June 26, 2024 • 45 mins
Adam Wexler and Adam Clanton talk about what's going on in Houston sports and more on June 26th, 2024.
- LIVE From George R. Brown Convention Center for the Rockets Draft Party.
- Rockets Set To Pick At Number 3.
- Might the Rockets make a huge move tonight?
- Astros sweep Rockies and win their 7th straight
- The Astros are back to .500!!!
Mark as Played
Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
(00:02):
Two lifelong Houston sports guys named AdamTalking Your Teams series, Adam Clinton and
Adam Wexler are the A Team ATeam live alive here on Sports Talk seven
to ninety. This is the atwex and ac here with you Dan Matthews
(00:24):
as well. We are live fromthe George R. Brown Convention Center.
We're in Hall A, so area lot of people excited about the NBA
Draft tonight. And again we're gonnaget started with what happened last night,
but we are here so when youmake your way into the draft party,
come say hello and get yourself involvedthe activities here. We'll talk a little
bit about everything this hour, andwe do have special NBA Draft coverage coming
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your way beginning at six o'clock andtake you all the way through the first
couple hours of the first round.Rocket sitting with the number three pick.
Their activities last night did not impacttheir possession of the third pick. It
might impact their decision on how toexecute the Knight's activities. But a little
recap last night, things kind ofgot started with a WOJ bomb. A
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player we knew the Rockets and otherteams were interested in, was in fact
traded and not to Houston, butinstead to the New York Knicks. Villanova's
college basketball championship team now has fourof their players in New York Knicks uniform.
Apparently bridges that asks for a dealto be done and that's where he's
going in return a humongous haul ofdraft picks, though it appears the Knicks
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will be good for a sizable portionof the time those picks are owed to
the Nets, but nonetheless four plusa swapped first five first round picks going
to the Nets as they face realitythey're not going to be competitive. They're
not competing for the tenth spot.Even they won thirty two games last year,
and that seemed like a miracle withthe way things were going, and
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I think they may have realized,Okay, they need to go in the
other direction, looking to recoup somepit. Obviously, the Rockets held possession
of a chunk of their draft,and that included this upcoming draft next year
and the year after and the yearafter. So I saw that and thought,
Okay, this impacted the Rockets greatly, and that the Nets are facing
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reality they're gonna start not winning inentirely. They're going to be one of
the six or seven worst teams inthe league, and the Rockets have access
to their future draft picks. Thatthen changed just a few minutes later with
the second report. Get a littlebit difficult to discern how things shook out,
but I don't imagine the Nets wouldhave made Deal one involving McHale Bridges
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if Deal two wasn't already either doneor about to happen. And that's the
one that impacted the Rockets greatly,and that they relinquished the rights to the
twenty twenty five draft pick that wasunprotected was to be going from Brooklyn to
Houston and now remains with Brooklyn.The pickswap they had for twenty twenty six
is now relinquished for Houston, butin return they essentially added to first round
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picks unprotected and two pick swaps,both of which will pay off, I
think. But now they're counting ona different team to not be very good,
and that team is the Phoenix Suns. The Nets had hold of their
draft, the Rockets now have holdof that in return, so they're essentially
are pushing back a gamble they alreadywon with the Nets and hoping they win
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again with the Phoenix Suns, andthat's when the real fund started. A
See, everybody started to pretend theyknew what was next, they knew why
they were going after the Sun's picks, specifically as some sort of leverage play
to land one of their two stars. So Kevin Durant and Devin Booker would
be those two stars, one witha lot of NBA in his future,
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one with very little NBA in hisfuture, both with a lot of money
in their future. Yes, butthat's kind of where things went to deep
under the reaches of last evening aswe get ready for an unknown picket number
one, an unknown picket number two, which leaves the Rockets with a lot
of options and a lot of phonecalls to take and make at number three.
Okay, let's like start going downthe list of things we need to
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cover with regards to this deal,the first one being I don't know that
the Rockets are necessarily doing this becausethey want to go trade for a superstar
right now. They could, andit makes sense if they do, but
who's to say they're not just stockpilingassets for a better fit superstar or whatever
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they're going to do with these saidassets. This reminds me so much of
when Darryl Mory kept flipping and flippingand flipping and flipping, and here's this
random deal over here, and here'sthis semi good what are we doing over
here deal over there, And thenext thing you know, James Harden's available,
and everything changes in one night,and one night right before the season
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starts, everything changed for the Rocketsand their fortunes for the better part of
the next decade. I think that'swhat rafel Stone's trying to do here.
I'm telling you right now, andI'm only speaking for me. I want
no part of Kevin Durant on theRockets. That's a trade that's five years
too late minimum, it's got toomuch money attached to it. Even if
it's not as long as say aDevin Booker deal. He's thirty six,
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he doesn't play defense. There's nothingabout that deal that appeals to me.
The only thing that's appealing to anybodyin the Rockets organization, and I'm speaking
to the Fertida family, is thatit'll put butts in the seats. Because
the Rockets have Kevin Durant. Great, You're gonna give up part of your
young core to get him. He'sgonna be here for two seasons. You're
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not gonna win anything. You mightmake the play in or a low seed
in the playoffs, and what areyou gonna have the show for it?
You sold some tickets, great,That does nothing for me, especially when
you've been cultivating this young core.Now, if you want to try and
pry Devin Booker away, I mightbe in the minority as one of those
people that says, absolutely do that. I would totally do that. I
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don't know if I would give upalt Brin Shingun in a deal like that,
though. Yeah, I'm not abig believer in almost anything that's been
speculated. The last eighteen hours.They did this, Go get Durant.
We're not trading Durant. Kevin lovesit here. Their owners even gone to
social media talking about all their excitementfor drafting Kevin loves it here. We
love Kevin deere Ay Smith. They'redone with him, also reporting a couple
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of years ago that nobody on Villanova'schampionship teams were NBA cow work, So
you get what I'm saying. Hisknicks. He could not have been more
excited to your point, on thosetwo players, specifically Kevin Durant obviously rolled
through Oklahoma City and Golden State fairlysuccessfully from a postseason standpoint in both places,
and had brief moments of moderate successthat first Brooklyn postseason with a couple
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other superstars, when they won theiropening series and took the Milwaukee Bucks to
a seventh game that was all Intwenty twenty one, he made the playoffs.
Kevin Durant did with Brooklyn the followingyear, and has made the playoffs
with Phoenix in each of his twoseasons there. To the tune of four
of those last five playoff series thathe has played in, his team has
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won one of them. Just oneof them didn't win the postseason series they
had a year ago in Phoenix,obviously the year before only beat the Clippers
before Denver handled them pretty easily thoughit went six games. Individually, offensively,
Kevin Durant somehow is still playing atan unbelievable level. We can shoot
in the playoffs, yeah he can, and at some point it becomes harder
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and harder to do. But withhis body type maybe a little bit.
Unlike Dirk who slowed down considerably finally, really really really late in his career,
He's still able to get his shotsoff. He's still able to get
up and down the court and giveit off on the offensive end. I
do agree he's not a great defender. I don't think he's a ghost like
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a lot of the players that areonly playing one side of the court.
But in general, I would agreewith your same sentiment. And unless the
way to get him cost you sovery little, and that's really really unlikely,
Phoenix to can just keep him.If that's going to be the case,
if it doesn't cost you too muchand doesn't keep you from getting somebody
that's gonna matter four years from nowrather than only just the next one,
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two or three, then yeah,I think Kevin Durant makes them better.
But it's quite simple. Kevin Durantjust played with Devin Booker and everybody else
on the Suns on a team theythought was going to be very good,
and they couldn't do anything in theplayoffs. So if you're taking some of
this core away and replacing it withDurant, I'm not sure how that elevates
them any higher in the West.That's exactly what Ac said, and I
totally agree with that, and withoutgoing deep into detail, I agree as
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well on Devin Booker, He's anexceptional talent, one of three four top
twos in the NBA, does everythingyou want, can play point, can
run the offense, does attempt toplay defense, and is an elite scorer.
So yes, I would definitely entertaina deal like that. And if
you take a look at the firstdeal that was made, if Mihale Bridges,
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who's clearly not that type of player, even though he's a two way
player, thus helps you win gamesand you can get four picks from the
Knicks plus a pick swap, Andif Rudy Gobert, the trade that was
made a couple of years ago fromUtah to Minnesota cannet you that many picks.
That is unquestionably why the Rockets madethe deal. I'm still not sure
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I would have pulled the trigger onit unless they really truly feel, well,
great next year's number one, two, three, four, five pick,
whatever it turned out to be fromBrooklyn, it was likely gonna be
very very good. It wasn't gonnanet you the player that they think puts
you over the top. And ifthey think this is a better way to
go about it, I can totallyunderstand it. It just seems like a
tough thing to give up after youwaited all this time to see these picks
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pay off, and it's going topay off, no question next year,
and you've now given it back tothem. Well, here's the part has
value Again. I don't care whothe players. I'm not saying they gave
up Cooper Flag or whomever. I'mjust saying there's extreme value in that pick
now, because the team you're sendingit to or what you're using for,
you know the value of it.It's not a random could be in the
twenties. Could it's going to bein the top ten? Lock it up?
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Yeah, No, it's it's absolutelygoing to be in the top ten.
And that's betting nice, it reallyis. I mean they're gonna be
brutal. Okay, a couple ofthings here. I don't know if we
agree on this because we haven't talkedabout this before on or off the air.
Actually, I don't consider mckil bridgeas a superstar, and I don't
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understand why a lot of people do. Well, let's just put him on
the Knicks now, because a superstaron the nets, he obviously could not
carry that team. He never elevatedhis game to some unbelievable level. It's
the same concept we're talking about withBooker or Durant on the Suns. Well,
they made it to the finals.Well, what I'm saying is d
yeah, But what I'm saying isthey didn't like Yeah exactly, Cale Bridges
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kill Bridges didn't even do that.He's going to the Knicks because he's not
their best player. He gives themwhat they don't have. Brunton remains their
best player. They still have otheroptions to go to. He'll be a
secondary scorer, but he's also atwo way player and that gets lost in
a lot of the numbers. Guysthat you know do play the other side,
which, as you can see inthe finals matters, as you can
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see in the postseason matters. Theknickser are kind of, in a very
general sense, doing what the Rocketsdid with the Warriors. And I'm impressed
at the feel this way about themselves. But they're kind of putting together a
roster, adding on a movie duringthe season, adding Bridges after the season,
to say, how can we beatthe best team in the NBA?
That is all we are concerned with. That best team is the Celtics.
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How can we put a roster togetherto beat them, like the Warriors.
Those are the kind of players they'retrying to put a round Brunson and against
Jalen Brown and Jason Tatum and therest of the helt in a weaker East
admittedly, so it's no I thinkit's top eddy. It's a tough call
top to bottom. It's it's amazingthat the latest odds post Bridges Trade give
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the Knicks the second best odds towin the East, behind the Celtics.
I would watch a seven game seriesof that in the Eastern Conference finals.
Darryl Morris pissed right now. Sixersare like a distant third fourth. Yeah,
where the Bucks if they're healthy,where do they fit? Sixers,
if they're healthy, where do theyfit? And will one of those other
players like Paul George or some otherJimmy Butler count Will they end up with
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Philadelphia? Will they end up withthe team that thinks they can be the
missing piece? And we just talkedabout Durant and Booker. The Suns do
not appear ready to to This isto me the difference between these some of
these teams who out like the netsthey gave up. Finally, smartly.
It's time for us to rebuild.We're moving on from our stars and we're
adding picks. But they didn't justhave owner by them like Ishbi is just
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at the front side of his ownership. I don't think he's ready to buy
the team, gut the team,and start all over again. If he
is, the Rockets are well positioned, you've got news for him. But
I just don't think that's what heplans on doing. When we come back,
though, I want to specifically focusin on Booker because there's a lot
of parallels to him and another guythat came aboard with the Rockets and made
some noise. I want to dothat we get back here on the eighteen
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com or called seven one three fivetwo six I seven one three five two
six e y E S for BerkeleyI Center. I'll always remember my friend
Adam and my the friend at himand maybe another Adam if they get another
guy on the show. That's whythey call this splitting the atom, Adam
Clinton, Adam Wexler, and Idon't give us about either. We are
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back at it here inside the GeorgeR. Brown Convention Center. The Rockets
draft party is underway. Oh,now the party can start because Craig Ackerman's
in the house. Oh, MattThomas is here too. Oh, thank
you. You ought to be happythat Craig is here. He usually spends
the off season out of the sevenone three or two eight one area codes.
Well, it's hard to play hockeyduring the summer. We know they
flew him in for the event,not a private jet. I said,
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I said, where were you yesterday? He goes, that was in Utah.
How long you've been there? Threeweeks? Oh, he does.
That's what you're supposed to hate him. Hey, we were talking about the
trade last night. Yeah, andI wanted to zero in on Devin Booker
because I feel like if if theRockets were to somehow kid him, and
it's very I think it's a slimchance to none, but let's just say
they did. There's a lot ofsimilarities to bringing him in into a different
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culture and sort of maybe I don'tknow, unlocking him the way Mike D'Antoni
did with James Harden. I don'tknow if em U Dook is the same
way, but it's intriguing. Butjust since we have you here, you
being the radio voice of the Rockets, what was your first reaction to that,
that situation, i'll call it lastnight of the training of the Phoenix
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picks. Yeah, just anything canhappened last night with Brooklyn Bridges. All
that the Bridges doesn't surprise me.I think that was the biggest, most
overblown conversation piece. Mckil bridge isa nice player, and I don't know
one of you said it. It'snot a superstar. They got an old
I mean a hal four first roundpicks from mckil bridges. I mean a
nice player. Think about him ishe does a little bit of everything very
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nicely. He is remarkably durable.Don't ever worry about him missing any time.
But he's not going to change yourfranchise around. But you had to
when they made the picks or theswaps with Phoenix, you had the Brooklyn.
You had to put two and twotogether. Why would they do that?
And the one thing I brought upon Monday's show was the Phoenix Suns
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I don't think I want to carrythree fifty million dollars players. And oh,
by the way, they don't havea draft until Alec Adam Weser has
grandchildren. Ooh, so I thinkyou put the both of those together and
you say they want to start investingin the future and ultimately probably get out
of one of those three contracts.Bradley Beal's untradable. I mean he just
he is injury prone and is justnot very good. Booker surprises me in
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no end. I would highly doubtunless e may or somebody from the Rockets
called and said, here's why youdo it, and the players minds can
change. Kevin Durant to me,is a little more intriguing. Really not
saying it's more realistic or that Iwould prefer an older player every younger player.
I'm just saying, if you wereto go into the grand scheme of
things, what do you want todo. Do you want a guy that's
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going to come in here and automaticallyimprove that position from an offensive standpoint,
he wakes up in the morning,boys, as you guys scoring twenty eight
points a game, you never haveto worry about that. Has he lost
his step? Defensively. Absolutely,are there question marks about whether or not
he is a good teammate or justa good team member, of course,
but I can't judge as a notaround. I just don't. If I'm
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Phoenix, you'd have to get amassive haul for Devin Booker, because I
think he's right now, very muchin the prime of his career. He's
an All NBA player. Second timein the last three seasons he's made one
of the three All NBA teams.If the Bridges deal netted you, that
gives you an idea of what Phoenix, even though he makes way more No,
he makes more money and is lockedin definitely the player I would go
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after. I don't honestly think we'rekind of spinning our wheels on Phoenix.
I personally do not think Phoenix isready to admit they don't have a championship
roster. I think with that ownerand the timing of where the things see
tweet by the way I did,Yeah, he's very very pro Kevin Durant,
or at least he wants everybody didthink that. But as we've learned
boys in the last twenty four hours, and I've told you this, the
average person lies four times a day. Players, coaches lie, general managers
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line and certainly owners can lie too. I do believe, however, he
thinks he can take it back.But we's twenty five games of the season,
they'll realize they can't. This iswhat Okay, that's the scenario that
I keep thinking is gonna be thecase. They're not ready to admit it
yet, they will be soon thisyear. They're going to have to be
forced to, and then it's gonnabe okay, if we're going to do
this. There's never gonna be highervalue for these pieces that we're gonna want
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to send out to start this rebuildthan right now, especially if you keep
playing the rest of the season.Yeah, but I think if you hire
Bulldenholzer, which you've paid a seenamount of money, you're a new owner
that didn't buy this team to cutit. Yeah, wex just mentioned that
last second. Again, Maybe Idon't. I wouldn't necessarily say that Phoenix
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won't be in a conversation. I'mnot ready to say that just quite yet.
But I think this conversation we're havingright now probably will have a little
more steam. Again, I couldbe completely wrong and miss maybe towards the
trade deadline. Well one other thingto fact into it that has nothing to
do with what they want to do, but what ultimately might happen. You
got fifty three games from Bill lastyear, sixty eight from Booker, and
seventy five from thirty five year oldKevin Durant. They could want to win
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all they want. What if Bealstays injury prone? What if Durant has
the season where he plays fifty orsixty games. I mean, any of
those things could play out, whichwould ultimately change some of their thinking.
Obviously, you got a chance toget things started earlier today with the on
deck show for the Astros. Allthey do is win another win, a
second straight series sweep, a fourgame season sweep of the Colorado Rockies.
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And when you hit the airwaves tomorrowto give us year as usual, tremendous
lead into our program, thank you, you'll be talking about a five hundred
baseball team. It only took eightygames, boys, right, I mean,
in that crazy right at the halfwaypoint, at the exact halfway point
of the season, they could bea game over five hundred for the first
time all year. And I'm reallystunned the fact that Seattle has imploded because
I knew Seattle and obviously they canpitch, but they're giving up large amounts
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of runs during this losing trip.They're not losing two to one games,
they've gone up six runs and Surveyhad to salvage that series basically, so
Seattle's was never gonna pull away becausethey just home enough offense. They just
don't. But don't you feel likebecause of that, they're gonna go make
a deal. They've got the assetsto do it. Yeah, that's what
I kept telling my Awnit everyone's waiting, boys for the Astros to make this
spectacular move. Guess what Seattle's gonnado the exact same thing. This is
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a complete dogfight. And if there'sanything we saw out of the last series
against the Baltimore Orioles, first ofall, Baltimore's postseason was very short lived
last year. They're just a yearolder, but not necessarily more mature.
The Astros beat them three straight.The Yankees to me look like they're clear
cut everybody else, but the battlefor seconds it's not July yet, that's
right, but the battle for asecond is wide open. And as we've
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seen them before, anybody cande anybodyin a five or seven game series.
So I just think you've got toovercome get into the wild card. I
love the fact that Rangers have continuedto slide the way that they have,
asters have come back to play.I think will a really good feel who
they are after this ten game trip, coming up against Notts, protecular,
good teams. The Mets are playingbetter, Twins are okay, Minnesota or
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the Toronto's just kind of hanging around. But it's ultimately if you're gonna really
take that step and get well aboutfive hundred and get back in the race,
they've got to have a winning roadtrip. How much does Garrett Cale
miss the Spider tack. I don'tknow. Yeah, roughed up. He
had one good start, one badstart so far for a better start.
He's obviously so devastated that he wason Today's Show on Monday, Wow for
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a good cause. I mean itwas a good cause, but who cares
about the good cause? I meanto get a New York player on the
on there after they lost seventeen tothree. That hell happened to Adrian Tavaria
man that shape of his life,and he's he's making a public appearance.
It's amazing Spanish forts of the Rockets. That's right, all right, so
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real quick far because you gotta getback to your very eventful show. Because
I think the Rockets keep the pickto night, I really do. I
think there's so much smoke on thisthat I think it's conjecture. But I
and again I'm just totally guessing.If they do that and they take X
player here, does that mean whyplayer over here on the roster is being
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offloaded this offseason? Yes? Andyou know who I'm talking about cleaning,
yep, because if you draft him, you wouldn't bring in the number three
pick to play fourteen minutes a gameat alper and Shinguin's position, especially when
you have Steven Adams and you've alreadybrought Jacque Landelle back. Not that that's
a huge difference maker, but you'reso heavy at that For I just think
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that's a huge tell if that's theguy they take. If they keep this
pick, I don't think they're keepingthe pick, though selfishly I don't want
them to keep the pick, rightbecause I'm I'm ready for the next phase,
right, and the next phase tome says that the top three pick
in This NBA draft isn't going tobe the one that's gonna put them over
the top. Now everybody knows that. And the thing is we keep talking
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about not keeping the pick, notkeeping the pick. Well, they're not
gonna draft nobody. They're not tradeout of free to take nobody. They're
gonna trade back to six or backto eight or back to nine. So
they're still landing a player and they'rehopefully getting other assets. But you could
bury that guy in the league foror if you had to bury him.
Well, that's the thing. Ifthey draft clinging. While it sounds like
a tell maybe for the future,it does. The first day he's with
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the Rockets, if everybody's healthy,he's third on the depth chart. He's
not even second on the depth chart. You don't have to force him into
the lineup. But I don't evenmean to speak down to his talent.
But you're gonna get more from AlbernShangoon in twenty twenty four to twenty five,
then you're gonna get from him.You're probably gonna get more from Steven
Adams than you're gonna get from himthis year. So I don't think it
has to be immediate, But itdoes give you some flexibility on what you
(23:42):
could listen to from other teams thatthey're looking to add talent. I put
the whole question out there about aweek ago about who will they draft,
will it be traded? Forty sixand a half percent of the people with
the option of Clinging Shepherd or tradeor one of the two French players at
the top, forty six and ahalf percent said they'll take Read Shepherd at
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number three rather than trade it.Rather than trade Clanton. You know why,
I'm a Read Shepherd guy, andit's not necessarily because I know his
weaknesses. He's not ball handling goodenough for a one, not physical enough
for being a two. But hecan he can defend. There's no question
about his He's just gonna run intosome problems with bigger guards. Wex You're
not talking about this eight million times. I just want a jump shooter they
(24:23):
don't have. I want a stonehold jump shooter, a reliable see.
Then the question becomes, if youtake another guard at three, what's the
men Thompson. Do we shift himto a forward position? Does he maybe
permanently back up? I mean he'sScottie Pittman, Fred Van Vliet has one
(24:44):
year left. That's true. Team, that's right, that's right. I
think that could play into a menshepherd Cam and whomever else they have in
the back court. Do you haveas much of a man crush on Cam
whitmore as I do? I mean, you're aware of this from calling games
together last week. I think heis a sleeping giant. I think it's
a little ill of anyone to havea man crush on a nineteen year old
(25:06):
man. But that's that's your Idon't care what you think about it.
That's fine, that's fine. Ithink he is going to be an absolute
badass. That is the technical timeto me, he can score? Can
you do it on both ends ofthe floor. He has the physical tools
under coach Udoka to do that.That's how. And if he doesn't,
and I like him, if hedoesn't, he's gonna sit the bench.
(25:27):
Well yeah, that's how. He'sgot a chance to be a twenty four
minute a night guy and maybe asmall forward for this future, this team,
especially if you decide to maybe partwith Jabari Smith. I know the
Rockets love him, but guys,if you're gonna make a move to take
this next stage, it's gonna haveto hurt and and I love jay Jon
Tate, but moving Jayshon Tate isn'tgonna move a trade needle. Now you
(25:48):
have to move somebody that has beena of the Big six or the rotation
six that play well planned for youtonight at the event here, I'm interviewing
Vernon Maxwell and like an hour orso, how many F bombs is he
gonna drop? He dropped one Sbomb on my show yesterday. We bleeped
it out so you didn't hear it. List you with the internet. That's
why I always listen on the freeiHeartRadio app. I said, well you
(26:11):
should sounds good too, all right, Matt Thomas, get out of here.
Goodbye, Matt Thomas Noon to three. Here on Sports Talk seven ninety
they call it the Matt Thomas Show, but the star of the show is
Ross VIIa. We appreciate his time. We also appreciate what Infinity can do
for you. They know that Xmarks the spot. They know that if
you are wanting to get the bestbang for your buck, so to speak,
(26:33):
that now through September twenty first,here's the way to do it.
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(26:56):
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X marks the spot with Exfinity,the network made for streaming. Bring
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go to Infinity dot com, youcan call one hundred Infinity, or you
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(27:19):
need for a roadmap when all roadsleaded as sweet iHeartRadio app, Astros and
Rockets games plus legendary Houston Sports Talkseven ninety on any device with the free
iHeartRadio app. Now that's the artof living black at you here from the
(27:40):
GRB talk a little bit of everythinghere on the eighteen WEX and ac here
with you at the GRB in advanceof the Rockets draft experience. Here tonight,
the fans are now inside and enjoyingthe pre draft activities. Draft gets
underway seven. We get our draftcoverage in earnest underway. At six,
Stan and Ross will join me andwe'll take you through the Rockets pick and
(28:00):
the majority of the first round hopefullyget a chance to see what they are
thinking about their immediate future. AnAstros like season for the Rockets. Last
year, they were forty one andforty one on the season. Astros get
to forty and forty with their seventhconsecutive victory, a victory over the Colorado
Rockies. They swept their home standand are in a much much better position,
(28:23):
playing much better baseball. Got thebest start of the well, not
only season, but obviously career forRocky pitcher Spencer Arighetti, going seven innings,
lining just three hits, snow runs, ten strikeouts, and did not
walk a batter. That came aday after Hunter Brown continued his spectacular June,
which could net him honors in theAmerican League for Picture of the Month.
(28:45):
His last four starts, he isallowed to run total combine in all
four of them to the tune ofa zero point three to six era.
He believes in his stuff and itis showing. And obviously the Astros have
also made these games a little bitbreathable, even though they did go to
their leverage bullpen relievers last night,Seth Martinez kind of got hosed by his
(29:08):
defense and put themselves in a toughspot. Turned to Ryan Presley with a
couple runners on, and even thoughhe got hosed by the umpire, he
was able to induce a double playball. And then Josh Hater was out there
for the ninth inning in a nonsafe situation, so naturally he gave up
a bomb and the Astros still wonvery, very comfortably, and did the
same today, winning by a sevento one margin. We were talking a
(29:33):
little bit about what was going onin the NBA last night, obviously a
little bit most of the show todayabout where the Astros are headed and what
might be on the horizon for themwith so many options, considering they already
had a lot of draft assets.I talk about the rockets, and they
now have even more in terms ofvolume moving forward. But if you were
not aware the twenty twenty five pickswap rights they had with Brooklyn were relinquished.
(29:59):
They sixth first round pick they hadwith Brooklyn was relinquished, and in
return, the deal they made withthe Nets last night gives them the rights
to swap either their own first roundpick or ok c's for Phoenixes. Phoenix
obviously much better than Brooklyn last year, and we'll spent the better part of
the last twenty minutes talking about theirfuture. That's one thing they picked up.
(30:19):
They also added the unprotected first roundpick of the Suns in twenty twenty
seven, which quite honestly almost willvery likely to be a very good pick
because this year no more Kevin Durantat prime level might not even be in
the NBA at that time, andthey certainly might have had a change of
heart of where their franchise is trulyheaded. So that is an outright first
round pick coming their way in twentytwenty nine, again to build more of
(30:41):
their future, another opportunity to pickswap the more favorable of the Sons or
MAVs pick in addition of the rightto swap their own for the less favorable.
So essentially they have two first roundpicks, and among the Sons,
Mavericks and Rockets. They'll select thetwo spots that are best. Whether one
of theirs is among them will doesn'tmatter. They'll take the top two because
(31:02):
of the rights they picked up.So it's additional selections. That's what they
gained by making the trade last night. Never know if they're going to be
better. The ones that are soonerprobably give you a better idea. But
it all goes back to the startof all this. We talked about it
yesterday with the Texans. It's definitelywhat both franchises did. Texans started over.
I traded Deshaun Watson for a threeunknown future first round picks. Clearly
(31:26):
Deshaun Watson was going to that team, might have made them a lot better.
James Harden was clearly going to thebrooklyn Nets. Initially, surely it
was going to make them better.But the gamble was to bet on the
future of the brooklyn Nets. Itwas a great one. It's paid off
already. It would have paid offextremely handsomely in the value of those picks,
but they thought the value of thosepicks was to go ahead and trade
(31:47):
for more picks last night. Haveor has the Celtics winning the championship with
their two superstars that they drafted,that they held on to, that they
resisted the urge to trade all thatdoes that play in when you start thinking
about like how many times has ateam felt like it had, you know,
(32:08):
the piece and then or the piecesor but they've got to make a
move, they've got to make asplash, they've got to get a superstar
in an established guy. And Irealized that that's how it's been in large
part over the better part of thelast two decades. I mean the Lebronz
super team kind of type situation.But you think the Celtics, especially the
fact that Eme has ties to thatorganization. Looking from Afar, maybe that
(32:32):
helps the Rockets resist the urge keepthis core together. At least let them
sit together for one more season tosee what's what. Yeah, the problem
is what's the core? Is ittwo? Is it four? Is at
six? Right? And who arethey? But just point this out because
it's a I'm not sure if it'sa lesson, but it is a fact.
You know, the Boston Celtics haswon the championship. Who are the
(32:52):
two best players on the Boston Celtics, two players that they drafted in the
top five the best two players onthe Celtics were their own picks, both
in the top five, Jason Tatumand Jaylen Brown, who won the championship
the year before that the Denver Nuggets. The best two players on the Nuggets
were players that they drafted. Now, granted, Jokic was not a high
pick, it wasn't even a firstround pick, but the best two players
(33:13):
on their team have been there fromdraft ding and they built around them.
They did. Both of those twoteams I thought did similarly. The Nuggets
traded for acquired Aaron Gordon as apiece, much like the Celtics added.
They've added a bunch of pieces alongthe way, but ultimately the piece that
I really think put them over thetop was the trade they made to get
Drew Holliday. They had Malcolm Brognhamat one time used that to send you
(33:35):
to Portland to get Dru. Soputting the pieces in around the players you
drafted, I think is how youwin. You could go back another year.
The best players on the Warriors,of course, are their draft picks
pretty much no matter what team theyare other than the Durant teams, because
you have Klay Thompson, Draymond Greenand Steph Curry. Those are all their
draft picks. The year before that, you have the Bucks winning a championship,
and you know it's getting a littlebit further away, but they had
(33:59):
their star why because they drafted himGiannisana to Kompo the Rockets have. I
mean, they can't force these guysto become stars. And I'm a little
bit put off by the Rockets blewit with the Jalen Green selection because it's
it's not that they blew it,it's that what did you want them to
do? Who did you want themto take? You wanted to maybe?
(34:21):
I mean, I'll accept an answerof Evan Mobley. I don't think he's
the best player in a championship teamever, but I do think he's a
really really good player, better thanJalen and he's maybe better than Jalen Green.
So, like I said, I'llaccept that. I don't think it
was strongly considered, and I'm totallyfine with who they selected. You know
why, I think that's a stickingpoint because there is a better than average
(34:43):
chance they didn't take him because ofKPJ. That's what I think the fan
base would have a problem with whenit comes to compete. It didn't take
a big because they had KPJ.No, because there was some sort of
like animosity there. It's been reportedby more than one person that that was
maybe a reason why the Rockets didn'tbring Evan Mobley in because KPJ was here
(35:04):
and they had invested in him.I'm not saying it's concrete, but I've
seen it and read it and heardit told to me more than once.
And he's not a super talent.Maybe maybe he'll get there. He wasn't
a great draft, doesn't looked likewell that the people like all they thought
he was gonna become a They thoughthe was the best player available. You
can't do any It's like tonight's draft. I mean, I'm not gonna sit
(35:27):
here and say in there, Idon't think they're gonna say Breek Shepherd's gonna
be a star, Donovan Klington's gonnabe a star, somebody probably will be
in this draft. But quite honestly, there literally are zero players from the
twenty twenty one draft that are currentlystars three years in, and I'm not
ready to say any of them willbe stars three years And Kate Cunningham's not
a star. While he's been hurtand it's a little unfair. He is
(35:47):
a massive loser. Well, thePistons are massive losers. He's played on
the floor with all these first roundpicks using game after game after game disputing
that. And Jalen Green was nodifferent last year before e May arrived and
they went after veterans. So Idon't know that Kate Cunningham could be a
number one. Scotty Barnes just gottwo hundred and twenty five guaranteed million to
(36:09):
never be the best player on histeam if they plan on winning big,
I think, which they've gone ondown the line. You know, Josh
Getty's already been traded. Jalen Suggsis the third or fourth best player on
the Magic already. Kuminga hasn't evenestablished himself as a starter, granted for
an exceptionally good team that was winningchampionships. While after he was drafted Wagner
(36:30):
Mitchell Williams the top ten players,there's there's nothing there, and I know
it means very little, but justbecause I was looking, I couldn't help
but notice of those top ten playersdrafted, eight of whom are wings,
including Jalen, only one of them. Kuminga barely is a better three point
shooter. So far in his career, he shoots thirty four point one percent.
Jalen shoots thirty three point seven.Neither are good. But they didn't
(36:52):
miss out on Oh my god,they blew it. Look what they could
have had Their team would be verydifferent and probably equally competitive with Evan Mobley.
But betting on a nineteen year oldfrom the G League versus betting on
a nineteen year old from USC,it's a guest. It's got a big
castball field to well the more soyoung. Yeah, but that I mean,
(37:14):
I think we in a year ofhim and Thompson, in a year
of Cam whitmore true. I thinkwe we feel really really bad about him.
That's the problem, I think,Yeah, but that's the problem most
fans have. I think if you'renot if you're not pro Jalen Green for
whatever reason, I think that's oneof the main things you would point to.
Look at what Cam and Amn Thompsondid in their rookie year. They
(37:37):
already look feel different when they're outthere on the floor than Jalen Green,
ever has. Jalen Green's had verygood month last season. And he had
a really good month the year beforethat. Yeah, I think he's played
a little bit better basketball than peoplegiven credit for. But you can't say
that and not consider he doesn't makeenough shots. He doesn't shoot a high
(37:57):
enough percentage. And that's what you'retalking about. The one month where he
played so well. We made shots, and it turns him into a totally
different player. It's just not onethey've seen consistently enough. One season in
to the twenty twenty three draft,with the Rockets taking on men Thompson with
the fourth pick, I think theteam at number one got it right.
I think the team at number twoalso got it right with Brandon Miller.
(38:19):
I think the team at three gotit wrong because I think in the future
and already a Men Thompson is goingto have a better NBA career and mean
more to winning than Scoot Henderson will. And after that, it's his brother,
it's Anthony Black. You know,Grady Dick's friend, Bli Coulavali,
Jarris Walker, Taylor Hendricks. GradyDick's friend is a very good pull.
(38:40):
By the way, when you swapjerseys, I know, as I assume
your friends just unbelievable unbelievable. Allright, we got to take a quick
time out. We got one moresegment of the eight team before we transition
into official draft coverage here at thetwenty twenty four Houston Rockets Draft Experience.
And before we do any of that, I gotta tell you, guys,
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The Ekonetics continues with the third pickin the twenty twenty four NBA draft.
(40:13):
Wait, let me do this,like David Stern, the Houston Rockets select
go a keeb A La Juan?That was Was that was the anniversary today
or did they just throw that outthere today? I think they did that
for that very reason. It's alsothe anniversary twenty one years ago. The
first overall pick in the NBA draftwas Ronnie James. Dad oh good.
(40:38):
Celebrate Laker fans with the number threepick again. I'm with I do think
they're going to use it, andif they do, I am almost at
coin flip now. I was leaningreach chapter pretty much the whole time.
Really any particular reason why, becauseof the reasons we talked about a shooting
He has an asset and they needit and every every team wants it.
(41:00):
And I think he's probably a littlebit better player than some of the other
guys that also have it, likeCorey Kisspert, like Doug McDermott, some
of these players who truly can shoot, but they hurt you by being on
the court, and so teams keepbouncing them from team to team to team.
I think the belief is read Shepherd'sactually a good basketball player who also
can shoot, and I think heshowed that in one season at Kentucky,
(41:20):
and Tucky's got a pretty good lineof players that usually can can translate into
into the next level. So I'llstick with that, but a very soft
read Shepherd, even though I thinkKlingon would make a whole lot of sense
for this team and give them awhole lot of flexibility and any discussions they
might have. I mean, theycould draft Klingon and instead of it being
here, human being here, soyou could move Alprin, it could easily
(41:43):
be just they're gonna still move him. And I actually think there's value for
teams. I think if if he'sthe player, the teams are gonna trade
up for teams aren't gonna trade upto draft breed Shepherd. I think teams
potentially are trading up because they wantKlingon. He's available at three, and
it could set things in motion.I think there will be a lot of
activity, and I think last nightkind of showed why the two trades that
were made last night with Mickael Bridgesbeing moved, we've seen the Knicks now
(42:07):
likely essentially already reach an agreement withoj Anaranubi on an excessively lucrative extension better
than two hundred million dollars for himseemed likely after they traded for him last
year. They didn't want it toturn into a rental, especially when they
saw how much he helped them,and he's like Bridges, someone they think
can help beat the Celtics. Wizardstrading a former lottery pick Dediyada to the
(42:30):
Blazers for a lottery pick and MalcolmBrogden Washington as usual kind of just spinning
in no direction what I'm sure theWashington Wizards. But it also shows you
the obdia while a lottery pick wasnot a high lottery pick, not a
good player. The more you lookat this draft and even future drafts.
(42:51):
This one specifically. People. Iread an article today there's two players,
maybe three players from France that areheaded here. Look at the Wemby influence
and look at how much scout sortof look. Beware of that. While
they exist and they can make itin the NBA, the idea that they're
going to make your team in theNBA great because Wenby did is absolutely ludicrous.
(43:13):
So the teams that draft them betterbe careful. And I know two
of them are probably coming off theboard even before the Rockets have a chance
to make a pick at number three. Atlanta won the lottery. They sit
at number one. The Rockets alsowon a spot in the lottery. That's
why they are sitting at the redWell, it's not gonna be long until
we see what happens. I actuallyhappen to think they're gonna trade the pick
(43:35):
tonight because there's too much smoke around. That could just be you know,
smoke screens if you will. ButI have a feeling the Rockets actually make
a deal of some sort with thispick tonight, just because I do think
there are some teams that want tomove up for whatever reason, and they've
got the magic pick to make thathappen. So we shall see draft coverage
(43:58):
right around the corner. So donot go anywhere here in your home for
Rockets Basketball Sports Talk seven ninety.It is just a matter of minutes away.
Yeah. First I'm gonna tell youabout classicallybe Buick GMC. Great place
to go find your brand new vehicleof your dreams. That right off the
Katie Freeway, just west of Highwaysix. As they say, we are
professional Gray the Gmccierra Elevation is well, what's right there for you? They
(44:21):
have elite inventory, they have theelite pricing, and you're gonna get elite
service. How about a lease onthat zero down four nine and nine a
month on that lease ten thousand milesper year. You're looking at a twenty
twenty four Yukon Denali, will youshould be. They'll have them eight thousand
dollars down twenty twenty four Yukon Denalos, twelve thousand dollars off twenty twenty three
Sierras. You want it, you'llfind it. Great opportunity to find your
(44:43):
brand new vehicle. Head on overto Classic Elite Buick GMC, as I
mentioned, just off the Katie Freeway. Just west of Highway six, and
you tell them Autam Wexter sent youbuy We're not going anywhere. We've got
Rockets Draft Special taking you through thefirst round tonight's NBA Draft right here on
your home for Rockets Basketball. Myself, Ross Durel, and stand Norfley will
(45:04):
join you next
Two lifelong Houston sports guys named AdamTalking Your Teams series, Adam Clinton and
Adam Wexler are the A Team ATeam live alive here on Sports Talk seven
to ninety. This is the atwex and ac here with you Dan Matthews
(00:24):
as well. We are live fromthe George R. Brown Convention Center.
We're in Hall A, so area lot of people excited about the NBA
Draft tonight. And again we're gonnaget started with what happened last night,
but we are here so when youmake your way into the draft party,
come say hello and get yourself involvedthe activities here. We'll talk a little
bit about everything this hour, andwe do have special NBA Draft coverage coming
(00:46):
your way beginning at six o'clock andtake you all the way through the first
couple hours of the first round.Rocket sitting with the number three pick.
Their activities last night did not impacttheir possession of the third pick. It
might impact their decision on how toexecute the Knight's activities. But a little
recap last night, things kind ofgot started with a WOJ bomb. A
(01:07):
player we knew the Rockets and otherteams were interested in, was in fact
traded and not to Houston, butinstead to the New York Knicks. Villanova's
college basketball championship team now has fourof their players in New York Knicks uniform.
Apparently bridges that asks for a dealto be done and that's where he's
going in return a humongous haul ofdraft picks, though it appears the Knicks
(01:33):
will be good for a sizable portionof the time those picks are owed to
the Nets, but nonetheless four plusa swapped first five first round picks going
to the Nets as they face realitythey're not going to be competitive. They're
not competing for the tenth spot.Even they won thirty two games last year,
and that seemed like a miracle withthe way things were going, and
(01:55):
I think they may have realized,Okay, they need to go in the
other direction, looking to recoup somepit. Obviously, the Rockets held possession
of a chunk of their draft,and that included this upcoming draft next year
and the year after and the yearafter. So I saw that and thought,
Okay, this impacted the Rockets greatly, and that the Nets are facing
(02:15):
reality they're gonna start not winning inentirely. They're going to be one of
the six or seven worst teams inthe league, and the Rockets have access
to their future draft picks. Thatthen changed just a few minutes later with
the second report. Get a littlebit difficult to discern how things shook out,
but I don't imagine the Nets wouldhave made Deal one involving McHale Bridges
(02:37):
if Deal two wasn't already either doneor about to happen. And that's the
one that impacted the Rockets greatly,and that they relinquished the rights to the
twenty twenty five draft pick that wasunprotected was to be going from Brooklyn to
Houston and now remains with Brooklyn.The pickswap they had for twenty twenty six
is now relinquished for Houston, butin return they essentially added to first round
(03:00):
picks unprotected and two pick swaps,both of which will pay off, I
think. But now they're counting ona different team to not be very good,
and that team is the Phoenix Suns. The Nets had hold of their
draft, the Rockets now have holdof that in return, so they're essentially
are pushing back a gamble they alreadywon with the Nets and hoping they win
(03:20):
again with the Phoenix Suns, andthat's when the real fund started. A
See, everybody started to pretend theyknew what was next, they knew why
they were going after the Sun's picks, specifically as some sort of leverage play
to land one of their two stars. So Kevin Durant and Devin Booker would
be those two stars, one witha lot of NBA in his future,
(03:42):
one with very little NBA in hisfuture, both with a lot of money
in their future. Yes, butthat's kind of where things went to deep
under the reaches of last evening aswe get ready for an unknown picket number
one, an unknown picket number two, which leaves the Rockets with a lot
of options and a lot of phonecalls to take and make at number three.
Okay, let's like start going downthe list of things we need to
(04:05):
cover with regards to this deal,the first one being I don't know that
the Rockets are necessarily doing this becausethey want to go trade for a superstar
right now. They could, andit makes sense if they do, but
who's to say they're not just stockpilingassets for a better fit superstar or whatever
(04:26):
they're going to do with these saidassets. This reminds me so much of
when Darryl Mory kept flipping and flippingand flipping and flipping, and here's this
random deal over here, and here'sthis semi good what are we doing over
here deal over there, And thenext thing you know, James Harden's available,
and everything changes in one night,and one night right before the season
(04:46):
starts, everything changed for the Rocketsand their fortunes for the better part of
the next decade. I think that'swhat rafel Stone's trying to do here.
I'm telling you right now, andI'm only speaking for me. I want
no part of Kevin Durant on theRockets. That's a trade that's five years
too late minimum, it's got toomuch money attached to it. Even if
it's not as long as say aDevin Booker deal. He's thirty six,
(05:06):
he doesn't play defense. There's nothingabout that deal that appeals to me.
The only thing that's appealing to anybodyin the Rockets organization, and I'm speaking
to the Fertida family, is thatit'll put butts in the seats. Because
the Rockets have Kevin Durant. Great, You're gonna give up part of your
young core to get him. He'sgonna be here for two seasons. You're
(05:27):
not gonna win anything. You mightmake the play in or a low seed
in the playoffs, and what areyou gonna have the show for it?
You sold some tickets, great,That does nothing for me, especially when
you've been cultivating this young core.Now, if you want to try and
pry Devin Booker away, I mightbe in the minority as one of those
people that says, absolutely do that. I would totally do that. I
(05:48):
don't know if I would give upalt Brin Shingun in a deal like that,
though. Yeah, I'm not abig believer in almost anything that's been
speculated. The last eighteen hours.They did this, Go get Durant.
We're not trading Durant. Kevin lovesit here. Their owners even gone to
social media talking about all their excitementfor drafting Kevin loves it here. We
love Kevin deere Ay Smith. They'redone with him, also reporting a couple
(06:12):
of years ago that nobody on Villanova'schampionship teams were NBA cow work, So
you get what I'm saying. Hisknicks. He could not have been more
excited to your point, on thosetwo players, specifically Kevin Durant obviously rolled
through Oklahoma City and Golden State fairlysuccessfully from a postseason standpoint in both places,
and had brief moments of moderate successthat first Brooklyn postseason with a couple
(06:35):
other superstars, when they won theiropening series and took the Milwaukee Bucks to
a seventh game that was all Intwenty twenty one, he made the playoffs.
Kevin Durant did with Brooklyn the followingyear, and has made the playoffs
with Phoenix in each of his twoseasons there. To the tune of four
of those last five playoff series thathe has played in, his team has
(06:56):
won one of them. Just oneof them didn't win the postseason series they
had a year ago in Phoenix,obviously the year before only beat the Clippers
before Denver handled them pretty easily thoughit went six games. Individually, offensively,
Kevin Durant somehow is still playing atan unbelievable level. We can shoot
in the playoffs, yeah he can, and at some point it becomes harder
(07:18):
and harder to do. But withhis body type maybe a little bit.
Unlike Dirk who slowed down considerably finally, really really really late in his career,
He's still able to get his shotsoff. He's still able to get
up and down the court and giveit off on the offensive end. I
do agree he's not a great defender. I don't think he's a ghost like
(07:38):
a lot of the players that areonly playing one side of the court.
But in general, I would agreewith your same sentiment. And unless the
way to get him cost you sovery little, and that's really really unlikely,
Phoenix to can just keep him.If that's going to be the case,
if it doesn't cost you too muchand doesn't keep you from getting somebody
that's gonna matter four years from nowrather than only just the next one,
(07:58):
two or three, then yeah,I think Kevin Durant makes them better.
But it's quite simple. Kevin Durantjust played with Devin Booker and everybody else
on the Suns on a team theythought was going to be very good,
and they couldn't do anything in theplayoffs. So if you're taking some of
this core away and replacing it withDurant, I'm not sure how that elevates
them any higher in the West.That's exactly what Ac said, and I
totally agree with that, and withoutgoing deep into detail, I agree as
(08:20):
well on Devin Booker, He's anexceptional talent, one of three four top
twos in the NBA, does everythingyou want, can play point, can
run the offense, does attempt toplay defense, and is an elite scorer.
So yes, I would definitely entertaina deal like that. And if
you take a look at the firstdeal that was made, if Mihale Bridges,
(08:41):
who's clearly not that type of player, even though he's a two way
player, thus helps you win gamesand you can get four picks from the
Knicks plus a pick swap, Andif Rudy Gobert, the trade that was
made a couple of years ago fromUtah to Minnesota cannet you that many picks.
That is unquestionably why the Rockets madethe deal. I'm still not sure
(09:03):
I would have pulled the trigger onit unless they really truly feel, well,
great next year's number one, two, three, four, five pick,
whatever it turned out to be fromBrooklyn, it was likely gonna be
very very good. It wasn't gonnanet you the player that they think puts
you over the top. And ifthey think this is a better way to
go about it, I can totallyunderstand it. It just seems like a
tough thing to give up after youwaited all this time to see these picks
(09:24):
pay off, and it's going topay off, no question next year,
and you've now given it back tothem. Well, here's the part has
value Again. I don't care whothe players. I'm not saying they gave
up Cooper Flag or whomever. I'mjust saying there's extreme value in that pick
now, because the team you're sendingit to or what you're using for,
you know the value of it.It's not a random could be in the
twenties. Could it's going to bein the top ten? Lock it up?
(09:46):
Yeah, No, it's it's absolutelygoing to be in the top ten.
And that's betting nice, it reallyis. I mean they're gonna be
brutal. Okay, a couple ofthings here. I don't know if we
agree on this because we haven't talkedabout this before on or off the air.
Actually, I don't consider mckil bridgeas a superstar, and I don't
(10:07):
understand why a lot of people do. Well, let's just put him on
the Knicks now, because a superstaron the nets, he obviously could not
carry that team. He never elevatedhis game to some unbelievable level. It's
the same concept we're talking about withBooker or Durant on the Suns. Well,
they made it to the finals.Well, what I'm saying is d
yeah, But what I'm saying isthey didn't like Yeah exactly, Cale Bridges
(10:30):
kill Bridges didn't even do that.He's going to the Knicks because he's not
their best player. He gives themwhat they don't have. Brunton remains their
best player. They still have otheroptions to go to. He'll be a
secondary scorer, but he's also atwo way player and that gets lost in
a lot of the numbers. Guysthat you know do play the other side,
which, as you can see inthe finals matters, as you can
(10:50):
see in the postseason matters. Theknickser are kind of, in a very
general sense, doing what the Rocketsdid with the Warriors. And I'm impressed
at the feel this way about themselves. But they're kind of putting together a
roster, adding on a movie duringthe season, adding Bridges after the season,
to say, how can we beatthe best team in the NBA?
That is all we are concerned with. That best team is the Celtics.
(11:11):
How can we put a roster togetherto beat them, like the Warriors.
Those are the kind of players they'retrying to put a round Brunson and against
Jalen Brown and Jason Tatum and therest of the helt in a weaker East
admittedly, so it's no I thinkit's top eddy. It's a tough call
top to bottom. It's it's amazingthat the latest odds post Bridges Trade give
(11:35):
the Knicks the second best odds towin the East, behind the Celtics.
I would watch a seven game seriesof that in the Eastern Conference finals.
Darryl Morris pissed right now. Sixersare like a distant third fourth. Yeah,
where the Bucks if they're healthy,where do they fit? Sixers,
if they're healthy, where do theyfit? And will one of those other
players like Paul George or some otherJimmy Butler count Will they end up with
(12:01):
Philadelphia? Will they end up withthe team that thinks they can be the
missing piece? And we just talkedabout Durant and Booker. The Suns do
not appear ready to to This isto me the difference between these some of
these teams who out like the netsthey gave up. Finally, smartly.
It's time for us to rebuild.We're moving on from our stars and we're
adding picks. But they didn't justhave owner by them like Ishbi is just
(12:22):
at the front side of his ownership. I don't think he's ready to buy
the team, gut the team,and start all over again. If he
is, the Rockets are well positioned, you've got news for him. But
I just don't think that's what heplans on doing. When we come back,
though, I want to specifically focusin on Booker because there's a lot
of parallels to him and another guythat came aboard with the Rockets and made
some noise. I want to dothat we get back here on the eighteen
(12:45):
Sports Talk seven ninety. First,though, I gotta tell you guys about
Berkeley I Center and the fact thatwhen it comes to twenty twenty vision,
they're who you always want to gosee and maybe even on the fence.
I don't know. Should I dothe Lazic Absolutely, you should do it.
It's a game changer, it's lifechange for the better. It's one
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(13:07):
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(13:28):
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a teacher or educational staff go tob eclasik dot com. That's bclasic dot
(13:50):
com or called seven one three fivetwo six I seven one three five two
six e y E S for BerkeleyI Center. I'll always remember my friend
Adam and my the friend at himand maybe another Adam if they get another
guy on the show. That's whythey call this splitting the atom, Adam
Clinton, Adam Wexler, and Idon't give us about either. We are
(14:15):
back at it here inside the GeorgeR. Brown Convention Center. The Rockets
draft party is underway. Oh,now the party can start because Craig Ackerman's
in the house. Oh, MattThomas is here too. Oh, thank
you. You ought to be happythat Craig is here. He usually spends
the off season out of the sevenone three or two eight one area codes.
Well, it's hard to play hockeyduring the summer. We know they
flew him in for the event,not a private jet. I said,
(14:37):
I said, where were you yesterday? He goes, that was in Utah.
How long you've been there? Threeweeks? Oh, he does.
That's what you're supposed to hate him. Hey, we were talking about the
trade last night. Yeah, andI wanted to zero in on Devin Booker
because I feel like if if theRockets were to somehow kid him, and
it's very I think it's a slimchance to none, but let's just say
they did. There's a lot ofsimilarities to bringing him in into a different
(15:00):
culture and sort of maybe I don'tknow, unlocking him the way Mike D'Antoni
did with James Harden. I don'tknow if em U Dook is the same
way, but it's intriguing. Butjust since we have you here, you
being the radio voice of the Rockets, what was your first reaction to that,
that situation, i'll call it lastnight of the training of the Phoenix
(15:22):
picks. Yeah, just anything canhappened last night with Brooklyn Bridges. All
that the Bridges doesn't surprise me.I think that was the biggest, most
overblown conversation piece. Mckil bridge isa nice player, and I don't know
one of you said it. It'snot a superstar. They got an old
I mean a hal four first roundpicks from mckil bridges. I mean a
nice player. Think about him ishe does a little bit of everything very
(15:43):
nicely. He is remarkably durable.Don't ever worry about him missing any time.
But he's not going to change yourfranchise around. But you had to
when they made the picks or theswaps with Phoenix, you had the Brooklyn.
You had to put two and twotogether. Why would they do that?
And the one thing I brought upon Monday's show was the Phoenix Suns
(16:03):
I don't think I want to carrythree fifty million dollars players. And oh,
by the way, they don't havea draft until Alec Adam Weser has
grandchildren. Ooh, so I thinkyou put the both of those together and
you say they want to start investingin the future and ultimately probably get out
of one of those three contracts.Bradley Beal's untradable. I mean he just
he is injury prone and is justnot very good. Booker surprises me in
(16:29):
no end. I would highly doubtunless e may or somebody from the Rockets
called and said, here's why youdo it, and the players minds can
change. Kevin Durant to me,is a little more intriguing. Really not
saying it's more realistic or that Iwould prefer an older player every younger player.
I'm just saying, if you wereto go into the grand scheme of
things, what do you want todo. Do you want a guy that's
(16:52):
going to come in here and automaticallyimprove that position from an offensive standpoint,
he wakes up in the morning,boys, as you guys scoring twenty eight
points a game, you never haveto worry about that. Has he lost
his step? Defensively. Absolutely,are there question marks about whether or not
he is a good teammate or justa good team member, of course,
but I can't judge as a notaround. I just don't. If I'm
(17:14):
Phoenix, you'd have to get amassive haul for Devin Booker, because I
think he's right now, very muchin the prime of his career. He's
an All NBA player. Second timein the last three seasons he's made one
of the three All NBA teams.If the Bridges deal netted you, that
gives you an idea of what Phoenix, even though he makes way more No,
he makes more money and is lockedin definitely the player I would go
(17:37):
after. I don't honestly think we'rekind of spinning our wheels on Phoenix.
I personally do not think Phoenix isready to admit they don't have a championship
roster. I think with that ownerand the timing of where the things see
tweet by the way I did,Yeah, he's very very pro Kevin Durant,
or at least he wants everybody didthink that. But as we've learned
boys in the last twenty four hours, and I've told you this, the
average person lies four times a day. Players, coaches lie, general managers
(18:02):
line and certainly owners can lie too. I do believe, however, he
thinks he can take it back.But we's twenty five games of the season,
they'll realize they can't. This iswhat Okay, that's the scenario that
I keep thinking is gonna be thecase. They're not ready to admit it
yet, they will be soon thisyear. They're going to have to be
forced to, and then it's gonnabe okay, if we're going to do
this. There's never gonna be highervalue for these pieces that we're gonna want
(18:25):
to send out to start this rebuildthan right now, especially if you keep
playing the rest of the season.Yeah, but I think if you hire
Bulldenholzer, which you've paid a seenamount of money, you're a new owner
that didn't buy this team to cutit. Yeah, wex just mentioned that
last second. Again, Maybe Idon't. I wouldn't necessarily say that Phoenix
(18:47):
won't be in a conversation. I'mnot ready to say that just quite yet.
But I think this conversation we're havingright now probably will have a little
more steam. Again, I couldbe completely wrong and miss maybe towards the
trade deadline. Well one other thingto fact into it that has nothing to
do with what they want to do, but what ultimately might happen. You
got fifty three games from Bill lastyear, sixty eight from Booker, and
seventy five from thirty five year oldKevin Durant. They could want to win
(19:11):
all they want. What if Bealstays injury prone? What if Durant has
the season where he plays fifty orsixty games. I mean, any of
those things could play out, whichwould ultimately change some of their thinking.
Obviously, you got a chance toget things started earlier today with the on
deck show for the Astros. Allthey do is win another win, a
second straight series sweep, a fourgame season sweep of the Colorado Rockies.
(19:36):
And when you hit the airwaves tomorrowto give us year as usual, tremendous
lead into our program, thank you, you'll be talking about a five hundred
baseball team. It only took eightygames, boys, right, I mean,
in that crazy right at the halfwaypoint, at the exact halfway point
of the season, they could bea game over five hundred for the first
time all year. And I'm reallystunned the fact that Seattle has imploded because
I knew Seattle and obviously they canpitch, but they're giving up large amounts
(20:02):
of runs during this losing trip.They're not losing two to one games,
they've gone up six runs and Surveyhad to salvage that series basically, so
Seattle's was never gonna pull away becausethey just home enough offense. They just
don't. But don't you feel likebecause of that, they're gonna go make
a deal. They've got the assetsto do it. Yeah, that's what
I kept telling my Awnit everyone's waiting, boys for the Astros to make this
spectacular move. Guess what Seattle's gonnado the exact same thing. This is
(20:26):
a complete dogfight. And if there'sanything we saw out of the last series
against the Baltimore Orioles, first ofall, Baltimore's postseason was very short lived
last year. They're just a yearolder, but not necessarily more mature.
The Astros beat them three straight.The Yankees to me look like they're clear
cut everybody else, but the battlefor seconds it's not July yet, that's
right, but the battle for asecond is wide open. And as we've
(20:48):
seen them before, anybody cande anybodyin a five or seven game series.
So I just think you've got toovercome get into the wild card. I
love the fact that Rangers have continuedto slide the way that they have,
asters have come back to play.I think will a really good feel who
they are after this ten game trip, coming up against Notts, protecular,
good teams. The Mets are playingbetter, Twins are okay, Minnesota or
(21:08):
the Toronto's just kind of hanging around. But it's ultimately if you're gonna really
take that step and get well aboutfive hundred and get back in the race,
they've got to have a winning roadtrip. How much does Garrett Cale
miss the Spider tack. I don'tknow. Yeah, roughed up. He
had one good start, one badstart so far for a better start.
He's obviously so devastated that he wason Today's Show on Monday, Wow for
(21:32):
a good cause. I mean itwas a good cause, but who cares
about the good cause? I meanto get a New York player on the
on there after they lost seventeen tothree. That hell happened to Adrian Tavaria
man that shape of his life,and he's he's making a public appearance.
It's amazing Spanish forts of the Rockets. That's right, all right, so
(21:53):
real quick far because you gotta getback to your very eventful show. Because
I think the Rockets keep the pickto night, I really do. I
think there's so much smoke on thisthat I think it's conjecture. But I
and again I'm just totally guessing.If they do that and they take X
player here, does that mean whyplayer over here on the roster is being
(22:15):
offloaded this offseason? Yes? Andyou know who I'm talking about cleaning,
yep, because if you draft him, you wouldn't bring in the number three
pick to play fourteen minutes a gameat alper and Shinguin's position, especially when
you have Steven Adams and you've alreadybrought Jacque Landelle back. Not that that's
a huge difference maker, but you'reso heavy at that For I just think
(22:37):
that's a huge tell if that's theguy they take. If they keep this
pick, I don't think they're keepingthe pick, though selfishly I don't want
them to keep the pick, rightbecause I'm I'm ready for the next phase,
right, and the next phase tome says that the top three pick
in This NBA draft isn't going tobe the one that's gonna put them over
the top. Now everybody knows that. And the thing is we keep talking
(22:59):
about not keeping the pick, notkeeping the pick. Well, they're not
gonna draft nobody. They're not tradeout of free to take nobody. They're
gonna trade back to six or backto eight or back to nine. So
they're still landing a player and they'rehopefully getting other assets. But you could
bury that guy in the league foror if you had to bury him.
Well, that's the thing. Ifthey draft clinging. While it sounds like
a tell maybe for the future,it does. The first day he's with
(23:22):
the Rockets, if everybody's healthy,he's third on the depth chart. He's
not even second on the depth chart. You don't have to force him into
the lineup. But I don't evenmean to speak down to his talent.
But you're gonna get more from AlbernShangoon in twenty twenty four to twenty five,
then you're gonna get from him.You're probably gonna get more from Steven
Adams than you're gonna get from himthis year. So I don't think it
has to be immediate, But itdoes give you some flexibility on what you
(23:42):
could listen to from other teams thatthey're looking to add talent. I put
the whole question out there about aweek ago about who will they draft,
will it be traded? Forty sixand a half percent of the people with
the option of Clinging Shepherd or tradeor one of the two French players at
the top, forty six and ahalf percent said they'll take Read Shepherd at
(24:03):
number three rather than trade it.Rather than trade Clanton. You know why,
I'm a Read Shepherd guy, andit's not necessarily because I know his
weaknesses. He's not ball handling goodenough for a one, not physical enough
for being a two. But hecan he can defend. There's no question
about his He's just gonna run intosome problems with bigger guards. Wex You're
not talking about this eight million times. I just want a jump shooter they
(24:23):
don't have. I want a stonehold jump shooter, a reliable see.
Then the question becomes, if youtake another guard at three, what's the
men Thompson. Do we shift himto a forward position? Does he maybe
permanently back up? I mean he'sScottie Pittman, Fred Van Vliet has one
(24:44):
year left. That's true. Team, that's right, that's right. I
think that could play into a menshepherd Cam and whomever else they have in
the back court. Do you haveas much of a man crush on Cam
whitmore as I do? I mean, you're aware of this from calling games
together last week. I think heis a sleeping giant. I think it's
a little ill of anyone to havea man crush on a nineteen year old
(25:06):
man. But that's that's your Idon't care what you think about it.
That's fine, that's fine. Ithink he is going to be an absolute
badass. That is the technical timeto me, he can score? Can
you do it on both ends ofthe floor. He has the physical tools
under coach Udoka to do that.That's how. And if he doesn't,
and I like him, if hedoesn't, he's gonna sit the bench.
(25:27):
Well yeah, that's how. He'sgot a chance to be a twenty four
minute a night guy and maybe asmall forward for this future, this team,
especially if you decide to maybe partwith Jabari Smith. I know the
Rockets love him, but guys,if you're gonna make a move to take
this next stage, it's gonna haveto hurt and and I love jay Jon
Tate, but moving Jayshon Tate isn'tgonna move a trade needle. Now you
(25:48):
have to move somebody that has beena of the Big six or the rotation
six that play well planned for youtonight at the event here, I'm interviewing
Vernon Maxwell and like an hour orso, how many F bombs is he
gonna drop? He dropped one Sbomb on my show yesterday. We bleeped
it out so you didn't hear it. List you with the internet. That's
why I always listen on the freeiHeartRadio app. I said, well you
(26:11):
should sounds good too, all right, Matt Thomas, get out of here.
Goodbye, Matt Thomas Noon to three. Here on Sports Talk seven ninety
they call it the Matt Thomas Show, but the star of the show is
Ross VIIa. We appreciate his time. We also appreciate what Infinity can do
for you. They know that Xmarks the spot. They know that if
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on the good stuff. One ofthree ways to do it. You can
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(27:19):
need for a roadmap when all roadsleaded as sweet iHeartRadio app, Astros and
Rockets games plus legendary Houston Sports Talkseven ninety on any device with the free
iHeartRadio app. Now that's the artof living black at you here from the
(27:40):
GRB talk a little bit of everythinghere on the eighteen WEX and ac here
with you at the GRB in advanceof the Rockets draft experience. Here tonight,
the fans are now inside and enjoyingthe pre draft activities. Draft gets
underway seven. We get our draftcoverage in earnest underway. At six,
Stan and Ross will join me andwe'll take you through the Rockets pick and
(28:00):
the majority of the first round hopefullyget a chance to see what they are
thinking about their immediate future. AnAstros like season for the Rockets. Last
year, they were forty one andforty one on the season. Astros get
to forty and forty with their seventhconsecutive victory, a victory over the Colorado
Rockies. They swept their home standand are in a much much better position,
(28:23):
playing much better baseball. Got thebest start of the well, not
only season, but obviously career forRocky pitcher Spencer Arighetti, going seven innings,
lining just three hits, snow runs, ten strikeouts, and did not
walk a batter. That came aday after Hunter Brown continued his spectacular June,
which could net him honors in theAmerican League for Picture of the Month.
(28:45):
His last four starts, he isallowed to run total combine in all
four of them to the tune ofa zero point three to six era.
He believes in his stuff and itis showing. And obviously the Astros have
also made these games a little bitbreathable, even though they did go to
their leverage bullpen relievers last night,Seth Martinez kind of got hosed by his
(29:08):
defense and put themselves in a toughspot. Turned to Ryan Presley with a
couple runners on, and even thoughhe got hosed by the umpire, he
was able to induce a double playball. And then Josh Hater was out there
for the ninth inning in a nonsafe situation, so naturally he gave up
a bomb and the Astros still wonvery, very comfortably, and did the
same today, winning by a sevento one margin. We were talking a
(29:33):
little bit about what was going onin the NBA last night, obviously a
little bit most of the show todayabout where the Astros are headed and what
might be on the horizon for themwith so many options, considering they already
had a lot of draft assets.I talk about the rockets, and they
now have even more in terms ofvolume moving forward. But if you were
not aware the twenty twenty five pickswap rights they had with Brooklyn were relinquished.
(29:59):
They sixth first round pick they hadwith Brooklyn was relinquished, and in
return, the deal they made withthe Nets last night gives them the rights
to swap either their own first roundpick or ok c's for Phoenixes. Phoenix
obviously much better than Brooklyn last year, and we'll spent the better part of
the last twenty minutes talking about theirfuture. That's one thing they picked up.
(30:19):
They also added the unprotected first roundpick of the Suns in twenty twenty
seven, which quite honestly almost willvery likely to be a very good pick
because this year no more Kevin Durantat prime level might not even be in
the NBA at that time, andthey certainly might have had a change of
heart of where their franchise is trulyheaded. So that is an outright first
round pick coming their way in twentytwenty nine, again to build more of
(30:41):
their future, another opportunity to pickswap the more favorable of the Sons or
MAVs pick in addition of the rightto swap their own for the less favorable.
So essentially they have two first roundpicks, and among the Sons,
Mavericks and Rockets. They'll select thetwo spots that are best. Whether one
of theirs is among them will doesn'tmatter. They'll take the top two because
(31:02):
of the rights they picked up.So it's additional selections. That's what they
gained by making the trade last night. Never know if they're going to be
better. The ones that are soonerprobably give you a better idea. But
it all goes back to the startof all this. We talked about it
yesterday with the Texans. It's definitelywhat both franchises did. Texans started over.
I traded Deshaun Watson for a threeunknown future first round picks. Clearly
(31:26):
Deshaun Watson was going to that team, might have made them a lot better.
James Harden was clearly going to thebrooklyn Nets. Initially, surely it
was going to make them better.But the gamble was to bet on the
future of the brooklyn Nets. Itwas a great one. It's paid off
already. It would have paid offextremely handsomely in the value of those picks,
but they thought the value of thosepicks was to go ahead and trade
(31:47):
for more picks last night. Haveor has the Celtics winning the championship with
their two superstars that they drafted,that they held on to, that they
resisted the urge to trade all thatdoes that play in when you start thinking
about like how many times has ateam felt like it had, you know,
(32:08):
the piece and then or the piecesor but they've got to make a
move, they've got to make asplash, they've got to get a superstar
in an established guy. And Irealized that that's how it's been in large
part over the better part of thelast two decades. I mean the Lebronz
super team kind of type situation.But you think the Celtics, especially the
fact that Eme has ties to thatorganization. Looking from Afar, maybe that
(32:32):
helps the Rockets resist the urge keepthis core together. At least let them
sit together for one more season tosee what's what. Yeah, the problem
is what's the core? Is ittwo? Is it four? Is at
six? Right? And who arethey? But just point this out because
it's a I'm not sure if it'sa lesson, but it is a fact.
You know, the Boston Celtics haswon the championship. Who are the
(32:52):
two best players on the Boston Celtics, two players that they drafted in the
top five the best two players onthe Celtics were their own picks, both
in the top five, Jason Tatumand Jaylen Brown, who won the championship
the year before that the Denver Nuggets. The best two players on the Nuggets
were players that they drafted. Now, granted, Jokic was not a high
pick, it wasn't even a firstround pick, but the best two players
(33:13):
on their team have been there fromdraft ding and they built around them.
They did. Both of those twoteams I thought did similarly. The Nuggets
traded for acquired Aaron Gordon as apiece, much like the Celtics added.
They've added a bunch of pieces alongthe way, but ultimately the piece that
I really think put them over thetop was the trade they made to get
Drew Holliday. They had Malcolm Brognhamat one time used that to send you
(33:35):
to Portland to get Dru. Soputting the pieces in around the players you
drafted, I think is how youwin. You could go back another year.
The best players on the Warriors,of course, are their draft picks
pretty much no matter what team theyare other than the Durant teams, because
you have Klay Thompson, Draymond Greenand Steph Curry. Those are all their
draft picks. The year before that, you have the Bucks winning a championship,
and you know it's getting a littlebit further away, but they had
(33:59):
their star why because they drafted himGiannisana to Kompo the Rockets have. I
mean, they can't force these guysto become stars. And I'm a little
bit put off by the Rockets blewit with the Jalen Green selection because it's
it's not that they blew it,it's that what did you want them to
do? Who did you want themto take? You wanted to maybe?
(34:21):
I mean, I'll accept an answerof Evan Mobley. I don't think he's
the best player in a championship teamever, but I do think he's a
really really good player, better thanJalen and he's maybe better than Jalen Green.
So, like I said, I'llaccept that. I don't think it
was strongly considered, and I'm totallyfine with who they selected. You know
why, I think that's a stickingpoint because there is a better than average
(34:43):
chance they didn't take him because ofKPJ. That's what I think the fan
base would have a problem with whenit comes to compete. It didn't take
a big because they had KPJ.No, because there was some sort of
like animosity there. It's been reportedby more than one person that that was
maybe a reason why the Rockets didn'tbring Evan Mobley in because KPJ was here
(35:04):
and they had invested in him.I'm not saying it's concrete, but I've
seen it and read it and heardit told to me more than once.
And he's not a super talent.Maybe maybe he'll get there. He wasn't
a great draft, doesn't looked likewell that the people like all they thought
he was gonna become a They thoughthe was the best player available. You
can't do any It's like tonight's draft. I mean, I'm not gonna sit
(35:27):
here and say in there, Idon't think they're gonna say Breek Shepherd's gonna
be a star, Donovan Klington's gonnabe a star, somebody probably will be
in this draft. But quite honestly, there literally are zero players from the
twenty twenty one draft that are currentlystars three years in, and I'm not
ready to say any of them willbe stars three years And Kate Cunningham's not
a star. While he's been hurtand it's a little unfair. He is
(35:47):
a massive loser. Well, thePistons are massive losers. He's played on
the floor with all these first roundpicks using game after game after game disputing
that. And Jalen Green was nodifferent last year before e May arrived and
they went after veterans. So Idon't know that Kate Cunningham could be a
number one. Scotty Barnes just gottwo hundred and twenty five guaranteed million to
(36:09):
never be the best player on histeam if they plan on winning big,
I think, which they've gone ondown the line. You know, Josh
Getty's already been traded. Jalen Suggsis the third or fourth best player on
the Magic already. Kuminga hasn't evenestablished himself as a starter, granted for
an exceptionally good team that was winningchampionships. While after he was drafted Wagner
(36:30):
Mitchell Williams the top ten players,there's there's nothing there, and I know
it means very little, but justbecause I was looking, I couldn't help
but notice of those top ten playersdrafted, eight of whom are wings,
including Jalen, only one of them. Kuminga barely is a better three point
shooter. So far in his career, he shoots thirty four point one percent.
Jalen shoots thirty three point seven.Neither are good. But they didn't
(36:52):
miss out on Oh my god,they blew it. Look what they could
have had Their team would be verydifferent and probably equally competitive with Evan Mobley.
But betting on a nineteen year oldfrom the G League versus betting on
a nineteen year old from USC,it's a guest. It's got a big
castball field to well the more soyoung. Yeah, but that I mean,
(37:14):
I think we in a year ofhim and Thompson, in a year
of Cam whitmore true. I thinkwe we feel really really bad about him.
That's the problem, I think,Yeah, but that's the problem most
fans have. I think if you'renot if you're not pro Jalen Green for
whatever reason, I think that's oneof the main things you would point to.
Look at what Cam and Amn Thompsondid in their rookie year. They
(37:37):
already look feel different when they're outthere on the floor than Jalen Green,
ever has. Jalen Green's had verygood month last season. And he had
a really good month the year beforethat. Yeah, I think he's played
a little bit better basketball than peoplegiven credit for. But you can't say
that and not consider he doesn't makeenough shots. He doesn't shoot a high
(37:57):
enough percentage. And that's what you'retalking about. The one month where he
played so well. We made shots, and it turns him into a totally
different player. It's just not onethey've seen consistently enough. One season in
to the twenty twenty three draft,with the Rockets taking on men Thompson with
the fourth pick, I think theteam at number one got it right.
I think the team at number twoalso got it right with Brandon Miller.
(38:19):
I think the team at three gotit wrong because I think in the future
and already a Men Thompson is goingto have a better NBA career and mean
more to winning than Scoot Henderson will. And after that, it's his brother,
it's Anthony Black. You know,Grady Dick's friend, Bli Coulavali,
Jarris Walker, Taylor Hendricks. GradyDick's friend is a very good pull.
(38:40):
By the way, when you swapjerseys, I know, as I assume
your friends just unbelievable unbelievable. Allright, we got to take a quick
time out. We got one moresegment of the eight team before we transition
into official draft coverage here at thetwenty twenty four Houston Rockets Draft Experience.
And before we do any of that, I gotta tell you, guys,
QC Kinetics. You guys already know, we've been telling you a long long
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time. If you've got joint painof any kind, you want to get
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(39:24):
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The Ekonetics continues with the third pickin the twenty twenty four NBA draft.
(40:13):
Wait, let me do this,like David Stern, the Houston Rockets select
go a keeb A La Juan?That was Was that was the anniversary today
or did they just throw that outthere today? I think they did that
for that very reason. It's alsothe anniversary twenty one years ago. The
first overall pick in the NBA draftwas Ronnie James. Dad oh good.
(40:38):
Celebrate Laker fans with the number threepick again. I'm with I do think
they're going to use it, andif they do, I am almost at
coin flip now. I was leaningreach chapter pretty much the whole time.
Really any particular reason why, becauseof the reasons we talked about a shooting
He has an asset and they needit and every every team wants it.
(41:00):
And I think he's probably a littlebit better player than some of the other
guys that also have it, likeCorey Kisspert, like Doug McDermott, some
of these players who truly can shoot, but they hurt you by being on
the court, and so teams keepbouncing them from team to team to team.
I think the belief is read Shepherd'sactually a good basketball player who also
can shoot, and I think heshowed that in one season at Kentucky,
(41:20):
and Tucky's got a pretty good lineof players that usually can can translate into
into the next level. So I'llstick with that, but a very soft
read Shepherd, even though I thinkKlingon would make a whole lot of sense
for this team and give them awhole lot of flexibility and any discussions they
might have. I mean, theycould draft Klingon and instead of it being
here, human being here, soyou could move Alprin, it could easily
(41:43):
be just they're gonna still move him. And I actually think there's value for
teams. I think if if he'sthe player, the teams are gonna trade
up for teams aren't gonna trade upto draft breed Shepherd. I think teams
potentially are trading up because they wantKlingon. He's available at three, and
it could set things in motion.I think there will be a lot of
activity, and I think last nightkind of showed why the two trades that
were made last night with Mickael Bridgesbeing moved, we've seen the Knicks now
(42:07):
likely essentially already reach an agreement withoj Anaranubi on an excessively lucrative extension better
than two hundred million dollars for himseemed likely after they traded for him last
year. They didn't want it toturn into a rental, especially when they
saw how much he helped them,and he's like Bridges, someone they think
can help beat the Celtics. Wizardstrading a former lottery pick Dediyada to the
(42:30):
Blazers for a lottery pick and MalcolmBrogden Washington as usual kind of just spinning
in no direction what I'm sure theWashington Wizards. But it also shows you
the obdia while a lottery pick wasnot a high lottery pick, not a
good player. The more you lookat this draft and even future drafts.
(42:51):
This one specifically. People. Iread an article today there's two players,
maybe three players from France that areheaded here. Look at the Wemby influence
and look at how much scout sortof look. Beware of that. While
they exist and they can make itin the NBA, the idea that they're
going to make your team in theNBA great because Wenby did is absolutely ludicrous.
(43:13):
So the teams that draft them betterbe careful. And I know two
of them are probably coming off theboard even before the Rockets have a chance
to make a pick at number three. Atlanta won the lottery. They sit
at number one. The Rockets alsowon a spot in the lottery. That's
why they are sitting at the redWell, it's not gonna be long until
we see what happens. I actuallyhappen to think they're gonna trade the pick
(43:35):
tonight because there's too much smoke around. That could just be you know,
smoke screens if you will. ButI have a feeling the Rockets actually make
a deal of some sort with thispick tonight, just because I do think
there are some teams that want tomove up for whatever reason, and they've
got the magic pick to make thathappen. So we shall see draft coverage
(43:58):
right around the corner. So donot go anywhere here in your home for
Rockets Basketball Sports Talk seven ninety.It is just a matter of minutes away.
Yeah. First I'm gonna tell youabout classicallybe Buick GMC. Great place
to go find your brand new vehicleof your dreams. That right off the
Katie Freeway, just west of Highwaysix. As they say, we are
professional Gray the Gmccierra Elevation is well, what's right there for you? They
(44:21):
have elite inventory, they have theelite pricing, and you're gonna get elite
service. How about a lease onthat zero down four nine and nine a
month on that lease ten thousand milesper year. You're looking at a twenty
twenty four Yukon Denali, will youshould be. They'll have them eight thousand
dollars down twenty twenty four Yukon Denalos, twelve thousand dollars off twenty twenty three
Sierras. You want it, you'llfind it. Great opportunity to find your
(44:43):
brand new vehicle. Head on overto Classic Elite Buick GMC, as I
mentioned, just off the Katie Freeway. Just west of Highway six, and
you tell them Autam Wexter sent youbuy We're not going anywhere. We've got
Rockets Draft Special taking you through thefirst round tonight's NBA Draft right here on
your home for Rockets Basketball. Myself, Ross Durel, and stand Norfley will
(45:04):
join you next
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