Keith Smith Explains Why The Knicks Should Keep Mitchell Robinson & Enter The Second Apron

Should the Knicks sacrifice roster continuity to avoid the NBA's second apron?

NBA salary cap expert Keith Smith joins CP The Fanchise to explain:

• Why Mitchell Robinson is so valuable
 • The real financial impact of the second apron
 • James Dolan's decision-making
 • Why championship teams should run it back
 • Potential backup center targets
 • Knicks free agency strategy
 • KAT and Brunson extensions
 • LaMelo Ball trade analysis
 • Giannis to Miami
 • Jaylen Brown rumors
 • Ja Morant's future

A must-listen episode for Knicks fans looking to understand the business behind the basketball.

Transcript

SPEAKER_02 0:12

All right, here we go. Salute to Knicks Nation and NBA Nation on this Friday afternoon. Another NBA Report, KnicksFan TV Simoncast, Steve the franchise in the building. Joining us today, friend of the program, NBA front office analyst. You can catch him uh writing on Spot Track and also on Twitter as well as he breaks down the latest NBA news and rumors as it relates to transactions, trades, free agency, you name it. He covers it all. Our guy Keith Smith is in the building. Hit the like button, hit the share button, and subscribe to the channel. Let's go. Salute to our franchise channel members, and of course, salute to the replay gang. Let's get into it. Keith, how you feeling, man? How are we doing, man?

SPEAKER_03 1:01

There we go. Gotta figure out how to work a mute button, I guess. I'm doing good, man. It's uh I can't believe how much has happened. And free agency doesn't even open for four more days. Yeah. Like it's just wild this summer that things are happening so quick. I'm uh, but I'm I'm fired up. You know, this is this is uh my favorite thing about basketball is basketball. But after that, it's all all of this. So this is this is my time of year.

SPEAKER_02 1:27

Ask me how I'm doing, man.

SPEAKER_03 1:29

How are you doing?

SPEAKER_02 1:31

I don't know. I don't know. I'm very conflicted right now, man. You know, for the last three months, I've been on this on this wave, on this cloud nine. I've been floating everywhere I go. I've been walking around and I just I just can't even believe, you know, my reality. And these guys win the championship, you know. I mean the last two weeks, again, euphoria here in New York. And now, this is why I have to have you on, because we we have to set the record straight. And my wife is like, don't do it right now. Let's just keep riding this wave. And I said, no, we've got to do our homework right now and break this down. Because now they're talking about blowing up the championship Knicks. Mitchell Robinson, Landry Shamit. What are we doing? James Dolan's second apron. I got I gotta make sense of this, man. What what do you make of this civil war here going on in the in the Knicks hierarchy over the second apron and repeating?

SPEAKER_03 2:26

Yeah, I mean, life comes at you fast in the NBA. That's the first thing that I always tell people is no other sport. Is it we crown the champs, and then a week later it's here's the draft. It's I'll tell you a quick funny aside on that. I texted someone from the Knicks organization and they're like, Yeah, I can't even like celebrate too crazy because we have draft workouts the next day. Like just the way it is in the NBA. It goes right from the final game to the draft to free agency, and then you're like in the end of July, and you're like, Oh yeah, we won the title. That was pretty cool. But hey, for you guys, you'll always have that, right? You're gonna wake up some morning randomly in the middle of August and be like, We're the champs, this is great, you know. So that's that's amazing for y'all. But it's yeah, I this whole situation with James Dolan coming out, like and he kind of laid the groundwork while the team was still going, and then right after was like, Yeah, you know, it's gonna be tough. This second apron, we can't do all that. Here's the thing that I tell everybody with this this is not a player acquisition thing for the Knicks. They are not trying to go out and get five guys to fill roster spots and all this stuff. This is a player retention thing, and this is a very decision they're making to say if we let Mitchell Robinson go, we let Landry Shamut go, Jordan Clarkson, I don't know, we'll see. Like, but other guys, like we're letting those guys go because we don't want to be in the second apron, which is fine, except they're not also trying to fill, like I said, five roster spots. If you're trying to do that, I get it, right? Second apron, it's hard to do those things. I and I just I'm struggling to wrap my head around it too, where it's like second apron, yeah, it comes with a bunch of restrictions, but run it back. Like, even if it's 90% of the roster you had last year, like I I like to see when teams win the title, let's go back after, let's try to do it again.

SPEAKER_02 4:17

Yeah, that's what I'm saying, man. Especially with Mitch. Like Shamot, I can understand. He's most likely going to get a raise somewhere else. You're not gonna be able to get him. He were fortunate enough to get him on the uh on the vet minimum two years in a row. You're not gonna be able to do that again for a third year. He's earned the raise, and most likely I could have seen him drop off, but you know, there are a lot of good 40% three-point shooters that you can get. Not saying that he's totally replaceable, but there's guys you can get. A guy like a Mitchell Robinson, I understand some of the issues, the durability, the free throws. You, if you want to argue, maybe the maturity thing with uh hurting his pinky at home, who knows what happened there. Nobody really knows. But to me, in that spot, you have a veteran, he's got the chemistry with the point guard, he's got the chemistry with the entire team, the safety, if you will, to use a football term, the screen setting, the offensive rebounding, the defense at point of attack and at the rim. That's a tough, that's tough to replace.

SPEAKER_03 5:19

Yeah, you get very few big men that can step out on Jason Tatum and make his life difficult, and then also when the ball swings and get back and cover the rim as Jalen Brown drives it, right? Like, and I've seen the reason I use that example, I we've seen that exact thing happen with Mitchell Robinson. And I I go back to it feels like it is I like Ariel Huckporty, don't get me wrong. He's shown flashes and all that, and yeah, maybe they just go out and get minimum Big Man X, because there's gonna be a bunch of centers who are pretty good players and they they can go get one, but the challenge is none of them are gonna be as good as Mitchell Robinson, like just not gonna be. And I trust me, I understand the second apron and all the restrictions that come with it. But if I'm the Knicks, I'm going into the second apron next year, if it means keeping Mitchell Robinson or losing them, and then I'll figure it out in the year if I need to, if I really feel like I gotta get out. I know it was mentioned, like, well, doesn't the pick get frozen? Yeah, seven years from now. Like, I even mean I'd be so I'm super optimistic with this stuff, but none of these guys on the roster are gonna be there seven years from now.

SPEAKER_02 6:26

Right.

SPEAKER_03 6:26

Like, let's just be realistic. Like, it's so what you really want to be looking at is like, all right, seven years from now, and then you still have multiple years you can like Boston got their pick frozen, they dipped back under the second apron. I call it the thawing process, right? You're thawing that thing out over a couple years, but for one more year just over the second apron, and it and it's it is funny because we've heard a lot of people, and I got asked this on the radio yesterday or the other day. I'm like, you I can't even remember what day of the week it is anymore. Um it ends in why, I think. Um, but it's I gotta ask, like, is this just James Dolan being cheap? And I I don't want to say it is because this guy's paid a lot of money for teams that were nowhere near as good as this one. So like I'm not, I don't think he's just somebody who cheaps out. I think what it is is I think somebody's gotten to him that like, hey, the second apron's really bad. Now he's using that as like, well, because of that, I'm not gonna pay a bunch of money. And that's where for me that falls apart. I I don't think I don't think you could do that. I would just go into that, pay it, pay whatever it is to keep the title team together. If if we get to the trade deadline, it's like this group just doesn't have it, and I I'd be shocked if that's where we are. You make a trade then and figure out how to get get out of those challenges. I just I can't I can't imagine going into this into the season without, yeah, we had to let Mitchell Robinson go just because we couldn't afford him. That doesn't that doesn't connect for me.

SPEAKER_02 7:53

That that's what I'm wondering. Like when a lot of people think about the this whole second apron, I think a lot of people are more so looking at it from the operational restrictions, right? You can't aggregate contracts, you know, you you're losing your exemptions, uh, the traffic being frozen. But I'm trying to put myself in in Dolan's mind here, and I'm wondering more so, is it, as you said, is he using that as a way to say, look, I've been paying the tax for a number of years, I've been giving money to you bottom feeder losers for a number of years, and I'm tired of it. And if he does go into the second apron, we're talking about up to three dollars on every dollar you're spending, plus the penalties. You just looked at with the Celtics. I mean, what was their tax bill prior to them coming below it and ultimately selling the team? Golden State Warriors, what was it like $150 million, almost half a billion dollars?

SPEAKER_03 8:47

I mean, yeah, yeah.

SPEAKER_02 8:48

Yeah, I I I think people are more so looking at it from the basketball standpoint, but I think Dolan's looking at it from the bottom line.

SPEAKER_03 8:56

Well, let's talk about those restrictions, right? Yeah, if you're a second April team, you can't aggregate contracts together in a trade. Well, who are you trying to aggregate together to trade? Nobody. Right? You're not you're not looking to move any of these guys. Because the only contracts that have that are big enough to have value in a trade are attached to the five starters. Um, and then if if they re-signed Robinson, it would be to him. So that becomes like, all right, well, we're not looking to move any of those guys. Uh Deuce McBride's contract is it's so team friendly that it's like even to just that would be like a nice throw-in in a trade, contract-wise. I'm not talking about the player and his value as a player. He's outplayed his contract, he's worth more than that. But it but his contract is so small, you're not doing much with it. So that's where for me I'm like, all right, well, you're not doing that again. You're not looking to fill a bunch of roster spots. Yeah, you're probably gonna be you'll lock into this group for for at least another year. But again, you're the defending champions. That's fine. Like, I go back to the Celtics. Celtics win the title in 2024. They go back 2025 and basically like, we're gonna run it back, and we know how everything's gonna go. We're gonna be in the second apron, but they did it. Then Tatum gets hurt, and they're like, All right, well, we'll see what this looks like. Now, now it's not worth it. You get out of it after a year. I always say, you heard me say this in the room at Summer League last year. Second apron is like Las Vegas. You visit for a short time, it's super expensive, it's gonna cost you a little bit. You stay too long, you stay too many years in Las Vegas, too many days in Las Vegas, too many years in the second apron. It's gonna be real painful, and then you're gonna be paying for it on the back end. This is why, like, yeah, if you go for a year, yeah, you get the pick frozen, but you get out of the pick being frozen. I'm not suggesting go be a second apron team for the next five seasons. Like, you just put one more year feels like feels like what you gotta do, and I I mean it's not my money, but how much money did they just make off this run? I mean, like, CP, you might have paid for a chunk of Robinson's net contract just in buying championship gear yourself, right? Like, I mean, everybody in your chat probably loaded up on Knicks gear, as you should, as you are supposed to, right? You know, I'm a Celtics guy, I have Celtics championship gear in my drawers that like I still wear, you know. I mean, it's only been a couple years. I still wear stuff from the 2008 title team. Like, that's when it fits. Um, but that's you know, a whole other story. But you know, for me, it's like like you you just banked all this money. How much money did they just make by selling draft picks and moving around on the draft board, right? Like these are all these things. Here's my only thing where I I'll be optimistic about this. At the end of the day, it's the owner, right? He's gonna make his decision. But that's a super, super smart front office. And if they tell him, like, hey man, like we we can't replace Mitchell Robinson. So those days when Katz got two fouls in the first four minutes of the game, I don't want to hear why, like, why do we not have a better backup center, right? We we had one and now he's playing for another team. They, I think Jim Jim Jim, I say that like he's my my bad James Golan is he's on radio, he's on TV, and he's saying these things. And I'm my guess is he's got a pretty pretty good understanding of it. The guys who have a really great understanding of it are the guys who aren't on TV all the time. They're not the ones talking. And I'm gonna say he said what he said, but there may be a world where they're still like, hey, we can do second April for a year, and maybe Mitchell Robinson does come back. But if they draw that hard line, I don't know, that's gonna be tough.

SPEAKER_02 12:31

Yeah, I don't necessarily I agree with you. I don't necessarily think it is a hard line. Um, I think if Leon and Brock and these guys present a plan where it's like, all right, you know, maybe they're they're skimming it a little bit, not too deep. Um, you know, I wouldn't count that out. I would not rule that out. Now, it doesn't mean that everybody's gonna be back, but certainly means, you know, you're gonna lose a couple of guys. But I think like, as you said, if they can make a good case to get Mitch back and on a reasonable, you know, number, is it, you know, a lower number, longer years type of situation? I wouldn't necessarily rule that out. You know, I I I don't necessarily think this is an absolute, but the the concern is definitely there, man.

SPEAKER_03 13:13

Yeah, I'm with you. It's it's I also gotta think, too, he's only ever been a Nick, right? So that's gonna count for something. I don't think Mitchell Robinson is going into this saying, I need 30 million a year, I need you know, some insane number. I think it is pay me a respectable amount, which you probably gotta be right around the mid-level exception, maybe a little bit more, uh, just to be maybe.

SPEAKER_02 13:36

What's the mid-level at? 15 years. Mid-level's at 15 this year. Yeah, but that's about average of what he's what his last deal, though, right?

SPEAKER_03 13:43

Yeah. Because his last deal started high and then came back down. So, but now, my my point, this is where you bring up some of the things you said, is like you're a year older, you've had injuries, yeah, you did whatever you did to hurt your hand. Like, we gotta be a little bit protected here. That's why I'm not necessarily saying we start throwing around 20, 25, 30 million, that gets a little too much for me. And at that point, like, well, that's just smart decision making if you let them walk. But you also gotta be careful because you got the Lakers and now the Nets looming out there with cap space, very likely. Both need centers. You know the Nets would love to poach the crosstown guy. You don't need to move.

SPEAKER_02 14:24

Julius and Mitch. Right? Yeah, exactly, right?

SPEAKER_03 14:27

You you don't even need to move, man. You stay in your stay where you live and just cut come to work, you know, in Brooklyn. Like, let's go. And then the Lakers, like, what have we heard? Oh, like for months now is they're gonna get Luca rim running, lob catching, uh, big man who can also protect the rim. Well, there's not a better one in free agency than Mitchell Robinson. Maybe argue Rob Williams, but if you think Mitchell Robinson has injury issues, like Rob Williams, a whole other other story. So, so I think that's where that's maybe you gotta go a little more than the mid-level. Maybe you're in like the 17, 18 million dollar a year range. But that's to me, that's that's just you know, fine. Like, and he this is my other point. He's not just a backup center because you can play him with cat too, because cat's so versatile. So that's where the everybody's like, well, he's a 15-minute a night backup, but he's not because he does play minutes with cat sometimes. And when that happens, like, alright, that's how you get him into the 20, 25-minute range. And like I said, you know, if they let him go, I don't want to hear any whining and crying from anybody about like when it's the middle of December and it's like, man, Cat picked up two fouls in the first you know, four minutes, and now we're gonna run with 20 minutes of Ariel Huck porty to end the half. Like, if that's what it is, that's what it is.

SPEAKER_02 15:46

They're they're gonna be in trouble that way. Look, Huck's good guy. Uh you know, plays hard, plays scrappy. He's he's a third string center. He he's a third string center. So they they have to be realistic about that. Now, uh, you know, Ian Ian Beckley had mentioned on our show earlier this week that there was a team that was offering a potential starting spot to him. Could it be the the the well the Nets traded Nick's Claxton, right? Yeah. So could it be the Nets or could it be the Lakers? Any other teams you think? Yeah, I mean, based on what we've seen last couple of days?

SPEAKER_03 16:16

Yeah, I would have thrown the Bulls in there, but the Bulls are the ones that are trading for Nick Claxton.

SPEAKER_02 16:20

Yeah.

SPEAKER_03 16:20

Um, the other teams that I think could maybe offer him a starting spot, I think those teams are probably they're more limited to just the mid-level. But if we start, and I apologize, I'm not gonna look at the camera because I'm gonna look at my other screen. Yep, yep, do you think? Um, but you start talking about teams that need need centers that could be in range with that. Let's see what Detroit does if this Jalen Duran thing gets sideways. It sounds like that's a little little messy. Maybe I I probably not, but but maybe same thing with Walker Kessler in Utah. If things get a little weird there, the Pelicans, if they decide, like, all right, you know what, we their queen's not gonna be a center, he's gonna be a power forward. We've got to figure it out with Zion. They're another team that you could see. All right, yeah, maybe they they could jump in. Um, I I think that there's a chance that you could see a team like um, gosh, who was I just thinking about? Uh the Kings. We don't know what they're doing. They're another team that could offer the the full mid-level. Maybe they've got their own stuff to to work out there. I think Charlotte's probably coming off the board acquiring Nas Reed. The Hawks, they drafted a young big guy, but late in the second round. They're another team that could probably jump in there and make an offer. So you've got, it's not like it's like, yeah, good like with Durern and Kessler, because they're restricted, their teams can say, go find something. If we need to, we'll match it. With with Mitchell Robinson, it's different because the Knicks can't. I mean, they can match it through a hey, find out what somebody else will offer. We will do it. They don't have any right to do that. If he's like, I don't, I don't care if you won't match it, I want to go to Team Max, he can do that. They don't have any uh retainer rights because he's unrestricted. So that becomes like those are the things you're looking at. It's not like it's just well, there's only one or two teams for him. No, there's like what did we just rattle off like eight? So like yeah, I think there are definitely opportunities for him uh to start somewhere.

SPEAKER_02 18:10

Could they um and shout out to my guy Swinney from the the Strickland, he mentioned this idea in terms of the second apron and them kind of benefiting if he walks, how would a sign in trade help the Knicks in terms of maybe a TPE, a trade a player exception?

SPEAKER_03 18:26

Yeah, super difficult for them to pull off a sign-in trade where they bring back a player because that's the same thing, right? Like it's it's put you in the exact same spot. Going over the second apron. What they could do is let's just say he gets a $20 million deal and they're like, that's too rich for our blood. What you do is you say, hey, all right, Lakers or Nets, because those are the teams that could offer that right now. Let's do it as a sign and trade. We'll kick you a couple of these second-round picks we we picked up through the course of you know, moving around, or or you know, I like if any of these 20 plus guys that we have draft rights for of interest, we'll pay you in that way. Because for the other team, it doesn't change anything on their side. Um, so what you would do is you'd say, let's do that, and then you create you create a trade exception for whatever his salary is. Um, and then that's something you just kind of have in your back pocket. You may not be able to necessarily use it, because again, if you create a $20 million trade exception, that sounds awesome, but then you're gonna get a player for $20 million, you're right in the same place with a province.

SPEAKER_02 19:27

Yeah, yeah. Right, right in the same boat. Uh shout out to Kane Marco, $20 Super Chat franchise channel member says, is it legal to construct a contract that puts them in and out of the apron in one year? For example, four years, $60 million, but pay him 30 million, 10, 10, and 10.

SPEAKER_03 19:44

Yeah, unfortunately, no. Contracts can only descend by 8%. So if you started them that high, you'd have to go. Yeah, I mean, that's that would be kind of cool if you could do that. That's like I always say that's an NFL style contract where it's like they almost tend to go the other way, though, where like, I mean, as somebody who, you know, was a I hope nobody turns on me here, but Patriots fans, but you guys giant scud us twice. Um, but it's you know, for me, it's it was like, oh, Tom Brady, you know, just restructured his contract, and it felt like this season he's gonna make 50 cents, and then 40 years from now, we'll pay him 50 million dollars. And it's like, okay, sure. I mean, people say the NBA cap is complicated. I feel like the NFL cap is just funny money all over the place, and and I don't understand it, but yeah, you can't structure it like that, unfortunately. You you you're you're you're pretty limited in the amount. You can uh both raise or decline a contract year to year.

SPEAKER_02 20:39

Let's say he walks. I would imagine they would still have the the taxpayer. Or is it the non-taxpayer? Which one is the six million dollars? Yeah, it won't have the non-tax.

SPEAKER_03 20:49

The non-taxpayer is the worst named thing in the CBA because it doesn't actually have anything to do with the tax. Right. It should be called the first apron mid-level, but that sounds even stupider. So I think that's why they kept it. Yeah. Um, but yeah, they're they're gonna be over the first apron, very likely. So what I've got them at right now today is and I I'm gonna I'm I'm putting Jose Alvarado opting back in. Yes, today's his date.

SPEAKER_02 21:13

Today's his date to opt in.

SPEAKER_03 21:14

That is true, yeah, because he moved back. So we'll get some news on that here. So I've got them about three and a half million under the first apron, if we put him in the mix, and that's with six open roster spots. So by the time you start filling out all those roster spots, you're gonna be close to that second apron anyway. A veteran minimum contract right now is two and a half million dollars. We're no longer in the days where it was like veteran minimum is a million bucks. Like even the minimum minimum, the rookie guy. So, like if you if you got uh boy, Tyler Dickel was one of the kids they drafted, they get him on a minimum, that's even over a million dollars now that you're bringing him in at. So, so so it's gonna get tight to just fill out the roster. That's nothing they haven't worked with before. The good news is right now. You're not working with that under hardcap, which they've gotten really creative and done some things. If they use the taxpayer mid-level, which is six million bucks, that hardcaps you at that second apron. So now you're doing that dance with like 10 million bucks to fill five spots, and you're gonna start playing the games of like, all right, well, this guy we're gonna sign because he only counts at the rookie minimum, and this guy will sign him for two weeks and then send him away all the stuff we saw them have to dance around over the last couple of years. So I think it's more likely it's gonna be minimums for them, kind of straight out.

SPEAKER_02 22:32

That's what they did last this year. That's what they did this year.

SPEAKER_03 22:34

Yeah, exactly. And then they hit on some, right? Clarkson was a minimum guy and ended up being a you know kind of key rotation, not even kind of, he was a very key rotation guy throughout the course of the of the run. And sham it, you mentioned it. That's a couple years in a row on a minimum uh with that. I think like I was looking at it just the other day, like big man targets, and people are gonna probably, you know, sorry if anybody does. I hope I don't make you throw up in the mouth. But yeah, I mean you're you're looking at like maybe a guy like Jock Landell. He's I was thinking about it. He was top of my list. He was top of my list. Yeah, he could be a minimum guy you get. Uh maybe Nick Richards, kind of he's like uh poor man's Mitchell Robinson. Um, Zach Collins can do some stuff. He could be around. Marvin Bagley III. I know a lot of people are like, this didn't that dude wash out of the NBA? Yeah. He's still around and he's actually gotten better. Now, now that we're like framing him in the appropriate light, where it's like minimum backup big man, like yeah, he's not not an 11 million dollar big guy anymore. Those are all guys I think you could maybe look at um you know for a minimum type contract and and get there. And then you of course you've always got your like like dudes that are just they're gonna be around forever on contracts like Bismack Biombo, Mason Plumber, Drew You're gonna be able to do it.

SPEAKER_02 23:48

No drumming, no drumming, no drumming.

SPEAKER_03 23:50

Yeah, and that's and it honestly, if I'm drumming, like I just stay in Philly, you kind of have a good thing going there. Just do that. So but so it's not there's the awful options out there on the minimum. You could do okay, just none of them are gonna be as good as Mitchell Robinson is.

SPEAKER_02 24:05

Yeah, yeah, it's tough. Laundale, I like Laundale from last year. I was interested in bringing him in last year. He's a good player. Yeah, I I think he would be top of my list. I don't know, is Mo Wagner would be a little too rich for their blood? What do you think, Mo Wagner?

SPEAKER_03 24:19

The challenge is getting him away from Orlando because he loves playing with his brother. And if it's gonna be the same money, he probably just stays in Orlando. But if you could get him, yeah, that's the kind of guy. And I can tell you, watching him up close here in Orlando, Knicks fans would love that, dude. Because he goes out there every night, and I think priority one for him beyond even scoring, rebounding, and playing defense is how can I agitate the other team? Right. What he wants to do is he doesn't want to get into fights, but he wants somebody to take a swing at him. You know, and then he's just somebody who plays with the crowd, plays with great energy. So yeah, he's definitely somebody who would fit, but it's just getting him away from Orlando's. I think it's gonna be kind of tough.

SPEAKER_02 24:57

Yeah, that will be tough. So yeah, I agree. You're basically looking at, you know, using that money and kind of splitting it, dividing it around to fill, what'd you say, about five or six rosters? But five or six.

SPEAKER_03 25:08

Yeah, it's gonna be five or six. Because they they they moved off their first round pick, so we take that out of the out of the mix. So now you're into all right, we're gonna fill out. Now, the guys they draft, we don't know what's gonna happen with Jack Kyle. Like, I think there's a chance he ends up a stash guy, um, because he's very, very young. He's still very raw. Um, but somebody like Tyler Nickel, I think why they drafted him. Yeah, this kid can shoot, like volume shooter in college. He at least has that as an NBA skill. He becomes, all right, we're gonna put you on contract at like a little over one million for the season.

SPEAKER_02 25:42

That's the second that is that the second round uh pick minimum?

SPEAKER_03 25:45

You can either do that, yeah. Yep, yep, you could do it that way. Or like they did with uh Mo DiOra, you could do it one year and then restricted free agency right after. And like with Dwar, it didn't come back to bite them because they were able to get them right back. But those are the guys you're gonna kind of put in in the mix a little bit there uh with that. It might be five because I I don't know if I counted in Dioara or not. But but yeah, but we're in that range. And you can always run with 14. Right. Um, you don't you don't have to get to 15 right away.

SPEAKER_02 26:15

That's true. That's true. I mean, one of the things that helped them last year was they were fortunate to have Clarkson get waived, and then they could get him on the vet minimum, so he was still getting that Utah money, but then uh, you know, they get him on the vet minimum, so maybe that's a scenario.

SPEAKER_03 26:29

Got to be a couple guys that might be in that scenario this summer, too. Um the Grizzlies roster is now stacked. Contavius Caldwell Pope. Not, I mean, again, nobody's running to the team store to buy the jersey, but like that's a veteran guy. You could put in your rotation. Jonathan Isaac's probably gonna get waived in Orlando. Um, they're gonna pay, they're probably gonna wave and stretch his money, but he's gonna have 8 million coming to him. Nobody's probably gonna give him more than a minimum just with the injury issues. He's a guy who could come in. You can't count on him to be your backup five man. I'll tell you that right now. Um, he's just a little too skinny. Yeah, yeah. And every time he's tried to bulk up, he's not gone well.

SPEAKER_04 27:06

Yeah.

SPEAKER_03 27:07

So, but as just another rotation big to throw in the mix, sure. Yeah, you could you could do that. And that's where you could probably get by with all right, when we're going up against Joel Embiid or Nikola Jokic, we need more bulk. All right, we'll run with Huck Porti and let him go against those guys on the days when it's smaller teams or more stretch bigs, we can run with Isaac and be okay. That could be a kind of option. Because Gary, you're spot on with that. You're looking for those guys that they're already kind of getting paid somewhere else, so you're just you're just supplementing that. Here's the good news for the Knicks with minimums. They're in New York, so that's already a minimum becomes more than that. Right. Because you're gonna get all kinds of marketing opportunities you wouldn't get anywhere else. City guys love to play for. And now it's not like, well, are they gonna be good? Well, we have that answer. That's already been answered. And the next thing guys look for when the money is the same, it's where am I gonna be? Am I gonna have a role? And then it's gonna be our, you know, can we win? And the have a roll part, that's probably true too, because you're looking to fill out a little, like you know, a couple key roster uh rotation spots.

SPEAKER_02 28:07

How much key uh CP the franchise here? We're here with our guy, Keith Smith. Salutes everybody in the chat once again. Hit the like button, hit the share button, subscribe to the channel. If you want to call in with questions for Keith, call us up on the KFTV or NBA report Discord. How much of this, uh, the second apron concerns do you think could be related to the prospects of them having to extend Kat and then extend Jalen to the WAP, you know, the deal that he's owed, right? He he took less, he delivered on the championship in a stellar game five, 45 points, back up to bring strong. I don't care, but a blank check for Brunson. How much do you think that that's you know factoring into this, where it's like, you know, we're ultimately gonna have to go over this thing later, probably for a little bit longer.

SPEAKER_03 28:55

Yeah, and you want to avoid it as long as you can. Now, if it was like we could go into it for a year, then get out of it, and we'll stay out of it for a few years, and we'll we'll be okay, sure. But you're absolutely right. I mean, if it's we're gonna keep cat, like he's gonna get paid. And and it's funny because people are like, well, maybe he does what Brunson did and took takes a little less. Yeah, a little less, but a little less off 60 million is like 45, 50 million. Like, we're not he's not coming back. It's like all the people are like, well, maybe LeBron takes the minimum. Like, what are we doing, guys? Like, come on, let's come back to planet Earth with us here. Like, we're you know, it's cool to live in dreamland for a little, but it's probably not gonna be how it goes. So, yeah, with Kat, Brunson, I mean, eventually bridges, and all like like NBA contracts feel like they're forever sometimes, but they come up very, very quickly. Like everything kind of zips around. So, so I think that could be the problem where it's like, hey, even if we just gave Mitchell Robinson 17 million a year, that 17 million a year is gonna be on the books for the next three, four years. Then what happens when, like you said, these other guys need paid. Now we're just deeper into this thing than maybe we want to be in. What they may be looking at is saying, let's delay for a couple of years so then we can kind of get ourselves in a place where we delayed, we held off. Now, when we go over where we're just kind of all right, we we held it off as long as we could. Now the inevitable is that we really shed good, good, good, good talent, high-end starters, or we just commit to just paying this thing.

SPEAKER_02 30:20

You think this apron thing lasts long, Keith? I mean, you know, you look at it from the owner's side, they're looking at all the damages and the ramifications. And, you know, the GMs are looking at all of these restrictions, right, for the sake of parity, because you from the league's perspective, different teams winning, that's good for our TV deal, that's good for our fans, it brings excitement, a new team every year. We've had now eight different championship teams in eight different years. The player's side, you know, the players come out and say, hey man, the the the middle class is getting squeezed out, guys are getting jump changed, guys who deserve a raise. If you're not one of the big stars, you gotta like, you know, kind of fish around. You gotta hold out here and there because you you you're trying to hold out for your just due. You think this thing lasts by the time we get to the next uh CBA?

SPEAKER_03 31:08

Yeah, you're gonna need enough owners to come back and be like, I had to break up a good thing. Like, what are we doing? The challenge is when the aprons, why they added these levels of apron restrictions, because first apron's been there for forever. It just used to be just the taxi one. Um, but now that we have the second apron, it's very funny when you look at it, it's like, man, the Warriors got like kind of beat up by this, the Clippers, what the Nets were like turning into, right? Where it was just let's get everybody. Those ownership groups were in favor of it because a lot of times what these owners want to do is they want to put handcuffs on not only their their rival owners, but themselves too. Because it's like now it's like I can't, like I just can't do it, I can't can't do this, and they want to operate in a thing. It's very much like the owners would tell you they'd love to have a hard cap, like a true hard cap. Like it is whatever, let just set the bar at 200 million bucks or whatever, 200 million, that's the most you can pay. You can't ever go over it. The players association is like, forget that. We don't want it because we want our guys to be able to get paid. So that's where the challenge comes in with this stuff is you gotta get the right mix of people at the right time. The other thing is when you're negotiating these things with the players association, players association, what everybody forgets when the apron came in and made it harder on these expensive teams. You can no longer have these teams like what Philly was during the process years or right before the aprons came in, what Indiana and the Spurs were, where they were sitting on like forty, fifty million dollars, and it was well, we'll get to the salary floor and that's it. Now you have to spend money because otherwise you don't get a sharing in the tax payment at the end of the year from everybody else. So while it pushed down on those super expensive teams, they push the other teams up to have to spend. And like you said, it's all about parity, right? If everybody's within 10, 20 million bucks of each other spending-wise, you're gonna have a league that it should be in theory pretty balanced out. Pretty balanced. But that's what your hope is is nobody can just spend their way to a title or spend their way out of problems if their roster gets stuck. So so that's I think where it becomes super interesting with um with the aprons. And then the last thing I'll say on this too is with the players, the the guys who have the most power are the veteran and the max guys, right, within the union. Well, they're they're not the ones who are losing out on anything here. So for those guys, it's like, man, keep it going. Like I hear all the time, like, man, these rookie deals, like they gotta get these rookies a little bit more money when they come into the league to start off with. Yeah, but Joe Veteran, who's like hanging in the league, he doesn't want that. He's like, nah, give me that money, man. Like, they have the next 10 years to get paid. I got maybe two more left. I want that. Yo, there. So that's where, you know, sometimes it what seems clean and easy is you have divisions within the owner side where some are on page one, some are on page two, and the same thing exists on the player side. That's what that's why we end up kind of where we end up.

SPEAKER_02 34:14

It's interesting stuff, man. Absolutely interesting. Um, as we segue to around the league, um, yesterday's blockbuster trade saw LaMelo Bull heading to Minnesota. Um, and the Charlotte Hornets, Minnesota Timberwolves swapping. Uh, we had Nas Reed going to Charlotte, a 2033 unprotected first-round pick, three first round picks swaps, 28, 29, 30, and three second-round picks. I'm gonna uh just swing the camera over to you, grab my charger real quick, but get in and react to the uh that Lomel Ball trade.

SPEAKER_03 34:48

Yeah, absolutely monster uh trade, almost, almost kind of out of nowhere. Like it was crazy because what happened with this trade was we got to the end of the second round. Shams pops on TV and he's like, hey, Lamella Ball might get traded. And the next morning at 9 30 in the morning, East Coast time, Lamella Ball is is is is now he's a Timberwolf. So that is you know kind of crazy stuff that we saw that uh happen that quickly, how how much that that trade went. And this is this is a massive trade from both sides. You've got now the Hornets trading away, the most popular player in there on their franchise in Lamella Ball, the guy who was the face of their rebuild, now goes out. Um, it's funny. I I always I you probably do the same thing. I use people in my life and barometers of like how important things are that people aren't in our world, right? Two-way signings get us fired up. Like, you know, so I use like like for example when Luka Doncic got traded, my mom, who they've they actually just moved to the Dallas area. My mom says to me, she goes, they tried the Maverick traded some Luke Donald guy, and they're all the fans are all angry all over town now. And I'm like, Yeah, okay. You know, but it's um but it's funny. So you get um my my my daughter's like she's working as a camp counselor this year, and she says, Um, all the boys are crazy, like Mella Balga traded. She's like, but he didn't say he's like not always the best player, and I'm like, yeah, that's like this dude is super popular with like teenagers because there's times when he can be kind of a circus act and he's plays a little crazy at times, where you know sometimes people in the basketball community are like he's a little too too wild. But I thought he got a lot more serious last year, especially as the year went along. So I'm very curious to see what it looks like with him and around Anthony Edwards. Wolves are clearly doing everything they can to keep Ant happy, keep him home in Minnesota. They don't want to be the next team. It's already starting where he's the next one from Giannis. It's gonna be up. So we'll see what happens with that. And then on the Hornet side, I'm guessing they were like, hey, we we're we're good and we're still moving upwards, but with LaMelo and with the big contract, and with him due for a new contract soon, we might hit a ceiling here. And we want to be up here, right? We want to be way, way up high competing for titles. And I think for them it was the best thing to do, rebalance our books, get in a different kind of style of guy, a point guard. I know they want the ball in Brandon Miller and Con Kanipple's hands even more. And like you mentioned when you rattled off that trade package, Nas Reed's really good, and you just got Minnesota's entire draft future, like five, six, seven, yeah, cheap six, seven joke, right? But it's um, but that far out, right? You have now control over what's going to happen with their picks through swaps and that unprotected pick. They did pretty well in this trade.

SPEAKER_02 37:30

Yeah, but I from a I can't I don't get it from a Minnesota standpoint. I mean, you put you do all that for LaMelo, who, yes, he had a good year last year. Um injuries, did the ankle injury situation. They traded Nas Reed, a guy I like. You traded Julius already, who I don't think you could win with anyway. But what I mean, what else are you looking at here? You got DiVincenzo going to be rehabbing for with the Achilles. Yes, you have Gobert. You have Behringer, who's not a floor spacing big, to my knowledge, after watching.

SPEAKER_03 37:59

Not yet, anyway.

SPEAKER_02 38:00

More in the Gobert type of mold, more the rim-running style. So, like, what what are they doing there? And then they and then they give up half the draft capital. I thought that was super risky for Minnesota, man.

SPEAKER_03 38:10

Yeah, and we just talked about the Knicks having like five, six spots to fill. The Wolves have like seven that they've got to fill with rotation players. So they've got a lot to still sort through and figure out and plan for and how are we gonna get this roster? Yo, into a place where it is, yo, it's good. The guys they have are good. Don't get me wrong. Gobert's really good, McDaniels is really good, uh, Mayo Desumu's coming back, Anthony Edwards, and then you got now Lamelo, but that's five guys. Last I checked, you need a little bit more depth than that. So, you know, and they've got guys like Terrence Shannon Jr. maybe grows in to a bigger role. You mentioned Yoan Berner. Um, he may be a big, you know, bigger role as well coming with that. So, so that's what you're hoping for, but you got to go and again, super tight margins for Minnesota because this is a team roughly in the same spot as the Knicks are, where we're gonna be over the cap, we've got to deal with a bunch of stuff. They've they've got some stuff to sort through for sure.

SPEAKER_02 39:06

Yeah, that that one was uh is a little bit puzzling. I I like the potential if it can work out, but I I think they've got to figure out more depth. I mean, when you look at the West, you got old Casey Spurs, uh, yeah, the Rockets, you know, the Rockets gonna improve. What are they gonna do? Lakers, I'm not so sure. Just you know, just given the age factor, the uncertainty there, but a lot of teams Denver retool a little bit. I don't know. I I think the the West, you know, the Blazers, are the Blazers coming? There's just a lot there to me for Minnesota, right? Utah.

SPEAKER_03 39:34

Yeah, I mean, yeah, it's just a lot there. The Western Conference is tough, man. And the Easter's game. Here's the cool thing. I know the slaughterer reform people are kind of like, oh man, what are we doing now? I don't I don't even know how to follow this stuff. At the end of the day, if we get to January, February, and March, and teams are still playing to try to win, we've all won as basketball fans. Because we've all turned on that game, whether you're watching the Knicks versus somebody, right? And you get the Knicks versus the Wizards, right? Because the Wizards are sitting 10 of their rotation guys that night. It's like, what am I what are we doing here, right? Yeah, you might have fun watching the Knicks beat them by 50, but at some point, even your attention span is starting to be like, all right, what else is going on? You know, like like if we get to a place where these teams are motivated to just try to win games because nobody, you're like, I can't be the worst team, right? I gotta get to number number four at least, so I don't lose the ping pong balls. Uh I'm kind of curious to see how that plays out. We're already seeing teams make moves like that, like Brooklyn going out and getting Julius Randle and then do doing um, you know, roping in other other teams in this trade and all that stuff. That's the kind of move you make when it's like, yeah, we can't be god-awful, right? Like we and I know they don't have their pick, but like we gotta get some talent on this team so we can at least win some games. We can just be regular bad. We can't go into the season trying to be terrible.

SPEAKER_02 40:50

Halfway decent. Uh, how about this Giannis trade? The Giannis saga finally over, heads to South Beach for Hero, Khalelware, Jaime Hawkes, yes, Casper Casparas uh Jucionis, three first rounds.

SPEAKER_03 41:03

Got Jushionas. There you go. I got you.

SPEAKER_02 41:05

Uh one pick swap and a second round. What did you think about the uh the final Giannis?

SPEAKER_03 41:10

Yeah, I thought the Bucks did a pretty good job pitting Miami and Boston against each other. And I think they played that fairly well, and I think Boston was right to walk away when they did. By all accounts, they went to Jalen Brown and two first round picks. And then when it was how about another a third first-round pick, and we want Gonzalez and Sharman, the Celtics are like too rich for our blood, now we're out. And I had said all along, when it was Jalen Brown plus something else, maybe a third thing, okay. But once it became Jalen Brown plus plus plus plus plus, that's too much. Walker away. Jalen Brown's got more value on his own than just those, you know, doing that. And then the heat, they get their guy. Now, again, it's kind of become the theme here today. A lot of work to do with that roster, and not a lot of lot of assets to do it with. Like they're they're they're in desperate need of shooting. Like if you can make a jump shot and you're willing to play for the minimum, Miami's gonna call you, right? Like, yeah, like they need guys who can shoot, they need other guys who can handle the ball, they need guard defenders. It sounds awesome to have Bam and Giannis, but then you look at it like, all right, Bam and Giannis, they're kind of a clunky fit. It's not perfect with those two guys, but it's about gonna now be about the guys around them. And they're trying to move move some other money, do what they can, maybe try to get Norman Powell back if they can to have another backcourt score. But but yeah, definitely work to do. And then the Bucks, not bad, right? I think you're yeah, yeah, I think you got a pretty good return in the players. Um we'll see none none of them are like the that super blue chip asset where it's like there's our next franchise guy, but you got a lot of draft capital. Um, I think they did a nice job at the draft with Braden Burries and Nate Hayman. Um I think they're they're in a pretty good place.

SPEAKER_02 42:51

Yeah, I I was surprised in a way that Miami would give up so much firepower for you know a lot of question marks. Yes, defensively they will be good. And you know, maybe outside of Davion Mitchell, they'll be very switchable and be formidable. And it's a you know spolster-led team, so you know, the floor is typically high. And and maybe this is an apron thing where, as we just said, you know, some guys in the middle class, as as the you play that musical chairs around the league, some guys may have to settle for lower deals, vet minimum deals, and you know, again, with a spolster-led team, you get Giannis there, you get Bam there. Maybe you find some good shooting just on the scrap heap to kind of round out the roster.

SPEAKER_03 43:34

And much like the Knicks can offer a role, can offer a city where guys want to be. Players love Miami. No tax. And you can and you can offer a chance to win. So those are the things. When the money's the same everywhere, you're picking where do I want to be? Am I gonna have a chance to play and can we win? Miami checks checks those boxes too. So so that they they they shouldn't have any problem. They've also done an incredible job developing guys through the G League. League, back end roster guys. Like they just seems like every year they crank out another one or two guys. It's like, man, where do they get these guys from? Like, you know, players who are even basketball fans are like, I I've never even really heard of this guy. They just get these guys built up, get him in their rotation, then they just just go. So yeah, I think they're gonna be just fine.

SPEAKER_02 44:19

What is up with the Jalen Brown situation? Why are the Celtics so adamant about trading the guy? I I'm lost. I can't, I didn't I didn't even I thought the Giannis swap was ridiculous. I thought I thought that was a silly move by the Celtics. Now they're still trying to trade him. What's going on with Boston, man?

SPEAKER_03 44:35

Yeah, I think with Jalen Brown, we've hit the point of you can only put a guy in trade talks so many times before the guy's like, I didn't trade me. And I know when it was a couple years back, three years ago, I think now four, when they were trying to trade for Kevin Durant, when he was still with the Nets. Yeah, yeah. One of the things that was said was, hey, you know, did the players you're being mentioned for are great players. And they they that can be said again. But if I'm Jalen Brown, I'm like, am I not a great player already myself? Like, what are we doing here? And we all know Jalen Brown is a guy who uh any any kind of insult, whether real or perceived, he's gonna take that and use that as his motivation, right? To to do whatever he does. And I I personally think his comments when he said, like, this was my favorite season and all the things he said got a little I I know he said it, so it is what it is. I don't think he meant it that way, and he did try to clarify it later, which he didn't honestly do himself a lot of favors trying to clarify it. But what he was trying to say was like nobody believed in us, right? Everybody thought we were gonna stink, and like we still had a really good season, and we we put together a good good effort, and everybody showed up and played really hard. I don't think he was talking down the you know the the other teams, and of course everybody, because everybody loves the drama, they're like, Oh, he hates Jason Tatum. And it's like, I don't think that's the case when you know when we have really great evidence Jason Tatum leaves his kid with Jalen Brown to babysit him sometimes. So I'm pretty sure they're okay. I just think with Jalen Brown, it is he did get to have his own team. His own team was really good around him. Teams tried to trade him, and I think he's probably just like, hey, it's time, time to, you know, if it's the right deal, let's go. Like, let's move on. And with Giannis, I think for the Celtics, I don't know if you saw, but Brad Stevens and his end-the-season presser was like, we can't come back playing the same way. We can't just, you know, we gotta put more pressure on the rim, we've got to get more layup stunks and free throws. Well, nobody in the league does that better than Giannis. So that's why they were chasing there. So now I think what's gonna happen is all right, they didn't get Giannis. So now it pivots to whatever the next thing is. But I will say this Celtic Sarga is just gonna give Jalen Brown away. I don't think it's gotten to the point where Jalen Brown's like, get me out of town. If I'm still here in September, it'll be a problem when camp opens. I think it's just, hey, let's try to find something that works. And for Boston, the challenges, they're threatening a really tricky needle because they want to be really good because you still have Jason Tatum, you still have Derek White, you still have some of these other guys, you're still trying to compete. And other teams that are generally making a trade like that, it's like the honest trade where it's here's all of our kids and our draft picks, and yeah, you maybe it won't be as good, but it is what it is. So that's that's what they're trying to do, right? Is find that right trade where it is, all right, it's gonna be one of those win-win, because we're both trying to win now style trades, and those are hard to find in the NBA. But Boston's front office does a pretty good job with this stuff. So I think I they didn't go into the summer with well as Giannis and now what? Yeah, they went into the summer with Giannis and now, all right, now we're on to plan B, and if that doesn't work, it's C D all the way through the end of the alpha.

SPEAKER_02 47:36

Yeah. Do you think it's the Hawks? What's he got to tell you? Hawks?

SPEAKER_03 47:39

Yeah, maybe. I I think Portland's been sniffing around a little, and they've got some interesting guys that could help Boston. Uh New Orleans has been mentioned. I I know there's a lot of Celtics fans that are like, all right, if he's got to go, if we could get Trey Murphy back, maybe there's been this idea of a maybe Jalen Duran signing trade for Jalen Brown. There'd have to be another player in that, and that might interest Boston. So yeah, I think there's gonna be a pretty good market for him as long as the Celtics don't shut it all down to like, all right, we have to have win now players. If they're a little more, all right, we're gonna get some of these guys and we'll figure it out and we'll pivot a little. Maybe the I think there's a good chance this could end up like a multi-team trade as well. Um, but yeah, I'm I'm very curious. Charlotte was throwing out there too now. Like Charlotte's got, you know, could they jump in with the flexibility they created, which certainly could be a thing as well.

SPEAKER_02 48:29

Where do you think John Morant goes? Who wants Sean Morant around the league?

SPEAKER_03 48:33

We me and you are gonna be hanging out at Summer League having that same conversation.

SPEAKER_04 48:38

Right.

SPEAKER_03 48:38

You just can't find teams. It's is you you gotta find a team that needs a point guard and a team that's like ready, like basically, like we're kind of down to this is what we can do. Well, Miami's off the board now because they can't afford them anymore after getting Giannis. Minnesota's off the board because they went with LaMella Ball. So I ain't kind of looking around like maybe Toronto, like that could be be a place where where you see, but I I don't know. It's that we are I say this all the time, but a guy like Joe like John Morant, it's been on the trade market since since Christmas. So we're six months later, and we're still talking about yo, where could John Morant get traded? So if we're we're gonna have this conversation this deep, that tells me a market has not really developed for him the way the grizzlies hoped it would.

SPEAKER_02 49:22

Yeah, I I I can't really see it, man.

SPEAKER_03 49:24

That one might be sorry to interrupt you, but that one might be one where John Morant and the Grizzlies look at each other and say, hey, we'll keep trying, but what's best for us now is come back with a good attitude with this young team. You just play hard, be be yourself, you know, do your thing, and and we'll keep working. Because what can happen is you can't be like, hey, just stay home again. Because if I'm John Morant, I'm like, I just spent six months standing.

SPEAKER_02 49:49

Yeah.

SPEAKER_03 49:49

Like I gotta play because otherwise, then no one's gonna ever want me if they don't see me play. So I think that one might be one where it's like, hey, we'll keep working on it, but just come in with a good attitude, ready to work, and then we'll try to take care of you if it works and rebuild his value, and then the market will maybe develop for him.

SPEAKER_02 50:05

We've had the draft already. We got free agency coming up on Wednesday. What are you thinking? It's is there another blockbuster out there you're thinking about? Is there is there players switching teams via free agency you're thinking about? I mean, LeBron, you know, he always got the LeBron stuff, but uh yeah, what do you think, man? July 1st, what are you thinking?

SPEAKER_03 50:24

Yeah, you know, LeBron I kind of put almost in his own thing because I I very much believe LeBron's gonna tell whatever team he wants to play for, he wants to play for them, and then they're gonna figure out how to make it happen. Like that's just you know, being at least, you know, within reason with that. So I think that's that's how that'll play out. Uh, free agents changing team, the best free agent that might change teams might be Norwin Powell or John Collins. Like that, those guys are good players, don't get me wrong. Just this is not a good free agent class. All the best free agents have already either agreed to stay with their teams, or everybody expects they're just gonna go, or they're restricted guys where it's hard to get movement um with those guys. So it's gonna be trades, like it's gonna continue to be trades. And I do think I'm kind of hoping this weekend gives us a minute, minute to breathe. It's my wife's birthday this week, and like her whole birthday was ruined by the draft, so it's like we gotta, I I need I just need like four hours tomorrow where like we can just all be quiet so I can get, you know, I'll help her have a happy birthday. Like I told you, otherwise I'm moving in with you here pretty quick. We'll do live shows together. Um, but it's like it's I really feel like um we're in a place where there's gonna be big trades that come, whether it's now or in a in you know, four more days when free agency opens, because we've got all these guys out there, right? You got Jalen Brown, you got Kawhi Leonard, we got all this stuff. And here's the thing is you talk to teams around the league, they all respect the Knicks, they all respect the Thunder, they all respect the Spurs, they respect the Celtics from a couple years ago, but the league's wide open. We've had eight champs in the last eight years. Everybody knows, you know, hey, if it's you know, Tyrese Albert didn't get hurt, the Thunder might not even have a championship yet. So really it is why not us, right? There's a bunch of teams looking and saying, why can't we be next? Right. And and that's you know, it's funny. I I said this when I when I wrote about the Knicks. It's great, you have the parade, you do all your stuff, but now you're the defending champs, right? Now everybody's coming from now you're the hunter. That's it. Yeah, it's a little, little, a little bit of a different world with a little bit of a different pressure on it. And it's hard for those teams. Like, wouldn't surprise me if the Knicks do they start out a little slow next year because I always tell people this you don't climb Mount Everest, you don't come back down and be like, you know what, let's go right back up, right? Like, like let's do it. You gotta gear back up, you gotta get yourself ready to go. I I think the Knicks have a great chance to repeat, as long as they don't bleed too much talent out of the roster, but the league's wide open, so I think we're still gonna see a lot of big moves coming.

SPEAKER_02 52:51

Yeah, well, likewise, man. Uh, what do you got on deck between now and then? Spot track. You have the front office show. We got summer league coming up in a couple weeks. Uh, what's on tap for you?

SPEAKER_03 53:01

Yeah, summer league schedule came out today, so now you can start planning everything with that. Yeah, over on Spot Track, right now we're in reaction mode, right? We did all of our previews going in. The cool thing is, like, because Knicks fans are like, You haven't read the Knicks preview? And I'm like, Yeah, you get the benefit of being last if you go in order of elimination. You're the champs, man. You're you're the last ones to go. But it is uh, so so if anybody's like, well, what have my teams done? Some of them are out of date now, right? Because some of these teams made monster moves, but but you can go check those out. But now it's all reaction mode to whatever's going on around the league. We'll do that. And then front office show, we're breaking everything down. Uh, I always say if big trade goes down, as soon as Trevor Lane and I can get in front of microphones, we're gonna go live and start breaking it down for people and getting in all that stuff. And then I'm super active, obviously, on Twitter. Uh, anytime there's a new contract signing, just kind of going over, hey, this is what it looks like. These were probably the mechanics, and it'll be that way. One of my favorite quotes I ever got was um that Bobby Marks and I on um on uh were like the two guys on election night that are like, here's how the states break down. Like these two guys are on Twitter all night breaking down, like here's who's got what's left. And I'm gonna shout out our guy Yossi as well. Yeah, yeah, yeah. We'll get our third, third uh musketeer in there with us. And it's funny because people were like, people are like, oh man, you you must hate when one of those guys gets to it first. I'm like, we we we spend uh you know two weeks together in the summer teaching sports business classroom and do a bunch of stuff together. Like, no, we we support each other, we're we're we champion each other's work. It's it's great to have those guys out there and we push each other to be better uh with what we do with all the cap and roster stuff. So it's a lot of fun.

SPEAKER_02 54:38

Well, well said, man. Well, I'll see you in Vegas in a couple of weeks. Uh, thanks again for the time, man. Talk me off the ledge and calm me down a little bit. Uh, like I said, man, I I I just woke up a little bit agitated, man. I I just we had to make sense of this apron situation. This little civil war going on with the Knicks. We got to figure out the road to the repeat, man. But, you know, it's all about the stuff.

SPEAKER_03 54:59

Pull up, pull up highlights of that comeback. You'll be fine in a couple minutes. You'll be alright.

SPEAKER_02 55:04

That's what I'll do this weekend, man. Uh, Keith, thanks again. And uh we'll catch up soon, man.

SPEAKER_03 55:10

Thanks for having me. I appreciate it.

SPEAKER_02 55:12

All right. That was our guy, Keith Smith, ladies and gentlemen. Make sure you are following him at Keith Smith NBA. Listen, man, like I said, number one show for the fans by the fans. We don't waste your time here on this Friday evening. Shout out to everybody in the chat. Salute to the replay gang. Salute to our loyal franchise channel members. We gotta get this thing figured out. Are we coming back as a unit, as a family? The Block Nest monsters out there. We can't lose Mitchie, man. Can't lose him. Can't believe it. You know, we've we've we've reached a crossroads here, ladies and gentlemen. The champs, everybody can't come along for the ride. You know, I've gotta start uh understanding that myself. As a person who came out with the line. Mitchie could be up out of here. So yeah, that's uh that's just how it's going down right now, ladies and gentlemen. So we just gotta wait and see. Trust Leon, right? And Leon we trust. I know all of that. Yep. Oh, trust Leon. So that's just it, man. If we can't trust Leon, who can we trust? So shout out to those guys, man. This is gonna be his biggest challenge. Without question. Leon's biggest challenge. But yeah, I don't know. I'm prepared, I'm prepared to uh to see him out of here. I'm prepared to lose Mitchie, honestly. And it's just a cost of doing business, you know. He's earned himself a raise. If there's a team out there that believes in him to overpay and all of that, then they're gonna do just that. Here he was at his, you know, he went back home to uh to Louisiana, or Zacalmint, I believe, and uh and and and had a welcome home, you know, celebration for him. And here he was talking about whether he was gonna return to the Knicks. Here we go.

SPEAKER_01 57:22

Player, do you hope to be back with the Knicks? Do you hope that something works out to be able to kind of uh maybe build something, a dynasty in New York? Uh we can see what happens.

SPEAKER_00 57:30

Um it will be great to you know try to do it to run him back again. Um, you know, try to go back to back and stuff like that, you know, defending chills. So we're you know, that was that's very a possibility.

SPEAKER_02 57:44

He's not coming back. He's not coming back. I don't I don't know if you guys are able to catch that uh Sabai for some reason was coming out one side of the uh of the headsets there. Sounds like he's not coming back, man. He answered it like a politician. He's like, uh dancing all over that gym. Is that Mitchie coming back? Uh no. Look at it. Eyes went this way, went that way. Babe was spinning doing 360s. So yeah, just, you know, kind of just preparing for the worst type of situation, you know. But if that's the case, we we thank Mitchie for his services, man. He gave us everything. Gave us everything. New York crit, got us the chip, got Wemby up out of there, and got the final offensive rebound and put the game away. So y'all want to tell me you didn't have a great finals. That was all we needed to seal the deal. And then we just gotta figure out who the hell's replacing him. Just gotta figure out who else is replacing him, man. Yeah, Omega, he had the canned answer. He couldn't remember it right. He practiced that one with his team. He practiced that one with his agent. And he couldn't remember all the lines. I couldn't remember all the lines.

SPEAKER_01 59:33

If something works out to be able to kind of uh maybe build something, uh a dynasty in New York? Uh we can see what happens.

SPEAKER_00 59:39

Um it would be great to you know, try to do it to run it back again. Um you know, try to go back and back and stuff like that, you know, defending chills. That was that's very a possibility.

SPEAKER_02 59:58

He said that's very uh a possibility. Oh man. Right before that interview, him and his team sat down and said, if they ask you about the Knicks, say this. Oh man. You know, you gotta laugh from crying. It's all good, man. Hang in there. We got a thousand people on the check-in. Like, share, subscribe. Number one show for the fans, by the fans. As Keith said, just go watch some highlights from that run. Talk us off the ledge. To dull the pain. You know? Have faith. Shell says have faith. Have faith. I do, you know, I always got faith in my team. You know? As I say, take the diapers off. We'll be alright. Regardless. It was just hard, man. You know, you know, Mitch, Mitch has been a friend of the program. Nine years, nine years. We go, we we grew up with Michie, man. You know, we grew up with Michie. It was just hard. You're covering the team for nine years, 82 games, plus playoffs, sometimes. He's part of that. Summer League. Right? We've been following Mitchie's career since summer league. So there it is, man. But great show. Everybody. Let me get my outro music on, get up out of here. Get my life together, get my act together, man. You know, the vibes were just so good. But we we we we you know, we we just gotta come together, man. And figure this thing out. You know what I'm saying, Davel Rodriguez. We gotta figure this thing out, man. Yeah, Mitch, Mitch is a friend of the program. Love the shirts. You know, the whole family, friend of the program. Shout out, Grandpa Robinson. Mitch Sr. Shout out to the family, man. So, that's that. Uh, tap in, man. Number one show for the fans, spider fans. Remember that these shows are available in audio podcast format. We had a great week of content, great week of shows. Ian Pegley was here, Bobby Marks was here, uh, we had Jesse Itzler was here, giving us some motivation, some business tips, some life tips, life lessons. So make sure you tap in, man. We had a great week. Number one show for the fans, by the fans. Also, the uh Vegas meetup. You know, you heard me and Keith Smith talk about Vegas Summer League. Yes, we will be there, and uh it is official, official tissue. July 7th, uh July 11th, Saturday, July 11th, the Vegas meetup, man, Las Vegas, 7 p.m. 24 Oxford at the Virgin Hotel, TV the franchise, left coast Knicks, a guys to Knicks film school, CK2K, you name the Knicks chick, Alex, you name it, man. The whole family's getting back together. 24 Oxford is the venue inside the Virgin Hotel in Las Vegas on Saturday, July 11th. So meet us there. As you guys know, man, with every every KFTV meetup, it's always a good time. Family friendly, all ages are welcome. And we will have further announcements as we get closer. Special guests, we're gonna do the live podcast, we're gonna have a DJ spinning on the wants and twos, we're gonna do giveaways, the whole nine yards, alright? So make sure you uh you tap in with us. Okay. Alright, man. So we'll see you guys there. Number one show for the fans by the fans. Make sure you guys are subscribing on the NBA report as well. And we'll see you guys next time. Hey.