The Ringer NBA Show - LeBron James’s Comments on China Spur Backlash. Plus: The Rookie Extension Deadline Is Approaching. | The Mismatch

Episode Date: October 15, 2019

LeBron’s comments about Daryl Morey’s tweet were surprising and spurred a lot of backlash—what do we make of them (3:00)? Plus, we go over some lingering preseason headlines and then run down the list of rookie extension-eligible players and opine on whether their respective teams should offer to bring them back (18:36). Hosts: Chris Vernon and Kevin O’Connor Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Today's episode of the NBA show on the Ringer podcast network is brought to you by State Farm. The moment we've all been waiting for is about to arrive. The official start of the NBA season, this offseason was filled with a lot of big changes and fresh starts. With the fresh starts in your life, talk to a state farm agent, so when it comes to your insurance, you don't have to go at it alone. A lot of fresh starts and maybe some fresh new contracts for some guys that we're going to be talking about a little bit later as the rookie extension deadline is upon us for Buddy Heel, Jay, Alan Brown, Brandon Ingram, Pascal Seaccom, and others.

Talk to your State Farm agent today about combining your home and auto insurance and get a teammate who can help you prepare for the big changes in your life, State Farm. Welcome to The Ringer MBA 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'Conflict, aka Kevin O'Chammer, aka Kevin O'Candidle, Kevin O'Connor, Kevin O'O. Coneyed, Kevin O'Contin, Kevin O'Craught, Kevin O'Clo. climber. Kevin. Verno, what's going on today? How you doing? I'm sorry about your Cardinals. Oh, man. Well, just to update everybody from last week, I was able to take my son up to St. Louis, and we had the time of our lives getting to just go to the NLCS. But I must tell you that it is much more fun when the team you are rooting for hits the ball.

and that happened less than a handful of times the entire weekend. And so that was kind of a tough spot with the Cardinals getting smashed. And then obviously they continued that against the Washington Nationals last night. It must just be the Nationals year. It actually feels, I don't know how big of a Red Sox fan you were in 2004, you know, the first one? Very big at the time. Very big. As a Cardinals fan, it feels like that series, honestly, where it's like you never had a chance, never had a lead.

It's reminiscent of that. Time to cowboy up, Chris. Yeah, right. I guess so. Hopefully the, well, I don't know. Is Kevin Euclis, is Kevin Euclis around anywhere? We need him. You need your Dave Robert Steele.

Yeah. Do you have a Kevin Malar on your team? The problem with needing the Dave Robert Steele is in order to get the steel, you need to have somebody on base. and that seems to be the issue here is not being able to get anybody on base. Anyways, all in all, look, in terms of a father-son weekend, it was awesome. I dove right back into the NBA upon my arrival back home. And you and I were texting last night knowing that this was going to be a huge story. the moment that LeBron James was in front of microphones last night.

We knew this was going to be a huge story. How huge a story this morning when I was getting everything ready for the podcast today? I turned on my TV and it was on NBC and the Today show was on. And I heard Hoda throwing to their on site reporter or whatever it was. The topic was LeBron James speaks on China. And I was like, oh my gosh. Today show is like this is what they're talking about this morning. And last night, you know, I began last episode by quoting Mike D. Antony saying,

you are wrong no matter what you say. And I'm not a diplomat. I'm a basketball coach. And that's how he was able to kind of avoid the situation completely. We know that not everybody was going to be able to avoid this situation. And certainly there was going to come a time where LeBron James was asked about it last night was that night. He used the terms not educated about the situation, misinformed about the situation in regards to Daryl Morey. Did you hear him?

He said Moray. I did hear that. He said it. He must listen to you. He must listen to me. Had no idea, LeBron was a big ringer NBA show fan. Or maybe. he listens to the Memphis show. That's always possible.

Maybe so. Anyways, and then, like, he kind of ended, if you listen all the way through, he ended it with, you know, and I think he was misinformed on the situation, but I have no idea. That's just my belief. That's kind of how he ended it.

And immediately, I mean, the second this thing gets posted, he is getting roasted. Absolutely roasted. He got, he got ratioed on Twitter with the follow-up tweets like big time.

I mean, well, look, it's going to be a very difficult position for LeBron to be in. And I know there's going to be the keyboard warriors out there and say,

it's not difficult at all. All you have to do is say this. You know, like, it is a difficult situation. Thank you. It is a difficult situation. But I think

with said difficult situation, he handled it extremely poorly. there was a much easier way, I think, for him to deal with this. You know, I read my buddy Sherwood Strauss last week saying, you know, look, in these cases, it's probably instead of trying to put up a front about all of this, silence may just be the best thing to do here, right? That may be the choice to make.

Well, I think should we read, you know, the comment just to give it a content, a little context in case somebody, you know, so this is the quote that people are especially being mad about. LeBron said, I believe he, Darry, wasn't educated on the situation at hand and he spoke and so many people could have been harmed, not only financially, but physically, emotionally, spiritually. So just be careful what we tweet and what we say and what we do. Later, he tweeted, let me clear up the confusion. I do not believe there's any consideration for the consequences and ramifications of the tweet. I'm not discussing the substance. Others can talk about that. My team in this league just went through a difficult week. I think people need to understand

what a tweet or statement can do to others. And I believe nobody stopped and considered what would happen could have waited a week to send it. Okay. So this is what this is what people did not expect. Yes. People did not expect LeBron James' first public comments to be jumping Daryl Morey. Yes. I'm honestly just surprised LeBron and his team, you know, clutch Lakers, you know, had more than a week to come up with with something to respond with and this is what they came up with whether you agree with him or not. I'm just surprised. This is what he said. And I thought, I mean, LeBron was clearly saying in his eyes, Daryl was misinformed about the power of Twitter and how the people that were in China could be harmed. And it seemed he was implying that he meant they were

in potential physical danger. And like you can, I think anybody can understand why you might be nervous about that if you're in a place that is, whether it is a foreign country or whether it is a place for something, you know, scary is happening politically. I think anybody can understand that. However, that's, that's not what he said. It's not what he, it's only what he applied. And I think if that's what he meant, maybe, you know, just saying that would have made people a bit more understanding of the situation. And I, I think if we combined with what, what LeBron said with what Shams Sharani reported yesterday, which was clearly somebody plugged right into the meeting that Sam Silver had with the Nets and Lakers.

And Shams pretty much reported that LeBron said it was unfair for young players to be thrust into the spotlight to speak publicly about an issue like that and that there was concern about their safety. And that was reported by Shams, not what LeBron said. It's just what LeBron said in the meeting, according to Shams. And, you know, if that's the case, I don't understand why you don't just say it. I think all LeBron really had to say yesterday was something quite vague. And we wouldn't be having this conversation today.

They wouldn't be having this conversation on the day show. All you really had to say was something like it was an overall unfortunate situation. These are important issues that Daryl was speaking up for. And he has the right to do that. It was just a hard week for everybody being overseas. And I'm glad we got home safely. And then the natural thing to do, somebody would have followed up asking about his opinion on the Hong Kong protesters. And at that point, LeBron easily just could have said, I've always been a champion of free speech.

As you guys always know, I stand up for that and I support that. But this is an issue that I am not totally educated on. That is something I'm trying to inform myself about. And people would be mad this morning, just like they worry about Steve Kerr. You might have Donald Trump saying LeBron James is a phony. You might have all that. But the response would be a whole lot more muted than it is with the stance that he did take. And that's why overall, I'm just really shocked that this was the way they'd went about it.

Here's two things. If we're just going to keep it real. Wrong or not, everybody thinks that he's protecting his business deals, right? There's a lot of money, and that's what that was at the heart of this. All these guys are pissed at Darrell. Because if Darrell doesn't send that tweet, none of this happens. Everybody just keeps on going their merry way. That's the truth of the matter.

And there was guys, if you read the Shams article, there was guys. that had, you know, a bunch of guys had public appearances that they were going to make money off of canceled. The G League guys that were going to be playing in the showcase got their stuff canceled. Kyle Kuzma was about to announce a deal with the Chinese company and that got canceled. Two Rockets players were about to sign endorsement deals with companies and those got canceled. And so there was a lot of money at stake. And obviously, you've got LeBron who's got the entire Nike conglomerate behind him. and he has a movie coming out,

which stands to make a manner of dollars over in China, right? So the last thing he wants to do is upset China. The issue for LeBron is if you have been more than willing to speak your mind and wear shirts constantly that say more than an athlete, and very recently had the governor of California, you know, signing the pay-for-play document on his very show. and, you know, has fancied himself an agent for social change, then when given the opportunity,

when given the opportunity to be in front of a microphone to chuck Daryl Morey under the bus as to look at all the problems he's caused for all of us by, you know, by this one tweet. That's how that comes off. That comes off like LeBron saying, look at how many problems he caused for everybody. He's going to take his lumps over this.

It's going to be, and it was wildly unpopular what he said last night. And I've got to believe if he could do it over, he'd do it over. Sure. I mean, I think ultimately it was, I thought it was a bit unfair of LeBron to say Mori was misinformed. I mean, I think Darrell Mori was informed on human rights and informed, you know, but I don't think Daryl could have expected his tweet to put people in danger. All he was really trying to do was to raise awareness in his eyes for the Hong Kong

longer is protesting for their freedoms. I don't think anybody could have expected, even Tillman Fraterta, who responded to Daryl and, you know, immediately, I don't think he or Daryl or anybody on Friday night when it happened. Nobody could have expected the reaction for it to unfold the way it has. Of course. And, and, you know, here's the problem. When you said the whole bit about he could have just come out and say, you know, I support democracy and freedom of speech and whatnot and whatnot. Well, here's the problem. Adam Sillard. did that and he was able to do that retroactively. You know what I'm saying? As to say, we're not punishing this guy and here's what our league believes in, right? But be not dismayed.

You can say that all you want and you can say, I support freedom of speech and we support freedom of speech and let everybody say whatever. But you think they're not monitoring what everybody says right now? Do you think that it would be, do you think if somebody came out again and did the same thing, that it would be met with the same level of support that he tried to give the first time around? Because you saw what LeBron said, right? And LeBron jumped Daryl. And I think he was wrong to do so, but that's what he did. And it's a lot easier to retroactively support freedom of speech than if somebody were to do it right now or if LeBron would have even done it last night. And, you know, they all know that there are billions of billions of dollars on the line. And so it is, are you willing to

suppress your speech or is it more nuanced than that? And just say, hey, I'm not getting involved in this, you know? And if you want to destroy me for not getting involved in this, then so be it, right? If you want to destroy me for having business interest and doing business where I do, then so be it. But I mean, I just, here's another element to this that was not brought up last night, but I bet if you gave him truth serum and you said him in a room, this is exactly what he'd say, Kevin. He'd say, you know what? Here's the other thing. It wouldn't even him that was going to have to deal with this. He sends this thing from another country. And it's the Lakers and the Nets and these other teams that have to do.

deal with this. We're the ones going to China. We're on the ones in the middle of this. And we're the ones that have to answer for all of this. It'd be different if he sent out his tweet and then his team was in China. But his team wasn't in China. He sent out the tweet and left all of them to answer for it. And that's why you have that meeting where they get all mad with Adam Silver. And I do think a good point in one of the, I believe it was Rachel Nichols reported this and said at one point during that meeting, they brought up. Okay. So you didn't You didn't, you know, you stood behind Daryl. What if a player would have done this?

Did you stand behind him? That they said that to Adam Silver, which is a very fascinating, you know, fascinating thing to consider, right? Sure. I mean, last night it came up that 12 years ago, a cavalier's player, Ira Neubel wrote a letter criticizing China's role in the genocide in Darfur. And, you know, everybody on the team signed. that letter except for LeBron James and Damon Jones. And at the time, LeBron was criticized for that.

And I, I mean, I totally forgot about that. I think I remember it vaguely happening at the time. And for LeBron, he ultimately, you know, look at history. And this is a different situation, but comparable. And ultimately, that was forgotten about, just like this will be forgotten about in 12 years. he's keeping the Chinese bag, he's keeping the American bag, and LeBron protect his own business interests, and you know what, that's that.

It's going to be forgotten about. Right now it's a huge issue, but it will be forgotten about. Here's where I will tell you. It will not be forgotten about with continuing the more than an athlete stance. Yeah, that's the tough point here. It won't. It won't, Kevin.

It won't. You will carry it with you. that's the difference. You know what I'm saying? Yeah. Yeah, that's fair. Like, I mean, there aren't, you know, Kyle Kuzma is not what, you know what I mean? Like who was about to announce a deal or, you know, we've talked about there's guys with Chinese shoe deals right now, a bunch of them. But if you're doing a show and having a governor of California on and being an agent for social change and you want to speak up on all manner of topics and you want to take on the president and you want to, you know, take on injustices and you want.

And that's going to be part of your thing. And you are going to be more than an athlete. That's when the rubber meets the road is when something like this happens. You know what, Chris, I think I'm wrong. You know, I think this is something where there will be a lot of people who will forget it. But this is something that because of the stance that he has taken with social justice, that it will not be something that people, for the most part, do forget you. So you're right in that sense.

And I think we already saw this happening last night, where people were pulling up his old tweet where he tweeted out in 2018, Injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere. Our lives begin to end the day we become silent about things that matter. Hashtag, thank you, MLK50. Stuff like that contrast with what choices he made yesterday for sure. Today's episode of the NBA show on the Ringer podcast network is brought to you by State Farm. The moment we've all been waiting for is about to arrive.

start of the NBA season. This offseason was filled with a lot of big changes and fresh starts. The fresh starts in your life talk to a state farm agent, so when it comes to your insurance, you don't have to go at it alone. A lot of fresh starts in the NBA this season, including one that's going to be happening in Dallas as we get to see the Luca Donchich, Christavs-Forzingis partnership for the first time, and a bunch of new players to go alongside those guys. And will or will they not make the playoffs, this upcoming year. Kevin and I are going to be talking about that. But remember, talk to your State Farm agent today about combining your home and auto insurance and get a teammate who can

help you prepare for the big changes in your life, State Farm. Basketball is happening and basketball is around the corner. And I cannot fathom how lucky you felt last night to be witnessing a lineup up with Jordan Poole, Steph Curry, Glenn Robinson III, Marquis Chris, and Eric Paskill. Yeah,

you know, I'm, I'm never going to forget it. What was that? I mean, and then, like, so you went to

Lakers Warriors, right? I left at halftime because I had to get writing them. I don't blame you. LeBron didn't play. The starting backcourt for the Lakers

was Zach Norville, Jr. and Alex Caruso. Norval looks pretty, good. Oh, is that right? Yeah, he did. Oh, okay. Yeah, you had 22 last night, huh? You know who looked really great. Dwight Howard. He was passing the hell out of the ball last night, man.

Dwight Howard looked, whoo. Really good, really good. Against the Warriors B squad or C squad, but... There was no Looney, there was no green, there was no Collie Stein, there was no DeAngelo Russell, there was no Clay Thompson. It was simply Steph Curry by his lonesome

and Marky Starters. I said of the starters. I know, I know, I know. And then on the on the Lakers side, not that many guys were playing last night. So I'd imagine that even in that first half, you had literally no takeaway? No.

Good. All right. Except for the Dwight Howard part, except for that, that he actually looked pretty good. Good for Dwight. You recently wrote about the Dallas Mavericks and going down there.

And I saw you, boy, did you eat some good food in Dallas? Oh, it's so good. Luca Donchich and Christos Porzengas are on the same team for the Dallas Mavericks. And you went to go do a deep dive and try to figure out what's what's what's about the Mavericks' upcoming season. Tell me what you found out. The Mavericks are just as excited as any fan of the Mavericks is. I talked to Donnie Nelson and Mark Cuban.

You can hear the excitement in their voice and in the words that they say about this roster. And I thought one of the more interesting things was, you know, Donnie Nelson talked about the steps forward with this team where he sees a natural progression, natural progression where they already are a team that they perceive as a potential playoff team this year. with Luca, who had one of the greatest rookie seasons ever last year. And Chris Daps, who the last time we saw him play, was a really great two-way player who did trail off towards the end before he tore his ACL. But in theory, of two-star players with a pretty solid overall supporting cast.

And so they see the playoffs this year. Then Donnie Nelson mentioned how it's a good draft in 2020. They have their own pick next year. Then he sees, you know, the amount of cap space that they could have in 2021. And so he sees that progression moving forward where this is playoff year, take a step forward next year, draft a good player. And then in 2021, maybe at that point you sign that guy who puts you into serious finals contention as Donchich and Porzingis are sending upward. But ultimately, we're years away from that now. And as of today, this Mavericks team to me is one of the more fascinating teams in the league because you have so many interesting young teams.

teams, whether it's Sacramento with the Aaron Fox or or Minnesota having a drastically new system with Carl Anthony Towns or as we, you and I have talked about, Chris, with Memphis and Jaron Jackson and John Morant. But none of those young teams are as ready right now for the postseason as Dallas is. Yeah, well, how about the Pelicans who seemingly they're on TV all the time during the preseason? I swear I see them all the time. Yeah, Pelicans too. I mean, we could have two really young teams in Dallas and New Orleans competing for the postseason this year in the West. They might not make it. One of them might make it. None of them might make it. But those teams are going to be in it, I think. Oh, there are a bunch of teams that are going to have that, that opportunity,

you know, to get to the eighth seed. You know, if we, if we think that what is going to happen is that Oklahoma City drops out and so it opens up a spot. Well, we said that spot would immediately be taken by the Lakers. That's what we all think, right? And so someone else has to, to be the one that drops out from last year's teams, right? Like, that's just simple math. Sacramento. Sacramento. No, no, I'm saying somebody has to drop out.

If they're going to get in, it has to be like a San Antonio dropping out. Or if Dallas is also going to get in, it has to be OKC trading everybody away. No, no, no. I'm saying Oklahoma City, I'm saying let's drop them out. Oh, yeah, that's what I mean. Like, oh, you're already saying, you're already saying to drop them out. I'm saying drop them out. so that's the Lakers spot.

Already. Well, yes, that's what I'm saying. Yes, I suspect that the Lakers will have a playoff spot and that Oklahoma City will not. Okay? So that drops out one of them. So now you've got to figure out who else you dropping out. Are you short? I mean, I'm not sure like Oklahoma City is the team to drop out.

I mean, they have a good roster. It's just a matter of whether they're going to blow it up and trade all those guys, which they want to do and will try to do at some point during the season from everything I've heard from executives across the league that they will try to. But it doesn't mean that they will be able to. Yeah, I don't think that they are fancying themselves as a team that this is what they're maximizing with, right? They're obviously a team with the eye for the future.

But they might not be able to move Chris Paul, right? Exactly. That's what I mean. They might not be able to. What if Chris Paul is really good? And, you know, Dinell Gell-Gallonari is having a great year. I think it'd be good. Yeah.

Do you think they're better than the Lakers? Point. The point is, there's like, 13 teams in the West for eight playoff spots. What I'm saying is you don't think they're better than the Lakers. I dropped them out and I put the Lakers in. That's what I did. That's fair. Yeah.

I mean, of course, Lakers are better. So now you got to, now the Spurs is your only one because I promise you, you don't think any of the others are dropping out, do you? I don't know, man. Like I just said, there's 12 or 13 teams for eight spots and one injury, one turned ankle, you know, the West is freaking loaded, man. It's loaded. It's really loaded.

And you could expect any of these teams to go one way or the other with the decisions that they make, whether it's a trade, whether it's deciding to add a guy or get rid of a guy, whether it's, you know, if LeBron misses 10 games or 80 misses 10 games, I mean, there's going to be like a really great team that misses the playoffs. I don't know who it's going to be. I would pick an LKC. I would pick a San Antonio. I wouldn't pick a Golden State. I think they're going to be really good even without Clay for the opening part of the season. But even with them, they don't have the amount of depth that you would hope for with their lack of star bar up top. To your point, it doesn't seem like a huge deal.

But there's already been an MRI on Anthony Davis. And I think that speaks to the tenuous nature of what they've got going, right? I mean, look, take Anthony Davis out of that lineup. It's going to be hard to get to 50 wins. They're just not. You're not getting to 50 wins is the point. But how many games does he miss if he misses games? And same like you said with LeBron.

They are, because of the way that roster is built, you do wonder how, how much would they be able to win if one of those two is out? Say for a 10-game stretch, 20-game stretch, right? I mean, if they, you know, do you get 65-plus games out of both of them, that will certainly decide it. Health is going to be paramount for them. And like I said, we just saw that story the other day about him having an MRI. And we haven't even gotten to the season yet.

So yeah and fortunately for the Lakers that injury does not appear to be serious It does not it does not appear to be serious One thing one thing back to Dallas I think that Luca Donchich Chris Staps forzingis fit I mean Chris Staps right now is working off almost two years of rusts So I wouldn't read into any preseason production too much But man on paper dude Dallas what they're building right now Chris Staps is able to stay healthy

And Luca continues to ascend upward, which I think is fair to expect, considering he's been on that upward trajectory since he was 15 years old. These guys are an ideal fit together. They have so few overlapping strengths. They have so many complementary and enhancing strengths that they make each other better with Luca being the playmaker and Chris Stapps being the finisher. But Luca also being able to be a finisher. These guys, with their pick and roll attack with the amount of floor spacing that they ideally would like to build moving forward. These guys could be a destructive force for years and years to come.

Oh, for sure. But look, they have to. You and I have talked about the Mavericks going back a long way, where I thought you were goofy for calling them a possible playoff team. I just think that, you know, this is two, three years, right? And it could happen faster. But they're not a playoff team. Now, I mean, look.

Are you sure? How sure are you? Very sure. Who's their third best player, Kevin? I mean, you can say that with a lot of teams, though. No, I can't. Who is it? I mean, right now they have, look, I got on a conversation with somebody recently about...

Just name it. Just give me a name. No, I'm going to give you multiple names. The point is... No, I want a name. The point is, Chris, is that Dallas right now, you look at their roster. They don't have any big name third stars on their roster. Like, I could give you a Dillon Wright.

I could give you a Maxie Kleber. I could give you a Dwight Powell. And none of those names are going to... and get you excited and rightfully so. They don't have a third guy. The point is that they do have a handful of talented role players that are complimentary to Luca Donridge and Chris Stavs Porzingis in their back court. They have the Spark Plug scorer and Seth Curry, the two-way gritty guy and Jalen Brunson,

the super, super versatile defender and Delon Wright. In the front court, they have Dwight Powell, who is one of the most efficient, most dominant rolling bigs in the league, who can also shoot three. is they have Maxie Cleaver, who is probably one of the biggest bargains with his average annual contract of around 9-10 million. I like Cleber. I like Cleaver. So the point is that they don't have that third guy, and that's what their drawback is right now. But they do have a lot of solid role players that haven't established themselves as big names. But maybe now with Chris Depp's and Luca sharing the court, if those guys get better, one of those guys does become one of those household role player names.

I was just making sure I had it right. No, their third best player was a backup for the Grizzlies last year. I was just making sure I had that right. By the way, Delon Wright was pretty solid for the Grizzlies last year when he was provided the opportunity. But that's what it was. He was a backup for the Grizzlies last year. And that's who you named as their third best player. No, I wouldn't say he was.

I would say Maxie Cleaver if you want a straight-up answer. I think Max and Cleaver at the center position is ideally what you want, close to ideally what you want next to Chris Stapp's positioning. This is a solid shooter as a good role man, as a good passer and as a very versatile defender for a big man with the ability to defend on the perimeter or inside. The future is insanely bright.

Yeah. I'm just saying you know, it's just not now. It's just not right now. That's all I'm saying. That's not, I listen, I love Luca, I love Chris Depps and the rest of their roster isn't good enough. That's what I'm telling you. That's what I believe.

Yeah, we'll see. We will see. I mean, all my stance is that we don't know which way, San Antonio, Oklahoma City is going to go. We don't know which teams are going to stay healthy. All I know is that out of the teams that are on that bubble, Dallas, New Orleans, Minnesota, Sacramento, of those younger teams, I would pick Dallas or Norlands is the most probable to take one of those playoff spots if something comes up with an injury or a trade or something

like that. That's where I would put Dallas in the playoffs. I would not put them as like a four or five seed. If they get in, it says a seven or an eight. you like you like them more than Sacramento then I do I think with Sacramento I have some serious questions with their half court offense after they ranked I think 20th last last season and half court scoring efficiency I I want to see them get a lot better there they will you know why Marvin bagley so this is a breakout year and you're never going to hear the end of it trust me okay I will I will be relentless

all right we got to take a quick break when we come back big decisions for a lot, actually, of NBA teams because the rookie extension deadline is right around the corner. We'll talk about some of those names on the other side. All right, Kevin, we'll get right back to it. I want to remind everybody, today's episode is brought to you by Luminary, a podcast subscription service with some of the best content around. I'm excited about Luminary because it's the only place I can listen to The Ringers' amazing new podcast, Sonic Boom, How Seah. lost its team, hosted by our very own Jordan Ritter Cohn. If you're a fan of sports, great investigative journalism, or both, this is definitely the

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for two months of free access. Luminary. Dot link slash ringer MBA. Cancel any time. Terms apply. All right, Kevin. So the rookie extension deadline is coming up very quickly.

We have already had Ben Simmons, Jamal Murray, and Karras Levert signed deals. Simmons 168.2, Murray, 168.2 Levert, three years, $52 million. I went and looked up some of the names and I want to go through some of these and you tell me what you think.

So just as a point of reference, and I was a little surprised by this, there was only five guys that signed rookie extensions last year. Justice Winslow, 339. Larry Nance Jr. 445. Miles Turner, 472. and then you had Booker with the five-year 158 and towns with the five-year $190 million. Okay. So I've mentioned the three guys, Ben Simmons, Jamans, Jamal Murray, Kereslavert.

Buddy Healed has said, I am ready to get this blank done. He is eligible for four years, $130 million, five years up to $170 million. They've also got Bayon Bogdanovich, who's eligible for four years, $51, million. But Buddy Heald's quote was, I want to get this blank done. You know, basically, I want to be in Sacramento. If it doesn't get done, though, you know, it's a free role here because basically, I mean, it made it sound like I'll be insulted and I'll be looking for whatever I want to next summer. If you are Sacramento, do you commit big to Buddy Heald?

I mean, Buddy Heal just had one of the greatest shooting seasons ever for a two-guard. whatever you want to call them. But that's a lot of money, man. That's a lot of money. I think you would need to assume or hope for a bit more improvement moving forward. He's already such a good player at 26. And he was a late bloomer in high school, a late bloomer in college. And he is somebody who is constantly blossoming in the NBA as well.

He's a guy that you want to have in your organization. So I don't really think you have a choice. but if you do give that money, you have to hope for even more than what you already have in him, which is a lot and he's good. But you need him to continue progressing, especially on the ball,

rather than off the ball and pick and roll situations and all that and continuing to make incremental progress as a playmaker and as a defender. So I don't think you have a choice. But at the same time, he is still a restricted free agent. and you do have his rights moving forward if you do decide to wait. But this is like this is the fascinating aspect here with these free agents,

whether it is Buddy Heald or Dr. Land Brown or Pascal C. Akim is next year's free agency class is so weak. It is a weak class with unrestricted free agents. So theoretically, some of these guys could receive those max level contract offers anyway. And then it's a situation like Utah had with Gordon Hayward years ago where if you just gave the money up front, you avoid the whole issue of like him, you know, feeling he was slighted by the organization by not getting the money anyway. So that's where you get into it, right? But the other side of it, though, is because of as we talked about last week, as

Keith Smith and others have reported, the salary cap could potentially drop slightly. I mean, that could happen. I don't think it will. In their situation, if they, if they play to potential, you're going to be shelling out an awful lot of money for Darren Fox and for Marvin Bagley in, you know, 20 and 21, right? Or the following years where you're trying to get them on extensions too. You know, the mistake, here's my thing. I'd have paid Buddy Healed way before I paid all that money to Harrison Barnes.

And, and Bogdan Bogdanovitch, too. You might be able to keep both, right? I mean, I've, sure. And with Harrison Barnes, I mean, he's, he's, he's all right. but 20 million annually. Not a big fan of that contract either. You know what I'm saying? That's when I talk about, you know,

sometimes you make a mistake that four years, 85 million they signed him for. I will say this about Barnes, though. It is a descending contract. So in the fourth year of that deal, it'll be $18.3 million. Right now it's 24.1. Point being is that like he does become a tradable piece.

if your intention is to keep buddy healed and to keep Bogdan Bogdanovich, that Harrison Barnes contract in a year or two becomes a tradable asset. So you do need to have, you do need to have those pieces that you use and what you hope for

is an opportunity to trade for a high impact player. So in that sense, it's not illogical to keep Harrison Barnes at that number. It is just a risk because of the other guys that you have coming up.

I'd keep buddy healed. He shoots the ever-loving hell out of the ball and we can talk about his knocks but in a league where and he's such a high character guy too. Oh and I told you last year there was a day that kings were off this guy was in the arena

on the actual NBA court for two hours working out by himself just pouring with sweat nobody else. Not one other person with him. Not even a ball guy that was like rebounding for him. Just out there doing it and I was like my God. That's exactly

the kind of guys you want. know what I mean? The guys that even, you know, even when there's nothing scheduled, they're just going in there trying to get better and better and better. And it's something no one would ever see. I just happened to be aware of it. Sure. I mean, it's one of the reasons why I loved Buddy in the drafts. In his 2016 year, I think I had, I mean, I had some bad rankings that year, but I think I had healed fifth or sixth or something like that in that class, largely because of just the work ethic in the constant rate of improvement, never mind his shooting ability in a league where shooting is the most important skill. With Buddy, it's been really, really nice to see him turn

into the player that he has. And I hope that continues forward, especially if Sacramento drops the bag for him, because right now he is already a very, very good player. But if you're going to get a max contract, you need to be a great player for that to be, for you to be worthy of that. Yeah, I don't know about Max. But that's what he wants. That's what he's asking for. I mean, I could probably get him for 120 instead of 130, right? Like, I mean, can I, can I get, can we, can we give you four years 120?

Or can I give you, you know, three years, you know, and 80? You know what I'm saying? Like, we figure this out. Sure. And I think they will figure it out. I would be surprised that they don't, whether it is now or whether it isn't restricted for agency next summer. I'd be stunned.

All right. These other names, I do want to ask you, because. Look, if the track record is a ton of guys don't sign rookie extensions, then so be it. We haven't heard of that many offers. One offer we did hear of speaking of the whole pissed off, you know how you were talking about the Hayward thing earlier? I didn't catch this, but when I was looking up all these names, the Nuggets offered Malik Beasley three years, $30 million?

There is no doubt in my mind. Malie Beasley will make way more than that on an open market next. year as a restricted free agent. What do you think? Well, I think with Malik Beasley, you're going to be valuing yourself and looking at your own career that this past season for the first time you averaged over 20 minutes and you shined. And Beasley was a guy who for years has projected as a 3-and-D style guy.

And that's what he was last year for Denver as a good, versatile defender, as a great shooter off the catch. And this year, in preseason, from what I've seen, it seems to me that he has improved his handle, which is something that over time he's gotten progressively better at. So if you're Beasley, you've got to be thinking about like, do I even want to be in Denver for the best of my own

career because of my own abilities? Right now, he'll be 23 entering next season. So he's still super super young where maybe for him, the opportunity will not be there in Denver behind guys like Jamal Mari and Nicola Yokic, where maybe for him, it would be best to get more

opportunity elsewhere. Maybe I'm crazy. I wouldn't offer that. I wouldn't even put that on the table. Well, I mean, that's part of contract negotiations no matter what you do. But what are you expecting? I mean, I don't know. Look, they got a decision to make because- But based off his production and role this past season, that is not an unfair offer.

Based off his past production, it is not unfair. But for moving forward- That's not what you're signing of the contract for you. It could be, for Malik Beasley, that isn't a, you would expect to be a severe, severe underpayment. Oh, he will make way more than $30 million. Trust me on that. Will Barton got the four years 53.

I mean, they got to choose, right? Gary Harris, Malibisley, Beasley, Will Barton. So if you're going to keep Beasley and you're going to pay Beasley, then you're moving one of the other two. What you're touching on with Denver, Chris, is one of the more interesting things with their team this year. Last year, I thought they got by quite well with guys not getting minutes, whether it was Juan Hernan Gomez or guys getting inconsistent minutes. They got to pay him too, by the way.

Well, now they're in a situation where it's year two of that where a lot of these guys are going to have to make sacrifices. They have a lot of talent, a lot of depth, a lot of good players. But now somebody who played last season like Tori Craig may not play because of Michael Porter Jr. Somebody like Juan Hernan Gomez for a second year may not play. someone like Will Barton, who you're mentioning, because Malik Beasley may get better, may not play as often. So with Denver, I do wonder if there's any potential, may not happen, but there is any potential for some chemistry issues

to arise over the course of the season. Also, you could, look, you could get a big return on Gary Harris. If you just decided, hey, we want to keep Malik Beasley, you could get a good return for somebody like a Gary Harris, for sure. For sure. You could get a good return from. You don't want to trade Gary Harris. though. I know. You don't want to trade him.

He is cemented as their starter. I'm just saying if you do all I'm saying is they have to make that decision to keep Beasley at a price without losing him for nothing. It would mean sacrificing one of the other two. Harris or Barton.

In that case, it may be Barton nearing 30. All right. That being said, let me ask you about some of these others. Do you, believe that Jalen Brown is part of the Boston Celtics core going forward. And do you think there's a possibility they get a deal done with Jalen Brown on a rookie extension deal?

I'd be surprised if you got signed to an extension. As for part of the core, it depends on the money. They kind of got burned twice, though, on that, didn't they? Like with the playing it out, at least with Rozier and with Smart. They let both of those play out and those guys ended up making more. money than if they would have just signed them. Like, could you sign Jalen right now to a $25 million deal? I don't, I wouldn't give him that money considering his role right now in Boston's team.

I think, again, it's similar. It's almost exactly the same as what we talked about with Malik Beasley right now. If you're Jalen Brown, yes, you enjoy Boston. Yes, you like playing in Boston. But also, the opportunity is not there for him, at least in his eyes, for what he perceives this game to be as it could be in a new situation. And that's ultimately what is pretty easily predictable. Another team next summer looks at Jalen Brown as a 23-year-old player who has not received

the opportunity to become the player. They may perceive him as. And he could receive a very wealthy offer that Boston indeed just says no to. Or for Boston, I think the best thing to do would be to not sign Jalen Brown right now. It would be to retain the rights and use him as a piece. at some point during the season that you would look to trade him as part of a larger package. That's what I would want to do if I'm Boston. Because I like Jaylon a lot, but I do not put him on the same level of Jason Tatum or as what you hope Gordon Hayward gets back to being.

He's not on that level. They could be good together. They could, we saw it as, you know, a year ago. They could be really good together, Tatum and Brown. I do think that they compliment each other. And, I mean, obviously, look, if you can go back in time, you don't do the Hayward. word deal. And then this is... I still think you still do the hayward deals.

If you can't, if you know, if you know how it plays out. You don't throw that lob pass to Hayward five minutes into the game. That's what I'm saying. If you knew how it plays out, that's what I'm saying. You don't go back and do it. Brandon Ingram, Pascal Seacob. Pelicans one is super interesting, right? Yeah. Again, again, like, I feel like I'm not giving a good answer to share, but it just depends on the money. It really depends. I think ultimately, if I'm a team, I would lean towards waiting for mostly every restricted free agent. Unless the player is a no-brainer, max contract player.

Don't you think both of those can get close to it? Who is that, you said? Ingram and Seacom. I think they can both get. Next summer? I think they can get a boatload. Yes, but that's the point. It's like right now you don't give them that money.

I think if you're on the team side, you wait on both of them. Unless you're worried about them leaving you. I mean, they're restricted free agents. who have their rights. I understand. But I mean, do you want to, I don't know, you know,

there is something to be said for dedicating to the player. We've seen it before. I would say with Ingram, it's more complicated. With Pascal Seacum, I would be quite surprised if he's not a max player

next summer or now with Toronto. So if you're Toronto, you can get him as a near max player right now, you do that. With Brandon Ingram, as much as I really love his game and as much as I think he's going to continue to improve moving forward,

I think if you're New Orleans you want to see that rate of improvement alongside this new, brand new core that you have and then pay with Seacom what he's shown already at the highest levels on the biggest stage and what you project moving forward for him.

I think it's pretty safe to say he's going to get a max from somebody else. That's what I'm saying. Yeah, with these teams you do wonder, can I get you a little bit lower than the max? Like we were talking about with Heald. Can I get you to sign on a little bit lower to the max?

or maybe, you know, 20 million, you know, lower than what a total max would be. And so that I don't get the screws put to me because there's some team out there that's got the money. And they say, well, to hell with it. We'll pay you. Right. We need, we need, we need a guy that's 23 that we think is, you know, going to be an all-star. And all you got to find is one, you know, that feels that way. And so you might want to get that deal done now is what I'm saying.

Rather than, rather than wait, because it could cost you a lot more. certainly I think that could be the case with Jalen. Probably with Ingram Manciakum too. I mean, they're both. Look, the more they play, the better they're getting, it seems like. The other ones that are like in that class are kind of like Dario Sarich, Sabonis, Dejante Murray, Toreen Prince, you know, those names, which are, some of those do kind of fall more in line with the kind of guys that signed last year.

Justice Winslow, Larry Nance Jr., Miles Turner, like not Max players. But, you know, look, they got, who was it? That Miles Turner deal looks good as hell now. Four years, 72? You know, that's where it is a real benefit to sign these guys early sometimes, right? Yeah. All right, well, we'll see how it plays out. The deadline is the 21st.

The deadline is the 21st for these guys, and we will find out. if anybody does lock in, Buddy Heald, Bogdan Bogdanovich, Jalen Brown, Brandon Ingram, Pascal Seacom, to go along with the guys that have signed extensions, Ben Simmons, Jamal Murray, and Karris Lavert. Kevin, I will talk to you on Friday. Looking forward to it, Chris. Have a good one. Thanks, everybody for listening to another episode of The Mismatch. If you dig what you're hearing, go give us a rating and review on iTunes, five stars, five stars.

It really helps, and we will talk to you on Friday.