Knicks Moves & Draft Recap

Ben Ladner and Jon Sauber recap the two-day event that was the 2024 NBA Draft, including which players might fit the best on their new teams, how some of the more experienced rookies might help their new teams next season, Bronny James' fit on the Lakers, and more. Then, they dive into the Knicks' busy week that included trading for Mikal Bridges and re-signing OG Anunoby. 
 

Episode Transcript

(00:02):
Hello, and welcome to another episodeof Read and React. I'm Ben Ladner
and joining me on the other lineis John Sober. How you doing,
man? Fantastic? This has beena really fun draft to follow. This
is as well. I'm sure everyoneknows. It's now split into a two
day event. We're recording right atthe end of the second round. But

(00:23):
this has been probably more than anyother draft. I think my opinions have
guys have probably shifted based on wherethey went right, because this is I
don't know, there's no like,there's no talent that I look at and
go it doesn't matter. Ra endsup. He's going to be you know
what I mean, He's going toget there. It feels like they're going

(00:45):
to be entirely dependent and all ofthese top players entirely dependent on where they
land and how and what kind ofcoaching essentially they get moving forward. But
either way, I think that thesurprise nature of this draft, it was
a little bit similar to twenty thirteen. I think that has made this a
lot more fun to follow over thelast two days. Yeah, and what
you're talking about does kind of speakto the nature of this draft. We've

(01:06):
we've framed it as a bad draft, or at least a lot of people
have framed it as kind of aweak draft class. It's an I think
a charitable description of this draft.A more charitable description of it might say
it's a circumstantial draft. It's adraft of players who in the right context
could be really good fits and bereally good players, but maybe aren't as

(01:26):
translatable in all contexts as we seethe top players in most drafts be.
But that also kind of gets intoI thought an interesting framing that you had
for our kind of post draft discussion, which is essentially re re ranking the
prospects, reevaluating the prospects in thecontext of their new team, So talking
about the players rather than comparing themor evaluating them in a vacuum, looking

(01:49):
at which players do we like best, How we we re evaluate the players
given where they've now landed, andhow we expect them to perform in their
new environments. Yeah, and Ithink the biggest beneficiary of this to start
off his run aland going to thePistons, right, he goes fifth overall,
I had him tent on my board. I was joking with you in
Brad pre draft that I like hadhim higher and then dropped him down like

(02:10):
I had him in that first tierand then dropped him down because I said,
I'm not falling for this again,Right, guys don't just learn to
shoot. Well, he's going toDetroit. But Fred Vinson as an assistant
coach who has taught guys to shoota lot of them, like as an
extensive track record of this, andI would I would bump him back up
to that first t year. Iwould have it a tier five whatever.
I'm just gonna say it. Ithink there's credence to him being like the

(02:34):
clear cut number one overall in theclass now, right, Like, if
he shoots, it changes everything.He is there is like not franchise cornerstone
potential, but like number two playeron a title winning team. Upside if
he shoots, still big if butFred Vincent being there like increases my confidence
in that happening drastically. Like Isaid, would have him in that top
tier, I would probably just havehim at number one overall now maybe number

(02:55):
two, depending on you know howshake out with Reed Shepard. But Shepard
just doesn't have that kind of upsidethat Holland does. And I, as
everyone can tell by my rankings Icare a lot about upside, especially at
the top of the draft. Likemost teams are there for a reason,
you need to swing at the upside. I think that's why we saw a
Dalton connect fall right, because whowants a twenty three year old wing who

(03:15):
can kind of play defense, isa good offensive player, can definitely shoot,
but is only like kind of adefender and is probably a seventh or
eighth guy. That's not helping youknow san Antonio right now, it's not
helping Charlotte, it's not helping Portland. Like these teams need to swing it
more upside. Maybe not so muchwith Portland just because they already have so
much, but like that, thisis this is the spot to swing for

(03:36):
upside. Is why I had hisa Collier at number two overall, another
guy that, by the way,I thought really benefited from the landing spot.
He went second to last in thefirst round at number twenty nine to
the Jazz. But he's going tobe given the keys to the car,
I assume, and he's going tobe allowed to run an offense, and
that'll help them tank this year.But I also think it'll help him develop
because point guards take a while.They need the reps. It's the kind

(03:59):
of thing that makes me laugh whenI see people saying that Scoot Henderson isn't
what they thought he would be.It's like every rookie point guard ever has
done this, Like it's every singletime. Why do we keep falling for
it? Would you compare Ron Hollind'supside to maybe like what Andrew Wiggins did
in that twenty two title run,No, I think it's higher than that.
You think, yeah, because there'sreal like the motor, Like Andrew
Wiggins had a decent motor. ButI think I think Holland has like like

(04:26):
I said, it's I think it'sthe best skill and single skill in this
class. And I think he is. He is more creative offensively right,
like he's not a ballhog or anythinglike that. He'll move the ball a
little bit, and I think he'lloperate in the pick and roll, especially
if he can shoot and teams won'tsag off him as much, or if
they do, if he can punishthem. But yeah, I think I

(04:46):
think he is a higher ceiling thatthan that Wiggins iteration. It's only fitting
that the Pistons would draft a guywith the high motor. He and Asar
Thompson are going to be fun towatch next year on the wing, assuming
they play a significant amount of mintogether, which I would bet that they
would. Yeah, they're going tobe really dynamic defensively. Uh, I'm
all the way back in on thePistons, big surprise. But well,

(05:10):
here's the thing, Trajan Langdon islike the first they have made the season,
that would they go get Fred Vincent? And I think they're they're.
One thing they're indicating by taking RonHolland is that one arn Tellum doesn't get
to dictate their entire draft process becausethey didn't take modest bizialis who is I
believe tell Them's sons. His sonis Buzzelli's agent, but like not too

(05:33):
dissimilar from the mix and uh,you know c A connections and all that
stuff. But Lakers, Yeah it'suh but I think a ESPN the list,
dude, I don't know, don'tdon't, don't you continue not worth
it? Uh? But the uh, the fact that they took Holland,
the fact that they seem to betaking on salary from teams to get better,

(05:56):
better picks or better uh you know, they'll get a pick here,
take on a salary, and they'renot trying to just get better this year,
which I think is really important.It's to me a sign that they're
maybe not starting fully over, butlike willing to start from scratch on this
right. Like it's like, Okay, the last three years are messed up,
don't slap a bandit on it,tear it all down again and redo

(06:18):
it right. And I think that'sthe best way to handle this, to
find out which pieces are the bestpieces. I think Duran is an important
piece. I still think Jade andIvy is. I think Kid obviously is.
I think Thompson could be. Butthis is the way to do it.
Treat it as if it's clean slate. And if they come to the
decision in a year that trading KaidCunningham's the best decision, they should do

(06:38):
that too, because as good asI think he is, they still have
to like build this thing up right, like they It is worth pondering if
by the end of Kaid's first extension, which will presumably take him to four
years from now, if they willbe good again, and if you'll want
to stay And so I think itis worth kind of starting over a little
bit and not a little bit startingover completely and trying to restart this thing

(07:00):
from the ground up because the lastfront office kind of screwed everything up.
But Kate, so we've talked aboutRon Holland the rest of that top group
for you was sar Alex sar ReedShepherd. You did not have Zachary Resa
sche in there. I had ZacharyResa schae at nineteen nineteen. Yeah,
okay, so maybe let let's let'sgo to him then. What big discrepancy

(07:23):
obviously between where you had him thenwhere the Atlanta Hawks had him? How
do you like his fit in Atlanta? What are your expectations for him?
And also what are your I meanwe talked about this a little bit with
Brad, but like, what areyour hold ups with him as far as
not seeing him as not only thenumber one pick, but even like a
top ten prospect in this class.Yeah, to me, he's not as
good a shooters you want him tobe. He's not as good of a

(07:44):
defenders you want him to be.But he's a three and D wing right,
So it's there's a little bit missingthere he is, Like you don't
think there's like untapped up side there, like shot creations like to break out
of the three and D mold.No, No, I don't. I
think he's pretty clearly three and D. Like I said, if he breaks
out of it, I think it'slike Tobias Harris like, and that's not
helping anything, right. I don'tthink he's going to be a good pull

(08:05):
up shooter in the NBA. Ithink he reasonably could be a three and
D wing. Like I think ifhe were to exceed my expectations, is
because he got better defensively and asa shooter, which I think is fully
possible, and then you have ayou know, a fourth fifth starter on
a on a good team. Butto me, that's like an an eighty
fifth to ninety percent tile outcome,right, I don't think that's a particularly
likely thing. I think he iswhat he is not to it's a you

(08:28):
know, a guy who's become ameme and everything. But like Tony Snell,
right, you know how he wasalways the idea of a three and
ding Tony Snell. Yeah, buthe was never as good as you wanted
to be, you know what Imean, Like he was, he just
fell short as a shooter. That'sthe thing. I just feel like Tony
Snell was as good as I wantedhim to be for a small stretch.
For whatever reason, he just neverplayed. There had to be a reason,
obviously, I mean, I don'tknow what it is, but there
had to have been a reason thathe just never played more minutes than he

(08:52):
did. God Tony Snell. Ithink I think Tony Snell didn't shoot enough
the reason when he was out therebecause he I don't know if it was
a comfort thing or whatever, andthat he was never as again, never
as good as a defender as heappeared to be as the Miserables would tell
you he would be. He wasa little bit of a turnstile against bigger
guys too. Yeah. Yeah,But I think that's Reschet right, like

(09:13):
he's I think I think there's adecent chance that that's what happens here.
I think he's a fine fit withthe Hawks, like I think he would
fit on any NBA team. ButI think he's probably gonna be a seventh
or eighth man and the median outcome. And that's fine, you know what
I mean. It's it's it's anNBA player, obviously. I mean for
the number one pick. I don'tknow if that is fine, it's fine

(09:33):
in a vacuum. Sure, Iagree with you. Like, yeah,
I had him nineteenth, like Iwould have I probably would have started considering
him. I think it would havebeen fair if the Thunder did at twelve
because they're a playoff team. Samewith Miami Philly the Lakers. Like I
think that tier is like it's okayto start considering someone. Maybe it's a
little bit lower, but you knowit is going to contribute. But again,

(09:54):
pretty much, no matter what situationyou're in, with the exception of
probably the Bucks and Suns because they'reso constrained by the CBA right now in
the ways that they can add talent, I would go for upside. I
would take the best player available,regardless of position, every single time,
whether you deem that to be acombination of upside and present day just highest
up side, just present day,Like I would take my best player available

(10:16):
every single time. Too often Ithink team stray from the board because they
want a very specific thing, andit's like, you know what I mean,
they pass up on someone and it'sI think it was There were more
actually said this last night as apress conference. When a guy falls on
the draft and they get passed upon because like, let's say, just

(10:37):
to use the Sixers as an example, like, oh, the Sixers have
MB they why would they take acenter? And I know that's an extreme
scenario. No one ever says,oh, well, they had embid at
the time so they couldn't write.It's like, oh, yeah, how
could they do? You know whatI mean? Like the conversation is just
how could they pass up on thisguy was so obvious or whatever. H
Well, I think people care toway too much about need in the NBA
draft, especially now because we're inan era where I mean, I know,

(11:00):
the positionless revolution happened a little whileago, but now the NBA is
kind of truly positionless except for maybecenter. That's kind of the one position
where you can't really play multiple guysat the same position. But even that,
I mean, we're seeing teams likethe Wolves and you know, the
Celtics even at times break that mold, and so it's entirely possible to play
guys who maybe on paper, overlapwith one another or step on each other's

(11:22):
toes. But the way the gameis now, with all the skill and
all the guys coming into the leaguehave so much skill, there's ways to
work around that. You don't haveto worry as much about Oh well,
these guys play the same position,what are we going to do? You
just play them together. I thinkthat's kind of where we are in NBA
history. Yeah, for what it'sworth, two of my top twenty guys
ended up going undrafted, and JalenBridges and Justin Edwards curious to see where

(11:45):
they land to productipical three and dWings. I think that are a little
more upside than Resachet, but nottoo dissimilar. But again, that's I
think that is a good, goodjuxtaposition of how I feel about Receschet and
how different it is from the leaguedoes because guys ahead of them who did
not get picked in fifty eight picks, which is fine, I have been
I have been very far far offfrom the consensus sometimes past. I've been

(12:07):
wrong before, I've been right before. It's nature of the beast. So
the rest of that top tier foryou, Alex saw Reed, Shepherd,
we talked about Holland who else wasin that group for you? Remind me?
So it was Shepherd, Collier,Excuse me, Shepherd Collier, French
guys, French guys French guys.It's Shepherd, Collier, Sar and Williams

(12:30):
were my top four and world like, I said, yeah, right,
uh, what would have Ron Hollandwe could go through this, No we
draft and just you don't have to. It's perfectly fine. Treat everyone as
French Zach. Okay, we're notWe're definitely that's the last one. That's
the last one. Better be.But I think I think Collier and Williams

(12:52):
both are stock up guys. Forme. I mentioned Collier already just gonna
have the keys of the car.Williams is playing with Collier in Utah,
and I think he's going to havea chance to not have to do too
much early. Assuming the Jazz keepglory marketing. We can well, I'll
just say it now. There wassome interesting phrasing from Woje on the broadcast
of the second round of the draft, essentially saying we as we know woj

(13:15):
is like very intentional with stuff thathe says, right, like he's not
going into a broadcast and saying somethingthat is on accident, right like there's
nothing as a history in several respectsof choosing his words carefully. Yes,
and so he was on the broadcast. I want to make sure I get
this exact quote right. He saidthat they were essentially the Jazz on the

(13:37):
same spot with marketing, that thenets were with bridges where they want to
add stars and but around him.But the quote he said was, I
don't think it's their intention to movehim, And I don't think it's their
intention to move him. Is notthey're not moving him this offseason or they're
planning to build with him. It'sI don't think their intention is to move
him, which to me means bestoffer right here, right now, Like

(14:01):
if you can do what the bridgeis deal was, you can get Laurie
marking right Like to me, that'swhat that sounds like. Yeah, And
you know, as with the Celticsback in the day, the Jazz now,
you know, never really know whatthey're doing. They play the cards
pretty close to the vest. Alexsar Sorry, but just to go finish

(14:22):
on the Williams thing, I'm surereally forgot about that. Williams is a
big long wing who's going to bea good defender who I think in blossom
into a secondary playmaker. Being nextto Collier is really going to help him
in that regard, Like Collier isgoing to set him up to succeed on
offense. You know, they haveWalker Kessler protecting the rim, assuming he's
there, which there's been reporting aboutwhether or not that'll be the case next
year. I think this is areally good spot for Williams because even even

(14:46):
if market is not there, likethey still have Collin Sexton, they still
have call here who's going to controlthe ball. They still theoretically of Jordan
Clarkson, who will see what happensthere too, but they have other guys
who can create and allowed Williams toplay a role and then grow in that
role. I would love it ifthe Jazz moved off market in. I've
said for a while now that marketingto the Thunder would be incredible, although
I do kind of question whether ornot they would want him given the defensive

(15:09):
limitations and how they've built this teamOklahoma City. I mean, everyone wants
Lorie marketinging, but is it worththe asset costs of them given like I
feel like Bridges would have been moreof the target right than marketing in for
the Thunder. But if you canhave Collier at the one with Keyante George
in the backcourt, like there's there'sa good bit of creation that they're obviously
very you go to make a tonof mistakes. And then Taylor Hendrix and

(15:31):
Cody Williams on the wing and Kesslerat the five. That's very young and
very fun in a summer League teamthat we would get to watch for eighty
two games. And you know,that's my favorite thing on the planet.
That is that actually might be yourfavorite thing on the planet. That's that's
not an exaggeration. Kentucky's Justin Edwardshas agreed to a two way deal with

(15:52):
the Sixers. That's an awesome pickup for a two way deal. He
is, like I said, theprototypical three and D wing. It is
the ultimate Calipari keeps ruining these guysdraft stock at Kentucky, but Wing version
great pickup by the Sixers there.I will be curious to see where Bridges
lands because I was even higher onBridges and I was Edwards probably don't even
need to go out and get awing this summer, then, right and

(16:14):
shut up. Just tell Paul Georgeto stay in La brandon Ingram stay put.
I think Paul George just told everyonethat doesn't want to go to the
sixers. Anyways, it seems sohe doesn't seem like he wants to go
to the Clippers, or it doesn'tseem like the Clippers want him. I
can't really tell which side that's comingfrom. If I had to guess right
now, and this is a completelyuninformed opinion, the Kings would be my
wild prediction for Paul George, whichI think would be a lot of fun.

(16:37):
Anyways, back to the draft.You asked me about Alex Sar.
Back to the draft, Yeah,Alexar to the Wizards, what do you
think? Yeah, so there's alot of stuff with the Wizards unpack here.
A little bit Sar I had asmy stock for him was steady right,
like, he's like, this isa good spot for him. They'll
probably play him at the four,give him what he wants right away,
he will learn he can't do it, and then he'll go to the five,
hopefully willingly, because I think hewould be a really versatile, good

(17:00):
like tenth pool defender for a teamthat is still building long term and still
doesn't have the primary piece, andhaving him in place would be nice.
Once they get that guy that theycan really elevate it to the next level.
But they did a lot this draft. They took bub Carrington, who
I'm lower on, but I understandthe upside swing. Like I had him
twenty seventh on my board as someonelike if you know what I mean,

(17:22):
if you're a top tier team,like you would target him and just stash
more in the G League and seewhat happens, which is a kind of
going to operate as a G Leagueteam, right, and so you can
give him the ball a little bit. Got to get Jordan Poole out of
there so he can't convince him ofhow to play basketball. But I think
Bob Carrington has real upside as ascore. His feel for the game isn't
great, which is always a concernfor me, but he has good size,
He has decent length, like ifhe can defend it all. He's

(17:45):
really young, he's a freshman thatwasn't expected to be a one and done.
I think Carrington has like a goodbit of upside. And again despite
him being lower on my board,it was it was about what I thought
he would be asked of him early. And this is I don't know that
I would move him up the boardnecessarily, but I like taking him if
I'm Washington because someone like Dalton Connectthat I have at nine, like,
that's not helping Washington, right,Like Dalton Connect is going to be on

(18:07):
a second contract by the time ofthe good and that he's gonna be overpaid,
and so you don't need something likethat though. Uh So, I
tend to like getting Carrington for theWizards. But the reason they get Carrington
is because they trade with the PortlandTrail Blazers, giving up Denny Avdia for
number fourteen overall a twenty twenty ninefirst that is the second best among Portland,

(18:32):
Boston and one other team that Icannot remember. That's pretty close.
That was pretty good. Is thatjust off off the dome? Yeah,
it's off the dome? Or Ican't give if you give me a second
because it's a good team that I'mnot necessarily sure is going to be good,
then it's Portland Boston someone else.And it's slipping in my mind right
now. That's a shame. Ireally almost wear off the rip. Isn't

(18:53):
it weird that Malcolm Brogden has kindof just become like this, Oh yeah,
Brogden with radio to going to theWizards, he's just become this hot
potato that no one really seems towant, and bouncing around from bad team
to bad team. Yeah, Ithink kind of surprising to me. I
did Milwaukee his career to go thatway. Milwaukee was the third team Boston,
Portland Milwaukee, which is could bea decent pick by the way,

(19:17):
for the for the Wizards to getfor Abdia. Don't totally get this on
Portland's end whatever. I guess likeObdy is a good player on a good
contract, but by the time they'regood enough, they're probably gonna have to
pay him again. And then thatContortland wants to kind of accelerate this.
That's a huge mistake. I don'tdisagree. I don't disagree, but it
seems like they also like, maybenot next year, but within the next

(19:41):
three years to be pretty competitive.Well, I think the thirty year is
fine, like in twenty twenty.The twenty six to twenty seven season,
I think is fine because then Scootsin his third fourth year whatever that is,
fourth year, and then you canreally accelerate it. But I think
they should trade Jeremy Grant. Ithink they did a good job of trading
Brogden. Maybe you hang on tohang on to Avdia for a couple of

(20:02):
years. He's playing with these youngguys and really shows his value and trade
him again before you have to payhim in four years he's on a pretty
fresh contract. But again, ifthat fourth year, when maybe they're trying
to be competitive, he's on anexpiring deal and you got to pay him
again, a little disappointing enough tosee a contender of some sort of step
up in the situation and pay thatprice. That being said, the Wizard's
getting too first and Brogden, whothey can flip into at least some seconds,

(20:25):
like is good value, especially alottery first, even in a bad
draft. I understand that. Butand then a second first that might be
pretty good again because Milwaukee's who knows, and who knows what Portland's going to
be in twenty twenty nine. Soyeah, I really like this trade for
the Wizards. But back to whatyou said about Brogden, I think,
and this has been discussed quite abit, but I think the nickname of

(20:45):
the president is fitting and wasn't alwaysa compliment, and I think that's probably
had an impact on all interesting Huh. Yeah, I don't know, Malcolm
Brogden personally need to hear what you'resaying, though. Yeah, this is
both from reading and conversation reject I'vehad with people, and yeah, a

(21:07):
little bit of reacting, but aconversation or two that I've had with people
that would no such things. Well, there you have it. You heard
it here first, folks, orno you did not, You heard it
everywhere. Who else is saying this? What did you think of Reed Shepherd
going third to the Rockets? Isthat just the best player on the board
pick for you? Like, goodsolid safe pick. Yeah, I think
it's a good, solid safe pick. I think he's going to be really

(21:30):
good with a men Thompson. Ithink they have to move on from Jalen
Green. Maybe not right away,but I think that's got to be in
the cards. I do think thatthey should move on from Alprin shng Gun.
I've said this. I've been lowaround Shangoun for a bit now than
everyone else. But I think thatrun they went on late in the season
isn't just like oh, teams inMarch and April aren't trying. It's Hey,

(21:51):
look what happens when you have realspacing and a defense that can switch
and not be built around all ofone guy's flaws. I still think he's
closer to Sabonus than he is Jokic, which, like you pretty much have
to hit that Yokic threshold for itto be worth it as a five that
plays like those guys. But yeah, I think I think Shepherd is going
to be awesome there. Thompson beingable to guard a million different positions is

(22:12):
going to be super helpful. Shepherdcan guard ones pretty much only, but
he's feisting competitive Jim Ratt out there, first one the court, last one
to leave. What else have Igot? On a serious note, though,
i Udoka has an identity as kindof a defensive coach. I wonder
if that's part of this Shangun smoke. But because he's he's come up a
little bit in terms of I don'tknow if there's been any substantive rumors around

(22:34):
this, but in the analysis ofthe Rockets offseason in their draft, you
know, because they're another team thatseems to be trying to make a leap
in the near term rather than thelong term and be competitive next year.
Shanngguon is one of the guys youhere come up a lot as a potential
trade candidate. Maybe if they wantto add a star or or at least
like a solid starter. I don'tknow if they'll be able to go out

(22:56):
and swing, you know, fora full, full blown superstar. But
he's kind of the name you hearsometimes as their big trade chip, rather
than being a guy that's like,oh, we have to keep this guy.
We're building around him. So Ithink he's probably not as set in
stone in Houston's future plans as itseemed like he was like a year ago.
How would you feel about something builtaround Shangun for brook Lopez? I

(23:17):
heard brook Lopez floated a possibility somewhereelse. It seems like brook Lopez is
not going to be a Buck.No, it doesn't. And and then
that begs the question of what theBucks will do at center and you know
the Wars as well. They havea lot a lot to address this off
seas the worse basketball next year ismy guests, I would like that for
Houston. I think I think he'sa guy Udoka can work with, even

(23:37):
in his old age. You know, can try to get him last year
slower State. Yeah they did,Yeah, and they've gone after him before.
That's a good point. I wI like that fit, and I
think, like you said, I'ma men Thompson on the wing, like
that could be a really nice kindof pick and roll tandem that you can
throw at other opposing offenses, youknow, as you're as you're kind of
head of the head of the snakeand back line, And I think he
would be a guy that helps themtake that defense of leap required to get

(24:00):
to the you know, whatever levelthey see themselves as being next year.
I think he could help them getthere because surely defensive improvement would have to
be part of that that identity.Yeah, and we'll see if they end
up reshaping themselves and off right tohave that new identity. But yeah,
just on Shepherd, I think it'sa I think it's a really good pick.

(24:22):
I think it makes the rockets betterright away, and I think it
gives them a little more upside offensivelythat you know, for as much upside
as Thompson has still a lot ofquestions about the shot, as much upside
as I think Jabari Smith still has, as much like as like Tarry Easan
Cam Whitmore, I still think thisneeded jump started offensively, and I think

(24:42):
there's a chance that Shepherd could bethat not number one option, but I
think at potential number two. Yeah, I've liked it a little bit there.
I've liked a little bit of filmI've seen on him since since talking
to you and Brad about him atnumber four. Stefan Castle, this was
a pick you liked to San Antonio. You felt like that was a good
fit. Well, I I likedit with the idea that they were going

(25:06):
to take another guard, right like, with the idea that or that they
will add another guard, I wouldhope that they will add another guard.
I do not like the idea.And I said this when we talked to
Brad of Stefan Castle being the leadguard, right like, I don't like
him the idea of him being apoint guard. It's what the reporting has
said his camp has been pushing for. Probably why I ended up at San
Antonio. Kind of hope they hadChris Paul or Tyas Jones or something like

(25:32):
that to play next to him,because I want him playing off block compared
him to as you know, toSan Antonio, Derek White, and I
don't want that guy on the ballthat much, you know, And so
I worry a little bit that thatthat's going to be the case if they
move him off the ball and he'slike the only he's got to get He's
got to get to mediocrity shooting forsure. But if they move him off
the ball and he's not playing onball, I love this pick. I

(25:52):
think it's a great complimentary piece.They're gonna be a monster defensively even if
he can't shoot. Obviously not canto impact that end of the court.
But yeah, I think I thinkthis is a circumstantial one that you almost
I don't even like Rob Dillingham asmuch as others, although you wouldn't talk
about a stock up guy there's one, But I think like Dellingham with Castle
would have been a nice combination forthe Spurs that I think would have elevated
both. But instead, at leavestme kind of wanting more with how san

(26:15):
Antonio approached this. That being said, they got a lot for dealing him.
Yeah, so two points I'm ifI'm making the case from the Spurs
perspective, I would say one,like you alluded to, they're probably planning
on going out and getting a guardthis offseason, whether that's a Tias Jones,
Chris Paul type of guy who canbe a you know, like an
elder shepherd to help Castle along,or like a tray read shepherd if you

(26:38):
will, Yeah, a read shepherdor a Trey Young type, you know,
someone who actually is gonna have thekeys to the offense and really transform
them. I think either way,you're putting Castle in a better position there
to learn the ropes as he goes, rather than be thrown into the fire.
And then second, I would saythat, you know, as we
see NBA offense has become more decentralizedand run their offense through bigs, run

(27:00):
their offense through kind of no onein particular. My guess would be that
the Spurs are going to run alot of their offense next year through Victor
wembin Yama, and so the needto have like maybe that's where you can
have Derek White as your nominal pointguard, because you're you're not really running
pick and roll through him all thetime. You're using your big as a
hub, and then you're running abunch of stuff off him and everyone else
is just playing like kind of afloating role. I don't really want to

(27:22):
run that much through Wemba already,you know, I want to increase it
from last year. But I don'tknow about not a central point guard right,
like, which is what I thinkyou'd be asking him to be at
that point. Well, I'm thinkingmore of like how Boston runs their offense,
not that San Antonio is going tobe Boston, but just the way
that they don't really have a leadinitiator so you can distribute the workload kind
of twenty five, twenty fifteen,twenty, you know, whatever the percentages

(27:47):
are, I don't know that theyhave enough guys to do that, you
know, Yeah, maybe not.You're probably asking a lot of Kelton Johnson
at that point. You are,And we'll see, you know, Kelden
Johnson, Devin Vessel, We'll seewho's even on the team next year,
depending on what they do on thetree. For what it's worth, I
do too, And he's a guyif if they do go out, let's
say they get Trey Young. IfI'm the Hawks, like I'd be very
excited to take a swing on DevinVessel at this point in his career.

(28:10):
If I were pretty much any teamin the NBA, I would be taking
a swing on Devin Missell. Yeah, and it seems like the Spurs are
not super eager to take that swingat this point, just maybe just because
their plans have changed and he's notas much of a priority. But he's
a guy I think, like youwere kind of saying earlier with Ron Holland,
maybe not a guy that you seeas like your foundational franchise cornerstone,

(28:33):
but someone who can be a reallygood two way wing for you and kind
of that secondary tertiary initiator. Anyway, that's enough on Devin Vessel. We've
now hit the top five. Anyoneelse in the top ten, namely six
through ten in the draft that youyou feel like the fit with the team
is particularly strong or not strong,someone that stood out to you. Yeah,
So he didn't go on the topten, he was in my top

(28:55):
ten Nicole with Topa, who wasmy fifth player. I would I would
move him, like not into thattop tier, but do a group by
himself. Going to Oklahoma City withChip England. You have to think he's
gonna become better as a shooter,right like working with England. That tends
to happen for a lot of guys. And so I think TOPI she's gonna
be out for the year with thepartially torn a cl but it's just a
year to work on a shot,you know what I mean. Like that's

(29:18):
a really good opportunity to do that. And so, uh that's a guy
that I would bump up and Ithink could be a primary creator, you
know on offense as a lead guard. You maybe you want him playing with
someone else you can kind of sharethose duties. But I really like topa
pre draft and and like him,like him since uh t John Salon who
went six to the Hornets, whoI had sixth overall and it was a

(29:40):
surprise that he went six. Thatfelt pretty validating to have him going that
exact spot. Nice job. Yeah, not much of a change there for
me, right, like, becauseit's a new organization. Essentially Jeff Peterson's
in charge and now they have CharlesLee. I believe he's their head coach
uh in Charlotte, and so it'stough to say, like what the belief
can be in him developing. ButI like them taking the upside swing,

(30:00):
Like I like the process from Charlotte. I would have taken Collier over him,
but I fully understand that clearly theleague did not feel the same way.
He fout at twenty ninth and forthem, I honestly, I don't
know that I would have taken CodyWilliams over him. You know, I
probably would have. I just thinkthere's more creation upside with Williams. I

(30:21):
think he's probably a little closer thanSalon is to being whatever Salon ends up
being. Outside of that clinging Ihad eighth, he went seventh. Of
the Blazers, it's a fine fit, right, Like, Still, like
if I doubt they're gonna have JeremyGrant the next time, they're good,
the hell they might out of JeremyGrant in four days. But I still

(30:44):
would like more switchability out of thatspot. Still, to me, that's
exactly what he was top fifteen totwenty center. I think it's a perfectly
fine pick. Don't connect my numbernine guy falling to seventeen, I get
it, right, Like I likethis for the Lakers. Yeah, I
think there's more more scoring upside thanI think people are probably giving him credit
for, and maybe that's why hefell. And again the range that I

(31:07):
had him in, like I thought, Memphis that would be a really good
pick up for them, especially withhaving guys like a Memphis guy. I
don't I don't know why. Hejust kind of feels like a Memphis guy,
little David Roddy. Yeah, thattype of pick. Yeah, I
really like it for the Lakers though, they need scoring. Uh And frankly,
like, if if they go tomove, make a move, maybe

(31:30):
you just include him in a tradeinstead of Austin Reeves now, because I
think there's there's a reasonable comparison tobe made there. Oh yeah, you
think there's a reasonable comparison between AustinReeves and Dalton Connect a little bit?
Okay, just just checking, Yeah, especially if it's the trades to a
good team, like those are bothguys, like Connect is a rookie who
could maybe be a guy who contributesimmediately. Outside of the obvious comparison to

(31:52):
make between Reeves and Connect, Ido think there's some of that similar ways
they score, right, Like itConnects a better shooter than Reeves is,
but getting to the mid range,using his side and his balance to get
shots off, I think crucial partsof his game. Did you see that?
Rob Polenka said that JJ Reddick wasalready drawn up ato for Dawn Connect
in the draft room. Like they'reso full of shit. I just surprised

(32:15):
me that Rob Polinka said that that'sthe most It's completely not true. I
don't like, I don't know that. So here's the thing. Here's the
thing. I think JJ Reddick mightturn out to be a really good NBA
head coach too. I'm kind offascinated by JJ. Just the JJ Reddick
project is kind of fascinating to me, what he's doing with his life,
and like, I don't know,it's just for some reason, I'm kind

(32:37):
of intrigued by just his whole arcand he might end up being really good.
That's not going to stop me fromjust kind of rolling my eyes sometimes.
Oh yeah, when he and RobPolinka and lebron you could throw Lebron
into that too, just say somethings this season where I'm like, really,
man, this is how you're gonnathis is the role that you're going
to play in this soap opera.I can't wait for their post draft Brownie

(32:59):
presser that's coming soon. Yeah,yeah, yeah. They're driving up end
of game the winner, They're drawingup the winner end of game ato for
Bronnie. That's right. They canalready envision Lebron hitting him with that scoot
pass as he comes around the screen. Bronnie, who should be on an
NBA roster for what it's worth,like is yeah, and maybe able to
help the Lakers. I don't know. I can't claim to be super familiar

(33:20):
with with Bronnie James game. It'slike I can't like all of this gets
made of, like people being criticalof Bronnie James, Like the Bucks took
A J. Johnson in the firstround who averaged like three and two last
year in Australia and is like purelyan upside play, Like, oh but
it was solid three and two,right, but like and he and Johnson
like has a ton of upside,but he's nowhere close to playing, and

(33:42):
people are like Bronnie's nowhere near ready, and everyone's hyper critical of him for
making the decision. Guys make thatdecision every year to come out earlier than
they should. He's fortunate because hehas a guaranteed landing spot, So why
not, right, Like you candevelop Where's he better off developing with the
tire Fire at USC or with theLakers. It's the Lakers. Yeah,
certainly. I'm actually kind of surprisedthere hasn't been more fanfare about Bronnie Maybe

(34:05):
I'm just not paying attention to wherethere is fan fair. Yeah. I
would have I mean, I wouldhave thought they'd be pushing him like lottery
pick, first round pick. Imean, I would have thought there'd be
a lot of chatter about like thatthis would be the story of the draft,
And it feels it feels to methat it was definitely the story of
the second day of the drafts allESPN. Okay, Yeah, that's that's
fair. By the way, Ithought the ESPN coverage today was really weird.

(34:28):
I did too, Uh. Ilike Bob Myers a lot, and
I'll leave it at that. Yeah. Yeah, just the whole the whole
universe of ESPN. Actually, Ithought WOJ actually did a pretty good job
fascinating like the WOJ does a goodjob, like I said, of being
intentional what he says, and likeif you can read it right, like
or if you can listen to itright, you know what I mean.
There's also seems like he's okay liketaking a break for five minutes, you

(34:52):
know, and not getting a wordin all the time. Yeah, which
I think that that panel needs.I think Bob Myers is pretty good at
that too. Yeah. So althoughBob was Bob was chirpy today. I
think Bob was trying to Bob wasRoughlince and Feathers defending the honor a little
bit there. Anyways, I hadBronnie at thirty on my board, like,

(35:13):
I think he would have been fineas the thirtieth overall pick in this
draft. I think you could havetaken him like damn sure would have taken
him over a J. Johnson.Uh, he's got a better chance of
helping the Bucks than Johnson does thisyear, I think. And to be
clear, Johnson, can I justask you real quick? Why was a
J. Johnson the target? Like, like, not a J. Johnson?

(35:34):
No, it's a It's a similarit's a similar path, right,
like high end recruit who went forBrownie went to USC but Johnson end up
going overseas but for one reason oranother didn't live up to the hype,
you know what I mean. Likefor Johnson, it was like it's just
tough to play professionally when you're eighteen, and I think he's gonna be I
actually think a J. Johnson mightend up being pretty good if someone gives
him time. You know who ain'tgoing to give him that time? Doc

(35:54):
Rivers. Would you say, wouldyou say that A. J. Johnson
is the Zachary Resschet of Brownie JamesIs? No, I would say that
A. J. Johnson is theBruno of I thought I thought Bruno Koboklo

(36:17):
was the Bruno cook Jos He bothis. Isn't that Bruno's whole thing is
that he's not that He's not Yanni. No, no, no, no,
Bruno. Bruno is the Tony Snell. I was gonna say he's the
Jannis of of Anthony Bennetts. Nono, no, no, no no
no no, no, no no, no. Bruno is the Tony Snell.

(36:43):
Okay, no, no, Ithink Tony Snell had a better Okay,
you know what, Let's we've gone. We've gone way out here.
Let's let's pull it back in.Who else in the first round? I
don't even know where we were,So I'm just gonna I'm gonna move us
into a new into a new trainof thought. Who else in the first
round caught your attention for good orfor real? Yeah? I hated the

(37:07):
modest Bozillis pick for the Bulls,adding a non shooter or a team that
doesn't necessarily fix shooters with Josh Giddynot great. Don't know who's in position
to succeed there, But it's noteither of those two guys. So what's
what's the appeal then? Like,other than him looking a little bit like
Paul Dano, why would the bullshave have liked his skill set? Is

(37:30):
he like a good passer? Like? Is he a Josh Giddy? Tis?
And I know what you're asking me, but I really don't get it
with Bozellis, Like he's a reallygood athlete, He's he is a he's
a good vision. He's played alittle selfish with Geleague Knight, I hate
to say, because he's like nineteenor twenty whatever he is, like,
but he did with g League Knightand like it was a start contrast to

(37:51):
Ron Holland, right, and likethose two playing. But Bozellis, like
the idea of him is what BenSimmons was supposed to be, right,
but it's not. That's pretty good, hold on, hold on, I
got one modest Bozellis was the TobiasHarris of Ben Simmons. Right, that's

(38:12):
a good one, Okay, youknow what I mean? You know what
I mean? Though, Like theidea of it is there, but it's
like just a little bit worse atall of it. And and the skill
set is limited. It's a limitedskill set, yeah, but more willing
of a shooter and has shot wellin the past that you did in high
school. He shot well, butI don't like the shot. So you're
saying as sort of a mediocre craftsmanwith a very small toolbox. No,

(38:37):
I think he's got a pretty broadtoolbox. He just doesn't have the shot.
The shot, yes, but alsonone of the other tools are reaching.
The shot is in the same tierto me as like the defense and
everything. Like it's theoretically it's allthere, but it's just not coming together,
you know what I mean, Likeit's it's it's it is. Frankly,
he's a toolbox, right, Likehe's got like all these all the

(38:59):
things that you need, but withoutthe wrong person to put it together,
Without the right person to put ittogether, then it's not going to turn
out well. And can we pleasestop doing metaphors? I beg it.
Yeah, we that we lost thethreat a little bit on that one.
Yeah, that one was a littleout there. Jalen bridges to the Suns.
It's a good pick up by theSuns. Who else in the We'll
say, let's go out of thelottery. Let's look at fifteen through thirty.

(39:22):
We talked about Zachie real quick.In the first round. Of course,
ZAKII went ninth to the Grizzlies,still in the lot died. That's
why I said that, I actuallythe I hate taking him at nine.
I understand why the Grizzlies did it. I really like the offensive fit with
John Morant. I hate the defensivefit, and I worry that even on
offense, he's just not going toget down the court quick enough for John

(39:43):
you know what I mean, Like, is he going to be involved in
every possession because he and that's notin him By the way, he runs
hard, he's just really big andreally slow. Yeah, and takes a
while, not even really slow.His acceleration isn't great because he's enormous.
I think they're going to be betteroff because he's the best screener in the
draft by far, and like Imean, that's a pretty big moving target

(40:04):
rolling to the rim. But sowhen they drafted him, my first thought
was Steven Adams replacement. The waythat they used Adams as the screener honestly,
I think he can pretty directly replaceAdams. But Adams, I think
was more solid defensively than Edie is, and I trusted that's not true.
Adams was more mobile defensively than Edieis. We're saying something because and offensively,

(40:27):
I mean it like getting in andout of those screens running up to
the ball from the I think Edie'ssize kind of nullifies the issues there because
he's so big that even if ittakes him a second, like it's taken
the defender of an extra second toget around him, you know what I
mean, And so he's going tobe rolling to the rim well so.
But I think the advantage that Adamshas there is when he runs into the

(40:49):
screen, his man is trailing him, and then Jaw has the advantage coming
around the corner. If Edie's manis just on his hip and can get
up into position on that pick androll, I think that, I mean,
you probably have a greater advantage atthe point of the screen a switch
in that situation, because do youwant to watch Zachi Edie eat a human
being? Because whoever's guarding Jah Morantcannot guard Zach Edy. I promise you

(41:10):
well No, I just mean thatthe the the screeners defender, Eddie's defender
will just be in better position todrop or come up to touch or whatever
the coverage is. Even even ifthey like, even if they drop right
like they're the the the on balldefender is not gonna have enough reaction time,
right. I think that's more importantthan the screening defender. The screeners

(41:30):
defender is that jaws defender is notgonna have a chance. He's not gonna
be able to to get around Eatieor to get to recover off. So
I think how it basically is likea switch and you have Moran, he
can drag out the big man,and again, Eadie's eating alive any okay,
anyone that switches on to me,He's gonna eat a live A lot
of centers. Is Eadie? Ididn't watch I mean I saw him a

(41:50):
little bit when he was at Purdue. I didn't watch a ton of college
basketball. Though. What kind ofvertical athlete does he? Is he someone
who can go up and get lobsor is he more of a gud because
he can dunk without jumping? Wellthat helps, Yeah, he has that's
like a seven eleven's wingspan. Yeah, he can go get lobs and has
not. He's not a good verticalathlete at all, but absolutely he might
be the best lobcatcher in the NBA. He's got super soft hands too.

(42:13):
It's a decent passer. Like Isaid, I think the offensive upside is
like kind of there. You know, it's just the defensive it's going to
be a bit of a disaster.Playing next to Jaron Jackson will help,
Yeah, for sure, for sure. All right, let's move outside the
lottery. First round anywhere fifteen tothirty, take your pick. I thought
Cloe Ware to the heat was reallyinteresting just because motor was an issue for

(42:35):
him, and thought that same thingafter hearing you and Brad talk about it.
Yeah, I think Miami run.Yeah. Yeah, he'll either he'll
either get run out of there realquick or he'll find kind of the I
don't know if you want to callit toughness or just the energy that he
needs. I think it's I thinkit's the inspiration. We'll call it.
Yeah, to play harder. Yeah, I like that. I like Jared

(42:57):
McCain and the Sixers. McCain attwelve they you know that again, it
feels like there's more create I caughthim if you remember JJ Reddick but thicker
uh And I always thought that JJRedick was a bit of an underrated passer.
I think McCain is too, uhnot just as a connective piece,
by the way, like he canhe can do a little bit of stuff
out the pick and roll. He'snot great, but uh he he understands

(43:20):
spacing really well and so he cancreate space and get a shot off,
which very much not making this comparison, but Steph Curry is obviously the best
at doing that, if you knowwhat I mean. Like he just he
knows he can feel how much spacehe has better than most offensive players can,
and knows when he can get ashot off. I liked that pick.
Uh, let's see here. RyanDunn to the Suns was interesting.

(43:45):
They really do not want a singletwo way player. It seems just it's
not their style. No, veryvery clearly, isn't Baylor Shyerman to the
Celtics, Like, I just he'sgonna shoot it really well, Like there's
there's a chance that's the Sam Houserreplacement. Shireman does more with the ball
in his hands and the Houser does. But it's obviously not even as good

(44:05):
as an athlete as Houser is,although he can like he's a good vertical
athlete, just can't move his feetat all. Let's see here, Deron
Holmes the second to the heat orto the heat to the Nuggets. I
thought was interesting. Uh, thisnose readiness to to his game that you
know, I also caught him abroke man's bam out of bio uh in

(44:28):
the draft comparison. But I meanthat's how he plays, right Like,
Uh, he makes worse decisions offensivelythan you want him to, but defensively
should be able to switch across everythingand be decent. It's just like,
what, like that team needs realpieces because they're probably gonna lose Casey Pa
free agency and try and replace himwith Christian Brown, which best of luck.

(44:49):
Uh. And they they they're shorton wings. They feels like they're
short on guards to unless Sjalen picketsready, which he very well could be.
But taking a backup big there likejust feels like the wrong allocation of
resources. When Aaron Gordon's playing centerin the playoffs, you know, like
there's yeah, it's it is toughthough, I mean the backup center has
been a problem for the Nuggets forJokic's entire prime. I mean, that's

(45:12):
for sure why Jokic looks so greatin the on off metrics is because his
backups are terrible. Why not justadd Andre Drummond? Well, you know
what I mean, Like Drummond islike the a worse version of Jokic in
all regards, But like, doyou know that you can get him if
you're the Nuggets. I mean,he signed for like four million last year.
He's probably gonna sign a minimum thisyear. He's a backup big Yeah,

(45:34):
I'd probably like that Avenue better,you know. Yeah, That's what
I mean though, Like not tokeep bringing this back to the Sixers,
but Adm Bona, like that isa better if you're gonna do that,
like just go get the high energyguy like Bona is with a lot of
length and because he's not gonna beplaying much anyways. It's the same situation
that the Sixers Nuggets are in,where the you're center in the playoffs playing
like forty four minutes forty two minutesand the regular season are playing like thirty

(45:54):
six So like you need twelve minutesout of this guy, Are you really
wasting a first round pick on aguy that you hoping that you get twelve
good minutes out of at his best, And if there's more to his game,
then you're not gonna be able tokeep him for the second contract even
because there's too much positional overlaft.So I think you're just kind of setting
yourself up to fail there a littlebit. I did mention to go back

(46:15):
to a lot of real quick RobDillingham. I have major concerns about him
defensively. I caught him Bones Highlandwith a better feel and by the way,
that's a clear like five steps aboveBones Highland because his massive flaws that
he has no feel right, andDillingham is better field and operations pick and
roll much better. And his similarlevel scorer is Highland, who is a
good score like as an NBA startinglevel score. It's just everything else is

(46:38):
completely lacking with Highland, so youcan't put him out there. And I
have defensive concerns with Dillingham. Goodnews he has Rudy Gobert behind him.
It's much easier to be a baddefender when you're Rudy go Bear behind you,
and he plays really well off theball. Things and play well with
Anthony Edwards. This is a clearMike Conley replacement eventually. And I don't

(46:59):
know about the asset car. Thatfeels a little steep for me. And
what's not a great draft because I'mstill not that sure about Billingham, But
I do like the landing spot alot for him, and I have more
expectation that he will succeed now thanI did heading into the draft. I
know this isn't the point of whatyou just said, but I got to
check you on the bones Highland asa starting level scorer point. I'm not
sure I buy into that one ohshooting last year, But that's part of

(47:23):
the feel, right, Like that'spart of not having for feel for when
he takes shots. Like he heis a scorer though, Isn't it?
That's fair? But I think heis. He has all of the tools
to be a good like a goodscore in a starting lineup, right,
I see what you mean? Yeah? Yeah, Like I'm not on no
planet? Is he starting no planet? Frankly? Is he in a rotation?

(47:44):
Because of everyone? I don't eventhink he's a good scorer, I
guess is my point. I thinkhe's a good shooter. And I think
he is. You know, he'sa good stop and start and he can
get to the rim decently enough.The problem is he takes a bunch of
bad shots, which goes back tothe feel and that he can't defend and
hasn't defended, would never pass theball, and like all that stuff.
But yeah, I think I thinkstand by what I said. He's a

(48:05):
starting level score posts a decent assistpercentage last year. Like if he were
average at if he were an averagepasser and average defender, had had was
was average in the pick and roll, I don't know, had average shots
selection, he would be a starterright because he would make enough shots.
But the problem is he doesn't.He doesn't really know what he is and

(48:25):
that makes him a lot worse.My shoes went up to my knees,
they'd be boots, not necessarily couldbe waiters. So that's bones Highland.
What other we can maybe move intothe second round? Any like late round
picks guys maybe the listeners haven't reallyheard of or aren't as familiar with,

(48:50):
unless they're hardcore draft knicks that youfeel like could could make a contribution next
year. So there's this guy,he didn't play a lot he had,
Uh, there was some some medicalstuff and he actually ended up getting taken
by the team. His dad playsthere. I don't know if you heard
of this guy. Yeah, soit's Lebron James junior. Is I thought
you were gonna say Maverick plumb Lee. No, that shut up. That

(49:10):
would have been very good. Buthis dad is actually and I know it's
tough to connect these dots Lebron James, right. No, I'd like Bronnie
James, Like, like I saidin this, I think he's gonna I
think I think he had Like he'snot going to change their life next year.
But like you said, I meanhe seems ostensibly, he seems to
have a skill set that could helpan NBA team. Yeah, and the

(49:34):
Lakers are a team that need immediatehelp. Yeah, It's it's like I
was saying with the Bucks in theSuns, right, like they need guys
who can play. I think Bronniecan hit shots on defense. We'll speed
around it a little bit, honestly. That and and we you know that
like and this is measurably true.It was true in high school. Bronnie
has really good feel in basketball,IQ like he he does take after his
dad in some sense, not obviouslythe same degree, but like you know

(49:57):
what I mean, he's he's verysmart. Mine for the game, mind
the game, if you will alPhilipowski to the jazz. Uh. I
don't know if you've seen anything.I want to know. I'm not not
on podcasts. I'm not doing thison the podcast, but it is just
search his name on on Twitter.I have In fact, if you take
nope, nope, don't. Wedon't need to do this discussion on the
podcast. Okay, I'll be ambiguous. Then if you if you just type

(50:21):
the word Kyle into Google, therest of Yeah, it's it's in the
list of the big thing right now. Uh. To the to the spurs.
Uh. There's like some Ricky Rubiothere. He's just got to learn
to shoot some way somehow. Buthe would be a lot of fun with
Wemby and the pick and roll ifit ends up working out. Let's see

(50:42):
here, like I said it,like the of the Sixers hornets, like
another bucket, get her to thehornets. kJ Simpson, by the way,
like plays his ass off to rightlike he is. He is the
prototypical like high volume score in college. But he will he will play hard,
and I think he's a legitimate,legitimate chance to be a backup guard,
like the kind of backup guard thatthat ends up working out. Same
with Jamal shed. I don't evenI don't think he ended up with the

(51:04):
Kings. I honestly don't remember wherehe ended up because these picks get moved
around forty five different times. Uh. But at forty eight Harrison Ingram to
the Spurs. I know that's becausehe's a Carolina guy, But I I
remember watching him and thinking, thisguy plugs a lot of gaps. He
can do a lot of different things. Harrison Ingram twenty fourth on my board.
H Jay Crowder with feel for thegame. With comparison, I think

(51:28):
that's a decent and probably a littlebit more versatility as far as where you
can use him on the floor orat least how Carolina did I mean they
would they would kind of play himin different spots, allow him to do
different things. He wasn't just likethat that Ja Crow for what it's worth
after the forty that trade that pickedup traded earlier today, I believe.
But yeah, I'm with you onHarrison Ingram. I really like him.

(51:52):
I think he's got a good shotto be a rotation player for a while.
He's got size to be a wing, and teams are always after that.
But good pick up by Spurs there. They just continue had guys who
are smart basketball players. Hey,that's the name of the game these days,
man, yep, especially if you'rethe Spurs. They've been doing that
for years. If we're done withthe draft, we can move on to

(52:15):
some news that came out this pastweek. We actually had a couple of
really one bombshell in particular that weneed to discuss, really two moves in
conjunction with one another, but reallykind of part of the same overall splash.
And that came from the New YorkKnicks, who traded for mckill Bridges.

(52:35):
That was yesterday, Thursday, Wednesday, I can't keep track of the
days went to that. That wasMonday night, I think Monday night.
So the Knicks trade for mckill Bridges. They give up four unprotected picks,
including a Milwaukee first round pick allout in the future for Bridges, and
the following day they re signed Ognanobito a five year, two hundred and

(52:58):
twelve and a half million dollar dealto stay in New York. That deal,
of course, is that's how it'sreported five years to twelve. It
does include a player option, itdoes have a trade kicker, and you
often see these deals get reported alittle bit higher than what the actual guaranteed
amount is. I would tend tothink that that's the actual two twelve though,
because if you're getting the player optionin the trade kicker, you know

(53:19):
what I mean, You're probably notgonna have a lot of non guarantees in
there. Yeah, and an oftentimeswith five year deals, it's tougher to
work non guarantees in right when it'swhen it's the player option at the end
there. Yeah, but I likethis is more than I think we all
thought the Knicks were gonna pay yeog and and Obih. I mean,
clearly the price got driven out.That's almost the max for him. Yeah,

(53:43):
And this is the area where Iwould have concerns about paying og and
Obi that much money. I wasgonna ask you, I feel the same
way, and the health and youlike this is a pro og podcast.
We love og and Andobi, butI like I had the sixers on this.
I just don't think I could havegotten there on that level of money.
Like it's yeah, you're asking alot. Your highest paid player is

(54:04):
your fifth fourth option offensively, Likethat's that's a lot. And listen,
he's good enough defensively to make upfor it, but it's a lot.
I don't know if he is,though I think he's maybe the best defender
at his position in the NBA.I think he's one of like three guys
who can actually guard one through fivethough in that matters, that's true,
that's but but I don't think hechanges your life, changes your life,

(54:27):
but he doesn't. I don't thinkhe has the he changed my life,
which I don't think he has thekind of blocks the sixers. I don't
think he has the kind of impactfrom a you know, total team standpoint
to really put him up in thatlike Rudy Gobert, Victor Women, Yama
Yannis, range of defender, EvanMobley, Jared Jackson, Like he's not

(54:49):
on that level to me, forwhat's worth, the trade was Tuesday night
for Bridges. I've had my daysmixed up. But anyways, for the
sake clarity, yeah, I don'tthink he's that level of impact. Differences
like he's he shoots and we knowthat he shouts at a high level.
Problem is how much does he wantto have the ball offensively? Like is
he going to be happy there?And I think and this ties in with

(55:10):
the Bridge's trade, because pretty muchevery team in the NBA needs mckel bridges.
I don't know that anyone outside ofthe Thunder can justify the price that
the Knicks paid, you know whatI mean, Like four unprotected firsts of
your own going out to twenty thirtyone when you don't have a top fifteen
player in the league on your roster, pretty steep price. Then add in

(55:35):
a swamp, then add in Bonovitch, who I assume that the Nets are
gonna flip for value, even ifit's a couple of seconds. At the
very least a nice trade except awalking trade. Exception is something like to
call it throw in the Bucks pickthat's uh four through or one through four
protected next year, like that pickcould reasonably be like seventeen in a really
good draft next year. I wouldnot have done this if I was the

(56:00):
Knicks. Like, I get it, they're betting on the chemistry and that's
worked out really well. But Ijust like I'm we you and I both
meet self deprecatingly make the jokes aboutthe Sixers only getting the second round.
The Knicks got to the second round, right like they they did not make
the finals. They did not likemake some deep run. They won one

(56:21):
series against a beating up team thatwas for worse. I would argue punting
on the season by not making enoughrequisite editions of the deadline. Uh with
a with a Hobbwood superstar like andI understand that they all got hurt,
but that that ain't a bug.That's that's part of the system with Tibbs,
uh. Like, I don't know. I think they went all in
too early. I think this takessome Obviously, they're they're pretty much never

(56:44):
getting Mbiat in his prime now,They're pretty much never getting Honest in his
prime. Now, They're pretty muchnever get They might be able to get
Mitchell at the back end of hisprime, if you know what I mean,
in five years. But yeah,they've they've this is it, Like,
I just I think McAll Bridges isawesome. But if you don't have
the guy, and I don't thinkBrunton is the guy, or at least
you don't have like one or twoto one b's, then I don't.

(57:05):
I don't think you can make thismove. So I thought the Thunder were
perfect for Bridges. Thunder really perfectfor everyone. But I really love would
have loved that move because they arelike, if you ad Bridges, it's
like, okay, well they havetwo high end offensive options and SGA like
the highest end offensive option in SGA, like one of the five best OFFENSI
players in the league. If JalenWilliams, who's a certified like number two
option, no doubt in my mindhe can do that. And then Bridge

(57:27):
slides into the three, and that'sperfect. He's great defensively. But now
you're still gonna ask a lot outof Bridges defensively because OG's not gonna make
through that you're healthy. Uh Andand that's like not a shot at him.
He just doesn't you know what Imean, He's dealt with injury issues.
Bridge is probably gonna be guarding theother team's second best player. You
might lose Hertenstein, we'll see becauseof this. I just it feels like

(57:49):
too much, right And if,by the way, if they don't add
the two unguaranteed contracts not guaranteed contrasts, if they don't guarantee them and add
them to the deal to hardcap themselvesat the second apron instead of the first
apron. Everyone in the front officershould be fired. I assume they're going
to do it, but like itwas not reported that way, right,
Like, if they hardcaped themselves atthe first apron, they pretty much can't
re sign Hartenstein. This is interesting. We're we we disagree slightly, although

(58:14):
I don't think we're that far aparton this. I kind of like this
for the Knicks, and I'm gladthese two moves happened roughly at the same
time, so we can kind oftalk about the man. Oh, I'm
sure. I'm sure that they hadsomething lined up with him Andobi when they
made the Bridges trade, and andthere was some talk for a second,
you know, like does this meanthat OG's gone? They trade for OG's

(58:36):
replacement. Turns out no, theywere bolstering their team. I think at
this point we have to assume JuliusRandall is not going to be on this
team next year, or maybe they'llcarry him into the season, you know,
we don't know. I think itis good for them though, to
know that they have Og coming backand it's not a choice. It's at
the very least, it's not achoice between Randall and Og anymore. You
know you have Og, you knowyou have Bridges, and you know you

(58:58):
have that that backcourt of Devincenzo,Heart and Brunson, So you know that
that's roughly going to be your rotation. Hartenstein kind of a question mark.
Mitchell Robinson kind of a question mark. Robinson for reliability and injury reasons,
Hartenstein for free agency related reasons.So you don't know who's gonna play center
for you next year if you're theKnicks. That's a little bit of a
problem the health. He just wantsto play a center, Yeah, and

(59:21):
he will, and I think theyshould. I think Hertenstein helped him last
year a lot. But I'm sayinglike there's no Julius Random with the five,
which I think right. Actually,I think rand with the five would
be really good for the team andthe switch everything. But I kind of
think their best lineup is o Gat the five. Yeah, I'm with
you, but they're not going todo it like I want see. I
wonder if the front office is tryingto force Tim's hand a little bit on

(59:44):
that and just give him too many, Like you'll find someone mart out there.
He is not playing a small ballfive. He just we'll see.
So the center is a question mark, and and the health like you said,
you know this is this is ateam that I think, when healthy,
is one of the deepest teams inthe NBA. Maybe doesn't have quite
the top. I don't know thatit's one of the deepest. Oh.

(01:00:07):
I think between there, whoever endsup starting for them, they're going to
be bringing one of Devincenzo her heartoff the bench. They have Miles McBride
coming off the bench, although theymight dump him in a trade if they
need to dump some salary. Ithink we've probably all overrated all three of
those guys. And not saying you, but like because of the New York
knicks of it all right, LikeI think this happens with the Lakers a
lot. Like de Vincenzo is agood shooter and like an active defender.

(01:00:32):
Right, I've said this before.I don't think devincenz is good of a
defender as other people do because he'ssuper active in it. It's like the
Avery Bradley thing where it's not helpingyour team as much as it looks like
even some of how muchis thy Boys, but Devincenzo is not even as good
as thigh Boys at it is atit Josh Hart like he's still a non
shooter. Yes, he got hotfor one series, but then he very
much calt off and it very muchcost the Knicks. Like I think,

(01:00:55):
I think they're asking for a littletoo much out of everybody, right Like,
I think Jalen Brunson his best isthe second option. I think mcow
Bridge is best as a third,og is a fourth. I think Devencenzo
and Hard are both better off hissix men coming off the bench, right
Like, I think I think theyhave a really strong top six and not

(01:01:15):
a ton beyond that. And thattop six, like everyone's just like being
that stretched a little too thin.But they're all like they're all I guess
probably not, they're all ones stretchedlittle too thin. They're all like between
tiers of what they should be,right because Brunson is not a number one,
but I should probably take back whatI said, Like I don't think
he's either a number two either,right like, because of the way he
plays. Bridges I think is theone that's clearly a number three. But

(01:01:37):
og is like between the three anda four, but they're asking them to
be the three. Heart is likea six man the starter, and they're
asking I kind of reject that framingof it, though. I think that's
I think that's kind of an antiquatedway to think about it. I think
we're in it. I think you'renow applying Celtics basketball to everyone, and
the Knicks just don't play basketball thatway like they they that's not how they

(01:01:58):
produce it. They do at timesthey do it Brunson gets off the ball.
They do when he is when hegets double team I mean, they're
one of the best swing swing whenthey get into those kinds of actions,
they're one of the best teams inthe league at that sure. And I
also think that he is a leadinitiator for all of Like it is like
the Celtics, anyone can start that. For the nixt it is Jalen Brunson
is the league. I'm not sayingit's the same. I just I think

(01:02:20):
there are They're far closer to heliocentricthan they are distributing the ball. But
there's a share between the rest ofthe guys. There's a shared DNA there
with how the Celtics play. AndI do think that that Bridges is good
enough to be what they need himto be, because I think this isn't
really going to be an offensive team, and I you know theann Andobe extension,
the bridge is trade. Those areto me, those are primarily defensive

(01:02:42):
moves, and I think whatever offenseyou get on top of that is a
bonus. I think you will givethem a lot offensively, I know.
I agree. I think the Knickscan score though, I mean they were
a top ten offense last year.I think this is a good team.
I think I think it's a goodteam too. I think it's a top
four seed in the East, butI'm not convinced it's like a true I
don't contender. So that's where Iwanted to get to, though, is

(01:03:02):
because you talk about, you know, could you have waited two years whatever,
and you know X Star might havebeen available. I think when you
feel like you have a chance towin a championship, you can't you can't
wait on that and you don't knowwhat the landscape's going to look like in
two years. Two years from now, the Celtics might be in the midst

(01:03:22):
of another dynasty. That might bethe next dynastic era that the NBA is
in. You just don't know rightnow. We're in this period of transition,
fluidity, parody, whatever you wantto say to describe kind of flackness
of the league right now. Andso I think the nixt calculus was this
might be as close as we get. We felt like we were close last

(01:03:42):
year, even though we didn't makethe conference finals, we felt like we
were that caliber of team. Yeah, we're a little worse than the Celtics.
Like I think if you go kindof roll by, like like player
type by player type, role byroll through the roster, everyone on the
Knicks is like ten percent worse tofifteen to twenty percent worse than everyone on
the Celtics. They don't quite stackup. But I think when you measure
out the depth and you look atlike the talent and the way these pieces

(01:04:04):
fit together, I think it's Ithink it's the second best team in the
East, but probably like the sixthor seventh best team in the NBA.
And so that's kind of on thefridge, right championship And that's without that's
without knowing whatever the Caves and Sixersare going to do. And both could
reasonably leap them this off. Sure, but my point is right now the

(01:04:25):
pool is very large of comparatively speakingof teams that could win the championship,
and so I think from from theKnicks perspective, it's like the club is
bigger than it may ever be forthe next or years. We don't know,
so we may as well get inthe doors to put ourselves in there
and give ourselves a chance. Ithink that's bad planning on their part,
not understanding the CBA. The CBASessentially made it so you cannot have these

(01:04:47):
dynastic teams right unless you like,like unless you count three years of being
in the final or close to thefinals as dynastic. We know that unless
contracts are going to be longer magically, which that won't change, or like
something changes in the CBA while it'sstill ongoing and we know that doesn't happen,
then I think they're judging this wrong. There is a clear window for

(01:05:09):
everyone to be fairly competitive here,and they they kind of shot their shot
on a guy that doesn't elevate themto shore fire title contender, right like
they shot their shot on a guythat elevates them to definitely really good,
and like so I don't know thatdefinitely really good wins your title unless you
get like perfect luck in the postyand listen, but that can happen for

(01:05:30):
that could have happened to them intheir state last year, right, Like,
I don't think they're demonstrably better,especially if they lose Hartenstein, like
I think they they are going totake a step back because Mitchell Robinson is
not the same type of player thatHartenstein is. But I just think like
they if their idea was this mightbe the best shot that we've ever had,
then they fundamentally, fundamentally misunderstood whatthe NBA's goal was with the last

(01:05:51):
CBA and creating parody and making itimpossible for teams to just pay everyone and
keep them all the time, becauseas we've said over and over again,
the Celtics aren't gonna be able tokeep this together all that long. Right,
Like they they went all in onlike frankly, like Drew Holliday's better
than mckail bridges, right, Christopherperz andis is better than Keail Bridges.
Like they went all in on twoguys for less than the bridge that less

(01:06:12):
than the next gave up for oneguy. Like it's about being smart and
selective with these decisions, not necessarilylike you don't you don't want to trade
for mckel bridges on some level,you want to find the next one,
right Like you want to find theguy that's on a team or the next
Derek White. That's that's probably abetter example because we've talked about that,
right you want to find the guyon the team that's underperforming that like mckail
bridges was when he used in Phoenixis the perfect example of this. You

(01:06:34):
don't want to pay for him oncehe's done it. You need to pay
for them before then, and thenyou can really build it out. Because
I still think, like I said, stack them up. You said they're
all fifteen percent worse. Well,if they had Donovan Mitchell at the top
of the food chain, like they'renot, then right, like it all
it's in a little bit. MaybeMitchell's not a great example if they if
they go get take your pick likeDevin Booker or Kevin Durant, right Like,

(01:06:55):
if someone like that came available andyou take your shot, then then
you in everyone slots in nicely tobeing about you know what I mean?
The same level as the Celtics,but instead they upgraded slot number three or
slot yeah, slot number three,And I just don't think it's going to
be enough. And listen, mckalbridges is an awesome player. I've said
this over and over again. TheKnicks are a really good team. I

(01:07:16):
just think the price that they're payingis not going to become measurate with what
they get out of this and thepercentage chance they gave themselves to win the
an NBA title higher than what itwas before. Yeah, I hear what
you're saying. I think that's allreasonable. I think it comes down to
that. I believe that this teamis more than some of its parts,
maybe a little bit more than youdo. And I understand why you feel

(01:07:40):
it isn't that because of the waythey play offense and Brunson's role and all
of that. But I saw alot from this team that I really liked
from just like a team basketball standpoint, and I think having another creator in
there might actually free that offense upa little bit and make it a little
less slanted, because now it likenow it doesn't have to just be brunts.
And I think last year was asense that it had to be Jalen

(01:08:00):
Brunson who created everything. Now youhave a second guy who maybe isn't a
great on ball creator, but canat least do it. He can initiate,
he can make things happen, andthen that just gives you another entry
point to getting into those team offensivethings. I think this is the disconnect
for me with everyone else. Withmckel Bridges, I think you don't want
his usage rate to be nearly ashigh as it kind of has to be

(01:08:24):
for them to have success. Ithink you want him sparingly running pick and
rolls, right. Like. That'show I feel a bit about Jeremy Grant
too, Like it's a guy thatwent to a situation where he found out
he could do this, and he'sa number one option, so everyone's like,
oh, he can be a numbertwo. It's like, no,
he can be a number three,right, Like he can. He can
do this at times, but it'sstill not how you maximize him. Like
they're still going to ask a lotof him offensively and then ask a ton

(01:08:45):
of them defensively too, and aswe know, that is very very difficulty.
Yeah, and so I think he'sgoing to be stretched a little too
thin on both ends. Yeah,and you're right, Like, I don't
think we're too far off on this. I just think like, if that's
the decision they made, they're calculusis just incorrect. Like they've just misjudged
what this is going to look like. And who knows, time will tell,
Maybe I'll be completely wrong and likethe Thunder turn into a dynasty immediately,

(01:09:08):
but we already know, like theThunder are planning for like, well,
they can't pay Josh Giddy, youknow what I mean, we just
saw it. Not the Giddy's anygood, but like they kind of know
that they're going to have their threeguys, probably in Williams, Sga and
Homegren, and then the rest ofit's going to be rotating cast of characters
if that's how they want to doit. Otherwise they get to dump one
of those guys for pieces and tryand build up a deeper team. Right
It's just the Celtics in two yearsare going to have to make decisions on

(01:09:30):
that front. So I just don'tthink there's a way to build a dynasty
right now, unless you like,unless the Spurs just like Stefan Castle's an
All NBA player in two years orsomething. Right, Like it's it's essentially
if you get a WEMBI level playerand you also nail the next two r
or the two before it. Yeah, fair enough, fair enough. We'll
see how it chicks out. Ithink this is a fascinating move for the

(01:09:53):
Knicks one way or the other.If it goes up in flames, it'll
be interesting to watch. And yeahit doesn't, then they might win the
championship nexty. I do give themcredit for having conviction, right like you,
If they think Bridges is what theyclearly think he is, then yes,
he's worth five first round picks.I just don't think he's worth all
that. The thing we haven't addressedhere, here's the power of friendship,

(01:10:14):
John right making this about. That'sthat's what this kind of that's what's going
to carry the Knicks. That's theshould quad. To take it back to
some French pronunciation, the chemistry isgoing to carry the Knicks to the championship.
The chemistry would definitely actually help them, Like I agree, Yeah,
no, I just being like halffacetious. But it's not it's not a
difference maker, like you know whatI mean, it's not going to beat

(01:10:34):
the Celtics. Maybe not the differencemaker. Yeah, I hear you.
One thing I will say though,like I would have rather traded for Laurie
Markin and if that ends up comingto fruition and they end up being able
to do that, like that's thesecond option, you know, offensively,
and they're the defensive personnel of makeup for it. But yeah, I
would have just I think my targetwould have been a little askewed, a

(01:10:55):
little bit more offensive. Yeah,it is what we'll see, Like I
think they, Like I said,I give the credit for the conviction.
At least team's too scared to goall in, so it's better than it's
better than you know, I don'tknow. Let's see hanging on to DeMar
DeRozan and Nikola Vusovich and Zach Lavinefor too long and then trading a guy

(01:11:15):
who actually found it has real valuefor a worse young player, and then
trading or then maybe potentially letting goof DeRos and free agency and having to
add Asset Skirrida Levine or what haveyou. I don't know that a team
would ever do that, but Ijust think that's a pretty nasty hypothetical.
What happened to a franchise. Ido respect the Knicks for for going all
in, and like I said,I think this is the time to do

(01:11:38):
it. My guess is the thingto your point about marketing and versus bridges,
My guess is the thinking for themwas switchability, defensive versatility, wings,
match up with the Celtics. Thatwas kind of the line you heard
coming out from a lot of thereporters was they wanted to be able to
match up with the Celtics and theirversatility with some and they can. The
Knicks. I think you can throwsome really cool defensive line out now.

(01:12:00):
I mentioned earlier that potential og atthe five lineup. Again, who knows
if we'll ever see that, butI think between all those those wing type
players plus Randall if you want tothrow him in there, if you think
he's going to be on the team, they have a lot of versatility across
that position. So I think it'llbe a fun team to watch. I
enjoyed watching the Nicks a lot lastyear, and I think this only makes

(01:12:23):
them more enjoyable. I think thatwas all I had on that. Anything
else we need to address before wesign off here, No, I don't
think so. Free agency starts Sundayat six pm. Curious to see what
happens with Paul George. That's kindof the domino that triggers everything else.
It feels like it does it does, which is an interesting dynamic. I

(01:12:46):
feel like usually usually the domino wherethere's either not a domino we're waiting on
and it's just a free for all, or the domino is someone much And
this is all due respect to PaulGeorge, but much better than Paul Jr.
George like an MVP level player ratherthan a perennial All Star. I'm
curious where and I know where.You haven't done the top thirty yet.

(01:13:06):
Where would you guess you have himin the top twenty five in the NBA.
I think his range is as bigas anyone's. I think I think
a lot of people are overreacting toto nothing like I feel like in which
direction. I feel like a lotof people are acting like he's completely washed

(01:13:29):
up now, like and that's justlike yeah, and like there's been a
lot of like he's not the defenderthat he was. It's like, of
course not, but he's still likea high end defender like I thought he
was the Clipper's best player for thefirst half of last year. Yeah,
like, and I've seen like,oh, he's probably someone you won on
a mediocre wing than like a goodwing. Is Like I would be fully
comfortable sticking him on like his teammateKawhi in the playoffs, right, Like,
I would be cool with that.I think he's still a top fifteen

(01:13:53):
player probably pretty pretty clearly. Yeah, I think he's. I think he's
somewhere in like the ten to twentyrange. I mean I could, really,
I could probably I could make thecases better than Jason j Frankly,
I don't know if I make thatcase, but I think I would because
he will because you can trust thathe's not going to do the stuff that

(01:14:15):
you don't want him to do.And I think that matters still. Yeah,
I mean, just for one year. Paul George does like the mid
range jumpers, Yeah, he doeslike that you don't like him that much.
Uh, And I trust him moredefensively off the ball too, So
I don't know if I agree withthat. I genuinely don't know. I
would actually have to to do moredigging on that question good news, as
we will. But yeah, Ithink it's kind of wild Like there's been

(01:14:40):
a lot of like all George ona four year deal. Sure, he
will be thirty seven by the endof it, but you're getting thirty four
and thirty five when he's still clearlygood and his game is going to age
really well. Like what is thething, Like he he overcame a catastrophic
injury already, Like, what reasonsdo we have to believe that he's going
to like downrig downgrade significantly. Ithink he'll age well, and I think
that's related to the fact that hisgame fits very well in a lot of

(01:15:04):
different places. You could imagine himon yeah, basically every team, and
you can see how he fits andyou can see how he makes life easier
on the other players there. Andthere aren't a ton of star level players
in the league that you can saythat about. He has a very portable,
very malleable game, which I thinkis more than any individual skill that
he possesses. I think that's thething that really makes him like the jewel

(01:15:28):
of this free agency class is thatthere are a lot of teams out there
who can convince themselves I think rightfullythat they're a Paul George away from being
the favorite in the especially if they'rein the Eastern Conference, maybe even if
they're in the West, depending onwhat that team is. Because he's just
that good at that many things.And so while even he's even though he's
not elite at any one thing,maybe shooting, came an elite shooter.

(01:15:53):
He does enough things well and hefits well enough with other star players that
like there's no there's no hang upswith how is he gonna fit? How
does he slot in next to thisguy? What does it look like?
You know that he can adapt,he can bend his game to accommodate basically
any situation. Yeah, like yousaid it perfectly. I just I don't
understand why any team in the leaguewouldn't want that, Like they was talking

(01:16:15):
like honestly to go back to theKnicks, like I would have rather traded
for Paul George than to Michel Bridges. Absolutely, well, it seems like
they were a candidate for that,them and the Warriors, and people bring
up the heat, which that's nothappening. Jimmy Butler's not going anywhere.
That's just I think Jimmy realized thatno one was paying him that money.
Uh but uh yeah, like withouta doubt, like I would rather have

(01:16:39):
Paul George's for two years, becauseagain, if you're trying to maximize the
window, which seems like they're they'retrying to do, uh, get the
better player. I guess I don'tknow. Uh, I have a question
for you. Yeah that you knowwhatever, We'll talk about this next time
when more stuff settles. Oh acliffhanger. Yeah wow. What I actually
do is when this pot I'll talkto you about it, and we'll talk

(01:17:00):
about it next time too. Allright, Yeah, that's going to do
it for us. We appreciate youall listening all the way to the end.
We appreciate you sticking with us throughdraft season, through playoffs, hopefully
through the off season as well.Like John said, starting in just a
couple of days here. So wewill be back with some kind of dispatch
at some point soon after the startof free agency. Can't say quite yet

(01:17:21):
when that will be. We'll haveto line the schedules up and make sure
it works. But at some pointsoon after free agency will be together again
to discuss all the major deals,the headliners, potentially Paul George, who
knows if he'll sign. I wouldpoint we might be talking Paul George Saturday.
We'll see. Yeah, yeah,so we will see. Hopefully all

(01:17:42):
will tune back in whenever that pointis. In the meantime, make sure
to keep up with John's work coveringPenn State athletics at the Center Daily Times
as well as on the Nitney Dispatchand the Nitney Gritty podcast. Man doing
that all in a row, speakingit. That's tough to do. Good
for you. Nice job, Thankyou, Thank you. Mike. Sure
as always to keep listening to thispodcast. Leave us a rating, review,

(01:18:03):
whatever else, subscription, word ofmouth sharing if that's your thing,
and if it's not, that's okaytoo. Just keep on listening and we
will talk to you all when wetalk to you. In the meantime,
everyone stay safe, take care ofyourselves, take care of each other,
stay hydrated. And John, I'lltalk to you later. Talk to you soon.