Most Underrated & Overrated NBA FA's So Far, Biggest Names Still Out There

Episode 177: It's the final episode of Season 5 as Arky Shea and Joel C. Cordes break down the Jalen Brunson signing and DeMar DeRozan trade, as well as the rumors surrounding Brandon Ingram, Russell Westbrook and Lauri Markkanen. They also dig through the most overrated and underrated signings in the 2024 NBA Free Agency class so far, as well as the available needle-moving names. 

Episode Transcript

(00:01):
Welcome to basketball. But Ascia nolonger doing the theme song. Is John
Tesh He is out on it.He is apparently only doing one theme song
for basketball, and it's not thisone. Damn we lost the contract.
Archiche here with Joel c Cordes Joeright at the gate some breaking news.

(00:25):
Ready, not really, but gofor it. Okay, the show is
taking a sabbatical. We're taking abrief time off in the summer. And
the biggest reason why is I can'ttalk about Lebron James's son every single week
or ever other week, or reallymaybe ever again. And what performance is
he doing. I'm seeing graphics onmy phone about what his performance was at

(00:48):
halftime against the Celtics. Like,I'm good for a second round pick tacking
in the fifties. No, less, I'm good. The only thing I
think is interesting is people getting reallymad about the contract he's signed versus the
number fifty five overall picks. Peopleare like, oh, this doesn't seem
to be fair. It's like,yeah, kidding for a six to two
second round picks taking fifty five orno kidding. This doesn't make all the

(01:11):
sense in the world. Okay,I get it. Okay, you guys
like you knew this when he draftedhim right, like this was going to
happen, like he was here.See, you've fallen into it already.
You've given airtime you fall. I'mjust saying I can't do this every week
like ever now. Then I couldthrow a little jab at the NBA's all
time looking score. And his children, well, mainly the one I don't

(01:32):
know much about the others. Doeshe have others? Does he only have
one child, doesn't It doesn't matterto me. That's the thing. I
do not care about what comes fromLebron James Luys except for that one time
his loins sprang out in the NBAFinals. Other than that, that's the
only time I care about his loins. Uh. So we're gonna take a
brief time off and we're going todo I think what I like to call

(01:53):
hot boy Summer, Like we're goingto finish out hot boy Summer, get
ourselves out to the beaches. UhAnd we're going to and get that base
hand down for the fall. AndI both have families. You have a
much younger family than I do,and it's it's time to take a little
bit of time with the guarantee youthat if, if, and when if

(02:15):
we return, when we return ata TBD date, the show is going
to look very very different. Let'sjust say we've had a lot of discussions
here in this year off season aboutthings too or to not do with the
program going forward. All that's tosay is the summer. I'm basically done
with the summer in NBA. Like, once you get past the initial free

(02:35):
agency hype, that there's it andI don't need anything else. Everything else
can just be blah blah blah blahblah. I will say this, I
will say this about summer League,and then we're going to get to free
agents, the ones we've liked,overrated, underrated. We've got some names
that are still out there that couldbe needle movers. We've also got a
couple of names that have been movedin trade or trade rumors that we're gonna
get to before that. I willsay this about Summer League. If you

(02:57):
are an NBA fan and you havethe opportunity, need to go to Summer
League in Las Vegas at some point, do it. Because I know we
kind of joke about summer League beingit's silly season. It's cool to see
some guys play. But we alsoknow that much of this doesn't make any
sense. It has no real rhymeor reason or impact except the one or
two diamonds in the rough who willcome along in Summer League and suddenly land

(03:19):
a contract and they're they're gonna dogood things. But if you have a
chance, go out there and seeit in person, because it is really
really fun. I feel the sameway about Summer League basketball that I do
NHL hockey. I can't watch iton TV. I don't care about who
wins or what happens. But boy, when I go to a game,
do I enjoy it a lot?A lot. I'm someone who's played the

(03:40):
sport I'm about to talk about,and I still tell you that like on
TV. Like, unless you havea severe rooting interest and you grew up
with it, I can get whyit's not the most interesting sport soccer for
me. Like I played it,I really enjoyed it. Uh yeah,
I know, I look chubby.I played it when I was really chubby.
Yes, I was fat, fat, and I was playing it in
high school senior year high school.Good for you, though, man,

(04:01):
Yeah, well I mean we were. Let me tell you how good our
team was. We had thirteen games. I started eleven of them. That's
how good we were. That's howgood of a program we were. Buck
Corn not known for their soccer.Let's just say buck Horn at high school
in Newmarket, Alabama hasn't been knownfor that. Uh, but I will
say that it's one of those thingswhere like, yeah, we can be

(04:21):
the tourism board for the NBA,but I feel like they got all the
money that they need with a newTV deal, they don't really need us
advocating for it. Yeah, we'vedone our job in getting them that big
Yeah, you got that sweet bagthat James Dolan doesn't want you to have,
So dare have it? All?Right, Let's talk about a few
things. Let's lead with the biggeststory, Uh, the unselfishness of Jalen

(04:43):
Brunson. That's right. Jalen Brunsondecides to go not ham for the money.
It's going to be getting a verysmall salary these next couple of seasons
and opt to try to get biggermoney in a couple of years. But
Jalen Brunson decides not to go forall the money he can now like everybody
else does and actually just tries tobe the hero that Gotham needs. Right,

(05:06):
he goes there and says, letme just leave a little wigger room
for the Knicks to do them upgradingand tweaking if they do, and decided
to defer his I get all theMAXI money I can't options. Granted,
in a couple of years he'll belooking at like seventy million a year whatever
it is. But right, whatever, But still, it's it's not a

(05:27):
decision that a lot of people make. In fact, almost nobody goes for
the minimum amount. Oh I shouldn'tthey minimum, but for less than what
they could possibly get. So right, I would love for my minimum amount,
by the way, to be overone hundred million dollars. I would
love that, universe. If you'relistening, if you're out there, all
you can do is put it outthere, right. Do you have your

(05:47):
your energy board where you just youpaste all the things that you want to
know? My vision board needs toadd a few zeros to it. Apparently
that is probably what I've been missingall along. Yeah, put a lot
of zeros, but not a lotof numbers in front of the zero.
I think you just sort of missedthe printer must have ran any mission accomplished.

(06:08):
Unfortunately, So would you think ofJalen Brunton's decision to do that,
to leave a little bit on thetable. Uh, it's a sign of
good faith that he's happy with theorganization. You don't leave some money on
the table unless you believe the organizationis going to make good use of that,
especially when you know you've you've risenthrough the ranks to try to get

(06:30):
there. If you're Jalen Brunson,you came up as a guy who There
was questions whether Jalen Brunston would evenbe a rotation player in the NBA,
and he answered that in Dallas,and then there was major questions about can
he start? Can he start notjust next to Luca, which he did
in Dallas for a little bit,but can he start full time and be
the focal point? He answered that, Does he deserve a big contract?

(06:53):
Yes, he's answered that. Sothis guy he's earned it. He's worked
real hard for this money and toleave some of it behind. And I
think that speaks volumes of the knicksthey apparently, and this is for comedic
purposes, but Arkisha, I inviteyou to go to ESPN dot Com to
the NBA team's page and look upthe depth chart for the New York Knicks
right now. Apparently, unlike everyother team in the league, they're gonna

(07:15):
need massive, massive help because theonly thing that the New York Knicks depth
chart shows right now is five centersand there's nobody else on the roster.
It's gonna be rough, especially sincetwo of those three centers are day to
day, right Mitchell Robson the starter'sday to day Jericho Simms, I guess
I had to come in if heneeds to, and your third string sinners

(07:38):
Julius Randall, he's day to dayas well. So I mean, with
all that money you save, NewYork, you might want to go out
and just sign players period, becauseapparently you need some bodies. That's true.
I guess the just hasn't dried onthe contract yet because I feel like
Jalen Brunson would be one of thoseplayers that you would just add to the
list. Right. It's obviously aglitch. They've got other guys under contract
and none of the other positions areshowing up. I have no idea why,

(08:01):
and I have no idea why theKnicks are the only team that that's
happening for that I've looked at sofar. But it fit in perfectly with
our talk. I think it's Ithink it's fascinating because you know, like
I admired as a Knicks fan inthe worst contracts of the worst contracts,

(08:22):
granted, I wish, why didn'tyou run James take less money? Why
didn't Eddie Curry take less money?If I go back and like, look
at James's contract, it's like fiveyears, thirty million dollars or something like
that. It's a terrible contract,but it's nowhere near like the kind of
numbers you're thinking about. Now,even though it's that contract, you're like,

(08:43):
oh, wow, really I wish. I wish all the mistakes that
the Knicks making for were just thirtymillion dollars potential mistakes. But this is
one of those things that I wouldhave had no problem with the Knicks just
breaking the bank for him, givinghim all the money you could, and
then him coming back and asking forme in a couple of years. Look,

(09:03):
everyone else is making ways to doit, why can't the Knicks do
the same thing. But if everyKnicks player, he's the one you would
have the least concern about at thispoint, right, Julius Ranald, Mitchell
Robinson have earned money, but they'vegot they've got injury issues. O Gianobi
has earned his contract, he's gotinjury issues. Bridges you know, and
s deeven Chenz are coming in therea little bit younger. There's still some

(09:26):
upside left. You don't know exactlywhere they land. Yeah, Brunson,
you know, is worth that moneyright now. He has worked the contract
in today's day and age for whatthe next need from him. Yeah,
So I'm I'm fascinated with the ideaof someone in his type of position,
the maximum earning potential position, tomake a decision like that. Listen,

(09:48):
if you had gone down the listand gone to Josh Harden, like,
hey, can you, you know, take a few million less, try
to make it totally understand that beforethe top guy money wise to say I
don't need the top money now Iknow I'm gonna be able to get the
top money later. Kudos. ManLike New York loves this team and they

(10:09):
love this roster, and they falleven more in love with the matter.
He makes a decision like this becausehe knows he wants to bring this great
franchise, this legendary franchise that JamesDolan thinks has won thirty one championships,
but only one, two, two, and none of them he's seen.
So hats off to him, andthat that that is a that is a

(10:30):
self listeness that I don't think Iwould do so, Like if I presented
that opportunity to leave one hundred milliondollars or something on the table to try
to get more later, It'd bedifferent if you're thirty five and you're like,
this is you know, probably mylast big contract. I'm thirty four
whatever, and I've made you know, a few hundred million dollars in my

(10:50):
career up to this point. Ican shave off a few mil I'm good,
the investments are good. This isfine. Whatever. This is Mike
de Rosen, I mean at deBruh's either next time he this is the
pig Bruns. He's twenty seven,right, and it's his first massive,
massive deal like this, And itdoes send a message to other players that

(11:11):
hey, come here, we're willingto sacrifice for you. It maybe sends
a message to other guys. Idon't think there should be any pressure to
follow Brunson's lead, because let's faceit, NBA careers are short. Brunson
could regret this, you know,like that that has happened. You hear
guys like Isaiah Thomas with the Celtics, and you know, you give somebody

(11:33):
a deal and then the team turnsaround and doesn't take care of you the
way that you're supposed to. ButI do see the investment with Brunson maybe
thinking big picture on this, andthat's if I am a New York legend,
if I'm able to play the bulkof my career here and regardless of
whether they get a championship, butespecially if they get a championship. You

(11:54):
don't think that Jalen Brunson in theNew York City market is going to make
back those few million dollar endorsements easilyover the course of his you know,
long long post career. As hebecomes a New York fixture, he can
follow in the footsteps of of youknow, Clyde Fraser and Ewing and other

(12:16):
guys that have really stood out therein New York and the money will be
there one way or another. Andyou know what this says to me also
that he he wants to be anick for as long as possible. Mm
hmm. I think the commitment becauseno, no one's loyal to a franchise
like that, No, no one'sloyal so to sort of, which,
by the way, is not hisfirst franchise, so like he has no

(12:39):
reason necessarily to be a new acceptmentfor maybe sounds like really really loves it
and those New York jack taxes notexactly the nicest. No, no to
still to give up all that extramoney. We can say, all we
want, how much money does theextra need put? You put a you
put a piece of paper between meand you. That's one hundred million dollars

(13:00):
the difference, And see how oftenyou would want to say, for the
greater good I'll take the hundred milliondollars less. It's a really hard decision
to make. It's a really toughone to make. That's why everyone goes
the other way because they got toset up for them and theirs, which
is fine, but did nothing wrongwith that. Guess absolutely. It's a
business, and the league, theteams show you that every single day that
it's a business. It's called noone's going to get your money, and
no one's going to do this fora long time, especially with the influx

(13:22):
of new money that's coming in forthe for the media deal. Like it's
gonna Joe, you and I aregoing to see one hundred million dollar a
year contracts. And that's crazy tome. It's on it's on my vision
board. One hundred million dollars ayear contracts me and you, by the

(13:46):
way, not just me. I'llthrow your name in there too, Okay,
thank you. What do you thinkwas? And I'm looking up right
now just to what do you thinkPatrick Ewing's highest earning year was with the
New York Knicks? What probably likenine? I mean, find the year

(14:07):
by year breakdown, maybe thirteen,but I'll go yeah, I'll go between
nine and thirteen. His his biggestyear, biggest year was twenty and a

(14:28):
half, okay, and that wasthe ninety seven ninety eight season, And
that was crazy. Look, MichaelJordan wasn't making these numbers. Listen,
there's just so much money. It'sjust so much money. You know who
wasn't making these kinds. Larry Birddidn't make this numbers, Okay, right,

(14:48):
Larry Bird could also go buy abreakfast sandwich for about thirty cents.
You know, yeah, it doesNotay, that's a thirty dollars that's a
thirty dollars breakfast sandwich in downtown Boston. Well in the in the ninety six
to ninety seven season he made threemillion, did Patrick Ewing? The next
year was his highest year at twentyand a half. Inflation has that at

(15:11):
thirty nine million dollars. God,I love inflation makes sense. Uh hey,
guess who also is gonna make alot of money at least for a
couple of minutes. DeMar DeRozan.Demart de Rozen is still playing basketball in
the Association, and he is goingto your favorite franchise, Joel the Sacramento
Oh sorry, they're They're just agood team, a decent ta the Sacramento

(15:33):
Kings in a three team trade wherethe Kings get Damar DeRozan, the San
Antonio Basketball Spurts Harrison Barnes and theBulls received two second round picks and some
guy named Chris do u rt.So DeMar de Rozen going to a team

(15:54):
that actually can't play in the playoffsat this point in his career. What
do you think of that? TheKings needed a third scorer, and it
needed to be somebody beyond Malik Monk, who is good at scoring, is
coming off the bench. Though theyneeded that other punch in the starting lineup.
They had tried to kind of combinethat with Harrison Barnes, who's just

(16:18):
you know, has been a steadyeddy his entire career. Kevin Herder and
then Keegan Murray and a different guyon different nights, but Herder had a
down year. Barnes is getting alittle bit older, where again, you
know he's going to give you production, but it's not really going to go
above He's not going to progress abovethe means. Harrison Barnes is really locked

(16:40):
in at like twelve fourteen points agame, and that's probably what you're going
to get. Keegan Murray is volatile. I mean he's a guy that will
get you forty on some nights whenthe three point shot is going and then
be down at nine points on adifferent night because it wasn't falling and he
wasn't bringing as much to the table. So DeMar Derosen is a proven NBA
scorer. Yes, he's in hismid thirties. It feels like he's been

(17:00):
doing this forever, and the King'sgot him for next to nothing to get
rid of Chris Duarte, who theytook a look at from Indiana. I
was surprised at Duarte didn't get abigger spot in the rotation, in that
guard rotation didn't get more of alook. But that's basically it. That's
all the Kings give up as aguy they weren't really using in a couple
second rounders to bring in a perennialAll star and you know, a guy

(17:23):
who has played in big playoff gamesbefore. So I like it. The
only concern I have, and it'snot even DeRozan's age, is that DeRozan
is very much a isolation player offthe dribble. He's a guy that manufactures
his own points. He'll catch andshoot a little bit in the mid range,
but he's not a three point threat. Darn Fox and Monitor Sabonis,

(17:47):
and that whole King's roster has beenbuilt on a ton of ball movement and
quick attacks. I don't know ifthat fits with DeRozan and vice versa.
We're going to see the versati.Is DeRozan at this age able to tailor
his game a little bit? Ihave no doubt that Fox and Sabonis will
be able to get the ball toDeRozan in his spots. But is that

(18:08):
going to mean that that's where theball movement ends, is with a DeRozan
shot every time? Or are werunning multiple multiple actions to get these isolation
You know, and there's a timeand place for it, But obviously that's
not entirely today's NBA, And witha guy who is declining, he is
getting older, I don't think youwant to restructure your entire offense around DeRozan

(18:32):
and ride or die with that.I think DeRozan's got to be a piece
that fits in and for the price, you try this every single time on
court basketball fit. I am alittle bit skeptical, but we'll see.
DeRozan is a really smart guy.He's a really heavy guy. He understands
where he's at at this point inhis career. He understands. I think
that he's probably in a good situationSacramento. So if there was somebody who

(18:56):
would be willing to do this,I think it'll be DeRozan. If he'll
be able to do it, it'sgoing to be a big question because he's
always played a certain way. Iwas surprised at how productive Tomorro Rosan was
last year I thought the last yearthat we would see a decline probably in

(19:18):
games played, in minutes and scoring, and we really didn't see that.
I think he played like almost everygame, like he plays like seventy eight
eighty games or something, and itwas I mean, he was the guy
that the defense was keying off ofevery single night. It's not like,
oh, he's the fourth wheel andhad a nice year. No, he's
at thirty four, thirty three yearsold. At that point, he was

(19:38):
the focal point. Yeah, he'saveraging like twenty one points in his career
and last year was average, likeit address like twenty five or twenty four
to twenty five. Like, he'sstill pretty effective. Uh, he's still
pretty effective with hands in his face. He's still pretty effective off the ball
too. So yeah, I'm I'minterested to see what this could look like

(20:00):
with Sacramento. I'm with you.I'm a little hesitant as far as how
good that can make Sacramento. ButI don't think it makes Sacramento worse.
That West is pretty daunting still andSacramento is trying to get better piece by
piece, but to make this trade, and like you said, for the
price that they paid to be ableto get DeMar de rosen in, no
problem. No problem. If youget somebody this stage of his career who's

(20:22):
still very productive and very very versatile. Let me see, Harrison Barnes is
a glue guy and that's why he'sgonna be real nice in San Antonio along
with Chris Paul showing the young guyshow it's done. Is another good locker
room guy. But at worst,I think Derosen can give you the production
at least that Barnes was giving.He played the second most minutes in the

(20:45):
season his career last year. Yeah, yeah, I didn't even realize,
Like I thought we were ready fora decline when he went to Chicago,
and that's not been the case.So good on him. Man, that
that dude is younger than people realizebecause he's one of those guys that came
in in his late team. Derosanis thirty four, you know, and
it forms like, oh yeah,it feels like he must be thirty eight,
thirty nine, but he's he's not. He's he's always been a couple

(21:07):
of years younger than people realize.That's forever ago to me, like,
who's still in the league from fifteenyears ago? The answer DeMar de Rosan
at minimum, there's probably the guystoo, what uh is there anybody?

(21:29):
Oh? Hold on, Yeah,we got three other names that I want
to get to real quick, andthen we're going to get to underrated,
overrated and remaining free agents. ButI want to talk Russell Westbrook, Brandon
Ingram, and Laurie Markin and allthree are in the rules in the off
season. So Russell Westbrook apparently isnot going to be a Los Angeles Clipper
anymore, with it just being JamesHarden and Kawhi Leonard and some rubble left

(21:55):
in LA after Paul George leaves,the Clippers have looked around and go,
oh, Russ's buddy PG thirteen isgone. We probably don't need to keep
Russ and James Harden on the sameteam together, and they're searching for options
for him. How many options doyou think are out there for Russell Westbrook?

(22:15):
But I also want to say hewas a much much better teammate and
mentor last year than he has probablyin the previous six seasons combined. Like
he did a good job last year. I have I have heard the names
of the Nuggets. I've heard GoldenStates being being mentioned for like seven seconds.

(22:41):
Someone tried to someone text me whatabout san Antonio is like are you
high? No? No, no, no no. Just because that they
got older guys now like Chris Pauland there doesn't mean they're trying to get
old guys in general. There's acertain method to the Papaovich madness. And
then you know, dude, notbeen quiet, Dallas go to no doubts

(23:04):
would be a terrible spotform too.I honestly I don't mind. Well,
let's put it this way. Idon't like the Golden State idea. I
don't mind the Denver idea, butI don't love it. But Denver does

(23:25):
need a backup point guard. Theycould use some scoring help. They've been
hemorrhaging bench players since the championship season, so to get Russ and get a
look, I don't hate that.I've got one idea that I think is
better than Denver. Well, letme ask you this. Do you think
he gets traded or do you thinkhe reaches free agency? I think he

(23:47):
probably reaches free agency because at thispoint unless unless the Clippers, I mean
maybe they're willing to take a lowsecond round pick back and somebody is willing
to give that up. But eventhen, why do that if you're just
gonna wait? Like russ On,the court can be impactful, but it's
very unpredictable and inconsistent when he's goingto be impactful. He has been a

(24:11):
good teammate and mentor over the lastyou know, season and change. I
think he started to realize where hiscareer is at and some of the ego
has dropped a little bit, butit's still unpredictable about whether that will maintain
or whether he comes into a differentsituation and believes that he should be the
starter just because it says Westbrook onthe back of his jersey, you know,

(24:34):
and that's it because that's where hewas at just a couple of seasons
ago. So I wouldn't give upassets for him. Nobody's going to give
up any meaningful assets for him,but I would probably if I'm looking around,
unless I'm Denver somebody like that,where you really say we need the
help and he's better than what wecan find out there. I let him

(24:56):
hit free agency and then just rollthe dice because if you get him,
great, and if you don't,you're flying. Yeah, I'm kind of
I'm kind of with you, like, I feel like somebody might be interested
in throwing a second round at him, But I think everyone's too. I
think the more and more people seethe value of what was done in Oklahoma

(25:18):
City, right which is just stockpilepicks. So these picks become not necessarily
a picture you used, but theybecome assets, and they've become more and
more valuable the more that you getin just to throw one away for Russell
Westbrook, and that'd be kind ofwhat you're doing, like, but it
could be yeah, yeah, becauseyou're talking about Westbrook, who's thirty six,

(25:40):
thirty five, thirty six, theseguys who have been there since nine.
Do you want to give up anasset for that or you just try
to make a good offer to himif you're let's say, if you are
Denver, Russell's thirty five and hecame in in the eight draft. Just
check that right now. Guys,he's old. He's old well, and

(26:00):
a lot of mild, like alot of playoff mild, like a lot
of run on those legs you broughtup. You brought up an interesting name,
and it's the one I was goingto go with. This would be
the feel good story if you couldmake it work, which you really would
have to sit down with Russ andsee where his head's at. Does he
want to go for a fun ride, and is he willing to row the

(26:22):
boat in the same direction as everybodyelse? Because if he is, and
if Oklahoma City, who has likethree hundred picks in their coffer and has
three hundred players under contracts, soI don't even know if they could fit
him, and if it even makessense because it would come at the expense
of one of these prospects, andthey've got so many, but send one
of your middling prospects down to theG League for the year. And if

(26:45):
Russell Westbrook was willing to come inand play twenty minutes a game as the
backup point guard, combo guard,maybe even less than that, but he
was willing to bring that fire,bring that wisdom that he's accumulated throughout his
career, and go back to OKACa team that is poised to not only

(27:07):
probably be the best team in theWest again next year, but improved on
last year just because of maturation andthe additions of Alex Caruso and Isaiah Hartenstein.
They've been searching for that veteran mentorguy. They hoped it might be
Gordon Hayward last year. They've triedout some other guys in the past.
It hasn't really worked, you know. Caruso, I guess, is getting

(27:27):
close to that point where he's kindof sort of a veteran So Shi Gilders
Alexander bring him Russ Like, ifhis head is in the right spot and
he's willing to be that good soldier, I would do it. I would
do it. The cheers he's gonnaget when he gets the floor every night.
If there's an atmosphere that can bepositive for him whenever he goes on

(27:48):
the court's gonna love seeing him onthe court night in and night out there.
I think that'd be a tremendous spotfor him. I think it'd be
a phenomenal spot in anytime that you'rebeing sort of love done like that,
and it seems like a personality that'slike this. I think he tends to
be more into the product. Ithink about maybe the role that he's having

(28:10):
to take them. Maybe if he'scoming off the bench, that's great,
but he's gonna get screamed at Yeaevery night when he checks into the game
because he came back and he getsto actually chase a ring. Yeah,
what led him to leave Oklahoma Cityin the first place to come back and
kind of make good on that story. You know who's got the bad vibes

(28:33):
from okay se in that team,it's Kevin Durant and uh and James Harden
not him. Yeah, like thoseguys get all the dark side of that.
Russell Westbrook can come back and bea Lebron James esque hero for them,
not necessarily leave the team like that, but be the guy that says,
hey, I see where the ship'sgoing, Let me go there,
let me do everything I can,let me be unselfish, let me come

(28:53):
off the bench, and let meenjoy this final year maybe two, depending
on what they see. What thatdoupot for him and you you got a
couple of players, actually more thana couple, who are just flat out
dogs defensively, you know, ShaggyOldes, Alexander, Alex Caruso, Jalen
Williams. In fact, both ofthe Jalen Williams play with such high motors.

(29:14):
And there's a couple others in thatmix. Like to have Russell Westbrook
every day in practice, and yougot to go against that intensity that he's
going to bring, especially if hishead is on straight and he's dialed and
of like, No, I'm gonnago at these guys to make them work.
This is not to show them up. It's not to take their minutes.
It's to make them work. It'sto get them ready because we're gonna
go out. We're gonna beat peopleup for real, you know, and

(29:37):
and at game time like that,that can only be a help. But
and lou Dort, I even forgotabout him, Like they've got so much
talent there. That's the only concernis if you bring in Russell Westbrook,
does that does that come at theexpense of lou Dort's minutes? Isaiah Joe,
who's been real good for them,Cason Wallace has been good, you
know, Aaron Wiggins is in thatmix. There's some young or guys that

(30:00):
are going to miss minutes if you'rebringing in Russell Westbrook, and that becomes
the big you know, that's thebig question. But they don't have to
miss a ton of minutes, youknow, I mean, you know what
I mean, like you can He'shumble enough to recognize, right right,
this is all contingent upon Russell Westbrookbeing in the right head space sort of

(30:21):
realizing, Hey, I'm going togo from this crumbling franchise in Los Angeles
to a place that's going to adoreme, and I'm going to have a
great end of this career and I'mgoing to be seen as the bare minimum
a hero and I may even bringthis franchise a championship, Like at least
I'm going to be seen as someonewho could be a piece that does that

(30:42):
for him. That would change hisentire career narrative and arc, wouldn't it
it? Really Russell Westbrook gets aring in Okac where he started, and
he did it by coming in andbeing a consummate teammate and veteran leader.
That would change It would change theentire back half of his career and what
we what we perceive about Russ.Maybe he doesn't care about that, he

(31:04):
doesn't need our approval, but Imean he needs yours. He needs yours,
Jill. He played the US amountof mens he's playing in the season
lest year twenty two and a half, that's plenty plenty for him. Like
if he's willing to sort of takethat role or a team. You know,
yeah, he's productive in his twentytwo I'm just I that that is
the concern. Though. You lookat all these young guys and okay,

(31:26):
say, okay, see they needtheir minutes and they're all deserving of it.
So even fifteen is coming at theexpense of somebody else who has earned
it too. But the team isabout twenty two minutes is still technically like
half of every quarter, so likeit's not like it's you know, three
or four minutes a quarter kind ofthing, like half of each all right,
Uh lord marketing, where's that guygonna end up? That guy?

(31:51):
So I have read that the favoriteseemed to be the New York No,
I'm just trying to get the knicksnextbath. The jazz I have been very
heavy Lori marketing and what he mightbe able to sort of me for them.
What do you think sort of me? I'm a little surprised Lori marketing
is still at this point available,like where this is middle of July,

(32:16):
Like it feels like he would havebeen a week ago picked up by somebody.
Well, and I don't really knowwhat Utah is still trying to do
because they've they accumulated some talent.They've been piecing that talent off for draft
picks, and the draft picks lookokay, but you still need a star.
You need scoring, and Lori Markinendoes that, and he does it

(32:39):
in an elite way that a lotof other NBA players don't. I think,
you know, because he's able toscore from all three levels. I
guess the one thing that is understandableis he's twenty seven, which is not
old, but he's in his prime. And if the Jazz are looking at
this going, we are still threeyears out from the guys that were drafting
getting to a place where they cancan carry us. Lauri Marknon, once

(33:01):
he's hitting thirty, may not evenbe here anyway. So let's get something
for him now. I get that. You know, there are a lot
of places that he could fit,a ton of teams that he would make
sense with, and I'm not goingto go down the whole list, but
where he's been rumored is with theGolden State Warriors. I love that idea.
Love it, love it, loveit, love it. Golden State

(33:22):
needs a shot in the arm.Before Clay Thompson left, they needed that.
I'm going to bring them up whenwe talk overrated and underrated free agents.
They need help on the front line. They've given minutes to Moses Moody,
who's rumored to be in such adeal, Jonathan Kamingo, who supposedly
the Jazz want, and the Warriorsare saying, no freaking way, which
is probably the best, the bestanswer that the Warriors could give. But

(33:45):
they've given those guys minutes and it'sbeen shown that Okay, they can probably
they look like starters, they're probablynot all stars. Lauri Marknen has been
an all star. So upgrade thatfront line, get the type of shooting
and floor spacing that we know GoldenState thrives off of marketing, can score
in other ways too. We don'tknow if Andrew Wiggins is going to be

(34:07):
back in the mix here. Forthe Warriors, they're clearly in a rebuild.
This would be a deck shuffle.So if you can get them and
you're not having to get rid ofall of your young guys who have been
proven, that would be absolutely fine. Because supposedly the Jazz have also been
asking for Brandon Pajemski and the Warriorsto say no, you can choose one,

(34:27):
maybe two, not all three ofour top young guys that we've been
we've been developing here. I Ijust sort of read a tweet from Sham
Sharania who says that the Jazz wouldwant you brought Pajemski, well would want
for Lauri Margten Pajemski three first roundpicks, three or four unprotected pick swaps,

(34:50):
and three or four second round picksand a potential deal. Remember,
the Jazz have fleeced a couple ofpeople. They've fleeced a you people including
the Minnesota Timberwolves, who will talkabout next year. It doesn't hurt to
ask, I guess, but it'sgonna hurt to answer. Yeah, that
don't answer that phone. Call youyou call you call Danny Ainge. Don't

(35:16):
let him call you. Yeah.Apparently apparently they're prioritizing this. According to
Sharania, they're prioritizing Pashevsky over Kumingain a trade talks with the Warriors around
surrounding Lori Markenin and then you mentionedonce basically all of Golden State's future for

(35:38):
Okay, Again, doesn't hurt toask, I mean, it's not time
for that. So the last nameI want to get to and then we've
got free agents and we'll we'll rattlethrough those relatively quickly. But the other
name that is being rumored and theone that should be rumored with them New
Orleans since last year and kind ofa disappointing end of the playoffs, has

(36:00):
been heavily rumored to be trying tomove Brandon Ingram. They cannot find a
taker, which is a little bitsurprising considering that Ingram is young ish,
is a good defender who can shoot, is long, can play either forward
position. He's twenty six, bythe way, former number two pick.
I get that there are concerns aboutBrandon Ingram's motor. You watch him play

(36:21):
at times and he's got way toomany Tracy McGrady vibes going on, where
it's like, is the dude tosleep or is he actually out there playing?
But the talent is undeniable New Orleans. When you look at their roster,
they just completed a fantastic trade forDejonta Murray. He'll probably be their
starting point guard. That means CJ. McCollum will slot over the shooting guard
right now. The Fords will beBrandon Ingram and Zion Williamson. That's all

(36:45):
great. Until you get to thecenter spot and you're looking at the rookie
from Baylor, Eves Missy, whohas taken I think twenty first or twenty
fourth. And the fact that becauseof this Desonte Murray trade, you're gonna
bring Herb Jones, arguably one ofthe best defenders in the league, and
potentially Trey Murphy the third and JustinHawkins all off the bench. Jordan Hawkins,

(37:08):
excuse me, you got too manygood wings that are sitting there on
the bench, young guys that haveearned the spot. So unless Zion's gonna
start at center or you're gonna dosomething crazy like move Herb Jones to center,
New Orleans has an imbalance. Enterthe Minnesota Timberwolves. You can't find

(37:29):
a taker for brandon Ingram. TheTimberwolves need to get rid of Carl Anthony
Towns. I don't know if theWolves know this yet. I've been trying
to send that out through my visionboard for like three years. They're not
getting the message. But they needto break up the Double Twin Tower lineup
with Gobarn Towns, not because itdidn't work, but because you can do

(37:50):
better than that, and because youcan do better than Karl Anthony Towns at
this point, swap Towns and BrandonIngram and both teams walk away happy.
At this point, Towns goes tobe the starting center for a young,
up and coming team where he canfacilitate. They've got great defenders around him,
he stretches the floor, he getsto play with Zion Williamson like that.

(38:13):
Yeah, you're helping New Orleans out. But for Minnesota, you get
a floor stretcher up front who canscore the basketball like Towns. He's not
a passer like Towns is Brandon Ingram, but he's long. He keeps that
length for the team. And youstart him up front with Jaden McDaniels and
you got Rudy Gobert. Still,you are a very long, athletic frontline.

(38:34):
And Ingram is so much better ofa defender, whether he whether he's
trying or not. He's so muchof a better defender than Karl Anthony Towns.
Get this deal done yesterday, guys. It helps both teams. I
know your Western Conference rivals and typicallythey don't like to do business with each
other, but this just makes waytoo much sense, especially when the Pelicans

(38:55):
are not finding a taker for Ingramreportedly, and Minnesota probably is not going
to find the takers they think theywould for towns if they wait much longer.
Interesting. Interesting, Okay, okay, I see you making moves for
your own franchise. Gotta do atleast one. You're doing a little two
k here on, I see whatit looks like. All right, gonna

(39:16):
make the Minnesota Timberwolves a contender withthe Knicks next year. That's right,
brought them up again. All ourfree agents. Who is rocked your boat?
Who has not rocked your boat sofar? Underwhelming? Overwhelming? Overrated?
Underrated? Overpants, underpants, that'sthe game we're gonna play. We're
gonna we're gonna stay away from thatside of it. But let's talk underrated

(39:37):
quick and this will be kind ofa quick hit list. I'll I'll give
my names at the top five ineach case, and you can just chime
in if there's anybody that you're lookingat under You know, we're at that
point in free agency where the bignames are gone, but we're looking at
guys who have signed now and thatwe have not talked about. So some
of the biggest names like Isaiah Hartenstein. You know, we did that last

(39:58):
week. The to kill Bridges trade. Some of the other big names we
hit that already, those are thoseare nicks. You know, Paul George
would be a non nick. Theseare guys that have have signed already that
I thought were underrated. Sadiq Bayleaving the Atlanta Hawks and going to Washington.
He's young, he can shoot.He's been a starter on a couple

(40:21):
of bad teams with Detroit and thenyou know, underwhelming with the Hawks.
But Bay is a guy that I'vewatched for a while, being that he
was up here in Michigan. Byme, he can play. He's the
type of small forward that you need. And with Washington moving on, you
know, yes they still have KyleKuzma, but they they move on from
Ruy Hatchimura, they move on fromDenny Avdia. You you give Sadik Bay

(40:47):
a very reasonable contract and a chanceto look at a guy who's young.
A guy who's not young, AndreDrummond. He has a very particular set
of skills. By the way,surprising to me when I was looking at
the list earlier this year, stillin the league, still a contribute I
thought he got I thought his stylejust got played out. Like two years
ago, and Drummond's been doing itat a at a really nice level exactly

(41:12):
like I really thought that, Likewe were talking about the end of his
career like two years ago. Yes, and he's still able to be productive
in the league. And yep,it surprised me. He can rebound and
he can play defense. And Itell you what, if a guy like
DeAndre Jordan keeps landing on NBA rosters, there must be a market for it.
And Andre Drummond is that much better. So for him to go back

(41:35):
to Philadelphia to back up Joel Embiid, who we know has tons of injury
issues, fantastic move. It's goingto be a better move for Drummond too
than sitting on that Chicago team whichwas going nowhere fast. Speaking of the
Sixers, a guy who was onPhiladelphia and I'm not exactly sure why they
let him go because he made waytoo much sense there. They didn't give
him much run. But he windsup in Golden State. But he Healed,

(41:58):
who the Sixers had acquired from thePacer. Healed has been bouncing around
as a shooter, but he's beensearching for that role where he's going to
get major minutes and a lot ofshots, and this stat has been out
there many times, but over thelast five years, no player, but
the only player who's like even closeto Steph Curry in three point volume has
been Buddy Healed. Now, youput the two of them on the same
team together, and yes, itstings nostalgic wise to lose Clay Thompson,

(42:22):
but Clay Thompson was having trouble hittingthe broadside of the barn last year.
Buddy Healed is not a good defenderby any means, but Thompson wasn't anymore
either, and Healed can hit shot. So a really nice underrated move for
the Warriors to bring him in,and I think that the production actually goes
up from what they lost with Clay. I mentioned him once already when talking

(42:43):
about Okay see the fact that theThunder do not lose out on Isaiah Joe.
He is a guy who a lotof people do not know that name,
but haven't watched The Thunder Now fora couple of years. We talk
about three and D wings being soimportant, what about three and D point
guards Because Isaiah Joe is a lockup defender and an absolute sniper from Downtown

(43:06):
and he's one of those guys thatI think is going to have a really
long, productive career that may includea couple of rings. I don't know
if it'll be with the Thunder,but he is the type of guy who
every single team is going to want. Somebody like Isaiah Joe and the Thunder.
Keep him under wraps and keep himin house. The last one for
me is a combo, and it'sback to the Philadelphia seventy six ers.

(43:29):
Underrated the fact that they bring inCody Martin from Miami. They re signed
kJ Martin and then retain Kelly Uber. And I know they lost a couple
of their older wings, you know, Nick Batoomb leaves, They've had a
couple of others, and I'm blankingout on names here, Rob Covington,
you know that they tried over thelast couple of years. Yes, you

(43:52):
bring in Paul George now, butthis is a younger, springier group and
it reminds me of the lengthy wings, the multitooled wings that coach Nick Nurse
had in Toronto, and I seethem doing the exact same thing in Philadelphia.
It's just they have a Hall ofFame center in Joel Embiid that they're

(44:12):
building around, but these lengthy wings, and of course Paul George is one
and the same with that, andthen Tyrese Maxi running the show. This
is going to be a much moremobile, faster, more dynamic Philly team.
And an honorable mention to me,the Toronto Raptors were retaining a manual
Quickly, who they got from theKnicks, and we were all kind of
looking at that, going is thatgoing to be a rental? Like,

(44:36):
yeah, if you're in Toronto,you take a look at Quickly, But
isn't he gonna jump for greener pastor somewhere else? And they were able
to sign him to the money.Is it going to be worth it over
the long course of time. Idon't know. But Quickly can be an
NBA starter. He's proven that overand over again. And Toronto needed some
star power and they got Quickly.So those are my top five. Technically

(44:57):
it's five on an honorable mention.Okay, yeah, yeah, the honorable
mention that at the end, canI actually just add one quick thing that
I think to someone who is stilla free agent who I think need to
be looked at, And it's clearlyfor my team pressure to Chay one,
it's still out there. He's goingto be on my list coming up of
the names that are need to go, that need to be signed yesterday.
Yeah, all right, well let'sgo go for it. Well I want

(45:21):
to talk overrated free agents first,so if you got something on, all
right, so let's do overrated freeagents and then we'll get so precious to
Chay when we can lead with himout of the free agent group. These
are signings that are already the inkhas dried, and I don't get it.
It's not a needle mover the waythat some people think it might be.
Number one for me is with theClippers is Derek Jones Junior, who

(45:42):
leaves what I thought was the absoluteperfect situation for him in Dallas, being
able to play with Luca, withKyrie. Derek Jones Junior has been a
guy who has gotten starting jobs forthe last five years and loses him by
the end of the season because he'sa very good athlete, but a replacement
level player in every sense. Andlast year he showed something else. He

(46:05):
became a defender. The Dallas Mavericksbecame lob City two point zero. And
of course you want airplane mode inin Lobb City two point oh like that.
It was such a great fit.And now he goes to a middling
team that's lost with the LA Clippers, He's not going to have somebody like
Luca set on the table for him. He got handed some money, he's

(46:27):
going to be given a starting jobover you know now that Paul George is
gone and he's not going to keepit. It's this was one of those
best case scenarios. And if you'reDerek Jones Junior recognized that stay in Dallas.
I know you could have gotten moremoney in LA. But you probably
are able to get more money inthe long term if you keep playing well
with the Mavericks. And now you'reprobably going to be a disappointment as a

(46:50):
contract Kent Tavia's callwell, Pope toOrlando Magic again a situation where you leave
a perfect starting five with Nikola Jokic, you know, with with Murray,
with Aaron Gordon, with Michael PorterJunior, like that five made so much
sense together, ands Colo, Popehas got a couple of rings. He's

(47:14):
earned the right to go where hewants. Orlando certainly can use a guy
like that, But Orlando didn't needmore defensive help they needed scoring helps.
Cobo Pope is a guy who givesyou like nine points a game, and
he will hit big threes. Heis clutch, He is a good veteran,
and he made way more sense onthe Denver Nuggets. So is that

(47:34):
that more of a surprise for Orlando'sside? Not Pope's right, right?
I I but I think he's overratedon a lot of other teams, and
I think he's overrated as a fitin Orlando. There are certain other places
where Pope could have gone. Whereyet he probably has the same level of
impact as he did in Denver.But yeah, it's it's not as big

(47:59):
of a deal as people are makingit. Another name who's just a name
at this point, Philadelphia. Igave them some flowers for an underrated trio
of signings, but an overrated oneis Eric Gordon. Why lose Buddy Healed
just so that you can sign EricGordon? A guy who at this point,
yeah, he can hit a coupleof shots, but he has not

(48:19):
been a needle mover in a longtime. Another one who's running on fumes.
Minnesota brings in Joe Ingles to tryto replace Kyle Anderson. Part of
this is by design because Kyle Andersonwas going to lose minutes next year.
There are young guys waiting in thewings, literally at the wings who need
to get more minutes, and Andersoncouldn't hit the broad side of a barn.
Joe Ingles, at least percentage wise, has been a much better three

(48:43):
point shooter than Anderson his career.Throughout his career and as a facilitator,
and is the same body type asKyle Anderson. Is another guy who's willing
to be a mentor in the lockerroom and whatever. But anyone thinking that
Joe Ingles deserves NBA minutes at thispoint in his career, absolutely not ouch,
Absolutely not. You saw him lastyear in Orlando. He is out

(49:06):
of gas. And when you seeit, you see it. He is
out of gas. Okay, nohim in the NBA if he's your fourteenth
man. And as a coach onthe practice floor, fine, yeah.
And the last one for me,we come full circle back to the Washington
Wizards. I gave them an underratedsigning and this was an overrated one that

(49:27):
I guess technically was a sign andtrade, but I just don't get it.
And that's Jonas Valanciunas. Why didanyone who was a part of this
agree to this trade. The WashingtonWizards right now are going to start Malcolm
Brogden, veteran at point guard,Jordan Poole basically a veteran at this point,

(49:51):
Kyle Kuzma, young veteran. They'regoing to, you know, start
alexr who they just drafted at numbertwo. That's fine, and then Yonas
valanch up front. Is this arebuilding team? Is this a team that
is trying to trot out a decentstarting five and stay in the playoff picture
until it doesn't work and then youblow it up, Because that's what it

(50:12):
feels like the Washington Wizards have beendoing for the last twenty years, and
it obviously hasn't worked. So whereis the full rebuild? Why are you
spending minutes and money on Yonas Valentiunas, especially when Sars should get some center
minutes. You still have Rashaun Holmes, you still have Marvin Bagley the third
there, you have other young guysaround the league that you could have brought

(50:37):
in to take a look at Withthose minutes, You're not going anywhere if
you're Washington and if you're Yonas valentiunis, like, I guess you're getting the
money and you're getting the minutes,and maybe you don't care. And he's
played on a bunch of middling teamsin his career, but this, it
just doesn't make sense to me,so highly overrated. The one I agree
with you the most is Jonas Valentnis, to be honest with That's that's the

(51:00):
and I do agree with you.To me, it makes no sense?
Are you in it? Yeah?Washington? Like, I don't understand what
did this barely middling move? Idon't like it's the reason they it's the
move like that, it's the reasonwhy they are the Wizards at this point,
and why they were threatening to leaveand go to Virginia just a just

(51:22):
a few months ago. Like itjust it makes no sense, no sense
to me. All right, then, very quickly names that can help.
Let's start with your guy in NewYork, precious of Chewa. Yeah,
don't the Knicks kind of need himwith Isaiah Hartenstein gone, And hasn't he
shown enough with the Knicks and thenwith the heat a little bit with the

(51:43):
Rappers a little bit to say thatthis is a young big who's athletic and
should be somebody's roster already. Idon't get it, especially New York's roster.
Yes, I think the Knicks havenot lost contact with him. From
everything that I've read that they declinedhis which was like six and a half
million dollars uh, And I thinksome of that was because they were anticipating

(52:05):
some big, big contracts about beingsigned up, which they did. I
don't know if they expected h JalenBronson to give them a little bit of
room. I expect Precious to bein New York Nick when the when the
season starts. I think they justdidn't know where their money was going to
be. With possibly trying to getBrunson paid up, and with putting up
with On and ob and see ifhe would say stay with New York and

(52:29):
bring him Bridges a board too,and of course bringing Bridges Award has a
ton of money that the Knicks haddealt out. But I do think absolutely,
despite the fact that there are fiveguys listed as center on the New
York Knicks depth charts according to ESPN, UH, this would be easily when
of your top two, he'd probablyhe'd probably go ahead of Julius Randall,

(52:50):
uh, just because Julius Randall,you know, isn't a center. But
yeah, I think the nick itwas really good. He was really really
good for The York especially, youknow, knowing what happened with Mitchell ro
opposite and now having a Jaya Hartensteinno longer being with New York. I
think it's a big pickup for them, and I think Jayalen Brunson makes that
way a lot easier. Now.Other names that I am surprised have not

(53:15):
been signed yet. Again, Iconsider them minor needle movers. They're not
going to make or break your offseason, but they're going to produce versus
some of the other names out therewho are replacement level, even if they're
veteran or a young guys and you'renot sure if they're ready to step into
a rotation role. Every single oneof these guys is a rotation player,
or in some cases even more.Luke Canard, who has bounced around a

(53:36):
little bit between the Clippers and theGrizzlies over the last couple of years,
shoots at an elite level. Shootingis always a priority in the NBA.
He will be signed at some pointand he's one of those guys that I
think fits on just about any rosterin the league. And if you're looking
for that extra shooting Minnesota Timberwolves,you know, sign Canard. But it

(53:57):
doesn't even have to be Minnesota.There are so many other places that the
guy like that Jedty Osmond played withSan Antonio. He was one of their
quote unquote veterans last year. Youknow Cleveland a long time ago after Lebron
left, thought that Jeddy Osmond mightbe a potential long term starter there.
He's shown overtime, absolutely not.But as maybe your eighth or ninth guy,
I'm looking at the type of impactagain that a Joe Ingles or Kyle

(54:21):
Anderson has, and to me,that's what Jedty Osmon can bring. There's
a place in the league for him. One guy who's a restricted free agent,
and that's probably why he hasn't beensigned yet because nobody is real sure
if they want to give him aton of money. But I do think
he fits in the NBA, andI'm surprised that his own team has not
made more of an effort to resignhim yet. This is your boy,

(54:43):
Isaacacorro, who makes a ton ofsense in Cleveland, but he makes a
ton of sense on arrival. Likethe Milwaukee Bucks, right who've been searching
for a defender after Drew Holliday leaves. They need something to pair with Lillard
and Middleton and Giannis and a guylike a Korro. To me, you
hand the money to and I don'tknow if maybe he probably doesn't fit under
the cap in Milwaukee. Haven't lookedat their situation, But there are other

(55:06):
places around there that somebody should betesting the waters kicking the tires on a
Corro and fortunately forcing Cleveland to match. Yeah, that that is to me,
that is one of the more interestingsurprises at this point is that a
Corro here on July sixteenth doesn't havea roster at this point. Now,

(55:27):
if you mentioned Cleveland does get achance to uh to match whatever offer he's
able to get out there to getinto qualifying, you know, but I
think I think, honestly, someoneneeds to give a good offer to him,
and I think Cleveland needs to matchhim. I think Cleveland, Look,
he had one of the best yearshe's had in his entire career so
far, a great scoring output,great defender for for Cleveland. He is

(55:53):
someone that maybe he's not the theconsistent All Star that some of us had
hoped he might be. Right,he was taking number five, so that
was obviously a hope. Yeah,But at that point, like then you're
sort of you're prepared for that,right. And I don't know if Ocoro
maybe waiting for I was a topfive pick going into our first big contract

(56:19):
type of money that's not gonna comethe way he thinks it's gonna come.
So if that's sort of the holdup, then that's a that's on a
Carrol. But I think wherever theyfind something for him, he should still
be playing. He'll still be playingin the league. I think Cleveland is
a great spot for him. SoI just league and his three point shooting
percentage has risen every single one ofthose four years. And that was the

(56:43):
major concern coming into it. Wasit was and he has clearly gotten better
at that. He's also really goodat shooting with the fenders in his face,
Like he's really he's really talented.He's really sort of developed his game
because you know, he went intothat draft as being sort of a top
five pick, but like it wasin a very strong draft, after like
the top couple picks that was what'shis name's draft? Was that Luca and

(57:13):
Trey Young in that draft. No, I'll find it with another name on
the list who has was given achance to start last year. This happens
to a lot of guys who youknow, cut their teeth as backups and
then they finally wind up on abad team and given a chance to start
to see if they can be startinglevel going forward. And it was kind

(57:35):
of shown that No, he's inthat unfortunate fringe area where probably one of
the best backup point guards in theleague, but is the starting level probably
not. That's Tias Jones, whoagain on the Washington Wizards last year,
but he previously had been backing upJohn Morant in Memphis. He did fantastic.
The Grizzlies rarely missed a beat whenTias Jones was in the game,

(57:58):
and Jones gave good minutes at thevery beginning of his career in Minnesota.
There is a place for Tias Jones. The question is does he realize that
he's probably going to be an overqualifiedbackup because that's where the money is going
to be and where the minutes aregoing to be. A lot of times
you get this chance to start midwaythrough your career for a couple of seasons

(58:20):
if you've been working your way upfrom a bench rotation spot, and that's
it. The next guy on thislist is exactly in that spot as well.
It's Gary Trent Junior from the TorontoRaptors. He was given a chance
to finally start in Toronto after cuttinghis teeth previously in Portland, behind Damian
Lillard, behind CJ. McCollum.Gary Trent Junior can score the ball.
It's not very efficient, however,and he doesn't bring a tonnelse to the

(58:43):
table, which is why he isbetter suited as maybe a sixth man,
but probably as a seventh, eighth, ninth guy and a shooting specialist,
a scoring specialist, and not astarter. I don't know if he'll realize
that or not, but I thinkthat's the type of offer that's going to
be out there for him. Twoguys that are young ish, that had
a name for a while and thatdeserve to be on a roster. One

(59:09):
of them were all rooting for,and he has shown that he keeps deserving
more of a look. Where he'sgonna land. I don't know but that's
Mark L. Fultz from the OrlandoMagic. You know, went through all
of the injury issues at the beginningof his career, a lot of clouds
around the beginning of his career.Do you know that MARKL. Foltz has
been in the league. It's likesix years already, eight years already.

(59:30):
I'm gonna go back and look.It's it's crazy. The dude is like
twenty five, twenty six years old, and there's no way that he's been
in the league this long and yethe has. It's just it's nuts.
The other guy similarly to him isTaylor Horton Tucker from the Utah Jazz.

(59:51):
Horton Tucker kind of made a namewith himself during some of the dark days
with the Los Angeles Lakers when Lebronfirst got there. He was one of
those classic Lebron rolled players that Lebrontook to and then got handed a whole
bunch of money because Lebron liked himand the team wanted to keep him.
They quickly realized that that was toomuch money. He went to Utah.
He's gotten stats. Like Horton,Tucker is a guy who will get you

(01:00:13):
points, rebounds, and assists,but they kind of come inefficiently. So
he's the big question mark on thislist for me where he could be a
starter for a lot of teams yet, but is he going to be an
impactful starter? And if he's abench player, are you going to give
him enough minutes to be a guywho is a connector who is a gap

(01:00:34):
filler maybe like a Harrison Barnes inthe future. I don't know, but
that's probably where he's going to haveto land. And then the last one,
the honorable comedic mention, guys,boban Maranovitch is not signed to a
roster, what do we do?Come on, Jill. By the way,
Isaaca Growth Draft, that's the AnthonyEdwards Draft twenty Anthony Edwards, James

(01:00:58):
Wiseman, LaMelo Ball and Patrick Williamsdrafted ahead of him. So h but
then after that, uh, let'ssee Killian Hayes, Obie Topping, Devin
vassal Tyres Halliburton, Kyra Lewis Cole, Anthony. As always, there's some
hits and misses there, right,and that well, that's that's I'm sort

(01:01:19):
of saying. Some of these,uh turned out okay, but some of
these we weren't you know, necessarilyexpecting to be like, Look, Peyton
Pritchard was drafted twenty sixth overall.Huh. Anybody talking about Desmond Baine a
big time at the time in twentytwenty were you no, see let's see
if any second round picks step outreal quick? Uh? Nick Richards,

(01:01:44):
no, you know what I mentionedhim? Isaiah Joe was drafted forty ninth
overall. There you go from fullcircle. There you go. Uh,
that's about it in the second round, So full circle for this podcast.
Isaiah Joe Ton first time ever beenmentioning on this podcast. I'm pretty certain,

(01:02:05):
and he got a bunch of streakcred. Now go tell your ma,
your pa, tell everybody. AndI just wanted to make good on
the reference I had. MARKL.Foltz is twenty six years old. He's
been in the league eight seasons.He's been in the league. He was
eight seasons since coming in. Isthe number one pick for twenty seventeen.

(01:02:28):
He was the number one pick,but it was the questionable number one pick
because things got weird with him comingout of Washington and his injury there with
the shoulder and stuff, and thenjust a crazy career to try to rebuild
himself into something that anywhere near resemblingworth taking a number one overall pick and
a kudos to him. They goteight seasons in the league before what happens

(01:02:52):
this year, despite what was happeningearly on in his career. It's it's
as wild and I just the gamesplits for him in those eight seasons.
Year one is a rookie fourteen games, didn't start any of them. Year
two nineteen games in Philly, startedfifteen. First year in Orlando twenty nineteen,
twenty twenty, he started sixty ofseventy two games. Twenty twenty one

(01:03:16):
he played eight games total. Grantedthat's the COVID year, but still eight
games total. Twenty one twenty two, he's played eighteen games total. He
started three. Two seasons ago inOrlando, he started sixty of sixty possible
appearances. That's his best season todate, I guess, although the first

(01:03:37):
year he did log seventy two.Hey check out that draft of his,
by the way, Yeah, andlast year forty three games played, started
eighteen. I bet I bet,markl Folds a Lonzo Ball, Jason Tatum,
Josh Jackson dearon Fox Jonathan Isaac Laurie, marking In, Dennis Smith Junior,
Zach Collins, Malik monk Luke Kennard, Donovan Mitchell whoa hit on.

(01:04:00):
Some hits and misses, but mostof those names we probably wanted to take
a look at before Mark. Oh, well, I mean opis in that
draft. I mean some of theseguys, it turned out, Josh Hart's
in that draft, Kyle Kuzma's inthat draft. Uh, Jared Allen's in
that draft. Sure, some hitsand misses, but I mean, I
mean they are semi that's right.It's a right there. Yeah, but

(01:04:28):
no, that's a that's a's apretty solid draft. I mean not often
did you get, like, youknow, more than a handful of guys
who are in the league five,six, seven years a later named that
put out like a dozen of those, right, So pretty cool? All
right, Joe, this is ourgoodbye episode for now. We're gonna take
a sabbatical. Uh and uh you'llknow when we're back. When you see

(01:04:50):
us people, we will see youon the other side. This has been
Basketball by Associations. If you wantthe video version us on YouTube, you
can like, share, subscribe overthere if you want the audio only version,
Spreak or Spotify, iTunes, whereveryou get your podcasts. It has
been fun and Cionara from Basketball byAssociation for now