Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 3 (00:00):
We stepped aside.
Speaker 1 (00:01):
Momentarily, Yanna Santa Cumpo in his agent sitting down the
Milwaukee Bucks to discuss their future and according to Sham Sharania,
discussing what is the best fit. Is that staying or
is it moving somewhere else, A source telling Sharanya on Wednesday,
a resolution in his talks expected in the coming weeks,
(00:21):
which will shape whether or not Anti Kumpo is made
available ahead of the February fifth trade deadline. Now Here's
the thing is, we like to do hypotheticals all the time.
We like we we like to do, you know, the
the verbal version of the trade machine, to see if
it works. I think that it is absolutely would include
(00:42):
some form of shingoon. It would include a men Thompson,
and it would probably even include like Jabari Smith Junior
or somebody like that. Like, if you're Milwaukee, you're in
a position right now where you're just saying, hey, look
we we can sit on him. He's fine, he's under contract.
We we don't have to move him anywhere. And if
you do move him, well, then you're expecting to get
(01:04):
something in return that at least you don't have to
have a hard reset that you can have enough of
a reset where maybe you take a little bit of
a step back in the interim, but then eventually you're
able to take a step forward.
Speaker 2 (01:16):
Milwaukee is ten and thirteen in the Eastern Conference right now.
They would, if the season ended today, be the number
ten seed in the Eastern Conference. They'd be in the
play in if they were able to win against Cleveland
and then some Am'm gonna win over Atlanta or Philadelphia.
They're in the playoffs with a losing record. Dan, That's
how easy the Eastern Conference is right now. So basically,
(01:39):
whoever you're training for, you're trying to bring in enough
pieces to where at least you're staying in the competitive
nature of landing some spot in the Eastern Conference playoffs. Okay,
you give up Amar, you go Jabari, you give it
by Men, you give up Alprin, you give it three
first round picks, you give probably a future draft.
Speaker 3 (01:57):
Lottery pick, whatever that may be.
Speaker 2 (02:00):
It's a team that can actually still be very competitive
in the Eastern Conference. And you get you get Yannest Okay,
let's just be real. You get Yannis. You're paying up
alongside of Katie. That is a front court mismatch nightmare
that has a great field goal, persenting shooting, persenting team,
that is a team that has two of the biggest superstars.
When they're at their peak, they may be the best
(02:21):
in the NBA. That's a big asking price to give away.
And believe me, this is why you never see these
type of blockbuster deals go on as often as you
do in the regular season, and it feels like they
got to do in the offseason because that is a major, major,
out of ludicrocy type of compensation that you're gonna have
(02:41):
to pay for Yiannis with a thirty seven year old
Kevin Durant. I mean like, there comes a point where
Rockets fans I understand that you want to go ahead
and get better and you want to have the superstar
of all superstars. I want to be competitive when both
of them retire or at least when Katie's done in
two years.
Speaker 3 (02:58):
Do you want how you do that? You don't.
Speaker 2 (03:00):
I don't let go of Amn Thompson and Jabari Smith
and Opera Shing Goon. You could let go in two
of them, you leok go of all three and all
of your draft picks too, just to bring in Giannis dude,
you're you're basically done after this this small regime, little
run I'm sorry, Like, I don't see him yet moved
for simply that reason. And it's not Houston, it's anywhere. Like,
(03:20):
why would a team be willing to mortgage its entire
future for a guy who they know is under contract
for the next few years, But you're giving up what
has to be one of the largest ransoms we would
see in the NBA.
Speaker 1 (03:33):
He's in his age thirty season right now, and this
season he is do fifty four just over fifty four
million dollars, and the next year do about fifty eight
and a half million. And then he's got a player
option in twenty seven, which more than likely he would
opt out of to get more money and probably would
get more money, and then unrestricted free agent in twenty eight.
(03:55):
So conceivably you could do a deal like this and
get him for two years, because I'm I mean, the
way the Rockets are right now, I would not see
Yannis coming here and saying, yeah, you know what, maybe
a year and then I'm gonna, you know, go ahead
and just move on from here. And just doesn't seem
like the Rockets would do business that way, you're you're
bringing him in here. You're bringing him in here with
the express purpose of no, no, no, no, we're keeping you here.
Speaker 2 (04:18):
You're telling you're doing exactly what to do with KD. Hey,
I'm coming in. I have one year in my contract
now you don't. Yeah free, yeah right, yeah, you're extended.
Whether you like it or not.
Speaker 1 (04:26):
You know, actually he would like it, because you know
he'd be going well above what he's making right now.
But it's just also too I mean, you asked me
this six months ago, and I say, dude, absolutely do
the deal. Like you love Alprin Shingoon, but love Jannis
Santa Cunpo even more well.
Speaker 2 (04:44):
Like do you remember the trade packers that was like
being flowed around earlier this year when it came to
Giannis Jalen Green, Alprin shingun Read Shepherd, first round pick
in twenty twenty five, first round pick in twenty twenty seven,
future first round pick.
Speaker 1 (04:55):
I mean the draft pick part doesn't necessarily matter, because
I mean, the Rockets are to the point where the
draft lottery is not going to matter as much for them.
And I mean it's also I mean we've seen it
from the draft maybe you get a player or two
for the entire draft that can make a difference. Well,
like what everybody else you're fitting in the roles, you
can go find those guys.
Speaker 2 (05:13):
Well, Like what I'm trying to say is that when
it was that offer, it feels so bad because you
still had Amen Thompson, you still had Jabari Smith. Not
to be completely transparent, this was also before the rumors
of Kevin Durant come to Houston right prolific. So you'd
have to trade away probably Jabari and Dylan Brookson a
deal in those first round picks to getting Kat, but
you still keep Amen Thompson. And that's kind of the
(05:35):
whole premise of this thing. If you gotta get rid
of Shan Gun to go bring in Yannis, I can
live with that. If you got to go move Jabari
Smith to go bring in Giannis, I'm okay with that.
I think Reed Shepherd is going to end up being
a very quality player in the Rockets uniform and a
very quality player in the NBA. But if you've got
to go move him to go get Yiannis, and let's
say you can sign to a long term extension four
or five years after this, So you've really gotten for
(05:57):
six years. I'm okay with that. Pair him with Katie.
It's the Amen Thompson part. I'm just it's a non
negotiable right now, back to back seasons, slow starts, once
she get ramped on up into the month of November December.
You're watching him become one of the more fluid rising
stars in this game. And you can have him locked
up for ten to fifteen years. I'm much rather that
(06:18):
than what you get with three or four years with
be honest, and you gotta throw them in the deal.
Speaker 1 (06:22):
See.
Speaker 3 (06:22):
I mean, I think that the shingun part of it.
Speaker 1 (06:24):
You know that you were mentioning about the trade package
that was being you know, at least thrown out there,
and like I said, I mean, we'd like to do
the hypotheticals all the time. Was more about Jalen Green,
just because I just I think Rockets fans were done
with him.
Speaker 3 (06:36):
I think that it was you were done with the inconsistency.
Speaker 1 (06:39):
You appreciated when he would give you the thirty plus
performance games and you're like, okay, is this the guy
like has he unlocked something? As he found something? And
then the following game it was just more or less.
I think that people were just tired of the Oh
he's getting blitzed, he's all these other things. It's like
you're missing the point here. That's not what's supposed to happen.
Like even if he quote unquote gets blitzed, he's supposed
(07:02):
to still find a way to factor with fifteen and
twenty like, like that's what he's supposed to do.
Speaker 3 (07:07):
I just look at it from the standpoint of.
Speaker 2 (07:11):
What are you really going to be able to give
on up to where it feels like you were not
just going all in for the next two years and
then hadn't hit reset and didn't you just hit the
reset button by going out and getting guys like Amen Thompson,
getting Jabari Smith, getting Jayalen Green to help you rebuild
this franchise in the right way. And now you have
all that compensation to where you're going to be able
to move off of players to bring in superstar names.
Speaker 3 (07:31):
But that's the problem.
Speaker 2 (07:32):
You bring in the superstars, they want something in return,
which means that you end up losing either compensation or
you end up losing players or here long term.
Speaker 1 (07:39):
Here's the thing though, too, I don't think that you're
in the same position that you were years ago when
you did the experiment with James Harden and Russell Westbrook,
and then coming out of it, you know, Westbrook, you
shipped him off somewhere else, and then Harden was he
didn't want to be here anymore because he saw what
was coming. I think that now, with what you've built
up with depth, is that you can take a swing
(08:00):
like this and still you're not going to be as deep,
but you're not going to be in dire straits either.
You're going to be a team that's still going to
be very good and one of the best in the
Western Conference.
Speaker 2 (08:10):
The problem that I think right now that you have
to ask yourself is who else is in the market
for a guy like Giannis. I can tell you the
first scene san Antonio. San Antonios are going to pair
somebody alongside with Victor. They want to have the wemb doing,
they want to have the combination downtown in San Antonio
for the long term. So it feels like that's a
move to where that could alter your positioning in the
Western Conference, which again it sucks, but if you want
(08:32):
to take that calculated risk, if you're San Antonio, because
if you have a new regime, but no more Pop
as your head coach. You got Mitch Jopson running the program,
and you got a lot of young picture and you're
gonna still continue to have a lot of picks that
are rising up and comers, and they could probably utilize
the minutes more. And you can get rid of a
step On Castle, you can get rid of a Bailey,
you can get rid of some of your debt pieces.
Speaker 3 (08:53):
That's fine.
Speaker 2 (08:54):
But like I look at it from the Rocket standpoint,
I just am not willing to part ways with im
and Thompson. I'll tell you right now. I feel like
that's a non negotiable in the deal. And so like
that's where the elevation turns to. Okay, if I gotta
get rid of a guy that I believe can be
a franchise cornerstone for the next decade, I'd better win
a championship or I'm gonna look foolish, I'm gonna look ridiculous.
Speaker 1 (09:17):
I just I think the thing with Thompson, though, too,
is that you could be running into a situation where
you can't pay everybody. I mean, I I that's the
what I'm paying though, I mean, and you wouldn't be
wrong in doing that. I'm just saying that, you know,
that would be something that comes up in the discussions
with Rafel and his staff of you know, are we
gonna be able to afford him? We're gonna be able
to afford paying you know, Kadie these final two years?
(09:38):
Are we gonna be able to afford alprin shingoon?
Speaker 2 (09:41):
Where?
Speaker 1 (09:41):
I mean, you know, you signed him the extension last offseason,
but I mean, the way he's playing right now, I'm
sure that ask is gonna happen again pretty soon. Of Hey,
you know, we we appreciate the pay bump, but my
guy's out performing said pay bump. Now, you know, let's
let's talk about, you know, rewarding the next pay bump.
Speaker 2 (09:58):
Okay, if you're rewarding that pay bump, also just to
land Yiannis and guarantee that you feel pretty comfortable with
him being a part of your organization long term. He's
gonna get a pay bump fourteen that he's yet to
play for. And sometimes I understand the risk, Like Katie
perfect example, Katie's couldn't close out his.
Speaker 3 (10:14):
Career here in Houston. He's not going anywhere else.
Speaker 2 (10:16):
It's not like, oh, Philadelphia's call on him at age
forty one, you want to go.
Speaker 3 (10:20):
Ahead and lays it on up for one more season.
Speaker 2 (10:21):
No, he's done at this point, and he's earned enough
equity to realize I can be a difference maker where
I'm not the number one every single night, but I
get to be a part of a really good rising organization.
Speaker 3 (10:32):
I'll sign the deal.
Speaker 2 (10:33):
Yiannis at thirty. He could be in the league for
another ten years if he wants to. But he's yet
to show me anything in Houston where I want to
give him a signed contract on the dotted line to
watch his alpinshindund that I could pay probably same price
for be locked in for the next eight or nine years,
and maybe it's not going to be at the same
level of superstardom or impact, but it still could allow
me to build really good foundational spots around him to
(10:56):
what he does feel like.
Speaker 3 (10:57):
I am a more balanced cores.
Speaker 2 (10:59):
Because I am willing to go ahead and pay marginally
over the market price for certain players then really overspent
on one guy that I'm pairing alongside with the thirty
seven year old other guy to when when he retires
in three years. I got to hope that Giannis is
going to be able to deliver by himself, and we're
gonna have to hit reset in a lot of the
depth purposes.
Speaker 1 (11:19):
Someone three two one two five seven ninety. You know
the rules here. If we cover it well, then it
is readily available, So hit us with it here on
the Morning Drive with Dan and Cole. Let's get into
some Texans next, because somebody over on Kirby says they
need to beware on Sunday. Why you'll find out next
right here as it is The Morning Drive with Dan
(11:39):
and Cole Sports Talk seven ninety