June 19, 2025 • 32 mins
Jason takes a break from NBA Finals coverage between the Indiana Pacers and Oklahoma City Thunder to react to trade speculation around the NBA. Jason starts off by going into depth about the Memphis Grizzlies trading Desmond Bane to the Orlando Magic and why he believes it is a great basketball fit. Jason discusses what's next for the Grizzlies, which should include gauging the market for their star point guard Ja Morant. He then dives into Phoenix Suns star Kevin Durant's preferred trade destinations, mainly the San Antonio Spurs and his fit with stars Victor Wembanyama and De'Aaron Fox. Jason wraps up with discussing Milwaukee Bucks star Giannis Antetokounmpo reported desire to remain with the franchise he's always known.
#Volume #Herd
See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
Mark as Played
Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:01):
The volume.
Speaker 2 (00:05):
The NBA Finals are here. This is your last chance
to bet on the NBA until next season, and DraftKings
Sportsbook and official sports betting partner of the NBA is
pulling out all the stops to make this a finals.
To remember, one team will be crown champ and the
other will be lost to history. Who you got winning
at all? Put your hoops expertise to the test. All
season long, DraftKings has been the go to spot for
(00:27):
NBA player props and that doesn't stop now. Who's going
to carry their team to the chip? Try placing a
bet on your personal MVP to drop thirty, forty or
maybe even over fifty. Ready to place your own bet,
download the DraftKings sports Book app, lock in your bets
and finish the season as a winner. Here's something special
for first timers. New DraftKings customers. Bet five dollars to
(00:48):
get three hundred dollars in bonus bets if your bet wins.
Don't miss your last chance to bet on the NBA
this season. Download the DraftKings sports Book app and use
code hoops that's hoop. That's code hoops for new customers
to get three hundred dollars in bonus bets if your
bet wins. When you bet five bucks only on DraftKings,
the crown is yours. Gambling problem called one hundred gambler
(01:10):
In New York call eight seven seven eight hope and why,
or text hope and why to four six seven three
sixty nine and Connecticut help is available for problem gambling
Call eight eight eight seven eight nine seven seven seven seven.
Speaker 3 (01:21):
Or visit CCPG dot org.
Speaker 2 (01:24):
Please play responsibly on behalf of Boothill Casino and Resort
in Kansas twenty one plus. Age and eligibility varies by
jurisdiction void in Ontario. Bet must win to receive reward
minimum minus five hundred odds required. Bonus bets expire one
hundred and sixty eight hours after issuance. For additional terms
and responsible gaming resources, see dkang dot co slash audio.
(02:00):
All right, welcome, hoops and I you're at the volume
heavy Wednesday. Everybody hope ball of you guys are having
a great week. Well, we're gonna take a break from
our NBA Finals coverage today. There are several stories going
on around the league. We're poised to have an insanely
busy summer, and we already got our first big trade
of the summer this weekend, as Desmond Bain was moved
to the Orlando Magic. I talked briefly about it with
(02:20):
Colin Coward on Tuesday on Monday night. But what I
want to do today is I want to give more of,
like a detailed breakdown of my take on the Desmond
Bain trade, what it means for John Morant and the
Memphis Grizzlies moving forward. After that, we're going to talk
a little bit about the big picture of the of
the summer. On late on Monday night, Sam Amock and
John Krazinski of The Athletic reported that Kevin Durant's preferred
(02:42):
trade destination as the San Antonio Spurs. We're gonna briefly
talk about that, and then after that. It's been widely
reported there's no trade market for Yannis because Jannis has
not requested a trade. So I wanted to take an
honest look at the Milwaukee situation and really just talk
about what in the world makes sense for both of
these parties, for Giannis and for Milwaukee moving forward. You
(03:02):
guys know the job before we get started. Subscribe to
the Hoops and I YouTube channels. You don't miss any
more of our videos. Follow me on Twitter at underscore JCNLTS.
You guys don't miss show announcements. So forget about a
podcast feed wherever you get your podcast under Hoops Tonight.
It's also super helpful if you leave a rating and
a review on that front. We also have social media
feeds on Twitter, Instagram, Facebook, and TikTok where Jackson's doing
great work. Make sure you guys follow us there. And then,
last but not least, keep dropping mail bag questions and
(03:24):
the YouTube comments. Will be doing our next mail bag
on Thursday night after the final buzzer of Game six
of the NBA Finals. All you gotta do is show
up to that stream, drop your questions in the chat,
and then we'll get to our questions there. And then
once we get out of the finals, we'll go back
to taking our mail bag questions out of the YouTube comments.
All right, let's talk some basketball. So obviously, the highlight
(03:47):
of the Desmond Bane to the Orlando Magic trade was
the draft compensation. That was the story, and it's really complicated.
I The thing with draft compensation is it's always a
little bit more complicated than meets the eye. It's very
easy to just throw it out throughout a number of
draft picks like oh, three first, four first, you know,
(04:07):
two first two first, in a swap, whatever it is.
But protections matter. It makes a huge difference. The difference
between a top ten protected first round pick in value
compared to an unprotected first round pick is pretty massive.
Those are substantial swings in value, right, and so to
give up four unprotected first round picks feels steep. But
(04:30):
before we even go any further into that, the value
only matters in the context of what a team is
trying to accomplish, Like how much does Desmond Bane fit
specifically with Orlando That makes a big difference in what
the price tag should be. Right, was Memphis even considering
trading Desmond Bane? For all we know Memphis didn't want to,
(04:53):
and this is literally what it took to pry him away.
Desmond Bane has a very unique skill set. I've seen
a lot of people hung up on, like what level
of player Desmond Bain is? How does he relate to
a McHale bridges like, well, is Kevin Durant gonna go
for four unprotected first round picks? Like these kinds of
(05:15):
things and take that away for a second and focus
on the fact that what Desmond Bain does is a
very rare skill set in the NBA. There were only
five players in the entire NBA last year to attempt
at least fifty shots coming off of off ball screens
and to make at least half of them. Five in
(05:38):
the entire NBA ultra efficient movement shooting. It's an extremely
rare trait.
Speaker 3 (05:47):
Overall.
Speaker 2 (05:47):
He's one of the best jump shooters in the NBA.
Among fifty eight players to attempt at least five hundred
jump shots last year, he ranked twelve inefficiency, so he's
an upper tier high volume jump shooter. He shot sixty
percent on field goal attempts coming off of off ball screens.
That's field goal percentage. Guys in effective field goal percentage,
he was over seventy percent. His sixty percent field goal
(06:10):
percentage was number one in the NBA among the fifty
six players who attempted at least fifty shots coming off
of screens. He shot fifty two percent on threes coming
off of off ball screens, thirty eight percent on off
the dribble threes coming off of high ball screens. He
(06:31):
brings a mid range element. He's a great short range
jump shooter. He shot fifty percent last year on jump
shots inside the three point line. This is a very
unique skill set in that he brings movement shooting off
the dribble, shooting going both directions right and left, and
at both the three point line and inside the three
(06:52):
point line. It's a very rare skill set, and over
the course of the last couple of years, this has
been an advantage of John Morant's you know, off court
shenanigans and his injuries. Bain has had to do so
much work on ball that he's figured out how to
weaponize that attention for easy opportunities over the top. He
became a substantially better playmaker out of these screening actions
(07:15):
in the last couple of years compared to the player
that he was in the past. These shots are so difficult,
these off screen shots, that most teams guard them with
what is effectively an off ball version of a drop coverage.
So let's just take a wide pin down for example,
if Desmond Baying comes off of the left corner off
(07:36):
of a wide screen from a big most players, if
it's not Desmond Bane, if it's like just a regular
kind of like a shooter in the NBA, like say
Dalton Connect from the Lakers, for instance, what they're gonna
do is they're gonna put a lock and trail defender
on that player on Dalton Connect, and then they're gonna
have the big man basically sag back in the paint
(07:57):
in case Dalton curls the screen so you could take
away lay and they're gonna be like, let's see if
you can hit this shot with a side view. Contests
with the rear view. Contest with this guy chasing over
the top of the screen and knocking it down. Desmond Bayne,
because he shoots sixty damn percent on those shots coming
off of off ball screens, and because he shoots such
a high percentage on threes coming off of those screens,
(08:18):
because he shoots such a high percentage on pull up
threes in ball screens, he consistently brings the big out
to the level. This is why it's such a valuable
skill set. A guy who can effectively knock down shots
coming off of screening actions can consistently pull two defenders
out twenty five twenty feet from the basket that opens
(08:39):
up the four on three spacing that opens up all
the opportunities for playmaking on the interior, and Desmond Baane
over the last couple of years figured out how to
pass out of those actions pocket passes, over the top,
passes to beat, blitzes to beat shows. He had a
lot of success playmaking out of those actions. So I
think if it's like, there are so many easy ways
(09:00):
to see how Desmond Bank can help the Magic like
right away. So let's take off ball action for example.
Off ball action occupies help defenders. If you're gonna run
a let's say you're running a two man game with
Palo Bancaro and Jalen Suggs off of the top of
the key like a ghost screen action with Sugs coming
(09:21):
out of the the you know, off the right wing
screening for Palo and then slipping off to the left wing.
You can run you know, Baine coming off from underneath
the basket is like a pin and flare towards the
corner or some sort of wide pin down out towards
the wing, and you're gonna have defenders help defenders occupied
(09:41):
guarding that action to clear out space for Paalow to drive.
This has been a Magic team that has really really
struggled to generate space. Even in just static standstill situations.
Having Sugs and Baine out there is going to create
sustained more space. But if you can utilize them in
(10:02):
off ball action, that is where you can open up
space for more of those post ups, for more of
those ISOs to be towards the basket rather than some
of those tougher fifteen foot seventeen foot fadeaways that Palo runs.
And again we've talked about it on the show before.
Palo's efficiency skyrockets when he gets inside of seventeen feet,
(10:23):
when he's further away from the rim. That's where his
jump shot becomes super unreliable. You've got to create space
for him. You can create space through off ball action.
The second piece of it is two man game. There's
been guard screens in terms of running two man game
as a big part of this Orlando offense for a
long time. It was a big part of their playoff
(10:43):
offense two years ago against the Caves. They will run
inverted screens or Palo or Fronds or stand at the
top of the key and they'll have you know KCP
this year, you know Jalen Suggs last year, come up
and screen the ball and then slip out of it
in base that's ending in a hedge and recover in
many cases, or they're hoping to get some kind of switch.
(11:05):
So Paalo can attack a small right, but you can
get away with hedging and recovering when the shooter isn't
that good that you can get away with gapping out
of that action or lingering in that action when the
shooter's not that good. What comes into the equation with
Desmond Baane is you actually have to account for his
(11:26):
jump shooting in a real way or he's going to
burn you to the tune of fifty two percent on
threes coming off of off ball screen, sixty percent overall
hitting damn near forty percent a pull up threes in
ball screens. So what makes a two man game work
and function is two guys need to be guarded by
very different types of defenders. Right, So Palo and Franz
(11:49):
they require big, strong forwards to match up with them.
That is what they demand in terms of the physical matchup. Right,
what kind of player does Desmond Bane require? He requires
a good lock and trail defender. With a Jalen Suggs,
with a KCP, you could get away with hiding a
week defender. You could get away with hiding a week
(12:12):
defender and be like hedge and recover. All you gotta
do is throw a hedge and get back into the action.
You won't be able to do that with Desmond Bane.
You're going to have to have a quality guard defender
that can guard in a lock and trail context, that
can chase him around screens and stay attached. So I
have a smaller, lower center of gravity lock and trail defender,
(12:34):
and then I have a big, strong forward matched up
with Palo and Franz. Now I'm going to pretty consistently
put the defense into a predicament where if they hedge,
Bain is slipping out and he's gonna hit that three
damn near fifty percent of the time, you can't.
Speaker 3 (12:50):
It ain't gonna work.
Speaker 2 (12:52):
So your only option is to either have that guy chase,
in which case, if your man sets a screen, Palo's
getting downhill. If you stay home on Bain when Bain's
running inverted screens and Bain sets a good screen on
Palo's man and Bain's man stays attached to him, Palo's
turning the corner and he's going downhill, so you have
(13:16):
to switch. You have to and so now you're gonna
be able to consistently get the favorable matchup with a
smaller guard defender guarding Palo.
Speaker 3 (13:29):
Bain is going to.
Speaker 2 (13:29):
Be able to pull that big forward away from the
paint above the brake to space the floor better. You
will be able to run effective two man game with
those inverted guard screens with Bain at a completely different
level than what you were able to run in the
past Baine in ball screens. Bain was a super high
volume a ball screen player this year. I think he
(13:50):
ran like eight hundred something picking rolls this year for
Memphis Desmond. Bain is very capable of weaponizing Palo and
Franz's role men. Same exact concept. He's being guarded by
a big by, a strong physical guard that can get
through screens, right, That's the type of defender he's gonna draw.
(14:11):
And Palo and Franz are gonna be guarded by these
big forwards. They're gonna be able to screen for Bain,
and same thing. Bain's gonna come off the screen and
you better be up there at the level. If you're
not up there at the level, he hits almost forty
percent of his pull up threes. You show at the
level boom pocket pass to Pallo rolling downhill to the
(14:32):
rim in a four on three, Right, There's gonna be
a lot of opportunities for them to unlock openings in
traditional coverages. When teams are unwilling to switch, and when
they are willing to switch, you're going to be regularly
able to get favorable matchups for both guys because they
get guarded by such different types of defenders. And in
both cases, like if Palo or Franz gets a matchup
(14:53):
that he wants off of an inverted ball screen or
off of a Bain ball screen, Bain will be able
to to pull that bigger forward away from the basket
and create more space.
Speaker 3 (15:04):
It is such a natural basketball fit.
Speaker 1 (15:09):
Blending Vice's signature dynamic storytelling with the high octane world
of sports, Vice Sports brings an exciting and diverse range
of programming that goes beyond the game, from action pack
live events to gripping behind the scenes documentaries, to hard
hitting investigative pieces and in depth profiles of athletes, coaches, teams.
Vice Sports captures the raw energy, drama, and passion that
(15:31):
makes sports truly unforgettable. Catch live events and other exclusive
sports programs only on Vice TV. Go to vicetv dot
com to find your cable channel.
Speaker 3 (15:43):
So here's the thing.
Speaker 2 (15:45):
Was it expensive, Yeah, expensive as hell, But we don't
know the details about whether Desmondbane was even available. We
don't understand what the negotiation looked like. And it is
a very natural fit. And I admire the aggression. And
I would I have liked the deal more if it
was too unprotected first instead of four or if it
(16:06):
was four protected first. Yeah, sure I would have liked.
Speaker 3 (16:09):
The deal more.
Speaker 2 (16:10):
But all I can think about now is Jalen Suggs
and Desmond Bain and Palaban Caro and Franz Vogner and
Wendell Carter Junior. And that is a pretty damn good
five in an Eastern conference that is wide open.
Speaker 3 (16:25):
So I like it.
Speaker 2 (16:26):
All I can think about now is band Bain's gonna
make their life way easier. I think he fits in
the defense well like Jalen Suggs can guard the other
team's best guard. Desmond Bain, I think is actually a
pretty underrated defender. I think he's a better defender than
he gets credit for. But He's going to be in
more achievable matchups. The only real like swing for me
(16:48):
as I look forward for this team is Jalen Suggs's
health and his jump shooting. He declined as a jump
shooter last year. Obviously, I wasn't able to finish the
season with that injury. Jalen's got to get healthy. Jays
got a knocked down shots. But like, I keep thinking
about Desmond Bane in the context of this new look
for the Orlando Magic, and I think it makes a
ton of basketball sense. And I'm really really excited to
(17:10):
watch that group. And my initial instinct is they're right
there in that top tier with Indiana, with Cleveland, with
New York, in that Eastern Conference, and I think they
absolutely will contend with that group. The other side of
this deal is the Ja Morant piece. I talked about
this a little bit last night with Colin, But John
(17:30):
Rant's going to be twenty six before the start of
next season. Twenty six is typically the age when stars
figure it out. That's typically the stage when the insane
talent of their athleticism meets the growing experience in basketball.
Like you piece from that point forward in your career,
it's more sore knees, more sore feet. Your athleticism slowly declines,
(17:56):
but your experience and skill improves, And so you can
plateau from twenty six, twenty seven to thirty three to
thirty four, maybe sometimes thirty five thirty six with how
these guys are aging so well in the league these days.
But like this is the age where teams start, where
players start to figure it out, and Jaw is just
not the same player he was back in that twenty
(18:17):
twenty two season took his team to win two wins
of the conference finals. Was this dominant, high volume score
and playmaker. His scoring volume has dropped every season since
that year. He's on two consecutive seasons of his scoring
efficiency going down. He just posted his two lowest games
played totals of his career in the last two seasons.
(18:38):
It doesn't look good. And so I think Memphis just
looked at the situation and was like, Okay, we just
got four unprotected first for Baine, I think it's time
to start looking at what you could get for joh
It's time to start looking at what you could get
for Jaron Jackson.
Speaker 3 (18:55):
This group is flawed.
Speaker 2 (18:56):
The Western Conference has a lot of teams that are
substantially better. I talk all the time about self awareness
being the key. You gotta be willing to look in
the mirror and be like, we are not close. We
need a real change, and to me, Memphis appears to
be making that sort of decision as we speak.
Speaker 3 (19:14):
I am a believer in Jaw.
Speaker 2 (19:17):
I've seen a lot of talk about where he ranks
in the league, and I don't particularly agree with some
of the stuff that I've seen. I think when John
Moran is healthy, he is still somewhere in that like
thirteen to seventeen range for best players in the NBA.
I still think he brings this athletic trait that nobody
can mess with, with the consistent ability to beat people
(19:37):
off the dribble. I think for all to talk about
his jump shot, and I think it's fair, and we're
going to talk about that in a second. I think
he's an underrated shot maker because of his ability to
get to the short range and to pop up off
the ground and make easy little floaters in short jump shots.
I believe in John Moran, and I think that there
is a chance for him to turn this story around.
But he's got to start taking care of his body.
(19:59):
He's got to start improving on the margins. His peers
are passing him, and it's very possible that his franchise
bails on him this summer. Somebody's gonna take a chance.
I don't know who it is, Like I talked about
with Colin last night, Like I like, if Houston misses
out on KD, they'd be an interesting team as a
guy that could just be their supreme offensive talent, surrounded
(20:21):
by physical defense and a ballscreen partner in Shangun.
Speaker 3 (20:25):
That makes a lot of sense. I don't know who
it's gonna be.
Speaker 2 (20:29):
But someone's gonna take a chance on Jaw, and it's
on Jaw to turn that script around, and he's capable
of doing it. But I mean, we're trending into the
wrong direction, and that's why we're in this situation. Let's
talk about Kevin Durant to San Antonio, Sam amic and
John Kraziskia. The Athletic reported last night that Kevin excuse me,
(20:50):
I should say on Monday night that Kevin Durant's preferred
destination is the San Antonio Spurs. First thing this suck
out over the last week is judging by the locations.
Speaker 3 (20:59):
Of most of these teams.
Speaker 2 (21:00):
State taxes are clearly a big factor for KD, and
I don't blame it. It obviously makes a massive difference
to his bottom line with how many like we're talking
millions of dollars with what he makes every single year.
What I thought when I heard the report about San
Antonio was I think kdve used the Spurs as a
really fun place to end his career. I've been thinking
(21:23):
a lot about this concept with KD ever since he
went to Golden State and straight up told us that
he did it because he wanted to play a fun
brand of basketball. I've been thinking a lot since last
night about my desire for him to go to a
place like Houston potentially or Minnesota. Those are my two
(21:44):
favorite destinations, and just opposing it with like Oklahoma City
in twenty sixteen. Oklahoma City in twenty sixteen would be
the closest thing to what going to Houston would look like.
Speaker 3 (21:56):
Right.
Speaker 2 (21:57):
Oklahoma City in twenty sixteen surrounded Kevin Durant with overwhelming
size and physicality, and they wore teams down with their defense.
But life was really hard for KD. On the offensive
end of the floor. He had a couple of really
inefficient scoring games in that playoff run before they ended
(22:17):
up losing. He was brutally bad down the stretch of
the Golden State Series in terms of his ability to
knock down shots, but it was just a really ugly
brand of basketball.
Speaker 3 (22:28):
Now, the flip side of that is they were one
win away.
Speaker 2 (22:30):
From beating a seventy three win team and probably being
the favorite to win the finals if they would have
made it to the finals. So like you could argue
that Thunder team is the best team he's been on
outside of the Golden State Warriors with Steph, And that's
the thing where it gets complicated. Like I could argue
if he went to Houston, that'd probably be his best
chance to win because they could surround him with all
(22:52):
that physicality and defense. But once again in Houston, it
would be ugly offense. It would be a lot of
like twenty seven to twenty eight field goal attempt nights
where he makes eleven twelve shots and has four or
five turnovers because it's ugly because it's difficult because they're
depending on him to carry them over the top with
(23:14):
his offense. Based on a defense and physicality model, I
think KD wants to play fun basketball. I think KD
wants to play free flowing basketball, and so I think
that's why he looks at these teams like Houston and goes, eh,
maybe not my jam And I think that that's fascinating.
(23:36):
Even just looking at like why he might have been
so interested in Miami, I kept thinking, like, man, like
Miami doesn't seem close. I like, I don't understand what
he'd be looking for there. But then you look at
it and it's like Eric spoelsher one of the best,
you know, offensive organization coaches in the NBA, bam Adebayo
one of the best five out like passing, screening, Folkrum's
(23:58):
in the NBA, Tyler Harrow a really good screenshooter that
kind of unlocks a lot of those five out concept
Duncan Robinson that unlocks a lot of those five five
out concepts. I think Kevin Durant looked at Miami is
like a place to play some really fun basketball, and
I can understand it, Like I'm starting to like kind
(24:19):
of feel what he's looking for in this journey. I
think he wants to go play a fun brand of
basketball for the rest of his career. There are a
lot of ways KDE can help the Spurs. Just because
this wasn't my favorite KD fit doesn't mean it won't
still be a huge upgrade for this team and that
it won't still be a good fit. He'll be a
excellent low man behind Victor Wemennyama, meaning when Victor Wemenyama
(24:43):
goes up to the level of ball screens, KD can
fill in from behind as another rim protection private presence.
I talked with Colin on Monday night about how Victor
wenman Yama's skill development should take a massive upgrade with
Kevin Durank. Kevin Urant to me, is like like the
JJ Reddick of the current NBA in terms of shooting workout,
(25:05):
a legend, like the guy that will put Wemby into
situations in the gym by themselves where he's gonna make
substantial improvements. I think if Dearon Fox's dribble penetration like
KD at this phase in his career post Achilles, if
there's one weakness he doesn't pressure the rim a ton
compared to the way he used to. That's Deeron Fox's superpower.
(25:31):
I talk about the idea of the weak side scoring forward.
If Dearon Fox and Victor wemen Yama are running ball
screens and you want to defend them three on two,
that's gonna be Kevin freaking Durant on the backside, hitting
catch and shoot threes, driving closeouts like the mother of
all weak sides scoring forwards. He was the best ISO
player in the league last year, albeit at a lower volume.
(25:53):
He was the best jump shooter in the league last year.
He's still so so good at basketball, and I do
think that he would be able to help the Spurs.
It's not a guarantee he'd go there, Obviously, a Phoenix
has a certain obligation to try to drive the market
for high asset return, especially considering their situation.
Speaker 3 (26:14):
Katie. I don't think has accomplished.
Speaker 2 (26:17):
So much in Phoenix to where they owe him a
certain outcome. But the San Antonio Spurs would be a
fun basketball destination for Katie. I don't think they'd immediately
become a top tier contender.
Speaker 3 (26:30):
They have shortcomings in terms of role player support.
Speaker 2 (26:33):
I think they'd be pretty thin and lacking physicality on
the front line. Jeremy Sohan would become so vitally important
for that team. Defensively, if you bring into Kevin Durant
as just a more trunky, physical forward that they would need,
there are flaws. I don't think they're gonna go win
the championship if KD goes to San Antonio, but it
would be fun basketball. And I think that KD just
(26:56):
wants to play fun basketball, and I think that that
makes sense at least within that context. Lastly, before we
get out of here today, I wanted to talk about
Yiannis potentially staying in Milwauk. It has been widely reported
that there's no trademarket for Yannis because Yiannis hasn't requested
a trade. I was looking at their payroll this morning,
the Bucks trying to give it like an honest like,
(27:18):
is there a real pathway here to pivot and try
to contend around Gianis? Again, you have Damian Lillard on
the books for fifty four million next year. They can
try to apply for a disabled player exception, but from
what I can tell, it looks like it probably wouldn't
get approved. Kyle Kuzma makes twenty two million. He's been
(27:40):
pretty disappointing. I will say this, I think who's has
been a winning player before. I'm like fifteen percent open
to the idea that he could work his ass off
this summer and come into camp as a more useful player.
I'm not ready to write off Kyle Kuzma in the
context of the Bucks, but Kyle Kuzma is your next
(28:01):
biggest salary after Dame. Bobby Portis has a player option.
I would imagine he'll opt out and resign. He's pretty
strongly indicated in interviews that he wants to raise So
I like Bobby Portis, but I'm not sure I like
him in the twenty million dollar territory. Pat Connaton is
on the books for nine point four million. It's a
player option, but I would imagine he'll pick it up
(28:22):
because he's a veteran minimum guy in the open market.
Kevin Porter Junior is on a player option. I think
he'll opt out, but I think he has a good
chance to re sign with the Bucks on a minimum.
I like his fit with Giannis, so I think he's
worth keeping under those circumstances. Aj Green is locked up
next year on a non guaranteed two point three million
dollar deal. That's one of the best value deals in
(28:43):
the league. So that's good for a very good three
and D player Andre Jackson Junior similarly on a non
guaranteed rookie deal. And then you have your deep bench guys,
guys a Chris Livingston and Tyler Smith.
Speaker 3 (28:52):
But that's it.
Speaker 2 (28:54):
So as you zoom out, you have zero reliable secondary
ball handling off of Giannis. Your best secondary ball handler
is Kevin Porter Jr. That's not gonna do much damage
in the Eastern Conference. You have no front court players
who can defend other than Yannis. He's the one guy,
and you'll likely have to overpay to keep guys like Portis.
(29:15):
Say you want to resign Gary Trent Junior. I wouldn't
be surprised if he goes over the minimum after some
of his shooting percentages in the postseason, if his agent
can drum up some market for him as a shooter,
and they have very little in the way of draft
compensation to make changes. The point being, even if we
acknowledge that the Eastern Conference is wide open, the roster
(29:38):
is going to be operating at a substantial talent disadvantage
in almost every major Eastern Conference matchup. I admire the loyalty,
I really do. I'll always remember the Janis era and
Milwaukee fondly. Even after the chip, Even in those disappointing years,
it's been so fun watching Giannis develop and improve and
(30:01):
carry some of these limited rosters. His twenty twenty two
playoff series against the Boston Celtics is one of my
favorite playoff series. I've watched the star play. He backpacked
those guys to a game seven. But the bottom line
is this team isn't close to contending. Jannis deserves to
go play meaningful basketball, and his value as an asset
(30:25):
is still the best vehicle to help Milwaukee pivot and
bring in the asset return they need to start fresh.
It's still just the best and most sensical outcome for
both sides of this deal. Again, I get it. I
understand the sentimentality. I understand the optics of requesting a trade.
I was talking with Shane before we got on the show,
(30:48):
like there's been this trend where it kind of feels
like some of these international guys are really hesitant to
do some of the more aggressive behind the scene manipulating
of their contract in terms of demanding trades. We haven't
really seen an example of it, and we've seen guys
like Yiannis and even Jokic throughout the past few years,
although obviously it paid off in twenty twenty three. We've
seen Yokic, you know, stick around through some injured rosters,
(31:11):
through some limited rosters, without any sign of complaining or wavering.
And like, Giannis has made some comments in the press
about like maybe he would look elsewhere, but here he is,
and he still hasn't requested a trade.
Speaker 3 (31:21):
And again, I admire it. I admire the loyalty.
Speaker 2 (31:24):
But all I know is the basketball fan in me
really wants to see Yannis play in late May and June,
and the Bucks, to me, need assets, and they don't
have money at this point, and so I think Giannis
is the best vehicle to make that happen, and so
I'm hopeful.
Speaker 3 (31:40):
As much as I understand this.
Speaker 2 (31:41):
Sucks for Bucks fans, I get it, I get I
understand as a Bucks fan there's a part of you
that want that would love to just have Giannis forever
and just be even if you're mediocre in the East,
you'd have more fun watching that team. I get it,
I do, But I just think it's in the best
interest for both sides for them to part ways this summer.
I hope that that ends up happening. All right, guys,
(32:02):
This all I have for today is always sincerely appreciate
you guys for supporting me and supporting the show. We
will be back on Thursday night after the final buzzer
of Game six of the NBA Finals, barring a KD trade. Obviously,
if KD gets traded, will move quicker than that. But
I'll see you guys after the final buzzer of Game
six on Thursday.
Speaker 3 (32:18):
What's up guys.
Speaker 2 (32:19):
As always, I appreciate you for listening to and supporting
OOPS tonight. It would actually be really helpful for us
if you guys would take a second.
Speaker 3 (32:25):
And leave a rating and a review. As always, I
appreciate you guys.
Speaker 2 (32:29):
Supporting us, but if you could take a minute to
do that, I'd really appreciate it.
Speaker 1 (32:34):
The volume
The volume.
Speaker 2 (00:05):
The NBA Finals are here. This is your last chance
to bet on the NBA until next season, and DraftKings
Sportsbook and official sports betting partner of the NBA is
pulling out all the stops to make this a finals.
To remember, one team will be crown champ and the
other will be lost to history. Who you got winning
at all? Put your hoops expertise to the test. All
season long, DraftKings has been the go to spot for
(00:27):
NBA player props and that doesn't stop now. Who's going
to carry their team to the chip? Try placing a
bet on your personal MVP to drop thirty, forty or
maybe even over fifty. Ready to place your own bet,
download the DraftKings sports Book app, lock in your bets
and finish the season as a winner. Here's something special
for first timers. New DraftKings customers. Bet five dollars to
(00:48):
get three hundred dollars in bonus bets if your bet wins.
Don't miss your last chance to bet on the NBA
this season. Download the DraftKings sports Book app and use
code hoops that's hoop. That's code hoops for new customers
to get three hundred dollars in bonus bets if your
bet wins. When you bet five bucks only on DraftKings,
the crown is yours. Gambling problem called one hundred gambler
(01:10):
In New York call eight seven seven eight hope and why,
or text hope and why to four six seven three
sixty nine and Connecticut help is available for problem gambling
Call eight eight eight seven eight nine seven seven seven seven.
Speaker 3 (01:21):
Or visit CCPG dot org.
Speaker 2 (01:24):
Please play responsibly on behalf of Boothill Casino and Resort
in Kansas twenty one plus. Age and eligibility varies by
jurisdiction void in Ontario. Bet must win to receive reward
minimum minus five hundred odds required. Bonus bets expire one
hundred and sixty eight hours after issuance. For additional terms
and responsible gaming resources, see dkang dot co slash audio.
(02:00):
All right, welcome, hoops and I you're at the volume
heavy Wednesday. Everybody hope ball of you guys are having
a great week. Well, we're gonna take a break from
our NBA Finals coverage today. There are several stories going
on around the league. We're poised to have an insanely
busy summer, and we already got our first big trade
of the summer this weekend, as Desmond Bain was moved
to the Orlando Magic. I talked briefly about it with
(02:20):
Colin Coward on Tuesday on Monday night. But what I
want to do today is I want to give more of,
like a detailed breakdown of my take on the Desmond
Bain trade, what it means for John Morant and the
Memphis Grizzlies moving forward. After that, we're going to talk
a little bit about the big picture of the of
the summer. On late on Monday night, Sam Amock and
John Krazinski of The Athletic reported that Kevin Durant's preferred
(02:42):
trade destination as the San Antonio Spurs. We're gonna briefly
talk about that, and then after that. It's been widely
reported there's no trade market for Yannis because Jannis has
not requested a trade. So I wanted to take an
honest look at the Milwaukee situation and really just talk
about what in the world makes sense for both of
these parties, for Giannis and for Milwaukee moving forward. You
(03:02):
guys know the job before we get started. Subscribe to
the Hoops and I YouTube channels. You don't miss any
more of our videos. Follow me on Twitter at underscore JCNLTS.
You guys don't miss show announcements. So forget about a
podcast feed wherever you get your podcast under Hoops Tonight.
It's also super helpful if you leave a rating and
a review on that front. We also have social media
feeds on Twitter, Instagram, Facebook, and TikTok where Jackson's doing
great work. Make sure you guys follow us there. And then,
last but not least, keep dropping mail bag questions and
(03:24):
the YouTube comments. Will be doing our next mail bag
on Thursday night after the final buzzer of Game six
of the NBA Finals. All you gotta do is show
up to that stream, drop your questions in the chat,
and then we'll get to our questions there. And then
once we get out of the finals, we'll go back
to taking our mail bag questions out of the YouTube comments.
All right, let's talk some basketball. So obviously, the highlight
(03:47):
of the Desmond Bane to the Orlando Magic trade was
the draft compensation. That was the story, and it's really complicated.
I The thing with draft compensation is it's always a
little bit more complicated than meets the eye. It's very
easy to just throw it out throughout a number of
draft picks like oh, three first, four first, you know,
(04:07):
two first two first, in a swap, whatever it is.
But protections matter. It makes a huge difference. The difference
between a top ten protected first round pick in value
compared to an unprotected first round pick is pretty massive.
Those are substantial swings in value, right, and so to
give up four unprotected first round picks feels steep. But
(04:30):
before we even go any further into that, the value
only matters in the context of what a team is
trying to accomplish, Like how much does Desmond Bane fit
specifically with Orlando That makes a big difference in what
the price tag should be. Right, was Memphis even considering
trading Desmond Bane? For all we know Memphis didn't want to,
(04:53):
and this is literally what it took to pry him away.
Desmond Bane has a very unique skill set. I've seen
a lot of people hung up on, like what level
of player Desmond Bain is? How does he relate to
a McHale bridges like, well, is Kevin Durant gonna go
for four unprotected first round picks? Like these kinds of
(05:15):
things and take that away for a second and focus
on the fact that what Desmond Bain does is a
very rare skill set in the NBA. There were only
five players in the entire NBA last year to attempt
at least fifty shots coming off of off ball screens
and to make at least half of them. Five in
(05:38):
the entire NBA ultra efficient movement shooting. It's an extremely
rare trait.
Speaker 3 (05:47):
Overall.
Speaker 2 (05:47):
He's one of the best jump shooters in the NBA.
Among fifty eight players to attempt at least five hundred
jump shots last year, he ranked twelve inefficiency, so he's
an upper tier high volume jump shooter. He shot sixty
percent on field goal attempts coming off of off ball screens.
That's field goal percentage. Guys in effective field goal percentage,
he was over seventy percent. His sixty percent field goal
(06:10):
percentage was number one in the NBA among the fifty
six players who attempted at least fifty shots coming off
of screens. He shot fifty two percent on threes coming
off of off ball screens, thirty eight percent on off
the dribble threes coming off of high ball screens. He
(06:31):
brings a mid range element. He's a great short range
jump shooter. He shot fifty percent last year on jump
shots inside the three point line. This is a very
unique skill set in that he brings movement shooting off
the dribble, shooting going both directions right and left, and
at both the three point line and inside the three
(06:52):
point line. It's a very rare skill set, and over
the course of the last couple of years, this has
been an advantage of John Morant's you know, off court
shenanigans and his injuries. Bain has had to do so
much work on ball that he's figured out how to
weaponize that attention for easy opportunities over the top. He
became a substantially better playmaker out of these screening actions
(07:15):
in the last couple of years compared to the player
that he was in the past. These shots are so difficult,
these off screen shots, that most teams guard them with
what is effectively an off ball version of a drop coverage.
So let's just take a wide pin down for example,
if Desmond Baying comes off of the left corner off
(07:36):
of a wide screen from a big most players, if
it's not Desmond Bane, if it's like just a regular
kind of like a shooter in the NBA, like say
Dalton Connect from the Lakers, for instance, what they're gonna
do is they're gonna put a lock and trail defender
on that player on Dalton Connect, and then they're gonna
have the big man basically sag back in the paint
(07:57):
in case Dalton curls the screen so you could take
away lay and they're gonna be like, let's see if
you can hit this shot with a side view. Contests
with the rear view. Contest with this guy chasing over
the top of the screen and knocking it down. Desmond Bayne,
because he shoots sixty damn percent on those shots coming
off of off ball screens, and because he shoots such
a high percentage on threes coming off of those screens,
(08:18):
because he shoots such a high percentage on pull up
threes in ball screens, he consistently brings the big out
to the level. This is why it's such a valuable
skill set. A guy who can effectively knock down shots
coming off of screening actions can consistently pull two defenders
out twenty five twenty feet from the basket that opens
(08:39):
up the four on three spacing that opens up all
the opportunities for playmaking on the interior, and Desmond Baane
over the last couple of years figured out how to
pass out of those actions pocket passes, over the top,
passes to beat, blitzes to beat shows. He had a
lot of success playmaking out of those actions. So I
think if it's like, there are so many easy ways
(09:00):
to see how Desmond Bank can help the Magic like
right away. So let's take off ball action for example.
Off ball action occupies help defenders. If you're gonna run
a let's say you're running a two man game with
Palo Bancaro and Jalen Suggs off of the top of
the key like a ghost screen action with Sugs coming
(09:21):
out of the the you know, off the right wing
screening for Palo and then slipping off to the left wing.
You can run you know, Baine coming off from underneath
the basket is like a pin and flare towards the
corner or some sort of wide pin down out towards
the wing, and you're gonna have defenders help defenders occupied
(09:41):
guarding that action to clear out space for Paalow to drive.
This has been a Magic team that has really really
struggled to generate space. Even in just static standstill situations.
Having Sugs and Baine out there is going to create
sustained more space. But if you can utilize them in
(10:02):
off ball action, that is where you can open up
space for more of those post ups, for more of
those ISOs to be towards the basket rather than some
of those tougher fifteen foot seventeen foot fadeaways that Palo runs.
And again we've talked about it on the show before.
Palo's efficiency skyrockets when he gets inside of seventeen feet,
(10:23):
when he's further away from the rim. That's where his
jump shot becomes super unreliable. You've got to create space
for him. You can create space through off ball action.
The second piece of it is two man game. There's
been guard screens in terms of running two man game
as a big part of this Orlando offense for a
long time. It was a big part of their playoff
(10:43):
offense two years ago against the Caves. They will run
inverted screens or Palo or Fronds or stand at the
top of the key and they'll have you know KCP
this year, you know Jalen Suggs last year, come up
and screen the ball and then slip out of it
in base that's ending in a hedge and recover in
many cases, or they're hoping to get some kind of switch.
(11:05):
So Paalo can attack a small right, but you can
get away with hedging and recovering when the shooter isn't
that good that you can get away with gapping out
of that action or lingering in that action when the
shooter's not that good. What comes into the equation with
Desmond Baane is you actually have to account for his
(11:26):
jump shooting in a real way or he's going to
burn you to the tune of fifty two percent on
threes coming off of off ball screen, sixty percent overall
hitting damn near forty percent a pull up threes in
ball screens. So what makes a two man game work
and function is two guys need to be guarded by
very different types of defenders. Right, So Palo and Franz
(11:49):
they require big, strong forwards to match up with them.
That is what they demand in terms of the physical matchup. Right,
what kind of player does Desmond Bane require? He requires
a good lock and trail defender. With a Jalen Suggs,
with a KCP, you could get away with hiding a
week defender. You could get away with hiding a week
(12:12):
defender and be like hedge and recover. All you gotta
do is throw a hedge and get back into the action.
You won't be able to do that with Desmond Bane.
You're going to have to have a quality guard defender
that can guard in a lock and trail context, that
can chase him around screens and stay attached. So I
have a smaller, lower center of gravity lock and trail defender,
(12:34):
and then I have a big, strong forward matched up
with Palo and Franz. Now I'm going to pretty consistently
put the defense into a predicament where if they hedge,
Bain is slipping out and he's gonna hit that three
damn near fifty percent of the time, you can't.
Speaker 3 (12:50):
It ain't gonna work.
Speaker 2 (12:52):
So your only option is to either have that guy chase,
in which case, if your man sets a screen, Palo's
getting downhill. If you stay home on Bain when Bain's
running inverted screens and Bain sets a good screen on
Palo's man and Bain's man stays attached to him, Palo's
turning the corner and he's going downhill, so you have
(13:16):
to switch. You have to and so now you're gonna
be able to consistently get the favorable matchup with a
smaller guard defender guarding Palo.
Speaker 3 (13:29):
Bain is going to.
Speaker 2 (13:29):
Be able to pull that big forward away from the
paint above the brake to space the floor better. You
will be able to run effective two man game with
those inverted guard screens with Bain at a completely different
level than what you were able to run in the
past Baine in ball screens. Bain was a super high
volume a ball screen player this year. I think he
(13:50):
ran like eight hundred something picking rolls this year for
Memphis Desmond. Bain is very capable of weaponizing Palo and
Franz's role men. Same exact concept. He's being guarded by
a big by, a strong physical guard that can get
through screens, right, That's the type of defender he's gonna draw.
(14:11):
And Palo and Franz are gonna be guarded by these
big forwards. They're gonna be able to screen for Bain,
and same thing. Bain's gonna come off the screen and
you better be up there at the level. If you're
not up there at the level, he hits almost forty
percent of his pull up threes. You show at the
level boom pocket pass to Pallo rolling downhill to the
(14:32):
rim in a four on three, Right, There's gonna be
a lot of opportunities for them to unlock openings in
traditional coverages. When teams are unwilling to switch, and when
they are willing to switch, you're going to be regularly
able to get favorable matchups for both guys because they
get guarded by such different types of defenders. And in
both cases, like if Palo or Franz gets a matchup
(14:53):
that he wants off of an inverted ball screen or
off of a Bain ball screen, Bain will be able
to to pull that bigger forward away from the basket
and create more space.
Speaker 3 (15:04):
It is such a natural basketball fit.
Speaker 1 (15:09):
Blending Vice's signature dynamic storytelling with the high octane world
of sports, Vice Sports brings an exciting and diverse range
of programming that goes beyond the game, from action pack
live events to gripping behind the scenes documentaries, to hard
hitting investigative pieces and in depth profiles of athletes, coaches, teams.
Vice Sports captures the raw energy, drama, and passion that
(15:31):
makes sports truly unforgettable. Catch live events and other exclusive
sports programs only on Vice TV. Go to vicetv dot
com to find your cable channel.
Speaker 3 (15:43):
So here's the thing.
Speaker 2 (15:45):
Was it expensive, Yeah, expensive as hell, But we don't
know the details about whether Desmondbane was even available. We
don't understand what the negotiation looked like. And it is
a very natural fit. And I admire the aggression. And
I would I have liked the deal more if it
was too unprotected first instead of four or if it
(16:06):
was four protected first. Yeah, sure I would have liked.
Speaker 3 (16:09):
The deal more.
Speaker 2 (16:10):
But all I can think about now is Jalen Suggs
and Desmond Bain and Palaban Caro and Franz Vogner and
Wendell Carter Junior. And that is a pretty damn good
five in an Eastern conference that is wide open.
Speaker 3 (16:25):
So I like it.
Speaker 2 (16:26):
All I can think about now is band Bain's gonna
make their life way easier. I think he fits in
the defense well like Jalen Suggs can guard the other
team's best guard. Desmond Bain, I think is actually a
pretty underrated defender. I think he's a better defender than
he gets credit for. But He's going to be in
more achievable matchups. The only real like swing for me
(16:48):
as I look forward for this team is Jalen Suggs's
health and his jump shooting. He declined as a jump
shooter last year. Obviously, I wasn't able to finish the
season with that injury. Jalen's got to get healthy. Jays
got a knocked down shots. But like, I keep thinking
about Desmond Bane in the context of this new look
for the Orlando Magic, and I think it makes a
ton of basketball sense. And I'm really really excited to
(17:10):
watch that group. And my initial instinct is they're right
there in that top tier with Indiana, with Cleveland, with
New York, in that Eastern Conference, and I think they
absolutely will contend with that group. The other side of
this deal is the Ja Morant piece. I talked about
this a little bit last night with Colin, But John
(17:30):
Rant's going to be twenty six before the start of
next season. Twenty six is typically the age when stars
figure it out. That's typically the stage when the insane
talent of their athleticism meets the growing experience in basketball.
Like you piece from that point forward in your career,
it's more sore knees, more sore feet. Your athleticism slowly declines,
(17:56):
but your experience and skill improves, And so you can
plateau from twenty six, twenty seven to thirty three to
thirty four, maybe sometimes thirty five thirty six with how
these guys are aging so well in the league these days.
But like this is the age where teams start, where
players start to figure it out, and Jaw is just
not the same player he was back in that twenty
(18:17):
twenty two season took his team to win two wins
of the conference finals. Was this dominant, high volume score
and playmaker. His scoring volume has dropped every season since
that year. He's on two consecutive seasons of his scoring
efficiency going down. He just posted his two lowest games
played totals of his career in the last two seasons.
(18:38):
It doesn't look good. And so I think Memphis just
looked at the situation and was like, Okay, we just
got four unprotected first for Baine, I think it's time
to start looking at what you could get for joh
It's time to start looking at what you could get
for Jaron Jackson.
Speaker 3 (18:55):
This group is flawed.
Speaker 2 (18:56):
The Western Conference has a lot of teams that are
substantially better. I talk all the time about self awareness
being the key. You gotta be willing to look in
the mirror and be like, we are not close. We
need a real change, and to me, Memphis appears to
be making that sort of decision as we speak.
Speaker 3 (19:14):
I am a believer in Jaw.
Speaker 2 (19:17):
I've seen a lot of talk about where he ranks
in the league, and I don't particularly agree with some
of the stuff that I've seen. I think when John
Moran is healthy, he is still somewhere in that like
thirteen to seventeen range for best players in the NBA.
I still think he brings this athletic trait that nobody
can mess with, with the consistent ability to beat people
(19:37):
off the dribble. I think for all to talk about
his jump shot, and I think it's fair, and we're
going to talk about that in a second. I think
he's an underrated shot maker because of his ability to
get to the short range and to pop up off
the ground and make easy little floaters in short jump shots.
I believe in John Moran, and I think that there
is a chance for him to turn this story around.
But he's got to start taking care of his body.
(19:59):
He's got to start improving on the margins. His peers
are passing him, and it's very possible that his franchise
bails on him this summer. Somebody's gonna take a chance.
I don't know who it is, Like I talked about
with Colin last night, Like I like, if Houston misses
out on KD, they'd be an interesting team as a
guy that could just be their supreme offensive talent, surrounded
(20:21):
by physical defense and a ballscreen partner in Shangun.
Speaker 3 (20:25):
That makes a lot of sense. I don't know who
it's gonna be.
Speaker 2 (20:29):
But someone's gonna take a chance on Jaw, and it's
on Jaw to turn that script around, and he's capable
of doing it. But I mean, we're trending into the
wrong direction, and that's why we're in this situation. Let's
talk about Kevin Durant to San Antonio, Sam amic and
John Kraziskia. The Athletic reported last night that Kevin excuse me,
(20:50):
I should say on Monday night that Kevin Durant's preferred
destination is the San Antonio Spurs. First thing this suck
out over the last week is judging by the locations.
Speaker 3 (20:59):
Of most of these teams.
Speaker 2 (21:00):
State taxes are clearly a big factor for KD, and
I don't blame it. It obviously makes a massive difference
to his bottom line with how many like we're talking
millions of dollars with what he makes every single year.
What I thought when I heard the report about San
Antonio was I think kdve used the Spurs as a
really fun place to end his career. I've been thinking
(21:23):
a lot about this concept with KD ever since he
went to Golden State and straight up told us that
he did it because he wanted to play a fun
brand of basketball. I've been thinking a lot since last
night about my desire for him to go to a
place like Houston potentially or Minnesota. Those are my two
(21:44):
favorite destinations, and just opposing it with like Oklahoma City
in twenty sixteen. Oklahoma City in twenty sixteen would be
the closest thing to what going to Houston would look like.
Speaker 3 (21:56):
Right.
Speaker 2 (21:57):
Oklahoma City in twenty sixteen surrounded Kevin Durant with overwhelming
size and physicality, and they wore teams down with their defense.
But life was really hard for KD. On the offensive
end of the floor. He had a couple of really
inefficient scoring games in that playoff run before they ended
(22:17):
up losing. He was brutally bad down the stretch of
the Golden State Series in terms of his ability to
knock down shots, but it was just a really ugly
brand of basketball.
Speaker 3 (22:28):
Now, the flip side of that is they were one
win away.
Speaker 2 (22:30):
From beating a seventy three win team and probably being
the favorite to win the finals if they would have
made it to the finals. So like you could argue
that Thunder team is the best team he's been on
outside of the Golden State Warriors with Steph, And that's
the thing where it gets complicated. Like I could argue
if he went to Houston, that'd probably be his best
chance to win because they could surround him with all
(22:52):
that physicality and defense. But once again in Houston, it
would be ugly offense. It would be a lot of
like twenty seven to twenty eight field goal attempt nights
where he makes eleven twelve shots and has four or
five turnovers because it's ugly because it's difficult because they're
depending on him to carry them over the top with
(23:14):
his offense. Based on a defense and physicality model, I
think KD wants to play fun basketball. I think KD
wants to play free flowing basketball, and so I think
that's why he looks at these teams like Houston and goes, eh,
maybe not my jam And I think that that's fascinating.
(23:36):
Even just looking at like why he might have been
so interested in Miami, I kept thinking, like, man, like
Miami doesn't seem close. I like, I don't understand what
he'd be looking for there. But then you look at
it and it's like Eric spoelsher one of the best,
you know, offensive organization coaches in the NBA, bam Adebayo
one of the best five out like passing, screening, Folkrum's
(23:58):
in the NBA, Tyler Harrow a really good screenshooter that
kind of unlocks a lot of those five out concept
Duncan Robinson that unlocks a lot of those five five
out concepts. I think Kevin Durant looked at Miami is
like a place to play some really fun basketball, and
I can understand it, Like I'm starting to like kind
(24:19):
of feel what he's looking for in this journey. I
think he wants to go play a fun brand of
basketball for the rest of his career. There are a
lot of ways KDE can help the Spurs. Just because
this wasn't my favorite KD fit doesn't mean it won't
still be a huge upgrade for this team and that
it won't still be a good fit. He'll be a
excellent low man behind Victor Wemennyama, meaning when Victor Wemenyama
(24:43):
goes up to the level of ball screens, KD can
fill in from behind as another rim protection private presence.
I talked with Colin on Monday night about how Victor
wenman Yama's skill development should take a massive upgrade with
Kevin Durank. Kevin Urant to me, is like like the
JJ Reddick of the current NBA in terms of shooting workout,
(25:05):
a legend, like the guy that will put Wemby into
situations in the gym by themselves where he's gonna make
substantial improvements. I think if Dearon Fox's dribble penetration like
KD at this phase in his career post Achilles, if
there's one weakness he doesn't pressure the rim a ton
compared to the way he used to. That's Deeron Fox's superpower.
(25:31):
I talk about the idea of the weak side scoring forward.
If Dearon Fox and Victor wemen Yama are running ball
screens and you want to defend them three on two,
that's gonna be Kevin freaking Durant on the backside, hitting
catch and shoot threes, driving closeouts like the mother of
all weak sides scoring forwards. He was the best ISO
player in the league last year, albeit at a lower volume.
(25:53):
He was the best jump shooter in the league last year.
He's still so so good at basketball, and I do
think that he would be able to help the Spurs.
It's not a guarantee he'd go there, Obviously, a Phoenix
has a certain obligation to try to drive the market
for high asset return, especially considering their situation.
Speaker 3 (26:14):
Katie. I don't think has accomplished.
Speaker 2 (26:17):
So much in Phoenix to where they owe him a
certain outcome. But the San Antonio Spurs would be a
fun basketball destination for Katie. I don't think they'd immediately
become a top tier contender.
Speaker 3 (26:30):
They have shortcomings in terms of role player support.
Speaker 2 (26:33):
I think they'd be pretty thin and lacking physicality on
the front line. Jeremy Sohan would become so vitally important
for that team. Defensively, if you bring into Kevin Durant
as just a more trunky, physical forward that they would need,
there are flaws. I don't think they're gonna go win
the championship if KD goes to San Antonio, but it
would be fun basketball. And I think that KD just
(26:56):
wants to play fun basketball, and I think that that
makes sense at least within that context. Lastly, before we
get out of here today, I wanted to talk about
Yiannis potentially staying in Milwauk. It has been widely reported
that there's no trademarket for Yannis because Yiannis hasn't requested
a trade. I was looking at their payroll this morning,
the Bucks trying to give it like an honest like,
(27:18):
is there a real pathway here to pivot and try
to contend around Gianis? Again, you have Damian Lillard on
the books for fifty four million next year. They can
try to apply for a disabled player exception, but from
what I can tell, it looks like it probably wouldn't
get approved. Kyle Kuzma makes twenty two million. He's been
(27:40):
pretty disappointing. I will say this, I think who's has
been a winning player before. I'm like fifteen percent open
to the idea that he could work his ass off
this summer and come into camp as a more useful player.
I'm not ready to write off Kyle Kuzma in the
context of the Bucks, but Kyle Kuzma is your next
(28:01):
biggest salary after Dame. Bobby Portis has a player option.
I would imagine he'll opt out and resign. He's pretty
strongly indicated in interviews that he wants to raise So
I like Bobby Portis, but I'm not sure I like
him in the twenty million dollar territory. Pat Connaton is
on the books for nine point four million. It's a
player option, but I would imagine he'll pick it up
(28:22):
because he's a veteran minimum guy in the open market.
Kevin Porter Junior is on a player option. I think
he'll opt out, but I think he has a good
chance to re sign with the Bucks on a minimum.
I like his fit with Giannis, so I think he's
worth keeping under those circumstances. Aj Green is locked up
next year on a non guaranteed two point three million
dollar deal. That's one of the best value deals in
(28:43):
the league. So that's good for a very good three
and D player Andre Jackson Junior similarly on a non
guaranteed rookie deal. And then you have your deep bench guys,
guys a Chris Livingston and Tyler Smith.
Speaker 3 (28:52):
But that's it.
Speaker 2 (28:54):
So as you zoom out, you have zero reliable secondary
ball handling off of Giannis. Your best secondary ball handler
is Kevin Porter Jr. That's not gonna do much damage
in the Eastern Conference. You have no front court players
who can defend other than Yannis. He's the one guy,
and you'll likely have to overpay to keep guys like Portis.
(29:15):
Say you want to resign Gary Trent Junior. I wouldn't
be surprised if he goes over the minimum after some
of his shooting percentages in the postseason, if his agent
can drum up some market for him as a shooter,
and they have very little in the way of draft
compensation to make changes. The point being, even if we
acknowledge that the Eastern Conference is wide open, the roster
(29:38):
is going to be operating at a substantial talent disadvantage
in almost every major Eastern Conference matchup. I admire the loyalty,
I really do. I'll always remember the Janis era and
Milwaukee fondly. Even after the chip, Even in those disappointing years,
it's been so fun watching Giannis develop and improve and
(30:01):
carry some of these limited rosters. His twenty twenty two
playoff series against the Boston Celtics is one of my
favorite playoff series. I've watched the star play. He backpacked
those guys to a game seven. But the bottom line
is this team isn't close to contending. Jannis deserves to
go play meaningful basketball, and his value as an asset
(30:25):
is still the best vehicle to help Milwaukee pivot and
bring in the asset return they need to start fresh.
It's still just the best and most sensical outcome for
both sides of this deal. Again, I get it. I
understand the sentimentality. I understand the optics of requesting a trade.
I was talking with Shane before we got on the show,
(30:48):
like there's been this trend where it kind of feels
like some of these international guys are really hesitant to
do some of the more aggressive behind the scene manipulating
of their contract in terms of demanding trades. We haven't
really seen an example of it, and we've seen guys
like Yiannis and even Jokic throughout the past few years,
although obviously it paid off in twenty twenty three. We've
seen Yokic, you know, stick around through some injured rosters,
(31:11):
through some limited rosters, without any sign of complaining or wavering.
And like, Giannis has made some comments in the press
about like maybe he would look elsewhere, but here he is,
and he still hasn't requested a trade.
Speaker 3 (31:21):
And again, I admire it. I admire the loyalty.
Speaker 2 (31:24):
But all I know is the basketball fan in me
really wants to see Yannis play in late May and June,
and the Bucks, to me, need assets, and they don't
have money at this point, and so I think Giannis
is the best vehicle to make that happen, and so
I'm hopeful.
Speaker 3 (31:40):
As much as I understand this.
Speaker 2 (31:41):
Sucks for Bucks fans, I get it, I get I
understand as a Bucks fan there's a part of you
that want that would love to just have Giannis forever
and just be even if you're mediocre in the East,
you'd have more fun watching that team. I get it,
I do, But I just think it's in the best
interest for both sides for them to part ways this summer.
I hope that that ends up happening. All right, guys,
(32:02):
This all I have for today is always sincerely appreciate
you guys for supporting me and supporting the show. We
will be back on Thursday night after the final buzzer
of Game six of the NBA Finals, barring a KD trade. Obviously,
if KD gets traded, will move quicker than that. But
I'll see you guys after the final buzzer of Game
six on Thursday.
Speaker 3 (32:18):
What's up guys.
Speaker 2 (32:19):
As always, I appreciate you for listening to and supporting
OOPS tonight. It would actually be really helpful for us
if you guys would take a second.
Speaker 3 (32:25):
And leave a rating and a review. As always, I
appreciate you guys.
Speaker 2 (32:29):
Supporting us, but if you could take a minute to
do that, I'd really appreciate it.
Speaker 1 (32:34):
The volume
Hosts And Creators
Colin Cowherd
Jason McIntyre
Popular Podcasts
On Purpose with Jay Shetty
I’m Jay Shetty host of On Purpose the worlds #1 Mental Health podcast and I’m so grateful you found us. I started this podcast 5 years ago to invite you into conversations and workshops that are designed to help make you happier, healthier and more healed. I believe that when you (yes you) feel seen, heard and understood you’re able to deal with relationship struggles, work challenges and life’s ups and downs with more ease and grace. I interview experts, celebrities, thought leaders and athletes so that we can grow our mindset, build better habits and uncover a side of them we’ve never seen before. New episodes every Monday and Friday. Your support means the world to me and I don’t take it for granted — click the follow button and leave a review to help us spread the love with On Purpose. I can’t wait for you to listen to your first or 500th episode!
The Breakfast Club
The World's Most Dangerous Morning Show, The Breakfast Club, With DJ Envy And Charlamagne Tha God!
The Joe Rogan Experience
The official podcast of comedian Joe Rogan.