Draymond had some interesting thoughts about Klay Thompson

On this episode of the Heat Check.

It's the real component of the NBA vacation time. It's not off season, it's not free agency, it's not summer league. It's now the dead period end of July till the end of August when training camp opens.

But guess what, we still need to give you some updates on everything that's popping around the league. The Olympics are starting.

I'm not particularly excited about the direction that things are going. Why the fuck are we still talking about Klay Thompson?

Why? I don't know, but we are me included.

TNT also gets booted and absolutely left out in the cold by the NBA, and Russ finally finds a new home.

So much to get into. Let's get into it, Anthony. There's actually not that much to get into.

So I don't know why we are saying so much to get into some stuff to get into, Anthony, So let's get right into it and drop that beat.

That motherfucker beat.

It should be re honed.

So I'm I'm on vacation.

But NBA podcasters, it's kind of kind of a quiet period right now. It's kind of a we'll just put stuff out when thing's surface and then I got food poisoning. But you only really if you have an NBA podcast of like four weeks off a year post Summer League to about the end of August. It's why podcasts right now are on vacation or on hiatus.

Stephen A.

By the way, it's been gone for two months, zach Low, I don't know when he's dropping.

Another podcast, but it may be. It may be September first.

So right now I'm out in Portland with Moms dropping in the guest.

Host It is what it is.

By the way, Hey, if you didn't see those episodes, I was on three of them. H check it out if you can. I'm also trying to recuperate from the food poisoning that I got. So it's been kind of a rough stretch for your girl outside of hosting It is what it is, which was not a rough stretch that was awesome. But that doesn't mean that Hoops is all the way did Hoops is still kind of like Hoops is kind of where I am right now in my stage of getting over Sigutara probably about forty five

We'll give you an update on that.

I'm sure there'll be some scares, right Like Team USA almost lost to South Sudan.

That became a huge deal.

Gilbert Reinez was really in sense to what's popping out in that country, talking shit about the fact that they don't have any indoor chords, talking shit about the fact that the Luel Dang has these boys playing better than Team USA, and how poor of a country is, and like just negating to tell folks that they are a country field of refugees.

So like maybe you want to chill fuck out a little bit. No chill gill, Like maybe just chill the fuck out a little bit.

Anyway, they're forty three and a half point favorites and Team USA almost lost that game.

They only won one O one one hundred.

They then needed more late game heroics from Braun to escape.

Germany as well in the final tune.

Up game, so things could be a little more smooth for what seems like the Dream Team.

Here's a fascinating stat for you.

The Dream Team faced nine NBA players nine Team USA. The Dream Team with Michael Jordan and Magic Johnson and all Team USA in twenty twenty four will face eighty one NBA players in Paris. That goes to show you how things have changed in international basketball, in the talent pool that the NBA is drawing from in order to gather the elite talent that they have, and it shows how the rest of the world has caught up to the USA. Do I think the Team USA is going to lose the gold?

No? Do I think they're in trouble kind of? Do I think that the road will be easy? Definitely No. The only thing, though, that's current that I have to say is.

That the Team USA are all of them every sport, not just basketball. They may have had the worst uniforms.

In Olympic history.

It was so much like watching something from two thousand and six, like it just gave you a prep school casual Friday vibes. The Blazers weren't working for me. The acid washed jeans weren't working for me. I know, I said, they look.

Stained Apparently that was rain.

The Paris opening ceremony had some weather that they had issues with, hence the reason that Derek White was rocking a puncho. But it did look like they came from the Polo outlet mall and they were just there, like like if Polo had a wedding, what would the bridesmaids and groomsman be in? That just an awful look, especially considering the fact that Paris is the mecca of fashion avant garde pushed the envelope? All that shit were they put? Where was Team USA pushing the envelope? Or was it?

More on Team USA next week onto the rest of the league.

So, the biggest news in the NBA that I am so sick of talking about is this media rights deal, Like, are we done fucking dissecting where we're gonna watch the games?

Does anyone actually care that much? Does an average NBA fan Are they losing sleep about Amazon getting some games? I don't think so.

I know that we love Shaq, Kenny Ernie, all them boys chuck, but outside of inside the NBA, outside of that, does anyone give a fuck that's not on TNT anymore, and that you don't have to suffer through CSI Miami for the two hours before the pregame comes on.

No, I don't think so at all.

Outside of the fact that I really find this to be in irrelevant detail for the average consumer. Could anybody who's been paying attention to what TNT does with their NBA coverage even be surprised that they would want.

To say, uh, dipset like real? Does anybody? Does anybody care?

I love inside the NBA, but outside of inside the NBA, nothing that TNT does.

With the NBA is relevant at all.

John Skipper was on Pablo Torres's show earlier this week and he said that pre and post game NBA shows bring exactly zero dollars to the company that has the rights.

It's only the rights, and that's it. He was TNT. He wouldn't have even bid for the NBA.

So not even a particularly profitable situation, just something you kind of have to do in order to maintain your status as an actual television channel. So let's face it, why would the league decide to stay with an aging.

Cable company with no wall to wall coverage.

They wouldn't they have one show that they can shit on players anytime they want. The hosts don't follow the league very closely, especially Chuck. They have a whole segment called who He playfote And then you got another international media giant that wants to take this shit seriously? Who can get them eyeballs in places that they like Nepal that they've never gotten eyeballs before, more homes than TNT could ever dream of being into.

So why would they stay?

Especially if Amazon says, well, all right, NBA, you like inside the NBA so much, let's just buy them.

Let's just buy that show. What do we need TNT for.

We like the show, we like the producers, we like the host, But fuck TNT. Fuck this Zaslov guy that said essentially we don't need the NBA.

Fuck him.

I like Shaq, I like Kenny, I like Charles, I think I said, Chuck and Charles.

They're part of the fabric of the NBA.

But who you should actually be pissed off at is the guy who said we don't need the NBA. And Adam Silverer was like, Okay, then you don't need the NBA. You're not gonna get the NBA short of a modern miracle of you giving us seven billion dollars per year, you're not.

Getting the NBA.

So and then you take into a count that TNTTBS is one of the most significant chunks of the cable bill. That you have three dollars of your cable bill, and probably these cable.

Providers are like, well, what do we need TNT for.

We'll just take the three dollars off, or we'll take a dollar fifty off and we'll pocket another dollar fifty and fuck TNT, We're not gonna cable We're not gonna carry him anymore. The only thing the TBS says well right now is the March menace, and who knows about that in the long term.

Obviously, Chuck is not happy. He's He's out there spitting all kinds of rhymes. He's out here dissing everybody.

He's got fucking serious beef that he's willing to spew out to whoeveryone will listen.

He's pissed at Warner Brothers, He's mad at the league.

He's released a statement he said clearly the NBA has wanted to break up with us from the beginning, oh, conspiracy theory. I'm not sure TNT ever had a chance TNT match the money, but the league knows Amazon and these tech companies are the only ones willing to pay for the.

Rights when they double it in the future. The NBA didn't want to piss him off. And then he goes and then he says he's gonna retire. Okay, fine, that's his right, We'll miss you.

Then he goes on Dan Patrick and is like, oh, well, I'm not really sure if they pay me thirty million dollars, I'm open to wherever I've talked and by the way, I've already talked to everybody. I've talked to Amazon, I've talked to NBC, I've talked to ESPN. So retirement not really solid. I am officially done discussing this. Like we're talking about the channel the game is played on. That's what we're talking about right now. That's how you know

So are we gonna get like a full C Span situation?

Are we getting the inside text messages between Zaslob I want the inside t I want the shit that happened behind closed doors and nobody knows about. But when this meteorites done, this deal is done and the lawsuit has settled. Now we can just.

Buckle up, download a million apps and then like google.

What games are on what channel, just like we kind of always do unless you stream, you know. And this is what Camon makes when I went on the show shit and said, who cares.

Where it is? I stream this shit illegally. You know what this means for all of us fans.

Get out your checkbook because watching the NBA is now gonna get even more expensive. All right, Moving on, Clay Thompson is still in the news. Klay Thompson signed with the Dallas Mavericks four days in a free agency and.

He's still in the news. He's still being talked about.

There have been so many stories that have dropped, think pieces, analyzations, opinions, all kinds of different angles since he signed in Dallas. You would think that everyone had already exhausted what they had to say. But then a couple of things came

He said, we made an offer to him.

It's well chronicled in the fall, substantially higher than what he ultimately did sign up for.

So I thought it was.

Very fair, very fair, if not more fair, more than fair. At the time, we're trying to anticipate what the market is for him.

We're trying to be really fair to him and recognize him for who he is.

And so we did that and that was not acceptable to him and to them, and that's their choice.

But you know, to be frank and honest.

Oh my god, right here, right here, haven't even read the statement yet fully, but right here is where the shade is coming.

I promise you to be frank and honest.

Something Shadey's coming. Clay made the decision prior to the beginning of free agency, and he informed us that his intention was not to come back.

He called me and said the same things you heard at Clay's Dallas news conference. Clay is an open book.

He felt he needed for a variety of reasons to have a fresh start, less shady than I thought.

Actually, I don't know.

For Steph's sake, because this is all really revolving around Steph. Everything that all the Warriors do now is all designed to keep Steph engaged, happy add E's and not thinking about asking how to get the fuck out of there. But I don't think anything really good comes out of like, Hey, we tried to do right by Clay and Clay was being a bitch, you know.

Like, I don't think we should do that. I don't think we should be like, oh, Clay is just a sensitive pussy, you know.

I don't think he wanted to get up out of here because he couldn't handle.

Being in Golden statey boars.

I don't know if that was a good idea, Dallas, Golden State's gotta be the first game of the year.

It's gotta be or like Christmas Day.

It may not rise to the level of Christmas Day, but we are now witnessing the beginning of a Clay Thompson.

Arc that may be like.

Not villain, but like villain adjacent. And oh, by the way, Draymond Green broke his silence on Clay leaving. He said, I'm happy as hell he's gone. The reason I'm happy he's gone is because he wasn't happy anymore as a brother. I only want what's best for you, what's best for me, and not what's best for this team.

Draymond Green. Good teammate.

Actually that was a good teammate thing to say. If this team doesn't get Lori Markinen and like keep everyone, like you still need to have all the guys that you're gonna have to give up for Lori, which obviously is not possible. Like, this is a team that is looking at a high lottery pick next year, and if they're like where Dame was two seasons ago, Steph might just fuck around and be like an LA Laker before you know it.

So good luck for that, houred Ups. Moving on to some news.

From around the league. So, Russell Westbrook has now a new home. He has signed what we thought was gonna be a one year deal, but it is not. It is a two year deal in Denver, which means Calvin Booth, Calvin Booth, Calvin Booth loves himself Russell Westbrook and Michael Malone must like him too. Two year, six point eight million dollars player option for twenty twenty five, twenty six. Now you have Russ with a more or less permanent home. The Nuggets get a defensive stopper off the bench. A

To be pretty excited.

It's like the ups and downs of Russ kind of make you feel a little queasy. But when Russ is on ten, when Russ is like really good, Russ can still play. Let's talk about statistics. The defensive rating statistic is always tricky. He's statistic for defensive rating last year was one thirteen point one, which in the grand scheme of the NBA is not great. His career defensive rating is one oh six point six. But remember last year, offenses were going crazy. Refs were like calling fouls like

We're getting guys scored seventy eight points.

So when you look at it being a historic year in the beginning of the year before the All Star Break, and that it was a historic Here for offenses, you realize that Kentavious Callwell Pope, the guy that he's replacing, actually had a worse defensive rating than Russ, and KCP is known as a three and D guy. Russ's defensive rating for the year was better than Jalen Williams, is better than Lou Dort's.

And better than Dylan Brooks.

Now, for the eye test, Jalen Williams, Lolue Dort much better defenders than Russ.

Maybe not Dylan Brooks, maybe not.

Now you kind of have to have take this with a grain assault in terms of these defensive and offensive ratings, but in terms of like something I can get behind Steel's per minute sixteenth in the NBA last year, that's nothing to sneeze at, and that's something that gets you quick easy buckets and Russ out in transition, which is exactly what you want Russ in transition office Steel for a dunk. Is he gonna be able to sell wat right in and be KCP?

Absolutely not.

This is like a guy that's not shooting corner threes well in any capacity, can he be a valuable player off the bench, absolutely, especially at the three.

Million dollars a year that they're gonna pay him.

The Nuggets are in trouble though, dog like the Nuggets. The Nuggets are. I think the Nuggets are like really close to fucked. Truthfully, Jamal Murray has to have an incredibly healthy year and you need one of those young guys to step up and be something like. You need a huge year from Christian Brown, you need a huge year from Peyton Watson. Somebody, somebody needs to be good. There's another player on Denver, I forget his name.

That also, they're high on.

Julian Strawther. That's who I thought it was. Julian Strather was ballin in summer league. So he's got a step up. Somebody's got a step up.

I really like Russ.

I'm happy he's in Denver. I'm happy if that all my hope. I'm happy he's wanted. And maybe he just maybe he's not even replacing KCP. Maybe he's replacing Reggie Jackson, and for that I actually like that. Next up, we'll talk about Killian Hayes. Oh, one of my favorite players in.

The NBA to talk about. Oh my god, he's just it's just so easy. Number seventh pick in the twenty twenty twenty draft.

Isn't that hard to say twenty twenty and not like say another number after because it kind of is for me. Halliburton was in that draft. Tyrese Maxey was in that draft below him. A lot of people feel like this was the nail in the coffin for Detroit Pistons GM Troy Weaver. The time that he had in Detroit was puzzling. He had a lot of trouble adapting.

To the NBA game. Actually, his college stuff, you thought he was going to be a really nice player.

Actually, rookie year was okay, got much worse the second year. Third year he was a dead man walking. And then last year he was just getting thrown.

Out there out of spite.

Manti Williams was putting Killian Hayes out there to say fuck you to.

Our guy, and.

Jaden Ivy was coming off the bench for Killian Hayes, and it was so egregious that Calvin that the way Weaver had to cut Killian Hayes to keep him off the floor. The numbers for Killian Hayes are brutal eight points per game career thirty eight percent from the field, twenty eight percent from three, a career defensive rating of one eighteen points out. Ah, he's a cone as well. He got cut because he's not just an awful score.

He what, This man can't.

Make bunnies, and he's not making up for it by being like some sort of sniper from deep either. His three point percentage was one of the worst in the fucking NBA. No one picked him up after getting cut, which is why to me, it's curious, it's peculiar. It's fascinating that the Brooklyn Nets picked up Killian Hayes. That is a telltale sign that the Nets are tanking for Cooper Flag.

That's what they want. They signed a guy who was consistently a losing.

Player on a team that was the worst team in basketball for the last three years straight and got cut by that same team. The Pistons set an NBA record for consecutive losses. Consecutive losses. He was part of a team with exactly seven wins last year in the fifty games that he played.

So if you're the Brooklyn Nets, you're thinking should be good.

That's exactly what we want, full on tank mode.

The only negative is that during his time, I.

Don't think Killian Ays had more than one of those instances where the team had the number.

One over I think they had the fifth overall pick like three straight times.

So I don't know if that's a good sign for the Brooklyn Nets. But we move on with a very interesting story from Jeff Teague, who I think might be like low key one of the funniest NBA players in the podcast game. A lot of people, a lot of people continue to talk shit about the NASAs and Tokoumpo.

They call him the human victory cigar.

Some say he's not an NBA guy, not an NBA quality player. They say he is the exact same as Brownie James Nepotism reincarnated. But I thought this was fascinating because Jeff Teak said this about him.

Gianni's brother when we went down two, he had COVID so he couldn't come to the plane. That's why we went down to Giannis was messed up like him and his brother, Bro they got some different kind of connection. He can't function or play if you don't see his brother. I'm being for real, it's not even it's different, Bro. He was like where t A? Where tat? We in the middle of the game, I'm like, bro we in the finals, Bro played like where ta where Ta? So

That's hilarious. That is hilarious.

Some players say they bring a lot to the table outside of their on court play, but actually, I think this is real. I think keeping Yannis happy as well as keeping the vibes up matter. You can tell when the vibes are off in any scenario. That can change the entire outcome of whatever it is that you're doing. It can change a show. I've been there for good or for bad. That can change a game. That can

For like random reasons.

Indiana just resigned James Jones because or James Johnson, excuse me, because they needed some guy who could rough up players when Tyrese Haliburton was talking crazy. Eudnnis has them had that spot for five of the last six years because he was like a assistant coach that played on the court rarely.

So I kind of think I'm done talking about the NASAs.

Because he's not going anywhere, first of all, and number two, if he does go somewhere, so probably with Giannis, all right, that's all the time that we have for this episode of The E Chick.

Come back tomorrow or actually no, not tomorrow. I don't know why I said that to Today is Saturday.

Check out the feet for past episodes of many episodes which dropped unexpectedly, like those goofy ash jeans on Team USA. Do not forget the follow the e check. We aren't going anywhere. That means download, subscribe. Tell your friends, even that guy in your comments, that white guy who was like, hey you can't wrap, and say, hey you're white. Nobody's

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Don't forget to follow us at at this heat check and at Tristan crick on TikTok at Tristan crick on Ig just to underscore crick on ig and just to crick on Twitter, and also the heat Chuck