So kind of explain to us what's going on and what might be the options for the Warriors.

Yeah.

I mean, you know, Shams had reported earlier in a week that, you know, gold stays looking at, you know, options to try to move off Porzingis' contract.

I think it's, we're kind of in this stage.

I think it's going to be difficult right now.

We, you know, front offices normally don't make trades, you know, a week or two weeks into the season here.

Porzingis has got a, It's got a two years, 20 million this year and a 20 million next year and 3 million is guaranteed.

They find themselves in a really difficult position to not only, as you said, try to get somebody to do something, but if I am going to do something as another team, then you've got to incentivize me at a high level, and they really can't do that.

So kind of explain to us what's going on and what might be the options for the Warriors.

Yeah.

I mean, you know, it sounds like I had reported earlier in a week that, you know, gold stays looking at, you know, options to try to move off Porzingis' contract.

I think it's, we're kind of in this stage.

I think it's going to be difficult right now.

We, you know, front offices normally don't make trades, you know, a week or two weeks into the season here.

Porzingis has got a, It's got a two years, 20 million this year and a 20 million next year and 3 million is guaranteed.

So, I mean, they find themselves in a really difficult position to not only, as you said, try to get somebody to do something, but if I am going to do something as another team, then you've got to incentivize me at a high level, and they really can't do that.

So kind of explain to us what's going on and what might be the options for the Warriors.

Yeah.

I mean, you know, Shams had reported earlier in a week that, you know, gold stays looking at, you know, options to try to move off Porzingis' contract.

I think it's, we're kind of in this stage.

I think it's going to be difficult right now.

We, you know, front offices normally don't make trades, you know, a week or two weeks into the season here.

Porzingis has got a, It's got two years, $20 million this year and $20 million next year and $3 million is guaranteed.

They find themselves in a really difficult position to not only, as you said, try to get somebody to do something, but if I am going to do something as another team, then you've got to incentivize me at a high level, and they really can't do that.

So kind of explain to us what's going on and what might be the options for the Warriors.

Yeah.

I mean, you know, it sounds like I had reported earlier in a week that, you know, gold stays looking at, you know, options to try to move off Porzingis' contract.

I think it's, we're kind of in this stage.

I think it's going to be difficult right now.

We, you know, front offices normally don't make trades, you know, a week or two weeks into the season here.

Porzingis has got a, It's got a two years, 20 million this year and a 20 million next year and 3 million is guaranteed.

They find themselves in a really difficult position to not only, as you said, try to get somebody to do something, but if I am going to do something as another team, then you've got to incentivize me at a high level, and they really can't do that.

Where they are financially and what those apron restrictions look like, if we can just break that down for the people at home.

Yeah.

So right now they are 3.2 million, $3.3 million below the second apron.

Okay? That includes the 13 players on, on guaranteed, uh, guaranteed contracts.

Uh, as I said, you are allowed to exceed that amount because basically your roster spot 14 and 15 are players on veteran minimum contracts.

So you are not, you are not hard cap.

You are not like some of these other teams like Cleveland who went out and, um, got Peyton Watson in a signing trade.

Yep, Saturday.

But is there somebody else you see as maybe a sleeper that could push one of those two teams and make the conference finals?

Yeah, I mean, I'm intrigued with Minnesota.

I'm intrigued with them.

Certainly the Lomelo trade.

Um, you know, a player that really hasn't has not played in the playoffs, right? Like it's kind of new territory for a team that, um, had gone to a couple of conference finals here.

Um, you know, Chris Finch, their head coach, you know, basically said earlier this week, like, we're going to take the training wheels off this roster.

Like we're not going out and sign veterans to be like locker room leaders and stuff.

they're in the conversation.

and what feels like a slap on the wrist were you surprised that the league didn't levy any sort of suspension for him

I think I was probably more, you know, listen, I think when the picks came through, that was probably what I was more surprised about.

I think last night at, I don't even know, 1130, when I got done reading the report, I was probably surprised that there wasn't more for Kawhi Leonard, whether it be a suspension or maybe a bigger fine, or even, as I said, the potential of voiding his contract here.

I do think, as I said, if the league was going to go down that road, it was going to be a long fight with the Players Association.

The Players Association has to sign off on the penalties here.

So there had to be some type of an agreement here.

And you're right.

In the grand scheme of things, where does this punishment rank for you in the NBA history, but then also in all of sports?

and what feels like a slap on the wrist were you surprised that the league didn't levy any sort of suspension for him

I think I was probably more, you know, listen, I think when the picks came through, that was probably what I was more surprised about.

I think last night at, I don't even know, 1130, when I got done reading the report, I was probably surprised that there wasn't more for Kawhi Leonard, whether it be a suspension or maybe a bigger fine, or even, as I said, the potential of voiding his contract here.

I do think, as I said, if the league was going to go down that road, it was going to be a long fight with the Players Association.

The Players Association has to sign off on the penalties here.

So there had to be some type of an agreement here.

And you're right.

In the grand scheme of things, where does this punishment rank for you in the NBA history, but then also in all of sports?

Yeah, I mean, anything you want to share about that, Bobby, before we go?

No, I mean, I think the beauty of, um, I remember we did it last year and people actually thought those were actually real teams, um, the power of AI, the ability to create, um, I think the merch might have been nicer than probably what we might see in a couple years and everything like that.

But no, it's just a fun experience.

And I think somebody left Case and Wallace unprotected.

And I was like, whoa, we might have to pause this exercise here and stuff like that.

But no, it was a great – it was a great – a little different than the trade deadline we do in – when we do in Las Vegas and everything like that.

But I thought everyone got a lot out of it.

Anything you guys want to plug before we

And I

got an internship and that is really how my career kind of took off.

I always say that why that's important is that the ability to network and meet people.

The person who got me the internship is now the commissioner of Live Golf, Scott O'Neill.

So Scott O'Neill back then was selling tickets.

Right.

So like so that's how the process started.

I just wanted to give Bobby the opportunity to give his spiel about how that program works and the other kind of things they've got in the pipeline for anybody that might be interested yeah

Mm.

Well, what happened was is that the, the market, the market told you, um, that you needed to adjust what your offer was going to be.

Is he a four for 180 guy? I don't, I don't know.

Is he a $45 million player? The market told you he is.

And if you didn't go out and get and re-sign him, you had an extra $20 million in cap space to basically, um, um, replace him and everything here.

So yeah, I mean, the contract is, I think the contract is rich, but I think you had to re-sign him, I think.

Uh, it's funny, you, when you look at sometimes we have a perception that, and this is even with teams, what is, what is on the outside player-wise is a lot better than what you have internally, right?

Not to say that guys can't move around, but that sounds to me like a healthy competitive league.

Hello, and what do you make of the off-season here for the, uh, OKC Thunder to this point in general?

Yeah, I mean, thanks for having me.

I think, uh, I like what they did at the draft, certainly with, uh, with Mara and Sturt.

I think they're, you know, a little bit of a ways away from, you know, becoming part of the rotation and, and certainly you've kinda... you've got Sorber in the, in the bullpen who didn't play last year, who I think could see some, some rotational minutes here.

Um, you know, l- listen, we knew their finances were gonna be significantly higher, um, than a year ago just because of Jalen and Chet's extensions kicking in, and they had to make a choice, uh, certainly financially, and Sam has been on the record saying it.

And, um, you know, moving off, um, you know, Lou and Isaiah and, um, uh, and Aaron in, in, uh, in those three separate trades.

But at the end of the day, you still keep your core of your roster.

... continue to extend these guys?

Mm-hmm

... from where they were a year ago.

Um, you know, Nick's been through it.

He won a championship certainly in, in, uh, Toronto.

Uh, a little bit different, of course, with that group than what you're walking, what he, he has right now.

And, um, it's, it's...

I think you have to be prepared, certainly style play as far as with, um, with LeBron and Jaylen and Tyrese and Joel and, and DJ here.

... what do you think is going to happen in terms of the penalties, uh, levied to the Clippers and, and how it might fe- affect, uh, this trade one way or another?

Mm-hmm

... from where they were a year ago.

Um, you know, Nick's been through it.

He won a championship certainly in, in, uh, Toronto.

Uh, a little bit different, of course, with that group than what you're walking, what he, he has right now.

And, um, it's, it's...

I think you have to be prepared, certainly style of play as far as with, um, with LeBron and Jaylen and Tyrese and Joel and, and V.J. here.

... what do you think is going to happen in terms of the penalties, uh, levied to the Clippers and, and how it might fe- affect, uh, this trade one way or another?

Dollar for

dollar with Paul, who's on a 35% deal.

He's got one less year.

He's got a player option, but I think the likelihood is that he would probably opt in.

I don't think you want to decline that and then sign him for more years at significantly more money here.

But yeah, it's interesting because it's like, what happens if the same approach happened if you had not lost to Boston? I mean, Philadelphia when you're up 3-1 and everything.

As we've said, you go through these playoffs and depth matters here.

What was that based on? And a

Bobby, just as a follow-up, what type of suspension... would justify Kawhi Leonard's potential involvement with salary cap circumvention? Is there any type of precedent that the league can look at and say, this type of infraction warrants that?

No, this is really an unprecedented situation here regarding salary cap circumvention.

I think that's a big reason why this investigation started in September last we're now in mid July and it's still going.

I mean, there's, there's gotta be, there's gotta be an end here to it, right? Like there's gotta be, you know, we're here in Las Vegas, the board of governors meeting is next week.

The commissioner is going to have to address the media.

He was pretty upfront with it during the finals, as far as, you know, basically saying we need closure here.

Like there's, you know, how much more can you dig to try to find information here? So I think, listen, I think this is kind of an unprecedented situation.

What are your first impressions of those players? And did these teams get the draft order right when it comes to them?

Mm-hmm.

Yeah.

I mean, it's, it's different than, you know, 2010 and 2014.

And I guess it was a 2018 where it's an evil, even playing field when you look at it financially, as far as what basically everyone has to offer, whether it be that the veteran minimum, which is right around three nine, or maybe there's some ways that you can create a little bit room, you know, maybe get up to six potentially, but you know, I don't, I don't know if that moves the needle at all here, but yeah, I mean, it's, Financially, it's on an even playing field.

I think roster-wise, I think all the different teams can make compelling arguments for him as far as whether it be, you know, Curry and Draymond and eventually Jimmy in Golden State or, you know, with what he's, you know, Giannis and Bam in Miami or, you know, Mitchell and Harden and Allen and Mobley in Cleveland and certainly, you know, Jalen Brown going to tell you what Joel Embiid and everything, Jokic in Denver.

So they're all, yeah.

I mean, I think that it will be interesting as far as what he wants.

In your time as a general manager, did you have a waiting game with a free agent that went on just way too long and you were like, this is just kind of ruining our plans in the offseason?

Yeah

... and I guess, was it 2018? Um, where it's an evil, even playing field when you look at it, um, financially as far as what basically everyone has to offer, whether it be the, the veteran minimum, which is right around three nine, or maybe there's some ways that you can create a little bit of room.

I, you know, maybe you can get up to six potentially.

But, you know, I don't, just I don't know if that moves the needle at all here.

But yeah.

I mean, it's, financially, it's on an even playing field.

I think roster-wise, I think all the different teams can make compelling arguments for him, um, as far as whether it be, you know, um, you know, Curry and Draymond, and eventually Jimmy and Golden State or, you know, with what he's, you know, Giannis and Bam in Miami or, you know, Mitchell and Harden and Allen and Mobley in, in Cleveland and certainly, you know, Jaylen Brown going to tell you what y'all want, Embiid and everything, Jokic in Denver.

Yeah, of course

Yeah

... and I guess was it 2018, um, where it's an evil, even playing field when you look at it, um, financially as far as what basically everyone has to offer, whether it be the, the veteran minimum, which is right around three nine, or if maybe there's some ways that you can create a little bit of room.

I, you know, maybe you can get up to six potentially, but, you know, I don't, just I don't know if that moves the needle at all here.

But yeah, I mean, it's financially it's on an even playing field.

I think roster-wise, I think all the different teams can make compelling arguments for him, um, as far as whether it be, you know, um, you know, Curry and Draymond and eventually Jimmy and Golden State or, you know, with what he's, you know, Jonathan Bam in Miami or, you know, Mitchell and Harden and Allen and Mobley in, in Cleveland and certainly, you know, Ja Morant going to tell you what's your own beat and everything, Jokic in Denver.

Um, so they're all...

Yeah, I mean, I think that's, it, it'll be interesting as far as what he wants.

Yeah, of course

Mm-hmm.

Yeah.

I mean, it's, it's different than, you know, 2010 and 2014, and I guess it was a 2018 where it's an evil, even playing field when you look at it financially, as far as what basically everyone has to offer, whether it be that the veteran minimum, which is right around three nine, or maybe there's some ways that you can create a little bit room, you know, maybe you can get up to six potentially, but you know, I don't, I don't know if that moves the needle at all here, but yeah, I mean, it's, Financially, it's not an even playing field.

I think roster-wise, I think all the different teams can make compelling arguments for him as far as whether it be, you know, Curry and Draymond and eventually Jimmy in Golden State or, you know, with what he's, you know, Giannis and Bam in Miami or, you know, Mitchell and Harden and Allen and Mobley in Cleveland and certainly, you know, Jalen Brown going to tell you what's your own beat and everything, Jokic in Denver.

So they're all, yeah, I mean, I think that it'll be interesting as far as what he wants.

Does he want to continue competing in the Western Conference, or does he want to go East? I think East, top to bottom, is probably a better conference right now as far as where it stands, just based on what some of these teams have done in the offseason here, but yeah, we'll wait and see.

I don't know how long this will, I don't know if we'll go through the end of the week or next week, or we get through Summer League, and we're still waiting here, but But, yeah, I mean, really for Golden State, it's Draymond as far as just kind of getting him in the fold and then just kind of filling out the back end of your roster.

In your time as a general manager, did you have a waiting game with a free agent that went on just way too long, and you were like, yeah, this is just kind of ruining our plans in the offseason?

Boston's asks.

Boston's asks were too high.

There was such a short window when free agency was about to start that we needed to go back and we need to go do our own business, right? Like, we weren't gonna go back to the table and say, "Instead of this amount of picks, we're gonna do this amount of picks," because we already had trades lined up.

We already had free agent signings lined up.

It basically had to be, "Hey, this is what it is.

Let's do it now.

And if not, then we're going to move on to our other business." But you hit it right on the head when you look at, um, trading a, you know, a $54, $58 million player in this day and age.

Uh-

What's the latest around LeBron's next destination?

Listen, we're in a holding pattern.

I think we talked about it last night, Brian, and Winhorse and Tim McMahon.

It's a unique situation where the playing field financially is even.

You know, there's no one out there holding on to a $50 million max slot.

There's nobody going through loopholes or jumping through hoops to create cap space, you know, it's, it's a, it's an, it's an equal playing field.

Everybody kind of knows what they have to offer here.

Am I wrong to assume that?

When do you expect he's gonna sign, and what will be the structure of the deal?

Well, I'll as- I'll answer the easier question first.

Um, so if, if it is a veteran minimum exception, the m- the maximum years could be two.

I- ironically, if he does go to, back to Cleveland or Miami, he is allowed to include a, uh, his no trade clause in there just because he had played for those teams before, which I would expect, um, I would expect to happen, which is a, which is a, a, a pretty unique, uh, pretty unique situation.

Um, so yeah, I mean, he could do, he can do a one-plus-one, he could do a one-year deal, uh, but it would be for, you know, the, the 3.9, a veteran minimum.

There's als- certainly scenarios where maybe a team creates a little bit more, but I don't see anything more than, more than, than $6 million.

I mean, as far as what, what the timeline is, I don't think there is a timeline.

Am I wrong to assume that?

What do you make of the deal with Jaylen Brown going and joining the 76ers now?

Yeah, I wasn't, um, I wasn't surprised.

Um, you know, I wasn't surprised as far as what, what came back.

I mean, certainly you can debate over the Paul George contract, of course, coming back.

Um, I just, I thought that, um, listen, the asking price was high in the beginning, and I think a lot of teams kind of, you know, went away from that and kind of went about and did their own business and, um, and didn't go back and see if they can counter or not.

And, um, you know, Philly, Philly made an offer, and, um, you know, Boston elected to, to, to go that direction there.

I think certainly the, you know, you're swapping out a 29-year-old for a 36-year-old, um, who, you know, has played, I think, what, 78 games in the last two years.

Just how restrictive is going into the second apron for an NBA team?

So, Bobby, did you know when you said that that you would be on the other end of the wrath of one Jalen

Brown? I didn't and I said like I you know we live in this day and age of 19 second clips I was like what happened to the other four minutes when I was praising him and I defending him and doing all that and everything that that came with it I know I did not think I did not have my bingo card on Saturday afternoon that I would that Jalen Brown would be awfully upset with something I said and to the point where my 20 year old had, I'm out in LA for free agency.

My 20 year old called me and said, dad, you just need to go out for a walk in the hotel room and just go.

And I said like, listen, I, and I, and I said it on TV on Friday and we did a segment today on TV.

Like I am a huge Daniel Brown fan.

Like, listen, if I was in the front office, I'd be looking to trade for him.

And, But I'm telling you, it's a crazy process where there's like a faction of people, and I don't know why, that are built into the analytics and the on-court numbers.

How do you see that as a fit for a Brown trade?