0:00

You may find this hard to believe, but 60 Songs

0:03

That Explain the 90s, America's favorite

0:05

poorly named music podcast is

0:08

back. With 30 more songs than 120 songs

0:10

total, I'm your

0:12

host, Rob Harvilla, here to bring you more true

0:14

musical analysis, poignant nostalgic

0:17

reveries, crude personal anecdotes,

0:19

and rad special guests, all with

0:22

even less restraint than usual.

0:24

Join us once more on 60 Songs

0:27

That Explain the 90s, every Wednesday

0:29

on Spotify.

0:32

This episode is brought to you by new and improved Shell

0:34

V-Power Nitro Plus premium gasoline.

0:38

Performance inhibiting deposits rob

0:40

your engine's performance and hold it back from its

0:42

true potential, but new and improved

0:45

Shell V-Power Nitro Plus removes up

0:48

to 100% of performance

0:50

robbing deposits to rejuvenate

0:52

your engine's performance. With continuous

0:55

use in gasoline, direct injection

0:57

engine fuel injectors, because

1:00

true performance knows no bounds.

1:03

Learn more at shell.us slash

1:05

vpower.

1:07

This episode is brought to you by Nissan.

1:10

Get the best of both worlds with the all new

1:12

all electric 2023 Nissan Ariya. It's

1:15

fierce and elegant with minimalist

1:17

Japanese design and the ability to go from

1:19

zero to 60 in under five seconds

1:21

with select trims. It truly is the EV

1:23

for people who love to drive. To learn more,

1:26

visit nissanusa.com slash

1:28

Ariya. 2023 Ariya has limited

1:30

availability. Contact your local dealer for inventory

1:32

information. Nissan calculation using one foot rollout

1:34

testing with long range battery and E-Force only

1:36

in sport mode and with E-Step off. Actual acceleration

1:38

may vary. These results are for comparison only and should

1:41

not be attempted on public roads.

1:55

Welcome to the mismatch. I'm Chris Vernon

1:57

and join me as he does every Monday night

1:59

from the ring. dot com is Kevin O'Connor, a.k.a.

2:01

Kevin Obama. Kevin O'Connor, Kevin O'Camera,

2:03

Kevin O'Climber, Kevin O'Conflict, Kevin O'Candyland.

2:06

Kevin.

2:10

Oh, Summer League, how are you doing?

2:12

Summer League has begun

2:14

in both California and Utah. We'll

2:18

get to that at the tail end of the show. We've

2:20

got a lot to cover, including free

2:22

agency that has taken place since we last

2:25

spoke or a massive bulk

2:27

of free agency that has taken place since we last

2:29

spoke. But let's start off with Damian

2:32

Lillard. That has been the biggest story

2:34

that has broken since we last spoke.

2:38

You wrote about it for the ringer

2:40

dot com because there

2:42

was this idea that maybe

2:45

Portland would appease

2:48

Lillard and send him to a preferred

2:51

destination, that

2:52

being possibly Brooklyn

2:55

or Miami. There

2:57

have been other teams now that

2:59

have been mentioned in conjunction with the Lillard

3:01

or that have at least called Portland

3:05

to talk trades. So he

3:08

makes the trade request.

3:09

You and I

3:11

kind of talked about this where there

3:14

was kind of figured like, hey,

3:17

that meeting was probably them

3:20

saying, hey, here's

3:22

our plan. Here's how we're going to try to

3:24

build around you. Just

3:27

so you know what we're doing. This is what

3:29

we're going to try to do. If it

3:31

doesn't work, then we

3:33

can figure it out from there. But

3:36

and I think it probably appeased everything. And

3:38

I think what we'll probably found out down

3:40

the road, like they wanted

3:42

to take a run at dream on

3:44

green. They wanted to take a run at making

3:47

a trade, a big trade that could maybe get

3:50

something done there. And

3:52

when that stuff didn't materialize

3:55

the first two days of free agency,

3:58

then you saw, OK.

4:01

We're not building a winner around

4:03

here anytime soon. Why

4:05

are we even going to drag this into the season?

4:08

And so we kind of made it easy on them by just

4:10

making the trade request. But anyway, you wrote

4:12

a huge article about it, covered

4:14

all different angles. Tell me where you are right

4:17

now regarding Lillard

4:19

and where we think he might end up.

4:22

Well, I mean, it's going to be fascinating to see with

4:24

what happens with the Miami Heat. You

4:27

know, right now they just signed Hamehakes,

4:30

we saw him in his Summer League debut, and one day he

4:32

was awesome. Nikola Jovic,

4:34

who there was their first round draft pick last year,

4:36

he was very good. So,

4:39

you know, Hamehakes cannot be traded for 30 days after

4:42

he signed his rookie deal.

4:43

So if the Portland Trail Blazers did

4:45

want Hamehakes in a deal, they'd

4:48

have to wait until after those 30 days until

4:50

late July. I mean, like, that's just the reality

4:53

of it between Portland and Miami.

4:55

It's been interesting to read

4:57

like what a lot of plugged

4:59

in reporters have

5:02

said, their sources have said about

5:04

this situation here. You

5:06

know, Shams, Sam Amick,

5:09

Jake Fisher, a bunch

5:11

of different people, Woge, have

5:13

all kind of echoed the same sentiment.

5:16

And that's

5:17

the Blazers plan on looking

5:19

elsewhere. They are not

5:21

exactly taking into consideration the famous

5:24

preferred single team list

5:26

of the Miami Heat,

5:27

but the fact that he does have that one

5:30

team on his list and the fact that he is

5:32

signed to a four-year contract

5:34

at big time money, $200 million, that

5:37

could deter some other teams

5:40

from outbidding the Heat. In

5:42

Miami,

5:43

let's be fair here, it's

5:45

not like it's really not

5:47

a good offer compared to what the

5:49

Jazz got for Donovan Mitchell,

5:51

to what the Nets got for Kevin Durant,

5:54

or what the Jazz got for Rudy Gobert,

5:57

or what we saw Paul George

5:59

go for.

5:59

from OKC or the Pelicans from Anthony

6:02

Davis. And yes, you could counter argue, well,

6:05

Lillard's not on the same level

6:07

of those guys. I'd say he is on the same level

6:09

as at least of Donovan Mitchell.

6:11

And that was just one year ago. And Jake Fisher

6:14

brought up the same point in his piece

6:16

today detailing this drama

6:18

that's going on now.

6:20

The Cavs hopped in last

6:22

year

6:23

when the Knicks were the only real team on

6:25

Mitchell's list. And they made a significant

6:27

offer that the Jazz end up taking. And

6:29

he went there and he was a professional about it. And

6:32

they get this great young team and they

6:34

have a bright future ahead, assuming everything

6:36

continues on that trajectory. The question

6:38

now is going to be of all the teams there's been whispers

6:41

about. You know, you've got Ramona Shelburne

6:43

saying the Spurs. Others

6:45

have said the Jazz. You know, you

6:47

hear the stuff about the Sixers, the Celtics,

6:49

the Timberwolves. A bunch of teams have called in.

6:51

But the Jazz and the Spurs

6:53

and the Pelicans are

6:55

the teams with the picks. They're the

6:57

teams that can give you five, six,

6:59

seven picks that they really wanted

7:02

to. And those other teams can't.

7:04

So I just wonder will one of those teams over

7:06

the next couple of weeks decide to say, you

7:08

know what, we're going to top this Miami Heat offer.

7:11

It's on the table for you. Portland, do you want to take it?

7:13

One of the things that you mentioned was

7:16

possibly roping in a third

7:18

team in order to acquire

7:20

the assets. But

7:22

it is very possible. But you

7:24

wonder, are you able to get

7:27

enough assets from

7:29

a third team that Portland would

7:32

be happy with? I mean, wouldn't you think

7:34

they are going to want a collection

7:37

of like what everybody does

7:39

when they're rebuilding? You want a bunch of

7:41

picks and you want salary relief. That's

7:44

what you want. And let me just say the

7:46

Lillard thing is a little bit different, not

7:48

in terms of level of player Kevin, but

7:51

in terms of the contract.

7:53

Those players that you mentioned,

7:56

we never looked at the last year

7:58

of their contract as punitive. And

8:00

most of the time when we have talked

8:03

about Lillard's contract even when

8:05

we love him He's one of my favorite players

8:07

in the league

8:09

But at 36 years old paying the guy 60

8:11

million dollars is a tough go, you

8:13

know Like I know

8:16

yeah, he is that that is not you

8:18

know

8:19

Donovan Mitchell

8:22

is going to be awesome through the life

8:24

of his contract Barring

8:27

injury he is going to be an all NBA

8:29

caliber player through the life

8:32

of that contract and

8:34

I think that could be said

8:36

of most of the guys that you

8:38

mentioned it is a real

8:41

question when it comes to Lillard

8:43

Lada wear and tear and He

8:46

has been so awesome for so

8:49

long and the fact that

8:51

it's not like you get him on some kind

8:53

of bargain at a lesser

8:56

version than what you've got right now You're

8:59

gonna get about what

9:02

would you say? I'd say conservatively

9:05

three years Right

9:11

Literally three years, you know, I mean you

9:13

probably got at least two more of him

9:15

being amazing

9:17

I don't know because member not

9:19

this season but last season when he was

9:21

dealing with that abdomen injury You and

9:23

I talked about it all year long. He stunk during

9:25

the Olympics.

9:27

They said oh, it's an aviary Then they're

9:29

in the season he was the worst season of his

9:31

career. We were talking is this

9:33

the beginning of the end of Damien

9:35

Lord, but then he got the

9:38

surgery and he came back

9:40

and he had the best individual season

9:42

of his entire career You can say his 18-19

9:44

season was better, you know, they go that the

9:46

year they go to the Western Conference Finals You can say

9:49

he had better

9:50

peaks, but I would argue individually

9:52

last year was his best He career

9:54

high in points per game career high in

9:56

scoring efficiency. He was far

9:58

more active off ball than he

9:59

was the four prior years when

10:02

he said that he was

10:04

dealing with that injury for four years.

10:07

And then sometimes after games, it would balloon

10:09

up that size of like a golf ball.

10:11

And I think with Lillard, even

10:14

though he's 33 right now, and even

10:16

though yes, he'll be paying, he'd be getting paid 63

10:19

million dollars, but

10:21

he's 36 years old, it's absurd.

10:25

But he also just had the best season of his career.

10:27

And we're seeing some other guys age so

10:30

gracefully. Stephen Curry at 35,

10:33

LeBron James into his late 30s,

10:35

with Damon, a bunch of players around the NBA

10:38

right now. This isn't James Harden

10:40

partying, drinking, not

10:42

working out as hard. Damien Lillard is a

10:44

consummate professional. And if you're betting

10:47

on anybody to sustain success into their mid

10:49

to late 30s, to me, Damien Lillard

10:51

is a guy that you would be betting on,

10:53

especially considering the year he

10:55

just had. Last

10:58

year, last

11:01

year, I believe it was, it

11:03

was just last season, he had,

11:07

I thought the best game that I

11:09

saw in person last

11:11

season of

11:13

any player. I watched him score.

11:16

He had 42 with 10, 10 assists

11:21

and eight rebounds and just

11:24

absolutely completely dominated

11:26

a game that I was at in Memphis.

11:29

And of all the players that

11:31

came through every game that I went to, he

11:33

was the best player I saw last year.

11:36

It was crazy. It was during that run, he

11:39

had like a month where he averaged almost 40

11:42

points a game.

11:43

He was carrying them

11:45

every night. And it was in

11:47

the middle of that. And he just

11:49

went absolutely nuclear. And I was like,

11:51

my God, there

11:54

is no stopping this guy.

11:57

You have no chance. He was just on a heater.

11:59

like a whole month

12:03

he was the best player in the league.

12:05

And so yeah, I think

12:07

you, I think you put

12:09

the numbers behind that Chris from

12:12

this is the game. He scored 50 points. It

12:15

was January 12th

12:16

over the next 25 games,

12:18

including that game. He scored 50. He

12:21

averaged 37.8 points per game, 7.2 assists.

12:24

He shot 39.3% on 11.9 threes per game.

12:29

I mean, I mean, the dude was unstoppable

12:33

for a time there. Yeah. I

12:35

mean, they tried everything and everybody on him

12:37

and there was no chance. And it didn't matter.

12:40

No. And that's why for the heat,

12:42

if they get Demi and the Lord, they're

12:45

right there with the Bucks and the Celtics. Of

12:47

course. And obviously they just beat those two teams.

12:51

You know, I would argue that on paper, the

12:53

Bucks with a healthy honest, a healthy Middleton

12:56

could still be better than the heat. I could argue that the

12:58

Celtics with a healthy Chris Davis, Porzingis

13:01

and more progress from Tatum

13:03

and Brown as they've been on every year of their

13:05

career so far could be better than

13:07

the heat. However, the heat would be right there

13:09

with Demi and lowered Bam out of bio, Jimmy

13:12

Butler, like Bam out of bio could level

13:14

up playing with a guard like Demi and lowered and Demi

13:16

and lowered himself dribble handoff actions

13:19

with Bam out of bio that could be unstoppable

13:21

in the half court.

13:22

Those two together, it could be absolutely

13:25

unstoppable. Oh, and I love the three.

13:28

I love the three guys together. It's

13:30

just right. The guard. The

13:33

big. Yeah. But also just the

13:35

way it fits because you just got to fill in

13:37

two spots. That's it.

13:39

Really it does. It does fit. There's

13:42

a balance to that heat roster that

13:44

they would have that they would really have that

13:46

you know, bucks and Celtics don't

13:49

because they don't have that kind of guard that Demi and

13:51

lowered is. So

13:53

I mean, like Miami would become right there with

13:55

those teams. They'd probably be considered a lot of people's

13:58

eyes. The finals favorite in the East.

13:59

in conference. But for the Blazers,

14:02

on the other side of that,

14:04

the offer right now is just not good, which is why

14:06

we're talking about them finding a third or

14:08

fourth team in the deal. Tyler Hero is redundant

14:11

with Shaden Sharp, with Anthony Simons.

14:14

He doesn't fit that Blazers roster. So

14:16

where does he land? Is it San Antonio? The

14:19

Spurs still have a ton of cap space where they can absorb

14:21

big money. Is it the Brooklyn Nets? They've

14:23

been rumored as a team that could fit Tyler

14:25

Hero into their situation. But if you are

14:28

taking on Tyler Hero, what

14:30

exactly is

14:31

that other team going to be giving up for Hero?

14:34

Because as good as Hero is at 23

14:36

years old, as a six man of the year, as

14:38

a guy that's averaged 20 points per game two years

14:40

in a row. He's also, besides

14:42

the bubble of his rookie year, been terrible

14:45

in the postseason.

14:46

He's a liability on defense. And

14:49

his progress as a playmaker has

14:51

been solid, but he

14:52

doesn't look like a primary guy

14:54

necessarily. So I just wonder what

14:57

what is another team going to give up

14:59

that is going to make that offer acceptable for the

15:01

Blazers this month, as

15:04

opposed to dragging this out into August,

15:07

maybe longer, and then seeing who else

15:09

might step up over the course of time or if Dame

15:11

adds more teams to his list. It's going to be fascinating

15:14

to see it really is. It's going to be really,

15:16

really interesting to see the way the Blazers play this

15:18

because it's their move next.

15:20

Yeah, I do think Hero has real value, though.

15:22

I do. I do think he is. He's

15:24

a good player. He's good. Anybody that wins, he's

15:26

a good player. Right.

15:31

But he's a good player.

15:33

But can he be he's not the best

15:35

player in the Dame trade.

15:36

That's where we are. He's just

15:38

not. No, I guess

15:41

not unless you're adding just a bunch of

15:43

picks. Which they're not.

15:46

And that would include your guy, you

15:48

know, who you just mentioned, Hakes, you know,

15:51

so that would take 30 days and others

15:53

because,

15:53

yes, there would have to be other picks involved

15:56

in that. There just has to. You know,

15:58

in the end, who was the

15:59

the best player that was involved in the Mitchell deal.

16:03

Marking in, we didn't feel about

16:05

marketing. Like, I mean, it turned out

16:07

to be, you do wonder could,

16:09

you know, Tyler heroes still really

16:12

young, Kev. And

16:14

then there's 23. You

16:16

still really,

16:17

but I mean, but the thing is in that, in

16:20

that Mitchell deal, it wasn't just marketing

16:22

in two firsts and a swap, it was marketing.

16:25

And a guy who was just drafted in the lottery

16:28

and five more future first round

16:30

draft picks, I know not just marketing

16:32

in two firsts. That's the big difference between these situations.

16:36

Yeah.

16:36

So you'd have to wrangle some more

16:38

picks and stuff. And by the way,

16:40

Lillard is better and more proven than Mitchell

16:42

as well. Despite him being older, despite

16:45

him having the bigger contract. That's just

16:48

the reality of it. I did. You, we agree

16:50

on this in, or I know it's his preferred

16:52

destination. I know they probably want to do right

16:54

by him and not send him to

16:56

somewhere that he doesn't want to be.

16:59

That being said, Miami

17:00

has to rope in more than

17:03

what they can just themselves offer

17:06

in order to make that happen. And they might be

17:08

able to, I mean, it's Pat Riley.

17:10

They can, they might be able to rope

17:12

in more. Um, so if it's

17:14

not, if it's not Miami, then of

17:17

all those other teams that have been mentioned, like we've

17:19

heard about the Clippers, we've

17:21

heard about the jazz, the Pelicans,

17:24

the Timberwolves, the Spurs, the

17:26

Celtics, the Sixers,

17:30

any of those stand out to you as the

17:32

team that has enough to make

17:34

a good offer to the Blazers. And that should make

17:36

that offer. That's good enough for the Blazers.

17:39

I think.

17:41

Pelicans and

17:44

Spurs of the ones that you

17:46

just mentioned when I'm

17:48

just thinking about. Is

17:51

that fair? And when I'm just thinking about assets

17:54

and what again, and they should. Yeah.

18:00

Did you give up Zion on the good day? I

18:02

mean, you'd be reuniting. That's the next question

18:04

I had. Damon McCollum.

18:08

That was the next question on my mind. But

18:10

then you got those two together again. I don't

18:12

know. It just

18:14

feels so strange if you reunite those

18:16

two together. He might just be

18:18

running into some of the same problems he had before. You'd

18:21

have a much better supporting cast of Wings

18:23

than they ever had together in Portland

18:25

with Trey Murphy, Brennan Ingram,

18:27

Herb Jones.

18:28

You know, it'd be hilarious. What if you flip McCollum

18:31

in the deal and you gave the

18:33

Blazers back their other beloved

18:36

son to be the veteran leader

18:38

for that team? I

18:41

don't think Portland would.

18:43

But that's another situation where Portland

18:45

wouldn't want CJ McCollum in the same way they

18:47

don't want Tyler here.

18:50

So I think a three way would be

18:52

necessary if it were McCollum going back in

18:54

that deal as well. Maybe

18:56

it would be Zion for some reason. I think if you're training

18:59

for Dame, you're keeping Zion

19:01

and you're keeping Ingram and you're going with a picks

19:03

heavy deal with some other players in that.

19:06

But I mean, it's interesting to think about

19:08

the Spurs. The

19:10

Spurs. Regarding

19:13

what you just said, look,

19:15

if it's a three way, you know Zion wants to be

19:17

involved. We've

19:21

recently learned. Let's

19:24

just end the pod right there. It's over. See

19:26

you. See you next week. All right. Now

19:29

to the Spurs. No. Well,

19:31

the Spurs. Yes, the Spurs.

19:35

Did I

19:37

make the Spurs?

19:41

The Spurs are an interesting one here because

19:45

they still have their cap space. They

19:47

have twenty five plus million dollars in cap

19:49

space right now. So they're there

19:51

right now, I think, positioning themselves to

19:53

be a third team

19:55

or the team for Dame

19:58

and with San Antonio. just

20:00

want to loop this together with something else. The

20:03

Rockets were in on Brook Lopez. They're

20:06

the primary team that drove the price up

20:08

on the Bucks to the point that the Bucks

20:10

had to give him $24 million in the first

20:12

year and sign Robin Lopez.

20:14

That was part of the deal.

20:16

The Spurs were also in on Brook Lopez

20:18

with their cap space. They made him

20:20

a strong offer as well, to my understanding.

20:23

So the Spurs clearly were

20:25

positioning themselves to add a big, you

20:27

know, defensive player of the year. Caliber

20:29

dropped defender, right? An all

20:32

defensive guy to pair next to

20:34

Victor Wamben-Yama in their front court.

20:36

Wouldn't that also indicate

20:38

that they're at least trying to accelerate a little

20:40

bit around Wembe and Devin Vassal

20:43

and some of their young guys, the great Popovich in

20:45

his mid-70s?

20:47

I just wonder if maybe that's their intentions

20:49

here. And so for

20:51

San Antonio and Utah, those two teams

20:53

especially, New Orleans too, but a little bit less

20:55

so. San Antonio and Utah, they

20:57

have enough picks and assets to

20:59

make two big moves. Two.

21:02

So they could go get a Damien Lowlord and

21:04

still have some leftover pieces to get

21:06

multiple other deals or one other

21:08

big splash.

21:10

So I just wonder with San Antonio, if

21:12

that is their objective here

21:14

this offseason, if they are indeed

21:17

interested in Damien Lowlord. And I like the

21:19

Ramona stuff. Ramona has said multiple

21:21

times on ESPN and on Twitter how

21:24

Dame is fascinated by the Spurs,

21:27

how the Popovich relationship and

21:29

all that. Woge responded to her

21:31

tweet about it, you know, kind of underlined

21:34

the point how he doesn't have the no trade clause.

21:37

I don't know. That's just, it's just interesting. Yeah. You

21:39

know, if you pair, if they're in Damien Lowlord

21:41

with Wembe.

21:43

Got some good young players too.

21:46

Pick some players that

21:47

you could get in return. What a kick in

21:49

the nuts. That would be to Portland fans, right?

21:51

You miss out on Wembe,

21:53

not barely. And

21:56

you think you're going to get to watch Lillard

21:58

and Wembe, but then you are. getting to watch

22:00

Lillard and Wimpy, it's just a different

22:03

city. Yikes. No kidding.

22:06

I know. Right. I know. San

22:08

Antonio would be painful.

22:10

They got some stuff I'd want. A lot. Yeah.

22:15

If you threw together, I mean, I'd

22:17

make them just keep on throwing guys at me. I

22:19

want Keldon. I want Sohan. I

22:22

want all of it. We'll

22:25

give you Lillard. But I want all of it. I

22:28

want those young guys that you've- I

22:30

mean, I know. I don't- This

22:33

is the thing though, Chris, right? Like you're saying

22:35

that, but that Miami

22:37

Heat offer, if the Miami Heat offer is the baseline,

22:40

you don't need to give up all that stuff

22:42

you're listing if you're San Antonio. Well, fine.

22:44

Just give me

22:47

two of them and a bunch of picks,

22:49

you know? It's

22:53

fine. Give me Sohan and Keldon or give me

22:55

Sohan and Vassel or Vassel,

22:57

whatever. Yeah. I mean, the Spurs

23:00

have some future picks from other teams

23:02

too. They have the Hawks picks. They

23:04

got, I believe, a Raptors pick, a

23:07

Charlotte pick. Some of those are protected, but

23:10

the Hawks ones are not. So

23:12

they have some options to throw in there for future

23:15

picks as well, beside their own.

23:17

And they have all of their own.

23:19

You think they get an unbelievable deal for

23:21

Lillard when it's all said and done, or do you think they

23:23

just settle for

23:25

a deal? I think

23:27

they should. Does that mean

23:29

that they will? No. I think they

23:32

should, considering the price that all

23:34

these other superstores are going for in

23:36

recent years. If

23:38

they get that Heat deal on the surface, it would be

23:40

a horrible return. If I were a

23:42

Blazers fan, I'd be absolutely furious.

23:45

I'd be just angry about it. If that's

23:46

what we got back for Damian

23:49

Lillard, but at the end of the day,

23:51

that might be the best offer. And

23:53

that comes back to the point that we're talking

23:55

about earlier. How are the Blazers actually

23:58

going to play this? Are they going to be incredibly? patient

24:00

and play this out and deep into the summer,

24:03

or are they actually in a rush to get a deal done here?

24:05

And also, I

24:06

do think it's worth considering, you know, you

24:08

mentioned the stuff about cap relief and picks

24:10

and all that. Well, they did

24:13

just give a massive contract

24:15

to Jeremy Grant. They are expecting

24:17

Shaden Sharp to take a bit of a leap this season

24:20

after he closed last year, incredibly

24:22

strong.

24:23

They do think Scoot Henderson is going to be somebody

24:25

who can come in and contribute right away. So

24:27

for the Portland side of things,

24:30

even though they want cap relief, they

24:32

want picks. I wonder if they'd also

24:35

want a player who can come in and

24:37

help right away and then be competitive. Like

24:40

what exactly they want is a little

24:42

bit unclear here with the people I talked to

24:44

around the NBA. It could be a player that they

24:47

want to.

24:50

This episode is brought to you by Nissan.

24:53

Get the best of both worlds with the all

24:55

new all electric 2023 Nissan

24:57

Ariya. It's fierce and elegant with

25:00

minimalist Japanese design and the ability

25:02

to go from zero to 60 in under five

25:04

seconds with select trims. It truly is the

25:06

EV for people who love to drive. To learn

25:08

more, visit NissanUSA.com

25:11

slash Ariya. 2023 Ariya

25:13

has limited availability. Contact your local dealer for

25:15

inventory information. Nissan calculation using one

25:17

foot rollout testing with long range battery and e-force

25:19

only in sport mode and with e-step off. Actual acceleration

25:22

may vary. These results are for comparison only and should not

25:24

be attempted on public roads.

25:26

Let's

25:26

just move on to a free

25:28

agency because what we're going to do is we're

25:31

going to do three things that stood out to us

25:34

in free agency and

25:36

they could be for any reason. Start off with Grant. Good

25:39

or bad. Okay, I'll start off with him. Okay,

25:41

so I'll start off with him, not

25:44

specifically just Jeremy Grant,

25:47

but I think what we

25:49

saw, Kevin, was when

25:52

you saw a bunch of those. Big

25:55

contracts being handed out. I

25:58

sensed that. there was a

26:01

theme that these

26:03

teams, I think people took it

26:06

as, why would they give these

26:09

guys that don't deserve these contracts,

26:11

these contracts like Jeremy Grant,

26:14

like Kyle Kuzma,

26:16

like some of these. I'm talking about

26:18

resigning their guys.

26:20

I think the theme was, whether

26:23

it was Grant, whether it was Kyrie,

26:26

whether it was Kuzma, that

26:30

even though it seems like those teams are

26:32

not necessarily attempting

26:34

to be competitive, and I'm talking specifically

26:36

about Washington and Portland, obviously

26:39

more so than Dallas with the Kyrie thing,

26:41

but I think Kyrie falls into this as well.

26:44

I think it was just retaining the asset.

26:47

That's it. It's retaining the asset,

26:50

not losing it for nothing. Then

26:54

when it comes around

26:56

and you've got that team

26:58

that thinks that that player could

27:01

take them over the hump this

27:03

upcoming year, then

27:06

I will take your two

27:08

crap contracts that are

27:10

going to fall off of my books, and

27:13

I will take your first round pick, and

27:16

you will then get Jeremy Grant. You

27:19

will then get

27:20

possibly Cam Johnson. You will

27:23

then get Kyle Kuzma. I

27:28

think a lot of people took it like, well, they're going to have

27:30

Kyle Kuzma as one of their best players,

27:32

they're going to have Jeremy Grant for $160

27:34

million.

27:36

To me, that was just

27:39

obviously a retention

27:41

of asset. That was the going

27:43

rate and that those guys will

27:46

be traded for

27:48

what enables you to put

27:50

together a rebuild more. Because

27:52

it might sound silly that someone

27:54

will give you that, but I

27:57

even heard Nate Duncan mention this. You're

28:00

telling me that Dallas couldn't

28:03

possibly look up and then say, we'll give you Tim

28:05

Hardaway Jr. and we'll give you this other contract

28:07

and we'll give you a first round pick and you give us Jeremy

28:10

Grant? Like there's always the

28:12

desperate teams. There's always the teams that

28:15

think that you can get over the hump.

28:17

There's always the GM that

28:19

wants to keep his job.

28:22

So I don't think any of those teams

28:24

that signed those Looney contracts

28:26

are going to pay out those Looney contracts. I

28:29

think that was just retention

28:32

of asset. I think that became a theme

28:35

amongst a lot of the ones

28:38

that when people saw them on the screen, they went,

28:40

what the hell?

28:42

Bingo, Chris. Bingo.

28:44

Especially with Portland. Like with

28:47

Portland and Jeremy Grant specifically,

28:49

maybe they'd want to play in return. But

28:51

clearly they don't want Carl Anthony Towns. They

28:54

don't want Tyler Hero. They probably

28:56

want a player who's on their rookie deal, if

28:58

anything, in return. So in

29:01

regards to Jeremy Grant, he's 29 years old

29:03

right now. The contract is over five

29:06

years and per year is 27, 29, 32, 34, 36 million dollars

29:08

per season.

29:11

That's

29:14

not that bad for a guy who's a great

29:17

versatile defender, who is a great

29:19

spot-op shooter, who can do a little bit off the

29:22

dribble for you, can be used in different schemes.

29:24

We've seen him excel now in Denver

29:27

as a guy next to Jokic. We saw him as a go-to

29:29

guy in Detroit. We've seen him in Portland.

29:32

He's excelled in different schemes with different

29:34

roles. So for you mentioned Dallas

29:36

as an example, whoever it might become

29:39

deadline time this coming season,

29:41

or next summer or the next deadline

29:43

in year one or two of that contract. Yep.

29:46

Absolutely. A ton of teams would want Jeremy

29:49

Grant, a whole bunch of them would. And

29:51

I will and just give me

29:54

your two expirings and a first.

29:57

Bingo. And then Portland is suddenly.

29:59

They got clean books moving forward and

30:02

right their young team and their tanking

30:05

and they're rebuilding that way rather than

30:07

being in This kind of stuck in the middle position

30:09

right now. Yeah, it's an asset I'm with

30:11

you all of those deals that that apply

30:13

that applies to Washington Like you said all

30:16

of who's all of those deals it I

30:18

even think the Kyrie one

30:20

I know it's it's crazy. It's 42

30:22

million a year. No, but again,

30:24

yeah, you're right. Just a What

30:27

else are like Honestly, it's

30:29

retention of asset. This is where

30:31

I didn't think that went through enough Because

30:34

the answer was you'll

30:37

get the most money from them

30:39

Because they have to keep him

30:41

they don't have a choice. Is it the perfect

30:43

pairing with Luca? That's not why you're doing

30:45

it You're doing it because you've

30:48

got to retain that asset We

30:50

just gave up stuff to

30:52

get that asset. We just gave up

30:55

to any Smith Who might have gotten us something

30:57

in return? We just gave up some of these

30:59

other assets like

31:02

What else are we gonna move

31:04

to improve anything here?

31:07

We don't have anybody There's

31:10

nothing to trade If

31:13

we don't keep him who could do

31:15

trade Dwight Powell To get

31:17

a better team around Luca like we don't have

31:19

enough There's we don't have enough

31:21

horses. We don't have enough things to

31:24

move so To me

31:26

the Kyrie Irving thing isn't about like hey

31:28

This is the perfect pairing and we're gonna have Luca

31:31

and Kyrie Going into the next couple

31:33

of years because we really believe in that that

31:35

was much like those tanking

31:37

teams or

31:39

Teams that aren't ready to compete right now

31:41

whether they full-on tank or not

31:44

They just had to have the asset They

31:46

couldn't just let it go for

31:48

nothing because in the end even

31:51

if it's a crap contract. It's still

31:53

an asset It's still something

31:55

you might Be able to get

31:57

something for And

32:00

if you get nothing for it

32:02

and he just walks away, then

32:06

again, it's really

32:08

your only means to improve around. Luke, I know

32:10

it's like you were, they were in a terrible

32:13

spot. Really? When,

32:16

when it's either lose him for nothing and

32:18

have no assets to move or

32:20

pay him a contract that

32:23

is ridiculous. They

32:25

chose B, but neither

32:28

choice was, you're

32:31

dead. Once you attain that you're dead, like

32:34

it's all bad choices. It's your choosing

32:36

between puke and diarrhea. And

32:39

I guess they took diarrhea. So,

32:41

all right. What's the first thing that stood out

32:43

to you from a free agency?

32:49

I'll go with Austin Reeves

32:51

at 56.3 million over four

32:54

years. Yeah. Talk about him

32:56

getting over a hundred million dollars. The

32:58

Lakers effectively use

33:00

the power teams have with restricted

33:02

free agency.

33:04

And they said, they told everybody

33:06

who could, who was listening, which is everybody.

33:09

We're going to match. We're going to match.

33:12

And they scared off every team that had cap

33:14

money from extending an offer

33:16

sheet at max value, knowing that the Lakers

33:19

were going to match it anyway. And

33:21

that situation really just does speak

33:23

to the advantage teams have

33:26

with restricted free agents. And

33:28

with Austin Reeves, I mean, good for him.

33:30

He goes from undrafted to making 50 plus

33:32

million dollars over the next four years.

33:35

But man, if he were unrestricted instead,

33:37

that guy definitely would have gotten a

33:39

hundred plus million dollars. Like we saw with a bunch of

33:41

guys and for the Lakers, it was part of what

33:44

was a pretty successful off season so far,

33:46

adding to the bench that they did or kind of a refurbishing

33:49

the bench in the way that they did. And getting reefs

33:51

to that price is the biggest win of them all.

33:54

Great value. Great value

33:56

for sure. Not

33:59

great. value. I mean,

34:01

you knew I was going to say this. And

34:04

let me just say, you who

34:06

have been with me all these years know I

34:09

get to come by this honest, because though

34:11

he was on the team that I root for, never

34:16

did I, in a million years,

34:20

believe that someone

34:22

would give Dylan Brooks four

34:24

years, $80 million.

34:27

This is absolute

34:30

insanity.

34:32

Now, when I tell you I get to

34:34

come by this honest, anybody that listens to my daily

34:37

show knows I was on this the

34:39

entire year.

34:40

There is

34:42

Rockets fans, earmuffs.

34:44

I don't care if you wear earmuffs, you hate me

34:46

anyway. Dylan Brooks took 991 shots

34:48

last year in the NBA. He shot 39.6% from

34:51

the field. There's only

34:59

one player in the entire

35:02

NBA that took more

35:04

shots and hit less than

35:07

Dylan Brooks. That

35:10

player, Fred

35:12

Van Vliet. Oh

35:15

God. Yikes. Barely

35:19

edged him out at 39.3. So Fred Van Vliet,

35:25

and that's in 1112 attempts. So

35:29

he took more shots,

35:31

the second most shots in

35:34

the NBA with the lowest field goal percentage.

35:38

He took 439 three pointers last year, Kevin. There

35:42

is no player in

35:44

the NBA that shot worse than 32.6%

35:47

on that volume of threes.

35:49

There is

35:57

one player that took more shots

35:59

than him. and hit less of them. There

36:02

are no players in

36:05

the league of 500

36:10

guys that play. No one

36:13

took more threes and hit less. And

36:16

he wants an expanded role to shoot

36:19

more. And

36:23

just for your point of reference, everyone

36:27

hold on to your seats. Dylan Brooks

36:29

took more shots last season while

36:32

hitting less than anyone.

36:34

He took more shots than

36:36

Demontus Sabonis.

36:38

He took more shots than

36:40

Jimmy Butler. He

36:43

took more shots than James Harden last

36:46

year, all while shooting

36:48

under 40% from the field. Eighty

36:53

million dollars. I'm

36:56

telling you, literally

36:58

no one shot

37:01

worse. No

37:03

one on

37:06

that volume. It's

37:08

unthinkable. P.S.

37:11

Fred Van Villeet actually took six hundred and

37:13

six threes and shot 34% on those.

37:18

He was neck and neck with Dylan. I mean, they might

37:20

have gotten the two worst shooting performances from

37:22

high volume shooters. The

37:25

only guy they missed was Terry

37:27

Rozier, who shot 42% from the

37:30

field on almost 1200

37:33

attempts and shot 33%

37:36

from three, barely edging out

37:38

Dylan on 500 attempts. They

37:42

paid the worst volume

37:45

shooter in the entire NBA

37:49

four years, $80 million, because

37:52

of defense,

37:55

I guess. He

38:00

tries hard on defense and

38:04

he snorts and growls and

38:07

he's tough. He's physical player. There's a lot

38:09

that I like that he can bring to the table,

38:12

but that is a guy that has always

38:15

wanted to do more and

38:18

shoot more. And he has

38:20

made that clear that

38:22

he wants to shoot more and be

38:25

more of an offensive weapon and

38:30

good luck. Good

38:32

luck. As they say in the South, bless

38:34

your heart. Cause Jesus,

38:40

that is, I

38:42

can't believe it.

38:44

I can't believe it.

38:45

And I just rooted for him his whole career.

38:48

Right? Every night I watched every game

38:50

the guy played. That

38:52

is asinine. Asinine.

38:57

Unthinkable. Frankly. And

38:59

I just gave you the stats. They're

39:02

disgusting. And I

39:04

bitched about them all year, all

39:07

year. I bitched about it all

39:09

year. And then we,

39:12

and then like, what's the goal? The goal

39:14

is to get to the playoffs. The

39:17

Lakers treated him like he had SARS. They

39:20

were like 50 feet away from

39:22

him. Half

39:25

the Lakers, when we were, when the Grizzlies were on offense, like we're sitting

39:27

in the third row. Like, go ahead, bro.

39:30

Do your thing. The

39:36

whole world was latching,

39:38

was hinging on Luke Canard's availability just

39:42

so someone could

39:44

get thrown the ball that they

39:47

would have to guard. I can't

39:49

believe

39:52

it, but Hey, good

39:54

luck. I'm sorry about the

39:56

van. numbers.

40:00

I did not realize. My

40:02

intention

40:03

was to just

40:04

give the Brooks numbers.

40:07

And then when I looked it up, I'm like, did anybody

40:09

shoot worse on that many

40:12

shots? Like,

40:13

that was a sad thing to find.

40:16

I mean, they literally just spent what, what was the

40:18

van Vliet number? Was it 80 million something?

40:21

Was it three years, $128 million? It's 41 million, 43 million,

40:23

and 45 million. So

40:28

it's $200 million on the two

40:31

worst shooting performances

40:34

in the league on high volume.

40:36

Oh boy. Oh boy. I

40:39

mean, look, at

40:42

least I don't know. And then the Jalen

40:44

Green weekend, tough, tough

40:46

go. Just a tough,

40:49

tough spot for Rockets fans.

40:52

Tough, tough one for Josh Christopher, too, getting

40:54

traded the next day. Tough. That's

40:57

tough. All right.

41:05

It was a tough, tough couple of days for Rockets

41:07

for sure. The van Vliet,

41:10

I mean, I have nothing to add on Dylan Brooks.

41:12

I just wanted to sit back and enjoy.

41:14

You just

41:17

unload. But I was just giving the stats.

41:20

Yeah. You're just stating the facts. That's

41:22

right. Numbers don't lie. But with Fred

41:25

van Vliet, I just, I just have this spot.

41:27

I'm just curious about your, your, what your

41:29

feedback is on this, Chris. Van Vliet,

41:31

you're right. Super, super

41:34

inefficient

41:35

last season with Toronto

41:37

the year before that,

41:38

a bit better than his all-star year,

41:40

even though he fell off in the second half of the year, the

41:43

year prior to that, super inefficient

41:45

as well. However,

41:47

is it possible with

41:49

the Rockets, the way they play,

41:52

the fact they have Amen Thompson, a rookie

41:55

and shangoon dribble handoffs

41:57

and different sources of offense,

41:59

different.

41:59

guys who could create that we'll

42:02

see more of the van Vliet

42:04

that we saw when he was a younger player

42:06

and he was a super efficient spot

42:08

up shooter, even over the last five

42:11

seasons when he's had a heavier role,

42:13

he's at 41%

42:14

on catch and shoot threes. Is

42:16

it possible that we see a more

42:18

efficient brand of basketball from Fred

42:21

van Vliet considering the options

42:23

and the type of offense the Rockets can run with

42:26

different guys whereas Toronto, van

42:28

Vliet was kind of playing, you know,

42:31

above above the level

42:33

that he probably should be as

42:34

an on ball creator. And I know that

42:37

brings them to the contract situation, but

42:39

he is a good defensive player. He is

42:41

a good leader type of guy. There's

42:44

a lot of positive qualities. I'm

42:46

a van fleet player. I am. I'm

42:48

a complete I am too. I

42:50

don't think he's ever had a you'd have

42:52

to look a season where he's like shot 50% over 50%

42:56

from two.

42:57

He has he has not.

42:59

I mean, that's crazy. It's crazy. I

43:02

mean, he's a small guard. But he

43:04

just doesn't finish. You know, I mean, like, so he's

43:06

got to be able to shoot. He's got

43:09

to be able to shoot if he doesn't finish. Right?

43:12

Yeah, pick one, bro. Yeah,

43:15

be able to do one or the other.

43:17

And so

43:18

I'm a fan of his and I've always

43:20

loved the story. But

43:22

numbers are the numbers. I didn't want to find

43:25

them. I just came about I'm trying to find

43:27

out the just look up the dill of

43:29

Brooksville. And

43:31

I got slapped in the face with that tough.

43:35

I'm a Fred fan, but

43:36

damn, man, those numbers are

43:39

rough. The van Vliet

43:41

numbers. You know,

43:43

I mentioned how over the last five seasons he

43:45

shot 41% on catch

43:48

and shoot threes over the

43:51

last five seasons. There have

43:53

been 74 players

43:55

to attempt over 900 shots

43:58

in their restricted area. And the reason why I

44:00

use 900 is because Van Vliet has 947. Out

44:04

of those 74 players,

44:06

Van Vliet is 74th

44:09

in restricted area field goal

44:11

percentage at Second

44:15

to worst is Dennis Schruder

44:17

at 57.8%. So

44:21

the difference between last

44:23

and second to last is 51.9 to 58.8. That's

44:30

a huge difference. That

44:33

just goes to show your point about how he can't

44:36

finish at the basket. He's a mid-range

44:38

guy, a floater guy, a three-point

44:41

shooter. He's not an at-ramp finisher. And

44:44

that's why he's... Look, I think you're paying him...

44:46

You're paying him for culture, leadership,

44:49

and getting things in order.

44:51

That's what you're paying him for. Defense. Yeah,

44:54

absolutely. All that stuff. Culture.

44:56

That's what you're paying him for.

44:58

Setting the tone. That's what you're paying Dylan Brooks

45:00

for too, though. If you're Dylan Brooks, he

45:03

can't be shooting 10 times per game. Dylan

45:05

Brooks needs to be in the Draymond

45:08

role where he's taking four, five, six

45:10

shots per game. And that's...

45:13

I know. It's not gonna happen. But

45:16

that's what he needs to do. That's what

45:18

he has to do. Dude, he was

45:20

just on an awesome team with

45:22

three clearly...

45:26

Four clearly. ... better

45:29

options. And yet he still

45:31

thinks he needs to shoot more. All

45:33

I'm saying is that he needs to have

45:36

this come to Jesus moment where

45:38

he realized, oh, the best moment

45:40

myself. Oh, that'll happen after he got $80 million. That's

45:43

exactly the time where

45:45

the come to Jesus moment happens. That's

45:49

when he'll be humble. I know. There's

45:51

just so many guys on that Rockets team. I

45:54

hope he doesn't cause the same issues for them

45:56

and their development like he did for years

45:59

in Memphis.

45:59

taking so many shots. Oh

46:02

man.

46:05

This episode is brought to you by TickPick. TickPick

46:08

is where fans can buy and sell tickets to live

46:11

events from concerts to sports games.

46:14

They're the only major ticket marketplace with

46:16

no hidden fees. That

46:18

means when you buy a ticket on TickPick, you

46:21

get all-in-one pricing with no surprises. In

46:23

fact, TickPick is so

46:25

confident in their prices that they

46:27

created the best price guarantee.

46:29

So you get the lowest price guaranteed.

46:33

That's how confident they are. They're confident in their name. They're

46:35

confident in the lowest price guaranteed. Download

46:37

the TickPick app today or visit

46:40

TickPick.com. This episode is

46:42

brought to you by SimpliSafe Home Security. With 24

46:44

seven live guard protection, SimpliSafe

46:47

has changed the game of home security.

46:49

Its advanced motion detection can tell the

46:51

difference between potential intruders

46:53

and pets. I know this for a fact because I have three

46:55

dogs in my house.

46:57

Get 20% off when you sign up for fast

46:59

protect monitoring at simplisafe.com

47:01

slash ringer. That is simplisafe

47:03

with two I's. simplisafe.com slash ringer. There

47:05

is no safe like SimpliSafe. All

47:08

right, who's your next one? I'll

47:10

do Bruce Brown. Bruce

47:12

Brown contract is very interesting. Two

47:14

years, 45 million. And it's interesting

47:17

for a couple of different reasons. A, congrats

47:19

to him. He earned it. He

47:21

had a great year with the Nuggets after two really

47:23

good years with the Nets. He is

47:26

a great fit with Tyrese Halliburton. It's very cool

47:28

to see this, but I'm more interested

47:30

in it in the sense that

47:32

this is a two year, $45 million deal, but

47:35

that second year is a team

47:37

option. He basically

47:39

signed a one year deal, almost

47:42

double what the mid-level exception was,

47:45

a bit more than what some other teams with the cap space

47:47

would have had. But now the Pacers

47:49

have a lot of flexibility moving forward

47:52

with this young core. They could keep Bruce

47:54

Brown

47:55

at $23 million in that second

47:57

year of his contract. But the fact

47:59

that it's a team option. that

48:01

just positions them to kind of

48:03

play around here and see

48:05

what they want to do

48:07

into the future. If Bruce Brown doesn't live up

48:09

to that deal

48:11

now in Indiana, they could just say,

48:13

okay, all right, go into free agency, or

48:15

they could trade him. It's essentially like a

48:17

traded player exception for them at

48:20

an expiring deal next year. So for Indiana,

48:23

at first, I was like, whoa, that's a lot for Bruce Brown.

48:25

But seeing the terms of the contract

48:27

with the team option in that second year, I

48:30

actually love it for both sides. It's a mutually beneficial

48:32

deal. Well,

48:33

if there's anybody that

48:35

is willing to bet on themselves, you'd

48:37

figure it'd be Bruce Brown, right? They

48:39

just want to prove his worth. When

48:41

that number

48:43

first came out, though, I

48:45

must tell you, I went, oh my God. Like

48:47

you and I both like Bruce

48:49

Brown, but Jesus, man. I

48:51

love Bruce Brown. How many times have we said

48:54

his first and last name on the show? Ever since he

48:56

was on Brooklyn.

48:57

But it's always, and this leads

48:59

into my third one.

49:01

He falls into this unbelievable

49:04

category of

49:06

cashing in on the

49:10

heat wave, the fact that you played

49:12

on an awesome team, a winning team

49:14

in the playoffs. And so

49:17

your value,

49:19

based upon what we just saw in the

49:21

playoffs, went up.

49:25

We'll never know how many fold then

49:27

if your team would have gotten bounced at the

49:29

beginning or earlier,

49:32

right? Like if that's,

49:35

say,

49:38

David Chenzo. David Chenzo got what? $12

49:41

million? He got like $12 million, something like that. I

49:44

think $12.5.

49:45

He got $12.5, $50 million

49:47

for four years, right? Like

49:50

if Dante Di Vincenzo was on the NBA champion

49:52

and had some big moments

49:54

in the championship, then that's his

49:56

contract, right? But

50:00

instead, he gets 12.5 million. It's

50:03

still the kind of level of player that

50:05

you are. But my

50:08

third one is exactly

50:10

that, which is the cash ins. And

50:13

holy hell, Gabe

50:15

Benson and Max Droosz. Gabe

50:19

Benson got 33 million. Max

50:22

Droosz got 63 million. They

50:25

got a combined $96 million. What

50:32

is that number

50:35

if the Bulls play a better

50:37

three minutes? Sliding

50:43

doors for those guys, huh, Chris? I

50:46

mean, I don't think that it's

50:49

within 50 million of that. I

50:52

don't think it's within 60 million

50:54

of that. Like, go look at their numbers.

50:58

This is like they were just on

51:00

a team that made it

51:02

to the NBA Finals.

51:04

And they were fantastic

51:08

for that team. But they're not the

51:10

reason they were in the NBA Finals. They're

51:14

role players. That's what those

51:16

guys are. Amazing role

51:18

players for that team. But

51:21

that team was not very good this year.

51:25

And that team was three minutes away from

51:28

not playing in the playoffs.

51:31

And then they knocked off Milwaukee

51:33

and they knocked off Boston. There we

51:35

have it. They're there. And

51:38

so, but do

51:42

we view those players

51:45

in that radically

51:48

different than what we did before?

51:51

Because they made that run. The answer was the league

51:54

did or at least a couple teams did. But

51:57

man, oh man. Aye

51:59

aye. I

52:01

couldn't believe those deals.

52:03

I couldn't believe them.

52:05

The defensive one,

52:06

less

52:09

so than the the the

52:11

strew. Sure. I mean, the defensive

52:13

one was just it's just weird that they spent 70.

52:17

I know the Lakers had the bargain

52:19

in Austin Reeves, but I

52:21

love Austin Reeves on the ball for that

52:23

team. That's where he was devastating,

52:26

was running that pick and roll thing. And they spent $70

52:29

million on DeAngelo

52:31

Russell and Gabe Vinson.

52:33

I didn't I don't know. The deals

52:35

that I want to talk about here,

52:38

kind of the flip side. Yeah. Talking

52:40

about the guys that were had the playoff success.

52:43

I want to talk about two guys that are joining a

52:45

playoff team on cheap league

52:48

minimum contracts and

52:50

with like no no long-terming implications

52:53

where they they would hope to be that next

52:55

guy to get that big deal. You get Kata

52:57

Bates Deop who

52:58

signed a two year league minimum contract

53:00

with the Suns coming from the San Antonio

53:03

Spurs. And then Utah want to Na'Vi

53:05

who signed the one year league minimum

53:07

contract with the Phoenix Suns. They're

53:09

adding these guys banking

53:12

on them being incredible shooters

53:14

for their teams. And I just want to say this

53:16

on that note. Kata Bates Deop

53:19

last year with the Spurs. He proved himself

53:21

again. Good defender. Smart player on

53:23

offense, just like he's been on since college.

53:26

Last season was his first year ever shooting

53:28

well from three. 41% on catch

53:31

and shoot threes on the year for the Spurs up

53:33

from 31% over his first four seasons.

53:37

Utah want to Na'Vi

53:39

last season for the Nets. He was one

53:41

of the best shooters in all the basketball. He led

53:43

the league in three point percentage at certain points throughout

53:45

the year. Ended at forty four point four

53:48

percent

53:48

for the Nets. Here's my concern

53:50

with him.

53:52

First half of the season before the All-Star

53:54

break forty eight point one percent.

53:56

Second half of the year twenty nine point

53:58

six percent. He goes from a guy. who's not

54:00

able to hit shots, not able to even,

54:03

you know, get minutes. Prior

54:05

to last season,

54:06

he shot 35.2% with

54:09

the Grizzlies and the Raptors in the NBA.

54:11

He shot 35% from three in

54:13

the G League. He shot 33.7%

54:16

in college.

54:17

So for the Suns, they're betting on,

54:20

they had a good free agent class, but wantanabe

54:23

and Bates Deop, with those two guys

54:25

specifically, they better hope those guys

54:28

are more like the knockdown shooters that

54:30

they had last season,

54:31

and not the guys who were average

54:34

or below average over the duration

54:36

of their entire basketball life. So

54:38

we're going to find out with those guys with all

54:40

the open catch and shoot opportunities that

54:43

they're going to get from Beale and Booker

54:45

and Durant.

54:46

All game long, those guys are going to get open opportunities.

54:49

They better prove that they are more

54:51

like the guys we saw last season and not the ones

54:53

prior. Okay, so two things

54:56

I would say. Number one, I love

54:58

you to, obviously

55:00

I covered him as a rookie and also when

55:02

he was at the G League.

55:05

And I'll always root for him.

55:08

He became an amazing corner

55:11

three guy. And when you

55:13

said, hey, here were his stats before

55:15

and after, I bet you, dime

55:18

to a donut that that lines up with Durant

55:22

and his availability as

55:24

well, or at least having

55:27

some of those drive and kick

55:30

type guys, guys that commanded

55:32

attention. He is dependent

55:34

upon you commanding

55:37

attention. He is that guy

55:39

that the guy, his

55:42

man pinches in from the corner.

55:45

He gets the kick out. He knocks

55:47

down the corner three.

55:49

That's what he's great at doing. You don't

55:51

want to do anything else, but he'll stand

55:54

out there for the spacing. He could

55:56

stand out there in the corner and he

55:58

can knock that down. And

55:59

And I'll bet you that when he was playing with

56:02

some playmakers

56:04

in Brooklyn, that

56:07

that was the case. I mean, he is a reliant

56:09

player, as are many role

56:12

players. He is reliant on the

56:14

playing off of guys

56:17

that can go. You think about the second half

56:19

of that Brooklyn season, it stunk.

56:21

You had the bridges break out, but really, I mean,

56:24

they had torn the whole team apart.

56:27

There was no Kyrie, there was no KD,

56:30

there was no, you know, the whole thing had been,

56:33

you know, we saw what they were

56:36

at the end of the season. And that wasn't a very good

56:38

team. The bridges thing was the bright

56:40

spot. But

56:42

Yuda has to have, he's got

56:44

to be playing with stars. And

56:47

there ain't a problem playing with stars there. He

56:50

had all. I actually think he could be good. I

56:53

think he could, I think he can make the corner

56:56

threes. I do. That's

56:58

why it's such an ideal situation.

57:01

I'm just laying out the numbers to say

57:03

that it's an opportunity for them to prove

57:05

themselves and earn big money deals.

57:08

And then next time that they're up for contracts,

57:11

or they're going to fall back

57:13

and be, you know, disappointing and be

57:15

more like, especially with Bates D-op and

57:17

not be the knocked down guy that he

57:19

was last season. I have greater belief in wantonabi

57:22

as a shooter than Bates D-op. I got the honest

57:24

guess. For both of those guys. Interesting.

57:26

I got to be honest. I thought they did a better job

57:28

than I thought they'd be able to. Way better.

57:30

The sun. Filling out that roster.

57:33

Drew Eubanks doesn't suck. They feel deep all of a sudden. And Drew Eubanks

57:35

doesn't suck. And like those guys don't

57:37

suck.

57:39

Eubanks is one of the best at

57:41

room finishing centers in the entire

57:43

NBA. I remember last season, I wrote

57:45

something on the on the ringer about

57:47

how with Eubanks being a finisher

57:50

and picking roles with Damian Miller, like, like

57:52

it was amazing. I think he shot 80%. Yeah,

57:55

like they do. The

57:57

Suns did a great job showing up that bench.

57:59

It went from, oh, this team has no depth

58:02

to, oh, they actually have a lot of depth. Like overnight,

58:04

that's what happened with the Suns where with want

58:06

to not be in with Bates D up,

58:08

even if those guys don't necessarily meet

58:11

expectations, they have a lot

58:13

of other options on their team at this point. A

58:15

lot. The other thing is those guys are taking four

58:17

shots.

58:18

You know what I mean? Like you just got to be good in

58:21

your limited role. Yep.

58:23

That's it. But those are a bunch of role

58:25

players and you know, in

58:27

my, in my idea of trying to get

58:29

as many guys that don't suck as you can, like

58:32

I looked up and down, what they ended up with. And

58:34

I'm like, you know, playable,

58:38

you know, it

58:40

better than what I thought they'd end up with Phoenix,

58:44

honestly. Um, all

58:47

right. The only thing we got left is, uh, well,

58:49

two things. We got the

58:51

restrictions that are left. The ones that stood out,

58:54

Grant Williams, you boy, the

58:56

soon move hasn't, uh, got a

58:58

deal yet. PJ Washington. Yeah.

59:01

Another one. Yeah. There's some of

59:03

those. I outlined both of those guys

59:05

on beyond the arc last week with some video

59:07

breakdowns. I owe to a soon move and PJ

59:10

Washington. Neither of them have been signed. Shake Milton

59:12

was though. He was the third guy, um, that

59:15

I did detail. He went to the wolves. I liked that.

59:17

Grant one is interesting too, to me

59:19

because I didn't figure he'd

59:21

still be out there right now, but you'd

59:24

imagine there's some kind of deal somewhere on

59:26

the horizon. San Antonio, maybe. Cause

59:28

San Antonio has that cap space. If they don't

59:30

use it in a Dame type of situation,

59:33

three way, maybe who do they use

59:35

that cap space for? Could they be a PJ Washington

59:37

team?

59:38

PJ Washington would be a great fit

59:40

next to Sohan and

59:42

when be city. So, so-co who

59:44

was awesome defensively today as well. Uh,

59:47

and his game against the Hornets and Brennan Miller.

59:49

Um, I don't know. I just wonder where, how

59:52

are those first use that space that I

59:54

know you've got it. Usually got a computer right front of you.

59:56

Was that his massive game?

59:59

Who was. that massive game at the

1:00:01

end of the year when everybody stopped caring.

1:00:04

PJ Washington went nuclear.

1:00:07

Was that San Antonio? PJ Washington.

1:00:10

Uh, that's what I'm saying. It was against the warriors,

1:00:13

warriors, warriors at the start of the year. And

1:00:15

then the thunder at the end of the year. Oh, it was a

1:00:18

thunder.

1:00:19

Yeah. He had that one game against like thunder.

1:00:22

40 something points. And I'm like, what

1:00:24

did the heck? 43, 43 points.

1:00:28

And yeah, PJ, PJ Washington,

1:00:30

the data that I had on beyond the arc

1:00:32

last week was, um,

1:00:34

PJ Washington is one of four

1:00:36

players this past season

1:00:38

to log over 900 possessions

1:00:41

as a screener in the pick and roll and over 100

1:00:43

as the ball handler

1:00:45

in the pick and roll. The other guys were

1:00:47

Larry Markinen, Nikola Jokic

1:00:50

and Julius Randall.

1:00:51

And with PJ Washington, he was very

1:00:53

good in those play types.

1:00:56

I think PJ Washington deserves

1:00:58

a big contract. Unless San Antonio gives

1:01:00

it to him. I don't think anybody is, but I

1:01:03

really, really am high on PJ Washington

1:01:05

and think he could help a contender. Um,

1:01:08

or maybe that could be Charlotte someday, but

1:01:10

I love PJ Washington's game.

1:01:12

Hmm. Uh, well, speaking

1:01:15

of guys you love the unrestricted,

1:01:17

I tried to put together a whole roster

1:01:21

of O'Connor loves. And I just couldn't,

1:01:23

but I do have. Yeah, you could fill

1:01:25

in the vice, but I've got Frankie at

1:01:29

point guard with, uh, Bamba

1:01:31

and Christian wood at power forward and

1:01:33

center. We just need a couple of

1:01:35

wings and we're ready to go. Those

1:01:38

guys, I was hoping, uh, I

1:01:41

was hoping Bamba landed with the bucks, but

1:01:43

I think Lopez screwed them signing

1:01:46

his brother. Somebody

1:01:50

goes on Christian wood. I

1:01:52

don't know. I don't know what's going on there. Just

1:01:54

unrestricted is out

1:01:57

there. So strange. There's

1:01:59

still. That's the interesting thing with the,

1:02:01

the, there's not a lot of cat space left out

1:02:03

there. I know. Where are these

1:02:06

guys going to go? Money's, money's drying

1:02:08

up.

1:02:09

Really crazy. Gonna get some good bargains

1:02:11

there at the end, right? I

1:02:13

mean, what happens is these guys take like

1:02:16

one year, nothing deals and

1:02:18

try to play for a good team. We

1:02:20

just saw it tonight with, uh, what,

1:02:23

Lonnie Walker, Malik Beasley. Didn't

1:02:26

these guys like take what? One year deals places?

1:02:30

And just said, all right, we'll take the one low

1:02:32

year and just try to make the most of it. Um,

1:02:37

we'll just try to make the most of it and hopefully

1:02:40

play for a good team and boost our value.

1:02:44

It's kind of

1:02:47

situation. Some of these guys might be at, um,

1:02:50

very beginning of the pod. We just mentioned that,

1:02:54

uh, summer league has begun.

1:02:56

Have watched a little bit

1:02:58

of it. Um, I watched

1:03:00

Philly Memphis earlier. I watched OKC

1:03:02

Utah had that on the back. It's

1:03:04

GG Jackson. How is GG? I

1:03:06

didn't watch any of your game. Super

1:03:09

impressive spurts spurts.

1:03:13

You know what I mean? He is bigger

1:03:15

than I thought. Um,

1:03:19

it's huge. And, uh,

1:03:22

you know, summer league, it's

1:03:24

hard to, it's hard to gauge, but he's

1:03:26

certainly an athlete and he's certainly got

1:03:29

some skill to him. He's still a baby.

1:03:31

He's 18 years old.

1:03:33

Um, so he's intriguing.

1:03:35

He's a look, it's all going to be about the attitude

1:03:37

you take into being a, you know,

1:03:40

two way guy playing games

1:03:43

when you're playing in the G league. Right.

1:03:45

And it goes one of two ways for guys. They

1:03:47

either dedicate themselves and decide this

1:03:50

is, this is what

1:03:52

I need to be doing. And I have to prove myself or

1:03:54

they resent the situation and then they're never

1:03:56

in the league. Honestly, so

1:03:59

that'll be. his plight. I'll tell you this, you

1:04:01

know, who wins the award for most

1:04:04

ridiculous summer league appearances

1:04:08

is Oklahoma

1:04:10

City. Love

1:04:12

their team. Oh, Jalen Williams.

1:04:16

I mean, last year they played giddy in this

1:04:19

thing. And this year I've

1:04:21

turned it on and Jalen Williams is playing and I'm like,

1:04:23

are you serious? By the way, both

1:04:25

Jalen Williams's were playing. I

1:04:27

was like, what in the heck is going

1:04:30

on? This is so

1:04:36

unfair. Like

1:04:38

the Santa Clara, if

1:04:40

you want to play the Arkansas Jalen Williams, by

1:04:42

all means, that's fine.

1:04:45

But the Santa Clara Jalen Williams,

1:04:47

that's absurd. And they did

1:04:49

it with giddy last year and to their, to

1:04:51

their, you know, favor those

1:04:54

guys that looked like the best player on the court when

1:04:56

they set out there, the giddy thing was wildly

1:04:59

unfair last year.

1:05:00

Chet look rusty and

1:05:03

out of breath,

1:05:04

which is to be expected. But

1:05:06

man, that beginning was

1:05:09

rough. Yeah, but then

1:05:11

he was awesome. He had like an amazing two,

1:05:14

three minute sequence where it's like, okay,

1:05:16

all right, time to rest. Like you don't need to play

1:05:18

anymore. No, yes. Go catch your breath

1:05:20

kid.

1:05:21

Yes. So yeah, got to

1:05:23

see some of it. Sounds like

1:05:25

our guy from Denver is going to make us look good.

1:05:28

Pickett good

1:05:30

reviews on him early.

1:05:32

Good reports out of

1:05:34

the practice that they had and

1:05:37

granted it, we're talking practice, you

1:05:39

know, with pickett I do

1:05:41

I really look forward to seeing the Nuggets play.

1:05:44

I'm excited to see those young Nuggets players

1:05:47

out on the court together because I

1:05:49

tend to be on the side of things that

1:05:51

they have better replacements for Bruce Brown

1:05:54

than a lot of people realize. And it's not just

1:05:56

one guy, it's not just

1:05:58

Christian Brown. It's Peyton Watson,

1:06:01

it's Pickett. It's their other rookies that

1:06:03

they drafted, Strahter, Tyson. They

1:06:05

have a lot of options to fill those

1:06:07

minutes left by Bruce Brown. Hey,

1:06:10

let me mention one guy to you that just kind of

1:06:12

stood out, just cause I thought it was interesting. Again, I

1:06:15

know everybody always says, oh, it's just summer

1:06:17

league, but like it's fun to watch all these guys,

1:06:19

especially first time in NBA uniforms.

1:06:24

I was watching the Sixers and

1:06:27

the kid from NC State that didn't get drafted.

1:06:31

Truquavius, is it Smith

1:06:34

or whatever? He's got something to

1:06:36

him. Like I was like, hmm,

1:06:40

this is kind of interesting. Yeah,

1:06:43

I think that's his name. Smith is just

1:06:45

like, he's 170 pounds or something like that. So

1:06:48

that's the fear with him. Not

1:06:51

bad though, not bad.

1:06:54

He's got a lot of skill to score, that's for sure.

1:06:56

Yeah. He definitely does. I thought

1:06:59

I was like, wow, this guy wasn't drafted. He

1:07:01

sure is playing a lot better than some of the drafted

1:07:03

guys. He's

1:07:06

a bumpy header for sure. Yeah. Yeah,

1:07:08

gonna be interesting week ahead. I

1:07:10

mean, you and I will see each other in Las

1:07:13

Vegas. My

1:07:15

sources with the ringers say that we're

1:07:17

recording an in-person podcast on

1:07:19

Saturday. I don't know if that means

1:07:21

we won't, if we won't have a

1:07:23

Thursday night recording until

1:07:25

Friday. We'll find that out over the course of the week,

1:07:27

but my sources say we're gonna do an in-person

1:07:30

pod on Saturday, you and I.

1:07:32

We are? Okay.

1:07:34

So that's what I'm told. All

1:07:37

right. Sources say. In-person

1:07:39

pod on Saturday. Yes.

1:07:43

All right. Well, either way, look, well,

1:07:45

I've got that from Summer League, I can't wait.

1:07:47

I'm a little disappointed the ringer doesn't have a live

1:07:49

show at Summer League. I think

1:07:53

I wanna do more live mismatches. You

1:07:55

know, those are fun. Well, let's just

1:07:57

go on the street. and

1:08:00

start talking to each other and see if a

1:08:02

crowd forms. We'll

1:08:09

be out in front

1:08:11

of Caesars. We're

1:08:12

just going to sit there and

1:08:14

talk who. We're going to

1:08:17

come hang out. Just

1:08:19

open like an empty guitar case and put it in front

1:08:21

of us. Put it in front of us as well. Just talking

1:08:24

basketball. Ask us a basketball question.

1:08:26

I can go straight inside

1:08:28

and throw it in a slot machine and lose it. Well,

1:08:35

yeah, Jesse's going to be out there too, right? So

1:08:37

what the hell crew out there? It'll be good.

1:08:42

We won't have our regular pod.

1:08:45

We will both be traveling to Summer League, but

1:08:47

just keep a lookout on the feed. We will have

1:08:49

Summer League content coming for you by

1:08:52

the weekend. Thank you to our executive producer,

1:08:54

Jesse Lopez, as always, Kevin. I will

1:08:56

see you in

1:08:57

person and see

1:09:00

Victor Wimbayama in person on

1:09:02

Friday. See you in Vegas.