WEBVTT - Introducing KJ Live - Adrian Wojnarowski 0:00:01.280 --> 0:00:10.360 This is kJ Live with Chris john Sailin and chrits 0:00:10.440 --> 0:00:13.680 Is having conversations with influencers in the sports world and 0:00:13.920 --> 0:00:20.439 entertainment in this strain. Now here's Chris Johnson. You're now 0:00:20.480 --> 0:00:23.200 tuned into kJ Live. Today's guests on the show. The 0:00:23.360 --> 0:00:29.240 senior media insider for ESPN, Adrian worsnarlsko words. What's good 0:00:29.240 --> 0:00:33.480 about man? Chris? Uh, I'm doing great? How are you doing? Man? 0:00:34.080 --> 0:00:35.800 The weather is nice. It's supposed to be about eighty 0:00:35.880 --> 0:00:38.640 something degrees out here today and the sun is behind me. 0:00:38.680 --> 0:00:40.599 So I'm feeling great. Man. It's a beautiful day. I'm 0:00:40.600 --> 0:00:44.479 talking to you, man, Come on, this is awesome. Absolutely 0:00:44.520 --> 0:00:47.480 absolutely yes? Sorry, So which man? I want to jump 0:00:47.560 --> 0:00:50.560 right into it. Um, Yesterday you reported for ESPN that 0:00:50.680 --> 0:00:53.760 Ben Simmons so the Philadelphia seventy sixers will not report 0:00:53.800 --> 0:00:56.880 the training camp and he has no intentions of reporting 0:00:56.880 --> 0:01:00.200 the training camp this season or playing for the Sixers ever. Again, 0:01:00.320 --> 0:01:02.080 I guess the first thing that came to my mind 0:01:02.200 --> 0:01:05.440 was what are the pros to this type of move 0:01:05.720 --> 0:01:10.640 for Ben Simmons? I mean, Chris that we've never really 0:01:10.680 --> 0:01:14.679 seen anything like this. This doesn't happen in the NBA. 0:01:15.400 --> 0:01:18.680 Now we know we've seen certainly playing guys push their 0:01:18.720 --> 0:01:21.959 way out of a place, and sometimes you can come 0:01:22.000 --> 0:01:24.960 in and be less than committed to what's going on 0:01:25.120 --> 0:01:30.880 and and make life difficult for your team and eventually 0:01:31.000 --> 0:01:35.200 get your trade. Uh that's not what is happening here. 0:01:35.240 --> 0:01:39.679 It's just I'm not coming and also doing it with 0:01:39.760 --> 0:01:42.280 four years left on your deal almost a hundred and 0:01:42.319 --> 0:01:47.360 fifty million O to him thirty three million this year. Uh, 0:01:47.520 --> 0:01:53.680 it's it's a risky strategy because you're going to likely 0:01:53.760 --> 0:01:58.960 cost yourself money. We'll see how much money. But you know, 0:01:59.040 --> 0:02:01.920 Ben Simmons has been adamant that that the next time 0:02:01.920 --> 0:02:04.560 he wears an NBA uniform, it's gonna be somebody other 0:02:05.200 --> 0:02:06.840 than the Sixers. And it's a little bit of a 0:02:06.840 --> 0:02:09.560 game of chicken, because we know the Sixers are gonna 0:02:09.560 --> 0:02:13.040 be diminished without them, Like they're not nearly the same 0:02:13.120 --> 0:02:16.080 team without Ben Simmons. And forget about what happened in 0:02:16.080 --> 0:02:19.160 the Atlanta series, right, like we we know what how 0:02:19.200 --> 0:02:22.519 many wins and what he's worth, certainly through the regular season, 0:02:23.560 --> 0:02:25.760 and they were a one seed last year, and seeding 0:02:25.800 --> 0:02:27.360 is going to be important, of course in the East, 0:02:27.360 --> 0:02:31.440 which is really good this year, and so you know, 0:02:31.639 --> 0:02:38.240 can he wait them out and get them to Maybe 0:02:38.280 --> 0:02:40.560 the Sixers get off to a bad start and pressure 0:02:40.560 --> 0:02:45.640 increases to to get something for him, or you're waiting 0:02:45.639 --> 0:02:47.359 out the teams who would want to trade for you 0:02:47.639 --> 0:02:49.760 to get them. Maybe they get off to a bad 0:02:49.800 --> 0:02:53.320 start and there's pressure increasing on teams that were already interested, 0:02:53.400 --> 0:02:55.440 or maybe new teams to say, we better go out 0:02:55.440 --> 0:02:57.359 and do something big. We gotta shake it up, We've 0:02:57.400 --> 0:03:00.679 got to improve. And then the off frs get better 0:03:00.720 --> 0:03:04.120 for Simmons and maybe that gets a deal done. Or 0:03:04.240 --> 0:03:07.040 you just sit there away from the team, not getting 0:03:07.040 --> 0:03:10.240 paid and the team takes you through February to the 0:03:10.240 --> 0:03:14.799 trade deadline. So certainly this is unlike anything we've seen. 0:03:15.600 --> 0:03:18.440 I think it's gonna be fascinating how it plays out. 0:03:18.480 --> 0:03:21.760 You know, the league does not like this. It's certainly 0:03:22.919 --> 0:03:24.720 it's not good for the league. I mean, we're being 0:03:24.760 --> 0:03:27.760 honest about it. Um, they don't want to see a 0:03:27.800 --> 0:03:33.200 precedent set with players under contract just not reporting, and 0:03:33.240 --> 0:03:35.400 I don't know that this would do that. I think 0:03:35.440 --> 0:03:38.600 this is a unique situation. I don't think I don't 0:03:38.680 --> 0:03:41.840 think this is gonna be something where players are looking 0:03:41.880 --> 0:03:44.240 and going, okay, is that a strategy for me? I 0:03:44.240 --> 0:03:46.440 don't think that's going on. I do think it's kind 0:03:46.440 --> 0:03:51.040 of independent and unique, but it's definitely something we haven't seen. 0:03:51.440 --> 0:03:53.120 I guess I'm a little taken it back, just on 0:03:53.200 --> 0:03:56.880 how bad things actually got in Philadelphia to push Ben 0:03:56.920 --> 0:03:59.960 Simmons to this point. I mean, he's willing to fork over, 0:04:00.080 --> 0:04:03.560 give up two hundred and something thousand dollars per preseason 0:04:03.600 --> 0:04:05.960 game and all the extra sanctions on top of the 0:04:06.040 --> 0:04:10.280 league sanctions that Philly has in their organization. Woach, if 0:04:10.280 --> 0:04:13.120 you're Daryl Morey, you're not. I don't feel like he's 0:04:13.120 --> 0:04:15.520 in a good position to me, other than obviously it's 0:04:15.560 --> 0:04:18.800 a bad look for the franchise. Your your your top guy. 0:04:18.880 --> 0:04:21.800 But you don't have to harry up and move this guy. 0:04:21.920 --> 0:04:24.600 You can say you know you're gonna find him, You're 0:04:24.600 --> 0:04:26.800 gonna be able to keep them and hold him. Do 0:04:26.839 --> 0:04:29.360 you think Simmons will become a locker room or chemistry 0:04:29.400 --> 0:04:32.080 issue even but he won't be around the team. So 0:04:32.080 --> 0:04:34.280 I'm just trying to figure out how is Darryl morri 0:04:34.400 --> 0:04:36.520 or the Sixers in a bad spot here? Other than 0:04:36.600 --> 0:04:39.320 losing somebody that doesn't want to be with their Yeah, 0:04:39.360 --> 0:04:41.719 and I think for Dariel Morey, the hope for the 0:04:41.760 --> 0:04:45.680 Sixers was that Ben Simmons would come back and play, 0:04:46.040 --> 0:04:50.520 play well and his draft excuse me, his trade stock 0:04:50.560 --> 0:04:53.440 would would improve. They didn't like the offers they had 0:04:53.520 --> 0:04:57.440 for him this summer. Uh maybe they're asking for too much. 0:04:58.760 --> 0:05:01.440 But it's really hard. And this is the other thing 0:05:01.440 --> 0:05:04.599 that's a little bit unique to the situation, Chris. You 0:05:04.640 --> 0:05:08.440 typically don't see players of this caliber being traded from 0:05:08.480 --> 0:05:12.919 contending teams one seeds or two seeds. They're not trading 0:05:12.920 --> 0:05:16.359 their star players. They resign them, they build around them. 0:05:16.400 --> 0:05:19.880 And when you see a player like let's go back 0:05:19.920 --> 0:05:23.039 through some you know, recent big NBA trades, whether it 0:05:23.120 --> 0:05:29.720 was a James Harden and Anthony Davis, uh um, whomever, 0:05:30.920 --> 0:05:34.120 it's teams headed toward a rebuild. They want young assets, 0:05:34.200 --> 0:05:38.040 they want picks. Philly needs to get back a star 0:05:38.200 --> 0:05:40.440 level player to plug right in with Ben or two 0:05:40.440 --> 0:05:43.720 really good players, and they want draft picks. And so 0:05:44.600 --> 0:05:47.200 it's harder because the teams who are training for Ben Simmons, 0:05:47.400 --> 0:05:48.960 you know, they're trying to add them to the core 0:05:49.040 --> 0:05:51.039 they have. They're not trying to trade their best player 0:05:51.080 --> 0:05:53.559 for Ben Simmons. They're trying to trade maybe their second 0:05:53.600 --> 0:05:56.360 or third best player. And in most cases, Philly is 0:05:56.400 --> 0:05:59.360 looking at that going, well, that's a downgrade from Ben Simmons. 0:05:59.800 --> 0:06:02.840 We don't want to downgrade because we're trying to win 0:06:02.880 --> 0:06:07.000 around Joel right now, who's in his prime. That complicates this, 0:06:07.080 --> 0:06:11.880 and so you have a very shortlist of players, um, 0:06:11.920 --> 0:06:15.279 who really makes sense that you feel like, maybe we 0:06:15.320 --> 0:06:17.360 don't win the trade, but at least we're breaking even. 0:06:17.400 --> 0:06:19.840 We have something comparable. And Ben's unique talent. I mean, 0:06:19.880 --> 0:06:23.880 I know we talked about his but he doesn't do 0:06:23.960 --> 0:06:26.120 well a lot, but we nobody does do well and 0:06:26.160 --> 0:06:29.040 it does impact winning. Yeah, and we haven't seen too 0:06:29.120 --> 0:06:31.480 many six ten guys that that see the floor, have 0:06:31.600 --> 0:06:33.560 the i Q at the level that he does and 0:06:33.600 --> 0:06:36.080 can play the game the floor game. Then defensively, he's 0:06:36.080 --> 0:06:39.599 a monster. Um. Interesting stuff going on in Philly, but 0:06:39.640 --> 0:06:43.840 staying in the Eastern Conference, one of my favorite teams 0:06:44.120 --> 0:06:46.240 last year to watch was the Atlanta Hawks. I mean, 0:06:46.279 --> 0:06:48.839 I love the job that they did in the second 0:06:48.839 --> 0:06:52.280 half of the season, especially after you know Nate McMillan 0:06:52.320 --> 0:06:53.840 took over. I think they had the second and third 0:06:53.880 --> 0:06:56.760 best record in the NBA. Do you think that that 0:06:56.920 --> 0:06:59.400 success they achieved last year, you think it's sustainable, it's 0:06:59.400 --> 0:07:02.520 gonna transfer over to this year? Or was last year 0:07:02.600 --> 0:07:05.960 sort of a fluke and sort of where they peaked? Now? 0:07:05.960 --> 0:07:07.839 I do, Chris, I think, and I think we'll see 0:07:07.839 --> 0:07:11.000 a much better regular season team. Listen, they were you 0:07:11.280 --> 0:07:13.520 said it, they were definitely a better team, and name McMillan, 0:07:13.600 --> 0:07:16.560 but they were also a more healthy team later in 0:07:16.560 --> 0:07:21.120 the year. And you've got, Um, you just you saw, 0:07:21.200 --> 0:07:24.200 certainly Trey Young took it to another level. You saw 0:07:24.240 --> 0:07:25.960 the impact he had in the playoffs. We know what 0:07:26.080 --> 0:07:28.960 that does for a player's confidence to go do what 0:07:29.000 --> 0:07:32.440 he did in the postseason. Um, that's gonna make you. 0:07:32.600 --> 0:07:34.480 You just come back a better player that that just 0:07:34.560 --> 0:07:36.720 gives you great belief, It gives the group around him 0:07:37.000 --> 0:07:40.000 great belief. And then you just see what I think 0:07:40.000 --> 0:07:42.640 Travis Shlank has done there is I mean, he's drafted 0:07:42.640 --> 0:07:45.640 really well. They've got really good role players. You know, 0:07:45.680 --> 0:07:48.680 Clint Capella, who signed an extension this summer, just such 0:07:48.720 --> 0:07:52.120 a good anchor for them defensively in the middle. You 0:07:52.160 --> 0:07:56.800 know John Collins with a new deal, uh Bogdanovitch, you 0:07:56.840 --> 0:08:00.560 hope for your Atlanta that that he's healthy this year. 0:08:00.960 --> 0:08:03.040 Certainly he missed a lot of time Gallant Donald Daniel 0:08:03.120 --> 0:08:05.720 Gallinari missed a lot of time last year with the 0:08:06.040 --> 0:08:09.840 ankle injury. Reddish too, and Reddish too, and he's not 0:08:09.920 --> 0:08:12.440 really been able to get traction yet on his career. 0:08:12.480 --> 0:08:16.800 But a very talented player, and so you know, you 0:08:16.800 --> 0:08:18.840 you go down. Kevin Herder is going to be a 0:08:18.880 --> 0:08:21.640 really good player. He's up for his rookie extension. He 0:08:21.920 --> 0:08:24.680 saw he played well in the postseason for them. I 0:08:24.720 --> 0:08:26.400 guess one of my questions though with that, because you 0:08:26.480 --> 0:08:28.040 got a connunche him. Now, if you're the Hawks, you 0:08:28.360 --> 0:08:32.240 paid Capella, you paid Trade, you paid John Collins. But 0:08:32.280 --> 0:08:34.040 now if you want to keep a Herder and and 0:08:34.120 --> 0:08:37.840 Reddish and and you know, extend that everybody, you can't 0:08:37.880 --> 0:08:40.680 pay everybody. So what are they gonna do? Like how 0:08:40.720 --> 0:08:43.360 can they can? So I guess that's my question or 0:08:43.400 --> 0:08:45.080 something that I would be watching for is what they're 0:08:45.080 --> 0:08:46.920 gonna do. That's gonna be interesting because they're a very 0:08:46.920 --> 0:08:49.120 good team, and like you had mentioned, with the injuries, 0:08:49.160 --> 0:08:50.640 I mean they made it all the way to the 0:08:50.640 --> 0:08:54.000 Eastern with the finals, Eastern Conference Finals with guys that 0:08:54.080 --> 0:08:56.959 were banged up, hurt, and Bogey. To me, is is 0:08:57.000 --> 0:08:59.400 a major X factor type. But I am. I love 0:08:59.440 --> 0:09:02.720 the Hawks. John Collins versatility. He really showed up and 0:09:02.720 --> 0:09:05.920 took a leap last year. UM. Another team who I 0:09:05.960 --> 0:09:07.760 wanted to ask you about. I got two of my guys, 0:09:07.880 --> 0:09:11.079 two of my bruins in the back court, the Chicago Bulls. 0:09:11.679 --> 0:09:14.840 UM they signed Zach Levine in the offseason. De Mar 0:09:14.960 --> 0:09:19.520 de Rosen Vossovich is there? Talk about your thoughts on 0:09:19.640 --> 0:09:24.200 the Bulls, Billy Donovan in that Eastern Conference this season. Yeah, listen, 0:09:24.640 --> 0:09:28.400 certainly some more offensive weapons, you know, bringing in Alonzo Ball, 0:09:28.720 --> 0:09:34.640 bringing into Mar de Rosen, you know, Vussovich and Zach Lavine. 0:09:34.640 --> 0:09:36.640 We're kind of trying to figure it out in that 0:09:36.760 --> 0:09:39.719 short window. You know, Zach went out with the with 0:09:39.800 --> 0:09:42.560 COVID and lost the stretch of games. I kind of 0:09:42.600 --> 0:09:48.559 took Chicago out of the playing race, and so, uh, 0:09:48.640 --> 0:09:53.079 it's certainly a different group and and a more talented group. 0:09:53.320 --> 0:09:55.240 How they fit together will be interesting. I think it 0:09:55.320 --> 0:09:59.040 is a challenge for Billy Donovan. UM. To figure out 0:09:59.080 --> 0:10:01.880 the pieces they are, how they played together. Maybe it 0:10:01.920 --> 0:10:04.120 doesn't happen from day one, but that's a team that 0:10:04.160 --> 0:10:08.240 you would imagine gets better as we go next season. 0:10:08.480 --> 0:10:12.760 And uh, you know certainly was put together to be 0:10:12.800 --> 0:10:14.880 in the playoffs and to be back in the post season. 0:10:15.760 --> 0:10:18.679 And um, listen, I think I'll be really interested to 0:10:18.720 --> 0:10:21.640 see how Alonzo Ball leads that team. You know, he 0:10:21.640 --> 0:10:24.480 he really wanted to be with the Bulls. Uh. He 0:10:24.520 --> 0:10:26.120 had hoped that they would get a deal done at 0:10:26.120 --> 0:10:29.280 the trade deadline. They didn't quite get that done obviously. 0:10:29.320 --> 0:10:33.240 Now Lori marken In, who was a high pick for um, 0:10:33.280 --> 0:10:36.040 you know, came into Jimmy Butler trade on Draft night. 0:10:36.840 --> 0:10:40.439 Obviously he's in Cleveland now. But I think Chicago is 0:10:40.480 --> 0:10:42.760 one of the teams. They're just like when you look 0:10:42.760 --> 0:10:45.560 at that list of most interesting teams, how this thing 0:10:45.600 --> 0:10:47.920 could go. I think they might be the team, but 0:10:48.000 --> 0:10:50.040 maybe the most variants you could see where they could 0:10:50.080 --> 0:10:52.600 hit it with that group and have a lot of success. 0:10:53.200 --> 0:10:56.160 You could also look and go do all the with 0:10:56.240 --> 0:10:59.320 all those pieces fit together, how's that group played together? 0:10:59.360 --> 0:11:01.760 Because there's a lot out to you know, you've got 0:11:01.800 --> 0:11:05.280 some young guys you've got guys later in their career. Uh, 0:11:05.320 --> 0:11:07.320 you know, early in the season last year that was 0:11:07.320 --> 0:11:10.200 the thing that played really fast with Zach and then 0:11:10.240 --> 0:11:13.199 Bosvig comes in and the pace slows down a little bit, 0:11:13.240 --> 0:11:15.160 and then you're you're trying to figure out how do 0:11:15.200 --> 0:11:18.480 you balance that with two really key offensive players who 0:11:18.559 --> 0:11:22.120 played differently. So, but I think Billy Dunovan certainly an 0:11:22.120 --> 0:11:25.520 outstanding coach. They got really good leadership there um our 0:11:25.600 --> 0:11:29.120 tourist Karnisavists and Mark Eversley, really good front office and 0:11:29.120 --> 0:11:31.520 and so I do think it's gonna be a fun 0:11:31.600 --> 0:11:34.800 team certainly to watch. Yeah, I'm also looking forward to 0:11:34.800 --> 0:11:38.000 the development of Pat Williams. He was a really intriguing 0:11:38.080 --> 0:11:40.360 root and that's the wild card there. You you said it, 0:11:40.920 --> 0:11:44.319 Chris and you know, young player last year. You talk 0:11:44.400 --> 0:11:46.240 to people and they seem in practice and he was 0:11:46.280 --> 0:11:48.920 one of those young players who every day would do 0:11:49.000 --> 0:11:51.440 one thing where you'd go, holy cow, this guy could 0:11:51.480 --> 0:11:54.959 be And then you saw him in Summer League take 0:11:55.000 --> 0:11:57.720 a step and more aggressive. And that's what I think 0:11:57.760 --> 0:12:00.200 they want to see him as. Come out person like, 0:12:00.480 --> 0:12:04.199 see his personality, come out, see him, you know, take 0:12:04.240 --> 0:12:06.560 the initiative to do more, and so how do you 0:12:06.600 --> 0:12:09.280 balance that with Patrick Williams with a DeMar de Rosen 0:12:09.320 --> 0:12:12.160 who's used to listen having shots and scoring the ball, 0:12:12.240 --> 0:12:15.880 and Zach Lavine who's going to score the ball. Um. 0:12:15.920 --> 0:12:18.760 But I think Patrick Williams, you know, a high lottery 0:12:18.800 --> 0:12:21.559 pick for them, Like how that plays out? I think 0:12:21.559 --> 0:12:27.200 will be um really uh important short term and long 0:12:27.320 --> 0:12:29.280 term because I think there's a lot of hope that 0:12:29.320 --> 0:12:31.480 Patrick Williams is really gonna that that he could be 0:12:31.520 --> 0:12:34.600 a cornerstone guy for them. Yeah. I think so, he's 0:12:34.600 --> 0:12:36.800 got all He's got all the goods. Man. When you 0:12:36.840 --> 0:12:41.840 look at the job that Atlanta has done and putting 0:12:41.840 --> 0:12:44.240 pieces around Trey Young, and then you kind of juxtaposed 0:12:44.240 --> 0:12:47.360 that next to the job that Dallas has done putting 0:12:47.400 --> 0:12:51.080 pieces around Luca Donges. Why do you think the Mavericks 0:12:51.400 --> 0:12:56.040 haven't surrounded Luca with the necessary parts to really push 0:12:56.120 --> 0:12:59.920 put him to that Western Conference type finals type level. Well, 0:13:00.160 --> 0:13:03.400 you look at Atlanta, and so much of it for 0:13:03.480 --> 0:13:05.880 them has been hitting on the draft. Travish Lank came 0:13:05.880 --> 0:13:09.240 with a good reputation. They hired him. You know, it's 0:13:09.240 --> 0:13:13.040 funny they hired I think Travish linkin Atlanta with a 0:13:13.160 --> 0:13:16.920 thought of believing in him as a player, as an 0:13:16.960 --> 0:13:19.760 evaluator of talent. This is a guy who really grinds 0:13:19.760 --> 0:13:22.679 it on the road. And you know is that uh 0:13:22.840 --> 0:13:25.600 like just has built a really good reputation in Golden 0:13:25.640 --> 0:13:28.440 State for that in other places, comes in and really 0:13:28.520 --> 0:13:32.040 hits it in the draft, gets multiple picks and trades. 0:13:32.400 --> 0:13:37.600 You know, remember the Dan cheich Um Trey Young Draft 0:13:37.679 --> 0:13:40.160 Knight trade brought them another first round pick. And so 0:13:40.640 --> 0:13:43.000 but you hit it in the late teens with John Collins, 0:13:43.040 --> 0:13:44.840 you hit it a little bit later with Kevin Herder 0:13:46.760 --> 0:13:50.400 and Dallas. You haven't had that draft success and they 0:13:50.440 --> 0:13:53.719 haven't had necessarily the high picks either. But so much 0:13:53.800 --> 0:13:58.360 of Dallas they put in the Christaps Porzingis trade that 0:13:58.400 --> 0:14:01.800 Porzingis was the co star. He would be the complimentary guy, 0:14:02.240 --> 0:14:05.640 you know, an all star level player, very unique skill 0:14:05.720 --> 0:14:08.120 set that he'd come in and and and be that. 0:14:08.240 --> 0:14:11.200 For Luca don Chech he hasn't been healthy, Chris, and 0:14:11.320 --> 0:14:15.280 I think I think he's very talented. You saw earlier, 0:14:15.360 --> 0:14:19.120 certainly earlier in his Knicks career, where like this is 0:14:19.120 --> 0:14:25.120 a really skilled player. But but but injuries, you know, 0:14:25.200 --> 0:14:27.760 kind of those lower leg injuries have been a concern. 0:14:27.840 --> 0:14:30.320 You worry about that in a player with his frame 0:14:30.400 --> 0:14:35.880 at seven three. It's it's so I've heard good things 0:14:35.920 --> 0:14:38.760 about how he's looked this summer and can he stay healthy? 0:14:38.840 --> 0:14:40.120 So I think that's a big part of it. And 0:14:40.120 --> 0:14:42.760 then you know Tim Hardaway, who you know, ended up 0:14:42.760 --> 0:14:45.360 being much more than I thought. Listen, when they traded 0:14:45.400 --> 0:14:48.160 for Hardaway, you know, New York was getting money off 0:14:49.000 --> 0:14:52.600 and the MAVs really wanted Porzingis in that deal. And 0:14:52.640 --> 0:14:55.400 it turns out Hardaway now they resigned him again, and 0:14:55.600 --> 0:14:58.200 he's been such an important part for them. But I 0:14:58.240 --> 0:15:01.040 think that, um, you know, I think the hope for 0:15:01.120 --> 0:15:05.840 Dallas is is that. And everyone's always talking about free 0:15:05.840 --> 0:15:08.200 agency and they're not gonna have you know what, we'll 0:15:08.240 --> 0:15:11.600 see that the cap flexibility. They certainly have some Lucas 0:15:11.600 --> 0:15:14.120 deal kicks in next year his new super Max and 0:15:14.320 --> 0:15:16.280 Porzingis is on a Max deal, are Hardaway is on 0:15:16.360 --> 0:15:19.280 a big deal and and so, um, you gotta hit 0:15:19.280 --> 0:15:22.560 on picks, and um, you know, you gotta find some 0:15:22.640 --> 0:15:27.120 guys around the edges. Um you know, you know, you 0:15:27.160 --> 0:15:28.880 look at like a Utah when they bring in a 0:15:28.960 --> 0:15:32.520 Royce O'Neil like Joey, players like that who are a 0:15:32.520 --> 0:15:34.880 little bit on the fringe, who come in and become 0:15:35.000 --> 0:15:38.080 starting level players six men and and I think the 0:15:38.200 --> 0:15:41.680 really good organizations you get them on the cheap um. 0:15:42.360 --> 0:15:45.880 And that's where your evaluation, your your your player development, 0:15:45.880 --> 0:15:48.720 all those things come into play when you're trying to 0:15:48.760 --> 0:15:50.640 build a contender, because you you gotta hit on some 0:15:50.680 --> 0:15:54.160 of those guys too. Yeah, you do. Talking about free 0:15:54.200 --> 0:15:57.480 agency and the way the free agency will look in 0:15:57.560 --> 0:16:00.640 the future in the NBA, do you think that, you know, 0:16:00.720 --> 0:16:03.320 these big name guys as that they have been in 0:16:03.360 --> 0:16:05.400 the past, will be available for teams to sign. Will 0:16:05.440 --> 0:16:08.880 the free agent crop be as fruitful, as as plentiful 0:16:08.920 --> 0:16:11.080 as it has been, just because of the nature of 0:16:11.080 --> 0:16:14.280 the way that the league is kind of shifting. No, 0:16:14.800 --> 0:16:17.200 And you know, Bobby Mars had a good piece are 0:16:17.520 --> 0:16:21.360 Insider Front office inside our ESPN about that. He and I. 0:16:21.640 --> 0:16:23.520 He and I have talked a lot about that this summer. 0:16:23.600 --> 0:16:29.480 That you look at the landscape and earlier on in 0:16:29.520 --> 0:16:32.520 this collective bargaining agreement, you saw players doing shorter deals, 0:16:33.320 --> 0:16:35.520 keeping their freedom for free agency. I'm gonna do a 0:16:35.520 --> 0:16:38.480 short deal. I'm gonna keep pressure on the organization, and 0:16:38.480 --> 0:16:41.320 I'm gonna keep my options open every year. And now 0:16:41.360 --> 0:16:47.200 you're seeing players and initially that super Max didn't seem 0:16:47.280 --> 0:16:49.160 to have the appeal to the great players in the 0:16:49.200 --> 0:16:53.080 league that the owners and front office has hoped it would. Right, 0:16:53.120 --> 0:16:56.000 they wanted to incentivize players to stay where they were, 0:16:56.440 --> 0:16:58.680 so if you were with a small market team, they 0:16:58.680 --> 0:17:03.600 could pay you so much or um with a super Max. 0:17:03.720 --> 0:17:05.879 If you got if you hit the qualifications made all 0:17:06.000 --> 0:17:08.439 n B A or or m v P and and 0:17:08.440 --> 0:17:11.480 and got that, you know, you turn that one seventy 0:17:11.520 --> 0:17:14.080 million dollar deal into two oh five or whatever it 0:17:14.080 --> 0:17:17.480 would be. You're seeing that play out now more, and 0:17:17.520 --> 0:17:19.400 there's a little bit of an attitude. I think there's 0:17:19.400 --> 0:17:21.679 a lot of an attitude of I will sign the 0:17:21.720 --> 0:17:25.520 super Max now, I will fix the destination later. So 0:17:25.560 --> 0:17:28.199 if I don't like how it's going, I'll ask for 0:17:28.280 --> 0:17:31.359 a trade. But what makes less senses go into free 0:17:31.400 --> 0:17:34.760 agency and instead of taking the five year, two hundred 0:17:34.800 --> 0:17:36.960 million dollar deal that I can take with my team now, 0:17:37.960 --> 0:17:39.480 I don't know why am I gonna go do the 0:17:39.560 --> 0:17:42.520 four year Let's say the one forty deal. That's just 0:17:42.560 --> 0:17:45.600 worthless because it's you don't make as much leaving as 0:17:45.600 --> 0:17:48.720 you would stay. I'll just force a trade to where 0:17:48.720 --> 0:17:51.720 I want to go. The harder part for that, though, 0:17:51.840 --> 0:17:53.960 is when you have and you're seeing it with Ben 0:17:54.000 --> 0:17:57.359 Simmons four years left on your deal. You know, Damian 0:17:57.400 --> 0:18:00.240 Lillard has three years left on your deal. You you 0:18:00.320 --> 0:18:02.320 don't have the leverage to go where you want to 0:18:02.320 --> 0:18:05.320 go when you have a bunch of years, because anybody 0:18:05.359 --> 0:18:09.480 will trade for you. Um, when you have three years 0:18:09.560 --> 0:18:11.280 or four years left, because they know you have to 0:18:11.320 --> 0:18:13.639 play for them. Now you have one year left on 0:18:13.680 --> 0:18:18.480 your deal, or maybe two years, you're gonna be you know, 0:18:18.520 --> 0:18:20.639 maybe a small market team who would like to make 0:18:20.680 --> 0:18:24.000 a run at a big name guy says, okay, that 0:18:24.000 --> 0:18:25.600 guy is gonna leave me in a year, and he's 0:18:25.640 --> 0:18:27.600 telling me and his agents telling me, if you trade 0:18:27.600 --> 0:18:30.399 for me, I'm gone. You're gonna get nothing in return. 0:18:30.600 --> 0:18:33.159 I'm gonna walk, and all the assets you gas to 0:18:33.240 --> 0:18:35.800 trade for me, I'm gone. But when you got three 0:18:35.880 --> 0:18:39.639 or four years left on your deal, you can get traded. 0:18:39.840 --> 0:18:41.919 You may not like where you end up. You end 0:18:41.960 --> 0:18:44.560 up at another small market or a place that isn't 0:18:44.560 --> 0:18:50.800 better than what you have, And so I think that's um, 0:18:50.840 --> 0:18:56.480 that's also part of this dynamic. Absolutely Uh going to 0:18:56.560 --> 0:18:58.439 New York for a second. I just wanted you just 0:18:58.480 --> 0:19:01.680 to touch on the Knicks. They re signed what de Rose, 0:19:01.760 --> 0:19:06.080 the resigned Nerland Noel. Um, they don't have a lot 0:19:06.080 --> 0:19:08.480 of space. They resigned Julius Rando to to a very 0:19:08.520 --> 0:19:13.359 favorable deal. Um, it wasn't the max Um Mitchell Robinson 0:19:13.640 --> 0:19:16.960 coming back, he's put on fifty or sixty pounds in 0:19:17.000 --> 0:19:20.320 the off season, or the Knicks a legitimate threat to 0:19:20.359 --> 0:19:22.919 be a top four or to five seed in the 0:19:22.920 --> 0:19:25.760 Eastern Conference. I think there are a threat to be 0:19:25.880 --> 0:19:30.840 that Chris. Because the Tim Thibodeau gets a lot of 0:19:31.000 --> 0:19:33.240 gets a lot out of his group in the regular season, 0:19:33.280 --> 0:19:34.960 I think the question for them is gonna be and 0:19:34.960 --> 0:19:37.480 we saw it in the postseason last year. You know 0:19:37.560 --> 0:19:39.840 he can grind a group through the regular season. And 0:19:39.880 --> 0:19:41.680 I thought what he did last year was just really 0:19:41.680 --> 0:19:47.000 important for the organization that it just established a baseline 0:19:47.560 --> 0:19:51.639 again of competency and professionalism. And if you were a 0:19:51.760 --> 0:19:55.320 Nick fan and and you watch your team play every night, 0:19:55.400 --> 0:19:57.800 like you saw something that you hadn't seen in a 0:19:57.800 --> 0:19:59.879 long time. Right, They come to play every night, they 0:20:00.000 --> 0:20:02.840 and beat anybody. You know that Nick, I mean Nick 0:20:02.920 --> 0:20:04.520 fans for years like you might as well just go 0:20:04.560 --> 0:20:06.520 to bed early when they're out on the West coast 0:20:06.760 --> 0:20:09.720 because they're gonna get drilled out west. And that wasn't 0:20:09.720 --> 0:20:12.199 the case. They're in games, are beating people. That was 0:20:12.280 --> 0:20:14.760 really important for the organization and that's what Tom Thibodeau 0:20:14.800 --> 0:20:18.280 brought back. And then you saw in the playoffs they 0:20:18.320 --> 0:20:23.200 struggled to score. They struggled when you saw him against Atlanta. 0:20:23.400 --> 0:20:26.880 Uh when Atlanta loaded up on Julius Randall and they 0:20:26.920 --> 0:20:30.760 needed other people to make shots. They struggled having enough 0:20:30.840 --> 0:20:34.440 maybe playmakers, you know Alec Burk's comes back. Who's who 0:20:34.480 --> 0:20:38.080 was good for them last year. You know that will 0:20:38.119 --> 0:20:41.240 be the next step. But I think they did keep 0:20:41.440 --> 0:20:43.360 you know a lot of these deals this summer were 0:20:43.359 --> 0:20:47.919 really two year guaranteed deals. They weren't like it was 0:20:47.960 --> 0:20:50.520 three years with a player off team option. So they 0:20:50.560 --> 0:20:54.359 have their flexibility. I think for New York, you know, 0:20:54.440 --> 0:20:57.360 having cap space next summer doesn't really do anything. There's 0:20:57.359 --> 0:20:59.080 no big free agents. What you want to have if 0:20:59.080 --> 0:21:01.760 you're New York. You want to have picks, and you 0:21:01.800 --> 0:21:06.440 want to have some young players who developed value. Emmanuel 0:21:06.520 --> 0:21:10.960 Cook quickly with outstanding you know, Obie Topping struggled in 0:21:11.040 --> 0:21:13.400 his rookie years. Certainly they're playing a lot of veterans. 0:21:13.520 --> 0:21:15.760 And then he saw in this summer and he said, okay, 0:21:15.760 --> 0:21:17.640 Obi toppin looks like he might be ready to make. 0:21:18.000 --> 0:21:21.360 You know, that stepping a guy's second year. And so 0:21:22.200 --> 0:21:25.360 you want to develop those younger players, either for you 0:21:26.160 --> 0:21:29.119