The Ringer NBA Show - The Most Confounding Teams of the Offseason So Far | Group Chat

Episode Date: July 3, 2025

Justin, Rob, and Wos are here on Day 4 of free agency before this holiday weekend to talk about the most confounding and confusing teams in the league right now. Intro (0:00) Bucks (3:08) Kings (23:10) Heat (30:05) Warriors (36:35) Raptors (45:20) Suns (55:20) Hosts: Justin Verrier, Rob Mahoney, and Wosny Lambre Producers: Isaiah Blakely and Ben Cruz Social: Keith Fujimoto and Jomi Adeniran Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Hello and welcome to group chat. I am Justin Verrier and joining me, Rob Mahoney, Big Was, free agency goes a pace. I'm not necessarily sure what pace that is. We're down to like Spencer Dinwiddies and assistant coach hirings very quickly. Rob, this feels pretty quick to get to this level of free agency. I think this is where we are now, though. You know, a lot of the stuff gets taken care of ahead of time, especially in terms of teams resigning their own players.

And then, yeah, we fast forward to Spencer Dinwiddy. and we fast forward to, I don't know, Sandra Mamu Kailashvili. We just get here very quickly, ultimately. But I'm not mad at it. I'm not mad at the prospect. I dare not invoke this and say this out loud, but I'm going to do it on a podcast

of having a July 4th without major NBA news. Could we be so lucky? You just jinxed it. I'm sorry. What are you doing? I'm sorry. Yeah. What did you think of the Sandro signing was?

I didn't. No, it's just, Sounds to me like you weren't on the edge of your seat waiting and wondering what was going to happen with Dante Exum, which I find to be highly problematic. This is exciting stuff here in day three or what day are we? Yeah, date three of NBA free agency. Right. Well, is the 30th, does that count? Or are we starting at the first?

Because we're on July 3rd now. It depends on who you ask. I mean, by some measures for agency's been going on for like three weeks at least. So who's to say? Well, we titled last time's pod day one on the 30th. So if we're just following consistency, we're on day four. Day four. Don't check us on that.

But at this point, like most of the business is over. And so there's a lot still kind of in the mix, and which is why I think we've assembled and want to talk about some of the more confusing teams or confounding teams I wrote down here just to change it up, just a little bit. A little extra spice on there. While we're talking about the confusing and the confounding, I have like a life update.

I need to bring you guys in on. I spoke to my mom yesterday. Big group chat listener. I think she listens to basically every episode. Mom, I'm generally sorry for everything that goes on here. My mom reads the comments on YouTube. Oh, no, that's worse. And then wants to tell me about them.

They're like, isn't this about you? I was like, can you not? So actually, PSA to everyone out there, be nice because my mom is reading this. Oh, my goodness. A very important lesson for us all. Please, please be kind to Justin's mom. My mom briefed me that she would like an update off pot at some point this summer next time I see her on all of the apron rules. She wants to get in full sicko mode in what, you know, Waz described the current NBA landscape as draconian in terms of all the rules and regulations that are guiding these teams.

I don't even know where to begin with my mom in terms of explaining the apron. I don't know where to begin with myself sometimes in terms of understanding the apron. So this is where we are, you know, in order to even understand and appreciate a. program like ours, you got to be neck deep in the second apron, apparently. That's actually a good segue to talking about the first team on our list, which is the Milwaukee Bucks, which is one of Waz's teams, because not only did they make the biggest, splashiest move of the offseason, waving and stretching dame in order to sign Miles Turner, but they have done nine different moves where I can't even like add up who is going where, like who's getting

cut, uh, what are they in the plus of an apron? Are they in a minus? They literally traded two draft picks to save, I think, a million dollars in order to get Vasily Mietchich, our guy. They gave up to get Vasily Mietchich. But it sounds like they did so explicitly because he's going to get bought out and wants to play overseas next year. That's a bummer.

I was kind of hoping he would be a rotation guy for them, to be honest with you. And then they might we even stretch the remaining money that he doesn't take with him overseas. And so, while this is a long-witted way of saying, like, the bucks are doing a lot, I don't know what they're doing, which is why they are number one with the bullet on our list. They added Gary Harris, again, a guy that I've liked since college, basically. I was still watching college basketball back when Gary Harris was at Michigan State. That's how long ago that was. Like, these are, like, I love Miles Turner. He's, like, one of the posted children of this show.

why, like, I already had Brooke Lopez in my building signed for literally a fraction of the money in Los Angeles. I get it. He was like kind of quote unquote unplayable in the postseason, all of this other stuff. But just at the cost, though, like at a certain point, yes, Miles Turner, you can say is a much better player. I would say he's a better player. Yeah. But at what cost of basically over the lifespan of Miles Turner's deal, it's $50 million a year to accommodate that one move.

I love Miles Turner. He's not a $50 million player. You don't make that kind of decision based on Miles Turner. And then, and I have this on pretty good authority, I spoke to somebody who would actually know, Dane Lillard would have seriously considered opting out of his deal next summer for the flexibility, for like, all right, I'm tired of living in Milwaukee.

Like, I want a fresh new start. I didn't pick Milwaukee in the first place. I got traded against my will to Milwaukee. So, like, a guy who was probably going to lop off 60 million anyway. Like, what are we doing? And it's all in service, obviously, of making Jan is happy. Like, guys, this. Does anybody think the results of the Bucks next season, after all of this stuff that they've done, is going to make Janus happy?

Like, are any, like, is there any reading? The most optimistic Bucks reading. Like, Janice is going to be like, this is, this is fantastic. It's quite literally the same team just with Miles Turner in the place of Brooke Lopez. They've done so much stuff. And the only new guys that they've added are Gary Harris and Miles Turner, Rob. I mean, that, look, okay, one, I will believe that a player coming off of an Achilles tear turns down $60 million when I see it. I don't know that.

I know that stuff has been out there was as far as like Dame turning down that option potentially. I don't know that I fully buy it as a possibility. And I understand why the bucks are here. I understand what they think they have to do. We can all disagree as to whether we would have done it ourselves. but like Miles Turner is a noticeable upgrade over Brooke Lopez. Case in point, the fact that Miles Turner just basically played Brooke Lopez off the floor in the postseason. Like he was the reason in part in addition to the movement of that Indiana offense that Brooke was having a hard time.

If you can have a guy who's even more like just capable of holding his own and holding a spot in a playoff rotation, I think that is a meaningful thing. Does Janus look at this new roster and say, oh my God, everything is so different? No, but I don't think he was looking for that. I don't think he was looking for a massive renovation. I think he was mostly looking for, like, give me some reason to believe that this could be a little bit different. And I have to say, this is a little bit different. Again, two guys do I love.

Jamal Murray, Miles Turner, love these guys to death. But their success is predicated by the superstar who they play with. like Halliburton is a big reason why Miles Turner had this great success. For sure. The Bucks don't have a Halliburton on their roster. They don't have very many guards at all in this roster. In terms of setting up Miles Turner and like positioning him with the style of play to get the most out of his skill set.

Like I would say the same thing about Jamo Murray. Like if Jamal Murray went to another team on his contract and you accept. expected Jamal Murray to play to the level at, you know, his best moments in Denver. I'd be like, I don't know that that's possible. You know what I mean? And so that's what I'm saying. It's like, I love Miles Turner. But, like, this seems like a dramatic thing to do to get Miles Turner, y'all.

Like, it just, I don't, I don't get what they're doing. And, like, you know, this is going to sound like the understatement of the year. But I've lost a bit of confidence in the John Horse stewardship. of this franchise. Call me crazy. Yeah, not in the past five years or anything like that. No, I like Turner,

but it seemed like they needed a very loud, splashy move when Turner provides something that's pretty quiet, whereas I think he unlocks the ability for other people to do what they do. And I think in Indiana, that was clear where his ability to stretch the floor to be viable as a spacer fuels a lot of the different things that they're doing with movement and spacing and it provides everyone else to be a little bit. a little bit more unencumbered by the defense because they have more space around them.

And obviously to do so with the shot blocking onto the other end and not sacrificing the defensive end, it's just like he's a functional part that allows people to be their best self. And I just don't see how, yes, he'll do that with Janus, but like, is there any real movement that he's giving to this offense, which could be a pretty stodgy one that's based solely around Janus, kind of battering ramming his way into the basket, especially because he was, wouldn't do the pick and roll stop would Dana at least be like a full fully involved in that regard and so I just don't see how he takes them to another level if anything you're hoping he gets you back into the mix in the top six and that's a weird starting point for a move that might

just completely cripple your future for the next five years it's very true I agree with you that I don't think he's bringing a lot of movement to this offense I think his role is similar offensively to what the best of Brooke Lopez was which is a pressure release you're removing moving, you know, a guy who would be rotating to protect the rim out of Janus's way, potentially. Like, that is a valuable thing. The irony of that is, like, what made Turner so dynamic as a pacer was his growth into that movement and his growth into being a more dynamic player.

And now, if anything, you're kind of turning him back into the guy he was playing with De Manasabonis a little bit. It's like, your job is to space. And he's good at that. He hit damn near 40% of his threes last season. Like, he is a good shooter and a good spacer. I would have loved a world in which he could have been more than that. I don't see that with the bucks.

And you didn't see it. If you want to trace the outline back to when Dane was out for Milwaukee last season, they ran through Janus a ton, as you would expect them to do. This is not a team that has a lot of guard alternatives. They certainly don't have any guard alternatives now because they haven't really invested in that position at all, give or take, Vasily Meechich. And so how they want to route their offense, I think it is going to be very Janus driven.

I think at this point, that is a deliberate choice. They have scanned the free agent market. they've said, we don't see a guard out here that's going to change our offense and change our world. And so instead of that, we are going to do something dramatic. We are going to make a big splash. And maybe the statement is not, here's Miles Turner, this, this like unbelievable, infallible player who we've added. It's we are willing to do this big dramatic thing for the sake of making you 5% happier. And is that gesture enough in addition to the fact that I think Miles Turner will actually make Janus's life easier in some ways.

So this is like a dude on Valentine's Day just putting a bunch of rose pedals all over the floor for nothing. Exactly for the 5% increase of happiness. It might not be for nothing. I think that's the question. Does it mean something to Janus? Does the gesture mean something? I don't know. And in the past, he has been open to that.

Like, whenever they've gone out and made a big move, he's actually doubled down and recommitted to them. But you're right. Just to keep going on the relationship metaphors, it almost feels like we're at the point where, like, they're opening it up a little bit because they have. have no other option. They're going to swinger parties. I don't know if they're quite there yet, but that is obviously the next step all of a sudden. The wife breaks out, Miles Turner breaks out a chair and it's just like, it's fine. Just sit in the corner, you know?

Whatever. This will be good for both of us. I know. When the writing is on the wall. And maybe they get another year of Janus, maybe two years. But I hope they cash in however long he stays because that seems like what they're after. here is just making the most of what they have. And I guess it's fine.

But, was, I don't, I don't see the long-term plan. So my guy Moad die Q was like, look, because I'm like, no first round pick for six years and $23 million in dead cap for five of those, this is bad. And he's like, at the end of the day, they could trade Janus and get a lot of stuff in return. Some young players, some picks. and be manageable in dealing with charting a path forward from that, which I get, but like, this seems crazy. And to get to the Indiana part of this, I don't know. Like, we were big enough Indiana's front office.

I think we have a lot of respect and admiration for what they've built out there. So it's like if they could let Miles Turner go, they must know what they're doing. At the same time, if you can't get the 20 mil per for Miles Turner, that seems a guy who's only 20, which sounds like, saying he's only 27 years old that you couldn't pay him 20 mil per for four years, that feels like, come on,

especially a guy like Miles Turner who like, teams love this skill set, some rim protection, some shooting, like if it really came down to it, you could have got off of him. I think it kind of sucks that they couldn't up that number financially for Miles Turner. I don't know if this was a front office, like, you know, a management decision or an ownership decision, so to speak.

I don't know if this was a basketball call because I think you could make that call on Miles Turner that you want to go in a different direction at the five. It sure feels very coincidental that this, even something remotely resembling the salary would have put the Pacers into the tax and they chose not to do it. That feels pointed to me.

That feels like a financial decision that they didn't want to do in a year where Tyrese Halliburton isn't going to be available. And that's like the butterfly effects of Tyrese's injury, I mean, we're just starting to see them in terms of how far out they're going to reach. It's such a bummer that a team goes to the NBA finals. And this would have been in any other circumstances, a continued celebration of everything

they've built. And instead, Tyrese is out. Their starting center is gone. Like, they're going to be a dramatically different team going forward and into the future. It's a weird place to be. No, we have to, we had to lament the old system where they weren't super penalized for keeping Miles Turner for $22 million a year. The paces, you know, market juggernaut that they are. It's, it's great that this is happening. I don't disagree. I would have loved to see him come back. because there's enough of the guts of last year's team in order to make something of next season, even without Halliburton. Playing devil's advocate, though, do you really want to be on the hook for four more years

of Miles Turner? Is it actually beneficial for two years down the road when Halliburton comes back to punt on next season, get a high draft pick, and go for it? You could argue that the Pacers don't really punt seasons. They really only did it once, I think, and they got Ben Mathron out of it. So maybe this is all moot to begin with. But I must wonder if taking a step back long term is actually more beneficial in almost like a microdosing way that the Celtics are with Tatum. Yeah.

I don't mind it. I think that's the question is, are they going to be bad enough to really take advantage of that? And I want to save that conversation for when we get to one of our other confusing East teams because the Pacers just might be too good to do that. Like they might just have too many good and useful players and frankly, a coach who's among the best at like taking undermanned rosters to overperforming records. It's like this is just kind of what they do sometimes. Yeah. Before we move on to a different team, can we talk about Dame just quickly? Yeah.

Because I've never seen a situation like this. Yes, he's in his mid-30s at this point and recovering from the devastating injury in the playoffs. But he gets to pick his team at this point. Like a max level player just gets to go wherever he wants. And so is there any team that you guys are hoping he would glom onto or is there any obvious fit? that you think that he could just like walk into. There's the one that I, I just assume he's going to be a member of the Miami Heat.

Is that not, is that not an assumption? I, I honestly, I'm, Dame backcourt is, uh, stopping many people these days,

but, yeah, I, I, the first thing that came to my mind was Houston as a Fred van Vlit replacement. Cheez. Next summer.

Um, that would be like, in terms of ring chasing and all of that stuff. like their core and like the surrounding people being able to shield Dane from defensive pressures and stuff. That's what I thought. I'd be like, man, that would be pretty freaking sweet if that did happen. That's the one that came to my mind quickly.

Yeah, I have them written down. I also have the clippers if you could find a way to get off of James Hardin next year because this is the issue there. It's like, how much is Dane going to make? Because who has functionally a max slot or $30 million or $20 million? million dollars just to add dame as a free agent because these guys get traded specifically because the salary matching has to happen in order to get him on the books like boston for instance boston with tatum and brown and dame there's something there i just don't know how they add him

considering they're throwing away lou cornet because uh they can't afford him i feel like the dame thing again i have done talk to nobody about this this is just me guessing because of the nature of the the stretch, like, why couldn't a mid-level get it done? Yeah. It's up to him. Seriously. Like, if you really die in a win and you care about fit and culture and who's over there, like a mid-level could get this done, no problem. Let's be talking about $17 million on top of the 23?

I'm at 40 mil now. When they announced the Aiton contract, they announced it as he will be making $34 million in totality because of what he got bought out, plus what he'll make. They didn't even announce what he was making. That's how deep in the weeds we are at this point. So maybe they're working under the same logic there. I do think the one we have to bring up is Portland,

not only because I have to bring up Portland, but the context that he could slide into is literally the type of team that he was barking for for multiple years in the waning years of the Neil L. Shea era. It's like if you don't have OG and Mikhail, why not Tumani and Deni Avdi? now they're going in a different direction. I almost wonder if they hadn't done the Drew trade

that would have made more sense because he's in the books for two more years after this one. And now they got our guy Yang. So Yang Gang, Gang till we die. Can we do Yang Gang when it's young? This is my question. Yang Gong. Like a Gong.

I think that's much worse. We definitely should not do that. But like, they almost moved on right before this house. And it seemed like the door kind of closed a little, like just right before they could have honestly jumped on this. So probably not. But yeah, he would fit a defense in depth team that they've built. He really would. It's so funny the way these NBA life cycles work where it just kind of makes sense at a certain point for like, yeah, the Cavs could use LeBron James.

Yeah, the Blazers could use Damien the Lerd. It's like they have obviously replacing great players is difficult. But the fact that the Blazers do have that. exact kind of defense first roster you're talking about. Justin is. I don't know if irony is the word for it, but it is a funny place for all of this to end up where Dame could go to Miami, the place he wanted to go in the first place. He could go back to Portland with a roster that suits him better than the one that he left

when he did leave. But he's not going to be a Milwaukee buck anymore. That's for sure. And I don't think he's too upset about that part. Like, I'm sure there is an ego hit to getting waived and stretched for a player as great as him. But he does get to call his shot. he does get this unique opportunity we're talking about where he can either have a unique

financial opportunity of stacking contract on contract up to the moon or he can have his basketball choice in addition to all the money he's still owed and that's that's a powerful place to be yeah the freedom to pick the team is is crucial and you know the smartest teams will get creative about how to piece the money together to make it feel like you know what man this is this is a salary worthy of my stature and my ability And I think that's the coolest part is that, and I don't think this will happen for another summer. I don't know that he's going to be like dying to get latched to a team as he's working on rehab. Like it makes sense to gather the information of like what these teams actually look like next year and then figure it out.

Yeah. I think he is going to rehab in Portland because I've already started to see like the Instagram ads. I've been fed about the Dame Lillard birthday party. Yeah, he's doing the birthday party this weekend, which is crazy that you're getting fed those ads. I'm a local. So maybe I'll pop in.

Maybe I'll let's do it. If you want to get on that guest list, I could get you on that list, by the way. Waz's got the connect. I don't think they want me on that guest list. Well, I do want you, Dustin. I want your take on Dame posting through it. You know, our guy has been out here,

in the wildest move of the offseason so far, posting memes, posting pro-Daminianus propaganda. How do you feel about, you know, a guy who was of our ilk generationally speaking, posting through it in real time? Well,

it's ironic too, because wasn't he the one criticizing KD for running from the grind? And here he is yet again, following suit and being criminally online with some of his biggest haters. And so I guess, like, if he feels like,

it was Paul George. He was criticizing, but yes. Okay. Well, there you go. Yeah, I don't know. I haven't seen much. I've mostly seen you guys putting it into the chat. But he's just going about his son. He's like posting like rehab posting his brand new Dame 10.

One of the only guys with 10 signature shoes. Like just he's just like as if it's just a normal NBA offseason for Dave Lillard. It's kind of funny. But it's good to not be on line and be bitter and be like, they're going to rule the day. I think people kind of understand that this was kind of an extreme thing for them to do. And yeah, it is what it is. Life goes on.

All right. Let's go on ourselves. Let's do the Sacramento Kings next because they have been in the news of late. If only because I think a lot of people are trying to figure out just how they're going to get their hands on Jonathan Kaminga, that like was off the board going into the off season that they would try to not only be in that race, but ultimately probably land him. I would guess that ultimately happens, although it seems a little difficult.

In the meantime, they've also signed Dennis Schroeder for $15 million a year over the next three years, which just give me real like John Salman's vibes of like, Shrews are a good player, but like how good is he? And we're also considering moving off

of Malik Monk in a sign and trade in order specifically to bring him in. It's just, there's a lot going on here. They traded Jonas Valenchunis for Dario Sarich into money dump. I think they're getting Drew Eubanks after he clears

waivers. So watch out for that one. There's just, Rob, it's a lot going on. It's a lot going on. It's just like there's this arms race developing in the Western Conference and the Kings are out here overpaying for Dennis Schroeder and trying to get in on Jonathan Camingo. Like, I really

do not like this roster. I just, I don't know how else to say. I don't like this collection of players. Wait, hold on, Rob. You don't think having Dennis Schroeder, Malik, Monk, DeMond, DeRosen, and Zach Levine. Well, first of all, they're trying to, like, held to get rid of Malik Monk, apparently.

As backcourt and wingmates, that, like, that doesn't make mad sense to you? Somehow it doesn't, you know? Somehow a team that has a lot of guys. I just don't understand how a team that is this, like, quote-unquote, talented could have this much of a dearth of actual, like, functional playmaking. Like, none of it makes sense together to me. we've seen in the fairly brief Zach Levine era so far,

this is not a winning basketball team. Ultimately, it's this. Like, they are fine enough offensively. Like, they have scores. They have guys who can create shots. They have a technical hub in DeMontisabonis a bonus, but one that's resulting in what exactly? I don't know with this collection of players.

I don't think whatever they do on offense is nearly enough to overcome how just, like, disjointed and underperforming they're going to be on defense. I just don't know how they're going to stop people. and they don't have the firepower to overcome that. And so in that case, what are you doing? Why are you bringing Jonathan Cuminga to further muck up everything that you have that's already disjointed with yet another one of the most disjointed creators that's coming up on free agency?

Man, I don't understand how a team could think they could build a 13th in the league ranked defense around Sabonis, DeRosen, and Levine. Those guys playing 36 minutes a game just ensures that you can't do that. You cannot and will not. And obviously, they each have their own individual strengths. They're just not complimentary to one another. Not at all.

Like, it doesn't make for a well-balanced NBA roster that we've seen that you have to have, especially to win in the postseason. Like, I mean, I don't know that this is really, Regular suited to win regular season basketball, much less what I just saw, these dog fights, I just saw defensively in the NBA playoffs. And so, yeah, the roster makes no sense.

The ownership is bottom three in the NBA. To the point where, you know, anytime I hear a player is untradable, you got to go back and say, wait a second, Phoenix exists, Sacramento exists. I mean, like, Caminga, it's just like, why does Comingga think he's going to get $35 million a year? Sacramento exists, apparently.

It's like, ooh, this is tough. And I don't see the vision of how it gets better. They just got a new GM. So essentially, this is the vision of the new guy who they just brought in. I think it's the same vision because it's always a Vex vision. Exactly.

Would be the issue. And so if they do bring in Kaminga and they give him a bunch of money, are they starting him? I think you would have to, right? Maybe so who comes up, who plays point at that point? Are you just relying on DeMarre Rosen and Sabonis as

ball handlers? Like moving things offensively? If they sign Cominga to that kind of deal, I think they bench Keegan Murray, which would be a crazy thing to do. So who's shooting threes? Is it the bonus now? Well, honestly, Sabonis might be their

best three-point shooter. Comingis is not Cummings. Cominga is not a better player than Keegan. Murray. I don't think so. It's not. It's close, but obviously Murray

fits modern basketball a little bit more seamlessly. So it's going to be, wait, hold on. The starting lineup is going to be Damar de Rosen, Sabonis, Levine, Kamenga.

Dennis Schrooter. I think that's, if they get Kaminga, I think that's it. Or maybe they just play big with Kegan and Ian. Kaminga. and then bring who else I guess you could bench Damar if you want to try

You just bench Schrooter You just Ben Shrewder And you're playing Zach I guess you're playing DeMonda Sabonis at the point Is what you're doing Yeah or just letting DeMar Play a point tomorrow Like San Antonio

That was a long time ago I just don't see the vision here And if anything it reminds me of kings of old Where they're just bringing in talents Who will sign with them Who will want to be aboard because they're so desperate to get people to just want to sign up in Sacramento.

Here's the upside to that. As far as getting the guys and the talents you can get when you can get them, as it stands that they don't get Jonathan Cominga, their top eight is that previous starting five, or I guess previous starting four plus Dennis Schrooter, Keon Ellis, I assume will still be a part of the rotation. Devin Carter, who they were trying to work in post-injury,

I assume will be part of the rotation. And one of these two bigs between Dario Sarich and Drew Eubanks, Well, Clifford, too. They're rookie. That's fair. That's fair. Dario Sarge is not an NBA player. He's a little cooked at this point.

You forgot Drew Eubanks? Did you not hear me? I said Drew Eubanks. I said he was in there. I'm just checking. First of all, I would never forget Drew Eubanks. It's possible that the king should have forgotten Drew Eubanks. I don't think that he is, again, fixing anything that's happening here.

But that's just not a good enough, like, top eight or nine guys as it is. And so from a talent perspective, let's get the guy we can get, Jonathan Kamingo. He just happens to be one of the worst theoretical fits with all the players on this roster that you could honestly, like, create in a lab. He's a terrible fit, much less of the players actually available in the NBA. So since we're talking about the Kaminga Derby, why don't we go with the heat now, Rob, which is one of your teams. Yes. This was a 37 win team a season ago, and they are just kind of sitting on their hands, slowly drifting into Chicago Bulls territory. what is the plan?

Well, look, what is the plan here exactly? It's the same question I would ask the bulls. Like, what is the idea? They're whale hunting. They're whale hunting riles. That's illegal. We've already covered that. You cannot hunt whales. Well, they got big tech.

It's a big tech. So, yeah, to some of what's happened so far, they did a sign and trade, sending out Duncan Robinson and bringing back Simone Fontechio. Honestly, I'm here for it. I think Fontecoe, it would be a good member of the Miami here. They brought back Davy on Mitchell. I like it. Good deal. Good value.

Especially the way he played at the end of the year and then like making threes like a mug, guarding the hell out of people, full court fits alum, great deal. And a great fit for Mitchell. Like I think he showed that this is like a situation in which he can really thrive. Other than that, like we know who Bam is. We know who Tyler Hero is even after a great season of development in which he showed a lot of new stuff, all star season. we also saw that neither of them are good enough to carry a roster that looks like this.

And we saw them run straight smack into the wall from a creation standpoint in the playoffs of just like there are plenty of good to serviceable players on Miami's roster right now. There's nowhere near enough shock creation, even with Tiley Hero flexing out, even with Davian Mitchell taking steps forward as a point of art over the course of last year. Can I interest you in some Andrew Wiggins-centric offense? You cannot interest me nor anyone who watched him. back in his Minnesota days. That's not of interest to me particularly.

So I don't know what they're supposed to do or what they are doing. Well, Wiggins is an interesting subject, though, because he seems to be in Buzz suggesting that they might be willing to trade him out. And so that just says to me, one, yeah, that they're probably reaching. They don't really have a clear path forward. And so maybe they'll send someone out or maybe he'll just be a key cog in their next team. But it also means that maybe they're just still doing stuff. I'm a little bit more in wait and see mode with them.

So maybe they do fit the confound and confusing stick right now. But it seems like they're not done. I think they're not done. I just worry about the timeline of what that means. Like, you know, when you get it to these teams that are sort of perpetually in weight and C mode that are perpetually in big game hunting mode, you just end up sitting there with Andrew Wiggins for a while sometimes. You just end up sitting there having like incredibly middling seasons year over year

and accomplishing very little in terms of development. in terms of actually cultivating the pieces that will get you the next great version of your team. I don't know where that's happening in Miami right now, save for the most exciting part of their roster. And I assume the most exciting part of their games next season will just be watching Kala Ware do his thing. Like that I'm pumped for and getting the next stage of his development.

Other than that. Untouchable in a KD deal, apparently. Maybe perhaps so. And look, I'm not even saying they should have traded for Kevin Durant because Kevin Durant does not fix this team. Like, he does not get them where they need to go. Certainly not. But they need something to go somewhere.

Where? What are they supposed to do? Like, they don't have some incredible war chest of assets, et cetera. Like, bam out of bio is pretty much like appropriately paid, right? Like, he's a good player. He's not on some great team-friendly deal. Same for Tyler Hero, now that he's got re-uped. Like, what are they supposed to be moving?

That's supposed to be getting them in position to, do some great big splash. You just, I'm just not seeing it. And whatever. Stay in the course. Maybe you say, yo, we roll the balls out. We're building this thing slowly. Okay. Sure.

If by slowly, that means nine in the east for the next three years. It's out of snail's pace. I just don't, I don't see the logic of this roster and the team building. I just don't get it. I don't see it. I liked how in the past few

years that they focused on having a pipeline via the draft because in years past, they've been able to unearth very good players, Hero and Bam, or draft picks that were draft much lower than you'd expect considering how well they've done in the NBA, where might be the next version of that. Unfortunately, a lot of those guys have been kind of middling, like Yovich and Hawkes. And so what they've ended up, we'll see with Yakashunas, I think a lot of people are excited about what he could do there. fits like kind of that physical like movement style that I think Spoh was looking for.

But if you're just getting like okay rotation players, eventually you're just going to be an okay team that just like kind of sits in the middle of the east. And so where's the next star? And so I don't fault them for maybe going out there and saying we want to whale, we want a whale, because they need one because they have the feeder system for everything around that player by actually finding that player is what they need at this point. Here's the thing I would I would argue that they don't even have the support system yet. Like you could look at Houston's roster last year and say like, that's a team that has everything but everything but the Kevin Durant kind of star.

I look at Miami and like I think if anything, we might be too kind saying that Jaime Hawkes has been like an okay role player. Like he was not a good NBA player last season. Yoavich I think has moments and it's like, Yovic like fits into a lineup and kind of make some kind of sense and can can sop up minutes. Like that's a thing that he can do at this stage. It may be unspectacular, but he can at least.

least do that. I just don't see enough guys on the roster who are rising above that threshold. It's a lot of like, this is good enough for now, but will it be good enough when the star does become available? Will it be good enough to entice that star trade in the first place? I would like to see more of the support system

that would eventually help a future Miami Heat Superstar. And I don't really see that outside of Bam and Tyler Hero and like the potential of someone like where. No, they're going to be first in line in the Yonis Derby, guys. Don't worry. That's what the Miami front office wants you out of know the next time a big guy comes on the market,

the heater going to be right there. Right. It will probably cost them where in order to go and get that guy. And so, like, who's left? It's, Hero and Bam just have to be better and have to work better in concert in order to get them anywhere. And so I ultimately think it defaults to the same question whether or not they get a star or not. Let's talk about the Warriors, though, just because they're kind of like the spiritual,

just like East Coast version of what happened last year. Because the Warriors are in a good place overall, but I have noticed a clearing lack of activity in free agency. A lot of it has come down to, it seems like Al Horford and whether or not he's going to be willing to sign there. I think there are a lot of suggestions that he might ultimately get there, which would be good. They need a center first and foremost,

and I do think he has the size and shooting combination that would actually fit there, obviously the smarts. But it seems like they need something else. And I don't know what they're even going to get from a Kaminga sign-in trade in order to take them to the next level. And so I have some trade ideas down here. But I'm curious what you guys think first and foremost about what the Warriors are doing.

Or maybe not doing it. If the summer is just trading out Kavan Looney for Al Horford, that's an upgrade and helps. But it doesn't help in some of the things you need, which is like where are you getting some offensive oomph outside of Steph and Jimmy. Those guys clearly can do their jobs. Jimmy will see over the course of the regular season how hard he wants to go, how much creation he wants to do. Not usually his job as he sees it.

And so like they could use someone honestly, if we're getting into the comming a derby with Sacramento, like a Malik Monk. I think they could use some of that kind of firepower. They could use someone who's just bringing a little something different in terms of the creative aspects of their offense if that player is entrusted to do that, which is I guess sort of always the subtext with Steve Kerr.

Is he open to those kinds of creators and that kind of help? Or is he always going to lean towards the Al Horford types? Yeah, if you're the Warriors, you definitely love the way your team finished down the stretch after the Jimmy trade. Like, they were just a much better team afterwards. But they did have to expend themselves in just borderline extreme ways. Like, they had to kill themselves to get to the seventh seed or whatever the hell they ended up with last year.

And so, yeah, they do need pieces that can make it so that Jimmy and Steph can stay at like 35 minutes, 34 minutes a night in the regular season so that they're not completely spent and, you know, pulling muscles and stuff like that when the postseason comes. So, you know, you wonder if the front office can get creative. I'm suspicious as to why that Horford thing is taking so long. I mean, we are on day four. It feels like that should be done and dusted by now, especially when you consider Boston's just thirst

to just banish every single supporting player that they've ever employed. And so, yeah, I wonder, I don't, like, you know, Dunleavy Jr. doesn't have some, like, long track record with this stuff. So I'm not sure what to expect from him. But, yeah, they do need a little bit more offensive punch and bringing in Al Horford. It's just he is a Kerr player made in the freaking lab, like, just straight up, just Steve Kerr's cup of tea all day.

So I think that would be massive even at age 52. But yeah, I'm keeping my eye on them for sure. Well, let's raise that question because my assumption is that the Warriors will get Al Horford. But what happens if they don't? Like what happens if he has a change of heart or maybe it's not as far along as the reporting and rumors have suggested? I think the problem Yeah, the problem with waiting this long is not that you've missed out on

Mason Plumley. Like, that's not really the problem. The problem is Mason Plumley being off the market tells you a lot about what's left on it. And there are not a, there are not a lot of guys out there left, especially that fit Golden State basketball. Missed out on Dominating.

No, he would have been a tremendous curve player. He's going to have a month stretch where everyone's going to be like, whoa, and then he's going to disappear for two months. The reason. I'm skeptical of that, Justin, is that not even the Laker internet hype machine can bring themselves to hype the Aiton signing. That's just because everyone's already preemptively shame them for like thinking that Aiton is

even like a live body. He's a supremely athletic large guy who everyone actually kind of liked on the team. Now he will have some, let's call them foibles. He will have some moments where you're like, what's going on here on the court? Jason quick piece on this was eyebrow raising just a little bit. Yeah, that was, I think that was one perspective on what happened there. I think the players themselves were quite fond. Yeah, okay.

But, you know, he's going to take too long on an injury. He's also maybe not going to roll as hard as you want to and settled for too many jumpers. He literally had a one free throw attempt rate for the past two years. I think they're both under two. Proposterous, honestly. for somebody that big. But I think if he fits the Javelma de Geet track, which I'll say again, sure, I think there's something there.

But I actually do like him, especially if they get Horford and they work in concert, rather it's just him and nobody else. But that's a whole other thing. I think if the Warriors get Horford, I honestly wonder if it helps their trade position as well because he's 39 years old and you're looking at that team and being like, what's going to happen in four years? and they only have one first round pick due at this point. And so if I'm a team, I'm looking at their faraway picks and being like,

oh, that's something I can sell to my fan base at the very least. Those are juicy assets. The same we talked about Denver trading their 2032 pick. It's like, you know, because it's going to be 37th. That's going to be in his 40s by the time some of those picks are going to cash in. And so I'd be looking to leverage my drafts in order to get players. It's a little diceier if they don't get a center because I was thinking more in terms of the wing help. But I think the pelicans are just like a natural fit for them, if only because like,

maybe they can just supplement whatever non-pick they get next year with the Warriors and then get the other stuff in the future. But I would be asking for Trey Murphy first and foremost. I think he makes a lot of sense. I don't know if they would part with him. But I have to say like Herb Jones as the third on the Troika of Jimmy, uh, Dreiman, and Herb. Oh my God.

That might be the nastiest defensive tree I think I could ever think of. And if he's hitting threes like he has. in recent years, I think he would be a perfect fit there. I think the whole league right now, I think is salivating pretty hard at the idea of Herb Jones being available. We'll have to see.

Because clearly, look, the Pelicans, I don't even know what to make of and maybe we'll talk about them. Well, there's rumors out there that the reason why they gave up the pick is that they just asked.

It seems like, yo, we want to pick for this. It's like, sure, take that kid next year. Are you ready to, revisit your take yet, was? Are you, like, digging down even deeper?

It's definitely dealt an injurious blow to my take that the sky isn't falling in New Orleans. That was my take. Not that the move was amazing. Yes. That the sky isn't falling. But, yeah, Jody, not inspiring too much confidence at the moment. I will say there was some reporting from Shamedua in his, like, draft night recap that apparently the Hawks had to, like, call multiple times through multiple avenues.

to be like, are we sure this pick is involved? Are we sure you're actually offering what we think you're offering? Not a good sign when that has to happen. I don't think we need any investigative reporting to find out that they don't really know what they're doing there. It helps, though. I like the context. But I think they're natural trade partners with the warriors. How would be sweet.

Herb Jones would be an amazing word. So would Tray Murphy obviously would be another incredible warrior. But then the obvious ones come up. I think Derek White would make a lot of sense, not only to help. uh like with the offensive side of things but slides right into that two spot and can maybe run the offense when stuff sits oh then lorry would be the other one i do think the pelicans though are the natural yeah candidate so they need to do something long-witted way of saying i think the warriors are primed to give away their future because they have made such a concerted effort over the past six

months to be like we're now i think i think i think the warriors need to figure out how to construct the team that doesn't ask Jimmy and Steph to play the way they played in the playoffs all year long. They should have to save that for the postseason and not be doing it all regular season long because the roster is so limited

that way offensively. Do you guys want to do one of your teams now? Maybe Woz with the Raptors? So, yeah, what the hell is going on with the Raptors? And to be fair, a lot of this wasn't the offseason. I think the Yakup Pertil,

deal, raised a lot of eyebrows. They opted in and they extended him for three years. I think 87 million. The last of that year is not fully guaranteed, but still, like, it basically comes out to four years, a hundred-something million

dollars. And again, Yacopold is a legitimate player, is a legitimate big man. Like, I don't think he's a scrub by any means, but 22 per for him, IQ at 32. Brandon Ingram, at 40 and the same for Scotty Barnes and it's like

for what? Like what is the like what is the best case scenario of the Raptors season ending like next year? Isn't it like 39 wins? Am I crazy for saying that? Best like best case would be. You think there were 47 win team? I certainly do not. Best case may be like Scott.

Barnes has a transformational season and all these pieces kind of click into place. And they are sort of in the mix for, let's say, the six seed, the five, six spots in the east. Like, I think that is the absolute best case season for the Raptors. More realistically, like, let's just go through the other teams in the east right now. Teams that are clearly better than Toronto. Cleveland, New York, Orlando, Detroit, Atlanta, I think are all so clearly better. That's five teams. probably better teams

Milwaukee I think is probably better probably I look they still have Janus like they still have probably last year more or less this team won 48 games sure yeah

so let's say Milwaukee a lot of wins honestly right I'm gonna say Philly is probably better next season than Toronto which might be giving them too much credit but look this is the threshold I'm willing to go on Indiana, I don't know.

I honestly don't know what to do with the Pacers from a regular season standpoint. And so you can put Indiana in that group or you can put them in the next group, which I would say is like in the mix, Indiana, Miami, Chicago, Toronto. So we're saying like seven teams are definitively better than the Raptors

and then they're fighting for scraps with these other three or four. That's not enough for how much they're investing in this group. That's not enough for the model that they're creating. Yeah, that's what's so curious about the Pertil extension, which takes them five seasons now. He's locked in for the Toronto Raptors. They've almost locked in the core of a team that is either underperformed or not even performed altogether. And so you're either wishcasting or looking at a team that needs a lot of ifs in order to get

to the best possible version. I agree with Rob where it's like, oh, if Brandon Ingram accepts this certain role and shoots more threes, or if this guy ends up playing. doing all the good things we like about him and actually cutting out all the bad things. But we don't know that. And frankly, the Raptors don't even know that at this point because these guys literally have not all played together because Brandon Ingram hasn't played there yet. So I guess there's a certain aspect to this. I read this, I think in Eric Carine's report on The Athletic, that in previous eras under

Maasai, they like to reward guys in part because it was so tough to convince them to stay in Toronto to begin with. And maybe the bones of that sort of approach is filtering into this new era where Bobby Webster is overseeing things until they officially like hire him as the main guy or get somebody else. And so maybe that's playing a part in it too. We just don't know the like the dynamics of getting guys to stay in Toronto. Yeah.

But these aren't the guys I'd want to stay in Toronto to begin with. What was what was Brandon Ingram being rewarded for? Well, that's, but that's been sort of the model. too. Some of it is rewarding, as Justin is saying, the guys who you want to keep around to have done something good for the franchise. Some of it is like they've brought in guys who are on close to expiring deals in order to lock them up with these sorts of extensions and resigning because they didn't think they'd be able to get an RJ Barrett caliber player on the open market. They didn't think they'd be able to get Brandon Ingram on the open market or a player like him.

The issue for me is like... Brandon Ingram, you can't get on the open market. Well, I don't... If you're Toronto, maybe you believe... that. He's making a shit ton of money. Dude, now that we're being hit by the offseason sticker shock and seeing some of the deals that just got signed, all of their deals look worse. Oh.

Yeah, the IQ deal, which I wasn't like so mad at when they first did. I'm like, if IQ becomes a starting point guard, he's worth $32 million a year. But like, like, he just hasn't put that on the floor. And I was like, well, they need like somebody who can pull up threes on, you know, picking rolls because they have no shooting as usual. I thought, like, yeah, in the best case scenario, an upticking minutes, like him bringing his shooting and off the dribble pop, like, that'll be worth it.

But he has not put that on the floor. And this deal is just getting started. I know. And, like, Justin, you laid out, like, the ifs, if you can convince Brandon Ingram to be the player that now multiple teams have tried to convince him to be as, like, a three-point shooter, a real threat, a catch-and-shoot guy.

this is a team that was like near dead last in the league and three point percentage and three point rate like they just need people who can shoot brandon ingram can theoretically shoot he can theoretically do a lot of things i have yet to see brandon ingram work with anybody like he just is not a player who brings out positive things and the players around him and he does not play off of the players around him and so i think toronto's going to be a solid enough defensive team i just don't know how any of this is going to work together offensively and again to to to to And I'm going to be thinking about this Julius Randall deal all year because, one, he was a baby Laker just like Brandon Ingram. Because the wolves waited to the offseason, they didn't get trigger happy after trading for a guy. And this guy delivered for them in the postseason in big-ass games and big-ass moments. And he still only got $33 million per. when has Brandon Ingram ever been as good as Julius Randall was this year? Never.

Oh no. It's never happened. This is crazy. Mid an All-Star team was like pretty okay in the first round. But hey, listen, Minneapolis in the summer, guys are signing up for that. Honestly, it is beautiful, genuinely.

I love when people talk up to Midwest for the two months of the year that is tolerable. It's pretty great, I got to say. You might have to walk through an underground like tunnel system in order to get places in the winter. But yeah, summer's going. It's a whole thing. But look, this is a big summer for the baby Lakers. You know, you got, you got Brandon Ingram as the one of the new faces of the Toronto Raptors.

You have Jordan Clarkson and Josh Hart reunited in New York. Congratulations to them. Julius Randall getting paid. Lanzo ball getting traded. Everything is happening. Happy for Lonzo that he moved on. He's going to play for a winner. That's dope.

That's right. Larry Nance is going home again. Going home? God, all the baby Lakers are now aging into final contracts, like trying to ring chase. That's, that's dark. We're cooked. We didn't talk about, yeah, I know. We didn't talk about Maasai getting foisted out.

Apparently they gave him his own personal cook chair for the draft too and then fired him literally the next day. Seemed inevitable both because of recent results and also this infighting that's occurring between like the two factions that were in charge of the Raptors, the one that now is lauding over things, is not a fate of Messiah. And so he ultimately goes, it's just, it's wild because Rob, he was like one of the guys who was Teflon for so long. He was the guy that like teams were wanting to trade multiple picks, Sam Presti style in order to get to run their operation. Now here he is a couple of years later, just looking for work. Yeah, I mean, widely regarded for

such a long time as one of the best and sharpest executives in the league as somebody who was wheeling and dealing and making all the stuff happen for the Toronto Raptors. I think most crucially, like bringing a cultural identity to the organization that it had been missing, like the Raptors had had successful teams, but they didn't have a sense of bravado and having someone who, you know, if it's not going to be your, if your players are going to be a little more stoic, a little more put their hard hat on and go to work, you need somebody who's going to be sort of a mouthpiece for the organization, having a guy on a stage yelling fuck Brooklyn or whatever was Messiah said back in the day.

Like, that's a meaningful thing to have. And I think his sense of presence bought him a lot of time there and bought him a lot of benefit of the doubt. And some of the moves he made in particular, we should say, to get Toronto a championship, bought him a lot of time there. Post title, I don't think the Raptors have covered themselves in glory. And that was a worthwhile risk taken. That was it.

But the Tampa year was not. Yeah. You know, like there, there have been really, really tough moments for that organization. and so many cases empirically where you can now say, waited too long on Pascal Seacum. That was a terrible deal. Waited too long on Ogen, Inobie.

Terrible deal. Waited too long on Kyle Lowry. Left for free, Fred Van Vleet. Yep. Like, that's just how it turned out. Signed a bunch of guys who can't shoot, but they're lengthy. It's tough.

It's tough. Turns out getting young veterans and then signing them immediately wasn't some like super, like three-dimensional chest move that we just couldn't. figure out. Turns out,

maybe it was just bad. Yeah. Well, speaking of bad, Rob, I think it's time for your last team. We have to talk

about the Phoenix Sons. Is there much to figure out here? I think it's kind of on the wall. Well, let's start with this. Who is going to start for the Phoenix Sons? My assumption is that Booker and Beal and Jalen Green are all going to start.

No. I'm assuming you in trade. Should I stop there? Are we not assuming those guys are all going to start? Maybe one and does, There's no way. No? There's some way.

Here's the thing. Devin Booker is the closest thing this team has to an actual point guard. I would say Colin Gillespie is the second closest. So if you would like to start Colin Gillespie, you can. I think all three of those guys are going to start. I think they didn't trade two first for Mark Williams for him to not start. And because somebody has to do the dirty work around here, I assume Dylan Brooks is going to start as well.

What the fuck is that lineup? Like, what is that? Wait, Dylan Brooks is the four, I guess. I think so. Dylan Brooks at the four, Mark Williams, and your three shooting guards. I think Beal is probably projected to come off the bench like he did most of the back end of last season. Or they're just going to try to lock him in a room, George Costanza style and like turn the heat up and like let people use his special bathroom. Because I think they're trying to get him out of the building as quickly as possible.

So who would you start in? dead. I wouldn't start Grayson Allen or Beal. I would probably find actual point guard and I guess they're still technically in the mix for Chris Paul which is something. That's crazy.

But yeah, I would bring both guys off the bench or I would trade green. I mean, as would I. But look, this is part of the problem with where the suns are. They have clearly all of these shooting guards. We've all been talking about it, joking about it, including Grace and Allen, including all these pieces, just like guys who cannot play in combinations together all the time. You need more length on the floor. You need a diversity of skill set, all those things. At the same time, there's, you know, some chatter out there that they're trying

to sign Devin Booker to a two-year, $150 million extension. Devin Booker, I will say, very good player, one of the most theoretically malleable skill sets in the league. Not all that malleable when he doesn't want to be. You know, like so far in the NBA, we're going to put the Olympics off to the side. Yeah, after you're, playing with LeBron and Steph, I guess clearly you're willing to defer in a different way. But on NBA teams has mostly been a hardliner about playing his game and his style and power to him. I'm not trying to take that away from him.

But that's who he is. They want to give him $150 million. I get it. He's your best player. I'm inching towards the Devin Booker might be overrated camp, to be honest. That conversation is coming. I think two, three years ago, he felt like he was coming on part. with like the best guards in the NBA.

The last two years has not felt like that at all. No. And people could say, oh, messed up roster, the KD sulking, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah. But like Booker individually hasn't gotten it done to the level of his reputation that you would be entertaining, paying this guy. Like, bro, shepherd this team to like 40-something wins this year,

and we could talk about extending you. But just extending you just because you're eligible? You're going to continue to be eligible for that. I don't, why are we doing that? Why are we thirsty to do that? I think I take Rob's point about his lack of malleability, especially considering what you see in an international stage. But oftentimes I feel like his issue is one of,

that your best player needs to be your leader. And he's not necessarily that type of person willing to sacrifice and bend in order to make things work, which is ironic because he seems pretty convinced that he wants to play his entire career Kobe style with the Phoenix Suns and you would hope that that is the exact type of person would be kind of your totem there. But overall, like skill-wise and performance-wise, like his season last year wasn't all that different to an all-MBA season. It just seems like the success of the team is based more off the context of who's around him rather than

Booker being the differentiator in some of those teams. And which is why I think Chris Paul makes a certain amount of sense because Booker was at his best kind of following Paul's lead and allowing him to set the table. Completely. And look, there are stars that are great independent of context. They're basically the four or five best players in the league. Everyone else is dependent on a Chris Paul or a screening big or enough spacing from the wings. Like, everybody needs help in that way.

I think what's frustrating from a Phoenix perspective is like if Devin Booker is going to be that guy, if he's going to play his way and you're going to need to accommodate him, that's fine. Bradley Biel is a no trade clause. He's not getting moved unless he wants to or unless, as Justin said, you sufficiently make him uncomfortable. Jalen Green doesn't have a no trade clause, but he does have a very tepid market. And there isn't a lot of,

there aren't a lot of teams out there clamoring to get into the Jalen Green business, which is part of what made him being a prime return for Kevin Durant such like a funky way for that to end. Like I don't know if they believe that they're going to reroute Jalen Green quickly. Again, I will believe it when I see it. We've been having those conversations for literal years now.

So something has to give here, right? Like the structure of this team does not really work as it is. and we've talked about all of the other formidable teams in the West. For every Sacramento, there's like three other West teams that are going to be getting better. I just don't know what room there is for Phoenix or why this is supposed to make sense. I don't think they had great circumstances

coming into the summer to begin with, but I just don't think they've done particularly well even with those lesser circumstances. Well, it's a good thing they have Dayton's fourth winning his all-time coach at the helm to shepherd this whole thing through. It might work. You got to have the ultimate. be confidence in that for sure.

I think we actually talked around the solution. If Booker was at his best playing alongside LeBron James, maybe they need to make a trade. Yeah, LeBron. Wow. Hey, Luca, want to play with Jalen Green? He's had a really good summer. He's attacking these doubles in the summer and not asking for people to change up their coverages.

Look at that. I can see Rob Belinka getting on the phone and saying something that's stupid. by the way. I really hope not for everybody involved. Credit where it's due, I'm excited to have Nigel Hayes Davis in the league and give him a chance with a quite decorated career overseas to come in and hopefully be some kind of flamethrower

from the perimeter. Like the Suns could use some of that. So I'm eager to see what he can do in Phoenix. Can he play shooting guard? Well, good news. I think he's big enough to technically play the three. But spiritually, he's a shooting guard. So that might be an issue.

Great. Why don't we wrap it there? We'll be back on Monday. Thank you to Isaiah Blakely. Thank you to Ben Cruz. We'll talk to you next time.