Shooting The Bleep: The Giannis Antetokounmpo Discussion

In this episode of Shooting The Bleep, Mort & Bry discuss the Giannis Antetokounmpo situation, the Toronto Raptors, and LeBron's second decision.......

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Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:17):
Welcome everyone to another episode of the NBA Podcast. Once again,
I am back in the host chair. I am Brian
to Pork, and I am joined by your always hosts
Morton Jensen Moret.

Speaker 2 (00:29):
How's it going, my friend, It is going very very well.
The NBA season is about to tip off. I will
admit I haven't seen a lot of preseason games, but
that's because I've reached I've reached that age, Bry where
it's all about like the regular season for me. But
that doesn't mean that I'm not excited.

Speaker 1 (00:46):
Yeah, I think, especially for the American fans listening, this
is like the absolute busiest time of year in the
sports calendar. We have MLB playoffs going on, NFL season,
WNBA Finals. We're recording this on Friday, October tenth. WNBA
Finals are probably ending tonight. But we've had a very
fun WNBA playoffs in general, Hockey season just started and

(01:09):
then yeah, NBA starts a couple of weeks, so lots
to sink our teeth into. Unfortunately, we are coming off
of one of the most painful nights in Philadelphia sports
that I've experienced and quite some times. So football and
baseball are now dead to me and thankfully we have
so much to look forward to in Philly and basketball.
But we will not be talking about the Sixers stay
because I do not want to acknowledge our existence for

(01:31):
another two weeks. Instead, more, this is going to be
another episode of us just shooting the bleep, where we
are kind of just bouncing around the league talking about
whatever comes to our mind. And obviously the big story
in the league this week is the reporting about Gianna
Santa Tokumbo's long term future with the Milwaukee Bucks that

(01:52):
we are just continually getting updates on. I mean ye,
Sean Shrani had dropped the big bomb Tuesday where he
revealed that John Horst, the Bucks GM, met with Giannis
in Greece over the off season. Jannis kind of expressed
some hesitation about the Bucks' ability to compete for a championship,

(02:16):
which he has repeatedly made clear is his priority over
everything that includes being loyal to Milwaukee. Obviously still in
Milwaukee for the time being, but Shams did reveal that
if he were to be traded, the one team that
he wants to be traded to is the New York Knicks.

(02:39):
So Mark, you and I have been kind of going
back and forth and DMS all summer and just been
enjoying I would say, the denial coming from Milwaukee's side
about all of this, What was your reaction when you
saw this first report from Shams and and kind of

(03:00):
the steady trickle that we've seen since then.

Speaker 2 (03:03):
My first thought was New York, New York. That was
like that one first and foremost like one team, and
that one team being New York. That was very surprising
to me, Like I obviously this is a different Knicks team.
This isn't the butt of the joke that they were
for twenty years. So I'm fully respected of the of

(03:23):
their standing in the league right now, but I was
surprised to hear that they was them, partially also because
I think they've done such an admirable job building up
their roster and they would have to basically deconstruct it
to get Giannis in there, which just to me kind
of blows my mind a little bit, like if you
got Og in there, towns everyone like Mikhail Bridges and

(03:44):
all of a sudden you have to give up like
a significant chunk of those guys, plus like whatever assets
they have, which isn't a lot to get yanis in there.
So that was just like the first thing, like, how
is this gonna work? Like, who's going out? What are
we talking about here? The Knicks of all teams? Like
I thought he'd have a list of teams, and I
definitely thought the Spurs would be on it. So for

(04:07):
him to just go out and say the Knicks or
not him, but like reported by Shams, that was an
eye opener and very very surprising. Look Also, and I
mean this sincerely good for Knicks fans. That has to
be like a really good feeling to know that one
of the best players in the league actively wants to
go there. That has to be such a page turner

(04:28):
for them, who just spent, like I said before, twenty
years being the butt of all NBA jokes. For them
to reach this point, they have to feel really, really
good about that. So that is something I love for sure.

Speaker 1 (04:40):
Yeah, my first thought was, Yeah, the reaction toward Michale
Bridges last year from Knicks fans, I feel like was
relatively tepid. I know he was good in their postseason
run and that started to win them over, but for
most of the regular season it was like we gave
up five first round picks for this dude. Yeah, and

(05:03):
now knowing that Yannis is interested in joining them, but
they just spent five first round picks to get McHale
bridges instead. And not only that, but they extended McHale
bridges this summer, which means he can't be traded until
like February first, I believe, which is four days before
the NBA trade deadline. So you know, even if Yannis

(05:26):
were to have pushed for a trade, it doesn't sound
like he got to that point. It sounds like he's
like open to it, and he's encouraging the Bucks to
just be like, hey, guys, at least see what's out there,
just in case. But McHale cannot be in there until
the beginning of February. So like, I don't think this

(05:47):
is happening in season. I think if it's gonna happen,
it's gonna happen next offseason. It's just much much more
difficult given the salary matching restrictions for teams over the Aprons,
given how many teams are hard capped at the Aprons.
The Knicks I believe, are one of those teams that are. Yeah,
they are, and not only are they hard capped at
the apron, but they're so close to I believe they're

(06:09):
so close to the second apron that they're like they
have to trade someone before the start of the season
because they don't even have enough wiggle room under there
to fit to convert Malcolm Brogden and Landry Shammitt right
when we're excigned to exhibit nine deals at the moment.
So if his team is really one team list, if

(06:30):
it's only the Knicks, this is not happening until next
off season at the earliest. Right, But that said, very
funny that they are so depleted in terms of assets
after giving away or get acquiring McHale and Kat and
to the next credit, like they made the Eastern Conference
finals last year for the first time in twenty five years.
Like those moves did pay off. So I'm not totally

(06:53):
clowning the Knicks. It is just funny, Like, you know,
they have been lusting after that marquee star, like for
so long it was Lebron James and now you know,
for years we've been hearing that they want Giannis, they
want Jannis. Now we hear that the interest is mutual,
but they don't have the stuff to get him. So
let's assume it does wait until next offseason.

Speaker 2 (07:14):
More m.

Speaker 1 (07:16):
Do you think there's like I still don't think there's
a two tream trade that makes sense, But like, who
could the Knicks loop in to either send? You know,
if they have to salary matching reasons alone, they're gonna
realistically have to send. It's either Towns and Giannis are

(07:36):
like close, but not quite. They have to sond a
little bit extra if it's just Towns. But they're probably
trading both Mikail and og if they're getting Yo. Honest,
because Sam Amock of The Athletic reported today that Jalen Brentson,
they specifically said, is not on the table for him.
So if you're Milwaukee, do you want both of those

(07:58):
guys or would you rather that you know, you get
one of them and then the Nick send one of
them to a third team for you know, you're not
getting five first round picks from Michael Bridges again, but
like say you get two or three or you know,
a first round pick and like a decently high upside prospect.
Is there a team in mind that you think could

(08:19):
make sense in that regard?

Speaker 2 (08:22):
That's a really good question. I haven't thought about that
because I actually just ignored, like the knicks ankle of
it all because of the things that you outlined, the
fact that you're sixteen million under the tax line and
he said eight point one or under the first a print,
like basically they can't take a dollar more back, so
it would have to go into the next offseason. As
you said, what I'm wondering here, Brian, is you're asking

(08:46):
me from the perspective of Milwaukee, should I should I
really take on the Milwaukee ideology where everything is about
retaining honest or should I share what I pererly think
that the Bucks should be searching for.

Speaker 1 (09:03):
That is a fair larger scale question. So let's start
there first, because I think you and I are aligned
on this and have been for a while, but it
is not how Milwaukee has been approaching it whatsoever.

Speaker 2 (09:14):
Right exact So to clarify to the people who are like,
what are you talking about, basically, Milwaukee is operating in
a manner that you and I consider it's irresponsible the
right word, or is it just too short term ish?
Like I don't know if we're being too harsh, if
we're saying irresponsible, But like every single time they had

(09:36):
a chance to squeeze out just one more asset to
like secure Yiannis's state. They've done so, and now they've
just painted themselves into a corner like completely they have,
you know, twenty plus million in debt money, they don't
have draft picks, they don't have assets. They have on
their roster a Kyle Kusma, who is just last year

(09:57):
was one of the worst players in the league. Honestly,
especially in the playoffs, he was just the trocious. It's
it's such a problem that they don't have more to
offer to like strengthen the team around Johnny's and but
that's still their their main objective every single time they
discussed this. It's it's not about building the best team,

(10:18):
it's about how do we how do we how do
we hang out to Giannis. That's it, That's the only
thing that matters. Where that becomes a double edged sword
because Jannis is saying, well, I want to win, I
want to win a championship, and the Bucks are just
like completely preoccupied with retaining him, not putting him in
a position to win another title. So if we attack

(10:40):
it from their perspective, I honestly have no idea what
they would want here in that situation, now, what they
should be wanting to do is start over. And I
understand that that's a tough sell, given that they just
went out and signed Miles Turner after waiving and stretching
Dame Damian Lillard. But how long is this train gonna

(11:01):
run if Jannis isn't there? I mean Miles Turner, Kyle Kuzma,
Mikhail Bridges, Ojan and NOPI sure, that's potentially interesting, but
interesting to a point where it's like, oh, you made
the ninth seat great that that just shouldn't be their

(11:21):
mission here. Their missions should be to get younger. And
I would definitely want to loop in a third team. Now, again,
who that third team is that that's a really good
question because how many teams are actively rebuilding right now
but looking to shed assets, Like I don't have a
name for that team that are saying, yeah, we want
to accelerate. The Wizards aren't ready to accelerate. The Jazz

(11:46):
are absolutely not hoping to accelerate. Like who out there
who are rebuilding or trying to accelerate? The Pelicans that
might be the team to get squeezed acids out of
because Joe Dumars is just handing them over.

Speaker 1 (12:00):
Know, Yeah, I mean the Pelicans would come up because
I believe I'm double checking this.

Speaker 2 (12:12):
Oh wait a second, I have a game as well.

Speaker 1 (12:16):
Oh they have.

Speaker 2 (12:18):
They have the war chest from Orlando from this one
pain trade. They have picks.

Speaker 1 (12:24):
The Pelicans and the Hawks were going to be mine,
in part because Pelicans have the more favorable of their
first round pick and Milwaukee's first round pick. Atlanta gets
less favorable of the two protected top four. Atlanta also
has the more favorable of Milwaukee's first round pick in

(12:44):
twenty six and New Orleans first round pick fully unprotected.
Milwaukee gets the less favorable of the two.

Speaker 2 (12:54):
Yeah.

Speaker 1 (12:54):
So I mean Atlanta like is clearly accelerating a lot
right now. I mean, we'll see what they decide to
do with Drey Young obviously, but and Jalen Johnson is there,
so maybe they would see McHale or Og in particular
probably be kind of duplicative. I don't think they'd necessarily

(13:15):
want him. I think it'd probably be McHale or like.
Maybe they would want Kat I guess potentially, and they
could include like Christops as the main salary filler. I
don't know, there would be a lot to figure out
salary wise there. I mean, going back to your point
about Milwaukee, I mean, I think you and I have

(13:35):
kind of been in agreement that they're just handling this
all wrong and that like I think fundamentally, the writing
is on the wall here, like Giannis has been. I
keep going back to a piece from Lourie Nickel of
the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel that published in late February, and
it didn't get a ton of attention at the time,

(13:58):
but it was all about like what is Giannis's legacy?
And he was talking about guys, especially in the Green
Bay area the Milwaukee area, that either overstayed how long
they should have and he like didn't understand like Craig Counsel,

(14:18):
I believe, was the manager of the Brewers and then
went to the Cubs and people in Milwaukee lost their
mind about it, and he was like, I don't really
understand this. Like he was there for a long he
was in Milwaukee for a long time, and then he
just made a choice for himself, like why are people
so upset about this? Right, So he's he's been laying

(14:41):
the seeds for a while that, like I think fundamentally
what it boils down to is that he wants to
be perceived as loyal. He doesn't want to be the
bad guy. He doesn't want to make the official trade request,
but he is heavily hinting like, hey, Bucks, I don't
really believe in this life long term vision or I'm
not convinced, like I think we have cashed in all

(15:04):
of our chips and it's just going to be really
hard for us to become a championship contender. Again, I
don't want to waste the rest of my prime playing
on a team that is not going to be a
championship contender. So draw your own conclusion. But I you know,
I think he's he's sending signals that he wants out
without officially requesting it. But all of the reporting we
hear from the Bucks side is that they will not

(15:26):
trade him unless he makes the official trade request. He
is too important to them financially, he's too important to
them on the court. And you know, I understand their
hesitation the greatest, if not the greatest, he is the
second greatest player in franchise history, Kareem being the only
other one in that conversation. But I think most people
would say at this point, johannest is the greatest play

(15:47):
in franchise history. You don't want to trade that guy,
of course you don't. So what it comes down to
is like if we you know, say the Bucks, like
I think because of the state of the East, they
will probably make the playoffs if they stay healthy this year,
even though I don't really believe in the rest of
their roster. Like if you're starting Kyle Kuzman and Kevin

(16:09):
Porter Junior, you're not winning a championship. But like, sure,
with Tatum out and with Halliburton out, could you win
forty games and sneaking the playoffs? Absolutely? So I think
both sides might just be kicking the can down the
road to see how they start the season. And like,
you know, even if they win forty five games and
make the playoffs, they have no chance to beat the

(16:31):
Thunder or the Nuggets. And if they if they somehow
miraculously make it to the finals, they're going to get destroyed.
So then we get to next summer, and then does
Giannis Like then Giannis is a year away from becoming
a free agent, or for being able to become a
free agent, Milwaukee offers him an extension. What happens if

(16:51):
he says no, their leverage is just gone. Or what
happens if we get to next summer, say they make
the playoffs but get killed in the first round of
the second round again, and then Yanness does make the
official trade request, their leverage is gone. Like the longer
they wait to seriously entertain moving him, the more they
risk operating from a position of weakness in these trade conversations,

(17:15):
especially if Yannis I mean Yannis Is will have a
lot of sway here. And I don't think it's a
coincidence that this news leaked right now that he only
wants to go to the Knicks because when he's a
free agent twenty twenty seven, he can say you can
do this is what Anthony Davis did with the Lakers

(17:36):
in twenty nineteen, where he's like, I'm going to become
a free agent next year. I'm only going to re
sign with this team, so you can trade for me,
but I'm going to leave in a year. Yeah, and that's gonna,
you know, decrease the offers potentially, will decrease the offers
from other interested parties to the point where, like, you know,
the Knicks, if they try to hardball the Bucks knowing

(17:58):
that other teams aren't gonna give the full boat for
your honest then the standoff continues. But you know, I
think the Bucks are really risking, like their franchise just
becoming catastrophically irrelevant the longer they wait to at least
entertain offers here.

Speaker 2 (18:18):
It's funny to bring that up because some Bucks fans
I've noticed have made the argument that, well, we're not
going to lose leverage because we can still trade Giannis
to wherever we want, even if he says he doesn't
want to re sign. And then they're asking the question,
when have we ever seen a player decide to go elsewhere,
you know, a year later? And my answer to that

(18:40):
is Kawhi Leonard. You know, he was in Toronto for
one year. The reason we never used him as an
example is because they won the freaking championship. That's why that.
But but we have example, we have what we have
a primary example I should say, at like, arguably at
the time, arguably the league's best player saying hey, yeah,

(19:02):
you traded me to a place I didn't want to go. Sure,
I want a championship for him, but I want to
go back home. I want to go to Los Angeles. Well,
maybe they also paid me a lot of money in
a different manner. That's a different conversation. But at the
end of the day, we have seen it play out,
and if Gianni's is true to his word and saying
you know what, I only want the Knicks, that is

(19:25):
going to make other teams cautious nervous. But I do
wonder though. I do wonder, even though I agree with
the overall premise of the Bucks fans basically saying, oh,
sure we can just a B and C, I do
wonder if they have a point somewhere along the line, because,

(19:45):
specifically with Giannis and specifically with a team like the
Spurs for example, training for him, even if you like,
even if you know Giannis is probably gonna leave within
two years, mm hm, you could probably win a championship
within those two years. Like, yeah, I wouldn't even rule
that out, like totally. If if like, if I'm a
good enough team and I have the pieces, I can

(20:07):
get it done. I maintain my primary superstar and I
bring Giannis in there. Hell yeah, Brian, like I'm I'm
rolling the dice on that.

Speaker 1 (20:16):
Yeah, yeah, absolutely, I mean you'll get his bird rights,
you know, you'll be able to offer him more money
than any other team an extra year on his contract,
So like they're if if you're the Spurs, for instance,
or if you're the Rockets and the Kdie thing goes
bust like that, there would be reason to gamble, I'd say,

(20:40):
especially if you have like a generational prospect who you're
not giving up in this deal, Like if if it's
the Rockets and they give up I'm and Thompson, then
Johannis might not might have less interest in saying or
if like the Spurs obviously are not giving up Victor
Wembanyama here right. You know, if you have a Victor
wemen Yama who you can tell Yannis come here, you

(21:02):
can play with him for the next five to ten
years wherever long you're going to spend the rest of
your NBA career, it might be worth gambling on that
versus like I've seen some people mention Boston potentially getting in,
like if they suck this year and do Jalen Brown
plus whatever draft pick they get in next year's lottery,

(21:25):
or you know, Atlanta again could be another option, where
like the if if the next try to loop Atlanta
into these talks. Does Atlanta just try to bypass the
next entirely and go right right to the source and say, hey,
just we'll offer you Jalen Johnson your picks back in
twenty six, twenty seven, whatever other salary filler we need,
you know, I think there would be teams that would

(21:47):
still take that gamble. But you point out Kawhi. I mean, like,
go back to what Kawhi got traded for. It was
Yaka Peertle, Damar Derozen and I think one.

Speaker 2 (21:58):
Pick, right, I would about to say, it's only a
single first round right, I believe, so it was a
very modest return. Like, okay, granted injury concerns, he hadn't played,
Like I understand that that's that's like, that isn't necessarily
something that's relevant with with Giannis the Celtics. How okay,

(22:20):
can we agree that Celtics fans immediately will have to
go back and delete so many sweets and posts like
immediately because they just went at him over the course
of those years where they battled it out in the playoffs.

Speaker 1 (22:35):
Yeah, where he has no bag.

Speaker 2 (22:37):
He has no bag, And look, that was probably some
of the easier stuff that was said, Uh, Boston be
Boston sometimes if you catch my drift that was there.
There was a lot of Gianna's hatred going on back there.
So if he if he ended up in a Celtics uniform,
a lot of people have some editing to do.

Speaker 1 (22:57):
Yeah, for sure, for sure.

Speaker 2 (23:00):
It's interesting though, like what seemed do you think actually
suits him the best? Like you and I seem to
be aligned that the Spurs make a lot of sense.
At one point we were also aligned that the Thunder
made a lot of sense, but they apparently seem to
be less interested because they like their nucleus and who
can blame them? Mm hmm, Like where where you land?

Speaker 1 (23:20):
Yeah, I mean I think the Spurs are the obvious
one just because you can still put together you know,
Darren Fox would be the big salary going out, but
then you include one of Stefan Castle and Dylan Harper
that gives you the high upside prospect. Like even if
Fox is going to a third team and Milwaukee just

(23:41):
really wants Harper, Castle and then whatever Fox fetches them
like that Jump starts to rebuild very quickly, assuming Harper
is what we think he is, and assuming Castle builds
on the season that he had last year. So right,
you know, I think like from a logical standpoint, they're

(24:02):
the obvious ones Houston. Houston's got a ton of capital,
I mean, and they've got a couple picks from Phoenix
late in the in the uh, I think twenty I'm.

Speaker 2 (24:17):
Going to look up, definitely got some twenty seven.

Speaker 1 (24:23):
Twenty seven fully unprotected and then the two most favorable
of their own pick Dallas's pick and Phoenix's pick in
twenty twenty nine, which Dallas winning Cooper Flag makes out
a little less, you know, the right super high upside

(24:45):
is lower of that pick.

Speaker 2 (24:47):
Because that's four years from now, so he's going to
be really good by then.

Speaker 1 (24:50):
Yeah right, I mean, like that had top five potential
if it was just them building around thirty plus year
old Kyrie Irving and Anthony Davis. But yeah, Cooper Flag
is gonna insulate that a pick. But I mean those
there's still you know, those guys age out Cooper Flag
gets hurt in twenty twenty eight, still fully unprotected pick,
Like there are still some high upside. So between that,

(25:12):
I mean, Houston now unfortunately effectively has twenty five million
dollars in dead salary and Fred Van Vliet. Yeah, you know,
I think like they would. I think the sticking point
in that conversation is Aman Thompson. I obviously Milwaukee is
gonna push for him to be included. I think Houston

(25:33):
would prefer to move literally anyone else, but I think
like Shngon would probably have to be the other big
piece going out just salary wise.

Speaker 2 (25:46):
And I don't see that. This is the thing that
complicates that situation as well, because with thread out, you're
gonna have to play reed Sheppard a ton like he's
gonna have to step into that role. So you're looking
at that going, oh, like if they ask for read
do we even have a playmaker afterwards? Like yeah, okay, look,
I know Aman can play make, but like you also

(26:06):
need more of a quote unquote traditional league guard. And
they don't have a lot of money to go out
and fix issues. They really don't.

Speaker 1 (26:16):
Yeah, I mean like they have Tarry Eathan. I'm very
curious to see what happens between now. We've got ten
days until the rookie scale extension deadline, So if they
do not extend him, money is gonna start getting kind
of tight, especially if they do extend Kevin Durant, and

(26:37):
they've got to start saving money for Amen, who's up
for an extension after this season. So I mean Tarry, yeah,
is not Tarry's very good. He's not the centerpiece of
a Gianni's trade good, but he is certainly a nice
sweetener to throw in.

Speaker 2 (26:53):
He is he is. I'm actually a little surprised that
he hasn't gotten any like a key extension. But I
also understand that there are a lot of mouths to
feed on that roster financially speaking, like at some point
you have to pick and choose who you're going forward with.
But I mean, if Nikola Jovich got or was it

(27:14):
sixty two point four million from Miami over four years,
there's no in hell tari'san his agent is going in
with anything less than like eighty eighty five ninety like total.

Speaker 1 (27:25):
Oh yeah, for sure, for sure. I mean, right, Jabari
Smith just got five one hundred and.

Speaker 2 (27:29):
Twenty right, right, And you and I have talked about
that's is probably better at least right now he's older,
so like that's fair. There's a two year buffer there
that they're they're probably baking into that contract. Here's the
but like as of right now, I think it's pretty
easily tarry Eastness as the superior player between the two.

Speaker 1 (27:53):
I think it's fair to assume he's at least asking
for twenty million per year.

Speaker 2 (27:58):
Yeah, yeah, least right, like, hey, twenty five probably.

Speaker 1 (28:03):
Yeah, the other dark horse. This is like an NBA
two K trade rather than a I think this is
actually gonna happen, right Orlando Oh just made the big
move for Desmond Bin, so they're clearly trying to accelerate.
There's this kind of I mean, Franz and Poolo have

(28:27):
played well together, but I think there's always kind of
been an assumption that they're going to have to choose
one or the other at some point.

Speaker 2 (28:35):
Well, what are you saying if neither learns to shoot? Right?

Speaker 1 (28:37):
Right?

Speaker 2 (28:38):
Yeah?

Speaker 1 (28:39):
So what if they just move on? Like what if
they flip one of those guys as the centerpiece of
be honest trade, It would have to be Franz because
Polo is poison pilled this year.

Speaker 2 (28:49):
Mm hmm.

Speaker 1 (28:49):
I mean if they did it in season next next offseason,
they could flip either one. But you can do either
one of those guys and Jonathan Isaac basically gets you
to the salary right there, and then you you could
throw in you know, any of these other.

Speaker 2 (29:06):
Anthony. Yeah, like okay, so like, don't get me wrong,
but like Paolo, and this is part of why I've
said that he's tough to build a round. He's more
or less a one position player, Like he can't really
play the five. He's he can't really play the three.

(29:29):
He's pretty much a four. If anything. We've also seen
that that is the primary position of Gianni's Like if
you're that's almost one hundred million dollars in salary at
one position.

Speaker 1 (29:42):
So what if they traded Paolo, what if that was yeah,
Paolo and Isaac, and.

Speaker 2 (29:46):
Then that's that's what I would prefer instead. Yes, yeah,
that makes more sense.

Speaker 1 (29:50):
You know, you can include Anthony black Jet, Howard, Tristan
de Silva, Jase Richardson, like all those guys could be
throw ins. I know they're in a similar situauation where
they gave up a lot for Desmond Van Picks wise
that they are not totally not as depleted, but they

(30:11):
they Yeah, they gave up twenty six, twenty eight, and
twenty thirty, so they have twenty thirty two and then
they can do a couple swaps. I guess, but they
do not have a ton of picks that they could offer.
But I mean Polo is a former number one overall pick.

(30:32):
They have a ton of seconds that they can offer.

Speaker 2 (30:37):
I don't, okay, if it's Paolo going out, I like
it more for Orlando. And that's not because I'm like
a Paolo critic, but I do think, nah, especially nowadays,
roster construction symmetry matters. You know, remember back in the
day where teams would just like, oh, talent above all,
like we'll figure it out. Like if my if I

(30:59):
if I ran the team and my two you know,
highest paid players for both guards, I would feel as
though that's a problem. Mm hm. So if and that
goes to the same thing if I had, you know,
two power forwards or two big men, like I would
want that money spread out as much as possible, which
I actually think is why I like the way Orlando

(31:21):
has gone about this. Like I know it's going to
be a very expensive team in a year, but at
the very least, when you look at it, it sucks
at Spain and Wagner and Ben Carrow getting paid the
primary Like that makes sense to me. They do need
like a real center, but that is their main core
and that is being taken care of. Yannis is like,
that's also the thing, right, Like he's a non spacer,

(31:45):
which means you also have to get him to a
team where that spacing is there, right or you know,
we talked about New York, and I think it's it's
so right of you to reach the conclusion. And it
has to be og or Mikail Bridges or even both
of them, because town you're gonna need that floor spacing.

Speaker 1 (32:02):
Mm hmm. Bucks also just trade or just waving stretched
Dame to side Miles Turners, So they probably don't want
a fifty million dollars center. I mean, Towns could go
to a third team, but yeah, that's the one position
where they're set. Although you know, yeah, if they're trading, honest,
they should trade, like tear it down the whole thing,

(32:25):
get what you can get for everyone.

Speaker 2 (32:28):
So there is there is one where this is also
like a two K idea. And I'll be honest with you,
I because you know, I didn't know what you were
gonna bring to the table today, so I haven't done.
I haven't made the trades. What about like Dallas where
it's it's flack ooh, that's where you're going, like, and
I know that Anthony Davis is gonna be like, what

(32:50):
you're bringing your power for? I don't want to play,
you know what, Anthony Davis. It's time to get with
the program. It's just time.

Speaker 1 (32:57):
Yeah. So it'd be like Flag, PJ. Washington, Gafford or
Clay Well. You probably want to keep playing for the
spacing So yeah, Gafford, PJ. Washington, Flag gets you to
about fifty million, so you're at least in the range
fifty one million.

Speaker 2 (33:14):
Yeah. You have to be an offseason trade, right, so
totally yeah, yeah, yeah, so and the salaries increases there
because PJ signed. By the way, I actually I give
the Mavericks a lot of crap for what they did
with the Luca thing. I will say the PJ. Washington contract,
And I wrote about this over at Forbes that that
is tradable. That was a good bit of business for them.

(33:38):
That was just one of those where you can just
see what they're trying to do, Like they want to
retain a guy who is really good and if he
sticks around, they have him on a good deal. If
something comes up in terms of an offer, they can
relinquish him in a deal because they know he'll have
contractual value for other teams because he's taking up like

(33:58):
ten percent of the cap. It's like nothing. Yep, that's
a the teams that nailed those type of contracts extensions,
like on the Veterans, they're the teams that's going to
be able to really get a lot of value back
for their guys later on.

Speaker 1 (34:16):
And it's just nice to have those kind of like
mid sized contracts. I mean it you have so much
more flexibility to pull off a trade for another star
when you have those versus like you know, I mean
coming from a Sixers perspective, like they have those three
giant contracts, two of which are underwater at this point,

(34:37):
so they just like can't get another star because like
they have to give up stuff to get off of
Paul George or Joel and Be at this point probably,
but the MAVs, like especially if they're including Cooper Flag
like yeah, Flag, Washington, Gafford. I mean, that's already an
insane foundation for a honest trade. And you still have

(35:00):
I mean Kyrie Clay, Anthony Davis, Derek Lively, like Max Christie,
Naji Marshall still got some pieces there.

Speaker 2 (35:08):
Yeah, because you can justify not including Derek Derek Lively
if you're giving them Cooper Frickin' Flag. That's the that's
the appeal here.

Speaker 1 (35:16):
Yeah, yeah, and I think I mean just to make
the money, where like Lively is only earning seven point
two million next year, so like you basically have to
include PJ and Gafford or I mean, I guess you
could throw in Caleb Martin who's at ten million, but like,
right from a salary perspective, Flag Washington Gafford almost has

(35:38):
to be the foundation because they just don't have or
I guess, yeah, the alternative would be Lively, Washington, Flag
and Klay Thompson.

Speaker 2 (35:48):
And then we yeh Broke. Then we're approaching like a
four to one trades and they're always tougher, like you, well,
you can do it in the offseason where you can
carry twenty players, but even so.

Speaker 1 (35:57):
Yeah, yeah, the only other one came to mind for
me was Toronto if they include Scottie Barnes.

Speaker 2 (36:05):
Yeah. Well, I mean at some point we're gonna have
to talk about the Raptors because what the hell are
they doing?

Speaker 1 (36:10):
Right? Yeah, Like, I mean, they're over the text right now.
I actually think I don't know what their preseason over
under is. I don't have it in front of me
right now, but assuming it's in the see if I
can find it really fast. Uh regular season wins, oh

(36:35):
thirty nine point five. Okay, so they're expected to be
decent this year. It's gonna say they like with that
top five, especially given the current state of least, it's
gonna be hard to but their depth gets iffy quickly.

Speaker 2 (36:52):
You know what I think we're gonna do because I
had I had a different topic for it's my turn,
but you know what I want to talk about the
Raptors right after this commercial. All right, right, so we
went over the whole Yanna situation. I have something as well,
which you know, the Raptors leaned into it before it's

(37:14):
time to ask the big question in regards to how
you build around a guy who doesn't have top tier
creation capabilities like they have leaned into Scottie Barnes, and
I do think they realize, okay, he's not like the
self creator. That's you know, perhaps the elites are. That's

(37:35):
why they're flanking him with Emmanuel quickly now brandon Ingram
and r Chaperratt because now there is creation in different places,
and perhaps I'm being wrong on this. You can you
can correct me if you think I'm wrong, or if
you just flat out disagree. I truly believe if you
have a like a star, like your main guy, the

(37:55):
best player on your team has to be able to
have the offense through him. In today's NBA, I think
that is such a necessity. Like if your best player
is someone you can't give the ball to and ask
him to just you know, go get a bucket, go
do something, that becomes problematic. And I'm not saying that

(38:15):
Scottie Barnes can't do anything with the basketball. He's a
fine playmaker. He does score around twenty points per game.
But I think it's fairly accurate to say that, unlike
other top tier creators on different teams, he's behind the curve.
You know. I consider him far more of like a
new era version andre Iguodala than I see him as like,

(38:40):
you know, a Kyrie Irving or someone who creates for
them himself and like can get everything flown. So what
the hell are Toronto actually doing here in terms of
like the big picture Scottie Barnes stuff.

Speaker 1 (38:54):
Yeah, I mean I think he's just kind of miscast
as a number one option. We've seen him very good
if he is more of a complimentary guy, but just
because of their current roster construction and how they kind
of wasted the post title run era and you know,
let some of those guys leave for nothing in free

(39:15):
agency instead of maximizing their value on the trade market.
They let this roster kind of wither to the point
where Scotty got forced into this role, not because he
necessarily deserved it or like proved that he could be
this guy, was just these were the circumstances that unfolded.

(39:37):
So I'm with you in thinking, like, I don't really
buy him as the number one guy on a very
good team, And I mean, that's that is why they
came to mind for a potential Yannis trader for you know,
if it's not your honest for someone else, because I
think teams will recognize that Scotty Barnes is still a

(39:59):
very good player and someone you want on your team.
But ideally, you know, I guess the Bucks would be
in a similar situation where if they're trading Giannis and
he's one of the main pieces coming back, like he's
also going to be the number one option on their team,
still going to be miscast in that role, but they're
they're going to want to feign competitiveness, and I think

(40:21):
he could help them do that. Yeah, but yeah, I
mean like it, it's a fair quest. Like the Raptors
right now, you could argue you're just a team of
like number two or number three options, and how do
they get that number one guy for everything else to
kind of click into place is a very fair.

Speaker 2 (40:38):
Question, right, And it's also like it's it's just a
roster construction issue to me, because when you look around
the league, I'm obviously every team can't have a top
high player. I am fully like that. Just the math
doesn't work out on that. I get that. It's more
along the lines of there are enough shot creators play initiators,

(40:59):
however you want to them out there to a point
where you can go get some of those guys, Like
I understand that Brandon Ingram is viewed as that. And
perhaps they're going to restructure the offense a little bit
more this year and Brandon is going to be like
the primary initiator. That's not exactly gonna move the needle
in my mind, you know, a reluctant three point shooter

(41:22):
who still has a tendency to overdriple, who has a
tendency to seek the mid rang cherreot a little bit
too much, who has a little bit too much Demarta
Rosen in him in terms of like squeezing fifteen seconds
off the shot clock, Like it's just so tough to
me to figure out, like the ankle of do they
believe that there's a number one inside of someone that

(41:44):
just hasn't materialized yet? Like do they believe that Jakobe
Walter is that guy? Grady Dick? I doubt it. And
if not, who's the guy they go for? Like Giannis
is one name, which I think is interesting. I wonder
if they do have the asset, Like I think it
depends on how Calomary Boils plays this year. If he's
like a super rookie, that helps their case. But is

(42:07):
this is this a team that's just waiting to pull
the trigger on a deal?

Speaker 1 (42:12):
It feels that way. I mean, Bobby Webster during media
day effectively said the odds of them having the exact
same roster at the end of the season are basically zero.
And yeah, I think, let me see, they are.

Speaker 2 (42:29):
Believe they are three million over the tax line.

Speaker 1 (42:34):
Yeah, so you know the obvious would be just like
salary dump ag Bajie. But yeah, I mean, I'm guessing
there were a lot of trade rumors about r J.
Barrett already over the summer and even dating back to
the end of last season that they're at least open
to exploring. So I think, I mean, we haven't seen

(42:57):
this roster yet, right, Like we haven't seen they traded
for Brandon Ingram and then he never played last year.
So my guess is they just want to see what
this This five man group of quickly Barrett Ingram, Barnes
and Purtle looks like kind of get a half season's
worth of data on them. See how Colin Murray Boyles

(43:19):
fits in. See if Grady Dick takes a step forward
in the second season, See how some of these other
young guys fit in. No mam mentioned Wait, I mean
they're gonna have to wait at like who else they
don't have another big Jonathan Mogo.

Speaker 2 (43:34):
I guess that's the one thing I'm looking forward to
with the Raptors this year, Like can they unleash Mamu.
I'm so for it. I need it.

Speaker 1 (43:44):
But but I think, yeah, like to your point, I
think they'll probably use these first couple months to kind
of evaluate what they have. But yes, I would imagine
they're going to be fairly active at the trade deadline
this year, because there's no way unless they surprise us
all and look like legitimate championship contenders. I'd be shocked

(44:06):
if a team that is that close to the luxury
tacks decides to stay over. Like typically when you're that close,
it is by design and you have full intention of
getting under at some point this year. It's just you
didn't make that move by opening.

Speaker 2 (44:21):
Day, right. I just wonder if they have publicly just
married themselves too much to Barnes In a way, it
feels as though every chance they get they prop him
up to a point where I'm sitting back going, oh god,
you're not doing yourself any favors.

Speaker 1 (44:41):
I mean, you know, they're probably like, you don't want
to do the alternative where you're like, yeah, we're still not.

Speaker 2 (44:47):
Totally obviously, but it just feels like they're trying to,
you know, put him in a position that doesn't really
suit his game, which I also think is unfair to
him because I think I think there's a reasonable argument
to be made that outside of like the you know,
the non stars or sorry, outside of the star field,

(45:11):
he might actually be the league's best connector, like the
best big man connector six eight, two, twenty five, two
thirty can go in and get you like a bunch
of assists, a bunch of boards, strong defense, still give
you some scoring pop, Like, there is a lot of
value there. I just don't think him being put in

(45:32):
a position where yeah, you're our leader now is one
that's going to hand out. And that's why I'm also wondering,
like are they even willing to trade him, because they
will they will not say face in that one. Well
maybe because they got new management. Maybe that's actually there out.

Speaker 1 (45:52):
Yeah I mean Bobby.

Speaker 2 (45:54):
Well yeah sure, but no messagah, no value.

Speaker 1 (45:57):
Yeah yeah, I mean that certainly sets the signal that
they're not happy with the status quo and that they
are probably eyeing a bigger shake up at some point.

Speaker 2 (46:12):
They need they need a shot creator. So who are
we looking for here.

Speaker 1 (46:18):
Other than you're honess.

Speaker 2 (46:22):
Hey, guys, go out and get a top three NBA.

Speaker 1 (46:25):
Player, right. I don't know if he necessarily fits their
traditional like we want long rangey, defensive minded wings approach.
But I mean, Trey Young is going to be in
the news cycle as long as he does not reach
an extension with Atlanta. Interesting and you know, again, Atlanta

(46:51):
is making moves like they want to win this season.
Getting Chris Tops for Flatsam basically for George n Yang
and Terrence Mann was a master stroke. If he stays healthy.
Jalen Johnson, I am just so incredibly bullish on I
think he's the same, you know, I like, is it

(47:11):
heresy to say if I had the pick moving forward
between Jalen Johnson and Scottie Barnes, I might prefer Jalen Johnson.

Speaker 2 (47:20):
Oh see, I hadn't even thought about that. They're very comparable.
And see what that we're not having that conversation about
Jalen because first and foremost right now, he's not a
number one option, right we haven't even seen him in
that role yet. And like even I have, like I
will say, occasionally brought up like do I want to

(47:41):
see Jayalen in a first role or first option role?
Maybe I just want to see if he's got more
juice to him than what we've seen him so far. Well,
financially speaking, it's an easy decision, right, like when you're
adding in the finances. Yeah, yeah, I'm gonna go Jalen
Johnson over Scotty Barnes because he's already an even thirty
million and I don't think the difference is that stark. Now,

(48:05):
I will say that Scotty is more available. I think
that's a fair thing. Just Yeahah. I also think he's
a more fluid athlete. Like I'm not saying that because
Jalen is ridiculously athletic, but I do think Barnes is
you know, you can kind of implement him in different
systems that I think Jalen is a little bit more

(48:25):
limited in. But at the end of the day, you know,
we're debating small items here that isn't really gonna Yeah,
it's a really good question. They are so close, far
more close than I think most people actually are willing
to concede.

Speaker 1 (48:42):
Yeah. I think I might be a year too early
on that take, but I think Jalen Johnson is I mean,
we saw him when healthy last year was already having
a monster year. Would not shock me if we see
him continue to build on that, especially with the spacing
that portingas is going to provide in that lineup. But
I mean to your point, yeah, maybe in a number

(49:03):
one option role he would also be miscast like Scottie
Barnes's and like maybe Scottie Barnes and number two actually
would look really good next to Trey and Porzingis. So
this again just goes back to the Raptors potentially doing
him wrong there. But yeah, going to Trey, I mean,
earning forty six million this year, going to become free

(49:26):
agent next year if he doesn't sign an extension. The
Hawks do not seem to be in any rush to
sign him to set extension, So I wonder, I mean,
the salary makes it tricky from the Raptor's perspective because like,
do you want to give up to like you know,
you could do like quickly and bear it and that

(49:48):
gets you to basically sixty million, So then the Hawks
would need to throw in another salary as well. So
would you do like quickly and bear it for Trey
Young and Luke Canard?

Speaker 2 (50:01):
Maybe I wouldn't hate that. If I'm Toronto, I think
you finally getting like the number one guy in there
in terms of the shot creation, and I like quickly
a fair bit so I don't even hate it for
Atlanta as well. I think I think Quickly got a
raw deal last year, Like he was injured, he was

(50:21):
never fully healthy when he was on the floor, and
everyone was like, oh, you suck, Like, oh that you
already made a decision, that's fantastic, Like I thought that
was a little premature. I think there's a really good
player in there, Barrett too. So Barrett, you'll have a
lot of wings. It's like a lot of wing size
in Atlanta. All of a sudden, you would have Risha

(50:43):
say you will have Johnson, You'll have Barrett, Dyson, Daniel.
How could I forget Dyson Daniels. That's that's a big
ass team. Like that's even bigger than they are right now.

Speaker 1 (50:56):
Yeah, Like I mean you could start quickly Daniels. Yes,
you're presumably starting Barrett Johnson, Chris stops and then was
off the bench and a congou off the bench and
Nick Alexander Walker.

Speaker 2 (51:14):
That's I mean, that's potent. That's bad.

Speaker 1 (51:17):
And then from the Raptor side, you still have Ingram
Barnes in Perdle, So you have Trey Canard, Ingram Barnes, Peardle,
Colin Murray Boyle's Grady Dick Jacoby Walter Mamu.

Speaker 2 (51:33):
I actually don't hate a Brandon Ingram Trey Young pairing
on the surface of it, Like it's one of those
things where this could go really really wrong. But on paper,
I don't hate having, you know, Trey being able to
give up the ball to someone who's like six' eight
six' nine lanky can create his own shot as, well

(51:57):
because that's probably the one thing that you can't Asked
Deal johnson to do from the, perimeter at, least like
you're not asking him to create open three point looks for.
Himself that is at least Something brandon can, Do like
he won't always do, it but right he. Can so
if you can get those two guys on the same,
page offensively, speaking there's something of intrigue.

Speaker 1 (52:19):
There, YEAH i mean the alternative would be Like ingram
And agbajie combined to make about forty four point five,
million so that's roughly within range or. Tray but, LIKE
i don't think that's enough to Get atlanta to. BITE
i think they would want and, like, FRANKLY i don't
know If quickly And barrett are enough to Get atlanta to.
Bite but If atlanta is approaching it from the perspective, of,

(52:41):
like we are not sold on Paying Trey young a
thirty percent max deal that he, wants and we have
these two guys locked in on fixed costs for the
next two years From barrett's, perspective four years From quickly's,
PERSPECTIVE i, mean they'd still be a pretty expensive team moving.

(53:03):
FORWARD i Know poisingis comes off the, books and like
they will maybe try to resign him at something close
to that, Range like they'll be. Expensive but if they
get rid Of, TREY i, mean, Yeah quickly be their
highest paid player at thirty two point five, Million Like
Dyson daniels will see if they extend him as. Well

(53:24):
so like they might have a bunch of those guys
in like the twenty five to thirty million dollar, range
but they wouldn't have no you could argue they still
have a ton of pretty, good starting caliber, players but
you're effectively paying two of them what you're. Paying you,
know some of these guys are going to start making
fifty five sixty million dollars a year when you're on

(53:46):
a max, Deal so you're effectively splitting one max deal
between two. Players WHEN i look at this.

Speaker 2 (53:54):
Roster, yeah, sorry go, ahead.

Speaker 1 (53:56):
But NOW i was just saying, that like that's where
my head is going to go a lot for like
teams that need a creator this. Year, true, yeah just
BECAUSE i, mean we're seeing the the twenty twenty six
free agent class is already getting finned, out, Right Like
lucas signed an, Extension Darren fox signed an, Extension Jared

(54:19):
Jackson junior signing an. Extension even you, know we're seeing
some of the the twenty two draft class signing. EXTENSIONS.
Pj washington signing. Extension so it's, like No, Lebron we'll
see although dnp super old For Lebron james right. Now who,
Knows maybe Maybe i'll put another ad this week about

(54:41):
teasing his. Retirement it's.

Speaker 2 (54:43):
Funny that was actually the one THING i wanted to talk,
about BUT i decided to replace that with this one because.

Speaker 1 (54:48):
Oh let's do we can do ten minutes on, that
because a right.

Speaker 2 (54:50):
Thought well then let's just wrap this one up, first
BECAUSE i think when it comes to you brought up
like The raptors could also is trade inkrim and AND
i think was a bashi For trey The spacing And toronto,
AFTERWARDS i wouldn't trust because the, thing and we've talked
about this for, Years trey is not necessarily a super

(55:16):
reliable shooter LIKE i do think you, KNOW I i
trust him behind the three point line to a point
where you know they're not gonna lead him wide as
open like He's Josh gidty or. Anything but he's not
someone who comes in and cracks like forty forty two
percent from. Downtown and if you're trading Brandon ingram and
your primary two wings Are Scottie barnes AND. Rj, barrett

(55:39):
and your leak Guard trey is hitting like forty three
thirty four percent from. DOWNTOWN i, mean, yeah you. Can you.
Can you can survive in the regular season come playoff time,
Though that's that's. Tough H the spacing element is really
killing a lot for me these day with players who

(56:00):
aren't natural three point.

Speaker 1 (56:01):
Shooters, yeah, yep totally.

Speaker 2 (56:04):
Agree all, Right so let's wrap up with the last. One,
well we'll go through it. Anyway it's it's the Whole
henise thing With. Lebron SO i was when he when
WHEN i saw that, video like it was my son
who came home from school and he said, dad have
you seen This, Lebron like it's probably he's probably gonna
announce his retirement or that his his last season or

(56:27):
as soon AS i saw that video was, like this
is an. Ad this is clearly an. Ad this Is
lebron leaning into like his his dad jokes he's at that.
Age and everyone was like super shocked that it wasn't
a real, Announcement like are we just not paying Attention
brian To Lebron james and his dumb ass jokes all the?

Speaker 1 (56:46):
Time are you one of the people who bought tickets
to the last game and now are suing? Him this
is why you're mad about?

Speaker 2 (56:57):
It oh, No i'm not. MAD i THOUGHT i just
thought it was, obvious like, what Like lebron is going
to be forty, one but just by the sheer definition
of his age and the fact that he was born
in the mid, eighties his humor has, changed as has,
ours sir ours both of them were. Parents now we
make crappy jokes all the. Time this is a. Part

(57:20):
this is a part of, Life this is part of.
Evolution and everyone was, like, wow this is going to
be super. Serious what is the last Time Lebron james
has been super serious about.

Speaker 1 (57:31):
Like what a stupid way to announce your. Retirement that's
really how he was going to do, it, right, Right,
yeah the whole thing was JUST i, mean as someone
who works in sports, media like it sucked because then
it was a you, know a fire drill of, like,
oh we got to get all of This lebron retirement
reaction ready in the spring of the, day which you,

(57:54):
know in, theory could have been done weeks or months.
Ago but that's besides the. Point uh, YEAH i mean
it's dating back to the off. SEASON i, mean he
picks up the player option and Then Rich paul issues
the ominous Like lebron is, here but we'll explore all

(58:17):
of our options or, whatever but.

Speaker 2 (58:19):
Here, yeah, right, yeah it's.

Speaker 1 (58:22):
Like all, right, BUDDY i know you're we get. It
you're at worst the second best player of all. Time
you deserve you, know if he goes like if he
decides to announce his retirement at some point and wants
The Kobe Farewell, tour, yeah like go. Ahead, yeah by all, means,
Dude you've you've set COUNTLESS nba. Records you've been a

(58:42):
fixture of THE nba for most of our, Lives like
you deserve. It you have earned. That, yeah BUT i,
agree like doing this kind of fake out crap is
really just wearing out the goodwill to the point where
it's like when you actually announce your, retirement now no
one's gonna believe it because you did a stupid head

(59:02):
as he.

Speaker 2 (59:03):
Had it's it's funny because apparently this was the whole
thing on you Know danish and ba you know, pages
and they were, like, oh what is? This what is?
This and one guy was like just so optimistic about
that this was something, big and when he, wasn't he

(59:23):
became the most frustrated Poor Dane i've ever. Seen he was,
LIKE i don't understand WHY i keep falling into these.
Wars he was like self contemplating the whole like why
DID i believe the? Bro? JAMES i was laughing my
ass on it was so. Funny he was like genuinely
disappointed that this was just a joke at and was,
Like i'm never gonna trust this guy, Again, like you're absolutely,

(59:47):
right you. Shouldn't you. Shouldn't you should never trust someone
that age in sports to make something that's, fun that's genuinely,
funny because this was just this was so. Bad but
he's got us talking about, it so you know he. Wins, yeah,
NO i mean he he.

Speaker 1 (01:00:04):
Did BUT i would hope that the backlash to it,
all like the lawsuit is. HILARIOUS i, MEAN i hope if,
that if that trial actually makes it to the, court
the judge should just laugh in his face and then
show him the clip OF Jj reddick, saying like you
already it's if you didn't know what this, was because,

(01:00:24):
yeah like it. Was it was very obvious that it
was not going to be his actual. RETIREMENT i, mean
like he has his Own he's going to announce, it
don't mind the game or. Whatever you, Know like he's
got so many of his own distribution. Channels he's not
going to do it on some someone else's.

Speaker 2 (01:00:43):
Platform it's going to Be Rich paul doing. Something is
The shop still? Happening is he just going to announce
it on the shop one? Day, HONESTLY i have completely
just tuned OUT Nba, LET Nba player let, Medias like
it's just After Michael Porter junior's you, know podcast tour

(01:01:05):
over the. Summer like AGAIN i only saw bits and,
pieces but Like i've never been particularly interested in player,
podcasts like unless there's something where they really attack the
game from like a strategic point of of of, mind
where they're, like, okay so we've if we have this
situation and this guy hits you and blah, blah okay
up and there's a clip of. THAT i will eat that.

(01:01:25):
Up but when it comes to all the other, STUFF
i JUST i could not care. Less but you're right
that he's got the. Platform and to your point About
Rich paul And lebron picking up the the the option
earlier this, year that's probably gonna be the one thing
That i'll never, miss the Annual Schrodinger's lebron From Rich,
paul like is he or isn't? He that is just

(01:01:47):
it's every single year we're sitting there just, like oh
really we're doing this. Again, yeah it's and it's every
and and to your point ABOUT nba, media that is
also something by the, way to the people who aren't
privy to what goes on behind the, stage that is
always something that's a conversation at editorial meetings like we

(01:02:09):
and it's not something that anyone any one of us
enjoys like their editors going big, sigh we have to Cover.
Lebron we, know he's probably gonna opt. In it's probably
or he's gonna opt out and then he's gonna re.
Sign we. Know it's just we have to, like we
have to prep for, it and it's like just for,
that just for that, alone goddamn With, lebron you almost

(01:02:33):
all a couple of.

Speaker 1 (01:02:34):
Bucks yeah, Yeah monday back, Please.

Speaker 2 (01:02:38):
Yeah, exactly you're almost a week's worth of vacation.

Speaker 1 (01:02:42):
Time, Right i'm gonnasue him for my. MOND i didn't get. Tricked,
NO i still have to prepare.

Speaker 2 (01:02:52):
For, it, right, yeah we all, did we? All we
all like both of, US i know both of us
got emails that. Day oh, yeah, yep yeah yeah. No
BUT i, mean, LOOK i was JUST i thought it
was worth bringing up BECAUSE i was JUST i was
a little flabbercasted at how many actually bought into, It,

(01:03:12):
like is have we reached that point where it's so
easy to just manipulate larger. CROWDS i, mean.

Speaker 1 (01:03:22):
That one a much larger. Conversation But i've been reading
some very interesting, things especially with this New sora ai
tool that allows you to, like you, know create videos
of real people Like Jake paul apparently opted into. It
so people are creating videos Of Jake paul doing a

(01:03:44):
bunch of very dumb. Stuff, yeah we're living in a
really slippery slope. Time.

Speaker 2 (01:03:53):
YEAH i would say my brain is bleeding just of hearing.

Speaker 1 (01:03:56):
That, Okay, yeah oh, Man, YEAH i lose hope for
humanity by the. Day But lebron doesn't help with stunts like.

Speaker 2 (01:04:06):
This, Damnit, lebron you're making us. Loose.

Speaker 1 (01:04:09):
Hope that's, right your hennessy ads sucked with what little
soul was left in my.

Speaker 2 (01:04:16):
Body, well on that, note, yeah what a good place
to wrap.

Speaker 1 (01:04:27):
Up so thank you all as always for a tune again.
Today we will be back. Soon, well it's got a
lot of episodes to pump out this, month SO i
will be back at least a few more, times hopefully
over the course of the, month and we'll have actual,
basketball meaningful basketball to discuss in two weeks, time which

(01:04:48):
is wild to think.

Speaker 2 (01:04:50):
About it's well, wild you, KNOW i think we've done
it so long NOW i don't think it's wild to
think about, anymore but it. Is it is exciting BECAUSE
i think we're going into a new type of. Error
maybe that's something we can discuss in a later, episode
BECAUSE i think THE nba is changing just a little,
bit so maybe that's maybe that's a teaser for for

(01:05:12):
a different one that that won't be shooting the bleep,
though because that's we, can't we can't. Prepare we have
we have. Rules Unlike Lebron, james we have.

Speaker 1 (01:05:20):
RULES i don't know what what you mean by, that
so you can still blindside.

Speaker 2 (01:05:25):
Me, great all right, man have a good.

Speaker 1 (01:05:29):
One all, right you, too