Speaker 1: Welcome to the Best of the Week for What's Right
Speaker 1: with Nick Right the best takes in moments from this
Speaker 1: week on the show. Enjoy the Heat have won the
Speaker 1: Yannis Sweepstakes. The Heat received Jannis and Bobby Portis, the Bucks,
Speaker 1: get Tyler, hero killl Ware, Jime Hakez Junior, caspart Casparis Jakenshonis,
Speaker 1: three first round picks, including the thirteenth Tonight, twenty thirty one,
Speaker 1: and twenty thirty three, and a twenty thirty swap for Yannis.
Speaker 1: And my snap reaction is as a basketball fan, I'm
Speaker 1: bummed about it because and I want to say this
Speaker 1: on the front end, because I know this will be clipped.
Speaker 1: I know heat Uh Twitter, who actually historically I think
Speaker 1: is kind of liked me because I've believed in them
Speaker 1: more than I think a lot of my colleagues. Heat
Speaker 1: Twitter is gonna be furious. And I truly, I don't
Speaker 1: say this sarcastically. I don't say this jokingly. I hope
Speaker 1: that this is one of those clips that gets reshared
Speaker 1: multiple times years down the road because I'm proven wrong,
Speaker 1: because I really like Yannis. I think Yannis still has
Speaker 1: at least two and maybe three awesome years left in him,
Speaker 1: and I miss seeing Yannis deep into postseasons flatly, and
Speaker 1: because of that, I'm really bummed. He now has working
Speaker 1: for him a great coach, a good organization, and bam Adebayo,
Speaker 1: and that's about it. They don't know if they're gonna
Speaker 1: be able to bring back Norman Powell. They're not certain,
Speaker 1: even though I would imagine they will be able to
Speaker 1: bring back Andrew Wiggins. Davion Mitchell is a nice defensive
Speaker 1: point guard. And all of a sudden, Yannis went from
Speaker 1: a team who the last couple of years in Milwaukee,
Speaker 1: this ceiling, the absolute ceiling, was Round one of the playoffs,
Speaker 1: and now Jannis is on a team where this ceiling,
Speaker 1: the absolute ceiling is Round two of the playoffs. And
Speaker 1: that really bums me out because as great as Jannis is,
Speaker 1: the one thing and this is actually not that dissimilar
Speaker 1: to Nikola Jokic, but Jokicic's you know, has team didn't
Speaker 1: get gutted over the last few years the way Yiannis's did.
Speaker 1: The one. Yeah, but on the resume, is not a
Speaker 1: lot of real playoff runs like Yannis is obviously the
Speaker 1: one championship and brilliant on that run and brilliant in
Speaker 1: the finals, just like Joker. Other than that, one other
Speaker 1: run to a conference finals and then a bunch of
Speaker 1: first or second round exits and post championship. It's been
Speaker 1: grizzly for Giannis not and I don't listen. He has
Speaker 1: been banged up, he has been injured. I don't blame
Speaker 1: him for that, but that is the part of his
Speaker 1: culpability is availability. It's not how he's played in the
Speaker 1: postseasons over the last few years. It's been because the
Speaker 1: team isn't good enough. And now he's on another team
Speaker 1: that I fear is flatly not going to be good enough.
Speaker 1: I understand that this trade won't be final until July sixth,
Speaker 1: and I understand that there. You know, there's other moves
Speaker 1: around the margins that Heat can do, and Spolstra is
Speaker 1: a genius. I got all of that, but they are
Speaker 1: not going to be able to make any other seismic
Speaker 1: moves this offseason. I saw Barry Jackson saying, hey, you know,
Speaker 1: they'll shake the tree on see if Lebron wants to
Speaker 1: come back to Miami. Would that change my opinion of
Speaker 1: their ceiling? Sure, if you could get a guy who
Speaker 1: is still a max level player on a year to
Speaker 1: year basis production wise, and get him for the mid level. Yeah,
Speaker 1: that would change my opinion. But I don't think Lebron's
Speaker 1: coming there, and there's not another player. It's like, oh, well,
Speaker 1: if you don't get Lebron, there's not another max level
Speaker 1: production guy that you can get for the mid level.
Speaker 1: And folks are going to try to twist themselves in
Speaker 1: knots explaining why, oh, actually, this Heat team can be
Speaker 1: a championship contender in Vegas thinks they are hard rock.
Speaker 1: Betts got him with the fifth best odds eighteen round sixteen,
Speaker 1: eighteen twenty to one to win the title, only behind OKC,
Speaker 1: San Antonio, Boston and New York, and I just think
Speaker 1: that's flatly wrong. Right now, the Miami Heat have one
Speaker 1: call it top six player in Giannis, another player call
Speaker 1: him a top thirty guy, not in the top twenty,
Speaker 1: but firmly in the top thirty in Bam. And then
Speaker 1: the only other guy on the roster that I would
Speaker 1: even consider to be in discussion to be a top
Speaker 1: seventy five players Norman Powell. And technically he's not on
Speaker 1: the roster. He's an unrestricted free agent. So yes, they're
Speaker 1: gonna be well coached, Yes they're gonna be great defensively,
Speaker 1: and yes you're gonna feel like a puncher's chance because
Speaker 1: of Yannis, But this is not This is a better
Speaker 1: situation than he had in Milwaukee, but it is not
Speaker 1: a way better team than Miami has had over the
Speaker 1: last few years. Giannis is a better player than anyone
Speaker 1: they've had, but losing that depth, potentially losing Powell because
Speaker 1: I I'm hesitant to say definitively they're going to be
Speaker 1: hard capped because they took in more salary than they
Speaker 1: sent out, because the trade again is not yet done,
Speaker 1: and there could be difference slight tweaks that could adjust
Speaker 1: those things, but potentially losing Powell, and the fact that
Speaker 1: I continue to believe the East is somewhat underrated, particularly
Speaker 1: at the top teams that right now I expect to
Speaker 1: be better in next year's regular season than Miami, just
Speaker 1: in the Eastern Conference, the Knicks, the Celtics more on
Speaker 1: them in a minute, the Pistons, and the Calves. That's
Speaker 1: four teams I expect to be better than them in
Speaker 1: the regular season. Now, the Pistons and the I don't
Speaker 1: have a lot of faith for them in the postseason
Speaker 1: as and we'll see what moves they make. But that
Speaker 1: does not teams that should be I to eye with
Speaker 1: the Heat, the Hawks, who were awesome post Tray Young
Speaker 1: trade the Pacers, assuming Haliburton comes back as anything like
Speaker 1: the Halliburton were used to and while they're bummed they
Speaker 1: don't have their draft pick, they do have Zubats the
Speaker 1: see if the not writing them off, will wait and
Speaker 1: see version. Teams I don't expect to be as good
Speaker 1: as the Heat, but I can't flatly say have no
Speaker 1: shot at it Toronto, Orlando and Philly. So where do
Speaker 1: I expect the Heat to be next year? No better
Speaker 1: than fifth and no worse than seventh in the East.
Speaker 1: Winning a round certainly possible, Winning two rounds very unlikely.
Speaker 1: Winning three rounds I would be utterly stunned, and winning
Speaker 1: four rounds not possible. Again, Aw the smile on my
Speaker 1: face if this gets clipped and sent back to me
Speaker 1: in eleven months and Giannis is hoisting his second Larry
Speaker 1: O'Brien and a guy who had done more than seventy
Speaker 1: five percent of the top twenty players of all time
Speaker 1: before the age of twenty seven, regains that trajectory, but
Speaker 1: I don't think that's likely. I think instead what's likely
Speaker 1: is a a version of millwe of what we saw
Speaker 1: from Milwaukee a couple years ago. Down in Miami. When
Speaker 1: they win in the high forties, they're a good, not
Speaker 1: great team, and nobody really thinks they can win the championship. Now,
Speaker 1: I get it, some people are gonna say that all
Speaker 1: would have been different if Yiannis didn't get hurt right
Speaker 1: before those playoffs are in some of those playoff runs. Yes,
Speaker 1: it it would have been different in that they maybe
Speaker 1: don't miss the playoffs outright, or they didn't miss the playoffs,
Speaker 1: they don't losing round one. Pardon me, but it wasn't
Speaker 1: gonna be different than that. The team was gonna go
Speaker 1: on a deep, elongated run. And I just don't know why,
Speaker 1: how Miami's gonna have enough offense, how Miami's gonna have
Speaker 1: enough shooting, How Miami's gonna fill out this roster when
Speaker 1: the thing we have seen time and time again in
Speaker 1: this new NBA is man having seven, eight, nine guys
Speaker 1: you can really trust over the course of a postseason
Speaker 1: is just critical. And so as a basketball fan, I'm
Speaker 1: just bummed because and I don't blame Let me put
Speaker 1: make this clear. I don't blame Miami for rolling the
Speaker 1: dice and doing this. They had no other way to
Speaker 1: go get a player anywhere near as good as Giannis.
Speaker 1: You hope that it's just been bad luck on the injuries,
Speaker 1: that the heat magic medical staff and the heat culture
Speaker 1: can be a little rejuvenating for him health wise, and
Speaker 1: that in an era where guy's prime is extending longer
Speaker 1: and they're playing at a high level for a longer
Speaker 1: period than ever before, that forget a Lebron Arc, but
Speaker 1: that he could have a Kevin Durant or Steph Curry,
Speaker 1: you know, extended prime, and even though he's going into
Speaker 1: year fourteen and he's in his thirties, that he's got
Speaker 1: not two or three more awesome years, but four or
Speaker 1: five more awesome years. So I understand rolling the dice
Speaker 1: on that. And when the best asset you gave up
Speaker 1: was Tyler Hero or unprotected picks, when pat Riley's going
Speaker 1: to be in his mid eighties, salute. I don't blame
Speaker 1: you for doing it. I don't blame the Bucks for saying, well,
Speaker 1: I'll get to the Buck side of it. In a bit,
Speaker 1: because there's an argument as far as how what the
Speaker 1: better option for them was. I just, as a basketball fan,
Speaker 1: wish he was in Boston, and everybody knows that. Will
Speaker 1: you know that watches this show or knows my history.
Speaker 1: While I picked the Celtics to win the title foolishly
Speaker 1: this year, It's not like I've been some long term
Speaker 1: Boston Celtics or Boston sports in general, you know, fan
Speaker 1: or supporter. But the Celtics with Tatum and with keeping
Speaker 1: their depth intact, had they traded Jalen Brown, plus I
Speaker 1: know they didn't want to give up Hugo Gonzales. I
Speaker 1: I I don't understand how is Hugo Gonzalez untouchable? And
Speaker 1: I you know, I might talk with Simmons later this week.
Speaker 1: He's gonna have to explain it to me. How the
Speaker 1: twenty eighth pick of the draft, who played fifteen minutes
Speaker 1: a game this year and gave you four points a
Speaker 1: game and in the playoffs when you were grasping in
Speaker 1: the midst of blowing up three to one lead, how
Speaker 1: Hugo you know, could be trusted if you will, over
Speaker 1: the course of that series for a grand total of
Speaker 1: nineteen minutes along with three DNB coaches decisions. How that
Speaker 1: player can't be a sweetener to get this deal done?
Speaker 1: Baylor Shireman, who you know, I like fine, but again
Speaker 1: it is a replaceable piece, a twenty six year old
Speaker 1: thirtieth overall pick who again in the playoffs, gave you
Speaker 1: fourteen minutes a game and four points a game. How
Speaker 1: that guy you if that one would have taken to
Speaker 1: get this trade over the finish line. Shit, for the
Speaker 1: sake of the of Giannis's future, do it. Tatum and
Speaker 1: Giannis would have instantly been the best duo in basketball.
Speaker 1: Your over reliance on three point shooting would have been
Speaker 1: instantly fixed. And if you were willing to give up
Speaker 1: Jalen Brown in two first and to get it over
Speaker 1: the finish line, it would have taken Gonzales or Shireman,
Speaker 1: or God forbid both of them. I don't know how
Speaker 1: you don't do it. And again, folks that Diard Celtics
Speaker 1: fans are gonna be like Nick, you didn't watch him
Speaker 1: as closely as we did. You know what, You're right,
Speaker 1: but you would have been going to war with Giannis Tatum,
Speaker 1: Derek White, Peyton Pritchard, Howser, Nemi Cata who am I
Speaker 1: forgetting there's another Oh, the other center, Luke Garza and
Speaker 1: whoever you fill in the rest of the roster with.
Speaker 1: Even if you had trade both those guys, I now
Speaker 1: Boston might be feeling like, well, we have different ways
Speaker 1: to improve the roster, once again involving trading Jalen Brown.
Speaker 1: And so we'll get to Boston's piece of it shortly.
Speaker 1: But just as a I I respect that Giannis didn't
Speaker 1: just say one team and one team only in ruin
Speaker 1: Milwaukee's leverage. I do wish it the end once you
Speaker 1: got Boston's best possible he had put his finger on
Speaker 1: the scale and said, yeah, tell Miami, I'm not signing
Speaker 1: a contract with him. Take Boston Steel, because that is
Speaker 1: the That would have been a way to almost guarantee
Speaker 1: we get to see Yanna's deep into the playoffs and
Speaker 1: whatever's left in his prime teaming up with Tatum. I
Speaker 1: think Boston's depth is better than Miami's, and their best
Speaker 1: player is way better than Miami's. Tatum versus Pam way
Speaker 1: better and so on. I asked this on the TV
Speaker 1: show today, if you had to make this bet, it's
Speaker 1: A or B A Yanni's wins a title with the Heat,
Speaker 1: or b he never makes a conference finals with the Heat.
Speaker 1: What's the smarter bet, and maybe the most likely is
Speaker 1: you know, outcome, see makes conference finals? You know, but never.
Speaker 1: But it's just it's one or the other. It's binary.
Speaker 1: Either it's a huge success or it's a pretty significant
Speaker 1: I don't want to call it failure because you get
Speaker 1: Yannis fans are excited, but team team success wise failure.
Speaker 1: You win a title at some point with the Heat
Speaker 1: if you're Yannis, or you never make the conference finals
Speaker 1: with the Heat. To me, never make the conference finals
Speaker 1: is a way better bet. And if he had been
Speaker 1: traded for Jalen Brown two firsts and Baylor Shireman and
Speaker 1: I offer you the same bet. He wins a title
Speaker 1: with the Celtics or he never makes a conference finals
Speaker 1: with the Celtics. You are, without blinking, picking wins the
Speaker 1: title because the idea that that Celtics team would never
Speaker 1: make a conference finals be incomprehensible. And not only is
Speaker 1: that not incomprehensible for this Heat team, I think it's
Speaker 1: the likely outcome. Now again, Heat magic, We'll see, but
Speaker 1: the magic's gonna have to be creating rotational playoff caliber
Speaker 1: players out of thin air. You can argue they did
Speaker 1: it with Struce and Gabe Vincent. They'll do it again.
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Speaker 3: Early this morning, the Timber was traded LaMelo gonna tie
Speaker 3: and pair them up over there with Aunt.
Speaker 4: The Hornets got nasried.
Speaker 3: A twenty twenty thirty three first pick, three swaps in
Speaker 3: three seconds. Minnesota also just traded away Randall, which opened
Speaker 3: ups in space. Do you think that they are better
Speaker 3: now than they were a week ago? Something tells me
Speaker 3: you don't love this move.
Speaker 1: Oh I love this move. I love this move for
Speaker 1: the Hornets. Smart I listen, I'm not gonna do any
Speaker 1: I told you so's it's unbecoming. But coming off his
Speaker 1: best year and the team's best season, and his healthiest year,
Speaker 1: and at the peak of his popularity, the Charlotte Hornets said,
Speaker 1: you know, let's get out of the LaMelo ball business.
Speaker 1: For nas red and won first and a handful of swaps,
Speaker 1: And that's smart. I I understand. There was a lot
Speaker 1: of controversy surrounding my comments and criticisms of LaMelo Ball
Speaker 1: after he injured Bam out of bio and ended the
Speaker 1: Miami Heat season in that play in game. Uh, but
Speaker 1: The overarching criticism that at the time I said, and
Speaker 1: that I said, I was shocked was not simply echoed
Speaker 1: by everyone. Was I thought we all agreed that this
Speaker 1: guy was an unserious player and that he was a
Speaker 1: forget all the somewhat harmless but pretty alarming off the
Speaker 1: court immaturity stuff on the court, plays a wildly immature
Speaker 1: style of ball, and understandably his family got all mad
Speaker 1: at me, but other folks, other commentators were acting as
Speaker 1: if I was way out of bounds in saying what
Speaker 1: I thought everybody tended to agree with. We have now learned,
Speaker 1: you know who also agreed with it, the team that
Speaker 1: knew him best. And so I think Charlotte saying Conker Nipple,
Speaker 1: Brandon Miller, Kobe White as a point guard who they
Speaker 1: just gave seventy five million to, now the kid they
Speaker 1: just drafted building around that plus a real pro and
Speaker 1: super valuable guy nasried that we like that plan moving forward.
Speaker 1: I think that's smart from Charlotte, particularly when you consider
Speaker 1: Demons LaMelo in about a week is going to become
Speaker 1: extinsion eligible, where he right now has three years, one
Speaker 1: hundred and thirty million left on his deal, which is
Speaker 1: not terrible, but he's got he's got three years one
Speaker 1: thirty left. He becomes eligible for them to add two
Speaker 1: years one twenty, which would make it essentially a five year,
Speaker 1: two hundred and fifty million dollar commitment to LaMelo Ball,
Speaker 1: and I don't think the Hornets have any had any
Speaker 1: interest in doing that, and so they decided to sell
Speaker 1: high Minnesota. On the other hand, I am baffled at
Speaker 1: them absolutely reimagining their team like this for reasons I
Speaker 1: don't totally understand. So before I get to my Minnesota thoughts, Demonse,
Speaker 1: what was your reaction, because I was I can't say
Speaker 1: I was shocked by it, because there was reporting late
Speaker 1: last night that this could happen, but prior to the
Speaker 1: If if I hadn't seen the reporting late last night,
Speaker 1: I would have been totally shocked by this, but we
Speaker 1: kind of got a little precursor that it was on
Speaker 1: its way. What was your reaction to seeing LaMelo Ball
Speaker 1: was traded to the Minnesota Timberwolves.
Speaker 3: Well, I thought it was a little strange, just because
Speaker 3: they had they just gave Iyo a new contract and
Speaker 3: they were saying they were moving Nasried to the power
Speaker 3: Forward and then Nasrit is gone, you get another guard.
Speaker 4: I I like it. I think that I don't them.
Speaker 3: I mean the Charlotte is they have the tenth best
Speaker 3: odds in the East right now.
Speaker 4: Yep.
Speaker 3: Like I just feel like they're not in a great spot.
Speaker 3: I think that it makes the Timberwolves better. I think
Speaker 3: it gives them the perfect mix of offense and defense.
Speaker 3: I don't I don't hate the move. And then also
Speaker 3: with them being so successful this year, and for LaMelo,
Speaker 3: maybe some internalization, you know, they got you out of here,
Speaker 3: you got just had a really good year. Maybe that
Speaker 3: forces you to kind of change some of your ways
Speaker 3: and just new scenery for him.
Speaker 4: I don't hate I don't hate them.
Speaker 1: So that's why I wanted to go to you first,
Speaker 1: because I think the way you feel about it is
Speaker 1: going to be more mainstream than the way I feel
Speaker 1: about it. I think the way you I didn't know
Speaker 1: you felt that way, but I guessed you did. That
Speaker 1: you would be like Listen nas Reed and one first
Speaker 1: round pick for an All Star for an a guy
Speaker 1: who's a scorer and a great passer. When you his
Speaker 1: biggest weakness is the defensive end, but you still have
Speaker 1: aunts who's a great defender. Jade McDaniels, who's a great defender,
Speaker 1: Rudy Gobert, who's a great defender. So you'll you can,
Speaker 1: you know, overcome his defensive limitations that this raises your ceiling.
Speaker 1: And so I think that's how a lot of people feel.
Speaker 1: And it is absolutely and this is not I'm not
Speaker 1: this is gonna sound like I'm being patronizing or distrightful
Speaker 1: to that opinion, which I know a lot of people hold,
Speaker 1: And it absolutely makes a ton of sense. On two K.
Speaker 1: I think in real life it will not work. Like
Speaker 1: I said, I knew that was gonna come across poorly,
Speaker 1: and I don't I do not think you can in
Speaker 1: an offseason get rid of too true pros. Now Julius
Speaker 1: struggles mightily in the playoffs, but Julius Randalls are hard
Speaker 1: like you salary out him, hard working pro and gonna
Speaker 1: show up every night, nas Reed, one of the truest
Speaker 1: pros in the whole league and one of the most respected.
Speaker 1: You know, teammates and leaders that team has had. Get
Speaker 1: rid of both of them and bring in LaMelo and
Speaker 1: not have it drastically change the sports character of the team. Yeah,
Speaker 1: the culture of the team. And when you add to
Speaker 1: it that LaMelo's never played in a big games in
Speaker 1: the NBA and the Timberwolves play only in big games.
Speaker 1: As far as in the postseason, you can say, oh,
Speaker 1: he's played in the play and he has played in
Speaker 1: the play in and three of the four biggest play
Speaker 1: in blowouts in league history. LaMelo Ball was on the
Speaker 1: wrong side of his numbers in those limited playing games
Speaker 1: have been garish. I my gut reaction is we will
Speaker 1: look back on this as and it's different reasons, different
Speaker 1: rationales as to why a team did it. But demonte,
Speaker 1: I think we will look back on this the way
Speaker 1: we look back on Dame going to minnes or to
Speaker 1: Milwaukee as oh, that was the first really big domino
Speaker 1: in the Superstar asking out. Like I think that in
Speaker 1: two years when one of the big topics is is
Speaker 1: Minnesota going to trade Anthony Edwards? That will be because
Speaker 1: this last week of moves has blown up on them, and.
Speaker 3: So you knew that this was Do you think this
Speaker 3: was them trying to appease ant them getting LaMelo.
Speaker 4: I feel like that was kind of you're going there.
Speaker 1: Well, it's them clearly saying either they felt like we
Speaker 1: needed to make a massive shift or this is something
Speaker 1: ant wanted. But if you were going to make some
Speaker 1: huge franchise altering move, you were on the list of teams.
Speaker 1: Evidently that was engaging on Honest, that to me is worthwhile.
Speaker 1: I would have said, hey, all right, we can't get Yannis,
Speaker 1: what about the other team that didn't get y Honest,
Speaker 1: what can we do to get jail and Brown? Who
Speaker 1: fits perfectly on that team? You can is the same,
Speaker 1: you know, kind of age profile as these guys. Is
Speaker 1: also a pro like a move like that. I just
Speaker 1: I I don't know why Minnesota felt like they had
Speaker 1: to do something this drastic and this risky, and that
Speaker 1: does not even incorporate at all. The one thing we've
Speaker 1: talked to this for ten minutes, what we haven't mentioned
Speaker 1: yet is the massive injury concern. LaMelo ball games played
Speaker 1: the three years prior to last year thirty six, twenty two,
Speaker 1: forty seven. Now, last year he was healthy, they turned
Speaker 1: their season around, He was good until the play in
Speaker 1: games like that. It is, you know, credit to what
Speaker 1: he did last year. But I believe they're gonna they've
Speaker 1: painted themselves into a corner of they've got to give
Speaker 1: him that contract extension. I don't think he has demonstrated
Speaker 1: at any point in his career and ability to consistently
Speaker 1: play winning basketball or mature basketball. And you've never seen
Speaker 1: him what he looks like in the playoffs, because six
Speaker 1: years into his career, his team's never been a playoff team.
Speaker 1: And now you're just now, man oh man, Now you're
Speaker 1: just casting your lot ahead. And I I thought Demont's
Speaker 1: that Minnesota. It also is odd in that, like you said,
Speaker 1: they extend ioh. I liked what Tarren Shannon Junior showed.
Speaker 1: Dante is still on the team, and Iron City has
Speaker 1: popped Achilles, lot of lot of guards, like are they Anton, LaMelo,
Speaker 1: and Io are all obviously now And Jaden McDaniels, well,
Speaker 1: I guess that's it. And Rudy there's your five starters.
Speaker 1: You know, Jayden is a wing, so you're gonna play
Speaker 1: four out plus Rudy.
Speaker 3: I mean maybe me Gobert's limitations on offense. You definitely
Speaker 3: need some guys out there. Yeah, I mean, what do
Speaker 3: you think they're ceiling? Is with this team like that?
Speaker 3: You don't think they're gonna make any noise next year?
Speaker 1: No, I think they got worse. I think they got worse,
Speaker 1: Like I think, I I understand that nas Reed is
Speaker 1: not as good of a player as LaMelo Ball, but
Speaker 1: not the I thought when they Salary dump Julius Randall,
Speaker 1: demons like nas Reed become became so important for them. Yeah,
Speaker 1: and here's the other question that I have, and I'm
Speaker 1: curious your thoughts on this. How do you think LaMelo
Speaker 1: is going to react to not being the man on
Speaker 1: a team for the first time he's ever played basketball
Speaker 1: in his life.
Speaker 3: I don't think he's one of those guys where it
Speaker 3: would like get to him, like like my guy Jaylen Brown.
Speaker 3: I think that, uh yeah, And I feel like he
Speaker 3: is a like Lamello. You just got to understand like
Speaker 3: where you're going like at this point, Like, I don't
Speaker 3: think he's going to have any spite or like feeling
Speaker 3: any type of way.
Speaker 4: I mean, I don't know the guy.
Speaker 1: But oh man, I know, I don't I have.
Speaker 4: Better than like than the old mellow Ball. I feel
Speaker 4: like it's pretty.
Speaker 1: So I don't know if he thinks Anthony Edwards is
Speaker 1: one of them. They're in the same draft class the
Speaker 1: I and so I just I I think this is
Speaker 1: really interesting, Like at Chino Hills, I guess didn't. I
Speaker 1: guess maybe he played a year and so that you know,
Speaker 1: so he wasn't the man there. But ever since his
Speaker 1: big brothers went off to college for his AU career,
Speaker 1: which you saw him play in person, when he was
Speaker 1: in Lithuania, when he was you know, international basketball, and
Speaker 1: then the Hornets, he's always just been the man. And
Speaker 1: so I I don't I think.
Speaker 3: That is a those two characters, Like I think with
Speaker 3: Ant's character and LaMelo's character, I do think that there
Speaker 3: will just be an understanding, to be honest, like I
Speaker 3: think those are like that.
Speaker 4: Man. Yeah, I mean I don't.
Speaker 3: Not necessarily like just straight up that, but I just
Speaker 3: think that those guys will jive well together to where
Speaker 3: like it doesn't it you don't really see that causing
Speaker 3: a problem on on court because I think they'll be
Speaker 3: really cool.
Speaker 1: Will and so I mean maybe I and Aunt. Definitely Will.
Speaker 1: Aunt carries himself with such an authentic confidence that you
Speaker 1: could see him like when he's interviewed, if he's asked
Speaker 1: about something like this, Aunt saying like almost innocuously, yeah, well,
Speaker 1: like ever, you know, he knows that it's my team
Speaker 1: and I'm the best player. But he'll begin with that,
Speaker 1: like you know what, Like he could like like just
Speaker 1: saying it non shalanty, like it's obvious to everyone. But
Speaker 1: I think Aunt would feel that way if Shay got
Speaker 1: traded to his team. Yeah, I think I hate to
Speaker 1: be like, well, he knows I'm better than him obviously,
Speaker 1: and but it's my team. He's coming here, so maybe
Speaker 1: it will solve it's you know, may it will solve itself.
Speaker 4: It just is.
Speaker 1: For a team that made the conference finals, made the
Speaker 1: conference finals last year, beat Denver and threw a scare
Speaker 1: into San Antonio despite being decimated by injury, for them
Speaker 1: to just be like blow it up, which I know
Speaker 1: they didn't blow it up, but they blew up their.
Speaker 4: Front intrajectory a little bit.
Speaker 1: Yeah, is really really surprising to me. All Right, I
Speaker 1: know you have some follow ups here, So let's get
Speaker 1: to him.
Speaker 3: So that the Hornets get three swaps in this deal.
Speaker 3: As we stated, are they betting Do you think they're
Speaker 3: betting on ant leaving?
Speaker 1: I mean, I think they are reckagizing. It's on the
Speaker 1: board and there's no reason not to ask for swaps
Speaker 1: like the you can always trade swaps or giveaway swaps.
Speaker 1: You can't always trade picks, and what they're saying so
Speaker 1: that the pick they got is as far down the
Speaker 1: road as they can get twenty thirty three. So there,
Speaker 1: and the swaps are just, hey, maybe you have a
Speaker 1: down year, maybe Aunt leaves or maybe LaMelo gets hurt
Speaker 1: and the team's not as good and with the new
Speaker 1: flat and lottery odds, like we get lucky, and so
Speaker 1: why not ask for the swap? But yeah, I mean
Speaker 1: that's that's not nothing. And the Charlotte now has extra
Speaker 1: draft capital, nas reed on a good deal, like all
Speaker 1: that stuff makes sense. All right, let's keep going here.
Speaker 3: Charlotte's bringing back Kobe White and they're currently tied for
Speaker 3: tenth best odds in the East.
Speaker 4: Uh do you think the Vegas has that right?
Speaker 1: Like, I mean, I mean, they might as well have
Speaker 1: the fifty. I don't care what best. I mean, they
Speaker 1: have no shot whatsoever winning the East, Like they won't
Speaker 1: make the playoffs next year. But I still like the move,
Speaker 1: Like I know, I.
Speaker 4: Didn't wait what like they just they just kind of
Speaker 4: made the play.
Speaker 3: I guess they made the play in but like this, yeah,
Speaker 3: definitely makes the Hornets worse I shouldn't say worse they
Speaker 3: got an Osrien.
Speaker 1: That's a no no, but you can. I do think it.
Speaker 1: They won forty four games last year. I expect them
Speaker 1: to win less next year, but I don't really care
Speaker 1: about that. Like they with or with It's not as if, well,
Speaker 1: had they kept LaMelo, they would be a contender in
Speaker 1: the East next year. Like teams in the East that
Speaker 1: with or without this trade next year I think will
Speaker 1: be better than them, in no particular order, the Knicks,
Speaker 1: the Celtics, the Pistons, the Calves, the Heat obviously, the Pacers,
Speaker 1: the Hawks, the Magic where it ate already? Who am
Speaker 1: I leaving out? Oh, the Raptors and the Sixers. So
Speaker 1: there's ten. There's like so the the team's not in
Speaker 1: the playing in the East, Charlotte, Milwaukee, Chicago, Brooklyn, Washington,
Speaker 1: those teams. But that's fine, Like you you make your
Speaker 1: big push if you're Charlotte the year after next when
Speaker 1: Canipple's in year three, Brandon Miller's like in his prime.
Speaker 1: That to me, that's how you look at it. Now.
Speaker 1: Maybe they'll overachieve, but no, I don't think they I
Speaker 1: don't think they're a threat. But they just they did
Speaker 1: something no one ever does demonte which is traded their
Speaker 1: franchise guy early, but you know at his peak of
Speaker 1: his value. All right, one last question on this some tattoos.
Speaker 3: Is someone who's gotten a risky tattoo in the past,
Speaker 3: do you have a message for the fans that might
Speaker 3: have gotten a nazriy tattoo.
Speaker 1: I mean that was a stunning trend when it happened.
Speaker 1: I mean, that's the other piece of this. He was
Speaker 1: something of like a cult hero, like when when the
Speaker 1: governor of Minnesota was Kamala's vice presidential candidate and nas
Speaker 1: Reed's getting name checked at like the presidential vice presidential
Speaker 1: debates like it's it was.
Speaker 4: He's just a guy.
Speaker 1: And and there are a lot of people that where
Speaker 1: I have the never a doubt tattoo that I still
Speaker 1: have not figured out how to show on camera. I
Speaker 1: still can't do it. I don't know what's wrong with me.
Speaker 1: I have like armed dyslexia or something. I still can't
Speaker 1: do it. There is uh they have the they have
Speaker 1: little nas red tattoos like on their forearm.
Speaker 3: That's or is it Reed's face?
Speaker 1: No? I think I think I think a lot of
Speaker 1: them just say nas Reed, no, Reed's face be aggressive aggressive, No,
Speaker 1: I I guess it's only seven letters, though maybe you
Speaker 1: can cover it up with something. And I can't believe.
Speaker 1: I can't believe that I let the producers get away
Speaker 1: with you saying to me, as someone who's gotten some
Speaker 1: questionable tattoos in.
Speaker 5: The past, I feel like I feel like that that
Speaker 5: definitely could have been thrown in the other direction, telling
Speaker 5: you right now, it's.
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Speaker 1: And another reminder to everyone to like, rate, subscribe, and
Speaker 1: review the show. All right, Demanse, let's talk some other
Speaker 1: NBA stuff before we get a little more into the
Speaker 1: World Cup.
Speaker 3: Today, Lakers signed ar to four years, one eighty five
Speaker 3: MAX deal and that new money doesn't hit for another year,
Speaker 3: so the Lakers can have the most cap space in basketball.
Speaker 3: This leaves the Lakers and Lebron in a weird situation.
Speaker 3: I shouldn't say weird, but they got to do some
Speaker 3: of Lebron.
Speaker 1: Yeah, so so okay, so few let me clarify there
Speaker 1: that money, Austin's money will hit the cap this season,
Speaker 1: but they can wait for it won't hit the cap
Speaker 1: this off season until they're done making all their other moves.
Speaker 1: So they they have an agreement in principal with Austin
Speaker 1: that's gonna pay him forty six million a year. He
Speaker 1: right now as a cap hold of twenty million. What
Speaker 1: the Lakers will do is they will make all their
Speaker 1: other signings with Austin only taking up twenty million of
Speaker 1: their cap. They then will sign him to the deal
Speaker 1: they just agreed to, and because they and then his
Speaker 1: cap number will go from the twenty million to in
Speaker 1: the forties. But because they have his bird rights, they
Speaker 1: can go over the cap to resign him, which is
Speaker 1: to say, even though he is getting this deal with
Speaker 1: the Lakers. It doesn't change their cap situation for the
Speaker 1: rest of the offseason, so they still have flexibility. And
Speaker 1: so let's just first let's talk Austin, then we'll talk Lebron.
Speaker 1: This is a fair deal for Austin Reeves. I like
Speaker 1: it more than the five years at the max they
Speaker 1: could have given him any other team in the league
Speaker 1: that had cap space. De Monse the most he could
Speaker 1: have gotten from someone one else is four for one eight.
Speaker 1: So the Lakers were like, hey, we're not going to
Speaker 1: give you the most we can give you, which is
Speaker 1: five for two twelve or something. I know it would
Speaker 1: have been five for like two thirty. Yeah, but we
Speaker 1: will give you a touch more than anyone else can
Speaker 1: give you to ensure you have no reason to leave.
Speaker 4: Right.
Speaker 1: So, with the belief being that a team like Detroit
Speaker 1: might have found a way to open up cap space,
Speaker 1: as you see, they get rid of Isaiah Stewart if
Speaker 1: they thought they could get Austin rings. So that's why
Speaker 1: he got the money he got. As far as can
Speaker 1: Austin and Luca be a championship duo, here's what I
Speaker 1: will say. The proof of concept behind that would be
Speaker 1: if somebody goes and looks at the playoff stats from
Speaker 1: the twenty twenty four Dallas Mavericks. That team that made
Speaker 1: the finals, that in round one beat Kawhi, Paul George
Speaker 1: and Harden with the Clippers. In round two, beat the
Speaker 1: Thunder and Shay. In round three, beat the Timberwolves with
Speaker 1: Aunt and Karl Anthony Towns, and then in the finals
Speaker 1: got clipped by Boston. That team here were there's six
Speaker 1: leading in the playoffs minutes per game guys Luca, Kyrie, Irving,
Speaker 1: and then a bunch of role players PJ. Washington, Derek Jones,
Speaker 1: junior Daniel Gafford, and a rookie Derek Lively excuse me
Speaker 1: and Daniel Gafford and PJ Washington Demonde had been picked
Speaker 1: up at the trade deadline that year and they were
Speaker 1: an awesome playerf team until they ran into a better
Speaker 1: team in Boston. So you definitely can around Luca have
Speaker 1: the co star B and offense only pure scorer and
Speaker 1: build a contender. The question is can the Lakers do that?
Speaker 1: Like it is Polinka capable of it? Do they have
Speaker 1: the ability to identify players as to his credit, Nico
Speaker 1: Harrison and the MAVs front office did, and are they
Speaker 1: willing to be as aggressive as that MAVs team was
Speaker 1: and you know, making deals at the deadline and identifying
Speaker 1: the right types of athletes and defenders and bigs that
Speaker 1: you need to not only build around a Luca team,
Speaker 1: but build around a Luca team where the coast is
Speaker 1: an offense only guard. But we have seen it done. Okay,
Speaker 1: So there's that piece of it. And then there is
Speaker 1: the Lebron piece, which is is Lebron still a MAX player?
Speaker 1: I mean on a year to year basis sure? Like,
Speaker 1: look we saw on the playoffs last year. Lebron in
Speaker 1: a playoff series against the Rockets was just clearly the
Speaker 1: best player on the court. He is, even at his age,
Speaker 1: as reliable from a health standpoint as any of the
Speaker 1: three best players on the Lakers. But is he a
Speaker 1: MAX player for the Lakers when you already have Luca
Speaker 1: and Austin? I mean probably not ultimately the MAX piece
Speaker 1: if it doesn't matter because nobody's given Bron the max
Speaker 1: on the marketplace, nobody has max cap space. And here
Speaker 1: is what is to me, like what I think the
Speaker 1: most likely outcome Demont's a is Lebron re signs with
Speaker 1: the Lakers and then if things don't go aren't going well.
Speaker 1: The Lakers leaked to the media how annoyed they are
Speaker 1: that they had to resign Lebron, when again, you don't
Speaker 1: have to do anything. They did it this year when
Speaker 1: Lebron was months removed from sixth in MVP voting as
Speaker 1: he was last year or the year before last, when
Speaker 1: the Lakers had their little early season swoon. We saw
Speaker 1: the long form ESPN dot com piece where Genie Buss
Speaker 1: is basically like, yeah, I'm not We're dying to get
Speaker 1: out of the Lebron business. We just haven't been able to.
Speaker 1: Here is to me, the what's a bummer about? How
Speaker 1: I see this final Lebron chapter going. The two places
Speaker 1: he's most likely to end up, the Lakers or the Warriors,
Speaker 1: can be fun, but not top tier championship contenders. I
Speaker 1: don't think the Lakers can do enough on the defensive end,
Speaker 1: the the acquiring a big that fits with Luca better
Speaker 1: than DeAndre Ayton, and that's whether they keep Lebron or not.
Speaker 1: The Warriors, unless they added Lebron and Anthony Davis, I
Speaker 1: don't think that a team would have enough and it
Speaker 1: would just you know it's Simmons been talking about a
Speaker 1: long time, the Expendables, the super old Guy team. There are, however,
Speaker 1: four or five teams DeMont say that I think are good,
Speaker 1: but not contender good, I'm sorry, not top level contender
Speaker 1: good that if they added Lebron, I would and I
Speaker 1: don't care that he's in year twenty four and gonna
Speaker 1: be forty two years old. Instantly I would think could
Speaker 1: win the title. I just don't think they are realistic
Speaker 1: places for him. But I think if he were to
Speaker 1: go to Denver for the mid level, that absolutely that
Speaker 1: that Denver team could win the title. I think if
Speaker 1: he were to go to Detroit, as Whin delightly speculated
Speaker 1: about as a possibility yesterday, that Detroit team could win
Speaker 1: the title. I think if he were to go to Miami,
Speaker 1: a Miami team that I don't really believe in at
Speaker 1: right now, but he would solve a lot of what
Speaker 1: their potential issues are. That Miami team could win the title.
Speaker 1: And there was one more team that when I was
Speaker 1: thinking about.
Speaker 4: This, Minnesota prior to what happened.
Speaker 1: Well, it definitely was Minnesota prior to this, but even
Speaker 1: prior to the LaMelo deal, but there was one more team, Oh, Houston, Houston.
Speaker 1: If he were to go there, I think that Houston
Speaker 1: team could win the title. But I just don't think
Speaker 1: those are likely any of those are likely places for him.
Speaker 3: With Detroit and so, I feel like that does Lebron
Speaker 3: fix their problems with the lack of offense.
Speaker 4: I guess the Rockets have Kadie and.
Speaker 3: I'm not trying to say that Lebron's not good at offense,
Speaker 3: but at the same time, like those I think those
Speaker 3: teams need some offensive powerhouses.
Speaker 1: So that's I think that those teams, because Lebron would
Speaker 1: be able to run the show to a degree offensively. Obviously,
Speaker 1: Cad would run it, you know, a lot of the
Speaker 1: time in Detroit, and they have good enough defensive players
Speaker 1: around in that Lebron could exert one hundred of his
Speaker 1: energy on the offensive end. I do think he would
Speaker 1: solve their offensive prompts. He would just get guys good shots.
Speaker 1: It would be what he did for the Lakers during
Speaker 1: their playoff series against the Rockets, you know. The I
Speaker 1: do think that. I obviously, you know, Wendy is talking
Speaker 1: about the Lakers being interested in a sign and trade
Speaker 1: for Lebron for Jared Allen, and I do think Jared
Speaker 1: Allen would be perfect for the Lakers, and while Lebron
Speaker 1: is obviously way better than Jared Allen, Jared Allen would
Speaker 1: be a better fit for what the Lakers since the
Speaker 1: Lakers have Luca ar But I just don't think and
Speaker 1: Lebron going back to Cleveland is fun. If they hadn't
Speaker 1: made the James Harden move, I would be more open
Speaker 1: to that, but Lebron just going from Cleveland to LA
Speaker 1: to play in another place where he's gotta be the
Speaker 1: Swiss army knife role because your top two scorers in
Speaker 1: Luke and Austin or and Mitchell and Harden simply can't
Speaker 1: really adjust their game the way you can is not.
Speaker 4: I don't know.
Speaker 1: I don't know how attractive that is. If he goes
Speaker 1: to Golden State, the ball's in his hands because STEP's
Speaker 1: off the ball a ton anyway, He's kind of still
Speaker 1: running the show, but he doesn't have to be the
Speaker 1: highest volume scorer on the team. Steph can still be that.
Speaker 3: It's just I think people would not Letbron hear the
Speaker 3: end of it if he went to Golden State. I
Speaker 3: know Lebron doesn't care or any of that, but I
Speaker 3: think that being his final chapter, and it's like, oh,
Speaker 3: Lebron is always play and playing with these players that
Speaker 3: are good. It's like, you know, always seeking the stuff out.
Speaker 3: I get Curry's old, you know, you don't think that
Speaker 3: the masses.
Speaker 1: I mean, here's what I think. The Warriors haven't been
Speaker 1: anywhere close to contending and five since they won the
Speaker 1: time you know, they won the title. Then the next
Speaker 1: year they won forty four games and Lebron knocked him
Speaker 1: out of the playoffs. The year after that they won
Speaker 1: forty six games and they lost in the play in
Speaker 1: the year after that they won forty eight games and
Speaker 1: lost in round two. And last year they won thirty
Speaker 1: seven games. Now, yes, people would create you know, stupid
Speaker 1: Twitter graphics about teammates Lebron has had and all that stuff.
Speaker 1: But the last season, Lebron was healthier than Steph Curry,
Speaker 1: His team was better than Steph's. He made the playoffs
Speaker 1: and won a round like you can't it. And the
Speaker 1: only reason I'm even bring that up is Lebron would
Speaker 1: be going there because they need him, not because he's
Speaker 1: writing coattails. Uh. But yeah, I do think there certainly
Speaker 1: would be a school of thought about of what you're discussing,