Hour 1: NBA Roster Roulette Day 1 w/ Sam Oshtry - 07/01/25

Sam Oshtry joins Sean Brace in Hour 1 to talk all things Day 1 of NBA free agency! They also hit on the Phillies as Zack Wheeler caps off one of the best Junes we've ever seen, and more.

Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:00):
Number one on your car radio preset hand the new
and improved iheard radio as and w D two seven
three D Philadelphia is Fox Sports Radio. The Gambler.

Speaker 2 (00:33):
Breaking ball, blasted dabble left field line towards the pole,
and this one is gone. First ball swinging at Nick
Castano's lines, one down the line and right.

Speaker 1 (00:42):
It's his tenth home run of the season.

Speaker 2 (00:45):
And if Hillies now he didn't board and nothing the
one o to cronin Worth and he swings and hits
one of the air in the right center field, calling
for it as far she's got it, and the ball
game is over. Eight shutout innings as winner gets eighth
wind of the season and the Phillies winning four nothing.

Speaker 3 (01:03):
Oh yes, that is how you get that party started
here on a hot, hot Tuesday in the Delaware Valley.
Good afternoon shot bray.

Speaker 1 (01:14):
Sam Austrie from the score joining us right from the
jump here. Of course, as you heard firework night last night,
and there were plenty of them during the game. Four
nothing victory by the fightings. Oh I can't wait. I
love fourth of July, man, I do love a great holiday.
Sam Austrey live from a shore near you. Sam, how

(01:35):
you feeling today. Man, You've been able to watch a
little bit of the news. Uh yeah, just.

Speaker 4 (01:40):
A little bit.

Speaker 5 (01:42):
Down here, and Marget, you know where I'd like to
spend my summers, but haven't been outside much last couple
of days because it's free agency, so.

Speaker 4 (01:50):
I gotta get outside more.

Speaker 1 (01:51):
At the end of the week, we got the roulette wheel, which.

Speaker 4 (01:53):
Fly is the best holiday. It's the best holiday in
the game.

Speaker 1 (01:55):
We got the roulette wheel spinning right here. We're gonna
select the team that this discuss because yeah, the NBA
free agency is often run. It's right now. We got
roster roulette happening, and this is the time of the
year where everybody starts to look at this team. Oh
I like that, that's a contender. Who that player? Oh
that play? You know, we're making a big deal out

(02:17):
of denistrator right, Like what basically Mark Henry Junior was saying,
It's like, all right, relax everybody here. But it's a
fun time. So I'm not here to pooh pooh that
unless we're talking about the seventy six ers, which we will.
We will talk about the seventy six ers here, but
we got a lot to discuss. Sam's gonna hang out
for the first hour. I'm wearing my USA kit. We
do have a lot going on in the world of soccer,

(02:39):
so Mark, Larry Henry Jr. Excuse me, we'll get us
caught up. Coming up in the second hour and looking
forward to catching up with Larry. Haven't had an opportunity
to talk to him quite some time. So Philadelphia Union
kick about and taking names. Of course, the World Cup
next year, we got the Club World Cup that's happening
right now. So much going on in the world of soccer,
Gold Cup, all the cups gore all right, Sam Austrie,

(03:01):
But we'll save all that for later. We open up, though,
real quick, if we could, about the Philadelphia Phillies big
game coming up again this evening. But this pitching staff, Sam,
has been unbelievable. Last night Zach Wheeler struck out ten
and eight scoreless innings, four nothing victory. And now you
hand the reins over to Christopher Sanchez, who oh, by

(03:22):
the way, and I hate to just skip off of
Zach Wheeler like you know, it's on to the next one,
because there are plenty to discuss about him, including the
month of June that he just had. What a zero
point five eight ERA and five starts in the month
of June. Christopher Sanchez right neck and neck with him
as well. Sanchez had a one point eight five ERA
in five starts this month, most recent outing against the

(03:44):
Astros one run over six plus innings, struck out eleven batters.
So we know what ranger gets you automatically to this
seventh inning, Wheeler just that prototypical number one, that ace
that won, the guy that you give all the coin
to because you know so if you're going through some turmoil,
that's a guy that will put an end to that

(04:04):
losing streak. Luckily for the Phillies they've only had to
deal with one of those. But Wheeler has been an ace,
and man, this is his sixth season in the Phillies uniform.
It's unbelievable how fast that time has flown by with
him rocking the Phills cap. But what a dominant outing
last night against the Padres team that was definitely right
for the picking. They rolled out that knuckleball pitcher. He
was kind of wild in his first start last night

(04:26):
this season. Matt Waldron. Bottom line is that was a
game that the Phillies needed to have and they did.
Exactly that Castianis goes yard. Nice work there. We fire
a DraftKings sportsbook. Quick look at tonight's numbers. Nick Pavetta,
come on down and as I said, Sanchez on the
mount for the Phillies minus one sixty seven low total
of eight showers in the area. Of course, it's hot,

(04:48):
it's humid, it's sticky out there, muggy, so anything is
possible at this point in time. But I do believe
that they will get this game in and there's no
reason to believe that Nick Pavet all of a sudden,
is going to look although he has pitched all right,
don't get me wrong this season. I still like the Phillies.
This evening low total should concern you a little bit.

(05:08):
They're not expecting a lot of firepower in this game,
specifically obviously from the Padre side. With how well Sanchez
has pitched, it's been awesome. But I would steal back
to the Phillies to get a victory three two, three
to one final score. But that's you know, it's June
base or it's July one. Excuse me, I don't know
why I keep on saying it's this month. It's July one.

(05:29):
We're in the middle of it, Man, so anyway you
can get a victory. That's what it's all about. Not
sure if you caught last night's game Sam down at
the Shore, but Man Wheeler has just been incredible to watch.

Speaker 5 (05:41):
He's been awesome, and really his entire tenure is a
Philly has been awesome and he was certainly dealing last night.
But the calendar turns of July, and this is when
you want to see the Phillies start playing their best baseball.
And we saw last year around the All Star break
and after the All Star Break is when things went south.
There's been some up and downs, obviously, come off that
series against the Astros where there was twenty four straight

(06:01):
innings within the score. Going back to that Mets series too,
twenty four straight innings where they didn't score a single run.

Speaker 1 (06:06):
Yep.

Speaker 5 (06:07):
Of course, that he'd beat the Braves last series nice,
two out of three over them.

Speaker 4 (06:11):
And then the Padres are another playoff team. So this
is a team.

Speaker 5 (06:14):
Obviously they didn't put out a great pitcher last night
from what I could tell, but this is a playoff
team and you want to get these series wins. You
want to start playing your best baseball when July and
after the All Star break comes around in a couple
of weeks here. So it's good to see good to
see them playing well. And Wheeler was awesome as usual
last night.

Speaker 1 (06:30):
Yeah, it was a pretty entertaining game. From like I said,
I'd never had an issue or never did think one
time that the Phillies were going to lose that game.
And it was unfortunate that they have a six foot
three center fielder and an absolute stud in Jackson Merrill
out there who made one of the more ridiculous catches.
Like I know, athleticism continues to get better and better

(06:50):
in every sport. These kids get younger and they start
playing you know, more organized ball and getting better coaching
over the years. But we are making some of these ridiculous,
just absurd catches in the outfit, and I say, week
they are making it look way too easy, way too easy.
He timed that ball perfect, and if Kepler hits that,

(07:14):
that's a three run shot. That's four nothing at that inning.
I think it was like the fourth, fifth inning, whatever
it was, and you know they ended up throwing three
more so it could have been a seven nothing victory,
which you wouldn't have sweated at all instead four nothing.
You do the math on that, but just what an
unbelievable play. You had the kid out there in center
field with the A's who's done it time and time
again all season long. And then Jackson Merrill, who did

(07:35):
it with his bad all season last year. He's hitting
two eighty nine right now. Expectations through the roof, you understand,
but that is that's a stud out there. He turned,
didn't fear the fence, timed it perfect, and just skied
to the heights. That I mean, he was up there
in the alley up top. Man, it was absurd how

(07:57):
easy he made that catch. Look so I want to
give an that tip to Jacks and Merrill on that one.
But again, great game last night, A lot of fun
to tune in and watch Wheeler mow him down as
he did Harper. I want to talk about Bryce Harper
if we could, because Harper hadson comments before the game
and almost to the point, Sam, I want to know
what your take is on this. But hey, man, like I'm,

(08:17):
I'm it's not getting better, it's not getting worse. Of
course he's talking about the wrist injury, but it's time
to come back. And I give I appreciate that he's
a workhorse. He's an animal, and he is the backbone
of the operation. You want to have Bryce Harper in
this lineup. But am I alone and possibly being a
little bit worried that this could be something that potentially
pops up down the stretch of this season and then

(08:40):
obviously puts him back on the DL. I know, like
nobody's hoping for that, and we don't need to be
talking about that. But when his comments when he spoke
to the media before the game yesterday, that was my
big takeaway, Like, man, it did not heal. And he's
telling you straight up that, yeah, this this could possibly
go the other way and we could be all over again.
Where I'm in the gonna miss Well, he missed twenty

(09:01):
two games. I want to say twenty two or twenty
four games, something along those lines. They were twelve and ten,
so twenty two. Excuse me. It's just a little concerning.
It was great to see him in the lineup last night.
But you know, I'm wondering what your takeaway was the
comments from him yesterday.

Speaker 4 (09:17):
He is, that's not where he is. That's why captain.

Speaker 1 (09:33):
On hang on pause, We're having some technical difficulties there
with the connection. I don't know, Sam, I don't know
if you can hear me, but I don't even think
it's you actually, because I'm looking at my TV now
and uh, in the studio it's shot right now. We're
flickering here. This is the beauty about doing a studio show,
a studio stream show, and uh a radio show at

(09:55):
the same time. But what are you gonna do. We'll
try and get Sam back up on of course, just
focusing and you know what. Shout out Colby, Colby, Marshall,
check it in. Someone tell us me can' wait to
see him at the end of the month. You're damn right, shit,
cod go We're coming, baby, We're going to the National now.
It's a quick business trip. It's gonna be a Friday,

(10:17):
Saturday home Sunday deal, Colby. But I'm ready to rock, sir.
I am ready to go, and I'm hoping that one
day I will be able to make Wrigley Field. They
are home all weekend against the Baltimore Orioles. I hope
one of those games we will be able to make it.
But we'll see what happens there. Shout out Colby. Checking
and always great to see you, sir. Keep uh, stay hot,
as they say, we'll try this again, Sam, do you

(10:39):
you want to say hello again? Yeah? Yeah, uh oh uh.
We might have to have you call in. I'll tell
you what can you call in at three twenty? If

(11:01):
you can hear me three twenty? All right? Boom, he
can hear me?

Speaker 5 (11:04):
Nice?

Speaker 1 (11:05):
All right, we do it live, We do it live.
What are you gonna do? I would assume it's pouring
outside right now. That's just one man's tank take. I
would assume it is pouring, all right. So we will
talk NBA with Sam coming up here at three twenty,
And there is a lot to get into. Of course,
NBA free agency off and running, and it's absurd how

(11:28):
many players are making new moves and heading to new locations, trades, signings,
and then some crazy contracts. I guess the big talking
point while I have you right here right now, before
we get Sam up a little bit later, we can
get into detail and we're gonna play a fun game
with Sam. And you know, I'm looking at the seventy

(11:50):
six ers and I did not expect them to be uber,
you know, over the top, trying to get new players
in here. I didn't expect them to be a player
in the y Honest movement or any thing along those lines.
We are what we are, and I am concerned that
we are showing a starting lineup again. There's no surprises
here that it's Joel Embiid, it's Paul George, and of

(12:14):
course you fill in the other three pieces. And I
know Yabuseli is out, and that's fine. I know people
wanted him back, but I'm not losing sleepover it. He's
a great story. It would have been nice to have
him back. They got to get somebody in here that
can play defense, that could pull down rebounds. But I'll
even take it a step further. The issue that I'm
having with everything seventy six ers is like, you look
at these rosters that are filling out, and I'll give

(12:35):
you the example of the Oklahoma City Thunder, who are
the champions at this point in time, so ideally and
they're the favorites to win it next year, ideally, we
would look at them as pocket aces. Right if this
is a Texas hold the man, they're pocket aces. There's
nothing wrong with the Oklahoma City Thunder. They just showed
you they got all their players back, They're battle tested.
This is a team that ken and should compete for

(12:58):
another championship next season. Pocket Aces, you look at some
of these other rosters that are being putting together right now.
Went out there in the West. I know everybody's infatuated
with the Houston Rockets getting Kevin Durant with that young squad,
great coach. What are they, Pocket Kings? Are they Ace King?
Are we giving a little bit too much credit when
we start talking ace or putting them in the conversation

(13:19):
with the Oklahoma City Thunder As far as aces are concerned,
and I want to go down the list. As I said,
we have the spinning wheel here and we'll spin it
and I'll have Sam tell me what type of starting
hand they are as far as poker is concerned. And
I'm wondering with that exercise, what do you say about

(13:39):
the seventy six ers, because that's where I'm and I'm
having trouble getting past everything that I felt like was
going to happen last year that did, and I still
have the bad feeling about next year as well. And
you know my wife is sitting down with me. You know,
she's home with the baby, for a couple more weeks
and she's like NBA, all right, he did in this

(14:00):
season just to and you guys are already talking about
next season. I said, who free agency just happened last night.
There's a lot of fresh, a lot of new right now,
So it's okay for us to talk about the seventy
six ers. I'm not going to be mister negative over
the next two to three four months until this season starts.
I will eventually give them an opportunity to prove me wrong.

(14:21):
But as we sit here right now and we look
at the Atlanta Hawks, who just improve their odds from
one hundred to one to twenty five to one. Just
listen to that one hundred to one to seventy five
or to twenty five to one because of the moves
that they just made. And for the first time that

(14:46):
I could ever remember, I'm jealous of the Atlanta Hawks.
I'm jealous of these teams that are going out there
and making moves. I'm jealous of these teams that probably
aren't going to win a championship next year. But it's new,
and it's something that we don't know the result, we
don't know how it's going to play out the seventy

(15:08):
six ers. I sit here right now on July first,
and I say, Joell Embid's gonna get hurt. Paul George
is not going to play as many games as you think.
Thirty five years old temperedoes expectations, and we're gonna deal
with the same song and dance about Nick Nurse and
this front office and who's who and what's what, and
maybe get some good performances by some rookies out there.

(15:31):
Maybe some good performances of course by Tyrese Maxey, who
is a hell of a player, but em McCain. But
all in all, there's nothing new about this team as
far as my outlook is concerned. Maybe that's a little
too pessimistic for some right now, and I totally feel
you and hear you on that. But as we sit
here with these teams being put together, it's frustrating. It's

(15:55):
absolutely frustrating. Joe el embiid Paul George in that starting five,
and you can't do anything about it other than hope
and pray to the gods above. We'll see, we'll see
what happens. And again, I would love to be wrong there,
but that's what's going through my mind, I'm gonna get

(16:16):
Sam up here streaming again, Sam one more time. I
think the cable or the internet came back up all right. Anyways,
so we got NBA to get into some moves that
went down of course last night into today, a lot
of movement as far as the Milwaukee Bucks and some
big names out there trying to please Giannis. And even

(16:40):
with this move of Miles Turner to the Bucks, which
is a good move in my opinion, getting some size,
you're getting something new, right. They clearly were not good
enough to win the championship last year, so you have
to try something different. Of course, Dame is dealing with
an injury. You can't count on him. He's getting a
little older. The Bucks decided to do this deal where

(17:03):
they can go ahead and spread out his contract over
the next three seasons and ultimately wave Dame and now
Jannis apparently, according to Chris Haynes from Yahoo, is not
happy with the way that Dame is being treated. And
I just have to throw my hands up, going what
are they supposed to do? The stretch provision? The stretch provision,

(17:26):
Sam Austrie will try one more time here. If not there,
we'll go to the phone. You got me, I got you,
lout and clear, you got me, I got you.

Speaker 5 (17:34):
It says that the WiFi is a little shaky, but
my WiFi is all good. There's definitely no storm here,
so hopefully, hopefully we can.

Speaker 1 (17:41):
Make it through this. You gotta rub it in a
little bit. Mark, you're at the shore. You got sand
in the feet, okay, and you're telling.

Speaker 4 (17:47):
Me you've been outside. I've been outside in two days
because of a free agency. Spend the end of the week.
I'm gonna spend the end of the week outside for sure.

Speaker 1 (17:54):
All right. So we'll try this and if you drop
then I'll text you the phone number. We'll call it.
All right, let's do it.

Speaker 4 (18:01):
Let's go.

Speaker 1 (18:02):
Let's start with the seventy six ers. And this is
where I'm at, and I hate to be negative, but
I'm gonna fill everybody in. I'll give you the cliff notes.
I look around and rosters that are being built, and
whether I want to believe in a team like the
Atlanta Hawks. The odds went from one hundred to one
to twenty five to one. You look at what the
Spurs are doing, You look at what the Mavericks are doing.
I get it great as far as luck with the
draft picks. You get players like Wimby and Cooper Flagg.

(18:25):
All understood, But all these teams seem to be getting
new and there's a different vibe, a buzz. Seventy six
ers are not getting new. There's nothing they can do
about it. And the starting five you are going to
have Juell Embiid and Paul George. And I fear what
the outcome will be for next year. And I don't
think it's gonna be much different as far as them
playing as many games as they did this past season.

(18:48):
I think it's gonna be the same song and dance.
So that's why I'm frustrated with the seventy six ers.
Am I off? Where do you stand on that conversation?
How do you approach when someone says, you know what, man,
it's just the same old song and dance with Jojo
and Paul George and that starting five. And if that's
the case, man, we're just hoping and praying to the
gods above.

Speaker 5 (19:07):
Let me push back on that. Jared McCain is new,
Tyri Smaxy is relatively new. Quentin Grimes is twenty four,
twenty five years old, Grimes.

Speaker 4 (19:18):
Not officially, it will be in the next couple of days.

Speaker 1 (19:21):
Okay, people would people would tell me yu Selli was
coming back to.

Speaker 4 (19:26):
Well that was a few months ago.

Speaker 5 (19:28):
Now that we're in free agency, he's a restricted free agent,
Quentin Grimes. So someone can can match that offer. Excuse me,
someone can offer something, and the Sixers can and will
match it, which is why they got rid of Gershon
Yabucelli and couldn't match his contract which the Knicks gave him.
So those are all new young pieces and I think
that was a goal of Darryl Mory's was to get
younger and more athletic. And when you bring in vg Edgecombe,

(19:49):
the most athletic player in the draft and one of
the more athletic players in the NBA already as a
rookie because he's that much he has that much bounce,
I think that really helps the Sixers, Like that's gonna
help their you youth and athleticism.

Speaker 1 (20:01):
Yeah.

Speaker 5 (20:02):
Sure, if you want to talk about the six or
season entirely hinges on Joel Embiid and they need Paul
George to be healthy, and those are two guys who
can't trust to be healthy.

Speaker 4 (20:10):
I get it.

Speaker 5 (20:10):
I can't argue that for a second, But in terms
of the moves they've made this offseason, there's no doubt
they've got younger and more athletic, and there's reason for
optimism heading into next season.

Speaker 1 (20:20):
All right, I will clip that. That's a great cut.
Curious about this answer Jojo goes down. Do they have
people that could fill in that spot that can be
sustainable as far as doing what needs to be done
to dirty work rebounds points. We know what Jojo is
capable of, but if Embiid is not available, Paul George
is not available, do we have players on this current

(20:41):
roster that could step in and maybe take it up
another level.

Speaker 5 (20:46):
Kershawn is a huge loss in that regard for sure,
because he could play some stretch five. So without him,
that's obviously unfortunate. You bring back Andre Drummond, who also
has injury history because he's aging too and he wasn't
really healthy that much last year, but he is still
a good reboundering and can serve as a rim protector,
rim running big. But really the reason for optimism in

(21:06):
terms of the front court depth is Adam Bona, who
showed a ton of flashes as a rookie who could
be a really good center in this league. And I
think is already going to emerge as one of the
better centers in the league next year. So I think
there's reason for optimism for the front court depth because
what he showed as a rookie. So Adam Bona is
going to have a pretty good season and they're gonna
have to rely on him because it's not just if

(21:26):
Joel Embiid goes down.

Speaker 4 (21:27):
It's when Joel Embiid resks.

Speaker 1 (21:29):
We know that's inevitable, all right, And Bona is one
of those guys we don't talk about as far as
a draft pick. There's concern for Maury where we need
to give him a little bit more of the benefit
of the doubt. And I was thinking about that yesterday,
talking about that yesterday with Jeni Broome and that selection.
Could we revisit that, because I don't think you and
I have had an opportunity to discuss that. I know

(21:49):
yesterday Sean and yourself went live in the morning, played
that here at five o'clock yesterday. Great Listen talked to
all things NBA Free Agent. He got everybody ready to
go as far as what was about to take place,
and then some carried into today and we'll see more
deals over the next few days. But the selection of
Jenni broom I was kind of in the middle where,

(22:10):
you know, if I'm honest with everybody, when we watched
Auburn play last year, there wasn't one time that anybody said,
this guy's going to be a good pro. There wasn't
one time where anybody says, I can't wait to see
him at the next level. And I asked multiple people.
I'm sure I asked you. I'm sure we talked about it.
He was always on our television. Auburn was great, and
he was a runner up for Player of the Year.
But here Moury is he selects him. And now I

(22:33):
know that we're all trying to be rah rah pull right,
We're biased. We want to see the Sixers do well.
I'm curious, you know, at the thirty five over at
the thirty fifth overall pick, should we be frustrated that
they moved? Is it a good spot that you buy
low and hopefully you know, big things happen, And should
Daryl Morey get a little bit more as far as

(22:55):
Leeway is concerned. From seventy six ers fans like myself.
Hey man, the proof is into putting. Look at all
the selections he's made. He's hit on a lot of
really good players. This dude's a baller. There's no doubt
in my mind Jenny Broom can play basketball. But is
he going to be somebody that can contribute at the
next level? Your thoughts on that.

Speaker 5 (23:14):
The work ethic is there, the attitude, the winning persona
is there. The vertical is certainly not there. I mean,
one of the worst verticals we've seen in the NBA
at the Combine in a long time. So Darryl Mory
does deserve the benefit of doubt because he has been
money with his draft selections, with Tyre Smax and Jared
McCain in the twenties, Adam Bona, who he just talked about.
All these guys, he's been money, and you can't really

(23:36):
expect someone to like hit a home run on the
thirty fifth pick. But I still didn't like it, and
I don't think j Broom is going to be a
good pro at all. You see guys like that in
college all the time. You think of Frank Kaminski, who
was a Player of the Year back with Wisconsin, who
was really successful with them. He never had much success.

Speaker 4 (23:53):
In the NBA.

Speaker 5 (23:54):
There's a lot of bigs in college who don't necessarily
translate to the NBA. I think Adam Bona, excuse me,
I think Jenni Broum fits under that boat. I just
don't see him being a really good big because he's
just he's too on athletic. He was, he was a
low post presence in college, but you don't have that
luxury in the NBA where you're going against going against
bigger and more athletic guys. So I can't really see

(24:16):
him contributing this year or beyond. But look, it's the
thirty fifth pick in the draft. You're not expecting a
rotation player, even when you're drafting a second round.

Speaker 1 (24:24):
Yeah, that's where my mind went. And I know that
I was reading something where he was had his eyes
on him the year before they had a conversation Maury,
and like I said, I want to give Maury the
benefit of the doubt. I do, and I like I
like the player. There was a lot to like about him.
But when you talk about guys like you brought up
a Kamensky, I was looking at Drew Timmy just look

(24:45):
at the G League. Don't even reference those guys. Just
look at the G league roster and you will find
five three to five players on each roster that you're like, Wow,
he was a hell of a college player and they're
not sniffing the pros Like that's That's where I'm at
with this conversation room. But we'll see. I had some
fun yesterday at Sean Benard's expense, the way he has
flipped on that No.

Speaker 4 (25:05):
I was listening. I heard it. I mean, he changed
his mind.

Speaker 5 (25:08):
He changes his mind though, he's like he the second
you asked that question, he said no, even asked your question, Sam,
the Sixers could draft me and he'd find a way
to justify it.

Speaker 1 (25:20):
I didn't even ask a question. I was just brought
his name up and he was like no, And so
I was like, all right again. You know, we are
all in the same boat. We're pulling for the Sixers.
We hope that that dude can play, no doubt about it,
or get some run and be able to compete at
the next of them. I know he's a good basketball player,
but in the NBA, it's just a different monster. And
there there are countless examples over the past few years

(25:42):
that we can look to of players that had great,
great college careers and didn't sniff the pros and Drew
Timmy was a three time All American three times. Like,
you know, what are we doing here? All right, let's
talk about players that will be having an impact on
next year's UH as far as the league is concerned,
and on some rosters across the league here specifically, I

(26:03):
want to start with the Milwaukee Bucks and what is
going on with the fact that they decided to move
off of Dame. Here to please Giannis, they bring in
Miles Turner, which is a good move in my opinion.
I'd look at him and I know, apples and apples
as far as the contract is concerned. But putting that
to the side, Miles Turner looked pretty damn good in
the playoffs. I would love to have him get some

(26:23):
good size. And now Jannie is apparently not happy with
the way that Dame was treated. I talk about these
things because we don't know what's going to happen from
the you know, the waterfall, right, the waterfall effect boom
or snowball against team like Jannis is the ultimate dude
if he wants out the league is going to shift

(26:45):
so much. There's gonna be so much change. You know,
maybe it would have been a little bit more crazier
if it happened like last week before free agency. But
I do think that we're going to see a lot
of Domino's fall if Jannis wants out of Milwaukee and
it all comes down to him. What is your read
right now with the Bucks did today with Dame and
do you think this pushes Yiannis in a negative manner?
And he says, you know what, it's time for me

(27:06):
to leave Milwaukee.

Speaker 5 (27:07):
If I'm one of these Sharks circling around Yannis like
the Knicks.

Speaker 4 (27:12):
Like the Rockets, like the Spurs.

Speaker 5 (27:14):
Today was a really good day for those teams, because
if I'm Yannis, I would rather one out at this
point than stick around with this team with this Miles
Turner move. And yes, Miles Turner is a really good big.
He's a good player. He's a good replacement for Brook Lopez.
He's a forty percent three point shooter. It's a perfect
stretch big to pair with Giannis because he can protect
the rim and he also run the pick and pop
and he spaced the floor.

Speaker 4 (27:35):
He's a shooter.

Speaker 5 (27:36):
Same thing with what we saw with brook Lopez, and
brook Lopez was the perfect.

Speaker 4 (27:40):
Fit with Giannis.

Speaker 5 (27:41):
But Miles Turner is the younger brook Lopez in a
lot of ways, and he was great for the Pacers.
Struggled on the finals a little bit, but but was
really good with the Pacers throughout there, and he's only
twenty nine years old. The problem is what they just
did to get Miles Turner was that is that they
stretched or waved or however you want to turn it
to Damian Lillard, which is essentially they cut him, but

(28:01):
they're going to continue to eat his salary. So that
means for the next five years, Damian Lillard, who won't
be playing on the Bucks, will be a twenty three
percent cap pit. So the Bucks are now spending fifty
million dollars on this roster spot for Miles Turner because
of what they had to do by waiving Damian Lillard.
That is fifteen million dollars a year for Miles Turner.

Speaker 4 (28:21):
Essentially, is how you can view it.

Speaker 5 (28:23):
And if I'm Yannis, I'm looking at this and going, yeah,
I like Miles Turner as an addition for next season
for the next five years, how are we supposed to
build this roster with Miles Turner, and with Miles Turner
eating what he's eating and still having Damian Lillard on
our books, it is going to be really hard to
build this roster around Yannis, a contending championship roster, even

(28:44):
in a week east, especially because no Damian Lillard. They
don't control any of their draft picks for the next
five years. A few swaps in there, but they don't
control any of those picks, and they don't have a
lot of good young players to build around Giannis right now.
So if I'm Yannis, I'm looking at this move and
I'm going this is worse for the Bucks' future. This
is worse for my future because it's gonna be even

(29:04):
harder to contend now. So I don't know what the
Bucks were thinking when they did this without consulting Janis beforehand,
but this is a bad day.

Speaker 4 (29:11):
For the Bucks and a really good day for these teams.

Speaker 5 (29:13):
We're circling around Yannis and are putting trade bags just
together to potentially acquire.

Speaker 1 (29:18):
We'll cut that one too. Nice work there. I want
to play Devil's advocate and push back, like what if
the Bucks said, all right, we're gonna run it back
like that's clearly not good enough.

Speaker 4 (29:28):
That's my point. That's my point.

Speaker 5 (29:30):
It's running back and they don't have a good enough
team to contend for a title, even in.

Speaker 1 (29:33):
The East, so they have to make moves and it's
still not pleasing Giannis. Is my point.

Speaker 4 (29:39):
They have to make Yeah, I get you on that.
They have to make moves. It's better than doing nothing.

Speaker 5 (29:43):
But what they did to get Miles Turner was also
cutting Damian Lillard and keeping his money and his contract
on the books, so that it doesn't accomplish what you're
trying to accomplish. Maybe for one season next season, but
for the next four or five years. You're completely handicapped
in building this roster out around Yannis and you don't
have any young.

Speaker 4 (30:00):
Players who are cheap. Who are who are you.

Speaker 5 (30:02):
Think are going to be potentially great players around Yannis?
So it's I get it. It's like, what are you
supposed to do? They're in a tough situation, but you
had to find a way to not eat this contract
with Damian Lillard Lillard while also building around the margins,
which they didn't do.

Speaker 4 (30:17):
They just didn't accomplish.

Speaker 1 (30:19):
Does Giannie get moved this offseason. It's tough.

Speaker 5 (30:24):
Chris Haynes report came out that Yannis is not happy
about what they did with Damian Lillard and how.

Speaker 4 (30:28):
They handled that. For the record, Chris.

Speaker 5 (30:30):
Haynes's cousin is Jiannis's wife, so Chris Haynes has the
scoop there, So there's some reason. That's inside baseball for you. Yeah,
that's an inside baseball.

Speaker 4 (30:40):
They had that.

Speaker 5 (30:41):
That's a real report, And I would trust Chris Haynes
on that. The reports have pretty much been. Jannis has
been looking around the Bucks and saying what are you
doing with the draft and what are you doing from
free agency? And the Bucks went for it for next
season in free agency. But if I'm Janis, I'm going.

Speaker 1 (30:55):
I don't like this.

Speaker 5 (30:56):
So I don't think he gets moved this offseason. Yeah,
I think if anything will take it into the season,
maybe at the deadline, at the trade deadline next season
if things are going really poorly, or potentially the year
after that, where things they don't even have Damian Lillard
and they don't have a decent squad to continue to contend.
So I don't think it's this offseason. But this was

(31:16):
not not a good move for the Bucks.

Speaker 1 (31:18):
DraftKings Sportsbook show in the Milwaukee Bucks thirteen to one
to win the East next season. There are six teams
in front of them. We're gonna hit on a few
of those. In just a second. I do want to
talk about sixty five to one the Miami Heat, who
have their own issues, and of course that seems to
be the rumor where Dame will end up. Number one,
does Dame have anything left in his tank? He's gonna

(31:39):
miss a significant portion of time next year due to
the injury, and do you believe he will end up
with the Miami Heat.

Speaker 5 (31:46):
Well, this is now a lifestyle decision for Dame because
he's still getting paid from the Bucks, so money doesn't matter.
So it doesn't really matter who can pay him what.
So he's gonna go to probably LA or Miami because
we know that's where he prefers to hang out.

Speaker 4 (31:58):
I think there's a good chance.

Speaker 1 (32:00):
You know that because you hang out in Miami in LA.
I don't know that.

Speaker 4 (32:04):
Well, I don't like I see him around in Miami
when I'm he wasn't on my boat. It wasn't my
boat in Miami. That almost sunk love it, but uh,
but I do. I do believe it's one of those
two destinations.

Speaker 5 (32:16):
And because they don't, they don't have to pay him
an exorbitant amount of money.

Speaker 4 (32:19):
What Dame has left in the tank probably not a lot.

Speaker 5 (32:22):
He's gonna be thirty five years old coming off an
Achilles tear. He relies on his explosiveness, his burst, his
creation as a small guard. It's it's hard to imagine
he's ever going to get back to that level. So
is he going to change the heat Heat's fortune.

Speaker 1 (32:35):
No.

Speaker 5 (32:36):
If he can go to a contender where he can
be kind of a low contributor, low usage guy and
maybe have a secondary ball handler, maybe even a backup
point guard role, there could be some some usage for
him there. But I don't think Damian Lillard at this point,
coming back from achilles injury for the twenty six twenty
seventh season is going to change a team's fortune.

Speaker 1 (32:53):
All Right, I'm putting you to work this hour. I'm
gonna just hit you with these teams and there's a
lot to discuss. So let's talk about the Atlanta Hawks
and what the hell is going on. Atlanta was one
hundred to one to win the NBA Championship. They are
now twenty five to one to win the NBA Championship

(33:13):
due to the moves that they have made in a
free agency and of course trades and all that more
Alexander Walker and a sign in trade. They ended up
adding Lukenard. They got Christaps Porzingis last week. I believe
in that Boston deal, we know who's there with Trey Young?
What else is going on? Is this real?

Speaker 5 (33:34):
Like?

Speaker 1 (33:34):
Do you look at the Atlanta Hawks as a contender
right now? And I want to ask you, I don't
know if you're a poker player, Sam, I think you are.
But if we look at Oklahoma City as pocket aces
as ace A's the best starting hand, what are we
talking about with the Atlanta Hawks right now? Are they suited?
Are they you know pocket Kings? Are they you know
Jack ten? Where are we at right now with the

(33:54):
Atlanta Hawks? Are they contenders for next year? Yeah?

Speaker 5 (33:57):
Maybe more of a Jack ten than a Pocket King.
I love this Hawks team. And I sat on our
Monday show with Sean Bernard a couple of weeks ago,
before these moves even went down, I told him the
Hawks are a sleeper team really to win a wide
open East, And that was before they acquired Kristaps Porzingis
and before free agency even hit. So when you look

(34:17):
at the moves they made when they trade for Kristaps Porzingis,
and why were.

Speaker 1 (34:20):
You saying that before? Let me ask you, why were
you saying that before?

Speaker 5 (34:24):
So before is because I already thought they had a
good roster. So when you look at Trey Young, he
had the best season of his career as a playmaker
last year. He career highs and assists and potential assists.
And the thing about Trey Young has always been his
shot selection. He just comes in and chucks threes, doesn't
make his teammates better. I thought that completely flipped last year.
His playmaking, his shot selection really improved. So I thought

(34:44):
we saw a big leap from Trey Young, and then
people forget that Jalen Johnson was on an all star
trajectory before he got hurt last season. He averaged nineteen
ten and five in thirty six games before he went out.
Last season, the Hawks were one of the better teams
in the East before Jalen.

Speaker 4 (35:00):
Johnson went out.

Speaker 5 (35:02):
So I'm of the mindset that Jalen Johnson's gonna come
back and have an awesome season. And then you look
at some of the other players. Dyson Daniels was the
most improved player of the year. I believe, one of
the best defenders in the league. He also made leaves offensively.
Zachary Risischar the rookie, was a pretty good shooter, a
solid wing.

Speaker 4 (35:18):
So I thought they had the pieces coming back already.

Speaker 5 (35:21):
But then you look at what they did in freegency
and throughout this offseason, where you trade for Christaps porzingis
a rimp protecting, stretch big who's gonna be a perfect
pairing in the pick and pop with Trey Young. You
signed Luke Canard, one of the better shooters in the
entire NBA. And then, of course the big move is
you sign the Keel Alexander Walker in free agency, who's
a great secondary ball handler alongside Tree Young. But he's

(35:41):
also a defensive guard who will perfectly pair with the Hawks. Him,
Dyson Daniels, Jalen Johnson, Zachary Richardschard, those are nightmares to guard.
So this Hawks team is going to be really good defensively,
and they also position themselves for the future. Like Chris
Steps are an expiring deal, Luke Canar just got a
one year deal, so now those are both expiring contract
So even if those guys don't work out and they

(36:02):
move on from them next year, they're gonna have flexibility
for next offseason and they have a ton of draft assets.
So this Hawk's front office has perfectly maneuvered everything from
the tray from the second they took over in the
last couple of years, and they've done a great job
positioning Trey Young, who's due for a MAX extension, to
have success in the playoffs for the first time in

(36:22):
a long time.

Speaker 1 (36:23):
Unbelievable. Yeah, it's crazy to see odds movement like that.
And man, I tipped my cat to you. You were a
little bit ahead on that one. And of course here
we are now twelve to one to win the East.
As I said, just for everybody out there, the Calves
are your front runners to win the East. At plus
two to fifty, Knicks plus two eighty Magic plus five
to fifty, Celtics ten to one, six or eleven to
one Hawks twelve to one? Would you have the Hawks?

Speaker 5 (36:45):
So I think you're seeing with a lot of teams
as they're going all in. You saw the Magic go
all in with a Desmond bin Tree. Hawks are now
taking a more all in approach.

Speaker 4 (36:52):
Because of our weekend.

Speaker 5 (36:53):
The East is it's really the Calves and the Knicks
are those two top teams in the top tier, and
then you have a bunch of teams like the Magic,
the Hawks, the Sixers who have a chance, and but
they're taking the all in mindset because the Pacers are
out of it with Tyre Saliburn on the picture, and
especially now the Miles Turner's gone, and the Celtics who
still they're still up on the odds board, but I

(37:13):
think the Celtics don't have a chance because they're stripped
to bare bones and Jason Tatum won't be there all
of next season. So the East is wide open, so
you're seeing a lot of teams take an all in approach.

Speaker 1 (37:23):
All right, the Atlanta Hawks are twelve to one twin
the East. Would you have them in front of the
seventy six ers? And do you think there is some
value there on that play?

Speaker 4 (37:30):
I think there's definitely a value there on that play.

Speaker 5 (37:32):
It could have got more value two days ago, but
there's still value there on the Hawks. I wouldn't be
shocked if we're sitting here ten months from now when
the Hawks are a couple games away from an NBA
Finals appearance in terms of how would I compare with
them and the Sixers. The Sixers the better team on
paper for sure, their experience at.

Speaker 4 (37:50):
Combining with their youth.

Speaker 5 (37:51):
Now it's just what's Joel Embiid gonna be in come postseason.
That's the biggest question that nobody has an answer to.
And there's no way to even try to predict the
answer to that question because we just don't know what
his knee is going to look like next season, what
his workload is going to look like.

Speaker 4 (38:06):
But the Sixer are the better team on paper.

Speaker 5 (38:08):
But if I was going to take a future on
a flyer on a future, then it would be on
the Hawks.

Speaker 1 (38:12):
All right? Talk to me about the Knicks. Of course,
Yabuselli in there, Jordan Clarkson in there, and I might
be missing another move or two. Do you like what
the Knicks did? Of course, still waiting for egg coach.
It looks like Mike Brown will be the guy.

Speaker 5 (38:24):
Yeah, it does look like Mike Brown's going to be
the guy. And clearly I thought head coaching or who
the head coach was, would have an impact on the
free as they'd be able to sign because their agents
and the players are gonna want to know who is
this guy playing for? But I'm sure the Knicks front
office has been telling them it's probably gonna be Mike Brown.
Mike Brown's going to be the guy. Over the last
couple of days, I like what the Knicks of down
and they didn't have to make any major moves because

(38:46):
their core four, really the core five with Josh Hart
is set. But the whole thing with the Knicks has
been their depth issue. They don't they hadn't had a
bench to rely on, and people were critical of Tom
Thibodeaux because he wasn't playing his bench, but I defended
him saying he didn't have a bench to play, and
now he finally does. Jordan Clarkson. Clarkson is a scoring
burst off the bench. He can score in bunches. Not

(39:07):
the most efficient player, not exactly a plus defender, but
he's been around the league for a while, so I
think I think that's a good scoring addition off the bench.
Gershon Abuselli, as we know, as every Sixer fan knows,
that guy is a guy you want on your team.
He just plays so hard every single night. He's a
great rebounder, can stretch the floor, finish around the rim.
He's going to be a perfect addition for the Knicks.

(39:28):
And so you could be looking at a bench for
the Knicks where Josh Hart, Gershon Abucelli, Jordan Clarkson, and
Duce McBride are coming off it with potentially Mitchell Robinson
in that starting lineup.

Speaker 4 (39:38):
Surrounding that court Ford.

Speaker 5 (39:39):
So the whole thing the Knicks won into accomplish this
offseason was ad depth, and I think they did that
pretty well.

Speaker 1 (39:44):
All right, And of course, hopefully Jille and Brunson can
keep those ankles healthy and that team will absolutely compete
for the East and maybe have a more successful season
than they did this past year, which is saying a
lot shout out Villanova. Of course, we are the home
of Villanova hoops and football football season right around the
corner of brand new year, with a new coach installed
for hoops and uh Colin Gillespie, Villanova legend and tending

(40:08):
to sign a one year contract with the Phoenix Suns.
Of course, he busted in the scene last year pretty
well and caught the attention to Kevin Durant, and Durant
gave him a lot of praise. So he's been rewarded
and he's gonna get an opportunity to play with the
Phoenix Suns, which is great to see. And you know,
I hate to say it because we're looking at it
from a white perspective, from like what TJ did, but

(40:30):
like he is a baller, dude. You give him the
opportunity and it's put the race to the side because
you hear many players that have been around the league,
like PJ. Tuckers, like you find your way to fit
on a team, and of course it's easier when you're
doing things like TJ did, Don't get me wrong, but
that's not the necessity here. And a guy like Gillespie

(40:52):
will come in and be that glue, bust it on defense,
pick it up from you know, from a baseline to baseline,
and oh, by the way, not that bad of a
shooter as well. So Gillespie get an opportunity with the
Phoenix on pretty cool stuff. There anything to add on
that one?

Speaker 4 (41:07):
Your golf partner, Colin Gillespie.

Speaker 1 (41:09):
And tweet me back. So maybe it wasn't no, it
was him. I literally some people have no idea I
played golf at where the hell was that bella Vista
nice track up there in Collsville area, whatever, Limerick, and uh,
it was hot. I was terrible. I throw the clubs
in the bag in the back of the car and
literally I look up to go get in the cart
to drive it back, and I'm like, what's up, man?

(41:32):
And then I'm like, wait a minute, I know that dude.
How do I know that dude? And I almost go
that's Arts. It's Arts, and I almost said Arts, and
I'm like, no, that's the other guy. It's definitely our arts.
It's Gillespie. It took me a second to get who
the hell it was, and I'm like, yo, I just
saw Gillespie. And of course Beef knows him. So it's
pretty funny how that worked out.

Speaker 5 (41:50):
But good, good, good for him to get that contract
on that one year deal. Took advantage of a two
way situation and a bad situation in Phoenix last year.
But he was awesome. He played real minutes for them.
Kevin Durant obviously praised him. It just should be a
rule of thumb for any NBA executive to take a
chance on a dude that Jay Wright coached, because Jay
Wright just breeds winners, and that's what cong Guespie was

(42:12):
for Villanova and that's what he's been and now he
has a great opportunity on a one year contract, guaranteed
contract to play for the Suns.

Speaker 1 (42:19):
Good stuff there. Yeah, I like what you just said. Sam.
Take a shot on anything that Jay Wright has coached before,
because it's going to be a good player. All right,
let's keep it moving. Let's talk a little bit about
the West The West Side and Draftkinks went out a
tweet earlier today. It said Denver Nuggets have received more
handle to win the NBA title a plus eleven hundred
in the past twelve hours than any other team combined.

(42:40):
Do you agree with that? Do you like that? Where
do we stand on the Denver Nuggets and what they've
been able to do? Of course, the big trade last
night late last night, one eye open. I thought it
was Jamal Murray. They got traded on like what Murray out? What? No,
it is Michael Porter Junior, who had himself a pretty
good run with the Nuggets filled it up. I don't
remember really too much as far as injury history with
the Nugget. I do know what was deal coming out

(43:01):
of college, but a guy that I liked a guy
that was there for the seventy six years to draft too.
But that's a different story another day. But a big
time move last night as far as trade is concerned.
Do you like when he coming in on the Denver Nuggets?
Do you agree?

Speaker 4 (43:16):
Yeah?

Speaker 5 (43:17):
I love it because I think the Nuggets immediately emerged
as contenders again. And Michael Porter Junior was a really
good player. He was also a pretty problematic player for
the Nuggets in the playoffs last couple seasons. Just not
a good defender, Mike Malone, didn't trust them defensively for
large stretches, and just too inefficient of a shooter to
surround Jokic with.

Speaker 4 (43:37):
Like you go back to his playoff SATs and he
was injured. He was injured.

Speaker 5 (43:40):
Don't get me wrong. In this postseason he was wearing
that big brace on his shoulder. He was obviously injured.
But he only averaged seven points on twenty five percent
three point shooting against the Thunder in this round they
got eliminated in and go back to last year the
year before that when they lost to the Nuggets, excuse me,
lost to the Timberwolves in the second round. He averaged
ten points on thirty seven percent shooting from the field,
so he's been pretty bad in the playoffs in big

(44:03):
moments for the Nuggets, and the Nuggets just needed to
bolster that position. But they did it by also getting
a guy who's cheaper like Cam Johnson coming in. I
think Cam Johnson is an upgrade over Michael Porter Junior,
and his salary is significantly less than Michael Porter Junior.
So Cam Johnson's a great shooter, He's a volume shooter.
He's gonna help Jokich a lot, and that this entire

(44:23):
Nuggets team was shooting. But it wasn't just that they
could bring in shed Michael Porter Junior's contract and bring
in Cam Johnson, who I think is an upgrade as is.
They also created another position to bring in because of
how much.

Speaker 4 (44:35):
They cleared in their salary cap.

Speaker 5 (44:37):
And who that was was Bruce Brown, who is very,
very familiar with the Nuggets. He won a championship with
the Nuggets and Jokis back in twenty twenty three. So
I think this is a great move for the Nuggets,
and I get why there's a lot money coming in,
and I get why people are calling the Nuggets a
complete winner because Nuggets accomplished whether they needed to, which
was adding depth because they didn't have a lot of
depth in the postseason last year. And then another move

(44:59):
that really went under the radar for the Nuggets is
they added Honas Valanciunas, who people aren't really talking about,
but the Nuggets have not had a backup big with
Jokic in a long time. It was like it was DeAndre,
DeAndre somebody whom oh, I can't remember his last name
right now, but Jonas Valanciunas, Jordandre Jordan, Yes, DeAndre Jordan's Yeah.

(45:19):
I don't know how I blanked on that name, DeAndre Jordan.
The problem was DeAndre Jordan was too old and couldn't
play defense at this point, so he never got real minutes.
Honas Valentiunas is going to play significant backup minutes in
that center spot. And when you always look at this
Nuggets team, their plus minus is so bad and their
net rating is so bad without Jokics on the floor.
You bring in Hos Valentiunas, that should help that backup

(45:41):
center spot. So that the addition of him, of Bruce
Brown and replacing Cam Johnson with Michael Porter Jr. I
thought this was a great offseason for the Nuggets, who
have finally surrounded Jokic with the necessary talent to win
a championship, which they haven't done the last two seasons.

Speaker 1 (45:55):
All Right, SGA got rewarded for the season that he
just had. I think he's making seventy one million per season.

Speaker 4 (46:02):
And ridiculous amount of one.

Speaker 1 (46:04):
And I was watching NBA TV and they and they
had this one dude. I don't know who it was.
It was a short, white guy. He was a you know,
from front office somewhere, Brian McDonough. Okay, there you go,
where's he? The son?

Speaker 4 (46:14):
He was the Sun's GM. He drafted Devin Booker.

Speaker 1 (46:17):
Interesting, he was good, very you know, you know, buttoned
up nerdy with the numbers, and that's fine, that's his role.
But he did say SGA left money on the table
next year. Could he could have signed a five year
deal next year? And I think an average of seventy
six seventy seven million per year. It's like, what a sacrifice?

(46:38):
That's it? You know, come on, man, that's a team
player right there. All right. So with that being said, Sam,
we know what, okay, see is next year. Jill Willians
just had wrist surgery. He'll be fine. We know how
good they are. They're set up, Sam Presty, YadA, YadA, YadA.
They're your favorites to win. Has anybody and if not
past them as far as your mind is concerned, as

(46:59):
far as roster construs ruction at this point in time,
if they haven't, who's the next closest. Who's the closest one.
As far as giving Okac a run for their money
in the West.

Speaker 4 (47:09):
Nobody's passed them.

Speaker 5 (47:10):
But the Nuggets and the Rockets are right there with
them and the Thunder. What they accomplished with in terms
of the regular season their playoffs a historically great defense.
They deserve all the credit, especially how young they were,
and they only going to get more experience going into.

Speaker 4 (47:24):
The next few years.

Speaker 5 (47:25):
But they also didn't play any remarkably great competition. This
Nuggets team that they're gonna have to face next year,
and this Nuggets team pretty much Jokic by himself took
the Thunder to seven games, and then they ran out
of gas in that seventh game and the Thunder ended
up winning that second round series. This Nuggets team is
coming back much improved next year, and this Thunder team
is pretty much going to be the exact same roster
unless they make a major move, which most people don't

(47:47):
expect them to do. So this Nuggets teams coming back
as the better group a team that just took them
the seven games. So I think the Nuggets are a
legitimate threat to the Thunder. And then the other team
is the Rockets. To me, that's the second and third
best team in the West. Of Courseckets what they've done
in free agency and the offseason by trading for Kevin Durant,
getting off an inefficient player in Jalen Green, and then
what they did yesterday with Dorian Finney Smith. That's a

(48:09):
three and D guy, a guy who can replace Dylan Brooks.
So you sent out in the Kevin Durant trade. I
really like him. They got even bigger by adding Clint Capella,
who it's kind of a weird move that they added
Clint Cappella because they don't need more size in the
front court. They already have Steven Adams and they already
have Alpern Sengoon. But they loved playing those two big lineups.
I mean, those two big lineups dominated the offensive rebounding

(48:31):
when Alpern Sengoon and Steven Adams were on the four together,
they have the best offensive rebounding rate in the entire
NBA of any other lineup.

Speaker 4 (48:38):
So now adding Clint Capella.

Speaker 5 (48:40):
To the mix, who can play within that spot when
Steven Adams is out of the lineup heor has to
miss games because he's older. I think that's a great
move for the Rockets, even though I'm not sure Clint.

Speaker 4 (48:49):
Cappella will be there that long.

Speaker 5 (48:51):
It's it's a lot of money that they paid a
guy to only play limited minutes. But I think this
Rockets team is well positioned to compete with the Nuggets
and the Thunder as the two best three best teams
in the West.

Speaker 1 (49:02):
Excellent Sam Oustry crushing it for us here as he
always does. You can find him at the score. Be
sure to give him a following All Things Socials as well.
It's his first initial last name, s O. S H
t r Y All Things Socials and of course does
a great job with shamandar with that pixel roll. On
a Monday, here plenty to discuss as far as the
world of NBA free agency is concerned. I do want

(49:24):
to give an update. It is absolutely pouring right now
here in Philadelphia, and it looks like the Phillies game
is pretty close to being canceled. There's a lot of
beat writers saying that right now it is four o'clock.
But yeah, it would not shock me.

Speaker 4 (49:38):
It's beautiful out my window. In case you were wondering.

Speaker 1 (49:39):
Unbelievable, dude, unbelievable. I'll be there next week. I'm looking
forward to getting to Avalon next week. Man, I can't
wait for that sand and the toes. It better better
not rain. We have had terrible weather. Awful we have had.

Speaker 4 (49:51):
It's been awful.

Speaker 1 (49:52):
Bad weather in Philadelphia. Uh for quite some time. Man,
it's been frustrating. Now we do have another two months
summer and then some so hopefully we can, you know,
get some good stuff going there. But bottom line is, man,
another rainy, wet day here in the Delaware Valley. All right,
let's stay in the NBA. I want to talk to
you about the Spurs. Where are we at right now?

(50:13):
With the Spurs. There's a lot of expectation that Wimby
could be very well the MVP for next season. I
know a lot of people have that ticket not here
to argue that, but if he is the MVP, if
he is clearly on that level. Should we not expect
more from a team perspective? Or is that roster still
a work in progress? We know what happened with Pop
last year. Right here, right now, the Spurs are twenty

(50:35):
eight to one. There are eight teams in front of them,
and I get it. You can make the case for
the Mavericks, for the Clippers. I don't know why you'd
have the Lakers in front of him, but even then
you get healthy Lebron and Luca. I get it. But
there is a lot of fanfare and build up for
Wimby and the Spurs, yet I'm not seeing it from
the odds makers. Where do you stand on them? What
are they missing?

Speaker 5 (50:56):
I think that take The Spurs are taking an aggressively
patient approach, which I think is the right way to
handle what their situation. There is right now, right way
to build around Victor Wemenyama, a generational prospect who is
already a top ten to twelve player in the league.
You saw them get a little aggressive when they got
Darreon fox In, who's a veteran point guard, and it

(51:17):
should pair well with Victor Wemenyama. But now Wenby also
has two young guys to build around with Stefan Castle,
who was the Rookie of the Year last year and
Dylan Harper, who's the number two pick this year and
should be have an immediate impact for this team. And
they still Kelvin Johnson and Devin Vessel and all these
other guys.

Speaker 4 (51:33):
So I don't think the Spurs.

Speaker 5 (51:35):
Are immediately contenders, but I do think they expect to
make a jump into the playoffs for sure, where they
haven't been since I believe twenty eighteen, but even into
like a top five to six range in the West
if Wemby is really going to emerge as an MVP candidate.
And what they did in free agency was interesting where
they got Luke Cornett, who could be the best backup
center in the league, and they paid a pretty hefty

(51:56):
price for him. But he's gonna be awesome when he's
in Wemby minutes when he's out as a rim protector.
But even alongside Wemby, that is going to be a
huge front court when those guys are paired together. So
I like that move a lot. I think the Spurs
are remaining patient but also know that they should be
competing this year and they might speed up the timeline
if they need to if a big shark becomes available,

(52:18):
like a Jiannis Ante di Compo, because they they have
the assets to pursue him. But in the short term
they should be staying patient as they are, while also
building a right squad around Victor Wemenyama, which I think
they have because I think this team is going to
be a top six team in the West.

Speaker 1 (52:34):
Wemby's sixteen to one. Is he worth the bite at MVP?

Speaker 4 (52:37):
I think so.

Speaker 5 (52:38):
I mean, obviously dealt with those blood clots last year,
and he was going to win Defensive Player of the
Year before that. You hope he's come back healthy. By
all accounts, based on all everything he's doing so offseason,
he will come back healthy from those blood clots.

Speaker 4 (52:50):
That he dealt with.

Speaker 5 (52:51):
I think he's going to emerge as a consensus top
five player in the league, and he will be top
five in MVP voting as the season approaches. I think
that number continues to go down, so I would take
that right now. I don't know how many guys are
ahead of him exactly, but I think he's five guys.

Speaker 4 (53:05):
Are ahead of him. I think he's gonna gonna be
a top five playing the league, so I would probably.

Speaker 1 (53:09):
Take that name the five guys that are in front
of him.

Speaker 5 (53:12):
Jannis Jokic, Sga Luca. Who am I missing as the fifth.

Speaker 1 (53:21):
Four or four? You want to take a guess before?

Speaker 5 (53:24):
Yeah, well, obviously it's not Tatum, who would have been
last year? It's not, It's probably not Brunson, can't be
Kevin Durant or Lebron, not Steph.

Speaker 4 (53:36):
My mind's blank, and who is it?

Speaker 1 (53:38):
Ann? And Okay, surprising right after him, Kate Cunningham had
a great season thirty to one. Kate Cunningham, anything there
for you?

Speaker 5 (53:52):
I like it a lot, especially because Gene Ivy's coming back,
so he's gonna have more relief, but that's actually gonna
help him, and I think he'll will play more off ball,
which I think is pretty good for Kate Cunningham's development.

Speaker 4 (54:02):
So I think that's a decent price.

Speaker 5 (54:06):
People aren't really talking about the Pistons because they haven't
had a really active free agency, even though they got
Kris LeVert. Of course, Malik Beasley what happened with him,
which is unfortunate. But Karris LeVert comes kind of replace
Malik Beasley because of course with the gambling investigation, he's
probably not going to be around next year or maybe
ever in the NBA again.

Speaker 4 (54:25):
But the Pistons were one of the nice.

Speaker 5 (54:27):
Stories of the league last year, and you saw that
your entire youth and young core take a leap together.
But that was without Jay and Ivy for most of
the year. So I think the Pistons are going to
be one of the better teams in the East too,
even though they're not making major major moves like the
Magic or the Hawks or some of these other teams.
And if the Pistons are top three seed, then I
think Kate Cunningham certainly in the MVP conversation.

Speaker 1 (54:48):
All right, fantastic stuff, Stam Austrey, unbelievable. We were just
peppering them with NBA free agency questions. The man's locked
himself inside a beach house, can't get outside. We are
pre apreciate you hopping up on here. A great job, Sam,
Now any other big names, what are you watching for?
What's something that you've got your eye on right now?

(55:08):
Team perspective, player perspective, putting you honest to the side,
what's something that you're looking to right now for free agency? Perspective.

Speaker 5 (55:15):
Yeah, well, I was gonna say the league is just
monitoring what's going on with Giannis, like, because everyone's just
gonna be looking at how he views this Bucks offseason,
in this free agency and draft period, and will probably
get a decent report in the next week or two,
maybe around summer League of what Yiannis actually thinks about
his future in Milwaukee weather he's really open, seriously open

(55:36):
to pursue other options. So I think the league is
monitoring Giannis. DeAndre Eaton's another big name in free agency.
What are the Lakers going to do at center? Because
I think DeAndre Eaton is just damage good this damaged
goods at this point that the word around him is
bad attitude, constantly late to practice, to games. Everything about
him is just you don't you don't want to touch
this guy. You should want nothing to do with him,

(55:58):
bad work ethic, and that's why it didn't work out
in Phoenix in the end. But then with the Blazers
who had to end up buying them out. But the
Lakers also need a center, So would the Lakers actually
bring him into JJ Reddick's new culture because the Lakers
struck out in a lot of other centers, So it's
really what's going on with the Lakers of center, what's
going on with Dean Drayton? And then Al Horford's another
name to monitor two, which I expect him to sign

(56:18):
with the Warriors, but we'll see what happens over the
next day.

Speaker 1 (56:20):
Six er Summer League July fifth.

Speaker 4 (56:23):
How about that good schedule? Schedule?

Speaker 1 (56:25):
Oh, they got a good schedule.

Speaker 2 (56:27):
Hi.

Speaker 1 (56:27):
Are you upset that Jared McCain isn't playing as far
as the Summer League is concerned.

Speaker 5 (56:32):
No, I mean he only played what thirty something like
twenty less than thirty games in his first year, but
he kind of outgrew the Summer League in those games.
When rookies are that good and to have that talented,
they don't go back to the Summer League. And I
don't expect him. I mean I wouldn't have expected him
to be on that roster. But I think they play
the MAVs in Cooper Flag in game one. Wow, they
have a fun summer league right now.

Speaker 3 (56:54):
Now.

Speaker 1 (56:54):
They play the Jazz game one July fifth, July seven, Okay,
see July eighth, Memphis.

Speaker 4 (56:59):
They that's Lake in Salt Lake. Summer season Vegas.

Speaker 1 (57:02):
They played Dallas at the end on July sixteenth to tenth, twelfth, fifteenth,
and sixteenth, they say, play Spurs, Hornets, Wizards, and then Dallas.
Oh so we get ace ace off the jump. Yeah,
that's pretty cool.

Speaker 5 (57:16):
Good Vegas schedule at least. I guess they're in Salt
Lake too. But that's a good Vegas schedule.

Speaker 1 (57:20):
All right. I do want to since we're I was
picking on Shamannard, let me do it one more time
because he wrote something about Jared McCain not playing in
Summer League. Surprise Jared m Surprise, Jared McCain will not
be making any appearances considered as rookie season last just
twenty three games. Personally, sham Bannard said he would have
had him around and played the first two games just

(57:41):
to get some familiarity with Edgecomb and the show Why
He Is Too Good will be a fun squad.

Speaker 5 (57:46):
Yeah, I mean, I get the logic. It's just a
guy coming off injury like that, Like, why risk it?
He obviously showed that he was too good in the
regular season four Summer League.

Speaker 4 (57:55):
Get him reps with VJ.

Speaker 5 (57:57):
But I'd rather just sit him and keep him in
the gym. The need to play summer lead. But I
get it from both perspectives. All right, Sam, awesome stuff. Dude,
can't thank you enough. We dealt with some adversity. We
had some back connections.

Speaker 1 (58:10):
We got terrible weather in Philadelphia, sun and shining down
there and.

Speaker 4 (58:15):
Margate were the plans for the fourth.

Speaker 1 (58:18):
Buddy's house and golf on Thursday or golf on Thursday
the third. A fireworks are on third in Concho hockets.
So that's a great thing.

Speaker 4 (58:26):
So we're gonna tell me they canceled the fireworks and
then people were so sad about that.

Speaker 1 (58:29):
Yeah, it was it was some dumb all right, let
me take that back. Wasn't a dumb parade. It was
a parade that they canceled. And then now they brought
it back on because people and leadership positions don't know
how to act anymore in twenty twenty five, so they
didn't understand like canceling it and now they're bringing it back.
So it's a good thing it's back on. But fireworks
were never canceled. We are in a different jurisdiction. Bottom

(58:53):
line is it's a fun one. On Thursday, July third,
July fourth, hanging out with a buddy got to work
July fifth, and right back at it next week. Man
talking out things, Sixers, Eagles, Phillies, you name it, We're
all over it right here on the Gambler, Sam, enjoy
the rest of your day and look forward to the
rest of free agency. Are you covering it for the scoreser.

Speaker 4 (59:10):
Yes, sir, I appreciate it. I'll talk to you soon.

Speaker 1 (59:12):
You the man there, he is Sam Austrey, once again
on the Gambler stream. Any questions be sure to hit
him up at s O s ht R Y on
socials read them at the score. A fantastic job across
the board by Sam and all things our number one
NBA Free Agency. Unfortunately, tonight's Phillies game has been postponed.
We are playing two tomorrow Ernie Banks Style one oh

(59:33):
five and six point fifteen. According to Luke R. Kenny,
if you had tickets for tonight, they'll be good for
the second game. Fireworks are still on for tomorrow night,
so that's unfortunate. No Phillies and padres action, but it
is dumping outside, so fireworks still on for tomorrow nights.
Oh we love those fireworks. I gotta swing by lows

(59:57):
Low's has good fireworks. I put Costco fireworks last year,
and they weren't all that good. They were you know,
they whatever good price, they weren't all that good. But
Buddy calling he does a million and one things as
far as real estate is concerned, always fixing stuff up.
So every time he goes to Low's, he's been buying
like a handful of fireworks, just stock miiled him and

(01:00:18):
we've fired off a few over the past few weeks.
And I'm telling you, these things are like five dollars
and they deliver. You know, we're not trying to, you know,
shut the block down or anything like that, but man,
those things are awesome. So I need to swing by
Lows and just go get a couple of for Thursday
and of course Friday as well. But everybody be safe

(01:00:38):
out there. No j JPP stuff all right, Coming up
other side, Let's talk some soccer. Larry Henry Junior gets
caught up in the world of soccer. I'm wearing my
US men's national team kit. Of course, got Gold Cup
game coming up here, Christian Pulisic World Cup next year,
we got Club Cup. Whatever the hell is going on
right now all around Philadelphia. I got Chelsea. I got

(01:00:59):
all these great teams right in the thick of it
of the city, and it's been a lot of fun
to pay attention to these games. He's gonna fill me
in on a lot of it. I have full hand
up in the air. Have not been invested in anything
really soccer all that much the way I used to.
And it's a shame because I just got a million.

(01:01:20):
One thing's going on. But have been paying attention to
the Philadelphi Union first place, kicking button, taking names. Of course,
watch the game on Sunday. They ended up losing one
nothing to Columbus. Very good Columbus team, but they are
for real. A lot of changes took place with the Union.
We'll talk a little bit about that. Of course, US
men's national team all that more with Larry Henry Jr.
On the other side. Back of that