Optionality - NBA Free Agency Stalls on LeBron Decision

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Good afternoon, Wednesday.
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You know it's time for Front Runner Podcast Collective.
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We have more thoughts on the Jalen Brown trade to Philadelphia.
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We also are going to be talking about the Cleveland Cavaliers bet on a guy who is 6'2 and a $273 million bet, by the way.
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And LeBron to put a freeze on the rest of the NBA without saying a single word.
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Now, the word of the day or the word of the week is optionality.
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It's just a nicer word to say we can't afford both of you anymore.
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Boston has traded two years removed finals MVP for an older, more injury prone Paul Paul George.
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Y'all already know that.
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I am going to publicly say I was wrong about the Donovan Mitchell situation.
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I had this man walking out of Cleveland.
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Instead, he just signed a $273 million deal to stay.
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And somebody explained to me what the whiteboard meant was was what was going on with the whiteboard.
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Like what was going on, Rich Call.
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We need answers and we're going to try to give them to you.
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And I guess the last thing that we also need to talk about, if LeBron is all is frozen, that means Denver's optionality is also frozen.
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And with that, Draymond has opted out of his deal, right?
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And we're just awaiting what the king is going to do.
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Right now he's playing golf.
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So that's where we are.
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And we will get to all these topics as we get into the pod.
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Let's go.
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This is where we talk like friends, we argue like cousins, and we still walk out smarter than we came in.
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I am your host Vince, your occasional hoop therapist and absolute favorite bad influence when it comes to completely reckless NBA overreactions that low-key make perfect sense.
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We are setting the table.
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With actual verified receipts.
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Give you exact barbershop ammo you need to take into your group chats and completely nuking the argument.
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If you're an NBA sicko who wants more than highlight talk, if you want context, numbers, and a point of view, then this is your pod.
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This is FRPC, and let's
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go.
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We're gonna start off with the uh with the press conference in Boston.
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I thought it was uh interesting to say the least.
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Brad Stevens said trading Jalen Brown cost him sleep, and for once, that's not you know just regular old PR speak.
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Ten years, six conference finals, uh two finals trips, a NBA championship, a finals MVP trophy, and the Celtics never missed the playoffs with him on the roster.
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Then Boston sent him to Philadelphia for Paul George and four picks.
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Optionality was the word that Stevens married himself to in Monday's press conference.
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This stripped the buzzword away from this one thing, money.
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You don't trade two years removed finals MVP for an oft-injured, six-year-old Paul George, unless the second apron is functioning as a de facto hard cap.
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And with that being said, I want to talk about that real quick.
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He said something very important in that um press conference.
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He talked about how Jalen Brown was a hell of a player.
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He talked also about how he couldn't have 70% of his cap tied into two guys, and this is where the second apron it was going to stop guys like Steve Balmer and now like Mark Walter and Joseph Lacup to not be able to just spin their way out of trouble.
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But the unforeseen circumstances in the in the kind of the byproduct of this is also you got guys who like Jalen Brown is a homegrown talent in Boston.
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They drafted him out of Cal.
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It was one of those situations where it they bet on the athletic traits, and they absolutely absolutely hit.
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It's one of those things where I as as now as somebody who works in a situation where I'm trying to scout these players and the ones that are coming into the draft, like the guys who came in this year.
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One of the things that I actually absolutely have taken myself out of is just scouting the athletic traits.
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You know, do you have actual basketball sk skill?
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And then now you have Jalen Brown, I'll be it, this was 10 years ago, so it's not like we've had a lot of Jalen Browns come into the league.
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But Boston was the one team to hit on this guy.
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And did they hit I mean immaculately?
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So, what does it all mean?
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Well, it means that Boston is gonna be seeing a lot of Jalen Brown, obviously in the future.
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Um Brown and Tatum uh couple years ago combined for 47% of the cap in the 2024 title season.
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And what Steven's saying, that number was trending towards 70% of the cap, such a high percentage for our usage tied to into two players.
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Brown was traded for financial architecture, not performance.
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His career high obviously in 2028.7 per points per game, 6.9 rebounds, 5.1 assists, uh with 56 wins, and he was sixth in MVP voting, second all-team NBA.
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These are things that you already know, but it was his best individual season of his career, and it came a year, uh, came a year, and then they moved him.
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You know, so this was his best year that he just had, and they moved him.
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So you can never say, well, we made our team better.
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You know, there was this there was this discussion in the well, I I applaud the Boston press.
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I applaud the Steve Buckley's of the world, the Dan Shaughnesses of the world for asking the hard questions.
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I think A.
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Shirach Blakely was in there, and a couple other cats that really are in tune with the with the goings-on in Boston.
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And they asked, hey, you traded Jalen Brown.
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How does this make your team better?
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And there was no answer for that.
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It was basically kept on going back to the word optionality.
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This gives us more optionality down the road.
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This doesn't make our team better now, but this makes our way, our pathway to a better team in the future easier.
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I don't know if any Boston fan wants to hear that.
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I don't know if anybody really wants to hear that.
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Cause here's the thing that you're giving up motor, character, adversity, response, all these things are what Brad Steven knows about Jalen Brown.
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He's the defining player of this era for the Boston Celtics, along with Jason Tatum.
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Any way you look at it, losing Brown is a talent decline.
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Framing it outright, like in a situation where you're saying, okay, well, it's cap math, it's not scouting, you can tell me all of those things.
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You can give me all the buzzwords you want.
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But at the end of the day, you're losing a really good player.
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Now, the analytics will tell you that Jalen Brown is inefficient.
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Brown's pick and roll ball handling turnover rate set at uh 60 68th to 83rd percentile, which basically is elite ball handling from 2019 to 2021.
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Then it slipped back towards uh 38th to 57th percentile from 22 on.
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Okay, so there's a there's a slippage there.
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So I'll say this again pick and roll ball handling turnover rate was in between 68th and 83rd percentile from years 2019 to 2021.
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Then it slipped from 38th to 57th percentile from 22 till now, present day.
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Boston learned leaned on him for more table setting uh and not just scoring, his uh efficient field goal percentage held steady.
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It was in the low to mid 50s the whole time.
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Now, if you want to talk about like his splits or what have you, we can do that.
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55% of his career positionally, he was a small forward, 38%.
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He was a shooting guard, he really wasn't never a coin guard.
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He's a second-side initiator only, you know that and where he's going.
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That's what they're gonna ask him to do.
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He's paired with Tyrese Maxie now in Philadelphia.
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He's gonna be the lead guard.
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Obviously, he was third all NBA, shooting close closer to the rim, and more efficiently than the year before.
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All this means is that they got another stud to pair with another stud, and hopefully Jalen Brown's availability will kind of counteract what you're gonna lose with Embiid and his pending injury that he usually has during the season.
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So if you want to talk about more stats or like how lopsided this deal was, Paul George played 41 games in 2024 and 2025, and then he played 37 games in last year's uh tilt season tilt.
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Uh, so two thing two seasons with the Philadelphia 76ers, and he basically averaged less than 50 games a year.
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Um went healthy, he's an efficient type of dude.
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He shoots uh 53.6% efficiently uh efficient field goal percentage last season, but obviously it's the durability situation that is going to hold back Paul George.
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Now ground said Boston showed him a lack of respect once the trade talks went left.
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A real relationship was fractured, separate the front from the on card uh case and stuff like that.
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So basically, he said he felt disrespected.
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He said that he felt like the relationship went completely left once the Giannis trade was talked about and what have you.
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Now, Brad Stevens says that he talked to Jalen Brown before all of this happened, and now we're in this situation.
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Now, you want to talk about anything else when it comes to Jalen Brown in Brad Stevens?
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Stevens called him a force, and that's exactly the problem for projecting George into the squad.
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George can fall into a lower usage complimentary role in a way that Brown by nature was never going to accept.
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You can tell me that.
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That's the real stylistic swap being sold as a like-for-like trade.
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But you know, and I know that the Tatum Brown tandem might touch the ball close to evenly, but the inherent value in a Tatum possession over Brown's possession, that's the got in shot value, is arguably the real reason Boston kept Tatum and Moo Brown.
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The cap story and the value story point in the same direction.
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So the what they're saying, what what I'm saying through all of this, in layman's terms, and I think somebody can't remember who said this, but having two similar guys.
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Now I don't think they personally play the same type of game.
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I think Tatum shoots more threes and Brown shoots more long twos than anything else.
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I think that was the real reason why Brown was let go.
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They wanted to play a different style of basketball.
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I don't know if it's gonna still be the same style of basketball that was played the last three or four seasons with Joe Mazzula at the helm, but I do believe that what we're looking at right now is that they are pivoting, and I think they want to skew.
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They're not gonna skew younger this year because of Paul George, but I think at some point they want to skew younger.
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Uh, they want to get uh contracts that are more controllable, that are more reasonable for them, but they don't get that relief for another two years.
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So you can't tell me that this was a a right now issue.
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You can tell me that you're preparing for the future, and there's no Boston fan that I know of that really gives a rat's ass about what's gonna happen in two years.
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Here's the other point that I want to make to this.
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In your saving of money in two years, not right now, not this moment, not when the season starts, in two years, is that gonna ultimately cost you JC Tatum?
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How frustrated is this guy gonna be if for some reason he's the one who holds the keys to the castle, but he doesn't have any knights and he doesn't have any army to help him win the ultimate prize, which is the NBA championship.
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Now I will say this about Philly and Jalen Brown with Brown Maxie MB and now he's not a rookie going into his second year, VJ Edgecomb, who needs touches to develop still.
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That's a lot of miles to feed at one table.
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Nick Nurse will have to manage this with real finesse as or it will turn into a shot distribution problem by Thanksgiving.
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Boston didn't lose Jalen Brown because he stopped being great, they lost him because great got too expensive to stack twice, and optionality is just a nicer word for budget problem.
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Don't build a fully armed operational battle station and then act surprised when the budget office comes for it.
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You know, you you sit there and you and I'm gonna tell you right now, this is a Bill Chisholm situation, and his uh private equity group that that's behind him.
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Them dudes is crunching the numbers and saying, Hey, hey, we we gotta we gotta cut costs a little bit.
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We gotta figure this out.
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And I'm gonna tell you right now, it's gonna get real loud in Boston when the product on the court is going in a downward, you know, cycle.
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It will be a real problem.
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Optionality is a nicer word for we can't afford both of them anymore.
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That's what you should have just said, and you should have said that thanks to Bill Chisholm and Sixth Street, you know, private equity, this is where we are.
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Now, obviously, Brad Stevens would have lost his job job over something like that, and we don't want that to happen because you know here's the thing: we can judge Brad Stevens on his body of work.
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You can tell me that this trade was awful, and I would 100% agree with you.
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The problem is is that I don't think this came from Brad.
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I don't think this came from Stevens whatsoever.
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I think this was a absolute call from up top, and I don't care what Bill Chisholm tells me, he can tell me all of this stuff that this is a move towards winning down the road.
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This was a move to clear up your budgetary constraints for the next two seasons, you know what I'm saying?
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So this is something that you can tell your shareholders and your board of directors, hey, we're gonna make some cash at the end of this.
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So there is that.
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Now, you won't talk about some cash.
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Let's talk about Donovan Mitchell.
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Donovan Mitchell had the leverage to wait another year and sign for $353 million next summer, but he gave the Cavaliers a break, and he signed this season, taking on a he signed a $273 million extension ext instead.
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And again, I was wrong.
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I was wrong on this one.
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I had the situation trending toward Mitchell asking out after two disappointing playoff runs that ended abruptly had me thinking the frustration was gonna build towards a trade request, not a nine-figure vote of confidence.
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So this raises two real questions.
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Does Donovan Mitchell know another domino is about to fall?
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Is LeBron landing in Cleveland?
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Or is this just a just a faith in Kobe Altman and Kenny Atkinson to build the right thing around him?
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So let's get into the numbers.
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My man signed a four-year extension for $273 million that does not kick in until the 2027-28 year.
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This includes a $75 million player option when Donovan Mitchell hits 34 years of age.
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He left a bigger extension on the table by not waiting.
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Mitchell in April on record, he said this organization that's willing to do anything for its players.
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Uh, it was direct, it was uh something that you sit there and you go, his verbiage has always said like he wanted to stay.
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This wasn't something like PR put in his head, this is something that you got from Donovan Mitchell himself.
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Now, what is the Cleveland Cavaliers getting with Donovan Donovan Mitchell?
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Well, they're getting a lot.
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I mean he is a almost a 27 point per game guy over five assists four and a half rebounds a game and one and a half steals a game on 46 well damn near 47% shooting across 264 games since the trade playoffs every year and now confirm the first true deep playoff run ever after LeBron you know saying betting on a smaller guarantee now versus a bigger one one year later is a differentiator between this situation this dude craves stability he also again must love where he's at in Cleveland this is a win for the front office of Cleveland this is a win for that uh for that franchise it's a win for the Cleveland fans because you your guy left money on the table.
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He left money on the table.
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Jokic didn't is not going to do this.
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Jokic is going to sign the contract next year, and he's gonna get the 353 million.
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Our guy left like 80 million on the table.
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So Donovan Mitchell should be uh applauded for his uh his virtue towards the Cleveland Cavaliers for this situation.
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Now, I will say this, he has been snake-bit in the playoffs.
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His Cleveland era, his Cleveland era playoff averages are still stellar, 27.3 points a game.
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He's shooting uh 52.1 uh effective field goal percentage, 2.6 turnovers, it beats his Utah era, not in points, but if you look at it, it's a little more efficient.
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He was averaged 28.3 points a game in Utah with an effective field goal percentage of five point uh 50.4, and he also averaged like a half a turnover more, so his efficiency and his ball handling have gone up in Cleveland.
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So what does this that basically tell you?
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That tells you two things.
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One, he's grown as a player, and two, he trusts his teammates, and his teammates have you know rewarded him with their with his trust.
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Now, this is what I also will say a full year of James Harden, another full season of both bigs and real continuity for once.
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Can this version of the Cleveland Cavaliers actually make the run that the Cleveland fans have been wanting?
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I'm still skeptical.
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Me, Vince Carter, host of Front Runner Podcast Collective, Cleveland, you can sing all your hate towards me.
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And the reason why I say that is it's not about the roster construction as it sits today, and it's not about Mitchell's game.
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The numbers above say it all.
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He's trending up, and I'm not just sold on the roster around him that's getting caught that's caught up yet.
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And the reason why I say that is I don't think I've had real high expectations for Evan Mobley, and I don't know if he'll ever be more assertive than he is now, and that really bothers me because I expected this dude to be Chris Bosch-esque, okay?
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Not Chris Bosch himself, but Chris Bosch-esque.
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And I just don't know if he'll ever get there, and I think if the Cavaliers want to go where they do want to go, kind of waiting on LeBron James seems to be something of a sticking point.
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And here's the one thing I will say if LeBron James is willing to go ahead and take that like that tertiary road of role, well, tertiary road of a role player in Cleveland, where he doesn't have to score 20 points a game, and whatever the case may be, and he can give some more effort on the defensive end, he's going to be an upgrade from Max Struce.
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Now, I'm worried about the spacing in Cleveland, you know, because Evan Mobley, even though he shoots threes, he doesn't shoot them at a volume that scares anybody to have to like really rotate out to him.
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So that's a problem, but we'll see.
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Every artist got the album where they finally sound like themselves.
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The one where the singles stop feeling like warmups.
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Cleveland is betting on last season's conference or conference final run and was Donovan Mitchell's version of that album.
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And they just signed him to make three more like it.
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I'm not fully bought in yet.
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It's whether the roster has the features to back him up.
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And here's the one thing I am going to say.
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I have my right to change my mind anytime I want on this particular situation because the sticking point, and we'll get to a little bit later.
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Go ahead and drink on that.
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I know I say that a lot, but we will get to a little bit later because we're going to talk about LeBron and what's going on with him.
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The tension.
00:28:17.359 --> 00:28:20.640
Here's the thing that I want to say about Donovan Mitchell.
00:28:20.640 --> 00:28:29.279
He's getting paid like he's already won a championship with this extension.
00:28:29.279 --> 00:28:37.839
This is a belief that there'll be a Larry O'Brien trophy in that building sometime in the near future.
00:28:37.839 --> 00:28:47.599
That is a big bet on Donovan Mitchell as a player, as a leader, and as a person.
00:28:47.599 --> 00:28:56.480
Now, do I think all of those three things have the capability of getting an NBA championship to Cleveland?
00:28:56.480 --> 00:28:58.079
100% I do.
00:28:58.079 --> 00:29:00.880
My thing is this.
00:29:00.880 --> 00:29:10.799
What are you getting from James Harden and what are you getting from Evan Mowgli to help him achieve this goal?
00:29:10.799 --> 00:29:15.519
Because it will take those two guys, even if.
00:29:15.519 --> 00:29:19.519
Now LeBron comes, whole different story.
00:29:19.519 --> 00:29:23.279
We can talk about how that makeup of that roster looks then.
00:29:23.279 --> 00:29:28.160
But for right now, we just got to go off the roster that we have right now.
00:29:28.160 --> 00:29:46.480
Speaking of the Eastern Conference and dominance, our guy Jalen Brunson, who just won a title, playing through a torn up left wrist on his shooting on his shooting hand, nobody knew up until the surgery that got confirmed after the parade.
00:29:46.480 --> 00:29:52.960
This dude averaged 28.4 a night through the run.
00:29:52.960 --> 00:30:03.519
He dropped 45 in the closeout game and walked away with the finals MVP with his hand quietly falling apart the whole time.
00:30:03.519 --> 00:30:22.000
Now he's doing it with one hand tied behind his back, literally.
00:30:22.000 --> 00:30:35.920
For the New York Knicks fans, who are still basking in the glow of the NBA championship after 53 years.
00:30:35.920 --> 00:30:40.640
His postseason splits by month tell the whole story.
00:30:40.640 --> 00:30:49.839
In April, he shot 52.4% effective field goal percentage with a 56.9 true shooting percentage.
00:30:49.839 --> 00:30:58.559
Then in May, he shot 54% effective field goal percentage and 60.8 true shooting percentage.
00:30:58.559 --> 00:31:02.319
A plus 17.8 with him on the floor.
00:31:02.319 --> 00:31:09.920
Then in June, finals month, effective field goal percentage craters to 47.4%.
00:31:09.920 --> 00:31:13.599
True shooting percentage drops to 53.6%.
00:31:13.599 --> 00:31:19.519
And the plus minus collapsed to one to uh a positive 1.6.
00:31:19.519 --> 00:31:27.599
Now here's the twist: his scoring average went up to a series high 32.6 in June.
00:31:27.599 --> 00:31:28.720
You know what I'm saying?
00:31:28.720 --> 00:31:37.279
He scored more and got less efficient at the same time with his team's margins shrinking around him.
00:31:37.279 --> 00:31:43.279
That's the box score fingerprint of a guy playing through a wrecked shooting hand.
00:31:43.279 --> 00:32:02.960
We got more stats for you that we, you know, we pulled his field goal percentage in these playoffs, was sitting at 47.2%, with the is a 58 percentile below his 2023 postseason peak of 52.7, which was 71st percentile.
00:32:02.960 --> 00:32:13.519
His three-coin stroke actually held up fine, 36.3%, which is 51st percentile mid-pack for his career.
00:32:13.519 --> 00:32:23.680
So this wasn't the shot being gone, it was specifically the contested shots at the rim, pressured looks, getting harder.
00:32:23.680 --> 00:32:28.079
That's consistent with his wrist issue, not a slump.
00:32:28.079 --> 00:32:31.359
This is the Rocky training montage in reverse.
00:32:31.359 --> 00:32:35.839
Rocky got months to get right before the fight.
00:32:35.839 --> 00:32:42.799
Brunson showed up every night for two months and manned up.
00:32:42.799 --> 00:32:58.000
And he just rolled through the Eastern Conference and then got to the NBA finals and just continued to come back on San Antonio.
00:32:58.000 --> 00:33:01.039
And this is what I want to say about that.
00:33:01.039 --> 00:33:06.640
Jalen Brunson and the Knicks reminded me a lot of the chick for the ring.
00:33:06.640 --> 00:33:07.920
What is it, Samira?
00:33:07.920 --> 00:33:11.599
She never sleeps.
00:33:11.599 --> 00:33:14.480
She never sleeps.
00:33:14.480 --> 00:33:22.960
And as much as San Antonio came out like a house on fire, it was never enough.
00:33:22.960 --> 00:33:31.680
It it didn't matter what lead you had, it was gone, it was gone by the end of the fourth quarter, baby.
00:33:31.680 --> 00:33:35.680
Because Brunson and the Knicks walked you down.
00:33:35.680 --> 00:33:44.000
Now, here's the other thing with him, and just just you know, again.
00:33:44.000 --> 00:33:49.039
I'm so impressed with Jalen Brunson in so many ways.
00:33:49.039 --> 00:33:51.519
The four-year averages are ridiculous.
00:33:51.519 --> 00:34:00.880
26.3 points per game, 6.8 assists a game, back-to-back east final trips, and now a title.
00:34:00.880 --> 00:34:07.680
This isn't a one-series fluke, it's sustained four-year climb to a franchise great.
00:34:07.680 --> 00:34:14.400
And he did it the hardest part of it, very compromised.
00:34:14.400 --> 00:34:30.239
Now, the injury might have been a mystery, but what we're hearing from leave sources is they expect him to resume basketball activities late in the summer, and it shouldn't uh linger into camp.
00:34:30.239 --> 00:34:35.119
Pair that with the June dip, and Reed is clean.
00:34:35.119 --> 00:34:43.039
This is an is a basically an in-season injury he played through, not a chronic issue that's gonna build enough for years.
00:34:43.039 --> 00:34:51.039
The great thing about that is that Knicks fans, your boy will be back on the court as the season starts.
00:34:51.039 --> 00:34:53.760
That's what they are saying right now.
00:34:53.760 --> 00:34:54.880
We'll see.
00:34:54.880 --> 00:35:00.559
I believe that's listen, Brunson is a hard worker, he's a dedicated dude.
00:35:00.559 --> 00:35:05.119
He puts a lot of time into his um preparation to get ready for the season.
00:35:05.119 --> 00:35:11.119
He's a complete Iron Man, and uh I expect him to be back on the court post-haste.
00:35:11.119 --> 00:35:16.079
The Knicks ran it back with basically the same roster for a reason.
00:35:16.079 --> 00:35:18.880
Why break up the team that just won it all?
00:35:18.880 --> 00:35:23.039
And their best player being hurt.
00:35:23.039 --> 00:35:27.440
The real story isn't that Brunson gutted it out for the title.
00:35:27.440 --> 00:35:41.119
The June numbers prove it cost him something real down the stretch, which makes him fully healthy and Brunson next spring genuinely scary proposition for the rest of the East.
00:35:41.119 --> 00:35:44.960
So I'm gonna say this right now.
00:35:44.960 --> 00:35:50.719
The Knicks, I'm not saying they're gonna repeat.
00:35:50.719 --> 00:35:58.239
I think there are a lot of teams that are building up to to go ahead and and challenge them.
00:35:58.239 --> 00:36:04.559
But tell me a team that's better prepared for what they need to do.
00:36:04.559 --> 00:36:12.000
Cause I think that what we also saw is the emergence of of OG and Anobi.
00:36:12.000 --> 00:36:16.880
And I think that he played such a critical role, not just with the block.
00:36:16.880 --> 00:36:22.239
I mean the block was the block was special on the tip end was even more special.
00:36:22.239 --> 00:36:35.440
But when you needed him to step up and put some points on the board, and then continue to play the stellar defense that he normally plays, he did that.
00:36:35.440 --> 00:36:40.800
Now you lost Mitchell Robinson, you gained Andre Drummond.
00:36:40.800 --> 00:36:48.400
We'll see how much of a a downgrade that is, or or if it's kind of like a rock steady even situation.
00:36:48.400 --> 00:36:54.639
But as far as your core is concerned, it's the same.
00:36:54.639 --> 00:37:02.639
And it got another year of continuity, and now it has what we call NBA finals confidence.
00:37:02.639 --> 00:37:07.920
We got championship swagger, and we walking into this year.
00:37:07.920 --> 00:37:10.559
So good luck with that.
00:37:10.559 --> 00:37:14.400
Good luck with the East dealing with that.
00:37:14.400 --> 00:37:19.440
Basically, Josh Hart is still gonna be a maniac.
00:37:19.440 --> 00:37:23.760
But I want to caution New York Dicks fans this way.
00:37:23.760 --> 00:37:27.840
There's a team that's lurking out there.
00:37:27.840 --> 00:37:31.199
Maybe a team that you forgot about.
00:37:31.199 --> 00:37:33.599
And that's the Indiana Pacers.
00:37:33.599 --> 00:37:41.360
Now the Indiana Pacers, they picked up Kelly O'gray during this uh free agency frenzy that we got going on.
00:37:41.360 --> 00:37:50.000
Uh two years, 16.5 million guaranteed to solve a problem that Chad Buchanan named out loud last week.
00:37:50.000 --> 00:37:51.679
No size on the wing.
00:37:51.679 --> 00:38:08.800
Ougre's 6'8, and he is a band scorer, he's a cutter, and which matters a lot when you have a healthy, healthy Tyrese Halliburton finally back from missing all of last year with a tornado Achilles.
00:38:08.800 --> 00:38:11.760
Also, my guy got shingles last year.
00:38:11.760 --> 00:38:14.000
It's been a hard year for our guy.
00:38:14.000 --> 00:38:23.440
Do not sleep on a team that also acquired Ivica Zubots during the trade deadline.
00:38:23.440 --> 00:38:29.840
Now, did it cost them a high drawdy uh a high draft lottery pick last year?
00:38:29.840 --> 00:38:31.039
Yes, it did.
00:38:31.039 --> 00:38:41.440
But you're getting Tyrese Halliburton healthy and Avisa Zubat healthy back into the lineup.
00:38:41.440 --> 00:39:00.239
Now, with everybody chasing LeBron and his sweepstakes, let me give you some things that I want to kind of give back to you as far as people who are trying to figure out what supremacy in the East is going to look like.
00:39:00.239 --> 00:39:03.199
Kelly Ugray Jr.
00:39:03.199 --> 00:39:22.000
last year was 14.1 points per game on a slash line of 46.7% field goal percentage, 36% three-point shooting percentage, and 76.6 percentage from the free throw line.
00:39:22.000 --> 00:39:26.960
41 of his 50 games were starts.
00:39:26.960 --> 00:39:30.320
He played 31.5 minutes a night.
00:39:30.320 --> 00:39:32.639
This wasn't a bench cameo.
00:39:32.639 --> 00:39:35.360
This was a near full-time role.
00:39:35.360 --> 00:39:40.880
In Indiana, he's going to be a bench scorer.
00:39:40.880 --> 00:39:47.519
He's going to come off and he's going to play significantly less minutes than he did last year.
00:39:47.519 --> 00:40:00.000
But this his ability to slash and score and then stand out by the three-point line is going to be absolutely critical to the Pacers team.
00:40:00.000 --> 00:40:05.920
Now I will say his three-point percentage of 36% is a career high.
00:40:05.920 --> 00:40:10.960
That means his stroke is trending up.
00:40:10.960 --> 00:40:13.119
I like that feature.
00:40:13.119 --> 00:40:20.960
Over his 11-year career, he's played in 705 games.
00:40:20.960 --> 00:40:24.239
He's averaged 13.3 points a game.
00:40:24.239 --> 00:40:27.840
His field goal percentage is about 44%.
00:40:27.840 --> 00:40:32.639
His career three-point shooting is 32.7%.
00:40:32.639 --> 00:40:38.719
And he's very close to what his his free throw percentage is from last year.
00:40:38.719 --> 00:40:46.719
The reason why I'm telling you that is that a lot of things are trending up.
00:40:46.719 --> 00:40:50.480
And now also you're going to tell me that he's going to get better shots.
00:40:50.480 --> 00:40:53.280
The one thing that I will say about Kelly Ubre Jr.
00:40:53.280 --> 00:40:53.679
is this.
00:40:53.679 --> 00:40:55.920
He's played on some god-awful teams.
00:40:55.920 --> 00:40:59.599
He played on a pretty good team with Philadelphia last year.
00:40:59.599 --> 00:41:04.960
This year he's playing on an Indiana team that is getting Tyrese Halliburton back.
00:41:04.960 --> 00:41:07.599
And they'll have their full complement of players.
00:41:07.599 --> 00:41:16.320
Plus, they will also have the just bruising brute Avisa Zubots also in the mix.
00:41:16.320 --> 00:41:26.079
Now you want to talk about what he is, his positional size at 6'8, um for a wing.
00:41:26.079 --> 00:41:34.639
The league benchmark is 6'6, 211 pounds, and we got this dude at 6'8.
00:41:34.639 --> 00:41:45.119
He also is a cutter of the highest level, which will help Halliburton in live ball situations.
00:41:45.119 --> 00:41:55.119
We know what Halliburton's vision is like, and he stylistically fits the cutting frequency of the Indiana Pacers.
00:41:55.119 --> 00:41:57.760
Keep moving, keep moving at with pace.
00:41:57.760 --> 00:42:02.639
This is the type of thing that our guy, Rick Carlisle, loves to have.
00:42:02.639 --> 00:42:04.639
So he's getting, guess what?
00:42:04.639 --> 00:42:09.519
Our fame our most famous word of the week.
00:42:09.519 --> 00:42:10.960
Optionality.
00:42:10.960 --> 00:42:17.440
Now, what does this do for Jarrett Walker?
00:42:17.440 --> 00:42:20.400
This might be the end for our guy.
00:42:20.400 --> 00:42:23.519
I was I had high hopes for him coming out of Houston.
00:42:23.519 --> 00:42:26.320
It just never clicked, as far as that's concerned.
00:42:26.320 --> 00:42:36.719
Now, he did score 11.6 points per game because he actually got some run last year on 25.7 minutes.
00:42:36.719 --> 00:42:40.559
And he also chipped in with 41 starts.
00:42:40.559 --> 00:42:44.000
The last season was awful for Indiana.
00:42:44.000 --> 00:42:46.400
They just kept getting injured.
00:42:46.400 --> 00:42:50.719
People in and out of the lineup, no kick cohesiveness whatsoever.
00:42:50.719 --> 00:42:58.800
So I am really looking forward to seeing what they're going to look like this uh next offseason or next season.
00:42:58.800 --> 00:43:01.039
Also, the same thing for Ben Shepherd.
00:43:01.039 --> 00:43:03.599
He's going to lose some time off of this situation.
00:43:03.599 --> 00:43:10.480
This deal pushes Indiana 6.5.5 million dollars over the luxury tax.
00:43:10.480 --> 00:43:12.960
Uh 1 million below the first apron.
00:43:12.960 --> 00:43:14.480
Doesn't matter.
00:43:14.480 --> 00:43:23.199
Because at the end of the day, you are looking at a championship, you know, or bus type of team.
00:43:23.199 --> 00:43:27.360
This is why they let go of Miles Turner last year.
00:43:27.360 --> 00:43:33.039
But they replaced him with something even more awesome.
00:43:33.039 --> 00:43:44.000
Because when you get a Visa Zubots, now again, first round picks, all that very I can understand what we're talking about.
00:43:44.000 --> 00:43:49.760
But what a Visa Zoobots gives him is a physical presence in the lane.
00:43:49.760 --> 00:43:52.880
He's a decent, he's a good shot blocker.
00:43:52.880 --> 00:43:59.280
He's also going to be a good target for our guy, uh Tyrese Hatlenburton, and also.
00:43:59.280 --> 00:44:04.480
A visa Zubat sets bone crushing picks.
00:44:04.480 --> 00:44:10.159
Like these picks are going to be physical.
00:44:10.159 --> 00:44:13.519
My man is not out here playing games.
00:44:13.519 --> 00:44:39.360
He's out here to make sure that he gets Tyrese Halligan a real release cost to be able to get into the lane, put pressure on the paint, and then allow the defense to be able to collapse on him so then he can make a move to shoot it out, to shoot to kick it out to shooters who are sitting on the wing.
00:44:39.360 --> 00:44:47.199
So I am really high on what this team, uh, the roster construct is of this team.
00:44:47.199 --> 00:44:55.840
I am obviously even more thrilled that Tyree Talliburton is back, which is great.
00:44:55.840 --> 00:44:59.760
I'm gonna take a sip of coffee because my throat is about to close.
00:44:59.760 --> 00:45:02.960
Everybody's obsessing about LeBron where he lands.
00:45:02.960 --> 00:45:10.079
Meanwhile, Indiana quietly assembles a top-tier East roster without needing him.
00:45:10.079 --> 00:45:25.679
Zubats inside, Ubre in top and coming off the bench, McConnell with McConnell running the second unit and a healthy Tyrese Halleckburton to go in and then slot everybody back into their position again.
00:45:25.679 --> 00:45:45.039
So our guy, Nim Hard, not gonna have to shoot it as much, our guy Neesmith playing crazy defense, and Pascal Siakum being the bet being one of the better uh Robins to Tyrese's Batman that we have in the league.
00:45:45.039 --> 00:45:55.119
Again, to all the Eastern Conference teams out there, I understand that the Pacers weren't a factor last year.
00:45:55.119 --> 00:45:58.800
You can best believe they're gonna be a factor this year.
00:45:58.800 --> 00:46:02.159
Oh, and then they got also uh Larry Nance Jr.
00:46:02.159 --> 00:46:07.599
as a backup big, so we'll see what that looks like as well.
00:46:07.599 --> 00:46:18.239
You're not gonna need a lot from him, but just in case, another live body, not gonna ask him to do much, but damn.
00:46:18.239 --> 00:46:22.239
Now, let's talk about the Clippers real quick, shall we?
00:46:22.239 --> 00:46:26.480
As you know, Kawhi Leonard is back in Toronto.
00:46:26.480 --> 00:46:33.199
The aspiration cap circumvention grueling is still hanging out there unresolved.
00:46:33.199 --> 00:46:40.000
The Clippers are turning the page whether they're fully ready to or not.
00:46:40.000 --> 00:46:58.000
What they got back in retiring, Brandon Ingram is a very good player, but he is not Kawhi, he's never impacted winning anywhere close to his predecessor, and for someone as long as Ingram, you think he would cause havoc on the defensive end.
00:46:58.000 --> 00:47:05.360
We have not seen that part of Ingram's game really since his like rookie season with the Lakers.
00:47:05.360 --> 00:47:12.559
Now, let's give you some stats that kind of hold hold this all to be true.
00:47:12.559 --> 00:47:20.320
Over the last seven years, Leonard's Clippers numbers are ridiculous.
00:47:20.320 --> 00:47:29.280
When he's in the lineup, they have a winning percentage of 65.6% without him, they're 48.4%.
00:47:29.280 --> 00:47:33.760
Obviously, they are better with him than without him.
00:47:33.760 --> 00:47:42.559
Tyloo's Clippers 11 out of 13 head-to-head.
00:47:42.559 --> 00:47:47.920
He averaged 22 points per game while shooting 51.4% shooting.
00:47:47.920 --> 00:47:58.880
And but his first season in Toronto and his last season in Toronto, the Clippers held him to 30 30 37 points on 31 shots.
00:47:58.880 --> 00:48:04.159
That is bad efficiency over two games.
00:48:04.159 --> 00:48:09.760
His assist to turnover ratio was six to eight.
00:48:09.760 --> 00:48:11.199
Not great.
00:48:11.199 --> 00:48:13.360
Small cycle size, right?
00:48:13.360 --> 00:48:18.719
Here's the thing that I want to everybody to understand.
00:48:18.719 --> 00:48:29.280
Ingram has posted a defensive box plus minus for every season he has played in this league in a negative situation.
00:48:29.280 --> 00:48:30.079
Okay?
00:48:30.079 --> 00:48:37.199
He has never had a positive defensive box plus minus in his entire career.
00:48:37.199 --> 00:48:42.320
His career steal percentage is 1.1.
00:48:42.320 --> 00:48:49.199
Well below plus defender wing norms for a player his size.
00:48:49.199 --> 00:48:54.159
This is exactly the number that I was worried about.
00:48:54.159 --> 00:49:00.960
His length has never translated into this defensive disruption at all.
00:49:00.960 --> 00:49:03.599
It's not one year blip.
00:49:03.599 --> 00:49:05.519
This is his entire career.
00:49:05.519 --> 00:49:15.199
Both of Ingram's last two teams defending better with him off the floor than with him on it.
00:49:15.199 --> 00:49:18.559
And the Clippers will have to hide him.
00:49:18.559 --> 00:49:22.000
Um, and here's the best card.
00:49:22.000 --> 00:49:28.480
He was on a team last year with uh Colin Mark Murray Boy Boyles.
00:49:28.480 --> 00:49:30.400
Uh say that three times fast.
00:49:30.400 --> 00:49:41.760
Colin Murray Boyles, Scotty Barnes, RJ Barrett, who's I would say a at least a break-even type of defender.
00:49:41.760 --> 00:49:44.719
Actually, he was more of a plus defender last year.
00:49:44.719 --> 00:49:55.679
And now you're telling me that Brandon Ingram is going to have like assignments where he's going to be guarding like Kevin Durant, Luca Doncic, maybe.
00:49:55.679 --> 00:49:57.440
You know what I'm saying?
00:49:57.440 --> 00:50:01.360
Like he's gonna have to guard Lori Marketing.
00:50:01.360 --> 00:50:15.599
Oh, don't forget the three terrors that are on San Antonio of Stefan Castle, Devin Vassell, Dylan Harper.
00:50:15.599 --> 00:50:23.440
I mean, this is going to be hard for our guy, Brandon Ingram.
00:50:23.440 --> 00:50:28.400
Because he's gonna have to average like 32 to 36 minutes a game.
00:50:28.400 --> 00:50:31.440
That means that he's gonna be on the quarter lot.
00:50:31.440 --> 00:50:35.039
And if he's on the quarter lot, guess what?
00:50:35.039 --> 00:50:37.760
Teams are gonna seek him out.
00:50:37.760 --> 00:50:49.840
Now, what the Clippers are losing with Leonard, Leonard posted positive deep defensive box plus or minus every season on record.
00:50:49.840 --> 00:51:00.159
So he was he was plus 0.9 plus 0.6 plus 0.6 plus 0.6.
00:51:00.159 --> 00:51:19.039
He averaged his career average is plus one point eight with a career steals percentage of 2.7, nearly a full point above his 2025-2026 usage similar level.
00:51:19.039 --> 00:51:28.000
Next to Ingram's negative 0.7 career average defensive box plus minus.
00:51:28.000 --> 00:51:46.480
And I understand that the salaries might have matched and what have you.
00:51:46.480 --> 00:51:55.039
But I am re I mean, I'm not saying they would have gave you Colin Murray Boyle.
00:51:55.039 --> 00:51:56.559
I'm not saying that.
00:51:56.559 --> 00:51:58.639
But I think I would have asked for something else.
00:51:58.639 --> 00:52:04.880
I think I would have, I don't know what I would have asked for, but we will see.
00:52:04.880 --> 00:52:07.039
Also, here's the other thing.
00:52:07.039 --> 00:52:11.280
You got Darius Garland on that team, and I love Darius Garland.
00:52:11.280 --> 00:52:12.960
I think he's a really good player.
00:52:12.960 --> 00:52:22.400
The problem is that he is six foot one, and him being six foot one, he is going to be absolutely hunted.
00:52:22.400 --> 00:52:39.199
And if you don't have somebody who is defensive minded on the wing, which we have been waiting for Brandon Ingram to show us this his entire career, and he has not, you're gonna have some issues on the defensive end.
00:52:39.199 --> 00:52:41.039
That's just what it's gonna be.
00:52:41.039 --> 00:52:57.760
Now, where Ingram is very valuable, he shoots 47.1% from the mid-range on 5.4 attempts, which is top three in the in League Y.
00:52:57.760 --> 00:53:02.000
He shoots 52.2% on corner threes.
00:53:02.000 --> 00:53:05.440
He doesn't get to the rim a lot, personally.
00:53:05.440 --> 00:53:15.920
He averages 52 games across eight seasons before this last past season, where he played in a lot more games as far as that's concerned.
00:53:15.920 --> 00:53:19.280
I don't it's a downgrade.
00:53:19.280 --> 00:53:21.280
For sure.
00:53:21.280 --> 00:53:25.199
You don't have a center to really speak of.
00:53:25.199 --> 00:53:33.360
But can he replace some of the productivity that Kawhi left?
00:53:33.360 --> 00:53:34.320
Yes.
00:53:34.320 --> 00:53:35.280
100%.
00:53:35.280 --> 00:53:41.360
Are you getting Keaton Waggler and uh Darius Garland in the backcourt?
00:53:41.360 --> 00:53:43.440
And will that help?
00:53:43.440 --> 00:53:46.159
Maybe a little bit, yes.
00:53:46.159 --> 00:53:54.800
But you still don't have the type of center you need to be uh the the rim protector because Brooke Lopez is old.
00:53:54.800 --> 00:54:11.679
Now he might still be decently effective at the rim, but you know what helps is having strong defensive wings that can help keep dudes out of the paint.
00:54:11.679 --> 00:54:16.079
Just saying.
00:54:16.079 --> 00:54:26.960
Every long running show has a moment where the lead actor leaves and the studio recasts the role.
00:54:26.960 --> 00:54:32.559
Same name, on the call sheet, completely different show.
00:54:32.559 --> 00:54:34.239
That's the Clippers right now.
00:54:34.239 --> 00:54:47.599
Ingram can hit every line Leonard used to hit on offense, but the show DNA was the two-way force that LA was scary in the playoff series.
00:54:47.599 --> 00:54:55.760
Because that's one thing that we always thought of is that with Kawhi, we had no idea what the upside of the Clippers were.
00:54:55.760 --> 00:55:12.400
Now he's walked out the door, went back to Toronto, and the numbers say his midseason replace or his uh his his replacement this year, say there's gonna be a gap.
00:55:12.400 --> 00:55:19.840
Tyron Lewis not directing the same series anymore.
00:55:19.840 --> 00:55:28.480
He's directing a spin-off, and the front court is still an okay casting call because they're gonna need some listen.
00:55:28.480 --> 00:55:30.079
Derek Jones Jr.
00:55:30.079 --> 00:55:31.920
is going to be vital.
00:55:31.920 --> 00:55:40.000
Okay, he is going to be vital to help that defense because Keaton Waggler is a rookie.
00:55:40.000 --> 00:55:53.519
Darius Garland is small and is going to be hunted on pick and roll um actions, and then Brandon Ingram is not obviously Kawhi Leonard.
00:55:53.519 --> 00:56:03.519
And we still don't know what Wayne Brooke Lopez is going to be officially super old and can't play anymore.
00:56:03.519 --> 00:56:09.199
Right now he's still okay, but we'll see how this works out this year.
00:56:09.199 --> 00:56:13.840
Because he is the sands in the hourglass are ticking on our guy.
00:56:13.840 --> 00:56:22.400
So we're gonna get to the LeBron situation.
00:56:22.400 --> 00:56:23.679
Yeah, sir.
00:56:23.679 --> 00:56:25.840
I told you we were.
00:56:25.840 --> 00:56:30.400
So LeBron James obviously still hasn't kicked the team yet.
00:56:30.400 --> 00:56:31.840
We're still waiting.
00:56:31.840 --> 00:56:33.360
The world is waiting.
00:56:33.360 --> 00:56:36.159
He left the Lakers a couple weeks ago.
00:56:36.159 --> 00:56:42.079
Told them, hey, we we're not coming back before the Lakers could tell them we don't want you back.
00:56:42.079 --> 00:56:49.199
Um athlet the the athletic beat writers are checking in with all their sources.
00:56:49.199 --> 00:56:53.440
Shout out to the athletic, because you know I read them a lot.
00:56:53.440 --> 00:57:02.239
The man has an entire NBA free agency in gridlock.
00:57:02.239 --> 00:57:06.000
Denver clearly needs to make moves and hasn't.
00:57:06.000 --> 00:57:13.840
The Lakers now are starting to announce some of their signings because what they're doing is saying we can't wait.
00:57:13.840 --> 00:57:15.119
We can't wait on this.
00:57:15.119 --> 00:57:16.639
We gotta figure some stuff out.
00:57:16.639 --> 00:57:22.320
They renounced him yesterday so they can go ahead and start signing some of their guys.
00:57:22.320 --> 00:57:27.280
But Gold State is also waiting.
00:57:27.280 --> 00:57:29.599
Philadelphia is waiting.
00:57:29.599 --> 00:57:31.840
New York is waiting.
00:57:31.840 --> 00:57:34.639
Yeah, that's a real story right there.
00:57:34.639 --> 00:57:42.800
So, while all this is going on, Giannis obviously has made his situation official.
00:57:42.800 --> 00:57:44.800
And now here's the other thing with that.
00:57:44.800 --> 00:57:55.760
Giannis almost had a heart attack in the car yesterday or a couple days ago when there was a fake report of LeBron going to the Cleveland Cavaliers.
00:57:55.760 --> 00:57:57.679
He he started to freak out.
00:57:57.679 --> 00:58:02.400
Like he thinks that he has a chance in Miami to get him as well.
00:58:02.400 --> 00:58:06.320
I don't think so, but we'll get to that momentarily.
00:58:06.320 --> 00:58:19.199
Now, around the league, we are sitting here waiting on a guy who is 41 and who's going to be 42 in this season.
00:58:19.199 --> 00:58:23.679
This is year 24 for LeBron James.
00:58:23.679 --> 00:58:39.039
And to think that this man has this type of leverage at this point in his career, that's a testament to how he still is playing the game and how badly these franchises want him.
00:58:39.039 --> 00:58:43.519
So, where do we go from here?
00:58:43.519 --> 00:58:45.360
Let's tell you where we are.
00:58:45.360 --> 00:58:51.039
Okay, Denver can only afford the 3.9 veteran minimal.
00:58:51.039 --> 00:58:56.079
Miami, Philly are also near that same situation.
00:58:56.079 --> 00:59:04.159
The real, every real contender, LeBron's looking at a serious pay cut relative to his value.
00:59:04.159 --> 00:59:09.360
This isn't market, it's a legacy tour with a discount sticker.
00:59:09.360 --> 00:59:24.960
Now, Jokic told reporters in Belgrade he plans to re-sign with the Denver Nuggets long term, removing is this even real timeline a risk for LeBron if he picks the Nuggets.
00:59:24.960 --> 00:59:37.519
Listen, our guy Jokic doesn't care whether LeBron's coming, not coming, gonna play for the Monsters, going to play for the Holland Glow Trotters, is he gonna join the WNBA?
00:59:37.519 --> 00:59:38.559
He doesn't care.
00:59:38.559 --> 00:59:41.360
All Jokic cares about is two things.
00:59:41.360 --> 00:59:44.480
One, his horses.
00:59:44.480 --> 00:59:55.039
Two, I'm getting paid $353 million when I sign on the dotted line this time next year.
00:59:55.039 --> 00:59:57.519
That's what our guy Jokic is talking about.
00:59:57.519 --> 00:59:58.719
Alright.
00:59:58.719 --> 01:00:17.199
Minnesota still is opening up or keeping open up rocture spots to keep LeBron on their altar where he is going to pick them.
01:00:17.199 --> 01:00:30.400
Philly fit case leans on the open power forward spot and the mutual respect with Maxie and the King.
01:00:30.400 --> 01:00:38.559
But their own Greek writer says it's probably not enough to make Philadelphia the favorite, even with Jalen Brown already at it.
01:00:38.559 --> 01:00:43.440
What do you get in LeGron?
01:00:43.440 --> 01:00:45.679
Well, he's gonna miss some games.
01:00:45.679 --> 01:00:47.599
Okay, he missed 22 last year.
01:00:47.599 --> 01:00:48.960
He played 60.
01:00:48.960 --> 01:00:51.519
Now, he's still a brawler.
01:00:51.519 --> 01:00:54.559
20.9 points per game.
01:00:54.559 --> 01:00:59.280
He shot 51.5% field goal percentage.
01:00:59.280 --> 01:01:03.119
He had an effective field goal percentage of 55.7.
01:01:03.119 --> 01:01:08.000
He averaged 7.2 assists a game on three turnovers.
01:01:08.000 --> 01:01:09.440
So he was a 2.1.
01:01:09.440 --> 01:01:13.039
He was a 2 to 1 turnover ratio.
01:01:13.039 --> 01:01:19.760
Actually, it was more like 2.4 to 1 turnover ratio.
01:01:19.760 --> 01:01:23.360
He had an all-star nod.
01:01:23.360 --> 01:01:29.840
He didn't have any MVP votes, nor all NBA votes for the first time in ages.
01:01:29.840 --> 01:01:37.360
The scoring is down significantly, but that's because his role changed in Los Angeles last year.
01:01:37.360 --> 01:01:44.880
His assists towards his career were not that far off.
01:01:44.880 --> 01:01:50.320
He had 7.2 assists versus his career average of 7.4.
01:01:50.320 --> 01:01:53.440
His turnovers were actually down.
01:01:53.440 --> 01:01:59.920
He only averaged 3.3 turnovers a game to his career of 3.5.
01:01:59.920 --> 01:02:10.480
So as far as ball handling, distribution of the ball, all good signs there.
01:02:10.480 --> 01:02:29.440
Isn't just a recruiting angle, it's the most accurate description of what LeBron's tape already looks like.
01:02:29.440 --> 01:02:32.480
That's the thing.
01:02:32.480 --> 01:02:39.280
LeBron begrudgingly played the third option role in Los Angeles.
01:02:39.280 --> 01:02:45.199
Now, when the when the Lakers needed him in the playoffs, guess what?
01:02:45.199 --> 01:02:52.559
He reverted back to the number one option because Luca and Austin Reeves were hurt in that first round series.
01:02:52.559 --> 01:03:12.480
With that being said, if you go to Philadelphia, you are playing a role, my guy, because you got Maxie, you got Jalen Brown, you got Joel MB, so you are like the fourth member of the four tops.
01:03:12.480 --> 01:03:13.760
You know what I'm saying?
01:03:13.760 --> 01:03:15.599
Like you are that guy.
01:03:15.599 --> 01:03:18.239
Is that going to be enough for you?
01:03:18.239 --> 01:03:39.840
Now, if you go to Cleveland with what we talked about earlier with Evan Mobley, the playoff struggles of James Harden, does LeBron James play a more significant role in Cleveland than he would any other place?
01:03:39.840 --> 01:03:40.320
Right?
01:03:40.320 --> 01:03:42.559
So we got Philly looking at him.
01:03:42.559 --> 01:03:44.400
We got the Knicks looking at him.
01:03:44.400 --> 01:03:50.400
If he was playing for the Knicks, he's definitely not going to be the first or second option there.
01:03:50.400 --> 01:03:56.719
With Carl Anthony Towns and Jalen Brunson in the building and a title already won.
01:03:56.719 --> 01:04:01.360
In Miami, he's going to be the third option there.
01:04:01.360 --> 01:04:04.400
Because you got Giannis and Bam.
01:04:04.400 --> 01:04:06.079
Denver.
01:04:06.079 --> 01:04:18.000
If they keep Murray, if they keep Jamal Murray, you know, he is going to be the third option there.
01:04:18.000 --> 01:04:21.039
Oh, by the way, Peyton Watson is still there, too.
01:04:21.039 --> 01:04:28.480
Not saying that Peyton Watson is going to be that guy, but at the end of the day, who the hell knows?
01:04:28.480 --> 01:04:39.519
At Golden State, that's the only other team to me where he could be like a secondary role player.
01:04:39.519 --> 01:04:45.840
So what I mean by that is that Steph is still going to hold the keys to the castle there, obviously.
01:04:45.840 --> 01:04:54.800
But Jimmy Butler's not going to be there at least until the second half of the season, if not longer down the road.
01:04:54.800 --> 01:05:02.480
So to me, it's Golden State and Cleveland are the two favorites for LeBron James.
01:05:02.480 --> 01:05:05.840
Do I think Cleveland is going to get him?
01:05:05.840 --> 01:05:14.000
I don't think LeBron wants to have on his legacy that I played for four different teams.
01:05:14.000 --> 01:05:35.920
For me to go back to Cleveland, where I grew up, right?
01:05:35.920 --> 01:05:40.400
I played my first seven seasons in the league in Cleveland.
01:05:40.400 --> 01:05:45.519
We, you know, we got to the finals, got destroyed, whatever the case may be.
01:05:45.519 --> 01:05:48.800
Um, I came back, won a title here.
01:05:48.800 --> 01:05:52.960
Now I can come back and finish out my career in Cleveland.
01:05:52.960 --> 01:05:55.280
Storybook shit, all of that.
01:05:55.280 --> 01:05:56.719
You know what I'm talking about.
01:05:56.719 --> 01:05:58.639
It's gonna be magical.
01:05:58.639 --> 01:06:01.599
That's all well and good.
01:06:01.599 --> 01:06:13.679
But I will say this Rich Paul out here making content about his on Max Kellerman and his podcast with a whiteboard.
01:06:13.679 --> 01:06:19.119
Yo, I mean he got all these teams up there.
01:06:19.119 --> 01:06:28.559
He got like conspiracy theories and where's Bigfoot and what is actually going on in Area 51 and all of this other stuff.
01:06:28.559 --> 01:06:37.599
But at the end of the day, the one thing I think LeBron wants is the capability of being like a real decision maker on the court.
01:06:37.599 --> 01:06:38.719
Right?
01:06:38.719 --> 01:06:40.400
Ball in his hands.
01:06:40.400 --> 01:06:42.880
What does Steph do very well?
01:06:42.880 --> 01:06:45.199
Play off the ball.
01:06:45.199 --> 01:06:51.599
He's going to have a better scoring Draymond Green on the court with him in LeBron James.
01:06:51.599 --> 01:06:56.400
Now, what is Donovan Mitchell really good at?
01:06:56.400 --> 01:06:58.239
Playing off ball.
01:06:58.239 --> 01:07:00.320
Yeah, I can play on ball.
01:07:00.320 --> 01:07:02.320
I can play off ball.
01:07:02.320 --> 01:07:22.159
But if you have a bully like LeBron James barreling down the paint area and then kicking it out to Devon to Donovan Mitchell and or James Harden or whatever the case may be, that is going to be better, easier for everybody involved.
01:07:22.159 --> 01:07:27.119
And also it does the thing that matters most to LeBron.
01:07:27.119 --> 01:07:37.440
I have the capability of being a real difference maker on a team that has a chance to win.
01:07:37.440 --> 01:07:49.679
Gold State can give him the luxury of being a ball handling decision maker, but I don't know if it necessarily gives him the um the opportunity to win.
01:07:49.679 --> 01:07:53.119
No shade to my folks in the back.
01:07:53.119 --> 01:08:02.000
But I think you know and I know that LeBron probably wants a chance to win.
01:08:02.000 --> 01:08:04.639
I can't believe that we're here.
01:08:04.639 --> 01:08:17.359
I can't believe that in year 24 or going into year 24 with half the leaks transition uh transaction frozen.
01:08:17.359 --> 01:08:22.960
Draymond Green literally opting out of his guaranteed money on a hunch.
01:08:22.960 --> 01:08:30.800
And everybody going to Vegas, you know what I'm saying?
01:08:30.800 --> 01:08:34.560
Trying to get any morsel of information.
01:08:34.560 --> 01:08:39.279
When will the king make his announcement?
01:08:39.279 --> 01:08:40.720
I don't know.
01:08:40.720 --> 01:08:43.439
But I do know this.
01:08:43.439 --> 01:08:45.920
The Lakers have renounced his rights.
01:08:45.920 --> 01:08:48.560
Meaning like he can go anywhere he wants.
01:08:48.560 --> 01:08:59.119
They did not help him get a higher salary, which means that he's gonna be playing for the veteran minimal more likely than not.
01:08:59.119 --> 01:09:09.680
I think that Draymond can go ahead and resign with the Golden State Warriors because I think he's going home to Cleveland.
01:09:09.680 --> 01:09:14.399
Alright, so we talked our talk.
01:09:14.399 --> 01:09:15.920
We emptied our clip.
01:09:15.920 --> 01:09:18.880
That's what we do here at FRPC.
01:09:18.880 --> 01:09:20.960
Now, do us one favor.
01:09:20.960 --> 01:09:24.800
Share this episode with one person in your group.
01:09:24.800 --> 01:09:30.800
You know, let them know, hey, Frontrunner Podcast Collective dropped another pod.
01:09:30.800 --> 01:09:40.239
It had a lot of jewels in there, had a lot of gems in there that you're gonna need to pick up because we're trying to ride this NBA offseason till the wheels fall off.
01:09:40.239 --> 01:09:51.760
Now, you can check up on us on X, which is at FrontrunnerPC or at socially underscore FRPC.
01:09:51.760 --> 01:09:56.000
Uh our Instagram page is at frontrunnerpc.
01:09:56.000 --> 01:10:08.319
And also check us out on YouTube because we will probably have polls up there, we will have clips up there, we're gonna have the pod and video form up there in the next couple days for show for show.
01:10:08.319 --> 01:10:10.239
So keep that in mind as well.
01:10:10.239 --> 01:10:23.039
And you can get that through FRPC Vince, or you can just put in the little search engine Frontrunner Podcast Collective, and that will also get you to the pay window.
01:10:23.039 --> 01:10:35.920
Now, before we get up out of here, what I want to say is this the best part of you is still you, not your win-loss record, not your timeline, nor your algorithm, just you.
01:10:35.920 --> 01:10:45.520
Now remember to surround yourself with people who actually give you light, the ones who bring you insight, the joy, and the real accountability.
01:10:45.520 --> 01:10:47.520
That's your max deal.
01:10:47.520 --> 01:10:51.119
Appreciate them out loud and do not hesitate.
01:10:51.119 --> 01:10:55.920
Do not wait till later that nobody has promised you.
01:10:55.920 --> 01:10:58.239
We're a hoop family.
01:10:58.239 --> 01:11:02.159
We're gonna get loud, we're gonna be wrong sometimes.
01:11:02.159 --> 01:11:05.600
Hell, I was wrong on the Donovan Mitchell thing.
01:11:05.600 --> 01:11:10.960
But we're gonna come back and we're gonna own it like I did on the Donovan Mitchell thing.
01:11:10.960 --> 01:11:16.239
But we always respect your brain because anyone can yell a take.
01:11:16.239 --> 01:11:19.439
Very few can actually defend a thought.
01:11:19.439 --> 01:11:26.319
So until next episode, keep your mind sharp, your heart open, and your circle tight.
01:11:26.319 --> 01:11:33.760
Protect your peace like cap space and never waste it on bad basketball or bad energy.
01:11:33.760 --> 01:11:38.640
I'm Vince, this is Front Runner Podcast Collective, and we are out.