[SPEAKER_01]: Now playing open floor.

[SPEAKER_01]: This is open floor.

[SPEAKER_01]: Sports Illustrated's Chris Manix back at an NBA podcast with Sports Illustrated senior writer.

[SPEAKER_01]: I think it's time that the world gets to know.

[SPEAKER_01]: My guy Chris Manix.

[SPEAKER_01]: I think your opinion's shared by everyone.

[SPEAKER_02]: And now it begins.

[SPEAKER_01]: Now it begins.

[SPEAKER_01]: Well, the off-season wasn't very long.

[SPEAKER_01]: The break from this podcast wasn't very long.

[SPEAKER_01]: I think it was...

[SPEAKER_01]: Ten days two weeks something something that affects Rachel Nichols.

[SPEAKER_00]: We're gonna take a break but then you just come back and give the people what they want.

[SPEAKER_01]: It's just stuff happening still, right?

[SPEAKER_01]: Like when I saw Luca Donchitch at the LA practice facility and later at the back tree boy concert shout out Luca for going to the back tree boys.

[SPEAKER_01]: I went a few weeks ago.

[SPEAKER_01]: You knew you had to jump back on the pot feed and talk about back and a few other things.

[SPEAKER_00]: Really.

[SPEAKER_01]: On in the end again.

[SPEAKER_01]: So I feel like that like that ends the opposite.

[SPEAKER_00]: I can't let you continue until you explain yourself that you went to the Backstreet Boys concert.

[SPEAKER_00]: You are not in the demo for that.

[SPEAKER_00]: I just like to add.

[SPEAKER_01]: I am in the demo for that.

[SPEAKER_01]: Are you kidding me?

[SPEAKER_01]: I am exactly in the demo.

[SPEAKER_01]: I am mid-forties.

[SPEAKER_01]: Yes, the Backstreet Boys were big in the nineteen nineties.

[SPEAKER_01]: Those are my formative years, early two thousands.

[SPEAKER_01]: I'm trust based on based on the the audience demographics in the sphere.

[SPEAKER_01]: It is entirely my demo.

[SPEAKER_01]: There are things right in and out of that demo, but it is entirely.

[SPEAKER_00]: I'm not even going to cry out like Lucas H or third you're there.

[SPEAKER_01]: No, no.

[SPEAKER_01]: What is it?

[SPEAKER_01]: It's a gen X crowd.

[SPEAKER_01]: I think.

[SPEAKER_01]: They were that's the sphere was well worth it every nickel.

[SPEAKER_01]: Voice for life is not what either songs you clearly do not know the backstory boys.

[SPEAKER_01]: That is not [SPEAKER_01]: Doesn't sound anything like any one of their songs.

[SPEAKER_00]: I want it that way, right?

[SPEAKER_00]: Yes.

[SPEAKER_00]: That's the background.

[SPEAKER_00]: Boy bands.

[SPEAKER_00]: I want.

[SPEAKER_00]: Yeah.

[SPEAKER_01]: You listen in like Zeppelin?

[SPEAKER_00]: Well, no, but, you know, I like rock music more of the rap music.

[SPEAKER_00]: Rock, no rock music more rock.

[SPEAKER_01]: Oh, rock.

[SPEAKER_01]: Oh, yeah.

[SPEAKER_00]: I like a little edge, Chris.

[SPEAKER_00]: I like a little edge.

[SPEAKER_00]: I don't know.

[SPEAKER_00]: I like my way.

[SPEAKER_00]: I do singing with each other in hair moves, but.

[SPEAKER_01]: Backstreet boys in sync, ninety eight degrees.

[SPEAKER_01]: We all listen to them back in the day.

[SPEAKER_01]: They were all on my playlist back in those days.

[SPEAKER_01]: I'm sure there are a lot of people right now just clicking off on their [SPEAKER_01]: We're not, uh, we will not, uh, we will not belabor the point on the back of your voice.

[SPEAKER_01]: I do want to start with, um, the Luca Donchich signing, the re signing of Luca Donchich to an extension, because for the last few weeks, the NBA world has been kind of circling that August second date.

[SPEAKER_01]: That is the date Luca was eligible to sign a contract extension with the Lakers.

[SPEAKER_01]: They were [SPEAKER_01]: Some questions swirling about would he or wouldn't he was he waiting to see what the lakers were going to do if it was going to be more upgrades going to wait some a little bit longer to sign the extension no the answer is he wanted to sign the extension he signed it the first day was eligible for it it was obviously a [SPEAKER_01]: planned event.

[SPEAKER_01]: You had a whole bunch of lakers that showed up there.

[SPEAKER_01]: They flew to Vegas right after that.

[SPEAKER_01]: He gets a three year, hundred and sixty five million dollar extension last year is a player option, which would free Luca to sign a five year, four hundred and seventeen million dollar deal, which would basically get him back all the money lost by going from Los Angeles to Dallas.

[SPEAKER_01]: So this feels like a pretty significant [SPEAKER_01]: You know, milestone for the Lakers to get Luka Dodgers under contract for at least the next three seasons and based on, you know, the obvious math.

[SPEAKER_01]: It's very likely that we see Luka as member of the Lakers for the rest of his career.

[SPEAKER_01]: So what did you make of the the quick signing by Luka Dodgers?

[SPEAKER_00]: Well, I like the few things about it.

[SPEAKER_00]: First of all, the fact that it was so clearly choreographed and planned, I mean, they did go to that backstreet voice concert that night later with both owners, you know, the transition from genie bus to Mark Walters.

[SPEAKER_00]: and several of their teammates and JJ Reddick, that stuff does not come together at a moment's notice.

[SPEAKER_00]: So clearly, this was telegraph quite some time before.

[SPEAKER_00]: And that tells you just how solid the relationship between the franchise and Luca is, which is pretty cool for a guy who clearly had some problems with his relationship, but the last franchise.

[SPEAKER_00]: I liked the fact that, you know, so many of the Lakers came out.

[SPEAKER_00]: You know, I tweeted something saying, you know, so much of the Lakers' rosters here, and people took that as a shot at LeBron or Austin Reeves.

[SPEAKER_00]: It wasn't.

[SPEAKER_00]: It was the point that in the summer, it is very hard to get that many guys on a team there.

[SPEAKER_00]: It was unusual.

[SPEAKER_00]: And so seeing that was very interesting to me, too, was just that so many of those [SPEAKER_00]: other players made the point of being in town and at the facility.

[SPEAKER_00]: I thought that really spoke in a positive way to sort of where he is with his teammates and this team.

[SPEAKER_00]: One of the things that I thought was interesting, Chris, though, was that I don't know any actual photos of him actually signing the contract.

[SPEAKER_00]: There was a video board and it said the beginning in Slovenian.

[SPEAKER_00]: And that apparently, according to our friend Dan Wookie, was put there by his management.

[SPEAKER_00]: So the fact that his idea of this is that it's the beginning of something, and he talked in the press or two about that, I thought was just an interesting peek into his mindset.

[SPEAKER_01]: Yeah, it's huge for the Lakers.

[SPEAKER_01]: To have the full commitment from Luca Donchich to have him at least for the next three years and more likely than not the rest of his NBA career.

[SPEAKER_01]: It's enormous.

[SPEAKER_01]: Luca is going to enter next season as a top five MVP candidate.

[SPEAKER_01]: He's already proven he can take a team to the NBA finals.

[SPEAKER_01]: This is huge for the Lakers.

[SPEAKER_01]: And I think it allows the Lakers [SPEAKER_01]: to look at the rest of the board and to focus on everything else.

[SPEAKER_01]: And what I'm focused on with the Lakers and we're going to get to LeBron and the short term in a minute.

[SPEAKER_01]: What I'm focused on with the Lakers is what they can do in the summer of twenty twenty six, having Luca locked in for the long term, having cap flexibility with for now the contract of LeBron and Austin Reeves coming off the books.

[SPEAKER_01]: The Lakers, they'll have that flexibility.

[SPEAKER_01]: They'll also have the ability to trade first round draft picks in twenty twenty six twenty thirty one and twenty thirty three.

[SPEAKER_01]: They'll also have the ability by uh...

research years correct to trade three first round picks swaps so twenty eight thirty and thirty two so that's basically six first round draft picks [SPEAKER_01]: that they can deal, which coupled with financial flexibility, that makes them really dangerous.

[SPEAKER_01]: And look, they're the obvious players out there.

[SPEAKER_01]: There's Janice for now.

[SPEAKER_01]: Anyway, there's someone like Yokech, like there's a lot of big names that could be [SPEAKER_01]: You know, potentially available in the summer of twenty twenty six.

[SPEAKER_01]: Some people might say, well, the Lakers, they're still teams that could have been them.

[SPEAKER_01]: They're still teams with better young talent.

[SPEAKER_01]: You have to remember, though, like players that power in these situations, Dearen Fox, someone we're going to talk about later, like he and he is having one year left on his contract with Sacramento allowed him to dictate where he wanted to go, which was San Antonio.

[SPEAKER_01]: That was the only place he wanted to play at.

[SPEAKER_01]: Let's just say star X, that is out there with a year or two years left on his contract.

[SPEAKER_01]: If that player says, look, I'm not gonna sign extension anywhere with the Los Angeles Lakers.

[SPEAKER_01]: Well, that team then has to deal with the Lakers.

[SPEAKER_01]: And effectively take what the Lakers are gonna offer.

[SPEAKER_01]: So my big takeaway from seeing Lucasign is a gotta be a big relief for Rob Polinka and the staff there to get that firm commitment.

[SPEAKER_01]: But also, here they come, like the next summer, [SPEAKER_01]: is I think the most significant summer in recent franchise history.

[SPEAKER_01]: I don't want to go how far back I want to go because you got to go be deal.

[SPEAKER_01]: But like you got a lot of things in play in the summer of twenty twenty six.

[SPEAKER_00]: I mean, the summer they signed LeBron, I think, was a pretty big deal as well for them.

[SPEAKER_00]: But look, you look at their cap going forward and the only player signed for the twenty twenty eight season is Luca Donchich.

[SPEAKER_00]: Now, I expect, as you noted, Austin Reeves, he's probably going to sign an extension, but it won't be for the kind of amount that would prevent another big player from coming there.

[SPEAKER_00]: So it is just really so wide open for them.

[SPEAKER_00]: And that is a little bit [SPEAKER_00]: the LeBron situation, which I know we're transitioning to, is just the issue with LeBron from the Laker side is wanting to keep those books clean in case a Yanis is available in case a Yogich is available as opposed to having two players on max fifty million plus sixty million plus salaries that they can't then go out and get Lucas Coastar for the next five years because they've got LeBron James on their books for one more year if they extend them.

[SPEAKER_01]: Yeah, um, and just to correct myself there, you're right.

[SPEAKER_01]: Austin Reeves has won your left in his contract after this season's rehash or more of that comes off the books.

[SPEAKER_01]: It's, you know, his eighteen million dollar salary comes off the books gave Vincent salary comes off the books.

[SPEAKER_01]: Maxi Kleber's contract comes off the books.

[SPEAKER_01]: They have a lot of financial flexibility, uh, next summer, uh, and obviously LeBron, the fifty million dollar salary comes off the books as well.

[SPEAKER_01]: Um, so long term, things are looking really good.

[SPEAKER_01]: short term.

[SPEAKER_01]: The Lakers still have to figure out what this year is going to look like and how aggressive they're going to be.

[SPEAKER_01]: Try to procure talents, you know, not just over the next month, two months, but also into the February trade deadline.

[SPEAKER_01]: Um, LeBron James was not at the press conference.

[SPEAKER_02]: All right.

[SPEAKER_01]: Um, okay.

[SPEAKER_01]: I don't want to make a mountain out of a molehill here.

[SPEAKER_01]: Bronie James wasn't there either, but [SPEAKER_01]: Lebron was in Los Angeles by his own Instagram feed.

[SPEAKER_01]: Like he was working out in the greater Los Angeles air.

[SPEAKER_01]: So he was around.

[SPEAKER_01]: I don't know exactly where Ronnie James was, but there were a lot of players at that press or not everybody, but a lot of players.

[SPEAKER_01]: Look at the pictures.

[SPEAKER_01]: The full day is a lot of guys, John Drake, not in play the minute there.

[SPEAKER_01]: He was there.

[SPEAKER_01]: Marcus Smart hasn't played a minute there.

[SPEAKER_01]: He was there.

[SPEAKER_01]: I'll put the question to you, I'll throw this hand grenade at you.

[SPEAKER_01]: Lebron not being there.

[SPEAKER_01]: Big deal, kind of a big deal, nothing burger.

[SPEAKER_01]: Where do you put it on the Lebron drama scale?

[SPEAKER_00]: Well, look, I don't know technically where LeBron was at ten thirty two that morning.

[SPEAKER_00]: You know, he had posted the pictures of him working out from the Clippers Old Facility, which was not an accident.

[SPEAKER_00]: He also then at some point over the weekend left for vacation in Hawaii.

[SPEAKER_00]: Do I know at what point any of that happened?

[SPEAKER_00]: You know, there's been a ton of reporting, especially from our friend Mark Stein on the fact that LeBron did FaceTime Luca that morning to say congratulations.

[SPEAKER_00]: I think that LeBron's problem and not showing up at the presser, if that was indeed, he wasn't down, and that was a decision he made, has a lot more to do with the Lakers organization than it does with Luca.

[SPEAKER_00]: We have seen LeBron show up for these press conferences, by the way.

[SPEAKER_00]: So it's not as if he's to above it.

[SPEAKER_00]: He showed up for AD, he showed up for JJ Reddix, I believe.

[SPEAKER_00]: So this is something he does, and the fact that he wasn't there, that's kind of why it's more notable, because he's done it in the past.

[SPEAKER_00]: But I think it has more to do with his frustration with the Lakers.

[SPEAKER_00]: He believes he's played at a level where he deserves an extension.

[SPEAKER_00]: He shouldn't be an expiring contract.

[SPEAKER_00]: And two things can be true.

[SPEAKER_00]: He has played at that level.

[SPEAKER_00]: However, also, [SPEAKER_00]: He would be forty two years old if the lake are signed into an extension.

[SPEAKER_00]: They don't know what kind of shape or sort of, you know, and I don't mean physical shape.

[SPEAKER_00]: I mean basketball shape, he's going to be in at that point.

[SPEAKER_00]: And the truth is, as we just discussed, if one of these other big players come available, and by the way, someone always does.

[SPEAKER_00]: We didn't expect Luca Dodges to be available.

[SPEAKER_00]: And there you go.

[SPEAKER_00]: Oh, there is always someone at some point in this process who you're sort of razor eyebrows.

[SPEAKER_00]: Wow, that big star is going to change teams.

[SPEAKER_00]: And they don't want to be tied up with forty two year old LeBron when they could get say a Yanis or Yokech or someone else.

[SPEAKER_00]: And I'm not trading Yokech off the nuggets, by the way.

[SPEAKER_00]: I hope he stays there for the rest of his career.

[SPEAKER_00]: But I'm just saying that there's always someone who pops available.

[SPEAKER_00]: and two things can be true.

[SPEAKER_00]: LeBron probably does deserve an extension and it's true that the Lakers kind of can't afford to give him one if they want to keep their cap open enough to sign a younger co-star for Luca going forward into the next five years and it's created a really uncomfortable situation.

[SPEAKER_01]: Yeah, the Lakers advantage in a deal in the summer of twenty twenty six is that they do have potentially really valuable draft capital to trade.

[SPEAKER_01]: And because of some of that flexibility, maybe they don't have to give back a bad contract in a deal, a team that might be trading of star that makes a ton of money.

[SPEAKER_01]: more often than not yet take back at least one bad contracts that the lakeers because of that flexibility maybe they wouldn't have to they certainly don't have like this depth of young talent to deal that's not the lakeers strength on their roster right now so you do I agree with you want to keep that flexibility as far as the broad not showing up [SPEAKER_01]: There have been, as we've talked about, a lot of questions about his commitment to the franchise.

[SPEAKER_01]: Not to his teammates, not to look at Donchitch was commitment to the franchise.

[SPEAKER_01]: He could have answered those questions by showing up.

[SPEAKER_01]: He could have, if he walked into that facility and is right there with the rest of those teammates and everything questions, but that would have sent a pretty powerful message that he was all in with his team.

[SPEAKER_00]: That's another message he wants to send right.

[SPEAKER_00]: I'm agreed.

[SPEAKER_00]: I agree.

[SPEAKER_00]: That's over the summer.

[SPEAKER_00]: That in fact, he wants to send the opposite message.

[SPEAKER_00]: Let me show a photo of my workout in Cleveland.

[SPEAKER_00]: Let me show a photo of my workout at the Clippers facility.

[SPEAKER_00]: You know, all of the other sort of baiting things that he's done, even the photo shared of him overseas in Europe with Maverick Carter.

[SPEAKER_00]: What's a little bit of a, you know, tweak of, oh, we're starting this other basketball league and maybe I'll do that at some point.

[SPEAKER_00]: So he is making it clear that he is not sympathetic with the organization and that is because he feels that they're putting one of the best players who has ever played the game of basketball on an inspiring contract and that is not something that he feels, you know, the fits who he is and how he is played in recent years.

[SPEAKER_00]: And again, two things can be true.

[SPEAKER_00]: He is right that he doesn't, he isn't getting what he, quote, deserves with what he is kind of basketball.

[SPEAKER_00]: He is put out in the last couple of seasons.

[SPEAKER_00]: And also, the Lakers are right.

[SPEAKER_00]: They can't really afford to give him the kind of deal that he would want for the amount of money that he would want because they need to keep that money for that flexibility you're talking about.

[SPEAKER_00]: And to get a co-star for Luca, who can be there for five or six new years, not just one more year.

[SPEAKER_01]: What do you think of Ronnie not being there?

[SPEAKER_01]: I mean, he's got three years left in his contract and this is someone that if you believe the Lakers is going to play a role on this team next year.

[SPEAKER_01]: And I don't know where he was.

[SPEAKER_01]: I don't know where he was.

[SPEAKER_01]: I don't know where he was.

[SPEAKER_01]: I don't know where he was.

[SPEAKER_01]: I don't know where he was.

[SPEAKER_01]: I don't know where he was.

[SPEAKER_01]: I don't know where he was.

[SPEAKER_01]: I don't know where he was.

[SPEAKER_01]: I don't know where he was.

[SPEAKER_01]: I don't know where he was.

[SPEAKER_01]: I don't know where he was.

[SPEAKER_01]: I don't know where he was.

[SPEAKER_01]: I don't know where he was.

[SPEAKER_00]: I did too actually, and in fact, I think that was the one that raised a little more eyebrows for me and look, run easy on enough still and everything's complicated and I can't even imagine the family dynamic of your dad is clearly at some sort of odds with the organization and do you go or do you not go?

[SPEAKER_00]: Is there a loyalty check here?

[SPEAKER_00]: So I don't blame him because it's a very complex situation.

[SPEAKER_00]: But I thought he was maybe a little bit of the collateral damage in this just in the fact that yeah, he probably should have been there.

[SPEAKER_00]: And then he wasn't.

[SPEAKER_00]: And maybe that was his decision.

[SPEAKER_00]: Maybe it was because it was so complicated.

[SPEAKER_00]: Maybe he left on vacation with Lebron.

[SPEAKER_00]: Maybe they left earlier than we think.

[SPEAKER_00]: I don't know, but that was the one actually that raised a little bit more eyebrows for me than LeBron not being there because LeBron has messaged and signaled all summer that he is not all in, but the Lakers, not his teammates, not on the court, but just with the franchise and the way they're running things right now.

[SPEAKER_00]: I just think that Brown is in a different situation.

[SPEAKER_00]: Austin Reeves, by the way, there are a couple of people asking questions about him.

[SPEAKER_00]: He's on a sneaker tour in Asia.

[SPEAKER_00]: So who is not going to get back for this press conference?

[SPEAKER_00]: No word on if Austin Reeves face time, look a down-chitch.

[SPEAKER_00]: I mean, this is also parse now.

[SPEAKER_00]: But yeah, I mean, I think the fact that we saw that in person [SPEAKER_00]: is supposed to just social media.

[SPEAKER_00]: That's what's notable about the LeBron thing.

[SPEAKER_00]: It's not, oh my god, I can't believe my fainting couch.

[SPEAKER_00]: He didn't show up.

[SPEAKER_00]: It was more just, okay, this is now extending in person, not just social media tweaks.

[SPEAKER_00]: And we'll just have to see how that plays out over the course this season because I've told you many times.

[SPEAKER_00]: LeBron James, I absolutely positively believe, will be with the Lakers on opening night.

[SPEAKER_00]: I just don't see that changing.

[SPEAKER_00]: But as the trade deadline approaches, is he going to decide somebody else is going to offer him an extension with the Lakers aren't?

[SPEAKER_00]: I don't know.

[SPEAKER_00]: So we'll see what happens and what that dynamic is over the months leading up to February.

[SPEAKER_01]: And look, I don't think that Luca Donchitch was clocking exactly who was at his press conference.

[SPEAKER_01]: I don't think he was scribbling down who was not in Vegas taking pictures with Nick Carter with him.

[SPEAKER_01]: But I do think he was notable that a guy who was a role player on this team.

[SPEAKER_01]: who is under contract for the next three years, who is presumably going to be part of the lakers when it is fully look at Donch's team, who lives in Los Angeles, whose family is in Los Angeles, wasn't at that press conference.

[SPEAKER_01]: I think it's definitely notable.

[SPEAKER_01]: We brought up Janus a moment ago and we are less than two months away from the start of training game.

[SPEAKER_01]: There are still some questions about whether Janus will be in the walkies camp.

[SPEAKER_01]: ESPN reported this week that nothing was set in stone with Janus' future, which does not rule out the potential for a Janus deal.

[SPEAKER_01]: We've seen some pretty big deals, Rachel August, September, Kyrie Irving, Gany and Lillard are just a name couple.

[SPEAKER_01]: I feel like I've [SPEAKER_01]: pissed off Milwaukee enough over the last few months talking about.

[SPEAKER_01]: Yes, yes, but like if put yourself in bucks fans shoes would the the silence and the uncertainty be worrisome for you when it comes to the short-term future of yannas.

[SPEAKER_00]: I mean, I think any time a star has sort of reasons to contemplate leaving your nervous as a fan base.

[SPEAKER_00]: And frankly, with today's MBA, you should be nervous your big star that you love is leaving no matter what, because as we just were talking about, under any circumstances, one of these guys could either ask for a trade or in the Luka Dutchage case be traded unexpectedly.

[SPEAKER_00]: But yeah, I mean, if you're a Milwaukee box fan, you're really hoping that he stays.

[SPEAKER_00]: And by the way, if he does start the season with them, [SPEAKER_00]: That's not even a guarantee that he'll finish this season with them because how does things go for the first few months of the season?

[SPEAKER_00]: It could be that in an east that is, I'm just going to say less competitive that they actually do better and exceed expectations, do better than people think, or maybe if in a lesser competitive east, they're still struggling.

[SPEAKER_00]: Janice might decide to change his mind.

[SPEAKER_00]: I personally hope that he stays because I think that relationship between Janis and the people of Milwaukee is very special.

[SPEAKER_00]: We've talked about this.

[SPEAKER_00]: I certainly understand championships being very important.

[SPEAKER_00]: This game is about winning and losing, but to not acknowledge [SPEAKER_00]: that those kinds of relationships with Damian Lillard has with the Portland Trailblazers fans.

[SPEAKER_00]: This is so strong that he came back, right?

[SPEAKER_00]: And that the franchise wanted him back, even though it's not the most team friendly deal.

[SPEAKER_00]: The relationship that Kobe had here with the Lakers.

[SPEAKER_00]: I mean, there's just some dirt in Dallas.

[SPEAKER_00]: There's so many [SPEAKER_00]: Dev and Booker is building with the Phoenix fans.

[SPEAKER_00]: That's really special too.

[SPEAKER_00]: And it doesn't replace winning rings, but it is something that is worth throwing into the mix and having that being sort of not if not equal large footing in making your decision.

[SPEAKER_00]: So I hope you stay as I feel like, you know, [SPEAKER_00]: So much changes in the MBA so quickly that even if they don't start the season super competitive, things could go forward in a way we don't expect.

[SPEAKER_00]: But if he is available, look, there's a ton of teams.

[SPEAKER_00]: We know that it've been making inquiries on him and I have to think that if he is available, there will be twenty-nine teams making inquiries on him.

[SPEAKER_01]: So, in the absence of anything definitive from Janice, [SPEAKER_01]: I fall back on the same position that I've had for months that I, Janice has to be thinking two things.

[SPEAKER_01]: One, am I okay with a gap year?

[SPEAKER_01]: Because regardless of what you think of these during conference, this is not a team that can win these during conference.

[SPEAKER_01]: They can be more competitive than maybe people suspect are expect, surprise some people.

[SPEAKER_01]: But right now, this buck's depth chart [SPEAKER_01]: No.

[SPEAKER_01]: Like Kevin Porter Jr.

[SPEAKER_01]: right now is your starting point guard.

[SPEAKER_01]: Gary Trent is your starting two guard.

[SPEAKER_01]: Kyle Kuzma is your starting small forward off the bench.

[SPEAKER_01]: You've got Col Anthony, AJ Green, Torian Prince, Bobby Portis's back, Jericho Sims, Yannis is still great.

[SPEAKER_01]: Top three player in the NBA.

[SPEAKER_01]: Miles Turner, we've talked about this.

[SPEAKER_01]: I think is an upgrade for them at the center position.

[SPEAKER_01]: Good player.

[SPEAKER_01]: That's not winning these turn conference.

[SPEAKER_01]: That's probably putting you right back where you were at the end of last season, which is in that four or five range and fighting to get out of the first round.

[SPEAKER_01]: Yeah, that's the decide if he's okay with that.

[SPEAKER_01]: And he also has to decide [SPEAKER_01]: if he believes that John Horst and the Bucks have a vision that is realizable for twenty twenty six and beyond that they can do some things in the summer of twenty twenty six that will add that second star look to win anything in the NBA you've got to have a great co-star this is the problem of the lake is going to come up with you know next summer when whether or not LeBron's there or not they're still going to need a number two guy to play opposite look at [SPEAKER_01]: Janice needs a number two guy.

[SPEAKER_01]: My wife's Turner is not a number two guy.

[SPEAKER_01]: Very good player.

[SPEAKER_01]: Good role player proven.

[SPEAKER_01]: He can be a pivotal player on a team that in this close to winning a championship.

[SPEAKER_01]: But they need a number two guy.

[SPEAKER_01]: He's got to believe that John Horst's plan, or whatever they're presenting to him, is an actionable plan, is a realizable plan.

[SPEAKER_01]: So until we get some clarity on what he thinks about those two questions, I think he got to be nervous if you're in Milwaukee.

[SPEAKER_00]: Yeah, I mean, look, as I said, you should be nervous because frankly, isn't NBA fan in any team you should be nervous and certainly in a situation where you know a guy is considering his options.

[SPEAKER_00]: I think one of the barriers to Janis being traded is that Janis would have to ask for a trade that I know if you were running the Milwaukee Bucks franchise, you think that they should deal him for the good of the franchise.

[SPEAKER_01]: Well, no, no, hold on, hold on, hold on.

[SPEAKER_01]: Because I can tag with some of this a lot of the people saying deal no matter what.

[SPEAKER_01]: I have, but I've said that only if he's not committing to an extension, right?

[SPEAKER_01]: If he says to them tomorrow, like I'm in for three more years, of course you bring him back.

[SPEAKER_01]: You want the guy there for the lifetime of his career.

[SPEAKER_01]: If you can get his name on a long-term contract, I'm of the belief.

[SPEAKER_01]: and the stats back it up.

[SPEAKER_01]: The Yannis's game is gonna age pretty gracefully, right?

[SPEAKER_01]: Like he's not gonna be as explosive as he was in years past, but he's proven that you can be a great player with zero, three points shot.

[SPEAKER_01]: Like his three point numbers have actually declined as his career has progressed.

[SPEAKER_01]: If he says to them, I'm in, here's my name, or my, my promise to commit to this team along term, I do it.

[SPEAKER_01]: On the flip side, if he doesn't, that's when I think the bucks need to be proactive.

[SPEAKER_01]: Because the longer he has on his deal, the more teams that are available for them talk to.

[SPEAKER_00]: I just, it doesn't look like from the outside that the bucks, no matter what, yeah, this is the old looks like are going to volunteer to trade him.

[SPEAKER_00]: And I personally think that's the right decision because when you have a star like that, as the bucks organization of franchise and fans know, it could be fifty years before you get another one.

[SPEAKER_00]: And I just think you hold on to him as long as you can in this anything can happen MBA.

[SPEAKER_00]: That being said, that means that Janus will have to actually go in and ask for a trade.

[SPEAKER_00]: And for a guy like Janus who does not see himself as a guy who goes in and demands a trade, [SPEAKER_00]: I think that is another factor that he is thinking about either explicitly or, you know, just in the back of his mind somewhere is taking that final step of going in and saying, I want to be traded.

[SPEAKER_00]: I want to leave Milwaukee and having the fans know that he is the one who left them.

[SPEAKER_00]: I think that that's probably, again, not the most important factor, but I think that is something in there with all of these decisions that are being made right now.

[SPEAKER_01]: Yeah, he like he has agreed to to massive extensions in the walkie very recently in twenty twenty or twenty one rather in twenty three.

[SPEAKER_01]: So, you know, or I think it was twenty twenty when he agreed to the extension with it made the holiday deal.

[SPEAKER_01]: So he's given them their commitment.

[SPEAKER_01]: I just wonder if [SPEAKER_01]: And I don't know that necessarily has to be Janus walking in to John Horstop is saying, trade me as much as it is like, look, I'm not going to sign an extension.

[SPEAKER_01]: And unless you get me another big name star next summer, I'm also not going to sign an extension.

[SPEAKER_01]: I think there's a bit of a gray area where he doesn't have to ask out the same kind of stuff with Fox with Anthony Davis, just basically saying I'm not going to do it, which has the same weight as as a trade demand.

[SPEAKER_01]: I think there's a [SPEAKER_01]: Jentler way to ultimately do it, but I think the bucks have to decide or have to figure out, you know, if he doesn't sign an extension this summer, and obviously he's not going to do that, at least not with the current situation or doesn't want to do it next summer, then things get pretty complicated for them in the walkie, but I think the silence is [SPEAKER_01]: It's always revealing, right?

[SPEAKER_01]: And there's always been these interviews that Yannis has done.

[SPEAKER_01]: Like he did the I was the actual speed clip over in Greece, where he's like, hey, yeah, I'll probably be back in Milwaukee.

[SPEAKER_01]: So another thing earlier today, where it's like falling on Milwaukee, baby, somebody yelled at him and he repeated it.

[SPEAKER_01]: Like it's a whole lot of stuff that you can read between the lines.

[SPEAKER_01]: But for right now, there's not been anything definitive from Yannis or his team, and that would make me a little bit nervous if I'm not Milwaukee.

[SPEAKER_01]: On the free-age of your market, things have largely dried up.

[SPEAKER_01]: You've still got some things to work out with.

[SPEAKER_01]: They're strict to free-age and see what we got into John at the commingah last week.

[SPEAKER_01]: Josh, giddy's out there, quit and grind them.

[SPEAKER_01]: So all these guys, I'm gonna guess, I mean, commingah, maybe the outlier, but these other guys are probably gonna wind up figuring out short-term deals with their team.

[SPEAKER_01]: The one intriguing name to me that's still out there.

[SPEAKER_01]: is Russell Westbrook and declined a player option in Denver to hit for agency this summer had a pretty good year with the nuggets last year, seventy five games still very durable average thirteen point three points but five rebounds per game he is not expected to command anything more than the vet minimum salary for whatever team he signs with so what do you make of russ still being unsigned and do you think there's any chance [SPEAKER_01]: that we get into training camp and he's still a free agent.

[SPEAKER_00]: Maybe, I mean, we've heard rumors, right, of teams that do have some interest.

[SPEAKER_00]: It's not as if it's, you know, a completely dead market.

[SPEAKER_00]: And you just pointed out, he played all of those games with the nuggets more importantly.

[SPEAKER_00]: He started thirty seven of those games more importantly.

[SPEAKER_00]: He got the co-sign of Nickel Yokech.

[SPEAKER_00]: So the stink of how the Laker situation fell apart.

[SPEAKER_00]: And then the clipper situation didn't fall apart, but they clearly didn't want him back.

[SPEAKER_00]: I think that is off him to a degree that there is a feeling now if you get him in the right situation, he can actually help your team because he very specifically helped the nuggets last year.

[SPEAKER_00]: It has to be the right team though, right?

[SPEAKER_00]: So we've heard versions of the Sacramento Kings having interest in him.

[SPEAKER_00]: I don't really understand that because they have so many guards sitting around and I wouldn't really understand that on recess side because the thing Russ wants to do, especially if he's taking event minimum, is play, right?

[SPEAKER_00]: He wants to be able to play.

[SPEAKER_00]: and he feels he showed that last year again, thirty seven starts that he can still play and if not as a starter as the primary backup so when someone gets hurt as inevitably always happens he can jump in there and start and that even when he doesn't he'll get a lot of minutes coming up from the bench and leading that bench unit which by the way he's very valuable doing he's a fantastic leader still on the court energizer all of those things [SPEAKER_00]: The interesting party to me is the New York next because they have been reported to have interest.

[SPEAKER_00]: I don't know if that will eventually blossom into offering him a contract.

[SPEAKER_00]: But that's a team that needs a guy like him that actually has a slot for a guy like him.

[SPEAKER_00]: I think he would flourish in New York.

[SPEAKER_00]: I think New York fans would love him.

[SPEAKER_00]: And I think he would be able to fill that sort of vet energy role really well.

[SPEAKER_00]: You know, they just got to get the rest of the guys on the team to sign on because [SPEAKER_00]: This is not a decision that a front office makes for loan.

[SPEAKER_01]: Yeah, I think the Nick signing Jordan Clarkson took them out of play.

[SPEAKER_01]: Thanks, though.

[SPEAKER_01]: I do.

[SPEAKER_01]: They've got Tyler Colick there.

[SPEAKER_01]: They've got Doos McBride there.

[SPEAKER_01]: I think getting Clarkson to be that kind of Russish type of player.

[SPEAKER_01]: That's kind of what he is.

[SPEAKER_01]: I think that took the Nick's off the board.

[SPEAKER_01]: My understanding.

[SPEAKER_00]: You're looking, but you would know better than me.

[SPEAKER_01]: Yeah, I think that's maybe they're on the list, but I think they're far down the list.

[SPEAKER_01]: I still think at the top of the list is Sacramento.

[SPEAKER_01]: I agree with you.

[SPEAKER_01]: Currently, Sacramento is not a roster that needs a Russell Westbrook, but the Kings are still in play for coming up.

[SPEAKER_01]: And my belief is if the Kings pull off a coming a deal, it's probably going to involve Malik Monk being moved.

[SPEAKER_01]: And if you move monk all of a sudden you've got some room for a player like Russ you know Russ can do some of the things that Malik did as as a bench player multi-position so I think that's the one to watch the closest I look at [SPEAKER_01]: You know, we talked about a couple of weeks ago.

[SPEAKER_01]: The more time passes, the more likely I think comming it comes to some kind of short-term deal of Golden State.

[SPEAKER_01]: And at least for now is back with the Warriors, you know, going into next season.

[SPEAKER_01]: But if a King's deal comes together, I can see that happening.

[SPEAKER_01]: There are other teams out there that make some sense.

[SPEAKER_01]: Like Phoenix is still looking for help at the guard spot.

[SPEAKER_01]: Indiana would know Halle Burton, need some help, Milwaukee.

[SPEAKER_01]: We talked about them.

[SPEAKER_01]: They could just try something hit the Russell Westburg break glass in case of emergency button see if that works out with him playing alongside Yannis, you've heard some talk about a reunion with Durant and Houston.

[SPEAKER_01]: I doubt that but that would be fast.

[SPEAKER_01]: The problem is like when I bring up Russ to team and I actually really like Russ I don't want to say this like I think he his competitiveness is [SPEAKER_01]: is contagious.

[SPEAKER_01]: I think he's a great teammate.

[SPEAKER_01]: He's certainly missed with the media.

[SPEAKER_01]: His public perception is built off a lot of scar tissue from his time in Oklahoma City.

[SPEAKER_01]: You know, basically, or even going back to UCLA when there were, there were a lot of skeptics about him.

[SPEAKER_01]: His ability to play point cards, ability to be a starter, all the things he overcame.

[SPEAKER_01]: We even go back to the finals.

[SPEAKER_01]: Didn't like Magic Johnson call him like the worst finals point guard ever.

[SPEAKER_01]: You were at the SPN back then, didn't he?

[SPEAKER_01]: Some things like that.

[SPEAKER_01]: Yeah, some of that if like easy even it is at his apex he's taken he's taken arrows from an all-time great like magic Johnson, but what boils down to is I think he's a good [SPEAKER_01]: Good, good locker room guy and can deliver in the regular season.

[SPEAKER_01]: This brings me to my point that teams bring up to me all the time.

[SPEAKER_01]: Like his postseason numbers Rachel have been really, really bad.

[SPEAKER_01]: You look at this past postseason run with Denver.

[SPEAKER_01]: Thirty nine percent from the floor.

[SPEAKER_01]: Thirty two percent from three year before that postseason.

[SPEAKER_01]: Twenty six percent from the floor.

[SPEAKER_01]: Twenty three point five from three.

[SPEAKER_01]: season before that, forty one percent thirty five percent season before that thirty three percent twenty five percent like his numbers go down in the postseason.

[SPEAKER_01]: I'm not even bringing up the turnovers which are not great either in some of the decision making which is not great as well.

[SPEAKER_01]: like when teams are look at this and look he's certainly someone that can be like you know a middle reliever and baseball and eat some innings up for us during the regular season but we can't count on him in the playoffs we can't play him extended minutes in the playoffs that that to me is what's working against [SPEAKER_01]: and it is a pretty reasonable take.

[SPEAKER_01]: I think from teams that are looking at options.

[SPEAKER_01]: Do we sign a Russell Westbrook or do we keep a spot open?

[SPEAKER_01]: Do we go with a two-way guy or do we go with a cheaper alternative?

[SPEAKER_01]: Someone we can develop.

[SPEAKER_01]: There's just a lot of other options I think for teams that don't badly need a Russell Westbrook.

[SPEAKER_01]: I do think, to bring it full circle, I do think he signs somewhere.

[SPEAKER_01]: We'll see what happens with Sacramento.

[SPEAKER_01]: I can certainly see Phoenix taking a flyer.

[SPEAKER_01]: I could even see Milwaukee taking a flyer.

[SPEAKER_01]: I'm not sure about Indiana what they want to do with this group, but I could see a veteran team that's trying to win regular season games, bringing Westbrook in because I think he can still help with that.

[SPEAKER_01]: I think the jury's out though, whether he can be an impactful player in the playoffs.

[SPEAKER_01]: That's just kind of become the numbers don't lie and they are what they are.

[SPEAKER_00]: So you're saying this is a can't play cancer situation.

[SPEAKER_01]: Oh, the old Billy line.

[SPEAKER_01]: I don't think it's quite as bad because I don't think I think Russ, you know, when he's motivated can be a decent defender.

[SPEAKER_01]: The camp like after was like, you're just a turn style out there.

[SPEAKER_01]: Sorry, I do like YouTube.

[SPEAKER_01]: But like there's I don't think he's quite at that level, but you know, when when the shooting numbers are low forties, high thirties, low thirties, high twenties, like it just the math doesn't math.

[SPEAKER_01]: And that's what's going to make it tough.

[SPEAKER_00]: Well, here's the thing, Russ has to decide, frankly, that LeBron has to decide some of these guys who have stayed in the game because a fitness and sort of health has been revolutionized in their time in the NBA and they can actually play so much longer and b because the salaries are so high, guys are very reluctant to walk away from them.

[SPEAKER_00]: is that you now have this generation of one-straight players who are playing at an age that we didn't quite expect them to, right?

[SPEAKER_00]: We did not as great as LeBron is as durable as he's been.

[SPEAKER_00]: Nobody was predicting, including LeBron himself, by the way, because I remember talking to him about this when he sort of hit thirty.

[SPEAKER_00]: No one thought that he'd be playing at age forty-one, which he will be, by the end of this season.

[SPEAKER_00]: And Russ, we all talked about for years.

[SPEAKER_00]: His game isn't going to age very well, right?

[SPEAKER_00]: Because it's built on athleticism.

[SPEAKER_00]: Kevin Durant, Steph Curry, they can shoot, you know, until they're sixty.

[SPEAKER_00]: That's going to age well.

[SPEAKER_00]: Resist game isn't going to age well, but here Russell Westbrook still is, and I agree with you, somebody is going to sign him this year.

[SPEAKER_00]: And the issue for these guys who are now sort of in this uncharted position is, what do you, if you're going to stay in at this age that most people don't, whether it's, you know, LeBron is old as LeBron or younger, but, you know, maxing out your particular playing window.

[SPEAKER_00]: What do you really want, right?

[SPEAKER_00]: If you're a LeBron, do you want the absolute max salary?

[SPEAKER_00]: And if that is what you want, you probably won't get resigned with the Lakers after this last season is done because they don't want to give him that.

[SPEAKER_00]: Would you want to stay with the Lakers more than anything because your life is in LA now?

[SPEAKER_00]: And you're willing to take less money and less minutes and sort of play a very different role than you ever have in your career.

[SPEAKER_00]: Is Russell Westbrook someone who at this point?

[SPEAKER_00]: I want to stay in it.

[SPEAKER_00]: I want to keep pooping.

[SPEAKER_00]: I want to play basketball.

[SPEAKER_00]: And is that a situation where he would feel comfortable doing that during the regular season, but largely being off the court for key moments in the playoffs?

[SPEAKER_00]: You know, these guys just have to decide Vince Carter.

[SPEAKER_00]: I thought was a really interesting situation because he was so sure and so explicit about what he wanted to do.

[SPEAKER_00]: You remember that there was a time where the warriors, when they were the warriors with Kevin and Steph had interest in signing events, right?

[SPEAKER_00]: He could be that end of the bench, kind of, you know, locker room leader and it could be a way of finally getting Vince a ring and all of that stuff.

[SPEAKER_00]: And he very pointedly didn't want that.

[SPEAKER_00]: He said, I want to play basketball.

[SPEAKER_00]: I don't care about a ring as much as I care about the joy I get from playing basketball.

[SPEAKER_00]: And he signed with all these frankly terrible teams that just wanted Vince Carter on their roster.

[SPEAKER_00]: So he could extend his playing career.

[SPEAKER_00]: Russ has to decide what he wants and what he's willing to do to stay in the game.

[SPEAKER_00]: And LeBron has to decide that as well.

[SPEAKER_00]: And once those guys reach that decision, they can much more effectively steer their own careers into where they wanted to be.

[SPEAKER_00]: And in Russ's case, maybe whether he stays in the lead or not, depends on what kind of role he's willing to accept.

[SPEAKER_01]: Yeah, I don't even know if it's, it may have been at that point a few years ago, like, after, let's say, Washington, but I think we're just past that.

[SPEAKER_01]: I think teams, like, even if, even if he came in and said, I'm willing to just be a regular season guy, don't play me in the playoffs.

[SPEAKER_01]: I just don't think teams are looking at them and like that anymore.

[SPEAKER_01]: I mean, LeBron is interesting too, and that, like, [SPEAKER_01]: Is LeBron going to get sixty million dollars from somebody next year?

[SPEAKER_01]: Like, is any team out there going to pay LeBron?

[SPEAKER_01]: And look, I preface this by saying LeBron is worth every nickel of the whatever amount of money he's making because he sells tickets.

[SPEAKER_00]: He drives.

[SPEAKER_00]: He's going to be underpaid for as many underpaid.

[SPEAKER_01]: I just don't know if a team's going to be out there saying like I can commit, you know, x percent of my salary cap that to a guy that may be a third option on my team.

[SPEAKER_00]: I don't, I don't think there's any question someone will.

[SPEAKER_00]: It just probably won't be somewhere he wants to play out.

[SPEAKER_01]: Yeah.

[SPEAKER_01]: Yeah.

[SPEAKER_01]: That's the thing.

[SPEAKER_00]: There will be teams out there that say, uh, we don't know what we're doing right now.

[SPEAKER_00]: We don't have anything going right now.

[SPEAKER_00]: Man, which should be great to get LeBron James in here.

[SPEAKER_00]: He could win us some games and he sells tickets, but those aren't going to be the teams that are in contention.

[SPEAKER_00]: to make the NBA finals and win the NBA finals.

[SPEAKER_00]: So again, he just has to decide does he want to go out on top, quote unquote, being a key member of the Los Angeles Lakers rotation, giving it one last go to win a title this year, earning fifty million dollars until, you know, forever.

[SPEAKER_00]: And then retire and go into the sunset and maybe play in this European situation that Maverick is instituting, which by the way is going to be very attractive to some of these guys.

[SPEAKER_00]: It's not a full league season.

[SPEAKER_00]: It's show up for a week or two in exotic locations around the country, play some games, go back home for a while, and then decide later, okay, in a month or two, am I going to play the next event?

[SPEAKER_00]: So that would be appealing, and that could sort of be his gentle exit out of the MBA, but they have to decide what do you want, because the options available to you are not everything.

[SPEAKER_00]: And for a guy like LeBron, who is used to his option being everything.

[SPEAKER_00]: Everyone wants him.

[SPEAKER_00]: Everyone would pay him the max.

[SPEAKER_00]: Everyone would kill to have him on their team.

[SPEAKER_00]: That doesn't exist anymore.

[SPEAKER_00]: And that's not disrespectful to him.

[SPEAKER_00]: It's just literally what happens.

[SPEAKER_00]: You can't despite the Kermart Nike commercials.

[SPEAKER_00]: You can't beat Father Time.

[SPEAKER_01]: Hey, you can always follow in the footsteps of the only man that is his peer.

[SPEAKER_01]: And that is Michael Jordan.

[SPEAKER_00]: Yeah.

[SPEAKER_01]: Finish his career in Washington.

[SPEAKER_00]: The Washington Wizards, baby.

[SPEAKER_01]: They have the cap space.

[SPEAKER_01]: They can offer.

[SPEAKER_01]: Yes, they do.

[SPEAKER_01]: All right.

[SPEAKER_01]: Let's, let me finish with a topic that you wanted to get into.

[SPEAKER_01]: And that's Darren Fox recently signed a four year, two hundred plus million dollar extension with the San Antonio spurs.

[SPEAKER_01]: Not all that surprising Fox was [SPEAKER_01]: You know, brought there for a reason.

[SPEAKER_01]: He was up for a contract extension.

[SPEAKER_01]: Didn't play a ton of minutes with Victor Webminyama.

[SPEAKER_01]: I think it was a hundred and twenty, but the spurs apparently had seen enough.

[SPEAKER_01]: They gave him four years, two hundred and twenty nine million to be exact.

[SPEAKER_01]: Your thoughts on San Antonio, maxing out the iron fox.

[SPEAKER_00]: Yeah, it's just a lot to commit to Darren Fox, especially on a team where you do also have other good young guards that you are trying to develop, like Castle and some of the other guys on their roster.

[SPEAKER_00]: And I'm interested in this only because I am super interested in the fate and path of Victor Webbing Yamas at this several times.

[SPEAKER_00]: I think if, you know, health doesn't become an issue and they build a right team around him, this could be one of the top ten players of all time.

[SPEAKER_00]: He is that physically gifted [SPEAKER_00]: He works that hard.

[SPEAKER_00]: He has a maniacal work ethic.

[SPEAKER_00]: He's interested in expanding his mind in his game.

[SPEAKER_00]: And he's very receptive in San Antonio seems like it's the perfect place for him to do that.

[SPEAKER_00]: And San Antonio has been historically really careful about building its roster.

[SPEAKER_00]: So I don't want to doubt them.

[SPEAKER_00]: Oh, what do I know sitting in this chair that they don't know?

[SPEAKER_00]: But it just caught my eye as, wow, that is a lot to commit to Darren Fox, who is a borderline all star.

[SPEAKER_00]: for so much money.

[SPEAKER_00]: It is not going to be a tradeable contract.

[SPEAKER_00]: You know, I just don't see a lot of teams wanting to have a Bradley deal situation on their hands where a guy is actually a good contributing player, but is so overpaid that it causes all of this resentment and it hampers your team going forward.

[SPEAKER_00]: I was surprised not that they paid him, but that they maxed him out the way that they did, because I just assumed that while that extension was assumed when they agreed to trade for him, that it wasn't an agreement for a max, and that there would be some understanding of, hey, [SPEAKER_00]: Yes, you are technically eligible for this, but with what we are trying to build around Victor Revinjama, we're going to pay you a lot of money, but it might not just be that much money, and it's surprisingly.

[SPEAKER_01]: Yeah, which guys have taken a little bit less.

[SPEAKER_01]: We've seen that on some of these recent extensions.

[SPEAKER_01]: The NYX are a prime example for multiple guys.

[SPEAKER_01]: Alan Brunson took a little bit less.

[SPEAKER_01]: Okay, all bridges just took a little bit less.

[SPEAKER_01]: So that's that's happening.

[SPEAKER_01]: It is a staggering amount of money.

[SPEAKER_01]: You throw in the fifth year of that deal.

[SPEAKER_01]: All of a sudden, you're talking close to three hundred million dollars over five years.

[SPEAKER_01]: It's a lot.

[SPEAKER_01]: Now, I do look, if in two years time, [SPEAKER_01]: The Fox castle and Harper are still in the spurs roster, then I think it's problematic because then you're out and have to pay these guys a lot of money.

[SPEAKER_01]: I still believe that whether it's before the start of training camp, before the trade deadline, before next off season or during next off season, there's another domino to fall in San Antonio.

[SPEAKER_01]: And I think one of those [SPEAKER_01]: They've got the draft capital, they've got the salary pieces in Devon Vassel and tell the Johnson.

[SPEAKER_01]: And they've got the blue chip guys with Castle and Harper.

[SPEAKER_01]: So I think they're going to be, and they believe they're going to be in play for a big star over the next twelve months.

[SPEAKER_01]: That would make this deal a little less head scratching.

[SPEAKER_00]: Because if you're in that kind of play for that kind of thing, is Castle the one you want to give up?

[SPEAKER_01]: I don't know, I'm not convinced castles of point guard.

[SPEAKER_01]: So I don't know what Harper turns out to be either, like I think Fox is obviously a peer point guard.

[SPEAKER_01]: He's proven that at an all-star level the last few years.

[SPEAKER_01]: I just, I think their plan is going to be to move off one of those guys.

[SPEAKER_01]: And I think you can have Fox and Castle Fox and Harper co-exist in the same back court long time.

[SPEAKER_01]: Again, two years from now, they come up with nothing.

[SPEAKER_01]: You're looking down the barrel of paying a lot of money into a lot of guys, victors a couple of years away from a contract extension, you know, Castle Smith is rookie year.

[SPEAKER_01]: Harper's not even a rookie yet.

[SPEAKER_01]: They've got a little bit of a runway.

[SPEAKER_00]: But do you think this was a good deal?

[SPEAKER_00]: Would you, would you have done this deal if you're in charge of it?

[SPEAKER_01]: I mean, I would have tried to talk him down a little bit to try to, you know, get him at a lower percentage of the cap because that's kind of the ballgame there.

[SPEAKER_01]: You, you know, every little bit counts, right?

[SPEAKER_01]: Like staying under the, you know, each apron gives you more flexibility.

[SPEAKER_01]: And that's what you need to try to do is you want flexibility.

[SPEAKER_01]: I do think again, they've got, they've got a runway here.

[SPEAKER_01]: where you don't have to pay Victor quite yet you're not paying Harper and Castle quite yet so they've got a little bit of run way still of those guys with movable contracts and in and in castle and whomever kelton johnson so i'm okay with i'm okay with the contract i kind of expected the contract i think this was always the deal that that fox was going to get from [SPEAKER_01]: from San Antonio.

[SPEAKER_01]: Now, I was going to prove that he can play with one of the young.

[SPEAKER_01]: I'm like, obviously, the first thing.

[SPEAKER_01]: So, you know, a hundred and twenty minutes isn't a big sample size.

[SPEAKER_01]: But obviously, they saw something during that time, but they believed that that combination, the pick and roll up tempo, clutch player, that foxes, that's all going to work out, ultimately for them.

[SPEAKER_01]: So, we'll see.

[SPEAKER_01]: Still good at time to be in San Antonio.

[SPEAKER_01]: Before I go, let's go, Rachel, I've got to throw one thing out of you, because this has been on my mind for the last couple of days.

[SPEAKER_01]: It's a WNBA question.

[SPEAKER_01]: I just the I saw the the price tag for the Connecticut sun yeah three hundred and twenty five million that's deep-a-glueca the current core of the south like it was outgoing uh...

is willing to pay to buy the Connecticut sun and move them from the weekend sun casino to the Boston area maybe the TD garden [SPEAKER_01]: whatever.

[SPEAKER_01]: Um, that is a staggering price tag.

[SPEAKER_01]: A staggering price tag for a team in a league that continues to hemorrhage money.

[SPEAKER_01]: This league has not made money, Rachel.

[SPEAKER_01]: They have not made money in its existence.

[SPEAKER_01]: And I know that a new TV deal is coming.

[SPEAKER_01]: It's coming.

[SPEAKER_00]: TV deal kicks in next year, right?

[SPEAKER_01]: It's coming.

[SPEAKER_01]: The TV deal kicks in next year.

[SPEAKER_01]: It's going to make things better.

[SPEAKER_01]: It doesn't guarantee that the money's just flowing, right?

[SPEAKER_01]: Like it still costs a lot to operate a league.

[SPEAKER_01]: It's still, there's gonna be a new CBA that changes player salaries.

[SPEAKER_01]: It just struck me as a huge number to pay for a WNB team.

[SPEAKER_01]: I don't know if you had a reaction to that sale.

[SPEAKER_01]: But when I saw that number, I was like, whoa, wow, that's a huge number.

[SPEAKER_00]: Well, my reaction first of all was moving them to Boston would be a great idea.

[SPEAKER_00]: It's just I don't know where they play now.

[SPEAKER_01]: It's from New England.

[SPEAKER_01]: I don't go.

[SPEAKER_01]: I only go to Mohican son or now I don't anymore because it's on corn Boston.

[SPEAKER_01]: But when I was younger, I only went to Mohican son when I was drunk and could get a ride from Boston College to the casino so I could lose some money down there.

[SPEAKER_01]: It is like a two plus hour ride down there.

[SPEAKER_00]: I've never seen you drunk.

[SPEAKER_01]: People in Connecticut don't go to the bohegan sun games.

[SPEAKER_01]: They're attendance is terrible.

[SPEAKER_01]: It is like going to Boston no matter what like that's the other side of it.

[SPEAKER_01]: Like Kathy Engelburton at the WNBA are all like [SPEAKER_01]: We're not going to move them there.

[SPEAKER_01]: Like, of course you move them there if you have a opportunity.

[SPEAKER_00]: I mean, look to Liberty moving to Brooklyn was a huge boom for them and completely changed their dynamic and everything else.

[SPEAKER_00]: So that was my first reaction as for the money part of it.

[SPEAKER_00]: First of all, you I'm sure have a grasp on how billionaires pay taxes and millionaires pay taxes and the idea that something is operating in a loss is sometimes an advantage for them because it cuts down on the amount of taxes they have to pay Chris because the way our country works right now.

[SPEAKER_00]: people with more money are tax less.

[SPEAKER_00]: So I don't think financially just in terms of is this a good investment.

[SPEAKER_00]: I think you can look at it as the league is only going to trend up that is the history of so many of these sports leagues and you can kind of tell at this point that the WMB is not going to fail like some of the former soccer leagues or some of the former startup leagues that we've had.

[SPEAKER_00]: So you will eventually [SPEAKER_00]: have an investment that's worth that money.

[SPEAKER_00]: And in the meantime, losses aren't the worst thing to show on your tax returns.

[SPEAKER_00]: So I just think that this is what we're seeing, what we're seeing with the valuation of the Valkyries recently is just that, you know, [SPEAKER_00]: There is a buying mindset among very rich people for the WMBA who really believe collectively that this league is only going to continue to grow and want to get in at what we one day may look at three hundred twenty five million is the bottom floor.

[SPEAKER_00]: I mean, we talk about these MBA franchises that are for sale.

[SPEAKER_00]: And we talk about, you know, what the Lakers just sold for, you can bear that to what Jerry Bus paid for them.

[SPEAKER_00]: I mean, it's in sync, right?

[SPEAKER_00]: So I think a lot of people still see this, no matter how high that price tag gets and whether, you know, goes up by another hundred million or something as a really good investment for the future.

[SPEAKER_00]: And again, emerging losses is not necessarily the worst thing with the way our tax system works, especially for the sort of corporations that millionaires and billionaires form to buy these teams.

[SPEAKER_01]: I get it, but I also think that people buy these teams to make money eventually, right?

[SPEAKER_01]: Like isn't they're not looking that long term you don't want to have an asset you can write off on your taxes.

[SPEAKER_01]: Do you?

[SPEAKER_01]: Like that's I don't get the sense that's [SPEAKER_00]: Well, as I said, I think this is an investment in something they believe will turn into.

[SPEAKER_01]: Yeah, obviously, a hundred percent.

[SPEAKER_00]: Like, if they're trying it thinking, man, this is going to be a loser forever, but that's good on my taxes.

[SPEAKER_00]: I'm just saying that if it makes a while to get there, the way our American tech system works right now, and it's not giving any value on where the other is just a fact, is that if you have a lot of money and you're able to move your assets around in a certain way, [SPEAKER_00]: You pay less taxes when you have a business that's at a loss and you can sort of, you know, corral some of your other profit-making businesses under that same umbrella.

[SPEAKER_00]: So you pay less taxes for those businesses because you have this loss on the other side of the ledger.

[SPEAKER_00]: I think no one's buying in because they're like, oh, good way to improve my taxes, but I do think that if it takes a while to become quote profitable, I think there are people who are okay with it because in the end the balance the losses are not as much as they look to the, you know, general public eyeball.

[SPEAKER_01]: That's awesome.

[SPEAKER_01]: Yeah, it's just wild that the crappiest team in the WNBA, which is what Connecticut is right now, just sold for like, eighty million dollars less than the buck sold for in, two thousand and fourteen.

[SPEAKER_01]: Mark Lazaran, Wesleyan's bought that team.

[SPEAKER_01]: That's so much the Connecticut Sun have sold.

[SPEAKER_01]: That was just such an eye-popping number when it broke out for for that team.

[SPEAKER_01]: And looked at the new TV deal like, [SPEAKER_01]: I'm not too deep in the weeds on this WNBA salary stuff.

[SPEAKER_01]: I follow it more on a casual basis.

[SPEAKER_01]: Sure sounds like it's a lockout comment or some kind of workstoppage coming in the WNBA.

[SPEAKER_01]: But even with this new TV money, like the total revenue is not a big number.

[SPEAKER_01]: Like the NBA, I think, operates on like what, twelve and a half billion dollars per year, like their operating comes huge.

[SPEAKER_01]: The WNBA, even with this money, it's probably like five hundred million dollars.

[SPEAKER_01]: That's a, there's still gonna be climbing hills.

[SPEAKER_01]: They're still gonna be, it's still gonna be uphill battle for them to become a profitable, lucrative league long term.

[SPEAKER_01]: I do think it's interesting.

[SPEAKER_01]: Like when it's Caitlyn Clarks a free edge of one the summer of twenty twenty seven.

[SPEAKER_01]: I think that's right.

[SPEAKER_01]: I think that's the right number like out of the opinion Rachel because I think that Caitlyn Clark changes the financial outlook of a WNL team more than any [SPEAKER_01]: NBA player ever did and it's not to like even LeBron like LeBron twenty ten you know that was big going on Miami chains their valuation shortchains their fortunes but Caitlyn Clark is a guaranteed sellout every single night.

[SPEAKER_01]: I know she doesn't really do they don't do local TV in the anime, because every game's on national TV but she is a ticket seller, a revenue driver, a merchandise seller, a television ratings bananza.

[SPEAKER_01]: If it turns out she actually, I don't know anything about how this is when you could try to sign to extension, how that all works.

[SPEAKER_01]: But if she actually becomes a free agent, somewhere of twenty twenty seven, that is going to make the summer of the decision pale in comparison.

[SPEAKER_01]: That that's how big that is going to be.

[SPEAKER_00]: Yeah, I agree because by the way, Caitlyn Clarke has reached so much of an audience that doesn't frequently watch basketball.

[SPEAKER_00]: Forget women's basketball, she has reached an audience that doesn't even care about basketball.

[SPEAKER_00]: So while some of these moves of these major NBA players have been documented like crazy by people like us, Caitlyn Clarke, if she becomes a free agent, that will be documented by when I say mainstream media, I mean non-sports media.

[SPEAKER_00]: every second of the way.

[SPEAKER_00]: And by the way, look, all of these valuations, all of this new TV deal, knocking on every surface possible, would, can you hear me?

[SPEAKER_00]: I don't know on this microphone.

[SPEAKER_00]: You know, if something happens, she has a catastrophic injury.

[SPEAKER_00]: All of this investment is going to have to really, it's going to be set back to such a degree, because the degree to which she is the driver, [SPEAKER_00]: the percentage driver of this success.

[SPEAKER_00]: It's not possible for an MBA player in the post-magic bird age.

[SPEAKER_00]: It's just not feasible for them to drive the ratings of a league as much because there's just enough collective interest in other teams, other players, you know, the league would survive if any of our big stars today suddenly snapped, you know, and didn't exist as an MBA player anymore.

[SPEAKER_00]: But Kale and Clark [SPEAKER_00]: WMBA loses Caitlin Clark for some reason, and again, knock on wood.

[SPEAKER_00]: I don't expect that to happen, but just to give an idea of what the percentage of sort of revenue and all of the things we're talking about to get back to your valuation question is based on her and this on her shoulders, on her health, on her motor alone.

[SPEAKER_00]: It is kind of crazy when we're now talking about not the infancy of the NBA and the dollars we were talking about then, but to your point, three hundred twenty five million dollars based on the fact that a player for another team is driving so much of the economy of the entire league.

[SPEAKER_00]: That's crazy in and of itself.

[SPEAKER_00]: That's more crazy to me than how high the numbers are getting.

[SPEAKER_01]: Steve Baglugo would probably pitch like you can have the Celtics locker room all to yourself like if they moved the team to Boston like I wasn't I got a deal to have I know I know she doesn't want that there's no one to finish anything but a team player yeah but man like that for agency I would [SPEAKER_01]: I would love to chronicle it like that's worthy of books.

[SPEAKER_01]: That's worthy of every article out there because like let's I'm making this up like let's say Lebron is worth three X's salary to the league like he's whatever he makes he's worth three X to the league probably more but I'm just saying three X Caitlin Clark is by thirty X [SPEAKER_00]: That's what I was trying to get across is that it's crazy.

[SPEAKER_00]: I have not been alive for a time when one player basically drives an entire league and it well established twenty seven year old league, whatever it is, twenty seven twenty I don't know twenty eight twenty eight.

[SPEAKER_00]: I've never seen it before.

[SPEAKER_00]: I've just literally never seen it before.

[SPEAKER_00]: It was a huge football fan as a kid, baseball, obviously basketball.

[SPEAKER_00]: It has not existed in my lifetime that one human is both responsible for, which is incredibly heavy weight.

[SPEAKER_00]: And then everything is resting on the valuation of teams that aren't even her team.

[SPEAKER_00]: I mean, it's just bananas.

[SPEAKER_01]: Well, too, Rachel, teams at like, [SPEAKER_01]: Not to take go too far down this frequency rabbit hole, but like teams that, there's already one of the reports from the globe about the pack of yoga deal, because that he was going to commit like, eighty million dollars to practice facility for the team in the boss area.

[SPEAKER_01]: That's going to be part of it, too.

[SPEAKER_01]: Where am I going to go?

[SPEAKER_01]: What's going to have, like, because there's only a set amount of money she could make on a max deal for her next team.

[SPEAKER_01]: And my, what resources do you have outside of, you know, the usual stuff that every team has?

[SPEAKER_01]: How big is your practical facility?

[SPEAKER_01]: Like what, what, where do you stay in hotels?

[SPEAKER_01]: Like things like that that are all gonna be variables, gonna make all these teams level up.

[SPEAKER_01]: They're all gonna be leveling up, try to, I think to try to recruit her down the line.

[SPEAKER_00]: Yeah, I mean, it's too bad Steve won't have a say in the Celtics organization anymore, because, you know, her boyfriend is an assistant coach with the Pacers.

[SPEAKER_00]: You draw the right boyfriend to Boston or to one of these other cities.

[SPEAKER_00]: I don't know.

[SPEAKER_01]: Give him the Rick Brunson treatment.

[SPEAKER_00]: I hope she stays in Indiana personally.

[SPEAKER_00]: I really do because again, what she has built this goes back to what I keep saying, what she has built with that fan base.

[SPEAKER_00]: It's so special.

[SPEAKER_00]: I know she's popular everywhere all over the world at this point, but nothing is like the fan reaction you get to her in Indiana, the Indiana history with basketball.

[SPEAKER_00]: I think it's a great place for her and it elevates a place in the WMBA that otherwise wouldn't be getting that much attention because it's not a major city or major market.

[SPEAKER_00]: So I hope she stays there.

[SPEAKER_00]: She certainly has indicated not, you know, not what she's going to do is a free agent years from now, but she is indicated how much she likes being there.

[SPEAKER_00]: So I hope she stays.

[SPEAKER_00]: You might never get your free agent book, but we'll see.

[SPEAKER_01]: would love to write it or at least read it from somebody.

[SPEAKER_01]: And look, she's a Midwestern person.

[SPEAKER_01]: I want you to choose to go to Iowa four years stay there for, oh, I think she went all four years, right?

[SPEAKER_01]: So she chose to do all that.

[SPEAKER_01]: So maybe she'll make this entire conversation pointless, but I felt it was worth having anyway because I think that for you, so it would be really freaking cool.

[SPEAKER_01]: Absolutely.

[SPEAKER_00]: And it's a good opportunity to get back to your original point of why the valuations were so high that valuations for other teams are skyrocketing because of a player who doesn't play for them.

[SPEAKER_00]: That is bananas.

[SPEAKER_00]: I have never seen anything like that.

[SPEAKER_01]: No, many of it.

[SPEAKER_01]: All right, Rachel.

[SPEAKER_01]: We will closely monitor the news.

[SPEAKER_01]: See if there's something we're talking about.

[SPEAKER_01]: Maybe, uh, Lakers centric trade or maybe relocation that comes up in the next couple of weeks will watch that unfold and we can be in that.

[SPEAKER_00]: Absolutely.