Speaker 1: You're tuned into Heat Check with just a quick.
Speaker 2: On this episode of the Heat Check. It's a bonus
Speaker 2: episode CBS Sports Radio Basketball Inside are one of my favorites,
Speaker 2: Bill Ryder. Bill he's about as connected as anyone in
Speaker 2: the NBA, and he is here to break down Kevin
Speaker 2: Durant's debut with the Suns, rip Kevin Durant for the
Speaker 2: rest of the season, and the deep dive story he
Speaker 2: wrote about the dysfunction with the Atlanta Hawks. The interview
Speaker 2: was conducted on vetm JAM tonight, my other betting show.
Speaker 2: Get right to it, Nick, let's drop that generic ass beat.
Speaker 2: We start the interview by asking Bill his assessment of
Speaker 2: the Phoenix Suns now that Kevin Durant is playing on
Speaker 2: this team. He had some great insight into KD and
Speaker 2: what impact he's going to have on the Suns moving
Speaker 2: forward this year and beyond.
Speaker 1: Yeah, Hey, guys, great to be on. I'm one hundred
Speaker 1: percent with you, and I'm normally very reluctant to buy
Speaker 1: into the hype that major additions, right superstars going somewhere
Speaker 1: are going to automatically click at any point or early
Speaker 1: in that product, let alone. In February March this deep
Speaker 1: right three quarters of the way into a season. But
Speaker 1: I saw the same thing that you saw, and certainly
Speaker 1: the same thing that at least three GMS that I
Speaker 1: texted saw who didn't love it, since they're they were
Speaker 1: not the Phoenix Suns gms. You're right, instant chemistry. He
Speaker 1: looked like he had absolutely zero RUSS, which made sense.
Speaker 1: I had heard they were gonna wait to bring it
Speaker 1: back until he was physically able, just in terms of
Speaker 1: the injury and everything that we thought Kevin Durant would do.
Speaker 1: Make life easier for Dean Booker, make it not matter
Speaker 1: if Chris Paul has an off nine and CP three
Speaker 1: certainly did, at least from a shooting perspective, Make DeAndre
Speaker 1: eight and a guy that can just do the dirty
Speaker 1: stuff and not have to be even the third most
Speaker 1: important player on the floor and just be Kevin Durant
Speaker 1: if he can fit in. It all went perfectly according
Speaker 1: to plan. If you're the Phoenix Suns.
Speaker 2: Yeah, you know, Bill, I was thinking about Ayton because
Speaker 2: obviously there was a lot of drama in the offseason
Speaker 2: about whether they wanted to pay him, and then they
Speaker 2: kind of felt like they were forced into it because
Speaker 2: of the way that the Indiana Pacers off for sheet
Speaker 2: works right, and couldn't do a sign and trade at
Speaker 2: that point. But I think actually the biggest beneficiary might
Speaker 2: be Ayton. How basketball wise, do you think Katie helps
Speaker 2: DeAndre Ayton and increases or accentuates his value to the team.
Speaker 1: Yeah, that's a great question. I think it's significant. I
Speaker 1: think you hit on something really important and maybe the
Speaker 1: only thing that can stop the sun, certainly in the
Speaker 1: Western Conference, and that is some of the chemistry issues
Speaker 1: or problematic potential chemistry issues that are percolating beneath the surface.
Speaker 1: And one of them is certainly that DeAndre Ayden, You're right,
Speaker 1: didn't want to be in Phoenix. He wanted to have
Speaker 1: a bigger role somewhere else. He now has a lesson
Speaker 1: role just by the nature of Kevin Durant coming in.
Speaker 1: But what I saw is what you're asking about, what
Speaker 1: you're talking about, which is DeAndre Ayton is going to
Speaker 1: get some of the easiest buckets of his basketball life,
Speaker 1: of his basketball career. Buckets are gonna be easy for
Speaker 1: Devin Booker. They're gonna be easier for Chris Paul when
Speaker 1: he decides to shoot. You can figure out how to
Speaker 1: shoot again. But you saw DeAndre Ayden get I don't
Speaker 1: remember when he had sixteen eighteen easy points, a ton
Speaker 1: of rebounds, great energy. I think he understands. And I
Speaker 1: don't know DeAndre at all, but people that know him
Speaker 1: tell me he is a guy that if he's in
Speaker 1: a good situation, he's happy to just do the dirty work,
Speaker 1: play defense, rebound, wait for his turn to win. And
Speaker 1: I think every member that Sun's team, up and down,
Speaker 1: they understand. And you saw it with the chemistry that
Speaker 1: we were talking about Kevin Durantz there. They're all going
Speaker 1: to have chances to win a championship and be better.
Speaker 1: And I thought Ayton looked so seamless and so comfortable,
Speaker 1: not for the first time this year, but in a
Speaker 1: way that is not necessarily the norm for him on
Speaker 1: that team.
Speaker 2: We've followed up his son's talk with a quick follow
Speaker 2: up and whether the lack of debt would be an
Speaker 2: issue moving forward.
Speaker 1: I don't think in the postseason, I think it could.
Speaker 1: So let's say that they were in the position the
Speaker 1: Lakers are in, or any of the teams right now
Speaker 1: that have championship hopes or aspirations but are on the
Speaker 1: wrong side of the play and are at least going
Speaker 1: to probably be in the play in then it would,
Speaker 1: but Phoenix is probably going to be what they're probably
Speaker 1: locked in it three or four, right, They're probably not
Speaker 1: going to rise up to one or two the collapse
Speaker 1: above them from Memphis or Denver. And that means we
Speaker 1: sort of, I think, look through the prism of what
Speaker 1: they're gonna be in the playoffs and in the postseason.
Speaker 1: For the most part, rotations are gonna shorten. You're gonna
Speaker 1: cut off you guys maybe minutes that they get in
Speaker 1: the regular season. They're not gonna get. You're gonna have
Speaker 1: more of a chess match because you're playing the same
Speaker 1: team at least four times, maybe seven times per series.
Speaker 1: So I actually think the advantage, at least my view
Speaker 1: of this in the playoffs is talent three, right, top
Speaker 1: two or three guys and then depth to maybe six,
Speaker 1: seven and really significant. I think we've seen that from
Speaker 1: the Warriors over the years, and the Suns are the
Speaker 1: best four man group in the NBA, of the best
Speaker 1: three man I think group in the NBA. Well, I
Speaker 1: don't buy this. There are certainly people who do this
Speaker 1: for a living who actually run teams who think they
Speaker 1: might have the best two man group in the NBA,
Speaker 1: depending how you assess Devin Booker. So I actually think
Speaker 1: their postseason opportunity, just how this fits, is going to
Speaker 1: be really beneficial for them.
Speaker 2: The main reason though, I wanted to talk to Bill
Speaker 2: was this in depth interview and article that he did
Speaker 2: on the dysfunction of the Atlanta Hawks. He breaks it
Speaker 2: all down as clearly as you're ever gonna find plain
Speaker 2: spoken about why the Hawks have a Trey Young problem.
Speaker 1: It really is. And I laugh when you guys Bob
Speaker 1: brought me on and said that you agree with what
Speaker 1: I wrote, because because that means you don't work for
Speaker 1: the Atlanta Hawks, because they does not love that story.
Speaker 1: I would argue in largest part because it's very true. Yeah, Like,
Speaker 1: I've known Quinn for a long time, all the way
Speaker 1: back to when he was a matter the University of
Speaker 1: Missouri and college. And I don't know him like we're buddies,
Speaker 1: but I've just I've followed and covered his career. I think,
Speaker 1: and people in the NBA more we think very highly
Speaker 1: of him on a lot of levels. And one of
Speaker 1: the things you'll hear is his ability to really connect
Speaker 1: with players and not in an authentic way, in a
Speaker 1: real way. So I think that's goal number one. Here
Speaker 1: is a fraction locker room. Trey Young does not get
Speaker 1: along with many of the people in that locker room. There
Speaker 1: is frustration towards Trey Young. And you've seen the excellent
Speaker 1: reporting that's come out of the Athletic and the local newspaper,
Speaker 1: the Langila Constitution about Trey getting on a plane and
Speaker 1: not flying over this team after a playoff game with
Speaker 1: the heat, which is utterly unacceptable, to say the least
Speaker 1: in the NBA, among other things other places have reported.
Speaker 1: So this isn't a secret. But I I think is
Speaker 1: interesting is sort of what's new in the column that
Speaker 1: I wrote, is that Quinn Snyder's is going to try
Speaker 1: to reach him right, reach Trey Young, connect with Trey Young,
Speaker 1: get Trey Young to baby, just think that defense exists
Speaker 1: as a concept, and engage in a better way at
Speaker 1: the locker room. But it's also been suggested to me
Speaker 1: by people in the know that Quinn Snyder want a
Speaker 1: loud voice in that organization. That part of the reason
Speaker 1: he's not a UTAH. He really liked Andy AHw took
Speaker 1: over bats pull offs, but Quinn Snyder wants that one
Speaker 1: of the loudest voices there, and there's some political it's
Speaker 1: an interesting political scenario in Atlanta where Quinn Snyder can
Speaker 1: do that. I think it's part of the reason he
Speaker 1: showed up early with the wrestler family who owns the team,
Speaker 1: and I think Quinn expects to be able to be
Speaker 1: one of the prominent voices in the front office even
Speaker 1: though he's the head coach. And I think there's certainly
Speaker 1: a scenario where he has now it's lessons now, but
Speaker 1: when he started twenty one games, to look at Trey Young,
Speaker 1: to evaluate Trey Young, to try to reach Trey Young,
Speaker 1: try to fix the culture, and if he can't use
Speaker 1: that voice that he wants to potentially write, potentially push
Speaker 1: for a reality where you move on from the guy.
Speaker 1: If you don't think it's gonna work.
Speaker 2: Bill. The thing that I don't understand, and that was
Speaker 2: why reading your article was so refreshing, because I feel
Speaker 2: like I've been as an NBA fan but also a
Speaker 2: media member, being gas lit around what's going on with Atlanta.
Speaker 2: This is weird, this organizational structure you mentioned Game of Thrones.
Speaker 2: That's when I said, yes, this guy and I are
Speaker 2: gonna be friend because the Nick Wrestler, Landry Fields, Kyle Korver,
Speaker 2: so many random voices in the room. A former Golden
Speaker 2: State Warriors beat reporter in the mix is an assistant
Speaker 2: GM like, can you put this into context about because
Speaker 2: nepotism is normal in any structure, especially in the NBA,
Speaker 2: but this feels very abnormal. And do you think that
Speaker 2: this is like a fixavulture, cause it's kind of just
Speaker 2: starting this way where it feels toxic.
Speaker 1: It's very bizarre. There are certainly people and you can
Speaker 1: guess what city of the m and A from. It
Speaker 1: has great sweet tea and it's wonderful and it's warm
Speaker 1: a lot of the time. Who would argue it's going
Speaker 1: to work out? People Landa would argue that. But here's yeah,
Speaker 1: here's a good DHOS version. Tony Wrestler owns the team.
Speaker 1: He's a billionaire. His son, Nick Wrestler is a twin
Speaker 1: old who isn't just involved. He is involved in front
Speaker 1: office operations. He is I understand it, and really reporting
Speaker 1: from other outlets have really laid this out in a
Speaker 1: very impressive way. Is around and making decisions and not
Speaker 1: that long ago. They gave Travis Schlang, who's technically still
Speaker 1: I believe that they're president of basketball operations, a big extension.
Speaker 1: Sources tell me he paid him a bunch of money,
Speaker 1: gave him the Rays guaranteed that money, and then what
Speaker 1: a year later? They shoved him aside because his deputy
Speaker 1: Landry Fields. Not accusing Landry of anything, but Landry got
Speaker 1: along better with twenty seven year old son of the owner,
Speaker 1: right the owner's kid walking around the building wanting certain things,
Speaker 1: wanting different things. All of a sudden, Travis Slank, who
Speaker 1: came from the Warriors credit with scoutings. For example, Draymond
Speaker 1: Green very well respect in the league. I don't know
Speaker 1: what he's doing, but he's on an island or his house,
Speaker 1: or maybe he moved, but he's collecting the paycheck, not
Speaker 1: doing anything right now. As I understand it, Landry Field
Speaker 1: is elevated to GM. That's a former player who's well
Speaker 1: regarded but hasn't been doing this for a long time.
Speaker 1: Kyle Korver, who gets along really well with young Nick Wrestler,
Speaker 1: just got promoted to assistant GM. You know that there's
Speaker 1: a bunch of characters in the mix, and as I
Speaker 1: understand it the Wrestler family and their team Tony Wrestler,
Speaker 1: that dad is desperate to win and not patient in
Speaker 1: his ambition. I get it as a fan. If you're
Speaker 1: a fan of that team, you'd love it. His son,
Speaker 1: Nick Wrestler thinks he knows not about best but certainly
Speaker 1: isn't has a view that's important. I can't speak to
Speaker 1: whether Nick Wrestler is really great at running the front
Speaker 1: office or some rich guys kid who shouldn't be there.
Speaker 1: Time will tell, but it certainly led to some massive changes.
Speaker 1: And as I've had it, and it's in the column,
Speaker 1: Quinn Snyder went early to this job so to preparachute
Speaker 1: it in a few days ago, in part because he
Speaker 1: understands the political dynamic. And what you want to do is,
Speaker 1: if you're going to be a member of Atlanta Hawks,
Speaker 1: let alone the head coach. You want to get in
Speaker 1: woo the Wrestler family, get to know twenty seven year
Speaker 1: old Nick Wrestler and make sure he's listening to you.
Speaker 1: Because I think the political situation and there's very much in.
Speaker 2: Flux, is Quinn Snyder kind of like a Little Finger
Speaker 2: character in this In this scenario.
Speaker 1: I mean look, this gets me in trouble. But what
Speaker 1: if I write this stuff like I just tell the
Speaker 1: truth or I try to right. We all get stuff
Speaker 1: wrong and people get really really angry with me. And
Speaker 1: I can tell you stories for hours about Lebron James,
Speaker 1: Katie me back in the day. But as here's my
Speaker 1: view of Quinn. I think he's a really good coach.
Speaker 1: I like him personally. He's incredibly charming. I think it's
Speaker 1: a great hire. But I do think that there's a
Speaker 1: part of Quinn Snyder's denemer charm approach ambition that some
Speaker 1: people would call two paces wrong. But he's an ambitious,
Speaker 1: charming guy, right, Like it's like when you go to
Speaker 1: a manipulent dealership. Yeah, like I don't want to buy
Speaker 1: this car. Now I'm driving a Prius and I got
Speaker 1: to explain it to my wife. He's that guy, and
Speaker 1: not in a bad way. It's his job and I
Speaker 1: actually think highli of the guy. But yes, I little,
Speaker 1: I mean, that is it, I would say to the
Speaker 1: nexter way. But if we're going you know, Game of
Speaker 1: Thrones here, he might be a little bit you know,
Speaker 1: maybe he won't get slaughtered up in the north right
Speaker 1: when he Finally, like his rock, his luck runs out.
Speaker 1: But if it's succession, he's definitely one of those kids
Speaker 1: and you're rooting for him, but you gotta be careful
Speaker 1: with him a little bit too.
Speaker 2: Finally, I asked Bill how much the Hawks miss Kevin
Speaker 2: Herder and what he sees for them the rest of
Speaker 2: the year.
Speaker 1: I think it's I it hasn't worked out clearly, and
Speaker 1: and to be fair, I thought it was an amazing move.
Speaker 1: So what do I know? Right Like, it's this stuff
Speaker 1: is hard and it hasn't helped. But I do think
Speaker 1: the issues with Trey Young run deeper. I know they
Speaker 1: run deeper, and I think that bringing in Murray they
Speaker 1: I know that they hoped that that would be a
Speaker 1: wake up call for Trey, a motivation for Trey, you know,
Speaker 1: disguised as or maybe you know, equal parts, here's some help,
Speaker 1: and it obviously hasn't gone that direction. So yes, I
Speaker 1: think there's been some bad decision making that went on
Speaker 1: in the front office when Travis Shank was do in charge.
Speaker 1: Probably part of the reason he's not there right probably
Speaker 1: part of the reason despite his contract situation. I also
Speaker 1: think Trey Young's a problem and just talking to folks
Speaker 1: in that organization. Outside of it, it is understood that
Speaker 1: that he has not been a leader, that there have
Speaker 1: been problems. People change, people grow. Can't judge a person
Speaker 1: based on one season or a couple of seasons. But
Speaker 1: all is not well in Atlanta, and Trey jung Is
Speaker 1: is a part of the reason. Yeah, I think it's
Speaker 1: bonus time if they can make the playoffs, make the
Speaker 1: play and make a run. They certainly did that a
Speaker 1: few years ago and they had that crazy run at
Speaker 1: Eastern Conference finals. But I think the main goal is
Speaker 1: for Quinn Snyder to be able to assess his basketball
Speaker 1: team that he's going to be at for four years
Speaker 1: after this, to assess Treeunk, to try and fix some
Speaker 1: of the cultural problems, to navigate the politics that we discussed,
Speaker 1: and to really hit the ground running next year. Quinn
Speaker 1: Snyder's in it for the long run. They would love
Speaker 1: to be able to make it work over the course
Speaker 1: of the next six weeks. But I think really this
Speaker 1: season for Quinn Snyder and therefore the team is about
Speaker 1: the long term.
Speaker 2: That's all the time that we have for the bonus
Speaker 2: episode of The Heat Checked. Many thanks to our friend
Speaker 2: Bill Ryder. You can catch bill every day from ten
Speaker 2: to twelve on CBS Sports Radio on Writer Than You
Speaker 2: and on Twitter at sports Rider are e it Er.
Speaker 2: Thanks to my bet MGM Tonight co host Nick Ashow
Speaker 2: and PJ. Glasser and my producer Scotland. Don't forget to
Speaker 2: watch that feed for past episodes and interviews they drop
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