of the NBA, he does have a
chance to make the nets Obi topping. He took it
to restricted freeency. Not a max player though, Denny Avvia
he did not he sign an extension. Excuse me, but
it wasn't a max player candidate. Jalen Smith, we know
how his deal ended up. Devin Massell is interesting. He
did sign an extension. It was in the one hundred
and forty million dollar range, so that's not MAX money,
but it's enough to have obliterated the Sixers cap space.
And I viewed Devin Vessel as someone with a potential,
you know, all star like stock. Tyre's Alberton, Yeah, he
had the MAX penciled in. Kyle Lewis Junior known out
on that level. Aaronie Smith did sign an extension, so
did Cole Anthony. So so did Isaiah Stewart. Nowhere near
the max as though Lexey Pokeschewski man, this one hurts.
I wish that I wasn't scrolling through his list right now.
Josh Green, he got an extension super cheap. Sadiepe took
it to restricted free agency. That was rough for him.
He did get a multi year deal though post acl injury.
That's not bad. Press that you only got a one
year deal from the Nicks. He took it to restricted
free agency although they never even gave him the qualifying offer.
Tyre's Maxie, of course we know. See, No, she did
get an extension. How's that? Aged Leandro Bolermo No. R
J Hampton, Wow blasting the pass quickly did not get
an extension. He goes to restricted free agency, so the
Raptors were able to work with a lower tap hold
for him. Again not a no brainer. Max Guy Peyton
Pritchard a cheap o extension. Your dook has a bookie note.
Jade McDaniels, he again got a sizeable extension right in
the you know, I'll put him in Devin Visell territory,
so that could have obliterated the Sixers cap space. Desmond
Bin got the MAX with the exception of if you
consider McDaniels and Quickly and Vsell having all star potential,
I think Vcell definitely does. We need to see more
from j Mac on the offensive end, of course, and
then Quickly is like, hmm, I don't know, you just
you can't picture it because of kind of the pecking
order in Toronto and the pecking order in New York.
But just fringe all stars, whatever potential. I'm not saying
that's what they are right now. Those dudes signed not
the MAX but for well quickly eventually took it to
restrict it free agency. So let's consider just Jade McDaniels
and Den Vessel here fringe stars are potential All Stars.
They don't get the max, but it's a sizeable enough
money that it would have upended the Sixers' plans. But
you look at the actual guys that I think you
would call no brainer. Oh it wouldn't shock it would
shock you. I guess Desmond Baine kind of feels fringe.
Would it shock you if he never made an All
Star Game? Probably not? But that was someone no brainer
right around gonna get max money? Did it for LaMelo Ball,
Ampy Edwards and Tyres Haliburton, So doubt Moore, he is right.
Everyone who was kind of in Tyrese Maxi's tier. They
did go the extension route. And look, do certain cases
matter here? If you're going through these teams. The Timberwolves,
they weren't gonna have cap space, so you might as
well lock Anthony Edwards down. The Hornets. Now, this is
where things get interesting. I think when you're looking at
let's say the Hornets specifically, and even the Grizzlies they
weren't gonna have cap space. But let's use the like,
even Minnesota would count as this if you have some
Indie too with hout, Indy's a perfect example. They could
have had cap space this year, even after the Seakam trade,
But you would have had to work with Tyres Halburton's hold,
which we'll get into this in a second. It would
have been more sizable than Maxi's because of where he
was drafted, but they could have had cap space. But
you're a like you could have worked with this whole
technically renounced Pascal Siakham or never made the trade. If
you're not a market that can picture yourself poaching these
big names, or you don't need to just use free agency,
you can use trades. But if you're not in the
business of We're going to trade a bunch of draft
picks to and use our cap space to acquire big
name players that way, if you're not a team that
thinks you can build through that route, then you might
as well even if you can have cap space. I'll
use India as an example, Charlotte as an example too.
You might as well just extend these guys. Now do
I think LaMelo ball Tyres Halberton certainly had the cachet
to say I'm not waiting. I don't think Indy would
have even been interested in going that route. Who knows
how much money he could have ended up costing himself
with the hamstring injury, they probably still would have maxed
him out quite frankly. But if you're not a market
that views itself as a free agency player or even
a team that's gonna take big, big swings on the
trade market. I know the Pacers went and traded for
Pascal Siakam, but they gave up three first round picks
that were the one that twenty twenty six pick is
going to be the most valuable, and the tops out
is like maybe middle of the first round. So if
you're not a team that wants to feels like a
Ken roll that dice because you're in a market or
free agents typically haven't flocked you, or you typically haven't
made these big time trades. Now. Memphis is an interesting
case study with de because it's, well, they already have
John Moran guys who want to play for him. You
weren't gonna have cap space anyway, so you might as
well just extend desmon Bin. But when you feel like
you have the opportunity to make a bunch of splashes
and capitalize on this flexibility, it behooves you to go
that route, But you need the player to understand.
Speaker 3: So it was very challenging with both Tyres and his family.
They are very understandably wanted the extension they deserved and
one hundred percent did deserve.
Speaker 1: We want to make that clear. There's nothing wrong with that,
and that has to be like a difficult discussion. And yes,
I think bands can get caught up in well if
they just promised to pay him, and it's it doesn't
work like that. And you asked James Harden, you probably
shouldn't trust Darryl Mori or the Sixers in general. And
what's interesting about that is, so this conversation is happening
on the heels of or like amidst all this James
Harden drama where he's calling the Sixers front office liars,
saying Daryl Morey's pants are on fire, and so you
wonder if that hurts the dialogue. And this is where
I find this fascinating, is where the Rich Paul of
it all kind of comes into play.
Speaker 3: I think Rich Paul was a big factor here, and
that Rich is very experienced, very experienced on being part
of winning teams. Obviously with his iconic you know clients
who have one minute won many titles.
Speaker 1: I wonder who one of those iconic clients is. Garigan
Junior doesn't have an NBA championship. Who's like, just how
many of Rich Paul's clients have NBA championships in are iconic?
You can't nothing, nothing springs to mind, but I'll trust
dal Moore here.
Speaker 3: With multiple teams in them, having to put those teams together,
Rich became very important for us to help explain this
that you know, obviously coming from US is pretty biased.
Speaker 1: But James Harden would probably agree there.
Speaker 3: For Rich to go to him and say like, hey,
I get what they're doing and this is a good plan.
I think that was a big factor.
Speaker 1: That's a huge factor because it's not at that point
in theory and there will probably be clients of Rich
Paul's that might complain. And people do get caught up
in the Lebron of it all. He is never just
per Kobe stands at MJ's fans, it's just a bummer
that Lebron's never won a title. Maybe one time he'll
win a championship. But people just view Rich Paul as
this extension of Lebron James, and in some ways maybe
he is. But this is someone who has a roll
of decks of just really impactful NBA players and athletes
on his client list, and for him, like he has
a cachet, he's good at what he does. I'm not
here to argue that. I mean the campaign that they
went on with just Lebron taking the pay cut or
the willingness to take a pay cut to bring some
guys as nondescript, I would say in the grand scheme
of taking pay cuts for as Jonas Valanciunis, kudos to them.
I think a lot of people soar through it. But
Lebron and his camp come off smelling like roses here.
And really, even if they didn't take a pay cut,
this all falls on the Lakers front office, not about
the Lakers though. So having him in your corner essentially,
like that's a big deal because that is someone who
legally and in spirit has Tyrese Maxi's best interests at heart.
Now Ron's note well might argue against this, but with
all sincerity, if you're hearing that from your agent, who
you have more of a relationship with that, yes, it's
a working relationship, but his job is to make you
the most money possible, because then they make the most
money possible. To hear that from them is absolutely instrumental.
And to have Rich Paul's backing here is a big
deal because when you get when you look at what
was happening with James hard like dal Moore doesn't come
out of that situation looking all that great. I think
most people sided with the Sixers if they had to
pick a side and all of that, But to have
his stamp of approval like that, Honestly, if he's telling
time like, here's the thing I'm not saying. Players always
listen to their agents, and I sometimes feel like we
overstate how agents can steer players towards certain teams, but
their input matters, especially when you're coming to your first
let's call it your second contract, but your first big
deal for these players coming off their rookie scales. So
if Rich Paul had said, you should know we're gonna
push for the max, now, Tyre's Patty's probably listening to
him in part large part because that view gets him
paid nine figures or locks him down nine figures because
his salary wouldn't have increased right away. So Rich Paul
helped ensure that Tyres Maxie's cap hold stayed twenty two
plus million dollars below what it was going to be
and now currently is. And if he doesn't do that,
if Maxi doesn't accept what Rich Paul is saying, you
don't sign Paul George, and then what happens. Yes, you
could have done these other things that the Keller Bridg
junior Kayleb Martin. You are not the same level of
team at that point. There was no alternative scenario. You
weren't getting og ananob based off what the Knicks paid him,
no scenario on which you are in the discussion for
the second best team in the Eastern Conference leading in
the next season, and now you might just be considered
the favorites in the non Celtics division in the Eastern Conference.
The knickser there. I think Cleveland probably deserves mentioned, as
is Milwaukee, but you're there because of this, and you
know what else Tyres Maxi did. This is not I
guess it's Rich paula Jason because he's Tyros Maxey's a client.
But like if Tyres Maxi doesn't I know Joellembe's on
in off split, YadA, YadA, YadA. But if Tyres Maxi
is not as good as he is either again twenty
six points six assists, fifty plus percent shooting on twos,
thirty seven point three percent on threes, a nice mix too,
Like this is someone who generate his own shop but
can also work away from the ball. If he's not
as good as he is, if this is not someone
who you look back on that season and say, yeah,
like that was essentially his well it wasn't essentially. It's
his All Star coming out party. He wins most Improved Player,
by the way. So yes, he ensures that the Sixers
have not that they would have had any excuses. But
it wasn't just about him becoming a MAX player. He
entered legitimate stardom. And now you have that as a
baseline for when Paul George is looking at other options.
If Tyrese Maxie isn't Tyrese Maxey. Honestly, Joel Ebie injured
all the time, and even when he's playing, he's won
an MVP, he's a fantastic player. Won he's healthy, he's
one of the five to ten best players in the NBA.
But availability matters, sustainability matters. He's banged up in the
playoffs all the time. Do I think he would have
been attractive enough alone. If that's the only star on
the Sixers roster, probably not because they were working with
such a bare bones roster in like going after Paul George.
To have the amount of cap space that they did
they had, I mean, technically speaking, Joel Ebe was the
only player under guaranteed contract. But you pencil Tyrese Maxey
in there. We had Rickey Counsel pencil then Ricky Counsel
the fourth pencils in there. So you had so few
incumbent players on your roster that would appeal to Poler
George because his max is so high. If so, Tyrese
Maxey helps you on multiple fronts. He helps you financially
and then just functionally rationally. As part of your sales pitch,
Paul George, Hey, you get to come play with Tyrese
Maxi and Joel Bute. You get to come play with
two stars, not just one. And if the selling point is, well,
we have Tyrese max he's like up and coming and
we think he could be like if if we're just saying,
does Paul George feel the same way, if Tyrese Maxi
has an identical season to what he did in twenty
twenty two and twenty twenty three. Even that was a
hell of a season, twenty points three and a half assists,
fifty one point three percent on twos, forty three point
four percent on threes. I think that the diet, though,
when you look at the breakdown and the splits they were,
the shot quality was probably a little bit easier. I
mean maybe, but you can't guarantee that they were able
to point to two in Company All Stars, one of
which just one most improved player. The other one is
fresh off his MVP. I know he didn't win this summer.
I'm talking about this season, the previous season. You have
all of that in a box that you were able
to take to Paul George in addition to your cap space,
and that is that's not just a difference maker that
those are defining those are defining actors here. And so
it's not hyperbole to say Tyrese Maxi saved the Sixers
from a fate that would be I would say fairly
ambiguous or mediocre at absolute best, and a rich Paul
he saved the Sixers two from that because he's the
one that convinced Tyre's Maxi to give the Sixers the
financial benefit and if not convinced, he at least helped
map it out for him. And so those without the
cooperation of those two parties who are one singular party
together and all of this, the Sixers are not in
the position that they are right now, which is, yeah,
there's questions and they still have moves to make. But
like think about this too, they still have if you
want to include Jared McCain that if Jared McCain plus
four first round picks they could dangle in trades, they
still have the ability to aggregate to by the way,
they just can't take back more money than they receive.
I won't get into targets because we talk about that
with Brian Taporak, I think upcoming this week. But now,
had you knock gotten Paul George, you probably feel a
sense of urgency to now use those picks to just
figure out in alternative are you giving up those picks
to maybe enter the lowry market in sweepstakes or are
they even enough. I just have no idea if you're
not sending actual players back and it's Jared mccainan four
first round picks, I don't I don't think you tav
used that, but that's kind of the point, like as acceptable,
and then that's kind of the point. Who's the best
player you could trade for? And your pick equity's bankrupt
at that point. Now you have Paul George, you have
Tyre's Maxley, you have dwell and bid Kayleb Martin, Kelly
or Bray Junior able to resign Kyle Lowry, who is like,
let's look at that trickle down effect? Is he as
Eric Gordon? Maybe he always just comes Does Kyle Lowry
kind of just accept like you won't even give me
the one hundred and twenty percent raise. I'm just gonna
come back on a minimum and play in Philly if
Paul George isn't there, if this other stuff doesn't happen,
I mean maybe, but it makes it a lot easier
for him to do. So you're a more attractive destination
for even guys like a Reggie Jackson. There's more meaning
behind signing Kenyan Martin Junior to that inflated deal. He
always would have taken the inflated deal, But you kind
of wonder what your end game at some point when
you're doing that, and you might you probably still do
that anyway, just have the trade chip in place, but
it's not as valuable if you had to use those
first round picks to come up with contingencies plans B
through Q, so Tyrese MAXI. And this was a master
stroke in cap management by the Sixers. The credit needs
to go all around. Even give it to Jowell Ebid
for not requesting a trade as soon as the James
hardenshit broke out, But there was so much at stake here.
Joel Embiid is over the age of thirty now, folks,
they're not. And I know Paul George is older. He's
over the age of thirty four, but you don't have
the luxury of time as young as Maxie is. Yeah,
he's that bridge into the future. But because he is
what he is now, which is a fucking all star,
and because he was then willing to wait on guaranteeing
his payday, and I think we frame it and I'm
guilty of this too, a throw like, oh, it's just
a lot easier decision as it is. You're still gonna
get life changing money even if you get injured. The
risk is still there. I've mentioned a time and again
with Jalen Brunson as well. So this was a huge
deal and it by virtue, it made the Sixers what
they are right now. And the other thing is more
teams should follow us. I understand, I went through it.
If you're not gonna have cap space, but if you're,
let's use the Houston Rockets, who Grant and I talked
about extensively with this a week or two ago. Now
look at Jalen Green and alp Princhangun situation. The Houston
Rockets can comfortably get to over sixty million in cap
space if they decline Fred Vanfleet's team option next year
and then renounce Jalen Green and al prinshang Gun. Renouncing
them is not an option if you extend them, but
if you want to keep them while also having cap space,
there's there's sort of at the opposite ends of two
different opposite ends of the spectrum where sometimes the cap
hold is so high it doesn't matter. So you're looking
at the max salary for players in Greens and alprin
Schangun's situation. Moving forward, a little bit over thirty eight
million dollars. Jalen Green's cap hold, he's a number two
pick when he goes into a restrict free agency thirty
seven point four million dollars. That's not worth it to say, well,
we need to carry his cap hold. You don't extend
him because you want to make him more tradable, or
you're consider actually renouncing him to capitalize on that flexibility.
If he's willing to sign for much less, that's when
it's oh an extensions worth it's gonna be less than
as cap hold. But you start getting deeper into the
draft where Alperrin shang Gun was drafted. What was he
number sixteen? I want to say, I hope I'm not
wrong there. I was an OKC pick, but yeah, sixteen
his cap hold. Now, say Max could be over thirty
eight million dollars, but his cap hold next season, next summer,
excuse me? If they let him get to a stract
difere agency sixteen point three million dollars, So not nearly
as stark as Max. I mean, it's only a little
bit more, and relative to the cap going up, it's
not much more at all. Sixteen point three million versus
thirty eight plus, it's more than twenty two million dollars.
That's a twenty two million dollar difference. Excuse me. So
you keep it. The idea would be, yes, we still
want to build around Shango, but we want to have
access to this cap space. And so let's just assume
Jalen Green's not part of the equation here, that they're
going to renounce him. You can carry al Perrin shang
Gun on the books sixteen point three million dollars next year,
and then you resign them to whatever it takes after
you go about your business, you take that away from
their projecting cap space. You're still sitting on over forty
million dollars in cap space, folks. That's not the tippy
top max money. But you have other things that you
can do if you won want to reach that money,
and that would include, okay, you're trading somebody at that point.
Actually they don't have any guaranteed money in the books.
That's throw away money at that point. So you can
you could look at though, in theory, if you want
to open up is it move tar e'san, is it
move cam whitmore? Do you look at moving Dylan Brooks
who is guaranteed money that year? That that's the most easy,
most likely one because you're declining for a Van Fleiet's
team option. Dylan Brooks twenty one point one million dollars.
Do you move him for cheaper players or just into
someone's cap space because you can. I'm saying, if you
need forty million more than forty plus million dollars, they
probably won't looking at the free agency class. But cap
space is not just about free agency. It's also about trades.
And so the Rockets can set themselves up to make
a really big splash in the trade market. Yes, they
can do that if they have matching salad on the books,
but some teams are not gonna be as gung ho
about oh we want to Jalen Green on a Max
over the summer, or we near max, or we want
Alprin shan Gun on a MAX. You're offering them flexibility
in those trades. And then yeah, of course, like there
will always be one to five free agents worth of
dam and if the Rockets are good again they have
a top seven defense and their offense improves, they're going
to be appealing. That's a market that you would look
at and say, yeah, it's worth them to roll the dice.
Now what Orlando did with Franz Wagner, I still think
they should have made him wait, just because I don't
view hm as a no brainer Max. I don't know
that some of the teams that are slaved to have
cap space. I don't know how many would have aggressively
goun after him. I'm certainly if you wanted the Max,
I don't think they would have been harmon waiting. But
they weren't a team after the way they went about
their business this year because they did put guaranteed money
on their books for next year with CACP, and you're
also gonna have to deal with Jalen Suggs's cap hold.
I understand why they would come to be not in
a rush, but they would consider not waiting on these Again,
I think it's different if you don't view them as
a no brainer. This is gonna be an all star
and so we don't want to max them out. And
that's I think friends. Wagner is a really good player.
I just don't think he's at that guaranteed level just yet.
Maybe maybe I'm wrong and this works out fine, But
you wait if you don't you think that they're valued, Hey,
prove it and well we're gonna pay you. We have
matching rights if you're good enough to do it. But
Jalen Suggs is interesting because that's someone his draft status.
It doesn't make sense, it just I mean it does
because the max is thirty eight plus his cap hold
is twenty seven point six million, So there's still difference
of more than eleven million dollars. There about eleven million
dollars there, and so those are tougher, those are more
complex situations. And is Orlando really a free agency destination
they you look at all their salaries, they are these
digestible hits. Not all of them are guaranteed. They did
again KZP guaranteed for not just the season but next season.
But like Gary Harris working on another team option that year,
Ditto for Mo Wagner another team option that year. So
like you still have that flexibility. But the numbers are
so small eleven million dollars, eight million dollars, but that
their digestible and movable salary as expirings, where when it's
bigger money type deals gets just a little bit more complex.
So I can understand Orlando's rationale here, especially if they
don't now because Franz Vadner's cap hold would have been
smaller than Suggs. By the way, because he's drafted after him.
So if you don't have Joen Suggs on the books,
so let's just say he's not on the Magic or
he's not going to be a free agent, then yeah,
I'm probably saying, well, then Orlando should have definitely just
worked with Franz's cap hold because they have an easier
path too, flexibility even with KCP on the books. Their situation, again,
it's a little bit more interrictate. But Philly exists as
it is today thanks to Tyre's Maxi, thanks to Rich Paul,
thanks to of course, insane cap management by the Sixers.
But this doesn't happen without the cooperation of Tyre's Maxie,
which apparently didn't happen without the sales pitch. The explanation
from one Rich Paul, who I don't know again, I
can't think of these iconic clients that he has it.
Daryl Morey was referencing, if someone wants to let me
know who Rich Paul represents, I'm just blanking. That would
be considered like better than Tyrese Maxie. Drop a comment
on YouTube, Just drop comments anyway, hit us on our
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