Jason reacts to the first day and a half of NBA free agency including the Denver Nuggets trading Michael Porter Jr. to the Brooklyn Nets for Cam Johnson and adding Bruce Brown, the Milwaukee Bucks waiving Damian Lillard and signing former Indiana Pacers big Myles Turner, D'Angelo Russell going to the Dallas Mavericks, Nickeil Alexander-Walker going to the Atlanta Hawks, the Houston Rockets signing Clint Capela and Dorian Finney-Smith after trading for Kevin Durant, the Los Angeles Lakers adding Jake Laravia to their roster of Luka Doncic and LeBron James, and more.
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toight here at the volume. Happy twoesday, everybody, I'll love you.
(01:54):
Guys are having a great week so far? Well free agency.
We decided to wait until this morning, and that turned
out to be a good idea. We had a whole
flurry of deals. I want to emphasize we were recording
this at nine to forty three am Pacific time, so
there is still possibly some deals that could squeak by
during the time that we're recording this, but I have
(02:14):
I'm going to follow a very similar pattern to what
we followed yesterday. I'm gon hit some top stories off
the top. I want to talk about the Denver Nuggets
and them going all in and what they pulled off yesterday.
I want to talk about the Milwaukee Bucks, who kind
of broke the basketball world this morning, bringing back an
old classic, the waven Stretch provision that you guys might
(02:34):
remember from almost ten years ago, when the league gave
an out for teams when they got into contracts that
they didn't want to deal with. And so we'll talk
a little bit about what the Bucks pulled off Waven
stretching Dame, bringing in Miles Turner, a couple of other
moves on the periphery that are fascinating. The third segment
I want to hit today, I want to talk about
the report that came out from Dave McManamon yesterday as
(02:57):
the Lakers let Dori and Finney Smith walk found discounted
replacement and did a whole lot of nothing else, letting
Brook Lopez sign elsewhere, letting Clink Cappella sign elsewhere for
a team that desperately needs a center. Obviously, Deandreyton is
still on the table for them, but a clear indicator
from Dave mcmanhamon that the Lakers are looking for cap
space in twenty twenty seven as their current primary strategy,
(03:20):
something that doesn't really make a lot of sense to me.
So I want to dive into that a little bit,
and then just like we did yesterday, there's like ten
to fifteen smaller deals that I just want to kind
of go rapid fire through. Give you guys kind of
my initial impressions as we bounce all around the league today.
You guys are the Joe Porgetzarry. Subscribe to loops in
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our videos. Follow me on Twitter at underscore jcnlt so
(03:41):
you guys don't miss you announcements. Don't forget about a
podcast week where you get your pocast on our hoop tonight.
It's also super helpful if you leave rating in a
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guys follow us there, and last but not least, keep
dropping mail bag questions in the YouTube comments so we
can get to a mail bag in our later week
episodes throughout the remainder of the summer. All right, let's
(04:02):
talk some basketball. So dever Nuggets big Day yesterday, they
trade Michael Porter Junior in an unprotected two thousand and
thirty two first round pick for Cam Johnson. They also
signed Bruce Brown to one year deal and traded Dario
Sariz for Jonas Valanciunas, as they pretty substantially anchor their
bench and solve that fit starter problem. Let's start with
(04:25):
Cam Johnson. So obviously an unprotected twenty thirty two first
round pick, but that's way out in the future when
Jokic will in all likelihood be retired and you're spending
it on. I've always talked about this when it comes
to first round draft compensation in the trade market. I'm
generally good with it as long as it brings back
a guy that you can close games with, a guy
that you feel comfortable in a key spot in a
(04:46):
playoff series, being on the floor with your best lineups.
That I think makes sense to spend first round draft
compensation when it comes to bench guys like, oh, this
guy's gonna come off the bench for us and have
a smaller role. That's where it gets tricky when it
comes to including first round draft compensation, especially when it
comes to unprotected first round draft compensation. Now, one of
the things I talked about in the after the conference
(05:08):
semi finals, if you guys remember, was that I still
very much believe in the core four of the Denver Nuggets,
Jamal Murray, Christian Brown, Aaron Gordon, and Nicole Jokis. They're
about as perfect fitting a four man group as you'll
find in the league. They're big and strong at every position.
They have two very good athletes in Christian Brown and
(05:30):
Aaron Gordon. They all compliment each other perfectly on offense,
even more so as Christian Brown and Aaron Gordon have
both become better jump shooters over the last couple of years.
The problem is is that they had nothing but very
flawed options at that fifth spot. That fifth guy. We
saw stretches in the postseason where they've got Russell Westbrook
out there trying to fill that spot. Michael Porter Junior
(05:52):
had issues all over the floor in the postseason, including
an inability to knock down open catch and shoot jumpers,
which in theory would be the thing that he should
have been able to handle there. And you guys, are
you Nuggets fans are probably still scarred by some of
the open looks that he missed in pivotal spots in
that Oklahoma City Thunder series. And the second problem was
(06:12):
that the Nuggets legitimately fell off of a cliff when
they went to their bench. I was having dinner on
Sunday night with Adamars before the trade, and we were
just kind of talking, making small talk. I'm up here
in Denver, like I told you guys yesterday, we're getting
ready to move up here, and we were just talking
about last season. And you know, one of the things
I said to Adam was in that Game seven, de
(06:34):
fronting of the post from from Alex Crusoe kind of
stole the attention coming out of that Game seven. And
I don't want to sit here and pretend like that
wasn't the one of the big kind of defensive adjustments
that kind of rocked that game. But the Nuggets got
off to a great start in Game seven, and what
happened was is they went to their bench, and when
(06:56):
they went to their bench, everything just absolutely cratered. And
so honestly, like it comes down to it when it
gets when you get to the NBA playoffs, Ideally you
want to have for sure a five man grouping that
you trust, but you really need seven seven and a
half guys that you can depend on to play key
stretches in key playoff moments, in various points of the game,
(07:20):
and that bench weakness ended up being part of what
burned then if you remember, it was when the bench
came in, they get absolutely rocked all of a sudden.
By the time the starters get back into the game,
they've lost control. Aaron Gordon's hamstring starts to become a
bigger problem over the course of the game. I definitely
thought their bench played a role in where things went
(07:41):
south for them last year. And so these two moves
directly address these three moves, I should say, directly address
those two biggest issues. Who's that fifth guy that they're
going to be starting and closing games with and do
they have the ability to go to their bench without
completely cratering like they did in Game seven. Let's talk
about Cam Johnson first. He's one of the best shooters
(08:04):
in the NBA out of the fifty eight players last year,
to take at least five hundred jump shots. He ranked
thirteen in efficiency at one point one zero points per shot,
despite being on pretty high degree of difficulty jump shots,
a lot off the dribble jump shots, a lot of
off the move jump shots. Some specifics, he was forty
four percent field goal percentage when unguarded off of the catch.
(08:28):
That's one point three to one points per shot when
you waited for threes, and he was right at about
a point per possession off the dribble, thirty seven point
four percent on off the dribble threes specifically, as well,
he was very good on the move. He was one
of the very best movement shooters in the NBA last year.
Out of thirty one players to take at least seventy
five shots coming off of off ball screens, Cam's one
(08:50):
point one five points per possession ranked third in the
entire NBA. One of the very best off screen players
in the NBA, Steph Curry, by the way, still holding
still holding down the top spot there. Cam specifically shot
thirty nine percent on threes coming off of off ball action.
He has substantially more off the dribble pop than Michael
(09:11):
Porter Junior. As well, he ran a ton of action.
Last year in Brooklyn, he ran two hundred and sixty
four pick and rolls right at about a point per
possession including passes. He was a really good ISO player.
He ran sixty eight ISOs that led to seventy six points.
That's one point one to two points per possession. Really
just had a he kind of added over the course
the last couple of years some of those basic ISO
off the dribble moves like side step, three step back threes,
(09:33):
things along those lines, to get little bits of separation
for him to beat guys in one on one situations.
The offensive fit in Denver is an absolute dream. He's
just a way better and way more versatile offensive player
than Michael Porter Junior ever was. He brings a downhill
rim pressure coming off of action that Michael Porter Junior
never did. He's better at shooting off the dribble than
(09:53):
Michael Porter Jr. When it comes to like straight up,
stand still shooting. Michael Porter Junior is obviously one of
the best guys that we've had in the league over
the course of the last few years, but even then
that failed him in big spots. In this postseason run,
I can't look at it as anything other than a
massive upgrade. And then on defense, it's a bit more complicated,
but I still view it as an upgrade. Michael Porter
(10:13):
Junior is a better rebounder than Cam, and he offers
a bit more length at the rim in terms of
like help defense situations, recovery stuff at the basket, but
Cam is substantially better than him at every other element
of defense. Cam has become a legitimately useful perimeter defender
in the NBA as good foot speed and length. He
competes on that end of the floor. I actually think
(10:35):
he can guard the second best perimeter player on the
other team, and that's what he'll be doing off of
Christian Brown. There have been many examples over the course
of the last few years. If you guys remember where
Denver had to deploy Aaron Gordon on a wing for
various reasons because Michael Porter Junior can't do that, And
the side effect of that is that it removes Aaron Gordon
(10:55):
from the rim as that helper, defensive rebounder type of player,
which he can be so impactful there. Right, So, like,
I think they can actually just use Cam Johnson as
their secondary perimeter defender instead of using Aaron Gordon like
they have in years past, which I think gives them
a stronger back line defensively in a lot of different situations.
(11:17):
I think Cam's just a better athlete in terms of
just up and down the floor athleticism and transition as well.
That's big for a Denver Nuggets team that could have
used some perimeter athleticism. I just think Cam Johnson is
an awesome basketball player. I think he's a better basketball
player than Michael Porter Junior, and I think he's a
perfect fit with the Denver Nuggets. This is a classic,
let's go all in type of move, and I now
(11:38):
view the Nuggets as a legitimate top tier contender in
a way that I did not before the trade. I think,
especially if you zoom out and it's like they were
this close to giving Oklahoma City a real problem last
year in terms of them having a eight point lead
in the fourth quarter of Game four, a game that
could have put them up three to one, a nine
point lead in the fourth quarter of Game five, a
(11:59):
game that could have put them up three to two.
I just I like it as an all in move
to try to increase their margin for error in those matchups.
Bruce Brown, he took a payday after winning the Chip
and he goes to Indiana, but he struggles to find
roles in Indiana and in Toronto. So why not go
back to the role that got youa paid in the
first place. As that kind of like de facto sixth
(12:19):
starter for the Denver Nuggets. He's always had great chemistry
with nicolea Jokic as an inverted screener and as a cutter.
He brings perimeter athleticism for a team that needs it.
They just ended up trading Dario Sariz for Yonas Mallancunis,
so they have I preferred Al Horford for this spot,
but I think Jonas is a certainly a better option
at backup center than whatever Denver has had access to
(12:41):
in years past. But like regardless of what happens the
rest of the summer, the Nuggets did it. They identified
the urgency surrounding the prime of the greatest player in
the game today and they push their chips in the middle,
and now I believe they have a great chance to
win the title. They specifically match up really well with
Oklahoma City, and this is the thing that I'm focused
(13:03):
on in what all Denver fans should be excited about.
Their interior size is a problem for Oklahoma City. Nikola
Jokich is a problem for Oklahoma City. Their overall basketball
IQ on defense in terms of like forcing them to
make decisions and make jump shots is something that manifests
well in the matchup against Oklahoma City. These two, these
three editions, I should say, could be what pushes them
(13:25):
over the hump to be able to win in that matchup.
Do you know how you remember how we talked about
how Isaiah Hartenstein and Alex Cruso those two editions basically
put Oklahoma City over the top. These could be similar
additions for Denver that put them over the top. They
addressed this summer as an arms race, and with an
Oklahoma City team that's likely going to be standing pat
(13:47):
they're betting on internal improvement, and guess what internal improvement
will certainly be on the table for them this year.
But Denver went and got better, Denver went and brought
in talent, and now they're giving themselves as good a
chance as they possibly can to compete with Oklahoma City
at the top of the conference. I am not obviously
going to make a decision right now. That'll be something
we do closer to the season, and I can change
(14:09):
my mind a half dozen times during the season, but
I feel like Denver has a real shot, like a
really really good shot to win the Western Conference now,
because of the way they match up a matchup to
matchup through the conference. All right, let's talk to mill one.
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Speaker 2 (15:02):
So the Milwaukee Bucks actually managed to pull off an
emergency pivot to give Yannis one last shot. I was
kind of over the course of the summer when I
heard the reporting that Jannis was not going to consider
a requesting a trade. As I was looking at the situation,
it was impossible to even conceptualize a way for them
(15:22):
to bring in the talent that they needed to actually
compete in the Eastern Conference. And we're going to talk
about whether or not this is enough talent, because I
still have my question marks. But even under those circumstances,
this is better than I could have expected them to do. Now,
they'll pay a price. They broke out the way they
did this. They dug way deep into the CBA to
(15:43):
find a provision that hasn't been used in many years
in the NBA. They waved and stretched Damian Lillard. What
that means is his one hundred and thirteen million dollars
remaining on his contract. Instead of paying it this season
and next season, they're going to spread that out over
five seasons and waived Damian Lillard. This then creates the
(16:04):
cap space that they needed to poach Myles Turner from
the Indiana Pacers at four years in one hundred and
seven million dollars. So like the thing that we didn't consider,
the thing that I didn't consider, the thing that again
we haven't even seen. Because there's a price to pay there.
Five years from now, that's a long time you can
imagine when you look at I mean I see Lakers
(16:25):
fans complaining looking at the payroll because Jared Vanderbilt is
on the books for eleven million or whatever and he's
playing for them actually in the rotation. Imagine paying, you know,
twenty something million dollars for Damian Lillard four years from now,
five years from now, and how that can handicap you.
So they paid a price in order to do this,
but for what it's worth under the circumstances you have
(16:48):
Giannis Yannis has committed to stay with you instead of
requesting a trade, you had to do something. This ended
up opening up the cap space for them to make
that sort of move. Now, before we get into some
of the specifics, they also retained Gary Trent junior, Torrian Prince,
Kevin Porter junior, Bobby Portis, and Jericho Sims all on
(17:09):
team friendly deals, So that's good. They got some discounts
on some specific guys. I think Gary Trent at that
number is a really good deal considering how well he
shot the ball at stretches in the postseason. Bobby Portis,
I think you could talk yourself into being worth a
little bit more on the open market. You got some
team friendly deals and you do use the wave and
stretch provision. All of a sudden, you have the ability
(17:31):
to bring in some more talent. So we'll talk about
Miles Turner here in a second, but they also get
Gary Harris on a two year deal. He's a minor
upgrade in perimeter athleticism. I wouldn't call him a needle
mover anymore at this point in his career, but he's
a good player at that position. They've been really weak
on the ball handling front, so they end up making
(17:51):
another move today. They trade Pat Conaton for Vasilla j
Meecicic Meetchich is theoretically a guy who brings in some
ball handling. I haven't seen that come to FI fruition
in any real way in the NBA yet, but you'll
have another opportunity to do so here in in Milwaukee.
My feelings are complicated. First of all, the number for
Miles Turner, I'm not super worried about it. Twenty seven
(18:15):
million per year is basically the running rate for the
middle tier of starting centers in the NBA. Look at
what Isa Hartenstein got, look at what Nick Claxton got. Hell,
you got Turner for less than what the Wolves resigned
Rudy Gobert for and I just think Miles Turner is
a better player than Rudy Gobert, so he's definitely an
upgrade over Brook Lopez. But he did struggle with foot
(18:37):
speed at various points in the playoffs. You guys remember
he struggled a little bit coming up to the level
against Oklahoma City. Now I will say he did better
up at the level when there was less ball pressure
than he did when he had to go cover up
at the level against a ball screen forty to fifty
sometimes sixty feet away from the basket. So there are
some scheme things that Milwaukee can do to make life
(18:58):
easier for Miles, but is not exactly what I would
consider a quick footed center, and so there will be
some of the similar transition issues. But you also have
to look at what's available. Miles Turner was the best
available center in the free agent market at this point,
So at this point you didn't have an option to
be able to just go like freely sign a rim running,
(19:21):
run the floor, athletic big like a Nick Claxton. He's
not a free agent right now, right so you only
have access to what's available on the market, and Miles's
flawed he has his issues, but he's definitely an upgrade.
It's a fair price for what his position typically demands
at his skill levels. It's far from perfect, but it's
what you can do in this situation. Then you look
(19:43):
at how open the Eastern Conference is you can talk
yourself into in this East where you have a flawed
Knicks team at the top, and you have a flawed
Calves team at the top, and the Pacers are down
and the Celtics are down, you basically look at it
as an open conference with a chance for you to
make a deeper run. But ultimately, even though they found
(20:05):
a way to add some talent, I just don't think
this team is good enough yet to get the job done.
I still think they have a severe ball handling deficiency.
You're gonna have a lot of Kevin Porter Junior on
the ball. I like Kevin Porter Jr. In the fit
with Giannis and Tenna Kumpo. He had moments there last
year where his change of pace and his size and
(20:25):
his ability to put defenders in jail on his backside
unlocked some things for Giannis on the role and in
general that were just different than what we saw with Dame.
Because Damon can be kind of one speed and super
fast is in less of that change of pace. There
was some stuff with Kevin Porter Jr. That worked with Giannis.
Kevin Porter Jr. Is gonna be one of the worst
(20:47):
lead guards in the conference. Like that's that's just a fact, right,
you go to Vasilla Ja meschiz there Theoretically, you know,
a slow pull up shooting passing, a prim ball handler.
That's just not going to be much to compete in
an Eastern Conference that has some high level ball handling
towards the top. So like, I admire the effort. Hell,
(21:10):
you went deep into the rule book to add some
talent to this team. But I think this story probably
ends with the mediocre Bucks team and Yannis eventually requesting
a trade. I again, this is gonna be fascinating. I'm
looking forward to watching them, seeing what they've got. But
are they as good as the Calves? I don't think so.
(21:31):
Are they as good as the Knicks? I don't think so.
What about Orlando now having brought in Desmond Bane and
another year of internal improvement and maybe a healthy Jalen Suggs.
We're about to talk about some Atlanta Hawks when we
get into our rapid fire segment. The Atlanta Hawks have
brought in some more firepower. They are now a dangerous
team in the Eastern Conference. I just don't see it
(21:52):
as being enough. But I will applaud the Bucks for
bringing in more talent than I actually thought they were
going to be capable of bringing in in this offseason
under the circumstances. All right, quick, Lakers stop, and then
we will move on to our rapid fire segment. So
the Lakers appear to be playing at safe. There's a
huge debate yesterday surrounding what the Lakers are trying to accomplish.
(22:17):
They let Dorian Finney Smith walk to the Rockets. Now,
there's been some conversation surrounding the draft compensation. You send
out some second round picks in the Dorian Finney Smith deal, right,
and so now you're like, well, why did you send
out draft compensation for a player that you then let walk.
That's just poor asset management. Now, I want to be clear,
(22:39):
I would have retained Dorian Finney Smith. The only case
for not retaining Dorian Phinney Smith is if you went
out and got one of these dudes on the mid
level exception. So like if they had let Dorian Finney
Smith walk, and they got the nakil Alexander Walker four year,
sixty million dollars a year or three year or whatever.
The mid level exception available to the Lakers was boom.
(22:59):
I'm on, you just basically did a roster balancing move.
We don't have much in the way of athletic guards
who can defend on the perimeter. We're turning Dori Infinney
Smith into that type of guy. I could have seen
that as a viable option. I would have retained dor
Infhiney Smith. That said, when it comes to the second
round draft compensation piece, it is complicated in the sense
(23:20):
that they made that deal before the lukadancicch trade. So
it is at least defensible to say that your entire approach,
in your entire focus and plan and strategy can shift
when the craziest NBA trade in the history of the
sport happens and it just upends everything that you've been
planning to do. But this idea from the report from
(23:44):
Dave McManamon yesterday straight up saying that the Lakers let
Dorian Phinney Smith walk to keep their books clean. In
twenty twenty seven for free agency. This is where I
get super confused. When's the last time we even saw
a star level talent in this league just change teams
(24:05):
through free agency. It doesn't happen. They re up with
their current team and they request a trade if they
want to get moved, and it ends up being the
Dorian Finney Smiths of the league that end up being
the salary filler in those types of deals. Banking on
a big free agent signing feels like a huge risk
to me, And how in the hell is this a
(24:28):
good idea when you don't even have Luka Doncic locked
up long term. He's going to be twenty seven years
old at the start of next season, meaning he's just
entering into the age where it's like the knees start
to hurt a lot more than they did when you
were younger. He's going to just now start experiencing some
of the urgency that surrounds his aging process. He's going
(24:52):
to be more motivated than ever. He just got embarrassed
on the league stage as his team, the team that
drafted him, traded him away and their upper management just
nuked him on the way out the door, basically calling
him a fat ass. He's gonna be more motivated than ever.
He's one of the most he's one of the most
(25:14):
vicious competitors that we have in the game of basketball.
I refuse to believe that this is all the Lakers
are going to do. I don't know how you could
expect to convince Luca this is the right spot for
him by punting. The summer of twenty twenty seven is
two years from now, Guys, You're gonna punt two years
(25:34):
of Luka Doncic's prime for a free agent signing that
hasn't happened, and there has not been a meaningful, needle
moving free agent star signing in the NBA in years.
It just doesn't happen. That is a huge risk. So
I refuse to believe this is all the Lakers are
(25:55):
going to do. Like I'm I'm not even going down
the oh, Rob Polinka's incompetent, He's doing it again route.
I just refuse to believe it. They have to do
something in terms of an aggressive trade to bolster their
talent level before the start of next season. I just
can't like. Look, Jake Laavia signs two years, twelve million,
(26:16):
he'll basically be the Dorian Finney Smith replacement. This is
not a big shock any of you Lakers fans who've
been following the team over the course last few months.
He's been hanging out, working out with Austin all summer.
There was that video of Austin with Jake in the
car and they were basically strongly hinting at the fact
that Jake would be a potentially a Laker. So not
a big surprise there. Some agency politics probably taking place
(26:37):
as well. There is some upside there. La Ravia has
more off the dribble pop than Dorian Phinney Smith, and
you guys saw how in the Minnesota Series DFS when
he got chased off the line. It was a problem
when Dorian Phinney Smith put the ball on the floor
and went into the lane. La Ravia is a better
closeout attacker than Dorian Phinney Smith. He's also like a younger,
(27:01):
better athlete, so there's some upside there. But I do
still think that Dorian Finney Smith is the better player
in the championship context. He has better length, he has
a lot more experience guarding a lot of different types
of players. He's just a rock solid veteran rotation player. Now,
I don't think Dorian fenn Smith can be one of
your top five players anymore. That's why I've been advocating
(27:21):
for ruyhajamurge trades to try to bring in a starting three.
But I do believe that Dorian can play twenty plus
serious minutes of playoff basketball for you off the bench,
kind of like we were talking about with the Nuggets
in that sixth and seventh slot for serious championship teams.
In other words, I like Jake Larevia and I'm excited
to watch him with the Lakers. I think he has
some upside, but I think the Lakers are a worst
(27:43):
team today than they would have been if they just
re upped with Dorian Finney Smith. So ultimately, as we
zoom out, you make the Laavia deal, you let Dorian
Phinney Smith walk, you're maintaining cat flexibility. I understand that
your strategy has to ship host Luca, and I understand
that you can't be as in the moment as you
(28:04):
were in Lebron and ad With the Lebron and ad Era,
you didn't see five years in the future, so you
had to be more aggressive in the short term. Yes,
Luka Doncic. There's a chance he's with the Lakers to
thirty four to thirty five years old, maybe even later.
So I understand that you need to have a little
bit more of a prudent approach to handling this every summer.
(28:25):
But he's gonna be twenty seven next year. You cannot
be punting seasons in his prime. You now have to
kind of like toe the line of making just a
little bit more savvy, aggressive moves that don't completely sell
out your future, Like you don't want to be given
away every pick and swap that you have. I understand
(28:46):
you don't want to be given away every young player
that you have, Like ideally, like Dalton Connect to me
is a guy that like made a lot of sense
to trade when it was a Lebron and Ad structure.
Dalton Connect now probably wouldn't trade him unless it was
for a starting caliber player because now Dalton kind of
feels like a player that fits Luca's timeline. I'm not
(29:06):
debating that your strategy needs to change entering into the
Luca era, but you cannot just sit there with the
status quo and then be like, hey, Luca, we'll reapproach
this when you're twenty nine, and we'll see how we
feel at that point. You don't even haven't locked up yet,
So that I thought was strange. I refuse to believe it.
(29:26):
I will be shocked if they don't make some sort
of aggressive trade to bolster their talent level before the
start of next season. All right, let's start ripping through
our rapid fire segment. Dorian Phinney Smith to the Rockets
four years, fifty three million. We talked about this yesterday,
so I'm not going to go into much more detail,
but I think it's a really good move for them.
They have so much leftover and draft compensation that if
(29:48):
they had to pivot off of Dori Infinny Smith, like
in that third year of the contract or something like that,
they could. This Houston team is just so well positioned
for the future that paying Dorian Finney Smith four years
is not going to be what makes or breaks their success.
So I'm not particularly worried about that. It's just an
aggressive move to capitalize on the KD timeline, which I
(30:08):
one hundred percent support. He addresses two needs shooting and experience. Again,
don't I don't like him when he's in your core five.
But if he can be that sixth player in your lineup,
that seventh player in your lineup, which is what he'll
be for Houston. I think it makes a ton of sense.
The Rockets also signed Clint Cappella, so they now have
three rotation centers on the roster. This is an extremely deep,
(30:30):
extremely big basketball team. Not hard to see why they
have the second best odds on Draft Kings right now
at plus seven hundred to win the title. Nikhil Alexander
Walker to the Hawks four years sixty two million, as
well as Luke Canard to the Hawks at one year
in eleven million. If you are going to try to
pivot around Trey Young to maximize him, what would you do.
(30:55):
We talked about this with Sam Vessini when we did
our pre draft thing. There are these players in the
NBA that excel at creating advantages. We talked about this
with James Harden yesterday. We're going to talk about it
in a very discounted poor man sense when we get
to D'Angelo Russell here in a minute. Trey Young is
still one of the better advantage creators in the NBA.
(31:16):
That is such a strong foundation because it puts all
your role players in a situation where defenders are often
sprinting at them instead of squared up on them. And
so that when you have advantage creation as your foundation,
it adds a great deal of value to what you
surround that advantage creation in in terms of players that
(31:37):
can dribble, pass, shoot, and defend, just classic role player
responsibilities off the ball. This summer, the Hawks have been
investing in that depth. You already had three great options
right in the middle of that lineup, Dyson Daniels at
the two, Zachary Rissaschet and Jalen Johnson in the front court.
(31:58):
You're adding nikiel Al Lexander Walker to that for depth.
You're adding Luke Canard to that for depth. In a
wide open East, they're giving themselves a puncher's chance. They
watched what Indiana did. Indiana had their advantage creator, Oklahoma
City had their advantage creators. They surrounded them with a
bunch of depth and athleticism and guys that can dribble, shoot,
(32:20):
pass and defend. And it worked and those teams got
to the finals. Atlanta is looking at the room, they're
reading the room and they're saying, we have one of
those guys. What if we just follow that same mold
and like I like, I think Atlanta should be eyeing
a top four seed this year. I think that should
be their goal. I think it's completely realistic that if
they attack the season from the start and they have
(32:43):
good health and all of these dudes get you know,
just really really invested in the attention to detail from
day one. There there's no reason in the world. While
the Hawks can't, why the Hawks can't have a home
court advantage in the first round. The Nick's bolster their bench.
Jordan Clarkson is now Nick. Ran four hundred and sixteen
(33:04):
pick and rolls in ISOs for the Jazz last year,
including including passes. He generated four hundred and six points
on those four hundred and sixteen pick and rolls in ISOs,
so just under a point per possession. He was forty
four percent on unguarded catch and shoot jump shots that's
really good, and thirty five percent on pull up threes,
which is fine. So I view him as just an
upgrade to the Campaign spot, a legitimate upgrade. The Knicks
(33:26):
are a better team with him as their backup guard
instead of Campaign. Whershaon Yaboseli Yabaselli leveraged an awesome Olympics
run with France to get himself a spot in the
NBA last year, and he demonstrated for the seventy six
ers that his skill does translate. He can shoot the ball.
He's a legit spacing big. He used forty three percent
field goals on unguarded ketch and shoot jump shots. Last year.
(33:50):
He was thirty six percent on pick and pop three.
So his percentages dip a tiny bit when he's on
the move, but he's still very effective there. Thirty six
percent is well over a point per posents. Now he's
on ball. Stuff didn't translate super well. He wasn't super
efficient in the post. Some of his driving closeout possessions
weren't great. But I do think the Knicks are more
(34:11):
invested in that shooting piece than they are invested in
some of the close out attacking on ball stuff with
what they have with Jordan Clarkson and Michale Bridges and
og and Andobi and Karl Anthony Towns, so I think
it's a good fit on that front. Now. His lack
of foot speed was an issue playing defense in the
NBA with the Sixers last year, but just like we
talked about with Bobby Portis yesterday. That's not exactly uncommon
(34:31):
with backup bigs, And if Yabaselli was a good defensive
anchor in addition to being like a legit stretch big,
he'd be getting somewhere closer to what Miles Turner got.
So I like at this point as a backup big,
I think he's just as good an option as you'll
find for most of these other offensively minded centers at
(34:52):
like Thomas Bryant or you know, Bobby Portis. These these
guys that can shoot and do a lot on offense,
but are obviously going to come with defense some shortcomings.
It puts you in a situation where usually you would
prefer to have also a backup defensive big for specific
types of matchups. But I like yabusel Is a rotation
option for the Knicks. The Knicks needed depth to cut
(35:13):
their starters minutes so that they could emphasize attention to
detail from possession to possession from day one of the
season under a new coach. These moves help anchor that ability.
Makes a lot of sense for the Knicks. D'Angelo Russell
to the MAVs two years thirteen million. To me, he's
the discounted poor Man's version of what James Harden is
(35:34):
in this league a really high floor offensive engine relative
to other players in his salary bracket. The fit with
the Lakers is I'll give you, guys, an example from
the Lakers. So pick and roll for Lebron James and
Anthony Davis never really came to fruition because they both
were guarded by similar types of players. AD was typically
guarded by big forwards. Lebron is typically guarded by big forwards,
(35:57):
So most teams would just end up switching that app
whenever they could. There were rare examples where they'd go
up against a big that couldn't switch, like a use
of nrkis for Phoenix, for instance, and Lebron and AD
would just eviscerate those dudes in pick and roll. But
it just was too rare and it was too specific
of a type of matchup that they needed for that
(36:18):
to function. D LOO was always guarded by, you know,
the by a smaller guard and Anthony Davis being guarded
by a bigger ford. They were not switching that action,
and so DLO was able to take advantage of a
lot of the baked in drop coverage reads that were
available to him in the Laker offense, and he was
(36:38):
very good there. He had awesome chemistry with Anthony Davis
because of the lack of switching in that action. He
was actually the guy that set up Anthony Davis with
the majority of his role man opportunities relative to like
what Lebron was able to do or Austin who was
you know, obviously developing as a pick and roll ball
handler throughout that year. But to Medlo, if you look
(37:00):
at this MAVs team, they're in desperate need of ball handling,
he already has good chemistry. Fit with ad at two
years thirteen million to get a high floor defense, high
floor offensive engine on a team that is just stacked
with defensive talent. I love the fit. I think it's
literally perfect. This makes the Dallas Mavericks better in the
(37:21):
short term. All right, we have six more quick hitters
before we get out of here today. Brook Lopez to
the Clippers two years, eighteen million. I really like this deal.
We've talked a lot over the years about drop coverage
being a bracket. So in modern pick and roll coverage
in the NBA, you have two sides of the coverage, right,
you have the guy chasing over the top of the screen,
(37:43):
and then you have the guy defending the screener at
various positions, either up at the level or further back
in a deeper drop. Now what ends up happening is
these guys are so good at scoring in the mid
range that there's more responsibility on those ball handlers become
up up to the level in screens, especially when the
(38:04):
on ball guy is struggling in his side of the bracket.
If the top guy in the bracket, the on ball
guy stays attached and chases over the top, then he
can't take a pull up mid ranger, he can't take
a floater, He'll get blocked. It forces the ball handler,
it funnels him into the rim protector. But when that
(38:27):
guy is not doing his job, when he's getting hit
on the screen and suddenly there's separation, there's way more
pressure on the big and the other side of that
bracket to come up high to the level to contest
and to disrupt the ball handler coming downhill and pick
and roll. Right. With Milwaukee, a team that really struggled
(38:48):
with their perimeter defense talent, brook Lopez was exposed as
a big that could struggle to guard in space at
this phase of his career. The Clippers are a team
that can consistently keep high, high quality perimeter defenders on
the floor that do a better job in their part
of the bracket. So while we all agree Brook is
not as good at extending his bracket of the coverage
(39:10):
up higher to the level as he used to be,
he isn't going to have to as often in a
Clipper system that has better perimeter defense talent chasing over
the top. I think it's a really good fit for Brook.
I think it's a really interesting example of a team
that can bring really physically imposing center play for forty
eight minutes now that backup center spot has been an
(39:30):
issue throughout the Zubats era. Really really like Brook for
the Clippers. I think that's a big get. They're a
better team today than they were yesterday. Ti Jerome three years,
twenty eight million to the Memphis Grizzlies. For your Memphis fans,
Ti Jerome was the best backup guard in the NBA
last year. A very very dynamic pick and roll score,
an absolutely deadly floater. He was the best floater shooter
(39:52):
in the NBA by a mile. Just a really, really
impactful player in ball screens, coming over the top, getting
the defense stuck behind him, shooting that little pop shot
in the lane. I thought he was the best backup
guard in the NBA last year, and then he completely
and utterly decomposed in the playoffs with the Caps. So
(40:13):
the way I look at it, if you're a Grizzlies fan,
you gotta betting on embarrassment doing the job here. We
talked a lot about competitiveness over the course of the
last couple of days. If Ty Jerome is the competitor
that I believe he is, you bet your ass. He's
been sitting on his couch every single night the last
couple of months, just beating himself up over how poorly
he played in that Pacers series. That will motivate him
(40:36):
to round out his game even further in his offseason work.
I think it's a good chance that Memphis gets a
very good version of Ty Jerome next year. I think
it could be a really good fit for them, and
at that number, that's a lot of ball handling talent there.
Kris Lavert two years, twenty nine million to the Detroit
Pistons an emergency pivot to find guard depth after Malik
(40:59):
Beasley ends up getting embroiled in a gambling scandal. I
like Karrislavert. He's an interesting player. He's got a bit
of tunnel vision as a ball handler, which can lead
to him taking some iffy shots, but he has some
real utility as a bench guard because he can legit
get separation and create shots for himself. And because he
doesn't pass the ball much, he doesn't turn the ball
(41:20):
over very much, which can lead to a higher floor
defense in the units that he leads. And I think
he's a very good defender when he's healthy and locked in.
He's got great length, he slides his feet super well.
I think he's a good piece for bench depth on
this Pistons squad. Now, I was hopeful that they would
be able to facilitate this Dennis Schroder sign and trade
(41:42):
to the Kings for a guy like Malik Monk. I
think Malik Monk would have been such a fun fit
for the Detroit Pistons. Who knows if they end up
working out a similar deal at some point down the line.
But Dennis Schroeder did end up signing with the Kings
as well, which I think is hilarious because the Kings
will probably be the team that gets Dennis Schroeder one
year two late, which is classic Sacramento Kings. I like
(42:04):
Dennis Schroeder. I've been a big fan of him rooting
over the years, but just with each passing year, he
gets a little bit slower on that dribble drive, a
little bit less capable of getting into the teeth of
the defense, and it just feels like the Kings might
be getting him one year too late. But I keep
an eye on the Pistons and the Kings. I think
Malik Monk would be a really fun fit for a
Pistons team that also is probably viewing the Eastern Conference
(42:24):
as wide open and gettable. Luca Garza to Boston for
two years five point five million and Luke Cornett to
the San Antonio Spurs at four years, forty one million.
These deals are connected because clearly the Celtics are not
interested in continuing any of their payroll issues that they have.
They want to keep their payroll down, which makes sense
(42:45):
under the circumstances. I think Luke Cornett is a really
good player, and having him at that number in San
Antonio's a win. He's not exceptional at anything, but He's
pretty solid at everything, and I think that that is
a really good option as a backup big in this league.
Luke Garza Luca Garza, excuse me, was an end of
the bench big for Minnesota over the years. Very aggressive
(43:07):
scorer in his minutes. It's a crazy stat Luca Garza's
career in the NBA. He's at twenty two point three
points per thirty six minutes in his NBA career. It
takes a lot of threes and pick and pop situations
and spacing situations. A very aggressive offensive, rebounder and finisher
around the rim. He hasn't shot the three at a
high percentage yet, but he'll be a fun player in
(43:27):
Boston as just an aggressive scoring big off the bench.
And then, lastly, Tias Jones one year, seven million dollars
with the Orlando matt Do you guys remember all the
stuff that I said about Tias with respect to Phoenix
and Houston. I talked about how I hated him with
Phoenix as a fit because this was a team that
had a redundancy of ball handling and a complete lack
(43:50):
of overall physicality, and it just led to Tias being
one of their worst plus minus guys all year long
because his skill set just didn't It was a diminishing
return rather than a force multiplier. I liked him as
a fit for Houston, if you guys remember, because Houston
needed ball handling and had plenty of physicality to surround
him with. The same concept applies here for Orlando. This
(44:14):
is an Orlando team that could use some steady ball
handling off the bench. Obviously they lose Cole Anthony in
this process. Tias Jones, to me, is a force multiplier
for a Orlando Magic team because the spot up shooting,
the reliable spot up shooting, and the off the dribble
ability to create shots for his teammates is super valuable
in an Orlando team that needs that and that can
(44:35):
anchor him with all the defensive talent to prevent his
lack of physicality from being an issue. Tias has his
issues with off ball focus and attention. He gets back
cut a lot, he gives up a lot offensive rebounds.
He's not a good defensive player. That's all stuff that
he's got to work out. But this is an Orlando
team that can support him and bolster him on that
end of the floor. So I think it makes a
lot of sense. All right, guys, That's all I have
(44:56):
for today is always, I sincerely appreciate you guys for
supporting us and supporting the show. Obviously, if something crazy
happens today, we'll react to it. But I am driving
back from Denver to Tucson tomorrow, so our plan at
this point is to be back on Thursday morning. We're
going to kind of zoom out from Free Agency and
kind of look at our biggest winners in biggest losers.
I will see you guys then. What's up guys? As always,
I appreciate you for listening to and supporting Oops tonight.
(45:19):
They would actually be really helpful for us if you
guys would take a second and leave a rating and
a review. As always, I appreciate you guys supporting us,
but if you could take a minute to do that,
I'd really appreciate it.
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toight here at the volume. Happy twoesday, everybody, I'll love you.
(01:54):
Guys are having a great week so far? Well free agency.
We decided to wait until this morning, and that turned
out to be a good idea. We had a whole
flurry of deals. I want to emphasize we were recording
this at nine to forty three am Pacific time, so
there is still possibly some deals that could squeak by
during the time that we're recording this, but I have
(02:14):
I'm going to follow a very similar pattern to what
we followed yesterday. I'm gon hit some top stories off
the top. I want to talk about the Denver Nuggets
and them going all in and what they pulled off yesterday.
I want to talk about the Milwaukee Bucks, who kind
of broke the basketball world this morning, bringing back an
old classic, the waven Stretch provision that you guys might
(02:34):
remember from almost ten years ago, when the league gave
an out for teams when they got into contracts that
they didn't want to deal with. And so we'll talk
a little bit about what the Bucks pulled off Waven
stretching Dame, bringing in Miles Turner, a couple of other
moves on the periphery that are fascinating. The third segment
I want to hit today, I want to talk about
the report that came out from Dave McManamon yesterday as
(02:57):
the Lakers let Dori and Finney Smith walk found discounted
replacement and did a whole lot of nothing else, letting
Brook Lopez sign elsewhere, letting Clink Cappella sign elsewhere for
a team that desperately needs a center. Obviously, Deandreyton is
still on the table for them, but a clear indicator
from Dave mcmanhamon that the Lakers are looking for cap
space in twenty twenty seven as their current primary strategy,
(03:20):
something that doesn't really make a lot of sense to me.
So I want to dive into that a little bit,
and then just like we did yesterday, there's like ten
to fifteen smaller deals that I just want to kind
of go rapid fire through. Give you guys kind of
my initial impressions as we bounce all around the league today.
You guys are the Joe Porgetzarry. Subscribe to loops in
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(03:41):
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can get to a mail bag in our later week
episodes throughout the remainder of the summer. All right, let's
(04:02):
talk some basketball. So dever Nuggets big Day yesterday, they
trade Michael Porter Junior in an unprotected two thousand and
thirty two first round pick for Cam Johnson. They also
signed Bruce Brown to one year deal and traded Dario
Sariz for Jonas Valanciunas, as they pretty substantially anchor their
bench and solve that fit starter problem. Let's start with
(04:25):
Cam Johnson. So obviously an unprotected twenty thirty two first
round pick, but that's way out in the future when
Jokic will in all likelihood be retired and you're spending
it on. I've always talked about this when it comes
to first round draft compensation in the trade market. I'm
generally good with it as long as it brings back
a guy that you can close games with, a guy
that you feel comfortable in a key spot in a
(04:46):
playoff series, being on the floor with your best lineups.
That I think makes sense to spend first round draft
compensation when it comes to bench guys like, oh, this
guy's gonna come off the bench for us and have
a smaller role. That's where it gets tricky when it
comes to including first round draft compensation, especially when it
comes to unprotected first round draft compensation. Now, one of
the things I talked about in the after the conference
(05:08):
semi finals, if you guys remember, was that I still
very much believe in the core four of the Denver Nuggets,
Jamal Murray, Christian Brown, Aaron Gordon, and Nicole Jokis. They're
about as perfect fitting a four man group as you'll
find in the league. They're big and strong at every position.
They have two very good athletes in Christian Brown and
(05:30):
Aaron Gordon. They all compliment each other perfectly on offense,
even more so as Christian Brown and Aaron Gordon have
both become better jump shooters over the last couple of years.
The problem is is that they had nothing but very
flawed options at that fifth spot. That fifth guy. We
saw stretches in the postseason where they've got Russell Westbrook
out there trying to fill that spot. Michael Porter Junior
(05:52):
had issues all over the floor in the postseason, including
an inability to knock down open catch and shoot jumpers,
which in theory would be the thing that he should
have been able to handle there. And you guys, are
you Nuggets fans are probably still scarred by some of
the open looks that he missed in pivotal spots in
that Oklahoma City Thunder series. And the second problem was
(06:12):
that the Nuggets legitimately fell off of a cliff when
they went to their bench. I was having dinner on
Sunday night with Adamars before the trade, and we were
just kind of talking, making small talk. I'm up here
in Denver, like I told you guys yesterday, we're getting
ready to move up here, and we were just talking
about last season. And you know, one of the things
I said to Adam was in that Game seven, de
(06:34):
fronting of the post from from Alex Crusoe kind of
stole the attention coming out of that Game seven. And
I don't want to sit here and pretend like that
wasn't the one of the big kind of defensive adjustments
that kind of rocked that game. But the Nuggets got
off to a great start in Game seven, and what
happened was is they went to their bench, and when
(06:56):
they went to their bench, everything just absolutely cratered. And
so honestly, like it comes down to it when it
gets when you get to the NBA playoffs, Ideally you
want to have for sure a five man grouping that
you trust, but you really need seven seven and a
half guys that you can depend on to play key
stretches in key playoff moments, in various points of the game,
(07:20):
and that bench weakness ended up being part of what
burned then if you remember, it was when the bench
came in, they get absolutely rocked all of a sudden.
By the time the starters get back into the game,
they've lost control. Aaron Gordon's hamstring starts to become a
bigger problem over the course of the game. I definitely
thought their bench played a role in where things went
(07:41):
south for them last year. And so these two moves
directly address these three moves, I should say, directly address
those two biggest issues. Who's that fifth guy that they're
going to be starting and closing games with and do
they have the ability to go to their bench without
completely cratering like they did in Game seven. Let's talk
about Cam Johnson first. He's one of the best shooters
(08:04):
in the NBA out of the fifty eight players last year,
to take at least five hundred jump shots. He ranked
thirteen in efficiency at one point one zero points per shot,
despite being on pretty high degree of difficulty jump shots,
a lot off the dribble jump shots, a lot of
off the move jump shots. Some specifics, he was forty
four percent field goal percentage when unguarded off of the catch.
(08:28):
That's one point three to one points per shot when
you waited for threes, and he was right at about
a point per possession off the dribble, thirty seven point
four percent on off the dribble threes specifically, as well,
he was very good on the move. He was one
of the very best movement shooters in the NBA last year.
Out of thirty one players to take at least seventy
five shots coming off of off ball screens, Cam's one
(08:50):
point one five points per possession ranked third in the
entire NBA. One of the very best off screen players
in the NBA, Steph Curry, by the way, still holding
still holding down the top spot there. Cam specifically shot
thirty nine percent on threes coming off of off ball action.
He has substantially more off the dribble pop than Michael
(09:11):
Porter Junior. As well, he ran a ton of action.
Last year in Brooklyn, he ran two hundred and sixty
four pick and rolls right at about a point per
possession including passes. He was a really good ISO player.
He ran sixty eight ISOs that led to seventy six points.
That's one point one to two points per possession. Really
just had a he kind of added over the course
the last couple of years some of those basic ISO
off the dribble moves like side step, three step back threes,
(09:33):
things along those lines, to get little bits of separation
for him to beat guys in one on one situations.
The offensive fit in Denver is an absolute dream. He's
just a way better and way more versatile offensive player
than Michael Porter Junior ever was. He brings a downhill
rim pressure coming off of action that Michael Porter Junior
never did. He's better at shooting off the dribble than
(09:53):
Michael Porter Jr. When it comes to like straight up,
stand still shooting. Michael Porter Junior is obviously one of
the best guys that we've had in the league over
the course of the last few years, but even then
that failed him in big spots. In this postseason run,
I can't look at it as anything other than a
massive upgrade. And then on defense, it's a bit more complicated,
but I still view it as an upgrade. Michael Porter
(10:13):
Junior is a better rebounder than Cam, and he offers
a bit more length at the rim in terms of
like help defense situations, recovery stuff at the basket, but
Cam is substantially better than him at every other element
of defense. Cam has become a legitimately useful perimeter defender
in the NBA as good foot speed and length. He
competes on that end of the floor. I actually think
(10:35):
he can guard the second best perimeter player on the
other team, and that's what he'll be doing off of
Christian Brown. There have been many examples over the course
of the last few years. If you guys remember where
Denver had to deploy Aaron Gordon on a wing for
various reasons because Michael Porter Junior can't do that, And
the side effect of that is that it removes Aaron Gordon
(10:55):
from the rim as that helper, defensive rebounder type of player,
which he can be so impactful there. Right, So, like,
I think they can actually just use Cam Johnson as
their secondary perimeter defender instead of using Aaron Gordon like
they have in years past, which I think gives them
a stronger back line defensively in a lot of different situations.
(11:17):
I think Cam's just a better athlete in terms of
just up and down the floor athleticism and transition as well.
That's big for a Denver Nuggets team that could have
used some perimeter athleticism. I just think Cam Johnson is
an awesome basketball player. I think he's a better basketball
player than Michael Porter Junior, and I think he's a
perfect fit with the Denver Nuggets. This is a classic,
let's go all in type of move, and I now
(11:38):
view the Nuggets as a legitimate top tier contender in
a way that I did not before the trade. I think,
especially if you zoom out and it's like they were
this close to giving Oklahoma City a real problem last
year in terms of them having a eight point lead
in the fourth quarter of Game four, a game that
could have put them up three to one, a nine
point lead in the fourth quarter of Game five, a
(11:59):
game that could have put them up three to two.
I just I like it as an all in move
to try to increase their margin for error in those matchups.
Bruce Brown, he took a payday after winning the Chip
and he goes to Indiana, but he struggles to find
roles in Indiana and in Toronto. So why not go
back to the role that got youa paid in the
first place. As that kind of like de facto sixth
(12:19):
starter for the Denver Nuggets. He's always had great chemistry
with nicolea Jokic as an inverted screener and as a cutter.
He brings perimeter athleticism for a team that needs it.
They just ended up trading Dario Sariz for Yonas Mallancunis,
so they have I preferred Al Horford for this spot,
but I think Jonas is a certainly a better option
at backup center than whatever Denver has had access to
(12:41):
in years past. But like regardless of what happens the
rest of the summer, the Nuggets did it. They identified
the urgency surrounding the prime of the greatest player in
the game today and they push their chips in the middle,
and now I believe they have a great chance to
win the title. They specifically match up really well with
Oklahoma City, and this is the thing that I'm focused
(13:03):
on in what all Denver fans should be excited about.
Their interior size is a problem for Oklahoma City. Nikola
Jokich is a problem for Oklahoma City. Their overall basketball
IQ on defense in terms of like forcing them to
make decisions and make jump shots is something that manifests
well in the matchup against Oklahoma City. These two, these
three editions, I should say, could be what pushes them
(13:25):
over the hump to be able to win in that matchup.
Do you know how you remember how we talked about
how Isaiah Hartenstein and Alex Cruso those two editions basically
put Oklahoma City over the top. These could be similar
additions for Denver that put them over the top. They
addressed this summer as an arms race, and with an
Oklahoma City team that's likely going to be standing pat
(13:47):
they're betting on internal improvement, and guess what internal improvement
will certainly be on the table for them this year.
But Denver went and got better, Denver went and brought
in talent, and now they're giving themselves as good a
chance as they possibly can to compete with Oklahoma City
at the top of the conference. I am not obviously
going to make a decision right now. That'll be something
we do closer to the season, and I can change
(14:09):
my mind a half dozen times during the season, but
I feel like Denver has a real shot, like a
really really good shot to win the Western Conference now,
because of the way they match up a matchup to
matchup through the conference. All right, let's talk to mill one.
Speaker 1 (14:28):
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Speaker 2 (15:02):
So the Milwaukee Bucks actually managed to pull off an
emergency pivot to give Yannis one last shot. I was
kind of over the course of the summer when I
heard the reporting that Jannis was not going to consider
a requesting a trade. As I was looking at the situation,
it was impossible to even conceptualize a way for them
(15:22):
to bring in the talent that they needed to actually
compete in the Eastern Conference. And we're going to talk
about whether or not this is enough talent, because I
still have my question marks. But even under those circumstances,
this is better than I could have expected them to do. Now,
they'll pay a price. They broke out the way they
did this. They dug way deep into the CBA to
(15:43):
find a provision that hasn't been used in many years
in the NBA. They waved and stretched Damian Lillard. What
that means is his one hundred and thirteen million dollars
remaining on his contract. Instead of paying it this season
and next season, they're going to spread that out over
five seasons and waived Damian Lillard. This then creates the
(16:04):
cap space that they needed to poach Myles Turner from
the Indiana Pacers at four years in one hundred and
seven million dollars. So like the thing that we didn't consider,
the thing that I didn't consider, the thing that again
we haven't even seen. Because there's a price to pay there.
Five years from now, that's a long time you can
imagine when you look at I mean I see Lakers
(16:25):
fans complaining looking at the payroll because Jared Vanderbilt is
on the books for eleven million or whatever and he's
playing for them actually in the rotation. Imagine paying, you know,
twenty something million dollars for Damian Lillard four years from now,
five years from now, and how that can handicap you.
So they paid a price in order to do this,
but for what it's worth under the circumstances you have
(16:48):
Giannis Yannis has committed to stay with you instead of
requesting a trade, you had to do something. This ended
up opening up the cap space for them to make
that sort of move. Now, before we get into some
of the specifics, they also retained Gary Trent junior, Torrian Prince,
Kevin Porter junior, Bobby Portis, and Jericho Sims all on
(17:09):
team friendly deals, So that's good. They got some discounts
on some specific guys. I think Gary Trent at that
number is a really good deal considering how well he
shot the ball at stretches in the postseason. Bobby Portis,
I think you could talk yourself into being worth a
little bit more on the open market. You got some
team friendly deals and you do use the wave and
stretch provision. All of a sudden, you have the ability
(17:31):
to bring in some more talent. So we'll talk about
Miles Turner here in a second, but they also get
Gary Harris on a two year deal. He's a minor
upgrade in perimeter athleticism. I wouldn't call him a needle
mover anymore at this point in his career, but he's
a good player at that position. They've been really weak
on the ball handling front, so they end up making
(17:51):
another move today. They trade Pat Conaton for Vasilla j
Meecicic Meetchich is theoretically a guy who brings in some
ball handling. I haven't seen that come to FI fruition
in any real way in the NBA yet, but you'll
have another opportunity to do so here in in Milwaukee.
My feelings are complicated. First of all, the number for
Miles Turner, I'm not super worried about it. Twenty seven
(18:15):
million per year is basically the running rate for the
middle tier of starting centers in the NBA. Look at
what Isa Hartenstein got, look at what Nick Claxton got. Hell,
you got Turner for less than what the Wolves resigned
Rudy Gobert for and I just think Miles Turner is
a better player than Rudy Gobert, so he's definitely an
upgrade over Brook Lopez. But he did struggle with foot
(18:37):
speed at various points in the playoffs. You guys remember
he struggled a little bit coming up to the level
against Oklahoma City. Now I will say he did better
up at the level when there was less ball pressure
than he did when he had to go cover up
at the level against a ball screen forty to fifty
sometimes sixty feet away from the basket. So there are
some scheme things that Milwaukee can do to make life
(18:58):
easier for Miles, but is not exactly what I would
consider a quick footed center, and so there will be
some of the similar transition issues. But you also have
to look at what's available. Miles Turner was the best
available center in the free agent market at this point,
So at this point you didn't have an option to
be able to just go like freely sign a rim running,
(19:21):
run the floor, athletic big like a Nick Claxton. He's
not a free agent right now, right so you only
have access to what's available on the market, and Miles's
flawed he has his issues, but he's definitely an upgrade.
It's a fair price for what his position typically demands
at his skill levels. It's far from perfect, but it's
what you can do in this situation. Then you look
(19:43):
at how open the Eastern Conference is you can talk
yourself into in this East where you have a flawed
Knicks team at the top, and you have a flawed
Calves team at the top, and the Pacers are down
and the Celtics are down, you basically look at it
as an open conference with a chance for you to
make a deeper run. But ultimately, even though they found
(20:05):
a way to add some talent, I just don't think
this team is good enough yet to get the job done.
I still think they have a severe ball handling deficiency.
You're gonna have a lot of Kevin Porter Junior on
the ball. I like Kevin Porter Jr. In the fit
with Giannis and Tenna Kumpo. He had moments there last
year where his change of pace and his size and
(20:25):
his ability to put defenders in jail on his backside
unlocked some things for Giannis on the role and in
general that were just different than what we saw with Dame.
Because Damon can be kind of one speed and super
fast is in less of that change of pace. There
was some stuff with Kevin Porter Jr. That worked with Giannis.
Kevin Porter Jr. Is gonna be one of the worst
(20:47):
lead guards in the conference. Like that's that's just a fact, right,
you go to Vasilla Ja meschiz there Theoretically, you know,
a slow pull up shooting passing, a prim ball handler.
That's just not going to be much to compete in
an Eastern Conference that has some high level ball handling
towards the top. So like, I admire the effort. Hell,
(21:10):
you went deep into the rule book to add some
talent to this team. But I think this story probably
ends with the mediocre Bucks team and Yannis eventually requesting
a trade. I again, this is gonna be fascinating. I'm
looking forward to watching them, seeing what they've got. But
are they as good as the Calves? I don't think so.
(21:31):
Are they as good as the Knicks? I don't think so.
What about Orlando now having brought in Desmond Bane and
another year of internal improvement and maybe a healthy Jalen Suggs.
We're about to talk about some Atlanta Hawks when we
get into our rapid fire segment. The Atlanta Hawks have
brought in some more firepower. They are now a dangerous
team in the Eastern Conference. I just don't see it
(21:52):
as being enough. But I will applaud the Bucks for
bringing in more talent than I actually thought they were
going to be capable of bringing in in this offseason
under the circumstances. All right, quick, Lakers stop, and then
we will move on to our rapid fire segment. So
the Lakers appear to be playing at safe. There's a
huge debate yesterday surrounding what the Lakers are trying to accomplish.
(22:17):
They let Dorian Finney Smith walk to the Rockets. Now,
there's been some conversation surrounding the draft compensation. You send
out some second round picks in the Dorian Finney Smith deal, right,
and so now you're like, well, why did you send
out draft compensation for a player that you then let walk.
That's just poor asset management. Now, I want to be clear,
(22:39):
I would have retained Dorian Finney Smith. The only case
for not retaining Dorian Phinney Smith is if you went
out and got one of these dudes on the mid
level exception. So like if they had let Dorian Finney
Smith walk, and they got the nakil Alexander Walker four year,
sixty million dollars a year or three year or whatever.
The mid level exception available to the Lakers was boom.
(22:59):
I'm on, you just basically did a roster balancing move.
We don't have much in the way of athletic guards
who can defend on the perimeter. We're turning Dori Infinney
Smith into that type of guy. I could have seen
that as a viable option. I would have retained dor
Infhiney Smith. That said, when it comes to the second
round draft compensation piece, it is complicated in the sense
(23:20):
that they made that deal before the lukadancicch trade. So
it is at least defensible to say that your entire approach,
in your entire focus and plan and strategy can shift
when the craziest NBA trade in the history of the
sport happens and it just upends everything that you've been
planning to do. But this idea from the report from
(23:44):
Dave McManamon yesterday straight up saying that the Lakers let
Dorian Phinney Smith walk to keep their books clean. In
twenty twenty seven for free agency. This is where I
get super confused. When's the last time we even saw
a star level talent in this league just change teams
(24:05):
through free agency. It doesn't happen. They re up with
their current team and they request a trade if they
want to get moved, and it ends up being the
Dorian Finney Smiths of the league that end up being
the salary filler in those types of deals. Banking on
a big free agent signing feels like a huge risk
to me, And how in the hell is this a
(24:28):
good idea when you don't even have Luka Doncic locked
up long term. He's going to be twenty seven years
old at the start of next season, meaning he's just
entering into the age where it's like the knees start
to hurt a lot more than they did when you
were younger. He's going to just now start experiencing some
of the urgency that surrounds his aging process. He's going
(24:52):
to be more motivated than ever. He just got embarrassed
on the league stage as his team, the team that
drafted him, traded him away and their upper management just
nuked him on the way out the door, basically calling
him a fat ass. He's gonna be more motivated than ever.
He's one of the most he's one of the most
(25:14):
vicious competitors that we have in the game of basketball.
I refuse to believe that this is all the Lakers
are going to do. I don't know how you could
expect to convince Luca this is the right spot for
him by punting. The summer of twenty twenty seven is
two years from now, Guys, You're gonna punt two years
(25:34):
of Luka Doncic's prime for a free agent signing that
hasn't happened, and there has not been a meaningful, needle
moving free agent star signing in the NBA in years.
It just doesn't happen. That is a huge risk. So
I refuse to believe this is all the Lakers are
(25:55):
going to do. Like I'm I'm not even going down
the oh, Rob Polinka's incompetent, He's doing it again route.
I just refuse to believe it. They have to do
something in terms of an aggressive trade to bolster their
talent level before the start of next season. I just
can't like. Look, Jake Laavia signs two years, twelve million,
(26:16):
he'll basically be the Dorian Finney Smith replacement. This is
not a big shock any of you Lakers fans who've
been following the team over the course last few months.
He's been hanging out, working out with Austin all summer.
There was that video of Austin with Jake in the
car and they were basically strongly hinting at the fact
that Jake would be a potentially a Laker. So not
a big surprise there. Some agency politics probably taking place
(26:37):
as well. There is some upside there. La Ravia has
more off the dribble pop than Dorian Phinney Smith, and
you guys saw how in the Minnesota Series DFS when
he got chased off the line. It was a problem
when Dorian Phinney Smith put the ball on the floor
and went into the lane. La Ravia is a better
closeout attacker than Dorian Phinney Smith. He's also like a younger,
(27:01):
better athlete, so there's some upside there. But I do
still think that Dorian Finney Smith is the better player
in the championship context. He has better length, he has
a lot more experience guarding a lot of different types
of players. He's just a rock solid veteran rotation player. Now,
I don't think Dorian fenn Smith can be one of
your top five players anymore. That's why I've been advocating
(27:21):
for ruyhajamurge trades to try to bring in a starting three.
But I do believe that Dorian can play twenty plus
serious minutes of playoff basketball for you off the bench,
kind of like we were talking about with the Nuggets
in that sixth and seventh slot for serious championship teams.
In other words, I like Jake Larevia and I'm excited
to watch him with the Lakers. I think he has
some upside, but I think the Lakers are a worst
(27:43):
team today than they would have been if they just
re upped with Dorian Finney Smith. So ultimately, as we
zoom out, you make the Laavia deal, you let Dorian
Phinney Smith walk, you're maintaining cat flexibility. I understand that
your strategy has to ship host Luca, and I understand
that you can't be as in the moment as you
(28:04):
were in Lebron and ad With the Lebron and ad Era,
you didn't see five years in the future, so you
had to be more aggressive in the short term. Yes,
Luka Doncic. There's a chance he's with the Lakers to
thirty four to thirty five years old, maybe even later.
So I understand that you need to have a little
bit more of a prudent approach to handling this every summer.
(28:25):
But he's gonna be twenty seven next year. You cannot
be punting seasons in his prime. You now have to
kind of like toe the line of making just a
little bit more savvy, aggressive moves that don't completely sell
out your future, Like you don't want to be given
away every pick and swap that you have. I understand
(28:46):
you don't want to be given away every young player
that you have, Like ideally, like Dalton Connect to me
is a guy that like made a lot of sense
to trade when it was a Lebron and Ad structure.
Dalton Connect now probably wouldn't trade him unless it was
for a starting caliber player because now Dalton kind of
feels like a player that fits Luca's timeline. I'm not
(29:06):
debating that your strategy needs to change entering into the
Luca era, but you cannot just sit there with the
status quo and then be like, hey, Luca, we'll reapproach
this when you're twenty nine, and we'll see how we
feel at that point. You don't even haven't locked up yet,
So that I thought was strange. I refuse to believe it.
(29:26):
I will be shocked if they don't make some sort
of aggressive trade to bolster their talent level before the
start of next season. All right, let's start ripping through
our rapid fire segment. Dorian Phinney Smith to the Rockets
four years, fifty three million. We talked about this yesterday,
so I'm not going to go into much more detail,
but I think it's a really good move for them.
They have so much leftover and draft compensation that if
(29:48):
they had to pivot off of Dori Infinny Smith, like
in that third year of the contract or something like that,
they could. This Houston team is just so well positioned
for the future that paying Dorian Finney Smith four years
is not going to be what makes or breaks their success.
So I'm not particularly worried about that. It's just an
aggressive move to capitalize on the KD timeline, which I
(30:08):
one hundred percent support. He addresses two needs shooting and experience. Again,
don't I don't like him when he's in your core five.
But if he can be that sixth player in your lineup,
that seventh player in your lineup, which is what he'll
be for Houston. I think it makes a ton of sense.
The Rockets also signed Clint Cappella, so they now have
three rotation centers on the roster. This is an extremely deep,
(30:30):
extremely big basketball team. Not hard to see why they
have the second best odds on Draft Kings right now
at plus seven hundred to win the title. Nikhil Alexander
Walker to the Hawks four years sixty two million, as
well as Luke Canard to the Hawks at one year
in eleven million. If you are going to try to
pivot around Trey Young to maximize him, what would you do.
(30:55):
We talked about this with Sam Vessini when we did
our pre draft thing. There are these players in the
NBA that excel at creating advantages. We talked about this
with James Harden yesterday. We're going to talk about it
in a very discounted poor man sense when we get
to D'Angelo Russell here in a minute. Trey Young is
still one of the better advantage creators in the NBA.
(31:16):
That is such a strong foundation because it puts all
your role players in a situation where defenders are often
sprinting at them instead of squared up on them. And
so that when you have advantage creation as your foundation,
it adds a great deal of value to what you
surround that advantage creation in in terms of players that
(31:37):
can dribble, pass, shoot, and defend, just classic role player
responsibilities off the ball. This summer, the Hawks have been
investing in that depth. You already had three great options
right in the middle of that lineup, Dyson Daniels at
the two, Zachary Rissaschet and Jalen Johnson in the front court.
(31:58):
You're adding nikiel Al Lexander Walker to that for depth.
You're adding Luke Canard to that for depth. In a
wide open East, they're giving themselves a puncher's chance. They
watched what Indiana did. Indiana had their advantage creator, Oklahoma
City had their advantage creators. They surrounded them with a
bunch of depth and athleticism and guys that can dribble, shoot,
(32:20):
pass and defend. And it worked and those teams got
to the finals. Atlanta is looking at the room, they're
reading the room and they're saying, we have one of
those guys. What if we just follow that same mold
and like I like, I think Atlanta should be eyeing
a top four seed this year. I think that should
be their goal. I think it's completely realistic that if
they attack the season from the start and they have
(32:43):
good health and all of these dudes get you know,
just really really invested in the attention to detail from
day one. There there's no reason in the world. While
the Hawks can't, why the Hawks can't have a home
court advantage in the first round. The Nick's bolster their bench.
Jordan Clarkson is now Nick. Ran four hundred and sixteen
(33:04):
pick and rolls in ISOs for the Jazz last year,
including including passes. He generated four hundred and six points
on those four hundred and sixteen pick and rolls in ISOs,
so just under a point per possession. He was forty
four percent on unguarded catch and shoot jump shots that's
really good, and thirty five percent on pull up threes,
which is fine. So I view him as just an
upgrade to the Campaign spot, a legitimate upgrade. The Knicks
(33:26):
are a better team with him as their backup guard
instead of Campaign. Whershaon Yaboseli Yabaselli leveraged an awesome Olympics
run with France to get himself a spot in the
NBA last year, and he demonstrated for the seventy six
ers that his skill does translate. He can shoot the ball.
He's a legit spacing big. He used forty three percent
field goals on unguarded ketch and shoot jump shots. Last year.
(33:50):
He was thirty six percent on pick and pop three.
So his percentages dip a tiny bit when he's on
the move, but he's still very effective there. Thirty six
percent is well over a point per posents. Now he's
on ball. Stuff didn't translate super well. He wasn't super
efficient in the post. Some of his driving closeout possessions
weren't great. But I do think the Knicks are more
(34:11):
invested in that shooting piece than they are invested in
some of the close out attacking on ball stuff with
what they have with Jordan Clarkson and Michale Bridges and
og and Andobi and Karl Anthony Towns, so I think
it's a good fit on that front. Now. His lack
of foot speed was an issue playing defense in the
NBA with the Sixers last year, but just like we
talked about with Bobby Portis yesterday. That's not exactly uncommon
(34:31):
with backup bigs, And if Yabaselli was a good defensive
anchor in addition to being like a legit stretch big,
he'd be getting somewhere closer to what Miles Turner got.
So I like at this point as a backup big,
I think he's just as good an option as you'll
find for most of these other offensively minded centers at
(34:52):
like Thomas Bryant or you know, Bobby Portis. These these
guys that can shoot and do a lot on offense,
but are obviously going to come with defense some shortcomings.
It puts you in a situation where usually you would
prefer to have also a backup defensive big for specific
types of matchups. But I like yabusel Is a rotation
option for the Knicks. The Knicks needed depth to cut
(35:13):
their starters minutes so that they could emphasize attention to
detail from possession to possession from day one of the
season under a new coach. These moves help anchor that ability.
Makes a lot of sense for the Knicks. D'Angelo Russell
to the MAVs two years thirteen million. To me, he's
the discounted poor Man's version of what James Harden is
(35:34):
in this league a really high floor offensive engine relative
to other players in his salary bracket. The fit with
the Lakers is I'll give you, guys, an example from
the Lakers. So pick and roll for Lebron James and
Anthony Davis never really came to fruition because they both
were guarded by similar types of players. AD was typically
guarded by big forwards. Lebron is typically guarded by big forwards,
(35:57):
So most teams would just end up switching that app
whenever they could. There were rare examples where they'd go
up against a big that couldn't switch, like a use
of nrkis for Phoenix, for instance, and Lebron and AD
would just eviscerate those dudes in pick and roll. But
it just was too rare and it was too specific
of a type of matchup that they needed for that
(36:18):
to function. D LOO was always guarded by, you know,
the by a smaller guard and Anthony Davis being guarded
by a bigger ford. They were not switching that action,
and so DLO was able to take advantage of a
lot of the baked in drop coverage reads that were
available to him in the Laker offense, and he was
(36:38):
very good there. He had awesome chemistry with Anthony Davis
because of the lack of switching in that action. He
was actually the guy that set up Anthony Davis with
the majority of his role man opportunities relative to like
what Lebron was able to do or Austin who was
you know, obviously developing as a pick and roll ball
handler throughout that year. But to Medlo, if you look
(37:00):
at this MAVs team, they're in desperate need of ball handling,
he already has good chemistry. Fit with ad at two
years thirteen million to get a high floor defense, high
floor offensive engine on a team that is just stacked
with defensive talent. I love the fit. I think it's
literally perfect. This makes the Dallas Mavericks better in the
(37:21):
short term. All right, we have six more quick hitters
before we get out of here today. Brook Lopez to
the Clippers two years, eighteen million. I really like this deal.
We've talked a lot over the years about drop coverage
being a bracket. So in modern pick and roll coverage
in the NBA, you have two sides of the coverage, right,
you have the guy chasing over the top of the screen,
(37:43):
and then you have the guy defending the screener at
various positions, either up at the level or further back
in a deeper drop. Now what ends up happening is
these guys are so good at scoring in the mid
range that there's more responsibility on those ball handlers become
up up to the level in screens, especially when the
(38:04):
on ball guy is struggling in his side of the bracket.
If the top guy in the bracket, the on ball
guy stays attached and chases over the top, then he
can't take a pull up mid ranger, he can't take
a floater, He'll get blocked. It forces the ball handler,
it funnels him into the rim protector. But when that
(38:27):
guy is not doing his job, when he's getting hit
on the screen and suddenly there's separation, there's way more
pressure on the big and the other side of that
bracket to come up high to the level to contest
and to disrupt the ball handler coming downhill and pick
and roll. Right. With Milwaukee, a team that really struggled
(38:48):
with their perimeter defense talent, brook Lopez was exposed as
a big that could struggle to guard in space at
this phase of his career. The Clippers are a team
that can consistently keep high, high quality perimeter defenders on
the floor that do a better job in their part
of the bracket. So while we all agree Brook is
not as good at extending his bracket of the coverage
(39:10):
up higher to the level as he used to be,
he isn't going to have to as often in a
Clipper system that has better perimeter defense talent chasing over
the top. I think it's a really good fit for Brook.
I think it's a really interesting example of a team
that can bring really physically imposing center play for forty
eight minutes now that backup center spot has been an
(39:30):
issue throughout the Zubats era. Really really like Brook for
the Clippers. I think that's a big get. They're a
better team today than they were yesterday. Ti Jerome three years,
twenty eight million to the Memphis Grizzlies. For your Memphis fans,
Ti Jerome was the best backup guard in the NBA
last year. A very very dynamic pick and roll score,
an absolutely deadly floater. He was the best floater shooter
(39:52):
in the NBA by a mile. Just a really, really
impactful player in ball screens, coming over the top, getting
the defense stuck behind him, shooting that little pop shot
in the lane. I thought he was the best backup
guard in the NBA last year, and then he completely
and utterly decomposed in the playoffs with the Caps. So
(40:13):
the way I look at it, if you're a Grizzlies fan,
you gotta betting on embarrassment doing the job here. We
talked a lot about competitiveness over the course of the
last couple of days. If Ty Jerome is the competitor
that I believe he is, you bet your ass. He's
been sitting on his couch every single night the last
couple of months, just beating himself up over how poorly
he played in that Pacers series. That will motivate him
(40:36):
to round out his game even further in his offseason work.
I think it's a good chance that Memphis gets a
very good version of Ty Jerome next year. I think
it could be a really good fit for them, and
at that number, that's a lot of ball handling talent there.
Kris Lavert two years, twenty nine million to the Detroit
Pistons an emergency pivot to find guard depth after Malik
(40:59):
Beasley ends up getting embroiled in a gambling scandal. I
like Karrislavert. He's an interesting player. He's got a bit
of tunnel vision as a ball handler, which can lead
to him taking some iffy shots, but he has some
real utility as a bench guard because he can legit
get separation and create shots for himself. And because he
doesn't pass the ball much, he doesn't turn the ball
(41:20):
over very much, which can lead to a higher floor
defense in the units that he leads. And I think
he's a very good defender when he's healthy and locked in.
He's got great length, he slides his feet super well.
I think he's a good piece for bench depth on
this Pistons squad. Now, I was hopeful that they would
be able to facilitate this Dennis Schroder sign and trade
(41:42):
to the Kings for a guy like Malik Monk. I
think Malik Monk would have been such a fun fit
for the Detroit Pistons. Who knows if they end up
working out a similar deal at some point down the line.
But Dennis Schroeder did end up signing with the Kings
as well, which I think is hilarious because the Kings
will probably be the team that gets Dennis Schroeder one
year two late, which is classic Sacramento Kings. I like
(42:04):
Dennis Schroeder. I've been a big fan of him rooting
over the years, but just with each passing year, he
gets a little bit slower on that dribble drive, a
little bit less capable of getting into the teeth of
the defense, and it just feels like the Kings might
be getting him one year too late. But I keep
an eye on the Pistons and the Kings. I think
Malik Monk would be a really fun fit for a
Pistons team that also is probably viewing the Eastern Conference
(42:24):
as wide open and gettable. Luca Garza to Boston for
two years five point five million and Luke Cornett to
the San Antonio Spurs at four years, forty one million.
These deals are connected because clearly the Celtics are not
interested in continuing any of their payroll issues that they have.
They want to keep their payroll down, which makes sense
(42:45):
under the circumstances. I think Luke Cornett is a really
good player, and having him at that number in San
Antonio's a win. He's not exceptional at anything, but He's
pretty solid at everything, and I think that that is
a really good option as a backup big in this league.
Luke Garza Luca Garza, excuse me, was an end of
the bench big for Minnesota over the years. Very aggressive
(43:07):
scorer in his minutes. It's a crazy stat Luca Garza's
career in the NBA. He's at twenty two point three
points per thirty six minutes in his NBA career. It
takes a lot of threes and pick and pop situations
and spacing situations. A very aggressive offensive, rebounder and finisher
around the rim. He hasn't shot the three at a
high percentage yet, but he'll be a fun player in
(43:27):
Boston as just an aggressive scoring big off the bench.
And then, lastly, Tias Jones one year, seven million dollars
with the Orlando matt Do you guys remember all the
stuff that I said about Tias with respect to Phoenix
and Houston. I talked about how I hated him with
Phoenix as a fit because this was a team that
had a redundancy of ball handling and a complete lack
(43:50):
of overall physicality, and it just led to Tias being
one of their worst plus minus guys all year long
because his skill set just didn't It was a diminishing
return rather than a force multiplier. I liked him as
a fit for Houston, if you guys remember, because Houston
needed ball handling and had plenty of physicality to surround
him with. The same concept applies here for Orlando. This
(44:14):
is an Orlando team that could use some steady ball
handling off the bench. Obviously they lose Cole Anthony in
this process. Tias Jones, to me, is a force multiplier
for a Orlando Magic team because the spot up shooting,
the reliable spot up shooting, and the off the dribble
ability to create shots for his teammates is super valuable
in an Orlando team that needs that and that can
(44:35):
anchor him with all the defensive talent to prevent his
lack of physicality from being an issue. Tias has his
issues with off ball focus and attention. He gets back
cut a lot, he gives up a lot offensive rebounds.
He's not a good defensive player. That's all stuff that
he's got to work out. But this is an Orlando
team that can support him and bolster him on that
end of the floor. So I think it makes a
lot of sense. All right, guys, That's all I have
(44:56):
for today is always, I sincerely appreciate you guys for
supporting us and supporting the show. Obviously, if something crazy
happens today, we'll react to it. But I am driving
back from Denver to Tucson tomorrow, so our plan at
this point is to be back on Thursday morning. We're
going to kind of zoom out from Free Agency and
kind of look at our biggest winners in biggest losers.
I will see you guys then. What's up guys? As always,
I appreciate you for listening to and supporting Oops tonight.
(45:19):
They would actually be really helpful for us if you
guys would take a second and leave a rating and
a review. As always, I appreciate you guys supporting us,
but if you could take a minute to do that,
I'd really appreciate it.
Speaker 1 (45:31):
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Jason Timpf
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