Adam Auslund on Clippers and Paul George Parting Ways + Lakers Offseason

Adam Auslund on with R&R talking about Paul George no longer being a Clipper, what's next and are the Lakers going to get any help for Bron if he takes less money....

Episode Transcript

(00:00):
Let's walk. Come in now theSaltier. Our friend, Adam Austlin.
Adam, how are you? What'sup? Freddie? Thanks for being sick
last week. Appreciate your big dog. Yeah, Adam, I'm sick.
Somebody's got to fill in, Adamsays, I know, just the guy
who is it him? I wasproduced. I had a little bit of
a little bit of juice. Hey, Adam, did you get a double

(00:21):
paycheck as well? Because you producedtoo as well? We can talk about
that off here. Rod Martin hookingmy man up. I appreciate you.
Yeah, yeah, Rodney, youknow where we work. Why would you
even ask that question? I know, I know you got to throw it
out there sometimes though, my man. It's time to move on from this
subject, all right, So Adam, NBA free agency, Uh, we're

(00:43):
gonna do Lakers. Then we're gonnado Clippers and Paul George. But Lakers
first. Does nobody want to taketheir money? What money? How much
did they have to play with?They haven't signed Lebron James yet. You
don't know how much money they're gonnahave. Are they going to be a
second Apron team? I know theydon't want to be, but look this
way. When it comes to theLakers salary cap, I did a deep

(01:03):
dive recently. I taked to theDUCA Sports No. I looked at it
and I saw that, okay,they're about thirty six million dollars. Just
for reference here, because it's reallynot that hard to understand the new salary
cap situation. So the cap isat one forty, the first apron is
at one seventy eight, the secondaprons at one eighty eight. Once you

(01:25):
get over one seventy you're in theluxury tax. You know what that means.
You start getting hit hard, likeSteve Balmer having to pay one hundred
and fifty million dollars in luxury taxmoney last season because they went thirty six
million dollars over the cap. Butthe Lakers right now the thirty six million
to thirty eight million underneath the firstapron. But they haven't paid Lebron James.

(01:48):
He just made forty eight million,forty nine million dollars last season,
so if he does take a paycut, it is conceivable. And I
gotta give my man Rodney credit becausehe pointed out last week. I didn't
think it would matter because I thought, oh, the Lakers I mean,
they must spend money. They're probablyway over the calf. Foolish of me
to think something like that, theLakers spending a ton of money. They

(02:09):
weren't already over the calf. They'renot right now. And if Lebron took
twenty million dollars or something around there, they might have eighteen to twenty million
more dollars to play with. Plusthe full mid level exception that's thirteen million
dollars, plus the bi annual exceptionthat's another five million dollars. So it

(02:30):
is significant. If Lebron does endup taking that pay cut, it will
really help out the Lakers. Buthe says, if I'm gonna do that
for you, you better make sureto go out there and get somebody for
me. And I understand that.Why not put pressure on the franchise.
I don't hate that, Fred,Oh absolutely, you know if I'm gonna
take that bag, because it's betterbe worth our worth, mine and our

(02:51):
while for me to do that,how much of a rent did it throw
into, uh to the Lakers withthe these guys opting in d Low and
Readish and those guys opting in andsaying, Okay, I'll take this because
there's not a market out there forme. And people are saying, well,
he did that because it's a youknow, a sign, and they
can trade him. He's I don'tknow if the trade market is great for

(03:13):
d Lo there, Adam, No, I'm with you. I didn't expect
that. I don't think anyone did. After bowing out once again, the
way he played against the Denver Nuggetsin the first round, you felt like
it was inevitable he was no longergoing to be a Laker. But if
he can't get around you know,eighty million dollars over four years or anything
like that, I mean, themarket, it may have just dried up

(03:36):
on him. So yeah, theycould trade him. Who wants him?
Do they have to attach a pickto get rid of him? Is it
going to be like the Chicago Bullswho apparently are dangling Zach Levine, who
has injury issues. I do likehim as a player, but the rumor
is they got to give a firstround pick just to get rid of that
contract. Now it's still an expiringdeal after this year. The million that

(04:00):
de Loo makes, I'm assuming somebody, if you pair that with a second
round pick, will do the deal, especially because people are talking about Demart
de Rosen with the Lakers. Well, he's an unrestricted free agent. If
it's a sign in trade, he'sdoing Chicago a solid to get something for
him. Would they take de loas a rental for one year because you

(04:21):
know he's coming off the books.I think there's something like that out there
that's possible. But yeah, Idon't think the Lakers expected him and Reddish
and others to opt in like this. Rodney, I do think that made
things a lot more tangled up.Adam is demart Rosen a good fit for
the Lakers or a name that everybodyknows well. I believe he's gonna be

(04:42):
thirty six by the end of thisseason. Now, to his credit,
he's always hit the fountain of youth. He still plays at a very high
level and he's a mid range master. But that's where things could get a
little bit dicey, because guys likethat can clog up the paint in this
space and pace league where you wantto stretch the floor, and he's looking
to take sixteen to eighteen foot jumpers. He doesn't offer the spacing because he

(05:04):
only attempted I think three three pointersper game last season. He's been taking
a little bit more as his careerhas gone along, but it's still all
about two pointers with him, whichhe is really efficient at. But it's
just it's a it's a cogg inthe machine a little bit sometimes when you
have a guy like that, andyou already have Anthony Davis who you want

(05:26):
playing in the paint, and LebronJames going downhill. So I don't know
if having another non three point shooterout there on the floor would be as
big as a get of a getfor the Lakers as some people are saying
it would be. We hit goon and talk about the Lakers forever.
Let's move to the Clippers, Adam. I just wanted to ask you,

(05:46):
you know, because we talked aboutthis last week of where Paul George mayland
ends up landing in Philadelphia, gettingthat extra year and that money. How
was just overall, how is this, how is this going to land for
for the Clippers now this summer andgoing forward? What's their direction? Hey,
Look, Paul George did what wasbest for Paul George. The Clippers

(06:08):
did what was best for the Clippersorganization. I don't think there's much blame
to go around here, Paul Georgeended up with at least sixty two million
dollars taking that deal. Guys atleast that much more money. The Clippers
didn't want to give him the fourthyear. Why because they already paying Kawhi
Leonard, they're paying James harden andboth of those guys took pay cuss the

(06:29):
deal they got. James Harden onI couldn't believe. I thought for sure
he was gonna get a three yeardeal. He basically got a one plus
one seventy million dollars total, sothirty five million this year and next.
But if he has a great year, he's probably gonna opt out and then
go for a bigger deal. Sothe Clippers have a lot more flexibility now
within the cap. They're hard cappedat the first apron because they already spent

(06:50):
their taxpayer mid level exception. ButPaul George, look, I'm gonna think
of him as a good Clipper.I am, I'm gonna remember him.
It didn't go as planned, butyou know why, because the majority of
the reason this era of Clippers basketballwith him and Kawhi Leonard hasn't worked out
was because of things outside of theircontrol. All the injuries going on.

(07:13):
I fully believe they would have wonin twenty twenty one had Kawhi Leonard not
have done his knee, and wemay look back and say that was the
moment where things truly ended, becausethen he misses an entire year and now
he's had a meniscus tear, he'shad swelling in that knee. Sounds like
he's healthy and ready to go forthe Olympics. So that's good to see
at least. But Paul George hemissed one hundred and thirty three games,

(07:36):
Kawhi Leonard missed one hundred and seventyeight games. They just could never be
out there enough together, even thoughwhen they were they wanted a seven hundred
win percentage. That's elite, that'sfantastic, that's what you wanted from that
duo. They just couldn't stay outthere enough and be healthy out there on
the court. Isn't a missed opportunityto know what if? Yeah, it

(07:57):
feels a little bit like uh TMac Grant Hill to some degree, those
two guys not being able to stayhealthy, especially Grant Hill. But I
still am gonna I'm not gonna completelyflip or turn on Paul George, I
wish him nothing but the best unlesshe's playing the Clippers. I've be rooting
for the Clippers in those games.But look, I some people are upset

(08:18):
because they want him to stay andtake a hometown discount basically, but guys
over sixty million dollars more to goto the Philadelphia seventy six ers, Rodney,
you get this more than anyone.An athlete's time span to make the
majority of the money they're gonna makein their life happens within five, ten
or fifteen years. If you're lucky, right, you gotta take advantage of
that. I'm never gonna fault anyonefor taking the most money possible. Did

(08:43):
the Clippers sign the wrong guy?Should they have signed Paul Georgia not Kawhi
No Kawhi Leonard. I think it'shonestly an easy answer. When Kawhi is
healthy, he plays like a topfive player out there. He plays like
an MVP player. He's an alltime one of the greatest playoff performers in
NBA history. I understand he's missedabout forty more games than Paul George is

(09:07):
a Clipper, and that's including thefact that he missed an entire season after
tearing his acl but when he's beenhealthy, he's been very much more reliable
and consistent with his play. Theknock on Paul George and I said this
before. You don't understand night tonight, whether he's going to be at a
top ten player level or a topthirty five player level. His play fluctuated

(09:30):
much more, especially in the playoffs, than Kawhi. Leonard Kawhi was the
clear number one. Paul George saidit multiple times. He's the number one.
I'm the number two. You paythe number one guy. Oh,
he said out of his mouth.Adam, what do you say when people
look up and the casual fan goes, well, look at Boston, man,

(09:50):
they got two supermax guys and theygot supporting cats. How do they
do it? And we don't.We can't do it. The Boston Celtics
drafted both of those guys. They'vehad them on the cheap for some time.
They only recently got these deals wherecombined, I think they're making six
hundred million dollars, which is crazy. By the way. On a side
note, the Boston Celtics just wonthe championship with two players on their roster.

(10:15):
Combined to make over six hundred milliondollars, and both of them I
don't believe for top five players inthe league. They're both very good.
Jason Tatum certainly plays like a topfive player at times. I would say
he has some of the same issuesas Paul George. You don't know what
you're getting from him offensively, buthe's so damn well rounded it almost doesn't
matter. And the team is constructedso perfectly where you can play five out

(10:37):
with a bunch of two way guys. They played both ends of the court
and they also all shoot three pointers. You know who was doing that before
anyone? The Clippers in twenty twentyone wing stop Clippers when it looked like
they were going to win the championship. They haddle that versatility. But Kawhi
Leonard did his acl the rest ishistory. Maybe, So the Boston Celtics

(10:58):
did every everything right, and theyhad a little bit of good fortune along
the way, and they finally gotover the top. And they didn't listen
to dumbasses who said they needed tobreak it up and get rid of Jalen
Brown or people I don't know,like Fred on this show, who said
they shouldn't paid him three hundred milliondollars. I don't know if Fred said
that or not, but you know, cont bred, how many people said

(11:20):
it going into this past season thatyou can't pay Jalen Brown three hundred million
dollars. Guess who was Finals MVPJalen Brown. I think it worked out
all right, Adam. Right now, who would you rather be? The
Lakers? Are the Clippers? Rightnow? Fred? You know I'm gonna
say the Clippers. What kind ofquestion? Yes, well, all right,

(11:41):
But from a basketball pective, ananalyticals perspective, I like the Clippers
flexibility they have right now in theway that they have scrambled here because they
always had a backup plan. Theyknew, guys, this was not a
surprise to them. This stalemate hasbeen going on four months and it will
as always. The impasse was theydon't want to give him the fourth year.

(12:03):
If he could get the MAX fromanyone else, he was likely going
to take it. He got itfrom Philly. The Clippers are not surprised
from this or reeling or didn't havebackup options already when they signed Derek Jones
Junior right away on Sunday. Youknew it was on. By the way,
that was the guy who shut downPaul George for the most part in
the first round series for the DallasMavericks. Kind Of interesting there, but

(12:26):
they got Chris Dunning there. NicholasPatum, all time Clipper favorite, one
of the best role players of hisgeneration, is back. They have Mobamba,
and they still have more moves tomake because they're under salary cap.
Hell, now they're under the secondapron and the first apron. So people
said, oh, you just lostPaul George for nothing. No they didn't,

(12:50):
not at all. It opened upall these other options and possibilities,
and now they can go from ateam that the last seventy games of last
season, believe it or not,the Clippers were twenty first defense. Now
they can improve on the defensive endto make up for the loss of Paul
George. Offensively where yeah, theywere outstanding on that end, and that
made up for their poor defense lastyear. The only way to still be

(13:13):
as competitive is if you shore upthe defense now, and it looks like
they're trying to have a defensive identity. I love that the Lakers still just
have so many unknowns right now goingon with this offseason outside of the Broni
stuff. Who's going to be theguy? Is Lebron going to be happy
with whoever they bring in because somebodyis coming And I saw at the press
conference earlier they said for the rightguy, we will give up future first

(13:37):
round picks. But who they believeis the right guy and who Lebron thinks
is the right guy to bring inright now may differ because I think the
Lakers are looking at the next tenyears and Lebron's obviously looking at the next
two. So there's somewhat even ifit's not outwardly a schism, there are
different philosophies going on with the Lakersorganization between their best player, who I

(14:00):
think is still their best, mostimportant player, which is crazy to say
at this point at the age offorty, and the front office. Yeah
so yeah, I mean, wehear the press conference with the Lakers,
and you know, it's about culture. But we've seen the last what three
coaches. They say that, andthen two years later the coaches fired.
Do you think this time around withJJ, because they it feels like they're

(14:26):
in no man's land even with Lebronplaying still playing at high level, they
got a D, but the supportingcast is not really assisted them into moving
further than where they are. Arethey willing with Lebron, like you mentioned,
having about two more years left,willing to play the long game with
JJ, I think the thing Imost encourage about with JJ Reddick. Look,

(14:48):
it may not work out, buthe at least has said the right
things that they should be doing,which is winning more on the margins,
which is crashing offensive rebounds with guards. Teams are doing a ton now because
it's not just the NFL that talksabout the possession battle. That talk is
lingered into the NBA the last coupleof years. That has been the buzzword.

(15:09):
The team that has more possessions,that gets more shots up is going
to win the ball game because everybodyis shooting a very high percentage right now.
If you look at teams and shootingcharts and shot profiles, most teams
understand through the analytics what shots aregood shots and what shots are bad shots.
Like that level playing field has occurredin the NBA where everybody's kind of

(15:33):
on the same page there, althoughthe Lakers have been behind in that area
for some time, and JJ Reddicksaid, we have to take more threes.
Guys. The Boston Celtics led theleague and three Porters attempted. It's
not just because they had the personnelthat is an analytics play, because the
deal is this, shooting thirty threepercent from three is the equivalent of shooting

(15:56):
fifty percent from two. So evenwhen you're shooting below league average, there's
like thirty five thirty six percent fromthe outside at thirty three percent, you're
still hanging in there like so everybodyis doing it. Because of that,
you have to evolve with the times. The Lakers have been dragging their feet
into the twenty first century when itcomes to NBA basketball because they could still
just pick up star players and it'sokay, and we can mask any efficiencies

(16:19):
we have or dysfunction within the organizationbecause superstars will always come and save us.
But the new CBA is changing that, guys, I'm telling you it
is so much more difficult. Forinstance, let me throw out a couple
of restrictions now at the second aprinthis is what happens. If you get
above one hundred and eighty eight milliondollars, you can have first round picks

(16:41):
that are seven years out, whichteams typically trade like the Lakers did with
the New Orleans Pelicans. They getfrozen. You can't move them, you
can't do anything with them. Ohand guess what what else? Those first
round picks they move to the backof the line. They're a thirtieth pick
now, so when you get tothem, you're screwed too. Oh guess

(17:03):
what else? You see a playerout there that makes thirty million dollars,
You can't aggregate contracts to go gethim. You can't take two of your
guys that make fifteen million dollars togo get one player that makes thirty.
That's how restrictive it is. That'show punitive it is. They've done all
this and try to stop big spenderslike the Clippers and Steve Balmer, like
Joe lacub with the Golden State Warriors, and it's going to work. We're

(17:26):
just seeing it right now with theClippers, they're becoming a little bit.
Maybe you could say Paul George isa cap casualty because I don't think if
they had this new CBA they'd beso worried about the fourth year. But
it changes everything. Every team isgonna have to deal with this now.
It's a completely different landscape in theNBA when it comes to organizing front offices

(17:47):
and what you prioritize and knowing whatyour window is to win in the league,
or whether or not you should havemore flexibility on the roster because you
might have to rebuild in the nextcouple of years. Do the new CBA
all right, had him breaking itdown, bringing that down, Adam,
That's what I'm talking about, Adam. Good job, good insight. Thanks

(18:11):
man. I love you guys,thanks for having me in last week,
believing in me and all that weirdmushy stuff. I love you all right.
I love you too, all right, all right, old hearted bastard
y'are friend. There you go.