Trey Young's Contract Standoff: Atlanta's Moment of Truth

Summary:

The Central Division has become the NBA's pressure cooker, where franchise-altering decisions and bold strategies are reshaping the league's landscape. 

At the heart of this episode is Trey Young's contract standoff with Atlanta. Despite building the perfect defensive team around their star guard—adding length, versatility, and rim protection with pieces like Dyson Daniels and Zachary Edey—the Hawks' new front office hasn't approached Young about his $229 million extension. With free agency looming, this season represents a crucial "prove it" moment for both Young and the franchise.

Boston's financial wizardry takes center stage as Brad Stevens continues his masterful cap management. By trading George Niang and two second-rounders to Utah for rookie RJ Lewis Jr., the Celtics saved a staggering $34 million in luxury tax. With Jason Tatum sidelined for the season, the future hinges on Anthony Simons' offensive firepower and Jalen Brown's leadership.

Milwaukee's unprecedented commitment to keeping Giannis happy can't be overstated. By stretching Damian Lillard's contract—creating $22.5 million in dead cap space annually until 2030—they've made a dramatic all-in move. The addition of Miles Turner and a completely revamped roster demonstrates their desperation to prevent Giannis from being lured away by the circling Knicks, Rockets, or Thunder.

Cleveland faces its own challenges with Darius Garland's extended absence, while Detroit builds around Cade Cunningham and Indiana adjusts to life without Tyrese Halliburton. Each team navigates the delicate balance between present competitiveness and future flexibility in a division where every decision carries franchise-altering implications.

This deep dive into the Central Division reveals how team construction, financial strategy, and star player dynamics are creating a perfect storm of basketball intrigue that will shape the Eastern Conference for years to come.

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Transcript

Speaker 1 0:13

it's friday, you know what time it is. Frontrunner podcast collective is back on the air. I am your humble host, vince, and on today's pod we will be focusing on the central division. There's a lot of questions to be answered with inside that division and there are a lot of mysteries that need to be solved, just like Scooby-Doo and if you're too young to understand what that is, go on YouTube, hit Scooby-D and you'll know exactly what I'm talking about. But we will be talking breaking down the entire Central Division observation midsummer, all that type of stuff Going to be doing that.

Speaker 1 0:57

We will also talk about the goings on in the ATL with Trey Young and the Atlanta Hawks. He does not have a max extension yet. Trey Young is kind of perturbed by that situation and we'll get into it and what it all means. Boston is doing exactly what Boston said they were going to do. They're going to pare down payroll and, baby, they continue to pare it down and we will get into that as well.

Speaker 1 1:37

Two things before we get going. One, the tremendous response to the podcast continues. I would like to thank everyone who is digging the podcast, who is listening and downloading the podcast. Thank you so much. We appreciate all of you. The second thing is and I say this with some humility and also say this with um a sense of pride we work hard to obtain information and put it in the podcast for you. Uh, we do not have the stroke or, if you want to call it, like the influence that a lot of our competitors would have. You know, I do not have any affiliation with Fox or ESPN or whatever the case may be. So when we bring you information, it's because we tirelessly work to get it and we're going to talk about something in the atlanta situation in a second but it goes to the people who trust us, who know that we will not just give out their you know our sources. We, you know we keep them under lock and also reading, reading tea leaves, putting two and two together, that sort of thing. So sometimes it's just kind of educated guests, but there's a lot of hours that go into it, a lot of man hours that go into it. I'd like to thank everybody on my staff that uh holds it down with me. Uh, not only my producer, but uh, her second in charge, which is maya. Uh, we have a other couple people that have to right now remain nameless because their affiliations with, uh, certain organizations and things of that nature. So, um, we are just thrilled that we can do it for you. And that brings us to all eyes on trey the hawks, and there are no excuses here that they're about to go into. So let's get it crack-a-lacking. It's a feel-good friday. Let's get to the pod. And hey, if you're new here, go hit the archive pods. And there's a reason for that.

Speaker 1 4:08

A couple weeks ago we broke down the Southeast Midsummer Observations podcast. She pops in early. Soraya says we have receipts. Are here, folks? We're early on the Joel, joel mb, chronic knee pain and watch. We definitely called out the trey young pseudo last stand, or, as I like to call it, the prove it season. So if you want real time takes, not just hindsight, go listen. We do our homework and we're not afraid to remind you of it. She's spicy today, uh, you know. So ray is coming in hot. But uh, she's right on one thing go go to the archive pods. We've been talking about the joel and b thing for two years now. You know um to to us this is not new. And when it comes to Trey Young, we're about to get into this situation and you're going to be like oh, if you are a day one, you're going to know exactly what we're talking about. For our new listeners, go back to the archive pods, listen and you will know exactly what we're talking about right now. So if you did miss that episode, go back right Now. Now the hook heads out there who've been with us since day one, y'all know what we're about to talk about.

Speaker 1 5:35

Atlanta has done some wholesale changes with inside their lineup, with inside their front office, was inside their front office. All of this changed this season. Were are where excuses die. New legends are born and it might be a new beef between star and franchise. Let's talk about big picture with trey young.

Speaker 1 5:59

Right now he's a four-time all-star. He he's an all-NBA guy. He's led the league in assists last year and he is only in his mid-20s. He's the Hawks' engine, heart and, yeah, sometimes the villain. I mean really paid. But a month after he became eligible there's been no extension talks whatsoever. It is. It is mom's alert in the ATL no paper, no press conference, just cryptic tweets in solidarity. Solidarity with Michael Parsons. Michael Parsons with the Dallas cowboys is going through it. My man is one of the most feared defenders in the nfl and can't get a contract extension from jerry jones.

Speaker 1 6:54

Jerry and I wonder, have things? Has the move changed in atlanta? Because I will say, not more than two years ago we talked about how close Trey Young was with the owner's kid and how he was locked in in the ATL. Now it's time to give him his bread, his max extension, and the front office of Atlanta is nowhere to be seen. They are not talking about hey, let's bring you in, let's start negotiating this extension. I think both. At this point, the front office is more than comfortable waiting to see and you're wondering like why would they be wanting to wait to see? Has he not delivered on what has been promised? Is he not an all-star? Is he not the guy who drives the tickets? And whatever the case may be, you're all right when you say all of those things, but when you see Nikhil Alexander Walker walk in the door, when you see Luke Kennard walk in the door, let's be real, atlanta.

Speaker 1 8:10

They've been stuck in NBA purgatory for years. You are like the cool team that we like to watch on League Pass, but we never took you seriously, not as a real power in the East. Even when you made that run to the Eastern Conference Finals. We didn't take you seriously. Good offense, ugly defense, endless playing, purgatory Four straight years. One playoff series won in 2021.

Speaker 1 8:42

And this is Trey's fault, or just wrong pieces around him. Because here's the thing Trey Young is about six feet tall. He's about a buck, 80 at best defensively. He's always going to be a liability. That's not going to ever be a question. The question was when Quinn Snyder got there, when he became the head coach we talked about. Can Trey play off ball? Can Trey get away from the 22 seconds of pounding the rock into the hardwood and then throwing up some kind of late shot clock situation or passing a grenade off to a prospective player? Or what? Have you Standing in a corner who's just been sitting there for 22 seconds cold?

Speaker 1 9:30

We knew when Quinn Snyder took over that he was going to shake things up. Then we had the cavalcade of new executives come in. They made some changes. They rebuilt a round trade, adding size, shooting, shooting and defense. You got Dyson Daniels. Last year he was an absolute revelation for the Atlanta Hawks, most improved in nearly a defensive player of the year. Anchoring that D thenalen Johnson.

Speaker 1 10:03

Jalen Johnson was a guy where he came out of Duke. We were really skeptical on what he was or who he was. It was more on who he was than what he could be, because the talent was undeniable, it was where he was going to go and would he be able to fall into a system? Because he definitely did not do that at Duke. But he is had a breakout season. He had a shoulder injury that stymied the rest of his uh 2024-2025. But there's no doubt in who Jalen Johnson is and what he could produce on the NBA level now. And then you get rewarded with the number one overall pick in the 2024 draft, zachary Risa Shea, who has legit size at six foot eight, six foot nine, still growing, a ton of versatility, really seems to be a really good defender and the shot is coming around.

Speaker 1 11:12

If you're in the, if you're building the ideal trade young team, this is it finally. You got a bunch of length, you got active bigs, you got got people who are going to cause havoc on the defensive end and cause deflections and things of that nature, and you can hide Trey Young. It only took about five or six years, but we finally got the team around Trey, so it's a new era. Let's look at the numbers. Last year the Hawks were a top tier shot quality team according to nbacom says the best in the league but they finished 17th in effective field goal percentage. Translation trey set the table but the guys didn't always eat.

Speaker 1 12:01

Wonder why? Here's the human side. You're trey young. You've been the face of this team since you got here from oklahoma, shouldering criticism for your defense, the hero ball that I have well documented and the team's underachievement. Also, you were pretty much responsible for what how many coaches getting fired up? Until quinn snyder got there. You lead, you recruit, you show up to summer league, but now, a year before you can walk, the front office goes silent.

Speaker 1 12:38

Now, remember this is a new front office. This is even a new front office. From what? Landry Fields? Because Landry Fields is gone too, so they've got a whole new team in there, so there's nobody on in the front office right now. That was a part of the front office when Trey first got there, so that's a big piece of information that you need to hold on to right now.

Speaker 1 13:06

Pressure is a privilege, but it's also a powder keg. You can see it in Trey's body language, those sideline looks and his feeling of being underappreciated. Some of the quotes, some of the tweets, some of the social media posts have been put out. You know what could this lead to? As we get closer and closer to the season, contract time is chess, not checkers, and maybe the Hawks want to see results with the new squad. Maybe they want to see Trey adhere to the Quinn Snyder way of doing things. Now, the team they build around Trey, let's talk about it.

Speaker 1 13:52

Christoph Porzingis is coming in from the Boston Celtics. This was a part of the teardown that we will get to momentarily with the Celtics Brad Stevens doing his thing up in Boston. You got Christoph Porzingis. Finally. Trey has a true stretch, big to work with. So pick and pop, they went out and got probably one of the best point of attack defenders out there Nikhil Alexander-Walker. Luke Kennard is another floor spacer, then jalen johnson, coming back to health, that's your two-way threat. Also. That's your guy who is kind of like second in opportunity. So he's the guy who's probably going to get anywhere between 8 to 22 shots a game, which is important because he's very efficient with it. He can shoot the long and also he has enough sauce to his game when he can get into the mid range or go straight into the paint and probably embarrass you, he'll dunk on you and it will be on SportsCenter for sure.

Speaker 1 15:00

This core, young, long, switchable and for the first time, the Hawks have more than just Trey and vibes. Atlanta's bench mob is built to run, defend and finally maybe cover Trey's weaknesses. Keep in mind the East is open. The Celtics are up against it because of jason tatum. The bucks are going through whatever you want to call it, we'll get to them a little bit later. The pacers are reeling because there's no tyrese. Halliburton going through the same thing that jason tatum was going through with the achilles, and atlanta could sneak into a home court advantage territory.

Speaker 1 15:47

If all of these pieces that the front office has picked up works, I am bullish on the Atlanta Hawks this year, and they've given us plenty of reason why. Anytime that you can get somebody to pair with a aneka akongu and christoph porzingis, who's seven foot four, who can do the picking pop, be a weak side rim protector, as akongu handles the middle of the paint, and then he's switchable out onto some of your big wings and even some of your smaller wings, it's pretty spicy as far as the defense is concerned. And then you bring in Jalen Johnson, who is no slouch on defense. We already know what Dyson Daniels can do and the team is full and we haven't even got to the bench yet. Would you extend Trey Young for four years? $229 million?

Speaker 1 16:48

Now here's the thing. De'aaron Fox got that money in San Antonio. Trey is looking at De'Aaron Fox and going hey man, I'm sorry but I'm definitely more talented than that dude, so I'm looking for that same type of money. But the thing that we've always talked about with trey young is the same thing. We're going to talk about it now. You don't have the excuse anymore to sit there and take a 37 foot three point shots logo shots just because you feel like it.

Speaker 1 17:23

Your, your shot selection diet has always been core and now it needs to mature. It needs to find a honed sense of commitment towards the team, commitment towards your teammates and uplifting this franchise to the heights that it hasn't seen since dominique wilkins. Or if you want to go back not that far back, right, you want to go back to the josh smith era, right, who else was in that era? That was um. Who was my guy that was on that team. Oh, that was like the Kyle Korver piece. You know, atlanta was popping. They were never gonna win anything, but they were always getting to the playoffs.

Speaker 1 18:13

Now here's the thing that Atlanta is playing. They're playing a very dangerous game. If you're not willing to give him the four-year 229 million, you need to work with him right. You need to have dialogue, or you can just bet on your own vision and risk losing your star for nothing, because here's the thing he can walk. At the end of this year he has the player option and if you're trey, do you give them a discount when deer and fox is sitting over here getting fully paid? Why? No, I'm not doing that, absolutely not. So is it Trey who needs to adhere to the principle of Quinn Snyder's offense, or is it Trey? I'm gonna put up a hell of a year and then I'm gonna bounce. That is what is on the table for Atlanta now.

Speaker 1 19:08

There's so many things to talk about. When we talk about Atlanta, we talked about Dykes and Daniels, but he's a defensive freak. The development curve that he has, uh, gone on is insane, and Atlanta got this guy for Dejounte Murray, who was definitely not going to work with Trey Young. If Daniels keeps this up, he can ship Atlanta's culture from running gun to run a gun and lock up. Jalen Johnson is the consummate glue guy with star upside. Needs to stay healthy, though, but I believe in the flashes. I believe that the flashes are real and I'm going to go ahead and certify those right now.

Speaker 1 20:01

I actually like Zachary Richerche. I know a lot of people are down on him. I think you're down on him because he was the number one overall pick in the 2024 draft, and usually when you're talking about the number one overall pick, you're talking about somebody you expect to be. Hey, a difference maker at the worst. At the very worst, you're thinking the number one overall pick is going to be like your second dude. I think. At the time of the draft, we told you don't think of your number one overall pick as such. Think of him as the 12th overall pick. Well, you get a rotation guy. If you get a guy who can break into your starting lineup at some point in time from the 12 overall pick, oh, you're very excited, and I think people looked at that number one overall pick.

Speaker 1 20:57

Um, it's something that my wife and I have talked about several times. If you take the title away from somebody let's say mom, dad, sister, brother, husband, wife and you just look at the individual, see how they talk to you, see how they treat you, and then you would then superimpose that onto person a, person b, whatever the case may be right. Would you let that person talk to you that way? Would you let that person treat you that way? The only reason you would let somebody treat you in kind of a foul manner and you would let them get away with it is because they have the title of parent, brother, sister, wife, husband, grandparent, boss, sometimes now not even boss, because y'all woke now y'all don't even let your boss talk to you. Crazy.

Speaker 1 21:57

But Zachary Richet is that person where, if you take the number one overall, pick away from him and say, okay, he's a first of all dude's, not even 20 yet he's 6'8", 6'9" with a crazy long wingspan. I think he has a 7'2 wingspan, pretty physical, has a little little sauce off the dribble, can knock down the three pretty on a good rate. I think he's going to improve that this year. If you look at all those type of situations, you can't be mad at that Because he's additive. He's additive to your cost and I think if you look at him that way, he's not the disappointment that people want to have for him.

Boston Celtics Shedding Salary

Speaker 1 22:51

Now, atlanta fans, where are you on this? Is this the year? Does Trey finally get the offense in a sense where he's doing all the things he's supposed to do? In a sense where he's doing all the things he's supposed to do, I do think he has the support that he deserves that he has not had the whole time he's been there. Will his contract be a stalemate and hang over the whole squad for the whole season? We want to hear from you. Hit up serea at rehea, underscore, funch, frpc. We need no excuses, thoughts, observations on the Trey Young manner. Is Trey the answer or is it just the beginning of the Hawks pivoting? Y'all sound off in the comments. Y'all can also hit me up at FrontRunnerPC. That would be very helpful because we're going to show you how this works a little bit later in the podcast.

Speaker 1 23:51

Now we need to get to boston, and the reason why we need to get there is because our guy, brad stevens, is out here doing it real big. So, hoop Heads, today we go into the inner workings of the Boston Celtics. They made another move and you go. Well, it wasn't a big name? Ah, yes, it wasn't. But keep in mind, with Jason Tatum out for the whole entire season. Boston's front office is shedding salary faster than a barber with clippers. But the big question is are they built to make the playoffs or are they just retooling? And are they? Could they quietly, quietly kind of bebop their way into lottery? All will be broken down, all will be foretold as the season opens up and then progresses, because I think it does hinge on one guy and one guy only, and we'll get to that momentarily.

Speaker 1 25:04

Soraya says again y'all love receipts. We warned you last month when teams hit the second acorn, watch out for creative math and chess moves and not just highlight trades. The Celtics are showing you how it's done. She is right One hundred percent Because they pared down more salaries. So let's get to it. Boston Ships. George Niang never played a minute for the Seas, plus two second rounders to the Utah Jazz for rookie RJ Lewis. Jr Niang returns to his old haunt, which is Utah Salt, salt Lake City. He loves it there. Boston gets cap relief about $8 million worth. And why does that matter? The NBA second apron is for real folks, and the rich get penalized and the rest get creative. Boston is now $7.8 million under the second apron and with that one move they saved 34 million in luxury tax.

Speaker 1 26:13

I know the math doesn't kind of add up for you guys, but understand this. It's just like interest on your credit card, right? If you don't pay off your credit card right away, you have apr. Now, if you have a great credit score, your apr is very low. Now if you're a kid that is going to college just trying to make his way in the world, your apr is through the roof. So you're gonna see like 23. You're gonna see things like 26.5, things of that nature. That's why your boy vince, because he's so damn old. If he can't pay with cash, he can't pay it at all. Baby, we ain't trying to have a bunch of credit cards up in here. No, no, not gonna happen. So they shook our guy neang out to utah cat reasons, cat reasons only. And they bring in rj lewis now. Rj lewis, you'll go. Well, why does that name sound familiar to me? Well, you watch any of the march madness.

Speaker 1 27:15

If you were captured by the rapture of the college kids getting it done in the one and done setting in March, you might have saw RJ Lewis put up big time points for St John's University. That's right, he was out there doing it big for Rick Patino. Tricky Rick was back. He was back in the Big East and he brought along his Big East. And he brought along his Big East player of the year who averaged 18 points, 7 rebounds For the St John squad that won 30. 31 games last year. Now he went undrafted but balled out in the NCAA tournament, signed a two way contract With the Utah Jazz and I know that kid was sitting there going culture shock.

Speaker 1 28:04

First of all, you're telling me I played in Madison Square Garden last year and now I'm playing in Salt Lake City where, like the strongest thing they got to drink is a Dr Pepper. Oh hell, no, this ain't gonna work for you boy. Now he's in Boston. Now he's in Boston, y'all treat in Boston. Y'all treat him right. Okay, y'all treat RJ Lewis Jr right. Now. I don't know if he's going to crack any rotation or anything like that. If he does, he's found money. What this is all about Is two things One, with Luke Cornette gone, with Christ christoph parzingas we just told you he's in atlanta and al horford is on his way to golden state once they figure out the jonathan kamiga thing, and we'll get to that too. There's more on that shit.

Speaker 1 29:02

They did bring in Chris Boucher of the Toronto Raptors and you go. Well, that's not. That's not Christoph Karzingis, but what it is is that he has had seven seasons with Toronto. He signs a one-year, 3.3 million dollar guarantee contract. Now why is he important to the Boston Celtics? This dude is the all-time leader in every bench category that matters points, rebounds and blocked shots. He was also on the 2019 championship team of the Raptors.

Speaker 1 29:44

Y'all remember Jurassic Park. Y'all remember how crazy it was out there. Boucher's no, boucher's numbers won't blow you away, but his impact is real his energy, the rim protection and zero ego. Think of him as the ultimate break glass in case of emergency. And guess what? Brad Stevens broke that glass. He was like wait, we don't have a center. Well, we gotta go out and get one. Chris Goucher, he may not start, but he'll give Boston's second unit a burst of length and hustle. And here's the deal you're.

Speaker 1 30:23

All this is about is payroll shedding. That's what this is about. It's not about anything else. So why all the pinning pitching? Simple, the NBA's new CVA slaps massive penalties on teams over the second apron. That's where Boston was right when they had Drew Holiday.

Speaker 1 30:45

So Boston already felt the pain. They moved on from Drew Holiday, right, they also lost, you know, christoph Porzingis. They lost Al Harford and now Niang, who didn't play a game for them, but a six foot nine veteran forward who knows how to position himself, get a lot of charges and things of that nature. He can be very useful to you. But that 8.8 million dollar salary or actually 8.2 million dollar salary, that was just a little too rich for their blood. And by shedding that ducking competition, ducking all that, they saved 34 million in luxury tax dollars. That's very important and it puts them just over, just over the first apron. So could the celtics actually get underneath the first apron as well? I'll tell you how they do that in one second.

Speaker 1 31:47

Brad stevens is banking on youth values deals and what they're doing is giving jason tatum the time to heal now. Fear, fear not. Jalen Brown is still on this team. Okay, we still got Jalen Brown, and Jalen Brown has been a consummate number two for a long period of time. He was 1B to Jason Tatum's 1A to keep this ship steady. To keep this ship steady, but with less depth, and one bad angle twist could mean the difference between basically getting into the playoffs or, hmm, you know what this means lottery. Why is this important? Because I told you there was a reason why we need to get here.

Speaker 1 32:39

The season hinges on one Anthony Simons, and you go well, vince. Anthony Simons don't play a lick of defense. You are 100% correct, he does not play one lick of defense. But you know what he does do he shoots the shit out of the basketball. This dude is a sniper of the highest order. And you're telling me, with jalen brown, who can get into the paint, and all the rest of the boys out there, and you still got derrick white, who's one of the most steadiest hands in all of the NBA, one of the best defensive guards I've seen in a long period of time, you don't think Anthony Simons can find his way to, especially how Joe Mazzulla, who just got a contract extension Congratulations to Joe Mazzulla getting his coin. They love to shoot the three. Remember the mandate that Boston put out there last year If we don't shoot 44 threes a game, y'all all in trouble. Okay, like Joe will make you watch the Departed on a loop. Okay, like he is not playing about that movie. He loves that movie. I don't know why, but he does love that movie and he would have made all of the Celtics players watch that movie on a loop. So if you don't like Jack Nicholson, guess what You're going to get a lot of Jack Nicholson, a lot of jack nicholson.

Speaker 1 34:17

Brad stevens has gone from second apron to just above the first apron and, with one more move, can get himself underneath that first apron as well. The flexibility that he's given the bostonics over a two month period has been exemplary. This is why he's one of the better front office guys in the league. We give a lot of love to Sam Presti. We give a lot of love to John Wetzel, our guy in Orlando. I give a lot of hell to Rob Palenka in LA, but Brad Stevens is slowly but surely, without a lot of fanfare, becoming one of the better talent evaluators, one of the better front office decision makers that we have seen. Over a period of time, though, the way that he's been able to pivot on a dime and this is not his first time to do it remember, drew, how they got drew holiday.

Speaker 1 35:34

Brad stevens is is looking like an absolute wizard when it comes to this front office situation, and I don't know what they're paying him. But whatever they're paying him is not enough. It is not enough that dude has done sorcery in a two-month period. He's like oh, we don't have Jason Tatum. Cool, you know what we're going to do. We're going to pivot and we're going to shed salary.

Speaker 1 36:03

So Celtics fans, let us know, do these money moves make you feel nervous? Or are you cool with a little roster belt tightening If it means another chance of extended glory? Because here's the deal. If you haven't looked at the 2026 nba draft prospects, you might go ahead and do that and it might make you smile, because there's some dudes out there and there's some dudes out there that can help the celtics and also be a long-term piece to what they got going on. I'm never saying that the celtics are going to bring back the glory days of the 1960s and things of that nature, but this might be the modern day version of it might be if you get a healthy jason tatum back, you're able to able to hold on to jalen brown and they're both locked up under contracts. I don't see why you wouldn't. You get you a couple more pieces here and there. You know, you don't know, you don't know. This is why it all makes sense. It all would make sense to me dollars, dollars and cents but it makes actual fiscal sense and actual just Pundit sense as well this kind of stuff On the pod that I love.

Kaminga-Giddey Trade Rumors

Speaker 1 37:29

Now Getting to a situation that doesn't make any sense to me, what so ever, the Jonathan Kaminga Saga continues, but we have a twist. Now we have a twist. What we're going to do right now is we're going to give credit where credit is due. Our guy, jake Fisher, brought this to our attention, so let's talk about it. The Chicago Bulls have been retooling. They traded Lonzo Ball. The Chicago Bulls have been retooling. They traded Lonzo Ball, and now the rumors are swirling about Josh Giddey for Jonathan Kaminga in a swap, because you got two guys on restricted free agency. We can't get a number that both parties agree to. So what do you do? Can I trade my problem for your problem? That's where we are. That's where we might be going towards. All summer we've been telling you the Bulls are in no man's land, they're not tanking, they're not contending. But one bold move from flipping the whole script. If you missed our last bull's pot running back. We talked about this in the past.

Speaker 1 38:51

The giddy kaminga rumors are not just rumors. I think there have been. I wouldn't call them Serious talks. What I would call them is framework, framework of a deal talks, because there's some machinations in here that we also have to get into, because it's not like 2K. You can't just say, okay, I'm going to give you this dude, you give me that dude, your problem becomes my problem and your problem becomes my problem and my problem becomes your problem. It actually doesn't work that way. So we're going to go through the machinations of how this gets done, but before we get there, let's talk about what Chicago has and how this might work for Chicago If they were to do this and get Jonathan Kaminga.

Speaker 1 39:43

This is what the current roster kind of looks like. Yeah, nikola Vucevic, who is still the anchor at center. He can hit the three, you know what I'm saying. But he's also a trade candidate. They've been talking about him being an actual buyout candidate Because he's in a contract year. Then you get to our guy, kobe white, who has the bet, has the second best throw in the league. We will get to the person who has the best throw in the league soon enough, but kobe white has the second best throw in all nba basketball. But he's had a breakout couple years. He's shown a lot of moxie, he's shown a lot of growth, he's shown a lot of improvement and this might be his time to go ahead and run the offense.

Speaker 1 40:32

If you do go ahead and get rid of josh giddy, because I'm gonna tell you right now, when they traded zach levine and kobe white was in it, like infused into that lineup, it gave them some juice, it gave them some electricity, it gave them some energy and they looked plausible as a playing team, which the ryan's door were really happy about, because it made them another, another couple mil. You know I'm saying like the rise or love money. Then you top that with the 2025 uh, or well, we're actually 2024 uh, lottery pick, modest buzellas. He might be in the starting lineup if this all goes down. Then you have guys like Kevin Herter. You got guys like Trey Jones, zach Collins okay, the Isaac Okoro situation. He was brought over from the Lonzo ball swap. And then you bring in their draft picks from this year Noah Asengue, the Frenchman, 6'9", 7'3" wingspan, just Energizer Bunny off the bench right now because my guy can't shoot. My guy can't shoot, plays defense, rebounds his ass off but cannot shoot.

Speaker 1 42:02

Hopefully that will change if you're saying, well, you get rid of giddy, who's gonna? Who's gonna run the team. Who's gonna do the offensive initiation of the team? Well, kobe white is one, keep in mind. Io de sumo needs playing time and if it's not DeSumo, you decide that he's more off ball guard. You got Trey Jones, you got Javon Carter. Okay, you got enough dudes that can run the point for you in a giddy trade to Golden State. Now what does coming up bring to the Chicago Chicago Bulls? A hyper athletic switch. Everything wing that Paris with Matis, booze, ellis, and the vibe in Chicago changes, and they probably have not seen something like this since Jimmy Butler was there.

Speaker 1 43:02

So now let's get into the meat of this situation. Let's talk about what Giddy does if he goes to Golden State. I like Giddy, I do, I like him. I think he can be at least a third or fourth option for you on a pretty good team. There's a lot of things that he does that's additive, and for Golden State he would be like a Swiss Army Knife Secondary playmaker or primary playmaker, depending on what role they want to put him in.

Speaker 1 43:39

Primary playmaker, depending on what role they want to put them in. Now here's the other thing. You got steph, you got draymond green and you got jimmy butler. All three of those guys are very capable of handling the offense and getting people in the right positions. So is josh giddy more redundant than he is? Additive, because that's a question that we got to ask ourselves. Is that, if you bring in Giddey, is there too many cooks in the kitchen? Or here's the other thing, and this is the kind of thing that makes me excited Can Giddey which he has shown? Can Giddey be more like Lonzo Ball?

Speaker 1 44:23

Lonzo is one of these guys who is a playmaker. He's an offensive initiator, but he doesn't need to hold on to the ball and pound it. He's one of these guys who can get the ball, make a quick decision and then relocate himself. Giddy was on the verge of doing that when he was in oklahoma city, but he did not shoot it well enough where it would keep him on the court. Now, in the second half of the year with the chicago bulls, we did see a uptick in josh giddy's three-point shooting. I don't know if that is more smoking mirrors or is that something is a building block or where he can go from here. If he can understand the the basically quick decision which he, he definitely has that in his game. He's a very smart guy, especially when it comes to on-ball initiation. And you also saw when he worked with Shea Gilded Alexander when he was in Oklahoma City, that especially because he didn't want to shoot the ball, because his confidence just got completely blown out the water, he knew how to get the ball to the right person at the right time when he was the second side initiator.

Speaker 1 45:42

Now for steve kerr. This makes the beautiful basketball work. Giddy, draymond green, as double connectors with the foul um art, the foul baiting artist of jimmy butler and the three-point bonanza that is steph curry, could work. Because the other thing that josh giddy does bring to the golden state warriors is this, something that jonathan kaminga was not able to do. Giddy can rebound. He can rebound at a high level giddy shooting. If it's not for real space, the spatial format of the golden state warriors is going to be thrown off. Now giddy's defense also has taken a step up, but you really want to stash him on a non-scorer. Good thing, what that is is that you got Draymond Green and Jimmy Butler, who are also very capable of guarding somebody.

Speaker 1 46:51

Now, remember, this is where we get into the cap gymnastics when you're over the first apron. The 50 rule of the signing trade means golden state would need to add salary to make the trade legal. So keep that in mind, chicago. They're they don't have this problem because they're not above the first sacred, but golden state would be. So let's say, you sign josh giddy for 24 million dollars. Well, for golden state that looks like 12 million dollars. So they would have to send out another piece to go along with that. Would that be buddy hill? Would that be moses moody? You don't want to send out moses moody, kind of really don't want to send out buddy hill, if we're being honest.

Indiana Pacers Without Halliburton

Speaker 1 47:50

So that's where some of these gymnastics, these cap gymnastics, come into play, and this is what makes this a more sticky situation when we're talking about how this deal would work. But if they can get it worked out, it would be a very interesting trade for both teams. And it would be an interesting trade in the reason that you're getting rid of one problem for kind of another type of situation. But it does work for both teams because it would give Kaminga the opportunity to be a guy who would get you know 13 to 15 shots a game consistently and you could see what you could be from that point on hell, depending on how it all works out with Nikola vucevic. You might end up being like the second option and now you're talking about anywhere between 17 to 20 opportunities game, and that's what comingo is looking for.

Speaker 1 48:51

We talked about chicago. We are going to move ourselves to the indiana pacers and indiana has lost Miles Turner. Obviously, tyrese Halliburton is is hurt, but he's showing up at Monday Night Raw. He's showing up at SummerSlam. You know saying he getting out amongst the people. The Achilles is still shredded. So what does this team look like? Let's give like a little brief, little synopsis of what this team is going to look like next year. Okay, so we got Andrew Nembhard, who showed himself very well in the playoffs and in the, you know, in the finals.

Speaker 1 49:31

Combo guard more score than pure playmaker, average 10-3-5. Last year you know he shot 46 percent um. What makes him so good is that he brings a on ball pressure when he's on defense. Also, he has a lot of I'm not scared of you mentality. So you give him a challenge and he will try to knock it out the park and usually he's very successful at doing it. The big question is this with Tyrese Halliburton being hurt for the whole entire year, we finally get to know what Benedict Matherin really is. And that is important, because guess what Payday is coming to Benedict Matherin At the end of this season? It is put up or shut up time For our guy Matherin To see what you are or what you aren't, and that will be indicative Of what you are going to get paid At the end of this year, because contract extension time is upon us when it comes to the 2022 nba draft.

Speaker 1 50:49

People. Aaron neesmith, right shot what? 43 from deep, provided, provided excellent defense. You know Love that kid. Pascal Siakam Eastern Conference Finals MVP. He will be Mr Everything. Now he will have to bring back the Pascal Siakam that was in Toronto when you was like doing everything all the time.

Speaker 1 51:24

And then, who replaces Miles Turner? Well, first of all, you got Jay Huff, who is a 7 foot stretch big. He shot nearly 40% from 3 last season in limited minutes. Huff will be the wild card for the Pacers. If he spaces and hustles, hopefully he can rebound enough to stay on the floor. That's the big thing his physicality. It lacks a little bit. You still got holdovers like Ben Shepherd, tj McConnell and Obi Topkin. Those were the guys who were the bench guys. Now the two wild cards for the Indiana Pacers are a recovering James Wiseman from injury and also a recovering Isaiah Jackson from injury. Both of these guys are omni-important to what Indiana is going to be this year or what they're not going to be this year. They will hold all the cards. If Isaiah Jackson is the rim protector that we think he is, then this is going to be a little bit better.

Speaker 1 52:31

Now the offense will have to be a little different, because Isaiah Jackson does not shoot threes. James Wiseman doesn't shoot threes. These are more of your pick and roll. We roll hard to the basket, we get alley-oops, we dunk. That's what we do. These are not pick and pop dudes where you're sitting there like, okay, he's gonna pick, he's gonna flare out to the three-point line. This provides more spacing in the paint and then we can kind of do our thing because we got the ball and we are magicians with the basketball.

Speaker 1 53:07

I'm of the opinion that this is going to be kind of a hard year for the indiana pacers. Isaiah jackson has never done it, not just because of, you know, lack of talent. It's just been more lack of opportunity. So you got to go through a growing curve, a learning curve. So it will be, it will be ugly early. And then james wasman.

Speaker 1 53:32

The one thing that I've always said about him is that he reminds me of the difference between like high speed internet and remember dial up. And if you don't remember dial up, go ask your parents. Go ask your parents while dial up, it's not great, but the way he processes things, it's like it's like two steps too late. A lot of physical gifts, a lot of athleticism, even with all the injury history he has, but the one thing that we haven't been able to see is and it it's because of lack of reps. Now, some of it's been because he's been hurt, some of it's been because he's not been able to get on the court, some of it has been just his own decision making on whatever the case you want to put it to, but he just has not had the reps to really feel like oh, okay, I'm getting it. I'm getting it. Okay, I understand this. If this guy moves here, I'm supposed to do this. He has not gotten there yet and we don't know if he'll ever get there.

Speaker 1 54:42

So this is why I think that if you got a hole in the middle, that means that you are going to be susceptible to people coming into the paint and doing whatever they want to do. And remember You're in a division With Donovan Mitchell and Giannis Antetokounmpo. Good luck. Good luck trying to keep those dudes out to paint If they don't respect your bigs. And, trust me, giannis is definitely not going to respect your big Because he has your old big, he has Miles Turner, and we'll get to that momentarily.

Speaker 1 55:30

For the Pacers, the Eastern Conference is going to be a gauntlet, and the only reason I say that is because it's not the entire Eastern Conference, it's really the top seven teams. The rest of the East is trash. You know no disrespect, but we don't think that the Washington Wizards are trying to win games. The Charlotte Hornets still haven't got their stuff together yet. You know so. And we talked about Philadelphia and some of their issues. What's going on there, so? And we talked about Philadelphia and some of their issues what's going on there? So this it's going to be the top end of the East that is going to really let us know what the paces are right now, but I'll be very interested to see how it all works.

Detroit Pistons Turnaround

Speaker 1 56:20

Speaking of something working, y'all like that segue. I hope you do. We've been working on these. Let's talk about the Detroit Pistons. They go from 68 losses to 44 wins in one year and you go well, vince, didn't we just talk about them not that long ago? You are absolutely right. Well, we're doing the central midsummer observations, so we got to do them again. We're not going to spend a lot of time on them, but we are going to spend some.

Speaker 1 56:55

We talked about Cade a lot. We talked about how he's a leap. Jalen Dorn is a guy who we really believe in and we think that that guy is going to be a grown ass man this year. What it really comes down to is how good is Asar Thompson and how good is Jay Nivey? We did a whole breakdown. I want to say one last pot about cage growth and what we expected from Ivy and what we expected from a Sar Thompson, jay Nivey, in 30 games last year remember he had the, the fibula break.

Speaker 1 57:35

As far as that's concerned, he was. He was about to tear it up. It wasn't. It wasn't efficient, but you could see the aggression and you could see the maturity. 17.6 points a game, four point rebound, 4.1 rebounds. Now, the effective field goal percentage is not what I like to see, but here's what he was doing. He was shooting five threes a game and that's a far cry from what he was doing before. And also, we want to show him a little, a little grace as well, because that Monty Williams coaching experiment, where my guy was being either DNP'd or played less than Killian Hayes. By the way, where is Killian Hayes now? I'll wait. Is he even in the NBA anymore? No, he's not. So Detroit had to make a move. They got our guy from Miami, as far as I learned, the sharpshooter from Miami, duncan Robinson, and he will replace what Malik Beasley used to be for them. Maybe not as brash, maybe not as vocal, but he will be the guy that's different. And he will be the guy that's different and he will be the off-ball spacer that they are looking for.

Speaker 1 59:07

Due to the issues with Malik Beasley and the gambling allegations that are going on. It's actually pretty sad. It's actually pretty sad. Um, I was. There was a report out there that malik beasley had been evicted from his uh condo or whatever. Um, because he was late on his rent like three months.

Cleveland's Garland Injury Situation

Speaker 1 59:31

And uh, man, you make a bad decision. You make a bad decision. It really it affects more than one or two things. It affects your whole life. Man, I don't understand. I mean, I get it, I guess. No, I don't get it. I don't get it. There are people who are struggling in this world. You understand what quick dollars mean. Sometimes it means a piece of your soul. But also what it means is is that if you get caught, there's gonna be some serious ramifications as well. As malik beasley played last year, he was due to make at least, at the very least, 14.7 million a year. This is a dude that was on veteran minimum contracts and what have you. He was about to get really paid and now it's all gone up in smoke as well as his reputation at this point in time, allegedly. But if the feds got you, as well as his reputation at this point in time, allegedly. But if the feds got you, usually they good reason, they got you. Now we need to pivot to another situation that has just kind of and I don't know if it's broken, but it does have a break in it but how good is Cleveland going to be this year? It's broken, but it does have a break in it, but how good is Cleveland going to be this year? And I say that with some intrepidition.

Speaker 1 1:01:12

Darius Garland is a 20.6 point per game guy. He's damn near a 7 assist guy per game. He shoots the ball at a pretty good clip 47% from the field total, 40% from 3. He was one of the big reasons why the Cleveland Cavaliers went 64-18 last year. They were just 5-5 without him. By the way, soraya says this you can't overstate what he does. Garland brings pressure release valves for the all-star do-everything Donovan Mitchell. Without him the Cavs often turn into a Donovan Mitchell hero ball and a whole lot of praying from threes a lot of that's true. Evan Mobley took a little jump and we'll talk about him in a second.

Speaker 1 1:02:12

But remember their struggle in the playoffs without Darius Garland. And Coach Kenny Atkinson said we're not rushing him back. Steve Spiro, the head of medical this is what they said. There was a question whether Darius Garland will be ready for the first part of season. They said no, in no shape or turn will Darius Garland be ready for the start of the season. Why is that big? Two reasons. One they let ty jerome go. He's in memphis now quietly. A massive loss, because y'all know what ty jerome was doing last year. He was getting buckets. He was providing connectivity.

Speaker 1 1:03:07

Now enter Lonzo Ball. I think that was a shrewd move, especially if you knew that Darius Garland wasn't going to be available to you at the first part of the year. Now Ball has his own injury history that's longer than a CVS receipt. But if he's upright, this is what you get. His IQ basketball IQ is impeccable. His defense is pretty legit and the ball movement that he can bring to a team can stabilize what the Cavs like to do. Lonzo is the only dude on this roster who can change the geometry without needing shots. If you're Cleveland, this is the best case, worst case scenario.

Speaker 1 1:03:53

Balls hungry because he hasn't been on the court a lot. He's got something to prove because of the fact that everybody thinks he's just injury prone and what have you. And nobody expects him to be a 20 point scorer, but just run the show and play some defense. He's a little bit more than that because when he's healthy, he has turned himself into a 40 three-point shooter with decent volume. So not only do you get the, the savviness, the basketball iq, the um, the instincts on defense that he brings, he's very, very unselfish. He loves to share the sugar, as I like to say.

Speaker 1 1:04:45

The big thing is, is that? The big thing is, is that, with darius garland being out. You know, you know who this really helps the emergence of one evan mobley. This is it, my guy. This is the moment that all mobley stands have been waiting for. We've been thirsting for this situation. No garland, more usage, more touch touches, more responsibility. Can mobiley step up and be that offensive anchor while garland recovers? If mobiley can finally develop that in between game, the short roll, elbow jumper, quick moves, it changes the whole Cavs timeline. If not, cleveland is stuck playing the same tune. Guess what? We might be a fourth seed. We're going to definitely be behind the New York Knicks and a couple other teams and we'll see where we go from there. You know that Donovan Mitchell is going to do his thing.

Speaker 1 1:05:46

We talked about Lonzo Ball. We talked about Evan Mobley. Here is the thing this happened at the worst possible time. We talked about Boston and what they're going through. Milwaukee is trying to figure themselves out and we'll talk about them in one second Philly. Well, joe Allenby, we'll see.

Milwaukee's All-In On Giannis

Speaker 1 1:06:13

Could you imagine if Atlanta really became the number two overall seed in the East? Could you imagine what that would look like? The one thing that we do know is that Cleveland does have enough offense. They have enough firepower to keep themselves in the top six. I would say, personally, they would probably be able to keep themselves within the top four. And then you hope that this situation with darius garland doesn't linger too long with the toe. Um, but we will see. We I mean, we'll just have to check it out. Because I was amazed when kenny atkinson said, oh yeah, no, we don't expect darius garland to be back anytime soon. I was like, oh, that's a little scary, because that was very definitive in that situation. Speaking of definitive speaking on standing on business, our guy, john horse, in milwaukee, is standing on business now.

Speaker 1 1:07:20

Milwaukee, wisconsin, known for its cheese, known for beer, known for his bratwurst, is also known for one yannis antetokounmpo. The bucks have made it perfectly clear we are going to do everything in our power to keep yannis and also to keep him happy. How do you keep yannis happy? Well, I want to stay relevant and I want to be competitive.

Speaker 1 1:07:50

When we come to championships so early in the offseason, the Milwaukee Bucks do something unprecedented. They waved and stretch one. Damian Lillard, you know who I'm talking about, damn time. Now the cap hit is 22.5 million per year through the year 2030. So that means there's 22.5 million you can't use on your cap for 2026, 2027, 2028, 2029 and then 2030, so the rest of the decade, 22.5 million gone that you cannot use. Now, their ability to wave and stretch Damian Lillard. It did get them to sign Miles Turner, which in one aspect, took away from the Indiana Pacers and helped your team. It also gave you a real shot of keeping Giannis in the fold in Milwaukee and it basically gives you a new reshaping to your roster, with a mix of new vets and a couple upside bets that you're banking on To be all in on Giannis Antetokounmpo and to keep the Knicks at bay, because the Knicks are lurking. They're waiting for one Giannis Antetokounmpo.

Speaker 1 1:09:42

So Milwaukee is in a you know, basically a perpetual crisis mode. It's not just a headline, it's the playbook. Milwaukee isn't just fighting the cap, they're fighting history. Every move is about yannis and his decision. The roster got more new faces than a g league tryout and every beat writer in new york is watching for the crack. They're watching for yannis to go.

Speaker 1 1:10:09

Hey, you know what. This is just not enough and I want out now. There's some other teams and we're going to get into them in a second about this deal, but let's kind of break this down a little bit. Let's start with the biggest, messiest money story in the NBA. Now this is, by the way, what was the genesis of the bradley bill? Uh, wave and stretch as well.

Speaker 1 1:10:33

So I want, I want y'all to know that john horace went to the mattresses on this one. So 112.6 million dollars spread over five years is 22.5 million per season in dead cap until 2030. We got that right. Okay, so that that was what was left on damian lillard's contract. This, that means no easy fixes, no big buyouts, no trading for stars, unless someone is wants to gift you a contract. Every cap dollar is like a family heirloom right now. Okay, that lillard, the lillard move is gonna hurt and it's gonna hurt for the rest of the decade.

Speaker 1 1:11:22

Yana, if yana stays or not, okay, keep that in mind. It doesn't change whether yana stays or not. As far as what? That 22.5 million, that's a constant. That's just going to be there.

Speaker 1 1:11:35

So, with every role player they have to hit every vet, minimum must count. You must win in the margins. That is what john horace has been tasked to do and, by the way, he got a contract extension in june. What? In july of this year. So he knew, he knew what his job responsibilities were and he took on a contract extension as well. He probably said, said hey, if y'all going to put me through all this, I want to get paid and I want to make sure that I have some security In this situation. Also, some agency To do and make the hard decisions. So shout out to our guy, john Horst, because he's doing it real big, because here's the other thing that he has done. Drew Holiday was a buck.

Speaker 1 1:12:39

They made the decision that they needed more offense, and that's where Damian Lillard came into play. They also made the hard decision last year to trade Chris Middleton, who was a part of their championship run back in 2022, and he closed out games for them. All of these guys are gone. So who's left? Well, you got Giannis, who's going to be either a forward or the point guard, but there's no mistaking that he's going to be the engine, the heartbeat, the everything, but with every game. Is it an audition for his future or is it? Hey, I'm standing 10 toes down in milwaukee. It's a question I got to ask it.

Speaker 1 1:13:31

Now Miles Turner brings something to Milwaukee that is familiar. Hey, we need you to hit some threes, because we used to have Brooke Lopez. Now we got a more athletic Brooke Lopez in you Miles Turner. Here's the other thing that Miles Turner is going to get. He's going to get more opportunities because, remember, he was behind Tyrese Halliburton, he was behind Pascal Siakam hell, there were some times that he was behind Andrew Nembhard. When he's with Milwaukee he's really the second guy as far as opportunities are concerned. So he's going to have an influx in shots and opportunities being in Milwaukee.

Speaker 1 1:14:21

Then you got Kyle Kuzma. Now Kyle Kuzma was the guy that was traded. They ripped off the band-aid. That was chris middleton. Chris middleton just could not give you 30 minutes a game anymore and they traded for kyle kuzma and they thought, by bringing kyle kuzma to a serious operation, to a team that had championship aspirations, that you would get the Kyle Kuzma that used to play for the Los Angeles Lakers. Problem is is that I don't know what happened to Kuzma last year. I don't know if he forgot how to shoot, but that three point percentage was god awful. Anytime that you're shooting like 26 percent from three and your bag was shooting 38 percent from three, that's not good. It's like how you get in an unserious situation for so long that you forgot how to play like meaningful basketball. Hopefully he can recapture some of that glory that he had with the lakers, because they're going to need him because, remember, everybody counts in Milwaukee everybody.

Speaker 1 1:15:36

Now Gary Trent Jr is a instant offense three-point shooter that can give you a little nasty on the defense If he's motivated, but he can provide points. Now the guy who they're really looking forward to Is the material wild card, kevin Porter Jr. Now he's getting the starting knot Post the Middleton trade and it's either going to to unlock a new dynamic for the Bucks or drive coaches absolutely insane. Kpj can fill it up, he can break down a defense, he has size at guard, but you live with the rollercoaster that is Kevin Porter jr. We have been asking for maturity and we've been asking for some of the antics to go away from Kevin Porter Jr for about three years now and for some reason he it's. It's almost a fable. You just can't get right now.

Speaker 1 1:16:46

He did have a good stretch with Milwaukee last year, so I want to give him his due. He did play within the structure. He did show a lot of um scoring prowess and and be able to be additive on defense and things of that nature. But with kevin porter jr you're always. You're always kind of looking over your shoulder because it's always a huge gamble. You're hoping that the gamble pays off in a big way. But it's a gamble because you don't know if there's going to be a off the court or on court decision that he makes. That jeopardizes your whole season.

Speaker 1 1:17:28

And I hate to talk about this young man like this, because anybody that you talk to when he's right, they talk about how good a teammate he is, how, if you can keep him focused, he's such a good dude and he's able to help your team in such positive ways. But there's always that one moment, that one moment where it just seems like the computer just shuts down for a second. He's off to the races and god knows what's about to happen. But if they can keep kpj engaged, the bucks finally have a guard who can generate paint touches and open up the corners for Giannis and Kuzma. But if the shot selection and the turnovers go nuclear or the worst case scenario there's some sort of off the court issue. We are talking about implosion at the highest of levels. To counteract that, they got cole anthony from the orlando magic.

Speaker 1 1:18:37

Cole anthony is the son of greg anthony. Now he has gone through his own emotional roller coaster or whatever the case may be. But I will say this cole anthony understands the business of basketball. He also understands where he is. It's like listen, you get in where you fit in. He understands that he can provide points off the bench. Sometimes he can go nuclear and if he is capable of going nuclear, that takes a little bit bit of pressure off of Kevin Porter Jr. Now he does not provide the defensive prowess that Kevin Porter Jr does. He's a 6'1", 6'2 point guard. So he'll give you some on-ball initiation, he'll give you some three-point shooting, but if you're looking for a bunch of defense, he will try hard, but the defense ain't really there.

Speaker 1 1:19:35

Bobby portis, long time buck, long time favorite, fan favorite, emotional leader, leader of the second unit is a double, double threat. They will need him, double double threat. They will need him. Tori prince, still there, like him, provide size, veteran wing defense, switchable. Gary harris, another orlando magic, like retread. These are all guys that are vets, that know how to play the game of basketball, who can provide just stability and what have you.

Speaker 1 1:20:11

Jericho sims was a absolute find because he was a guy who was honing down for the new york knicks when precious achua was hurt. Also, mitchell robertson was hurt. Uh, I think that he will be a veteran glue guy that could definitely help the Milwaukee Bucks. But it will take somebody to step outside themselves. It will take somebody to be more than what they have already been, or just a surprise dude. Will it be Andrew Jackson Jr? Will it be AJ Green? Will it be Cole Anthony? Because Cole Anthony got some game in him. He could put up 25 on you. Do not get it twisted. But it will take efforts like this to keep the milwaukee bucks relevant, and that is what you're looking to do.

Speaker 1 1:21:04

To hold on to yannis antetounmpo, think of this as a marriage that is holding on by strength, right. Think of this as one of those situations where it's like, okay, they maybe had some financial difficulties, maybe there was a little like you didn't know kind of gray area infidelity or something like that. There wasn't like full-blown infidelity, but kind of like area infidelity or something like that. There wasn't like full-blown infidelity, but kind of like oh, I, you know, I saw, you saw you flirting with your secretary, or something like that, right? So it's a tenuous situation in milwaukee, right?

Speaker 1 1:21:43

The beautiful bride is Giannis Antetokounmpo and he's starting to think maybe I'm not as appreciated anymore, maybe they feel they can do better than me, even though none of these things are true. None of these things are true because if you look at the effort that Milwaukee has put forth with this roster and some of the imagination that they've used to create some sort of cap space to bring in Miles Turner, you can see how much effort and how much care they have poured into Giannis Antetokounmpo. But at the end of the day, we're talking about one thing, and one thing only, and that is championships. And Giannis got one, and I'm telling you right now it means I can't tell you the amount that it means to him the sense of accomplishment that if he gets a second or a third championship, he wants to be an all-time great. For him to be an all-time great, he has to win multiple championships, and if milwaukee can't provide that, I gotta look somewhere else. And that's the game that the Milwaukee Bucks are playing right now. It's a very dangerous game. It's a game of cat and mouse. It's a game of frogger across a very, very busy highway. So the pressure cooker is on. And here's the thing. It's not just the Knicks I want you to understand that if the time comes and Giannis says, hey, I would like out Now, for the most part, we think that Giannis is going to play Ball with the Milwaukee Bucks, and what I mean by that Is that he's going to allow them to get certain packages back, who would be in the mix for these packages?

Speaker 1 1:23:59

The Houston Rockets are in the mix. The Houston Rockets are definitely in the mix. They still got enough draft compensation, draft assets. They still have enough young players, because they absolutely stole Kevin Durant from the Phoenix Suns because Phoenix was desperate to get off of Kevin Durant. The Knicks don't have the draft compensation, but they have the dudes, like if they really wanted to say, hey, we'll give you OG Ananobi and this, what's up, what do you want to do? That's a team that could get in the mix For Giannis Antetokounmpo Now, I don't think he would want to go here, but you know who can give them the godfather offer. And this is the thing that quietly. I have talked to a lot of NBA front office people about this and this is the thing that they're all scared of what happens if my star wants out and OKC comes a calling with their 15 first round draft picks, their 22 second round draft picks and a bunch of young stuff. They're the boogeyman in the room.

Speaker 1 1:25:26

Ladies and gentlemen, do not play with Sam Presti in the Oklahoma City Thunder, because you will lose. Oklahoma City is the bell of the ball. Make no mistakes about it. What you think, what you think, you know you don't have any idea, because they got enough young talent to seduce you. They got enough draft pick compensation to make it worth your while. Now it will take somebody to have some real balls to say I want to go to oklahoma city because, if you want to think about it, oklahoma city. Until they got to the finals they were not on television. They were the ugly stepchild of the NBA, but they have now won a championship and the glow up is real in Oklahoma City. And the NBA and their TV partners are going to have to put Oklahoma City on TV a lot because they are now one of the top franchises in the league.

Speaker 1 1:26:39

Proof of concept is here, ladies and gentlemen, and it lives in Oklahoma City. So you can say what you want. You can say oh, you know, it's Oklahoma City. No star is going to want to go there. Blah, blah, blah. Hold on. Shea Gildress Alexander is there, jalen Williams is there, chet Holmgren is there.

Speaker 1 1:27:05

You imagine if Giannis Antetokounmpo said you know what, I'll play the five. Oh, better yet, I'll play the five. That handles the ball. So then Shea Gildress Alexander can get off ball. Can you imagine those two attacking the paint together? Craziness will ensue. You know what I'm saying? Like it will be crazy.

Speaker 1 1:27:29

Now, are there other teams that can get involved in this? Yes and no. Yes and no, because I don't think Miami has the pieces to get Giannis. They don't have the picks, nor the young talent that Milwaukee will want back in a deal. They would have to be a third team. And anytime you start adding teams to deals and things of that nature, you know what I always say If you have to add a third team, there ain't no deal going down, because somebody is going to lose in that situation, because somebody is going to lose in that situation. The other team that everybody wants to throw their name into the mix Is the Los Angeles Lakers and frankly, as a Laker fan, as somebody who follows the Lakers very intently, we don't have the pieces and we definitely do not have the picks to get ourselves involved. Giannis would have to say publicly I want to go play with Luka.

Speaker 1 1:28:40

Giannis has been a lot of things. The one thing that he has not been, he has not been a franchise bully, and you know what I'm talking about when I say franchise bully. I'm gonna hold it over your head until you give me what I want. I am gonna not, I'm gonna be non-committal to your franchise until you give me what I want. Who's that sound like? Sounds like somebody who plays in Los Angeles. It sounds like somebody who is the all-time leading scorer of the NBA. It sounds like somebody who wears number 23 because he'll be coming into his 23rd year in the NBA.

Speaker 1 1:29:26

Passive-aggressive comments on social media this is the first time it hasn't worked, because the Lakers have somebody who's a little more shinier and a little more brand-new in Luka Doncic's. I don't ever see Giannis ever playing that card, because Giannis likes to be liked, but I can see him going to Milwaukee, going to John Horst's office and saying, hey, this has been a great 12, 13 years. I brought you a championship, but our relationship has come to an end and you know, do what you got to do. You know, get the best package you can. Here's the three or four teams I'll go to, whatever the case may be, and then you know. Thank you so much.

Speaker 1 1:30:27

And again, houston, houston, new York, wildcard. Ok, see, that's about it. And I'm gonna tell you right now, new York is lying in wait like a freaking lion. That's like surveying the serengeti. They are just sitting there, just going, do, do, do, we see you, gazelle, and if you stray away from the pack, we are going to jump on you and we are going to have us a tremendous feast Off your demise. And I'm going to tell you right now the Milwaukee Bucks Look like a lame gazelle right now and there are teams that are lining up To rip them apart Of their superstar.

Speaker 1 1:31:27

Alright, I want to thank Soraya, I want to thank maya, I want to thank the whole frpc crew for doing what they do, because without them, there is no me. You know, I'm saying that's for real. The other thing I want to do is I want to thank god, because without him I can't do this for sure. And the other thing that I want to say is this Be a friend and tell a friend about the podcast. Okay, we are real serious about this. We are growing. The numbers are showing up. We are international. Those numbers are growing and they are showing up. But be heard. Grow the nation, grow FRPC.

Closing Thoughts

Speaker 1 1:32:10

Get it to your people if they like basketball. We do this tuesday and friday for your listening pleasure and you know what's gonna come with this there's gonna be a blog that goes along with the podcast second screen experience. If you have not got down like that, you need to get down like that, because that's how we do it every single week for you. And, with that being said, the best part of you is you make sure you're surrounding yourself with supportive people who are uplifting you, who are giving you just sage advice, um, that are just that, that want you to succeed.

Speaker 1 1:32:55

And if you have people like that in your life, you need to celebrate those people. You need to let them know that their support means the world to you. You can do it by hey, a text, you can do it by a facetime. You can take them out and have, like, break some bread with them or have a cup of coffee or whatever. But please show those people some appreciation, because they're lifting you up so you can reach the heights that you want to reach. And if you're doing all that, we always got a seat for you here At Front Runner Podcast Collective For Soraya. I'm Vince and we'll see you on Tuesday and we out Deuce Bye.