On today's episode, Jason discusses how the first week of the NBA Free Agency period has re-shaped the league as we know it. Should the Los Angeles Lakers be penalized for 'sitting things out' as LeBron James heads into his age-40 season? Do the additions of Isaiah Hartenstein and Alex Caruso make the Oklahoma City Thunder the team to beat in the Western Conference? Has any contender taken a bigger hit than the Denver Nuggets? Does the addition of Paul George make the Philadelphia 76ers a threat to the Boston Celtics and the New York Knicks as the cream of the Eastern Conference crop? Is there realistically anything the Los Angeles Clippers and Golden State Warriors can do this summer to get back into championship contention? J-Mac has the answer to all of those questions - and more!
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Episode Transcript
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Speaker 1 (00:05):
This is straight fire with Jason McIntyre.
Speaker 2 (00:11):
What is up?
Speaker 1 (00:11):
Straight fire?
Speaker 2 (00:12):
Fam, It's me Jason McIntyre. Straight fire for Friday, July
the fifth. Hope everybody had a fun safe July fourth.
Nobody pulled a Jason Pierre Paul. I shouldn't make light
of that, but fireworks are very dangerous and we are
recording this on the July fourth. We just taped the
(00:34):
Herd and I figured we'll go out and enjoy the
fireworks tonight, Rob, you and I chopping it up. We
haven't had a chance to chop it up lately. And
I know Robb g probably distraught over the Lakers the
exciting potential when Lebron said I'll take less than the
max and only to find out that all of his
targets went a different direction. I don't know, Robbed and
(00:57):
I mentioned this on the Herd on Wednesday, like, is
this a shot at Lebron that nobody wants to play
with him? Or is it people just don't want to
play for the Lakers, don't think their title contender? Is it?
Rob Polenka's just inept the only one that jumps out
like James Harden I can get I totally understand him
wanting to stay with the Clippers. It's gonna be his show.
He's the clear number two behind Kawhi. And oh, by
(01:18):
the way, Kawhi is going to miss half the season anyway,
So it's James Harden doing whatever the hell he wants. Oh,
we're gonna get a turn back the clock. James Harden probably,
I guess I kind of sort of understand Clay. The
Maps are closer to winning a title, and Clay would
love to just shove it right up the ass of
the Warriors who kind of screwed him over. But I
don't know. I thought your boy future Laker or Clay Town.
(01:40):
I thought he would pick the Lakers. Now, I'm not
gonna get into the money aspect, but the four for
eighty sounds like a pipe dream. This idea that he
took less to go to the map is not totally
accurate because the Lakers had to clear cap space. The
one that is mystifying is Jonas Valancunis. Maybe he sees
the payday's dwindling. But to take money from Washington a
tanking team, what do you want to put up hollow
(02:01):
stats in Washington? Really? And I get you gotta get paid.
You gotta feed your family, got to accumulate the generational wealth.
But the Lakers rob really could have used him when
it came to the Nuggets. If they match up with
the Nuggets again in the playoffs and you know, Jokic
kills them as good as Anthony Davis as defensively Yokic
murders them, and having ad as like a rim protector
(02:21):
with JV defending Yokich, that would have been great. We'll
see if one Ben Yama is able to get to
the playoffs next season, I probably a reach. But anywhere
Chris Paul goes, they're very good instantly.
Speaker 1 (02:33):
So I don't know.
Speaker 2 (02:34):
I just I'm not sure what the heart on was
for Valanchunis. But at the same time, I don't understand
why he didn't pick the Lakers. But anyways, that's my
roundabout way of saying, Max Christy is the one signing
the Lakers have as we record this, and that's got
to be a little depressing for you know.
Speaker 3 (02:51):
Not really, I mean, because on one hand, I cannot say,
like I said all last season that hey, this roster
is pretty good. If we have a coach who does
more than stand there with his hands in his pockets,
like if Darvin Ham is even a mediocre, middle of
the road NBA coach, that the Lakers are championship contending
type team. I can't say that on one hand and
(03:13):
then say, on the other hand, well, this roster sucks
and why are we not doing anything to add to it?
So it can't be both. And I firmly believe that
the roster, even as constructed, even with some holes that
they have, has enough to compete in the Western Conference
with damn near anybody.
Speaker 4 (03:30):
And we'll get to it in a little bit because
I know.
Speaker 2 (03:31):
Something you said, the word compete. Yes, so they won
forty seven games last year. They're bringing back basically the
entire same roster. I guess to compete, Lebron and ad
would have to play as many games as they did
last season, which seems kind of sort of maybe unlikely,
But that depends on your definition of compete.
Speaker 4 (03:51):
Sure, that's fair. I guess.
Speaker 3 (03:52):
The difference is is that what you're gonna see I
believe next season in the Western Conference it's very similar
to what you saw last and that is it's not
gonna matter what the seedings are that I believe Oklahoma
City is gonna be one of those teams, and Minnesota
to be one of those teams where because they have
young legs and because these guys take everything so seriously
(04:14):
on a game to game basis that they're gonna be
at the top of the conference three through ten, I
think is gonna be up for grabs up until the
last two weeks of the season. And it's not gonna
say that. Oh uh, you know, Phoenix is the five seeds,
so there's no way they can beat the four seed Denver.
And like, I'm not gonna say that because I don't
think that the gap between any of these teams is
(04:35):
all that big. It's gonna come down to matchups. It's
gonna come down to who's facing who. It's gonna come
down to health most importantly, and if everybody is healthy,
which is of course is a pipe dream for any
Laker fan or you know, any team for that matter.
But if all teams are healthy, the only one as
we record this podcast that I'd say we just do
not match up with is Denver. And even Denver took
(04:58):
a hit when they lost KCP, Like, like, I like
what they okay see did with Hartenstein, but that's not
going to stop in the hypothetically Lebron James were going
to the ram at will against you know, Jay Dubb
and Lou Dord and Alice Caruso. Like they're still small Dallas.
You know, they got Klay Thompson, they got future Laker
Klay Thompson and got to plug that in there. But
(05:20):
they still have some issues because they're so Luca centric.
And we talked about it all during the postseason that
during the Western Conference run it was less Luca more
Kyrie spread the ball around. Pj's getting some shots up,
Derek Jones Junior gets some shots up and they were
making them. They get to the finals and it goes
back to all Luke all the time and they get smacked.
(05:41):
So it's gonna come down to matchups to me, in
my opinion.
Speaker 2 (05:45):
You know, I aired on something I said earlier. I
said the only real signing was Max Christy, but I
forgot about Brownie James Junior. Rob Did you see somebody
did a breakdown of the last three guys who were
drafted fifty fifth overall in twenty one. OKC drafted Wiggins
who got a two way contract. He just got a
(06:05):
nice deal, but he's got on a two way contract
when he was fifty fifth player overall. Then in twenty
twenty two, somebody named Santos went to the Warriors seventy
five K guaranteed. In twenty three, Isaiah Wong went to
the Pacers on a two way. He was a guard
from Miami two way contract. Ronnie James fifty fifth pick
in twenty twenty four, seven point nine million dollars with
(06:29):
four point four million guaranteed. I haven't looked rob but
I would not be shocked if the four point four
million guaranteed was more than I don't know, half of
the second round combined. I have no problem with this.
Give him the money. It's Lebron's kid. Lebron's earned this.
But I forgot about Bronnie James. I'm just curious, though.
Do you see him actually contributing in the rotation next year?
Speaker 4 (06:53):
Of course, not, no way, not at all. He's not ready.
Speaker 3 (06:57):
He's got some skills that you can develop. He's very athletic,
you know. All the scouts say that he plays the
game the right way. But I unless things go catastrophically
wrong for the Lakers, I do not see Bronnie James
playing more than one hundred minutes all season if that.
And as far as the contract that he got, I
(07:17):
know everyone's up in urs because it's the Lakers, because.
Speaker 4 (07:19):
It's Bronie games, So I get it.
Speaker 3 (07:20):
But last year's number fifty eight overall pick, who was
also repped by Clutch Sports and Rich Paul Chris Livington
Livingston drafted by the Milwaukee Bucks when he was drafted,
he got himself a nice little four year, seven point
six million dollar contract with three million guaranteed. Trace Jackson
Davis of the Golden State Warriors was drafted fifty seventh
(07:41):
overall last year. He got himself a four year, seven
point six million dollar contract with the Warriors. So this
is not unheard of. The thing is that nobody really
bothers to look it up. So when they see Bronnie
James got a four year contract with the Lakers, it's
like the worst thing you could possibly imagine, even though
this kind of stuff happens all the time, but no
one can ericase that's a fifty six, fifty seven to
fifty eight bit.
Speaker 2 (08:02):
I'm not hammering Brownie. Just the stats. He averaged four
point eight points per game at USC He got four
point four million guaranteed four point eight four point is
you know, again, Lebron's earned it to have his Now
now I feel a little bad for Bronnie getting handed
all this. He's going to hear about this, but he's
just got to go out there and perform and prove
that he's willing to, you know, be an NBA player
(08:23):
and do the work that it takes, because he's obviously
not there yet. All right, So we covered the Lakers.
I don't know, Rob, I look at the West, it
feels to me like Dallas is the cream of the crop.
I think Minnesota had a great offseason, adding in the
draft Terrence Shannon and Rob Dillingham. Shannon's going to be
in the rotation. He's gonna be like a top eight guy.
I think he could score. You can get buckets. This
(08:45):
guy's turning twenty three or twenty four here this month.
And I like Dillingham a lot. And they more importantly
didn't lose Carl Anthony Town's so they're running it back.
And they were I believe, a fifty win team or
close to it. And oh, by the way, like they
added guys who can help. I think Minnesota's right there too.
(09:05):
I think Okay, so he's probably gonna have the best
record in the West because they're built for the regular season.
They're very young. Hartenstein's a good ad. They can match
up well with anybody. Those probably are the top three
teams so less. I don't think Denver's in that group anymore.
Rob and I didn't go too deep into it, but
the loss of KCP is that seems like a big deal.
They remember they lost Bruce Brown and they clearly regressed
(09:28):
after winning the title. Then they lose KCP and we'll
see what the fallout is. I don't I just don't
think you can plug in Christian Brown or Julian Strauther
and ask those guys to, you know, have the championship
medal that KCP had the lockdown defense, Like, I'm sure
(09:48):
they're capable, solid defenders, but they're young guys. I think
both are under twenty four years old. So I think
it's a big loss. And this is a Nuggets team, listen, man,
Aaron Gordon's been through a lot this offseason off the
Michael Porter juniors have gone through a lot with his
two brothers this see offseason off the court. I just
I don't think the Nuggets are a top four team
(10:08):
in the Western Where is that too hot of a take.
This is a team d Yes was up twenty in
Game seven at home, and they would have been in
the Western Conference Finals and they would have been favored
to be Dallas. So I shouldn't write them off too quickly.
But I just I don't love the vibes right now
out of Denver.
Speaker 1 (10:25):
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Speaker 3 (10:37):
Oh, I hate the vibes coming out of Denver, And
to be honest, they should be lucky that they are
in Denver, otherwise this would be a much bigger story. Yeah,
you mean, like, going after they won the championship, they
lose Bruce Brown and say what you want, but Jeff
Green was a vital piece to them on that roster.
Speaker 4 (10:51):
They lose those two guys for nothing.
Speaker 3 (10:53):
This offseason, they lose KCP for nothing, and it all
stems from their ownership group, Dan Cronkey being unwilling to
deal with the second Apron and the luxury tacks. Even
though all the metrics, all the stats, even the basketball
hoop heads can agree that at worst, Denver has the
second best starting five in basketball, and so I even
(11:17):
think they're the best. I think their cohesion is even
better than what you see in Boston, even with the
talent is different in Boston. But they decided and this
goes back to what their GM Calvin Booth said last
offseason when they said, hey, you lost Bruce Brown for nothing,
you lost Jeff Green for nothing. You're trying to replace
them with Christian Brown and three rookies which they never
(11:38):
even played this season. But they said, hey, why didn't
you try harder to replace these guys with veterans? And
this is what he said, and I think it's indicative
of a bigger problem in Denver and across the NBA.
He says, if it cost us the chance to win
a championship this year, so be it. It's worth the investment.
It's more about winning three out of six, three out
(12:00):
of seven, four out of eight than trying to go
back to back. And if you have a guy like
Nikola Jokic who is ready right now to win multiple
championships when he walks into every game that he plays,
and if he's not the best player he's the second
best player, and you're choosing that you'd rather build for
the future than push all in while you can. Is
(12:22):
something I will never understand. This is not a forty
year old Lebron James, all right, This is not a
brittle Anthony Davis. This is not even a brittle Joel MBI.
We can say him in a minute. The joker is consistent,
he's available. He is a floor razor to everybody he
plays with. And if you are not doing everything you
(12:44):
can to capitalize on this prime window that he has,
then you're doing yourself, you're doing your fans, or you're
doing the rest of that team of disservice. I hate
what Denver's doing right now.
Speaker 2 (12:53):
Yeah, it just doesn't seem like it's smart of them.
But I'll say this, it is still yokid and Jamal Murray.
Jamal Murray's about to get his big deal. I think
he got it. Sham's reported that. But I don't think
the Lakers are far behind the Nuggets. Let's just remember, okay,
two of the four Nuggets wins in the playoffs against
the Lakers were Jamal Murray essentially buzzer beaters in the
(13:15):
final ten seconds now unfortunately they have it remedied that.
I don't know who guards Jamal Murray, but I don't
think the Lakers are that far behind the Nuggets. And again,
you know it's the West. I think the Warriors have
fallen off a cliff losing Klay Thompson and Chris Paul
and you know, I mean, maybe they get in the
lowry market in sweepsticks, but I don't see what they're
(13:35):
gonna have to give up a ton for him. And
I had this take that the three the three headed
superstar team, that air is over. Man, that ship has sailed.
It's done. I don't think it works anymore. Look at
the two teams that had the three headed stars Dame
Jiannis and Middleton injuries lost in the first round. I know, Joannison,
(13:59):
play sons kd bo Booker swept in the first round.
And now everybody's hot to add market into what Steph
and Draymond. That's a big three and sacrificing your future.
It's really tough to thread the needle between playing for
the now and playing for the future. And not to
make this all about the Lakers, but rob Lakers to
do a smart thing. Go look at their roster. Two
(14:22):
guys over the age of thirty. That's it, and it's
Lebron and Ad. They're attempting the youth movement. Now, Lebron's
probably not gonna be thrilled with that, but they've got
a bunch of young guys. Now, can Reddick turn Max
Christie into I don't know, is he even a rotational guy?
He would go games without even playing. I don't think
he's a rotational guy yet. Maybe he can be. But
(14:44):
the youth movement part is hard. And I turned to
the Sixers because Rob you know, they're trying with the
three headed monster of Paul, George Embiid and Maxie. And
then you look around the rest of their roster and
it's like, holy sh nikes. Okay, the Jared mccame from
Duke the rookie. I got that Eric Gordon. I mean,
he probably would struggle to defend in my men's league.
Here Kelly ubre who's hot and cold, and good luck
(15:09):
with him off the court. Andre Drummonds solid backup for Embiid.
You need that since he's always hurt, and they got
Paul Reid, who they may end up trying to dump
here to make space for other players, but like they're
gonna have like three or four minimum players on their
on their team. That may have worked like six seven
years ago, it doesn't work now. I don't think it's
(15:29):
gonna work. I have the Sixers. We could go through
the East, but I have the Sixers currently. I wanted
to say it's either third or fourth right at Boston
obviously one Nicks to I am a believer in the
Indiana Pacers. I love what they have. I think they
are built like the Celtics, and I think the Pacers
are right there with the Sixers. I think both of
(15:49):
them are at ahead of the Bucks. And after that,
it's like, okay, maybe Orlando makes a leap. I like
what Orlando did with KCP, KCP and Suggs in the
back court.
Speaker 1 (15:57):
That's tough.
Speaker 2 (15:58):
They got a lot of wings. Polo Bay Caro Nice.
Could he make the leap so Orlando six, I would
Maybe Cleveland is too low at seven. I mean, I've
almost forgotten about the Miami Heat. Jimmy Butler's gonna be
going scort shirts. So who knows? They could be eight
or they could be three. For all we know that team,
you know, Jimmy Butler is getting up through an age.
(16:18):
Tyler hero Is, it feels like a walking injury these days.
I don't know, robinm I'm missing anybody else in the East,
it does seem kind of bleak.
Speaker 4 (16:26):
Yeah, I mean, god, I wish my Lakers played in
the Eastern Conference. It's like that much. Yeah.
Speaker 3 (16:30):
This whole thing with Philadelphia is kind of surprising to me,
because you know, Darryl Mory is hailed as this basketball genius,
this wizard that he you know, he's the founder of
the what is it, the Sloan Conference, Like he's one
of those type of geniuses, and you would think that
somebody of him and his background, that he would understand
that the three star model just does not work in
(16:52):
the NBA. And that's not even factoring in that two
of your stars Paul George and Joe LMB are always hurt.
Like I understand the thinking, and I guess you'd be
optimistic that what sets them apart Philadelphia than someone like
maybe Phoenix is that the three guys play different positions,
(17:15):
Like they have a point guard, a wing, and a
big versus all three wing players. But the fact remains
is all three of those guys are at their best.
They can play without it, but they're out their best
when they have the ball in their hands. And the
biggest issue, and this is something that's been a theme
of this show for since its inception and goes all
(17:35):
the way back even to the radio show on Fox
Sports Radio on Saturdays, is that Joel Embiid is one
of the worst playoff performers that we have in the
NBA relative to what his regular season standards are.
Speaker 4 (17:50):
You saw now.
Speaker 3 (17:51):
I know this year was a little bit different because
they only went one round and he had a couple
of big games to raise his average, but his shooting
percentage dropped by like nine percent the regular season in
the postseason. In the playoffs. The last two years before that,
his scoring average dropped almost ten points per game from
the regular season to the postseason. His shooting percentages fall
(18:12):
off a cliff because he is a seven foot two
and eighty pound monster who would much rather play like
a six to five and ten Towns shooting guard. He
wants to shoot mid range, he wants to shoot falloways,
he doesn't want to get close to the basket, and
all the foul hunting that he does in the regular
season just does not work in the postseason. So unless
(18:33):
Joel Embiid is going to drastically change drastically, if he's
going to fundamentally change the way that he plays in
the postseason, where he's gonna play like a big man
and he's not going to have most of his shots
take place between ten and fifteen feet, I don't know
if they if they can compete with the other upper
echelon teams in the Eastern Confers. Right now, I have
(18:54):
them fourth going into the season in the East.
Speaker 2 (18:58):
Wow, I'm curious Nicks lose Hartenstein. I don't know. You're
not as much of a Knick Hank as I am.
He was instrumental in the playoffs. I'll just say this
against the Pacers. He had to play like heavy minutes
because Mitchell Robinson was out. Mitchell Robinson always hurt, So
they obviously need to find a backup center, somebody who
(19:18):
can eat minutes because Robinson, he just is not durable.
I don't know rob I think this Nicks key, I
would not be shocked at all because we saw like
a Knicks Tom Ruolves NBA Finals. Honestly would not surprise
me in the least. We're at the changing of the Guard.
We're at like one of these seminal moments where it's like, Okay,
we've had the three headed superstar super teams over the
last fifteen years. If you want to go back twenty
(19:40):
years to the Spurs with Jenobilee, Parker and Duncan, and
then we've had the KD. Curry Lebron era, and both
of those seem to be winding down almost at the
same time. Rob It's extremely depressing, and the new model
seems to be what the Celtics have, what the Knicks have,
the Pacers to a lesser extent, you know, I think
(20:02):
the MAVs kind of have it. Okay, see has it?
The new model, would you agree? Is two stars and
then role players who are largely wings. But your big
guy is you have two big guys, one that can
be a five out big guy and the other can
be like an interior rebounding big guy like Lively with
(20:22):
the MAVs Hurt and Stein and the out the five
out big guy would be like a Miles Turner of
poor zingis Acrol Anthony Towns. That seems to me the
new model to me? Would you agree or is that
too heavy handed?
Speaker 3 (20:37):
No? I would agree mostly I'm with you that I
believe that the model that you have to have is
two stars and high level role players from three to
six or three to seven like that. That's got to
be your minimum because and I know we argue about
this on the Podcast of the Week about a week
and a half ago. When it comes to Boston, what
makes Boston special is not Tatum and Brown, Tatum and
(21:00):
on a great Jason Tatum shoutout future Laker, Jason Tatum
became the highest paid player in NBA history by a
week ago, So kudos to him. Will get him when
he's thirty four, broken down, but we'll get him eventually.
But what makes them special is not the top five
MVP candidate Jason Tatum, It's not the All NBA candidate
and Jalen Brown. It's or Zingis Holiday White Orford. When
(21:21):
you can surround those two guys with four other three
guys at the court at one time, three guys who
are great or not great, who are high level two
way players, You're never gonna go into a game against
the Boston Celtics if they're healthy and feel like there's
somebody you can hunt one way or the other. You're
(21:41):
not gonna go into it like, well, if you're a
Laker fan and say, hey, they're gonna sag off Jared
Vanderbilt and you got to play four on five offensively,
or you're not gonna go into and say, hey, D'angela
Russell's out there. We have a week point on defense,
so we're gona have to shade guys that way to
make up for it. Boston doesn't have that problem, right,
They're gonna be pready stout across the board, assuming health.
(22:03):
And that's one thing that New York has, and that's
something okay see as is you're never gonna feel like
you have weak links across your starting five or across
your five man closing lineup because their roster is so deep.
I don't care if your best player is not as
good as Joel Embi or Nicola Yoki or whoever, as
long as your fifth best player is not the worst
(22:25):
guy out there. So I think the Knicks are going
to be great. I can't wait to see them face
Boston the playoffs. I think both of those teams are
built to face each other and it's going to be awesome.
Speaker 1 (22:35):
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Speaker 2 (22:47):
I think we largely agree Celtics Knicks are the cream
of the crop in the East. And I mean, even
if you know Demarge Rosen signs or market and traded,
I don't think at fundamental changes what's happening at the
top of either conference. I guess we could close with
this one, Robin. It's like, I don't know, Over the
(23:08):
last like twelve years, every single summer has been ooh, ooh,
who's the next free agent? Ooh, can our team add him? Ooh,
can we find a superstar? And this summer it was
Paul George, and there was no real tug of war
for Paul George. He kind of felt to the Sixers
because there were no other options. I don't really buy
that Warriors trade. It sounds like the Clippers were never
(23:30):
going to do that deal. So it's Paul George and
Clay Thompson, who kind of was sort of was I
don't washed his harsh, but you know, obviously if he
lands with the Lakers. I'm singing a slightly different tune
because I think it's a great fit. I think it's
a great fit with the MAVs. But like it wasn't
like there was a robust market for Klay Thompson. You know,
(23:51):
he was never going to or Orlando. He wants to
compete and win titles. And I don't know. I just
wonder how the NBA calendar is going to shake out now,
rob when we get to July and it's like, oh,
everybody's afraid of the second apron. I mean, did you
see the stat that the Clippers and Warriors have been
over the luxury tax for each of the last four years.
And magically, now that there's a second apron, both those
(24:14):
teams decide WHOA, we gotta start petty pinching, and both
of them as of now, are not in the luxury
tax next season. Like that's a huge sign. And I
don't know, man, you almost wonder if the NBA is
screwed this up. And I know that some people will say, no,
this is great for the league. I don't know, guys,
I just don't know it. Like, where's the off season, juice,
(24:38):
Like we waited forever for Donovan Mitchel. He's staying in
Cleveland now Maybe maybe Wolves go sideways. They decide this
isn't working with Carla day Towns is on the market,
maybe the Cavs stink, and Donovan Mitchell much like after
I think it was well now he was two years
in okac. Yeah, after two years in Oka, see, Paul
George was like, I'm out, get me out of here.
(25:00):
Maybe Donovan Mitchell says, hey, you know what, I gave
it two years, I'm out, get me out of Cleveland.
And it gets interesting. But as of now, Rob, the
free agent crop is I mean, the draft next year
will be good, but it just it feels like the
days of ooh, can this team get this star. I
don't know that we'll be playing those games anymore.
Speaker 3 (25:18):
Really, Yeah, I agree with you, and I will say
that do not let the fact that CJ. McCollum is
a great television analyst for ESPN distract you from the
fact that he totally butchered this CBA agreement. This second
apron is one of the worst thing that's ever could
have happened to NBA because so much of what basketball
(25:39):
fans and listeners of this podcast I know, because that's
the numbers. We talked about this before. Consumers of basketball
media care less about what actually happens on the floor.
Then they do the soap opera that happens off of it.
They care more about who's the next free agent, which
(26:00):
star is unhappy, who might get traded, the transactional nature
of the sport. That's always been in my experience. Our
most popular podcasts, Hey could Donovan Mitchell get traded?
Speaker 4 (26:10):
What's up with Trey Young? Is carlthony town is getting moved?
Speaker 3 (26:12):
Because then it not only it affects one team, the
minnesot Timberolves, it could affect four or five other teams
because of where he might end up. And when they
did this second apron, which basically acts as a hard
cap for ninety percent of the league, you've taken that away.
And I did a quick look at the twenty twenty
five free agent class. According to Hoopside, they have their
(26:33):
their rankings. Jalen runs the number one. He's probably gonna resigna.
Donovan Mitchell is already resigning. Lori market In is number three. Okay,
Brandon Ingram, who may or may not get traded by
the time.
Speaker 2 (26:46):
We love Nobody wants him right now.
Speaker 3 (26:48):
Nobody's working for our Prince Sangoon who I like and
hoopeads like.
Speaker 4 (26:52):
But if you're a casual fan, you probably.
Speaker 3 (26:54):
Don't know who are the Rocket Center. Yes, yes, Evan
Mobley's restricted, so he doesn't count. Lebron James technically could
opt out again, but we'll see what happens with Bronni.
Jamal Murray just got extended, Franz Wagner is a restricted
free agent, and Julius Randall rounds out the top ten like,
there are some good players in there, but that's nothing
(27:14):
that's gonna get people overly excited about what's gonna come
next summer.
Speaker 2 (27:18):
But here's the worst part, rob When you name all
those guys, A lot of those guys don't qualify in
the And forgive me for not coming up with a
better name of it, but like the Drew Holliday Derek White,
that guy could be an awesome three on a title contender,
like Brandon Ingram is in that weird spot because he's
not a good defender. He doesn't shoot threes really, he
(27:40):
prefers the mid range. Like, I don't know what you
do with him. Lowry Markinen will see like good player,
but geez, he sounds like he wants to get paid
I don't think he fits in the Derek White molds.
He thinks he's like a two. I don't know that
he's a two anywhere. So, like even Julius Randall, like,
do you want that guy as your third or fourth
(28:00):
best player? I don't know that that works. Like Austin
Reeves works to me as a third or fourth and
for me, a third or fourth guy on a team
is that kind of glue guy who can toggle between
either one, two, three, two three, four, can defend up,
can just do a lot, and obviously shooting is a
paramount importance. Like I guess Rental can shoot, but I
(28:23):
don't know, Like to me on the Knicks, he's there's
I guess, second best player and then you slide Bridges
into the third and boom, that's a massive home run, right,
he is in the Drew Holliday Derek White bold, But like,
who's the six or fourth best player? Kelly Ubray, I
don't know, man, It's just it's a weird time in
the league. Almost feels transitional.
Speaker 3 (28:44):
No, yeah, it definitely feels like there's gonna be a
learning curve, an adjustment period of while teams navigate this
second aprin I think you're gonna see eventually, maybe not
obviously this offseason, but maybe next offseason where it's like
the middle class is going to get eliminated for NBA
team because it's like, hey, we got to play our
(29:06):
pairmax guys, whatever, forty fifty sixty MILLI dollars, whatever it takes,
We're going to load up on rookie contracts to fill
out the roster because there's only way you can be
competitive is if some of these rookie deal guys kind
of popped, and the days of having the eight to
fifteen million dollar deal contracts that you normally need to
(29:26):
aggregate or to put together to assemble to get the
big ticket item. I don't think you're going to see
those anymore, because I don't think you're going to be like, hey,
if it puts us into the first apron, let's give
you know, a Torrian prints two years, fifteen million dollars,
Like nah, we really, we can, we can replace that
somewhere else.
Speaker 2 (29:45):
We're good.
Speaker 3 (29:46):
Yeah, yeah, And so you're gonna end up in a
situation where not only are teams going to be in
that apron where they can't even trade with each other,
which in itself is a stupid rule. But now you're
going to have teams who are going to be afraid
to go over to that second apron because they want
to be locked out. And you're gonna have these teams where,
you know, everybody's kind of good, but nobody's great, and
(30:06):
there's gonna be a lot of parody on a year
to your basis, and I'm of the belief that basketball,
especially is one of the sports that's better when you
have dominant teams, when you have villain teams that people
root against. This is not the NFL.
Speaker 2 (30:19):
Yeah, I'm trying to look, and you're right. The middle
class was like the Houston Rockets were five hundred, you know,
and then there's a huge drop off. The Rockets were eleven,
just missed the playoffs, and then it's like Jazz, you know,
twenty games under I'm sorry, ten games under five hundred,
Grizzlies injuries, Spurs young and Trailblazers, I don't know what
the hell they're doing. And same deal. In the East.
(30:39):
It's like, okay, there were like seven or eight good
teams and then it's like, ooh, the Bills were I'm sorry,
not the Bills, the Bulls were under five hundred, made
the play in and now they're dismantling their team, the
Hawks or a train wreck. They traded to John to
Murray and then there's a lot of bad. It's gonna
be tough to climb out of that hole short of
landing a Cooper flag and Ace Bailey or one of
(31:00):
these studs next year. So he's cool through a transitional time.
Obviously they're getting their TV deal. They don't care. But
from a fans perspective, I just do wonder losing lebron
kd Curry and oh, by the way, super teams. I
don't know. It just it feels like it's a lot
to transition out of and I just don't think that's
(31:22):
a great thing.
Speaker 3 (31:24):
Yeah, I would agree with you, and you're putting a
lot of eggs in the Anthony Edwards, Jason Tatum, Luka
Doncic Janni's basket, and so far, the only one that
I've seen that's had real crossover appeal has been honest
Anthony Edwards. We think has the potential to be that
(31:45):
Jason Tatum, even though I love Jasonantaylo, Jayson Tatum for
whatever reason, has not become that crossover star that you
would expect, being that he's a top five MVP guy
and he played for the Boston Celtics and Luka Doncic
basketball fans love him, but the casual Q raiding fans,
I don't think that they really check for Luca like
that because his style of play is not fun to watch,
(32:06):
you know, if you're a casual fan. He's just really
good at what he does. And Nico Lulkic has no personality. Yeah,
so you're there. There's gonna be a weird transitional period here.
Speaker 4 (32:15):
For the NBA moving forward.
Speaker 2 (32:17):
Yeah, all right, so good transition for us. We are
off next week. Take a break, folks. The sports calendar
slows down. I know there's USA Basketball convening to get
ready for the Olympics, but other than that, like you know,
Aaron Judge chasing the triple crown, Kitland Clark and make
it an All Star team. By the way, Rob, did
you see the breakdown of All Star votes for the
(32:39):
head I did? Oh my, so Wilson on Las Vegas
was the leading vote getter last year that I saw,
with ninety six thousand votes. Ninety six thousand. Last year,
Kitlan Clark got seven hundred thousand this year. That's over
seven x for a rookie. And I told you guys,
(33:04):
I voted for the WNBA All Stars for the first
time in my life. Rob Did you vote or no?
Speaker 4 (33:10):
I did not vote?
Speaker 2 (33:11):
Okay, seven hundred thousand versus ninety six thousand last year.
I'm very curious what happens on the benches. Is there
icy stuff for Caitlin Clark? Are people like looking down her?
Speaker 1 (33:24):
I don't.
Speaker 2 (33:24):
They should make these vote public, Like Angel Reyes got
a lot of votes. I think she got three hundred
fifty thousand or so, three hundred and sixty whatever. That's
a massive number. But I think it's just bringing eyeballs
to the game has helped. And you know, WNBA may
have to carry the torch for us and way they
get to the Olympics. Also there's you know, Euros Copa,
so you know I love soccer. Anyways, that's it for us.
(33:46):
We'll be back in a week. Be safe out there,
talk to you then.
This is straight fire with Jason McIntyre.
Speaker 2 (00:11):
What is up?
Speaker 1 (00:11):
Straight fire?
Speaker 2 (00:12):
Fam, It's me Jason McIntyre. Straight fire for Friday, July
the fifth. Hope everybody had a fun safe July fourth.
Nobody pulled a Jason Pierre Paul. I shouldn't make light
of that, but fireworks are very dangerous and we are
recording this on the July fourth. We just taped the
(00:34):
Herd and I figured we'll go out and enjoy the
fireworks tonight, Rob, you and I chopping it up. We
haven't had a chance to chop it up lately. And
I know Robb g probably distraught over the Lakers the
exciting potential when Lebron said I'll take less than the
max and only to find out that all of his
targets went a different direction. I don't know, Robbed and
(00:57):
I mentioned this on the Herd on Wednesday, like, is
this a shot at Lebron that nobody wants to play
with him? Or is it people just don't want to
play for the Lakers, don't think their title contender? Is it?
Rob Polenka's just inept the only one that jumps out
like James Harden I can get I totally understand him
wanting to stay with the Clippers. It's gonna be his show.
He's the clear number two behind Kawhi. And oh, by
(01:18):
the way, Kawhi is going to miss half the season anyway,
So it's James Harden doing whatever the hell he wants. Oh,
we're gonna get a turn back the clock. James Harden probably,
I guess I kind of sort of understand Clay. The
Maps are closer to winning a title, and Clay would
love to just shove it right up the ass of
the Warriors who kind of screwed him over. But I
don't know. I thought your boy future Laker or Clay Town.
(01:40):
I thought he would pick the Lakers. Now, I'm not
gonna get into the money aspect, but the four for
eighty sounds like a pipe dream. This idea that he
took less to go to the map is not totally
accurate because the Lakers had to clear cap space. The
one that is mystifying is Jonas Valancunis. Maybe he sees
the payday's dwindling. But to take money from Washington a
tanking team, what do you want to put up hollow
(02:01):
stats in Washington? Really? And I get you gotta get paid.
You gotta feed your family, got to accumulate the generational wealth.
But the Lakers rob really could have used him when
it came to the Nuggets. If they match up with
the Nuggets again in the playoffs and you know, Jokic
kills them as good as Anthony Davis as defensively Yokic
murders them, and having ad as like a rim protector
(02:21):
with JV defending Yokich, that would have been great. We'll
see if one Ben Yama is able to get to
the playoffs next season, I probably a reach. But anywhere
Chris Paul goes, they're very good instantly.
Speaker 1 (02:33):
So I don't know.
Speaker 2 (02:34):
I just I'm not sure what the heart on was
for Valanchunis. But at the same time, I don't understand
why he didn't pick the Lakers. But anyways, that's my
roundabout way of saying, Max Christy is the one signing
the Lakers have as we record this, and that's got
to be a little depressing for you know.
Speaker 3 (02:51):
Not really, I mean, because on one hand, I cannot say,
like I said all last season that hey, this roster
is pretty good. If we have a coach who does
more than stand there with his hands in his pockets,
like if Darvin Ham is even a mediocre, middle of
the road NBA coach, that the Lakers are championship contending
type team. I can't say that on one hand and
(03:13):
then say, on the other hand, well, this roster sucks
and why are we not doing anything to add to it?
So it can't be both. And I firmly believe that
the roster, even as constructed, even with some holes that
they have, has enough to compete in the Western Conference
with damn near anybody.
Speaker 4 (03:30):
And we'll get to it in a little bit because
I know.
Speaker 2 (03:31):
Something you said, the word compete. Yes, so they won
forty seven games last year. They're bringing back basically the
entire same roster. I guess to compete, Lebron and ad
would have to play as many games as they did
last season, which seems kind of sort of maybe unlikely,
But that depends on your definition of compete.
Speaker 4 (03:51):
Sure, that's fair. I guess.
Speaker 3 (03:52):
The difference is is that what you're gonna see I
believe next season in the Western Conference it's very similar
to what you saw last and that is it's not
gonna matter what the seedings are that I believe Oklahoma
City is gonna be one of those teams, and Minnesota
to be one of those teams where because they have
young legs and because these guys take everything so seriously
(04:14):
on a game to game basis that they're gonna be
at the top of the conference three through ten, I
think is gonna be up for grabs up until the
last two weeks of the season. And it's not gonna
say that. Oh uh, you know, Phoenix is the five seeds,
so there's no way they can beat the four seed Denver.
And like, I'm not gonna say that because I don't
think that the gap between any of these teams is
(04:35):
all that big. It's gonna come down to matchups. It's
gonna come down to who's facing who. It's gonna come
down to health most importantly, and if everybody is healthy,
which is of course is a pipe dream for any
Laker fan or you know, any team for that matter.
But if all teams are healthy, the only one as
we record this podcast that I'd say we just do
not match up with is Denver. And even Denver took
(04:58):
a hit when they lost KCP, Like, like, I like
what they okay see did with Hartenstein, but that's not
going to stop in the hypothetically Lebron James were going
to the ram at will against you know, Jay Dubb
and Lou Dord and Alice Caruso. Like they're still small Dallas.
You know, they got Klay Thompson, they got future Laker
Klay Thompson and got to plug that in there. But
(05:20):
they still have some issues because they're so Luca centric.
And we talked about it all during the postseason that
during the Western Conference run it was less Luca more
Kyrie spread the ball around. Pj's getting some shots up,
Derek Jones Junior gets some shots up and they were
making them. They get to the finals and it goes
back to all Luke all the time and they get smacked.
(05:41):
So it's gonna come down to matchups to me, in
my opinion.
Speaker 2 (05:45):
You know, I aired on something I said earlier. I
said the only real signing was Max Christy, but I
forgot about Brownie James Junior. Rob Did you see somebody
did a breakdown of the last three guys who were
drafted fifty fifth overall in twenty one. OKC drafted Wiggins
who got a two way contract. He just got a
(06:05):
nice deal, but he's got on a two way contract
when he was fifty fifth player overall. Then in twenty
twenty two, somebody named Santos went to the Warriors seventy
five K guaranteed. In twenty three, Isaiah Wong went to
the Pacers on a two way. He was a guard
from Miami two way contract. Ronnie James fifty fifth pick
in twenty twenty four, seven point nine million dollars with
(06:29):
four point four million guaranteed. I haven't looked rob but
I would not be shocked if the four point four
million guaranteed was more than I don't know, half of
the second round combined. I have no problem with this.
Give him the money. It's Lebron's kid. Lebron's earned this.
But I forgot about Bronnie James. I'm just curious, though.
Do you see him actually contributing in the rotation next year?
Speaker 4 (06:53):
Of course, not, no way, not at all. He's not ready.
Speaker 3 (06:57):
He's got some skills that you can develop. He's very athletic,
you know. All the scouts say that he plays the
game the right way. But I unless things go catastrophically
wrong for the Lakers, I do not see Bronnie James
playing more than one hundred minutes all season if that.
And as far as the contract that he got, I
(07:17):
know everyone's up in urs because it's the Lakers, because.
Speaker 4 (07:19):
It's Bronie games, So I get it.
Speaker 3 (07:20):
But last year's number fifty eight overall pick, who was
also repped by Clutch Sports and Rich Paul Chris Livington
Livingston drafted by the Milwaukee Bucks when he was drafted,
he got himself a nice little four year, seven point
six million dollar contract with three million guaranteed. Trace Jackson
Davis of the Golden State Warriors was drafted fifty seventh
(07:41):
overall last year. He got himself a four year, seven
point six million dollar contract with the Warriors. So this
is not unheard of. The thing is that nobody really
bothers to look it up. So when they see Bronnie
James got a four year contract with the Lakers, it's
like the worst thing you could possibly imagine, even though
this kind of stuff happens all the time, but no
one can ericase that's a fifty six, fifty seven to
fifty eight bit.
Speaker 2 (08:02):
I'm not hammering Brownie. Just the stats. He averaged four
point eight points per game at USC He got four
point four million guaranteed four point eight four point is
you know, again, Lebron's earned it to have his Now
now I feel a little bad for Bronnie getting handed
all this. He's going to hear about this, but he's
just got to go out there and perform and prove
that he's willing to, you know, be an NBA player
(08:23):
and do the work that it takes, because he's obviously
not there yet. All right, So we covered the Lakers.
I don't know, Rob, I look at the West, it
feels to me like Dallas is the cream of the crop.
I think Minnesota had a great offseason, adding in the
draft Terrence Shannon and Rob Dillingham. Shannon's going to be
in the rotation. He's gonna be like a top eight guy.
I think he could score. You can get buckets. This
(08:45):
guy's turning twenty three or twenty four here this month.
And I like Dillingham a lot. And they more importantly
didn't lose Carl Anthony Town's so they're running it back.
And they were I believe, a fifty win team or
close to it. And oh, by the way, like they
added guys who can help. I think Minnesota's right there too.
(09:05):
I think Okay, so he's probably gonna have the best
record in the West because they're built for the regular season.
They're very young. Hartenstein's a good ad. They can match
up well with anybody. Those probably are the top three
teams so less. I don't think Denver's in that group anymore.
Rob and I didn't go too deep into it, but
the loss of KCP is that seems like a big deal.
They remember they lost Bruce Brown and they clearly regressed
(09:28):
after winning the title. Then they lose KCP and we'll
see what the fallout is. I don't I just don't
think you can plug in Christian Brown or Julian Strauther
and ask those guys to, you know, have the championship
medal that KCP had the lockdown defense, Like, I'm sure
(09:48):
they're capable, solid defenders, but they're young guys. I think
both are under twenty four years old. So I think
it's a big loss. And this is a Nuggets team, listen, man,
Aaron Gordon's been through a lot this offseason off the
Michael Porter juniors have gone through a lot with his
two brothers this see offseason off the court. I just
I don't think the Nuggets are a top four team
(10:08):
in the Western Where is that too hot of a take.
This is a team d Yes was up twenty in
Game seven at home, and they would have been in
the Western Conference Finals and they would have been favored
to be Dallas. So I shouldn't write them off too quickly.
But I just I don't love the vibes right now
out of Denver.
Speaker 1 (10:25):
Fox Sports Radio has the best sports talk lineup in
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Speaker 3 (10:37):
Oh, I hate the vibes coming out of Denver, And
to be honest, they should be lucky that they are
in Denver, otherwise this would be a much bigger story. Yeah,
you mean, like, going after they won the championship, they
lose Bruce Brown and say what you want, but Jeff
Green was a vital piece to them on that roster.
Speaker 4 (10:51):
They lose those two guys for nothing.
Speaker 3 (10:53):
This offseason, they lose KCP for nothing, and it all
stems from their ownership group, Dan Cronkey being unwilling to
deal with the second Apron and the luxury tacks. Even
though all the metrics, all the stats, even the basketball
hoop heads can agree that at worst, Denver has the
second best starting five in basketball, and so I even
(11:17):
think they're the best. I think their cohesion is even
better than what you see in Boston, even with the
talent is different in Boston. But they decided and this
goes back to what their GM Calvin Booth said last
offseason when they said, hey, you lost Bruce Brown for nothing,
you lost Jeff Green for nothing. You're trying to replace
them with Christian Brown and three rookies which they never
(11:38):
even played this season. But they said, hey, why didn't
you try harder to replace these guys with veterans? And
this is what he said, and I think it's indicative
of a bigger problem in Denver and across the NBA.
He says, if it cost us the chance to win
a championship this year, so be it. It's worth the investment.
It's more about winning three out of six, three out
(12:00):
of seven, four out of eight than trying to go
back to back. And if you have a guy like
Nikola Jokic who is ready right now to win multiple
championships when he walks into every game that he plays,
and if he's not the best player he's the second
best player, and you're choosing that you'd rather build for
the future than push all in while you can. Is
(12:22):
something I will never understand. This is not a forty
year old Lebron James, all right, This is not a
brittle Anthony Davis. This is not even a brittle Joel MBI.
We can say him in a minute. The joker is consistent,
he's available. He is a floor razor to everybody he
plays with. And if you are not doing everything you
(12:44):
can to capitalize on this prime window that he has,
then you're doing yourself, you're doing your fans, or you're
doing the rest of that team of disservice. I hate
what Denver's doing right now.
Speaker 2 (12:53):
Yeah, it just doesn't seem like it's smart of them.
But I'll say this, it is still yokid and Jamal Murray.
Jamal Murray's about to get his big deal. I think
he got it. Sham's reported that. But I don't think
the Lakers are far behind the Nuggets. Let's just remember, okay,
two of the four Nuggets wins in the playoffs against
the Lakers were Jamal Murray essentially buzzer beaters in the
(13:15):
final ten seconds now unfortunately they have it remedied that.
I don't know who guards Jamal Murray, but I don't
think the Lakers are that far behind the Nuggets. And again,
you know it's the West. I think the Warriors have
fallen off a cliff losing Klay Thompson and Chris Paul
and you know, I mean, maybe they get in the
lowry market in sweepsticks, but I don't see what they're
(13:35):
gonna have to give up a ton for him. And
I had this take that the three the three headed
superstar team, that air is over. Man, that ship has sailed.
It's done. I don't think it works anymore. Look at
the two teams that had the three headed stars Dame
Jiannis and Middleton injuries lost in the first round. I know, Joannison,
(13:59):
play sons kd bo Booker swept in the first round.
And now everybody's hot to add market into what Steph
and Draymond. That's a big three and sacrificing your future.
It's really tough to thread the needle between playing for
the now and playing for the future. And not to
make this all about the Lakers, but rob Lakers to
do a smart thing. Go look at their roster. Two
(14:22):
guys over the age of thirty. That's it, and it's
Lebron and Ad. They're attempting the youth movement. Now, Lebron's
probably not gonna be thrilled with that, but they've got
a bunch of young guys. Now, can Reddick turn Max
Christie into I don't know, is he even a rotational guy?
He would go games without even playing. I don't think
he's a rotational guy yet. Maybe he can be. But
(14:44):
the youth movement part is hard. And I turned to
the Sixers because Rob you know, they're trying with the
three headed monster of Paul, George Embiid and Maxie. And
then you look around the rest of their roster and
it's like, holy sh nikes. Okay, the Jared mccame from
Duke the rookie. I got that Eric Gordon. I mean,
he probably would struggle to defend in my men's league.
Here Kelly ubre who's hot and cold, and good luck
(15:09):
with him off the court. Andre Drummonds solid backup for Embiid.
You need that since he's always hurt, and they got
Paul Reid, who they may end up trying to dump
here to make space for other players, but like they're
gonna have like three or four minimum players on their
on their team. That may have worked like six seven
years ago, it doesn't work now. I don't think it's
(15:29):
gonna work. I have the Sixers. We could go through
the East, but I have the Sixers currently. I wanted
to say it's either third or fourth right at Boston
obviously one Nicks to I am a believer in the
Indiana Pacers. I love what they have. I think they
are built like the Celtics, and I think the Pacers
are right there with the Sixers. I think both of
(15:49):
them are at ahead of the Bucks. And after that,
it's like, okay, maybe Orlando makes a leap. I like
what Orlando did with KCP, KCP and Suggs in the
back court.
Speaker 1 (15:57):
That's tough.
Speaker 2 (15:58):
They got a lot of wings. Polo Bay Caro Nice.
Could he make the leap so Orlando six, I would
Maybe Cleveland is too low at seven. I mean, I've
almost forgotten about the Miami Heat. Jimmy Butler's gonna be
going scort shirts. So who knows? They could be eight
or they could be three. For all we know that team,
you know, Jimmy Butler is getting up through an age.
(16:18):
Tyler hero Is, it feels like a walking injury these days.
I don't know, robinm I'm missing anybody else in the East,
it does seem kind of bleak.
Speaker 4 (16:26):
Yeah, I mean, god, I wish my Lakers played in
the Eastern Conference. It's like that much. Yeah.
Speaker 3 (16:30):
This whole thing with Philadelphia is kind of surprising to me,
because you know, Darryl Mory is hailed as this basketball genius,
this wizard that he you know, he's the founder of
the what is it, the Sloan Conference, Like he's one
of those type of geniuses, and you would think that
somebody of him and his background, that he would understand
that the three star model just does not work in
(16:52):
the NBA. And that's not even factoring in that two
of your stars Paul George and Joe LMB are always hurt.
Like I understand the thinking, and I guess you'd be
optimistic that what sets them apart Philadelphia than someone like
maybe Phoenix is that the three guys play different positions,
(17:15):
Like they have a point guard, a wing, and a
big versus all three wing players. But the fact remains
is all three of those guys are at their best.
They can play without it, but they're out their best
when they have the ball in their hands. And the
biggest issue, and this is something that's been a theme
of this show for since its inception and goes all
(17:35):
the way back even to the radio show on Fox
Sports Radio on Saturdays, is that Joel Embiid is one
of the worst playoff performers that we have in the
NBA relative to what his regular season standards are.
Speaker 4 (17:50):
You saw now.
Speaker 3 (17:51):
I know this year was a little bit different because
they only went one round and he had a couple
of big games to raise his average, but his shooting
percentage dropped by like nine percent the regular season in
the postseason. In the playoffs. The last two years before that,
his scoring average dropped almost ten points per game from
the regular season to the postseason. His shooting percentages fall
(18:12):
off a cliff because he is a seven foot two
and eighty pound monster who would much rather play like
a six to five and ten Towns shooting guard. He
wants to shoot mid range, he wants to shoot falloways,
he doesn't want to get close to the basket, and
all the foul hunting that he does in the regular
season just does not work in the postseason. So unless
(18:33):
Joel Embiid is going to drastically change drastically, if he's
going to fundamentally change the way that he plays in
the postseason, where he's gonna play like a big man
and he's not going to have most of his shots
take place between ten and fifteen feet, I don't know
if they if they can compete with the other upper
echelon teams in the Eastern Confers. Right now, I have
(18:54):
them fourth going into the season in the East.
Speaker 2 (18:58):
Wow, I'm curious Nicks lose Hartenstein. I don't know. You're
not as much of a Knick Hank as I am.
He was instrumental in the playoffs. I'll just say this
against the Pacers. He had to play like heavy minutes
because Mitchell Robinson was out. Mitchell Robinson always hurt, So
they obviously need to find a backup center, somebody who
(19:18):
can eat minutes because Robinson, he just is not durable.
I don't know rob I think this Nicks key, I
would not be shocked at all because we saw like
a Knicks Tom Ruolves NBA Finals. Honestly would not surprise
me in the least. We're at the changing of the Guard.
We're at like one of these seminal moments where it's like, Okay,
we've had the three headed superstar super teams over the
last fifteen years. If you want to go back twenty
(19:40):
years to the Spurs with Jenobilee, Parker and Duncan, and
then we've had the KD. Curry Lebron era, and both
of those seem to be winding down almost at the
same time. Rob It's extremely depressing, and the new model
seems to be what the Celtics have, what the Knicks have,
the Pacers to a lesser extent, you know, I think
(20:02):
the MAVs kind of have it. Okay, see has it?
The new model, would you agree? Is two stars and
then role players who are largely wings. But your big
guy is you have two big guys, one that can
be a five out big guy and the other can
be like an interior rebounding big guy like Lively with
(20:22):
the MAVs Hurt and Stein and the out the five
out big guy would be like a Miles Turner of
poor zingis Acrol Anthony Towns. That seems to me the
new model to me? Would you agree or is that
too heavy handed?
Speaker 3 (20:37):
No? I would agree mostly I'm with you that I
believe that the model that you have to have is
two stars and high level role players from three to
six or three to seven like that. That's got to
be your minimum because and I know we argue about
this on the Podcast of the Week about a week
and a half ago. When it comes to Boston, what
makes Boston special is not Tatum and Brown, Tatum and
(21:00):
on a great Jason Tatum shoutout future Laker, Jason Tatum
became the highest paid player in NBA history by a
week ago, So kudos to him. Will get him when
he's thirty four, broken down, but we'll get him eventually.
But what makes them special is not the top five
MVP candidate Jason Tatum, It's not the All NBA candidate
and Jalen Brown. It's or Zingis Holiday White Orford. When
(21:21):
you can surround those two guys with four other three
guys at the court at one time, three guys who
are great or not great, who are high level two
way players, You're never gonna go into a game against
the Boston Celtics if they're healthy and feel like there's
somebody you can hunt one way or the other. You're
(21:41):
not gonna go into it like, well, if you're a
Laker fan and say, hey, they're gonna sag off Jared
Vanderbilt and you got to play four on five offensively,
or you're not gonna go into and say, hey, D'angela
Russell's out there. We have a week point on defense,
so we're gona have to shade guys that way to
make up for it. Boston doesn't have that problem, right,
They're gonna be pready stout across the board, assuming health.
(22:03):
And that's one thing that New York has, and that's
something okay see as is you're never gonna feel like
you have weak links across your starting five or across
your five man closing lineup because their roster is so deep.
I don't care if your best player is not as
good as Joel Embi or Nicola Yoki or whoever, as
long as your fifth best player is not the worst
(22:25):
guy out there. So I think the Knicks are going
to be great. I can't wait to see them face
Boston the playoffs. I think both of those teams are
built to face each other and it's going to be awesome.
Speaker 1 (22:35):
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Speaker 2 (22:47):
I think we largely agree Celtics Knicks are the cream
of the crop in the East. And I mean, even
if you know Demarge Rosen signs or market and traded,
I don't think at fundamental changes what's happening at the
top of either conference. I guess we could close with
this one, Robin. It's like, I don't know, Over the
(23:08):
last like twelve years, every single summer has been ooh, ooh,
who's the next free agent? Ooh, can our team add him? Ooh,
can we find a superstar? And this summer it was
Paul George, and there was no real tug of war
for Paul George. He kind of felt to the Sixers
because there were no other options. I don't really buy
that Warriors trade. It sounds like the Clippers were never
(23:30):
going to do that deal. So it's Paul George and
Clay Thompson, who kind of was sort of was I
don't washed his harsh, but you know, obviously if he
lands with the Lakers. I'm singing a slightly different tune
because I think it's a great fit. I think it's
a great fit with the MAVs. But like it wasn't
like there was a robust market for Klay Thompson. You know,
(23:51):
he was never going to or Orlando. He wants to
compete and win titles. And I don't know. I just
wonder how the NBA calendar is going to shake out now,
rob when we get to July and it's like, oh,
everybody's afraid of the second apron. I mean, did you
see the stat that the Clippers and Warriors have been
over the luxury tax for each of the last four years.
And magically, now that there's a second apron, both those
(24:14):
teams decide WHOA, we gotta start petty pinching, and both
of them as of now, are not in the luxury
tax next season. Like that's a huge sign. And I
don't know, man, you almost wonder if the NBA is
screwed this up. And I know that some people will say, no,
this is great for the league. I don't know, guys,
I just don't know it. Like, where's the off season, juice,
(24:38):
Like we waited forever for Donovan Mitchel. He's staying in
Cleveland now Maybe maybe Wolves go sideways. They decide this
isn't working with Carla day Towns is on the market,
maybe the Cavs stink, and Donovan Mitchell much like after
I think it was well now he was two years
in okac. Yeah, after two years in Oka, see, Paul
George was like, I'm out, get me out of here.
(25:00):
Maybe Donovan Mitchell says, hey, you know what, I gave
it two years, I'm out, get me out of Cleveland.
And it gets interesting. But as of now, Rob, the
free agent crop is I mean, the draft next year
will be good, but it just it feels like the
days of ooh, can this team get this star. I
don't know that we'll be playing those games anymore.
Speaker 3 (25:18):
Really, Yeah, I agree with you, and I will say
that do not let the fact that CJ. McCollum is
a great television analyst for ESPN distract you from the
fact that he totally butchered this CBA agreement. This second
apron is one of the worst thing that's ever could
have happened to NBA because so much of what basketball
(25:39):
fans and listeners of this podcast I know, because that's
the numbers. We talked about this before. Consumers of basketball
media care less about what actually happens on the floor.
Then they do the soap opera that happens off of it.
They care more about who's the next free agent, which
(26:00):
star is unhappy, who might get traded, the transactional nature
of the sport. That's always been in my experience. Our
most popular podcasts, Hey could Donovan Mitchell get traded?
Speaker 4 (26:10):
What's up with Trey Young? Is carlthony town is getting moved?
Speaker 3 (26:12):
Because then it not only it affects one team, the
minnesot Timberolves, it could affect four or five other teams
because of where he might end up. And when they
did this second apron, which basically acts as a hard
cap for ninety percent of the league, you've taken that away.
And I did a quick look at the twenty twenty
five free agent class. According to Hoopside, they have their
(26:33):
their rankings. Jalen runs the number one. He's probably gonna resigna.
Donovan Mitchell is already resigning. Lori market In is number three. Okay,
Brandon Ingram, who may or may not get traded by
the time.
Speaker 2 (26:46):
We love Nobody wants him right now.
Speaker 3 (26:48):
Nobody's working for our Prince Sangoon who I like and
hoopeads like.
Speaker 4 (26:52):
But if you're a casual fan, you probably.
Speaker 3 (26:54):
Don't know who are the Rocket Center. Yes, yes, Evan
Mobley's restricted, so he doesn't count. Lebron James technically could
opt out again, but we'll see what happens with Bronni.
Jamal Murray just got extended, Franz Wagner is a restricted
free agent, and Julius Randall rounds out the top ten like,
there are some good players in there, but that's nothing
(27:14):
that's gonna get people overly excited about what's gonna come
next summer.
Speaker 2 (27:18):
But here's the worst part, rob When you name all
those guys, A lot of those guys don't qualify in
the And forgive me for not coming up with a
better name of it, but like the Drew Holliday Derek White,
that guy could be an awesome three on a title contender,
like Brandon Ingram is in that weird spot because he's
not a good defender. He doesn't shoot threes really, he
(27:40):
prefers the mid range. Like, I don't know what you
do with him. Lowry Markinen will see like good player,
but geez, he sounds like he wants to get paid
I don't think he fits in the Derek White molds.
He thinks he's like a two. I don't know that
he's a two anywhere. So, like even Julius Randall, like,
do you want that guy as your third or fourth
(28:00):
best player? I don't know that that works. Like Austin
Reeves works to me as a third or fourth and
for me, a third or fourth guy on a team
is that kind of glue guy who can toggle between
either one, two, three, two three, four, can defend up,
can just do a lot, and obviously shooting is a
paramount importance. Like I guess Rental can shoot, but I
(28:23):
don't know, Like to me on the Knicks, he's there's
I guess, second best player and then you slide Bridges
into the third and boom, that's a massive home run, right,
he is in the Drew Holliday Derek White bold, But like,
who's the six or fourth best player? Kelly Ubray, I
don't know, man, It's just it's a weird time in
the league. Almost feels transitional.
Speaker 3 (28:44):
No, yeah, it definitely feels like there's gonna be a
learning curve, an adjustment period of while teams navigate this
second aprin I think you're gonna see eventually, maybe not
obviously this offseason, but maybe next offseason where it's like
the middle class is going to get eliminated for NBA
team because it's like, hey, we got to play our
(29:06):
pairmax guys, whatever, forty fifty sixty MILLI dollars, whatever it takes,
We're going to load up on rookie contracts to fill
out the roster because there's only way you can be
competitive is if some of these rookie deal guys kind
of popped, and the days of having the eight to
fifteen million dollar deal contracts that you normally need to
(29:26):
aggregate or to put together to assemble to get the
big ticket item. I don't think you're going to see
those anymore, because I don't think you're going to be like, hey,
if it puts us into the first apron, let's give
you know, a Torrian prints two years, fifteen million dollars,
Like nah, we really, we can, we can replace that
somewhere else.
Speaker 2 (29:45):
We're good.
Speaker 3 (29:46):
Yeah, yeah, And so you're gonna end up in a
situation where not only are teams going to be in
that apron where they can't even trade with each other,
which in itself is a stupid rule. But now you're
going to have teams who are going to be afraid
to go over to that second apron because they want
to be locked out. And you're gonna have these teams where,
you know, everybody's kind of good, but nobody's great, and
(30:06):
there's gonna be a lot of parody on a year
to your basis, and I'm of the belief that basketball,
especially is one of the sports that's better when you
have dominant teams, when you have villain teams that people
root against. This is not the NFL.
Speaker 2 (30:19):
Yeah, I'm trying to look, and you're right. The middle
class was like the Houston Rockets were five hundred, you know,
and then there's a huge drop off. The Rockets were eleven,
just missed the playoffs, and then it's like Jazz, you know,
twenty games under I'm sorry, ten games under five hundred,
Grizzlies injuries, Spurs young and Trailblazers, I don't know what
the hell they're doing. And same deal. In the East.
(30:39):
It's like, okay, there were like seven or eight good
teams and then it's like, ooh, the Bills were I'm sorry,
not the Bills, the Bulls were under five hundred, made
the play in and now they're dismantling their team, the
Hawks or a train wreck. They traded to John to
Murray and then there's a lot of bad. It's gonna
be tough to climb out of that hole short of
landing a Cooper flag and Ace Bailey or one of
(31:00):
these studs next year. So he's cool through a transitional time.
Obviously they're getting their TV deal. They don't care. But
from a fans perspective, I just do wonder losing lebron
kd Curry and oh, by the way, super teams. I
don't know. It just it feels like it's a lot
to transition out of and I just don't think that's
(31:22):
a great thing.
Speaker 3 (31:24):
Yeah, I would agree with you, and you're putting a
lot of eggs in the Anthony Edwards, Jason Tatum, Luka
Doncic Janni's basket, and so far, the only one that
I've seen that's had real crossover appeal has been honest
Anthony Edwards. We think has the potential to be that
(31:45):
Jason Tatum, even though I love Jasonantaylo, Jayson Tatum for
whatever reason, has not become that crossover star that you
would expect, being that he's a top five MVP guy
and he played for the Boston Celtics and Luka Doncic
basketball fans love him, but the casual Q raiding fans,
I don't think that they really check for Luca like
that because his style of play is not fun to watch,
(32:06):
you know, if you're a casual fan. He's just really
good at what he does. And Nico Lulkic has no personality. Yeah,
so you're there. There's gonna be a weird transitional period here.
Speaker 4 (32:15):
For the NBA moving forward.
Speaker 2 (32:17):
Yeah, all right, so good transition for us. We are
off next week. Take a break, folks. The sports calendar
slows down. I know there's USA Basketball convening to get
ready for the Olympics, but other than that, like you know,
Aaron Judge chasing the triple crown, Kitland Clark and make
it an All Star team. By the way, Rob, did
you see the breakdown of All Star votes for the
(32:39):
head I did? Oh my, so Wilson on Las Vegas
was the leading vote getter last year that I saw,
with ninety six thousand votes. Ninety six thousand. Last year,
Kitlan Clark got seven hundred thousand this year. That's over
seven x for a rookie. And I told you guys,
(33:04):
I voted for the WNBA All Stars for the first
time in my life. Rob Did you vote or no?
Speaker 4 (33:10):
I did not vote?
Speaker 2 (33:11):
Okay, seven hundred thousand versus ninety six thousand last year.
I'm very curious what happens on the benches. Is there
icy stuff for Caitlin Clark? Are people like looking down her?
Speaker 1 (33:24):
I don't.
Speaker 2 (33:24):
They should make these vote public, Like Angel Reyes got
a lot of votes. I think she got three hundred
fifty thousand or so, three hundred and sixty whatever. That's
a massive number. But I think it's just bringing eyeballs
to the game has helped. And you know, WNBA may
have to carry the torch for us and way they
get to the Olympics. Also there's you know, Euros Copa,
so you know I love soccer. Anyways, that's it for us.
(33:46):
We'll be back in a week. Be safe out there,
talk to you then.
Fox Sports Radio News
Host
Jonas Knox
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