Did LeBron Just Give the NBA a Hint About His Next Team?

This is the Open floor NBA podcast.

We talk about the league and all the big stories that are going on in it.

Back with me this week from All the Smoke, Monumental Sports Network, Fox Sports One, and as always right here on this podcast each and every week, the great Rachel Nichols.

Welcome back, Rachel.

Thank you.

I just got back from Maine.

I I love Maine.

Big Maine guy.

Lovely that northeast of yours.

It's nice.

Big Sebago Lake guy.

Oh, that's, uh, that was a family tradition for many years.

I'm trying to bring it back with my family now to get up there for a week, but I'm also a Vermont guy.

I've got a house, uh, you have houses everywhere.

That is Chris Mannix's dirty secret is that he has a house in all 50 states.

That'd be nice.

Are you potentially on the run?

On the, on the lamb, my, yeah, are you, are you preparing for needing like safe houses ?

I just like to have, you know, you know, the apocalypse.

You keep, if you gotta go to Manhattan, you can be there.

If you gotta go to, I've always said like, and this nobody cares, but like.

I lived my, I've had multiple jobs and I worked a lot over the years.

I was single.

I was single for a very long time.

I drank beer and I ate pizza for a very long time.

So I, when I had extra money, I would put it into real estate.

I'd buy something nice and, uh, Vermont is one of those places.

I'm a big Vermont guy now.

Green Mountain State.

I'm just saying if you ever commit a crime, no one's gonna know where to no one's gonna know.

No one's gonna know which, uh, which state I'm in.

I'll most likely be hiding in Vermont.

A lot of woods up there.

Good to know.

See, we all heard it here first.

If the FBI is looking and there's a reward.

We all go to Vermont.

All right, a lot to get into on the show today.

We're gonna talk about the Portland Trail Blazers, some developments there that have the people in Oregon pretty anxious.

We had a trade, an offseason trade, three-team deal involving Oklahoma City, Atlanta, and Dallas.

We'll dive into that as well, and, uh, a few other things .

But I want to start the show talking.

About the story that will never end.

We are on week 3, Rachel Nichols of the 20.

I actually added it up this morning, yeah, of the LeBron James watch.

Uh, LeBron still a free agent after signing to leave the Lakers.

Uh, we talked about last week about the possibility that LeBron at Fanatics in New York City doing a bunch of appearances, including an episode of his own podcast.

Maybe he would use that stage to Uh, reveal his decision.

He elected not to.

Neither one of us really surprised by that.

Just doesn't seem like a LeBron thing to do, to do it's just not smart.

Look, he learned his lesson with the decision.

And I, I will always say this, having been on the ground in Cleveland and Miami for both phases of that, of course people in Cleveland were upset he left, but that's not really why they were that upset.

They were upset about the way he left, just kind of playing with everyone's emotions, making it a TV special, you know, being so joyous on the way out of like, ah, I'm taking my talents to sell all of this stuff, and I think he and the people around him, I know I've talked to them all, including LeBron about this, like learned a pretty valuable lesson in.

How you deliver the news is sometimes just as important as the news itself.

The only thing I'm curious about is as we are on day 20 who knows, people listening in their cars right now might know more than we do, but if we're still in limbo as you listen to this, do you think that this is kind of squeezing some goodwill away if he doesn't pick Cleveland, if he doesn't pick one of these cities that's absolute everyone, by the way, everyone is convinced he's coming to their city it's crazy .

Oh, there's, I mean.

Social media is abuzz with people reporting little signs here.

Like I have been told Miami, and I, I've, I've heard some stuff, but it's not worth repeating because it's all just, but you get fan bases.

I mean this isn't LeBron's fault, but you get fan bases invested, yeah, they start to think of them.

LeBron and back in their jersey.

Cleveland thinks of a third reunion.

Miami thinks of running it back again.

LeBron and Giannis, Philadelphia, they start thinking, wow, we got Jalen Brown, now we can add Giannis or add LeBron to it.

I agree that we're now inching towards the point where there could be a hostile reaction.

Again, might not be his fault.

We don't know what he's waiting for.

He could be waiting for the team he wants to go to to make a move that they haven't been able to make yet, so that could be part of what this is about.

I don't know, um, but I do think that the same way he and his team have been conscious about like how do we announce this, which is why I never thought it was happening at Fanatics Fest because that's once again like auctioning off people's pain to the highest bidder, um, that.

The length of time is also something that they might keep in mind, but maybe by the time everyone listens to this , it'll be decided yet.

I saw a clip where LeBron was talking about his daughter Zuri's influence on this, and Melissa Rowland wrote about this with the California Post.

I read her piece on it earlier in the week.

Um, obviously LeBron's two boys are out of the house.

His one son is a former teammate now with the Lakers.

Got another son playing college ball at Arizona, but Zuri is 1112 years old, uh, something like that.

Um, and is in the house, obviously, uh, and he said that she would play or her happiness, I guess would play a big role in that decision.

Is there anything you can take out of that?

Like, yeah, I mean a little bit.

Look, I never thought if he moved to Miami, let's just say that Savannah and Zouri would necessarily come with him because you and I've covered the NBA for so long.

Often when players have families that are at this stage, this age, 12 year old kids, thirteen-year-old kids, the kids and the wife don't move.

Because the kids, just as the reporting has been on Zouri are like too invested and she's a huge volleyball player here in Southern California.

Like there's a bunch of stuff you have your friends, you have whatever, and also like, you know, players kind of feel by the time they reach that stage of their career, how long is this stint in the city gonna last?

Like Chris Paul talks about the fact that he moved his entire family from LA to Houston and what a mistake that was because he thought that was for good and it obviously wasn't and then he had to get them all out of those schools back into other schools, so.

The thing that's interesting to me about that quote is either the whole family is going to move, which is not something I would have expected.

Um, or if it's really something about making his 12-year-old daughter happy, then he's going to Golden State because I don't live very far away from LeBron, and it is 10 minutes to the Santa Monica airport from where the area in which we both live.

I, by the way, do not live in the same style of home that LeBron lives in .

One of your many homes might be that fancy.

I don't think so, but, um, but my point is, you know, LA is compact enough that I live very close to him, um, and, uh.

The airport's 10 minutes away.

Santa Monica Airport that does some commercial flights but a lot of private planes that if you wanted to be the least disruptive to your family life other than playing for the Lakers or Clippers and you live here is, hey, you could commute to practice.

Like wouldn't be hard.

Get on a plane, 10 minutes to the 10 minutes from your house to the private plane, private plane takes off 45.

Minutes in the air.

I mean, I know certainly know players who've had the Knicks who practice in what rise still, right, players who live in the city, they're commuting back and forth.

I mean in their cars, but it takes an hour sometimes each way.

It's pretty much what LeBron commute would be on practice days and then obviously game days not so much, but if it's really about disrupting her life the least, I'm not sure why he left the Lakers.

But, if you were gonna leave the Lakers, it feels like, well, that just means it'd be Golden State and therefore that decision should have happened already.

Yeah, you could probably spend 3 or 4 days a week living in Los Angeles.

I remember, was it Philip Rivers when the Rams, they moved to, uh, or was it with the Rams, the Chargers that moved from San Diego to LA.

He was commuting.

He had a sprinter van.

That he had customized with with all the film and he was like, I mean it's pretty, it was amazing.

I saw it like like he's like I'm gonna sit at the facility and watch film for 2 hours.

I might as well like get home for that and look, we know Kawhi has used a helicopter to commute back and forth to San Diego.

um, he, he also used to live in my old house.

Kawhi lived near me and then both of our houses burned down so like, you know.

You can't win for losing here, um, but he's now once the Pacific Palisades house burned down, he was doing a lot of commuting from San Diego like I, I just, I.

I'm, I thought that was an interesting sentence only in that if that is the deciding factor, then it would be Golden State.

There's just no other, there's nothing else that would make sense there.

So maybe it's like, oh, if I'm not going to Golden State and have that convenience, which of these other cities feels like I can get the most family time?

Are you surprised that Philadelphia continues to exist on a lot of people's short list?

I mean, the most credible reporters out there that have been weighing in on this.

Consistently said Philadelphia is there.

Now, I, I kind of get it from a basketball perspective because they are built to win right now.

And if you assume perfect health, which you can't with the seventy-Sixers, but if you assume perfect health, like, hey, that's a team that can win the Eastern Conference.

And if you win the Eastern Conference, we just saw with the Knicks, you can win a championship.

But I look at that Sixers team and I'm like, huh, OK, um, you're gonna slot LeBron at power forward alongside Jalen Brown, who he's had kind of Have a hot and cold relationship over the years.

Uh, Tyrese Maxey, who's elevated himself to kind of borderline superstar status, BJ Edgecombe, who's only gonna get better.

Then there's that MB guy that when he's out there on the floor is gonna demand the ball.

Like, is he like the, is he comfortable with the fourth option like that?

I can see the basketball.

We know that he's not because that is a big reason why he left that doesn't make any sense to me.

Like the, the 76ers I don't again, look, again, I don't want to be like there's no way he's going there because neither one of us.

Know nobody knows all the people who say they know don't know and you know I've told these stories.

I know some of the other people who have covered LeBron for a long time have told these stories.

I promise you when he left Cleveland the first time with the decision to go to the Heat, you know who didn't know what he was going to say?

Dwyane Wade.

Dwyane Wade and he and Chris had talked about this, and they talked about it for years and then they talked about it much more specifically in terms of, you know, the weeks leading up and then Dwayne Dwayne tells the story that LeBron went completely radio silent.

Silent on him for 72 hours, didn't answer him.

Not just, oh, we didn't talk about it.

Like Dwayne's like, you good?

And like nothing.

And then when LeBron left Miami forgot to go to Cleveland, they had Gordon Hayward in the building to potentially take that cap space.

And if the decision to go back to Cleveland had been a day or two later, or even maybe some hours later, like they wouldn't even have room for him.

This is not something that gets like pre-rolled out to the team unless, unless you want them to make changes.

And that is the circumstance where maybe someone knows something about Philly and they want changes there, but I don't even see what they could be, and I just don't think that team is going to be able to play with two basketballs.

So I, I just, I don't see it as a huge contender, but the truth is we don't know.

Yeah, I, it's, it's hard to, it's hard to get any kind of read on what's going to happen next, but, uh, I sure hope it winds down.

Well, I guess the only question I have for you though is the fact that this is taking so long.

These aren't.

It's not uncomplicated where you're gonna spend hope I'm sure he hopes the rest of his professional basketball career.

I don't think he thinks he has multiple stops here, um, maybe multiple years, maybe multiple years which I will ask you about, but like there's not that much complicated about OK you know who's in Miami, you know who's in Cleveland, you know who's in Philly, you know who's in Golden State so to me the fact that we are.

Day 20 either is just hey everybody involved likes the attention and you know it is remarkable to be this age and be have the whole league waiting on you and Adam Silver says I can't even do the schedule until LeBron decides and you know you let the World Cup go on and you let whatever happens so maybe it's just that but also maybe it's because they're waiting for it.

Something that interests me and the other thing that you said about multiple years, he did say over the weekend at Fanatics Fest, he said a few seasons or a few more years and it's, it was hard to tell if that was just that's how he has talked his whole career so he doesn't want to start talking in absolutes or if he really intends to play for a couple more years and that Olympics in Los Angeles is looking more and more like the dessert to his international career, uh, the more that he talks like that.

Yeah, I, you know, I just don't know.

We were texting about this before, like, I just don't know.

I, I can, I'm more interested in trying to report out the autopsy of this after the fact.

Like what was he thinking over these last 3 weeks?

Was it just a matter of seeing, kind of, as you said, what teams do?

How does the dust settle with all this?

How does his family feel about certain situations?

I'm fascinated to see how this plays out and to get kind of the postmortem on it, uh, after that.

Um, all right.

We have had some developments in the ongoing saga with the Portland Trail Blazers, so everyone understands the situation.

Uh, the team is looking for $600 million of public funding from the state, county, and the city.

To remodel the Motors Center, which is 30 years old, and in my opinion, not good.

Uh, last week in Las Vegas, Adam Silver set off some, uh, alarms when he said that the negotiations between the city and the team have gone off track a bit, his phrase off track.

Uh, this week we have seen some reporting from Jason Quick of the Athletic that quotes a team source saying they are quote, very far apart, end quote, on an agreement, uh, on a deal like this.

Um, in a term sheet the city sent over to the Blazers on Friday, they asked for.

$3 million annually for a property tax offset, which would escalate over time.

In addition, the deal would require the Blazers to hire union workers and set caps on project cost overruns.

The Blazers, who are now led by Tom Dundon, who is making an impact across the NBA for good and for bad, have called that term sheet a non-starter.

So put yourselves in the shoes of Oregonians everywhere, Portlandites, of the many people that have supported the Blazers over the years.

How nervous.

Nervous would you be about the state of the Blazers in Portland?

I'd be pretty nervous, and I would be nervous not just from these latest developments, but the national media and the national fans, I think have really started to have the temperature raised here in Portland.

They've been reporting on this.

Uh, our former LA colleague Bill Orum has been really sounding the alarm on this for months.

Like it just hasn't looked good, and one of the big issues with this arena is, I think, a little bit of a misunderstanding.

Uh, the city owns the arena.

Uh, and there are a lot of people out there that like, hey, if someone else owned that you were renting an apartment and they wanted you to completely remodel it, you wouldn't do that.

You would think that was unfair.

The owner should remodel it.

The way the city owns the arena is that it was willed, was willed or gifted.

I don't know how to say it.

Jodie Allen, the, the, the Allen family, it was gifted to the city as part of the sort of transition from the late Paul Allen's ownership to get to this point to sell the team and everything for $1.

That sounds great on principle, but let me give you an example, and this is how I've been trying to explain to people how I think of it is if you are a rich guy and you decide, man, I love exotic animals, I'm gonna open a zoo.

All the kids in the in the neighborhood can come to my zoo, all the kids in town can come to my zoo.

Uh, I'm gonna charge, so I'm gonna make money off of, of these animals, but like I'm rich, I can afford to bring all these animals here and run a business that, that charges people for getting to see a cool thing, right?

Everyone loves the elephant.

They want to see the elephant.

If the owner of the zoo turns to one of the parents one day and says, I am gifting you this elephant for $1.

The family can't handle that.

They can't pay the 100,000+ dollars it takes a year to care and feeding of an elephant.

Might not be that exact figure, but it's more expensive than you think, I promise.

Um.

It's not a gift.

I'm sorry.

I don't know how this came to happen and who agreed to it and often sometimes you get a couple city councilors who decide this will look good in a photo, um, and might not be acting in the best interest of the city, but the fact that the city owns the building is something that happened to them, and it's not like they built it that like I mean, I kind of pushed back a little bit on that and that an elephant is basically useless, at least a a arena is generating revenue for you.

I mean.

The elephant generates revenue if you charge people to see it.

That's how the elephant got there in the first place.

There's no guarantees anyone's going to see an elephant.

The they're already paying to see the elephant from the rich guy.

I get it.

Don't mess with my analogies.

My analogies are excellent.

You're comparing a motors Center to a wild elephant is what you're doing right now.

I mean, isn't white.

Elephant party is, I think the motor center is a dump, quite frankly, like I think it's one of, I like the energy there.

I feel like Portland fans are, it's not the fans.

I'm talking about the building.

I've been there many times.

The building itself is, is old.

It's not good.

It needs a repair.

It really needs to be torn down, the bottom line, no matter who you think is right or wrong or whatever.

Citizens should not be paying for sports stadiums, arenas, teams, especially now that they're all owned by billionaires.

There may have been a time where the guy who owned the team was just a little bit richer than all the other rich people in town.

When Jerry Buss bought the Lakers, he was a very successful commercial real estate developer.

He was not a billionaire and never was a billionaire.

When you have the gap in wealth between today's sports owners and how most people live day to day, it is obscene that we let any city, any municipality, any state, I believe the state of California has a law against this of.

The city paying for the arena now obviously we do tax supplements and infrastructure and whatever, but in terms of the big, big costs, I, I'm sorry.

I, I think it is shameful and I think the fact that the Blazers brass, and by that I mean the owner, the new owner who is a billionaire, is trying to hold the city hostage.

He bought into the team.

You didn't, you knew all the circumstances.

If you didn't want to be in Portland, why'd you buy a team in Portland?

And the NBA, I think, bears some responsibility for this.

There's no, there was nothing, they made, they didn't make sure there was anything in the contract about keeping the team in Portland.

I'd take it a step further.

I think the NBA wanted this guy.

I think the NBA wanted someone with a history of running a professional franchise, and that's what Tom Dundon brought to the table.

I don't think they just accepted him.

I think they actually wanted him.

Yeah, well, I think it's gonna turn into a PR nightmare.

Well, it already is if that, if that team leaves, if a beloved Northwest US team, hey, I've heard this before , leaves again, something in the Pacific Northwest, I think that is going to be a huge problem for the NBA, which is why you heard my, my biggest overdressing, my biggest issue with Tom Dundon and his team at this point comes from my elephant.

I, I'd like the elephant.

I don't quite buy the overall analogy.

Um, the, the biggest issue I have with Dundon on this, and this came from the Jason Quick story, is that they're still not willing to reveal what they would use the money for, right?

Like they've said they've got like concepts of how they would improve the motor center.

Like if you are asking for $600 million just like if you were asking for a home, home repair loan or some kind of.

Uh, investment from a bank, you would have to articulate what you are going to use the money for.

And I don't think the state , which the state, by the way, has already signed off on their end of it.

This is more a county and a city issue here.

But if the city and the county want to know what you're gonna do with the money, you should be able to send them specs of everything that you were going to do, like down to the nickel of what you're going to use.

I don't blame them for that part of it.

I will say this, so when this initially sort of bubbled up a couple months ago, I don't remember when it was, uh, I tweeted something about it because I feel very strongly that public money should not go toward billion billionaire welfare, and I.

Got pushback because I pointed out that Oregon I believe in the pre-K through 12th grade is the 47th out of 50 states in the country in education.

First of all, the amount of people who are comfortable going on social media and insulting teachers for being greedy is just astounding to me.

We have lost some values in this country and then on top of it, the idea that you are defending billionaires is just beyond me.

I don't understand.

Yeah, I don't get it.

Yeah, I agree with that part of it.

Nobody should be, nobody should be paying for that, that money, you know where that $600 million could go?

I bet there's some teachers who could use it.

I agree, and I think also the Clean Energy Fund is where they're supposedly taking a big chunk out of that.

That's something obviously very important nationally, but very important in Oregon.

That's a very, uh, pro-environment, uh, state.

So I, I agree with that.

I, I do think to bring it full.

Circle, I think if you're from Portland, you're very nervous right now.

There's some deadlines coming up.

I think August 12th, there's gonna be a vote on some of this funding.

I think it has to be voted on overall by the end of the calendar year for it to get appropriated.

I may be screwing it up a little bit, but that, that's a, a deadline there.

And to sit there in that room in Vegas last week and to hear Adam Silver, who's generally pretty optimistic about these things, like we'll figure it out, it's going this way, it's going that way, to hear him very.

Succinctly say that this has gone off track and point out that they basically assigned somebody to this in the league office and that person's covering it from day to day.

That tells me that the NBA is very nervous about the direction this goes, and that tells me that there is probably a belief in the league office that this team packing up and moving is on the table.

Like everybody's kind of like looking around like, where would they go?

I would look at Nashville.

I would look at Nashville as being a, a potential landing spot.

The ownership group in Memphis.

I don't know.

I don't know how that would all work, but that's another, it's a little tax haven.

There are protected market.

There are, does it cover that though, that, that distance?

I don't know the answer to that either, but I look, there's, there's lots of other places.

Well, it's 3 hours, isn't 3 hours away, something like that, a little 3 hour elephant ride down the elephant ride.

Well, either way, Nashville, someplace else, I would be anxious if I was in Portland.

Let me just, who would you blame if you were a Blazers fan and the city did not vote to just hand a billionaire $600 million that could be used to help the citizens of the city and county?

Would you blame?

The public officials, or would you blame ownership?

I, I don't think it's, it's, I think there's a blame pie.

I don't think it's one or the other.

I don't think it's black or white.

I think you would definitely blame the owner, the greedy billionaire, for taking the team out of there because he didn't get exactly what he wanted, and I don't get all my money, so I'm taking the team and I'm moving to Tennessee or Texas or wherever else.

But I would also blame some of the city officials for letting it get to this point.

Uh, and allowing, as, as much as it sucks to put up money, like losing the Trail Blazers would be such a massive loss for the city and the state because they, they ain't getting a team back.

Like, honestly, like I think Seattle, from the moment Seattle left, I think there was It, it's been talked about.

It's one of the biggest cities.

Exactly like Sacramento was gonna move there.

Like there has been a push on some level for decades to getting the Seattle Supersonics back in Seattle.

I do not believe that if the Blazers move, we would be having that conversation.

I think they'd be gone forever.

Is that worth $600 million?

I'm actually asking.

I think again I think it's a question of is it worth the 200 and something million to the county and the city because the state's already decided, the state's already voted on that Senate bill that's, that's done.

Is it worth that much to the city and to the county just because a bunch of elected officials have voted on it doesn't mean, but I, I, I think they're really what they're arguing over now is the back end of it , yeah, yeah, is this, yeah, look, I, I obviously again.

Uh, the fact that anyone's in this position is just to me scummy.

I'm sorry, like holding fan bases hostage and making them take money out of public works, whether that is schools, whether it is road repairs, whether it is clean energy, whether it is any of the other things, and everyone can pick their own issue.

This is not a political discussion.

Whatever you support, you are going to have less of it because a billionaire who it's like a rounding error to pay some of this stuff just had to squeeze.

It out of you and couldn't just pay it himself.

I, I think if you buy a sports team, it is a public trust and you are agreeing, I am going to spend some money here because then I get to be the big shot fat cat owner and I'm the one bestowing the Portland Trail Blazers on the public.

It is not a hostage situation and I think it's, I, I think it is shameful.

I really do.

I, I actually don't think that, I don't think Tom Dundon bought this team with an intention to move it out.

And I just base that on.

That he bought the Carolina Hurricanes.

People thought he was gonna move that team.

I think, I think Dundon, and for better or worse, and a lot of times it's worse, I don't think he gives a bleep about what anybody thinks of him.

I think he's gonna get the deal that he wants, and if he doesn't get it, he's gonna pick up his team and he's gonna leave.

He got the deal.

Wanted in North in North Carolina, and I think if he doesn't get the deal he wants, he's going to pack up this team and bail.

And I know why that's not against the rules.

It's not against the rules because the owners run the NBA.

The, the fallacy that Adam Silver doesn't have a boss.

Adam Silver has 30 bosses and just like we saw with some of these other league issues.

Donald Sterling, etc.

etc.

There are a lot of people who don't want it turned around on them .

You can't tell me I've got to keep my team in a city.

Like what if something catastrophic happens and I need to move it or I want to move it or even if I have great intentions now so that group of owners is not going to vote for some sort of rule to be in the NBA that like if you buy into a franchise you have to keep it there or some of these other issues.

But again , that's greed too.

Thank you.

And like I just, I, I, I'm done.

I'm so sick of it.

Like I really am like should have just bought the Pelicans.

Nobody would care if they moved.

just bad arena, bad arena, not a great NBA market like wow.

Love the diehards in New Orleans.

Not enough of you down there.

Smoothie King Center.

Not a big fan of that arena either.

Um, Center.

All right, we had a, uh, trade this week in the NBA, three-team trade, and, uh, the headliners of this deal between Oklahoma City, Atlanta, and Dallas is that Lou Dort goes from Oklahoma City to the Atlanta Hawks.

He goes along with Ryan Neimhart, who comes up from Dallas.

Zachary.

Teresa Shea was the 2024 number one overall pick.

He goes from Atlanta to Dallas and three second-round picks go to Oklahoma City.

So I want to put Oklahoma City on the shelf here because there's a couple of things I want to unpack with them first.

Um , the biggest player in this deal, the most notable player is Lou Dort, who is one of the best defensive wings in the NBA, helped lead that team to a championship, was one of the kind of the OGs in, um, Uh, in Oklahoma City was there 2018, I believe, as an undrafted free agent.

He is, I, I looked this up.

He's the longest tenured Oklahoma City Thunder player until this trade was going to have his number up in the rafters someday, uh, in Oklahoma.

Yeah, he won a championship.

Yeah, I mean, I think, do you put the whole team in the rafters?

I'm, I'm not arguing against it.

I'm just asking.

That was a very cavalier.

I mean, I just, you know, just so we know, Rachel hates Lou Dort.

We'll go with that.

Oh my lord , um, the, I think probably given his accomplishments, not an All-Star, but yeah, I think probably gets his number up again, not against it.

They haven't, they have Nick they only, they only, they don't have Celtics here.

I understand, but Nick Collison's up there for , you know, he.

he was the guy when the Thunder, he was Mr.

Thunder when they brought the franchise there, the foundation of the franchise, Seattle to Oklahoma City, right?

I mean, how many years was he there too?

I think much longer than Lou Dor.

Like, so again, I, we should celebrate every championship.

I'm willing to give a, a, a tribute video to anyone who wants one.

I'm, I'm all for celebrating getting a tribute and, and your players, but I, I would push back that he's a lock for us.

I see he gets the number up there .

That's just my, my guess on that one.

All right.

He is now going, he is now going to the Atlanta Hawks, who now have a pretty impressive defensive perimeter.

Lou Dort, longtime, one of the top defenders in the NBA.

Dyson Daniels, one of the great basketball thieves in the NBA , and Nikil Alexander Walker is kind of a Swiss Army knife of a defender in that backcourt.

Um , let's start with Atlanta.

How much better do you think Atlanta gets with this deal?

I don't know how to answer that because they got better in some ways and I'm not sure they got better enough in other ways to do what they did.

Look, I, I wasn't a huge fan of the Zachary Risochet pick to begin with.

Um, tough draft that year.

Yes, and look, there's always the hindsight of this guy at #6 and whatever, whatever.

However, Stefan Cassel went number 4 in that draft, and I'd sure rather have Stephen Cassel, who, by the way, did you see that the Spurs said that he grew 2 inches since the NBA Finals.

It's been a month.

I guess was he 20 years old?

So yeah, I guess still he's 6'8 now with a 7'1 wingspan they said my lord, good for them.

I just like, yeah.

I'm 5'3 over here.

It's very sad for me, um, that I, I.

He wasn't my favorite draft pick or player there, but giving up on him.

Without really having another plan offensively is, is sort of what I don't, I don't know how to talk about that.

What do you think?

Um, I think they were.

They've been ready for a while to move off of Zach or Risa Shea, uh, not just give him away, but to deal him in the right trade.

You look at his numbers, the first couple of years, uh, durable his first year, played 73 games, averaged 12.5 points, actually regressed this past year down to about 9.5 points, shooting mid-30s from 3.

He's shooting mid-40s from, from the, on the, from the field .

Looked like a good player but didn't show anything 6'8, 200 pounds, kind of like didn't show anything that he can be a great player yet so maybe they were around him every single day .

They clearly know what they were looking at at that point if you're willing to deal him for a Lou Dort, uh, but Lou Dort, let's be very clear about which Lou Dort you're getting.

You're not getting height of his powers, Lou Dort.

You don't think I don't actually.

In fact, we'll talk about Oklahoma City.

Yes, Sam Presty came out and said this was a financial decision, and there's no question this helps their finances, but this feels very much to me like, hey, we know.

The asset is declining.

No one else quite knows yet or is like really registered that the asset is declining, and we're getting out now while we can still extract a really good price, which they did.

By the way, couldn't they just have like not given him a contract?

It's not like to not pay him, they had to do this trade.

Right, so, this was the financial part is big though too.

Like they get under the second apron by doing this deal.

I understand, and they get a $17 million trade exception, I believe, and all the things that I come out of my mouth that I'm still like, what's an apron, um, but I'm saying that's smart on Sam Presty's part.

I also think selling, I mean, look at his numbers.

His shooting numbers are way down, his 3 point numbers are way down.

And then the other thing that you and I've talked about throughout the entire season is.

When you resort to, you can call it reckless play, you can call it dirty play, you can say it's a mixture of both, and there is no doubt that that has been increasing.

There have been an increasing number of incidents with Lou Dort where star players have accused him of playing dirty, inappropriately, recklessly, however, and it's a difference, but I'm just saying, however you perceive it.

That tells me that you're not as sure of yourself defensively anymore because you don't have to trip a guy if you know you can defend him.

Yeah, um, let me look at the numbers here, uh, briefly.

Uh, his numbers did dip considerably this past season, shooting 38.5% from the field that's down from 43.5% a year before.

Shot 34% from 3, that's down from 41%, and you're averaging the single digits for the first time.

Really since his, his rookie year, and this is over a long played 69 games, so he had could not play in the series against the Spurs.

Yeah, uh, that was a bad one for him, no doubt about that, um, and changes what everyone else can do on the basketball court.

He has though.

has had dips in his career and bounced back for them.

I go back to the 22, 23 season where he shot 38% from the field, 33% from the floor, bounced back, had two phenomenal years over the next two and helped contribute to a championship, uh, two years ago.

Uh, so, at 27 years old, I do think that it's reasonable to believe that his numbers can be more like the ones we've seen.

In the last two years then possible and a change of scenery and different teammates around him and different responsibilities.

I, I don't think it's a bad trade for Atlanta in terms of acquiring how could you want Lou Dort again, really like Lou Dort as a player and aside from the dirty stuff and you know, feel like he could be a help in Atlanta, but I certainly understand not just financially why they were sort of like, OK, this is the place to cut.

They could have cut a lot of places financially.

They cut him.

In part because look, when nobody's guarding you, everybody else has a tougher time scoring because.

They have more defend, more defenders in their face.

Yeah, I, I, I just like the deal.

I think as much as we have been locked in in the last year about the need to get big, right?

You've got to defend Wimbayama.

You got to defend Towns.

You got to defend Nok Kola Jokic, all the bigs that are out there.

I still think fundamentally this is a wing league, and I think to, to win championships, you've got to have top-level defensive-minded wings.

And now Atlanta's got 3 of them.

They got 3 top-level all defensive.

Caliber type of guys on that wing, they still have some issues up front that they'll have to kind of figure out, uh, and they need Jalen Johnson to be a superstar to be successful.

But I, I, I like this deal.

I think it's a solid, solid deal for Atlanta.

I also like this deal for Dallas.

Like, do you think our friend Tim Bon Temps was the engine?

I think, yes, Tim Bon Temps made this deal.

Let's credit Tim Bon Temps.

Yeah, all, all credit to Tim Bon Temps.

He overruled everybody.

He went out there, and that's what I had sources, sources say, sources, sources down there, um, down there, out there, around there.

Um, I like the deal for Dallas as well because you just get a chance to take a flyer.

It's a free deal.

It's a free number one pick.

Ryan Nemhart.

All due respect, you were a great addition late in the season to Dallas.

You had made a nice run, carved out a little career for yourself, but this is a no-brainer.

But that's what I was saying is that he wasn't my favorite pick in that draft or in any draft, but I'm not sure I give up on him yet.

And if you're Dallas, you scoop them up, no question, because now you've got Ressa Shea playing alongside Cooper Flagg.

You've got 22 of the last 3 number 1 picks you've got in your lineup right now.

And if Kyrie resigns, well, not a recent number 1 pick, you've still got 3 number 1 picks, which I'm sure is some importance to the people.

In Dallas.

Look, again, he doesn't have to be great.

It's not a matter of will he live up to being number one overall.

I don't think he will, especially not now.

Once you're traded, you all bets are off, especially when you give up nothing for him if you're Dallas.

Exactly.

But a lot of it is what you pay for these guys.

So when Anthony Davis went to Washington.

I grew up there.

I have a lot of friends who were like, Oh, he's hurt all the time.

Why did we make this trade?

And I said, Because you didn't really give up anything significant for him.

So if you're Dallas and you had to give up Luka Doncic, Anthony Davis only playing 50 games or in the, in the case there, I think it was 20 games, um, is a real problem because you've given up a ton.

If you've not really had to give up much, then Anthony Davis for 50 games, hey, free.

Anthony Davis for 50 games.

That's a win.

That's the Rio Shay situation right now.

Great .

Dallas didn't give up much for him.

Whatever he does on that team is going to be a win, which is great for him too.

It sucks being a disappointment.

So get in a different environment, have different expectations, play the hardest you can, and maybe he'll blossom.

Yeah, big win for Dallas on that one.

Win for Resa Shea to be able to reset his career in a different situation, playing alongside a superstar in Cooper Flagg and potentially another star in Kyrie Irving, um.

I, on the Oklahoma City side, I kind of expected something like this to happen just because of the finances.

Like when, like what, there were two scenarios I could see with Lou Dort.

One was he would opt out of his contract, which was a team option, and they would tear it up and give him a different long-term deal.

When that didn't happen and they just picked up the team option because they did that thing with, uh, did they pick up Hartenstein's option?

I forget if they picked it up or gave him a new deal.

I don't remember.

I think they gave him a new deal, um.

They didn't do that with Lou Dort or they didn't have the ability to do that with Lou Dort.

The second that happened, I thought they were gonna make a deal like this to, to offload that money because if you look at some of the finances, like they are now under the 2nd apron.

It's like, it's like a $300 million savings for the entirety of this offseason.

Some of the moves they've made, Isaiah Joe, Andrew Wiggins, those deals like that I've read 20.

Million, but what's another 100 million astronomical savings, astronomical savings.

They get under that second apron.

They need to be there.

So I expected a deal like this to happen.

I did not expect to pick up my digital copy of the Oklahoman and read this interview with Sam Preston.

I want to read the quote that, uh, that triggered me a little bit there.

Uh, this is Presty, say, quote, This was a financial decision.

The impression that I have been given is that the savings generated this summer and from being out of the tax the last several years will be reallocated to future teams.

That was a very interesting quote because Sam Presty does not.

Make mistakes with what he says.

He's very, very selective with his word choice.

Even when he does these talk till you drop press conferences, he always says exactly what he means.

Now, people in Oklahoma City will tell you that he is, what he's doing is taking the heat off of Clay Bennett, the owner of the Thunder, saying like, look, it's, we're, we're doing this deal, um, and we're gonna, Use the savings down the line.

The other interpretation that people around the league have had is that he's kind of put the pressure on Clay Bennett to say like, all right, we did this deal.

We moved off Lou Dort, who, in addition to being a really good player, is very close with our alpha, with Shay Gildes Alexander.

Um.

Longest tenured Thunder.

Longest tenured Thunder, Mr.

Thunder, the new Mr.

Thunder in Oklahoma City.

Like when you read a quote like that, how did you interpret it?

I absolutely thought that was putting pressure on ownership.

Look, you don't get to be as good as Sam Presty is without being as competitive as Sam Presty is, and I think that.

People in a way that's very cool for the rest of us.

I think people in Oklahoma City and San Antonio feel they are locked in a blood feud for the next however many years, 5, 10, maybe more, and every little scrap of an advantage or not is going to be a big deal.

And I think this was a little bit of if this is a financial move, and I would say it's a financial plus move, there were some other things they did got out of it besides just finances, but it's 3 2nd round picks being the and also just, you know, look, you can play other guys.

Well, I, I watched him again.

It is harder to shoot if you are another member of the team on the floor with Lou Dort when nobody is guarding him.

That means more people are guarding you.

So I think you get some things out of this trade that aren't strictly financial, but how I do see this as a financial move.

And anytime you give up a little advantage for making another billionaire.

Less having to pay less money.

Oh no, I think if you're Sam Presty, you want to hold them accountable that like, OK, but when we need it, this one, this one I could make work, but when we need it, I need you to pay up.

I actually don't think they take that big of a basketball hit as a result of this deal that big.

I'm just, I think, I know, I, I don't not say you do.

If it was, if it was Sam Presty's complete, if there was no money involved, do you think he would have kept Lou Dort?

No, I think you would have kept Lou Dort.

You want to keep everybody.

You would have kept Aaron Aaron Wiggins too.

You would have kept Isaiah Joe too as a three-point shooter.

Clear, clearly there is a basketball cost.

Yes, uh, but I think that the rise of Cason Wallace over the last couple of years, the continued rise of AJ Mitchell, these, uh, you know, when you look at Jarrett McCain now being part of that mix, these are all guys that will earn more minutes with this team.

So I think moving Lou Dort, even though you definitely lose something defensively, you definitely lose something when it comes to leadership in that group.

I think you, you, you will gain something too by freeing up some more minutes for these guys.

I think all these guys are really good players.

Cason Wallace is an all-defensive level player.

Jarrett McCain is a bucket.

If they can get a more well-rounded player out of him, he could be a star in this league.

AJ Mitchell is on that track.

I mean, he was in the mix for Most Improved Player this past year.

Like.

They've got guys, we didn't mention Alex Caruso still under contract there.

So they have got a strong rotation of two guards in that backcourt that can fill this role.

If there had not been a quote from Sam Presty, I probably would just sat here and been like, you know, this is just what happens in the 2nd apron era.

You've got to cut salary.

But it was fascinating to me.

Like Sam doesn't do a lot of these interviews.

Like he does the preseason stuff and postseason stuff.

This was one interview with one outlet with one reporter, and that tells you I have a message.

I want to.

And I get it's, it is Lou Dort, and you do want to explain your thinking since it is the, he's the longest tenured guy.

Like he's been around.

You don't just want to brush this deal under the rug like some other ones, but it was just.

His word choice was fascinating to me.

Just very fascinating to me .

If anyone has the right to hold the ownership accountable in their franchise, it's Sam Preston.

He is the best executive in the NBA by, I think, a country mile.

I couldn't agree more .

It's, it's gonna be interesting how that works out, but I think he may actually be a wizard.

The Wizard of Oklahoma.

Maybe.

Who's Mr.

Thunder now?

It can't be the star.

Can't be the star.

Alex Gruso.

I've been around long enough, I think.

I think it's only been a couple of years.

He came in during the championship year, right?

Yeah, so I don't know.

I don't know.

I think Oklahoma City will be OK.

I don't.

I think it was more important for them to get Hartenstein back.

Like, if they lost him, it would have been terrible.

Now they've got to continue to chip away with Chet Holmgren, get him better.

But I think they've got enough horses in that backcourt to replace Lou Dort.

I think they've got guys ready to flourish.

Like, I think Cason Wallace with more minutes is gonna be excellent.

I think McCain with more minutes is gonna be excellent.

I think Caruso can, when he's out there healthy, like they've been managing his minutes over the last couple of years.

I think he can play a game changer, yeah, like they, they've got enough guys out there.

It's just, uh.

You just don't usually hear from Sam that that often like that.

So you know, I've been looking up what's that?

How much does it cost to raise an elephant every year?

And what did you conclude ?

I'm trying to find it.

It's, it's harder to find than you would think.

Why don't we save that for next week's episode?

That'll be something that people will like really latch ontoipate, and they'll be like, Oh my God, forget the internet.

I need to listen to next week's open floor to find out how much it costs to keep an elephant and answer the question, would you want to own the motors Center or would you want to own an elephant?

Dude, I would so much rather want to own an elephant.

Oh my God, really?