Speaker 1: The volume.
Speaker 2: All right, Olgret Hoops and I here at the volume.
Speaker 2: Have you Wednesday again, everybody. The hits keep coming this
Speaker 2: week with free agency, mostly in the form of trades,
Speaker 2: as Jalen Brown has been traded from the Boston Celtics
Speaker 2: to the Philadelphia seventy six ers for Paul George and
Speaker 2: a slew of draft assets that we will go over.
Speaker 2: This week has been so crazy. This is already our
Speaker 2: fifth episode of the week and it is four point
Speaker 2: thirty here in Colorado on a Wednesday, And that is
Speaker 2: how this week has been. I want to talk about
Speaker 2: this particular deal from the perspective of both teams. I
Speaker 2: also now have the details from the Los Angeles Lakers
Speaker 2: off season and I have more thoughts there now that
Speaker 2: we kind of have a better feel for what the
Speaker 2: total plan was. So we'll talk a little bit of
Speaker 2: Lakers at the tail end of the show. Then we'll
Speaker 2: get out of here for today. Can't say it's over
Speaker 2: for the week, though. We still got a Lebron signing
Speaker 2: at some point coming. Who knows, if there's some other
Speaker 2: big trade on the horizon. We'll continue to react as
Speaker 2: things happen throughout the week. You guys are the joke
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Speaker 2: remainder of the season. All right, let's talk some basketball.
Speaker 2: So the details Paul George for Jalen Brown is a
Speaker 2: simple swap in form in terms of the players that
Speaker 2: are changing teams. Here it's two first round picks, two
Speaker 2: second round picks. The actual specific breakdown of the picks
Speaker 2: per Sham Serrania, a twenty twenty eight first round pick
Speaker 2: that could convert from a first to a swap that
Speaker 2: is more favorable to Boston. What that means to me
Speaker 2: is that the pick is protected. Obviously, twenty twenty eight
Speaker 2: is two full draft cycles from now, so a lot
Speaker 2: can happen between then and now in terms of you know,
Speaker 2: breaking you know, Joel Embiid breaking down, or some other
Speaker 2: trade that Philly makes. So it's hard to say exactly
Speaker 2: what that pick is worth until we see the specific
Speaker 2: protections that are on it. A twenty thirty one unprotected Philadelphia. First,
Speaker 2: that's a nice asset there. Philly can't turn VJ. Edgecomb
Speaker 2: and Tyrese Maxi into anything in the next couple of
Speaker 2: seasons that could be headed towards a rebuild. So not
Speaker 2: nothing there on the asset front. Twenty twenty eight second
Speaker 2: round pick most favorable of Golden State, OKAC Milwaukee A
Speaker 2: twenty thirty second round pick most favorable of Washington, Portland
Speaker 2: and Phoenix.
Speaker 1: So I actually have to start here.
Speaker 2: I want to talk about Philly, and I want to
Speaker 2: talk about Boston, but I have to start with the
Speaker 2: Milwaukee Bucks you guys.
Speaker 1: As you guys know, I have no interest.
Speaker 2: In dying on a hill if I think I'm wrong
Speaker 2: about something and I think I was wrong about something
Speaker 2: involving the draft assets that were on the table in
Speaker 2: the theorized Milwaukee Miami deal versus the Milwaukee Boston deal.
Speaker 2: I thought that Miami passing on the Jalen Brown plus
Speaker 2: two first round picks package was a mistake under the
Speaker 2: circumstances compared to what Miami could offer, because I thought
Speaker 2: Jalen Brown would get a haul. And I think it's
Speaker 2: pretty clear from this that Miami did. Excuse me, that
Speaker 2: Milwaukee did a rough canvassing of the league in terms
Speaker 2: of what Jalen Brown would be worth and clearly did
Speaker 2: not see much in the form of value in terms
Speaker 2: of what teams are willing to pay for Jalen Brown.
Speaker 2: And now it's not that I don't think that the
Speaker 2: Celtics offtware was still better. I just think it was
Speaker 2: certainly a lot more competitive now, I think, judging by
Speaker 2: what we've seen here. I mean, Sham's reported that they
Speaker 2: were shopping Jalen Brown to like a dozen teams. So
Speaker 2: if you're shopping him to a dozen teams, and this
Speaker 2: is the best you can get a protected first and
Speaker 2: unprotected first and two seconds, if you combine that with
Speaker 2: the two unprotected firsts that Boston had attached to Jalen Brown.
Speaker 2: That actually stacks up more favorably with the Miami package
Speaker 2: than I originally thought. So I was very critical of
Speaker 2: Milwaukee for passing on that deal, and I have to
Speaker 2: retract that to a certain extent, just simply because of
Speaker 2: the fact that the Miami package, in the context of
Speaker 2: what we now know Jalen Brown's value to be, was
Speaker 2: more competitive. So I just wanted to say that first,
Speaker 2: because I think that is relevant here. My opinion that
Speaker 2: Jalen Brown plus two first round picks was way better
Speaker 2: than Miami's package had more to do with I perceived
Speaker 2: Jalen Brown's value to be higher. Now, is Jalen Brown
Speaker 2: generally undervalued around the league?
Speaker 1: I do think so.
Speaker 2: I think it has a combination of the I think
Speaker 2: it's a combination of several factors. I think the analytics
Speaker 2: departments on all these teams probably undervalue Jaylen Brown because
Speaker 2: he is not a player that performs well in the
Speaker 2: advanced metric department. I think there's some personality stuff there
Speaker 2: in terms of Jalen Brown being, you know, somewhat strange
Speaker 2: with his behavior over the course of the last several
Speaker 2: months since the season ended in Boston. I think there's also, like,
Speaker 2: you know, this is an underrated part of all these things,
Speaker 2: Like when I'm talking about Lebron James's free agency, I'm
Speaker 2: thinking about fit. I'm thinking, like, what does it look
Speaker 2: like if he plays in Cleveland? What does it look
Speaker 2: like if he plays in Miami, What does it look
Speaker 2: like if he plays in Golden State? And you start
Speaker 2: to consider things like how would his game fit with
Speaker 2: a Steph Currys or a Nikola Jokic versus a Donovan
Speaker 2: Mitchell or a Jannis and Bam frontcourt basketball fit matters
Speaker 2: when you're having these conversations, and Jalen Brown is somewhat
Speaker 2: of an On an Island offensive player. He is not
Speaker 2: a good spot up player. He is not a good
Speaker 2: catch and shoot three point shooter. On defense, he is
Speaker 2: a little bit one dimensional and that he's very good
Speaker 2: on the ball, but a little bit mistake prone off
Speaker 2: the ball. And again, if you're an On an Island
Speaker 2: player where your best attribute is give me the ball
Speaker 2: in the middle of the floor and let me play
Speaker 2: one on one, that is going to come with a
Speaker 2: certain amount of like, well, how do I fit this
Speaker 2: guy in with what we're trying to build here in
Speaker 2: you know, Portland, or in any of these situations. Denver
Speaker 2: any I talked about that in terms of the reported
Speaker 2: potential swap with him and Jamal Murray.
Speaker 1: Right.
Speaker 2: So, like I, as I look at this, I think
Speaker 2: the combination of the way he performed in advanced metrics
Speaker 2: and how he performed in terms of his natural basketball
Speaker 2: fit with other players, I think all of that played
Speaker 2: a role in Jalen Brown's value kind of tanking over
Speaker 2: the course of you know, a weird couple of months
Speaker 2: after his best season of his career. Again it's been
Speaker 2: said to death, but second team All NBA sixth and
Speaker 2: MVP voting, I'll played better in the first round series
Speaker 2: than I think he got credit for. He didn't play great.
Speaker 2: He definitely didn't play as well as he did in
Speaker 2: the regular season, but I think he performed better than
Speaker 2: people think when you look at that series, and they
Speaker 2: still had a chance to win despite the issues with
Speaker 2: Joel Embiid and Tatum breaking down over the course of
Speaker 2: the series. And so I do think Jalen Brown is
Speaker 2: still a little undervalued. And that's where I want to
Speaker 2: start with the Sixers here with to put it very simply,
Speaker 2: I've always said this, like, don't overthink things like Jalen
Speaker 2: Brown is just a very talented basketball player. He is
Speaker 2: a guy that you can deploy on apex perimeter talents
Speaker 2: in the NBA, and he can defend at an extremely
Speaker 2: high level. He is a player that has shown great
Speaker 2: growth as an isolation attacker in the middle of the floor,
Speaker 2: that has shown growth as a playmaker there. And it's
Speaker 2: not a coincidence that he had as much success as
Speaker 2: he did last season. And we discussed the advanced metrics
Speaker 2: thing at length earlier this week, so I won't get
Speaker 2: into it again here, but just the very short version
Speaker 2: of it is, don't overreact to some of the advanced metrics.
Speaker 2: They do not count for the fact that Jalen Brown
Speaker 2: was on the floor to start games, and he was
Speaker 2: on the floor to close games. And the Celtics were
Speaker 2: one of the best teams in the league last season,
Speaker 2: and when they won games, they won with Jalen Brown
Speaker 2: on the floor in all of the pivotal moments. So
Speaker 2: don't overthink things on that front. And very simply, when
Speaker 2: things broke down for Boston, he was their most reliable
Speaker 2: get a bucket guy by a mile, and I still
Speaker 2: think that there's a lot of value on that in
Speaker 2: the NBA. So as you look at at Philly, and
Speaker 2: obviously you have the Dean Wade acquisition at the power
Speaker 2: forward spot, you lose Quinton Grimes, you add Jalen Brown in.
Speaker 1: At that small forward spot.
Speaker 2: We have a starting lineup that's going to include Tyrese
Speaker 2: Maxey at the one, VJ Edgecomb at the two, Jalen
Speaker 2: Brown at the three, Dean Wade at the four, Joel
Speaker 2: Embiid at the five. Still slow in the front court,
Speaker 2: and that I think is where the fail point is
Speaker 2: for this particular team. As we saw in the Knicks series.
Speaker 2: If you have a team that could put these guys
Speaker 2: in pick and roll, whether it's Indiana for example, or
Speaker 2: it's a team like New York with Jaln Brown that
Speaker 2: can space the flour and put your bigs in pick
Speaker 2: and roll, I think there's some problems there for Philly defensively.
Speaker 2: And for the record, like I was talking about this
Speaker 2: with Jackson before we went live, and we're gonna talk
Speaker 2: about the Celtics in a second, I think this is
Speaker 2: unmitigated disaster for Boston. But if you look at the situation,
Speaker 2: I think Brad Stevens being willing to trade Jalen Brown
Speaker 2: not just to a team in the Eastern Conference that
Speaker 2: he has to compete with, but a team in the
Speaker 2: Eastern Conference that just eliminated them from the playoffs.
Speaker 1: I think Brad.
Speaker 2: Stevens sending Jalen Brown to Philly is a strong statement
Speaker 2: from Brad Stevens that he doesn't view Philly as some
Speaker 2: sort of upper tier contender in the East.
Speaker 1: With Jalen Brown, I would.
Speaker 2: Move them up from where they were to being a
Speaker 2: legitimate puncher's chance threat, kind of in that tier with
Speaker 2: Cleveland and Detroit. I've kind of described the tiers so
Speaker 2: far this offseason is I have like New York Boston.
Speaker 2: Now Boston to me is a big question after the
Speaker 2: Jalen Brown trade. Will get to them in a minute,
Speaker 2: But before the trade, I had Boston in that tier,
Speaker 2: and I had Toronto in that tier after the Kawhi
Speaker 2: Leonard trade, and then I go down to the next
Speaker 2: group and that's where I have, Like you know, Indiana,
Speaker 2: there's some question marks. Zubots is a very different player
Speaker 2: than Miles Turner. There's been health stuff with Tyrey Saliburton
Speaker 2: even more than the Achilles. He's had some other health
Speaker 2: stuff that he's been dealing with. It's just we're a
Speaker 2: long way removed from their finals run. So Indiana has
Speaker 2: some question marks, Cleveland has some question marks. Remains to
Speaker 2: be seen if they pull up. There's a lot of
Speaker 2: building Cleveland buzz with Lebron today for whatever reason. That
Speaker 2: could just mean that they have another deal lined up
Speaker 2: to try to achieve a move for Lebron. But I
Speaker 2: would put Philly in that group. They're very fast on
Speaker 2: the perimeter. MAXI and VJ edgecom fastest shit. Like Jalen
Speaker 2: Brown is a force multiplier athletically in that unit. He
Speaker 2: kind of replaces that Kelly Ubray spot to me. Where
Speaker 2: like Kelly Eubray was the athlete that you had at
Speaker 2: the forward spot in between embat and the guards, Jalen
Speaker 2: Brown now just becomes that athlete at the ford spot.
Speaker 2: Gives them a different method to attack now, Like I
Speaker 2: talked about this with Toronto, Like I like the idea
Speaker 2: of having different avenues to attack, Like, Oh, I've got
Speaker 2: Jamal s Sheedd and Emmanuel quickly, i can speed attack
Speaker 2: against slow players. Oh I've got Kawhi Leonard and Scottie Barnes.
Speaker 2: I can power attack against size mismatches from my forward position.
Speaker 2: I've got different ways that I can attack. I like
Speaker 2: that with Philly right like I've got Maxi and edgecomb
Speaker 2: as speed guards that can attack off of the dribble
Speaker 2: and knock down shots over the top. I've got Joel
Speaker 2: Embiid who can just annihilate a center rotation if you
Speaker 2: don't have the right type of center in your rotation
Speaker 2: and Bead's kicking your ass. A That's a real value
Speaker 2: add there in terms of a way to break down
Speaker 2: a defense. They can run pick and roll with those guards,
Speaker 2: and with Joel Embiid, Jalen Brown gives you a very
Speaker 2: different type of attack in the form of a reliable
Speaker 2: isolation option in the middle of the floor with three
Speaker 2: point shooting around them. You know Dean Wade. I think
Speaker 2: Dean Wade is a better basketball player than Kelly u Bray.
Speaker 2: I know that's up for debate. I just think he's
Speaker 2: a more well rounded basketball player that I think will
Speaker 2: be useful for Philly. His shooting is a little bit
Speaker 2: of a question mark, but you've got a shooting five,
Speaker 2: You've got your guards that have that have high level
Speaker 2: three point shooting talent, it's gonna be able to They're
Speaker 2: gonna be able to create space for Jalen Brown to
Speaker 2: attack in the middle of the floor, and so there
Speaker 2: is upside there. I don't want to undersell this again,
Speaker 2: don't overthink things. Jalen Brown is a.
Speaker 1: Flat out upgrade over Paul George.
Speaker 2: Paul George essentially was useless as the series progressed against
Speaker 2: New York. That's not gonna be a problem with with
Speaker 2: Jalen Brown. Jalen Brown is better. This is a better
Speaker 2: basketball team. Give me Tyrese Maxi vj Edgecomb and Jalen
Speaker 2: Brown and Joel and beating the playoff series. I think
Speaker 2: you got a puncher's chance, but I think that's where
Speaker 2: they land. I think they land in that puncher's chance tier.
Speaker 2: And ultimately, the flaw this team is just their speed
Speaker 2: in the front court. Are they going to be able
Speaker 2: to be fast enough to do the things that they
Speaker 2: need to do in the on the defensive end in
Speaker 2: the postseason against the teams that can spread them out
Speaker 2: in pick and roll. That's where things are going to
Speaker 2: get interesting on the again, on the Boston front, I
Speaker 2: just think this is a disaster. There was some strange
Speaker 2: reporting coming out to coming out to Today earlier today
Speaker 2: from Scham's basically saying that Jalen Brown had not requested
Speaker 2: a trade and that the Celtics were shopping him anyway.
Speaker 2: That didn't make a lot of sense to me. That
Speaker 2: felt like posturing. It felt kind of like, actually, he
Speaker 2: does want to get traded, but we just don't want
Speaker 2: to let everyone think that he wants to get traded
Speaker 2: so that we can have some sort of leverage in
Speaker 2: these discussions. I don't know why you do this deal
Speaker 2: unless Jalen Brown has told you he doesn't want to
Speaker 2: play for you anymore. You're just a better basketball team
Speaker 2: with Jaylen Brown than you are with Paul George and
Speaker 2: a couple of draft assets. The story of the Celtics
Speaker 2: season will be told with what happens from here. You're
Speaker 2: unquestionably worse right now. By the way, Paul George impressed
Speaker 2: me in this playoff run.
Speaker 1: He did.
Speaker 2: Obviously he struggled in the Knick series, but he showed
Speaker 2: some impressive shot making. He showed some pull up shooting
Speaker 2: and pick and roll. Especially in the Celtics series, he
Speaker 2: showed hoigh level defense. I was really impressed by Paul
Speaker 2: George defensively, especially in the Celtics series. Paul George is
Speaker 2: a useful basketball player when he's healthy and if he
Speaker 2: ends up playing minutes at some point for the Celtics
Speaker 2: this season, he is a useful basketball player. But on
Speaker 2: his contract with the one plus one that he has remaining,
Speaker 2: meaning he is this season plus a player option at
Speaker 2: a grand total of I think right around one hundred
Speaker 2: and eleven million dollars between the two seasons, that's a
Speaker 2: negative asset. Given his injury history and his production. He's
Speaker 2: useful role player right now, not star level ball handler.
Speaker 2: You know, Jimmy Butler on his contract, at least you
Speaker 2: can talk yourself into like, hey, if he comes back
Speaker 2: this season in February, we have a high level playoff
Speaker 2: shot creator, two way talent under roster control. That's not
Speaker 2: the case with Paul George. And so as I look
Speaker 2: at the situation here, even if we look at the
Speaker 2: draft as sets two first round picks, one of which
Speaker 2: is protected, two second round picks, how are we factoring in,
Speaker 2: Like if Boston just wanted to dump Paul George this summer,
Speaker 2: what would they have to pay.
Speaker 1: They probably have to attach a first which.
Speaker 2: Even further drives home that point I was making earlier
Speaker 2: about how I was wrong about the value of the
Speaker 2: Miami draft package versus the Boston draft package. Again, if
Speaker 2: he's healthy, I do think he brings utility as a
Speaker 2: catch and shoot guy, is a guy that can run
Speaker 2: some second side action as a versatile perimeter defender. But
Speaker 2: paying one hundred and eleven million dollars over the next
Speaker 2: two years for that type of talent is an overpay,
Speaker 2: especially in the context of giving up Jaln Brown.
Speaker 1: Now, as you look at their draft assets, it's a.
Speaker 2: Little convoluted because that twenty twenty eight pick has some
Speaker 2: has some swap rights, I think with san Antonio if
Speaker 2: I remember correctly, but I believe if I'm not mistaken,
Speaker 2: they have either four or five tradable first round picks
Speaker 2: at this point. So the Celtics absolutely have the ability
Speaker 2: to turn around and make another trade. Now, as you
Speaker 2: look at their tradable salaries, it gets tricky. Maybe it's
Speaker 2: Paul George. But again, as I talked about earlier, at
Speaker 2: a certain point, if you're trading Paul George, there's a
Speaker 2: certain amount of your draft asset getting diluted by the
Speaker 2: value of Paul George's contract around the league. And then
Speaker 2: there's Derek White, who consistently has been one of the
Speaker 2: most valuable on off guys for the Celtics over the
Speaker 2: course of the last few years. Yes, he came off
Speaker 2: of a bad shooting season, but I would expect him
Speaker 2: to shoot the ball much better next season. So I
Speaker 2: think Derek White's an important part of the Celtics. He's
Speaker 2: your one middling contract that you can send out in
Speaker 2: a deal with draft compensation to try to bring in
Speaker 2: good players. Once you get after that, it's like Houser
Speaker 2: who makes less than eleven million and a bunch of
Speaker 2: single digit millions. So yes, you can package dudes and
Speaker 2: you can go out and make a deal, But I
Speaker 2: for the most part, if you're targeting a high level talent,
Speaker 2: you're like, let's say you're like, oh, we want Trey Murphy, Okay,
Speaker 2: get ready to send Derek White out.
Speaker 1: And picks.
Speaker 2: So again, I can't write the book on what the
Speaker 2: Boston offseason looks like until whatever additional move they make
Speaker 2: is done. If they make an additional move, but if
Speaker 2: they don't make an additional move, this is a team
Speaker 2: that is worse than the team they were last year,
Speaker 2: even with Mitchell Robinson, because you sent out Jalen Brown,
Speaker 2: and you took on one of the worst contracts in
Speaker 2: the league in Paul George, and you have mediocre draft
Speaker 2: assets to show for it. And I mean, don't take
Speaker 2: my word for every Celtics fan. I've had Celtics fans
Speaker 2: reach out to me just in just in the last hour.
Speaker 2: No one seems to like this deal on the Celtics front.
Speaker 1: Again.
Speaker 2: Brad Stevens is a GM that has earned a certain
Speaker 2: amount of credibility with his work on the margins in
Speaker 2: the last few years and the job that he's done
Speaker 2: to not just build a championship roster, but to salvage
Speaker 2: to salvage last season from what was a gap year
Speaker 2: into a useful season where they looked like a contender
Speaker 2: at time. Like Brad steven deserves the benefit of deserves
Speaker 2: the benefit of the doubt, but he's got a lot
Speaker 2: of work to do to turn the Celtics team into
Speaker 2: a contender next season over the course of the rest
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Speaker 2: I want to talk a little bit about the Lakers
Speaker 2: off season. So we recorded an instant reaction to the
Speaker 2: to the Kessler Edwards or to excuse me, to the
Speaker 2: Walker Kessler News earlier today. But at that point we
Speaker 2: did not know the specifics of the remainder of the moves.
Speaker 2: We had some intel, right, like we had heard, oh,
Speaker 2: we're gonna get mamukelosh Villi on some sort of verbal agreement.
Speaker 2: Quinton Grimes was on some sort of verbal agreement. So
Speaker 2: those two guys were lined up in this particular case,
Speaker 2: but the remainder of the moves remained.
Speaker 1: It was a.
Speaker 2: Question mark at that point in time. Now we have
Speaker 2: some clarity on that front. Just to read through the
Speaker 2: moves for you guys, you're getting Quentin Grimes at four
Speaker 2: years sixty million dollars. You're getting Colin Sexton two years,
Speaker 2: nineteen million dollars, Soandra Mama kelosh Villi four years fifty
Speaker 2: two million dollars. So the four big splashy moves for
Speaker 2: the Lakers this offseason are basically Walker Kessler, Sandra Mama,
Speaker 2: Kelos Villi, Colin Sexton, and Quentin Grimes. I want to
Speaker 2: go through these moves individually first and just talk about
Speaker 2: the basketball fit, and then I'll talk about my big
Speaker 2: picture kind of feelings here. I talked about it a
Speaker 2: little bit earlier with Walker Kessler. I love Walker Kessler
Speaker 2: in a vacuum as a fit alongside Austin and Luca.
Speaker 2: Is he the best vertical spacing threat in the league. No,
Speaker 2: but I think he gives a lot of utility against
Speaker 2: different looks. Vertical spacing is most valuable in the in
Speaker 2: the context of pick and roll against drop coverage, right,
Speaker 2: So like if they're running drop coverage and Luca can
Speaker 2: get downhill and he can bait the big to step over,
Speaker 2: there's your lob. Austin come screaming downhill, engages the big,
Speaker 2: there's your lob. Right, Those are the obvious plays that
Speaker 2: you're looking at for a vertical spacer, But every other
Speaker 2: type of look, I actually think Walker has a lot
Speaker 2: of utility. So like switching, Walker Kessler will mash you
Speaker 2: on the offensive glass if you switch. That's a real
Speaker 2: piece of utility. Blitzing. I actually like Walker Kessler as
Speaker 2: a decision maker in the middle of the floor, as
Speaker 2: a playmaking talent. I think that's an area where he
Speaker 2: can continue to grow. So like I actually like Walker's
Speaker 2: fit offensively in some of the other areas there, there's
Speaker 2: a spacing five upside with him. Again, I'd be higher
Speaker 2: on it if he higher on the trade, if he
Speaker 2: was had a better track record there. But he has
Speaker 2: potential to become a stretch five right where I have
Speaker 2: some concerns with him are specifically whether or not that
Speaker 2: stretch five piece of it is viable and whether or
Speaker 2: not he can be a switching big defensively. But he
Speaker 2: has utility on offense mashing on the offensive glass against
Speaker 2: switches and then working in the middle of the floor
Speaker 2: as a playing talent, and he'll have some utility as
Speaker 2: a finisher around the basket in their pick and roll scheme.
Speaker 2: On defense, he's just quite simply been one of the
Speaker 2: best rim protectors of the last several years, and so
Speaker 2: with that being the case, there's an obvious upside there
Speaker 2: with him. Defensively, the story of the trade and whether
Speaker 2: or not the picks are worth it puts a lot
Speaker 2: of pressure on Walker Kessler and how good he becomes,
Speaker 2: because you basically need now you need Walker Kessler to
Speaker 2: blossom into a top five or sixth center in the league.
Speaker 2: That to me, is the only case for this trade
Speaker 2: making sense for the Lakers is Walker becomes a dude
Speaker 2: who hits thirty eight percent of his threes on four
Speaker 2: or five attempts per game and shows real utility as
Speaker 2: a switching big that anchors a Lakers defense even with
Speaker 2: mediocre defensive talent, and just we're talking about this like
Speaker 2: holy shit, Walker's the sixth or seventh best center in
Speaker 2: the NBA, fifth best center in the NBA. That's the
Speaker 2: only version of this where I'm like, Okay, I can
Speaker 2: see the justification of the deal. That's a lot of
Speaker 2: pressure on Walker to be great. And I really like Walker,
Speaker 2: as you guys know, as I've talked a lot about
Speaker 2: how much I think he fits in specifically to what
Speaker 2: this team is trying to do. So I want to
Speaker 2: start there with in a vacuum, with Walker as a
Speaker 2: basketball player. First, We'll talk about the picks here.
Speaker 1: In a minute.
Speaker 2: I like Soandra mam Mikhalos Feely a lot. I think
Speaker 2: that he is basically a better version of ruey Hot Tramura,
Speaker 2: not the same type of player. Rui showed absolute laser
Speaker 2: beam catch and shoot three point shooting on the weak side.
Speaker 2: Sandro did not have a good shooting series against Toronto,
Speaker 2: although his minutes were inconsistent in that particular series. I
Speaker 2: think the average like fourteen fifteen minutes a game in
Speaker 2: that series. But he is a much more well rounded
Speaker 2: basketball player. Ruy Hatsamura really struggled with his decision making
Speaker 2: off of the bounce, did not show high level playmaking talent. Basically,
Speaker 2: if he wasn't shooting a catch and shoot three or
Speaker 2: a wonderable pull up on a rip through, he didn't
Speaker 2: show much offensive utility. Soandro has a lot of utility
Speaker 2: beyond that. He is a catch and shoot player. He
Speaker 2: can drive closeouts and score, but he also has a
Speaker 2: lot more offensive utility beyond that. That is a legitimate
Speaker 2: dribbleshoot pass talent, which is going to fit extremely well
Speaker 2: with Luca and Austin driving closeouts and playing with advantage
Speaker 2: in the middle of the floor. Sandro is also an
Speaker 2: excellent rebounder. Ruey Achi Mura a terrible rebounder for his
Speaker 2: size and so Sandro is a good basketball player.
Speaker 1: And I like it.
Speaker 2: In the vacuum, Let's pretend the Lakers did retain Lebron
Speaker 2: and did retain Marcus Smart. If they were like, we're
Speaker 2: gonna get Sandro and let Ruey walk, I'd be like,
Speaker 2: amazing deal, huge fan, great direction for them to go.
Speaker 2: Do I think Sandro can be the starting power forward
Speaker 2: on a championship level team.
Speaker 1: No, I don't.
Speaker 2: And that's where it gets a little bit tricky with
Speaker 2: the predicament the Lakers are in with the rest of
Speaker 2: their roster talent. We'll get to that in a minute.
Speaker 2: Quentin Grimes, I think that one is an overpay four years,
Speaker 2: sixty million. I think in that territory I'm looking for
Speaker 2: like a super reliable to way player, and I just
Speaker 2: don't view Quinton Grimes as a super reliable two way player.
Speaker 2: He has shown potential as a perimeter defender. I think
Speaker 2: that the Lakers specific specifically with Walker Kessler as a
Speaker 2: drop coverage big really need Quinton Grimes and Colin Sexton
Speaker 2: now to blossom into like legitimate chase over the top
Speaker 2: pick and roll defenders. Like we don't give up switches.
Speaker 2: We we fight through every fucking screen. You're not getting Luca
Speaker 2: on you. You're not attacking Walker in space. We are getting
Speaker 2: over the top of screens, and we are funneling into
Speaker 2: Kessler at the rim. That's a lot of pressure on
Speaker 2: those two guys. Colin's shown some potential there. Quinton Grimes
Speaker 2: has shown some potential there. I don't think either of
Speaker 2: those guys are like professional perimeter defender's professional point of
Speaker 2: attack guys defending guards is the way that you would
Speaker 2: look at like a Davon Mitchell for example. So like
Speaker 2: with that and with Quinton Grimes being a guy that
Speaker 2: has some offensive pop but not what I consider to
Speaker 2: be a super reliable off ball offensive guard, four year,
Speaker 2: sixty million is a lot to pay. That feels like
Speaker 2: that feels like an overpay me for Quentin Grimes. Colin Sexton. Again,
Speaker 2: I don't necessarily And to be clear, if Quentin Grimes
Speaker 2: was the seventh or eighth best player on my team
Speaker 2: and I'm paying him six million a year instead of fifteen,
Speaker 2: you get another round of applause for me here, Colin Sexton,
Speaker 2: same sort of thing. I Colin Sexton making less than
Speaker 2: ten million a year to be a backup guard is
Speaker 2: a guy that can get up into the basketball with
Speaker 2: some ball pressure like I like it, but in the
Speaker 2: context of the other moves and the limitations that they have,
Speaker 2: I don't understand, for instance, why you pay two years
Speaker 2: nineteen million to Collin Sexton but you don't pay a
Speaker 2: guy like a guy like Marcus Smart, who showed the
Speaker 2: ability to be a reliable fifth starter for the Lakers
Speaker 2: last year. Again, preferably I want Marcus as my sixth
Speaker 2: best player, but he's shown real ability to start for
Speaker 2: this team and did so last year and was cheaper.
Speaker 2: Look at what Houston paid him. You have a gaping
Speaker 2: hole at the starting power forward spot where Kelly Ubray
Speaker 2: started all season. Look at what Kelly Oubra made. Why
Speaker 2: isn't Kelly Ubra a Laker? Now we have another combo
Speaker 2: guard at two years nineteen million. So it's like, do
Speaker 2: I like Colin Sexton as a basketball player? Do I
Speaker 2: think he can be useful for the Lakers?
Speaker 1: Yes? Do I like Quentin Grimes and think he can
Speaker 1: be useful to the Lakers? Yes?
Speaker 2: Do I actually really like Sondro Mamo Keloshpielie, I really
Speaker 2: like Walker Kessler. But as I zoom out from everything,
Speaker 2: and we look at the reality of the predicament here,
Speaker 2: which is they have used up all their cap space,
Speaker 2: so they basically just have two VET minimum spots left. Now,
Speaker 2: there's some reporting out there that they could wave and
Speaker 2: stretch Jared Vanderbilt's contract and generate another like six or
Speaker 2: seven million dollars salary slot, and maybe you can pitch
Speaker 2: a Jonathan Kaminga on a starting power forward role and
Speaker 2: we'll see if that ends up materializing. It's been reported
Speaker 2: by I think Jake Fisher from mark Stein Substack that
Speaker 2: there's some interest in Milwaukee for a guy like Jonathan Kaminga,
Speaker 2: So that remains to be seen. But as far as
Speaker 2: I'm concerned, this is the off season with some small
Speaker 2: potential for maybe you get a Matisse Taible on a
Speaker 2: veteran minimum, Maybe you get one of those combo guards
Speaker 2: out there that like a zach Lavine or Demarta Rosen
Speaker 2: that gets bought out or something like that.
Speaker 1: Maybe you get.
Speaker 2: A a Jonathan Kaminga like we talked about, But those
Speaker 2: are small moves on the periphery. At this point, this
Speaker 2: is your squad, and as how many of these guys
Speaker 2: do I think are high level two way starters to
Speaker 2: flank between Luca and Austin. In the context of the
Speaker 2: NBA playoffs, Walker Kessler, that's it. Everybody else I'd prefer
Speaker 2: in the sixth, seventh, eighth spot in the rotation. That
Speaker 2: Toronto team lost in the first round, and they were
Speaker 2: like they didn't have much use for Sondro in the postseason. Now,
Speaker 2: mind you, you know obviously that you have Scotty Barnes
Speaker 2: playing in front of him a lot. But like the
Speaker 2: point is, you don't have a ton of utility for
Speaker 2: Sandro as like a thirty minute per game playoff guy.
Speaker 2: I like him as a eighteen to twenty two minute
Speaker 2: per game sixth or seventh man, and that's not going
Speaker 2: to be his role with the Lakers. And as I
Speaker 2: look at the situation, you have a gaping hole at
Speaker 2: the starting three spot where you're gonna have probably a
Speaker 2: Quinton Grimes masquerading as you're starting three. You have a
Speaker 2: gaping hole at the starting four spot where you're probably
Speaker 2: gonna have a Sandra Mamma kelos Vili masquerading as you're
Speaker 2: starting four. And you have no tradable first round picks
Speaker 2: over the next seven seasons. And that's where like again,
Speaker 2: that's where the pressure is on Walker Kessler, because I
Speaker 2: think the only justification for trading multiple first round picks
Speaker 2: for any player is for them to be a really
Speaker 2: high level two way player, and specifically two first round picks,
Speaker 2: two swaps, and a thirty plus million dollars salary slot
Speaker 2: in a cap space summer. You need Walker Kessler to
Speaker 2: be a star. And if he's not, and he's just
Speaker 2: a high level two way starting center, you're devoid of
Speaker 2: what you need elsewhere on the roster with very little
Speaker 2: ability to make the improvements elsewhere. And that's before we
Speaker 2: even get to the stuff I talked about earlier today
Speaker 2: involving culture and the lack of like just professional competitive
Speaker 2: mfors on the team. I think this Lakers team would
Speaker 2: literally have been better if they just were like, oh shit,
Speaker 2: Walker Kessler's too expensive, Let's bring back Lebron and Marcus.
Speaker 2: Let's sign Sondro Mamo kelos Vili, maybe we get one
Speaker 2: or two other discounted vets. With the remaining cap space,
Speaker 2: Let's start eight and Lebron, Marcus and Luca and Austin.
Speaker 2: I think that's a better basketball team than what the
Speaker 2: Lakers are gonna field. Now the Lakers have an additional
Speaker 2: upside here, which is a real thing worth mentioning. They
Speaker 2: wanted to move on and have a clean slate.
Speaker 1: You do.
Speaker 2: You have a clean slate that you succeeded with. Here's
Speaker 2: my problem. You were heading into year three of the
Speaker 2: Luka Doncic era in LA and I think this is
Speaker 2: the worst of the three teams in terms of a
Speaker 2: playoff threat.
Speaker 1: And I don't know how. I don't know how you.
Speaker 2: Reconcile that with the urgency of the Luka danct situation.
Speaker 2: All right, guys, it's all I have for today is
Speaker 2: always a sincerely appreciate you guys for supporting us and
Speaker 2: supporting the show. We're waiting for more news this week.
Speaker 2: Lebron's signing some other trade. Whatever comes down, we will
Speaker 2: react to it when it happens, so I don't know
Speaker 2: when that'll be, so just hang tight. I'll probably be
Speaker 2: shortly after whatever that trade ends up happening when it does,
Speaker 2: so just kind of hang tight and we'll let you
Speaker 2: guys know when the time comes. Again, as always, I
Speaker 2: appreciate you guys, and we will see you later this week.