1
00:00:05,600 --> 00:00:09,879
Speaker 1: This is Straight Fire with Jason McIntyre.

2
00:00:11,080 --> 00:00:14,960
Speaker 2: What is up straight Fire, Fam, It's me Jason McIntyre,

3
00:00:15,080 --> 00:00:21,000
Speaker 2: Straight Fire for Thursday, June the nineteenth, Big Big Podcast Today.

4
00:00:21,040 --> 00:00:25,079
Speaker 2: And oh, by the way, great night in sports tonight.

5
00:00:25,280 --> 00:00:28,600
Speaker 2: You got Game six of the NBA Finals. Let's mercifully

6
00:00:28,640 --> 00:00:31,320
Speaker 2: put it to a close, give it the thunder. Hopefully

7
00:00:31,360 --> 00:00:37,560
Speaker 2: Halliburton doesn't play it sounds like he's a game time decision. Also,

8
00:00:37,720 --> 00:00:42,200
Speaker 2: that Caitlin Clark playing on Amazon Prime n a WNBA game,

9
00:00:42,520 --> 00:00:44,680
Speaker 2: you know that's going to be well watched after Tuesday

10
00:00:44,760 --> 00:00:50,960
Speaker 2: night's you know, incident with the Connecticut Sun. And you've

11
00:00:50,960 --> 00:00:56,080
Speaker 2: got USA Soccer against Saudi Arabia, and folks, I know

12
00:00:56,120 --> 00:00:57,960
Speaker 2: I was bullish on the USA and in the Gold

13
00:00:57,960 --> 00:01:00,959
Speaker 2: Cup and they rolled in the openers expect. But if

14
00:01:01,000 --> 00:01:03,480
Speaker 2: you look at the gambling line for the Saudi Arabia game,

15
00:01:03,520 --> 00:01:06,600
Speaker 2: they are in. USA is not a big favorite and

16
00:01:07,080 --> 00:01:09,679
Speaker 2: this would be a bad loss for Pochattino here on

17
00:01:09,800 --> 00:01:13,280
Speaker 2: US Oil. So yeah, we need to get the dub

18
00:01:13,760 --> 00:01:17,240
Speaker 2: USA Soccer Saudi. Let me check the time. I'm pretty

19
00:01:17,280 --> 00:01:24,680
Speaker 2: sure that's eight eastern, five Pacific and it should be

20
00:01:24,720 --> 00:01:29,200
Speaker 2: on Fox right But anyway, so three really good games

21
00:01:29,840 --> 00:01:34,440
Speaker 2: tonight in sports, And obviously we have a big story

22
00:01:34,480 --> 00:01:36,759
Speaker 2: to talk about before we get to our guest, Mark Medina,

23
00:01:37,360 --> 00:01:41,240
Speaker 2: longtime NBA writer who's just excellent, and we talk about everything.

24
00:01:41,720 --> 00:01:44,080
Speaker 2: We talk about the Finals, we talked about free agency,

25
00:01:44,120 --> 00:01:47,880
Speaker 2: we talk about Cooper Flag. You're gonna enjoy the interview.

26
00:01:47,920 --> 00:01:54,400
Speaker 2: But obviously, there was the big, big Lakers sale on

27
00:01:54,760 --> 00:01:59,560
Speaker 2: Wednesday that went down for about ten billion dollars. That's

28
00:01:59,600 --> 00:02:02,320
Speaker 2: the alleged price. Tag probably won't come in at ten,

29
00:02:02,360 --> 00:02:04,600
Speaker 2: but they, like everybody, wants to throw a big round

30
00:02:04,680 --> 00:02:06,720
Speaker 2: number out there, get a huge Oh my gosh, it's

31
00:02:06,800 --> 00:02:10,360
Speaker 2: the most largest franchise sale in the sports history globally.

32
00:02:11,400 --> 00:02:14,520
Speaker 2: It's a big one and there are a lot of

33
00:02:15,320 --> 00:02:17,280
Speaker 2: angles and tentacles to it. I'm not going to dive

34
00:02:17,320 --> 00:02:21,640
Speaker 2: deep into it. Bottom line is the new owner, this

35
00:02:21,720 --> 00:02:26,119
Speaker 2: gentleman Walter is in the ownership group of the Dodgers.

36
00:02:26,440 --> 00:02:29,519
Speaker 2: And since they took over the since he got in

37
00:02:29,600 --> 00:02:31,840
Speaker 2: the group, I don't know, ten fifteen years ago for

38
00:02:31,919 --> 00:02:35,960
Speaker 2: the Dodgers, they have been spending money significantly. They have

39
00:02:36,080 --> 00:02:38,960
Speaker 2: made the Dodgers a robust business. They remember the Dodgers

40
00:02:38,960 --> 00:02:42,280
Speaker 2: were not in the early two thousands. They were not

41
00:02:42,320 --> 00:02:47,160
Speaker 2: like some juggernaut. They were not a machine. And savvy

42
00:02:47,200 --> 00:02:50,120
Speaker 2: ownership group has basically the Dodgers printing money. They spend

43
00:02:50,200 --> 00:02:54,000
Speaker 2: money at a great clip. And remember the Lakers were

44
00:02:54,080 --> 00:02:56,760
Speaker 2: run by the Bus family and they don't have their

45
00:02:56,800 --> 00:03:00,280
Speaker 2: own arena. I think you can already anticipate that this

46
00:03:00,360 --> 00:03:03,799
Speaker 2: new Lakers ownership group already has the land mapped out.

47
00:03:04,280 --> 00:03:06,239
Speaker 2: I was texting with a buddy. He's like, I bet

48
00:03:06,240 --> 00:03:08,240
Speaker 2: it's going to go here, and I was like, can

49
00:03:08,240 --> 00:03:11,919
Speaker 2: we get in our real estate before you know anything happens.

50
00:03:12,960 --> 00:03:16,400
Speaker 2: The way to print money in sports is have your

51
00:03:16,400 --> 00:03:19,400
Speaker 2: own arena, right, and then not only do you own

52
00:03:19,400 --> 00:03:22,760
Speaker 2: the arena, but the surrounding area. You make like a scene,

53
00:03:23,080 --> 00:03:26,600
Speaker 2: a vibe where you have gambling or what have you,

54
00:03:27,080 --> 00:03:30,480
Speaker 2: and hotels and not an amusement park, but you make

55
00:03:30,520 --> 00:03:34,160
Speaker 2: it a place where a destination. And I would guess,

56
00:03:34,400 --> 00:03:38,200
Speaker 2: just like the Clippers, you know, Balmer gets in and boom,

57
00:03:38,200 --> 00:03:40,560
Speaker 2: they've got a new arena. So I would guess by

58
00:03:40,680 --> 00:03:42,880
Speaker 2: twenty thirty, the Lakers have a new place. But the

59
00:03:43,000 --> 00:03:48,920
Speaker 2: real good news is that Luka Doncic, you know, Lebron's

60
00:03:48,920 --> 00:03:50,760
Speaker 2: probably got one more year. If you want to say

61
00:03:50,800 --> 00:03:55,160
Speaker 2: too fine, This would take the new ownership group with

62
00:03:55,280 --> 00:03:58,440
Speaker 2: Luca into his prime, and my guess is they will

63
00:03:58,440 --> 00:04:01,720
Speaker 2: be spending handsomely and Lakers will be very, very relevant

64
00:04:02,200 --> 00:04:05,200
Speaker 2: and not be afraid of the Second April for years

65
00:04:05,200 --> 00:04:09,120
Speaker 2: to come. Interesting tidbit, Now I didn't see this in

66
00:04:09,200 --> 00:04:12,800
Speaker 2: many of the stories, but according to Brian Windhorse, so

67
00:04:13,200 --> 00:04:15,880
Speaker 2: TWG is the group Walter has that bought the Lakers,

68
00:04:16,680 --> 00:04:19,599
Speaker 2: and back in April they announced they're starting a fund

69
00:04:20,120 --> 00:04:23,359
Speaker 2: and they're seeking fifteen million dollars and they got somebody

70
00:04:23,400 --> 00:04:25,560
Speaker 2: to chip in ten million dollars ten I'm sorry, ten

71
00:04:25,640 --> 00:04:28,440
Speaker 2: billion dollars. They got someone to chip in ten billion

72
00:04:28,480 --> 00:04:31,359
Speaker 2: dollars of the fifteen they were seeking, and it's a

73
00:04:31,880 --> 00:04:39,440
Speaker 2: Saudi Arabian group ten billion dollars. So within I don't know,

74
00:04:39,520 --> 00:04:44,960
Speaker 2: three months, TWG takes that ten billion and buys the Lakers.

75
00:04:45,640 --> 00:04:48,840
Speaker 2: So if you want to get oh, there's Saudi oil

76
00:04:48,839 --> 00:04:51,960
Speaker 2: money in the NBA, well, I mean yeah, the Saudis

77
00:04:51,960 --> 00:04:54,679
Speaker 2: are looking to diversify. And guess what if you're in

78
00:04:54,920 --> 00:04:57,919
Speaker 2: sports ownership, you know we had a team in New Zealand,

79
00:04:57,960 --> 00:05:00,640
Speaker 2: a soccer team or our group recently sold. They did

80
00:05:00,680 --> 00:05:04,960
Speaker 2: pretty well. There's a soccer team. We're ownership group in

81
00:05:05,880 --> 00:05:10,599
Speaker 2: These sports teams are very very lucrative. And if you

82
00:05:12,160 --> 00:05:14,279
Speaker 2: think about it, when you're looking at ten billion for

83
00:05:14,320 --> 00:05:16,520
Speaker 2: the Lakers, what you think there's a lot of people

84
00:05:16,560 --> 00:05:18,720
Speaker 2: in America who can get in on that. What do

85
00:05:18,760 --> 00:05:22,119
Speaker 2: you have like five hundred people maybe? And do are

86
00:05:22,200 --> 00:05:25,359
Speaker 2: they willing to drop ten billion in cash to get involved?

87
00:05:25,760 --> 00:05:28,640
Speaker 2: You know? Like, I don't think so. I think it's

88
00:05:28,640 --> 00:05:30,440
Speaker 2: shrunk to the point where you need to look for

89
00:05:30,520 --> 00:05:33,560
Speaker 2: overseas money. And whether or not you guys want to

90
00:05:33,560 --> 00:05:35,839
Speaker 2: hear about it, that's the reality. I mean, the Saudi

91
00:05:35,920 --> 00:05:38,640
Speaker 2: Saudis have all the oil money and that's not running

92
00:05:38,640 --> 00:05:42,560
Speaker 2: out anytime soon. So you know, I'm sure people are

93
00:05:42,560 --> 00:05:44,120
Speaker 2: going to talk about this, is it good for the league?

94
00:05:44,160 --> 00:05:47,240
Speaker 2: Bad for the league? I don't see it as a

95
00:05:47,240 --> 00:05:51,560
Speaker 2: big deal. Obviously, other people will disagree. What about what

96
00:05:51,680 --> 00:05:53,720
Speaker 2: is it? What was it called sports washing or something

97
00:05:53,760 --> 00:05:56,760
Speaker 2: like that. I don't know, guys, I can't. I'm sorry,

98
00:05:56,839 --> 00:05:59,560
Speaker 2: I just I cannot get that worked up about that.

99
00:05:59,600 --> 00:06:01,680
Speaker 2: Other times topics politically, yeah, I can't get worked up

100
00:06:01,680 --> 00:06:04,840
Speaker 2: about it, don't get me started. But the Lakers coming

101
00:06:04,920 --> 00:06:08,080
Speaker 2: under new ownership here is gonna be significant. And yes,

102
00:06:08,160 --> 00:06:10,400
Speaker 2: Genie Buss is still gonna be the quote unquote governor.

103
00:06:11,400 --> 00:06:13,640
Speaker 2: You guys don't how this works. Okay, if you spend

104
00:06:13,680 --> 00:06:18,560
Speaker 2: ten billion dollars on something, you're not letting someone else

105
00:06:18,800 --> 00:06:21,800
Speaker 2: run the business for years. Obviously you want the good

106
00:06:21,800 --> 00:06:25,719
Speaker 2: pr Everybody loves Genie Buss. She's major. She's an icon

107
00:06:25,800 --> 00:06:28,800
Speaker 2: out here in La. Her dad bought the Lakers. She's

108
00:06:28,800 --> 00:06:31,719
Speaker 2: been around the team forever, saw the showtime Lakers. You know,

109
00:06:31,800 --> 00:06:35,280
Speaker 2: like she's royalty out here. You don't want to make

110
00:06:35,320 --> 00:06:38,760
Speaker 2: it an ugly exit, but you can best be sure

111
00:06:39,200 --> 00:06:40,920
Speaker 2: her being the governor of the Lakers, and I'm sure

112
00:06:40,920 --> 00:06:42,440
Speaker 2: she's gonna be calling the shots on a bunch of

113
00:06:42,440 --> 00:06:45,680
Speaker 2: stuff this whole, like player day to day stuff. Let's

114
00:06:45,720 --> 00:06:50,520
Speaker 2: be real. She can have a voice, but ultimately, if

115
00:06:50,520 --> 00:06:54,120
Speaker 2: you're spending ten billion dollars, it's your show. Anyways, without

116
00:06:54,120 --> 00:06:57,640
Speaker 2: further ado, let's get to our guest, NBA writer Mark Medina.

117
00:07:00,160 --> 00:07:03,279
Speaker 1: Know a guy Jason likes to think he knows everything

118
00:07:03,320 --> 00:07:04,760
Speaker 1: when it comes to sports.

119
00:07:04,960 --> 00:07:06,839
Speaker 2: I know what sports fans want.

120
00:07:06,839 --> 00:07:09,840
Speaker 1: But for everything he doesn't. He knows a guy who does.

121
00:07:10,160 --> 00:07:13,000
Speaker 3: Let's just say I know a guy who knows a

122
00:07:13,080 --> 00:07:15,040
Speaker 3: guy who knows another guy.

123
00:07:15,360 --> 00:07:18,360
Speaker 2: All right, let's welcome back to straight Fire, a guy

124
00:07:18,400 --> 00:07:21,280
Speaker 2: we love to chop up the NBA with. Because listen,

125
00:07:21,320 --> 00:07:23,880
Speaker 2: this is a busy time right now. You've got NBA

126
00:07:24,080 --> 00:07:27,240
Speaker 2: Draft workouts, You've got the NBA Finals likely coming to

127
00:07:27,320 --> 00:07:29,880
Speaker 2: a close, the draft next week, and then of course

128
00:07:29,960 --> 00:07:34,280
Speaker 2: free agency. What's true? What's not? Mark Medina, who's covered

129
00:07:34,280 --> 00:07:36,800
Speaker 2: the league forever, He's been in many stops. Mark, how

130
00:07:36,880 --> 00:07:37,760
Speaker 2: you doing man?

131
00:07:38,440 --> 00:07:40,560
Speaker 3: Jay Mack, I'm always doing well. When I got to

132
00:07:40,680 --> 00:07:44,040
Speaker 3: reunite with you and talk some hoop, and there's always

133
00:07:44,040 --> 00:07:46,640
Speaker 3: so much going on, maybe not so much make sure

134
00:07:46,680 --> 00:07:49,160
Speaker 3: interest at the NBA Finals, but we can give it

135
00:07:49,200 --> 00:07:50,120
Speaker 3: wherever you want to go.

136
00:07:50,960 --> 00:07:53,360
Speaker 2: So okay. So yeah, So when I was hosting the Herd,

137
00:07:53,400 --> 00:07:55,320
Speaker 2: I kind of went and had his viral moment because

138
00:07:55,320 --> 00:07:57,960
Speaker 2: I said I'm not excited for the finals. Now, people

139
00:07:58,240 --> 00:08:01,280
Speaker 2: took that I think the wrong way. But by not excited,

140
00:08:01,320 --> 00:08:04,200
Speaker 2: I meant like there isn't a ton of juice for

141
00:08:04,280 --> 00:08:06,320
Speaker 2: the finals. That doesn't mean I'm not gonna watch. Of course,

142
00:08:06,360 --> 00:08:08,920
Speaker 2: I'm gonna watch that the games have been I mean

143
00:08:08,920 --> 00:08:12,640
Speaker 2: three of the games have been freaking excellent. I think

144
00:08:12,680 --> 00:08:14,800
Speaker 2: it's been a good finals. But listen, I hate to

145
00:08:14,800 --> 00:08:17,560
Speaker 2: say that, Mark the numbers back me up. The general

146
00:08:17,640 --> 00:08:22,320
Speaker 2: public is not tuning in making this mandatory watching. I

147
00:08:22,360 --> 00:08:24,360
Speaker 2: don't know, do you. Obviously it's been a great final,

148
00:08:24,520 --> 00:08:27,280
Speaker 2: we know that, but do you do you have your

149
00:08:27,320 --> 00:08:30,000
Speaker 2: friends texting, oh my gosh, the Finals? Oh dude, do you

150
00:08:30,000 --> 00:08:31,679
Speaker 2: want to go watch a game somewhere? Are you getting

151
00:08:31,760 --> 00:08:34,120
Speaker 2: vibes like that? No?

152
00:08:34,320 --> 00:08:36,320
Speaker 3: I mean, I think your analysis is pretty spot on

153
00:08:36,360 --> 00:08:38,559
Speaker 3: that inevitably the interest in the NBA Finals, So it

154
00:08:38,559 --> 00:08:41,199
Speaker 3: would be much higher if you know, a team like

155
00:08:41,280 --> 00:08:43,520
Speaker 3: the Lakers or the Warriors or the Celtics were in

156
00:08:43,600 --> 00:08:46,360
Speaker 3: the Knicks, and if there was a generational star player.

157
00:08:46,400 --> 00:08:48,880
Speaker 3: But I think, you know, obviously both things can be true.

158
00:08:49,360 --> 00:08:52,480
Speaker 3: Those teams, those stars move the needle more than small

159
00:08:52,520 --> 00:08:56,199
Speaker 3: market teams like the Hoplaholma City Thunder Indiana Passer, especially

160
00:08:56,200 --> 00:08:58,600
Speaker 3: since they're so young and they do have star players

161
00:08:59,000 --> 00:09:02,000
Speaker 3: like Shay Goods out Ander Tyris Haliburton, but they're much

162
00:09:02,040 --> 00:09:05,120
Speaker 3: earlier in their career than later, So you know, it

163
00:09:05,160 --> 00:09:07,040
Speaker 3: could really be a fourth in the road moment, or

164
00:09:07,120 --> 00:09:09,800
Speaker 3: we are seeing good basketball, We're seeing good moments. Maybe

165
00:09:09,840 --> 00:09:12,880
Speaker 3: this plants the seeds for there to be more interest

166
00:09:12,880 --> 00:09:15,400
Speaker 3: should either team or both get back to the NBA Finals.

167
00:09:15,400 --> 00:09:17,160
Speaker 3: But what you're saying, I don't. I don't know why

168
00:09:17,160 --> 00:09:19,719
Speaker 3: there's so much consternation with that. You know, I think

169
00:09:19,760 --> 00:09:20,520
Speaker 3: you just SATISPA.

170
00:09:21,720 --> 00:09:24,640
Speaker 2: It's a small market thing irks people. And again, listen,

171
00:09:24,880 --> 00:09:28,200
Speaker 2: when Lebron got a super team in Cleveland, nobody Cleveland's

172
00:09:28,200 --> 00:09:30,400
Speaker 2: a small market, nobody, nobody had issues with that, right,

173
00:09:30,840 --> 00:09:33,520
Speaker 2: I don't. I don't think there was beef. Again, I'm

174
00:09:33,559 --> 00:09:35,760
Speaker 2: all for super teams. I don't care if it's small

175
00:09:35,760 --> 00:09:38,280
Speaker 2: market or big market. I want teams to get people

176
00:09:38,480 --> 00:09:42,439
Speaker 2: fired up. And Mark, I don't know, are you passionate

177
00:09:42,520 --> 00:09:44,920
Speaker 2: about the Pacers or the thunder? And I know people

178
00:09:44,960 --> 00:09:46,679
Speaker 2: are trying to make the thunder. We'll get to them

179
00:09:46,679 --> 00:09:48,520
Speaker 2: in a second, But like, are you passionate about the

180
00:09:48,559 --> 00:09:51,599
Speaker 2: players of the teams here yet?

181
00:09:52,960 --> 00:09:54,760
Speaker 3: Yeah? With the cave out that, like, I got no

182
00:09:54,920 --> 00:09:57,400
Speaker 3: stakes in the game here or or skin in the game.

183
00:09:58,040 --> 00:10:01,840
Speaker 3: I've liked the basketball, I've liked performances. There is obviously

184
00:10:01,920 --> 00:10:05,360
Speaker 3: a different feel when you're seeing some of those familiar

185
00:10:05,440 --> 00:10:08,520
Speaker 3: faces I think the best way to answer this is

186
00:10:08,559 --> 00:10:11,320
Speaker 3: something I asked Rick Welts when he was the Warriors

187
00:10:11,480 --> 00:10:14,160
Speaker 3: presidence during the Warriors dynasty, and he has so much

188
00:10:14,200 --> 00:10:17,880
Speaker 3: perspective work in the league office during the eighties and nineties,

189
00:10:18,040 --> 00:10:19,960
Speaker 3: and I asked him the whole idea at that point

190
00:10:20,000 --> 00:10:21,839
Speaker 3: in time, it was, you know, the Warriors have another

191
00:10:21,920 --> 00:10:26,000
Speaker 3: championship with Kevin Durant, Is this dynasty bad for the NBA?

192
00:10:26,120 --> 00:10:30,400
Speaker 3: And he diverted that question on whether super teams dynasties

193
00:10:30,400 --> 00:10:35,120
Speaker 3: are bad versus it's good for the NBA to celebrate excellence.

194
00:10:35,440 --> 00:10:39,040
Speaker 3: So what does that mean. I don't think it matters

195
00:10:39,200 --> 00:10:43,719
Speaker 3: either way. Super team, big market, small market. The quality

196
00:10:44,000 --> 00:10:46,760
Speaker 3: just has to be there. And I think what you're

197
00:10:46,800 --> 00:10:49,760
Speaker 3: saying is both things can be true. There is an

198
00:10:49,840 --> 00:10:53,280
Speaker 3: intrinsic advantage that some of these big market teams, the

199
00:10:53,320 --> 00:10:57,320
Speaker 3: familiar superstars have in this present moment because there is

200
00:10:57,360 --> 00:11:02,119
Speaker 3: that build an audience where the Pacers under Shay Halburn,

201
00:11:02,600 --> 00:11:05,160
Speaker 3: they're just getting started, but they could plant the seeds

202
00:11:05,160 --> 00:11:08,520
Speaker 3: for further excellence. So I think whether you're big, small,

203
00:11:09,000 --> 00:11:11,720
Speaker 3: you love the super teams, you dislike him, the common

204
00:11:11,760 --> 00:11:14,920
Speaker 3: denominator that should matter is what does the products on

205
00:11:14,960 --> 00:11:18,040
Speaker 3: the floor look like? And is that enough to keep

206
00:11:18,080 --> 00:11:18,720
Speaker 3: me engaged?

207
00:11:18,840 --> 00:11:21,360
Speaker 2: Yeah, you say should and I would agree with you

208
00:11:21,440 --> 00:11:24,160
Speaker 2: and welts it should matter. But the reality is, like

209
00:11:24,200 --> 00:11:28,439
Speaker 2: when the Bucks and Sons went to the finals, they

210
00:11:28,760 --> 00:11:32,080
Speaker 2: should have mattered. They were planting seeds. They didn't. Either's

211
00:11:32,080 --> 00:11:36,360
Speaker 2: gotten back when they heaped and Nuggets got to the final,

212
00:11:36,400 --> 00:11:38,800
Speaker 2: they were planting seeds, like you know, neither's gotten back,

213
00:11:39,000 --> 00:11:41,839
Speaker 2: So like you could, I mean, it sounds like it's

214
00:11:41,840 --> 00:11:44,760
Speaker 2: a great SoundBite what Wels told you, but the reality is,

215
00:11:45,160 --> 00:11:48,280
Speaker 2: I think what moved the needle the last fifteen years was, Hey, man,

216
00:11:48,360 --> 00:11:51,000
Speaker 2: I cannot believe Kevin Durant went to the Warriors. Man,

217
00:11:51,040 --> 00:11:53,199
Speaker 2: screw that guy. What channels the game on? You know,

218
00:11:53,440 --> 00:11:55,840
Speaker 2: I can't believe Lebron's getting all these stars to Miami?

219
00:11:56,320 --> 00:11:57,720
Speaker 2: What time is the game?

220
00:11:58,160 --> 00:11:58,319
Speaker 1: Like?

221
00:11:58,400 --> 00:12:02,080
Speaker 2: That's the entry. People get fed up when the superstars

222
00:12:02,120 --> 00:12:04,160
Speaker 2: move around. Now this summer and we'll get to it.

223
00:12:04,200 --> 00:12:05,640
Speaker 2: Seems like there's gonna be a lot of movement. But

224
00:12:05,720 --> 00:12:10,800
Speaker 2: just real quick, Game six is Thursday, and I'm just

225
00:12:11,080 --> 00:12:14,120
Speaker 2: like I thought Game four was the series. If Indye

226
00:12:14,160 --> 00:12:15,920
Speaker 2: wins that, then we had a series up three to one,

227
00:12:16,360 --> 00:12:18,680
Speaker 2: they blow the four point lead in the final three minutes.

228
00:12:18,760 --> 00:12:20,760
Speaker 2: It felt like series over to me. Pacers have lost

229
00:12:20,760 --> 00:12:23,839
Speaker 2: to Halliburton's got the calf. Do you even think he'll play?

230
00:12:25,520 --> 00:12:27,520
Speaker 3: That's up in the air, I mean Rick Hartll and on

231
00:12:27,600 --> 00:12:31,440
Speaker 3: Tyris Salburn himself. So it's very uncertain. And as you

232
00:12:31,440 --> 00:12:34,160
Speaker 3: have alluded to in the podcast and others have right,

233
00:12:34,240 --> 00:12:37,880
Speaker 3: calf injuries are serious here, and so you know you

234
00:12:37,960 --> 00:12:40,680
Speaker 3: only have to lean on Kevin Durant twenty nineteen playoffs

235
00:12:40,720 --> 00:12:44,480
Speaker 3: for perspective. Miss seven games dating from the second round

236
00:12:44,520 --> 00:12:47,720
Speaker 3: of the playoffs or the entire Western Conference Finals against Portland.

237
00:12:48,000 --> 00:12:51,520
Speaker 3: Didn't come back until game five in the twenty nineteen

238
00:12:51,559 --> 00:12:54,120
Speaker 3: finals against Toronto, and then he comes back for almost

239
00:12:54,160 --> 00:12:57,400
Speaker 3: a quarter, plays really well, and then Terris's achilles, and

240
00:12:57,440 --> 00:13:01,040
Speaker 3: so this is a much shorter timeline where it's literally

241
00:13:01,080 --> 00:13:04,720
Speaker 3: game of the game. If I had a guess, and

242
00:13:04,760 --> 00:13:06,880
Speaker 3: this is only a guess because it's very fluid, I

243
00:13:06,920 --> 00:13:09,400
Speaker 3: think he does give it a ride because it's the

244
00:13:09,480 --> 00:13:11,880
Speaker 3: NBA Finals, but I think he's going to be on

245
00:13:11,960 --> 00:13:15,840
Speaker 3: a very very short lease. The first sign that he

246
00:13:16,200 --> 00:13:19,400
Speaker 3: looks uncomfortable, I think Rick Carlisle will pull him. And

247
00:13:19,679 --> 00:13:22,319
Speaker 3: I think here's why. On one hand, you think, okay, well,

248
00:13:22,440 --> 00:13:24,800
Speaker 3: it's an elimination game, it's the NBA Finals, you have

249
00:13:24,880 --> 00:13:28,400
Speaker 3: to go all out. True, But if you're risking not

250
00:13:28,440 --> 00:13:31,960
Speaker 3: necessarily an injury, but a potential long term injury that

251
00:13:32,000 --> 00:13:35,760
Speaker 3: then wipes them him out for possibly the entirety of

252
00:13:36,200 --> 00:13:39,199
Speaker 3: next season, that's where he draw the line. So again,

253
00:13:39,280 --> 00:13:42,920
Speaker 3: prediction will be he will play, but very short leash

254
00:13:42,960 --> 00:13:45,199
Speaker 3: and will be monitored very closely.

255
00:13:45,640 --> 00:13:48,800
Speaker 2: Yeah, we already lost now Dame Lillard for next year.

256
00:13:49,040 --> 00:13:51,280
Speaker 2: We already lost Jason Tatum for next year. Like we

257
00:13:51,280 --> 00:13:55,080
Speaker 2: we can't lose another American start if Haliburton goes down.

258
00:13:55,679 --> 00:13:58,000
Speaker 2: But all right, let's move off the finals just because,

259
00:13:58,040 --> 00:14:00,480
Speaker 2: like you know, the interest just isn't quite there. And

260
00:14:00,520 --> 00:14:02,559
Speaker 2: again I'm not being negative, but I do want to

261
00:14:02,559 --> 00:14:04,200
Speaker 2: pivot to the draft because you've been You did a

262
00:14:04,200 --> 00:14:08,120
Speaker 2: great piece with Cooper Flag's workout guy, his trainer, and

263
00:14:08,320 --> 00:14:10,920
Speaker 2: it's fascinating. I'm all in on Cooper Flag. I've comped

264
00:14:11,000 --> 00:14:14,600
Speaker 2: him to KG. I think he over under one and

265
00:14:14,600 --> 00:14:16,800
Speaker 2: a half. M VP's everybody left at me, give me

266
00:14:16,800 --> 00:14:18,400
Speaker 2: the over. I think Cooper Flag is going to be

267
00:14:18,440 --> 00:14:21,760
Speaker 2: a transcendent player in this league. Your thoughts working with

268
00:14:21,800 --> 00:14:23,720
Speaker 2: his trainer completely agree.

269
00:14:23,760 --> 00:14:26,320
Speaker 3: I mean, Matt McKenzie, his trainers worked with him since

270
00:14:26,360 --> 00:14:29,200
Speaker 3: he was in the seventh grade, and the common theme

271
00:14:29,680 --> 00:14:32,680
Speaker 3: from then till now is that he's seeing just how

272
00:14:32,760 --> 00:14:36,400
Speaker 3: much of a competitive mother, you know, what Cooper Flag

273
00:14:36,520 --> 00:14:39,520
Speaker 3: is like. During their workouts, He's always trying to find

274
00:14:39,520 --> 00:14:42,680
Speaker 3: ways to get him frustrated, whether it's you know, having

275
00:14:42,720 --> 00:14:45,240
Speaker 3: the officials miss a call or putting a lot of

276
00:14:45,240 --> 00:14:49,480
Speaker 3: physical defenders on him. And it was always players that

277
00:14:49,640 --> 00:14:52,320
Speaker 3: were older than him. And so as we saw in

278
00:14:52,480 --> 00:14:54,200
Speaker 3: Duke and as we're going to see in the NBA,

279
00:14:54,320 --> 00:14:56,920
Speaker 3: he is prepared for this moment. I think it was

280
00:14:57,800 --> 00:15:01,000
Speaker 3: it wasn't surprising, but it was telling that Matt McKenzie

281
00:15:01,320 --> 00:15:04,720
Speaker 3: confirmed that the Dallas Mavericks are the only team that

282
00:15:04,760 --> 00:15:07,240
Speaker 3: he's meeting with, only team people were working out with.

283
00:15:07,720 --> 00:15:11,160
Speaker 3: So there's no secrecy here on either side. The Dallas

284
00:15:11,160 --> 00:15:15,600
Speaker 3: Mavericks are going to draft Cooper Flag. And I think

285
00:15:15,640 --> 00:15:19,000
Speaker 3: what's interesting, whether you talk to Matt McKenzie or people

286
00:15:19,000 --> 00:15:23,120
Speaker 3: around the league, different executives, there's a common consensus that, yes,

287
00:15:23,160 --> 00:15:26,600
Speaker 3: he's going to be a transcended player, but for much

288
00:15:26,720 --> 00:15:29,520
Speaker 3: more different reasons that what you may have attached to

289
00:15:29,920 --> 00:15:32,360
Speaker 3: for other number one picks. Think of other number one

290
00:15:32,400 --> 00:15:36,120
Speaker 3: picks that came out of the draft, Lebron, James, Dwight Howard,

291
00:15:36,320 --> 00:15:40,760
Speaker 3: Victor Webbanama, all big guys. They had this definitive skill

292
00:15:40,840 --> 00:15:45,040
Speaker 3: set that are very strong big in Victor Wenbanama's case,

293
00:15:45,080 --> 00:15:47,400
Speaker 3: a little bit different. You know, he has point our

294
00:15:47,520 --> 00:15:51,480
Speaker 3: skills in a five man's body. Cooper Flag doesn't fit

295
00:15:51,560 --> 00:15:54,600
Speaker 3: that criteria. What Cooper Flag is is he is good

296
00:15:54,680 --> 00:15:57,680
Speaker 3: at a lot of things, but he's not a jack

297
00:15:57,760 --> 00:16:01,320
Speaker 3: of all trades master at none. He excels in a

298
00:16:01,360 --> 00:16:04,480
Speaker 3: lot of different areas as a wing defender, as a score,

299
00:16:04,600 --> 00:16:10,000
Speaker 3: as a playmaker, very competitive, very durable, and they feel

300
00:16:10,080 --> 00:16:13,680
Speaker 3: that because of all those different qualities, it can allow

301
00:16:13,760 --> 00:16:16,880
Speaker 3: him to be very adaptable for a number of reasons. One,

302
00:16:16,960 --> 00:16:19,640
Speaker 3: in today's NBA, you got to be a versatile, you

303
00:16:19,720 --> 00:16:22,360
Speaker 3: got to be adaptable. Number Two, when you're looking at

304
00:16:22,360 --> 00:16:25,800
Speaker 3: the Mavericks and the fit, there's a lot of moving

305
00:16:25,880 --> 00:16:29,080
Speaker 3: pieces where he doesn't have the same kind of pressure

306
00:16:29,440 --> 00:16:32,960
Speaker 3: that other number one picks have of being the franchise savior,

307
00:16:33,280 --> 00:16:36,480
Speaker 3: being on a rebuilding team. On paper, the Mavericks should

308
00:16:36,520 --> 00:16:38,600
Speaker 3: be a playoff team with who they have, and so

309
00:16:38,680 --> 00:16:41,960
Speaker 3: that maybe shields a little bit of short term pressure

310
00:16:42,040 --> 00:16:43,960
Speaker 3: on Cooper to be the guy, be the man. But

311
00:16:44,000 --> 00:16:46,880
Speaker 3: at the same time, Kyrie Irving's not expected to be

312
00:16:46,920 --> 00:16:49,520
Speaker 3: back right away because of his ACL injury. There's always

313
00:16:49,880 --> 00:16:54,080
Speaker 3: questions about Anthony Davis and his injury history, and so

314
00:16:54,280 --> 00:16:57,600
Speaker 3: with that there's a comfort level that Cooper Fly could

315
00:16:58,240 --> 00:17:03,720
Speaker 3: relatively see and seemlessly pivot from option one, option two,

316
00:17:03,800 --> 00:17:08,320
Speaker 3: option three, depending on how that roster fluidity plays out

317
00:17:08,400 --> 00:17:09,040
Speaker 3: next season.

318
00:17:09,800 --> 00:17:12,680
Speaker 1: Fox Sports Radio has the best sports talk lineup in

319
00:17:12,720 --> 00:17:16,080
Speaker 1: the nation. Catch all of our shows at foxsports Radio

320
00:17:16,240 --> 00:17:20,320
Speaker 1: dot com and within the iHeartRadio app search FSR to

321
00:17:20,440 --> 00:17:21,119
Speaker 1: listen live.

322
00:17:21,800 --> 00:17:24,760
Speaker 2: In a word, when I hear this, I don't know

323
00:17:24,880 --> 00:17:27,760
Speaker 2: Baron Davis, not forget who it was. Who several guys

324
00:17:27,800 --> 00:17:30,920
Speaker 2: have done it, who have looked for comps for Cooper

325
00:17:30,960 --> 00:17:34,080
Speaker 2: Flag and they say Andrea Kirilenko And to me in

326
00:17:34,080 --> 00:17:37,680
Speaker 2: a word, that's disrespectful as shit. I mean, Carolinko never

327
00:17:37,840 --> 00:17:41,080
Speaker 2: once was an All NBA player. He was a one

328
00:17:41,160 --> 00:17:44,400
Speaker 2: time All Star, an All Defensive Team a few times

329
00:17:44,840 --> 00:17:47,920
Speaker 2: if Cooper Flag was Andre Kirilinko that he would be

330
00:17:47,960 --> 00:17:50,440
Speaker 2: a bust. I mean, he wouldn't be Anthony Bennett level bust,

331
00:17:50,600 --> 00:17:54,000
Speaker 2: but I mean Carolinko average his best career game with

332
00:17:54,119 --> 00:17:56,320
Speaker 2: sixteen and a half points per game. I think Cooper

333
00:17:56,320 --> 00:17:58,000
Speaker 2: Flag could average out as a rookie coming off the

334
00:17:58,040 --> 00:18:02,359
Speaker 2: bench for the mass. What's your NBA comp? And I

335
00:18:02,400 --> 00:18:04,760
Speaker 2: know some people hate them and whatever, but I need

336
00:18:04,760 --> 00:18:05,480
Speaker 2: a name there.

337
00:18:05,359 --> 00:18:05,840
Speaker 1: Mark.

338
00:18:07,280 --> 00:18:09,600
Speaker 3: Say Max, I'm sorry for I disappoint I'm struggling to

339
00:18:09,640 --> 00:18:12,240
Speaker 3: come up with a comp only because Cooper Flag seems

340
00:18:12,280 --> 00:18:14,720
Speaker 3: just like a very unique player. And I've asked the

341
00:18:14,720 --> 00:18:17,320
Speaker 3: same thing as some other executives and they struggled coming

342
00:18:17,400 --> 00:18:20,800
Speaker 3: up with player comps. But one executive facifically told me,

343
00:18:21,040 --> 00:18:23,200
Speaker 3: maybe this has been surprising, but it affirms what you're

344
00:18:23,240 --> 00:18:27,399
Speaker 3: saying that any comp that comparison are Carolinko isn't the

345
00:18:27,480 --> 00:18:30,520
Speaker 3: right one because of the body of work they're one't

346
00:18:30,560 --> 00:18:32,800
Speaker 3: executives projecting the Cooper Flag is going to be a

347
00:18:32,880 --> 00:18:36,280
Speaker 3: multi year All Star player and an All NBA player

348
00:18:36,600 --> 00:18:39,399
Speaker 3: basically every single year, and Rookie of the Year favor

349
00:18:39,840 --> 00:18:44,119
Speaker 3: and so I think people might not have clarity. Okay,

350
00:18:44,119 --> 00:18:48,439
Speaker 3: how many championships is he gonna win? What's going to be?

351
00:18:48,440 --> 00:18:51,080
Speaker 3: But yeah, they exactly what your point and he's just

352
00:18:51,119 --> 00:18:54,480
Speaker 3: getting started. I think it's very telling, very comforted, and

353
00:18:54,560 --> 00:18:58,760
Speaker 3: that people around the league are already projecting, Yeah, we've

354
00:18:58,760 --> 00:19:02,200
Speaker 3: seen Cooper flag play. Hansulhiman to make the All Star

355
00:19:02,280 --> 00:19:05,520
Speaker 3: Game every single year, Hans Solhiman to make All NBA

356
00:19:05,560 --> 00:19:09,000
Speaker 3: every single year. Now does not clarity on does any

357
00:19:09,160 --> 00:19:11,680
Speaker 3: l NBA First team, second team, third team? But what

358
00:19:11,840 --> 00:19:13,560
Speaker 3: are on one of those three teams? That means you're

359
00:19:13,560 --> 00:19:15,680
Speaker 3: going to have a hell of a career and much

360
00:19:15,720 --> 00:19:17,200
Speaker 3: better than Andre Carolinko?

361
00:19:18,720 --> 00:19:21,040
Speaker 2: Yeah, what about Scotty Pitman? Is that too rich?

362
00:19:24,040 --> 00:19:27,240
Speaker 3: I could see the player cop simply through the lens

363
00:19:27,280 --> 00:19:33,200
Speaker 3: that Scottie Pimpott was very versatile, great defender, very adaptable.

364
00:19:33,240 --> 00:19:36,080
Speaker 3: As far as being the second option, we saw during

365
00:19:36,320 --> 00:19:40,199
Speaker 3: Michael Jordan's short retirement while playing baseball that he was

366
00:19:40,600 --> 00:19:42,160
Speaker 3: mostly good as a number one option.

367
00:19:42,880 --> 00:19:49,960
Speaker 2: They won like fifty five games with I.

368
00:19:45,560 --> 00:19:50,520
Speaker 3: Think I think the difference is and we'll have to

369
00:19:50,560 --> 00:19:53,000
Speaker 3: see obviously how Cooper actually plays in the NBA, But

370
00:19:53,119 --> 00:19:56,440
Speaker 3: the early body of work at Duke and you know,

371
00:19:56,520 --> 00:20:01,680
Speaker 3: growing up, he seems to be very, very relentless, tough

372
00:20:01,720 --> 00:20:06,000
Speaker 3: as nails, plays through injuries, and you know, whether it's

373
00:20:06,040 --> 00:20:08,600
Speaker 3: fair or not, Scott he wasn't seen as that kind

374
00:20:08,600 --> 00:20:09,000
Speaker 3: of player.

375
00:20:09,080 --> 00:20:11,600
Speaker 2: Yeah, I remember the migrating on the on the bench

376
00:20:11,600 --> 00:20:13,800
Speaker 2: against the Pistons and young early in his career.

377
00:20:14,000 --> 00:20:16,480
Speaker 3: No doubt, no doubt. But I think what we're getting

378
00:20:16,520 --> 00:20:21,080
Speaker 3: at is that maybe we're struggling finding player comps, but

379
00:20:21,200 --> 00:20:23,959
Speaker 3: we're not struggling to say that Cooper Flag is going

380
00:20:24,000 --> 00:20:27,720
Speaker 3: to be a generational talent. He's gonna have instant impact

381
00:20:28,200 --> 00:20:30,000
Speaker 3: and he's gonna have a hell of a resume. I

382
00:20:30,000 --> 00:20:33,840
Speaker 3: don't know where the ring count's gonna be, but Pennsilman

383
00:20:33,960 --> 00:20:37,160
Speaker 3: every single year that maybe exception a rookie year, he'll

384
00:20:37,200 --> 00:20:39,680
Speaker 3: make the All Star team and an All NBA team.

385
00:20:39,760 --> 00:20:41,880
Speaker 2: Yeah, it's tough with that. With the rings, I mean,

386
00:20:42,440 --> 00:20:45,320
Speaker 2: you know, he's going to start out with Kyrie and Ad.

387
00:20:45,640 --> 00:20:49,199
Speaker 2: Kyrie is going to miss much of the season, and like,

388
00:20:49,560 --> 00:20:51,200
Speaker 2: I don't know how what that roster is going to

389
00:20:51,280 --> 00:20:54,960
Speaker 2: look like in February of twenty six, probably dramatically different.

390
00:20:54,960 --> 00:20:58,000
Speaker 2: Maybe they make a splash move here in July, but Yeah,

391
00:20:58,040 --> 00:21:00,960
Speaker 2: I wouldn't be shocked if like Trey Johnson, kid from Texas,

392
00:21:01,280 --> 00:21:03,679
Speaker 2: goes to the Wizards, puts up nineteen the game and

393
00:21:03,720 --> 00:21:05,359
Speaker 2: wins Rookie of the Year. It's it's kind of hollow.

394
00:21:05,359 --> 00:21:08,560
Speaker 2: It'd be like Tyreek Evans beating Curry for Rookie of the Year.

395
00:21:08,600 --> 00:21:11,440
Speaker 2: What did it mean, Jack squat? You know, it just

396
00:21:11,720 --> 00:21:15,879
Speaker 2: didn't mean anything elsewhere in the draft. It's weird. There

397
00:21:15,920 --> 00:21:18,120
Speaker 2: was some stuff coming out about Ace Bailey, who is

398
00:21:18,160 --> 00:21:20,680
Speaker 2: like prodigiously talented. You look at him and you're like, oh,

399
00:21:20,760 --> 00:21:22,680
Speaker 2: that could I can. I can see a little Paul

400
00:21:22,760 --> 00:21:26,320
Speaker 2: George there, but he's like not wanting to work out

401
00:21:26,400 --> 00:21:28,880
Speaker 2: for teams because he feels like I'm a top three guy.

402
00:21:30,520 --> 00:21:34,080
Speaker 2: He's already talking about himself as a foundational piece on teams.

403
00:21:34,640 --> 00:21:39,159
Speaker 2: I I like Ash Bailey, bro could not get Rutgers

404
00:21:39,720 --> 00:21:42,760
Speaker 2: to the NCAA tournament, and he had another lottery pick

405
00:21:42,760 --> 00:21:44,879
Speaker 2: on his team in Harper the point guard. So I

406
00:21:44,920 --> 00:21:46,359
Speaker 2: don't what do you what are you hearing on Bailey?

407
00:21:46,359 --> 00:21:48,560
Speaker 2: Eighth Bailey who is really really talented?

408
00:21:50,119 --> 00:21:52,320
Speaker 3: Yeah, I think the one thing I'll enter Jeck Real

409
00:21:52,400 --> 00:21:55,159
Speaker 3: Cloick as far as like declining workouts. It's sparked for

410
00:21:55,200 --> 00:21:59,000
Speaker 3: me to read into that because the top prospects mostly

411
00:21:59,040 --> 00:22:03,120
Speaker 3: have done that and so that aside. Though, yeah, there

412
00:22:03,160 --> 00:22:06,240
Speaker 3: are question marks about Ace Bailey. I think that, you know,

413
00:22:06,280 --> 00:22:09,560
Speaker 3: there's a lot of optimism about his athleticism, his one

414
00:22:09,600 --> 00:22:12,400
Speaker 3: on one skills, but there's also a lack of clarity

415
00:22:12,800 --> 00:22:15,200
Speaker 3: how is that going to translate into the NBA how's

416
00:22:15,200 --> 00:22:18,840
Speaker 3: that going to translate within a team concept? So I

417
00:22:18,840 --> 00:22:21,639
Speaker 3: think very talented, He's going to be a hell of

418
00:22:21,680 --> 00:22:26,000
Speaker 3: a score. He's going to be a Cooper Flag. There's

419
00:22:26,040 --> 00:22:30,600
Speaker 3: not as much of a clarity on Okay, how does

420
00:22:30,600 --> 00:22:34,399
Speaker 3: he work within a team? How adaptable is he going

421
00:22:34,480 --> 00:22:37,000
Speaker 3: to be with his role? And you know, the clear

422
00:22:37,240 --> 00:22:40,359
Speaker 3: talent separation in this serious draft it's Cooper Flag and

423
00:22:40,400 --> 00:22:44,240
Speaker 3: everyone else. If I think the other distinguishable quality that

424
00:22:44,440 --> 00:22:47,399
Speaker 3: carries through not just with Dailey but everyone else is

425
00:22:47,680 --> 00:22:51,200
Speaker 3: there's not really clarity okay, how is he going to

426
00:22:51,280 --> 00:22:54,040
Speaker 3: be fitting on a specific team. There is the old

427
00:22:54,119 --> 00:22:57,119
Speaker 3: edge in the NBA draft. You still draft on talent

428
00:22:57,200 --> 00:22:59,560
Speaker 3: because that usually takes care of things and you can

429
00:22:59,600 --> 00:23:03,159
Speaker 3: refine player development depending on which team it is. But

430
00:23:03,600 --> 00:23:07,200
Speaker 3: it obviously is important how our young prospects fits in

431
00:23:07,240 --> 00:23:10,000
Speaker 3: the team and how they can impact winning basketball. And

432
00:23:10,040 --> 00:23:12,280
Speaker 3: there's just not a lot of clary for better or

433
00:23:12,280 --> 00:23:15,320
Speaker 3: for worse on that question about as Yeah, it's weird.

434
00:23:16,320 --> 00:23:18,600
Speaker 2: I think back to let me just so it was

435
00:23:18,640 --> 00:23:21,240
Speaker 2: a twenty twenty draft and that was the one where

436
00:23:21,240 --> 00:23:23,400
Speaker 2: Ant went first, and then the.

437
00:23:23,400 --> 00:23:25,040
Speaker 3: Games wise when it went second.

438
00:23:25,320 --> 00:23:29,159
Speaker 2: That's so James Wiseman to the Warriors, in which you know,

439
00:23:29,320 --> 00:23:31,959
Speaker 2: really could have gotten Curry multiple more title. They'll say,

440
00:23:32,000 --> 00:23:34,080
Speaker 2: I know he's still one another. But what's interesting was

441
00:23:34,160 --> 00:23:36,520
Speaker 2: LaMelo Ball went three, and everybody's like, oh, can you

442
00:23:36,560 --> 00:23:40,399
Speaker 2: imagine Labello Ball with Curry and the Warriors? And I

443
00:23:40,440 --> 00:23:44,479
Speaker 2: was like, actually, I can't because of the way LaMelo

444
00:23:44,520 --> 00:23:46,679
Speaker 2: Ball plays, and I don't want to compare him to Bailey,

445
00:23:47,000 --> 00:23:51,280
Speaker 2: but like they're like empty calorie guys. I'm gonna get mine.

446
00:23:52,040 --> 00:23:54,480
Speaker 2: I don't know that a Lamello Ball or Ace Bailey

447
00:23:54,520 --> 00:23:57,040
Speaker 2: could pull a Kevin Love who had a bunch of

448
00:23:57,040 --> 00:23:59,200
Speaker 2: empty stats in Minnesota they never got anywhere, but he

449
00:23:59,280 --> 00:24:01,320
Speaker 2: was like twenty five and twelve and then he was

450
00:24:01,359 --> 00:24:04,639
Speaker 2: willing to take a back seat in Cleveland with Lebron

451
00:24:04,640 --> 00:24:07,399
Speaker 2: and Kyrie. Like I don't know that Ace Bailey or

452
00:24:07,440 --> 00:24:09,560
Speaker 2: LaMelo Ball, I don't know that they're built to take

453
00:24:09,600 --> 00:24:13,280
Speaker 2: a back seat. Is that Does that sound fair or not? Really?

454
00:24:13,760 --> 00:24:15,520
Speaker 3: Yeah, I think it does sound fair. And I think

455
00:24:15,560 --> 00:24:18,439
Speaker 3: when we're going back to that twenty twenty draft with

456
00:24:19,040 --> 00:24:21,959
Speaker 3: the Warriors of picking Wiseman, obviously a lot of things

457
00:24:22,720 --> 00:24:25,159
Speaker 3: come out later on that you wish she knew, But

458
00:24:25,359 --> 00:24:28,159
Speaker 3: at the time their thinking was, well, they had no

459
00:24:28,200 --> 00:24:31,960
Speaker 3: shotgatting you or because he's going to Minnesota. They did

460
00:24:32,000 --> 00:24:36,280
Speaker 3: have concerns about LaMelo with his durability and just the

461
00:24:36,280 --> 00:24:38,879
Speaker 3: fact that, yeah, they already have Steph Curry. Maybe in

462
00:24:38,920 --> 00:24:43,280
Speaker 3: the short term it could relieve some pressure off of

463
00:24:43,320 --> 00:24:46,400
Speaker 3: Klay Thompson a little bit. But keep in mind that

464
00:24:46,680 --> 00:24:50,800
Speaker 3: at the draft they didn't know that Clay Thompson was

465
00:24:50,840 --> 00:24:53,880
Speaker 3: going to be hurt again. That's literally on Draft night,

466
00:24:55,080 --> 00:25:00,760
Speaker 3: that's when he then injured his achilles, So that softened

467
00:25:00,800 --> 00:25:02,960
Speaker 3: the equation. But I think the other thing, even though

468
00:25:03,240 --> 00:25:06,920
Speaker 3: clearly that James Wiseman picked in panned out, uh, they're

469
00:25:06,960 --> 00:25:09,600
Speaker 3: trying to find ways to relieve playing time and pressure

470
00:25:09,600 --> 00:25:11,800
Speaker 3: off of Draymond because he often played at center, but

471
00:25:12,359 --> 00:25:14,399
Speaker 3: they don't want him to have to do everything, and

472
00:25:14,440 --> 00:25:17,080
Speaker 3: they wanted to have that lob threat. And historically during

473
00:25:17,119 --> 00:25:20,560
Speaker 3: the Warriors dynasty they had good role players, but certainly

474
00:25:20,560 --> 00:25:23,879
Speaker 3: not great centers when you're thinking of JaVale McGee and

475
00:25:24,000 --> 00:25:27,080
Speaker 3: Zaza Pachulia, David West. So they're still trying to retain that.

476
00:25:27,119 --> 00:25:29,640
Speaker 3: And they also thought, you know what, this could put

477
00:25:29,720 --> 00:25:32,800
Speaker 3: less pressure for James to have to develop, and this

478
00:25:32,880 --> 00:25:36,600
Speaker 3: can be or you know, this could give some time

479
00:25:36,760 --> 00:25:39,600
Speaker 3: for him to develop organically. But what's wild Jason's I

480
00:25:39,640 --> 00:25:42,760
Speaker 3: remember when he was drafted at number two. To be clear,

481
00:25:42,840 --> 00:25:46,480
Speaker 3: the Warriors weren't putting this out, but there was talk about, oh,

482
00:25:46,520 --> 00:25:49,600
Speaker 3: he could be the next David Robinson.

483
00:25:49,040 --> 00:25:53,439
Speaker 2: And that could have been further mar the COVID draft

484
00:25:53,480 --> 00:25:55,480
Speaker 2: total disaster. It was the same thing in the NFL.

485
00:25:55,720 --> 00:25:57,040
Speaker 2: But these are just some of the guys who went

486
00:25:57,080 --> 00:26:01,760
Speaker 2: top ten. Wiseman, Patrick William's total for the Bulls, Isaac Okoro,

487
00:26:02,000 --> 00:26:04,199
Speaker 2: I mean he's not that guy. A kung Wu, I

488
00:26:04,359 --> 00:26:07,680
Speaker 2: like Killy and Hayes at seven needs no introduction. Obi

489
00:26:07,760 --> 00:26:12,159
Speaker 2: Toppins been good, but Denny Avdia nine, Jalen Smith ten.

490
00:26:12,200 --> 00:26:13,960
Speaker 2: I don't even know if Jalen Smith's in the league.

491
00:26:14,240 --> 00:26:17,600
Speaker 2: Vassal eleven and then Halliburton went twelve. Kind of fell

492
00:26:17,600 --> 00:26:20,600
Speaker 2: into Sacramento's lap. But like it was just that was

493
00:26:20,640 --> 00:26:23,639
Speaker 2: a weird draft, the COVID draft, and I don't know,

494
00:26:23,640 --> 00:26:25,800
Speaker 2: it feels like the ramifications have been felt like the

495
00:26:25,960 --> 00:26:27,920
Speaker 2: Hornets have. I don't think they have a playoff appearance.

496
00:26:28,119 --> 00:26:31,240
Speaker 2: The Bulls certainly don't haven't done anything. It's just been tough.

497
00:26:31,320 --> 00:26:37,160
Speaker 2: Now that leads us into this offseason mark, and let's

498
00:26:37,160 --> 00:26:40,760
Speaker 2: start with Giannis. Win Horse keeps saying Giannis is not

499
00:26:40,760 --> 00:26:43,239
Speaker 2: gonna ask for trade. Does that mean Giannis is not

500
00:26:43,280 --> 00:26:43,920
Speaker 2: gonna get traded?

501
00:26:45,880 --> 00:26:51,360
Speaker 3: That's a good question. It's very tough because the box

502
00:26:51,400 --> 00:26:56,639
Speaker 3: and Giannis had been very adamant that nothing's gonna happen.

503
00:26:56,720 --> 00:27:01,639
Speaker 3: The East landscape is wide open. Says he's happy to

504
00:27:01,680 --> 00:27:04,119
Speaker 3: be there, you know, reasonably enough to want to stay.

505
00:27:04,760 --> 00:27:08,320
Speaker 3: But I just I don't see how this makes sense

506
00:27:08,359 --> 00:27:10,680
Speaker 3: here because the ray on the wall is clear. I've

507
00:27:10,680 --> 00:27:14,120
Speaker 3: lost in the first round for three consecutive years. There's

508
00:27:14,200 --> 00:27:17,919
Speaker 3: gonna be questions about Damian Lillard and his health next season,

509
00:27:18,200 --> 00:27:22,640
Speaker 3: and that's not going to work out. And so I

510
00:27:22,720 --> 00:27:25,520
Speaker 3: think that he is going to get traded. I just

511
00:27:25,520 --> 00:27:29,600
Speaker 3: don't know who blinks first. Now, in fairness, what they're

512
00:27:29,600 --> 00:27:32,120
Speaker 3: saying is true. Giannest is saying he doesn't want to leave,

513
00:27:32,520 --> 00:27:34,400
Speaker 3: the Bucks don't want to trade them, and I don't

514
00:27:34,400 --> 00:27:36,879
Speaker 3: think the Bucks will trade them unless it's very clear,

515
00:27:37,600 --> 00:27:42,199
Speaker 3: you know what, we feel that Jannis doesn't want to

516
00:27:42,200 --> 00:27:44,800
Speaker 3: be here. But I think it's a matter of when

517
00:27:45,680 --> 00:27:48,720
Speaker 3: and not if it's going to happen. And to be clear,

518
00:27:49,760 --> 00:27:52,399
Speaker 3: that's not what the signals are saying right now. The

519
00:27:52,480 --> 00:27:55,359
Speaker 3: Bucks are saying that complete opposite. So when I'm saying that,

520
00:27:55,440 --> 00:27:59,919
Speaker 3: I'm just sharing my observations as someone that follows the

521
00:28:00,080 --> 00:28:03,920
Speaker 3: NBA closely that it would make more sense that eventually

522
00:28:04,560 --> 00:28:08,280
Speaker 3: both parties come to the reality that they're better off

523
00:28:08,600 --> 00:28:12,600
Speaker 3: having an acrimonious departure saying thank you, but we're better

524
00:28:12,640 --> 00:28:16,800
Speaker 3: off Giannis trying to go on a better team and

525
00:28:16,920 --> 00:28:19,720
Speaker 3: the Bucks trying to get not equal value, because you

526
00:28:19,720 --> 00:28:21,560
Speaker 3: don't get equal value in these kind of trades, but

527
00:28:21,800 --> 00:28:25,640
Speaker 3: enough for them to reload both short and long term.

528
00:28:26,080 --> 00:28:28,399
Speaker 2: The other problem with this Mark is this whole dumb

529
00:28:28,400 --> 00:28:30,280
Speaker 2: idea we're not going to trade him. Maybe it's the

530
00:28:30,280 --> 00:28:33,040
Speaker 2: deadline and things are going you're gonna get less, trade

531
00:28:33,119 --> 00:28:35,560
Speaker 2: him now and get as much a massive a haul

532
00:28:35,640 --> 00:28:37,840
Speaker 2: as you can. I know Bucks fans are gonna be ticked.

533
00:28:37,840 --> 00:28:40,560
Speaker 2: But like, again this is not apples to apples, but

534
00:28:40,600 --> 00:28:42,720
Speaker 2: we're minority owners in a soccer team in the top

535
00:28:42,800 --> 00:28:45,719
Speaker 2: league in Mexico, and everybody wants our top guy who

536
00:28:45,840 --> 00:28:49,040
Speaker 2: had an amazing season, and it's like, oh well, maybe

537
00:28:49,040 --> 00:28:50,840
Speaker 2: we'll hold on to them and all these guys, and

538
00:28:50,880 --> 00:28:54,000
Speaker 2: you just gotta I know the fans want certain things

539
00:28:54,440 --> 00:28:56,440
Speaker 2: and they want to keep you honest, but like, there's

540
00:28:56,560 --> 00:28:58,840
Speaker 2: no path to victory with him none. If you look

541
00:28:58,880 --> 00:29:00,880
Speaker 2: at that roster, one of the old just in the league,

542
00:29:01,240 --> 00:29:04,400
Speaker 2: Lillard with the achilles, I would guess he's out until

543
00:29:04,440 --> 00:29:06,800
Speaker 2: maybe April, right.

544
00:29:06,640 --> 00:29:09,840
Speaker 3: It maybe even the whole season.

545
00:29:09,640 --> 00:29:12,040
Speaker 2: Right, So if you remove him, who's your number two?

546
00:29:12,120 --> 00:29:15,000
Speaker 2: Kyle Kuzma. I don't even think they're Britagan Lopez back,

547
00:29:15,000 --> 00:29:16,960
Speaker 2: So you gotta find a center. They're gonna be paying

548
00:29:16,960 --> 00:29:20,000
Speaker 2: a massive tax bill, Like none of this, there's zero

549
00:29:20,080 --> 00:29:23,360
Speaker 2: path to success for them. My guess is that they're

550
00:29:23,400 --> 00:29:25,680
Speaker 2: working with Giannis closely behind the scenes to get a

551
00:29:25,720 --> 00:29:29,600
Speaker 2: deal done. Similarly to how Desmond Baine got a quiet deal.

552
00:29:29,800 --> 00:29:32,400
Speaker 2: Now I'm not saying he worked with Memphis, but quietly,

553
00:29:32,560 --> 00:29:36,040
Speaker 2: no reports, and then it happens. Now let's move to

554
00:29:36,120 --> 00:29:40,600
Speaker 2: Kevin Durant, which basically has like a BS storyline every day.

555
00:29:41,640 --> 00:29:43,680
Speaker 2: I don't know what's your relationship with Rich Clement. I've

556
00:29:43,720 --> 00:29:46,800
Speaker 2: been blasting him on this podcast trying to it's very

557
00:29:46,840 --> 00:29:49,280
Speaker 2: obvious what he's been doing. I'm curious just to your

558
00:29:49,280 --> 00:29:51,719
Speaker 2: thoughts on what the what's going on with Kevin Durant.

559
00:29:53,440 --> 00:29:55,480
Speaker 3: Yeah, well, I think you know the song to understand away,

560
00:29:55,560 --> 00:29:59,960
Speaker 3: so want to get a pretty hefty return because when healthy,

561
00:30:00,080 --> 00:30:02,880
Speaker 3: Kevin Durant still an All NBA player, but there's a

562
00:30:02,920 --> 00:30:06,480
Speaker 3: lot of complications. So we see what his injury history

563
00:30:06,560 --> 00:30:09,520
Speaker 3: has been. Understandably so where he's at a state of

564
00:30:09,560 --> 00:30:11,920
Speaker 3: his career. Things are never the same after your injury

565
00:30:11,960 --> 00:30:15,360
Speaker 3: or achilles even six years later. But also the amount

566
00:30:15,760 --> 00:30:19,080
Speaker 3: that's needed to get a player of Kevin Durant's stature.

567
00:30:19,840 --> 00:30:23,520
Speaker 3: But I think, again this is my own analysis here.

568
00:30:24,360 --> 00:30:27,239
Speaker 3: When you're looking at teams like San Antonio Houston, of

569
00:30:27,280 --> 00:30:30,360
Speaker 3: course they are interested in Kevin Durant, but when it

570
00:30:30,400 --> 00:30:33,400
Speaker 3: comes to the nitty gritty of okay, are you willing

571
00:30:33,440 --> 00:30:36,640
Speaker 3: to give up any portion of your young assets? As

572
00:30:36,720 --> 00:30:40,360
Speaker 3: well as uncertainty on how many games Kevin Durant will

573
00:30:40,400 --> 00:30:44,040
Speaker 3: be available for you. I think both teams will say thanks,

574
00:30:44,040 --> 00:30:47,360
Speaker 3: but no thanks. And that's why I think it's Kevin

575
00:30:47,440 --> 00:30:48,640
Speaker 3: Durant with Miami.

576
00:30:50,200 --> 00:30:51,400
Speaker 2: So who's money given up for?

577
00:30:52,120 --> 00:30:54,920
Speaker 3: Well? So I love me walk you through this because historically,

578
00:30:55,520 --> 00:30:57,680
Speaker 3: when we were looking at the heat and the Damian

579
00:30:57,720 --> 00:31:01,640
Speaker 3: Loward trade is the most notable example, have also drawn

580
00:31:01,760 --> 00:31:04,320
Speaker 3: lines in the sand here, but they're also in a

581
00:31:04,320 --> 00:31:07,200
Speaker 3: different position. They're coming off first round exit to Cleveland,

582
00:31:07,720 --> 00:31:10,600
Speaker 3: So I think, you know, initially it'll be about okay,

583
00:31:11,640 --> 00:31:13,640
Speaker 3: you're not probably not getting a lot. You're getting a

584
00:31:13,640 --> 00:31:17,120
Speaker 3: lot of calls, but not a lot of actual serious offers.

585
00:31:17,600 --> 00:31:19,400
Speaker 3: This might be the best offer you can get of

586
00:31:19,720 --> 00:31:23,240
Speaker 3: Andrew Wiggins. I may Hawk as junior Duncan Robinson some

587
00:31:23,440 --> 00:31:25,680
Speaker 3: draft picks. The sons will probably say, you know what,

588
00:31:26,400 --> 00:31:29,320
Speaker 3: that's not good enough, and I think eventually that he

589
00:31:29,400 --> 00:31:32,040
Speaker 3: will say, you know what, we're going to include Tyler

590
00:31:32,240 --> 00:31:35,760
Speaker 3: Hero in this discussion. That's something that they've never wanted

591
00:31:35,760 --> 00:31:37,760
Speaker 3: to do before.

592
00:31:38,600 --> 00:31:43,040
Speaker 2: You're talking about Hero, Wiggins and II May Hawk is.

593
00:31:43,800 --> 00:31:46,680
Speaker 1: Fox Sports Radio has the best sports talk lineup in

594
00:31:46,720 --> 00:31:50,080
Speaker 1: the nation. Catch all of our shows at Foxsports Radio

595
00:31:50,240 --> 00:31:54,320
Speaker 1: dot com and within the iHeartRadio app search FSR to

596
00:31:54,440 --> 00:31:55,120
Speaker 1: listen live.

597
00:31:55,840 --> 00:31:58,320
Speaker 3: What I'm saying is, I think the initial offer will

598
00:31:58,320 --> 00:32:02,280
Speaker 3: include the player without Hero, and then and then the

599
00:32:02,400 --> 00:32:06,080
Speaker 3: calendar will be, Okay, we're gonna include Hero and then

600
00:32:06,160 --> 00:32:09,880
Speaker 3: figure out who they else they include to make the

601
00:32:09,960 --> 00:32:12,920
Speaker 3: numbers work, and also so they still have a semblance

602
00:32:12,960 --> 00:32:14,240
Speaker 3: of a roster. So I don't think it's going to

603
00:32:14,320 --> 00:32:17,560
Speaker 3: be all those players. But I think the first offer

604
00:32:17,600 --> 00:32:24,240
Speaker 3: will be Wiggins, Akaz Junior, Robinson a pick, and then

605
00:32:24,880 --> 00:32:28,760
Speaker 3: the Sons, this is Kevin Durant. They'll include Hero and

606
00:32:28,800 --> 00:32:31,760
Speaker 3: then they'll figure out who else they keep in that

607
00:32:32,160 --> 00:32:35,320
Speaker 3: Here's why I think Miami. Here's why I think Miami

608
00:32:35,360 --> 00:32:37,720
Speaker 3: will be willing to budget a little bit, just because

609
00:32:37,760 --> 00:32:40,880
Speaker 3: of where they're at. First round exit to Cleveland, the

610
00:32:40,960 --> 00:32:44,920
Speaker 3: sweep that Jimmy Butler saga didn't go well. You know,

611
00:32:45,120 --> 00:32:49,520
Speaker 3: historically under pat Riley, the Heat have never been about rebuilds.

612
00:32:49,560 --> 00:32:52,600
Speaker 3: It's about reloading. But I think that you can make

613
00:32:52,640 --> 00:32:55,440
Speaker 3: a case they're not going to be championship favorites, but

614
00:32:55,600 --> 00:32:58,840
Speaker 3: they could be a playoff team because you have Kevin Durant,

615
00:32:58,920 --> 00:33:00,320
Speaker 3: but ye have bam oudabay.

616
00:33:01,520 --> 00:33:06,680
Speaker 2: Hold On Mark. Okay, So basically, like you said, Bounce

617
00:33:06,680 --> 00:33:08,840
Speaker 2: in the first round, they got smashed badly by Cleveland.

618
00:33:09,320 --> 00:33:13,480
Speaker 2: If you remove two starters Wiggins and Hero, you now

619
00:33:13,520 --> 00:33:16,640
Speaker 2: basically have bam Adebayo and Kevin Durant and I don't

620
00:33:16,640 --> 00:33:20,440
Speaker 2: know davey On Mitchell and whoever else. You're not top

621
00:33:20,440 --> 00:33:23,760
Speaker 2: four in the East, right You're certainly not better than Nicks,

622
00:33:24,080 --> 00:33:29,840
Speaker 2: the Pacers, the Calves and who am I missing? Nick? Pacers?

623
00:33:29,840 --> 00:33:30,040
Speaker 1: Cats?

624
00:33:30,160 --> 00:33:32,200
Speaker 2: Is one other team that well we'll just leave it

625
00:33:32,200 --> 00:33:36,120
Speaker 2: at those three. You're not that great with kad Baham

626
00:33:36,560 --> 00:33:38,440
Speaker 2: and daviy On Mitchell. Are you getting out of the

627
00:33:38,480 --> 00:33:41,720
Speaker 2: first round? And that's my question, like because you.

628
00:33:41,440 --> 00:33:43,080
Speaker 3: Got a swan though.

629
00:33:43,400 --> 00:33:44,880
Speaker 2: Okay, but don't you have to sign Kate d to

630
00:33:44,960 --> 00:33:48,200
Speaker 2: a two year, one hundred million dollars deal. Yeah, Oh

631
00:33:48,280 --> 00:33:51,240
Speaker 2: my gosh, that's insane. Do you to get what Bounce

632
00:33:51,280 --> 00:33:52,400
Speaker 2: in the first round?

633
00:33:52,760 --> 00:33:54,480
Speaker 3: Well what happened this past season?

634
00:33:55,280 --> 00:33:58,680
Speaker 2: Yeah, but then they get Rogier's coming off the books.

635
00:33:58,800 --> 00:34:03,239
Speaker 2: He's inexpiring. Nan Robinson's like I would sooner, and that's

636
00:34:03,280 --> 00:34:05,280
Speaker 2: why I've been like, I don't even think there's really

637
00:34:05,320 --> 00:34:07,600
Speaker 2: a market for Kate. I know people love him, but

638
00:34:07,840 --> 00:34:10,360
Speaker 2: I'm not taking on bad salary for a guy who's

639
00:34:10,680 --> 00:34:13,160
Speaker 2: remember Kevin Durant two years at one hundred, you're going

640
00:34:13,239 --> 00:34:15,640
Speaker 2: to be paying him when he's thirty nine years old.

641
00:34:16,320 --> 00:34:20,200
Speaker 2: You're going to be paying him like fifty million dollars. Yeah,

642
00:34:20,320 --> 00:34:23,160
Speaker 2: is that not insane? He's not Lebron. I'm sorry, he's

643
00:34:23,200 --> 00:34:23,839
Speaker 2: just not holding out.

644
00:34:24,360 --> 00:34:27,879
Speaker 3: I think it's really the heat circumstances where they're at

645
00:34:27,920 --> 00:34:31,640
Speaker 3: that something is better than nothing. And Kevin, he's a

646
00:34:31,680 --> 00:34:34,919
Speaker 3: great practice player. When he's on the court, he's still

647
00:34:34,960 --> 00:34:39,120
Speaker 3: remarkably efficient. The problems that you outlined is that he

648
00:34:39,280 --> 00:34:41,920
Speaker 3: has injuries, and no one's deployed that against him. It's

649
00:34:41,920 --> 00:34:43,760
Speaker 3: just where he's at in his career and what's happened

650
00:34:44,040 --> 00:34:46,799
Speaker 3: since twenty nineteen, and also the cost to get him.

651
00:34:47,120 --> 00:34:49,319
Speaker 3: So I'm with you that there's going to be a

652
00:34:49,320 --> 00:34:51,719
Speaker 3: lot of calls about him, but there's also going to

653
00:34:51,760 --> 00:34:54,040
Speaker 3: be a lot of hang ups. And it's not because

654
00:34:54,160 --> 00:34:56,960
Speaker 3: no one wants Kevin Durant. It's just the cost to

655
00:34:56,960 --> 00:35:01,560
Speaker 3: get him just severely undermines teams roster depth, et cetera.

656
00:35:01,600 --> 00:35:04,880
Speaker 3: But I think in Miami's case, they're in a different position.

657
00:35:05,040 --> 00:35:07,880
Speaker 3: And also because of the market that you outline, I

658
00:35:07,920 --> 00:35:11,240
Speaker 3: think Phoenix is also going to be in a different position.

659
00:35:11,280 --> 00:35:14,560
Speaker 3: So I think it's going to be this partnership woroded

660
00:35:14,600 --> 00:35:17,200
Speaker 3: inconvenience and necessity for both sides.

661
00:35:17,239 --> 00:35:20,440
Speaker 2: Here we could wrap up, like I don't want to

662
00:35:21,000 --> 00:35:24,320
Speaker 2: be too reactionary to what could be an outlier finals,

663
00:35:24,640 --> 00:35:27,360
Speaker 2: but what we have seen in these playoffs, Mark is

664
00:35:27,400 --> 00:35:31,479
Speaker 2: it's very clearly becoming to succeed in the postseason right now,

665
00:35:31,840 --> 00:35:36,200
Speaker 2: you need youth and depth. Right these are two young teams.

666
00:35:36,239 --> 00:35:39,080
Speaker 2: I think Alex Caruso's like the oldest guy in the series,

667
00:35:39,120 --> 00:35:41,800
Speaker 2: or TJ McConnell something like that, but basically a rotational

668
00:35:41,800 --> 00:35:43,839
Speaker 2: player at least. And you look at that the way

669
00:35:43,880 --> 00:35:46,239
Speaker 2: these teams are picking up full court to wear guys down.

670
00:35:46,560 --> 00:35:48,759
Speaker 2: You saw the Knicks kind of wear down against full

671
00:35:48,760 --> 00:35:52,600
Speaker 2: court pressure from the Pacers' I'm of the belief that

672
00:35:52,719 --> 00:35:55,439
Speaker 2: Kevin Durant is like the opposite of what you want

673
00:35:55,520 --> 00:35:58,520
Speaker 2: right now to succeed, you want youth and depth. Why

674
00:35:58,600 --> 00:36:02,640
Speaker 2: would you add an old, expensive guy that hinders your

675
00:36:02,680 --> 00:36:05,440
Speaker 2: youth and depth. Not that Miami has any much of it,

676
00:36:05,480 --> 00:36:09,759
Speaker 2: that's great, but it just it feels like kad, like

677
00:36:09,800 --> 00:36:13,160
Speaker 2: the pendulum has swung far enough that boom second apron

678
00:36:13,239 --> 00:36:15,280
Speaker 2: all this stuff. I'm out on the older guys.

679
00:36:16,280 --> 00:36:18,040
Speaker 3: Yeah, no, I mean what you said is all true.

680
00:36:18,120 --> 00:36:20,879
Speaker 3: I think it's really relative to where Miami is at

681
00:36:21,360 --> 00:36:24,680
Speaker 3: their depth and the some of all parts weren't really

682
00:36:24,760 --> 00:36:28,600
Speaker 3: that enough to absorb Jimmy Butler's absence last year, and

683
00:36:28,640 --> 00:36:30,920
Speaker 3: so I think that they're of the mind let's just

684
00:36:31,040 --> 00:36:34,359
Speaker 3: still be competitive. Let's still be a playoff caliber team,

685
00:36:34,400 --> 00:36:37,000
Speaker 3: maybe not a championship caliber team, but a team that

686
00:36:37,320 --> 00:36:40,440
Speaker 3: still can get in the first round either, even if

687
00:36:40,440 --> 00:36:42,880
Speaker 3: it's a plan, still has a chance to be a

688
00:36:42,920 --> 00:36:46,440
Speaker 3: competitive out in the first round, maybe sneaks into the second.

689
00:36:47,160 --> 00:36:50,239
Speaker 3: But I think you outlined it perfectly here that to

690
00:36:50,280 --> 00:36:53,160
Speaker 3: compete for a championship you have to have all those things.

691
00:36:53,200 --> 00:36:56,240
Speaker 3: It's just very hard to have all those things because

692
00:36:56,280 --> 00:36:59,520
Speaker 3: it takes time. You need to not only draft right,

693
00:36:59,600 --> 00:37:02,200
Speaker 3: but have the time to collect all those picks and

694
00:37:02,400 --> 00:37:05,080
Speaker 3: use it on good players. And so with a thunder,

695
00:37:05,160 --> 00:37:07,720
Speaker 3: they've gotten to this point, and it took a while

696
00:37:08,080 --> 00:37:11,080
Speaker 3: basically ever since theot Paul George, which was what.

697
00:37:12,840 --> 00:37:16,120
Speaker 2: Nineteen So yeah, so within six years they went from hey,

698
00:37:16,160 --> 00:37:20,600
Speaker 2: let's bought them out stockpile picks, and boom, they're in

699
00:37:20,640 --> 00:37:22,839
Speaker 2: the finals and they're set up for success.

700
00:37:23,360 --> 00:37:26,840
Speaker 3: And here here is the irony of the landscape. Here.

701
00:37:27,320 --> 00:37:32,640
Speaker 3: It takes time for teams to draft develop players, but

702
00:37:34,120 --> 00:37:36,800
Speaker 3: teams other teams aren't patient to make moves. But also

703
00:37:36,840 --> 00:37:40,120
Speaker 3: the way the CBA is, you don't have a lot

704
00:37:40,160 --> 00:37:44,479
Speaker 3: of wiggle room to retain your young talent once they're

705
00:37:44,480 --> 00:37:48,960
Speaker 3: out eligible for extensions. And so in today's MBA, with

706
00:37:49,360 --> 00:37:52,839
Speaker 3: not having a repeat champion, you know the NBA will

707
00:37:52,880 --> 00:37:56,000
Speaker 3: be like, okay, well that's that's in short parody, but

708
00:37:56,120 --> 00:38:00,840
Speaker 3: it hasn't ensured sustained parody. And so the thunder they

709
00:38:00,880 --> 00:38:03,800
Speaker 3: don't have to make those decisions because Shanlee and Williams

710
00:38:03,800 --> 00:38:06,279
Speaker 3: shut Homer and they're not eligible for extensions I think

711
00:38:06,600 --> 00:38:09,320
Speaker 3: till two years from now. But that's really what's the

712
00:38:09,960 --> 00:38:14,319
Speaker 3: challenging part. And whether you like the Dynasty era or

713
00:38:14,360 --> 00:38:19,360
Speaker 3: you like the parody, the challenging part is there's not

714
00:38:19,680 --> 00:38:23,080
Speaker 3: that avenue for sustained parody because of the second apron concern.

715
00:38:23,239 --> 00:38:26,520
Speaker 2: Yeah, I will add the counter to, hey, Jason, not

716
00:38:26,520 --> 00:38:29,799
Speaker 2: everybody old, Like, if Steph Curry doesn't go down, You've

717
00:38:29,840 --> 00:38:33,239
Speaker 2: got Curry, Draymond and Jimmy Butler, three old guys who

718
00:38:33,719 --> 00:38:37,239
Speaker 2: were able to squeak by young Houston. And I don't

719
00:38:37,320 --> 00:38:41,080
Speaker 2: know that Minnesota beats them if they if Curry's healthy.

720
00:38:41,120 --> 00:38:45,040
Speaker 2: I mean, maybe there's a world where you know those three,

721
00:38:45,239 --> 00:38:51,560
Speaker 2: But I just don't see a team where KD can

722
00:38:51,640 --> 00:38:54,200
Speaker 2: play the Jimmy Butler role to a Curry, Like, where

723
00:38:54,239 --> 00:38:56,880
Speaker 2: is there another Curry or even a player of that caliber.

724
00:38:57,480 --> 00:38:59,680
Speaker 3: Yeah, it's a fair question. I think. You know, again,

725
00:38:59,719 --> 00:39:03,440
Speaker 3: it goes back to relative perspective here that I think

726
00:39:03,480 --> 00:39:06,760
Speaker 3: Miami can make the case, Well, they had better coaching

727
00:39:06,800 --> 00:39:10,000
Speaker 3: than Phoenix. They didn't. They don't have the most roster

728
00:39:10,120 --> 00:39:12,120
Speaker 3: depth out of anyone in the league, but they have

729
00:39:12,239 --> 00:39:16,000
Speaker 3: better pieces that will put less pressure on Katie and

730
00:39:16,040 --> 00:39:18,920
Speaker 3: allow him to flourish much better than what we saw

731
00:39:19,280 --> 00:39:21,920
Speaker 3: during his time in Phoenix. So again, it's all relative.

732
00:39:21,960 --> 00:39:25,440
Speaker 3: These aren't This isn't going to be a seismic shift

733
00:39:25,480 --> 00:39:27,920
Speaker 3: as far as oh when Katie went to the Warriors.

734
00:39:28,000 --> 00:39:31,759
Speaker 3: Now they're the championship favorites, but it enables I think

735
00:39:31,840 --> 00:39:34,960
Speaker 3: Miami to still have that identity of they're a tough

736
00:39:34,960 --> 00:39:36,640
Speaker 3: playoff team that you don't want to face.

737
00:39:37,120 --> 00:39:40,520
Speaker 2: And listen, you know, Tyler hero and Devin Booker, they're

738
00:39:40,560 --> 00:39:43,640
Speaker 2: not They're probably struggling to stop me and you defensively.

739
00:39:43,880 --> 00:39:47,480
Speaker 2: If that happens for the Phoenix Suns, I mean that's

740
00:39:48,000 --> 00:39:49,759
Speaker 2: you know, Tyler hero k It doesn't guard anyone or

741
00:39:49,800 --> 00:39:52,399
Speaker 2: even pretend to, and he needs shots. Now, he would

742
00:39:52,440 --> 00:39:54,239
Speaker 2: be a good fit in Phoenix because he likes, you know,

743
00:39:54,280 --> 00:39:56,600
Speaker 2: the ig models, and we know Devin Booker is a

744
00:39:56,680 --> 00:40:00,440
Speaker 2: ladies man, so maybe that works out for hero Just kidding,

745
00:40:00,440 --> 00:40:03,080
Speaker 2: all right, Mark Medina great stuff has always enjoyed the

746
00:40:03,120 --> 00:40:05,920
Speaker 2: rest of the finals, the draft. Oh, it's a summer

747
00:40:05,960 --> 00:40:08,000
Speaker 2: of basketball ahead, man, Thanks again.

748
00:40:08,400 --> 00:40:11,280
Speaker 3: Yes, sir, appreciate you. Looking forward to that and Vegas

749
00:40:11,280 --> 00:40:12,120
Speaker 3: in Summer League.

750
00:40:12,440 --> 00:40:14,479
Speaker 2: Yes, I forgot Cooper flag in Summer League.

751
00:40:14,560 --> 00:40:17,240
Speaker 3: Yes day, It's going to be monumental, historic,