Brian Windhorst reads into Giannis’ ‘WE’LL SEE’ + Suns are ‘DIRECTIONLESS?!’ | First Take

Brian Windhorst reads into Giannis’ ‘WE’LL SEE’ + Suns are ‘DIRECTIONLESS?!’ | First Take

Thunder Champion and League MVP Shay Gilders Alexander has signed his Supermax extension. And now the Thunder are giving Chad Homegrren a fully guaranteed 5-year rookie max extension that could reach $250 million. Meanwhile, former number one pick Paulo Beno agreed to a 5-year rookie max extension with the Magic that could reach 287 million after having a career year last season where he averaged nearly 26 points per game. And just last night, you might have been sleeping, but Sun superstar Devin Booker agreed to a 2-year 145 million max extension goes all the way through to the 2029 2030 season. Booker’s average annual value of 72.5 million is now the richest in NBA history, surpassing SGAA’s latest deal. Wendy, I’m starting here with you on Devin Booker. A big one for the Phoenix Star. What was your initial reaction to that deal? Well, let me just say a couple of things on this one, Courtney. I know people are going to react to that enormous number and that fact that you just said that is the largest per season contract in NBA history. I just want to point out that this contract is for three years from now, for for years four and five of the deal. And by 29 and 2030, $70 million is going to be the going rate for a max level player in the NBA. And by actual percentage of the salary cap, he’s actually will be making less potentially by percentage in five years than he’s making this year with the Suns. I just that’s trying to give you some context. Mhm. But the Suns decided to do this deal months ago when they entered the off season. They knew they wanted to make sure their franchise player was locked up, especially as they were preparing to trade Kevin Durant. Booker decided he was going to take it at that time. Um, and I know this because he’s been involved with the major decision making in the franchise in the offseason. He was part of the interview process with Jordan Aut who won a long um you know multicandidate search to get that head coaching job. When they traded Kevin Durant they consulted with Booker before taking the deal that they did with the Rockets. Booker has been in lock step with the franchise. Now, if you want to say to me, should Devin Booker in his prime be locking himself up for the next five years with a franchise that is hamstrung by some flawed trade that’s made over the last couple of years, particularly Durant and Bradley Beal. That’s a different concept. But I would say to you, as I would say to anybody, if somebody offers you $145 million, the answer is probably yes. And that is the big reason why Booker took it. in addition to him being a huge Kobe Bryant fan and wanting to do what Kobe did, which is to play his whole Cub care career with one team. David, what’s your reaction? Yeah, let’s start with the positive here. Uh yeah, let’s start with the positive here with Devin Booker. Uh Devin Booker absolutely deserves this kind of money. He’s one of the best shooting guards in the league. He was the best player on a team that went to an NBA Finals a few years ago. This makes all the sense in the world from him from from a financial standpoint to $145 million. A lot of money. Now, let’s talk about the problem here. The Phoenix Suns are doomed to purgatory and one of the more rudderless franchises that we have in all of the NBA. And I don’t think there’s a franchise I would want to be less for the next few years than this Phoenix Suns team. A few years ago, they had what was the blueprint for the type of team that gets to championships and gets deep into playoff runs. They had a player in Devin Booker. They had a young core around them. They had a team that everybody is trying to emulate right now. They blew that up to bring in older players, to bring in the Kevin Durant of the world, to bring in uh Beal and those type of guys. And now they have a franchise where they do not really have picks for a a long time, for many years control their own picks. And they have, you know, middling players around Devin Booker. Let’s be honest, no disrespect to those players. Their hope is that one of these draft picks they have this year can turn into somebody. But Devin Booker is really looking at a situation that is pretty closely to one of his teammates, which is Bradley Bill, when he was in the Washington Wizards, where you are a shining star around a franchise that really has no way to put any big talent around you or make any sort of run deep into the playoffs and you cannot build through the draft. This is something that I would not want to be in all things considered, taking away the money. But when the money’s cons concerned, yes, you have to take it. But he is has to understand that he is going to be part of a franchise that’s going nowhere for most of the time he’s on that contract. That’s a that’s a hard pill to swallow if you think of the fact that he’s 28 years old right now. I’m not even thinking about 5 years down the line when he’s 34. And Wendy obviously had three years remaining on his current contract before they did this extension. But he’s the face of Phoenix sports, guys. Like this is something that was in the works for a while and they had to do it. But I’m thinking of what David just said, Wendy, like the most directionless franchise in the West, in the NBA. How do you react to that? Well, it’s possible, Courtney, that the Suns are about to make another five-year deal. They have had discussions with Bradley Beal about buying him out of his contract. And I mean, we just saw this with Dame Lillard in Milwaukee. If this happens, and it’s still an if, and they wave and stretch him, which is something I think they’re seriously considering, Bradley Beal would be on the books for five more years. That means that while Devin Booker is making $70 million in 2028, 29, and 2930, Bradley Beal would be making 22 or so million dollars in that same year. And the idea of having Bradley Beal having to be a anchor on your cap for that long is hard to swallow. And what the reason that they’re going to do it or the reason they’re seriously thinking about doing it is because it’s going to potentially save them over $150 million this year in luxury tax this year alone. It is not a move that like Milwaukee did um where they’re trying to bring in a player to help him immediately, help Giannis Tennako immediately. At least that you can go to your franchise star and say we’re doing this. It’s going to hurt us in the future, but we want to get you a center. If if this happens, and I I want to underscore if if they buy out Bradley Beal, it would be to save luxury tax money. And by the way, it $150 million that’s a reason to do it. But that’s the situation that Devon Booker is resigning with. And I think everybody’s eyes are wide open. Kind of like the new bend and snap maybe. Anybody get the uh Legally Blonde reference there? Am I the only one? Okay. All right. So, you mentioned Giannis Anticmpo. Let’s pick up there from stars with some long-term staying power to one that we are closely watching to see what his future holds in Milwaukee. When Giannis’ season ended in the first round of the playoffs, our Shams Trannia reported that for the first time ever, the Greek Freak was open to playing for another team. So far, crickets on that front, but Giannis was on a stream with I shove speed this morning and was asked whether he’s staying put. LA the tax is bad. New York tax is bad. Yeah. Hell no. A lot of people tried to convince me tried to convince me to go and play there and stuff. Oh no. So you staying in Milwaukee? Uh pro probably. We’ll see. That’s the hard-hitting journalism we want there. A direct question towards Giannis Wendy. Obviously some heming and hawing. He probably doesn’t want to like lay it all out there when his mind isn’t made up. But are these comments something or nothing? Real talk. That was a great question and thank you for asking it. Also, Courtney Giannis is having a better day than me and you. He is seaside I think in Greece. So, let’s let’s let’s keep that in mind. Um, I I’m not going to sit here and overreact to this, but the fact that he just said we’ll see. We’ll see is the basis of why a bunch of teams are considering holding their assets to try to make a trade for Giannis sometime in the foreseeable future. We’ll see is enough in the NBA. That’s the value of a superstar player is so high and the impact that one franchise changing player can make is so great that a player simply saying we’ll see whether it’s on a stream or it’s behind the scenes at a party or to a to another player on a court we’ll see has gotten teams to tear up future plans and to plan years in advance and to hoard cap space and picks. I’ve seen it happen. So, while on one hand it’s not Giannis saying he wants to do anything but be in Milwaukee, it is it does explain why teams are keeping a very close eye on this situation. And I would say that Giannis provided no clarity on his future with those remarks and no clarity is what’s been driving the speculation around Giannis. I don’t know about you guys. I’m having a great day here in New York City. I don’t really have the uh seaside element, but it’s still obviously a good day to be here. David, like does this what do you think Milwaukee’s front office when they hear what Giannis just said, which as Wendy pointed out, it’s kind of a whole lot of nothing. How do they approach that? Well, well, first of all, I think it was really cool to watch a stream and see the great greatest athlete of our generation hanging out with Jiannis and Koopo. That was really cool uh see to see those two guys together. But if I’m Milwaukee, uh Wendy is talking about the we’ll see of it. If I’m Milwaukee, I am clinging on to the probably so. I am clinging on to this notion that Giannis is coming back because that’s all I have. I have basically thrown my franchise into flux with the possibility or the promise that Giannis should be coming back. I have put Dame Lillard’s money $100 million on the books for multiple years with the hope that Giannis is coming back. I put got Miles Turner on the team with the belief that Giannis is coming back. I have been of the belief that is absolutely madness that this has not been done in conjunction with Giannis that he has not been part of the conversation all along and the fact that there is any sort of question mark about this after they’ve done all of this I would be in complete panic mode of the fact that Giannis is still not coming out and saying absolutely I’m coming back on Milwaukee absolutely I wanted Miles Turner absolutely they’ve done all the things right for me this offseason I would be uh really worried about that if I’m Milwaukee but the thing you have to hold on to is the probably so because that is the most affirmation that Giannis has given you since the season ended and you have to hope that that means he’s coming back. Wendy, I’m giving you the final word here. Obviously, obviously you see all of those moves and Miles Turner at the at the front line for the Bucks off season, but how do you think Giannis like is taking all this in, not being a part of it, but clearly seeing what they’re doing from Greece? Well, he’s as as much of a part of as he wants to be. He is, you know, the centerpiece of the franchise. But I will have to give David I have to agree with him on this. When you make a $200 million move, which that’s what that was, waving the last 113 of of Dame Lillard’s contract and taking on 107 million of Miles Turner, it equals two equals 200 million. Will you make a $200 million move and encumber your books for the next five years? Four with Turner, five with uh with Dame, you’d like to hear more than probably. So, so I would say again, I don’t want to overreact and I know that we’re in mid July here, but $200 million hopefully buys more than probably and it doesn’t appear to have done that. Yeah, probably they’re hoping will turn into a maybe and then a absolute definitely yes. Giannis stays in Milwaukee. But for now, that’s all we’ve gotten from the Greek Freak. The silence has effectively been broken, but not by much. A team that has yet to return to the final since they won it all in 2023. So, let’s dive into the financials for Jokic. Why he would do this? This superstar is eligible to sign a three-year, $200 million extension this off season. But if he waits till 2026, next off seasonason, Joic is able to add that fourth year, an additional 77 million, according to our front office insider, Bobby Mark. So, eyebrows are always raised when a star player isn’t clamoring to extend his contract at the first opportunity to do so. But financially, another 77 million, uh, I would probably take that same path. Wendy, should Nuggets fans be concerned about Yokic not signing now? They should not be concerned, but they should take notice. And so Joic is the rarest thing in pro basketball. He is a megastar who is no stress. They have never for one day had to ever stress about his contract. He doesn’t apply pressure to the organization. He doesn’t say things on social media. He doesn’t say things on streams seaside about the only thing that he does is go to horse races and dance um while drinking wine in the offseason. He is a absolute no stress superstar. He and the last time around he signed the contract. It was a super max at the time. No worries whatsoever. Has delivered championships, has stayed healthy, you know, says nothing in the media or anything that causes problems. So this is the first time really in his career he’s ever said no. Now, Josh Kroni, who is their governor, a couple of weeks ago had a press conference and he said, “We’re going to offer it to Giannis and he’s probably going to turn it down because he knows about the 77 million that you just broke down. But it is something to take notice of.” So, it’s something to take notice of in 2025. If he says no again in 2026, we’re going to have a five alarm fire. And so what we are what we are seeing right now is we are seeing some teams in the league start to make decisions with an eye towards 2027. We’re seeing teams like the Clippers and the Lakers potentially trying to save up cap space and 2027 is when Joic can be a free agent and when Giannis can be a free agent. Now maybe both of them extend and this is not a topic but the wool see and the eyebrow raise part of it that causes action in the NBA and that’s what we’re seeing. 77 million could buy you a lot of horses if you’re uh Jokic here. But David, the Nuggets have done a lot this off season. They go and get Cam Johnson. They trade Michael Porter Jr. They get Valenunis. Like how do you think what they’re doing right now will entice him to want to stay there? Well, I mean, I think they’re making moves sort of in the right direction. I like what they did this off season, uh, bringing back Brown and Hardway and then making the move with Cam Johnson. I I like those moves and I think this team will be a little bit better. But I think what we’re seeing in the big picture with Yiannis, with Jokic is these players that we consider uh, no frrills players that kind of go along with the organization and trust in their front office to build teams around them better. These guys have each won a championship and what we’re seeing is that they understand that the route to get to that second title includes a little bit of pressure on that front office. Yes, it makes financial sense for Jokic to get that extra $77 million and to wait, but there is a benefit. There is an incentive there to let these people know, let the front office know that, hey, I’m not just going to go along anymore and just trust what you are doing with this team. I want to put pressure on you. I’ve watched people like LeBron James, like Kevin Durant, like those guys move and do things to make organizations build better around them and put pressure on them and is, you know, garnered success for them. Maybe we should get on the boat and do a little bit of that. And I think Jokic in the back of his mind and above that $77 million is a desire to put pressure on that Nuggets team and let them know that it is not taken for granted that I am resigning with you guys. I want to see actual improvement with this team, with this roster. I want championship level players around me and that is uh you know a reason to do this as much as that benefit of the $77 million. So I guess for now we can put a pause on all of those jersey edits that I’ve seen flying around Twitter the last couple of days. You’re right because they said with their actions when they fired Michael Malone, they fired their GM Calvin Booth that they were going to be building everything around Yo Joic going forward. Proof is in the pudding though. OKC isn’t going anywhere. The Houston Rockets got a lot better this offseason. So did the Denver Nuggets. But to see what this team becomes now that they have a better roster around their superstar, proofs in the pudding. And we’ll see what that pudding looks like in 2026. All right, let’s stay in the West. The Lakers earlier this week introducing their biggest offseason acquisition as DeAndre Aton spoke to the media in LA earlier this week. The former number one overall pick hopes to fill a major need for the purple and gold at that center position, which has him eager to team up with Luca and LeBron. They all they both averaged about nine assists over their career span and you know just the type of players they create with their teammates, you know, um you know, uh they they turn them into superstars and you know, they make them bigger than their roles and make them very important on the floor as well. And you know just seeing that and you know finally getting the chance to go in and experience that would be big for me and you know just get me back to my full form how I used to play and you know just coming up and just being a part of the finals is um it’s those playmakers that I’m used to being around having around me that’s leading to win. Okay so we know the center position was obviously a huge need. The Lakers tried to fulfill it at the trade deadline that fell through. They do it with DeAndre Aiden. They also resign Jackson Hayes. David, when you take a look at the expectations in Los Angeles based on what they did in free agency, what is a fair and realistic place for them to be in 2025? Honestly, the fair place is for them to be kind of where they were last year. I don’t see this team leapfrogging uh back to where they were in terms of the standings, being in the top four, having home court advantage in the first round, but I do see them having a similar first round exit this year than they had last year. There are just so many teams in the West I think are just quite frankly better than them. OKC, Houston, Denver, Minnesota, that’s four already. I think the Clippers are better than them. I think they still have holes defensively. I think they still uh could use another big behind eight and I’m not sure if Hayes is is necessarily that guy. Um the only thing to me that would change the ceiling and how we look at this team is if Luka Don comes out and is top three player in the league, top five player, MVP like Luca Donic, all world type player and we see the same guy that carried the Dallas Mavericks to the finals. If we get that guy that raises the level of of the ceiling for this Lakers team. Yeah. So for the first time in 23 years, a team that has LeBron James on it, the main focus of the team is not LeBron. When he was a rookie, he was the main focus. 10th year, 17th year, 22nd year, he was the focus. That’s not the case. And so for the Lakers to rise above where they were last year, you’re not expecting it to come from LeBron. LeBron was a second team allNBA player as a 40-year-old. He’s what are you? That’s not going to increase. What you’re looking for is Luca. The team is building around Luca. It’s major offseason focus is not Aiden. It’s not LeBron. It’s not Jake Larabia. It’s getting Luca into a contract. And the focus for the 2526 season is Luca. If he can be great, that’s how they elevate. Now, we’re going to get a a sneak peek of this because coming up in August, Luca is playing for the Slovenian national team in the European Championships. This is regarded as the most intense basketball tournament in the world. He won it um like six or so years ago. It’s the greatest accomplishment of his basketball career is leading Little Slovenia to the Euro Basket Championship. We’re gonna get an idea of where Luca is physically and where he is mentally. We’re going to be able to watch him in August and September and we’re going to have a better idea then of what the Lakers are going to be. I know what LeBron James is going to be. He’s going to report in shape, ready to play, ready to produce. He’s probably going to average 257 and seven because that’s who he is. But that is not enough to elevate the Lakers for more than what they were. Luca winning an MVP, which is something that we have really thought was going to happen for the last couple of years, but hasn’t. That takes the Lakers to the next level. And we know JJ Reic will be watching that closely. The comments about everybody showing up in shape felt kind of pointed towards one player in particular. I I want to stay in the state of California here. The Warriors haven’t done anything. Only team right now in the NBA to not make a singular move in free agency. We’re in this weird holding pattern. Are they going to trade Jonathan Kaminga? Will it be a signin trade? Whatever it is, Wendy, what do you make of the Warriors lack of moves so far? I make nothing of it. First of all, the Warriors made one of the biggest trades of last season when they acquired Jimmy Butler for really a quality uh terms of assets out bringing him in. I know it was overshadowed that week by Luca getting traded. But Jimmy Butler when that team was healthy before Steph got hurt was very potent down the stretch of the season. So, let’s not forget that they have Jimmy Butler. Secondly, I expect them to make a couple of signings in the near future. I think they are very strongly in position to potentially sign Al Horford. They’re also in potentially a strong candidate to sign DeAnthony Melton who would be uh you know adding depth to their wing and they have the number one uh free agent really left on the market in UN in restricted free agent Jonathan Kuminga. They’re going to do something with him. They are either going to ressign him or they’re going to sign and trade him for something. So the Warriors are going to be doing things between now and when the season starts. Kaminga situation may not resolve itself for a while, but they’re going to benefit from that. Either getting assets back for him or keeping him. Do not stress about the Warriors. They are a very strong team. They are in excellent position. They are certainly not the favorites to win anything, but they are going to be a potent team. Complaining that they haven’t actually done anything yet is frankly shallow thinking. All right, we’ll leave it here with

On First Take, Brian Windhorst and David Dennis Jr. join Courtney Cronin to discuss Devin Booker signing an extension with the Phoenix Suns, Giannis’ future with the Milwaukee Bucks and more.

0:00 Thoughts on Devin Booker signing an extension with the Suns
7:12 Giannis’ future with the Bucks
12:43 Update on Jokic’s potential deal with the Nuggets
18:00 Expectations for the Lakers next season

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