Another Clippers Talk live on a Clippers media Day. We got two specials for you here at Clippers Talk on the Clippers Talk YouTube side and if you're picking up a podcast somewhere on Spotify or iTunes or iHeart I'm at a Maslam welcome back in. If you missed the immediate show post media Day, I had Grant Mona on with me live from into a Dome. I left a little bit early so I could get on the stream and just start to analyze some of the colts that we're coming out now. I'm lucky enough to be joined
by one of our friends. He's at fly by Night. Can it s where you finds him on X It is the great Justin BRUSSEO, Justin, my friend. Thanks for doing this today, no problem.
It's been a long day. Ready to make it a little bit longer, but it's for a good cause.
Let's make sure we get some promotion out. Have you already written piece or two or three or four today that you've dropped on media Day?
I wrote none about Kawai.
I'm gonna have one tomorrow, kind of detailing just some of the comments that guys made about you know, players who just aren't here anymore.
And then going from there, I you know, kind of plan stuff out for about three or four days since I'm not gonna be in Hawaii some as well.
Plan stuff out just you know, from today onward.
Where can people find this necessary content so they're up to date when it comes to Clippers news and information.
You can find me on Justin Russo dot substack dot com. You can find me, you know, as you said on Twitter at fly by Night k N I t E. So people want to do it. I appreciate it.
I am starting to charge tomorrow October first, so just letting people know if you subscribe, I will write a bunch of stuff. It's behind the paywall. I apologize, it's the nature of the business.
Now charge me double. It's such good content. I will pay double. It is that good. I've been along for the ride for some time now. So I appreciate your work. Appreciates you you and all this today and coming now here on Clippers Top to talk a little bit more about media Day, and I guess we could start with what Norman Pale said initially, is he was the first
guy up at the podium. Did you take what he said as a disk towards Paul George saying addition by subtraction or was that taken out of context where he was mostly just talking about how he has wonted more minutes and a bigger opportunity for some time.
I took it both in and out of context.
As weird as that sounds like, I don't think it was meant to be a shot against Paul specifically, as like, you know, Paul was this problem. I think it's it was more of a Okay, well, we lost this guy who had a really you know, high share of the workload, so naturally other guys are going to get more opportunities. So I think that's kind of where what he meant
by the addition by subscription subtraction. But also I get if people read that as a shot, because it kind of comes across as one when you just look at the quote by itself.
Yeah, it's definitely interesting and it was an interesting way to start off the press. Or it was the last question he was asked. He answered it right at the end. What else did you make of normOn Palell just being in this position finally where he probably has the best shot to be the starting two guard, which has been a goal and motivation of his for some time.
Yeah, I mean he talked about how he's going into the into camp trying to compete for the starting two guard spot, which should be his thought process going into it. Nor is an interesting guy because he is a veteran. He is a big time scoring option, especially off the bench. Had a very efficient year last year, so you know there. I think there is a level that Norm can achieve. And I think with PG Levy mean he views himself as that guy who could fill into that role.
I think it makes sense scoring wise, with how efficient he's been over the years, that Norman Powe would try to take it upon himself and the coaching staff would look at him as a really good option to supplement
some of the scoring loss. With now Paul George being in Philadelphia, do you think there's an even better chance of him getting into the starting lineup if Kawhi Leonard, who will talk about in just a little bit, is not available for opening night, But that really could open up the door from Norman Powell because they just need more scoring, they need more shots up.
Yeah, that makes complete sense if CLI's not there.
I think Norman is the kind of easiest plug and play type option for them.
Noran Powell has been a plug and play guy. He has made it known he's wanted to be an All Star for a while. He has made it known he's wanted to be a starting two guard and believes that he can be a starting two guard. So the downside to that is d and then lacking it at the point of attack if he's playing next to James Harden to start off ballgames. But Norm kind of alluded to the fact that he wanted to change to the narrative about him. He wanted to get in the best shape
of his life. He believes he's there that he can play forty minutes on both ends of the court. Now are you buying into him being a better defender and also playmaker and a guy who can run pick and roll because those were boys that he made today at the presser.
He could I could envision that, you know, quite possibly happening. I'm interested in Norm as a downhill guy, especially as a playmaker and rim finisher, where they're not going to have to incorporate another guy amongst that group, because you know, we talked about it last year. You know, the Powell Rangers lineup with him and James and PG and Kawhi and Zoo. That's a lot of mouths to feed and with one less mouth defeat in that in that scenario, you know, Norm has a chance to do more things
with the ball, especially going downhill to the rim. It was kind of interesting because I asked Norm about shooting more three how Ty said that he wants them to shoot more threes and get out in transition run a little bit more. And I said, you know, how does that suit you? And how does that suit the team? And he, you know, he kind of joked back, he goes,
how do you think that suits me? So I think it suits you very well, just because of the fact that you know, he does get out and transition hating
been such a good three point shooter. So there are things that the Clippers are trying to do to I think kind of alleviate the burden of PG leaving, especially on the offensive end, by trying to get some of these guys to maybe maybe not take like another stuff forward, but show a little bit more than they were able to last year, just because of the constraints of the people around them.
If you have questions for justin so he's joining us for about the next forty five minutes or so. If you got him pertain to something you've heard today at media day, Justin was there. I was there for most of it before I dipped out. But these are two guys that I didn't see there at all today, And you tell me if I'm wrong. PJ Tucker in Bolones Highland anywhere to be seen. Anyone mentioned them. Do you still expect them to show up for training camp?
So, I have no idea about the training camp. I'm assuming they'll be a training camp the first part though. I did not see PJ and Bones. However, I did see a video of Bones from media day today where he was there. I saw someone post it. I didn't see PJ. I don't know if there was a video of PJ. I have no idea. I'm not gonna sit there and say he wasn't there. I will just say I didn't see him. But I also didn't see Bones
and Bones was there. You know this, Adam. It was completely different this year as opposed to the past years in terms of the setup, where in past years, because of the training center, we were kind of able to look out and see everybody as they would come out do their photos and everything. This was different. The press conference room at the arena was separate from by a hallway, and then everyone else was on the court and it was kind of blocked off in certain few sites and
a few lines and stuff. So guys might have been there that we just didn't see. But I did see pretty much everyone else except for those two. But as I said, there was a video of Bone, so you know, I don't know the PJ could have been there. I just don't know for sure.
There's a lot of places guys could be at the end to a DOL, it's not all on one floor like it used to be on a Planet del Vista. Jonathan Ing wants to ask if Norm's defense was already pretty bad given how he played last year, If he has more playmaking responsibilities and can do more creation as a secondary ball handler, his defense may not be as good. I'm guessing he's saying that's taxing him and taking some
of his energy away. I would say last year was his best year defensively as a Clipperdge, would you agree with that?
I wouldn't disagree. I mean, it's hard to put into context like his defense because I don't mean this in a negative way. He's not a positive defender, so like there are lineups where they have to insulate him to where he's not being taken advantage of quite a bit
as much as other teams would like. I'm not sure if having more playmaking responsibilities would make his defense worse, only because I think he's surrounded by more defensive personnel on this team as opposed to last year's team with a Derek Jones, with a Chris Dunn, with guys with a Nico Batum, with guys like that that can at least take some of that burden away in those lineups.
Good answer, and we have something from Shanina Shakes saying I was there both to pictures today. I saw him and he had great energy, so we double source it now moving along, James Harden was next up at the podium. He mentioned being more aggressive as he was asked about his role this season without Paul George. I don't think that's going to be a problem for him. He talked about how being home and leaving a legacy here is
a big deal to him. He wants to play here the rest of his career and also make people believe in this team because he's been on other teams before that were doubted and he got them believing because he is a system and he can raise the floor and during a regular season, there is no doubt about that. But he was asked about style of play and how much you know, he has to have the ball in his hands versus other guys for them to really achieve
the best version of this Clippers offense. He did say, it's going to involve.
Me a lot.
It was funny because he can create shots for himself and get others involved. And he mentioned how Luka Doncic plays the same way and just got his team to the NBA finals. Are you under the belief that the heliocentric style or play with James Harden can be a winning formula at the ultimate level in the NBA?
Still probably not to the degree that the Clippers would hope because of his you know, he is what thirty five now thirty six?
He's thirty five, now, that's a lot. In the workloads he had in Houston in basketball years, he might be closer to thirty eight thirty nine just because of how much was on his plate on an every night basis and the amount of minutes that he had and the amount of games he was playing. But what I will say is he's not wrong. You know, for as much as we you know, kind of poo poo on the Helio centric Syle offenses, for better or worse, they are very successful, if not just in the regular season, but
also in the postseason. I think we sometimes forget the James Harden Rockets really only lost to the Dynasty Warriors and.
The best team maybe of all time.
Yeah, like there is that context. They took them to seven games and had a real chance of winning that game seven if one of the worst three point shooting performances of all time never takes place. So twenty seven straight misses, I don't think he's wrong, But I also excuse me. I also acknowledge he's not the player he used to be. I think he kind of acknowledges that too, where at times he can't uptick the offense like he
would like to from the past to now. So I think there is going to be a I have to be a little bit of a marriage between the player that he was the player that he is now and the players that the Clipper. The player that the Clippers need on a night to night basis, especially when kawhi' is not there to help share the workload.
I like what you said about coming out of the season, getting out of the starting gates fast strong. He said, quote, don't get time for patients, Gotta get to it now.
Got to get off to a good start, make our name and presence fell from the beginning, and also mentioned how we have to hang our hats on our defense, and then mentioned Jeff van Gundy and how much he's meant to him already putting notes in his locker of goals and what he's looking for from James Harden and he just really liked the way he's already challenging guys and how detail oriented he is. I thought that was really interesting.
Yeah, I asked him specifically about Jeff because I have been working on a larger form piece and so I've been asking some guys you know, about him. The hardened
answer about JBG really surprised me. I would never have guessed that that was something that was already taking place, And I found it very interesting how even something as simple as Zach can kind of get James to buy back in on the defensive end even more to where Jeff is able to kind of get through to him with these little notes, and James said that that's something that hadn't happened for him in a long time in
his career. You mentioned it happened before for him, which I'm kind of curious what other coach had done this for him, and probably not, Yeah, probably not D'Antoni. So I'm curious what other coach had done it for him. And I'm kind of curious, like if from talking to players and talking to personnel, a lot of people are
very excited internally about the Van Gundy higher. They They've to a person talked about the energy, they've talked about the different schemes that they're talking about and trying to implement, and a different way of doing defense, uh with Jeff's ideas. So I'm very interested to see how they go about
doing all of this. But I can say that James is not the only one excited about the JVG hire, and with the way that Jeff has been able to get through to some guys, which is I guess on the whole, is really fascinating to me that Van Gundy's already assessed and found different ways to get through to different people and know that, Okay, this guy needs this this, but this guy over here, this is how I need
to approach talking through defense with him. It's a very fascinating concept and kind of shows, you know, even though he's been out of the NBA coaching sphere, so to speak, for about twenty years, Jeff Van Gunny still has it at least, you know, before the season gets underway, and.
He's like customizing his messaging right now to each unique individual player out there. As we move into talking about Kawhi Leonard and get the injury update straight from the horse's mouth with him speaking about it today, did you think there was anything to the way James Harden was talking about it when he said, quote, Kawhi just needs to take his time. We need Kawhi later in the year and healthy. Whenever he's ready and available, he can
just take his time and join in. Did you read anything into maybe him giving away where Kawhi could be at.
I guess I could see that. I could also just see it as like the kind of speak that someone does where it's like, hey, whenever so and so is ready, we're we're gonna be here. So you know, it could just be something as simple as that. It couldn't be. I mean he could have given it away, but also could just be the simple hey when you know there's I took it more as like there's no pressure on him. We don't want him to put pressure to get back right away if he doesn't feel that he's ready right away.
Did you take it as I got this? This is kind of my now.
Yeah, So what I will say is I think there's been a slow changing of the guard, so to speak, in this is still Kawai's team an organization, Actually, this is still Kawai's organization. I think it's James's team where he's gonna be the guy who, basically on a night in, night out basis, he's the driving force there to take his queue on things.
Yeah, I've disagreed with Chuck and Will on clips and dip regarding who's going to average more points per game. I still think it's going to be Kawhi when they're both playing, He's going to get up more shots, but James Harden is likely to be the much more available
player out there. So you can say when you're the catalyst for the offense, when you're setting the table out there you have a bigger impact of what's going on, and you're going to be playing more minutes and that is a huge deal for this team that has lacked availability for years. But James Harden for the most part, knock On Wood has been a healthy player in this league,
but is at the age of thirty five now. So let's move on to Kawhi, who talked about how everything has been going great, you know, the past month, but quote, they are being very cautious, you know, for reasons in the past, I haven't been able to finish some playoff runs, making sure to stay healthy for those important moments. Unquote.
Do you think this is more about them just exercising an extreme amount of caution right now because the knees in a good place and they just don't want to do anything to disrupt that, and therefore even drills and training camp are out.
Yes, I also view it as an organizational mantra internally for them. I'm not saying this is how they view it, but like this is how I look at it from their perspective. I think they've realized they can't win a title in October, but they sure can lose one if he's not ready to go, and they rush him to get on the court early, and then something more catastrophic transpires and then he's just lost for the year. And I think they've had no qualms about what kind of
roster this is. They know it's a roster in flux and in transition, and that there are holes that they're trying to patch. But I think they believe that this is a team that can have a winning record. Tie and Frank talked about it last week. They take great pride, you know, you and I talked about it. They take great pride in thirteen straight winning seasons, and I don't think they want to jeopardize that by Russian Kawhi out
there and he's not ready. I think they want to make sure that he's good to go before they even think about risking him with anything serious.
I think it's wise to err on the side of caution and extreme caution when it comes to Kawhi. Leonard who was asked a question by Ohm Young Masuk of ESPN regarding on if this is something you're going to have to manage for the rest of your career, and he said something to the effect, Actually i'll quote the first part because after that the microphone cut off, but he said, uh, yeah, it can get that way, but there's not really my cuts out. I don't know everything
else that was said. It was kind of paraphrase by Oh, but the gist of it was, it sounds like this could be something these flare ups that are needed to be taken into account the rest of his career and the way they go about Is that how you interpreted it.
Yeah, So the rest of that quote was him basically saying they got a sense of how it got to that point. So I, in total, I took his presser and I understand why some people took it in like a doom and gloom way of Oh, he's heard again and he's going through all this stuff. I kind of interpreted the opposite way, which was I think he finally found some clarity to what the issue was and the ways to manage it to get him on the floor and have him be effective more than he has in
the past when something like this is crept up. I do think they've kind of found you know, they've made They've made their way through the wilderness, so to speak, of this injury, and I think they're coming out the other side and try and finally understand the everything into taking care of this injury and managing it for as long as they can. So it's a really delicate balance because obviously we know him he wants to play. If
he's even eighty percent, he wants to play. Like there's not a guy who likes to I think there's this negative connotation of Kawhi where he just doesn't want to play basketball. That's not the player that he is. He loves to play and his body at times has failed him. And yet I kind of think that he's found some level of comfort in knowing they might have actually found a way to turn the corner on this and at least make him get on the court more, and which is what he wants.
Is that what you kind of gleaned because you asked him about is there any sense of relief right now? Is that right?
Yeah? I asked him if he was any sense of relief, and you know, like he kind of ended up talking about how there's a lot of things that go into it and a lot of things that we don't see, you know, and if you talk to people and the work he's doing off the court, you'd get like a better understanding of it. I generally think that we lack the critical understanding of everything he goes through to even get to the point of potentially playing, and there's everything
he does to actually play. So there is a seriousness that they've taken and undergone with this injury. And I do think there is an actual relief not just with the organization but with Kim in that they have potentially found something and how to manage this going forward.
It'll be interesting. And that was hopeful. That answer he gave you, I thought was good to hear. I also, going back to the last two years at media day, thought he looked noticeable leaner for this time of the year. I thought he looked five to ten pounds leader did did you see it that way?
Yeah? He didn't look as I would say bulky. He didn't look as bulky as he has in the past. I remember, was it two years ago when he first came back. That was actually kind of scary to.
See when said he looks big as hell. Yeah, he looked.
He looked massive, and it actually turned out to be a bad thing. I think I think athletes have thought of like putting on muscle as like the best way to get ready for the year, but in a weird way, as kind of like Jamal Crawford and Kevin Durandam show him like there's there's a different type of in shape, like you can get in shape but not be like super muscular. To define that, I understand with Kawhi it's a little bit different from him because he is a
very muscular guy. But I think there is a point of no return and you know the point of diminishing return with too much muscle, and two years ago I think he reached that. He then toned back to start of last year's camp, and I think he's even toned back a little bit more for this camp. He did look slimmer, which I did notice. I thought it was very interesting.
Yeah, I thought he looked closer to almost Toronto Raptors Kawhi Leonard, because he has gotten stronger each and every year. You look at old tape with him with the San Antonio Spurs, even justin twenty seventeen, like he's so much leaner than he is now. And I'm not saying, oh, that's contributed to anything. Guys naturally get bigger and stronger typically as they get older. But it was noticeable that he had dropped a couple of pounds. We're guessing that's intentional.
This is somebody that stays in shape year round, stays in elite athlete shape year round. It's not like exactly like the rest of us. Did you make anything of him talking about his mental without Paul George out there and saying, quote, for anybody I'm on the court with, I don't look at him to be my savior. I take it in my own role and own challenges. I have to face each and every game, you know, go
in there and try to dominate the game. Did you see that point as Paul George, Because at one point, I mean, he kind of clarifies that, you know, for anybody I'm on the court with, he took it outside of just Paul George.
I think so this is the second time I've seen him say something similar, like of the same vein because at Team USA he was asked how much will be on him to lead the team now that Paul George is gone, and he said the same as it was last year, it doesn't change. So I don't think he'd used it as I'm sorry, my dog is trying to be the star of this show.
Right, that's all right. So there's got some dogs too out here.
I think he looks at it as business as usual, like it doesn't matter who's around me. My mindset, my process physically mentally on the court does not change. That's how I kind of took it. I get why people might take that as like a shot against Paul George. I just took it as like an like an internal mindset viewpoint that he has of himself.
Yeah. I saw it like that too. Let's move on to Big Zoo meets the Zoo boss talking about the new contract. Feels like it's home here. He's been here for quite some time in Los Angeles, going back to his Lakers days, and he did say he sees an increased role on offense, said quote, I'm pretty good in the post down low, getting to my right hook, especially. He talked about needing to ask for the ball down low, more punishing the mismatches and taking another step next to
James Harden because now they have a training camp. What's realistic and feasible with those those two working in the pick and roll when you compare them to some of the partners James has had in the past working with him in that area.
Zoo's gonna be an interesting case study for this upcoming season, I think, because in theory, Zoos should get probably a third of the touches that Paul had last season. So like that's a big bump for Zoo specifically. I don't think it's crazy to envision a world where it eats. The Zoo bots is averaging fifteen and eleven, you know, and is actually a very focal point of the offense
he he has. Last year when James came, there was a little bit of a I guess a learning curve, so to speak, between them, but they found it out very quickly and they talked about it all throughout the season. And I honestly think that James might be Zoo's biggest supporter because I think I think when you end up looking at Biggs around the NBA, a big like Zoo is very valuable, but we only view him in the traditional sense, and with Zoo like he's a rim protector,
he's a rim roller. Andy is a post threat. That's a very valuable guy in this era of the NBA when you need spacing. And I know that sounds weird to say, but I mean that because Zoo will draw attention in the low post and then he could find guys you know that are open after that. But he's also a great screener and that's what James needs out of a pick and roll partner and their ability to play the two man game. And Zoo to find his floater was such a major boon, and I'm actually very
excited to see what Zoo can do. You know, we talk about guys who look like they slimmed down. I think Zoo slimmed down a little bit. He looked very much in shape. I think playing the summer to try to get croatianto the Olympics was a big deal. So he looks in great shape. He looks ready to go.
Jonathan Ings says Zou said that what he expects for his role this year is no different than what the Croatian national team asked of him. That's not exactly what he said, but he said, quote, that's how I play with my international team. Get a lot of touches in the post. I don't think he means he's expecting to get the same amount. He's saying that. I am used to it, so it wouldn't be a big adjustment for me. Should I get more touches down on the right or
left block. He talked about also being more of a leader on this team, and you kind of have to be when you're a big man and you're guarding the basket and all that mentioned communication now and the perimeter has to be better, so he can be better when it comes to being up to touch and hedging more and letting guys know when he can't guard someone one out on the perimeter and asking for help.
So, you know what's interesting. You know what's interesting. You mentioned the leader thing. That's one thing I wanted to ask him today that I didn't get to ask him. He's the longest tenured Clipper, and I wonder if that comes with a certain level of inherent leadership built in where you are. You're the guy that's been here the longest, You've seen the most I under maybe maybe not. People go to you for everything that they're curious about. But
he's seen more than anybody with this Clippers team. He's experienced the heartbreaks, he's experienced the wonderful wins, you know, and and all this stuff. And I kind of wonder if that means he he takes on a larger leadership role with PG gone with the rust on and you know, we don't know kind of really Kawi is gonna be ready opening night. I know Kawai said the plan is for him to be ready opening night, but he also said that's how he thinks, rather than that is exactly
what's gonna happen. Yeah, day by day, But I really do view Zoo as a potential impactual leader for this team. So I'm really curious to see if he takes on that vocal leadership ability, especially because he is the defensive anchor.
Yeah. Uh, you want to enlighten people on the contract with the Visa Zubots and how they can't trade him at all this year?
Oh yeah, Okay, Zoo can't be traded because he signed his contract. Was that a couple weeks ago now? So uh, he's also going to be traded six weeks after he signed his extension, which puts it after the trade deadline, So he can't be traded this season if he's a zubotches the one guy this season with the Clippers who effectively literally cannot be traded, even if he went to them and asked for a trade, he can't be traded.
Weep zoo haters, you casuals. Let's talk about a tomb now. He mentioned coming back once again because of coach lou. This is the guy who revived his career, as he says, saved his career. He joked, don't expect me to score twenty five per night to make up for the loss of Paul George. He believed they got more athletic. He mentioned we got the one and the two, meaning Uno and Dose. With two top guys in Kawhi and James
Harden they can rely on. But then he also mentioned Man's role will expand because he's been a big fan of Terrence Man, who will talk about also here only Buttomb. You know, we'd be talking about him, but he's only talking about other people, Like he's so selfless. I'm trying to talk about Patune, but all he did is talk about other guys and how much he loves being a part of this organization. So I guess we can jump right past him to Terrence Man. Love the Patombs. Thank
goodness they're back. Man look jack to me, not in a beefy way, but in a shredded way. He looked like damn ramble with that bandana on as I was reviewing some of the tape earlier. Did he look stronger in a more shredded way? To you?
So I only saw Terrence from up close one time, and I wasn't I wasn't in the room when he did his presser because we were interviewing somebody else. But I will say that he did look bigger. I know there's been pictures or pictures but video of him doing all season workouts for like the shooting drills. His form looked slightly different too, in a much more fluid way. He doesn't appear to have the same uh dip that he used to have on his threes when he would
catch it and go up. So I'm actually curious if that's been like a focal point for them. And I'm curious to see what the added muscle does for him in terms of uh like efficiency as a shooter, because that can come into play as we've seen, like I know someone in the chat mentioned earlier two years ago, amre Coffee came into the camp really jacked and and it messed with a shot and we've we've actually talked to Amir about that, and he came in last year
slimmed down, talked to a mirror again today. He's once again lost a couple more pounds coming into this camp, but.
Forgot man coffee.
Yeah, I think I think Amer's gonna have a good role on this team this year. But with Terrence, you know, I do find it funny that he has such a big fan in Nico specifically, because I do think there is a lot of them in each other where. If Terrence could just get a little bit more of Nico's willingness on catching shoots, I think he'd be the perfect role player for the Clippers. Not to say he's not a good role player for the Clip, but like the
absolute best fit for what everything they need. But Terrence has a big year ahead of him. He still can be traded with his contract, obviously because of the CBA. I think the thing was one hundred and twenty percent raise. If it falls underneath that, or it was like within one hundred and twenty percent of the average NBA salary, If that was his extension, then he'd still be able to be traded. Which it fell into that category.
Not on him gone, But I do want to ask you how tradable do you think that contract is? How team friendly is that. How do you think the league views that contract?
I mean, I think it's a positive contract in the context that you know he's going to be twenty eight in about two weeks, so that contract runs him through his age thirty one season.
It feels like a deal to me.
You're talking fifteen and a half a year or thereabouts for a guy who's going to be in his prime in his salary cap that is ever increasing, which by the final year of that contract, if you go off just cap projections, he's eight point three percent of the salary cap, which is nothing. And I think that is the thing to keep in mind going forward. Is the one thing Tom Mayre and I have talked about this quite a bit, which is, I know it's really hard for people, and I still have to learn how to
do this. So believe me, you guys are not alone if anyone does this. But we also have to stop looking at the actual numbers of contracts and start looking at the percentages of the contracts. So with Terrence, this not this season, but the first year of his contract extension is twenty twenty five twenty twenty six, that's only ten percent of the salary cap. If Terrence Man's making
ten percent of the soldur cap, that's perfectly acceptable. And I don't think anyone should ever have a problem with a positive role player only making ten percent of the cap.
No.
I think when you frame it that way, when you look at the percentage of the cap a contract is taking up, that's the appropriate way to go about whether or not it's a good or bad contract. But continue with what you were saying about Terrence Man, the shooting or other ways he could develop.
I guess yeah, he He's got to be a much more willing shooter. I believe last year he averaged three point nine three point attempts per forty minutes, which is not a lot. I understand like the volume is an issue. Over his last fifty games, he he shot forty four percent on threes, but he averaged two and a half three point attempts per game. He needs to up that to at least four attempts per game, most likely five.
In fact, if he's going to get the minutes workload that we kind of think he will, he's got to be a very willing shoot. I was talking with someone today at the arena about him. On the developmental side of things, and basically they're trying to work with everybody, not just terns, but with everybody about the mental aspect of shooting that it's okay to just shoot it, like
it's okay to shoot and miss. Like you, there's no such thing as the perfect shot, and usually the first shot you get will probably end up being the best shot you can end up getting. So you need to take them when the opportunity presents themselves, and they've been trying to work with guys to overcome the mental side of Okay, maybe I can pass this and get a better shot, when in reality that's unlikely. So all in a lot of ways, it all comes down to that.
Yeah, it's just confidence. It's just him being a willing shooter. And I think justice is just gonna come up or come down to him getting off to a hot star. If he starts. I don't think there's gonna be any problem with him putting them up. It's if he starts another year cold like he did the last two, then you could shy away, but hopefully he's over that. He just stopped forty four percent. It was the last fifty games of last season he was at forty four percent.
It was the first twenty one where he really struggled and was shooting about twenty one percent from the field.
There, Jones Junior, I remember I remember you and I because I was in Utah in December. I remember you having me call in for the pregame and we went over how poor he was shooting the ball, and how uh he'd gone off to a slow start the year before, and then how he turned it around very very much like how Pat Bev used to always end up doing when the calendar flipped. He would always somehow turn it on. Never made sense, by the way, but it always happened.
I think Paul George needs a little bit of a nod for his leadership in this one area.
He said to.
Man twenty twenty four, we're shooting the shit out of the ball.
He did, and he did, like I remember that game in Utah, he knocked out a couple of threes, and it felt like that might have been the start of the turnaround. But then he obviously he had a couple more little slumpy weeks after that, but then he turned it around. And I don't think we can underestimate how much the ankle injury at the start of last season really might have affected him in that department with lyft and with efficiency and consistency and everything in between.
Yeah, maybe we're grouping it together with the year before because he started slow, But the reasons were completely different between both years. The first one could have been confidence, the second one could have been just physically he wasn't there yet. Uh, let me know, because we're talking about Derek Jones Junior. Now, if this is out of pocket or not. As I just put this up on Twitter, hopefully nobody under that him to jump with me, because we know what I'm gonna do to Jones.
Don't goes for Jones, goes for Jones, goes for Jones for Jones Jones, we know what I'm gonna do to.
Am I wrong? Am I wrong for that? That's the first thing I thought of when he said that. All I could picture was him dunking on Paul George Game five.
I got no comment on that. I got no comment on that. I'm very interested to see Derek this year, though, because I think he's the biggest question mark. And I don't mean that in a negative way. I just mean like, if his shooting is real, that is a great equalizer for not just him, but the team in general.
I think the way he talked about being aggressive today, where he mentioned they haven't seen this version of me aggressive offensive mind, said that I have. If I got a shot, I'm taking the shot. If I got a drive, I'm taking the drive. Do you think it's twenty seven? We talk about this all the time with Terrence Man, But a guy can really come into his own and make a big leap still later into his career, as he's still entering his prime.
I think so because and I've learned this in sports over the you know, however many years I've been digesting them and trying to analyze them. I don't think progress is linear. I think I think we think that just because a guy's twenty two, he'll be better at twenty three, and then when he's twenty four he'll be better than he was at twenty three. It's not always like that. Sometimes there is a year that you get lost in that you have been kind of end up getting back
the level of the year before a year later. So with Derek, I think it's possible he can find a new peak, so to speak. And I'm very interested to see with him if the progress is linear, especially with a shot, because obviously there's been like a steady incline for his shot the last like two years, I believe now, especially just with Dallas. And we know the type of shots that Luca got guys in Dallas, so that might be the saving grace is the type of shots he
got in Dallas. He's very much most likely going to get similar shots here with James, and I think that is a big boost to whether or not he has any type of severe drop off from where he was last year.
And he said, quote the things he was working on catching shot mid range floaters. He knows he can dump, but he wants to handle the rock better and just be want to be.
Honest with you, if I see Derek Jones junior floaters, I'm gonna be pleasantly surprised, or maybe not so pleasantly surprised. Derek Jones junior floaters might be the one thing I never thought I'd ever see in life, because at that point, just rise up, young fellow.
He'll be jumping so high the floater might hit the three sixty, the halo three sixty. Boys.
The thing is massive, by the way, good lord, yes it is. I hope people have chiropractic appointments after being at that arena, because it's gonna be like this for like fifty percent of it.
Yeah, you mentioned talking to another player while Terrence Man was up. There was that Kevin Porter Jr.
It was, Yes, there was a scrum done with local beat writers with Kevin Porter Jr. Was the first time we've had the chance to talk to him since he signed with the Clippers. It was enlightening to some degree. Uh. He he owned what happened, and I thought it was very interesting.
Because I am what type of words you use, So.
I thought it was interesting and I'm gonna end up writing about this. He talked about the work he's done with therapy and stuff like that and how he he's worked through his up he said, his upbringing, and he specifically used the phrase and what my triggers are. So I will say that sounds like someone who's actually doing the therapy, which is a very positive development. He was also asked what he thinks the NBA is going to
do as far as fines or suspensions. He said, it's basically just in their hands and he just preparing for the season, you know, whether or not whatever their decision is it was. It was a pretty all encompassing scrum session with him. I have it as lasting nearly ten minutes, which you know, that's that's not a small amount of time that he did this. He answered everything that we
asked of him. I asked him if basically what led him to the Clippers, like why why were the Clippers the team that that he's on, And he said he had a relationship with Steve Bomber and that he had played with Steve Bomber's son back I believe, he said, in high school, so that there's like an actual relationship there between them wow Steve, And that he really like has an open door communication with Steve and that they're able to talk about everything because they're both from the
Seattle area and everything like that. So there's that is. He talked a little bit about Tie, but I thought was interesting. I asked him, were the Clippers the only team that was interested in you?
Like?
I like, because if the Clippers were the only team, that would kind of tell you what the rest of the league thought. But he said he had other offers and he chose the Clippers basically because he thinks that is where he should be with this team with this organization, with Steve at the Helm, someone that he knows on a personal level and that's where he feels comfortable right now. He also did talk about how you know, he was from the area he went to USC so there was
also that factor. So it was it was a arranging amount of topics, but he was an open book for for better or worse at that point.
And you felt like he exhibited the appropriate amount of contrition with the way he talked about the off the court issues.
I'm not gonna say no, like I think I think he understood the severity of what happened, and it does sound like, based on his comments that he is doing the work too, you know, kind of at least better himself after what happened. And you know, I guess you wait and see. Is the only approach that can can be taken, is you know, you can only take someone at their word and and their actions, and so we'll wait. What is that to see?
Because I was asked earlier here in the chat, I think, do you have any idea on if the NBA has a set level that they can suspend someone for or it could be any amount of games.
I'm not sure the set level. The only thing I would ever look at for this is the Miles Bridges situation where they both missed an entire year, and then I think they had What did Miles miss to start last year.
Was a ten games ten games?
It was like a thirty game suspension, but they basically said twenty was already served for the miss scene retro. Yeah, so Kevin, from my understanding, pled guilty. I believe Miles pled no contest. If I'm not mistaken, I could be mistaken. So I don't know if that makes a difference to the NBA or anything. But if I had to guess, and I don't like to guess on this, but if I had to guess, I'd say ten to fifteen upwards of that maybe depending on how they how they decide,
I mean, it's in their hands. Whatever they decide, the Clippers just have to go with.
Obviously, last one for you here justin but you were at the press conference last week with Lawrence Frank and Coach lou and I was a little taken aback just how effusive he was with his praise for Kevin Porter's junior on the court, not that he isn't a talented player, but he made a certain statement that led me to believe, Wow, he's really in the running for playing time this season?
Is this ty said?
What Tye said? Yeah, for us to be successful, he's gonna have to make a big impact or be a big part of that. Did that surprise you at all? And what do you think his role could be?
It's because on one hand, I was surprised, like, this is a minimum signing that you're talking about, like like and it's no little thing, Like you're talking about a minimum signing this way. That's a big deal, but also kind of not because we did see what he was in Houston, a near twenty point per game score believer in Brown's six assists, Like, there is definitive talent there. And I don't think it's too crazy to see KPJ twenty twenty five minutes a night. I don't think that's
too crazy. I you know, now, now whether it comes to fruition is a whole nother story. So I'm on one hand, it was it was crazy, and on the other hand, it also made sense to me. I think I think they buy into the talent. They sure for sure buy into the talent that he has. It's whether or not everything else, whether the suspension, anything else arises, whether there's you know, a big learning curve for him in this organization, something could arise. But they believe in
his talent. I think I think their thought process is talent at the end wins out, and that's kind of what they're going with.
He is Justin Russo at Fly by Night K and I e s where he finds him. Subscribe to his sub stack which is just starting up. Now there's a paywall. There's a reason for that. Did you just hear how he laid out that situation with Kevin Porter Junior And you're writing about this for your next piece now.
Justin, Yeah, yeah, it's gonna be one of the next few pieces. That all right, because like I said, he talked for nearly ten minutes and he answered everything. It wasn't like he just was like, oh, I'm not going to talk about that, or he talked about it and you know, God gave ten minutes of answering questions. So we'll see.
Well, I look forward to the column and future columns from you will all season long. Get on board with Justin Russo Rousseau. Like I always like to say, Russo just russo Sicilian?
Is it?
What?
What?
What's the latalion Italian?
As I tell people, if there's a vowel for the for the final letter in the name, just guess Italian. I can't really know. Wrong.
Well, I appreciate you doing this. I know you've had a long day. You put in a ton of work and.
I've six am.
No is that?
And I was I was in a car for like five of those hours.
How long was your drift into Uttel? Where the hell were you coming from?
So? Uh, I had to pick up I hope he doesn't mind saying I picked up till mayor just because it's easier to carpool and I dropped him off at the airport.
We just assume you guys rolled together.
So listen, in this economy, we're trying to save money. I got no problem.
So he couldn't bring you on the plane as a stowaway to Hawaii? How dare he?
I know right, I could have saved even more money. It was about an hour and a half all told, from my place into it and getting there, and then there was like the little Lax sidetrack and then from Lax back home. For me, it was about an hour and forty hour, forty five minutes. So I was been in the car a lot, and I I'm not looking forward to the four or five quite a bit this year, I can tell you that much. There a lot of over to Boulevard, are.
Getting used to it. It's a different trek. But happy to go to the new home, the first home for the Clippers. Knee into it Dome. It was good to see you today, Justin. Thanks for coming out tonight here.
Brother, No problem for Justin Rousseau.
I met am Oslin. I appreciate everybody in the chat. We'll talk to you tomorrow. I think I got Noah Eagle and then Carlo jimen is on from Hawaii later tomorrow night. So two shows daily right now here at Clipper Stock.
Talk to you then,