213 Has Come To An End

213 Has Come To An End

on today’s show the craziest episode I’ve probably ever done is that not enough yeah 213 is officially over you are locked on Clippers your daily Los Angeles Clippers podcast part of the locked on podcast Network your team every day yes sir you were locking in with the clips thank you for making locked on Clippers the first listen of your day your team every day I’m your host Darian vizeri born and raised in LA and finished my 19th season as a Clipper fan not too long ago you can also follow me on Twitter and Instagram at dim dropper pod And subscribe to my own YouTube channel dime dropper for even more LA Clipper and LA Sports content and NBA content and locked on Clippers is free and available wherever you get your podcast including YouTube where I need you to just let me know anything about what’s going on right now there are so many things to talk about so before I get started I just want to say this episode is brought to you by FanDuel America’s number one sports book visit fanduel.com lockon and start making the most out of your summer but ladies and gentlemen I didn’t even know what to title this episode I didn’t even know what to caption the segments I am in a there’s so much news happening at once and as I’m recording this it’s Sunday and there’s been so many things that have happened the last 24 hours so here’s what I’m going to do for you this episode is going to be just a rapid fire reacting to everything and then we’re going to do one episode at a time to talk about each individual thing within the next 48 Hours by the end of the month so right now it’s June 30th the next 48 hours you’re going to get more episodes than your normal daily content it’s going to be next level because I mean oh my god let’s just start with the biggest news of it all the 213 era is over we have been informed with a public statement from the Clippers I’ve never seen anything like this before that Paul George’s time in LA has come to an end I for one am just blown away I’m I’m dumbfounded I cannot believe this has happened I never thought when Paul George forced his way over here resigned that huge contract that we gave him after he played like dirt in the bubble and he kept saying I’m here to win a championship I owe this organization a championship and reped the franchise wherever he went he’s gonna pack his bags and go to Philly he’s gonna really pack his bags and go to Philly for one extra year on his contract I get it man get your money get your money but are you kidding me like Kawai took a pay cut for for you and James Harden to sign on team Friendly Deals we’re going to do an episode on James Harden but James Harden just resigned to a very team-friendly deal a very solid deal two years 70 million Paul George is out here asking for more than our franchise player that he has admitted is the number one on this team and he’s going to leave Kawai behind now I there it’s funny because there are people that legitimately think that this is a good thing and I think there are some pros to it but man I just have a hard time believing that we’re going to be a better team without Paul Georgia and we’re going to be able to get a player that’s as good as him we’re going to talk about it later we just got Derrick Jones Jr which I’m very happy about the Paul George stopper but if we’re just going to get two players of that caliber I don’t think that’s going to make us better than having Paul George personally I think it’ll help our defense maybe but it’s just a lot on James Harden and kawhai offensively and again I’ve been saying that I was already a little suspect on James Harden being a third option on a championship team I definitely don’t think he could be a second option on a championship team but right now it doesn’t really matter cuz kawii Leonard his health is the biggest issue however this episode is about mainly going to be about Paul George because that’s been the whole thing I was pretty adamant and it’s crazy we had La Murray on the show and he thought golden state was the only option we are all perplexed that he is actually going for Philly I think the Clippers played chicken they called his bluff and he wasn’t bluffing he’s actually willing to pack up everything and dip on this franchise and dip on this fan base for that extra year look I get it secure your general generational wealth but like you I mean these guys are just so wealthy already he’s I mean he has an he’s got a great life set up for him after basketball with his podcast with his media exploits and like I mean look I feel bad being any man saying to another man you should say no to 50 million but like bro I just can’t really relate to the to the actual money of this you know what I mean I can’t relate to it so I’m just looking at like look you’re already really rich you you’re home you you gave this franchise has sacrificed a lot for you we gave you your friend in Reggie Jackson we gave you your friend in John Wall we listen to your public please for Westbrook who’s on the way out with you we listen to your public please for Westbrook even though Lawrence Frank didn’t want him and you say you know you need the ball in your hands more after the bubble that you’re not getting you’re getting used too much like a reic or like a r and then in 2023 you’re saying you need the ball more there was always an excuse now after the season you know during the season we got James cuz we wanted him here then after the season it’s like man losing Nico and roko that really hurt it’s nothing against James then he’s talking about I want to play basketball the right way this guy averaged 19 points in the playoffs he made a ton of excuses and look a lot of the Kawai stands who just dislike anybody else on the team really a lot of them and are just all about Kawai individually and are a lot of the people in the comment section they’re going to be REO joing on this Sunday they’re going to be rejoicing this week and I think they’re a bit naive I truly do and look if we come back next year and we’re a better team in the regular season and the playoffs then I was wrong and I’ll take my L but I don’t think that we’ve gotten better we’re still losing a guy that averages 22 points a game on what 46 37 I mean what was this fi go 47 42 90 splits like it’s just wild I just can’t believe that we gave up everything for him to lose him for nothing and if you’re wondering how we got here it’s fully because Lawrence Frank didn’t want and the crew didn’t want to pay him more that fouryear contract I don’t know if an offer was made for like four years 160 million so that would be like 40 million per year for those four years but I think the Clippers were very adamant that we didn’t want to pay him that fourth year we wanted the contracts to align with Kawai so that they expired at the same time so maybe we can go a different direction then right the thing is the second apron in that new CBA if you’re wondering how did the Clippers not just pay the guy because letting him walk for nothing is a disaster it absolutely is it really is especially given how much that we gave up for him but had we resigned him to the contract that he wants which is more than kawai’s getting overall because I believe we’ve we’ve offered him around what La Murray said was we’ve offered him around the same as kawhai which is 3 years 150 million you really think you’re worth more than him because you’ve been healthier I get it but what about all the excuses what about all the bad performances that you have the inconsistencies of a star player that’s the crazy part man like you’re you’re clearly showing that winning a championship is not number one on your priority money is and you could argue that he has a better chance of winning in Philly but it’s like you know that if Kawai is healthy you got a great chance here you know that you’ve you’ve I thought you guys came together to do this together now kawai’s time as a Clipper is going to last longer than you even though you’ve played more playoff games you have the signature playoff moment in front of the Clipper sold out crowd that he doesn’t have I had Clipper fans in 2022 many of them probably majority of them were telling me they like Paul George more and now here we are you’ve probably made yourself the most hated guy in franchise history potentially worse than Elton brand and far worse than Chris Paul at least Chris Paul gave us an option to you know for him to opt in and we got guys in a trade for him I know he was ultimately going to get a new contract with Houston and he couldn’t go there out right but we ended up getting guys that kick started that next era you left for nothing after we gave up a treasure chest for you of picks and SGA it’s just it’s disgusting and I get it there’s going to be people that play devil’s advocate for him saying you know you guys should have paid him so you know what would happen if we paid him if we’re over the second apron multiple years not only are we either to get under that second apron not going to be able to pay good role players so essentially those three getting older with no good role players no upgrading role players is admitting you’re not winning a champ Championship then the other alternative is you pay him and now you’re losing your picks in 2031 and 2032 or should I say they’re frozen so you can’t trade them and then they’re going to drop to 30 that’s part of the new rules in the new CBA among other things if you’re over that second apron so the Clippers didn’t want to go over that second apron to be in cap hell with Paul George he essentially said you know what I won’t take a pay cut like Kawaii and James Harden I won’t sign A Team friendly deal because I don’t give a damn about this so now he’s gone he wants to get that extra 50 by all means don’t let the door hit you on the way out here’s my thing about Paul George I defended him a lot on this show I had people saying I’m too nice to him I’m a Paul George Stan look I’m not a Paul George Stan at all I honestly don’t want him to win a game for the rest of his career quite frankly but I’m GNA say this I don’t dislike the guy a lot I kind of I mean I don’t dislike the guy because at the same time he still gave me one of my best memories as a fan he’s still one of the best clippers of all time he’s our alltime leader and three-pointer made he literally gave us what was and again I hate the people that nitpicked this about Terren man did it Paul George was the leader he was the one that was going to take all the bullets he had a great game five and a very good game six performance and he will always be responsible for what was one of the Great Moments in Clipper history if not the greatest so Paul George I’m forever thankful for that but besides that one year and you can argue that next year he was good when he played in those 31 games in 2021 22 all the other years were very disappointed in he left a lot on the table we’re going to talk about it even more this week cuz we’re not just going to let him go easily we’re going to talk about all the flaws all the good all the bad what this means but I’m I’m a very emotional guy I’m a very sentimental fan so I’m never going to be able to fully hate on a guy who gave me one of the best experiences as a fan and for all those wondering like Conference Finals dude Conference Finals that means nothing then you weren’t a Clipper fan before this and if you don’t care enough about that then I just don’t know what your experience was in life before that because for me as a kid growing up in La Every Time We Lost before the second round in the playoffs I would have to go to school and have to hear it I’d have to go to school and have to face the music from the Laker fans two 31 leads blown in six years it felt like it was impossible so what Paul George did in games five and six I will forever be indebted but that doesn’t mean he’s not getting booed on the way back he should get booed on every touch this is disgraceful the way he’s left us like this he could have we paid him an $176 million contract after he choked in the bubble and he was already on a pretty nice deal with okay and he couldn’t repay us with this coming up going to talk about everything else James Harden resigning Westbrook’s on the way out what are we gonna do about it Derrik Jones is on the team now I mean whoa whoa I got to tell you a little something about FanDuel America’s number one sports book I love sports I love them so much I never want them to stop summer is a little bit different because obviously you don’t have as much thankfully this summer we got the Eur Euro Cup we got the kopaa and of course baseball every single summer and we got the Olympics this summer as well and this summer FanDuel is hooking up all customers with a boost or a bonus daily that’s right there’s something for everyone every day all summer long so head over to fanduel.com lockon and start making the most out of your summer FanDuel official sports betting partner of Major League Baseball if you’re a Dodger Angels fan go on the FanDuel if you’re a Dodger fan I mean keep Otani home any any bets involving Otani home runs are looking good right now so visit fanduel.com lockon start making the most out of your summer all right so talking about one of the craziest episodes I think I’ve ever done as a host so many things going on we got Paul George out the door five years I mean I’m gonna do so many episodes this week about his time as a Clipper and all this stuff and man I mean wow how is that listen I think social media can be very harsh to Paul George much harsher than the actual fans in real life but that’s going to be one of the first things I talk about uh early next season when I interview fans is going to be what do you think about Paul George like whoa I mean this guy we had people talking about he’s the greatest Clipper of all time at one point I mean this is crazy and again I keep tweeting about this and I I know some fans may not agree but I do I think Chris Paul’s status of clipper just got increased even more spent one more year than Paul George here he well he did criticize our culture on the way out mind you that was when Glenn Rivers was the president of basketball operations and the coach and we weren’t actively trying to make moves to make the roster that much better we basically paid Austin Rivers and didn’t trade for Melo who Chris Paul really wanted as opposed to Paul George who’s gotten everything he wanted so Paul gets no passes Paul gets absolutely no passes CP three again we got Lou Williams monre and what’s his name for him Sam de there was another Patrick Beverly how could I forget so yeah I’m in awe man I’m in a I can’t believe this has come to an end I just have to say like I am thankful like regardless of it all just looking at a big picture thing I started my platform of dime dropper in 2019 I’m sorry in 2020 right after I graduated college and my college graduation was you know taken away from me because of covid and I started my own YouTube channel so my YouTube channel has only been a thing me known as dime dropper on social media has only been a thing with Paul George on the Clippers so this is going to be the first time I cover the Clippers with like for on social media without him and I just have to say like it was a roller coaster there was so many ups and so many downs and obviously I think there were more Downs than ups but I think I’m I’m very blessed to have have covered a player that will be talked about for many decades to come and not always in the best things people talking about his career it’s going to get nitpicked Hall of Fame I me he’s one of the best players in Clipper history he’s one of the best players in Pacer history like that’s undeniable but let’s talk about the James Harden contract real quick I think that was a very good deal two years 35 million he easily could be getting 40 million based on like how good he still played I mean the fact of the matter is Paul George is about to get a lot of money and James Harden outplayed him this past season and if we’re being outplayed him the last two seasons but Paul George outplayed him in 2021 and 2022 and James was struggling with the hamstring injuries and to be honest before James Harden got that hamstring injury in 2021 he was playing amazing because there were games where Katie and Kyrie were out and he was balling but Paul George in that playoffs and then the next year you could say was better than Harden but these last two years Harden’s been better but the thing is Paul George is just so versatile like you can use him on ball off ball he’s a coach’s dream he can switch you know the idea of Paul George is definitely better than the actuality of it but the fact of the matter is that’s a good deal for Harden you know it’s he’s showing as a Clipper he’s shown that like he’s not feing the bag too bad he’s already made plenty of money he wants to compete he wants to compete and still be able to play that he wants to play which is the ball in his hands more than anybody which is what he gets and I think you know we have the two we have some taxpayer midlevel exception or whatever so we have some open cap space now without Paul but not enough to sign like a star so we begin that by getting Derrick Jones Jr the Paul George stopper and here’s the thing this guy was a starter on a finals team was he very good in the finals not really but a starter on a finals team locked up Paul George point of attack Defender we’ve needed more athleticism this is a great move I’m very happy with this 10 years 30 million right now I believe there’s a trade kicker in there again we’re going to be doing probably a whole episode on what Derrick Jones Jr can bring to the table but we get a point of attack defend we get an athlete so if we’re looking at a starting lineup let’s just say as of now James Harden Terrence Derek Jones kawwai and Zoo that’s a really good defensive team that’s a very good defensive team but we’re still just relying very heavily on Kawhi and Harden and I think that’s a little tough for them at this age especially if one of them goes down for any amount of time which gets us into our backup situation and Russell Westbrook opted in I forgot I was going to make a whole episode on that but I should make an episode on the whole status of Westbrook because he’s opted into that last four million $4 million of his contract but people are saying that he’s gonna they’re saying that he’s they’re looking for a trade which means that Russ’s tenure as a Clipper after a year and a half is coming to an end it’s really tough It’s been a roller coaster with Russ again Paul George and him were kind of intertwined I think he’s he he clearly wasn’t happy with his role of coming off the bench but like is any team going to start the guy because they’re talking about Den Denver he’s not starting there even though they lost kcp I think if you have Westbrook starting alongside Murray yic and Aaron Gordon I think that’s going to be weird if he goes to another team and is the backup how is that any different than the Clippers I just don’t get it unless their point guard’s not great like I really don’t understand what he quite wants so yeah it’s I’m just not I’m looking forward to not having the discussions about Russ versus Harden and all that like I obviously I’m a Russ fan everybody knows that that that’s because my dad went to UCLA so for him since then and he’s just a very emotional guy and I thought he was so great at interacting with the fans so I’m going to miss that he was really great about that and I’ve I’ve heard only great things about him as a guy since he’s been here except for that he won’t take pictures with kids outside but that’s a lot kawai’s the same I’ve heard stories I don’t think I’ve heard any I’ve never seen any Clipper fan get a picture with Paul kawi or Russ out I haven’t heard that Blake Griffin used to take pictures frequently though and DJ as well um teren man as well I’ve seen some so that’s just a tidbit for fans my thing is this with Russ you know we we had him as kind of that point guard that we were begging for and then we look to replace him so that made everything murky it’s clear that Lawrence Frank and his relationship isn’t very good and when James Harden became you know when James Harden got to the Clippers you know you have James Harden on your team you’re playing him 30 minutes so if James Harden and Russ are a tough fit together and we can review that and talk about that this week but with the fact that they both need the ball kind of made it tough for us and you’re not just going to play when James Harden’s out and expect to play a lot because if you’re only staggering them you’re not even going to get 20 minutes so what team is Russ gonna go to they’re saying Denver unless they trade Zeke Nagi they got to be giving up first rounders or else I’m hanging up the phone because we could still keep him for this last year I would be team bones Highland though if he goes people are talking about Chris Paul oh yeah Chris Paul’s already going to San Antonio so yeah he’s given up the Ring Quest there but coming up gonna be talking a little bit more about everything kind of summarizing it all you know did the Clippers get better today going to be talking about that coming up wow I’m still in awe 213 era is over Paul George is gone he wanted that fourth year on his deal Clippers said no played the game of chicken and now he left for nothing you have to say it’s just absolute asset malpractice for the Clippers to let Paul George go after trading everything for him it truly is like the fact that you got here and are doing this like we already have no room to Pivot it’s very obvious and I know a lot of the locked on commenters all the real Clipper fans in there you guys are done with this you want the two and well we all want two and three to end but like what’s the point of having kawhai without Paul you have Harden who’s should be a third option right now on a chip team and now you’re going to surround them with other role players it’s like that’s not enough in 2025 that’s not going to be enough to win a championship in my opinion like I would give us a zero literally a zero percent chance for me now who could we get could we get Zack LaVine could we get der rozan these are all going to be talked about but I don’t know if we can now that we gave a lot of that taxpayer midlevel to drik Jones that’s GNA now we’re hard capped at the first apron and again for those are wondering what does that even mean I’ll get into all the details about it this week but let’s just put it this way we lost Paul George that automatically makes us a worst team it does it does I can’t believe we lost Paul George I don’t think I don’t think this is a great day for Clipper Nation I think this is a horrible day in fact to lose Paul George for absolutely nothing after giving up everything for him we already don’t have picks our rebuild o like Steve bomber said we’ll never rebuild we’ll never going to blow it up and stuff like that and partially it’s because he’s got no choice we don’t have the draft picks to do it so we needed to make sure make sure we got everything out of Paul George James Harden and kawhai when they left whenever that time came and Paul George is now he’s coming to an end after five years so he’s been a Clipper less than Chris Paul less than Blake and now less than kawhai and he’s leaving us after those five years so he was a Pacer longer than anywhere after these five years for nothing and we’re not getting anything for him it’s just crazy like they fumbled this so hard after G after acquiescing to every demand he made besides this one this is the first time we played hard ball with him as far as I know it’s just and and I mean all we have is these podcast PE quots about he wanted us to win a championship so he wanted to win a championship here so bad he’s like Clipper Nation trust me we going going to get it right we going to get it right like dude you just walked out on us because of an extra year of a contract here’s the thing you might be wondering like how why are you so mad D like don’t you want them to blow it up here’s the problem this is the worst case scenario because we’re not going to blow it up and now I like I like Paul George and I love Russell Westbrook I like them more than Harden and kawhai we’re just talking how much I like them which I know isn’t the most popular take especially not right now but I like who I like and I like those two and now I’m losing two of my favorite players on the team that have to support Harden and kawhai who I also don’t think you’re going to win a ring like it’s just a complete disaster and now we’ve lost a chance at getting stuff for our future rebuild which I’m all in on and can’t wait to be your host for that iteration of the clippers but you know what I am hyped that 213 is over to an extent it is change and I wanted something different so this is a little different but I’m still the biggest problem is still Kawai being healthy that’s the biggest problem and now Russ is going to be gone to be honest I’m not mad about that I hope we just get a first round pick or something out of it maybe a young player but free bones Highland like and oh yeah we also lost Brandon Boston Jr so it’s a lot to talk about this week a lot as of now honestly I’m just going to end it here for now because there’s so much to get into I’m G just say this be happy about Derrick Jones have your say about Paul George how should Clipper fans receive him or you how should he be received when he comes back all that stuff and there’ll be episodes pumping out this week within the next two days so stay tuned all right let me know what you think we’re going to get through this together cliber Nation the 213 era is over it’s an honor to have been your host for the Paul George era it’s an era and it’s over now and the ups and the downs and talking about all his flaws and I think I got to know Paul George as well as anybody on Earth got to know this guy’s game and I’m appreciative of that and it’s going to help me with his knowledge of Paul georg’s career later down the line but I’ll have a keep eye on I’ll have a be keeping a close eye on that guy in Philly and I’ll be hoping for their downfall you can follow me on Twitter and Instagram at di dropper pod subscribe to my own YouTube channel dime dropper for even more I went live immediately after it happened and just roasted him but at the same time a lot of people thought I didn’t go hard enough cuz again I’m a Sentimental guy I’m always going to be appreciative of 2021 it felt like we had a curse in front of us to break that second round and we broke it and I’ll always thank Paul George for that because he was absolutely for me the unequivocal because of the health of kawhai and his injury he Paul George was the number one player of that playoff run for us but anyway you can follow me on and by the way subscribe to this channel now it’s going to get interesting subscribe hit the notification Bell you’ll have be you’ll be covered for all the Clipper news right here on locked on Clippers the agel proverb continues make sure you subscribe go Clippers over any player Paul George STS hope you book your flights

Paul George is gone. Russell Westbrook being traded. James Harden is back. What is happening?

In this episode, die hard LA Clippers fan and Host Darian Vaziri reacts to all the crazy news and gives a blueprint of what is to come this week on the show.

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