Unfinished NBA Offseason Business for Every Eastern Conference Team

Unfinished NBA Offseason Business for Every Eastern Conference Team

What is up fellow sickos? I am Dan Valley coming at you with the one, the only Mortensen of the NBA podcast fame, of Yahoo Sports fame, of Forbes’s fame, and of only fans celebrity. I wanted to say Only Fans sooner, but I like to close with that. So that’s why I got tripped up at the beginning. We’re coming at you early to start your weekend so that we can do the Eastern Conference portion of unfinished business potentially for every NBA team. In some situations, we’re just sort of asking questions. Um, this conference relative to the West, once you move past the restricted free agency trio of Quentyn Grimes, Josh Giddy, Cam Thomas, there’s not like a whole lot more that needs to get done. So, we’re going to find stuff to talk about because that’s what we do. But, first and foremost, Mort, how the heck are you? Well, I’m I’m doing very well. It’s funny you you mentioned tripping because like when I do my Only Fans content, I also trip. You know, that’s that happens. You just do acid on your Only Vans. Is that what dude? Yeah. And And you know what? I just I closed the chat off so it’s only me in there. That’s that’s the most fun part. Um any thoughts, notes on this exercise before we dive in? And we’re going to try to not do we did like two hours and 10 minutes last. We went way too long. So like my one note here is let’s just try to keep it to four or five minutes per team as we originally discussed and agreed upon. Yeah. I mean, if we get out of here in 75, that’s a that’s a big accomplishment for us. If you have questions in the chat, we do love Go ahead. Yeah, I might actually open up the Only Fans account if we get out of here in 75 minutes. Well, we did have when I posted about this on our like YouTube post, community section, whatever it is. Someone said the views would be higher if you would wear a tank top. And clearly, you didn’t see that comment because you’re just in a regular t-shirt. So, I have one somewhere. All right, let’s get started. We’re going to go in alphabetical order because we like to live dangerously and anyone who’s watched us before understands that that’s always a little bit risky. We begin with the Atlanta Hawks. This one’s actually interesting. This might be actually the most interesting topic of the entire thing. Uh the Trey Young extension, depending on where you think the cap is going to come in at next year. I just have it at 7%. Uh because I’m an alarmist as we established last time when we did the Western Conference, he can sign for like four years, 220 something million around there. It does seem universal among people that he’s not going to get that which I just find fascinating for someone who’s a allNBA caliber player. Where do you land on this Mort? Well, so I’ve just written about this over at Yahoo here today. I don’t know if it’s published yet, but basically the Male Bridges extension that checked in at 150 million, I think 37.5 million per year. I think that’s a big indicator of where the market is right now. like NBA teams are fully aware that they just can’t hand out, you know, 25 or 30% maxes to, you know, fringe all stars anymore because those aprons are legitimately restrictive. Um, they are a problem. So now they’re really trying to communicate with their players to let them know, look, you’ll get paid, you just won’t receive as big of a cap percentage as usual. Now, obviously, this doesn’t uh include guys like Luca Don, Nicole Joic, those guys. I mean, obviously, there are still the superstars. You think Nicole Joic is a max player? That’s it’s surprise. I know it’s it’s Yeah, right. I Or the dude cares more about horses than he does about winning NBA games. Sorry. I actually do think that’s true, but that doesn’t matter. I don’t care. Right. I don’t care about that. Like, as long you can care about two things at the same time, man. No, you can’t. No, you can’t. That’s right. That’s right. NBA players, they only have it’s like those comments. I don’t know if they’re still I don’t know if they’re still frequent, but people like, “Why aren’t you in the gym? Why are you posting about your 5-year-old birthday or some shit?” Yeah. Yeah. Like, “Oh, yeah. You the guy is in the gym 24 literally 24/7. He’s not supposed to sleep. What the hell?” I prefer my celebrities to be more relatable. And so, the fact that like Kevin Durant is like terminally online, I almost appreciate it. I don’t agree with most of what he says, but I I just appreciate it. Absolutely. and and like but but getting back to answering your question, Dan, sorry we got two and a half hours to fill, remember? No, but I think we’re seeing a a major differentiation between the superstars and the stars. And to me, the the the Trey Young discussions doesn’t start with Trey Young. It starts in a couple day with De’Aran Fox. That’s when we really begin to see like what is the effect here. And may it might have already have started with Bridges. Like I don’t think, and this was kind of the point I made in the in the Yahoo piece as well, which is like I think the Spurs, for example, have to look at that contract, the British contract, and go, “Okay, so where do we actually rank Fox in all of this?” Because he’s clearly not the most important player on the team. He’s clearly not like a tier one superstar. Like, he’s in that middle area where he’s an all-star, but he’s not a superstar. like, can we even justify a 30% uh cap hit on him? I don’t think necessarily they’re going in and deciding already and saying no. But they’re not going in immediately going, “Yeah, automatically either.” Like, that’s a conversation. I’m fairly sure that’s a conversation they’re having internally and have had for a while. If he agrees to something along the lines of 20 22% instead of the 30%, I think that’s going to reflect something in Trey Young’s extension talks as well. Um, I I’m basically I’d be very surprised if teams are just handing out fullright max level contracts to guys who aren’t like the top tier elite. I would agree with you. The reason I think I view Trey Young’s extension as more of an inflection point than Dearon Fox’s is because the Spurs have another cornerstone there who’s clearly more important. And in Atlanta, I mean, if you think that it could be Jaylen Johnson or if you think that it’s Zachary Reese, I would say that’s arguable at best. I think Trey Young is clearly the guidepost for what this team is going to do. So, we’re extending on a curve. No, I’m not saying we’re extending on a curve, but he has Wouldn’t you argue Trey Young is more important to Atlanta than Dear Fox is to San Antonio? Yeah, absolutely. And like you said, because of of Wimpy, but like again, if you give Trey Young the max, could we be looking at another Sack Leavine situation where we’re like, “Oh, look, he he’s earning too much, but like he was clearly the best player on the team.” I’m not saying he’s a no-brainer, Max. I was just making the point that I think what he gets in his extension is going to be more telltale than what De’Aran Fox does because in theory, Trey Young should have more leverage because he is more important to his team. Okay, that way. Yeah, I can see that. Yeah. Um, and I I but I agree with your other point is that the benchmark for these max deals, especially after the 25% maxes. I do think it’s going to go higher. Um, I tend to be a little bit higher on Trey as a player than than most others, but I at this point, if he gets max money on a per year basis, I would be shocked if it’s because he signed a full four-year deal. I would automatically think it’s like two years plus a team option or something. And I’m just curious, you know, we I thought Jiren Jackson Jr. There might be a little bit of this, but is this something that he might just kick the can on and not sign an extension and then go into free agency or he has that player option he could extend off that if he wants? There are more teams with cap space, but he’s in next summer. But he’s in a weird situation where it’s Let’s use Male Bridges as an example. If Male Bridges hit the open market next year, I think he would have more suitors than Trey Young just because he fits more places. It’s sort of the James Harden problem where he’s he’s very good, but you have to tailor so much around him that fewer teams are going to be in on him. And like Muel Bridges is maybe someone he’s so plugandplay. What a team like the Jazz, let’s for instance, that’s just earlier on in the rebuild. Take a look at him. I honestly don’t know how it’s going to end, but I think I think that he’s going to end up becoming this financial touchstone for how a lot of these extensions and free agency deals go moving forward. Um, and I’m just I don’t What do you have any prediction or thoughts on what you think is going to like do you think he won signs one? What would you guess about the price point? I’m guessing he’s going to get the full ride. And I think there are Well, because there are hints, Dan. There are hints. So, the Jaylen Johnson contract for for example, that’s a flat rate of an even 30 million. Um, I think they also had on Yako Kongo back on a very team friendly deal. They obviously have some rookie contracts in form of Sakuri Rishi and um by the way I have to say it right. I have I I don’t want to become the Americanized in in the names of the French players. And then you have K. Sir, you’re talking to a patriot. I know. I’m sorry. Thanks for your service. I guess um with with Pinkinis, he’s an unrestricted free agent. Like it it seems like, you know, quote unquote they can afford to go that route. It seems like they’re bracing themselves for that, you know, impact of him signing the max deal or at least very near max deal. I don’t think we’re going to look at that next Trey Young uh contract and go, “Oh, 18% of the cap.” Like, no way. That’s that’s that’s not going to be uh a realistic expectation. Now, would I prefer Trey at the fund max level, you know, the 25? Yeah, that’d be fun. That’d be good. That’d be great. Are we sure that he’d accept that? Because I’m not. If I was him, I would be pushing for So, it’s four years and 222.4 and it could be a little bit higher than that, but I’d be p I’d absolutely be pushing for the full thing. I I don’t think he’s going to get it. If I was the Hawks, I might actually give it to him, but I think you’re like the first person I’ve seen predict that he’s going to get the full ride. That’s what makes it so fascinating. Look, again, that’s just trying to read the tea leaves. And look, reading the tea leaves, you can be wrong. Like the Sea Leaves can [ __ ] you up, Dan. Yeah, because I almost looked at it reverse where it’s like, okay, they might be set up to accommodate a higher salary now, but I looked at it as saying, would they frontload it to where maybe he’s making more than his player option or his player option, and then you’re declining. So, it’s like, oh, he got, let’s say, four, what is it? So, we had four and 222. Let’s say they give him four and 200, but it starts at his max and then it goes down from there or something. That’s that’s that would be that’d be because now you’re talking about okay Reese will eventually get more expensive as you mentioned if you want to keep Porzingis you do have to worry about okay next year maybe it’s easier to fit in the structure but if it’s if it’s more than one year um Aneka Kongu is not going to be super cheap forever you have to start thinking about um well I mean Asa Newwell just came in the league so it’s they are set up to where I guess they could but I realize Okongu has three years left on his deal right oh he’s only one year into his extension okay yeah he’s got three more years. But I guess between the Porzinga stuff and then all of a sudden this time next like we’re going to be at Zachary Reese’s extension eligibility in two years from now. I’m just curious if they’re going to be worried about if you give him the full max. You’re talking about Trey Young on an upswinging number then things start to get difficult. So I think he will sign if he signs for more than like two years like I think it’ll be a front-loaded deal for less than the max. I think that’s I like that one better than than my prediction because I think that is just the smart play especially with the cap projection coming in at 7% instead of the 10% if you can frontload the everlasting crap out of that one. So it just lowers your cap hit moving forward. Yeah, that’s smart. I like that solution. And the final thing I’ll just say is where he does lose leverage is why there are while there are more teams with cap space next summer. Like I don’t think like the Lakers or the Clippers probably aren’t going to be a Trey Young team. I wouldn’t think Detroit if they opt for cap space because for some reason they’re not going to keep Jaden Ivy or Jaylen Durn or maybe both whatever or both are super cheap. That’s not a Trey Young team. Utah would really want to have to fasttrack something and be out on Isaiah Collier and so that’s where he might lose leverage. I I guess I don’t know if the Clippers were getting rid of Harden because the Lakers have Luca. They’re not going after Trey Young. I guess the Clippers could maybe talk themselves into it, but I just don’t I don’t have the clear-cut Trey Young team. I don’t either. And we’re 12 minutes in. That’s We had a 4-minute intro. That’s pretty good for us. And some of these are going to be quicker because like this one, Mort, the Boston Celtics, uh, let’s talk about the big man rotation. I know they’re not trying to be Sorry, which big man rotation? What? Yeah, exactly. Their best big man is George Nang. That’s inarguable. I want to ask you a question. Who is Boston’s second best big man? Oh god. Yeah, that’s a good Luca Garza, Nameas Kada, Xavier Tilman. Does Hugo Gonzalez count as a big Tman? I like Tilman. I like Tilman a lot. I actually do. I think he’s been under underutilized for a while. But like I I’m also beginning to reach that point where like the stock that I had in him is starting to vein a little bit because it it can’t it can’t just be me sitting on that island and everyone else is like out on him. So like I think I think I’m in the wrong there. But I would go to Tilman just personally. But god that’s a depressing question. That’s a really depressing question. And by the way, there’s because they’re still looking to cut money. Like there’s no guarantee that George N just stays on this team because he is an expiring contract. I would think it’s Kada, but I think the point stands that okay, what what are we doing here? I know they’re not trying to contend for a title, but they’re not going to so are we expecting them to just so egregiously tank that they’re okay with this? You are. So, I mean, have you So, how much do you know about the 2026 draft? Uh, very little. You know, I only do a crash course, right? All right. But you know, there are three guys at the top who are like potential franchise players, right? I think is this talking about maybe uh Ben Simmons signing with the Celtics? So, I mean, look, that’d be smart. That’d be a tank commander. Like, I I’m not seriously I know that everyone is like, “Oh, the Celtics won’t tank.” I get that. I’m not ruling out that scenario whatsoever. I So, what do you do with Derek White and Jaylen Brown in that? I know you don’t are you shutting them down putting them on a maintenance program? No, I mean look again you you’re basically telling Jaylen Brown to like oh okay you want to channel your inner superstar because you’ve been talking about like how you are a a top NBA player for for years now. Go prove it. And look, he’s not. So I I wouldn’t be worried. He’s going to shoot you out of a lot of games. That’s full. First of all, I think that’s a really I think you might be a little low on Jaylen Brown. But my bigger point I am low on Jaylen Brown. Yeah. But my thing is if Boston wants to go the tanking route, the actual thing to do would be no Jaylen Brown don’t play because he’s played a lot of basketball the past few years and he’s dealt with some of this injury weird lower body. Like he has an Achilles issue this year. So if that’s I just didn’t expect him to go. You can shut him down. You can shut him down. It’s fine. I I I don’t think he moves the needle all that much. And I think with with Derek White I I love Derek White, but I don’t think he is what’s the what’s the wording here? a featured player. Like I don’t think he’s a guy who can give the ball and just basically say, “Hey, your usage rate has to go up like 15 percentage points and he’ll maintain his level of efficiency.” I I don’t think that is the case. I think we were all so enamored by the Celtics won the title and rightfully so because like that that was the perfect totem pole hierarchy. That hierarchy is completely broken now. So, I’m basically just sitting back with my popcorn going, “Oh, yeah. You guys want Darren Peterson next year? Uh-huh. That’s great. Let’s go for him.” Because I I would not be shocked whatsoever this team is thinking about trying to get one of those guys in there. I I think I’d be fairly surprised if it was a mid-season decision. Sure. But then you’ve you’ve lost valuable tanking ground. I just to lead us back to the actual topic here though. So, I guess you don’t expect them to do anything. Like, the big man rotation is I don’t want them to do anything because I actually think tanking would be the right course of of action here. Like, if you’re Look, here’s the thing. If you’re going to tank, you should trade Derek White then, just because I don’t care. That’s fine. Trade Derek White if you can. I’m down with that. That’s fine. I I But I think if you’re looking at this situation, you know that there’s no chance in hell to make a run in the playoffs in in 2026. Like, you can sit here and say, “Oh, a gap year. We’re taking a year off. No, take a year off with purpose. And the purpose is going to get try to get a guy who can be a future franchise player for your team. Absolutely. And look, it isn’t like the Celtics haven’t done it before. Not in that this particular vein, but back in the 80s and 90s, they made sure to always have replenished cupers. Like again, what was it? They had they drafted Len Bias second. I think was that by a trade they actually got that pick, but like that was during the Larry Bird years. So, this isn’t a team that’s afraid of having high draft picks while they’re also having like established players. Hell, just going back to the Kyrie uh situation when he was there, they were trying to develop Jaylen and and Jason while also trying to be comp be competitive with Kyrie and whatnot. I This is a team that’s shown that they can have one leg into each camp. Th this is different though because it’s easier to like they they reversed it. It’s easier to already be young and developing and say identify a star veteran versus doing it in like the inverse order. I also think I I think you’re underestimating how hard it is for them to tank. Like the big man rotation is bad, but look at the bad teams in like Utah is not trying to win. The Pelicans think they’re trying to win, but they’re not going to. Just to even be in the bottom six of the league is just they’re not Isn’t that almost an asset nowadays with how the lottery shakes out, Dan? But then I guess I you could look at who’s won the lottery the past three years, but then that’s not tanking though. That’s them going through a gap year, which you just disparaged. Well, you’re still trying to tank to your best to the best of your availability or to capability. Sorry. If they do that, it better be in service of resting Jaylen Brown rather than because I don’t think he’s like a I there’s no way Jaylen Brown’s a tank commander. Okay. I mean, look, that’s an awful whatever they need to do. I think it’s the right play because otherwise, what the hell are you trying to do? just win 40 games and sneakers yourself into like the the playin big whoop. What What do you gain from that? Noah Odic says in the East the Celtics could stand pat and still avoid the playin. That’s probably fair. Like Cleveland, the Knicks, the Pistons, the Magic, the Heat, the Hawks should all be there. And then you have the if the Sixers are healthy, the Raptors have a lot of talent. What are the Pacers going to do without Hallebert? and it seems like they’re trying to win. Um, like I think the Hornets are still probably going to be pretty bad because their center situation, we’ll get to them in a second. Then you have Washington. Brooklyn’s going to try to be bad. The Bulls are just I mean they’ll win what 34 games and call it 34 between 34 and 39 games and that’ll be it. Um, I just don’t man generational hater. Derek White is an elite role player, not a scalable star that can handle being the top scouting report. I mean, that’s probably true, but he’s also shot like 40% from three in his time with Boston while Jaylen Brown andor Jason Tatum’s off the floor. So, I just wouldn’t discount him still being good. Um, no, no, he’s good. He I I’m not sitting here and saying he’s a crappy NBA player when they’re not there. I’m saying you probably can’t rely on him over the course of a, you know, an 82 game schedule by by increasing his workload significantly. So, so I guess what I was saying about the big man rotation is that they then need to tie this together somehow because I think that their front line sends like a message that their perimeter core isn’t sending the same message. Does that make sense? They’re they’re just the big man rotation could scream we’re trying to tank next year, but there just between Simons and Brown and Derek White and Payton Pritchard and Sam Hower, there’s so much talent on the perimeter that if you’re going to keep that and you’re not looking to cut more salary this summer. I think they just need to go out and get a more competent big. I’m not saying go trade for Walker Kesler, but like go out there and like can you sign Chris Buché when you knew I was going to bring his name? Can you go get Jonathan Mo from the [ __ ] Raptors? They have nine trillion bigs right now. You want to develop somebody? So, I would like to see them do something like that was my point. But if you had to guess, do you think that they’re not like they’re they’re not going to do something like that? That’s what how you’re I see I I could guess on I could sit here and guess and say they want to have a a a center or a big man just to appease the fan base because again it’s also a big sell to a fan base where you won the championship you know what 13 14 months ago and then just say oh hey we’re we’re trying to be deep in the lottery next year. That that’s a that’s a big sell. What I want them to do is just don’t focus on winning a single game this year. Like it has to be all about like trades, player development. Although looking at that roster, who the hell is there really to develop? Um I mean Gonzalez is there. They could give him Baylor Shman and Jordan Walsh. I I guess I I’m over the Jordan the right. Yeah. But honestly, I just I I just think if you have to have the gap year, I think you have to do it with a purpose. That’s it. I would agree with you. Um I just think that the roster is sending mixed messages right now. And so I I think you either better turn around. This is a dating app. This is the NBA, man. Like Well, so it’s either there needs to be a big man transactions here or like you need to start like stripping there needs like Simons needs to be traded or Pritchard or Hower or just somebody to make you even on the perimemer. I mean, you just shhat on him for about another eight minutes. So, what is the like who’s going to give up value for Jay Jaylen Brown? I’m not saying that the rest of the NBA has as low an opinion of Jaylen Brown as I do. I think the Spurs, the Raptors would be good teams for him. Uh, who else would be a good J? Oh, the Raptors that the Raptors would be fun. Yeah. Yeah. Just add another wing. Don’t even send a wing back to Boston. Just don’t trade Barry Ingram as part of that trade. That would be if you were looking for a real like sort of Galaxy branding, you trade Jaylen Brown for Ingram and stuff like picks. I don’t know what else that deal looks like. Young players and then you’re saying, “Okay, Brandon Ingram we think can be at least what?” So he makes let’s say 70% 80% of what Jaylen Brown does. They’ll probably bet that he can be 70 to 80% of Jaylen Brown. But you’ve ensured that you’ll probably be worse this year because you can say, “Oh, Branding’s coming back from his injury. We want to slow play this.” That would be that would be interesting. Um, what other team could I see giving up that like would Atlanta think about it? I mean, they’ve been mentioned quite a lot whenever BR uh Jaylen Brown trade scenarios has popped up. So, I don’t hate that. The question is what do you give up? Uh, would you trade Research Shay for Jaylen Brown? It’ have to be Johnson or Resay is one of the pieces going out. Look, if I’m putting all my chips into like the Trey Young basket, I I will have to accelerate it a little bit because Risha is not going to be, you know, in his prime until Trey is like closing in on 30 pretty aggressively. So, and we know what happens to small guards when they hit that that age grouping. So, yeah, I I I’d probably be willing to accelerate the timeline. I guess they don’t have I was gonna say Minnesota if you built something around Goar and Dillingham or maybe if it would be Jade McDaniels and Dillingham and that but they don’t have picks to give. That’s tough. Uh I’d be curious if Jaylen Brown I don’t think he gets traded but if he is I’d be curious to know who what the winning bid looks like on that. So I think the Boston Celtics need to add a big man as the moral of the story and I’ll be monitoring that and if they don’t I would expect another trade to come that makes them worse. Uh the Nets. So there’s the I think we just blow through the Cam Thomas thing. What what what do you think happens with this Mort? What’s like what’s going on here? Uh I I think he gets resigned to a short deal and with the mindset or agreement that hey look, you’re going to get this deal. It’s going to be short. We’re going to try to trade you to a destination where you might be able to earn more money in a couple years depending on their order of I think yeah if he gets more than two guaranteed years like maybe they finally tack on a third year with a team option. I’ll be floored. I think that’s just what he’s going to end up doing. Do you think there’s any chance he’s the one of these, you know, core four restricted free agents that signs his qualifying offer? I would probably look at Kuminga as the most likely to do so, but I’m not ruling out this scenario because he seems to be the most frustrated of the bunch. Uh really, I feel like Kaminga seems to be the most frustrated years in the making. Well, Kaminga is like he’s passive aggressive. Cam seems outright upset sometimes. is like, “Oh, look at like he has to like the the feud feud like him trying to pick a fight with Sack Low, like, “Oh, I’m that guy. I’m that guy.” Like, he’s he seems to be very frustrated about this this situation. And I’m not blaming him. I mean, it’s fair to like not know what the hell is up. Like, it’s it’s August now and you don’t really know what is going on with your NBA team. Like, yeah, that makes sense. I’d be frustrated, too. I think he’ll end up getting no more than two guaranteed years. So, and also just with the with the number of like quote unquote could be ball handlers the Nets just drafted. Uh they’re clearly not thinking about Cam Thomas as a long-term part of the program. The other interesting thing about them though is do you expect them depending on the order of operations? It could be 22 28 million in cap space. It could be a lot more than that if they just let Cam Tam Thomas go. Do you think that they’ll use any more of that before the off seasonason is over? not necessarily to sign somebody, but as part of a trade, or do you think they’re saving it for more of a mid-season acquisition if just to maybe even try and roll it over into next summer even? So, let’s see. How close are they to the floor? Uh, what are we looking at here? Are they at the floor? Not quite. I thought they were there already after the I thought that’s I thought that was also part of their calculus with the uh Porter Junior trade. Maybe I’m wrong there. I’ll double check it. Okay, if they are so if they are at the floor, no, I don’t expect them to do anything major like yeah, look, if something materializes where they can get a guy where they can absorb his deal, you know, maybe a bad contract and they can take a pick for for doing that. Yeah, I think they’d be open to that like immediately. Hey, so they have they’re 9 million below the salary floor and that’s with um I was actually caking in a higher salary for Cam Thomas expecting them to get there, but I think they’ll need to use like another six million. If it’s two for 28 or two for 30, they would probably still have to spend like five or six million bucks somewhere. Okay. Well, I mean, there are enough talent left in the free agency market to get that done. So, yeah, I’m not worried about that. uh they they’ll find a way, but I they’re they’re definitely open to doing the scenario I just proposed before. Absolutely. If they can rent out that cap space, especially if it’s only for a year, like Yeah. Yeah. absolutely. But the question is, who out there are that desperate to get off a deal to to the point where they willing to relinquish a go a draft pick? I don’t know who that is. Right now, it doesn’t seem like there would be a lot of teams. Um, but mid-season if you’re not as good as you expect and you’re trying to get out of the tax or you’re a team that’s uh trying to complete a trade and like you have to navigate the aprons and you need someone to take on money, I would argue because the business most of the bulk of the offseason business seems like it’s already done. The cap space if they leased it out mid-season would net them more than if they were going around to teams right now. And I agree. So basically what we agree on the path here is they meet the salary floor because you have to do that before the start of the regular season. And then they just use whatever remaining cap space they have to go into the trade deadline and say, “Oh, you guys need to facilitate facilitate a trade and you you need money to do so.” Here we are. The So, unless our math is wrong because we I should have checked the salary floor stuff before we did this. But let’s do this question really quick. Is is Cam Thomas worth a first if he takes say 15 million um times two years? I could see a team like giving up an end of the like round first for him, but I I don’t know the team. Like I don’t look at I’m looking trying to think of contenders and like they just don’t have a first to give. But like he might make some kind of sense another two years 15 million. So what what are we No, no. It’s two for 30 I’m assuming is what this is. If he No, no, sorry. Yeah. No, no. I mean one Yeah, I meant 15 million a year over two years. Right. Okay. So, right. So, so let’s workshop this. So what when would that trade happen? At the trade deadline. Oh yeah. I mean it would have because his eligibility would be at January or whatever. So basically what you’re you’re paying a firstrounder to have him for a year and a half. You’re paying a firstrounder to have him for potentially two playoff years. I don’t hate that. Like I think Cam Thomas has has become a little underrated. I think we’re so quick always with the undersized scores to like put them into this bracket of, oh, you’re not affecting a game, you’re just there. And like, yeah, I I get that he’s not a perfect player. I absolutely get that. But for a guy who can come in and average 24, who can get to the free throw line, who can hit threes off the bounce, who can like make stuff happen scoring wise, I think we have in in a broad sense overcorrected and always go, “Oh, well, I want that 68 wing who can play defense, a great bunch, you know, I don’t care that he only scores four points per game.” And I think that’s that’s ridiculous. You also need guys who can come in and just get you points because that is so crucial to win games. So, I think I would give up at first if I’m a team that feels like a Cam Thomas injection can significantly improve my offense, especially heading into the playoffs. So, I have a guy who I can either start, who I can bring off the bench where I can say, “Look, I need you to just score. I don’t need you to facilitate. I don’t need you to rebound. I just need you to go get buggets. Yeah, I think that’s a first round uh worth. But again, there are degrees to it, of course. And look, there’s part of the calculus too could be you’re able to send the Nets more money as well while taking backhand Thomas. So that could be part of the value you’re getting that too. Um, the other thing though is do you think the Nets have like what would be the harm in what I was saying about the salary floor before is if you need let’s say you needed another like like what’s the harm in giving him a 2-year $40 million deal with the team option if that gets it done to get past the salary floor? Like wouldn’t they maybe consider some like shouldn’t they consider something like like that rather than like if they don’t even if they don’t have even that puts you past the salary floor I kind of who cares? that might make doing some business in the middle of the season easier. I I don’t mind like I you can go with either option really. Like if you if you find out that the those you guys are not meant to be or whatever, okay, you can take the money and you can use it in at the trade line and see if you can facilitate something and get assets in return or you can spend it on Cam Thomas. Those are really your two options. I don’t think there’s a wrong answer there. And the final note here is it does seem like just based off what they’re offering Cam Thomas that they also do want to have and then their draft pick situation, it’s headed to Houston in 27. It does seem like they still want to have maybe not $100 million in cap space or whatever, but it seems like they want to have like 30 or $40 million in cap space still in the tank for next summer. Sure. Who wouldn’t? Well, I’m Do you like is that something that they should prioritize is my point given where they’re at in their competitive life cycle is what I was asking. Well, I mean, look, trying to to get cap space nowadays, uh, some will view it as a fool’s errand because who is out there? But that’s not how you should gauge and view free agency. If you have money during the summer, it also makes you a trade candidate. It gives you so many options in terms of taking on bad money, help facilitate trades. Like the it just the flexibility of having money is not to be undersold. But eventually, we’re also going to have to be realistic because if we keep seeing seeing guys sign extensions and there are just like nobody on the market year after year after year, then teams are also pretty aware that, oh, there’s a team that’s going in to enter the season trying to facilitate instead of signing someone. We’re not going to give up anyone to just give them more draft picks. So, uh, look, there are a lot of ways to skin a cat. We’ll see what they try to do. I actually just don’t think it should be as big of a priority for them. I’m fine with them doing it, but it’s just not something I would split pairs over. You can do them anyway. You can do many different things. We move on to another big man rotation that to me is questionable. The Charlotte Hornets, the center rotation, is this the plan at center? Is it just We have Musa Diabate who I’m actually like to be fair intrigued by. Like he’s shown flashes while he’s been in Charlotte, but then it’s Mason Plumbley. Like what are like what are we doing? Do you want to play Tan Salon at the five sometime next year? I just if they’re a team that’s not trying to tank uh if you have a healthy lamela ball and you just also like have all these other guards. You acquired Colin Ston, you draft Liam McNeely, Khan Caniple. I mean those guys have size, but they’re like two threes at best. uh like don’t they they’re a team just when you look at maybe what Boston is trying to do to going through a gap here versus what Charlotte’s trying to do after after moving Mark Williams. It feels like they could use a flyer at the center position too. They have Ryan Kelp Brener and you didn’t even mention it. That’s just I did mention him in the article I wrote about their center position. That’s great. That doesn’t help us right now though. Yes, it does because I just mentioned it. So, you’re welcome. Um I’m not really worried about their center position. I’m more worried about their health. I’m more worried about getting Miles Bridges off the damn roster. I’m more worried about a plethora of other things. The center position is like what.7 or something like on on my to-do list there. Um, this team if we want to center on centers, you can go in a different directions there and just test things out. Like what are what are your internal expectations? I think is going to be my question here because yeah, you’re going to need someone at the five who can really play consistent minutes and give you consistent production if you’re trying to make the playoffs. Is that your aspiration? What are you trying to achieve this year? That’s what I want to know. Yeah, the internal evaluation of themselves that is that is a fair question. I just there’s also something to the effect of you I would think would want more of a consistent or bankable center to do work that’s going to open up things whether it’s screening for LaMelo or some of the other guards and like right now I point to Diabate just like their best option like Mason Plumbley isn’t going to do can still set screens but like teams aren’t worried about Mason Plumbley and so I think that’s where there’s value because it’s interesting you can overindex on not having enough I don’t want to say just veterans but like dependable talent talent because I’m really a big believer in impact players even if you don’t view them as long-term pieces or even if they’re not young they can streamline the development for everybody else and you know looking at a Canipple a McNeely like guys like KJ Simpson if they have any equity invest like depending on what they think about him or if you’re trying to boost up Colin Ston’s trade value I think getting a better big uh even if you as Chandler SV says in the chat feels like a soft tank show promise with some talented young guards and wings but still not win too many games I totally really think that’s fine. I think they need at least one higherend center. And I’m not saying a star, go trade a first round pick for a center or anything, but I think to help in service of that agenda, you need to get a better like top center option in here. But at least we know they won’t struggle at the center position when they play the Celtics. Yeah. Who is there? These are pretty clearly the two worst center positions in the league like rotation league right now. Yeah, I think so. Right. I’m struggling to come up with someone else. I don’t I mean like Indiana’s is questionable. Like I like Jay Huff, but then it’s James Wiseman and then it’s Isaiah. That’s pretty bad, too. Yeah. Yeah, that’s pretty bad, too. And it’s all in the East. Okay. Right. The the the Does that surprise you? No, not really. Well, I I’m just asking Well, no, they have Eves. I was about to name the Pelicans to where it’s like defensively if if you want Derek Queen to be a center even, what does Cavanoodi have left? But they have used me. So just have to throw them in there for Pelicans fans. You just have to twist. I mean like if the Hornets or the Celtics should just turn around and trade for DOP wreath already. The Blazers keep burying him. Like they get rid of but they add Jon. So um go get Dwap wreath but or Jaylen Smith from Chicago too. There are are guys on the benches around the league who can do something. Yeah. Uh Chandler says I also think they really believe in in Musa. Uh I’m a fan but I don’t know. I don’t see a starting center. like kind of a fringe starting center or something. I think that he’s he has shown a lot actually just wrote something about him. Um that’ll go live soon so I won’t spoil it. I I I like him. I just want someone other than like Mason Plumbley or K Brener or or let’s downsize. I’d echo with more hey let’s get rid of Miles Bridges. I mean you could take on maybe a more expensive center than teams want if they’re interested in Miles Bridges. So that would be a route they could go. My final question here based off the Hornets’s roster. What type of big would you rather see added? Is it more of a like a screen in rim runner lob threat or do you think that they could benefit from having more of a stretch five next to their ball handlers right now? Give them all the space that they need. Like if the Bulls and and Nicola Vousvich are finally on the out, which I That’s a good one. Yeah. I don’t know how do they get the the Bulls probably want Miles Bridges because they’re the Bulls, right? So like that’s I trade Miles Bridges for Nicole. like one of the least impactful scorers I think in NBA history. Just full stop. So, yep. Uh, we move on. Speaking of the Bulls, Mort, we move on to them. This one’s easy. What will Josh Giddy get? Yeah, that’s super easy. He wants 30. They want to pay him closer to 20. I think he should get like 15. Um, yeah. I mean, look, I I don’t know what he’s going to get, but if it’s between 20 and 30, I have questions. And but again, it’s not a surprise. Look, last season, or rather last summer, I said as much uh on the NBA podcast, I said, “This is what’s going to happen in 24-25. Josh Giddy will have these outrageous numbers, like the raw numbers. He’ll have the triple doubles. Everyone will get so infatuated with the raw stats that they will say, “Oh, he’s worth 25, 30 million.” Lo and behold, this is what happens. It’s like the efficiency numbers are bad. He’s not a great finisher. There are so many question marks around him. If he walks away with a long-term deal at more than 25, I think that’s very very optimistic on behalf of the Bulls. But I think my me personally, what I think would be a smart solution here is somewhat similar to the Cam Thomas situation, a two-year balloon deal perhaps. like okay you can get him give him 20 or whatever 25 million a year over you know uh not over two years per year over two years so 4550 million whatever um and then go from there like why not I I do have all the leverage I just man if he goes only two if he only gets two guaranteed years I’d probably set the minimum at three for him and I would argue that the fourth would be a player option even if it’s not guaranteed so for him it would be guaranteed I guess they do have the leverage to because who’s coming in like the Jazz have the huge trade exception and there’s the the Nets with C like they’re not giddy teams I wouldn’t think anyway. I mean guess Utah and it seems like the Bulls want the years as well, right? Like no wait a second actually I’m going to correct myself there because I do believe that case that Casey Johnson said about three or four weeks ago that they were also disagreeing on the years. I might be misremembering. If someone in the chat remembers that, please let me know. That seems to be ringing a bell. So, like if they disagree about the years as well, like I imagine Josh Giddy would want a lot of years plus the 30 million, right? Like that seems like the ask. Let’s set the over because I don’t I just don’t have anything to add. I’m with you where it’s I don’t think he’s worth $30 million a year. I don’t know what he’s worth. It’s probably it’s closer to 15 than 30, I would think. Yep. I’m going to set the overunder at $22.5 million a on average for the life of the contract. Are you going to take the over or the under on that? Uh on what I think or what he should? No, no, not what he should. On what you think ends up happening? I think over. I agree. Now I’m going to set the over under at guaranteed years at 2.5. So it has to be three or more. You take unfortunately thinking the over. Again, I don’t expect competence from the bulls whatsoever. Now if I set it at three and a half, so it would have to be four. Would you still take the over? Because I think I would. Yeah, I think I would too, unfortunately. Yeah. Look, again, it’s it’s a great way to, you know, get a guy in who gets nice stats and keep butts and seats for whatever reason while they, you know, roll ahead to 38 wins and a playin seed. Like, that’s Yeah. Stay the course. Bulls don’t ever change. You’re the most predictable thing ever in the history of sports. So, would you like to talk about the Billy Donovan extension next? Is that what you’re saying? We can move on. I think that’s He’s not a smart idea. I I honestly would this be a signal if you saw he got maybe maybe he still gets four years, but it’s like $20 million a year even if it’s just a two plus one. Would you take that as a signal as oh, the Bulls are not like completely out of their minds? I mean, yeah, that would definitely improve things. Like, I’m not one to sit here and just crap on the Bulls relentlessly for when they do good things. Like that’s not like again I’ve complimented them up the wazoo when it came to the uh new deals for for Kobe White and Iodumu then I’ve criticized them for not getting rid of those not getting rid that’s the wrong wording but not trading those guys when their value were at the higher highest that’s but like for them to negotiate those deals I thought that was very very smart the Jaylen Smith contract I thought was extremely well done like so they have some strengths in terms of roster construction but they They so rarely lean into it. And that’s and if that’s their only strength, contract negotiation, but they still are just so bad at making trades and they’re so bad at making draft picks and they’re so bad at every other asset and facet of team building. What the hell will you know that it all result in that? Oh, we can resign our guys at good cost. Great. Your guys suck. Whoa. Uh, do you think there might be something to They’re better at negotiating contracts in the back court than the front court. Just you look at you look at Patrick Williams. Yeah. Look, I mean, to your point, Trey Jones, they did a pretty good uh they they did good work on that one, too. So, yeah. Here’s this. The Lonzo contract was really good and then they proceeded to trade him for someone on a worse. He’s Isaac Cor is more of a guard, though, but you could count him as a three if you want to. So, there there might be something. I like him more as a three than a two personally, but like Yeah. There you go. Yeah, it’s Dan. It’s all pointless. Let’s move on. We go to the Cleveland Cavaliers. Will we get any veteran extensions, Mort? And the names to circle Dean Wade, DeAndre Hunter, Darius Garland, and Max Streus are all extension eligible. Do you think any of them will get an extension? So, here’s I have a take about the DeAndre Hunter thing. I loved his season. We saw genuine improvement uh this season. He stopped hesitating. He became I you know when you say trigger happy it sounds negative but not in in not with him because he was always one of those guys where when he was in Atlanta you you were kind of pissed off when he was like he would look at an open three he would think about it and he wouldn’t do it. We saw a different mindset for him this year. So like on a surface I would be like hey yeah definitely extend DeAndre Hunter but at the same time we’ve we only have one year of data with him with this improved play. So there’s a part of me that wants to be a little cautious here and just just be on the safe side like let let us see it one more year before we’re like investing 25 28 million uh a year into this guy or whatever the number might be. Um, I I just need to see more of it. I I’m not there where I feel 100% comfortable extending him off of the play from this year. That’s interesting because I think I might be just I would be a little bit worried when you’re looking at okay now MueL Bridges is one wing off the 26 free agency market. There’s not just like to get a plug-and-play wing who’s you said more comfortable taking his threes and he also Oh, he’s not That’s right. He has two years left on his deal. So, no, I’m with you. I thought he only had one. So, no, no, no, he’s got Yeah, he’s got one more. So, that’s totally I think that’s a fine stance to take then. Uh, it’s the same thing with Max Drew. He has two years left on his deal. The Dean Wade one is if you’re going to guarantee his salary. I don’t think they’ve guaranteed it yet. That’s maybe semi-interesting just if he’s willing to resign at kind of the same number to have him as either a future trade ship or just I mean like the stuff he could do defensively for them when he’s healthy is really important. Darius Garland’s interesting though because part of me is like, well, he has three years like in total left on his current deal, but there’s been some risky business there with the injuries. Would it make more sense to just sign him to the two-year extension so you’re not into him for as many years, or are you just kind of trying to roll this along and see where you’re at when he’s eligible for a three-year extension next summer? Will he take a discount? I don’t I don’t know. I mean, but my guess would be probably not. I mean, we just had this conversation about Trey Young. This is another instance where are you kind of are the Cavs hoping, oh, is he going to get a reality check from seeing what De’Arren Fox and Trey Young get and then next summer like they’ll be able to broker an extension that they think more reflects not maybe not well his market value, but just more okay, where are these non-top 15 players going to be like Darius Garland for much of last season was borderline all NBA. So, I think if you’re signing really good, I I h I have Garland over Trey and and Fox. Personally, I’d probably have Trey in front of Garland and Garland in front of Fox if we’re building out like if you’re saying the next five years or whatever. But, yeah, that’s a that’s a good point taken. So, no, I don’t think you would give them a discount on a two-year extension right now. Unless when dear like Dearon Fox signs a deal and it’s oh, like did Dearron Fox just sign for $30 million a year or some [ __ ] I need to lock this in now if the Cavs are going to give me more. But they’ve what’s been interesting about the Cavs is okay, Evan Mobley, Donovan Mitchell, like those extensions were no-brainers. But like Jared Allen, like they’ve seem to prioritize, oh, we want to have the if we’re going to get rid of players, like we’ll do it via trade. We don’t want to let them get to free agency, which is what a lot of other teams are doing, but they’re doing it with guys who maybe you wouldn’t necessarily think should be. uh like the Jared Allen stuff, him signing an extension after the way like he was thrown under the bus at one point was fascinating. So I I don’t think we’re going to get any veteran in extensions, especially because they’re so deep into if I had to Here’s a good question and I’ll answer it myself. Are they more likely to sign someone to an extension of the players we named or actually cut salary from their luxury tax bill for the rest of the offseason? And I would pick the latter pretty confidently. I’m not saying they’ll do either, but I think it’s more likely that they say, “Yeah, we just want to trim like we’re they’re $20 million past the second apron, right?” So, if they don’t want to pay for a roster that’s approaching I think like $400 million in like player salary and taxes, I I know Dan Gilbert has been willing to spend on players in the past, but this is unprecedented spending for them basically. So yeah, 395.7 million is their projected team salary plus tax bill. Here we go. They’re good enough to do it for one year. I don’t got like if I’m if I’m the CS, I just pay it. I think they’re good enough, but I think that would be more likely than getting an extension. Your silence means that you want to move on rather than you yourself. We are We are way behind. Well, you don’t respond to some of my points, which is just it’s disheartening sometimes, Mort. I know. Look, that’s because I agree with you. you you make so so great points. I’m just sitting there writing it. It’s great. Uh with the head nod leaving me hanging while I’m trying to time stamp here, but the Detroit Pistons, we don’t typically talk about rookie extensions during this exercise, but I unless you think that they need to make another addition, do you want to see them get another like they have a Sar Thompson and Tobias Harris? Do you want a better four? Do you want a better big than Stewart or D? I just don’t There’s Do you want a veteran ball handler when you have Jaden Ivy and already got Caris Levert? It just feels like they’re done unless there’s a star or player that becomes available that they deem as a really good fit. Thoughts on these extensions? Do you think that should Noah in the chat says Jaden Ivy, is he good? I mean, it’s a question that a lot of he showed flashes last year, but that’s part of the extension discussion. Uh, we know you like him. Do you think he gets an extension? I I don’t because he got injured. We never seen like Okay, so he’s been We’ve been talking about this before. So year two, that was the whole Monty Williams year where he got jerked around in terms of role and minutes. And so we didn’t really see an optimized version of him in his second year. Then he came into year three, I think that we were be we’re beginning to see like the real version of him. And then he went down, missed 52 games. So like we only have a 30 game sample size where we could see sort of the vision of him alongside Cade and within the system. So I’m probably not inclined to extend him right now. But I will say this, if he and his agents are open to like a sweetheart deal, um, sure, why not a sweetheart deal for the from benefiting the Pistons? Obviously, like if he’s down to signing some 4-year extension to what do I know, like an even 20 a year, which I that’s I don’t even know. Oh, I’m doing that immediately. Yeah, I an even 20. Are you kidding me? Four years, 80? Come on. You can’t be that low on him. It’s not that I’m low on him, but So, he’s coming back from Here’s my thing. He’s coming back from a major injury. Yeah. Yeah, the offense with him and Kade, while we agree that this is the best we’ve seen, Jay Ny could still get better, was still about league average with them on the floor and they lost those minutes last season. I don’t have enough information to just commit. And if it’s, here’s my thing. If he’s getting 20 million a year, his cat pole next summer before he signs a new deal is 27. That’s not enough of just a haircut for me to say no. Like lot if it’s, you know, if it’s three years, it’s like going out four years on it. It’s just we don’t have enough information on him and this fit like for this iteration of the Pistons and also just how much does JB Bicker staff value him when we know that he’s not the greatest defender and we’ve seen JB Bickerstaff kind of ding guys when they’re not. I also think that the offball shooting improvement it’s important what’s the volume at which he could do it because Ron Holland and Assar Thompson are guys that you want to put like need on ball touches. I know Ron Holland had a really good he had a better his jumper looked better in summer league but the the game against the Knicks where he shot I don’t know like 11 of 10 out of three on threes was doing a lot of heavy lifting there. I I just don’t know that we have enough information on how he fits within this structure of the team and it would probably have to be like four for 60 or something. And I’m not I think Jane Ivy shouldn’t sign that. I still think he could be a good player but we also know how restricted free agency works now. more even if you think Jay Ivy’s really who’s coming in with the offer sheet that maybe somebody but I would see that’s the thing because I was looking at it as an outside team because if that was like the thing where you know he wanted 20 let’s say 20 and Detroit were like nah if I’m an outside team and I have money I’m like yes sir because I don’t look at Jaden Ivy in through the you know Cam Thomas lens I love Cam Thomas but I also realize that he has some significant weaknesses and some shortcomings. I don’t necessarily attach those same weaknesses to Ivy. I think there’s a player in there who is so much better, who plays under more control, who has better floor presence also in terms of playmaking and floor spacing and off the catch shooting. There’s so much more stuff to like. Now, I understand you’re bringing up the numbers with Cade and like how did that look? That’s totally fair. It’s not like I’m ruling that out as oh that’s totally relevant. But it’s not something I’m baking everything around. Not saying you are either, don’t worry. But it’s it’s something that just fills less with with me. It’s not something I put that much on because this is a weird Pistons team, however you want to slice it. There’s a center who’s a non spacing center first and foremost. We also know that Osar Thompson not a floor spacer either. So like the the pendulum swings a lot depending on how they play. Do they establish themselves on the interior more often than not? Like it’s it’s a little bit of the wild wild west in Detroit in terms of how they play. And I would just like to have another gun in my holster for for that type of of play style. And I think Ivy is that. If they think they can get him for even cheaper, by all means, I think there’s a player in there. And if I’m a team who if I’m young, I’m up and coming and I’m smelling that the Pistons are not necessarily in on the Ivy experience, I’m pouncing. I’m absolutely pouncing. I’m high on this kid. I don’t think I’m low on him. And I think it’s encouraging. He ended up shooting like 43% from three when Kate Cunningham was off the floor last year. But the offense was also dog [ __ ] in those minutes. And so I don’t know what to think of him as a floor general yet. I think we might have a pretty good feel of what he could do as a scorer both on and off the ball, but I worry about okay if you are investing in him, you can’t do because if you’re investing in him and saying well he’s just basically a two at that point if you don’t think he could like run your offense during the minutes that Kade is absent like with the what the 10 to 15 minutes a game that Kade does not play. That’s what I’m still hung up on probably more than anything. And I like to go out four years and 20 20 million per. I wouldn’t be able to do that just yet. I still I still very much like him and he’s worth and I by the way I think the Pistons offseason was fine. I think it was smart that they didn’t do anything dramatic especially after the Malik Beasley news and that they’re still set up to be really good in the East. Like this could easily be a top four team in the East. It’s certainly I think it’s certainly probably a top six team. I’m sure I had them in the top six when we did tears. While you were talking, we have news and it’s due up wreath news. Is it? The Blazers are fully guaranteeing his contract. There we go. I mean, good for him, but someone go [ __ ] trade for that guy now. My god. Hey, you just said the Pistons don’t really have a floor spacing center. Let’s get Duop Reef in here because that’s the Should the Pistons go add DWOP wreath? Yes, the answer is yes. Yeah. Final thing to wrap up on the Pistons and we’ve talked a lot about the Duran extension, big man extensions. Who do you think is more likely to get an extension between these two? Uh Duran Duran because of the Yeah, you know, he’s a big man who has been steadily improving defensively, uh elite rebounder, and and more importantly, he’s been on the floor like he hasn’t missed all that much time. U I I think the interplay between him and Kade has grown. I think you also need to have someone of his caliber, uh, you know, to catch lobs, to grab boards, like you you need to give a a guy like Kate Cunningham a legitimate big man to actually feed the ball, too. Like you you can’t not have that. So, I think he’s their priority, but I don’t think it’s like miles ahead. I don’t I think they want to take care of both at the same time. Uh, that you would think that they want to get extensions hashed out rather than taking either one of them to RF. I I Yeah. So I hon Yeah, I wouldn’t be surprised if they want to. Again, depending on, you know, them taking a deals that are beneficial to the Pistons because they’ve acted like that before. A lot of teams basically approach uh rookie extensions as if we’re doing you a favor. So like take less. So it’s it’s through that perspective, too. And like look, if Jaden or Jaylen or both say, “Hell no, let’s go into restricted free agency.” Okay, by all means. But I would understand why agents would be like, “Let’s not let’s not because are you are you seeing what’s going on right now? Like, are you seeing this?” So, we’ll see what happens. I wonder if they would be less likely to give Durn an extension if let’s say both Mark Williams and Walker Kesler don’t get one because then they might look at it as Walker Kesler certainly if a team is going to give an offer sheet to a big man and restricted free agency I think it would be Walker Kesler before Jaylen Durren at this point. So that could be part of his calculus too. That that is not an unfair suggestion. Yeah, I think I’m going to say I’m I agree with you. I think Duran would be more likely to get the extension. I actually would be pretty surprised if both of them get extensions, though. That’s interesting that you think that that would be uh a possibility. I think I’d value the flexibility of letting them both go to RFA, but maybe that’s about to turn. We move on to the Indiana Pacers. Uh don’t have Tyres Hallebertton next year, no longer have Miles Turner either. Are they going to do anything with like their non-t taxpayer mid-level or their disabled player exception? I guess the DP like you could save both for the middle of the season, but they I like the Jay Huff deal, but like the center position doesn’t have a ton of juice on it. Could you do you want like another maybe like veteran type ball handler like as a placeholder to help you maybe run the offense? I know Michael Pina made the case for the Pacers to be the Ben Simmons team. That’s certainly interesting. So, I’m not even saying use the entire MLE, but this doesn’t feel like a team that should be done if they’re trying to be competitive next season, right? So there’s six million under the tax line, right? So they have room to do it. Doesn’t have to be the entire ML. They have room to do something. They they can they can do something. Yeah. I mean, again, I’m sort of sitting here thinking, what’s the big point or what’s the big idea? But like like couldn’t they could they get a real difference maker in with that financial flexibility? Maybe not. But why not swing on something? I would hate for them to go old with that money. If anything, because of the situation they find themselves in where expectations are low, you know, no Tyrese, I would love for them to see if they can find someone who cheap on the market, someone who’s flying under the radar who they can get in and try to get minutes. And I don’t really care about position, but the question is who is out there? Like because I’m just speaking hypothetically and generally. I don’t have a name, but I do want that player to be young. Like give them give yourselves a chance some upside. So like I’m trying to think because they’re not they should not be a team we both agree that would trade a first round pick for somebody at this point. And it’s like a Jaylen Picket from Denver maybe or Kobe Buffkin from Atlanta if if Yeah, I was even thinking the free agency market or something. But like yeah, you can go scour other teams benches for sure. Yeah. Who are you thinking on the free agency market then? That’s like is there even any No, I was that’s what I’m saying. I wasn’t thinking like I was I was basically saying if there is a young guy out there like I need to go in and and actually look at who’s out there. Like you can go trade for someone or you can go sign someone if there’s someone out there. Like again remember every single organization have you know looked at virtually everyone who’s gone through the draft before. Some like other players more than others. And if there was a guy out there who the P who Pistons wow who the Pacers have had through the doors before who they were like yeah you know what we have a good eye to him. Why not? like if someone gets waved within the next couple of weeks or something who who they were like, “Oh, we actually like this dude. Bring him in.” Um, I think they just What’s the upside in going for a Ben Simmons? Really? What is the upside of going for I would argue if you’re using the minimum to I’m not saying they should go give Ben Simmons more than anybody else is offering, but for how they like to play in the open floor, Ben Simmons could still probably help them there. Could probably help them defensively. It’s a one-year stop gap for him and for them. And if it doesn’t work out, you can get rid of him when this opportunity that you’re talking about presents itself. Okay. I I can’t go along with that. I I don’t know if he does enough of what they would want with this situation and he’s always injured, but Malcolm Brogden, I mean, if he would take the minimum or a little bit more to come play for the Pacers is just he doesn’t have to be on the ball, so that’s a bonus. Ben Simmons kind of has to be. Yeah. I I you can you can hear I’m not exactly enthused. And again, it’s because it’s the same thing with the Celtics, right? Like when you’re going through that one year where you just you just kind of know, yeah, we’re not going to make noise this year. Then I’m I automatically just switch into, oh, okay, let’s see what we can do upside wise. Like what youth, I immediately transition into youth. Well, I I think it’s fine to think that way, but then you I feel like you should still do something like I just because to kind of wait is so because if you’re not go we had this conversation with the Celtics if you’re not going to be committed like the Pacers definitely seem even less likely from the onset of the season to say hey we’re going to tank maybe they get to that point because they’re not as good as expected but they seem like just because that’s how they’ve done things historically and also Nemhard and Pascalakum Benedict Mathan and like all these good players. Aaron Nesmith are still on the team. They’re trying to be they understand they probably won’t win a title, but I think that they’re still trying to be a top six team in the East. And I’d probably like to see them go get more. I mean, I I love Jay Huff and like I guess you technically have some big man depth if you’re willing to scale up Seakum, Jarus Walker. Getting more minutes would be a great thing. And you don’t I want to be clear, you don’t want to do anything that’s going to make you play Benedict Mathan or Jarus Walker less. So, I want to make that clear. But I think if you’re trying to be good, I think there’s value in whether it’s an upside swing play or signing a veteran who’s not going to cost you much. I would like to see like maybe someone who could like just generate offense for others on aside from TJ McConnell and having to place that responsibility on an Andrew Nemhard. Caleb Houston was waved, right? Um, no, he was not. I’m pretty sure he’s a free agent. Caleb Houston is a free agent. I’m pretty sure. Oh, I mean, no appenda is on their payroll, so yeah, that would make sense then. Caleb Houston was was waved. No, see, that’s the type of name I’m looking for if I’m the Pacers. That’s the type of swing that I’d take. 22 year old 68 wing shoots it. There’s a two-way potential there. Like, that’s that’s how I’m thinking. I get what your thinking is, though. Like I’m not saying that there isn’t merit to it, but like let’s assume that they bring in Ben. All right, he does fairly well, whatever. He’s 29, 30ish, then he leaves again next year. Big whoop. What have you accomplished? I want someone who you can bring along when Tyrese comes back, too. Or you can say, “Oh, now we have this guy as well. Yeah, I mean I would support that. I think I support them making like them more addition. I don’t I don’t know. I’d probably rather it be like at the point guard spot or the center spot. Like go you go get Dominic Barlo right now and you have a fan in me uh forever. So available. Yeah. Okay. Dominic Barlo is still out there. I guess the other thing that I at least haven’t considered throughout having this discussion is they they even have like how many bodies on the roster they already have? they have their 15 like with Cam Jones, Johnny Fury, James Huff. That’s the issue you run into is are you going to get rid of a Tony Bradley? So that’s the other thing that we would need to mention here. So it would almost have to be whatever they’re going to do would have to be sort of a trade or they’re going to dump somebody or wave somebody, which of the names that we mentioned is anybody more sort of intriguing than anyone else on their roster. That is a problem that you run. I mean, like, I’m not a big Tony Bradley guy, so maybe he would be the one where if you want a Caleb Houston, if you want to go get a young guard, if you want to take a look at Dominic Barlo, I wouldn’t have a problem getting rid of him. Agreed. Our next team up will be the Miami Heat. The Tyler Hero extension discussion, Mort, three years, $149.7 million they could give him. Would you extend him? Do you think that he’s worth all of that, which is not the actual max, but is the max that he could receive? Where how do you think it ends? What are your thoughts here? Give me the number again, please. Three years and $149.7 million is the maximum. Doesn’t have to be the number that they sign him for, but that is the max he so roughly 50 million a year. Yes. Um, no, I get that. Yeah, I like Tyler Herro, but that like we’re we’re just going right back to the discussion we had about like the Fox, you know, thing where where is this dude? Like where is he at? Is he a superstar? Is he an all-star who’s not a superstar? Is he a French allstar? Like what level is he in? Tyler Herro is certainly not in that top tier thing. And I would argue roughly 50 million a year. That’s that’s that’s juicy potentially a little bit juicy. I So it ends up being like that deal would be worth the three years about 28% 28 and a half% of the salary cap which actually isn’t so egregious. I actually it’s interesting that you just approached it from the pure financing standpoint. I looked at it as saying everything they’ve done is telegraphed that they either want to maybe have cap space next year or have a [ __ ] ton of flexibility in 2027 which is when a Tyler Hero extension would kick in. And so I just don’t think they’re going to give him one. Like if they make a trade, that’s the other thing here too is that by the time he’s extension eligible, he’s not going to be able to be traded in season. And are they going to want to keep all their options open if a Giannis Tentacmpo becomes available or someone else? But the main thing for me would be like what’s the number as the Heat that if you’re planning on trying to remain malleable, flexible in the summer of 2027 that Tyler Herro has to be willing to accept for you to eat into that by putting him on the books p because right now he would be a free agent. That like that’s part of the appeal is he comes off the books that year. If Andrew Wiggins picks up his player option, he comes off the books as well. DaVon Mitchell’s deal comes off the books by then. So, I’m curious as to what number they would especially because they can say, “Well, he’s under contract for two more years. We can revisit this next summer if we would like.” I’m wondering what the number would need to be for them to say, “No, like let’s do this extension right now.” Well, not right now when he’s eligible. You know what I mean? In October under the current, I guess, or roughly the same. I don’t think it’s substantially more than what he’s earning right now. Oh, interesting. What is he at right now? He’s at 30 million. 31 and then 33 next year. I could you could probably talk me into to pounce on it. I get what you’re saying. Yeah. Like 35 Well, that was the scenario you set up, I think. Yeah. Yeah. If that’s the if it’s like three years at 35 million a pop, I’m probably jumping on it. That’s a deal that you could if you want cap space, I think you could just trade it. Yeah. Like if you’re going above 40 or 45 or close to 50, that it’s not worth it. you pounce if it’s something that is so dramatically beneficial to you. Yes. And I think they’ve done a good job balancing because he’s not a point guard nor is Norman Powell, but heroes improved a lot as a playmaker. I almost like the idea where like a DaVon Mitchell we know is not a point guard because you have Pel Larson and because you have um Yakonis like put the ball give them reps put the ball in their hands because Norman Pal and Tyler Herro can play so well off of it. So you’re a Heat team that isn’t rebuilding or resetting next year. You’re still trying to be good but you’ve left clear runway to develop like those two players specifically. I’m looking at I’m curious to see though whether the Heat indulge that or if we’re gonna see a lot of okay like we’re gonna try and make Ty Rosier happen again or Hero is gonna have the ball a ton. Norman Pal is going to have the ball a ton and then look there’s room for them to have the ball a ton and develop those guys. Uh but I do think that’s why Tyler Hero is so important to them. I just don’t know that he is like hashtag we need to get this extension. No. Yeah. No, absolutely. Our next team is the Milwaukee Bucks. Mort, do they need another wing or does Kyle Koozma and Torian Prince really do it for you? Do they do they need more talent? Do they need like Here’s the list. Um, yeah, sure. They need another wing. They need another guard. They need another everything. This is a team that is so unbaked that is Yeah. Yes. To answer your question, instead of going longterm here, they need another wing. Absolutely. They they need another wing. Who are you? Who do you have in mind? Um, I don’t have targets for them to go after. I mean, when you look at the that’s the thing that’s a problem with them. If you look at the free agency list, uh, it’s going to be pretty slim pickings here and then trading gets fairly complicated. So, like of the free agents that are left, like do they need a reunion with like they’re kind of entered, oh, what’s Javvante Green, Tory Craig, Jay Crowder doing? Caleb Houston be interesting for them for sure. That’d be another good name there. I wouldn’t mind them taking a flyer on uh Kesler Edwards either. I’ve always been a little bit intrigued by him. Uh they do have 15 guaranteed contracts on the roster, but I’m not like a Tyler Smith guy. So, if you just kind of need to need to get rid of him, that’s not something that I would be broken up about. They have $16 million under the tax as well. So, there are some things they could game if they wanted to go to the trade market. Um like if for instance, I don’t know what the outgoing money would need to be to help that. And that’s the other problem with this is so like Kevin Porter Jr., Ryan Rollins, Gary Trent Jr. Garrett, they’re they’re so cheap after their and so all of the This is something I haven’t really realized until we did this. More than half of their roster just signed a deal. So, they can’t even be traded, right? So, Giannis, Koozma, like you could trade those guys and that’s basically it. AJ Green, you could trade him. I think he’s probably more likely to get extended than traded. So, that would be another issue that they’re up against. But, I look at them, I don’t know that they need another guard. They just they have a ton and if Giannis is going to run enough of the offense, you have Cole Anthony, you have Ryan Rollins, KPJ, I’m I’m more okay with that. I look at the way and then bigs with Bobby Poris, Turner and Giannis. I think you’re fine. Jericho Sims is at a great number for them. I just look at as okay, Gary Trent Jr., Gary Harris, Torian Prince, AJ Green, not really a wing. I I would like to just see like that like if they could get like a veteran in there or a cheap guy or there is a trade to be made. someone who can dribble. That’d be nice. Kyle Kosma thinks he can dribble. What’s wrong with Kyle Koosma? Oh, do you have the pendulum is really swung. I went from like being a Kyle Kosma defender to just like the last season and a half, two seasons, it’s been like tough sledding here. I I look the way that he played this past season, that was egregious basketball. It was some of the most selfish basketball I’d ever seen. just Yeah, but it was a little different in Milwaukee and I have to imagine he would shoot the like because you can’t really play worse than he did last year. You think it was different in Milwaukee? I hated his shot selection also in Milwaukee. I I actually expected him to come in and go, “Oh, okay. Now I’m on a team that at least has this chance. Now I’m really going to apply myself. I’m going to be smarter with my shot selection. I’m going to go the extra mile. I’m going to do all the small stuff.” Fat chance. This dude’s he coasted and it was bad shot selection and the decision making was all over the floor. I’m I’m so out on the Kakus experience in Milwaukee. I’m so out of it and like I love that we’re just bringing up the Bucks like do do they need another wing? We’re putting lipstick on a pig here. They don’t like you said that oh if Giannis is going to be the guy who’s gonna hand the ball a lot. Sure. If we want him to break down by game 50, sure. I I think this roster is just so bad. I don’t trust that Doc Rivers is going to play anyone under the age of 28 anyway. Like so so even if K Caleb Houston would have been a nice addition, fat chance getting Doc to play him because Doc is an old fart who doesn’t know what to like build long term on his roster or sorry rotations. I just I’m so out on this team this year. I’m so I there’s no upside here. whatsoever for me. I absolutely loathe this roster. That’s interesting. I think you’re way too low on them. I don’t even The Koosma stuff, he took way fewer shots on a permanent basis in Milwaukee. So, I think that’s they were still bad. You could take fewer shots than them still being bad. I I think I guess what’s tough here is that so now Damen Lillard’s gone and if there’s not a clear who’s the second best player on this roster, that might embolden him to be more Washington Kosma than trying to fit in on a good team. But I think when there’s a clear best player and it’s Jonas attempt to kmpo and he’s gonna have the ball a lot, I’m not worried about him being as bad or worse and you seem to be leaving. I mean, I hope you’re right. They they would need you to be right is kind of my point here. The the Bucks are are hoping that what you just said is what turns out to be true. I hope that as well. I just don’t have much faith in it. And also, I’m not exactly loving the idea of, oh well, it’s not Kyle Kushman. Let’s pivot to Kevin Porter Jr. That’s that’s not exactly a recipe for success to me. And I just I still think this team needs more of a of a Floyd leader. And I say that as a Ryan Rollins fan, by the way. Mhm. I I do like that dude. I mean, I still think they’re short at guard. What’s interesting is I would agree with you when it comes to the floor general aspect, but then when you look at like what they could do and who’s tradable, like they can only make a massive move because it’s like Kyle Kosma’s the most. But then that would make sense. I just you have to attach a first round pick to Kyle Kosma. And I think part of their Giannis pitch right now was we’ll have three tradable first round picks next summer. So they won’t do that. And so they’d be very much kind of like shopping on the margins whether it’s the trade market. I was trying to figure out a way to get them Sam Hower, but they just run into Boston isn’t Boston isn’t going to take Kyle Kosma. That’s more money and the trade gets so complicated. Well, it helps them tank. It help Darren Peterson train. we are. Would you do I mean I think they could get close that would bring them like uh if no they just run into so many contract issues like an Anthony Simons and Sam Hower for Kyle if you really want to tank Kyle Koosma deal but I think Boston would want a first as part of that equation and the Bucks uh need to include more money in there and it gets tough to to get to that point. So I think they need to I was good call out on the floor general thing. I think the wing it’s easier for them to take a like you now you have enough flyers at the guard spot whether it’s Ryan Rollins or KP like ball handlers or Cole Anthony to where I probably want to see it doesn’t feel like there’s enough upside on the wings for me where like Ryan Rollins could pop. You could talk me into that as a guard spot. He could pop. I I don’t disagree with that. I like him. He’s a good guy. So on the wings, who are you saying that about? Like AJ Green maybe? Like he’s been a better defender than people expect. I hope he plays a bunch. But do we trust Doc to Oh, I don’t think there’s any wing here that could like pop. I like Garrett Trent Jr. Like I think he could have a better year than what he had last year, which wasn’t bad, but I think there’s there’s more to him. Uh but that’s kind of it. Again, I’m I’m very low on on the roster construction of of these Bucks. I really am. Let’s go on to your New York Knicks. We don’t have to talk about the Muel Bridges extension anymore. Uh because he got one. Did you Did you have a problem with that, by the way? I saw a lot of people thought it was bad and he’s slated to be like the 55th highest paid player when it kicks in. I don’t think that that’s Yeah, I was Were you surprised at how many people did? I’ve seen it over the course of today that a lot of people were like, “Oh, look at how expensive the Knicks are now.” And I’m just I’ve been just shaking my head all day long. It makes no sense. I saw um a screenshot of a tweet on Blue Sky that was actually really funny. Someone tweeted, “The Knicks, Jaylen Brunson took a pay cut so the Knicks could build a team around him and they turned around and gave that money to three other guys.” And I was just like using it as Isn’t that the point then? Like that’s why Jaylen Brunson took a pay cut? Just do you understand NBA roster construction much? No. That’s Oh, that’s funny. Um but yeah, we’re not here to talk about that. I think it was fine. He does need to be better, but I don’t He does. Yeah. like if it’s not I just I don’t know and he could still be traded this season if they need him to. I was surprised I guess at how how many people thought it was just bad. You could argue about the trade kicker the player options sure but I bet you if he hit the open market next summer that I don’t know if a team would have given him the max of four years and 213 an outside team I bet you he would have gotten like a four year $200 million offer from somebody. I bet like I will say this the last year the last guaranteed year because he has a player option 29 20 or 2030 like yeah the the if he picks up the player option in the last two years that those they have a chance of being a little not bad but like where you’re thinking okay that’s probably a little too rich for where he might be at that point in time but like you can say that about what 70 80 contracts currently in the NBA so Like I’m not just going to sit there and go, “Oh, Miguel Bridges got a horrible deal. It’s going to age poorly.” Like, no. Yeah. Do I do I love the last two years? No. I not necessarily. Do I have a problem with it? No. No. It’s It’s that is how business gets done. Um, so Mitchell Robinson extension, he’s basically could get like somewhere as a max, like somewhere between 80 and 90. Is there a number that you would be comfortable extending him at? Especially now that you know I think part of the value of Muel Bridges extension is oh we we have a number for him in 2026. So they could as of right now I think they depending on where the cap lands they could be like 12 million bucks below the second apron. Uh that’s not including a Mitchell Robinson deal. And I think it’s okay to go in the second apron. You just can’t live there. But is there a number that would make you be like okay yeah let’s extend Mitchell. Would it have to be for the exact same amount he’s making this season, which is about 13 million? Would you go a little higher? Are you looking at the the health question marks and just saying, “Oh, no way.” 13 million straight flat rate uh over three years. So, three years 45. I think that feels reasonable. I mean, if he’s willing to take that, I would If he’s not, fair enough. Like, that’s his prerogative, but like given how much he’s been injured, I think that’s a fair offer. Uh, I feel like it’s Would you say three for 45? Right. 345. Yeah, that’s a number I’m comfortable giving. I’m just wondering, do you think he would accept that? Again, I I don’t know. But like, if we’re being honest here, you know, 59 games in 22 23, 31 games in 23 24, 17 games this last season. I mean, you have an argument on your side here in terms of offering that deal and saying, “Look, uh, guy, you played 48 total regular season games over the past two years.” Like, let’s let’s meet halfway, bud. Come on. 15 million that that still gets your food on the table a year, any every single year. That’s not that it’s even a race crying out. I do think they probably have a better chance of him maybe accepting a lower number if all the other bigs we’ve already talked about like a Duran, a Mark Williams, a Walker Kesler end up not getting extensions because then it’s teams will have that have the money to go after Mitchell Robinson might I guess some of those guys would be more expensive whereas Mitchell Robinson you view as a mid-level type guy but if if they’re going to if you’re going to get mid-level money you just offered it at three for 45. So, right. But do you really think there are teams out there who are going to be looking at that same injury pattern and go, “Oh yeah, 480, 490 for Mitch.” I I mean, of the teams that have cap space, probably not. I mean, like some of the teams that have cap space already have a which I wouldn’t put it past the Bulls. Could see them doing something like that. Oh, you know what? That’s smart for like for Mitch and his agent. That should just that should be a plan for so many teams. Just all right, the Bulls exist. Let’s put that in our back pocket and then let’s go to negotiate with our team. That’s smart. No, with a good point would on Mort’s basically your deal Mort like you get it done at average annual value of 15 million. It’s tradable. Um it’s also then immediately tra well not immediately but like you it would be immediately because that’s less than 120% raise I think. So that would probably be an ideal outcome for the Knicks. But I also wonder my takeaway is that I don’t think Robinson and Josh Hart are going to be on the team pass this season. So, I’m curious if the Knicks would value having the flexibility of Mitchell Robinson being one good if he’s healthy, but also an expiring contract and trade talks this season. And so, are they just not in a rush to get like even if he would accept three for 45? Do the Knicks sit there and say, “What if we have like a Robert Williams situation in our hands?” We’re just a borderline right like transcendent defender, but he’s just not playing enough games for teams to view that deal, which is digestible, as a value deal. I mean, if you went 345 and you somehow negotiated a team option into the third year, that makes this the entire contract so much easier to pivot off from. But at the same time, I think to your point, moving him as an expiring contract just what that is 13 roughly 13 million little under. Yeah. to just get right off the cap next year, especially in a year where the cap is expected to increase by a smaller amount than expected. Yeah, I I don’t hate that approach at all. I had wondered if you were the Boston Celtics and able to get off other money in the process. So, you need a third team. If you were to able to do something like Mitchell Robinson goes to Boston and then Boston is getting off of George Nyang and Sam Hower. Is that something Boston considers? Yeah, I you have to compensate a team to take on Nang. So, that is a great way to sneak tank because then Mitch plays like 22 games. Yeah. Right. And they absolutely No, I’m kidding. Yeah. If he’s healthy and if you want to be competitive, absolutely. That’s a smart way if it’s just different from the bigs. They kind of normally target though, right? That’s the that’s the beggars can’t be choosers. And at this point, when it comes to centers and big men, the Celtics are absolutely beggars. Um you you you if Mitch gives you 65 70 games in a year, you’re getting incredible value for the money as well, even if it’s an an expiring and you may not even be able to retain him afterwards. That’s like for the Celtics, that’s a win, an easy. This is, you just made me think that this is an extension that I think if it gets done, contrary to like Bridges or Tyler Herro or even a De’Arren Fox, I know those are higher level players, but if it gets done, it feels like it’s way more likely to end up being team friendlier than not to where those some of those other ones could have downside. This one, it’s you don’t offer it or like give him an offer that is anything less than this is guaranteed to be team friendly. Absolutely. Um, just a final quick question here. their last veterans minimum. They’ve been tied to just a bunch of players. Is there either an archetype or a player that you like? Are you on board the Ben Simmons experiment? I would be not on board with it because I think it essentially means that Josh Hart is always going to be playing with a non-shooter on the court, whether it’s Robinson or Simmons. That’s a good point. Yeah, that’s a good point. The number I was actually writing about this the other day. Josh Hart, like 45% of his shots came at the rim when he played without Mitchell Robinson last year. that dropped to 26.5%. Or around there when Mitchell Robinson was like on the floor. So, if you’re just saying he’s playing with another like detrimental non-shooter, like most of his minutes, you negate a lot of what Josh Hart does the best. So, I would rather see them get they only have the minimum, the vets minimum. I would rather see them get a Malcolm Brogden, an air Coffee, a Chris Buché, of course. Is Cody Martin healthy? I would even be more okay. And I actually think Simmons still has some upside as a player. I’d be more okay of them just saying, you know what, we’re gonna sign Kevin McCuller Jr. um Diwara because they can’t they can’t afford to sign if they sign a veteran, they have to give it to sign someone who has zero years of experience. So if you want McCuller Jr. as like a guaranteed player. I’d rather see them do that because one, it signals, oh, they might play some young players, but two, I just I I think Ben Simmons again can do some things for them defensively, push the pace, but unless you’re planning on trading Josh Hart, I don’t like the idea of Ben Simmons on this team. Uh, that’s fair. I had actually not considered the Josh Hart Ben Simmons problem, which it would be. Um, that’s a fair shout. Otherwise, I’d actually been in on that. Do we I mean it’s the minimum. So you can always say how many minutes is Ben Simmons going to play. You can get rid of him later. So I’m not saying Ben Simmons is coming in and they’re deciding he’s better than Josh Hart. It’s just if you’re paying him with the intention to play a veteran 10 to 15 minutes a game, you pencil in Robinson’s minutes like you’re not going to be able to stagger Josh Hart from both of those guys for most of his minutes. Is this a Caleb Houston destination? If the Knicks thought in those terms, I would love it. But there’s they had an executive even say to Keith Smith of Sprak like it’s gonna be hard for the young guys to crack our rotation. And so if they feel that way about Pakcom Dier, Tyler Kohic, um are they going to feel much differently about Caleb? I think they their biggest need to me it might be a ball handler they could trust, but I think it’s just Oh, then I have a guy Monte Morris. I’d rather see Brogden. I’d rather take the swing on Brogden if they’re going to go guard. Um, definitely not Russell Westbrook. You run into a lot of the same Ben Simmons stuff that we just talked about, but I I love the Amir Coffee. I just don’t know if he’s going to go for the for the minimum. So, I love Caleb Houston. I would absale Houston. Cody Martin. Uh, honestly, Cody Martin, if he was healthy, which he has not been, uh, he blends the line of, “Oh, that guy can do like a little things with the ball in his hand for other players, but he’s also like he will defend some wings.” That might make the most sense. But I I really think they probably need a wing more than a just because you can have hard and let’s just give male Bridges and OG Anobi more on ball touches and but I think you could also make the case they do need another backup ball handler here just they have Jordan Clarkson. I didn’t mention his name. He’s just not much of a three-point shooter and he could be a defensive detriment. So if he’s playing a bunch of minutes with Yabuselli, I don’t know what that looks like. I would advocate for their final veterans minimum slot if they use it to go to a wing though. Yeah, the Orlando Magic Mort. Uh, they don’t really have a lot to talk about other than do you think they’re So, let’s start here. They’re within $7 million of ducking the tax. We agree that they’re going to duck the tax at some point this year, right? Yes, that would seem very, very likely. Do you think they’re going to do it before the off season is over or is this something that’ll just get done in the middle of the season or even after the regular season ends? trade deadline seems like a reasonable point in time because then you have an idea of where you are as a basketball team. Like if the Magic comes out and are just gang busters, perhaps the need to get under the tax isn’t quite so egregious, they might even act as buyers to some extent uh at the trader line to to the extent that they can because they won’t have a lot of flexibility. Um, but no, if they’re just like humming along that nicely, yeah, I mean, you’re looking at it. I mean, Jet Howard, if he’s not playing once again, which god damn it, Orlando, if that’s the case, I’m going to be so upset. Then, yeah, he because he gets you closer to getting under that that could be a guy coming out. We’ll see. Yeah, he gets some he gets some So, they’re 5.6 million under the tax. He makes 5.5 million. They would need to replace that roster spot, though. So I I honestly the name and he’s if you’re watching on YouTube was pictured here. It’s just I think there’d be a team that would just take all of Goa Batad’s money and if you think Mo Vagner’s healthy and you paid Wendell Carter paid in quotes like he’s he’s not even on that extension yet. He’s so cheap still 10.9 million. Um and maybe if you want you have Jonathan Isaac Palin Carroll could play some five if you wanted to. That’s the name that I have circled even though he’s valuable to just I think someone would just take him into a trade exception or their non-t taxpayer mid-level and then it’s you duck the tax by doing that. You sign someone to a minimum and you’re done. But you’re are you sure he’s not going to be your starting center? So what if are you saying Wendell Carter Jr. is not healthy? I’m saying Wendell Carter Jr. has not exactly been great as of late including the year before last as well. I think if you’re so at least the I’ll say this, the idea of Wendell Carter Jr. is way more important to actualizing the message that you tried to send this summer, which is that spacing matters, right? And so if you’re not if you’re going to turn around and you’re going to start goat and then you’re just shrinking the floor at another position while inserting Desmond Bane, I’m not and again I say this what your rebuke could be. Wend took 2.3 like three-point attempts per game last year. But that was that was like he that was an outlier. I’m I’m very aware that he was hurt. He didn’t like that the optimized version of him was the version of him three and four years ago, right? And that’s what they’re hoping they’re going to get back. So I think Gokat is a great like reserve big. If if Orlando is starting him and Wendell Carter Jr. is healthy, there are two things I take away from that. What the hell is going on with Wendell Carter Jr.? But also, do the Magic get it yet? because I’ve taken this off seasonason as a sign that okay, they they understand what they need and they’re a little late on doing it, but they did it in caps lock fashion at least with Taius Jones and Desmond Bane. So, you can absolutely not start. I’m sorry. If Wendo Carter Junior’s healthy, there’s no way that I would rather start Palero at the five than like put Goat I or Mo Vagner even who’s not going to be as much of a three-point shooter either. I mean, yeah, I look an optimized version of or optimized, that’s the wrong word, a healthy Wendel Carter Jr. if we’re seeing the uh the play that we’ve seen from him before. Yeah, I’m I’m taking that and I’m I’m pivoting off Goa pretty easily. But are you not concerned about the I don’t want to say lack of availability, but when is the last time he’s ever he’s actually never cracked 70 games. Wow. last season, which we felt was like the an injury riddled season. That was actually the most games he’s ever played. Oh, no. I didn’t think last year didn’t seem like injury riddled to me. He just he definitely had a down year relative to what he was doing. But you do raise a good point. And by the way, on Mo Vagner, I’m aware he took more three-pointers last year per game than well before he he just barely played before he got it or didn’t play as much because he was injured. I just So, let’s say you get rid of Gokata. You’re left with Wendo Carter Jr., Isaac and Mo Vagner as your centers. Vagner hasn’t been injuryprone, but he’s coming off a major injury. And then Wendo Carter Jr. and Jonathan Isaac are not what you would call durable. So that would be the thing you’d run into. I think I would just bet on, okay, those three, we will figure out a full center rotation on any given night without Goa. And I think it’s anyone I’m not advocating that team shouldn’t pay the tax. I just think when you’ve committed so much money to Bane, Paulo when his extension kicks in, Fron’s Jaylen Suggs, the longer you can delay the repeater clock from starting, the better. And so that’s why I’d bet on them ducking the tax. Yeah, I agree. Is there a second player? I just Jet Howard instead of Goa Batz, the fact that that would be a discussion is like pretty damning. I would pro if you told me getting rid of Jet Howard dump ducks the tax and you can keep Goa, sure. But it doesn’t. And so like that’s where and then so we’re gonna have to get rid of another player to just duck the back. Yeah, that’s fair. That is fair. I also want to keep Jet around. I hate that. By the way, he should have I just can’t believe I know how they feel about defense. I just can’t believe he’s hasn’t gotten more of an extended look with the big club. Right. Yeah. It’s it’s it’s honestly annoying. I’m I’m at that point where I just want to save him. I want someone to save him and just give him consistent minutes for like three months. just 25 minutes right off the bat somewhere. Let’s just see what you have. Do you know what would be a really good team for him? I think Detroit. Oh, I like that. Yeah, I think they would play him. I mean, he’s not going to like they have they just drafted Chaz Laneir in the second round and JB Bicker Staff doesn’t like to play youngsters who don’t play defense, yada yada yada. they could insulate him defensively and they just I know they got Duncan Robinson but you lost both Malik Beasley and Simone Fonteo. Uh and so that could be someone who comes in and maybe you trust him to do that. Atlanta Atlanta would be fun too. They also feel like they could use just one more wing. Oh, that’d be interesting. Do you think they have the defense of insulation to play both him and Trey at the same time if Tyson Daniels is on the floor with them? Yes. Fair. Yeah. There I That be the Yeah. Jet Howard. I’m still intrigued by more so. Who are you more intrigued by? Um Jet Howard or Jordan Hawkins? Jet Howard easily. So am I. Is that Do you think Are we falling victim to he’s more of a mystery box because we’ve seen more? Absolutely. Absolutely. That No, I’m not even hiding that. That is absolutely the case. Yes. Surprise, surprise. The Sixers Mort, what will Quentyn Grimes get? This is the final restricted free agent. He will get money. No, I think he’ll get Bitcoin. [ __ ] you. Take that. Oh, that’s true. Oh, he’s Spence. He’s Spencer Denwy now. Spencer Dwitty, Odell Beckham Jr. Yeah, take your pick. How do you think it ends with him? We’ve gone through Giddy. We’ve gone through Cam Thomas. He seems like he’s the by far of those these three, he’s the most intriguing to me just as a player. Yep. Same. And it feels like everyone is talking about like, oh, we would like him bad like 17 million a year, which I think would be a fantastic contract. Um, I understand why he wants a lot. Like he came onto the Sixers and he showed like I wrote about this recently over at Forbes. Like he showed you showed everyone that he got he had way more on ball jobs than everyone kind of thought. Like every NBA player is actually better than you think he is. like every bit player because like everyone see is kind of thinking oh Duncan Robinson the only thing he can shoot like no if you get him into like a pickup game at the local while at the local Y he he’d triple double your ass like in a minute every single one of these guys are are extremely good all-around players but I don’t think we understood the extent of how good Quinton Grimes was on the ball and in terms of creating his own three-point looks and just creating offense for himself. I love his game. Love his game. And if the Sixers somehow get him back to a deal that averages somewhere between like 17 and 20 million a year, ju good lord, that’s good business. Um I I don’t know what he’ll get. I just don’t have a good read on that situation. I think he’s going to end up getting a little bit more than the mid-level. So like 17 sounds about right. And it what’s interesting I guess the context of the team gets iffy but just because of what we know about the durability of Paul George and Joel Embiid I actually think he I want to make this clear. I think Jonathan Kaminga is the most likely restricted free agent to take his qualifying offer. I actually think Quentyn Grimes is the one who has the strongest case to do it because I think more teams would be interested in him next summer based off what he could do defensively and just as a plug-andplay like guard fringe wing type and what you could push back and say well just like Jonathan Kaminga might see his role be inconsistent with Golden State look at all this depth that Philly kind of has and all these on ball players someone’s getting injured in Philly like or just going to miss time we already Joe Wamp is not going to play back to backs and Tyrese Maxi can’t create everything and because of what he could do defensively, you’re going to have him above Jared McCain in the pecking order, I would think. So, there is some risk there, but I actually think he’s the one that has the highest upside and also the lowest risk if he signs his qualifying offer. I I think that’s a very good point. So, what we took away from this is that Quinton Grimes should take the qualifying offer if they’re giving him, let’s say, four years and 68 million. And I I think he should probably just take it because yeah, it’s when you’re not it’s just the whole situation with free agents is so weird. Being an unrestricted free agent certainly helps, but do you think four if it’s four and 68 and they won’t go any higher, would you take it as him or would you roll the dice on the qualifying offer? I’m rolling the dice if I’m Quinton Rimes. Yeah, I think that’s honestly I think that that’s the smart answer. I gave you the safe answer. I think your answer was the smart answer because my bet would be that he gets more than four for 68 next year on the open market. That would be my guess. What do you think? I think he ends up signing a deal at least three years for 17 million on average. I would be surprised if he gets more than 19 or 20 million on average, though. I think they’re going to split the difference a little bit. It’s going to be a two-year balloon deal. two years 40. That’d be interesting. And it seems like that would be a deal that was built to trade. Yep. Do you know we’ve talked sorry Kaminga is involved in like all these trade discussions that could you see like any team coming in with their trade player except like should Utah have interest in Quentyn Grimes and try and build a package with with Philly that way? Utah of all teams. Okay. Well, they have like that massive like I mean I think don’t they still have Yeah. See, Atlanta would be See, the thing the thing about Grimes is also he’s not necessarily a young player. He’s 25. So, he’s approaching like the win now time of his career. You have to like balance that out with the team like interested in him. So, who is that team who’s like, “Yeah, we can use him.” Oh, I have a fun one. Although, ah, well, they have Austin Reeves, so the Lakers can. I would just like to see him next to Luca again, but in this different framework where he isn’t just the spot-up shooter that he was in Dallas, where Luca is like, “Oh, you got more in the tank. Like, you you have more than just being the spot-up shooter. I don’t hate that. But like Austin Reeves is there. So that wasn’t that’s not a good one. I would love him in Atlanta if they had the salary to structure to make it work. They don’t. They’re close to the tax. They just don’t have big salaries to trade other than Chris Stops or Trey Young. I kind of like Utah. I know they have Kee George and Isaiah Collier, but like Ace Bailey is going to do a lot of the on ball work. So Quentyn Grimes can kind of blend what he does best there. And they they have two traded player exceptions of $25 million or more. Is there any freaking way we can get Grimes to the Thunder? Uh, no. He’s gonna No, I mean I No, let me correct myself. Yes, there are ways, but at that point like what if how like how much are you paying you like to pay his price point for the minutes that he would end up playing for them though? I don’t care. That’d be dominant as hell. I’d love that. You’re already dominant as hell. Yeah, I want more. It’s also because I think they still need shooting. We’ve talked about this how I didn’t think they should go into this season and be somewhat complacent. Like I still think their offense needed some adjusting. Quinton Grimes would solve a lot of that. Quinton Grimes be fun in Denver. That’s good. Okay. How what’s You’re giving up. They don’t have a first round pick to trade in like Philly salary structure. They’re not going to want like Zeke like Jonas Valenjunis and Zeke Naji for Quentyn Grimes when there’s no first round pick attached. Yeah. What about We’ll see. Yeah. Minnesota doesn’t really have anything to work out. Would you Yeah. I mean, there’s just he has so few leverage. So, yeah, he’ll be back in Philly. It feels more likely that Let’s revisit this come trade deadline. Honestly, you know what sucks too is that two of the teams that already gave up on him, Detroit and Dallas are just like those are teams that he would make some sense on too. I the Detroit situation there with him never made sense. Like how could you not at least see there was a player in there. He had some knee stuff, but there’s also he had this in New York too. He was kind of grumbly behind the scenes about his lack of onball touches. So I would assume it okay I assume that might have played a role into it. Uh but also maybe they really wanted Tim Hardaway Jr. Michigan alone. That’s not Yeah. So we move on to the Toronto Raptors. I don’t I mean they’re a team that fascinates me in both good and bad ways. I don’t know what their offseason unless you think that there’s a chance RJ Barrett’s gonna get an extension. I don’t really and Oaki I think he should get an extension but I didn’t want to pick another rookie scale guy. Uh does this team need to reorient itself seeing what they have on the floor or you kind of no like let’s wait and see what’s going on here before they make any further decisions? I mean I I’ve made my opinion on this very very clear. I actually liked them coming into last year. Then they got super injured and then they weirdly traded for Brandon Ingram. Like they did have to do something with that Bruce Brown contract. So I’m not against them doing something, but Ingram specifically was a weird choice. Then they gave Ingram a raise on an extension uh without having, you know, a while he was going to be an understood free agent. But like they didn’t know anything about like the fit here. So they’re loaded with wings. Presumably something’s got to go. They’re over the tax, too, which is just they’re like 2.8 million over. That’s without filling out. No, they have four. What do they have? How many players are on their roster? Oh, no. They have 15 spots, so that’s fine. They’ll duck it. That’s not a problem. Right. And Colin Murray Boils, a player I just adore, got drafted into possibly the worst situation for him precisely because they have the three wings that have to play out of position. And like, you’re going to have to play Scotty Barnes a ton at the four. Um, I just don’t know what this roster is. I think it’s it seems unfinished. It seems like it’s like in a stage of something and we’re just kind of waiting for something to to happen so everything is kind of more aligned, which by the way, you get rid of Messiahi and the day after the draft. Yeah. Right. And so the optics of that are bad. There was obviously things brewing behind the scenes further, but what was the this the fact that nothing else has happened leads me to question what was the actual catalyst behind it? Was it money power? Because if it was his vision, if you claim he didn’t deliver, what have you done to pivot away from said vision? You’ve done absolutely nothing. Right. Right. That’s a good point. I think I’m so intrigued. Maybe it’s morbid curiosity that like with this roster. I could see them just saying, “Let’s see what we have before we make any moves.” But I really think they need just they have so many bigs who don’t shoot. Like they need to be the dopper team. I like just get someone in here or bring Chris Buchche back for crying out. I was waiting on it. There it was. Just get someone in here who can potentially provide some floor spacing at the four five on a consistent basis. It could be a shot in the dark, but please for the love of everything, take that shot in the dark. Interest you in a slightly used Nola Busousvich. Oh, what’s that trade look like? Cuz they already have Yakob Purle. So, you’re just paying 40 million bucks for Vu and Y. First of all, Yakob Purle is going to get a statue in Toronto. I’m assuming at this point they love him. So, they it might not be that guy coming back. I don’t know. Maybe it’s a larger framework with R.J. Barrett going to Chicago. Oh, I don’t honestly RJ Barrett for Vu and I Dunumu. Oh, yeah. Should the Bulls take a flyer on that or would the ref I think you’ve pitched that exact trade at one point actually. Oh, have I? I don’t I think you I think you have because that rings a bell and I think we both liked it. Do well like Isaac Coral is now in Chicago and you have Josh Giddy. I don’t really love Barrett’s fit there. I also feel bad putting him on the Bulls. I I feel bad about everyone getting drafted or assigned to the Bulls. It’s all bad. It is. So, you have R.J. stay under contract for a couple more years higher upside than Dumu or Vuch. So I think you can easily justify it from Chicago’s end knowing that Dum was going to be a free agent but right right I don’t know man the the idea of just having a Cororo and Giddy and Barrett on the same team honestly I just want to know how you get Shantilis and Colin Murray Bulls on the floor that’s what I need to know I need to get those two minutes and I and if they don’t get minutes I’m going to be pissed. Do we trust I because I didn’t mention uh Maverick Filli. Do we trust that he can be the guy that just like plays actual minutes and gets up more threes than we’ve seen him take? Yeah, I trust Mamu. I trust Mamu. I like Mamu. Maybe they could just let it ride. If they if the plan is to actually play him, then maybe you just they need to some team needs to eventually I’m getting very really tired of this. Like I I lit literally asked Mitch Johnson in Paris in January like why is this dude not playing anymore? Uh, and he was like really he was he was being very polite, but he was like, “Well, we like how he stays ready.” Which is always an answer for he’s just not playing. And I needed to know why. He’s too good. Free Mamu. I mean, he was he’s on the Raptors now. He is He is in theory free. Um, if you’re going to play him, I guess you just let it ride. I still would like to see Chris Buché brought back as another potential Well, no, but doesn’t as another potential floor spacer. I just don’t know. Who do you want to boot from this roster? Have you seen the movie The Prestige? Yes. All right. So, you you remember that machine that that just copies every single person, all all the the Hugh Jackman characters? They just keep getting copied. You want that for Chris Buché just for your damn self. That’s what you want. You want You want to be consistently surrounded by Chris Buché. You want a Chris Buchche on every single goddamn roster in this league. Just honestly, if I wasn’t so determined to put another wing on the Knicks, I would be advocating like hell for them to sign him. And I still kind of hope they do, but this is my shocked face. Yes. I would prefer to see him go somewhere I know he’ll play a bunch. And I don’t know if that’s even Toronto anymore because you have Germany. Okay. No, that’s Oh, what is your What do you have against Chris Buché? I I No, no, no. I like Chris Buché. I have something against No, I actually don’t have something against your eternal optimism about him. I just need to see the vision like I I need to understand what it is. Does he have something on you, Mr. Favlli? Has his agent reached out to you? You know what he has he has on me? He has his heart and I he has my heart. That’s what that’s what’s happening here. Okay, god damn it. That was sweet. Fair enough. I think look I I think it’d be nice to have someone other than mom who could stretch the floor at that four or five spot but I just don’t that’s fair uh maybe get rid of Jame Battle. I know he showed some signs as a shooter last year. We know Garrett Temple’s like not going to leave. So if there’s an RJ Barrett trade where you somehow wind up with a roster spot, although that seems unlikely at the moment. I would like to see them do that, but I think this team does have a lot of just oh these are these are NBA players. So, they’re probably in wait and see mode, but we know they’re going to duck the tacks eventually. And when they do, uh whether it’s this offseason or during the season, I I hope they add some stretch to the front court. Or Mamu, what did he How many years ago was it when Mamu played that glorious stretch where it was like 20 something games with the Spurs and he was playing like 20 plus minutes per game or was that four years ago, three years ago? Two years ago, I think, right? That was It wasn’t last season. It definitely wasn’t the season before. So, 2022, wasn’t it? Okay. Yeah. Double. Yeah. So, he was with the SP. Yeah. Oh, that was trade year. That was the trade year. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yep. Glorious. He got to play 23.3 minutes per game in 19 games with the Spurs. So, I was seven right after the trade for Milwaukee. Yep. So, they the Raptors have their answer at the five trade. They should after extending Purle, they should wave him. Uh I am excited about Jonathan Mo, but I just I hate his fit on this roster. It’s like a Kury Boils situation here. So, you have anything else on them? I do not. We move on to the final team, the Washington Wizards. I don’t like I like I think they’re solid offseason, solid draft. My two things with them, um, let’s start here. Are you fine with the center position with it Tristan Vukovich and you have Marvin Baggley and then you have Alex Rar. Are you okay with them sitting that way or do you think it’d be nice to have like maybe more of a veteran guy in there who’s not Baggley? I wouldn’t hate one more center primarily because Sar has been very vocal about wanting to play the four. So like all right if that’s like a was his favorite player Anthony Davis growing up. Do we know? I know. And it you know what actually scratch that. If you kind of force me into the center spot and you basically let him out don’t become the next Well, you want to be you want him to become the next Anthony Davis from a skill perspective but not from like the weird I need to be a four ideology. That’s just bad. But maybe you just shoe him, horn him in as a center and say live with it. Fine. But yeah, assuming they want to appease him and play him more support. Yeah, they’re probably going to need a center. But are they should they be in a rush? I don’t think so. I mean, they’re not trying to win right now. They’re trying to develop. If anything, I think I’m probably f I mean, I’m It’s also just they don’t have roster spots at the moment, I guess, which would lead to be my second question. I’m kind of intrigued by Vauvich, and I say that without being like ironic that like some might be able same provide some stretch there. Yeah. But my question to you is because all their roster spots are taken up right now and they do have sort of a ton of guard types or even just perimeter types like after getting Dylan Jones and as of now Malachi Brandom is still on this roster and of course you have Buck Carrington, you have Will Riley, AJ Johnson did some things for them last year. There’s Keshan George. Would there be any benefit? They already bought out Marcus Smart. Is there any benefit to doing the same with one of CJ McCullum or Chris Middleton? Are you trying to hold on to both of them and reboot some of the value or use them as mentors? Mentors. That’s why I actually hated they bought out uh Marcus Smart, but he actively wanted out of that situation. So, they did right by him. Thus, they cured Fu with some agents. That’s never a bad also kind of proof that expiring contracts aren’t what they used to be. Just like it seems like you wouldn’t normally see a buyout like that in the offseason. Ditto with DeAndre Aton. Yeah. No. And and again with the um with the rules of of not being able to sign guys if you’re over the second apron to guy or is that even in the first apron as well? I don’t remember. Well, in the offseason it doesn’t matter. So that’s the that’s the point. That’s the point because since you can’t do that in the regular season now you got to get the that business out of the way earlier. Oh, that’s a great point. So yeah, it’s maybe not a comment on expiring contracts as much as it is the era of aprons. Yeah, exactly. So I I I would not buy out Chris or CJ, great mentors. Like those like I think you and I have both heard the same things that those guys are great locker room guys, great leaders. Um that is the right way to establish a culture. That is the right way to establish some, you know, a a not a track record. What what is the word I’m looking for? a a new uh a new beginning for young players just in terms of understanding what it takes to be a successful NBA guy like Middleton former all-star I don’t think McCollum ever made an all-star team but he was freaking close so like highc caliber players they can tell those guys look if you want to stick around for 12 15 years this is the recipe this is how you get it done they’re going to act as extended arms of the coaching staffs on the floor in the games. You can never put a price tag on that. That is invaluable. So, I just love the process overall from the Wizards here. I I I’m not sitting here and saying the results are automatically going to be there. Like, I have question marks. Is Trey Johnson the next Jordan Hawkins? Is he the next Ray Allen? That’s a legit question. Like, he can fall anywhere between that. Like, Alex Sar, we still don’t know fully what the hell he is. Bul also a guy who needs more time. Bob Carrington still question marks but the process of having those guys and buying low on Cam Whitmore. Yeah, great. Absolutely. Um Cam Whitmore who apparently according to me will average 23 points per game this coming season. Book it. Um, yeah. It’s I I just I just Yeah, I I think what’s tough is one of the like one or both of those guys isn’t going to finish the season in Washington, but that also would then mean they might have been the vehicle through which the Wizards got more assets by taking on salary, which is what they did at the trade deadline. Like that I mean they did it twice last year. They did it with Marcus Smart. Um they got that pick and then they got value from the Bucks as part of a Kaokma trade. So that wasn’t that was that was like a salary dump on their part, but it was a salary dump on the Bucks part. It’s just so yeah, I’m with you. And if they I think it helps that if they really want to create a roster spot, Malachi Brandham is someone that you could trade like the $5 million salary for another player or just wave himself. Here you go. Random NBA team, take Malachi Brandom. That should be doable. Well, no. I meant more so if it’s if you need to sign somebody, you wave him. But if you’re if it’s a trade, like that’s a $5 million. You could save a team money because of how far beneath the tax they are right now. So there’s like a I was thinking Malai Brenham just to like the the Nets for something just All right. Yeah. But I’m saying so if if they didn’t have another person who felt like an obvious, oh, we could get rid of this roster spot, I might just I would wonder. But I am a big believer in like, okay, you have these two high character guys around and they’re also probably more so C.J. McCullum makes so much money. I’d be surprised if he’s the well, they’re both in the 30s, but these are like Chris Middleton to me, I’m still a sucker for to where it’s, oh, I could see him a team really wanting him at the deadline. So, you they could still have value. Um, but I would have thought that if you made me pick between who would have been easier to trade between Smart or McCullum, I would have picked Smart and yet he’s gone. So, I don’t think they need to uh by any stretch. But, I’m curious to see this deviates from the topic. Just what does this mean for the rest of the season? Do they just want those guys coming off the books? You get a full year of that mentorship or is this a situation they look at buyouts after the trade deadline if they can’t move them? I wouldn’t be shocked if it’s the mentorship for a full year. Don’t underestimate just how much that means to have that consistent presence throughout uh an NBA calendar year. I could so see that from the Wizards perspective, but if you’re Middleton or CJ McCullum and especially if you’re not like which do you expect both of them to play a ton? I I I expect them to play a ton is a different like what is that categorization? I mean do Middleton we know that he physically is probably best suited for around 20 minutes per game now, right? Like we know he can’t handle 30 45 35 minutes anymore. McCollum probably can handle more minutes. I don’t know the answer to that honestly. But I also think that those two guys are not going to make a fuss. That’s interesting because I would just wonder and the Wizards I don’t think are going to need to like tank. I think they’ll be organically bad. Yeah. But if you’re CJ McCullum, if you’re Chris Middleton and you’re healthy, you’re not playing a bunch of minutes. The team’s not winning. Are they at the points in their career where they’re content to just spend this entire season being that? I mean, they collectively collectively have 63 million reasons to be satisfied. I understand that, but that’s not, you know, that’s not how this works. I know. I know. I I actually just think those two guys are very understanding of how the NBA works. McCollum especially, like whenever you hear him talk about like the workings of the league, he seems to be very like, “Oh yeah, this is what happens. This is what happens.” I think he gets it. I think he understands that this is actually best for the franchise. Whether he’s going to say, “Hey, that’s not best for me.” That remains to be seen. I mean, this this is the one who’s more likely to say that if I had to guess. Okay. Interesting. But yeah, uh pretty good offseason from the Wizards. Well, I’ll have to do report. We’ll have to do report card grades at some point. You have anything else before we scadaddle? We did it in almost less than two hours. We certainly did not. No. Can you tell everyone where they can find you and all the great work that you do, sir? Thank you. Yeah, you can find my work over at Yahoo Sports over at Forbes. You can listen to my podcast at the NBA podcast. And if you speak Danish, you can find my podcast over at Buster Repeat. Until next time, and as always, leave you with the shout out to the one, the only. We’re going off script because Mort hates him for no good reason. Shout out Mr. Chris Boo Shay.

Dan and Mort Jensen (@msjnba) from ‘The NBA Podcast’ are going to spend this week going through moves and decisions and every NBA team still needs to make this offseason. Next up: The Eastern Conference! Check out the Western Conference HERE: https://youtube.com/live/zYIexLAWvOs.

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CHAPTERS⬇️
0:00 – INTRO
2:02 – Atlanta Hawks
12:26 – Boston Celtics
24:14 – Brooklyn Nets
33:17 – Charlotte Hornets
38:34 – Chicago Bulls
44:06 -Cleveland Cavaliers
49:13 – Detroit Pistons
58:57 – Indiana Pacers
1:06:17 – Miami Heat
1:10:35 – Milwaukee Bucks
1:17:55 – New York Knicks
1:29:35 – Orlando Magic
1:36:34 – Philadelphia 76ers
1:44:15 – Toronto Raptors
1:52:03 – Washington Wizards

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