The Ringer NBA Show - Free Agency Shuffle: Playoff Potential, Puzzling Contracts, and Championship Contenders | The Mismatch

Episode Date: November 24, 2020

Verno and KOC get into all the most fascinating free agency moves from the past few days. First they look at teams that have vaulted themselves from the lottery to a potential playoff run (0:45) and the most puzzling contracts that have been signed in free agency (22:10). Then they get into which championship contenders have improved their rosters and which have fallen flat in free agency (36:15). Hosts: Chris Vernon and Kevin O’Connor Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Hey, this is Kevin O'Connor on today's episode of The Mismatch with me and Chris Vernon. We talked about all the free agent moves that we've seen over the past couple of days, how it impacts contenders and teams trying to get into the playoffs and which moves we thought were great, and which moves we thought were kind of silly and teams should have passed on. All that next. Welcome to The Ringer NBA show. I'm Chris Vernon. And join him as he does every Tuesday from the Ringer.com is Kevin O'Connor,

A.K. Kevin O'Bomber, A.K.K.E.O.C.O.C.O. Kavana O'C., Kevin O'Conekekekin'Kee. Burdo. What's going on this Tuesday morning? Well, we have had a ton of free agency news that has gone on. As we attempted to do the show on Friday night, there was still so much news that was filtering in. And now we have a lot of teams that have changed their outlook for the upcoming season. So let's start with two that I think have vaulted themselves from non-playoff team into right in the middle of the playoff mix and their respective conferences. The first one would be the hawks.

Let's say this Bogdanovitch thing goes through. So they've added Bogdanovich. They had Gellinari. They had Ray John Rondo. They add Chris Dunn. This team, I think they added Solomon Hill yesterday, who I've told you, nice veteran to have around. Yaki O'Kongwu as well. Yep.

Yep. So this team, which was nowhere close to a playoff team last year, and we have not seen them play in so long, because they were not one of those teams that went to the bubble. This is a totally different roster, and I think this is what you hope, if you're a fan of a team that has all kinds of flexibility going into an off season, that you do revamp your roster. You've got a young star in Trey Young. And I feel like, you know, who knows what the ceiling is? But I certainly think the Hawks have vaulted themselves into a team that I would not have had in the playoffs that I absolutely will have as a playoff team this upcoming season. I'm sure, though, Chris, because you look at the east, you have Milwaukee, Toronto, I think,'s going to be in there again, despite their losses. Boston, Indiana, Miami, Philly, Brooklyn. That's seven teams, seven teams who I would have above Atlanta. So for that eight spot, Atlanta, no doubt. I mean, they obviously got better, assuming the Kings don't match for Bogdanovich, which they have until 11.59 p.m. Eastern tonight to do that, you know, assuming they don't

match. Atlanta's right there for the eight seed. Maybe they're able to bump, you know, a team out and get the seven seed. Maybe a team has injury issues, whatever, you know, there's a lot of variables over the course of the season. But I still think Charlotte, you know, adding Gordon Hayward, you know, having internal development from PJ Washington, you know, maybe La Mello Ball comes in and contributes right away. Washington with John Wall and Bradley Beal and, you know, drafting Denny Avdi, a guy that can play right away. I look at those teams. I mean, or even like Detroit, what if Blake Griffin has a healthy season? There's a number of teams on the bubble in the east that have a chance at the eight seed.

And Atlanta's right in there. They're in that bubble for sure. But I don't feel like they're a guarantee to make it in, which is why there is so much pressure on Travis Schenk, their general manager, and there will be on Lloyd Pierce, their head coach to get in. Because if they don't get in, it appears that ownership is probably going to make a change within that organization at the front office and coaching. So they got to get in. Well, we know this. They're only being the plan.

They'll be in the plan. And we look at that and we type in seven teams for sure, right? Somebody's always worse. Somebody is always worse than what we think. We had Portland solidly in there. They were coming off a Western Conference finals appearance. They were on the outside looking in. Now, they made it in the play-in game at the bubble.

We also, you know, look, there's always teams that fall off. And so I just like, when I look at their top 10 guys, that is, that's a top 10 guys that I would certainly walk into and compete with and think that at worst, they're playing in. Because you got to remember, there's 10 teams now. There's 10 playoff teams. And also with Atlanta, you do have the chance of guys getting better. I mentioned internal development from a Charlotte. You could have DeAndre Hunter get better. You could have even Tray Young could continue to get better.

despite how great he was last season. So this Atlanta team, I'm with you. I'm just pushing back in the sense that I don't feel like they're a guarantee to get in. Because there's a lot of teams in that bubble in the east. They're going to fight for that seven and eight seed through a plane. By the way, isn't that a good thing? Isn't that the point of the playing to have more teams with a chance? Because what if one of them get off to a slow start?

One of them has injury issues and they surge late. I'm happy that we're able to have the conversation about the playing spots at the beginning of the season. now. It's a fun little wrinkle when you're looking ahead towards the NBA regular season. Well, we didn't mention John Collins either, who once was one of the most promising young players has had taken a step back with injury, with suspension, etc. But I just, I look at it that I say you've added, you've added a whole other lineup to your team and you bring back Collins at Capella and Reddish and Hunter and young. And now you've added five more guys. I've had a God more guys.

Done. Done, by the way, just one thing on Chris Dunn. He was awesome defensively last year in Chicago. And his offense is still not great, but his defense is legitimately awesome. And now I put him in an environment that's like trying to win a lot of games. You know, Atlanta's trying to win as much as they can. I'm excited to see what he can do in that scenario. I'm sure Lloyd Pierce, their head coach who's very good, is going to put him into situations

where he's doing some stuff maybe he hasn't done before playing off ball because Tray Young is going to dominate the ball a lot in that situation. And I'm really curious to see how all those guys get integrated together from a system standpoint. Because if you have Rondo,

doesn't it seem like you're probably going to push Tray Young off ball a little bit more often than you did last year when he dominated the ball more than anybody else in the league? That's good. That's also good. Hey, also, this is the moves I like. Flank him with big guards that can defend.

And that's what they did. They went out and got two big guards that can defend so that he's not, it's not a punishment to have him out on the court defensively. You don't have to be miserable defensively. I mean, I hope. You don't have to be. You can hide him better than you could before.

How about that? Teams are still going to try to find him at least. Of course they will. At least in the playoffs, if it gets to that point. But regular season, it seems like teams don't target as much. But Trey Young himself,

he's got to really step up on defense. He was awful, just awful, just really despicably awful on defense last season. And I'm saying that as somebody who, like,

loved watching him offensively. Like, it's so fun to watch him. But the defensive aspect, he's going to realize at some point, whether it's during the regular season when they're trying to win games,

whether it comes in the playoffs, he has got to look in the mirror and say, I get to be better on defense. I got to be better. And maybe having these guys who can handle the ball around him, even a Galanari. He doesn't run point for you, obviously. But he can do some stuff off the dribble for.

He can handle. He can run a pick and roll. So maybe that can help alleviate some of the pressure on Trey Young and give him some more energy to put it into his defense. Because even though he's small, you can still play hard. You can still hustle. You can still fight over screens. When you're on a switch against a bigger guy, you can still battle.

And that's where with Trey Young, like hopefully we see that improvement this. season and that would make me feel a lot better about their odds, not just of like making the playoffs as a seven or eight out of the plan, but in the future with what this team can be long term. The other team, so that's in the east. In the west, the suns, you, they were on the outside looking in. They had an outstanding bubble. We talked about this after they were able to swing the trade for Chris Paul.

But then what they've added outside of Chris Paul, I've lost. I like the Jay Crowder signing. I like resigning Sorich at a totally reasonable deal. And Langston Galloways, you know, another guy that's at least a real player, right? We're talking

about how many guys on your team do you come in and I can't say that guy sucks. And they've got a lot more than they used to. And I think now they're coming off what was their most promising ending to a season. And now,

you're going to add some real toughness with Paul and Crowder to that team. You flank a team that had some very good young players with some veterans. And I think when I'm when I'm doing my playoff standings, Phoenix is going to be in there. They just are. I'm with you, man. I mean, we talked about this after CP3 with what he's going to add to Devin Booker, what he's going to add to DeAndre Aiton, especially Aitin in the pick and roll. And this team bringing back Sarich, who was really good for them is important.

I think drafting Jalen Smith, I know like that pick got some heat and then taking him at number 10. But I look at them replacing Aaron Baines with Jalen Smith. And I think what he adds is a shooter. As somebody you can, I'm excited to see what Monty Williams does with Smith as a shooter off of screens and handouts. You can get creative with him. And having two bigs, Aiton started shooting threes in the bubble. And I would expect him to come back and be better on those deep twos and three point shot of having two bigs who can shoot for you and space the floor,

at least be mild threats. In Aiton's case and being a real potent threat in Jalen Smith's case, gives Chris Paul and Devin Booker a lot of freedom to attack the basket for layups, drawn files, or kickouts for threes. This is going to be a really potent offense. That's also going to be really good on defense too because of how much better Aiton's gone,

how good Chris Paul is, how Bookers become solid. And there's some of those wing defenders like Mikhail Bridges, who are rock solid for you. you. This feels like a pretty complete overall team that can play different styles depending on one big lineups or two big lineups. It's exciting looking at Phoenix, man. We've been we've been calling them the bright future sons for years, but like it really is true. This is the right now sons. This is a really strong team that can compete for a top four seat in the West. And I like

I like bringing back my guy, Javon Carter. I forgot him. Dude, he bust his butt on defense, doesn't he? He did. He's really good in the bubble. And look, It's no picnic when Chris Paul checks out of the game, and that guy's picking you up 94 feet away from the basket. Great offseason for Phoenix. The only thing that I will give them a big demerod on, and I know given coronavirus the pandemic and everything else, times have been tough. But yesterday, some of my media friends from Phoenix were let go. And I just, it just breaks my heart because you have, these people have covered all these terrible teams. the team finally gets awesome and it's the most exciting that you,

the most excitement that you could have going into a season. And there's been a lot of teams around the league, right? I mean, nobody has been immune to what has happened during the pandemic and certainly with the business of the NBA. But I hated that for some of my friends with the sons yesterday. Yeah, man, like this year's just been, it's been awful for this whole industry. and it sucks like not knowing like when how long it lasts you know more layoffs possible to come in places it's just it sucks there's a lot of talented people that work in that phoenix

media department there for them and like you know i know a handful of them and i don't know who got dropped or what yet but um it's it's sad it sucks it sucks and fans are not going to be very happy about it i will tell you that um let's get to a couple other teams uh two others that i wrote down that I really liked how they improved their teams. One was Portland, who last year obviously made it with the play-in game at the very end. The Covington signing or the Covington maneuver is a great one to be able to get him. He is perfect and exactly what they need. He is a perfect fit because last year, you know, they had to roll in there with Carmelo.

A reason didn't, you know, play at the bubble. and so they had Carmelo Anthony, but you think about what they need on that wing and what can be successful. Covington, I think, is a perfect fit with those guys. And then I've always liked Derek Jones Jr. as an energy guy that comes off the bench really long. He can help you flip some games and they got him on a good deal. And then bring him back Enos Cantor. Cantor is a guy that, you know, it's once a week you look up and across the bottom line it says Enis Cantor at 18 points at 17 rebounds.

I know that when you get to play off time, the whole can't play canter. Can't play cancer. But he is a guy during the regular season that can also help you flip some games. And so I, and they didn't lose anything. And so adding Covington to that roster, along with two other bench guys that I do think are kind of, these guys can help you flip a game guys. I like what Portland did. I'm not going to go over the moon for it, but I did like it.

Yeah, I liked what Portland did based off. the potential acquisitions they could have had via trade or free agency. I like what they did. Am I, you know, falling head over heels for this team now and like talking about them is like the top four team in the West? No, I am not doing that. I still look at the Lakers.

I still look at the Nuggets, the Clippers, and now the Mavericks to me are their team that will push themselves up into upper echelon in the West. Like I think Nuggets, Clippers, Mavericks are in a group of their own. Portland to me still isn't in that group. Robert Covington. Let's, let's be real here. He's a very, very, very good player. And he adds a lot to that team with his defensive abilities off the ball. On ball, he is good, not great. Offensively, he is a solid shooter, not a great shooter.

He, he's a good player who's moved around teams in recent years because he's good, not great. And for Portland, it's what they needed. It's probably the best guy that could have added to help in that role, a wing defender who can defend a LeBron, who could defend a Co-Eleiter, who's going to be needed in that Luca matchup, right? they had a good off season but like I'm not I feel like some of the the praise for them has been a bit over the top Derek Jones Jr. couldn't even get minutes

from Miami in their playoff run. I just feel like it's being a bit overblown and for Portland fans, it's encouraging positive additions but there's still more ways for this team to grow and get better for them to actually be able to push through and maybe upset one of those favorites

in the West. Why? Why are Why are you vaulting Dallas up there? I am confused because you know that Porzingis has got this huge injury thing that's hanging out there. They clearly kind of decided, okay, our free agency money will be for next year. They only added Willie Colley Stein. I mean, why are we vaulting them up? I think you've got to look at what Luca does. Does he improve further?

I think better than what he was. I mean, that's going to be hard. I don't think it's unreasonable. It was only a second season. is only the second season he can become more potent as a shooter. Will he? I don't know. We'll see.

But I know and would predict that's a priority for him over the off season. And I would expect some level of improvement from him over the course of the season. I think they also had a really good draft. I think they had a really good draft. And that night, they added Josh Richardson. They didn't add anybody in free agency besides Willie Colley-Ca-Sign. But trading for Josh Richardson, he's a very positive addition for them in the same way Robert Covington is for the Blazers. Richardson, not great, but good.

He's a very good on-ball defender, not great, like Covington, to be fair. Not a great shooter, like Covington, but good. He can do a little bit more off the dribble for you than Covington can for Portland. To me, that acquisition has been overlooked because it happened on draft night. It happened on draft night, and it didn't get the eyeballs on it because it was the same night. LeMello Wall goes to Charlotte. I think he didn't get the eyeballs. People didn't care.

He's like, yeah, but, but, but, but, yeah. Like Covington is like basically the same level player. No, no, no, no, no, no, no. No, no, no. Are you sure? No, Robert Covington won them a playoff series, literally, won them a playoff series. Maybe I'm underwriting him. What, he have seven threes and he was locking everybody down and grabbing rebounds.

I mean, he was there for it. My opinion of Covington. My opinion of Covington went up dramatically. I look at Josh Richardson and I say, they got Tim Hardaway, Jr. What's a difference? Seriously. Richard can defend at a high level Hardaway can't that's a big difference

it's a big difference it's a big difference it's a big difference those two players are in the same tier they just are yeah because Hartaway is better offensive way than Richardson but Richardson's way better defensively which is what they needed when there were situations in the post season on a switch they had Seth Curry diffining Kauai Leonard but there is the

Porzengis thing like I know I do that's my I've been on that for years since before you got traded by the Knicks but you just put him as a we don't trust him I don't know if you can trust him I don't know if you can trust him. But when he's on. But when he's on.

And we don't even know if he's going to play or when he's going to play. We'll see what happens. But all I'm saying is that they had a huge draft night, getting Richardson, drafting the guys that they did, Josh Green, Tyrol Terry. Those two guys up top to me, I look at them and they had a big time draft night. Additionally, also drafting Tyler Bay in the second round. Not sure how much I'll play. But Tyler Bay is another really good prospect.

first round in my mind fell to the second two guys tyrol terry Tyler bay both guys that were deserving of going in the first round particularly Terry in addition to getting Josh crean as well a guy from Arizona who's ready to come in and likely contribute right away to me they bolstered their entire roster and I think that's going to show early on in the season when you see the lineups Carlisle puts on the floor toughness wise I certainly like what the pelicans did bringing in eric blitz-o and stephen adams I think Adams is absolutely perfect you know what they've got. They've got Zion. They've got Ingram. You want a guy that's just going to go in there, man the five, do the dirty work, grab rebounds. He's always directing traffic while he's there. I mean, it's the solid player. They didn't overpay, I don't think badly for it. And if I'm trying to, if I've got a bunch of good young talent, much like how I was talking about, you know, flanking the guys in Phoenix, I want these older veterans I can count on. that bring toughness, work ethic to the team that they can teach and help mold these young players. And I do think that having Adams there is going to be of great benefit. And then we'll see on the Bledso thing. But Bledso, I do think that Bledso, he's gotten a little beat up. You know what I mean? Like, he's not, people, he's one of those guys that people talk about what he isn't rather than what he is all the time, right?

Nobody ever talks about what's good about Eric Bloodsoe. They talk about what's bad about Eric Bloodsoe. And I don't need this guy to be shooting and scoring for me, right? I need him to defend. He's got to be a threat to shoot and he's not. Does he though? With Zion and Ingram and does he? Especially with Zion Williamson.

You need to have threats on the floor to shoot. Eric Blentso is not part of their long term future. I'm really like he's just not. He's not part of their long term. I'm talking about in the short term bringing in tough veterans, you know, that are nice, that are not used to lose. I'm curious to see how it's going to look with Stephen Adams because Stephen Adams, two thoughts there with Stephen Adams. He's an interior big man and he's somebody who has that

tough does it look with Zion and Stephen Adams, two guys that won't be shooting a lot of threes. We'll see how Zion shots develop, but to me he's more of the interior guy. You'd preferably have a stretch shooting big man flanked next to him. With that said, we've seen Steve Adams for a couple of years now, Flash shooting the quarter three. And also, it's something he practices before games. Will the Pelicans try to have him do that more often to increase spacing? I don't know. We'll find out soon once the season begins,

but it's going to be really interesting to see how this team looks. And by the way, Ingram hasn't been signed yet. I mean, they are going to eventually get him. It just depends on the dollar amount. Will it be a max, which is what he wants, or will it be less than a max, which naturally the Pelicans would probably want to give him? I think the rebounding numbers are going to get freaky.

seriously because that's one thing about Adams even if he doesn't get the rebound he blocks is out he boxes out everybody you know what I mean on every possession and when you got Zion next to him try get good this is going to be fun good good luck trying to get the ball and that's another part about like are they going to crash the offensive boards more than anybody in the league like are they going to constantly try to get second possessions you know second chance opportunities I would imagine you would are you going to really have that team with those big bodies run back on defense for transition, you're going to crash the boards. I think you're going to crash the boards of that team.

They could be different. They could be like zigging while everybody's zagging with two bigs like that. So we talked about some of the teams that we thought improved. Let's get to some of the extremely puzzling things that have taken place. Now, you tell me, you walk me through this because I'm sure you're well versed in this. What happened with the Gordon Hayward thing? Because that felt like that really came out of nowhere. I think the basketball world collectively, when we saw,

the Gordon Hayward number and the team went, what in the hell? By the way, shout out to Mark Bartolstein, who we talked about last week. Always getting guys. But this is two off seasons in a row that Danny Aange, you know, he lost Kyrie Irving. He got nothing to show for it.

He lost Gordon Hayward. He's got nothing to show for it. Like these free agents have just, yeah. At least that was, at least that was a move. You know, but really, yeah, you're right. Nothing to show for it. What happened with Hayward and what do you make of what's taking place the last couple of all seasons where you would think that maybe with these great players you could pull off a sign and trade or something, have something to show for these guys that were in tow and you ended up with nothing to show for it. My understanding is that Indiana was offering somewhere around four years, 100 million, maybe up to 110 million for Hayward.

and Boston and Indiana were obviously negotiating a trade return, something with Miles Turner and maybe Aaron Holiday on top of that. I'm, you know, and I think, I don't know if Charlotte just came over the top with a wealthier offer. And Hey, we're just signed it and took it and said, forget Indiana. You know, I'm not going to bother with, you know, this back and forth. Or if it's the type of thing where Boston just didn't want to take Miles. Turner because I don't think Boston likes Miles Turner that much. So they'd be getting a guy that's getting paid $18 million who they don't really care for too much. And they'd probably be looking to flip immediately.

To me, I think Boston may have botched the fact that they let an asset go for nothing without getting Turner back. Because other teams would have loved to a trade for Miles Turner. So for them, maybe they just would prefer that. But I'd be willing to bet that they just botched this. and they should have taken the deal sooner instead of haggling back the fourth, which gave Charlotte time to actually make that offer and go over the top to get Gordon Hayward.

What do we think about Charlotte's angle in this? I mean, they're trying to compete, get a, get a, get playoff seed. Same thing as Atlanta. There's pressure on them. Michael Jordan wants to win, win, win, win, win, win to the level you're at least in the playoffs, win to the point you're in the finals.

I'm not so sure about that. But Gordon Hayward, this is going to make them look competent. You know, it's like if you're building around the mellow ball and PJ Washington and you got these young guys with Gordon Hayward, they're going to look good. But aren't these the moves that you hate? These are the moves to the middle. I mean, I've, I've bashed Charlotte for years.

All they do is make moves to go to the middle. It's all they do. And it's frustrating. And I would just hope if you're a Hornets fan, I would hope that this is a sign that like, hey, this is four years or being competitive, make yourself look like a competent, you know, place to develop the mellow ball. And then you actually, actually make additions with the intentions of competing for a championship. That's what I would hope.

But, you know, their past would prove otherwise that that hasn't been the priority. The priority has only been getting in the postseason, not necessarily competing for a championship, but being a solid team. And that's it. That's that. And that's where, like, I look at this and I'm like, eh, it's okay. It's okay. But the thing is, man, Gordon Hayward's not worth that money.

Let's be honest here. Let's just be honest. Gordon Hayward, the last three years since he suffered that unfortunate injury in Boston, has not been close to the same guy because he hasn't been able to attack the basket with the same ferocity that he did in Utah. He doesn't draw as many falls. He hasn't finished as well. Gordon Hayward is not the same guy.

He can still contribute for you. He can still be a solid player. We saw some of the flashes of what he did. His last three months were pretty spectacular. January and February before we got hurt again and before the hiatus in March, he would look a lot closer himself at that point than he ever has since the injury happened. January

and February, Gordon Hayward looked a lot like Gordon Hayward, the All-Star in Utah that signed a Max deal with Boston in 2017. If Charlotte's getting that guy for a full season, for a full four years, Max contracts, it's a different story.

Will they get that guy? Similar to you bringing up Christopps, Brazingis, and his injury concerns for Dallas, Hayward hasn't been able to stay healthy. Has he's always something. He's really good. He's a really good basketball player. He's a very good team basketball player.

The question is, how good can you be when, are these like the old Utah teams, right? What's the limit of a team with Gordon Hayward as the best player? I don't know. I mean, I don't think this team has any championship aspirations

over the next four years. I don't think so either. And I'm not saying that as like a knock on. And they have a lamello ball who's a rookie. PJ Washington is a second-year player. Devante Graham, who's still super, super young. This team isn't ready to talk about championships yet. Maybe by year, three, year four of that Hayward contract, you can build towards

that. The Mello gets really good, really fast. But those are things we just don't know. And I would expect this to be a very average team over the next four years that's competing for like the sixth or fifth seat in the east at best. But at least, you know, at least it's not a team that when you look at the schedule, you go win, you know, I mean? Like, and they have, they have been that team for,

quite some time. I would just hope if I'm a Charlotte fan that this isn't just a move that keeps them on the... Just keeps them in the middle, man. Yep. They've been in the middle for years, and this feels like that type of move,

but hopefully it's a stepping stone an investment into the future to get somebody else that's better and that can actually help you win a championship at some point. Let's get to another one that it was super confusing, which was the Jeremy Grant signing in Detroit.

Like, everything with Detroit, you sit there and you go, all right, is there more to come? Is this all, is there a method to this madness? Because you saw that slew of centers that we goofed about that, you know, whether it was the draft or the beginning of free agency with Plumley and Okofor and whatever else. And then this Jeremy Grant signing comes out. Christian Wood goes to Houston. And then they signed Jeremy Grant on a $60 million deal.

he played so well during the playoffs that I think he priced himself out for Denver because this is a loss for Denver. There's no way around that. By the way, there was a report this week that Denver matched that offer and he chose to leave for a greater offensive workload. Wow. That was the report.

Okay. Well, you certainly weren't expected to have to pay him that anyway. No. Then his performance at the bubble and then the playoffs, priced himself out. And I don't understand what's going on in Detroit. I really don't. Like, I don't know if this is all, is there a Griffin deal that's going to be on the horizon? Are you winning now? Are you not winning now? Like, the Jeremy Grant thing, it's so hard to figure out what they're doing. And Troy Weaver and Estefansky and everyone, like,

There are moves that feel like it's two different front offices, but do you think we're going to come out on the other end? And look, there was a method to this madness with the contracts that were attained and whatever else. Or is this just as bizarre as it feels? I mean, I think the short answer is I don't know. Yeah, right. Because I think we get to see this develop over the course of the year. Maybe the plan is or the hope is to trade Blake Griffin to a contender. then you get off that contract.

It opens up some minutes for big man to play. You drafted Isaiah Stewart with the 16th pick. Maybe that's the situation there for them. But it is certainly weird that they added all of these bigs, all of these bigs. They did everything they can. But bring back Christian Wood, who signed with Houston, who I think is one of the most underrated free agents in this class. It's going to be a huge addition for the Rockets.

It's a bit weird to me. And I wonder, I wonder if they had an indication that he was indeed going to leave, if he was going to leave. Though, it's still, it's not like he, it's not like he signed for significantly more than what they could have given him. So I don't, I'm not sure with Detroit, man. I thought they had a nice draft. They got my number one prospect, Killeen Hayes. Yep. You got Isaiah Stewart.

And I got Sadiq Bay on the first round. Pretty good draft. Yeah. And then the free agency, it's like, huh? Is this like two different people? Like one's doing the draft. ones during free agency. It's pretty weird. It's pretty weird what happened for Charlotte, for Detroit. Good luck, doing Casey. Um, another one. Can we get back to Boston real quick?

Yeah, sure. I want to get back to them because I feel like losing Gordon Hayward. When that first happened, I was initially thinking they screwed this up big time, not taking back Miles Turner. And maybe they did. But I do think there was some logic to what they did in that by letting Gordon Hayward Walk, it did open up the full non-taxpayer mid-level exception to sign Tristan Thompson. And they added Jeff Teague. Would you rather have Tristan Thompson and Jeff Teague or Miles Turner and whatever other player you get maybe Doug McDurnet from Indiana? To me, like it's pretty close with what you might want between those two. And if you get Thompson, you have a little bit more flexibility and potential moves moving forward. I'm not sure I'll

would have done it, I probably would have leaned to the Miles Turner side, but my understanding is that front office isn't that high on Turner. Because Turner, like, we've talked about him a bunch. He can't defend Joelle Embed. He gets bullied. He gets pushed around. You know, Miles Turner might look big is, you know, seven feet, long arms, you know, he's heavy, but he gets pushed around by true bigs like Embed.

So, like, where's the value there in that matchup? I don't mind, I don't mind Jeff Teague is a backup point guard. He's a gamer. Yeah, he's a solid player. He's a solid player. I mean, I think losing Gordon Hayward is, is disappointing, you know, because you lose a lot without having him on your team.

And the present, your ceiling isn't as high without Hayward. Put it that way. The Boston got worse. There's no way around that. But he's been lapped by Tatum and Brown. No, no, no. But they got worse. They did get worse.

Their team's not as good as it was. 100%. And I think they should have taken that offer from Indiana. But when they followed up with Tristan Thomas, Thompson, who I really, really like, I was like, okay, I sort of get what they were going for here. Because if they did take that Turner deal, they wouldn't have been able to offer the non-taxpayer mid-level exception to Thompson, which means they wouldn't have Tristan Thompson. So I kind of got it after the next day when they signed those guys.

When initially I was like, this is stupid. What are they thinking here? They botched this. But the next day with Thompson and Teague made me kind of understand the logic there and doing it. And, you know, plus I'm sure a small part of it was. you'd probably rather have Gordon Hayward go to Charlotte than go to Indiana, who's a competitor in the East, had Indiana got Hayward. If you looked at the five-man lineup, they could have had with Sabonis, with Hayward, with Oladipo, with Brogden, with Warren.

That's a pretty formidable five-man unit there that you'd be helping create maybe a second-tier contender underneath the bucks. Do you look at it as a 100% sure thing that Thompson plays over Tice? I think you're going to see two different types of lineups. You're going to see the shooting lineup and then you're going to see the rim running lineup with I like Tyst too. I like Ty's too. And I think that's part of it. Turner making $18 million versus Tice making $5 million.

I'm sure Boston looked in that and said yes, Turner might be a better player, but how much more is he offering? Is it $13 million more than what Tice is giving you? Because the salary aspect needs to be taken into consideration. Look, I hope Miles. Turner's able to get tougher against some of those bigs. He's going to get tougher on the boards.

He averaged like six a game last year. I like Turner. I don't love Turner. And Turner needs to start doing some things to make me love them. And that includes being a lot tougher in those matchups against Biggs on the post. So a B's not pummeling you. He's got to get tougher on the boards, boxing out, fighting for rebounds. And Indiana, that's one reason why.

Like, they're not like, you know, doing jumping jacks, having this young combination with Sabonis and Turner and all the promise that they get together. There's a reason why they would consider moving Turner. And it's because of his flaws. And so with Indiana now, I wonder, what are they going to do with Miles Turner? Or is there another team to flip him to at some point out there? Is that option out there or is there a limited amount of interest in him? Because for a player like with the name Miles Turner, top high school recruit lottery prospect, lottery draft pick, you would have expected somebody, there'd be a line of people trying to trade for him. But that's just not the case. Let's get to some of the moves that

the best teams made. I will tell you that when I saw the Marcus Morris 464 at 31 years of age, I was like, wait, what? And then the and then his twin got a minimum deal? What is going on here? That's pretty unbelievable, isn't it?

How did one guy get 64 million and the other got a minimum deal? Marcus Morris is better, but I don't know about that much better. 64 million dollars better. I mean, good grief. And he's 31. Like, I look at some of these and I say at the end of the, at the end of the contract,

what are these contracts going to look like? And there's a couple of them. The Marcus Morris one, you could foresee a circumstance where that looked really bad. I'll tell you this. And we, I predicted this when we went to those. That Bertan's contract is going to look terrible. just terrible. 80 million, like, you've got to be kidding me.

At the end of that contract, that is going to look so much, because he's no, he's no spring chicken. And I know that they wanted to keep him in tow there. But this guy got, he's 28 years old. Five-year deal, 80 million. Yeah, like, that's going to look so bad. That has a, that has Batum written all over it, right? Which is, it's nice to have him at the time, and you're going to get him for a couple of good years. then those last couple of years are just going to hamstring you.

It's going to be so bad. So that one stood out to me as a, oh, my goodness. And then obviously that just the Marcus Moore, just the sheer number of that 4 and 64 at age 31. Typically, unless you're an outstanding player, you usually don't get that kind of money. Yeah. I mean, with the Clippers, at least they added, at least they added Sergei Baca as a replacement from Montrose, Harold. that is an upgrade for them. Well, we'll talk about the Lakers in a minute.

But with the Clippers, adding Ibaka as a replacement for Harold helps. And the shooting that he can provide in addition to the room running and the defense and all that. Look, they, Montres Harold, this one is important because this is the whole L.A. scene where he moves over to the other team. And then to read his comments after it, he said, they didn't want me. He said they didn't even, they didn't want me. They didn't want me there, right? they're ready to move on. But here's the thing, Kev, and this is why this whole situation is incredibly fascinating.

Because in the midst of all of this, it starts to seep out. Like you're thinking, why would they get rid of Montres Harold? This guy just won six million of the year. It's really the same. It's six or one half dozen contract-wise with him and Ibaka. And you can have your opinions on the two players. But why wouldn't you keep it together? And we always wondered, like, what the hell happened with this team?

But did you see the story that came out after this and where they were, it kind of, there was a throwback to this athletic article about like kind of what happened with the Clippers and saying that the holdovers, like Harold, Lou Will, Pat Bev, that there were, there was some bristling. And I had not heard this before. Okay, bristling that Kauai Leonard could play whenever he wanted, lived in San Diego, which made flights late regularly, and that he could dictate whenever Doc was going to pull him out of the game. He could dictate his own minutes and that these guys that were the holdovers that had been there. They didn't like the preferential treatment, right? Like that this was the cost to doing business and getting this. But this is a big, big deal, right?

because we sat there and we watched that team absolutely implode that when some pressure was put on them, they all caved. Because behind the scenes, obviously they weren't all on the same page. And there was resentment within those quarters. But this whole Kauai living in San Diego,

playing whatever he wants to play all this. I didn't know about this, did you? This is wild. For this Clippers team, they are in a situation here where Ibaka's better than Harold and hopefully chemistry improves, but there's still some of those guys in the locker with lingering chemistry problems like Lou Will, Patrick

Breverley, like you said. But that makes sense, doesn't it? Yes, they need to iron things out with Kauai and with Paul George and get this right, because this is still a finals contender on paper. Can we agree on that? Do we agree? It's still a finals contender, but you're not going to win the finals with serious chemistry issues compared to the competition.

Well, I tell you this, if I'm sitting on a plane and we're just waiting on one guy because he lives in San Diego, I'd be mad or nail too. Yeah. You know what I mean? Yeah. I mean, we'll see how it works out over the course of the season. Maybe they fire back and maybe they come back motivated. You know, maybe that's a big part of it. But ultimately, man, like not wanting Montrose Harrell back, the guy that's had a lot of success with Lou Williams.

I'm sure that doesn't make the Lou Will feel great either about that. Even if you go into training camp and he fall in love with Ibaka, it's still probably something to linger. ring in your mind. And that's why with the Lakers, man, I think the Lakers were the winners of the offseason. Oh, God. And when you compare it to what they did? If we were talking about this, was an arms race with the Clippers and the

Lakers, it was an arms race a year ago. And they're the ones that landed Kauai Leonard and Paul George, right? Where the Lakers were once the team that wanted those. And we thought, and they're doing the whole, we are L.A.'s team and all that crap. And then the Lakers go ahead and win the title. This offseason,

this has been, no, this has been great for the Lakers and man for the Clippers. I mean, you not only add the guy who won six man of the year from your inner city rival, the Clippers, Montres, Herald. You had the guy who finished second and six men of the year voting Dennis Schroeder, who is an upgrade from Rajan Rondo, Rondo, very good in the bubble. But there's good reason why Lakers fans did not want him getting into any minutes after two regular seasons because he was not good. He shot well in the bubble, but Schroeder is a better player, period. So you upgrade there.

Not to mention you bring back. You bring back, you bring back a Marquith Morris on a minimum. You get Wesley Matthews to replace Danny Green. And then you get your guy. Marc As an upgrade over Dwight Howard and as an upgrade over Javille McGee because of the shooting and playmaking and just overall presence on defense. Not the same guy, but he is an upgrade for them at the center position next to Anthony Davis. The Lakers got better. They are going to be my pick to win the NBA finals again.

I picked them last year. Going to pick them again to win in 2021 and go back to back. It's hard to see a team in the West match in them. Well, look, before I get into the Gasol stuff, look at you. You mentioned the Morris stuff. Down the street, they paid a Morris 64 million. You got yours back on the minimum. Well, I mean, Marcus Morris is better than Markief Morris, but is it like a $63 million

difference? No, it's not. What have we got the bit of a And so that Lakers team, we said last year that that was the scary thing. This is probably the worst roster they're going to have with those two. Now, that being said,

the Markes-Ault thing, we had the show on Friday and I said, I'll burn all the jerseys. There's no way he's going there. I laid out all of the reasons, and I forgot something insanely important, probably the most important, which is,

Powell lives there. Pows lived there after his career. Pau just had his first kid. So Mark now can go to L.A. I told you he's got the three young kids. And I also told you one of the reasons I said I didn't think he would do it is because family is so important. In fact, he's doing this because family is so important. And so this is certainly my fault for not acknowledging the whole Pau angle to this.

but pal who by the way child named after um coby bryant and so they moved out to um so now mark gets to move that operation and all the gassals can and the kids can all be there together meanwhile he gets to play for a title again right there's no way around that he does but but i promise you this i promise you this if pow didn't live in l a mark wouldn't be in l a well and i'll add one other thing though with him also it probably beats having to move to Tampa because Toronto has to start the season in Tampa, Florida, Tampa Bay. So, you know, for him, it would have been a move either way. You're not staying in Toronto. You're not staying there. You're not staying with the Raptors facilities, which are terrific up there. So for him, it's like, I have to move anyway. Maybe I'll move to where

my brother is in L.A. So they are close, close. Like they are, it's not like, it's not like sometimes where, you know, I don't know. Like, all I can tell you is they are brothers who are very, very close brothers, like best friend type brothers, right? And so I think that will be, I'm happy for him, man. You know what I mean? Like, look, I don't like that he's going to be wearing a Laker uniform. I can't deny that.

Dude, there is a silver lining that when the Lakers come to Memphis, there's not going to be any fans in the stands anyway. So I don't have to worry about Laker. When Marcus saw it's a three or something like that. It's obviously a great signing for the Lakers. But I'm happy for him, right? And obviously when I was laying out the entire reason as to why I didn't think he did do it, I left out completely the whole Pau lives there.

Powell just had his first kid. They can all be together because I'll bet you a dime to a donut. That's 100% the reason why Mark's making this decision. One thing to add, though, it was a two. year deal, Chris. So for the 2021-22 season, no, he could be back. I'm taking off that night. I'm taking off that night.

Hey, hey, hey, Sasha, you, uh, made a passionate case to Mark a soul to go to L.A. on Friday show. Do you want to take your victory lap right here? I'd just like to say

thank you to Mark. And I'm sorry to Chris. They need to put, they need to put Pows, a number in the rafters now. And I'd like to take full and complete credit for everything that has occurred. That's perfect. Look, look.

Somebody said, they're talking to me about sending me a Mark Assault Lakers jersey. Y'all can save that. I promise you that. But, you know, look, the thing that bothers me, this is the thing that bothers me about it. All right. Let's just lay it all out there. This is what bothers me about it. Because you're going to get the L.A. fans, and I already got him, right?

Make no mistake, as I said. His brother's there. His brother has an infant. All the kids, Mark's got three little ones. Now the kids all get to be together. Family is intensely important to him. So he's moving out to L.A. Okay?

The Laker fans get to do their whole superiority complex. Oh, yeah. He warmed up for 12 years in Memphis and Toronto until he gets to the big top. Yeah, that's the kind of way they think. Who's saying that, though? Oh, God, there, everybody thinks that everybody. I haven't seen that anywhere, but that's okay. Oh, for good.

You know that there is a big team, little team complex in the NBA anyway. But I just haven't, I haven't seen any comments like that with Marco Solo. You wouldn't. You're Kevin. Are you like searching them out? Are you like Googling Marka Sol on Lakers phones? They get sent to me, you dumbass. I'm Chris Vernon.

They get sent to me. I'm Chris Ferney. What are you talking about? I'm the king of Memphis. What are you talking about? So, of course, no, it's the big market, small market, superiority. I'm the most famous man in America. Golf Digest featured my song.

I'm on Golf Digest, for God's sake. Now look, here's what I'll tell you. Make no mistake, Laker fans. It has nothing to do with your basketball team or your city or your rings or your statues. His brother's there. If his brother would have been in Milwaukee, be a Milwaukee. So save it already. All right.

Wow. Wow. Or maybe he wanted to go to the favorite and winner championship and live with his brother. He already got a title. All right. The next one's always the best one. No, it's not. Yes, it is.

That's ridiculous. What do you know about winning titles? Let's get to... I grew up a Patriots fan. I grew up a Boston sports fan because I know a lot about winning championships. Trust me. It feels good. All right.

Let's get to another really good team that had a lot. lot of stress going into this, which was the Milwaukee Bucks. The whole Bogdanovich thing got botched badly. Now, they were in, they're really behind the eight ball trying to build around Yonis and wanted to get him to sign his long-term contract. Tori Craig, DJ Augustine, Pat Conantin, Bobby Portis. Those are guys that they have. That's my reaction.

I like the Bobby Portis, I think. That's kind of snore, but. I like the Bobby Port is. It's okay. Tori Craig's versatile. I mean, they did okay. They did okay. And obviously and Drew Holiday, we got to throw that in there.

And obviously Drew Holiday. I mean, I'm saying after Drew Holiday. Drew Holiday is a definitive win. We're talking about their off season. Do you think they got better? Do you like this box roster better? Yeah, they got better because they had a Drew Holiday. But I mean, you know, like it's unfortunate.

They got screwed. They got screwed out of Bogdano. They didn't get screwed. They screwed that out. I know. Whatever. Everybody tampers. Yep.

Everybody tampers and they tampered harder than everybody else and they got punished for it. But, you know, they did fine. They did fine. DJ Augustine's an okay player. Conantin is okay. They did okay. There's no complaints here. And I think for them, they did the best that they could after losing out on Bogdanovich.

And maybe in the end, this will work out better. Maybe Dante DiVincenzo makes a leap this year with more opportunity. and he's like a, you know, a lesser version of Bogdanovich. Maybe that works out perfectly fine for them. It's just disappointing, you know, because that night with Drew Holiday and Bogdan Bogdanovich, with what it seemed like they would be, they're not going to be that anymore. But still, they still got better because despite that whole fiasco, they still got Drew

Holiday, which is exactly what they needed. So, like, I yawn, you know, at what they did afterwards. but that's almost just more of a reaction to my disappointment with how everything unfolded. Ultimately, though, getting Drew Holiday still makes them one of the winners of the offseason and certainly bolsters their odds to win the NBA finals. And you like Tori Craig? Yeah, Tori Craig is a fine player, solid.

If the Laker signed him, you'd think it was the best signing ever. I mean, Toro Craig's okay. Tori Craig is like a guy who plays really good defense for you. And ultimately, I think there's one good reason why. like he doesn't play more than 20 minutes per game because he's not a threat to shoot. He's just not a threat to shoot. And ultimately those guys can sometimes hurt you in the playoffs. And that's what I think about with their signings.

I don't view it over the lens of a 72 game regular season. I view it how does this guy help them win an NBA finals? Drew Holiday helps you win a finals. I'm not sure any of those other guys do. All right. Let me ask you a very important question because the team that had the worst record in the NBA last year was the Golden State Warriors. it makes you absolutely sick to your stomach to see that Clay Thompson news. But they had to plan in conjunction with that news.

Do you look at Golden State as they are constructed now and say you have to slot them in as a playoff team? Yeah, they're a playoff team. Just based on Curry, Dremont, Obray, Wiggins. Wiggins. Yeah, they're a playoff team. I think Steph Curry is probably going to have a ridiculous. ridiculous season. Okay.

I'd be surprised if Golden State's not in close season. We didn't mention Wiseman. But with that said, though, to your point, Chris. I think they're fighting for one. To your point. Lakers, just going from the top of the standings from last year. Lakers, clippers, nuggets, frockets, you know, we'll see if they make a trade, you know, with Hardin and our Westbrook.

They're going to go into the year. If they have those guys, there'll be a playoff team. Okay, see, they'll fall out. There's the only one, though. They'll fall out. For sure. Utah is going to be in the playoff conversation. Dallas will be, as we discussed earlier. Portland will be.

Phoenix is going to enter that. Memphis, I mean, you guys are probably still in that bubble right now, which Pelicans too. Pelicans on that bubble too. I would put Warriors above that bubble level. And to me, I would expect them to get a top seven seed. But if they're that seven seed, they're still in the playing, which means they could always fall out.

But I still think Steph Curry is so great, so ridiculously awesome. him and he can score 30 points per game for you if you need him to. And you have enough other contributors on that roster where you're going to be a playoff team. But they aren't. I think there is a chance they're not that good. Well, they go from finals contender in my eyes with Clay to, you know, middle seat in the West or possibly in the playing.

They're definitely not a guarantee, but I'd have them in there. You have Steph Curry, man. Steph Curry is a two-time MVP for good reason. I know those teams are different, but Curry is a top five player in the league. and I don't see how having him on your team prevents you. I don't see. He has to carry them though. He has to.

Yeah, he has to. And they have some good supporting pieces. But, you know, Steve Kerr mentioned in the past that he doesn't want to like play like the Houston Rockets. You know, pick and roll every possession with Steph Curry like the Rockets did with Hardin and, and Westbrook or Hardin and Chris Paul. But you are going to have to do a little bit more with Curry than maybe in the past. And so I'm curious to see how does Steve Kerr adapt here. Does he funnel the ball to Steph more often? Or do they continue to run the same system and not do so much of that?

But you are going to have to funnel the ball to Stephmore and get him more points, more shots, more opportunities to score. Because if you do that, to me, like, you're still a playoff team. There's too much talent on that team. But they aren't anywhere near what they could have been with Clay. I put them in the fighting class. I do. I put them in that group that's going to be fight. more seven, when I say that, I'm talking about who's going to end up seven, eight, nine, ten, right?

I put them in that class more than the solidly, I think that's a playoff team for sure. I'd put them like in the five to nine class. I still think they can get the five seed, you know, or even the four possibly. I'd still put them there. Ultimately, though, like with this team, what's saddest to me is the fact that Clay Thompson's going to come back. He can, he can shoot, you know, the hell out of the ball the day after. as surgery. He can shoot the hell out of it day one. But will he ever be able to come back and be the same level defensive player that he was prior to his ACL injury last year? Will he ever be

that same level defensive player? That's going to be the big question for him coming back from this Achilles injury. We touched on it the other night, you know, talking about Wesley Matthews, you know, coming back. He's eventually become a very good defender. It took some time. So Clay comes back at some point, you know, next year, maybe middle of the season. That's a challenge in and of itself coming back during the season. Is this two wasted years of the primes of Steph Curry and Clay Thompson and Draymond Green? And then you're coming back in 2022, 23 with all these guys are like nearing their mid 30s or in their mid 30s. I mean, I hate to say it, but that injury is, it really changes the title landscape. It really does.

not just this year, but the next couple years, too. Let me ask you this. Are Oklahoma City and San Antonio the only ones that are not competing for a playoff spot? And frankly, is Oklahoma City the only one? I mean, San Antonio is going to be in this transition year, right, with DeRosen. We still have no solution to the DeRosen Aldridge and that team. They didn't do anything this offseason. Bryn Forbes, you know, moved on, but that's about it.

you know, they were 39 and 31 or 32 and 39, something like that, you know, with a chance to fight for it at the bubble. You know, they've never been a bottom out team, so you figure they're going to try to compete. Is Oak City the only one? I mean, they have every draft pick in the world for the next 10 drafts anyway. You know Minnesota is going to try to compete and Sacramento is going to try to compete. Have we now gotten to a situation with Phoenix doing what they're doing and some of these other teams doing what they're doing, where we only have one team that doesn't have playoff hopes this upcoming season in the Western Conference. Until San Antonio moves Lamarckos and DeMarta Rosen, I believe there's still playoff hope there.

You're not going to see Greg Poffovich tanking games. So is Oak City the only one? Oklahoma City. They have a pretty easy pathway to the top odds in the draft lottery for the privilege and the potential opportunity to draft Cade Cunningham, who's one of those no-brainer top prospects. And if you don't get Kate Cunningham, there's a couple other guys in the draft, Boston, Jaylon Green, among others that are going to be quality prospects that would have went number one this year had they been in this year's draft class.

2021 is stacked. Also a kid playing in Oklahoma. Cade Cunningham, man. Right? He's playing in Oklahoma so he could be in Oklahoma City. I'll tell you what. Let's, we're really jumping ahead here. But for Oklahoma City, the vision is quite.

clear. The vision is clear. You got Shea Gildes-Alexander, a big jumbosides point guard. You drafted Alexei Pocchevsky, who's seven feet, plays like a guard. If you're able to get Cade Cunningham and bring him into your roster at 6'7, multi-positional defender, who's a magnificent passer, you could be one of those teams whose smallest player on the court of Shegilded Alexander, your smallest. And I would bet Sam Presti in that front office, they're going to do everything they can, everything they can to get that number one pick next year because they have, they're going to have top lottery odds with their own pick. Maybe they end up with number one themselves.

But if they end up two, they end up three, they want to trade up to one. They might have the ammo to do it to get Kate Cunningham because he's a no-brainer, to me. No brainer to go number one. And by the way, with Cunningham, the one question with him is like, how good is he as a shooter? There's no question about the defense, no question about the decision-making, even the mentality. he's so mature for his age. There's never been a question about anything, except for the jump shot.

Average jump shot, not poor shooter like Ben Simmons, but average. Reports out of Oklahoma say he's been one of the best shooters on their team, second behind only their sharpshooter on their roster. If Cade Cunningham has made improvements as a shooter since the end of his high school season, his high school career,

he is going to be one of those guys. That's a no-d-d-duh. You know, Zion level number one prospects. The only one I've seen is the kid the year behind him. That kid where people told me that I was going to be watching the next Durant, he really is. You're talking about Bates? Yeah, Imani Bates.

Imani Bates is the one. He is the one of the preps that I've seen where I was like, oh my God, this is franchise changing. Like this is, that guy is going to change an NBA franchise. and it does feel Durantee for sure. And he evidently just keeps getting better and better and better. We'll see how he matures over his last, you know, a couple of years before the NBA.

But like he also has kind of a Kevin Garnett vibe on the court. He talks trash. He's really tough. Like he's intimidating for you. I might tank for him. He might, he might, he may test me. Because that kid, oh my God. We just have had very few.

We've had very few. I think he's like that, that special once in a generation type guy. I really do. I think so too. You know? I mean, like Cunningham's are going to be a very high level player too.

I'm not sure about like generational, but he's really, really, really good. And like I, he checks every box. The only question is what level does the jumper reach? And I'm excited to see that whenever college basketball ball is actually going to get started with some of these delays that we're having.

But, you know, we'll see, man. Last last question. Instant review or instant reaction to the New York Knicks, new brass, and with the offseason they have had. Let me just double check with who they added. I got to look at the list. Austin Rivers. Leave that in.

Leave that in. No, please leave it. I like to pause. Austin Rivers, Alex Berks, Norlands, Noel, and obviously they had

their draft with Obitopin. And chooses number one, Obi-1. You get it, Obi-1. Obi-1. So with the Knicks, it's quite clear

what their plan is, too, Chris. It's quite clear what their plan is. I'll tell you what. Conserved Comspace and Tank, baby.

Tim's having to watch a team lose every single night is not going to be a fun watch. Oh, boy. Oh, yeah. He's going to lose his voice. I love it, buddy. You don't like those moves, Burks, Rivers, Noel.

I mean, they should be tanking. They should be Tank City in New York for them next year. Let Brooklyn take all the spotlight, you know, to let them get all the credit in the limelight and everything else for one year, two years, maybe three years. But tank and get yourself one of the top prospects in 2021. This is a good year to tank because you mentioned all those teams in the West Chris that are trying to compete, trying to get in the playoffs,

trying to get a playing spot. well, that opens an opportunity for some of those higher lottery positions. There's not many teams. You know what I mean? There's a lot of teams competing. There is. Almost. I mean,

like you got maybe one in the West and what? Like, I mean, with Charlotte doing the stupid Gordon A where they're going to compete. Who the hell knows? Detroit, I guess they think they're competing. Cleveland won't be competitive either.

Cleveland is going to try to compete. Cleveland. Washington's trying to. to compete. Charlotte's trying to compete. So, I mean, what? You got, like, you got New York and Cleveland or for certain? And then Oklahoma City.

And I'm sure some teams will have injury issues or they'll make a trade. Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. You know, there will be another team that enters that conversation. But it's pretty clear. Cleveland, New York, Oklahoma City, they got eyes for those top guys on 2021. Well, it has certainly been an extremely fun offseason. We knew it was all going to come very fast in fury. Kevin have an unbelievable Thanksgiving.

I hope everybody, look, I just want to say this real quickly. This year has sucked for sure. Yeah. There's no way around it. We've still got a lot to be thankful for, you know, because if you're listening to this podcast, as hard as this year may have been, you're at least listening to a podcast about the NBA, right? And we are certainly thankful for all of you that have continued to listen to us

throughout this entire year. And I mean that sincerely, because we did podcast all the way through. And, you know, when we did mailbag shows, everybody came through, and we had more mailback questions than we could have ever used

and certainly very, very appreciative to everybody that listens to the mismatch that continues to participate in this and support us throughout this year because though this year has been really crappy for everybody, I'm very, very thankful for that, for sure. No doubt.

And I mean, ultimately, it's the type of thing where we're all able to share in this crap this year that we're all dealing with and all going through. And in some ways, I feel like that's, you know, hopefully made us closer, you know, whether it's with, you know, people we don't know, you know, like you only hear on a podcast or with your own family or friends. So ultimately, I'm thankful for some of the relationships that I have, like with you, you know, Chris and Sasha and, and friends at the ringer.

And with my mom, I feel like I've grown closer. I've always been close with my mom. But this year, like, you know, I have to lose my dad in February and then the pandemic in March. We spend every day together. And I'm closer every single day with her. And I'm beyond thankful for that relationship I have and beyond thankful for the relationship with you guys, you know, the listeners.

And we'll have an announcement as well next Tuesday. We are going to have an announcement next Tuesday. Yes. Stay tuned for that. Good thing. Good thing. A good thing. Good thing.

Good thing. Good thing. Good thing announcements. Thank you to producer, Sasha. As always, everybody, have a wonderful Thanksgiving. There is no show on Friday, so we'll be back with you next Tuesday. Until then, have a great weekend, everybody. See you all.