On today’s episode, Jason discusses the blockbuster trade that saw the Memphis Grizzlies ship Desmond Bane to the Orlando Magic, where Orlando ranks in the Eastern Conference pecking order next season, why Memphis ultimately decided to punt on their Big 3 of Bane, Ja Morant, Jaren Jackson Jr., why you should expect the dreaded 2nd Apron will force other teams (like the Los Angeles Lakers, Boston Celtics, Cleveland Cavaliers, etc.) to trade their best players in the very near future, and why hoops fans everywhere are rejoicing now that Caitlin Clark has made her triumphant return to the court.
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Episode Transcript
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Speaker 1 (00:05):
This is Straight Fire with Jason McIntyre. What is up?
Speaker 2 (00:11):
Straight Fire, Pam, It's me Jason McIntyre, Straight Fire or Monday,
June the sixteenth, So everybody had a great Father's Day weekend.
Mine was spectacular, so good in fact, that we're recording
this midday Sunday afternoon, so Rob G and I can
really bask in our Father's Day glory Sunday night with
(00:34):
our families. But guess what we got an NBA trade,
A seismic one. I think it's the beginning of a
lot of moves in the NBA. It's going to be
a furious what three weeks here going to be crazy
in the NBA? Coming up? We had the Caitlin Clark
return on Saturday. Holy hell, she was spectacular. And I
don't know that I have it in me, boys and
(00:56):
girls to talk about Game four the NBA Finals on
Friday night is a massive gut punch and I was smarting.
I like stayed off the internet Saturday. I was just
so pissed off that the Pacers blew it, not only
the win but the cover with some just knuckle headery
if that's even a word. Friday. But hey, listen, overall,
(01:17):
it was a good, good weekend. And let's start with
the big move in the NBA on Sunday kind of
came out of nowhere. And this, my friends, is why
I like to say all this Kevin Durant nonsense we
keep hearing about. Anytime you hear a bunch of crap,
there's really nothing there. It's this stuff that comes out
of absolutely nowhere. Nobody was talking about Desmond Banging of
(01:41):
the Memphis Grizzlies, who, by the way, is a hell
of a player, one of the best three and D
guards in the league. I don't know, you know, if
he's like a perennial All Star. He's never made an
All Star team, he's never made an All NBA team,
but he's paid handsomely. And his stats in the league,
I mean, folks, last year at Memphis or last season,
(02:01):
I should say, forty eight percent from the field, thirty
nine percent from three nineteen points a game. The year
before that, forty six percent from the field, thirty eight
percent from three twenty three points a game. His numbers
sagged because obviously John Morant came back, and you know
what that you know what that means. But Desmond Baine
is a final His best year in the league was
year two when he shot forty three percent from deep.
(02:21):
I mean he has made the leap coming from TCU.
He was the let's see the oh, the thirtieth pick
overall in the COVID draft. That was the wacky draft
for James Miies. Wiseman went too. You had Isaac Occorro,
Patrick Williams in the top seven, Achillean Hayes. I mean
Desmond Bain has been matt vastly superior to all those guys.
(02:43):
It's the draft that had like Jayden McDaniels, Tyrese MAXI,
A bunch of guys slipped through the cracks. Haliburton went twelfth.
But I believe Desmond Baine is a really good piece.
He goes from Memphis to Orlando and now this what
he got in return is gonna surprise you guys. I
I didn't really take the temperature online, but I saw
I got some text saying whoa whoa, Wait a minute,
(03:06):
Desmond Bain fetched two rotational guys KCP and Cole Anthony
and four unprotected first plus a pick swap. Wait a minute,
what is Yannis gonna come in? Ten picks? Fifteen like
it is. It sounds like a lot, but you have
to again take a deep breath and step back. Okay,
so one of the first round picks is number sixteen
(03:28):
in this draft. Okay, that's not great. By all accounts.
Only one of the picks could emerged as a top
ten pick. So it's like they got three first but
none of them are going to be great. People are
comparing it to the McHale Bridges deal with the Knicks.
But this is what I like and what I don't like.
What I love about the deal is I'm telling you
(03:49):
right now, the Orlando Magic next year could emerge as
the new Indiana Pacers. They have young dudes, They are
relentlessly fast, and they hustle. You got the young kid
Anthony Black seems like he's got some promise. You've got
the Wagner brothers. Franz Wagner is a big time player.
You obviously have Paalo Banko, a great centerpiece, but if
(04:09):
you remember, anytime they get to the playoffs, he's got
to do everything. Jonathan Isaac, if he's ever healthy, is
a great rotational guy. Tristan de Silva showed some things.
The young kid out of Colorado. They're high on Jet Howard,
the young guy from Michigan. So they've got like eight
or nine. Jalen Suggs is going to be the key
to this team. He's returning from injury. Oh I forgot
(04:31):
Wendell Carter in the front court. But they are kind
of built like Indiana. They have a lot of good players,
no clear superstar. Now Palo Bancaro has shown some superstar traits.
Let's see how he plays when he's got good teammates.
But they have a quasi big three of ben Caro,
Franz Wagner and now Desmond Baine. Now Suggs hits great.
(04:54):
So that's what I like about the deal for Orlando.
What I don't like is a larger issue. And folks,
we're seeing the end of the three star era in
the NBA. These super teams that the NBA wants out,
they're getting their way. The second apron is gonna be
kicking in and owners are panicking. Wait, I got to
(05:14):
write a check for fifty sixty mili what because of
the second aprin Oh, well, we'll get out of the
second April, and you're gonna see owners panic And if
you're in Philly, New York, obviously Phoenix. We're seeing Memphis
being torn down. But you look around the league and
if your team currently has three stars making thirty ish
(05:38):
million and are on track to make more than that here,
soon expect somebody to get shipped. I mean the Cleveland Cavaliers.
I think we got to keep an eye on them
around the league. The issue is we can no longer
pay three. The new model is gonna have to be
young guys and one or two stars. Indiana has Siakam
and Halliburton and a bunch of nice players. Right Oklahoma
(06:01):
City has a bunch of young guys led of course
by SGA and there Chet and JADB have not been paid,
and you surround them with the Alex Carusos of the world.
That is going to be the new model. I'm on
record saying I don't love that. I'm a super team guy.
I want players movement. I want guys joining forces. I
want people angry and fired up about Kevin Durant going
(06:22):
to the Warriors and Lebron got love to the Cavs.
I want that. I want k D Kyrie and Harden
in Brooklyn, and I want that imploding. I want Dame
going to Milwaukee to join Middleton and the Honest and
then it falling apart. Yeah, I want K D. Booker
and Bale. I want that. I'm sorry. I like my
super teams. My joke is, give me super teams or
(06:43):
give me death. So Memphis clearly said, well, we're paying job.
Jared Jackson is one of the best defensive players the league.
We got to pay him. And like Desmond Bain's making
a lot and we're getting swept in the first round.
What do we do? And I don't. I don't know
that you can trade jaw because of his off court issues,
but also he's like the reason people go to Memphis games.
(07:07):
He moves sneakers, he moves merch, he puts butts in
the seats. Desmond Bine doesn't do that, even though I'll
tell you right now, i'd rather have Desmond Bane the job.
Speaker 1 (07:15):
Moran.
Speaker 2 (07:15):
I don't know if Robert agree with that, but I
think this is a great move for Orlando, not as
great for Memphis. They're gonna become more Joss centric they
get you know, kcp's a rotational guy. Cole Anthony, Okay,
he'll soak up some minutes at backup point guard, but
Memphis not really a threat. I do think Orlando could
easily find themselves in the Eastern Conference semis or the
(07:36):
Eastern Conference finals next year because of what they have.
But I mean, if you're instant, for instance, the Denver Nuggets,
and you see this and you're like, oh, well, wait
a minute. We got Jokic and he's making fifty one.
Next year he's making fifty five. We got Murray. Next
year he's making fifty and next year Michael Porter's at
thirty eight and Aaron Gordon's at twenty. Oh, this is unsustainable.
(07:59):
We had no bench to begin with. And that's where
I think, I don't know what you can get for
him because of the shoulder injury that he had, and
he's really one dimensional. Like what do you do with
Michael Porter? Can you ship him somewhere? When there's no
chatter about a player, maybe he's getting moved Desmond Bay
There was nothing. I mean, maybe Rob saw it somewhere
or heard it, but I saw zero about Desmond Bine
(08:22):
being in the mix. Now, obviously everybody knew Orlando could
have gone for a Kevin Durant, could have made him
play for Giannis. I mean, Rob For all we know,
Orlando get kicked the tires on Yiannis. The asking price
was too much, and so they said, well, let's move on.
Let's not waste time. I like strike fast, strike hard,
no mercy, sir, and I like this move by Orlando.
They're set right Rob, They've got their guys. You look
(08:44):
at their depth chart for next year, and I think
this is a really good look in Orlando. Magic team,
frankly that can compete in an East where there's no
Celtic Juggernaut. We don't know what the Cavs are going
to look like. The Knicks still don't have a coach.
I really like this. You're looking at Rob, Jalen Sogs
and Desmond Bin, Franz Wagner, Palo Benko, and then Wendell
(09:07):
Carter coming off the bench. You've got Jonathan Isaac assuming
he's healthy, Anthony blackched Howard, you got a bunch of
young guys d Silva. They could be nine deep next year.
Oh and don't forget Mac McClung putting butts in the
seats in Orlando and the dunk Chin.
Speaker 1 (09:21):
Fox Sports Radio has the best sports talk lineup in
the nation. Catch all of our shows at Foxsports Radio
dot com and within the iHeartRadio app search FSR to
listen live.
Speaker 3 (09:33):
I love it for Orlando now, full disclosure, I would
not be given a four first round pick for Desmond Bang.
But that's a different conversation. As far as on the
court fit, they needed shooting more than anybody in the league.
Speaker 4 (09:45):
Like combined. Right.
Speaker 3 (09:46):
Okay, So last season the Magic ranked dead last and
three point field goal shooting thirty one point eight percent,
dead last in catch and shoot threes. In fact, the
Dallas Magic, the doubt. The Orlando Magic had the worst
three point field goal percentage of the season since the
twenty fifteen twenty sixteen Lakers. Okay, and if you recall that,
(10:10):
I believe that was the pre Lebron Lakers and we
were just wading through the wilderness, right so brand day, maybe, yeah,
they needed shooting in the worst way. So I don't
hate that at all. I still think they're gonna need
a legitimate point guard somehow. I don't know how they
get it.
Speaker 4 (10:24):
I don't know what they're.
Speaker 2 (10:25):
Wait, Hugs is a point guard.
Speaker 3 (10:27):
I think Suggs is a great Derek White, Drew Holiday
type where if you're saying Paolo is our point guard,
de facto point guard, and he's running the show, where
Franz is our devector point guard and he's running the show. Sure,
because he can defend all the smaller guys at a
high level. He's a really good catch and shoot player
when he's healthy, you know, I think that's his role.
Speaker 4 (10:45):
As far as.
Speaker 3 (10:46):
Being a point guard who can orchestrate, or a point
guard who could just come off the bench and get
you buckets. I don't know if that's really what his
his you know, interesting is what he does well, So
maybe there is they can bargain basement shop for somebody
just throwing out a name. I don't think he's the guy,
But like a D'Angelo Russell type, say, come off the
bench fifteen to twenty minutes a game, you have the
(11:06):
green light to score because they can defend as well
as anybody in the NBA. You saw that last year
in the postseason, even though they got taken out pretty ceremoniously.
It wasn't because they couldn't compete. It because they couldn't score,
and that was the problem. You mentioned that it was
Palo to the left, Palo to the right, pallow up
the middle, because really you know, Franz couldn't shoot last postseason,
(11:28):
and nobody else on their team could hit an open
jump shot. So Desmond Bane theoretically is going to answer
a lot of those questions. As far as Memphis goes,
I had heard because I listened to a lot of
NBA podcasts and I talked to people around the league,
and the consensus was, you can't trade jaw.
Speaker 4 (11:47):
The off the court stuff is too heavy.
Speaker 3 (11:49):
You're not gonna be get You be selling really low.
You be getting thirty forty cents of the dollar. The
consensus was, if they're gonna make a trade is for
Triple J because he's got a new presumably somewhere on
a MAX contract coming in starting next season or after
extend after this next season, because I believe his contract
is like twenty three to twenty four for next year,
(12:11):
so he's criminally underpaid relative to what other players in
position are making, and they have his kind of caliber,
And so the thought was, you're gonna have to trade
him now because, as you alluded to, you cannot have
three four highly paid guys on your team anymore. It's impossible.
The second apron is punishing you for having too many
(12:31):
good players on your roster. So for them to in
the I don't know if overnight hours, Saturday, in the
Sunday whenever they executed this trade before it got leaked
to shams that they decided they were gonna trade Desmond
Bane was something I did not see coming at all
at all.
Speaker 4 (12:47):
Even a little bit.
Speaker 3 (12:48):
Even the people I know who are really plugged in,
they're like, yeah, we didn't have this one on a
Bengo card and it may go ahead.
Speaker 2 (12:55):
Well, I was gonna say, like, you look around the
league and it's the teams where you're hearing nothing thing
like Rob could Rudy Gobert get shipped?
Speaker 4 (13:04):
Sure?
Speaker 2 (13:04):
I mean why, I don't see why not Anthony Edwards
making a ton You don't know what you're doing with Randall.
You probably would prefer nas Reid, Jaden mcdanner's like again,
Minnesota's got a lot of guys. I just you know,
to your point guard question on Indiana, you're right, Suggs
is not a pure point guard. Do you would you
say Haliburton was a pure point guard coming out or
did he become one.
Speaker 3 (13:24):
Oh, he's always been a pure point guard. He's not
a high usage point guard. But he's always been a
point guard, so like, like, even if you're Orlando I
mean Tias Jones type. You know, if Chris Paul wants
to be fifteen minutes a game off the bench, whatever,
it's like something like that would be just fine for them.
What they need is offense. And I'm not saying you
have to be the guy who can score or as
your point guard position, but a guy who's going to
put you in a position to score.
Speaker 2 (13:46):
Yeah, Suggs Oh, he was third on its team in
assist the season, after Paolo and Wagner. I mean, you know,
there's more than one way to skin a cat. His
defense in Bane that is a wrecking crew at guard
that is going to be extremely tough to deal with with.
If you can fashion Suggs now, let me see what
he shot from three thirty percent not great, not great
(14:09):
in the back court. If you can fashion him in
the Casson Wallace role or maybe lou Dort skinny version,
and then get us some open buckets, play hard defense
and don't screw up, then maybe is Baying your SGA
or maybe Powlow's your SGA. I don't know.
Speaker 3 (14:25):
Yeah, I mean I would assume again, we'll see this
offseason because everybody you talk to says this is going
to be fireworks because, as you mentioned, the second apron
is like a death now for these teams. Right, We've
been talking for the beast what a couple of weeks
now maybe a couple of months about Kevin Durant and
where he's gonna get traded in YadA YadA.
Speaker 4 (14:45):
A good team is like.
Speaker 3 (14:46):
I'm not trading Kevin Durant. Kevin Durant's, even at thirty seven,
is one of the best players in the league. But
the problem is Bradley Beal has a no trade class,
so you can't trade him, and you cannot just buy
your way out of this like you would have been
able to do in the past, like if you were,
for example, the Lakers, the Lakers, if you're the Lakers
five years ago and you're like, hey, you know, we're
(15:06):
up against it. We got a Lebron and ad we
can't pay cups, we can't pay case like whatever.
Speaker 4 (15:11):
It's like, well, just pay the tax, just you know,
just do it.
Speaker 3 (15:14):
We'll figure the rest out later, kind of like what
Boston did a couple of years back.
Speaker 4 (15:17):
But now it's like, well, if you're in the second apron.
Speaker 3 (15:20):
You can't aggregate salaries, you might lose a first round pick,
you can't actually do anything.
Speaker 4 (15:24):
You're kind of locked into your roster.
Speaker 3 (15:26):
So these teams are going to have to get real
creative and make some trades with some guys who you
ordinarily would not want to part with. Like if you're Cleveland,
I don't think Cleveland wants to trade Darius Garland. I
don't think they want to trade Jared Well just for example,
Like I don't think if you say, going into their team, like, hey, no,
(15:46):
we want to add a fifth guy around those four,
Well no, realistically you can't. Realistically you have to flip
one of those highly paid guys and then figure out
the rest later, right, And it's just it sucks.
Speaker 4 (15:59):
I hate it. I think CJ.
Speaker 3 (16:00):
McCollum is gonna pay for his war crimes against humanity
for what he did and agreeing to this second apron because,
like you, I'd like to see the best players get that. OKC,
who many of your people are saying is having the
widest runway of a championship contender maybe ever because of
all the draft picks and how young their team is
in two years give or take SGA is gonna be
(16:24):
making about sixty sixty five. J. Dubb and Chet their
max contracts will have kicked in by that point. They'll
be combining somewhere around one hundred. So with three guys,
you're gonna be at one hundred and seventy million dollars
more or less. How on earth do you add a
Hartenstein type who was valuable to them in the regular season.
(16:44):
How do you add in Alice Caruso, who has been
invaluable to them during this post?
Speaker 4 (16:48):
You can't.
Speaker 3 (16:49):
You're gonna have those three guys and a bunch of
either unproven or vastly underpaid players, and you're gonna be
You're gonna be penalized for drafting well, You're gonna be
penalized for developing well. And I just you're gonna be
penalized for being a smart franchise because you're gonna have
to get rid of good players no matter what.
Speaker 2 (17:07):
Well they do have the other J. Doub now he's
barely played in this series. Uh Jalen Williams. They got
Kenrick Williams. If you can just have those guys, soak
up five, ten, fifteen minutes. Isaiah Joe You're probably gonna
end up losing Cathon, Wallace and Wiggins, but you just
got to have draft picks to, you know, refortify that supply.
(17:27):
And okaysee kind of does. But even Boston rob they're
gonna fall victim to this whole three star thing. I
don't know who's taking Porzingis off their hands. He has
a mystery illness that he just couldn't stay healthy. Tatum,
obviously you can't. Jalen Brown just had a surgery, you know,
I don't. I think Drew Holliday's probably the guy you move,
(17:49):
but I don't know what you're getting in return. This
is it's just a weird NBA, and it feels like
this could be one of these tilted summers where just
crazy stuff's happening all around the lad. I guess you
could quickly go.
Speaker 3 (18:02):
I'll just say quickly with you know, we're Laker fans, right,
and you and I are both high in Oscar. You
probably are the biggest Austin Reefs fan in America this
side of his parents, right, And so let's say hype.
I don't think it's gonna happen, but hypothetically, let's say
Lebron's like, you know what, I really want to play
with Bryce, So I'm gonna re up for two more years, right,
(18:23):
I'm I'm gonna play one hundred and two years, one fifteen, whatever,
whatever the number is. So the Lakers with Luca, assuming
they keep him, you're gonna be at one hundred and
twenty million dollars with two guys. Austin Reeves when his
extent when he's eligible for his big contract after next season,
is gonna get somewhere in the neighborhood between thirty and
(18:44):
forty five million dollars.
Speaker 4 (18:46):
Like that's just the market, right.
Speaker 3 (18:48):
You don't think the Lakers are gonna be like, hey,
if Lebron wants this state, you can't.
Speaker 4 (18:52):
I can't really say no to Lebron. Do you almost have.
Speaker 3 (18:55):
To consider trading Austin Reeves then, because you'd really, because
really trade him now to get ahead of it. That's
what I'm saying, is like, you know, you cannot have
three guys making fifty million.
Speaker 4 (19:07):
Each or whatever average it is. It's just impossible.
Speaker 2 (19:10):
So Austin Reeves just turned twenty seven. You would say
he's definitely got another year of prime and then you know,
probably at twenty nine. But how's Austin Reeves gonna age?
I don't know. I don't want to be paying him
at thirty one forty five million dollars a year. So
if you can flip Austin Reeves for two or three
rotational guys in an Indiana Pacers model, I guess you've
(19:33):
got to do it. I don't want to do it now.
I mean, the Lakers were third in the West rub
and a herckey jerky year where they traded ad mint
season and didn't have a healthy Luca like and they
had no room protector slash room runner. So I'm like
the only guy who's like, oh, I see still Superstar
in ists with the Lakers third in the West, and
everybody's like, oh, they're crap, They're up Shit's Creek. I
(19:55):
just I don't know. You seem to be somewhere in
between those two.
Speaker 4 (19:58):
Huh. No, I think they can be really good.
Speaker 3 (20:00):
I'm just saying is that the Lakers found Austin Reeves undrafted, right,
They've molded him, they made him are rotational player. They
were able to re sign him at a below market
value contract because he was undrafted, So instead of him
getting twenty twenty five and he would have got in
the open market. They got him for like thirteen fourteen,
and now because they were smart, because they were proactive,
(20:24):
because they did a good job of identifying and developing talent,
they are going to be punished where either if Lebron retires,
then you're kind of stuck with Luca, Austin and a
bunch of role players, or the worst case scenario, Lebron
doesn't retire, you have Lebron and Luca and you almost
have to trade Austin Reeves because you can't build out
the rest of your roster with three guys making one
(20:46):
hundred and fifty million dollars.
Speaker 2 (20:48):
If I didn't know you, I would say you sound
like a guy who's ready to move off of Lebron.
Speaker 3 (20:54):
Oh yeah, like how soon as soon as I guess,
as soon as possible. Wow, it's not that he's not
a great player, it's just like that's the reality of it.
Speaker 2 (21:05):
So this is it's funny. I haven't I don't recall
a superstar just retiring and then coming off the books.
So are you of the thought that, hey, height Lebron's
gone fifty mil opened up? I want one star or
I want like two guys, or I would just reshape
the roster around Luca. I mean the Lakers are gonna
have options.
Speaker 3 (21:26):
Yeah, I mean that that's ultimately what it comes down to. Like,
every decision you make now has to be with the
idea of optimizing Luka Dancic. So if you think that
Luca orscuse me, that Austin is the ideal number two
or he's a good guy to be here on him,
then do whatever it takes to keep Austin happy. If
you don't and you don't think you can have those
two guys defensively, then you almost you have to consider
(21:47):
trading away this guy. You have to consider, Hey, lebron
you know, we'll stay with you with his last season,
but we're not interested in another two years after that.
Speaker 2 (21:55):
By the way, when Bronny is playing like TJ McConnell
next year, like are gonna be a great ship.
Speaker 1 (22:01):
Fox Sports Radio has the best sports talk lineup in
the nation. Catch all of our shows at Foxsports Radio
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Speaker 2 (22:13):
Did you watch any of the Kaitlin Clark Saturday?
Speaker 1 (22:14):
Oh?
Speaker 4 (22:15):
I watched the whole game.
Speaker 2 (22:16):
Okay, so the two weeks prior how much how many
minutes of television viewing of WNBA did you watch?
Speaker 4 (22:22):
Like six?
Speaker 2 (22:23):
Okay, I was at zero. Of course I turned the
game on, you know, and I was a little bit
late and Clark was sitting and I was like, oh damn,
we missed a couple of minutes, and it just happened
to turn watch the rest where she was flamethrowing for
the first half. She had like twenty five in the
first half. It was just unbelievable and the crowds roaring.
I'm sucked into the TV. We were gonna go out
(22:44):
to lunch, and I'm like, ah, let's just wait till
half time, you know, And Rob, I, I don't know
if like there was baseball happening. I'm told there was golf.
I don't know if that NHL. It didn't matter. Kitlin
Clark was the show. She had thirty two, eight and seven,
the Fever beat the undefeated New York Liberty. And you're
(23:05):
watching and you're like, Okay, well, but WNBA needs Kitlin
Clark making a postseason run, needs her healthy at all costs.
And I don't I'm sure the rating is gonna be
pretty good. Although Saturday was a big day for protests
around this country, so I'm guessing maybe the rating won't
be as huge as normal. But Rob, this just reminds everybody,
Oh my gosh, Kitlin Clark is unbelievable.
Speaker 3 (23:29):
Yeah, I mean, well, look, uh maybe a week and
a half ago, ABC did almost two million viewers for
a Fever Sky game without Caitlin Clark.
Speaker 4 (23:37):
Wow.
Speaker 3 (23:38):
Now some people are like, see, that just proves that
WNBA is here and here to stay the pessimist, which
is kind of where Idley on this one is. People
thought that Kaitlyn Clark was playing because they didn't. They
don't follow the day to day of WNBA the way
they probably do other sports. So like, oh, the Fever
are playing, I know Caitlin Clark's on that team. I'm
just gonna put it on. And then you realize about
halfway through, oh, maybe Caitlyn Clark's not playing, so we're
(24:00):
just gonna turn it off.
Speaker 4 (24:02):
Kind of a thing. But she is box office.
Speaker 3 (24:05):
Like that there is I don't know how you can
be a sports fan, or even a casual sports fan
and not love watching Kaitlin Clark because they even said
on the broadcast, I think it was RecA Lobo that
after she had made those three deep triples from like
thirty plus feet out that you know, as great as
she is as a shooter, she's probably an even better passer.
(24:28):
And if you watch the game, like again, I watched
the whole thing, she cooled off concerned, which you know, God,
no one's gonna shoot five of seven on thirty eight
foot jumpers all game. But as the game went on,
she was dropping dimes, you know, like she worked at
a bank.
Speaker 4 (24:44):
It was incredible.
Speaker 2 (24:45):
But don't forget her teammates. I mean, they must have missed.
I counted four. I'm sure the number was larger than that.
But like fast break, she's threading the needle and they're
blowing layups up. Yeah, at what point, Kaitlin, someone blew
the layup atent? And then the I've called it out
Kittler Kirk was so angry that she yelled at the ref.
I gotta tech, did you see that moment? And that
(25:05):
wasn't I don't think it was because of the foul,
because she was so far she couldn't have seen it.
I think she would just piss her teammates for screwing up,
and she was you know, taking it out on the
ref that would that's the fire and energy.
Speaker 3 (25:15):
I like, yeah, I said, does that make her even
more likable as a sports fan because the way that
she plays Number One, she's a showman, right. So that
that last three that she had in a little flurry
she chased after her teammate from behind to get the
ball from her, I thought, I mean that was kind
of funny. She almost caused a turnover trying to get
the ball. But between the deep jump shooting, the passing,
(25:38):
the firiness, it's like it's everything that you want in
an athlete. You want someone who wants to be at
the center of attention, who wants to be the man
in the arena, as Lebron calls it, where Hey, you
know all eyes are on you and you're here. You're
here to compete, You're here to do whatever you can.
So she has all of that, but she also has
that Kobe Ryan, Michael Jordan, Tom Brady is like, I'm
(26:03):
pissed off to play to play sports like I want.
Speaker 4 (26:06):
I'm so.
Speaker 3 (26:09):
Angry about losing that I will yell at my teammates,
I will yell at my coach, I will yell at
the referee because it means that much to me.
Speaker 2 (26:18):
I like Clark a lot, and I'm thankful for her
because to me, Rob, it feels like the NBA Finals
is over. Indiana had their shot up for three minutes
left ASGA takes over. Indiana can't do anything. I know
it says too two and Game five is tonight, but
it feels over to me. I would give Indiana one
percent chance to win two out of three here, maybe
less than that that that I'm not betting, okay, See,
(26:41):
I know what you're saying, Well, Jay, come on, bet
don't Okay, No, I'm not doing that. I I just
because I'm rooting Indiana and I don't want to root,
okay see, just to win again, I'm not. I'm not.
If I were a ten thousand dollars better, that's a
different story. I'm not doing that on NBA Finals games, guys.
So I need We're gonna need Caitlin Clark to get
us through here the next few weeks because I don't
(27:02):
know about you, Rob, but the country's going through some
tough stuff right now politically and without sports. It's just
a torrent of Oh, look there's a war in Europe,
and then there's a war in the Middle East and
look at a civil war breaker. It's just not good.
And we need sports for that. And I know Jason
who cares about sports, I get it. But it's a
good diversion from what's happening. And I guess Caitlin Kark's
(27:24):
gonna have to be that for us.
Speaker 3 (27:25):
Rob If it's not her, then to bring it back
full circles how we started the podcast, we are gonna
need to have, as they say, the craziest offseason, and
that's right. Yeah, like we are gonna need rumor mill
after rumor mill. You know, oh, the the MAVs MA
trade Anthony Davis. You know, we're gonna need you know,
Houston Rocketer and they're trying to get Yanni's and Kate.
(27:46):
We're gonna need something like that to get us through.
Speaker 4 (27:49):
Period.
Speaker 2 (27:51):
Yeah. I was trying to start looking at the NBA
standings to see if there's a team that could sneak
in the way Orlando just snuck in. Is there a
world with a Miami Heat just trade Bam, trade Hero
and somehow bring in Yannis and another star. Okay, I
mean somebody's got to get creative. And I think it's
(28:14):
got to be somebody in the East. I don't know
who's taking Joel Embiid's contract. The Bulls are in it
just a brutal situation. Maybe the Raptors throw a Hail
Mary pass. But any of these teams, these bad teams,
they're gonna need to make two deals. You can't just
get you honest, because that's not doing much for you.
You need Yiannis and someone else. Is there a world
(28:38):
where the Detroit Pistons say, hey, we've got Caid on
his rookie deal. Every other player on our roster's available.
We want Yannis Cade and I don't know whoever. Or
does Detroit go for KD, say hey, what we've got
someone to build on. Let's throw KD into the bix.
I don't know who it is, but I'm looking in that.
You know, six to ten. I guess you could extend
(29:01):
it to eleven for the Raptors. But like the Sixers,
do they want to keep that pick or can they
package it to get something to help Maxie McCain and
Paul George Or do they think Embid could come back
and be a factor. I don't know, just watching Indiana
and Okay, see I don't see how embeat is a
factor with these teams, you know.
Speaker 3 (29:17):
Right, you know, I'll tell you what I think you're
right on. I actually, on the flip side, I'm more
interested in because I agree with you. I think somebody
is gonna make that kind of jump because these should
be so wide open next season. I'm interested to see
which of the Western Conference teams has decided we are
not ready to compete with a thirteen deep conference.
Speaker 4 (29:38):
Right, Okay, I'm just guessing, right like, you know.
Speaker 3 (29:42):
Because I don't. I don't think San Antonio is trying
to lose next year. I don't think No Orleans trying
to lose next year. We'll see, you know, Phoenix maybe
is I don't know if Portland ty. Like I think
all of these teams in the West versus the East,
the West people are trying to win, like you're not
gonna have an easy even Utah I think is gonna try.
They're gonna They've given up on tanking because hasn't worked
for them the last few years in the lottery. So
(30:04):
which of the Western Conferences? Maybe it is the Grizzlies
where they say, hey, we're really not that close, like
like this window of us being competitive for a championship
coming out of the West is not there. So maybe
we take an l for a season, two seasons and
let everybody fall back. We load up on draft capital,
we load up on young talent, and we ship our best, second, best, third,
(30:28):
best player out East because they're trying to have an
arms race because it's so wide open in the Eastern Conference.
Speaker 4 (30:33):
That's what I want to see.
Speaker 2 (30:34):
Interesting. I'll throw a name out there. I was talking
to a buddy who you know, so the Caruso move
was huge getting in from Chicago, a guy I would
look at and I had to comb through the roster here.
But on the Portland Trailblazers, they have one guy who
they've been you know, it's been in trade talks for
a couple years and nothing's ever happened. Well, Anthony Simon's
is an expiring deal next year or he only makes
(30:57):
twenty seven. He hasn't done jack squat in Portland. I
think he won a dunk contest, but he's been putting
up hollow points twenty twenty one, nineteen a game.
Speaker 4 (31:06):
Whatever.
Speaker 2 (31:07):
So Rob, if you take Anthony Simons from being the
I don't know their second, third, fourth, best player on
Portland and you make him like your sixth man at
twenty seven mil. Can you make a case we're going
all in, Hey, Anthorty Simons, we want you to just
come off the bench and get buckets. Is there a
team where he could make sense? Because again, this guy
(31:27):
shoots like eighty to eighty nine or ninety percent from
the line. He as a high option in Portland. Is
in the third mid to high upper thirties from three,
he's a bucket. But imagine him doing it where he
was like the fourth best player on the floor for you.
Is there a whorld where he becomes very attractive.
Speaker 3 (31:45):
Route, Oh, of course, there's a lot of guys like that.
If we're gonna be honest, like you know, I think
this is a gap year for Boston. But you can't
tell me that he wouldn't be a guy that you
love to have in Boston to take over the scoring
low where Jason Tatum's out right like you you can't
tell me that if you are you know, Cleveland and
you say we're gonna flip Darius Garland because he's too expensive.
We're gonna get a bunch of role players, but we're
(32:06):
gonna replace his scoring with an Afroney Simon's type, like,
there are a bunch of teams that he would be
useful for. Ye, and I think that you could go
down the list for a lot of teams where New Orleans.
I know that they have been an underachieving team now
for basically since Zion got there. If you just look
at their roster, there are like seven dudes that other
(32:27):
teams would love to have on their team by Herb Jones,
Herb Jones, Trey Murphy, even CJ. McCollum in a sixth man,
like there are so many guys on there for wherever
he doesn't work for them. But if you say, hey,
if I can make Herb Jones and just say you
are only a three D three ind guy here you are.
You are playing alongside of whatever James Harden, Kawhi Leonard
(32:49):
and Zubash and all you got to do is to
fend and open jump shots like that could happen that
there's gonna be an Aaron Gordon type. You know in
Orlando he was miscasts the number one, number two. Take
him to Denver and he's a vital piece of a championship.
So yeah, and then because of this second aprin again,
you're gonna see something like that happen for sure.
Speaker 2 (33:08):
We'll probably have to workshop some of that this week,
all right. Hope everybody had a wonderful weekend. Big week
ahead in the NBA Finals and off the court. We'll
see where KD goes. Does Giannis get shipped back tomorrow
This is Straight Fire with Jason McIntyre. What is up?
Speaker 2 (00:11):
Straight Fire, Pam, It's me Jason McIntyre, Straight Fire or Monday,
June the sixteenth, So everybody had a great Father's Day weekend.
Mine was spectacular, so good in fact, that we're recording
this midday Sunday afternoon, so Rob G and I can
really bask in our Father's Day glory Sunday night with
(00:34):
our families. But guess what we got an NBA trade,
A seismic one. I think it's the beginning of a
lot of moves in the NBA. It's going to be
a furious what three weeks here going to be crazy
in the NBA? Coming up? We had the Caitlin Clark
return on Saturday. Holy hell, she was spectacular. And I
don't know that I have it in me, boys and
(00:56):
girls to talk about Game four the NBA Finals on
Friday night is a massive gut punch and I was smarting.
I like stayed off the internet Saturday. I was just
so pissed off that the Pacers blew it, not only
the win but the cover with some just knuckle headery
if that's even a word. Friday. But hey, listen, overall,
(01:17):
it was a good, good weekend. And let's start with
the big move in the NBA on Sunday kind of
came out of nowhere. And this, my friends, is why
I like to say all this Kevin Durant nonsense we
keep hearing about. Anytime you hear a bunch of crap,
there's really nothing there. It's this stuff that comes out
of absolutely nowhere. Nobody was talking about Desmond Banging of
(01:41):
the Memphis Grizzlies, who, by the way, is a hell
of a player, one of the best three and D
guards in the league. I don't know, you know, if
he's like a perennial All Star. He's never made an
All Star team, he's never made an All NBA team,
but he's paid handsomely. And his stats in the league,
I mean, folks, last year at Memphis or last season,
(02:01):
I should say, forty eight percent from the field, thirty
nine percent from three nineteen points a game. The year
before that, forty six percent from the field, thirty eight
percent from three twenty three points a game. His numbers
sagged because obviously John Morant came back, and you know
what that you know what that means. But Desmond Baine
is a final His best year in the league was
year two when he shot forty three percent from deep.
(02:21):
I mean he has made the leap coming from TCU.
He was the let's see the oh, the thirtieth pick
overall in the COVID draft. That was the wacky draft
for James Miies. Wiseman went too. You had Isaac Occorro,
Patrick Williams in the top seven, Achillean Hayes. I mean
Desmond Bain has been matt vastly superior to all those guys.
(02:43):
It's the draft that had like Jayden McDaniels, Tyrese MAXI,
A bunch of guys slipped through the cracks. Haliburton went twelfth.
But I believe Desmond Baine is a really good piece.
He goes from Memphis to Orlando and now this what
he got in return is gonna surprise you guys. I
I didn't really take the temperature online, but I saw
I got some text saying whoa whoa, Wait a minute,
(03:06):
Desmond Bain fetched two rotational guys KCP and Cole Anthony
and four unprotected first plus a pick swap. Wait a minute,
what is Yannis gonna come in? Ten picks? Fifteen like
it is. It sounds like a lot, but you have
to again take a deep breath and step back. Okay,
so one of the first round picks is number sixteen
(03:28):
in this draft. Okay, that's not great. By all accounts.
Only one of the picks could emerged as a top
ten pick. So it's like they got three first but
none of them are going to be great. People are
comparing it to the McHale Bridges deal with the Knicks.
But this is what I like and what I don't like.
What I love about the deal is I'm telling you
(03:49):
right now, the Orlando Magic next year could emerge as
the new Indiana Pacers. They have young dudes, They are
relentlessly fast, and they hustle. You got the young kid
Anthony Black seems like he's got some promise. You've got
the Wagner brothers. Franz Wagner is a big time player.
You obviously have Paalo Banko, a great centerpiece, but if
(04:09):
you remember, anytime they get to the playoffs, he's got
to do everything. Jonathan Isaac, if he's ever healthy, is
a great rotational guy. Tristan de Silva showed some things.
The young kid out of Colorado. They're high on Jet Howard,
the young guy from Michigan. So they've got like eight
or nine. Jalen Suggs is going to be the key
to this team. He's returning from injury. Oh I forgot
(04:31):
Wendell Carter in the front court. But they are kind
of built like Indiana. They have a lot of good players,
no clear superstar. Now Palo Bancaro has shown some superstar traits.
Let's see how he plays when he's got good teammates.
But they have a quasi big three of ben Caro,
Franz Wagner and now Desmond Baine. Now Suggs hits great.
(04:54):
So that's what I like about the deal for Orlando.
What I don't like is a larger issue. And folks,
we're seeing the end of the three star era in
the NBA. These super teams that the NBA wants out,
they're getting their way. The second apron is gonna be
kicking in and owners are panicking. Wait, I got to
(05:14):
write a check for fifty sixty mili what because of
the second aprin Oh, well, we'll get out of the
second April, and you're gonna see owners panic And if
you're in Philly, New York, obviously Phoenix. We're seeing Memphis
being torn down. But you look around the league and
if your team currently has three stars making thirty ish
(05:38):
million and are on track to make more than that here,
soon expect somebody to get shipped. I mean the Cleveland Cavaliers.
I think we got to keep an eye on them
around the league. The issue is we can no longer
pay three. The new model is gonna have to be
young guys and one or two stars. Indiana has Siakam
and Halliburton and a bunch of nice players. Right Oklahoma
(06:01):
City has a bunch of young guys led of course
by SGA and there Chet and JADB have not been paid,
and you surround them with the Alex Carusos of the world.
That is going to be the new model. I'm on
record saying I don't love that. I'm a super team guy.
I want players movement. I want guys joining forces. I
want people angry and fired up about Kevin Durant going
(06:22):
to the Warriors and Lebron got love to the Cavs.
I want that. I want k D Kyrie and Harden
in Brooklyn, and I want that imploding. I want Dame
going to Milwaukee to join Middleton and the Honest and
then it falling apart. Yeah, I want K D. Booker
and Bale. I want that. I'm sorry. I like my
super teams. My joke is, give me super teams or
(06:43):
give me death. So Memphis clearly said, well, we're paying job.
Jared Jackson is one of the best defensive players the league.
We got to pay him. And like Desmond Bain's making
a lot and we're getting swept in the first round.
What do we do? And I don't. I don't know
that you can trade jaw because of his off court issues,
but also he's like the reason people go to Memphis games.
(07:07):
He moves sneakers, he moves merch, he puts butts in
the seats. Desmond Bine doesn't do that, even though I'll
tell you right now, i'd rather have Desmond Bane the job.
Speaker 1 (07:15):
Moran.
Speaker 2 (07:15):
I don't know if Robert agree with that, but I
think this is a great move for Orlando, not as
great for Memphis. They're gonna become more Joss centric they
get you know, kcp's a rotational guy. Cole Anthony, Okay,
he'll soak up some minutes at backup point guard, but
Memphis not really a threat. I do think Orlando could
easily find themselves in the Eastern Conference semis or the
(07:36):
Eastern Conference finals next year because of what they have.
But I mean, if you're instant, for instance, the Denver Nuggets,
and you see this and you're like, oh, well, wait
a minute. We got Jokic and he's making fifty one.
Next year he's making fifty five. We got Murray. Next
year he's making fifty and next year Michael Porter's at
thirty eight and Aaron Gordon's at twenty. Oh, this is unsustainable.
(07:59):
We had no bench to begin with. And that's where
I think, I don't know what you can get for
him because of the shoulder injury that he had, and
he's really one dimensional. Like what do you do with
Michael Porter? Can you ship him somewhere? When there's no
chatter about a player, maybe he's getting moved Desmond Bay
There was nothing. I mean, maybe Rob saw it somewhere
or heard it, but I saw zero about Desmond Bine
(08:22):
being in the mix. Now, obviously everybody knew Orlando could
have gone for a Kevin Durant, could have made him
play for Giannis. I mean, Rob For all we know,
Orlando get kicked the tires on Yiannis. The asking price
was too much, and so they said, well, let's move on.
Let's not waste time. I like strike fast, strike hard,
no mercy, sir, and I like this move by Orlando.
They're set right Rob, They've got their guys. You look
(08:44):
at their depth chart for next year, and I think
this is a really good look in Orlando. Magic team,
frankly that can compete in an East where there's no
Celtic Juggernaut. We don't know what the Cavs are going
to look like. The Knicks still don't have a coach.
I really like this. You're looking at Rob, Jalen Sogs
and Desmond Bin, Franz Wagner, Palo Benko, and then Wendell
(09:07):
Carter coming off the bench. You've got Jonathan Isaac assuming
he's healthy, Anthony blackched Howard, you got a bunch of
young guys d Silva. They could be nine deep next year.
Oh and don't forget Mac McClung putting butts in the
seats in Orlando and the dunk Chin.
Speaker 1 (09:21):
Fox Sports Radio has the best sports talk lineup in
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Speaker 3 (09:33):
I love it for Orlando now, full disclosure, I would
not be given a four first round pick for Desmond Bang.
But that's a different conversation. As far as on the
court fit, they needed shooting more than anybody in the league.
Speaker 4 (09:45):
Like combined. Right.
Speaker 3 (09:46):
Okay, So last season the Magic ranked dead last and
three point field goal shooting thirty one point eight percent,
dead last in catch and shoot threes. In fact, the
Dallas Magic, the doubt. The Orlando Magic had the worst
three point field goal percentage of the season since the
twenty fifteen twenty sixteen Lakers. Okay, and if you recall that,
(10:10):
I believe that was the pre Lebron Lakers and we
were just wading through the wilderness, right so brand day, maybe, yeah,
they needed shooting in the worst way. So I don't
hate that at all. I still think they're gonna need
a legitimate point guard somehow. I don't know how they
get it.
Speaker 4 (10:24):
I don't know what they're.
Speaker 2 (10:25):
Wait, Hugs is a point guard.
Speaker 3 (10:27):
I think Suggs is a great Derek White, Drew Holiday
type where if you're saying Paolo is our point guard,
de facto point guard, and he's running the show, where
Franz is our devector point guard and he's running the show. Sure,
because he can defend all the smaller guys at a
high level. He's a really good catch and shoot player
when he's healthy, you know, I think that's his role.
Speaker 4 (10:45):
As far as.
Speaker 3 (10:46):
Being a point guard who can orchestrate, or a point
guard who could just come off the bench and get
you buckets. I don't know if that's really what his
his you know, interesting is what he does well, So
maybe there is they can bargain basement shop for somebody
just throwing out a name. I don't think he's the guy,
But like a D'Angelo Russell type, say, come off the
bench fifteen to twenty minutes a game, you have the
(11:06):
green light to score because they can defend as well
as anybody in the NBA. You saw that last year
in the postseason, even though they got taken out pretty ceremoniously.
It wasn't because they couldn't compete. It because they couldn't score,
and that was the problem. You mentioned that it was
Palo to the left, Palo to the right, pallow up
the middle, because really you know, Franz couldn't shoot last postseason,
(11:28):
and nobody else on their team could hit an open
jump shot. So Desmond Bane theoretically is going to answer
a lot of those questions. As far as Memphis goes,
I had heard because I listened to a lot of
NBA podcasts and I talked to people around the league,
and the consensus was, you can't trade jaw.
Speaker 4 (11:47):
The off the court stuff is too heavy.
Speaker 3 (11:49):
You're not gonna be get You be selling really low.
You be getting thirty forty cents of the dollar. The
consensus was, if they're gonna make a trade is for
Triple J because he's got a new presumably somewhere on
a MAX contract coming in starting next season or after
extend after this next season, because I believe his contract
is like twenty three to twenty four for next year,
(12:11):
so he's criminally underpaid relative to what other players in
position are making, and they have his kind of caliber,
And so the thought was, you're gonna have to trade
him now because, as you alluded to, you cannot have
three four highly paid guys on your team anymore. It's impossible.
The second apron is punishing you for having too many
(12:31):
good players on your roster. So for them to in
the I don't know if overnight hours, Saturday, in the
Sunday whenever they executed this trade before it got leaked
to shams that they decided they were gonna trade Desmond
Bane was something I did not see coming at all
at all.
Speaker 4 (12:47):
Even a little bit.
Speaker 3 (12:48):
Even the people I know who are really plugged in,
they're like, yeah, we didn't have this one on a
Bengo card and it may go ahead.
Speaker 2 (12:55):
Well, I was gonna say, like, you look around the
league and it's the teams where you're hearing nothing thing
like Rob could Rudy Gobert get shipped?
Speaker 4 (13:04):
Sure?
Speaker 2 (13:04):
I mean why, I don't see why not Anthony Edwards
making a ton You don't know what you're doing with Randall.
You probably would prefer nas Reid, Jaden mcdanner's like again,
Minnesota's got a lot of guys. I just you know,
to your point guard question on Indiana, you're right, Suggs
is not a pure point guard. Do you would you
say Haliburton was a pure point guard coming out or
did he become one.
Speaker 3 (13:24):
Oh, he's always been a pure point guard. He's not
a high usage point guard. But he's always been a
point guard, so like, like, even if you're Orlando I
mean Tias Jones type. You know, if Chris Paul wants
to be fifteen minutes a game off the bench, whatever,
it's like something like that would be just fine for them.
What they need is offense. And I'm not saying you
have to be the guy who can score or as
your point guard position, but a guy who's going to
put you in a position to score.
Speaker 2 (13:46):
Yeah, Suggs Oh, he was third on its team in
assist the season, after Paolo and Wagner. I mean, you know,
there's more than one way to skin a cat. His
defense in Bane that is a wrecking crew at guard
that is going to be extremely tough to deal with with.
If you can fashion Suggs now, let me see what
he shot from three thirty percent not great, not great
(14:09):
in the back court. If you can fashion him in
the Casson Wallace role or maybe lou Dort skinny version,
and then get us some open buckets, play hard defense
and don't screw up, then maybe is Baying your SGA
or maybe Powlow's your SGA. I don't know.
Speaker 3 (14:25):
Yeah, I mean I would assume again, we'll see this
offseason because everybody you talk to says this is going
to be fireworks because, as you mentioned, the second apron
is like a death now for these teams. Right, We've
been talking for the beast what a couple of weeks
now maybe a couple of months about Kevin Durant and
where he's gonna get traded in YadA YadA.
Speaker 4 (14:45):
A good team is like.
Speaker 3 (14:46):
I'm not trading Kevin Durant. Kevin Durant's, even at thirty seven,
is one of the best players in the league. But
the problem is Bradley Beal has a no trade class,
so you can't trade him, and you cannot just buy
your way out of this like you would have been
able to do in the past, like if you were,
for example, the Lakers, the Lakers, if you're the Lakers
five years ago and you're like, hey, you know, we're
(15:06):
up against it. We got a Lebron and ad we
can't pay cups, we can't pay case like whatever.
Speaker 4 (15:11):
It's like, well, just pay the tax, just you know,
just do it.
Speaker 3 (15:14):
We'll figure the rest out later, kind of like what
Boston did a couple of years back.
Speaker 4 (15:17):
But now it's like, well, if you're in the second apron.
Speaker 3 (15:20):
You can't aggregate salaries, you might lose a first round pick,
you can't actually do anything.
Speaker 4 (15:24):
You're kind of locked into your roster.
Speaker 3 (15:26):
So these teams are going to have to get real
creative and make some trades with some guys who you
ordinarily would not want to part with. Like if you're Cleveland,
I don't think Cleveland wants to trade Darius Garland. I
don't think they want to trade Jared Well just for example,
Like I don't think if you say, going into their team, like, hey, no,
(15:46):
we want to add a fifth guy around those four,
Well no, realistically you can't. Realistically you have to flip
one of those highly paid guys and then figure out
the rest later, right, And it's just it sucks.
Speaker 4 (15:59):
I hate it. I think CJ.
Speaker 3 (16:00):
McCollum is gonna pay for his war crimes against humanity
for what he did and agreeing to this second apron because,
like you, I'd like to see the best players get that. OKC,
who many of your people are saying is having the
widest runway of a championship contender maybe ever because of
all the draft picks and how young their team is
in two years give or take SGA is gonna be
(16:24):
making about sixty sixty five. J. Dubb and Chet their
max contracts will have kicked in by that point. They'll
be combining somewhere around one hundred. So with three guys,
you're gonna be at one hundred and seventy million dollars
more or less. How on earth do you add a
Hartenstein type who was valuable to them in the regular season.
(16:44):
How do you add in Alice Caruso, who has been
invaluable to them during this post?
Speaker 4 (16:48):
You can't.
Speaker 3 (16:49):
You're gonna have those three guys and a bunch of
either unproven or vastly underpaid players, and you're gonna be
You're gonna be penalized for drafting well, You're gonna be
penalized for developing well. And I just you're gonna be
penalized for being a smart franchise because you're gonna have
to get rid of good players no matter what.
Speaker 2 (17:07):
Well they do have the other J. Doub now he's
barely played in this series. Uh Jalen Williams. They got
Kenrick Williams. If you can just have those guys, soak
up five, ten, fifteen minutes. Isaiah Joe You're probably gonna
end up losing Cathon, Wallace and Wiggins, but you just
got to have draft picks to, you know, refortify that supply.
(17:27):
And okaysee kind of does. But even Boston rob they're
gonna fall victim to this whole three star thing. I
don't know who's taking Porzingis off their hands. He has
a mystery illness that he just couldn't stay healthy. Tatum,
obviously you can't. Jalen Brown just had a surgery, you know,
I don't. I think Drew Holliday's probably the guy you move,
(17:49):
but I don't know what you're getting in return. This
is it's just a weird NBA, and it feels like
this could be one of these tilted summers where just
crazy stuff's happening all around the lad. I guess you
could quickly go.
Speaker 3 (18:02):
I'll just say quickly with you know, we're Laker fans, right,
and you and I are both high in Oscar. You
probably are the biggest Austin Reefs fan in America this
side of his parents, right, And so let's say hype.
I don't think it's gonna happen, but hypothetically, let's say
Lebron's like, you know what, I really want to play
with Bryce, So I'm gonna re up for two more years, right,
(18:23):
I'm I'm gonna play one hundred and two years, one fifteen, whatever,
whatever the number is. So the Lakers with Luca, assuming
they keep him, you're gonna be at one hundred and
twenty million dollars with two guys. Austin Reeves when his
extent when he's eligible for his big contract after next season,
is gonna get somewhere in the neighborhood between thirty and
(18:44):
forty five million dollars.
Speaker 4 (18:46):
Like that's just the market, right.
Speaker 3 (18:48):
You don't think the Lakers are gonna be like, hey,
if Lebron wants this state, you can't.
Speaker 4 (18:52):
I can't really say no to Lebron. Do you almost have.
Speaker 3 (18:55):
To consider trading Austin Reeves then, because you'd really, because
really trade him now to get ahead of it. That's
what I'm saying, is like, you know, you cannot have
three guys making fifty million.
Speaker 4 (19:07):
Each or whatever average it is. It's just impossible.
Speaker 2 (19:10):
So Austin Reeves just turned twenty seven. You would say
he's definitely got another year of prime and then you know,
probably at twenty nine. But how's Austin Reeves gonna age?
I don't know. I don't want to be paying him
at thirty one forty five million dollars a year. So
if you can flip Austin Reeves for two or three
rotational guys in an Indiana Pacers model, I guess you've
(19:33):
got to do it. I don't want to do it now.
I mean, the Lakers were third in the West rub
and a herckey jerky year where they traded ad mint
season and didn't have a healthy Luca like and they
had no room protector slash room runner. So I'm like
the only guy who's like, oh, I see still Superstar
in ists with the Lakers third in the West, and
everybody's like, oh, they're crap, They're up Shit's Creek. I
(19:55):
just I don't know. You seem to be somewhere in
between those two.
Speaker 4 (19:58):
Huh. No, I think they can be really good.
Speaker 3 (20:00):
I'm just saying is that the Lakers found Austin Reeves undrafted, right,
They've molded him, they made him are rotational player. They
were able to re sign him at a below market
value contract because he was undrafted, So instead of him
getting twenty twenty five and he would have got in
the open market. They got him for like thirteen fourteen,
and now because they were smart, because they were proactive,
(20:24):
because they did a good job of identifying and developing talent,
they are going to be punished where either if Lebron retires,
then you're kind of stuck with Luca, Austin and a
bunch of role players, or the worst case scenario, Lebron
doesn't retire, you have Lebron and Luca and you almost
have to trade Austin Reeves because you can't build out
the rest of your roster with three guys making one
(20:46):
hundred and fifty million dollars.
Speaker 2 (20:48):
If I didn't know you, I would say you sound
like a guy who's ready to move off of Lebron.
Speaker 3 (20:54):
Oh yeah, like how soon as soon as I guess,
as soon as possible. Wow, it's not that he's not
a great player, it's just like that's the reality of it.
Speaker 2 (21:05):
So this is it's funny. I haven't I don't recall
a superstar just retiring and then coming off the books.
So are you of the thought that, hey, height Lebron's
gone fifty mil opened up? I want one star or
I want like two guys, or I would just reshape
the roster around Luca. I mean the Lakers are gonna
have options.
Speaker 3 (21:26):
Yeah, I mean that that's ultimately what it comes down to. Like,
every decision you make now has to be with the
idea of optimizing Luka Dancic. So if you think that
Luca orscuse me, that Austin is the ideal number two
or he's a good guy to be here on him,
then do whatever it takes to keep Austin happy. If
you don't and you don't think you can have those
two guys defensively, then you almost you have to consider
(21:47):
trading away this guy. You have to consider, Hey, lebron
you know, we'll stay with you with his last season,
but we're not interested in another two years after that.
Speaker 2 (21:55):
By the way, when Bronny is playing like TJ McConnell
next year, like are gonna be a great ship.
Speaker 1 (22:01):
Fox Sports Radio has the best sports talk lineup in
the nation. Catch all of our shows at Foxsports Radio
dot com and within the iHeartRadio app. Search FSR to
listen live.
Speaker 2 (22:13):
Did you watch any of the Kaitlin Clark Saturday?
Speaker 1 (22:14):
Oh?
Speaker 4 (22:15):
I watched the whole game.
Speaker 2 (22:16):
Okay, so the two weeks prior how much how many
minutes of television viewing of WNBA did you watch?
Speaker 4 (22:22):
Like six?
Speaker 2 (22:23):
Okay, I was at zero. Of course I turned the
game on, you know, and I was a little bit
late and Clark was sitting and I was like, oh damn,
we missed a couple of minutes, and it just happened
to turn watch the rest where she was flamethrowing for
the first half. She had like twenty five in the
first half. It was just unbelievable and the crowds roaring.
I'm sucked into the TV. We were gonna go out
(22:44):
to lunch, and I'm like, ah, let's just wait till
half time, you know, And Rob, I, I don't know
if like there was baseball happening. I'm told there was golf.
I don't know if that NHL. It didn't matter. Kitlin
Clark was the show. She had thirty two, eight and seven,
the Fever beat the undefeated New York Liberty. And you're
(23:05):
watching and you're like, Okay, well, but WNBA needs Kitlin
Clark making a postseason run, needs her healthy at all costs.
And I don't I'm sure the rating is gonna be
pretty good. Although Saturday was a big day for protests
around this country, so I'm guessing maybe the rating won't
be as huge as normal. But Rob, this just reminds everybody,
Oh my gosh, Kitlin Clark is unbelievable.
Speaker 3 (23:29):
Yeah, I mean, well, look, uh maybe a week and
a half ago, ABC did almost two million viewers for
a Fever Sky game without Caitlin Clark.
Speaker 4 (23:37):
Wow.
Speaker 3 (23:38):
Now some people are like, see, that just proves that
WNBA is here and here to stay the pessimist, which
is kind of where Idley on this one is. People
thought that Kaitlyn Clark was playing because they didn't. They
don't follow the day to day of WNBA the way
they probably do other sports. So like, oh, the Fever
are playing, I know Caitlin Clark's on that team. I'm
just gonna put it on. And then you realize about
halfway through, oh, maybe Caitlyn Clark's not playing, so we're
(24:00):
just gonna turn it off.
Speaker 4 (24:02):
Kind of a thing. But she is box office.
Speaker 3 (24:05):
Like that there is I don't know how you can
be a sports fan, or even a casual sports fan
and not love watching Kaitlin Clark because they even said
on the broadcast, I think it was RecA Lobo that
after she had made those three deep triples from like
thirty plus feet out that you know, as great as
she is as a shooter, she's probably an even better passer.
(24:28):
And if you watch the game, like again, I watched
the whole thing, she cooled off concerned, which you know, God,
no one's gonna shoot five of seven on thirty eight
foot jumpers all game. But as the game went on,
she was dropping dimes, you know, like she worked at
a bank.
Speaker 4 (24:44):
It was incredible.
Speaker 2 (24:45):
But don't forget her teammates. I mean, they must have missed.
I counted four. I'm sure the number was larger than that.
But like fast break, she's threading the needle and they're
blowing layups up. Yeah, at what point, Kaitlin, someone blew
the layup atent? And then the I've called it out
Kittler Kirk was so angry that she yelled at the ref.
I gotta tech, did you see that moment? And that
(25:05):
wasn't I don't think it was because of the foul,
because she was so far she couldn't have seen it.
I think she would just piss her teammates for screwing up,
and she was you know, taking it out on the
ref that would that's the fire and energy.
Speaker 3 (25:15):
I like, yeah, I said, does that make her even
more likable as a sports fan because the way that
she plays Number One, she's a showman, right. So that
that last three that she had in a little flurry
she chased after her teammate from behind to get the
ball from her, I thought, I mean that was kind
of funny. She almost caused a turnover trying to get
the ball. But between the deep jump shooting, the passing,
(25:38):
the firiness, it's like it's everything that you want in
an athlete. You want someone who wants to be at
the center of attention, who wants to be the man
in the arena, as Lebron calls it, where Hey, you
know all eyes are on you and you're here. You're
here to compete, You're here to do whatever you can.
So she has all of that, but she also has
that Kobe Ryan, Michael Jordan, Tom Brady is like, I'm
(26:03):
pissed off to play to play sports like I want.
Speaker 4 (26:06):
I'm so.
Speaker 3 (26:09):
Angry about losing that I will yell at my teammates,
I will yell at my coach, I will yell at
the referee because it means that much to me.
Speaker 2 (26:18):
I like Clark a lot, and I'm thankful for her
because to me, Rob, it feels like the NBA Finals
is over. Indiana had their shot up for three minutes
left ASGA takes over. Indiana can't do anything. I know
it says too two and Game five is tonight, but
it feels over to me. I would give Indiana one
percent chance to win two out of three here, maybe
less than that that that I'm not betting, okay, See,
(26:41):
I know what you're saying, Well, Jay, come on, bet
don't Okay, No, I'm not doing that. I I just
because I'm rooting Indiana and I don't want to root,
okay see, just to win again, I'm not. I'm not.
If I were a ten thousand dollars better, that's a
different story. I'm not doing that on NBA Finals games, guys.
So I need We're gonna need Caitlin Clark to get
us through here the next few weeks because I don't
(27:02):
know about you, Rob, but the country's going through some
tough stuff right now politically and without sports. It's just
a torrent of Oh, look there's a war in Europe,
and then there's a war in the Middle East and
look at a civil war breaker. It's just not good.
And we need sports for that. And I know Jason
who cares about sports, I get it. But it's a
good diversion from what's happening. And I guess Caitlin Kark's
(27:24):
gonna have to be that for us.
Speaker 3 (27:25):
Rob If it's not her, then to bring it back
full circles how we started the podcast, we are gonna
need to have, as they say, the craziest offseason, and
that's right. Yeah, like we are gonna need rumor mill
after rumor mill. You know, oh, the the MAVs MA
trade Anthony Davis. You know, we're gonna need you know,
Houston Rocketer and they're trying to get Yanni's and Kate.
(27:46):
We're gonna need something like that to get us through.
Speaker 4 (27:49):
Period.
Speaker 2 (27:51):
Yeah. I was trying to start looking at the NBA
standings to see if there's a team that could sneak
in the way Orlando just snuck in. Is there a
world with a Miami Heat just trade Bam, trade Hero
and somehow bring in Yannis and another star. Okay, I
mean somebody's got to get creative. And I think it's
(28:14):
got to be somebody in the East. I don't know
who's taking Joel Embiid's contract. The Bulls are in it
just a brutal situation. Maybe the Raptors throw a Hail
Mary pass. But any of these teams, these bad teams,
they're gonna need to make two deals. You can't just
get you honest, because that's not doing much for you.
You need Yiannis and someone else. Is there a world
(28:38):
where the Detroit Pistons say, hey, we've got Caid on
his rookie deal. Every other player on our roster's available.
We want Yannis Cade and I don't know whoever. Or
does Detroit go for KD, say hey, what we've got
someone to build on. Let's throw KD into the bix.
I don't know who it is, but I'm looking in that.
You know, six to ten. I guess you could extend
(29:01):
it to eleven for the Raptors. But like the Sixers,
do they want to keep that pick or can they
package it to get something to help Maxie McCain and
Paul George Or do they think Embid could come back
and be a factor. I don't know, just watching Indiana
and Okay, see I don't see how embeat is a
factor with these teams, you know.
Speaker 3 (29:17):
Right, you know, I'll tell you what I think you're
right on. I actually, on the flip side, I'm more
interested in because I agree with you. I think somebody
is gonna make that kind of jump because these should
be so wide open next season. I'm interested to see
which of the Western Conference teams has decided we are
not ready to compete with a thirteen deep conference.
Speaker 4 (29:38):
Right, Okay, I'm just guessing, right like, you know.
Speaker 3 (29:42):
Because I don't. I don't think San Antonio is trying
to lose next year. I don't think No Orleans trying
to lose next year. We'll see, you know, Phoenix maybe
is I don't know if Portland ty. Like I think
all of these teams in the West versus the East,
the West people are trying to win, like you're not
gonna have an easy even Utah I think is gonna try.
They're gonna They've given up on tanking because hasn't worked
for them the last few years in the lottery. So
(30:04):
which of the Western Conferences? Maybe it is the Grizzlies
where they say, hey, we're really not that close, like
like this window of us being competitive for a championship
coming out of the West is not there. So maybe
we take an l for a season, two seasons and
let everybody fall back. We load up on draft capital,
we load up on young talent, and we ship our best, second, best, third,
(30:28):
best player out East because they're trying to have an
arms race because it's so wide open in the Eastern Conference.
Speaker 4 (30:33):
That's what I want to see.
Speaker 2 (30:34):
Interesting. I'll throw a name out there. I was talking
to a buddy who you know, so the Caruso move
was huge getting in from Chicago, a guy I would
look at and I had to comb through the roster here.
But on the Portland Trailblazers, they have one guy who
they've been you know, it's been in trade talks for
a couple years and nothing's ever happened. Well, Anthony Simon's
is an expiring deal next year or he only makes
(30:57):
twenty seven. He hasn't done jack squat in Portland. I
think he won a dunk contest, but he's been putting
up hollow points twenty twenty one, nineteen a game.
Speaker 4 (31:06):
Whatever.
Speaker 2 (31:07):
So Rob, if you take Anthony Simons from being the
I don't know their second, third, fourth, best player on
Portland and you make him like your sixth man at
twenty seven mil. Can you make a case we're going
all in, Hey, Anthorty Simons, we want you to just
come off the bench and get buckets. Is there a
team where he could make sense? Because again, this guy
(31:27):
shoots like eighty to eighty nine or ninety percent from
the line. He as a high option in Portland. Is
in the third mid to high upper thirties from three,
he's a bucket. But imagine him doing it where he
was like the fourth best player on the floor for you.
Is there a whorld where he becomes very attractive.
Speaker 3 (31:45):
Route, Oh, of course, there's a lot of guys like that.
If we're gonna be honest, like you know, I think
this is a gap year for Boston. But you can't
tell me that he wouldn't be a guy that you
love to have in Boston to take over the scoring
low where Jason Tatum's out right like you you can't
tell me that if you are you know, Cleveland and
you say we're gonna flip Darius Garland because he's too expensive.
We're gonna get a bunch of role players, but we're
(32:06):
gonna replace his scoring with an Afroney Simon's type, like,
there are a bunch of teams that he would be
useful for. Ye, and I think that you could go
down the list for a lot of teams where New Orleans.
I know that they have been an underachieving team now
for basically since Zion got there. If you just look
at their roster, there are like seven dudes that other
(32:27):
teams would love to have on their team by Herb Jones,
Herb Jones, Trey Murphy, even CJ. McCollum in a sixth man,
like there are so many guys on there for wherever
he doesn't work for them. But if you say, hey,
if I can make Herb Jones and just say you
are only a three D three ind guy here you are.
You are playing alongside of whatever James Harden, Kawhi Leonard
(32:49):
and Zubash and all you got to do is to
fend and open jump shots like that could happen that
there's gonna be an Aaron Gordon type. You know in
Orlando he was miscasts the number one, number two. Take
him to Denver and he's a vital piece of a championship.
So yeah, and then because of this second aprin again,
you're gonna see something like that happen for sure.
Speaker 2 (33:08):
We'll probably have to workshop some of that this week,
all right. Hope everybody had a wonderful weekend. Big week
ahead in the NBA Finals and off the court. We'll
see where KD goes. Does Giannis get shipped back tomorrow
Host
Jason McIntyre
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