Brian Windhorst & The Hoop Collective - Could Powell trade bring Bradley Beal to the Clippers? | Will Luka Lock It Down in L.A.?

Episode Date: July 9, 2025

Brian Windhorst is joined by ESPN's Tim Bontemps and Tim MacMahon to discuss the Norman Powell trade to the Miami Heat. How does Powell reshape the Heat’s roster?Does this trade open the door for Bradley Beal to join the Clippers? Plus, Jalen Williams played through the NBA Finals with an injured wrist.Nikola Jokić is reportedly not accepting a contract extension with the Nuggets. And will Luka Dončić sign an extension with the Lakers?Meanwhile, Brad Stevens, President of Basketball Operations for the Boston Celtics, has firmly rejected the idea that the team is entering a rebuild… All on The Hoop Collective. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Hey, sports fans, the ESPN app has all of ESPN all in one place. The ESPN app is your home to thousands of live events, ESPN shows, and originals across every ESPN network and service. And now you can check if you already have ESPN Unlimited as part of your TV package for no additional calls. Visit activate.esPN.com to learn how to access your account or sign up, then start streaming in the ESPN app. It's all of ESPN all in one place. Sign up or activate now. collective podcast, we talk about the NBA, which we are doing on Tuesday evening, except for Tim Bontas, where it is already, I believe, Wednesday morning because he is joining us from Lisbon, Portugal, Mr. Bontemps.

Incorrect. It's Tuesday evening. 1117 at the moment. Oh, it's still Tuesday evening in Lisbon, Portugal. Now, Bodtemp is in Portugal. We had an incorrect timing situation. So. Bontemps is in Portugal. Will he be at this live show in Las Vegas on Saturday night? I guess we'll find out.

Unbelievably, well, I guess we'll find out. All right, I kind of just tipped it. Joining us from Dallas, Texas, is Bann McMahon. Howdy, partners? I've suggested that he'd do it via Zoom and we can call him Liz Bontems, but I don't think he was too keen on that idea. It was a rare, and that was a rare half decent idea from Tim McMahon. I've given full credit on that. Listen, when it comes to ways to keep you half the global way, I've got a lot of great ideas.

All right. So we have some significant NBA news. And there's going to be some more. I think we're going to get a fairly newsy second week here. So we'll see. And by the time this podcast comes out. But I would say the most interesting thing that's happened so far this week, as Lisa's we're recording this is the three-way trade between the heat, jazz, and L.E.

Clippers where Norm Powell went to LA, I'm sorry, went to Miami, John Collins to the Clippers, and Kevin Love, a second round pick, and I don't even remember what the other piece was. Kyle Anderson, the other guy. Kyle Anderson, slow-mo. So the Clippers have prioritized clearing cap space for 2027. That's how they set Kawhi Leonard's deal. That's how they have elected to set James Hardin's deal. And they just were not interested in extending Norm Powell, at least not in the number he was interested in doing.

And so Norm Powell was probably not going to be a clipper for very long. And so they traded him. Miami was able to essentially really do well in this trade. You know, slow-mo is a backup. Kevin Love only played 23 games last year, although some of that was to be with his father who was dying. It wasn't all due to injury. But still, Kevin Love was a bit player for them. Anderson a backup, and they were able to deliver themselves a borderline all-star friend of the pod,

Norman Powell. So Bontems, that was a, for a team that was in need of a talent influx, and certainly I'm not saying they're ready to win the East, but that was just from their transactional value, that was an excellent move from Pat Riley and the heat front office, Andy Ellesberg, etc. Yeah, I mean, this is a fascinating deal on a lot of levels. I mean, obviously, you just laid out the Miami part, right? They turned a couple spare parts at a second round pick in Norm Powell. And whether Norm starts or comes off the bench for Miami next year, they just got a lot better adding him to their team.

You look at the jazz, we go back. Well, we'll go, I guess about a month ago. We're going to go. We're doing this one time at a time. Okay. We're going to start the heat. Well, for, yes, for Miami, certainly we have talked a lot about how the heat are sort of stuck in no man's land and it's unclear what direction they're going in overall.

But they are a team under Pat Riley and in Yeltsburgh and Erick's Bolstra that is always going to try to be competitive day to day. And this is a move that without sacrificing any long-term assets allows them to be a lot more competitive this year. And what is, as we've talked about many times, a very down and very wide open Eastern conference. And, you know, you can make an argument adding a guy like Norm essentially for free that Miami could be a team that is a top four team maybe in the east at the end of the day or at least has a chance to be. And before this trade, you wouldn't have said that. So I think it's a, I think this trade is a clear win for everybody involved. But that's why I think it's a clear win for Miami. So McMahon, if you look at Jimmy Butler, he was making $50 million.

They have essentially broken that $50 million into. to Andrew Wiggins, who they acquired as part of the Jimmy Butler trade, Norm Powell and Davion Mitchell, who they picked up kind of an ancillary part of that Jimmy Butler trade. And they've re-signed. He finished the season really well for them. They re-signed. Obviously, that's not going to lead any NBA Today broadcast.

But they have pieced it together a little bit. And, you know, considering there's there's not a clarity after like number three or four in the East, I suppose that there's something to be said for a piece of those three guys together out of the Butler trade. Yeah, and, you know, Norm Powell obviously gives him a lot more juice offensively. You say it was a borderline All-Star didn't make it last year. His chances of being an All-Star certainly increased by moving at Eastern competitions. Not quite as tough. Now, you know, we'll see how much of his success last season with the Clippers was influenced by playing with a table setting point guard like James Harden has really become at this stage of his career.

But this is a no-brainer for the heat. Like Bon Tim said, they gave up, you know, a backup and kind of an end of the bench veteran. A guy who's had a great career, but Kevin loves it. And the bench veteran, they didn't even, they weren't even the ones who threw in the second round pick. So it's a no-brainer talent acquisition move for the heat. I think probably the team that's most interesting in this deal is the Clippers, though. Yeah, so the Clippers, they needed a frontline power forward. It's hard to expect Kauai Leonard to play huge minutes there.

They had Batum, who they did bring back. They talked about retirement. Batum's been talked out of retirement. for like three straight years now. How many more years are you gonna get talked out of retirement? Every year you can make five or six million dollars. That's a good place to start. That's a good place to start.

So they obviously had Batum there, but I don't know if you want Kauai play in huge minutes there. So now they have a front line power forward. They had Brooke Lopez, so they've really bulked up their size. Look, Collins is a player who is limited. He has been limited throughout his career, But he's also got some positives.

Otherwise, there wouldn't be teams who would want him and pay him what he's making. But the hawks struggled to trade him for a while. The jazz struggled to trade him for a while. There's a reason. He's got limited value. The interesting thing is they've opened up this hole at shooting guard because Norm Powell was a really important piece

for the Clippers last year. He played a very important role, especially scoring, especially while Kauai was out. And so there's been this, you know, maybe not assumption, but belief that that could be Bradley Beale's landing spot who is potentially on the verge of getting bought out from the suns. It's been on the verge for quite some time. It's we'll see maybe by the time the spot is out, it'll be there. But, you know, Bradley Beale at $50 million is underachieving. Bradley Beal at $4 million, which would be the minimum, or maybe they can give them the biannual, I'm not sure, whatever it is, all of a sudden there's a whole different value proposition.

But I'm sure there's going to be other people bidding for Bradley Beal. That said, if Bradley Beale had a starting level role sitting there with the clippers to go to, that would be compelling. And one wonders if the clippers have, if they are not uncertain about Bradley Beal's intentions by making. in this trade bontas. Yeah. From the moment this trade happened, the only logical thing

you could look at was that Bradley Bill would wind up with the clippers with John Collins and they would get remarkably better as a result because the clippings

are trying to compete next year. And while John Collins and Norm Powell are similar players, I think, in value, which is why they end are getting swapped for each other. They aren't similar players

in terms of fit. And when you look at this Clippers roster, they right now basically only have James Hardin who can do anything with the ball. So Bradley Beal would obviously

slot right in there play a huge role for them. And I think for the reason we've been waiting to see where Bradley Field will go. And when this file process will start is because there hasn't been any clarity on where he'll land. And I think that's been part of what the whole up has been. And ironically, one of the other places that has been rumored as a place for him to land was Miami. And was getting more foul on this deal on top of the fact that the clip was open up the spot of shooting guard. you certainly wouldn't think Miami's an option for Brad Beal anymore either. So all that points to you, the Clippers winding up with Beal, who I think is similar to Lord Powell and John Collins in the same deal.

Pretty good return for that. What is a great situation for Beal. He's going to have to give back about $14 million on the buyout to make the math work for the Sons. He won't make that up in year one, but I assume it would probably be like a one plus one, you know, two-year deal with a player option, that sort of a thing, have a chance to more. than make it up next year and to be put into a situation where he's got a starting role on a competitive team a team that certainly expects to be back in the playoffs um you know i think he's there's some family ties for him in l a certainly a lot of NBA players enjoy los angeles and you know if he's moving his family that i'm sure there'd be some appeal there and then john collins to me is really

interested. I'm not sure that he starts. To me, it makes a lot of sense to have him paired with Brooke Lopez as often as possible. Lopez obviously is not a role man. You know, he's a guy who at this point in his career, he spends a lot of his offense possessions spaced about 27 feet from the hoop. John Collins is still one hell of a lob catcher. And, you know, the problem with John Collins in Utah was he was too damn productive last season. I don't even remember all the injuries that came up with to make sure he didn't play. But seriously, they limited him to 40 games last year. He played less than half the schedule. He played in 70 plus percent of their wins. They won, they didn't win a lot, but they won too often with John Collins in the lineup.

And he was a reason. They had to get rid of them. They couldn't have him on the roster. They might win too much with them. Was he, they got fined for protocols. Was he, I can't remember. Was he the reason they got fined or was that something else? Come on, dude. They had in that. Sexton, Marks and there. It goes back to Austin ages, comments.

A month ago, he got hired. And he said, we're not going to manipulate lineups anymore. And people took that as they were going to try to win. What it really was was they're not going to stop sitting. They're going to stop sitting guys and just not playing guys around the roster. They're going to play young guys and see how it goes. And we've seen over the last month, they moved on from Kyle Sexton,

moved on from Jordan Parkson. Now they moved on from John Collins. very clear what the motive is. Okay, so that brings the question. Are they going to move on from Lowry Marketing? That's the question that you're hearing a lot of. I would say I don't think it will be immediately because I don't think that, you know, just logically,

selling low on marketing doesn't make much sense. I think if they're going to trade Larry Marketing, they need him in the lineup and they need him playing well. need him, you know, showcasing that he's a seven footer who can do a lot of things, uh, in terms of scoring the ball. Um, last year was, was a bad year for him. It was obviously a wonky year and in and out of the lineup with all that stuff going on. Um, but I think they can have Larry Markin in the lineup and they're still going to be the 15th best team of the Western conference this year. He also has four years and 196 million left on his deal. Yeah. He went from one

die you a bit to get to the place where they would like to turn them into asset-wise. Yeah, at the end of the day, the jazz have to meet the salary floor. Sure. And they have a $27 million trade exception that they're using basically to stay above the salary cap that was created in this. They could use it for a number of different things as the season goes along. They could still use it in free agency if they wanted. But I will say that while I agree with you that I don't think marketing is getting traded in the next few weeks, I know that this is not necessarily what he's signed up for. So keep an eye on marketing.

I hear you, but did marketing think they were going to be good soon? No, I agree with you. I'm going to keep your eye on him, though. But I'm not going to sit here and play violin. I don't think that's what he thought they were going to do. is I think that's the first. He may not be on the team. He also made sure he's going to be on the team all last season, too.

So I think he timed at least partially willingly signed up for this thing. Yeah, he had a one year no trade clause. But yeah, like, hey, Larry Markan, I think might have the most games played if anybody now without a, without a playoff appearances in terms of active players. If not, he's right up there. And I think you look at like they're very early in a rebuild. And again, they need Ace Bailey to pop because none of these other guys have flashed Star Potential. We'll see if, you know, if a Cody Williams or one of these other guys might, but they haven't to this point.

And they dumped all their vets. They dumped Clarkson. They dumped Sexton. They dumped John Collins. and for a net of no picks, they attached a pick to Sexton, which I still, but I'm confused still. And then they got to pick back for Collins,

and then Clarkson was just a buyout. But they cleared it out where they will be, you know, if it was a 24 and under league, I think the, well, I don't know, because there's summer league teams, not even that good. I was going to say, I think they'd be real tough. The Thunder might win that one. The, uh,

the, uh, the jazz still have Yusuf Nerkich on there, books who knows for how long I would be quite surprised if he finishes the season there so all right I don't think Kevin level I don't think Kevin level spent a whole lot of time in Salt Lake City I would agree so Jalen Williams put up a 20-minute video on his YouTube channel which is not that active I don't think he'd put anything up since the All-Star break and so I feel like by the time this pod comes out it'll have more traction but he basically goes through an explanation of what he went through with that torn ligament in his wrist during the end of the season. He suffered the injury on April 9th, right before the end of the season, when he dove for a loose

ball and got tangled up with Devin Booker. And he said he felt like something tear. He could almost hear the tear. And he'd had a sprain ligament in his wrist for a while, and then it tore. And so it was a little bit known that he was dealing with a wrist injury because he would be icing his wrist sometimes during timeouts. But there's a lot of players dealing with injuries during the playoffs. And he was playing every game. And look, he was a little up and down, but, you know, it's the playoffs. You know, it's his first deep run of the playoffs. Like, you're expecting guys to be up and down. Like, you know, I mean, he definitely got some criticism for his struggles. But what he, the story he told was fascinating about what he went through to

stay on the court was pretty remarkable. He said that he was getting shots, pain-killing shots, he said lytocaine shots in his wrist that would, you know, dull the pain before every single game and including before some practices because he wanted it to, you know, even to be able to practice it. And he said that he counted, he had 28 or 28. pain-killing shots that he took throughout the four playoff rounds. And he talked about how some games, depending on how things would go, that the shots would wear off. And he would deal with, you know, basically problems in the fourth quarters of the games

because he was having difficulty with it. He talked about how he could barely sleep because his hand would really swell up, and be very painful after the games when the shots were off. He still shot the ball pretty good. His three-point shooting was the thing that suffered the most. He only shot 30% in the postseason after shooting, I think, let's see we shot in the regular season. He shot 37% in the regular season. And some of these quotes were pretty good. Let me get some of these here. So he said, My main hand, his shooting hand, it was on his right hand, was just not the same. My jump shots just felt different.

He said, I didn't want to tell the world I was hurt. And so the world just ganged up on me about how I wasn't ready for the moment. I'm not sure that the world ganged up on it, but I can certainly see when you're, when you're getting criticized. It feels like the world's gang up on you, which is obviously wrong now. But that was the most annoying thing because human nature is you just want to scream that you're hurt. but I was able to lock in and use that and not use that as an excuse. And of course, guys, he had several spectacular clutch games.

Like, man, he had the 40-point game in game six. I'm sorry, game five, which was basically the turning point game where the Thunder got leverage for this down the stretch. He had the 34 point in the finals, I'm sorry. He had the 34-point game in the Minnesota series, in Minnesota, in game four, where again, that series was essentially clinched. They went up 3-1. Bounce back from a loss with that what was then a career high. But look, he was criticized in the second round. And the context there was that last year in the second round, he came up short against the Mavericks.

And, you know, he sat in that all summer long. And, you know, the big question we talked about in the pod, did the Thunder have that? second score. And they didn't last year. He wasn't up for that challenge while also taking the second toughest defensive assignment. And then in the second round, he had the worst three-game shooting stretch of his career. He was 10 of 43, I believe it was, including three of 16 in their game six loss. And the people covered the team, we knew there was something going on with the wrist. We didn't know the severity, obviously. We didn't know that there was torn ligaments. It was going to be a surgery right after the season. But you could see in his pre-game,

he wears a big shooting sleeve on that wrist, so you couldn't see the tape job during the game. But when we went through his pregame, I mean, that thing was like heavily taped from wrist all the way basically up to the elbow, you know, the kinetic tape. And he was asked about it after that 3 is 16 and completely downplayed it. Said, hey, some of the long lines of everybody's banged up at this time of year. That's not the reason why I'm making or missing shots. But here this guy is playing for a team that, you know, has championship expectations. I mean, best record in the league, best point differential in NBA history.

And he's having to figure out not just how to manage the pain, but how to remake his jumper on the fly so he can be that number two. guy on a team that's trying to win a championship. And never bitching, never moaning, never whining or complaining, never leaking just how severely it was hurt. It's pretty remarkable stuff for a guy who, like you said, the two biggest pressure games of the conference finals and then again in the finals, this guy had the best playoff performances of his career. Yeah, I mean, there are a few people who had their stock raised in the playoffs, born in Janeo Williams,

both with the way he played in the conference finals and finals in the moments he had, they'll get over the hump in that Denver series. And now with the way this has come out after, I mean, I was completely enraptured watching this 15-minute video of him talking about all this stuff. It was pretty remarkable to hear him go through it in the detail that he did. You never hear guys talk about stuff like this. And it both shows you the lengths that guys are going to,

to stay on the court in a run like this. I mean, he's talking about having a callus on his wrist from the amount of times he's getting shot up. Like Brian said, his 28 or 29 times, he said. And you look at the way he played, the way he carried himself,

the way he delivered for the thunder down the stretch. I mean, a combination of him and Shaggill Saugzaner and Chad Holger, we've talked about it a ton all season long, but those guys together going forward are as good as it gets. And if you're the thunder, you have to be just thrilled to have. have that trio together. And he answered every question and then some in this run. And, you know,

if he's, imagine how good he's going to look next year, if he's actually healthy in the playoffs, instead of dealing with a wrist injury like this after he had a 40 piece in the finals and did all the stuff he did down the stretch with all this stuff he had going on physically. As Bontemps was saying, he was talking about how the hardest thing for him mentally and physically was that Denver series. He said that's where it was given him the most problems. By the time they got to the finals, they had figured out a tape job that was a little bit more useful, as you were talking about McMahon. But he just said he had to basically, and I don't love this terminology, but he said he basically had to man through it in that Denver series. And he also kept

banging it. I think he had an issue where he got got it hit by Aaron Gordon. He was like, listen, he goes, it's absolutely killing me out there. And I am guarding Aaron Gordon and at Times having to deal with Yokic, Nikoliyokic. And he's like, it was a really hard thing. So, yeah, that's stretching games. And then he gets to deal with Julius Randall, and then the treat after that's Pascal Seaccombe. Right. So he said the Denver series was the hardest one that he had to go through. And that was where he's having the most issues with it. And, you know, after the series was over, you know, when Sam Presti did his end of season media, he spoke, you know, very glowing about Jalen not ever using that as an excuse.

And he didn't. That's absolutely true. And so I really appreciated him. You know, obviously some players are always going to be a little bit careful. But I think the fact that he was willing to be so honest with this enriches the story. I really liked it. So I'm sure that that's going to get more attention in the next few days. I'd encourage anybody to go watch it who's a basketball fan.

Like I said, it was fascinating to hear him go through. all this stuff in detailed way it was just never see your your guys talk about stuff like this it was it was really really fascinating uh speaking of yokic um the denver post first reported um and then uh our um young musuk uh confirmed it and followed up that nikola yokic and his representatives have informed the nuggets that he will not be accepting the contract extension that was offered um this uh this summer um This is not a stunner because even Josh Cronkey, their governor, said in his season-end ending media that he was going to offer it and he wasn't sure that it was actually going to be accepted. He has three years left on his contract, but he has an option for the last year.

So he's got two years left guaranteed with the Nuggets. And he could have done a two-year extension, basically. There would have been a three-year extension. You'd opted out and replaced it. But basically, it would have been only two years of new money. Next year, he can sign for a much larger deal with three years of new money. So it's actually kind of four years when you look at he'd get paid for this year and then add three more. So it kind of made sense that he would not sign this.

You know, like Josh Cronky said, the team was prepared for it. That said, McMahon, when your franchise player doesn't sign an extension, it is going to stutter you a little bit, especially when the team has had, you know, some fumbles the last couple of years with the roster. Yeah, and again, not a surprise. It completely makes sense from a financial perspective. for Joker to go ahead and wait, just like it made sense from a financial perspective for Deeran Fox to go ahead and wait and not to commit to the Sacramento Kings last summer.

Now, we all know how that worked out. Having said that, Joker's got a little bit more playoff equity, championship equity in Denver, I would say, having won a title as opposed to never having won a playoff series like Darren Fox did in Sacramento. Mennow. And I do think that the Nuggets have done a really good job, despite what Bontems might want to complain about, improving the supporting cast around Joker. And, you know, hey, Denver is the team that pushed the Thunder to seven games this year. I think the winner will win regardless, but Aaron Gordon playing on a, you know, ripped hamstring certainly didn't help Dimmer's cause in game seven.

went out and improved the bench depth from there. So I don't see this as some kind of danger sign for the Nuggets, but you're always more comfortable when you've got your guy locked up as long-term as possible. Well, what it is going to do is put a whole big spot on Denver next season, and, you know, the Nuggets are going to have to show that the moves that they made actually did improve the roster and actually do give them a better chance of going deep in the fly. Because look, for everything that we had said here about, you guys are correct and that it didn't, you know, it certainly makes sense why Yokic didn't extend. And it would make sense, you know, and Josh Krakke himself brought up the fact that he might not.

It still doesn't change the fact that he didn't. And for a team that has come under fire, I think fairly for some of the moves they have made in recent memory, it is going to, I think, put a further magnifying glass on this upcoming season. and if they do lose in the first round or losing the second round again and Jonas Valchunis isn't playable in the playoffs and Bruce Brown doesn't replicate what he did a couple of years ago and Tim Hardaway isn't that effective or, you know, the young guys don't step forward or whatever. You know, there are going to become natural questions

going into next summer about all right, well, is Nicole Yokic going to extend now? And if he does it, what's never going to do? Like, that's going to be hanging over. that. What about Luca Donchich extending now? He doesn't have much incentive financially either. Well, I think what would make sense there is to do the short-term extension to get him to 10 years when he's renegotiating the next one and then, you know, it gets you to a higher level financially. But hey, I don't know. I don't know where Lucas stands right now in terms of what's been going on with the Lakers.

know I do know this guy. One thing I'll say about Luca, there is something to be said for signaling to, especially the new ownership group, that I want to be your partner. And there are worse, Bontem doesn't like that, there are worse brands to commit to and worst ownership groups to commit to than the Lakers and Mark Walter. So what Luca could do, even though there may not be a financial benefit for him, connect you know him connecting right now there is something to be said for saying to the new ownership let's get into business together and let's begin the process of doing this together there is a value

to that because if the lakers know that luka is invested even if it is for a short deal McMahon they can make some decisions that are a certain way and i do think there's a value to that that at least has to be considered. So like Deerrin Fox, when Deeran Fox didn't extend, it was a message that he wasn't necessarily firmly committed to the partnership. Even if Luca can leave his options open,

there's something to be said for saying that you're committed to the partnership. And again, I do think that shorter term extension makes a lot of sense for a lot of reasons. Financially, it puts him in the best possible position. And let's, let's just be honest. The Lakers aren't a bad franchise to bet on, especially now that they have the deepest pockets of any ownership group in the NBA. They've got a lot of work. It's not deeper than Balmer, but. Okay, well, sure. Much deeper pockets than they have extraordinarily deep pockets.

And the best brand in the NBA in, you know, in terms of marketing and all those kind of things. And we'll see how the D'Andre Aitin thing works out. But I believe Luca was on board with that. Obviously, same representation, same draft class, all those sort of things. The LeBron stuff, not ideal. And that is a guy that Luca grew up. He was his favorite player growing up.

And just quite frankly, like the way the Dorian Finney Smith thing went down, not ideal. It's one of Luke's all-time favorite teammates. And, you know, the contract. came out and I get the Lakers prioritizing cap space in the summer of 27. Wendy, did you see, is there any guaranteed money in Doreenemy Smith's contract after 26-27? There is not. It's just a two-year guarantee. Huh. I found that to be interesting. I don't think it was the, I don't, I don't think that Dorian Finney Smith left real thrilled without the Lakers front office handled that whole situation,

which is an ideal. Not ideal. All right. Well, Bon Tempts wants to say something. Before you get to Doreen Phidney Smith. This entire conversation that's saying, I don't understand why it gets up to Luca Dajic to, like, just bowed out to the Lakers to say,

hey, we should have a partnership here going forward. To me, the Lakers have to show Luca Dajic. They deserve to have a partnership with him. I mean, this is a team that is a mess at the moment. And, I mean, the Doreen-Finnish-Smith thing does not look great for them. And they do not have a lot. lot of talent on the roster. And this is not a team that Luca Dantzic has any sort of loyalty to. They traded for him out of the blue five months ago. And now he's there. And I don't see why,

to me, if I'm Luca Dachic and I'm his representation to me, I'm keeping all my options open so next summer. It doesn't do any good to sign an extension now and take options off the table next summer. To me, it doesn't do any good to take any pressure off the Lakers to try to improve. Luca Donchich isn't to me in a position where he should be cool with them having some two or three-year rebuilding plan. The Lakers could hardly put contending teams around Anthony Davis and LeBron James. Like, they've made one conference finals in the last five years. Like, this is not a team that, this is not a team to me that deserves some sort of long runway. for, oh, hey, trust us to completely take a five months.

Three years your career into our hands and we're going to build a good team around you. Like if I'm Luke, I'm saying I'm Bill Duffy and his his representation, I'm saying, all right, guys, like, let's see what you're going to do. Like, you're going to wait two years to sign players. Is that the plan? You're going to wait until next summer to sign players? Like, okay, like, let's see. Like, there's going to be a lot of capital space next summer.

There's a lot of options next summer. I just think that to me, to me, the only, this is a one way, transaction if Luca signs this extension. Where Lucas doing the Lakers a gigantic favor, if I'm not doing any favors for himself. Whereas to me, I'm putting all the pressure on the Lakers to try to continue to do smart things to build this team around him as opposed to putting blind faith in them to do so for the next three years of his career. What I would say is Luca obviously just went through a season where he was in the eye. of, you know, the storm in terms of being the focal point of the most controversial trade in NBA history,

having his life uprooted, there was all kinds of stuff swirling around him after that. If he doesn't extend, what's the primary focal point of the Lakers' day-to-day coverage going to be? It would be like KD in his last year in OKC or his last year in Golden State. do you want to deal with that black cloud covering and those constant questions day after day after day after day knowing the season is going to be a complete circus and if he does a short-term extension he still has leverage because we all understand if he demanded a trade next off season he would have power because he wouldn't be locked up long term he wouldn't be locked into a four-year deal like dame lower was when he finally tried to get his way or did success he got his way out just not where he wanted to go uh from portland so that's why i think i think the short-term deal is i if he i don't anticipate luke will call and ask for my advice hasn't happened yet but if he does that's what i'd tell him in a vacuum i understand what you're saying bontems and if that's the route that he goes there

is certainly defensible because of the change in ownership i think there is a window for for him to say let's get into business together is mark walter the governor of the team he i understand that genie bus is mark also the governor of the team is there a new is there a new general manager of the team well these are the conversations where where luka would be able to have the conversation and find that out and if he didn't like what he heard on that then there would be a different story well i'm just i'm just i think you're getting into business you're getting into business with mark walter is what you're do it. What I would say, I think Luca Dant just can get into business with whoever he wants, and I would keep all of my options open as long as possible. And then if I want to sign it to

your extension next summer, I can still do that. Like, that's all I think. I think, Luca, I just don't. I think one of the things without speaking for him, I think he has learned what ownership means and how ownership can be a big factor in the NBA. So. And he's learned, yeah, he's learned how when the ownership loves you, life's great. and when things change, you know, you lose leverage. But let's just use Luke's own words. June 19th, right after the sale, his tweet. The Lakers are an amazing organization.

I'm looking forward to meeting Mark and excited about the future. I am also grateful to Jeannie and the Bus family for welcome and meet L.A. And I'm happy that Jeannie will continue to be involved. I look forward to working with both of them to win championships with an exclamation point. Now, I anticipate that Laura Bess Lager, Luca's business manager, probably pin those words, but Luca certainly approved them before they went out on his social media. So that's the last thing we heard. And again, I think if you're looking forward to working with them,

but you'd like to maintain leverage, flexibility, and maximize your financial position, the short-term extension makes sense. I'll say it's actions overworked and we'll find out on August 2nd. I love it. We will see. Although, you know what? I don't rule out this thing not being settled until after a Eurobasket. Of course. I'm just telling you the whole reason, the whole reason it's an August 2nd.

That's fun. Sure. I just want to let people know who. Yeah, no, it's a good point. That's a good point. The whole reason it's August 2nd and not like July 2nd is because it has to be time to when the contract was signed. And the reason it was signed August 2nd is because his. deal with the Mavericks was, hey, I'm going to go play for Slovenia. This is the year when they qualified for the Olympics and then made the run in the Olympics. And we'll take care of

business after the Olympics. And so I wouldn't be surprised at all if he told the Lakers, hey, Eurobasket's coming. And I'm going to play in Eurobasket for my national team and we'll take care of this after that. Which, by the way, Eurobasket starts. St. Jean, Lakers' assistant is working with the civilian national team this summer also. Just sign of the partnership between Luca and the Lakers, too. Yeah. And by the way, the Eurobasket goes from August 27th through September 14th, but there's exhibitions leading up to it.

So he certainly could do his business if he wanted to before that, but it wouldn't be out of the realm of understanding that he would do it after. So we may not get the, but he will in theory do interviews between there. He doesn't have to, I guess. It's not the NBA. What he did last time? What did he did the last time I said I'm focused on my national team? I'm not talking about the Mavericks of the NBA.

And by the way, that would be understandable. Brad Stevens gave a press conference on Tuesday talking about the Celtics in their situation. And look, he said what you have to say, which is that the reason that they had to make these trades to take their team down was the second apron. They knew this was coming to a certain extent. He said rather definitively, we will not use the term rebuild. However, they do need to rebuild. Now, they don't need to rebuild their core players. They have three core players that they're keeping.

And Jason Tatum, hopefully we'll make it back and everything like that. they do need to rebuild their role players. And whether that's... A rebuild is, like, ground up, not with two Supermax guys. I want to play semantics however we want to do it. They're going to need to get some more players, bottom line. Correct. Correct.

They have to rework the roster. I mean, look, they moved on for Stasperazzoingis for George Nying, essentially. They moved out for Jujati for Anthony Simons, who I think is a stopgap option. and I could see them potentially move on for one if they could save some more money on his expiring deal. I mean, they are, like I have talked to other teams who have said the Celtics are actively trying to trade and from assignments. Like, whether they can or not, it would behooved the Celtics. It would behoove the Celtics for a variety of reasons to get out of the luxury tax this season, to reset their repeater mover and to, like, look, you know, I think we're going to get into Al Horford in a minute.

The Corvette was introduced, I believe, Tuesday in San Antonio with his new team. the spurs um he is no other way you see you see he why he said he was he took number seven he because he hopes be one third he said because he hopes be one third the player that tin duncan that's that is that i could see luke i could actually see luke saying that it's pretty funny but no look they and and as brad also said um you know alhorford very unlikely to return to boston This is also not a surprise based off where the Celtics are at. Again, go back to the Jason Tatum injury. The Jason Tatum injury set off a whole cascading series of events across the league, let alone in Boston.

And if Jason Tatum is healthy and the Celtics are trying to win the East next year, Al Horford is not going anywhere. But with the Celtics, very clearly in a rebuild, retool, reset, whatever you want to call the 2025, 26 season, what it is not is a season where they're trying to, to win the Eastern Conference. And if you're Al Horford, who's approaching his 40th birthday, who has, you know, most a couple of years left probably in the league, even though it looks like he could play another 10. He wants to be competitive. And so he, to me, is the number one free agent available in terms of guys

that can really move the needle in terms of the championship picture next year. Well, the unrestricted guys, there's some good restricted players. But he is, again, he is in terms of guys who are moving the needle for next season to change the championship picture. Al Horford is the best player available, period. And whatever he lines up is going to make them better. You could say Steve Kerr, hey, who would you rather have in your roster next year? Al Horford or Jonathan Cominga?

And tell me what Steve Kerr tells you. Ask him over a corner. He would answer that one very diplomatically is what he would do. Ask him over surveys. Well, he might have both. So he would say, you'd probably say I'd like to have both, which he might have. he would probably say like them both. And Al Horford would have a really good problem if he lands in Golden State.

But look, wherever Al winds up, it's going to be on a team that's got a shot to win. And he's going to have a big impact, especially if he can be in a situation like he was in Boston, where he can play 50 to 60 games and be fully ready to go in the playoffs. Because I thought the Celtics vanished in the last couple of years perfectly and had him ready to go when it mattered. And when he ranted up against big opponents or in the playoffs, he still would have a massive impact, even though he's approaching his 40th birthday. And the Celtics looking at Los Angeles, Ansi Sala,

the general manager of the Hawks spoke today. And he said they have no concern about Chris Hops'Forzingis' health. So I thought I'd put that out there as well. Yeah, and the Celtics lost their number one, two and three center. Neurobasket. Yeah. But, you know, the Celtics, So the Celtics, their four-string center is penciled in as their starter now,

but it's not like a major concern going in the season because it's a gap year for them. And, you know, maybe a Luca Garza or help me out with it. Josh, might not. And no, he's not a big. Keita. He's talking about Nevis Keita, who is Portuguese, actually, where I'm at at the moment, or Portugal. My guess is he'll be starting.

And look, he's a super interesting player. I mean, he's a seven-footer who can really jump. He can move his feet. Like, he's an interesting developmental guy that was on a two-way in the past. Boston converted him. And he, like, I think he's going to get a lot of minisects here. He's going to get a chance to develop. He could be a really good long-term piece for them.

But that's what next season is going to be about. It's going to be about it. You just said, Brian, can Josh Midd and turn into a piece for them? Can Luke Garz will be a piece for them maybe? Can they find some other guys? Hugo Gonzalez, the guy they drafted from Real Madrid, play for them. That's what 25-46 season is about, not winning games in the east. If it's going to be a gap here, make it a gap here.

So this is what I'm saying, you know, people may say, well, why would the Celtics try to retrade Anthony Simons? The guy is an electric score. They need something like that. The answer is not because they don't like him. The answer is because they're trying to make it a true gap year. get out of the tax reset the repeater reset the luxury tax put themselves in a position to truly recoverics and jump up in the lottery and get erin peterson or native men or agent de banssa or

cameron boozer or whoever in the next year although it's a hell of a lot easier to land in the lottery in the west than it is the east that's true the jazz are going to make that clear as a reminder there are still some tickets left by the way i was told it's close to a sellout and i wouldn't just say that to try to get people to buy tickets i was close close to a sellout so whatever that's worth to you it's a saturday night at the brad garrett comedy club at the mgm grand mcm and i'll be there will bontemps make it from portugal i hope not we'll find out literally fly back and forth across the atlantic just to do this this podcast because i believe he's supposed to be in portugal for multiple weeks oh guess we'll find out that is for how committed is bontips we will

Yeah. We will find out. Hoopcollectivelive.com. All right. Thank you to McMahon. Thank you to Bontemps. Thank you to Rafa, our favorite Mexican, who is producing today. Thank you for watching and listening. Hold on a second. The IT department is- Oh, because you're married. My God, I'm sorry, Rafa. You're nowhere near my favorite. You know, I was going to say the podcast. but you know you wouldn't be on the air half the time that wasn't for your favorite Mexican all right thank you for listening and watching the hoop collective we'll see you soon

adios amigos