Um, just like in a sports media economy sort of built around hot takes and, uh, breaking news, what's your north star just in terms of crafting pieces that nobody else could write? They're unique to your personality, but still relatable, thought-provoking.

Yeah, I mean, the...

I started Basketball Feelings, um, where I now write prominently almost as, like, a safeguard.

Like, uh, I- and I started about eight years ago, um, because I knew I was, like, w- as I started to write wider and cover the league for a lot of different publications as a freelancer, not that I would kind of emulate to those places in my voice, but I just never wanted to lose a, a place where I could write for myself, sound like myself, kind of go on really long tangents, you know, write about the political side of, of, uh, the sport, write about some of the things that, um, as they come up.

So the, the instantaneousness of being able to cover things, write about art, write about history, uh, of place, of people.

Go on basically just, like, very long rabbit holes when I wanted to, um, with creativity.

Uh, I really thought it would be niche in the sense that, like, I would keep it up, but maybe I would have, like, I don't know, 20 people [laughs] who would want, would want to read it.

So does that play into this at all? Or do you see that as just he wants to make it on his own? How, how do you read like his perspective?

And I think there's almost a... benefit to getting to see like the scotty version of the team without kawaii in those games where kawaii sits to kind of let him and other guys flex their muscles in a sort of a more expanded role i think that can have kind of long-term positive knock-on effects um i don't know i don't think it's going to be quite as strictly regimented as it was back in 2018-19 but i'm curious what you think about this

I was thinking about this and the phrase is correctly, the loophole in the new parameters around load management is almost that Kawhi is older and his usage and I think the demand that the team's going to have from him is a lot different.

Well, on one hand, I think Alex McKechnie fears no repercussions and will do what he wants.

And then on the other, I think that they'll actually be able to manage him quite well with how he plays and how Darko wants to kind of have him and still develop guys like Alan Graves, you know, Jamal Shedd, like a lot of other people around him.

You know, I kind of see it working pretty well, actually, in tandem.

Barring, of course, injury, touch wood, like always.

But with the aim to, I think, ramp him up towards the latter half of the season.

all started with bobby marks on the draft being like maybe one of his old teams is in and we're like what are you talking about bobby a little scamp i know lo and behold

How do you feel about all of what I just said?

It's an interesting conundrum, right? Because it does immediately sort of shift your projections almost of morality on a person because they now like play for your team that you root for.

I don't think it's a very slim next to no possibility that he, he didn't, he wasn't aware of any of it.

Yeah.

Even if he has other people's kind of taking care of these deals.

Um, he just, he's certainly aware of it now.

So I think like, there's also an interesting tension between like what you would want from him in terms of like admission.

He's

But what do you think about this one, Katie? Do you think he has the juice you saw him in summer league to kind of replicate a little bit of what Mamu did last year?

I do.

I do.

I think we actually saw a lot of this at Summer League.

And I think we, you and I even talked about this, like would be kind of a treat to see for fans, but also in his development.

I don't think, you know, it is a tall ask and you're, you'd kind of be asking him to do it in spurts, but just to experiment with positionality in terms of his comp to Mamu, like no shade to Mamu.

I just think Graves is a bit more fluid.

Sure.

Mm-hmm.

Owners themselves, because, like, their, I'm sure their front offices are coming to them with the restrictions that, that have been placed on them.

The players hate it.

Like, this is gonna be such a huge negotiating piece, and they're already...

You know, that's in, like, what? Two years, I think, the new CBA, and, like, that they're already gearing up for this fight in a really big way, and they're kind of like, everything I've seen signals that.

Um, to, like, wrestle some power back.

'Cause that's the thing, too.

Mm-hmm.

Mm-hmm.

So I always think about why, you know, like sometimes things tie back to other things and like why a, a flex like this might be more prescient for the PA at this moment.

Um, and then yeah, Ballmer is one of the wealthiest people on the planet.

Yeah

...

but the ongoing investigations by the NBA in question that the Raptors are embroiled with.

So to me, uh, it's like there's a bit of gleefulness [laughs] and there's a little bit of, um, like, again, just like a real focus where, you know, I was joking earlier that like they're not the only ones in the league doing this, and 100% they're not.

Hmm

...

it seemed like what she ...

Well, her premise is basically that, like, they, one, they should have responded, but two, also it seemed like the team was going through it the same way the rest of the city was, and things never really recovered.

And I think, like, that was a huge, that was a, a huge, real thing that happened in the orbit of a team.

Especially, like, when the team's under a bit of a, a, a microscope to, to, like, bring the vibes back in a, in a material and meaningful way.

Um, and I, I think a lot of people felt let down by them.

Right.

[laughs]

I would have loved to see another check-in, like, uh, like, selfishly, you know? And to be in the arena and to hear the reaction to it, though Kyle did flag the fact of, like, the last time he was here and everybody was chanting for him to, to go in and how meaningful that was.

And, like, what a perfect sort of storybook ending it was for him.

And almost it sounded like something about that signaled to him, like, it was time or it was, like, okay for, for his career to be done.

Mm-hmm.

Uh, ostensibly Kawhi is going to be able to do this, and it is an upgrade in that.

And, and in that sense, like of course DeMar brings a lot, but I think they, they kind of have those functions in a lot of the younger guys that now make up the core.

So the fit feels a bit off for me.

Uh, where do you sit on all of that?

I think when I was evaluating my feelings about it, but then through the prism of, of, of the points that you mentioned, which is to me a lot of the big moves in this, um, free agency period so far are being driven by a specific old guard of stars.

So LeBron being a huge one.

Kawhi Leonard obviously.

The Ben Simmons stuff I was just like, man, you seem so happy.

You don't have to come back to a job that you hate.

It's okay.

Yeah.

Sure.

It just kinda goes away for one season.

Um, but like, in terms of the way the two of them operate, neither is like...

They might be like the face of the team at, at face value, but neither is the face of the team in terms of like the talk, like the talk piece of the team.

So I guess that-

No.

You don't control that thing.

Uh, he's trying really hard to get back to it.

No

... you know, you said he is one of one.

Uh, it, it also just speaks to, I think, the difficulty of not just getting there to that point, but the fusion of skill set and readiness and, like, mental capacity and experience.

It's just like-

Mm-hmm.

We have students who work overseas.

There's a lot of leagues out there, a lot of teams that need good and competent people.

Um, there are all different streams, and you learn from all different people.

Yeah.

For him, uh, it didn't feel...

It just, like, didn't, for the progression that we've seen him, I even, I'm even counting summer leagues, right? 'Cause I, like, he...

Was it last year or the summer before? Anyway, it might have been last year-

Mm-hmm.

You know, he's got a good demeanor and, like, a good hunch of waiting for things, and I think the Raptors could use more of that.

I think that's also what we're seeing, you know, this, this is really getting ahead of ourselves, but that's what was a, that's what the Knicks did to rattle the Spurs last night.

Yeah.

Right? So basically, like, the way I think about it in terms of a, a, a giant machine is just, like, all these other gears are moving around him.

Scottie is the central cog, which he, uh, which he is now.

Um-Just like to make his, I guess this is all predicated on making his life a bit easier.

Mm-hmm.

And I see your point with the three-point, so I guess like my, my pick from Boston, which kind of even feels, uh, if not realistic, then I, then I do wonder if the Celtics will be, just based on the season he had, if the Celtics will be interested in kind of like testing the waters with him this summer.

Yeah.

Um, I would be reluctant to, to, for, for RJ, for someone like RJ to be shifted away, uh, for chemistry.

That said, I do think there's, like, a really good baseline.

I mean, I, I can't pretend to know what, like, the moves that the front office is going to make.

Yeah.

I read so many, like, too many people that I thought I respected yesterday using words like basketball savant and, like, expert tactician.

[laughs] Like, after using the words Jason Kidd, uh, since he was fired.

And it's like, I don't ...

Mm-hmm.

You know? Um, he, he can be like a hub at, you know, like in this question as it mentioned, he could be a hub at the top of the key.

He could kinda, like, be more of an outlet.

He could drive the ball if he doesn't see an opportunity to really pass.

I guess what we're getting at is, like, could he be a fairly decent playmaker?

Yeah

... it's, the playoffs are tough because on one hand, yeah, this is the, this is when we talk about conditioning and guys being in the kinda shape to be able to play through, um, a playoff series quarter to quarter, like as intense as it can get is one thing.

But then there's also the understanding that like by this time in the season everybody is pretty much hurt.

[laughs]

Just because there were so many times that he, it was very apparent that, like, he can bail them out in ways that no one else can.

But even more surprising to me, you know, m- and this is testament to Scottie, I guess, more than the t- than, like, a knock on the team, of how far he's come to be able to toggle between, like, "All right," like, "the shots aren't falling on this end.

I'm either just gonna, like, go in and dunk it, or I'm gonna grab it, grab a rebound off the glass and-"

Yeah

... um, any other gaffs that he, he had.

Uh, like, on the same, I think, like, on the same note as, as you're talking about Jamison Battle, just, like, being able to be relied upon to be able to go off, you know, for a couple really clutch key shots.

Like, I think game shifting kinda shots.