The Mismatch - Draft-Night Trade Conversations Reach a Crescendo and the Restricted Free Agency Market Is Hot

Episode Date: July 23, 2021

First, Verno and KOC dive into all the action surrounding the upcoming draft, with Cleveland fielding trade offers for their pick and Collin Sexton, the Raptors trying to move up from the fourth pick, and so much more (0:30). Then they talk about whether we could see an undue amount of action on the restricted free agent market this offseason (42:35) and the precarious situation in New Orleans with their new head coach Willie Green (50:30).  Hosts: Chris Vernon and Kevin O’Connor Associate Producer: Sasha Ashall Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Listen up all you New York fans. Veteran New York Sports Talk host, John Dostrompsky gives his unique take on all the big stories in the Big Apple and beyond, including guest conversations, gambling picks, and reactions from you, the listener. Check out New York, New York with John Dostromsky on Spotify or wherever you get your podcasts. Welcome to The Mismatch. I'm Chris Vernon. Join me as he does every Friday from the Ringer.com is Kevin O'Connor, A.K. Kevin O. Bomber, Kevin O.O. Kahneman O. Kevin O. O. How you doing tonight? Everything's good. As we record this on a Thursday night, we have now had the come down from the last few days of the NBA season ending. Of course, we recorded after game six.

Then the next morning woke up and saw Janice ordering a 50 piece from Chick-fil-A, being a man of the people, driving around town with his trophies. Not 51, 50, 50 piece. he's amazing. And he said he had not slept. Yes. And of course they had a parade today. A PJ Tucker showed out.

And Bobby Portis had a championship belt on. They were like the city of Milwaukee. You couldn't help but feel happy for them and happy for Janus with the way it all played out. But now we're about to move into the off season. And we are officially as of tonight when we're recording this, in one week's time, we are going to have the NBA draft. and then not long after, we will have Summer League, and we will have free agency. You put out a bunch of stuff about the NBA draft.

A lot of little nuggets that were included in the updated mock draft. So I do want to talk to you about this. Let's start with the most important thing, which is the number one pick in the draft. And it appears as if Detroit will draft Cade Cunningham, and that will be the end of that. Anything other than that seemingly would be a big surprise. Is that fair to say? It would be a surprise. Yeah.

I mean, we'll see how it shakes out. Maybe some team makes an over-the-top offer before, you know, they have to make their selection. But as of now, most executives around the league believe Kate Cunningham will be the number one pick to the Detroit Pistons. Well, and one of the things that we talked about at the end of the season, I'll give you credit for this. I said, do you think that this is going to become a debate?

So many times in years past, there is a guy that is locked in at number one. But then as the process goes on, there are, there's a lot of debates about it, right? So at one point, everybody's kind of got Luca Donch. It's being the number one pick. But then by the time the draft comes around, people have DeAndre Aiton being the number one pick. You can even go back decades where it's like, you know, you're going to take Rose or you're going to take Beasley? You're going to take Durant? Are you going to take Odin?

Are you going to take? And it never materialized or it hasn't still to this day. I suppose it would be a big shock if it happened within the next week. But you told me at that time, you don't think that there's going to be an argument with Cade Cunningham. Mowbly seemingly was the one if there was going to be one. I don't know, Chris. I mean, like there are people around the league who have Evan Mowgli, the center from USC number one. There are people who have Jalen Green, the scoring guard at number one on their personal boards.

So there are people out there who have those players ahead of Kate Cunningham. Ultimately, though, the far majority of people do rank Cunningham as the number one prospect. And the belief and with all the information that's out there is that the Pistons will go with Cade number one. It's where after that, things definitely get a little bit more interesting with trade possibilities and, you know, how things could get switched up on draft night. Well, and the interesting thing is even with the number two pick, and we talked about this after the stories, after we got the order, it was like, oh, well, number two, they just signed Christian Wood last year. It stands to reason that they may take a dynamic guard rather than what we kind of all had slotted as the number two player Evan Mowgli. Maybe it makes a little more sense. If they're close in terms of if it's an argument,

then maybe you do draft a little more for need because can we play Mobley and Wood together or are we going to move off of Christian Wood? Because we believe so much in Mobley. And I mean, that has happened before. You know, that is, in fact, once upon a time, that's the way Memphis became Zach Randolph's town is because the number one pick was the Clippers,

and they were going to draft Blake Griffin. He was the number one pick in the draft, and they were going to take Blake Griffin, and so they didn't need their power forward anymore, and they moved off him for money. I don't, it would be surprising. Wouldn't you say if Houston moved off of Christian Wood or attempted to play them together,

which is why I think you and so many others have kind of landed on the idea that the most likely scenario, if Houston does not trade, is that they take Jalen Green. Yeah, all indications are that Jalen Green is the favorite to go number two, which would mean Evan Mowgli would slide to number three, and that Cleveland is in that spot, and they are in a situation now where, you know, past month or so there's been so many trade reports about Colin Sexton,

possibly being shopped to break up the Darius Garland, Colin Sexton back, or no more Sexland. Sorry, no more of that potentially. We'll see how it happens there, but with Cleveland, Evan Mobley at number three, I reported this morning on the ringer on Thursday morning that the Raptors and Magic,

the two teams drafting right behind them, have made trade offers to Cleveland for the number three pick. And they're not the only teams that have had conversations with Cleveland either. So we'll see how what happens over the next week ahead of the draft. But ultimately, Cleveland is in a real interesting position here to move down if they don't want Mobley. There's a possibility that maybe they flip second. and then move down and get Suggs or somebody else.

So we'll see what happens here, but there are teams that absolutely love Evan Mobley and that they want to move up to get them. What do you think a Knicks offer would be? Because there was that report last week that the Knicks had major interest in possibly acquiring Colin Sexton. Unsurprising to me, you know, I am in love with Colin Sexton. I still have all of my Sexton stock. He would be a Tom Tibido favorite.

he would learn, you know, alongside Derek Rose. I think New York fans and him on that stage with the fire he plays with, like that would be a match made in heaven. I would love for Colin Sexton to end up with Top Tibido and in a Knicks uniform. The question is, what is the return? I don't know. You know what I'm saying? Like the value of Sexton is unclear because he's like a lot of people like him a lot,

a lot of people aren't so high on him. And with the Knicks, from them specifically, they want to land a star here. I mean, they want to get a Damian Lord. They want to get a Bradley Beal. That's the preference. No guarantees you'd be able to do that. But Colin Sexton would feel like settling to me if you're a Knicks fan.

But then again, like, he is a really good player. He's really, really young. And he fits the timeline of R.G. Barrett and Mitchell Robinson and all these young guys on that roster. So, you know, sometimes you can push things too quickly if you're angling for a star instead of the younger guy who can eventually become, you know, a fixture of your, of a championship team potentially.

You know how I, I mean, I think it's stupid that Cleveland's trying to, trying to move him or going to move him. We've talked about this so many times, Kevin. You are nowhere near what you are going to be if we judge you within three years, you know? And I've thought about this so much regarding the honest stuff that we talked about the other.

night, which was, if you would have looked in year, in year one, he's 6.8 points and 4 rebounds. In year two, he's 12.7 points and 6.7 rebounds. In year three, he's a 17 and 7 guy, right? And so did you foresee a circumstance? Did anyone at that time where we, you have your determination on what the guy is going to be? And I know we live in. you know, microwave society now, but we just determine, and I'm not saying this just to endorse Colin Sexton, I am just saying this with anybody. Think about the way we think about even rookies this past year. There are people, and I've heard them, that have already determined what James Wiseman is going to be in the NBA. There are people right now that have a strong

opinion, I'll give you an example. I'll have the other kid on the next. Obie. People have decided what they think OBB is going to be, right? He's played one year. Like, who knows what he looks like in year five, in year six, in your seven of his career? Like, but I'm saying we make these determinations so quickly. We do. We do. We do. With Sexton, though, I don't think it's necessarily that Cleveland is low on his future. I think that they're, are low on the fit between Sexton and Darius Garland. So it's about, you know, you have two guys who,

you know, kind of flip between playing on the ball at the guard position and off the ball. Neither of them are necessarily like true two guards, right? And so I think if you're Cleveland here, Colin Sexton is about to get paid and through restricted free agency. So for them, maybe it makes more sense to go with Darius Garland. The, you know, younger NBA player, the guy who's a bit more of a pure point guard and flip Sexton for a bigger, taller wing or forward or a draft pick that you can get you one of those guys. So I don't think with Cleveland it's necessarily that they don't like Colin Sexton. It's that they're looking for ways to maximize the fit with their young players.

Speaking of restricted free agency, they have one that is an extremely good one in Jared Allen. And you would assume that you want to keep Jared Allen in the fold. If I'm Cleveland, I would want to keep Jared Allen in the fold. Do you think Mowgli and Allen are a fit together? If that is a big swing that you take and you bring him back. It can work. I mean, it can absolutely work. Because with Jared Allen, you get the rim running, you know, the rim protection, interior player, whereas of Mowbly, he can be both. Like, he can play interior if he needs to, but primarily, like, you want Mowgli to develop into a guy who

can be an offense of hub for you. Like the playmaking that Mowbily showed at you at you, see is more than what the numbers indicate. Like he's a really, really, really good passer for a big. And so factor in his ability to off the dribble, his shooting potential, his flexibility to switch onto the perimeter against guards and wings.

Yeah, I mean, it could definitely work with Allen and Mobley together in the front court, or you could play just one of them. So I think that lineup flexibility would be great for the cavaliers. And like we said,

it's so hard to figure out what these teams are going to end up doing. You did mention earlier that your intel, says Toronto, who is slated to have the fourth pick, there's already word that they have tried to move up even from four. Just three, possibly from Mowgli. And like if that is indeed the case,

which I believe it is based off my reporting, conceivably they would have also tried to move up to number two. Right? Like, naturally, that's what you would do. If you're a team that wants to move up, you ask about all three teams ahead of you. And, I mean, we'll, again, we'll see what happens over the course on the next week.

But a lot of teams around the league right now are talking, talking about trades, about movement within the draft, trading out. Like, we could see a lot of movement. We could especially see a lot of sign in trades once free agency begins. Okay. Let me ask you this. Regarding said scenario, if that is so, and they would be moving up with the intention of trying to acquire Evan Mowgli, does that tell us something about the future of Siakum in a Raptor's uniform? I don't think so. I think they can play it together for sure.

Really? Yeah, no doubt. It's a weird fit. I think Mobley can play with anybody, Chris. That's the appeal. You can plug Mobley into any situation at all with a big, like a Stephen Adams who doesn't space the floor. You can plug Mobley in there.

You want to plug Mobley in in a situation where he's with another floor spacer, like a Sharon Jackson Jr., which can't happen, but let's just say there were a possibility. It can work. So I think with Mobley, that's why there are some executives and scouts across the league who are like, this guy is the number one pick because he offers you maximum versatility in the defensive end of the floor as a smart player who can come in right away and play. He can defend pick and rolls. He can be a weak side help defender. He can switch on on the perimeter to defend guards and wings.

He does it all. That's the people who love him say. And then offensively, the potential is pretty high. I mean, we'll see what level he reaches as a shooter off the dribble. We'll see how he continues to really, you know, tighten his handle in the years to come, but the flashes that he has are pretty, pretty incredible. So there are the people that love Mobley as the top prospect in the draft. And I mean, maybe Toronto is one of them. Gotten a lot of good feedback on Scotty Barnes, I assume. Yeah,

Scottie Barnes. I mean, we talked about him a lot on Tuesday night and seems like Toronto worked him out at the four spot. He had work out there. So we'll see with the Toronto. Right now, I have Jalen Suggs on that slot for them. But Scottie Barnes will be in consideration there. Right now have him going to Orlando in my mock draft. And you know, Scotty Barnes, as we hit on Tuesday, I have to repeat ourselves. But like great defensive player, you know, super talented ball handler. He ran point guard at Florida State despite being 6 foot seven, 225, 230 pounds.

Like he's incredibly talented. And whatever team lands him, I think they're going to have a pro for a long, long time. The two that I am most fascinated in, let me start with the first one, which is I sense when I talk to people around the league and I talk to my other media friends, nobody is high or has great things to say about Cominga. And nobody's dropping him, though. You know what I'm saying? Like it's a very odd dichotomy. Like you don't hear a bunch of great things. I don't find anybody that evaluates in love with him.

And yet he has pretty well held on to the spot that he has had for the last year, for that matter, right? Like, I mean, he's just going to be one of the top six or seven guys in this trip. Now, you've dropped them a little and yours. And I have talked to some people that think he could. could fall like that maybe he doesn't end up there. I just, it's a very odd circumstance with him because we know the frame, we know the athleticism, we know he went and played in the G league on and on and on.

But I just don't find anybody I talk to in love with him. And that's strange because usually if you're like solidly and everybody, you're, like, solidly and everybody's top 10 big boards, modern drafts and everything else, I'm going to find somebody that loves you. And I just haven't found anybody yet. I haven't either. I haven't talked to a single executive who's like,

y'all are overthinking six foot eight, quick, explosive, agile, raw 18-year-old kid. You're overthinking it. Like, this is the guy who could become a versatile score and a versatile defender. I haven't heard that. I haven't heard it.

I haven't heard it, you know. The only time I heard it, the only time I heard is when I, when I put my comminga, you know, fan boy hat on when I was talking to J. Kyle Man on a pod a couple weeks back. You know, I was like, well, what about this? You know, it doesn't feel good. Like the concerns. You don't believe it. Yeah.

I mean, the concern are real, you know, the decision making, the feel for the game, the shot selection, the defensive inconsistency, the defensive awareness. There's a lot of real questions there. And any team, any team that selects comminga in the top 10, the reward is significant for all the reasons. Just say it's 6-8. He can score. He's, you know, nimble off the dribble, fluid with the ball on his hands. Like, the potential's high.

But the downside is, it's a, it's a, it's pretty well. And this is going to be, I don't want to say hot. It's not like going to burn your face. But it's not like saying Monty Williams, bad guy for going in the locker room. Oh, my God. It's not like saying that, right? Who was that? Was that Amin?

Yeah. I mean our buddy Amin. I've met Amin before. Amin's a nice guy. That was stupider than hell. Monty Williams is a great guy. Great guy. The idea that he's look at me for going in the opposing locker room.

I've told you before. When the Spurs lost as a number one seed to the eight-seated Grizzlies, I was there. R.C. Buford walked into the Memphis locker room, the general manager of San Antonio. And I keep in mind, his number one-seeded team just got beat in six games. And he walked to every player on that Memphis team. And congratulated them, Devin, wish them luck the rest of the way. And I thought this is one of the classiest things I've ever seen in my life. I really did.

So to see somebody getting criticized today, I mean, that was just a, that was wild. Anyways, this is not a molten lava take like that. But I will tell you that I have talked to NBA people that have said the following to me. When I asked them, who is going to get drafted higher than people think they're going to get drafted, I don't get a lot of good answers on that. They say it's a weird year. People's boards are different, whatever. When I say who's going to get drafted lower than people think,

I have had two different people say, I'm not so sure Davyam Mitchell's going to go where people think he's going. Let's talk about that. So here's what I've heard specifically about that. So it's not mold lava, huh? It's not more lava. Let's talk about that. So here's what I've heard.

The Warriors drafting 7th, It's a very popular pick in mock drafts to have Davion Mitchell go to the Warriors at the seventh pick. I've been told that the Warriors believe Mitchell could be available at 14 at their second first round draft pick. And if you look at the way the board is, let's say Golden State passes on Mitchell at seven. Where does he go? I have Mitchell going to Orlando right now at eight. Magic fans hated it. They're like, why would we draft this 22-year-old point guard when we have a whole bunch of guards already?

I get like the criticism. I just don't know where to put Mitchell because after that, the Kings already have Fox and Halliburton. The Pelicans, I could see that. I could see the Pelicans. The Hornets, I don't see it. It sounds like they're looking for a big man, which is why I have Kai Jones out of Texas going there.

The Spurs, I have not heard Mitchell connected to there. They also have a ton of guards on their roster. The Pacers are 13. Again, they have a lot of ball handlers. They're not really connected to Mitchell. and that brings us suddenly to the Warriors again at the 14th pick. So with Davion Mitchell, it is a real possibility that we don't see him going to the top 10.

He might even fall all the way to 14. Some of the measurements were shocking. Six feet tall. Six feet tall. Well, and he's got the same wingspan as me. So that's not great. You know what I mean?

Numbers are, I mean, like measurables matter. I mean, that does matter though. It matters. It does. but like he plays bigger than his body.

He does. Yeah, but like when you, and I keep in mind, right? So if I'm talking about, if I'm talking about guys and like shorter guys and many times I want them to have these

these outsized wingspans, I do think it has a tremendous effect on getting your shot off, finishing at the rim, and obviously defensively, you keep in mind, this kid's wingspan was very,

normal for his height, okay, and certainly a little bit lower than what you would think an NBA player, especially with the defensive prowess that he had in college would be somebody like Donovan Mitchell, Donovan Mitchell has a 610 wingspan. Yeah, very long, yeah. I mean, the 610, and you find this to be true of a lot of players that are outstanding players and maybe better than their size would indicate or better finishers. or better at getting their shot off than necessarily their size would indicate

is because they have these freakishly big wingspans. And so that's one of the things. The other thing is this. I really feel like the Mitchell thing is going to go one of two ways. Either he's going to go lower than what people think and then he's going to turn out to be outstanding

and everybody's going to go, what did you need to see? The guy led a national championship team. They bashed Gonzaga's head in. The kid was amazing in college. And here we are. They passed on them for other projects or other grand slam swings instead of taking that kid. Or there is the other scenario, which is, yo, he was 22 playing against 18 to 19 year olds by and large.

and a lot of elite players that weren't even playing in college last year. And yeah, he was way better than all of them. He was a frigging adult and played like an adult bull. I mean, that team bullied you, bullied you big time. And so how much of it is because he was so much more advanced, you know, than many of his peers in college. I don't know. I don't know.

I mean, obviously, look, he was a dynamite player. There's no way around it. But there, there's not a lot of six foot, not big wingspan guys that are not, you know, is he run the team guy? Is he, you know, defense specialist first guy? Or is he Kyle Lowry? I mean, I don't know. Yeah.

It's so hard to know. And I know, I know, like, it's tough with age. 22 is old for a draft prospect. Older. But it's also young in the developmental trajectory of like a Kyle Lari. Kyle Lari at 22 wasn't the all star that we've known the past seven, eight years. He was in between teams. He got traded. I knew Kyle as a rookie.

I knew Kyle his second year. Of course, they brought him Mike Conley. Kyle wasn't happy about it. They moved off of Kyle. Kyle was here with two. Kyle and Rudy Gay and Akeemork were all big buddies. They were all the Big East kids that were on the team together. But I knew Kyle very, very young in his career, and they traded him for nothing. Yep. It's Darry's favorite trade ever.

You ask him. It's his favorite trade ever. He got Kyle Lowry for nothing, right? Just because it was, you know, he was unhappy. He was unhappy. He had gotten drafted in the first round, and then they drafted over his head. the next year and we're giving the keys to Mike Conley. And he just wasn't happy about it, right?

And so to your point about Kyle Lowry, Kyle Lowry got traded in his rookie contract for nothing. And then got moved again. At age 22, by the way, at age 22. Yeah. It wasn't until he was 26 that he played his first year with the Raptors. He wasn't, he was 28. His first year is an all-star.

So, like, the developmental trajectory, 22 is still young. it is still young and I think that's worth keeping in mind when it comes to talking about Davy on Mitchell I hate when he will say he's old no he's not we're not talking about old he's old for a college player he's young for an NBA player so you know he maybe maybe like in the back end of that I think age sometimes can be overrated that that's what I'll say age can be overrated we've learned that a lot over the course of the last several years I'm not going to talk myself out of Davian Mitchell just because the measurements just because the age I still like I

told myself at the beginning of this whole draft season process, I'm not going to bump him out of my top 10 because I'm going to talk myself out of him eventually. Talk to Ryan Rusillo about this too with him. Like Mitchell just has too many good things in his game to talk yourself out of him just because of age, just because he is a 6-4 wing span instead of a 6-7, 6-8 wingspan. Maybe he won't be as great as like some of these other guys who might be younger, but he could still be a really, really, really, really good player for a long time. By the way, I've played a lot of devil's advocate in this because of what I've been told about him dropping.

Come on. You know this guy. This guy fits the Chris Varner profile. I mean, this guy is a Rottweiler. Yeah. Of course, I love him. For sure. But that doesn't mean you're going to be great.

Right? I mean, you know what I mean? Like, I love Bobby Portis too. Bobby Portis champion. Big Bobby Portis fans. Yeah. But I mean, like, you know, what I'm talking about Fox old guy? That David Mitchell.

look, if I'm going, you know, if I'm, if we're about to have a, if we're about to have a street fight, give me him. Yeah. And those kind of guys I love, I love him. And isn't this the fascinating thing about the warriors here at 7 and 14? There was a story by Marcus Thompson from the athletic tonight that you have Stefan Curry and Draymond Green, pressuring the front office that trade those picks for Star Bradley Beale being the number one target. I get, you know, in that story, Thompson said there's some. doubt about Deanyan Lillard, you know, in terms of whether he would even want to go to the

bay. But for Golden State here, I mean, I don't know if Bradley Biel's even going to be available. So, like, if it's not Beal, who are you flipping 7 and 14 and James Wiseman and future picks for? I don't think it's there. So for Golden State, I wonder, like, the way I approached it in the mock today on Thursday was I gave them an upside pick at 7, James Book Knight, 20 years old, you know, has some of the same things that you like about Davion Mitchell just than two years younger. And then at 14, they've been connected to Chris Duarte, a 23, 24 year old rookie out of Oregon, sharp shooter. They need it. Help now. Yeah. You could also argue, you go Mitchell and Duarte, load up your bench with some older rookies, you know,

still young by NBA standards, and surround Steph and Clay with those guys. I think that makes them sense too, but they're going to explore trades. They are having trade conversations. I have not seen reported that. I believe I had it in my story that they've had some conversations with the Pacers. The Pacers have been one of the more active teams. The name that I've heard involved in those conversations is Miles Turner. So Indiana shopping him around a little bit, figuring out what they could get in that scenario. With Indiana, though, like, it's going to be fascinating to see what they do because they're talking about, you know, moving up. They're talking about moving out of the 13th pick they have now. There's the Miles Turner trade conversations happening. Indiana is a team to watch

over the next couple of weeks through the draft and free agency. Especially because they're going to now, you know, try to, I'd imagine get on the same kind of page with what kind of team Rick Carlisle wants to coach. Yeah. Right. What kind of team does Rick Carlisle want to coach? And you know he has this long-term relationship with their general manager. And so I would imagine they're in a room. huddled together and trying to figure out here's the kind of team that I think we need to build. And here are the guys that we need to build around. And it will probably take a step in a different direction than what they've been. And certainly with the two big guys.

What do you think about Miles Turner, Chris, his game? I think Miles Turner is a very good fit elsewhere. But not next to the Monta-Sabonis with the two bigs. Correct. Yeah. Yeah. I think if you could put Miles Turner into a situation, his, that defensive prowess was not, that was not a fluke. He's a great shop locker. He's a great shop locker, but he's not a great rebounder. And he has been bullied by Joel Embed, which it's Joel Labid, MVP candidate. I get it.

A lot of guys. He bullies a lot of guys, but you would like to see a bit more toughness out of Turner. And so, like, I really don't get on. I didn't feel like you beat up on the defensive player of the year for. getting bullied by Joelle and Bede. I mean, um, Bix beats up on everybody. Everybody. But like when it comes to low post defense and rebounding,

that's two things. At least we'll go. I like Miles Turner. And I think Miles Turner can reach a higher level in a different scenario. That's what I would say. I would agree with that. And that's fair. I like Miles Turner.

The offensive skill is there. Billy to space to floor for you. Good kid. You know, type of guy you like to have on your team. So, you know, he also like,

he can eat like he can eat like he can hit an open three now. Yeah, he can. But like there are some concerns that certain teams around the league, like he has a lot of skeptics around the league who doubt whether he can be the guy that you're describing. And we'll see.

He might get moved. We might get to see how that shakes out and what he becomes in a new situation. I feel like the Kispert kid from Gonzaga has moved up a lot in your mock draft. Am I wrong about that? No, no. He's been a top 10 guy? I don't know where to play.

is Kisper right now. I'm being totally honest here. Like there are people who tell me around the league, he's going to drop out of the lottery. There's people who say New Orleans loves him at 10. Some of these teams that you can see drafting or more ready guy like Indiana at 13 or even goal in state at

14. They don't see him leaving. So it's a real split difference there in terms of where he's going to land. But there's no doubt with Kispert knockdown shooter, hard nose player, very smart type of guy who can come in right away. and he ain't dropped at best 13

in Indiana Indiana is not passing on the white guy and unless well I do have I have a other white guy I have Josh Giddy going there Utah pick

I have Josh Giddy going there at 13 Chris another white guy yeah so when does Utah pick where are they oh they're way low 30 oh my goodness

he'd be sweating it out the rest of the way according to that'd be rough he's got a look he's got a backstop at 13 with the Pacers no matter where he's going to go.

Duarte did move up a little bit regarding your mock draft. And that is because of Intel you have that says that there could be real interest from Golden State there. And we already covered the Mitchell thing. I mean, there is the case where maybe Davy on Mitchell's available at 14. And you can take somebody different or maybe even move the pick at 7. I do feel like, I do feel like they're not going to use both of those picks, right? Like the war,

is that the sentiment you get? I mean, we'll see. I guess they could come out with two rookies out of it. But. Yeah. Two older rookies who, you know,

more NBA ready rookies. Yeah, it's possible. It's possible. But ultimately, they want to trade them. They want to trade those picks. Yeah,

because those are real assets that could really help you improve your team. Yeah. I mean, I do think, I do think a guy like Chris Duarte could help your team. Yes. I do. Like his shooting ability, his defense,

smart player again, like he checks so many boxes. Like, what would you want next to Stefan Curry and Clay Thompson? You would want a 6-6 knockdown shooter. But you might be able to get, you might be able to trade out and still get the 20th pick somehow

or whatever pick and still be able to get a Chris Duarte, right? You might not even need to use. Washington at 15 is a possibility for him to. He definitely could go mid-first. Is there anybody that you have talked to that you feel like teams? So, like, you know, you've got the Duarte thing that there's some interest there. You talked earlier about maybe Toronto has some interest in Evan Mowgli.

Is there any intel that you have gotten on, how do I say this, where a lot of people think there is a player, slash team marriage that is sure to happen. You know what I'm saying? That there is a connection between the two that everybody kind of thinks, oh, he'll end up there. Not at this moment, no. No. Not at this moment.

And there has not been any word that you have heard of promises. Like Duarte probably has a floor. That's the Lakers. That number 22. That's probably his floor. Right. whether it's a promise or whether it's a strong indication. I don't know.

Like, that's unclear right now. But it seems like 22 would be the spot that, like, he's not dropping past that. Have there been any surprises to you on the green room invites? Um, no. Those names continue to, like, filter out of guys. I remember, like, the first one, you know, that people like kind of poked up. But there's 20, there's 20 that have been invited there. Um, but I know when, when Kai Jones.

was invited. People were like, oh, okay, Kyle Jones, but Cade Cunning, here, I'll just list him. Cade Cunningham, Jalen Green,

Evan Mowbly, Jalen, Suggs, Jonathan Cominga, Barnes, Mitchell, Book Knight, Keon Johnson. He's dropped in your mock. When I talk to people,

they tell me he doesn't know how to play. He's just, he's a very, very raw player. Yeah. Freakow athlete, though. Yeah. Unbelievable athlete.

No. Franz Wagner, Josh Giddy, Well, I don't know about Giddy. Tell me about him. Giddy played in the same league that La Mello Ball did, the NBL down in Australia. Talented playmaker, tall at 6 foot 8. Like, his feel for the game is high level for a teenage kid, right?

Like, super high level. Needs to improve his shot. Needs to improve his athleticism, you know, with strength and conditioning and all that comes in the NBA. But he's fluid, fluid athlete. fleet, skilled around the rim, he can pass with either hand, like at a high level, like all types of passes around the court. I think he's going to be a really good player. It's just a matter of how good does his jump shot get to, how good does his defense

get to? And that's going to determine whether we're talking about like an All-Star or just a very, very, very good rotation player. Jalen Johnson, he's been a little lower than being on this list, right? Like, I mean, there's people certainly in Mox. I don't know your updated one. It doesn't have Johnson in the top 20. I had it.

I had it at 23, which is a possibility. He's another guy that's hard to pinpoint right now. Yeah, yeah, yeah. Jalen Johnson, Corey Kisper, Moses, Moody, Kai Jones. They received the first batch of 15 invites. So that was the first 15. And then they added more. You know, more guys are invited.

I guess they do their intel. Sengoon, your guy. Yep. Turkish. Badass. Al Perrin Sengoon. Cameron Thomas, who we talked about on Tuesday. Yeah, talented score.

Zaire Williams from Stanford. Chris Duarte and Isaiah Jackson. So those were the final five nods that got there. And so I was trying to look and try to match that up against your mock draft. Is there anybody that you have in your top 20? currently Sharif Cooper from the Knicks

He's not invited He was not invited I believe And is there one more Or is that it Garuba Garuba The Big from Spain

Because he's in the Olympics So he wouldn't be In the green room Oh okay By Garuba otherwise would be Garuba and Sharif Cooper Yes those are the only two

That I don't have And the guys that are outside My current top 20 For the mock Are Jalen Johnson Out of Duke Who you mentioned earlier and Isaiah Jackson not of Kentucky.

And those guys, I have a 23 and 24. I mean, right on the border. My next mock update, they very well might be in the top 20. It's all so fluid still. We know the way this stuff goes. I mean, a couple years ago, Bull, Bull was sitting there. He was sitting there.

So it is certainly no guarantee. It obviously bodes well for the majority of those players, but inevitably there will be players sitting there. No doubt about it. There'll be somebody on that list that goes very late in the first round or in the second round even. You know? That we just all,

it's almost like a consensus, top 20. They usually do a really good job about this. Somebody might get med flagged. Obviously, there's guys that go higher that nobody thinks are going to go higher. Like,

I mean, you and I just talked about on Tuesday, the other kid from Baylor. If that kid goes in the lottery or something, people aren't going to be like, what the hell's going on? No. They're going to say is,

everybody knew this guy was crazy talented. They took the men. flags off and now he's going to get drafted high. Where he's going to go? There are executives I've spoken to around the league, multiple people who have said, I like Butler more than Mitchell. So now that moves everybody down.

You know what I'm saying? All it takes is one of those guys. Or like you said, that Jela Johnson guy from Duke, right? He's a big recruit, huge recruit. You know, somebody just says, you know what? I'm not, I just watched Cam Reddish in the playoffs.

Cam Reddish is going to be what I thought I was. And I started to not like him because of his Duke year. So I'm done doing that crap. I'm not going to hold it against them. They went and they played a weird year for 25 games. It didn't take. But I know what that kid was when he was playing in high school and he was as good as anybody. You know, and so I'm taking him.

You know, I mean, that stuff happens every single year, right? where you can look past maybe their college year or their statistics weren't all that impressive, but their preps career or when they saw them at the hoop summit or whatever it may be, you know, once upon a time. Look, I promise you, I saw when Reddish had that one big game when he came back in the playoffs, there were a ton of players. that were like in his age range

that were all like we tried to tell you about Cam we tried to tell you about and I'm like I'm reading all of it and I'm like oh boy you want to talk about a guy that had the respect of his peers as a prep right like they all knew him they all were like everybody's been sleeping on Cam we told you

Cam was the one you know and it's like hold on now right like it was a different players some of those young players in the league they were talking about Cam Reddish in a different way, you know, as someone who they had played with growing up, and they all knew he's awesome. And now he's finally showing people that he's awesome.

And this is the guy that we saw when, I mean, Kim Reddish was as big a recruit as you. I mean, five star, five star, you know, on all the best teams of the peach jam type crap. You know, everybody loved him. Everybody. Everybody thought he was destined for stardom. And it's taken a little bit. and he started to show real glimpses in the playoffs. Made me rethink of it for sure,

because I didn't like him. Yeah, for sure. I don't like him. Major talent. Oh, by the way, speaking of another one like that, the other kid for Atlanta, ugh, the Akangwu story. Yeah, now having surgery.

Shoulder surgery, eight months. Yeah. That is rough way. That's a rough way to start a career. He showed glimpses too. He looks really good, dude. Really good. He poked one on Yonis.

He poked one on Yonis. And everybody was like, what? Who is that? Because he didn't, like, his rookie year was not a huge, huge year. All right. So with a week left to go in this NBA draft, do you sense that there are going to be a lot? I just, I mean, I feel like we stop 20 times to talk.

about possible moves and trades and everything else, does it feel like this is going to be an extremely active draft? Maybe. Maybe. I think I'll give you a better answer on Tuesday's show. Tuesday show I'll have a better answer for you. There's a lot of conversation happening now. There's always a lot of conversation. How much of it becomes real by Tuesday and Wednesday, that'll determine whether this is an active deadline. And it's also worth keeping in mind here, though, Chris, some of the conversations now could just carry over to the free agency period, which will only be five, six days after the draft.

And speaking of, Kev, you know, people start talking about restricted free agents. And I was looking through all the list. It has been intensely uncommon. I mean, I don't think people realize this. We always talk about restricted free agency and it's like, oh, this guy could go and this guy, there's only been a handful of guys that have signed offer sheets and walked away from their team, right? Very few. That does happen.

I mean, we just saw it this past year with Bogdanovich, right? In Atlanta, I believe once in a while time Gordon Hayward, right, walked away from a free agency. And it has happened, but there's only been a few ever that have like just signed a qualifying offer and played it out. out and risked it. Greg Monroe 100 years ago, we'll probably never, ever see it again. But like all these restricteds that I keep hearing about, like, we always talk about like, hey, this guy could move and this guy could move, and he's a restricted free agent. And generally, they don't. They, A, there's usually not offer sheets even extended. And B, they usually just go back to their team anyway. Very, very few ever changed teams. And yet when I looked at these this year, I'm not so sure that trend is not going to change.

So John Collins, I'd expect John Collins will be back in Atlanta, but Bruce Brown, Devante Graham, Malik Monk, Lori Markinen, Jared Allen, who we referenced earlier, Horton Tucker, they extended a qualifying offer to him today, did the Lakers, Kendrick Nunn, Duncan Robinson, Lonzo, Josh Hart. I mean, like, you know, it's been kind of, I'm in place where I usually look at these and I say, yeah, okay, everybody talk about restricted free agency, but the truth is when push comes to shove, these guys bring back their players, right?

And then if they want to move them after that, right, they've got value. Clearly somebody else was willing to pay that if they signed an offer sheet and you just decided to keep them. We saw the Bogdanovitch one, which is a big one. Last year, I kind of feel like four or five of those names that it is not. out of the realm of possibility that they actually do sign offer sheets and end up on other teams. What do you think when you hear

those names that I threw out? I'm not so sure all those teams are gonna for sure bring those guys back. I had an executive say to me this week, he expects more sign and trade deals than ever in a single off season. And it's partially because of the exact point you're hitting on, Chris.

Some of those restricted fits if they were to return are more shaky. And the other flip side of it also is that those players could get significant offers. Eric Pinkis over at Bleacher Report had a nice story earlier this week involving Taylor and he and executive tell him, I'd max out Horton Tucker.

I've heard a similar sentiment from multiple people. Not that they specifically would, but there's belief that he could be maxed out. And maybe this is team. is just, yeah. Well, his max, as Pink has put in the article,

would be 83 million over four years. So a tick over 20 mil per. And only a certain amount of teams can make that type of offer because of, you know, NBA cap rules. So that's where the,

it's a lower cap number. That's not 30. It's near 20. You paid, Taylin Horton Tucker, 20 million dollars. He hadn't done anything yet. Yeah,

he hasn't proven a lot, but he has flash of skill, for sure. You got to prove something before I'm doing that. Look, that's where the number came from. Because I read somewhere today, somebody talking about Duncan Robinson getting 20 million a year. And I was like, whoa, really? Yeah, Duncan Robinson could be in the move too, potentially.

No, but that's where that number comes from. It's probably the same, right? Because he's on that same, you know, that same trajectory. as what somebody could theoretically give him. Boy, I mean, that would, that would shock me. And look, if you're the Nets, you want to bring back Bruce Brown. I don't know what happens with like Devante Graham and Malik Monk. You're probably not bringing back both of those guys.

It seems like the marketing ship is sailed in Chicago, but I don't know. Jared Allen, I'd assume you want to bring back. the one that has gotten the most talk that unless they do get Kyle Lowry which was reported that the Pelicans might have interest in him I find it very difficult to believe that when Zion and Ingram both came out publicly stumping for wanting Lonzo back

that they would let Lonzo walk somewhere else sign an offer sheet somewhere else and walks Unless they're getting Kyle Lowry or something. Sure. Sure seems like they're ready to let go of Lonzo. You think so? Yeah, sure seems like it. Do you see that Instagram post he put up last week?

No. Buddy. What did he say? I mean, no, no, no, no. It's not what he said. There's a video of him working out in the summer. And look, anybody can make a highlight video of a workout and make themselves look really good. But what they can't do is bullshit on that shot.

Kevin. I'd encourage anybody could go. watch this video, his shot looks unbelievable. It's gotten better every year. It looks better than it even did last year. He looks like a real shooter shooting the ball. And I'm like, oh, hell. Like, if he's, you know what I mean?

I mean, it's money time. I get it. It's a nice video to put up when it's money time. But I was like, when I was watching the video, I'm like, I mean, I saw that dude shoot the ball. ball from the side of his head in college. I watched it shooting it from like his opposite ear. And to see, you got no excuse of your Ben Simmons because this kid was shooting cross-face

chicken wing style. And he looks like Larry Bird shooting the ball now. It's crazy. It's crazy. If you see the video, it's wild to watch it. knowing I know what his shot looked like and how ridiculous it was. And he has just broken that thing down completely and he shoots like a real shooter shoot. And damn, he was draining him.

And I was like, man, there's another one. Everybody decided what Lonzo was, where he is. Philonzo ends up becoming amazing. It will not shock me. I'm serious. I hope he does. It'd be great. I'd love if both Flonzo and Lamello are awesome.

How cool would that be? Oh, it'd be super cool. By the way, we do need to mention, congratulations to Willie Green. He got that job. This is one of those. That hire is so much bigger than other hires. It just is.

Because we know the repercussions. of it, right? If it doesn't work, if the Willie Green hire does not work, you're in super danger mode. You just are. Because there is the institutional knowledge of what took place with AD. And we have the Zion thing. And you will have then had, if it doesn't work, now you've pissed three years away. You know what I'm saying? Now you piss three. If it doesn't work. If it works, you may have just, right, locked in and had a superstar that wants to be there for a long time, you know, and play for this coach and communicates and grows with this coach and these other players. And he doesn't sit there and say, I need to go elsewhere to achieve what I want

to achieve. This is a major one. Same way with, look, we thought that, like, they already locked up, Luca. So they can get away with it. The Jason Kid thing doesn't work out. It's fine. They got Luca on the contract, right? But the Zion thing going forward. He could like not sign a restricted max offer and say, I'm going to, I'm going

to take the qualifying and become an unrestricted free agent. He could be the first. K.P. threatened to do it. He threatened to do it with New York. Maybe Zion will actually do it or, again, threaten to do it in order to get a trade. All I'm saying is if that doesn't work. and you don't make the playoffs again.

Now. Danger zone. It's danger zone, man. Yeah, it's danger zone, man. Yeah, good luck to Willie Green. Yeah. He is the third youngest coach in the NBA. Pelicans.

I mean, Willie Green can be under a lot of pressure there and David Griffin. I mean, because David Griffin is the guy who hires him. And now they're in a situation they're talking about, you know, I heard David Griffin loves Kyle Lurie. He wants Lurie badly for that team. I think my, my, I, this is me only speaking, you know, about what I'm thinking could be happening here. My understanding, like, is the Pelicans really want Kyle Lari.

Let's say they don't get Kyle Lari. Let's say he stays in Toronto or goes somewhere else. If that happens, should the Pelicans say, you know what, screw it, we're going to go for Damien Lillard. Should they say screw it? We're going to go for one of the best point guards of basketball, even though he's over 30. We're going to give up all these draft picks, a bunch of few,

future first, a couple pick swaps, maybe even Ingram or another young guy, whatever it takes to make the salaries work to make the deal happen. Do you think the Pelicans, even if Deem didn't have the Pelicans on his list, should go for something like that because you'd be pairing, pairing Damien Lode with Zion Williamson? Look, of course. I would never tell you not to do that. I do think that that's option three. That Lowry's first. Lowry's first because you can just outright. in them either, you know, for just an outright signing or a sign-trade. Second is bring back Lonzo.

I don't know if they would agree with Lonzo being second, but I get it. I get it. I get it. I get it. I would just say, all right, I'm going to do this. Or if I can't do that and I can't add this kind of guy, then I'm going to bring back my young core. And I'm Bolton Lava.

I'm moving Ingram. I think Ingram is better off elsewhere as a better fit elsewhere. not alongside Zion and I think the Pelicans can find better fit for Lonzo or Lowry and Zion, right? I will say when I hear that Lowry thing

there's a lot of Chris Paul Sun's energy there's no way you can't think about that. I do think Lowry is like the kind of guy that could walk in and change a culture. He really could. He brings accountability.

You see videos and hear stories about his leadership. Guys love him, but they also respect him. Absolutely. And it feels a lot like the bring the older, several-time All-Star, you know, and you could have this tremendous impact on a young team that hasn't done anything, just like Chris Paul brought to Phoenix,

where it like changes the whole thing, you know, and I could see that taking place. Now, that being said, I think Darrell should get him. I do. Lowry. Goent to Villanova, Philly kid,

end your career there. Assuming he wants to go there. Assuming he wants to go there. Filly kind of player, pairing him up with Embed. Maybe I can shop around with the, I mean, we'll see.

He might want Miami. Might. He might. We'll see. I mean, like, and the, the Pelicans,

I don't know. I would be surprised if Lowry signed there. I would. Unless they offer him way more money than anybody else is willing to were able to. And then that's probably a mistake.

Just because of the pinch it puts you with the rest of your roster. And unless you're David Griffin, you're thinking, we do this deal because Lowry, regardless of what it takes, you might be paying him more, but if that means Zion resigns in a couple of years, no problems. You know, that's the variable here is about extending the life of Zion Williamson. And, like, Lowry's the bridge that could help teach the team

how to win, get him into the playoffs, you know? And imagine that, hey, and imagine that, Kevin. Guess what? You had Drew Holiday. Yeah. Yeah, you did. So now you're a year later, it's like, oh, we need to get, we need to get a better a culture changer.

He's not a culture changer, though, like Larry is. No, no, I'm aware. But you mean the style of play, the irony of it all is that, okay, now we're going to build. And then it's the, you know, this stuff is working much quick. win quick. You know, we don't live in a,

you know, I don't think that you're going to get another Devin Booker where it's okay for seven years to not be playing in the playoffs. You won't with Zion. You won't. No. No.

I mean, like, Pelicans, Delicans don't want to hear it, but it's real. I mean, it's, he will not take it. No,

no. He won't take it. And especially, I mean, you're on the sideline, not watching the playoffs again. Like, you do,

you are, that's why that coaching hire was such a big deal and that's why what they do in the off season you got to win you got to be a playoff team next year he's already had two coaches and two seasons he's about to have a third

that's right in his third season that's right when is it going to end if you're a player in his camp you might be asking I mean like a time it has to work and Willie Green, 39 years old, by all accounts, did a great job with the Warriors as an assistant. Great job with Phoenix as an assistant. Very highly regarded assistant coach in the NBA.

As we've said, 100 million times. It's a different skill set, you know, just like the Army. Not everybody's a general. Right? There's a lot of good, right? And you just don't know. We just don't know. We're about to find out. We're about to find out. Having a guy like Larry sure would help a rookie He had coached though. Hell yeah. And there's only two, there's only two guys younger. When I saw that he, they said he's 39, he becomes the third youngest coach. And obviously I was well aware Taylor Jenkins was younger in Memphis.

He's 36 years old. But I always forget this. That Mark Dagnall guy in Oklahoma City, he's 35. He's just a younger. He's 35 years old. I mean, every time I read it, I'm stunned. Like, they're like, Willie Green, not yet 40 years old. He's the third youngest.

And I'm like, who is younger than him besides Taylor Jenkins? And I always forget that that guy at Oklahoma City is 35. That's incredible. Yeah. It's incredible. There's a lot of guys in the NBA over 35, including LeBron James, right? And Chris Paul. Yeah, Chris Paul, too.

Yeah, Chris Paul, too. It got players that are over 35. Before we get out of here, speaking of LeBron James, did you watch it? I did watch Space Jam too. I did. You saw it in theaters?

I saw it on HBO home. Opening night. Opening night. Opening night. Was it a packed theater? Look, now, I have an 11-year-old and a 9-year-old. So we were going to,

and my 11-year-old who watches NBA games with me, And my 9-year-old, who 8-year-old, that is consistently aware of everything that is being promoted to children also, whether it's on her tablet or it's coming in and watching the games with us or whatever, there was an extreme awareness of space jam for a long time. And so then when the marketing started going, it opens this week, opens this week, opens this week, opens this week. yes, we were going to be there opening night. I am going to shock some people here. I have been, as a father who loves spending time with my children, I've gone to many movies that I did not want to go to over the course of the last 11 years. A lot of them.

I have seen an inordinate amount of children's movies and movies that were meant to entertain the kids. And I'm talking everything from frozen to peas and people. Pikachu, to angry birds, to ones that you wouldn't even, you know, Ferdinand, the one where John Cena's like the, you know, the voice of a cow, the toy stories, all of them, you name it, I've seen it, for the most part, kids, movie, much better than I thought it was going to be. Okay, okay. My expectations, I watched the trailer, and I was absolutely mortified at the idea of having to go

sitting in the theater and watch this. I thought the trailer was so bad the whole like Granny's drinking a martini at a half time. I'm like, bro, like I can't do this. No. And I did not want to. And got there and watched it.

It's too long. There's no way around that. Two hours. Come on. That's ridiculous. That's outrageous. I mean, it's 30 minutes before you see a loony tune. Come on.

Let's get to the point here. And the game. too long. But more jokes that I actually audibly laughed at than I would have imagined, loved all the, how they integrated all the Warner Brothers characters and everything. I love the part where Daffy Duck was dressed like Superman and called himself a super duck. Yeah. I like the Looney Tunes because I grew up. I grew up with Looney Tunes. So I like all those characters and I don't know man my expectations were it's the it's hard for me because I see all these people talking about it I guess you would just have to know of how bad I thought it was

going to be and then how pleasantly surprised that I was entertained for two hours generally entertained for two hours that I walked out and I had to a good feeling about. I was like, you know what? I've seen way worse than that. Way worse. That's not even, that's not even in the top, I don't know, five or ten of the most bored I've been at a kids movie. I mean, it's a kids movie. It's one of the kids. Kids movie. Yeah. But some of the jokes were relatable for a basketball fan. It's like when it was said, if King James wins, you get to go back to your boring, regular lives. Yes, great. And then it cuts to LeBron. He's like,

It makes his face. Like, I've heard that before. Well, and the whole, like, Don Cheadle, like, you know, he'll leave you like he left Cleveland, like he left Miami, like he left Cleveland again. You know? It's all funny. But, I mean, I just. Or LeBron's saying when, like, they show AD come out as his character. What you do by Boy A.D.? Yeah.

It's so good. Yeah. I mean, it's not, it's not even like a good or great movie. I thought it was a good kids movie. That's what I mean. And there was the type of. stuff like as a parent, right, or as an adult, right? There are some jokes that you could get if you're an NBA fan or if you're an older person.

Well, like, there's kids movies that are in orange in there, Chris. Oh, I know. There's kids movies that are in a different, like, pantheon, right? For sure, right? Like, and I'm talking, like, that I feel. Because, again, I've watched them all. Original Lego movie, that's a 50 out of 10. My favorite.

My favorite that I've ever Elite movie. My favorite that I've ever My favorite kids movie that I went and watched And I even like the Lego Batman one For sure because he's hilarious. I didn't see that one.

The Lego Batman was hilarious. The Toy Stories Of course. The different tier. Right. So all those. But then like when you're talking about all the other stuff Like a lot of the,

I've seen all the Pixar's, most of them are all really good. The first cars. one was really good and then they got worse. Finding Nemo was really good. How to train your dragon? Something like that. Yeah, like that kind of stuff.

Like, you know, but once you get into like just the average kids movie that comes out, the Alvin and the chipmunks tier, if you want to say, like that kind of stuff. How about Coco? You see Coco? Coco is awesome. It is one of the only ones I haven't. You got to watch Coco. Watch Coco with your kids.

Both the kids watch. They went, they went. Oh, so they didn't see it. Okay. You should watch it by yourself then. You might,

you might tear up alone in front of your laptop, just watching it. Yeah. It's a great movie. The ones that people tell me I'm going to tear up. I don't really, I kind of stay away from. Yeah.

No, no emotion from Verna. No, like I, I'm a crier. Yeah, me too. I am.

No, I am. Like, if you, you get me, you get me. And then I'm frigid sad about it. I mean,

I just, So if I know I gotta really be mentally prepared going into something, you know. But yeah, I just didn't think it sucked. And I was sure it was gonna suck. So I agree.

I give it credit. I didn't think it was going to be that enjoyable, but we recorded the pod. It doesn't suck. I watched it that night. Tuesday night? It was, yeah. Like,

I saw it was up. Oh, to get that bucks taste out of your mouth? I'm happy the Bucks won. I'm happy. No, you're not. I'm sad. You texted me and you said F the Bucs. I can't believe these idiots.

Please, Chris. I don't text that. Viva la Sons. Viva less sons. No, I'm sad for Sons fans, but incredibly happy for Bucks fans. I mean, like,

it's remarkable. But, um, but, um, you watched it that night. I did watch it that night. I did watch. You miss LeBron in the final so much. Yeah. Yeah, I was up until like 350 a.m. I think watching Space Gym 2 when I did not expect

to watch the whole movie that night. I was like, I'm going to wait until the morning to watch this probably halfway through, but I didn't. I stayed up. I enjoyed it. That's incredible. Too long. 350 a.m.? Too long, like you said. Were you under the influence of marijuana? No, I was not. Probably would have been way funny. It would have been even better, I'm sure. Would have way better. Even better.

I was not, I also was not under the influence of. marijuana when I watched it. It's illegal in Tennessee, isn't it? It is? It is it? Oh, shoot! I didn't know.

Look, man, I thought it was going to suck. It didn't suck. I'd give it credit. It doesn't suck. It does not suck. No, I agree. I don't agree with those like four out of ten ratings. It's better than that.

Of course it is. Especially for kids. Especially for kids. That's good for four. When I see an adult writing a real review trashing it, I'm like, oh, give me a break. Seriously? I understand the criticism of it with like some of the ad placement. Like when LeBron fell or something, it was like a Nike logo.

It's just kind of ridiculous, but it didn't hurt my enjoyment in the movie. I found it funny to see like a clockwork orange people on the sideline of a game. It was just ludicrous. I found it hilarious. I'll tell you this. I walked in, movie got done, I walked in the bathroom outside.

Two guys walk in there, two buddies. One says the other said, man, man, I knew it was gonna be like this. See, that's why I don't like LeBron.

Of course, I'm just sitting there, mind of my own business, taking a piss, but I'm listening. That's why I don't like it, but that whole movie was just about him.

Whole movie about him. And they were like really mad about it. And I'm just like, Of course, I'm like stifling my laughter. I'm like, bro, it doesn't matter if it's a basketball game, a movie. LeBron haters, that's real. I heard it outside of space. I was like, this dude was going to hate it no matter what.

He was going to hate it. He was going to hate that. He was going to hate the movie. He couldn't wait to complain to his buddy about LeBron. He went there to hate it. He paid opening night. It was 645 on opening night. That's the show I went.

too. This guy clearly hated LeBron James and went so that he could hate LeBron James more. Unbelievable. That's when you know you're the biggest, right? When somebody will pay,

when somebody will pay for a movie ticket to go and hate you, you've made it. I'm sure there was a lot of that tonight with the Kanye album stream. There's probably a lot of people who tuned into that just to feel like this sucks. Oh.

Yeah, look, with anybody that big, people have made up their minds going in. Very rarely. Whether it's love or hate. It could be like the worst alum ever and people be like, this is incredible. I haven't heard yet. We recorded this podcast while the stream was happening. We did. I look forward to listening to the album to see how it is.

I do too. I hope we got old Kanye. Yeah, I hope so too. I hope. We'll see. I'm sure we'll see all the reviews. That, yeah, I'm not, I don't think I'm going to look at, well, then again, I don't know if it's available for streaming right now as we speak at 11.03 p.m. Eastern. But I might avoid reviews. I might avoid Twitter the next hour, just so I can get a fresh listen with no feedback. Not the worst idea. Hopefully everybody gave this a fresh listen with no feedback. The mismatch episode. By the time we get the next week, we are going to be talking a ton of NBA draft and there will be a, bunch more rumors and news

ahead of that. Go to for the NBA draft guide. So find the the 2021 NBA draft guide with all my scattering reports. Go to NBA draft dot the ringer.com or go to my Twitter page at Kevin O'Connor NBA and it's pinned right at the top. Awesome. Can't wait to see it

updated in the coming days and week because we are now less than when people are Listen to this. Less than one week away from the draft. I love the NBA season. It just ended and we turned around. It's right at the NBA draft.

Here we go. Kevin, have a good weekend. I will talk to you next week. Thank you to producer Sasha as always. And next Tuesday it is.