You're tuned into Heat Check with Trystal Quick.
On this episode of the Heat Check, It's our free agency preview show.
And not only do I catch you up.
On what you need to know when I'm joined on this episode by two special guests, Keith Smith, friend of show from Spoke Track, and a legend Tam Favalli. I don't know why I said, Tan Dan Favlli of Bleacher Report and the Hardwood Knocks podcast. Get it, Hardwood Knocks a whole lot of information that you need to know heading into free agency weekend.
So Nick, do me a favor and drop that motherfucking beat. They should be Rihanna.
So the new CBA is officially out, and it is nearly six hundred pages of glory and folks, it's not exactly what I would.
Call player friendly.
There are punitive measures in place to make sure two Hammer owners pause who repeatedly surpassed the luxury tax, which is now tiered.
By the way, going over the second apron will not only.
Cost you as much as seven dollars per dollar you spend, you can't sign buyout players, you lose your mid level exception, and you can't even have some of your draft picks. Sounds like the Warriors and Clippers would hate that even the richest NBA owners.
Are now filling the crunch.
I did a TikTok on how Joe lacub cut ties with Jordan Poole and made him the first victim of the CBA because that was a salary dump, and now Steve Bomber has done it again. By far the richest owner decides Eric Gordon, you baby have to go, because we are not spending one hundred and ten million dollars on a three and D shooter who can really only shoot threes from the corner. When a guy is that's worth one hundred billion says.
Yeah, we're just not.
That's the end of the era of folks.
That's it.
What you're gonna now see are teams, even rich teams, very reluctant to sign these long term contracts over one hundred MILLI and those teams like Phoenix, even the young players, and those teams like Phoenix who have multiple bloated contracts with older more we'll call it soft tissue injury prone players. They're gonna now live and die by checks notes veteran minimum contracts from players just chasing the rings sounds like the Lakers change isn't just coming.
It's here.
Check out social I did an explainer of everything that you need to know about the CBA. It's worth checking out. It will dictate what's happening forward in the league. So free agency is here tonight at five pm. We got to catch up. I want to get a little few thoughts down before it happens.
To get us prepared.
First of all, there's already been some extensions that have removed big names from the marketplace. We know that nas Reed sign a three year, forty two million dollar deal with the Timberwolves.
Great signing.
We talked last episode about how that meant that the Wolves had ninety million dollars tied up in three centers, and what that really meant was that key Cat had to go. But after that we had another one. Harrison Barnes returns to the Kings on the three year, fifty four million dollar deal, which I think is pretty much
a good thing for both sides. Harrison Barnes very steady, could play great defense, can shoot threes unless he's playing against the Warriors, and it's pretty cheap three years, fifty four million dollar deal, way cheaper than say somebody like Jordan Poole for the Kings that helps them continue to evolve and get better, and I think both sides are probably happy.
Here.
Nikola Vucevich signed for three years and sixty million.
With the Bulls, and you could say he's.
Not worth that much money.
And I could understand why you would think that, because even though he had his statistically or actually what you might think was statistically his best year, it was identical to the year before that, where he was in many people's minds, absolute trash. But if you were to lose Vusovich and you're the Bulls, you have no one else that you can sign. You can't replace that money with
a serviceable player of his caliber. You would have to find someone for much less money who wouldn't even be close to the type of player the Vusevich was.
So this is the CBA biting teams in.
The ass and makes you make decisions that you really don't want to make, which is, listen, we only have so much to spend and sometimes you can only spend it on certain players. Goga but Tatzi remember him. He was the one who got in a fight during the Olympics.
I think he got his ass whooped.
Actually, he got his option picked up by Orlando, as did Miles McBride with the Knicks.
Jared Vanderbilt with the Lakers.
Good for Vando, Xavier Tillman with the grizz Alec Burks with the Pistons. Good for Alec Burks. I guess his option was ten and a half million dollars. Does seem like a lot for Alec Burks. How do I know his name is Alec and not Alex?
I mean only only.
The deep of the deep know that.
Jordan Clarkson, That's how Kiloki and niche is.
Jordan Clarkson exercised his.
Player option to stay with the Utah Jazz. Kelly, that's just crazy, that's crazy. Remember we thought Jordan clarks would go. Maybe he's gonna wait till free agency. Kelly, Olynox and Taylor Horton Tucker. Not Taylor Horton Tucker, like some other people might think his name is meaning three players are returning to the Jazz. Now three players I did not see returning. Josh Hart picked up his option Joshua Hart. That is twelve point nine million dollars with the Knicks.
An additional Villanova of Wildcat Dante DiVincenzo may also be coming to the garden.
Oladipo picks up his.
Nine point four million dollar option.
Listen, uh, that is not news. This man has no knees, He has no ligaments anywhere in his lower extremities. So if you can pick up nine point four million dollars from anyone, you better take it, baby, and you better run because you were getting the vet minimum anywhere else. There were a lot of players that had their options declined as well, making them free agents. Portland passed on Kevin Knox in part because he was the admin out.
And you've got the.
Lakers declining ten point five million dollars on Mobamba, sixteen and a half million dollars on Maligue Beasley, just too much for the Lakers to pick up. May bring him back for less, but we'll see. We'll see how that goes. Some people thought that maybe Herb Jones would test things out. The Pelicans declined the one point eight million dollar option on him, So what happens next. Nothing. They declined it so that they could lock him up long term. Of course,
they want him, probably for the rest of his career there. Likewise, Torrian Prince had his option declined by the Wolves and found out on Twitter from woj pretty much like all of us. But they also want to bring him back. So that's a fun, cute, adorable story. Three high draft picks. Former eleven pick Michael Corter, Carter Williams so I barely remembers in the league, Former number eight pick Jackson Hayes.
Remember Jackson Hayes had a moment when he tried to knock that door down in a domestic dispute, and former number seventeen pick Nikaile Alexander Walker from Minnesota all waived. I think two of those players actually were drafted by New Orleans, so good job, David Griffin. So now that we're up to date, I'm gonna go over ten free agents that I'm interested in and what they might actually do in the next twelve hours.
James Harden first up.
We all thought maybe James Harden would either go to Houston and they would pay him an ungodly amount of money to sell tickets for Tillman Fertita, a man who only cares about the shrimp fourt and the Dalla dollar bills, or he would go back with Darryl Morey and his love affair to Philadelphia in the bombshell move.
It looks like neither are gonna happen.
Harden and Sixers were so far apart on a contract that they are now looking to trade him as he has exercised his player option. Everyone is now speculating where will Harden land. We know it's not gonna be Houston, even though they have sixty one million dollars in cap space. That's not happening. They're gonna probably go after someone like Kuzma, Van Fleet, Dylan Brooks.
Why not both.
Ima Udoka can't make it more clear that.
He does not want James Harden messing with the team chemistry on a young team.
So where does he end up? The rumors are getting hot.
The Clippers seem to be the leaders in the clubhouse, and the Heat are also interested. Apparently the Knicks are interested. But once again, for the third straight year, James Harden has hijacked our off season.
Why why?
I don't know why he does it.
I don't know, did not see it coming, but hey, that's why.
It's the NBA. That's what makes it exciting.
Kyrie Irving another exhausting, exasperating former teammate of James Harden is also hijake jacking the moment full spin cycle, pretending that other teams are interested in him for anything more than the veteran minimum. Kyrie Irving, you continue to peddle those lies, you are going back to Dallas. Everyone knows it, unless you are out of your mind and you take the absolute minimum to play for the Suns. Apparently he
has been having mutual interest with Phoenix. Okay, if Matt Eshbia does that deal, someone needs to take the team away from him. Would that be the shortest tenure of a freaking NBA owner we've ever seen. It's just him and Isaiah Thomas out on the street after nine.
Months of owning an NBA team. I mean, there's just no chance that happens. There's just no chance.
PJ.
Washington, aka the victim of Brittany Renner, has been offered four years and fifty two million dollars, but he's looking for more. He's a nice little four or five small five, big four, pretty inconsistent, but he plays for Charlotte, so we're not even really sure what he could do. You'd probably get as much as said tventy five million dollars from someone looking for a wing and guess what he needs it because he's been paying all that.
Money to Brittany Renner.
Max Truce is loose to the tune of three years forty eight from the Pacers.
Is that true? That's the rumor. There's no way that Heat can match that. He don't have any money.
The Heater over the luxury text. The Heat can barely afford to keep Gabe Vincent let alone. This streuce is loose, very strange player, very tall, can play a little defense, obviously, shoot from forty percent from three. No one goes one for eleven and then eleven for eleven from three and back to back games more than Max s Truce. But he'll be missed in Miami, and I'm sure the girls will miss him there too.
Bruce Brown?
Is there any more hot commodity on the market than a twelve point five million dollar Bruce Brown after winning an NBA Finals, after being completely misused by Steve Nash, which is just the most Steve Nash move.
He is the bell the ball.
The Lakers are prepared to offer him twelve point three million, which is the mid level exception, more than the Nuggets can give him.
I don't know.
If he runs it back with the Nugs, I'm sure that will make him sad. But he's earned every penny and six million dollars. If you're in the in that range where it's either six or twelve, let me say this, it matters to you. It matters Cam Reddish. What a sad story Cam Reddish has become. I hope he sticks and fits somewhere, because he's gone from Atlanta to New York to Portland and everyone is chewed him in and
spit him out. The Blazers declined his option, and on a team that's literally looking for six seven to six nine guys that can play, defense, shoot and score at all three levels, he'd think they would maybe want Cam Reddish, but they do not. They let him go for nothing. He's one of the most confusing players in the NBA. Even his Duke teammates like Zion and RJ. Barrett said, Oh.
He's gonna be the best one of our class. They were fucking lying. They were lying.
I mean it's not I mean, listen, it's closer than you think. And that's more to do with Ion an RJ. Barrett than that has to do with Cam Reddish.
Someone's gonna take a flyer on him.
I hope he's I hope he like thrives in a place like OKC or Orlando, or a place with no pressure, a place that loves length and athleticism in a place will probably be like the eighth man off the bench, just scoring buckets. Up next is Christian Wood. He was seen as maybe coming back to Dallas. They do not want him. His agent's annoying, he's annoying. He was not well liked by Jason Kidd. He's an unrestricted free agent. Now rumors were that the Miami Heat want him, but
that's a lie. We know that he doesn't play a liquor defense. And let's be real, do you think he fits into the Heat culture?
Pause?
Oh wait, no, you know he doesn't. He's got a lot of talent. He can score, but he seems to wear hell. He's welcome fucking fast, even with Detroit. When Troit tells you you gotta go, baby, you gotta go.
Chris Middleton, he declines his option. But he's probably coming back to the Bucks. Let's be honest, Like, there's a chance he could be on the move, but it's a very small chance.
Is his knee fixing like itself, Is it regenerating?
Is he gonna be healthy next year?
We'll have to see, because when he's healthy and he's an incredible compliment to Giannis, I tell you what, they are really hard to beat. Another Milwaukee Buck that we need to figure out. What's happening to him? Is brook Lopez coming off his best year defensive Player of the Year candidate. The demand for centers would seem to be quite low, but again, everyone wants a little Bruce Brown.
Everyone wants a little Brook Lopez on their roster. Not a small number of teams who will sign him if they can't, even though he's getting a little long in the tooth now. I would love him in Portland, but it appears the Bucks want to bring him back as well. A d Rose, very sad. D Rose is coming to the end of the road, like boys to men. The last of my ten interesting free agents is Derick Rose.
He got his option declined.
In New York after being basically defade designated free agents, designated for arrival, whatever you want to call it. That's a baseball term. Most of the second half of the year he was unusable. He didn't complain, He just kept chilling, which only makes his value higher on the market than it probably would have been.
I could see him coming on the Sun, going to the Suns, a team team.
That needs a little veteran depth, somebody who can bring the ball up. A lot of teams could use a little ten to fifteen minutes of Derick Rose. Maybe a team like the Lakers or the Jazz, like I said, team like who knows, maybe Orlando wants a tenth point guard.
All right, we bring on Keith Smith spotrack who is. We could not have asked for a better day to have you on at a better time. And I actually want to start with a tweet that you put out which I think is really interesting. With the James Harden picking up the option and then possibly being traded, they're going to look to move him. You brought up something I think that's really important, where this is going to be a short term deal with whoever it's actually trades for Harden, right, Yeah.
He's not extension eligible, so this is not going to be an extended trade or one of those deals where he gets traded and then extends because he only did a two year contract with Philadelphia last offseason.
That doesn't allow him to extend, so he's.
Gonna go where he is play out the year and then being unrestricted free agent in the summer of twenty twenty four.
Wow, it's obviously interesting to see how things fell apart between Harden and the Sixers, given Keith the love affair that Daryl Mori and Harden have had for so long, Right, you thought maybe James and Daryl Morey would end their careers together. So what do the Sixers do now? Say it is a Clippers deal? Is it just for picks?
Are they rebuilding? Are they retooling?
Could we see EMBIID maybe be another Domino down the road.
Yeah, I don't think we'll see anything with EMBIID. I think you kind of refocus around EMBIID. You get Tyrese Maxi extended, you still have Tobias Harris there, and you move forward with the best deal you can and try to rebalance your roster a little bit and maybe add
a little bit of depth. You hopefully can turn James Harden into two, maybe even three guys who're going to move it forward from there around Really, what's an EMBIID Maxie core of guys who we signed long term and you put the ball in Maxie's hands more and say, hey, let's go, young fellow, this is kind of your show to run.
Now, Keith, when you look at these potential landing spots for James Harden, if he even does end up getting moved here, where do you think the best fit at this point of his career would be.
Yeah, I think the Clippers probably. It seems like they're a team that makes a lot of sense for him. They need another ballhand or Harden up until the last
couple of years, had been remarkably durable. He's a guy who hadn't missed much time, so hopefully, you know, he could come in and bring at least some level of stability to a team that you know, their star guys miss a lot of time, so so you hope for that, and they're they're what was interesting when they waived Derek Gordon, it was all right, maybe we finally found the limit
to how much Steve Balmer is willing to pay. But if he's willing to take on Harden, now, you know when maybe he's just saying, hey, we're gonna kind of clear out a little bit of room and then we'll take Harden on there. Obviously, gonna have to trade matching salary to get him. But we'll bring him in and we we'll just kind of keep doing what we've been doing, which is pile up contracts for players, and we'll let it all play out on the court.
Given the fact that it would only be a one year commitment that a team would have with him, and he's thirty three and we've seen a little regression certainly there, what would the price actually be for a team to trade for James Harden.
Yeah, this is not gonna be one of those like overwhelming superstar returns. I think people you got to come away from what happened last summer with like Rudy Gobert and Donovan Mitchell and those kind of things and think more, you know, in between the Bradley Beal trade and you know, those kind of monster type trades. So what we'll probably see, my guess is Philly will take back two three players
that are good players, rotation guys. You know, maybe a couple of starters, but nobody who's really an all star level player. I don't know that they're gonna get young talent back. I don't even know that they'll get a draft pick back. I think it's mostly gonna be Hey, we're we're taking on hard and he doesn't want to be here. We're gonna give you a couple of good
players and we'll go from there. That that's probably likely how this will play out, as opposed to, you know, one of those ones where you come away like, man, they they what a haul they got for James Harden. I just don't know that it's gonna play out that way, given the age concerns and potential injury concerns and the fact that it is you know, could turn into a one year rental.
Walk me through what the Clippers mindset is right now, because both Paul George and Kawhi Leonard are both extension eligible in the next month.
Obviously, I think Jerry West just.
Went on Paul George's podcast and said, like, it's unacceptable how little you guys all play together. You can't be only playing sixty games combined. Where are they at in the process of building this roster. Are they ready to rebuild or are they looking to add pieces for like one more last dance kind of thing.
Yeah, the interesting thing is both Georgia and Leonard or extension eligible or they can play it out and be free agents next summer. So what I think you're looking for with the Clippers is can we have one year where we all play a lot and we finally see
what maybe this team was a vision to be. And I think that's likely where this is headed for them is let's go get whether it's James Harden or maybe another player you know, becomes available via trade that we're not you know, we don't know anything about right now, and let's go get that guy. Put him in there
to fill a point guard spot. I think you're gonna see I don't want to use the word push guys to play more the term push guys play, but I think you're gonna see them be a little bit more of, Hey, we really took it easy this entire season. You got to the playoffs and you still weren't here, right, we
still had injuries. I think they're gonna value the regular season a little bit more this year, try to kind of let's have one all in, go after it type of year, and then we'll see where it goes from there.
Keith, we also found out that Kyrie Irving is gonna meet with the Suns, you know, in free agency officially begins on June thirtieth. Do you think it's more likely that he's back in Dallas or do you think that he does end up somewhere with Phoenix? And also, not to ask a loaded question here, why would Kevin Durant? I know they're friends and whatnot off the court, but why would he want to attach himself to Kyrie again?
Yeah, we'll see. You know, I don't know the answer to that last part. I have no no sense of that situation. Hit hit Kevin Durant up on two. You may get an actual answer on it. He's pretty good about replying. But I think the Sun's saying this is what I do, right is the salary cap? Like, this is what I cover and run. I have no idea how this would even be a thing. You know now,
I have said repeatedly. If I woke up one morning you told me, Hey, an NBA superstar took the veteran minimum to sign with a team and passed up one hundreds of million, you wouldn't even have to give me two guesses.
I'd be, oh, where did Kyrie go? Right?
That?
That would be where I would go with that.
But I think the thing with him is this is probably more of a Hey, Dallas, I have other options. You know, let's make sure you know you don't get cute with your offerst to me and these kind of things. I just it's very, very hard to envision any path for Kyrie to get to Phoenix on any kind of realistic trade because of just where they're at salary wise already after making the Bradley Beal deal.
Yeah, so at this point, now when you look at that Big Three, I mean, this is what we've talked about since they made that Kevin Durant trade was Sons have no depth whatsoever. Now they add Beal, what type of restrictions there?
Really?
Just what type of movement do they even have to add to this team to make them not just a contender, but like, you know, somebody that has depth that can play out an entire season.
Yeah.
I mean we're we're in like day two of them keeping DeAndre Aiden, So that means probably tomorrow it'll be that they're shopping him. It seems like that's how that cycle spins. They're in Phoenix, so I think you know what, we'll find out. You know, again, they might be able to turn DeAndre Ayton into one or two or three players if they could to replenish some depth, but mostly they're down to re signing guys and then signing players
to the veteran minimum. I think what you're gonna see them do is, don't be surprised if we all you'll get news maybe even tomorrow night when negotiations open at six pm Eastern, the Sons are signing Tory Craig to something like a ten million dollar contract, whichever w be Like, wow, that's a lot for Tory Craig. But what that does is that makes him a tradable salary down the line, because it's not so much that it's a bad contract. Jock Landale, who is you know, one of their backup
centers is a restricted for agent. They could bring him back and say, yeah, we can bring him back on the minimum, but let's bring him back in like two, you know, three, four, five million dollars. Again, remains a tradable contract and you could move him down the line. So I think that's the kind of things you're going to see with them. Then veterans, when they first couple waves of free agency go through all the cap spaces gone.
Most of the exceptions have been used by contenders. They're going to look around and say, you know what, Phoenix has a really good chance to win, and they have rotation roles available. Those are the two things those guys prize when they're in that position if they're chasing a ring. So hey, why not, you know, I'll sign up, come there. I can play, you know, fifteen to twenty minutes a night and try to help that team win a title.
So I guess let's talk about Dallas and if they do sign Kyrie Irving, what is their cap situation looking like, because their cap holds are enormous.
Yeah, so what they're They did some maneuvering at the draft to move around some money.
They get off of.
Davas Berton's contract and brought in Rashaun Holmes. That saved them a little bit of money. They can get into range again depending on how much Kyrie Irving resigns for. And that's what I assume is gonna happen, is that he resigns to Dallas if he gives them even a little bit of a break and doesn't take the full max that he can get, and that may be one more Dallas says, hey, we'll give you an extra year
on the contract. If you'll bring the overall number down a little bit and bring that first year salary down, what you could see is they could get in a range to use the non taxpayer mL Now would be tight, but they could probably pull that off. And at that point they're gonna be in on all kinds of guys. There was reporting today that they want to meet with Bruce Brown. Bruce Brown, I think he's gonna have one
hundred meetings tomorrow. It sounds like, you know, it sounds like everybody wants a meeting with Bruce Brown, including the Denver Nuggets. But those are the kind of guys you be looking at those level target guys to come in you'll play again. That's another team that can you can tell a player, hey, come here for twelve million, We've got twenty five, maybe even thirty minutes a night available for you, because we do they do have some rotation holes to fill there in Dallas.
When you look at the bucks cap situation, what do you think they end up doing here with Chris Middleton and Brook Lopez and how creative and what really could they do this offseason? You know, because you look out east and it's really Boston we'll see what Philadelphia looks like. We don't even talk about Miami, even though they were just in the finals. So what do you think Milwaukee could do here?
Yeah, I think you're gonna see Milwaukee kind of run it back for the most part with their guys. I think you'll see them try to get Chris Middleton add years on to he declined like a forty million dollar player option, so add years but bring that number down some, you know, maybe try to get him thirty to thirty five million, bring that number down, but give him an extra year or so. I think they're gonna do everything they can to resign brook Lopez. I know there's been
all kinds of rumors out there. Houston maybe wanted him, and at one point the Lakers are supposedly in on him, and all these teams didn't make sense because he's really good. He's coming off one of the best years of his career, even despite his advanced age. But I think at the end of the day, he'll probably look around and say, you know, I'm playing next to Giannis on a team that's really good for an organization that's been really good
to me. I think he'll probably resign and then from there it's just about filling out the bench as best they can with you'll probably try to resign guys like Javon Carter, Joe Ingles, bring those guys back into the fold, and they'll probably look pretty similar with a handful of moves around the edges. But that's not a bad thing, right they. I know their failure in the playoffs, and I'll call it a failure even if you're honest, well is you know that that was you know, leftist hour
tasting everybody's mouth. But that's still a very good basketball team.
Talking to Keith Smith bet MGM tonight, I just saw that we had Christaps Porzingis get introduced and seeing him where the Celtics and all that, it's a little bit it's a little weird, but then again, he was a wizard for a short period of time. What what do you think of the one the upside and the ceiling for the Celtics team and two can they afford this entire roster with some of the big deals that could be coming up down the road?
Yeah, I think to answer the last part of your question first, for them, I think for the Celtics there's a little bit of a sense of let's let tomorrow's problems be tomorrow's problems. We're a contender right now. It's almost an NFL type of mindset where it's like, hey, we'll load up and go for it when we can, and then you know, if we're we're not a contender. Who cares if our cap sheets a mess, you know a few years down the line, Well, we'll let that
all sort itself out. And I think they also have belief of, hey, if this really goes sideways on us, all these guys are so good enough that we can make trades and get out from under these deals if we need to. So to that point, I think, you know, I'm not locking it in that they're not gonna get rid, not going to resign Grant Williams.
I think a lot of people have gone there.
I think there's a good chance they resign him when things get really weird for the Celtics is next year and the years beyond to Jalen Brown will likely be on a Supermax, followed by Jason Tatum a year later. Kristaphs Porzingis sounds like there's gonna be some kind of extension, So we'll see on the court Their big thing is what are they going to do with point guard?
Right?
Marcus Smaher, for all his flaws, was the heart and soul of that team.
Right. He was the guy who made a play.
Whenever he needed to play made he would hit the floor, he'd get the crowd fired up, he'd get everybody going. So you're in a position if he's not there, you may have to do something different. So what you're ultimately looking at is you're going to be a different team with porzingis in the fold. You hope, a better offensive team, a different kind of defensive team, but maybe not a bad one. He's a better defender than he gets credit for. But it's going to be a different look in Boston
for sure. With bigger lineups, you'll try to maybe, you know, hurt teams a little bit more with size than playing so much perimeter base, which became a little bit of a failing as the season went along.
See do you think middle of the road players still end up getting these big max contracts now that we're seeing them be traded for chips.
Yeah, not middle of the road guys. I think teams are gonna be a little bit more conservative and save those for the best of the best superstars while also pitching those superstars. Hey, if you take a little bit less, we might be able to do X, Y and Z down the line that that's gonna be a thing that teams are gonna start to pitch because of the restrictions in the new CBA on those very very expensive teams.
You're the best.
Keith appreciate giving us the time. You know, it's a busy time of year for you.
I appreciate it. Thank you so much for having me.
Tan Favali jumps on with us, bleach your reports. I guess it's pretty obvious what we're gonna start with here, James Harden opting into his deal, and then he's gonna probably get traded. I mean, first we hear the Clippers and Knicks. Okay, so those are possibilities. How did we get to this point and what makes the most sense for him now?
I think we got to this point in part because the way that the NBA is now structured. I don't think stars of James Harden's age are going to get as much money later on in their careers, and so if he was going to opt out, his list of suitors was just so finite that it made more sense once Houston apparently pivoted to looking at guys who are more plug and play or maybe just younger guys to opt in, and you could dictate your destination that way.
And I think for him, the most sense to me would clearly make if you can go to the Clippers and they're not going to have to trade Kawhi or PG. It puts you in Los Angeles, where we know that he would definitely want to be, and you form a very expensive big three and not a very durable big three. But I think that team makes the most sense for him, especially because the only other two that we're kind of mentioned are Miami in New York. The Nicks don't make
any sense to me, and the Heat. I know he would love Miami and the club scene there, but I don't think him and Jimmy Butler and his practice dmen were meshed too well together.
Dan, you wrote about the ten most intriguing free agents that nobody is talking about. I'm particularly interested in your take on three of them. Javon Carter, who I think if Budenholzer would have played in the playoffs more two years ago, maybe they wouldn't have lost that playoff series, Io des Soon MoU and Johnny Utah Utah Watt Nabe, Like, what do you like about these three and where do you see them going?
Javon Carter, I do expect to stay put just because the Bucks can't afford to lose him. But he's just so plug and play, like when you look at his defense, and just a point guard who's not really a point guard.
He'll play off the ball.
I think I'm probably most intrigued by Iyo Desson Mu. A lot of people see him down on him because he didn't shoot the three ball.
Two.
Well, this year we're talking about someone who can pass keep the ball moving. Is six' five and The bulls had him guarding through his first two years in THE nba positions one through, four and now there's talk that they might just let him walk if he gets more than like five million bucks a year or. Something so if you can get him that, number even if it's more than that, NUMBER i would absolutely take a. Flyer
and you know you tell want. Then abby almost seems like he's become a mainstream free agent because of how many teams without any money are just looking at him and he makes a ton of sense as a guy that's six' nine can shoot the ball really well from three even if he won't take a ton. Of THEM and i think he's become a really a good or
at least reliable help defender from both the inside. And out and so if you're a team everyone wants winnings, In general but if you're a team that just doesn't have any money to spend and he's still got a fall in that sort of minimum, CONTRACT range i don't
know how he's on. Your list and at this point it really wouldn't shock me if some of these teams with, you know THE bigger mls or cap space are, just, like, well hey here's a two year deal that's gonna pay you noticeably more because we think that you're that plug and play into.
Our rotation do.
You think chicago ends up Moving zach levine here? This offseason and what do you think even a package would look like For zach levine and, you know a potential fit.
AS well i, do think to answer your second, question first That zach levine would net more than people are kind. OF expecting i feel like his deal has been viewed as this net negative all of, a SUDDEN and i just. Don't agree he's like one of the most valuable off the balance scores IN, the NBA and i think if you, moved him you would probably get the equivalent of at least three first round picks. OR prospects i think he's been linked To, the knicks WHICH which i do believe
makes a lot, of sense even though. They're fans don't seem to THINK that i Could see miami.
Maybe getting in. On him if they do make, HIM available.
I will say they Just, Paid VOUCH so i have no idea why you would Move. Zach, LAVINE now i don't know what type of message that sends about. Your direction if You give vouch twenty million dollars a year guaranteed and then you go and Move, ZACH lavine i just don't know where that. Leaves you and so i'd expect them to run.
It, back.
Yeah zach lavine linked To, The Knicks james harden link To. The knicks As a, KNICKS fan i don't want to, see it but, YOU know i guess at, this point a team that made it to the, Second round i'll take it at. This point if not either one of, THOSE guys i mean we saw Obviously the knicks take that, next step and they've got a good young core and they've,
got assets they've. Got picks will they be aggressive this offseason or are they going to be more in a position where it's, all right let's kind of pick and choose, our spot because they're really starting to build.
SOMETHING here i think it will probably be, the latter JUST because i think you look at a lot of the names that are, out there, and like Let's Use james harden as. An example they got to get past being involved with these guys who are past. Their Prime and harden's about to turn. Thirty four how many great years do you have left? In him and so you're gonna want to hold out for probably someone who's In
The donovan, mitchell age. RANGER younger i will say it wouldn't surprise me if they wounded up acting, more quickly just because they're not as strong from an asset perspective as.
They were even a.
Year Ago Em manual Quickly And obi toppin are going to need a new. Deals soon you still Do Have, quentin grimes but you've ALREADY. Paid, rj barrett who's probably a little bit less valuable than he was on his. Current contract your own draft picks are not as valuable now because people actually think and believe you might, remain good and then you have all these extra first rounders that are kind of fake, first, rounders, like Yeah the dallas pick might convey with The W.
Ohington, detroit picks those might.
Never convey AND so i know they're mentioned a lot, with stars but they actually don't have as strong of an asset base right NOW as i think a lot of.
People believe i'm curious your thoughts on What The cleveland cavaliers. Are Doing darius garland is now rumored to be in Trade Discussions, ryan windhore so that there's some sort of outlandish rumors going on in terms of maybe players going To, The cavs like what's their game Plan Because jared Allen And evan mobley clearly. Didn't work they were favored in the series Against, the nets are Against, the knicks, excuse me and it just really didn't vibe in the.
Playoff, ENVIRONMENT.
Yeah I Would. Darius garland noise is.
SO weird I think i'd be flabberg acid if They moved Hamm Or donovan mitchell THIS summer i think you look At The mobley allen pairing and it, works defensively but they rebounded really poorly for having that size on, the court and then it does shrink the. Floor offensively and so when we're talking about, outlandish things it's clearly not going to Be mobili and so are they Gonna Move jared allen and other stuff and maybe bring a wing.
IN there i do, think though that they're not obligated to, go nuclear like if they could just sign a wing Like A josh richardson with their mid, level exception this is a TEAM that i think just becomes infinitely more of a threat In. The east but when windhors sends up those, cryptic signals you have to stop. And listen AND so i really wouldn't expect it To. Be garland it Could Be, jared allen or if it's gonna be,
super nuclear Just The donovan. Mitchell stuff if he really wants to Get To new yorker has, already, said HEY when i get the free agency in a couple, Of years i'm not. Coming Back the cows are gonna want to recoup as much of the first round equity as they gave up to. Get him as, they can and the way to do that would be to move him with as much time as possible left on, his deal which would be.
Right now Talking To, Dan Favali, bleacher report Hosts Of The hardwood, knocks podcast, you Know the spurs are obviously an interesting spot Now with Victor wimber, yama there and they were really bad. LAST year i think we, know
that but they were trying to. Lose games is there a chance now we don't have win totals out yet FOR, the, nba obviously but there a chance that this is a team that maybe pulls in a couple of surprise free, agent moves or maybe a couple of decently, aggressive trades or just something that takes them from, you know the team last year that was obviously trying to LOSE to i, don't know maybe even just somewhere you win thirty four thirty.
Five, GAMES.
Yeah I think i think there's a chance they just get there because Wen min yama is. That good we kind of saw It when lugadancic comes into the league and he's just immediately ready and if you're gonna play him, HEAVY minutes i don't know what they anticipate his workload, to be and he's as transformative specifically on defense as he's supposed. TO be i think you immediately vault, into
hey maybe thirty eight plus. Win territory it's interesting, to consider why not go out and try and sign even one. Impact veteran maybe It's a Fred van fleet to organize your offense Or A. Brook lopez just give him the short term win fall to pair him Next. To wemby that would see significantly elevate. Their Ceiling if wemby is who he think, he is he would just be so out of character for. The organization and it's almost a little bit upsetting from a basketball fans perspective because it
feels like they're in a position to be good. RIGHT away i, would, expect however them to probably use their cap space kind of like WE'VE seen OKC and utah use there, so far where they're soaking up some unwanted contracts that are either attached to something or they're taking a flyer on a player who's considered a distressed asset himself at.
This, point yeah You.
Mentioned okase i'm curious your thoughts about the JUMP for okc. This, year obviously chet'sman with, the team the entire year recovering.
From injury They draft Case and wallace Out.
Of kentucky kentucky guards outperform their draft stock a lot IN, the.
Nba but they have now a ton.
Of guards are they maybe going to be looking to move some, guys out Like is Case and wallace kind of at the end of, The bench like what's their strategy to think for?
This, SEASON yeah i honestly.
Don't know and your point about the guards is just. SO salient i Wouldn't expect Case and wallace to play that much, right now Just, with Gidea lou DORT and. Sga there they do have like sixteen players, under contracts so they're gonna have to trim. That down maybe they're right for a. CONSOLIDATION trade i honestly don't know what's IN store a name long term for THEM that i would. Just monitor and it's sacrilegious to Suggest In oklahoma city is Just.
Lu dort he's on a.
Great contract he's just, Massive defensively and if they're ever looking to one make a consolidation trade or just open up, more time if they don't want to, pay him or if they just want to make themselves more flexible in the. Back court that's just sort of the name the larger salary on their books that they could. Potentially Move and i'm sure there are teams right now that would give up at least two first round picks.
For, him, wow damn we still got about. Two minutes where are you at With? The pelicans because we pop Up The western conference odds right now and they're twenty two, to one which is kind of hard to believe because they look so. Good, before Obviously like zion got hurt again and you worry about. His HEALTH but i Like, BRANDON ingram i like a Guy Like, trey murphy and they're still. Really deep they got a bunch. Of talent where are you at With?
The?
Pelicans though, you think, you know maybe they could bounce back next season to be a. Playoff, team yeah.
FOR sure, i, mean look they're dark. Horse contenders zion's gonna, let's say. Sixty games it's just we've yet to really see him, do that and so how do you bank on it and how do you plan? Around it they're not gonna do anything in. Free agency can you make some sort of a trade that gives you something someone that Works? With zion but also helps you while. He's
out it's a very tough line. To STRADDLE but i think if they can go out on the trade market or maybe free agency and add either a shooter or rim protector to Pair, with zion presumably you'd want both in the same Player Hashtag miles, turner still but if they can add that type of skill set to their rotation and they're able to stell you even, Relatively healthy i'm talking like fifty eight sixty two Games, from zion they're absolutely a threat to finish at or near the top Of.
THE west i just wanted.
To you You Mentioned, miles TURNER so i just wanted to like jump, on THAT like i saw That The charlotte hornets extended a qualifying offer.
To him do you think there's gonna be a big market.
For him from other teams or do you think the history will hold teams back from him because he's.
So, Talented yeah miles bridges with that felony domestic violence stuff just for lack of a, BETTER word i think teams are gonna steer clear Outside, Of CHARLOTTE and i would argue that this is a very callous way to look. At it but from a pure, BASKETBALL standpoint i think it's worse for an outside team to come in with one of these bigger money offers now than it would be For a charlotte team where, it's, like, well hey he was, our player he didn't play. Last season he's
gonna serve the balance of his thirty. Game suspension but he is a Name that i've heard people say that some really, just weird egregious things. Could happen nobody's talking about him because they assume he'll Stay, In charlotte but if teams with money want to float offers, his way he's absolutely someone who can on the basketball court move the needle.
For you, all right still got about a, Minute here so before, you go We Take james harden out of. The, equation HERE this nba star that's most likely to be traded, this offseason who would it be?
Right now, oh man that's a. Great question.
I'm gonna Say It's Karl. Anthony towns There's Just rudy gobert. Is there they've committed to. A direction you Paid. Nas reed you have so much money wrapped up. In men You let Tore and. Prince go You're Letting Niki alexander
walker go. As well it seems like they're sort of setting themselves up to be, more flexible maybe in, free agency but also perhaps on the, trade market and that just feels like the guy outside Of A james harden trade right Now And damian lillard would be, number two but that just seems destined to continue, DRAGGING out i think until around.
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