Adam Auslund on R&R Talking Russ to the Clippers, Lakers Revamped, Seeding & More

Adam Auslund joins Roggin and Rodney to talk about the rumors of Russ to the Clippers and gives 4 reasons they should consider it, the Lakers new starting lineup, Western Conference seeding and more.

Episode Transcript

(00:00):
Saltier Adam Austin, host of theClipper pregame show Clipperdown Guys, r NBA
guy. All right, let's dowith my man. Let's do the big
news off the top. Okay,And reports are that the Clippers now are
very interested in Russell Westbrook if hehas bought out in Utah. Well,
if the reports are true, thenhe will be bought out in Utah.

(00:22):
Remember he got into it with thefans there a few years ago. That
is untenable. That's not going towork out. And the direction they're moving
in isn't for him as well.But it looks like they're doing their due
diligence. They're kicking the tires,as are the Miami Heat. They want
to see what the level of interestis from Russell Westbrook in his camp and
what role I'm sure he will wantto play if those reports are true.

(00:44):
And I'll give you a few reasonswhy it could work with the Clippers where
it didn't with the Lakers. Firstof all, you're talking about bringing him
in and not giving anything up.Lakers gave up first round pick, they
gave up a few key players.There's a huge difference right off the top.
Then, you're surrounding him with shooters. Lakers didn't have that, Remember
the first two months of the seasonwhere they were just unbelievably abysmal from the

(01:07):
outside. We're talking historically bad stufffrom three. Well, you can't have
Russell Westbrook playing next to guys likethat, because when he's doing his controlled
chaos getting into the paint drawn twodefenders kicking it out, who is he
kicking it out? Two guys whocan't hit shots, who shoot thirty percent
from the outside. Clippers are loadedwith shooters all over the place. And
also he's played with Paul George beforeand PG thirteen next to him was third

(01:29):
in m VP. That's how goodhe was. There's a relationship there between
those two guys, and look playerslike playing with Russ. Say what you
want. Lonnie Walker just came outyesterday and said he's the best teammate he's
ever had. So as much aspeople want to act like he's some toxic
guy in the locker room. Whileit didn't work with the Lakers, most
teammates throughout his entire career love RussellWestbrook. They love what he brings to

(01:53):
the table and the fight he brings. The dog he brings Rodney, as
we like to say, so Idon't think that part of it will be
a problem. It just comes downto fit. And here's the biggest reason
I think you have to think aboutit. The Phoenix Suns, who the
Clippers are going to see tonight,just got Kevin Durant, and sometimes when
a team gets that loaded and theyare a super team, do not question

(02:15):
that. I think they can rivalthe level the Golden State Warriors played at
at times with Kevin Durant. Ithink they're gonna be really good at times.
We'll see because they have less timeto build up and ramp up to
get there. Katie's not playing tonight, he's still got the mcl strain.
He'll be back after the All Starbreak. But when a team makes a
move like that, you have toconsider just bringing in as much high end

(02:36):
talent as you can and hope itfits, because right now you might have
a roster that's just not good enoughto take down the Phoenix Suns. At
they're at full strength, they mightbe unbeatable. I don't know, but
it's gonna be difficult. So yeah, you gotta think about bringing in Russell
Westbrook when you're talking about bringing himin for a minimum contract and not giving
up anything for him. But theyonly have twenty two games left now the

(03:00):
Clippers before the end of the season, so there's not much time to get
this in line and figure it out. If they do bring him in,
I'm wondering how fast they can gethim up to speed. Well, that's
the thing though, Adam right.I mean, I look at the Clippers
and at full strength, I thinkmost of us, at least I do
believe when they're healthy and on thecourt, and Kawai kaway is go why

(03:23):
like he was, uh last night? Was it last night the other night
when he went for thirty something andjust couldn't miss from outside and yes,
yes, and jumping out of thegym like we've seen Kauwhi do when he's
unhealthy legs. They are a tough, tough out and and to me a
team that is very scary going intothe playoffs. And as you mentioned,

(03:46):
the locker room's not the issue,because you're right, people love him.
Teammates love Russ and I think youcan go on every single team and that
he's been on pretty much and ninepercent of the guys get along with him
in the locker room and like havinghim around. It is how does he
fit within the system And do youwant to bring that in if you're trying
to find a place, trying tofind a fit for him, is it

(04:10):
even worth it to bring the guylike Russ in? Well, because of
what Phoenix did, I think youat least have to consider it. You
have to think about it. Andbecause the Clippers have they are molded in
a fashion that Russ can thrive inthat environment. If he's somebody coming off
the bench for twenty minutes a night, and he did have a diminished role
with the Lakers, and he wasplaying better in that role, but playing

(04:32):
next to the guys that the Clippershave, the shooters they have after they
bring in Eric Gordon now as welland Norman Powell in the second unit,
and if Terrence Mann is there,or if Nicholas Batouma is coming off the
bench, he's got a ton ofguys that can support his style of play
and kind of insulate him well,because obviously he's not a great shooter and
has to have the ball in hishands. But if he's being that distributor,

(04:55):
that is a place he can playwell in. I do think there
is a possibility of that. Soit's a very different fit than what you
saw with the Los Angeles Lakers.How things would go with the Clippers should
they decided to go down that road. On the topic of the Lakers,
I saw him play last night.They looked like an entirely different team.
And I said to Rodney in thefirst segment, they actually looked like a
real competitive NBA team, not Lebron, a D, westbrookn a bunch of

(05:17):
guys running around. These guys actuallylook like a real team. Yeah.
Is that a fair assessment after oneouting? No, I think it is.
I mean, look at the gameeven without Lebron James against the Golden
State Warriors that they won last weekend. When you bring in the talent level
that they did with DeAngelo Russell,and you want to talk about fit,

(05:38):
and then Beasley and then a guyin Vanderbilt who just wants to do all
the dirty work and fly around andplay hard all the time. So you're
putting together three guys who were ona team in Minnesota into the starting lineup
next to A D and Lebron James. It's not that hard to develop continuity
very quickly and That's what you sawwith the starting lineup where they came out

(05:59):
and I think we're up twelve two. They were up eighteen at one point.
They made it a little bit ofa game. Pelicans got back into
it, but then the Lakers ranaway with it late. That team is
scary to me. I told youI thought they made a great move.
Rob Polinka completely redeemed himself, atleast in front of Lakers fans who were
hating on him forever. I lovethe moves that they made. And Mo

(06:19):
Bamba, I don't think he hadhis best performance last night, but you
saw flashes of what he could do. He didn't end up hitting a three
pointer. He had that big throwdown, but bringing him in when Anthony
Davis goes to the bench and Okayads out, Oh here's the guy who's
seven to one and can shoot thethree a little bit, they're stacked.

(06:39):
I don't think any team would wantto see them in a seven game series
if they're fully healthy. Now it'sa big if, but you can say
that for a lot of teams.You can say it for the Suns,
you can say it for the Clippers. So this Lakers team now is going
to be competitive. The problem isdid they start too far behind? Is
it too little, too late,and not even necessarily too little. Is
it just too late? Is itjust too late to make a big enough

(07:00):
run down the stretch here to getinto the tournament. And I'm not just
talking about the play in, butto get into a seven game series,
because in that setting, I don'tthink anybody would want to deal with Lebron
and Ad and that team. Nowwhere D'Angel Russell look really good last night,
I do think that chemistry can bebuilt up that quickly because those three

(07:20):
guys, they were just playing togetherin Minnesota, Like it's not hard.
This blend of what the old schoolMinneapolis Lakers basically is what they did.
Bring it in guys from Minnesota thereto pair him next to Lebron and Ad
and make it work. Lebron makesmost things work and can smooth out the
kinks in offenses all the time,and Anthony Davis is somebody who's a roller

(07:43):
and doesn't have to isolate as muchand can be a finisher at the rim.
So that's starting lineup that has Lakesmoving forward, that is going to
be a really tough team. No, I agree, it looked like they
had played together for a month orso, the way they play last night,
and you're right about D'Angelo Russell,it looked like this, and we

(08:03):
said this earlier. He was acompletely different guy than when he was first
drafted by the Lakers from a justa maturity standpoint, the way he carried
himself, all the things that youhad hoped he would grow into when he
first came here. And it doesn'thurt. He's playing for his next contract.
You got him on his best behavior. Anyways. Yeah, there you
go, There you go. Youmentioned them being a tough out. Going

(08:24):
back to the Clippers. Where doyou see them given if they can stay
healthy. I know it's a bigif for both of these teams in LA
if they can stay healthy. Butman, watching them when healthy and at
full strength, I don't think anybodywants to see them. I'm looking at
the West and you talk about whyit opened, Adam with these teams healthy

(08:46):
and the way the Lakers, ifthey get in, it is wide open
to me. I'll tell you what. Tonight is a huge game because I
still think it could come down toseating and path of least resistance in the
Western Conference, and I think mostteams see that three seed as the sweet
spot, meaning you get in thethree seed. You already know pretty much
Denver is going to be the numberone overall seed, so they're going to

(09:07):
end up playing the winner of thefour five matchup. To avoid that,
you want to get in that threespot currently held by the Sacramento Kings,
who are a game and a halfup on the Clippers, and there are
a half game back of the fourseed, which is the Phoenix Suns,
who they take on tonight. Sothis is a pivotal game. You're going
to see a lot of jockeying forposition in the standings coming down the stretch

(09:30):
here where every night you're checking themto see what you have to do to
avoid because the problem would be thiswith Phoenix getting Kevin Durant. You don't
want to have to play them inthe four five matchup just to get to
the second round where you end uphaving to play the Denver Nuggets. When
I say path of least resistance,it's not having to play both those teams
just to get to the Western Conferencefinals. Your hope is that they take

(09:52):
each other on in the second round, which means Phoenix would be in the
four five matchup, that would bethe hope for everybody out They're including the
Clippers. I think so really thethree seed or even the sixth seed who
plays the three seed, that's thesweet spot, that's where you want to
get to. But I think theClippers, obviously with Kawhi Leonard back to
playing at this level. Last twentyfive games, guys fifty three percent from

(10:15):
the field, forty five percent fromthe outside, last ten games forty nine
percent from the outside. Just wentseven of nine from distance. I've said
it before, I'll say it again, but for the second time in his
career, is he coming back froma major injury and actually getting better.
I've never seen anyone do it,but right now Kawhi has been on one
of the best runs he's ever hadin the regular season, and before he

(10:37):
tore that right acl in the twentytwenty one playoffs, he was the best
player. So it's gonna be interestingto see because I still think he has
another level that he can get toin a seven game series when they need
him to, like when he hadto score forty five and a must win
situation on the road in Dallas infront of those fans, when they came
back into the arena for the firsttime. That type of stuff, you

(10:58):
know, the championship. I'd agreethat he has that can take you to
another level. So yeah, they'reloaded. And I like the fact that
they brought in Bones Highland, EricGordon, and Mason Plumley. All those
guys fitted and played a role immediatelyin their first game, similar to what
we talk about with the Lakers andwhen they brought in from Minnesota. Working
well with Lebron and ad those threeguys helped the Clippers immediately in Phil needs

(11:22):
Salty a Adam Austin, you gotthe pregame show, you got the halftime
show, you got the postgame showtonight promoting it. Love you guys,
all right,