Speaker 1: Welcoming into NBA Pulster production of iHeart Radio in the NBA.
Speaker 1: I'm Sarah Custack, NBA analyst for the s Networking today
Speaker 1: is Friday, June sixteenth, from our extraordinary core group of
Speaker 1: NBA journalists. We're joined now by NBA dot Com Senior
Speaker 1: writer Sean Poll and Sean, you made it. You made
Speaker 1: it through the NBA, the regular season, the postseason, the
Speaker 1: Denver Nuggets for crown champions and now things just keep rolling.
Speaker 1: Things just keep rolling. And next week at Berkeley Center
Speaker 1: we have the NBA Draft. Some dreams will come true
Speaker 1: for a lot of young prospects as well as organizations impacted.
Speaker 1: So I want to get into some of these top picks,
Speaker 1: what it looks like and what we're looking forward to
Speaker 1: seeing out as some of these guys. You're doing well.
Speaker 2: I am doing well. You know. It's interesting with the NBA,
Speaker 2: the draft starts right away after the championship series. In
Speaker 2: the NFL was like like eight months between the Super
Speaker 2: Bowl and the NFL Draft, all that build up and everything.
Speaker 2: But I like it this way. You know, you got
Speaker 2: a chance to get a second break, and you go
Speaker 2: right into it and let's go let's go. The draft
Speaker 2: is going to be interesting this year. I hear there's
Speaker 2: not much suspense at the number one picks there. I
Speaker 2: could be wrong, though, I could be wrong.
Speaker 1: We have been talking about Victor wembin Yama for quite
Speaker 1: some time now, the nineteen year old from France, who
Speaker 1: I think we're all just anxious to see how he
Speaker 1: translates to the pro game. As you said, at San
Speaker 1: Antonio winning that draft lottery so they will get the
Speaker 1: number one overall pick and buy all accounts there shouldn't
Speaker 1: be shouldn't be anything straying away from wemby heading to
Speaker 1: the San Antonio Spurs and Greg Popovich and that whole organization.
Speaker 1: But with that being said, what are your expectations for
Speaker 1: as much hype as we've had, and I think deservedly so,
Speaker 1: around this young man, what expectations should we have for
Speaker 1: what he will be able to do immediately coming into
Speaker 1: the league next season.
Speaker 2: Well, no doubt he can never do enough to please everyone,
Speaker 2: and you know this eraah, people will probably expect him
Speaker 2: to come in and transform a team right away, like
Speaker 2: the Spurs last number one pick, a guy named Tim Duncan.
Speaker 2: But what you have to understand is when Tim Duncan
Speaker 2: came to the Spurs, they already had David Robinson, they
Speaker 2: already had Sewn Elliott, they already had a team that
Speaker 2: was ready to win. And so he just came in
Speaker 2: and played his role as a rookie obviously was outstanding,
Speaker 2: and they you know, went ahead and win a championship. Now,
Speaker 2: the guy before that, David Robinson, came in the Spurs,
Speaker 2: really didn't have much. So I would compare this more
Speaker 2: to David Robinson coming in to a rebuilding team rather
Speaker 2: than Tim Duncan coming in to a team that was
Speaker 2: pretty much set and you know, he was obviously the
Speaker 2: final piece. The other thing is that you know, look,
Speaker 2: I mean there's certain things about him that are just
Speaker 2: evident right away. The fact that he has multi skilled,
Speaker 2: the fact that he's tall. I mean that is just
Speaker 2: that just comes right as you and and he can
Speaker 2: play both ends of the floor. The obvious things his body.
Speaker 2: You know, he has got to put on some weight
Speaker 2: at some point, get stronger. You know, you can just
Speaker 2: imagine Joe and be snacking on him for lunch and
Speaker 2: a low post things like that. But I mean, if
Speaker 2: there's anything that this, you know, the NBA Draft and
Speaker 2: prospects coming in. Anything has ever taught us is you know,
Speaker 2: don't put too much weight on what that player did, uh,
Speaker 2: but just look at the basics, you know, the tools,
Speaker 2: the foundation he has coming in and with Victor Wenbiyama,
Speaker 2: the foundation is just outstanding. I mean, that's why he is,
Speaker 2: you know, going to be obviously the number one pick.
Speaker 2: That's why the Spurs are right now thinking about how
Speaker 2: can we build around the sky? Do we give it
Speaker 2: some time for a year or two or do we
Speaker 2: just go for it? So those will be very interesting
Speaker 2: decisions that the Spurs make just in terms of how
Speaker 2: they want to approach this new era in San Antonio basketball.
Speaker 1: Yeah. But with you saying that the Spurs last season
Speaker 1: and they finished twenty two and sixty, they were fifteenth
Speaker 1: in the Western Conference obviously, which is what gave them
Speaker 1: the opportunity to be in this position. Is what are
Speaker 1: the expectators will will when Binyama have an opportunity to
Speaker 1: be an All Star, Will the Spurs potentially make the playoffs?
Speaker 1: What are the realistic expectations for both Victor and this
Speaker 1: team as you head into next season.
Speaker 2: I think anything's on the table. I think playoffs. Sure,
Speaker 2: I would say that that's a possibility. Obviously, it depends
Speaker 2: on what other pieces they may add through free agency.
Speaker 2: The Spurs have a lot of money under the cap.
Speaker 2: I mean, they can go on a little bit of
Speaker 2: a spending spree, exemptions, money under cap, all those things.
Speaker 2: If they wanted to do that and there were the
Speaker 2: you know, the players available, could they do that, Yes,
Speaker 2: but at the expense of making you know, shortcuts. Do
Speaker 2: you sacrifice a little bit in the process do you
Speaker 2: just let this happen organically? And the Spurs have been
Speaker 2: very good at doing that. If you look at back
Speaker 2: at how those championship teams were built over the years,
Speaker 2: it's really through the draft and player development, you know,
Speaker 2: Tony Parker, Manu Ginobili, obviously Tim Duncan, and then they
Speaker 2: would add little, you know, pieces on the fringe that
Speaker 2: could help them out, you know, coming off the bench,
Speaker 2: back up things like that. So the Spurs really don't
Speaker 2: make a lot of big Bowl trade moves. They've been
Speaker 2: very good at player development, identifying exactly who they want
Speaker 2: and then just giving them time to grow. Of course,
Speaker 2: it's easy to say that when you do draft a
Speaker 2: Tim Duncan and you can build around him. But I
Speaker 2: can probably see a similar situation here. And I know
Speaker 2: Greg Popovich is getting up there a little bit in age,
Speaker 2: and you know he may not want to coach that
Speaker 2: much longer. But I don't think Bop will put the
Speaker 2: franchise in a predicament where he says, you know what,
Speaker 2: I'm on only going to vote coach for four more years.
Speaker 2: We got to try to win a championship really quickly.
Speaker 2: I think they'll take the proper steps as they have
Speaker 2: for so long. It's a great organization, and I do
Speaker 2: believe that they're already riding up the blueprint as we speak, Sarah.
Speaker 2: I think they have a plan in mind as far
Speaker 2: as how this is going to go, and a lot
Speaker 2: of that's going to be dict dictated by how well
Speaker 2: Victor win Benyama does as a rookie. If it's clear
Speaker 2: right away that he is the the no doubt rookie
Speaker 2: of the year from the time he steps on the floor,
Speaker 2: and we've seen players like that, like Lebron James. As
Speaker 2: soon as a guy stepped on the floor that night
Speaker 2: in Sacramento, I mean, you knew that this guy was
Speaker 2: going to be special. Uh. Then that kind of dictates
Speaker 2: what you're going to do for the next year.
Speaker 1: Or two already seeming that way, and also it can
Speaker 1: rejuvenate you, UH coach pop when you when you have
Speaker 1: a prospect and a player like this, things are not
Speaker 1: quite as clear as you continue to move down the
Speaker 1: draft board in what may happen? The number two pick
Speaker 1: is the Charlotte Hornets, and the question becomes, I know
Speaker 1: the names that are out there, Scoot Henderson UH impressed
Speaker 1: with g Leaguan Knight, Alabama star Brandon Miller the fit
Speaker 1: not only for the organization but alongside a player in
Speaker 1: the Hornets and LaMelo Ball who spent a lot of
Speaker 1: time injured last season and didn't see the floor that much.
Speaker 1: In questions with what ownership will look like. And so
Speaker 1: when you look at the number two overall pick with
Speaker 1: the Hornets, what are your projections the direction they may go,
Speaker 1: and what both Henderson or Miller may look like.
Speaker 2: Well, this is the hardest position to me in the
Speaker 2: draft because the Spurs really don't have a decision to make,
Speaker 2: and I don't think the Blazers are number three have
Speaker 2: a draft decision to make. They may have a trade
Speaker 2: decision to make, not a draft decision make because they'll
Speaker 2: just simply take whoever's left between you know, Scoot Henderson
Speaker 2: and Brandon Miller. But the big decision at number two,
Speaker 2: you know, what do you do? Who do you draft?
Speaker 2: I suspect the Hornets will probably keep the pick. But
Speaker 2: even then, who are you going to take? Who do
Speaker 2: you project to be? To Which player between Brandon Miller
Speaker 2: and Scoot Henderson do you think will be a special,
Speaker 2: special player? And one of them might be pretty good,
Speaker 2: a perennial All Star, But any of those two you
Speaker 2: have to have a chance to be a generational talent,
Speaker 2: just somebody who can carry your team. And there's a
Speaker 2: lot riding on us. Obviously, you know, the Charlotte Hornets
Speaker 2: are sort of spinning their wheels a little bit. You know,
Speaker 2: they haven't really gained traction just in terms of making
Speaker 2: the playoffs, just really building just a base foundation where
Speaker 2: they can be contenders for a while. Obviously, you know
Speaker 2: you have LaMelo Ball, He's a good start, but the
Speaker 2: rest of the roster is just sort of shaky. You're
Speaker 2: not sure what you really have. Miles Bridges, what happens
Speaker 2: with him? Does he come back as he signed all
Speaker 2: those things. But first and foremost, who's going to be
Speaker 2: the better player? Brandon Miller Scoot Henderson? I mean me personally,
Speaker 2: I think Scoot Henderson is. I think he's like the
Speaker 2: real deal, and I think he can be a good
Speaker 2: backcourt partner for LaMelo ball. He can play off the
Speaker 2: ball a little bit. But then again, some people might say, well,
Speaker 2: you know what, Brandon Miller is a good balance guy
Speaker 2: for the front court. You know, a good swing man
Speaker 2: who can score. And so now you have the backcourt
Speaker 2: player in the front court player and you can build
Speaker 2: from there. Look, the bottom line is it's an inexact science.
Speaker 2: And someone told me about the draft. It's a lot
Speaker 2: of imperfect people judging other imperfect people. So we really
Speaker 2: don't know. Nobody has a crystal ball. But the Hornets
Speaker 2: are a little bit under the gun here that you know,
Speaker 2: who do you take at number two? It's going to
Speaker 2: be the biggest draft decision of this draft.
Speaker 1: And another decision you brought up right out of the
Speaker 1: gates talking point of Portland picking number three. Do they
Speaker 1: keep that pick? What are they doing with Damian Lillard?
Speaker 1: Are they doing anything with Dame? That's something that we
Speaker 1: quite frankly have been talking about now for a couple
Speaker 1: of seasons. What do you think about that circumstance, set situation,
Speaker 1: and if you were running the Trailblazers or if you
Speaker 1: were Damian Lillard, what would you hope for throughout the
Speaker 1: course of this draft but also heading into next season.
Speaker 2: Well, I suspect from what I hear that if Scoot
Speaker 2: Henderson falls to number three, they'll be a lot of
Speaker 2: demand for that pick, a lot of demand. And so
Speaker 2: if you're Portland, you know, I'm sure they're already taking
Speaker 2: calls for that scenario. And if you're Portland, what do
Speaker 2: you do then? Do you trade that pick for help
Speaker 2: and make a go with it for Damian Lillard? Or
Speaker 2: do you basically draft Damian Lillard's replacement and Scoot Henderson.
Speaker 2: I personally think it's time for a reset. If I'm Portland,
Speaker 2: I would take Scoot Henderson and then I would see
Speaker 2: what I can get for Damian Lillard. You know, you
Speaker 2: can really rebuild that team, stock it up with some
Speaker 2: good young players, have some players in your player development,
Speaker 2: and just take your time, you know, maybe two or
Speaker 2: three years. I think your fan base would understand. I
Speaker 2: think obviously they would miss Damian Lillard, who's been just
Speaker 2: a tremendous not only a tremendous player, but just a
Speaker 2: tremendous presence in the Portland community. He does, he does
Speaker 2: and says all the right things. He's exactly the type
Speaker 2: of player you want for your team. At the same time,
Speaker 2: I think he could probably use a fresh start again.
Speaker 2: He's on the clock a little bit. He wants to
Speaker 2: win a championship. I certainly can understand that, and he
Speaker 2: may have a better chance to win a championship somewhere else.
Speaker 2: He even said he doesn't want to be part of
Speaker 2: any rebuild, so you have to take that into consideration.
Speaker 2: If you're the Portland Trailblazers.
Speaker 1: It's going to be fun and interesting to watch, and
Speaker 1: as the draft continues, we'll get to some of these
Speaker 1: later picks and other prospects. First though, Sean, we're going
Speaker 1: to take a quick break. Welcome back to NBA Pulse.
Speaker 1: Sara Husak joined by Sean Pill and Sean. We went
Speaker 1: through at number one pick San Antonio Spurs, number two
Speaker 1: to the Charlotte Hornets, number three, Portland Trailblazers, and then
Speaker 1: you got Houston Rockets at number four new head coach
Speaker 1: and Email Udoka. Some young promising prospects that we've already
Speaker 1: seen in Jalen Green, Jabari's with Junior Alpria and Shangoon.
Speaker 1: Interesting to see what they may do. The number five
Speaker 1: overall pick to the Detroit Pistons, who had the worst
Speaker 1: record last season, and again some changes that they had
Speaker 1: made in terms of what these next teams may do.
Speaker 1: Intriguing prospects out of overtime elite your neck of the
Speaker 1: woods in Atlanta, the Thompson Twins, a lot of people
Speaker 1: very excited about what they may potentially be able to
Speaker 1: bring and translate to the next level. So with those
Speaker 1: teams upcoming picks, but also the Thompson Twins in particular,
Speaker 1: what have you seen out of them and in the
Speaker 1: times that you've gotten a chance to watch them play,
Speaker 1: and also hopes for what they can do at the
Speaker 1: next level.
Speaker 2: Yeah, ahmen and us are Thompson very what's the word
Speaker 2: I can use, very mature. They've been raised well by
Speaker 2: their parents, come from a good family. I think they're
Speaker 2: a little bit beyond their years. And just in terms
Speaker 2: of basketball players, obviously, you know they have to develop,
Speaker 2: like a lot of players but I suspect both of
Speaker 2: them will be gone by say the seventh pick. I
Speaker 2: just think that NBA teams are high on them the
Speaker 2: way they've come through the system over time. E Lead
Speaker 2: has done a very good job and preparing them as
Speaker 2: well as they can. You know, you're talking, you're still
Speaker 2: talking to teenagers, preparing them for the NBA Draft, and
Speaker 2: the team's there. You know, Short the short has a
Speaker 2: fifth pick, Rockets have the four Rockets also have the
Speaker 2: twentieth pick as well in the first round. So this
Speaker 2: is a good chance for them to you know, keep
Speaker 2: stop piling that kind of young talent. And again, you
Speaker 2: have to deal with the growing pain when you have
Speaker 2: a young team. You have to instill some discipline, some
Speaker 2: roles and things like that. But but if you're the Rockets,
Speaker 2: you know, what do you have to lose at this point?
Speaker 2: You know you're not ready to be a contender, but
Speaker 2: you want to be right there in a couple of years.
Speaker 2: And so I can see them taking one of the
Speaker 2: Thompson twins. You know, there's also Anthony black Are from
Speaker 2: Arkansas who's probably the best after Schoot Henderson, the best
Speaker 2: guard in this draft. So he's going to go pretty high.
Speaker 2: Cam whip More from Vilanova obviously is also pretty good.
Speaker 2: And then so you've got the Houston at four. They've
Speaker 2: also got the twentieth pick. You've got Detroit at five. Detroit,
Speaker 2: there's another one of those teams that just has a
Speaker 2: good young cores and you just want to keep adding
Speaker 2: to that base and then just see what happens. You know,
Speaker 2: he got a new coach and Monty Williams, he's a
Speaker 2: guy who can be patient, you know, and then maybe
Speaker 2: another year or two, maybe you try to see what
Speaker 2: you can get in free agency. In draft. By the way,
Speaker 2: you've got Orlando at number six. Orlando also has the
Speaker 2: eleventh pick, so you know, do you try to if
Speaker 2: you're Orlando, do you try to package the sixth and
Speaker 2: eleventh then move up. Is there someone there who you
Speaker 2: really like so much that you feel you may not
Speaker 2: get at number six that you're willing to sacrifice the
Speaker 2: eleventh pick as well. I'm not so sure. And again
Speaker 2: that's just so yet another team. Let's try to stop
Speaker 2: pyle young talent. And then when you look at the
Speaker 2: rest of the top ten, I mean, these are teams
Speaker 2: that just with the exception of the Dallas Mavericks, who
Speaker 2: obviously have you Lukadantic and two years ago went to
Speaker 2: the Western Conference Finals. You have teams that are just
Speaker 2: in the belm, like Indiana number seven. They also have
Speaker 2: the twenty six and the twenty nine to pick. I
Speaker 2: suspect they're going to trade at least one of those picks.
Speaker 2: The Wizards at eight, you know, and again they have
Speaker 2: to decide what they're going to do with Bradley Beal,
Speaker 2: and they've got Chris Nash Porzingis who can become a
Speaker 2: free agent. Just to see what's going to happen there.
Speaker 2: The Jazz at number nine. They're also one of a
Speaker 2: couple of teams that have three number one picks. In
Speaker 2: additional number nine pick, Utah has sixteen and twenty eight.
Speaker 2: I don't think they'll hold on to all three of
Speaker 2: those first round picks. It's very rare for a team
Speaker 2: to hold three first round picks. Are usually going to
Speaker 2: make a trade. And then of course Dallas Mavericks number ten.
Speaker 2: I just think that you know teams right there, they're
Speaker 2: just take, you know, the best player that just comes
Speaker 2: their way, and they can go a variety of ways.
Speaker 2: You know that they could pull surprise or just whoever
Speaker 2: falls from the top six to seven spots.
Speaker 1: How much do you expect, Sean, You had mentioned stockpiling talent,
Speaker 1: but I'm sure for some teams you look at in
Speaker 1: Indiana that has a lot of you don't want a
Speaker 1: ton of rookies on your team, or you know, there's
Speaker 1: a balance to it. Do you expect any trades or
Speaker 1: movement in that first round more so than as we
Speaker 1: were talking up towards the top.
Speaker 2: Yes, I do. Again, you're you're you're right, Sarah, you
Speaker 2: don't want to bring in too many first round first
Speaker 2: of all, you're you're locked in. You've got to pay them,
Speaker 2: you know. Uh, so you lose a little bit of
Speaker 2: cap flexibility. And you know, some of the teams don't
Speaker 2: want to lose some of that flexibility, just depending on
Speaker 2: the their cap situation.
Speaker 1: Uh.
Speaker 2: And then you just they just don't want that many
Speaker 2: rookies coming in, you know, then it overloads their player
Speaker 2: development system.
Speaker 1: Uh.
Speaker 2: It all depends though, But I can see trades obviously.
Speaker 2: It happens every year, and particularly with teams that may
Speaker 2: not have a number one pick trying to move into
Speaker 2: the first round, and you know, with a new cap
Speaker 2: situation salary cap, and it's a little bit difficult to
Speaker 2: how can I say, load up on a list players
Speaker 2: with the salary and the penalties involved in that, going
Speaker 2: over the cap, the luxury tax, all those things, and
Speaker 2: some teams just don't want to deal with it, and
Speaker 2: they're probably more than willing to go with younger players
Speaker 2: rather than older and more expensive players because the owners
Speaker 2: just probably just don't want to put that tax bill.
Speaker 2: So for those teams, I can see them trying to
Speaker 2: come in and trade into the first round just so
Speaker 2: they can ease their salary cap and tax burden. I know,
Speaker 2: its a very complicated situation. Each team is different. Some
Speaker 2: teams want to be contenders and they'll do whatever they
Speaker 2: can to stay contenders, and other teams are like, you
Speaker 2: know what, if we're not right in that championship mix,
Speaker 2: we don't want to pay you know, hundreds of millions
Speaker 2: of dollars for our sally. So you'll see a lot
Speaker 2: of these things play itself out, a lot of drama
Speaker 2: just in terms of how teams look at themselves for
Speaker 2: next season, whether they feel confident themselves for next season,
Speaker 2: and how much of that tax bill do they want
Speaker 2: to pay.
Speaker 1: We will find out all these answers next Thursday, June
Speaker 1: twenty second, at Berkeley Center, and Shun will continue to
Speaker 1: read all your stuff on NBA dot com. We certainly
Speaker 1: appreciate your insight in your time,