The Ringer NBA Show - The Most Interesting Players Ahead of the Trade Deadline | Group Chat

Episode Date: January 14, 2024

Justin, Rob, and Wos join to discuss the most intriguing players that could be on the move ahead of the NBA trade deadline. First, they cover the red-hot Utah Jazz and whether their recent success will prevent them from exploring trades around Lauri Markkanen and Jordan Clarkson (4:17). Then, they talk about Draymond Green and consider if the Warriors would actually trade him and what fit would make the most sense (22:46). Later, they celebrate Jaime Jaquez Jr.’s impressive rookie season and debate if the Heat should trade him to acquire an older star in an effort to win now (37:37). Buy tickets for the live show in Indianapolis here!  The Ringer is committed to responsible gaming. Please check out theringer.com/RG to find out more or listen to the end of the episode for additional details. Hosts: Justin Verrier, Rob Mahoney, and Wosny Lambre Producer: Jack Sanders Additional Production Supervision: Ben Cruz Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Did Don Draper really buy the world of Coke? Did Tony Soprano really die? Or just order more onion rings? Were those guys really in hell the whole time, or was that just the audience? The finales of our favorite shows can make us argue, make us cry, and make us crazy. From Spotify and The Ringer, I'm Andy Greenwald, and this is Stick the Landing, a new podcast where we'll be telling the story of modern TV backwards, one fade out at a time. Each episode, a guest and I will choose a celebrated series from history, from the 70s to the street, streaming era and beyond and do a deep dive on its very last episode.

Was it all a dream? Did it turn into a nightmare? And most importantly, what can we learn about tomorrow's new shows from the way yesterday's ended? TV is a journey. I hope you'll enjoy this podcast about the destination. Starting January 17th, find Stick the Landing on Wednesdays on the prestige TV feed, on Spotify, or wherever you get your podcasts. Welcome to group chat. I am Dustin Barrier. joining me as always Rob Mahoney and YouTube

sensation big waz do we need to call you Mr. Waz now? No, no, no. I'm still the same big Waz although some of my closest friends

when they want to razz me like to call me small Wazni but you know I'm either one whichever one you guys prefer. I'm just a little

mift that you started this whole new series to get in your feelings but I thought that's what we do here on this show. Well, it's just an extension. I'm not doing anything. It's an extension of the brand. You won't hear any takes there that you haven't heard here. That's the way to sell it. So when you get into the experiential stuff, like the Mr. Beast, like, I'm going to put people in a house and give him a million dollars.

We got a little bit of time before we get to that. I'm sure it's State Farm or any of our numerous other sponsors might want to get involved. We'll get Fanduil on the phone at some point here in the future. But yeah, we're just having fun with it about, you know, all of these fun NBA topics. I mean, we're running our yaps two times a week up here. Obviously, I've got even more gas bagging to do it. There we go. Snow limits.

Rob, when's your Twitch live show coming out? I mean, that whole thing's in development. it's really high concept. We don't want to rush into just anything. You want to treat your consumers and your viewers with respect. So we're trying to do that to the utmost degree that we can. The problem is there's a lot of production. There's a lot of special effects.

There's a lot of props that need to be bought, costumes that need to be designed. Justin, I know as the editor of the program, you're heavily involved in all of those things. So you should know better than most. We were talking before we got on this podcast about some props that we might be breaking out during All-Star Week. May or may not be breaking out. I think we're leading toward May, but now that we're speaking into existence on this

pod, I feel like we have to, or at least that's what I'm hoping for as I force Rob's hand and he shakes his head at me vigorously. I hope you're getting, speaking of the live show, I hope you're getting your tickets at high-five indie.com for Saturday of All-Star Weeking to come see your boys and Jay Kyle man. So if you haven't yet, get those. They're selling like hot cakes or whatever thing in Indiana sells vigorously quickly. today we're going to honor another date in the trade deadline or March to the trade deadline.

January 15th is practically when everyone that signed over the off season is now available to be traded. Some guys, most guys did that about a month ago. Now everybody else is back on the table. So we expect to see some fireworks start to happen over the next couple days and weeks as we get toward February 8th. But today we are going to talk about our most interesting players ahead of the deadline. We each brought two to the table. I think we need to start, Rob, with the red hot Utah Jazz, winners of five in a row, 14 and 4 since December 13th, best team in the NBA.

But you want to ruin a good thing here. I wouldn't say that. I just want to have a conversation with my pals about the fate of the Utah Jazz and ultimately what they should be doing. but also more importantly, I think we need to circle back as a podcast because a week ago, we are diagnosing the problems with the Lakers and the Warriors, and we're talking about how those teams can turn their seasons around. And since then, Utah has hurtled both of those teams in the standings,

including a win against the Lakers straight up on Saturday night. So we have a case, not unlike last season, where the Jazz could probably make a run at a play in spot if they wanted to. or they could just as easily kind of strip this roster for parts or take offers on its best player, who's the player I in particular want to talk about today, Lowry Markinen. I think he's the guy of all the players,

not just on the jazz, but on the market, that could really change the title race in a material way. He's that good. He's that big. He's that important. And most importantly, he slots into a complimentary role so well.

He's such a great off ball player, one of the best spot up guys in the league. a great cutter, a great mover, and has the size, especially when you're thinking about how do you match up with the Denver Nuggets, for example, having that kind of size of the 3-4 could be a real game changer for some of these Western Conference contenders. So OKC is the natural team on the board, but really I want to open the conversation league wide on Lowry and say, like, where could this guy go? Or if you're on the Utah side, how seriously do you want to consider trading a player who's that good? Yeah, I mean, Lowry, honestly, when

The Cavs had announced back when he was still on, when they first got him, that he would be playing small forward for them. I was somebody who thought they were completely insane and out of their minds. Like, this is not, this guy's not a three. He's just not explosive enough, sneaky, athletic enough to actually get things done at that position. But I was flatly wrong. He thrived in that position, honestly. And ever since getting into Utah, he's only gotten better. And, yeah, his ability to slot between three and four.

We say this every single year in the playoffs that matchups dictate playoff series. Oftentimes, like a team, you know, might be better suited to play another team that, you know, intuitively you might not understand. And what that comes down to is a lot of teams don't have positional versatility, right? They have guys who can perform one function. And when they're not doing that, they become effectively useless in certain playoff series. The reason why Larry's so attractive is that he is a versatile guy. He can guard, you know, two positions.

And offensively, he's positionless. Like you said, he doesn't need to be on the ball. He's a great spot-up shooter, great cutter, can punish little guys if you try to put really small people on him. And so, yeah, I think he makes perfect sense for a lot of teams. But the best teams don't have the assets to go out and do it. When you think about the bucks or if you think about Golden State even to a certain extent, they're not the best teams, which you know what I mean?

Like the teams at the top of their conferences, respectively, it's the younger teams. You know, you mentioned OKC. I would even consider it if I was Orlando, even if you say that's a positional glut, I think that just makes you that much more switchable, that much more, you know, amorphous as a team. if you look into it as Orlando. But again, it's going to be one of these young teams that has a lot of picks out into the future

because we know that's what gets the juices flowing that, you know, stirs, girds his loins. Is that how you say that? Rob? I'm not sure how relevant the girding of loins is at this particular juncture. But I hear you on everything else was, and especially about Lowry's appeal

with a wide variety of teams, the flexibility he gives you, Justin, is in part is what's making Utah so good right. now. This new lineup they've been rolling out with John Collins at the five is kind of sick. And it's really like lifted the lid off of their offense in Utah. Like they look a lot more like the team we saw last year, wheeling and dealing, driving and kicking a lot of interchangeable ball handlers and passers and movers. Are we ready to give up on that dream for the sake of a deal? Even if it's not trading Lowry, but trading John Collins or Colin Sexton or any of the other jazz guys

who might be available. I think that. That's kind of the existential question that has to be answered first and foremost with Utah because it does feel like there's a real Belichickian thing happening here where it's just they're better than the sum of their parts. It's just like in the mixing and matching. He's Bill Belichick. You had a good run there, buddy. As a Jet fan, I'm not sorry to see you go.

Until he's coaching the Jets next year. Oh, I would invite that. You could always go home. Yeah. But no, even like in that Lakers game, I thought Andy Larson of the Salt Lake Tribune had a good piece about how they flipped the script at halftime and had the pieces in order to do so. And so like Walker Kessler isn't playing as well as he has of late. So they just play John Collins more. And like John Collins wasn't doing a good job on Anthony Davis. So Lori Markinen took the gig and he did well on him. And they just have so many mix and match parts that they can kind of just cycle through until something work. Kiante George, a guy who was starting for them earlier in the season. season coming off the bench now. He played well down the stretch, and all of a sudden, they just kind of let him have the minutes.

He's a big Rob guy, by the way. Oh, yeah. He's good. He's good. So I think that's the question, though, Rob, is how long can you go down this route? How good is this team if you just play out the string in this way? And I think last year's deadline deals informed this year's.

Do you want to do the same thing again where you get your fan base excited about this like salt on the earth? scrappy underdog team and then just sell them again. And so can you do the same thing over again? I think is my question. You can only pull the rug out from people so many times where you have these, you know,

Utah didn't even start this season especially well, but now they're rounding into form in a way that's fun and promising. What makes it difficult is I don't know how high, like how much headroom a Fontechio, Markinen Collins front court has on defense in particular. I agree with you, there are individual games and individual matchups where you can mix and match the parts and make it work. But ultimately, you want a backbone.

You want a Walker Kessler type prospect in there to grow with and to establish, like, okay, this is who we're going to be on this side of the ball. As much as I like their versatility and the optionality that they have to change things night tonight, I kind of like the stability of a more set approach. And if this isn't going to be it, and I can't say there's any evidence defensively to say that this is the look going forward. They are winning these games with offense. They are winning these minutes with offense.

And that's awesome and it works. But maybe it doesn't work enough to bank your whole future on it. What would you do, Oz? I mean, to me, Laurie marketing should be borderline untouchable in my opinion, just because he's proven, like he made the All-Star team last year,

and he's proven that that's not a fluke. Like, he's that caliber level of player. He might not be perennially All-Star, but he's knocking on the door every single year. And isn't that the point of roster construction is to acquire players of this quality? So, you know, to me, marketing, unless you get bowled over by some,

something, I don't see why you would even be putting marketing on the table. The rest of these guys, I think depending on the situation, Colin Sexton, Jordan Clarkson, these guys make sense on real teams, teams that could use some secondary or how do you, what's the, what's the word for the third person? It's not secondary. Tershare, yeah, tertiary. A subsidiary ball handling and offensive pop. And so I think those guys you should be looking at.

Even Walker Kessler played with Team USA is a traditional five, you know, rim running sword, rim protecting sword. Even him, I think you need to give it a little time. And so I think it's, and John Collins, the deal is the deal. I don't know how you get something great for his contract. But, you know, even John Collins, of course, I think somebody, if you can get something you should, but Marketing to me should be staying put.

Yeah, the most important thing about marketing right now is whatever the future of the jazz is, at some point they're either going to develop or bring in another star guy. And whoever that is, Markinen fits with them. It doesn't even matter what their skill set is, what position they play. You can find a way for that guy to play with Lowry Marketing. And for that to be your starting point,

I would be very reluctant to give that up. but as another team, an Oklahoma City Thunder type team, I would be very interested and inclined to offer a pretty substantial deal for a player like that. My favorite marketing just tidbit is that next year's contract is only a third guaranteed. It's 18 million, which already is a bargain deal. Only 6 million of that is guaranteed. And for our friends at home listening to this, all-star players don't have partial guarantees.

in their contract. Just to show you how far he has come and the jazz have come along with him. This guy was an ostensible throw-in or at the very least a buy-low to see what they had in him in the big picks deal with the Cavaliers. And it's just like completely changed

over the course of two years. It's kind of wild to see. So Rob, what teams other than OKC do you see as a fit for him? Because I could probably rattle off 10 here, just off the top of my head. Yeah, I think he could make sense in a lot of places.

it's just a matter of do they have enough? And, you know, you can get the sense based on the conversation we're having and some of the reporting that's out there, that another team would basically have to bowl over Utah with an offer to get Lari Market. And so then when you get into, you know, could the Sixers get him? I think the answer is no. You know, could the magic get him, as was alluded to.

I think maybe they could. They might actually have the assets to pull off a deal like that, but maybe you are getting too much of the same thing. Some say it's positional redundancy, and I understand that. Yeah, but I really could imagine so many different teams talking themselves into him. Like Dallas could certainly use him. Oh, my God, the heat.

He would be such a great fit. He'd be the perfect heat. When you've seen what their movement shooters have been able to pull off, imagine if those guys were seven feet tall and could dribble and could dunk on people. Like, that's what Lowry Markinen is. Yeah. Well, wise, you also had a Jasmine on your list. Do you want to talk about him?

Yeah. Is Jordan Clark? Because I think he's been, like, back in his Laker days or even early jazz days, he was kind of, you know, he was seen as an unsurious non-winning player, right? Pretty slight, very, very shoot first minded, limited on the ball capabilities. He was just seen as a limited player, but he's evolved into something much more substantial than that. Like, these made himself into a credible pick and roll operator. Obviously, he has the spot up game. I just think he's a genuine score.

And on teams like the Knicks, who often struggled to score, on even a team like Minnesota, who, yes, they gave all their goddamn assets to Utah already in the Rudy deal, I think he could be useful in Minnesota as an on-ball guy who actually looks to score, right? Conley we love. He's more of a connector at this point. He's a great spot-up guy. If you go way too under on the screen, he'll rise in fire and make it decently consistent. But he's not looking for his shot.

And Minnesota's looking for more offensive juice. So I look at teams that are, you know, really good teams at the top of the standing, whose identity is more so on the defensive end of the floor at this point of the season. And I look at the Knicks and Minnesota as teams that could use what Jordan Clarkson has to offer. And you could say the same thing about his teammate. So the two sides of Jordan Clarkson, on the one hand, shooting 41.7% from the floor, that is the same as Jordan Poole as one of the worst marks in the entire league.

Ninth worst, I believe, right? On the other hand, he's distributing at a career high rate, 5.3 assists per game. That's a career high. Assis rate is great. And also his partnership with Lori Markinen has been electric. Like some of the numbers, especially during this run, has kind of been remarkable. And so on the one hand, I'm like, oh, Jordan Clarkson, can I really trust him? On the other hand, Jordan Clarkson.

I think I could trust him in like. But George Clarkson can shoot. That's the thing. Like, we have a long enough data set to know that, yes, the shot has been erratic, more erratic than this season than it has been over the course of his career. but I have confidence that this guy can take and make big-ass shots, too. He's that kind of player. He is more of a reputation shooter than a percentage shooter, if that makes sense.

And that's why even the seasons, it's really now like a three-year stretch where the three has not been in a great place with him in terms of percentages. But he's so guarded like a shooter. And that to me is almost more important. And he takes hard threes. Yes. Takes a lot of hard shots, a lot of self-created shots, you know, to his benefit and to his detriment sometimes. but yeah, there's a lot of teams right now

that could use a little punch off the bench. I think Minnesota is a great call. I think Orlando is an interesting case because they already have Cole Anthony, but they do need a scoring punch, so maybe he's too redundant there. If I were the nuggets, I would think about it. Oh, my God.

And maybe you can make the same argument about Reggie Jackson being too redundant, but I think Jackson and Clarkson could play together a fair bit. Maybe you're eating into the Strother developmental opportunities, but I'm fine with that if we're contending for a title. We don't quite trust him. It's been very, very spotty.

Peyton Watson, though. Mm? Look, Jordan Clarkson's not stealing Peyton Watson minute. That's for sure. No, I'm just saying as a nuggett's young guy. He's actually worth it. No. Yeah.

Well, I mean, there's eight inches and 40 inches of vertical between Jordan Clarkson and Peyton Watson. So Payton Watson's role is safe and secure, but I would love them to get one more guy off the bench who could go off. And that's something that they could really use. I like that fit. Great contract for Jordan Clarkson. It's two years on a $28 million extension off of this season.

So he's making $23.4 million this year. But then it actually decreases to where each, like, the next two season combined is about as much as he's making this year. So he fits a lot of scenarios, as you guys are mentioning. It's kind of crazy to say because I think we kind of deride these instant offense, six man types as like, you can just find them anywhere. There's just scoring guards all. over the place, but when you get to this point of the season, does feel like certain teams,

especially contending teams, need that extra joel, especially as you're trying to trudge through February and March and you're just trying to stay where you are in the standings. I mean, the Knicks, good God, the Knicks need that, especially if they get, like, Brunson, like, hurts a thumb or something like that, you need someone to handle the ball. Yeah, you get to these different points in your team building cycle where, like, the Knicks, you've traded a couple of guys and now you find yourself with this deficit, or if you're a good winning team that's been consistent, you just lose guys in free agency over the course of a couple years. And then all of a sudden, you really need a Jordan Clarkson. So you could see how a lot of teams could talk themselves into him. And from

Utah's perspective, that's a way where you could make a meaningful haul, get something in return for a player who isn't going to materially change your core. Like Jordan Clarkson is helpful for the jazz, but not necessarily structurally important to the jazz. You know who could really use Jordan Clarkson, the Detroit Pistons. I mean, they got Danila Golanari. What more do they need? If that isn't a ish-smith, like, public-facing, we are trying to do something but not really sort of trade, I don't know what it is, man, which, as for the listeners at home

before we came on here, the Pistons traded Marvin Bagley's expiring contract and Isaiah levers, who was, let's just be honest, garbage. and a couple seconds for DeMilgarna, Calanari and Mike Mascala. And I have to say, when Galanari... Very not feeling charitable to snow. I was not expecting that.

Let's just be honest with our friends at home here. Extremely rude. He's trying his best. He has not played well. I feel bad for a Galanari, man. He just wants to eat pasta and cast some checks. He's going to have to go. Let the man pump fake.

Pump fake. And he's going to have to do that now in Detroit. That's, oh, God, what an awful, awful situation. But I could see Clarkson or someone like there, just like being able to carry some minutes and professionalize what has been just a complete catastrophe in Detroit. I mean, Detroit's going to be interesting at the deadline, if only because I think they need to,

if they want to avoid infamy and having the worst record in NBA history, add, not subtract, which is a wild thing. Is there a single person on our list who wouldn't make sense in Detroit? Like, they need upgrades at every single position. That's hard to do. I guess Draymond would be going home now. Well, yeah.

Let's talk about Draymond while he's on the board. I'm curious to hear Waz's take on Draymond Green as a player of deadline intrigue. So to me, he's a clear factor, meaning he'll make an impact on your defense no matter what the team is. There is no... construction of any team where it's like, oh, we couldn't use what Draymond brings on defense.

Like, everybody needs what he brings to the table. And why I was intrigued by him as a trade candidate is because it just got reported this past week that every single person on the Golden State Warriors roster is on the block, except for Steph Curry. And this is, and that's newsworthy because we've known throughout Steph Curry's tenure there that he's been like, no, like the core four, the core guys. you know, Iggy at certain points, and of course, Clay and Dremont, these guys should be untouchable. This is who we've built the foundation with. They should always be here.

This is who our culture as a unit is based on. They should be here, but we've now heard that that's no longer the case. And I think Draymond Green, who the deal isn't, he doesn't have the greatest contract, most team-friendly contract. But I think if you're a team that's solidly in the playoffs, he's more than worth it. These kinds of dynamic in one direction sort of players make the most sense on championship level teams, right? And so, you know, to me, the same way people were talking about OG An Anobie as a trade chip is how they should be talking about Draymond Green in terms of what he does the day he gets there on the court. Now, culturally, everything else. culturally it's a little bit more combustible and unpredictable.

But again, I look at a team like, and I don't know if the Warriors would ever do this to Dremont, but a team like Sacramento could absolutely use Dremont Green 100%. Both to one, he, the Mike Brown offense was invented in Golden State. He slots perfectly into that. All of the movement, you know, sort of egalitarian stuff that they do. can play next to Sabonis and matchup dependent. Sabonis, get your ass out of here. We need a real defensive center in there.

Dremont can play there too. I just look at any team. The kings I look at specifically because of how they got bullied in the playoffs, just out physical. I think Dremont would be that. But for me, Dremont is an interesting chip for anybody who wants to kick up their defense another notch. Well, for starters, I do think that Dremont,

Green is an important part of Golden State Warriors history. He's going to get his statue. He's going to be remembered incredibly fondly at the end of his career for his contributions to these teams. But he has worn out his like get out a jail free card that Clay Thompson has. The conversations are totally different in terms of the sentimental conversation around Clay. There's no sentiment. You can't be sentimental.

Once you're getting pulled out of seasons for your behavior, I think we're in a different place. Within two months. Yeah, what does that statue look like? Is it him stepping on DeMontes Sabonis? And what would Sabonis? He's definitely yelling. He's definitely yelling. His mouth is a gape for sure.

Okay. But, Was, what you just outlined is a very narrow window of team. A team that is good enough to talk itself into thinking, we just need like one more step to be real deal contenders. But desperate enough to say that the guy we need to take that step is the guy who was just, being suspended effectively by his team in the league for his behavior. And that's where I get stuck where his defense could absolutely help so many teams. But him as a culture setter is just not a thing anymore.

Him as a culture builder. If you don't have a culture of defense established already, who all these teams is going to look to Draymond as a leader and take him seriously? The Pacers? I don't, I don't. If you're a young player, how could you look at Draymond and say, like, I got to listen to that guy? I don't want to get punched in the face.

I mean, that's a very good. violence is the answer. I think he would have more influence over a younger team that has probably looked up to him. And a lot of these bigs are probably modeling their games off of Dremont than he would on a more veteran-laden team that doesn't have like LeBron. All I'm saying is that the Pacers routinely drop 140 on people. They cannot stop a nosebleed.

Draymond. Okay, they've been spotting the nose bleed of late. Oh, okay. They got the tissue. They got the tissue up the nose to at least. Slow the flow, but that's where we're at. I'm just saying? I mean, that's an improvement.

But again, I look at somebody like the Pacers, who was in all-offense sort of team, Draymond Green would immediately upgrade what they do. And, you know, I don't, look, I think the warriors in order to move, Draymond might want a Miles Turner type in return because they'd want a starter-level player to be getting rid of a championship piece that a guy that's been a championship piece for them.

So I'm not sure the type of return that they could send back. But again, it's a team to me that should be looking to upgrade on defense and Traymond presents a really quick way to do that. Pelicans are a team with personality issues as well. I think they might also have been playing too well to trade for Draymond. They might be like, we're not desperate enough to do this,

but I think he would make sense on the Pelicans as well. Just, again, their defense would just be ratcheted to another level. Some people might be like, how can you play? I think you can play Draymond next to Zion, because Draymond can play the five credibly, right? Right. And so, you know, I think teams like that. Well, I think the Pacer scenario is particularly interesting

because I do think trading Draymond opens up to really important existential questions about the warriors that somehow we did not address last week when we talked about them for an hour because the warriors are the gift that keeps on giving. You're just like, you can talk about them for seven podcasts in a row. I do wonder, and this is something that is kind of picked up steam here, if the warriors need to get bigger. And you're seeing this kind of dribble out from people with intel on the team is that they want to get bigger. And I'm a little curious about that because it feels like what they need to do is return to their base set. And it seems like they're at their best when they do that with Draymond.

And even Trace Jackson Davis has played kind of like a Kabuki theater, Draymon, at times for them. And it requires a whole shift in how they do things. But I wonder, like, should they get bigger? Isn't that how they got into that Wiseman pickle? They've been thirsty for big athleticism for so long because it's the one thing they haven't had. Besides, like, the best of Festusazili, which God bless them, You know, when he wasn't, like, super injured was a pretty athletic big for them. Or the single best moments of Javel McGee, maybe it would fit that criteria.

I was just about to say Javelle McGee, a guy with asthma who could never play more than 17 minutes a game. But what 17 minutes they were, was. Yeah, they loved Javelle McGee, by the way. They really do. It's a champion. Yeah, I get that. I get that as a sentiment for sure, the need for size. But who is this size that's out there and available?

Is it a Clint Capella? You just mentioned Miles Turner. You just mentioned Turner. Would that sort of trade-off make sense for you guys? I don't know why Indiana would do that. I think the issue for some of these teams that are in the Pacers position is they want someone they can grow with. And Draymond Green is not a player. He's only going to get worse from today to the end of his career.

So if you're a young team looking forward, he's not the fit for you. if you don't have the capacity to absorb everything he can't do on offense, he's not the fit for you. If you don't have the kind of culture where you can withstand Draymond berating people, then he's not the fit for you, which is I think what makes him so hard to trade in conversations like this. So to me, the Pacers and their culture and they're looking to the future, at a certain point, playing OB-Topping at the fore means in meaningful sort of minutes

means you're not that serious, honestly, because he just can't guard anybody ever at any position, right? And so I think while OB can get his minutes and a Draymond type, somebody to be a serious four-man for them or back-up five can spell them. Like, there's just moments where they're just so freaking easy to score against because of the nature of their big-man rotation, you know. And Smith being back, Matt, because he's actually provides some level of resistance

and is more skilled than people realize as an offensive threat. Definitely. But, you know, I just think they need to upgrade their big man position. That's why I'm into Draymond. Of course, I get it. The psychosis that he's demonstrated on the court over this past season has been troublesome. But I genuinely think he's still, you know,

of rock solid defensive player. Well, all of that understood. I think it's worth pointing out the bizarro Pacers. Another team that's elite on offense, woeful on defense, that might be a little more desperate.

And that's the Atlanta Hawks, a team who we try to nose into these trade conversations every which way to figure out, is Dejante Murray going somewhere? Is Bogdanavich going somewhere? Before it was John Collins, there's just so much

to shore up with Atlanta. And if we're talking about how to get that team more well-rounded, a team that has ownership pressure, that has superstar pressure, I think there's a universe

in which Trey and Jalen Johnson and Dremont can all play together and play well together. Like that could really work in a way that I'm more optimistic about than his fit in Indiana. So you've seen Hawks games this year. You're saying let's play for the now

as opposed to let's rebuild and like try to reconstruct this in a way. that we could have something else. I'm not saying, let's play for the now. I think they're going to play for the now no matter what we want. And if they're going to do that,

you might as well trade for Draymond Green. Well, that sort of discussion, I think is also interesting with the Warriors, because as we sit here, they're 18 and 21, they're 12th in the Western Conference, and you're starting to hear things come out that they might not even be thinking

about this season. How do we improve this season? We've talked about Pascal Seacom, ways to upgrade, and maybe that they get into the playing mix this year. I think the question is, like, do you try and win now? Or do you try to maybe shuffle the decks so that you could hit the ground running next season, even? And now that's a tough thing to sell to Steph Curry, but he is under contract for two more years after this one.

Do you want the next two years to be as good as they can be at while sacrificing this one? And I think a lot of that discussion hovers around not only Draymond, but more importantly, Wiggins, it seems like they have to probably attach something to in order to get off. And so, like, would you in order to get Wiggins money off and maybe, like, provide yourself some optionality down the road, would you give up a Pajemski? Would you give up even a moody to do so? Which seems like a little, like, cut your nose despite your face, but I could at least see the thinking there.

I think the way to conceptualize the Warriors' future is whatever they are going to do now needs to make them slightly better, but ultimately more promising. It can be an incremental step. And it could be an incremental step that opens up flexibility. It could be an incremental step that allows for a subsequent trade

that brings in someone mid-season who we all know and understand is not going to save them in the way that they're going to go deep in the playoffs. But when you do have Steph, you have to be competitive. You have to be more competitive than this. And that's where the Kuminga stuff

is so weird and so frustrating because he is the kind of player who could be important to their future. And I would say, of all the lineup roulette that Steve Kerr has been playing lately, starting Kuminga has made the most sense to me. Yeah, it's looked good. It's looked pretty good.

And yet there's sometimes, especially lately, he's now coming off the bench. And it's Wiggins in there sometimes. It's Saurich in there sometimes. It's Pajemskia in there sometimes. I don't know what role Draymond is ultimately going to play when he comes back to the lineup. I'm tempted to say he should just come off the bench.

But the problem with that is you have this strong synergy tie between Steph and Dremond, where you want them on the floor together as much as possible, because Steph bails out Dremon's weaknesses, and Dreyman makes Steph better. And you can't do that as much if Dremont is coming off the bench, to the point that Kerr was basically not playing Dremont without Steph at all before he left the lineup this season.

So what they ultimately do with him when he comes back is something that I'm keeping a close eye on, and certainly something that affects their deadline outlook. Like, if those guys aren't starting together, Draymond's value to the Warriors dropped significantly. Yeah, and another thing that I want to add about Wiggins, which is just funny to think about, when he signed his extension, we thought he got robbed. It was like, wow, it's like four years,

a hundred mill for a three who shoots it, guards people, handles it, punishes small guys in certain matchups. Like, what? That's a steel. and now everybody's like one of the worst deals in the league. It's crazy how these things

just seesaw, dude. The warrior is in a weird position where they need to get better but also cheaper and that seems like a primary motivation for Joe Lakey, who stated that before this awful season kicked off. And I don't know how you do both. And so they really

are at odds here where they need to get younger and cheaper, but they also need to get better for Steph and like, it is a Jenga process that like, once again, I must commend Bob Myers for getting himself out of the mud here because this is a train wreck that I don't know if anybody could really solve. They just have to do the best of a bad situation. All right. I want to do one of mine because we were talking about Lori Mark and Rob, you said something about maybe he is kind of the queen on the chessboard in terms of assets here because I was trying

to think like what are the best possible assets on the table here? And I think Lowry, if he is indeed in play, probably trumps everything just considering. how he bolsters a lot of these teams that are kind of in the same part of the title race, but no one's really separating themselves yet. The one guy, though, I think might be intriguing, especially for teams that are selling

and ostensibly going to want to get younger, is Jaime Hakez Jr., who, let's just stop and say, just 100% approval rating? Can we get more than 100? Just a fucking baller. Let's be real. Like, he's so good. He's making fadeaways now?

Like, what the fuck? work. What? It's so crazy. I remember doing a story, God, it was like probably five years ago now where it was like about defense

and like how defense is going to match like historic offense happening. And someone was like the way to that we're going to go is that with spread courts, someone who's going to be able to post up and take advantage of all the extra space there. And I think Hamihakis is the future in that regard because you're seeing like this spread court

and him just kind of like running into postups and working his match. his magical footwork, his like 1970s style footwork against some of these guys. It's like, it's exciting in ways that it is to listen to like old music. You know, like when that right song comes on, you're like, this hits a sweet spot. And that is Jaime Hockey. That is the experience for me. He doesn't have that tinny production value that a lot of modern pop does. You know, there's something something a little deeper and more bassy to his game. But you know, Justin, five years out, five years out, how do you think defenses have done? It seems like they're in a

great places slowing down these historic offenses. Yeah, I don't think it's worked out too well. But the tension with Hawkes, I think, is really fascinating. Because on the one hand, I think he's irreplaceable for the heat, especially for the heat, a team where who the fuck knows is going to start for this team on a given basis? I think they're tied for the most starting lineup combinations in the league. Actually, this is a quick aside here.

Do you guys know the last time Jimmy Butler played a game? Like, if you were to guess, when would you say is the last time, he suited up. It's definitely been a minute. December 12th. Okay. It's December 30th, but he has missed

10 of the past 11 games, which I think starts around the start of December. And what are they calling that officially? Who? No. I'm sure they're saying something that isn't the case. I think he's just old. And so,

Hawkes is the perfect player, I think, to spot in places where Jimmy just, all of a sudden isn't going to play, or he can come off the bench. His versatility of roles is perfect for this heat team that is just going to trudge to the season and hope that Jimmy can be magical like he was last postseason. On the other hand, all these Jimmy injuries and the Lowry injuries just kind of suggests me that, like, time is ticking on this era of the heat.

And so it kind of is an interesting discussion where it's like, do we just kind of usher in this new wave slowly and then maybe they could take the handoff from Jimmy? or do we trade a Hawkes, who could be probably one of the best blue chip assets on the board for like a Donovan Mitchell or something just to like go all in now? I would probably be the former, but I'm curious what you guys think. I don't know. I don't see the kind of offensive because obviously the kind of guy that's trying to bring in is an all-star shot creator, efficient, ball-dominant kind of guy. and I guess there's kind of two of them on the market depending on

you know if we're stretching the definition of efficient for Zach Levine I'm doing that deal like I get it Zach Levine is a very heat culturey he's also got and it needs to be mentioned an extensive injury past

like that has to be considered when you talk about his deal not just his ability to produce but the injury stuff is real. We literally just brought up Jimmy Butler how much time he's missing all the time, which seems like a routine every single regular season. I'm a young guy, get him out of here type of thing.

I'm somebody who thinks the clippers shouldn't regret the Shea trade because Paul George has been better than Shea for what, like 80% of that trade. And so, like, I'm somebody who's always going to say bringing the known commodity, specifically when it's somebody who can have the ball in big spots in the playoffs and score can be dependent on the score, you know, a 40-minute playoff player who scores

as compared to Jaime Hockes, who's a Swiss Army knife type of player, definitely fits within the culture of what they do. But to me, they should definitely, if they can get Mitchell or, or Zach Levine, I absolutely think they should be considering putting this kid in the deal.

See, I would split the difference there. I don't think you trade Jaime Hockas for someone like Zach Levine who has so many questions, not just about his health, but about how he fits next to other star players, given what he wants to do on a court and more importantly, what he doesn't want to do on a court,

I think create some problems of the idea of him as a third star, and frankly, as your second star in a post-Jimmy Butler future, right? Whoever they bring in. Just C-H-L-T-U-R-E, brother. C-U-L, excuse me. I just spelled culture wrong. That's what we need.

The misprint culture jerseys. Those are going to go for a premium on eBay. I feel really good about that investment. But Donovan Mitchell is a little different. And I think for all our questions about Donovan as a playoff performer, and what happens to him when he gets trapped? And what happens to him when he encounters like bigger, defenders in size in a playoff setting.

The idea of Donovan running a pick and roll with Bam where you have that kind of escape hatch, that kind of pressure release coming off of those pick and rolls, that's something Donovan's never had before. He's played with some good bigs, especially some good defensive bigs, but no one who can handle and pass and redistribute the way that Bam does. So I think Donovan Mitchell would be a great fit, the kind of fit that would make me willing to give up a prospect like Jaime

Hakez, but overall, you don't give up someone who's this good, this smart, 22 years old and on a rookie sale contract for Zach Levine. I just don't think that that's what you should do. Remember when the Blazers, I regret bringing this up, but I'm going to anyway already.

But remember the Blazers are like, we don't need Jaime Haquez. We got Tumani Kamara. We got the future. Tumani Kamara is pretty sick. He's pretty sick. Also, not sure he could shoot. No, I don't think he can't shoot.

But other than that, other than the non-shooting. Pretty fun player. Which is funny, guys, because as bad as, you know, other elements of the heat deal are looking now, like Tyler Hero hasn't exactly lit the world on fire this season, had a brutal start to this season. The hot-cast part of it is like, that would have been nice, right? That would have been pretty nice.

Let me ask you this. If you were like a seller, would you rather be targeted? Jaime Hockaz or like a Josh Giddy. Giddy is such a unique fit. I think you have to be along for that ride and those considerations in a way that Hawkes, you don't. Right? He can't shoot for one. It has to be respected as a shooter for one, but also gives you a lot of the same

distributive qualities. I don't think he has the vision that Josh Giddy has. Giddy is a pretty exceptional passing prospect, but everything else can leave a little something to be desired. He's a kind of outback Ben Simmons, although I guess they're both from the Outback.

But there are levels to Australian-ness is what we're learning. It's just this. Look, Ben Simmons is Australian, y'all. Although he tries to hide his accent,

but, you know, that's neither here nor there. There's just, I don't like this idea that there's this young guy who's, we've already decided, has all these limitations that, you know, certain fits he can't grow into, right?

Like with Josh Giddy. And so that's why I'm just like, I don't know, man. If this guy's so, like, context dependent, he's way less attractive to me than a guy who fits into every single context of every team in the NBA. Yeah, there's versatility and there's quote unquote versatility. And if anything, Josh Giddy has the illusion of being a versatile player, Because he can do lots of different things. Right. Size and handle and vision and that kind of thing.

Yeah. Even the way he attacks the basket when he's being an aggressive score. Like that is a quality that you would want in a versatile offense. But ultimately, what he takes off the table compromises the versatility you're trying to achieve. Yes. Which teams don't already have that or have someone that they hope to grow into that role. Whereas like Hawkes fits around what you would already establish. Yeah.

But speaking of the Blazers and who guys who I think should be intriguing trade candidates, Anthony Simons, who is a stud, in my opinion, but I think his future should be at the one, and they've already drafted the savior, allegedly, at the one. I think he's an on-ball guy. I think his impact gets minimized when he's used as, you know, some Reggie Miller type. Like, I don't think that's the kind of guy he is.

He can be. and I think that's what makes him so attractive. He can be a movement shooter. He can be a spot-up shooter. He can work off the ball. But I think he's kind of demonstrated that he's really good with the ball in his hands. And the more reps he gets as a distributor-type full-time ball handler, the better he's shown himself to be. And can they even embrace that destiny because they've drafted, you know, the next tiny archibald?

Simons is fascinating to me, especially as we head toward the deadline. He's someone I had on my list. On the one hand, his scoring has been electric, and he has been showing more playmaking and off-the-bounce just creation than I think he has in the past. His fall a foul drawing, which has been a big sore spot for him, has started to leap a little bit, and it's good to see him kind of go toward contact

as opposed to shying away from it. On the other hand, he's the worst defender on one of the worst defensive teams that I've ever seen. Also, his two-point percentage is third worst in the league. I believe it's tied with Brandon Miller. So a lot of his offense is still coming from the jumper. And the other kind of sticking point with him is that he only has two more years left on his deal.

And so you have to wonder, are the Blazers going to be good enough next year? I would say no. I think they have a much longer runway at this point. And then at that point, your agent, if they're doing their job, is asking for an extension when you have one more year left on your year after that. And so, like, will the Blazers be able to empower and take advantage of Simons in the way that he probably should? And for that reason, I wonder if he makes sense to trade now,

especially as he's healthy, which has also been a concern from him over the past few years, and, like, reap the benefits of that rather than maybe build things around it. Rob, what do you think? I just think if you're Portland, and you have one of the best shooters in the world who's 24 years old on your roster,

if you have even the thought in your head that he could someday run a playoff level offense, and I don't even mean be the number one option, I just mean run it. Can he be your lead guard in a playoff level offense? If you think that is possible, you cannot trade that player. The shooting is too valuable.

What he could be is too valuable. And where you are as a franchise now, it's really the best thing you've got going. The question is, how do you make everything that you have fit in a way that developmentally makes sense because you really, in their current form, can't play Simons and Scoot

and Shaden Sharp together a ton. And so at some point, you're going to have to prioritize those endeavors. You're going to have to make a choice. And that crunch, for one, makes it very reasonable to trade away Malcolm Brogden, who's already been coming off the bench in a bunch of games of the Blazers already. That's kind of assumed.

A veteran guy on a young team, you could trade Brogden. But also, whether this season or in the future, you're going to have to make a choice on these other three guys. And it's too early to make a call on Scoot. We're still kind of seeing what he can be. He's just growing into the NBA game in a lot of different ways. It's very early for Shaden Sharp even still. Simons is the most fully formed of those prospects,

but he's still growing, especially as a lead ball handler. And that's something that I would want to invest in as a team, is saying, can he be that guy at the point of attack? Because Simons as a lead makes more sense than Scoot Henderson as a lead, just given what those guys can do. Whoa. I don't I wouldn't say that yeah I just don't think we know that about Scoot I'm actually I'm still buying Scoot stock I'm just saying by skill set for school like I I've you know this idea that you know six foot six foot one guy who barely shoots it I'm supposed to be excited about I you know I never understood that logic was like oh but he's like good at mid range which I was like good shot has actually been good it's actually the inside game that's been bad of late well and that's a similar thing to, as you're saying, with Simons and his two-point percentage, some of this for both

scoot and Simons is, you mentioned Tumani Kamara. They play Matisse Thibel, whose shot has been better by percentage, but doesn't get guarded. Jeremy Grant doesn't get guarded like a three-point shooter. There's a reason why Dwap Reith has like a significant effect on their plus minus in some of these games. Damn right, he does. Just like, put someone on the floor who can shoot at a reasonable clip. And that has made a big difference. So they just don't have spacing for these guys to get to the rim ultimately right Yeah, and it's gross out there. I think everybody would say it's too early to give up on Shaden Sharp because he's shown, he's had his moments this season where he's done stuff that just jumps off for the page

at you. Oh, yeah. Where you're like, holy moly, this guy might be, you know, a perennial all-star if he keeps this kind of thing up. Obviously, it's been inconsistent. But I don't know, man. I don't know. to me,

Simons, if you think Scoot is the guy, which is what their management was signaling all summer, the savior has come for us. You need to, you need to figure out something with Simons. Well,

and if I'm a team that is looking at a dynamic like scoring guard, like for instance, the Orlando Magic, I wonder if I am trying to bowl over the Portland Trailblazers in order to get them.

And so I think, that fit would be good. On the other hand, though, it seems like the magic have so much stuff these days that not only are they like trying to still figure out what they have in Anthony Black Jet. Howard doesn't even play. I mean, I know there were concerns about him coming out of the draft. I don't even know what he is as an NBA player. Caleb Houston is kind of manning that spot in the starting lineup. It seems like they almost like their advantage is that they have so many of these young guys just on top of young guys that they could fit them in when they need them to. Like it almost seems like they're a pipe.

pipeline team where they just like, when you lose one young, intriguing okay guy, you got another one right there to do it. So it's almost like foundational to their identity, but I do think long term they would need someone like Simons. And like, that's the guy I would be targeting in order to like kind of complete the piece of the puzzle around Bankero and Wagner. That would be a really gorgeous fit with the way Orlando plays defensively. And in particular, Suggs and Simons together as a one to that I really like a lot. Also the Lakers. We have to. We have to. to mention is a team that just needs offense. I have to say, man, God,

the Lakers are just so depressing these days. I think they have to trade Reeves. I don't know if we need to talk about this again, but I think they need to get over the fact of Austin Reeve being untouchable. Let's just do something different here. I heard he's Jeannie's favorite player. Jay Moore's favorite player,

so he can't get rid of them. Can't touch him. Yeah. Rob, do you want to bring us home here? Yeah, I think a guy who's worth noting in this trade market as it develops, and in particular in the scope of one team, oddly enough, is Marcus Morris Senior. Mm. Senior, specifically.

The Sixers have all the ingredients for like a really active deadline. They're really good, but noticeably not good enough to win their conference right now. They have a superstar in his prime. They have some movable contracts and picks to spare. and the latest intel about them is kind of pointing toward more conservative outcomes. Not trading for a star, but a nice backup guard, a nice wing who could join the rotation, just like another piece for a good team. I don't think anyone will be shocked if the big trade materializes because Philly, I think

clearly has some interest in that, but realistically, we're talking about something more modest. And that's where Marcus Morris comes in. He's been fine since coming over to Philly and the James Hardin deal, but most importantly from a deadline perspective, he makes $17 million, and he's on an expiring contract. And so when you're thinking about

how are the Sixers going to get a decent backup guard, a decent wing to add to the rotation, almost all roads go through Marcus Morris. And so really Marcus Morris is a canvas for us to talk about what Philly needs, what they can realistically get, and what they can realistically get

for him and some picks, or him and one other player and some picks, because that's ultimately what they're going to be offering, I don't know what the plan is because we keep hearing about cap space. They don't want to get guys in there with long-term deals. OG is gone.

Yeah. All of these other guys that they've kind of been targeting and maybe hoping to wait on, I wonder, for instance, if they even have to settle for a Pascal Seaccom type, who's not a great fit there, he wouldn't be the perfect guy I would be targeting next to Embed, who we should mention doesn't play

these days. And that's a huge concern. I wonder how much that factors in the calculus of how much you're looking to push in right now. But like, who's out there just that you could sign? It's like Drew Holliday, who we haven't really heard as an extension candidate in Boston? But he's going to be 34 as much as I like that fit in the back court with Maxie. Like, I don't think he's the guy. And so what's the next move here?

It doesn't seem obvious to me at this point. Well, Cap Space isn't all about free agency. I think there's a lot of avenues in which you're talking about facilitating a trade with that space for a star who may or may, you know, may want to come there, express an interest in coming there. So long term, I think you're playing the trade market as much as anything if you're filling in hoping that the idea of Maxie's development and Joel being one of the best players in the world is going to be attractive enough to draw someone's trade requests

or trade interest. As for what they do in the interim, it's tricky, admittedly. They don't have a lot to play with other than Morris's deal. Salary-wise, like unless you're trading Tobias Harris, who kind of makes too much money to trade for a low-level player, unless you're not. you're acquiring multiple lower level players and Tobias Harris is probably more valuable to what the Sixers are doing than that.

So then who are we talking about? And it kind of is like Dennis Schroeder, Spencer Dinwiddie, Terro Rozier, Bogdan Bogdanovich. I think there will be some Dejante Murray chatter, I'm sure, just on the basis of the fact that he and Maxi could theoretically play together,

but that might be too rich for what we're talking about. Tyos Jones makes a lot of sense, but there's some reporting that maybe Philly isn't as interested in him for reasons that escape. me because I think he'd be pretty good there. None of these guys are like changing your world, but if you're a good team, maybe they can get you through one more round

than you expect. I think that might be the ceiling for Philly this season. I don't know that they're really challenging the Celtics in particular at the top of the east, but maybe they can kind of shuffle their way up the pecking order behind the Celtics. Yeah, I like Schroeder. He was on my list as somebody,

again, I think the Lakers sorely miss him because he's somebody who can play both fucking ends. I know we hate 2A, but like he actually was their best on-ball defender by far and was part of the reason why they could be elite is like what AD's doing on the back and Dennis is chasing people around and being a pest at the top was, you know, incredible. I think the bucks could use Schrooter, like instead of doing what they're doing with Beasley, defensively you allow Dane to go play the, you know, the sort of defensive

stopper type on the other team or the non-entity and let Schroeder chase the ball handlers around and then, you know, now like Janice and Brooke can actually use their strength because there's some resistance, you know, on the ball. And, you know, again, God bless Dame, he's not a resistance on the ball guy. I think a myriad of teams can use Shruder

because of what he does. And I think with IQ coming into Toronto, it's like, bro, just let him be the starter, soak up all the minutes, earn the extension that you're inevitably going to give him this summer. So, yeah, shrew to somebody I've definitely identified as I think he would make a lot of teams better. He did it in the playoffs last year.

What do you think about him for Philly? Do you think he could kind of shore up some of their pressured issues on defense too? The same principles of Dame apply to me. Maxie. I think Maxie's younger and more athletic. We think of him as a better defensive player than he's shown. And to be sure, he's gotten better than obviously what he was as a rookie, but he's not ideal. But yeah, I think he would make sense on Philly too, honestly. I just think Schrooter, because of the change of pace on the ball, like he's somebody who absolutely gets downhill. Although Philly's not lacking in that, but he has that. He can just let

Maxie do, like, take a rest as far as initiation. is concerned. I'm a big shrewder fan. I think he's become super underrated and undervalued. He's also the kind of guy who probably makes sense playing with the Sixers' Second Unit. Like him and Paul Reed and the open space that comes with Phillies,

like Phillies backups and Phillies Reserves, I think could make some sense for him. But yeah, you do want someone to just take a little bit of the creative lift off of Maxine and B. There's just so much on their shoulders right now. You know what I like for the Sixers is kind of like a stopgap option, intriguing one.

Gordon Hayward. Assuming he plays basketball. Assuming he plays, but I do think he's someone who could playmake a little bit and also like continue your reliance, over reliance on a maxian bead, don't really step on their playmaking numbers, which seems like a pretty big feather in Mori's cap

because these guys are just racking up the type of numbers that are going to get them into awards conversations, which I think is probably in his, benefit in order to keeping them long term. I also think the Sixers, the Lakers, teams that aren't into that second tax are going to be at an advantage for someone like a Gordon Hayward if they do get waived, if they get bought out after the deadline. We think Gordon Hayward is a veteran, like a buyout guy?

I don't think so. I think because, well, he's not expiring. I mean, if he lasts through the deadline and if people are worried that he won't be able to play as much, could they just like come to? an agreement. He gets bought out for $2 million and then he goes on the market. But if you were below the second tax, you are able to sign a guy like him. And I believe the way it works is if the players making before their way more than $12.5 million teams like the bucks, the sons cannot sign those players. And so I wonder if that's a pathway for certain teams like the Sixers without messing

up their long-term vision. I may have spoken too soon. I mean, the idea of the Hornet saving even $2 million is something that I think we have to realistically talk about. Even as Jordan is no longer the owner. Even under L. Chippo himself. Yeah. I mean, the market considerations still are what they are. I think what makes Hayward interesting in the buyout market is very different than the idea of him as a trade piece, just because he makes prohibitive money, $32 million a season.

So the Sixers don't have a way to amass that unless they're trading Tobias Harris. But if they can get him as a buyout guy or any winning team or veteran team could get him as a buyout guy. I think that's a great role for him. Plus, it's a low risk role. If you're giving up stuff for Gordon Hayward, real prospects, real picks, real rotation players. That's a bad, bad idea.

His health just isn't reliable enough. But yeah, I think we're all fans of his game and what he can actually do when he gets out there. Have you guys looked at the Sixers books for next season? Right now, the only guaranteed contracts they have on the books are Joel Embed at 51 million, Springer at 4 million. which they had to opt into a few months ago.

And I remember that being a huge consideration. And then Paul Reed, $7.7 million non-guaranteed. It is a blank space for whatever Darrell Moore can cook up here. The problem is what are they going to put in there? Right. The problem is that's all next year. Right. So on the one hand, that buys him time,

that buys him a deadline and an offseason to figure it out. but the clock is ticking to figure it out there. And it's just, I don't know, man. I will say LeBron James, player option for next season. Just going to float that? Just put it up in the air. Well, here's another one.

Another guy with a player option for next season, Paul George. And now I don't think Paul George is going to go anywhere after the Kaui extension. Yeah. Although it is curious that Kaui's extension got done, but his didn't. I mean, like,

these things come in stages. Yeah, as a thought exercise, if you're Paul George, would you rather write it out with the clippers or the Sixers? He's not going to happen. He's not going to happen. He's not going to happen. He's been his wish forever. He got it. Like, the Clippers lose.

Nobody cares or bothers them. He still gets close to Max money. Like, what does he have to complain about, honestly? It's true. Yeah, the pressure of being a clipper versus the pressure of being a Sixer. A little different. Like, you know what I mean? Even in the same market, it's just he's got a great gig.

Why would he want to ruin that for expectation and scrutiny? I feel about these podcasts. That's why I don't go and do any YouTube shows myself. That's why we're sticking to the bottom half of the top 10 sports podcast. We don't want that top five scrutiny. Listen, man, everything I do is ringer, everything on my back. Everywhere I'm at is Ringer grew chat all day, which, by the way, last night I've never felt more like a Ringer employee than I did because I went to the new Beverly cinema and saw heat on file. Hell, yeah, it was.

It was 35 mil. Fucking sick, yes, 35 millimeter. The little curator manager guy at the theater said, this is Quentin's personal print. And he said, which I think is pretty cool. And so, yeah, I watched that last night. I never felt more ringer in my life. I think you can expense that. Actually, I think Chris Ryan will personally expense that for you.

She's got a great ass! All right. On that note, thank you to Jack Sanders on production. We'll be back on Wednesday. We'll see you then. Must be 21 plus and present in select states. Fandul is offering online sports wagering in Kansas under an agreement with Kansas Star Casino LLC.

Gambling problem, call 1-800 gambler or visit Fandul.com slash RG in Colorado, Iowa, Kentucky, Michigan, New Jersey, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Illinois, Tennessee, Vermont, and Virginia. Call 1-800 next step or text next step to 533-4-2 in Arizona. 1-888-889-77 or visit ccpg.org slash chat in Connecticut. 1-8009 with it in Indiana. 1,800 522470470 or visit KSgamblinghelp.com in Kansas, 1-877770. Stop in Louisiana. Visit MD gambling help.org in Maryland. Visit 1-800 gambler.net in West Virginia or call 1-800 522470-0 in Wyoming. Hope is here. Visit gambling helpline, MA.org or call 800-327-50-50 for 24-7 support in Massachusetts

or call 18778 Hope NY or text Hope NY in New York.