The Ringer NBA Show - LeBron Gives Back, Rockets Keep Capela, Giannis Bulks Up, and NBA Hard Knocks | The Ringer NBA Show (Ep. 305)

Episode Date: July 31, 2018

The Ringer’s Chris Vernon and Kevin O’Connor highlight LeBron James creating a school for at-risk youth in Akron (0:11), discuss the Houston Rockets retaining Clint Capela as well as adding Carmelo Anthony (4:22), and react to Giannis Antetokounmpo gaining muscle (24:20). Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Welcome to The Ringer NBA show. I'm Chris Vernon. And joining me as he does every Tuesday from the ringer.com is Kevin O'Connor, aka Kevin O'Bomber, aka Kevin O'Clymer, Kevin O'Clymer, Kevin. Verna, what up? How are you doing this morning? Everything's good. So it has been a slow time for NBA news, but there are certainly things that have happened since we last spoke, not the least of which is something that deserves an immense

amount of attention. And that was LeBron James opening up a scum. school yesterday, a legitimate school, which seeing the pictures of it, my goodness, this is nicer than my school. That's pretty good. There's a lot of money, a lot of effort that has gone into it and reading the press release yesterday. I mean, I was just, I couldn't have been more impressed.

And for a guy that, you know, sometimes he is blamed for putting together a super team in Miami and now all these great players all just want to team up with each other and whatever else like never mind the whole you know ray allen paul pierce and kevin garnett thing that they like kind of planned that and decided to play together and so the players took the power in their hands and whatever else well there's a flip side to that too and if there is something of which he can have major impact in terms of players following him there's not a player in the league that doesn't see that and read that yesterday and you just never know right and it it makes me for instance feel like i should be doing more. I can't build a school, but it makes me feel like I should be doing more.

I can't imagine what level of impact it could have on other professional athletes that certainly have the means to do a lot. I think Jamel Hill said it best. It's remarkable that LeBron James is a better person than basketball player. It's amazing what he's done with the platform that he has. And I talked to some players over All-Star weekend for an article about LeBron. And I basically ask going to open an head question. What's LeBron's greatest influence? And sometimes players would ask back, like, do you mean like on the court or off the court? And other times, guys would go straight to off the court. Jamal Murray mentioned how much his voice has set a tone for other players. Jalen Brown, his influence from where he came from and what he does now. It's kind of a template for what he

aspires to do. I think LeBron, like you said, Chris, not just for players, but for people, too. There's always something that you can do to help others in need. And for LeBron to build a school is really just, it's a beautiful, beautiful, inspiring thing. And you wonder, I mean, you just, there's no telling how many different at-risk youth, this can save, you know, because when you read the press release, these are, these are kids that are certainly in jeopardy being caught up by the streets. He even talked about, you know, he gave every kid there a bike because of the importance of his bike, which was to get away, that if he wanted to get away and he wanted to get away from trouble, he had that bike,

and that bike meant so much to them. I mean, I got chills reading the thing, you know what I mean? That every kid that's going to be going to the school is going to get a bike. And so many of these kids, whether it is education or it is athletics or it is whatever else, they are given this opportunity to stay busy. You know what I mean? That was one of the things that I took away from reading it, which is, you know, you have to have things to do. You can't just go home because then the streets can raise you sometimes,

especially if mom or dad's having to work long hours and whatever else. And I just, I don't know. It's special, man. He, uh, that was incredible reading that yesterday. It's a good thing. I mean, you know, this is something that we didn't really talk about on the podcast during the season, but it's always bothered me when people are like sick to sports,

whether it's like saying that to a writer. You know, I've seen that in people's mentions, other writers out there. People say it to athletes when they speak out about issues, whether it's on whatever side it may be on, people are like stick to sports. And well, LeBron James did.

It's a good. thing for all the people in that area, all the kids are going to be benefiting from attending that school that he's not sticking to sports, that he is stepping up and using his platform to do good in the world because sports, the blessings that come from becoming a wealthy athlete, it's good to see somebody using them to spread good and not just keep it all for themselves. Here's some of the things that have happened basketball-wise since we last spoke. It's happening basketball-wise? Yeah, well, you know what?

There was actually a major thing. There's one major thing that happened. since we last spoke, which was, we talked about last week that, you know, Houston maybe if they can't get a deal done, you don't want that, you don't want Capella playing on a one-year qualifying offer and then going into being an unrestricted free agent. And they kept that from happening. And so Capella's extension was done. When you saw the number, was it ended up $590. Is that correct? Yes, sir. Okay, five years 94, Clint Capella. What say you? Good for Houston.

They were able to get him signed long term, one of the better young centers in the game of basketball, and good for Capella to also get long-term security as well. Granted, you know, it's probably not the $20 million annually that he was hoping to get. It's a pretty good deal. It's a good deal for a center who, I don't want this to come off as a knock, but he is in the perfect situation, right? He is in the perfect environment for him to flourish the highest levels that he can

is a rim running center with four shooters on the floor around him that shoots three is an extremely outlier rate compared to the rest of the league. It is a perfect situation for him on the offensive on the floor, and same with the way they defend on the other end. Whereas in other situations, he may not be perceived as the same player that he is in Houston. So for him, he has got long-term security, $90 million. And for Houston, also, if they decide down the line that they want to make a change, that's a very tradable number as well. It's great for both sides. Imagine if two years ago I would have told you that Clint Capella is going to make

$90 million and Nerlands Noel is going to be playing for the minimum. The Nerlands Noel part would have been shocking. The Capella part, maybe a little bit less so. Really? Yeah, I think so. I really like Cabella. I really like him.

I mean, did you two years ago? Yeah, I liked him. You've been a big Capella fan forever. I like them four years ago. I know you love guys that can't dribble or shit. I know. I'm just kidding. I mean, let's get serious.

Okay, here's like with Capella pre-drafts, right? The player he's turned into with Houston is, I mean, remarkable. Like, you know, he was a total turnover liability playing overseas. And I think he's gotten so much better at passing, like on the little short roll, like the quote-unquote Dremont pass. He's not Dremont as a passer, but that short roll pass when he kicks out to the corner, that wasn't something that he could do. before he got to the NBA four years ago. Like, he was bad playing at the Nike Hoop Summit

against high school players. He looked really bad. So how far he's come in four years is a remarkable achievement for him the work that he's put in, but also Houston's player development system, turning him into the really high-level center that he is on both ends of the floor. And the other thing that you've got to love about Capella

in all seriousness is he has improved every single year, right? He went from, you know, if you just look at field goal percentage, 48, 58, 64, 65. Absolutely. And then obviously that has turned into production. You know, it's crazy when you look at, if you just look at the first four years of his career, it is just a steady uptick year after year. You wonder what the ceiling is.

I mean, last year he averaged 14 points, 11 rebounds and two blocks a game. And so you wonder, like, I don't know what the ceilings. And he only played 27 and a half minutes, by the way, right? A lot of big time names in the league are playing 35 minutes, 38 minutes a night. And that's a big part of it. You know, I remember in the 2016-17 season, Dan Tony, you know, had a passing comment where he pretty much just said, you know, you got to be in better condition. You're going to play more minutes, right?

I got to get him up to 30 minutes per game. And he said something similar last season as well. And I'm sure maybe that's part of it where maybe they want him to start playing more minutes and they want him to get into that 30-minute per game range. Because you look at his body pre-draft and then what? it is now. He was quite raw physically. That's another part of it as well. Maybe for him it's like growing into his new body essentially because he's still so young. He's, you know, he's only 24 years old and he was very, very raw coming in. Obviously, you can look at the numbers and see he only

played 12 games as a rookie, but game-wise physically, he was very raw. And so he's still young in terms of his development. Yeah. And there were a couple of games that we saw glimpses of. he didn't have a big series in the Golden State series at all. But he had some pretty good rebounding numbers. He had some good moments. Yeah, but he had three of the games. He's eight points are on there. Yeah, but he's not the guy scoring points, though.

There were sometimes, you know, sometimes he's the guy, like the fourth option out there. His main responsibilities are defend at an elite level, you know, and rebound to end possessions, and then set strong screens, make the right passes, and roll to the rim to, like, you know, force the defense to collapse. Points are like when they're there and when they're available. Well, and this is the, the problem that Golden State poses for so many. You look at the block numbers in that particular series,

and two is the highest he had. And that's because they have a guy that pulls you all the way away from the basket. Whereas in that Utah series, where he's able to, I mean, he was switching on to Donovan Mitchell and he was switching on to Ingalls, and they couldn't score on the guy.

I mean, he is an elite level pick and roll defender. And the other thing is he could be down by the paint and just be swatting stuff away. And that's where he was a little bit neutralized, especially because, I mean, he won them some games, certainly in that Utah series where he was just a dominant defensive force. He was not that dominant defensive force at all in the Golden State series. It's hard to be against that team with the level of shooting and spacing the base. have, but they're the one exception in today's league, and we'll see how their team evolves moving forward. But that Utah series against another impressive center in Rudy Gobert, it helps to have a center in today's league, I guess, right? You hope that Carmelo doesn't take away from him.

I mean, I mean, I don't think it'll take away from Grapella at all, honestly. I don't think there's any overlap. Capella is a plus defender, rim runner doesn't need to touch the ball much, And then Carmelow is a, you know, a ball dominant guy who doesn't play a lick of defense at all. They're almost kind of polar opposites. But I think, I think to your point, Chris. But the same way it affected Stephen Adams. What you mean is that like... You don't get the ball.

I don't... Honestly, I mean, like for me, Carpella could never score another point and he could still have a positive impact, though. I'm aware. But he can really have a positive impact. But that's what makes him so nice as a player. Like, he doesn't need to score to make a positive impact. impact on the game. Yeah, I get it, but I mean, his shots, like, 65% of the time they go in. I mean, I want more of that and less of the, I want more of that and less of the 40%. That's all I'm saying. Or 37%. So you don't think that they should sign Mello. I would not. I would. I would. I would not. I'd be all over it. No, absolutely not. I think it's the wrong way to try to, I mean, it's Golden States who you're trying to beat. That is a, we think we can outgun you. And I don't believe that that's the right tact.

Yeah, but how? Wait until we fast forward to the playoffs, and you're going to be coming on these shows telling me they should bench me for James Dennis. What are there better options? What other option is there for them to get a guy that can go off of 30 points? I mean, 30's a little strong, Kev.

How many times did Carmelo Anthony score 30 points last year? Zero. How about 20? I just, here's a thing, man. When I say 30 points, I mean, I mean, yeah, he can go off 30 points. He's playing along. Yeah.

The theoretical 30? It's like last year he played alongside Russell Westbrook and Paul George. The chances were there for him to go off for 30, right? This year he could be, you know, going alongside James Harder and Chris Paul. The chances won't be there, but he can. Here's what I'm saying. And said he might go off of 22 or 23. He adds variance to your upside, man.

All right. That's fine, except for the fact that it's a better shot if Chris Paul takes it, or James Hardin takes it, or Clint Capella takes it. That's all I'm saying. I don't think those shots are just replacing whatever Trevor Reza shot. Capella can't create his own shot, man. I'm with you, but they got Eric Gordon, too. I mean, listen, they got a bunch of guys that could put the ball in the bucket.

You need somebody that could place a defense on the wing. You're going to pair him next to Hardin? Good luck. I mean, Clint Cabella would be the busiest guy in the world. Yeah, well, of course, there's a downside. to Mello. He was not good last year. Frokeholm, I said he was quite bad, actually. There's downside to Carmelo Anthony, of course, but there's also

upside, too. And I feel like sometimes that's been overlooked when it comes to discussing Houston potentially making it move for him. Well, you always see the upside. You always see the Carmelo Anthony that's going to score 30, even though he hasn't in like three years. Yeah, of course, because you have to see that, because that Carmelho can still do that. That Carmelho can't just be ignored. He can do it. He just doesn't. Yeah, because of the situation, the point of the comment.

was that he can go off for you. He can have big scoring games. The point is that he adds a third guy who can create his own shot. If Chris Paul gets hurt in game six again, now James Hardin has a guy who can at least step up to the plate in that second role alongside him. He's a third option. He's not your number one guy. You're not getting him as your number two. You're getting him as your number three option. I just, listen, I used to be a big Carmelo guy. I was a big defender. I was never a big Carmelo guy. And yet I'm the one defending him here. Then I started to realize that Carmelo Anthony begets Rudy Gay, which begets Jeff Green,

which begets Andrew Wiggins. They're all the same. All the same guys. They don't help you win. I'm sorry. They don't. They're net negative. Coming from Chris Byrne and Mr.

It's not all about winning titles. Carmelo Anthony can help you win to get to the playoffs. To get to the playoffs, playoffs, this is a team that just won 67 frigging games. 60, what are they, 65? When you're saying that he can't help you win, you mean winning titles. He's not a championship player. Correct.

Okay. I do not think he makes you better. I think he can make you some better. I would rather have Trevor Reza and, you know, who I get it. The money's not there. The money's not there. But I'd rather have Mbamuthe and Trevor Riza,

or I'd just rather have a role player. I don't need a bunch of stars. I got stars. Stars and role players, you go look throughout history. history, Kevin. You always stars. There's got to be a mix of stars and role players.

He's not a star anymore. He still conducts himself like one. That's the problem. I know. That's the problem. It is Derek Fisher and Robert Ory playing alongside Jack and Kobe. You always have role players and stars.

That's how you properly put together a great team. Somebody's got to play a role within that. And it's not easy. And so if you're going to tell me the theoretical Carmelo is going to turn into a role player, then by all means, that'd be awesome. But I'll believe it when I see it. All I know is if... You think he made Oklahoma City better?

No, he didn't. Okay. And he didn't make some of those next teams better either. But the point is that it doesn't mean that in Houston, he can't necessarily play an important role as the third option. I don't see how that's unreasonable. All right, you think they win more games than they did last year? I don't know.

Probably not. Last year was an amazing season for them. Probably not. But they're getting Carmelo Anthony. You're the ones saying... And they're probably worse than last year, too. Because they lost Trevor Reza and Luke Baimute. So you'd rather have them the Carmelo?

Yeah. No shit. Oh, okay. All right. No kidding. But I'd rather have them and have Carmelo Anthony. It's just that it's not realistic. It's impossible because those guys signed elsewhere.

No. I think we're on the same page with Houston that they're going to be worse. You'll be bitching about Carl. Everybody remembers this. Yeah, you know what? Yeah. Everybody remember this. What day is July 30.

But I'm acknowledging those flaws, Chris. All I'm saying is that there is an upside to having him. And what other options are there rather than Carmelo Anthony? Where are the guys that can go off for 25 for you? 30 for you? Where are the guys that can fill that second role in the case of emergency? I don't need someone that can go for 25. That's what I'm telling you.

No, I need somebody that can defend somebody. That's what I need. I don't need somebody that can go for 25. That's what I need. I need somebody that can guard. Who? Why that to go back and look at all the available free agents? Let's look.

Or who I could trade for. There was a great article on The Ringer.com by Haley O'Shaughanthian and Paolo Yugetti about the leftovers, the best NBA free agents still on the market. Rodney Hood, Dwayne, Jemal Crawford, Greg Monroe, Trevor Booker, David West, who?

Who? Who's better than Carmelo, Anthony? You're acting like free agency is only now with the also range. The guys that are left over, right? Like that this was the only chance that you had, or that you can't trade for somebody. I'm saying that there's a million.

ways to put together your team. Maybe they will try to trade for somebody. Maybe they'll try to dump that right now. You know they're you with the who, who, who, you're Kevin O'Awl. That's who you are. Kevin O'Awl. That little thing on the side of a tootty pop.

Kevin O'Awl. Who? Who? Who? That's who you. As who you are. I'm trying to, I'm trying to look up a dad here. now that you're making me pull up all the free agents.

Tell you who can guard somebody. Yeah. It's the bottom of the barrel. Tell me who is that of incommelo Anthony. Better. Well, again, I guess it's... He's your best option if you're the Houston Rockets. I'm just telling you it's not always about better.

Listen, there is nobody in the world. It's not always about better. What does that mean? Okay. Here's what it means. If I would have made a poll, right? If I would have made a poll, who is better? Rudy Gay or Tashon Prince,

it would be 100% people telling me it's Rudy Gay. A hundred percent. Okay? That's what they would have said. Well, I mean, it was an older Tashon, right? But they made that move. Which year Tashon are we talking here?

We're talking about the year that the Grizzlies made the Western Conference finals. Okay, yeah, yeah. Okay? He got traded and ended up here in Memphis. And the Grizzlies made the West Finals with him. And it is because they made that trade. You took Rudy's inefficient shot.

and you gave those to Zach Randolph, Mike Conley, and Marka Saul, right? This is how this works. It's not that you're replacing it with a guy that's going to take the same amount of shots. You are replacing him with somebody that is going to take less shots more efficiently, but also play that role and keep the ball moving to the guys that you want to take more shots. And so I don't care what you say about people wouldn't have said that Rudy Gay's bet everybody would have said it at the time. Everybody. They got murdered for that trade.

and it enabled them to make the Western Conference finals because it's a better fit. You want guys on the team that are not taking shots, that are not taking 15 shots. You'd rather those go to more efficient players. All right, that's what I'm saying. My takeaway from everything you just said is this.

They got blasted for making that move. They got criticized for making that move, but they did it anyway because they felt that it was a beneficial move for them to replace an inefficient scoring player with a guy who, you know, It's a really good defender, take smart shots, good teammate, blah, blah, blah, et cetera. With Houston, it's pretty much the same thing. There are people out there who is, you know, saying their wind projection lowers if they add Carmelo Anthony.

There's a lot of criticism. Like, why would they add Carmelo Anthony? He's a third star. They already have two stars. They've got to do it anyway. All right, Kemp, we'll get right back to it. First, we want to tell everybody about Burrow. You owe it to yourself to experience the comfort and the quality of a Burrow couch.

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And it was very, very comfortable. I could have taken a nap there, Chris. It was great. Well, I tell you this. I love the idea of it having a USB charger on it because then you can just plug your phone in, right way there instead of having an extension cord coming out of. the wall, like everybody's got that going on, right? Customize your own borough and get $75 off your order by going to burrow.com slash NBA.

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What's right. 1499 a month. No contract, no hidden fees. I recommend SimplySafe to everyone I know. You've got to check it out. Go to simplysafe.com slash NBA. That's simplysafe.com slash NBA. I'm going to give you one. I'm going to give you one and this is why me and Daryl Morey are smart. When you were doing the hoo-hoo, over the last 10 hours, do you know what has emerged report-wise? No. That they want to trade for Kent Baysmore. Perfect. Perfect.

Okay. I would think that that is brilliant. So they can't get Baysmore and sign Carmelo Anthony? I don't want him. I want to play Baysmore on the wing. God, I guess that would let them get off that Anderson contract, right? Yeah, I mean, we'll see what happens. If you could move off the Anderson contract and you end up with Kemp Baysmore, you'd do that in a minute.

Kemp Baysmore's overpaid, but he is a great, he would be a perfect role player. How about a Solomon Hill from the Pelicans, maybe? Salmon Hill's a little boy he cash in at the right time I really liked him in that Pacer series too right before he was about to cash in and he has not lived up to that he did the Austin Crozier thing I know you were a fetus when Austin Crozier played

but Austin Crozier had a big playoffs and then ended up getting a massive contract out of it of which was looked goofy for years to come I was a fetus hey how bad This is a very serious question, Kevin. Do you, after last week, scoffing when I brought up that maybe there could be an argument between who the best player in the Easter conferences between Janus and Kauai?

No. After seeing the picture of Yonis on Sotsich Kumpo, do you want to apologize on this show to Yonis? Because he looks like, I mean, he looks like a superhero. He is a superhero, but he's still not better than Kauai Leonard. I'm saying that picture. All right, which is more shocking? The Mike Bibby picture or the Yannis picture? The Mike Bibby picture for sure.

The Yannis was pretty built already. The facial expression was just outrageous. That's what completed it for me, even more so than the muscles. Just his face in that photo. That is the meanest, the mean mug I've ever seen. He looks enormous in that picture. He doesn't need to be that big. He doesn't need to be.

Really? No, he doesn't need to be that big. What are you? Some kind of fitness trainer? He was perfectly fine last year. No, you said he was done as a playmaker or whatever you said about him. No, I didn't say he was done as a playmaker. He's topped out or something.

I don't know. If I said that, what I meant to say is that he plateaued. Like he made progress early in his career and he's kind of plateaued as a playmaker. I hope that there's more progress to come. He's already good. I hope he can reach great. As a shooter, he's below average. I hope he can become average.

That's all. What is the problem with wanting great players who have already achieved great things from continuing to achieve more great things which they are totally capable of and that they aspire to do? I don't see the problem with that, Kevin. But I will tell you this.

We kind of did last week. No. I just said that Janus Anta Tuccula. I mean, listen, he was, Brad Stevens is there after one of his press conferences. He's like, you know, there's no stopping him. So we can nitpick all we want, but he was like, you know, we did everything we could to stop the guy, and this guy still killed us.

Of course, there's no stopping him. There's a little bit of containing him. There's no stopping him, though. He's at least like a below average shooter who's a little bit of a threat. All I mean is like the potential for him is best player in the league. The potential for him is one of the greatest players ever. Like that upside is there with him, and it's not outrageous to say that. But for him to get there, the shot needs to get better.

I saw that picture. within the last week and I thought, I need to get down on these MVP odds because this dude, I mean, I know you say he doesn't need the bustle, but good grief. I can't imagine. I mean, the guy already gets to the stupid basket,

three dribbles from half court. Now what? If he's just going to power through everybody? For people listening to this, I have a question, and can you please tweet me and or Chris or like use hashtag ringer NBA or something. Who are the best super muscular shooters

in league history? Like, who were the really ripped bulk dudes like Janus that were really good shooters? I want to know those players. Thank you. Please. Please type in hashtag ripped shooters. Producer Isaac Lee just slacked me saying Ray Allen. I don't mean a player like Ray Allen.

Ray Allen was lean muscle. I mean ripped like Janus. Who are the best super muscular shooters? in NBA history. I just want to know who those players are. Please. Hashtag rip shooters. I have a reason for asking, which I guess I'll mention. I think there's a point.

Assistant coach has said this to me before. He thinks that there's a point where you can be like too muscular where it can like negatively affect your shot because of like shoulder tension in your upper body. Like he thinks there's a point where you can be too big and it can hurt your shot. And so with Yannis, I, you know, when I see those ripped muscles, I'm like, he doesn't need to be that big.

Well, he also doesn't have to be a shooter. He just has to be an adequate shooter. I mean, wouldn't it be nice? Ben Simmons doesn't need to be a... I don't know. I guess if he was a shooter, he'd average friggin 45 points a game. Yeah, that's what I mean.

He averts just down near 30 and he doesn't shoot. I mean, that's the thing. It's like there's more. You know, Janus can be the best. He can. Like, he can be the best in the league. But for him to definitely be the best or to clearly be the best

or to be like, no doubt the best, the shot needs to be there. And maybe it will always be a weakness and we'll always be having the argument. But there's another level to his game. There's another level. And it is a discussion for another day, but it's not logical

that some guys hold on to as much muscle as they do throughout the season. I mean, you're running like six or seven miles a night. You ever seen what a runner looks like? And I get it. They're going in and they're lifting weights and they're getting their weights in whatever. But I mean, there's a lot of guys

that hold on to a lot of weight. muscle weight. It is not easy to hold on to muscle when you are running the amount that they run. And how they do it truly defies most science. But that's a discussion for another day. For what it's worth, one thing, the type of player I'm talking about is like an Andre Iguodala physically. It's like totally ripped. He's actually gotten a little bit smaller. He has. Yeah. When he was in Philadelphia, like that last year he was in Philly, he was an absolute monster. I know. I mean, I was like, what in the world?

He looked like there was a photo that came out a couple weeks ago, the wide receiver from the Brown, Josh Gordon. And I was like, oh, my God. Is Josh Gordon doing okay? Yeah, yeah, he's all. I mean, he's not doing the training camp thing. Oh, it's not? Why not?

Is he? Well, he's still getting help, but he says there's no problems with it. And I, this is my opinion. He wanted to avoid hard knocks and for good reason. Oh, no kidding. So just what can I do to get away from? Maybe it was like a team. probably needs is his whole story being broadcasted on HBO or wherever.

Yeah, exactly. Maybe that's part of it or is like a team agent player thing. I hope that's what it is too. I don't know a single detail about it besides what you're saying right now, but I do know the Browns are on Hard Knocks, which is always great. Oh, for sure. I wish we had like a NBA version of that. I'm about to walk over to Bill's office and tell him he did the behind the scenes

at the, if there's somebody who could pull it off, Simmons could pull it off. Yeah. But which team would you want to see on like NBA hard knocks? So like it's be similar to NFL, right? Like you can't pick a playoff team. It would have to be. I'm telling you I would pay $100 to watch one on the Lakers. Oh.

And get the real interviews with Luke Walton. Oh my goodness. When you go back home at night and Luke Walton's drinking six bottles of wine. How about this? It can't be the Lakers. Let's just say for whatever reason it can't be the Lakers. Which team would you want? Of like the non-playoff teams from last season.

reason. Okay, so you were doing it like a Browns thing. Yeah, yeah. Like, it can't be a playoff team. It's like the Lakers are exempts for whatever reason. It cannot be a playoff team. And it can't be the Lakers. I got mine. I'll tell you this, just because I know I covered him, Fisdale would be crazy

entertaining. He would be a Rex Ryan-esque, I mean, he would be ridiculously entertaining. Trust me. Especially if he knew cameras and a mic was on him, for sure. I think this is going to sound crazy. I kind of like a Dallas one.

That's the one I wanted. Really? Dallas was my team. Yep. Dallas would be great. Because it's the whole Dirk Luca thing. You've got a great storyline there, you know? Towards the end of his career.

Luca Dantridge coming in. Rick Carlisle, an interesting coach, some interesting players in that team. DeAndre Jordan, right? Joining on this year, young player Dennis Smith. There's a lot of interesting characters. And then you have Mark Cuban. Oh, yeah, right. And you know he would be a star of it for sure.

It would be fun. How about that? We landed on the same team. Yeah, we did. Well, that whole Luca Dirk thing would be great. That would be fantastic. Because you know Dirk's going to take him under his wing in the future. All right, a couple other quick hits.

It was announced that Jerry Calangelo is going to be gone for the 76ers. You know, they've installed him, and then Hinky ends up resigning. So he leaves, and then Calangelo and the son are running things. And then the son gets burner counts allegedly or his wife or whatever. And so now he's gone. And that was kind of a weird deal. after that whole Colangelo thing went down with the kid, they still haven't replaced him with anybody. And now the word comes out that the older one is going to be moving on. And so this is

just a strange situation. Is it not where wouldn't you think, I mean, I know that there was the story that came out about them trying to lure Daryl. That is the only real like national report that I can recall. Have there been others in terms of them attempting to fill front office roles? And then yesterday, obviously, the story comes out that Jerry's going to move on. I just searched on Google for 76ers, General Manager, and apparently Sixers.com posted a, like, an update, state of the Sixers, admits diligent search team seeks GM with right criteria.

So the team website actually put something out there this morning, just saying they're looking for a general manager with the right criteria. It is certainly a slow process, but, you know, what's the rush, I guess? As long as you get this wrapped up by end of August would be nice, like by the end of this next month, look, man, it's still July. If anything, I respect them taking their time and doing their due diligence, looking for guys like Daryl and whatever other corners they may be looking at around. Well, you remember, I mean, there was that story that Mike Zarin, he was described the top candidate, right, by the ringer.com. He was? Yeah, and he reportedly turned down that job.

Well, yeah, I think he was a top candidate on the Sixers side. I don't know if Zarin necessarily was strongly considering Philadelphia. I mean, we'll see. Well, and then you've got the, and then there was the whole David Griffin thing. Yeah, who is obviously still. Yep, still doing TV. He kills it on TV. Griffin's, he's really good on TV.

He has been really good on TV. It's good. It's always funny when you see, like, you know, these guys who are in the league, whether his coaches or executives in the NFL or NBA, no matter what sport it is. And like some go to TV in there, fantastic immediately. And then there are others.

It takes them a while. And David Griffin's one of those guys who was pretty good right away. Last thing, Kev, you guys did since we last spoke, a way too early 2018 NBA redraft. Oh boy. Oh, boy. And there it was with Jonathan Charks,

making Jaron Jackson Jr. The number one pick in the NBA draft. have to redo it. Now, listen, we do need to at least explain to everybody that was not listening to draft class, which I have no idea why you wouldn't. Charks was banging the drum for Jared Jackson the whole time. That was his guy. And so then when Jackson performs pretty well in Summer League, you fast forward. I was, I know a lot of people were like, wow, Charks, you know, came in hot. But I mean, Charks has always loved Jaron Jackson and was his favorite player in the draft. And so now after he played

rather well in the summer league and showed himself that the charts made him number one, on the other hand, what about you? I would have taken Luca Donchage number one. The unknown is still the most

intriguing. I don't know if it's really unknown at all, honestly. He's the one we haven't seen yet. I mean, we've seen him plenty overseas. He's played like 80 games in the last calendar year or something like that. The shock to me, wasn't as much Jaron Jackson, number one, as

Charks taking Shay Gilgillis Alexander with the third pick when that happened. I was like, oh boy, this is going to be a wild ride. Gilgis Alexander was really good in Summer League, but number three shocked me. But you know what, man? It could pan out.

He's in a good situation with the clippers. I just wanted to have taken that high. Why have you already bailed on DeAndre Aiton? I haven't bailed on DeAndre Aten. I would have taken him number two, just like I would have fired of the draft. It feels like you might have bailed on DeAndre Aiton, Kevin. I know you say nothing has changed regarding Aiton, but it did.

That's literally the quote, nothing has changed regarding Aiden. I know, but it did, but it did got to change. What did? What changed? Did you watch him in Summer League? Yeah, nothing has changed. Literally nothing. He's... Oh, okay.

I think he had one assist in like 20 turnover. Honestly, I don't, I don't think there's... I honestly don't think there's a lot that did change after Summer League. I mean, yeah, you have a guy, Mitchell Robinson, skyrocketing up, right? know, Kevin Knox looked, you know, a little bit better. But for the most part, I don't know, it's pretty much as expected with a lot of these guys. Well, I was happy. When I pulled that up, I thought that you were going to have Marvin Bagley out of the first round.

So I appreciate you leaving him in the front. See, that's the thing. That would be nuts. That would be like a total of reaction to drop a player like that. You know, it has changed. It's having a second back surgery. That's something that changes. Oh, that's for sure.

And you know what? You guys did not drop Trey Young very much. still have him as a top 10 guy. Nor should be. I mean, I took him there at number 10 because he hasn't dropped much. I thought he had up and down in Summer League. He started off horribly and he ended it on a good note. So your opinions did not change drastically based upon Summer League outside of the fact that Porter could not be there.

You know, I'm pulling up my rankings now. That killed just Alexander thing is wild. And by the way, the one that it was not in here, I mean, you guys obviously did a lot of reordering. of the top ones. But, I mean, I was kind of surprised that Knox didn't really move up. He was the one that I was. I mean, he, look, the thing with this board

is it's tough because we're redrafting based on, I think, our own rankings, right? Not necessarily for the team. So for some of these guys, like, I had Wendell Carter ranked fifth. Right. He didn't change much. Michael Porter, I had ranked eighth.

I passed on him like three times after that, and so did Chark. So he's somebody that fell. because of the second back surgery. But for the most part, looking at my pre-draft rankings, there's not too much I'd change. I'd probably bump up McHale Bridges a little bit.

Because we sat behind his parents during the game? No, I'd move down while William's a little bit. I think it was his sister and his parents. Yeah, his sister and his parents, yeah. They seem like the nicest people were. I'd move up Anthony Simons a little bit. Oh, yeah. He was really, really impressive.

I'd move up Mitchell Robinson, of course. Hamidu Dialo. I'd move up Mo Wagner. Shout out to Mo Wagner. Yeah. I think there's some guys, especially in the late first, second round, that I'd move up Jared Vanderbilt, even though he didn't play. But he's someone I would just based off newer Intel and the team he was drafted to.

But no, I'm pretty happy with the rankings post-Summer League, to be honest with you. I'm honestly quite happy. Maybe by the next time we speak that those Houston Rockets will have acquired Kemp Basemore, which, by the way, not only do I love it as a fit, I would also love them from their angle acquiring Baysmore because those are all his old buddies on that warrior team. You know what I mean? Yeah. And that's the one you're gunning for.

It's a little extra. He certainly, uh, those guys are all still really good friends. Hell, Steph got him the underarmor deal, I think. I wonder how many teammates. He's got a free shoes. Ken Baysmore, his teammates from that team. Curry, Clay, Iguedala, Dremond. Uh, those are the only guys that's left from the,

That 2013-14 Warriors team. Wow. Man. It just so happens. They're the ones that play. Yeah. Yeah. That's true.

Yeah, they're the most important ones. Kevin, have an unbelievable week, and I will catch up with you next week. You too, Chris. Thanks, brother. Thanks for listening to another Ringer NBA show. If you dig what you're hearing, go give us a rating and review on iTunes, and we will talk to you next week.