Hoops Redemption: Bounce Back or Bust?

This week, we break down the players entering fresh situations with something to prove. Will their new teams and roles spark a comeback season, or are we selling the hype? Join us as we discuss who’s primed for redemption and who might be headed for disappointment.

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Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:01):
What's good.

Speaker 2 (00:02):
Everybody is your boy cal game face Lee.

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And it's me Warrenshaw and we are officially live on millions, y'all.

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That's right, The Baseline NBA podcast is officially live. Just
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Absolutely so be sure to go to millions dot co.

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You already know.

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Keep it real here the Baseline NBA Podcast. Your boy
Cayl gave Face Lee and my man warren Shaw hit
us up on millions.

Speaker 1 (00:42):
Don't miss out.

Speaker 2 (00:45):
This is the Baseline discussing the hot button topics of
the NBA. Welcome everybody, your tune to the Baseline Cali
Warrenshaw discussing the hot button topics.

Speaker 1 (00:55):
Of the NBA. Ah the dog days of summer.

Speaker 2 (00:59):
Man, it's hot, it's humid, and it's actually quiet, you know,
after the.

Speaker 1 (01:06):
Fever of.

Speaker 2 (01:09):
Free agency frenzy, you know, it's got to be at
least a moment for us to kind of like take
a breath, right, So I think we're in that period
right now where everybody is taking a moment, taking a breath,
and then we'll you know, raise our eyebrows up and
then say, oh, crap, it's media day. Oh crap, it's

(01:31):
you know, it's so ta's again. So you know it's
but it's a good time, especially to to kind of
gather your bearings, especially with the blitz of everything that's
been going on, you know, previously the last few weeks.
And as always, when we go ahead and roll at
the red carpet. To my right hand man www dot
shaw sports dot netpickhun the P and T. My man
is one shot repping out of Fort Florida to Florida.

(01:52):
What's good, brother, man? How you doing back up in
the joint? Brother?

Speaker 1 (01:57):
Taking my fresh off a little mini vacation myself as
the NBA world is all like everyone's you know in
Europe or you know, in the in the Caribbean, or
whatever case may be. Luckily I live in a place
where a lot of people come to vacation. But I
went up the coast and took me a couple of
days back. But we're back here, man, and ready to
rock with the baseline as always, power packs show ready
for folks to rock.

Speaker 2 (02:17):
And roll with absolutely man. So this is also a
good opportunity for us to to kind of, you know,
navigate things a little bit differently. I know everybody is
you know, salivating, waiting, you know, impatiently to start talking
about new players, new faces and new places. You know,
get ready for the previews already, you know, pre talking

(02:39):
about you know, who's gonna hoist the trophy and everything
like that.

Speaker 1 (02:43):
Settle down.

Speaker 2 (02:44):
There'll be plenty of time to do that, right Like,
the NBA will not disappoint in giving us fodder for
for for talk. Okay, So, but we wanted to take
a little bit of a different approach, and you know,
this kind of goes the way of how our minds
kind of work in this part of the offseason, right Like,
because they're players who are a part of this free

(03:04):
agency frenzy that really didn't get a lot of press,
they didn't get a lot of conversation of. But I
think you me shaw like and maybe even our listeners
might think differently about whether or not, you know, we
want to make sure that these guys don't get overlooked
because I do think that them being in new destinations
and new places may actually have an impact on whether

(03:27):
or not the teams that they're going to be playing
for and why they got them is going to put
put them in the best position possible for them to
make that run. Right, So we're going to highlight our
buy and sell feature with guys who we know there
needs to be some level of Hoop redemption, and we're
going to be on that buy and sell mode about
are we completely buying it? Are we all in on

(03:47):
the fact that this them being in this situation, this
circumstance with this team is the right fit. Are we
selling out on the idea that even if they're going
to be there, they're not really the ones right, Like
it's going to take something else and whatever it is
that they're going to probably bring to the table might
not be enough for whatever those expectations might be. And

(04:08):
I know that there's a long list, but we're just
highlighting guys that we feel like didn't get enough conversation
or talk. But we thought that the move itself was
signifying something for what these teams are trying to put
position themselves prepare themselves to do. So we'll let you
know what those guys are. And as always, we appreciate
everybody for hopping on board with us this week. Be
sure to get the my Manshaw as sports. I'm sorry

(04:28):
at D warrant. Shall I keep forgetting that man? Now
that you're official and you put the D in front
of your name, it's just you know, yeah, you're you're, you're,
You're so Hollywood that man, like I almost have to
you know.

Speaker 1 (04:41):
One day, one day, one day, I'm you know, trying
to put it into existence. As I speak.

Speaker 2 (04:46):
You let me know when I got clearance to to
then put the the game Face League because I thought
game Face Lead was already good.

Speaker 1 (04:52):
But you know, you rock and roll. But you can
always get us at our shows.

Speaker 2 (04:58):
Try to handle at NBA Baseline and as always, you
know that the show is on www dot based on
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When you see us on YouTube, we say hello to
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(05:20):
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(05:42):
check out the family of great content creators. So shall
let's get right into it, man, this is our buyer
sell mode regarding you know, players that we reel like.
You know, listen, the move is made. They're part of
the conversation, but they deserve a little bit of talk, right,
And the whole idea is do we buy or sell

(06:03):
on some of these players because quite frankly, the reason
why they didn't get talked about is the likelihood is
they had a pretty disappointing season or for whatever reason
where they were playing or who they were playing with,
they just did not perform to the level that I
think would have impacted them for why they were brought.

Speaker 1 (06:19):
There to begin with.

Speaker 2 (06:20):
Now that's not to say that these guys are trash
or these you know, their season, their careers or anything
like that. But we do think that there is an
opportunity of hoops redemption because now you start looking at
what these guys are expected to come and do for
these teams, and the idea is that if they're able
to do it at a high level, most certainly they
will bounce back and perform at the level we've always

(06:42):
expected them to be. So I'll let you start it off, Shaw,
Who are you starting with for our conversation of buy
or sell hoops redemption?

Speaker 1 (06:51):
So I'm actually going to go with somebody who's not
in a position who's going to be all that impactful
in terms of team winning. Right, this team is resetting
the table for what they want to do. And we
talk about this every now and then. Sometimes a great
move is understanding, like, hey, understanding that you're not going
to be great and it's time to like, let's try
to develop some young talent. Get as much talent as
we can here tank air quotes, so to speak. But

(07:13):
you know, try to get yourself in positions for great
lottery picks. And I'm talking right now. I'm looking at
the Washington Wizards, and I think they did a really
good job over the course of this summer to reset
their roster, right and just say, you know, bring in
a bunch of young dudes. And one of the young
guys who I think I'm really excited to see if
he really is as good as people say he is
or he thinks he is, is Cam Whitmore. This is
a prime opportunity for Kim Whitmore to truly truly ball

(07:36):
out now with the Washington Wizards. Young Core. Obviously Carrington
is there. You got Star there as well. I mean
even Core kisper to lesser degree coming off the bench.
Whatever right they got was Thomas from from Texas. This
Washington team is like kind of loaded with you know,
young guys, and you just don't quite win. Everybody's going
to be But I'm looking for Whitmore to kind of

(07:58):
go out here and be kind of like this alpha,
you know what I mean, because he's going to be
a little bit of a veteran presidence if you will,
or I guess is what. He's thirty or fourth year
in the NBA, but I think he's somebody who really
knows he can score the basketball and whether or not
he could do that in a way that's not just
kind of empty calories. It's something that we will ultimately
want to see here. But wit More's primed to have
a really breakout year in terms of his statistical performance.

(08:21):
But can it translate to somebody into something that the
Washington which will want to kind of keep around, not
just kind of a bridge to like their next iteration.
But is he a pseudo building piece as like, Hey,
you know what, this is a nice, complimentary guy who
can get you a lot of points, can rebound a
little bit as well too. I'm really excited for the year.
Can Moore should happen Washington?

Speaker 2 (08:38):
So I would be excited for him. I think my
question to you Shaw is will the maturity catch up
with the untapped potential?

Speaker 1 (08:47):
Right?

Speaker 2 (08:47):
And I often say to myself when I look at
some of these guys who they have been highly touted,
they've been highly recognized. Maybe when they came in they
were a wildcard project by their previous organizations. Somehow something
has not synced in. And I'm not blaming the player.
It could certainly be the situation, the circumstance. It could
be the development system that they were involved in. Something

(09:11):
just hasn't clicked with Cam Whitmore. And you get to
a point, especially when a player who is now fully
baked in. He's no longer like you know, a one
year rookie or anything like that. This is someone who's
baked in, already understanding the nuances of how he's going
to have to make himself successful. I am often scared
when I see situations like this For a guy like
Cam Whitmore, I'm not liking him to a Jordan Poole,

(09:33):
But what I'm saying is is that, like Jordan Pool
was someone where that opportunity was there for him because
he played on a mature roster and positioned himself well
to be a key player to help the Golden State
Warriors win that championship. Cam Whipmo has never had that opportunity.
Now he has an opportunity to go to an organization
that's been mired in mediocrity and even less than that

(09:53):
for quite some time, and whenever they try to bring
in premier players or future players, it just never seems
to it never seems to click or resonate that this
is an opportunity where it's not even just about your
personal steps. You could literally be responsible for revitalizing a franchise,
an organization, and the belief and the hope that they

(10:15):
can actually be a sustainably good team, something where it's
more than just getting a long term contract but also
becoming an attractive destination for free agents, for coaches who
want to be involved in this and see that potential.
Some of these guys just don't understand that. And to
your point, y'all, like we've seen the glimpses of when
Cam Whitmore, when he's on one, what he could really

(10:37):
look like?

Speaker 1 (10:38):
Right?

Speaker 2 (10:39):
Can he do that now knowing that this is basically
an open canvas? Right, Like he has an opportunity to
be Picasso in a situation where everything around him is
either mired in ugliness or is not attractive enough for
people to actually buy into the idea that you know,
this is a place where guys really should want to

(11:00):
stand out, show out and make something of it. And
I think people get lost into the wins and lost
his aspect of it as well too. But what I'm
just looking for is if Cam Whitmore's that premiere of
a player, if he's that person that a lot of
people believed and if he was in the right situation,
could have clearly been a Number one kind of guy
or whatever the case.

Speaker 1 (11:18):
May be.

Speaker 2 (11:18):
What better way for you to be able to do
that than in a place where nobody has any expectations
for you to succeed. Nobody has any expectations that the
Wizards are going to be a is going to be
a playoff or play in bound team. But if you
help improve, if you help elevate even the roster of
guys that are around you, and you didn't stand out,

(11:41):
you don't even have to be an All Star, but
you've got to be in a position where you're having
like an impact. I think that to me is what
I'm looking for more than anything with Cam. Yeah, I mean,
and he's a guy who can get you twenty easy
right his pir thirty six or you know, gets somewhere
I think at twenty three or I think twenty three
is first year and twenty one last year. Houston just
took a leap that was in somewhat in some ways

(12:01):
unexpected and they just didn't need him. So I credit
the Rockets for putting him in a position where he
would I'll have an opportunity to get some run like
he should be competing for big time minutes there And
I said, I think I said Thomas before, but obviously
Tree Johnson who they drafted, but along with.

Speaker 1 (12:18):
Johnson, and you know, whether or not to keep McCollum
or not or whatever. Like, there's gonna be a lot
of guys maybe trying to bite at the apple and
take some shots. What's going to be the Rold delineation
on this team. I'm not quite sure what that is
just yet right now as we're you know, in August,
but I'm interested to see and whether wit Moore is
a guy who you know, gets thirty minutes a night,
whether that is a starter or coming up the bench.
I think he's just gonna have opportunity to get minutes

(12:40):
in gedible And now, as you alluded to, is he
an empty calories guy or is he somebody who can
really help you for the short term and potentially the
mid term and long term future of the Washington Wizards.
That remains to be seen. I think we'll know a
lot after this year, whether or not the Wizards choose
to pick up year four and five you know, for
him on that rookie contract, or whether or not they're

(13:01):
like all right, we've seen enough, you know, kind of
like they did with Jordan Pool in two years, Like
you know, well, we're good on that. This is not
quite the dude, but I'm rooting for campbet More obviously
slipped in the draft a couple of years ago. He's
got a lot of you know, a lot of uh,
he's got a lot to prove, He's got a big
chip on his shoulder, and I think he's somebody who
will be able to have a really big season in Washington.

Speaker 2 (13:17):
Yeah, I agree with you there. I think there's definitely
opportunity for him to have an awesome season, right how
and what that translates to, you know, again, I think
it's just going to be the big question as it
pertains to the roster that he's playing around like that

(13:38):
he'll be surrounded by, right, there's some potential, really really
good players there. Will the chemistry be there, right with
Bob Carrington and you know Sorr and those guys, Like
if they can figure out a way, well, yeah, if
they could figure out a way like and listen, they
could very much do like what did you did? You

(14:00):
know what I mean?

Speaker 1 (14:01):
Like, there's an opportunity there.

Speaker 2 (14:03):
I'm not saying that that Whitmore is anything like Kay Cunningham,
but what I'm saying is Kay Cunningham put in that
work because he understood the importance of being that draft
lottery pick, being among one of the best players in

(14:23):
that draft being selected, and he already understood the history
of what's been going on with the Detroit Pistons, and
I think that lent itself for him to be fast
tracked into why people believe so heavily into the turnaround
for the Detroit Pistons. And so that's what I mean, Like,
if this is an opportunity for Kim Whitmore to kind
of show us, it doesn't have to be getting those
twenty points easy. Like we know that if you're getting

(14:46):
the minute, you're gonna get the opportunities, you're gonna get
the shots. But if you're somebody who's really not within
the flow of the potential of the guys that are
around you, it meant that you never bought into that anyway,
So you're just trying to get yours and that's not
gonna help the Washington Wizards.

Speaker 1 (14:59):
E yeah, all right, all right, well you give us
here your first guy here, you know, enough Cam Wetmore
talk a room for young fella, But who you got,
See who's your first guy on this line?

Speaker 2 (15:08):
So the first person I want to talk to talk
talk about is ironically enough, I wasn't. I was on
offense about bringing him up. But I do think that
it's important that we do have this conversation about Lonzo
Ball and Lonzo Ball being a part of the Cleveland Cavaliers.
I really don't know if people really understand it like
this is the Cleveland Cavaliers really really really rolling the

(15:31):
dice here and pushing their chips in on addressing the
depth that they didn't have access to with a legitimate
point guard, and also acknowledging that this isn't about, you know,
anything regarding Darius Garland. I think, of anything, it's about
recognizing that they need Darius Garland in whatever capacity that
he's available to without stretching him thin, especially through his

(15:54):
young career, and basically enabling the Cleveland Cavaliers that still
have depth in their in their second and second unit
and having a guy like Lonzo Ball on that roster.
But to me, the thing that I think really stands
out more than anything when I think about Lonzo Ball,
when I think about the Ball brothers, Lonzo Ball, to me,

(16:15):
reflected the most of the most successful of the brothers
arguably right like where he went. He actually did have
an impact when he was healthy, and it's just terrible
that the injuries have just completely ravaged what we could
have potentially seen in his career. But this is an
opportunity where maybe the organization, maybe being under the Cleveland Cavaliers,

(16:41):
they are going to properly utilize him and put him
in the best positions possible where we see the maximum
potential without stretching him to the point where he's not
He's not going to be available when it really matters
the most, when we really wanted to have this opportunity
of seeing the you know, the greatness that's within life
Lonzo Ball as to what he can do, and this

(17:03):
is a great situation for him. I do think and
believe that there's a hoop predemption storyline to this because
we've been doing this all all throughout the Balls brothers careers,
right like, we've been giving them chance after chance after
chance after chance. There comes a point where we just
we stop with all of this. Right, it's no longer
the father, it's no longer about LaMelo, It's not all

(17:25):
about Leangelo. This is about Lonzo, and if Lonzo recognizes
that he has a window where he can be successful,
and it's with a team that has been in the
playoffs the last three years. He has to be one
of the reasons why they're now taking that next step,
which is ultimately getting to the Eastern Conference Finals, ultimately
getting to the NBA Finals. He has to be an

(17:46):
important reason for them to do that. And this is
what I'm looking forward to when I speak about Lonzo
Ball because due the years, we've been deprived of the
opportunity of what he can actually bring to the table
for the team, for the teams that he's played for.

Speaker 1 (17:58):
Yeah, I mean, he's got to stay healthy first and foremost,
but I think the acquisition of bringing him in behind Garland,
who himself was banged up, is going to be I
think hopefully a nice one two combo that they can
continue to get play creation when Garland is off the floor,
because then when Garland's out, it kind of defaults to
Donovan Mitchell, who obviously can do it, but it's still

(18:19):
better served playing off the ball and again as a
secondary creator, not having to be a primary for any
kind of like a six minute trench just because Garland
is off the floor. So that allows Lonzo to be
able to do that. And if you believe this three
point shooting has improved in the way that we saw
it kind of last year and then obviously before he
got injured for those last couple of years, then that's
somebody as well too. If Donnavan is driving, he's kicking

(18:41):
out or Mobley's getting double team, same thing. Somebody who
can hit a open three, especially if it's some of
the wings and the corners. I don't know that he's
going to have any kind of blow byability right now,
and if he's going to be able to raise the
floor for them on the fast riag side, but he's
still bringing a steady force, is going to make smart
decisions for them, and that's what this Cavaliers team need.
And I think when you talk about the depth, that
really is something that he's being brought here to do

(19:03):
in a real way. They lost Ti Jerome obviously they
choose not to, you know, resign him in that capacity,
so he's not gonna be able to provide the scoring punch.
I would imagine that Jerome did, I think at times.
But again that play creation and then a little bit
of defense as well too, should make a lot of
sense for this Cavaliers team that definitely needs something else
on that bench from when it comes to the backcourt spot, right,

(19:24):
like they're they're pretty rocket and rolling when it comes
to the front court, but that backcourt was a little
iffy of Goaling and Donovan weren't really weren't always at
their best because Sho's had a down year as well,
to Carrol Sivert was in and out leverts obviously no
longer on the roster. Where the case of b second
year with DeAndre Hunter and now hopefully with a full
year with him, see what he'll be able to do
with that.

Speaker 2 (19:42):
Yeah, So when it comes to Linzo, I'll just make this,
you know, point real quick. You know, last year, he
really you know, he played about thirty five games, right,
obviously injury ridden, only averaged about twenty two minutes, right,
only averaging around three and a half sisper game. And
I was just curious, you know, from your perspective, Shaw,

(20:04):
when you look at the statistics, you know, and and
the skill set of a guy like Lonzo Ball, I
think that Lonzo Ball actually will help out guys like
Sam Merril and guys like DeAndre Hunter, you know, what
I mean, Like, he doesn't necessarily have to be scoring
the basketball, so we don't have to worry about that
part of it. But his ability to to distribute, his

(20:25):
ability to hit guys you know, in spots and spaces
and things of that nature, I think is so critical
and to me, it's what continues to give Kenny Atkinson options,
you know, and the ability to plug and play and
mess with the roster a little bit more rather than
only relying on certain guys when they're streaking, you know

(20:47):
what I mean, and that that isn't necessarily the case.
He knows his best players are going to be the
ones that are going to have to step up to
that next level, but he definitely needs the floor general
rules to get those guys those opportunities in those spots.
To me, what do you think should be the one
thing that you want to see as an on an
uptick that gives you the confidence for Lonzo for Lonzo

(21:09):
Ball to have that kind of season that you alluded to.

Speaker 1 (21:12):
I mean, I think it's just it has to. It
begins to starting meet with the health. Is he on
the floor, it is he available? Right?

Speaker 2 (21:17):
So the number of games played.

Speaker 1 (21:19):
Right, right? I think he'll mention five. I mean, I
didn't realize that, you know, Laryn ANSWER's back on this
roster as well. But I think you know somebody who
will be able to fill the lob. I think to
Alan Mobley and maybe even Nansen, whatever minutes he's able
to get. And then also you know, play create and
and play off, you know, off the pick and roll,
you know, and hit guys on the corners and in
the wings, you know when he is trying to drive

(21:39):
to the basket. Don't know what his floyd's looking like
these days, but that's a shot that I think he'll
have to be able to hit offensively, and just whether
or not he's able to impact them defensively in a
way that's not negative. Like I said before, I really
like the overall edition. Ironically, I don't want to get
too down the road of you know, kind of like
it's kind of your land the cause theories. But our

(22:01):
guy Gerald on Rick Mhorn, they were talking on serious ExM.
I think when it announced early in the summer, they're like,
this could be maybe the Koban Cavaliers are not all
that excited about keeping Garland and could Lonzo Ball be
the replacement clearly Garland's a better player than the Lonzo ball, right,
But it's like they were saying, could Garland then be
the Conda do it to a trade that gets an
even more depth and letting Lonzo kind of be maybe

(22:22):
the lead guard in that situation. I don't know, as
it'll seem a little far fetch at the time. A
guy Gerald, you know, Rick, like they you know, they
do they do some they do some real fun stuff
I think on the weekends there. But it was an
interesting take at the time. I think Gerald specifically was saying,
and while I wasn't necessarily buying that, I could see
where he could come up with the narrative, so to speak.
But I think they made this move in essence to

(22:44):
have both of them, especially for this year, to see
if they can make a deeper run of the Eastern Conference.

Speaker 2 (22:48):
Finally, absolutely, you're tuned to the baseline Cali warren Shaw
discussing the hot button topics of the NBA coming up
sew and I will dig into another set of players
who we are on the buyer sell bandwagon of hoops redemption.
Don't want to miss it here on the baseline, we

(23:16):
are back Calie Warrenshaw Baseline NBA podcasts, and we're doing
our buy or sell edition of Hoops Redemption. Guys that
didn't get a lot of press, pub talk or conversation,
but we do think that the moves made might speak
a little bit more about whether or not this is
an opportunity for these guys to either be you know,

(23:39):
applauded or lauded when it's all said and done with
with what they should be contributing for their new teams.
All right, y'all, So let me go ahead, and I'll
start with my number two in this conversation, And this,
to me is one that definitely flew under the radar,
but I'm gonna speak to it because I was a

(23:59):
little surprise at how off of season it was for
Contavious Caldwell Pope. And you know, when I think about,
you know, who he is as a player, what he's
meant over the last three four years. It's been kind
of interesting to me because guy teams that are bringing

(24:20):
in contables calledwell Pope know what they're bringing him for,
and he knows what he's being brought in for. And
since winning the championship for the Denver Nuggets, Okay, it
just feels like something is a little bit off, right.
He's not as defensively sound as he was coming off

(24:43):
that season to help them win that championship. His three
point shooting has not been, you know, as consistent, has
actually been on a down tick, right, And even this
even last year with what happened with the Orlando Magic,
and I was watching those playoff games, he just seemed
to be doing a lot more talking than actually helping

(25:06):
the Orlando Magic basically lean a lot more into what
made them who they were. And I'm not saying it
was his fault. What I'm just saying is that it
just seemed a little out of character with what you
come to know when you think about KC Peak And
so to me, him now being with the Memphis Grizzlies,
I find it interesting because I think where a lot
of people are on this perception that the Memphis Grizzlies

(25:29):
are selling out because they got rid of Desmond Bain.
I do believe that they still believe that they have
an inside chance, like any of the teams in the
Western Conference to make a play. And you only bring
a veteran guy on here if you truly believe that
he can work with John Moran. He can work with
Jaren Jackson Junior and if nothing else, elevate them to
play even better defensively without compromising what you were getting

(25:53):
from the play of Desmond Baine. Now he's not your replacement,
but what I'm saying is is that you obviously are
bringing him to the table knowing that he can help
bring contribution to what the MEMPHISUS could potentially do, especially
as a starting three and d kind of guard on
that roster.

Speaker 1 (26:08):
Yeah, and I'm not so sure that he will start.
I think you know where we're at a CACP at
this stage's career. It's it's the quintessential solid veteran guy
who doesn't really hurt you too much. His expectations in
Orlando were too lofty for his proverbial station. They just
didn't and he didn't have the same juice there because
he also didn't have a lot of play creation.

Speaker 2 (26:28):
Right.

Speaker 1 (26:28):
You come off, you know, playing with Joker, and then
you know, while bon Carol and Wagner are cool and all,
that's not the same level of play region even Jalen sungs.

Speaker 2 (26:37):
Kind of that, well, don't move the same way.

Speaker 1 (26:39):
It's you know, he's just not there not talking about
the same situation, so he was just slightly miscast. While
while nobody said the signing was bad, everybody thought there
was going to be more and I think he himself
expected to be maybe more productive in that situation. Now
you go into Memphis, well, sure he'll have an opportunity
to start, but I don't know that he will especially

(27:00):
Jandle Wells is as good as we think he is.
Right and now they also brought the aforementioned in our
previous segment tied Roman too this situation. So KCP is
going to have to earn those minutes. But the one
thing he knows that he's going to be a good
pro and that's something I think you definitely want to
make sure you have alongside. You know, John Morant. You
know John Morant had that last year where Derek Rose
and Marcus Smart where nothing really kind of really seemed

(27:21):
to mention that. But you can continue to have that
great presence. But we're here to talk about the actual
basketball and I'm maybe not as convinced as I'm not
saying that you are, but I'm not sure he has
as much juice left to be as impactful. While I
think John can get him some good shots as well too,
even Jared Jackson to a lesser degree, although we know
Jared Jackson isn't really playing the cost all that much. KCP,
I think is going to be productive, but not and

(27:43):
I think in a really difference making way.

Speaker 2 (27:46):
Yeah, I think where my concern comes into play is
you're not going to be able to change what KCP
has evolved into in being the quality player that he
has been. Right, he is someone that operates better when
the ball comes to him rather than him actually establishing

(28:10):
anything from a guard level perspective. And that's probably the
reason and that's definitely a reason why you got Ti Jerome, right, Like,
you have that kind of dynamic person who can get
the ball, he can you know, create on his own.
And you know, when John Moran is off the floor,
he tied Jerome and in many respects, I think can
figure out a way to get the ball to other
playmakers as well too. I think to your point, where

(28:34):
I'm at when it comes to what KCP can bring
to the table is is there has to be accountability
for when the Memphis Grizzlies are not sound defensively, right,
And I go back to what I was saying a
little bit earlier that what was so out of character
last year when it came to KCP is he wasn't

(28:54):
even solid defensively as much as I think he could
have been. Now, I don't know if it's because because
of the fact that the way that Jamal Mosley had
the team set up in how they play defense maybe
made him look slower or made him look like he
just wasn't, you know, meshing or fitting in.

Speaker 1 (29:10):
And I'm not.

Speaker 2 (29:10):
Saying that he is. He's still a quality defender, and
I think that it's imperative that what he can bring
to the table for the Memphis Grizzlies as far as
defending goes, is gonna is gonna be catamount because you're
if you're gonna, you're gonna, you're gonna thrust Jalen Wells
into that situation. You're telling you're telling me that you
believe that he's gonna be able to hold his own
against the best two guards or guards in the Western Conference,

(29:34):
which is still very guard heavy, And I don't know
if I buy that completely, which is why having a
table was Calbo Pope allows a little bit more flexibility,
especially when you recognize that Wells may get into foul
trouble or Morant get into foul trouble, and you need
a heady, savvy defender like KCP.

Speaker 1 (29:53):
That part of it I.

Speaker 2 (29:54):
Want to make sure is still intact. Or Wilson, what
was the point of you bringing him onto this roster
if you didn't that he was capable of still holding
his own against some of the better guards that are
still in the Western Conference, right?

Speaker 1 (30:05):
I mean, and I think you know, it's interesting when
we bring it up that way, because I think, you know,
even looking most projective lineups have him as I was
starting two, and Jailing Wells as a starting three, right,
So maybe it's it's kind of an honest you Jaron
Jackson at the four and Zach Ede at the five, right,
so it should be cacp's starting job to lose. But
I think where I'm going to shift the conversations some

(30:25):
is are we thinking about what he needs to be
able to do offensively in that Memphis system? Or is
it more from can he be a defensive leader? Right?
And it's not always the blocks and the steels or whatever,
but it's just the stops, you know, or filtering guys
into help with Jaron Jackson. And now you know, Zach
Need is a gargantuan you know at the rim, so

(30:46):
is he going to be able to help them from
that lens and then mature the Memphis defense in a
way that we've always kind of expected them to be,
like this really great, great defensive team. And they showed
some signs even the last couple of years, but they
fell a little bit, they said a little bit last
year when the change their entirety of their offense and
hire all those new coaches, and we want to see
if they can get that defensive identity back. That's why
I think ACP probably still can be impactful. But if

(31:08):
you're looking for him to be, you know, a forty
percent three point shooter or whatever the case to be
and giving you fifteen to sixteen in a game, I
don't know that that KCP is still there for Memphis,
but that doesn't mean he can't be helpful, especially defensively.

Speaker 2 (31:20):
Yeah. So I mean, so we're buying our selling.

Speaker 1 (31:24):
I'm well, you're buying I'm I'm a little bit more dubious.
So I'm gonna situation i'd be interested.

Speaker 2 (31:34):
How are you taking my credit card?

Speaker 1 (31:35):
And listen, you you know what, it's years of podcasting
with you, and I understand, like you're a KCP guy,
you know, and there's nothing wrong with that. I think
there's very reason. There's a lot of reasons to be
KCP Guy's had a fabulous overall career and he's you know,
he's helped in almost.

Speaker 2 (31:52):
Then he has a good acronym.

Speaker 1 (31:54):
I like KCP. Well you know that that works for it.
Who do you have? Uh, I'm going to I'm going
to jump to somebody who is, for continuity's sake, let
me go with a current nugget. As you're talking about
a former nugget, and this is not somebody a lot
of people are going to give two wiggis about, you know,

(32:16):
shout out to health the Skelter. But Yona's Valente this.
While I know he was slirting with the opportunity, you know,
to kind of go overseas after he got traded from Sacramento,
I think he has I know he has a great
opportunity to play winning basketball and really be on a
big stage with the Denver Nuggets playing behind playing behind Jokich.

(32:38):
I don't know how much, how many minutes they'll actually
get together that that remains to potentially be seen if
there'll be some kind of like wonky lineups where then
you know, you play those two bigs. But Valentiunis is
somebody who plays at least, you know, seventy seventy two
games each year, generally very healthy and very productive, especially
up from the rebounding side. I'm not going to call
a bunch of plays for him, but he can post up,

(33:00):
you can hit like you know that kind of like
little turnaround or wherever the case would be. He's got
a decent mid range shot. Not a great defender when
it comes to blocking shots, but everybody's a very very
big body, and I think as much help as you
can give, you know, NICOLEA Jokic at this stage here
where you don't want to continue to just wear him
down forty forty five minutes a night, especially in the
regular season, Valentinos can soak up a lot of those

(33:23):
minutes and be very, very very impactful for them, especially
when it comes to getting some post production in a
way that they haven't had when Joker goes on the bench.
So I'm looking for volunteers to play winning basketball this season.

Speaker 2 (33:35):
You know, one of the things that I really appreciate
about the Nuggets doing this is they knew getting Yonis
Valentiunas was not to get them a Jokic like, right Like,
if they really wanted to get a Jokic like they
get they did try to get you know, use of

(33:56):
nurkids that ain't gonna work. Right There weren't many people
out there that you're going to be able to get
to do and replicate what Nicola Jokic brings to the
table as far as the game of basketball. But you
can get players who if they play next to a
guy like Jokic, or they play for a guy like Jokic,

(34:18):
you're gonna get the maximum of what their abilities that's
allowed them to do. And with Valentiunis, and what I
appreciate mostly than anything about him is he's grown to
be the bully on the block and he's embraced that,
he's accepted that. And sometimes that's exactly what the Denver
Nuggets needed. Man. Sometimes they needed another level of toughness.
They needed another level of of you know, bravado in

(34:43):
them that is not filtered through what your Jokic gives
you just because of his statistics and you know how
he loves to move the basketball. Valentinas can move the basketball.
He just isn't going to shoot the ball like Jokic, right,
But Valentiunis can get the ball to guys. He can
definitely set those picks that you always expected from Jokic.
If nothing else, he actually gives another dimension to what

(35:06):
we've been starving from Jamal Murray and how he is
as a guard supposed to help accentuate the offenses in
different ways. And part of that is because there's too
much dependency on what Jokic has been doing and the
ball going through Jokic so much so I think having
a guy like Valentiunis, while again to your point, is
going to eat up a lot of Yokic minutes. What
I also I am appreciating about is this is now

(35:29):
going to put that challenge back on the Nuggets to say,
we have these different dynamic players. They all don't have
to be like Jokic. Let's start maximizing what these guys
can actually bring to the table. So it can really
help diversify what the Denver Nuggets have been lacking over
the last couple of years. It's basically made them a
one trick pony because they know that the moment Jokic
comes off the floor, the Nuggets have no imagination in offense,

(35:51):
they have no imagination in shot selection, they have no imagine.
It's like they're completely lost. But a guy like Valentnis
who spent years playing for so many different teams and
it's made his way into getting people to understand, I
can give you what you need. You just need to
tell me. He to me can be a very solid
player to your point, Shaw in helping to diversify the

(36:14):
Denver Nuggets being the perennial powerhouse team again as always
yeah and again.

Speaker 1 (36:20):
In an age where we want everybody to shoot and
big men to shoot or whatever. He's he's not doing
it right. Balance youing, this is a two point bucket getter,
Like that's what it's going to be. Like eighty nine
or ninety one percent of his shots are within sixteen
feet in below. Like he is not out there out
here just jacking up. And I don't know if the
Nuggets will ask him to, you know, try to stretch

(36:40):
and do the corner three or something like that. But
this's has not been his game. But as somebody who's
going to be able to definitely get you some baskets, yeah,
in the post and you'll catch again. I think they
will be sometimes where they can play together. But I
think more importantly it's just so that you'll Kitch's minutes
can come down some you know, in the regular season,
and while Joker's never really shrunk her for efficiency so

(37:00):
to speak, we might even see some more efficiency as
a result of not having to play, you know, those
exhaustive minutes that we've seen, you know, in years past.
As the Knuggers have really rutooled their roster. Obviously they
got Bruce Brown back as well too. But I think
valentiunis in this light, I think he's gonna be happy
that he didn't get he didn't go to Europe, right
and having a chance to really compete at the highest
level for I think really one of the first times

(37:21):
is in his NBA career, right like he's he was
in Memphis, he was in Toronto, he was in New Orleans,
and none of those situations I think were really they
were really contenders, and others are legitimate contenders. And I
think we may see valentunas as some of his best
ball coming in a backup role.

Speaker 2 (37:34):
Absolutely your tune to the baseline Cali Warrenshaw discussing the
hot button topics of the NBA. Coming up, we're doing
part three of our Buyers Sell Hooper's Redemption.

Speaker 1 (37:45):
You don't want to.

Speaker 2 (37:45):
Miss it, man, We got we got two more interesting
names to throw out there, and so you want to
figure out whether or not we're buying a selling on them.
Got you gotta hang with us, man, you're catching us here.
Callie warren Show, don't go anywhere. We're back Calie Warrenshaw

(38:13):
based on NBA podcast and we're doing our Buyer Sell
Hoops Redemption edition.

Speaker 1 (38:19):
So we went.

Speaker 2 (38:19):
Through four right, got another two to do, Shaw, So
who do you have on your on your on your list?

Speaker 1 (38:28):
And so I'm gonna if this is maybe not going
in the in the method of the exercise, because this
is not somebody who I think is poised to have
a great season. But I'm hoping I'm wrong because I
like him as an individual. But there's a lot of
controversy about the move. And that's actually Miles Turner going
to the Milwaukee Bucks. A lot was talked about Dame

(38:49):
Lillard being stretched and waved as a result of acquiring
Miles Turner, but not a lot of conversation was talked
about Miles turner actual fit with with Milwaukee in that
Giannis is clearly a better basketball player and a Hall
of Fame player that Tyre's Haliburn is not at the
stage up I think at this currently, I think Miles
is going to find life very very different on this

(39:11):
Milwaukee team than he did the last couple of years
playing a light song haliburtn. Giannis is a different type
of creator than than Haliburn is, and like he gets
his baskets, you know, very very differently, he creates his
assists very very differently. Turner is going to have to
be an effective and I mean an effective knockdown jump
shooter you know in this Bucks offense that I don't

(39:32):
know that he's quite capable of. While we've seen stretches
where he's been hot and we know the defense will
be there, I'm just not sure about the fit offensively
with this Bucks team. And it will start to come
up when you talk about, well, we're basically essentially paying
whatever it is, like fifty two million dollars to have
for the right to Miles Turner, because we're not paying name,

(39:55):
but we're still paying, you know, the waiting part of
that salary, and that in the contract that Turn essentially signed,
that's going to make Turn like this forty eight million
dollar player that quite frankly, I don't know if if
fiscally he can live up to that. However, he is
going to do everything in his power. I know Doc
will do everything in his power as well too to

(40:15):
put him in positions to be successful. But you have
to also wonder about the play creation. The table setting
of a Kevin Porter junior is kind of like the
lead point guard there Cole Anthony as a backup guy there.
We know Yannas is full to kind of the fact
of point guard. But that really puts Miles Turner in
a in a kind of a compromising situation where his
jump shot needs to be almost knocked down for this
contract air quote contract or the money that's going be

(40:38):
pailed out for the rights to him to actually be
worth it. So I'm a little little worried for Miles
in that regard, but he's again he's an amazing individual.

Speaker 2 (40:45):
It's just got a lot on his plate this upcoming season. Listen,
this is a very unusual circumstance and I think the
added pressure of him signing with arguably arrival right to me,
think kind of speaks you know, more to what is
taking place. Right Obviously in his mind he doesn't see

(41:11):
things in that light, right, Like he's in that that
maybe that part of that generation where that won't have
any kind of impact whatsoever about what it is that
he wants to contribute. He could have already had maybe
one foot out the door, recognizing you know, hey, I
only have so many years left for me to give
the best of what I can give. And at the
same time, I only have so many opportunities or teams

(41:33):
on the table that still have an outside or inside
chance to make a run for a chip.

Speaker 1 (41:40):
Right.

Speaker 2 (41:41):
So it's to your point, it's it's all kind of interesting,
you know when we talk about a guy like Miles Turner,
no question, and you know we've had our conversations. We've
even had Miles Turner on our show quite some time ago, right, Like,
he to me kind of gives me the flashes of

(42:02):
what I would you know, would still would love to
have seen for most of our bigs now in the
current you know, NBA, and he's had to evolve in
a way that's allowed him to be sustainable in the
style of his play, especially playing for the Indiana Pacers.
So now he's going to have to pivot and do
that for the Milwaukee Bucks and do that. Nixon arguably

(42:23):
one of the greatest power you know, one of the
great power forwards that's going to ever play this game
of basketball. So you know, in a way he was
a part that that person would have been his his rival.
That's the person where if he was as generational as
a Yiannis was, we would be talking about these matchups
between him and the Milwaukee Bucks when he was playing

(42:44):
as a pacer. But it never evolved in that kind
of way. It never happened that kind of way. I'm
wondering how that influence is going to have for Miles
Turner in this iteration.

Speaker 1 (42:55):
Because.

Speaker 2 (42:57):
That's what I was hoping for, right, I was hoping
that he would have been that person that's elevated saying,
you know, among the bigs, we are we are the behemoths, right,
we are the what do they call it is Godzilla
versus King Kong, right, king of the monsters. They arguably
could have been the King of the Monsters in the
Eastern Conference and now what he has, what he's bringing

(43:19):
to the table is to help supplement elevating the Milwaukee
Bucks back to that level of conversation where we're buying
into them being legit contenders, right, and it not just
being legit contenders solely on what Yannis does, but it's
clearly going to have to be on what moles Turner
contributes for the Milwaukee Bucks. And that's just a different

(43:40):
conversation and a different dynamic altogether.

Speaker 1 (43:43):
Yeah, I mean, and it's funny because you look at
them on paper, and Miles and Brook are very similar
in terms of like there are points per game, even
in some ways the way they play. Both really good
rim defenders, you know, always in the leaders if you
in terms of blocks, they both shoot about five to
six threes a game, shoot about thirty five well somewhere

(44:05):
between thirty five and forty percent. But their offensive systems
have been very, very different. So while the statistical production
is very very close in Trump's of comparison, and that's
where I think Milwaukee maybe got a little intoxicated. It's like, oh,
we got our Brook Lopez replacement, you know, younger version,
et cetera, et cetera.

Speaker 2 (44:21):
I think they I think they're I think they're trying
to I think they're trying to re you know, do
this again. I think they're you know, when brook Lopez
came to the Milwaukee Bucks and played next to Jannis,
that was a resurgence of brook Lopez and his career
and the numbers that he put up defensively. You know,

(44:41):
first it started more offensively, but when they won the championship,
it was the combination of the numbers that he provided
both offensively and defensively, and that just continued a couple
of years more until he now is you know, in greed,
you know, going to to the Los Angeles Clippers. I
almost feel like the Milwaukee Bucks are just like, let's
rerun this project one more time, you know, you know,

(45:01):
this is how we created brook Lopez. And maybe that
is something about Giannis that you know, we saw this
with Bobby Portos as well too, which is why he
legitimately became a great backup as well. There's something about
playing next to Gianni's maybe in some regards that might
actually accentuate what's been, you know, hidden under the crevices
of Miles Turner's greatness. Maybe that's what will happen over

(45:23):
the next couple of years, and you know, maybe we're
having this conversation about the Milwaukee Bucks being legitimate contenders
again because of what he's now going to be able
to do next to Jannis than what he was doing
all by himself.

Speaker 1 (45:36):
Yeah, well, we will will absolutely see. I mean, Bobby
Porters is there as well too. Obviously, there's like it's
a different cast of characters there and different coaching and
different offensive set. So how Miles will integrate into this,
we just don't know. Again, I thought it was worth
bringing up because when you look at the numbers, very comparable,
you know, Turner's younger, et cetera, et cetera. I just

(45:57):
don't know if it's going to be the same thing
that every that that the Bucks are hoping for. And
I know Miles was anxious to get the bag and
you know Kuters are forgetting it. But will the production
be there in the way that the Bucks needed to
be where he can have a season worth leaving the Indiana.

Speaker 2 (46:12):
Pacers for absolutely You're tuned to the baseline Cali Warrenshaw
discussing the hot button topics of the NBA. Do Shaw,
you know, I want to blame you because I had
my third all lined up ready to go, and then
you hit me with the MPG card. And now and listen,

(46:34):
any strays I gave you? I gave an extensive list.
I gave an extensive list of a ton of people,
and then we have this conversation off the air and
then you hit me with that. Well, you know, it
is an interesting topic to have, So any strays, any
any collateral damage.

Speaker 1 (46:56):
You got to own this one, bro, you got it.

Speaker 2 (46:58):
I'm with you, Hey, Antherony Simons is lucky. I'm just anyway,
So my final by ourself is going to be you know,
Michael Porter Jr. Now listen, everybody who's heard me seems
to think I got a grudge with this kid.

Speaker 1 (47:12):
I don't. I really don't.

Speaker 2 (47:13):
I Actually, when we first started talking about Michael Porter Junior,
I've said, I, you know, totally like this guy. He's
he's his untapped potential. He is a diamond in the rough.
The Denver Nuggets may have struck gold with this kid,
and listen, bye bye. If you really look at it holistically,
he is definitely part of that team that won the championship.

(47:34):
He was directly responsible for elevating the ability for the
Denver Nuggets to shoot the basketball, you know, reasonably well, right,
But where I think things fell short And I don't
know if it's just the style, the system, the coach,
whatever it is. You could clearly tell over the last
couple of years that Michael Porter Junior needed a different

(47:55):
change of play like pace, he needed different scenery, he
needed to be in a different circumstances situation. Wait right now,
you look at his numbers, statistically legitimate numbers. Man average
thirty three minutes per game, almost nineteen eighteen, nineteen points
per game, seven rebounds to assist, shot fifty percent from

(48:15):
the floor, thirty nine point five percent for three, which
is only point five percent for what he basically, you know.

Speaker 1 (48:20):
Gives you.

Speaker 2 (48:21):
You know, I'm sorry, he's the zero point four percent
from what he gives you in his career from shooting
the three. So what do we make of him now
going to the Brooklyn Nets. Well, if if Michael Porter
Junior thought that him going to the Denver Nuggets was
as a key piece to elevating the Nuggets, winning them

(48:45):
a championship and things of that nature, and then you
see the emergence of a guy like Yoki choose to
become a three time MVP. If Michael Porter Junior really
believes in his skills, at what better way for you
to come out and you know, quiet the naysayers shut
people down then by going out there to Brooklyn and
ultimately balling balling out and giving Jody Fernandez in company

(49:10):
a reason for them to be like, I like where
we're going with this. I like the direction of what
we can potentially get from a guy like Michael Porter
Junior with the roster that we have, he can clearly
be a standout kind of guy. So that being said,
does he have the passion to want to do that?
Does he have the desire to want to do that?
Because I'm gonna tell you this right now, Shaw, you

(49:32):
don't get too many circumstances like what he's got right now.

Speaker 1 (49:36):
Where the the bank is open.

Speaker 2 (49:39):
The bank is literally open, the nets are playing with
house money, right So there's really no reason why he
can't go ball out. His numbers can still have an impact.
They're not zero calories. He can have an impact if
he really really wants to.

Speaker 1 (49:56):
Well. As we record, he is the loan adult the
room when it comes to offensive production there's literally nobody
on this roster right now, and I would trust this
for the basketball on a regular basis. There's rumors Cam
Thomas might eventually come back because he's not finding what
he likes on the open market. So if Cam comes back,
then great, Well you have two guys who in essence

(50:18):
are kind of could be potential chuckers. That said, Michael Porter,
his counting stats are good, right, forty three point shooter
for his career, you know, seven plus rebounds a game,
you know, for his career. Like, this is a guy
who can play basketball, but he's had the lap of
luxury playing alongside you know, Nikola jokicch for a very
long time. Now, what happens when you are the guy

(50:40):
that defense is key in on every single night, there's
nobody that there's nowhere for you to hide, so to speak.
Defense is recorded, like, yo, well this is this is
only guy I got, so let's stop him. They're not
worried about Terrence Man, you know, going off, or Noah
Colney or like, it's just like, this is not disrespect
to the Brooklyn roster. The roster is very intent on

(51:01):
trying to tank and get better draft picks. So now
Michael Porter Junior becomes the lead guy, and yeah, he
could have a season where he gets twenty five a
game or whether the case would be, But what will
the efficiency look like? Well, he's still be able to
shoot fifty percent from the floor and forty percent from
three as he's just gonna get touch upon touch on touch.
I don't know, you know, is he somebody who'll be

(51:21):
able to raise the ceiling of some of the other
guys around him? That will be something I will really
be watch. I want to see it. I mean, it
can happen when you're like kind of like the lead guy. Right,
there's a difference, like there's a there's there you can
see the folk on the road and an offensive set
almost like every play is like, all right, is this
the best shot? Or is this the best shot? Because
it gets me? Right? Do I? Or do I kick

(51:42):
it to whitehead or whatever the be on the floor.
You don't know if he has that kind of decision making. Yeah,
do you know when that will happen? Shaw?

Speaker 2 (51:50):
When the Brooklyn Nets are playing on primetime games? Like
you know what I'm saying like that to me is
when I think those questions would be answered for me
that level of elevation, right, because the Brooklyn Thats have
been starving for that. They try to get that out
of Michale Bridges, they try to get that out of
Cam Johnson, right. And so these are good solid players,

(52:13):
but these are good solid players within the cast, and
what they bring to the team collectively can help stand out.
I think Michael Porter Junior has always been the kind
of guy where he wants to stand out. He wants
to stand out on the bright lights. He definitely was
not going to do that in the shadows of Jamal
Murray and Nikola Jokic and his style of basketball while
within the flow.

Speaker 1 (52:34):
It's kind of like what Papovich did.

Speaker 2 (52:35):
With Kawhi Leonard, you know what I'm saying, Like Malone
did to Porter, what Papovich kind of did to.

Speaker 1 (52:41):
To Kawhi Leonard.

Speaker 2 (52:43):
And when Kawhi Leonard had his moment, his opportunity, he
snatched that decision out of the Spurs and Papovich's you
know pocket, so to speak. This you don't have to
worry about that for Michael Porter Junior because Jody Fernandez
can only depend on what Michael Porter Junior ultimately keeping it.
Even if Camp Thomas comes back, that doesn't matter. What

(53:04):
matters to me is what version of Michael Porter Junior
during those primetime games you play the Boston Celtics, when
you play against the New York Knicks, when you play
against or when you're playing in the in the Emirates
Cup tournament, right when you're given an opportunity for you
to put on a performance, to put on a show,
will you be able to do that? Because if you ever,

(53:24):
if you've ever asked me Shaw, the thing that has
always bothered me about the upside and the potential of
Michael Porter Junior is that style that he plays where
he could just chuck the you know, the living daylights
out of it was a detriment to the Denver Nuggets
when that wasn't what was needed. But in this situation,
if he's gonna do all that chucking and he's making shots,

(53:45):
that's gonna put him on a different platform because he's
in a market that's gonna love that. It's gonna embrace that,
you know what I'm saying, Because nobody's gonna tell him differently.
There's nothing that's gonna counter that aspect of it. So
it'll be interesting to see if he's gonna be that
kind of person on the lights and it succeed, because
if not, he's just going to be another player. Using
the Brooklyn nets as is a gateway for us to

(54:07):
recognize he's a good shooter, he's a quality player, but
he needs to be in a system where those type
of things mask and don't necessarily stand out to be
a detriment to me.

Speaker 1 (54:19):
Well, it's going to be a really unique year for
him and the opportunities that are presented to that. I
don't know if Brooklyn is looking to keep him around
or if they would look to try to deal m
He does obviously have a hefty, hefty salary attached to him,
but at the same time, again, they have no other
guy who can score like legitimately that you're even consistently

(54:40):
concerned about. So unless they bring Thomas back, you know,
this is Michael Porter's show to kind of run and
let's see what he's able to do with it. You know,
in this whatever it is, season, half a season, or whatever,
it's all Tomate ends up being the one thing that
he has going for him.

Speaker 2 (54:54):
Shaw he played seventy seven games last year, so he
was healthy for the year, which I think is a
good thing. I'm hoping that even for that, that the
Brooklyn Nets don't overuse him, right, like they solely dependent
on him. Thirty three minutes, I think is decent. I
think that if he's playing and he is your number

(55:14):
one guy, thirty three minutes is really kind of pushing
it for a guy like Porter. So it'll be interesting
to see that that style, that version, that usage of Porter,
he can sustain that this year, then what was actually
given to him, what he did for the Denver Nuggets
last year.

Speaker 1 (55:31):
Yeah, I don't think his mens will well up too much.
Maybe a minute or two. While he played like thirty
three thirty four last year, maybe he's at thirty four
to thirty five. I think he much alluded to like
it's a usage. He took thirteen point six shots. He's
been averaging between eleven and thirteen and a half shots
for the last four years, like kind of like after
that second year and he was just like, oh he'll
catches that. Dude, he's kind of fallen back. But you

(55:53):
could always probably like feel it kind of bubbling under
the surface, like this guy wasn't here, you know what
I mean. But he knew he could not that. So
I give him a lot of credit for playing the
role that he needed to play in Denver, you know,
after especially after he got the contract. I think that
was part of it. Probably too, they paid him when
they didn't really need to, kind of overpaid him when
they didn't need to. But he's played a significant role

(56:15):
and played a master ball in them, you know, winning
an NBA championship a few seasons ago. But now it's
kind of make or break. So in that thirty three
thirty four minutes, do his shots go up to eighteen
to twenty? I would say probably yes. And you want
to you know, in that with those extra shot attempts
and that usages that will be coming.

Speaker 2 (56:33):
Wait, show you heads and your bets on that one.

Speaker 1 (56:35):
Yeah, hit yeah, looking over under, definitely taking the over.

Speaker 2 (56:40):
Somebody get this man the black card. My man wants
he wants to go broke on that one.

Speaker 1 (56:47):
I'm not at it though. I mean, if you're looking
around and again I feel like I'm throwing shade. But
in terms of like the experience, in terms of being
like scores in the NBA, there's nobody else on that
roster that has that like the most next most accomplished
guy I guess is Terrence man Ah cool, you know,
like let's see.

Speaker 2 (57:06):
Yeah, I mean, listen, there's no question he's gonna be
averaging somewhere around twenty four, you know points, twenty five
points per game.

Speaker 1 (57:12):
Easy.

Speaker 2 (57:14):
But again, it'll be interesting when the bright lights the
big market you know games, when they take place. You know,
is that type, is that person that guy you know,
Michael Porter Jr. Gonna be ready to go, ready to
you know, show up and show out. And I think

(57:34):
that is what I'm gonna be most interested in seeing
because listen, man, you play a few years on a
on a very it's it's kind of like what we're
talking about right now with them with Klay Thompson, right Like,
there has to be a happy medium because even you
as a player, when you're on a when you're a
certain you know, you read certain milestone certain parts of

(57:55):
your career, you also have to recognize even when a
team pays money, a ton of money to bring you on,
it isn't always just necessarily for what it was that
you were doing, what you you know, made you so
successful to the previous team. It's also about what you
could potentially do for the rest of the team, and
so to me, I just think it's interesting in what

(58:16):
way will Michael Porter Junior, you know, kind of lend
himself to this Brooklyn Nets team and lend himself to
his career arguably right moving forward, because I think this
is what always has been the elephant in the room,
you know, of what needed to be addressed and answered.
Does he does he throt can he thrive on his own?
Or was it that he just never realized how grateful

(58:38):
he should have been playing next to you know, Jamal
Murray and Nikola Jokic and really elevating himself in a
way where what he was doing was for the better
of the team and and and helping the team win
more than what they were able.

Speaker 1 (58:53):
You know, to to do.

Speaker 2 (58:54):
Not to take away from what they have done, but
I just think that he's always been the X factor
guy that never really lived up to what I think
he could have potentially have been, and now is the
opportunity for him to actually prove that part of it.

Speaker 1 (59:08):
Yeah, kudos to Michael Porter Jr. Let's see what Miles
Turner can also do as well. To two guys maybe
or maybe a little bit doubtful about how they'll perform
in their new situations, but all the opportunity in the
world for them to be successful. We're not ruining against
anybody on the baseline.

Speaker 2 (59:22):
Yeah, I want to see these guys succeed, man, Yeah, absolutely,
But I want to see these guys succeed absolutely, man,
like I you know, from the days that we remember
when they first came, when they walked onto that podium,
shook hands. You know, there are different people now in
different situations circumstances, and that to me is the part
of the of the allure of what we're looking forward

(59:42):
to when it comes to this upcoming season.

Speaker 1 (59:44):
And and I and I'm all for it.

Speaker 2 (59:46):
So you sir, all right, man, great show as always, Man,
good stuff. You know, I appreciate you, uh you know,
not putting me in the red uh with with my
buy or sell. And you know, for anyone who knows
who the money man is between the both of us,
you're looking at that dude right there.

Speaker 1 (01:00:06):
That's why he is the Warrenshaw because I get out
of here anyway. We shout out to guys we didn't
get a chance to touch on. And you know Anthony
simons 'angel, Russell Duncan Robinson. Obviously Katie is going to
be covered exhaustively, so we know that joring to Pool
City Bay, Dylan Brooks and Jalen Green use of dar
kitsch as well to Brook Lopez, we alread talk about
Bradley Beale from the Clippers side. So some other guys too,

(01:00:27):
you know that should be intriguing watches for how they
land in some new places. But you know these are
our top six, our sinisor six so to speak, and
we'd love to hear who some of Europis are here
from upcoming abusis.

Speaker 2 (01:00:39):
Absolutely Once again, we'd like to thank you and us
for hopping off board with us this week for the baseline.
Kelly warren Shaw, we appreciate you guys, thanks for joining us.

Speaker 1 (01:00:47):
You know where to find this man.

Speaker 2 (01:00:48):
We got another one locked up, ready loaded to go,
so we'll catch up with you next time