Our Most Interesting Teams Of the NBA Offseason: Warriors, Bucks, Pelicans, Rockets & More

Our Most Interesting Teams Of the NBA Offseason: Warriors, Bucks, Pelicans, Rockets & More

getting to our most interesting teams of the NBA offseason on today’s episode of the just basketball show but before we do that Wes Goldberg I got a question for you to kick us off it appears you can never uh be certain with the Cleveland Cavaliers but that they are moving toward hiring Kenny ainson to be the next head coach replacing JB bicker staff that would mean that we have had six head coach hirings already seven would would be the Cleveland job and we still have Detroit so we’re looking at more than a quarter of the league getting a new head coach from and if you go back to Doc Rivers it’s even more so my question for you between ainson Doc Rivers Jordy Fernandez Charles Lee Mike buen holer Brian Keefe JJ reck which of those coaches will have the biggest impact on their team who do you think will do the best job get their team to where they want to be the best well you can look at this two ways right we can ask this short term we can ask this long term as well I do think that either way the answer might just be Charles Lee and I’m I the reason I hesitate to go longterm on Charles Lee the short-term argument is he’s been the most so one of the most sought after assistant coaches in the league for a few years now and the Charlotte Hornets did their due diligence they fired their coach early and they went after and got the guy that they wanted and we knew it was going to be Charles Lee for a while right yeah uh even during the NBA finals and and I think you see some of the parts that he has to work with with lamelo ball Brandon Miller the six pick in this draft Mark Williams who I still like it sounds like they still like him too there’s definitely some stuff to work with there and it just feels like a team that has had no vision for such a long time and if Charles Lee brings in 50% of the vision that the Boston Celtics were working with then that’s a lot more Vision than the Charlotte Hornets have had for a long time so I think maybe the answer there is is him the only reason I hesitate to go longterm I still just don’t necessarily trust what that front office is doing um I know it’s a relatively newer front office and everything like that but like there’s just not been a whole lot of proof of concept there can they actually build the team around lamelo and Brandon Miller how much do we trust lamelo to be the face of the franchise all these things there’s definitely some other long-term questions but if Charles Lee has been this sought after as an assistant coach then I think the the right answer has to be him yeah I’ll give my answer it’s also just crazy to look at these Cycles in 2022 only only two coaches were hired this year like I said we’re going to we’re going to be at eight if you include doc so and then 2023 it was like heavy hitter after heavy hitter you got Nick Nur you got eoka back you got Quinn Snyder you have obviously the whole situation with uh Missoula becomes like the full-time coach technically after the season he already had the job um and then this year it feels like it’s another cycle maybe similar to like the 21 122 range where it’s these assistants who we’ve kind of known were coming getting their their opportunity so I want to say Jordy Fernandez frankly I just think Brooklyn situation is so um Bleak like but Fernandez is similar to Charles Lee he’s a guy we’ve known for a very long time had he was going to be one of the next ones right and he goes overseas to get experience he’s bounced around in a lot of different NBA situations it seems like his exes and O’s are very well respected he’s had times where he’s kind of responsible for the defensive end sometimes on the offensive end and very well respected and everything else I’m I’m I I’m invested in him because I think he’s the type of guy NBA team should be treating more seriously with the all the stuff he’s done MH but the Nets I mean you know would we be surprised if they sucked again or if they’re even worse frankly even if he’s a good coach I don’t know so my answer is going to be coach that’s my answer coach bud is a good answer that’s a very fair answer um I guess my thing with Fernandez is like why did you even take that job is it just so that you could live in New York there’s no other real reason if you were this s after coach I know there’s only 30 of these jobs but like come on I don’t know so to your point he being great long term but the short term is going to be a little rough exactly they’re they they they keep their guys I’ll say that right like Shawn marks has had his job through like six different iterations of what this team has looked like they kept Steve Nash longer than I think most people expected and you know maybe like only by a month cuz he got fired in the middle of that season but jacqu vaugh was here forever so maybe it’s just hey I’m even if this season is bad it’s not going to be like Wes unseld in Washington or something where I’m just out immediately even though the situation was awful like I’m going to have some time here but yeah I I don’t know if I would have taken that if I was him and had my pick of the litter but regardless all of it is very uncertain it could be Brian Keefe for all we know we have no idea with this stuff it tends to be all about circumstance and everything else but interesting that we’re getting so many of these new guys and it’ll be fascinating to see heading into next season but let’s get to our most interesting teams of the NBA off season West and I are going to draft the teams that we think are going to be right in the middle of everything the teams we’re most curious to see the direction that they go all coming up next oh a spectacular by Michael Jordan LeBron James with no regard human life welcome into the just basketball show for Monday June 24th I’m Brendan clean that over there is West Goldberg we are here to start off another week we’re here for you three times a week giving you a dose of all things Hoops Mondays Wednesdays 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terms and conditions apply all right Wes Let’s uh we’re going to do this as a draft I think just to be a little bit more uh competitive about it debate it out we’re going to try to basically order from top to bottom the teams that at least I approached it as maybe a little flying a little bit under the radar we’re going to get to some of the obvious ones as well but who has the most interesting off season ahead of them as we enter draft week and things really start to heat up so I’ll give you the first pick who is your most interesting team of the NBA offseason well I’m glad you said under the radar because I do feel like this one has flown under the radar despite the guy calling the shots very blatantly saying we’re going to make big changes this summer and it’s the New Orleans Pelicans uh I I think that this team is fascinating for so many different reasons uh from a salary cap standpoint from where they stand some of the free agent decisions that they have some of the trade decisions that they have but more than anything more than like even like the Brandon Ingram part of this I was fascinated by what this team could be last year there was moments during the season where the Pelicans looked like a title Contender right and when Zion Williamson is playing like a top 10 guy which he has probably a couple different spurts over his career it just feels like everything is possible with this team and then you know something will go bad Zion will get hurt and then it feels like nothing’s possible for this team so trying to figure out what direction they’re going to go in with Zion and how to build around Zion because of as as unique and incredible of a talent he is he’s not the easiest player to build around either it’s a little complicated because he doesn’t even have the size of a guy like Giannis so even that kind of stuff take you do have to take a certain certain things off the table in that way and whatever I thought the Pelicans were really vulnerable when they didn’t know what Center they wanted to close with how they wanted to close games were they going to play with Zion at Center was it Larry Nance Jr who would ended up you know being the Josh giddy of that team essentially with teams just not playing off of him from three-point range Jonas valent chunis couldn’t hold up defensively at the end of these games he was just getting attacked and pick and roll things like that and also a free agent so I think they have some decisions to make internally of what ises the best version of our team built around Zion look like and what kind of players doing we need around him and that to me is the first kind of thing they have to figure out and then they have this great trade chip in Brandon Ingram who is on an expiring contract going to be up for an extension all indications is that he’s out of there they’re going to elevate herb Jones and Trey Murphy into the starting lineup which makes a whole lot of sense around Zion we at least know that works so you got this great trade chip and up to six first round picks that you’re going to be able to play with uh to figure out okay what’s the player that we need in the front court next to Zion and maybe we used Brandon Ingram to go get that player uh Griffin’s also kind of said that he wants to go look for scoring upgrade is CJ McCullum the long-term uh answer there in the back court obviously he’s not you could find some options there where does Dyson Daniels fit in ETC but to me that first question of how we build around Zion and then how do we use Brandon Ingram to go get that player is fascinating to me partly because I don’t know the answer to it I just don’t and that’s that to me is kind of the interesting part of where do they land on that yeah so not to throw cold water on on the Pelicans immediately because they’re going to get a lot done they’ve been very upfront about that as you said so I expect them to be active they’ll be one of the teams we’re talking about the most but I don’t think they’re going to get all of that done right now I just don’t think it’s possible right I I I have a hard time imagining like let’s just start with CJ McCullum I kind of just think he’s going to be on the team next year I think that the amount of money that he makes the the fact that they already are having to have negotiations with Brandon Ingram uh teams that want him could they end up bringing him back and just kind of eating it like to have a very similar thing play out with McCullum who has another year on his deal even though it does decrease it like he he’s going to be there I think you know can they really upgrade at Center and point guard and you know so I feel like it’s sort of I’m looking with them is the Ingram deal what’s the best that they can get right and then how do they make some of their other moves which could just be about who’s playing more or less on that’s already on the roster to look more like a Zion Williamson team like you said the interesting thing with the Zion side of it is even though he had his best season last year for sure he looked more like a wing than I think we thought he would when when he got drafted 5 years years ago right like even the best defensive moments that we finally saw him crack and and and show us it wasn’t blocking threes like he was doing at Duke playing small ball Center all the like biggest dreams we might have had and and maybe that’s coming I don’t know the League’s a lot different a 66 guy playing Center is probably unreasonable at this point in the first place but I guess my question is is he even a four on defense or is he really like a three and that again is starting to get into like how do you build this roster um Williamson Jones and Trey Murphy thei thir together on the court plus five net rating last year pretty nice um so that’s a good starting point on the Ingram side this kind of is a good place to start honestly because one of the things that I think is going to be interesting this offseason is and and I’ve heard some cap people who are smarter than me on this stuff continue to harp on it is there’s a lot of teams whether you look at obviously New Orleans who we’re talking about but also Cleveland potentially with any of their nonan Mobly guys who you know we’re pretty certain aren’t going to be traded but potentially could be um the Lakers are are buyers we know Jimmy Butler might be on the way out the Paul George situation is uncertain but a lot of those teams that I just mentioned are going to be wanting players back for what they’re giving up and the Pelicans fall in that camp too there’s not a lot of teams who are potentially going to be getting rid of their star who are trying to blow it up or just get a a package of picks and young players back so can the Pelicans even find a deal that keeps them competitive and gets them some of those chips to build a more Zion centered team for Ingram is that is that type of package even there for them is my question I don’t know that they want that you know I I think they do want the player back I think that’s what they’re looking for you know I don’t know that they necessarily even need if your if your idea is that we’re going to trade Brandon Ingram from a star for a star player I think you’re you’re probably not working with the the right hypothesis right like Brandon Ingram is something less than a star well I’m saying Ingram is kind of the star and they’re the ones selling him off to try to get you know like can they do a deal like um ogn and Obi and the Raptors I think that’s kind of what they would want to do but who who’s who’s out there to do that with them is that’s that’s what I’m saying yeah no I so I think you and I are saying the same thing too and it’s and again it’s what do what position are we looking for what do we want you know that to me is the hard part and so if I’m the Pelicans and this is something I’ve been playing around with and I’m not this is more half-baked than like I’m totally making like a a a strong stance here and I kind of wanted to bounce this idea off of you is because I agree with you what what they how Zion played last year was much closer to a wing than even like a power forward or a center and all these things and I actually thought Willie Green did a great job empowering him to be the guy bringing the ball up and that was I think criticized pretty roundly at first cuz it was so rough I just I don’t I don’t know what people expect if you’re trying you’re openly trying something new and it doesn’t work for the first month and people like this isn’t working it’s like well it wasn’t supposed to it’s been a month and it’s new it wasn’t supposed to work but we need this to happen so that he can grow into the player we need him to grow into and by the end of the year I thought he was doing his best playmaking he’s ever done in his career and I think if you keep going down that path that might be the right path for Zion and is he just a super siiz jumbo point guard and do you build around him the way that the Mavericks have built around Luca and you say well we just need lengthened defense around him a secondary ball handler to to help him out and some size in the front Court where we have some real Rim protection because he’s just not that player and with Zion you know the defensive stuff is going to it’s going to be hit or miss some nights he’s going to look dominant and great where he’s got much higher ceiling than obviously Luca does on that end but other Knights he’s just not going to be that engaged and that’s okay so I I would be looking for that that Rim rolling Center a real rim protector who can who can basically cover up all the deficiencies that this team has defensively cuz you look at their strengths defensively with herb Jones and Trey Murphy they could switch and guard every position one through four herb Jones can guard fives if if they need him to but um that’s what I’d be looking for so I think the trade that’s been out there is the Brandon Ingram for Jared Allen thing who knows what Cleveland wants to do maybe we’ll talk about them a little later but they’re like the team that could be interesting that just doesn’t want to be it just from all the reports they’re like no we actually all the four guys that can’t really play together we we’re just going to run that we’re going to run that back we’re we’re pretty comfortable with it and yeah we don’t even have a coach yet to make these decisions but that’s fine um so I don’t know that that to me seems like the guy that that makes a little bit of sense uh but but if you can’t get him is there is there a sign and trade for Nick Claxton is there something there for Isaiah hartenstein and or whatever it is I don’t know but those would be some of the things I’d be looking at yeah I I think you’re right and I but the part of the issue is like a lot of these teams I mean frankly even Dallas right like they were playing kba at the five despite us being so infatuated with The Gafford and and Lively Acquisitions it it feels like that type of Center we’re real we’re kind of like remembering how important it is but also it can’t be your only option and so like they’re in a tough spot because they don’t really have any centers that you feel great about in a in a postseason environment right now they might need like two cracks at that so again that’s kind of why I’m like is it all going to happen this summer or is next year when maybe they finally get like a succeed and and and maybe they win around or maybe they really push and it it’s unfortunate that they’re so far behind and it’ll be year six for Zion and they’re only at that point in their build but that might be a more reasonable goal but and that’s why I think I don’t expect them to get it all done this year but this is an important Pivot Point like this is where you choose the direction you’re going to go in and you sort of lay the foundation to to to do all the things that you need to do over the next the next couple years I like Atlanta I like I don’t know what they’re going to do but Capel well that that’s not my next team but that’s just for for for Ingram I’ll go to my next team in a second but just one last idea on the Pelicans trade front it’s like if they keep one of their guards but they want to remain competitive could that be could that be a place pushing foru if I was the Pelicans yeah AO they have some other younger Wing guys you could potentially get kind of multiple for one and I could see a world where if they want to you know I I like them to take a little bit of a step back but everybody keeps reminding us they don’t have their picks for the next few few years so if they’re kind of trying to do two things at once maybe that makes some sense but I’m not sure all right my next team my first team in our most interesting of the off season Houston Rockets we’ll stay in the west we’ll stay in the can they take a step forward group kind of in the middle of the Western Conference picks three and 44 in the draft I think obviously three being the the real way that they’re going to work their way into the headlines and and new cycle here to start things off West but also Al Shen eligible for an extension you have Fred Van vet basically already expiring if if they want him to be he he has that team option on the last year of his contract so you know when you hear uh Reed Shepard being named as a potential Target at three and things I know that seems odd but they’re already kind of having to plan for is Van v going to be on our team beyond that is he going to could we decline the option and give him an extension at less money like what’s the whole situation going to be um there also being connected with Donovan kingan a lot which doesn’t make a lot of sense to me and that’s part of why they’ve just kind of been on my mind is I’m like would they after you know the Stephen Adams thing that they do they’ve they allegedly wanted Brook Lopez now they’re targeting kingan I’m not I I’m not fully following what their plan is there it feels like that would just be sort of creating a log Jam by choice but maybe they just really want that 1 through 48 minutes we’re going to have a center we’re going to have defense I don’t I don’t know but of course layered on top of all of that is they were the most desperate aggressive team last off season do they do they still feel that level of pressure and are they one of the surprised teams that tries to go out and get a massive Improvement on the trade market and and really be a a surprise player in the sweep Stakes for any of these stars that were kind of maybe they will maybe they won’t be available and I think more than anyone else I’ll just say it like Jimmy Butler has the connection there I’m not saying they’re going to be the best trade partner for the heat but that’s kind of where my mind goes is if they really want to get involved in something like that they obviously have the assets to do it and I wouldn’t be surprised given how much we know Tillman fatita has pushed push pushed pushed since they lost Harden I love the Houston Rockets as the most interesting team of the offseason because there’s real team building like strategy things here right like how do you build around shun can he really be your Nikola yic and and all these things the way that they’re talking about him you’ve got so many interesting young players from Jaylen green to Jabari Smith Jr to Tar East the Thompson all these guys that you’ve got coming off the bench and and cam Whitmore all these interesting players where do you fit them in you’ve got the Dylan Brooks and the Fred vaned veteran factors on the roster already you’ve got really chunky tradable contracts even from like a jock landale and a Jeff Green and these other guys that are on the roster it’s like we can kind of move these things and turn it into something you’ve got the number three pick in this draft from all the team building asset stuff like their whole world is open and yet obviously the most the the smartest thing to do would be to just take somebody at number three take another bite at the Apple keep building around all these great talented young players that we all like and just chill and yet you’ve got this ownership edict saying we’re not chilling we’re going for it the hell with the future we need to make the playoffs right now for some weird reason and the number one job for an executive for a front office executive a general manager in charge of building a roster is not to build a championship roster that’s not the number one job the number one job for all these guys is to keep the job and if you want to keep your job you better make your owner happy and so all these things that we think that they should do they might not they might just not do it because the guys that’s in charge of it is just trying to keep his job because there is this immense amount of pressure from your boss to make the playoffs and so they’re so interesting for so many different reasons and what kind of star do they go out and get I have making the Jimmy Butler connection forever it is so easy Jimmy Butler from Houston would get along with em odok a ton would like a lot of the veteran players on that roster makes a lot of sense from just frankly what they need on that team too um do they go out and do it because they have all the things that they would need they have not even just one package they have several versions of several different packages that they could offer Miami and if the heat made the decision eventually to just say you know what we can’t give Jimmy Butler that much money the Houston Rockets are desperate enough to do it they’re fine with with it we can’t we can’t credibly do it and feel good about it so we’re going to have to explore some trades whether it’s Philadelphia that’s offering three first round picks and the the cap flexibility whether it’s the maybe it’s the Warriors who have been rumored with like a kaminga based package and and some picks or whatever it is Houston could beat every one of those packages like with one hand to hide behind their back and if they really wanted to make that move they could and and so that it feels like a realistic option for them if again the heat end up kind of coming to this Crossroads behind besides Jimmy Butler I don’t really know what the other star is for them like a Brandon Ingram doesn’t make sense for them they want that guy that’s really going to take them up that Notch and Brandon Ingram might be more of like he’s not like a ceiling Razer at all and it or or even a floor Razer it feels like uh Jimmy Butler could be that player but I don’t really know who else that player would be yeah a lot of the other guys seem to be guards right so they probably don’t need that uh at least not you know if Mitchell’s not available they don’t need a point guard I should say if you know van vate was was solid he makes a lot of sense with shenon it felt like he really was a culture Setter and got along with udoka as well and they they they just paid him they’re not going to want to replace him or trade him away so yeah part of it is we’re not exactly positive who all could end up being available throughout all this but um you know I don’t know like would it be insane if they had a conversation on a sign and trade with the clippers for Paul George I don’t know you know like that that’s sort of why I brought them up is they just feel like such a wild card given that they were just so over the top with everything last summer and we kind of just seem to have forgotten about them a little bit but I I Honestly Love Wes that we started with these two teams I think these are the two teams they were basically eliminated by the time you started doing the podcast but that I am over the moon in love with that Chris has never bought in on so um the fact that we were able to start with New Orleans and Houston just warms my heart I’m a fervent believer in aler and shenon I had as an All-Star last year when we did our All-Star picks I feel like his defense is much better than not much it’s better than the yic or the sabonis comps that he gets I think he actually has the ability to kind of move his feet and protect the rim at a little bit of a higher level than those guys do especially considering he’s younger than them of course so I just think this team is plus they unlock some small ball stuff when they uh when he got heard and Jabari Smith was playing Center and it it just feels like they’re they have all the talent that they need they’re ready to to make run run I feel like yeah ask me so us us being two really big Houston Rockets fans here obviously um the whole small ball thing was interesting when sangun got hurt at the end of the year and they’ve got Jaylen green which is bar Smith at Center and Jaylen green really flourished and it feels like like there’s it feels like there should be a version where Jaylen green and and Shang goon are the the next Jamal Murray yage like that they could work out this Twan game partnership but it’s never been there yeah even like really a little bit and they do tend to play better when the other one’s not on the court and yeah it’s still too early to me I’d rather again I’d rather be late on this stuff than early but I would give it another chance I wouldn’t be like rushing to get off of Jaylen green but all the reporting around Houston was even at the deadline that Jaylen green could be more available than people thought and so I I think if you had to pick one it’s obviously shenon but in terms of just like the vision of where the team should be going like what do you think the Houston Rockets should be doing because I guess to answer my own question before I even let you answer it I thought the fact everybody kind of looked at the oh well are they actually better with Jabari Smith Center over shanon is that really the future and I’m like that’s more of like a that was to me a a great development is oh now we just know how we want to play when shanon’s on on the court like maybe you don’t need a traditional backup center maybe it’s like they seem to think they do which is also what complicates it cuz they’ve been so determined to get another Center on the unless the whole clinging stuff is a smoke screen to get somebody to try to trade up I don’t but they very much for sure had an offer on the table for Brook Lopez and he just wanted to go back to Milwaukee so I don’t I don’t get them maybe not seeing how ready shanon was that was like maybe shanon just needs a year to to kind of get groomed and maybe having Brook Lopez in front of him as insurance and that it would be interesting to see if they because if if Brook Lopez is available this year if they kind of circle back on that Brook Lopez idea that would be that would be weird I’m hoping that they don’t I hope they realize that shun’s just fine at Center and they don’t need that so but who knows well to answer your question I mean I think that the Rockets it kind of feels like they they have what they need to be honest with you you like I guess Jabari Smith to me is a little bit of an interesting part of this because he really is sort of like similar to what we were talking about with with uh with Zion I think Jabari is a wing who happens to be really tall MH so he’s not exactly this sort of secondary rim protector that you’re going to put next to shenon and have that kind of you know Aaron Gordon to your yic per se I feel like he is and even Aaron Gordon’s not exactly that but you know like if they could have on green next to Shen that would be perfect but it’s it’s not that so right that’s the part where it gets a little bit complicated is like how do you kind of piece together what the you have a lot of wing talent you have a lot of defensive I think potential in your perimeter players but how do you sort of meld that with the limitations that of course shenon is always going to have that’s kind of I think the question but having a coach like koku to help do that is obviously great I could see the I I understand the idea of if you can get Shen to maybe take more threes to uh you know be a dribble handoff facilitator things like that to have another big option it’s not the craziest um I guess just with kingan it’s like if he has his eyes on potentially going first overall and he goes from that to I’m backing up an All-Star that feels like you’re just asking for a some problems uh for for two guys who have a lot of Pride and everything but I love cam Whitmore I love amen Thompson I think that shooting would be the only other thing to mention here they they need and that’s maybe where Jimmy doesn’t make a ton of sense it’s it’s interesting cuz Philly and and Houston are two places he might end up that don’t have an absolute ton of shooting to to help him out or to maximize what you want for Butler so that would be something to figure out Fred vanit again going to a team where he’s the only guy who’s a high volume shooter just just destined to just be launching threes off the bounce and being the only uh the only modern player on his team so to speak but yeah I think the Rockets are going to do something if nothing else they’ll have the third overall pick but I think they’re going to do more and they also have some other you know Jon Tate’s a free agent they have some other kind of interesting decisions too that that could be Ripple effects so there we go all right what’s your next uh pick in our most interesting offseason teams mini draft here well we did our the thing we had to do we got on here as NBA nerds talked about a couple of small Market teams with with youth and and the need for a vision so mission accomplished but now it’s Houston fans might be bothered that you’re doing that to them I mean that’s like fourth biggest city in the country they just have a weird fan base no you’re right and we do that here in Miami too we’re like we’re not small Market um so I’m going I’m going but big Market big Global footprint here I’m going with the Golden State Warriors yeah and they’re they’re interesting for a few reasons obviously because you’ve got the legacy of Steph Curry the legacy of their big three was Steph Draymond and Klay Thompson is Klay going to stay there all these things I think they’re also interesting because of they’re young players and if they do try to make some sort of big move here to reopen the Steph Curry window those other like the players they have on their roster currently could kind of spread to other places in the league and make impacts somewhere else like what does Jonathan kaminga look like on a young team that where he’s able to grow and and play through his mistakes and kind of learn through that can Moses Moody actually be a functionally good consistently good basketball player somewhere else where there’s some opportunity Brandon psky as good as he was for last year with the Warriors is he sort of like the hardest player to part with of that group and and can he make an impact somewhere else um you know they got some stuff to play with does Klay Thompson end up going somewhere else and be kind of the veteran uh helper that maybe a team like the Houston Rockets could you know benefit from or something like that so um they’re really interesting but it does just come down to what are we doing with Steph and I’ve been a little surprised and I’m curious about your take on this is it just because we have one of the all-time greats right in front of us in Steph Curry that I mean they just won the championship in 2022 and it feels like there’s this impatient rush to just be like well what’s next I’m like that might have been it and that if that’s it that is really fine to kind of be the Capstone of his career even with the Lakers I get it cuz even the 2020 bubble was it was in the bubble so fans couldn’t see it in person so it felt like a little it wasn’t fake that’s not what I’m saying it was a real Championship that was welld deserved but it didn’t feel as real as some of the stuff that you when you go to the finals and you watch it and it was also five years ago almost so now yeah I get the little LeBron kind of Rush of it but the warrior stuff it just feels like we just won the championship here and there’s like this impatient rush to be like what are you going to do about it curious about your take on it so I think the impatience comes from one this team is still expensive as if it’s competing for championships and that that just creates discomfort uh which is understandable not my money but I get that you know it’s easy it’s the same reason and the Celtics were about to extend everybody but last year we thought they had to trade Jaylen Barnes or Jaylen Barnes Jaylen brown right so it’s like uh I just saw Matt Barnes still has a cap hold for the Warriors at age 44 in the cap sheet and that’s why I said the word Barnes I don’t know why that’s sitting there uh threw me off um but so that’s it right but the other thing is I think that their development of their young guys doesn’t uh hasn’t come along so that that naturally creates kind of a well are we keeping them or are we moving them type of situation and and so I think it’s kind of those two things together I they already displayed their their nervousness or impatience themselves by trading one of those guys in wisan for a a seventh man eighth man and Gary Payton right so I think that they’ve kind of created that a little bit for themselves of course that one paid off with a championship but so I uh I saw this news Wes with the Warriors as I was getting ready for the show and just checking on hoop type and everything the little rumors that are going around and apparently the latest is that they want might want to keep cavon Looney after all right which to me you know not it’s only what like $7 million or something it’s like eight yeah yeah eight there you go so it’s not like that that tells us a ton but it at least um it raised my eyebrows just as far as really more so the clay thing if if they’re keeping Looney does that does that mean they either think they’re going to get clay had even less money than they thought or is he gone I don’t know it just you know was was one little kind of thing that I I pinned to the to the Whiteboard but then I also have just been wondering they have their own picks you mentioned kaminga there’s just not going to be a lot of guys available I’m not positive if they’re going to have the best offer and I just don’t really know if it’s on the table for them to get whatever you know the robin D Curry’s Batman might might look like in 2024 I I just I haven’t really felt reading the tea leaves or seeing any of this like that’s that’ll be the Warriors guy that that’s who it’ll be and that’s going to be what they should go all in on which I think is maybe why they’ve dis aside from the clay stuff been a little bit under the radar yeah so the clay I’m glad you brought the cavon Looney part of this too because there was a report that it felt like they were definitely going to wave him and before the guaranteed deadline all that stuff I always find that hard to believe just because of how much Steve CER loves cavon Looney and they do put a premium on like the team’s culture and cavon Looney is a big part of that and he’s just sort of like a lot might be $8 million for culture though he might not play you know so it is it is interesting but I also wonder if they decide well we might need that $8 million to use in a trade that they’ve done some calculations of the potential players that they could go after like we know what we need this like chunk of 8 million to include in a trade package going out so maybe that was also part of it especially if they think reps they’re trying to push back yeah exactly they might be trying to move his deadline back so that that would speak to a deal too yeah and I do think that that’s going to happen it just makes sense for both sides because for Chris Paul he’s like hey can you move it back and we’ll try to get you somewhere where you want to be and if not whatever so man if he were to get both years of that non-g guaranteed contract guaranteed alltime bag getting when people thought it was it was basically a two-year deal if he gets it all the way to four and makes $30 million when he’s almost and was a bench guy last year salute to Chris Paul it’s almost enough to make up for the fact that he never won a championship isn’t it like it’s no it’s not but it’s uh it’s it’s certainly a nice consolation prize it’s 30 million consolation prizes sure sure uh 30 million reasons and then I feel that bad about it I guess but yeah um there like with the Chris Paul thing though that’s a real Chip that could become a a something for another team to take on where I don’t know is that just something where the Pelicans are like well screw it we can’t find a good deal for Brandon Ingram and the Warriors are like he’s not a great fit here but it’s better than nothing and we got to do something cuz we’re feeling the rush and the Pelicans are like well we could just create basically $30 million in cap space by just taking Chris Paul for Brandon Ingram and maybe something else and then just waving Chris Paul and we just call it that like it could just be something like that that ends up happening the Warriors part of this is interesting too I think in terms of the rush and everything Mike dun Ley Jr is in charge of that front office he was not in charge when they won the championship in 2022 Bob Myers obviously retired or or left the program after that a year after that but I I don’t think that like if you’re now running the show there you don’t want to just kind of babysit the last dying Embers of whatever it is that the Warriors Championship was like you want to show that hey I’m a real general manager I’m not a babysitter and I can go out and make moves and kind of give Steph Curry that chance and Steph Curry is the franchise player you do owe it to him especially at the end of the season where he says I just want to compete I just want to win games you know I want to be competing at the highest level you owe it to him to give him that opportunity whether or not it’s a championship or not a chance to get to the Western Conference Finals get through the second round of the Western Conference playoffs that matters for a guy like Steph and and his and his just competitive fire and kind of keeping that Blaze alive and I think maybe that should be the goal for the Warriors is just get let’s just get a chance and then who knows we’ve got Steph he’s made match happen before it’s just really hard to find exactly what that player is which is why maybe Jimmy Butler again has been linked to them it’s just like hey he’s a guy that could be out there he’s and he’s a Difference Maker when he’s engaged you know he could be one of the top 15 players top 10 players in the league when he’s totally engaged and maybe the fit is a little clunky but whatever you know he’s basically aside from the spot up consistent spot up shooting like he’s a version of what Wiggins and kaminga have been for them at various points so you could obviously see how Butler could could click in there kaminga to me I I love Jonathan kaminga but you you would have to anyone would have to realistically that even the past couple years as he’s really started to come along he’s he’s also never really been the most consistent it’s it’s been flashes it’s been you know obviously Kerr maybe didn’t do him a ton of favors with the the role fluctuation over time but still I think if kaminga had been consistently every night what he’s been for two three four weeks at a time at various points he he would have gotten that that role and would have been starting and would have been doing everything so I get why you Kinga part is interesting I like before we move off kaminga but no I was just going to say I think that I get why you would want to maybe he kind of would have to be included but maybe you don’t have the patience and that’s sort of where again it always kind of comes back to that but like I think he it would not Shock me if he became as good as some of the players they could trade for um I’m high on kaminga I don’t think I’m as high on him as you are but I do wonder what his value around the league is like if you’re a team trading for Jonathan kaminga how confident are you in bringing him in as a blue chip kind of centerpiece to a deal if you’re moving a star or a high level role player out because he has been inconsistent there are concerns over his outside jumper you know I think there’s concerns over his defensive engagement on a night toight basis it’s going to there are you know even in you know NBA the NBA media space I think there’s people that are sort of either anti or Pro Jonathan kaminga I would venture to Guess that the front offices around the league are very similar it kind of reflects same thing either you’re in or you’re out on kaminga and so I think people see him as like this former lottery pick with all this potential and this upside and say well they could probably make him the centerpiece of any kind of deal that they’d want it’s really going to depend on the front office’s View and value of kaminga whether or not they view him fortunately for the Warriors you do have these other things that you could potentially move maybe they’re bigger pod zsky fans maybe they’d rather have that kind of deal based around him and like a trace Jackson Davis or something like that like again Eye of the Beholder kind of stuff but yeah I I I would be I wouldn’t be surprised if kaminga was harder to trade than I think a lot of people would expect all right anything else on the Warriors I can take us to another uh bigger team here um is there just a player out there that you love for them whether or not it’s like getable or not outside of like Giannis and stuff like that I really don’t I really don’t know if there is I know uh they’re just I mean obviously we we know it’s the Warriors they’re they’re a unique fit they’re a tough uh um they’re a tough group to Steph Curry I’ve always said one of the great teammates of all time ultimate floor Razer on offense all these things not easy to play with that has nothing to do with him personality wise it’s just a weird system he changes all like the movement patterns and stuff that you’re used to playing um and so it just it takes a very specific player to get along there I liked Jared Allen at very you know if if he were to be available but you know now we got Donovan post and IG stories of the two of them hugging so that doesn’t seem to be in the cards here um I’ve thought about towns but I just don’t I don’t think defensively that that would that that would ever make sense um yeah that it’s not like there’s nobody but it’s like as far as the stars that we think could reasonably be available I’m not exactly sure I kind of was intrigued by the SE yakum thing when he was available I felt like that that made some sense he’s he’s obviously in Indiana now and just signed a new deal that that’s the one that’s the one that got away because obviously you know the’s fit every board fan talked about that a few years ago before jannis signed that extension and stuff like can we go get him what would it take would you trade Draymond and Clay to get Giannis and all these things Pascal seak was sort of like baby Giannis and all the kind of things that Warriors fans were dreaming of so is there like a baby baby Giannis or a baby SE yakum out there is that just Jonathan kaminga I don’t know but it’s it’s it’s not easy to find the player that that makes a lot of sense and that’s kind of the roadblock I keep bumping up against which might be why they’re interesting is because like can they figure it out cuz I can’t one other one just throw out there again not like these aren’t stars and that’s part of what’s a star player and like you know maybe salute to Kevin Durant a little bit here right but like a star player who is able to come in and sort of humble themselves to play a style that is going to be less usage and all that than they’re used to that’s part of what’s tough but Mel Bridges comes to mind Mel Bridges would be pretty interesting if he ever became available just to kind of fill what we’ve seen Wiggins and even you know to an extent KD kind of do here um would be would be pretty interesting but all right so my uh my next one the Milwaukee Bucks I have on my list not a lot of stuff they can do so that’s why I didn’t put them higher but uh obviously a ton of pressure obviously probably one of the bigger gaps between if they can really hit the highest end outcome of of everything that they can do could be right there in the championship mix again whereas if if they fall flat you know they’re first round exit again so and guys are getting or moved or whatever so a lot at stake picks 23 and 33 in the draft we’ve heard from Jake fiser now of Yahoo to Circle back to Brook Lopez again that he is reportedly at least kind of on the table which makes sense if you’re just looking at their cap sheet there there’s not there’s not a lot they’re not going to trade Giannis or Dame Middleton probably does has more value to them than he would anywhere else with his injuries and everything so Lopez is naturally where you would have to to look and quietly Wes the other part of this that interests me and we the bucks came up when we had Zack Cohen of real GM last week on to talk about the draft and and some teams that um we were talking about sleepers and then it was okay well what teams have the most kind of pressure on them to try to get one of these sleepers and get it right and the Bucs came up they’ve been awful at drafting under John hor yes since he took over for John Hammond who of course drafted Giannis and is really renowned and helped build this Orlando core now too but but since he left and horse replaced him they’ve they’ve swung and missed over and over and over and of course they haven’t had a ton of you know not like they swung and missed on the third overall pick by any means it’s been late picks but hey plenty of other teams do it so you got to you got to at least get something and it’s been Sterling Brown and it’s been you know uh Jordan war and it’s been it’s just it hasn’t worked out and now they have two guys on their roster now Bo champ and Jackson Who doc didn’t want to play it seems like they’re headed toward at least not hitting in Milwaukee so if 23 and 33 are kind of their only means to improve and those are the places that they’ve consistently been bad at at at improving with it’s pretty bleak so I don’t know if you have Lopez ideas or draft ideas but uh they got to do something and I’m not optimistic that they can yeah I think the 23 pick is important for them but for a team with championship aspirations expecting even a hit at 23 to meaningfully bump up your Championship odds is just unrealistic but they do have to use it and and make something of it eventually at some point you got to start hitting on these draft picks whether or not you have Giannis or Brook Lopez or Damen L like the draft matters you got to start figuring that part of it out just from your own job is J from John hor jobs perspective um The Brook Lopez is obvious he’s obviously the Domino here he’s the big kind of chip that they could play he makes sense for a lot of teams um even at going into his age 36 season it’s an expiring contract you can move that to me I thought they should and apparently they want to move him and kind of get more versatile defensively I thought they should have been targeting Nick Claxton at the trade deadline last year I think that that would be a slam dunk fit for them you’ve got you you no longer have drew holiday there you’ve got Damon lert I think it makes a lot of sense to switch to a a switching style of Defense where you can kind of unlock Giannis in that way a little bit more than he has been in the past maybe um and then if you get a guy like Claxton maybe that unlocks that scheme for you um it gets a little bit harder to pull that deal off it would take a restricted free agency sign and trade type of thing which is possible it would hard cap them but that’s sort of like a their own finances do they think they’re going to go over that hardap all these things but something like that to me makes some sense well the Pelicans have been connected to Lopez for obvious reasons Z’s very similar player to yanis having a spacing five like we talked about would make a lot of sense and so Larry and an could be that right Larry and an could could make sense for Milwaukee so I think like a Nan and Daniels move for Lopez I I think the Bucks probably have to give more in that deal actually so I don’t know what it ends up looking like um just given that Lopez is making a lot of money and is older and everything else so um but my maybe my favorite fake trade and I again I I think probably the Bucks have to give something on this one is Lopez for Dort oh I hate that for Oklahoma City really okay yeah lud D’s awesome and I know they just got Caruso and maybe you don’t need him but that’s sort of the idea is I feel like when you have one of them it’s fine but when you have two of them it’s impenetrable right and that it’s like building on the strength is almost the point of adding Caruso it wasn’t to make Dort redundant and so uh i’ I’ve but I’ve been on this the whole time I don’t think that the Thunder need a $20 million a year Center I think they just need a guy who’s 7 feet tall that can come off the bench and get him at $5 million in three well what I mean if they happen to have a guy who happens to make 20 million because he had a great career and got overpaid by his team and is going to expire soon and they have the money it’s kind of like why not like they’re not going out of their way to spend their own money on a $20 million Center but I think he he’s he probably would be fine coming off the bench I don’t know I think not to get sidetracked with OKC but I’m still skeptical about their I think shooting is what kind of bit them in the postseason and they haven’t really addressed that so Lopez would would do that even if he it’s not even so much to me like they need toughness and size it’s really like Lopez is a volume shooter he just happens to play center um so that’s kind of why I liked it but um the Bucks also have the taxpayer mle so that just to say that they can go try to out bid for somebody uh whether that’s a center or another Wing uh cuz they’re only in the first apron which shocked me I thought they were in the second apron so they have a little more than the minimum if they want to do that too I like Lopez for Oklahoma City I want to be clear I just wouldn’t trade Dort for him but you got like all these draft picks and these other things that you could move and you could absorb Lopez into cap space if that’s what you’re trying to do and then maybe maybe that’s what Milwaukee looks for because now you become more of a you know you get the the non- tax paay mid-level exception you get all that kind of stuff unlocked maybe I I know I know we’re trying to figure out the the Milwaukee part of this not the Oklahoma City part of this um well there’s not a lot of traits for Lopez I think is maybe the the thing to just say from The Bu side is like he makes a lot of money would you do and I’m just thinking I’m putting my Miami Heat hat on here if you just need shooting because that’s the other thing you need around yis is shooting would you do Duncan Robinson for Brook Lopez as that maybe you have to throw something else in there but like as the basis like does that does that do anything for you it well doc seemed to love uh what’s his name AJ Green they played him a lot once once doc took over so maybe maybe doc thinks they need like a movement shooter like that which I don’t hate but I think I would need that it goes back to the part of why I like made a point of the thing with Ingram at the top of these teams who and of course Lopez isn’t even as good as Ingram but good teams who want to trade their established players for multiple component parts but who are also contributing role players that that type of trade is just there’s a reason when Toronto well they did it with kawhai they did it with uh obviously I mentioned the OG trade in the other direction last time but there’s a reason that those moves are like the Raptors get so such a reaction for they just not common but now a lot of teams want them so Brooke kind of Falls in that camp too it’s like yeah Lopez fernan and Daniels sounds great but that type of deal happens like once a year so are we really going to get six of them this summer I I kind of doubt it so I don’t know I yeah Chris and I have gone back and forth with the Bucs thing a million times like it it does feel like they’re really just up against it it might be more likely that hey they just make a pick of 23 33 and use the taxpayer mle hope Dame’s healthy and roll it roll it back yeah hope that Dame’s in shape I guess according to Doc Rivers but um no they’re they’re the team last year like you ever watch like a TV show I think like in succession for instance were you a succession guy oh yeah so it always felt like Kendall would have like this great scheme and he was like I’m way ahead of everybody on this like nobody sees what’s I’m playing chess not Checker’s baby and he he does this whole thing and he executes all these things and it just Logan was there just beating him the entire time seeing what came in like his whole thing just fell apart at the end of the episode right that’s what the Milwaukee Bucks whole year felt like is we’re getting Damen Lillard nobody sees us coming man we’re that mystery team that’s been hinted at nobody sees it coming we got Damien Lillard boom we’ve won the off season we we it was really tough to say say goodbye to Drew Hall Wait Wait Drew wait we thought we sent him to Portland why is he in Boston now wait did we just somehow lose the arms race on this entire thing and they were like the Kendall Roy of the off season and the Bucks were the Logan Roy just sort of masterminding the entire thing they obviously didn’t know that Drew was going to be a all these things but whatever that’s not the point the point is a metaphor but uh it feels like they they are that team and I don’t know that Kendall Roy ever gets out of his own way you know what I mean and that’s sort of where I’m at is you failed the arms race a very pivotal point in your build in sort of your timeline and you’ve sort of now boxed yourself into whatever this is which is why to go back to the Brook Lopez piece it’s like kind of the last thing there to kind of move and if you don’t get it right it will be a disaster because there might not be any coming back from it cuz just hoping that your aging stars are healthier than they’ve been in a long time and have all career years at the same time I guess is a fine strategy but it’s not the best one and it felt like you were operating from a place where you just won a championship in 2022 where you shouldn’t be here now and it does feel a little bit more Bleak than you’d want it to be for the bucks it just got so old they’re just so old because D like that’s the part of it where it’s like another guy where okay yeah like I agree it was funny to hear doc like lay the breadcrumbs of the excuse like he tends to but it’s also it’s like well what did you expect you acquired another dude in his mid-30s it’s like you were you surprised Middleton barely made it through the regular season well you can’t really be surprised that Dame not being in awesome shape all summer was a problem for you you got all these dudes who are on their last contract like that that’s what happens you know and that’s why I pointed out like yeah they’re probably not going to get somebody at 23 that demonstrably makes them this this favorite out of nowhere but right it just speaks to like could they get one it’d be nice you know be nice if they had gotten if they had hit the pick a couple years ago to your point earlier it’s it’s it’s almost too late now to hit on the pick it almost is inconsequential to hit on the pick but they have to do it anyway cuz that’s their job and they’ve done such a bad job about it anyway but does does Middleton have zero value on the trade market think he has negative value that’s what I’m thinking too he’s got he’s 31.6 this year 34 million on a player option which I’m going to assume he’s going to pick that one up in 20 2025 yeah it’s like you’d have to give you’d have to give something to get off of him at this point would would be how I look at it just because of his of his injury concerns like you’re you’re acquiring a guy who you have guaranteed money for for 2 years 65 million doll who you know it sucks I love Chris Middleton he actually played awesome in the postseason which would make me if I’m Milwaukee at least and I kind of know I probably have to keep him a little bit optimistic but if I’m another team it’s like he may he may not play you know there’s that’s a real that’s a real possibility that that I’m getting that I’m getting no performance out of him so just last thing on the Bucks I just I wonder if there’s a like a front office like a Houston Rockets that just feels internal pressure to make something happen and maybe they just move like a Dylan Brooks and a stepen Adam salary for Chris Middleton and you just sort of break that one spot up into a couple spots but like you said those those trades are hard it’s a great point and uh yeah I I’m I’m with you I think Middleton probably has negative value but there’s you know teams have done weird things in the past yeah and you know maybe it’s like again maybe next summer he he could be more movable on the last year are you exploring it at least are you making calls if you’re Milwaukee of course I would have been making calls for the past year on Middleton unfortunately for him but you know I just it’s it’s dicey and they know more about his Medicals than anybody it’s been so weirdly handled like I I can’t I just would be such a risk if you’re my only my only uh my only hesitation would be well we just traded away one of giannis’s favorite teammates ever and we’re going to do it again to try to in now but now we’re sort of in scramble mode in doing it does that rub Giannis the wrong way if it doesn’t work out um would just be like the one thing I would be worried about if they trade the pick I would just you know they have poris and conaton who they can also deal I think poris is was just not very good last year uh frankly so his defense has always been questionable I think it took a step back if he’s not creating offense and shooting threes at a really high level consistently then like he he just starts to become tough to even play in a playoff environment so you have to see uh you know bounce back whatever but can another team take him on and and that’s just the salary to go out and get something else so they they don’t have nothing to work with but they don’t have a lot all right what is uh what’s your last team here um those are the teams I was most excited to talk about but I think the other one I just I want to shout out the Denver Nuggets a little bit I don’t know that they’re my my next most interesting team but they’re I think it’s fun to kind of say oh well how these kind of middling teams take the next steps just as interesting to me on that kind of stuff and then like the Legacy teams like the Warriors and the and the Lakers and stuff is these top teams that need to make one little move but don’t have much means to do it but obviously the Denver Nuggets they need to do something it’s hard for them to do anything how can they sort of work around the parameters and their limitations to go find that backcourt upgrade a backup center things like that what are they going to do in the draft how are they going to use these picks how are they going to negotiate the the timeline and the salaries and all these things I don’t know what move is on the board for the Nuggets it just feels like they need a version of what the Mavericks did last year where they hit on a couple of minimum salary guys and they just need to do a better job of scouting those guys but also you know Booth is said like I you know we’re not trying to repeat a bunch of times we’re trying to win multiple in a decade well congrats you didn’t repeat so you know mission accomplished so far yeah but now now is like that other you know if it’s going to be like an every other year kind of thing well here’s your every other year you got to make a run at at this time because now you just if you don’t if you’re not in the in the finals this year now you just become a team that won won right and it’s not to say that you’ll never win another one but you got to get to that level again and you know it felt like they took a year trying to groom the young guys none of them really panned out yet I mean Christian Brown is probably the most like promising of the whole group but I don’t know that anybody else has proven at this point do you go and say you know what we tried developing these guys maybe they just ain’t it let’s go get some minimum salary veterans who might be a little bit more proven and can help us in the short term and make a move that way cuz now you’re now you’re on the clock a little bit more than you were off of the championship yeah it’s really fascinating what is going to happen with kcp of course right like first and foremost with them because you know I of course if they lose him it is it is pretty dire you know um at the same time just from you know kind of mathing it out like if they did lose him they get more flexibility so they become somewhat more interesting in other ways of course for them that that doesn’t matter and it it shouldn’t but I would kind of just be to game out what it would look like for them to have to go into kind of panic mode would be kind of interesting to watch but I want this group to stay together I think they can keep kcp on a little bit of a raise but a longer contract type of thing just to kind of reward him for what he’s done he’s 31 so you know he’s not going to get too many more cracks at this so they got to they got to pay him up but maybe not too too much I don’t know we’ll see but um yeah them giving Reggie Jackson that contract was was awful last year and they can’t afford a mistake like that again the Michael Porter Jr part of this too is interesting cuz when you’re talking about again you move the big salary for a couple of pieces that might be a way to address their depth if you’re at one part of the starting five one member who might be the most Expendable it might be Michael Porter Jr especially if you’re able to bring back cavius Caldwell Pope because you’re going to need his shooting can you turn the mpj piece who is a good player I’m not like out on mpj but at $36 million probably not that good could you turn that salary into something that makes a little bit more sense for you and provides a little bit more depth and financial flexibility moving forward I’ve got a fake trade idea for you if you’d like to hear it sure Michael Porter Jr to Memphis for Marcus smartt John Kar and GG Jackson I think you threw that one for to me after the Nuggets got eliminated and I uh what did I I I joked that GG Jackson would become an All-Star at age 20 in in Denver if that were to happen I mean a 69ine like scoring athlet athletic freak that that’s the league should David Stern should come back up and join us again to cut that one off because that that seems like uh like cheating um yeah mpj I don’t know people uh like Matt Moore who covers them obviously uh based in Denver works for the Action Network he has been referring to that a lot as like one of the most UN unmovable deals in the NBA I’m not fully sure I agree with him yeah but he’s he’s talking to more people that would know than me so maybe it’s maybe it is seen that way around the league I it’s not so much 36 this year but it’s 413 years from now you know mhm yeah it’s tough but he’s he’s young he’s tall and he can shoot the snot out of the ball and those those guys to be able to get moved yeah I mean it’s different than Zack LaVine who’s old and not that big and shoots the SN out of the ball like and I that’s sort of the comparison I’ve seen as Michael Porter Jr is that just another Zack LaVine salary I’m like n it’s not that bad okay I got one last one for us let’s do close out Utah Jazz okay basically the idea being that I’m just fascinated and I’ve been thinking about them a lot for obvious reasons in the aftermath of Boston winning the title because Danny an is now in Utah as is one of the assistant coaches who’s now the head coach there in Will Hardy and we’re just basically seeing West what it looks like for Danny an to orchestrate a rebuild without the kg Pierce Steel right you know yes I was thinking about that the other day yeah what would it look like if to be bad yeah if you didn’t just get gifted a top five pick every year regardless of how your team performed now that’s what Danny a is having to to navigate and it’s just crazy that I think that a lot of their moves and their you know the way they play and the way they’ve been able to to get more out of some of their young players has been like they’re kind of a you know basketball nerd a good smart team in those circles despite not being very good on the court and yet I look up and there’s these rumors that Walker Kessler could be available which it seems like one of those things that’s probably not going to happen but just kind of pops up this time of year if I had to guess but still odd and it just made me again be thinking about them from the standpoint of how many how many core players do they have how many guys are on their roster that we know are going to be on their roster in three years five years you could tell me the answer is zero that’s I you think yeah so that’s crazy they’ve been bad for two years they’ve been you know the the the chosen son of NBA rebuilds and everything like but then they have zero players to show for that that’s again that’s what happens when you’re not picking three but you’re picking 10 and everything else it’s it’s a this feels like a summer that they kind of need to maybe get to one you know what I mean and maybe that’s just extending marinin and saying Lowry marinin is going to be on our team and we’re going to start building around marinin and not just having him be the one good thing on a bad team or it’s we’re trading Mark in and we’re actually going to be awful this year but I just like this this doesn’t feel like it’s working uh they’re another one of these Vision Quest teams aren’t they it’s just hey you got to go out this summer and figure something out you got to pick a path and go down it and uh the Larry Markin thing is interesting because you know Danny Angel tell everybody like we’re not trading Larry marke and he’s a key part of the team it’s like well you said thing about same thing about Donan Mitchell and Rudy goar and you traded them within minutes of saying that so um I don’t believe it but he’s also up for an extension you have to make some kind of decision on Markin in at some point and just playing like this Loosey Goosey limbo thing isn’t working to your point I like keay George I think he’s a piece I don’t know that he’s their star going forward but I I liked I thought he had a good year last year and he made strides as a playmaker which was not necessarily his job and all these things and I thought he was good but um yeah I I don’t really know what you do with this team especially like the Walker kler thing is really interesting to me because weren’t we a year away from Utah Jazz people being like would you rather have Walker Kessler or Rudy goar that was a real was so high on him and Jake fer reported on on the dunon podcast that he they were both kind of talking about it I believe or I don’t actually remember maybe it wasn’t them but either way Jake reported it initially and it seems like there’s some kind of tension between like how he’s playing and his minutes and with the coaching staff which honestly to me like the way that I took that is yeah he probably didn’t appreciate coming off the bench for as long as he did right yeah for really I’m not sure what reason because you really wanted to have John Collins around and and you benched your your foundational Center like I kind of blame the jazz on that I don’t know the details but that was weird from afar and if it bothered him even worse the John Collins trade was weird in the first place where I understood it from like a talent bet but also why you know for the Jazz it’s like what so John it’s not like you’re doing a talent bet on a guy who’s 2122 like John Collins is not old but he’s not like like was this going to be the BET yeah it was very strange and they it’s can he work better here but he’s probably not going to get better as a player it’s just like could it work here but yeah it disrupted a lot you did and and I understand he was making $29 million and Kesler was in the second year of his contract and it’s like well if we’re going to bench one of them I guess we bench the cheaper younger guy it didn’t make any sense and so now the Jazz have to correct course I don’t think the Kessler thing is a lost cause I would be working to find a way to put him back in the starting lineup and smooth things over with him because I do think he’s still I’m I’m high on him as well you just got to figure something out so it’s a good it it who knows what that looks like maybe it just looks like a straight up bottoming out maybe that’s what you have to do or you’re moving some of these young pieces including a Kessler and getting a guy who’s more on Larry marinin and John Collins I guess uh their timeline and uh and going in that direction but you got it like I said Vision Quest summer for the Utah Jazz figure out what you want to do be that team and go forward because you can only be like cool Hardy five out offense cool schemes and sideline out of bounds stuff for so long before you actually have to start winning games yeah and they have new ownership and everything else so you know bringing a in and kind of being the the flashy interesting team for a while and and winning the Mitchell And goar Trades like that that buys you some job security but yeah they’ve they’ve also quietly been in TR yeah they got rid of a young top 15 player right going into his prime having the best two years of his career in Cleveland and they don’t have a whole lot to show for that trade well Markin in okay but he’s not as good best 15 players in the league I mean he’s not nearly as good as Mitchell and they just traded out oai abaji for no no real reason last year to get you know send him to Toronto which was you know he’s not as good as Kessler but another one where it’s like hold on he was like one of the things you got in the deal and now he’s not on your team anymore like why um yeah all right that was that was all my list and I think you you burned through yours so there we go so I’ve got one thing for you before we sign off here we’re recording this on a Sunday morning uh typically prime time for brunch uh and so I’m going to ask you the age-old question waffles or pancakes so I have a story actually on this because uh I had a weird um thing yesterday so uh my little sister is N9 years younger than me she my mom buys like health food not not crazy but like you know not not going to have like Lucky Charms in the pantry and bacon on the stove just sort of like you know a tou healthier of an option a Sprouts instead of exactly instead of um you know instead of a a regular grocery store Trader Joe’s whole maybe not Whole Foods level but you know what I mean so she had never been to Denny’s my little sister had never in her life been to a Denny’s wow so I was like okay let’s go to Denny’s you gotta come on you’re she just graduated from high school she’s a grown adult she’s got to go she’s got to have that experience you took her by yourself or did you was your mom also involved took her by myself okay wow my mom your mom’s back does she know she knows it was allowed it was it was approved she’s also an adult she can make her own decisions I don’t know if she’s willing to get into some tension with her you know her mother over that but she you know she could have come so but no my mom would never step foot so it was just the two of us oh wow um and one I don’t even think Denny’s makes waffles so that like we that became a talking point which is what made me think of this um that’s a t that’s a hard stance that’s in the in the waffle versus pancake debate Denny’s is very much like we don’t even sell the waffles they’re kind of an authority on the matter and they seem to have chosen their side so I don’t know what that tells us here but they had a million types of Pancakes so I went uh I I got some she did my little sister did as well so I feel like most of the time at a restaurant I’m pancakes because they have they you can do more with it you can do banana and chocolate chip or you know you could do peanut peanut butter or some kind of like caramelly thing waffles it’s kind of like you’re just getting a waffle that’s you know but then at at home I’m all I’m all waffles like I’ll make waffles I’ll get frozen waffles I never would have a pancake at my house so I don’t know where that leaves me I I actually don’t know my own answer here so usually we do on the Instagram post we pick out some quotes to post on Instagram and I think yours needs to be at home I’m all waffles it’s it’s me that’s all anybody needs to know about me there you go that’s your op most interesting teams in the offseason at home I’m all yeah there we go um I’m waffle through and through uh so my thing when it comes down to it I don’t like syrup I’m anti- syrup it’s just a sugary globby glazy mess and it makes me want to puke honestly it just it grosses me out all right I don’t know if that’s partly just because at Denny’s the syrup uh container always uh feels like a syrup container in that it’s sticky and nasty and I hate it and I don’t even want to touch it so that might just be part of it um you got weird like little uh you got to push it so that it opens and then you it’s kind of hard barely opens you just got like yeah it’s just got syrup trying to keep it closed it doesn’t we’re in the year 2024 we have to have found a better way to deliver syrup to pancakes other than that they have like some little restaurants or hotels they’ll have like the ranch container but it has syrup in it that’s honestly better we have we have at you go to a fast food restaurant you have ketchup packets why not have individual syrup packets and just you use it and toss it and we’re done uh anyway not not to give out free ideas to Denny’s but um I I like you don’t like syrup but you like waffles so what do you put on it just like butter is fine or by itself honestly like just a dry waffle just okay that is what’s the difference also at that point I don’t eat either of these very often ever but I like I like the text texture part that I’m get I get with the waffle you have the crunchy outside and this the soft inside with a pancake it’s just all soft and I’m a I’m very much a texture guy so I go and I’m not a sweets person at all so there’s nothing really that I could do with either of these items so if I had to pick anything I would take the texture thing if if uh if a if a pancake is too thick it that that’s disgusting I also am more of a Savory guy and so you don’t really hear of chicken and pancakes but you do get chicken and waffles at a brunch that’s true that’s true I was going to say you know frankly a lot of the time if if it’s a if there’s a restaurant that has it French toast is is a is a strong option French toast is not a fair it’s not a fair it’s a heavyweight versus a featherweight in the uh pancakes wor waffles debate It’s like because that’s the thing right like we were just saying what do you even put on it if you don’t like syrup you could eat french toast without anything cuz it has like you know cinnamon sugar kind of like pressed into it already so that that’s French toast with with uh like sliced strawberries and bananas on top there is nothing wrong with that there is nothing wrong that perfect meal yep so you asked me a question that led to you not liking basically either one yeah what do you order at brunch then I’m not a big brunch person I’ll usually get there I I’ll probably just order a hamburger I’ll order a cheeseburger I’ll I just kind of go straight to the lunch portion of it the only rough part of it is you’re at brunch you kind of want a mimosa and it’s weird to have a mosa with a cheeseburger but it hasn’t but it also hasn’t stopped me my defense it’s kind of the point of brunch you’re just you’re allowed to kind of do what you want like so you could have like coffee it’s weird kind of weird to have like a coffee drink with a with like a a club sandwich but hey that’s the point uh an espresso martini and a turkey club ain’t bad can speak from experience but uh yeah I went me and my wife went to brunch the other day and we ended up just ordering waffles and beer and I was just like well this is just lunch now H this is just us drinking on a Sunday whatever that’s perfect that’s perfect I thought you were going to ask me an NFL question you were setting up the Sunday morning and I was like not ready to be in that space yet Wes please don’t well you’re on the west coast so you get the great like um the 10:00 a.m. start which is what I miss about living in California was you would start with like there was a restaurant near me when I used to live in the Bay Area that did uh like a Brun and this is not rare but they did it like brunch on Sundays so you would walk in you would get your table you start with like your mimosas or your coffee alcoholic coffee drinks you would get your waffles or your pancakes or your your eggs and all that stuff and you would just watch the 10:00 games and then by the time the the 1:00 games came it was lunchtime and then you’re ordering your chicken wings and your nachos and your burgers and like you just stay all there all day and then the whole games are all the games are over you could still go to dinner or you could still watch the four o’clock game and then go to dinner after that yep like Sunday Night Football is is over well it splits the year because Arizona’s stupid but we have it for half the year at least right and Sunday night football’s over by like 8:00 at night yeah it’s great I miss it so much I miss it it’s the only thing you get bed at a normal time could do something if you want you’re not football is legitimately all day but it doesn’t take you into midnight or whatever like some you know the e in in my in the east coast we’re just like we sit around until one o’ yeah you’re just tling your thumb start it yeah just go I mean it gives you an opportunity in the morning to go to like the store and do all your shopping and stuff like that so Sunday Morning Becomes aand day but yeah I would ra much rather it start earlier that was way better all right so my uh pullout quot is at home I’m all waffles we talked about a bunch of teams that Chris doesn’t like this is a very successful episode of the just basketball show we’ll be back uh Wednesday leading into the NBA draft we will be here Friday after both rounds both days which is the thing we’re doing for some reason of the full NBA draft so keep it right here follow subscribe if you haven’t already we’ll be uh giving you episodes all through this crazy week and Beyond and we will talk to you next time

Brendon Kleen and Wes Goldberg draft the teams they have their eyes on most this summer, from Steph Curry and the Golden State Warriors making one last push to Zion Williamson and the New Orleans Pelicans leaping into contention, to the Milwaukee Bucks salvaging Giannis Antetokounmpo’s prime.

Plus, will the Houston Rockets be a surprise wildcard again? What are the Utah Jazz doing? And more.

0:00 Intro feat best NBA coach hire
5:23 Pelicans offseason
18:03 Rockets offseason
29:35 Warriors offseason
42:23 Bucks offseason
55:30 Nuggets offseason
1:00:13 Jazz offseason
1:06:13 Pancakes vs waffles

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