Nick Friedell: Klay’s return to the Warriors is “50/50”
back to Willard and dibs I mean Mark it’s so good to hear y’all’s voices and Mr dibs I mean it’s just been way too damn long so it puts smile on my face on 957 the game there it is a quick preview FP of Nick fridell as he’s about to join us here in moments and if you haven’t already make sure you subscribe to Willard and dibs on the free Odyssey app or wherever you find your favorite podcast and while you’re there make sure to check out Dave Fleming’s conversation on the morning roast from earlier today and on the line right now is Odyssey NBA Insider Nick fidell Insider calls are brought to you by the allnew Hyundai 2024 Santa Fe equipped for adventure my man Nick fidell good to talk to you again say hello to my partner FP santangelo Nick Mr dibs FP it’s great to be with you all I wish the finals had a little more juice and momentum but it is what it is but uh it’s great great to have the conversation always and the conversation Nick is about that very thing the oou wear’s the juice not wear’s the beef Nick but where’s the juice with these NBA Finals well it’s all sitting at home that’s the real problem the NBA was hopeful that this series would provide a look into at least two guys in Luca and Tatum who are on that path towards becoming the next guy or the next phase or one of the one of the players that the league can lean on and the issue and Mr dibs you and I have been talking about this for years is that I don’t see that next guy on the horizon that everybody’s gonna rally around at least in the short term we could talk about Stephen LeBron all day long and how much they’ve carried the torch and how much it’s going to be an issue for the NBA whenever they do finally retire but the reality in the moment is Tatum’s a hell of a player Jaylen Brown’s a hell of a player certainly there are people who are really into watching Kyrie but Luca was supposed to be that next guy and what we’ve seen at least in this series is that he he just doesn’t feel like he’s ready for the moment right now and I think after last night and the criticism he got not only on the broadcast from Doris but my old friend windhorse is is crushing him on Sports Center and you’re hearing it more and more it’s another reminder how tough that mantle is for younger players and how difficult it is for young guys to go from all right he’s the next star he’s the next star to on the biggest of stages leading their teams all the way through and winning a title so you think he needs to fail to realize that because you think of the young stars in the past I mean Jordan didn’t succeed right away Kobe didn’t succeed right away LeBron I don’t think succeeded right right away so is that just a learning process so everybody rips him because he doesn’t know how to do it yet I FP I think absolutely the losing is part of it and and you just outlined all the guys who have gone through the process of finding their way finally to the top I think what people are criticizing him for on top of the constant bitching and moaning which he can control is on the biggest stage in the moment where Dallas has to have him playing at his best he’s not playing any defense at all and that more than anything else I mean you can you can complain and get all upset and still win and people can go ah part of his charm when you lose and you’re complaining and then on top of that you’re not playing defense well yeah that’s gonna draw a ton of criticism and this criticism is different and deeper and it’s going to sting a little bit more because it seems to be coming from all directions after everybody for the last few years is only said hey lcas the next big thing he’s the man he’s he’s great when you lose and you’re not giving the type of effort that people are expecting from you that’s when you draw a lot of people’s ey and I think he’ll learn from that and be better for it moving forward but there is no doubt right now that’s what’s creating all all the the last 24 hours worth of the cycle of uh oh what what’s wrong with Luca and what happened to all the promise that came in he came into the series with yeah the negative publicity I think stemming more from the behavior than it is from the actual losing Nick frell here on 9570 game when you look at Dallas now struggling in the NBA finals and Boston didn’t get it done with this core in their first visit you think about the Warriors in their first championship do you put even a little bit more resp effect on that first title the fact that it was their first visit to the NBA finals absolutely I mean you you have to when you when you get to the Mountaintop after your first swing and it’s not that they hadn’t gone through their own set of failures before that when you get there and you win yeah that that counts for a little something extra and I I tell you even more than that I think that’s what gave that group that jolt of confidence that they need needed moving forward because once you get there and you win no matter what happens over the course of a season or what kind of ups and downs that you go through during a run once you know you’ve done it you know you can do it again and I know listening to Draymond all those years that was one of the things that that always stuck with him when when you play at the level that that group did together and you have Steph Curry well guess what good thing can happen then you had Kevin Durant you know then anything’s really possible but absolutely for that team in the maturation that they had to go through winning that first one the way they did the first time I think it was crucial Nick how does I think you already outlined it so forgive me for asking this question but how does the NBA capture the Casual fan I know baseball’s been doing a lot to try to capture the Casual fan and I I guess I would say at this point in my life full disclosure I’m that back in the day I was Showtime Lakers bird Jordan Isaiah I mean I I couldn’t get enough of it m basketball’s my favorite sport and just over the years I’ve kind of faded and once the Warriors are out I I don’t have a lot of interest so what should the NBA do to capture dorks like me and and get my interest FP I think it’s the single biggest issue that the league is facing moving forward and I have said over and over I think they’re GNA have a real problem when LeBron and Steph finally go because so many people have become so invested dayto day in watching and following along with those two guys but more to the point of of your question is the NBA has a real issue with its regular season people in the marketplace of that team they’re always going to Care the Warriors die hards they are always going to be locked into what’s happening with their team the the difference I see in the way in which the NBA has kind of developed in these last five 10 years is it doesn’t feel as National as it used to and in that regard I think it it it does look a lot like baseball or hockey there’s always going to be fans of that team but how many people are tuning into jazz pistons in the middle of February and that’s the real issue I see moving forward so I think the answer is the NBA doesn’t have an answer to that question right now they’re going to continue to try and develop different things try and continue to push different players in a variety of different directions I mean one of the things we saw certainly this past year was the inseason tournament that is a direct reflection of the NBA going people aren’t into our product the same way dayto day as they might have been in the past they’re going to continue to come up with different ideas I just don’t think they have a really strong one right now and I think we’ve seen the dip in the way people are following the regular season more so than I can ever remember it growing up certainly Insider calls brought to you by the allnew Hyundai 2024 Santa Fe equipped for adventure with capable features like available httrack all-wheel drive and standard third row seating Nick fidell our Odyssey NBA Insider joining Willard and dibs here on 957 game so it kind of begs the question Nick about these last ditch Dynasty quote unquote teams can the Warriors rise up one more time does LeBron have a chance with a revamped Laker team or are we heading into a lull much like we saw post Jordan and pre LeBron I mean where’s Tim Duncan when you need him right I me that to me that that’s what’s coming here because I flatly don’t think the Lakers are anywhere close I mean whoever’s takes that coaching job good luck to you I hope you get paid a a ton of money because that team doesn’t have the talent to do it and they’re just not good enough with the Warriors I I flatly don’t think they can win a title again I think they can be very good Steph is still playing at an incredibly high level but when you won at the level that that franchisees won at for so long when you finally drop off people don’t care as much if you get to the second round or you get to the Western Conference Finals it doesn’t feel the same so I think there is a LW and I think we’re starting to see it already because look at the ratings I mean the ratings tell you what you need to know as far as an FP this goes back to to your question and your point that the Casual fans are not they’re not checked in the same way they might have been in the past now dibs I would always say there’s always somebody there’s somebody that that we’re not thinking about or we’re not seeing and they will come up and and they will Garner attention and people will be into following their games I mean who would have ever guessed that it was step and and not only did it become step but he ran with it for years and years and years but the NBA doesn’t have that guy right now I know there was hype around in Edwards in Minnesota and then they got just demolished uh in in the last round a lot of people think it could be Luca it’ll be interesting to see if an international player can carry that type of of Gravitas Night By Night by night uh now we’ll see but right now I I think the NBA not only is is in for a low but I think they know it and they’re trying to fix it on the Fly which is going to be interesting to watch in the next couple years yeah trying to fix it in unique ways like you said the inseason tournament but I’m looking at the lull here when you had you know times where it was the Spurs in the finals and ratings were low and then you had Boston and the Lakers and ratings came up a little bit but after the Michael Jordan all the way up until LeBron James it was definitely a big time low in interest and the NBA ratings Nick before we let you go I want to ask you about free agency the Klay Thompson question and also whether or not you think the Warriors have a big swing that they can make between now and the middle of July as far as clay goes Mr dibs flatly I think it’s 50/50 at this point wow I’m I’m not sure which direction it’s going to go I have always thought in terms of Clay’s future with the organization it’s going to depend on just how tight that relationship is with Clay and Joe lob Joe lob has said repeatedly klay’s my guy I I want Clan step to retire here he’s got to be the one to me to to to make it happen not only financially but everybody’s got an ego on some level and and they’ve got to go to Clay and say hey this is what it’s GNA be if you if you stay here moving forward does Klay want that mean how much of it is money how much of it is pride how much of it is he wants to still be the guy on this team and one of the main faces and and his game and his body just haven’t allowed that after all the injuries so I I I flatly think it’s it’s 5050 there over the next month or so we’re g to find out just what matters the most to him and as far as a big swing goes feels like Bradley Beal 2.0 and the conversation around him for those last few years as the worriors were trying to figure out who it could be and and what is the piece that comes in and helps and Draymond one more time to make one more run the reality Mr dibs is I look at the free agent market and I look at possible trades I don’t see that guy out there I don’t even see that possibility of somebody that you’re going to give up the assets for that’s going to make that much of a difference I know Jimmy Jimmy Butler’s name has popped up in the conversation of of rors and and would the Warriors give him the money and the contract he wants I think it is a fit on paper but having covered Jimmy long enough one I I’m not exactly sure how he fits into that locker room as the alpha personality that he is and two I don’t know if after all the wear and tear on his knees uh especially over the last few years if you’re the Warriors if you want to give him that type of extension I I that would scare the hell out of me because I think if if you could say all right well Jimmy’s gonna be healthy and he’s gonna play in the postseason and he’s going to pair with stuff great but nobody can say that because he’s missed a lot of time over the last few seasons so all that being said the Warriors I think are going to look a lot like what we have seen the last couple years with Steph as the guy and Draymond as as the running mate we’ll see what happens with Clay but I don’t see a fix as far as a player the team could acquire who comes in and makes them go from where they are now to where we’re used to seeing them at the top good answer I appreciate it cousin Nick thank you for joining us and uh all the best to you and let us know when you get back to town done deal my man it’s great to be with youall and I’ll talk to you soon thanks Nick I I think maybe in the second quarter you release Lions on the court and then that gives the trainers halftime to men adjustments no yeah men the wounds of the players and then that way people will watch and then then the fourth quarter around uh the court piranhas a moat with alligators in it so so so if you go for like a loose ball out of bounds you probably get eaten now people are going to watch yeah I’m serious lot less hustling for loose balls I’m not serious but I’d watch that was Odyssey NBA Insider Nick fidell Insider calls brought to you by the allnew Hyundai 2024 Santa Fe equipped for adventure he’s got clay at 5050 that’s a little bit higher than I would put
Nick Friedell, Audacy NBA insider, joins Dibs and FP to discuss a boring NBA Finals to this point, the NBA at a crossroads, Klay Thompson’s future with the Warriors, Golden State’s offseason ahead, and more.
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