Tim MacMahon On The Mavs Season, Kyrie Pressure, Lively Stepping Up | Shan & RJ

Tim MacMahon On The Mavs Season, Kyrie Pressure, Lively Stepping Up | Shan & RJ

[Music] let’s talk to Tim McMahon of ESPN here on 1053 The Fan morning Timmy how we doing he Partners how you boys doing uh doing well should be getting ready for game six but other than that fantastic other than the season ended that was disappointing but I I mean it was a great run regardless so yeah I’m sure you guys totally expected him to be in the finals in like mid-February we did specifically said they would lose in five to the Celtics knew all of it I was uh that that’s my expertise right there what was your biggest takeaway you know now we’re what 48 hours after what was your biggest takeaway from the finals from the MAV season you know I mean honestly from the finals the biggest takeaway is just that the Boston Celtics are uh a significant step ahead of everybody else in the NBA and it’s been that way all season long you know they won 64 games they had one of the best point differentials in NBA history and so there’s a gap between them and the Mavericks and there’s a gap between them and everybody else and you know from a Mavericks perspective obviously uh a rough road series for Kyrie Irving in particular um you know Luca W was beat up but then his you know his biggest flaws did come did bubble to the surface in game three uh that was obviously disappointing you know if he’s more poised in that game if he doesn’t foul out in that game you know do they win that game uh you know does the series end up being tied going back to Boston those are questions you’ll never know the answers to but I think those are things that uh you hope that Luca can learn and grow from uh going forward and so you know again th those would be the biggest takeaways and you know the other thing is uh like Kyrie but completely different circumstances Dereck liver II struggled on the road in the series but you saw during the two home games you the first rookie since match Johnson have consecutive double doubles in the finals um you know if you’re wanting to get excited about the future the Luca Lively tandem I would say would be the the most exciting thing going forward because he is the exact kind of big that Luca has been craving and I think this guy’s got a chance to be the best big in the league in terms of that style uh in the in the pretty near future Tim you know when you talk about those struggles that Kyrie had on the road in this series was that as much just in your obviously the the way that you looked at it um was that as much about the crowd getting to him and the backdrop getting to him actively or was it something where he was putting just internal pressure on himself to elevate like he wanted to play so well there cuz I me I think those are probably two different things in terms of the type of pressure that he was feeling yeah and look you also have to give credit to the Celtics I mean they are are a phenomenal defensive team that you know they can switch and and they’ve got four guys in the starting lineup who are awfully good defensely including uh a couple of guards who are as good a defensive guards as you’ll find in the league having said that you know Kyrie obviously scored and scored pretty efficiently in the two home games and he was you know his pregame five the day before game five media availability was pretty fascinating it almost felt like a therapy session when you know he maybe was trying to like acknowledge the ghost or the the pressure that he was feeling and talk his way through him obviously it wasn’t effective but you know I I do think it was and talking to people around the team as well him putting so much pressure on himself because he wanted so badly to succeed on that Court to shut up that crowd and all those kind of things and you know so you talk about a combination of of that sort of a pressure um you know he acknowledged he was he was hearing and you know he said it was fair to say there was a psychological Edge the fans had on him and then you’re dealing with Drew holiday and Derek white and maybe if they get Switched Off he it’s Jaylen Brown or Jason Tatum and so it was a a whole combination of things um but again he was very open and honest about the fact that you know the crowd and his circumstances in Boston were a factor you know there was the the national discourse had it felt like been chirping for a while that like hey Jason Tatum it’s your turn to win a a title like this is the time you’ve got to step up you got to win like we’re waiting on you you’re the next guy up to to win a title now that that’s done is that now owned by Luca as the guy that the NBA is waiting to win a title would that be embid where does where does that pressure stand in terms of League wide do you think on Luca I mean it’s Luca because look embiid’s not been to a Conference Finals Luca’s been to a Conference Finals a couple years ago been to the finals this year you know the one thing I just think is absolutely ridiculous is when people start talking about Legacy for a guy who hadn’t hit his prime yet it’s like calm down he’s 25 years old you know there are plenty of uh of chapters yet to be written his career um but like look he’ll go in the next season as the MVP favorite um you know he’s he’s proven like he just was the first guy in NBA history to lead a postseason in points rebounds assists and Steals and he did it on a on a sprain knee and you know beat up in other ways um so I I do think that he’s the guy who’s going to have the biggest Spotlight on him in terms of when’s he going to win a championship when’s he going to win a championship and you know that that’s noise that he’s going to have to learn how to either deal with or or try to tune out or whatever it may be but it’s like the the more you succeed without getting to the top of the mountain the louder it gets mhm and you know Dirk dealt with that for a lot of his career y you know from 06 to 11 what was the noise like there I mean he was The sofo Stereotype until they knocked off the you know super team Miami Heat and then suddenly Dirk was an all-time legend that had no flaws on his resume so you know Luca at some point I think everybody believes he’s going to win a championship he’ll probably win an MVP before a title um but you know when you are that level of Superstar there’s going to be a lot of you can call it nitpicking you can call it what you know what I think a lot of the criticism frankly is fair but the reason he’s getting that level of criticism is because he is such an extraordinary talent that with that type of Talent come expectations and scrutiny Tim McMahon join us here at 1053 The Fan um where do they go from here they don’t have a ton of cash uh to spend is I mean teams make trades to find ways to get other superstars in best guess is is the next year’s team looks similar to this is it is there another Superstar they try to bring in yeah I just think the Superstar thing is going to be tough um you know they’ve got their star Duo now and and you know we’ll see how long the runway is with Kyrie you know he’ll tell you the way he’s taking care of his body he feels like he’s just starting his prime his birth certificate would tell you otherwise um but you know Steph Curry is on the other side of 35 still playing in an elite level he points to his old pal LeBron James uh who at 39 is still an all NBA player um but you know Nico uh Harrison he told me early in the playoffs and this is kind of his his stock line now is they put this roster together for three playoff runs this was the first of three and you know if you look at the contracts that’s kind of the way it’s lined up but you know having said that uh he he’s also the first to say if there’s an opportunity to upgrade he will resigning Derek Jones is going to be a priority um we’ll see if they have to you know maneuver to be able to uh give him the full midlevel or or at least a chunk of the full mid level they’d have to shed some salary to get to that point and then if you look at what are the possibilities in the trade market you start with Tim Hardway Jr is now an expiring contract and if we’re being real they’ve been trying to trade him since the ink was dry on that deal at this point though it’s an expiring contract there is some potential value there starting on draft night they will have a couple of first round picks that they can trade you know Nico’s obviously shown no hesitation to be aggressive in the trade market um but I I think you know you got to make sure you’re making the right aggressive moves um because they’re already out their 27 through 30 draft Capital but he’s not just going to be sitting on his hands this summer I can I can promise you that you know they have a potential Championship window and they have a GM who’s proven he’s going to be aggressive to try to maximize what should be an everye Championship window given the level of talent they have is St their franchise do the new owners have a willingness to go to the second apron you know I think the second apron is is much a I first of all I don’t want to speak for Patrick deont in terms of what he’s willing to spend because I I would just be speculating on that it’s not something that I’ve asked him personally but I do think also the second apron is as much of a uh Team Building question as it is a a financial question in in a lot of ways in other words all the restrictions that come along with it as far as the the CBA I think those are the questions now you know one of the underrated things that the Mavericks did this year um with all their wheeling and dealing is they they got out of luxury tax all together so in terms of like repeater stuff that that that clock hasn’t started ticking yet um but uh yeah and the other thing I just I don’t know if the second apron’s a question for this year I I think that’s a down the road question Tim I heard you after uh game four on hoop colletive hoop Collective you said that Derek Lively puts up those threes at practice every day and that he had told you a couple weeks ago like hey it’s coming I’m working on it uh do you is is that typical like player chatter of hey I’m going to add this to my arsal game or do you think that is a legit imate thing that the Mavericks look at and say hey into the future we expect him to be a player who can knock down perimeter shots and add that to his Arsenal and then potentially be a that third type of scorer that maybe the Mavericks felt like they were missing consistently during this run yeah look if if you go back to when they drafted him Nico Harrison said hey you know not that we expect this this year but at his clutch Pro Day his agency’s pro day he shot the lights out and it is something that he works on every day you know at practice it’s part of his you know his pregame uh shooting routine with Sean Sweeney um by the way an assistant coach who’s done a hell of a job and is going to be up for the Pistons job and would be a significant loss if uh if he gets that um and so there is real optimism with Derek Lively that he can become a three-point threat and but you know that’s a cherry on the top right uh but basically if they’re able to to have the option of going five out with him on the floor so you can play big and still play five out that would be a cherry on the top If he if he never takes another three I still think this guy’s going to be a hell of a player and you know a potential Max guy on his on his next deal just because I think he has that type of value as a rim running you know throw it up the shot clock he can still catch a lob run the floor rebound protect the rim they think he can be an athletic version of prime joem no on defense that type of Versatility at 7 foot one you know with that sort of athleticism you know I I was saying Rudy gobear with good hands and they think well we think can actually be a little bit more versatile wow uh than that defensively uh I’m just telling you I just I mean they tanked to get the pick and it was you know paid $750,000 fine you could have a few zeros of that this would have been worth this kid is a stud um I mean you talk about uh as far as like athleticism character again if he can shoot the three cherry on top of a of a Sunday here um but he’s he is the bridge to the future of long-term Luca happiness because he is the ideal sort of big that you want to pair with LCA and by the way you know you hear like you heard Kyrie during the finals refer to Lively as a vocal leader of the team yeah a 20-year-old rookie and you’ve got a you know time Allstar referring to him as a vocal leader of the team I mean this guy you know if he ends up being a you know a Tyson Chandler Brook Lopez Yim Noah blend uh which I believe is very realistic that’s one El a player and and I think that you know this kid is going to be like I said one of the best bigs in the league and you know obviously the the attention this year in the rookie bigs was Victor Chad well there’s there’s another dude on 35 who’s going to be really really really good for a long long time Tim you know you mentioned the clutch pro day that drik gladley was part of speaking of clutch Sports and Rich Paul who had uh talked to ESPN yesterday I believe it was um mentioning that you know the Mavericks if if Brony gets to 58 if he were to slide down there by some chance Nico Harrison would absolutely be interested in taking Brony James and giving him a guaranteed deal should we should we take that as a a real possibility here that Brony James end up as a Maverick I mean I think the chances of him slipping to 58 are pretty slim maybe none I I mean let’s be honest could you imagine the Lakers passing on him at 55 I mean come on that would be an absolute shocker um I’ll be honest with you man also like the whole I understand why there’s such a spotlight in bronny James and like for my company he’s he’s great for traffic and ratings and all that kind of stuff it’s uncomfortable to me because this is a guy who you know he’s he’s not ready to make an impact in the NBA he’s going have to develop significantly to to be an NBA rotation player and I just don’t know that it’s really that fair to him that he’s going to have that level of Spotlight when he’s going to probably be grinding most of the year uh in the G League um you know I understand why it is and his dad certainly not just contributed to it but really drove it but man it’s it’s a lot to put on a guy who is going to likely be a late second round pick hey Tim we appreciate it man I know you love coming on with us waking up in the morning so we appreciate this one hey n nine o’clock ain’t so bad I’ll give you that that’s right there we go that’s why we never ask for eight or seven we always ask with Tim for nine hey thanks a lot man appreciate it have a great summer all right appreciate you Brothers [Music]

NBA reporter for ESPN Tim MacMahon joins RJ and Bobby to discuss his biggest takeaways from the Mavericks finals run and the season as a whole, how Kyrie Irving put pressure on himself in the finals, Derek Lively’s value after the finals, Mavs draft focus, and more

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