Summer League Prospect Impressions

This episode is brought to by Netflix. The T mobile homeome runun Derb is right around the corner. might be one of the best showcases of pure power and off sports baseballs Biggest slugggers. along with some legendary Announcers, Puhos, Rizzo, Bs, Sabbathia L Duncin Yeah Hunter Pence, Matt Fas Kirzian, a whole bunch of people. And it's the one night where you don't swing to make contact You swing. to make history. Im interested is see what Bond says about this actually. Anyway, it is all live from Citizens Bank Park In Philly, Watch the T mobile homeome runun there we liive on Netflix this Monday, july thirteenth at eightM Eastern five PM Pacific. This summer, fandoo is the best place to bet on goals. Including equalizers, Uhuh Vollies? Y, headters. Every goal is worth more on fandoo. So let there be goals New customers get up to a thousand dollars and bet reset tokens when you bet five dollars daily. Cote one plus and present in select states, often required, Refund issued is non withdrawal of bonus bets that expire seven days after receipt. M minimum five dollar waits are required for five consecutive days. Max refund two hundred dollars per day. Restrictions apply, including token expiration, seaFful turns at fual dot com slash spportsbook. Gambling problem, callall one eight hundred gambler or one eight hundred my reset Welcome to the Missatch. I'm Chris Varnan, and join us to us every week from the wringer d. com is Dave Jovi, Jacove We had to move for time Hob recording We had to move it up a few hours. prodroducer Jesse got a little freaked out about it, sent some panic texts, like it was going to be so hard to move and got it done because after we rarapped, We are all flow backan It has been crazy. And I know that you you have had the same experience over the last couple of weeks. Those of us who I mean, you and I have spent the like literally every waking minute for the last nine months. caring and dissecting every bit of NBA news and game that happens. and then the NBA ends, you look for something to fill the sports void And this World Cup has done it a thousand folds. right there. It just went right from Nick's championship into the end of the group stage And here we are Here we are England Mexico much. England Mexico last night. I went to a Mexican restaurant in Los Angeles God goingo and going and going, the ra would blow whistling just like crazy. It's been so tenense. Well the other thing is so Just on my on my end. My experience was so last night I knew I had watched Erling Holland at that game earlier in the day. Bea of course now I'm like a soccer expert of course. And then And then we're yeah, we all are. And then we get to Mexico, England night And I'm like, all right, I'm gonna walk the dog. I'm eat. Im settle in Mexico, England. And I was like, and I've been talking to my son about it. My son is like started watching it and his buddies are into it, whatever So I walk downstairs and I'm like, yeah, I tell my wife I said, Hey where's William Cars's gone She's like, he went over to Michael's house. there' group of them they're going to watch the World Cup tonight. I was like, what What do What do you mean What do you mean? they're going to watch the World Cup tonight? Just like they did during the NBA finals. I was like All right, if a bunch of teenagers are getting together to watch the World Cup, I was like, I know this thing is taken off. really because I saw I was like, man, o man. So sure enough. And then it got toays over at his buddy's house. I was I was producing a game overver episode There was recording during the game So the second they rapped I just ran out of the studio. All right. So anyways, look, team USA is going to be playing tonight. There's also Smmer League action that is going on tonight in Utah and California. including the first it'll be the first match up of Cam Boozer and Darren Peterson tonight on the same court wearing NBA uniform. So there is some stuff that is going on tonight in regards to the NBA, but there was NBA news that happened today byy virtue of The moratorium being lifted. now everybody can talk about all this news that we had seen over the course of the past week. And with that we knew that the most awaited press conference in the NBA by a wide margin was going to be the one held Brad Stevens and Bill Chisholm and the Boston Celtics explaining themselves for the Jayen Brown trade, a trade that you and I have not particularly commented on yet because that happened after we had done last week show. but firstirst, let let's just cover the Jayla Brown trade it was fake He thought it was I'm in the group chat. I was like, Zach lo, is this real That That was honestly maybe my favorite moment of the group Chad was You asking Zach Lo if it was real and then him Confirming indeed. this did And then he checks me on the side. He's like' Bill's getting colonoscopy right now That whole thing Simmons getting the call it out would be the day of the trade is like it's perfect honest It's just perfect It really is It' perfect. Everything you want is Bill Simmons was everything you wanted.. We are now Several days removed. Sveral conversations removed. Several justifications removed fromr this all happening and frankly, I still cannot believe It happened. But I am Willing? to listen Do what Brad Stehvens had to say today with open ears And I did We'll let you hear a little bit of Brad Stevenenss here fromom a basketball perspective U You know, I think that there are a lot of different angles. that we have to consider in every move we make And there's all the information that we have access to that will ultimately inform each of those moves U when I looked at our team, And I looked at where the league was heading. lookooked at the way that we've finished the last couple years and also looked at The unbelievable way we've played in the regular season in the last couple of years you know The path looked a little bit more challenging to me I might be wrong. I'm not going to stand up here and be defensive about that. The path looked a little bit more challenging with seventy percent of our cap and such a high percent of our usage tied into two players The reality in this era And in this day and age at the NBA and you could see it Obviously with the last couple of champions and some of the teams that were at the very top of the league when it was all said and done at the end of this year is that You know, you have to do a great job and you have to have the optionality to do a great job of building out depth that can hopefully replace the irreplaceable individual. That's absolutely Nothing against Jayalen Right? If you have Jalen Brown on your team, you should feature him. You should use all those possessions and you should approach things that way But I think the The importance of depth And then obviously we have to continue to work on ways to diversify our attack In own All that being said still wasn't Um still would not have made a move unless We thought the right opportunity presented itself So Brad Stehvens spoke about this. And I thought Th honestly, he came off And he always does is like very from a place of humility about all of this, almost like a decisions These are very hard decisions We understand that There's going to be decisions we make that are not popular at all, right? We got a rabid fan base and we understand how much he meant to this organization. It's like he tried to couch it all. I do want to say say all the right things. Yeah He did say all the right things and there were mountains and mountains and mountains of praise for Jalen Brown his impact on the organization, the ten years he spent there. What an honor it was to have a front row seat to his era as a Boston in Celtics. No one's going to talk about that part because it's not like the headline, but he definitely checked all those box. And I think thing I was most persuaded by So If we're separating the Jaen Brown trade and Again, we didn't We didn't get to do the immediate reaction. but it was If you would have told me they are trading Jalen Brown, I would have one hundred percent believed you. you and I had many conversations about this. You were always on the side of why? why do you have to trade him? I just figured that after you know The honest thing. And him being the number one guy last year and a contract extension possibility, not far off on the horizon that It would not be shocking at all if Jaylen Brown were to move and they were about to trade him. secondcond part of this is the return and that is the part we could not fathom and still nobody could fathom. And so let's just separate those two things that you could convince me that This is the wise basketball Mves feel like There was a large percentage of the press conference. was used order to validate line of thinking, of which is a totally reasonable Team building set The idea that We had seventy percent Oh money tied up into two players. If you look now, at who you have to compete with highest level. basasically just making an argument is not the way We don't think that's the way And the way is by having the available depth You are able to withstand injury, you are able to have bigger group of good the more good players you have and we can't have more good players. Um We're doing it this way because basically you're hard cap at the top with that second apron. And so with these two players aking up seventy percent of the cap We don't think that that's the best mode of operation. We'll stop there And I will ask you I actually agree with that, don't you? think it is Damn near impossible. I suppose there is a I suppose there's a scenario. We could look up one day and maybe if it's Dylan Harper and Victor Wenbenyama and they're tring up seventy percent of your Yeah It's possible, but you would have to have the absolute Perfect combination. Marie to make any mine Yes. so It's impossible to separate the trade from the return because in the return, they still have seventy percent of the cap with two players So explain that part to me because one of the things that Brad Stevens can do. He's a very smart, articulate person and I sort of get lost in the sauw sometimes listening to these people that he could convince me that the sky is green. justust because he like is good at talking? But he's silly' like what would We didn't we didn't want to build the seventy percent of our cap on two players Okay What are you doing now Okay. so his answer was because they said the money's not that different like that I mean, Boston media wasn't letting this guy off the hook And he and he basically said the year. It's the year It is one less year. And we felt like we were getting too reallyally great assets two other assets that we think we could either use to facilitate other deals we need to make or Draft guys like Dylan Mitchell and Jordan Walsh. two second round picks that we have had recently that we really believed in. And again I got it. We can't separate and that's the issue right with trades. You can't separate the return. I actually thought the case he made four. the way they want to build their team I just refused to accept and he did say This was we felt like this was our best deal H Th then Th Sam Sharania, there's no W that Sham Sharania who put out The Celtics or engaged with and our fielding offers From A Teen He put that out is Awesome There's no way they fielded offers from eight to ten teams and that was the best possible return that they could get for Jayb Brown. I understand the way this all works. They trying to build up leverage and whatever else or deal it's just like you just can't square but I'm saying, you can't square that. You can't square that they there's no way they talked to eight to ten teams and that was the best You know. And so that's the big mystery is when Brad Steven says we felt like this was the best package. I think that's the thing that I and everyone else gets hung up on, which is how is that the best It's not just the best package not just the best package. It's timing doing it now. And he was asked about that. another thing that he was good on in the press conference, he was like, listen, if it was a West Coast team with the same package, I would have happily traded the Um, Dan Bown there. But like this is Philly. We're going to play them six times before the playoffs Do they play twice in the preseason So there's going to be six games this year Where Jalen Brown is in a different uniform? I'm assuming Four or two of those are in Boston. 's crazy So it's the it's not the package, it's the timing and the destination team This is a true rial that lost to them in the playoff And maybe look as time goes on, maybe it will start to leak out and maybe we'll get like the real story with all of this. I'm sure that there's a bunch of intrepid reporters that are attempting to I got something right here Verno. something right here. me All right, let me hear from Amic in King of the athletic Now again Just like the Bobby Marks thing Well by the way, Jay King. I know J King. J King has covered the Celtics for a long, long time and that' boots on the ground. Sam has always been a West coast guy, but J King is boots on the ground. I'm not a J King guy. I'm a J King guy Jake Kang does not cover the self yes. I get them confused. Understood Here's the quote. and again, I just want to say These people G this information and then distribute it These aren't their thoughts. And they're not lying, right? But this is the quote. tributing to concerns about the situation, the Celtics believed that Brown went off script too often During playoff games as Boston blew a three run F three one first round lead to Philadelphia, according to a league source. H Well, and look, there were quotes you could possibly find if you wanted to dig for him because I remember this like was yesterday. We talked about it during the playoffs where he was like basically I wish we would have played just like we played doout throughout the year Which is a way of saying like, give me the ball. The script was like scri was give me the ball and then I could. Yeah, that's the script Right. If we were like, you know, like how we just won fifty six games. likeike why are we trying to do this like u You know, ball around start Ron Harper Junior all this baloney like I mean and like we're trying to get, you know Jason back worked into the mix and everything like we had something good going here And so I understand like You know, he was obviously, there was a frustrated quotes at the end of the year. Again were' this far removed. We have now listened to the Celtics try to talk about it and we still are perplexed as to why that was the return L it's still We everybody just Paul George' contract is a punchline. It is one less. It's one less year. So he didn't I think he plays next year and then he's expiring the following year that they moved Sim' podcast they they rank worst contracts in the league. It's a very Popular episode every single year. He was drafted second and no one argued. It was almost like, damn you my go. You mean It's like when you used to have the first second pick and you were like, oh my God, he took Tomlinson. You know mean? like I wanted Lad Danianins for sure I get Lad Daviian Tomlinson. No. he's off the board Paul George' contract was off the board by two in the worst in the worst contracts draft So I mean Even if I like there's two different. I feel like this entire time there's been like two tracks, right which is like We're trading Jayen Brown and I totally get it, right? I get I understand U you could convince me that that's the right thing to do And then there's the whole return portion of it. And then even today, there's that team building side of it, which is actually very persuasive to me, right? You know, you and I had this discussion during the year, watching Oklahoma City San Antonio and I was saying, you know Young teams And having a bunch of guys that can just wildly outperform their contract That's the way to have the best teams right now. Th are they deals. Those are rookie deals. Yeah also think there is a very good discussion to be had as this gets broken up. And again, this was probably getting broken up anyway that onnce they introduce the second apron, that one of the things is you never want to have to feel like Let's just say that that is the major reason behind it that the team building idea, forget the return of it The reason you are moving off of Jayla Brown is because of that you think that building a team in twenty twenty six The best way to do that is by not having two players to take up seventy percent of your cap I am in wholehearted agreement with something the bill floated and I hope this really takes hold that The second apron, I don't think is a bad thing, but everybody gets mad that you have to like you have to break up these teams And so like You don't get to keep the guys that you drafted and you nurtured if they become super awesome because you can't afford them because you end up having to pay like I was Somebody today was saying that if you pay Payyton Watson, like twenty two million or whatever like that. there' there the nuggets tax number could be Well over one hundred fifty million dollars. that's cost eightam seventy. Right. Yeah. So I what I wanted to say was that I am in wholehearted agreement They should put in in the next CBA a structure where You do get discounts for your hometown players You They do not count as much against the cat. I that is what's best for fans. I think that is what's best for basketball. I think that's what's best for team building that if you draft and have a player That should be the reward when that player gets so good You don't have to make a decision whether or not that player can stay with your franchise forever. I mean look Castle Harper and Wby Castle Harper and Wimb. It's right like's like the same thing with the Thunder It's like it's like it'sevable.'s Well there's there's only a two three year window with this because they're going to have to break this team up. It's like because we drafted good players, developed a good chemistry between them. And now we can't retain them because we developed them. And that's the way, that's the way you do that is you say, you get break on your cap if it's your players Right? You do not get a break on a cf of it's O teams players But you get a break on the cap countount, whatever Let's say ten percent less against your cap, which could be very, very significant, right? Like I mean now all of a sudden will also ofense you can offer them more then that but they don't you don't get a discount there. You know what I mean? But you don't you don't want these home grown teams having to break up. No. That's wrong. Like I don't like watching the sppurs and watching Dylan Harper in the playoffs be excellent and thinking to myself At some point, they're going to have to break this team up They Darper just got drafted last year I know And so that's the thing that they have got to fix, right? The second apron is basically hard capping the lead. But on the other hand, you have to put in some kind of infrastructure where you could keep your own guys O Or you can have your best player sign at a major discount even though his father's on the tea represented by the same organization run the organization Do that. You could do that That's one way to get this done. O you could get in Unbelievable Tree planting sponsorship. Yeah And that would enable you to do it Not that anyone's ever done No And we're live on match day as Doug reaches for a buffalo wing. He's got it. Oh and he's gone for a can of Pepsi too. What a finish There's no doubt about it. It just tastes better. Match days deserve Pepsy. This episode is brought to you by State Farm. Listening to this podcast instead of doom sccrolling? Smart move. Another smart move Getting help from one of state Farm's nineteen thousand local agents when you choose to bundle home and auto. Bundling. Just another way to save with the personal price plan. Prices are based on rating plans that vary by state. Coverage options are selected by the customer. Availability, amount of discounts and savings, and eligibility vary by state Janis spoke today So this is the first time that we could do the whole Jonis Milwaukee thing And he sat down and had a conversation in Milwaukee at the Bucks courourt and You know I mean, We felt like Cvering that saga over the course of the last eighteen months was like Has anybody ever not wanted to be disliked by place that they have called home for over a decade and delivered a championship. and You and I kept saying like, bro, don't worry. they're never going to hate you. But But he' at All the way to the air can't help myself. Milwaukee, I love you I love you, Milwaukee. And Milwaukee's always going to be home and No. And so it but Did Get u He did get very introspective when he said There's something when I wake up every day and take my showers at night. I think, man, Maybe I've waited too long to leave and I see guys playing deep in the playoffs and I think I'm like, okay, maybe if I switch teams and go somewhere else and have a better opportunity. I could play deep in the playoffs. I can go try and chase another championship because that's what I really want. I'm scared that maybe if I don't make that decision that when I'm going to be thirty seven, thirty eight years old, hopefully when I'm retiring, I'm going to say, why didn't you take that risk And so he kind of like laid it out there as the You know, as nice away as you can Um Nobody thinks that's wrong. Nobody thinks that's goofy. Nobody thinks that he's doing Milwaukee dirty. like he he pulled this off. where he was finally able to get out. Nobody's ever going to hate you, bro U But I can't help but think about this and somebody actually tweeted me about A story I told years ago where Jerry West was always like this You know, he'd be the consultant for these teams Um You know, with different teams, the warriors he consulted with them, the clippers he went And all these guys say the same thing when he talked to them about Jerry West He would basically get these guys every time and he would St them down I mean, he's the logo, right And he paraphrasing, but this was basically the message Beam Bamy I stuck it out And I ended up going one in eight. in the NBA finals And I go to bed every single night thinking about if it would have been different. I wake up every single day thinkink it about it if it would have been different tortures me and it will torture me until the day I die that I wonder if it would have been different But I stuck it out And then now I've lived the rest of my life wondering what would have happened me be the guy that wonders what would have happened the leap and do it and it's like I mean course every and every time the guy ends up going to the wararriors, the clifffers, the Lakers, wherever, right? And it's like Jesus, man, like the guy who's the logo on the basketball sitting there telling me You know, What me I'm the logo. I but I went eight one in the one and eight in the finals and There's not a day that goes by that I don't wonder how my life would have been different if I would have brave enough to take the leap Don't have the regrets I do Be I'm going to go to my death bed with those regrets. You don't have to. Well, donon't you feel that, you know,on and the Bcks. Don't you feel like Jonice and the Bcks do have regrets over the timeline. state a year two and once they wave and stretch game it's like what are we doing? I mean What are we doing to go get Miles Turner to try to's what are we doing now guys with Calcusma, Miles Turner R There's certainly a lot Probably a lot of things that would have been done differently. Yeah. and the last year I want to play and they're like, you're not going to play. He's like, Well, I want to play. Why can't I play? Is was weird. And now He's going to go be playing in Miami. I don't think anybody from Mew Milwaukee is going to have any hard feelings towards him. No He delivered him a title You know what I mean delivered him a the title. I remember one time This family from Milwaukee. This is years ago now And I met this family from Milwaukee and I was just talking to them about sports. I was like and they're the brewers are really good at the time, whatever And the packers were really good and had Earon Rogers. And I was like, so you remember when I would ask you like and now it's without question, right? Remember when I'd ask you like Brudson and Eric Judge walk into a restaurant who gets the table and you're like, I mean now it's not even close. It's like it's not even close, right? But I remember asking them at the time And I was like, so, Who is bigiggest athlete in Milwaukee and they were like, it's not even close.. It's It's it's it's But I was like I was I was like, Yan is bigger than Aaron Rogers. They're like, abbsolute Jianas is the most beloved like I mean, they loved his ass. That's why And in that. I think that's why he yes. I think that's why. I think that's why it was so heartbreaking. They love that And also don't forget When he was drafted, I was at Grantland and he was like skinny. He was a total project. He like grew like four inches in his rookie year. And now he's got a family and kids and like that all happened in Milwaukee. for him Um One other thing before we get into some of the transactions of the day that I do want to mention is there was a viral clip that went out after we recorded the show last week endnd of the viral clip. I said ever signs Walker Kessler over thirty million dollars a year is stupider than or crazier than hell And of course our Social team made a clip of it and then put Rob Palena's face at the end because we at that point did not know the result of this. It was head of that way. It was head Number one, super funny social clip. numberumber two I stand by what I said completely. That's an Asenon contract that they will regret massively Massively read that it is the biggest track ever given to a non all star big It's not just that, Berno, it's that they gave away their draft capital to sign that contract just sign it gave away all future flexibility to bringing Walker Kessler and, Ohh, we need a big for Luca Okay Is he the right guy for Luca is W her guess are the right guy for Luke I mean So listen to People on the inside say it This is a non negotiable with Luca me a big me a good big. so I've got to believe that that was one a fancy to be a Ticket roll partner slash screener He'll be a reboundnder rim protector And he'll set some screens, but like I like the sort of bounciness of Kafferord and Lively And also Lively's passing ability, which you didn't get to feature because it hurt I agree. We'll see. I agree. All right I need This is where the floor is yours. So as you have mentioned many times on the show And you are out in Los Angeles, California right now You help produce Max And Riches Pod came over. cameame over Did you have An idea The whiteboard would become so iconic I'll give you little origin story of the whiteboard When we first started the show, they would use the whiteboard to like put the rundown on the board and they'd be like, this is the plan for today. All right, let's do the show. And then they would go on that wouldd be the cold open then they would do it. It was clunky. It took a long time. The writing slows everything down. It it just sort of like didn't It didn't really work the way it was supposed to function. It was a really good idea sort of like before you shoot it. And then when you shoot it, it just like the birds don't come out fast enough, it just moves too slow And you know, one thing about working with Rich during like a LeBron James summer like this is I refuse to just like directly ask him inside information because it just seems a little rude, little like It's like outside of my thing He offers up a lot of information. you know what I mean? And the day of the whiteboard shoot, he was like Do we have the whiteboard we're shooting here at the Sycond Wore Studios in L.A I started texting the people that work here. I was like, do we still have that whiteboard? like, yes And Rich is smart. He's like, I'm going to prew write the stuff down so it doesn't like slow everything down put LeBron in the middle and like all these rosters on the outside and like all these reasons and all these random nouns, like oil and golf and stuff. it was just like it was a super fun show to do U, and I had a feeling that it was going to ced. Are you surprised that he wrote oil There's a lot of surprising things on the whiteboard, but that's sort of like the genius of rich' kind of like that like that Christian bale meme or that like like their Wester nameam Julia with lips. Pretty woman. Julia Robert Roberts Yeah. Julie Roberts It was just like, the random stuff made it fun. You know what I mean? It wasn't like all serious, all business I'm not to violate his privacy by saying this can said it on a subsequent show. He's like In my office, we have tons of whiteboards and we do this all day. for all their players. that sort of like sort of one of their like brainstorming methods. is to use the whiteboards like this And it was a I thought it was really well done by both Max and Rich People just ate it up ate it up So you watch the whiteboard come to life. You watch them talk. about said Whiteboard that includes golf and oil and then people are like, o, Minnesota's on there and o did you ask them why Memphis was not involved or not did not. I didn't come up. Okay. because that was an obvious omission to his whiteboard. No as you are watching it and you're seeing You know, and then he's explaining this. And then everybody's like they're like o Philly Minnesota Den is. Yeah, ye. like all these teams that are all of a sudden now, you know fanbases let g giveven was we made the white. We made the white poll. Let me made this point I think that's where we're going with this is What I learned while I was I was on the Zoom, I was in New York at that point. there in Los Angeles Bz watching it is if you take money out the equation and assume he'll play for whatever's left or like the m or whatever When you add him at a small number Basically any team that already has a roster, they like ten X themselves up You know what I mean? L If you look at the timimberwolves You're like, manan, they could use a power forward. L, Well What about LeBronch James? If you look at the nuggets? L Aaron Gordon has not been reliableably like, Well, guess what? What if we put in LeBronch James? Like he's just like the perfect hot sauce for any roster if you don't have to give him sixty million dollars or whatever, you know what I mean? Like it really is. when you add a player of his caliber at under markarket value, like you were talking about earlier really just sort of like solves all of your rooster problems So LeBron James is going to become much like these rookies and someone that wildly outperformed their numberers. Like if you're going to do best contracts in the NBA, he's a one with a bullet. Maybe weim but.es. Wendy. Yeah Yeah, probably. but still top five. like I mean, that that's the thing it's so ye. I mean look at forty two years old. it's going to be on the list because I'm looking at the timber Wolldves and I'm like I don't know. I dont I don't think they they really going to compet for a championship this year with all, you know, this new pieces and all this stuff. P LeBron James Okay no Gobert James McDaniels ball. you saw them You saw the board and listened to them talk about it. Did your opinion of where he will end up change at all? I think you and I were both kind of like. Warriors are Cleveland U And let me just lay this out. warriors And my case was The Curry thing, the Draymont thing, but most importantly that Steve Kerr had the somber goodbye and then was like, oh, actually, wait. let's run back. And I was like, okay, like if Ker had to know and Bill has been talking about this for months, months, which made me think There's something out there that has made Bill believe LeBron's going to end up with the wararriors. And then there's been a bunch of subsequent things that have happened. Draymon not doing the contract yet. And Peyton Watson not doing a contract yet. P trade. There's going a lot of Yonest trade And then most importantly, Steve Kirtk coming back, right? The other thing was Cleveland and that would just be not My thoughtought on that. And this was not, I believe on the white There's already been the story that he's going to document today didn't I think't get that there's going to be a he's going to document the year. Right If you were ever bookending a movie Right? It would all start here, it would all end here Right. That would be the way to do this his whatever it's going to be farewell to the king or whateverbody hasn't signed yet so we don't know where that number is coming in at. Right. So that's just what I was thinking is like if you're if if this is made for TV If that's what you're doing, Right Because because wars would be fine with that. They like, you know what I mean, makeake your movie and do whatever. right? Like they've dealt with distraction for forever That's not a it's a bunch of ves. Okay Wait a second Ferno. let me just me let me So now you're talking my language as a form producer, right? Current producer as well peak of his powers afterfter returning to Cle every year in the finals He matched up. against Steph Kurz reuniting those two is also a good final chap to them the movie or whatever you're doing and the team USA thing. And he obviously And he loves to play golf and they have access to every golf course and golf with Pul and Leberon James play. I think it's getting ridiculous. It's for. Yeah. Oh, it's not Kt's big back guy too. Oh we talked about this that they would beookingst Steve K. Yeah Yeah, yeah, yeah, ye. I mean Steve Kirk I mean, I know this from just in Memphis. they would cancel shoot aroundounds and just be out at courses. Whry about his back They just go play They just go play golf. There's a bunch of guys like they had a bunch of guys on their team that traveled with their club. here's I've got to behind the scene story about this So shams has information that Lerone James is not returning. Riches in one didn it Wimbble we're like rich you gota Whver you are, whate you're doing, you got to come the tapakes of fifteen minute pls the whole thing I'm watching on my phone walking around New York City tellell me the call afterwards gotott to do it again I we have to do it again Rich has a huge booger camer's pointing right up at those. No.es Oh cool. very image conscious. No So we to start over and do whole thing again because a bger I mean, I would do it too.'d I'd make you redo it. Yeah. I mean, why not? It's only ten minute camp an hour show Yeah. I't because you know, that clip is important too. It's going to get around You Rich Paul talking about Lebron. No Lake or it's just the booger When Rich said that if The Nicks wouldn't have won the title. He'd be in New York Now look, you could say that no matter what right? Theyve won the title. So what do you think ay may I'd rather have the title man, Leprhon in the garden forty one times Orange and bl L. Also, why would it rule it out? That's what I'm saying I don't know I can't explain. I guess I guess they would have made I think it is Yeah. They the nexts would have made Who knows Hey it's Bill from the Bill Simmons podcast, FIFA World Cup. twenty six fans. listen up is the official beer sponsor of the FIFA World Cup twenty six. Micolobbltra is giving away one million dollars worth of FIFA World Cup twenty six tickets and prizes. Ener out, Micolobltra d. com slash superior access slash FIFA World Cup twenty six Colur FFAor Cup twenty six, superor ac, purchase necess. Hope US residents to new imp place begins decem first, twenty thousand twenty five, ends on july thirty first, twenty six multipleure periods visit WW dot Miclobbltra dot com slash Sperior access slash FF Wor Cup, six for free entry entry deadles prizes in dail couple of Demarta Rosen gets waved and Demarta Rosen still got Demar Rosen feels like the kind of guy's going to be could go get buckets until he's ninety years old, Like it just feels the Mal Rusushhing fromamal Cross's a pro him in Seattle J just like, whyy is he on the team? like So I actually I actually think the Barter Rose it would be a good vet old addition to somebody Where where he ends up? yeah I was eighteen point four points last year. know know shot shot basically fifty percent from the field You know doesn't mean get buckets. Yeah. shot thirty two percent three like I mean again, the kings were not a very serious team last year, but Good, He's good for you Ruy Aamur ass signed with the clippers Ry had a good year last year. The other thing is Ruy is proven year over a year to be able to perform in the playoff. Dude. I got to make shots to the playoffs. because you know take the show very seriously I don't even I had to read this sentence four times He's the all time Playoff leader in three point accuracy It can't be real That's got to be quality. I mean, hands on that. Oh o, it's real. half of them were hit in Memphis Yeah, he's eighty one for one fifty seven, fifty one point six percent from downtown in his playoff career There's no shooter out there who shot fifty two percent He goes I've gott be numous attempts a hundred attempts or something He's also the guy you don't guard Yeah. Like I literally covered this series Agile, remember? basically said he We're going to we're going to make LeBrone life hell. We're going to make eightyies life hell and they did a good job on them for the first several games and then Reeves killed them, but more importantly, Pat Murr turned into freaking. ninety six Jordan was like Game plan. This is the You know, we saw this during the year. It's like it's the Julian Champeni, right where it's like All right, All right, we did a good job on Fox. We did a good job on Wendy. here this bastard knockown seven. You know, he shot like he hit like ten threerees in one of the next regular season game Sam Well look at, what's his name? Shamit? Oh yeah I mean, no better example. was thirteen for fifteen or something thirteen for fourteen in the Pilly series and then completely disapp mean the finals, but whatever Yeah. Well, I mean, the book gets the book gets out on you. Yeah Right? It's like, hey man, just face guuard this guy. Like what we're not going to do is just let him sho fish in a barrel, but like Rui A toamora like year over year that happens to him And it's like put them in the cake He's the kickout guy. kicks him in the cor, but he'll also he'll also cut the baseline and get your little dunk or loab or something. like 's a vuable play. He's a valuable NA basetball player It really is. Yeah, that that was a good reasonable good time are morphing. You know what I mean? becauseuse they're like If you werere to ask me about the future of the Clippers franchise like I don't know eighteen months ago It's a disaster You know what I mean? It's an absolute disaster. and now it's starting to come into form little bit They're still gonna suck. Yeah. Um Quintin Post Three years thirty million dollar. offer sheet to the Memphis Griislies I can't imagine. no warriors are going to match this. I don't know why he's always B bothered me as a basketball player scrunched face I don't know what it is. It's like Something about perimeter Something about him just bothers me. It's just like he's like a sharphooting bigig that doesn't play defense. he's like seven foot two. It's weird. He does f defense. He does. Okay. someone got it offer sheet from the Grizzlies because u Oh it looks like Chr Veron is backing up already. Okay, it Can you convince yourself that he' worth ten million dollars a year for three years? So here's what I'm going to say here F reaction when I saw it was, oh God, is ED not okay? And obviously Asati Abama was gone, right Yeah, but he doesn't play center feel like pigs No, no, but Edie is your center and you already got Isaiah Stewart. And so now here's another, here's a third guy Theoretically Plays the five And there's two fold. Number one, I that was my first concern is and they're going to have to nurse ED anyway. You're not going to be playing him. He's not a thirty something minute big. And honestly like most all these big guys get hurt now. Like if you even go look in like Hartenstein's game loog over the last couple of years, it's like, you know, as long as they're healthy by the playoffs, noobbody cares. R Rober And look they slow played women Yama was not really really hurt except for that one stretch in the middle of the reg ofular se That's what you're going to do with Eating And so part of it was and then the second part of it was Is this just also beyond having like, you know, everybody gathering bigigs because you know, as soon as one of your centers goes down, now your third string center isn't any good. Um, you know, so you're now you your backu up. I mean, look, and I've gone to games over the course of the last couple of years where it's been like You know, Stephven Adams goes down and now it's Xavier Tillman and then it's Jock Landell has to start because Zach E's out whatever else and so the other thing more importantly is wouldn't you just sign him and go, if there's one thing we learned during this off season, These guys like it's a real asset because If you've got a seven foot guy evenven if it's ten million dollars That is that has value all over the league. We just saw the aforementioned John Landell side for fourteen million dollars. Walker Kessler got one hundred fifty billion dollars T Lord got another deal Mitchell Robinson you don't even have to have good knees or have a track record of extensive availability Yes to get money And so quint to pose Zach Ey is isn't exactly going to stretch the floor for you. You know what I mean? And quQuint p posost to shoot. He can shoot. Well, in the other, but it also leads us back to the Warriors thing, which is you can't really sign this Quintin Post thing when you're sitting here Waiting on the LeBron thing because you haven't sign Draymond Green either. and you know they want to make the LeBron thing happen in Golden State. That's been reported everywhere So This will just be a casualty of it And maybe quQittint and post will be okay. I don't know But if nothing else, he's an asset because when when the best player of the NBA for the next fifteen years is seven foot five There's now become a premium on being tall Even if you're not good, even if you're whether you're good or not Itesn't matter. Are you tall? bunch of summer League stuff that has gone on. I'm just going to quick, I can tell you, I actually dove into this this weekend and watched Uh California A and Utah, Smmer Leagues I'm going out to Vegas later this week. be there watching the players later this week. but ple of them And We're recording this earlier on Monday So Boozer and Peterson will play tonight, but I watch both of them play over the weekend. They look good Oh my Godd. All right, number one Boozer looks like you put a ten year veteran out on the court It's like you took a ten year NBA veteran and just said, Hey, go play in the summer Lague with all these guys running around Unbelievable good he is at seeing the floor passing and like feels like an adult. on the floor. It's so crazy and the first five minutes of that game Dude. fade away from the elbow and then stepped into a three scored at all three levels in like the first three possessions and I was like, o my God Ky is going to be awome passassion too. Pcessing and passing. it's like,'s un aathlet. guess? Sos yok,'s Lary Bird.' be o Well'll take. and then the Peterson thing, I was like, okay, this guy really just didn't give a crap about college You couldt never figure it out like what the hell went on with it. Bro. He is so talented and looks so smooth To wing Everything Like no one ever questioned his talent. It was all the other weird stuff You know, throughout Kansas, but my God was the talent on display You watch him and you're like, how is this guy Who is he not going to be able to score on? This guy I mean He looked unbelievable. A cuff shot it one hundred thousand times in the game. had twenty five points but he shot it every time. Watch him. Howix Oh, yeah, Kingston Flemings was four for sixteen at their game. The guy that the Lakers drafted suuper interesting. Yeah because he popped off at the combine, right? So none of the big prospects really like play at the combine like in the games Those are like guys trying to get a look and trying to, you know, up their stock And camera Car was like, N, no, I'll play And he went played and that's a risk because You better show that you're better than everybody. And I mean he busted everybody's ass when he played to combine and everybody's like, Oh shit, we got to draft through the top twenty. And they did And He looked awesome immmediately out the gate for the Lakers. So they may have found one. I don't know. againgain, it' summerose the Ppector watch suummer League is he there In the mountain in Utah, mining for gold. No, he is in Utah. He is in Utah. Does he live there though, isn't? Yes. in the morning, he prospects. Okay And then and then at night you switches to basketball. understand. Yes Um And then who else did I watch has it? Oh, you know what I was watching that A cuff game Dadmond looked pretty damn good for Brooklyn. I know everything about them is so annoying and I know your com sports eff is. Yeah, Igor, Yagor. Yagor Jooman Yeah Yeah, I kind of liked it. I kind of liked it last year too. I lied. I kind of liked it last year too. ike whole thing was he can't shoot but he want to pretty good You shot pretty good. It' one game. But I will say like we' look Summer League is for overreactions and I will have a million of them after I spend this next week in Vegas watch these guys. But my first impression of both Boozer and Peterson was like, oh God. this is exactly what everybody said. Like it wasn't like, o, I don't know Like they both look They're ready I feel like to Banson and Wilson are going to be the same thing I think so too. I think these guys are going to be awesome this year And you know what, Berno? That's how it I rarely compliment you But I thought over the past two seasons, you've done a really good job at just pointing out MBA ready, these prospects are now. in comparison to just like five years ago It's crazy There are so lot times so so They're also so polished You know, they've grown up on cameras You know, I guess it shouldn't be surprising. You know, you're P Blacktop in Brooklyn. No they're they're traveling you're. Well, but also That's every kid. I am always just so impressed that like I when I start to cover the NBA, there was always guys that as soon as those TV lights would come on or whatever, I mean they just play up, you know, they get real shy or whatever. Yeah These these guys just like our kids. They grew up on camera Literally grew up on camera So like it's nothing to them. They just And they are I mean, they're so good talking and They're so good at protecting their brands. I know sometimes that can be, but They are They certainly come way more way way more ready to compete at the highest level than they used to be able. And I think the basketball sophistication is equally much better than it previously was, not just like life sophistication immaturity think. My immediate reaction from watching both of those players was because I watched I watch them every year, right? Like I watched Ace Failey last year and I watched, you know, a bunch of the players, but like The same way that we just watched Dylan Harper was like, oh my God, he's already awesome I think these two are going to be You're going to watch them this year be like, Ohh my go, they're already awesome. Like they're already awesome the same way about Edge coming in those first two games in the So it yes L's forget It's forgetable now because like the N next championship and they moved on and they got swept by the Ns but like Edgecomb and I think it was game one and game three was really, really good. in that subic series Really good. Some guys some guys it's still you know some gu and it makes it hard on the other rookies, right? likeike the developmental ones right because when I was watching that Utah game. what's his name look pretty good? Jayalen Williams little brother and it's like, bro, I'm giving up on your ging up on Everybody gave up on him and it's like he's still way young and he's still like, you know He might become I mean, nobody was looking at Peyton Watson three years ago and thinking he's going to get twenty five million dollars No thenen it happens. So like, you know Everybody's development is different, but some of these guys just They developed so early. They both. There was so much Jayen Brown discussion that like He was a number three pick, but his rookie year was not The most impressive thing in the world Like he developed over time Of course, M Most everybody does.. No. Oh he did look We just watched a guy carry somebody to a championship Five years into his career, much like Steph Curry, five years into his career. you would have never fathomed them being the best player on a title team. And then ten years and they are. U UA game. I'll be UA game. I'm a be Yeahah, we're going to be cheering on the USA tonight I'm gonna be out at Summer League this week and the prospector is actually gonna to beat me in Vegas. In Vegas about propectors he seems to be like a Utah, Colorado outdoorsy like like cook cook build a fire, put some meat over that things some venison buuffalo The prospector is meeting me out of Vegas at the T is joining us And then we'll be dr You know, I played golf with a guy about about three weeks ago The one guy starts yelling at the other. I said I was going to Vegas And they were like Dave, do you remember when you got kicked out of the toppl do a lot of Topplas pulls now. I will say this. about the top of Snow And I said this, I said, whyy did you get kicked up? They said he wouldn't put his phone away Dave Dave Yeah for your phone away. belieelievable. I will say believable much like much like fireworks on july fourth. The Toppless pool has strong diminishing returns. Your first ten minutes at the Toppless pool, you just can't believe it This should never shouldn't be legal. This is gonna to be crazy. This is the greatest day. After about an hour and a half, you're like, okay ore nipples. be like, sry. I've never been to one. Well, you get you're going to Vegas later this week. G the Aa. Yeah. All right All right. maybe I'll talk. Maybe I'll stopay the prospect. Maybe I'll stop bring the propect. Maybe I'll stop by. Oh, he'll love that. All right, He can give you a review on those two That fun. All right, thank you to Jeff and Jesie as always. thanks to Steph as always and Jacobbe. I'll talk to you soon