The Deep 3 Podcast - The Biggest NBA Offseason Questions We Still Have | TD3 Live

Episode Date: July 9, 2025

The biggest looming NBA offseason moves we're waiting for. #nba Support the stream: https://streamlabs.com/thedeep3pod Today we react to all the latest NBA news! Check out the TD3 merch: https://the-deep-3-shop.fourthwall.com/ Join the TD3 discord!: https://discord.gg/RUkjpMPp7E Listen on Spotify!: https://open.spotify.com/show/3elbbqVumwqz8wlIdknsLW Listen on Apple Podcasts!: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/the-deep-3-podcast/id1657940794 Follow us on TikTok!: https://www.tiktok.com/@thedeepthree Follow us on Instagram!: https://www.instagram.com/thedeep3podcast/ Isaac's twitter: https://twitter.com/byisaacg Muhamed's twitter: https://twitter.com/Mojo99_ Donnavan's twitter: https://twitter.com/Dsmoot3D Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

You know what the best part of the off season is. Talk to me. The best part of the off season is. We get to this point of the year. The content must go on. Not shit to talk about. Not much is happening. Free agency is over.

It was actually a whack free agency. So even less to talk about the most years. But nevertheless, the content goes on. And nevertheless, crayon eaters come in the chat for these TD3 live streams in which we talk about absolute BS, fine ways to fill time. The real crown eaters are here. You remember when Shams lied to basically the entire world and was like, this is. is going to be one of the craziest office he's ever he did say that and then nothing happened he's out here lying he he he because he understands the offseason cycle he also has to create fake

hysteria for what's about to not happen yeah it's a it's a key it's a key moment in the entire off season and he knows he knows what has to be done and it was funny I feel like he had like there was something going on there where I understood what he was talking about and then all the moves happened the last week, like during the finals, during the draft, Kevin Rant got traded, Desmond Bain got traded, all this big stuff happened like before Freed and she started. So like, he was like, he was like, he was like, and it just happened before we're all excited. No, he's like. Listen, man, I'm not going to count, I'm not going to count Sam's out too, too much just yet, but

his, his legacy is not in the line, but it might be tainted. It might be tainted. No, it definitely was because, especially because he came out with the report, I was like, Janus is open to the idea. thinking about something potentially happening in the future. That was his big joker that he tried to play of like, yeah, like Yonis is going to get moved and then obviously it just didn't happen or it hasn't happened. Yeah.

So the only thing that could save him at this point is if LeBron gets trading. But at that point, who the fuck knows? I know. Well, appreciate all y'all coming through. We have the first couple hundred people in here already to start the stream. Appreciate y'all coming through for offseason content. And you guys are talking about house call already. Appreciate all y'all that I've already watched it. As you guys know, if you're going to be.

watching the view with this you're listening on spotify you probably saw the last week's episode with kennie it was a big one you guys loved and on that episode we announced our new show house call we got it here our football show carbon copy of td3 in every way just about football shout out everybody that checked it out already if you haven't check it out the link it's attached to our channel you go on there you look at the playlist it'll be there yeah man 77k of you guys so far in the first five days have watched a full episode episode one appreciate all you amazing support and guess what

we got another episode coming we're filming it tomorrow and I'm more empty than ever I can't leak it just yet but just know we are cooking some of the chat said I'll listen to house call as long as there's bow necks glaze

got bad news for you actually go ahead and listen this one go ahead and listen I don't know if I don't think glaze will be the word you're getting for me I'm not gonna hate

but I don't know if glaze is what you're gonna be getting listen you might you might get something so you know why he's saying that Bo Nix is very similar to Jalen Hertz That's why he's saying That's why he's saying that

Gender isn't going to be pushed via the white Jailen Hertz You might do something But as you guys see by Tato We are here to talk about the remaining questions That we have in free agency So we're going to talk through Basically what hasn't happened yet

The rumors that are here At the end we're going to do another segment Where we react to your I says hot takes The normal Someone said Isaac is too A better than Justin Herbert You're talking the wrong good

but we're going to talk about the NBA free agency today the stuff that have yet to happen react to some moves that have happened since our last episode and we got to start by talking about this trade full details the heat received Norman Powell the clippers received John Collins the jazz received Kevin Love

Kyle Anderson in the second round pick this broke yesterday what was y'all's first reaction to seeing the clips trade should have been all started some people norm pal shout out to the Utah Jazz for doing absolutely nothing and receiving pretty much absolutely thing for guys like John Collins who I think in my mind at least over the last two years

he would have gotten you a first round pick because he's a lot of threat who can shoot really efficiently from the three point line and he's just like a really good player who just helps fills in a lot of gaps to get Kevin Love kinderson a second round pick obviously like these guys are a he's a expiring contract so there's not much value that you could reap from it but I think more so more attention needs to be paid attention to the Los Angeles Clippers because they've made like a myriad of moves that are somewhat interesting and it looks like they're rowing into the offseason

with a better team than they did prior to last. I think so. People were debating that. I think a lot of people were like, why for both teams? I don't quite understand this for anybody. But I agree though. I like this with the Clippers. Don, what do you think first before I get into it? I think, one, I think Danny Ains actually has a problem

in terms of just trying to be involved in everything. I feel like you can see the control freak coming out of him. He's like, any deal that's possible, I need to be a part of it. I think that's one. Two, for the clipers, I see think it's a really good move for them. I think, like, Norman Powell, shout out to you.

You were able to basically talk mess about PG, right? Kind of sneak dis them in the offseason. You go out, you have a- It was hardly a sneak-disk. You have a pseudo-all-star campaign last year. If it wasn't for, you know, pesky LeBron not playing. You could have been an all-star, whatever. But the clippers sold high on that. You get back John Collins, who also is a good player.

And this clears the way for, if you guys want Bradley Beal, the smoke is that you guys can now replace Norman Power with Bradley Beal and then add John Collins to your team. And just all around, the pieces are adding up very nicely for them. So if you go into next year with Hardin, Beal, Kauai, Collins, and or, yeah, whoever you start, like Collins, Zubach, that's nice. and you can maintain the level of respectability that you've had and give yourself a chance in the West. So I actually really like what the Clippers did here. Yeah, I think some people were confused by this just because I think the Norman Powell PR is really high right now. He came off his great scoring year. First half of the year was all-star numbers. People were excited. They said, look this guy. He's replaced him Paul George. Surely he's

a integral part of your team, right? I don't think it's crazy to move off him. I think we're seeing across the league the devaluing of score first, no defense, two guards. And not to say Norm Powell's no defense per se, because he's not Anthony Simon's level, no defense. But, you know, he's a similar archetype, just one of the best at that. Moving off of that, when you still have Hardin and still have Kawhi, you feel good about your perimeter scoring, and then adding a need you have in a backup power forward, or maybe starting power forward, I don't know, actually, slash backup center, which John Collins can do. That equation makes sense to me. Because their need for size was dire. They had nothing at backup center.

at all. They had very little at power forward. Kauai's ass had to play power forward and defend down low at fucking helping at the rim for the entire season he was back because they were that down bad for six, nine bodies. So I like the fit there in terms of their archetypes. And I like John Collins more than most people, I think. I'm very high on John Collins. Dude, I actually wanted him to find his way to the Lakers some way somehow because, I mean, obviously like he's not a natural five. If he was a five, if he was a five, he would be my number of pick for the Lakers. But in general, just a general archetype, him being a good

rebounder, love threat. a 40 damn near basically a 40% three point shooter and he's not someone who you're going to give the ball to create offense to but he can definitely like do some close out stuff not very interesting but it's very capable and then on top of that too he's a capable defender he's not going to be the reason why your team is out of the game where he can't be hunted at all either so overall like good player positive player yeah and even if the clippers don't get bradley beale to replace normal power right like let's say bill let's say somehow

Yannis sweet talks Bradley Bion and he's like hey listen just come come play with me in Milwaukee right we'll write out this year even next year like we may be able to build on some things having John Collins Zubach and Brooke Lopez in your front court

right now to go along to play with James Hardin who not crazy efficient doesn't matter he's going to be there in the regular season for mad games he's going to be able to carry you to at least a very respectable floor that's nice

I forgot the cup of Lopez too yeah so they've completely revamped their big man room and that's so much more versatile last year it was Zubach and not shit else and shout out Zubach he had held on the fort

had a career year was all defense level arguably all star level obviously he didn't get those accolades it's hard to when you're that archetype of player playing off of a guard like James Hardin a lot of stuff

he did that made him so great kind of goes on notice by the average fan but he was truly one of the top like 45 players in the NBA last year yeah that's not a bad bet to bet on that again he's young ascending i'm glad that's not the only

only card they have from the big man group now i'm glad it's not only zubash career year i'm glad they have other options in case that doesn't happen again and what this trade does as well is give even more space and also the signing for brook lopez to obviously give more space for something like chris done to not be played out of the game because a part of the reason why they did collapse so fast because they didn't have the ability to have chris done survive a certain amount of minutes because they're just playing four on five out there every single time when they're leaving him wide the fuck open and if you have john collins out there and brooke lopez out there who are obviously one of the better spacers at their position it's a lot harder to test someone like

kriston when you got when you have that amount of space there so yeah all on good deal yes solid understandable move for the clippers at the very least right we'll see if it plays out well if john collins is good john collins or the one that the hawks wanted traded for like three years and we'll see if Norman Powell can, you know, replace his, or reproduce his crazy efficiency from the first half of last year, but it's understandable at the very least. What do you all think about it for the heat? Because the heat just got Norm Powell for damned or nothing. Kevin Love, shout out the veteran leadership, DMPCD, Kyle Anderson, that's a piece

that I think a good team will probably come in and get from the jazz and a second round pick. I don't, I don't care about any one of those. Like Kevin Love, the most notable thing about Kevin Love over the last year has been his Instagram page. Yeah. And so, like- Provide the presence.

Yeah, like that's, that's basically it. And like you said, it's a DMPCD. But their big, their white man group is crazy. I just realized that. Yeah. Yeah, it's insane. Do you tell you guys? Walker Kessler.

Oh, we'll get to that. Trust me. I have that already pulled up. I did see that too. Yeah. I have that pulled up. Yeah. It was before this trade.

Wow. For Miami, shot, good for them. I feel like this is one of the first, like, actual good deals in a long time. The last time I felt, I guess, this good in terms of value and something that they can add to their team was whenever they went and got Terry Rozier, obviously, that worked out horribly. And it did not go the way that we anticipated. But to get another score and to get somebody else, like, their offense at times, even

though the hero had a career year, their offense last year was awful. And then you get, and then you see what it looked like in the playoffs, and it was even worse, and they were out there quitting, and they were getting blown out. It was terrible. By 50 in the playoffs. Damn. That's ridiculous. The Cavs have the best net rating and put up history for that first round, by the way.

They played four games. That's all right. Yeah, it's wild. Do you think they're going to start them? Are they going all in on Tyler Hero at point guard and doing this like point guard positionless? No point guard, almost like positionless ball hander-wise. I don't know. They drafted Yakutuz.

I don't know how much responsibility is going to get year one. I don't think we'll start it right away. Yeah, he might not. But they also resign Davian Mitchell to a two-year deal. So maybe he like retains that starting position and normal pal comes off the bench. He is, I don't know, in my mind, I wouldn't want to invest too much in normal probably because he is like 31, 32 years old and this is an expiring deal for him. So I don't know how much you'd want to invest in that.

So I'd probably want to roll with Tyahara as a lead guard to build up those ancillary skills. Yeah, he's definitely, I'm just wondering if they're going to try to start two shooting guards together. They're going to, at a certain point, they're going to do it. They'll play together a lot for sure. I'm just wondering with the starting line. You're right. I forgot about Dave Mitchell. They'll probably start him for defensive purposes.

And like, yeah, I feel like you should leave. into Norm Powell as a six-man. I'm just curious if that's, like, the plan because they need all the scoring punches they can get. I'm guessing Norm Powell is pretty much a Terry Rozier replacement. Remember they got Terry Rozier and we were like, oh, okay,

another creator who can do stuff with the ball in his hands, create a little bit as a passer, but really be another scoring valve. Shit didn't work out too well. Terry Rozier has not been good since arriving in Miami. So I'm guessing he's on the way out pretty soon,

maybe in a move this summer or just like kicked out of the rotation and Norm Powell was like, let's try again at this archetype off the bench. Yeah, and I do, I like the deal for Miami, again, just in terms of value, but I keep looking at this. I'm like, what's the end game here? What are you guys actually trying to accomplish?

Is there an end goal in this season? Because the way that last season ended and the way that obviously it's kind of been trending, you have a couple spikes because Jimmy goes crazy and you're able to make the finals. But in between that, it's not a lot of sustainable success that you can look at this team and the stuff that they've had over the last 8 to take. years and yeah they're always looming but they're going to they're probably going to still find themselves being a six or seven seed you're going to be in the playing they're going to win a game or two and then what get get ran out the gym in the first round like that that feels like the heat

season in you know for the upcoming year and i just don't understand what they have cooking yeah i don't matter don't think they love the outcome either i think they're probably just like let's tread water and figure it out which you know that's the ML for a lot of teams days i'm sure even more teams are looking at the pacers and saying treading water and and getting slightly better is good, but I agree. I just don't see the avenue for it to work out, but I also don't see a whole lot of other options.

You can do that, my bad. You can do that when you go and you make a deal for a young point guard who is clearly one of the best passes in the league in Tyrese, right? Like, you are trying to force hero, if you are like, hey, you're going to be our porn guard, you're going to be our league guard, you're clearly fitting him or trying to make him fit into something

that he's not. You're trying to expand his game He's not a natural playmaker That's not what he does And so it's not a special skill of his The same way that Halliburton's passing Oh for sure yeah Not compared at all

I'm just saying I think these mid teams Are looking at that like We're one move away We're gonna find R.C. Akum Which I guess is understandable But they're stuck without good options So I'll give them some bill I understand why they're standing pat

And waiting because there's no clear option now Like do you think they should trade hero Or trade BAM and tank? No, they absolutely can't afford That option either because I just realized that the Charlotte Horners have their 2027 pick yeah can't do that can't do that protected one through 14 so right now they're just about getting as many talent in the door as possible for now until 2027 oh it's protecting one through 14 yeah oh that means

they should do that then because that means they should keep that pick so maybe they should tank before 2027 yeah that means they need to be in the bottom 14 actually we don't got that backwards if that's true yeah then if that's the case they need to sell but um actually they could still be and they could be like 11 while sticking with this team so They don't got to change anything. But yeah, they're just in a wait-and-see mode. Not a very exciting team, not very interesting. You know who is exciting and interesting to me, at least,

as a sicko who cares about this type of stuff and talks about the foothoops in the off-season like we do. What is it? The Washington Wizards, after trading for Cameron Whitmore, everybody's favorite benchwarming young player that, you know, the whole NBA world is like, give him a chance. He's a bucket.

He's getting his chance. He has been traded to the Washington Wizards for two second-round picks. This was a long time coming. He just didn't fit the MO of how the Houston Rockets want to play basketball that was clear he was out from the rotation basically they wanted him to defend rebound do all the small stuff he's like I'm a motherfucker bucket give me the ball and they worked with him to send him to the best location teams we were asking for him or maybe going to pay a better price to get him

but they worked with him and did right by him and sent him to a team where he gets a touch as he desired how do you all about it for the wizards on top of that too I mean he's from Washington too so they did him they did right by him super um personally I if I was him I wouldn't do it because he can get more than two second round picks or whatever or whatever they got for him. But in general, I love the placement. I love the fit. This Washington Wizards team is obviously a team that is super,

they don't have a lot of buckets on their team. Cam, more is someone who can get buckets, but he gets buckets a lot differently than the guys that they have in place on their team right now. So, hey, I don't know what is, I don't know what the expectation should be on him or what the role could be one day. But in my mind, if he's going to thrive,

it's only going to be a place like this or Brooklyn. Yeah, they don't have slashes. on this team. They have a lot of the ball handlers like Bub Carrington like Saar who can do stuff with the ball's hands a little bit. I suspect Tray Johnson will also fit this mold. Our young ball handlers that have like solid handles can create off

the dribble but they are not slasters. They're not strong finishers. They don't have like quick first steps. They're going to be jump shot oriented. They need a guy that would get downhill put his fucking shoulder down and attack that room. That is all Kimmer wants to do every single minute on the court. His drives per 36 have to be towards the top of the league.

I haven't checked that but I almost guarantee it's like 99% though yeah i'm curious to see how this works because you do have you have a lot of young pieces and you just like chris middleton is probably going to play 30 you know anywhere from 35 to 50 50 games next year you still have c j mccullum that that you just acquired so you have a lot of guys that do kind of need the ball in in their hands a little bit yep and so yes the opportunity is there because everybody's young And everybody can get touches, but I'm still looking at, if you look at like the tier list or just the overall like the hierarchy of who the wizards would probably prioritize, it's probably going to be their own first round picks rather than somebody that they traded to that they traded two second round picks for. So I'm wondering if there actually was a better spot for Cam Whitmore to go and actually have the ball in his hands a little bit more.

I ain't a lie. There's no team in the NBA that should be prioritizing Cam Whitmore. Yeah, yeah. I think this is the best mixture of that because he has to get him where you fit in for reasons you're describing. And I think his skill set will be needed here. I don't think he's the type of score that like this isn't like Cam Thomas who like you've got to play to get the best out of him. I think he's a wing. He's truly a wing. He's not like a guard that needs pick and roll opportunities. He can run in transition. He can attack close outs. He can do all the wing stuff off of their young guards. So I think he'll find a good balance. I see what you're saying that he does have a quote unquote selfish style of play that you wonder how that fits. I have faith that he can find some semblance there. The interesting part is. is, you know, we talked about the, we talked about the Wizards last week after they traded for Sejan McCollum, extended Chris Middleton, went on on these veterans. We were like, our first reaction, we were like, kind of weird, right? Like, are they trying to make the fucking playing? Are they trying to do this, like, in-between thing? And Wizards fans informed us, they informed us very aggressively that their pick is sent out right now and its top eight

protected. And they would very much like to keep that pick, obviously. So they need to tank again, but they have all these guys, you guys, all the older players. So you mentioned guys like see j McCollum that like are higher on the peck order now that i know their pick his top eight protected what the hell are they going to do with that are they going to trade those guys to deadline and like try to make their value high if they if they do if they do trade uh mccullum at the deadline that i do like this move a little bit more i'd yeah it's it's going to be a weird season for them because they can they can make a play and push and they have a lot of talent and even even like at the end of last year a j johnson was out here showing he was showing some

flashes towards the end of last season that you felt kind of decent about and it's it was it was the kind of flashes that you want to see when you're on a bad team with like I don't know if there's something here that is like a legit star but clearly you can be in the league clearly you are a good player and it it made me look at them and like oh yeah y'all fleece the bucks like AJ Johnson is at least a piece that you feel solid about yeah and this team still isn't good you know it's still all young players and a few veterans so they can still tank the way to bottom eight that's possible with the right maneuvering but you know the east is dog shit so like we can enter a thing where the trade deadline comes around and the 10 seed that is very

realistic with the state of the eastern conference right now with like four teams nuked so if they're the 10th seed i will be disappointed i think that might be disappointed in what regard the east is trash oh yeah yeah we're already there we're there prepare but uh i think you can see a scenario like the jazz for years ago where they're like the sneaky 11 seed and then they celebrate the deadline and go full tank to ensure they keep that pick i think that's the type of season they're probably going to have because like cj mcclum could probably if they give him touches build that value up one less year in his contract they could get something for him the deadline i think yeah you're definitely right they could sell so extremely high someone like cedan mcclum there's so many

teams off the top of my head that could like sit down and rid off and but yeah you could use someone like cidic mccullum i don't think um a team like the i don't know if it's possible cap-wise because they're in hell and also they're they don't have much town but the team of the milwaukee bucks could use someone like a C. C.J. McCollum, get ready to speak Washington again and get ready to get sent back. It should be on the table. It should be on the table. Yeah, that probably wouldn't happen for that reason because I doubt

they want to get him back. He was dreadful there. But yeah, something like that could definitely be worked out with a three-team deal. They can make the money work, but it would be very difficult. But I agree in principle. And guess whose fault that is? C.J. McCullough. Goddammit, CJ. Next news story to talk about, though. Palo Ben Carroll has been given a bag.

He has been given a five-year maximum rookie contract extension. that could reach $287 million. So now this team is paying Desmond Bain 40 million, Palabin Carroll 40 million, Franz Wagner 40 million, and Jalen Suggs, 30 million.

So this team, that's about 98% of your cap in those four players. This is their team, and we knew this to be the case, right? This is exactly surprising. We talked about this, but it's here. The reality is set in. This is your very expensive top four. What's your guys' first reaction?

Damn. Yeah. You're right. you knew it was going to happen right you know everybody has to get paid especially they gave franz his money you know that that you just uh you just traded for bane you're obviously invested in him somehow when jalen suggs is not on the floor you fall apart like he is so integral to everything that you do but is is the quartet of sugs bane franz and palo yeah is that is it is it going to get you there because if not this is a lot of money to just be the five

seed in the east. Yeah, I'm not going to lie. This does make me feel worried for the Orlando magic because you only commit this amount of money for something that's been proven, something that does actually like proof and putting in. You actually made real progress in and made the second first round, hell, maybe even the conference finals and you double down, triple down on certain things. And I feel like there are a few questions about not everyone's game but palo's game and specifically fron's game as well that make me feel nervous about committing to them long term but i mean shit this is all this is what they had to do this is their all-in move can't tell you some go ahead palo and caro makes more average annual value on his contract

per year than a shoot shooting percentage that's insane 57 per year i saw some of the chat pointed out 55 true shooting you can be a legend in two ways you can be a legend in two ways you can either be alleged at the bank or you can do it on the court. Clearly, he has priorities. I'm mostly joking. Have you guys seen the insane Palo van Kiro Discourse on Twitter? It's been so nasty on both sides.

I just seen on the 520 podcast where someone like everyone was glazing the hell. Yeah, T's podcast. Glazing the hell out of Apollo saying that he was the best player in the Eastern Conference. I'm just like, bro, he's not even like top two or three. He's not top five in Eastern Conference. What are we talking about? I'm like, this is an insane reaching. And on the other side of things, too,

people over here treating him like he's daddy as young. Yeah. Like, making that type of money. So it's so wild. I've been so annoyed because, like, obviously I've been pretty critical of palo over the past year, mostly on the basis of he will be really good. That much is clear to me.

He is not really good right now. That much is also clear to me. I say, no, he's really good. He's not a superstar right now. And some people, like you said, like on the 520 podcast and a bunch of other fans are like, best player in the East All right. It's a top 15 player.

Give him help. his spacing's bad he's ready to be a top 10 guy superstar and it's just because he looks apart nothing nothing in reality it leads due to that

conclusion that he's already there I've always thought that right but I've always maintained he will get there it's pretty clear that this is like a sleeping giant that needs to get better and you see the ceiling is there

these motherfuckers on Twitter are making me embarrassed to be a palo denier because they're like treating him like he's shit will stay shit will always be shit smells like shit looks like shit like he's just terrible

the main to argue has been jdub versus palo yeah and like i i probably agree jadv is better right now in the sense that if you put palo on the thunder i don't think the thunder would get better but i also think nine months from now palo will probably be better than jadub so it's a stupid hill to die on first of all put jadub on on the magic he is in in an asylum by tomorrow you say that i actually don't think that's i don't think he'd be horrible he won he's a better spacer like easily and it's not like Palo is leading the magic to office to anything good. I think Jado, they would stay 30th in offense if they replaced Jado there.

If you had Jadov as your primary creator on that team? Nope, no, Frons would be your primary creator. I think they would be at the same exact level. Jado fits Franz way better. You'd play through Fons. That duo would make more sense as of now. But again, nine months of now, Palo is going to be the better player. So it's a stupid conversation.

Yeah. But I think right now, like Jadov and Franz is a much more symbiotic duo. they're both going to be He would be in hell He wouldn't know what to do He would be in hell But it would be a I don't think

It would be a lot more comfortable I don't even think he'd be in hell The Thunder offense does not set him up well He doesn't get anything off playing off Shay She does not have like playmaking gravity To make his life easier J-D up ISOs right now For OKC is the main low

He plays point guard They have good spacing obviously But like it's regular Like it's not like it's an insane situation Like it's not like we're talking about Somebody like that plays off a Yokic and gets backdoor cuts all day, I think J-dub just gets his game off

in a very similar way. Now, the spacing can be worse. Yeah. Spacing worse, a little bit. I don't know how you decide to chalk up each other's handle as well. I don't know. That's pretty scary situation if you ask me when it comes to having J-Dub over there,

considering, like, the spacing allows his handle to be a little bit more slippery over there in OKC as well. Yeah. So I don't know. But he shoots a lot better. So the spacing, he'd make the spacing better than Palo does. And you play through Franz and J-Dub fits Franz better. and right now there's some issues

with the Franz Palo dynamic you know I will I will say I want to see that defense though if you if you did replace Jadov or replace Paolo with Jadov that defense would be disgusting another point he's way better defensively that that defense will

you see why the debate is here right now like right now I mean no I still I don't think they would do anything they would like serious consequences they haven't done anything of serious exactly but like this would be a net zero exactly no I'm saying They're on not shit right now.

They would be not shit either way, is what I'm saying. I don't think Palo has got the point where he rises and carries offense enough that you can be like, oh, JDA would be in hell. Like, they're in hell regardless. Like, you know, like it's death versus death. One guy just had the MVP and the 2K cover guy on his team carrying the whole offense. He is going to punch a wall and break his hand when they're in the first round and fraud just shooting 18% for free and they're helping off everything. And he's like, yo, man, like, can I get anything? No, again, they wouldn't be, no one saying that they would be good or, like, better.

It just it wouldn't matter. They would suck either way right now. But again, Palo will be better in nine months. Like, so I fully believe Palo would hit the leap next year. And it's just so funny seeing people like, take it way too far. I'm like, I'm with y'all right now that Paloese improved and his PR is better than he actually is. But he's so clearly going to make that leap. Like, it's like when people were shitting on Ant a few years ago when he was in a similar situation,

when the idea of him was better, he eventually got there because all the physical tools, all the flashes we saw. Can you fruition, he put in the work? That is so clearly what Palo is going to be. And people are just taking it way too far. Yeah. I would, if Palo had like shitters of first round appearances over the last two years, then it's like, okay, I get it. But his performance was quite, quite impressive.

Yeah, if you ask me over the last two years, now are there holes in other ways where he can like still improve? Yes, absolutely. But if this is the surface, he deserves that money. I'm giving him that money. League what, or just team wide, is just scary that they're committing to this core as soon as they are. Yeah, you know what it sounds to me like?

My issue isn't, don't give Powell this money. You have to give him this money. Right. Even if he doesn't ever make the developments that we're assuming he makes and he stays who he is and it becomes, you know, disappointing in that way, you still have to pay him at the moment. Like, you had to take that bet. What this signals to me is, I think there's a, not a guarantee, but I think there's

a good chance that Franz Wagner eventually gets traded if this year doesn't work out. Like, I think he's very far from safe. And I'm trying to think the right verbiage here. So I'm not going to say I predict he gets traded because, like, I don't know that's too reactionary but like on the percentage chance I think there's like a 40% chance you get traded it makes sense

no that's too high 40 is ridiculously high whatever the number is I think there's a non-zero pretty somewhat likely chance that he gets traded it would be a very informed prediction yeah I think or actually not not even informed because like you're not tapped in with like magic brass like that but like yeah yeah I don't you mean

it's not for nothing there's like signs that point to that potentially going that way you you know where we're trying to build this thing around right like palo is obviously the one that if he if he hits then we're good like if franz hits awesome we have a second all-star but that's that's the thing you're going to be the second all-star to palo because we think that palo is going to be the all-mba type of player so it doesn't it doesn't shock me and franz has had two poor poor playoff performances

where palo would regardless of what the actual numbers say i know that everybody in the world thinks that he has either stayed at his level or risen in previous series and so his like you said his PR is up in that sense and Franz is on the complete opposite end I don't think that Franz is safe I don't yeah I don't think that anybody's spot the only two people on this team who are like hey you guys are going to be here yeah are palo and Desmond bang because we just got you and we're not going to trade you in December outside of that everybody else if this team does not come out and is the two seed or three seed we're going to be looking around and say why are you guys not taking

advantage of the opportunity that you have and changes will be made yeah i think the idea like fronds isn't even about fronds like i love fronds i'm like super high on fronds it's just that like you said this is an expensive team bane's safe you just got him he fits if you have to pick one if you just say this doesn't work out just money wise franz makes a ton of money it would make sense if you have to move things around he'd be the one so whether it's the right choice or not like if it doesn't work out that this this contract signals that'll be the next pivot if it doesn't work out Larry Marking. Congratulations. You are a new Orlando magic. Lawyer marketing for Franz. Yeah. I actually like that for those teams. That's a big ass team for Orlando. That's interesting.

I love it for Utah more than I love it for Orlando, but I also love it for Orlando too. But they lose a little bit. The spacing, like the defense you get worse. Defensively. That's like, I wonder if that's too big defensively. Baleigh and whoever at the five. That might be too big defensively though because you really limit your like wing defenders. I can fight over screen. and stuff you don't want lorry or palo doing that i mean you have to how would you feel if you push lorry to the five and inserted john denizing hell not hell not fuck out of my face again come on abort report abort get out of here come on but it is interesting uh yeah probably not but it is very interesting before we get the next story recent donations shout out to

ethan foley for donating six dollars and 98 cents don't is the real reason you hate will because you're the defender that he got dropped 100 on. Don is so old, he defended Wiltz. That's funny. Will dropping 100 on you? Wait, were you the dude that Wilt spit on on the elevator? Shout out to I have avocado. We're tipping $15.

Appreciate you. Shout out to Sunny C-A-S for donating $1.17. He said, yo guys, big fan from Portugal. Love listening to the pot at the gym. Wanted to know what good y'all can say about my boy, Namias Kada on the Celtics. He's large. Shout out to me to Skata.

I hope he gets my playing time this year. Hashtag Le Fifth Soon. That was at the end. Oh, okay. The fifth soon. Nice. I don't know what that means. Shout out Joaquin 37 for Donnie.

Oh, fifth soon. Okay. Shout out to Walking 37 for donating $3. He said, I know the good Lord wanted me to start watching football one house called you. Nice. Shout out to Shrimp to Ream for $3.33. He sent a link to a pet crossword that I cannot click in this interface. But appreciate you, man.

Shout to the Dunnows, appreciate you. Next news story. So you guys know Dorian Finney Smith got traded to the Houston Rockets. I mean, sign with the Houston Rockets. Lincoln isn't working. Yes. And when it happened, the explanation was basically they gave him four years and the Lakers couldn't afford to slash didn't want to give him that extra year, right?

Extra two years. Because they want to sign him to a two-year deal and keep maximum flexibility. Makes sense. So, you know, that happened. And I was like, understandable why you would let him walk. You can kind of go the other way. fine. Turns out new details are out right now. This contract they gave him has two years guaranteed

from the Rockets and the last two years are fully non-guaranteed. Huh. So, it's a two-year contract and if he does well, they can keep him. But if they want to clip their books, if he's not well, if he's getting old, they can cut him any time in the last two years and have zero consequence. And the Lakers, Rob Polinka, did not choose to match that. Or Dorian Finney-Smith did not choose to take that from the Lakers if it was matched. There must have been some level of disrespect that. DFS felt from the Lakers side of things

Which is why he was like, fuck you entirely I'm going to Houston Because this is essentially like You said basically feels like the same deal I don't know man So either the Lakers Chose not to match this And do two non-guaranteed years

Dorian Finney Smith didn't offer it Didn't tell them about it Because he wanted to go to the Rockets Or the Lakers didn't want to do it Because they wanted to get DeAndre Aiden And said he'd rather have a big And La Ravia than have DFS straight up And they chose to let him walk

it's it's just bad either way but honestly I can't even hate because you had to get a center like that was just top priority so like if that was the thought process fine

nobody likes Aitin as like he's gonna come in and save the team but he's better I like it and he's saving the team no I do like Aiden though but no I'm not saving the team but he's better than Jackson A's Yeah. That I know for sure. And so it sucks to see DFS go out, especially when him and Luca have a good relationship and they've played together and they've been successful together. But it is what it is. And you do have to maximize Luca's window in his prime and whatever amount of time you have left with LeBron. Getting a center is the way to do that. Not just rolling out a whole bunch of 610, 6.9 power forwards. Yeah. And yeah, the only way you could have got bull is if LeBron would take a pay cut and you could have kept DFS and then signed Aden with the mid-level exception and La Ravia, which would have been great, but he chose not to, which is well within his right. So if that's the case, I don't hate the idea in theory. If they did do this, if they did straight up choose Aiden and La Ravia over DFS, I don't think that's an outrageous value. Like that makes sense to me. I like taking the bet on Aiden to some extent. That's fine. But they have fucking zero good perimeter defenders left now. So also, what if DFS was, what if he just wanted to?

to leave. That's likely, I mean, yeah, like, yeah, it's possible. Yeah, if you see, like, if you see two, two non-guaranteed years, the fourth one is the fourth year saying it's a play option. But to say, I get to have the opportunity to live in Los Angeles, play with Luca, still be here with LeBron. JJ Redick has spoken very, very highly of DFS. So, like, you would assume that they have a good relationship. Yeah. And you can do all of that, again, in Los Angeles. Or I can go and play with KD who has two or three more years left I can go do this other thing in my career

it does not make sense for the Lakers to not offer this so where I'm thinking about it right now is like yeah the defense just wanted to go he just wanted to leave and it's fine and I think it's okay like I said to pick Aiden over him you just have to trade for a permanent defender now

you have to get Andrew Wiggins you have to get whoever it may be with that package that we talked about getting Wockchester with or whatever center it is with with connect and your picks you got to get a wing defender because without him it's dire yeah and i think that's very much in the play of cards and when eventually when they do trade for a bear guy whether it be wiggins or whatever other random three

and d player you can think of we're going to look back at this move of them not choosing to resign or not having the ability to resign dFS and we're like okay like understandable it's a good move at the end of the day yeah it or it'll be an inflection point for sure it'll either be understandable rob lincoln you cooked or it'll be that was dumb as fuck you didn't replace him and your center probably became your wing defender palvin it was just as bad yeah and i would feel good about this if it wasn't rob polinka i don't know how good i feel about him being able to make the right move yeah but i would understand if sam preste was running my team i would trust him to figure it out and i'd say okay get it and that makes sense i would say go ahead and go ahead and trust polinka because

oh here we go he's no like legitimately okay he has he's made up for his mistakes several times any anytime that he has has done something stupid he has been able to get out of of that whole fairly quick like the only time it took a while was the Westbrook thing even then being able to remake that that roster on the fly in the middle of the year and then give that team a chance to then go on a run make the conference finals i i remember like looking at that team and it's like oh yeah this is over like the lake is they're so they're so done they're so cooked and then they were finally able to you know to make the deal i do think that's the one thing polinka is good he's a very good bounce back GM yeah well to be a good bounce back to you

and then you have to strike out a whole fucking lines. He does that. He does that. He falls nine times. He keeps getting up. Somebody keeps spamming. You hate Devin Booker, and I have no clue why Devin Booker is on his mind right now.

What do we say? What do you say? Hotball. Someone said, no, looking at the chat. No, I always look at the chat. Y'all just say bullshit most of time. If y'all contributed to the conversation, I would acknowledge it.

But if someone's spamming, you hate Devin Booker, what the hell do you want me to say? But on the topic of perimeter defenders and the Lakers need, we have a report from Anthony Irwin who is not a great source but he gave us a tweet to talk about the Lakers are showing interest

in Matisse Taible Iyo de Sumu and Marcus Smart which makes sense as any defenders Matisse Tybal was interesting he played 15 games last year I saw it today I forget why he was injured

I don't remember what the injury was but he missed basically all the last year but the last two seasons he shot 35% and then 43% from 3 but it was on 15 games so that's probably fraudulent if he can shoot for real I would like taking that bet

I don't think I would assume it makes much sense. I don't think they want to trade him. Mark is smart. Wait, wait. You don't think it makes much sense? I don't forget who you're talking to? Oh, with the Bulls. The Chicago Bulls?

It makes sense to them perfectly in my mind. It's hell of hard if I was the Lakers. Yeah, actually, I wouldn't even want that to be the move for the Lakers. Like, he's a great player, but I want more of like a bigger perimeter defender. How do you guys feel about the Markets Smart edition here? Because obviously he is available to say the least. He's not the guy for the Lakers. Why not?

He is in his, uh, he's in unc mode right now. He, your only thing is to go to teams and be the veteran in the, in the building. Yeah. The basketball has left you. You are, I'm not, I'm not going to look at Market Smart at this point in his career and say, yes, can you give me 25 to 30 minutes a night playing high level defense being, you know, DPOY, all that type of stuff. I'm not looking at him for that. I'm, I tried it in, in Memphis, right? You saw it as, as he got traded and moved around in different spots. The Lakers don't need veteran leadership.

They need guys who can play basketball and feel specific roles. And I don't think that Markets Smart can fill that right now. Yeah, a couple years ago, I would have loved it. I think I said a couple years ago, I want Marcus Smart and the Lakers. I remember saying that. I don't remember what part of his timeline was on, but I was like I would love that specific type of player, if not him. But these past couple years, if this would have to happen, I would have to convince myself

that, like, it was a bad situation. He didn't fit with jaw. The woods are you wasting him. We can get the best out of him, get him back to his form. When really, he's probably just like losing a step. Yeah. It's sad. I think, honestly, we may be sleeping on Ayudu sum a little bit.

He does feel, he has like a 16-10 wingspan, 6-5 guy. So he feels bigger than he actually is. And I think the swing factor on him when it comes to whether or not the ultimate deciding factor if he should be a Laker or if he should be someone worth pursuing is that three-point shot because it's been kind of really inconsistent over the last few years of his early career. Last year he shot 32% the year before that 40%. And he's always shooting like three or four a game. so that swing factor is pretty sizing.

But I think someone like him is genuine, like, worth the swing. Yeah, no, he'd be a good addition. It's just I want to focus on a big defender. But you're right. A lot of Lakers fans really want the Anthony Melton right now with a biannual exception. Oh, yeah. So similar type of thing. People want that, like, shooting guard-sized defender.

I'm not quite as worried about that. I want the, like, 6-8-69 guy. But you're right. If that is the case, they feel like any both, I would be a good target. Yeah. For Mark and Smart, 54 games. That's so many games you played in the last two years. Damn.

I was going to say last year, I was about to be like, okay, not too bad. In the last two years combined, he shot 39% from the field last year. Yo, pre-retirement is great, bro. This is, oh, yeah. Now, his three-point shooting bumped up whenever he got to Washington. He was closer to, like, 39%. He was shooting 32% in Memphis, but that was from like four and a half, three or four point seven down to three. So, like, he was, it's, it's better efficiency on less volume.

Yeah. And again, 54 games in two years is not the, that's not the kind of player that you want to bring in. He's, it's crazy because he's only 31 and I thought that he was a lot older, but that's a very scary thing. I don't want to look at a. Mo, I have to acknowledge it. They're cooking you for being on your iPad. They're saying you're playing subway surfers. They're saying you're sliding in DMs.

They're saying you're doing everything but what you should be doing right now, which is working. Do you want to show them what you're doing right now just to free your name? No, I'm on. basketball reference right now and I was looking at Marcus Smart stats and I saw 19 games with the Washington Wizards. He shot 39% from 3. Which is good and I was like damn bro. First of foremost

y'all, why are you trying my life like that? What's good? You think I'll bring this iPod here, this iPad here just to like play games and dolly gagging and just like do random shit? No, I'm actually being productive bro. I'm trying to give you guys actual insightful things the fuck.

And that's that. I had to acknowledge it. You guys had a lot of questions about this iPad. I had to make him stand on it. Moe got the analytics. With that being said, he was playing solitaire 10 minutes ago. I won't let him pretend he wasn't. No, no, no, I don't know how to play solitary. I never played that day in my life.

Pleading ignorance, got it. Next new story, Paul Pierce's huffing paint. He said, I was probably the best pure score in the history of the NBA. Did I click and watch this whole clip? No, I did not. But I would like to play into the clickbait and react to what he said like he wants us to. Did you? Okay, so I didn't watch the full clip.

I saw the, I saw the TikTok where they asked him this and then I think they expanded. it upon it. Yeah. And so they were asking them, like, who's, who's scoring back is better. The first name they brought up was Michael Jordan. And he said, oh, no, like, I could score more. Yeah, I saw that too. Yeah, I could do it.

You are smoking crack. You know, the first name, the first name is Michael Jordan. You say, yeah, I got it. The only person he said that was better than him was TMAC because he said that T-MAC had a more variety of ways to score. But in terms of Jordan, KD, they asked them about LeBron. He said, come on, man, you know that. And then they just put the check over Paul Pierce's face.

This guy is delusional. I need Paul Pierce in the show. No. I need Paul Pierce on the show. I need it bad. I'm tired of getting a taste. I need a whole load on TD3. I need it bad.

Yeah, this is just funny. This is probably the least surprising thing that I've seen from Paul. That I've seen come from Paul Pierce's, never mind. he's done more surprising things but this is obviously something that he would think for sure he's a delusional athlete and this just adds like a lure to people hating him for

all of the off court reasons over the last few years. Everybody on this on that show has like because Kishan he does the same thing where like when he starts talking about his career he's like man like I was I was that guy like in it's just like

all right like you were good but like you're not Jerry Rice you know okay next thing you know the warriors have been a um quiet team this summer and by quiet i mean they've done literally nothing besides letting kavana looney walk damn their fans are like rick james yeah yeah i forgot it's been so long i forgot what kavon looney looked like no those are new i was shocked yeah um yeah the warriors haven't been doing nothing their fans are feigning scratching their neck looking for a deal you got some signings you got some signings you got some

trades give me something it's bad it's bad and we have some it seems like all signs point to Al Horford signing with the Golden State Warriors

per the Stein line seems like this is going to happen it seems like Horford's coming here they're just going to go all in on being old earlier today in the press conference Brad Stevens said he does not expect

Al Horford to return to the Celtics damn Brad Stevens is very honest very blunt I think if you said that it is true as anybody would because that's a pretty direct thing to say

only teams have been linked to are the Warriors and the Lakers I don't know why he'd pick the Lakers the Warriors fit him perfectly. They have a need for him. He'd play big minutes.

Does this move you? Old Al Horford going to the Warriors? A little bit, a little bit, because they finally had a different look with Quentin Post last year. Too bad he just can't be on the floor in a playoff for like legit minutes. You actually know that Al Horford can do that. And so. You know you could last year, not getting in the younger.

We keep saying that. True. He just keeps coming out and plays like 20 to 25 minutes. And even, you know, even more than that in some big spots. It still plays, you know, a solid defense, still is able to knock down threes. His trigger has gotten faster and faster as the years has gotten, you know, have gone on. Like, it actually makes sense. I do like this.

I'll hope for sounds to the Warriors. Mo, are you picking them to beat the Rockets? Absolutely not. Hell no, bro. Hell no. It's a hell no? Nah, I can't. Okay, it's not a hell no, but it's a solid, like, definitive no.

And I'm not thinking too much on it because Jimmy Buller is also getting older. there you've seen nothing but like regression from him in his game. I don't expect too much regression from someone like Steph or Jemong Green, although they're getting older too. I just can't, I can't, I can't, they haven't done anything just yet to earn them the right to get over the hump from a team like the Houston Rockets, who's just much younger, of course, and they're getting more experience and they just added a top 10 player to their roster, bro.

So yeah. No way in hell. I can do that. I agree. Some test the waters. I do feel like if Al Horford is still really good. it is an interesting fit. Like him and Draymond Green

could be a problem on defense. I think I'll hopefully take a little bit of a step back last year. Year before last, it was still like, Jesus Christ, how old is this guy? Yeah.

Last year he looked a little rickety. If he looked the same next year, that's still a really good player to add. If another level of rickety comes, I think we could very soon see that, that like ageless miracle eventually flip pretty quick. Like when it's gone,

it's going to be gone. So I won't, it won't blow my mind just so I'm going to be cautious about the whole age thing. Can he be better than Kavana Louis last year? I think some of the top of bars That's a clear

Sure Yeah I guess so I guess so Other Warriors thing Anthony Slater A Warriors reporter for I think The Athletic Oh New York Times

I see this link Oh actually New York Times Is the Athletic Oops The Golden State Warriors are seeking A promising young player And a first round pick In a sign and trade

involving Jonathan Cominga The Kings reportedly offered Devin Carter Dario Sarge and two second round picks Jesus Christ It just makes it This is why Kaminga acts like this

Why? Because they're going out there, like, yeah, let me get a young player and a first-round pick. Nobody thinks he's like that, right? The only, like, Kaminga thinks he's like that because the words are going out and saying, hey, this is his value. And then Kamega's like, well, if that's my value, then let me play. Let me show you guys that, like, that I can actually be this. And then go to say, it's like, no, bro, like you're actually not like that.

But we're going to tell everybody else that you like that. It's a crazy cycle. And this is, this is contributed to a lot of whatever riff that they have. They don't play him. They don't like him And now they want to go out And try and get all of this It doesn't make any sense

And so if I'm any of the other 29 teams Shut the hell up Like you're not gonna fleece me So blatantly and out in the open like this What does a young player in first round pick Even look like? Is it like that Devin Carter deal But add a first on pick?

Does Devin Carter and her first on pick Satisfy them? Actually yeah You probably wanted King's first time Actually so that's probably a good team To target a single first four But outside of that Like it said the Wizards are interested

What young player do you want? You just got Cameron Whitmore in my mind that door should be closed yeah yeah you're right can't win more is another john the comming good yeah i think coming probably could be better but you're right i'm assuming them doing that says we try to get camminga and they were being annoying as fuck so we moved on like it says the bucks are interested what young player plus pick would the bucks have to offer what picks don't even have right now i've got to look i have no idea but you can get a young player and a top 29 protected first round pick for for camina top 209 protected that's a two second round

Yep, that's what you can get for Kaminga. The only teams that should be interested in my mind for Kaminga, I have a handful of them off the top of the head just now. Okay. Detroit, why the fuck now? You have nothing to lose when it comes to trying to get something like the Kaminga. The Miami Heat, they need talent. The Charlotte Hornets, again, they need talent. The Phoenix sons would be interesting because, again, they need talent.

And the Utah Jazz could definitely use some type of building blocks. And I think Jonathan Kamiga is a good, like, type of dude to roll the dice on. Nowadays is Bailey Fills out hold Just like Ken Whitmore does Similar type of guy It's not going down It's not going to die

He's going to stay there He's going to be locked up In awkward tries And let him go to the Bulls Let him go to the Bulls Trading for Patrick Williams At a pick Two second round picks

Patrick Williams Fuck it Let him go to the Bulls Let him join the slew of other Players of that similar archetype Like Josh Giddy Dude that's hell

No man I'm good I'm good on both sides I'd much rather Hold Kaminga hostage then trade for two second round picks and Pat would. I don't even want, if I'm the Warriors,

I mean, asset-wise, you got to get something for him. But, like, I'm not trying to hold anybody hostage. It's been such a, like,

annoying discourse. I feel like they probably want the headache on, especially with Kaminga, like, being vocal about the fact that I am being held hostage and not let me play,

let me do my thing. Like, I wouldn't really want to be part of that if I was running the Warriors. Do you guys see the video Steve Kermay where he was saying goodbye to Luni? Oh, yeah.

Somebody quote to him. He wants to make a goodbye I think of a fucking mega so bad. Yeah, I did see that. Okay. Next news story. Chris Paul basically said this is his last year. Interesting.

Goodbye, Tori. Damn. Has he signed with the team yet? Nope. That's why Jamel Hill asked them how many years you got left. He said, at most one. So, like, he basically like, if somebody want me, he'll play one more. Yeah.

I'm not going to like, this is, I didn't like the way he said this or introduced this because he was like, yeah, I just got, I probably got at least, or no more than one more in me. I wish he would, like, said it. in the most like what's that mean you fin of retired at at the all-star break no you're not say say you have one more or not I wish you would just amp the crowd up a little bit like yeah this is my last year this is my fair world tour is he embarrassed to go ahead and say this is my farewell tour because you know what happened last time someone said this is my fair roll tour I think he's just leaving the door open that he might not find the right fit so he might retire like tomorrow like that's all in the cards that's also fair and I think if he sounds like clippers today tomorrow he says

this my last year farewell tour so I think he's just unsure if anybody like wants him to a degree that he wants to go there because I don't think he wants to go there and play six minutes a game I think he wants to go to a team and contribute for one more year and I don't know what team is jumping off to do that

I'm with you I think you have to be very very careful when what you say and you have to be 100% sure if you say this is my farewell tour be sure you can sell out those stadium or your tour will be getting canceled

do you think Chris Paul can is he worthy I mean is he a stadium guy can is Chris Paul selling out stadium So is he still in basketball? No. Where's he selling out? Sell the clubs?

Yeah. He's not selling on no stadiums. I could tell you that for show. He is not that type of guy. Yeah. So like if he, if he booked it, who can have a stadium tour at this point?

I think it's Steph Bronn KD could probably have stadium tours. I don't know if anybody else. Hardin? That's an interest. No. Can Hardin? I don't think Hardin would.

I don't think Hardin would. He's been too, divisive in most people's mind He's not loved like that Yeah but some like Steph Of course LeBron obviously and Katie I think those are only three definitive guys Could Russ? Nah nah nah nah nah nah

He's gone out a little bit too sad In recent years like if he if this was like three years ago And he was like just like a little cook for a couple years Compared to his prime then maybe But it's been too many years of subprime I think Russ is they kind of got Russ can stay on tour For the rest of his life though And like people are gonna

They're gonna go and show up like he could be 50 and it's like oh look rosa westbrook's in town let's go let's go watch it before like that's that the type of thing that he's on but yeah i don't i don't know if chris paul can sell out stadium so it is very interesting if he does announce it how people are going to receive it because i do feel like for a lot of our fandom and for a lot of our time watching the game the hate for for chris paul has been there consistently yeah he's a very like well one he's very underrated the younger generation because he's been around for so long thinks he's like abominable rated

yeah they treat him like he's nothing because they see these new age point guards average in 30 they're like he can't score he sucks so he is underrated by the new generation and he's for the his generation of fans like us and older he's like respected but not loved you know it's probably because of the way that he cares himself yeah because he's an asshole

like I've never been like oh I love Chris Paul I like defend him a lot in debates I love him all in debates But as like a fan, I'm never like, that's my guy. So I wouldn't be like, oh, the farewell tour. I'm going to miss him. Yeah. And he has the same exact issue as hardened in my life. I feel the exact same way, which is why I'm like,

they're not going to be celebrating them like that. Yeah. Okay. Last thing we're going to do today to close out this stream. I ask you guys on Twitter, actually know, I ask you guys on a community post to give us your best Lakers-related NBA hot takes and we were going to rate them on stream, W or L. Chat, you guys know the deal.

tell us right now what you think your fellow chatters takes are we're going to rate them you guys are going to rate them let's see what they came with the heat today show me some trash first off we have jerry west has done more for lakers across his lifespan player coach scout gm that any player has done for any franchise in history is jerry west the goat the level that nobody else is the goat for their team he touched every single facet for this team and i can't think of any other player who's done this level of work. You could, like, troll and say, LeBron or I guess Bill Russell

or something like that. Saying Bill Russell is not trolling. It's not trolling. There's LeBron trolling, but yeah. There's three options. There's Bill Russell with the Celtics. Yeah. There's Steph Curry for the Warriors

and there's Michael Jordan for the Bulls. I lean towards one of the last two. Actually, I don't know. Those are actually three all really good examples. Bill Russell changed the NBA was the biggest winner of all time. But Jordan and Curry made those franchises worth

like 10 times more like he the warriors were such a middle of the pack franchise maybe lower third of the NBA franchise before Steph Curry I don't think that's the hate and now they're like the second or first highest evaluation

in the league the Bulls were smoking crack and then Michael Jordan showed up and they were still smoking crack when he showed up but it was like hey we're actually going to win games

and smoke crack at the same time so now it's like his fourth crack mention of the stream now What are you doing in the industry, man? I love it. But like the Bulls, the same thing.

Their entire aura and their entire franchise is built off of eight years in the 90s. And they have done nothing else since then. They didn't do anything before that. Like at least the Warriors have like a mini era of like run TMC where it's like, hey, that was fun. The Bulls don't have anything like that outside of Jordan. So the Bulls are probably the answer just because they have nothing. But I think the spirit of this question is he's saying reaching across all the different roles he had. It's a W-take still.

I think Jerry West has done more. But the Bulls, what Michael Jordan did was a bigger proportion of what they have. But Jerry West was probably impacted more ways, obviously. So I'll give a W-tick still. Yeah, I think the interesting debate would be because obviously like the scouting of Kobe was like obviously instrumental. like magic versus Jerry West, I think is, is, I immediately have a sour case. Did Jerry West draft magic? Or was he there?

Or did he take over the year after? I have no idea. No, he took over the year after. But Jerry West, like, built Showtime as well. So they go beyond showtime. Yeah, I immediately exit. He wasn't coaching, though. No, he was a GM.

I mean, he failed as to go. Magic Johnson doesn't deserve these conversations with the way he left the Lakers. He doesn't deserve. Oh, in recent years? Yeah. Yeah. And they still love. yeah for sure okay next one it's i think i don't know i think okay okay w take rook my a s says

due to him playing with magic and cream james worthy is the most underrated laker of all time so is j if you're thinking about the most underrated lakers of all time does james worthy get the title what makes them underrated to you compared to these other guys what it says and just overshadowed by magic and cream i don't think people talk about him is an all-time great because he was playing third fiddle and never had like high usage you know in an era where where there was not as many possessions to go around. So he just gets overlooked by the other two guys when he was also a number one pick,

also an All-Star, also hugely important. I don't think he'd be a superstar without those guys or anything. Not quite that level, but for his contribution, he probably gets less mentioned than other players. Like, Pao Gossal gets more mentioned than him and he's just as important.

That is very true. Pao Gossal gets a way. We know why. It's because we're young, but still. But yeah. That's probably an age factor. This guy's in a Hall of Fame. What do you mean?

Sure. The Lakers have a lot of Hall of Famers. That doesn't preclude you from being underrated He's in a Hall of Fame He has his jersey retired He's on the broadcast His nickname is Big Game James Like, no, he's fine

So who's the most underrated Laker? I don't know, but it's not James Worthy Like I don't, yeah, I don't think that's the- I think he's probably saying this Because it's like a generational divide thing Like I think history is kind of passed him by With a new generation not really knowing Or thinking about him as one of the defining players

So like obviously 80s NBA fans Don't underrate James Worthy It's just like I think when you talk about this type of conversation For a franchise it's like has history remember you and I don't know if history like remembers James or are you like that

you're asking you're asking like do 12 year olds know about obviously not like yeah you know what I mean though like that's the conversation he's I I again I don't know off the top of my head who the most underrated Laker is I don't I just don't think it could be

Fine is Nick Van Exel we'll keep it going Okay actually I'm gonna get this to W take regardless because it does feel bold and when it comes to going through and listing out the most important impactful Laker players and who tends to come to mind even way back in the day as well

I rarely hear someone like James Worthy name pop up consistently. Yeah. Okay. Next one. Go JJ 1 says JJ Reddick hates hating so much that he quits his job

half her through the season. Hey man. Reddit a quitter? Listen. Nah. Listen. It's not impossible. it's not it's not crazy he he feels like one of the one of like the type of guy where it's just like

listen you guys are just pissing me off too much like i just want it too bad he's tightly wound he's a constant ball of just pressure and angst and just constantly being riled up you're telling me that bubble my burst shocking more shocking things have happened with young coaches imagine this we're going to get to like january february right lakers are four five see going going back and forth. Aiton has had a bad stretch, maybe about four or five games. Some reporter comes in,

asked a question about, hey, Aton hasn't played the last two fourth quarters. And Jayton's like, have you seen what's been going on? Then back's hands the reporter. All of this keeps going on and on.

You know how you really piss off JJ in this circumstance? You phrase it this way. So I've noticed DeAndre aden hasn't closed the last two games. Is there anything you feel like you can do better to get DeAndrean going? And he's going to,

be like, anything I can do better. Excuse me? And then this time he takes his belt out and strangles him. Exactly. All right, next one. The Luca Trey was never about now. It's the setup. 2026, Yannis opts out.

Lebron retires. Lakers have max base. Luca isn't the best shape of his career. Yana signs in L.A. for legacy reasons. Ciding Kobe in International Brotherhood. A former one-time champion Milwaukee Buck, teaming up with a full MVP caliber PG in L.A. Luca and Janis form the most versatile do in NBA history,

a seven-foot freak of nature and a six-foot-seven magician. Yokish considers soccer. Adam Silver stars Talking Expansion, Lakers and four chips, and end the diversity era of NBA champs. I'm not going to lie. I love fanfishing. This is top tier.

This is a great short story. This is a story. Yeah. Yo, W. Arthur, man. Shout to him. Why are you in these YouTube comment sections under Hot Takes? What are we doing, man? Yokish considers soccer.

Yeah. I like it. I think you're cooking. I'm a good debut take. I think this is probably the most accurate thing we'll see all day. He's a great Arthur,

man. Kristen Gaiton says Shaquille O'Neill would be the greatest Laker of all time if he stayed the rest of his career. I thought this is interesting because what does the rest of his career look like if he stays?

I think this is assuming him and Kobe get over it. I think that's the only like you have to. Does he mean? How do they get over it? Or, he gets in shape and shit or way like that?

No. Or they don't get over it and like they just fucking fester. But do you think him staying would have made him have a case because he only had so many years left is there a world in which he became the greatest legger of all time i'm gonna say no no because the the like crazy young shack obviously is it's past him by the time he gets there so you have four years of like peak shack that isn't there and then as kobe is ascending and just keeps grinding and working and working

and shack is like yeah i'm gonna show up the camp in whatever shape i want to be there's bad nails right like I'll be, I'll be ready by the finals. They're probably going to lose it. Like, I don't, I don't think it would work. They would fight every other day. Every day, they probably did. Yeah, and also with how we left to, if, like, it adds to your, to your lore if everyone just sits down and is like thinking about the what ifs of your NBA career. If he left there and was just sitting there to rot and get into the shape that he was and just beyond a whole lot of nothing well also seeing the dude, he used to have hell of

beef would just surpass him. I feel like just mentally people would think of Shaq a lot less than what he is now as a Laker. And maybe this would have made Kobe leave, so maybe they still would have had no success. Maybe he would have less rings if he stayed because Kobe would have left and they never

would have won 2006 ring that Shaq added to his catalog. That's fair, yeah. So actually no one, no, absolutely not. No chance. Just because he fell off so soon after 2004. Sweenster 07 says 2020 LeBron over any Kobe year. Yeah.

How's it feel being stupid, buddy? how are we doing this y'all think this is crazy I don't think it's crazy it's just it's not true what's the best Kobe year over over any Kobe year what's your favorite Kobe year um

0809 give me Ron what's your second favorite Kobe year 20 20 20 what's your second favorite Kobe year what's your second favorite Kobe year but depends you could you could pick between

02 and 06 3rd favorite definitely not O2 keep going we can sit here in silence for the running I don't I mean

I think we all agree that 2020 LeBron was still like back into prime and we do think he has the best peak of all time so it's not as crazy as it sounds but you know Kobe is an MVP so I'm not gonna argue this

yeah I'm he was second MVP that year though LeBron so like it's really not ridiculous who won't MVP that year was honest yeah it was his DPOY second MVP so

I hate having these conversations because when you say any Kobe ear it just you're just screaming on my face oh LeBron's always

been better no matter what and I'm just like okay cool but like what is we should all already know

this by now yeah I'm mostly joking but it's not crazy but I'm sure there's a Kobe year that we'd all agree to pick

if we really compared him side by side yeah it's funny though because I knew Donovan we get upset

W take W take W take W take no we can give it an L next one do more music says if the Lakers

if the Lakers kept the Young Corps from 2017 18 they would have more than 17 rings

saying, you know, they won 2020 after making the trade, they would have won at least two rings since then if they kept Brandon Ingram, Lanzel ball, Kyle Kuzma, Josh Hart, Julius Randall. Hell no. They don't win any ring. Alex Russo. Go on there. They don't win any rings with that, with the Uncourt. Yeah. Look, every single one

of those players' career up until this point, except for maybe Brandon Ingram, but even that is up for debate, they've been a disappointment. I started Josh Hart too. Shout Josh Hart. This guy's over here smirking. What are you smirking? No, I'm just laughing because obviously I think I'll take. Yeah.

I'm just laughing at the chat. Like, what have you seen from Lanzo Kuz and Brandon Ingram just to make you think like, oh, man, we would have had it all. I understand, like having all these young guys who you drafted and what develop in their own right feels good to keep up to keep together.

But thinking that they would lead you to a ring is fucking crazy. We're recreating the 07 caps with this one. LeBron and a bunch of bums versus the world. Oh, yeah, because I guess the circumstances, LeBron still comes. You just don't trade for Anthony Davis. Yeah.

Okay, that's different. I was thinking about like just a young guy. know LeBron. You still not winning a ring. You're not. Yeah, you're not. I mean, I guess you could have won one, but you're definitely not winning more

than you would with Anthony Davis. No. Because Lonsol ball is not going to be there. They would have kept making moves. So I'm just saying you have LeBron. Maybe there's a world in which they do other moves that aren't trading all the young guys. So I'm like, maybe you find a way

to get one with LeBron. Like maybe, I'm just being nice. They're certainly not getting two. They're not getting more than you got with Anthony Davis. But even in that sense, you only get the rings if the young guys go somewhere else. Yeah, they have to go. So yeah, you're not getting up.

Yeah, I'm just offering this guy a little bit of bail. Maybe get Paul George instead of AD somewhere. Yeah, like they still could have like touched down in free agency a little bit. So like maybe there's a world that team building continued. You get one, but I don't think you have a better chance of winning two rings than they had with Anthony Davis. I agree. I'll take. Paskey, 478 says Aitin actually locks in and becomes a top five center in the league, catching lobs from everybody on the team.

Yes, I'm delusional. So obviously top five is a high bar. But you think about it, could he get to top seven or eight if you think of what? Best case scenario? I really put here to pose a question. What do you think the ceiling is for Aiden with Luca? Things go well.

Top 12. Top 12, okay. Yeah. I don't think it's quite as hard as you would think to get into that range. Yeah. I think last year I ranked like Derek lively 12 or something. Yeah, exactly.

I know I can for sure say Jared Allen's like a top 9, 8 center. Yeah, we put him in 9. And I don't think there's any way Aiden can get past that. So I think top 12 is very comfortable. As long as he able to defend at a decent level. and catch lobs, there's no reason why he shouldn't be top 12.

Top 12, I think is almost like, I feel if I feel good about him being top 12. I just don't know if it's like long term. Like I said, I feel good about a contract year going well. I don't know if it's the answer forever, but I think he wants to get a bag

so it will be a good year. I think him being top 12 is very, very safe with the Luca factor. Yeah. Is there a, what's the highest point though? I feel like that's like a realistic outcome. 11? Exactly 11.

That's just the, that's the rate. Like, it's very, very clear. where DeAndre Aiton likes to be on the floor, it's very clear how he likes to operate and when, and basically just overall his whole ethos and his get down. You know what he's about. I don't think that the things that you would want to see from him to make him a top seven center in the league, I don't think those are a part of his bag anymore. And I think that honestly, to get to get Aiton.

to be the best version of himself you have to scale down his responsibilities you have to do exactly what they're saying here catch lobbs and play defense at a at a level beat clink capella be like that's that's what you know you know what i'm saying yeah yeah i think there is a middle ground i think he still can do some self-creation so like looking at the list roughly right now i lied he's not going to be talked about okay let's let's listen more impossible he's not better than yokech a d when b just throwing him beat for let's say mb let's just give him credit say he'll play the games bam in there he's not going to be right i'm so long i'm so long as ban that my brain's like we'll go bam

I'm just like so like disillusioned by Sam Zubotch Oh We don't know That's seven Yeah Okay Zubach makes seven Jared Allen

Sangoon Sangoon okay we'll give SanGoon credit That's eight Who else is going to cross the league right now Do you want to us a bonus in there? You know we feel weird about subonuses Sub bonus deserves to be in there Talent sub bonuses number nine

Again I just said it Jared Allen? Yeah, Jared Allen. Jared Allen, where do you go bear? I feel like Jared Allen's like attainable. I feel like that's like a ceiling. Like, I don't, I love Jared Allen.

I don't think Jared Allen is a clear, like, there's no fucking way, you know? Gobert. Okay. Yeah, I love Gobert. So what about is there at Hardinstein? I hope he's as good as a heart and I hope so. Okay, so that we're at 10 now. Okay.

Sealing is 11. No, I'm with you. All right, I'm trying to see exact how many we can put it above him. Swink factors are like on Yeka Kong. Oh, cat, cat. Oh, cat. Cat, how the fuck do you? So 11, so now he's number 12.

Seems like 12 is a good prediction. Top 12, okay. And Yankee Kohn was going to pass him to my mind. It looks like we were exactly on the money. It looks like 12 feels like is. I guess ceiling could be like nida. If he goes superstar mode, which you don't expect, phrase standard superstar there is.

But 12 feels like a likely. Someone's saying Miles Turner. Tingis Pinguish. Nah. It's hard to do with a healthy thing with him. A healthy tingis though? Sure. But no, that's very much in the conversation.

Yeah, that's attainable. Yeah, I feel good about 12. Okay, 12 is the range of best case scenario. If they trade LeBron, I guarantee they're a title team in two years. If not, they're doomed to be a three seed. This doesn't feel like a hot take. If you trade LeBron, then that means you're getting something back. You're getting Jared Allen or Darius Garland.

You're right. He's 41. What are you doing back? That's what I'm saying. The point of that I think is either you keep him because he's old and he doesn't get traded. you're stuck me to three C because you lose him for nothing. Or if you fucking swindle the Cavaliers into trading for their goat, you get Jared Allen because they're stupid,

then you get to be a title team in two years. Yeah, and that's not going to happen. But he's, the package for Kevin Durant, who fits better with, with the wide majority of teams more than LeBron does at this stage in his career. Jalen Green and Dylan Brooks, shout out.

Well, it picks too, but yeah. Not a lot. Yeah, whatever. I think he's operating on the assumption that if he wages no trade clause and says trade me to the calves Cavs are bust and they're down then they would be able to get something

just because the money is so much you get some good players that he's basically saying the only path to the Lakers becoming a contender in two years and being like the 2024 Mavericks is by trading LeBron and I think that's a W take.

It's an easy take in my mind. They have to scam somebody and get something good for LeBron otherwise he's going to retire and it's going to be tough. I don't think anybody's getting you the good stuff I agree.

To trade them. No, yeah, they're not training them, but I agree. But I'm saying that's how you become a championship contender is by scamming the cavaliers. Okay. This is a good take. This is a good take. It might not happen, but I do wholeheartedly believe that AD does deserve

to have his jersey in the rafters. What do you guys think? It's hard one, right? It's hard because it's just a singular championship. And then after that, every single year was a wild disappointment. Due to injuries from him, the seasons being nerfed and nuked by someone like Russell, Westbrook there uh man it's tough i don't think you as a the standards are super high for

the lakers i don't think you do it i don't think i would do it however anthony davis is going to be a hall of famer anthony davis did get a chip with them i think it might happen yeah so okay so whether or not we do it isn't a question just thinking about the relationships the dynamics of being a Laker and dynamics of them being so pro star as an organization, do you think they'll do it or do you think they have higher standards? New ownership coming in too. So maybe it's not the genie anymore. You know, right now she said she'll be, but you know, probably not. Yeah, right. Yeah, okay. Do you think new owners in five years? I spent, I spent $5 billion. I'm not going to be in charge of the same year. I didn't mind, dude. Yeah. So let's say seven years from now he's

retired, been retired for a couple years. Do you think the new owners retirees number? I think, I don't know, genuinely, if LeBron's number is obviously going to get retired without a doubt. There's no question to that. If they're going to retire LeBron's number, a lot of conversations are going to be like, oh, what about AD? He was equally as important as LeBron. And that's, like, very much up for debate too. But thinking about the entire tenter, like, that's where I kind of get lost in the conversation, personally.

Yeah, it's tough. I would do it. If we're going to go just peak, 2020 AD was a. the best center of the last 10 years besides Yokic. So basically, do you think 2020 AD his crazy playoff run, which you know is part because of the bubble in the shooting, but it did happen? Is that better than what we saw from Joelle and Bede is the question.

Accounting for playoffs? Yeah. Juele & B was an MVP. Did I have a ridiculous scoring season, but obviously two-way play of 2020 AD when he was shooting like that, scoring like that? I'm sorry, guys. It's better.

It's better. You're out here winning. This version of AD, is a version of a player that everybody dreams about everybody was saying hey is this player is just as good if not better than than lebron at this point now i i have to give him i have to give him the credit he had a he had a game winner in the playoffs like joel's a better player in like the long like joel's better in the sample side for regular season joel is better but i think because we got the fake shooting of the bubble and because people weigh the playoffs more

Joel's obviously never had a playoff showing like 2020 AD that was a especially the last two rounds of the playoffs that was all time peak for those three weeks in the bubble now he never like did that again outside the bubble so it's fair to say it's because of the bubble but if we're disregarding that that's an all time peak it's not ridiculous to say that feels correct in my mind there's literally no other name in conversation even close to this as well so but obviously for a whole regular season we're picking Embed yeah I feel okay we give me AD concerning what he does in the playoffs else. I feel okay. You're not sure about that? I don't know. If it was a full season of bubble, it would be different, but it's not. It might be. I believe that Bronny James will be the best Lakers second round pick of all time. I disagree that Brony James would be the best Lakers, Saker, second round pick most up.

Who are all-time great Lakers second-round picks? I don't remember. Trevor Riza, did they draft him? I got to look. I don't know. I don't think they drafted him. I picked this year, though, because I do say, I have. I'm so like, it's full on hopium, full on copium, full on wanting it to be the case. I'm very, very bought in on Bronny being like a rotation player either next year or the year

after that and like being a real eighth man on the NBA team. Nick Van Exel. Oh, yes, Nick Van Exel, obviously. Yeah, no, not having it. But I just put this here because to talk about like, do you guys think, are you, how worried, what's your guys current feel on Bronny's ability to be a real contributing NBA player? I saw a condense some really game and he felt. really, really good and he felt more polished than ever, obviously.

I think that's summer league game. We're cooked. Never mind. Brother, listen. Listen, listen. I'm just talking about him and how he moves. That's all I'm talking about. Him and how he moves.

Not Utah. The California classic. Look at how he moves. I'm just looking at the mentals of the game. It looked better. That's it. Are we cooked? Yes.

But there's not much conversation to have. I'm about Ronnie James right. You're right. He looked like a second year player, which is good. He looked like he had like an edge up experience-wise, which is what you want to see from a second-year player in Summer League. So I know exactly what you're getting in that. It's just a funny sentence, but you're 100% right.

He did look like he took a step. Yeah, I mean, what else can I go after? I know, I know. I know. I know. I know. I know. I know.

I know. So I feel good about it, genuinely. Yeah. Thinking about his four becoming like a very annoying, a very annoying 6-2 defensive guard who can do things off the ball as well, eventually I think he's going to become a strong shooter yeah he could be the greatest second round

one of the greatest one of the greatest second round picks for the Lakers Nick Van Exelman and all-star team yeah but no I'm I hope Ronnie stays even wrong with tires after that dude

who can you think of off top of the head who's like in that I think the draft of Trevor Reza's second round if I remember correctly they did it they did not never mind Robert Socoray so he can be one of the greatest for sure

Josh Hart knows end of first round yeah nah there's no one else Robert Sokroy bro Zubot Oh yeah, Zubwatch, there you go But he didn't, I guess so And that's the end of the stream, y'all

Let me recent donations Before you out of here That's the name of our Lakers hot takes Ferris V2 Tip $10 He said Moe was putting up Tony Snell cardio On the first episode of Houseco

Shout out to Owen Edwards Tipin 10 dollars He's glad I can catch a live Appreciate you I shout the kicker for $1 who said Freddie Gibbs with a smiley face Okay shout out Freddie Gibbs

And I say in the stream y'all appreciate you all coming through We'll see y'all on Friday for the first episode of ranking season. Let's do it. It's official. We're back. Ranking season is in full swing starting Friday.