NBA GameTime | Wemby finally has a real PG! – Greg Anthony on Chris Paul joining San Antonio Spurs

NBA GameTime | Wemby finally has a real PG! – Greg Anthony on Chris Paul joining San Antonio Spurs

to watch him on TV it’s another thing in person and Victor going to show off for us a little bit here is in rarified air no one can be in that airace for the San anio SPS year very important SP the consensus rookie of the year is the foundational piece for the Spurs moving forward after a 22- win season and if you’re Spurs management to some extent you’ve got to be thinking how do we not mess this up right yes and what are the parts around him that are going to take this to where we need to be based on his generational Talent well first they messed it up last year and and I think they as a front office will admit that they did not put a roster out there that really allowed for him not only for him to kind of show all he could do he got to show the talent he had but they could have been far more competitive as a team had they gone out and made not Monumental moves just moves where they got more confident at certain positions that didn’t happen so I think now this is a scenario where if I’m them I’m really active in free agency I’m I’m and and it’s about veteran guys Ry I think Chris Paul be terrific to yeah you know somebody that gives you some strong leadership in the locker room someone that he that can mentor him and help him on his journey I think guys like that they they need to invest in experience now because they’re really not that far off from being because of him they’re not far from being competitive in the Western Conference and I think it they owe it to him and their fan base and quite frankly to our league to put a much more competitive team out on the floor and it’s well within their means to be able to do so and it starts with the point guard situation remember last year they started with Jeremy soan essentially running the point they abandoned that experiment around January yeah that was like what bill bellich went out and how a defensive coordinator and run the offense right put Trey Jones in at the point for the rest of the season but some of the damage record-wise had already been done and they’re a team with with cap room what are the options for the Spurs here this summer Spurs have about 26 million in cap space Matt I agree with Greg I I think they need playmaking and shooting in particular to open up space for Victor and get the ball to Victor in spots to be effective on the floor I like some of their young Wings they just add another really talented guy in Stefan castle out of Yukon with the fourth pick in the draft and there is some Talent on the roster and Kellon Johnson Deon Vel nice two-way wings but there’s a big hole at the point guard slot in the back court uh so in the short term I think Chris Paul would really upgrade their roster his playmaking knowledge of the game ability to get the ball to Victor in spots I think would be really beneficial seems like he has great respect for Greg papovich in the franchise as well now the question becomes if you’re Chris Paul approaching 40 years old do you want to play for a team that’s a long way from Championship contending yes they have a great young player in wanyama but they’re years away from probably making the playoffs in the Western Conference never mind competing for a Championship uh so that’s the challenge it’s not a great free agent point guard class um we talked about Russell Westbrook in the last segment um but you know this isn’t a group where you can just say oh yeah this this guy would be perfect because most of the good young point guards who match Victor’s timeline are under contract for a long time so San Antonio may have to get creative again but not do what they did last year put the ball in sohan’s hands he’s a nice player but he’s not the answer and I think they realized that as the season went on and if you’re Chris Paul you’re still chasing a ring at this point in your career and the Spurs aren’t likely to be in the NBA Finals I mean everybody’s chasing a ring to some extent right yeah he still doesn’t have one no he doesn’t I think he would love to have the opportunity but I think also as you get a little older you know other things become a priority and and unless he can get to a situation that gives him a great chance uh I think he’s also the type of person that enjoys mentoring I mean remember what he did at OKC when he went there I I think he already has experience going through that and I I disagree a little bit with Ryan I I don’t think they’re as far away from being in the playoff hunt because of the talent of Victor wiim like you know we just saw him as a rookie he’s gonna be infinitely better than next year and and he’s a type of player that probably can impact the game more than anybody we’ve ever seen because of the versatility on both sides of the ball and so that means now if you just get enough Talent around him and you can be in close games he’s the type of player that can change everything just because of how Dynamic he is so I think that’s something that could be a selling point and and to Ryan look 26 million doesn’t sound like a lot but they’ve got a lot of flexibility in terms of their roster and they have a few young guys that other people might be interested in as well so they they have the wherewithal uh to go out and put forth a formidable roster one that I think could be competing in the playin this season if they’re willing to make that commitment let’s talk about a couple of names that could or could not be available who knows Trey young has been linked to the San Antonio Spurs because of their need for a point guard obviously they could swing a deal that would make sense for them uh for both teams potentially because of their flexibility roster wise financially draft picks Etc um Darius Garland in Cleveland some feel like Garland and Donovan Mitchell may not be a fit together there don’t know if the Cavs are interested in that uh what does it make sense to go after a youngish point guard who has already kind of established himself I think so I mean both of those guys are gifted offensive players uh Trey is probably the more polar izing player of the two and one thing that I think the Spurs have to feel good about is with the Hawks moving on from dejonte Murray the picks and swaps they have coming from Atlanta got even more valuable so I’m not sure they want to do anything to help Atlanta or let Atlanta out of jail so to speak uh they could be sitting pretty in a loaded draft in 2025 if the Hawks spot him out this year uh the Cleveland one is interesting and we’ve heard some Rumblings that Donovan Mitchell may not love playing with Darius Garland uh Donovan Mitchell is extension eligible and the Cavs are a pivotal franchise this offseason we haven’t talked about them a lot U but if Mitchell signs an extension they they should be set up pretty nicely going forward if not do they think about moving him because he can be an unrestricted free agent next offseason and leave if if he’s not extended in Cleveland so um I like the Garland fit probably a little bit better if Cleveland is willing to move on from him um but the these are guys who are Max salary players who do have some flaws I think it would be good for those players individually though if they could get to San Antonio uh because they’re playing with Victor he gets a lot of defensive attention and especially in the case of Trey young gifted offensively really struggles defensively Victor would cover up a lot of his holes and weaknesses on with that backline defense as Greg mentioned he has all-time historic defensive potential uh there’s no better guy to have behind Trey young than Victor cleaning up the blow buys and times when opponent’s getting into the lane with Victor at The Rim see him in person and you just see all the potential this guy’s going to own the league in like two years you know he still makes some rookie mistakes cuz he was a rookie he’s a 19-year-old kid but the potential is just off the charts so good uh Vegas summer league tips off Friday July 12th right here on NBA TV and ESPN G you and I will be there you and I I think I’m going in on I might go in early I think we have three straight days of summer league together going to be on and popping baby and the decision would have to be if you’re Sacramento are we willing to part with Kean Murray and if we get Ingram are we willing to give him what he wants because on a one-year deal you’d have to be committ to extend them for the next 3 or four years and if they are maybe there’s a trade to be had between the two teams and if you’re David Griffin what are you asking for back Beyond Keegan Murray well I think it’s it’s plus the salary Parts you have to make work and that’s what I was looking at Matt it’s challenging from a salary perspective um probably one of Harrison Barnes or Kevin herder would have to be in the deal uh maybe Trey ly is in the deal keep in mind in the offseason it’s a little easier to do some unbalanced trades uh The rosters expand from 15 players not counting the two- ways but in the regular roster 15 contracts to 20 so you can do some lopsided trades and teams receiving more players continue wheeling and dealing in the offseason um but you know one of the realities of the new CBA is it’s not as easy to make trades especially with a higher salary teams uh given the apron rules so you have to be careful and you have to be strategic because um some teams are that I’ve talked to say well we could make this deal it would make us better today but it would inhibit us from doing things in the future it would lock us into this core and take away some of our flexibility so teams are trying to learn on the Fly and figure out in real time the ramifications of the new CBA and the first and second apron thresholds and for the Pelicans without that shot creation what are the what are the ramifications that this goes through well they’ve got a couple remember they they have uh a couple young Wing guys that are emerging with Murphy and Jones as well and then you talked about maybe Murray being a part of that so you have those three guys that continue to improve you just brought over to jante Murray to kind of solidify that back court with CJ McCollum and so the thought process is hey we’re going to our best basketball from Zion Williamson is moving forward as well and so his well exactly well but when you’re doing these things it’s all hope sure you know like you’re you’re hoping that the trade Works to begin with and both sides are are hoping that you’re hoping when you sign that contract extension to for Zion Williams that he is going to continue to progress his on the court has been solid it’s just he hasn’t always been on the court right and so that’s something that they’re concerned about but I do think um that’s that’s the thought process and also to Ryan’s point this is not a team that ever wants to get into a world where they’re dealing with that second apron they’re not looking to get into that Stratosphere so I I think they’re looking for some cap relief they also know they can ill afford to allow Brandon Ingram to go into the last year of his deal because now you’re kind of held a hostage by the player and so they’re going to have to do something sooner rather than later and and if this doesn’t work out I would still suspect that they’re going to look elsewhere to maybe make a deal it’s easy to say well New Orleans should carry Brandon Ingram into the season if they can’t reach an extension let him play on the last year of his deal maybe they can trade him at the trade deadline well maybe they can or maybe he gets injured and and they can’t and then he hits unrestricted free agent or or maybe they’re really good right right and there’s a third option too though or maybe the where you want to trade him he says I’m not resigning which cools the market so so that’s saying like he has all the leverage if you allow him to get into that last year so I just don’t think there’s a scenario where you’re going to allow that if you’re the Pelicans no I agree that that’s from a front office perspective if a guy’s approaching unrestricted free agency which Ingram is he probably has his most value with two years left in his contract Ingram now has one and the other teams realize that and that’s something where you don’t just blindly hope that he would resign Matt and Greg you would want if you’re say Sacramento you would want Jeff schwarz’s agent to allow you permission to talk to the player and say look if we bring you to Sacramento if we put you in a king’s uniform are you interested in signing here the Pelicans can grant that permission as part of the trade discussions uh we’ll see if it happens with Ingram either in Sacramento or somewhere else because clearly he wants to get paid and deserves to get paid as one of the better young Wings in the league all right 6:36 I see uh Eastern Time see we have not seen the flood of announcements we normally see on this day um which is interesting it’s it’s very interesting usually we’ve got like dozens of announcements already or reports already about teams that have somehow magically uh negotiated contracts with with players who are not their own and for whatever reason it’s it’s cool do you have a sense of why that is is it the ability just to negotiate with their own players that has has slowed things down yeah there are fewer players especially fewer elite players in free agency teams did not want to mess around and let especially their unrestricted free agents hit free agency because U you know as Greg and I were discussing there’s a lot of money with a few teams in particular Philly’s got to spend it on somebody Orlando’s got to spend it on somebody uh Detroit will either spend it or absorb bad contracts um so teams wanted to get out ahead of that and they did not want a pascal cakam and ogan anobi name your top unrestricted free age in particular hitting the open market so they took care of business ahead a time and then I think Matt the other angle and aspect of that is the the the pause due to Paul George and some of the top free agents usually what happens is there’s a cascading effect once one of the top guy signs and then others fall in line quickly but as long as Paul George is out there teams will um teams in the mix hope they can get Paul George and other teams are looking at different pieces to see if there’s a way for them to get involved or a way to take advantage of say cap space drying up if cap space dries up around the league say in Philadelphia and Orlando then those big 12.8 13 million non-t taxpayer mid level exceptions look more attractive to players who hope they would get more but look around and don’t see a lot of available cap space especially from teams that are contenders or want to be contenders next season so Paul if you’re out there you’re the one holding this up that’s just yeah let’s go come on it’s almost dinner time PA what’s going on here we’re in no hurry here’s the Lakers depth chart at the moment you know technically LeBron James is not on the roster because he’s a free agent right now the all the expectation is he will return and may take a pay cut to accommodate another move out there and and J we’ve been talking about this who that move could be maybe it’s a Klay Thompson I saw Jonas Valen tunes’s name mentioned I don’t know who else but if you’re Rob pinka what are you looking for with that with that space if he accommodates you that way well I think you you hit on two areas of concern shooting uh and I think they’d also like to have a scenario where they could play Anthony Davis at the four a lot more and so if you could somehow get somebody that could eat up 28 30 tonight at the center position uh that’s something that I think would also uh be appealing to that roster uh ultimately though I still think and Ryan talked about I think their position to be able to make some trades they’re not going to be aist level trades but they’re going to be Trad similar to what we saw with Dallas where they can get guys that fit what they need you know they need a little more athleticism and a little more IQ and shooting at their wing positions and I think those are areas that concerned and then also on that front line I I felt like their Center position was an area uh I don’t want to call it a weakness but it wasn’t a strength uh and and I think they had to have more of ad at the five and I think they’d be better suited if they could upgrade at the center position I like the fit Chris Paul there personally if you can use the LA angle if you can recruit him as a playmaker I thought the team lacked playmaking at times especially when LeBron was off the court uh they were too ad dominant too reliant on ad who’s a great individual scorer not necessarily really a playmaker for others so Chris Paul hope to get 30 million that’s not going to happen uh his Market probably is the big mid-level exception now that 13 million doll mid-level exception at 39 years old he’s still an effective player we know he’s a basketball Savant can play both ends of the Court not what he wants was uh but I think that’s one of the better uses of their mid-level exception especially if they don’t get Klay Thompson uh Harden was potentially a candidate he’s resigning with the other La team the Clippers um so I I think you know you look at the best available unrestricted free especially veteran guys who have made made a lot of money and may be willing to take slightly less from a contender to try to compete for another championship and CP shot 37% from three last year that addresses the shooting issue as well he’s a decent three-point shooter um just saw a report that the uh Oklahoma City Thunder yeah come on do something some stuff is happening Bill’s Mafia um just saw a report that the Oklahoma City Thunder have traveled to Eugene OR to recruit Isaiah hartenstein Toc he would address for for for for for for for e but foree [Music] [Music] 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NBA GameTime | Wemby finally has a real PG! – Greg Anthony on Chris Paul joining San Antonio Spurs