The Ringer NBA Show - Ep. 7: 'Sources Say' With Andrew Sharp

Episode Date: May 19, 2016

The Ringer's Chris Ryan and Juliet Litman and Sports Illustrated's Andrew Sharp talk about Kevin Durant buying in with Billy Donovan, Steph Curry's popularity (12:00), Dwight Howard's reputation restoration (16:00), Pat Riley's Machiavellian moves (20:00), the Bucks vs. the Timberwolves (28:00), and candidates for the 76ers’ top pick. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

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We here. Oh, what are you talking about, man? Here. We'll be back in the building. Does that the sound of an alarm? I think it was. It was. This is a new episode of Sources Say.

I'm Juliette Litman. Oh, Canada. I'm Chris Ryan. The Raptors are still here, and you know who else is here? Andrew Sharp! What's up, Sharp? Welcome back, man. You're always our intern.

What's going on? It's been too long. What's your favorite thing that's happened? What's your favorite thing that's happened in the sport of basketball since the end of Grantland.com? That's a lot. It's a whole season. Yeah.

You have from October 31st, the eve of this current season, to today, May 19th. We literally just got on the phone. This is way too intense of a question. You know, this is how I roll. Yeah, I mean, Jesus. Five minutes ago, I watched Rejan Rondo play Isaiah Thomas in Connect 4 for 10 minutes, and it was amazing. So that I'm going with Rondo.

Has Rondo recovered from his, his, uh, public relations disasters from earlier in the season? I forgot about the Bill Kennedy situation. If that's what you want to call it? It was really, that was pretty ugly. Yeah, it was dark. Really dark. I think we all need to change our estimation of Rondo,

connect four and all. And Rondo also, Rondo had like a rep as he was somebody that sort of pre-thinking basketball fans loved, and then he came out with the slur. I don't know, man. Yeah. I still love Rondo, though. Really weird pick for you, Sharp.

It's just not what I thought you were going to say. It's really weird. I just watched it. It was fantastic. He's also, he can't, he doesn't have any moment like Kevin Durant's mom bought a condo in like DuPont Circle or something like that. So there's nothing really for him to put his closet to Sharp. Let's do. That's a good place to start.

Yeah. We're like watching Kev and Russ and Dion be brothers and just have like a tumultuous Oklahoma City season. where they've clearly defined themselves as probably the second best team in the Western Conference and maybe the third best team in the NBA and are just a few pieces away and maybe just a few tweaks. How does it feel to know that you came so close to getting your prodigal son back, but he will probably stay at Oklahoma at least for another year? So I told you this yesterday. I'm happy for you.

It's been a great week between the sixers winning. For me? Yeah, for you, Chris Ryan. Did you watch our live stream? It's been a great week for you. Did you watch our live stream? I didn't. I was, it was an hour long.

I sat down. I watched the first like, two minutes. Good note. I was like, I can't handle this. But yeah, I'm happy for you guys, the Thunder Buddies. They're coming back from the dead here. I'm not honestly that discouraged because for the last like four months, the wizards have been nothing but darkness. And I've lost hope.

so long ago that like their success I'm happy for the thunder man that's great he seems like he's into and it seems like Durant's into Donovan now like they've had I like that this Thunder team is a little bit more outwardly dysfunctional in places like they get mad at each other at the court they snap it Billy I like it I did too

did you see Durant last night when he was when he went up to Dion and he was like hey man hey man fuck you that was amazing Durant just like walked up to him after hitting a jumper Durant was weird last night because he was in and out of the game but then he would like hit a shot and laugh.

Like I feel like he was like just being kind of strange. Maybe is Mercury still in retrograde? I don't think I've ever seen him smile on the court before. Kevin Durant? Yeah, he was smiling and then cursing out Dion. After the, after the Dion thing, like I don't know how anybody cannot cheer for the thunder after that. They're a really fun team. What did you think about Russ's shirt last night with a gigantic hole in the front?

So I actually was going to ask you this. Do you feel like his fashion? is maybe getting a little bit too turned up at this point? Um, no. I don't know. Russ is just, Russ. Like, he's wonderful. How can you not love that guy?

He plays such an intensity. One thing I really enjoyed in these playoffs is Chris Weber riding hard for Russell Westbrook. Every game, he's like, that's the kind of guy I want to play with. He gives you his all. I do feel like, though, there's not. I don't know if I do enjoy that. I was just going to say, it's impossible to find a good color commentator who is also not riding for coaches or riding for players blindly.

Like JVG, be like Dwayne Casey would have gotten the Nobel Prize if you had been coaching a team in the United States. And I think it's just like, or just no coaches ever to blame for anything. And then Weber is just like, all you Westbrook haters, that's what you get.

And it's like Russ makes one layoff. Yeah. So I'm watching this and I'm like, I'm like, listen, Russ, like, because the Weber stuff really started during the Spurs series. Oh, yes. And Russ had a bad game. And then the next game, Weber was, like, riding for him hard after every made jumper

and saying, like, all you people who say that he should be playing differently, like, look at this. And I'm like, listen, if you go back over the course of Westbrook's career, like, there's definitely a balance that he passed a strike, that sometimes he doesn't strike. and there's like a lot of the criticisms there. That's all I'm saying. Can I ask you guys a question? Pull. Quick poll.

Sure. Do you think that Russell Westbrook thinks that he is better than Steph Curry? Yes. Definitely. That's why this series is great. There was a point last night. I can't remember what it was like he thought he got fouled by Curry or something happened with Curry and he was just, you could just see in his eyes that he was just like,

Steph is a peon. Like I am like way better than this guy. And I think it sometimes gets into Steph's head a little bit. Like, I don't know why Steph went diving for that ball off the court. Like that was, you're the franchise dog. Like, let Ian Clark do that. I really don't need another Steph Curry injury watch. Especially not because he dives into a bunch of venture capitalists in the lower bowl of the Oracle.

I know. That was really, that was annoying. So, speaking of Steph and Rusto, do you feel like he gets less respect from his peers than most other great players? I feel like when you watch KD, we'll have like universal respect for KD. And Steph, for some reason, isn't there yet. I think that's kind of true. In these playoffs, particularly last night, I just could not believe how aggressive the other teams are allowed to be with Steph. Like, I mean, he gets plenty of calls, but he really gets, like, pushed around on, like, every single play.

Do you think that's because he shows people? That's one of Dion's best qualities. Dion has been, like. Dion fouls him on every single play. I know. He is so. handsy. It's crazy. It's like all those like JJ Reddick Rip Hamilton like weaves that those guys do like underneath the basket. Dion just like grabs him. He's just like you're not going anywhere.

I love it. I think that's great. Let's keep talking about that respect thing though. Yeah. I think getting back to that's a good question. I think that Steph is just like one of the reasons he's so popular and people have like gravitated. The fans have gravitated toward him. He's just like a different type of dude. Like everything, and then this is like a topic that I discuss a lot. Like he's just like a different kind of star. And I think that maybe that is related to also what he is like as a regular guy. And like that in like just the type of player he is like among his peers is just different. And like maybe that's why he's not as like doesn't get like dapped up in the way that Kevin Durant does. I mean, I think that the very obvious answer is that there's not really very many ways to stop him

other than being physical with him. Yeah. And I also think that there might be an element of by the nature of the way he shoots and the way like what he does and like the explosions he's capable of producing like guys like you know he shows people up in a way it's like not unlike what blake does to people you know where he's just like hanging off the rim and like all that stuff it's like step will like do a shot like a 35 footer and turn away before it goes in like that's embarrassing i'm glad that you brought up the clippers i do feel like the warriors um while they're like beloved and people love watching step they're really really really cocky and i feel like people i feel like fans who are not from Yeah, Chris Paul is another one.

Turn on them. He thinks he's better than Steph. And you disagree. Wait, what? And so you disagree? No, well, I mean, Chris Paul's obviously not better than Seth. It's just, I feel like the way he dominates, like, with the 35-footers and turns around, I feel like people haven't really adjusted to that being a way to really take over games,

and they still kind of look at it as a gimmick. Yeah. But like if you took his stats and just like the last 18 months and gave them to Kevin Durant, like the entire league would be worshipping him right now. Well, that actually brings up something that I wanted to ask you. Is it how good Kevin Durant looked last night and his athlete? We know that Russ probably thinks he's better than Steph Curry. Do you think Kevin Durant thinks he's better than Steph Curry?

100%. I don't. Really? Nope. Because he doesn't play like it. Hmm. Do you think he gets rattled by warriors? Kevin Durant came out last night and was just like, yeah, it was like very crowded

in there. I guess I'm just going to have to like shoot over three people. I'm doing, like, that's not how he talks. He doesn't talk, like, friggin' Jason Schwartzman. But, like, this is, he, he said that after the game. And I feel like he doesn't just, like, I, Russ are not, like, Kev needs to, like, take the game over. Like, if they're going to lose, they're going to lose on him missing.

Yeah. I mean, I think Russ takes a lot of heat for, for Durant not being assertive enough sometimes. And, like, we definitely, in the second half, I mean, it's hard blame anybody because when Steph goes off like that, like I would just walk up the court. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. It's like, what the hell are you going to do? It was pretty amazing. But the second quarter, when Durant got going, and I think he had like

23 in the first half, when he was going back and forth with Dion, I was watching that being like, holy shit. Like, I don't think they're going to win this series, but I really hope they win a title one day. Because like, I just love Durant's game. It's so good when it works. He's really fun to watch. He's like, he's just so unique. There's, I mean, like, like Staff, he's so unique. I mean, it's, it's, it's unfair because he's still a seven-footer. Like, he doesn't have...

With a great shot. And he has a great shot, but he doesn't have Steph's handle and he doesn't have Steph's mobility. So it's unfair to be like... He does have Steph's turnovers, though. Yeah, but it's unfair to say to him like, oh, you're not creating your own shot and weaving through these guys. Like he...

But I think that, like, when you see him get caught, like, doing that same, like, comes off a screen, stands 16 feet from the basket. Like, I just feel like he could do more to assert himself to, like, take over these games. I think it's really highlight. in like some exceptional moments when with Golden State they never really

like broken plays are usually unless it's a straight up turnover like broken plays are usually converted like they don't really have broken plays you know that's true but um can we just pause for a second yeah to uh to appreciate how much better this series is

than last year's Warriors Rockets conference final oh my god yeah it's not even a contest this is just like a thousand times better than watching James Hard and play into the Golden State defense like 25 times a game. And you know what Hardin's been doing in the meantime? What?

He allegedly... He was an Instagram update. No, it's a TMZ sports update, my favorite kind of update. Allegedly, he's being accused of breaking a photographer's like finger in Los Angeles outside of a club. A guy, a paparazzi went up to him outside of a club and asked him his thoughts on Trump, allegedly. Allegedly.

But, like, honestly, what's wrong about paparazzi? I don't care what James Hardin thinks about Trump. Like, I really just don't. would love James Hardin's thoughts on Trump. I completely disagree. It's also a good question to ask because most people will turn and be like, what? Well, what are my thoughts on Trump? Does James? Trump's running me. Trump should run with Hardin.

Hardin or Dwight Howard. Wow, what a great idea. A little bit more hateable. Sharp, where are you at on the Dwight Howard, the Dwight Howard, like, home improvement tour? Reputation. Yeah. Yeah, because he did an interview with Jackie McMullen today on ESPN where he's like, just sounds really reasonable. Like, he just, he's like going out of his way to sound super reasonable.

You, you, we talked about this last week. I'm so out on humanized Dwight Howard, and I feel bad because he is a regular guy, but like. No, he's not. I just want to say, wait, sharp, wait, one second. He's not a regular guy. Just like, let's be clear. He's not regular. Well, that's what I was going to say.

Like, he just, he collects assault rifles and snakes. I mean, I will never ride for Dwight Howard. Um, and he's put us through five years of just like, fuckery and I'm out. Sorry, man. I don't forgive you. What if you play for the Wizards? I, like, the Wizards, I'm so close to giving up on the Wizards. Don't say that.

After the Scott Brooks news. No, I just, it's just, I need, I may need a few years to just process my, thoughts independently from the wizard. What's up with Brad Beal? Brad Beal? Yeah. The Beal stuff like, if Beal could have stayed on the court this year, the wizard's season would have been fine, but I mean, this is now

year four, and he still can't still can't stay healthy. So like, I don't want to blame him for that, but like it's an issue. And like he, I don't want to get too deep into Wizards talk, but like he should be what CJ McCollum is for the Blazers. Then he's just not there. Yeah, that is kind of crazy how

like CJ just like... It is Stole his lunch. Yeah. Yeah. I was watching some Blazers as exit interviews today in preparation for this podcast. This was not on the run-down. She's acting like it was for the podcast. It was like in no way like relevant to what we were talking about today.

Where do you, where do you even watch Blazers exit interviews? YouTube.com, dog. Come on. Like Portland Trailblazers.com? Like I don't even know. I didn't know those were public. But good for you. I think it was like a news source.

I love Exit and Review. News source. Were there any Al-Farukamino insight? I didn't get to him. I obviously went to Mo Harclis, potentially my new favorite employee. What's wrong with you? I like Mo Harclis. What's wrong with that?

He's a solid shooter, solid role player. Mo Harclis is definitely the player version of Mike Malone, though. Well, I also love Mike Malone. I was thrilled to see him representing the Kings at the draft lottery. The Nuggets. I mean, sorry. The Nuggets. I'm so excited at Mike Malone.

Yeah, he was a good spot. You know, I feel like Denver's a good place for him. There's not too much pressure. He could just do his Mike Balone thing. He was looking a little more stylish. He looks great. He's got a good team too. Although, this should probably trade for you to get some stuff back for him.

I mean, they were about two years too late. I know. Send him to Portland. Oh, it's a great idea. Okay. I think you would do well there. Yeah, so are you in on the Blazers? Is this your new team?

No, but I'm fascinated by them. I'm fascinated by, um... Fascinated by Mo Harclis. This is all like a cry for help. Sharp, the other day, our tech editor at the ringer, Molly McHugh, responded to Myers-Lenard's query about where he should visit in rural Oregon during his summer road trip. And Molly was like, you're missing a couple places in your list.

And Myers-Lennard liked it. Yes, he did. Yeah, and then Juliet liked that. Yeah. And then I responded with a side-eye emoji, and Myers also liked that one. Yeah, so it's all coming together. So Myers checks every single one of his mentions. That's fantastic. I totally forgot about Myers.

He's been injured. That's why he forgot about him. But he's doing better. He's betting on himself. He's betting on himself. Let's go back to Damien Lillard for one second. We have never discussed the Meet the Hoopers commercials. What do you think about Damien Lillard being forced to be the baby of the family?

Well, so a lot of people have hot takes about the Meet the Clippers commercials being like, I'm so sick of these commercial. Oh, my God. You like it? But I laugh at Lillard's line every single time. time when he says no good clippers. Dame Dola. This is my confession. I just think that soon we have to stop. This is a bigger conversation

that Chris and I have often. Soon, Damien Lillard needs to be taken out of the underdog category. Like, he's no longer an underdog. Yes, he was overlooked for All-Star. Everyone acknowledges that was a mistake. And it's also like just really not reflective of his talent anyway.

Like, okay, cool, you asked for an invitation to USA basketball. It's great. You probably deserve it. Like, I'm just like, I'm ready to open a new chapter with Damien Lillard. and that's really why I was watching his ex-interview because I just wondering where his head is at. Did he talk about that at all? No, but he did.

Is he ready for a new beginning? I do think he has more confidence in poise. Obviously, he's getting older. That's because the front office of his franchise goes out of its way every day to be like, Damien Lillard is God. I know, they do. It's true. They're really pumping him up,

but it's just kind of interesting to watch that kind of superstar in the making happen. Like, he's getting better endorsements. And, you know, his team thrived, even though they lost, like, supposed, of their best player, and that's, like, that's a pretty big deal.

Yeah. So I'm just, I think it was a big deal, but I'm, I'm also, my Blazers' opinion is that, like, people go last few weeks,

like, they, they were going to get blown off the court by the clippers. And then Chris Paul got hurt. Blake Griffin, like, quit the series and, uh,

and, uh, and, uh, so, interesting order. I love these things. Quit the series, but was also hurt. I don't know, man.

I love the Blazers, but they're still ways away from being in, like, the actual crop in the West. Sure. Sure. Although. I feel like over the line, like after that Warriors series, people were like, this team played the Warriors so close. And like, they have arrived and they're for real now. And I, like, it's definitely for real. Like him getting the Blazers this far this year was a huge deal.

but like they still need sure you don't believe in Mason Plumley yeah I don't know I'm sorry he's been mask out of my next Mulhartley

so Sharp while Juliet was watching Mo Harclis Exinter interviews I was watching one of my favorite annual videos

comes out every year no matter what time of year it's always great it's Pat Riley end of season press conference time it's classic oh god that's awesome

Pat Riley, let's take a second. We don't think about or talk about Pat Riley enough. No, we don't, but I'm going to start. Pat Riley is probably the most powerful man in basketball, right? Like over the last 30 years, has there been anybody who's wielded more power? There should not be a championship team in Miami. Like, Miami should not be a three-time championship team over the last 20 years. Just given, like, the way things shake out, usually with expansion franchises and everything.

I agree. What an architect. He is the architect. from the Matrix. Dwayne Wade is... Well, his power move, his power move to get to Miami, and then I think he got some

ownership stake too when he left New York. And he fired Stan and took over and won a championship. Yeah, like this is the new day Machiavelli. It's great. So he gave his end of the season press conference, and he talked a lot about Bosch, and he actually, you know, I mean,

the Bosch stuff is so complicated because I just don't understand the medicine behind it, so it's really hard to comment. But we've obviously, like, we all of Bosch. We hope he comes back. I would love to see him on the heat because it would be great to see those guys get one more chance together. Bosch is, I think, our collective top five, like all-time top five, great guy. I think also one thing that was just cool about this press conference and you'll get into it more is they really like addressed topics, including Chris Bosch. Yeah, I mean, this thing is that, like, Riley does not hedge. No. Like he has a take and he just gives you the take.

So it's like, his press conference a few years ago was like half the reason LeBron left. I'm convinced. Absolutely. And then so the best thing that he said during this one, they were talking about about Hassan White Side, whether he's going to leave on free agency or whatever. And Riley said, I met with him the other day and asked him if he liked chocolate gummies in his gift baskets. And he said, do I need to do, and I said, do you need me to take you to parrot jungle or get you on a ferry ride around to take you to the best locations to buy houses around Miami? Do you need a sightseeing tour? And White Side smiled and said, coach, I know enough about Miami, which is true because he's constantly in college Snapchat's in Miami.

But that's a fucking amazing way. Like if somebody's like, oh, what are you guys going to do to keep Durant in Oklahoma? They're not talking about that. No. They're not saying like, oh, I'm going to take him to Parrot Island

and give him some chocolate gummies. Like, what a lunatic? What an original, man. I can't, like, we're going to miss Pat Riley when he's gone. He's like a movie character. Well, it's great. Because two years ago,

or with LeBron, he was like, I'm not going to drop the rings on the table and basically stay. and now he's back in recruiting mode. I like White Side in Miami. I feel like it's a good, it's a good spot. If you're a white side, you have to have something next to you who tells you like

50% of the reason why you're doing what you're doing is because of the guys in that building who have helped you do it. I hope so. I really hope so. Also, they would have won that series if he'd stayed healthy. Yeah, 100%. Oh, yeah. Yeah, definitely. I feel like we were really raw.

We were. Heat calves would have been so good. We would have gotten some incredible Dwayne Wade dagger. It's like, there's just no question. There would have been at least two games where he just fucked over the caps. Gabrielle Union maybe being like, I'm not going to fucking Cleveland.

Like, nah. I don't go to Ohio. The other good things that Pat Riley did was like, you know, because they have, they have some cap space, but they were asking about all the players who were up and he was just like, Dwayne Wade, heat lifer,

Eudanus Haslam, Heat lifer still plays like he's 25. He's just like so confident. I'm like, so you're just going to give up all this money for Haslam Wade. He's like, Dragish needs to get. getting shape. It was great.

He was just like shading joggage, basically daring White's side not to come back. Bringing back Wade and Haslam. A couple of points on that. The heat are legit like the mafia. It's great. He really do have lifers. Like, Udonus Hasl's going to play on the heat until he's 45.

But you know what? That's attractive to guys. Look at Alonzo morning. He's a lifer. That's attractive for its players. Do you on Howard? Yeah. It's great. The prospect that a team will take care of you in your 30s when you're maybe not as useful as you were is like a heat. It must be huge thing. And you get to live in Miami, a delightful place to live. Yeah. I love it. He's my new professional role model. I'm just like, he's a man.

Who, Pat Riley. Yeah. A man of excellence who speaks directly. That's how I want to leave as well. Just commanding men. Yeah, exactly. Chris just brought up something important, which is him shading Goran Joggett, telling him to get in shape. Second time that's happened this season, Tyron Liu did that for his team when he took over. And there's a lot of emphasis on like, I'm like strength and conditioning in the NBA right now. I know it's a hot topic for Chris. Sharpe, let me bounce this theory off of you. So you know how like for the last five years,

the big debate in basketball has been like old school basketball guys versus new school analytics? Yeah. I think the next big fight is going to be between basketball guys and even analytics guys versus the sports science dietitian squad. Because I think that, well, I just think that you're going to see more and more teams give more and more power to like sports science and and like guys were like oh this is how they have to sleep this is the shakes they need to drink this is when they have to eat their grains

this like they have to stop doing this like you can't practice this hard and guys like Riley being like we didn't need any of this shit to win our repeat yeah but like in LA see how like that like the person that the woman who was uh what was her name what was the woman who's in Jen swanson yeah she got fired from the bowls like Tom Tibido just hired Jimmy Butler's trainer to come to the wolves. Like there's all, Hinky had all sorts of crazy stuff. We got Joel in Doha.

He had practice yoga, yeah. So I just think that that's going to increasingly become a thing because one thing, it's hard enough for coaches to get told like, hey, like so-and-so is like really more effective if you play him like this, you know, by an analytics person, which I think that,

that has been assimilated into just basketball thought and people just understand that now. But it's going to be difficult, like when you go up to somebody and you're just like, you can't practice because you need rest. rest is very important. There's a lot more players wanting to stay in the game

like visibly fighting other coach about it. Kevin Durant in particular. Yeah, yeah. And I just feel like that happens more and more. I feel like Katie and Russ both want to play like 45 minutes a game in this series and they've been, they haven't gotten there.

Like even against the Spurs, I thought they were going to play more. I feel like that team is really tough. That's one thing I really like about them. I mean, Katie played 46 minutes in game one, so that's a lot. I think he plays more minutes than Ross, right? He left them out there a little too long last night,

I thought. I was like, I understand. Yeah, maybe Russ. I understand they wanted to, like, try to put up, like, a good face or whatever, but, like, lose by 40 and save their energy. Adams is tough, man. Adams is so tough. It's unbelievable.

Adams got hurt, like, three times last night. He finished it. He might be a Game of Thrones character, like, just straight out of Westeros, like, invincible, tough, funny. Like, can you just see him, like, riding through the, the Shire with Jamie Lannister? Yeah. Like, he could be brawn. He definitely has a Westeros vibe.

Yeah, he really, really, really. really does. What else we have? Sharper. You were in, Targaryen. You were in Philly for the draft

party for the Wright-Serike-Sanchez draft party, right? Yeah. Do they like you there? I'm not, they don't really

like me there. I'm kind of like a lovable heel, I think, at this point. Chris gets a lot of love though for people. Whenever,

yeah, you got some love at the lottery party. That's nice. That's really lovely. Well, he's HBO's Chris Ryan. The son of Philadelphia. Did you see that?

that Paul George and Reggie Jackson are currently on vacation together in Spain. So Juliet, do you want Paul George in L.A.? I do. unrelated to his vacation with Reggie Jackson? Oh, this is the DiAngelo Russell and the two for Paul George? Yeah. Don't you think that would be great for both sides? I think that's too much for the Lakers to go.

The Lakers have to have like a couple of people lined up for free agency if they do that. Okay. They're probably... Yeah. It seems like the DeAngelo Russell thing. was really quite bad. I don't know if it's like blown over, but that seems really bad.

Although I do think, like Luke Walton has a universal praise, 100% approval reading, so maybe he'll be good for DeAngelo Russell. Did you say, in your Sports Illustrated piece, Sharp, did you say that Ben Simmons is friends with DeAngelo Russell?

Yeah. Of course he is. Yeah, they played in high school together, so they know each other. In Orlando? I think at Monte Verde or whatever. Montere. My Orlando friends say it's Monteverd,

and buy my Orlando friends, I mean, friends of Chandler Parsons. Yeah, I was going to say, your person's mafia. Yeah, well, so the other thing is, is if they do keep DeAngelo and bring in Luke Walton, like, that's going to be such a young, fun group next year, and it's going to be just 180 degrees different than the last two awful years with Byron Scott. I'm really hoping that this is a very important draft for Minnesota, because I feel like they could get, they're five, right? They're five, and I know that you had Ellinson going there, right?

Yeah. I really want them to take Buddy. But I don't. I want them to take Buddy. I think Buddy would be a great Tibbs pick, too. Oh, God, that was so awesome. Buddy, Zach, Zach. Buddy's great.

Zach Levine, I'm impressed by how much he's improved over two years. I didn't see this coming. No, he's a great athlete, but his shit is better. Yeah, I feel like a year and a half ago, we talked about Zach Levine and we're like, he seems like he's just never going to put it together and kind of sucks. But he's like towards the end of the year, he looked really good. Yeah, and he got a lot of meaningful minutes with Rubio being hurt again. And he's, I like him.

But then when Rubio came back, I feel like he played better because he had had experience with ball. Yeah. Yeah. And they started playing him with Rubio too, which was kind of fun. I enjoyed that. It's also crazy how much of a different Carl Towns make. I mean, he's so good that like now everybody on that roster looks better because Wiggins doesn't have to be the guy and he's just kind of like a bonus and then it's the same

with Levine. It's like the difference that one player makes, it's like he just changes everything with those guys. I feel like Towns is going to develop into like the kind of dude who can just do no wrong. Like get into a scandal. Like if he like had some like James Hardin style scandals, I don't even like, and by that I mean like allegedly going to like a club too often be like it's okay. He's so poised. I feel like you get in so much trouble in Minnesota. I just feel like you wherever he is, I just feel like that guy's got a good head on his shoulders, and he's poised, and he wears dope glasses. And I don't know, I just feel like he's the next.

Obviously, he's amazing basketball and, like, all NBA heads love him. But I just feel like he's going to be beloved. I just feel like people are going to love him. Sharp, who's going to be a better team next year? Point God, Janus Bucks, or second year Carl Towns Wolves? I think you got to go with the wolves, man. I'm from deciding with Piv. Our guy.

I think that they're going to be great. Mr. Intensity. I'm really excited. fun. I'm really excited. I like seeing Coach Kidd at the draft lottery. I wonder if it's weird for him to go back to New York or he just goes so frequently that it's like, oh yeah, here I am. It's actually like Milwaukee in my second home. I don't feel like Coach K gets off at JFK and is like, oh, it's so weird to be back. I mean, he's probably summering in the Hamptons anyway. You think so? Yeah, that's where he got a DUI a couple years ago. I was going to say he's got a little

sketchy history in the Hampton. It might be time for a fresh start. Go to Newport. Right before his final season as a player. Before we're coming at coach. What else, Sharp? Anything we need to touch on? Yeah, Jason Kidd definitely studied from the Pat Riley School of Management. With his Machiavelli takeover of the Bucks. Winters?

What do you think about the Bucks and their agent? Basically, Jason Kidd's agent is controlled their draft. Yeah, Jeff Schwarz. He's the reason they took Rashad Bond. the reason Jared Bayliss was there. He's also Micaharan's agent, isn't he? Is he? Does Jeff Schwartz have any, like, valuable free agents this summer?

He's, like, the shadow president of the box. He just started shouting Telentovic. I don't think you understood the question. I said valuable free agents. And you just mean, like, guys without jobs. I just meant, no, but, like, who's Jeff Schwartz, like, the agent for in the draft this year? Because they have the 10th pick.

I don't really know. Did you see those rumors that? They've made like a... Did you see the Chris Dunn stuff where it was like Chris Dunn is being held out of, or like his medical records are being withheld so that people who already... Teams that already have starting point cards won't draft him.

They want him to go somewhere that doesn't have a starting point card. Really? Yeah. I mean, that's another thing that I think, I think we're going to see agents screwing with teams more this year than we have in the 10 years past. The Simmons stuff could happen. Yeah.

Well. So, so yeah, this is my question for you, Chris, is like where are you at right now? Do you feel like the process worked, number one? Like, are you about to become, like, number one six's head over the next few years? Like, are you coming back into the fold? What's, how are you feeling after the last week? I'm super excited.

The thing is, is that it's a lottery. Like, we really improved our chances. We had a 26% chance to get the first pick, so we got it. Like, that's great. Thanks for the math lesson. Yeah. But. That's unnecessary.

just going through my thing here Sorry, my bad He's been studying Pat Riley Yeah, I know, she's just like, I'm not showing you my rings I am I like, I'm all in I guess like I'm excited I think you have to take Simmons You must take Simmons

You can't get the number Yeah, he's the... So why are you suddenly Simmons? Didn't you say you were Ingram yesterday? I said, I said yesterday I was like Ingram is the guy who does the things that we don't have Which is like shooting in defense And he would be probably like

Yeah. It would be like 17 points a game probably out of the gate. Chris wants a star though. But I want a guy who could be like, oh, look, we got Dirk. Like MVP level? Yeah, we got like a 15-year franchise player. Is that Ben Simmons? I don't know, but you have to try.

If the upside of Ben Simmons is that projection, you kind of have to take him, right? I don't know. Yeah. Sharp, what do you think about Embed coming back? Julia, I can't wait to see Embed, man. he's going to be great. Honestly, I had forgotten about Embed until his draft night tweet about Shirley Temple, or his lottery night tweet.

And it would actually be a lot of fun to see him on the floor at some point. I don't know how he'll look. And he's so much bigger than most of the centers that play now, but it'll be fun. The Sixers are going to be, is going to be in the mix. They might get a point guard who actually knows how to play in the NBA. They're going to trade Ocifor, probably.

I saw that Ocalfour and Grace and Allen are doing. summer school together. Nice. Tate's just shaking his head. He's so pissed about it. I like you an NBA player to have a degree. Tate Night. You're just over the sixers.

At some point, Tate and I are going to come on with like a Yeah? We're going to have like a 45 minute bonding session over, over hating Duke. And we'll release that as a pod. That sounds great. Intern Sharp, we really missed you. It's great to have you on our podcast. It's awesome to hear your voice, man.

Yeah, it's been. way too long. I'm sad that we couldn't do this in person. I was kind of counting on the clippers making it further in the playoffs, but they sort of screwed me over on my West Coast swing. Folks can read your stuff on Sports Illustrated.com. I'm already looking forward

to All-Star 2018. Will you be coming to that? It's in Los Angeles. Come to Charlotte next year. Juliet's trying to be like Pat Riley right now, and I can't tell if it works for her. She's being very direct. It's not really good. It's not working. But yeah, you can read me on Sports Illustrated.

We have a podcast, open floor podcast, me and Ben Goliver. And, you know, we're having fun. I want to get out to L.A., though, to see you guys and mostly to see Tate and Tall Carolina. Tate's the most popular person associated with the Ringer podcast. Juliet and I are glad to be second and third in your power rankings. That's not been confirmed. We could be four and five. That's true.

Who knows? That's true. Can you guys come to Vegas also? Can we get a little reunion in Vegas for summerlee? I don't mesh well with the desert, so I don't think so. Come on. Pat Riley will probably be there. Pat Riley does not go to Vegas.

He does not go to Summer League. He has guys that go to do that for him. Does he go to Vegas? Does Parley go to Vegas? No. If you're in Vegas, I'll go. I'll go for a day to see you. All right.

I'll see you soon. All right, man. Thanks for joining us. I'll talk to you guys. All right. That's a wrap on Sourcese. We'll be back before the finals, probably. We promise.

There's so much more stuff to dissection. And then we truly get into our, it's our peak season is draft and free agency and summer hanging out summer partying. NBA summer, I love you so much. Get out me NBA players. If you're in L.A., we'll have you come to the studio for our podcast.

That's all we was gone.