The OKC Thunder Just Fleeced The Chicago Bulls

The OKC Thunder Just Fleeced The Chicago Bulls

what is crack and fellow thermonuclear aers I am Dan FAL coming at you with the solo podcast the first solo podcast in quite some time lots to talk about and we obviously have to start with the trade between the Chicago Bulls and the Oklahoma City Thunder W was the first to report it it’s just a straightup swap the Thunder is sending Josh giddy to Chicago and the Bulls are sending Alex Caruso to the Thunder we’ll try and break this down by team I will start with uh let’s go with the bulls here this is disastrous for them and I wrote a piece immediately after it’s up at bleach report you go check it out I’ll probably step on the toes of some here of much of what I said there I don’t necessarily take out the stick of dynamite too often like I try to approach things from a level-headed perspective um I eviscerated them because this is just a catastrophic example of asset mismanagement when you look a team that we know reportedly had offers of multiple first round picks from multiple suitors at the trade deadline and there was even this is per will got Le of Chicago Sports I believe recently reported that they could have had a top 10 pick in this year’s draft now you could break this down as do you want a top 10 pick or Josh giddy in like a Josh giddy or top 10 pick in this Draft when not a lot of people are high on this draft class that’s something to get into but I think there’s sort of three layers to this now the idea of the Bulls trading Alex Caruso that’s that’s actually good it implies some resemblance of foresight maybe they checked in and saw he wasn’t going to sign a four-year extension which it’s estimated we have to figure out what the League’s average salary ends up being uh but that could have been around 478 480 was the number that I saw W throw out there so I’m assuming he talks to to Bobby Marx they knew he wouldn’t sign at that number or that if he is willing to sign at that number he didn’t want it to be in Chicago and so moving that play who we all knew was not part of their long-term program if the Bulls were ever going to be great again even though he is an all World Defender himself moving that player is perfectly fine I would argue that it’s the right move and it sort of hints at a level of foresight of self-awareness that the Bulls have not typically shown so I have no issue with moving Al Caruso nor with what it implies that the Bulls might be doing but we will get to that the actual return here you have to look at it Josh giddy he doesn’t turn 22 um until just before the start uh might think it’s August he’ll be 22 next season tips off you’re getting younger here and the Bulls said that they were looking to replace Lonzo ball as part of this I find that hysterical because Lonzo ball hasn’t played more than two years and so now you’re looking to replace him and what efforts did you actually put into looking to replace him over the course of those two years and between Lonzo shooting defense and playmaking Josh giddy is going to repl exactly one of those things in the playmaking I’m open to the idea though that giddy can be much better than what we’ve seen in OKC and he’s had moments this isn’t to paint the picture of Josh giddy sucks as a basketball player you can get into you have to have your own questions about the stuff that’s going that went on off the court the issue here is you are acquiring someone who’s about to be paid again and will probably because of his age be paid more than Alex Caruso now if you think that Josh giddy really has to offer because we saw that jayen Williams we saw that Shay gilis Alexander usurped him in kind of the the feature the ball handler pecking order there’s been talk that the Thunder want to expand Chad Hol grids on ball roll next year you do have case and Wallace so you probably want to develop a little bit more on ball because he can be a little uh he can be too hesitant he’s just much better than Josh giddy ever was on defense so far so yes he slid down the pecking order you now go to a team that I guess is going to feature you prominently prominently but but it becomes a mega issue in the sense that look at what you again look at what you could have had so two first round picks at least or a top 10 pick that would have been under cost control you’re now getting this player as you have to decide whether he’s worth paying and you might have to make that call before he’s ever on the court he’s rookie extension eligible you don’t need to know his max salary he’s not getting it I would imagine they make this wait until restricted free agency so you kind of have a year to let this play out but they’re there are a number of things that could happen here either Josh Giddy underperforms and it doesn’t cost a ton to keep him in which case the trade’s going to look like a dud or he overperforms and you have to pay him a bol load of money at a time when you’re still not good enough to justify just shelling out these massive deals and I think the bigger issue for me here than the fact that they prioritize well and also if you want to be in a situation where you’re prioritizing forget about it being Josh giddy could be another player and most of the players that like unless you had the opportunity to get a caps lock Cornerstone or if you like to prioritize players over picks in this situation is bizarre to me and so you look at if this was their version of the Raptors trade is the example I brought up in my piece for Bleacher Report the the ogan anobi trade where they prioritized em manual quickly they got a second round pick and RJ Barrett but they clearly prioritized the players over draft picks they’re had more of a couple things going for them is one that Oobi was good enough like if Alex peruso hits the open market yeah he’ll have offers he’s not going to have a Max offer this summer Oobi can probably get the max if he wants to so if he had leverage to want to go to New York where had they’ve gotten multiple picks from the Kings let’s say maybe he was able to shut it down or teams weren’t will to give that much if they couldn’t guarantee he’d resign there’s still level of risk there with Alex Caruso it’s just at a different scale because I love Alex Caruso but he’s Alex Caruso where it’s you have to ask the question yeah he might be one of the five best just overall Defenders most valuable defenders in the game game which you could also make the case for ojan anobi uh can he play as many minutes um he and again you could get into oobi’s not the perfect analog because he has a ton of injury issues but with his size like he could defend all five positions versus Alex Caruso is like a a 3.75 Defender there are going to be some fours he can’t hold up against but they’re gonna be some fours that he I mean we saw him defend he’s defended LeBron James he’s defended Pao banero the whole n so my point being though is that when you were trading o anobi for players you were getting more of a c certified asset in Emanual quickly who will cost a ton of money to rain he’s he’s entering restricted free agency himself but you already knew what he was and you look at him and said well imagine what that guy could do in a more expansive role or look at how his skill set can scale to all these different versions of a team Josh giddy doesn’t do that because of the shooting liability he shot 34.7% on catch and shoot threes during the regular season that’s just not good enough and he’s gone through stretches where he can leverage his floater where the threes are going in they invariably kind of pull back and that was in mind you a system that was almost exclusively four or five out depending on I mean if Josh giddy’s on the floor you’re playing Five out but how much of a threat is he we saw how defenses ended up treating him in the playoffs um the Maverick series specifically was not a good look on him and we even saw before this is long before the playoffs if you go if you didn’t watch a ton of Thunder basketball that’s fine um but like Mark head coach Mark dnno like he was Josh giddy spot in their most important lineups has not been guaranteed for quite some time basically all last season at the absolute minimum basically so you’re getting this massive maybe and you’re bringing him into a situation where yes it’ll look different but as of now you’re not opening up the floor for him anymore the Bulls were 206th in three-point attempt rate the share of their shots coming from Beyond The Arc and they were 29th in three-o per so you’re bottom five in three-point accuracy and volume that’s not going to open up the floor a ton for him you have the Personnel to make get out to utilize Josh giddy in transition but what is that going to look like when you’re talking about the guys that are running out and how our defens is going to guard them he’s just not going to have the same level of operating room or even the same level of proven shot making around him again two Josh gy J wow two Josh jitties to Josh giddy’s credit on the basketball floor he has made adjustments and adaptations specifically over the past two seasons but it was never enough to make you think that this is someone who is Plug and Play or someone who is more scalable and so if you want to optimize him well insulating him against his weaknesses but optimizing his strengths insulating his weaknesses this roster almost Demands a ton of turnover here and so that gets it but I’m not finished with my example is if you’re going to prioritize players in this trade specifically and let’s say that player was Josh giddy okay I I don’t know which team could say that about one of their top you know if the Wizards prioritize Josh giddy in a Denny AIA trade I’d kill them too if they weren’t getting first round picks but you needed to have but let’s say you wanted to you need have somebody else because as part of this rebuild that they this might signal which is technically a good thing you need have somebody else that is going to then help you get a first round Bounty the Bulls do not have that assuming that they’re not gonna trade Kobe white which to to acquire Josh Giddy and then trade kobby Wright would be stupid and I’m not saying they would do it I mean it’s the bull so I’m not saying they wouldn’t do it either but so you don’t have Demar rosi could just leave in free agency or you sign and trade him for less than you will would have probably gotten for him and you trade him with time left on his contract not even Les necessarily last year’s deadline but last off season or the 2023 trade deadline so and Zack LaVine his value is cratered and if you want to look at well them try to recoup assets elsewhere they were trading Alex Caruso at or near the peak of his value they will be trading Zack LaVine and if they want to look to move Lonzo balls expiring those will represent the ner of their Valu just Lonzo hasn’t played in more than two years he’s in expiring contract maybe that’s value ditto for V if you’re trying to recu stuff there there are teams that could be interested in theory but you also just like well you know we don’t really have a big man there maybe we get one in the draft or we trade for another one or we bring back Drummond Vu is slightly critical in theory to making Josh giddy work just because there could be a pick and pop a perimeter to Man game between the two um and they’re just I mean V is like can be he’s a pretty good floor Navigator too so having that kind of a smart big man where it’s not just relying on his spacing but all also his IQ that might be important to streamlining Josh giddy you don’t have though the other player to go out and get enough assets to say well like this is where a launching pad is from the rebuild and the even bigger issue is are we sure that’s what this signals because teams that are going to rebuild and by the way if you wanted to go to the Josh giddy route too you also the Raptors what they also had was a number one type Cornerstone in place which as I’m saying this and I don’t know that I realize this while was writing it when we did our Central uh excuse me our Atlantic division look ahead go check it out uh we didn’t go into the Scotty Barnes extension eligibility I don’t think for the Raptors we have them Grant and I both have him just penciled in for a five-year Max I think the only thing to quibble over would be does he get a player option does he not uh so there there’s your Raptor analysis from this podcast because we missed it in their offseason look ahead again go check those out 15 of 30 are done uh we’d already recorded the the Bulls in the Thunder of course so this is amending that so you don’t you weren’t in a situation where this is the package you get to prioritize then sell it as a rebuild so the fact that the Bulls now might turn around and rebuild which I’ve seen fans point out and entertain okay that’s great this is still asset mismanagement of the highest level and it’s it’s it’s gross it’s grotesque that this organization keeps doing this and also are we sure that that’s what they’re doing or are we just they have Andre Drummond demard de R rozan our free agent so is Patrick Williams is a restricted free agent are they just are they out on those guys and if they’re not so now you’re in a situation where you’re about to pay tomorrow dran will get a raise they have early bird R it probably shouldn’t be anything backbreaking how much does Patrick Williams cost the Bulls they only took on about a million and a half but we’ll say sub2 million dollars as part of this deal they’re now about $40 million away from the tax that’s before paying Demar before paying Patrick Williams and before paying Andre Drummond I’m not gonna count I like I don’t care about the money that that a tax payment could cost ownership but like we know this team is not good enough if you’re GNA go into the tax the team should be better than what it’s going to be on paper and you could say all right they’re going to save money as part of a a Zack LaVine trade sure but are you just at that point are you strictly dumping him for cap relief that would come back to the point of if you’re not even going to get first round equity for Zack LaVine like how are you recing some of this Equity it’s okay if the plan is to try and keep their pick top 10 protected it’s ow to San Antonio next year and that they’re going to tank and they’re rebuilding put yourself in a better starting point especially when you’re trading their most valuable trade asset aside from Kobe white I would argue I don’t think I mean maybe I would assum who gets more at this point relative to what the Bulls just accepted him but you’re taking a distressed asset for someone who yes is basically a decade older but is at the peak of his value and does more desirable things as guarding one through four and entering the first team all defense discussion every year are you concerned about how much he can play per game sure you concerned about his offensive volume sure he did just shoot over 40% from three on career high volume there can be some playmaking especially in actual space that’s all stuff to talk about the thunder so I don’t want to spoil that too much but you had the opportunity to put yourself in a better launching point for this rebuild and the fact that you went with someone who’s about to get paid I question whether you’re fully committed to entering said rebuild and so the fact if they’re actually going to to quote unquote start over that doesn’t excuse what they did not only here but turn down in the Run leading up to that and it’s even worse look you could say if this was the best offer now okay fine and they had to take it that just proves that they should have moved Alex kuso already if there were I don’t want to say better offers in the but if you deemed this a better offer than other packages that were on the table where you could have gotten multiple first round picks that’s even worse of a look because now you’ve actively chosen this path of bottom of the middle that’s just what perpetually the Bulls seem to be addicted to and this to me is an advancement of that the line of thought behind it I don’t see a scenario where even if Josh giddy plays well that I look back on this I think that it ends up being the right he would have to turn into sort of a a guiding for for your entire rebuild which I just don’t see happening and then what does this do by the way you know when you’re talking about the fit of the players that we know like his fit is horrendous with the Marty Roan and that is just a plus like awful like a negative awful it’s so those two on the court you really can’t play them together and you’re not going to have the requisite Shooters around them I guess if Lonzo plays and Kobe White’s playing that’s helpful that was a that was a lineup of Kobe white Lonzo ball Demar d r rozan and Josh G he doing defensively at that point I mean insert whoever you want as kind of your fifth so there if you’re bringing back certain players this roster does and you’re not moving others you’re it’s gy an even more horrendous fit now if you’re moving some things around dear’s not back that’ll be asset mismanagement if he leaves for Nothing by the way okay that kind of thins out the pecking water a little bit but part of what would appeal to this trade is oh like Kobe white can play off the ball that’s that’s fine like will work out so your most promising player this is how we’re going to justify the trade for the Bulls that their most promising player will now spend less time on the ball and part of what made him special last year yeah there was progress as a passer but there was real progress as an off the dribble shooter you’re gonna dilute that element of his game I just don’t get it and now you’ve traded for someone who will probably not be better or more valuable than him anyway but I bet you he ends up commanding more in his next deal if he doesn’t and the contract’s not damaging I guess that changes the context of this trade a little bit so we should wait wait and see but if he’s getting three years and3 36 million that doesn’t say enough good things about his outlook for you to feel good so the deal isn’t backbreaking but it’s because Josh giddy still is kind of not a valuable b super valuable basketball player or is only super useful in certain situations that’s a disastrous outcome here as well so I don’t know necessarily what this is a precursor to but it’s nothing inspiring and while that’s par for the course this is like unspectacular even by their maddeningly historically unremarkable standards is where this comes in that and you cannot frame this in a way that is going to make me like the trade or see the logic behind it I even saw some people complaining like well now you can’t use Alex perusa to help Grease the reels of isak LaVine trade that’s the one thing I’ll say is I don’t really think that matters I mean one if you have to grease the wheels of a Zack leavine trade and you’re not planning on being good anyway I know you’re trying to save but I’m just eating that I’m not going to I’m not going to give a team a first- round pick to take on Z I’m just not going to do it because that implies what do you need that flexibility for are you that cheap or you looking to do something else that’s mind meltingly dumb uh and then also just Zack lavine’s making 43 plus million you had Caruso’s basically $10 million salary to that moving 50 plus million dollars in salaries a lot in a deal and so I don’t know that they would come out of that looking Rosie so that might be the one thing I’ll say is oh this team like they didn’t I don’t think they worsened their chances of completing a Zack LaVine trade or again I just wouldn’t Grease the wheels of a Zack LaVine trade if you’re not going to even just take him and send back expiring contracts at at minimum then they should just eat the Zack L cost here but now you’re for the time being we do have to see how this plays out you have Zack LaVine you have Lonzo ball you have IO dumu you have Kobe white you have Josh giddy you could have demard Rosenbach who’s not a guard anymore but he was just their best player and primary playmaker uh who’s best off on the ball which is just like giddy who yeah he can shoot it better than Lamar sort of this standstill shooter and look even up his volume in the playoffs but someone shooting 35% during the regular season on spot up threes on fewer than three attempts per game that’s not going to move me to say that he is scalable to this situation this is an absolutely horrendous trade for the Chicago Bulls and it shows that they have learned absolutely nothing they’ve not evolved as an organization and I think the Silver Lining is this could signal they’re about to rebuild why the actual would you trust this organization to rebuild properly this again is less about Josh giddy the player and more about the logic that went into not just this deal but the point that led up to it and what we now have to watch wait and look for in Chicago and it’s just they’re good for throwing curve balls even by their standards appar I thought they couldn’t do anything that would absolutely shock me but hearing I thought it was it worse that they were you’re telling seems that you want this Godfather off of falex Caruso and then you settle for someone whose trade value relative to where he was drafted relative to being on a rookie scale relative to the theory of him is just at it its absolute rock bottom and that is so mind-numbingly uninspiring that I feel bad for Bulls fans they deserve better they’ve been waiting for better they’re willing to go through these compe I mean they’re going through competitive troughs right now but they are this is the same thing with the Knicks way back when where they thought that their fans wouldn’t sit through a rebuild if you can sell a direction a coherent distinct fully formed Direction scaling forward your fans will accept it I promise you the Bulls are more formless than before when you’re just looking at their like you just couldn’t this all you say we say that does this signal that they’re most like isn’t there a scenario where they don’t that Demar rosen’s back that Andre Drummond is back that Patrick Williams is back and they’re just they’re trying to do what at that Point Race to the to the nine seed to the eight seed I just it’s it’s a terrible trade for the Bulls I gave them a D minus um and only because I still think Josh giddy can have value I just don’t especially as they’re currently constructed I don’t see how the Bulls are gonna bring it out in him they were not be the team that I would have thought could help reboot rehab his his ENC Court utility and I will be prepared through e Crow If I am wrong but even if I’m wrong about Josh giddy I still don’t think the peak of his powers is enough to shift the Chicago bulls’ entire Direction and that’s what they remain at this point is they are directionless um they do not if they have a vision uh someone explain it to me because they could have fooled me this looks like visionless it’s just look it’s drek it’s complete and utter that they’ve been pedaling for so long I wrote it shoveling down the throats of their fan base that just they they deserve better and you should be frustrated as a bulls fan it seems like the Bulls fans in my mentions a lot of them are are frustrated too hopefully they hit on some of these other moves here but they have not earned the the benefit of the doubt they’re not going to get it from me and they certainly should not get it from you the other side of this trade is equally fascinating but for but for many different reasons I saw people ask whether Oklahoma City needs to be the title favorite after this move I’m not putting them ahead of the Boston Celtics but the fact that getting a 30 yearold Alex Caruso puts them in that conversation I mean they are just coming off finishing with the best regular season record in the in the west Western Conference so it’s not a huge leap like that’s the level they were at and this is encouraging for a few reasons one because of what I think it hints forget about kuso’s fit for a minute what it just sort of suggests about what the Thunder are prepared to do this offseason we saw them get a little bit more aggressive by their fairly conservative standards I would say when they acquired Gordon Hayward it just didn’t pan out but that was just that was an opportunistic move that was virtually no risk for them it didn’t cost them a ton of anything they sent out guys that weren’t part of their long-term program even their immediate program quite frankly that hurts me to say U knowing who went out in that deal you uh would a shout shout out poku but the fact that they make this move and yes they end have to give up a this is like kind of the move where even you weren’t being aggressive it’s yeah okay like we did use the top seven pick on this guy in 2021 but Alex Caruso is maybe one of the five best defenders in the game five to 10 best defenders in the game however you want he’s one of the 15 best defenders in the game you can’t pass this up um but it shows that they’re they’re willing to one make mov moves and take some risk now this isn’t an organization that would acquire kuso without any intel on his salary demands or whether he’d be interested in signing that extension I mentioned earlier they’ll have to wait six months to do it uh to stay in Oklahoma City long term but even if they were going into this blind Oklahoma City was giving up no picks and they have the depth the talent the flexibility to just kind of roll with it and they’re good enough to justify well look what this guy does for our defense and a little bit of our offense but this suggests that they’re going to to be even more aggressive this summer in addressing this by the way this does not address I would argue any of their biggest needs but I still love it is my point and so let’s before we get into kind of the The Fallout where did the Thunder go from here the fit of Alex Caruso is largely fantastic like I had already mentioned he is not high volume on offense and it’s to the point where it can frustrate the hell out of you but he did just shoot over 40% from three on a career high I think it was 5.9 attempts per 36 minutes that volume or per minute rate that could come up in Oklahoma city with the types of looks that he’ll probably be be getting also I think that you can coax more volume out of his driving game he’s pretty good when he gets inside the arc he’ll he’ll pick up his dribble before he gets inside the arc and um he he’ll dump it off or he’ll throw he can throw nice pass from a stand still but when he gets moving he will kind of maintain his dribble now of a sudden you’re gonna have more unobstructed paths to the basket just by virtue of the level of shooting and spacing with which the Thunder play that’s massive for his offensive value and even if it’s he’s the same exact player uh he’s someone right now who’s G to generate more defensive attention without the ball than a Josh giddy that’s just a fact and so that is a win for your offense even if you wanted a more Dynamic uh an offensive player who can maybe put defenses in rotation from that dead stop that’s not something he’s necessarily gonna do but now you’re getting someone who just fits on he’s an easier fit on offense than Josh G if you don’t want him to run units on his own um the fact that now though Cas Wallace is kind like his understudy that should scare the out of 29 other teams uh Cas Wallace is already a really good Defender I had him first team all rookie no regrets for me there the offense he’s like he’s Caruso esque in the sense that he’s so hesitant but You’ kind of trust him to take the right shots where he’s either gonna you know pass like pass dribble make a quick decision um the your quibble would be could he be more aggressive and looking for his own choppy on the arc or firing up those threes Caruso is not going to teach him that but just being the understudy to Caruso on defense and now what you’ve done defensively this is a team that was already I think they were third in points allowed per possession last year you have Chad hren you have Jay dub Shay gild Alexander and of course L Dort all well above average Defenders especially last year Shay was kind of a question mark leading into last season maybe net neutral on some nights a liability on others it felt like there are some people that made an all defense case for him last year I did not but the fact that you could sit there and make one and and I would listen to it that’s huge and so you have those four High Caliber Defenders oh wait k Wallace is still there you have the switchability of kenri Williams if they kind of if he kind of has a Renaissance next season but so you have those five I I would argue again based off last season specifically we’re talking about well above average Defenders and you have I would say three before Alex Caruso comes in three all defense caliber Defenders now you’re adding Alex kuso into the fold who might be the best defender of them all I think Chad HR will have a case just because of what we know about Rim protection but also Lou Dort of course has a case but now a sudden it’s just debatable but he’s gonna come in he makes everyone’s job so much easier um Chad holgren can take more risks on the backline or floating around the perimeter um Lou Dort maybe just doesn’t have to spend as much time on the absolute toughest covers or if he still does now if him and Alex Caruso are playing together or even if they’re not when you’re going to stagger their minutes now Alex Caruso takes the best guy and that makes Jay Dub’s job a lot easier makes Shay gild Alexander’s job a lot easier makes casy Wallace’s job a lot easier here and so what you’ve essentially done is you’ve increased the ceiling of your defense by diminishing the importance basically of any singular player on your roster in the best possible way to where like they just might be nice if you’re gonna play cruo and Dort together like Dort job could get easier he might be the only one that could be spared most of the benefits because I think that they’ll look to stagger his minut and part because it freeze Caruso just there’s so few guys in the league that if they’re healthy you could say one through four best player doesn’t matter what they’re what they’re doing and just go get I mean like yeah you don’t want cuso necessarily he’s not true holiday when you’re going to put him in the post but if you’re talking about someone who attacks from the outside in there’s just he is suffocating like at basically all of those spots and to get him now uh for the cost that they did for what it was a distressed asset in Josh giddy someone who was coming off the bench um not playing in crunch time by the end of well not just again on and off all season just not a a crunch time staple and I think what you could say is okay well the Thunder still have needs here so let’s let’s just get into that well if they’re G to keep Cru a long term by the way this is also sumone you acquire where if he signs that extension U again we’re all working with estimates but let’s say he ends up with four years 78 four years 80 that’s a contract that’s going to age even as he gets into his you know early to mid goes through his early 30s into his mid-30s um his next deal I think it’ll take up to his age 31 32 33 34 Four Seasons if it’s a four-year contract yeah that’s fine his game should age fairly well it’s not like he shoulders a heavy lift on offense especially for this team but you’re getting someone like that to where there’s a just because of what giddy can do as a passer and his use so you’re still betting on the upside I will be shocked if he ends up again if he gets less than 20 million a year in his extension one I think something has gone terrible or his restricted free agency contract I would say something has gone terribly wrong for him in Chicago so you get someone who’s cheaper and an easier fit at a time when okay we have to to start planning around the the rookie scale Maxes for Jay dub and Chad holgren and then you also you’re going have Shay gild Alexander on his supermax soon so like that’s a good piece of business where it’s okay everyone wanted them to acquire an expensive player and they still can we’re about to get into that I promise but this is someone who fits more snugly into your long-term salary structure and now he opens up more possibilities for you let’s get into let’s get into that is Oklahoma City takes on less than $2 million in this trade um excuse me the Bulls had shed money I said that they took on money I apologize for that um but Oklahoma City takes on less than $2 million in this trade they still have more they could have they could have less depending on what they want to do but they’re project to have more than $30 million in cap space still it’s actually over 33 million I think the two players that could redefine that is the team options on Aaron Wiggins and Isaiah Joe is do the Thunder want to give those guys in immediate bump they could renegotiate and extend they could decline the options and resign them um I would consider consider that with Isaiah Joe based off your uses for other cap space but this cost you no first round picks so your best offers of just cap relief and picks and you do have some tangible players if team want if teams are interested in Aaron Wiggins when you have case W and Alex Caruso and Shay gild Alexander yeah that’s someone you could send out as a sweetener that’s not making so they have the balance of they can offer cap relief they can off offer actual players Usman Jang is still my guy believe in him there’ll be teams that have a lot of interest in kenri Williams or even big Jay will that like they still have those non-core prospects that no they can’t anchor trades on their own maybe case Wallace could but I don’t know why you want to move him or be willing to move him it would depend on the return obviously but they have those players they have all these picks and they still have all this cap space maybe they use it in free agency but maybe they look to address stuff on a trade and what Caruso specifically does and I’ve seen some people Bandy this about already is well couldn’t he in theory make L Dort Expendable to where if he wanted to include L Dort in a trade for a higher-end player you have Alex cruso soak up those minutes maybe he ends up making about the same as L Dort moving forward who continues to be on just one of the better contracts in the NBA he’s still under um Team control through when is his contract in so next year he’s at 16 and a half million and then he has another two guaranteed years after that so through 2026 2027 and we’re talking about someone who will never make $18 million a year over that time that’s a really good deal I wouldn’t actively look to move off him I don’t you know he’s younger I think we also it feels like L Dort has been around for 80 years for some reason then you look at it’s okay well this barely 20 he just turned 25 basically I mean wow so to have him on that contract but if it’s for the right player if you’re saying giving up lot dor gets you male Bridges if it got you Larry marinin should the Jazz be want to to move him yeah yeah now you it’s more it’s easier to now say well yeah we’d be will to include lot Dort I don’t think that’s just the main point of this tra I honestly think it wouldn’t shock me if this isn’t the meat and potatoes of their offseason if this was just a way for them to reorient the roster because of a guy who they had draft Equity invested in was sort of just higher profile because of his draft stock um so they’re re-calibrating but it was also just a matter of pure opportunism where you just look at the level of player that Josh giddy is how he fits with this roster and where the Thunder are at in their competitive window versus what Alex Caruso is how he fits into both their roster and their competitive window and it becomes a no-brainer I don’t know if this is you don’t go out there and maybe again if they had plans to move L Dort this becomes a priority but I can’t imagine based off what we want to see from them that more Dynamic player who could put defenses in in rotation on the ball um maybe well not maybe they could use some more just I guess girth up front but you don’t want to do it to the point where Chad hren is playing so many minutes as the second big uh so like that would have those were the top two needs for them and you could also look at well do you want like a different type of a shooter where okay Isaiah Joe is great and he works his ass off defensively but could we maybe get somebody who’s who’s going to be better stronger defensively now that player is just those are hard to find every team wants them and the Thunder already have a couple of them to be honest with you well they have Jay dub who can operate on Ball and he’s not like this super off ball high volume three-point shooter but you get my point the the the players who don’t compromise your spacing or your three-point volume or your defense those types this just seems like a matter of just pure golden opportunity for them which is perfectly fine but now you’re scaling ahead to the rest of their their offseason and the same doors that were open before they’re all still open now and yeah except for the fact that you’re probably less likely to you know one of the names I’ve seen kind of banded about was to go after a Colin seon from Utah who had been fine fit before but I just higher volume offensively but now with case Wallace Shay Jay dub and Alex Caruso it just doesn’t make sense even that trade if you would have kept giddy I I wouldn’t have been a fan of it there um do you look at someone who gives you maybe a little bit more ball handling or strength or rebound than Al Caruso wood but is still a perimeter player D Denny obdi is a name I’ve mentioned for to be fair pretty much every team um there will be people that still like John Collins here I or love John Collins here I think I could see it and it’s that’ be another well we didn’t what did you give up to get that i’ like if you’re giving up a first round pick for John Collins I’d be absolutely shocked um so you could address it that way and view it as more of a stop Gap after next season he’ll be expiring it’s another trade anchor they could they could roll over but again just the fact that this is Alex Caruso and how good he is it does make me think a little bit like are they going to aim bigger will they try to coax teams into trading players who aren’t necessarily available and that matters more than even identifying these certain names should they be a Nick claxon or does this make it more less likely they go after Isaiah hartenstein honestly I don’t know it doesn’t have to impact any of those Pursuits because they still have all their cap space um you could I will still quibble over how aggressive and how they should be in chasing another big and how um much Equity they should be prepared to give up to get one whether we’re talking about draft picks and players or just actual cap space I think I’d ultimately be fine with Isaiah hartstein because his best role might be playing fewer minutes than he did at points for the Knicks last year I don’t know how you necessarily sell him on Keep Your Role a little bit more finite um just because you don’t want to see like chat as the primary big just works and it’s so intriguing that you don’t want to even like how much do you want to really diminish those minutes by if you you know it’s 15 minutes a game you want to just slice that and say okay the rest of Chets you know 10 to 20 minutes a well not 10 but like 20 minutes a game 15 to 20 minutes a game he’ll play with another big and then the other 15 to 20 he won’t that’s probably like fine for assuming he plays let’s say like 30 to 35 minutes just split that in half or skew a little bit more towards the five out okay and I mean Isaiah hartstein is fairly young I don’t hate Nick claing here either just because you know he’s always gonna have four Shooters around him and any given point but they can do anything now and I think what this does more than not more than anything but what this really does is it kind of proves that OKC is acting like the contender that it actually is like there’s I I think part of that might be the framing of is this a little bit risky because of what’s going on with Caruso he’s not a restricted free agent like Josh giddy would have been again I mentioned I don’t think they Thunder are going in blind but they’re good enough to withstand the risk and the fact that that’s technically on the table that does imply they’re going to act like a contenders as well and I would argue I mean I wouldn’t this is just a fact approaching the offseason in that way is earned I would argue that it’s probably over do even when you’re looking back to what they did at the deadline and it’s kind of a departure from their usual mode of operation and that should utterly terrify the rest of the the ti it to scare living hell out of them because they’re not I know people like to mention the bigger names lby Mark and Mel Bridges with them should they try to open up more cap space and go after ogan and Obi if he’s really unha happy with the Nick’s offer they don’t need that level of player to win the championship next year there is a chance I don’t know that I would predict it I want to let the rest of the offseason play out there’s a chance that the Thunder do nothing else other than use the number 12 pick and they could win the title next year that might have been possible even with Josh giddy it is now more likely without Josh gidy and the fact that you’re bringing Caruso in and so if you want to go check out more targets we went into a bunch I believe for the Thunder we did their look ahead a lot of the stuff we said is is already Germaine but this is a hell of a trade by the Thunder and it was a matter of a great opportunity but it I think what it proves about what they’re willing to do at this point it just reinforces that they understand you know that Sam prey is’s not going to be talking about they had borrowed wins from their future anymore I understand that we all think they had reached that point there was still a question of how aggressive they were going to be this makes me more excited and intrigued for their offseason and their future quite frankly than I was before which was pretty hard to do because if you go back I’m not right about a lot of things but like I’ve been pretty in on the Thunder before they were even this version of the Thunder and I even I I defended what they did at the trade deadline it’s like you have to show me the opportunity they passed on for me to just be mad that you know people coming out that MAV series talking about they really Daniel Gafford would have been the difference like I I yeah it might have made the Mavs better in that series because that was not the series for him so if you’re passing on that it’s different they were setting themselves up for higher end opportunities like this and they’re never even when you think they might be biting their time a little bit too long Josh giddy being a perfect example clearly they’re not whether it’s they played this perfectly or they’re just taking advantage of a show of an organization in Chicago it works out for them it’s not by accident that this happens so many times so they are they’re not maybe they’re not the team to watch just because there’s whatever the is going on in Philly and they’re teams that could get more chaotic there’s just so much different avenues for them to explore um and I I think so much I thought about their cap space maybe going after a guy like John Collins and capitalizing that route where you’re not giving up a ton of assets and again I know they didn’t give up a ton of assets here I think maybe more than anything this is a harbinger of what they’re willing to do on the trade market not like because when it’s cap space even when it’s a thunder you kind of understand right it’s just cap space we can move off at later we create more later we’re getting these players for nothing like in most cases they’re not going to be a sign in trade um but now the fact that they made a move of this caliber where you again it probably took some a little bit of an iron stomach to get off giddy uh this team it’s set up really well and the fact that I’m saying this and they didn’t even address what I would view was one of their two biggest needs with this trade I guess if you considered one of their biggest needs which I would agree with getting rid of Josh giddy for someone who’s just a better fit so you checked one of your top three needs but I would argue two that were a little bit more pressing at least in my view and yet I’m still sitting here and all I can do is is sing their praises couple news items to catch up on uh three so we’ll start with let’s go with Malik monk who is agreeing to resign on that four-year $78 million early bird rights deal with the Kings can’t become official to the uh July 6 when the moratorium is lifted but he’s going back to Sacramento that is I don’t know we didn’t record the king’s Outlook yet actually so my point was going to be when we were talking about Malik monk I didn’t see the team I know that he in theory maybe could have worked in Detroit could have been Plan D E FG whatever for Philly um Orlando was a team that was mentioned a ton I still didn’t really see the team that was going to go out and give him $20 million a year over a fouryear span it’s like that’s what the Kings basically comes out to so close to that on the average I would have predicted he went back to the Kings and also what this does for you as a Kings fan by the way want to get you back a player who was incredibly valuable and having that injury the uh I think it was a knee injury to end the season that really hurt their chances of getting into the playoffs but just there you know Kevin herder was dealing with stuff as well but this is just he his playmaking there’s a lot of stuff he does but his playmaking going downhill might still be one of the more understated gems in the league he finished I think he was 18th in total drives this year but second in assists on drives behind only Shay gild just Alexander um so he’s someone who can also play off the ball is going to compromise your spacing he can run your point you can run your offense just not to the degree again that if I were I know Philly didn’t need this but not to the degree that Orlando let’s say if you’re looking for a league guard I don’t view him as that he’s a starting caliber guard and he can definitely do a lot of work on the ball and if you’re looking for him to run your offense in you know second unit situations I still think you kind of he needs more of a buffer whether it’s having that big who might be running handoff stuffs or can facilitate from the post or if he’s going to play alongside just another lead playmaker I think this is a great deal for the Kings the other thing it does for them too and it’s the pathway to getting him was always a little bit fraught they were suddenly mentioned in the Zack LaVine trade sweep Stakes again and while I I get especially if you’re losing Malik monk the idea of wanting another Dynamic Creator and a more Dynamic shooter than Malik monk is just the money to get there just to match his salary so it’s you know okay you’re not gonna have to give up assets so I guess from just a pure talent play I get it but just immediately it’s Harrison Barnes gone Kevin herder gone like that’s just how you’re getting to like to the start of Zack lavine’s number by the way that would have been $34 million he’s on a $43 million salary so would you what El like Trey ly’s money is sitting there if you wanted to go almost dollar for dooll we know um Sasha venko is not happy there so that could have been money they threw in but so you have been rolling that into LaVine and then creating you know you’re losing Barnes is not the initial Barnes who came to the Kings but like he’s logging minutes at forward spots um Kevin herder is someone that you can play and has played up to the three and hopefully his shooting will rebound following the the shoulder injury uh you got to me you just like you still Consolidated and veered way too much toward the guard spots and now I would assume Maybe I’m Wrong that they will not be mentioned in the Zack L weep SS anymore so you can focus on going after maybe it’s a different Frontline partner for for domas sabonis or just continuing to to Target I would just call them two-way wings and you have you have two of them in Keegan Murray that’s absolutely what he is now I just the strides he made forget about what he did on know the strides he made defensively just not something I ever would have I’m not even talking that I was looking at him coming out of the draft it’s like even after watching him as a rookie and having those moments I wouldn’t have projected him to be able to handle the level of assignments that he did it was out of necessity I think more than maybe the Kings believed in him but I do think it was kind of more born from necessity that they were trying him out in those situations uh it worked out and so to have him to also have the emergence of Keon Ellis that’s a really good starting point and they would have been a fun Alice cruso team even with Malik Monk coming back they can now shift their focus though to filling those spots and you know you get to a point where we’re you know you’re putting Le monk for he’s at 17.4 million um this coming season what that does they’re basically over the cap with that money when you’re entering the U excuse me they’re basically over the tax line if you’re pening Malik monk in there there’s things they could do to to duck it a little bit but like you need to fill out your roster you would have to dump I guess if you wanted to dump venkov or if you want to dump Chris Duarte um if you want to dump dve on Mitchell so you could dump these sort of they’re not middle tier they’re like not bottom of the barrel but they’re in between they’re not minimums but they’re worth a little bit more so you could give yourself wiggle room under the tax I’m sure there are teams I mean I don’t know honestly I don’t know about Chris dwarte would someone just take him into cap space I guess you’re including seconds there I think a team would definitely take a shot on Davon Mitchell’s defense the Kings might not want to punt on that just yet either um and then I don’t know Vaz zenov that might be something just because teams haven’t seen enough of him you could also go the nuclear route well could we trade hurder for an even cheaper player their Avenue is open I’m saying if they want to duck the tax I think this team can Envision itself being good enough to where they continue to be aggressive but as of right now like that would impact they they don’t have enough wiggle room beneath the first apron let’s even forget about the tax if you want to use the full mid-level exception 12.9 million you’re gonna have to um jet Us in some salaries um if you’re okay with the mini mid level which is worth a little over 5 million I don’t know what type of a Difference Maker you’re going to get this is all to say any move they make is kind of going to be that I think meaningful move from here on is kind of going to be happening via trade and I don’t know if they have the acid Firepower to get in on the theoretical Mel Bridges sweep stakes in so far as those exist um could they get in on we don’t know if Denny AI is available but is that someone else that they could go after uh this is something I think I my outline I should have brought it up to where we’re going to do the kings offseason look ahead so there’ll be more Targets in that when we get to it but to open more doors if you on free agency would have to dump more Sally but I think right now this was probably the singular most important part of their offseason because you have a higher ceiling even in a tougher Western Conference next year um just by making no changes and ensuring that Malik Monk Is there and he’s healthy and so to keep him on the early bird rights deal again I don’t know who else would have like actively matched this deal I don’t personal for the Kings I’m an advocate of it because of who they already have in place um for a team like Orlando if it was four and 78 I I would like it less for them but I wouldn’t hate it I wouldn’t love it for Philly quite frankly with Tyrese Max and Joel embid there um but I wouldn’t hate it either this is the type of deal that no matter what team gave it you wouldn’t hate but I like it more for the Kings because of I guess that entrenched importance to what they’re doing and so I’m fascinated by their offseason as well to see how aggressive they will be on the trade market they do have this year’s first round pick which I don’t know if that helps or complicates their offerings because do you prefer getting number as a just a team in a vacuum do you want number 13 in this draft or would would you have preferred being able to get a 2025 first which is technically headed uh to Atlanta with top 12 protection I believe uh and then it shifts to the top 10 so I probably would prefer to have opened up that pick from Sacramento but you still can trade multiple first swaps you have the salary matching to go out and do some pretty spicy things if they emerge I don’t know again I can’t I don’t know who that I mean I can cite players that I would love to have on this team Denny Obi would be absolutely fantastic for the Kings be fantastic for a lot of teams but even just like adding a I’m contractually obligated to mention this like adding a Naji Marshall if you’re able to open up the on tax pyramid level and and give him that money that’s an addition that goes a long way for this team I really think you know I I one progress isn’t linear so we shouldn’t look at the way last season ended as sort of this massive red flag but the emergences defensively specifically of Keegan Murray and Keon Alice they really just opened up a bunch of different doors for this team to I guess where if you wanted to kind of replace the hurder Barnes minutes with not Zack LaVine but someone who is going to break down who can shoot and maybe he’s more willing to try stuff off the ball but can shoot um and then dribble like break down defenses off the dribble who’s just bigger than Malik monk uh if you wanted to go that route I like I maybe Ellis and keeg Murray have opened up the doors ideally you’d still want to bring in another Topline Defender for me but you have to the Market’s going to dictate who’s actively available to you there so so I I really think that is kind of something that’s been underplayed is like we all want the Kings to be aggressive just because they’re they’re good and the way last season ended it does leave this weird taste in your mouth but I do think that they have more Pathways to getting substantially better without going a nuclear route um because of two things now you have Malik monk back so you just know that’s happening and uh the again the defensive emerence of guon Ellison Keegan Murray specifically for them there have two other news notes to get to the Lakers have hired JJ reck I don’t really know what to add to the discussion at this point that we haven’t already said it’s a very interesting move um four-year deal I have not seen any reporting on what the actual numbers are they went up to six years and what was it 70 million for Dan Hurley I would imagine he’s not getting the same average annual rate uh you could say that this shout out to Anthony Irwin who’s been on top of this all along even when people were trolling him because of what happened with Dan Hurley and I look I’m gonna be honest I don’t even fully understand what happened with Dan Hurley to to offer that first of all I’m not saying you should have given him more as someone hasn’t improve himself in the NBA but if you’re going to Target a college coach like that be damn well sure that this like this it’s like someone proposing marriage and not being sure whether the answer is yes like you don’t do what the Lakers did without knowing what the answer is going to be especially letting it unfold that publicly and even if it was Dan Hurley kind of driving the exposure there for leverage with with Yukon or just his future U the Lakers front office has been in the business especially BL as a former agent um long enough to know that that’s how this works that was a mega Miss on their part I’m fascinated to see what JJ reick does and it look it comes down to the jokes too just he hosted a podcast with LeBron James and now he’s LeBron james’ head coach he they’ve just hired another uh head coach who doesn’t have previous NBA had coaching experience JJ reick I’m sure he’s worked with players does not have any coaching experience at the at the NBA level um but based off what he has said on his podcast what we’ve heard him on broadcast I’m intrigued to see what his basketball philosophy is I find myself more like there’s we just have to wait and see I don’t want anyone to tell me why this is going to be a good move you need to show me the track record of JJ reic coaching and tell me why it’s going to be a good move to guarantee it could be a great move be a terrible move um I’m more fascinated by just like the spin on this there the the degree to which Max Christie was mentioned when the Lakers were looking for a new head coach is just so ridiculously uncomfortable to the point where I’m not sure what they were trying to accomplish okay yeah he’s 21 and they’re probably going to resign him he’s a free agent but like you’re the reporting that kept coming in W’s pieces was they wanted a coach not only that could work with Andy D LeBron James but they needed to prioritize the development of 26 year-old Austin Reeves 26y old Ruby haimura and Mt Max Christie that’s just like one of the most egregious spins especially on a reoccurring basis in NBA history that is just funny we’re like Austin re they’re not necessarily done getting better but like they’re 26 they’re on their second deals already like these are gu they’re veterans like if you want if you want to factor them into why you want a certain coach but are you looking at ruy haimura or Austin Reeves or Matt Chris Max Christian saying like yeah like that’s our version of like this this person is Gonna Come Out of Nowhere maybe almost make an All-Star like you’re not looking at those and thinking they’re even I don’t even want to say like let’s look at Larry Markin do you look at these guys and say they have that type of a like Ruby hore has the L marketing leap in him or he’s going to go from solid rotation player who’s you know kind of waack and wains depending on the season and the matchup and now he’s just in the all-nba conversation I guess JJ reic comes in and does that I hope he wi wins coach the year I found that spin fascinating I found clutch Sports Group um specifically Rich Paul trying to put distance between LeBron and the decision hysterical and what was the quote he had said where it was basically like if we were trying to exert leverage over the Lakers we would tell them to draft bronnie games at 17 and my first thought was just like the fact that that’s even on your mind you can’t tell me that you have not tried to like Leverage the Lakers into doing something specific I’m not saying LeBron drove this decision and do you know what I don’t care if he did he’s LeBron James like that’s what makes also the spin super hysterical is that you have LeBron James going to his age 40 season and we harping on the fact that like man Max Christie really figure out this dude is we need someone who can get in here just you have age 40 LeBron James I’m not saying that the future shouldn’t be part of the equation that Anthony Davis shouldn’t have a say you don’t need to frame it LeBron is to me he’s the best greatest player in NBA history he was no worse than the second greatest player in NBA history still playing mind you at an all-nba level it’s okay to say like LeBron helped with this decision I know the Optics are pretty poor because people went after LeBron for the Westbrook tra as they should have but that’s still on the front office to make the call Like It ultimately should just come down to like LeBron supported it maybe he even advocated for it but this was ultimately the Lakers decision because of X they have Anthony Davis They have Max Christie their franchise Cornerstone in the post LeBron era apparently to say that they were trying to think long term because LeBron is technically a free agent he’s also entering his age for like this doesn’t have to be that hard I and I don’t care who like the the waters being carried on behalf is it clutch I know W just repair the relationship with them just trying to reinforce to like put distance between LeBron and the decision is it not the decision from 2011 folks the decision from uh 2010 whatever it was the decision of the head coaching higher like if it’s the organization trying to do that on his behalf that’s like it’s just funny that framing to me but the rich Paul saying that if we really wanted to like exert a leverage it wouldn’t be trying to get Brony James in the 50s it be getting him at number 17 fact that you thought about that the fact that you thought about that I’ll say it again the fact that you thought about that makes like you you’re kind of proving everyone’s point for them so I’m not saying that’s the evict they’ve issued to the Lakers or that there was a mandate for them to hire JJ reck but man you talk about doing the opposite of what you set out to do in that situation I think the Ridiculousness whoever is trying to do it this way of including just ruy aimore max Christie I just it’s not again I anything gets him as players I’m super intrigued if Max chrisy could get rotation minutes with someone in reic who I can assume but again I’m not going to because I don’t know what his coaching philosophy is going to translate to on the court um do Envision the Lakers just having more offensive creativity and movement away from the ball Max Christie intrigues me there he’s not the reason that I’m hiring any head coach and that should not shock or surprise anybody so this will be interesting to see how it plays out they now have a coach they can go about the rest of their offseason the next biggest thing to tackle is you know before you get into are they gonna trade for Trey young it’s what’s LeBron doing is he opting out and getting a a deal that has no trade clause is he just opting in could he actually leave um I think he’ll just be back that’s not really it’s more fascinating to me to see what D’Angelo Russell does with his player option I expect him to op out that’s been the reporting and he’ll look for either a bigger number or maybe a deal that could be slightly less maybe it declines but it’s going out over more years and guaranteeing him more money that impacts what they could do via trades though because then you’re not moving him and the salary filler in a big trade would become one of them would be ruy hore or Austin Reeves two players who really dictated how the Lakers went about their head coaching search apparently so I’m I’m more open to this idea than I think some people because I’ve I’ve kind of come around the skipping the line stuff to me is it’s a tough conversation to have and I’ll I’ll absolutely listen to it um but I am a big advocate of and I know this is different I’m just a big advocate of we tell people there’s no set path to getting somewhere so I don’t necessarily need to believe that these head coaches need to follow a set path um to get there now did JJ reic status or relationship with LeBron James um bring him to a front of a line that should have included others maybe a more expansive search and there still worthy people looking for their first opportunity apparently the Lakers were will to give a first opportunity because two of the three head coaches that they predominantly targeted um in Dan Hurley and JJ re have not been NBA coaches before again it’s a discussion and I think they’re probably just it comes down to there there only 30 jobs in this league and I think that there are probably more than 30 deserving head coaches out there people who paid their dues for x amount of time we definitely need to see a female head coach at a certain point um and I I think we will but it’s just it should get to you know it’ll happen and I like they didn’t interview as far as I know like we didn’t see the usual kind of names and suspects linked to that and it is a nuanced discussion I won’t say that I’m the perfect person to have it especially alone right here like there’s no one who could push back against me I’m willing to have it I didn’t view this as just some sort of I didn’t view it as a moral in any way I should say and that’s I’m I’m open-minded to how he will Faire as head coach and I would have given the same benefit of the doubt to any firsttime head coach at least from my perspective there’s other people who won’t again that’s definitely further discussion we have to have the other piece of news here uh would be that the Detroit Pistons have we mentioned that they uh dismissed Monty Williams um all jokes by the way with the Monty Williams Title I actually I didn’t realize his second wife had cancer now he’s had a tough go of it off the court I hope everything’s well with his family doesn’t seem like his heart was in it at the beginning um I actually kind of think at this point they kind of should have just let him coach out next season there’s value in saying if this isn’t the head coach that tran langon wants like he was already there but what like you’re like now you’re shoehorning but I don’t think the next coach on a problem you’re shoehorning Fred Vinson onto their staff I can’t I can’t imagine that’s an issue but I could see it both ways I probably would just kept him to see and then you can make that like you’re not squ what are you doing next year whose development did he ruin he gave Killian Hayes a chance do you think that Jaden Ivy broke under him and you’re so invested in him okay it’s I I don’t think it was the wrong decision um frem his ownership’s decision it’s it’s you could be skeptical because if Tom gors drove that bus the first time and and it didn’t pan out and he’s driving it again but the head coaching the timing of it was just terrible you had uh candidates coming off the board and now they are linked to that’s the news they’ll be interviewing Dallas assistant Shawn Sweeney um if he doesn’t get the if he doesn’t get the gig I’m assuming it’ll come with a nice little race because he’s very close with luga d loves him and that are we gaming this is Detroit thinking eight steps ahead around luga’s next contract we’re going to hire Sean SW I will absolutely have that take uh if they end up settling on him I believe they also were going to interview JB bicker staff and they received permission to get Mike andori from Minnesota who I think is he might have always been he’s known like he’s a sicko throughout basketball circles um but I think that the job he did in Chris Finch’s stead and just him elevating like becoming more front-facing during that time it probably helped him in these sorts of discussions I think we’ll see more names this is a situation where you look at the point they’re at in their competitive window and devel their rebuild that we’ll see a bunch more names linked uh to them I don’t know if they’ve been linked to James burgo I I guess I haven’t been monitoring that closely but he’s been most closely tied to the to the Cleveland Cavaliers so that is something to monitor um that’d be an interesting question as to which job you would prefer because there might be a level of job security in Detroit that you don’t have in Cleveland because of the expectations and the looming threat of will Donan Mitchell sign the extension and even if he does is this just sort of what if we fail next year and if he signs the extension is Darius Garland going to request out and at what point do we have to look at moving Jared Allen once we paying EV M Max money um in Detroit Cleveland’s roster better they’re going to be way better next season but like in Detroit you have some jobs C it’s like all right this thing is three to five years from turning around you could if you take the Detroit job my guess would be that you have at least three years of job security you cannot say you certainly cannot say that about taking the Lakers gig as JJ reck um and you cannot say that with the Cleveland gig so I’ll be fascinated to see who I’m fascinated by everything but I want to see who Detroit ends up choosing um this is the Silly Season there might be more solo podcast because I don’t want to waste especially when I’m not going to waste I thought about bring out a guest which is why this isn’t releasing earlier but then it was just kind of like I don’t want to waste emergency pods that aren’t even they’re not going to age that well because other shit’s GNA happen that you guys care about I don’t want to waste guest appearances on something that’s I VI I sometimes forget that I’m in this Silo and join our Discord you could be in that Silo too of basketball cism because it’s my full-time job but also because of being exposed to our Discord members all the Fantastic people that listen to this podcast and comment on YouTube um that like an Alex like Alex Caruso one I up my night because like I’m working on something else I have to Pivot to this and you have to do all this other stuff um that’s being an adult apparently is I cover a game about guys making millions of dollars to put a ball through a tiny hoop and and I love it it could be stressful at points but this is like the trade where it’s for like the people who really follow this content they’re going to love it but there are probably people that are just like oh like that like bald dude in his 30s who is like kind of not really a point card he got traded to Oklahoma City for someone who wasn’t really playing for them when it when it mattered most um so you’re looking at that I looked at that level of trade and it was just like where do this fall on the if you’re rating them on just the it doesn’t warrant an emergency podcast if you don’t cover the team you cover the entire NBA and look it was big enough to up my evening but I I also it’s funny to think about it in terms of there are probably people who just don’t view it in the like a basketball fans who were kind of just like all right like let’s move on what’s happening with Trey young and what’s happening with Donan Mitchell um but that’ll do it when go stuck to almost under an hour so this is a short podcast I guess I should apologize since we normally go for at least 80 minutes but please remember if you’ve made it this far and you’ve not already subscribed to us um I know this is the time of year where we get more of an audience because people do tend to appreciate the stuff that we do around these transactions and when content is probably sparse because we do such a great job covering the entire league consider sticking around or recommending us to your friend sharing the content um on Twitter linking them to it like on YouTube or sending them the podcast link bumping us on Twitter shouting us out on Twitter goes a long way toward building the community helping us get more subscribers subscribe on YouTube subscribe on Apple Spotify wherever you get your podcast um Word of Mouth recommendations are huge at this point though as our go to the YouTube comments flood them with positivity or takes maybe we need to start doing like a crowd poll at the beginning of every episode so that you could respond to it in Discord the link to that to the podcast and YouTube description but also on YouTube flood the comments of our shorts too which are just like only negative comments I mean Rome I see Rome in there is always throwing out some fun ones and positive ones every once in a while but go flut our comments with positivity doesn’t have to be about us tell us about a win that you had in life help the algorithm love us back but also just let’s let’s spread some positivity and continue to build the podcast you can find our Twitter Handles in the you um the YouTube and podcast descriptions but I will just Echo any word of mouth recommendations or shout outs that you can give us and alert us to them show us if you helped someone subscribe to this podcast tell us I will give you a metap orical pat on the back or maybe I’ll even send you if you tell me you tell me that you converted someone to being a hardwood KNX listener if you tell me uh in the YouTube comments in my DMs in Discord how you found us I will send you we’ve got hardwood Knox magnets I will mail them to you or we have some stickers but I’m running low on them I’ll send you I just want to hear how did you find us um but I appreciate everything I want of use thanks for all the support as always shout out to the one the only the king the person whose Instagram hype videos you can believe even in an empty gym unlike Ben Simmons the one and only Frank nil Kina [Music]

Dan breaks down the Chicago Bulls trading Alex Caruso to the Oklahoma City Thunder for Josh Giddey. After that, he offers his thoughts on Malik Monk returning to the Sacramento Kings, the Los Angeles Lakers hiring JJ Redick and the Detroit Pistons’ head coaching search. CHAPTERS BELOW.

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CHAPTERS⬇️
0:00 – Intro
0:33 – Josh Giddey’s fit in Chicago, the Bulls’ direction
21:07 – Caruso’s fit in OKC, the Thunder’s long-term plans
39:24 – Malik Monk’s contract, Kings direction
48:27 – Redick to the Lakers
57:11 – Detroit’s coaching search

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