What does Malik Monk’s new deal mean for the Toronto Raptors & Gary Trent Jr.? | Bronny James to TO?

What does Malik Monk’s new deal mean for the Toronto Raptors & Gary Trent Jr.? | Bronny James to TO?

on your Friday episode of lock on Raptors what are the two biggest transactions of the week around the NBA mean for Toronto maybe kind of a lot plus Ronnie James anyone you are locked on Raptors your daily Toronto Raptors podcast part of the locked on podcast Network your team every [Music] day hey what’s going on and welcome to another episode of locked on Raptors part of the locked on podcast Network your team every day it is Friday June the 21st and I’m your host sea Woodley I’ve been cover the Toronto Raptors now for 10 seasons on various platforms I’m very old of course you can find me over on the hell website at Woodley Sean you can find the show on Instagram at lockon Raptors and you can join us in the locked on Raptors Discord server the link is in the description of the podcast it’s free to join come be part of our growing listener family on draft night be in there do a little voice chat as the draft unfolds it should be lots of fun so come and join us in our lockon Raptors Discord Community a great place for all to come and hang uh of course you can find the show for free R get your podcast follow subscribe rate review tell a friend much appreciated when you supporting the show when you support the show on the audio side of things you can also find us on YouTube if you want to see the video and look at my mug every day you can go subscribe to the lockd on Raptors YouTube channel hit the notification Bell while you’re there and you will get a push notification every single time the show is about to go live or premiere on the tube uh all right let’s get to it Today’s Show is brought to you by our friends over at prize pick the easiest most exciting way to play daily fantasy sports go to prize.com loock innba to use the code all lowercase locked in NBA for a first deposit match up to $100 and with that we’re off and rolling here on your Friday episode a bit of a news Roundup day you know the Raptor’s not super in the conversation on the rumor mill just yet although they were mentioned by Jake fiser in his column today regarding one Patrick Williams we’ll talk about that coming up and the whole Bulls situation in relation to the uh truly perplexingly idiotic Alex Caruso for Josh giddy straight up trade boy oh boy uh poor Bulls fans man but maybe uh we can make Bulls fans even sadder by poaching more of their good players away for ply returns so we’ll get into that also want to talk about bronnie James who uh the Raptor w mentioned as like one of the teams in passing by Jonathan gavone this week on ESPN uh kind of digging into teams that you know could in theory go and jump at bronny James in the draft and Messi jiri mentioned as a guy who likes bronny and could take bronny without even having in having him in for a workout at 31 uh you know that I think engendered some reaction and I do think the conversation about bronny James is frankly like pretty dumb and either black or white we’re going to try to sort through the noise that is accompanying bronny James every where he goes and actually try to just talk about what a prospect he is and what’s good what’s bad about his game we’ll do that coming up a little bit later on but off the top biggest news in the NBA this week I think at least when it comes to the free agent happenings around the league Malik monk yeah I guess JJ Ric’s the bigger story but as far as the Raptor’s interest Malik monk signs with the Sacramento Kings for four years $78 million to stay with the Kings and this one bit of a surprise the basically the way the cap functions and the way Malik Monk’s contract was situated uh this was kind of all the kings could do to keep him there was seemingly a much higher Payday for him out there in free agency with not a ton of teams uh you know or sorry a good handful of teams with cap space and a few of those teams really needing a guy like Malik monk I think for example of the Orlando Magic as sort of the key example that would have been a perfect Malik monk team but with the market being what it was I guess Malik Monk figured hey you know I’ll take a pay cut to stay in a place I’m happy he’s talked a lot about loving being in Sacramento he obviously chose Sacramento after being with the Lakers when he got paid last time uh just because he wanted to play with his pal dear and fox so to you know power to him that’s awesome glad Malik’s Malik Monk Is happy but I do think this has a couple of Ripple effects to the Toronto Raptors both for their offseason plans you know with free agency and the cap space route if they so choose to take it which seems less and less likely by the day um and made more so unlikely by this signing but there’s also a connection to Gary Trent Jr as well um I think let’s start with the cap space thing you know the cap space route for the Raptors where they you know decline Bruce Brown’s option renounce Gary Trent Jr’s bird rights and cap hold and just go into the summer with 28 29 million bucks in cap space that always felt like a pretty far-fetched Avenue for acing talent for getting an upgrade on this team just because there’s not a whole lot of free agents out there and you know odds are you’re not going to win the musical chairs game when it comes to for agency and the high price guys especially when you’re the Raptors and you’re not like a contender right some teams can sell Malik monk or any of these other free agents on jumping into a competitive situation I think the Raptors are a little closer than a lot of people are seem to think they are um but I think in general you know magic are by definition closer to competing and would be you know presumably taken over the top a little bit by the addition of a guy like Malik monk to offer some extra creation and guard play which they so badly need um you know just the Raptors are not in a spot competitively where they’re going to be able to make the best pitch and unless they’re throwing a whole bunch of irresponsible money at guys U the very best free agents in the market are probably going to go to more competitive ready teams and so that has always felt like a bit of an inhibitor to the Raptors going out and you know playing at the top of the free agent Market Malik monk near the top of the free agent Market I think probably the best free agent in the non-max player or near max player Division I guess OG and anobi falls into this bucket as well he might get a Max on account of all the leverage he has over the New York Knicks and the threat of the Sixers lurking out there and the Thunder lurking out there and all of that but either way I I think with Malik monk being off the board it really to me makes the cap space route for the Raptors probably the least sexy option this summer and I thought it was the least sexy option anyway um kind of from the jump Malik monk even included as much of a talent upgrade as he would have been the fit would have been a little bit tricky uh you’re probably never ever defending anybody at better than a 25th in the league level or anything like that with Malik monk quickly Barrett Barnes and purle as your core five um but as a pure talent addition I I could have been talked into it now I just don’t quite see the ways in which they can go use that cap space um we’ll talk about I think maybe the one last potential option for the Raptors with cap space coming up in segment two when we get to Patrick Williams but there’s also a connection here to Gary Trent Jr which I think is pretty interesting don’t think it’s just as simple as it might seem on the surface you know Malik monk signs for four years 78 million and I think the first response from a lot of people this was the first response from a lot of people in the lockdown Raptors Discord server when the news came down was oh well that set the market for these sort of guard Types on the market and therefore no way Gary Trent Jr is getting anything close to the sub20 million a year annual salary that Malik monk is going to pull in from the Sacramento Kings and I just don’t think it’s that black and white necessarily look Gary Trent Jr is a worse player than Malik monk he should make less money than Malik monk is making even if Malik monk to took a pay cut from the Sacramento Kings I think Malik monk probably worth about 25 million bucks in actuality if he’s making 19 and a half like that’s a good team-friendly contract for the Kings and I don’t think Gary Trent Jr is worth 19.5 million to the Raptors or frankly any other team but there is the possibility that without the availability of Malik Monk on the market that Gary Trent Jr becomes one of these guys who potentially goes and gets overpaid by a team that has money to burn and doesn’t want to miss out on their next you or third or fourth best option if options one and two or three are off the table and so I could see a team like the magic if they don’t go now and sign Klay Thompson or kavus Caldwell Pope saying hey there’s Gary Tren Jr he shoots a lot of Threes he’d be helpful on this team for space we have the defensive infrastructure with Jaylen Suggs and Palo bonero and Wendell Carter J to kind of insulate Gary Trent Jr maybe he’s a guy who can take us over the top a little bit maybe we pay him a little extra money maybe we give him two years’s 40 million bucks through the vein of a Bruce Brown who got overpaid last summer by the Indiana Pacers and everyone knew it like maybe that is something the magic go and do now to ensure they get some shooting help if their next couple best plans fall through which hey free agency plans fall through all the time ask uh any team in the NBA it’s it’s a it’s a difficult game to play so I I don’t know if it necessarily means that Malik Monk’s contract is just going to like set the market for these guard types and everyone is going to make less than that like I would bet kcp is gonna make more than Malik monk I would bet Klay Thompson probably ends up making more than Malik Monk and Gary Trent Jr very well could if some team gets Brazen and has money to burn and I think this is also you know again this is a cap related thing that Malik monk wasn’t able to make more money than this from the Kings and so it’s and he obviously chose to stay in a place he was happy as opposed to going and pursuing the biggest possible bag he could have gotten somewhere on the open market and look maybe the reporting comes out that that that offer was never going to be there from the magic but just sort of logic says the magic had a lot of cap space to burn if they go and throw 25 million bucks at Malik monk like that’s a pretty compelling offer um that that should have been there probably you know if he gets to free agency I I think he definitely took a pay cut to stay at a place he was happy which again power to him that’s awesome I wish more players kind of did this sometimes but um you know if he’s happy with the money he’s making it’s still totally life-changing future changing money and all that stuff then then you know power to him taking a pay cut even if the union might not be the most pleased but because of the circumstance with the cap minations and the reasons why he couldn’t make more from the Kings I don’t know if that specific situation is going to go and set the market either right that’s kind of a unique thing that I don’t think goes and dictates what all these other sort of three-point shooting guard types are going to go and make on the market all that said I I still think Gary Trent Jr that the the most sensible thing here is for the Raptors to just retain him especially considering the cap space Avenue feels less and less likely to Bear uh you know great fruit this off season of course there is one exception who could in theory be a nice use of that cap space for the Raptors that would necessitate not bringing back Gary Trent Jr that would necessitate uh declining Bruce Brown’s contract and not trying to trade for uh him or trade him for something and that is Patrick Williams who is an RFA we will get into the possibility of the Raptors going in pursuing him per Jake fiser and a little throwaway line in his recent column over at Yahoo sports we’ll get to that coming up today’s show is brought to you by friends over at prize picks the single best place to go and play daily fantasy sports it’s America’s number one daily fantasy sports app there five million active members for a reason all you got to do is pick more or less on two to six player stat projections and watch the winnings roll in you can get in on the daily action with your friends and become part of the the pricee picks Community as well today you can win up to a hundred times your money on prize picks with as little as four correct picks you can turn 10 bucks into ,000 they got promotions all over the place from lowering select players projections on Tuesdays to help your lineup hit or getting your entries fees back if you lose lineups lose a lineup on a Friday like today 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possible offseason additions for a contender out there perhaps could have you know acred a whole bunch of picks in return instead they just get Josh giddy from the Thunder and nothing else and maybe your mileage varies on Josh giddy but I think Josh giddy is not a very good basketball player and I think the fact that he’s been playing on a very good team that has kind of hidden some of his foibles is like it’s only going to be even worse when you put the ball in the hands of a guy who doesn’t have a whole lot of self-creation ability can’t turn the corner on guys not super you know burst full with his first step or anything like that and notably uh cannot shoot threes from a stationary catch and shoot situation let alone being a lead guard who has to pull up to shape the defense in the way teams are going to guard him man oh man what a stupid stupid trade for the Bulls the Thunder have all the picks of the world and they couldn’t even get one ply little pick from Sam pry that little pick perve um yeah unbelievable stuff ridiculous anyway the Bulls might be right for the picking I guess is the sort of uh end result here is you look at what they’re doing you look at the reports that they still want to keep deardo Rosen on that team that they still have Zack LaVine who it seems like they can’t give away for anything they’ve got the nicoa vuich contract like I have no idea what the Bulls want to be I don’t think the Bulls have any idea of what they want to be they’re clearly a very dumb franchise doing very dumb things and I don’t know maybe you should give him a call maybe you should try and go and poach the one potential player who I think will be worth using your c space on in Patrick Williams which doesn’t even require a call necessarily although a sign in trade could certainly go down there um but he’s also just an RFA you can go and drop an offer sheet and maybe just maybe you catch the the Bulls unaware and maybe they’re trying to you know sort out the Demar thing maybe they’re worried about going into the tax for a team that stinks and they don’t want to match like I think Patrick Williams is someone who the Raptors should be at least calling the agent to inquire about an offer sheet calling the Bulls to inquire about a sign in trade um and Jake fiser uh noted in his uh column at Yahoo today that the Raptors and hornets are among the teams that have been kind of linked to Patrick Williams in sign and trade situations um and so maybe we got to look at them more through the lens of a signing trade and not just straight up cap space signing which would of course be interesting like if the Raptors were able to use Bruce Brown’s contract for example as the returning salary in a sign in trade for Patrick Williams where maybe you give Patrick Williams four years 80 million bucks or something like that um you know maybe that’s a way to maybe have to sweeten it with a pick or something like that which at that maybe at that point you don’t do it I don’t know it’s tough to say um who again it’s the Bulls like don’t underestimate stupid maybe they’re just down for Bruce Brown because he thinks he helps their team win this season and uh hey he could he’s a useful player but on the Bulls maybe not so much um either way like I I think it’s worth at least exploring just how dumb the Bulls are just how easily you could pry Patrick Williams away from the bulls with an offer sheet or with a sign and trade situation it just makes sense I think Patrick Williams look there’s every there’s like a lot of risk with Patrick Williams right like if you were to go and pay him a bag you’re paying for a guy who’s been basically the same player for Four Seasons 10 points a game four boards shoots 40% from three pretty interesting um you know an assist an assist in a half a game doesn’t do a whole lot in terms of like massive production or or counting stats or anything like that um you know his defensive stuff is kind of interesting per 36 minutes 1.2 steals in a block um this past season so there’s a little bit of like defensive counting stat production there too from Patrick Williams he’s a guy who I think fits the mold for the Raptors just because he’s uh 6 foot n he’s defensively capable he’s tall he shoots threes like that’s the kind of guy the Raptor should be trying to Target I would prefer a more established like ready to go Wing but uh I think a bet on Patrick Williams being better away from Chicago than he was with Chicago it’s not the worst idea in the world we’ve seen this movie before ask Larry marinin how his career after he went after he left Chicago right like that’s clearly a rudderless mess of a franchise and I’m not surprised that Patrick Williams hasn’t quite blossomed in his first four seasons while having to share the floor with a sort of more veteran Laden roster of course he’s had injury stuff he’s missed close to two full seasons I guess he missed half of last season and nearly the full season in 2122 but he’s also played 82 games in a season he played 71 in the co uh the C season in 2020 2021 where everyone seemed to miss time so like that there’s for Williams like there’s equal reason to feel good and bad about the idea of bringing him in but I do think you at least you got to go and check in with the bulls who are going through clearly some changes and some reevaluation of what they’ve got and a recentering of things around Josh giddy apparently who per W has quote unquote Allstar potential which is the wildest agent speak I’ve ever seen put into a tweet in my entire life U maybe they they don’t covet Patrick Williams as much as the Raptors might for their positional needs and the the sort of things he would bring to the table I I think it’s worth at least giving it a shot and again if you’re thinking is you know the cap space route is still the thing here you can still go and you know throw a big chunk of your cap space if you go and create it by declining Bruce Brown and not retaining Gary Tren Jr you can go and create that cap space and throw a big offer sheet his way as well that’s an option I tend to think I like that that one’s tough just like Asset Management wise because you’re Los two players Bruce Brown and Gary Trent Jr for basically nothing to go and bring in Patrick Williams who may or may not be something who you know someone who changes your life I think the risk with Patrick Williams makes that tricky if he were more of a sure thing a he’d be less getable probably and B I I think you’d be more fine to sort of swapping out Trent and Bruce to bring him in but there’s a chance that Gary Trent Jr and Bruce Brown in the aggregate whatever you can get from them on the floor or via trade the next year and a half um or next year for Bruce Brown I suppose yeah a year that’s where we’re at about a year um like I I I think that probably you know that there’s a chance that that Nets you more on court value overall than just having Patrick Williams on your team at maybe a bit of an inflated salary for what he’s done in his career it’s a fascinating one but I I do think if you’re looking at we did this when we ran through all the names from the bowl right a couple weeks ago we put a bunch of wing names in the bowl and pull them out talk about of his Raptor targets Patrick Williams one of the very few guys that I wasn’t just like kind of h no thanks to instantly right I think there is something there and he’s the type of bow second drafty kind of guy who a team like the Raptors who needs an infusion of talent who need wings and large people they should be all over that I understand why the Raptors are being tossed around as potential thing there um obviously like the Scotty Barnes Flor State connection connection is interesting as well um but overall yeah I think anything you can do even just call the Bulls and say hey what about IO dumu like that’d be a nice guard for the Raptors to go and add uh what does it take for Io is it like can we get him for pick 31 and some salary going back the other way like just how dumb are the Bulls don’t underestimate stupid don’t underestimate cheap just give them a call see what’s up and maybe you can go and swindle them much like Sam pry just did by getting Alex kuso for only Josh giddy um there aren’t that many dumb teams in the league you got to go try to take advantage of them when you can um and hopefully the Raptors have left their face their little micro diant with being one of the Dumber teams over the last year or so uh maybe hopefully they’ve left that one behind um but either way that’s the kind of read here on the Bulls just give them a call they’re they’re dumb uh and lifeless and sad and directionless and that might be something you can go and take advantage of if you are an opportunistic front office as the Toronto Raptors fancy themselves to be we’ll come back on the other side and we will get into another guy who the Raptors were referenced in you know in connection with this week by a major reporter Jonathan gavone talking about bronny James and the Toronto Raptors I don’t know how much I put into this one there’s a lot of agent speak flying around with bronny James but I do want to try to cut through all of that and just talk about the player that bronny James is or is not we’ll do that to round of the show coming up in just one sec Today’s Show is brought to you by our friends over at LinkedIn jobs when you’re hiring for your small business you want to find quality professionals that are right for the role and that’s why you got to check out LinkedIn jobs LinkedIn jobs has the tools to help you find the right Professionals for your team faster and for free LinkedIn is not just another job board no LinkedIn has a vast network of more than a billion professionals with make which makes it the best place to hire it gives you access to professionals you can’t find anywhere else and Linkedin does all that while making the process easy and 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put it on and leave it on all the live long day all right let’s continue on here round it out with a look at bronny James the prospect look like it feels like it’s impossible to engage with the bronie James thing normally for anyone who talks about Brony James it’s kind of exhausting um and I I want to try to just spend the next 10 minutes or so just trying to talk about the prospect that bronny James is without all of the ancillary noise and that’s hard to do right like you know everything with bronny James is you know it’s got a little bit of extra fuel to it because of the LeBron connection and I think you know there’s always going to be that sort of thing in the back of your mind based on I think old reporting at this point that oh you draft bronny James and you just might have a chance to go get yourself LeBron James on your basketball team I think we probably have to start by dispelling that notion for the Toronto Raptors you know Jonathan gavone of ESPN mentioned this week the Raptors are a team that might consider Brony at 31 with the first pick of the second round and that does not mean they’re going to go and sign LeBron this summer lebronto is not becoming a real positive thing we’re not re re reclaiming lebronto in a different way no like get that out of the way all the reporting of late and the word from LeBron himself is that that he’s given up on the idea of playing with his son on the same team being like a a musthave dream of his and simply sharing the floor for it with him in a game would satisfy his familial Ambitions in the NBA um this would be you know purely about the prospect that Brony James is if the Raptors were to take him and I think it’s worth talking about him the opinions on bronny James seem to be all over the place and seem to be informed by the noise and the fact that his name is LeBron James Junior right like it’s just it’s unavoidable and I think the result of that really bad and dumb discourse has been you know a lot of folks saying like his name is only being mentioned because he’s tied to LeBron he’s not a good Prospect he just has the name dismiss it entirely the idea of taking him in the second round even like this guy shouldn’t be in the draft he should got should have gone back to school yada y y I think that’s sort of one school of this is just like the nepotism draft pick and there’s no reason to actually consider him as a real Prospect I think there’s this other sort of contrarian side coming in now that’s like hold on a second uh we can actually contort ourselves and talk us ourselves into thinking Brony James is actually a first round talent and all the noise is undercutting the fact that he’s a real player hiding in plain sight I think that’s maybe a little too extreme as well I do think as is usually the case with these things it falls somewhere in the middle with bronny James as a prospect and so I think we should probably try to assess what Brony James is just as a prospect and not as a news cycle fodder piece I think it’s hard to judge anything he did at College this season with USC had the medical scare obviously nearly died in the summer before going to school like that’s traumatic that’ll throw a guy off that will throw off a development track you would think for anyone um like that’s just an awful awful thing to experience of course he wasn’t himself for much of this season of course he didn’t get into the lineup until a little bit later on in the year he only played 25 games for USC limited to 19 minutes of action per game for a very bad USC team that had all kinds of problems we’ve talked about with Isaiah Coler and trying to evaluate him and the difficulty of evaluating a lead guard on a team that just like didn’t have a whole lot to lead or guard it was you know it was tricky the numbers not super impressive in those 19 minutes a game just 4.8 points 2.8 boards 2.1 assists uh a stock per game shot just 27 % on a pretty low volume of Threes the numbers suggest oh like this guy is not an NBA player sure I don’t think you can just look at the numbers you have to look at the actual guy the athleticism the on the court um sort of movement and feel and tape and all that stuff to really get a gauge of bronny James the size that’s a thing that could be a concern right he’s six foot two that is a fact he is six foot two with about a seven six7 wingspan 67 and a quarter wingspan I believe is the official combine metric that they came through through with he’s obviously very athletic I I think this is one thing you just expect like uh look who his dad is athleticism somewhat genetic one would think his dad is LeBron James Le bronny James looks like an NBA player athletically speaking he moves like an NBA player like I have no questions about that that is one of the things he brings to the table and when you’re drafting later in the Draft betting on athleticism not always the worst thing to do in the world um you know at 31 maybe a different story but overall like you can do worse than just saying hey that guy’s got some tools let’s go see if we can mold those tools into a good player you know I I think look I’m not a shot doctor by any means when you watch his three-point stroke when you watch his pullup mid-range stroke actually looks pretty good like it looks tidy it looks like mechanically sound and all of that there’s no weird hitch this isn’t a Devin Carter three-point shot which I’m not even saying Devon Carter’s 3 is not going to hold up but it’s a bizarr looking jumper that’s not the case with bronny James his jump shot looks like a jump shot which is nice of course he’s got to hit more than 27% of Threes that would be very important of course but I do think there’s something there I I think really the thing that stands out with Brony James to me are two things one he’s probably gon to be a pretty good Defender for his size look it’s 62 with a 67 Wings span he’s not going to scale up and guard threes or fours or anything like that but guarding ones and twos being like a sound point of attack guy um he seems to have a pretty good Instinct for like Hawking passing lanes and whatnot um like there’s a good Defender an above average Defender here in bronny James I think that’s pretty clear based on watching what he does um I also think there is just like a you know again this is a thing where his dad is LeBron James his dad is maybe the smartest player to ever play basketball a guy who just like Maps the floor in a way that very few people like this side of Nicole yokich have ever been able to do and that feels like maybe this is like you can’t actually uh like quantify this in any way but if your dad is one of the most cerebral players who’s ever lived and you’ve like spent your life watching him play basketball playing basketball with him talking to you and coaching you through it like there’s got to be some feel for the game there with bronnie James there’s got to be some Instinct built in that’s pretty high for the game and I do think that’s a really interesting combination like a high feel connective offguard type who can defend his ass off that’s a pretty interesting Prospect at 31 maybe not so much I I think that would be a bit of a stretch if the Raptors were to trade back you know there’s that trade that I’ve kind of referenced here that I think Sam bassini pitched on his uh like mock trade draft or whatever they did a couple weeks ago in Game Theory the idea of you you trade back from 19 and 31 you get 24 and 25 from the Knicks as well as 38 um that’s the sort of the trade with New York that’s kind of out there that could make sense just on paper if you were to do something like that in 38s there and BR James is still on the board then I think that’s worthy enough 31 is I just think you’re going to be in the conversation for guys who are bigger who have similar defensive upside guys who probably just project to be more safe floor NBA players than bronnie James just because of the size factor and I think I would just rather go that way but it’s not like I think indefensible to say that in theory a guy who’s a high feeli connective player who can play good defense at the point of attack is worth the 31st pick when you take the name out of it um obviously the offense still has a ways to come with Brony James I think right now mostly he’s someone who operates in transition and kind of in the open floor and he’s gonna be a guy who’s not going to create for you very much he’s going to be someone who can attack when the ball swings to him and he’s got a tilted weak side defense coming back towards him he can put it on the deck he can put up the shot whatever it is like that’s going to be his lot in life probably in the NBA and I don’t really think he has a ton of like high upside creation I don’t think he’s someone who’s going to go out there and run 50 picking rolles for you a game that’s going to be the the world where Emanuel quickly and Scotty Barnes operate on this team and I don’t think Brony James has the tools to go and really do that although that said you take Brony James and he’s on your team he’s probably a guy who just stick in the g- league for a full year to get a full picture a full season of him playing more developmental ball than he was able to at USC you get a full idea of what he looks like off the ball kind of running the similar system as the Raptors do how does he fit into the scheme um what does his defense mean at the point of attack like is he able to hold up in the G League there is he able to dominate in the g- leag on defense if he is that’s probably a good sign for the NBA and then his offense like give him some on ball reps right you get to see put him through the progressions put him through some lumps see what we can actually do there and you kind of get an answer for yourself of okay like should we invest more in this track for him or just kind of go with the like Patrick Beverly track where he is an off ball guard who offers defense and intangibles and connectivity and all that stuff you know you get that full year training ground of the g- league to kind of get a feel for what Brony James is going forward I think that’s a worthwhile thing to think about too I I I think a thing that really stands out this was pointed out uh in the floor and ceiling a really great YouTube channel uh a floor and ceiling breakdown of Brony James and this was said like and I quote bronny looks like a guy who’s going to fit well in 0 five offenses guy you know a guy who can make quick decisions who has a good understanding of the game and the reads and and sort of what comes next in the sequence of The Possession that’s a pretty interesting thing if you’re looking for guys who can fit in I know a lot of raptors fans are out there lusting over DeAnthony Melton as an offseason addition I’m not saying Brony James is going to become DeAnthony Melton but if you want to try to sort of get that type of player an off-ball sort of undersized guard who leads with defense and maybe has some three-point shooting upside like that you know is something that you could do on the cheap with a bronny James selection and not go and get the anth Melton even if there’s no guarantee Brony James ever becomes DeAnthony Melton or something close to it um I I I think you know that that type of player is an interesting guy to have and every team can use someone like that even if 62 is a bit of a tough size to deal with I do think you know bronnie James and Emanuel quickly could work in lineups together like defensively if bronny James is able to take those big assignments they’re both pretty long for guards like that’s that’s viable that can work like I don’t think it’s crazy would I take him at 31 of him the Raptors probably not I I think there are just other guys there who I think I’d value more but it’s not the end of the world if the Raptors were to say hey we really believe in this guy we believe in the son of LeBron James having some basketball upside to him I I don’t think that’s a crazy thing to go and believe and I think if you believe in your ability to develop him along which the Raptors feel like you know they’ve always trusted themselves drafting they’ve never been worried about drafting ahead of slot or anything like that they trust their ability to develop guys and if they View Brony James is someone who’s moldable who can fit the way they want to play who can be long-term guard depth for them to be a seventh or eighth man two three four years down the line like if you get that with a 31st pick in the NBA draft that’s a good outcome you know a second round pick turning into a seventh or eighth man who can play Heavy minutes for you or you know you know spot starting to pinch whatever like that’s that’s an absolute score in the second round no matter the pick and so again A lot has to happen I think the offensive game has a long way to come for him to be super valuable on the offensive end and not just someone who stands in the corner and teams are happy to funnel shots to especially if he’s only a 27% three-point shooter that feels more small samply and less indicative of what he’ll actually be I think the stroke and stuff you know it’s it’s stuff of like a League average shooter in the modern NBA I think he’s got that in him at least and if that’s the case like I I don’t think it’s insane to go and draft bronny James at 31 I I’ll have a full Board of guys for 19 and 31 next week will dig into bronnie will not be at the top of it but uh I don’t think it’s like an end of the world lose your mind if it happens thing at 31 because he is like a real Prospect he is someone who has some mold ability and some real reasons why this past season did not go especially well for him that does not mean that has to tell the tale of his entire NBA career he’s like 19 years old he’s a very young guy uh you know these things happen and guys can still they still have uer trajectory even if they’ve had bad things befall them early the development stages like it’s tough it’s tough to overcome but I don’t think it’s insane he’s not a bad Prospect he’s just maybe not my cup of tea or what the Raptors desperately need which is guys who are taller than six foot too notably um either way we’ll leave it there thank you so much for tuning in thanks for rocking with the show this week apologies for the missed episode on Wednesday we’ll be back with a Full Slate of shows next week of course probably some extra episodes in there with the draft and the two-day draft and trades and all that stuff likely to break down uh over the course of the next seven days or so so so we will have plenty of stuff for you here on the Channel please follow subscribe rate review on your audio app of choice you can go to YouTube and support the show over there it’s much appreciated as well and uh with that we will send you off into your weekend thanks so much for hanging Big Board coming on Monday and uh that’ll be tons of tons of fun but in the meantime enjoy the sweltering heat stay safe in the storms that keep on barreling down on Southern Ontario every single night it seems and have yourself a wonderful rest of your weekend thanks for hanging bye-bye for

In Episode 1662, Sean Woodley goes solo to take a look at some of the latest news around the NBA and what it means for the Toronto Raptors, including Malik Monk signing a 4-year / $78 million deal to stay in Sacramento, the Chicago Bulls doing very dumb things, and the subterfuge minefield that is Bronny James and his draft stock. Off the top, Sean digs into the the Monk deal with the Kings, digs into whether it sets the market for shooting guards of Gary Trent Jr.’s ilk, and why it probably spells the end of any grand visions the Raptors had for their potential cap space route this summer. Next, Sean digs into the Alex Caruso for Josh Giddey trade, and ponders whethere the Bulls are stupid enough or eager-for-change enough to have Patrick Williams swiped from under the nose, with Yahoo!’s Jake Fischer naming the Raptors as a potential Williams suitor this summer, be it via offer sheet or sign-and-trade. Lastly, Sean takes a look at Bronny James and his viability as an NBA prospect after ESPN’s Jonathan Givony mentioned the Raptors as one of the teams that might fancy selecting LeBron James’ son at some point in next week’s NBA Draft.

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