NBA Today | The 76ers new BIG 3 looks ‘amazing’ – Windy details Kawhi and Embiid on PG to Philly.

NBA Today | The 76ers new BIG 3 looks ‘amazing’ – Windy details Kawhi and Embiid on PG to Philly.

because right now on an international scale these guys are as bigger as bigger bigger newsmakers than in 1992 considering the media landscape so Bon Temps you’ve been busy you spoke to kawh Leonard and Joel embiid um and they have an interesting situation their teammates here on tmusa um they’re both coming off of injuries uh but they are in the sort of quote unquote winning and losing side of Paul George kawhai just lost him with the Clippers in just gained him with the 76ers and I thought maybe you could take us through the emotions for the two of them when you guys talked about it yeah I did a sit down with embiid um that’s partially going to run this morning and we’ll have a big story up about what he had to say and the biggest takeaway from him was sort of what we have talked about over the course of the last year which is the Sixers were doing this Highwire plan of waiting and getting expiring contracts and getting draft picked and not necessarily immediately improving the team as much as possible last season to try to land a big fish this summer when there was ultimately only one real big fish to land in Paul George and embid told me that his patience was tested during that process you’d be lying said you said I’d be lying if I said I wasn’t tested from a patient standpoint and that sometimes you have plans and they work and sometimes they don’t and in this case he was very happy obviously with the way that it played out and with how um how it came together with getting Paul George with him and Tyrese Maxi a fit that he said was a fantastic fit obviously for all the reasons we have talked about on the court and then there was Kawhi Leonard who spoke to a group of reporters this afternoon and was asked about Paul George and said didn’t want to talk about Paul George he was trying to focus on Team USA did talk a lot about his knee said he’s ready to go fully able to participate in practice and then Circle back later after leaving to clarify that he didn’t have any issue with Paul George or his decision to leave but that he was trying to focus on Team USA which was what in theory the interviews were supposed to be about and I will say Kawhi Leonard is about the most literal player I’ve ever interviewed in any respect so I do take him at his word that the interviews were supposed to be about Team USA he was answering questions about Team USA and his knee is part of Team USA because he was talking about whether he could actually participate with Team USA so we will see he’s going to talk again on Tuesday um we will see if uh he has more to say about it in that setting but certainly the Clippers brass is all here watching practice tyou is coaching the team Kawai is playing and Paul George is still hovering over them even though he’s decided to leave yeah well I mean I don’t I think it’s pretty clear he ain’t thrilled about it uh that’s obvious um I think the question is how upset is he about it and I’m not sure he’s going to emote in that way um I’m not sure he’s going to relate exactly how he feels about it so I think you asked to get it on the record I just don’t think it’s going to be there um you know embiid uh did he talk at all about how where he thinks the Sixers fit in in the East now with um with obviously the big summer they’ve had well he initially I asked him where do you guys sit in the East and in very typical fashion he said I think we’re about the eighth best team in the East and I said do you want to give me a list and then he proceeded to give me a list of basically every team to the point where I said would you like to include the Hawks and Nets also in front of you and then I said uh look in all seriousness where do you guys think you sit in the East and he gave the answer he given to me repeatedly but I think he believes which is that if I’m healthy and ready to go in the playoffs I think we could beat anybody but it all comes down to health which as we know especially with the Sixers team with Paul George and which beid it does all come down to health but I think he sort of told on himself when he talked about how perfect the fit is with maxi and PG the fact he’s got two Elite Shooters around him the fact they brought back Kelly UB they got Caleb Martin they got Eric they got Andre Drummond who’s a very good one of the better backup centers in the league guy who could spell him when he’s not out there and he also talked about the fact that he thinks that with the group they’ve got now he doesn’t have to have quite the same load to carry every night particularly offensively said he didn’t mind if there’s kns when he has 10 or 15 points because they’ve got Maxi they’ve got they’ve got Paul George those guys can fill it up on any given night guy was averaging 35 last year so he’s averaging more points than minut it’s played right so like he obviously he doesn’t think he has to play to quite that same degree and he actually thinks he might be able to help him stay healthier because he can you know he doesn’t have to exert quite as much during the season where he obviously this year it was basically he Maxi and then not much else so um from a scoring standpoint adding Paul George a 25o a game score like that it’s a much different deal so um so yeah he’s clearly excited excited to be part of Team USA and you know it’s feeling good physically and um you know this is obviously you know Brian has been around this a bunch you know everybody’s always very excited to be part of this thing and very excited to talk and like do all the things that come with being part of it because they’re just all group because it is such a star studded group um you know one point bam matab bio was asked about Team USA trying to like reestablish itself as the best team on the planet um sort of show the gap between everybody else and he he said have you looked at who’s playing on the court like there’s he said I’m not trying toam yeah he like I’m not trying to disrespect anybody else but this is an incredible group of players and we want to go out there and beat Everybody by 40 you know something interesting actually happened on Sunday they had a scrimmage between the the the senior team and the select team which um it’s not the most uh talented select team in history but uh the senior team won and I’m going to tell you that it least two or three times that I’ve covered training camp luckily it’s you this time Bon tempson not me the select team won the first scrimmage in fact I actually suspected uh before Tokyo that papovich wanted the select team to win in well just as a quick aside about Team USA select team most interesting guy I think on that team is Cooper flag uh the projected number one pick in next year’s draft going to Duke by the way doesn’t turn 18 until December he was born December 2006 LeBron was in the fourth season in the league the year he went to the NBA finals and Kevin Durant was a freshman at Texas and he’s playing against them in a scrimmage which is a rather remarkable thing I talked to Cooper for a minute he admitted he was surprised that he got picked he’s the first college player to be part of this since Doug mcder and Marcus Smart 11 years ago it’s obviously been a minute and those guys were like 21 this kid is 17 and didn’t look out of place like he’s got a chance to be an awfully good player so one hand they’re off to a good start on the other hand a video clip I saw today had pton Pritchard guarding LeBron so I’m not sure not sure how that strategy is gonna play off I mean listen it’s a ridiculous it’s a ridiculous assemblage of Talent on team and Kevin Durant is got a h a half strain his day-to-day everybody’s saying it’s not a big deal he was certainly walking around doing interviews looked fine yesterday and uh Jason Tatum has missed the first couple days for uh just for some excuse reasons I think he’s supposed to be back it might something to do with him signing a $314 million contract he hadn’t put the trophy down yet he’s got probably a drink in one hand and the trophy in another why he’s got contract in his pocket I’m gonna congratulate him on all on all parties do it do it man he has he has been taking the trophy around but I I think it was something beyond that too but I T is supposed to be back uh for practice on Monday I believe yeah so couple of things Kawai said in his interview that you were at today that um his knee wasn’t really right until two weeks ago but now is okay which I didn’t like hearing that uh he did look good in the scrimmage today I think he hit like four threes in the part that the media was able to see um were you watching the scrimmage from home I have people okay not including you not including me he was too busy to talk to me he was way too busy to talk to me that’s true um so I mean obviously looked okay in the scrimmage but you know that you know that he wasn’t okay really until two weeks ago was I don’t know I guess it’s maybe not surprising but um he talked about how it’s you know it’s his journey it’s what he’s sort of always going to deal with and uh Clipper fans certainly are used to hearing that yeah as they are pay him 50 m as they’re about to pay him 50 mil a year for the next three years and he hadn’t been able to finish a playoff run healthy over the last few years it’s a tough deal you know as far as like him not want to talk about Paul George like not GNA read anything into kawhai say much to the media like when does he ever I agree but like it it’s all part of it like the whole Clippers thing and look Paul George is a guy who other stars want to play with embiid’s clearly ecstatic about it so is kawh Leonard that’s why the Clippers still owe so much to Oklahoma City for the original deal because that’s the leverage they had it required Paul George to get kawh Leonard so you know Kawai kind of uh I don’t want to say created that mess for himself but uh you know the the reason they paid so much for Paul George is because it was contingent on uh you know that was the part of the deal to get kawhai listen kawhai looked out for himself um in the in this in the winter when he took the three-year contract I’m sure he wasn’t actively trying to hurt Paul but he looked out for himself I mean um there’s been varying degrees of um reporting and stuff about just how much Paul George knew but I can tell you the day that it happened I think it took Paul George and his reps off guard and certainly the terms um and so Paul had to do with Paul what he had to do yeah like and I think players understand that as much as they be upset about it I don’t think there’s going to be any personal hard feelings um players always appreciate business decisions when it comes to [Music] [Music] money for for for you go back home you die foreign for e our to under attack good en

NBA Today | 76ers new BIG 3 looks ‘amazing’ – Windy details Kawhi Leonard and Joel Embiid on Paul George to Philly.