The Mismatch - Zach Edey, Jared McCain, and Impressive Rookie Debuts. Plus: DeMar’s Impact on the Kings' Offense.

Episode Date: July 9, 2024

Verno and KOC go through the most intriguing rookie debuts from over the weekend, starting with Jared McCain and Adem Bona with the 76ers (02:12). Next, they discuss Zach Edey’s impressive debut with the Grizzlies and why he’ll fit perfectly in Memphis alongside Ja Morant (14:40). Also, the guys discuss who they are most excited to watch at this year’s summer league in Las Vegas, why they like DeMar DeRozan signing with the Kings, and how the Spurs’ offseason has set them up for success now and into the future (25:00). Got a question for Verno and KOC? Send them an email at [e-mail]!Or you can send the guys a tweet @ChrisVernonShow and @KevinOConnorNBA! The Ringer is committed to responsible gaming. Please visit www.rg-help.com to learn more about the resources and helplines available. Hosts: Chris Vernon and Kevin O’Connor Producer: Jessie Lopez Social: Keith Fujimoto Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

This is Bill Simmons. I am thrilled to announce our newest YouTube channel. It's called Ringer Movies. If you're a fan of our movie coverage here at The Ringer, then you're in luck. Because every episode of The Rwatchables and The Big Picture, now on YouTube. Like Bill said, Ringer movies will feature full episodes of my show, The Big Picture, the Rewatchables, as well as special live episodes, deep dives into movie history, and a bunch of other fun stuff featuring other movie-loving Ringer personalities.

Search Ringer movies on YouTube and Experience the Joy, Chris Ryan impersonating Wayne Jenkins on camera. Welcome to the mismatch. I'm Chris Vernon and joining me on this Tuesday morning from the ringer.com is Kevin O'Connor, a.k.a. Kevin O'Bomber, Kevin O'Connor, Kevin O'Connor, Kevin O'Conflict, Kevin O'Cand-Cand-Cand-E-Land-C-E-D-E-D-Pol. Kevin O'-D-Sphere. Oh, do you want to know how much joy it gave me to just see your timeline last night over on X, seeing Eity, Edy posts over and over and over, all the excitement, the redemption, the screening, the finishing, the blocking. It just made me happy.

That's all. I just wanted to get that out there. I don't know if we're going to talk about Zach Eadie, but I just had to say that. You mean, are we going to talk about Zach Eadie, who's rookie of the year odds? have dropped from plus 2,500 to after getting drafted to plus 1,200 to as of this morning, plus 700. Wow, really? Oh, my God. One summer league performance, and the guy has moved to 7 to 1 to win rookie of the year.

Wow. Figure that out. Oh, my God, on Fandul. Vandil this morning. This morning, it's moved again. He's plus 600, the favorite. So don't tell us that we're overreacting to Summer League. The markets are overreacting to Summer League.

It has been fun to have basketball on since the weekend. And obviously you and I are both going to be headed out to Vegas for Las Vegas Summer League. Oh, yeah. Everybody was going to be paying attention to these guys the first time out. We saw the Lakers over the weekend. Dalton Connect kind of struggling, Bronny playing one game and then missing the second game. I would just wonder,

do you think we see him play in Vegas, though? Is he going to miss all the Summer League now? I hope not. I mean, he's got $8 million either way. Good for him, huh? Right? So anyways, then we saw Kulal where for Miami? You know, fine first game, like, you know,

five for 12, 12, 12, 6 rebounds. But then the second game, they obviously were going to feature him. And he ends up taking 21 shots and he ends up with 26 and 11. So that was good to see him. I think we've seen a little of Stefan Castle, you know, kind of productive, missed some shots, but productive in the Spurs game. And so it's just fun to see these guys in NBA uniforms for the first time.

And then last night saw in the first game, your guy Jared McCain looked good. He looked really good. And like he looked good. He looked good even not hitting three. He was 0 for 6 from 3, but he was getting to the basket. He had that beautiful lob pass to a Dembona. He had some really slick finishes around the rim, you know, finishing from awkward angle, showing that it's 6-2, 6-3 he can finish around length from, you know, in difficult situations.

So, I mean, I was really impressed by McCain's first game, especially considering he didn't do what he does best. He was 0 for 6 from 3. So I think that's really encouraging for him. Well, and we talk about these guys where, Every year, we always talk about opportunity and fit. And now that is so many times the most important thing that is going to shape the trajectory of these guys' career. And there was no doubt, as I was watching those games last night, there were two exact instances of this where I had that sensation.

The first was with McCain because I was thinking to myself, boy, this is going to be great for him to be on a good team that is competing. and he doesn't matter. Like, he's playing with Tyrese, he's playing with Paul George, he's playing with Joelle Embed, his success or failure is not going to determine their successor failure on any given night, and he's going to be able to fit in where he is, in many cases, fifth option, sixth option on this team, playing behind veterans, but still getting his opportunity.

And being a part of a winning team with a winning culture, with a great coach, and he gets to just be the other guy that is out there and not get a tremendous amount of defensive attention and be able to do what he does best. He also looked fast with the ball to me last night as a garden. So it was kind of exciting to see him. You know, we talk about that range in the draft. and so many times it is because in that range in the draft, you are theoretically going to better organizations, better run organizations, and for whatever circumstance they have this pick in the middle of the first round,

and so many of those guys that we've seen have flourished, not the least of which was Hawkes last year. Same kind of deal, where it's like, okay, would Hamay Hakez have done that with the wizard? maybe, but I think we both agree that it was best for him to be in the situation that he was. And I think that's probably true with McCain. And Bona, too. I mean, he falls to the 40th pick in the second round.

And Bone is one of those guys. We see that in the game last night. We saw that in his years at UCLA. The dude just like never stops. He just never stops hustling. And so I think you look at the Sixers team as a whole. You look at, you know, they add Paul George as their big free agent. They get Caleb Martin.

They get Eric Gordon. They get, you know, Andre Drummond, all these veterans. They bring back Ubre. And they have this complete roster of veterans. Well, I think the last two years, having these young guys on rookie scale contracts, whether it was Christian Brown with Denver, two seasons ago or last season with the Celtics, Pritchard in the fourth year of his rookie scale contract, Sam Houser. the seventh guy in your rotation, still on his rookie scale,

is an undrafted free agent. For the Sixers, you have this expensive roster with Maxie and Bede and George, filled in with role players, but then you have McCain and you have Bona. If they hit both of those picks in this year's draft, if they did, and we'll see how things happen over the course of time, that deepens your rotation so much more, provides you cheap support in the rotation with these rookie scale guys.

And I really think Bona could contribute early on. And with McCain, I mean, we'll see. I think anytime you're a 6-2, 6'3 guard, there could be an adjustment period. But you're in the right situation surrounded by length and versatility in the front cord and having a bead behind you. So I think for both of those guys, there's a real chance during the regular season. You see Nick Nurse, like they're that eighth or ninth guy in the rotation, even as rookies. And it won't surprise me one bit if at some point during the season you've got six or four. fans that are like, I can't stand when Nurse puts drumming in there over Bono.

I just think Bono is one of those types of guys with his energy as a big man that it's hard not to give him minutes. And probably cost Paul Reed his spot. Yes. Oh, without a doubt. Yeah. Once you watched him last night, very similar in spots where you're watching and you're seeing this kind of athletic energy, kind of what he brings to the table.

And you see, boy, this is very Paul. read esk in some ways. They're going to love them. They're going to love. Oh, for sure. Love them. Well, and you know, I told you, I didn't have this incredible familiarity with him, but I had read that article saying he was the guy that did more workouts than anyone in the draft.

And I was like, okay, I'm in love. I'm in love for the guy that wants anybody, anytime, anywhere, any court, I'm willing to prove myself. And another one of those guys, he was like a McDonald's, All-American. So it's not like this guy who's some nobody, just was not part of great team, you know, during his last year at UCLA. And sometimes you can get some real steals.

We'll see what happens with him. Let's just touch on the Sixers thing real quick. Let me circle back to that Caleb Martin thing because we have not spoken. We're going to do a little free agency stuff a little bit later on the stuff that we have not talked about yet. That Caleb Martin story is crazy. where Barry Jackson, who covers the Miami heat and has for many years, writes this story about how there were like two weeks of negotiations.

It got superheated. Obviously, when any, anytime that takes place where somebody terms the negotiations superheated, that means egos get involved. That means guys start yelling at each other. Guys get hurt feelings. And then you have some kind of weird circumstance that takes place afterwards. and the weird circumstances, this. The reporting was that there was a $65 million deal on the table for Caleb Martin.

His agent said that that is not fair market value. The heat are basically like, what is wrong with you, right? Like, I mean, Caleb Martin, he averages 10 points a game. Like, okay? And here's the $65 million. And then it's like five. for 65. And then he turns around and signs

four for 32 with the Philadelphia 76ers. And I don't care how anybody wants to twist their head in a pretzel with a, well, it'll get to start there or, yeah, we'll have a better opportunity there. Yeah, they've got a better chance in a championship. It's $30 million. You know, that I don't, it's just a craziest circumstance.

And you're paying more state taxes in Philadelphia than you would be in Miami as well. So it's actually the difference is probably even bigger than that. What an insane story. I know. To turn down 65 and then take 32? Yeah. If that's all true, it seems like he got bad advice.

That's the off-season bag fumble, that's for sure. But maybe he'll end up in a better spot. And I must tell you, I laugh so hard with Woj's framing of the Caleb Martin signing. Did you see this? No. I've never seen this. I saw the initial post,

but did he say something else afterwards? Okay, so we always talk about how whoever becomes champion in many ways is going to dictate the trends of the league. And so if there's a, you know, like last year when Yokic is there, or you've looked at some of the MVP's

recently and they've been big guys, then people are saying, hey, we really need a center. And then next thing you know, Mo Wagner's getting that kind of contract and Goghattis getting the kind of contract he's getting and all like the center market got swooped up. Nick Claxton's getting $100 million,

et cetera, et cetera. And then this year we have the Celtics win. And so you think, okay, now maybe there's going to be teams that look, especially in the Eastern Conference, and they're going to go, what is our best way to be able to overtake the Celtics. And so I say all that to say, when Caleb Martin signed with the Philadelphia 76ers,

Woj tweeted out his stats versus the Celtics. I've never seen that in my life. I've never seen it was like his stats versus the Celtics and about how he is like better versus the Celtics than he is. He's like as highest averages against any team versus the Celtics. It was the most pointed. Oh, yeah, yeah, yeah.

Isn't it crazy? Yeah, past two seasons, Martin has averaged 13.6 points, 50% shooting and 44% on three points versus the Celtics, including regular season of playoffs. That's his most points per game versus an Eastern conference opponent in that span. Is that wild? It says, and then he finishes per at ESPN stats and info. I think per Caleb Martin's agent. Maybe, but or per Darylemore. Yeah, poor per Daryl Moore.

Yeah, one of the two, could have been anybody. Yeah, which is like, why did we want Caleb Martin? Because Caleb Martin is awesome against the Celtics. Yeah, I mean, the funny thing is about Caleb Martin. It's not that front and center. It's funny because he's shot like 35% from three the past two seasons during the regular season, but he's been well over 40% from three in the playoffs. So I think, like, there's a lot of guys, their numbers get worse in the playoffs.

Their three-point percentages fall off a cliff, you know, closeouts are closer, pressures higher. But at least Caleb Martin in 20-plus games in the postseason, his play is elevated. So, like, he has stepped up two post-season in a row for Miami. I think those stats are relevant, but, you know, it's still kind of funny to see it just versus Boston and that's it. It would be like if P.J. Washington got signed by Oklahoma City, and they were like, PJ Washington shot better from three against Oklahoma City than any three-point shooter versus the thunder. Right. So anyways, Philadelphia has done a very good job in building out their team.

And so we started this by talking about McCain last night. The second game, oh boy. Oh, boy. Yeah, tell me, tell me. How do you feel? How are you feeling about Zach Eadie? How about those big screens he's going to set for John Morant? How excited does they get you?

Well, how is your bona? I was absolutely over the moon watching this guy last night. I'm so happy. And it may not be the reason. So now I'm going to have to come to terms with you and me being on the same page, which is not an easy thing to do. It's okay. It's all right.

It's okay. You can come to my team. Our mutual love. And look, you did me so dirty with that video. Because now. It was good content. It's great content. There are people out there that think like, oh, you hated this guy.

I hated Kevin. I didn't want. I didn't want. The reason I said I'm going to disappear is because you love him. that's the reason not because I think the guy's a total bum but I will say of my questions about him

a lot of those are not going to be answered when it comes to summer Of course. That being said he was going up against a real center in the NBA A guy that played for Team USA last summer in Walker Castle say whatever you want about Walker Kessler

I'm sure everybody's going to fall in love with Walker Kessler as soon as he becomes a Nick if that does end up taking place. That being said, he's a real seven-foot, legitimate, accomplished center in the NBA, who they are commanding a first-round pick if he's going to get traded. But Walker Kessler's a good player.

And so I thought it was going to be fascinating to see what it looks like in that setting. Now, it's twofold. One, you're playing against a guy who's a seven-footer, who's also not, stretching it out away from the basket. So the pressure that could be put on you defensively is not going to be the same because you are getting to guard a guy that is down on the blocks with you for the most part.

But I will say, even if you look at the tip that he had at the very end, he's mowing right through Kessler. Oh, so strong. He's overpowering him. He's mowing through him to get that tip. He's not the closest man to the basket on that. And the things that I loved about watching him last night were, A, moved his feet very, very well. But most importantly, he dove on the floor for a loose ball. He talked shit.

And when there was a little tussle underneath the basket, he was right there bumping the guy that was in the tussle. And I'm like, okay, this guy is going to really fit in. I mean, and here's a, here's, I will tell. I'm going to warn everybody about this because I already saw him tapping his head and all that crap last night and getting up in guys' faces and talking kind of wild. Ladies and gentlemen, allow me to tell you, you better be ready for this. Because there is nobody in the world that gasses people up like John Moran. he's that guy that's at the front and he's the one talking crazy and then all of a sudden everybody else starts talking crazy right and they all take on this personality if he's already

got that and then this guy's throwing up lobs to him or he's going in and throwing it high off the backboard and missing it now he's coming in and cramming on two guys and now he's now you're going to have a little running buddy that's talking crazy too along with you, Andy's gassing you up. This guy may be insufferable. High time it's done. Because he can talk on everybody. And now between

the two of them, oh, I can see a beautiful shit-talking partnership to say the least. And the other thing was, they together can say, we're fine in the West. Yeah. There's two things. Number one, they never threw him the ball.

And I think part of it is, I think part of it is, A, nobody plays basketball that way anymore. Nobody. Nobody throws it down to the center for an easy bucket. It just doesn't happen. What's that? And I'm actually going to defend guys on one level. How many have they ever thrown in, how many times do you think G.G. Jackson has thrown a post-entry pass. like I even remember like less than 10 in his life.

Well, so, you know, obviously I covered a team with Jonas Valcianus a couple years ago and he was a guy that you could throw it down to the post. You could run turn five, which is a clear out for the center and you could throw it down to him. But the guys that could do it, they were all like these like old soul kind of guys. You know, the kind of guys that you think about that are, uh, it would have been fine playing in the 80s. The Tyest Joneses of the world can throw those passes. and the Kyle Anderson's of the world that could throw those passes. But then the rest of the team, it was a damn debacle. You know, if you just needed to throw the ball into the post,

it's like nobody practices that. It's just not how basketball is played. How about Jake Laravia? You think he can throw an entry pass? No. La Ravia's, I mean, I mean, I guess he could, but I mean, you know, look, Summer League's the worst place in the world for Biggs and most cases, because you're trying to.

Everybody's trying to get their shots off. Everybody's taking a bunch of threes. And I got to be honest, if it weren't for Zach Eady being something to behold and playing well, that game would have been, I mean, it was.

If you took Zach Eady out of that, you could show the film of that to terrorists to get them to give up their secrets. Just turn it off, turn it off. It had 60s. Fowls, bro. 68 fouls. I mean, that is unwatchable.

Even the Kianti George's that line, 30 points. Big, big game, but 5.21 from the field. 17 of 19 from the free throw line. It was only fitting that the game ended with the target score with him at the free throw line. Like, it's just the only way that game could have ended. It was disgusting. Keante, George, had 19 free throws in that game. Who am I to complain about Summer League refs?

Go, and I figure this one out. Hi, Kianti George, take 19 free throws and Zach Edy took zero. That's impossible. I mean, we're getting Summer League reps and it was, the whole thing, it stunk. The game was just a mass. But it was cool to see a seven basketball. Seeing a seven foot four guy there, and I do think that if it's first impression, time, the first impression could not have been any better.

It couldn't have been any better. The guy rebound his position. The guy could move his feet and he was fun to watch, man. He was fun to watch. Also, they didn't get him any shots. So you kind of figure like, you know, it is going to be different for him where you're running up and down the court a lot. You're probably not getting a ton of shots because you're what?

At best, you're probably. taking the fourth amount of shots probably. I mean, you're certainly behind Morant Bain and Jackson. And then who knows how many smarts, smart's going to take some shots. And so I don't know how many shots of game. Jack Eadie's going to be taking,

but I will tell you this, he'll take a bunch just off of offensive rebounds and putting it back in. He is, Night one was good. Night one was good. I got to tell you, that's a big win for you.

Steal of the draft, rookie of the year, favorite. I saw our guy Haralob, Volgaris, he made a post recently about the Grizzlies

assistant coach that they hired, one of the better overseas coaches, an innovator on the offensive end of the floor, and he said how that might be the most underrated signing of the summer.

And, and that, Twos is also, you know, yes, two moss. And the Grizzlies made multiple chances.

changes on their coaching staff. Obviously, they got rid of everybody besides Anthony Carter, and they hired a brand new staff. And I responded to Horellabob. I said, well, if Zach Eadie's good right away, the Grizzlies have a chance to win the finals. And I think that's true. I genuinely do think the Grizzlies are one of those teams that belong in that lump of teams that have a chance to win at all. And that has to do with obviously Joss staying out there, Jaron Jackson continuing to progress, Zach Eady being good right away because you need your five in a lot of different playoff series. So I do think the Grizzlies with job back out there, assuming he's on the same trajectory he was on before. There's a real chance. This is like

one of those like from worst the first types of seasons. Not trying to get you too excited, Chris, but it is the way I feel about Memphis. Look, they were the two C two years in a row and everybody has forgotten. Exactly. It's not outrageous to say. It really isn't. I don't think it's a hot take by any means. I think it's a very sensible take, to be honest with you. So we just got to see Edie last night. He's obviously a big attraction because of his two college basketball national players of the year. And so people tuned in and were able to see that. When we head out to Summer League, who are you most excited to see in person or who would you attempt to seek out to see in person? Reed Shepherd, definitely most excited to see that game against the Lakers on Friday night. Reed Shepherd, little white guy, playing for Houston for the first time.

I think it'll just be interesting to see how his game translates against length and versatility. And also, I mean, if Bronny's playing on the Lakers side of that, it'll be a very fun crowd as well in Vegas. So I think Reed Shepherd versus Bronte James, that's what we marketed as. Really, Reed Shepherd versus Dalton Connected's two first round picks. But because I had Shepherd ranked first on my board. The Rockets, they said publicly they had him first on their board. They get him with the third pick. I just look forward to seeing, you know, first game, how things translate for him right away.

And he's got a couple guys to run with. Cam Whitmore, I believe, was put on their Summer League roster. A.J. Griffin on their Summer League roster. that are also. You surprised the Hawks gave up Griffin so quickly? Yes. Me too. I am.

And Cairo Lewis also. Another former Pelican. That's a former Pelican. I take that back. But yeah, Cairo Lewis, I saw he was on their Summer League roster as well for, I guess he was Utah,

right, um, in, uh, in that deal. But he, uh, yeah,

he's on that rocket's team, too. So, I mean, they got some guys you heard up for sure. on that Rockets team. And as you mentioned, Connect and Brony.

And then that second game, so it's going to be funny. You wonder how many people are going to clear out after the first game. So the way this is set up for this weekend, Friday night,

prime time, they're going to be having the Rockets versus the Lakers. And the place will be slammed because you got, you know, Reed Shepherd and his crew on one side,

as you mentioned, Bronny James on the other side. Inevitably, his father will walk in and there'll be a big buzz and he'll sit on the front row, I'm sure. Oh, I get maybe not. Well, they should be out there, right? Because their game against Canada is on Wednesday night. And so I'd imagine they'll probably be out there, probably for a bit.

But anyways, there'll be a big buzz about the Bronny thing. And then the second game that night is the annual one versus two. and it's Reese Sashay versus Sarr. And I can just see we're going to have Reed Shepherd versus Brody that one versus two is next. And people are heading towards the exits to go gamble and get some food. Time for dinner. Time for dinner. It is crazy, right?

They should have, if they want people to stay in the arena, they should have put the Brody game last. They're putting the one versus two as the last one. I also want to see Shepard's running mate from college, Dillingham. Me too, for sure. And that's earlier in the same night. That's like an early afternoon game. And wouldn't you say he's like the most, he's the most fun like slash built for summer

league kind of guard in this deal? Like you can see Dillingham having some big games in this deal. Oh, for sure. I mean, he'll be fun. like a 30 point, you know, banger, Keonté George style minus the free throws with actual made shots doing him good. Ron Holland, I told you many times. I didn't get to see him.

You know, I always like the guys that are a bit of a mystery. You know, I've never seen them before. And so outside of like YouTube. And so I tried to go see him in the G League last year. He got drafted much higher than most mock drafts had him. and he's going to be playing for that Pistons team. And I do think that he's someone that I do want to see in person, just to see kind of what it looks like and see if he looks much different

than the college kids that are coming in and having to do this for the first time. And especially the ones that are like first and second year college kids and now they're playing. It's a much different level, even in Summer League. The body types are different. you're not playing against, you know, other college kids. And so I do think that it's going to be fascinating to see of Holland. He went and played in the G League Ignite with a lot of success.

I could see him being like really great in Summer League simply because he's just, he's more advanced than his peers. You know, the guys that are coming into the draft, he's more advanced than them. And certainly more used to the speed, the contact, the way. the game is played in a way that rookies aren't necessarily. I think that that's a good one. I think like a guy going from the G League straight to Summer League, it should be a better translation for him,

transition for him. I think another kind of similar thought that I have about second year guys playing in Summer League is related to the Denver Nuggets. You've got, you know, all three of their guys that they drafted last season are going to be playing. Julian Strother, Jalen Pickett, Hunter Tyson. How do those guys look after a full year? of practicing against the Nuggets, getting some reps in the G League,

not playing a whole lot in the NBA, though, except for Strother. And then they have their rookie DeRon Holmes, P.J. Hall, an undrafted free agent, who I really liked, I thought he was a draftable player. So I think the Nuggets, a team that needed depth, they ran out of steam at the end of the playoffs against Minnesota. Their guys were exhausted. It's important for them to get some development from their rookies. And so I look forward to seeing how those guys look and see if there's actual progress.

rest since this past year. Is Peter Hall the Clemson guy? Yes, yeah. I saw him twice last year. Oh, you did, yeah. And I thought he was way better than I thought he was going to be. He's solid. He's just like a solid, you know, versatile, potentially versatile, you know,

six eight, six nine, big man. I mean, he needs to shoot. Like, he never really shocked a shot. He's a good college player, though. Yeah, good college player. Like, and if he figures out the jump, I think he can, you know, play some bench minutes for you, but we'll see if he figures out the shot. But I really like the Nuggets Rookie Class last year, and I'm excited to see Dairon Holmes.

You know, he's away from Dayton now. You know, the people who are skeptics of him around the league say, well, a level of competition wasn't great. Well, how does he look now in an NBA setting? So I think for the Nuggets Rookie this year, Deeron Holmes, and then there are three second year guys. This is a pretty important Summer League for Denver. I like Dayron Holmes at Dayton. I did. The other ones,

I was really upset about the, we have a mutual love for Devin Carter and he's going to have to have shoulder surgery. Who knows how long that takes to recover from? I hope it does not impact his ability to play, you know, his rookie season like he would want to. He said it could miss the start of the season,

which is unfortunate. Shoulder surgeries are not something to play with. And then like you, then you miss training camp, and then it sets back your entire rookie year. I don't know. Like that, that's a major.

Remember, it was right after, uh, right after the turn of the calendar that it was announced that Morant was having shoulder surgery. And he just got cleared. He just got cleared. Yeah.

It's July. So. And again, I don't know if the severity is anything like that, but I'm just saying like that, that was a shoulder surgery. And that, that took, a long time to recover from.

And so here's a kid who, and you do wonder if it was known prior to the draft, you know, but I really wanted to see him and stinks. And hopefully he'll be able to come back and, and play during this upcoming season, because you don't want it to, you don't want to hurt his growth and his ability,

because that's going to be a good team too, that Sacramento team, where he'll be able to fit in and we need to move on to them. We have not spoken since they added Demardorosen. I do not know your opinion on this. I love this, Kevin. I love it for them.

What do you love about it? I think that when you have the opportunity, especially at that cost, because he, he can perform like the guys that are getting paid 50, 60, 70 billion dollars. And he ain't close to that in terms of what he's going to cost them. He is still an outstanding get a bucket guy. That gives them two of them.

They now have the first and second leading fourth quarter scores on their team. I think that there are things with the Kings that obviously are. weaknesses, but their offense is a super strength. And sometimes when you have the, I look at it and I go, Harrison Barnes ain't knocking anybody down anyway. And so now what have I extracted and what am I replacing it with? And when I have seen the Kings in person, I have been super impressed by the amount of pressure they put on your defense. And that's when they had, you know, Harrison Barnes and and Keegan Bradley and

you know Keon Ellis and whoever playing the wings at one point I saw them and they had Duarte he they started him one night and so I've seen them with a rotating cast of characters but because Fox and Sabonis are both such good passers and and are willing

to get the offense in motion and move it then functions for everybody else and I think that you have to be super disciplined on defense well now if I'm adding a guy that could drop 25 any given night as another option on that wing, I think that, look, are they going to have some defensive issues? For sure.

But are they going to have any worse defensive issues because they have DeMargar Rosen instead of Harrison Barnes? I don't think so. And their offense could get exponentially better, which is scary because their offense when it runs right is awesome. they will score 150 points on multiple nights this year, this season. And I think the nights it clicks, you're not going to be able to score with them. So I don't mind the double down on the offense and the scoring, you know. Obviously they need some better interior defense for sure. But man, they are going to be able to get the ball and run.

And the offensive options they have are pretty devastating. Well, you know my feelings with the Kings. Well, I like it too. Hey! I do. I do like it too because I think with DeRosen, he's still one of the best clutch bucket getters in the NBA right now. He's still a mid-range king. He's still super efficient out of isolations and picking rolls.

He adds a different type of variety into what they can do offensively. Part of the reason why I talked last year about why wanted to see them pursue, say, Pascal Seacom. was what he could do as a screener and added it from the mid-range as an in-between guy from the forward spot. Well, I think DeRosen, a different type of guy, different sized player than Seacom, but the mid-range stuff adds a completely different ingredient from the way in which he does it as an ISO score. So I think Fox and DeRosen together, you know, like different flavors of scoring. I think it's important that DeRosen continues taking more spot-out threes. He did more last season for the Bulls than he has in many years. It's important that Sabonis actually finally becomes a higher volume guy.

He shot around 40% last season, but on like a shot of game. It's not like he's shooting them off. And so I think for spacing for the Kings, it's important that two guys who have not been high volume shooters over the years start taking more of them. So that's my only concern about it. I don't care about the defensive aspect. I think that's a concern no matter what. But De Rosen, I know people say, well, he's old. He's 34.

It'll be 35 next season. That doesn't change the fact that De Rosen and his years with the Spurs became a better playmaker, a better pick and roll shot creator. It hasn't changed the fact with the Bulls this past season. He took more threes than he ever had in his entire career. So even though he's older, it doesn't mean that DeRosen, a guy who's gotten better every year, can't make that tweak. And I think with DeRosen,

that's just a thought in the back of my mind. Will he do that this season? I wouldn't surprise me if he does, because I think he needs to for that King's offense to really elevate in the ways that we're talking about, aside from just his ISO scoring and pick and roll creation. Yeah, I bet he will. I bet he will.

I think so, too. Because they're going to be open because they create a lot of open shots for themselves, and they play fast. Yes, exactly. The speed, the movement. And also, they might have more. moves coming. I still think they have that Kevin Herder contract that they should try to move. I believe that they will try to move it. So if they can move Herder for like another Ford or something

like that, and if, you know, you get De Rosen, Fox, Keegan Murray, Sabonis, and then flip Herder into something else, I mean, you got a much better team. It's a better roster. So, you know, I'm happy for Kings fans that they get DeMarr. And I'm going to give them credit, man, because they're not happy being in the middle. So you take a swing at this stuff and they added a all-star caliber player without giving anything up. Yeah. What did I give up?

Like if it doesn't work. Well, you did give something up, Chris. You gave up a swap for the 2031 draft to the Spurs. I'll worry about that in 2031. I know, but like for, I know, but you did give something up. Okay. You did give something up. Not that immediately changes my team.

No, because you have to go for it. You can't just settle with being, oh, yeah, we're a, we're playing team. We're fun. At least we're not terrible like we were for over a decade. You can't settle for that. You've got to take advantage of what you have in Deerran Fox and the player that he's become. You have to give him an opportunity to reach new heights in the postseason. And I think the Rosen is one of those guys who can help you do that.

Now, they still need another move. I still think they need to try to flip herder. I still think they should be trying to put more future, you know, capital in the form of draft picks on the table to improve today. I still think they should go for it because, look, man, like there's no, there's no clear cut favored in the West. Like, I think Denver can become that again, but they got worse losing KCP. We'll see what happens with their rookies. You don't know, like, if O.KC's going to take another step or maybe, like, some teams do that or young, they regress in their second year really going forward.

So I think the Kings need to be pushing here, man. I hope they do. Like you never know what can happen in the postseason and a seven-game series. So make another move or two and go for it. They've given us no inclination that they are not because even a few weeks ago, we talked about how right before that Caruso giddy deal went down, there was the reporting that they were willing to come off the 13th pick in the draft and that they had a Caruso deal centered around that pick.

Now, obviously, you know, the Oklahoma City swooped in and was able to put Giddy on the table. And so, but I'm just saying we got a clue there that Sacramento was being serious about upgrading their roster because they were willing to get rid of their late lottery pick in order to add Caruso to their team. And so they're trying to add Caruso then. And then obviously within a few weeks time, they're adding Demartar Rosen into the mix. And so it's going to be interesting. One of the parts of that deal was Harrison Barnes, who I don't dislike by any of these. By all accounts, great teammate, classy guy, great character guy, and a solid basketball player. That's what he is, right?

Solid basketball player who's got a very long career at the NBA. I do think it's nice that Wembe is going to have, like, there's going to be some real solid, vets that have had double-digit-link careers, been a part of winning in both Chris Paul with Harrison Barnes, like adults that are there. And I kind of hope that they keep these guys around in San Antonio. And I do think that those are the kind of guys that are good, you know, not that San Antonio was, I'm sure they were like, yeah, we'll get involved with the trade and we'll take on Harrison Barnes.

Like they're going to be able to be a haven to be able to snatch picks and swaps and then house your players. if you need them to. They're kind of in that mode right now. But also it's nice when you can house the player that actually is going to, theoretically, would play some minutes for you and is good locker room guy. It can help your young guys kind of show them the ropes

and figure out how to be a good role player in the NBA for 15 years. For sure. I mean, I think with both the Chris Paul acquisition and the Harrison Barnes ad, I mean, it helps the spurs look like a more competent team. this coming season, especially when you factor in, you'd hope improvement, not only from Victor who will get better and could be the MVP next season. It could be Jeremy Sohan who gets

better. It can be Devin Vassell who gets better. Even like a Trey Jones could get better. So I think like all of these guys that they have in their rotation, these like quality young players, Malachi Branden. I'm like, there's a lot of guys that could get better. And so for San Antonio, what they've done makes complete sense. You put a more competent team adding veterans around Victor Wembeyanama, they're going to be really competitive with Victor on the floor this coming season. They were a plus in the net rating after they moved him to center and put Zach Collins on the bench last season.

And that's despite the fact they didn't have ideal supporting casts around him. So now you have Chris Paul, Harrison Barnes, and also while you did that, you had a really nice rookie in Stefan Castle. You have the Wolves' top 2030 top one protection. swap. You added the Kings 2031 unprotected swap. You have another pick from the

Wolfe that you added. You have all this future draft capital for the years in which that Victor will be in his prime. But you're also a little bit more competitive now. And the position that the Spurs are in reminds me so much of the Celtics when they had Isaiah Thomas and they were competitive and they were in the postseason

and then they get Jaylen Brown in the draft. And then they get Jason Tatum in the draft because they had the Nets picks. Well, the Spurs are in a position where they don't need to bottom out because they have the hawks picks for the next three years. So if the hawks are bad,

or if the hawks are even merely in the lottery as like the eighth or ninth best odds, we've seen those teams move on up, just like we did this past years, just like Atlanta did, from the ninth odds to number one pick. So I think for the Spurs, originally I didn't love that deal

trading the eighth pick for two future picks from the Minnesota Tim Wolves. But after, After seeing the whole picture with everything else that they've done and really understanding clearly they're just trying to add a lot of draft capital in those prime Wenbenyama years. I get it. And I come away really, really impressed with what the Spurs did, focusing both on the short term and on maximizing the long term. Those Wembenyama highlights over the weekend were crazy. Oh, my God.

I want to say 19 minutes? Yeah. 27 points and I don't come on. Oh my God. What are we doing? Crazy. What are we doing? Do you think I'm nuts when I say he could be the MVP this coming season?

Because I used to not say that. I originally said he'll be the MVP of the 25, 26 season. But I think there's a chance he is this year. I do. Nobody's winning MVP off a lottery team. But what if they're not a lottery team? I mean, I just think I think. What if they're the five seed?

I think you're underrating the strength of the conference. I don't think they are trying to be that right now. I don't either. But I don't think that they even saw Victor becoming as great as he was at the end of the season. That much, that soon. I think, like, offensively, defensively, I think everybody expected Victor to be dominant right away. Everybody did. Offensively, it's happening quicker than I think even the spurs could have anticipated.

But an amazing season in the trajectory, be that season where you start getting closer to 500. This could be that year. That's closer to 500. And so maybe you're, you know, I think it would be Oh, no, no. I mean, I mean, I mean, when I say closer to 500,

I mean on the above 500, I mean like 46, 47 win. Like, I don't, I don't think that's necessarily outrageous. Yeah, it is. It's outrageous. All right. but I am I don't want to break ways here in terms of Wimbaniama. I think he's going to be the best player in the league and I think it is probably going to happen sooner than later. But you're still counting on health and you're still counting on the strength of roster all the way around you,

which I don't think that they are trying to put the best roster possible around him yet. He may just under being that great that he could. Otherwise, they would have traded for guys. They would have given up those future picks. To me, it's not about him. It's about the strength of the conference. You know, when people are talking about those LA teams being play-end teams. Understood.

I mean, it's a totally fair point. But I just think just get ready for this guy. That's all. I will say, and we also got to get ready. This is not the greatest of rookie classes, but the last thing I'll say, the Cooper flag highlights. Oh, boy. For playing against Team USA. Thank goodness for Ben Goliver and everybody.

else who've recorded video from that because when he's in the NBA and he's in his prime years from now, we're going to look back at that footage of him getting buckets against Drew Holiday and Anthony Davis when he's 17 years old and we're like, oh yeah, we knew back then that this guy is going to be spectacular.

There is going to be some hardcore tanking going on. Oh my God, there is. Between Flag and Ace Bailey and then even the next year, I was reading this article this morning about Cam Boozer and The band to destroying people.

From Brockton, Massachusetts, AJ. Pretty cool. And that they are, two years in a row of, we are just going to have some, like, people think these are like all star, all star, all star caliber talent these next couple of years. And so we'll get through this year at Summer League. Hopefully we'll have some fines besides Zach Eadie. And then obviously these next couple drafts after this are supposed to be just absolutely. absolutely loaded with some high, high-level talent.

Thank you to our executive producer, Jesse Lopez, as always, and Kevin. I will catch up with you later in the week. See you in Vegas. Must be 21 plus in present select states or 18 plus in D.C. Fandul is offering online sports wagering in Kansas under an agreement with the Kansas Star Casino LLC. Gambling problem, call 1-800 gambler, or visit Fandul.com slash RG. In Colorado, D.C., Iowa, Michigan, New Jersey, North Carolina, Ohio.

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