00:00:00
Speaker 1: Thanks for joining us, Warriors, after the opening night loss to the Lakers in L.A. They come home to take on Memphis tonight. But bigger story, not only is it Yaxel versus maybe the rest of the NBA, but this weird, strange story with Kristaps Brzingis. And let's try to get some insight into it. Bobby Marks just does an amazing job with ESPN. Make sure that you're following him at Bobby Marks. He is their front office insider, and he joins us courtesy of the UMA guest line.
00:00:31
Speaker 2: Great to talk to you again, Bobby. How are you?
00:00:33
Speaker 3: I'm good. How are you? Yeah, great.
00:00:36
Speaker 1: So explain to us, because obviously this is not optimal, what's going on with Kristaps Przingis, and certainly the timing is not great because everybody's kind of got settled in, so it's not like they want to make moves right now or help out the Warriors or take on maybe a retiring contract. So kind of explain to us what's going on and what might be the options for the Warriors. Yeah.
00:00:57
Speaker 3: I mean, you know, it sounds like I had reported earlier in a week that, you know, gold stays looking at, you know, options to try to move off Porzingis' contract. I think it's, we're kind of in this stage. I think it's going to be difficult right now. We, you know, front offices normally don't make trades, you know, a week or two weeks into the season here. Porzingis has got a, It's got a two years, 20 million this year and a 20 million next year and 3 million is guaranteed. You know, you go back and look at just history. There hasn't been a trade, I think, since 2024 in October, November during the regular season. So we've gone through a couple of years without a transaction cycle here. So I think they'll explore deals if something makes sense. But as I said, like teams kind of look at the first 20 games as an evaluation period, get you to sometime early December and then kind of figure out you know, where your roster is. From a financial angle, you know, they're limited as far as the inability. They can't, you know, trade his $ 20 million contract for a 21 or a $ 22 million player. They can't take back more salary in a trade just because they're over the first apron and everything here. So I would expect him to be on the roster. There's no incentive for him to entertain a buyout, really, because if this is his last deal, why are you giving money back in that case?
00:02:23
Speaker 2: Yeah, makes sense.
00:02:24
Speaker 1: Bobby Marks is joining us, ESPN front office insider. The situation with Kristaps Porzingis, and as you point out, you've got this in your feed right now.
00:02:30
Speaker 2: It hasn't been done since what, Harden to the Clippers in 2023? Yeah, that was different.
00:02:35
Speaker 3: Yeah, that was a little bit different. That was a hard situation, him wanting to get out. But yeah, we just kind of, we get in this holding pattern. Front offices want to understand where their roster is going to be. And I think for I think for Golden State, you have to figure out, is there a deal out there that if you're willing to take money back that goes into next year and that can help you, I think that's certainly that you have to consider. I know they are positioning themselves with cap space, but that $ 40, $ 50 million in cap space doesn't get you a whole lot. I mean, you get to probably two rotational starter level players potentially here. Maybe what... what the Lakers were able to do this summer here. But it's going to be an interesting, you know, decision that they're going to have to make there if something like that does present itself.
00:03:33
Speaker 1: And, Bobby, to your point, like you said, to try to get somebody off the dime to do something, you're going to have to incentivize them. And if I'm the Warriors, like you said, if I take on additional contract for years to come, then I lose even the space that I would have. Also, this is obvious, as everybody knows, this is an older team, so you don't want to give up assets. You're certainly not going to give up a first-round pick because you're probably going to be a lottery team. So, I mean, they find themselves in a really difficult position to not only, as you said, try to get somebody to do something, but if I am going to do something as another team, then you've got to incentivize me at a high level, and they really can't do that.
00:04:06
Speaker 3: Well, and I agree, and I think why it's difficult and why they're in a difficult position is that the goal, all along with the reason why the extension– with Porzingis. And the ability to give them flexibility was basically to have two cracks at the apple here. Basically, the first bite of the apple was to have him on the court this year and help them win games in a much-needed role with their front court. And then the second part of it was, okay, for next year, because that contract's only guaranteed for $ 3 million, we will have the flexibility, whether it be in a trade or whether it be in free agency to get off that money here. Now you're looking at a situation where the first part you don't have, right? Like you don't have that part where you don't have the player that's on the court. Now it's a matter of what happens to the second part as far as, as I said, whether there's an eventual deal down the road, whether there's a buyout, whether you let it expire or whether you just kind of, you know, preserve that money that the flexibility you have next summer.
00:05:12
Speaker 1: And then the other side of it is from an on-court standpoint, I think we saw in the, not that we didn't know this, but in the Lakers game, when you have Walter Kessler come out and I look, I like Kessler, but he had 10 dunks. He went 12 for 12. You don't have anybody to guard the size that you have in the West.
00:05:27
Speaker 3: Yeah, that's a, that's a, it was a concern. You know, certainly with when, you know, with poor things outdoor in training camp, I thought that was out of everything. And certainly, you know, with Jimmy and Moses out and everything, that's of course, you know, that's, from a wing standpoint, but the other part was that do you have enough front court depth when you're looking at Al and you've got Draymond and Yaxel, Charles Bassey, they've got two-way play. Do you have enough depth from that perspective here? I think in that Laker game, and you don't get that every game, but I think in the West, whether it be Victor or Jokic or, I mean, you'll get it tonight a little bit with, um, with Edie and it means this is a big team, uh, um, Quentin post you guys had store, right? Like there's like, that's the, that's my concern with this team is as far as, as far as getting bullied around a little bit in the paint.
00:06:22
Speaker 1: Yeah.
00:06:23
Speaker 2: It's not a good situation. So There's the latest on that.
00:06:26
Speaker 1: Just your opinion as a guy who is in the front office, your rookie comes out and is talking trash to Luka. And then after the game is like, I got no respect for this guy. Everybody's chirping at the officials. And I don't think I've ever heard of. I mean, if that's who you are, that's who you are. But I don't think I've ever heard a rookie postgame press conference go quite like that.
00:06:44
Speaker 3: I don't know if he's your standard, your typical rookie, though. Right. I mean, I know he's older. Right. than most of these rookies and certainly coming off a national championship ship at Michigan here. And yeah, that was interesting. And like, listen, like look, it's a pain in the rear end and you know that, but it seems like that got him, that gets him going. Right. Like you, you know, like, you know, there's certain people when you start talking trash to them and stuff, it's like, or the vice versa gets you going a little bit here. So yeah, I don't know if that would probably be the right way to the right approach to, to go there. Yeah.
00:07:18
Speaker 2: And I would imagine like, again, you're going to back the guy up. And I think Steve did, but he also said it's kind of a rookie moment.
00:07:23
Speaker 1: The one key part that got to me in that one too, was because as you just pointed out, you're going to, who are you?
00:07:28
Speaker 2: You're some rookie. And then all of a sudden you're going to light a fire.
00:07:30
Speaker 1: And I think the rest of the league is going to, you know, cause everybody's still buzzing about it and talking about it.
00:07:33
Speaker 2: So now you're going to make players get up for you.
00:07:36
Speaker 3: He doesn't get in his grill a little bit here. So how do you react? Is this going to be an ongoing thing here? So sometimes, I always say, like, when you go to a new job, sometimes it's just kind of like zip your lips and just listen, right? And kind of just take everything in. Because this is a marathon. It's a roller coaster. It's a marathon of 82 games of emotions. And his emotions are going to be key.
00:08:01
Speaker 2: Yeah, it's good stuff. Bobby, thanks for a few minutes, man. I know you're busy doing all sorts of stuff.
00:08:05
Speaker 1: We love it.
00:08:05
Speaker 2: We appreciate it, man. Take care.
00:08:06
Speaker 3: Yep, thanks. Have a good day. There you go.
Speaker 1: Thanks for joining us, Warriors, after the opening night loss to the Lakers in L.A. They come home to take on Memphis tonight. But bigger story, not only is it Yaxel versus maybe the rest of the NBA, but this weird, strange story with Kristaps Brzingis. And let's try to get some insight into it. Bobby Marks just does an amazing job with ESPN. Make sure that you're following him at Bobby Marks. He is their front office insider, and he joins us courtesy of the UMA guest line.
00:00:31
Speaker 2: Great to talk to you again, Bobby. How are you?
00:00:33
Speaker 3: I'm good. How are you? Yeah, great.
00:00:36
Speaker 1: So explain to us, because obviously this is not optimal, what's going on with Kristaps Przingis, and certainly the timing is not great because everybody's kind of got settled in, so it's not like they want to make moves right now or help out the Warriors or take on maybe a retiring contract. So kind of explain to us what's going on and what might be the options for the Warriors. Yeah.
00:00:57
Speaker 3: I mean, you know, it sounds like I had reported earlier in a week that, you know, gold stays looking at, you know, options to try to move off Porzingis' contract. I think it's, we're kind of in this stage. I think it's going to be difficult right now. We, you know, front offices normally don't make trades, you know, a week or two weeks into the season here. Porzingis has got a, It's got a two years, 20 million this year and a 20 million next year and 3 million is guaranteed. You know, you go back and look at just history. There hasn't been a trade, I think, since 2024 in October, November during the regular season. So we've gone through a couple of years without a transaction cycle here. So I think they'll explore deals if something makes sense. But as I said, like teams kind of look at the first 20 games as an evaluation period, get you to sometime early December and then kind of figure out you know, where your roster is. From a financial angle, you know, they're limited as far as the inability. They can't, you know, trade his $ 20 million contract for a 21 or a $ 22 million player. They can't take back more salary in a trade just because they're over the first apron and everything here. So I would expect him to be on the roster. There's no incentive for him to entertain a buyout, really, because if this is his last deal, why are you giving money back in that case?
00:02:23
Speaker 2: Yeah, makes sense.
00:02:24
Speaker 1: Bobby Marks is joining us, ESPN front office insider. The situation with Kristaps Porzingis, and as you point out, you've got this in your feed right now.
00:02:30
Speaker 2: It hasn't been done since what, Harden to the Clippers in 2023? Yeah, that was different.
00:02:35
Speaker 3: Yeah, that was a little bit different. That was a hard situation, him wanting to get out. But yeah, we just kind of, we get in this holding pattern. Front offices want to understand where their roster is going to be. And I think for I think for Golden State, you have to figure out, is there a deal out there that if you're willing to take money back that goes into next year and that can help you, I think that's certainly that you have to consider. I know they are positioning themselves with cap space, but that $ 40, $ 50 million in cap space doesn't get you a whole lot. I mean, you get to probably two rotational starter level players potentially here. Maybe what... what the Lakers were able to do this summer here. But it's going to be an interesting, you know, decision that they're going to have to make there if something like that does present itself.
00:03:33
Speaker 1: And, Bobby, to your point, like you said, to try to get somebody off the dime to do something, you're going to have to incentivize them. And if I'm the Warriors, like you said, if I take on additional contract for years to come, then I lose even the space that I would have. Also, this is obvious, as everybody knows, this is an older team, so you don't want to give up assets. You're certainly not going to give up a first-round pick because you're probably going to be a lottery team. So, I mean, they find themselves in a really difficult position to not only, as you said, try to get somebody to do something, but if I am going to do something as another team, then you've got to incentivize me at a high level, and they really can't do that.
00:04:06
Speaker 3: Well, and I agree, and I think why it's difficult and why they're in a difficult position is that the goal, all along with the reason why the extension– with Porzingis. And the ability to give them flexibility was basically to have two cracks at the apple here. Basically, the first bite of the apple was to have him on the court this year and help them win games in a much-needed role with their front court. And then the second part of it was, okay, for next year, because that contract's only guaranteed for $ 3 million, we will have the flexibility, whether it be in a trade or whether it be in free agency to get off that money here. Now you're looking at a situation where the first part you don't have, right? Like you don't have that part where you don't have the player that's on the court. Now it's a matter of what happens to the second part as far as, as I said, whether there's an eventual deal down the road, whether there's a buyout, whether you let it expire or whether you just kind of, you know, preserve that money that the flexibility you have next summer.
00:05:12
Speaker 1: And then the other side of it is from an on-court standpoint, I think we saw in the, not that we didn't know this, but in the Lakers game, when you have Walter Kessler come out and I look, I like Kessler, but he had 10 dunks. He went 12 for 12. You don't have anybody to guard the size that you have in the West.
00:05:27
Speaker 3: Yeah, that's a, that's a, it was a concern. You know, certainly with when, you know, with poor things outdoor in training camp, I thought that was out of everything. And certainly, you know, with Jimmy and Moses out and everything, that's of course, you know, that's, from a wing standpoint, but the other part was that do you have enough front court depth when you're looking at Al and you've got Draymond and Yaxel, Charles Bassey, they've got two-way play. Do you have enough depth from that perspective here? I think in that Laker game, and you don't get that every game, but I think in the West, whether it be Victor or Jokic or, I mean, you'll get it tonight a little bit with, um, with Edie and it means this is a big team, uh, um, Quentin post you guys had store, right? Like there's like, that's the, that's my concern with this team is as far as, as far as getting bullied around a little bit in the paint.
00:06:22
Speaker 1: Yeah.
00:06:23
Speaker 2: It's not a good situation. So There's the latest on that.
00:06:26
Speaker 1: Just your opinion as a guy who is in the front office, your rookie comes out and is talking trash to Luka. And then after the game is like, I got no respect for this guy. Everybody's chirping at the officials. And I don't think I've ever heard of. I mean, if that's who you are, that's who you are. But I don't think I've ever heard a rookie postgame press conference go quite like that.
00:06:44
Speaker 3: I don't know if he's your standard, your typical rookie, though. Right. I mean, I know he's older. Right. than most of these rookies and certainly coming off a national championship ship at Michigan here. And yeah, that was interesting. And like, listen, like look, it's a pain in the rear end and you know that, but it seems like that got him, that gets him going. Right. Like you, you know, like, you know, there's certain people when you start talking trash to them and stuff, it's like, or the vice versa gets you going a little bit here. So yeah, I don't know if that would probably be the right way to the right approach to, to go there. Yeah.
00:07:18
Speaker 2: And I would imagine like, again, you're going to back the guy up. And I think Steve did, but he also said it's kind of a rookie moment.
00:07:23
Speaker 1: The one key part that got to me in that one too, was because as you just pointed out, you're going to, who are you?
00:07:28
Speaker 2: You're some rookie. And then all of a sudden you're going to light a fire.
00:07:30
Speaker 1: And I think the rest of the league is going to, you know, cause everybody's still buzzing about it and talking about it.
00:07:33
Speaker 2: So now you're going to make players get up for you.
00:07:36
Speaker 3: He doesn't get in his grill a little bit here. So how do you react? Is this going to be an ongoing thing here? So sometimes, I always say, like, when you go to a new job, sometimes it's just kind of like zip your lips and just listen, right? And kind of just take everything in. Because this is a marathon. It's a roller coaster. It's a marathon of 82 games of emotions. And his emotions are going to be key.
00:08:01
Speaker 2: Yeah, it's good stuff. Bobby, thanks for a few minutes, man. I know you're busy doing all sorts of stuff.
00:08:05
Speaker 1: We love it.
00:08:05
Speaker 2: We appreciate it, man. Take care.
00:08:06
Speaker 3: Yep, thanks. Have a good day. There you go.
