Episode 68: Bucks Win The Title, Giannis' Ascension, Lakers Rumors

that's already been happening. But yeah, doing doing well. How are you man? Yeah? I feel like we're lucky because, uh, you know, but you know, we took an off season in March last year, literally four months we just didn't watch any basketball, and so as a result of that,

everything is compressed. Like there was a seventy two to seventy one day off season for the Lakers last year, and then I'm pretty sure this year it's like seventy two days again because it got pushed the season got pushed back, and then they're trying to start right at their normal time in October. So I think we just have about two and a half months that we're gonna be waiting um in this particular off season, and like you said, it's gonna be one thing after the other.

It's gonna be free agency, it's gonna be the draft, it's gonna be Summer League, it's gonna be trades, it's gonna be training camp, and the next thing, you know, will be covering preseason games. So it's like this is gonna be moving pretty quick. I mean, you and I have discussed about what we wanted to do during the off season, you know, just for content. And the truth is we don't have to come up with too much in terms of like additional stuff, because we're gonna have

plenty to talk about. But I'm doing good. I'm excited to talk. We're gonna talk about the Uh. We'll talk a little bit about the basketball in Game six between the Bucks and Sons, and then we'll talk about Janice and what this accomplishment means for him, uh and where

where he stands at this point in his career. Uh. Then we're gonna talk a little bit about some of the crazy Lakers rumors that were going around, particularly centering around them potentially wanting Russell Westbrook or Chris Paul and then the one this morning about Kyle Lowry and DeMar De Rosen potentially wanting to to meet up with the Lakers. So like a couple of Lakers topics that will hit afterwards,

But let's start with the Bucks. So, you know, uh, what an interesting kind of inevitable and to the series, the Bucks continue to just physically maul them. Um. And even even Aton, who you and I talked about, is like they're one kind of physical presence that they had that could go toe to toe with the Bucks. Even he started to kind of show his physical uh you know, he just wilted a little bit physically as that series

went along. He was throwing up some kind of Jakie kind of soft little floaters and hooks around the basket. And overall they just continued to pound them on the offensive glass and just have more possessions and you just can't win that way. The Nix might have been the best half court team in that series, and they lost four straight games. Um, And that's what happens when you get physically mauled. But you know, did you kind of feel like that was inevitable or did you think Phoenix

was gonna pull that out there for a minute. Yeah for a second, because I mean Bud kind of switched his game planning. I thought he played a lot more Lopez in the first half of that one. Ima Phoenix was up seven at halftime. Um, Chris Paul kind of got going as well. Um, but the Bucks only had forty points, which I don't think showed well they obviously we're going to score more than that. But yeah, you're right,

they got physically mauled um Aiden. I feel like it was a little soft down low as the series went on. P J Tucker. Those guys are really physical with him. He wasn't able to get to his like little jump hooks as comfortably as he was in the beginning of the series. And to me, like a lot of people use like Chris Paul choking as like the main story of this. To me, this is Joannice elevating himself into like this higher echelon, Drew Holiday having a masterclass defensive performance. Like,

to me, that's the story. Chris Paul obviously struggled in a bunch of these games, but honest was incredible as a team defender, switching taking away lobs like people are talking about him maybe in the top twenty five now or you know, like he's put himself there because of his performance fifty points in the finals game. To me, that was the story, just being relentless attacking the rim um and just just an insane pressure on the rim.

He was even hitting three steps, Like, I don't know what you do when he does that seventeen of nineteen from the free throw line, Like what do you do when a guy of that stature is starting to pour it on. I'm not really sure Chris Paul Dennver could did anything. They're they're not there as that type of level players. So I thought that was the story. Do you see that as well? Honest and Drew kind of

taking the story away from the Suns in a center. Yeah, First for starting it was it was the best game I've ever seen you on his play um counting the regular season. He uh, he reached a level that I've never seen him reached before in terms of confidence everywhere he was taking shots. The timeliness of when he decided to be aggressive and when he did it. It kind of reminded me a little bit of Braun in two thousand twelve, where he kind of figured out this semi

transition thing. So, uh, Lebron started to really kill the Celtics in this like where the team is back on defense, but they're not quite set, and and he found gaps in their defense in that semi transition where he would

he would bring the ball up the floor. He'd be the last one up the floor, but he he would have pushed the pace enough to where the Celtics wouldn't quite be set in their help side defense, and he would just do a one dribble rip to the right and Paul Pierce wouldn't be able to stop him at the point of attack, or whoever it was that was guarding him, and he'd be at the rim all of a sudden and and uh, if you remember in Game seven against the Celtics, he had a dunk and an

and wanted a bunch of stuff in the fourth quarter in plays like that, well, Janice kind of figured that out. You know, when they would get into the half court, they did a good job of walling him up and

forcing him to take tougher shots. But he uncovered opportunities in that semi transition and where he would just they just quite wouldn't quite be in set up in their health defense, and he would just go to the right and he'd get eight and on his left shoulder and just either draw out or or get that little scoop layup and and it and it became it became it started to look easy for him. Overall, the game reminded

me of a lot of close out games. You know. Uh, the team that has their back against the wall is always going to play with the level of urgency that the other team doesn't have, especially in a game six, in a game four, game five close out type of deal, sometimes there's no hope and and that will overcome whatever sort of effort gap there is. But like the Suns had a chance to potentially bring that thing back home. Uh, it reminded me of like Game five Calves Warriors in

two thousand seventeen. They went into Golden State and they had a lead in the first half. They were up by some nine ten points, and then finally over time the Warriors started to match their effort and they pulled it away. Uh. The two thousand fourteen finals with the Spurs and Heat, similar deal. They kind of came out guns blazing to start in Game five in San Antonio,

but they just couldn't quite keep that energy going. And and eventually, like man as the Sons tried to valiantly keep that a game at the end, it was just like every time they get a big stop, they give up an offensive rebound, and then and then even brook Lopez had a little run there at the end of that game. It just like I said at the beginning, it felt kind of inevitable and uh and and I don't think it was anybody's fault necessarily, Like even Booker

who had a rough night. I think a lot of that had to do with the fact that Drew Holiday was on him the most. While Drew Holiday had spent most of the series on Chris Paul, he spent most of that particular game on Devin Booker and gave him a lot of problems. And that's kind of that's been kind of one of the subplots of the series is a lot of talk about how bad CP three has been, when in reality it has to do with match up.

He was catching most of the Drew Holiday minutes and Booker was getting p J. Tucker and was having more success on him, and Booker actually struggled a little bit against Drew Holiday with exception of some tough shot making earlier in the series. So you know, it's not anybody's fault. I just think I think the Bucks were better. And that's the beauty of a seven game series is over the course of a seven game series, the better team is usually gonna eventually find their advantages and find a

way to pull it out. Yeah, and we both kind of picked Phoenix is this in this one? And um, I think we both thought that Drew and Middleton wouldn't shoot well enough in most games, and to be fair, and Drew shot like four for twenty in one game, shot like what five for nineteen or whatever, and they both they won both of those games, which is which is kind of funny. So even though Drew didn't shoot well,

their defense was enough. But this is why to me, Game four was the one where Phoenix had to get They were up to one, they were up like double digits in the fourth and once they lost that, I think it kind of showed where the series was going to go. I think we both talked about it. The physicality would kind of wear them down, um as it got as it went on. Uh, And Devin Booker hit tough, tough shots Um, I don't think that was ever gonna

be sustainable as it went on. Um, he was eating contested pull up shots that really kept them in the game back to back forty point nights. Uh, and obviously I think he was dead tired in game six. Is something I want to ask you because they brought this up on the LFR pod and I thought this was

very interesting. Um, as the game kind of goes more towards three point shooting, and uh, usually shooters aren't you know, super physical dude, So like the gap between the super physical monster players like Joan's Anthony Davis Lebron and the rest of the league kind of widens due to uh teams kind of going towards this Mori ball, right. I

think Utah is a really great example of this. They really kind of priorities shooting and playmaking guys like Joe Ingles um Royce O'Neil is probably the most physical guy, but still he's undersized, kind of wing um. D see like the league continuing to kind of go to that because like I feel like the shooters like Bran Forbes shooter got outplayed, got Deem that's unplayable in this series.

And then you have guys like Cam Johnson Skinny dude is really good euters, but against like Yannese, it's just it's just laughable, Like, yeah, they can spread the floor,

but one little switch they're done. That's why I don't like, like we can talk about later, like the Kemba rumors as well, it just doesn't make sense to me, short guy, like do you see the league kind of continuing to go in this route or or would guys like Janice eight eight and even to an extent a d kind of fixed out a little bit where you have to sign more physical dudes because you know, Darius Saritch was their backup dude. He's not a physical guy, but you

can spread the floor and shoot um. And that that's why I'm wondering the only guy they had was eight and to really even have a chance of stopping this super physical monster dude who didn't even have a jump shot to say the least. So to DC the league kind of moving more towards that, or you still think it's going to be like still more eball spread the

floor the way you talk kind of did. At the end of the day, I'm always gonna put my money on the big physical guys in these big in these big series, as long as they can, you know, dribble and create for themselves the way that young Lebron or a d can um. I do think versatility is part

of it, though. I mean, let's not forget that the Laker shot on wide open threes against the Suns, like with the defender more than six ft away, which allowed them to load up on Lebron in such a way and on Anthony Davis in such a way that their offense got stilkered. But what was crazy is that in spite of that, they still managed to go up to one because of their physical dominance against that particular team. I do think matchups are everything, and this is something

to keep in mind. Like Phoenix outside of eighton is a very thin team. Uh, They're not. They're not a physically imposing team. Like Crowder is probably their biggest strongest player not named Eitan, and then after that it's a lot of skinny guys or short guys, and so in terms of matchups, they're a team that can get physically dominated. This is something that, uh that gave us optimism when we were picking the Lakers as a seven seed over them.

You know, at the end of the day, when you're building your team moving forward, I think you do have to have that versatility, and there is a fine line between going too much in on the size and strength to where your overall skill level is too low. Milwaukee, as a physically dominant team, had a guy like Chris Middleton who could create shots all over the floor a point guard, and Drew Holiday, who, while he was super streaky,

was very aggressive and was creating shots for his teammates. So, like, like you and I discussed, he it was kind of a coming out party for him as a passer in a way that he hadn't really had in his career. But at the end of the day, you gotta you gotta have that balance, and you know, this is something we're gonna get to when we talk about Janice. You know espeent, not not necessarily today, but when you and

I talked about ranking players. But you know, one of the things with Shack is you know, Shack was the most dominant player in the league when he was playing, but it was kind of matchup specific like if if against UH teams in the NBA Finals, against the Eastern

Conference teams, he would be physically dominant. But then you know, and some of those Western Conference UH finals matchups or Western Conference semifinal matchups, they teams were able to load up on Shack and they really relied on Kobe to carry them for stretches, even as young as he was during those playoff runs. And so that's the one thing with the honest that that I thought was interesting in this series was it was a specific type of matchup

where the Sons just couldn't mess with him. And it was really interesting to think what it might have looked like to see the Lakers in that matchup, because he would not have been able to physically dominate them in a way that in the way he did Phoenix, he would have been forced to make a lot more shots

in the margins. And and and when we get to like a little bit to talk about you honest, like, I'm really excited to see a couple of years from now what he's capable of as an audible or as a counter two teams that can shut the rim off on him, uh in a way that in the way that Phoenix couldn't. But it was super it was super interesting. And and and like you and I talked about a few days ago. I still think the Lakers are on

the right path in terms of their formula. I just think you never want to go too far one way. Versatil versatility is key. The Bucks didn't have to go to a second punch and Phoenix, but they might have to go to a second punch next year against the Lakers or against the healthy Nets and and and in that case, you're gonna have to see what they can do when things don't go right the first time around.

And so that'll be interesting to see. Yeah, and last thing on the Bucks, I feel like they found themselves as the playoffs goes on. I think most championship teams kind of do. Usually that second year after you win is like the dominant year. I think the Warriors after they won, they wanted a crazy They want seventy three games the next year. UM. I remember the Lakers when they got to the finals and No. Eight and know nine, they't won like sixty seven, sixty five games or something

like that. UM. I think they found themselves. Bud kind of found himself as a coach as well. UM. They learned when they need to go small and when they need to go big. UM. Janice had the five lineups. I think they figured out kind of how that's to where it's funny the A D and you know Jhannest comparisons come around all the time and people want to force eight into the five. Honest also is like a five to be honest, where he's where he's the best, but he's not gonna play five full time as well.

He was playing, yeah, and then as a screener, I think he really found how to be effective as a screener as well. They found pet place for Middleton, Like just the whole thing kind of came together. Phoenix obviously wasn't the best team to play with. UM. I think Chris Paul is kind of getting they had too much success early, right if they went out on the Western Conference finals, I think no one would really give him a huge choke job on this. But because they you know,

got to the finals, it's kind of a difference. But just with the Bucks, Like, I think they're gonna go on a tear next year. UM, Phoenix Obviously we'll see if Chris Fall comes back. But I just I just love that they've kind of found who they are and I think they're gonna win a lot of games doing that. So they're gonna be tough next year. I think you honest with the confidence of the title. Um, he know he no longer has to like hide who he is as a player. Um, he can kind of be himself.

And I think he really embraced that as well. Um, you could tell after he won he was really happy with this. So so we'll see. But I think the Bucks are on the Uh, they know what they're doing, and they'll be good next year. I agree with you. I think I think I think Milwaukee is going to

be a whole different animal next year. There there's there's kind of like a monkey off your back when you win a title, and uh, there's a there's a confidence, Like you said, there's a there's a slack that exists, like like extra margin for like benefit of the doubt

from the public and from your teammates and everything. Like you know, if you if you lose to Miami like like they did last year, and you go through a bad stretch during the regular season, which they did, and you and I talked about in our podcast this year about how we thought that the Bucks made the trade for Drew Holiday for the playoffs knowing that it would hurt them in the regular season because it would hurt their depth, and that Drew Holiday is a specific matchup

weapon in the playoffs. You and I were on top of that all year long, and that ended up being the right the right gamble. And the reality is that is coming into this year. If they go through a stretch where they lose to three games in a row, no one's gonna say anything. It's like the Lakers this year.

The Lakers had a catastrophe of a season and half of the experts picked them to win the title still going into the playoffs because of the fact that there's that benefit of the doubt that comes when you're a champion. And those people who were Lakers optimists were correct because they were up two games the one before Anthony Davis got hurt. But the point being, like I'm with you, I'm super optimistic about Milwaukee next year as just like

a whole different animal. I still think I would pick Brokelyn out of the East if they're healthy, but I feel a lot better about Milwaukee's chances just in general. But let's move on to honest because I think I think this is interesting because sometimes people over complicate what it takes to go to the next level as a winner,

as a superstar. You know, we look at Janice and we look at him lose to Miami, and we say things like, oh, he needs to learn how to shoot jump shots, or oh he needs to become a reliable three point shooter, or he needs to do this, or he needs to do that. Well, the reality is that's not Sometimes it's as simple as just little things on

the margins. Be honest, want to title this year, not by doing things differently, but just by being more dominant in the same things that he's always done in little things on the margins, like you win and lose a game on blocking that eight and lab understanding when you're in that drop coverage, like I have to literally sell my soul to get this block. Like if you when you watch that play, there's a level of effort and urgency in honest that he just didn't have in previous seasons.

You it's you and I talked about this all the time, the scar tissue that builds up from losing. You lose so many basketball games, and in those each one of them, you remember how you lost. I lost this game on that turnover. I lost this game by not getting back in transition on this play. I lost this game by not fighting through this screen or not blocking this slab.

And that's the way you honest did it. You honest at it by just doing by leaning heavily into what he was good at and then doing so much more on the margins defensively, extra effort plays things along those lines, and and it was super impressive and and he reached a level in terms of physical dominance that and this has been said, this is not something that you and I are saying uniquely, but in physical dominance, dominance that we haven't seen since shack to where you're watching the

play on TV and you're sitting on your couch and you're like, they can't do anything with this guy. They can't keep him off the glass, they can't keep him from getting to the rim, they can't stop him in transition. They can't stop him here, they can't stop him there. Oh, by the way, now he's making his free throws and uh. And it was just it was just a masterpiece. And

if if you're gonna ask me, like, did Janice level up? Yes, not in the sense that he's so much more skilled than he was in the last two years, but just as a winner. It's a basketball i Q thing. He just understands what needs to be done to in games at a higher level now than he used to. And it won him some games this year that they might have lost in years past, and now he has the trophy as a result, and and we all got to

tip our cap to him. It's kind of crazy, like he's only twenty six years old, but like the way he talks after the game or like after you know, with the tears, he talks like he's thirty six, you know what I mean, Like he's been through all these playoff wars already, and you know he was judged he was too successful too early, right, Like he was so good so early. People put all these um lofty kind of expectations on him. You're supposed to win the title

right away. You know, you're back to back m v P. Can you win? Can you win with the honest as your best player? People calling Middleton the batman? You know, all this stuff that was just kind of even crazy in the moment. I feel like like you talked about the free throws, hitting the seventeen for nineteen or whatever. I like when you respect the game, like the game kind of gives back to you, you know what I mean, Like he he never like stopped trying to get to

the line. He never stopped trying to attack the basket. You know, he never like even though he didn't shoot the free throws. Well, like when you do that, I feel like the game kind of gives gives the game back to you. And I think that's what happened is freed Tho started to go down. Um, but from here he can even get better. Right. He saw him get more comfortable with that turnaround fade away. Um, he started, he's getting even more comfortable with his jump shot. Like

he's so young. It's weird because he's talked about as like a like even he said, he's like, even if we don't win another one, it's okay, we did our job. Um. It's kind of crazy to hear him talk like that. But yeah, he really elevated his game. And people who have finals like that is rare. That's why I put the a D one last year in a rare form. I put this one in a rare form. People who are who put up numbers like this in the NBA finals,

I feel like it should mean more. You should get more like credit for doing it when it matters, and um, he did, so you had credit to him. But there's a lot more basketball for that guy to play like he's young, and I think that's what's getting so lost in this, Like he's he's talked about as like a complete Like people are comparing this ring to Dirk, like Dirk won his ring like super late, you know, after Like but you know, you're honest, winning there at twenty

six is just in a insane, insane moment for him. Yeah, you know, I tweeted yesterday that I thought that people don't even really realize how good he's going to be. And I really mean that, and I'm and I don't necessarily think it has to be attached to uh, you know, high level three point shooting or anything along those lines. I mentioned basketball i Q in that last thing that I was talking about having to do with the little

plays it takes to win games. Well, he's never gonna be a Lebron where he's making these like super surgical passes that just pick defense as apart. That's not gonna be in his in his you know, archetype of who

he is as a basketball player. But what he can get better at is just little reads, you know, uh, a little uh little into interpretations of a defense that he doesn't make at this point where he's going to get to the point where his little hook shot and his little turnaround and his little one like fade away are so consistent that he's going to start attracting more attention off of good shooters, you know, like there that he's gonna have that gravity kind of pulled towards him,

and guys like Middleton, guys like Drew Holiday are gonna be even more open than they are at this point, and he's gonna get just a little bit better at interpreting that, a little bit better at hitting those guys, a little bit better at reading help defense, so he knows, you know, when to go to his spin move and when to not spin back into the help defender and things along those lines, those little details on the margin, in addition to slight improvement with his hook shot and

his turnaround jump shot and his one like fade away. I know that doesn't seem like much, but that's the difference between him being what he is now and being twice his effective in my opinion, And the same goes defensively and interpreting plays and and just you know, he's he's not terrific on the ball right now. That's another thing that he can get better at overtime, just his

instincts and being better at anticipation. And because Kevin Durant kind of has his number right now in isolation where he can just get him with some shifty stuff and get him off balance and get by him. That's something he'll get better at. His time. Him goes on like he right now, he's Shack, which is crazy. And I think he's capable of being an even higher level version

of Shock, which is scary to think about. And I you and I talked about this like two or three podcasts ago, but you know, he is capable of having a seven eight year run that rivals the greats, and all he has to do is rack up, you know, a few championships in that run, and he then he's

right up there with the Larry Birds and the Magic Johnson's. Now, obviously he's not there yet, But I don't think it's asinine to say that Janice has the potential to be considered one of the greatest basketball players ever like and that, and I tweeted this a few weeks back, but like, letting him get one this year was was trouble because I don't think he's the best guy yet, Like, like we let him get one when he's not the best guy,

Just wait till he's the best guy. It's just gonna get easier and easier for him as time goes on. And and uh, I think I you mentioned this at the beginning of your last bit, but like such an incredibly emotionally mature guy. And and I I think like he learned a lot from the Crown situation last year. Like I think I think he jumped his own gun a little bit. And it's funny because he just won the title and he's acting more humble now than he

did during his MVP run uh last season. And I just I think I think he's got all the right intangibles and all the right motivation and and he's gonna be and he's gonna be fun to root for. And uh, it'll be interesting to see what the media decides to turn into the thing that we hate about j honest, because you know how that goes, We're gonna find there's gonna be some subset of of basketball Twitter that just decides they hate the guy and and then end up

being complicated. His accolades always going to look insane next to a ring, in my opinion, like he had the two m vps already, two m vps, Like go look at the guys who won two m vps as a super short list, you know, I mean Kobe each when he years has one m VP to his name, Kim Durant one m v P like that. Those m vps are I think Lebron has three, like just like I was thinking about four okay, four okay, but yeah, like those the guys who have multiple m vps is a

really short list. Um. And yeah, and he can get better at the free throw line like all those kind of things. Um, but he's a legend already. I wanted to ask you about this because he he talked about the super teams thing, and I think that was like my favorite kind of Did you see that quote from him about the super team That was my favorite kind of bit from him where he was like I could have gone to another team and it would have been

easy like that. That's the part that got lost to me is where he said it would have been easy. I could go and play my role on a super team and and and one a champion. She was doing easy, but I did it the hard way, you know what I mean? And I think that's kind of his whole brand is like this, like I've done it the tough way. It's kind of what Damian Lillard tries to sell as well in Portland, which is kind of breaking down. But like,

what did you think of that kind of quote? Did you read in and read into into it at all? Or is that just him kind of speaking as a like like globally around the league, or is it like a shot at like James Harden or something, or like what did you see anything from that that quote? I don't think it's necessarily a shot at anybody. Um. I do think that it's just a player controlling his narrative, you know, like, and I'm okay with it, especially from

a winner. You know. Lebron came out after last season, uh posted an Instagram post of him smoking a cigar, saying up in smoke season and talk trash the entire year. Uh when and When on a podcast tour, said it was the hardest title ever, all this stuff, and I don't even necessarily agree with everything that he said as even as a Lebron fan. Uh that said, you know, I don't have a problem with the guy who wins

going out and telling the story. The thing that you have to keep in mind is that every time you start talking, like every everything with basketball is about what have you done for me lately? I mean, Kauai won a championship in two thousand nineteen and then did a whole New Balance campaign about how he was coming to Los Angeles to effectively take the crown. And I'm not

making that up. It was. There was ads that had him in it that he was intimately involved in that talked about how this is his city and then he had a crown on his key chain and all this stuff. Like the problem is is when when you talk and you start to control the narrative, you have to continue to back that up. So you know, I have absolutely

no problem with you, honest talking. He just has to be aware of the fact that next season, if he falls short and gets outplayed by somebody, that there will be detractors that will weaponize what he said in this particular off season. Now, as far as the logic behind it, I don't want to get too deep into this, but of course I disagree with that concept. Like, first of all, the best player that Lebron managed to play with in seven seasons in Cleveland was Moe Williams. Okay, that was

literally the best player. And he was a player that had success in the regular season as a secondary score, but had two really bad post seasons by his standards compared to what he did in the regular season. That was the best that Cleveland could muster to put alongside him. Milwaukee, you know, are Chris Middleton in rw Holiday your bona fide superstars. No they're not, but that team has a lot of talent. Drew Holiday is capable of taking a top ten NBA player and Chris Paul and making him

significantly less impactful than he normally is. Chris Middleton in this playoff run was right around effective field goal percentage

and right around twenty four points per game. That's right up there with the Kyrie Irving type of postseason that he was having alongside us alongside Lebron, and similar in a lot of ways because he made a lot of big shots the way that the way that Kyrie did and are this series swung on Game four and five, which both were crunch time games, which both involved Chris Middleton running the majority of the offense at the end of the game. So my point is is, like, let

him talk his let him talk his ship. He deserves too. I disagree with his assessment that he had the easy way be or that he didn't take the easy way, that he took the hard way, because like he had a lot of talent on his team, and quite frankly, if there wasn't Chris Middleton and Drew Holiday on this roster, he's probably not in Milwaukee right now, He's probably somewhere else. So but at the end of the day, winner gets

to tell the story. I'm not gonna sit there and and and talk a bunch of trash and let him have his moment. But yeah, if you're asking me if I think he's being disingenuous, yeah, but I also think Lebron was being disingenuous when he said that that was the most challenging title ever. So it's just kind of like narrative controlling superstar stuff, you know. And this last thing I'll say, like everyone talks about how humble you

Honese is. Uh. I certainly think he's a lot better in the media at portraying himself as someone who's very down to earth, but none of these guys are all that humble, Okay, Like you're it's just about impossible to be one of the best basketball players in the world and not be extremely confident in what you can do.

And Steff is a great example of this. Like Steph is magnificent in the media at just being the nicest, greatest guy, but that dude is a psychopath, Like he literally wants to murder you on the court in genuinely thinks he's better than everybody, as he should. And I'm

okay with them being wired that way. But I think one of the things that I do appreciate about Lebron is he's very arrogant and pompous and showy and dramatic in the media, but that's who he genuinely is, and he's kind of just leaning into that and and and it's at least with Lebron, it's like you never have to question whether or not he thinks he's very confident or very showy, because that's just that's his personality and that's that's and he just kind of leans into that.

He's the guy that will make a shot and go to the crowd and wave his hand like this, asking for a round of applause like that. That's that's the way Lebron is and and he gets it and he leans into it. Some guys like to be very humble in the media, but then put crowns on their head when they make a big three in a regular season game. So every all I'm saying is don't don't always buy into the persona. But I say that as someone who likes you honest for the record, Yeah, yeah, And I

don't think it's home is his fake. I just think like it looks a guy who's different on the court. I think Chris Paul is into this too, right, Chris Paul is probably an asshole on the court, right, And and that's what everyone says, does everything to win, all that kind of stuff off the court, gentleman, you know, vice president of Players Association and all that stuff is just coincidned on. These dudes have to change on the court.

You're it's a competition, is physical? Um your honest? You could tell you don't get to where your honest is without having some sort of inner kind of motivation, inner kind of I'm gonna kick your ass every single night. Um, it was cool. My last thing on your honest I remember watching the document There was this documentary on him and it was a moment where like he figured out he could average twenty and ten at night. Like it

was the moment he liked. One night he had twenty and then like the next night he had twenty again. And he went to his agents and his friend. He's like, I could do this every night, and the agents like really, He's like yeah, and he went an average ten. And I think that's really awesome that he was just like, oh, I could do this every night and no one can stop me. And so he did and he continued to

do it. I think they were having negotiations with this shoe deal and it was a really low number or something. He said, Oh no, no, no, it's gonna be way higher. I can do this. I can have average twenty and ten easily. So I think that's really cool. See a guy who's consists Dan doesn't stop motors. Incredible. Those the guys that should win. Um, it's good for the league to small market uh as, I don't know Milwaukee has sixty five thou people outside watching on By the way, Yeah,

I don't know how smaller market actually is. But but yeah, it's just awesome for a guy who stayed, you know, on the super Max um and and gets the ring. So we'll see Milwaukee goes here. But it's it's a really awesome story for him. Yeah, we're gonna dive more into,

you know, where all of the chips fall after this season. Probably, I think I think we'll probably take about a week off after this and we'll come we'll come back next week and and do like some player ranking stuff and talk about, you know, how Yanna stacks up against other guys. Just today's not the day for that. Uh. Today's the day to give props uh, and and make sure that

Jannie that most of the conversation centering around him is positive. Um. So for today, we only have about ten more minutes. We're gonna talk about some of those Laker topics that that I had brought up. So for starters, are you with me? It is absolutely insane to be going to great lengths to bring in Chris Paul or Russell Westbrook. Absolute well, so for Chris Paul, I mean if he was like, it's never gonna happen. He's the president of

the Players Association, he can't take a discount. But if he came for like our taxpayer, Emily, which is like six million dollars, yeah, you have to take the half of it or whatever so that you don't trigger the hardcap to exactly. So if he came for like six million, Chris Paul with open arms, you know what I mean. Russell westbrook absolutely not. Russell Westbrooks on a super max contract, which means he's getting paid forty million dollars or something

a year. Um, yeah, that is absolutely insane, Chris Paul, So thirty six, you know, so just not feasible. Moods for this team also don't fit, like the culture of the team, which which is like a hard nosed defensive I just think, like I don't know about you, just from a basketball fit, like Lebron is going to be the ball handler when it matters. I don't want to use my resources to get a thirty five forty million dollar a guy who needs the ball in his hands,

you know what I mean? Like a secondary creator makes sense. Dennis Schreuder should have fit that kind of build, But I don't want another super primary guy when I'd rather use I'd rather feel out the roster in different ways than than do that. If you have Lebron James on your team, who was still at the not top of his game, was still at a pretty peak level of creation, playmaking and all that, you would you agree with that. Yeah,

I think you hit the nail on the head. Russell Westbrooke and Chris Paul are overqualified for what the Lakers need from that position. You know, one of the beautiful things about the Dennis Schroder experience is that even though he was aggressive, there was a clear deference to Lebron and when when when the important moments of the games came,

Dennis just went to Lebron. I I think Russ and Chris Paul in particular, their egos would get in the way in the sense that that might kind of that balance might go the wrong way to where, like you said, the vast majority of the primary decision making needs to be made by Lebron be because he is one of the best in the world at that if not the best,

And so I just don't necessarily love that particular fit. Um. And we're going to talk about Kyle Lowry and Demarta Rosen in a minute, and those two guys make a lot more sense because Demarta Rosen is not a decision maker. He's actually an underrated passer, but he fulfills a need in terms of shot making, in terms of a guy who can come in with when Lebron's off the floor, when Lebron's off the ball, and create shots for himself, and then when the defense commits to him, he can

make simple reads. But he's not a pound the air out of the basketball guy who's going to disrupt Lebron and Anthony Davis's rhythm. Same goes for Kyle Lowry. Kyle Lowry is I is, like I've been preaching this since last year's trade deadline. He's the ideal fit in terms

of what the Lakers need from that position. And then when once you factor in all the salary stuff, like you said Chris Paul as a guy who's the head of the VP of the Players Association, and then everything that comes with the Russell Westbrook experience, I just in his salary at at forty plus million a year, I just don't the type, the lengths they would have to go, the depth they would have to give up, the crazy things they would have to pull to get those guys

on board to then not be the ideal fit doesn't make any sense to me. And so that that did. I haven't done too much digging into this lowry De ros and stuff, but just from a basketball perspective, it makes so much more sense to me. Yeah, and with de Rosen, like he's a great player, great creator. You know, he's gotten really good as a pastor as well. But again, you you don't get de Rosen for like whatever that salary I just mentioned the five and a half million um.

And also like if you were going to trade, you have to trade a bunch, you have to trade Shrewder probably k CP th h T. You know, we have different feelings about HD, but like it's just it's gonna be a ton of And I'd also like them to get younger kind of in that area as well. I think Shrewder was the right idea twenty year old guard, you know, a guy with some youth, some rhythm um

into him. Um. I just think it's tough trading for already six year old cars, Like that's you're really like I have I think Ricky tweeted this, but like, you know, you have some PTSD with Steve Nash in two thousand twelve. You know Steve nash Game. I think he was thirty nine at the time. I don't remember a thirty nine, but yeah, but he was. He had a great season that previous season, you know, and they traded two first round picks for him. Um and that just didn't work out.

He got injured the first play the game. I'm not saying those two guards would get injured, but you know, when you get older players, you have more of a chance of that. We just went through a huge injury riddled season. Um and, and I'd like some kind of youth and infuse players there if they could get some getting young. I don't know who they can go after, but I just think trading for thirty six year old guards is not the move for this team right now.

Do you think this is all smoking mirrors as a negotiation ploy with Dennis basically like we're looking for a new playmaker, we're looking for this, We're looking for this basically basically sending a signal to Dennis and his agent that we're going to walk away from the table if you don't take a discount. Do you think that's what

this is? Yeah? So I feel actually think the Lakers are gonna get Chris Paul Russ Russ, right, I mean that's yeah, Like for me, like with all free agents, two rumors, there's like three sides to every rumor, right, there's one side, one side in the truth. Like there's like precise to every one of this. I don't know what's what's true or not. Did you see the Dennis Shrewder and Kuzuma were fighting all year kind of rumor as well? Do you know where did you see that?

I think Jordan's Schultz he too that like Dennis and Kuzma, we're having we're having arguments that really increased as the playoffs went on, um as the bosses went on again, all this stuff. Like, I don't know what to take for any of this stuff. Shooter obviously, I mean there's no it's no secret he wants to get paid. He wants the hundred million dollars or whatever. The Lakers are gonna offer whatever they want, um, and maybe there's a

sign and trade to work into that. But yeah, like maybe I'm sure his agent has wants him to get the most money and maybe this is a way to do it. But I really don't know. I don't know what to take from any of this. Uh, the rumors always are strange to me. I don't know where one leaves. Always these new people who you know, didn't watch a single Laker game this year. Somehow I've inside sources on what's what's going on. So it's it's a strange season

for sure. I do you know, I want to shout out the podcast because I know some of the aggregators failed too. But the Laker side chats with Alan Romits, he had who's the writer that he had on Eric Pinkas, Yeah, and and he basically brought up an interesting point. Uh, you know, winning cures everything. Winning is the is the is the attitude that that makes people more willing to deal with being unhappy in their specific role or or you know, maybe a little bit of locker room chemistry stuff,

whatever it is. And he's he basically said, like, you know, last year they were winning, everyone was willing to fall into place. This year was rocky and they lost, and everyone's a little bit less and they're less patient, they're a little more fed up, they're a little bit more irritable. Things along those lines. Well, I'm not surprised at all that that guys could be yelling at each other in practice and things along those lines. Easily the most fascinating

part of it. I mean, the Kuzma thing makes sense. I mean, if you're Kyle Kuzma, it's like you've won a title. You know, all your peers are out as the best player on their team getting tons of shots. You're stuck behind Lebron Anthony Davis, and now you're stuck behind Dennis shrewder To. He's getting more shots than you. It's it's this whole thing, right, and and and you feel like maybe it's time for you to spread your

wings and fly. I get that. This stuff with Dennis and all these other guys that came in that didn't even win the title, that's where that's where it gets wild. Is just the uh, the the unwillingness to buy in when you don't even have the trophy or the ring yet.

That's been very unusual for me, But I'm with you, Like I the Derosian C. J. McCollum type of archetype makes the most sense to me because genuinely, what the Lakers need, in my opinion, is a guy that can take a ball screen and force the defender to go over the top. That that's key. It's it's so important for a lot of different reasons because, like we saw with Dennis all season long, they went under every single screen with him because he didn't make anybody pay shooting

over the top. And half the time he would get into his little like kind of side step in and out, drill will pull up a little fifteen footer as he's fading out of bounds. Getting the defender to chase the guard over the screen is the key to unlocking the rollman.

This is something that we saw at length with Trey Young and with Chris Paul and with Devin Booker against the book, against a really really good Bucks defense, and especially when your role man is Anthony Davis or Lebron or somebody along those lines, it brings even even more

to the table. I don't even think that player needs to be a super high end passer, just having somebody that can take a ball screen and force you to switch or force you to go over the top, because a guy like c J or a guy like De Marta Rosen, if you go under the screen, is going to pull up and knock the shot down every single time.

That kind of thing I think makes way more sense in their offense than looking for a guy who's going to dribble the air out of the basketball, you know, and take Lebron and a d out of his ribb out of their rhythms the way that Rondo did. I felt like, sometimes that's kind of where that's kind of where I'm at, and so that's why I didn't. I was kind of scoffing at those particular rumors. Yeah, CJ would be c J would be a great get, kind of a guy who can shot create um, create off

the dribble. Also he can hit spot up threes as well, right, Like he's a good shooter. Um. That would be kind of the gift for me. But again, like he makes also like what million dollars a year two, he'd be pretty much had to give up Kuzma, KCP your guard, deb I think we worth it. I think I just don't know what if Portland will do that unless Dame kind of unless the Dame situation really flames out. That's where you kind of have to go bargain hunting, and

that's a situation at that point they're they're blowing up. Yeah, that's the only way I would see it. See it. But yeah, I don't see any of these Westbrook, Chris Paul, even Kyle Lowry to an extent, like I don't know why like Toronto would help do that unless he just signs here as a free agent for the minimum amount of money. But I was signing trade with Dennis. Maybe that that could be the other option there. Those are more realistic to me than than a than a Chris

Paul Russell Westbrook. So yeah, these rumors are gonna be flying though. You're gonna see almost every star player kind of be linked here. Eventually you're gonna see Bradley Beale. Eventually you're gonna see all the all the big time players the Lakers get thrown get their names thrown in there. So it's kind of hard to decipher what's real what's

not in these situations. Um, a lot of people, again, like I said, I didn't follow the team at all, somehow have inside, inside sources into the brain trust of this. So it's interesting. I don't think a Westbrook move or Chris Paul kind of fits what the team has done since Magic has stepped down, you know what I mean. They've been really conservative, really uh careful with who they sign um and not doing big, long term dumb deals. Um so. So we'll see though, but that's kind of

where I'm at with those. Yeah, I agree, and and this is literally the last thing I'm gonna say, uh to all of these people out there. This was the same phenomenon that happened before the Anthony Davis trade, Okay? Or is the Laker fan base a little over ambitious with who they think they can get? Yeah, I would agree with you that they're a little over ambitious, like you're not You're not gonna go win the war for Bradley Beale or for Dame Lillard. That they're just they're

physically incapable of it. Uh. That said, they're they're they're in play for every other trade option that's that's out there this summer. And the reason why is quit saying the Lakers don't have assets. They absolutely do. Talent. Horton Tucker is a legitimate asset that gms around the league value Kyle Kuzma is is about. It's from what I can gather, from what I've heard from from the people that I trust on Twitter, it's like two thirds of

the league thinks he's overrated. But there's like a third of the league that thinks if he gets into the right situation, he can play. And the other thing with Kyle Kuzma is his number, his contract for what he brings to the table as a good defensive player, a good rebounder, and a guy who can get hot and score off the bench. At twelve million a year or whatever it is that he's making or thirteen million years,

that's actually a really good value. And then the Lakers all there the the idea that the Lakers don't have any draft picks. That's a fallacy that I the Lakers have the ability to get into the trade market for everybody except for Bradley Beale or Dame Lillard. Did you have anything else you wanted to add today before we get out of here? Uh? No, I think that's pretty much it. Congrats for the Bucks. Uh And uh this this is gonna move pretty quickly. We have the draft,

but in like six days or something. Is that? Is it really that quick or is it? I don't know. I feel like this is about to run really quickly. Um. I'm not sure, but I feel like the draft is coming up pretty soon. In some re leagues, in like less than a month. Um, so, yeah, this is gonna move pretty quick. We'll be here to cover it. Yeah. So Roger and I are gonna take about a week off and then we're gonna come back and do like

just our our ti pickle offseason stuff. We'll talk a little bit about, you know, where we rank players, where we ranked teams going into next year. Uh, and then we'll talk off season stuff for the Lakers, will do a big offseason extravaganza type of deal, and then depending on how the time goes, we might do some other fun stuff. We were thinking about maybe going back and breaking down the way Roger and I like to break

down games. We were thinking about breaking down some of the old Lakers championship series from the last couple of decades. But thank you guys so much for your support through this season. We sincerely appreciate it. It's been really crazy to see even just the way our little, our little deal has been growing. And I'm so excited to see where it goes next year. And uh, Roger, really, I really enjoy working with you man, and I'm really excited

to see where this can go. And and uh, season one in the books from start to finish, you and I went the entire way for the first time. It was fun. Yeah, I didn't know. We did right back at you an exciting minut It should be a fun summer as well. So we get a lot to a lot to break down here. We'll we'll continue to do it, all right, everybody, have a good weekend and we will see you next week. E