# LeBron's decision, Wemby's evolution, Kuminga's next team, Brunson's ranking & more | NBA Mailbag

An episode of [Hoops Tonight with Jason Timpf](https://invisiblenetwork.ai/podcast/1536277916), 24 Jul 2026, 38 min.

Audio: https://podtrac.com/pts/redirect.mp3/pscrb.fm/rss/p/clrtpod.com/m/arttrk.com/p/D5CA5/prfx.byspotify.com/e/traffic.omny.fm/d/clips/e73c998e-6e60-432f-8610-ae210140c5b1/90447913-4e20-4e90-aa1e-ae510011dd1d/0db0c91e-6f3d-4526-898f-b48f0175f040/audio.mp3?utm_source=Podcast&in_playlist=9e36bb2c-2512-48e1-92f8-ae510011dd2b

Jason answers mailbag questions on a wide range of NBA topics including LeBron James's free agency decision after leaving Luka Doncic and the Los Angeles Lakers, Jalen Brunson on the New York Knicks and where he ranks in the league, Victor Wembanyama's offensive evolution for the San Antonio Spurs, where Atlanta Hawks forward Jonathan Kuminga will end up, what the Milwaukee Bucks should do with Tyler Herro after acquiring him in the Giannis Antetokounmpo trade with the Miami Heat, and more. All lines presented by Hard Rock Bet. #Volume See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

## Transcript

[0:01] Speaker 1: The volume. All right, welcome to him tonight. You're at
[0:16] Speaker 1: the volume Heavy Friday, everybody, hope Bob. You guys had
[0:18] Speaker 1: a great week. We're actually recording this on a Wednesday.
[0:20] Speaker 1: I'm leaving on Thursday to go to my brother's wedding
[0:24] Speaker 1: in Houston, the last TIMP wedding, and then all of
[0:27] Speaker 1: us siblings will have officially been married. Very excited to
[0:30] Speaker 1: get to spend some time with my family. I haven't
[0:32] Speaker 1: seen them in a while since obviously we moved to Denver.
[0:34] Speaker 1: But we're recording this on a Wednesday, so obviously, as
[0:37] Speaker 1: of right now, Lebron James has not signed. We have
[0:40] Speaker 1: a couple Lebron related questions, but I don't think they're
[0:42] Speaker 1: going to matter too much as to whether or not
[0:45] Speaker 1: Lebron signs. By then, I am bringing my equipment with
[0:47] Speaker 1: me to Houston, so if Lebron signs, will obviously react
[0:52] Speaker 1: to it when it happens. But we got lots of
[0:54] Speaker 1: interesting questions from around the league from you guys. As always,
[0:56] Speaker 1: we appreciate you dropping questions. If you want to get
[0:58] Speaker 1: questions in the mail bag, going the full episodes on YouTube.
[1:02] Speaker 1: Mail bag, Colon, write your question that helps me sort through.
[1:05] Speaker 1: When we're looking through, you guys on the tripe before
[1:06] Speaker 1: we get started, it to subscribe Toups on YouTube channel
[1:08] Speaker 1: so you don't miss any more of our videos. We
[1:09] Speaker 1: still have a goal to get two hundred and fifty
[1:11] Speaker 1: thousand subs. You can help us get there by scrolling
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[1:16] Speaker 1: like this video, sign up for post notifications. That helps
[1:18] Speaker 1: us a lot. All right, let's talk some basketball. First question,
[1:23] Speaker 1: assuming Lebron hasn't signed by the time you do this,
[1:26] Speaker 1: the longer this goes, is there any chance that the
[1:28] Speaker 1: Lakers come back to the table. Lebron obviously announced he
[1:31] Speaker 1: would play elsewhere, But if the Lakers came back to
[1:33] Speaker 1: him and said they want him to be a part
[1:34] Speaker 1: of the team, is there any chance that fence could
[1:37] Speaker 1: be mended? And obviously, regardless at the time you guys
[1:40] Speaker 1: hear this of whether or not Lebron is signed, I
[1:42] Speaker 1: think the answers know here, and that's why it doesn't
[1:45] Speaker 1: really matter as to whether or not he's signed. I
[1:47] Speaker 1: think egos have just been bruised too much as part
[1:50] Speaker 1: of this process, and I think I think it comes
[1:52] Speaker 1: down to two things. On the Lakers side of it,
[1:55] Speaker 1: like it is deeper than just the Lebron piece. There
[2:01] Speaker 1: was a very clear intentional effort to completely overturn the
[2:07] Speaker 1: roster and the two main guys that I think are
[2:11] Speaker 1: key revealing pieces here are actually I'll bump it up
[2:17] Speaker 1: to three one. Choosing a Sondro Mama Kalasvili over a
[2:21] Speaker 1: Ruey Hachimura. They both made about the same amount of money.
[2:25] Speaker 1: You're basically saying, rather than continuity, and a guy that,
[2:29] Speaker 1: especially on the weak side off of Luca, can just
[2:31] Speaker 1: shoot the shit out of the basketball, you're straight up saying, like,
[2:34] Speaker 1: you know, mom, who's a different player. He's better at something,
[2:36] Speaker 1: better rebound or better at putting the ball on the floor,
[2:38] Speaker 1: not as good as a standstill three point shooter. They're
[2:40] Speaker 1: different players. But it's just you saying, like, regardless of continuity,
[2:43] Speaker 1: we're gonna take a gamble on this dude because we
[2:46] Speaker 1: just want something different. Another example like Marcus Smart. Marcus
[2:50] Speaker 1: Smart was very clearly by every statistical measure last year
[2:55] Speaker 1: the most valuable Lakers role player beyond Lebron, Austin and Luca,
[2:59] Speaker 1: and to let him walk for that deal in Houston,
[3:02] Speaker 1: which I Gain. I don't don't remember off the top
[3:04] Speaker 1: of my head. I think it was like two years,
[3:05] Speaker 1: twelve million or whatever it was. That two years fourteen million,
[3:08] Speaker 1: That six or seven million a year to let Marcus
[3:10] Speaker 1: walk instead of bringing him back is very clearly like
[3:14] Speaker 1: a we want to be done with that era of
[3:17] Speaker 1: Lakers basketball. Jackson Hayes. Jackson Hayes being a member of
[3:20] Speaker 1: the Utah Jazz right now instead of a Los Angeles Laker.
[3:22] Speaker 1: I think that is another kind of a bell Weather
[3:25] Speaker 1: for that sort of idea. So, like, it's very clear
[3:28] Speaker 1: the Lakers were like beyond just we want Lebron out
[3:31] Speaker 1: of the picture. It's like Luca and Austin are our guys.
[3:35] Speaker 1: We want a completely new slate beyond that point. Obviously
[3:39] Speaker 1: other than the young players in like Bronnie James and
[3:42] Speaker 1: Adu Thierro that have been around. But like that was
[3:46] Speaker 1: abundantly clear in their strategy this offseason. It wasn't just
[3:49] Speaker 1: a we don't want Lebron anymore. It was we don't
[3:51] Speaker 1: want anything associated. We want to palette cleanse that entire
[3:55] Speaker 1: era of Lakers basketball now. I think that's a little
[4:00] Speaker 1: ridiculous if you if you dig into it, it's like
[4:02] Speaker 1: we're talking about, you know, guys who like a guy
[4:05] Speaker 1: that grew Hutch Murro made a Western Conference finals run
[4:08] Speaker 1: with the Lakers, right like you if you look into
[4:13] Speaker 1: those last couple of years, they won fifty plus games
[4:15] Speaker 1: each of those seasons, they won a playoff series, Like
[4:18] Speaker 1: it's rare to win a playoff series, especially in the
[4:20] Speaker 1: Western Conference. So like it's one of those things where
[4:23] Speaker 1: like I think this idea where the Lakers brass was
[4:27] Speaker 1: kind of like, ugh, like we're done with that era
[4:29] Speaker 1: of Lakers basketball is a little weird to me. I'm
[4:31] Speaker 1: surprised that they didn't value any of the culture from
[4:34] Speaker 1: the previous guys like a deeper than Lebron, like a
[4:37] Speaker 1: guy like Marcus Smart, who was clearly a very important
[4:39] Speaker 1: player to the culture that the Lakers were trying to build.
[4:42] Speaker 1: But it's abundantly clear on the Lakers side that they
[4:44] Speaker 1: were just kind of done with the whole thing. And
[4:46] Speaker 1: then on the Lebron side, you got to think about
[4:48] Speaker 1: it this way, like Lebron is at worst the second
[4:52] Speaker 1: best player of all time and a player who currently
[4:57] Speaker 1: is at worst a top twenty player in the NBA
[5:00] Speaker 1: in the regular season, and at worst, a top ten
[5:02] Speaker 1: playoff player. Like, that's what we're talking about with Lebron.
[5:05] Speaker 1: He's still extremely good at basketball while also having the
[5:09] Speaker 1: deep resume of a guy who has a legitimate goat case.
[5:13] Speaker 1: So to be in his situation and to have a
[5:16] Speaker 1: basketball team literally go like no, thanks, dude, you know.
[5:19] Speaker 1: And again, like I know that the reporting around it
[5:22] Speaker 1: was different. There's you know, like a lot of posturing
[5:25] Speaker 1: in the public eye, and Lebron did get the final
[5:28] Speaker 1: word by saying he was leaving. But like between Lebron's
[5:32] Speaker 1: ego in the whole situation and straight up being told
[5:34] Speaker 1: by a basketball team essentially that like, you know, we're
[5:36] Speaker 1: ready to move on without you and basically everyone that
[5:39] Speaker 1: was associated with your era of basketball, I think it
[5:41] Speaker 1: just has caused a situation where there's just too much
[5:44] Speaker 1: damage done. And like I said this in the Wednesday show,
[5:47] Speaker 1: and I mean it like it's sad. It's sad because
[5:51] Speaker 1: I want to watch the Lakers from March with Walker
[5:55] Speaker 1: Kessler instead of DeAndre Ayton, in a deeper bench with
[5:58] Speaker 1: more athletic you know, win plays. I want to watch Lebron,
[6:03] Speaker 1: Luca and Austin continue to build chemistry together and figure
[6:07] Speaker 1: out how to be the team, like a better version
[6:10] Speaker 1: even than what we saw in March. I want That's
[6:12] Speaker 1: what I wanted, And I think it would have been
[6:15] Speaker 1: an awesome end to Lebron's career to just have like
[6:18] Speaker 1: a good nine to ten year stretch in a Lakers jersey.
[6:21] Speaker 1: The Lakers would still have had room to build for
[6:23] Speaker 1: the future in the form of Walker Kessler and the
[6:26] Speaker 1: draft picks camcar and a do Thiero, and the development
[6:29] Speaker 1: of Bronnie James, who I know they value internally, Like
[6:32] Speaker 1: there there was a happy middle ground here where everyone
[6:35] Speaker 1: involved could have achieved their goals and the behavior and
[6:40] Speaker 1: I said it on Wednesday, and I mean it, like
[6:41] Speaker 1: it wasn't just all the Lakers not valuing Lebron, Like
[6:45] Speaker 1: the stuff with Rich Paul definitely started to strain the relationship.
[6:49] Speaker 1: It's a lot more complicated than it appears on the surface,
[6:51] Speaker 1: and there's a lot of people to blame. But ultimately
[6:53] Speaker 1: it's sad because what you're seeing is is you know
[6:57] Speaker 1: two entities that would be better off with each other,
[7:00] Speaker 1: that are going to be worse off without each other,
[7:02] Speaker 1: and at least in terms of risk, like there's a
[7:04] Speaker 1: chance where Lebron goes off and and he finds a
[7:07] Speaker 1: team that fits really well and that he has a
[7:09] Speaker 1: very successful season. But I just think his chances are
[7:12] Speaker 1: as good as, if not better, in LA and it
[7:15] Speaker 1: just is kind of sad that it's not going to
[7:17] Speaker 1: work out in that way. Next question, If you ignore
[7:20] Speaker 1: the championship and the fact that it's the Knicks, don't
[7:22] Speaker 1: you think that it would be an amazing basketball fit
[7:24] Speaker 1: for Lebron Kat brunts in og and McHale. That's so
[7:26] Speaker 1: much shooting in so much space. Lebron like the ball movement,
[7:30] Speaker 1: he can play on in all ball, he can play
[7:33] Speaker 1: all on and off the ball. The competitive edge, an
[7:36] Speaker 1: older team that I like would be really fun for him.
[7:39] Speaker 1: So this is a good one for us because we
[7:40] Speaker 1: know Lebron's not going to the Knicks regardless of whether
[7:42] Speaker 1: or not he signs. It's more of just a philosophical
[7:44] Speaker 1: conversation about basketball fit. My initial impression at first was, like,
[7:49] Speaker 1: I remember when I first heard this idea going around
[7:51] Speaker 1: when Rich Paul had the whiteboard incident, and he talked
[7:54] Speaker 1: about how like, if the Knicks hadn't won the title,
[7:55] Speaker 1: he'd be going to New York. One of the things
[7:57] Speaker 1: that I originally thought it was like, oh, well, you know,
[8:00] Speaker 1: Lebron kind of they kind of have like their starting
[8:02] Speaker 1: five like really ironed out right. And when I started
[8:07] Speaker 1: to think more about it, I think og and Andobe
[8:10] Speaker 1: because I think when it comes to positions, it more
[8:12] Speaker 1: has to do with what jobs you can do defensively
[8:15] Speaker 1: than what you can do offensively. And I think Ogannobi
[8:19] Speaker 1: is a versatile enough defender to guard enough positions on
[8:23] Speaker 1: the perimeter that he can easily be a three. And
[8:26] Speaker 1: I mean we saw over the years the Knicks go
[8:28] Speaker 1: to lineups at times that had Karl Anthony Towns and
[8:30] Speaker 1: Mitchell Robinson at the floor on the floor at the
[8:32] Speaker 1: same time with og and Andobe at the three. So
[8:34] Speaker 1: in this theoretical scenario, like a guy like Josh Hart
[8:37] Speaker 1: or a guy like Michael Bridges moves to the bench
[8:40] Speaker 1: and you go with like an og Lebron cat front court.
[8:43] Speaker 1: And I do think it would be a wonderful fit.
[8:45] Speaker 1: And when you start to dig into it, it's it's
[8:47] Speaker 1: like the off ball action stuff with kat as a
[8:50] Speaker 1: folk rum that we saw in over the course of
[8:52] Speaker 1: this playoff run, where Lebron could be both good off
[8:55] Speaker 1: the ball in that action and also as the folk
[8:58] Speaker 1: rum while Kat's running off ball screen for other players.
[9:02] Speaker 1: There's I really think when you dig into the backup
[9:05] Speaker 1: ball handling piece, like the Knicks kind of pieced that
[9:07] Speaker 1: together with a bunch of different guys with Jose Alvarado,
[9:10] Speaker 1: with Michale Bridges, Ogana Noobi would get his reps, and
[9:13] Speaker 1: Karl Anthony Towns would run a lot of that off
[9:15] Speaker 1: ball action when Brunson was off the floor. But I
[9:17] Speaker 1: think it would have been really helpful for the Knicks
[9:20] Speaker 1: to just have like a rock solid ball handler as
[9:22] Speaker 1: like a secondary ball handler off of Jalen Brunson, which
[9:26] Speaker 1: Lebron would just seamlessly fit into. There's the I talked
[9:30] Speaker 1: about this a little bit with the Joki fit, but
[9:33] Speaker 1: like I have always thought about Lebron's post prime as
[9:36] Speaker 1: being weirdly impressive in terms of his rim frequency and
[9:41] Speaker 1: rim efficiency given that he's been playing with non shooting fives,
[9:46] Speaker 1: and I just think watching Lebron play in a system
[9:49] Speaker 1: where they can actually truly space the floor, whether it
[9:52] Speaker 1: was the Denver situation that I kind of talked about
[9:55] Speaker 1: in recent weeks or this Knixt situation with Karl Anthony Towns.
[9:59] Speaker 1: I just think think Lebron would absolutely annihilate teams at
[10:02] Speaker 1: the rim if they could actually space the floor with
[10:06] Speaker 1: him looking to drive the basketball. So like, I just
[10:09] Speaker 1: think in general, it would be a really natural fit
[10:11] Speaker 1: on both ends of the floor. And again it's never
[10:13] Speaker 1: gonna happen. But in terms of the actual basketball fit,
[10:17] Speaker 1: I would put it above Miami. I'd put it above Philly,
[10:20] Speaker 1: I'd put it above Cleveland. I really think only Denver
[10:22] Speaker 1: and Golden State are the two teams that I think
[10:25] Speaker 1: Lebron would have a more natural basketball fit than those
[10:28] Speaker 1: other teams. One of the things I talked about over
[10:31] Speaker 1: the course of the last couple of weeks is the
[10:33] Speaker 1: idea of like Lebron being in a situation where he
[10:36] Speaker 1: can be Lebron, you know, Like I know Lebron. I
[10:39] Speaker 1: knew the whole time, even when everyone was dragging him
[10:42] Speaker 1: through the mud last year. I knew Lebron was going
[10:45] Speaker 1: to be able to do what he did in March.
[10:47] Speaker 1: I knew he could be like, I'm versatile enough and
[10:51] Speaker 1: competitive enough and want to win enough to change my
[10:53] Speaker 1: game to fit this like smaller role as a as
[10:58] Speaker 1: like kind of a Swiss army knife on both ends
[11:01] Speaker 1: of the floor for the Lakers, and he showed that
[11:03] Speaker 1: I never thought that was going to be a problem
[11:05] Speaker 1: for him. That doesn't mean necessarily that it's the best
[11:08] Speaker 1: use of his resources, though, right Like Lebron, what I
[11:13] Speaker 1: like about the idea of like a theoretical Denver fit
[11:15] Speaker 1: which isn't going to happen, or a theoretical Golden State fit,
[11:18] Speaker 1: which I don't think is going to happen, but is
[11:21] Speaker 1: a possibilities. At least at the time of this recording,
[11:25] Speaker 1: I was thinking about it as more of like a like,
[11:28] Speaker 1: this is a situation where Lebron and what he's great
[11:31] Speaker 1: at still at age forty two, really fits what this
[11:35] Speaker 1: team is trying to do. So you can have not
[11:38] Speaker 1: only the team have a great amount of success, but
[11:41] Speaker 1: also watched Lebron be a very happy version of himself
[11:45] Speaker 1: because he's being used appropriately, And that's kind of why
[11:49] Speaker 1: I was drawn to that specific kind of idea. But
[11:53] Speaker 1: I think the Knicks are a similar idea and that
[11:55] Speaker 1: I think it would be a really natural fit for Lebron.
[11:58] Speaker 1: Next question. As a it's been really interesting to see
[12:02] Speaker 1: the Jonathan Kaminga saga continue. Seems like he still wants
[12:04] Speaker 1: a bigger role than anyone wants to give him. In
[12:07] Speaker 1: your opinion, which team is his best fit right now?
[12:10] Speaker 1: What role is he best suited for on the court,
[12:13] Speaker 1: and how do you think that aligns or doesn't with
[12:15] Speaker 1: what he wants or envisions for himself. So it's tricky
[12:19] Speaker 1: because there's not really the trouble with Jonathan Kaminga in
[12:24] Speaker 1: his specific skill set is it's hard to find a
[12:28] Speaker 1: team that is competitive and looking to win that could
[12:32] Speaker 1: really actually use his skill set, you know, ironically, a
[12:35] Speaker 1: team that hasn't been brought up. I was trying to think, like,
[12:37] Speaker 1: what is a team out there that's like in position
[12:39] Speaker 1: to win, has need of a player at his position group,
[12:43] Speaker 1: but that also would like throw him the ball sometimes
[12:47] Speaker 1: and let him do some work. And ironically, the team
[12:49] Speaker 1: I came up with was Denver in the sense that
[12:52] Speaker 1: they have some injury vulnerabilities at the power forward spot
[12:57] Speaker 1: and Jonathan I think would fit rich nicely as like
[13:00] Speaker 1: a baseline cutter off of Nikole Jokic. And that's a
[13:04] Speaker 1: team that's actually looking for more ways to initiate offense,
[13:06] Speaker 1: especially when they get away from the Murray jokicch two
[13:09] Speaker 1: man game. The problem is is, like I don't think
[13:12] Speaker 1: Kaminga can play the three alongside Aaron Gordon, So like
[13:15] Speaker 1: he's a bench role in that specific case, which is
[13:18] Speaker 1: why he's not looking there. He's looking at some of
[13:20] Speaker 1: these other options because he's looking for a place that
[13:22] Speaker 1: he can start. You want to know why there's Lakers
[13:24] Speaker 1: buzz there. Rob Polinka has been known to give promises
[13:28] Speaker 1: to players in free agency. I could see universe where
[13:31] Speaker 1: Jonathan Kaminga gets a promise from Rob that he gets
[13:34] Speaker 1: the starting power forward spot as part of a of
[13:37] Speaker 1: a deal. And so but here's the thing. If he
[13:40] Speaker 1: starts in La or even if he ends up going
[13:44] Speaker 1: to a place like Cleveland, whether they start him at
[13:46] Speaker 1: the three or whatever they decide to do, you're talking
[13:49] Speaker 1: about spread, pick and roll teams with multiple ball handlers
[13:52] Speaker 1: that are gonna put him in situations where he's a
[13:54] Speaker 1: play finisher. And if you're a play finisher on the
[13:58] Speaker 1: court alongside Walker Kessler, or you're a play finisher on
[14:01] Speaker 1: the court alongside Evan Mobley Jared Allen, you are a
[14:05] Speaker 1: spot up shooter basically in a spread pick and roll system,
[14:08] Speaker 1: and similar to what we were talking about with Lebron,
[14:10] Speaker 1: Like there's a diminishing return on a Jonathan Kaminga if
[14:14] Speaker 1: he's being used as a spot up shooter. So Jonathan's
[14:17] Speaker 1: in this weird situation where like ironically, what he really
[14:20] Speaker 1: needs is to go to a team that's willing to
[14:22] Speaker 1: give him the ball a lot and just let him
[14:25] Speaker 1: have an opportunity to kind of build out that side
[14:27] Speaker 1: of his game. But it's hard to find those opportunities
[14:30] Speaker 1: because they're developing other younger players that have shown more
[14:33] Speaker 1: promise and are especially are young enough to have that
[14:37] Speaker 1: like plausible like maybe they can become this better version
[14:41] Speaker 1: of themselves. So it's hard to be like take the
[14:43] Speaker 1: ball away from that player and give it to a
[14:45] Speaker 1: Jonathan Kaminga who now has been in the league for
[14:47] Speaker 1: half a decade, right, So, like it's a very tricky
[14:50] Speaker 1: situation that he's in. The best case scenario for Jonathan
[14:54] Speaker 1: right now is a situation like that Laker situation because
[14:57] Speaker 1: he would get minutes. They're so they lack depth at
[15:02] Speaker 1: that power forward spot, and if you really dig into
[15:04] Speaker 1: some of the specifics, I think Soandro Mamo kailash VILLI
[15:07] Speaker 1: will play some four, but I bet you he ends
[15:09] Speaker 1: up playing a lot at the backup five because Keavon
[15:13] Speaker 1: Looney I don't think is a great fit there. I
[15:15] Speaker 1: think he's more of like a third center, and I
[15:17] Speaker 1: think they like the idea of a spread like a
[15:20] Speaker 1: spread out five five out kind of look that they
[15:22] Speaker 1: can go to. So I think with your other with
[15:26] Speaker 1: your four spot basically being like some Sondro Mama Kailash
[15:30] Speaker 1: Vilely and then like maybe it's Matist Staibel, I think,
[15:34] Speaker 1: you know, can play some four, but he's like a
[15:35] Speaker 1: three to four. You know, maybe it ends up being
[15:38] Speaker 1: some Jared Vanderbilt in the short term, maybe it ends
[15:41] Speaker 1: up being some Adu Thiero, Like it could be a
[15:43] Speaker 1: we'll see if Arthur Kaluma can play some minutes there.
[15:45] Speaker 1: But there's just a lot of like if a real,
[15:48] Speaker 1: like legitimate NBA Power Forward comes in, that dude's just
[15:52] Speaker 1: gonna get thirty minutes a night at the Power Forward.
[15:54] Speaker 1: And that's really the best thing for Jonathan right now.
[15:56] Speaker 1: The best thing for Jonathan is just consistent time on
[15:59] Speaker 1: an NBA even if the fit isn't great, And is
[16:03] Speaker 1: the fit great in La No, but it's a place
[16:06] Speaker 1: that I think he can go and get thirty plus
[16:09] Speaker 1: minutes a night, and if he at least twenty five,
[16:13] Speaker 1: and like, just doing that for a couple of years
[16:15] Speaker 1: could go a long way to him rehabbing his value,
[16:18] Speaker 1: becoming a better basketball player, and positioning himself for more
[16:21] Speaker 1: of a long term lucrative deal. So I know that
[16:25] Speaker 1: the Lakers can't offer very much and assign and trade,
[16:27] Speaker 1: and I know that a salary would amount to less
[16:30] Speaker 1: than probably what he wants. But at this point, dude,
[16:33] Speaker 1: you can't keep playing this game every summer where you
[16:35] Speaker 1: want twenty plus million a year, but no one's willing
[16:37] Speaker 1: to give it to you until you prove that you're
[16:39] Speaker 1: able to play at that level. And the best way
[16:42] Speaker 1: for him to prove that is to get on the
[16:44] Speaker 1: NBA court. And the best chance for him to get
[16:46] Speaker 1: on the NBA court is to find a situation like
[16:48] Speaker 1: the Lakers where they're like, yo, dude, we need a
[16:50] Speaker 1: starting power forward. This is your job, and you could
[16:54] Speaker 1: play big minutes for us. And so that's why I
[16:56] Speaker 1: think the Lakers fit makes the most sense, and that's
[16:58] Speaker 1: what I'm hoping ends up happening for him. Also, I
[17:00] Speaker 1: think the Lakers offseason becomes a little sketchy, even though
[17:03] Speaker 1: I like some of the bench pieces, it's sketchy if
[17:05] Speaker 1: you don't get a starting caliber player in there. Jonathan
[17:08] Speaker 1: Kaming guy, I think at least gives you more talent
[17:11] Speaker 1: upside in that starting lineup. Today's show is brought to
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[19:04] Speaker 1: Next question, can you give us your opinion on the
[19:06] Speaker 1: ongoing topic of the salary cap in the first and
[19:08] Speaker 1: second apron A good example is the OKC Thunder giving
[19:10] Speaker 1: their homegrown talent their money, but with Shay's contract getting
[19:13] Speaker 1: a huge boost next year to sixty million, between the
[19:15] Speaker 1: three of him, J Dub and Chet, they're going to
[19:18] Speaker 1: be worth a little over one hundred and forty of
[19:20] Speaker 1: the two hundred million before they get to the first
[19:21] Speaker 1: and second apron. So I actually had another question from
[19:24] Speaker 1: one of you guys that pitch this idea. So this
[19:26] Speaker 1: is and this is not exactly some groundbreaking idea. We've
[19:29] Speaker 1: talked about it on the show before and it's been
[19:32] Speaker 1: kind of bounced around, But I think the main change
[19:34] Speaker 1: the league needs to make is the homegrown talent discount.
[19:37] Speaker 1: And I think it gets tricky because like if you
[19:40] Speaker 1: I think it if you trade for a draft pick
[19:42] Speaker 1: from another team because you're tanking and you're just absorbing
[19:45] Speaker 1: draft picks and taking on bad contracts, that if that
[19:49] Speaker 1: player gets drafted, they should be under the same salary constraints.
[19:52] Speaker 1: But I believe personally that if you draft a player
[19:56] Speaker 1: with your own draft pick that you originally owned, the
[20:00] Speaker 1: one that you get based on your performance as a team,
[20:03] Speaker 1: I think that that draft picks should be under different
[20:06] Speaker 1: cap holds, so to speak, cap allocations than other players,
[20:11] Speaker 1: because it does not make sense for a team to
[20:14] Speaker 1: have great talent evaluation and to have the ability to
[20:17] Speaker 1: find good basketball players with their own draft picks, and
[20:20] Speaker 1: to ultimately get squeezed out of being able to maintain
[20:26] Speaker 1: control over those players. I had another question. It didn't
[20:29] Speaker 1: get into this, It didn't get into this particular mailbag,
[20:33] Speaker 1: but someone had asked something about the health of the league,
[20:36] Speaker 1: Adam Silver doing these things that led to us having
[20:40] Speaker 1: what has it been, seven different champions in seven years
[20:43] Speaker 1: or eight different champions in eight years. And I think
[20:47] Speaker 1: one of the important details there is like things are
[20:49] Speaker 1: going really well. Yes you have the parody, Yes you
[20:54] Speaker 1: have the ratings records that the league broke this year.
[21:00] Speaker 1: I think get going to everyone bitched and moan about
[21:02] Speaker 1: it going to streaming and is it more expensive, yes,
[21:05] Speaker 1: but the bottom line is it's getting into more houses.
[21:07] Speaker 1: More people are watching the NBA than ever in modern history, right,
[21:11] Speaker 1: And it's not a fair cop to go back to
[21:13] Speaker 1: nineteen ninety eight because there just wasn't as much on TV,
[21:16] Speaker 1: so there's not as much competition for eyeballs. Like, the
[21:19] Speaker 1: league is doing great, and I think that's an important
[21:22] Speaker 1: upside or an important like context here, But that doesn't
[21:26] Speaker 1: mean you can't continue to improve it. Like we talked
[21:28] Speaker 1: about this with Brian Winhorse when he came on the show, Like,
[21:31] Speaker 1: that doesn't mean you can't improve certain things. I've talked
[21:34] Speaker 1: about officiating and improving the flow of games and getting
[21:38] Speaker 1: rid of non basketball plays. I think this is another
[21:41] Speaker 1: example where it's like when one of the strongest things
[21:45] Speaker 1: that makes Major League Baseball a viable product is the
[21:49] Speaker 1: support of local fan bases. There's just if you're a
[21:52] Speaker 1: Saint Louis Cardinals fan, like Saint Louis Cardinals regional local games,
[21:56] Speaker 1: they just churn out numbers night in and night out
[21:59] Speaker 1: because they have such loyal fan bases. The Dodgers, the Yankees,
[22:03] Speaker 1: the Red Sox go around the league, even like the
[22:05] Speaker 1: d Backs got good a couple of years ago and
[22:08] Speaker 1: I dropped everything I was doing and watched every d
[22:10] Speaker 1: Backs game and I barely have time for baseball. But
[22:13] Speaker 1: it's because like growing up in Arizona, we all remember
[22:15] Speaker 1: the team that won the title in two thousand and one.
[22:17] Speaker 1: You know, the local fan bases are extremely strong in
[22:20] Speaker 1: Major League Baseball, and that in a way that supplements
[22:24] Speaker 1: otherwise weak performing national TV schedule. That's an area of
[22:28] Speaker 1: opportunity I think for the NBA, and the only way
[22:31] Speaker 1: to really breed long term, like fan base loyalty is
[22:38] Speaker 1: to have continuity. And if you have the rosters constantly
[22:41] Speaker 1: turning over because the team has to pick between which
[22:43] Speaker 1: guys they want to pay, and it's like, oh, this
[22:45] Speaker 1: team got really good, but now they have to hemorrhage
[22:47] Speaker 1: all their players because it's too expensive. Like that sort
[22:50] Speaker 1: of thing. I think a chips away at that specific
[22:54] Speaker 1: type of local fan base loyalty and turns the league
[22:57] Speaker 1: into more of a national sport. I think it can
[22:59] Speaker 1: be both. And like if you have a universe where
[23:02] Speaker 1: it's an incentivized cap situation when you're able to retain
[23:08] Speaker 1: your own draft picks in some way, shape or form,
[23:10] Speaker 1: whether it's just okay, it's your own draft picks, so
[23:12] Speaker 1: it only counts seventy percent towards the cap of the
[23:15] Speaker 1: total number, which gives you more ability to spend money
[23:19] Speaker 1: elsewhere or to retain your great players. Something like that
[23:22] Speaker 1: could lead to marginal improvements and local fan based loyalty,
[23:26] Speaker 1: which can supplement a national TV schedule that's already performing
[23:30] Speaker 1: really well. And the league could be even better. And
[23:32] Speaker 1: that's the thing. League's doing great, but it can be better,
[23:34] Speaker 1: And I think specifically rewarding teams that are well run
[23:38] Speaker 1: and that can draft well that allowing them to maintain
[23:43] Speaker 1: their talent I think would be an upside for the league.
[23:47] Speaker 1: Next one, the Bucksteo roster is pretty guard heavy, with
[23:49] Speaker 1: Buris and a mean showing flashes. Should Milwaukee look to
[23:52] Speaker 1: move Hero and Coops to free up minutes for younger
[23:55] Speaker 1: guys and acquire size or should we ride it out
[23:57] Speaker 1: and see what we have? Hero is the big one
[23:58] Speaker 1: for me, Like I just I really like the guard
[24:00] Speaker 1: rotation out there between, especially on ball guys in terms
[24:05] Speaker 1: of Ryan Rollins and Braiden Burry's and you guys know,
[24:07] Speaker 1: I like Aj Green a lot. I just think the
[24:09] Speaker 1: Bucks have a really good guard, corep And I think
[24:11] Speaker 1: while Tyler Hero is a good basketball player that I
[24:13] Speaker 1: think can help certain teams, like I just personally don't
[24:18] Speaker 1: think he makes a lot of sense for the development
[24:20] Speaker 1: trajectory that Milwaukee is on. And so again, like and
[24:24] Speaker 1: if you want to give him at the ball more
[24:25] Speaker 1: maybe Like obviously I think Kyle Kuzma inevitably ends up
[24:29] Speaker 1: getting moved or moved to the bench in Milwaukee. But
[24:32] Speaker 1: to me, the big one is Tyler Hero. Tyler Hero
[24:34] Speaker 1: I think has some value too. Like if you look
[24:35] Speaker 1: at we talked about this with the Austin Reeves contract,
[24:38] Speaker 1: Tyler Hero's contract is actually like pretty affordable for a
[24:41] Speaker 1: player of his caliber because of the fact that the
[24:43] Speaker 1: league has gotten more and more expensive and just how
[24:45] Speaker 1: much these guards cost. So like, Hero's got some value
[24:48] Speaker 1: if you can get something for him and clear up
[24:51] Speaker 1: usage for your guards, I think that makes a ton
[24:52] Speaker 1: of sense. But I was really impressed by Braden Burry's
[24:55] Speaker 1: I watched him all year with Arizona, and one of
[24:58] Speaker 1: the things that really impressed me him is like he
[25:00] Speaker 1: would get into these slumps and he would dig out
[25:03] Speaker 1: of them. Like I've seen slumps make players spiral, and
[25:06] Speaker 1: he just kind of kept his confidence, kept hooping and
[25:09] Speaker 1: was able to dig out of multiple like slumps in
[25:14] Speaker 1: like the conference tournament and in the actual tournament. And like,
[25:17] Speaker 1: I just think he projects to be a really, really
[25:19] Speaker 1: solid NBA player. He's a scrapper, he gets to loose balls,
[25:22] Speaker 1: he hit a legitimate three level score, knock down, open,
[25:25] Speaker 1: catch and shoot. Guy has great size for the position,
[25:29] Speaker 1: kind of unassuming in a good locker room dude. Like
[25:32] Speaker 1: I just he was one of my favorite players that
[25:34] Speaker 1: ever rooted for and in Arizona, Jersey. And I think
[25:37] Speaker 1: he's gonna be a big addition for the Milwaukee Bucks.
[25:40] Speaker 1: Another Bucks related question, before the trade deadline where players
[25:43] Speaker 1: like Tyler Herro and Jaime Hakkas are probably traded away,
[25:47] Speaker 1: how competitive in the standings can a Milwaukee Bucks team
[25:51] Speaker 1: be with a lineup of hero Rollins, Hakez, Kuzma, and
[25:54] Speaker 1: Turner with depth pieces like Brayden Burry's, Kevin Porter, Junior,
[25:58] Speaker 1: Kars Lavert and Killware. So here's the thing, and this
[26:01] Speaker 1: is where it gets tricky, because You're right. If you
[26:03] Speaker 1: put out a lineup like Tyler Hero, Ryan Rollins, Himahakez,
[26:07] Speaker 1: Kyle Kuzman, Miles Turner, and you basically just retain everybody,
[26:11] Speaker 1: can you be reasonably competitive? Sure? I think that team
[26:14] Speaker 1: is still a play in team in the Eastern Conference,
[26:17] Speaker 1: like in that seven to ten range. I don't think
[26:19] Speaker 1: that they're a playoff team by any means. But that's
[26:22] Speaker 1: really the key there is. Like if you I've talked
[26:26] Speaker 1: about this before, I would maintain Turner and kell Aware
[26:29] Speaker 1: because I think the center position is very important for
[26:33] Speaker 1: the foundation of what your guards are trying to do
[26:35] Speaker 1: on both ends of the floor. Like if you're trying
[26:37] Speaker 1: to teach Braden Burry's and Ryan Rollins to be good
[26:41] Speaker 1: drop coverage defenders so that you can ultimately, one day
[26:44] Speaker 1: in the future compete for a championship or compete in
[26:47] Speaker 1: the playoffs. You want them playing with legitimate rim protecting
[26:50] Speaker 1: talent like kell Aware and Miles Turner. Right, same thing
[26:54] Speaker 1: with like pick and roll, Like both players can pick
[26:56] Speaker 1: and pop, both players can pick and roll. Kellawharre's a
[26:59] Speaker 1: little bit more of a vertical spacer, although Miles Turner
[27:01] Speaker 1: is I think a better role man than he gets
[27:02] Speaker 1: credit for. You know, you have these pick and roll
[27:06] Speaker 1: partnerships that are gonna be what helps Braden Bury's and
[27:11] Speaker 1: Ryan Rollins develop into the guards they're going to be.
[27:14] Speaker 1: So like I want, I don't want to like just
[27:16] Speaker 1: turn Miles Turner and kell Aware into draft picks and
[27:19] Speaker 1: then put really inferior center talent on the floor in
[27:25] Speaker 1: a way that just stilts the development trajectory of our guards. Right,
[27:29] Speaker 1: So like that, I think I would keep Turner and
[27:32] Speaker 1: and kell Aware, but I wouldn't roll out all these
[27:36] Speaker 1: dudes and play them just to be a mediocre playing team.
[27:39] Speaker 1: I would try to get as much value for them
[27:41] Speaker 1: as you can and open up as much opportunity as
[27:45] Speaker 1: possible for your for your young players to develop in
[27:48] Speaker 1: the short term. Two more, three more excuse me, Jason,
[27:53] Speaker 1: big fan of the show. In your coverage of the game,
[27:55] Speaker 1: you and your guys at Nerd Sash from my go
[27:56] Speaker 1: to his for NBA coverage, I remember you talking about
[27:59] Speaker 1: what you believe when east Peak will look like when
[28:01] Speaker 1: he finally develops offensively. But I was curious what kind
[28:03] Speaker 1: of offense you've run for Wemby is it more off ball
[28:06] Speaker 1: stuff to free him up from physicality? Can you see
[28:08] Speaker 1: him running dhos to maybe free himself up and getting
[28:11] Speaker 1: the slashing guards downhill? Curious for your thoughts. So I
[28:15] Speaker 1: actually ended up landing on like a Denver Nuggets style
[28:18] Speaker 1: approach with Nikola Jokic. Now, obviously Jokic is much more
[28:21] Speaker 1: of a post player, so I would say, like, replace
[28:24] Speaker 1: what you envision as the Jokic post up with more
[28:27] Speaker 1: of like a Wemby face up. We have an episode
[28:29] Speaker 1: coming out on Monday that's going to be talking about
[28:33] Speaker 1: the perfect number twos to pair with your superstars. And
[28:35] Speaker 1: one of the things that I think about with Wemby
[28:38] Speaker 1: is like a lot of times with centers or playmakers,
[28:41] Speaker 1: you go, well, you want to put a score next
[28:42] Speaker 1: to them, they can help in the late game situations.
[28:44] Speaker 1: I actually don't worry about that with Wemby. I think
[28:46] Speaker 1: Wemby is going to become a devastating closer. I think
[28:49] Speaker 1: that his jump shot is unguardable and he's got the
[28:53] Speaker 1: touch that within a couple of years, I think he's
[28:55] Speaker 1: going to be deadly from the mid range, and I
[28:57] Speaker 1: think he's going to pick teams apart down the stretch
[28:59] Speaker 1: of games with little short dumb shots. So like I
[29:01] Speaker 1: don't worry about Wemby's ISO game in the long run,
[29:04] Speaker 1: it's more of a short term issue. I think Wemby
[29:07] Speaker 1: playing at the elbow extended in face ups would be
[29:10] Speaker 1: like my replacement for the Jokic post up kind of thing.
[29:13] Speaker 1: But what I really like about the Jokic style offense
[29:16] Speaker 1: with Victor wemen Yama is the two man game and
[29:18] Speaker 1: then the inverted ball screens. So the two man game
[29:21] Speaker 1: pick and roll style, like getting Wemby with the high
[29:24] Speaker 1: level pick and roll player, whether it's still in Harper,
[29:25] Speaker 1: Steph Castle, Darren Fox are a player to be named later,
[29:29] Speaker 1: but getting Victor wemen Yama in as many two man
[29:32] Speaker 1: game sequences where he's the screener and he can get
[29:34] Speaker 1: open pick and pop threes opportunities on the role for Lobbs.
[29:38] Speaker 1: You know, the openings that it creates on the weak
[29:40] Speaker 1: side with his role gravity, deep post position on those
[29:43] Speaker 1: situations like that, a lot of a steady dyet of
[29:46] Speaker 1: pick and roll. You got to use Wemby's pick and
[29:48] Speaker 1: roll player because he's just incredibly valuable with his gravity
[29:51] Speaker 1: rolling to the rim. The second piece of it is
[29:54] Speaker 1: the inverted ball screen thing, and this is what Jokic
[29:56] Speaker 1: does a ton. He'll bring the ball to the floor,
[29:58] Speaker 1: He'll dribble up to the right wing or the left wing.
[30:00] Speaker 1: He'll have Jamal Murray or Tim Hardaway Junior or whoever
[30:04] Speaker 1: the shooting guard is on the floor come up and
[30:07] Speaker 1: set a screen for him. And if his man fights
[30:10] Speaker 1: through the screen and the guard stays home, he'll rumble
[30:13] Speaker 1: downhill and get a layup. If the guard switches, he'll
[30:16] Speaker 1: turn and post him. If the guard lingers in a
[30:18] Speaker 1: double team, he'll pitch the ball to the guard slipping
[30:21] Speaker 1: out of the screen. Right. It creates a very simple
[30:24] Speaker 1: decision tree for the defense where somebody's going to be
[30:27] Speaker 1: open right, like you're either going to concede a switch
[30:30] Speaker 1: or Yokis is gonna get open on the drive or
[30:32] Speaker 1: the guard is going to get open on the pop. Right.
[30:34] Speaker 1: That's just the decision tree of the inverted pick and roll.
[30:37] Speaker 1: But I think it fits Victor wemen Yama's skill set
[30:40] Speaker 1: extremely well because he can okay, you go way under.
[30:43] Speaker 1: He's a guy that it can hit pull up threes. Okay,
[30:46] Speaker 1: you create a passing read for him. He can see
[30:48] Speaker 1: over the top of the defense and throw those passes.
[30:51] Speaker 1: You give him a driving lane, He's just gonna go
[30:53] Speaker 1: down the lane and dunk on your ass, right. So,
[30:55] Speaker 1: like that's why I kind of look at the Denver
[30:57] Speaker 1: offense as an offense that I think makes a lot
[30:59] Speaker 1: of sense for San Antonio in the long run. Steady
[31:02] Speaker 1: died of inverted ball screens. For Wemby, Steady died of
[31:04] Speaker 1: regular kind of two man game pick and roll at
[31:07] Speaker 1: the top of the key and then instead of like
[31:09] Speaker 1: the Jokic post up style offense. I do think that
[31:12] Speaker 1: there's going to be a I think Wemby is going
[31:14] Speaker 1: to build out a pretty devastating kind of like high
[31:17] Speaker 1: post face up game in the coming years. That's going
[31:19] Speaker 1: to be what he closes games with. Next question, Brunson
[31:24] Speaker 1: went head tohead with Wemby on the biggest stage of
[31:26] Speaker 1: sports and not only dominated him individually, but one in
[31:29] Speaker 1: five games, three of them being on the road. So
[31:31] Speaker 1: how is Jalen Brunson not the best player in the world,
[31:34] Speaker 1: let alone than Wemby. So I want to be really
[31:38] Speaker 1: clear up front here to the Knicks fans, I do
[31:40] Speaker 1: not mean my answer in this question to take away
[31:44] Speaker 1: in any way, shape or form what Jalen Brunson did
[31:46] Speaker 1: in his Final Finals MVP campaign. This conversation is now
[31:50] Speaker 1: officially being framed in the best in the World conversation,
[31:53] Speaker 1: which is a very different conversation. One of the most
[31:55] Speaker 1: common fallacies that I see with basketball is the idea
[32:01] Speaker 1: of the late game shot making being kind of like
[32:05] Speaker 1: over index Don and I do think it's an incredibly
[32:10] Speaker 1: valuable piece. I would argue it's more valuable than it
[32:13] Speaker 1: is statistically right, Like a couple shots at the end
[32:16] Speaker 1: of the game is just a few points, but it's
[32:18] Speaker 1: worth a lot in an environment where nobody can score.
[32:21] Speaker 1: So I don't mean to say that like late game
[32:24] Speaker 1: shot making is not valuable. It certainly is. But it's
[32:28] Speaker 1: just one part of the game, right, And there's no
[32:31] Speaker 1: doubt that if there's three four minutes left in a
[32:34] Speaker 1: game and it's close, Jalen Brunson might literally be the
[32:37] Speaker 1: best player in the world at that one specific job.
[32:40] Speaker 1: And so yes, if I can build a roster around
[32:43] Speaker 1: him that can carry him to those situations, he can
[32:46] Speaker 1: bring a great deal of value there. But that getting
[32:50] Speaker 1: to that very unique situation is a different job than
[32:55] Speaker 1: being in that exact situation and executing in that situation. So,
[32:59] Speaker 1: for instance, like the guy from my era that got
[33:01] Speaker 1: this kind of buzz, the two guys were Kevin Durant
[33:03] Speaker 1: Kawhi Leonard, And it's like there were plenty of times
[33:06] Speaker 1: where guys tried to say Kevin Durant or Kawhi Leonard
[33:09] Speaker 1: were better than Lebron James and Steph Curry. But Lebron
[33:13] Speaker 1: James and Steph Curry, in my opinion, were by a
[33:16] Speaker 1: pretty decent margin the best players in that era, and
[33:19] Speaker 1: I think there was a little bit of a gap
[33:21] Speaker 1: between them and the Kawhi KD group. And the reason
[33:23] Speaker 1: why is that they both had this ability to drive
[33:28] Speaker 1: incredibly high level offense over the course of entire games,
[33:33] Speaker 1: entire seasons, entire playoff runs. Lebron also had this defensive
[33:38] Speaker 1: utility and Swiss army knife kind of thing. But they
[33:41] Speaker 1: both impacted winning in a way that was a lot
[33:43] Speaker 1: deeper than just late game shot making, where Steph and
[33:46] Speaker 1: Lebron the best late game shot makers in the league
[33:48] Speaker 1: never right. Like Steph on occasion would have trouble separating
[33:51] Speaker 1: from the Apex defenders in the league. Lebron his jump
[33:54] Speaker 1: shot kind of came and went, which made him somewhat
[33:57] Speaker 1: less reliable in those situations. But they were both good
[34:00] Speaker 1: in those situations while also bringing everything else to the table.
[34:03] Speaker 1: To me, Jalen Brunson is an example of a player
[34:05] Speaker 1: who like may very well be the best player in
[34:08] Speaker 1: the world for that specific situation, but there's just so
[34:11] Speaker 1: much more that goes into basketball than just that situation.
[34:13] Speaker 1: So even to put it this way, like do I
[34:15] Speaker 1: think Jalen Brunson out played Victor wemben Yama in the finals?
[34:19] Speaker 1: It's like, well, yeah, at the end of games, and
[34:24] Speaker 1: I think that he was a deserving finals MVP, and
[34:28] Speaker 1: I think that his ability to out execute the Spurs
[34:33] Speaker 1: specifically in those situations was the separator that got it
[34:38] Speaker 1: done for the Knicks. But do I think Jaln Bunson
[34:42] Speaker 1: is better than Victor wemen Yama? Know? And like, if
[34:44] Speaker 1: you really dig into the series, the number one chess
[34:46] Speaker 1: match of the series was like, where's Victor wemen Yamen?
[34:48] Speaker 1: What are we doing with him? On both ends of
[34:50] Speaker 1: the floor. So like again it's just it's it's tricky
[34:53] Speaker 1: because I'm if I'm starting a season tomorrow, I'm taking
[34:57] Speaker 1: Wemby over Jalen one hundred times out of one hundred,
[35:00] Speaker 1: but yes, in the NBA Finals, Jaalen Brunson took advantage
[35:03] Speaker 1: of five close games, one four of them and was
[35:07] Speaker 1: able to hoist the trophy. So, like I just think again,
[35:10] Speaker 1: it's about separating what happened in an individual playoff series
[35:14] Speaker 1: from like what basketball looks like in a vacuum. When
[35:17] Speaker 1: circumstances around that shift, which they do, the Spurs will
[35:21] Speaker 1: look different in the coming years and the Knicks will
[35:22] Speaker 1: look different in coming years. Last question, mailbag kind of
[35:26] Speaker 1: off topic, but what do you predict will be the
[35:28] Speaker 1: twelve players on USA twenty twenty eight men's Olympic team.
[35:32] Speaker 1: So I'm not going to really try to piece together
[35:33] Speaker 1: the full twelve here, but I'm more just interested in
[35:35] Speaker 1: looking at what the general roster is going to look
[35:39] Speaker 1: like and at the guards. You're gonna have some combination
[35:41] Speaker 1: of like Anthony Edwards, K. Cunningham and Tyrese Haliburton on
[35:44] Speaker 1: the wings, Jason Tatum, Cooper Flagg, Pala Boncaro, Center's Chet Holmgren,
[35:50] Speaker 1: bam At a bio Evan Mobley. We'll see if one
[35:52] Speaker 1: of these young rookies is able to play by the
[35:54] Speaker 1: time we get to twenty twenty eight, you also have
[35:56] Speaker 1: like a tail end of the roster that you can
[35:58] Speaker 1: fill in with a variety of different guys. But that's
[36:00] Speaker 1: kind of like the core of the team, those nine
[36:02] Speaker 1: guys that I can think of, And honestly, it's gonna
[36:05] Speaker 1: be challenge. I was when I was looking at it.
[36:07] Speaker 1: I'm a little I think this twenty twenty eight team
[36:10] Speaker 1: is gonna be pretty vulnerable. I'm like, I should include
[36:14] Speaker 1: Jalen Brown in that list too. By the way, I
[36:15] Speaker 1: put Jalen Brown in as one of the forwards. But
[36:19] Speaker 1: the point is is, like those guys are gonna have
[36:21] Speaker 1: to gel in a real way because what you don't
[36:23] Speaker 1: have there is a super super reliable, high level offensive
[36:26] Speaker 1: engine type like Tyres Halliburn is an offensive engine, but
[36:30] Speaker 1: he's not the level of like what the Lebron Steph
[36:33] Speaker 1: machine was in twenty twenty four some previous teams. Jason
[36:37] Speaker 1: Tatum is a better passer than most forwards, but like
[36:39] Speaker 1: he's not gonna be anywhere near the level of offensive
[36:42] Speaker 1: engine as some of the teams he's gonna run into
[36:44] Speaker 1: in the Olympic Tournament. You know, Cooper Flag is developing
[36:48] Speaker 1: really nicely, but I think it's just hard to predict
[36:50] Speaker 1: him being like some all world offensive engine. So they
[36:53] Speaker 1: lack that like kind of natural like we're gonna play
[36:56] Speaker 1: through this guy on offense and get great shots at time,
[37:01] Speaker 1: missing that it requires everything to come together perfectly. They
[37:05] Speaker 1: got to be awesome on defense. They got to shoot
[37:07] Speaker 1: the basketball extremely well. A bunch of these guys are
[37:09] Speaker 1: gonna have to mesh together in their skill sets and
[37:11] Speaker 1: make personal sacrifices. I'm not saying I still think the
[37:15] Speaker 1: TMOSA will always be the safest bet because of all
[37:18] Speaker 1: of their talent, but twenty twenty eight will be the
[37:21] Speaker 1: most vulnerable that Team USA has been since that two
[37:25] Speaker 1: thousand and four team that came up short. All right, guys,
[37:28] Speaker 1: it's all I have for today is always a sincerely
[37:30] Speaker 1: persent you guys for supporting us and supporting the show.
[37:32] Speaker 1: We'll be back Monday. We're gonna do my perfect number
[37:34] Speaker 1: twos for the top five superstars in the NBA. Obviously,
[37:37] Speaker 1: we might have a Lebron reveal somewhere in there, maybe
[37:39] Speaker 1: it's already happened, and then next week we will get
[37:41] Speaker 1: into some either fallout from the Lebron trade most likely
[37:45] Speaker 1: or Lebron signing most likely if not, then we'll get
[37:47] Speaker 1: into our player rightings

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