The volume.
Hi, everybody, welcome in.
I sent Jason Temp from the volume Hoops tonight to the Summer League along with some other people. Live Moods was there, Nerd Sesh was there. I believe was Jenkins and Jones there. Some of the guys were we sent him to the Summer League. They'll be reporting back podcast tonight and tomorrow on the Summer League. So I'm gonna let Jason and I discuss it for about twenty five minutes. My takeaway on Wemby, he was very nervous in the opener,
totally expected. We've seen pros Greg Norman at the Masters. We've seen Alex Rodriguez deal with anxiety in a big baseball series. You know, we've seen quarterbacks. You know Tom Brady didn't have a first quarter touchdown in the Super Bowls. He was in until maybe his last one or second to last one, or did he ever? Like there's a feeling out process to sports, and especially in the biggest games. And for Wemby, who already played well against men in Europe,
he's a big time talent. But I thought he was nervous. I thought, come to this country, the Summer League, the expectations and when you get nervous, you get drained and you get tired. So I mean the kid's nineteen year old, twenty year old kid, and so we've you know, as I watched some of the reactions. When I watched him play, I'm like, he looked a little tired, he looked a little drained, he looked a little apprehensive. He's not a great shooter yet. But then what did he look like
in game two? Yeah, formidable. The nerves are gone. They put him in better situations to score, and he's going to be just fine. There'll be a weight issue. All these bigs come in, the young ones. They need weight, they need strength. He'll be fine. So I'll have more about that in five minutes with Jason temp So I went to the UFC card in Las Vegas on Saturday night. I go to try to go to at least one, usually two. I think I'm going to another one in Salt Lake City here in a couple of weeks, and
then I buy six or seven UFC cards. Daniel Cormier is part of the volume. So when I got out of college, I got a job in Las Vegas and boxing was very big, and UFC did not exist. In fact, the first time I'd seen UFC was in San Francisco over the weekend with friends, and it was very raw, you know. They were eye gouging and kneeing and it was it was just it was ugly. And then Dana White comes in and the Fetidas and they clean it up.
Because you want to get major advertisers, there has to be a regulated level of violence, right like the NFL has. But to get advertisers, which Dana and the Fertitas did, they had to kind of clean up some of the stuff. And they've done it. It's still two very aggressive men or women fighting. There's going to be blood sometimes. Sometimes there's very quick knockouts. I've always argued UFC is much safer than boxing because the knockouts are cleaner and earlier.
If you hit a guy, you hit a person, knock him out.
It's fast.
Two of the fight Saturday Night over within forty seconds. But one of the really brilliant things. Every time I go to a UFC event, I'm always struck by the win for the consumers. I loved boxing. I covered Hagler and Hearns and Young Tyson and Sugar Ray Leonard best fight I ever went to was Iran Barkley and Nigel ben I think it was Bally's. It was a slugfest, but I always felt as a consumer it always left
me wanting more. Promoters got rich and the occasional heavyweight fighter did, but so many fights I wanted to see were never scheduled, never made. The amount of content, the amount of quality and action you get on Saturday nights of the UFC, it is astounding. I went with friends. The fight started at three. We got into the arena by five point fifteen. We sat in the lounge early, had a couple of cocktails, went out there from five point fifteen to like ten, it was ten ten fifteen.
It was NonStop, little breaks in between. You see some celebrities, but just the quality of the depth of quality fights. It was just remarkable. And it's so hard to keep sports fans engaged. Baseball, by the way, has done a good job this year. They've sped the game up. Why shorter game, more action, Right, That's why in Hollywood three hour movies become two hours and nine minutes. A higher
percentage of the movie has action. You don't want long lulls in the action, and it's like I'm sitting there watching UFC and I took friends who'd never been to a UFC fight, three friends from Los Angeles, and as we're walking out, they're like, that's one of the greatest nights I've ever had involved with sports.
And these were jockey people.
The staff is amazing with UFC, the security, it's really seamless, really just a well oiled machine. But I'm like, this is why boxing died. And we were talking about that driving back to the hotel. I'm like, this is exactly why boxing died. Boxing could give you an occasional great performance, but it was just it was sporadic, it was inconsistent.
And I'll always be a fan of the UFC because I like fights, but it's a bit of a marvel how well constructed it is and the winner not just the fighters, the fans pay their money and just get four If you want to get there at three till ten, you get seven hours of unbelievable content. And I'm as a sportscaster, I'm blown away by it. I mean, you look at all the new sports we've had in thirty forty years, Like what's the one NFL, NBA, Baseball, MLS, UFC.
It is no coincidence. It's not surprising if you go to the events. It is a machine and it is wildly, wildly entertaining. Summer is heating up in so is pro baseball. You can certainly watch your favorite baseball team on television, but there is nothing like being at the ballpark to watch your favorite team. For last minute amazing deals. To see your favorite baseball team live. Check out game Time, the fastest growing ticket app in the United States, and
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Last minute tickets, concerts, Major League Baseball, lowest prices guaranteed. All right, we sent him to the Summer League, and as usual, he crushed it. Jason Timp hoops tonight. I thought Wemby's first performance was a lot of jitters. I mean, the idea at nineteen of going into a foreign country and be the star attraction against you know, guys who are literally trying to make the league and are fighting
for their survival and roster spot. You know, he knows he's already going to make the team, so I thought it was kind of predictable that he would struggle. It was choppy, I gotta tell you, though, when I watched them today, you know, his size is just so impactful. There's just there's just no way around it. He's gonna he's gonna have twenty five point nights. So let's let's start with the difference. You saw Jason game one, game two? What jumped out to you?
This is so funny to me, that news cycle was objectively hilarious. It's like, Okay, here's this guy who already has been good against pros in France, who already was great against the G League Night team, like destroyed them in two games in America a few months back, and like one game in Summer League, and everyone was rewriting whether or not this prospect was worth all of the hype, and then big shock, he comes out with twenty seven and twelve or three blocks today. The big thing that
stot out to me was just process. Like, honestly, I looked over at Carson and Logan our nerd Sesh guys right before the game, and I'm like, I wonder if they're gonna play basketball or just throw him the bat or just throwing the ball and let him play ISO pickup ball. And that's what they did in that first game. For several possessions, He's just standing on the wing dribbling like he's Kevin Durant against Kai Jones. And that's literally
the hardest way to play basketball. And you know, I kind of did a little thing on my show today. Every young player has a floor in a ceiling, and their floor is mainly based on what they're already great at, and then their ceiling is based on whether or not they can address their weaknesses. He has things that he's great at. He's the greatest combination of height and length and coordination of any center that we've ever seen. He's already got great defensive instincts and a good amount of
offensive polish. So if you play easy basketball with him, he will excel. There was a sequence at the end of this game where he set a ball screen, there was a switch. He flashed to the middle of the floor. They threw him the ball and he just quick shot a little turnaround fade away over his right shoulder to make it to get it back to four. Very next possession, guy drives along the left side, the rim protector gets occupied.
He just relocates to the left wing and takes a wide open catch and shoot three, and he makes it to get it back to one. I'm like, this is what it's gonna look like in San Antonio, know, real basketball, where he has an opportunity to demonstrate what he's great at. And I'm not surprised at all that he popped in
that setting. I thought all of the reaction to Game one was really misplays, disrespectful to what he's already accomplished as a pro, and just it was predictable that he would it bounce back the way he did today.
Yeah, in the game one. In Game two, there was a moment where somebody ripped the ball out of his hands. And I do think like if somebody said to me, like, what's the one glaring weakness, I would say weakness. He's nineteen, Like, you know, guys, are you know he put the ball up a couple of times and guys just grabbed it and pulled it out of his hands. And it's like, yeah, you can tell he need. You know, when you start looking at these veteran NBA guys, they look like they've
been in a professional weight room for seven years. Like it's just a different definition. So if you told me like, I could see them building a schedule and saying and I thought I said this with Oka, See they should do it for chet Holmgroun fifty eight games. Just take some road trips off, stay home, lift weights for four days instead of that two team road trip to say, you know, Houston, Orlando, stay home, eat, work out, try to make as many home games as you can, right
and have a limited road schedule. Not that you don't need to go on the road, but there'll be times I just want him to stay home, sleep, eat, lift and play fifty eight games. And I feel that way with Wemby. It's like obviously he has his motors running. I mean, when you know, when you were nineteen, you could polish off two turkey sandwiches, glass of milk, two cookies.
Hour later you're starving, right, Like that's who he is he's nineteen, He's going to burn seven thousand calories, and it's like the only thing I look at.
I think he just needs to get stronger.
He just needs he needs just nights off, because you know, I've talked to NBA guys about this. You start burning calories when you're nineteen, twenty twenty one to twenty two. It's hard to keep wait on if you're playing forty a night in this because these guys, a lot of these guys Jason, especially college guys. He didn't play any defense in college matchup zones, and you kind of guard a space the first time you've had to guard a guy,
so like it is a whole different ballgame. So I just think, I think he's just gonna get a little bit stronger. But there were a couple when he need goes back to back dunks. There are these moments of like he's just gonna get some Like there's you could you know what a player is great when you perfectly defend them and they score like length is undefeated, Like it just wins all the time. If Durant's six 's eight, he's not the same player. He's just really really good.
So and I thought I will tell you this, he's a really gracious kid. Like I think he's really grateful for it, and I think it matters, like I don't see any I th he's just really, you know, very grateful for it.
I don't know.
I think he's got the perfect you know, I'm gonna throw a theory really quickly. So Popovich got Lucky Robinson, Duncan like the nice guys in the world, right, Yeah, then he gets Kawhi, who's difficult, right, and he leaves and he says to himself, I'm not doing that. Wemby has got an old school grateful personality a little bit the old school, right, And the foreign players, as we've discussed, come into the country and they're very appreciative.
It's new.
All visitors are more polite, right you go overseas I do, or more polite. I think he's been waiting for the next you know, just happened to be an international player. I think they're going to do really well. I think this is going to be Popovich's third run.
To you absolutely. I mean the beauty of having a personality like that at a position like that, if you think about Duncan, is it makes it really easy to bring different types of volatile ball handlers around him, because not only is he unassuming, he is your foundational piece. He's the guy that you build your entire defense around. On offense, he's the guy that's gonna pick and pop to the top of the to the key, or to beat switches with smaller guys, he'll bury him in the post.
But he actually needs a primary ball handler. And so when you have a guy like that who also has a great attitude, it's gonna make it really easy to find players that want to play with him. I really like the point you made about putting on weight, because the I've never thought of it thought about it that way in terms of cutting back his playing time as a vehicle with which to put on muscle, because it is so difficult to maintain weight, let alone gain weight
during a basketball season. Every year I'd play, I'd go into the season at like two twenty seven and twenty nine, and I'd come out of the season like two seventeen to nineteen, because, like you, just all you're doing is playing and playing and sweating and playing and working out and going to class, and you just don't ever have an opportunity to do what it takes to keep the
weight on until you get to the offseason. So I like that idea of kind of like minimizing his workload as an opportunity to put on weight and to help avoid injuries. But you know, it's because the ceiling with him is completely ridiculous, right, The crazy high level shot making, the one legged three point shot that he takes from the top of the key that he actually made quite a bit when he was in Europe, all the stuff that he can do defensively. But overnight he's gonna be
really good in ways that impact winning. In terms of rim protection. He closed out a ton of possessions at the end of that game, just snatching defensive rebounds over the top of everybody getting to the foul and he shot twelve free throws tonight just because when he reaches to shoot over the top of people, they go for the ball and they get four armed because they're just not close to where he is. Right. But here's the thing.
He's not gonna win Rookie of the Year most likely because it's gonna be someone like Scoot Henderson, someone that's gonna put up a ton of numbers that's gonna pop earlier in their career with the way that their skill set goes, He's gonna be the kind of guy that all your long people are gonna be looking for opportunities to minimize what he's doing. This is the dude that five to ten years from now has the potential to be both the best offensive player in the league and
the best defensive player in the league. That is the ultimate ceiling there, but that will take time. He's not someone that's necessarily going to pop statistically early on, and so I hope, I hope people treat him with that level of fairness. But as far as Popovich goes, and I don't know if you saw, there's kind of a caveat there where like he may not actually stay on and coach that whole time because he's also the president
of basketball operations. So they might work something out where they phase him out, but then maybe he can pick the successor at that point. But because of his specific personality and his skill set, they're going to be able to find pieces to surround him with. People are going to want to play with this guy. I think the Spurs are gonna be relevant for the next decade.
Well, they did a study years ago.
I think it was the University of Copenhagen, and they had people work out ninety minutes a day and thirty minutes a day, and what they found is the people that worked out only thirty minutes today lost more weight. How because they weren't as tired, they would take the steps, they wouldn't nap later, they wouldn't eat as much. So what happens is think about so moderate exercise is actually can be very very healthy, especially as you age. Think about two and a half hours of an NBA game,
you burn nine thousand calories. Wenby gets off the court, Powershake sleeps on the plane. So you think to yourself, just just think about what that what that physical beating does to you. It really eliminates the chance to put weight on because you're resting constantly, you're exhausted, and instead of you know, like I always say this about college guys. They play thirty six games, regional, travel, eighty two national, they're sleeping all day and it's just like, well they
can't put weight on. Well, they play, they do smoothies and they fall asleep, like there's no they're not eating full meals, and so I think it's a real thing. And also Yannis embiid early when you're seven to two, you're thin. It's Ralph Sampson because some guys have never been able to put weight on. Ben Simmons is still, you know, just like you wish he put you know at times. So I think with Wemby, it's just like
I think you put him on a game limit. Keep him home sometimes, double down on stuff, give him more rest, give him an opportunity. You know, there's nothing wrong with just sitting home, card loading, watching the game breaking down film.
Okay, so I want to go to this. So the uh, it's really been something.
And I like Damian Lillard a lot, but he's not a villain and he'll play hard anywhere he goes. I do bristle, and I just don't think it's good for the NBA. I bristle at I'm only going to play at Miami because wherever Dame goes, he's going to be the first or second best player. And you know, if you went to Philadelphia and he was great, it's not like he wouldn't play hard. And I do think it's good for the league when franchises get the most they can when they lose a star. It creates some sort
of competitive balance. You don't want people like stars and they go into the tank. You want stars leaving and the other team get to get somewhat fortified so they remain viable. So where do you fall off? I mean again, I'm an NBA guy. I've always understood the NBA and international soccer are star leagues. They're not driven by coach coaches you think. I mean people say the NBA just runs through coaches. Go watch international soccer. Look at our
United States men's national team. We're just running through coaches. It's star driven. One player can tip the scale. I mean, if Mahomes had a battle line or a bad coach, he'd be a five hundred quarterback, like you need even a great quarterback basketball. Ron was going to get to the playoffs regardless of who the teammates were. I just don't love the optics of it. For Dame in the league, what say you?
The optics are awful. And I really blame the agents for this because it's like everyone knows Dame wants to go to Miami, and so do the other twenty eight teams. So like making a phone call and being like, by the way, he's not going to show up the training camp. All these guys know Dame, they know he's a professional, they know he'd show up to camp. It's like the
Kawhi Leonard thing in twenty nineteen, exact same situation. I'm going to LA reports coming out that he might not report to training camp, and then Toronto bravely steps in and takes a risk and they end up getting him and winning a championship. How I played some of his best basketball for Project. Actually, I did a whole thing today. I really want the Oklahoma City Thunder to put their
name in the Dame the Dame hat. I'm not sure if you saw it, but WOD reported yesterday they have thirty five draft picks in the next seven years, fifteen first round draft picks. I worked it out. They'd have to wait a couple months because of some CBA rules, but they can basically take a bunch of their salary filler that they picked up in random deals this summer
not have to send out a single young player. Put you know, four or five of those draft picks on the table and go get Dame and run out Damian Lillard, Shag Gildas, Alexander lou Dort with Jalen Williams and chet Holmgren and instantly be one of the most talented teams in the league. I'd love to see something like that.
But the point is is all these teams already know, like ok C knows Dame wants to be in Miami, so it's a risk we would have to bring dam in and effectively be like, hey man, we're a good organization. Let us show you how we do things around here. Give us an opportunity to show you how we do things. We can help you reach your basketball seiling. That's what Toronto did with Kawhi. That's always been the game. The problem I have with it is the agents have gotten
involved and they've made it nasty. Now you're throwing out these empty threats that no one believes. That makes Dame look like he's a jerk when he's not. And as far as the whole asking for a trade thing, even Portland knew when Dame signed that extension that he was likely going to sign to ask for a trade. These players have to take the financial security. You're a free agent, you're committed to that team at least for the next year or two. But you're not going to pass on
five years. You're not going to because you take a two year deal, you land awkwardly and tear your ACL that can cost you one hundred million dollars. So like they get, these guys have to take the money they to as long as least they're requesting the trade in the offseason and not in the middle of the season
the way Kyrie did. I don't really have a problem with it, but it looks really bad with the agents, and honestly, Colin, I don't know what the answer is because the agents are doing their jobs, so to speak, by mucking things up and making it nasty, and they're they're they're they're obligated to their clients to try to get them where they need to go. The NBA doesn't have any leverage over those guys. I don't know how they can stop it, but it definitely is a bad look.
I'm okay with players requesting trades. I'm okay with them saying they want to go to one place. There's a risk another team might jump in and trade for you anyway. But there's no doubt that this looks bad. It's going to start turning off regional fan bases. It's going to start hurting that regional television audience, and I don't think it's good for the long term health of the league, even if it's morally correct, if that makes sense.
Pivot back to the summer league.
Scoot Henderson got hurt in Game one.
He's going to be really good. You know. We I've always.
Tried to defense and NBA gms and scouts you have sometimes it's almost all the international players now are easier to scout than college players because at least they play against men, so it's like it's easier.
It feels like.
The international guys in the last four or five years there's been like no major whiffs, Like yeah, if they can score against men, they can score in the college game. You watch a big ten player and you're like, on, he's scoring against a non NBA player, I mean Jade and Ivy. To me, you could see he was dynamic. You're like, yeah, that's going to work in the NBA. He's gonna be a good player. So in the brief time you saw Scoot Henderson, your interpretation of what you.
Saw spitting image of Russell Westbrook. He's built like a truck. He's way stronger even than Russ was at that phase of his career. The rim pressure is insane. When he just gets going in transition, you can see the entire defense kind of collapse around the basket. He's especially good at hitting guys out of the dunker spot. That's a Russ thing. You got to put him with a big
man that can catch and finish on the basket. He actually did hit some nice pull up jump shots early in the game, but there is a little bit of that lack of the change up, and that's always going to be the thing that kind of that could derail him again. Scoot has a chance to be the guy that breaks the mold, but he has to pay attention to the roadmap where some of his contemporaries went off the tracks. It's you've got to have a change up.
You can't play the same style all the time. You have to commit to the defensive end of the floor. He is capable of being an outstanding defensive player with his strength and his and his like physical build. And then, last but not least, you've got to get in the gym. Don't be that guy who when your athleticism starts to tail off, you start to tail off because you don't have the skill set to make up for it, you know, Like I really was, his competitiveness popped when I was
watching him. You can see the way he interacts with his teammates, the way he interacts with the people he's competing against. He's John at the other team. He's got the fire, he's got the competitiveness, but he has to follow that roadmap because, as we've said, that's a specific archetype of player that has had really hot starts and then flared out, flamed out pretty consistently, and I don't want that to happen for him.
That's something you pointed out. It's really smart, and it even matters in my business. I have said this before. If you're a talk radio host, you can't just be a flamethrower. You've got to be it sometimes funny. Sometimes you've got to be inquisitive, curious, sometimes you can throw a fastball. Sometimes you have to be self deprecating. And I think I think John Wall to me had one speed, like it was just out of control, and Westbrook at times kind of one speed.
And I think.
I really do think with Scoot I see a little bit of the same thing. Now some of it is he can develop that, but I think it's really hard when you're very successful at something and you blow past everybody for people to say, hey, slow down, we want you to play with more pacing. It's like Tyson, like, why do I need a jab? I'm knocking everybody out in the second round? Like what what's a jab for? So?
I think what happens to Dyna And we've seen this pattern that they dominate people, And it's like the running quarterback high school college.
He runs around.
First two years in the NFL, Josh Allen runs around and then all of a sudden he gets hit and it's like, oh, I got to stay in the pocket. And so I think what Scoot is so dynamic? You know, sometimes your gift is your curse. That he's so dynamic that it's hopefully he's super coachable. And I think Westbrook, I'm not saying he's not coachable, but nobody could stand in front of us for ten years like you see
why guy. I mean, it's not a shock that many of the great shooters are not super twitchy and fast, because at some point, pulling up was what they That's how they scored, right.
Like for you.
You're obviously very athletic guy, but if I would have told you, if I'd added eight inches to your vertical, your jumper wouldn't be as good.
You were like, guys, I'm going to the basket again.
And also, there's an alpha to scoring at the rim that is just like adrenaline, So I hope he develops it. But I think it's a really good point by you that it is hard when you succeed something, and these dynamic guards with no handcheck can't stand.
In front of him at all.
Michael Jordan could not have stayed in front of any of these guys, none of them. So was there anybody else in summer League that you looked at and went, oh, that's interesting.
So a couple things. Brandy Miller had some moments. The Polish is there that Charlotte Summer League roster played some of the ugliest basketball I've ever seen, so I want to see him play in a different type of environment. Both the Thompson twins really popped with their playmaking. They were both in roles where they were playing with a lot of other ball handlers, so that didn't get much opportunity to show what they can do. I thought. The
most impressive guy I saw this weekend was Jabari Smith Junior. Now, I don't know if you noticed this, but last year there was hype over whether or not Jabari Smith was going to go first. Now Paolo went number one and he's been great. Obviously, Chet went number two. Chet looked awesome on Saturday, by the way, but Jabari Smith Junior went number three, and a big reason why is he could not dribble to save his life, and he couldn't make a shot anywhere outside of a catch and shoot situation.
He destroyed the Pistons today and hit that game winner. In the game on Friday he hit, He had thirty eight points, hit a bunch of pull up jump shots, he was talking shit to James Wiseman and just putting on a show in front of the crowd. It's been the most remarkable improvement in scoring polish from a player I've seen in one year in my entire time covering basketball. I can't believe it. He was literally the most uncomfortable guy last year that I saw in Vegas. He's been
the most comfortable guy on the floor this season. He's six foot ten with the seven to one wingspan, projects to be an excellent defensive player. He's put on a ton of muscle. He was bullying Jaden Ivy today. He's got all the pull up jump shot stuff going. Houston is going to be a really interesting team this year because they brought in some veteran presences with Fred van Vliet.
You're gonna have Jalen Green there, Dylan Brooks there. Between Dylan Brooks and Jabari Smith and their ability to guard Houston like Overnight's going to be become a really entertaining team to watch. But Jabari Smith Junior was by far the most impressive guy that I saw this weekend.
So the NBA has this in season tournament, and basically what they're doing is designating Tuesday and like Friday games. They want them to be more urgent and more important, so fewer players will sit out and they'll have like it won't affect the standings. They'll be like a separate standings from as far as I can tell, and if you do well in those games, you will eventually get into this December early mid December tournament. It's I think the simpler you make things the easier it is for
sports fans. Right, do you think it matters. I mean, it'd be great if you didn't have to ask players to play, but that's the that's the reality. You know, the analytics and basketball are telling you to give guys, veteran players more time off. Do you think it's instructive, do you think it benefits, do you think it pops?
Your takeaway on it.
I'm trying really hard to keep an open mind, to be clear, but I was here. I heard your podcast with Nick right the other day. I listened to it on the plane, and you said something I thought was really interesting. You're like, you need two things to be successful as a professional sports league. You need stars and you need urgency. And the NFL crushes everybody because they have both. And the NBA has stars and that allows them to overcome their lack of urgency. But the only problem,
I'd say, there's a mild problem with officiating. They got to work out. There's a mild problem we were talking about with the star trade request and some of the behavior of these agents, But the main problem is urgency. And this looks like a move in the direction away
from that. And you know, I was watching Ted Lasso this summer with my wife and they you know, I've been learning about the English Premier League as a result, they have this thing called the FA Cup, and it's like this tournament that they play in the middle of their season. But there's a prestige that has been built around that tournament over many, many years, and so I don't see how that prestige exists right away over something called the FA Cup. Now there is the NBA Cup.
Now there is an undisclosed benefit to the players. But when stars determine the outcomes of games and stars are making fifty million, I'm not sure there's a monetary value there that's going to really get people interested in competing. But I'm trying really hard to keep an open mind. At the end of the day, though, if someone asked me what needed to happen with the NBA an overhaul with officiating and then shorten the season to sixty six games so that you can stretch the games out so
that players aren't resting on back to backs. There would be an increase in viewership due to urgency and star participation, and then from there that would make up for the drop in games. That's the direction the league needs to go, and they're just never going to do it. And this to me just feels like a strange measure in that direction.
Yeah, I always appreciate Adam Silver's willingness to be aggressive and you know, move the ball ahead. You know, David Stern did it on occasion, had a couple of whiffs. The drafts dress code was sort of insulting the new ball with just a complete miss. You may want to tell the players you're coming out with that, but I've always thought, you know that there's the old saying. The NBA thinks of it first, the NFL gets it right,
and baseball makes the most money on it. The NBA always comes up with new ideas and I totally appreciate it. And I do think we live in a distracted society. NBA fans are young, they're on their phones. It's a highlight culture. Always has been a bit in the NBA. So I'm not against it. I want to see it. People bang on the play in tournament, but I've kind
of liked it. Miami was a playing team that was trailing in their second playing game, so you know, people like to complain about new stuff, like I think the playing works. I like the play in tournament. Agree, Yeah, I like it. It's more good. It's more urgent games that I have to way. I mean, those were Tuesday night games, and I'm like, Warriors could be out or
the Heat could be out of the playoffs. So I am willing to give the mid season tournament, you know, and it's not really mid season, that's kind of the name, but I'm willing to give.
It a shot.
It's early season, early season.
So I said this that there was a story this week the Knicks had talked to the Clippers about Paul George and they bailed on it. And I said, five years ago they would have done it. Ten years ago, they would have panicked. They panicked on Carmelo. They could have traded him after the season. They did in season, and Denver got a boatload, right because in season trades mellows like I want to play for the Knicks. Nicks caved. Stodhommeier from Phoenix had bad knees. Everybody in the league
knew it. They needed a star that never worked out. Paul George is a really good two way player. But Steve Balmer, I've been told by a source in that building, is not going to extend him, does not want to. There's no reason for you to give him a four or five year deal. I do think he would be a two or a one on that team. And my takeaway was it's really an encouraging sign. The Knicks are a good team. They're not very good, but they're good. One smart move they can get to very good. Two
they could be special. So let's not demand they make two in one off season. Let's go from good to very good. Brunson's still young, A lot of their players are young. Even Julius Randall's not old. So if there's Zion rumors, Karl Anthony Towns, if I said, and they're very lucky. They have eleven first round picks in seven years. They have a lot of guys I like Josh hart r J. Barrett, I don't love. I like their movable
They have length Randall's contract and Runson's contract. Jalen shrinks year to year like it's one of the better contracts in the league.
Now.
So if I said to you, Zion, Karl Anthony Towns, if there was a move to be made, Jason, what would you do.
Again? It can't just be a start. Has to be the right star. I mean, this is the problem that Dallas could find themselves running into we need to get a start. We need to get start. Okay, we got Kyrie. Well everything hinges on that. Now, if Kyrie has a change of heart and demands out, you're screwed because you have nothing left. And now Luke is gonna want out right, And that's the key is like you pull the trigger on a Paul George trade and he gets hurt. Everything
is messed up. So you got to wait for the right guy. I'd be keeping an eye out for like a brandon Ingram over the course of the next couple of years. If New Orleans decides that they want to stick with Zion, but they want to re you know, flip their timeline a little bit, and oh, they think Trey Murphy's gonna play some of those minutes alongside Herb
Jones or whatever. I keep an eye out for a guy like let's say, ok see wants to pay all these guys and they pay Shay and they pay Ched and they pay Josh Giddy, and they're like, Jalen Williams is the guy we're gonna let go. Maybe New York jumps on a guy like that, It's got to be the right guy. I like Paul George. But the best syndicator of future performance is past performance, and the dude is hurt all the time, and so there's there's a huge risk there, and so if you put all your
chips in that basket, it could backfire on you. Actually, my sneaky favorite Paul George team right now is the Calves because I hate their whole two guard build. I would look to flip Darius Garland for Paul George because then you're bringing in a player that kind of fits alongside that Donovan Mitchell timeline. It kind of addresses a specific need on the roster. Max Strus kind of slots
in at the two. I really love that fit. And then Darius Garland is a foundational piece for the Clippers, who have desperately needed a point guard ever since Chris Paul left. But for a team like New York, if you look at Jalen Brunson where he's at in his career, Julius Randall clearly is the guy they'll inevitably move. You've got some solid role players, You've got a good center in Mitchell Robinson that you can build around. It just
has to be the right guy. And to your point, that's a sign of competency that they're not just jumping on the next thing that comes around. They're being patient, and I do like to hear that.
Jason Timp hoops tonight we send him to the Summer League. Listen to his podcast as always, my man, good seeing you.
It's good to see you too. Goin the volume