If the Suns Draft Bronny James, Would LeBron Join Them? Plus, More on the Lakers Coaching Search!

If the Suns Draft Bronny James, Would LeBron Join Them? Plus, More on the Lakers Coaching Search!

hey everyone welcome to lock on Lakers for Wednesday Brian ketki Andy kinety is bronny James making demands that’s [Music] next you are locked on Lakers your daily Los Angeles Lakers podcast part of the locked on podcast Network your team every day thanks to everybody for making lock on Lakers first listen of everyday Monday through Friday no matter how or where you get your podcast this one’s always free never behind pay wall and locked on Lakers on YouTube is where you can go hang out with over 24,000 subscribers Andy all of whom are wondering just how this bronny James situation got so weird because before it was like totally normal and now it’s gotten very strange we’ll get to that in a second do want to let you know that today’s episode’s brought to you by Game Time download the game time app create an account use the code locked on NBA for $20 off your first purchase do know that terms apply um get into a couple other mailbag things Andy that we did not get to for Tuesday’s show I do want to encourage everybody to continue leaving uh questions on the YouTube page on the community section in the comments themselves cam Brothers on YouTube uh we definitely want to keep using those throughout Little torian Prince free agency news that’s a thing uh we might get to that today but we’ll see uh and of course the Sixers are they another team chasing LeBron James but let’s start with Brony a very this on the heels of a weekend of of the like stuff we didn’t get to Andy about like what kind of contract brownie would be willing to sign and all that kind of stuff Tuesday the news about Brony James got in my mind at least a little weirder I think a lot of it depends on how you interpret some of this but either way first the news itself per sham chirania of the athletic the suns are going to be working out bronny James ahead of the NBA draft which in and of itself is interesting because they have the number 22 pick I’m not sure that they have others I know that they are low on picks between now and like 2070 uh for the almost in perpetude but what’s interesting about it is according to Shams a uh bronny James is only going to work out for a couple of teams uh the Lakers and the suns are the only two that he named that he’s expected to work out for um he’s had other workout invitations according to Shams over 10 but that for the time being it’s just going to be Phoenix and the Lakers for workouts but also that the Phoenix Suns are giving serious consideration to the idea of drafting bronny James with the 22 pick for those unaware there are 30 teams in the NBA which would mean they are drafting him in the first round with the idea that that would be the bait used to lure LeBron James from the Lakers who who would opt out of his contract with the Lakers join the Suns as a free agent making a veterans minimum and then you have a big four and a half over in Phoenix with LeBron Bradley Beal Kevin Durant Devon Booker and bronny James use of nerkish nope he’s he he is at statistically statistically nurkic was more of a part of the big three last year than Bradley Beal wasting what this is about star power baby and star power youf nage isn’t I think this is actually accurate he is below Brony James that that’s actually accurate depends where depends where on the planet um other than one specific country the headline stack is going to go towards bronny James before it goes to youf yeah the that’s true the algorithm would favor that let’s not overthink this Rony James is more of a headline right now than youf nerk it’s weird to me like the 180 and I I I say this and probably everything that I’ll say for the next three weeks uh at least with the pred you know predicate with the idea that it is Silly Season like the we are it’s silly season part one silly season part two coming uh when free agency starts like right before that but the 180 in the just the tone of the news around Brony which is you know treat me like I’m my own person like you know good workouts moving his way up you know worked his way back into the second round good story with this to a guy who at the very least based on the kind of reporting that shams did on Tuesday is like he’s treating himself like he’s a top level pick um in theory like there in theory I think there’s a potential smoke screen going on here and I think we probably are both thinking of the same kinds of things but on the surface at least the idea that Brony wouldn’t go work out for eight other teams and is only going to work out for two on its face you could certainly look at that and say oh here’s a guy who thinks because that’s this is the sort of thing that higher draft picks do like the guys who are expected to be you know picking picked in the you know the top four or five typically won’t work out for somebody drafting 10 11 12 13 because they don’t want to give the impression that they might fall that far um so it is a I mean granted both the Lakers are 17 and then 50 55 and then the suns are 22 and That’s all folks so it’s a different situation but the idea that he wouldn’t work out for other teams a we’ll see if it holds but just on its face that projects something different than what they were doing you know two weeks ago at the uh at the combine well I I think it depends on the way you look at it because one interpret could be like what you’re talking about bronny James or at the very least team bronny James is feeling themselves and therefore setting very specific parameters for these workouts who he will or won’t work out the other way of looking at it is they are getting ahead of the idea that they’re not going to find a situation that he likes he’s going to either end up going back to school somewhere or maybe playing in the G League playing overseas whatever you go back when can like what are the rules now when can you go back to even after the draft well he I think you have you have a c I’ll put it this way he has not I think lost his college eligibility now I think you can work out for teams and still go back to I know the rules are much more different than they used to be I just don’t I haven’t kept track but for the time being he still has maintained that eligibility obviously could go to the G League he could go overseas but if you limit the amount of workouts you also could be preventing bad Buzz because if you start working out for multip multiple teams and the buzz isn’t good then all of a sudden you’re setting up more noise for yourself that isn’t good regardless of where you end up going but either way I think there can be something strategic about this that I would read into as if nothing else there’s more of a possibility here than just bronn’s gone Hollywood and is making demands I I it’s POS certainly possible um it’s you know the there’s the same kind of thing especially considering really quick he seems to be making it pretty clear he wants to be judged on his own merits that’s that’s my point is that you you know you take what he was saying at the combine and how LeBron has been treating this stuff and all that since really really walking back a lot of the uh of the uh hype I would say that that LeBron himself had wittingly or unwittingly put on his son um after the break because there’s another example of what you’re talking about that that came out over the weekend um that gets into this but we also need to discuss whether or not the Lakers are seriously considering this or ought to seriously consider taking Brony James with one of their picks or buying another pick in the second round or something like that to try to get him and then too like what this means for other teams trying to go get LeBron and lure him away from the Lakers get to all of it next locktown Lakers is brought to you by game time when I was around 12 years old the police my all-time favorite band they were on the synchronicity tour and they were the biggest band on the planet at that time so this was a really difficult ticket 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download the game time app create an account use the code locked in NBA for 20 bucks off your first purchase terms apply again create an account redeem the code locked on NBA for 20 bucks off download game time today last minute tickets lowest price guaranteed so more things Andy that can be filed away into the you know what does it mean you know it may not mean what it looks like it means bronny James reported ly Camp Brony put out the the the word that he would only take a regular NBA contract not a two-way this was rich Paul on the record by the way right um you know that this is how they were doing it and that that could be seen as a again a a guy dictating the terms of how he’s going to get into the league it could also be something that in the end may not be followed through on but is trying to put pressure on team actually draft him and take him you know as a second round pick and all that stuff as opposed to thinking that you can get into uh get him you know as a UFA or after the draft by like dangling a a two-way or something like that like this is I think that that could easily be seen as a a um you sort of posturing thing just to try to improve his draft position to make sure he’s selected as opposed to um having to kind of fight through and navigate that that space But I I think at the very least Phoenix is trying to feel out whether or not bronny is a viable way viable path to LeBron because and it’s kind of clever on the one hand you could say Andy it is absolutely insane for the Suns to use a draft pick on Brony given their roster situation given their draft situation given all of those things it is nuttery I think you could argue to use the pick on Brony the flip side is the chances of the 22nd pick in the draft helping them in material ways is probably relatively small like you know guys come in they do stuff we saw it this year Pensky and haime hakz and you know it can happen for sure guys that fans wish the Lakers took for example but generally speaking those guys usually take a couple years to make a big impact the flip side of that is if you think you can leverage that pick and turn it into LeBron James that’s better than any draft pick you’re going to have it’s better than any free agent signing You’re going to have it’s better than any possible move that a team like the Suns could make with their cap sheet and so is it going to work I don’t think so but it’s absolutely 1,000% worth exploring and kicking the tires and and seeing if there really is if you dangle this out there really is some kind of possibility that you could do because there’s no earthly way that Brony James would normally be drafted at 22 as far as I can tell based on every mock draft and all this other stuff no I’m not saying it can’t be an n player I’m just saying he would not be the 22nd pick um at least not without doing a great job in a bunch of workout well I would say if he really wants to boost himself up to the 22nd pick under any circumstances that don’t involve his father he probably needs to work out for more than two teams correct so two teams one of whom is that doesn’t ostensively play for he got a promise at 22 55 right just the way things typically go exactly um so I mean I I get it from Phoenix’s perspective and and you know ish like how much of this is just ishbia being ishia wish or you know versus like real strategic thinking I mean maybe there two things can be true at once but I I don’t blame them for trying um because you know if you think if you can get LeBron you are both you know supercharging your your offseason and also crippling the Lakers it should be noted you know and then you know you look at the Sixers like the Sixers for example or I guess Orlando um are could come at this from a much more conventional approach like there’s the threat of Brony going to Phoenix and that being the lure and I guess playing with that group of guys I’m not sure how much of an attraction that would be as opposed to going to say Philly and playing with embiid and Maxi that’s where I would go um but like they can do it with money if LeBron opts out they can’t give him as much as the Lakers can they can give him a lot they can give him you know 40 I think it’s low 40s high 30s low 40s something like that but they they can pay him well and not make him take the sort of haircut that LeBron has never I understand why but never shown a willingness to do not since Miami he did do a little bit in Miami but not since then but that wasn’t a veterans minimum type thing that was a slightly below value kind of deal this would be Miami pays him as much as or sorry Philly pays him as much as they possibly can it’s just going to have to be less so I of those two things I I would think actually the Philly threat if he Ops out and there really is some sort of friction or I don’t mean delay like the minute he Ops out he’s got to resign another deal like that could happen that way but if it takes a week I don’t necessarily think that’s a bad sign I don’t think that means the thing is falling apart um but of the two I think that is a more compelling threat because you know the money is there and he would be joining a decent team in a easier conference to go Inn a title it it is it is an easier conference I do think the one caveat with joining is you’re always worried about embiid getting hurt because then all then all of a sudden it’s you and Tyrese Maxi and a bunch of nobody better than what you have in La yeah the last thing I I would I mean because obviously this is going to keep developing we’re going to keep hearing more stuff but the part about this that I find most compelling is actually unless Brony is just really playing things Coy because he doesn’t want to seem like an unproven rookie trying to Bigfoot his you know determined future in the NBA it feels like this is the exact opposite of what bronny wants like there have been no indications whatsoever that Brony actually wants this team up if anything there have been more indications with the few comments Bron’s made that it isn’t what he wants and I just feel like a setup where they take him in the first round just to get Dad if I’m if I’m bronny if I am bronny I tell my dad please don’t and if I’m LeBron and I want to tell him how to be a father because he is by all accounts a very good one but I just feel like you’re setting up your son to potentially look really bad and you create that much higher of a bar for him to clear in order to forget just being respected not just be resented like there is resentment if he’s at 22 at 17 if he’s taken there I think if he comes in at 55 sure that’s a different deal that’s the cost of doing business fine whatever too it’s like you know there are guys who are drafted in the 50s who are bigger project than bronnie theoretically might be so to your point I don’t that I think that is the biggest argument for Bron’s career against any kind of plan that takes him in the first round without him I just I highly highly question and again I preface this by saying I’ve not gotten to know LeBron well during our time covering him and I’ve never met Brony but based off what we have seen and based off the way Brony is widely perceived I just feel like this is a bad way for him to enter the league if he really wants to carve out the identity that he seems to assuming by the way that any of this posturing is more than that like there there’s a lot of meat behind this in terms of of really trying to dictate the terms of how he uh ends up in the NBA so um coaching questions that we did not get to uh for Tuesday’s show these holiday weekends really throw me off they didn’t get to for Tuesday show plus Little torian Prince news next um so torian Prince was on with our friend Trevor Lane Lakers Nation had an interview with him and asked him about um his free agency and and all that and and not unexpectedly Prince said that he would like to return uh his focus is on returning um this I guess would feel like a controversial thing for a lot of fans um I I would have no problem with the Lakers assuming the money wasn’t crazy or anything like that well there’s a limit to what they can offer him so it won’t be crazy but like like you know do you have to go all the way to the top of what you can give him and so on and so on I don’t I don’t have a problem with bringing Prince back and I think you can make a pretty strong argument that that they should I mean just for to clarify I believe the highest they can offer him is 5.3 mil other than the idea of what gets them to the first apron second apron you know like a $100,000 here or there couldn’t matter as far as bringing torian Prince back absolutely I think it could be a good idea I mean he once he was slotted correctly tan played well and even during a lot of the season when he was playing too many minutes the problem was Darin’s usage of him not Toran they could do much worse than bringing him back the other interesting nugget from that interview was um he was asked Trevor asked him about Darin and while tan you know said you know it’s good you go close to Darin he’s gonna be just fine and all that kind of stuff um and you know call him a good friend and and and so on and so on he didn’t really do that thing that you’ll often hear Pros do where they say like you know I feel bad because like you know the coach was doing everything he was supposed to do we failed and all that he didn’t get any of that so um you know as somebody who you would probably think is probably as good of an ally as Darin has on that roster to not get a you know hard defense of of Darin’s work and really kind of go to bat for the guy um I don’t I don’t want to read too much into it that would be unfair because it’s not like Prince is a giant bombastic personality that you know is that just throw he’s not Draymond you know but I just I thought the I thought that was interesting that he didn’t necessarily do that thing that you often see players do um speaking of coaches Andy we we uh dip back into the mailbag both Michael as7 and John satell 8652 ask essentially versions of the same question um I Heard JJ reck didn’t give a single vote to ad for all defensive team is this true if so how are the Lakers and AD seeing reic is the best candidate when he doesn’t properly recognize the Lakers best players strengths um another version of that were I you know another part of that this time from John uh were I ad I’d be pissed and wouldn’t want that guy as my coach um is this a thing because it you know it has been reported as far as I know that is correct it is 100% correct did not have him on his ballot um is that a problem as they do these sorts of things whether relationship wise or would you think less of reck’s ability to evaluate what’s going on um as far as the relationship end of it I’m assuming it’s not an issue because if ad was that offended by it I would think reic is out of the running for this job and I mean just clarify right now if ad is that offend offended and reic is not out of the running they seriously need to blow out this from office and bring in new people because if you are actively hiring a coach that your star player is upset with that’s a terrible terrible process particularly when it seems like you’re going out of your way not to interview other people like you’re basically doing the coaching search version of how Bron’s doing his workouts like you’re limiting it to very few based off what could be interpreted as unearned confidence um so I’m assuming ad has taken little enough offense to this that it’s not a thing as far as you know what does it say about reic and his evaluation of basketball defense blah blah blah nothing I mean in all honesty it’s like does he know how to use ad if he knows how to use ad I don’t think it really matters if he thinks 10 players had a better defensive season than him or not it matters does he know how to use Anthony Davis in the most effective way possible I me in all honesty I don’t think it matters yeah I mean guy and like did he I don’t know if he forgot re is wrong what I right is are his criteria for these Awards different I mean he’s going to be asked about it I mean that will be one of the things that comes up in the press conference like hey why didn’t you give ad a vote and I’m sure he’ll have a good answer that doesn’t involve um you know I just don’t think he’s that good he’s got some work to do on that side of the ball I’m sure he has a reason that if he doesn’t he will by that time it’s you know I looked at record I looked at this I looked at that or whatever it might be um but it it is it’s kind of an interesting question you know just in terms of like the the politics that go into questions like this and like who do you hire and all this kind of stuff it gets to another one that we haven’t really even discussed this from Superman UI 6xl which I believe is his birth name who is your top three he has his uh in order I assume bgo casselle and reic followed by Adelman and Nory or maybe that’s just the order he listed them and wanted to know which ones we thought but like do you have a preferred order and don’t feel bad if you don’t it’s not punting the question because I don’t either well you know I’ll tell you I had been giving this a lot more thought in terms of preferences and when I had been giving it more thought I had Adelman and Nori higher up in part because a they had been with very successful teams and you know both of them had spent time with Michael Malone and you know been part of successful uh builds in Denver and you know with Tim Conelly and things like that and also both of them between the time with joic and the time with Carl Anthony towns Rudy goar Nas Reed like they’ve had success working specifically with big men so I thought that that was really important with Anthony Davis but if I’m being honest as more time has gone along I’ve been giving this less and less thought because it just seems like they’re trying to situate the best calendar day to announce that they’ve hired JJ reic so why should I be giving this more thought than they are well that’s that it’s the thought process is I mean because I we’ve we’ve talked a little bit about this but like you know the ever Dar certainly understand like I don’t have you know like like Insider like information about exactly who the best assistants are in in the league I think that those are things that even League insiders struggle with to try to diagnose exe there are so many things you know I’ve seen criticism for example of James bargo’s uh offense that he helped with in in New Orleans and like the the types of play calling and it’s too simple and this and that to some you know sometimes things happen on the floor for reasons that are unrelated to what a coach would under different circumstances you know different players you might call things differently you might have players with different skill sets uh different aptitude for running certain things and so you have to work with what you’ve got and so what you see in situation A may not be what you get in situation B what I’m really interested in is the why I I think I am inclined broadly to pick somebody like Adelman um who has you know that great coaching pedigree has been in assistant for a long time very well respected a lot of success um and you know he’s a firsttime head coach but not a first-time coach um I think he would have a much easier time building a staff than somebody like reck would um I so I I I’m inclined for somebody like that but what I really want to find out is the why if they go with reic over somebody like Adam and why what about him is you know makes them feel that the potential there how how do they feel that he’s going to overcome this question of a lack of experience where do they think they’re going to get the top level assistance that he is undoubtedly going to need that any of these guys would need um and so that’s the part that I’m I’m really interested in and we won’t know that until after they’ve made a hire yeah and look someone like I’ve mentioned this before Sam casselle had intrigued me for a while just because while I don’t know exactly what he would Implement system-wise philosophy or whatever I do know that he has been putting in a lot of work he’s been a part of some successful teams he was a very successful player and he is somebody with a lot of Gravitas a lot of Personality a lot of Swag who is a really smart guy very great basketball mind I think a really good communicator he’s always been a leader everywhere he’s gone even though he’s really never been the best player on his team he’s always been one of the leaders and he’s somebody that would not be intimidated coaching LeBron and AD no um but again as time has gone on to be honest I have been giving this less and less thought because it just seems like the Lakers are trying to figure out you know with I don’t know the NBA and ESPN like when is when is the time where we can make this higher that’ll make everyone happy yeah it’s just what it feels like I will say too like I I I think you know the the it is reductive to say that there’s no question strengths of Sam cassella all the things that you talked about and you know his ability you know he was may not been the best player in but always a damn good player did he make an All-Star team or was he he made both an All-Star and an all NBA team right so I mean he’s been and he won three championships right he is that caliber player even if he’s not a Hall of Famer or whatever really good he understands both ends of this as a role guy and as a a star on a team um you know his his gravitas and his communication ability I think would be one of the main um attractions but it would be unfair to him to assume that there’s not a lot of x’s and o’s behind that um as well he was a point guard in the league for like 15 years or something he clearly understands how schemes and stuff like that work I just don’t have idea of what it would be absolutely I I I’ve just I’ve seen that as a thing like he’s I’ve even seen a couple comments from different places you know you see he’s too much like ham because he’s a a relationships guy and a and a you know I don’t know if the Vibes or whatever it is gravitas you know that kind of thing like handle the locker room as opposed to the basketball side of thing so I I I want to I want to discover what the process is because I don’t I’d be lying if I said I knew enough to say that Nori is a better choice than adman who’s a better choice than Quinn who’s a better choice than JJ reic like there’s just no way for me to know that um but there is a way for us to evaluate the process and it says a lot about the front office locked on Lakers on YouTube is where you go hang out with over 24,000 subscribers all of whom are wondering the same things about the next Lakers coach that we are uh we will see everybody tomorrow

Things are taking a turn.

Tuesday, Shams Charania of The Athletic reported that Bronny James has been invited by 10 or so teams to work out with them ahead of the NBA Draft. Nothing unusual there. Except James is only going to accept two of them. Phoenix, and the Lakers. Now that, if it holds is unusual. Bronny is not exactly in a position, based on consensus mock drafts and so on, to be dictating terms or turning down workouts. You’d think he’d be trying to take as many as he could in order to maximize the chances of getting drafted.

So is he, a player with some potential, sure, but hardly an elite draft prospect, big-footing the process? Or is there something else going on? This on the heels of news over the weekend that Bronny wouldn’t be accepting a two-way contract (this coming straight from Rich Paul), only a standard deal. Was this a way to push his stock a little higher? Or again, is he trying to dictate the terms of where he lands?

And when it comes to the Suns, at first glance it seems crazy for that team to even consider using their first round pick, one of the only picks the team controls for the next 872 years, on a player highly unlikely to help them next season. Unless, of course, they really, truly thought it would bring them LeBron James, too, as a free agent. Because if that’s the case, and Pops really would take a massive, massive paycut to play with Son, that’s the most profound improvement a team like the Suns could make this offseason, given their cap sheet.

So are the Suns a real threat, if/when LeBron opts out? How about Philadelphia, who can’t give James as much money as the Lakers, but they can give him a lot.

Finally, mailbag questions! This time, it’s about the coaching search. Does it matter that JJ Redick left Anthony Davis off his DPOY ballot? Who are the candidates we’d like to see hired?

HOSTS: Andy and Brian Kamenetzky

SEGMENT 1: Bronny dictating Draft terms?

SEGMENT 2: Are Phoenix or Philly a threat to steal LeBron away?

SEGMENT 3: Coaching mailbag!

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