Players can't circumvent? What are you saying?

The Clippers were a party to the circumvention.

Like, they can't be mad.

That's like you and I robbing a bank.

I go to jail, you get away with it.

And I'm mad at you.

I don't know, like...

How's that fantasy football going for you, Dave?

Like, I don't...

Maybe...

I don't know.

They could hit the lottery.

That's the thing.

Anybody could.

Except for the Clippers.

How much of your cap combined can go to a SAR and Jalen Duren and you make it to the conference finals?

headlines.

Oh, man.

I don't know where this is going to go next.

Like, will someone go to jail over this? Probably not.

I mean...

But I'm reading this report, Keith, and I'm thinking to myself, there's no way any of this is legal, much less NBA CBA legal.

This feels like a huge financial fraud scheme.

Kawhi trade doesn't happen, a pivot for the Raptors,

How do you feel about DeMar DeRozan joining the Denver Nuggets?

Um, I think, I mean, yeah, that's, that's the kinda guy they need, actually.

Like, coming off the bench, they need somebody who can give them 15 minutes of buckets, 20 on a night where Jokic is maybe a little tired.

I don't, I don't hate it.

Um, I, I don't...

It's, is it the best thing for DeMar DeRozan? I don't know.

We'll see.

Yeah.

Over who?

And I, you know, this is the funny thing, man.

Like, I, I think he, like he's gonna maybe be their third guard.

Like, that...

He's, he doesn't turn the ball over.

He, he's maybe a little small.

I don't know.

Yeah.

Like, if you need $600 million to do your repairs, call up J.P. Morgan.

Yeah, or go reach around in your couch cushions.

Yeah, yeah.

Go get the money from someone else.

Don't call my grandma.

Here's my thing, Keith.

If the city is putting in money, why didn't the city get an ownership stake? I would rather that, man.

So I think it's going to be seven

Yeah, yeah, yeah

yeahBut what I'm, what I mean is as the ball moves around, it's, the defense is set up to make the ball find the guy that you don't want to be found with it, and they just won't have many gaps on the offensive end.

I think the defense, you may have some issues, but I, I think offensively they're gonna hum.

The D- Dean Wade addition is massive.

Num- number one, it's a huge downgrade for Cleveland.

It, it really sinks Cleveland.

They don't have a, a, a guy that you can trust to guard like that.

I mean, maybe I'm hating on Mario Hezonja here, I don't know, but.

And it's like, you gave him $2 million two years ago.

i wonder if these people watch people do the exact same thing but with way higher like world stakes right like politics and stuff oh yeah we're just like you know what we can just get away with anything now i mean you know crime being now semi-legal right if you have enough money yeah we can get away with anything um i mean it's a real test of adam silver i think and like I mean, theoretically, it is his job to protect Steve Ballmer and the NBA.

And I just, I don't know, man.

I feel like if they don't punish him, I wonder what the PR hit is, like from fans.

Will anyone stop watching? Well, this

Because he's missed

the PPP, right? Like we would look at it, but the thing is like, so a free throw for true shooting or whatever, two free throws is one shooting possession.

Right.

And, uh, what do you think of the new draft lottery proposal? Do you think it's gonna need to get reworked as it gets tested out, or do you feel like it's gonna be something that sticks?

Oh, I definitely think we're, we'll change it again in 2029.

You know, this is gonna be a short-term solution.

Because the problems with the change, you never see them coming.

A- a- and this one, I actually think we all see what the problems are gonna be.

Like, if I trade away my first round pick, well, I can just bottom out.

It doesn't matter.

Yeah, just real quick, what, what's your sense on the Pelicans and, and Trey Murphy as it relates to maybe the newfound world of, of draft capital and what they, what they had been reportedly asking versus maybe what they could get for him now?

don't...

I mean, the plan was 2027 anyway, right? They didn't want to bring...

They didn't want to bring him back.

And he's an expiring contract, and he wants an extension.

So he wants to get that last paycheck.

So I think that this was – it made sense.

I mean it could have made sense last summer, to be honest with you.

What were your thoughts on this deal that sends Jeremy Grant and Chris Murray to the Grizzlies, and the Grizzlies send $1 million cash and Ja Morant to the Blazers?

Would you do this deal that you see on screen, AD for Jimmy Butler plus two future firsts and '28 and '33?

Yeah, absolutely.

Uh, you, you already said you've got Steph Curry.

Why not? Y- they should've done this years ago.

I, I mean, this is actually the culmination of failures by the Warriors front office for the last, I don't know, seven, eight years.

It's not just the last couple.

And so i- is this perfect? No.

Would you do this?

Would you do this deal that you see on screen, AD for Jimmy Butler plus two future firsts and 28 and 33?

Yeah, absolutely.

Uh, you, you already said you've got Steph Curry.

Why not? Y- they should've done this years ago.

I, I mean, this is actually the culmination of failures by the Warriors front office for the last, I don't know, seven, eight years.

It's not just the last couple.

And so i- is this perfect? No.

From the Portland side of it, would you do this? Are you willing to give all of this for Jaylen Brown given your existing roster, giving Deni Avdija, Donovan Clingan, everything else you already have there? Would you do this?

מה אתם חושבים על התקדם? מה אתם חושבים על דעת התקדם וכמה

טובה הם יכולים להיות? זו השאלה, נכון? אני חושב שמועקי, זה טוב, איזה שהיית.

אני לא יודע מה דראפט פיקסים עולה עכשיו.

יותר מבחינים, יותר טובים, כי אנחנו כמובן הולכים להתקדם דראפטים אחרים.

אני אוהב ג'אקה שונס.

אני חושב שהוא חבר טוב.

אני חושב שהוא הולך להתקדם ככה, כדי להתקדם ככה.

כאילו, נגצ', מה אתה עושה?

Oh, I definitely think,

I definitely think being able to sit De'Aaron Fox, but also that like politically, can you sit De'Aaron Fox? Cause I don't think they're going to trade him.

Uh, so, you know, he's likely to be on the team next year.

And you can, if you lose that guy, I think that that's an important guy.

Like you need them, you know? And, and by the way, Darren Fox, look, he shot poorly and he made a lot of high profile, poor decisions, but he also didn't, you know, he, he was out there keeping them calm.

Sometimes he was not turning the ball over, you know, remember Steph castle had those 20 turnovers in the first two games of the Western conference finals and And they don't win the Western Conference Finals if De'Aaron Fox isn't playing.

So, you know, I do think that that's something that we all need to keep in mind, me included, because, you know, I did harp on the Fox stuff quite a bit.

Yeah.

What was it like being in Madison Square Garden?

I will tell you.

I'm sitting with some of my colleagues at The Athletic, and it's always fun to watch games with people that they work with, actually.

Because we talk basketball so much, and now we get to talk during the games a little bit.

And, man, middle of the second quarter, we're like, wow, I guess maybe an early night tonight.

Maybe we should knock the podcast out and just go live at halftime.

You know, all of the tropes that you've probably heard.

in the fourth quarter.

What realistically can San Antonio do better in that environment? And also, how have the Knicks sort of handled being home here and going through all the media availability that goes on yesterday and trying to keep their focus? Because there's a part of me that thinks the Knicks could get got tonight if San Antonio can just survive the chaos, at least initially, and hang in that way.

You know, that's interesting because, you know, I was at Media Day yesterday and a lot of questions, like you said, were more about the circus, more about the fans, not so much about the game for the Knicks.

And it seems like the Knicks are just completely locked in.

I don't think that we have to worry about a mental lapse on that team.

It doesn't mean that they can't lose to the Spurs.

The Spurs are really good.

And if the Spurs make shots, they can be in the game because Victor Wim and Yama – Still has been amazing on defense in this series.

Dave, when there was talk of Mike Brown being on the hot seat, especially down 2-1 to the Hawks in the first round, did you think that was ridiculous? Or do you feel like he had to earn everything that we've seen from his time and his team since that point through the last 13 games?

What realistically can San Antonio do better in that environment? And also, how have the Knicks sort of handled being home here and going through all the media availability that goes on yesterday and trying to keep their focus? Because there's a part of me that thinks the Knicks could get got tonight if San Antonio can just survive the chaos, at least initially, and hang in that way.

You know, that's interesting because, you know, I was at Media Day yesterday and a lot of questions, like you said, were more about the circus, more about the fans, not so much about the game for the Knicks.

And it seems like the Knicks are just completely locked in.

I don't think that we have to worry about a mental lapse on that team.

It doesn't mean that they can't lose to the Spurs.

The Spurs are really good.

And if the Spurs make shots, they can be in the game because Victor Wim and Yama – Still has been amazing on defense in this series.

Dave, what do you think the potential ramifications would be for San Antonio? Spoken of it being a year ahead in the trajectory and being able to get to the finals this year, but do you think they would look to alter their core at all to either maybe create more opportunity for Dylan Harper and obviously Wimby together to kind of be the one-two focal point? and bring in another guy that could kind of ride with them near the top? Or do you think they would stay the course and run it back with the same group?

Yeah.

I mean, it, it's like, honestly this series th- want- the, the thing about it going so long and with so many different injuries is that the health is the number one thing in, that happened in the series.

You know, JW being out, AJ Mitchell being out obviously made it easier for the Spurs.

But Dylan Harper got healthy.

Like, whatever he did to his hip, it did not bother him in the last two games of the series.

I mean, he was getting to the paint, he was finishing, he was hitting shots, and that was the difference.

You know, Wemby having energy that he didn't have in game five.

The-

It's, it's different, yeah.

It's a diff- they're playing a different game.

They're younger.

But that Knicks offense can score, and both the Thunder and the Spurs have struggled.

I mean, and I think the Knicks defense is, is a little bit discounted by people.

They don't realize, like, how good they are on the perimeter.

And, uh, but the scoring, man, the Knicks are not gonna run into a lot of scoring droughts.

Yeah.

Is there anything the rest of the league can learn from the way the Knicks have constructed their roster?

I don't know necessarily.

I mean, I do think that the timely trades thing, like they didn't overvalue their draft picks, right? Mikael Bridges was the piece they felt like they were missing.

And they just said, hey, here's five picks.

We'll do it.

And I think that there's something to that.

Now, they're the New York Knicks.

But as far as the Knicks in this NBA Finals matchup, how do you think they will match up against, you know, either the Spurs or Thunder? What do you think about that Western Conference Finals right now, Dave?

Is there anything the rest of the league can learn from the way the Knicks have constructed their roster?

I don't know necessarily.

I mean, I do think that the timely trades thing, like they didn't overvalue their draft picks, right? Mikael Bridges was the piece they felt like they were missing.

And they just said, hey, here's five picks.

We'll do it.

And I think that there's something to that.

Now, they're the New York Knicks.

But as far as the Knicks in this NBA Finals matchup, how do you think they will match up against, you know, either the Spurs or Thunder? What do you think about that Western Conference Finals right now, Dave?

15.

So 30-point swing in the game after the first four minutes, and yeah, I just thought that they felt pretty good about, about their performance, um, even, even realizing that they had a lot of problems.

They feel like they're not being physical enough to match what the Thunder are doing.

And I, I tend to agree.

I think the, the Thunder did a really good job of beating 'em up a- and in a, in a very physical basketball game without all of the grabbing and stuff that we did see in the first two games.

Uh, you know, the Thunder cleaned it up.

The whistles started to come a little bit in, in spots that I don't think we've seen 'em in, in the first two games.

No

Play making

... away, like, away from the basket.

Jalen Brunson not having to dribble the leather off the ball.

You know, ball has energy, that sort of thing, like Mike D'Antoni.

The ball's moving a little bit more.

Like, Mikal Bridges is scoring.

OG Anunoby was awesome until he got hurt, but they won those last two games without him.They're, they're rolling.

You would think.

Yes

... you know what I mean? It's, it makes me sick to my stomach, like physically ill, the Achilles injuries typically.

Last year, Haliburton goes down, I thought I was gonna throw up.

DiVincenzo this year, I was fine.

Dude, Jayson Tatum coming back so fast and looking the way he does is such a ga- like a psychological game changer.

I, I'm hoping that it is for, for DiVincenzo.

Yeah.

And I get, like, you've, Austin Reaves is available and he, you've gotta play him.I just didn't think that that was the right call.

So looking at the big picture, what, Dave, do you feel like will be the series-defining matchup?

I think Jamal Murray versus Anthony Edwards.

Um, Jamal Murray just had one of the best seasons of his career.

He's, you know, on, on a lot of lists for all NBA third team.

You know, he's an all-star.

We've been talking for years about how Jamal Murray hasn't been at the, the level that he was during their championship run.

I think that this is a great opportunity for him to prove that he's all the way back.

How about Scoot Henderson?