The Ringer NBA Show - Who Are the Most Intriguing Free Agents and Trade Targets? | Group Chat

Episode Date: June 29, 2022

Justin, Rob, and Wos start by discussing the trade between the Denver Nuggets and Washington Wizards and what the Nuggets could look like with their new additions. Then they each discuss one restricted and one unrestricted free agent that intrigues them (7:12). Then they each talk about some of the most interesting trade targets (51:27). Hosts: Justin Verrier, Rob Mahoney, Wosny Lambre Associate Producer: Isaiah Blakely Additional Production Supervision: Benjamin Cruz Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Hi, I'm Derek Thompson. Does the news feel overwhelming to you these days? There's a pandemic. Then there's inflation. And also this crypto thing, it's way too much to keep track of. That's why my podcast, Plain English, breaks down the news twice a week. Short, sweet, and surprising. It's everything you need to know with key insights you won't forget. Listen to Plain English free on Spotify. And welcome to Group Chat. I am Justin Verrier. Joining me, as always, Rob Mahoney, Big Was. I just wanted to start here by thanking you for daring to be different and leading us into tomorrow.

It's very big of you. I appreciate it. Oh, man. The gift that keeps on giving. Wow. Yeah. That was great, wasn't it? It was something.

I'll say that. But we're not going to talk about Kyrie Irving. There's plenty of podcasts and stories to go to seek out that sort of content. and I'm sure there'll be more and more coming throughout the internet in the coming weeks and months and years. But today's schick, we are what? Less than 24 hours? No, we're a little bit more than 24 hours away before free agency can officially begin on Thursday at 6 p.m. Eastern.

We're going to go through our most intriguing free agents and trade targets. So each of us have brought to the table one unrestricted free agent, one restricted free agent, and one trade target. and one trade target. But first, let's talk about the deal that happened just before we came on here. Nuggets and Wizards, Will Barton and Monti Moore's for KCP, Ann Isch Smith. Rob, what do you think about this deal?

It's tricky because, you know, Denver really did need a good wing defender to slot into its starting lineup. That's a real thing. And they found one. It still definitely smells a little bit like a financial trade masquerading as a basketball trade.

And so it's not exactly without, its basketball merits, but it's hard to look at this bottom line. The Nuggets giving up Will Barton and Monta Morris in this deal and not CO. They just so happened to sneak under the luxury tax, a team that historically has put a lot of value in sneaking under the luxury tax. Yeah, I think depth was absolutely sacrificed here, but I think they got better on the top end. When you consider what Kenny, people were making fun of me on Twitter because I called him Kenny. But that's his name. Kenny, when you consider what he does defensively, just like point of attack,

screen navigation type of stuff, your Steph Curry's of the world, he's great at that kind of stuff, shoots it at a 40% clip from 3, can do it at volume. He doesn't really help you against a Paul George, Kauai Leonard, Jason Tatum types, like the big wings, but against normal-sized guards, KCP is a great defender. And then, you know, Monty Morris's backup point guard ball handling duty and Will Barton, theoretically, Jamal Murray's going to be back and healthy, and Bones Hotland can come in and take over those minutes.

And Ish Smith is your classic third guard, right? Break glass in case of emergency, regular season innings eater type of guy, reserve type of guy. So me personally, I love that. the trade because I think a five-man unit slotting Kenny at the two of reasonably healthy MPJ at the three

Gordon at the four I love that around what Yokic and Jamal Murray do. I just think they were insanely good offense with that group. And the healthier that the nuggets are, the less valuable that Barton in particular

becomes, right? The more you talk yourself into more of a pure 3-and-D type player and KCP is both of those things at a much higher level than Will Barton is at this stage. Now, I think they're going to need to find a little bit more creation somewhere

and maybe that's a mid-level conversation, maybe that's a future trade down the line that we haven't really gotten to yet. Can I interest you in a Victor Oladipo? There's certainly a lot of Victor Oladipo buzz out in the air right now for Denver and some Gary Harris reunion whispers. Although that does nothing for your shot creation,

shot taking. But it does some of you. your depth. Yes. And that's the thing is we're talking about the top five. You scan down that bench

and yeah, it's Isch Smith, Jeff Green gave them some pretty good stuff. But other than that, it gets a little shaky a little quickly. So I think they need,

they need a couple more moves. They need some more bodies in here to really round this thing out. But there's room for them to both duck under the tax and become a better team because of it. And I think we're starting

to see them round that corner ultimately. Yeah. I mean, I think you guys hit all the major points here. I like how Zach Lowe described it on Twitter. where Will Barton for KCP seems like a fair tradeoff. You're just getting a wing that probably fits what you need a little bit more on both sides of it.

The issue comes when Monty Morris for Ishmith, which seems to be specifically to duck under the tax. And like you guys said, I mean, if you believe in bones in year two, if you believe in the health of MPJ and Jamal Murray, then maybe you're probably fine. There's enough creation between them. Maybe you expand what MPJ is doing a little bit more. but if not, you know, maybe you're riding the rails a little bit too much. Maybe you're putting a little too much faith that Ishmith can just like come in and save the day, which, by the way, he's done for now 12 other teams. This would be his 13th.

So, like, it's actually not a terrible bet to make. And I do need to say this because I, you know, people make fun of me for being so in the tank for Denver. But like, I think on their high end, this depth shit is not. going to matter. They will be that freaking good. Because on their high end with MPJ, with Jamal Murray, and obviously the fucking two-time MVP, like, they are extremely good and to me as good as anybody in the league, right, on their high end with, again, I know this is a big, big, big caveat considering the guys we're talking about here, they are incredible, if healthy.

So, like, I'm not too worried about that depth issue. Yeah, I mean, those two guys are really the most important depth pieces for Denver. Like, if you have Murray and you have Porter for at least most of the season and they're in relatively good form, that's what's going to help Yokic get to the finish line in better, you know, not better shape, but better. He just looks so worn down by the end of the playoffs, really over the last couple years. And so if you can cut him a break where some of these other guys are creating a little bit more in game 62, I think that's going to pay off for you big time. All right. Let's get to the topic at hand here. We're going to start with our most intriguing unrestricted free agents. Each of us have one. Then we'll go to restricted and then we'll go to trade targets. I'm going to take the ball first here. I'm going to start because the guy I picked was very much in the news yesterday to the point where I almost wonder if he could even qualify for this list just because it seems like he's destined for.

New York. This is one Jalen Brunson. And so what I have some things I want to bring up with Brunson, but first, what I'm going to do is I'm going to put five minutes on the clock here. And I'm going to turn it over to Waz. And Waz, I just want to hear everything you have to say about Jalen Brunson being your New York Knickerbockers, a $110 million man. Ready? Go. Look, I think I, because I was on Bill's pod yesterday talking about him. And I think that people got the impression that I was like, sour on the deal. I think he's worth the money. I'm just wondering about what the Knicks are going to be going forward. If the idea is that like it's about our young guys and we bring in another quality starter and whatever, then cool. But like, I don't know that that's what

these dudes sold the city and the fans on when I say these dudes. I mean Leon Rose in his bunch worldwide West, Steve Stout, which is still hilarious. Like, that's not really what they promised, that type of team. Now, if you want to say the Knicks are being patient, they're biding their time, they're bringing in another high-quality starter-level player, nothing wrong with that. But is he the Julius Randall of point guards? You know what I mean? Like, the guy's a high-quality player, but he's paid right to the point of what he's worth.

Like, he is there. He's not a value deal. I'm not going to say he's overpaid, but he's right to the point of basically what he's worth. And, you know, that type of guy in and of itself is cool. I don't know that it's changing anybody's life. I think Jalen Brunson's a dope player. I think he's hard-nosed.

I think it's funny that they hired his dad, like this is freaking an AAU coach and it's Auburn University or something. You know, the whole incestuous nature of all of that Leon Rose's kid being his agent. All of that kind of stuff is weird. But on the basketball sense, it's a good deal. Like, he's a good player.

He's an upgrade to what they had. I just don't know spinning it forward. What do you see for the Knicks if you're a fan of the team to be like, all right, maybe we're not going to get to Golden State Boston, Milwaukee level. But, man, can we get to, like, slightly below Memphis level? You know, like, how do we even get to that level? You know, so that's my feeling, you know, the signing. I'm not down on it.

I don't think he's vastly overpaid. This isn't like John Wall's extension. You know what I mean? Like, he's going to be a good player. I'm just wondering what the Knicks are going to be doing going forward. There's only three minutes, by the way. Congrats. Yeah, we might be ambitious talking about how do they get to Memphis level.

I think they're like, how do we get to. Chicago Bulls level. Right. And then let's keep going from there. And maybe ultimately those answers are going to be guys like Barrett, more so than they are guys like Brunson or guys like Randall. But, you know, this really is an interesting spot the Knicks are in because they so clearly needed lead guard help.

They tried it with Kemba, did not work. And then you start looking at the alternatives. And it's like if you're not going to go in a direction like a guy like Jalen Brunson, what are you doing? Like what are your immediate plans to take some of this stuff off of Randall's plate off of Barrett's plate to get a more cohesive, organized offense. You can see how they got here, even if like the means of getting there involved, as you said, paying your son who's also the player's agent and putting some money in so-and-so's pocket and hiring

his dad as a coach. You know, all these things. Making like 30 trades just to carve out like $5 million here, $5 million there. Yeah. Yeah. The latest of which was this dump, salary dump to the Pistons where they sent out in Erland's Noel and Alec Berks, who are good NBA players for not. nothing and two second round picks and I think $6 million in cash reportedly for nothing.

Shout out to the Pistons, by the way, who I think have done a really good job leveraging their space at a time when they didn't need it. Did they though? Like, I don't understand that deal from their point of view. Not to get in the weeds of like the Nerlin's Noelle element of this all, but like, Noel and Burke's totally fine players. But like, doesn't Noel take playing time away from Beefstew and now Jalen Duren in the front court? And like Marvin Bagley could theoretically play.

some minutes at center. So like, do you need Noel? Do you need Burks to be taking the ball away from Cade Cunningham and now, Jaden Ivy? I actually don't know. Unless you could spin them forward into something else, which is a whole other possibility. But those three names you mentioned,

none of them have proven they can be good NBA players yet. You know? Like, so New Orleans, Noel is that. You know, he's often injured. Obviously, he has a big history in terms of unavailability and things like that. But a good defender, catch-and-finished guy has now caught on with multiple teams

in kind of smaller roles and fit to those roles. I like that kind of maneuvering. And again, this is in conjunction with the deal where they took on Kemba's contract to get Jalen Dern in the first place. So when you look at this stuff holistically, I think the pistons are doing good work. Yeah, I just wonder if they could have held on

to the space a little bit longer. And then when one of these teams, that's inevitably going to get desperate for cap space just because they want to squeeze some more money out in order to put an offer sheet out for like a Miles Bridges. I wonder if that opportunity is now gone here. I think also too, sometimes as a developing team, a developing team, it's nice to fill your rotation minutes with actual NBA players. Like, that actually aids in the development of your players when they are playing around competence, right?

Like, it actually is a boon for them when like- Killian Hayes, isn't that? Hoof! Oh, my God. You know what? Two, my two favorite memories from last year's summer league. One, watching Josh Giddy get ripped at half court and immediately tweeting, I think that Thunder might have drafted a bus and blowing up OKC Twitter for like a day or two

and having people think that I was serious and it's like tweeting me all year long, which was fun. And then watching Killian Hayes just have no handle whatsoever. like just i'm just like this is not an NBA level guard like with his ball he just seems so raw can't shoot can't handle and it's like 6 3 like what i mean what the what are we doing with that there so yeah no killing hayes ain't that um all right well one thing i wanted to get to is i i i wrote down i think pretty much every point guard in the NBA and now i'm not blurring the lines here i'm going strictly listed as a point guard because like in Washington for instance you could probably

say that Bradley Beale is the lead guard there he's going to initiate most of the offense but I'm sticking rigidly to the point guard definition and I really want to find out where Brunson fits in the league at large so stop me this is who I have above Brunson stop me if you disagree with any of these players so Steph Curry John Morant Damian Lillard Trey young Chris Paul Jamal Murray, Drew Holiday, Shea Gilders Alexander, Darius Garland, Kyrie Irving,

I will say, mostly based on actual performance, not whatever weird crystal stuff he has going on in his off time. Hypothetical. Hypothetical Kyrie Irving. Hypothetical Kyrie Irving. Cade Cunningham, Lamello Ball, C. Jim McCallum.

Is Kate Cunningham a point card? Yeah. You can call him a point guard. Um. Yeah, he's going to, initiate a lot of you often. Also, lamello ball, I don't think is better right now

than he hasn't shown himself in his career yet. Who would you rather have, though? Oh, I'd rather have Lamella ball. Right. And Kade too? He's a six, seven point guard. Like, yeah, and of course I'd rather have Kade. Yeah, yeah, that goes what I'm saying. Okay.

Would I rather have Karee? I don't know that that's the case. Okay. That's a more, that's a different question. Yeah, that's a, yeah, you're right. That's a difficult. You're right. CJ McCollum. Deering Fox. Guys, CJ's good.

I didn't say he's not good. I didn't say he's not good, but I feel like, I feel like Brunson gives me way more fight on defense. For sure. He's younger, too. So there's that.

I'm going to highlight CJ. I don't know that that's like an even, like that's, that's even to me. That's a push to me. Deere and Fox. I'm a Fox. guy. I'm a Fox guy. Just in the, just like, you know, his, his speed with the ball in his hands, man.

Like that, that shit is so hard to find elsewhere. I agree. Yeah. And especially if, like, he can continue on his, last couple months of the season. Yeah, I'll probably say Fox is slightly above. Yeah. Okay. Let's keep it going. Dejante Murray. No. Fred Van Vliet. Markets smart I think we're in the range We're in the range Okay

I'm glad you mentioned that Because I have Brunson next And then I have Lanzo Ball Kyle Lowry Tyrese Maxie Malcolm Brogden Reggie Jackson Mike Conley Pap Rev then it just gets worse in there

Not those cats No no no So I have him at 18 And we're saying at best Maybe like 16 or 17 Yeah. And the Knicks just gave him 110 million.

And that's the question I think I want to get to. Is like right now I would put him there. But Rob, like, what are the odds that he can make it even into the top 10 of this list? I would say extremely unlikely. Okay. So what's like he's ceiling like 14? Yeah.

Yeah. Yeah. I think solid like, you know, average starting point guard is kind of, you know, like relative to, again, these are stars and all stars and all NBA players at the top of that list. And that's the thing, like we're combining, quote unquote, lead guards with point guards, right? And, like, he doesn't really have the size to scale up.

Like, he can't go to shooting guard because you can't really expect him, the guard shooting guards for real, you know? But, like, he technically plays the same position is Donovan Mitchell. And it's like, is that guy a point guard or a shooting guard, right? Like, that's where it gets kind of murky. So it's like, if you're saying people underneath 6'4 who actually handled the ball a lot for their team,

if you're telling me he's in the 17th best of that, that's damn. That's damn good. Okay. Yeah. I think that's interesting because I do think there is. Because what I mean is like if we're not going to put him in the hardened bunch. Right? We're not going to put him in the LeBron bunch.

These are bigger dudes, Luca bunch, bigger dudes who oftentimes are the de facto point guard of their team. Like, he's not in that category, you know? So when he comes to guys who are under 6'4 and handled a rock all the time, like, he's pretty damn good. Okay. I'm glad you said that because I do think there's another level that Brunson can hit. Because all of the indicators based on when Luca didn't play, either when Luca was sitting, either when Luke was out earlier in the season last year, suggests that Brunson with more opportunity can be better.

And so I don't fault him for seeking out the Knicks as opposed to going back to the Mavs and wanting more of that. Is he going to have more opportunities on the Nix? That's, and that's what brings me to my next point, which is I actually don't think the Brunson signing is bad. I actually think the Nix are going to be the problem. And in particular, sharing the ball with Julius Randall. I don't know how Brunson and Randall coexist.

And if I were the Nix, I would be looking for ways to now trade Randall and maybe like aggregate some picks in order to get this guy maybe a shooter, maybe just one or two perhaps, because I also think if he's going to thrive just in general, he needs someone to kick the ball out too.

And I don't think that's Mitchell Robinson and RJ Barrett and Derek Rose or whoever else he's going to play with. So the Brunson signing isn't bad. Anyone, literally anyone going to the Knicks is bad. Yeah, I mean, I think for him specifically, I don't see the fit. And it feels really Tibido, like,

let me just get grinders who play hard and play 82 games in a regular season and, like, maybe I'll squeeze out a little bit more talent than they expected. But overall, this is probably not going to be as good as we had hoped. Yeah, I totally understand why he and people around him would think this is a guy who can do more at this stage

in his career, that he's ready for more responsibility. And maybe he'll get that in New York, and maybe he won't. But what we have in. seen as him deal with this kind of suboptimal fit yet. You know, when we brought up Deerran Fox, we haven't seen... We haven't seen Brunson in a Deeran Fox

type situation where there's so much working against you and yet you still have to be a league guard. We haven't seen Deer & a a Brunson situation. Absolutely not. You get to play five out. And you get to actually optimize the things and specialize the things that you are naturally good at, right?

Like you get to say, hey, the floor is going to be spread with shooters. People can't just sluff in on you, right? Like, go ahead and beat the guy in front of you. De Aaron Fox ain't never, ever, ever, ever had that, right? There's no sluffin going on there. And Brunson got to do that.

And then it's like, if Barrett is supposed to be a big part of the future, and that's what, that's why like the Knicks confuse me. It's like, are you grooming Barrett to be the centerpiece of a bigger, of a big, big, big, huge deal? Or is Barrett supposed to be part of the thing that's left over when you inevitably get the kinds of players that make you a championship type of team? Like, how are you, because how are you supposed to come in possession of those players,

if not via trade? Knicks are perpetually playing for next season. Not four years down the road, not two years even down the road. They're playing for this next season. And I think the fact that they had to get off of Burks and Noel's contracts just speaks to that. Like before it seemed like, oh, great. we have tradable contracts that we can maybe turn into future stars.

It seemed like a really great, like, pathway to something bigger. Now it's just a bunch of guys who are mildly interesting, all playing together that don't really fit together and don't really see how they get to the next. That's what Nick's fan. Optimistic Knicks fans are telling me. No, but to keep it with the Brunson part of it, if RJ's supposed to have the ball and Randall is useless when he doesn't have the ball, what is it? Like, I saw Chris Haynes, and Chris Haynes is plugged in, especially on the player side.

He said, I talked to somebody close to Brunson. He allegedly didn't have enough opportunities in Dallas. Where are these opportunities going to present themselves in New York? Well, you know, so that's something definitely to think about. To play that out, maybe that's kind of more feature than bug with this signing. Maybe what the Knicks are projecting overtly is, oh, come here, you're going to be our point guard, you're going to run our offense. and the whisper behind the back is if we need him to, you know, we've seen him play next to the stars.

If the ball goes to RJ Barrett, it's okay if Jalen Brunson is our second or third option. This reminds me in my favorite story I was told by an executive once that I think the team was talking to Will Barton. And Will Barton was really hung up on only being a two and not a three, right? And so the coach says, oh, yeah, yeah, you could be a two. You could be a two, definitely. Don't worry about it.

they hang up the phone and the coach then says, yeah, R2s just happen to guard LeBron James here. It's part of the system, you know? Yes, exactly. All right, let's move along here just because we're running a little behind. Was,

why don't you give us your unrestricted free agent? Unrestricted. And this isn't going to be very sexy, y'all, but it's Chris Boucher. Oh, because I'm interested. Whoa. I was not expecting this. You guys said intriguing.

Yeah, sure. Like, I'm intrigued to see what this guy's market is. Because I'm intrigued to see how the league feels about centers. Right? Like, is it a problem to have a really skinny, bouche type, outside of the context of Toronto with all those damn big-ass, switchable, hyper-athletic long wings? Can he play outside of that system?

Do teams value what he brings to the table? as far as a switchable guy, right? Like a guy who can credibly guard wings at times. He's not going to bang with the big dogs. Like, he's obviously a really slight guy. And I wonder what type of number they're going to put on that, right? Like, I think he's probably worth a good... Like, if Tice is worth $9 million,

my man Boucher got to be worth at least 14. You know, if he's going to be playing 20, 25 minutes or so a night. So I'm, I just, like Bouchet as a player. I'm just interested to see how the league feels about that kind of guy coming out of playoffs that we just had. Where we saw at times Boston just beat people up with size and girth and all of that. But then at times we saw where that was used against them, right? Where they weren't getting out to shooters.

And, you know, their offense was sort of lagging because of all of these bigs on there. So, like, I'm interested to see how the league feels. about that type of dude. He's kind of a four, can sometimes play five. He's really slight, but he's versatile. Theoretically, he shoots it. That's why I'm interested in Boucher. I'm gobsmacked.

I was not expecting Chris Boucher. So Zach Cram actually wrote about him under the same sort of framework as the most intriguing free agent for the ringer. So check that out if you guys haven't. I think he's really fascinating, too, because he almost is, he checks all the buzzwords that we talk about with like the modern NBA values.

Like he is long. He is switchable. He can shoot most of the time. But then is almost like hollowed out of all of the actual nuance that I think that like you actually need in order to be like a high quality reserve on the warriors, right? Where it's like, oh, he's actually really light and thin and can get pushed around too much. And maybe that leads to him overfowing. And he also can't pass to save his life. And so it's almost like he's the chalk outline of the exact player you want in 2022,

but he doesn't have anything filled in in between. Yeah, what you're describing is pretty much the exact reason he was in and out of Nick Nurse's doghouse at various points over the last couple years. And I think he showed a lot of improvement this past season. Like I think he proved himself to be a much more solid NBA player just in terms of executing game plan, staying in front of your guy, not chasing those attempts to jump and block three-pointers, which he's very good at, but also really,

really, really, really wants to do. And so he's kind of, he's kind of leveling out as a pretty good NBA player. That said, he is the guy who is very easy to covet from afar for exactly those reasons that you outline.

Like, he gives you off your bench, or I guess, you know, maybe plugging in as a fifth starter, if you have a kind of a weird fit, he gives you a lot of that stuff you might need. And so you could see a team really

talking themselves into a Chris Boucher under the right circumstances. Yeah, do you guys see a clear fit? Like, one of the teams I was thinking of as we were going through the edit on, on Zach's piece, was like maybe the wolves, a team that is reaching in the trade market seems like for a bigger center to put next to Carl Anthony Towns, like a go bear, Klincapella, is Chris Boucher someone you can get for a fraction of the price who could actually do all of the, like some of the similar things that those guys do? Yeah, I think Sacramento too.

Like, whenever you have centers, Pagos who are ostensibly centers, but not good at the job of defensively anyway, like, you know, a sub bonus or a Carl Towns where it's like, all right, this guy's not the eraser that we want ideally out of our center position. Can we put a guy next to him who does some of that help side stuff,

who does help in the sense that he's very switchable? So when he's garden pig and, rolls with our guards, like it makes us more, you know, sturdy in that position. I think that's the type of team that you're looking at. I don't know if you would work in Dallas again, the type of team who has a center who's just not ideal in Moxie Kleba. But yeah, I think it's those type of teams. If your center is not that good at defense, you probably want a Boucher type.

Yeah, I like Chicago as an option. I think that could be kind of cool. The Pelicans are another one of these teams that always comes up when it's like spacing bigs for sure. And if the market on him just totally goes dry for whatever reason, I think he would be great in Milwaukee. I just don't see how he gets there unless it's like a, there's nothing for you.

Here's a one year deal to get you back on the market next year and you can tend in the meantime. Yeah, I love the Milwaukee fit. That's a really good one. Rob, do you want to go with your most intriguing, an restrictive free agent? Yeah, I'm going shock. It's James Hart.

You know, this was... You guys just life swapping right here, this is... This is really surprising to me. I love it. Well, admittedly, I found this one hard to choose. This is not the most inspiring free agent class overall. There's not a ton of intrigue.

We're already seeing the Brunson issue kind of resolved right off the top. We're already seeing some guys moved around, some guys who we thought might opt out not and vice versa. Hardin is the guy who is, he's gotten pretty much everything he's ever wanted since 2012 in terms of contract and team and role. And this is the first time since then he's really going to have to compromise. shit. He's got to eat a little bit of shit. And so what does that look like? You know, is that a two-year deal?

Is that a three-year deal? Is it in the ballpark of the 47 million player option? He can no longer pick up or are we throwing that away and starting much, much lower for the sake of a longer-term arrangement? Fascinating to watch. I mean, I don't think Philly has a way out of paying him something. And they really have kind of hitched their wagon to him over the near future. But that could take a lot of different forms. One thing I should mention is that he probably has to make a decision on his player option on Wednesday, which is the day we're recording this.

So he might have made that decision by the time you hear this. But I do think what he does with that is pretty interesting because the reporting at first indicated he would opt into the final year of his contract, which is 47 million, which would have made him the second highest paid player in the NBA, which seems like a pretty good deal. But now what you're hearing is maybe he opts out, sign the same. somewhere like a lesser extension, maybe in that two to three year range, specifically to open up cap space for his friend PJ Tucker, which is a really interesting part of this. We could talk about the Tucker thing because he's actually someone I had as like a 1B option to talk about in addition to Brunson. But I also think it's an interesting comparison to his old friend Kyrie Irving. Seems like Hardin is doing all the things that the Nets would have loved Kyrie Irving to do to make

this all work. And while Hardin is maybe in a more mixed situation and clearly has a better relationship with the organization and that goes a long way, it seems like Hardin is like kind of going along with the program, which is like pretty encouraging to see. And I think he like deserves some credit if he does end up doing that. It's some, there's definitely some level of humility when you consider the fact that they went out and saved your ass from Brooklyn. Um, like that because that's what happened. You were like extremely unhappy. they went and put the cape on and saved you. And, you know, he's playing ball, which is nice.

It's like shows a level of humility. Like, you clearly were not the best player on this team for the first time and God knows how long. And the part of it to me that's like, damn, like he turned down an offer that Brooklyn put on the table for a max extension. He turned it down. And now he's in Philly not getting one. That's what I find to be pretty fascinating about all this.

Because I was like, man, there's no way they can just not give this to him after he turned it down to go be with them. But that's exactly what's happening, which, you know, I think it's pretty jarring, honestly, and it's different than what you normally see. And also makes me think, yeah, he's not a clutch client. Because they don't do these kind of favors for people. And so, yeah, that's pretty cool to see. The reason I wasn't intrigued is like he's going back to Phil.

Yeah. Right. Like he has to go back to Philly. But yeah, the type of deal that he signs will be an interesting deal. Yeah, it's not the where does he go, but for how much and under what circumstances? And what do the Sixers look like as a result of that? But I love the PJ Tucker offshoot of this because Joelle Embed pretty much explicitly said in his postgame press conference that he wants to play with a PJ Tucker. So the fact that they're going to get the literal PJ Tucker is a nice twist.

And it has kind of an echo of the. the circumstances are different, but when LeBron was on his way out of the heat and was like, man, that Shabazz Napier is really good and the heat drafted him. I just love when teams take their stars very explicit advice on who they should select. So PJ Tucker, going to be 37 years old

if he's not already, opted out as $7.4 million on a player option with Miami, reported to be nearing a three or $30 million contract with 27 guaranteed with the Sixers for his 17th, and 19th seasons. I think we were talking about this guy as being done after his finals run

with the Milwaukee books, but it seems like not. And I mean, to his credit, he shot better from three than he has in a long while. I don't know how much that's going to continue, but it probably has to. He was talking about him being done, Justin. Who was talking about it? Because the people,

the streets. They don't know about those dogs. Probably the bucks front office. I think it's the type of player that the Sixers need, though. but I do worry. Like if his shot is off, like it gets pretty cramped pretty quickly in that offense. Yeah, I'm just happy for the guy because like his journey to the league playing in like Lebanon and all kinds of crazy-ass places.

And when you take that path, like for whatever reason, teams sort of have this fixed view of you and you always end up getting these two years, 12 million, two years 15, two years this. You always end up getting those kinds of deals. So it's nice to see him like cash out, man, get 30 mil while getting out of a $7.5 million play option. Like that's dope to see. Good for him. So the other subplot of a Tucker signing with Philly would be that this would be now the third player that Darrell Morey has acquired who he used to, who he had acquired previously with Houston, first James Hardin. And probably in like a couple months span, Hardin, the Anthony Melton. and PJ Tucker. And based within this Keith Pompeii

of the Philadelphia Inquirer report, there is scuttlebut that he continues to pursue Eric Gordon after failing to acquire him in a three team trade on draft night. And so I know for a while we've been saying like maybe Doc isn't Mori specific

type of coach. I almost wonder if the opposite of happening and Doc is rubbing off on Darrell and Darrell is now just acquiring players that he's familiar with. He's always done that. I remember writing about that when I was writing about Robert Covington and them trading for Robert Covington another guy he had at one point and then

traded back for. This is basically what Daryl does. There's like now I think now double digit players who have played with him at multiple points in their career and now of course with multiple stops with him being in Philly but look when you have a type, when you have a type you have a type. Yeah, the Daryl Dudes.

All right, let's turn to a restricted free agency right now. I'll start us off. I have Miles Bridges down here a player who, when I look at the landscape, could fit on 28 different teams. And not surprisingly, it seems like there are a lot of teams interesting, although it seems like some teams are starting to dry up,

just if you're basing this on the reporting of some of the stuff that was coming out this morning before we recorded this. Mitch Cupshex says that they're going to bring them back. I wonder at what cost, because this is the type of player, if I was, let's say the Grizzlies, let's say the Indiana Pacers, previously the Detroit Pistons,

before they soaked up some of the cap space with the previous Nix deals, I would love to have my team because he's 24, he can handle the ball, he's a big wing, he could shoot a little bit most of the time. I just think like he's the perfect type of player.

Yeah, like, I just think he's, he would fit on most teams. And if I was like, the Grizzlies, in particular if we want to focus on one team. Like, that's a guy I'd be tripping over myself to bring in and complete the picture that I've already assembled. But he's precisely the same type of player that Jordan is balked at paying, right?

It's like, it's almost like Mike is just like, hold on, man. I understand that guys in this league get max contracts, but those guys are all-stars, aren't they? Right? And that's what it felt like he was doing with Kemba. That's what it feels like it's happening. with Miles Bridges, it's like, I get it theoretically

that market-wise, your market value is that, but like, you ain't no All-Star. You know? I'm Michael Jordan. I know an All-Star when I see one.

You're not that. And it feels like they have a difficulty understanding this, like, how Max contracts work, right? Because it's like, well, if Dane Lillard makes a max deal, why should Miles Bridges? They just don't,

Mike just has a hard time obviously squaring that. However, like, they'd be dumb to let this dude go. Like, he'll be worth the deal. He scored 20 plus points a game pretty efficiently last year. And he's a decent defender. Like, what am I missing here? Like, he was an offensive hub. And, you know, a lot of times, too, it becomes hard for teams to change their minds of

their vision of a player. Like, if you never quite saw him in that light, maybe you're just like, oh, I know that he kind of did last year, but is he really that kind of player? When I'm just like, yo, the proof is in the pudding. He did it over the course of a season. He's that guy. Pay him.

This is kind of the chickens coming home to Roos, too, because it seemed like there was room to negotiate him on an extension that was less than the max last year. The Hornets did not do that. Now there are lots of teams with Miles Bridge's interest. Yeah. I mean, it's, it's, it's, It's tough because if you're the Hornets,

you don't want to lock yourself in too quickly financially. You don't want to cap yourself at the middle. I understand all those concerns. But Miles Bridges is really good, and he showed signs of being really good before last season. So now here we are. And the question is not, is he going to get paid,

but who is going to pay him? And will the Hornets match it or not? I suspect they probably will. But I could see a lot of teams talking themselves into an offer sheet. And the question is, what is Miles Bridges open to considering? Because if you said the Oklahoma City Thunder are going to make him an offer.

That's a team that could really use a player at his age, of his skill set, at his position. I think he slots into what they do really well. Is Bridges open to considering those in addition to the teams like Memphis? The teams that are a little further along in their competitive trajectory.

Yeah, I think he makes the most sense on a team that already has its core and you overpay just to be the last or the second of the last piece, which is why the Grizzlies is the most intriguing option, if only because the Grizzlies are probably one of the most intriguing teams

in the NBA. But like, even like the Pacers, a team that has like a couple guys in place. Like I wonder if you slot in the bridges. You keep Miles Turner on an extension. Then it's like Halliburton, uh, Duarte, the guy that drafted this year. And then like you have something there. Like even the Knicks,

for instance, isn't bridges like a better option for what they have? If they intend to keep Randall and Barrett than Jalen Brunson, I don't know. That's a lot of beef between Barrett, bridges. Yeah, there's a lot of half a lot of. There's a lot of beef. Yeah. All right.

Was, you want to go with your restrictive free agent? Anthony Simons. Because unlike Miles Bridges and DeAndre Aiton, you don't hear

a lot of teams are in on trying to, you know, poach him from Portland. Like, oh, why don't we throw an offer at the guy? You're not hearing that

about him. And I think because he's a different kind of player, right? Like, he's a smaller-ish to who only scores. But his scoring is really dynamic. You know, like he shoots it.

Yeah. He shoots it. He puts it on the floor. He's not much of a playmaker right now. And he's in the past been a disaster on defense. Like a disaster. So again, like same with Bouchet Bouchet. How much do the,

Do, does Portland value this kid? Especially seeing as, as Justin just snarkily alluded to, they just had the functional equivalent to him right before this. So I'm interested to see, like, what is this kind of player worth? A young guy who's a bucket to be a Twitter insufferable person. What do you think he's going to get? Because I'm like, I don't see why he's not a $20 to $25 million guy. I feel like it's a pretty good sign for his bank account that they traded for Jeremy Grant.

Because once you trade for Jeremy Grant, if you're not resigning Anthony Simons, what are you doing? You know, like that you really need to keep him if you're Portland. And I think Yusuf Nurkich might be in a similar position in terms of a guy that all of a sudden has quite a bit of leverage, even though he's not an exceptional center by any means. I think Simons is in that camp, really interesting score, more valuable to Portland than maybe almost any team in the league right now. So he's going to get a lot of money. Yeah, but I almost wish, like, they could swap him for a team that needed him more. Like, I just, but they need the scoring, but I don't know if you want to be closing with

Damian Lillard and Anthony Simon on the same court together. Like, I don't know who you're guarding. And so I almost wonder, like, is there something to work with Charlotte where Charlotte pays Anthony Simons and the Blazers gets Miles Bridges? Like, Bridges is the better player overall. Yeah, by far. I know, but like, I, I, think like the Blazers need a player more like Bridges than they do Simons.

And I wonder if you, you're just caught in that perpetual cycle of ending up in the same place. Yeah. I, I really, I really liked the Simon's kid because I've seen him score oversized before, which is like to me, like that, that's kind of the difference between these little guys. Like, if you can get your shot up and oversized, um, both at the cup. and just off the dribble, okay, like, that's, that's damn good. And it's valuable in big possessions.

It's just, again, like, the PTSD of watching Damon and CJ just come up short every single year is clouding this situation. But, like, individually, I'm a big-ass Simon's fan. Like, I love watching him play. Yeah. There's really an institutional lesson in watching the Portland Trailblazers completely change management and coaching and do pretty much the exact same thing

that they've always done. I know. I mean, the grant deal I thought was a pretty good piece of business, but it did just lock them into like ending up in the same place. Like after we've gone through the draft now, and if they do end up just bringing back Simons and Nerkich, I do wonder if we're back to DefCon.

Is it four? Is a higher number worse or is DefCon one the worst? I think one is the more explosive. Okay, so we're at one, presumably. And I wonder if Damien Lillard. Lurd's like, so this is pretty much the same team with Jeremy Grant and a guy who's like 19 and might not be helpful for another two years. Yeah. I don't know, man. Yeah.

I think they need to do a lot more in order to make this more appealing to Lillard, but we'll say. Do we like the shape of that any better if Simons is like a super sixth man? And, you know, like maybe Josh Hart is the starter and kind of like the holdover there. And, I mean, it changes what you think of Simons. It changes how much he probably would get paid. but in terms of the fit of that team, is there an alternative fit within their grasp? I think if you're paying anyone around that much money

and you aren't thinking of them as a closer, I think you're in a big problem. Yeah, and also, like, is it an impossibility that Simons could one day grow up to not be a disaster? Like, just be, like, you know, this isn't ideal, but it's not a disaster. Like, I think there's a huge golf in between those things. you know what I mean?

Like, meaning the golf between Steph Curry on an island and Jordan Poole, you know? And I think that makes it like a meaningful difference in big games against the best teams. You know what I mean? So if you can get from Jordan Poole to Steph, I think we're getting somewhere here. You know what I mean? Defensively, of course. Right. All right, Rob, you want to go with your restricted free agent?

Yeah, we can't get out of the. this segment without talking about DeAndre Aiton. It's just not possible. We've done a lot of Aiton talk on this podcast, though. We've done a lot of Aitin talk. But let me simplify it this way. I think his whole situation is pretty wild. I'm wondering if he just tucks his tail between his legs and ends up back in Phoenix.

But we're going to hear a lot about sign and trade possibilities until this thing is done. That seems like whatever the outcome is going to be. It's either going to be back in Phoenix or sign and trade somewhere. So let's lay it out. Let me lay out some centers for you, and you tell me if they move you at all as the next starting center of the Phoenix Suns. Emotionally?

Yes. Spiritually and emotionally, if you feel the power within you stirred by Clint Capella, who we talked about last week, Jacob Pertl, Jonas Valenchunis, Yusuf Nurkich, Miles Turner,

Stephen Adams. Do any of those guys do anything for you? I'm a little... Yeah, I'm a truther for Turner. Turner. This is the Turner Hive. I'm Turner Hive till I die, for sure. All those other guys you mentioned do nothing for me.

Like, Nurkich. Oh, my God, Yacopold. What the? But that's what they, like, if you're going to trade Aiton, you need a center, and you're not going to get the best of the best, you're not even going to get the Rob Williams types at this point. So what are you getting? And that's why I keep coming back,

was to something you talked about with Bill, which is the possibility of the Aiton-Gobair. That would be amazing. I think the Suns would be really freaking good for having done that. And I think it works for Utah, too, in terms of recontextualizing what kind of team they are. And getting a guy who can do a little bit more offensively than Go Bear can. I think Phoenix would have to put stuff into that deal to incentivize Utah to do it. Maybe picks, maybe young guys they like.

Even maybe it's like a Jay Crowder. I don't know what that looks like. But there's something there that I think could make sense for both teams. Phoenix would be damn impossible to score on in that scenario, bro. The Sons would be insufferable to watch with both Gobert and Chris Paul being prickly, like, for 48 minutes. Like, there's no way I would watch a regular season game for them. But let me turn this on its head, though, just a little bit. Considering what the Sons asked of Aiton to play a more rigid role, is someone like Nirkich that much worse?

Like, if that's what you want from your center, is there some sign and trade to work out where you send Aiton to the Blazers, a team that needs someone a little bit more versatile who has more room to grow and can grow into. something a little bit more dynamic. What else is Portland sending out to them? Well, I mean, there's two parts of this. One is, like, does Aitin put his foot in the ground and say, like, I'm going to the Blazers no matter what? It's a little bit more tricky with the Blazers because I don't think they have the cap space to make that threat.

But, like, there are other teams out there where he could say, like, hey, give me here and you just take whatever you can out of this. But it could be NERC plus other stuff. Like, so NERC, it fills in at the center roll. Maybe you get draft picks. Maybe you get a Shaden Sharp. maybe it's in Anthony Simons, but I wonder if you're saying for Phoenix,

I want my center to be kind of programmatic, let's get a programmatic center and also other stuff to help us down the line. And maybe that's like, gives you more of a long runway and gets you out of the Aiton fiasco. I think part of the problem is a lot of these centers, Nurkich included, are not great programmatic centers.

Like Yusuf Nurkich is an okay defender, a guy who honestly has trouble finishing sometimes against some matchups. Like he gets into that like push-hook shot, kind of floaty range. The same one Aiton does for like to be fair. And so that's really all of these guys

that I listed. I'm not sure there's any nobody, no really heartening choices there. And I mean, that's why the sign and trade market is so tough unless you want to get into a place as Phoenix

we're playing more of a traditional four as a five and spacing things out. But why are you doing that when you're two lead guards and the guys who run your offense are not downhill threats primarily? You know, like you're not on what you're clearing space for

by going for more of a stretch option. They need an interior guy. And there are fewer and fewer realistic interior players and the ones who are really good are already spoken for. I think the Pacers is also a pretty good outcome for both of them. Turner is probably the best

of that bunch, as we just described. And I think there's probably still a little bit more in him if the sons really want to delve into that. And Chris Paul's probably the exact type of guy who could probably bring it out of them. And I think like the Pacers is the type of young team where Aiton can like

explore the wonders of his body a little bit more than he could in Phoenix, you know? Like, that actually works out. What? Dejay Aitin is going to puberty, yo. He has been messing around with VR lately. You know, I don't know. I don't know what he's getting into. Jesus Christ.

Yeah, I guess the worry would be that in Indiana, there's not much nightlife. So he might become a full gamer and just spend all of his nights doing that. So maybe it's not for the best. All right. Well, speaking of trades, let's get to the trade targets now. I'll start with mine. DeJante Murray. Yep. Who all of a sudden is in every trade rumor.

And I'm kind of for it. Because in this situation, you would see a lot of teams who have been bad for a little while now, like the spurs have been, and say, we have to be good as soon as possible. That, like, we can't go through one or two or three more years of a rebuild. We've been doing this for so long. we need to give something to our fans. The King's prime example of this. But when in actuality, the better path to being really good down the road is to suffer for a little bit longer, actually get the type of game changing league altering players that you need in order to shape your franchise and then do it. So, like, you actually need to be worse again and maybe one more season.

And I think the spurs are kind of in that situation where they're decent enough with Murray. But Murray's timeline is now. He has two more years on his contract. And he was a fringe All-Star this season. And did he end up making All-Star? I don't know if he made it with... He did, yeah. Yeah.

And at the end of that contract, you're either going to have to let him walk to another team or you're probably going to have to pay him the max. And I'm not sure he's like your max player, your best player on a championship team. I think he's probably better off on a team like the Hawks, like playing next to Tray Young, being your second or your third guy

and doing all the little things in between there while still maybe growing in the midst of that. And so if they do make a deal with the team like the Hawks, then the Spurs get worse and then they're playing more for the future. So I kind of like this for both sides of this. Rob, what do you think about that just like general POV in San Antonio? I picked DeJante Murray for the exact same reason. And specifically the possibility of the Hawks

getting into the DeJante Murray business because we've seen some rumors come out that there may be even our trade constructions that get them Murray without John Collins. That there's other, you know, whether it's picks based, obviously Danilo Gallinari or some equivalent salary is going to have to be in there for financial reasons. But it's my favorite kind of trade

because it takes a proof of concept we know, which is if you were watching the Hawks last year, the Dalai-on-Rite-Trey-Young minutes were good. Like, that worked. And now we take the billionaire's version of Dalon-Rite into John-T-Murray. Without Trey Young on the court, though, like trying to create offense, it's just, it was, it was rough to watch. But yeah, Murray, why I like him on the Hawks is because he has that juice.

Like, he can create offense. He has developed into a plus type of playmaker. So that's like, man, like, you get both of those guys in the mix and, you know, sort of like KCP. but I think he's even better as an on-ball type of guy. He's not able to handle the big wings. He's not. He's too frail. He's too light in the shorts for that.

But anybody else, he is on them. Like, he is on them. So, like, I love the defensive fit as well because it frees of Trey Young to not always have to deal with the guys at the point of attack. And this guy in the non-Trey Young minutes, can absolutely be the engine of that offense. That would be incredible for the Hawks,

which means it's not going to happen. Maybe. But here's a brilliant idea. Let's take one of the best offensive guards in the league and one of the best defensive guards in the league, put them together, boom, profit. Yeah, sounds good. Yeah, I like the fit in Elena. The other team rumored is the wolves.

Now you'd have to find some place, new home for D'Angelo. Yeah, unfortunately. But I'm sure he has his bagpacks like just perpetually, just ready to move on to the next team that's going to be disappointed in him. Man, Murray and the wolves would just be

that would be too much fun. For similar reasons, right? You give the keys to Edwards, it's Edwards and Towns and then Murray is your third. I like that. If you're thinking of dream pairings for DeJante Murray, Carl Towns is basically it. You know, like he protects

towns defensively. Towns gives him all the space he needs to explode to the basket. You get, I mean, honestly, I think Murray's just a better playmaker than Dilo is at this point, considering Russell can't really create any separation, which has been a problem for him. I like a lot of these fits for Murray in terms of where they are right now and who could be on the table.

I think, honestly, coming into this off season didn't really expect him to be a player who would be traded. So the fact that we're talking about it at all, I think is pretty interesting. Well, I have a couple other teams I wrote down here just quickly. The Pelicans?

So you're saying, actually, our window is now. We're going to pair him with CJ McCollum, and we're going to close games with him, McCollum, probably Herb Jones and Zion. And you just have like a absolutely dynamic small ball team. Is DeJante Murray the key to unlocking

every version of every, all my favorite versions of all these teams? Apparently he is. Well, I'm glad you mentioned that because I also have the Wizards, same thing, playing next to Bradley Beal. Like he fits so well with like a dynamic scoring guard. Yeah, because he's basically like a Pat

Beverly, if Pat Beverly actually could do something with the ball, right? Like, but not even do something, do a lot of things. Yeah. With the ball, right? Like, that's why Pat Bev was so good next to Hardin. That's why he's so good next to these ball-dominant type of guys because he is guarding people at the point of attack and giving you all of this defense.

And you let your ball-dominant guys do what they have to do and sort of not rest, but, you know, handle the lesser of the two evils defensively. But, like, he is just a strong. supercharged version of that because on offense, he is plus plus plus, you know? Yeah, and what if Pat Beverly was also an elite athlete and also six five? You know, like, and let me, let me give you a fact because I'm, I, for some reason, this did not occur to me until just now, but how does it hit you that Jalen Brunson and Dejante Murray are the same age?

Really? That's pretty wild. Yeah, I think of DeJante Murray as a younger guy. Yeah. for whatever reason. That's, that's crazy. I mean, Brunson looks like he's 32, unfortunately. Yeah, he does.

Rude. Yeah. Can I throw one last team out there? Of course. Boston Celtics. Because if we're saying the trade is actually picks and salary flotsam, like what about getting another long ball handler in there? Oh, so you're not throwing Marcus Martin there?

Probably not. I don't know if you have to. I would have to look at the Celtics contract. in order to figure out like matching salary. You sound like a Celtics blogger right now. Like Tyson, two future seconds for Jean-Tay-Murie. Let's get it done.

Well, it does sound like the package is like three-first. Like, I guess the question for the Celtics is that the type of home-run player that you're hoping for to really round out what you have. And probably more specifically,

do you really want to put Derek White through that yet again? Oh, my God. That's crazy. That is insane. Anytime you're a trade. with a team that just went to the NBA finals and betting on their future firsts.

Not great. You know, versus the Hawks. Like, even if you're trading into the Hawks and you're getting their picks back, I think there's just a lot more uncertainty around that team and what they could be. I think it's okay to bet on the down swing of what their potential could be.

Right. All right. We got Robbs in there with Murray as well as mine. So, Waz. Who is your trade target? I'm going to shock you, Verrier. I love it. John Collins.

And look, John Collins for the same reasons that we talked about Murray, I just think he slots on so many teams as a guy who is versatile. Yeah, drink at home. He's a versatile defender. And again, like, he is a vertical spacer. Like, he's a lob threat and pick and roll. He's a pop threat in pick and pop. Like, I think sometimes he, this. idea that he should get the ball and do what? I don't know. You know, like, I get that you're

making this plus starter type of money and it's like, all right, I should have the ball. I'm not sure that his optimal role is that. So who knows if his next destination that will be some kind of problem? But I think the things that John Collins is really good at are valuable to teams who care about winning at the highest level, you know, like playing some spot minutes at the five, being a good four, being somebody who can switch on to wings, um, credibly, you know, and not being a just complete zero on offense, right? Like, every now and again being able to attack a mismatch with his physicality. I just think he's somebody that a lot of teams should be looking at trying to bring in,

you know, um, like even a Portland type, right? Like, where it's like, all right, we might strike out on, um, D'Andre Aiton, but maybe we get John Collins in here. makes is better defensively for sure. And it's a good pick and roll partner with Dame Lillard, right? He's not, he's shown a decent amount of playmaking on short role type of stuff because he had to because Clint Capella's in the lane. So, like, he has all of these tools that I just think we're not able to be unlocked

because of a lot of political things going on in Atlanta, I'll say. The governor's race? no no that's why i love him for utah like the the collins for gobert trade makes a lot of sense to me i mean i actually like murray better for the hawks but like if if the hawks aside that beefing up their defense is the most important part like i think collins on utah is like a really good fit because they need to get younger and more specifically they just need juice like they need something to really energize that team because it's just like fallen into this like this muck of we've been the same team for so long.

And it almost like when the Warriors reached to get DeMarcus cousins into what they had, like we need something to shake this up to get excited about. Again, I think like a Mitchell Collins, like foundation is something that you could really build on. Maybe they won't be as good next year, but maybe like two years down the road. That's something you could sell to your fans,

one who apparently like highlighted her jerseys and really exciting loud things, but also to Mitchell. as like, hey, you could grow with Collins and we could have another era here after Gobert. I like this as our cause, you know? Like, let's get a telethon going.

Let's find John Collins a home. Is that so much to ask? John Collins is one of Jerry's kids. I think all of the newsbreakers in the industry have beaten us to that because I see a John Collins rumor on the hour. But they're not invested like we are.

You know, we earnestly want to see the best for John Collins, whether that's in, again, like all these destinations, whether that's in Charlotte, even if it's in Sacramento, even if it's somewhere we're not quite expecting. If there's like an opportunity for him, I think his game does slot into a lot of different situations. The question is what is he, what does he want to do? Because I will admit, my only hesitation with John Collins, I remember he made an appearance on the low post in which he specifically mentioned that he saw like a Janus-like open. floor future for himself. Yeah. And that gives me some pause. You know?

That's not what you want to hear. We're trying to rehome our guy, John Collins. I love him with Lamella. Yeah. He does fit on a lot of different teams. And to Wads's his point earlier, he has managed to grow his game

while sacrificing his game, which is really tough to do. So he's been willing to do a lot of different things there. So I hope he finds a new home. We're rooting for you, John. we're starting to fund here. Hey man, I'm in the John Collins fan club. I think what he does,

especially when you watch the postseason where it's like guys that can do a bunch of things, not necessarily you specialize in a thing, but you can do a bunch of things pretty well. That shit is super helpful when you're trying to figure out matchup dependent type of stuff. So I want to see John Collins get busy somewhere.

Well, while we're just kind of freestyle, trade rumors here. And to connect some dots, for the Charlotte scenario, would you balk at a John Collins, Bogdanovich for Miles Bridges sign and trade kind of situation?

Does that do anything for you? It does, but now you're in a world where Lamello has to become a shot creator. That's true. For himself. He has to be the kind of person who can go out

and get buckets for himself, score two pointers, okay? Finish at the cup. Like, he has to become that kind of guy. Get to the line, finish at the cup, draw two defenders for your one-on-one attacks. He has to become the... If he does, then shit, sign me up.

You know what I mean? But, like, if you get rid of Miles Bridges, like, that's what he's doing. He's doing that offensive hub type of stuff, shot creation type of stuff. Lamello hasn't yet shown an ability to do that yet. And maybe he will. Who knows?

I don't know because I think in a Lamello-centric offense, Collins's best position would probably be at a small ball center. Like you probably want to get up and down. You don't want to bog him down with Collins plus a rim protector. And I don't know if that's what Collins wants. And I don't know if that's the best usage of him. And so I wonder, like, if I have bridges. like hi that ostensibly every team wants who could eventually maybe grow into the type of guy you

could throw on the best wings like maybe he has that defensive upside in him i'm not sure like i would bet on bridges rather than collins there he's just more versatile and flexible i also think bogdan like he's always hurt and he's also like older than i think a lot of people realize he's like 29 i think going on 30 like i don't know if he's fitting the timeline of lamel he's probably fitting michael jordan timeline of wanting to win more than that he's like i don't know if he's fitting the timeline of wanting to win more than their best players. I was just thinking for the Memorial Gordon Hayward's spot of technically on the roster, but unavailable for tonight's game.

I love that Nick Batum's stretched contract is going to outlast Gordon Hayward, which was like Batum is stretched specifically in order to sign Hayward. That's going to be fun there. All right. Let's wrap it there. You'll hear more from all of us for the rest of the week on the Ringer podcast network, on the Ringer NBA show feed. unfortunately not all together

Waz and I are first on deck on free agency on Thursday Rob is going to chime in when Friday, Saturday? I'm Friday with our guy Logan. Okay. So we'll have free agency covered throughout the week and then we'll be back next week

to have some takes on all of it again. I'm group chat. Thank you to Isaiah Blakely. We'll see you next.