Speaker 1: The volume. All right, we'll goo to hoops tonight. You're
Speaker 1: at the volume.
Speaker 2: We are at the Serious XM studios at the Win
Speaker 2: in Las Vegas, and we have a very special guest today,
Speaker 2: my good friend Sam is fondi Ari, my go to
Speaker 2: guy for all things Warriors.
Speaker 1: Sam.
Speaker 2: Earlier today we heard from Rich Paul that the Lebron
Speaker 2: saga is fun for the fans as it drags out.
Speaker 2: And I'm in the content space and it was fun
Speaker 2: for like a week or two.
Speaker 1: I'm no longer having fun. I'm ready to know what's
Speaker 1: going to happen.
Speaker 2: So, as our representative of the Warriors fan base for
Speaker 2: hoops tonight, how are you feeling about this whole saga?
Speaker 2: How are Warriors fans feeling? Where are you at with
Speaker 2: the Lebron James thing?
Speaker 3: So, if I was to rank the possible scenarios, One,
Speaker 3: you acquire the players you actually want to acquire.
Speaker 1: Two you have hope.
Speaker 3: That you're gonna acquire the players you want to acquire.
Speaker 3: Three you don't get them, and you're in the sunken
Speaker 3: place and everything is miserable. So the way I'm looking
Speaker 3: at it, given that the Warriors have, you know, kind
Speaker 3: of strikeed out more often than not, like the last
Speaker 3: four years. Like I know, they got Jimmy, but outside
Speaker 3: of Jimmy, it's been a lot of that's too many picks.
Speaker 3: Oh they don't want to trade them here. Oh, we
Speaker 3: can't afford them the XYZ. I'm looking at it through
Speaker 3: the lens of Look, we haven't heard no yet. So
Speaker 3: as long as I haven't heard a no, I'm in
Speaker 3: an okay place. I can't speak for everyone, but I
Speaker 3: can't speak for me.
Speaker 2: You know, It's interesting because I would argue the Warriors
Speaker 2: probably need Lebron more than all of these other teams
Speaker 2: in the sense that like Cleveland was a conference finalist, Wiggans, Bam, Giannis,
Speaker 2: Davion Mitchell, it's a pretty strong foundation in Miami. Regardless
Speaker 2: of what happens, Minnesota's gonna be fine. I mean, obviously
Speaker 2: they need a power forward, but Denver's going to be fine.
Speaker 2: Golden State's in this weird predicament where if they pull
Speaker 2: off something and we're gonna talk about Anthony Davis in
Speaker 2: a minute, but if they pull off something involving Lebron
Speaker 2: plus another player, it's the difference between them as currently constructed,
Speaker 2: and we're gonna get into the Ross. So there's exciting things.
Speaker 2: They acts looks great in his first couple of Summer
Speaker 2: League games, but they're looking at being a playing team
Speaker 2: if they don't pull something like this off. But at
Speaker 2: the same time, I also don't necessarily think they have
Speaker 2: another great option in the sense that other than like
Speaker 2: making an all in trade around just Steph versus making
Speaker 2: an all in trade around Steph and Lebron. There's a
Speaker 2: lot at stake here, do you guys feel that?
Speaker 3: Yes, I'm one hundred percent on the same page as you.
Speaker 3: Hear like, when you're describing those teams, you're leaving out
Speaker 3: kind of the obvious point, which is the Warriors have
Speaker 3: the potential to be a incredibly depressing story for the
Speaker 3: end of Steph's career. Look, if you told me three
Speaker 3: years ago they were going to try to acquire Lebron,
Speaker 3: I would say, I'm good, there's got to be a
Speaker 3: different route to go. It's actually not a disrespect thing.
Speaker 3: I just think like the rivalry is cool and let's
Speaker 3: keep it separate that sort of thing. Then the Olympics
Speaker 3: happened in twenty twenty four, which I think everyone will
Speaker 3: agree was awesome. It was fun to watch, and then
Speaker 3: you have kind of the reality of where we're out
Speaker 3: with the Warriors, which is Jimian Butler got injured, the
Speaker 3: roster is subpar, they don't really have a lot of options,
Speaker 3: and STEP's thirty eight years old. He'll be thirty nine
Speaker 3: next season. So when I look at it through all
Speaker 3: those lens, even taking like the romanticism of how fun
Speaker 3: it would be for the two of them to play together,
Speaker 3: you're just not going to get an opportunity to add
Speaker 3: an All Star caliber player. And let's be clear, Lebron
Speaker 3: is still an All Star caliber player. I could argue
Speaker 3: he's better, but at worst, he's an All Star caliber player.
Speaker 3: You do not get the opportunity to add a player
Speaker 3: of that caliber for the mid level of exception or below.
Speaker 3: Like we're seeing this around the league. The Celtics just
Speaker 3: traded Jalen Brown, not because he was bad, but because
Speaker 3: he's too expensive. Yeah, and we're seeing more and more
Speaker 3: of that around the league, where it's about value, it's
Speaker 3: about your ability to you know, control contracts and maneuver. Dude, Lebron,
Speaker 3: I don't care that Lebron's forty one. Lebron willing to
Speaker 3: take between three and fifteen million a year is like
Speaker 3: a god sent team building wide, team building wise, Sorry,
Speaker 3: you gotta go for it. And then just to take
Speaker 3: it back to my first point, bro, if he says
Speaker 3: no and they do nothing, and we go into next
Speaker 3: season with this idea that Jimmy's going to be back
Speaker 3: sometime in January, who knows what that looks like. Thirty
Speaker 3: seven year old off an acl tear with the roster
Speaker 3: of Okay players asking Stephan Curry at his age to
Speaker 3: average thirty to keep them in games. Like, I just
Speaker 3: he's gonna get hurt. I don't want to see his
Speaker 3: career end like that. Like I don't know that adding
Speaker 3: Lebron and let's just say Anthony Davis makes them a contender.
Speaker 3: I do know it puts them in the mix and
Speaker 3: makes the end of his career far less depressing than
Speaker 3: the opposite.
Speaker 2: And it puts them within striking distance, especially if they
Speaker 2: have the tools to make another deal, to potentially be
Speaker 2: in a situation in February where they feel comfortable making
Speaker 2: that kind of move. I want to zoom in on
Speaker 2: like the fan piece of this first second el because
Speaker 2: like you and I met on Twitter, we met being
Speaker 2: fans of our teams, of our players. You are a
Speaker 2: staunch defender of Steph Curry, and I have been known
Speaker 2: as a person who got into the sport of basketball
Speaker 2: literally because.
Speaker 1: Of Lebron James.
Speaker 2: I'm a huge Lebron James fan, and I don't want
Speaker 2: to play fan police. I hate telling people how to
Speaker 2: be fans, and if there are people that get a
Speaker 2: sick feeling in their I'll make got the idea of
Speaker 2: Lebron and Steph playing together. I'm not going to tell
Speaker 2: them they're wrong. But like as the years have gone by,
Speaker 2: I've just grown to love and appreciate and respect Steph
Speaker 2: so much to the point where he's literally become my
Speaker 2: second favorite player behind Lebron. And I know that you
Speaker 2: have a great deal of respect for Lebron as well.
Speaker 2: The idea of Lebron and Steph playing together was quite
Speaker 2: literally never a negative feeling for me at all. It
Speaker 2: was immediately like this is awesome, Like I just think
Speaker 2: these are the two greatest competitors of our era. Both
Speaker 2: of them are completely stamped. They have four championships each.
Speaker 2: They don't have anything else to prove at this point.
Speaker 2: It's just their basketball games fit fantastically. Well, I think
Speaker 2: the two of them just want to win together. I
Speaker 2: just I only experienced like positive feelings about the two
Speaker 2: of them playing together. Did you have any hesitancy at
Speaker 2: all about the partnership at this point?
Speaker 3: No, Like being honest with you, would I've had hesitancy
Speaker 3: two years ago, four years ago the answer would be different, Yes,
Speaker 3: of course. But I'm like looking at through a real lens,
Speaker 3: which the Olympics, honestly was a big thing for me.
Speaker 3: Watching the two them together, it made me. It made
Speaker 3: it easier for me to reframe this as just like, look, dude,
Speaker 3: if they play together at the end of their career,
Speaker 3: it does not change anything that's happened before. You need
Speaker 3: to stop looking at it through the nineties lens, and
Speaker 3: you stop giving credence to like I'm not going to
Speaker 3: name players or ex players, like, oh, it's not the
Speaker 3: way we.
Speaker 1: Used to do things.
Speaker 3: Well, you know, back in the day, you didn't have
Speaker 3: twenty five year careers. It's hard to stay one place
Speaker 3: for twenty five years. So the way I look at
Speaker 3: it is this would be fun for the end of
Speaker 3: their career, And that really only came to me through
Speaker 3: the lens of they're old man.
Speaker 1: Yeah, they's been a long time.
Speaker 3: You know, Like, I don't know if you feel this way.
Speaker 3: I don't know how much you're into the World Cup
Speaker 3: right now, but you're watching the World Cup, you see
Speaker 3: like rinaldo you see Messi? These guys are past their prime.
Speaker 3: Messi is still more capable than maybe Ronaldo's at this point.
Speaker 3: They've moved how many clubs, they are at different stages,
Speaker 3: and there's a certain level of who cares about the narrative,
Speaker 3: who cares about the rivalry? This is their last tournament
Speaker 3: they're gonna play at this point, so let's just appreciate
Speaker 3: it because they're two of the best who've ever done it,
Speaker 3: and it's it's gonna be fun and you're gonna enjoy it.
Speaker 3: You're gonna enjoy it far more than the other side,
Speaker 3: where they're like proudly retire versus play with each other.
Speaker 3: And then we're sitting here with what ifs, which ironically
Speaker 3: is kind of how people look at Michael Jordan's career
Speaker 3: in certain ways, and like, I love Jordan, I'm a
Speaker 3: Jordan guy, but like a lot of mystique is tied
Speaker 3: to the fact that he retired before he wanted to,
Speaker 3: And there's a lot of what happened if he kept going,
Speaker 3: what happened if this happened. So I've evolved on this view.
Speaker 3: I don't I don't have the right word for it
Speaker 3: is change whatever. I'm into it because look, man, the
Speaker 3: alternative of them retiring or like having this crappy team
Speaker 3: where they win thirty one games like that sucks.
Speaker 1: Yeah, that's awesome.
Speaker 3: Fun with it?
Speaker 2: Yeah, I think to me, the point you're making about
Speaker 2: the World Cup is the interesting one to me because
Speaker 2: essentially I just am enjoying watching these guys.
Speaker 1: That's the key.
Speaker 2: And like, I like watching Steph play in that play
Speaker 2: in game, watching Lebron get to be the primary ball
Speaker 2: handler for a playoff series again, like the fact that
Speaker 2: I was watching like a big, huge Game six on
Speaker 2: the road in Houston. Lebron's gonna be the primary ball
Speaker 2: handler in the year twenty twenty six. Like you don't
Speaker 2: think that was fun for me as a fan to watch?
Speaker 2: And I actually think they're in this unique situation where
Speaker 2: they kind of need each other in the sense that
Speaker 2: Steph is stuck in this situation.
Speaker 1: We're going to talk about the Warriors in a.
Speaker 2: Minute, he's stuck in this situation where the team's just
Speaker 2: flat out not good enough. And then with Lebron, as
Speaker 2: you look at the options, I'm not excited about the
Speaker 2: idea of watching him play the Ruey Hatcher Mura role
Speaker 2: for Donovan Mitchell and James Harden. I'm not excited about
Speaker 2: him doing that for Anthony Edwards and LaMelo Ball. I'm
Speaker 2: not excited about him in this weird, janky spacing situation
Speaker 2: with Jiannison. Bam Like, this specific situation that Go and
Speaker 2: State presents is an opportunity for both of them to
Speaker 2: increase their chances of competing for a title, but also
Speaker 2: to play in a style that reminds us of why
Speaker 2: both of them were great.
Speaker 3: Yeah, they get to do it their way, And I
Speaker 3: think that's that's actually a great point too, because look
Speaker 3: like this is true of Lebron, but this gonna be
Speaker 3: true of Stephan a year or two. Steph can chase
Speaker 3: a title as like a shooter off the bench for
Speaker 3: five more years of you, he can. He could play
Speaker 3: the Ray Allen in the Miami Heat role if he
Speaker 3: wants to. But is that satisfying to me as a fan? No? Like,
Speaker 3: only in so much as like he's my favorite player
Speaker 3: and he means something to Warrior fans. But what you
Speaker 3: really want to see is them have the ability to
Speaker 3: compete with the best in a role that you know
Speaker 3: it's suited for them. And so I agree with you
Speaker 3: that way, Like if you look at the basketball situations,
Speaker 3: there are situations that are easier for Lebron. I don't
Speaker 3: think there's any other, say, situation that allows him to
Speaker 3: play the role he wants to play while also not
Speaker 3: demanding him to play the role of hero and savior
Speaker 3: twenty four to seven, which like physically is probably not
Speaker 3: realistic for a guy in his age range, probably for
Speaker 3: either of them, Yeah, exactly, And like that's that's kind
Speaker 3: of the fun of it, which is like they're the
Speaker 3: protagonists of the team, they're the necessary engine of the team.
Speaker 3: But the way that the Warriors play also allows them to,
Speaker 3: I don't want to say take games off, but like
Speaker 3: kind of play in the flow a little more, whereas
Speaker 3: like in Minnesota to your point, and you know, I'm
Speaker 3: just gonna use the Amn example. It's gonna be ant LaMelo,
Speaker 3: and it's it's kind of gonna be a different version
Speaker 3: of what you saw last year. With uh Luca and
Speaker 3: Austin Reeves and him having to be like the gap filler,
Speaker 3: playing like a super charge Seawn Mariyan role, like with
Speaker 3: a little more upside.
Speaker 2: Yeah, it's I'd include Philly in this list too, where
Speaker 2: it's like I think there's I think there are basketball
Speaker 2: situations for every player that where they become almost a
Speaker 2: force multiplier versus something where there's a diminishing return. And
Speaker 2: I think, like, do I think Lebron can fill gaps
Speaker 2: and do all these little things to help a basketball team. Yes,
Speaker 2: but I think you could do that anywhere. Like rebounding, defending,
Speaker 2: making plays off of advantage like that exists in every
Speaker 2: single basketball situation. You're gonna have an opportunity where you're
Speaker 2: attacking a close out or you're playing on a four
Speaker 2: on three like that exists everywhere. Golden State has the
Speaker 2: unique situation of actually having an offense built around having
Speaker 2: bigger players that have the basketball for their split cuts
Speaker 2: and for their five out action where they're operating with
Speaker 2: the dribble handoffs out at the elbow extended. And so
Speaker 2: that's a specific situation where with all the off ball
Speaker 2: movement whirling around, it takes advantage of Lebron being a
Speaker 2: threat to score and pass out of those spots on
Speaker 2: the floor. And we literally saw France get beat Steph
Speaker 2: hit the shots. But it was a two man game.
Speaker 2: It was Stephan Lebron attacking Gershon Yabuseli with inverted screens
Speaker 2: and regulars greens with the two of them and just
Speaker 2: getting open shot after open shot because you have this
Speaker 2: incredible shooter and this incredible power forward that you can't
Speaker 2: switch the action with. And I think there's a lot
Speaker 2: naturally fitting there.
Speaker 1: Now.
Speaker 2: I want to I want to quick describe what I
Speaker 2: think is going on here, and then I want you
Speaker 2: to tell me if you think it's a fair characterization
Speaker 2: from your perspective. I think Lebron knows deep down the
Speaker 2: basketball situation he wants. He knows what playing in Philly
Speaker 2: will look like. He knows what playing in Cleveland will
Speaker 2: look like. He knows a playing in Miami will look
Speaker 2: like Denver, Golden State, so on and so forth, And
Speaker 2: I think he knows deep down.
Speaker 1: I mean, he said it.
Speaker 2: I mean on the day of the Lakers report, his
Speaker 2: podcast released a clip talking about how playing with the
Speaker 2: TSA was like the most fun he's had in years
Speaker 2: playing basketball, So I think deep down he knows playing
Speaker 2: with Golden State would be a blast. I think, and
Speaker 2: you and I've talked about this in the last few days.
Speaker 2: I think that Lebron is waiting for one of these
Speaker 2: teams to make a move to bolster whatever he thinks
Speaker 2: that situation is. Golden State did make a move for Jimmy,
Speaker 2: and it's worth mentioning that they put a first round
Speaker 2: pick on the table to get Jimmy Butler. That is
Speaker 2: worth mentioning and at least giving them some credit for.
Speaker 2: But there have been multiple opportunities over the past.
Speaker 3: After he burnt the house down.
Speaker 2: After he burnt the house down, after it went very
Speaker 2: far south. Over the course of the years, there have
Speaker 2: been lots of opportunities, Like they missed on ogn Andobi
Speaker 2: Ognoby led his team to a championship, didn't lead, but
Speaker 2: was a key factor in the championship. Team they passed
Speaker 2: on Pascal Siakam literally was one win away from a
Speaker 2: championship and might have gotten Finals MVP depending on how
Speaker 2: the rest of that Game seven would have gone if
Speaker 2: Indiana won. And I'd even argue like the last year
Speaker 2: and a half, like not making a move on like
Speaker 2: a Trey Murphy not making a move that's a bigger
Speaker 2: splash yer move. Do you think that one of the
Speaker 2: potential hang ups here is potentially Lebron's concern that Golden
Speaker 2: State has this incredible control over their draft future, But
Speaker 2: they might be they might hesitate when it comes to
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Speaker 3: Potentially. I mean, I think there's a trust factor with
Speaker 3: Steph and Draymond, but those guys haven't been able to
Speaker 3: push the front office to move things in a different direction. Now,
Speaker 3: if you listen to the Warriors talk and there's always
Speaker 3: kind of like read in between the lines, my general
Speaker 3: impression has been that those two players have also been
Speaker 3: aligned with the front office more often than not doing
Speaker 3: the whole Oh, we'd rather make the bigger swing for
Speaker 3: a Giannis like and maybe they're being upsold by the
Speaker 3: front office. Ye, maybe that's the thing, but like the
Speaker 3: reality is, like it's not like those guys have got
Speaker 3: into like a pissing match at the front office and
Speaker 3: like walked out the door. So you can't like say
Speaker 3: they're not culpable in some capacity. But yeah, I think
Speaker 3: that's part of it. I do. I think taking back
Speaker 3: to your Ridge, no point. Look, if Lebron's signing for
Speaker 3: less than the max, this isn't about cap space. Yeah,
Speaker 3: so why hasn't he signed yet.
Speaker 1: I don't buy.
Speaker 3: Rich Paul saying he's going through a process and he
Speaker 3: knows what he wants to do. This is the most
Speaker 3: calculated player of all time. I think they're waiting for something,
Speaker 3: and it could be like the most obvious thing would
Speaker 3: be like waiting for a trade to prove that the
Speaker 3: roster they're going to matches their expectations, because you're dealing
Speaker 3: with parties they haven't worked with in the future in
Speaker 3: the past, Like, no matter how much he likes as
Speaker 3: Steph and A Draymond, he hasn't worked with the Lakes.
Speaker 3: He doesn't work in Mike Dunleavy the way. Maybe he
Speaker 3: worked with pat Riley or dang, who is it Dave
Speaker 3: Griffin in the past in those stops right, Like, so
Speaker 3: maybe it's that, or maybe it's something else, I'm not sure,
Speaker 3: but like, I agree with your initial point, which is
Speaker 3: this is being dragged out for a reason, and the
Speaker 3: reasons not money, because we know it's not money. He's
Speaker 3: not like, he's not waiting for someone to clear cap space.
Speaker 3: He's waiting for someone to do something and we're just
Speaker 3: waiting to see what it is.
Speaker 2: Yeah, and that's where I think unless he's literally just
Speaker 2: playing with us in the sense that he's dragging this
Speaker 2: out for fun, to make a story. And by the way,
Speaker 2: as against possible, it's possible that that's at least part
Speaker 2: of it. Sure, but I I so, let's say, for instance,
Speaker 2: that he is thinking, okay, Golden State, but if they
Speaker 2: get a guy like Anthony Davis, how would you feel
Speaker 2: about the risk for the Warriors in potentially making an
Speaker 2: Anthony Davis deal but not being one hundred percent sure
Speaker 2: that Lebron's gonna come, Because I would argue if Lebron
Speaker 2: was like, hey, because we talked about this in the
Speaker 2: last couple days, if Lebron's like, I'm going to Golden
Speaker 2: State deep down, like deep down he's like, that's where
Speaker 2: I want to play, then he should know that they
Speaker 2: probably need a d and another move because this is
Speaker 2: a team that's a little thin on wing depth, that
Speaker 2: especially at the show in the three spot. And so
Speaker 2: with that being the case, Lebron has to know that
Speaker 2: they probably need to make a second trade, and if
Speaker 2: they do, the last thing they need to do is
Speaker 2: get raked over the calls by Washington for Anthony Davis.
Speaker 2: So then you go, okay, well, why doesn't Lebron approach
Speaker 2: Golden State privately and go, let's I'm coming to you guys.
Speaker 2: I'd want a D. You guys want a D. We're
Speaker 2: gonna do this, but we need to pull the line
Speaker 2: a little bit with Washington to get a better deal.
Speaker 2: If that was the case, though, he would have agreed.
Speaker 2: So if there is risk in going after a guy
Speaker 2: like Anthony Davis, how would you feel as a Warriors
Speaker 2: fan if you made a deal for AD and Lebron
Speaker 2: didn't end up coming to the team.
Speaker 3: Me personally, which does not speak for every Warriors fan,
Speaker 3: I'd be okay with it, assuming the price is not,
Speaker 3: you know, so prohibitive that like you're ft for like
Speaker 3: five years. I think this sucks to say. I mean
Speaker 3: the honest with you. I was on an island saying
Speaker 3: they should trade for Jimmy Butler when the vast majority
Speaker 3: of people were opposed to it because the fit wasn't
Speaker 3: there and he's old x YZ and like to be fair,
Speaker 3: the old thing kind of played out.
Speaker 1: You knew when he was healthy, he did, and it worked.
Speaker 3: When he was healthy. By the way, putting all that aside,
Speaker 3: I have very little faith that the version of Jimmy
Speaker 3: Butler we're gonna see when he returns from an ACL
Speaker 3: tear in January or February. And I think it's more.
Speaker 3: I know the Warriors are posturing that he's attacking his
Speaker 3: rehab well, and I have no reason to believe otherwise.
Speaker 3: He's always been maniacal with physical training. Older players take
Speaker 3: longer red they do. Average player takes twelve months to
Speaker 3: come back from ACL. He tore his ACL on January twentieth.
Speaker 3: I would be thrilled if we saw him before the
Speaker 3: All Star break, and I would be thrilled if he
Speaker 3: looked anywhere like Jimmy Butler at a point next year.
Speaker 3: I think it's unrealistic. I think the most likely scenario
Speaker 3: is he comes back, he's minutes restricted. He's a smart
Speaker 3: player because he's always gonna.
Speaker 1: Be a smart part.
Speaker 3: Yeah, but there's that lack of like star level pop
Speaker 3: on a game to game basis that he used to
Speaker 3: be capable of because he's thirty seven years old off
Speaker 3: an ACL tear. So from that perspective, I'm like, I
Speaker 3: don't know what you have to lose. I know it
Speaker 3: sucks because he fit in the culture and oh he's great,
Speaker 3: He's like he's awesome, Like I like him, But it's
Speaker 3: just like, if you want to be serious about putting
Speaker 3: a team around Stephen Curry that has a punter shot,
Speaker 3: you got to move off him and to take it
Speaker 3: home to your final point. I think Anthony Davis is
Speaker 3: being undervalued right now, mostly because the last year has
Speaker 3: sucked for him. He was playing really good basketball before
Speaker 3: Luka Donci trade gets traded Dallas. At least part of
Speaker 3: the reason he didn't play post trade deadline is because
Speaker 3: the backlash and like they ended up in a deep
Speaker 3: tank and players get rested in their tanking. I know
Speaker 3: he had like an abductor strain, but like, look, if
Speaker 3: they had a chance to make a run, he's playing,
Speaker 3: you know, So I think that's part of it. And
Speaker 3: then everything fell out on the other side of it.
Speaker 3: I mean, Nico Harrison got fired, they traded him, he
Speaker 3: goes to the Wizards. The Wizards didn't just rest him.
Speaker 3: By the way, people are gonna say he was injured.
Speaker 3: Trey Young played five games. I don't care what anyone says.
Speaker 3: They were deep in the tank of we want to
Speaker 3: get the topic, and to their credit, it worked out
Speaker 3: for them. So I think he's being a little undervalued
Speaker 3: here because the situation he's been in has been as
Speaker 3: much of a factor of him not being on the
Speaker 3: floor as his health, which, like to be fair, has
Speaker 3: been dubious. And so when you take that all into it,
Speaker 3: if you believe he's not completely cooked physically, that's a
Speaker 3: very good player and a player that, no matter where
Speaker 3: you land in terms of the final compensation, would help
Speaker 3: them like they would be a playoff team with Anthony
Speaker 3: Davis and Stephan Curry and some semblance of depth.
Speaker 1: Absolutely.
Speaker 2: I think I think one of the most underdiscussed parts
Speaker 2: of that specific decision is what happened at the end
Speaker 2: of last year. Steph works his butt off all year
Speaker 2: to try to carry the team. Jimmy gets hurt, He's
Speaker 2: pushing it even harder, ends up taxing his knee to
Speaker 2: the point where he has to take time off. When
Speaker 2: he comes back, he straight up says like, this is
Speaker 2: something I'm going to have to deal with now with
Speaker 2: his knee. And so I would argue above and beyond
Speaker 2: anything involving how you feel about Anthony Davis as a
Speaker 2: player having a salary slot that large occupied by a
Speaker 2: player who is going to miss two thirds of the season,
Speaker 2: especially as a star shot creator, which is going to
Speaker 2: foist more usage and responsibility on to Steph, which then
Speaker 2: lead to the balky knee continuing to become a problem
Speaker 2: Like that, that to me is it's deeper than just, oh,
Speaker 2: we gotta survive Jimmy being out for the next uh
Speaker 2: two two three months two thirds of the season. We
Speaker 2: gotta we have to find a way to get Steph
Speaker 2: because say Lebron comes, you gotta find a way to
Speaker 2: get Steph to April for any of this to make
Speaker 2: any sense. And so to me, with Anthony Davis, it
Speaker 2: just makes your basketball team better in the stretch from
Speaker 2: October too, whenever Jimmy would have come back and give
Speaker 2: you a better chance of surviving with Steph. And to
Speaker 2: your point, there's no guarantee that Jimmy will be ready
Speaker 2: by the All Star break. There's no guarantee you won't
Speaker 2: have a setback. There's no guarantee he'll be ready for
Speaker 2: the role that they need him to fill. And it
Speaker 2: is unfortunate as it is. And I get it because
Speaker 2: he's such a good fit for the team and when
Speaker 2: they were healthy, they were legitimately scary when when that
Speaker 2: team was all put together. But it's just it's an
Speaker 2: unfortunate casualty of the situation. Jimmy, you can't play for
Speaker 2: the most of the part this year. As much as
Speaker 2: we would love to just be loyal to you and
Speaker 2: you stay here, it has these trickle down effects that
Speaker 2: could hurt the team. And I do think Anthony Davis
Speaker 2: is a very good basketball player. Like again, I've been
Speaker 2: through this roller coaster with him rooting for the Lakers.
Speaker 2: When he would be healthy and in rhythm, he was
Speaker 2: an absolute monster, and then he would get hurt, and
Speaker 2: then he'd be out for a little while, and then
Speaker 2: he would come back, and when he would come back,
Speaker 2: he'd be out of a rhythm for a little while. But
Speaker 2: like even when he was at a rhythm and out
Speaker 2: of shape and a little overweight, He's just so good
Speaker 2: at so many little things that just raise your floor
Speaker 2: as a basketball team. And I would take it a
Speaker 2: step further to say, in a Western Conference with San
Speaker 2: Antonio and Oka, see, Anthony Davis is like the archetype
Speaker 2: of player that gives you a fighting chance in those
Speaker 2: types of series if you can really protect the rim
Speaker 2: and if you can actually have enough offensive skill at
Speaker 2: the five spot to make Wemby think twice before he
Speaker 2: leaves the paint, before he decides to stay in the
Speaker 2: paint for one reason or another. I think it's a
Speaker 2: talent play. And again, irrespective of Lebron, you're kind of
Speaker 2: operating in a space where how often do you get
Speaker 2: to add a player with that type of upside without
Speaker 2: mortgaging your entire future, And you should be able to
Speaker 2: in theory, if you hold the line getting Anthony Davis,
Speaker 2: it's somewhat of a discount.
Speaker 3: I agree with you there. I think the other thing
Speaker 3: with Anthony Davis is he's held to the standard of
Speaker 3: Tim Duncan and Wemby because when he came out of
Speaker 3: the draft, he was painted as the next Garnett, the
Speaker 3: next Tim Duncan, the franchise big who's gonna win five
Speaker 3: to six titles. To his credit, he's been excellent. I
Speaker 3: mean he's been All Star every year he has been healthy.
Speaker 3: They did win a title with him. I mean he's
Speaker 3: been great. Like the biggest criticism you can give of
Speaker 3: him is he has not been the best player in
Speaker 3: the world. He's just been like the eighth best player
Speaker 3: in the world. Right, But the reality is, to your point,
Speaker 3: like his bad seasons, he's still giving you twenty four
Speaker 3: to twenty five points per game. And when you look
Speaker 3: at the Warriors, single biggest issue, and they have a
Speaker 3: lot of issues, but the single biggest issue is if
Speaker 3: you're asking Steph to give you a thirty and be
Speaker 3: twenty sixteen Steph in terms of usage, three guys chasing
Speaker 3: him at all times. I don't think his body's gonna
Speaker 3: hold up. I don't think it will in any capacity.
Speaker 3: And that's where it's like the Jimmy injury sucks, But
Speaker 3: you have to find an alternative because if you don't,
Speaker 3: this whole we're going to fight to hold it together
Speaker 3: until he's back. I think Steph's I think Steph's gonna
Speaker 3: get hurt again. I think he is. Whereas in your scenario,
Speaker 3: where you get Nanthony Davison. You know, Lebron comes on
Speaker 3: like a Vetri minimum. Now it's the scenario of nobody
Speaker 3: has to be Superman. Everyone can give you thirty ish
Speaker 3: minutes average twenty ish one night to Steph Knight, one
Speaker 3: night's a d night, and all of a sudden, everyone's
Speaker 3: a little healthier that way. So I think that's what
Speaker 3: they need to do. I don't think they're getting that
Speaker 3: scoring boost from internal development. As much as I loved
Speaker 3: yet the XL so far, as much as I'm a
Speaker 3: fan of POD's gee, like the guys they have like
Speaker 3: those are not guys who score effortlessly. Anti Davis scores.
Speaker 3: Anti davis bad games are twenty Yeah.
Speaker 2: Yeah, he's a great play finisher and offensive rebounder in
Speaker 2: a way that he kind of just finds his way
Speaker 2: to eighteen twenty four points even on nights where he's
Speaker 2: not involved in the offense. I mean, one of the
Speaker 2: biggest critiques of Anthony Davis with the Lakers, and it's
Speaker 2: more of a critique of the Lakers, was that he
Speaker 2: wasn't involved enough, and it came down to several different reasons.
Speaker 2: Some of it was a D's fault, and again, like,
Speaker 2: I'm glad you mentioned this because if you start to
Speaker 2: compare Addianis or Victim Wimanyama or you're gonna disappointed.
Speaker 1: You're gonna be frustrated.
Speaker 2: And I thought even Laker fans when they would try
Speaker 2: to put Ad in that tier, I'm like, hey, listen,
Speaker 2: like this is not a conversation you really want to
Speaker 2: get into. But again, you're talking about a guy who
Speaker 2: is still in the NBA is a top twenty player
Speaker 2: and when he's healthy, probably closer to top fifteen, top twelve.
Speaker 2: I'd say the exact same thing about Lebron, and if
Speaker 2: you could theoretically get both while still having enough draft
Speaker 2: compensation left to make an additional move, You're talking about
Speaker 2: an interesting team there. And I like betting on Ad
Speaker 2: because you mentioned this earlier and it's the truth, Like
Speaker 2: we have to at least account for the fact that
Speaker 2: it's been a rough year for him. Okay, Like you're
Speaker 2: you are sent out in a trade that is universally
Speaker 2: panned as certainly the most shocking trade in NBA history
Speaker 2: and one of the worst trades.
Speaker 3: Do you remember where they were, by the way on
Speaker 3: that trade? One time I was on a ski trip.
Speaker 1: I was at dinner.
Speaker 2: I had a couple of beers and next thing, you know,
Speaker 2: I'm like, I like can't even focus. I'm looking at
Speaker 2: the TV and there's shams on TV.
Speaker 1: Yeah.
Speaker 3: It was my dad's seventieth birthday. So we had a
Speaker 3: nice night. I had a couple of class of wine.
Speaker 3: I get home, I put my son down. I fall
Speaker 3: asleep on the couch at nine, like an old man.
Speaker 3: I wake up and my phone has five hundred texts
Speaker 3: oh thirty minutes later, So like, I have this very
Speaker 3: vivid memory of it, but you're right, it's like the
Speaker 3: most shocking thing ever. Like I wake up and I'm like,
Speaker 3: why are people texting me?
Speaker 1: Guard?
Speaker 3: Like what is this?
Speaker 1: Dude? It was?
Speaker 2: It was unbelievable, and like so then he goes out
Speaker 2: and he immediately is on a team that has no
Speaker 2: shot to compete, and then he gets traded to the
Speaker 2: Washington Wizards. So like, imagine going from playing in La
Speaker 2: one of the meccas of basketball in the world with
Speaker 2: Lebron James, and you're like, and everything.
Speaker 3: Is championship or bus by the way. Yeah, the other
Speaker 3: part of it, like the expectations are like we're competing,
Speaker 3: and then he gets set somewhere where it's like, it'd
Speaker 3: be great if you just rested.
Speaker 2: Yeah, and now I know Trey Young makes things a
Speaker 2: little bit more interesting in Washington, but now you're just
Speaker 2: playing on a young, rebuilding team. And so I do
Speaker 2: think like, if you were to get a D to
Speaker 2: the Warriors, there's a version of that story where you
Speaker 2: get a h I'm going to prove everybody wrong about
Speaker 2: me kind of season, and he's just in that age
Speaker 2: two in his early thirties where it's like there's there's
Speaker 2: enough juice in there for like one or two epic
Speaker 2: flashback Anthony Davis seasons, and that that's to me where
Speaker 2: I like the And it's hard to find a team
Speaker 2: that makes sense for ad. It's hard at his salary
Speaker 2: and with his injury history, and like given the fact
Speaker 2: that you know Washington's gonna want at least one first
Speaker 2: round draft pick back, like, there's a lot that goes
Speaker 2: into that. Let's talk a little bit about the roster though,
Speaker 2: irrespective of anything with Lebron and a D. How are
Speaker 2: you feeling about the rest of the Warriors roster? How
Speaker 2: do you feel about yax Celendenburg, How did you feel
Speaker 2: about losing quintin posts like where are you at with
Speaker 2: the rest of what the Warriors have to offer?
Speaker 3: I mean, they've built the perfect roster for Ad and Lebron.
Speaker 3: Like the fun thing about their roster is they've done
Speaker 3: a good job the last four years. Sorry for you,
Speaker 3: that is wrong last couple of years of acquiring these young,
Speaker 3: energetic players who help you win in the margins, but
Speaker 3: none of them are gonna be guys you really build
Speaker 3: an offense around. Now, maybe the Accel's better than that.
Speaker 3: I don't want to put a ceiling on him right now,
Speaker 3: but like, let's just go through the lists. Like Pajemski
Speaker 3: is objectively a good player. Most teams can use him.
Speaker 2: I under like him because he plays hard. I think
Speaker 2: he'll I think he'll take two or three shots a
Speaker 2: game that drive him insane. Sure, but I think he's
Speaker 2: gonna like how much he like scraps.
Speaker 3: You know, he's gonna actually annoy Lebron. It's the same
Speaker 3: thing that annoys Draymond and Jimmy. It's the two or
Speaker 3: three shots he doesn't take where he gets pass the
Speaker 3: ball and he's thinking instead of just putting it up.
Speaker 3: Because like Lebron's maybe the best driving kick passer of
Speaker 3: all time. He's certainly one of the best like point
Speaker 3: forwards of all time. Kicks it to the guy in
Speaker 3: a corner. They get fed up when they kick it
Speaker 3: to someone passes in rhythm, hit the shot, and they
Speaker 3: think about it too much. And odds that's was his
Speaker 3: biggest weakness, Like you could literally define his good and
Speaker 3: bad games by in his own head versus letting it
Speaker 3: rip so putting him aside. He's a good player though overall.
Speaker 3: Gi Santos good player, scraps, competes. Sometimes the offense is there,
Speaker 3: sometimes it's not, but he's always gonna get rebounds. I
Speaker 3: was gonna defend doing these little things will Richard. He
Speaker 3: may be a good player, he may not. Same concept
Speaker 3: Yaxcel better version of Gis Santos, All the guys they've acquired,
Speaker 3: the young players, they are hyper valuable multi skill role players,
Speaker 3: and they make sense and I like them all, And
Speaker 3: maybe Pods and Yaxceel Lindburg have higher upside than that.
Speaker 3: I would argue against it because usually guys who are
Speaker 3: like foundational pieces let you know it immediately offensively. I
Speaker 3: think it's more likely they're gonna be really good glue guys.
Speaker 3: I think that's all useful if you acquire the main
Speaker 3: guys to go with them, you know, so that they're
Speaker 3: kind of in this weird situation where they've built this
Speaker 3: perfect roster for Steph and a true second third option,
Speaker 3: but they don't have the true second third option.
Speaker 2: Yeah, there's a lot of slotting issues that the Warriors
Speaker 2: have had with the injuries to Steph and Jimmy. That Like,
Speaker 2: if you watch pods and he's running twenty five pick
Speaker 2: and rolls in a game, it's gonna come with some
Speaker 2: frustrating shots. It's gonna come with some side eyes from
Speaker 2: Christaps Porzingis, It's gonna come with some of those kinds
Speaker 2: of things. But if he's in a situation where he
Speaker 2: is allowed to function as a glue guy, that's where
Speaker 2: the stuff that he's great at. Like, he's an amazing
Speaker 2: rebounder for a guard, He's a very good connective passer.
Speaker 2: He's a guy that like is very good at making
Speaker 2: the reads that naturally manifest in Golden State's offense when
Speaker 2: when they're in the flow. And to your point, if
Speaker 2: you get a Lebron, if you get an Anthony Davis.
Speaker 2: It slots everyone properly. I think an underrated part of
Speaker 2: this roster, specifically for a Lebron AD discussion, is front
Speaker 2: court depth. Like if if Lebron needs to take a
Speaker 2: night off, Jackson and Ghi Santos are both like guys
Speaker 2: who can start in a pinch at a power forward
Speaker 2: spot in the NBA. If AD has to take a
Speaker 2: night off, like Chrisops porzingis if he happens to be healthy,
Speaker 2: can Al Horford can play like you can. There's even
Speaker 2: It's like, Okay Horford and a d are both out
Speaker 2: tonight and Christops is sick. Okay Draymond at the five,
Speaker 2: Lebron at the four, Yacks at the three, like we're
Speaker 2: big still, you know, like they they're They're set up
Speaker 2: specifically to handle front court depth related issues in the
Speaker 2: regular season like that as someone are rooted for the
Speaker 2: Lakers for years, like a team built around a younger
Speaker 2: version of Lebron and Ad. When one of them got hurt,
Speaker 2: it was a huge problem. It was a huge problem
Speaker 2: because they didn't have any forwards other than Lebron. That
Speaker 2: was why they made the Ruie trade to begin with,
Speaker 2: is they didn't have any forwards and their backup centers
Speaker 2: were bad, and so they had no like if that
Speaker 2: was the discussion for years was like what if Lebron
Speaker 2: and Ad are healthy and it's like Golden State has
Speaker 2: the flexibility in their front court. The flip side of that, though,
Speaker 2: is and I do like pods. Like you said, you
Speaker 2: and I were talking a little bit over the last
Speaker 2: couple days about the Anthony Mountain. We really liked Anthony Mountain.
Speaker 2: I think I think he's just another one of those
Speaker 2: like glue guys who does everything really well in the
Speaker 2: role player spot as a guard. And once again, there
Speaker 2: were times last year where even in the playing games
Speaker 2: where I thought he was a little overtaxed as a
Speaker 2: ball handler and he's like driving into traffic and throwing
Speaker 2: up stuff that doesn't have much chance of going in.
Speaker 2: But it's like that's not gonna be anything he has
Speaker 2: to do when the team is healthy in this in
Speaker 2: this theoretical universe.
Speaker 1: I do think that's the next piece of this though.
Speaker 2: Where I think if if you get Ad and Lebron
Speaker 2: and you find yourself in January February and the team
Speaker 2: looks good, I think there's a secondary deal here that
Speaker 2: has to be done for some sort of like higher
Speaker 2: level two three, either a multiple piece kind of depth
Speaker 2: move or like oh we like a Trey Murphy, like
Speaker 2: we did think this guy could be like in our
Speaker 2: closing five kind of move. I do think that that
Speaker 2: is the one weak point of this roster is like
Speaker 2: like rotate, playoff, rotation level two three, like swing players.
Speaker 3: Yeah, you're betting on Melton being more of the player
Speaker 3: was pre injury, another year removed from his injury. Maybe
Speaker 3: Pods takes a step, maybe Gi Santos or yes, I'll
Speaker 3: take a step. But if they don't, then clearly you
Speaker 3: need a swing player, like you said, like the point
Speaker 3: of attack defender, the hyper athletic three and d Wan.
Speaker 3: The players having the right now are I don't want
Speaker 3: to call them gambles, but they're young players coming into
Speaker 3: Maybe they come into it, maybe they don't. We don't know.
Speaker 3: I still think you're in a good spot if you're
Speaker 3: actually able to acquire an Anthony Davison, a Lebron and
Speaker 3: you build the expendables or whatever the hell you want
Speaker 3: to call them, I think you're in a good spot
Speaker 3: to win enough games from October to January with those
Speaker 3: young players to then make an informed decision in January
Speaker 3: that's worth you know, you know, Pods, he's fine, it's
Speaker 3: just not going to be good enough in the playoffs,
Speaker 3: and let's move him for you know, a KCP type
Speaker 3: or a Caruso type, or whoever's available who's like ready
Speaker 3: to play that role in the playoffs, or like Melton
Speaker 3: who he talked about. I actually think Melton can be
Speaker 3: that player because he was that player before his injury.
Speaker 3: But there's always a chance that it just never comes
Speaker 3: full back. You never know, Like I think the reason
Speaker 3: he shot thirty percent from three last year is because
Speaker 3: Stephan Jimmy got hurt and he had to play first
Speaker 3: option basketball and he's not that guy. I think it's
Speaker 3: highly likely in the construct we're talking about, he'll probably
Speaker 3: shoot thirty eight thirty nine percent and be that three
Speaker 3: and D guard everyone wants.
Speaker 1: Well, maybe he isn't.
Speaker 3: Maybe he isn't. Maybe you got to readdress that. The
Speaker 3: point is if they were actually able to make these
Speaker 3: things happen and they get Lebron for again, I keep
Speaker 3: coming back to this, if he's willing to sign for
Speaker 3: a Vetri minimum or a mid level exception, like you
Speaker 3: just don't add talent like that at any age at
Speaker 3: that price.
Speaker 1: That's why story in the NBA, it's impossible.
Speaker 3: Yeah, and then you know, hopefully you get Anthony Davis
Speaker 3: without giving up all your draft capital, you have the ability,
Speaker 3: to your point in January, to add that final piece
Speaker 3: if it doesn't happen internally. And I think that's what's
Speaker 3: really exciting about They have the you know, everyone's favorite,
Speaker 3: what they have the optionality.
Speaker 2: Well, and that's why the Melton thing I think was big.
Speaker 2: Then being able to retain him because I actually do
Speaker 2: think he's a legitimate placeholder, Like he's a guy that
Speaker 2: is like a a real like can give you the
Speaker 2: facsimile of a starting level two way two guard. And
Speaker 2: then to your point, if you get to January and
Speaker 2: his body's feeling great and he's doing awesome and he's
Speaker 2: filling the role and he's like he's like KCP was
Speaker 2: on the twenty twenty Lakers and he's just a great fit,
Speaker 2: then then we're great. But then also if you find
Speaker 2: yourself in a position where you're like, I like him,
Speaker 2: but I wish he was our seventh man in our
Speaker 2: playoff rotation, you can make that type of move before
Speaker 2: we get out of here. What has been your first
Speaker 2: impression of Yoxall, Lindenborg, He's awesome, He's fun.
Speaker 3: He's a fun personality, by the way, Like one of
Speaker 3: the more underrated things is getting young guys who have personality,
Speaker 3: who like bring it a little bit that way, Like
Speaker 3: he has no filter when he talks. Yeah, it's hilarious
Speaker 3: in that standpoint, But the other part of it, getting
Speaker 3: back to the basketball point, I think people are underrating
Speaker 3: his upside. Everyone knows he's twenty three. Everyone points out
Speaker 3: the older college story. What they often lead out of
Speaker 3: it is he didn't play aaschoo basketab he's late to
Speaker 3: the game. I think there's more to unlock there. And
Speaker 3: when you're talking about a guy who has not just
Speaker 3: positional size plus positional size six' ten seven to four,
Speaker 3: WINGSPAN i mean he's built like he's built like somewhere
Speaker 3: in between og And ob And. LEBRON i can compare
Speaker 3: him To lebron, physically but like he's a big wing
Speaker 3: and he reads the game at an incredibly high. LEVEL
Speaker 3: i think people are sleeping on the upside there because
Speaker 3: typically guys who see the floor well and have plus physical,
Speaker 3: measurements like they only get. Better you, know the shot
Speaker 3: looks amazing right. Now coming into the, draft the number
Speaker 3: one weakness that people would point out about him was the.
Speaker 3: Shot maybe he's a, Shooter maybe he could become a.
Speaker 3: Shoot why can't he become a better ball. Handler he's
Speaker 3: already a good. Ballhandler he's a fun, player he's an interesting. Player,
Speaker 3: honestly this draft in general has been. Great these are
Speaker 3: fun young players to.
Speaker 2: Watch i'm so glad you brought up this point about the,
Speaker 2: ceiling BECAUSE i think people get hung up on the
Speaker 2: age piece of. It BUT i really do think that
Speaker 2: that it's more, about like how long have you been playing,
Speaker 2: basketball and more, importantly how long have you been playing
Speaker 2: basketball under a structure that's actually helping you.
Speaker 1: Get better every?
Speaker 2: Day because LIKE i didn't play high school basketball, either
Speaker 2: and the time in my life WHEN i improved most
Speaker 2: as a basketball player was from twenty five to, thirty
Speaker 2: BECAUSE i hit a phase that most players hit younger
Speaker 2: in their. Life and it's like it didn't matter BECAUSE
Speaker 2: i was done playing at that, point SO i just
Speaker 2: became unnecessarily good for men's leagues and stuff like. That
Speaker 2: but like the point is is LIKE I i the
Speaker 2: dramatic improvement in myself as a basketball player took place
Speaker 2: after the how Old yaxel is right now and again
Speaker 2: and the other thing, Too Like yacks actually came up
Speaker 2: Through Arizona western and one of my juco coaches who
Speaker 2: was coaching at a different school at the time In,
Speaker 2: utah but then he was originally From yuma and he
Speaker 2: went back To Arizona western to coach Their Carter. Row
Speaker 2: him AND i were working together quite a bit around
Speaker 2: the draft because LIKE nba people were hitting him up
Speaker 2: and asking about yax and he was, like love the,
Speaker 2: dude hard, worker just a guy you wanted to have
Speaker 2: in the locker. Room he had him back when he
Speaker 2: was raw and like nowhere near as good as he is.
Speaker 2: Now and like ALL i had heard From carter was
Speaker 2: like he's just a dude that just keeps getting better
Speaker 2: because he's always putting in the. Work and so if
Speaker 2: he's on a similar trajectory where he didn't play in
Speaker 2: high school and he's kind of like developmentally where many
Speaker 2: sixteen seventeen year olds, are and he's going to continue
Speaker 2: to im comparing him to like a kid who's been
Speaker 2: playing since he's, seven you know WHAT i. Mean if
Speaker 2: he's still on that, trajectory there's no reason in the
Speaker 2: world why he can't continue to get. Better and there's
Speaker 2: like key factors that you're always looking at, there what
Speaker 2: does the touch look? Like, well WHEN i looked into
Speaker 2: the stuff With, yax he was great shooting when he
Speaker 2: was open and some of the drop offs came in
Speaker 2: off the dribble and in movement shooting. Situations that tells
Speaker 2: me that he's got the. Touch but he just has
Speaker 2: to improve some of the fluidity and some of the
Speaker 2: stuff that comes with tons and tons of, reps the
Speaker 2: feel for the game. Stuff AND i think this is
Speaker 2: an underrated part of that position because when you start
Speaker 2: to dig into some of the other fours like coming
Speaker 2: Uh Ru Hachi, Mura John, conns like when you start
Speaker 2: to dig into some of those, guys like one of
Speaker 2: the big separators for that position is like you are
Speaker 2: you just a good catch and shoot, guy or like
Speaker 2: can you play in the flow and can you play
Speaker 2: with other good basketball players and make the? Reads And
Speaker 2: i've seen this in all the summer league. Games Yah
Speaker 2: yats just makes every simple easy read when he's when
Speaker 2: he's got the ball in his. Hands he just plays,
Speaker 2: easy breezy flow, basketball AND i think that just fits
Speaker 2: wonderfully with What Golden state likes to. Do and then
Speaker 2: you'll see flash he plays like that transition play where
Speaker 2: he goes And jackhammer's the. Dog he had that spin
Speaker 2: move yesterday was, Disgusting like that was a nasty move
Speaker 2: like he. Has there's clearly flashes of upside in there as.
Speaker 3: Well and then like just the last, point which is
Speaker 3: all that's, true he's doing it in like an IDEAL
Speaker 3: nba body because that's like the real. Stepar LIKE i
Speaker 3: could say everything you said about pods late to the,
Speaker 3: game innate, feel, touch all those, things but he's fighting
Speaker 3: the fact that he's six,' four he doesn't have the quickest.
Speaker 3: First step everything is a lot easier and harder to
Speaker 3: find when you're talking about a guy six nine sixty
Speaker 3: ten with a seven to. Four wingspan, so like even
Speaker 3: if he isn't the most, explosive athlete you can make
Speaker 3: up for a lot of your deficiencies in terms of
Speaker 3: like lightning first step when you're, six ten just six
Speaker 3: seven to, Four wingspan like a lot Of his michigan
Speaker 3: highlights were him kind of allowing guys to get his
Speaker 3: hip because he knew he could just block him, from
Speaker 3: behind because he knew, he could because he knew he could,
Speaker 3: do it and a lot, of that and you listen
Speaker 3: to him talk, about it he knew it the whole,
Speaker 3: time too which lets you know he has feel. For
Speaker 3: it he understands, the game because ultimately what matters is
Speaker 3: did you stop the? Play right there's not one specific
Speaker 3: perfect way to, do it but he had a feel
Speaker 3: for he wants, to play So like i'm, With you
Speaker 3: and the LAST point i want to say on him
Speaker 3: is he's a. Perfect warrior because the trade out would
Speaker 3: Define Most by Draymond, And stephan curry is being overlooked
Speaker 3: in their Case. Size steph you know Everyone new steph,
Speaker 3: could shoot but it's like how good can he? Really
Speaker 3: Be in, draymond's, case oh, he know he's how to
Speaker 3: play basketball well the position as. You play In the,
Speaker 3: xcel's case it's kind of the, same, concept, like okay he,
Speaker 3: can play he's, Twenty three like how good are you
Speaker 3: really going? To BE so i think from, that standpoint
Speaker 3: it's easy to root, for HIM and i think he's
Speaker 3: got a higher upset because they know what to do
Speaker 3: with players like that far more than they knew what
Speaker 3: to do With a Jonathan Kumingher.
Speaker 2: AT james, I like i Last thing i'll say about
Speaker 2: it IS just i think some of the concerns, with
Speaker 2: him like the, ball handling and there was a couple
Speaker 2: sloppy reps in some Of The summer. League, games again
Speaker 2: especially If the warriors are able to pull off Something
Speaker 2: With lebron James And, ANTHONY davis i don't think he's
Speaker 2: going to have a ton of ball handling, responsibility early
Speaker 2: so he can develop that. In time the switching piece,
Speaker 2: of it like candy guard, Quick cards like he picks
Speaker 2: up a couple of Fouls Against ryan nemhard Yesterday When
Speaker 2: red nemmar just a hard right handed drives and he
Speaker 2: just kind of, Fouls him, and LIKE all i can
Speaker 2: think about, is LIKE if i had to have a
Speaker 2: defender that has some deficiencies and certain types, OF switches
Speaker 2: i want him In A draymond green lead defense where
Speaker 2: he can scram him out, of switches he can captain
Speaker 2: from the, back line give him pointers in, The, game,
Speaker 2: like hey he just beat you, with, this dude try to.
Speaker 2: Next time like that kind. Of STUFF like I just
Speaker 2: i Think the warriors have the infrastructure to take the
Speaker 2: most ADVANTAGE, of yax both in the short.
Speaker 1: Term but in the long term.
Speaker 3: AS well i agree they do better with players who
Speaker 3: have kind, of feel but they got to work through
Speaker 3: some skill stuff and some of like the fine points
Speaker 3: than taking like a raw ball of clay where they
Speaker 3: have all the athletic tools but. No feel and that's
Speaker 3: been proven over the.
Speaker 1: Last, decade, yeah no.
Speaker 2: Totally agree last thing before we get out, of here
Speaker 2: how like it just just briefly define where you're feeling
Speaker 2: in terms of optimism On the.
Speaker 1: LEBRON front i want.
Speaker 3: TO believe i really. Bit there it's like it's it's like,
Speaker 3: we believe we want, to believe probably more optimistic than
Speaker 3: the current. Public consensus our public Consensus is Cleveland. Or,
Speaker 3: miami yeah and my thought on, it is if, you
Speaker 3: want if you want to Go, to cleveland he will
Speaker 3: do it by the end of. This weekend and he hasn't,
Speaker 3: so far so. We'll see it could. Still happen But
Speaker 3: maybe i'm holding. That hope maybe. IT'S cope i, don't
Speaker 3: know BUT like i feel better about IT than i
Speaker 3: did a couple of. Days Ago and i'm gonna ride.
Speaker 2: With them kopium is the drug OF the nba offseason
Speaker 2: for every for every. Fan BASE AND i I Thought
Speaker 2: golden state made the most sense from. The beginning AND
Speaker 2: what i keep coming back to too is like if
Speaker 2: it was as simple as he's, going home he would have.
Speaker 1: Committed already LIKE SO I i i my heart Still says.
Speaker 2: GOLDEN stated I actually i have a little group chat
Speaker 2: with some of my friends at the volume and they
Speaker 2: we made each other make our final prediction TODAY and
Speaker 2: i Did Say golden state was my. FINAL prediction i
Speaker 2: was the only one Who Said. Golden state but. It
Speaker 2: island everyone Else. Said cleveland there Was, no, Miami guys.
Speaker 2: MIAMI there, i did Manam punch lebron Out of. Cleveland
Speaker 2: today that's the other good QUESTION that i. Have there, But,
Speaker 2: anyways sam thank you so much for taking the time
Speaker 2: to come. BY today i really, appreciate, you man appreciate you.
Speaker 2: Man anytime that is all we have, for, today guys
Speaker 2: is always a sincerely appreciate you for supporting us and supporting.
Speaker 1: The show we will see you. Next time