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Speaker 1: eight hundred gambler dot net in West Virginia. It's been
Speaker 1: a weird sequence here over the last couple of weeks.
Speaker 1: I was venting about it the other day. You know,
Speaker 1: the Lakers have played just twice in the last fifteen days,
Speaker 1: and in the middle of that has been a boatload
Speaker 1: of drama. We did have a little bit more drama today,
Speaker 1: definitely less drama than we've been having. We only had
Speaker 1: a renowned Lakers writer in Los Angeles advocate for trading
Speaker 1: Lebron and then a couple of ESPN personalities do the same.
Speaker 1: That's pretty low key compared to the way it's been
Speaker 1: over the last couple of weeks. We are going to
Speaker 1: touch on that, but I'm gonna save that for the
Speaker 1: end because I am desperate to talk some actual basketball.
Speaker 1: We're gonna talk about the Nets. I just want to
Speaker 1: break down the differences between their situation and where the
Speaker 1: Lakers are at right now in terms of their hopes
Speaker 1: of getting out of the play in and and making
Speaker 1: a run at things. We're also going to talk about
Speaker 1: Cade versus Mobili. We're gonna get into the differences between
Speaker 1: is two guys, which guy I think has a better ceiling,
Speaker 1: which guy I think has the best chance to win
Speaker 1: Rookie of the Year as well. And then at the end,
Speaker 1: like I said, we'll touch on the Lebron trade idea,
Speaker 1: which I think is ridiculous, but well, we'll save that
Speaker 1: for the end. You know, there's a couple of similarities
Speaker 1: between where the Nets are right now and where the
Speaker 1: Lakers are right now in the sense that they're heading
Speaker 1: into a tough part of their schedule. Like the Nets
Speaker 1: are playing the Bucks next, then they play Toronto twice,
Speaker 1: then they play the Heat, and they play the Celtics,
Speaker 1: and they play the Hornets and they play Sixers. That's tough.
Speaker 1: Like there, it's gonna be hard, even with Kevin Durant
Speaker 1: Ben Simmons to get out of the play in game
Speaker 1: in that case. The Lakers are also heading into an
Speaker 1: extremely tough stretch of their schedule. I believe the vast
Speaker 1: majority of their games are against over five teams on
Speaker 1: the road for the rest of the season. That's tough, right.
Speaker 1: There's some similarities there. Both teams have had some self
Speaker 1: inflicted damage, right, Like, the Lakers played some of their
Speaker 1: worst players to start the season instead of prioritizing better players.
Speaker 1: They were misaligned in a lot of ways, playing away
Speaker 1: from their strengths. And then the Nets have done a
Speaker 1: lot of the same. And then straight up personnel Kyrie
Speaker 1: Irving not getting the vaccine, that's self sabotage. James Harden
Speaker 1: getting a wandering eye for yet another season and looking
Speaker 1: in other directions and kind of not taking but not
Speaker 1: playing his best basketball. That's also self sabotage. But there's
Speaker 1: a very key difference between the situation the Nets are
Speaker 1: facing in the situation the Lakers are facing. The Nets
Speaker 1: actually have enough talent from the top to the bottom
Speaker 1: of their roster to make a run and to potentially
Speaker 1: win the title. The Lakers do not. You know, I'm
Speaker 1: looking at the Lakers roster, I'm getting Lebron, I'm getting
Speaker 1: Anthony Davis, Russell westbrook Is, you know, all the things
Speaker 1: that I've been saying about him. Malik monk Is showed
Speaker 1: a lot of potential, but you know, he's not a
Speaker 1: great defensive player, and he's inconsistent because he's young. And
Speaker 1: then a lot of role players, right, a lot of
Speaker 1: guys that can maybe do a job, but then there's
Speaker 1: older guys in there that may not even be NBA
Speaker 1: players anymore. And I look at the nets. I'm getting
Speaker 1: Kevin Durant and I'm getting Kyrie Irving back for home games.
Speaker 1: We had a uh press conference today from the Mayor
Speaker 1: of New York saying that that's something they're working towards
Speaker 1: on their end. So guess what, You're gonna see Kyrie
Speaker 1: Irving as long as he's healthy in all of the
Speaker 1: important home games the rest of the season. And then
Speaker 1: I have Ben Simmons, who's way better than the third
Speaker 1: best player on the Lakers, and a perfect shoe in
Speaker 1: fit with that team. It's not like Russ. It's not
Speaker 1: like this obvious you know basketball, you know, collision course
Speaker 1: where it's like he needs the ball in his hands
Speaker 1: all the time. He's not a good off ball player.
Speaker 1: But meanwhile, Lebron needs to have the ball in his hands.
Speaker 1: You know, he's the third best player in the team,
Speaker 1: so he needs to do role player stuff, but he's
Speaker 1: bad at role player stuff. Ben Simmons is great at
Speaker 1: role players stuff. It's a great perimeter defender, he's a
Speaker 1: great back line defender. He's a great rebounder. He does
Speaker 1: he can sit in the dunker spot unless it's Game
Speaker 1: seven against the Hawks. He can do a lot of
Speaker 1: different things to fill roles on that team, which means
Speaker 1: he's a more natural fit. Now. I understand that there's
Speaker 1: a time crunch here right, Like we're looking at like
Speaker 1: a month and a half until we really get into
Speaker 1: the playoffs, so it doesn't seem like there's enough time
Speaker 1: to build cohesion there. But I'm never worried about that
Speaker 1: as long as there's something they can fall back on,
Speaker 1: whether that's a team identity, like the team is a
Speaker 1: great defensive team and you know everyone else on the
Speaker 1: team is playing defense a certain way, and you can
Speaker 1: kind of slide back into that one. Guys get healthy
Speaker 1: or if there's some you know, continuity, like saying coach,
Speaker 1: same system, same everything, you know we can lean back
Speaker 1: on that. Uh, basketball fit is another big part of it,
Speaker 1: Like if if Lebron and Anthony Davis are such a
Speaker 1: natural basketball fit that when they got back on the
Speaker 1: court together last year after not playing with each other
Speaker 1: for a long time, it was seamless. There's you know,
Speaker 1: there's not there's not a whole lot of continuity building
Speaker 1: that needs to be done as long as there's a
Speaker 1: natural fit that you can fall back on, and Brooklyn
Speaker 1: absolutely has that. Incorporating Ben Simmons is gonna be the
Speaker 1: easiest thing in the entire world, because he's gonna be
Speaker 1: the only non shoter in their lineup. It's not gonna
Speaker 1: be like Russell Westbrook alongside DeAndre Jordan's alongside Anthony Davis,
Speaker 1: who hasn't been able to make a jump shot since
Speaker 1: the bubble. It's not that kind of dynamic. He's gonna
Speaker 1: be alongside Kyrie Irving and Kevin Durant and Seth Curry.
Speaker 1: He's gonna be alongside a ton of shooting where his
Speaker 1: spacing concerns aren't going to be that much of an issue.
Speaker 1: You know, last year, the Lakers predicament was significantly worse
Speaker 1: than what the Nets were dealing with. I think Lebron
Speaker 1: came back with four games left, if I remember correctly.
Speaker 1: I could be wrong about that. It was right around.
Speaker 1: It was a small handful of games that Lebron played,
Speaker 1: and then he walked right into a playoff series against
Speaker 1: the Phoenix Suns, and the Lakers looked like the Lakers.
Speaker 1: You know, maybe they didn't shoot as well as they
Speaker 1: did in the bubble, and that's probably why things were
Speaker 1: a little uglier in the early part of that series,
Speaker 1: but they looked like the Lakers. They were defending like crazy.
Speaker 1: They were physically imposing. They were going through Phoenix to
Speaker 1: the basket. Even when they weren't making shots, they were
Speaker 1: getting a boatload offensive rebounds and putting the ball back
Speaker 1: in the basket on the other end of the floor.
Speaker 1: They were wearing down Phoenix with their size and athleticism.
Speaker 1: They it didn't take long for them to get back
Speaker 1: to what they were And I don't think the Nets
Speaker 1: are gonna have that problem either now, with the strength
Speaker 1: of schedule and with the fact that Ben Simmons and
Speaker 1: Kevin Durant are still probably a week or so away
Speaker 1: from coming back. If not longer, then yeah, it's they're
Speaker 1: they're probably gonna be in the play in but like
Speaker 1: we saw with the Lakers, you can still do it
Speaker 1: from there. They were up to one on Phoenix. Had
Speaker 1: they won that series, they would have taken the two
Speaker 1: spot in the bracket, so they effectively become the two
Speaker 1: seed at that point. That's where Brooklyn is gonna be
Speaker 1: one of these top seeds in the East, which who
Speaker 1: knows who's gonna because they're all right next to each
Speaker 1: other in terms of games back from each other. But
Speaker 1: one of those top two seeds is gonna have to
Speaker 1: face Brooklyn, and Brooklyn is gonna have Kevin Durant. They're
Speaker 1: gonna have Ben Simmons, They're gonna have Kyrie Irving, They're
Speaker 1: gonna have Seth Curry. Seth Curry is a good player,
Speaker 1: good role player. They're gonna have Patty Mills that's a
Speaker 1: good role player. They have a rim running big and
Speaker 1: Nick Claxton that's better than any of the centers on
Speaker 1: the Lakers. There's a lot of talent on this team.
Speaker 1: They're just gonna have a tougher path then they would
Speaker 1: have had if they were healthy the rest of the season.
Speaker 1: I'm not worried about it. And they still are very,
Speaker 1: very imposing, and they're a big threat. Even from the plan,
Speaker 1: there's one thing they have to watch out for, one
Speaker 1: thing that concerns me with that specific dynamic that they
Speaker 1: have working over there. When you have three little guards.
Speaker 1: So if Kyrie is gonna start, and if Seth Curry
Speaker 1: is gonna play, and let's say Patty Mills is one
Speaker 1: of your better options as a player, it just it
Speaker 1: just in terms of overall talent to throw out there.
Speaker 1: You can run into a similar problem that the Lakers
Speaker 1: have run into a lot this year when they've had
Speaker 1: Russ and Malik Monk and Avery Bradley on the floor.
Speaker 1: The aggregate size of the lineup is too small. Then
Speaker 1: you start losing a lot of these physical altercations on
Speaker 1: the floor, You start losing rebounding position, you start getting
Speaker 1: out run down the floor by a bigger, more athletic wing.
Speaker 1: You start to struggle with isolation defense because guys are
Speaker 1: just going through, you are shooting over the top. When
Speaker 1: your aggregate size is that small, you're asking for a
Speaker 1: lot from Ben Simmons and Kevin Durant and Kevin Durant.
Speaker 1: While he's capable of being that like defensive focal point
Speaker 1: at the center position, we've seen him do it, it's
Speaker 1: just a lot to ask for him physically, and so
Speaker 1: that's where it gets interesting. It'll be interesting to see
Speaker 1: if they have to send one of those two little
Speaker 1: guards to the bench, someone like Seth Curry or someone
Speaker 1: like Patty Mills in favor of a either a wing
Speaker 1: someone like Bruce Brown or James Johnson, or going big
Speaker 1: with someone like Nick Claxton. Now, when you go that route,
Speaker 1: you run into spacing issues. But that's the beauty of
Speaker 1: Kyrie Irving and Kevin Durant. Kyrie Irving and Kevin Durant
Speaker 1: are very unique in the sense that they're kind of
Speaker 1: spacing proof. You know, when you're a downhill score someone
Speaker 1: that needs to get to the rim, someone like Lebron
Speaker 1: Anthony Davis, spacing can be an issue because it turns
Speaker 1: you into a jump shooter. And while you know Lebron
Speaker 1: is a good jump shooter off of the dribble, even
Speaker 1: though he's not one of the best in the league,
Speaker 1: he's capable of operating a little bit in that scenario.
Speaker 1: But you've seen that be a huge problem for Anthony
Speaker 1: Davis this season. But when you're Kyrie Irving and Kevin
Speaker 1: Durant and that contested, you know, off the dribble, fifteen
Speaker 1: foot or twenty footer or even pull up three is
Speaker 1: actually a good shot for you, Then spacing is not
Speaker 1: as much of an issue. So they actually can get
Speaker 1: away with going big and going with someone like Claxton
Speaker 1: or another wing instead of one of those guards and
Speaker 1: still maintaining enough offense. The reason why that's so important
Speaker 1: is teams like Milwaukee in Miami are so big and
Speaker 1: athletic all over the floor that you have to have
Speaker 1: something to be able to compete with them on that front.
Speaker 1: Over the course of a seven gamer that can cost you.
Speaker 1: That's what happened to Phoenix last year in the finals.
Speaker 1: They came out hot, everything was good. Over the course
Speaker 1: of that series, Milwaukee's physicality just war on them. And
Speaker 1: so that's that's the thing that's gonna be interesting for
Speaker 1: Brooklyn is whether or not, with this kind of current
Speaker 1: setup that they have, if they can hold up physically.
Speaker 1: But I definitely like their chances more with Ben Simmons
Speaker 1: on that front than I would have with James Harden,
Speaker 1: So I like the next chances. They're not the Lake.
Speaker 1: Like I flat out set, I want to I want
Speaker 1: on another volume podcast earlier this week called The Favorites,
Speaker 1: and I talked about the Lakers, and I flat outside
Speaker 1: and I mean this. They do not have enough talent
Speaker 1: to win. Unless th h Tam makes some massive leap
Speaker 1: or they have a home run by out signing, they
Speaker 1: can't do it, not even if Lebron and Anthony Davis
Speaker 1: play at their very best. Brooklyn does have enough talent,
Speaker 1: they do have the pieces. They've just signed up for
Speaker 1: a tough path, but I wouldn't count them out. For
Speaker 1: those of you who are just joining us, this is
Speaker 1: Lakers Tonight, presented by Fandel Here on the volume, we
Speaker 1: were just talking about the Brooklyn Nets. I wanted to
Speaker 1: talk about this Evan Mobile versus Kid Cunningham matchup that
Speaker 1: happened tonight. It's basketball fans dream right, watching two of
Speaker 1: the best rookies in the league playing the two best
Speaker 1: rookies in the league. The most interesting dynamic to me
Speaker 1: is that perimeter initiator versus big guy type of dynamic. Right.
Speaker 1: It's the same dynamic that the Lakers have been dealing with,
Speaker 1: and there's actually some irony there because there are some
Speaker 1: parallels there because these are two very similar players. Kate
Speaker 1: Cunningham is averaging over five rebounds and five assists per year.
Speaker 1: Not many rookies have done that. Lebron's on the short
Speaker 1: list of keys you have done stuff like that. You're
Speaker 1: talking about Lebron and Luca, and there's some outliers in there,
Speaker 1: like Tyreek Evans. But for the most part, when you
Speaker 1: see a rookie that's averaging five rebounds and five assists,
Speaker 1: that's an indicator of that classic point forward type of archetype,
Speaker 1: and he's already sliding into that that role. And then
Speaker 1: Evan Mobile, you know, big, long, athletic, you know, rim
Speaker 1: running center that has a lot of offensive polished that's
Speaker 1: your Anthony Davis archetype. Right. So you see these two types,
Speaker 1: and you know, we all obviously points a Lebron is
Speaker 1: a better player because he's a perimeter initiator. We just
Speaker 1: know that you have when you can give the guy
Speaker 1: the basketball thirty feet from the basket, ten possessions in
Speaker 1: a row and he can make every decision for you,
Speaker 1: that's just more valuable than a guy that has to
Speaker 1: be set up or can only score when he has
Speaker 1: the right circumstances, when he has enough space, when he
Speaker 1: has the right matchup, or when he you know, when
Speaker 1: his jump shot is feeling good. Like that's kind of
Speaker 1: the situation you have with Anthony Davis. You can't use
Speaker 1: him like that. So that's the kind of dynamic we're
Speaker 1: talking about with Mobile versus Kid. Now, the there's a
Speaker 1: couple of stuff with Kid that's weird, Like he's not
Speaker 1: shooting well. He's only fifty percent in the restricted area
Speaker 1: this season. For for perspective, Russell Westbrook is at fifty
Speaker 1: five point eight. So as horrible as Russell Westbrook has
Speaker 1: been finishing around the basket this year, Kid has actually
Speaker 1: been a little bit worse. Kaid's only thirty four point
Speaker 1: five percent in the in the paint, non restricted area,
Speaker 1: so all those little floaters and push shots in the lane.
Speaker 1: He's thirty seven point three percent from the from the corner,
Speaker 1: or excuse me, from uh from mid range, he's thirty
Speaker 1: one percent from the corner and percent above the break.
Speaker 1: That's it's not entirely uncommon for perimeter players to struggle
Speaker 1: shooting when they get in the league. It's just it's
Speaker 1: just such a huge increase in defensive length and athleticism.
Speaker 1: Every shot that used to be kind of open for
Speaker 1: you is now a lot less open, and even the
Speaker 1: open ones are more rushed, so like you have to
Speaker 1: be quicker, you have to get more lift. It just
Speaker 1: throws off perimeter players. I expect him to figure that
Speaker 1: out eventually. He's eighty six percent from the free throw line, which,
Speaker 1: as you guys know, is one of the big things
Speaker 1: I look at for shooting. That is a static shooting scenario.
Speaker 1: You're perfectly balanced. It's just an indicator of your touch.
Speaker 1: So for him as a rookie to be shooting, he's
Speaker 1: gonna become a much better shooter. I actually see Cade
Speaker 1: becoming like a poor man's Luca don Chich. That's kind
Speaker 1: of the what I what I see, slow, shifty, really crafty.
Speaker 1: I just don't think he has the arsenal of moves
Speaker 1: that Luca has, and Luca's passing abilities obviously at another level,
Speaker 1: but that's kind of the archetype that I see from him.
Speaker 1: What makes me so excited about Mobile and the reason
Speaker 1: why I think he is going to win Rookie of
Speaker 1: the Year, and the reason why I think he has
Speaker 1: a significantly higher steeling than Cade even though he's a
Speaker 1: perimeter initiator, is I think Evan Mobile can do some
Speaker 1: perimeter initiating. One of the big things that scared me
Speaker 1: with Anthony Davis is his first step. He can't look
Speaker 1: a guy in the face and hit a quick move
Speaker 1: and get around him. He's not fast enough. Two NBA
Speaker 1: athletes are way too fast. They slide their feet and
Speaker 1: they stay in front of Anthony Davis and they turn
Speaker 1: him into a jump shoe or unless he's going against
Speaker 1: a slow footed big Evan Mobile. You can see a
Speaker 1: lot of it tonight, but I've seen it all season.
Speaker 1: He's so quick with his feet and he can change
Speaker 1: directions quickly, and he does have a quick first step.
Speaker 1: So there's some potential there for him to legitimately be
Speaker 1: a slasher, somebody that can beat guys off the dribble.
Speaker 1: That's what makes things exciting is he can bring a
Speaker 1: lot of what Anthony Davis brings to the table with
Speaker 1: the quickness and speed and handle to be able to
Speaker 1: beat people from the perimeter. This year, Evan Mobley is
Speaker 1: second and shots contested per game. At twelve point four,
Speaker 1: he is ninth in total blocks in the entire league.
Speaker 1: He's already shooting thirty nine point four percent from mid range,
Speaker 1: and he's already shooting on corner three. So a lot
Speaker 1: of these indicators of awesome offensive development for a young player.
Speaker 1: But the most exciting part is he has that athletic
Speaker 1: upside that I don't think Anthony Davis had. Now, maybe
Speaker 1: Anthony Davis kind of did himself in by getting too strong.
Speaker 1: I saw his footage the other day of him lightening
Speaker 1: people up with the Pelicans when he was so skinny,
Speaker 1: and like, maybe that's the thing that Evan Mobley has
Speaker 1: to watch out for, is don't overly bulk up, but
Speaker 1: don't do what Anthony Davis did to himself by slowing
Speaker 1: himself down, by raising his physical profile and becoming too
Speaker 1: big to be fast. Those are the things you gotta
Speaker 1: watch out for. And obviously it's too early. You never
Speaker 1: can tell with the guy's motor at this age because
Speaker 1: he's excited and he's in the NBA, like Anthony Davis
Speaker 1: has become a player that's somewhat finicky with his effort
Speaker 1: and his focus on a nightly basis, you gotta see
Speaker 1: whether or not that happens with Evan Mobley. But I
Speaker 1: see some specific indicators with him that tell me that
Speaker 1: he can reach a ceiling that even Anthony Davis couldn't reach,
Speaker 1: and that's really exciting. He doesn't look quite as tall,
Speaker 1: it doesn't look quite as you know, long with his arms,
Speaker 1: but he does have a lot of the same traits
Speaker 1: that you see there, and it's something that I'm particularly
Speaker 1: excited about. So I think Mobley is gonna win Rookie
Speaker 1: of the Year and I think he's got the highest
Speaker 1: ceiling right now. All right, before we get out of
Speaker 1: here tonight, I want to talk about this this story.
Speaker 1: So Bill Pulaski wrote a story today talking about how
Speaker 1: the lakershild trade Lebron and then there was a bunch
Speaker 1: of conversations you know, on ESPN about it, and obviously,
Speaker 1: you know, I'll set it up like this. There was
Speaker 1: an old Family Guy bit where where Peter Griffin wins
Speaker 1: an award and what the guy goes to him and
Speaker 1: he goes like, Hey, you can have this boat or
Speaker 1: you can have this box. And Peter looks at the
Speaker 1: box and he's like, oh, it's a mystery box, like
Speaker 1: what's in it? And he goes like it could even
Speaker 1: be a boat, and then he takes the box and
Speaker 1: ends up being something stupid. That's kind of how I
Speaker 1: feel about the idea of trading Lebron or trading Anthony Davis,
Speaker 1: or trading stars in hopes of what a future draft
Speaker 1: pick could be. Like, you're just hoping that that first
Speaker 1: could be someone like Lebron. You're just hoping that that
Speaker 1: could be someone like Anthony Davis. You currently have Lebron,
Speaker 1: you currently have Anthony Davis. You have everything you need
Speaker 1: except for a good set of role players, which, yes,
Speaker 1: I get it. You messed it up. You you you've
Speaker 1: built incorrectly this season. You made a ton of mistakes.
Speaker 1: A bunch of people made a ton of mistakes, and
Speaker 1: it didn't work this time. But Lebron, James and Anthony
Speaker 1: Davis are still under contract next season. And even if
Speaker 1: Lebron undergoes a little bit of a decline, slipping from
Speaker 1: the you know, first, second, third best player in the
Speaker 1: world to the seventh, ninth best player in the world,
Speaker 1: you still have a ton of top end talent. You
Speaker 1: still have a lot more than the vast majority of
Speaker 1: the teams around the league have, so it's much more
Speaker 1: advantageous for you to try to make this work then
Speaker 1: hope that maybe you get the mystery box that has
Speaker 1: the next Lebron in it, especially as the l a
Speaker 1: Lakers with as a free agent destination, you don't need
Speaker 1: to build organically through the draft. So the primary driving
Speaker 1: force behind this opinion, the reason why people want, you know,
Speaker 1: even consider trading Lebron is the drama. You know. I
Speaker 1: one of the recurring themes that I've seen from people
Speaker 1: over the course of the last week is like, Hey,
Speaker 1: building with Lebron sucks. He gets rid of all your assets.
Speaker 1: He brings a lot of drama. He you know, all
Speaker 1: this all all this junk and it he destroys franchise.
Speaker 1: He always leaves franchises in a worse position than when
Speaker 1: he starts. And I don't think that's a fair characterization
Speaker 1: of the Lebron process. So I wanted to take a
Speaker 1: second to address that Specifically. Everyone wants a point to
Speaker 1: Miami and the way that they were they struggled post
Speaker 1: Lebron and the fact that they lost all their assets
Speaker 1: and the fact that they went all in on that group,
Speaker 1: and it blew up in like four years and and
Speaker 1: it was way shorter of a window than they thought,
Speaker 1: and they want to blame that on Lebron. Then they
Speaker 1: look at Cleveland and they go, oh, look, here we
Speaker 1: go four years again, blows up again, and they're forgetting
Speaker 1: about the very specific reasons why those situations went south.
Speaker 1: Lebron went to Miami to play with someone that was
Speaker 1: one of the best players in the world, which was
Speaker 1: Dwayne Wade. He was that for one year, and then
Speaker 1: about halfway through that second year, he started having issues
Speaker 1: with his knee, like fluid build up and just general soreness.
Speaker 1: He started having to load manage, He started losing that explosiveness.
Speaker 1: He was very inconsistent on a night and night out
Speaker 1: basis in terms of how his body felt. And that
Speaker 1: was just year two. It just got significantly worse and
Speaker 1: worse as the years went on, and by two thousand fourteen,
Speaker 1: he was more or less a bench player. He might
Speaker 1: have been, like the best player in the league at
Speaker 1: that point, not a bench player, but he was a
Speaker 1: a traditional role player, not a not a super superstar
Speaker 1: at that point in his career. Then you move on
Speaker 1: to Cleveland and they were incredibly dominant in the two
Speaker 1: thousand seventeen postseason, just beat the crap out of everybody
Speaker 1: they played until they got to that juggernaut Warriors team.
Speaker 1: And after games five, after they lose in the finals,
Speaker 1: Kyrie goes into a press conference and says all these
Speaker 1: nice things about how he loves being under Lebron and
Speaker 1: learning from him, and and then like a month later,
Speaker 1: he demands a trade. That's Kyrie's flakiness, which is well documented.
Speaker 1: Kyrie's flaky nous is what destroyed the has wasn't Lebron
Speaker 1: cashing in assets. It wasn't Lebron's drama. It was Kyrie
Speaker 1: irving Lebron didn't mess up the Miami Heat. One of
Speaker 1: their core foundational pieces got hurt, and then literally they
Speaker 1: resigned Chris Bosh after Lebron left for like a hundred
Speaker 1: something million dollars and he got a blood clot and
Speaker 1: he couldn't play. That's why those situations went south. They
Speaker 1: had nothing to do with Lebron in this idea of like, oh,
Speaker 1: you lose assets, you lose assets every team. Look, the
Speaker 1: Lakers are as strapped for assets as as any team
Speaker 1: in the league, and they still have two first and
Speaker 1: a good young player to trade this summer. Every team
Speaker 1: is capable of retooling as long as they don't completely
Speaker 1: nuke themselves with stupid signings, right, and the Lakers have
Speaker 1: open cap looking forward, they just have you know, Lebron
Speaker 1: Anthony Davis obvious. I think they'll get off of us
Speaker 1: this summer, but all these veteran minimums are off. They
Speaker 1: can completely redo that next year, you know. I Kendrick
Speaker 1: Nunn is an interesting situation there because if he opts in,
Speaker 1: that complicates things with the mid level like option. But
Speaker 1: the point is is like the Lakers do have flexibility,
Speaker 1: and the only reason this window feels like it's ending,
Speaker 1: the only reason this feels like the next Calves are
Speaker 1: heat is because Anthony Davis can't stay on the court.
Speaker 1: I put I pointed this out last week after he's
Speaker 1: sprained his ankle. If Anthony Davis does not play another
Speaker 1: game this season, Lebron and a d will have only
Speaker 1: played together in fifty three of a hundred and sixty
Speaker 1: opportunities since the bubble. Is that because Lebron cashed in assets?
Speaker 1: Is that because you know Lebron's high drama? Or is
Speaker 1: that because guys got hurt. It's obviously because guys got
Speaker 1: hurt the Lebron process. I understand that it's stressful, but
Speaker 1: it comes with a reward. It comes with the championship.
Speaker 1: This isn't a relationship. You're not going home to a
Speaker 1: dramatic wife every night. Okay, This is a job. At
Speaker 1: the job, you put up with anything as long as
Speaker 1: the reward is commensurate. The layers are willing to put
Speaker 1: up with Lebron as long as they get a shot
Speaker 1: at a championship, which is what they're getting. That is
Speaker 1: the trade off there. It's like a really high paying
Speaker 1: job where you're really stressed out and need to go
Speaker 1: home and have a drink after. Like that's the kind
Speaker 1: of thing we're talking about here. This is a normal
Speaker 1: dynamic that comes with the pressure and expectation of winning,
Speaker 1: and Lebron is the best winner of this era, so
Speaker 1: obviously he's gonna have more pressure and expectation than the
Speaker 1: next guy in the list. But no matter what, trading
Speaker 1: Lebron solves nothing. All that does is put you in
Speaker 1: a situation where you're hoping that your mystery box in
Speaker 1: two thousand seven gives you another Lebron Lebron is not
Speaker 1: the problem. Guys got hurt, and when guys get hurt,
Speaker 1: it's really difficult to win. Now, you made some mistakes
Speaker 1: outside of that, but they're fixable mistakes. Just fix them
Speaker 1: this summer and then go back with it with your
Speaker 1: two top ten players and try to win a championship
Speaker 1: next year. This is a solvable situation, alright, guys. That
Speaker 1: is all I had for tonight. I am so so
Speaker 1: excited to cover a Lakers game tomorrow. I believe they
Speaker 1: play the Clippers. Will be going live immediately after the
Speaker 1: final buzzer in that one. Thank you as always for
Speaker 1: your guys to support, and I will see you tomorrow.
Speaker 1: The volume