The Ringer NBA Show - Austin Rivers to the Wizards, D.J. to Dallas (Potentially), and More Free-Agency Rumors | The Ringer NBA Show (Ep. 295)

Episode Date: June 27, 2018

The Ringer’s Chris Vernon and Kevin O’Connor discuss the recent trade by the Los Angeles Clippers that sent Austin Rivers to the Washington Wizards (01:12) and the potential for the Clips to deal DeAndre Jordan to the Dallas Mavericks (03:47). Then they discuss Paul George’s free agency and how what he decides will affect other free agents (16:26), what it would cost the 76ers to sign both Kawhi Leonard and LeBron James (30:16), and the free agents that aren’t being talked about (48:21). Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

the ringer NBA show. I'm Chris Varnan and joining me as he does every week is Kevin O'Connor, a.k.a. Kevin O'Connor, aka Kevin O'Conflict, aka Kevin O'Clymer, Kevin O'Clymer. You know, Chris, it throws me off when you say every week instead of every Tuesday. I know. I know. We threw a lot of people off yesterday. So shout out to everybody that reached out yesterday. Thank you for listening. Yeah, we were not on our typical Tuesday. during the off season, we are going to do Wednesdays. And as it stands right now, we are coming off the NBA draft, but immediately already have something else to look forward to.

In many people's mind, the most interesting part of the year, and this year could be the most interesting in a long, long time. We're four days away from free agency, Kevin. And then the Utah Summer League for Rookies begins over the weekend, and then the Las Vegas Summer League soon after. But there will be meetings, there will be calls, there will be everything going on coming up this weekend. So let's, oh, well, you know what? Before I get into the free agency thing, there was a bit of news that dropped last night that we do need to speak on.

And that was a trade that was made by the Los Angeles Clippers. Los Angeles moved Austin Rivers, the son of Doc Rivers, for Marcyne Gortott to the Washington Wizards. What do you make of it? It's a great deal for both teams. You know, the Wizards have been searching for a competent backup point guard for a couple seasons right now. They dealt with the Brennan Jennings of the world. Tye Lawson's, Trey Burke before he suddenly got good for a couple of games with the Knicks. They've dealt with a handful of guys, and now Austin Rivers, granted everybody hates him.

He's a solid backup. He's at least somebody that I think can be the third guy behind John Wall and Bradley Bill or whatever that backup backcourt ends up looking like in the future. It's solid for them. And then they needed to unload Gortat because of his poor relationship with John Wall. And then the clippers on the other side of it, Gortad is a solid center, right, to replace potentially Giannardre Jordan, assuming he either opts in for a trade or just ups out and signs elsewhere. It does sound like he's a guy that could potentially be on the move. I like it for both sides. I really do.

And one other thing for the clippers, now they get rid of one guard. Now it's an easier path to their young rookies, Shagildjus Alexander, and Jerome Robin. and to get playing time as rookies because they have like, before the trade, they had like seven, now they have six guards. So a little bit easier now. Let me ask you about Austin Rivers

because as you said, everybody hates the guy. And I don't know it's because, you know, went to Duke, you went, you know, his dad's been a long time coach.

And so people feel like there's been some nepotism, whatever. His playing style is annoying. His playing style. I think that's what it is. Okay. I also think,

you know, let's say he's Austin Jones. Don't you feel that there is a different perception of him? Exactly. Yep, I do. He is hurt.

If he weren't Doc's son And if he hadn't been paid That much money by the Clippers, I don't think people would care as much. I think people would have looked at his season last year Like at 25 and thought, hey, you know, he wasn't a bust like he looked like he might have been in New Orleans. Now he looks like a solid, you know, reserve guard, a third guard.

Oh, see, certainly an eight-man rotation guy. Definitely. He can be an eight-man rotation guy for a good team. And honestly, like, he got paid $11 million last year. That's not the worst thing in the world. No. I mean, it's $11 million for a guy that plays. There's a lot of guys that make over $11 million that do nothing for teams.

Sure. Exactly. Right. All right. So obviously, this affects one of the major things about free agency, which is DeAndre Jordan. Mark Stein reported yesterday that among the various options, DeAndre Jordan has been weighing. According to league sources, he is opting into the final season of his contract before Friday's midnight deadline to facilitate a trade with Dallas.

Hmm. Very interesting, isn't it, Chris? It is, it is very interesting because, and obviously there are other teams interested, but a lot of people have thought, you know, the first time before he was kidnapped, right? He was signed with Dallas the first time around or was going to. So this is a second go round. and obviously, though years have passed, Mavericks still interested in D'Andre. What do you make of the whole opting into the contract to help facilitate a trade?

Obviously, that's the best news for the Clippers, isn't it? I mean, the best news for the Clippers is that you would opt in to help facilitate a trade, right? Therefore, signifying you could feasibly get something back, but it feels like you'd have to throw in another team in order to get anything of real value, right? The Mavericks don't have anything that you'd want. I'm curious if the team would even be Dallas. You know, I've reported a couple weeks or months ago, I don't know, whenever it was,

and that they might pursue DJ, Demarcus cousins, Julius Randall, this offseason. And it has since been mentioned that one of the guys that they could also target is Clint Capella, restricted free agent from the Rockets. I wonder, I would love to know what their preferred choices, right? Would you rather go for the younger guy, like Clint's Capella,

but you have less of a chance to get them because the Houston can match or DJ. Maybe you can get them for cheap Chris. I think that's always possible as well. They could create the cap space depending on what else happens with their free agents to be. And some of their options are guaranteed guys under contract. I do wonder if maybe DJ is a guy to be a stopgap for them maybe for like a two-year deal, a short term, because he's going to be 30. Well, it's a fascinating case study with him, right? because the league has not gone his way,

though players like him, especially rebounding, can still be of great value. But he has been rendered unplayable at the end of many a big game. That being said, if you're Jordan, do you do the opt-in,

get your 24-mill, and then play it out, you know, a la Chris Paul, and then obviously there's more money available next year, and maybe you can play the market then, and get your long-term deal. Or do you attempt to now cash in? Because I don't know.

I guess it depends on which way the league swings, right? Is there, you know, in the case that somebody with big guys is a big winner, then all of a sudden everything becomes a copycat league and big guys, you know, people start to think, oh, you need a big guy. Same way that right now, given the success of the Golden Star, Warriors, people have been anti-big guys. So a big guy would need to win big in order for there to be a sea change and people say, well, you got to have somebody that can deal with bigs, but I don't know if that's, you know, it stands to reason that's probably not next year.

And so what do you do from his point of view? I almost feel like I'd get the money now. I think if you're DJ, you probably would prefer to opt in. I don't think you're going to make that much money this season, right? I don't know if you're going to get a four-year, $75 million deal. I'm not sure that money's actually out there for a center who's going to be 30 years old this season. He turns 30 in a couple of weeks whose game is so reliant on athleticism. You're going to get that long-term deal. But maybe you are better off taking that long-term security, even if it's only like 17 million annually. That's going to be a tough choice for him, is him and his age. I do think going back for one year or being signed and being opting in than being traded elsewhere for one season is an intriguing route.

I think, you know, despite me mentioning his age, Chris, like, he's been really healthy. Basically his entire career. He hasn't had many, many health issues at all. I mean, look at his games. This is his game since 2012-13 season, 82, 82, 82, 72, 77, 81, 77. He's been durable. So theoretically he could be durable moving forward as well into his 30s. That would also signify, let's say it's Dallas.

It also signify that Dallas wants to be good again quickly. Oh, they do. They do want to be good. That's been not rumored, but it's been known around the league for months now. Like that was really the genesis of the report I had before where it was like there might, the Garter's buggy, Jordan, Randall, and like I said, then since Capella's been mentioned as well, because they want to be good this year. And really, like when you think about it, like, just look at their team.

It actually would be a pretty solid roster. If you add DJ to Harrison Barnes, who is solid within his role, now you get Luca Donchich, you got Dennis Smith, Jr. in his second season. Maybe his play elevates playing alongside other talented guys. Dirk and, you know, playing maybe his final season or one of his final seasons coming off the bench, draining three space on the floor. there's some solid talent on the team. I mean, it's not a great team, but it's an okay team. Maybe they can compete for an 8C. I think that's the goal this year.

Well, the scary part would be if Rick Carlisle simply can't take it, Mark Cuban can't take it, in terms of the losing, right? And then they go and sign like Midland veterans. And all of a sudden, you're watching at the end of games, and it's not about developing the players. you're going to look up and it's a bunch of these guys that, right, you end up, you got West Matthews and Dirtnevinsky and DeAndre Jordan and then two other like veteran guys that you can trust to be in the right place, right time on defense, right?

Like you're serving two masters in terms of trying to be good while still developing your players because it is very difficult to be good with a second year point guard and a rookie who I think most people expect will be a big minute guy for them in. Luca, there is going to be some real growing pains, and there will still be growing pains for Dennis Smith. You are nowhere near, except for the very rare exceptions. Most point guards are not near what they are going to become by year two. Definitely.

You know, the learning curve for point guards is pretty steep. I, a couple, maybe before last year's draft, the 2017 draft, I talked to a couple all-N-B-A guys at All-Star Weekend, and then during games during the same. season. My questions to them was, what's the hardest thing to learn? You know, you're an all-star player. What was the toughest thing to learn as a point guard? And they've always said the pace of the game, the physicality of the game, the speed of the game. And for Dennis Smith, that's really the next step. Sometimes he plays too fast out there in the court. That's going to take time. This season, he's still only going to be 21 years old, super, super young. But I do think playing

alongside Luca Donchich, who at 6'8 is going to handle the ball, he's going to ease some of the load off of Dennis Smith and probably help facilitate his progression. But then again, Dennis Smith is still going to need to learn how to play more off-bally, somebody who's had the ball on his hands so much for his entire life. Now playing with Luca Donchich, that's going to be an adjustment. So we'll see, man. I mean, I don't think the Dallas-Maths are going to be a playoff team, but maybe they'll be better. They might be like the 9, 10 spot.

All right, let's go back to the trade real quick. And you know the first thing that ran through my mind when I saw that deal? Because everybody's obviously goofing about the all. Austin Rivers thing and his dad trading him and whatever else. The first thing that ran through my mind was this is a, how do I say this? Yes, it's obviously, as you said, a trade that can help both teams and certainly roster-wise makes all the sense in the world for Washington. But I also felt like this is almost like a, this is a, this is a, this is a, this is a,

nod to John Wall by that management. Because if you recall during the season, like they clearly don't like each other, right? Gortot and Wall. I mean, almost never do you see guys publicly bickering. It was so bizarre during the year. Do you remember the all caps, great team win and all this kind of stuff from Gortot?

And then you saw their interactions throughout the year. Yes, they played together. But you could clearly tell that those guys were not on the same page and didn't particularly like each other to the point where you know how badly you've got to not like each other to make it public and spat in public when one of the guys is hurt. And so I kind of felt like, hey, we've invested a boatload of money into John Wall. And so it's it's one or the other because them coexisting has not gone particularly. particularly well, and so Gortats's the one, we're moving. What do you think? Yeah, I mean, it definitely has partially to do with the relationship, and you're damn right about them putting a boatload of money on John Wall. I mean, he'll be making it to the $40 million range in the 2020s. That salary

is going to get nuts. But look, I think it was, it was definitely about the relationship, but it's also still about the team, too. They needed a guard, and Austin Rivers is a solid guard, and maybe now, who knows, maybe you go for a sign and trade for boogie, or something like that. Otherwise, your starting center is Ian Mahini. So we'll see what's next for him. Maybe they go for, I think, David Aldrich, you mentioned Nerlens, who I think is an underrated for agent this year. Maybe you go for him as your center as well. Okay, but beyond that, do you think it signifies also, this is something that we didn't necessarily mention. Does it signify also that the plan is not to

have DeAndre Jordan in a Clippers uniform next year? If you attain Marcine Gortat, I mean, what are you doing? Right? In a league that has, you know, the premium's been put on perimeter players, I don't think you're making that deal unless the expectation is that Marcy and Gortat's going to be your starting center next year. It depends. It really does. If he opts in and you're able to try to find a trade partner, great, fantastic. But at least now, even if you do keep D.J., you have Gortide who's a solid backup center. Really? I mean, you traded all. I think you'd rather get off DJ's contract, sure, but doesn't mean you can. Yeah, I know, but do you make that deal if you're acquiring a back?

backup center. I think it's a little different if you're requiring the starting set. Because you have 100 guards in your roster. They have Milos who has a player option for the summer. They have Patrick Beverly, who non-guaranteed, they'll pick that up. They have Joanne Evans, young player, Sundaria Stormwell, young player. Then they just drafted two guys. Shigildas Alexander and Jerome Robinson. They have a ton of guards, dude. So it's like, for them, unload rivers and balance your roster a little bit. Now you add another big who's better than Bow ban. Sorry, any Bowman fans. Gortad's better than him.

So now you get a better balanced roster. And if you can trade DJ, fantastic and get something good back. But if you can't, well, maybe during the season, you can deal on. Well, and you know this. I mean, and this was not on the Ringer NBA show or Twitter or anything. This was just on our text. Our longtime producer, Isaac, is a diehard Clippers fan. and I always think to myself,

when I see deals like this, how do the teams, how do their fans react, right? And it seemed last night that Wizards fans were mad and Clippers fans were ecstatic. And so, right? Like, it is what it is, right?

I see on one hand, my buddy Joe House pissed off. I see on the other hand, Isaac wants to go party. Hey, man. I can understand. A lot of Clippers fans hate Osfermbers more than anybody else on the planet.

So I get it. Shout out to Isaac. Shout out to his happiness. Let's move into a free agency. And one of the things that dawned on me last night was what is the domino that's going to start everything. Now, there is a general sentiment that LeBron is going to dictate everything that goes on. But I did wonder yesterday if it's actually possibly possibly. Paul George that dictates everything that's going to go on.

I don't think so. The reason I say this. The reason I say this, I was talking to a prominent agent yesterday. And this is what he said to me. Sources. He said, I have, and it does not represent Paul George, by the way. And he said to me, he said, I have always thought Paul George was going back to Oklahoma City. And I was like, what?

And he said, people can talk all they. want about making up the money. He's like, Chris, it's almost $50 million. He's like, you sign the deal and then six months down the road or a year down the road, whatever, then you try to get out. You force a trade behind closed doors. But you've got to sign that deal. And people could say, well, then by the next time he can just sign another deal. He's like he's 32. He just got another thing done on his knee. Kids had a broken leg. You know, it's like, almost $180 million, right, would be a five-year max. I don't know if they're, right, if that's what Oklahoma City puts on the table,

but I think it stands to reason it's possible. That would shake everything up, right? Because that is the one. While everybody thinks LeBron's going somewhere, we think Kauai could probably end up somewhere, that was the first time I had anybody tell me that they thought Paul George would stay in Oklahoma City because it was just too much money in order to not stay there. And I don't know all the semantics of all of it, but let's just say that could take place. They throw the five-year $178 million on the table. And I think when I read it was 4 and 130 for the Lakers. So, I mean,

it is seriously almost $50 million. I don't know, man. I forget. I said, this on, I think, something we did last week at the ringer. What's the difference in lifestyle? What's the difference in lifestyle between that sum of money? What's the difference, dude? It's like, $50 million, Kevin. It's like Dave Chappelle said. I said this last week, so I'm pretty myself, but I didn't say it here. So, but it's like Dave Chappelle said once in David Letterman, he's describing him when he quit his show. And he said, what's the real difference between having $10 million and $50 million? The only difference is $40 million. The difference in lifestyle is so minuscule. And for Paul George, what does make a difference? It's where you live. It's Oklahoma City. I mean,

yeah, you'd rather have the money. Of course. That's what Dave Chiffel said. Like, it's a joke at the end. Yeah, of course I'd like to have that extra $40 million. No kidding, you would. But for Paul George, it depends on where you live and where you want to raise your family and where you're a girlfriend with your kids, where you want to raise them. It's about happiness and lifestyle and going to a place where you're happy every day. If he's happily in Oklahoma City, and he can earn extra money, hell yeah, like that's perfect.

But if he wants to earn a little bit less money, but still life-changing money and play at home in Los Angeles, fantastic. So we'll see what happens. I have always thought he was the 100%er.

Of all the other things that he's not going to be in a Thunder uniform next year. And I still believe he won't be, but I found it fascinating that at least one agent said I would tell him to take the contract. you're not going to you're not but again agents make commission

what do you think an agent's going to say he's like oh you're going to get got to take the big money got to take the big money i understand i don't know man i think i think there's certainly a chance that george does stay i think that's real i've heard similar as well uh that he could potentially stay there however chris i do think you know looking at the money the only real difference would be in that fifth year of a deal It's pretty similar through the first four seasons. So let me just lay that out real quick. So if he resigns with the Thunder, the deals the next five years would be 30.3, 32.7, 35.1, 37.5, then 39.9.

So nearly 40 million in that fifth year. However, the first four years signing with the Lakers or anywhere else is pretty much the same. It's like a little bit less over the four years, 30.3, 31.8. 33.3, 34.8. So you're earning about $6 million left less over four seasons. It's that fifth year. That's a difference. However, if you're Paul George and after the 21, 22 season, you're still a great player. At that point, you might be able to make up that money by signing a max deal then. Maybe not. Maybe you do lose out in that $40 million in the fifth year. I don't know. I can't predict the future, but all I know is it's not much of a different.

over the first four. This is exactly the conversation I feel like we had about Hayward, right? And it is exactly the same thing. It is where he could theoretically make up the money in that fifth year. But the first four years, the difference is so minuscule. And in fairness, he broke his frigging leg the first game. Yep. You know what I mean?

Like I would love to think Gordon Hayward comes back and he is exactly what he always was and possibly better. but you never know. Of course you never know. That's the thing, right? That is almost the cautionary tale. I mean, that injury looked worse than it probably actually was. What if he's not?

If he's not, you know in four years, yes, he will have passed up making a boatload of money. Yes, so what? What do you say that? Maybe it's just me. Maybe it's just me, but like that dude's money come out. He made $29 million this year. He's going to make $31 million a season. He's going to make $32 million.

the following year. And then in his last year, he's going to make $34 million. But you're also making... What difference is the extra money going to do at the end? Here's the thing, but you are... You're lining that... Hold on. You're lining up that scenario.

You're lining up that particular scenario saying the only reason he would do it is for the money. And that may not be so. No, I never said that. I didn't say that. I said if he wants to stay in Oklahoma City and he's happy there and that's where he wants to raise his kids and he happens to make extra money. Fantastic. That's what I said.

It's not just about the money. If it's just about the money, I don't know what you're playing for, dude. I really don't. Wow. I mean, if it's just about the money, I think that's a whole lot of people out there that if you put one contract next to another one

and one of the contracts pays you $50 million more. Yeah. No kidding. But it's nice to be. be able to say, what's a difference? No, I mean, there's a big difference. I can say that, Chris. I can.

Because if I had already made hundreds of million dollars in my life and I'm like, you know what, I'm at the point of my career where I want to win a championship or I want to be in a place where I can raise my kids in a great, great city, wherever that is, that's when you make the choice. And maybe that choice is Oklahoma City and everything else. it's just extra. Okay, well, here's the thing. The reason I brought it up in the first place was could he dictate things?

Let's just say it's a possibility, okay? And let's run through a hypothetical scenario. Sunday or Monday morning, the report comes out, Paul George has signed a five-year, $178 million extension with Oklahoma City Thunder. You don't think that affects LeBron and therefore everything else? Um, you know, so I've been pretty consistently told that LeBron is just going to do what LeBron wants to do. That was said in regards to Paul George. That was said in regards to Kauai Leonard from people that I trust that LeBron is just going to do whatever he wants to do.

Uh, so I, I originally thought that, you know, he wouldn't go to the Lakers without George either or without another star coming there. But I do think if you're LeBron, it's worth considering this, Chris, that if you go to the Lakers, someone else is going to come soon. They can retain cap space for the 2019 summer, which, by the way, if George signs a one-on-one, he could be a free agent that summer too. Kauai Leonard's going to be a for agent. Jimmy Butler is going to be a for agent.

Clay Thompson, so on and so forth. There's a lot of guys in 2019 that might be like, you know what, I want to go join LeBron and those young guys with the Lakers. And not to mention, that if LeBron just goes by himself, the Lakers still retain the ability to trade Lowe's, Baldang in packaged with Lonzo Ball or with Brandon Ingram or whatever it is to get another guy. Like they retain flexibility to get two more stars depending on the order of operations and what happens.

So I think it's still an appealing situation for LeBron even if he goes solo just this summer. But I think George could easily end up going there anyway. Yeah, we're throwing out the hypotheticals. But let me just let me go ahead and interject. I think both of them are going to be Lakers next year. I do. I do too. I think both of them are going to be Lakers.

The question is... I think Magic Johnson says no pressure. What are the Lakers doing outside of those two? That's going to be the interesting thing, right? What does the rest of the roster look like besides those two guys? And who is the... Who's the third guy, right? Every team's got at least three.

That's a championship level. And so who's the third guy in that mix? I don't know. We'll see. You know what I mean? And, and, you know, what do they do with those young assets? Do they flip those for something else? I certainly think that's a possibility.

Yeah, that's the big question here, really. With Lonza Ball and Brandon Ingram and Kyle Kuzma and all those guys in that team, some really good young players. Do you package that player with Lou Alden's contract, 18 million this year, then 18.8 the following year, before it becomes a free agent, do you try to package one of them with dang and try to get a third star?

But you do need to dump a little bit of salary to be clear in order to get two max contract guys this summer. To get LeBron and George, you've got to dump money. So that's got to come from somewhere. All right, Kevin, we'll get right back into free agency, but first, a word from our sponsor, Sonos.

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and the home theater allows you to move your TV sound to other parts of your home. And that is unbelievable during games. If I can't always see the picture, I can just turn on all the speakers while the game's going on. And then I'm listening to the broadcast no matter what room I'm in. So if I want to run into the kitchen and grab a snack, I'm still hearing the audio of what's going on, no matter what room I am in. And have you heard about the newest edition to the Sonos Home Sound System? Sonos Beam is the smart, compact soundbar for your TV. Great for mid-sized rooms and TVs.

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All right, walk me through this. It's basically just a salary cap exercise. Here's what the Sixers would have to do to get LeBron James and Kawhi Leonard. And the conclusion is this. The price would be super, super steep. super super steep. I had someone, I saw someone tweeted like 10 hours ago or something last night with like how much of an overpay the deal proposed in there would be for Kauai Leonard, which was,

by the way, Fultz, Sarich, Covington, their rookies, Iyer Smith. And then the Miami pick from 2021 to get Kauai. And it's like, that deal's stupid for the Sixers. It's like, yeah, the point is that's what they would need to give up in order to clear the salary cap space to also sign LeBron James. Like that's what you would have to do to make that happen and it's a steep, steep, steep price to pay, man. But I do think it's intriguing nonetheless because it's actually possible. It's fascinating that they actually could pull it off if they wanted to.

I don't think the spurs are going to get that much for Kauai, but maybe they would if that's what Philadelphia wanted to do. Speaking of one of the names that you interjected, which was Markle Fultz, what about the Hanlon quotes. Handland, this was his quote, described Fultz's problem as, quote, one of the most documented cases of any of kind of the yips of basketball in recent years

where he completely forgot how to shoot and he had multiple hitches in his shot. Extremely strange because on one hand, Philadelphia throughout the year was telling us it's the shoulder. Yeah. And now it was, a guy that was working with him daily and is still working with him saying, basically, this wasn't, the shoulder issue is not the shot issue, right?

And so you're kind of working on two tracks here where you have this frustrating shoulder injury that never seemed to go away. And now we do have some kind of clarity on at least a guy saying the guy, just basically forgot how to shoot. He completely forgot how to shoot a basketball, which is obviously extremely distressing. And I was trying to find this out. It appears as if he is not going to play in Summer League.

They're not going to have him out there? I wouldn't put him out there. You wouldn't? They made a mistake putting him out there during the season. At the beginning of the season, that is. They never should have done that either. Because it's the hips. It's always been, I mean, like, he did have a shoulder injury, and then from the shoulder injury, the Ips came.

It's no different than the story of New York Mets catcher Mackie Sasser. Mackie Sasser, and then he was a catcher for the Mets in the 90s, and he suffered an ankle injury. And from that ankle injury, he had a hard time throwing the ball back to the mound to the pitcher. And over time, as his ankles healed and as they got better, he still continued to develop a hitch where he would pay. pat the ball in his glove before throwing it back. And that problem got worse where he almost had a pump fake throwing back. And then it got even worse than that where he couldn't even throw it accurately. But what he could do, what he could do, Chris, he could pick off runners at second base.

He could throw the ball easily around the infield, no problem at all. But throwing the ball back to the pitcher was something that he had a hard time doing. And the problem never got solved and his career flamed out. And then it's very similar to Markell Fultz. Maybe he had his shoulder injury. And then from there, the yips developed. And it's solvable. Guys have gotten over before.

There are success stories across sports, and he's working with a great trainer and Drew Hanlon to help that problem. And I think exposing him in Summer League, pretty pointless for him, we already know he can do everything else out there on the court, as he showed later in the season. It's pointless for him. Just let him focus on a shot the whole summer

and get that fixed, entering training camp and preseason, and then the season, hopefully he's good by then. Hopefully he can get it worked out. you bring up the Mackey Sasser thing. I covered a kid like this years ago, and it was Rick Ankeel, who played for the St. Louis Cardinals. And he did, and then he came down to Memphis and was playing for the AAA team. And of course, there's a story way back when, and Tony LaRusa, there's a book, I believe Buzz Bissinger wrote it, the Three Nights and August book is the name of it.

But he tells this story, I believe that's the book. he tells this story about how in the playoffs they were playing against, I think it was the Mets, and it rolled him out there, and Mike Mithini, who interestingly enough, is now the manager of the St. Louis Cardinals, he had cut his hand in like a kitchen accident, right, with a knife. So he was out. And so the backup catcher was having to be playing, and it happened in a game. And he just missed the plate completely. And one of the things that he's not blaming Mike Mathini, but Larusa said there was this moment where it took place.

And if we would have had, like Mike would have been able to, he said, I've always believed he would have been able to get there and calm him down and get him back right. You know, in the moment that it takes place. But it didn't happen. And then the kid lost it. And then, of course, he came back out again. So then they worked on him, worked on him, worked on him. and I saw him the next year in Memphis, and Kevin, if you were sitting behind the plate,

even up towards the first baseline, petrifying. I mean, I'm talking like it was not even, it was not even like, you know, like the old Bob Euker in Major League, it's a bit outside. Like, it wasn't even close. It wasn't even close.

I've never seen anything like it my life. And when this guy was in it, people were talking about like, Sandy Kofax with this guy. He was as good a pitcher as I have ever seen in person because he could throw it on the black with his fastball and then he could just, you know, buckle your knees completely with a curveball. And, you know, it never came back.

And he ended up, you know, he's such a great athlete that he ended up becoming an outstanding outfielder and a pretty good hitter for the Cardinals. And that was the weirdest thing. He could gun people out from the outside. outfield, but he was never able to pitch again. And I don't know. It's obviously something that's going on between your ears. And so here's hoping that'll be,

because when you listen to like Hanlon, this was the rest of the quote, we've been working hard every day, working on rewiring his body and getting a kind of a smooth stroke back into his shot. We're way ahead of pace where I thought we were going to be. And I thought it was going to take me at least six weeks before we had kind of a serviceable jump shot

and we're already starting to shoot with a jump in week two. So he's obviously saying there's promising things going on, but I was like, good grief. Six weeks until the trainer thinks he would have a serviceable jump shot, like this is a total, like starting from scratch. And it is the most mystifying thing, right? This kid has been awesome at basketball for the last 10 years. It was starting from scratch.

I saw him work out the day I was there to see Mo Bamba, and they basically started like three feet away from the rim. Wow. And then five feet away from the rim, and seven feet, then from the free throw line. And that was it. Like, that was the workout. I really cannot remember. I can't remember anything like that, honestly.

But that's what you've got to do. Like, to solve a problem, you need to know what the problem is. And if, you know, the whole season, that's what I never understood with them putting them out. I thought it was very clearly the Yips early on. All indications were it. Everything that was said, every quote about, oh, you know, his arm feels fine when he lifts to pass the ball. It's similar to, like you said, with ink heel,

with, like, you know, throwing down runners or, like I said, for Sasser with, like, picking off runners at first or throwing the ball second base, but he couldn't get the ball back to the mound. And for Fultz, it's like, look, man, all the symptoms were there. And to address that problem, we need to understand it. And I think it's about resetting and relearning. It's not something you work through.

It's something you need to relearn. And hopefully for Fultz, it's not more than that. Hopefully this solves the issue because it could be more than that too. Okay, so now in a long way, I'm going to round about to what you were saying. He has no trade value right now. I think he does. I disagree. No way.

You can't know until you can't know until you're sure that he can shoot. Yeah. You know, that's the funny thing about like people saying the Kauai deal is way too much. It's like we don't really know what Fultz's value. is right now. I think he has value. But then again, it's like... You just got to wait. Listen, you wouldn't have traded for Rick Ankele as a pitcher after those playoffs, I promise you.

Oh, I know. He was horrific. He was horrible. So you got to wait. And then with Fultz, I do think a consideration that needs to come into play is that if things don't work out, like, if this, I feel like his shot never comes back. And it's like always a disaster. And in the 21, 22 season, he's going to be making $15.9 million And that could be deadweight if the shot isn't there.

But I do have faith that the shocking gets solved with Drew Hanlon. But we'll see, dude. I'm not super optimistic about it, but I feel more optimistic than I did at the end of the season where we didn't know what he was going to be doing. Okay. Earlier when you were talking, you mentioned a Lakers quote about Magic Johnson, right? and was talking basically that this was not. Oh, that he would resign if they don't solve this roster, become a contender after two summers.

Yeah, he said, right. Saying it won't be a failure if the Lakers do not land a max free agent. This July, Magic Johnson set a timeline for his rebuild, saying he will step away if he can't deliver by next summer. Do you think that is a quote that signifies Magic Johnson knows he may not end up. The expectations are now so ludicrous, right? The expectations are from you, from me, from everybody.

Everybody thinks that we're going to look up in Paul George and LeBron James or Lakers. And if next year it's Lonzo Ball and Brandon Ingram and they bring Julius Randall back. Sounds fun. Right? I'm just saying if that takes place, do you think that he said that, I think he's playing Possum, or do you think he's saying that because he has an inkling that this may not work out like he's giving himself this extra year, or at least is in the quote, saying, hey, if it doesn't happen by next summer, why would he say that now? It's certainly interesting. It's like Ramona Shelburne and Adrian Wardenowski reported in February, I believe it was right before the deadline or right after the deadline, maybe. and they said at the time that the Lakers were recalibrating their focus to the 2019 free agency's class.

So it's been out there for a little bit, at least, you know, for the past almost four months now, time flies by, four months now that the Lakers could be turning their eye to the 2019 summer. But we'll see. Like, if you're Maddojohnston, you still don't know for sure. Nobody knows 100% what LeBron's going to do this summer. I think the Lakers are favorites. but even if you do get LeBron, you still need another guy, right?

Like even if you do get one guy this summer, you still need to do more. The job is not done. One guy that we know they are not going to get, that we do need to mention, is a story that came out that the Nuggets filed paperwork to decline a team option on Nikola Yokic,

which signified that they are going to clear the way for him to sign what will likely be a five-year, approximately 147, million maximum contract in July. I feel like you had really cooled on Yokic last year. Do you think that

this is a wise move, the full max for Yokic? You have no other choice. I agree. No other choice. And to be clear, I like Yokic. I really like him a lot. But he has a long,

long way to go on the defense. He still, I mean, he's 23. He averaged like 19 and 11 and 6 assists. This is what we talked about, right? Like where Mark Gassol at this time, who people often compare him to on the offensive end of the floor, Mark Gassol at this point was not in the NBA. Like he wasn't in the NBA yet.

Markosol was a rookie at 24 years old. So like the Gassol comparisons, Yokic is ahead of the curve. But Marcosol became one of the best defensive players in the league. He was a defensive player of the year in 20. 2012, 2013. He was an all-N-B-A player. He was an all-defense player that year as well. He's really, really good for a long time on both ends of the court. Yolkich right now, already is an awesome center. One of the best passing centers in the game.

He is the best passing center in the game. One of the best of the century, really. But the defense is a problem, and that needs to get better over time. That's my only hang up with him. Yeah. Mike Miller, who was actually on the Ringer NBA show, I guess it was a year or two ago now with me, played with Powgasol in Memphis, played with Mark Gasol in Memphis, and he played with Yokic in Denver. And that year that he was there, when he came back into town, I asked him, I said, I was asking about all the different players, right, the young guys on the team, Gary Harris and Moodye and whatever else.

And he said, and this is before Yokic had blown onto the scene. right and he said i'm telling you the one is yokech and this is before he became like everybody knew about yokech he said i'm telling you the ones yokch he said i played with mark and i played with pow and this kid is better than them at his age he can he can possibly be like five to ten time all-star he's that good and i was like what and sure i mean listen he knows talent right the guy mike miller's been around he had a 15 year career and was a very good player and played with all manner of great players. But he was all in on Yolkich, and interestingly enough, used that same comparison you did.

And I think it is hard to remember. I mean, Marcus Lowe wasn't, this kid's 23. He is 23 right now. So what does he look like? I mean, you're getting him from years 23 to 28. I agree with you. It's, you know, obviously the price is high on anybody that's really good. The price is high.

But this is a 100% no-brainer to me. It's funny with Yokic, right? I've had a lot of misses with like ranking players in the draft and I've had some hits too. And like Yokic is a guy I feel good about, right? Or I had him ranked 27th in his draft and like that was higher. I mean, than he was a lot of places. I feel good about that. But even with him, it's like, man, like I wish I had him even higher.

Like his talent was apparent on the offensive end of the floor. But the question then, Chris, entering the draft with him is really just the same question now. It's the same thing. defense, what level does he reach on that end of the floor? What conditioning does he get to? How much more does his foot speed improve on defense? He's never going to be a shot blocker like that. But if he can become a really good positional defender, that's going to be great for him. And all right, I mean, I feel confident that can happen. I do. But right now, it's not there yet. And to Mike Miller's point, I do think Yokuch could end up being better than those guys as well, because his passing on a, on another level, dude. Six assists per game this season. But put aside the numbers. Like, throw away the numbers.

Like, his passing is freaking grateful. But in fairness, they play without a real point card. Yeah, but so what? They can play without a real point card because they have the best passing big man in basketball. If there is one thing, and I'm talking, this is minute. And I'm telling you it's a no-brainer. There's one thing.

I've seen so many guys get in like the most unbelievable shape in their life in a contract year. He did not apply to that. No, he didn't. You know what I mean? Like, you look at Julius Randall and he's built like a brick shit house now and it's like, oh, well, stands to reason, right? I mean, no offense to him, but I mean, they did kind of line up.

Whereas Yokic, I mean, you ain't telling there's any difference between a contract year and a non-contract year with that dude. And maybe that's, maybe that should make me trust you more if you're like all of a sudden not getting in the most unbelievable shape ever when it's contract time. For sure. And that's also a factor too. I mean,

I just pulled up my scouting report from 2014 on him and the last note on the page is conditioning may also be a problem. Looks like he gets burnt pretty quickly during up and down games, production drops. And that was true. At the time, and he's still not the...

He's not chiseled. He's not chiseled. even to this day, four years later. But maybe someday he will be chiseled. Everybody's talking about, obviously we had to cover DeAndre because of what took place last night, given the trade. Everybody's talking about, you know, Paul George and LeBron James and where does Kauai end up?

And clearly that's going to get all of the interest, clicks, whatever else. Give me a free agent whose destination, maybe people aren't talking about every single day, yet interest you greatly, where a particular player ends up. Is there anybody that is a current free agent upcoming for, you know, whatever, four days from now when we are recording this, that piques your interest outside of the monster guys who inevitably will cause dominoes to fall? the bigs

Clint's Capella restricted free agent is somebody going to give him a four year $80 million deal or are they going to go

full max for Clintscapella young getting better each season demarcus cousins is Dallas going to pursue him or do

let's say the Lakers get LeBron or let's say the Lakers don't get anybody do they give a full one year max like a proof it contract to Boogie

LeBron has previously called Boogie, I don't think this is untrue, the best big man in basketball. I think he said that before. So Boogie has a proof-it contract. Julius Randall, I'm curious to see what all these big men, Derek favors and so on, get the summer. That's of interest to me, Chris. How about you?

I could not give money to cousins. I couldn't. I know. Me neither. I mean, I'm sorry. But, and I hope, listen, I hope that that kid who was, I mean, Obviously, one of the best players in the NBA talent-wise last year before he got hurt. I hope it goes differently for him than virtually everybody else.

But, I mean, I've seen these guys, you know, we saw Rudy Gay come back, and Rudy is a talented enough guy that he's going to be okay, right? And he's still going to have another, you know, he's a free agent. He's going to get another contract and he's going to go forward. and he'll be a, you know, valuable bench player, more than likely, on a team. Wes Matthews was one of the best two-way point guards in the entire NBA. I just dealt with it with Chalmers who missed an entire, he didn't even play the next year after he blew out his Achilles and then came back and played last year.

And it just, it can have, and now you're talking about a big, seven footer like he's not like a slight seven footer right there's a lot of weight that's going on that i i would do the the wait and see contract too i would do the wait and see on him because i just don't i don't know man i don't i could not sign a long-term deal to a guy coming off achilles because the results just have not been good especially in the first year back and so here's hoping he's different than everybody else But that is, that's the worst injury to me. Hopefully he comes back and starts playing some defense.

Well, I think you're probably asking for something that's not going to happen. I think so too. The other ones are those middle guys, because now we have, when you're talking about Paul George, you know, 130 or 180 million, this like, it feels like it is so hard to gauge what that like middle class of player is going to get. So that would be my answer to that. I talk to people all the time about what they think this guy is going to get or who gets more this guy or this guy.

And it feels like this year more so than any other year, people have a hard time coming up with an answer, right? So I'll just give you an example, right? Let's lay them. I'll give you three players right now, right? and I say, okay, we're going to go play the open market with these kind of Midland free agents. They're not all-stars. They're not max guys.

But they're certainly nowhere near lowly paid players, okay? Will Barton, Avery Bradley, Tyreek Evans. Will Barton. Gets the most? Yeah, I think so. Maybe, yeah, Will Barton. You know who Bradley kind of feels like to me? he kind of feels like Eric Gordon to me right now.

Eric Gordon was perpetually injured, and that was what was saddled around his neck. And even when he signed with Houston, people thought this might be a little bit of a risk, and obviously has been gangbusters the last two years. He's just been awesome. Six men of the year. Then he, like, I mean, this guy can play

at an all-star caliber levels many times. But he was perpetually injured. And Avery was, decently durable prior to the last two years and then obviously last year leaving Boston, Detroit and then the Clippers, his value

went down dramatically I would think. I think he's going to sign like a one year with an option, you know, prove it contract. Don't you? Yeah, I do. Because he's in that mode right now. Sure. With Avery Bradley, I've always felt you know, with Boston

especially, right, when he had to play more of an elevated role with some of their teams weren't as good in 13 and 14 after KG and Paul Pierce were traded. That's not the best rule suited for him. He's best in a role where he's like spotting up, you know, from the wing, from the corner, and really grinding on defense. That's when he's at his best, not when you're putting the ball in his hands and running him through screens and dribble handoffs and all that.

That's not every rally at his best. So for any team interested in signing him, I think you need to think about the role that you're going to put him in. and he's better with a minimized role where he's maximizing on his defense. Whereas Will Barton, he's an intriguing, weird player. He can pass the ball, he can score, he can have big scoring games for you. He's a better scorer than Avery Bradley, but granted, Avery's a superior defender. I think it's going to be close between them in terms of the money they earn.

I guess I can see Avery earning more because of his defensive ability in addition to who is shooting. But I can see Will Barton getting a good deal too. Well, let's throw in Caldwell Pope. No, not him. do you think Caldwell Pope gets a better deal than Tyree Kevin? Here's the thing. We don't know because Caldwell Pope got the big one-year deal, right? With the Lakers, just like JJ Redick did with the Sixers, the one year $23 million.

Like that could be out there for one of those guys if they bide their time. I'm just saying like all of these guys, Kev, when we're talking about KCP and we're talking about Avery Bradley and we're talking about Will Barton and we're talking about Tyree Evans and we're talking about Marcus. smart even. I have no idea what kind of contract market smart's going to sign. None. I know what he wants, but I don't know what the market's going to dictate on him. I mean, is somebody really going to throw $12 to $15 million? Maybe. Maybe. I don't know. That's what I'm saying. Like, we've got the shirt things. Like the unbelievable players, we kind of know what they're going to get paid. And it's just a matter of them choosing. But all of this kind of what we would call the middle class, it could show up.

And I did wonder, like, let's say, Jamal Crawford's deal, not Jamal Crawford, Lou Williams deal. You remember that in the middle of the season? And people were like, well, geez, that's not that much. Like, did that signify that that's about the range? Because I think you could fairly throw Lou, even though he's better than most of those that I named.

But that would be a roundabout, you know, number that they would get. And so if your team, you'd be like, Louis Williams gets paid like 10 million bucks. Like, what? I'm paying you 15. He doesn't even get paid 10. Yeah, I know. He's going to get paid eight the next three years,

eight million and the next three. And so is that going to be, not guaranteed the last year? I know. So is that going to be a standard? Or is that going to be the exception to the rule of what these kind of middle tier guys get? They're really good.

They're not all stars or sure thing all. stars and maybe they've got some kind of knock against them, whether it's injury or whatever it may be. I don't know. I really don't. I can't predict this year at all, whereas it felt like you could use to say like, he'll probably get like, you know, three and 36 or four and 40 type of deal. I don't know.

These guys could sign for anything and I would be like, okay. I mean, we'll obviously comment and say it's good or bad. But, I mean, you brought up Clint Capella getting $20 million. Clint Capella? Like, I got to at least be able to throw it to you and you can get me a bucket outside of finishing a dunk. Come on. If I'm paying you $20 million. Golly.

What? I got to be, you think it's unreasonable to say I should be able to throw you the ball and get me a basket? It depends on the team context, Chris. Well, hell, I could. Oh, don't say you could do what Clint Capella does. I can't. but I'm saying you are in a great situation. I know, he's in the perfect situation.

In terms of being able to finish lobs off of pick and rolls from two of the greatest pick and roll players to ever walk God's green earth. Yeah, but he's 24 years old. And he's a really, really good defensive player, a really good rebounder. He's gotten better as a passer over the years. It doesn't show in the numbers because he never touches the ball, unless it's a dunk.

But he's better at passing on that little short roll to corner three shooters. And that's been impressive to watch that development over the years because he certainly, he certainly was not that level of a passer when he was playing international basketball before and during the draft in 14 when he's drafted by the Rockets. He's gotten better, man, and he gets better each year. His conditioning is improved, too. He's able to play more minutes and sustain his level of play for a longer period of time.

If you're a team that's drafting him, you're drafting him to be your big room running center that just absorbs the, forces defenders to collapse into the paint when he's rolling down the lane and he can anchor your defense that's what you're getting him for not to throw him the ball and say get me a bucket i know you love clenkapella but you should you go ahead and spend 20 million on them i'll find somebody else um i have already and it's the last thing i'm going to say today on the show i need you to pull out your planner or whatever you do how do you make your plan do you put it do you are you a planned guy do you have stuff in do you have like a planner or do you put it in your phone or what?

A new story just dropped by Adrian Origenowski, Brian Windhorst, and Ramona Shelburne. Oh, I love this. Breaking news in the middle of the show. Yes.

It appears as if, and this was obviously, I mean, you're talking about a murderer's row of reporters on this from every angle with Adrian Ramona winhorst.

And the idea is that there have been four teams, the Celtics, the Cavs, the Sixers and the Clippers, it looks like. I've talked to the Spurs about a possible deal.

What else particularly interesting is we are skimming through this on the run? Sounds like LeBron is hesitant in order to make a decision on this. I would imagine, listen, this is perfect because you get it from the LeBron side too. Lord knows, wind horses covered LeBron since he was a fetus. So if anybody would know, he would know. So I guess this kind of standard So the Lakers It says that the Lakers are feeling a little bit of pressure

Maybe to deal for Kauai Because if I'm reading this right That Paul George And which we referenced earlier in the show That may not be a sure thing Therefore if you are going to be able to Convince LeBron to come there That you need to get another star

Someway somehow God, I feel like they've got the best to offer, don't you? Like, if you're, if you're San Antonio and you're saying, all right, we're not, like, this is, something's got to give here. And I know that there have been reports that they have very little interest in trading them to the Lakers. But let's just say, they've got the best young assets, don't they? I mean, I would 100% make sure I get Ingram back. 100%. Like, that's, that's non-negotiable.

I've got to get Ingram back. And then I try to snag a couple of their other young player. Maybe I can get a Alonzo or a Coosma or whatever. I mean, I am. Like a sign and trade for Julius Randall too. That was also recommended on this, including him, not just him. So it would be Ingram and Randall? I don't know.

Maybe something else. Could be more. Yeah, no. They've got the best young assets, don't you think? No. Yes. I don't. Maybe.

It depends on if they're putting Brennan Ingraham on the table. That's what I'm saying. I'm including Ingram. And if that is so, Ingram's the best. I think Ingram's going to be an all-star. I do. I'm a big Ingram fan. Yeah.

I think he's going to be an all-star. And so, yes, like, I would want him back. And Lord knows, the Spurs have done a great job at developing talent. I mean, I'd love to see Ingram go through their system and, you know, become whatever he is going to become. But I'm a big fan of his. What do, Cavs? What do they have? Kevin?

I mean, they got nothing else besides Kevin. I mean, that's kind of the problem for them. Yeah. Interesting. Trade. Interesting little note in here is it says that the Lakers have been searching for another first round pick as a sweetener and a deal. And it also does mention, you know, obviously over the past few weeks,

people have been saying that the Spurs won't trade Kauai within the Western Conference. It does mention here that the Spurs haven't ruled that out. And I think, in my opinion, that is extremely smart. You can't worry about where are the guys going, where you're trading him to. you need to worry about what you're getting back. You need to take the best deal, whether that player is going within the Western Conference or out to the east.

If you're just getting breadcrumbs from Eastern Conference teams, like if the Celtics aren't even putting Jaylen Brown on the table, if the Sixers aren't willing to give Fultz or Zaire Smith, right? I mean, like if they're being really cheap, you got to take the best deal. And the more teams that are bidding for Kauai Leonard,

the more leverage you have. Okay, so what would you be, if you're Danny Aange, Would you be willing to give up, and let me just recite the names. Would you personally, Kevin, be willing to give up Jalen Brown? Just a yes or no. If you're getting assurances that he resigns long term and if you're not getting those reassurances, no. The expectation is yes, you're getting the Chris Paul wink wink will, yeah, we're going.

I mean, it's got to be a pretty strong wink wink, wink. And same thing for Philadelphia as well. Like we talked about earlier, Chris, I wouldn't do that deal that I mentioned in there unless you know you're going to resign Kauai. You're not going to do that. But if you're the Lakers, you can feel good about it. Yep. How about Hayward, Kyrie?

Either one? If you know you're going to, same, same answer. Okay. So Tatum would be your only one you wouldn't move. Is that fair? Yeah, he's untradable. On their entire roster. Yeah, he's untradable.

Yeah, pretty much. Okay. Everything other than Tatum, you would be willing to move. If you're getting... That's what I'm saying. With the insurance that you would be able to lock Kauai up long term. And that, like, you're just... doctors are able to check him and that he's healthy. God, I'd be scared to give up Jail.

Like there's a lot of, there's a lot of hurdles to jump through with Kauai. You need to make sure that he's healthy. You need to make sure that he's going to resign. You need to make sure that his uncle, Uncle Dennis isn't going to turn into Lavar ball. There's a handful of, you know, you know, things you need to get through, checkpoints to make sure that you actually want this. I think it's a, I think it's a tougher question to answer for these Eastern Conference teams than it is for the Lakers or the Clippers, so that matter. they know he wants to be in L.A. That's where he wants to be.

It's not tough. Well, here's a thing. Celtics and the Lakers, they got real, they got great players that I could get back. The rest of them don't. They don't.

I mean, the Sixers, it's young talent, for sure, right? That Sixers package is pretty good, Chris. It is pretty good. But the thing is,

like, that's still unrealistic. Yeah. I don't think you're going to get that if you're the spurs. Yeah, I don't care about what the calves have to give.

And, I mean, what the hell do I want off the clippers? Seriously. nothing. You're going to give me Delano, well, Gallinari, thanks. One of those note in here, it says the calves have been trying to get

a salary clap clearing possibilities so they can be aggressive in free agency. But they've been, quote, stymied in attempts to meet or discuss scenarios with James. Wow. And that's no surprise because James has, you know, made it clear before. It's been reported that James wasn't

going to, you know, communicate free agent plans or draft plans or anything like that. Fascinating. It would be interesting to see what, I mean, the most interesting thing to me on that is that the domino, and this is why I started the show by talking about the Paul George thing. If it is so, I know you had said at the beginning that, you know, the word was LeBron's going to do whatever LeBron's going to do. The Lakers don't feel that way. They don't. Clearly.

I mean, the report says they don't. They think they've got to get a story. star. Like that's the way they're going to be able to attain him. And save that, he might just not do whatever he wants to do. I mean, hell, he signs one year deals. It's not like he couldn't do it next year if he wanted to, right? Of course. I know. I know. I mean, he signs one year deal, so we could just be doing this a year from now. But that's almost, you know, to my point, like, if he wants to sign a one-on-one with Cleveland, he can. And like then it's like, hey, hey, L.A. maybe next year. Fair enough.

All right, before we got interrupted by amazing news, I asked you, do you have like a planner? Do you put things in your phone? Is it on your like email? Like, are you a planner guy? Yeah, sometimes. Especially this summer, I want to try to start building better habits. Like I want to insert time in my day to read, time in my day to meet people and actually make friends in Los Angeles.

But where do you like, do you write it down? It depends. Sometimes I'll put a little note in my phone. sometimes I'll use Google Calendar. Okay, perfect. I've got something for Google Calendar or the note in your phone, okay? It is, so I'm going to ask, and hopefully I've told you enough in advance for you to do this, okay? Oh, and time to work out, too.

I need to start integrating time for that. Sorry. I need you to write this down, Kevin, in your note, in your Google Calendar everywhere, right? Okay. need you to write down on Saturday, July 7th, 4.30 p.m., you and I have acquired tickets

to sit front row at the Thomas and Mac Center to watch Marvin Bagley obliterate DeAndre 8th. Oh, hell yeah. I love it. Let's go. Let's go, baby. So Mark it down.

Yeah. I am going to make sure that you have a seat right next to me. Let's do it. Saturday, July 7th, the Thomas and Mac Center in Las Vegas, Nevada at 4.30 p.m. Or Marvin Bagley versus DeAndre Dayton takes place for the first time. Let's go. Can't wait. Go sons.

Yeah, you should wear a sunshirt. Wear a sunshirt to the game. We'll be watching there. to do something from there for our listeners. But yeah, I saw that on the summer league schedule and oh, I lit up and I said if there is one thing I need,

it's the second day of Summer League on Saturday at 4.30, I'm going to tell Kevin, make sure he blocks off everything in his calendar for a couple of hours because DeAndre Aiton plays against Marvin Bagley at 430 on July 7th. I love it. Let's do it. That's going to be a good time.

All right, Kevin. I'll catch up with you next week, and by next week, the whole damn NBA may have changed. Oh, my goodness. I'm so excited, Chris. Me too. Thanks for listening to another Ringer NBA show. If you dig what you're hearing, go give us a rating and review on iTunes, and we will talk to you next week.