Final Predictions for Free Agency

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Availability and eligibility vary by state I'm Casey Viera. Listen, free agencyies starting tonight. and I got to be honest with you feels a little bit underwhelming. I don't know if that's a good or a bad thing or the calm before the storm or whatever But right now at nine thirty six on Tuesday night, mean something big is probably I'm Matthew Tyan. there has been more news here over the last couple of hours about the NBA Cup. And there has about in any NBA free agency. You know what? I think everybody's waiting on LeBron since he let everyone know that he's moving on this year And I'm Devin Brown. I'm with you, Casey and Matt Cateency has started and it's been awfully quiet. But like you said, something big is about to happen We got that and more guysys, let's have a great show This is Lcked on Spur Squad Show a twice a week show where Spurs talk gets real. No filters, no fluff. Just raw takes, sharp opinions and straight up, passassion for the game. The way only locked on podcast network knows how. Let's drop some dimes and squat up. The Spurs Squat showow starts now. And that it does. welcome into another get together right here on locked on Spurs. Of course, part of the lockedd on podcast Network, the number one sports podcastetwork in the world. Man in the middle, Matthew Tyan, the host of the title pot, Of course, NBA champion Devin Brown, right your screen. My name is Casey Vier. Yes it. It has been a little bit of a slow start to free agency. I think it's because the big stuff really happened like before noon this morning, but we're waiting for kind of like the big nuclear blow upp, so to speak. Hasn't happened We're on the waiting, the precipice of that. so we think. A lot to hit on free agency. The Spurs doing their dirty work, so to speak, talking about Julian Champanni and Harrison Barnes reupping on new deals. We'll hit on that. plus Ko why Leonard has his new home. He's going back to his old home But spurs courts had some say in the decision making as to why he's back in Toronto. We'll react to that. But we start with the big dominant, so to speak and we're doing it. For the third time, the decision. point zero four point zero whatever you want to call it. either way, LeBron James Telling the Lakers today. I'm good It's been a fun eight years. I'm back forty one years old hitting the market again one final time, presumably You never Early speculation. This suggesting the warriors, suggesting the cavaliers suggesting maybe even the Miami heat But earlier on tonight to Chris Haines, this was his reporting said that LeBron is prioritizing the idea of winning a championship. moreore than dollar signs more than the feel good vibes, perhaps So Devin you're going to hit lead off tonight time and hop in after that A the San Antonio Spurs if LeBron James is in fact looking for a championship The ideal landing spot for the king Yes, they they would be. obbviously have a good team We have Wimby at the center of everything. But that's a conversation that San Antonio would have to have with him because the way LeBron James plays, you know, he's high usage, you know, he wants to handle the ball a lot Um, and in this sppurrs offense you have you know, players that that feel the same way he does. so You know, that would be like a tug of war to me, honestly. obbviously you have to look at New York. They're the champs. You have to look at going home to Cleveland. He's going to do one last run there, things like that The wararriors, that's a good option there with Steph. and those guys that they have But, you know, ultimately when I look at this and it's nothing negative because I've played with them. He's a great person off the court. Skip Bayless was right years ago U He said that, you know, and you don't want to believe a lot of what Skip says, but he said LeBron iss going to have a hard time walking away like other players U, obviously number one because of that camera But, you know, my whole thing is is like And I know I know he's still playing at a at a a high level But I'm like I don't I don't know what else there is to prove, Matt. I'm gonna turn it over to you. I'm just I'm confused about the whole thing Yeah, I mean, I I don't know, you know we always do the whole it's like a rule if you are running out of content or running out of material that you have to have the rings. Well, no, no, no, I'm saying like I'm not I'm talking about like when you like what is there to left to prove? L what is the thing that that is like the resort, the thing that everyone resorts to. is the ring conversation. So I'm sure There's still a part of him as a competitor and everything That's like, yeah, I mean, it would be great to get another ring. It's definitely not about the money because nobody can pay him outside of like the mid level exception. so like Of course it's not about the money. othertherwise you would have either re up in Los Angeles or you're going to the Brooklyn Nets because they're the only ones who can pay you anything So I'm looking at it from this perspective from this perspective I said it on my show earlier. If I have by the way, if we're talking about titles, I think that yeah, San Antonio of the available options maybe at this juncture, you can argue that if he goes and teams up with Bam out of Bayo and Yonis on Tedac Cumbo in Miami and put a bunch of shooting around those guys at t minimums or low cost or whatever then maybe there's a pretty good chance in the Eastern confference there I think there's a lot of maneuvering that would have to happen in in Golden State. He could just Go to San Antonio for the mid level exception and like you're already looking at real title contention there for a team that is a title contender without him. But here I'm just looking at this From the LeBron side of things, Devin and Casey A forty one year old dude lookooks at two different options. One of them, okay place of work it probably has a higher ceiling. Like I'm looking at something here that that very clearly is on the on the ascent There is a ton of promise there, not just now but in the long term Or I can look over here and say, okay, there is a there is a U an organization, a place to work over here that is already established and it is accomplished things. the people who are employed there have accomplished things. They've won rings They're also my age. The people over at that place They're all my son's age Where am I where do would you want to go work? because I know where I would want to go work as a forty year old myself, I'm not going over there with the Zoomers. I'm going over there with my fellow forty year olds and late thirty year olds and early forty year olds. and going to work there and plus like I think There's always been sort of this appeal They've always sort of teased at it or messed with it. like one day' we'll play together, right? Like one day it'll be Steph and it'll be LeBron. I don't know, Katie was always out there somewhere, but Anthony Davis like like kind of the OGs of the league right now getting together for one last run like the expendables and and having a go at it. And I don't know. I think that that would be if I'm LeBron. I think that that's the more appealing destination. And then like from the sppurs perspective, like everything that you just kind of brought up a second ago, Devin, like I There is a ton of respect. for LeBron James in the SpurRs organization, because of course there is But like they're just in a different place right now and they're trying to notot just win now, but continue to build for the future And like it's it's Uh, You say he's a really good person off the court I still it there's a there's a I don't want for lack of a better better term. there's just sort of this zoo that comes with the LeBron experience and like throwing it on top of the Wemby experience. It's just his whole kind of craziness that San Antonio doesn't typically Want in its in its sort of environment So I just, I don't know. I think it would it would be a little bit chaotic and I'm not sure that's something that San Antonio is necessarily looking for at this juncture. I think that's actually a valid point that you bring up because as we learned very early on polarizing figure side of things, just the megastar coming into town really took something a bit of an adjustment for the SpurRs franchise from top to bottom And I say that from the second he got here because I remember that first day he gets off the jet. private jet Well actually, if I'm not mistake, wasn't his brother who hopped off first in the. Oh ye, Wamby you're talking about Victor Yeah, Victor, excuse me, Yeah, Victor Uh, and then justust the fanfare that was around that And you I have mentioned this to you guys a few times off camera, but I just think of those first few weeks that WB was here And we all forget the whole Britney Spears incident that happened out there. And I think part of it that happened was because the Spurs were not ready for the celebrity to star that he was. I mean, Victor can't have more than on one He's got to have presidential security around him, right? Yeah And and that was a whole O Honestly, I was going to say circus but's too condescending, but kind of was a little bit of a circus out there in Vegas when when things got started and all that happened before he even stepped foot on an NBA or even played the summer League game You hadn't even played the summer League game yet. Since then, of course, the Spurs have very much well adapted to it, as we know, the city as a whole But When you bring LeBronon, you are essentially kind of hitting the restart button on that. and you are just hitting a level of celebrity and magnitude that comes into the equation that you worry at times that it kind of steps in the way of regular basketball operations, notot necessarily saying that LeBron's going to go in there, flex his clutch muscle and things like that. Just the overall just polarizing aspect that LeBron is, right And I think when you have something more than good. great and going forward the rest of the way Why shepherdize it that U If everything goes swimminglyan, you have to worry, don't have to worry about all those other things on the outside looking in. From basketball lens, yeah, they're the title favorites and considerably so in my opinion. But there's a lot of extenuating circumstances that probably get in the way of that. This is where I pivot to you, Devin, because I want to Get your thoughts on all those old guys, the thirty seven, the forty year olds and whatever it was over there that they got in Golden State If The Vegas odds, Iess, so to speak, stay where they are And he goes to Golden State Mhm. Where does that put the warriors in the gauntlet that is the Western confonference Well, you know, now you have a guy that can handle the ball. You'll see a lot of stuff because you put that trio back together with LeBron U, Steve Kurd and Steph Curry And so now you'll see a lot of Steph Curry coming off the screens, the ball being on time on target Uh stuff that Steph loves Um And you'll and you'll see, you know Draymond will still be Draymond, obviously Uh, they just resigned KP, didn't they They did They did for two for forty T for forty his agent is his agent has to be one of the top agents in this world. I didn't know you could sit out that much and still make that kind of money. Well Iree I won't get into that But also that is a that is an interesting story because it's an extension. It's an extension Yeah, whichich means that he can actually be traded. so like and trade it immediately. whereereas if they like resigned him using his bird rights, they'd have to wait six months. So I got you. might be So now I see what they're doing We'll see. We'll see. Yeah, yeah, I got you now. So, you know, when you have that type of chemistry and with LeBron its it's always been You know, and it brings me to one of my points I wanted to make and I want you guys to think about this. Number one, let me say this Tw times the Lakers played in S Antonio, he didn't play. So why you have forty one home games. How many home games is he gonna play That's just one thing I want to throw out there. The other thing with leaving the Lakers And this is big is they gave Austin Reeves A lot of money. Yeah And in LeBron's mind, You know, I'm not trying to get too much in his mind You know, if you watch a lot of the Lakers games He was he would stay on Austin Rriefves because he wanted to be aggressive. He wanted to be a certain type of player and this and that. When you give Austin Reeves that kind of money, LeBron loses his voice. So really really Yeah going going back L point Yeah Yeah going back to the Lakers when you look at it, I don't think he could have done that because now at halftime when you get and I've gotten this Um, when you get LeBron standing in the middle of the room, all the coaches, all the players watching him and he starts talking Obviously you have to listen I don't he lost his voice in LA. So he had to leave now Going back to your point, the goolden state thing. Yeah, it'd be great. likeike Matt said, you know, you go there, you got a bunch of old heads there. I mean all y'all can go gray and and try and win it. but yeah. You know, we'll see Well, don't they and that's actually a great point because not only Is he at this juncture? outpaced from a contract perspective by Austin Reeves, but we already know Lua Donich has has the max deal And the Lakers have already come out and said we're not paying LeBron the full amount If he wants to come back, we can do that But like There is sort of, even though like he'd go to goolden State and he would be paid less than Steph Curry. I don't think there would be a conflict there, right? Like those are two people who could be in the same room. It doesn't matter what your salary is. you're bringing in LeBron for a reason and you know what it is. whereereas it's different to come in to a new location than it is to be in your old location and have people pass you up Well, if you look at the way Luca played after the trade Luca didn't really change his game because of LeBron, right? LeBron handled the ballmore, but he didn't really change his game. LeBron change his game But Bron had to change exactly. that's my point. Yeah. Bron had to change his game. now going to goolden State becausecause LeBron is that type of player, he would fit in there because you have Draymon at the four, which puts LeBron on the wing which And I'm just letting you know some inside Golden Stable will be playing a lot more two, three getting in that zone a little bit will be in a zone. It's a very curious team because there was the prevailing thought, the sentiment that they were going to try to flip that Jimmy Butler money to go get Anthony Dave today is saying that Washington was not going to move off of of Anthony Davis. So that's to be determined. we'll see. I'm not particularly sure, Bud but that's a very very it'd be an interesting fivees that they would throw out there. I just wonder kind of where where it soured in LA, right Was it the Luca thing? Was it something just simple as the fact that they were just not very good aside. I mean, I think it's I think it's both of those things R b. I think they weren't good enough to win it all and then and then just kind of out of nowhere. they go get Luca And that's a very, very clear sign. This is our future. Luca is our future, not not Lebron We can all come to that agreement And it's and this is going to be Luca and Austin Reeves' team. like it's just the reality like sorry LeBron You're forty one. We got to get moving here And you don't go like there There was never really a Any chance, at least in my mind that once they traded for Luca There wasn't going to be an outcome at least similar to what we're watching right now because that is Trading for the guy. because you are straight up saying We don't believe that we're going to win right now. So we're going to go plan for the future because even at that point like you're trading away Anthony Davis to go get Luca and you're in that moment even saying like we know that And they were even coming out doing this. likeike we know we got to go get this in that next off season and suddenly like, if you're Leron, you're sitting there and at the time of the trade, he's whatever thirty nine years old. He's like Y'all are already talking about what you got to do next year and the year after that and he's like What are we doing right now Um, the upward mobility isn't immediate. So like I mean, I think it was both. They weren't good enough anymore And and pretty clearly, they were moving toward the future Go ahead, Devin, you get last point before we move on Uh justust, you know, to you guys' point. u You know, the year that I was there in Cleveland, the meetings that I saw The meetings that I shouldn't have seen. They were coming to him on a daily basis about the roster And what we have to remember is There's superstars and then there's guys in that room that are megastars that Obviously with Cleveland he did them a solid. U u Miami same thing, LA, same thing Um But man, think about that having to go to work and you have a job and your title is asssistant GM or GM. And you have to run this by. You're one of the guys on the roster. It is one of the toughest things that you have to deal with And I think at the end of the day Um, you know, you appreciate LeBron because I'll tell you what, he's one of the hardest workers and he's he's a megast star that there is in the league and that the leeague has ever seen But I'll tell you what, when you start dealing with him in the locker room in that front office, It is a very, very touchy subject. Well, I think that's another point that that you bring up. That's a good one as well in that You saw him with Luca and the idea of him not having a say in that future, so to speak when it comes to all those conversations, that Kind of would be the same thing in San Antonio, a little bit different on the front because he chose to come to San Antonio. so you'd operate under the pretense that there is an understanding of that, which could which could be the case. But you know, Golden State, that's probably the only place where you're not going to see any of that at all because they're all on the same timeline. Heck, they could all bow out after twenty twenty seven for all we know But we'll see we'll see. this is always Devin's favorite part of the program where we can do it. We got a poll question up there for you today. Hard hitting one. You want LeBron in San Antonio? press one, sign me up. You don't. Hard pass, press two. get a better idea of what you guys are thinking by the time we put an end on the program end of the program. Oh by the way, I wanted to put a disclaimer out here before we you had to break because no, I figured it's an important one because on the draft episode, people were giving me the business and the comments about this. This is going on in real time. So if you're checking in late and LeBron signs between now and we're currently nine fifty seven central time in the States. between now and the next twenty minutes And you're checking in and you're saying, Hey LeBron LeBron's on the team didid you here? Just let them let them just Casey, just let them know. you're living under a rock. We're all living under rocks. We we don't know what's going on in the outside world. This is all make believe. Yeah. They were going after me the way We got Tarace Rereed. Wh aren't you talking about Terace Reed? Well you know what? we started the show right at pick number twenty. first tradeed back into twenty six Forgive me. So that's your disclaimer for you guys at home All right, Taris Reed come to the Spurs It's already with the sppurs. LeBron James. That's a hypothetical. One guy we know for sure is not Hawai Leonard. He is going back to his old team. hisis other old team, the Toronto Raptors blockbuster trade today in the works essentially all but confirmed, but Toronto is the Old, new home, new old home of Ki Leonard. So on the other side of the break, we'll talk about how the spur is played somewhat of a part in that to ESPN and a report that came out this afternoon. Subsequently, Tyan's already laughing. I know Tynan T I got to cutot Tynan's mic because he's already being funny over there. He's already got jokes, Scott tell you about that report and why it may or may not be applicable. to the spurs coming up on the other side of the brake All right, have a conversation. now we do because World Cups going on right now. It's the biggest stage in all of soccer, everyvery single one of these matches, especially now that they're in the knockout round feels And I'm not even really a soccer guy, you know, it's It's good stuff this time year. So that's why Fandal. they're giving fans another reason to stay locked in with every match and every goal Every goal pays is what they call it. B on a match and get a bonus bet for every goal scored in said match. That means more goals, more bonus bets money in your pocket Simply put, we've all seen those matches where it's scoreless for what feels like forever and that one goal completely flips the game. suudddenly everyone's pressing all those things like I just said Cowd comes alive and finally twenty minutes becomes must watchatch TV as has been the entire World Cup up to this point. So from the opening whistle to the final kick in a few weeks. let there be goals on Fandal. head on over to fandle. com get yourself started Zach, nice vacation spot. But without TMobile five G home interternet, it's scary here Don't open it relax. I ordered TeamMobile five G homeome Internet with same day delivery, powered by door dash, Nothing to be afraid of. We're saved T Mobile five G Home Internet delivered the same day, powered by Doordash just thirty five bucks a month with auto pay and a voice line. Plus taxes and fees. same day delivery for most internet eligible customers. seeee if it's an optionuring checkout All right, so the conversation rolling on about a former Future spur Hawai Leon and his new home today about that math time and I saw you sharing after see one. There former, future, future form. It's either way, it's not happening. CQui Leonard is on his way back back to Toronto flip today for Brandon England Gady Grady Dick and a handful of first round draft picks clippers making out pretty well. but was interesting In case you guys at home, you probably You pretty. You probably heard. USPN reported last week that San Antonio was one of the few teams that Kai would have been interested in signing an extension with. The other being The Toronto Raptors Tim McMahon of ESPN as well foollowed up today saying that The Bobby Mark's report earlier on in the week was very much valid. Kauai would have considered coming back to San Antonio word gets to the sppurs and what's their response? We're good We like what we have over here Since Timan's got the jokes. And he's had he's felt away about this we won't know It wasn't. What is your Yes, your prevailing takeaway. I know how you feel the on the report side of things, the rumor side and is that the right move? So two parts. goo ahead. Well, no, I was laughing when you said the spurs played a part and I was thinking to myself, was that part just saying no But it was was a part to say now we're good. No That's where you wonder if Kaw's camp did in fact go and they said, hey, would you consider Oh fences here? And the like Noah. hang up the phone call a day. I mean, I think that that ultimately like it was pretty clear that there was there was a an effort for any number of reasons, frankly. to from his camp from Kawide to effort their way out of Los Angeles. I think that two of the only places that really made sense as we as we all about last week would be for his camp to reach out to Toronto to reach out for San Antonio as we said, like Kawai is a creature of comfort And Kai knows by the way, Kai knows that yeah, there there are, you know maybe some rough spots relationship wise around the spurs, but there are also some people there are pockets around the team The dude still like care about him. They don't hold the same type of grudges that maybe some fans do, that maybe some people around the organization do Um, So like it's worth at least reaching out, but like this was never Um of San Antonio's plan even as that that information started to materialize Um is it the right call? I think when you when you look at assets that Toronto is having to give up. You got a partways with an expensive player Uh, and and you have to give up some unprotected assets in the process like San Antonio is not interested in doing that right now, not especially as it regards in as it pertains to The asset portion of things. They don't want to give up any of their future right now for a guy who's thirty five years old. justust turned thirty five yesterday, by the way A bunch of birthays yesterday, by the way. Julian Julian S Penny getting paid on his birthday. That's pretty That's pretty good gift. That's pretty good million forty feel good. Yeah. Yeah. exactly. So I just I didn't it wasn't really it wasn't a reality from the beginning And when you when you take into account late, by the way. This was, I guess yesterday. Dallas Mavericks kind of emerged as a potential destination. So there's another bit of leverage entering the mix and saying like, hey We're talking to another team. And you're going to if you're the clippers like you're going to tryry to find as many possibilities as you can to get as many assets in return as you can and kind of still stay afloat. And I think that that Toronto gave them the type of package that San Antonio was was never going to give them in the first place. So from that perspective, Yeahah, I mean, I I think that that was a pretty Easy phone call to take and answer if you're San Antonio's front office. op in there Dvin go had I have to channel my inner Lague corsso, not so fast, my friend. O I think the spurs missed one on here Think about and a lot of people need to think about this because it hasn't gone away The San Antonio Spurs and of fininals did a great job of getting there in one of the games they were down, I mean, up twenty nine And in a situation like that What do you need to do? Okay? We all know what Wimby is Wimby likes to space the floor. whoo are you going to throw the ball to? Well, if you insert a guy like Kawi Leonard in that game, you can throw it to him on the left side on the right side. Now Wimby's in his natural position. spacing the floor, Kawi do your thing, blah, blah, blah on and on. Right? That's one of the reasons why you miss out on a deal like this, you know, having Kawai out there. Now the second part of that is It's interesting because I don't think the phone call was that way. I think the clippers tried to pry someomebody that San Antonio was like I' h the phone up on you. All right. And and and I would think of like a Dylan Harper. I don't think they went so much as a castle, but maybe they threw Harper's name around Bye. You know, it's is what did the clippers ask for from San Antonio that at the end of the day, Brian Rright was like, man, I can't do that man. you you didn't get everybody in trouble. So I think about that. And then the last thing speak from a famous singer, he's going back to the six Yeah going back eight. Kawi heard all seventy five of these songs. He said, I don't want to be, I don't want Drake coming after me I'll just go back to Toronto and see what we can do. saw what happened to Demar. I mean I guess the Dar thing. Sw how you wouldn have to Demar case. Yeah. I guess Kendrick Kamar probably had a hand in why Drake and D Mara Rosenner So I just kind of think like the hypothetical because I look at what Toronto gave up. Ingram Grady Dick three first round picks. It's a lot of Aans as well. It's a lot. So you say so okay. so like you think of the parallel what the sppurs would do. realistically because they probably wouldn't take Darin Fox in that trade because they have Garland. Spurs aren't going to part with Castle and Harper. So you're looking in the spot then it's probably Vell, Kelden I think between the two, that's forty four, Kai was at fifty. For the sake of the conversation, Fisell Keldon, Carter Bryan, plus a couple first rounders. you're you're not doing that. L thirty five year old dude, you can't trust to stay healthy. like that's yeah That's kind of what I'm getting at And by the way, not just that, but who wants an extension? who's entering the final year of cont. Oh well, no, and I'm saying that extension assumed. Oh yeah. I'm saying that extension assumed. notot that that I mean, for better or worse, that's going to be a conversation of whether you're paying I guess what would be thirty six year old over fifty million dollars a year for whatever it is Yeah We'll see. We'll see. That said, where do you think Toronto stacks up in that easastern conference right now? I mean that adding Kai is major and and that team is going to be, you know, They they already had size on the wings. They're just adding more size on the wings. I don't I thought that the Brandon Ingram Uh RJ Barrett Scottty Barnes fit was kind of weird to begin with. And I think at some point when they made that deal, it just screamed of something that was like We're going to flip at least one of these guys at some point for something that makes sense. I also just think like You know, They they they were Totally fine with Ki leaving town, even though it probably bummed them out. But the fact that he won them a title. I think that that they were totally cool with it. They understood it. They knew that Um, that they were kind of a pit stop for him I think it's kind of a cool reunion and you are adding a guy offensively speaking who was incredible last year and to Devin's point like that is a guy who you can give the ball to in the clutch and he's going to sort of control the way your offense runs U So, you know, you just got better. you just got better if you're the rators and you're in an easastern conference that It does continue to get better. I don't think that we can really look at the east right now and say that's a cake walk U, but they got better and that's when you're Toronto and you are trying to win right now That's kind of all you can ask for at this point I think the East is better better than the West right now We'll we'll see like once all this's still I guess it's still to be determined. Yeah you're talking about them like It's I don't mean it's It's it's as close as it's been at least on paper It feels it's getting there assistant. It's you got to give you got to give these credit. They just won They just won the title Yeah Yeah they just won the title. So right now the West has to they have to get back to their dominance. Yeah. I mean, I don't want to say it feels like a dated narrative because I think very Oh no, the West has been better W long time Oh long time L. Yeah, yeah, yeah U And I think very much this playoffs it was the Kicks against the field. U But yeah, I think This might close the gap. We'll see. LeBron goes back to Cleveland. LeBron goes to Miami There you go. Go ahead. I want to point out just one other And I'm not I'm not saying anything. I'm not saying anything. J just throwing this out there for people to chew on a little bit. The outgoing owner of the Toronto Raptors is the chairman of the Board of Governors for the NBA and will according to reports will likely have a voice in the way the aspiration situation is going to be handled. Uh for the clliippers and for Kawai Just wanted to throw that out there. That's a little bit it's interesting. It's interesting I mean know. a situation that's been just an ethical dancing around the moral compass and the ethics of of the sport to begin with that would not su For more than a year now, for more than a year now for more than a year I will let it marinate. All right. Coming up on the other side of the break. We'll talk about the moves, the spurs did make the players they do have. It's familiar faces and getting paint, especially in the case of Julian and Champani, both of them getting deals yesterday afternoon, Monday afternoon, so we can give out a little bit of a and maybe think a little bit more. what is the move? We'll figure that out. comoming up next right here on the Spurs squad show on locked on Spurs, of course You guys know it as the Number one spports podcast network in the world. 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Seriously, all of it, and we trust you to make smart decisions A all you listen to this show. See terms at discover dot com slash credit card. That's discovever dot com slash credit card I know where what free agency started about five hours ago. Yeah, I was going to say the spurs have been quiet so far on the fl Everyone's been quiet. Everyone is And by by the way, like O of the reasons it's been quiet is because I've never seen so much activity free free agency. Like think of everything that's already happened. You have everyone is basically resigned You've had at least three Major trades You're still awaiting the LeBron decision, which is definitely holding teams up from making moves and probably holding players up deceiding where they want to go because there might be teams prioritizing LeBron. People are also waiting to see what happens with Jayen Brown Like there's just a lot has already happened and there are just some monster pieces on the board right now. priority at this point. I just to me, like that's why this has been as slow a first five hours to free agency as I can ever remember And the spurs what do you say, a monster piece This is I don't know if we're calling Julian Champani, a monster piece Maybe a masterpiece if you will The team yesterday declining his three million dollar team option and as a result, he gets threeree year forty five million dollars deal for the hard worker. that he has become for pure money shooter that he has become a true in the context of the NBA, a true rags to Rich' story as an undrafted pro cashhing in playing very good basketball for his team Three million dollar rags. Yeah, three million dollar rgs. A path though of going undrafted to getting getting fair compensation, if you will, that Devin Brown is familiar with that undrafted route. So you see this, I'd have to imagine, my friend, you're feeling pretty good about Every come in Juju's way Yeah, he did a phenomenal job this year. Remember this is the franchise leader with eleven Thes in a game. So, you know, he earned it. he earned it. you know, everything that, you know, he had some big, you know, playoff games. Um, you know, needed him to hit, you know, one or two more there in the finals, but that's why you have next year. But, you know, along with him and and Barnes, you know, what that the San Antonio and we know that they're loyal, you know, to their players. what it tells them is we believe in you guys, We believe in everything We appreciate everything that you guys did, you know, being that They, you know, everybody thought they were going to win what thirty games, thirty two games something like that. They end up winning sixty two So when you look at the whole body of work and everything that goes in. Juju is a huge part of that startarted for most of the year right there in the mid midseason. They had them coming off the bench just because they were fully healthy, but At the end of the day, he was starting again. so u It's just the sppurs believing, you know, in their body of work and saying, hey, let's run this thing back Uh, you know, let's see what this squad can do Uh, everybody will be one, you know, a a one year further season. And let's see what happens Yeah. and I mean Don't forget like they have the the fifteen million dollars mid level exception. They're going to go get somebody. So for the most part, they are going to be running things back. They're going to count on internal development. They're going to, you know, Terce Reid is is going to be twenty three years old his rooie year. He's he was we were laughing today at Summer League practice. He was he was talking about how You know, he's starting to meet some of the guys and Carter Brian is on the summer League team and Carter is kind of going to him and offering him some some NBA pointers and some advice, you know, to welcome him to San Antonio and Terace is like how How old are you? You know, Carter Bryan being twenty years old here. He's like guy you're younger than me. But but it's it's it's one of those things with with this team and you just said it, Devin, like they They really believe in their own development program. u they they put you through a lot of tests, man. they run you they put you through it And so if you do come out the other side and you are a major contributing member of that teeam Chances are you have earned it. especially if you're a guy like Julian Champani who's undrafted He's a scrap heap casualty when Philadelphia decided because Mac McClung was cool and they wanted his jersey they wanted him to wear their jersey in the dunk contest that they decided they dumped Julian Champanney. He arrives in San Antonio and now he is He is a three year forty five million dollars man and really like one of the big turns in the season and another thing that Devin just brought up when he was inserted into the starting lineup, like that really changed sort of the trajectory of where they were going at that point. They were they were already playing well. when he was inserted in place of Harrison Barnes, it they they really seem to to take off at that point. So U You know, forty five million dollars sounds like it's just a crazy amount of money and and in today's NBA fifteen million dollars cap hit is it's not much, man That's the same amount as an exception these days, which is wild Back when you were playing. what was the mid level exception, Devin onen fifteen million. That's for three million or something, something like that. Yeah. Yeah. I'm glad we were the founding fathers for all. Now you get to podcast with us, man? Yeah, you know? Yeah. Were other of you guys surprised that he that he well, it wasn't his say It was a team a team option, three million dollars team option But He didn't play out this season and took the extension now opposed to next year No, I'm not No, no. I'll tell you right now, I'll tell you from experience, when you're dealing with San Antonio And and they're going to decline that and offer you that amount of money. You've better take it. You better take it every time Every time I feel like and I know I texted you guys initially, initially my thought. man. Maybe he did sell sell himself a little bit short because I felt like he could have gone into next year and continued on the trajectory that he been on and gotten an extra year and maybe at that back end pushed twenty mill on the back end of that. But is it? it's kind of at the same time. Is it worth it at that point? No No, no, no and Matt and Matt and Matt, I know you know about this. No, no, no. if you're having discussions with them to decline that option. then you're already going to sign back with San Antonio You're not going to decline that option. They're not going to let you just away Right. I'm talking Yeah Yeahah for next year. I'm talking for what would be twenty the summer. You're talking about turning this down and going to next year He's He' saying like the alternative would have been to play on the three million dollar for this year and then go out and get your contract. next year and like to me that The value that he got is really damn good and you can look around the league at players who are similar to him and guys like a Kevin Herder who just got three years twenty seven or something like that. It's I don't think that his U earning potential was going to Like balloon so much to the extent that like you're going to risk You're going to risk teen million dollars this year. And and again next year and again the year after that after to risk whatever might happen to you while you're playing on a three million dollars contract because you don't know, you don't know what can happen to you and and suddenly like You know, if worst comes to worse and you suffer an injury and suddenly you're going in as an unrestricted free agent. And people are like, Ah We're you know, we might sign you, but we're going to give you sort of this non guaranteed thing that's going to be for a few years like now you That's a great, that's a great deal for for Julian like Yeah your agent does his research and ye, you know, Dennis Schroder the last couple of years Remember all that Chasason. Yeah. He's been chasing after that contract getting traded every single time a team makes a trade. Yeah you get into that. The other thing is is as an undrafted player myself, I played in Salina Kansas A lot of people don't even know where that is. I don't know One of their biggest rivals was was a team that was in the USBL, Dodge City Kansas Hey, listen, man Yeah When you show up to a game six hours before the game and you drove there yourself in a minivan to your teammates and someone offers you. Rush hour again, fifty million dollars take that I don't go I don't want to go back to that Right. The other thing is the other thing is like in the NBA right now because of the collective bargaining agreement and how punitive it is for people who are over the luxury tax or over the first apron This new CBA is so punitive that it's it's kind of clearing out the middle class. And so the longer you wait at this point, like you are your your earning potential isn't going to be drastically higher. You run the risk of some sort of weird relationship strain with the sppurs and suddenly as the Spurs in the next couple of years start having to pay Wimbinyama and then Castle and then Dylan and you're you're looking up and suddenly there's like There isn't any more room to pay you. likeike they're not going to go you know, spiking over the luxury tax or the apron to sign Julian Champani as much as they love Julian Champenni. They're not going to, you know All those those owners aren't about to, you know, quadruple They're their their bill their roster bill to pay for Julian and Champannei. They're going to go get somebody else and on the open market when nobody has Cap room anymore, you're not going to find that money. You're going to be trying to search for some partart of a mid level exception somewhere. So like this was the perfect time for him to take that And and the spurs are still in really good shape. We're able to do it without having to like exceed any sort of crazy line that's going to cost them in the future, at least this season So u yeah, this was this was a good The timing on this was excellent for both the Spurs and Julian Champanne Well, yeah, and I think another aspect of it too is that this is his first extension extension, right?. And this is his first payday. And you don't know how many paydays you're going to get. And I talked about the idea of him continuing that that trajectory forward and all indications it's going to be. if you keep doing that in three years after you get your forty five You're still going to be on that trajectory to get a little more on top of that when that next deal and at that point, you've been around what? Six years? seven years You you've already made made a living for yourself doing this. I think it was while I thought He maybe salt himself Little bit short, forty five million dollars on my plate right in front of me, I'm not gonna to say no U, the Harrison Barnes aspect of it. eightight million dollars E one year. felt like a no brainer, especially in a spot where They have the money to spend doesn't hurt the flexibility For the most part a one You need the eighty two game guys. you need depth, you need all of it and that's yeah, that's a no brainer. Well, and it's though I don't think they would do it. Any expiring contract that's eight million dollars helps along the way. if they do ultimately make a move at some point come the deadline. That's something that That's I guess out there as well. Devin, you remember your first And this is something I feel like you see with a lot of championship teams. you saw it with or at teams that have gone have gotten to the finals deep in the post season. It feels like there's just that little extra something that's makes you that much more sought out of at least on the outside looking in. So like I think like how many suitors we're going after Landry shamet, how many suitors Mitchell Robinson's getting on the Nick side of things. U You were in a spot and this is me just wanted to pick a vette's brain here. You were in a spot where you were essentially going into that. You went into free agency, ultimately went to Utah and it was off of a championship. What is that kind of aspects sentiment like. coming off of a title and knowing that there is a level of intrigue at least perceived intrigue knowing that You are were part of that championship team Well, anybody that's put on this the San Antonio uniform, whether it's players front office, management, whatever it is Um, other teams You have to go off what that champion does Uh, so when you look at the New York Nicks and you look at Mike Brown automatically you think San Antonio Right? He's a product of pops. cohing tree and things like that And you look at the history of what San Antonio has done where they've had these guys that play really hard. You had high radar guys. you've had guys like myself undrafted. you've had second round picks Tony and Manu guys like that where, you know, they it seems like Man, when they get in that system, they're really good. So when you talk about a Utah you know, at that time. they're making the transition. I know it had been a few years like I am not trying to date myself And I want to make this clear. It had been a few years. The only holdover in Utah was Greg Ostertag. I do have people that reach out to me and ask if I play with Carl Malone. Heavens no. He was on the Lakers. All right. I was not there with John Stockton and Jeff Fornesk. No. No But my point is is they were transitioning out of that system And they wanted to get more athletic. And so I got a phone call Darren Williams. That was his rookie years. So you know, we had a really good team. Um, and things like that. But when you look at that, Teams are going to follow what the leaders do and a lot of teams along the way Casey have followed what San Antonio puts out there and they like u that style of player Wed out pretty well, worked out for all boers involved Imagine it did Almost time for us to get out of here as we near the ten thirty hour. on central time right here in the Spur squad show unlocked on Spurs. wantanted to tell you guys coming up on the other side of the break the NBA cup pairrings are out Group Yeah Yeah, Yes. So Tyan said from the jump that u that there's more news on the NBA cup side of things. So before we get out of here, we'll give you the Real quick notes on that. We'll have a few more witty quips about where LeBron is going to end up and Wellll we'll call it a Tuesday night. Don't go anywhere real quick as we step aside real quick right here on the Spurs squad show all locked on Spurs It's smart to always have a few financial goals and a really smart one you can set earning cashback on what you buy every day. And with Dcover, you can get this. Discover automatically matches all the cashback you've earned at the end of your first year Seriously, all of it. and we trust you to make smart decisions. After all, you listen to this show. See terms at discover dot com slash credit card. That's discored dot com slash credit card. Listen, we make satirical comments about the NBA Cup, but if we're being completely honest, the NBA Cup did wonders this year for the San Antonios first. So maybe maybe we shouldn't He it predicted the champion. It predicted the NBA champion. Well That is true. and it's storied history ight the first time that we have seen a duel in season tournament NBA Cup champion and NBA Finals champion Spurace groups u Not half that bad there in West Group C themselves the Lakers without LeBron James Portland, now with Joh Marin Sacramento And potentially the Golden State Warriors with LeBron James I feel like it's very early to react or place labels on anything like that, given that we are only January January, june thirtieth But hey, listen, one thing I think we learned from the NBA Cup last year though, is that And we've actually kind of seen it a little bit along the way is that Young teams really do benefit from it. They really do whether it was Spurs this year, Pacers the year before Pid off that well, man, listen, listen to this group, You think they want You fixed over once once LeBron in Cleveland or Miami. listen to this group Nicks Cavaliers Heat seventy sixers pacers East group B. Ns Cavalierss Heat seventy sixers Pacers. Is that what you said? Yes. Yep. The other news that popped up about the about the cup is that the championship is going to be played and like hold on Butler Yes A Butler A Butler. I guess there they were saying like the the Vegas scene was just like too antiseptic like no one there cared about basasketball really So they're taking it to a place that has a whole lot of basketball character, I guess. I don't know. G me a cup. I enjoy the cup. It's fun. P like teams. Teams seem to care about it. The players definitely do care about it, especially the younger teams. Uh the spurs were You know, I was around them last year and they absolutely cared about those NBA cup games. They absolutely cared about getting a little extra money because who doesn't? couple couple of hundred thousand dollars is not a bad is not a bad consolation prize. They cared about it, man. I'll be interested to see This year the task of of, you know, their goal being to run it all the way back to the NBA finals There will be points along the way especially During the winter there when they're like A Like We'd rather have five days off or whatever than then go do this whole knockout tournament again. I don't know. Maybe Victor' such a crazy competitor that he's like I we lost it last year. We we need get back. We need to get the NBA Cup trophy. We got to win something. teach us how to close things out because if you'll remember That was the first sign blowing leads against the New York Kicks because they had a sizable lead on the fourid and New York came back from a double digit deficit as they did in every Single game. the two teams played this season So that was it was at the time, we didn't know it But it was a pretty spectacular foreshadowing of what was to come It was certainly the precursor. All right. Before we get out of here What's the free agency headline? we're seeing about LeBron James between now when we meet on Thursday, Devorin Brown, if any at all I mean, if you look at if you look at social media, he's been back in Akron playing golf and Hanging out, you know, Cleveland's not out of the equation Dam And I mean, everybody Mbe in his camp is saying why not? why not go back there? So yeah, that's good that's going to be my dark horse, Cleveland, the calves Yeah, I I figured that Devin was on that golf algorithm Um yeah You know, Let's see, what's my prediction. byy the time we meet on Thursday The headlines will be LeBron James is taking his time to mold over his decision and he doesn't care about anybody else's needs on their roster. He is with his family. He is enjoying golf, eating the finest foods, letting his greybeard grow He's still hanging out with JR. Smith on boats somewhere. like I don't know I think an elaborative headline, man. I know it's a very very wordy one probablyrobably won't fit very well. Gonna to need some subhes. You're there you're the print guy. C on. R on I mean, I think he heads up on the wararriors. That's just I think that there is too much There's too much maneuvering going on right now between Draymond Green declining his player option between getting this this Porzinga situation dealt with as an extension rather than waiting to be signed after By the way The whole free agency show. this evening the official Lag year starts overnight So like the real signing stuff Um The reason that they were able to get that out of the way with Porzingus now is because it was an extension. And like to me, just a little stuff about The way that Golden State has been sort of u going about their business so far just You got you got Draymon Green tweeting out the bat signal