Drafting the Top 12 NBA free agents

[00:00:00]NBA free agency. Let's be honest, it ain't what it used to be, boys. And you can thank the past several CBAs for that. But there are still plenty of interesting players on the market. So, we're going to go through some of the top free agents this off season. And we're going to draft either like the best available players or the most interesting is another way to look at it. Unrestricted free agents, restricted free agents, players with player options, players with team options. I think they're all eligible here. Open floor. Have at it.

[00:00:30]>> Oh, yes. Who you drafting?

[00:00:33]>> These free agents available. I mean, LeBron stands out at the top. He stands out as number one. Am I going with him because I'm just partial to LeBron James?

[00:00:45]>> Yeah. Yeah, I'll take LeBron off the top.

[00:00:47]>> Okay.

[00:00:48]>> Um, >> this is going to be so interesting as to where he goes cuz it sure feels like it ain't going to be LA. Um, but is it to me?

[00:00:58]>> I think so. Tim Horse is saying he thinks it'll be LA. Yeah, >> I thought that was surprising.

[00:01:03]>> Yeah, that is surprising to me just because if to at this point it feels like there's he's going to give it one more shot, one more year and is he going to do it in LA where it's unlikely at this point if you say I'm signing in LA that that team is a contender at all period. Um, so I would think he takes I'm I'm going to go on a limb and say he takes the non-t taxpayer mid-level exception way cheaper than he deserves.

[00:01:31]Like super super super cheap. Like a $14 million contract. Like essentially >> nothing for him in comparison to everything he's made. Is it Cleveland? I mean, that is even a reach to me at this point. I don't think he goes back. But maybe there's another situation that he sees one-year championship run. He signs that mid-level exception for a one-year plus a player option when he can say, "Okay, I'm not coming back if we win or I'm done kind of thing." So, I see that as as the possibility.

[00:02:02]>> But you think going to Cleveland helps his chances to win a title more than just staying with Luca and the Lakers?

[00:02:08]>> I don't know.

[00:02:09]>> Yeah, I think so. I think so. Depend the Lakers or what are the Lakers going to be?

[00:02:14]>> Yeah. I mean, I think there's a better chance Cleveland makes the finals than the Lakers.

[00:02:18]>> Yeah. Yeah. It's it's you're you're playing against whether it's the Spurs, Thunder, whoever. But yes, I think the Cleveland has a better better hope.

[00:02:27]>> Well, the guy's still good. Incredibly.

[00:02:29]I mean, >> exactly.

[00:02:30]>> An all-star in his 23rd season and he averaged 26 and seven for a third straight year. So, he basically still feels ageless here.

[00:02:36]>> Yeah.

[00:02:37]>> The Lakers can offer him up to anything up to his max. I mean, we don't think it'll be a max because they have other things to do here, but uh yeah, will or would LeBron compromise to return to LA?

[00:02:48]That's that's the other part. Just like what's the dollar figure?

[00:02:51]>> Yeah, I could be wrong. And I guess there's a chance that he signs and then sees how the first few months go and could be okay being traded. It seems odd to say LeBron's being dealt here at 42 years old. Um so I think he'll pick I think he'll pick where he deems it. And if you're a bad man, you don't think it'll be a >> Yeah, that's my that's my guess right now. Um, you know, I think he likes to take chances. This would be taking a chance. This would be very different than what he's done uh for a long time.

[00:03:22]>> But I just it's it's very hard. I mean, maybe I'm wrong. Maybe I'm wrong. Maybe they have if they were able to add pieces around him and Luca, then it's a different conversation. But I mean, and that seems like a reach, especially in today's CBA. Yeah, they need a lot. The Lakers do. They got swept by the Thunder and they didn't even make the finals. So, Lakers are far way off, but it's hard to imagine like LeBron on there's only three teams I can really imagine him on. The Cavs, the Lakers, and the Warriors playing with Steph.

[00:03:53]>> Yeah.

[00:03:53]>> Yes. Trying to picture him anywhere else is very tough. Yeah.

[00:03:57]>> Yeah. Like we're not seeing LeBron play for the Pistons, I don't think.

[00:04:00]>> No. No. It would be the Warriors.

[00:04:01]Exactly. If it's not the Cavs, but even then >> they're not a championship team. as soon as they sign Browns.

[00:04:09]>> They're an interesting team.

[00:04:10]>> Yeah.

[00:04:10]>> It's sort of just comes down to like how much he truly cares at this point of like competing for another title. Yeah.

[00:04:17]>> Like he's chasing obviously MJ's Ghost and all that, but you know, you'd have to win a couple to obviously even get to that level. And it's like he might just be like he loves living in LA.

[00:04:26]>> All he does is golf now. It feels like son is on the goddamn team. You know, he might just like he I'll just run this back >> and whatever the the compromise is on the contract. We'll see. Unrestricted free agent. Okay. Lebron off the board.

[00:04:37]Good one. Here you have the next pick here, TK.

[00:04:39]>> Yeah, LeBron's the number one pick to me. He's probably I mean, he's probably still the best player that's going to be a free agent. That's crazy. He's 41 years old. If LeBron was like 38 years old and he was 21, six and seven or what? It's like >> Yeah, >> you'd be thinking that's a steal for the mid-level exception.

[00:04:55]>> Oh, yeah. I mean, unbelievable.

[00:04:57]>> I don't think I don't know. I'd be >> he's been underpaid on every single contract he's ever had. So, why would that discontinue at this point? Uh, my guy I'm choosing though, >> he just declined an option and became a free agent. That's surprising. Trey Young, now suddenly a free agent for the Washington Wizards. Though there is >> a semi expectation that he will still be back with the Wizards. We've heard of some of their negotiations and the offers that they've presented to him.

[00:05:22]But now that the Heat consider him a potential backup plan, it kind of seems like Trey Young's representation hit the gas on, wait a second, he still might be a max player here, or at least trying to extract a little bit more money out of uh the Wizards. So, I think most likely he ends up back with the Wizards, but at least compared to the beginning of this week, it feels like Trey Young is in play for other teams now. And he's still good. like he barely played at all uh this season, but Trey Young is still a productive player when he plays. I don't know how far he can necessarily take you. Uh but the Wizards are trying to take the very first step going forward, so they don't really care. So, I'm curious if a team is going to try and go over the top of Washington and lure Trey Young away after playing a handful of games.

[00:06:10]>> Yeah. Unrestricted free agent. Now widespread expectation when he did get traded to Washington though was he was just going to sign an extension like it was going to be you know there was a lot of talk of like 3 years 120 million 3 years 130 million let's say which would be less than obviously that player option that he turned down but yeah now there's all this buzz of these other teams that are maybe or maybe not like going to strike out on Giannis or pivot from like whatever um I'm with you TK I think he stays in Washington here uh and this was just probably smart smart work by him and his team here to drum up maybe I don't know whether it's real interest or not but to get more dollar values um out of this deal this extension but I think he's staying there he is still a oneman offensive engine he just is now a lot of obviously liability on the defensive end and how far can you really go with him as your main guy but the guy's damn good at setting up teammates and scoring I mean he's third all time in assists he trails Magic Johnson and John Stockton like career assists >> per game.

[00:07:12]>> Per game. Yeah. Yeah. I mean, it's like nearly 10 per game. It's not nothing.

[00:07:16]Um, so I think he's >> Yeah, he he has the ball 100% of the time.

[00:07:20]>> Yeah, absolutely.

[00:07:21]>> So, like he is an offense to himself, but if Trey Young is your offense to himself, your offense is okay.

[00:07:27]>> Yeah, but okay might be good in Washington.

[00:07:29]>> Totally. Yeah, Washington. I don't care if Washington maxes him out. Like, they have nothing. They're they're starting from the very bottom and and trying to make a pretty significant jump. uh just to get into the playin tournament. I'm talking about other teams like if uh if the Clippers offer him $200 million just a random team like it matters more for them. I think Washington you're happy for him to sap up every possession >> and every dollar max out for Trey. You'd say you'd be okay with them saying >> we'll give you the max man because they don't have anybody really signed up essentially other than >> other than young players.

[00:08:07]It's interesting to see uh how much he gets because the critics will say turning down 49, >> it's a lot.

[00:08:15]>> My god.

[00:08:15]>> But but in this market right here, right now, we're taking them in our draft pretty high. So maybe that this is the time for him to be a free agent. So that's understandable.

[00:08:27]We'll see who uh who bids, you know, a few years for 100 mil max, I think. I mean, you know, it depends if there's a team that's if it's the Heat that say somehow we're giving him the money that we would be giving to Giannis at this time. That kind of thing, like paying him more than anyone else would pay him, I imagine.

[00:08:51]>> Well, what do you think he's going to make per year?

[00:08:53]>> Yeah, like 33.

[00:08:54]>> No, more.

[00:08:55]>> Way more.

[00:08:57]>> I don't know.

[00:08:58]>> I think way more.

[00:08:59]In today, in today's NBA, I guess I guess you're right.

[00:09:01]>> I don't think you're turning down 49 if you're not even coming somewhat close to it. Obviously, the years will be at I Yeah, I think it'll be more.

[00:09:09]>> Yeah, maybe I'm wrong.

[00:09:10]>> Uh, all right. My first pick, you guys took unrestricted free agents. I'll take our first restricted free agent. I'll take Jaylen Duran. Okay. Uh, he can make up to 30% of the cap. That would be 287.1 million across five years from Detroit.

[00:09:25]But after that disastrous playoff performance where I think we said he was dropping coins like he was Sonic the Hedgehog uh after each game he's going to lose a lot of money. Um and you know I guess in a weird way that could be great for Detroit here. Uh oddly looking at it like a a discount because I saw Bobby Marks thinks he's looking at probably like 5year 180 million. Now, that's a hell of a drop off if, you know, he had played at an elite level in the playoffs and we're like, "Oh, yeah, max guy. No doubt." I mean, he's not there and you shouldn't do that. So, I don't know what it will be. I think he's staying with Detroit, but he did have the third largest scoring decrease by an all-star from the regular season to the playoffs in NBA history. It was bad. We were there. We watched every minute of it and it was rough, but he is still a good player and you're just hoping that was, you know, get that out of your system type thing and obviously continue to grow. still young and he was important to a bunch of regular season wins. Um, so I don't know what number you have in mind you think Jaylen Duran or even the idea of obviously a team trying to get him.

[00:10:28]>> He's probably a $40 million player >> and I think other teams would offer Jaylen Duran because like you're saying he's young. He is still good. It wasn't good in the playoffs. It wasn't good in the playoffs last year but guess what?

[00:10:39]The regular season matters uh as well and he was a great regular season player also player and also Detroit has literally no way to replace him. So they're going to have to match basically anything a team offers him. Otherwise, they don't have any sort of center option outside of Duran. So I don't know. I think he's still good. He just he just looked bad in that series. It happens.

[00:11:00]>> Yeah. I think the ballpark is Yeah.

[00:11:02]about 200.

[00:11:03]>> Yeah.

[00:11:03]>> For the five. So exactly 40. Something like that'll happen.

[00:11:06]>> Well, and again, I mean, this could work out for in Detroit's favor in a weird way. Him having a pretty crappy playoff performance where you're like, "Okay, well, I don't know about Max Max." Yeah, >> you know, you save money and help your team be able to grow and add a player or two. So, >> it was a little roller coaster. Makes the AllNBA team. He can now make 30% which is a lot of money as you said. And then >> there was a value.

[00:11:29]>> Gives it all back.

[00:11:30]>> Yeah.

[00:11:30]>> All right. Jaylen Duran. Uh it sounds like we all agree that he will be staying though probably with Detroit.

[00:11:35]>> I think so. They might they might slow play it and give somebody else a contract offer before they give it to Duran just so they can squeeze somebody in to be that third option on that team because they need one. Tobias Harris is a free agent. Kevin Herder is a free agent. Not that he was high on the list on their roster, but that's a lot of money coming off the books. So they may squeeze in a wing.

[00:11:58]A Wiggins perhaps. We'll see what they >> squeeze in a Wiggins.

[00:12:01]>> They need they need somebody there. So before they give it to Jaylen, they may give it to some give part of it to somebody else.

[00:12:08]>> All right, you have your next pick here.

[00:12:10]Fourth overall.

[00:12:10]>> Wow, this is tough. This is tough because how are we how are we picking guys? For me, I'm just picking talent, hope, potential here rather than a lot of established players. I'm going way down the list. I'm paying Payton Watson some big money.

[00:12:27]>> Okay. I mean, I have him I have him high on my list. Maybe not this high, but okay.

[00:12:31]>> Yeah. Give me a reason. I mean, he's a perfect modern player. The guy is super young. He's a great defender. And offensively, he looked spectacular. When Yokic was out, we know he was really, really good. 22 points per game. But overall this season, he was just really good, too. This is his coming out party in year number four. I think they they've slow played it perfectly. He was there for the uh the championship when he barely played. Uh but now he he was 49 from the floor, 41 from three, 11 shots per game. Against the defense, I I would put him up against to guard any any uh incredible player on, you know, the best player on the other side cuz he's that good. He did get hurt. Scary.

[00:13:15]Um but I'd be overpaying. I think the Nuggets are going to overpay. I mean, or match because he is a restricted free agent, whatever. Somebody else is going to overpay. So I'll take Payton Watson.

[00:13:25]>> Hope the bot is okay. Hope he's healthy.

[00:13:27]But, uh, TBD on that, we shall see. But, I like the potential and again, he just he's he's got the legs >> to be able to run forever. Um, and so I think it fits fits well.

[00:13:40]>> Thoughts on Payton Watson here?

[00:13:42]>> I wonder if he's getable just because the Nuggets are kind of a cheap franchise and they seem to be very money conscious with most of the moves they make during the offseason. That's why the Michael Porter Jr. trade went down last summer. They paid Christian Brown not encouraging his first year after signing uh a big deal because it seemed like at the time we're choosing between Brown and Watson. At that time Brown was ahead of Watson. He's a starter on the championship team. He regressed a little bit this year whereas Watson took a step forward. It's bad for the Nuggets to lose him, >> but I'm not totally sure that they will match if an offer gets really really high because I I think Pton Watson like at worst he's the third best restricted free agent. like Duran number one, I've got Een number two, but Watson's right there with Een just ahead of probably Kesler and Matan uh in my book. So, I wonder if a team could steal this guy because he's helpful around stars playing defense and being like >> a third scoreer if you need him to.

[00:14:38]>> Yeah, a couple things to add to that.

[00:14:39]Nuggets are $18 million over the luxury tax, $2.2 million above the second apron. And like Trey said, you know, this is a franchise that like to try and keep the books clean. Bonds, our guy doesn't do just weather reports. He said that the Nuggets may need to move Cameron Johnson or Christian Brown to create enough room to pay Watson in the, you know, salary range that he might be looking at. And I I'm excited to see what this guy gets because you guys are right. Like it was pretty obvious early, oh, the guy's an elite defense defensive player. I mean, he's got the length, the athleticism, he tries hard, but it was always going to be, yeah, but is he going to have enough offense to match that? and he did show that I thought like he said 41% from three, averaged about 15 points before the injury and all that. So it looks like he's like now a legit two-way guy. What are we seeing here in the NBA? These teams that go to the championship rounds and stuff. It's like >> oh yeah, you need those like Bridges OG type guys that you know in theory he could turn into as he is so quite young.

[00:15:35]So what's he looking at here? Four like what do you think four years 90 something like that right? Yeah.

[00:15:42]>> Four to 90 to deal for him I think.

[00:15:44]Yeah, that'd be a good deal. But as Trey said, somebody could overpay him even more so than that.

[00:15:49]>> Yeah, they could.

[00:15:50]>> I could see. Yeah, if you know, we'll get to Austin Reeves, but if the Lakers say, "Okay, Austin, hold on a sec. We got to go get pay somebody a ton of money." It could be this guy, man. Maybe that brings LeBron back. Uh because Payeyton Watson is just a damn good defensive player. They need defensive players. So, that could be a situation there. But, as you said, the Nuggets most tradable contract to keep Payton Watson around is Cam Johnson. He's only got one year left. While >> that Christian Brown extension hasn't even started. This is the year. So, five years of that. I always said watching Aaron Gordon play, who was their best defender forever, >> that that guy just can't stay healthy.

[00:16:27]Um, so I I I'm more concerned about that and three years of that for for the Nuggets payroll. Now, that's not um I don't know if they want to trade him away. Um, but I I I'd be more likely to think, oh, Payton Watson's going to be good for a long time. Well, Aaron Gordon, he he's just struggled with health this year and last year.

[00:16:46]>> So, I don't know. I don't You're right that they're franchise doesn't spend a lot of money.

[00:16:51]So, they got to make some picks. There's no doubt.

[00:16:53]>> All right, Trey, your next pick.

[00:16:54]>> This is an interesting guy. Uh, give me Isaiah Hartenstein, who actually has a team option. He might not even be a free agent if the Thunder decide, hey, we're just going to pay him $28.5 million. But when they signed Hartinstein, it was like we know towards the end of his contract. It's going to be the Thunder have to start churning through players if they're trying to keep SGA, Cadet, and JDub all together. The role player guys could change. They drafted Thomas Sorber last year. He got hurt immediately. Didn't play. People are speculating that maybe the Thunderenter in this year's draft. But then you also go through the way the Western Conference Finals went down. Isaiah Hartstein was their best Webby defender.

[00:17:32]They tried other guys on Wemby early on and it really was beneficial to the Thunder to put the strength and the size that Hartinstein had on to WBY. Web is going to be there again next year. We're expecting the Thunder and the Spurs to run into each other time and time again.

[00:17:45]Hartinstein is still on the young side of things as well, only 28 years old.

[00:17:50]Like he's worth keeping around the way he is just an additive player. Like he rebounds, he finishes at the rim, he moves the ball outside. I think the Thunder need to keep this guy. I wonder if they would decline his team option and see if he could go for, >> I don't know, maybe we give him three years, 75 million, you know, a little bit less annually, but keep him around for longer, get Sorber or whoever they draft this year up to speed and then start the churn factor, but I don't know, other teams would be excited about Hartinstein as well. Like, he was awesome for the Knicks a few years ago.

[00:18:20]He would be a great Celtic if they can find a way uh to swing it moneywise. The Bulls are a team that need a center.

[00:18:25]Like there are teams that would definitely be interested in Hartinstein if the Thunder make him available, but they shouldn't.

[00:18:31]>> No, they should not. They need him for sure. Yeah, I think the question is contract. Do we say, "All right, let's sign something else like you just said or just stick with that number."

[00:18:43]>> Hartstein off the board. Okay, I can't believe this guy has slipped to the sixth spot here in our draft of free agents. I'll take Austin Reeves here.

[00:18:51]>> Player option, uh, I think he's going to decline it, guys. um what's he make like $15 million right now. So >> he has definitely uh unquestionably outplayed that contract that he signed with the Lakers in 23. So he is due here for a hell of a pay increase. Now he's going to be eligible for a 5-year contract that starts at 25% of the salary cap. So that could pay him a projected like 240 million. So it's a lot of money, right? That to say with the Lakers if he goes all the way up there. And this is the question here.

[00:19:23]and they and they've got other pieces to figure out, but also couldn't you see a team coming over the top like maybe the Brooklyn Nets come over the top and like man this guy scores 25 26 a game like he is really good we should make a move on that. That would be a nice piece to try building our team around. So that could happen. He does have defensive questions, durability questions to some extent too but I don't know where you guys think uh Reeves ultimately lands.

[00:19:48]probably stay with LA, but uh how much of that 239.3 do you think he actually >> extracts here from the Lakers?

[00:19:55]>> Well, the Lakers made the Luca Donuch trade looking ahead to summer of 2026 when they're supposed to have cap space.

[00:20:01]They've got so many guys coming off the books, though, like we're talking about now. It wouldn't be surprising to see LeBron come back. Certainly wouldn't be surprising to see Reeves come back. Luca loves playing with this guy and basically is like pay him whatever he asks for. So, I imagine he'll get whatever he asks for. They can't afford to lose Reeves. They can't afford to potentially lose LeBron as well. Luca ain't getting any younger. And the Lakers, like we're talking about, aren't very close to the championship right now. You can't lose your second and third best players. And I think more importantly is losing the second best guy. So Reeves to me will be a Laker.

[00:20:33]And he might be a guy that when we finally see the number come down, we're like, whoa.

[00:20:39]>> Paying the premium to keep the team together.

[00:20:42]>> Yeah. I don't know what the number is, but it's got to come down.

[00:20:47]That's too much. That's just because they Yeah, they need to get those parts around him. What What is the number? Is it >> 200?

[00:20:54]>> Wow. Oh, that's a lot of money.

[00:20:59]>> Everybody makes a lot of money.

[00:21:01]>> It's just how it is.

[00:21:02]>> The guy I mean, >> he's very >> I'm not the biggest Austin Reeves fan, nor have I ever been. I feel like he gets maybe a little, you know, uh, the the LA bump and maybe is a little, I don't know, overrated. I guess no one wants to use that word. I feel that at times a little bit, but he is good. That is my point here. He is really really good and he's proved it here. Uh, when healthy again, that that scares me, but >> you know, it's one thing when the guy's a $14 million player and another when he's Yeah. like a 40 plus million dollar player. It's like, okay, now you better be out there for 70 games and giving us 25 and shooting and obviously. So, >> yeah, I think he's going to stay in LA here, but I I wouldn't be shocked if a team gets aggressive to to make them match um on on a potential contract.

[00:21:44]>> Yeah, I can see that.

[00:21:45]>> All right, two more rounds.

[00:21:50]Let's go young. Um cuz we got some oldies, some good oldies, but I'm not in the mood. Uh I'm going to take Iodumu.

[00:22:00]>> Oh, yeah. Unrestricted free agent >> because there's some talented players out there. There's no doubt. But I'll take IO.

[00:22:08]It wasn't uh a ton of minutes that he played in the playoffs, but when he was out there, damn, he was good. Um, and so, you know, maybe it's a little recency bias, but when he was able to be thrusted into that role and Dante evenenzo went down, he was really, really good. So, this is the time if you're another team to get IO low because, as you said, unrestricted, but he had a low contract coming into this off season. He wasn't given a starting role in Minnesota and so I think he can be thrust into that type of role. So it's time it's time for him to get a role from somewhere. Where do you guys think he gets paid from? I I think I think he stays in Minnesota. I think he has them over a barrel here so to speak because >> they they're an expensive team and they can't really sort of lose him. We saw what happened with the kill Alexander Walker and he turns in the most improved player obviously a key piece. like I don't think they want to go through that again. They obviously made the trade for him. So I think uh I don't know what type of deal he's going to get. I'm fascinated by that. Like h I don't know 18 mil per maybe.

[00:23:14]>> That's what they that's what Walker got, right?

[00:23:17]>> Yeah. Yeah. Good point. They're very similar players.

[00:23:21]>> Yeah. So >> and Walker's like 14 to 15 million. I think IO is about the same there cuz he's in the exact same spot. He's like their third guard. Sometimes he's a starter. Mostly he's going to come off the bench cuz I think they want to keep Dvenenzo shooting though. He's going to be coming off an Achilles injury, so probably IO's starting for the Timberwolves.

[00:23:37]>> And he had a 43 point game in the playoffs. This guy's good.

[00:23:39]>> Yeah, Minnesota did acquire his bird rights in the trade. So, they're allowed to sign the guard and still exceed the luxury tax and apron. So, he's eligible to sign a three or 52.4 million extension before June 30th. So, yeah, he's going to be probably what do we say between 15 and 20, I think, is what we're getting at here. Do you have any other teams that would love to obviously make a move for IO if he doesn't stay in Minnesota? Yeah, I didn't think through teams, but there's got to be a ton of >> back to the Bulls.

[00:24:06]>> We don't need him.

[00:24:07]>> Yeah, he's not he's not going there.

[00:24:08]>> We're building the whole team out of forwards.

[00:24:11]>> No, the Wolves definitely want to keep him.

[00:24:16]>> He'll end up going back there, I imagine.

[00:24:18]>> Who do you have as your next pick?

[00:24:20]>> How about Kobe White? If you're taking Iowa, I'm taking Kobe White because I wanted to take him together.

[00:24:25]>> Remember Kobe White? Remember the playin game? Remember that?

[00:24:28]>> Yeah. Remember how exciting the Charlotte Hornets were?

[00:24:31]>> He was good.

[00:24:32]>> We talked about the Hornets a lot this year.

[00:24:34]>> Yeah, man. Remember that? That starting five or unbelievable record.

[00:24:38]>> Yeah. And then Kobe White was their best player in the playing game. They got to pay this guy. They traded for him. He's a perfect fit there alongside LaMelo or coming off the bench to run uh bench units. He's hardly made any sort of money during his NBA career. He's coming off a 12.5 million contract uh basically. And I think you could probably get him for like the $15 million range as well. Kobe White is a good player. Uh, and I assume he will be a Hornet at the start of next season.

[00:25:08]>> Who's going to be the most notable name that moves in free agency?

[00:25:12]>> Uh, like actually moves.

[00:25:15]>> If LeBron does move, it's LeBron.

[00:25:17]>> Well, okay. I'm going under the assumption that he does under this.

[00:25:21]>> Otherwise, yeah, somebody overpays Payton Watson. I guess he could leave there.

[00:25:28]>> Uh biggest >> pouring free agency.

[00:25:30]>> I think I think in terms of movement.

[00:25:33]Yes.

[00:25:34]>> There'll be trades. There'll be trades.

[00:25:35]But uh yeah, >> might be like Mamu.

[00:25:40]>> It might be Mamu. Might be Anthony Simons.

[00:25:42]>> Yeah. Like Yes. I think it's very possible. Uh okay. So you took Kobe White. I took Kobe White.

[00:25:48]>> Yeah. And I'm with you. I think he stays in Charlotte.

[00:25:51]>> Uh I'll take a guy that I Well, which way should I go here? Um, oh, let's get this guy off the board. We already talked about him a little bit, but Walker Kesler, restricted free agent.

[00:26:02]>> Yeah, >> he missed most of last season due to injury. He only played in 58 games here before that. Maybe some of that was like, "Hey, take your time, buddy." A little lean into the tank a little bit, but when he plays, he, you know, despite still being very young, is one of the league's best shot blockers. He has an insane 8.3% block rate for his career, and he's one of the best uh offensive rebounders in the league, too, when he's out there. So, he is a a good player.

[00:26:26]Feels like in this Wemby era of basketball, you might want size, you might want rim defense. So, those are his skill sets, but reports indicate that Walker Kesler is not happy with how the Jazz are negotiating last year and again this year. So, maybe this is the guy. Maybe he's the classic signing trade guy. That's a that's a possibility I could see here uh at at this free agency class. But, >> yeah, >> you know, they have a bunch of bigs. How much money does he want? they might get scared by the the sticker price that he's asking. So again, we don't need to spend too much time. We already talked bit bit about Kesler, which I like. I'm going to start calling him Kesler. This is going to be like a real mellice with some names, you know, where I start using the last name, but it feels like it's his first name, then I get confused that he's Kesler Edwards.

[00:27:11]No. Anyway, I don't know what's going to happen with this guy, >> but he's asking for a lot of money.

[00:27:16]>> He's asking for a lot of money.

[00:27:17]>> Yeah. And they still have a draft pick to boost their roster as well. And so maybe they're thinking, okay, we don't want to pay >> Kesler, Walker, Walker, Kesler, uh any money. I mean, lower than what he wants.

[00:27:30]>> Like he is a very, very good player. So, you're right. Maybe somebody just gives him a bag.

[00:27:37]>> Yeah.

[00:27:37]>> And they don't match.

[00:27:39]>> At a certain point, there's going to be a number they're like, "Okay, we got way too many bigs and that's way too much money." Yeah. So, we'll find if there's a team that's playing ball like that that really like makes an aggressive offer.

[00:27:48]>> Uh, one more round.

[00:27:50]>> Yeah, baby. Lots of names. Lots of names that won't be moving.

[00:27:56]>> This one's interesting. You mentioned him earlier. Trey is up high on your restrictive free agents. Tar East is got to go. Uh really, really talented player. Up and down in terms of the way he shot for the Rockets. There was that span where you missed plenty of threes.

[00:28:11]Um but hustle guy. Plays great defense, plays really hard, and can score at times. So that rockets whole situation is question mark for me. Where do they go? What do they do? Um cuz last year did not work out so well. I suppose Fred comes back healthy next season to be their leading point guard. So it'll be a different >> roster. But Taran is just an important guy on that team. So I wonder how much he gets paid.

[00:28:43]>> Yeah. CBS I thought was spot on with their assessment of E. They were like, he's sort of like Payton Watson in the sense where he's awesome as a defensive player. You know that. That's not a question. But unlike Watson, he hasn't really shown the offensive part of his game yet. I mean, decent efficiency from three on decent volume, but >> Watson seems a little step ahead of him, I think, on the offensive end compared to E, but maybe you're hoping that that can still obviously mature into that and be like an elite 3 and D guy. Uh, so yeah, with all that said, like if we're saying four years 90 to 100 for Watts and it feels feels like less for E.

[00:29:18]>> I think so.

[00:29:18]>> Four years 80.

[00:29:19]>> Yeah. Watson can put it on the floor.

[00:29:21]>> Yeah.

[00:29:21]>> He showed he could. E, that's not him.

[00:29:24]>> Yep.

[00:29:24]>> So there's a difference. There's a big difference for >> you had E, you said on your list here.

[00:29:27]He's intriguing to you.

[00:29:28]>> Yeah. I don't know who I think's better between E and Watson. I mean, we're giving a lot of faith to the one month that Pton Watson had where he was the number one option. And like Jabar Tari E led the league in three-point shooting for the first half of the season. Does that count as much as Payton Watson's 15 games? I don't know.

[00:29:45]>> They're both good at times and they're both just guys. Yeah.

[00:29:48]>> At times. Uh so Tar is a guy I want on my team.

[00:29:52]>> But I I also like Peyton Watson. So who knows? He I think E's best skill is energy. He's a great offensive rebounder and sometimes he can shoot it. And so you think what I was saying like 20 million per type thing for for Een less like it's 15 to 18.

[00:30:09]>> Okay.

[00:30:11]>> I mean that's what teams are going to want.

[00:30:13]>> Him and his agents are not. So somewhere probably in the middle. Uh who's your final pick?

[00:30:18]>> Yeah. I'm picking a guy that I think I think could change teams. Okay. I think >> Robert Williams III.

[00:30:25]>> Oh wow. You're going deep.

[00:30:28]>> I'm deep in the back. Well, like literally every other player I have, I'm like, I'll probably stay with this team.

[00:30:31]Yeah.

[00:30:32]>> McCollum, Porzingis, Tobias Harris, Norm Powell, Ruie, Kaminga is a question mark.

[00:30:37]>> Yeah.

[00:30:37]>> Uh, and then like like we said, Simons, Mamu, and Robert Williams are the questions for me. I'm like I saw some good Robert Williams moments this season.

[00:30:45]>> Go on.

[00:30:46]>> He played 59 games. That's not very many, but it's the most he's played since the 2022 season. He looked explosive. Again, I don't think he's necessarily part of the long-term plans in Portland. Klingan is their starter.

[00:30:59]They drafted Young Hansen last year. Who knows if he turns into anything, but more than likely the Blazers will at least invest in him, see what they've got, though the guy that drafted him is now working for Dallas, so maybe who cares uh at this point. But I think Robert Williams is a guy that another team could get for probably a cheap deal. I think he was like on a $12 million deal this year. There are definitely injury concerns with Robert Williams. I'm talking about 59 games as playing a lot for this guy, you know. Uh so maybe you get him on a really really good deal, but he's the kind of guy that is a good backup big and if you need him to be your starter for 10 games, that's awesome.

[00:31:40]>> Risky with the bot, that's for sure. But he it I was I was surprised, I think we all were, to see how many games he played this year because you said it wasn't a lot, but for Robert Williams it was a lot.

[00:31:51]>> Yep.

[00:31:52]>> All right. Final pick. I mean, lots of names. You just ran through a couple. A lot of player options of like sort of some older guys. James Harden, he's probably staying in Cleveland. They'll come to a new term.

[00:32:05]>> Uh Van Fleet, you brought up him. I think he'll stay with Houston there.

[00:32:09]It's a possibility though. Player option. Draymond Green, Porzingis.

[00:32:13]Sounds like the Warriors and Porzingis are are coming to an agreement maybe soon. Uh Andrew Wiggins player option there in Miami. So, I'm going to leave those ones. Here's some unrestricted free agents. Quinton Grimes. Maybe Quinton Grimes is the big name that gets moved. I mean, he had that that uh part of the season where he was like scoring like 25 a game.

[00:32:34]>> Could another team talk themselves into like, oh yeah, give that guy an opportunity. He could be our lead guard.

[00:32:39]>> Probably unlikely. Mitchell Robinson, >> you saw you saw James Dolan. Yeah.

[00:32:45]Basically sort of crapping down the idea. We're running it back with the entire team just paying everybody what they want, you know. Okay. So, he could be available. Uh, obviously a key player for them in their championship run. John Collins, CJ McCollum, you already mentioned Norman Powell. I can't believe you haven't mentioned Colin Gillespie.

[00:33:02]How do you take him number one? I'm shocked.

[00:33:05]>> So, who of those should I take here? Is I almost want to ask you guys for help here. Is it Is it Quinton Grimes? Is it Mitchell Robinson?

[00:33:12]>> Because I want to take somebody that actually maybe moves.

[00:33:18]>> Grimes, I guess.

[00:33:19]>> Yeah. Yeah. Yeah, but like >> nobody wanted to offer him money last year.

[00:33:24]>> I know. That's what I was thinking.

[00:33:25]>> That was the year he was coming off the >> Whatever. Well, he was destroying Mickey Mouse, but he showed up in the playoffs.

[00:33:31]He was pretty good for him in the playoffs. I think he's like >> a good fourth guard.

[00:33:36]>> Yeah.

[00:33:36]>> Yeah. I think after firing Daryl my guy who comes in >> can't just let his talented players go.

[00:33:42]So, I think they resign him. Okay. just because after what happened there um they just got to keep who they got after after they traded Jared McCain. You can't do this. You can't do this.

[00:33:54]>> Right. Right. Okay. Okay. Another Laker.

[00:33:56]Somebody did mention at one point Ruy Hachimura is an unrestricted free agent.

[00:34:00]So, you know, we want that would be three Lakers we'd have selected here.

[00:34:03]I'll take Ruy just for the fun of it to close this out. But the guy has turned into like a goddamn absolute sniper from three. like his numbers are incredible from deep over the last three or four regular seasons at this point. They get even better in the postseason his percentages. He can create some of his own looks too because you got to respect the three so he like puts it on the ground a little bit and then can hit that pull-up jumper. Shu had a crazy number. He's like one of the best in the league on pull-up twos. A lot of those, you know, kicked out to the three-point line. They close out too hard and then he just can get to that little comfortable spot.

[00:34:36]>> But, you know, this guy's 6'8 and he can barely rebound. like for a power forward at least defensively gets lost. So, uh yeah, I don't know what type of deal he's looking at and how many of these Lakers are going to be back. Um because they had the way they have to like do all this, the LeBron factor, the Austin Reeves number, um Ruie and other things, too. So, we'll see see how much of the team they keep together here.

[00:34:57]>> Yeah. Another guy. I'm like, you can't lose Ruie.

[00:35:00]>> Yeah, I know. He's he is good. And and like all Luca talks about is like, I want shooters. I need shooters. I need a big man that can run in the rim that I can throw. Oops. doesn't need shooters.

[00:35:09]So, yeah, really has proven that he is a goddamn good shooter.

[00:35:12]>> He's the modern Nicola Batum for me.

[00:35:15]He's going to play forever. It feels like he's going to be super healthy.

[00:35:20]>> Yeah, he's never going to be a star, but it it fits around Luca. So, how can you let him go? That'd be weird.

[00:35:25]>> All right, we have our teams here. Tass has LeBron James, Payton Watson, IO, and Tar Een. Trey has Trey Young, Hartinstein, Kobe White, and Timelord.

[00:35:34]And I have Jaylen Duran, Austin Reeves, Walker Kesler, and Ruie Hachimura.

[00:35:40]>> There you go. You tell us who we missed there in our drafting. And yeah, you know what? All I want to know, tell us right now, call your shot.

[00:35:47]>> What is going to Who's going to be the biggest name changing teams during this free agency period?