Zach Harper thinks DeMar DeRozan’s pace and playmaking will fit great in Sacramento

Zach Harper thinks DeMar DeRozan’s pace and playmaking will fit great in Sacramento

more the drive guys on sack toown Sports drapes is in Vegas getting ready for the Kings and the Grizzlies tipping off in about half an hour and uh before we get to our special guest just want to give you an update here uh largely unprecedented Financial concession to give roster flexibility to a condeming franchise Jaylen Brunson has agreed to a four-year deal with the Knicks 1565 million extension 113 million less guaranteed than he’s eligible to sign for a year from now and he has a chance to make that up but it’s all to improve the Nicks flexibility uh going forward here this offseason nice enough to join us he’s also in Vegas uh covers the NBA for the Athletics Zack Harper how are you today Zach oh it’s a it’s a midday in Vegas you can’t be better than that uh it’s too bad we can’t get you and the drapes together you guys boil both hanging hanging out in Vegas what do you what do you make of the the news Jaylen Brunson accepting less than he he could have gotten in order to improve the Nick’s flexibility it it’s interesting because obviously everyone’s kind of taken a by it like that as the news broke here in the arena everyone’s like you’ve got to be kidding me right this is ridiculous uh because guys aren’t supposed to give up that that much money and yes he can make it back and and there you know three years from now he’ll he’ll opt out and he’ll get paid a crazy amount of money and all that stuff but you know I’ve heard some people say well the union must be furious at this and I’m like you can’t really be mad because you’re the one that agreed to the collective barging agreement that set up this kind of situation where with the second apron and luxury tax and all those dumb words we love to throw around in for agency and with contracts and everything um that’s that’s the world we live in like essentially set up a hard cap it’s a it’s a hard cap without it being a hard cap and you’ve got to work your way around it and at least this way of doing it is Jaylen Bruns is taking a lot less money right now I I I I agree with you Zach what’s up man Kyle Draper here and and the thing about it is it it it seems like the league has sort of uh made it where players have to decide whether they want to win or they want to get paid with the way the CBA is and all these aprons do you view it that way teams got to be smarter should players take less how do you view that yeah I mean it it is it is something where teams have to be very judicious on how they spend their money and how they manage their cap and who gets what percentage of of all this stuff right I I think you I wrote about this for the athletic uh not too long ago maybe a week or so ago uh I think we’re going to see a lot more planning and and hope uh when it comes to player contracts kind of like how the NFL teams do right NFL you get a you get a rookie quarterback who is just amazing and and so you know you have those first four years before you got to really pump in that money and sign those historic contracts so you load up the team and and you try to you try to find your way around the salary cap until until it’s time for the quarterback to cash in obviously very different setup with the NBA but I think you’re going to see a lot of teams hoping to create a situ situation like OKC where hey You’ got these young guys who can play and who can win right away and before you know three or four of those max deals got to go to these young guys you load up with a a heart and scene you trade for an Alex Caruso you try to find your ways around the cap before it gets way too expensive because it’s just not about paying money anymore right like it’s it’s not that it’s not the luxury tax bill it is the restrictions that come with being in this first and then second apron and I really think the league has made a mistake like I’m of the opinion I know not everyone shares this but I think parody sucks when it comes to the NBA it’s great for football it’s great for baseball it’s great for hockey I think it’s terrible for the NBA historically that’s been proven pretty true yeah um yeah we got six Champions and six different champions in the last six years but this league was built on dynasties and and I don’t know that you can really make one anymore Zack Harper joining us here from the athletic and he’s in Vegas as his drapes today Zack as you can imagine a lot of fans in Sacramento are still doing somersaults and cartwheels over the D rozan signing I I reading your piece the athletic I know you liked it but I want to ask you about this you refer to him as an elite playmaker uh how much do you think he’s improved that that aspect of his game has improved over the last couple years it’s it’s tremendous like I I’m so impressed by the way he moves the ball and the and the pace that which he plays that you know with these guys who like d Roan’s obviously very athletic but as he’s lost the step he controls the pace of how he attacks about as well as anybody right like I it’s just so impressive how measured he is how calculated he is is how quick he is to process all this information and I think he’s you know ever since he left Toronto I think it started in San Antonio I think we saw it in Chicago the difference is just Chicago wasn’t a good team right like Chicago just wasn’t good and so they didn’t have a lot around him especially once they started dealing with injuries so he didn’t get the chance to really Elevate that team with his playmaking but he’s one of the best fourth quarter scorers he’s so incredible at running pick and rolles he’s so incredible at passing out of the post like he he’s just a playmaker he’s just a Hooper and I you know I get some the negativity on some level that people had with this but you know ultimately my point with the D rozan deal for the Kings was they had to get better the the West is crazy the West is going to be 13 teams deep I think this year like I we’re gonna see two or three really good teams not even make the play in tournament like it’s going to be nuts and the Kings could not just finish you know with the status quo and and go into that next season I think they did a tremendous job of improving the roster is that going to make them a definite playoff team no but I think that says more the West than it does about this King setup um yeah they’re gonna have some defensive issues but they already had defensive issues like it got a little bit better in the second half of last season but I I think this is a tremendous signing I think anyone being negative about it just doesn’t understand how good the West is yeah Zach I was goingon to ask you you know where where does that put them in the west you know what’s their ceiling and I guess their floor would you say with this uh Demar D Roan signing yeah they’re healthy like I I think I think they can be a top six team in the west but I think a think there about 10 teams that can be a top six team in the west you know like like it’s it’s a tough numbers game I I think they could you know everyone was not everyone so down on that’s dramatic but people were down on them last year like they won two fewer games but that was enough wins to get you like the fre seed two years ago last year put you ninth like it just you know the West is just incredible and so I think they’re in kind of that third tier of of teams in the west maybe into that second tier uh you know depending on how the defense can come together and how the shooting is if if can bounce back and T Murray can take another step um you know I I think they can sneak into that second tier I think everyone of that first tier is you know OKC uh Minnesota Dallas and and Denver just out of respect for joic although I hate what’s happened to their roster this summer um and then after that you know it’s kind of up for up for grabs and I think the Kings can absolutely put themselves in that second tier yeah I love the way you put it in the athletic saying the Kings got better with this to R roen move and and isn’t that the point and of course it is and you know we’ll see maybe maybe they make more moves as well catching up with Zack Harper from the athletic uh looking ahead to the Olympics um does France really have a chance I mean I know this USA team may be the best USA team ever but you wrote about how you’re a little concerned about the French team how much do they scare you Zach it’s it’s it’s simply Wy like to get me to be worried about a team that has Evan fornier on it is is unprecedented I’ve never been worried about an Evan forier team in my life and and their guard play is not very good but wemy is like I believe anything is possible with like absolutely anything he is so good and I think the thing to remember with with at least this this Olympic tournament in in FEA ball you know once the once the ball hits the rim you can clear that well with goar and wemy I mean that’s like you would basically have to hit n a net yeah you can’t get a friendly bounce they’re going to clear that off the rim and that’s where I think their advantage is their size is you can take advantage of them you can you can you know spread them out you can actually be physical with their front line and and be pretty successful there’s so much crazy size length on that on that France team that you know gives me a little bit of pause but I’m goingon to be the obnoxious American I don’t care I don’t think anyone’s touching the Team USA I don’t buy this whole oh the world’s caught up every was like oh well all these different MVPs from all these different c yeah they’re all from different countries they’re not all one team they’re like oh Canada’s Got SGA we’ve got seven SGA like I’m just not worried about it I’m with you Zach and the thing about it too is I I feel like Anthony Edwards man you know the the the way he talked you know before the the opener against Canada you know everybody’s got to fit around me he backed it up the other night I mean is is he statistically going to be the best player you think uh for this Team USA team I think he’ll probably end up being the best scorer but also let’s see let’s see what Kevin Durant looks like right like little too crazy like Kevin Durant is is so good in well he’s so good at basketball period but he’s so good in Olympic play when when teams can’t focus on him at all he just lights it up so I think Kevin Durant might take that that top scoring spot but a is just man he is so impressive he’s so poised he’s so yeah he had a rough Western Conference Finals but I think it was a great Learning lesson for him I think it was a great position to put him in you learned through failure he failed in the Conference Finals after being so successful in the first two rounds I’m excited to see how he responds and and we historically see a lot of these guys play in the Olympics take another leap they get that understanding I think an’s in a position to to start that during this tournament like he’s man he’s just spectacular Zack one more if we could before we let you go and I hate to put you on spot but drapes and I have a disagreement over some at summer league and we’ve agreed to go to harp attration here which is we go to Zack Harper and whichever you say whatever you whichever side you come down on first of all I’m so mad that I am 42 years old and I never thought of arpet rtion like that that’s incredible well we’ll see how it works out here whichever one of us loses is like okay that’s it we have to agree to go by the terms of harp attration uh it’s bronny James is he worth watching uh as he musty in summer league or not drapes you give your side if you would please yeah I think he is because and this is my my opinion Zach I think he’s a high level defensive player you know my my co-host here you know all he likes to do is look at the box I’ll make my case for myself you can part of my case is shooting down your case you know so but Gooding let me tell you that’s good Ling that’s a you like that but I want to see bronnie uh in the Vegas stage a crowd full of Laker fans I I’m looking forward to seeing him and I my opinion Zach is I he’s way down on my list if he’s even on the list of players that I want to see because it’s not gonna matter if he plays this year it’s going to be a sideshow I’m more interested in the players like R sh guys guys that are actually gonna have an impact on what matters during the season this year so those are the cases we go down to harp attration also a great tactic is is pronouncing a foreign name perfectly that it shows you know what you’re talking about like that’s all great like you guys are clearly very good at this argument like uh I I’m I’m team bronny here like I I’m here for it like I I think I think the thing we don’t realize there are two things that I think people have to remember when it comes to bronnie one kid had a heart attack hit a cardiac arrest and played five months later like that that like his body should not have been able to adjust that quickly I get he’s young he’s a great athlete and everything but I mean I think we got to give him a little bit of Grace there in terms of his body catching up and his game catching up to essentially a wasted year also have you seen USA or U USC play basketball that thing’s a mess we can’t judge him off USC like it’s terrible and so I like I think yes it’s a sidh don’t get me wrong but one thing I don’t like is it’s people like oh he’s just in the NBA because his dad no he’s just on the Lakers because of his dad he was gonna be in the NBA he was a really good Prospect before the heart issue apparently he’s going to be fine like even even if it’s ugly in summer league I think he’s worth a show I think it’s a great point about about the Lakers fans like they fill up the this Arena it’s going to be crazy here I think he’ll feed off that energy and I and I’m like I think he’ll make defensive plays I think he’ll have a couple of fun breakaways he’ll have a he’ll have a good show and then we’ll have to pretend like that we think Zack Ed can be good and we’ll focus on that Zack Harper thank you we appreciate it very much have a good time in Vegas we hope to talk to you again soon anytime thanks guys uhuh there you go Kyle Draper and I I lied I never actually agreed to you know go along with whatever he said but there you go you win you won we go to arbitration and you’re the winner congratulations exactly I’m a better lawyer than you how about that that’s what that proved right you agreed with me it’s a sideshow though hey man I’m I’m sign me up I want tickets you know I want I’mma be up in there and I want to see him uh and he’s at what 4:30 maybe I don’t know I don’t know because I don’t care doesn’t matter so I don’t know when it is yeah 4:30 I’m GNA walk over there and give you the vibe of what it’s like out there if he if he was in Vegas you would care you would go you would go sit down wouldn’t you I there’s other games going on I’d watch whatever whatever else is going on who else is playing bronnie and that’s I mean going with the heart ATT I know he had a heart attack that’s terrible you make me feel like a bad person well come on he had a heart ATT I know I’m not talking about his health I want him to to be healthy uh when we come right back yeah TNT still has a shot at part of the NBA’s new TV deal and the conversation continues on the kings in summer league with drapes in Vegas right now it’s a drive guys sack toown Sports this is the story of the one

Kevin “Whitey” Gleason and Kyle Draper, play-by-play reporter for the Sacramento Kings, presents another edition of The Drive Guys on Sactown Sports 1140. Today, The Athletic’s Zach Harper joins the show to discuss why he thinks the Kings adding DeMar DeRozan is a “tremendous signing,” mentioning his pace and playmaking as two primary reasons.

The guys also discuss Jalen Brunson’s unprecedented extension with the New York Knicks, what names to watch at the Las Vegas Summer League, Bronny James as a prospect, and plenty more!

And plenty more!

Thank you for watching. Don’t forget to hit the thumbs up and subscribe!

#nba #nbafreeagency #sacramentokings #nfl #sanfrancisco49ers #mlb #oaklandathletics #sanfranciscogiants #sacramentorepublicfc #demarderozan #nbasummerleague #kylekuzma

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