The Ringer NBA Show - The Best and Worst Moves of the Offseason (So Far). Plus, the Clippers Are Up to Something. | Group Chat

Episode Date: July 7, 2025

Justin, Rob, and Wos are here to react to the three-team deal that sent Norman Powell to the Heat and what it means for the Heat, Jazz, and Clippers. Then, the guys give their best and worst moves of the offseason. Hosts: Justin Verrier, Rob Mahoney, and Wosny Lambre Producers: Kyle Williams and Ben Cruz Social: Keith Fujimoto and Jomi Adeniran Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

welcome group chat. I am Justin Verrier and joining me, Rob Mahoney, Big Was. I think I was served a Bronny James Corner 3 highlight yesterday, which means it is officially this summer in the NBA.

Rob, have you been breaking down those breakaway dunks comparing them to old LeBron tapes? I did see the breakaway dunk. Congratulations to Brani James on his breakaway dunk. It was maybe a little overhyped based on the captioning. I'm going to say that. A little, little too which sizzle on that particular steak.

But I support him in all of his future endeavors. The caption I saw and I don't remember who put it up there, it said, Year 2, Brony has begun. He's a problem. In Summer League. In the California classic. Not even real Summer League, off-brand Summer League. Well, Rob, you're not a Summer League guy.

Or at the very least, a tepid Summer League guy. Like, when you're not grinding the tape with the true, like, like sickos out there watching the Utah Summer League. I only watch Summer League basketball in person. It's the kind of experience that has to be felt to be believed. If you're out here watching, and look, look, I'm going to admit this. I did see some Topich highlights that nearly pulled me in that nearly got me on board as far as watching the televised Summer League experience.

But otherwise, it's so easy to overindex on this stuff. It's so easy to buy in on like one exciting performance on one random day in July. And that's just not what we're here for. We're here for prospect hunting. We're here for information gathering. I want to do it boots on the ground style, Justin. I enjoy the text that I get from my civilian buddies every summer. At least two or three people who text me like, is this as bad as it looks on TV?

I'm like, yes, it's actually worse. Yakishunis really has to step it up after all those turnovers in two games. Yeah, it's definitely a mirage, although I think when a play, does well enough in that setting. It foretells something. So you really just have to know how to look through all the noise to find like the indicators. And you're right.

It's much tough to do from afar than you are like smelling the summer league atmosphere and really seeing what's going on there. But I'm not going this year. Rob, I don't think you're going this year as well. I actually am. And you're going to be out there as well. Yes, sir. See, this thing, until you sweat in that Vegas heat,

you don't really know if these prospects are any good yet or not. So Waz and I are going to find out firsthand, I think. Okay. Well, good luck to you guys. I will be in the moderate temperature in the 70 degrees in my garden. So that's fine. Well, also sweating it out, though, you know, doing the real work. Yeah, doing manual labor.

All right. Well, we're going to get into some of the best and worst moves of the off season. Thus far, still a little bit out there going on, including this trade that just kind of popped up out of nowhere. So a three-team deal involving the heat clippers and jazz. The heat get Norm Powell from the Clippers. The Clippers get John Collins from the jazz. And then the jazz reap Kevin Love, who was already tweeting his way through the trade reaction, Kyle Anderson, Slow Mo, and a 2027 second round pick. Rob, where do you want to start here?

You want to start with Norm Powell going to the heat? Yeah. It's kind of crazy that this is all it took to get Norm Powell. Like, I and, you know, his contract situation, not exactly a long-term arrangement right now. you're getting a bit of a rental, but Kyle Anderson and Kevin loves contract and they're not even the team to give up the second round pick and the deal. I think it's a pretty, pretty sweet situation from Miami, who as we talked about last week, is just in such a weird spot and was in such desperate need for offense. Here's a spark plug. You know, here is a sign of life in

terms of what that half court offense in particular could actually be. Yeah, I mean, Norm Powell had the best year of his life last year. So, I I think folks are like, man, this seems like nothing to give up for a guy who was on so many people's All-Star shortlist, like, just off of the cutting room floor, especially us were blown away about a season that he had. That being said, the guy's about to be 31. Sure. You know, he's not like some spring chicken. And he didn't have an amazing postseason either. And so you can kind of understand why the clip was to be like, ah, maybe this guy isn't so a.

central to what we need to do next year. But completely, like, Miami, who just feels like they're always desperate for firepower, you know, letting go of Duncan Robinson, bringing in some extra three-point firepower. And Norm Powell, it all makes sense. And he has some on-ball juice that obviously Duncan Robinson never had until that one series he played against Boston. It's just pretty cool. Yeah, I don't totally get where he fits in.

With the heat, I assume he'll play a big role, but starting him next to Tyler Hero seems pretty complicated defensively. On the other end, he just is a very good player that you got for virtually nothing, and they need as much offense as you can get. Powell flirted with All-Star bid last year. He was pretty good up until around the end of the season, he kind of fell off. Then in the playoffs, you saw some of the defensive concerns kind of pop back in there. but third, tied for third in the league in catch and shoot three point efficiency, excuse me, fourth, tied in the league for fourth. You know who he's tied with, by the way?

Catch and shoot efficiency. Is this volume controlled? I don't know, but I'm just going to tell you, it's Nicola Yokic. Pretty good shooting season, as it turned out. It's like Torian Prince, Luke Kinnard, Isaiah Joe, Nicola Yokic, which is kind of unbelievable. So, like, for me, the heat part of this is pretty straightforward. It's like they got a good player for nothing and they can figure it out from there. Yeah, I think the question is what you kind of illuminated there, Justin.

Like, do you start him with Tyler Hero in the back court with presumably Andrew Wiggins on the wing? Or my preference would be bring Norm off the bench again, start Davion Mitchell, have a little bit more of that on ball defense to balance out what Tyler Hero is giving you. I guess the question there is like, is Norm too good for that now? Is he too good and too proven a score to go back to a bench roll, especially when it's one for a, team like the Heat who just isn't necessarily boasting the same kind of talent overall that the clippers were you know i think it's one thing if you're like okay i'm taking a back seat to you know james hardin over here and kawai linder coming back over there but when it's like this is a tyler hero and bam out a biolid team i don't deserve to start on it that maybe that is more

of a negotiation than then we would be led to believe and when your center is bam like sizing up everybody like wiggins at the four and maybe norm at the three like that's not a good like I think your offense would pop honestly I think you would have a nice little offensive rotation there but defensively geez Louise that would be

so problematic you know the situation on the boards would be just a mess and so yeah somebody's got to come off that bench and I wouldn't be surprised if it was Davyon considering his contract and even if you just consider Powell's sort of

stature is he's you know he's a more proven player. He's got more cashed in Davion. So I can understand that happening as well. Well, regardless of where he plays, like the heat were 21st in offense last season. Yeah. Does this get them above average? Like, yeah, not even that far, you don't think?

No. It's tough. I guess it depends on how much you could balance it defensively with the two big lineups that they're kind of defaulting to. Like can wear and bam basically shut down the paint in a way that just makes them credible enough on that end that they could sacrifice some of the wing defense. Yeah. That's like, that's a path forward. Powell is

bulkier and can play with a little bit more force when he wants to. How much he'll do that next year is kind of an open question. But I also think like he's in a contract year, which is a small wrinkle to this all. And so maybe he's looking to be the best version that they need him to be so he can get paid again. One last job.

Yeah. So three passes a game from Norm instead of two, you think. But not coming from Tyler Hero. I'll tell you that. Well, it's Daveyham Mitchell, too, because he did at the end of the season and in the playoffs, this guy was just on a torrid shooting pace. If this guy's jump shot is now a legitimate weapon, I think these questions about their offense become a different. If what we saw at the end, because, like, he just played insanely good. Yeah. Best ball of his career, by far, it's not even close.

He never had any stretches before this where obviously he brings all of these tough guy, hard-nosed stuff on defense. Like that's his calling card. But his pull-up three-point game was crazy. Like teams had to stop going under screens with this guy. If that's real, then yeah, the offense just, you know, just goes up. Yeah, I think the crazy part is also that the Clippers kind of move past needing him so much, especially once Kauai back middle of the season. At the same time, they do need some extra ball handling.

We'll talk about that a little bit later. But I almost feel like they got Collins, a player who it's funny because I want to believe in him. And I look at the numbers, I'm like, wow, such a good player. But then I remember under what circumstances he got one of those numbers in Utah the past two seasons. So I don't know what to believe he was playing only 40 games last year. Was he hurt? Was he not hurt? It's just impossible to tell.

But Rob, I think, like, what he is. the fact that he is like a bigger power for, which they don't have in their stable, versatile combination of guys. I just feel like he's exactly what they need in that front court, either to play with Zood, play like a small ball center. He seems like he fits what they need right now with the clippers

than what they need out of norm. Yeah, I would agree with that. And he's been a long rumored Clippers target for this reason or that. Just like, you know, if you want a more, I guess, traditional four relative to the wings that they've been playing at that position. He's a decent option.

He's been perpetually available, but often for reasons. And I think this was kind of a heartening season in terms of his play with the jazz. Like I thought it was some of his better pick and roll play. The shooting has obviously come on in Utah in a pretty big way that's going to have to be a prominent part of what he brings to the clippers. Like in trading norm,

you're just trading one of your few high volume three point shooters on a team that doesn't have that much shooting on it. So Collins is going to have to take threes. Brooke Lopez will obviously take three. a mere coffee who's number three in terms of total three's taken last season for the Clippers is a free agent who's kind of in the wind right now. We'll see if he comes back or not. That shooting is going to have to come from somewhere. So Collins is going to have to be a stretch option.

He's going to have to be a role option. I don't love that there's not an easy pathway for him to play minutes at the five. I would love for that to be like a part time element of what he's bringing to the table. But between Zoo and Lopez, like I just don't see how that's going to happen. What I do like is the Clippers kind of doubling down. on their defensive identity that they established last year. So, you know, as much as Jones Jr. did a yeoman's job playing the four all of last year, that's not a position he's naturally suited to.

So getting a more natural fit there who, you know, keeps that defensive standard where it was at last year and even can improve upon it when you consider this guy's rim protection ability and you know he's still a mobile guy athletic guy I like that part of it now again certain times the offense just didn't look good at times and like you're giving away you know one of your key pieces on that end but I do like the idea they're like no we're going to be even better on defense next year um you know just the old school curmudgeon in me loves that as a concept Yeah, I just love that the clippers don't necessarily have to bind themselves and lock them into like one set lineup to play. It really seems to be more dependent on who the matchup is, who's playing well, whether or not Chris Dunn is going to hit shots or not.

And so like there's just so much malleability. And part of it is the fact that Zoo is just so fucking enormous. Yeah. And then you have Burke Lopez in the back of him now who's also pretty gigantic himself. That like soaks up so much of the like impetus in order to fill out the. rest of the roster with size and then Hardin himself is basically a power forward playing at point guard and so like you could do a lot of different things at the wing position is quite basically a one through four guy at this point uh and so like do you want to play them in bigger lineups at the

four you can or you could just like not play lopez in a single game and just play Collins as a small ball five there's just so much malleability is the buzzword we like to say optionality if I dare to this team now I know um it just there's just a lot of there and with a team with Kauai and James Hardin, I think to trudge through a regular season, what you need are options. Yes. And they've built those, I think, gradually over time, especially over the course of last season, like establishing Derek Jones Jr.

in the way it was described was so important. Bringing Chris Dunn along as an all defense level contributor was a huge part of like the driving success of his minutes last season, but also trading for bogey and now trading for John Collins and bringing back Nick Batum. Like these are all things that do make Norm feel a little. little bit more expendable. You know, you always are going to need scoring from somewhere, but I think there are enough plausible options for where that scoring could come from now that you can get away with, okay, we're going to have our big fives. We're going to have James running the

point more or less full time. Everything else is flexible in between those kind of tent poles of what we're doing, including is Kauai healthy this month or not? Is he available now or not? We're going to find out kind of how steady and influence he's going to be for the clippers. Historically, the answer is not very. But now they have all of this other stuff to work with, including another flex score in John Collins, a guy who can pop off for 18 to 20 points and kind of give you some support in that way. What they don't have, probably the one thing they don't have right now is kind of a backup guard in order to soak up some of those Norm Powell minutes. They're very much in the Bradley Beal Derby, if we're going to call it that, because apparently these sons are thinking about waving and stretching or are buying out and then stretching our friend Brad Beale, who still has 110. million dollars left on his deal and so i'll say this about brad beale do i want brad beale with a no

trade clause making 50 million a year no hell no but was like bradley beale on like a veteran's minimum let's just like looking to prove himself off the bench to prove not bad a chip on his shoulder a new environment a team that like you know he chooses and they choose him mutually like that That changes the equation for sure. Definitely keeps his lady off of the internet, crying about all-star appearances. You know what I mean? Like, I love that.

I love it. I love the idea of bringing it Bradley Bill off of a buyout. That's great. Like, it's not like he's, you know, physically so deteriorated that he can't compete or that he doesn't have skills. Like, he can't make, you know, some wide open shots,

give you some secondary ball handling. You know, like some level. of getting to the basket. Like, this guy's a, he's a good basketball player. He's just vastly overpaid and insanely empowered by a no trade. Which is like, hey, man, your agent dope enough to negotiate that for you. God bless you. But my God, like, you think about his, where he stands in the pecking order of NBA

stardom, for him to be that paid and, like, influential is crazy. I mean, in basketball terms, whatever you like to. about Norm Powell as a clipper, Brad Beale can do most of those things. Whatever you like about Bogdan Bogdanovich as a clipper, he can certainly do those things. I just, I guess I worry about the human concern of what you're proposing there, Justin, of like, if you are Brad Beal and you do get to call your shot, are you going to call your shot to come off the bench for the clippers? Like, is that the thing you want to do?

And this is where I would say there's an offsetting human thing, which was one of the reasons. I think Brad Beal reportedly has been reluctant to leave the sons, is his family is pretty well established in Phoenix at this point and you may not want to uproot the kids, take them out of school, that commute from Phoenix to LA is a little easier than it might be from other places. And we've seen other pros kind of make it where their family is in one place. They are in the other and they kind of make it work. That's like a non-trivial part of this, I think, for Bradley Beale.

Bradley Beale's like allegiance to where his kids go to school is one of those things where it's like, am I so sports pill that I think that this is ridiculous? Or is this actually how like a normal? humans should be making his decisions. It's, look, for a kid to be having a move school to school, like for the kid, the rest of the family, like, miss me. The nanny, your wife, all of that.

Y'all got to deal with the fact that this guy makes 50-something million a year to play a sport. And if y'all got a move to one posh neighborhood to the next, like, get over it. But like a kid while he's learning and all of that. But then again, that's what tutors are for. Get over it. You get a tutor.

They were just in D.C. Like, two years ago. I can understand if you were embedded in a certain community. Like, there's a certain, like, logic to that. But they literally just moved to Phoenix. Like, how hard is it to do this again? This has been money. Your kid is smart.

Yeah. You get some tutors on them. He's going to be straight. He going to make new friends with them other rich kids. Fight them over to the pool. Yeah. Yeah, this is not a matter of, like, them not being able to find the good schools in L.A. This is, you know, like, you either are the,

the kind of family who is willing to uprood your kids or not. And this has been the latest episode of three fatherless men debating the merits of parenthood. You know, I'm just saying, look, regardless of what you may think of Brad Biel's priorities, these are reportedly among his priorities. I see. Well, if there was another team on the board, do you see like an obvious fit for him? Because I don't see where he's going to like walk into a starting lineup tomorrow on a

team that's willing to compete on a market that's attractive enough for his kids. I was about to say, why can't he start over Casey Wallace? Yeah. Well, he can't play defense would be one. He might not need to play as much defense on that team. Yeah. I don't see an obvious fit, though, for his particular brand of like okayness, like pretty good. I'm like a good score, but not like if you put me on a really good team, like I probably should

be coming off the bench. Yeah, I think realistically, a bench rule would be very good for him. I think he is going to be chasing something a little more than that, though. And that's where, like, Miami kind of coming off the board, like, that could have been an option for him potentially. Milwaukee, a team that he has already reportedly kind of spurned before via trade. No, he'll see. He definitely needs him.

They do. Maybe that's what he needs is not necessarily bench or starter. It's do I feel needed enough in a way that I clearly was not in Phoenix. That's the thing, too, is like selling your lady on. Yeah, we're going to, like, move to L.A. and, like, live in his sick neighborhood and, like, do all of these crazy, rich people, dope rich people things, like, all the time. And it's like, no, we're going to do that in Milwaukee. But as you said, she's out here online advocating for her guy to make all-star teams. Maybe she does just want what's best for him, you know?

Maybe she wants that opportunity for him. Should we talk about the jazz side of this? Sure. Which gets more and more depressing, the more. moves that they make this offseason. I think they'll show up a little bit later in one of our worst moves. But they basically just got rid of John Collins. And we'll see what comes of it. They got a juicy 2027 second round pick out of it. So maybe they find the next Haywood Highsmith that route. It seems like they're just open up possibility, both in terms of cap space and this clear in the road

for some of their young guys. And so I get it on one instance. If all Austin Ains just wants to get rid of some of the veterans that have been looming about and maybe like suppressing the playing time for all these young guys that are slowly building up. There's a certain logic to that. At the same time, it seems like a pretty easy way to tank without actually saying that you're tanking by turning the keys over to all these young players. Well, they're clearly still in that market. Yeah.

Look, I think by taking Ace Bailey, they're trying to see what's going on there, see if he can be kind of the dynamic creator on the wing that they would love for him to be. be long term. If that works out very quickly, awesome. He's 18 years old. It's probably not going to turn out that quickly in terms of producing and creating and scoring at a playoff level. And so for where the jazz are, I'm not so convinced that like Kyle Anderson is worse for this team than John Collins is as far as like plugging minutes and having a respectable forward. And frankly, given how young their backcourt is in particular, having a little more playmaking in terms of an adult in the room on the wing is probably a healthy thing for them. But this isn't a team that's

competing for anything anytime soon. Yeah, and also it's hard for me to knock this when, you know, what they were doing for the previous two years seemed to be some level of, no, we're rebuilding, but like, oh, we want all of these assets for these players, like, whether was Jordan Clarkson or any of the guys that they just held on to, you know, forever. So it's like hard for me to be mad when they're finally, like, dumping these guys. There was, you know, two years ago, I'm like, man, I would have liked to see Jordan Clarkson on a real playoff team. Yeah.

You know, whereas this year is just like, there's just a fire sale of all of these guys. In the back court, front court, you know, the win, like, well, you name it. They're just letting these guys go. Yeah, I assume Kyle Anderson just breaking the John Collins contract into smaller deals just allows you to just trade them a little bit more easily. because as we're seeing, like actually making above like $15 million is apparently the worst possible thing in the world in the NBA at this point. Kevin Love will see if he wants to stick around for one more year and just be a good vet, sounds like, based on his recent tweets. Does it seem like that's part of it? He also has a wife with very specific like work needs and market preferences.

You want to tell us about those? I don't know all the details. She seems to be a supermodel. I don't know if she could apply that trade in Utah. I don't know. Look, there's a lot of reality TV going on in Salt Lake right now. Like maybe you can backdoor your way into an appearance. Rob, I'm so glad you mentioned this.

Are you referring to the new Bravo TV show, King's Court? I actually am not. I was referring to what I imagine is the Salt Lake-based sex lives of Mormon wives. That's right. I forgot about that. But maybe swingers. Yeah. You know what? Maybe it's not in Salt Lake. Maybe that's me assuming too much.

You set me up perfectly, though, because in the midst of all this happening, Andy Larson, who covers the team for the Salt Lake Tribune, tweeted out that Carlos Boozer, who's a jazz scout, which I just learned today, is going to be part of a Bravo dating show called Kingscourt, in which he, Tyson Beckford, and WWE's Titus O'Neill will seek to find love among 21. one single woman. Locked in. Sign me up. Who is the king? Who's the titular king in this scenario? I don't know. I think all three of them are kings.

So kings, like plural apostrophe court. No, there's no apostrophe. It's just king's court. Okay. We're going to have to work with the copy editors on Kings court. I don't know what's going on over there. Yeah, I think it is like they are kings and they're trying to find love.

Okay. Tyson Beckford being on that show is wild. That is something. There's this quote in the press release, and I promise I'll move on after this. This is from Boozer. I've met so many women who will, like, recite my stats. Like, you average 21 points a game last year,

but I want somebody who wants to get to know me. Yo, chill out. He's tired of the groupies, y'all. He's looking for real love, baby. I don't know. I think it's kind of beautiful, when people express interest in your interests, you know? When they're willing to do the research, do the real work,

I think there's something nice about that. Having said that, I don't want to date anybody who knows a single thing about the Utah Jazz's cap sheet. No. What about your stats, though? They don't want to know those units. If you were to go on a date and they're like, I saw your ranking.

I was pulling up the Apple podcast rankings. I saw that the ringer NBA show was climbing the charts. That would be so impossible. But I have to be honest, when people start Googling me, they do find out facts about what I do for work. And it gets pretty interesting from there. Let's just say like the psychopaths out there who have been saying shit, it's been

clocked by some of the daters. So we got my mom. We got my mom on last pod and then all the, all the crees on YouTube. I'm trying on that one, which I guess was endearing to a certain extent, but also worrysome. in many other respects. But then, yeah, I had a couple dates be like, oh, so like, this is what people think about you? I'm like, and I just have to explain the whole thing.

Yeah, you have to explain the context of online life. Yes. MBA coverage. It's not the most hinged place on the internet. In addition to being nice to your mom in the comments, we also need to solicit some like online testimonials. of Justin Barrier,

you know, like the... You know, like how... Reading your comments, reading the comments on a YouTube or Reddit

as a prospective barrier datter, that's... It's a lot. A lot. Maybe it works for me. Maybe I'm on the bad boy of the internet now,

you know? I do like that for you. His just like spicy takes about the Clippers off season. I want to do what this guy's about. All right. Well, Speaking of spicy takes about the off season, why don't we get into some of like an overview of what's happened thus far?

Because after today's pot, I think we'll be on more of a summer schedule. You're hearing for us as a trio for a little bit. I think we're going to be popping in here and there, but we'll see from here. Let's go through some of the best and worst moves of this off season because I'm such a positive guy, despite what they might say about me online. Let's talk about the best move of the offseason thus far. Rob, do you want to go first? I think it's the Rockets turning Jalen Green, Dylan Brooks, and the number 10 pick into Kevin Durant.

Like whatever reservations you may have about KD, that's a guy they've been trying to trade for years, a 3ND wing, and a pick that they didn't have room to draft and play anyway. So it seems like a huge win for the Rockets under the circumstances. We've talked about all the ways that Katie fits exactly what they needed from a shock creation standpoint. I'm hard pressed to think that's not just the best move of the offseason so far. Yeah, I wouldn't disagree. I think KD in terms of a basketball fit is a complete no-brainer and that he comes in at least to start with buy-in on IMEU doka as a coach. And it's just like, yo, I'm coming in here and I'm taking this seriously.

And the reporting is that like the E-May and KD connection is real. I was actually talking to a couple people yesterday about Aaron Rogers going to the Steelers. And the first thing he did was he did like a team meeting, went up in front of all of the guys and was like, don't judge me by what you heard about last season, blah, blah, blah, called the New York judge a joke of an organization. I was disgusted by that. But like, it's sort of like you hear all of these, for lack of a better term, head casey kind of things about a guy. and then he comes into a new situation,

having traveled, being well traveled at this point, and being like, no, man, I'm taking this seriously. I believe in the structure and the management and the hierarchy of this organization, and I'm going to come in here and be a good soldier. So, yeah, it's just a great move for Houston. What I also say to my potential D's, don't judge me what I did in my previous situation.

be a great soldier. Sacrifice yourself, man. That's right. Genuine question, Justin. How did the dates feel about the garden? Like, is that a point of interest? Is that something? Like, are they engaged on that subject?

How are they feeling about it? If anything, I'm broadcasting it. I think I have on one of my bios that's aspiring gardener. If this goes well, I'm going to eat one ear of corn and you're going to eat the other? Oh, no, we'll eat the same ear just from different sides. Lady in the Tramp style. Okay. There's levels to this stuff.

You're just way ahead of me. I think you guys would be surprised that there's a lot of other fellow gardeners up here. Like maybe if I was in L.A., like it would be a little bit more like, what's this guy? He's quirky and different. Like here it's just like, all right. You go to the store. Nature and outdoorsy is like the brand of Portland, I feel like.

Oh, yeah. Yes. If anything, the fact that I don't spend every waking hour on like a gorge or something like that, it makes me the outlier here. get your gorges up. Come on. So I also had a Rockets move, but I had the Fred Van Vleet move,

which was declining as the team option for him for 45 million, then signing him for two years, 50 million. If only because it set up the rest of the moves that they made, it's just like the Rockets really laid out the blueprint of like getting the starter pack of veterans and then leveling up in such a seamless way without losing virtually any of their young guys. We could talk about Cam Whitmore.

a little bit later, but like they still have their young core, they have Kevin Durant, they have Fred Van Vleet on a deal that's half as much as he was expected to being paid and was being paid in the previous two seasons. And just the runway to do a bunch more. And so just like the seamless transition I thought was pretty impressive. And I mean, God, they might be the second to third best team in the West next year, but they also could be potentially even better than that. Yeah, I think using their cap space in the way they did to sign. Fred Van Fleet to sign Dylan Brooks to sign Jock Landau who hasn't worked out as well as the other two, but you should at least note him in this category as well. It's like you have to get above the salary

floor if you're one of these teams that has incredibly low rookie scale contracts. And so they spent however much they needed to spend. They invested in these guys that would be tradable or in Fred's case, resignable with that team option and the flexibility that it provides. You can do it the way that, you know, teams like the Nets are loaning out their cap space right now. Teams like the Jazz, I'm sure going forward will loan out some of their cap space going forward as their books clean up. But you can also do it this way, where you can sign guys who are going to be useful to other teams, take the step forward that you need as your young players get up to speed. And then once it's time to transition and kind of pass the baton or take over the reins,

all of those mechanisms are kind of there. As long as those players are young enough to still be tradable in the way they're like, Dylan Brooks is useful to a team like the sons. And I got to give it up to Raphael Stone because temperamentally, like in terms of vibes Van Vleet, Dylan Brooks, Stephen Adams, these are like

Eme Adoka kind of guys in terms of their approach to the game. So I thought that was a big boom too because what is culture in sports, right? It's basically like

a group of accepted behaviors and they established pretty quickly that not giving a shit on defense and playing hard as hell will not be acceptable on the Houston Rockets. And I think bringing in those veteran guys, man, helped cement that along with the coach whose ethos is all about that.

So having a vision and actually being diligent and intentional, Justin, to use another internet word, being intentional with the veterans that they brought in, I thought was incredible, too. Is intentional an internet word? Oh, God, it's all over my freaking internet. What's going on with intention on? internet right now. Bro, just, if you have any

bougie blacks on your Instagram, that word is going to come up all day, every single day. Okay. Yep. Rob.

I got to diversify my following, apparently. It's not, not bougie enough. It's a white collar blacks on your timeline. It's going to come up

daily, hourly. It seems like from the same parlance of like being present, you know? You just want to be intentional with what you do. Yes.

Uh, honorable mentions. I have the Desmond Bain trade. This is kind of from the obvious, Paul. That was my best move. Yeah. Okay. Um, and the reason why I know people quibbled with the price of bringing Bain in. The reason why I like it is because it's a young team where management is like,

we could quote unquote, buy our time and be patient and wait for the perfect move. It's like, nah, man, Jason Tatum just went down. You know, Halliburton just went down. There's an opening for. for us in this conference where we can crash the party ahead of schedule. Why don't we go out and make ourselves, you know, more big time than we were and basically tell our young guys like, bro, we throwing y'all in the deep end, man. Y'all don't get to wear the floaties around your arm, around your freaking bicep that the

little kids wear. No, you're done. You gotta actually sink or swim. And with this move, they've announced that intent. And so I just love that for the magic because it's so obviously addresses a need. And it's just a statement of like declaration. We're here to compete at the highest echelons of the Eastern Conference. So for me, I love that move.

Especially when like that waiting game too is offset by the fact that there is a very real ticking clock that is happening with all of these really good, really talented young players. And some of that is contractual. Like they're going to hit their second deal. You're going to have to pay them. It gets harder to add better and better. players as they do. But also, like, you just watch Palo Bancaro and Franz Wagner over the course of that series against the Celtics.

And you tell me that by games four and five, they are not immensely frustrated with the reality of their circumstances and the lack of spacing. And, like, those are guys who are ready to take a step forward in a lot of different ways. And that's not to say that they're not, you know, limited in others or flawed in others or don't have weaknesses they need to rectify. Like, they're exciting young players who just need a little bit more space to work and a little bit more balance to that offense and to go out and get that for them as much as anybody, I think is a really meaningful thing.

So I have a couple other deals, but they kind of fall in the under the radar category. So I'll save them until then. Anybody else on here? I think the hawk swooping in to get Nikiel Alexander Walker exceeds the under the radar categorization. Because to me, it's like it's another one of these announcement moves. And it's one that even though it is a depth move, perhaps, it kind of transformed. the base of the hawks a little bit.

It turns them into a team that weirdly enough, like the vision of the hawks is clarified by opening up the possibilities, by making them malleable in the way we're talking about with the clippers, by giving them so many different options to work with on the wing and all this defense and all this ball handling. Like all of a sudden we know who Atlanta is.

Like we know what that team is trying to be and probably how they're going to play. And I think a lot of that comes with just being able to pull off a move like this kind of out of nowhere. Worst move on the board now. Do we need to put dames buyout and stretch in its own separate category? Man, it's so bad.

I just wanted to be slightly trolley and pick the Pelicans because I did defend the draft move. Don't you dare. No, and isn't you dare. In a vacuum, I still don't think the draft move is like, the worst thing that's ever happened. No. It's just subsequently, all of the reporting afterwards about how the new front office is carrying on their business, it puts a different, it casts a different light on that move.

Like, yes, like, oh, you don't give our way a pick. I'm protected. Blah, blah, blah. Your team's not even that good. We know all of that stuff. But, like, everything that's come behind it where it's just like, you know, the team just reached out to them and said, could we have an extra pick and they were like, sure, take next years?

Like, conversation done? Yeah. And just some of the other conversations, I don't know. Like, you know, you wonder who's actually leaking this stuff out of New Orleans at this point? I guess it's got to be holdover staff. We're just like, yo, this is starting off pretty rocky. It's the general mood, you know, coming out of the Pellas.

that makes that move look different to me. Because when you bring in a brand new front office, you guys notice it's it's months of just rosy outlook and, you know, new beginnings and all. You've got a lot of borrowed time. Usually. Yeah. This has been the opposite of that.

It's like the next day, shit just started falling apart. It's, it's really scary. And if I'm a Pelicans fan, man, that ownership group, they've become some of the most toxic and horror. in the league. They're right up there with Vivek, with Isbia, with some of the worst guys in the league.

And so that would be, you know, heartburn-inducing if I'm a Pelicans fan. Taking shots at Ringer podcasters? That was the last straw. That was crazy. I forgot about that. How dare they? Yeah.

Yeah, I think the Pelicans also in their own special category. Speaking of the jazz, I have the Colin Sexton trade. Yeah. Which I'm still trying to figure out. He must just have been, like, causing a commotion in the locker room? Or they just wanted to get off of him so badly.

It's just too late. It's the, what you would call it? It's the Messiah thing. It's like they were trying to extract so much. Out of guys, again, love Colin Sexton. Love John Collins. Love Jordan Clarkson. Bro, why were y'all trying to get an arm and a leg and deals for these guys in preview?

in previous years. And I think it's gotten to the point where it's like, all right, we're done playing this game where the only trade we can make is the perfect one. That's the only explanation for this. It's like, all right, man,

this little game of chicken that we were playing with the rest of the league in terms of, you know, our useful veteran type of players, like known commodity type of players. All right, we can give up on this and just like lean into our destiny

as a team that's so clearly rebuilding and has a focus and emphasis on younger talent. Yeah. So they gave up a second round pick in that deal. That's the thing. Sexton and then took back NERC, who makes like slightly more

and was unplayable as recently as like a couple of weeks ago. Yeah. And speaking of grousing, whatever noise Colin Sexton was making, I can assure you it will be less than NERC. Yeah. It's true. So I just don't get that.

They had to buy out Clarkson. So I think Waz is right, Rob. I think the bottom just fell out on a lot of these vets. that they were clutching onto and they were just like, let's just clean the decks. Yeah. Look, I understand that.

Like, not just going with the sunk cost. We've held on to these guys for so long. We have to continue to do it to chase this particular trade return. Maybe you do just need to cut bait. It's just a bummer to see them have to give up a second to get rid of Colin Sexton, who was a good NBA player who is useful to teams. And I am sure could have returned at least a second for them if they had just been willing to give him up earlier and not waited this long.

So it's a weird process. that to me is very different than the John Collins scenario. Like if you want to cut bait on John Collins and get something back, I can understand that. If you want to pay to give up Colin Sexton, you kind of lost me a little bit. Honestly, like, is this outcome better for the jazz than just outright buying out Colin Sexton? Hmm. Like, like, to give up a second for the right of having use of Nurkich on your team to potentially deal a salary later. Like, I just don't see it.

And there's another golden rule that I think we ultimately. forget, this might be an agent thing. Could be. Where some agent is owed a favor for some reason. Whenever a deal just makes absolutely zero sense whatsoever, Reggie Jackson on a Nuggets comes to mind. Like, it's usually some, like, relationship with the agent. Because this is, like, stupid.

Yeah. And to that point, the Hornets actually also brought back, man and brought in Spencer Dinwiddie. And so the back court is super crowded all of a sudden, but they're still like, sure, Colin Sexton for free. And he's already showing up at like the signing day for some of the rookies. So I don't know. I'm sure we'll have like a totally building in Charlotte over there.

Well, clearly. Everyone's just hanging out. They're also. I saw a meme of a mellow ball welcoming, um, the rookie, uh, shoot, I'm blanking on the white. Oh, connect. Canipal? Cigple. Sorry.

Wrong white boy. Wrong. Wrong K. It was almost connect. Yeah. And the meme was like, Mello Ball being your vet is crazy. It is a little crazy. I saw something where someone's like, oh, La Mello Ball plays like he has AirPods in.

Like he plays like he's listening. Oh, my God. That explained Lamello Ball in a way that I struggled for years. Perfect. Yeah. Of all my pickup basketball pet peeves. the guy with AirPods in, just my least favorite person on the planet.

That's a thing that people are doing in 2025? It's a thing that people do. Yeah. Jesus. So you don't need to hear your teammates? Apparently not. Well, let me tell you.

If you've got the AirPods in, you're jacking whatever shot you want anyway. Like communication is not exactly like your top priority in that situation. Any other worst moves, Rob? I do think it's telling that we're picking mostly traits.

Like the free agent signings, there hasn't been anything like super egregious, maybe like a slight overpay here or there. I also wanted to call out the Bulls trading Lonzo ball for Isaac Okoro. That's one of the worst deals of this summer. Like my least favorite kind of trade in the way that you're dealing a player away who has real demonstrated effect on the way your team plays. Like Lonzo changes the way that the Bulls play when he's healthy enough to play.

And you're getting back a guy who does not do anything for your team at all. And I say that as someone like I think Isaac Okoro is mostly fine. But what is what problem? is he's solving for the Bulls? A team that already has some like random hustle wings. If that's the market you're trying to feel like a team that already employs Patrick Williams. Well, I'm not sure Patrick Williams does anything. And Isaac Koro does something. That's the, that's the, that's the, I'm like, bro, y'all have Patrick Williams as wing guy vaguely supposed to be good at defense allegedly. Yeah.

Is hired to make open jump shots. And you trade it for. I like Akoro too. That's amazing. Again, to fill what role? Like, Iodosumu does a lot of the same stuff about as well as well. Like, you're investing in Julian Phillips and trying to figure out if he can be a player. Like, I'm more interested in can Julian Phillips be a rotation player than I'm going to take on Isaac Akoro, where he is in his career at his current salary level.

Like, I just really don't get what the Bulls are after there other than they're freaked out by the injury concerns that come with Lonzo, which is a real thing. But if the solution is, I'm going to fill it with a bunch of, like, league average or slightly below league average minutes from Ica Cora, like, I just don't get the payoff. That's the only, like, devil's advocate I would mention is maybe they know something about Lonzo that we don't. I mean, wasn't his knee just, like, reconstructed with like that, that must be said for sure. Yeah, but maybe they built him back bigger and stronger than ever before. Yeah. Go back better.

I guess, like, the calves need more of the. high end like even if you play half a season then the bulls who just need consistent minutes but yeah isaac and caro is not who i would want to uh target in that circumstance and once again they just did a player for player swap which i get it if it's josh giddy uh i don't get it if it's isa gory carol unfortunately do you still get it if it's josh giddy josh gitty was good last year what are we talking about he's fine he played he played above average considering the circumstances he improved and yet is still fundamentally the same player he was and with all the the same fundamental concerns.

But, you know, I'm sure we'll get back to the Bulls at some point when we do our preseason power rankings and there's somewhere in like the bottom half of the league. I have a couple honorable mentions here. I have the Duncan Robinson sign in trade with Detroit, only because like it seemed like the pistons were searching after the Beasley and Truder situations kind of bottomed out there. And they just needed a movement shooter. And so they're like they reached for Robinson who is bigger and can move and shoot. but obviously presents a lot of concerns there. Also, Clint Capella, I still am trying to wrap my head around that, despite all the good things that the Rockets did,

just signing him for three years to be your third string center. I guess you want to play Stephen Adams with Schengun in the front court a little bit more often because they played so well together, especially in the playoffs. But is Capella going to play? I don't get that one as well. Yeah, unclear. And then the last one is Dennis Shreder for $45 million,

which apparently still is, and done because they're trying to roped into a sign-and-trade. Well, we should say Clint Capella was roped into the Kevin Durant deal, which became one of the biggest trades in NBA history, a seven-team trade that as far as I can see happened for not a lot of reason at all other than to make history. Like, I'm not sure that a lot of that was really that necessary other than the Klingapela part actually was kind of necessary. Like, there wasn't really another mechanism for the rockets to get him at that number,

which adds to the mystique and the intrigue of what you're talking about, Justin. And what is it that the Rockets want in Quincopel, Klingapela as their third string center at that salary number that's so important to them? When, you know, you could, you could add any kind of player to that roster and they could make sense. That's a roster that's flexible enough to incorporate all kinds of potential free agent talent. What is it about Klingapela, which makes my ears perk up? And I'm wondering, like, does that mean Alper and Schengoon is not as nailed down to the Houston

Rockets as we might think, given the fact that they're contending and he's a key part of that team? Like, are they trying to keep their options open? with, you know, Jabari Smith can play the four or the five. Stephen Adams has obviously been very good for them. Like they are flexible and movable. And I guess Clint Capella makes them slightly more so just by having that center depth. Yeah, I guess not bad. Just I'm trying to figure out where he fits in the grand scheme of things.

But they did just add veterans, Dorian Finney Smith on top of that just to an already good team. So I guess just take him if you can get them would be the overarching theme there. Yeah. best under the radar move. Here I have a lot of options. Do you want me to power through some? Please. Lightning round.

Why don't we start with Jay Huff to Indiana? Hell yeah. For a second and a second round swap. I like it. That's one of our guys. Why overpay Miles Turner when you can get the 80% of Jay Huff at home? Let's not be disrespectful. 80%.

It's nuts. 70%? No. Absolutely not. Now, has Jay Huff played an entire season where you're like, wow, Jay Huff's starting center for a very good team? No, but in his moments, he looks like somebody who's capable of starters minutes. Sure. Just fits what they're going for there.

Like, shoots threes, can protect the rim, bouncy athlete on the other end. Yeah, go ahead. When I saw that on the ESPN ticker, my eyebrow went, hmm. Interesting. I definitely had a physical reaction to seeing that. It does have a nice ring to it. The grizzlies turning around and immediately signing Jack Landell. I was like, huh, maybe that's about the caliber we should be expecting. But, you know, if he's only a plug and play guy until they figure out their center for the future,

that's a guy that fits the system and is a good player in his own right. So I really like that move. Yeah. Look, Jack Landel has had good seasons as a backup before. So like that's what Jay Huff is realistically, is a backup caliber center. And if you're going to put him into sort of a platoon to hold down the spot until you get the eventual Miles Turner replacement, I think that's a perfectly good use of his skill set. And somebody who I think does the Thomas Bryant things better than Thomas Bryant does. And so, you know, you're going to have like some options there that are more traditional fives. You're going to have some options there that are more just like pure energy rebounding types.

Like let's get somebody with a little bit of stretch who also has some of that physicality. I think J-Hav is a good element in that mix, if not an answer in and of himself. Yeah. Another one I have down here is the Jonesboro combination. And I like the trade Jones contract, which was three years 24 million with a team option on it at first. But then I saw that Tyos Jones, his brother, who is better? Yeah. I'll be a little bit older.

Went for one year $7 million. And I'm wondering why didn't the Bulls or anybody else just do that? But overall, I like both players and I think they're both helpful rotation guys on. And they could be on any team at this point. Tyos obviously better and on a team that needs him to organize things in the magic. But I like both deals. I like, why didn't the Bulls just do that as a recurring segment for us? Why didn't the Bulls just do that?

Like, ask for something in a deal where they're giving up the better player. Hypothetically Multiple times Who's to say? Fret with the small stuff You're focused on the big picture They're a big picture team You're right

One of my Under the radar things With Tim Hardaway Jr. For the vetsman Because I think At times in his career In New York and Dallas I think he was kind of overstretched

In his responsibilities And you know It's easy to get get tired of Tim Hardaway Jr. When he's actually being relied upon. Whereas in Denver, it's going to be very context-specific. And I think he is perfectly suited

to do the things that they're going to ask him to do. And I really like that move for them. Because, again, like, you know, Tim Hardaway Jr. is the kind of guy that can make seven-threes in a game, but he's also the kind of got to go two-for-15. And when he's doing two-fifference, First of all, never take 15 shots on the Denver Nuggets, like, ever, like in your capacity there,

although I could see it happening in garbage time with this kind of dude. But on Denver, he's not going to be some, like, guy that's designing plays or, you know, sometimes you get, like, oh, I can do stuff off the dribble, that kind of, like, he's not going to do any of that. It's going to be movement stuff. It's going to be wide open spot up. It's going to be, you know, every now and again. getting out in a break, because Denver is a pretty slow team.

I just love that he's beautifully suited to what they're going to ask him to do next year. He just kind of makes sense for them as like another role of the dice as far as rotation guys go. Like he is maybe slightly more reliable and proven than a Julian Strother would be. And maybe the dice are kind of loaded in different ways

where this guy kind of makes more sense in this matchup and that guy makes sense in that matchup. It's like, I don't think any of Denver's, you know, eight through 15 players are rock solid. But all you need is like one or two of them to be okay on a given night. And Tim Hardaway is going to be in that mix of guys who is a little bit feast or famine as a shooter, is a little bit feast or famine as a player. But when he feasts, man, he really fucking feasts. That's what I also liked about Denver's off season.

Not only did they get just like a crew of old guys in there to finally provide some stability. They also didn't sacrifice the depth of recent draft picks in order to do so. And now I don't know if Julian Strother is going to turn into this miracle movement shooter that everyone's been projecting for like three years at this point. But they also didn't give up that hope. And it just makes me wonder like, what took so long? Like, why couldn't you have been doing this for the past two seasons? So they're literally having their cake and eating it too on his roster. And part of that includes strong arming Jonas Valenchunis to be a part of the team despite not wanting to be there.

That's, that's a 30 for 30. I think the reason why Justin is like the freaking management, the front office was dysfunctional. And if they brought veterans in, the young guys would be automatically glued to the freaking bench. Like that was what was going to happen.

And so the freaking convoluted distortion of, you know, Calvin Booth become. don't have any veterans. And so the young guys get forced into minutes. It's like now that there's some level of synergy, continuity, or mutual respect, just like, no, like, these guys are going to get a fair shot, these young guys, and these veterans, like, I'm happy to have them as a backstop.

Like, it allows for this. But, like, when you're coaching your GM, legitimately hate each other. Legitimately can't speak to each. They don't speak to each other. You know, you get the dysfunction that you had in Denver the last two years. And now perfect harmony, you know, other than strong arming veterans to come play for your team, everything is going according to plan. I do want to say, as we're talking to the two timelines of the Denver Nuggets, you know, if you're out there trying to unload your Jalen Pickett stock, I'm looking to buy.

I'm looking to invest a little bit more. I'm, I'm anticipating a December 1st podcast in which JV comes in with an opening segment, you know, like Jalen Pickett's got a little something. He's got a little juice. He's coming off a week where he average like 12 points a game and we're like, we're starting to see the vision. I think, I kind of think this is going to be a Jailen Pickett year. I mean, the backup point guard role is right there for somebody to take it.

Some Bruce Brown, some picket, guard combo kind of thing. So I hope he's working on something in the off season. By December 1st, I'm hoping to start my DIY podcasting company. So maybe Junewaz will be talking about that, but I'll be giving tips on growing heirloom tomatoes. You know, we all have our colleagues. Yeah. Any other under the radar moves? Rob, did you give one yet?

Oh, I have so many. I think the chain reaction of the Knicks getting Gershon Yabuselli for the taxpayer mid-level. That's a great move. the Sixers backfilling by getting Trendin Watford to play the Yaboo role next season. Also very exciting. So I'm excited by that whole sequence of events. Our guy, A.J. Mitchell, re-signed very early with the Thunder for three years, nine million. That guy is worth more than three years, nine million.

I know he's not ready for second quarter minutes in the NBA finals just yet, but I would be thrilled about that kind of arrangement if I was a team like the Thunder. He played in the finals and now is playing in Summer League. Has any other player gone from like playing finals minutes to summer league minutes? I've never seen that before. That's a great trivia question. I think we need to get to the bottom of it if it's ever happened before because AJ is a shining example of something, but certainly of a talented prospect that was just re-signed at a bargain rate. I mean, I guess has a second round pick.

Somebody dangles nine million guaranteed in front of you. You got to take it. Totally. For the champs. Yeah. He won't be seeing another contract until he's 26th. It's kind of crazy. that is kind of crazy.

Another one of our guys, Cam Whitmore, who the Wizards picked up for two second round picks. Good bit of business for the Wizards and what's been honestly like a pretty good offseason for Washington overall.

Not the glitziest thing, but a lot of good deals being done. If you'll forgive me some asset porn here, but I do think collecting a lot of those stray picks allows a team like the Wizards to win the Derby for some of these second draft guys that I think are going to be coming off of good teams more and more these days because you see all these good teams

stacking multiple picks. We'll see what the Rockets, uh, who read Shepard, I hope plays, but like if he doesn't, then that's another opportunity, like the thunder, another team that's just shedding the skin of its bench, which is just like three first round picks virtually every other year at this point. I think there are going to be opportunities is ultimately what I'm saying for second draft guys, for other teams and the Wizards by just having enough stuff left over to just give them two seconds, which isn't much, but it's something that they just have in the coffers to get Cam Whitmore and try for themselves to get a guy who's already, like, shown himself to be an NBA player and just give them more opportunities. I think that's important. So as you're going

through like the trade transaction wise, like, oh, this got traded for two second round picks 13 years from now. It's like, well, I guess down the road, every little thing tends to matter. And I think this is one of the examples of that. And I think you've already kind of see it pay off for Washington a little bit with some of their other moves. Like, J.V., correct me if I'm wrong, but I feel like I have detected some A.J. Johnson optimism from you based on his late season Wizards tenure. I think he might be a hundred pounds soaking wet. And so I'm like just fascinated by him.

Sure. He looks like just like a kid at the mall at this point. He's probably like 19. But you're right. He has some juice to him. And after grinding so much Wizards tape over the last two months of the season, I could tell you with some degree of certainty that there's something there. Any other ones?

I have a couple more here. Rob got the Yabu deal, which I got to say, like, pretty good. You leveled up and added the Treadin-Wafford one on top of that, which I have to give you credit for. Thank you. Sean Yabuselli's replacement. Both good players. I don't know what to tell you.

The Knicks got better. The Sixers, considering the guy that they lost and were going to lose, I thought it did pretty well. Nix have a bench now, which is kind of. of scary we'll see if Jordan Clarkson still has enough in the tank in order to fill up those backup guard minutes I mean can't even better than campaign exactly yeah yes or Landry sham it so they have like two to three guys coming off that bench now or or four if it's Robinson it's Yabu it's our guy Deuce and now Jordan Clarkson and so like speaking of which speaking

of which I saw Delon right at my guy Black Trays wedding on Saturday. Congrats to my guy, Trey, on his nuptials. Didn't ask him about his free agency. I thought it would be a sore topic. So stayed out of that one. So you're reporting that you were derelict in your duty. That's right.

That's right. That's right. Just name drop it for the fuck of it. Okay. Great. And then I had Luke Cornett four years, $41 million. Yeah. That's all I got.

I think the Luke Cornett deal is going to be pretty fun for this first. Hell you. I think it's going to be a pretty fun time. I'm particularly eager to see him and Wemby play together. Spurs are going to be fun to watch next year. They are. Absolutely. Teach Wemby the cornet contest and see what happens.

Can you imagine the power? The sheer possibility. Although as the Spurs go, Chris Paul, one of the free agents who's just kind of dangling out there and has alluded to the fact of recently that this is going to be his last NBA season, I want to see where the last CP dance goes.

I want to see what he signs up for. I think it's going to be a team again that's competing for a little bit more than San Antonio is. The Phoenix Whispers have been out there. Clearly, that's a team that needs some ball handling and playmaking. San Antonio is? Well, that was what I was going to say. I don't know that they're really in the mix for more than the spurs, but maybe it's just a comfortable enough spot that CP would go back there.

I don't know. Yeah. This is the last question on the docket. Like one of the big questions still left on the board here. And I do think a lot of it comes down to the old, which is Chris Paul, now in his swan, I wonder how that mixes with a team that has like title aspirations is his like just getting gifts from every team Kobe style going to like all of a sudden be a distraction. Then Al Horford, Russell Westbrook, Bradley Beale, as we mentioned, like the all-star class of like 2009 is still out there looking for work and can help some teams. So it's basically what we're watching right now.

But another thing for me and this is kind of more big picture is like what is the future of free agent? particularly with all these teams that have draft capital out the door because I think, you know, when I looked at it like in 2019, I remember the hand-wringing about the AD move that the Lakers made. And I'm like, well, the Lakers just got AD to force his way to L.A. Like, clearly they can just make things happen in ways that aren't traditional, right? But if you don't got the picks and nobody becomes a free agent, like, how do you get these guys in the door? Because traditionally it'd be like, look, y'all can keep your little picks or whatever.

I go through a year and a half of lean years, open up a bunch of cap space, time it to the guy or two that I really love. And boom, look at me, I'm back. Right. But now if dudes aren't moving into empty cap space, and maybe that'll change. You know, it's the NBA. Sure. Maybe the way that roster construction is going is going to open up the idea that, say, a Luca Donchich or somebody's like, you know what?

I'm actually going to reach free agency next time and not just hop on an extension as soon as I can, especially the guys at the top tier. I just wonder, you know, if we ever get back to major actual free agency movement in terms of signings. are concerned. It feels more important than ever that you draft well, that you draft players that could actually be enticing via trade. And this is where like, I'm still with you,

was that the Pelicans deal was maybe piled on a little too much as far as being like one of the worst deals of all time. I don't think it's that. But I do think it is maybe a uniquely damaging form of self-sabotage relative to this market right now. Like you need those kinds of picks to hit. And you need to have them for them to hit in the first place. Like if the only way you can get your next franchise player is either by drafting them or trading players you drafted for them, then what are you doing sending picks out the door unless you are just damn sure that Derek Queen is that guy.

Yeah, I think a lot of the buying out we're seeing this off season of like totally helpful players just making too much money is an indication that perhaps we're moving past the point where guys are getting their money and then forcing their way to somewhere else or just getting their money and figuring it out later, which was largely driven by the super. stars that trickled down to the next wave of guys. And so I almost wonder if this is the recalibration happening in real time. And so we'll see the next permutations of that happening. I do also wonder if that's the case. Our team's going to be now loath to do that. And we actually will cycle back into an era where free agency and cap space start to matter. Because as we've seen with literally everything, everything is just a rejection of what just came before it. Everything in culture, everything in life. And I do think the NBA tends to work in that way. And so I almost wonder teams that are setting themselves up with cap space, all of a sudden teams

won't pay a certain amount. Like the advantage teams we're supposed to have was the Supermax. And that is just clogging up books to the point where the Celtics can't withstand a contender for more than two years because then they just have to get rid of everybody to get under the second apron. And so I think there will be more player movement down the road, maybe two to three years from now, but we just have to get through the adjustment period right now. Yeah.

I think one of the other victims of that adjustment period and one of the other big questions right now as we kind of wrap up the rest of the offseason and free agency is what happens with these restricted free agents who are just sitting there on the market without a lot of options like Jonathan Cominga, Josh Giddy, Quentin Grimes, all still out there. Cam Thomas, Isaiah Jackson,

just kind of like waiting around trying to figure out if they can get something done. They're going to have to take low ball extension offers. I mean, well, I think they have a couple of options. One, clearly their agents can work the phone. Or be a hard rock, Rob, and be like, fuck you. I'll play on a qualifying offer. Fuck you guys.

I'm out in the next off season. That is the nuclear option that I think is encouraged by this cap environment. Yes. Because there is not a lot of just like space out there for them to get absorbed into, it's either like you take somebody's mid-level, which starts at about $14 million. I don't think that's what most of these guys are trying to, trying to land for their next deals.

That would be nice for you, Quentin Grimes. Not a bad deal for Quentin Grimes, potentially. But he also had a really nice situation with the Sixers, and I think could fold into a different sort of nice situation with the Sixers if he wants to resign there. It's just like, are they being generous enough with their offer? Are the Bulls up, well, I don't want the Bulls to offer up their offer too much particularly. Or the Warriors with Jonathan Cuminga, for example. Like it's, it's complicated because he's out there what he's been offered?

No, I don't think so. I just have. He hasn't been offered. No, I would guess that they've all been offered and they have thought, you know what, I can do better. Whether it's in a sign and trade, whether it's in some mysterious cap space that they think is going to open up. It's just there's not a lot of options out there for those guys. Restricted free agency has always been a joke. There was a time where there was enough cap space floating around that teams were willing to tie up their books for a couple of days,

and they even got rid of that role. And now it's a little bit easier to offer. It's just like nobody's going to go through the rigmar role of giving a guy an offer just for their team to ultimately match it. I think the one wild card might just be that the jazz opened up enough cap space to get a little bit interesting with some of these guys. And they do tend to to be opportunists with those sorts of thing where it's like, oh, here's this guy who's on a like a little bit overpaid. We'll just take them in. But at the same time, I would be just as likely seeing them just like take contracts and just like dump the money and get more picks in there. So I don't think anything's going to happen. And I think these guys are probably going to

sign below market deals is ultimately what's how this plays up. I think you're probably right. I think you're also right about restricted for agency in general being a bit of a dud mechanism, at least as far as the players of themselves are concerned. That said, I do love a ticking clock. I do love a, you have three days to match this offer to DeAndry Aiton. This is what I'm saying. If we're going to have all these like fake tension mechanisms going on in all of our forms of entertainment, at least give me this one back in a meaningful way.

All right. Why don't we wrap it there? Thank you to Ben Cruz. Thank you to Kyle Williams. We'll be back at some point in the future down the road. We'll see. but we will talk to you then. Have a good summer.

Enjoy all of those Bronny James Highlands.