Come Out and Play: Lebron Says Goodbye to Hollywood!

[00:00:04] Sports Reports No Gimmicks No Clowns 2-5 Mr. Loddickle We Run This Town Real Talk Only No Chasing No Doubt From The East To The West It's The Order We Shout Mic Check Lights Flash Game Time Stay Ready Two Vets In The Zone Keep The Pressure Real Heavy Big Hits Big Plays Yeah We Breaking It Down Truth Rings In Your Speakers Every Word Is The Crown From The North Side Hustle To That Southern Flame Midwest Grind West Coast In The Game Sports Talk Kings Yeah We Wear That Crown Turn It Up Let Them Know It's About To Go Down

[00:00:34] Sports Reports No Gimmicks No Clowns 2-5 Mr. Logical We Run This Town We'll Talk Only No Chasing No Doubt From The East To The West It's The Order We Shout Yes It Is Tuesday Night Free Agency Is Here And It's Sports Reports As Ordered I Am 2-5 Young Orthodox Statistician Coming To You Live From The Alamo We Got A Lot To Get To Tonight So Like Review Subscribe Share Rate

[00:01:19] Do All The Free Things Do All The Free Things Do All The Good Things Hopefully You Got A Liquid Death In Your Hand By Now But Hey Let's Jump Right In Hey Na Na Na Na Na Na Na Goodbye LeBron James Is Not Going To Be A Laker Next Season How Does That Make Us Feel Out There You Know Alright So Look On One Hand I Kind Of Felt

[00:01:51] This Was Coming Or At LeBron You Know Top 5 Player Of All Time Top 3 Whatever You Want To Call Him At This Stage In His Career On The Move One Last Time You Know Aubrey Graham Told Us He Made His Career By Switching Arenas And He Switching Arenas And He Switching Arenas And He Switching Arenas

[00:02:21] Us Again Why Because He Feels Like On The Lakers

[00:02:51] James didn't feel appreciated? Is it when they got rid of his friend, Anthony Davis, that he said that he didn't know that this trade went down? Do we believe that? I don't think we do. I don't, at least I don't, you know? So I was trying to think about this, you know,

[00:03:12] in a logical way, no pun intended. And I said, if it wasn't Cleveland and if it wasn't Golden State, where could LeBron end up? And I thought to myself, why not Minnesota? You know, they just picked up LaMelo Ball. They got Anthony Edwards getting LeBron there, I guess,

[00:03:37] would have people calling them a super team, even though LeBron's really only two years younger than me. That's one option. I like it, you know, but I don't know what you would have to give up to make that happen, you know, because if I'm the Lakers doing a sign and trade, I might have to ask for Rudy Gobert. I know that Minnesota's kept it kind of tight on Jaden McDaniels, so that might not be an option.

[00:04:02] They just re-signed IU DeSomo for five years, $112 million. Okay, okay. Then I thought, why not Dallas? You know, this is a team that just made the finals two years ago, obviously before that Luka Doncic, Anthony Davis trade. They got LeBron's old running mate, Kyrie Irving. You know, they got Masai Ujiri,

[00:04:30] who just ran out of options because Kawhi decided to go to Toronto. We'll get to that in a minute. But, you know, Masai tried to get a last-minute pitch at Kawhi, but Kawhi made it known that Toronto was going to be the only place that he re-signed. Okay. Then if it's not there, what about Denver? All right. So this one I'm still workshopping through, right?

[00:04:58] So I know that Jamal Murray is not necessarily on the market, but he probably could be had for Jalen Brown. I'm not putting him in this deal, you know, to leave Denver to go to L.A., but Aaron Gordon and Cam Johnson signing trade to the Lakers, that gives the Lakers a big shooter that stretches the floor and Cam Johnson. You know, I know Aaron Gordon's been hurt over the last couple of seasons, but

[00:05:27] still athletic, a good defender. You know, he can step out and hit the three from time to time as well, even though you don't necessarily want him to do that. Appreciate you do that over time. But that also gives Luka a lob option, right? Because that was the thing about Luka down in Dallas. You know, you had Derek Lively Jr., Daniel Gafford catching those alley-oops because they weren't necessarily

[00:05:51] offering you much else outside of that. Well, Aaron Gordon can finish those alley-oops and, you know, you can take Luka off the floor for a few minutes, not because Aaron Gordon's going to dribble the air out the ball or set up the offense, but because he can score. Okay. So those are my three places that are not Cleveland or Golden State, but let's talk about Cleveland and Golden State for a second.

[00:06:17] So the Wizards have come out and said that they're not trading Anthony Davis or they're not listening to offers right now. So the whole big four, Steph Curry, Draymond, LeBron, Anthony Davis, doesn't look like it's going to happen. And why is that? Because Washington just gave Trey Young all that money. What would be the point of that if you were just going to give up AD, right? Like, what were the Warriors going to give you? Were they going to give you Jimmy Butler,

[00:06:47] who is on the Kyrie timeline where is he even going to play next year? Is he not going to play until after the All-Star break? So if I'm a team like Washington, right, we just drafted AJ DeBancho number one. You know, we still got all these young guys in the backcourt. Trey Johnson, who got drafted last year. Bub Carrington, you still got a five minutes for Cam Whitmore. You know, Trey Young, like I mentioned.

[00:07:13] Bilal Kulibali. There ain't no room for a Jimmy Butler. So again, why would the Wizards trade Anthony Davis after giving Trey Young the contract that they gave him? Now, Golden State, Mike, to your point, they went out and signed Al Horford again. They re-signed him. They re-signed Porzingis. Why? You know, all that did was take away money that you could give LeBron.

[00:07:42] Now, LeBron might be willing to take a little less money because he views Golden State as a contender once you add him there. Do I think that's the truth? I do not. I don't think that's a championship team. You still have to have depth and you still have to have people that you can rely on. So while I'm looking at Golden State as an entity, you know, Steph is not necessarily the Bill of

[00:08:09] Health guy. You know, Porzingis, you know, he has his pots. So who knows when he's going to miss time? You know, Horford is about the same age as LeBron. You know, so and then you got LeBron. And now granted, LeBron's been playing well over these last couple of seasons. But this is still another year that you're putting on those tires. Is that something I want to try to have to depend on in May?

[00:08:36] In June, he played well against Oklahoma City this year. But can I count on that another year? Now I go look at Cleveland. Now, I've been saying this for about two months now. Between Jared Allen and Evan Mobley, somebody got to go. This town ain't the big enough for both of y'all. And I know that Evan Mobley's name has been mentioned in some of these Jalen Brown trades.

[00:09:01] We'll get to that later. You know, but I like that move better than I like, say, giving up a Mobley to go to L.A. Maybe you give up Jared Allen. Depending on what you believe, the reports that have come out over the last couple of days, the Lakers would be willing to do a Jared Allen for LeBron James swap. Maybe that's why LeBron feels unappreciated because Jared Allen, that's what you're going to get for me? Whatever.

[00:09:31] You know, but he wanted to play with Anthony Davis again, which is kind of funny because I say you already had him. You know what I mean? Since Anthony Davis, here you go, Mike. Since Anthony Davis got traded from the Mavericks, that was February 2025. Not 2026, 2025. He's played 29 games.

[00:09:58] 29 total games this man has played. And then you wanted to add him to that Warriors team that I was just talking about? Well, I think not. You know, so now to make this work, the Cavs have to make some moves, right? So Keon Ellis is a free agent. Dane Wade is a free agent. Now you got to try to get a deal for Dennis Schroeder. Maybe you can offload him on somebody.

[00:10:27] Maybe you can offload Max Struzzo on somebody. But the problem here is you're bringing back James Harden potentially. And that's what it sounds like it's going to happen. He opted out so that he could get a lesser deal. Do I want James Harden and LeBron James on the same team? Maybe in 2017. But we're talking about 2026 heading into 2027. And I would take LeBron's old ass over Harden at this point.

[00:10:57] So that goes one step further. If I was going to bring in LeBron James, put him next to the Spider, put him next to Mobley, a.k.a. Baby Bosh, I could live with that. But now I got to add James Harden to the pot too? No! That's a good call, Mike. And you know the thing about it is Cleveland is the Hollywood story, you know, pun intended.

[00:11:27] Cleveland is the Hollywood story. So as LeBron says goodbye to Hollywood, going back to Cleveland, where it all began, you know, 30 minutes from the crib in Akron. But to do that, you have to do your farewell tour. You know, there's rumors that LeBron James is upset because he wanted a deal similar to what the Lakers gave Kobe Bryant those last couple of years.

[00:11:57] You know, that two-year, $48 million deal. You ain't Kobe. Kobe. Now, I know a lot of people are going to have you higher than Kobe on the all-time list and all that kind of stuff. But we're talking about the Los Angeles Lakers. 17 championships, which Kobe has damn near a third of. That's why they gave him that contract. You got your contract. I mean, you got your championship. I ain't going to hate on you.

[00:12:26] I know a lot of people talk about the Mickey Mouse ring, the bubble ring and all that. I'm not going to take that away from you because I think a lot of people that criticize that ring would not criticize it if somebody other than LeBron James wanted it. Right? Now, as of August 6th, Anthony Davis is eligible for four years, $285 million.

[00:12:50] So if I'm the Wizards, you can have Anthony Davis next year because I'll make him play out this season and let his ass walk in free agency and get me some more cap space for next season. So if you can just hold out one more year, just one more year, you can have all the Anthony Davis you want, LeBron. That's funny, Mike. You know, I don't even hate on that because you know why? Let me sidebar for a second, you know, so we can talk about this.

[00:13:20] You know what I'm saying? Like, I think that when it comes to championships like that, I look at it from the standpoint of all the teams are playing under the same rules. So it's not like the Spurs got to play 50 games and everybody else played 60. So they had that fresh legs advantage. You know what I mean? When I think about the bubble, they were all in the bubble. They were all stuck there. So I don't look at it that way.

[00:13:46] And if anything, I look at the bubble as I don't want to call it tougher, but it's pure. You know what I mean? Because you could argue that some championships throughout history were won and lost depending on who had home court advantage. You took that away during the bubble. We just mano-a-mano at this point. Shout out to TJ Warren. Where he at these days? But LeBron James, people want to have the legacy conversation.

[00:14:16] And I don't think there's anything that you can take away from LeBron James at this point. He's played for three teams. He won a championship at least with each one of them. You know, he's got all the finals MVPs of his championships. Even though I'm sure Dwyane Wade would tell you that wouldn't be true if LeBron would have showed up just a little bit in 2011. Because Dwyane Wade would have had a finals MVP again in that situation.

[00:14:43] But at this point, is LeBron worth the headache? Because you still got to deal with clutch. You know what I mean? You got to deal with the media. You got to deal with the distractions. You know what I mean? And maybe that's true, Mike. That's a good point. That might be actually true. You know what I mean? But they all got rest. Kawhi got rest. You know, Paul George got rest. All these guys got rest. But they got beat in the first round. You know what I'm saying?

[00:15:10] But so when I think of LeBron James at this stage in his career, if he doesn't win another championship, it's not a failure. I don't know how many people win championships at his age. You know, I know Robert Parrish played late into his career. Kareem played late into his career. But they weren't as effective as LeBron is night to night.

[00:15:38] Now, of course, we can talk about errors, lack of defense, all that kind of stuff like that. But the truth is the truth, right? So I don't want to take anything away from LeBron James. But I knew the writing was on the wall once they gave Austin Reeves the contract that they gave him. And that's the thing with the NBA, right, is that you get into these situations where other teams are coming for your players and you have to make a decision. Because I'm sure the Lakers did not want to give Austin Reeves the contract that they gave him.

[00:16:08] But then the word on the street was, well, Detroit wants him. And depending on who you listen to, Luka is all about Austin Reeves. So, you know, so from that standpoint, you're not going to let Austin Reeves walk. This is the Luka era in L.A. now. Me and Mr. Logical had this argument about three weeks ago. Luka's about to enter year 9 or 10. Well, I think it's year 9. He's about to enter year 9. He got drafted in 2018, I think it was.

[00:16:38] This ain't the time to be playing around. This ain't the time to be wasting seasons. You've already done that. Right? Right? So, they brought DeAndre Ayton back, the Lakers. They brought DeAndre Ayton back on a one-year deal. Looks like they're going to lose Marcus Smart to Houston. Mike, I don't know if you heard this or not, but the latest I've been hearing is the San Antonio Spurs may end up with Rui Achibora. Wow.

[00:17:06] So, the Lakers are losing a lot already as it is. So, if I'm the Lakers, you might have to do some things that you don't want to do. You know what I mean? Depending on how this all plays out. You know, is there a world where you end up with Tobias Harris? You know, you lost Marcus Smart. Is there a world where you wind up with Tari Eason? He's a restricted free agent, but Houston would have to match that. Correct. Zion, eight years, no playoffs.

[00:17:35] If I'm the Lakers, I'm looking at Jalen Duran, and we'll get to him a little later as well. We got to get to a lot a little later. But I would look at that as a real avenue. You know, because as I was arguing with El Residente a couple of weeks ago, you know, he was asking me, who are you going to get that's better than LeBron? I don't got to get nobody that's better than LeBron. But now I got money to where I can get a few dudes.

[00:18:03] So just going back to some of those names that I mentioned, right? You know, let's talk. Forget the Jalen Duran point. Forget that for a second. But I can go get me a Quentin Grimes to come off the bench. I can go get a Tobias Harris or a Jalen Wilson. Young dude like that. John Collins. Another guy that Luka could throw some alley-oops to throughout the course of the season. You know, Keon Ellis off the bench. So I don't have to get somebody that's better than LeBron.

[00:18:33] I can just have a more complete team. I got the two scores that's going to get me 25 points a game. So between Luka and Reeves, I'm getting 50 points already. You know what I mean? LeBron was going to give you maybe another 19 or 20. You know what I mean? That stretches you out to about 70. I still need another 40 points potentially to keep up. You know what I mean? Luke Kennard's a free agent.

[00:19:00] I don't think you bring him back, but just make it a point. All right. Now, back to LeBron. So what does LeBron look like on the Warriors? I think you see beautiful basketball. Now, it won't quite look like Kevin Durant because Kevin Durant has that jumper. And I know, Mike, I know he's a loser. I know. But I'm just talking about the way that the basketball looked on the floor, how it worked.

[00:19:29] You know, say Kevin Durant fit because he was willing to defer. And when Steph and Clay were being harassed by the defense, that made his job easier. There's no Clay around now. So this is just the Steph show. And what does LeBron and Jimmy Butler look like together? Right now, if this was LeBron even four years ago, maybe the defense can get you somewhere.

[00:19:57] But this version of LeBron is not playing defense. Jimmy Butler's coming off of ACL. You know, Steph, I mentioned his injured past. So the Warriors have a whole lot of players that you don't know who's going to be there. And then what does that do to somebody like, say, Pods? Right? Because the thought about LeBron is go stand in the corner and he'll find you.

[00:20:23] So even if Steph isn't on the floor and you're on the floor with LeBron, you know, what is Pods going to get to do? Right? And this is what we always talk about with these teams. These LeBron James teams, the Warriors of the last, say, two years. Where's the development? So the Warriors at one point had the double timeline going. They were warned that this wasn't going to work. You know, they had the championship with Andrew Wiggins.

[00:20:53] You know, they were – so they had that. But then they went and got Kaminga and Moody. Well, Kaminga's gone. You know, what you going to do with Moody? Right? Kavon Looney is gone. He's in New Orleans. So you can do all this and your center position is locked up because you have both Al Horford and Porzingis. But you got to be able to get up and down the floor too. So I don't like this move.

[00:21:23] If he goes to the Warriors, I don't like this move on any level. Cleveland I already talked about. I like it slightly better than Golden State. But for the fact that James Harden is there, I'm out on that one. You know, so the teams that I mentioned, Minnesota, Denver, Dallas. Those are the three teams that I think that either should consider LeBron James or those are teams that he should be considering. But he's also, you know, entering year 24.

[00:21:51] So there's that championship thing, right? He go to Dallas, you're probably not close to a championship. Cooper Flagg's good. Kyrie will be back potentially. Still not good enough to get you a championship. Denver put up next to Jokic. You could be cooking with gas. Neither one of them plays defense anyway. So if nothing else, we get Showtime back. We get our late 80s Lakers back. You know, from that standpoint, just in altitude.

[00:22:22] But going forward, Minnesota could be the place. You know, LaMelo Ball takes the pressure of taking the creation away from LeBron. Anthony Edwards is going to be gunning for 26 to 27 points a game, if not a little bit more than that. You could move Jaden Daniels, McDaniels back into that defensive stance versus the playoffs where the injuries made you rely on him for a little bit more offense.

[00:22:49] Now any offense that you get from him is a bonus. You paid the sumo, Terrence Shannon off the bench could be your sixth man. You do that, Minnesota might be in that next, they might be that next level, right? Because I think going into next season, regardless of what happens to the rest of free agency in the West, it still spurs Oklahoma City.

[00:23:14] Not saying that that's guaranteed to be the Western Conference Finals, but headed into the season, those are still the two teams. Because the Spurs went out here and said, we go get all the big bodies to protect Wimby. We got the golden squad with Jaden Quintance and slipping my mind right now, you know who else they drafted. But you know what I mean? They got those two big guys and they're ready to go, right? Like Oklahoma City addressed the weaknesses that they had.

[00:23:44] You know, they had J-Dub hurt. You know, they had Makai, I'm sorry, I can't even think of his name right now. I'm so sorry, A.J. Mitchell. They had A.J. Mitchell hurt. So the ball handling suffered and forced SGA to have to do too much from the standpoint of running the offense and still having to go run, you know, the offense. So from that standpoint, OKC still got room to go, right?

[00:24:15] You know what I mean? Let's see. What do you think he's better to go off to an East team? So, OK, so Cleveland, I addressed. I just don't like the fit with James Harden. Obviously, you would have to move one of Jared Allen or Mobley. I would say Jared Allen. But Washington, absolutely not. You know what I mean? I say that as a Wizards fan.

[00:24:40] You know, we already got A.D., you know, who, like I said, he's only played 29 games since he's been traded from Dallas. Now you're adding a 41, 42-year-old to that who I have to imagine that his body's going to break down and, you know, he's going to have some – he's going to miss some games throughout the year. But you just drafted A.J. DeBancho. You still got this whole slew of dudes that you're trying to develop, figure out what their trade value is.

[00:25:08] Maybe at the trade deadline you see Washington make a lot of moves. And then they were just saying this morning that Washington's interested in Russell Westbrook potentially. He still averaged 15 points in Sacramento this past season. But he's 37 years old. He's about to be 38. So they went from one of the youngest teams in the league to AARP. You know what I'm saying? So, no, I don't like him in Washington. Boston could be interesting. Boston could be interesting.

[00:25:38] But to do that, you would potentially have to sign and trade LeBron for, say, Jalen Brown. Now, is that a thing? You know, because if I'm Boston, I think that I can get more for Jalen Brown than LeBron James. Like, I don't know what else the Lakers would have to give up in that scenario, in that sign and trade scenario. But if I'm Boston and you call me talking about give me Jalen Brown for LeBron James, lose my number.

[00:26:04] Besides the fact that I don't even know if the Celtics and Lakers would make a deal with each other anyway. So, now, as far as walking on as a free agent, that would take LeBron to take a super pay cut. Which, if we know anything about LeBron James, is that he doesn't take super pay cuts. You know, so, we'll see. I don't know. But Kawhi Leonard, back in Toronto, the place that he should have never left. Remember that?

[00:26:32] Back 2019, beat the Warriors, NBA champions. Oh, my goodness. The Raptors bring the title to Canada. The Sixers celebrating. What next? Somebody got home sick. Then not only did he go to the Clippers, but then he decided that he wanted to bring Paul George with him, too. And I'm not even going to make fun of Paul George right now. You know why?

[00:26:55] Because, if you remember, the Clippers put that team together with championships as the aspiration. Right? So, let's walk this through. So, they go to the bubble. They blow a 3-1 lead to Denver. Right? The next year, they come back. Actually make the Western Conference Finals. But there's one problem here. Kawhi was hurt. It wasn't even Paul George this time.

[00:27:24] Paul George won the playoff series without Kawhi. That got them to the Western Conference Finals where they eventually fell to Phoenix because Kawhi couldn't make it there. After that, Clippers ain't done a damn thing. Right? So, now you got this youth movement going on in L.A. They brought in Darius Garland, Benedict Matherin. You know, they went and got Keaton Wagler in the draft.

[00:27:52] So, now the Clippers don't have room for Kawhi. And, oh, by the way, are we ever going to get some resolution on this situation with Kawhi and Ballmer? Is Kawhi going to get suspended? Are the Clippers going to be in trouble? Whatever happened with that? Remember that? Pablo Torre investigates? Well, so, Toronto would have made it work in the first place with Kawhi. He didn't have to go to L.A.

[00:28:21] Dallas tried to get involved at the last minute. Masai Ujuri wanted that old thing back. The Spurs were interested. I'm glad he didn't go to the Spurs. Now, granted, if Kawhi would have ended up on the Spurs, then I think that might make OKC tremble just a little bit. Just a little bit. If he could stay healthy. He did play 65 games this year. So, that's that. That's the start, right? But now he's going to Toronto. And what did Toronto give up?

[00:28:50] They gave up Brandon Ingram, Grady Dick, two first-round picks, a first-round swap in two seconds. Now, why is that important? Because if you've been watching Sports Reports Disorder, you've been hearing me rave about Scottie Barnes. It took him a little while to get to this point. But now he's a Defensive Player of the Year candidate. You know, the offense can flow through him. Emmanuel quickly was out for the playoff.

[00:29:19] And if not, they might have beat Cleveland and been playing on. So, from that standpoint, Toronto was already on the right path. And I don't mean no disrespect, but I do a little bit. I can't lie. Once Toronto finds something to do with R.J. Barrett, they really going to be cooking with gas once somebody takes them off his hands. But Jamal Shed's a free agent now, but you got Kawhi now.

[00:29:43] So, this is not a move to secure a top-two seed in the East, even though they very well could. This move is for May. This move is for June. Because who knows how long Kawhi got? He played 65 games this year, but that's not the norm for him in recent years. So, this is the ultimate high-risk, high-reward. And that version of Pascal Siakam ain't walking through that door.

[00:30:13] Fred Van Bleed ain't walking through that door. Kyle Lowry, you know, the door that fell on him. So, this is not the same Toronto that Kawhi left. But with Scottie Barnes, the only thing they're really missing right now, in my opinion, is a big man. I don't know if Jakob Pertl is the guy to continue to go forward with. Toronto.

[00:30:38] So, if I had to handicap it right now, you know, as we sit here on June 30th, of course, I don't know, man. Like, the Knicks would still be the number one seed. I would imagine most people would say Toronto's the two. But until Boston comes off Jalen Brown for real, I would have to probably put Boston at two. Then you got Cleveland and Toronto probably duking it out for third.

[00:31:05] You know, the Sixers should be in that conversation. But Joel Embiid's need, right? Joel Embiid's everything. So, they're not in that conversation. So, I think that Toronto is going to be scary come playoff time if they can manage Kawhi enough to get him there. Because that's what Toronto was missing this year, that closer. Because Brandon Ingram is a very talented basketball player. But he's Eeyore.

[00:31:36] I don't think I've ever seen him smile. Maybe that one time he punched Chris Paul, he might have let out a little smirk. But that dude is just always just there jacking up shots. He played well this season. But you know what? If you're in Toronto, you're a little happy because he stays hurt too. So, I traded one injury for another.

[00:32:00] But a guy with two championships, two finals MVPs, one of the best perimeter defenders that's ever played the game of basketball. I'll make that trade nine times out of ten if I'm Toronto. Regardless of how old Kawhi Leonard is. Because one thing that you know about Brandon Ingram is that once he's on your team, you just are what you are. You know what I mean? You ain't getting no better per se.

[00:32:28] Like, you might win an extra couple of games. But you're not guaranteed to get out the first round of the playoffs. You know what I'm saying? Now, where does that leave Miami in all of this? I didn't forget about them. They brought in Tim Hardaway today. You know, great pickup. You know, they need some shooting. So, your starting lineup is probably going to be Damian Mitchell, Tim Hardaway Jr., Andrew Wiggins, Giannis Antetokounmpo, and 83-point man, Bam Adebayo.

[00:32:58] All right. Norm Powell looks like he's the odd man out. So, somebody like, say, Chicago should be on line one trying to secure his services. Charlotte, you know, we've been talking about this LaMelo ball trade. For those of you not tracking, I'm okay with the LaMelo ball trade. Because in the NBA, you're always playing for the future, right?

[00:33:26] Like, the future is now. Because if you go back, they traded Miles Bridges and brought in Grayson Allen and Royce O'Neal. So, what do you need to win championships? You need role players that are great at their role. You need guys that can make the defense afraid and have to challenge their three-point shot, which opens up the rest of the floor for Brandon Miller, for Kobe White to get to the rim.

[00:33:55] And, oh, by the way, Conn Kniepel just led the league in threes as a rookie this year. So, I like the trade. You know what I mean? Especially when I look at Jokic being a free agent next year. He hasn't opted in. You know, $62.8 million is what he would be due next season. You got Steph Curry. You know, depending on what happens with the Warriors, what happens with LeBron James. You know, is it time for Steph to go back home and have his swan song? That's just my thought, right? That's not reported anywhere.

[00:34:25] That's just my thought. You know, so you got better free agents next year. And if you want an Anthony Davis, if the Wizards don't max him this year, guess what? Free agent next year. So, from that standpoint, I like where Charlotte is sitting, even though I know a lot of people are down on them because, you know, you don't trade your stars. But at some point, I think Brandon Miller is going to be a max player. I do. You know, Conn is going to be a couple years behind him,

[00:34:53] but still something that you have to take into consideration. So, if I was the Hornets, I would run him back one more year. But the Phoenix Suns picking up Miles Bridges does nothing for me. He's a talented player, but Matt Ishbia is doing this Michigan State thing. As a Commanders fan, it reminds me of when we hired Steve Spurrier as head coach, and he started bringing in Danny Werfel and Chris Doreen and all these Florida Gators. So, Ishbia's got Mateen Cleaves, you know, in the building.

[00:35:24] Jordan Ott, the head coach, is a Michigan State guy. You know, he's just putting Michigan State guys everywhere. Miles Bridges, he brought in Tyson Walker last year undrafted. You know, this guy is just trying to recreate Michigan State, and the Suns ain't going to go anywhere. But let's talk about Jalen Duran for a second. So, had a bad playoff. I can't say anything better. You know, he had a bad playoff. You know, started out okay against Orlando.

[00:35:51] Then the last four games of that series, he just tailed off. You know, those first two games against Cleveland, the Pistons looked like they were going to go to the Eastern Conference Finals. And then Evan Mobley found his ball somewhere. And so, from that point on, Jalen Duran was rendered ineffective in a lot of ways. We started seeing a lot more Paul Reed. You know, and, you know, Stewart was already ineffective, and he's gone to Memphis now.

[00:36:21] So, now if you're Detroit, you're playing a very dangerous game. You're playing a very dangerous game if you're the Pistons. So, you don't want to max Jalen Duran, right? And I get it. I get it. After that playoff performance, I probably wouldn't want to max him either. But the good news for Detroit is that he's a restricted free agent.

[00:36:46] Meaning that if somebody offers him something, you can make the decision to match or not. You know, and now, two teams are being involved that we're hearing about now. You know, we've heard that today he's meeting with Sacramento, potential side and trade because they couldn't sign him straight up. And then the Lakers that we talked about earlier. So, with that being said, right?

[00:37:12] If you're Sacramento, I'm sorry, if you're another team, just take Sacramento out for a second. If you're another team and you offer him as much as you can, because remember, your current team can offer you the most. But if you're a team that can't offer that fifth year, but you give them a four-year max. If you're Detroit, now do you match that? What's the alternative? So, think about it, right?

[00:37:41] A sign and trade with the Kings. Jalen Duran for DeMontes Sabonis. What do we think about that? I'll tell you what I think about that. I think that would be great offense as far as the pick and roll, you know, some screens and handoffs. Cade Cunningham would love that. He would probably have some of the most fun he's going to have in the NBA in his career, right? But then there's another side of the ball.

[00:38:11] The good news is DeMontes is such a great rebounder. The bad news is, come playoff time, he's going to get punked around. You remember Light the Beam? You remember how Draymond took his heart straight out of his chest? Yeah, that's DeMontes Sabonis. So, if you're Detroit, fuck around and find out. Well, that's where I stand on that, right? Okay. Let's say it's not DeMontes Sabonis. Let's say it's Zach Levine.

[00:38:41] You know, he just opted into his $49 million deal. Ooh, that's nuts. But hey, if you bring Zach Levine to Detroit, you got him and Isaiah Joe, two shooters off the bench potentially. And of course, you know, you might have to, you know, start him in that scenario. But, you know, when you look at it that way, Detroit can't play these games. You know, you can't go into next season with what?

[00:39:09] Paul Reed, you know, said as your starter, you know, saying like Detroit, you know what, Mike? Detroit going to mess around and end up with Vucevic if they keep playing these games. I'm looking at this free agent list right now. You got Vucevic, Zach Collins, Mitchell Robinson, Mo Wagner, Kavon Looney, Andre Drummond, Nick Richards. And that's before I get into all the names that nobody cares about.

[00:39:36] Now, maybe, you know, said if you want to do this sign and trade thing, maybe call Utah. Walker Kessler's looking for a contract. He's looking for a contract. He felt insulted by what, with what Utah offered him. They offered him five years, 140. I don't know what he thinks he's worth. I think that's a good deal. You know, he's coming off of injury, missed the whole season.

[00:40:05] So, Detroit, you got to shit or get off the pot. Which brings me to Jalen Duren for Jalen Brown? Is that a thing? Could that be a thing? Jalen Duren? Because when you go back and look at Boston, and I don't want to overreact, right? Joel Embiid, you know, the 3-1 lead that Boston blew. Obviously, Jason Tatum got hurt at the end of that series as well.

[00:40:34] I don't think Boston has to necessarily overreact and get a Jalen Duren. But if you're trying to get rid of Jalen Brown anyway, you could do a lot worse than Jalen Duren, right? Now, that's where who's going to call for dirt? White. I imagine we're going to hear his name sometime soon, too. But Boston's talking about they want four draft picks, four first-round draft picks for Jalen Brown. That tells me one or two things.

[00:41:03] They just talking or they're waiting for Jalen Brown to, air quote, come to his senses. Because Jalen Brown, you know, is being disrespected all across the board. It was one thing when it was coming from the Celtics. Okay, cool. You know, now everybody's piling on in the media. You know, smart young dude, never got in any trouble.

[00:41:31] You know, then a part of the Players Association. And now we're going to make him sound like he's a malcontent. This is a guy that teaches at MIT. You know what I'm saying? Like, he's basically an astronaut. And we're sitting up here trying to talk about this dude as if he's a malcontent, if he's causing problems in the locker room. Where you at, Jason Tatum? Can you come defend this man or something?

[00:41:56] But anyway, so back to the trade machine, right? Jalen Brown for Jamal Murray and Cam Johnson. You know what I'm saying? Put Jalen Brown next to Peyton Watson, you know, because Denver wants to keep him. Christian Brown, the odd man out.

[00:42:20] Now, Portland, could you imagine all the things that we've been talking about Tim Dundon, right? You know, stadium issues, you know, trying to get the city and the taxpayers to kick out all his money for renovations. He didn't want to do the T-shirts or the chairs for game three of the first round series. You know, he signed his coach to team options.

[00:42:46] Could you imagine Portland getting Dame Lillard back? And before he plays another game in a Portland uniform, Dundon trades him again? That would be, oh, you talk about public enemy number one. He better take his ass to Carolina with his Stanley Cup champions if that happens. Jokic is up next year. That's why I keep talking about Denver. So you got to do something.

[00:43:13] You have to give Nikola Jokic a reason to think that he should resign with you. Because you can't just take it and think that we can offer him the most money. Because something tells me money doesn't motivate Jokic in that way. Now, don't get me wrong. Everybody wants to get paid. But I think Jokic is the type of personality that would turn down $63 million if he could go get $50 million and have a chance at a championship. And that's easy for me to say from this seat, right?

[00:43:42] I don't know the difference between $50 million and $63 million besides doing math. I ain't seen neither one of them. But one more team for Jalen Brown that I don't know if I've heard mentioned yet. No, I'm not going to say the Mavericks because I brought them up for LeBron. But what about Jalen Brown to Orlando? You know, is it time to break up Wagner and Paulo? You know, have you reached where you're going to reach with those two?

[00:44:12] Maybe not because Orlando still needs a point guard at some point that they still aren't trying to get for whatever reason. Like, I look at them. Even in the draft, I mean, granted, they had a second round pick. But they took a guy that's probably not going to play for four or five years. So if you're Orlando, are you looking at a Colin Sexton? You know, Marcus Vaughn is off the board. I don't think you want to bring in Russell Westbrook at this point in his career. Could Jamal Shed?

[00:44:43] I like him a lot, you know, out in Toronto. Could he be an option for point guard for Orlando? You know, outside of that, lots of slim pickings out here. You know, maybe, maybe, you know, you bring it up Gary Payton Jr., but I don't know if he's a full-time point guard, more or less just a small two for defensive purposes. So you pretty much already got that with Jalen Suggs, you know, who's a little bit bigger than him.

[00:45:11] But I don't know, you know, it might be time to move off of Jalen Suggs. So I think that free agency is just beginning. Obviously, today was the day that it opened. But I think we're going to see more trades over the next few days. Some of them might even make us scratch our heads because, you know, we got these aprons now. You know, you saw Sacramento draft Devin Carter, son of Anthony, what, two years ago? At number 13. They just traded him to Atlanta for nothing.

[00:45:41] You know, said, because, you know, they're trying to get right. They got Levine at 49. You still got Sabonis. And then what are you going to do? Allegedly, the reports are is that they're going to try to trade DeRozan. But if they can't, they got to waive him. So they might be eating some of that. There you go. Portland brought in John Moran. I don't know how to feel about that.

[00:46:11] Now, from a comp from a sense standpoint, trying to make sense of it. It's a great move because you're talking about a guy that was drafted number two in the draft who has shown that he can lead teams to success. Memphis was just a two seed two or three seasons ago. But they didn't necessarily have a lot of star power. So now you add him to Portland where they have a lot of talent right now.

[00:46:39] Early reports are they're going to start Ja and Dame together. I would advise against that. But, hey, do what you do. You still got Captain Drew Holiday. What do you do with Scoot Henderson? Now, early reports are they think they could keep all four. I don't know because you still got Shaden Sharp. You know, obviously, Diddy Abia.

[00:47:05] You know, Portland led the league and drives this season, drives to the basket. And they're picking up a Ja Morant. So you might need to keep a Drew or a Dame because what if the defense says you can't come in here no more? You got to have somebody that's willing to knock down shots and able to knock down shots. Now, Tumani Kamara improved his three-point shooting this year, and you hope that that continues.

[00:47:33] If so, Portland might be a team that's going to be involved in the next couple of seasons as far as being a spoiler at the very least. You know, they got Donovan Clingon in the front court. You got Tom Lord. They brought back today three years, $44 million. So what's the deal look like for Jalen Brown there? You know, do you go Scoot Henderson? You're not giving up Kamara. I don't think you're giving up Clingon this early.

[00:48:03] And that wouldn't even make the money match anyway. So at this point, what do you do if you're Portland if you're trying to get a Jalen Brown? I think that would be a good spot for him. You know what I mean? It would definitely, you know, be his team. I think at this point, you know, we can say that he's better than Ja Morant, especially since Ja Morant is rarely ever on the court. So something to keep an eye on, right?

[00:48:31] Isaiah Hartenstein, back to OKC, three years, $75 million. So the other thing about OKC now is that they have given Lou Dort his option. But could he still be on the move? Because if you're OKC, you're checking the tea leaves. You know, everybody around you is making moves. You don't need to overreact. But you need to keep your eye on the ball, right? You know what I'm saying?

[00:48:59] Because that's the worst thing that you can do is stay stagnant. So they already lost Aaron Wiggins. He's in Atlanta. They lost Isaiah Joe. He's in Detroit. You know, Kyrich Williams is a free agent. We'll see what they do with the other J-Dub. So, you know, oh, let's see. JB to the Bulls. All right, Mike, walk me through this. You know what I'm saying? What the Bulls giving up to make this happen?

[00:49:26] And don't try to be slick and say Caleb Wilson either. But no, but that would definitely give Jalen Brown his own team. And I think that's what he's looking for. So I think at this point, Jalen Brown would go just about anywhere just to prove a point. You know what I mean? I don't know about, you know, Sacramento. You know, let's not get crazy now. But, you know, I can see Jalen Brown.

[00:49:53] I've heard Houston, you know, being suggested by the media. I don't like that at all because you already got no shooters on that team besides Durant, really. Van Vliet will be back, but we'll see how effective he can be. So, yeah, Kaysen Wallace is a good one, Mike, because is it time for him to go now? You know what I mean? I would want to keep him the way that he performed in that Game 7 against San Antonio.

[00:50:20] But that's where you start getting into the money aspect, those aprons. Because I think from what I was reading right after the Western Conference Finals, it sounds like SGA really wants Dort back. You know, the same way that I was talking about Luka and Austin Reeves. So, let's see, two firsts, Pat Williams, Anthony Simmons. Oh, Montez? You would give up Bozelis? Wow.

[00:50:49] Okay, okay. That's not a bad deal. You know what I mean? If I was Boston, after I'm done being insulted that you brought up Patrick Williams, after I go regurgitate a little bit, you know what I mean? I'll come back to you, and you know what I mean? I'd probably buy Pat Williams out or, you know, see if I could flip him, maybe get a third team involved that would be willing to take him on.

[00:51:18] Because his contract is nasty. It's good for the times, but for the level of player that he is, it's nasty. So, but, you know, but that's not a bad deal. That's not a bad deal. You know, but the Bulls got a lot to figure out. You know, Collin Sexton, you know, what they going to do. So, we'll see what happens there. I mentioned Russell Westbrook to the Wizards. No. That's all I'm going to say about it.

[00:51:46] It's been quiet down in New Orleans, which leads me to believe that Jalen Brown could be New Orleans bound, maybe. Because ever since the NBA draft came upon us, all I heard was Trey Murphy this, Trey Murphy that. Everybody loves Trey Murphy. Now, of course, Joe Dumars wants to be first for him. Come on now. Let's not be crazy.

[00:52:14] You know, Zion averaged 21 last year. You know, he played 62 games, which was the second most of his career. You know, only the third season. He's had three seasons where he's played 30 or less. So, you know what I mean? Could Jalen Brown end up in New Orleans? What does that look like? You know, I like fears.

[00:52:35] You know, maybe could Boston get, say, a DeJounte Mary or Jordan Poole with a Trey Murphy? Because I don't know if you could do Murphy for Brown straight up with the picks. You know, you still, again, have to make the money match. So, you would have to give up somebody. I think New Orleans is going to keep Meecy, and he doesn't make enough money to be a part of that without more players added.

[00:53:02] So, I don't think the idea is give up three to four players and these picks if I don't have to. And especially at this point where Jalen Brown is a distressed asset. You know what I mean? Like, this is one of those situations where I get upset at these NBA teams because you just tell everybody what's going on. Either you wait too long and you wait for the player to ask out, or you make it known that the player is available,

[00:53:32] and then you lose all your leverage and you can't get what you're supposed to get. You know what I'm saying? Like, using Giannis as an indicator, you know, we saw what Milwaukee got for him. And at this point, I don't know outside of picks. I don't know what Boston's getting. You know, and it might have to be a three-team deal, to be honest with you. Andrew Wiggins, I mentioned him earlier. He's back with the Heat, three years, $64 million.

[00:54:01] Now the question is to get players in there. Is Miami going to have to come off of Nikola Jokic? I said Jokic, not Jokic. But also, with that being said, if not, or even if they do, where does Miami go now? Is Miami in that Buddy Hill market now? Bradley Beal's a free agent, still getting paid. He's the fourth highest paid player on the Suns. It didn't even play for him last year. You know, he was in L.A.

[00:54:29] So could Bradley Beal be an option? Do you want Bradley Beal if you're Miami? It's a nice name. It makes sense. Like, when you say it out loud, it's like, oh, yeah, I can have Bradley Beal. And I don't need to rely on him to get me 20 points a game. But you're still talking about Bradley Beal. So, no. Leave that for, you know, the Hornets. I mean, not the Hornets. The Pelicans. Leave that for teams like that. You don't need Bradley Beal.

[00:54:58] You know, I talked about Walker Kessler. You know, so Utah's got some thoughts, right? You know, they just brought in Triple J. They still have Lowry marketing. You know, there's rumors that Ace Bailey is going to have to play six-man, or at least that's the idea that they're floating around within the organization. So, you know, that could be a Jalen Brown fit if you really wanted it.

[00:55:25] But now that you drafted, you know, Peterson, I think your team is complete, and it's time to actually try to make the playoffs now. That's just my thought. So, there's a lot going on around the NBA right now. You know, I think that free agency is the best time of year. You know, I'm happy that Toronto was able to – some closing thoughts here.

[00:55:52] I'm glad Toronto was able to keep Colin Murray Boyles. You know what I'm saying? Because if I was the Clippers, that would have been probably one of the first people I would have asked about just looking at youth. You know, saying, so the Clippers, I'm guessing, are going to bring back Mathurin. But Darius Garland is in place. So, it's going to be interesting to see where we go from here. You know, maybe Miami ends up with a Chris Middleton type.

[00:56:19] Because I know that's funny to think about, but you still need those guys on your roster to help the youth. You know, maybe they can go get a Kelly Oubre type. You know, he's out there as a free agent. There's a lot going on. But, hey, good news, bad news. The next time you see Sports Reports is ordered, it's going to be time to talk some football. You know what I'm saying?

[00:56:45] It's going to be time to start previewing these conferences, college football, setting that up, getting ready for some NFL. The bad news is we won't be back until July 14th. It's vacation time. You know what I'm saying? So, thank you for everything that y'all do. Thank you for being here. Like, review, subscribe, share, rate. Do all the free things. Do all the good things. Liquid death in hand.

[00:57:14] You know, special shout out to Mr. Logical, the cool, calm, collected. Born in Texas, raised in Virginia, representing everything new. Jerroos. Shout out to Dallas Mike. Cups and the gang. You know, say a shout out to Say Less, Say More. Sports Reports is ordered. We'll be back again, July 14th. I love y'all. You will still see clips and I will still be on here from time to time just saying what's up. Sports Reports is ordered.

[00:57:44] Out! Out! Out! Out!

[00:58:16] Sports Reports. No gimmicks, no clowns. 2-5, Mr. Logical. We run this town. We'll talk only. No chaser, no doubt. From the east to the west. It's the order we shout. It's about to go down.