Speaker 1: You're tuned into Heat Check with Trystal Quick.
Speaker 2: On this episode of the Heat Check, It's our free
Speaker 2: agency preview show.
Speaker 3: And not only do I catch you up.
Speaker 2: On what you need to know when I'm joined on
Speaker 2: this episode by two special guests, Keith Smith, friend of
Speaker 2: show from Spoke Track, and a legend Tam Favalli. I
Speaker 2: don't know why I said, Tan Dan Favlli of Bleacher
Speaker 2: Report and the Hardwood Knocks podcast. Get it, Hardwood Knocks
Speaker 2: a whole lot of information that you need to know
Speaker 2: heading into free agency weekend.
Speaker 4: So Nick, do me a favor and drop that motherfucking beat.
Speaker 4: They should be Rihanna.
Speaker 2: So the new CBA is officially out, and it is
Speaker 2: nearly six hundred pages of glory and folks, it's not
Speaker 2: exactly what I would.
Speaker 4: Call player friendly.
Speaker 2: There are punitive measures in place to make sure two
Speaker 2: Hammer owners pause who repeatedly surpassed the luxury tax, which
Speaker 2: is now tiered.
Speaker 3: By the way, going over the second apron will not only.
Speaker 2: Cost you as much as seven dollars per dollar you spend,
Speaker 2: you can't sign buyout players, you lose your mid level exception,
Speaker 2: and you can't even have some of your draft picks.
Speaker 2: Sounds like the Warriors and Clippers would hate that even
Speaker 2: the richest NBA owners.
Speaker 4: Are now filling the crunch.
Speaker 2: I did a TikTok on how Joe lacub cut ties
Speaker 2: with Jordan Poole and made him the first victim of
Speaker 2: the CBA because that was a salary dump, and now
Speaker 2: Steve Bomber has done it again. By far the richest
Speaker 2: owner decides Eric Gordon, you baby have to go, because
Speaker 2: we are not spending one hundred and ten million dollars
Speaker 2: on a three and D shooter who can really only
Speaker 2: shoot threes from the corner. When a guy is that's
Speaker 2: worth one hundred billion says.
Speaker 4: Yeah, we're just not.
Speaker 3: That's the end of the era of folks.
Speaker 4: That's it.
Speaker 2: What you're gonna now see are teams, even rich teams,
Speaker 2: very reluctant to sign these long term contracts over one
Speaker 2: hundred MILLI and those teams like Phoenix, even the young players,
Speaker 2: and those teams like Phoenix who have multiple bloated contracts
Speaker 2: with older more we'll call it soft tissue injury prone players.
Speaker 2: They're gonna now live and die by checks notes veteran
Speaker 2: minimum contracts from players just chasing the rings sounds like
Speaker 2: the Lakers change isn't just coming.
Speaker 4: It's here.
Speaker 2: Check out social I did an explainer of everything that
Speaker 2: you need to know about the CBA. It's worth checking out.
Speaker 2: It will dictate what's happening forward in the league. So
Speaker 2: free agency is here tonight at five pm. We got
Speaker 2: to catch up. I want to get a little few
Speaker 2: thoughts down before it happens.
Speaker 4: To get us prepared.
Speaker 2: First of all, there's already been some extensions that have
Speaker 2: removed big names from the marketplace. We know that nas
Speaker 2: Reed sign a three year, forty two million dollar deal
Speaker 2: with the Timberwolves.
Speaker 4: Great signing.
Speaker 2: We talked last episode about how that meant that the
Speaker 2: Wolves had ninety million dollars tied up in three centers,
Speaker 2: and what that really meant was that key Cat had
Speaker 2: to go. But after that we had another one. Harrison
Speaker 2: Barnes returns to the Kings on the three year, fifty
Speaker 2: four million dollar deal, which I think is pretty much
Speaker 2: a good thing for both sides. Harrison Barnes very steady,
Speaker 2: could play great defense, can shoot threes unless he's playing
Speaker 2: against the Warriors, and it's pretty cheap three years, fifty
Speaker 2: four million dollar deal, way cheaper than say somebody like
Speaker 2: Jordan Poole for the Kings that helps them continue to
Speaker 2: evolve and get better, and I think both sides are
Speaker 2: probably happy.
Speaker 4: Here.
Speaker 2: Nikola Vucevich signed for three years and sixty million.
Speaker 3: With the Bulls, and you could say he's.
Speaker 4: Not worth that much money.
Speaker 2: And I could understand why you would think that, because
Speaker 2: even though he had his statistically or actually what you
Speaker 2: might think was statistically his best year, it was identical
Speaker 2: to the year before that, where he was in many
Speaker 2: people's minds, absolute trash. But if you were to lose
Speaker 2: Vusovich and you're the Bulls, you have no one else
Speaker 2: that you can sign. You can't replace that money with
Speaker 2: a serviceable player of his caliber. You would have to
Speaker 2: find someone for much less money who wouldn't even be
Speaker 2: close to the type of player the Vusevich was.
Speaker 3: So this is the CBA biting teams in.
Speaker 2: The ass and makes you make decisions that you really
Speaker 2: don't want to make, which is, listen, we only have
Speaker 2: so much to spend and sometimes you can only spend
Speaker 2: it on certain players. Goga but Tatzi remember him. He
Speaker 2: was the one who got in a fight during the Olympics.
Speaker 4: I think he got his ass whooped.
Speaker 2: Actually, he got his option picked up by Orlando, as
Speaker 2: did Miles McBride with the Knicks.
Speaker 4: Jared Vanderbilt with the Lakers.
Speaker 2: Good for Vando, Xavier Tillman with the grizz Alec Burks
Speaker 2: with the Pistons. Good for Alec Burks. I guess his
Speaker 2: option was ten and a half million dollars. Does seem
Speaker 2: like a lot for Alec Burks. How do I know
Speaker 2: his name is Alec and not Alex?
Speaker 4: I mean only only.
Speaker 5: The deep of the deep know that.
Speaker 2: Jordan Clarkson, That's how Kiloki and niche is.
Speaker 3: Jordan Clarkson exercised his.
Speaker 2: Player option to stay with the Utah Jazz. Kelly, that's
Speaker 2: just crazy, that's crazy. Remember we thought Jordan clarks would go.
Speaker 2: Maybe he's gonna wait till free agency. Kelly, Olynox and
Speaker 2: Taylor Horton Tucker. Not Taylor Horton Tucker, like some other
Speaker 2: people might think his name is meaning three players are
Speaker 2: returning to the Jazz. Now three players I did not
Speaker 2: see returning. Josh Hart picked up his option Joshua Hart.
Speaker 2: That is twelve point nine million dollars with the Knicks.
Speaker 2: An additional Villanova of Wildcat Dante DiVincenzo may also be
Speaker 2: coming to the garden.
Speaker 3: Oladipo picks up his.
Speaker 4: Nine point four million dollar option.
Speaker 2: Listen, uh, that is not news. This man has no knees,
Speaker 2: He has no ligaments anywhere in his lower extremities. So
Speaker 2: if you can pick up nine point four million dollars
Speaker 2: from anyone, you better take it, baby, and you better
Speaker 2: run because you were getting the vet minimum anywhere else.
Speaker 2: There were a lot of players that had their options
Speaker 2: declined as well, making them free agents. Portland passed on
Speaker 2: Kevin Knox in part because he was the admin out.
Speaker 4: And you've got the.
Speaker 2: Lakers declining ten point five million dollars on Mobamba, sixteen
Speaker 2: and a half million dollars on Maligue Beasley, just too
Speaker 2: much for the Lakers to pick up. May bring him
Speaker 2: back for less, but we'll see. We'll see how that goes.
Speaker 2: Some people thought that maybe Herb Jones would test things out.
Speaker 2: The Pelicans declined the one point eight million dollar option
Speaker 2: on him, So what happens next. Nothing. They declined it
Speaker 2: so that they could lock him up long term. Of course,
Speaker 2: they want him, probably for the rest of his career there. Likewise,
Speaker 2: Torrian Prince had his option declined by the Wolves and
Speaker 2: found out on Twitter from woj pretty much like all
Speaker 2: of us. But they also want to bring him back.
Speaker 2: So that's a fun, cute, adorable story. Three high draft picks.
Speaker 2: Former eleven pick Michael Corter, Carter Williams so I barely
Speaker 2: remembers in the league, Former number eight pick Jackson Hayes.
Speaker 2: Remember Jackson Hayes had a moment when he tried to
Speaker 2: knock that door down in a domestic dispute, and former
Speaker 2: number seventeen pick Nikaile Alexander Walker from Minnesota all waived.
Speaker 2: I think two of those players actually were drafted by
Speaker 2: New Orleans, so good job, David Griffin. So now that
Speaker 2: we're up to date, I'm gonna go over ten free
Speaker 2: agents that I'm interested in and what they might actually
Speaker 2: do in the next twelve hours.
Speaker 4: James Harden first up.
Speaker 2: We all thought maybe James Harden would either go to
Speaker 2: Houston and they would pay him an ungodly amount of
Speaker 2: money to sell tickets for Tillman Fertita, a man who
Speaker 2: only cares about the shrimp fourt and the Dalla dollar bills,
Speaker 2: or he would go back with Darryl Morey and his
Speaker 2: love affair to Philadelphia in the bombshell move.
Speaker 4: It looks like neither are gonna happen.
Speaker 2: Harden and Sixers were so far apart on a contract
Speaker 2: that they are now looking to trade him as he
Speaker 2: has exercised his player option. Everyone is now speculating where
Speaker 2: will Harden land. We know it's not gonna be Houston,
Speaker 2: even though they have sixty one million dollars in cap space.
Speaker 2: That's not happening. They're gonna probably go after someone like Kuzma,
Speaker 2: Van Fleet, Dylan Brooks.
Speaker 3: Why not both.
Speaker 4: Ima Udoka can't make it more clear that.
Speaker 2: He does not want James Harden messing with the team
Speaker 2: chemistry on a young team.
Speaker 4: So where does he end up? The rumors are getting hot.
Speaker 2: The Clippers seem to be the leaders in the clubhouse,
Speaker 2: and the Heat are also interested. Apparently the Knicks are interested.
Speaker 2: But once again, for the third straight year, James Harden
Speaker 2: has hijacked our off season.
Speaker 6: Why why?
Speaker 4: I don't know why he does it.
Speaker 3: I don't know, did not see it coming, but hey,
Speaker 3: that's why.
Speaker 4: It's the NBA. That's what makes it exciting.
Speaker 2: Kyrie Irving another exhausting, exasperating former teammate of James Harden
Speaker 2: is also hijake jacking the moment full spin cycle, pretending
Speaker 2: that other teams are interested in him for anything more
Speaker 2: than the veteran minimum. Kyrie Irving, you continue to peddle
Speaker 2: those lies, you are going back to Dallas. Everyone knows it,
Speaker 2: unless you are out of your mind and you take
Speaker 2: the absolute minimum to play for the Suns. Apparently he
Speaker 2: has been having mutual interest with Phoenix. Okay, if Matt
Speaker 2: Eshbia does that deal, someone needs to take the team
Speaker 2: away from him. Would that be the shortest tenure of
Speaker 2: a freaking NBA owner we've ever seen. It's just him
Speaker 2: and Isaiah Thomas out on the street after nine.
Speaker 4: Months of owning an NBA team. I mean, there's just
Speaker 4: no chance that happens. There's just no chance.
Speaker 3: PJ.
Speaker 2: Washington, aka the victim of Brittany Renner, has been offered
Speaker 2: four years and fifty two million dollars, but he's looking
Speaker 2: for more. He's a nice little four or five small five,
Speaker 2: big four, pretty inconsistent, but he plays for Charlotte, so
Speaker 2: we're not even really sure what he could do. You'd
Speaker 2: probably get as much as said tventy five million dollars
Speaker 2: from someone looking for a wing and guess what he
Speaker 2: needs it because he's been paying all that.
Speaker 4: Money to Brittany Renner.
Speaker 2: Max Truce is loose to the tune of three years
Speaker 2: forty eight from the Pacers.
Speaker 4: Is that true? That's the rumor. There's no way that
Speaker 4: Heat can match that. He don't have any money.
Speaker 2: The Heater over the luxury text. The Heat can barely
Speaker 2: afford to keep Gabe Vincent let alone. This streuce is loose,
Speaker 2: very strange player, very tall, can play a little defense, obviously,
Speaker 2: shoot from forty percent from three. No one goes one
Speaker 2: for eleven and then eleven for eleven from three and
Speaker 2: back to back games more than Max s Truce. But
Speaker 2: he'll be missed in Miami, and I'm sure the girls
Speaker 2: will miss him there too.
Speaker 3: Bruce Brown?
Speaker 2: Is there any more hot commodity on the market than
Speaker 2: a twelve point five million dollar Bruce Brown after winning
Speaker 2: an NBA Finals, after being completely misused by Steve Nash,
Speaker 2: which is just the most Steve Nash move.
Speaker 4: He is the bell the ball.
Speaker 2: The Lakers are prepared to offer him twelve point three million,
Speaker 2: which is the mid level exception, more than the Nuggets
Speaker 2: can give him.
Speaker 4: I don't know.
Speaker 2: If he runs it back with the Nugs, I'm sure
Speaker 2: that will make him sad. But he's earned every penny
Speaker 2: and six million dollars. If you're in the in that
Speaker 2: range where it's either six or twelve, let me say this,
Speaker 2: it matters to you. It matters Cam Reddish. What a
Speaker 2: sad story Cam Reddish has become. I hope he sticks
Speaker 2: and fits somewhere, because he's gone from Atlanta to New
Speaker 2: York to Portland and everyone is chewed him in and
Speaker 2: spit him out. The Blazers declined his option, and on
Speaker 2: a team that's literally looking for six seven to six
Speaker 2: nine guys that can play, defense, shoot and score at
Speaker 2: all three levels, he'd think they would maybe want Cam Reddish,
Speaker 2: but they do not. They let him go for nothing.
Speaker 2: He's one of the most confusing players in the NBA.
Speaker 2: Even his Duke teammates like Zion and RJ. Barrett said, Oh.
Speaker 4: He's gonna be the best one of our class. They
Speaker 4: were fucking lying. They were lying.
Speaker 2: I mean it's not I mean, listen, it's closer than
Speaker 2: you think. And that's more to do with Ion an RJ.
Speaker 2: Barrett than that has to do with Cam Reddish.
Speaker 4: Someone's gonna take a flyer on him.
Speaker 2: I hope he's I hope he like thrives in a
Speaker 2: place like OKC or Orlando, or a place with no pressure,
Speaker 2: a place that loves length and athleticism in a place
Speaker 2: will probably be like the eighth man off the bench,
Speaker 2: just scoring buckets. Up next is Christian Wood. He was
Speaker 2: seen as maybe coming back to Dallas. They do not
Speaker 2: want him. His agent's annoying, he's annoying. He was not
Speaker 2: well liked by Jason Kidd. He's an unrestricted free agent.
Speaker 2: Now rumors were that the Miami Heat want him, but
Speaker 2: that's a lie. We know that he doesn't play a
Speaker 2: liquor defense. And let's be real, do you think he
Speaker 2: fits into the Heat culture?
Speaker 4: Pause?
Speaker 2: Oh wait, no, you know he doesn't. He's got a
Speaker 2: lot of talent. He can score, but he seems to
Speaker 2: wear hell. He's welcome fucking fast, even with Detroit. When
Speaker 2: Troit tells you you gotta go, baby, you gotta go.
Speaker 4: Chris Middleton, he declines his option. But he's probably coming
Speaker 4: back to the Bucks. Let's be honest, Like, there's a
Speaker 4: chance he could be on the move, but it's a
Speaker 4: very small chance.
Speaker 2: Is his knee fixing like itself, Is it regenerating?
Speaker 4: Is he gonna be healthy next year?
Speaker 2: We'll have to see, because when he's healthy and he's
Speaker 2: an incredible compliment to Giannis, I tell you what, they
Speaker 2: are really hard to beat. Another Milwaukee Buck that we
Speaker 2: need to figure out. What's happening to him? Is brook
Speaker 2: Lopez coming off his best year defensive Player of the
Speaker 2: Year candidate. The demand for centers would seem to be
Speaker 2: quite low, but again, everyone wants a little Bruce Brown.
Speaker 2: Everyone wants a little Brook Lopez on their roster. Not
Speaker 2: a small number of teams who will sign him if
Speaker 2: they can't, even though he's getting a little long in
Speaker 2: the tooth now. I would love him in Portland, but
Speaker 2: it appears the Bucks want to bring him back as well.
Speaker 2: A d Rose, very sad. D Rose is coming to
Speaker 2: the end of the road, like boys to men. The
Speaker 2: last of my ten interesting free agents is Derick Rose.
Speaker 4: He got his option declined.
Speaker 2: In New York after being basically defade designated free agents,
Speaker 2: designated for arrival, whatever you want to call it. That's
Speaker 2: a baseball term. Most of the second half of the
Speaker 2: year he was unusable. He didn't complain, He just kept chilling,
Speaker 2: which only makes his value higher on the market than
Speaker 2: it probably would have been.
Speaker 4: I could see him coming on the Sun, going to
Speaker 4: the Suns, a team team.
Speaker 2: That needs a little veteran depth, somebody who can bring
Speaker 2: the ball up. A lot of teams could use a
Speaker 2: little ten to fifteen minutes of Derick Rose. Maybe a
Speaker 2: team like the Lakers or the Jazz, like I said,
Speaker 2: team like who knows, maybe Orlando wants a tenth point guard.
Speaker 7: All right, we bring on Keith Smith spotrack who is.
Speaker 7: We could not have asked for a better day to
Speaker 7: have you on at a better time. And I actually
Speaker 7: want to start with a tweet that you put out
Speaker 7: which I think is really interesting. With the James Harden
Speaker 7: picking up the option and then possibly being traded, they're
Speaker 7: going to look to move him. You brought up something
Speaker 7: I think that's really important, where this is going to
Speaker 7: be a short term deal with whoever it's actually trades
Speaker 7: for Harden, right, Yeah.
Speaker 8: He's not extension eligible, so this is not going to
Speaker 8: be an extended trade or one of those deals where
Speaker 8: he gets traded and then extends because he only did
Speaker 8: a two year contract with Philadelphia last offseason.
Speaker 9: That doesn't allow him to extend, so he's.
Speaker 8: Gonna go where he is play out the year and
Speaker 8: then being unrestricted free agent in the summer of twenty
Speaker 8: twenty four.
Speaker 2: Wow, it's obviously interesting to see how things fell apart
Speaker 2: between Harden and the Sixers, given Keith the love affair
Speaker 2: that Daryl Mori and Harden have had for so long, Right,
Speaker 2: you thought maybe James and Daryl Morey would end their
Speaker 2: careers together. So what do the Sixers do now? Say
Speaker 2: it is a Clippers deal? Is it just for picks?
Speaker 5: Are they rebuilding? Are they retooling?
Speaker 2: Could we see EMBIID maybe be another Domino down the road.
Speaker 8: Yeah, I don't think we'll see anything with EMBIID. I
Speaker 8: think you kind of refocus around EMBIID. You get Tyrese
Speaker 8: Maxi extended, you still have Tobias Harris there, and you
Speaker 8: move forward with the best deal you can and try
Speaker 8: to rebalance your roster a little bit and maybe add
Speaker 8: a little bit of depth. You hopefully can turn James
Speaker 8: Harden into two, maybe even three guys who're going to
Speaker 8: move it forward from there around Really, what's an EMBIID
Speaker 8: Maxie core of guys who we signed long term and
Speaker 8: you put the ball in Maxie's hands more and say, hey,
Speaker 8: let's go, young fellow, this is kind of your show
Speaker 8: to run.
Speaker 6: Now, Keith, when you look at these potential landing spots
Speaker 6: for James Harden, if he even does end up getting
Speaker 6: moved here, where do you think the best fit at
Speaker 6: this point of his career would be.
Speaker 8: Yeah, I think the Clippers probably. It seems like they're
Speaker 8: a team that makes a lot of sense for him.
Speaker 8: They need another ballhand or Harden up until the last
Speaker 8: couple of years, had been remarkably durable. He's a guy
Speaker 8: who hadn't missed much time, so hopefully, you know, he
Speaker 8: could come in and bring at least some level of
Speaker 8: stability to a team that you know, their star guys
Speaker 8: miss a lot of time, so so you hope for that,
Speaker 8: and they're they're what was interesting when they waived Derek Gordon,
Speaker 8: it was all right, maybe we finally found the limit
Speaker 8: to how much Steve Balmer is willing to pay. But
Speaker 8: if he's willing to take on Harden, now, you know
Speaker 8: when maybe he's just saying, hey, we're gonna kind of
Speaker 8: clear out a little bit of room and then we'll
Speaker 8: take Harden on there. Obviously, gonna have to trade matching
Speaker 8: salary to get him. But we'll bring him in and
Speaker 8: we we'll just kind of keep doing what we've been doing,
Speaker 8: which is pile up contracts for players, and we'll let
Speaker 8: it all play out on the court.
Speaker 7: Given the fact that it would only be a one
Speaker 7: year commitment that a team would have with him, and
Speaker 7: he's thirty three and we've seen a little regression certainly there,
Speaker 7: what would the price actually be for a team to
Speaker 7: trade for James Harden.
Speaker 8: Yeah, this is not gonna be one of those like
Speaker 8: overwhelming superstar returns. I think people you got to come
Speaker 8: away from what happened last summer with like Rudy Gobert
Speaker 8: and Donovan Mitchell and those kind of things and think more,
Speaker 8: you know, in between the Bradley Beal trade and you know,
Speaker 8: those kind of monster type trades. So what we'll probably see,
Speaker 8: my guess is Philly will take back two three players
Speaker 8: that are good players, rotation guys. You know, maybe a
Speaker 8: couple of starters, but nobody who's really an all star
Speaker 8: level player. I don't know that they're gonna get young
Speaker 8: talent back. I don't even know that they'll get a
Speaker 8: draft pick back. I think it's mostly gonna be Hey,
Speaker 8: we're we're taking on hard and he doesn't want to
Speaker 8: be here. We're gonna give you a couple of good
Speaker 8: players and we'll go from there. That that's probably likely
Speaker 8: how this will play out, as opposed to, you know,
Speaker 8: one of those ones where you come away like, man,
Speaker 8: they they what a haul they got for James Harden.
Speaker 8: I just don't know that it's gonna play out that way,
Speaker 8: given the age concerns and potential injury concerns and the
Speaker 8: fact that it is you know, could turn into a
Speaker 8: one year rental.
Speaker 2: Walk me through what the Clippers mindset is right now,
Speaker 2: because both Paul George and Kawhi Leonard are both extension
Speaker 2: eligible in the next month.
Speaker 5: Obviously, I think Jerry West just.
Speaker 2: Went on Paul George's podcast and said, like, it's unacceptable
Speaker 2: how little you guys all play together. You can't be
Speaker 2: only playing sixty games combined. Where are they at in
Speaker 2: the process of building this roster. Are they ready to
Speaker 2: rebuild or are they looking to add pieces for like
Speaker 2: one more last dance kind of thing.
Speaker 8: Yeah, the interesting thing is both Georgia and Leonard or
Speaker 8: extension eligible or they can play it out and be
Speaker 8: free agents next summer. So what I think you're looking
Speaker 8: for with the Clippers is can we have one year
Speaker 8: where we all play a lot and we finally see
Speaker 8: what maybe this team was a vision to be. And
Speaker 8: I think that's likely where this is headed for them
Speaker 8: is let's go get whether it's James Harden or maybe
Speaker 8: another player you know, becomes available via trade that we're
Speaker 8: not you know, we don't know anything about right now,
Speaker 8: and let's go get that guy. Put him in there
Speaker 8: to fill a point guard spot. I think you're gonna
Speaker 8: see I don't want to use the word push guys
Speaker 8: to play more the term push guys play, but I
Speaker 8: think you're gonna see them be a little bit more of, Hey,
Speaker 8: we really took it easy this entire season. You got
Speaker 8: to the playoffs and you still weren't here, right, we
Speaker 8: still had injuries. I think they're gonna value the regular
Speaker 8: season a little bit more this year, try to kind
Speaker 8: of let's have one all in, go after it type
Speaker 8: of year, and then we'll see where it goes from there.
Speaker 6: Keith, we also found out that Kyrie Irving is gonna
Speaker 6: meet with the Suns, you know, in free agency officially
Speaker 6: begins on June thirtieth. Do you think it's more likely
Speaker 6: that he's back in Dallas or do you think that
Speaker 6: he does end up somewhere with Phoenix? And also, not
Speaker 6: to ask a loaded question here, why would Kevin Durant?
Speaker 6: I know they're friends and whatnot off the court, but
Speaker 6: why would he want to attach himself to Kyrie again?
Speaker 8: Yeah, we'll see. You know, I don't know the answer
Speaker 8: to that last part. I have no no sense of
Speaker 8: that situation. Hit hit Kevin Durant up on two. You
Speaker 8: may get an actual answer on it. He's pretty good
Speaker 8: about replying. But I think the Sun's saying this is
Speaker 8: what I do, right is the salary cap? Like, this
Speaker 8: is what I cover and run. I have no idea
Speaker 8: how this would even be a thing. You know now,
Speaker 8: I have said repeatedly. If I woke up one morning
Speaker 8: you told me, Hey, an NBA superstar took the veteran
Speaker 8: minimum to sign with a team and passed up one
Speaker 8: hundreds of million, you wouldn't even have to give me
Speaker 8: two guesses.
Speaker 9: I'd be, oh, where did Kyrie go? Right?
Speaker 6: That?
Speaker 9: That would be where I would go with that.
Speaker 8: But I think the thing with him is this is
Speaker 8: probably more of a Hey, Dallas, I have other options.
Speaker 8: You know, let's make sure you know you don't get
Speaker 8: cute with your offerst to me and these kind of things.
Speaker 8: I just it's very, very hard to envision any path
Speaker 8: for Kyrie to get to Phoenix on any kind of
Speaker 8: realistic trade because of just where they're at salary wise
Speaker 8: already after making the Bradley Beal deal.
Speaker 7: Yeah, so at this point, now when you look at
Speaker 7: that Big Three, I mean, this is what we've talked
Speaker 7: about since they made that Kevin Durant trade was Sons
Speaker 7: have no depth whatsoever. Now they add Beal, what type
Speaker 7: of restrictions there?
Speaker 9: Really?
Speaker 7: Just what type of movement do they even have to
Speaker 7: add to this team to make them not just a contender,
Speaker 7: but like, you know, somebody that has depth that can
Speaker 7: play out an entire season.
Speaker 9: Yeah.
Speaker 8: I mean we're we're in like day two of them
Speaker 8: keeping DeAndre Aiden, So that means probably tomorrow it'll be
Speaker 8: that they're shopping him. It seems like that's how that
Speaker 8: cycle spins. They're in Phoenix, so I think you know what,
Speaker 8: we'll find out. You know, again, they might be able
Speaker 8: to turn DeAndre Ayton into one or two or three
Speaker 8: players if they could to replenish some depth, but mostly
Speaker 8: they're down to re signing guys and then signing players
Speaker 8: to the veteran minimum. I think what you're gonna see
Speaker 8: them do is, don't be surprised if we all you'll
Speaker 8: get news maybe even tomorrow night when negotiations open at
Speaker 8: six pm Eastern, the Sons are signing Tory Craig to
Speaker 8: something like a ten million dollar contract, whichever w be Like, wow,
Speaker 8: that's a lot for Tory Craig. But what that does
Speaker 8: is that makes him a tradable salary down the line,
Speaker 8: because it's not so much that it's a bad contract.
Speaker 8: Jock Landale, who is you know, one of their backup
Speaker 8: centers is a restricted for agent. They could bring him
Speaker 8: back and say, yeah, we can bring him back on
Speaker 8: the minimum, but let's bring him back in like two,
Speaker 8: you know, three, four, five million dollars. Again, remains a
Speaker 8: tradable contract and you could move him down the line.
Speaker 8: So I think that's the kind of things you're going
Speaker 8: to see with them. Then veterans, when they first couple
Speaker 8: waves of free agency go through all the cap spaces gone.
Speaker 8: Most of the exceptions have been used by contenders. They're
Speaker 8: going to look around and say, you know what, Phoenix
Speaker 8: has a really good chance to win, and they have
Speaker 8: rotation roles available. Those are the two things those guys
Speaker 8: prize when they're in that position if they're chasing a ring.
Speaker 8: So hey, why not, you know, I'll sign up, come there.
Speaker 8: I can play, you know, fifteen to twenty minutes a
Speaker 8: night and try to help that team win a title.
Speaker 2: So I guess let's talk about Dallas and if they
Speaker 2: do sign Kyrie Irving, what is their cap situation looking like,
Speaker 2: because their cap holds are enormous.
Speaker 8: Yeah, so what they're They did some maneuvering at the
Speaker 8: draft to move around some money.
Speaker 9: They get off of.
Speaker 8: Davas Berton's contract and brought in Rashaun Holmes. That saved
Speaker 8: them a little bit of money. They can get into
Speaker 8: range again depending on how much Kyrie Irving resigns for.
Speaker 8: And that's what I assume is gonna happen, is that
Speaker 8: he resigns to Dallas if he gives them even a
Speaker 8: little bit of a break and doesn't take the full
Speaker 8: max that he can get, and that may be one
Speaker 8: more Dallas says, hey, we'll give you an extra year
Speaker 8: on the contract. If you'll bring the overall number down
Speaker 8: a little bit and bring that first year salary down,
Speaker 8: what you could see is they could get in a
Speaker 8: range to use the non taxpayer mL Now would be tight,
Speaker 8: but they could probably pull that off. And at that
Speaker 8: point they're gonna be in on all kinds of guys.
Speaker 8: There was reporting today that they want to meet with
Speaker 8: Bruce Brown. Bruce Brown, I think he's gonna have one
Speaker 8: hundred meetings tomorrow. It sounds like, you know, it sounds
Speaker 8: like everybody wants a meeting with Bruce Brown, including the
Speaker 8: Denver Nuggets. But those are the kind of guys you
Speaker 8: be looking at those level target guys to come in
Speaker 8: you'll play again. That's another team that can you can
Speaker 8: tell a player, hey, come here for twelve million, We've
Speaker 8: got twenty five, maybe even thirty minutes a night available
Speaker 8: for you, because we do they do have some rotation
Speaker 8: holes to fill there in Dallas.
Speaker 6: When you look at the bucks cap situation, what do
Speaker 6: you think they end up doing here with Chris Middleton
Speaker 6: and Brook Lopez and how creative and what really could
Speaker 6: they do this offseason? You know, because you look out
Speaker 6: east and it's really Boston we'll see what Philadelphia looks like.
Speaker 6: We don't even talk about Miami, even though they were
Speaker 6: just in the finals. So what do you think Milwaukee
Speaker 6: could do here?
Speaker 8: Yeah, I think you're gonna see Milwaukee kind of run
Speaker 8: it back for the most part with their guys. I
Speaker 8: think you'll see them try to get Chris Middleton add
Speaker 8: years on to he declined like a forty million dollar
Speaker 8: player option, so add years but bring that number down some,
Speaker 8: you know, maybe try to get him thirty to thirty
Speaker 8: five million, bring that number down, but give him an
Speaker 8: extra year or so. I think they're gonna do everything
Speaker 8: they can to resign brook Lopez. I know there's been
Speaker 8: all kinds of rumors out there. Houston maybe wanted him,
Speaker 8: and at one point the Lakers are supposedly in on him,
Speaker 8: and all these teams didn't make sense because he's really good.
Speaker 8: He's coming off one of the best years of his career,
Speaker 8: even despite his advanced age. But I think at the
Speaker 8: end of the day, he'll probably look around and say,
Speaker 8: you know, I'm playing next to Giannis on a team
Speaker 8: that's really good for an organization that's been really good
Speaker 8: to me. I think he'll probably resign and then from
Speaker 8: there it's just about filling out the bench as best
Speaker 8: they can with you'll probably try to resign guys like
Speaker 8: Javon Carter, Joe Ingles, bring those guys back into the fold,
Speaker 8: and they'll probably look pretty similar with a handful of
Speaker 8: moves around the edges. But that's not a bad thing,
Speaker 8: right they. I know their failure in the playoffs, and
Speaker 8: I'll call it a failure even if you're honest, well
Speaker 8: is you know that that was you know, leftist hour
Speaker 8: tasting everybody's mouth. But that's still a very good basketball team.
Speaker 7: Talking to Keith Smith bet MGM tonight, I just saw
Speaker 7: that we had Christaps Porzingis get introduced and seeing him
Speaker 7: where the Celtics and all that, it's a little bit
Speaker 7: it's a little weird, but then again, he was a
Speaker 7: wizard for a short period of time. What what do
Speaker 7: you think of the one the upside and the ceiling
Speaker 7: for the Celtics team and two can they afford this
Speaker 7: entire roster with some of the big deals that could
Speaker 7: be coming up down the road?
Speaker 8: Yeah, I think to answer the last part of your
Speaker 8: question first, for them, I think for the Celtics there's
Speaker 8: a little bit of a sense of let's let tomorrow's
Speaker 8: problems be tomorrow's problems. We're a contender right now. It's
Speaker 8: almost an NFL type of mindset where it's like, hey,
Speaker 8: we'll load up and go for it when we can,
Speaker 8: and then you know, if we're we're not a contender.
Speaker 8: Who cares if our cap sheets a mess, you know
Speaker 8: a few years down the line, Well, we'll let that
Speaker 8: all sort itself out. And I think they also have
Speaker 8: belief of, hey, if this really goes sideways on us,
Speaker 8: all these guys are so good enough that we can
Speaker 8: make trades and get out from under these deals if
Speaker 8: we need to. So to that point, I think, you know,
Speaker 8: I'm not locking it in that they're not gonna get rid,
Speaker 8: not going to resign Grant Williams.
Speaker 9: I think a lot of people have gone there.
Speaker 8: I think there's a good chance they resign him when
Speaker 8: things get really weird for the Celtics is next year
Speaker 8: and the years beyond to Jalen Brown will likely be
Speaker 8: on a Supermax, followed by Jason Tatum a year later.
Speaker 8: Kristaphs Porzingis sounds like there's gonna be some kind of extension,
Speaker 8: So we'll see on the court Their big thing is
Speaker 8: what are they going to do with point guard?
Speaker 2: Right?
Speaker 8: Marcus Smaher, for all his flaws, was the heart and
Speaker 8: soul of that team.
Speaker 9: Right. He was the guy who made a play.
Speaker 8: Whenever he needed to play made he would hit the floor,
Speaker 8: he'd get the crowd fired up, he'd get everybody going.
Speaker 8: So you're in a position if he's not there, you
Speaker 8: may have to do something different. So what you're ultimately
Speaker 8: looking at is you're going to be a different team
Speaker 8: with porzingis in the fold. You hope, a better offensive team,
Speaker 8: a different kind of defensive team, but maybe not a
Speaker 8: bad one. He's a better defender than he gets credit for.
Speaker 8: But it's going to be a different look in Boston
Speaker 8: for sure. With bigger lineups, you'll try to maybe, you know,
Speaker 8: hurt teams a little bit more with size than playing
Speaker 8: so much perimeter base, which became a little bit of
Speaker 8: a failing as the season went along.
Speaker 2: See do you think middle of the road players still
Speaker 2: end up getting these big max contracts now that we're
Speaker 2: seeing them be traded for chips.
Speaker 8: Yeah, not middle of the road guys. I think teams
Speaker 8: are gonna be a little bit more conservative and save
Speaker 8: those for the best of the best superstars while also
Speaker 8: pitching those superstars. Hey, if you take a little bit less,
Speaker 8: we might be able to do X, Y and Z
Speaker 8: down the line that that's gonna be a thing that
Speaker 8: teams are gonna start to pitch because of the restrictions
Speaker 8: in the new CBA on those very very expensive teams.
Speaker 9: You're the best.
Speaker 7: Keith appreciate giving us the time. You know, it's a
Speaker 7: busy time of year for you.
Speaker 9: I appreciate it. Thank you so much for having me.
Speaker 7: Tan Favali jumps on with us, bleach your reports. I
Speaker 7: guess it's pretty obvious what we're gonna start with here,
Speaker 7: James Harden opting into his deal, and then he's gonna
Speaker 7: probably get traded. I mean, first we hear the Clippers
Speaker 7: and Knicks. Okay, so those are possibilities. How did we
Speaker 7: get to this point and what makes the most sense
Speaker 7: for him now?
Speaker 1: I think we got to this point in part because
Speaker 1: the way that the NBA is now structured. I don't
Speaker 1: think stars of James Harden's age are going to get
Speaker 1: as much money later on in their careers, and so
Speaker 1: if he was going to opt out, his list of
Speaker 1: suitors was just so finite that it made more sense
Speaker 1: once Houston apparently pivoted to looking at guys who are
Speaker 1: more plug and play or maybe just younger guys to
Speaker 1: opt in, and you could dictate your destination that way.
Speaker 1: And I think for him, the most sense to me
Speaker 1: would clearly make if you can go to the Clippers
Speaker 1: and they're not going to have to trade Kawhi or PG.
Speaker 1: It puts you in Los Angeles, where we know that
Speaker 1: he would definitely want to be, and you form a
Speaker 1: very expensive big three and not a very durable big three.
Speaker 1: But I think that team makes the most sense for him,
Speaker 1: especially because the only other two that we're kind of
Speaker 1: mentioned are Miami in New York. The Nicks don't make
Speaker 1: any sense to me, and the Heat. I know he
Speaker 1: would love Miami and the club scene there, but I
Speaker 1: don't think him and Jimmy Butler and his practice dmen
Speaker 1: were meshed too well together.
Speaker 2: Dan, you wrote about the ten most intriguing free agents
Speaker 2: that nobody is talking about. I'm particularly interested in your
Speaker 2: take on three of them. Javon Carter, who I think
Speaker 2: if Budenholzer would have played in the playoffs more two
Speaker 2: years ago, maybe they wouldn't have lost that playoff series,
Speaker 2: Io des Soon MoU and Johnny Utah Utah Watt Nabe, Like,
Speaker 2: what do you like about these three and where do
Speaker 2: you see them going?
Speaker 1: Javon Carter, I do expect to stay put just because
Speaker 1: the Bucks can't afford to lose him. But he's just
Speaker 1: so plug and play, like when you look at his defense,
Speaker 1: and just a point guard who's not really a point guard.
Speaker 9: He'll play off the ball.
Speaker 1: I think I'm probably most intrigued by Iyo Desson Mu.
Speaker 1: A lot of people see him down on him because
Speaker 1: he didn't shoot the three ball.
Speaker 9: Two.
Speaker 1: Well, this year we're talking about someone who can pass
Speaker 1: keep the ball moving. Is six' five and The bulls
Speaker 1: had him guarding through his first two years in THE
Speaker 1: nba positions one through, four and now there's talk that
Speaker 1: they might just let him walk if he gets more
Speaker 1: than like five million bucks a year or. Something so
Speaker 1: if you can get him that, number even if it's
Speaker 1: more than that, NUMBER i would absolutely take a. Flyer
Speaker 1: and you know you tell want. Then abby almost seems
Speaker 1: like he's become a mainstream free agent because of how
Speaker 1: many teams without any money are just looking at him
Speaker 1: and he makes a ton of sense as a guy
Speaker 1: that's six' nine can shoot the ball really well from
Speaker 1: three even if he won't take a ton. Of THEM
Speaker 1: and i think he's become a really a good or
Speaker 1: at least reliable help defender from both the inside. And
Speaker 1: out and so if you're a team everyone wants winnings,
Speaker 1: In general but if you're a team that just doesn't
Speaker 1: have any money to spend and he's still got a
Speaker 1: fall in that sort of minimum, CONTRACT range i don't
Speaker 1: know how he's on. Your list and at this point
Speaker 1: it really wouldn't shock me if some of these teams with,
Speaker 1: you know THE bigger mls or cap space are, just, like,
Speaker 1: well hey here's a two year deal that's gonna pay
Speaker 1: you noticeably more because we think that you're that plug
Speaker 1: and play into.
Speaker 9: Our rotation do.
Speaker 6: You think chicago ends up Moving zach levine here? This
Speaker 6: offseason and what do you think even a package would
Speaker 6: look like For zach levine and, you know a potential fit.
Speaker 1: AS well i, do think to answer your second, question
Speaker 1: first That zach levine would net more than people are kind.
Speaker 1: OF expecting i feel like his deal has been viewed
Speaker 1: as this net negative all of, a SUDDEN and i just.
Speaker 1: Don't agree he's like one of the most valuable off
Speaker 1: the balance scores IN, the NBA and i think if you,
Speaker 1: moved him you would probably get the equivalent of at
Speaker 1: least three first round picks. OR prospects i think he's
Speaker 1: been linked To, the knicks WHICH which i do believe
Speaker 1: makes a lot, of sense even though. They're fans don't
Speaker 1: seem to THINK that i Could see miami.
Speaker 9: Maybe getting in. On him if they do make, HIM available.
Speaker 1: I will say they Just, Paid VOUCH so i have
Speaker 1: no idea why you would Move. Zach, LAVINE now i
Speaker 1: don't know what type of message that sends about. Your
Speaker 1: direction if You give vouch twenty million dollars a year
Speaker 1: guaranteed and then you go and Move, ZACH lavine i
Speaker 1: just don't know where that. Leaves you and so i'd
Speaker 1: expect them to run.
Speaker 9: It, back.
Speaker 7: Yeah zach lavine linked To, The Knicks james harden link To.
Speaker 7: The knicks As a, KNICKS fan i don't want to,
Speaker 7: see it but, YOU know i guess at, this point
Speaker 7: a team that made it to the, Second round i'll
Speaker 7: take it at. This point if not either one of,
Speaker 7: THOSE guys i mean we saw Obviously the knicks take that,
Speaker 7: next step and they've got a good young core and they've,
Speaker 7: got assets they've. Got picks will they be aggressive this
Speaker 7: offseason or are they going to be more in a
Speaker 7: position where it's, all right let's kind of pick and choose,
Speaker 7: our spot because they're really starting to build.
Speaker 1: SOMETHING here i think it will probably be, the latter
Speaker 1: JUST because i think you look at a lot of
Speaker 1: the names that are, out there, and like Let's Use
Speaker 1: james harden as. An example they got to get past
Speaker 1: being involved with these guys who are past. Their Prime
Speaker 1: and harden's about to turn. Thirty four how many great
Speaker 1: years do you have left? In him and so you're
Speaker 1: gonna want to hold out for probably someone who's In
Speaker 1: The donovan, mitchell age. RANGER younger i will say it
Speaker 1: wouldn't surprise me if they wounded up acting, more quickly
Speaker 1: just because they're not as strong from an asset perspective as.
Speaker 9: They were even a.
Speaker 1: Year Ago Em manual Quickly And obi toppin are going
Speaker 1: to need a new. Deals soon you still Do Have,
Speaker 1: quentin grimes but you've ALREADY. Paid, rj barrett who's probably
Speaker 1: a little bit less valuable than he was on his.
Speaker 1: Current contract your own draft picks are not as valuable
Speaker 1: now because people actually think and believe you might, remain
Speaker 1: good and then you have all these extra first rounders
Speaker 1: that are kind of fake, first, rounders, like Yeah the
Speaker 1: dallas pick might convey with The W.
Speaker 9: Ohington, detroit picks those might.
Speaker 1: Never convey AND so i know they're mentioned a lot,
Speaker 1: with stars but they actually don't have as strong of
Speaker 1: an asset base right NOW as i think a lot of.
Speaker 2: People believe i'm curious your thoughts on What The cleveland cavaliers.
Speaker 2: Are Doing darius garland is now rumored to be in
Speaker 2: Trade Discussions, ryan windhore so that there's some sort of
Speaker 2: outlandish rumors going on in terms of maybe players going To,
Speaker 2: The cavs like what's their game Plan Because jared Allen
Speaker 2: And evan mobley clearly. Didn't work they were favored in
Speaker 2: the series Against, the nets are Against, the knicks, excuse
Speaker 2: me and it just really didn't vibe in the.
Speaker 5: Playoff, ENVIRONMENT.
Speaker 9: Yeah I Would. Darius garland noise is.
Speaker 1: SO weird I think i'd be flabberg acid if They
Speaker 1: moved Hamm Or donovan mitchell THIS summer i think you
Speaker 1: look At The mobley allen pairing and it, works defensively
Speaker 1: but they rebounded really poorly for having that size on,
Speaker 1: the court and then it does shrink the. Floor offensively
Speaker 1: and so when we're talking about, outlandish things it's clearly
Speaker 1: not going to Be mobili and so are they Gonna
Speaker 1: Move jared allen and other stuff and maybe bring a wing.
Speaker 1: IN there i do, think though that they're not obligated to,
Speaker 1: go nuclear like if they could just sign a wing
Speaker 1: Like A josh richardson with their mid, level exception this
Speaker 1: is a TEAM that i think just becomes infinitely more
Speaker 1: of a threat In. The east but when windhors sends
Speaker 1: up those, cryptic signals you have to stop. And listen
Speaker 1: AND so i really wouldn't expect it To. Be garland
Speaker 1: it Could Be, jared allen or if it's gonna be,
Speaker 1: super nuclear Just The donovan. Mitchell stuff if he really
Speaker 1: wants to Get To new yorker has, already, said HEY
Speaker 1: when i get the free agency in a couple, Of
Speaker 1: years i'm not. Coming Back the cows are gonna want
Speaker 1: to recoup as much of the first round equity as
Speaker 1: they gave up to. Get him as, they can and
Speaker 1: the way to do that would be to move him
Speaker 1: with as much time as possible left on, his deal
Speaker 1: which would be.
Speaker 7: Right now Talking To, Dan Favali, bleacher report Hosts Of
Speaker 7: The hardwood, knocks podcast, you Know the spurs are obviously
Speaker 7: an interesting spot Now with Victor wimber, yama there and
Speaker 7: they were really bad. LAST year i think we, know
Speaker 7: that but they were trying to. Lose games is there
Speaker 7: a chance now we don't have win totals out yet FOR, the,
Speaker 7: nba obviously but there a chance that this is a
Speaker 7: team that maybe pulls in a couple of surprise free,
Speaker 7: agent moves or maybe a couple of decently, aggressive trades
Speaker 7: or just something that takes them from, you know the
Speaker 7: team last year that was obviously trying to LOSE to i,
Speaker 7: don't know maybe even just somewhere you win thirty four thirty.
Speaker 9: Five, GAMES.
Speaker 1: Yeah I think i think there's a chance they just
Speaker 1: get there because Wen min yama is. That good we
Speaker 1: kind of saw It when lugadancic comes into the league
Speaker 1: and he's just immediately ready and if you're gonna play him,
Speaker 1: HEAVY minutes i don't know what they anticipate his workload,
Speaker 1: to be and he's as transformative specifically on defense as
Speaker 1: he's supposed. TO be i think you immediately vault, into
Speaker 1: hey maybe thirty eight plus. Win territory it's interesting, to
Speaker 1: consider why not go out and try and sign even one.
Speaker 1: Impact veteran maybe It's a Fred van fleet to organize
Speaker 1: your offense Or A. Brook lopez just give him the
Speaker 1: short term win fall to pair him Next. To wemby
Speaker 1: that would see significantly elevate. Their Ceiling if wemby is
Speaker 1: who he think, he is he would just be so
Speaker 1: out of character for. The organization and it's almost a
Speaker 1: little bit upsetting from a basketball fans perspective because it
Speaker 1: feels like they're in a position to be good. RIGHT
Speaker 1: away i, would, expect however them to probably use their
Speaker 1: cap space kind of like WE'VE seen OKC and utah
Speaker 1: use there, so far where they're soaking up some unwanted
Speaker 1: contracts that are either attached to something or they're taking
Speaker 1: a flyer on a player who's considered a distressed asset
Speaker 1: himself at.
Speaker 5: This, point yeah You.
Speaker 2: Mentioned okase i'm curious your thoughts about the JUMP for okc. This,
Speaker 2: year obviously chet'sman with, the team the entire year recovering.
Speaker 5: From injury They draft Case and wallace Out.
Speaker 2: Of kentucky kentucky guards outperform their draft stock a lot IN, the.
Speaker 5: Nba but they have now a ton.
Speaker 2: Of guards are they maybe going to be looking to
Speaker 2: move some, guys out Like is Case and wallace kind
Speaker 2: of at the end of, The bench like what's their
Speaker 2: strategy to think for?
Speaker 6: This, SEASON yeah i honestly.
Speaker 1: Don't know and your point about the guards is just.
Speaker 1: SO salient i Wouldn't expect Case and wallace to play
Speaker 1: that much, right now Just, with Gidea lou DORT and.
Speaker 1: Sga there they do have like sixteen players, under contracts
Speaker 1: so they're gonna have to trim. That down maybe they're
Speaker 1: right for a. CONSOLIDATION trade i honestly don't know what's
Speaker 1: IN store a name long term for THEM that i would.
Speaker 1: Just monitor and it's sacrilegious to Suggest In oklahoma city
Speaker 1: is Just.
Speaker 9: Lu dort he's on a.
Speaker 1: Great contract he's just, Massive defensively and if they're ever
Speaker 1: looking to one make a consolidation trade or just open up,
Speaker 1: more time if they don't want to, pay him or
Speaker 1: if they just want to make themselves more flexible in the.
Speaker 1: Back court that's just sort of the name the larger
Speaker 1: salary on their books that they could. Potentially Move and
Speaker 1: i'm sure there are teams right now that would give
Speaker 1: up at least two first round picks.
Speaker 6: For, him, wow damn we still got about. Two minutes
Speaker 6: where are you at With? The pelicans because we pop
Speaker 6: Up The western conference odds right now and they're twenty two,
Speaker 6: to one which is kind of hard to believe because
Speaker 6: they look so. Good, before Obviously like zion got hurt
Speaker 6: again and you worry about. His HEALTH but i Like,
Speaker 6: BRANDON ingram i like a Guy Like, trey murphy and
Speaker 6: they're still. Really deep they got a bunch. Of talent
Speaker 6: where are you at With?
Speaker 2: The?
Speaker 6: Pelicans though, you think, you know maybe they could bounce
Speaker 6: back next season to be a. Playoff, team yeah.
Speaker 1: FOR sure, i, mean look they're dark. Horse contenders zion's gonna,
Speaker 1: let's say. Sixty games it's just we've yet to really
Speaker 1: see him, do that and so how do you bank
Speaker 1: on it and how do you plan? Around it they're
Speaker 1: not gonna do anything in. Free agency can you make
Speaker 1: some sort of a trade that gives you something someone
Speaker 1: that Works? With zion but also helps you while. He's
Speaker 1: out it's a very tough line. To STRADDLE but i
Speaker 1: think if they can go out on the trade market
Speaker 1: or maybe free agency and add either a shooter or
Speaker 1: rim protector to Pair, with zion presumably you'd want both
Speaker 1: in the same Player Hashtag miles, turner still but if
Speaker 1: they can add that type of skill set to their
Speaker 1: rotation and they're able to stell you even, Relatively healthy
Speaker 1: i'm talking like fifty eight sixty two Games, from zion
Speaker 1: they're absolutely a threat to finish at or near the
Speaker 1: top Of.
Speaker 5: THE west i just wanted.
Speaker 2: To you You Mentioned, miles TURNER so i just wanted
Speaker 2: to like jump, on THAT like i saw That The
Speaker 2: charlotte hornets extended a qualifying offer.
Speaker 3: To him do you think there's gonna be a big market.
Speaker 2: For him from other teams or do you think the
Speaker 2: history will hold teams back from him because he's.
Speaker 1: So, Talented yeah miles bridges with that felony domestic violence
Speaker 1: stuff just for lack of a, BETTER word i think
Speaker 1: teams are gonna steer clear Outside, Of CHARLOTTE and i
Speaker 1: would argue that this is a very callous way to look.
Speaker 1: At it but from a pure, BASKETBALL standpoint i think
Speaker 1: it's worse for an outside team to come in with
Speaker 1: one of these bigger money offers now than it would
Speaker 1: be For a charlotte team where, it's, like, well hey
Speaker 1: he was, our player he didn't play. Last season he's
Speaker 1: gonna serve the balance of his thirty. Game suspension but
Speaker 1: he is a Name that i've heard people say that
Speaker 1: some really, just weird egregious things. Could happen nobody's talking
Speaker 1: about him because they assume he'll Stay, In charlotte but
Speaker 1: if teams with money want to float offers, his way
Speaker 1: he's absolutely someone who can on the basketball court move
Speaker 1: the needle.
Speaker 7: For you, all right still got about a, Minute here
Speaker 7: so before, you go We Take james harden out of. The,
Speaker 7: equation HERE this nba star that's most likely to be traded,
Speaker 7: this offseason who would it be?
Speaker 9: Right now, oh man that's a. Great question.
Speaker 1: I'm gonna Say It's Karl. Anthony towns There's Just rudy gobert.
Speaker 1: Is there they've committed to. A direction you Paid. Nas
Speaker 1: reed you have so much money wrapped up. In men
Speaker 1: You let Tore and. Prince go You're Letting Niki alexander
Speaker 1: walker go. As well it seems like they're sort of
Speaker 1: setting themselves up to be, more flexible maybe in, free
Speaker 1: agency but also perhaps on the, trade market and that
Speaker 1: just feels like the guy outside Of A james harden
Speaker 1: trade right Now And damian lillard would be, number two
Speaker 1: but that just seems destined to continue, DRAGGING out i
Speaker 1: think until around.
Speaker 2: The deadline that's all the time that we after the.
Speaker 2: Heat check many Thanks To keith Smith And, dan favali
Speaker 2: as well as MY bed mgm Co Host nick Ashew And,
Speaker 2: ryan horvett as well as My Producer. Scott lynn check
Speaker 2: out la feed for past episodes and many episodes which
Speaker 2: drop Unexpectedly like presence From. The sky not forget to.
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