Speaker 1: Welcome to this League Uncut in the rule of twenty
Speaker 1: four hour NBA News.
Speaker 2: This's you'll.
Speaker 1: Chris Haynes. It's so time, Mark Stein. It's so time.
Speaker 1: This League Uncut is underway and on fire. This should
Speaker 1: be a good one.
Speaker 2: Friends of the show, good evening. Welcome in to a
Speaker 2: new edition, the latest edition of this League Uncut. Mark Stein.
Speaker 2: Here with Chris Haynes. We are together on Sunday night,
Speaker 2: basically fifty one ish now, actually fifty two ish hours
Speaker 2: into free agency. As Chris and I record this thing,
Speaker 2: our producer, the Great Ryan Music, is going to have
Speaker 2: this thing turned around quickly, so by the time you
Speaker 2: start listening to it, this will have been out on
Speaker 2: Sunday night as usual, free agents flying off the shelves.
Speaker 2: You will never see again what we saw almost a
Speaker 2: decade ago, twenty fourteen, when Lebron James didn't make his
Speaker 2: decision until July eleventh to leave the Miami Heat and
Speaker 2: go back to his home state Cleveland Cavaliers. Free agency
Speaker 2: in the modern NBA just and modern NBA it's not
Speaker 2: even a full decade later, but this stuff happens faster
Speaker 2: every single year. Chris Haynes, our friend from spot Track
Speaker 2: Keith Smith Catman Supreme, who keeps track of every single
Speaker 2: dribble of free agency. I checked with him before we
Speaker 2: hit record. At the time of this taping, seventy nine
Speaker 2: free agents have already made commitments to new teams. Seventy
Speaker 2: nine we are two days in change into free agency.
Speaker 2: N contract extensions agreed to as well. Total spent total
Speaker 2: committed money exceeds three point three billion, and according to Keith,
Speaker 2: agreed upon trades have already included fifty two different players.
Speaker 2: And as we're recording this, we don't even have the
Speaker 2: full picture yet of the mechanism that is going to
Speaker 2: get Dylan Brooks to the Houston Rockets. We assign and trade,
Speaker 2: and man, do we need those full details because we
Speaker 2: need some explanations on how what was initially projected to
Speaker 2: be a two year deal in the fifteen million dollar
Speaker 2: range got to be a four year deal in the
Speaker 2: eighty million dollar range for Dylan Brooks. The money spent
Speaker 2: on Fred van Vliet, I get it. The money spent
Speaker 2: on Dylan Brooks, I got questions. But look, we've got
Speaker 2: many more trade issues to discuss because since we last
Speaker 2: visited you live from elk Grove Sacramento with Chris Haynes
Speaker 2: and kingsguard Davion Mitchell from Charlene's Beauty Supply. Since the
Speaker 2: first live show in this league uncut history, James Harden
Speaker 2: opted in and asked the Sixers to trade him. Damian
Speaker 2: Lillard has asked the Portland Trailblazers to trade him, so
Speaker 2: we will obviously get into all of that. Kyrie Irving
Speaker 2: swiftly recommitted to go back to Dallas on a three year,
Speaker 2: one hundred and twenty six million dollar deal with a
Speaker 2: player option, not a team option in year three. Yet
Speaker 2: another surprise, another development that has people around the league
Speaker 2: asking questions and raising eyebrows. First thing we got to do, though,
Speaker 2: is check on our suffering co host, because sources say
Speaker 2: and have I only have one source on this, and
Speaker 2: I don't think I need a second source. Air Conditioning
Speaker 2: is out at the Haynes mansion and it cannot be
Speaker 2: put back online until Thursday. I man, I feel you're
Speaker 2: living out one of my worst my worst fears, a
Speaker 2: house with no air conditioning.
Speaker 3: Rio I'm maintaining well. Listen.
Speaker 4: I think we're definitely doing during our listeners a great
Speaker 4: service because it is important, especially important for this episode
Speaker 4: that this podcast be audio only because i am shirtless.
Speaker 4: I've been shirtless the whole day. I'm not putting any
Speaker 4: I'm putting bare minimum clothes on today, and I'm sorry
Speaker 4: if you have a really good ear my our podcast,
Speaker 4: The great Our great podcast producer Ryan told me he
Speaker 4: doesn't hear anything, but I have about four fans on
Speaker 4: in my living room with you know, with then reach
Speaker 4: of me right now. So if you're hearing a little
Speaker 4: blowing sound, you have a really good ear if you
Speaker 4: can hear that. But I'm sorry, everybody. Those fans are
Speaker 4: going to stay on while I'm doing this podcast because
Speaker 4: I'm trying to make it through. I'm trying to get
Speaker 4: through and without melting. So thank you for your support,
Speaker 4: Starn But yeah, I'm gonna make it. I'm gonna make
Speaker 4: it through.
Speaker 2: Luckily for you, I guess the trade winds are blowing
Speaker 2: and there's no time to even think about the rough conditions.
Speaker 2: Because Damian Lillard, it finally happened. He met with Blazers
Speaker 2: management last Monday. There was no change in status after
Speaker 2: that meeting, but free agency has now begun. The Blazers
Speaker 2: commit to a five year one hundred and sixty million
Speaker 2: dollar deal with Jeremy Grant on Friday night, and by Saturday,
Speaker 2: Dame Lillard has formally lodged that trade request. It's bringing
Speaker 2: Dame some heat because people are asking why did he
Speaker 2: do it? Why is he doing this now right after
Speaker 2: the Grant move? And sorry, Ryan Music, I know I
Speaker 2: have my phone too close to the microphone. I know
Speaker 2: that postpod lecture is coming. My bad, And then I
Speaker 2: have to flip it around and say, well, the Blazers
Speaker 2: could have taken charge of their own situation a lot sooner.
Speaker 2: They didn't want to take charge of this situation. They've
Speaker 2: had more than ample time to proactively say, Dame, we
Speaker 2: love you, but we need to make this We need
Speaker 2: to seek trades for you instead of waiting for you
Speaker 2: to tell us when to do it. So all that
Speaker 2: kind of back and forth is going to be volleyballed
Speaker 2: until we actually get a trade. But there is no
Speaker 2: one better to discuss this with than you, because, of course,
Speaker 2: Chris Haynes or Turner Sports, you were the one who
Speaker 2: broke the news that Damian Lillard had taken this step
Speaker 2: that so many around the league had been asking and
Speaker 2: wondering when will Dame finally decide that this is the
Speaker 2: time to push for his exit? Take it wherever you
Speaker 2: want to go? Where are we? What do you see next?
Speaker 2: How did we get here? The floor is yours.
Speaker 4: A lot of people have been waiting for Dame to
Speaker 4: ask out, and I think a lot of people also
Speaker 4: never it expected him to do so, you know, aren't
Speaker 4: going to be the greatest Blazer in history. The all
Speaker 4: time franchise is all time leading score. You know, he
Speaker 4: wore he wore the Blazers on his sleeve. He loved
Speaker 4: that community, he loved the city, raised his kids. There's
Speaker 4: a lot of his family from Oakland moved to Portland,
Speaker 4: so it was very It's a city and the organization
Speaker 4: that's very near and dear to his heart, and that's
Speaker 4: why it was tough for him to get to this point.
Speaker 4: But you know, just just for context, you know, when
Speaker 4: he had that meeting last Monday, I think out, I
Speaker 4: don't know if we didn't we didn't talk about that
Speaker 4: on this spot.
Speaker 3: Huh, Yeah we did. We didn't.
Speaker 2: Probably wouldn't have been good to make Da Mitchell have
Speaker 2: to have to address this.
Speaker 3: Yeah that's true.
Speaker 4: But yeah, he so he met with the Blazers last Monday,
Speaker 4: and I was told that meeting was for what was
Speaker 4: about two and a half hours. It was Damian Lillard,
Speaker 4: his agent Aaron Goodwin, and general manager Joe Cronin. And
Speaker 4: in that meeting, Dame was a lot. You know, he
Speaker 4: was able to vent and you know, voice his frustration
Speaker 4: with the direction of the team. And the Blazers have
Speaker 4: always maintained, especially Joe Craning, excuse me, especially Joe Cronin,
Speaker 4: that they want to build around him. That and they said,
Speaker 4: Joe Cronin said it, We're going to do everything within
Speaker 4: our power to build a contended team for Dame. He said, quote,
Speaker 4: we owe him that. And so you look at it.
Speaker 4: Let's let's go back, so you look at the draft,
Speaker 4: because let's go before the draft.
Speaker 3: The regular season.
Speaker 4: Damian Little having a career year, just coming off of
Speaker 4: that core injury where he had to sit out the
Speaker 4: year before to get surgery on that that core, came back,
Speaker 4: had the best year of his career at thirty two.
Speaker 4: Then remember he sat the final ten games of the
Speaker 4: regular season. Remember that he sat the final ten games
Speaker 4: of the regular season.
Speaker 3: A lot of other.
Speaker 4: Players core players sat the remainder of the season, so
Speaker 4: they got a higher pick. They get the number three pick.
Speaker 4: Dame was under the impression, I'm not even gonna say
Speaker 4: under the pressure, I don't think I have to code that.
Speaker 4: Dame was told that the Blazers will look to move
Speaker 4: that pick. Moved the pick to get help. Dame made
Speaker 4: it clear he does not want to play with young guys.
Speaker 4: That's not what he needs to win. He needs to
Speaker 4: have a player that's more on his timeline, that is
Speaker 4: ready and prepared to compete now to help them contend
Speaker 4: for a championship. Well, I can say two days before
Speaker 4: the draft, Joe Cronin called Damian Lillart and told them
Speaker 4: that they were likely keeping the pick, and from there
Speaker 4: I know Dame didn't have any conversations with the Blazers
Speaker 4: at that point, which led to Monday's meeting, which would
Speaker 4: have been what three days later, three or four days later,
Speaker 4: voice his displeasure with the direction of the team, talked
Speaker 4: about promises that weren't made and weren't kept, and so
Speaker 4: leaving that meeting, the Blazers understood that they had a
Speaker 4: little bit of a little bit, a little bit of
Speaker 4: time to try to improve the team via a trade,
Speaker 4: not free agency via a trade.
Speaker 2: Because we all knew the signing Jeremy Grant, I mean
Speaker 2: that was expected.
Speaker 4: Yeah, that was expected. But I got something to say
Speaker 4: about that too, Stein. But they had a little bit
Speaker 4: of a window via a trade to show Dame, we're
Speaker 4: gonna do everything we can to make you happy, to
Speaker 4: give you a finally give you a contended team. Well,
Speaker 4: the period went and gone, came and gone, free agency
Speaker 4: hits DA ain't recognized. Nothing happened. They did sign Jeremy
Speaker 4: Grant to that massive deal, which I was surprised by that,
Speaker 4: but kudos Jeremy Grant, kudos to Rich Paula's agent. But
Speaker 4: Dame didn't see the vision wasn't kept. It in his eyes,
Speaker 4: the promises weren't kept. And the timing of the trade
Speaker 4: requests coincides with the fact that listen, you want to
Speaker 4: make sure that these teams haven't trade away all their
Speaker 4: assets or these didn't make moves that they would have
Speaker 4: made if they known that he was available. So timing
Speaker 4: was up the essence. So that was the that was
Speaker 4: the why. That was why timing, that's why it happened
Speaker 4: at that time, the trade request. So I'm trying to
Speaker 4: give people a little context and background of how we
Speaker 4: all got to this point.
Speaker 3: Yeah.
Speaker 2: Look, I mean I'm just from a little bit further away.
Speaker 2: I mean I've said this before and you already know this.
Speaker 2: I am a basketball romantic. I wanted this to work out.
Speaker 2: I love that Dame wanted to make this work in Portland.
Speaker 2: He wanted to win in Portland. I mean, you know,
Speaker 2: I guess that's over now, and you know he wants
Speaker 2: to go to the Miami Heat. The Blazers are obviously saying, hey,
Speaker 2: we're going to look around. We're going to make the
Speaker 2: best deal we can for the franchise. There's a fair
Speaker 2: bit of skepticism about that when you talk to other teams,
Speaker 2: because given Lillard's stature in Portland and everything he's done
Speaker 2: across his eleven years, Like you said, the leading scorer
Speaker 2: in franchise history, a proud franchise that has a championship
Speaker 2: from the Bill Walton era and two finals trips in
Speaker 2: the Clyde Drexler era, and Damian Lillard is the leading
Speaker 2: score among all Blazers, and you know, it's hard to
Speaker 2: see them just dispatching him somewhere that he doesn't want
Speaker 2: to be but they all to me, they all waited
Speaker 2: too long. I mean, that's just this path. This was
Speaker 2: the second sorry ran if you can take out that
Speaker 2: stutter three two one. This was the second season in
Speaker 2: a row, really after the All Star Game that the
Speaker 2: Blazers basically shut it down to tank. I should have
Speaker 2: looked up the stat and I don't have it at
Speaker 2: my fingertips, so that's my bad. But I want to
Speaker 2: say I've written it before. I think they've won seven
Speaker 2: games after the break over the last two seasons. It's
Speaker 2: really been two tank jobs in a rowan look, and
Speaker 2: that's you know, that's when Blazers fans want to point
Speaker 2: to something good. Even though they're they're in this situation
Speaker 2: now that they have to find a workable Lillard trade.
Speaker 2: They just drafted his heir apparent in Scoot Henderson. They
Speaker 2: have Shaden Sharp from a year ago. They have Simons
Speaker 2: on a very very reasonable contract to either keep or
Speaker 2: maybe move for better roster balance. So they're they're not
Speaker 2: going to be just taken down to zero like Houston
Speaker 2: was when it traded James Harden away. The Blazers do
Speaker 2: have something to start over with, and with Scoot Henderson,
Speaker 2: something exciting to start over with. But again, the basketball
Speaker 2: romantic in me would have loved to have seen Damian
Speaker 2: Lillard go out a Blazer. I think that would have
Speaker 2: been an amazing story and a cool story. But I mean,
Speaker 2: they're they're not getting any closer to competitive. They just
Speaker 2: continue to slip farther and farther away, And so I
Speaker 2: do understand the frustration. I'm gonna be asking many more
Speaker 2: questions about the Blazers. They why didn't they try to
Speaker 2: force his hand sooner and speed up this timetable because
Speaker 2: now you've got a situation where the whole league knows
Speaker 2: he wants to go to Miami, and that complicates the
Speaker 2: process even further.
Speaker 4: You know, there was a there was a I don't
Speaker 4: know if people know this as well, but a few
Speaker 4: years ago. It was after the Blazers lost to the
Speaker 4: Denver Nuggets in the playoffs, and that was when the
Speaker 4: Nuggets were they were missing some key pieces. Jamal Murray
Speaker 4: was injured. He didn't play. I want to say, I
Speaker 4: want to say Porter probably didn't play as well in
Speaker 4: that series.
Speaker 3: But they lost to a Nuggets team that was wounded.
Speaker 2: Wasn't it. Austin is in Composo in the backcourt for
Speaker 2: the Nuggets.
Speaker 4: Yes, yes, yes, they lost to that team, and that
Speaker 4: was really the first time Dame was really considering requesting
Speaker 4: the trade. And from that standpoint, nil O'Shea was a
Speaker 4: general manager at that time, it was known that he
Speaker 4: was leaning towards hiring Chauncey Billups.
Speaker 3: And so let me just.
Speaker 4: Tell you this and so, and for background again, James
Speaker 4: Harden had left when Steven Silas got the head job
Speaker 4: with the Houston Rockets, and this was at a time
Speaker 4: where you know, we just weren't seeing a lot of brothers.
Speaker 4: Wasn't seeing a lot of Excuse me, I can answer
Speaker 4: that call later, but we weren't seeing a lot of
Speaker 4: brothers getting head coaching jobs at that time. And Steve
Speaker 4: Silas was somebody who's been an NBA lifer who finally
Speaker 4: got his first head coaching job and then the best
Speaker 4: player on the team. James Harden requests the trade and
Speaker 4: put Steven Sallace in a difficult predicament. And we've seen
Speaker 4: what he had to deal with during his time with
Speaker 4: the Rockets and he's now gone. I know for a
Speaker 4: fact that when they hired Chauncey Dame had so much
Speaker 4: respect for Chancey that even though Chauncey didn't have anything
Speaker 4: to do with the shortcomings of the Blazers in previous years,
Speaker 4: he didn't want to do to Chancey what was done
Speaker 4: to Steven Sallas. So that that played a factor in
Speaker 4: him staying giving the team another chance. His relate to
Speaker 4: his love for Chancey and wanted to give him a chance.
Speaker 4: And so, you know, that was the first that was
Speaker 4: and so there's been multiple times, you know, where he's
Speaker 4: thought about this, and this was this was it. And
Speaker 4: then Joe Cronin came in, you know him and Joe
Speaker 4: R's you know, they're they're cool. Joe Cronan is a
Speaker 4: good dude. Number of respect for Joe Cronin. He's been
Speaker 4: there for a long time, somebody who's earned his stripes,
Speaker 4: earned his opportunity to get this, get this chance to
Speaker 4: lead a front office. And so Dame wanted to give
Speaker 4: him a chance as well, you know, give give him
Speaker 4: some time to make to make those promises coming to Fruition.
Speaker 4: And I know it's been only two years, but Dame
Speaker 4: is looking at his timeline, he's looking at the roster
Speaker 4: is not getting any better. There's still a team that's
Speaker 4: going to struggle to make the playoffs at best, and
Speaker 4: he wants to win, and he wants to win. He
Speaker 4: wanted to win in Portland so bad, you know. So
Speaker 4: I know the memes Tombody's running from the grind. No,
Speaker 4: he's not running from the grind. He just I believe
Speaker 4: he just doesn't feel like his goals are aligned with
Speaker 4: the organization's goal.
Speaker 2: Well, I don't know him like you know him certainly.
Speaker 2: I mean, you know him much better than I do.
Speaker 2: But I I kind of have the impression that he's
Speaker 2: a basketball romantic too. I think he did want this
Speaker 2: to happen with the team that drafted him, and you know,
Speaker 2: it was a small market team that is perpetually under
Speaker 2: the radar, and that's how he came into the league.
Speaker 2: And he, you know, has grown into the player that
Speaker 2: we all know him. And Dame time and the whole thing.
Speaker 2: I mean, you mentioned the previous administration. I mean, look,
Speaker 2: I I remember writing it years ago, and I said
Speaker 2: this as a CJ McCollum fan, and I felt like,
Speaker 2: you know, I never actually kept the stats, but I
Speaker 2: felt like CJ's shooting percentage in games that I attended
Speaker 2: had to be about sixty seven percent. I feel like
Speaker 2: the man never missed a shot if I was watching him.
Speaker 2: But I said it, I mean, I wrote it years ago.
Speaker 2: I think my first year at the New York Times,
Speaker 2: when I, you know, every at the start of every season,
Speaker 2: I always do a you know, my eight bold almost
Speaker 2: bold predictions at the start of every season. And I
Speaker 2: think it was the first year at the Times. Maybe
Speaker 2: the second, but I do think it was the first
Speaker 2: that I thought they had to break them up then
Speaker 2: because for roster balance, CJ was closer to his peak
Speaker 2: and they could have gotten more from I think they
Speaker 2: waited too long to trade him because as much as
Speaker 2: as close as they were and as good as they
Speaker 2: were together, you could make the argument, a strong argument
Speaker 2: that they would have been better served with more roster
Speaker 2: balance than having two guards as the two best guys
Speaker 2: on the team and neither one being a defense first guy.
Speaker 2: So I mean, there, you know, there will be you.
Speaker 4: Know asti ASTI remember, like I forgot to mention when
Speaker 4: I was giving context and background, you know, they draft
Speaker 4: a player who plays his position, drafted his replacement.
Speaker 2: All right, So let's let's spin it forward. What do
Speaker 2: you think happens. I mean, I'm struggling to find anyone
Speaker 2: in my conversations with people around the league who who
Speaker 2: don't think game's ending up in Miami one way or another.
Speaker 2: I tend to think he's gonna end up in Miami,
Speaker 2: And honestly, that's more a statement about the Heat than
Speaker 2: anything after. I mean, the Heat had less than three
Speaker 2: million dollars in cap space and still found a way
Speaker 2: to trade to sign and trade for Jimmy Butler with
Speaker 2: Philly arrival in the East. So after the Heat pulled
Speaker 2: that off, you know, I know it doesn't look great.
Speaker 2: Their best asset is Tyler Hero who Portland apparently doesn't want.
Speaker 2: But I am not betting against the Heat finding a
Speaker 2: way to get this tone, whether that needs three teams
Speaker 2: or four teams or whatever. We know that's where Dame
Speaker 2: wants to go, and I'm just I'm really struggling to
Speaker 2: come up with a scenario that prevents that.
Speaker 3: Yeah, I don't know.
Speaker 4: You know, obviously that's his first choice, that's the main
Speaker 4: place he wants to go to. You know, I see
Speaker 4: a little bit of a debate going on about do
Speaker 4: the Blazers owe it to send Dame where he wants
Speaker 4: to go. You know, people are pointing to his contract.
Speaker 4: You know, he was paid very handsomely over his eleven
Speaker 4: year career, and they don't owe him anything. He signed
Speaker 4: a contract. I hear all that, I get it, But
Speaker 4: Dame situation is a little bit different from any other player.
Speaker 4: I think the only player that can probably relate or
Speaker 4: has a similar path is Kevin Garnett, somebody who held
Speaker 4: it down in the organization for so long, did everything
Speaker 4: he could, didn't complain.
Speaker 3: It, just stayed the course, and.
Speaker 4: It was like it was I wasn't covering the league then,
Speaker 4: I wasn't NB a reporter at that time, but I
Speaker 4: remember people were saying, like KG, all right, it's time
Speaker 4: to go.
Speaker 3: It's time to go. It's time to go.
Speaker 4: So I feel like for the Blazers, I think that,
Speaker 4: you know, because the league is watching, players are watching.
Speaker 4: They're watching how the Blazers are gonna treat Dame. After
Speaker 4: way he held down the organization, the community and just
Speaker 4: just being a noble citizen and spokesperson for that team
Speaker 4: that he was for decade. They're watching to see how
Speaker 4: this is going to play out. Young guys, young players
Speaker 4: are watching. I think the Blazers. I think they should
Speaker 4: look to see how they can get him to Miami,
Speaker 4: but also figure out how they can get the best package,
Speaker 4: which meaning meaning if you know, if it involves a
Speaker 4: third team, which it would have to involve a thirty
Speaker 4: team at least, or if it involves a fourth team,
Speaker 4: like trying to go out, go out your way to
Speaker 4: make to make to appease both sides.
Speaker 3: I think there's a way that that can be done.
Speaker 4: And so that's what I that's what I kind of hope,
Speaker 4: you know, so it can kind of so that situation
Speaker 4: won't be such a at tension feel exit between Dame
Speaker 4: and the Blazers. I'm hoping that both sides can come
Speaker 4: to a to come to a situation of where they're
Speaker 4: both taken care of. And I think that solution does exist.
Speaker 2: And you know, one counter that people will say in
Speaker 2: response to what you just laid out is, well, the
Speaker 2: Blazers are not getting free agents anyway, so what do
Speaker 2: they care about what other players think of how they
Speaker 2: handle this? Well, you know who else is watching how
Speaker 2: this is being handled. Scoot Henderson. He's the new face
Speaker 2: of the franchise the minute they complete this trait and
Speaker 2: he will be watching to see how this goes down,
Speaker 2: because you know, at some point in the future Scoot
Speaker 2: Henderson will likely be in that same position where he
Speaker 2: has to decide if he wants to stay with the
Speaker 2: Blazers or go elsewhere. So I do think there's an
Speaker 2: element of that. But you know, as I was sitting
Speaker 2: there with my long winded I can't see an alternative
Speaker 2: to Miami. You know, there is that chatter about Utah,
Speaker 2: and I will just say, with Danny Ainge in the
Speaker 2: CEO chair in Salt Lake City, Danny will do it
Speaker 2: if there's a trait. You know, Danny won't worry about
Speaker 2: does Dame want to be here? You know, you saw
Speaker 2: what you saw how Danny Ainge responded to the playoffs
Speaker 2: last season. Utah goes out in Round one and he
Speaker 2: traded Rudy Gobert, he traded Donovan Mitchell. You know, Utah's
Speaker 2: kind of lurking here. I have to say that that
Speaker 2: has fascinated me because.
Speaker 4: STI but nobody, nobody would blame Danny Ings. Danny Aings
Speaker 4: wouldn't receive backlash for going forward. It would be Joe
Speaker 4: Crona and the Blazers for sending them there to a
Speaker 4: place that he doesn't want to be at. So again,
Speaker 4: that is an element of which players are watching to
Speaker 4: see the guy who had the most, the guy who
Speaker 4: held the organization down for so long, repped them, did
Speaker 4: everything he could to try to bring a winner to
Speaker 4: that that franchise, and when it's clear as day that
Speaker 4: there is no path to contending under his in his
Speaker 4: within his timeline, you go and ship him to a
Speaker 4: place he doesn't want to be at. That again, Blazers
Speaker 4: are within their right. Danny Aings wouldn't be receiving criticism,
Speaker 4: It would be the Blazers for.
Speaker 2: Doing We once saw Toronto trade for Kawhi Leonard with
Speaker 2: one year left on his deal and a belief that
Speaker 2: Kawhi had zero interest in going there. He only sad
Speaker 2: that one year, but they didn't win a championship. If
Speaker 2: that scenario happened, how hard would it be for Team
Speaker 2: X to try to talk Dame into, Hey, you're with
Speaker 2: us and we've got you under contract for multiple years,
Speaker 2: and or do you do you do you think that
Speaker 2: he's just so set on Miami that there's.
Speaker 3: No Miami Miami style? Are you moving Miami?
Speaker 2: If it happens are you moving to Miami?
Speaker 4: I will say this, I would be in my uh.
Speaker 4: I don't know that I'll pull a winter horse, but
Speaker 4: I would. I would be I would. I would be
Speaker 4: in Miami probably a little bit more if that were
Speaker 4: the case. That's no shot at wind you need. That's
Speaker 4: no shot at Winded.
Speaker 2: We love, we love one of our beloved former he's
Speaker 2: a legend anyway.
Speaker 3: But I would make Miami.
Speaker 2: Finger Well, you'll need air conditioning in Miami if that's
Speaker 2: where you're headed.
Speaker 3: Wooh oh man the humidity.
Speaker 2: But I will not becoming a visit after March October
Speaker 2: to March. Will be excited to visit in Miami after
Speaker 2: April first, Nope, no Miami for me, all right. I
Speaker 2: suspect this was not the last time we will be
Speaker 2: discussing Damian Lillard in his future. And look, one of
Speaker 2: the key questions here is how fast will this go?
Speaker 2: I mean, the vibe with both Lillard and Harden. I
Speaker 2: don't think the Blazers want to move as fast as
Speaker 2: the players want this to go, whether we're talking Portland
Speaker 2: or Philly. Let's shift gears and talk about hardened a
Speaker 2: little bit, because these two stories now just dominate everything
Speaker 2: in the NBA. There are still free agents on the board.
Speaker 2: There are other trades that will certainly happen, but to
Speaker 2: have both Damian Lillard and James Harden in play so
Speaker 2: soon after the draft, so soon after free agency, these
Speaker 2: are the runaway two dominant storylines in the league. And
Speaker 2: you know we'll both be in Vegas soon. Summer League
Speaker 2: starts later this week, and you know, Victor Weinbin Yama,
Speaker 2: Scoot Henderson, Brandon Miller on the floor. Yes, there will
Speaker 2: be a lot of buzz and attention, but in in
Speaker 2: the gym, in the hallways, in hotels up and down
Speaker 2: the strip, we're gonna be talking about Harden and Lillard.
Speaker 2: So sorry, now that's my phone ring, and I really
Speaker 2: should take this call, but I'm I'm gonna. I'm gonna
Speaker 2: call them back. Man, this is a good one too.
Speaker 1: Ah.
Speaker 2: Why does that always happen?
Speaker 1: All right?
Speaker 3: Uh? Stuh, don't let us stop. No, no, no, it's
Speaker 3: all good.
Speaker 2: I'll get back to them. I'll text them while you're
Speaker 2: answering and get back to them. Tell me James Harden,
Speaker 2: same thing. I mean, much like Dame anyone, pretty pretty
Speaker 2: much anyone you around the league, says he's going to
Speaker 2: end up a Clipper and that's the way it's going
Speaker 2: to play out. What's your feeling on the.
Speaker 3: Heart of innovation.
Speaker 4: Yeah, I think you're right, But I will say the
Speaker 4: Clippers reached out to Portland and try and tried to
Speaker 4: see if there's a way that they can get into
Speaker 4: that sweepstake. So in the the Dames sweepstakes, yes.
Speaker 2: Yes, Clippers are something else man Before the draft, Before
Speaker 2: the draft, the Clippers are gauging Paul George's value and
Speaker 2: thinking about is it time to break this thing up?
Speaker 2: But what I think, what I think we're seeing now
Speaker 2: is that though they quickly discovered that the return for
Speaker 2: Paul George would not be as robust as they hoped
Speaker 2: if they traded him. And it has nothing to do
Speaker 2: with talent. Paul George is obviously a you know, two
Speaker 2: way monster when he's on the court, but it's getting
Speaker 2: him on the court. It's the injury history, his age.
Speaker 2: Now he's thirty three and he can opt out at
Speaker 2: season's end. You might only have him for one year,
Speaker 2: so you're not gonna get a huge trade return. So
Speaker 2: now we're seeing the Clippers. The Clippers are you talked
Speaker 2: about pulling a wind horse. The Clippers are pulling the Suns.
Speaker 2: They went from let's explore our options with maybe what
Speaker 2: can we get from Paul George to we're trading for
Speaker 2: James Harden. No, wait, Damian Lillard's available. Let's see what's
Speaker 2: up there. Let's I mean, hey, Phoenix has a super team.
Speaker 2: Miami wants a superteam. The Clippers want a superteam.
Speaker 3: Yeah.
Speaker 2: No.
Speaker 4: And the fascinating part about that is, I think it
Speaker 4: just showed the pecking order. Once Dame requested the trade,
Speaker 4: all of a sudden, he became the top target and
Speaker 4: kind of I didn't say, I won't say put a
Speaker 4: hold on the league, but it did cause teams to pause. Okay,
Speaker 4: hold on, let's wait this, hold on, this hold on
Speaker 4: what we p had planned. Let's look to see if
Speaker 4: we got a shot. The Clippers one of those teams
Speaker 4: who did that, the Minnesota Timberwolves, New Orleans, New Orleans Pelicans,
Speaker 4: Boston Celtics. That, yeah, those are the teams that I
Speaker 4: off the top of my head. I'm pretty sure there
Speaker 4: were more the teams the top of my head that
Speaker 4: I know called out to reach out to see what
Speaker 4: it would take.
Speaker 3: And you know, Minnesota.
Speaker 4: Obviously, if they're trying to get in the Dame sweep state,
Speaker 4: you know it would take Karl Anthony Towns. But that's quickly.
Speaker 4: That was quickly eliminated, as well as all the other
Speaker 4: teams that tried to well, I'm not gonna say eliminated.
Speaker 3: I could say New Orleans are eliminated.
Speaker 4: But the Clippers, you know, I think they know they
Speaker 4: the chances are unlikely. But yeah, so James Harden is
Speaker 4: the focal. But if there was it was a chance
Speaker 4: that they could get in the Dame, they would have
Speaker 4: swooped in on Dame and then James Harden with a
Speaker 4: figure something else out.
Speaker 2: You saw the Clippers make this little trade the other
Speaker 2: day with Detroit where they paid cash to get the
Speaker 2: draft rights to Balsa KOPEI visa if I'm saying the
Speaker 2: name right, and I will count on my Serbian friends
Speaker 2: to let me know if I'm at least in the
Speaker 2: ballpark there. But you know a player, he was drafted
Speaker 2: fifty seventh by Charlotte in twenty twenty one, but not
Speaker 2: exactly a player that people are super familiar with. And instantly,
Speaker 2: the reaction I heard from a couple teams was Clippers
Speaker 2: just need him to throw into their next big trade something,
Speaker 2: you know, that's that's just a piece for whatever big
Speaker 2: is coming. Because we we haven't even seen Coporu Viza
Speaker 2: yet in the NBA, So I know it's frustrating for followers,
Speaker 2: for readers, for listeners that we don't have it pinpointed
Speaker 2: yet exactly how this is going to go down. But
Speaker 2: you know, the Clippers are exploring all kinds of scenarios.
Speaker 2: But it's interesting the Sixers might be operating with even
Speaker 2: more patients than the Blazers when it comes to moving
Speaker 2: James Harden because obviously James Harden has opted in. He
Speaker 2: is now on the final year of his deal. The
Speaker 2: Sixers really have control of the timetable here. I reported
Speaker 2: earlier Sunday in My notebook. Jake Fisher of Yahoo has
Speaker 2: reported this as well. The messaging coming out of Philly
Speaker 2: is the Sixers are not going to put Maxie on
Speaker 2: the table, so they're not trying to get into the
Speaker 2: Dame sweepstakes with Maxy. They it sounds like Wannu. They
Speaker 2: don't necessarily want to rush into a hardened trade, and
Speaker 2: they do have some controllers. It's you know, Darryl Moury
Speaker 2: arrived in Philly and basically spent the first fifteen months
Speaker 2: of his tenure trying to acquire James Harden. James Harden
Speaker 2: more than any other player until Joel EMBII came into
Speaker 2: his life. That was Darryl Mory's guy. But you know,
Speaker 2: we are again seeing the ruthless streak that Darryl Morriy
Speaker 2: possesses because his his fondness for James Harden is well known.
Speaker 2: They were together in Houston for almost a decade. But
Speaker 2: here it is. You know, James Harden a year ago
Speaker 2: takes a two year deal worth south of seventy million.
Speaker 2: It enables the Sixers to sign PJ. Tucker signed Daniel House,
Speaker 2: trade for DeAndre Melton. That's all thanks to the pay
Speaker 2: cut that James Harden took. And now a year later,
Speaker 2: James Harden doesn't get the big money deal that you
Speaker 2: heard a lot of wink wink, you know, wink wink.
Speaker 2: The Sixers have promised James Harden this big new contract
Speaker 2: for his sacrifice the year before. No, they are basically
Speaker 2: they took a very hard line. Now they have him
Speaker 2: on essentially a one year deal, They're most likely going
Speaker 2: to trade him but we saw how long the Sixers.
Speaker 2: It was a very drawn out process before they traded
Speaker 2: Ben Simmons. So I mean, Darryl Morey is showing us
Speaker 2: yet again he's capable of anything. But I do still
Speaker 2: at the end of the day's I think the Clippers
Speaker 2: are a favorite here for a reason.
Speaker 4: Okay, now, if they do get James Harden, what does
Speaker 4: that look like? Can this team coexist together James Harden?
Speaker 2: I just you know, I was, I was just saying it.
Speaker 2: It's like it was less than two weeks ago to
Speaker 2: the Clippers were exploring the prospect of trading Paul George
Speaker 2: and maybe breaking up the Kawhi Leonard Paul George tandem,
Speaker 2: and now you're adding Hardened to it. So it really
Speaker 2: is Phoenix. Like I think what the Clippers are saying is,
Speaker 2: we know we're you know, we're pretty you know, we're
Speaker 2: in the tax and so let's just zoom past it
Speaker 2: and deal with the consequences and get load up on
Speaker 2: as much talent as we get because one trade can't
Speaker 2: really get them out of this cap situation. But I mean,
Speaker 2: I like the Phoenix situation better than this trio for
Speaker 2: the Clippers, because again, you know, the injury histories for
Speaker 2: Kawhi Leonard and Paul George haven't changed, so they're gonna
Speaker 2: be carrying those same injury histories. You've got to decide
Speaker 2: if you want to extend those two guys this summer
Speaker 2: at different points this summer. But you know, by September,
Speaker 2: both of them will have become eligible Leonard and George,
Speaker 2: both of them will have become eligible for new four
Speaker 2: year extensions worth an excess of two hundred million each.
Speaker 2: And now you throw the mercurial Hardened into this mix. Yes,
Speaker 2: he would essentially be on an expiring contract, but man
Speaker 2: Tyler will be busy. I guess I'll say it like that.
Speaker 4: I think somehow, some way, PJ. Tucker will make his
Speaker 4: way over there as well. I don't know if it'll
Speaker 4: be a part of a James Harden trade or separate,
Speaker 4: but keep hearing people say somehow they they feel.
Speaker 2: Like, yeah, I mean, look, PJ and j Hardener're super tight?
Speaker 2: Are they a package deal? Not that hard to imagine?
Speaker 2: I mean you you, I mean, what what combo of
Speaker 2: stars would you? I mean, that's that's in the you know,
Speaker 2: putting aside the possibility of Dame landing in Miami. That's
Speaker 2: two super teams in the same division, Phoenix and the Clips.
Speaker 2: I don't want to go crazy over their minimum signings,
Speaker 2: but as it was happening, the thing I was thinking was,
Speaker 2: this is the this is the upside of having so
Speaker 2: much money spent on your four main guys, is that
Speaker 2: you can move right into the minimum market. And they
Speaker 2: were moving pretty quickly, and they got Utah Watson Abi
Speaker 2: who had a great year shooting the ball, and obviously
Speaker 2: that's that's a pretty encouraging pickup. Today on this Sunday,
Speaker 2: they were able to add Eric Gordon, so they have
Speaker 2: had a nice little run of minimum signings. And you know,
Speaker 2: you know you reported this the Suns. After having some
Speaker 2: serious DeAndre Ayton trade talks with Dallas, the Sons are
Speaker 2: now saying they're going forward with Ayton, which I think
Speaker 2: is code for they don't like the trade off is
Speaker 2: they've been getting for Eton, but you've got Durant Booker,
Speaker 2: Beale Ayton, and now we know their bench. I still
Speaker 2: like the Denver Nuggets better than anyone in the West,
Speaker 2: but the Sons. The Sons look much closer to an
Speaker 2: actual team as opposed to a collection of three four
Speaker 2: stars than they did a week ago. The Clippers thing
Speaker 2: will be fascinating if Harden does end up there and
Speaker 2: look that you know you've reported, You've reported a ton
Speaker 2: about the Tylo contract situation. Man extend that man if
Speaker 2: he's got to coach, he got to coach all three
Speaker 2: of those guys. Get this man a contract extension.
Speaker 3: He got his work cut out on the Sunstein.
Speaker 4: I'm actually gonna tweet this momentarily, but i'll say it
Speaker 4: here first. I don't know if I'm really saying it
Speaker 4: here first, because this pod is gonna drop, then I'm
Speaker 4: already have had it. I'm already then tweeted it. But
Speaker 4: Darren Collison, who retired a few years ago, he worked
Speaker 4: out for the Suns last week and I was told
Speaker 4: he had a great showing. So that's an area of
Speaker 4: the you know, the point guard position that you can
Speaker 4: you can see the Sons looking into and trying to
Speaker 4: figure out who are the best players on the market.
Speaker 2: I'm looking at Twitter. You haven't tweeted yet. Theoretically I
Speaker 2: could just tweet that faster than you.
Speaker 3: You go still, you go steal the stin. That's how
Speaker 3: we're doing the stink If you're I thought.
Speaker 2: Air conditioning was on. I might have thought about it,
Speaker 2: but since your air conditionings off, I'm not going.
Speaker 1: To do.
Speaker 3: Yeah. So that I don't know what they're gonna do.
Speaker 3: I don't know if he's gonna be it is.
Speaker 2: It does illustrate that they're still looking around and not
Speaker 2: necessarily done. Should we let this man have some peace,
Speaker 2: let him tweet, let him let him fire this tweet off?
Speaker 3: No good, We're good.
Speaker 2: So, as I mentioned off the top, we've had almost
Speaker 2: eighty free agents find new teams or find their new contracts.
Speaker 2: A lot of them stayed with their current teams, and
Speaker 2: we're going to talk about one of them in a sec.
Speaker 2: But you know, it's too soon to me, not even
Speaker 2: three full days into this, to talk about winners and losers,
Speaker 2: especially because we've got these two considerable trade situations to
Speaker 2: deal with. So there will be plenty of time down
Speaker 2: the road for full on winners and losers. I certainly
Speaker 2: like what the Lakers have done to get Gabe Vincent
Speaker 2: at eleven million a season, and all the other small
Speaker 2: moves they've made to just really round out their depth.
Speaker 2: I think the Lakers have been pretty unanimously praised for
Speaker 2: their free agency to this point, and we got a
Speaker 2: lot to talk about with Houston. They go to the
Speaker 2: third year to convince Fred van Vliet to leave Toronto.
Speaker 2: But then we hear the four years eighty million for
Speaker 2: Dylan Brooks. I remember reporting within the last week or
Speaker 2: two that Dylan Brooks was seeking a above the twelve
Speaker 2: point four mid level exception, and I was hearing fourteen million,
Speaker 2: fifteen million, sixteen million a year, but twenty million a year.
Speaker 2: But again, we don't have the whole picture on the
Speaker 2: sign and trade yet. Maybe that will emerge later tonight
Speaker 2: after we finished recording this, but we don't have it
Speaker 2: at this second, and so there are still a lot
Speaker 2: of variables that I think we need to know a
Speaker 2: lot of blanks to fill in before it's time to
Speaker 2: really get into winners and losers. So let's but let's
Speaker 2: talk about Kyrie Irving because that's a situation that both
Speaker 2: you and I have spent a lot of time covering.
Speaker 2: You reported that Kyrie Irving was lined up to take
Speaker 2: a meeting with Phoenix. I think when free agency started
Speaker 2: on Friday night, there was a feeling in Dallas that
Speaker 2: this wouldn't be an instantaneous process that there was the
Speaker 2: likelihood that Kyrie would at least take a meeting with
Speaker 2: the Suns and maybe try to take a meeting elsewhere
Speaker 2: to put some pressure on Dallas to try to gain
Speaker 2: some leverage, because as we've been saying for weeks now,
Speaker 2: really months now, it's the end of the season. In
Speaker 2: early April that there had been no other confirmed suitor
Speaker 2: for Kyrie Irving. But in the end that didn't really matter.
Speaker 2: He got a three year deal one hundred and twenty
Speaker 2: six million and that third year of player option, so
Speaker 2: he still got a tremendous deal. I know the Mavericks internally,
Speaker 2: they feel very good about it because it's nine ish
Speaker 2: million less than the first year max he settled for
Speaker 2: a number a little bit shy of forty million in
Speaker 2: year one. The Mavericks have their full mid level available
Speaker 2: to go after wing help. So Dallas feels good about this.
Speaker 2: But I mean, look to me, it's at least it's
Speaker 2: a season too long, especially because it is a player option.
Speaker 2: But tell me the give me, give me, give me
Speaker 2: the perspective from Sacramento with Kyrie Irving getting this deal
Speaker 2: to stay in Dallas for three more years.
Speaker 3: I didn't.
Speaker 4: I'm gonna tell you, I was surprised. And you have
Speaker 4: to give give credit to Kyrie and his agent Stilia Irving.
Speaker 4: They did a phenomenal job. I didn't see that coming
Speaker 4: three years. What is that three that's what forty two
Speaker 4: a year? That's about forty two a year, right that?
Speaker 4: That is mand We didn't see that. Didn't see that
Speaker 4: at all, and especially I did. I could not identify
Speaker 4: a team out there that would pay him anywhere close
Speaker 4: to that. So to be able to pull that off
Speaker 4: with only having one one suitor that can pay you
Speaker 4: anywhere close to your value, that was that was a
Speaker 4: pretty significant haul right there.
Speaker 3: Player options.
Speaker 2: For me, this has never been about talent Kyrie Irving.
Speaker 2: I mean there was there were highlights on Twitter today
Speaker 2: of you know, just the dribbling magic that comes from
Speaker 2: Kyrie Irving that own he is capable of. But that's
Speaker 2: not what this is about. I mean, the reality is
Speaker 2: fair or not, like it or not. For the last
Speaker 2: six seasons, Kyrie Irving has only played sixty five games,
Speaker 2: or the equivalent of sixty five games in a seventy
Speaker 2: two game season. It's only happened once in the last
Speaker 2: six seasons, they need to see a lot more of
Speaker 2: him if you're going to give him a deal like this.
Speaker 2: But the larger issue for Dallas and where I have
Speaker 2: my questions, you have to get your star to someome
Speaker 2: right in this new CBA unless you're gonna do a
Speaker 2: Phoenix or a Clippers or a Heat and spend crazy
Speaker 2: money on three guys. But most teams are not going
Speaker 2: to do that. Most teams are going to try to
Speaker 2: get their two stars. Make sure you get the right
Speaker 2: to and build around it. And would you build a
Speaker 2: team around two ball dominant guards like Luka Doncic and
Speaker 2: Kyrie Irving? And would that would that be where you
Speaker 2: start building your team from The reality though for Dallas
Speaker 2: is they made this choice in February when they traded
Speaker 2: for Kyrie Irving. They traded a lot for them, and
Speaker 2: they didn't want to just walk away from that and
Speaker 2: see how they would do with cap space and take
Speaker 2: that chance, because cap space that's two evil words in
Speaker 2: Dallas given their history with chasing free agents. But it's
Speaker 2: it's going to be a challenge to build a team
Speaker 2: around these two guys. It didn't go well last season
Speaker 2: in the second half they were five and eleven when
Speaker 2: both Luka Dancic and Kyrie Irving were in uniform, and
Speaker 2: you know, speaking for myself, it's not my team, and
Speaker 2: you know again this is me, it's this is not
Speaker 2: the direction I would have gone in February. And it's
Speaker 2: a big contract now. But it's on them to make
Speaker 2: it work now. Mark Cuban, Nico Harrison, Jason Kidd, Luka
Speaker 2: Doncic and above all Kyrie Irving. They've got to They've
Speaker 2: got to make this work. You know, the MAVs are
Speaker 2: still trying to make moves to round out their team.
Speaker 2: They went into free agency beyond trying to re sign
Speaker 2: Kyrie as their number one priority they need. They wanted
Speaker 2: to get a new starting center, and they wanted to
Speaker 2: get a defense first wing. And at this point they
Speaker 2: don't really have either one of those other two pieces.
Speaker 2: So still a lot for the Mavericks to get done.
Speaker 2: They still have their full mid level to go after wings.
Speaker 2: I reported today that you know, they're in the mix
Speaker 2: for Matisse Tible and Grant Williams, both restricted free agents.
Speaker 2: But with a restricted free agent, you can't even sign
Speaker 2: a restricted free agent to an offer sheet until July sixth,
Speaker 2: which is Thursday, and then you got to wait out
Speaker 2: the new shortened twenty four our match period for a
Speaker 2: restricted free agent. But still a lot for Dallas to
Speaker 2: do even after getting this done. But I will say
Speaker 2: the Mavericks they're they're tuning out the noise and internally
Speaker 2: they believe that they got a good deal. They're gonna
Speaker 2: have to prove it to people, because you know you
Speaker 2: said it forty two MILLI year when you're essentially bidding
Speaker 2: against yourself, that is a cost. That's Chris Haynes money.
Speaker 2: That's a costly check.
Speaker 4: What Stein tell me? What did you what did you
Speaker 4: think would be the terms of a new Kyrie deal
Speaker 4: with Dallas?
Speaker 2: It ended up basically money wise, it ended up basically
Speaker 2: where I thought. But if the third year is a
Speaker 2: team option against as opposed to a player option, I'm
Speaker 2: looking at it completely differently. I have been saying it
Speaker 2: really since the season ended in Dallas. If it's me again,
Speaker 2: if I'm in charge and the magic wand is put
Speaker 2: in my hand and I'm the orchestrator here, I'm offering
Speaker 2: a one plus one with a team option in year two.
Speaker 2: But I realized that Kyrie Irving would have wanted no
Speaker 2: part of a deal like that, and that was the
Speaker 2: difficult challenge that the Mavericks faced her. What the Mavericks
Speaker 2: would say, The Mavericks would say, we weren't bidding against ourselves.
Speaker 2: We were trying to find the deal that was as
Speaker 2: close to team friendly as we could make it. But
Speaker 2: where Kyrie felt good about it, felt respected, and is
Speaker 2: ready to come back, hungry to make this thing flow
Speaker 2: a lot better than it did last season after the trade. Now,
Speaker 2: in his defense, he didn't have a training camp with
Speaker 2: the Mavericks. He showed up in February with a team
Speaker 2: that was already off to a very rough start last season.
Speaker 2: So this is not to suggest that the five and
Speaker 2: eleven record when he and Luca were in uniform was
Speaker 2: all on him, because offensively, the numbers look good with
Speaker 2: the two of them on the floor, for any of
Speaker 2: the concerns that I'm raising, but you know, it was
Speaker 2: not a team that was trending in the right direction
Speaker 2: when he got there, and the second half was even worse.
Speaker 2: But they're going to have a training camp now and
Speaker 2: they are going through a slew of roster changes. They
Speaker 2: had a pretty productive draft night. It'll be easier to
Speaker 2: judge things when we see where the Mavericks end up
Speaker 2: at the end of free agency, rather than now when
Speaker 2: they're still in the middle of their roster assembly. But
Speaker 2: you know, to me, if it's a if it's a
Speaker 2: pricey two year deal with year three in the Mavericks control,
Speaker 2: I would have a different perspective.
Speaker 3: Understood.
Speaker 4: And that's right, that's you know, that's probably what I
Speaker 4: was expecting. You know, I I that number. I didn't
Speaker 4: expect that number. That's why you know, I'm giving a
Speaker 4: shot up to Cecilia irvn what she was able to do.
Speaker 4: And now I know the Dallas members one at Kyrie
Speaker 4: Irvan's deals, they wanted the agreement done early so he
Speaker 4: can start recruiting. And with the moves that they made
Speaker 4: and see the they re signed d white pal who else, So.
Speaker 2: They've resigned and they've resigned White Powell, They signed Seth Curry,
Speaker 2: They signed Dante Exam for the minimum to see. If
Speaker 2: you know, Dante Exam shot the ball real well in
Speaker 2: Europe the last couple of years, so they're going to
Speaker 2: give him another chance in the NBA. But look, you're
Speaker 2: exactly right. That's another reason why the Mavericks were excited
Speaker 2: about this to get this done early on day one
Speaker 2: of free agency so they can move to the rest
Speaker 2: of it because they look, they tried to trade for
Speaker 2: Clint Capella, they tried to trade for DeAndre Ayton. Those
Speaker 2: trade talks didn't lead to a deal. They would have
Speaker 2: loved to have had a shot to use that mid
Speaker 2: level and signed nas Reed, but naz Reid did an
Speaker 2: extension with Minnesota before he even made it to free agency,
Speaker 2: So the Mavericks still have to find a center. They
Speaker 2: have to find a wing defender. With this mid level
Speaker 2: that they created and the Draft night moves they made
Speaker 2: put them in position to have the full mid level
Speaker 2: to go out and upgrade the team, So you're right
Speaker 2: they want it. In their perfect scenario, the Kyrie Irving
Speaker 2: deal gets done quick, they don't have to mess with meetings,
Speaker 2: and then they can move on to the other business
Speaker 2: because they got a lot of other business to get done.
Speaker 4: Speaking of business, Dian, how is your business been since
Speaker 4: Twitter has been acting up and doing this crazy stuff
Speaker 4: that Elon has implemented over I gotta.
Speaker 2: Say, man, it has been a wonderful surprise and I
Speaker 2: feel so lucky, you know, one of the coolest things
Speaker 2: about substack. They give us so many tools, you know,
Speaker 2: because I am not a tech savvy person. I'm in
Speaker 2: my fifties now, I am like, but it is so
Speaker 2: easy to publish my stories. And we you know, we
Speaker 2: have substacked notes, which is like Twitter, and we have
Speaker 2: substacked Chat, and so many readers have been flocking to
Speaker 2: the substack chat even when I'm not in there. Sometimes
Speaker 2: I'm in there sometimes I like, I've done multiple live
Speaker 2: chats since all this Twitter chaos happened. But there's there's
Speaker 2: many hours that I'm not even in there, but everybody's
Speaker 2: congregating in there, posting updates because you know, people are
Speaker 2: missing so much on Twitter. And I have to say,
Speaker 2: it's been really cool to watch and I love going
Speaker 2: in there and uh and just mixing it up with everybody.
Speaker 2: So for me, it's actually been I've actually enjoyed it.
Speaker 2: I mean, it's been disruptive, no question. I mean, you know,
Speaker 2: I'm a I'm a huge tweet deck guy and look
Speaker 2: I'm I'm looking at tweet deck as we speak, and
Speaker 2: two of my main columns are lists that are just
Speaker 2: not even working. I did see your Darren Collis and tweet.
Speaker 2: By the way, So congratulations on.
Speaker 3: You probably wanted a few you probably you probably wanted
Speaker 3: a few that see it.
Speaker 2: Well, Look, I was doing live I was doing live
Speaker 2: radio Saturday, and I saw right before I walked in
Speaker 2: the studio, I saw your Dame Lillard has requested a
Speaker 2: trade tweet. So I guess I'm still seeing stuff. But yeah,
Speaker 2: it's been the timing of this has been horrendous.
Speaker 4: Yeah, I'm not seeing anything, but oh well, whatever, Eli, uh,
Speaker 4: get it together.
Speaker 3: El. He did this.
Speaker 4: He had to have he had to have known he
Speaker 4: was going to do this during NBA free agency.
Speaker 2: And I feel like I feel like Chris Hayesen and
Speaker 2: I just missed another good call. We gotta wrap this up.
Speaker 2: I gotta get back on the phones. Man, I'm missing
Speaker 2: some good I'm missing some good call.
Speaker 3: League cut this league cut, all.
Speaker 2: Right, everybody. Look, I realized that there is much, much,
Speaker 2: much free agency the action that we haven't gotten to.
Speaker 2: And again, the Houston Rockets alone will merit a long
Speaker 2: detailed conversation once we see the Dylan Brooks sign and
Speaker 2: trade go through and see how Houston is gonna make
Speaker 2: use of this extra cap space. So we went for
Speaker 2: an hour. We went longer than we normally did, and
Speaker 2: we really focus this on Damian Lillard, James Harden, and
Speaker 2: Kyrie Irving. We will broaden our scope the next time
Speaker 2: we do this. And I have to say, I cannot wait.
Speaker 2: I can't even remember the last time we were in
Speaker 2: the same place. It must have been you on assignment
Speaker 2: in Dallas, because I haven't been anywhere lately that you've been.
Speaker 2: But soon we'll both be in Vegas. You'll see Chris
Speaker 2: Haynes on the sidelines doing multiple Summer League games, and
Speaker 2: we're gonna get together and we got some special podcast plans.
Speaker 2: That's as much as I can reveal at this point,
Speaker 2: but like I said, I think I think you guys
Speaker 2: will enjoy enjoy what we have planned for podcasting in Vegas.
Speaker 2: We will reveal more of that once it is locked
Speaker 2: in and set and nothing can derail us. But we
Speaker 2: covered a lot of ground today and we will do
Speaker 2: this again soon to discuss more free agency madness, presumably
Speaker 2: trade chaos, and Summer league goings on both of us
Speaker 2: in Vegas for a good chunk of the Summer League. Remember, friends,
Speaker 2: please rate, review, and subscribe to this league Uncut via
Speaker 2: Apple Podcasts or Spotify, wherever you get your pods and
Speaker 2: sources say, I actually don't even need sources. Chris Haynes
Speaker 2: has left the scene to take a phone call, even
Speaker 2: after I missed two important phone calls. I'm going to
Speaker 2: go return those calls now. Chris is on the line.
Speaker 2: We'll do this again soon. We'll be back with you soon.
Speaker 2: Thanks so much for listening to us here on this league.
Speaker 1: And that'll do it for us. See you next time.
Speaker 2: This league.
Speaker 1: Uncutta is an iHeartRadio production.
Speaker 2: Suck a Locket Chris Hanes and Mark Stein