# NBA Free Agency LIVE Reaction Special!!

An episode of [Gil's Arena](https://invisiblenetwork.ai/podcast/1689097415), 1 Jul 2026, 1 h 41 min.

Audio: https://podtrac.com/pts/redirect.mp3/pscrb.fm/rss/p/traffic.omny.fm/d/clips/e73c998e-6e60-432f-8610-ae210140c5b1/895dfae1-64b0-4981-adea-b4b300f0d0f6/742237ec-97b0-417e-9505-b4b300fb82ab/audio.mp3?utm_source=Podcast&in_playlist=d110bf8d-fc65-45fb-856f-b4b300f0d117

NBA Free Agency LIVE Reaction Show as the Gil's Arena Crew reacts live to all the breaking news from NBA Free Agency as the tampering period is officially over, allowing teams to sign free agents that will reshape the NBA landscape. They tip things off by reacting to LeBron James saying goodbye to the Los Angeles Lakers as the King informed the team he will be signing elsewhere this offseason as he writes the final chapter of his legendary career. They discuss what is next for LeBron as he debates where to sign, highlighting the Golden State Warriors, Miami Heat, San Antonio Spurs and Washington Wizards as the most likely landing spots for the NBA GOAT. They then react to Kawhi Leonard returning to the Toronto Raptors as the Los Angeles Clippers pulled off a blockbuster trade for their former Finals MVP and debate if the shocking move was smart for either side of the deal. Finally, they react to Ja Morant getting traded to the Portland Trail Blazers and react to any breaking news that comes through live. Today's Gil's Arena Crew : Swaggy P, Skip Bayless, Brandon Jennings & Rashad McCants Gil's Arena premieres every Tuesday, Wednesday & Thursday at 11:30am PT / 2:30pm ET. Sign up for Underdog HERE with promo code ARENA and play $5 to get $50 in bonus funds or bonus entries https://play.underdogsports.com/vgwg/... SUBSCRIBE: / @thearena0 Read Rashad's Blog - https://rawrashad.com/?blog=y Join the Underdog discord for access to exclusive giveaways and promos! / discord Must be 18+ (19+ in AL, NE; 19+ in CO for some games; 21+ in AZ & MA) and present in a state where Underdog Fantasy operates. Terms apply. Concerned with your play? Call 1-800-GAMBLER or visit www.ncpgambling.org; NY: Call the 24/7 HOPEline at 1-877-8-HOPENY or Text HOPENY (467369) 2 Min Countdown 0:00:00 Show Start 0:02:02 LeBron James Decides To Leave Lakers 0:04:30 Should LeBron Sign With The Warriors? 0:32:18 Kawhi Leonard Traded Back To The Raptors 0:41:40 Ja Morant Traded To Portland 1:04:27 Tim Hardaway Signs With The Heat 1:29:03 How Will Ja & Dame Share The Floor? 1:32:10 Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

## Transcript

[0:04] Speaker 1: Welcome back to Gil's Arena presented by Underdog. I'm Brandon Jennings,
[0:09] Speaker 1: and I'll be your host this evening. We got one
[0:12] Speaker 1: of the biggest legends in sports media game. Sit next
[0:16] Speaker 1: to me, Skip Bayless is in the building. Sitting next
[0:21] Speaker 1: to him is NBA World Champion of the World, Swaggy P,
[0:25] Speaker 1: Nick Young.
[0:28] Speaker 2: Wait, where's Nick?
[0:30] Speaker 1: We don't know.
[0:31] Speaker 3: He'll be here.
[0:32] Speaker 1: And the man they call Cemetery Larry, NCAA champ of
[0:37] Speaker 1: the world, Rashad McKintz is in the building. How you
[0:48] Speaker 1: feeling today? Finish him. How you feeling today? You got
[0:52] Speaker 1: your Lakers stuff on?
[0:53] Speaker 3: Feeling good? Last hurrah. This is the last hurrah. Yeah?
[0:56] Speaker 3: Figured I'd bring out the last little bit of props
[0:59] Speaker 3: and take a couple souls in the process. Yeah, uh-huh.
[1:05] Speaker 1: And it's a special free agency edition of Gil's Arena,
[1:08] Speaker 1: and we'll be breaking down all the big signings and moves.
[1:11] Speaker 1: This episode is presented by Underdog. Underdog's available in most states,
[1:15] Speaker 1: including Texas, California, and Florida. New customers get $ 50 in
[1:20] Speaker 1: bonus entries when they play just $ 5. To get started,
[1:24] Speaker 1: just use code ARENA when you sign up, and it'll
[1:26] Speaker 1: instantly load.
[1:27] Speaker 3: Underdog. Make picks. Win money with code ARENA.
[1:31] Speaker 1: The World Cup is underway and Underdog is all in
[1:33] Speaker 1: on America. Check out these exclusive promos in the Underdog app,
[1:37] Speaker 1: including discounts on all the U.S. national teams. Multiple 30%
[1:42] Speaker 1: profit boots. The golden boot jackpot worth $ 250, 000 and $ 25
[1:49] Speaker 1: million giveaway if the U.S. wins it all. And if
[1:52] Speaker 1: you can't watch this show live with us on YouTube,
[1:55] Speaker 1: we got our auto versions on Apple, Spotify, and whatever
[1:58] Speaker 1: other podcast you can watch it on. So now guys,
[2:01] Speaker 1: let's get this started. Cause I know where you guys
[2:03] Speaker 1: are ready to head this.
[2:04] Speaker 2: Like this new point guard.
[2:06] Speaker 1: Uh, yeah, it was a little, I mean, you know,
[2:09] Speaker 1: the little reason was a little different, but it's all right.
[2:11] Speaker 3: I get there.
[2:12] Speaker 1: I get there first time.
[2:13] Speaker 3: Get back to the point guard position, man.
[2:16] Speaker 1: Um, so it, so it came, so it became official
[2:19] Speaker 1: this morning that LeBron James will be moving on from
[2:21] Speaker 1: the Los Angeles Lakers. According to Rich Paul, uh, the
[2:24] Speaker 1: Lakers put out this statement. LeBron James is one of
[2:27] Speaker 1: the greatest athletes in history. We will always be thankful
[2:30] Speaker 1: for his eight years with the Lakers, including the title
[2:32] Speaker 1: he led to us in 2020. Under the toughest imaginable
[2:37] Speaker 1: circumstances and the countless records he broke in the purple
[2:40] Speaker 1: and gold, we wish him all the best in the future,
[2:42] Speaker 1: both on the court and off. He will always be
[2:45] Speaker 1: cherished and part of the Lakers family. In LeBron James'
[2:50] Speaker 1: 23-year career with other teams he has played with, he
[2:53] Speaker 1: was drafted by the Cavs and played for the Cavs
[2:56] Speaker 1: in 2003 to 2010. Signed with the Heat and played
[3:00] Speaker 1: from 2010 to 2014. Returned to the Cavs and played
[3:04] Speaker 1: 2014 to 2018. And signed with the Lakers and played
[3:07] Speaker 1: from 2018 to 2026. All right, Skip, let's get started
[3:14] Speaker 1: with you because this is your guy. This is your
[3:15] Speaker 1: favorite guy. What do you think is next for LeBron James?
[3:19] Speaker 3: Hmm.
[3:20] Speaker 2: You don't want Cemetery to do this?
[3:23] Speaker 3: He's going to be in a body bag regardless, whichever
[3:25] Speaker 3: way he go, you or me. All right.
[3:29] Speaker 4: So, Brandon, I got a kick out of the fact
[3:34] Speaker 4: that Rich Paul is saying this morning that he and
[3:38] Speaker 4: LeBron informed the Lakers they're going elsewhere. The truth is
[3:44] Speaker 4: the Lakers have been informing LeBron all along for the
[3:48] Speaker 4: last month. They're moving on without him because they were
[3:57] Speaker 4: offering so little money that he had no choice but
[4:01] Speaker 4: to go elsewhere. And Luka did not want LeBron James.
[4:09] Speaker 2: Back with the Lakers.
[4:10] Speaker 4: And Luka posted, I think it was on X, some statement,
[4:13] Speaker 4: I don't know, about it's been an honor and a
[4:15] Speaker 4: privilege to.
[4:18] Speaker 4: To play with you and learn from you. And I'm
[4:21] Speaker 4: sure there's a part of Luka that believes that. That
[4:24] Speaker 4: was genuine, authentic Luka. Because he does love and appreciate
[4:29] Speaker 4: the game of basketball and the genius IQ level of
[4:33] Speaker 4: LeBron James. I think he came to admire greatly. But
[4:38] Speaker 4: he also came to resent greatly that he had to
[4:40] Speaker 4: share the Lakers stage with LeBron James. And all that
[4:45] Speaker 4: LeBron brings in the way of aura and mystique and
[4:49] Speaker 4: all-time leading scorer. And Luka had just had enough of it.
[4:55] Speaker 4: And clearly, the Lakers have committed to Luka contractually as
[5:00] Speaker 4: the new face of the franchise. And clearly, and painfully clearly,
[5:06] Speaker 4: they just gave Austin Reeves his money.
[5:11] Speaker 2: And they gave him lots of money.
[5:14] Speaker 4: And they committed to Austin Reeves as the best buddy
[5:19] Speaker 4: of Luca. And they have a very deep kinship, friendship.
[5:25] Speaker 4: Sometimes it gets a little weird. They seem so close.
[5:27] Speaker 4: But whatever, they're like this. And Luca came to enjoy
[5:36] Speaker 4: playing with Austin more than he was enjoying playing with LeBron.
[5:41] Speaker 3: So....
[5:43] Speaker 2: Luka got everything that he wanted.
[5:45] Speaker 4: The Luka era is now fully, completely, utterly launched with
[5:51] Speaker 4: AR as his little buddy sidekick. And that's who the
[5:56] Speaker 4: Lakers are going to be going forward. And they want
[5:58] Speaker 4: to have some flexibility left to be able to add
[6:01] Speaker 4: a few little pieces. I don't think they're going to
[6:03] Speaker 4: be big, but they're going to be little to fill
[6:06] Speaker 4: out the rest of their roster.
[6:08] Speaker 2: And Now it's up to LeBron to.
[6:11] Speaker 1: Go wherever it is.
[6:12] Speaker 4: I just want to make this point that you and
[6:14] Speaker 4: I went back and forth on. You were a big
[6:17] Speaker 4: proponent of Golden State from the start. You have campaigned
[6:21] Speaker 4: for that for, what, a week or so? And I
[6:27] Speaker 4: got it. I still think they would be the olden
[6:30] Speaker 4: state warriors, the golden oldies, but The one piece to
[6:35] Speaker 4: the puzzle I could not understand was why the Wizards
[6:39] Speaker 4: would trade a Rich Paul client, a clutch client in
[6:42] Speaker 4: Anthony Davis to Golden State when the Wizards have been
[6:46] Speaker 4: trying to sell, we got Anthony Davis, and we signed
[6:49] Speaker 4: Trey Young, and we drafted AJ, and here we go,
[6:52] Speaker 4: and we might even have a playoff.
[6:54] Speaker 2: Team next year, right?
[6:57] Speaker 4: And I just saw on ESPN via Mark Spears, for
[7:01] Speaker 4: whom I have great respect, He's reporting that the Wizards
[7:06] Speaker 4: will not trade Anthony Davis. So the whole notion of
[7:12] Speaker 4: this super old team, but super team reuniting in Golden
[7:17] Speaker 4: State is already a thing of the past because that
[7:22] Speaker 4: part is not happening.
[7:23] Speaker 2: Now, Lamar wants to play with Steph and Draymond. That's cool.
[7:27] Speaker 2: And maybe they could bring Klay back and try to
[7:29] Speaker 2: run it all back.
[7:31] Speaker 3: Just re-signed Porzingis.
[7:32] Speaker 2: And Porzingis, which is not bad.
[7:35] Speaker 4: And they, for what it's worth, Al Horford's 40 years
[7:38] Speaker 4: old and he takes great care of himself and I'm
[7:40] Speaker 4: sure he can still produce at a fairly high level.
[7:43] Speaker 4: He's sort of a LeBron-esque... in his capacity to continue
[7:48] Speaker 4: to produce at an advanced stage, right? Okay, so that's
[7:53] Speaker 4: what you're going to have to work with.
[7:55] Speaker 2: Do I love it? I don't love it. Would I
[7:56] Speaker 2: watch it? Yeah, I'll watch it.
[7:58] Speaker 4: But if you did have Anthony in the middle of this,
[8:01] Speaker 4: Anthony Davis, you might have something. But he is still
[8:07] Speaker 4: the most nuclear weapon of that aging group to me.
[8:10] Speaker 4: That's the one you would need if you really wanted
[8:13] Speaker 4: to go places and make.
[8:16] Speaker 2: Big things happen.
[8:17] Speaker 4: So to me, I still don't, before I give it
[8:23] Speaker 4: up to you, I'm going to throw it, because this
[8:25] Speaker 4: came out the other day, and I think I started it,
[8:27] Speaker 4: but I can't remember, maybe Kenyon had something to do
[8:30] Speaker 4: with it, but you love the San Antonio Spurs, mostly
[8:34] Speaker 4: because you love that alien. And I still say, if
[8:38] Speaker 4: I'm LeBron, and I like the Thunder, so this would
[8:42] Speaker 4: scare the hell out of me, If all of a
[8:45] Speaker 4: sudden LeBron says, I'm going to San Antonio to play
[8:49] Speaker 4: point guard, your position, to be the new rudder of
[8:53] Speaker 4: the San Antonio Spurs that I don't think they really have.
[8:56] Speaker 4: They don't have that kind of an orchestrator, a backcourt leader.
[9:02] Speaker 2: And that's what LeBron does best. He had his worst
[9:05] Speaker 2: year shooting threes this year.
[9:08] Speaker 3: He's 31.7%.
[9:08] Speaker 4: So you can't rely on him to do that. But
[9:11] Speaker 4: passing the basketball? Setting up, playing quarterback, I don't know.
[9:18] Speaker 4: I like that. And as an Oklahoma City Thunder fan,
[9:24] Speaker 4: that would haunt me.
[9:28] Speaker 3: It would increase your odds of beating us because it
[9:30] Speaker 3: would be a fucking abomination.
[9:32] Speaker 2: You think so?
[9:33] Speaker 3: I know so.
[9:34] Speaker 2: With LeBron at point guard?
[9:35] Speaker 3: Yes, because he's, like you said, he had the worst
[9:37] Speaker 3: shooting three-point season.
[9:39] Speaker 1: Of his career.
[9:40] Speaker 3: He did. And he's going to have a bunch of
[9:42] Speaker 3: wide open shots that's going to be predicated through Victor
[9:46] Speaker 3: and the other guys slashing and going to the hoop.
[9:49] Speaker 3: So you look at De'Aaron Fox, you look at him,
[9:51] Speaker 3: you say, you know, do we need a passer? We
[9:54] Speaker 3: really need a facilitating.
[9:56] Speaker 2: Is LeBron James not a better passer than De'Aaron Fox?
[9:59] Speaker 3: He is. But do we? need that? Like, it's not
[10:01] Speaker 3: that we needed that. It's just like we needed De'Aaron
[10:04] Speaker 3: to take over games. And you already know somebody that
[10:08] Speaker 3: doesn't take over games. You don't want to bring him
[10:10] Speaker 3: in and have him.
[10:12] Speaker 2: No, he's not a closer. He's not that.
[10:14] Speaker 3: We need one of those guys. We need, we need
[10:16] Speaker 3: a closer. Okay. And you know, You're saying Victor Wimbignana
[10:20] Speaker 3: is overrated. I would call him more unreliable at this
[10:23] Speaker 3: point in the stage of his career more than it
[10:25] Speaker 3: is underrated. You can't rely on him to do things
[10:28] Speaker 3: that we want him to do at 22 than he
[10:30] Speaker 3: would do at 25 based on having experience and knowing
[10:33] Speaker 3: how to do it and all that kind of stuff.
[10:34] Speaker 3: So having a reliable veteran that can actually close games
[10:39] Speaker 3: is something that they need. But just going back to
[10:41] Speaker 3: what your point is about, you know, LeBron and the
[10:45] Speaker 3: Golden State Warriors and the Lakers. Let's just start with
[10:47] Speaker 3: the Lakers. Eight years, LeBron James, he did his thing.
[10:52] Speaker 3: You can't take away from what he accomplished here in L.A.
[10:57] Speaker 3: when it comes down to showcasing his talents. And you're
[11:00] Speaker 3: talking about surpassing greats, breaking records. You're talking about giving L.A.
[11:05] Speaker 3: something to come to the gym and cheer for night in,
[11:07] Speaker 3: night out. This is the LeBron James show.
[11:10] Speaker 1: Right.
[11:11] Speaker 3: But the one thing he didn't do is he didn't
[11:13] Speaker 3: deliver the parade that L.A. has been waiting for. since
[11:17] Speaker 3: Kobe's 2010 season.
[11:19] Speaker 1: He couldn't.
[11:20] Speaker 3: Right? Because we were all trying not to die during
[11:24] Speaker 3: that time. So it really didn't do nothing for the
[11:27] Speaker 3: fan base. We were able to see Kobe bring five championships,
[11:31] Speaker 3: five parades to the city of Los Angeles. So when
[11:34] Speaker 3: you talk about what we expected, we didn't get to
[11:38] Speaker 3: see none of that. And so it's not a huge
[11:41] Speaker 3: knock on LeBron because it is a team game, but
[11:43] Speaker 3: you are the leader and you did come here to
[11:45] Speaker 3: win championships. So for the last eight years, to move
[11:49] Speaker 3: on again to the next team and not come back
[11:52] Speaker 3: and not secure in your career here, which I think
[11:55] Speaker 3: everybody was expecting or at least wanted to happen because
[12:00] Speaker 3: who ever seen a guy play 25 years in the NBA?
[12:04] Speaker 3: So we never seen that. So the fact that he's
[12:07] Speaker 3: going to another team again after not winning the championship again,
[12:12] Speaker 3: to me, that's just another reason for me to keep
[12:14] Speaker 3: going the way I go about Having expectations for him.
[12:18] Speaker 3: I have high, high expectations for LeBron. And so for
[12:21] Speaker 3: him to finally get off the team that I used
[12:23] Speaker 3: to root for because I had high expectations for Kobe
[12:27] Speaker 3: and how he ended his career, I did not like.
[12:30] Speaker 3: I did not like it on losing in and in
[12:32] Speaker 3: the injuries and all those things. So I never gave
[12:36] Speaker 3: him credit for that. That fall off was not good,
[12:39] Speaker 3: and it didn't feel good for me. And it don't
[12:41] Speaker 3: feel good right now, like seeing that LeBron's got to
[12:43] Speaker 3: leave again. And that's just another thing that I can
[12:46] Speaker 3: add to the conversation about why he's not to go.
[12:48] Speaker 3: You left here, you left here, you left here, you
[12:50] Speaker 3: left here on losses. So for you not to bring
[12:54] Speaker 3: a championship here and leave, that would be cool. At
[12:57] Speaker 3: least you gave us a parade. You give L.A. a parade, L.A.
[13:03] Speaker 3: will immortalize you. And the fact that he wasn't able
[13:06] Speaker 3: to deliver that, that says something. And the last eight years,
[13:11] Speaker 3: regardless of the stats and accomplishments that he's done, we've
[13:14] Speaker 3: been able to see what he's truly made of, what
[13:18] Speaker 3: he brings to the table, his longevity, his his endurance
[13:22] Speaker 3: and just everything. Being able to fight through all the
[13:27] Speaker 3: old shit. But after that, to me, it's just another move.
[13:33] Speaker 3: It's another move, another page in the movie, another ask
[13:38] Speaker 3: for watch me here. And now we're going into free
[13:41] Speaker 3: agency for the summer. We've got to talk about LeBron
[13:43] Speaker 3: for the rest of the summer. And everybody's like, well, Rashad,
[13:45] Speaker 3: what are you going to do when LeBron retires? I'm like,
[13:47] Speaker 3: we'll find out when he fucking retires. Until then, I'm
[13:51] Speaker 3: going to be on your fucking neck, my guy.
[13:53] Speaker 1: But can we say that Before LeBron got there, the
[13:56] Speaker 1: Lakers were looking.
[13:59] Speaker 3: Rebuilding.
[14:00] Speaker 1: Were they rebuilding or were they going into a direction
[14:02] Speaker 1: where they were lost?
[14:04] Speaker 3: You remember who they had, who they had to give
[14:06] Speaker 3: up to get LeBron.
[14:07] Speaker 1: Who did they have to give up to get LeBron?
[14:09] Speaker 3: They had Julius Randle. They had Clarkson. They had Kuzma.
[14:13] Speaker 3: They had a bunch of guys that they felt like.
[14:15] Speaker 3: Brandon Ingram.
[14:16] Speaker 2: And Lonzo Ball.
[14:17] Speaker 3: Lonzo Ball. They had a core. They were looking towards
[14:20] Speaker 3: moving towards the future.
[14:21] Speaker 4: And they had Magic Johnson running the show.
[14:24] Speaker 3: Magic wanted to make certain moves.
[14:25] Speaker 1: So you don't think LeBron coming to the Lakers, he
[14:27] Speaker 1: revamped them and helped them?
[14:29] Speaker 3: Revamped? I wouldn't say that because the team that they
[14:32] Speaker 3: revamped with and won with, they didn't bring back. If
[14:35] Speaker 3: they bring that team back, they win two, three titles.
[14:38] Speaker 3: Then we're having a totally different conversation about LeBron James.
[14:41] Speaker 3: So the fact that you didn't bring back Dwight Howard,
[14:43] Speaker 3: Boogie Cousins, JaVale McGee, J.R. Smith, Danny Green, management. So
[14:49] Speaker 3: the fact that they didn't run it back and left
[14:51] Speaker 3: LeBron just with him and AD to try to figure
[14:54] Speaker 3: it out, it just didn't help for him. It didn't
[14:56] Speaker 3: help for his legacy. It didn't help for any of
[14:57] Speaker 3: those things. Because that team, compared to the team that
[15:00] Speaker 3: they had before that team, it was like, damn, LeBron
[15:03] Speaker 3: came in with With a bunch of bullshit. He has
[15:05] Speaker 3: to figure it out. Then they got that team and
[15:08] Speaker 3: it's like it's like the Beatles. And then you and
[15:12] Speaker 3: then you lose those guys and you never go back
[15:14] Speaker 3: to that. So that's a drop off. Like you should
[15:17] Speaker 3: be able to nitpick at that type of thing because
[15:21] Speaker 3: it's a real thing. It ain't like it's not a
[15:23] Speaker 3: real thing.
[15:24] Speaker 4: Okay, so what grade would you give LeBron for his L.A.
[15:28] Speaker 4: Laker tenure here? What overall is, what was it, eight years?
[15:33] Speaker 4: What's your eight-year grade for LeBron James in L.A.? If.
[15:36] Speaker 3: I can give him like a B + +, A-,
[15:38] Speaker 3: I would.
[15:40] Speaker 1: B + +.
[15:40] Speaker 2: That high after everything you just said?
[15:43] Speaker 3: Yes, because he's still LeBron. Okay. He's still LeBron. He
[15:49] Speaker 3: still has and has done all the things that he's done.
[15:52] Speaker 3: So giving him a C or a D, that would
[15:55] Speaker 3: just be plain hating. I am a hater, but I'm
[15:59] Speaker 3: going to give respect where respect is due. The championships
[16:02] Speaker 3: matter to me. 24 years, four championships. That matters. LA,
[16:08] Speaker 3: eight years, one championship. That matters. But knowing that they
[16:13] Speaker 3: blew up that team that could have got him two
[16:15] Speaker 3: or three championships... Him trying to find his way out
[16:19] Speaker 3: with him and AD. Who's going to be the one?
[16:22] Speaker 3: Who's going to be the two? And then finally playing
[16:25] Speaker 3: with Luka and not knowing how to adjust to playing
[16:28] Speaker 3: the third row. It's tough. I can't give him an
[16:31] Speaker 3: A or A +, but B + + if I could,
[16:34] Speaker 3: I'd give him B + +.
[16:34] Speaker 1: I'm going to give him an A-. A-? Yeah, A-. Because?
[16:41] Speaker 1: Just like I said before, I think the Lakers were
[16:43] Speaker 1: cooked and they needed to revamp. He came in when
[16:46] Speaker 1: the city was was down and they needed something new.
[16:49] Speaker 1: He brought a ring in. They got a ring. They
[16:52] Speaker 1: went to the Western Conference Finals, I think maybe twice,
[16:54] Speaker 1: or in his eight years, once or twice, under Darvin Ham,
[16:57] Speaker 1: another new coach. Am I forgetting?
[16:59] Speaker 2: I just remember the Denver, what am I forgetting? Well,
[17:02] Speaker 2: they went in the bubble.
[17:04] Speaker 1: Twice, probably. You know, he broke the all-time scoring record
[17:08] Speaker 1: in the Lakers uniform, and he kept the Lakers at
[17:11] Speaker 1: a high value. So to me, yeah, I'm going to
[17:13] Speaker 1: give him an A-, just coming here towards the end
[17:16] Speaker 1: of his career. towards the end of his career and
[17:18] Speaker 1: still making the best of it.
[17:20] Speaker 3: Okay.
[17:22] Speaker 2: I'm not hating. I'm just truth telling.
[17:25] Speaker 4: I'm going to give LeBron James for his eight years
[17:28] Speaker 4: in LA a C because of my expectation for LeBron
[17:35] Speaker 4: in Laker land in Hollywood, where I think he was
[17:38] Speaker 4: born to play basketball. I think it's, Crushing his soul
[17:44] Speaker 4: that he can't finish his career with the Lakers.
[17:46] Speaker 2: That's just me.
[17:47] Speaker 3: So like a flat C, like not C plus, like
[17:49] Speaker 3: a flat.
[17:50] Speaker 2: I'm doing flat C and I'm going to explain.
[17:52] Speaker 3: Okay.
[17:53] Speaker 4: So in these eight years, this is what's happened. The
[17:57] Speaker 4: Lakers have missed the playoffs twice. They have been swept
[18:03] Speaker 4: twice in the playoffs in.
[18:04] Speaker 2: These eight years.
[18:05] Speaker 3: That's four.
[18:07] Speaker 2: They have been gentlemen swept twice in these eight years.
[18:10] Speaker 3: That's six.
[18:12] Speaker 2: And.
[18:14] Speaker 4: Now let's look quickly at the Mickey Mouse Championship that
[18:17] Speaker 4: he did win.
[18:19] Speaker 2: And you correctly, to me, dismissed it.
[18:22] Speaker 4: You didn't even give it a parade because we were
[18:24] Speaker 4: all trying to figure out how to survive 2020. So
[18:28] Speaker 4: what happened was, obviously LeBron at an advancing age, though
[18:32] Speaker 4: he's obviously at every stage, he's because of his incredible longevity,
[18:38] Speaker 4: he's the longevity king, he's the iron man, but he's
[18:42] Speaker 4: still playing at a very high level in 2020, but
[18:45] Speaker 4: he got four months off, four months to get ready
[18:50] Speaker 4: just for the playoffs.
[18:51] Speaker 2: Well, come on, man. He had a supreme advantage in
[18:57] Speaker 2: 2020 where he got to just unwind, revitalize, get his
[19:02] Speaker 2: body completely right, Not for the regular season, because when
[19:06] Speaker 2: they got to Orlando, would they play like two regular
[19:09] Speaker 2: season games? And then they went, right?
[19:11] Speaker 1: And here we go.
[19:12] Speaker 2: And by two-thirds of the way through the bubble, most
[19:18] Speaker 2: teams just didn't want to be there anymore. Especially the
[19:21] Speaker 2: Los Angeles Clippers, who, by the way, were the... Vegas
[19:25] Speaker 2: favorites to win the championship that year with Kawhi and
[19:28] Speaker 2: Paul George at their peaks, right? We'll talk about Kawhi
[19:31] Speaker 2: in just a minute, getting traded back to Toronto. But
[19:34] Speaker 2: this is Kawhi in.
[19:37] Speaker 4: His early years with the Clippers where he was it.
[19:42] Speaker 4: And they were it until they revolted and mutinied on
[19:45] Speaker 4: Doc Rivers. And remember, they're up three games to one on.
[19:50] Speaker 2: Joker and the Nuggets, and they blow it.
[19:53] Speaker 3: Lou Williams, Montrezl Harrell, they had a nice stack.
[19:56] Speaker 4: Yeah, and my friend Jared Dudley said at that point
[20:00] Speaker 4: on a podcast, he said, them boys didn't want to
[20:03] Speaker 4: be in no bubble. They just didn't because— If they
[20:07] Speaker 4: had been committed, they were better than the Lakers. But
[20:10] Speaker 4: the Lakers got to push through Denver, and Anthony Davis
[20:14] Speaker 4: played great.
[20:14] Speaker 2: So did LeBron. LeBron played very well. But then they.
[20:19] Speaker 4: Get the heat, and they're just way better than Jimmy
[20:23] Speaker 4: Butler in the heat at that point, especially with Anthony
[20:26] Speaker 4: Davis because.
[20:27] Speaker 2: Bam's no answer for AD.
[20:30] Speaker 4: And did that go six or five?
[20:33] Speaker 2: I think it just went. Was it five?
[20:35] Speaker 1: I can't remember.
[20:35] Speaker 3: It might have been five.
[20:36] Speaker 4: But it was fairly easy for them to win what
[20:39] Speaker 4: I call a Mickey Mouse championship that they couldn't even
[20:44] Speaker 4: command a parade because we're in a pandemic. Okay, so
[20:49] Speaker 4: now what has happened since the Mickey Mouse championship? In
[20:54] Speaker 4: playoff games, I'm not making this up. I'm not exaggerating.
[20:58] Speaker 4: LeBron James, since the bubble in playoff games, is 16-26.
[21:02] Speaker 3: Whew.
[21:05] Speaker 4: Of all the players who have played in the playoffs
[21:08] Speaker 4: over these years since the bubble, that winning percentage, which
[21:12] Speaker 4: is 38%, that ranks dead last in the NBA in
[21:16] Speaker 4: winning percentage in the postseason. Because he's played a good
[21:19] Speaker 4: number of games, but he's won very few, 16 and 26.
[21:25] Speaker 4: And remember what happened when they did get, in a
[21:28] Speaker 4: non-pandemic year, they got to Joker and company in the
[21:32] Speaker 4: conference finals.
[21:33] Speaker 3: Yep.
[21:34] Speaker 4: And they got their asses swept right out of the
[21:37] Speaker 4: playoffs because in all four games, the games are close
[21:44] Speaker 4: within a point or two going to the fourth quarter.
[21:46] Speaker 4: And in the four fourth quarters combined, LeBron shot seven
[21:50] Speaker 4: of 23 and one of 10 from three. And in
[21:54] Speaker 4: the closeout game four here in Los Angeles, Staples at
[21:59] Speaker 4: that point, Remember, LeBron had two shots in the last
[22:02] Speaker 4: few seconds to tie the game, and neither shot hit
[22:07] Speaker 4: the rim. Neither shot hit the rim. He had a
[22:09] Speaker 4: jump shot that hit the side of the backboard, and
[22:12] Speaker 4: then he tried to drive it through Jamal, and the
[22:15] Speaker 4: ball didn't hit the rim at the buzzer. Okay, so
[22:18] Speaker 4: my point is, that was ugly. That was an ugly
[22:22] Speaker 4: finish to what had been a decent playoff run. They
[22:25] Speaker 4: had blown through John Company, and that's.
[22:29] Speaker 2: Where he actually won a few playoff games.
[22:31] Speaker 4: But when you miss twice, swept twice, gentlemen swept twice,
[22:36] Speaker 4: and you're 16-26 since the Mickey Mouse Championship, that's a
[22:39] Speaker 4: C to me for LeBron freaking James.
[22:44] Speaker 2: I'm not exaggerating. I'm not trying to pile on.
[22:47] Speaker 3: You're not. You're not. You're not. You're cooking. You're actually cooking.
[22:50] Speaker 1: So he gets a grade C, so they retire his
[22:52] Speaker 1: jersey then, right? So his– Does LeBron James get his
[22:56] Speaker 1: jersey retired there in.
[22:57] Speaker 3: L.A.? Okay.
[22:58] Speaker 1: Are you asking me should it be?
[23:00] Speaker 3: Yes.
[23:03] Speaker 2: That's fine.
[23:04] Speaker 4: I don't have a problem with that because he did
[23:05] Speaker 4: break the all-time scoring record here that was Kareem's record.
[23:09] Speaker 2: I assume just because.
[23:11] Speaker 4: They'll– like Jeannie issued that statement, which I wrote it
[23:15] Speaker 4: down when you were reading it, under the toughest imaginable circumstances.
[23:19] Speaker 4: I think they were the best imaginable circumstances in the bubble.
[23:23] Speaker 2: But– But he did win a championship, so.
[23:26] Speaker 3: I can't give the whole break the record thing. He's
[23:32] Speaker 3: going to break that regardless. No matter what team he's on. Yeah,
[23:35] Speaker 3: but he did it in the Lakers. And that's the
[23:36] Speaker 3: problem for me. My thing was him coming to L.A.
[23:41] Speaker 3: was him coming into somebody else's territory that had built
[23:46] Speaker 3: a legacy here. Like other Lakers that built legacies here.
[23:50] Speaker 3: They were drafted here.
[23:51] Speaker 2: They were.
[23:52] Speaker 3: They were here because this is home. And so for
[23:55] Speaker 3: you to come here and want to submit a legacy
[23:58] Speaker 3: on top of a legacy. bothered me because you could
[24:01] Speaker 3: have did it anywhere else in the league, especially where
[24:04] Speaker 3: you were. You could have passed a record in a
[24:09] Speaker 3: Cleveland Cavaliers jersey, which would have meant more to Cleveland.
[24:13] Speaker 1: It would have.
[24:13] Speaker 3: Because we got the number one guy on our team.
[24:16] Speaker 3: He did it in our jersey. We drafted him. He's
[24:19] Speaker 3: from here. The storyline there makes more sense to me
[24:23] Speaker 3: than coming to LA for the nostalgia of it. And
[24:26] Speaker 3: that's always been my problem with it. And that's why
[24:28] Speaker 3: I couldn't root for the Lakers anymore because I felt
[24:31] Speaker 3: like you didn't have to come here to be LeBron James.
[24:34] Speaker 3: You're LeBron James wherever you go. But you were home
[24:38] Speaker 3: and you won home. There was no reason that you
[24:40] Speaker 3: couldn't win that same 2020 championship in Cleveland. You didn't
[24:44] Speaker 3: have to leave Cleveland to come to L.A. to win
[24:46] Speaker 3: that because you're LeBron. You're that good. And you're with
[24:50] Speaker 3: Tyrone Lou who believed that you could get 50 any
[24:54] Speaker 3: fucking game. So to break up the band and come
[24:57] Speaker 3: over here and everybody depart, it just didn't feel good
[25:00] Speaker 3: for basketball's sake. It didn't feel good. But you make
[25:03] Speaker 3: your own decisions.
[25:03] Speaker 1: I mean, but the Lakers got a ring. He broke
[25:05] Speaker 1: the record and he has a chance to go back
[25:06] Speaker 1: to Cleveland if he wants.
[25:07] Speaker 3: Yeah, but we can't beg for a statue. We can't
[25:10] Speaker 3: beg for a jersey in the rafters because what he
[25:12] Speaker 3: just outlined from a Hooper standpoint, that's not good enough.
[25:17] Speaker 3: As the leader, as the guy that's supposed to take
[25:19] Speaker 3: us over, what he just outlined is a C. As
[25:23] Speaker 3: far as production, what you're supposed to do, what you're
[25:25] Speaker 3: expected to do.
[25:26] Speaker 1: The Lakers were cooked, bro. They had no vision. They
[25:30] Speaker 1: didn't know where they were going to go. I mean,
[25:32] Speaker 1: you know, the tragic accident and then he comes in
[25:34] Speaker 1: and builds the Lakers back up to a.
[25:36] Speaker 3: Same thing happened in Cleveland. Cleveland was cooked. Cleveland didn't
[25:39] Speaker 3: know what they were going to do. It was just
[25:40] Speaker 3: Kyrie Irving and Deion Waiters. They didn't know what they
[25:43] Speaker 3: was going to do. Then he got Kevin Love. Then
[25:48] Speaker 3: he got a team. He built around that. And that's
[25:50] Speaker 3: what he does best. When I come in, bring the
[25:53] Speaker 3: shit around me we're gonna take it to the house
[25:56] Speaker 3: just so happened well after he did it in 2020
[25:58] Speaker 3: they didn't they weren't able to do it again yeah
[26:01] Speaker 3: you got ad you didn't build around that you got
[26:04] Speaker 3: luca how long has he been playing with luca two
[26:06] Speaker 3: years two years two years you like you couldn't even
[26:09] Speaker 3: get close to it you couldn't sniff it so now
[26:11] Speaker 3: for what he's saying we can blame it on age
[26:13] Speaker 3: now we can say now he's too old And the
[26:17] Speaker 3: years that in the latter years of his career, we're
[26:19] Speaker 3: looking at the resume like, come on, we've got to
[26:21] Speaker 3: give him a break. This is the tail end of
[26:23] Speaker 3: his career. But it's like, OK, but you're still playing
[26:26] Speaker 3: when you're still playing. You're giving me ammunition to steal.
[26:28] Speaker 2: That's true.
[26:29] Speaker 3: So I'm not going to give praise over the criticism
[26:33] Speaker 3: because you're not winning. I will praise you when you
[26:36] Speaker 3: win because you got it done. And if you can
[26:38] Speaker 3: get it done, you deserve to be considered the greatest
[26:41] Speaker 3: of all time. That's the only thing holding him back
[26:44] Speaker 3: is getting it done. We know what he does physically.
[26:47] Speaker 3: We know what he does from the mental side, the
[26:50] Speaker 3: IQ side. We know what he does. Mr. Longevity. Stat king.
[26:54] Speaker 3: But when it's talking about getting it done, you're talking
[26:56] Speaker 3: about one for ten from three against Denver. And it
[27:01] Speaker 3: does happen. But it's not supposed to happen with you. Why?
[27:05] Speaker 3: Because you want to be the great. You want to
[27:07] Speaker 3: be the greatest.
[27:09] Speaker 1: Yeah, but all the greats had to go through that.
[27:11] Speaker 3: One grade was six and oh, the one guy you
[27:14] Speaker 3: try to surpass that guy before that.
[27:17] Speaker 1: What happened before that, though, before he got there, he
[27:19] Speaker 1: was he had to go through it.
[27:20] Speaker 3: He did. But when he finally got to it, he
[27:23] Speaker 3: got to it and then dropped that shit off, like
[27:26] Speaker 3: drop the mic. So now you're trying to fight against that.
[27:29] Speaker 3: And everyone's pushback is, come on, it's Michael Jordan, bro.
[27:32] Speaker 3: Six and oh, yeah, you got to give us something
[27:34] Speaker 3: like this for us to even consider to be named
[27:37] Speaker 3: next to him.
[27:39] Speaker 1: Okay, well, another point I want to bring up.
[27:41] Speaker 4: Real quick, I don't want to drop this jersey thing.
[27:43] Speaker 4: So you believe his jersey should be hoisted into the rafters?
[27:47] Speaker 1: Yes, I think when this guy is done, he should
[27:50] Speaker 1: have three jerseys retired.
[27:51] Speaker 4: Okay, so you want his jersey, as Rashad just pointed out,
[27:55] Speaker 4: up there with the Laker greats who were born and
[27:59] Speaker 4: raised as Lakers, right? With West and Magic and Green
[28:04] Speaker 4: and Worthy and... Kobe and Shaq and who else?
[28:09] Speaker 3: Well, Paul's up there. Paul's not a Laker bread. He's
[28:14] Speaker 3: probably the only one.
[28:17] Speaker 2: Oh, Pau Gasol. Yeah, he'd be the one because he
[28:21] Speaker 2: started in Memphis.
[28:23] Speaker 3: And he did get a back-to-back. So back to back
[28:26] Speaker 3: says back to back. Give me back to back finals MVP.
[28:34] Speaker 3: Give me back to back.
[28:35] Speaker 1: I got the record here.
[28:36] Speaker 3: It's not a bad argument. I don't think it's a
[28:38] Speaker 3: bad argument with how he listed off.
[28:41] Speaker 1: The eight years you hear he gave him a C.
[28:43] Speaker 1: So I don't think he's going to say that LeBron
[28:45] Speaker 1: should have his Jersey.
[28:46] Speaker 3: And it's LeBron James. So it's just like, you can't
[28:49] Speaker 3: say no, you can't say no.
[28:52] Speaker 4: I'm not offended by it. I wouldn't be outraged by it.
[28:55] Speaker 4: It doesn't, It's not that big a.
[28:57] Speaker 2: Deal one way or the other.
[28:58] Speaker 1: Oh, no, that's a big deal.
[28:59] Speaker 2: Well, I know it is.
[29:00] Speaker 1: I get it. It's a big deal.
[29:02] Speaker 4: But it's easy to justify given his career accomplishments.
[29:07] Speaker 2: It's easy to justify. Yeah, you hoist that one up
[29:10] Speaker 2: there too, right?
[29:12] Speaker 4: Nobody's... No, boys, I don't think Laker fans would be
[29:16] Speaker 4: offended by that, would they?
[29:17] Speaker 2: Maybe some would be. But you made the case.
[29:20] Speaker 1: Can't be.
[29:20] Speaker 2: He didn't deliver for you the way you hoped he would.
[29:23] Speaker 3: But he came to L.A. Yeah. So if you think
[29:26] Speaker 3: about at the time, he's the best player in the
[29:28] Speaker 3: NBA playing on our team. We can't say we don't
[29:33] Speaker 3: appreciate him. You can't say you don't appreciate him because
[29:35] Speaker 3: he did come and he tried. The effort was commendable. Yeah.
[29:38] Speaker 3: But listen, you got to get in. done is getting
[29:40] Speaker 3: it done. This is a difference. And I think everyone
[29:43] Speaker 3: up there on the rafters got it done. So if
[29:45] Speaker 3: we're going to count the Mickey Mouse championship, you would
[29:48] Speaker 3: have to consider him.
[29:50] Speaker 2: Okay, that's fine.
[29:51] Speaker 1: We'll bring it up, LeBron James. Golden State is trying
[29:53] Speaker 1: to get in the mix right now with Draymond Green
[29:56] Speaker 1: taking a pay cut. Do you think it's smart for
[29:59] Speaker 1: the Warriors to try to make a super team between
[30:01] Speaker 1: LeBron James and.
[30:06] Speaker 3: AD? I think it's smart.
[30:07] Speaker 1: Yeah, a smart move to go after LeBron James and AD.
[30:11] Speaker 3: I mean, like I said before, the movie line, the plot,
[30:17] Speaker 3: the script for Steph Curry, Draymond, LeBron, even if it's
[30:21] Speaker 3: not AD, you know, just those three. You know, you're
[30:25] Speaker 3: talking about brothers, right? We're happy. That's that. So you
[30:32] Speaker 3: can't shy away from the opportunity for guys to do that.
[30:35] Speaker 3: I think that's just like having an opportunity to get KD.
[30:38] Speaker 3: You get an opportunity to get KD, you take it.
[30:41] Speaker 3: You get an opportunity to get LeBron James, you take it.
[30:44] Speaker 3: But the difference is he's 42. So it ain't like
[30:48] Speaker 3: you're getting 29-year-old LeBron James or 32-year-old LeBron James. You're
[30:52] Speaker 3: getting 42-year-old LeBron James. Now, you bring back Klay Thompson,
[30:56] Speaker 3: you might have a band. You might have a real band.
[30:59] Speaker 3: But if you get AD, which I think that whole
[31:03] Speaker 3: ploy of staying away from AD was just distraction to
[31:07] Speaker 3: keep everybody off the fact that we already caught on
[31:09] Speaker 3: to it. The smartest man in the world and already
[31:12] Speaker 3: caught on to what Rich Paul is doing. So he
[31:14] Speaker 3: had to go back and, hey, hey, tell them we're
[31:16] Speaker 3: not going to trade AD. They're going to figure it
[31:18] Speaker 3: out later in the summer. But right now, You're talking
[31:22] Speaker 3: about what is LeBron going to do? And then when
[31:24] Speaker 3: he does it, what are they going to do to
[31:26] Speaker 3: surround him with talent to win? Because right now he's
[31:29] Speaker 3: saying he chose happiness over money. He did. And I
[31:32] Speaker 3: don't know when a player has said that they're choosing
[31:36] Speaker 3: happiness over money. When we've all had conversations about guys
[31:40] Speaker 3: would take 200 million over five rings. And that conversation
[31:44] Speaker 3: is happiness over money. I'm happy with being a champion
[31:47] Speaker 3: or I'm happy just being a millionaire, billionaire, whatever. So
[31:50] Speaker 3: if he's at that stage in his life where he
[31:52] Speaker 3: feels like I just want to go somewhere where I'm happy,
[31:54] Speaker 3: that means that were you happy where you were here?
[31:56] Speaker 3: Because this is L.A. And you're saying you want to
[32:01] Speaker 3: go where you want to be happy. But if you're
[32:03] Speaker 3: not happy here, we need to know that. That you
[32:07] Speaker 3: were not happy playing here and losing. So now you
[32:09] Speaker 3: want to go somewhere where you have a chance to
[32:11] Speaker 3: win and be happy. Hmm. That's what I think to
[32:14] Speaker 3: take less money is. I'm willing to take less money
[32:18] Speaker 3: if you put me in a winning situation. Okay.
[32:22] Speaker 4: So to me, and again, you brought this up first,
[32:25] Speaker 4: the whole idea of Golden State. Okay, so now, according
[32:29] Speaker 4: to ESPN, AD is out of the picture. So Golden
[32:34] Speaker 4: State can't afford, because Draymond opted out, out and seems willing,
[32:41] Speaker 4: as a clutch client, a close friend of LeBron's, seems
[32:44] Speaker 4: willing to take less than the 28 that he could
[32:47] Speaker 4: have opted in for, allowing them to use their exception,
[32:52] Speaker 4: their mid-level exception on LeBron at $ 15 million. So LeBron
[32:57] Speaker 4: would go from, I think it was $ 53 million here
[32:59] Speaker 4: last year to.
[33:00] Speaker 2: $ 15 million, $ 53 to $ 15 million in Golden State.
[33:02] Speaker 4: And Here's what would happen. LeBron would turn, as you
[33:10] Speaker 4: point out, 42 on December 30th. So you're going to
[33:13] Speaker 4: play much of the year at 42. Now, again, he's
[33:17] Speaker 4: made 42 the new 32, right? So we give him that.
[33:19] Speaker 4: Steph will be 39, play the back half of the
[33:20] Speaker 4: year at 39 years of age. Then Draymond will turn
[33:23] Speaker 4: 37 during the season and play much of the season
[33:26] Speaker 4: at 37. Clay, let's just say, hypothetically, they bring Clay back.
[33:41] Speaker 4: He will play at 37. And they have re-signed Al
[33:47] Speaker 4: Horford at 40 to do whatever Al Horford can do
[33:51] Speaker 4: coming off the bench for them. Then you point out Porzingis.
[33:55] Speaker 4: He's not in the age range. That's not a huge issue.
[34:00] Speaker 3: So.
[34:03] Speaker 3: And they.
[34:04] Speaker 4: they still would have Jimmy Butler coming back. We thought
[34:07] Speaker 4: Jimmy Butler would have to be traded for AD because
[34:10] Speaker 4: that's the only way to go salary for salary if
[34:12] Speaker 4: that was going to happen. Well, now Jimmy Butler's still
[34:15] Speaker 4: on the books at age, he turns 37 on September 14th,
[34:19] Speaker 4: so he's going to play the whole year at 37,
[34:22] Speaker 4: coming off complete big ACL reconstruction. Okay, so can he
[34:28] Speaker 4: come back mid-year? Like Kyrie didn't come back for the
[34:31] Speaker 4: whole year, right?
[34:32] Speaker 3: Yeah, yeah.
[34:33] Speaker 2: Okay, so LeBron at 42 and Steph at 39, I
[34:41] Speaker 2: just don't see it equaling playoffs.
[34:47] Speaker 4: If you told me Anthony Davis was in there, I'd say, okay,
[34:50] Speaker 4: you got me. But it's going to be so hard
[34:53] Speaker 4: to manage minutes for LeBron and Steph, to load manage
[34:57] Speaker 4: them through the year. It's going to be hard enough
[35:00] Speaker 4: to just get them enough wins to get to the playoffs.
[35:05] Speaker 4: I'm just not sure about it. They did draft the kid,
[35:08] Speaker 4: Linda Borg, who ironically is old for a draft pick,
[35:12] Speaker 4: but at least he's only 24, right?
[35:14] Speaker 3: He knows how to play.
[35:15] Speaker 4: And he does know how to play, and he'll fit
[35:17] Speaker 4: fine with them. He'll probably be a starter in this
[35:19] Speaker 4: group and be just fine. He knows how to play,
[35:22] Speaker 4: and he will fit right. In fact, I don't know
[35:26] Speaker 4: that you could pick a better college player to fit
[35:28] Speaker 4: into this group then he would fit.
[35:30] Speaker 3: 100%. Okay?
[35:32] Speaker 2: So all that's good, but I just don't. They're so old.
[35:37] Speaker 2: They'll be by far the oldest starting five.
[35:39] Speaker 3: Where else does LeBron fit, right? So, look, Cleveland, James
[35:43] Speaker 3: Hart just declined. Yeah.
[35:45] Speaker 2: I mean, they want to re-up with him.
[35:47] Speaker 3: They want to, but if he's declining the same way
[35:50] Speaker 3: that Draymond Green's declining, which gives him an opportunity to
[35:54] Speaker 3: go back home. And the funny thing about LeBron is
[35:56] Speaker 3: that he, you know, they waited to get Bronny. completely
[36:00] Speaker 3: and fully guaranteed with the Lakers before he made the
[36:03] Speaker 3: decision to go ahead to make sure his son is good.
[36:06] Speaker 3: And now he can go wherever he wants. So if
[36:08] Speaker 3: he does want to go back home to Cleveland, it
[36:11] Speaker 3: could make sense for them to just pick him up.
[36:15] Speaker 3: They don't lose nothing. Yeah, it does.
[36:17] Speaker 1: You can have your farewell tour. You could go back
[36:20] Speaker 1: and you can just.
[36:21] Speaker 3: End it there. It makes more sense there than it
[36:24] Speaker 3: does Miami.
[36:25] Speaker 1: Yeah, I agree.
[36:26] Speaker 3: I don't like Miami for him because... Him, Bam, and
[36:30] Speaker 3: fucking Giannis is like three bowling balls going down the
[36:34] Speaker 3: lane at the same time. And I feel like everybody's
[36:38] Speaker 3: just going. Man, everybody's jumper is unreliable at some point
[36:43] Speaker 3: where you ain't just going to let Bam shoot a
[36:45] Speaker 3: bunch of jumpers. But it will be entertaining. It's Miami.
[36:50] Speaker 3: You know, it is a storyline there. But it ain't
[36:53] Speaker 3: the Warriors. Play with Steph. Olympic Avengers feel good. Go
[36:59] Speaker 3: back home. You got you, Donovan Mitchell, James Harden, Jared Allen,
[37:05] Speaker 3: and Mobley still. That's a good team. That will sweep
[37:09] Speaker 3: through the East. I find it hard not to just
[37:12] Speaker 3: because what he brings, and they need a little bit
[37:15] Speaker 3: of what he brings.
[37:16] Speaker 2: Okay, so they just got swept by the Knicks, and
[37:18] Speaker 2: you think that would reverse field on that?
[37:21] Speaker 3: 100%, because think about how the Knicks beat them. The
[37:23] Speaker 3: Knicks beat them because James Harden is not reliable in playoffs.
[37:29] Speaker 3: We have to just get that in our head. He's
[37:31] Speaker 3: one of the greatest players we've seen. He's unreliable. Donovan Mitchell,
[37:36] Speaker 3: as great as he is, unreliable in the playoffs.
[37:40] Speaker 1: No, he's never had help.
[37:42] Speaker 3: But he's just been unreliable.
[37:43] Speaker 1: Yeah, but he's never had help, though.
[37:45] Speaker 3: Help or no help, he's been unreliable. And you said
[37:48] Speaker 3: it yourself, you're never going to be a championship guy
[37:50] Speaker 3: with him being number one.
[37:52] Speaker 1: If he doesn't have the right pieces around him.
[37:54] Speaker 3: So bring LeBron James in and allow him to be
[37:57] Speaker 3: a distraction.
[37:59] Speaker 2: With James?
[37:59] Speaker 3: Are you going to keep James? Yeah, I would. Yeah,
[38:02] Speaker 3: because James can shoot. One thing James can do is shoot.
[38:05] Speaker 3: So if he can catch and shoot, get LeBron to
[38:07] Speaker 3: get him open shots due to the fact LeBron's still
[38:10] Speaker 3: a force of nature that you have to kind of
[38:12] Speaker 3: like come and double or give attention to. Then you
[38:16] Speaker 3: got two twin towers down there that I think that
[38:18] Speaker 3: they will up their play. They will up their play
[38:21] Speaker 3: with LeBron there knowing that they can get the ball
[38:23] Speaker 3: in certain areas where James doesn't have to come downhill
[38:26] Speaker 3: and do certain things. It allows the guards to play.
[38:29] Speaker 3: You guys play. LeBron is going to be LeBron, but
[38:31] Speaker 3: he's going to have to change his game to be
[38:33] Speaker 3: more post-centric. It can't be Bron in pick and roll,
[38:37] Speaker 3: Bron at the top of the key trying to do
[38:39] Speaker 3: some motherfucking bag work. No. Get your ass in the post.
[38:42] Speaker 3: Let's take advantage of the mismatches, and then let's throw
[38:45] Speaker 3: it to the lob. Let's throw it to the weak
[38:47] Speaker 3: side threes. And let's try to maximize what we got.
[38:50] Speaker 2: So you don't want LeBron orchestrating?
[38:52] Speaker 3: Don't want him orchestrating at all. Because you got James
[38:56] Speaker 3: and you got Donovan Mitchell. These are two point guards. Yeah,
[38:58] Speaker 3: but we just saw them last year.
[38:59] Speaker 1: They got swept.
[38:59] Speaker 3: They're unreliable because they don't have a guy that's going
[39:03] Speaker 3: to demand attention. I know.
[39:04] Speaker 1: So you need somebody that's going to orchestrate and be
[39:06] Speaker 1: the guy to make it easy.
[39:08] Speaker 3: Not from the top of the key, LeBron. We don't
[39:10] Speaker 3: want top of the key, LeBron. Yeah, but it can
[39:11] Speaker 3: be from anywhere. Yeah. that's the orchestration I'm talking about
[39:14] Speaker 3: I'm not talking about ball dominant LeBron bring it down
[39:18] Speaker 3: dribble dribble dribble no we throw it in LeBron you
[39:21] Speaker 3: make a move make a play and we're not going
[39:23] Speaker 3: to do that every fucking play but at least we
[39:25] Speaker 3: know that the team is going to respect us coming
[39:27] Speaker 3: down because we got LeBron James on the floor And
[39:30] Speaker 3: he's still windmilling and fucking throwing it behind his head.
[39:33] Speaker 1: He can still do that. We'll see what happens with
[39:37] Speaker 1: LeBron James soon. But more news in L.A. The Los
[39:41] Speaker 1: Angeles Clippers are trading two-time NBA champ Kawhi Leonard back
[39:46] Speaker 1: to Toronto Raptors for Brandon Ingram, Grady Kershaw, Grady Dick,
[39:49] Speaker 1: two first-round picks, one pick swamp, and two second-rounders. Kawhi
[39:54] Speaker 1: famously led the Toronto Raptors to a title in 2019
[39:56] Speaker 1: and will now return to the sixth to play alongside
[40:00] Speaker 1: Scotty Barnes. How do you guys feel about Kawhi returning
[40:04] Speaker 1: to Toronto? Skip, let's start with you.
[40:09] Speaker 2: I think it's a good move for the Raptors.
[40:12] Speaker 4: Kawhi is coming off arguably his best season ever. Averaged
[40:18] Speaker 4: 28 a game, shot 39% from three, 51% from the floor,
[40:23] Speaker 4: and 89% from.
[40:24] Speaker 2: The free throw line. I'll take that.
[40:28] Speaker 4: He just turned 35 years of age, and I'm pretty
[40:34] Speaker 4: well connected with the Kawhi group, and he Listen, LeBron
[40:39] Speaker 4: gets all the credit for how hard he works. I
[40:42] Speaker 4: think Kawhi works at least as hard on his body
[40:45] Speaker 4: and game as LeBron works, maybe harder in what I see.
[40:49] Speaker 4: I don't know how to quantify it because I can't
[40:52] Speaker 4: actually keep score of minutes practiced or time spent working
[40:58] Speaker 4: on body. But Kawhi takes great care of himself, and
[41:03] Speaker 4: his knees– were pretty good last year.
[41:07] Speaker 2: And both of them have been through the wars.
[41:10] Speaker 4: But they held up pretty well. And the problem was
[41:16] Speaker 4: the Clippers went 42-40 and lost in the play-in. So
[41:20] Speaker 4: we can talk about this in a moment, but it's
[41:22] Speaker 4: almost LeBron-like in the, how many years was it? One, two, three, four, five, six, seven. Yeah,
[41:27] Speaker 4: so in his seven years versus LeBron's eight, they don't
[41:30] Speaker 4: have anything to show for him either, right? So they
[41:33] Speaker 4: paid him almost $ 300 million over seven years, and they
[41:38] Speaker 4: just don't have anything to show for it.
[41:40] Speaker 3: At all. And then, as.
[41:43] Speaker 4: Everybody well knows, this aspiration scandal happened involving Kawhi. They're
[41:49] Speaker 4: trying to sort of subtly put it off on Kawhi, like, well,
[41:52] Speaker 4: he and Uncle Dennis, his advisor, did it.
[41:55] Speaker 2: You know, they did it independent of us. I don't know.
[41:57] Speaker 4: That's what the Clippers are contending, Ballmer. But Ballmer was
[42:01] Speaker 4: an investor in the company that went belly up and.
[42:05] Speaker 2: co-founder went to jail.
[42:07] Speaker 4: So it's a big, ugly mess, and it feels like
[42:11] Speaker 4: they just decided we got to get out from under Kawhi.
[42:14] Speaker 4: I don't know if there's maybe pressure from the league
[42:16] Speaker 4: to get out from under Kawhi.
[42:18] Speaker 3: 100%. Right?
[42:19] Speaker 2: Just to get the stench away from you.
[42:21] Speaker 3: Yes.
[42:23] Speaker 4: And because I don't know how the league can punish.
[42:26] Speaker 4: Who do you punish for this? Because it's still murky
[42:29] Speaker 4: about who was most at fault.
[42:31] Speaker 2: But.
[42:33] Speaker 3: Okay, so....
[42:37] Speaker 2: I like it for the Raptors.
[42:38] Speaker 4: I just think he's got a couple of big-time years
[42:41] Speaker 4: left in him, and he knows the city, and he
[42:44] Speaker 4: had great success in the city for one year. And
[42:48] Speaker 4: for Brandon Ingram and Grady.
[42:50] Speaker 2: Dick, I don't know. It's like.
[42:53] Speaker 3: Yeah. Do that. It's trash. Yeah, this is trash. We've
[42:56] Speaker 3: seen three teams make three trash decisions about trading high
[43:00] Speaker 3: value asset value and not getting the high value.
[43:03] Speaker 2: I mean, it feels like they just they just give
[43:06] Speaker 2: it like giving players away.
[43:08] Speaker 3: Yeah. Let me explain. So the aspiration situation, I wrote
[43:12] Speaker 3: in my blog about how Kawhi was going to get
[43:14] Speaker 3: rewarded for what happened during that game. You did.
[43:17] Speaker 2: I read that.
[43:18] Speaker 3: That was good. So the reward is going to be
[43:20] Speaker 3: he go to another team and get the extension he
[43:22] Speaker 3: asked for. He's going to get the money he deserves
[43:25] Speaker 3: because he played well last year. And we're going to
[43:27] Speaker 3: sweep this thing right under the rug. As if it
[43:29] Speaker 3: never happened because the Clippers are going to fucking do
[43:33] Speaker 3: Clipper shit. The Clippers are now right back in the
[43:36] Speaker 3: shit that they've always been in. And they've been trying
[43:39] Speaker 3: to climb out of it. Let's go get James Harden.
[43:41] Speaker 3: Let's go get Paul George. Let's make it look like
[43:43] Speaker 3: a playoff team. And then we fight, fight, fight. Kawhi's
[43:47] Speaker 3: not healthy. Paul George goes down. James Harden's in the
[43:49] Speaker 3: club too much. We don't know what we want. Let's
[43:51] Speaker 3: bring Russell Westbrook. All right, Russ, let's help us get this.
[43:55] Speaker 3: Don't work. We got all these L.A. guys on one
[43:58] Speaker 3: team with Norman Powell. Yeah. And we still don't get
[44:02] Speaker 3: nothing done. No. Norm's gone. James leaves. Paul goes. Now
[44:07] Speaker 3: Kawhi's gone. Everybody got the same call. Like, get the
[44:11] Speaker 3: fuck off the ship. It's sinking. What is Balmer doing?
[44:16] Speaker 3: He's sitting there holding his fucking dick and he's like,
[44:20] Speaker 3: I don't know what to do now. But I spent
[44:22] Speaker 3: all this money on this damn team, and it was overpriced.
[44:25] Speaker 2: And now he's holding Grady dick, right?
[44:27] Speaker 3: Yeah, he's holding Grady dick. He's got enough dick for
[44:30] Speaker 3: all the bathrooms. He's got enough dick for all the
[44:33] Speaker 3: toilets now. Shit, goddamn. Steve, what you doing? And it's like,
[44:38] Speaker 3: now what do you do now? Like, Brandon Ingram, he
[44:41] Speaker 3: played well last year. Not well enough for you to
[44:44] Speaker 3: be like, he's going to come to our organization and
[44:47] Speaker 3: turn it around, right? And I think at this point,
[44:50] Speaker 3: he was a little disgruntled about playing time and being
[44:53] Speaker 3: shifted around in the lineup, all those things. So what
[44:57] Speaker 3: is the Clippers going to do now? They got Darius Garland.
[45:02] Speaker 3: They got Brandon Ingram. They're getting off Bradley Bill. We
[45:07] Speaker 3: didn't even get to see Bradley Bill play in the Clippers. Like,
[45:10] Speaker 3: what are we doing? I didn't even mention Bradley Bill
[45:13] Speaker 3: was on the team with Kawhi and never played with him.
[45:16] Speaker 1: No, he just declined his offer.
[45:17] Speaker 3: He just declined. So he's going to go somewhere. So
[45:20] Speaker 3: I feel like.
[45:20] Speaker 2: They got Derrick Jones Jr. and Chris Dunn.
[45:23] Speaker 3: Come on, that's it. And got rid of Zuboff.
[45:25] Speaker 2: They did.
[45:26] Speaker 3: And Brooke Lopez. I know.
[45:28] Speaker 1: He's back, Brooke Lopez.
[45:30] Speaker 3: That just lets me know whoever's making decisions for the
[45:32] Speaker 3: Clippers needs to be fired. And.
[45:34] Speaker 4: I can't remember if we agreed on this. I'm not
[45:36] Speaker 4: a big fan of Keaton Wagler, and that's who they
[45:38] Speaker 4: took with that pick.
[45:39] Speaker 3: You know, they had a high pick.
[45:41] Speaker 2: And they're like, okay, good luck, man.
[45:43] Speaker 3: And what pick was that? Six or seven? You could
[45:46] Speaker 3: have got a real high caliber player that could give
[45:50] Speaker 3: the clip.
[45:50] Speaker 2: Well, no, it was five because they left Acuff on
[45:53] Speaker 2: the table for Sacramento.
[45:55] Speaker 3: Acuff could have been here. And, hey, listen, Darius Garland, look,
[45:59] Speaker 3: you're cool. But you can teach this young fella what
[46:02] Speaker 3: he needs to know and you can move around. But
[46:04] Speaker 3: right now the Clippers don't have anything to root for.
[46:07] Speaker 3: And they're back to square one in this beautiful stadium.
[46:11] Speaker 3: You got all this investment. and you just got idiots
[46:14] Speaker 3: in the front office don't know what the fuck they're doing.
[46:15] Speaker 3: And now you got to depend on Ty Lue to
[46:17] Speaker 3: actually coach the team. He's back to the drawing board again.
[46:21] Speaker 3: You think about the beginning of the season, how they
[46:23] Speaker 3: struggled with Chris Paul there and all those guys and
[46:26] Speaker 3: trying to figure out, well, we're losing. But then they
[46:28] Speaker 3: turned it around. It felt good. It was like, all right, T.
[46:31] Speaker 3: Lue finally figured it out. Kawhi Leonard's knees is looking good,
[46:34] Speaker 3: and they're probably going to look good in Toronto because
[46:37] Speaker 3: when you figure out how to get your shit back,
[46:39] Speaker 3: you don't just lose that, right? He'll start feeling better. But...
[46:43] Speaker 3: for Ty Lue, it just, it may be time for
[46:45] Speaker 3: you to go too, because now you got to rebuild, period.
[46:49] Speaker 2: So, look, I like Lawrence Frank.
[46:52] Speaker 4: He's a good guy. I mean, I enjoy talking to him,
[46:54] Speaker 4: but I don't know how he keeps his job, because
[46:57] Speaker 4: it's just been disaster after disaster, after flame out, after
[47:01] Speaker 4: swing and miss, after, it's just, nothing ever works.
[47:05] Speaker 3: He's a Van Gundy. He's a cousin. One of them cousins.
[47:09] Speaker 3: Just keep going, man. Keep getting the motherfucking job.
[47:13] Speaker 1: The coach of defense, right? Over there for the Clippers.
[47:16] Speaker 3: He went to the Clippers, yeah. Right?
[47:18] Speaker 1: Okay, so I look.
[47:22] Speaker 4: It's like we looked at LeBron's tenure as time. And, man, okay,
[47:29] Speaker 4: so the first year is 2020 with Kawhi, and I
[47:31] Speaker 4: brought it up. So they're up three games to one
[47:34] Speaker 4: on Denver in the bubble with Doc as the coach
[47:37] Speaker 4: and Paul George and Kawhi as the stars.
[47:39] Speaker 2: Kawhi, Paul George is the stars. And they blow it.
[47:43] Speaker 3: Okay.
[47:43] Speaker 2: And they were the favorite.
[47:46] Speaker 4: And then in 21, the next year, they get to
[47:49] Speaker 4: the conference finals, except Kawhi has blown up his knee
[47:53] Speaker 4: against Utah, remember? And he can't play in the conference finals,
[47:58] Speaker 4: so it's Paul George or Bust.
[48:00] Speaker 2: Against Phoenix and CP3, remember?
[48:03] Speaker 4: And CP3 in the closeout game went out of his mind,
[48:06] Speaker 4: shot at the best I've ever seen him shoot it,
[48:09] Speaker 4: and they go on to the finals. So So you
[48:12] Speaker 4: don't even have Kawhi for the conference finals that year.
[48:14] Speaker 4: Then they miss the playoffs. Then they go first round exit,
[48:19] Speaker 4: first round, first round exit. Three straight years of exits.
[48:22] Speaker 4: And then this year they failed in the play-in. So
[48:26] Speaker 4: they didn't make the playoffs. So, man, and in this time,
[48:32] Speaker 4: his salaries go down.
[48:33] Speaker 2: 31 million, 34, 39, 43, 46, 49, 50. Okay, it's just,
[48:40] Speaker 2: he's going to make 50 next year.
[48:43] Speaker 4: And we hit this before, but man, Kawhi won a
[48:52] Speaker 4: championship with the Spurs, obviously, and he was really good.
[48:56] Speaker 4: And then He got sideways with Pop, and I went through.
[49:00] Speaker 4: I was in the middle of that thing, and you
[49:02] Speaker 4: want to talk about ugly.
[49:03] Speaker 3: Nasty.
[49:04] Speaker 4: And he just quit his way out of town. Because
[49:09] Speaker 4: it went for most of the, I think he just
[49:11] Speaker 4: played a few games that year.
[49:12] Speaker 1: Right.
[49:13] Speaker 3: And they would say it was an injury thing.
[49:15] Speaker 2: Something about his quad.
[49:16] Speaker 3: His quad. Quadriceps.
[49:17] Speaker 1: Yeah, I had what he had.
[49:18] Speaker 3: Really? It was. a painful thing. It takes time.
[49:22] Speaker 4: Okay, but his was weird because it was like tendinopathy
[49:27] Speaker 4: in it, like a tendinitis thing as opposed to a tear.
[49:31] Speaker 3: Right. He could play with it. 100% he could play
[49:34] Speaker 3: with it.
[49:34] Speaker 4: Do you remember the classic Tony Parker quote where Tony–
[49:38] Speaker 4: after a shoot around, stood up with a bunch of
[49:41] Speaker 4: reporters around him and said, because Tony had ruptured his
[49:44] Speaker 4: quad and come back from it that year. And he said,
[49:48] Speaker 4: what I had, my injury was, and this was the quote,
[49:51] Speaker 4: a hundred times worse than Kawhi's. And Kawhi just wouldn't play.
[49:57] Speaker 4: And so the next thing you know, they got to
[49:59] Speaker 4: ship him out, but they're going to ship him to
[50:01] Speaker 4: the East. So he wound up in Toronto, which he
[50:05] Speaker 4: viewed as, as a layover before he went home.
[50:09] Speaker 3: For DeMar DeRozan. Yeah. Which was a good trade for
[50:12] Speaker 3: the Spurs if DeMar would have bought into the system.
[50:16] Speaker 2: No, it was fine.
[50:18] Speaker 4: But, but the point was he goes there and, and
[50:22] Speaker 4: makes the most miraculous shot I've ever seen because it
[50:25] Speaker 4: bounced like 19 times. I don't remember the corner shot.
[50:28] Speaker 1: Absolutely.
[50:28] Speaker 2: It's Philly.
[50:29] Speaker 3: Can't forget it.
[50:30] Speaker 4: And I don't know, I don't know if you've ever
[50:31] Speaker 4: made a shot like that from the corner, either of
[50:33] Speaker 4: you two, but, but it, It bounced how it can't bounce.
[50:37] Speaker 4: It's going back and forth because you don't have any
[50:39] Speaker 4: backboard to work with. It's just bouncing all around the rim.
[50:42] Speaker 4: And I don't know why, but it fell.
[50:44] Speaker 3: Almost like some magnets was up there. It was.
[50:47] Speaker 2: It was like a magnet shot.
[50:49] Speaker 3: Crazy.
[50:50] Speaker 2: But the point was, he wins a championship.
[50:53] Speaker 3: And then.
[50:55] Speaker 4: LeBron thought, according to a bunch of reporters, that Kawhi
[50:59] Speaker 4: was coming to the Lakers game. for the 2020 season.
[51:04] Speaker 4: And in the last second, he pulls, I remember it
[51:06] Speaker 4: was July. It was like right now. In fact, it
[51:09] Speaker 4: was not, I don't know if you remember this, but
[51:10] Speaker 4: there was an earthquake here that night. And it was
[51:14] Speaker 4: like double earthquake, not to make light of earthquakes, but
[51:17] Speaker 4: because it was a big one.
[51:18] Speaker 2: It shook all the way to Las Vegas.
[51:20] Speaker 4: Remember, I was watching a summer league game and the
[51:23] Speaker 4: scoreboard in Las Vegas is shaking.
[51:25] Speaker 2: It was a big one for here.
[51:27] Speaker 4: Fortunately, I think everybody was fine, but it wreaked some havoc.
[51:32] Speaker 4: And then right on top of that, there was another
[51:36] Speaker 4: tremor because Kawhi chose the Clippers. And when I first
[51:40] Speaker 4: saw it on ESPN.com, I'm.
[51:42] Speaker 2: Like, he's in a Clippers jersey? Why is he in
[51:44] Speaker 2: a Clippers jersey? Oh, he's a Clipper.
[51:48] Speaker 4: And so now I'm thinking, well, and then they went
[51:51] Speaker 4: and got Paul George and it cost them.
[51:55] Speaker 3: SGA. Shea, you know? Yep. Okay. They would look right
[51:59] Speaker 3: past Shea. Yeah. They were looking right past Shea because
[52:01] Speaker 3: the Clippers at the time, they weren't thinking that they
[52:04] Speaker 3: were going to be what they needed to be in
[52:07] Speaker 3: the 10.
[52:07] Speaker 1: Yeah.
[52:08] Speaker 3: But the owner came in and was like, we can
[52:09] Speaker 3: go get him and whoever he wants to be with him. Yeah.
[52:14] Speaker 3: It makes sense. But for the Raptors, I don't know, man.
[52:18] Speaker 1: Let's talk about the Raptors for a minute.
[52:20] Speaker 3: Yeah.
[52:20] Speaker 1: Let's talk about the Raptors where they now just got
[52:22] Speaker 1: Kawhi Leonard. You know, they just got rid of Ingram,
[52:26] Speaker 1: but they still have Scottie Barnes over there, R.J. Barrett,
[52:30] Speaker 1: and they got some young pieces. So how does Kawhi
[52:32] Speaker 1: Leonard fit with this squad? I mean, if we're looking
[52:37] Speaker 1: for a distraction, or how are they a playoff contender?
[52:42] Speaker 3: I mean, they played. They were. They were, you know,
[52:45] Speaker 3: with Brandon. So give them a veteran, champion, finals MVP,
[52:53] Speaker 3: respected defensive player. You're talking about somebody that can take
[52:59] Speaker 3: it over the top at any given point. But I
[53:02] Speaker 3: think the reunion of it is what's like, kind of like,
[53:07] Speaker 3: how do you guys feel about Kawhi coming back when
[53:10] Speaker 3: he didn't have to leave in the first place? I
[53:13] Speaker 3: think that's the energy I would be on. Like, why
[53:15] Speaker 3: did you leave?
[53:17] Speaker 2: But who's left? Who's there? Who experienced him leaving?
[53:21] Speaker 3: Nobody. You mean? No. I don't think nobody is because
[53:25] Speaker 3: I think Pascal and OG were the last guys. Yeah.
[53:28] Speaker 1: A whole new team.
[53:29] Speaker 3: Yeah, a whole new team. Kyle Lowry was there and Fred,
[53:32] Speaker 3: I think, was there. Yep. So, you know, him going
[53:35] Speaker 3: back is kind of like the city, the energy of
[53:37] Speaker 3: the city. Oh, yeah. They missed him. They wanted him.
[53:41] Speaker 3: So for him to come back is like, okay, you
[53:43] Speaker 3: have to deliver again.
[53:44] Speaker 2: That's true.
[53:44] Speaker 3: You've got to deliver again. I agree with that. And
[53:47] Speaker 3: that's the unfortunate part because now you're looking at the East.
[53:49] Speaker 3: Are they going to make more moves? Do Toronto make
[53:52] Speaker 3: more moves? Because they need a center. If you're going
[53:55] Speaker 3: to play Scottie at four, you're going to depend on
[54:00] Speaker 3: him to be here four. You're going to play small
[54:03] Speaker 3: ball the majority of the time. So you're going to
[54:05] Speaker 3: need a formidable big that's actually going to rebound and
[54:08] Speaker 3: score the ball at some point. And you're going to
[54:11] Speaker 3: have RJ at the point?
[54:13] Speaker 1: No, Emmanuel, quickly.
[54:15] Speaker 3: Oh, they got Quigley over there. Quigley over there. So
[54:17] Speaker 3: you got Quigley, RJ at the two, Kawhi at the three,
[54:20] Speaker 3: Scottie at the four, and you need a five. And
[54:21] Speaker 3: they can be good. Give them a good five. Miles Turner,
[54:26] Speaker 3: somebody like that. They still have. Mitchell Robinson.
[54:29] Speaker 4: What's his name from the Spurs that I used to
[54:31] Speaker 4: know him, and I just went blank on.
[54:33] Speaker 2: You know, he's a Euro seven-footer.
[54:37] Speaker 3: Jacob?
[54:37] Speaker 2: Yeah.
[54:39] Speaker 3: Patel?
[54:39] Speaker 2: Jakob Pertl.
[54:40] Speaker 3: Pertl. Yeah, Pertl.
[54:43] Speaker 2: He tries hard.
[54:44] Speaker 3: He's solid. He ain't enough. He ain't enough.
[54:46] Speaker 2: But they still have him.
[54:48] Speaker 3: Right?
[54:49] Speaker 1: I mean, for the East?
[54:52] Speaker 3: It does make it. You're thinking about the teams that
[54:55] Speaker 3: are going to be solid next year in the East.
[54:57] Speaker 3: You can't rule them out with a Kawhi Leonard addition.
[55:01] Speaker 3: He's averaged 27 last year. Yeah. You know, he had
[55:04] Speaker 3: a phenomenal year. And to do it under the pressure
[55:07] Speaker 3: that he had, no Bradley Bill, James Harden jumped ship.
[55:11] Speaker 3: Chris Paul gets kicked off the team.
[55:13] Speaker 2: He did.
[55:14] Speaker 3: Like, you're talking about just me and Chris Dunn and,
[55:18] Speaker 3: you know, Jones Jr. And, like, I'm just doing it myself.
[55:24] Speaker 3: So I think him having backup, because Scotty Barnes is
[55:27] Speaker 3: a killer. Yes, he is. I think he's a killer. Yes,
[55:29] Speaker 3: he is.
[55:30] Speaker 2: You know what? I'm glad you brought him up.
[55:32] Speaker 4: I continually underestimate him and underrate him in my head
[55:36] Speaker 4: because he He doesn't have star quality, but he is
[55:41] Speaker 4: a star. And I kept looking at the defensive stats
[55:45] Speaker 4: at the end of the year, and he was top
[55:47] Speaker 4: five in individual defensive win shares. He kept creeping up,
[55:53] Speaker 4: and all of a sudden he's finishing in the top five.
[55:56] Speaker 4: And I can't remember if he's first or second team
[55:59] Speaker 4: all defense.
[56:00] Speaker 3: I think he might be first.
[56:01] Speaker 2: I think he's first team all defense. And then I
[56:04] Speaker 2: wanted to argue with it.
[56:06] Speaker 4: Because I think Kaysen Wallace is really good, and I
[56:08] Speaker 4: thought he belonged first team, and I can make a
[56:10] Speaker 4: case where he belonged, but in the numbers, in the
[56:13] Speaker 4: actual individual defensive win shares, it was.
[56:16] Speaker 2: Scottie Barnes over Kaysen Wallace. And he can score. I mean,
[56:21] Speaker 2: he's a really good player with no acclaim whatsoever.
[56:26] Speaker 3: He plays team ball, too. He's not a selfish guy.
[56:29] Speaker 3: He's a glue guy, but he's an advanced elite glue guy.
[56:35] Speaker 3: Like you said, I don't think he has the star
[56:37] Speaker 3: quality where you look at him like star. Got the bravado.
[56:42] Speaker 3: He's the guy that you wouldn't expect to be a
[56:44] Speaker 3: star on the team. Kind of like how Pascal is
[56:47] Speaker 3: for Indiana Pacers. He's not star quality, but he's the
[56:50] Speaker 3: star of their team.
[56:52] Speaker 2: He is.
[56:52] Speaker 3: And he rebounds. He passes. He drives. He can hit
[56:55] Speaker 3: open shots. He can. And, I mean, he's a humble guy.
[56:59] Speaker 3: He just shows up hard hat, blue collar. He just
[57:03] Speaker 3: wants to get it done, and I think bringing somebody
[57:05] Speaker 3: in that can win, that's similar to him, that is
[57:09] Speaker 3: an added culture thing for them.
[57:12] Speaker 4: They're very close together because Kawhi has no real rough
[57:15] Speaker 4: edges to him. He has no personality that he shows you.
[57:18] Speaker 4: He does off camera.
[57:21] Speaker 2: Scotty Barnes, I don't even know what he speaks like.
[57:25] Speaker 3: Right, or what he sounds like. I don't. You haven't
[57:27] Speaker 3: heard him do no interviews or nothing?
[57:29] Speaker 4: No, he doesn't do interviews in Wasn't he at Florida State?
[57:32] Speaker 4: I think he came out of Florida State. I didn't
[57:34] Speaker 4: even know him in college. I mean, he wasn't on
[57:37] Speaker 4: my radar. He made no waves. He had no impact
[57:42] Speaker 4: that I knew of. I'm like, Scotty Barnes?
[57:44] Speaker 2: Huh? I don't know.
[57:46] Speaker 4: But Kawhi, they're very much the same. And again, Kawhi
[57:55] Speaker 4: is coming off a career year quietly for a 42-40 team,
[57:58] Speaker 4: and he's 35, but I promise you, If his heart's
[58:02] Speaker 4: in this, and I assume he had, did he have
[58:04] Speaker 4: to sign off on this?
[58:05] Speaker 3: I think so. Yeah.
[58:06] Speaker 1: I think to go back had to be a part
[58:08] Speaker 1: of this. And I think what you guys were saying
[58:10] Speaker 1: with the Clipper thing, too, the stunt.
[58:12] Speaker 3: Yeah.
[58:12] Speaker 4: Well, then, I like it. I think, again, I definitely
[58:18] Speaker 4: think they're a playoff team. Are they a contender for
[58:20] Speaker 4: the championship?
[58:21] Speaker 2: I doubt it. Maybe because of Jakob Pertl. But maybe
[58:25] Speaker 2: they do. Go fix that.
[58:26] Speaker 3: They go fix that. But I like it for the Raptors.
[58:29] Speaker 3: I hate it for the Clippers. And I hate it
[58:31] Speaker 3: for the league as we continue to just dump off
[58:34] Speaker 3: players as whatever we're doing. Asset control or marking off
[58:38] Speaker 3: the books and we're trying to clean books or whatever
[58:41] Speaker 3: it is. And to see Ja go to Portland. I'm
[58:44] Speaker 3: sure we would talk about that.
[58:45] Speaker 4: I know, but it's scandals. We got scandals where we
[58:49] Speaker 4: can talk about Ja, but. but in this case i
[58:52] Speaker 4: just think somebody up up above is saying you you
[58:55] Speaker 4: gotta cut bait here man yeah he can't be a clipper.
[58:58] Speaker 3: Any longer there's too much shit going on yeah.
[59:00] Speaker 4: Too much is going on it looks too bad there's
[59:03] Speaker 4: stench around it let's get let's just undo it send
[59:07] Speaker 4: him wherever you can send him but get him the
[59:10] Speaker 4: hell out of your place.
[59:11] Speaker 1: For sure right is this the last jersey we'll see
[59:14] Speaker 1: him in i think it should be to retire but
[59:18] Speaker 1: he's 35.
[59:19] Speaker 2: And thinking 35 he's.
[59:20] Speaker 3: Been in the league this long you would think that
[59:22] Speaker 3: he's fucking 37 like he's like Yeah. Everybody else is eight.
[59:27] Speaker 3: But he's still got at least a good three more
[59:29] Speaker 3: years where he can go to Toronto and really give
[59:33] Speaker 3: them something to cheer for. I think that's important. But
[59:36] Speaker 3: with the Clippers, it's like you can't escape the stench
[59:41] Speaker 3: because it's on you no matter who you move where. Yeah.
[59:45] Speaker 3: You guys got an answer for what's happening. You do.
[59:47] Speaker 3: And the fact that he was able to get away scot-free,
[59:50] Speaker 3: now it's just on the Clippers. Now it's what did
[59:52] Speaker 3: you guys do to get him here? And Shay had
[59:55] Speaker 3: to leave. There's a lot of possibilities in there.
[59:58] Speaker 4: And by the way, for anyone watching who doesn't know,
[1:00:02] Speaker 4: the scandal was caused because Kawhi from this former company
[1:00:07] Speaker 4: called Aspiration got a $ 28 million marketing deal, endorsement deal.
[1:00:13] Speaker 2: $ 28 million is a lot of money. And I'm pretty
[1:00:17] Speaker 2: sure he got it.
[1:00:18] Speaker 4: Like it's proven that he got it in its salary
[1:00:21] Speaker 4: cap circumvention, right?
[1:00:23] Speaker 2: He got that.
[1:00:24] Speaker 4: Beyond his salary. And so it's proven that he got it.
[1:00:29] Speaker 4: And to your blog's point, he's getting away with it, right?
[1:00:33] Speaker 3: He's getting rewarded.
[1:00:34] Speaker 2: Yeah, he's getting rewarded for it. He's fine, right? He's
[1:00:39] Speaker 2: not been penalized whatsoever.
[1:00:41] Speaker 3: And you think about James getting out. He's seen the
[1:00:43] Speaker 3: fucking fire coming from the basement. Hey, listen, I smell smoke. CP3.
[1:00:48] Speaker 3: I smell smoke. CP3 got out too. Get me out.
[1:00:51] Speaker 3: Get me out of here. Paul George was the first one.
[1:00:53] Speaker 3: I was like, what's going on? Give me what Kawhi got.
[1:00:56] Speaker 3: You're not going to give me what Kawhi got because
[1:00:58] Speaker 3: I know you can because you got him. You're not
[1:01:01] Speaker 3: going to take care of me too? Get me up
[1:01:02] Speaker 3: out of here. They're going to give me something similar.
[1:01:05] Speaker 3: All right, that was the first brick. So now everything
[1:01:08] Speaker 3: else is just falling apart. So now it's like, what
[1:01:10] Speaker 3: do you do now if you're the Clippers? You lose
[1:01:12] Speaker 3: this trade. You got to figure out how to circumvent
[1:01:15] Speaker 3: the rest of your roster to even compete in the West.
[1:01:19] Speaker 3: You're in the West. You're going to the bottom at
[1:01:22] Speaker 3: this point because you're You got a team like Utah
[1:01:24] Speaker 3: who just built on talent. They have talent over there.
[1:01:27] Speaker 3: They do. They have a way better team than the
[1:01:29] Speaker 3: Clippers right now.
[1:01:30] Speaker 1: Way, way better.
[1:01:31] Speaker 3: Way better.
[1:01:32] Speaker 1: Yes.
[1:01:32] Speaker 3: They got youth. They got youth. And they actually know
[1:01:35] Speaker 3: how to play. So if Will Hardy can get too good.
[1:01:37] Speaker 2: They actually have too much right now where you can't
[1:01:39] Speaker 2: figure out how to fit.
[1:01:40] Speaker 3: It all together. They need to go to talk to
[1:01:42] Speaker 3: the Clippers and figure something out.
[1:01:43] Speaker 1: But that's a good thing to have, right, Utah?
[1:01:45] Speaker 3: Yeah, too much talent. You want to be able to
[1:01:47] Speaker 3: have that.
[1:01:47] Speaker 2: Yeah, and you can make that case for Portland, too,
[1:01:50] Speaker 2: because they're... Portland.
[1:01:51] Speaker 3: Portland and Utah just upgraded to be above anybody as
[1:01:55] Speaker 3: far as the Sacramento, the Clippers, the Suns, the Dallas,
[1:02:01] Speaker 3: like guys who think... Even, hey, even Houston. Yeah. Even Houston.
[1:02:07] Speaker 3: What is Houston doing? They ain't make no moves. They
[1:02:09] Speaker 3: ain't draft nobody. What the hell are they doing? They
[1:02:11] Speaker 3: think they sitting in the good seat? No. But speaking
[1:02:14] Speaker 3: of Portland.
[1:02:15] Speaker 1: Yesterday, one of the biggest moves of the period was
[1:02:18] Speaker 1: when the Grizzlies traded Ja Morant to the Blazers for
[1:02:22] Speaker 1: Jeremy Grant and Chris Murray. Rashad, go to you on
[1:02:27] Speaker 1: this one. You've been waiting on this one. How do
[1:02:28] Speaker 1: you think Ja will work out in Portland? And is
[1:02:32] Speaker 1: this his last chance?
[1:02:34] Speaker 3: Well, I mean, I spoke briefly on how it would
[1:02:38] Speaker 3: work with all those guards. But the fact that he
[1:02:41] Speaker 3: has a fresh start and he can play a fast-paced style,
[1:02:45] Speaker 3: with Dame and Drew and Scoot, with Denny Avia out there,
[1:02:51] Speaker 3: with Donovan Clingham, Kamara. These are guys who all know
[1:02:59] Speaker 3: how to play. They've proven last year that they can
[1:03:01] Speaker 3: compete at a high level. Denny's showing that he's an
[1:03:04] Speaker 3: all-NBA type guy. And the fact that he was able
[1:03:07] Speaker 3: to show that on that type of team, even with
[1:03:09] Speaker 3: Jeremy Grant there, a guy that he outshined. I was
[1:03:13] Speaker 3: supposed to be Jeremy Grant in that position yesterday. averaging 25,
[1:03:17] Speaker 3: seven and six and stuff like that. Cause he has
[1:03:19] Speaker 3: that potential. But for some reason, Jeremy has just been
[1:03:22] Speaker 3: in the shadow over there in Portland. And the fact
[1:03:25] Speaker 3: that Dame looks the way he looks now, I think he's,
[1:03:28] Speaker 3: he's motivated to really show people at his age. What
[1:03:31] Speaker 3: is he? 36, 35. Yeah. Yeah. He might be 35, 36.
[1:03:36] Speaker 2: Yeah.
[1:03:37] Speaker 3: Um, he's got, he's got another two years to prove,
[1:03:39] Speaker 3: to show and prove. So you look at him and drew,
[1:03:42] Speaker 3: they're talking about playing these guys all together. There's a core.
[1:03:46] Speaker 1: Yeah, Dame's 35.
[1:03:48] Speaker 3: 35. 35-year-old Dame Lillard and Drew Holliday is probably around
[1:03:51] Speaker 3: the same age, 35, 36. So you're talking about Ja
[1:03:55] Speaker 3: Morant and Scoot Henderson playing together. That's a combination that
[1:04:00] Speaker 3: we haven't seen because Scoot's starting to come into his
[1:04:02] Speaker 3: own just last year. He did. Especially defensively. So you're
[1:04:06] Speaker 3: talking about Drew and Scoot on the floor at the
[1:04:09] Speaker 3: same time locking down guards. You got Dame shooting the
[1:04:12] Speaker 3: long ball. And you sub in, like, I'm not going
[1:04:14] Speaker 3: to say sub in Ja, because I would start Dame
[1:04:17] Speaker 3: and Ja together. And I would sub in Drew Holiday
[1:04:21] Speaker 3: and Scoot Henderson. But if you had to, for star power,
[1:04:27] Speaker 3: you want people to show up to that arena, Ja Morant,
[1:04:30] Speaker 3: Dame Lillard, start a lineup for sure.
[1:04:33] Speaker 2: Well, yeah, if you want to just sell tickets and
[1:04:37] Speaker 2: Collect eyeballs. That's how you do that.
[1:04:40] Speaker 3: Ain't nothing else to do in Portland but fucking go
[1:04:43] Speaker 3: to the game. So might as well put the best
[1:04:46] Speaker 3: players on the floor.
[1:04:47] Speaker 1: Skip, how do you feel John Morant will work out
[1:04:50] Speaker 1: in Portland?
[1:04:52] Speaker 4: So back on the show I used to do with
[1:04:53] Speaker 4: Shannon Sharp, we must have gone six straight months, it
[1:04:57] Speaker 4: felt like, about who's going to be better, Ja or Zion.
[1:05:02] Speaker 4: Zion or Ja, Ja or Zion. And I like Zion
[1:05:06] Speaker 4: slightly more, even though I was a fan of Jaws
[1:05:11] Speaker 4: and communicated with him a couple times.
[1:05:14] Speaker 2: But I thought Zion's bigger. I'll just take the bigger guy.
[1:05:19] Speaker 2: And the truth is, neither has quite lived up to
[1:05:23] Speaker 2: what I thought both could be for various reasons.
[1:05:28] Speaker 3: So.
[1:05:33] Speaker 2: Ja just ran wild.
[1:05:34] Speaker 4: For a while, and you know everything that happened, and
[1:05:37] Speaker 4: he went through multiple suspensions, and he's just running with
[1:05:41] Speaker 4: the wrong guys, and he's got the gangster mentality, and
[1:05:46] Speaker 4: I run this town, and it just, no, you can't
[1:05:52] Speaker 4: do that.
[1:05:52] Speaker 2: Not if you want to be this. If you want
[1:05:55] Speaker 2: to be one of the greats, if you want to
[1:05:59] Speaker 2: go down in history, you can't operate that way. Yep.
[1:06:03] Speaker 4: And when he came back from his last suspension, it
[1:06:08] Speaker 4: just looked like, to me, this is just watching him
[1:06:11] Speaker 4: on TV, it looked like his spirit.
[1:06:13] Speaker 2: Got broken a little bit.
[1:06:14] Speaker 3: 100%.
[1:06:15] Speaker 2: Right?
[1:06:15] Speaker 3: Yes.
[1:06:16] Speaker 4: He lost some edge or whatever, and sometimes the off-the-court
[1:06:20] Speaker 4: edge can.
[1:06:22] Speaker 2: Can fuel on the court edge in a good way,
[1:06:24] Speaker 2: you know?
[1:06:24] Speaker 3: Yeah, when you're not expecting consequence too. When you're not
[1:06:27] Speaker 3: expecting people to turn their backs on you and all
[1:06:30] Speaker 3: of a sudden your teammates are looking at you like, yo,
[1:06:32] Speaker 3: what's going on? Like what happened over when they were
[1:06:34] Speaker 3: playing over in London, I believe, and one of his
[1:06:37] Speaker 3: teammates came up to him like, yo, what's going on?
[1:06:40] Speaker 3: Why are you not with the team? And he has
[1:06:42] Speaker 3: to have, you know, excuses for that. But that's a
[1:06:45] Speaker 3: spot on observation because I felt the same way. Okay.
[1:06:49] Speaker 4: And all of a sudden, Ja wasn't playing with the
[1:06:53] Speaker 4: fire and desire.
[1:06:54] Speaker 2: I just didn't see.
[1:06:55] Speaker 4: It where, you know, he was operating on the court
[1:06:59] Speaker 4: like he's the gangster, like he's running this show. And
[1:07:02] Speaker 4: all of a sudden, he wasn't running the show anymore.
[1:07:04] Speaker 2: He's kind of deferring and looking around. He just had
[1:07:06] Speaker 2: a lost look to me.
[1:07:09] Speaker 4: I'm hoping for his sake that, to your point, given
[1:07:14] Speaker 4: what he was for a good long while, they just
[1:07:18] Speaker 4: gave him away.
[1:07:20] Speaker 3: They did.
[1:07:22] Speaker 4: And Portland was able to acquire a real talent, a
[1:07:30] Speaker 4: genuine rarity. And if this is, I'm hoping for his sake,
[1:07:36] Speaker 4: that this is exactly what John needed just to get
[1:07:39] Speaker 4: out of Memphis. I'm hoping he can cut some ties
[1:07:43] Speaker 4: with some people. His father hasn't been great for him
[1:07:47] Speaker 4: either because he travels with him, but can't cut that tie.
[1:07:52] Speaker 4: But I'm hoping that he goes to Portland and looks
[1:07:56] Speaker 4: at it as a new lease on life. Like I'm
[1:07:58] Speaker 4: going to turn the page and I'm going to start
[1:08:00] Speaker 4: over and I'm going to start right.
[1:08:02] Speaker 3: I would really love to dive into the Scotland report
[1:08:05] Speaker 3: for John real quick, because when you talk hoop, you
[1:08:09] Speaker 3: got to find out what actual moment turned the light
[1:08:13] Speaker 3: off for him. Yeah. When you talk about the skill level,
[1:08:16] Speaker 3: because When you say that, I go back to seeing
[1:08:19] Speaker 3: a couple of those games where he did look like
[1:08:21] Speaker 3: he didn't know how to play ball no more. Like
[1:08:24] Speaker 3: his athleticism disappeared. He wasn't hitting the middie no more.
[1:08:28] Speaker 3: He was turning the ball over. And you know as
[1:08:30] Speaker 3: a point guard, it's really what I want to ask you.
[1:08:32] Speaker 3: When we're watching him, we're like, yo, what's happening to Ja?
[1:08:36] Speaker 3: Because we know the team dynamic can get to you
[1:08:38] Speaker 3: if you don't know how to handle it. When guys
[1:08:41] Speaker 3: don't want to pass you the ball, you don't want
[1:08:43] Speaker 3: to pass them the ball, but ultimately you're trying to
[1:08:45] Speaker 3: show management You can't do this without me. I'm the show.
[1:08:50] Speaker 3: I'll pack it in for a game or two and
[1:08:52] Speaker 3: just be out here like, look who you got. These
[1:08:54] Speaker 3: niggas can't play. They not me. They not good like that.
[1:08:58] Speaker 3: Now we gonna lose. if y'all don't give me what
[1:09:01] Speaker 3: I want. Y'all fired the coach that I liked, and
[1:09:04] Speaker 3: you brought this guy in, and he thinks he can
[1:09:07] Speaker 3: tell me what to do.
[1:09:08] Speaker 2: That's true.
[1:09:09] Speaker 3: This is not the end. And when you talk about
[1:09:11] Speaker 3: the gangster feel or the boss feel that Ja's persona
[1:09:16] Speaker 3: is showing the world, it's not truly who he is
[1:09:19] Speaker 3: because he's a basketball kid. He grew up playing basketball.
[1:09:22] Speaker 1: No, I got it.
[1:09:23] Speaker 3: So that Memphis culture got to him where he felt like,
[1:09:26] Speaker 3: I am the man. I'm bigger than the program. Mm-hmm.
[1:09:29] Speaker 3: And my skill set now is being affected because I'm
[1:09:33] Speaker 3: not working on my game. I felt like he didn't
[1:09:36] Speaker 3: work on his game for the last two years to
[1:09:38] Speaker 3: elevate it to a point where we're still missing Ja.
[1:09:41] Speaker 3: I remember Gil saying, when Ja came back from the suspension,
[1:09:44] Speaker 3: we should expect that that guy be the guy before
[1:09:48] Speaker 3: the suspension because he had the shoes and he had
[1:09:50] Speaker 3: the antics and the giddy and all that stuff. So
[1:09:53] Speaker 3: we like, yeah, Ja going to be Ja. But we
[1:09:56] Speaker 3: didn't see his game elevate. Similar to Zion, you expect
[1:10:00] Speaker 3: your game to elevate. I need a better jumper. I
[1:10:03] Speaker 3: need some moves in the post. I need some more
[1:10:06] Speaker 3: handle out of you, John. All of these different things.
[1:10:08] Speaker 3: And it's like his game never truly elevated. So what
[1:10:11] Speaker 3: you think about as far as a point guard, what
[1:10:14] Speaker 3: he needs to do in Portland that he didn't do
[1:10:18] Speaker 3: in Memphis?
[1:10:19] Speaker 1: He's going to have to learn how to play without
[1:10:20] Speaker 1: the ball. And I think being with Dane Lillard, being
[1:10:24] Speaker 1: with guys like Drew Holiday, He's going to be able
[1:10:27] Speaker 1: to be able to mature to also, you know, I've
[1:10:30] Speaker 1: heard Dane. Dane is a great leader. Drew Holiday. I've
[1:10:32] Speaker 1: been knowing Drew since I was 11 years old. I
[1:10:34] Speaker 1: know what type of person he is. He's a great person.
[1:10:36] Speaker 1: He has the opportunity right now to change, to change
[1:10:39] Speaker 1: the narrative, to change the perception of him. I love
[1:10:43] Speaker 1: that he's going to Portland. Nike's there.
[1:10:45] Speaker 3: Right.
[1:10:45] Speaker 1: Nike headquarters is their party. I know Nike's probably like
[1:10:48] Speaker 1: you ain't finna.
[1:10:50] Speaker 3: You ain't finna. These shoes as close as to this
[1:10:54] Speaker 3: facility as possible. Come on in here. We got a
[1:10:56] Speaker 3: gym for you. So, you know, I love that part.
[1:10:59] Speaker 1: But from the part of being a point guard, he's
[1:11:00] Speaker 1: going to have to learn how to play without the ball.
[1:11:02] Speaker 1: He's going to have to learn how to be a
[1:11:03] Speaker 1: spot up shooter. He's going to have to learn how
[1:11:04] Speaker 1: to be at a cut because Dave's going to have
[1:11:06] Speaker 1: the ball to also, you know, let's not forget it
[1:11:08] Speaker 1: when Dave Litter comes back. This is still his, you know,
[1:11:11] Speaker 1: this is right here. You know what I'm saying? So
[1:11:14] Speaker 1: I think he's in a good position, though. You know
[1:11:17] Speaker 1: what I'm saying? I think he's in a good position.
[1:11:19] Speaker 1: I think Portland's a great basketball town. They sell out
[1:11:22] Speaker 1: all the time. You know, we play there all the time.
[1:11:23] Speaker 1: Great town for basketball. and I think this would be
[1:11:27] Speaker 1: a chance for him to mature and become better, and
[1:11:29] Speaker 1: also LaMelo Ball, too. I think both of these guys
[1:11:32] Speaker 1: who've gotten traded, they're going into situations where, you know,
[1:11:36] Speaker 1: you know, Ja, you're playing with a top 75 player
[1:11:39] Speaker 1: all time, so you know he has no nonsense. You're
[1:11:41] Speaker 1: going to LaMelo Ball, you're going to the Timberwolves over
[1:11:44] Speaker 1: here where, you know, they've been winning, and they're trying to,
[1:11:46] Speaker 1: you know, get over that hump. So I think both
[1:11:49] Speaker 1: of these young guys, especially Ja, they're in great situations
[1:11:51] Speaker 1: right now. They just got to go out there and try.
[1:11:53] Speaker 3: To You think it's a rebranding situation? Yes. It's an
[1:11:56] Speaker 3: opportunity to reinvent yourself, to refresh the whole browser of
[1:12:03] Speaker 3: this is what we find when we look at you.
[1:12:06] Speaker 3: You did this. You did this. You are this. You
[1:12:08] Speaker 3: are this. And I remember he he just posted something
[1:12:11] Speaker 3: on his Instagram about, you know, being the underdog and
[1:12:15] Speaker 3: having to refocus and really training and really having that hunger.
[1:12:19] Speaker 3: and doing it in silence. I think that's a mature thing.
[1:12:22] Speaker 3: And like you said, for his father to be in
[1:12:25] Speaker 3: his life and have to really focus on making his
[1:12:28] Speaker 3: son rebrand, reinvent himself, and get away from that culture
[1:12:33] Speaker 3: that really, the culture can kill you. And that's the
[1:12:39] Speaker 3: thing that these athletes have to understand. Once you get
[1:12:42] Speaker 3: Bottled up in the culture, it becomes an influence on
[1:12:45] Speaker 3: your behavior and your character. And if that's not who
[1:12:48] Speaker 3: you are, going to another city that can calm you down,
[1:12:52] Speaker 3: isolate your emotions, and now you're sitting there like, I
[1:12:55] Speaker 3: almost lost one of the biggest opportunities of my life.
[1:12:58] Speaker 3: And I did that based on not seeing the big picture. Yeah.
[1:13:02] Speaker 1: And Portland is a team that play on... Remember, Portland
[1:13:04] Speaker 1: used to be on national TV a lot. They were good.
[1:13:07] Speaker 1: They play on them Christmas and them games and things
[1:13:10] Speaker 1: like that.
[1:13:11] Speaker 3: So just being in that... And they have a.
[1:13:13] Speaker 1: Well, I don't know. The owner just changed, right?
[1:13:15] Speaker 3: Yeah, they changed the owner. But he rich, too. That's
[1:13:17] Speaker 3: a little cheap over there. That's a little cheap over
[1:13:19] Speaker 3: there now. He cheap, but he rich, too, though. He rich,
[1:13:21] Speaker 3: but he cheap. But they got some shit going.
[1:13:23] Speaker 2: So, Brandon, when you first saw Ja and he rose
[1:13:28] Speaker 2: to his peak early in Memphis.
[1:13:32] Speaker 4: How much did your game remind you of his game.
[1:13:35] Speaker 2: Or vice versa? Did you see any of your game
[1:13:39] Speaker 2: in Ja?
[1:13:40] Speaker 1: No, I saw a lot of D-Rose and Westbrook in
[1:13:43] Speaker 1: the beginning of the year. And then what helped them
[1:13:46] Speaker 1: is they got that jump shot, like he was saying.
[1:13:48] Speaker 1: The game slowed down for them. They understood how to play.
[1:13:52] Speaker 1: When you looked at Russ, when he first came in,
[1:13:54] Speaker 1: he was to the basket, just out of control. Then
[1:13:56] Speaker 1: he started getting that jump shot. Then he started understanding it.
[1:13:59] Speaker 1: So that's why I think now he's going to have
[1:14:02] Speaker 1: a chance to really understand how to play and be
[1:14:04] Speaker 1: with guys who are leaders. Like, you know, he's been
[1:14:06] Speaker 1: the leader at the age of, what, 22, 21 years
[1:14:09] Speaker 1: old since he first walked in. So it's like it's
[1:14:12] Speaker 1: kind of tough. So now I just think now he
[1:14:15] Speaker 1: has an opportunity to where he can work on all
[1:14:17] Speaker 1: aspects on and off the court.
[1:14:20] Speaker 3: Yeah. And Dane being a mentor to Anthony Simons and
[1:14:24] Speaker 3: Anthony being able to be the talent that he was
[1:14:26] Speaker 3: out of high school and not really having any kind
[1:14:29] Speaker 3: of tutelage, he was coming into his own when Dame
[1:14:33] Speaker 3: got traded to Milwaukee. So now Anthony's like in the
[1:14:37] Speaker 3: limbo of where and what to do. We at a
[1:14:40] Speaker 3: point now where.
[1:14:41] Speaker 2: Unbelievable.
[1:14:43] Speaker 3: Unbelievable. Oh, baby. Oh, my God. What's up?
[1:14:47] Speaker 1: Swaggy P, NBA champion, his family in the building.
[1:14:50] Speaker 3: Yeah, you know how I was doing, you know something.
[1:14:53] Speaker 3: Famous stuff, you know. Doing some famous stuff? Being famous
[1:14:57] Speaker 3: out here. Okay, good. All right. Do y'all think that
[1:15:02] Speaker 3: Melo and Joss both stay where they are with the
[1:15:07] Speaker 3: Timberwolves and the Blazers? I hope so. Yeah. Melo's going
[1:15:11] Speaker 3: to stay for sure.
[1:15:12] Speaker 1: I like both situations. I mean, listen, I love it
[1:15:14] Speaker 1: for Melo because you would, you would another, you would
[1:15:16] Speaker 1: a dog. I asked you that because they both got
[1:15:18] Speaker 1: dumped off. So if this is, is this a long term,
[1:15:24] Speaker 1: we got something that we consider as an asset investment
[1:15:28] Speaker 1: or is this another opportunity for us to take an
[1:15:30] Speaker 1: asset and move it for something we really want?
[1:15:32] Speaker 3: I'm saying dumped off. Because that's what happened.
[1:15:35] Speaker 1: Yeah.
[1:15:36] Speaker 3: No. They're stars, superstars. Kawhi just got dumped off. No,
[1:15:40] Speaker 3: he going to get paid. Yes, but he just got
[1:15:43] Speaker 3: dumped off because you can't plant no more trees over here.
[1:15:46] Speaker 3: We done got all the trees we got. We ain't
[1:15:48] Speaker 3: no more trees to plant.
[1:15:49] Speaker 1: I'll tell you this, it's their last chance.
[1:15:51] Speaker 3: Who asked him? You think so? You think so?
[1:15:54] Speaker 1: From a standpoint of maturing and, like, really taking that.
[1:15:58] Speaker 3: We over it. Yeah, like, you know what I'm saying? Like,
[1:16:01] Speaker 3: once you're in the league five, six years, it's kind
[1:16:03] Speaker 3: of like, all right now. Grow up already.
[1:16:05] Speaker 1: Like, we waiting on you to take this next step.
[1:16:06] Speaker 2: Are you talking about Joe?
[1:16:08] Speaker 3: Both of them.
[1:16:09] Speaker 1: Both of them. No, not Melo.
[1:16:11] Speaker 3: Not Melo? Nah. Because Melo's the seventh year? Yeah, seventh year,
[1:16:15] Speaker 3: but it's… Six years, maybe? Six.
[1:16:18] Speaker 1: Hell of a talent. I just feel like it's some
[1:16:21] Speaker 1: of these years when you look, they're just like, ah.
[1:16:23] Speaker 3: So when you say last, like they wouldn't be able
[1:16:25] Speaker 3: to be superstars no more? No, no, no.
[1:16:26] Speaker 1: They'll be in the league, but they'll have to go
[1:16:29] Speaker 1: into that role.
[1:16:30] Speaker 3: Yeah, they have to go into the role. I get
[1:16:31] Speaker 3: what you're saying.
[1:16:32] Speaker 1: So now you'll be playing a role of now you
[1:16:34] Speaker 1: might be the third option on the team now.
[1:16:36] Speaker 3: You're no longer the centerpiece.
[1:16:37] Speaker 1: Yeah, like you're not the centerpiece. Like you're on this team,
[1:16:39] Speaker 1: but you might be coming off the bench. I can
[1:16:41] Speaker 1: never see Melo and Ja in just a role. Well,
[1:16:44] Speaker 1: he was just a role earlier this year. He was
[1:16:47] Speaker 1: coming off the bench.
[1:16:47] Speaker 3: Mellow. Charles Lee had them coming off the bench and
[1:16:51] Speaker 3: nobody batted an eye, bro. They was literally like... Who's
[1:16:54] Speaker 3: better than them coming.
[1:16:55] Speaker 5: In the league or coming into the league?
[1:16:59] Speaker 3: Like, what you going to get that's better than... We
[1:17:01] Speaker 3: know the talent level there, but I think what he's
[1:17:03] Speaker 3: saying is just... At the.
[1:17:04] Speaker 5: Draft pick, there's still 24... But it's the risk of
[1:17:09] Speaker 5: immaturity to deal with the immaturity that you have to
[1:17:12] Speaker 5: deal with if they don't mature is what he's saying.
[1:17:14] Speaker 3: Like, how much longer are we going to deal with you...
[1:17:17] Speaker 3: having the keys, driving us, and then wanting to pull
[1:17:20] Speaker 3: over and take pictures and shit every five minutes. Like, bro,
[1:17:24] Speaker 3: we trying to get to the destination. But what's wrong
[1:17:26] Speaker 3: with that? Because we trying to get to the destination.
[1:17:28] Speaker 3: It's taking us longer.
[1:17:30] Speaker 1: Because what's wrong with that, if this was Jason Tatum,
[1:17:32] Speaker 1: we'll be talking about him and Jalen Brown. Like, you
[1:17:34] Speaker 1: guys haven't matured enough over there when you guys were
[1:17:36] Speaker 1: going through it, but they matured. Like, they sold a lot.
[1:17:40] Speaker 5: Jalen Brown getting killed?
[1:17:44] Speaker 3: No, no, no.
[1:17:45] Speaker 1: They were talking about getting rid of, let's bring Kyrie
[1:17:48] Speaker 1: in here. They were doing all this stuff and they
[1:17:50] Speaker 1: still stuck together.
[1:17:52] Speaker 3: That's what I'm saying.
[1:17:54] Speaker 5: Who would you trade to come in and take these guys' spots?
[1:17:58] Speaker 5: That's like Like, what other point guards that you would
[1:18:02] Speaker 5: bring in that's better than Melo and Josh?
[1:18:04] Speaker 3: Okay, so you just, you asking me that. Let me
[1:18:06] Speaker 3: give you an answer. Like, you're not bringing this shoulder
[1:18:09] Speaker 3: and they don't take their spot. They just told us
[1:18:13] Speaker 3: from Kenyon. Charles Lee would rather have Kobe White than
[1:18:19] Speaker 3: LaMelo Ball. So your question is a good question. Who
[1:18:23] Speaker 3: we bring in is better. It ain't about who we
[1:18:25] Speaker 3: bring in. It's like, who do I prefer to have
[1:18:28] Speaker 3: run my team? And that's what Charles was saying. I'd
[1:18:31] Speaker 3: rather have him than him because he's reckless.
[1:18:33] Speaker 5: That's a coach. Like, coaches hate others. Like, you can
[1:18:37] Speaker 5: have a coach that hate because I got swag. That
[1:18:39] Speaker 5: don't mean I'm.
[1:18:41] Speaker 3: It don't mean you're a bad player it don't mean
[1:18:43] Speaker 3: you're none of that it's just a bad look right
[1:18:45] Speaker 3: but I'm telling you you just asked who would you
[1:18:47] Speaker 3: rather get and I'm saying the Charlotte Hornets just made
[1:18:50] Speaker 3: a decision to go with this guy rather than that guy.
[1:18:53] Speaker 3: But that's the Charlotte Hornets. So you're dealing with the
[1:18:56] Speaker 3: Minnesota Timberwolves now.
[1:18:57] Speaker 5: Look what they drafted for the last couple years besides Melo.
[1:18:59] Speaker 5: How many times they got it right besides Melo? You
[1:19:02] Speaker 5: don't think Brandon Miller up and coming?
[1:19:04] Speaker 3: How long did that take? Two years.
[1:19:07] Speaker 5: So before them two... They had number one picks all along.
[1:19:11] Speaker 3: Top fives. Top lotteries. Just say lotteries. Lotteries, yeah.
[1:19:15] Speaker 5: Out of them two, for the last, when was the
[1:19:18] Speaker 5: last time Kimba was there?
[1:19:20] Speaker 3: Kimba, yeah. How many lotteries they got right? So we
[1:19:24] Speaker 3: should say the same thing. Miles Bridges was a lottery,
[1:19:26] Speaker 3: wasn't he?
[1:19:27] Speaker 2: He was 12th.
[1:19:28] Speaker 3: 12th, Miles Bridges, probably.
[1:19:30] Speaker 4: By the way, quick point of order on that. you
[1:19:32] Speaker 4: realize that was a Michael Jordan selection.
[1:19:35] Speaker 3: Those were, Michael. So that's another situation.
[1:19:38] Speaker 4: But remember, on the Miles Bridges, they had the 11th pick,
[1:19:43] Speaker 4: and guess what? They let the Clippers trade up and
[1:19:47] Speaker 4: give them two second-round picks to go back one spot
[1:19:50] Speaker 4: so that the Clippers could select at 11 SGA.
[1:19:53] Speaker 3: That's Michael Jordan.
[1:19:57] Speaker 4: So they say, OK, so Charlotte was sitting on SGA
[1:20:02] Speaker 4: at 11 and said, oh, you.
[1:20:04] Speaker 1: Give us two seconds.
[1:20:05] Speaker 2: We'll take that to go back to 12 and we'll
[1:20:07] Speaker 2: take Miles Bridges, who's no longer a Hornet.
[1:20:11] Speaker 3: No, that's a good question, though. I mean, those guys.
[1:20:16] Speaker 3: Do you have a fucking time frame?
[1:20:19] Speaker 1: Yes.
[1:20:19] Speaker 3: On on. Your talent. Just like we have a time
[1:20:22] Speaker 3: frame for Zion. Yes, you have a time frame. Zion
[1:20:24] Speaker 3: had a time frame.
[1:20:25] Speaker 1: Your rookie contract is your time frame.
[1:20:26] Speaker 3: Yes.
[1:20:27] Speaker 1: After your rookie contract, we expect you to be hitting
[1:20:29] Speaker 1: the next level.
[1:20:29] Speaker 3: And ain't no excuses after that. Like, hey, you fat.
[1:20:32] Speaker 3: You got to get in shape. I need to do this. Hey,
[1:20:34] Speaker 3: you got gun problems. You don't know how to not
[1:20:37] Speaker 3: be in the club. Da-da-da-da-da. Hey, Mello, you driving reckless
[1:20:41] Speaker 3: on the street. Where should they be? I just want
[1:20:43] Speaker 3: to know. Where should they be? You see?
[1:20:46] Speaker 5: So if they're not this person... Who's this person? Who's
[1:20:51] Speaker 5: that person? They're not like Kawhis or the LeBrons.
[1:20:54] Speaker 3: Like right now. They're not playing for the USA team.
[1:20:57] Speaker 3: They're not getting invited. So yeah.
[1:20:58] Speaker 1: We would put them....
[1:21:05] Speaker 3: Like they would be on the USA team. Josh, Zion,
[1:21:11] Speaker 3: and fucking LaMelo Ball should be the next tier level
[1:21:14] Speaker 3: of talent for the fucking USA to compete to make
[1:21:18] Speaker 3: sure we keep our distance from everybody. But they're not
[1:21:22] Speaker 3: being mentioned at all. So I get what he's saying
[1:21:25] Speaker 3: as far as how much time do we give them.
[1:21:27] Speaker 1: I got it.
[1:21:28] Speaker 2: I got to defend LaMelo on this. He doesn't belong
[1:21:30] Speaker 2: in this.
[1:21:31] Speaker 3: He had a.
[1:21:32] Speaker 2: Really good year last year.
[1:21:33] Speaker 3: That's one year. Okay.
[1:21:35] Speaker 2: But the coach.
[1:21:37] Speaker 3: He hasn't been healthy. He hasn't. Just like Zion. We're
[1:21:40] Speaker 3: going to not roast Zion for not being healthy, being hurt.
[1:21:45] Speaker 5: But not the difference between tanking and being healthy. A
[1:21:48] Speaker 5: lot of them times there wasn't winning. So why keep
[1:21:50] Speaker 5: them out there on the floor?
[1:21:52] Speaker 3: No, it ain't about why keeping them out there on
[1:21:54] Speaker 3: the floor. You got to still build your resume up.
[1:21:56] Speaker 3: You shouldn't build your... 20 and well, he's an all-star.
[1:21:58] Speaker 3: But you've only played 26 games here, 34 games here.
[1:22:02] Speaker 3: Like if you're going to have these short spurts of
[1:22:05] Speaker 3: playing and you only had two games, two seasons where
[1:22:07] Speaker 3: you played over 70 games.
[1:22:08] Speaker 2: Okay, but he did play 72 games last year. He did,
[1:22:10] Speaker 2: and he played well. And if you look at his
[1:22:12] Speaker 2: advanced numbers.
[1:22:14] Speaker 4: He was seriously, you're going to laugh, but, but in
[1:22:17] Speaker 4: advanced offensive stats, he was top five.
[1:22:20] Speaker 2: In the league and they went on a run.
[1:22:23] Speaker 4: As you know, they, they won 44 games after winning
[1:22:26] Speaker 4: 19 the year before without him and his on the
[1:22:29] Speaker 4: court versus off the court.
[1:22:31] Speaker 2: Off the charts that they.
[1:22:33] Speaker 4: Were hot with him disaster without him on the floor
[1:22:38] Speaker 4: and that they go on a run of they close
[1:22:40] Speaker 4: 32 and 13 over their last 45 games from January
[1:22:44] Speaker 4: 1st on and from January 1st on in the NBA
[1:22:48] Speaker 4: the Charlotte Hornets were number one in offense number five
[1:22:51] Speaker 4: in defense yeah it was a whole lot about him
[1:22:55] Speaker 4: yeah and And the coach doesn't trust him.
[1:22:58] Speaker 2: He doesn't like his style. He doesn't like the shots
[1:23:01] Speaker 2: he takes. I got it. And they acquired Kobe White.
[1:23:04] Speaker 2: And Charles Lee said, damn, this is my style. This
[1:23:10] Speaker 2: is what I can trust him. And they gave away
[1:23:13] Speaker 2: LaMelo Ball to Ant and company. And I'm like, that's
[1:23:18] Speaker 2: just wrong. You can't do that. He's too good. And
[1:23:22] Speaker 2: your fandom.
[1:23:24] Speaker 4: He had a couple of reckless driving things off the court,
[1:23:27] Speaker 4: and he's a reckless driver on the court sometimes.
[1:23:30] Speaker 2: I got it. But still, he is a big talent
[1:23:34] Speaker 2: to me, like a rare talent.
[1:23:35] Speaker 3: He is. So the question that he's asking, though, like
[1:23:38] Speaker 3: how much time do we give you to prove that?
[1:23:41] Speaker 3: So if he goes to the Timberwolves and he stays,
[1:23:44] Speaker 3: and you're with Ant, And you don't eclipse the Western
[1:23:47] Speaker 3: Conference finals as we've been. No, no, no. You can't
[1:23:51] Speaker 3: put that on him.
[1:23:52] Speaker 1: I mean, you got Tyrese Maxey in their draft class.
[1:23:55] Speaker 1: You got Tyrese Hallenberg. These guys are catching up.
[1:24:00] Speaker 3: Maxey, first time All-Star this year, right? Second. Second? So
[1:24:05] Speaker 3: how many All-Stars they got compared to each other?
[1:24:08] Speaker 1: Well, Ja has two All-Stars. LaMelo, I think, has two
[1:24:11] Speaker 1: or three.
[1:24:12] Speaker 3: LaMelo has one.
[1:24:15] Speaker 1: But what I'm saying is, I'm just saying, Tyrese Hallenberg,
[1:24:17] Speaker 1: he's been playing in the finals. I mean, Tyrese Maxson,
[1:24:19] Speaker 1: he was an MVP. Whose draft class are you talking about?
[1:24:22] Speaker 3: LaMelo.
[1:24:22] Speaker 1: LaMelo Balls.
[1:24:23] Speaker 3: Okay, all right.
[1:24:24] Speaker 1: Yeah, LaMelo Ball, Anthony Edwards, they're all in the same draft.
[1:24:27] Speaker 3: Okay.
[1:24:29] Speaker 2: Remind me, how does it go at the top?
[1:24:31] Speaker 1: Do you have it up? Yes. Anthony Edwards, James Wiseman,
[1:24:36] Speaker 1: LaMelo Ball, Patrick Williams.
[1:24:40] Speaker 3: LaMelo is a two-time all-star. Yeah. Average 28 for his career.
[1:24:48] Speaker 3: And five. 28 and six. No, I'm just saying.
[1:24:52] Speaker 1: If they don't go to these teams and do what
[1:24:54] Speaker 1: we think they're capable of doing, then there's going to
[1:24:56] Speaker 1: have to be some conversations happening.
[1:24:57] Speaker 3: Maxie is a two-time all-star. So if he's not.
[1:25:00] Speaker 1: Maxie.
[1:25:01] Speaker 5: If he's not superstar and he falls into being.
[1:25:07] Speaker 3: Just a guy. A star. A star. He's always going
[1:25:10] Speaker 3: to be a star. Yeah, yeah. He's always going to
[1:25:12] Speaker 3: be a star. He's not going to fall below star.
[1:25:14] Speaker 3: But we're talking about expectations here. We're talking about we
[1:25:18] Speaker 3: know he's supposed to be a superstar, megastar type of talent.
[1:25:22] Speaker 3: And that's what I get you saying. He's too good
[1:25:25] Speaker 3: to just dump off after the season that he had.
[1:25:28] Speaker 3: But there are discrepancies in his play that coaches or
[1:25:33] Speaker 3: his GM or whoever feels like we can't win with him.
[1:25:37] Speaker 3: So now he has to go prove it or you're
[1:25:40] Speaker 3: going to be taking that star seat. Just that. Pascal Siakam,
[1:25:45] Speaker 3: Scotty Barnes, like you're good, you're J.M. Fox, like you're
[1:25:49] Speaker 3: a star. Yeah.
[1:25:50] Speaker 4: And remember that he was going to be eligible for
[1:25:52] Speaker 4: a what is it, one hundred nineteen million extension in.
[1:25:56] Speaker 4: Coming up on July 7th, he would be eligible. And
[1:25:59] Speaker 4: Charlotte just says, we're out. We don't want to do that.
[1:26:02] Speaker 4: We don't want to do Miles Bridges anymore.
[1:26:03] Speaker 3: So, Halliburton, Maxey, and LaMelo Ball are all two-time All-Stars. Okay.
[1:26:09] Speaker 3: And where do you rank them? One through three? I mean,
[1:26:13] Speaker 3: seeing that Halliburton didn't play at all last year is
[1:26:16] Speaker 3: tough because the year he had moving into that, before
[1:26:18] Speaker 3: that injury, he was above all of them. He was
[1:26:22] Speaker 3: above Maxey. He was above LaMelo.
[1:26:26] Speaker 5: By winning our game, that's what I'm saying. Which one
[1:26:29] Speaker 5: are we going to say? Winning our game.
[1:26:31] Speaker 3: Because it's the style of play, right? His style of
[1:26:34] Speaker 3: play is, I got my team to the finals, and
[1:26:37] Speaker 3: we should have beat them. So, like, Halliburton showed and proved.
[1:26:43] Speaker 3: But then you got Tyrese Maxey's game. I like Maxey's
[1:26:45] Speaker 3: game better than all of them. And I would put
[1:26:48] Speaker 3: Melo second. I would put Tyrese Halliburton third as far
[1:26:51] Speaker 3: as game is concerned. But winning and knowing how to
[1:26:53] Speaker 3: play the game, Holly is number one.
[1:26:55] Speaker 1: Breaking news, guys. Breaking news just now. Tim Hardaway Jr.
[1:27:01] Speaker 1: has agreed to a deal with the Miami Heat. One-year
[1:27:03] Speaker 1: deal for $ 6. 5 million. You said breaking news. I mean,
[1:27:10] Speaker 1: it's breaking.
[1:27:11] Speaker 3: It says breaking news. You thought a big trade was
[1:27:13] Speaker 3: going on. It's a free agency and we ain't heard
[1:27:15] Speaker 3: shit yet. It's breaking news. That's a big news. I mean,
[1:27:18] Speaker 3: that's a big move for them. Got a shooter.
[1:27:20] Speaker 1: He ain't scared to shoot.
[1:27:22] Speaker 2: He is not.
[1:27:23] Speaker 1: He ain't seen it. He never seen a bad shot.
[1:27:26] Speaker 3: What's on your mind, Skip? I see you over there contemplating, man.
[1:27:29] Speaker 2: To your point, it's not big breaking news, and he's
[1:27:32] Speaker 2: not a star, but you know what?
[1:27:35] Speaker 4: He's a cold-blooded shooter, man. He makes a lot of
[1:27:39] Speaker 4: big shots coming off the bench, fearless, trustable. I mean,
[1:27:45] Speaker 4: it's a good pickup for them. It's not going to
[1:27:47] Speaker 4: change life, but you need that guy around Bam and Giannis, obviously.
[1:27:55] Speaker 2: I mean, it's nice. It's a nice pickup.
[1:27:57] Speaker 3: Yes. What you think?
[1:27:59] Speaker 5: I was thinking, what you think about, like, if you
[1:28:02] Speaker 5: use San Antonio, Miami, and Portland, you think they should
[1:28:06] Speaker 5: do a deal? Like, somehow, Drew go to Spurs, Fox
[1:28:10] Speaker 5: could be in Miami.
[1:28:13] Speaker 4: Mmm.
[1:28:13] Speaker 3: Mmm. You've been thinking about some shit?
[1:28:16] Speaker 5: Who the fuck is this nigga talking to?
[1:28:18] Speaker 2: Not where you were, you were thinking about all this?
[1:28:21] Speaker 3: He's like, I gotta have some good shit when I
[1:28:24] Speaker 3: get up there. I was talking with my brother, that's why.
[1:28:28] Speaker 3: That sounds actually real crazy. Fox to Miami. Drew to
[1:28:33] Speaker 3: San Antonio. I mentioned Drew to San Antonio. They just
[1:28:37] Speaker 3: got to get some picks or something. Champagne is just
[1:28:43] Speaker 3: a decline.
[1:28:46] Speaker 2: Aren't they going to re-up him?
[1:28:47] Speaker 3: I don't know. They should. If you got Vassell too. Vassell.
[1:28:54] Speaker 2: To your point about Portland, they're just... It's like overstocked.
[1:28:59] Speaker 3: That's why I say get rid of Drew.
[1:29:01] Speaker 2: My God.
[1:29:02] Speaker 3: Drew would feel perfect.
[1:29:02] Speaker 2: Because Shaden Sharp is there.
[1:29:04] Speaker 3: Oh, that's who I forgot to fucking mention. Yeah.
[1:29:08] Speaker 2: I mean, he's in town.
[1:29:09] Speaker 3: What do you do with him? I would bring Shaden
[1:29:13] Speaker 3: Sharp to San Antonio. I would love him down there. Him, Castle. Athletic.
[1:29:19] Speaker 3: They kind of similar. With Wimby. Yeah.
[1:29:22] Speaker 4: Yeah.
[1:29:23] Speaker 3: But you've got to move something from Miami, though. What
[1:29:26] Speaker 3: is Miami moving? I don't know who's on Miami now.
[1:29:30] Speaker 3: That's why. They don't really got it. Norm Powell. Norm Powell,
[1:29:35] Speaker 3: because they would be guard heavy still over in Portland
[1:29:39] Speaker 3: if you move Norm Powell.
[1:29:41] Speaker 2: They brought Wiggins back.
[1:29:43] Speaker 3: They brought Wiggins back. That's an interesting one. Multi-team trades
[1:29:49] Speaker 3: are the best because you can move a lot of
[1:29:51] Speaker 3: shit around.
[1:29:52] Speaker 1: It'd be all busted.
[1:29:53] Speaker 3: Hell yeah. You got the 2035th pick. Man, first round pick, man. 3033. Yes.
[1:30:00] Speaker 4: But you did make a point that I didn't get
[1:30:02] Speaker 4: back to about Ja and Dame.
[1:30:05] Speaker 2: And you said, well, you got to start them both.
[1:30:07] Speaker 2: And I get in Portland, that'll sell.
[1:30:11] Speaker 3: Giant thing.
[1:30:11] Speaker 2: It's box office. Man.
[1:30:14] Speaker 3: No way.
[1:30:14] Speaker 2: But who has the ball, man? Because both of them want.
[1:30:17] Speaker 3: The ball a lot.
[1:30:18] Speaker 1: Take turns like C.J. McCullough. They used to take turns.
[1:30:20] Speaker 3: Absolutely. Absolutely. Yeah, but C.J.
[1:30:22] Speaker 4: Had the mentality of, because he came from a small school,
[1:30:26] Speaker 4: and he was happy to mostly defer to Dame.
[1:30:29] Speaker 2: Mostly he did.
[1:30:30] Speaker 1: I'm sure John would like to pass that ball to Dame.
[1:30:33] Speaker 3: He went to a small school, too. John went to
[1:30:34] Speaker 3: Penn State. He would. You don't think so? Somebody got
[1:30:39] Speaker 3: to go.
[1:30:39] Speaker 2: No.
[1:30:39] Speaker 3: No. Both of them. You talked about this being Jairi Brandon, right?
[1:30:43] Speaker 1: Yes.
[1:30:44] Speaker 3: Is Dame in the way right now?
[1:30:46] Speaker 2: No.
[1:30:47] Speaker 3: Is Dame in the way?
[1:30:48] Speaker 2: No.
[1:30:48] Speaker 3: Or is Dame going to be the guy to teach
[1:30:50] Speaker 3: him what you need, how to be a real pro
[1:30:52] Speaker 3: in this league?
[1:30:53] Speaker 2: Yes.
[1:30:53] Speaker 3: Because he didn't have that in Memphis. You didn't have
[1:30:55] Speaker 3: nobody that's going to sit you down and be like, hey, look,
[1:30:58] Speaker 3: this is what they want to see from you, bro.
[1:30:59] Speaker 3: But y'all just said Dame was working out. He looked good.
[1:31:02] Speaker 3: He about to try to come back and be Dame.
[1:31:03] Speaker 3: He going to be.
[1:31:05] Speaker 5: You can't be Dame and you can't be Ja at
[1:31:08] Speaker 5: the same time.
[1:31:08] Speaker 1: Yes, you can. First of all, one can shoot the
[1:31:10] Speaker 1: three from whatever and the other one's a driver.
[1:31:14] Speaker 3: So it's not like....
[1:31:17] Speaker 1: But Ja's going to have to mature his game also, though.
[1:31:20] Speaker 1: I'm telling you. You're going to have to be able
[1:31:22] Speaker 1: to knock down that jumper because the ball's going to
[1:31:24] Speaker 1: be in Dame's hands.
[1:31:25] Speaker 5: Ja led the Western Conference. He was number one. His teams.
[1:31:29] Speaker 5: He's been like a winner. He know how to win.
[1:31:32] Speaker 3: His teams ran into LeBron. Dane did the same thing.
[1:31:36] Speaker 3: Dane ran into y'all. Dane too. Dane, yeah. Watch out. OKC,
[1:31:41] Speaker 3: watch out, OKC. That's what I'm saying. Coming back for that.
[1:31:44] Speaker 3: Watch out, OKC.
[1:31:45] Speaker 1: Get out of here.
[1:31:47] Speaker 3: No, as you get older, you want to go out.
[1:31:49] Speaker 1: First of all, Portland brought you back, you know what
[1:31:52] Speaker 1: I'm saying, so you can retire here and everything.
[1:31:54] Speaker 3: Thank you. But he's 36. Right, so now all I'm doing,
[1:31:57] Speaker 3: I'm just going out to the Wilson. Like, I'm chilling.
[1:32:00] Speaker 3: And it's the same situation with LaMelo and motherfucking Ant. Like,
[1:32:04] Speaker 3: Ant and Melo, I'm the number one dog over here.
[1:32:06] Speaker 3: You're going to have to come over here and figure
[1:32:08] Speaker 3: it out. You got to figure out how to fit
[1:32:10] Speaker 3: in here. Ja is the same way. And Melo passed, too.
[1:32:15] Speaker 3: You don't think Ja passes? Yes. They passed the same.
[1:32:20] Speaker 3: It just looked better when Melo did it.
[1:32:22] Speaker 5: I think it's going to work.
[1:32:24] Speaker 1: I think it's going to work. It's going to work
[1:32:26] Speaker 1: because these boys are little. It's going to work.
[1:32:30] Speaker 2: Okay, but whose town is it?
[1:32:33] Speaker 3: Whose town is it?
[1:32:34] Speaker 2: Who owns Portland, Oregon?
[1:32:36] Speaker 3: Oh, Dave Lillard. Dave Lillard. That's what I'm saying.
[1:32:40] Speaker 1: I mean, listen, until John comes out and dunk, and
[1:32:43] Speaker 1: then Nike throw that commercial, and he had to.
[1:32:45] Speaker 3: You know, then. I mean, I'm feeling Denny, like, feel
[1:32:48] Speaker 3: like it's his team. Who? Denny Avia. Well, I feel
[1:32:52] Speaker 3: like he feels he does. I can do more than
[1:32:55] Speaker 3: you guys can. That is like you shooting at three
[1:32:58] Speaker 3: is more than Dame. But Dame don't do what the
[1:33:00] Speaker 3: Denny does. He doesn't get to the free throw line.
[1:33:03] Speaker 3: He doesn't create mismatches. You coming down shooting a three
[1:33:06] Speaker 3: was a time. That was a time for that. That
[1:33:08] Speaker 3: was you and Steph. Y'all had your time for that.
[1:33:11] Speaker 3: That time is gone. Now it's a bad shot. It's
[1:33:14] Speaker 3: back to being a bad shot if you're not making
[1:33:16] Speaker 3: it at a 38, 39% split.
[1:33:17] Speaker 5: When John come back and dunk on Wimby like he did.
[1:33:20] Speaker 5: That would change everything.
[1:33:22] Speaker 3: It's over. That's what I'm saying. He got the best shoes.
[1:33:25] Speaker 3: He got the best shoes. He's Nike. He going to
[1:33:27] Speaker 3: be in Portland. Yeah. His second shoe coming out is crazy.
[1:33:31] Speaker 3: But we talked about that. It looked like his deflation
[1:33:35] Speaker 3: of being around toxicity. created him like he looked like
[1:33:39] Speaker 3: his athletic abilities disappeared. Because he wasn't motivated. Yeah, because
[1:33:43] Speaker 3: he just, I don't really feel like going to dunk
[1:33:45] Speaker 3: on nobody. So now people's questioning, is he declining? Is
[1:33:51] Speaker 3: his athletic ability declining? Is he one of those guys
[1:33:54] Speaker 3: that we've seen like Steve Francis that was really, really upside,
[1:33:58] Speaker 3: upside and then disappeared because he went to the wrong team?
[1:34:03] Speaker 3: And we haven't, well.
[1:34:05] Speaker 1: Good thing we haven't heard a lot from him. We
[1:34:07] Speaker 1: haven't seen him either.
[1:34:08] Speaker 3: He off the grid.
[1:34:09] Speaker 1: He's been off the grid lately.
[1:34:10] Speaker 3: I'm hopeful for it. I think that Ja can do it.
[1:34:12] Speaker 3: I think Melo can do it. But it's like I said,
[1:34:15] Speaker 3: the wrong team is a bad deal for him.
[1:34:18] Speaker 4: Quick point on Dame. I don't think we're talking about
[1:34:21] Speaker 4: prime Dame anymore.
[1:34:23] Speaker 3: That's what I'm saying.
[1:34:24] Speaker 4: I don't think he's what he was when he was
[1:34:27] Speaker 4: in Portland the first time. I don't think he's all that.
[1:34:30] Speaker 2: And he tore his Achilles.
[1:34:31] Speaker 3: He's not.
[1:34:32] Speaker 2: He's not quite as explosive. He can still shoot it.
[1:34:35] Speaker 3: That's what I'm saying. Okay.
[1:34:37] Speaker 5: Because even on the butts, you've seen a decline.
[1:34:41] Speaker 3: Yeah. Yeah. Before the injury. Before the injury.
[1:34:44] Speaker 4: Yeah.
[1:34:45] Speaker 3: It was like, yo, what's up with that? Yeah. We
[1:34:47] Speaker 3: was all talking about it. Now you get hurt. Kiwis.
[1:34:50] Speaker 1: Well, but you know when somebody wants to really be there.
[1:34:53] Speaker 1: Like when they play. But he was deferring also.
[1:34:56] Speaker 3: He was trying to fit in, trying not to do
[1:34:58] Speaker 3: too much, and not to say this is my team.
[1:35:01] Speaker 3: When you know who your team is. When you say
[1:35:02] Speaker 3: it's your team, then you go sign Ja?
[1:35:06] Speaker 1: Yeah, but I can sign Ja because Dame is 36 now.
[1:35:09] Speaker 3: Dame is older. And if I'm signing Ja and they
[1:35:12] Speaker 3: both win a prime, now.
[1:35:13] Speaker 1: We're going to have a.
[1:35:13] Speaker 5: I'm not signing Ja to be on the bench in
[1:35:16] Speaker 5: Portland next to Nike. I'm not signing Ja.
[1:35:19] Speaker 3: I was never saying he's going to be on the bench.
[1:35:21] Speaker 3: I said he's going to start him and Dame. Yeah,
[1:35:23] Speaker 3: he started for sure. Because you're not bringing Dame off
[1:35:25] Speaker 3: the bench. Got to. For who? A job. And who's
[1:35:30] Speaker 3: playing the two? Who's Dane going to guard at the two? Man, look,
[1:35:36] Speaker 3: we're playing zone. Whoever. Right. I'm going to say whoever.
[1:35:39] Speaker 1: We're going to have to figure it out.
[1:35:41] Speaker 3: Who are you starting over Dane Lillard? Top 75. This
[1:35:45] Speaker 3: is going back to the Russell Westbrook. I was just
[1:35:48] Speaker 3: about to say that. Pat Bell. He comes off the bench, too. Yeah.
[1:35:55] Speaker 2: Yeah.
[1:35:56] Speaker 3: Or who? Shannon Sharp. Scoop. Shaden Sharp. Shaden Sharp. What's
[1:36:03] Speaker 3: his name? Shannon Sharp. Scoop is going to be John Scoop. Sharp. Denny.
[1:36:12] Speaker 3: Denny and? Klingham. Big boy. Maybe. It's not bad. You
[1:36:20] Speaker 3: got to have a good coach to make that shit work.
[1:36:23] Speaker 3: All right, go Drew. Drew, Ja Drew. Yeah. I'll do
[1:36:30] Speaker 3: that before I go Ja Dane because Drew could guard.
[1:36:32] Speaker 3: I would too. I agree. You said what? Because Drew
[1:36:35] Speaker 3: could guard. He'll go Drew before Dane. And I give
[1:36:38] Speaker 3: Ja the freedom. Drew know how to play with superstars.
[1:36:42] Speaker 3: He know how to play. If it's his night. Because
[1:36:44] Speaker 3: Ja's efficiency offensively don't match what Dane can bring to
[1:36:47] Speaker 3: the table, bro. We got to talk hoop when we
[1:36:49] Speaker 3: talk about it. Scoot, Drew, and Ja are all inefficient
[1:36:55] Speaker 3: offensive players. When you're talking about depending on carrying the
[1:37:00] Speaker 3: bulk of the offensive. So you bring Dame in with
[1:37:04] Speaker 3: Ja or Dame with Drew, you're going to get some offense.
[1:37:09] Speaker 3: And you know it. But depending on Ja to get
[1:37:12] Speaker 3: you 25 a night? No. No. Not right now. Have
[1:37:17] Speaker 3: you seen Bradley Bill, right? Mm-hmm. Are you talking about
[1:37:23] Speaker 3: Bradley Bill in Washington? He was nice in Washington. He
[1:37:28] Speaker 3: came to Phoenix, got hurt. Thought he was going to
[1:37:30] Speaker 3: have a big year this year with the Clippers. Got
[1:37:33] Speaker 3: hurt again. Got hurt in Phoenix. I just think he's
[1:37:38] Speaker 3: just been stealing money. I ain't even going to say it.
[1:37:41] Speaker 3: He's just been stealing money. I don't think he got nothing.
[1:37:43] Speaker 3: I think he can still play. I just think he's
[1:37:44] Speaker 3: just going to give me a check. Give me a check. Goddamn,
[1:37:47] Speaker 3: fuck it.
[1:37:47] Speaker 2: Well, he's a free agent now.
[1:37:49] Speaker 3: Now he can get some more money and steal some
[1:37:51] Speaker 3: more money, but... Brad can play. I don't feel like
[1:37:54] Speaker 3: Brad was what a dude to pack it in, but
[1:37:56] Speaker 3: I don't see this being one of them situations at all.
[1:38:00] Speaker 2: But I agree with you about Dame, but in Portland, Oregon,
[1:38:04] Speaker 2: how do you not start Damian Lillard, right?
[1:38:07] Speaker 3: How?
[1:38:07] Speaker 2: You can't not start him. He would, God, he would
[1:38:13] Speaker 2: throw fits.
[1:38:14] Speaker 3: Then he's going to ask, who are you starting? Who
[1:38:17] Speaker 3: are you starting over me?
[1:38:19] Speaker 2: Drew.
[1:38:19] Speaker 3: Well, they're going to have to get rid of Drew. Yeah.
[1:38:22] Speaker 1: You got to get rid of him.
[1:38:23] Speaker 3: Yeah, he's a good piece. I mean, listen, he's a
[1:38:25] Speaker 3: plug and play.
[1:38:26] Speaker 1: Wherever he's going, he's going to go to a team
[1:38:28] Speaker 1: that's probably contending.
[1:38:29] Speaker 3: He'll probably end up on the Spurs or OKC.
[1:38:32] Speaker 1: I mean, you just never know.
[1:38:34] Speaker 3: For sure. OKC wouldn't be bad. They need a backup
[1:38:36] Speaker 3: point guard.
[1:38:37] Speaker 1: He's solid.
[1:38:37] Speaker 3: And he can go. He can start. That would be
[1:38:41] Speaker 3: a great move for OKC.
[1:38:44] Speaker 1: And Portland could get something for him.
[1:38:45] Speaker 3: When they're saying Case and Wallace is not going to resign, Skip,
[1:38:48] Speaker 3: I don't know how you feel about that.
[1:38:50] Speaker 2: Saying he's not going to resign?
[1:38:51] Speaker 3: Mm-hmm. Saying he won't test the waters.
[1:38:54] Speaker 2: You mean when? Now?
[1:38:57] Speaker 3: That's people like the Lakers. Isn't he up? He's somebody
[1:39:01] Speaker 3: like the Lakers need. I don't think so. Is Case
[1:39:03] Speaker 3: and Wallace up?
[1:39:04] Speaker 1: Yeah, he's up.
[1:39:05] Speaker 2: He's still on his rookie deal, isn't he?
[1:39:07] Speaker 3: He should be up. Mm-hmm. I thought I seen a
[1:39:12] Speaker 3: report that he was... I mean, he's got.
[1:39:15] Speaker 4: at least another year to go, and then they're going
[1:39:17] Speaker 4: to have to pay him a lot, like a whole lot.
[1:39:21] Speaker 4: And I don't know that they can. Something's going to
[1:39:24] Speaker 4: have to go. But I'm pretty sure he's okay for
[1:39:28] Speaker 4: next year. He's not free now.
[1:39:32] Speaker 3: So he's currently playing on a four-year, 24 million rookie contract. Yeah.
[1:39:37] Speaker 3: Fully guaranteed.
[1:39:39] Speaker 1: Well, guys, I think that's it for our, For our
[1:39:42] Speaker 1: special free agency edition.
[1:39:44] Speaker 3: Is that it?
[1:39:44] Speaker 1: Yes, of today.
[1:39:45] Speaker 2: Wow.
[1:39:45] Speaker 1: This is all we had. First, man, before we wrap up,
[1:39:49] Speaker 1: I want to thank y'all. I want to thank y'all
[1:39:51] Speaker 1: for this whole year that we had, this NBA season.
[1:39:53] Speaker 1: We had a great year. Nick, Rashad, Skip. Josiah, Kenyon.
[1:39:58] Speaker 3: We used to do a whole fucking party with the girls.
[1:40:00] Speaker 3: I know. What's going on? What's going on? Now we
[1:40:04] Speaker 3: ain't got to have some fireworks and shit. Snow bunnies
[1:40:08] Speaker 3: and all kinds of shit. This is it. This is
[1:40:11] Speaker 3: it for a minute. We're taking a little break. It's summertime.
[1:40:16] Speaker 3: I just want to thank.
[1:40:16] Speaker 1: Everybody in the chat. Everybody that's been rocking with us
[1:40:20] Speaker 1: throughout the whole year. Thank y'all for showing up. doing
[1:40:23] Speaker 1: what we got to do. But this has been another
[1:40:26] Speaker 1: episode of Gil's Arena.
[1:40:27] Speaker 2: And by the way, you're pretty good at this.
[1:40:28] Speaker 3: I'm trying.
[1:40:29] Speaker 1: I'm trying to do my thing.
[1:40:30] Speaker 3: First time. First time hosting. Do not rock his boat, man. No. Shit.
[1:40:34] Speaker 3: He's going to think he deserves to sit there and shit.
[1:40:36] Speaker 3: You see, I'm getting comfortable.
[1:40:38] Speaker 2: You see, look.
[1:40:39] Speaker 3: Do not rock his boat. You see, I'm getting comfortable.
[1:40:41] Speaker 3: My guy got his feet up and shit. We're talking
[1:40:44] Speaker 3: about some next episode or something.
[1:40:46] Speaker 1: 360.
[1:40:47] Speaker 3: No, nigga. This ain't the Twilight.
[1:40:50] Speaker 1: Zone, nigga. Nah, man, but this has been another episode
[1:40:52] Speaker 1: of Gills Arena presented by Underdog.
[1:40:54] Speaker 3: We will see you guys soon. We out.

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